About a year ago I started this project here, but I never got around to fielders/batters and lineup construction. To recap:
Kang and Kodos descend upon New England in their flying saucer to play a sadistic game upon which the fate of the earth hangs in the balance. Rather than destroy us outright (which they easily have the firepower to do), they decide to make it sporting: they challenge us to a game of baseball. But they stack the deck, of course: through their alien technology, they can summon any ballplayer from any given year to play for their side. Their one concession is they'll leave us the entire Red Sox roster throughout history for our side. This battle for our very lives will be a 9-game series, necessitating a 5-man rotation and a deep bullpen and bench (we're playing with a DH, though, so no need to worry about pinch-hitting for pitchers or double-switches and the like). Who will you choose to oppose this evil and destructive force?
This thread is for choosing position players and constructing the lineup... not only who makes the team, but where they play and bat. It's not as simple as choosing the best 12-14 offensive seasons in Sox history and rolling them out there, your starting players have to have played their position for a significant amount of games during the season being chosen (we'll assume more fluidity for backups, OF/IF is good enough there, although fielding ability still matters). We know Yaz can play 1B, it's where he wound up in the latter half of his career, but if you choose his 1967 season, he's going to start as a left fielder for you or DH (the "significant amount of games" rule doesn't apply to the DH slot). Also, this is a 9-game series: you'll need to factor in fielding, baserunning, and whether you should try to balance your lineup with righties and lefties. You'll need a backup catcher even though you might never use him. You might even need a pinch runner to steal a pivotal base against Mariano Rivera, who will surely be the Galactic All-Stars' closer.
Which brings up the stakes. Civilization itself as a decided underdog, a very decided underdog. Statistics and WAR may try to tell us who has objectively had the best season, but I also know chutzpah when I see it, and if the fate of the planet is in the balance, will I choose David Ortiz as my DH over Ted Williams (since I'll have Yaz's 67 season in left, taking his defense into account)? See below to find out.
With this is mind, these are the position players I will send to do battle against the Intergalacatic All-Stars. I had a 12-man pitching staff in the other thread, so I'm going with a 13-man bench for position players:
C - Carlton Fisk, 1977 season; Jason Varitek, 2003 season (honorable mention: Rich Gedman, 1985)
1B - Jimmie Foxx, 1938 season (honorable mentions: Mo Vaughn, 1996; Walt Dropo, 1950)
2B - Bobby Doerr, 1944 season; Dustin Pedroia, 2008 season
SS - Rico Petrocelli, 1969 season; Nomar Garciaparra, 2000 season
3B - Wade Boggs, 1987 season (honorable mentions: Adrian Beltre, 2010; Eddie Collins, 1901)
LF - Carl Yastrzemski, 1967 season (honorable mentions: Jim Rice, 1978; Manny Ramirez, 2002)
CF - Fred Lynn, 1979 season; Tris Speaker, 1912 season (honorable mention: Jacoby Ellsbury, 2011)
RF - Mookie Betts, 2018 season (honorable mentions: Dwight Evans, 1981; Jackie Jensen, 1958)
DH - Ted Williams, 1941 season (honorable mentions: J.D. Martinez, 2018; David Ortiz, 2016)
My batting lineup (with season stats, league leader in bold):
1. Mookie Betts, RF (.340/.429/.637, OPS+ 182) *through 8/29/18
2. Wade Boggs, 3B (.363/.461/.588, OPS+ 174)
3. Carl Yastrzemski, LF (.326/.418/.622, OPS+ 193)
4. Ted Williams, DH (.406/.553/.735, OPS+ 235)
5. Jimmie Foxx, 1B (.349/.462/.704, OPS+ 182)
6. Fred Lynn, CF (.333/.423/.637, OPS+ 176)
7. Rico Petrocelli, SS (.297/.403/.589, OPS +168)
8. Carlton Fisk, C (.315/.402/.521, OPS+ 138)
9. Bobby Doerr, 2B (.325/.399/.528, OPS +165)
General thoughts: I can't believe that neither Jim Rice's 1978 nor Manny Ramirez's 2002 can make this team, but that's what you get when you have Yaz and Ted in front of you. I could drop either Pedroia or Nomar and carry another OFer, but that leaves me thin in the infield, and Ted is the de facto 5th outfielder already, we don't need 6. Nomar and Pedroia give me bench speed if I need it, too. Nomar/Rico was the closest battle in terms of starting position, I just think Rico's offense was nuts in the context of the 1969 season for his position. The Doerr/Pedroia debate is not far behind, you could make a good argument for Pedroia given the watered-down competition in Doerr's 1944 due to WWII.
Hard to believe Ortiz or JD Martinez won't be on the roster either.
An interesting wrinkle would be to include Babe Ruth as both a pitcher and a position player to clear up a roster spot, but to do that, you'd have to use the same season for both his batting and pitching stats. During his Sox career he was pretty clearly dominant in one area or the other, not both, so to me it's not worth the gymnastics (1919 comes the closest: he won the Triple Crown of slash stats, but his ERA+ was 102).
Argue away!
Kang and Kodos descend upon New England in their flying saucer to play a sadistic game upon which the fate of the earth hangs in the balance. Rather than destroy us outright (which they easily have the firepower to do), they decide to make it sporting: they challenge us to a game of baseball. But they stack the deck, of course: through their alien technology, they can summon any ballplayer from any given year to play for their side. Their one concession is they'll leave us the entire Red Sox roster throughout history for our side. This battle for our very lives will be a 9-game series, necessitating a 5-man rotation and a deep bullpen and bench (we're playing with a DH, though, so no need to worry about pinch-hitting for pitchers or double-switches and the like). Who will you choose to oppose this evil and destructive force?
This thread is for choosing position players and constructing the lineup... not only who makes the team, but where they play and bat. It's not as simple as choosing the best 12-14 offensive seasons in Sox history and rolling them out there, your starting players have to have played their position for a significant amount of games during the season being chosen (we'll assume more fluidity for backups, OF/IF is good enough there, although fielding ability still matters). We know Yaz can play 1B, it's where he wound up in the latter half of his career, but if you choose his 1967 season, he's going to start as a left fielder for you or DH (the "significant amount of games" rule doesn't apply to the DH slot). Also, this is a 9-game series: you'll need to factor in fielding, baserunning, and whether you should try to balance your lineup with righties and lefties. You'll need a backup catcher even though you might never use him. You might even need a pinch runner to steal a pivotal base against Mariano Rivera, who will surely be the Galactic All-Stars' closer.
Which brings up the stakes. Civilization itself as a decided underdog, a very decided underdog. Statistics and WAR may try to tell us who has objectively had the best season, but I also know chutzpah when I see it, and if the fate of the planet is in the balance, will I choose David Ortiz as my DH over Ted Williams (since I'll have Yaz's 67 season in left, taking his defense into account)? See below to find out.
With this is mind, these are the position players I will send to do battle against the Intergalacatic All-Stars. I had a 12-man pitching staff in the other thread, so I'm going with a 13-man bench for position players:
C - Carlton Fisk, 1977 season; Jason Varitek, 2003 season (honorable mention: Rich Gedman, 1985)
1B - Jimmie Foxx, 1938 season (honorable mentions: Mo Vaughn, 1996; Walt Dropo, 1950)
2B - Bobby Doerr, 1944 season; Dustin Pedroia, 2008 season
SS - Rico Petrocelli, 1969 season; Nomar Garciaparra, 2000 season
3B - Wade Boggs, 1987 season (honorable mentions: Adrian Beltre, 2010; Eddie Collins, 1901)
LF - Carl Yastrzemski, 1967 season (honorable mentions: Jim Rice, 1978; Manny Ramirez, 2002)
CF - Fred Lynn, 1979 season; Tris Speaker, 1912 season (honorable mention: Jacoby Ellsbury, 2011)
RF - Mookie Betts, 2018 season (honorable mentions: Dwight Evans, 1981; Jackie Jensen, 1958)
DH - Ted Williams, 1941 season (honorable mentions: J.D. Martinez, 2018; David Ortiz, 2016)
My batting lineup (with season stats, league leader in bold):
1. Mookie Betts, RF (.340/.429/.637, OPS+ 182) *through 8/29/18
2. Wade Boggs, 3B (.363/.461/.588, OPS+ 174)
3. Carl Yastrzemski, LF (.326/.418/.622, OPS+ 193)
4. Ted Williams, DH (.406/.553/.735, OPS+ 235)
5. Jimmie Foxx, 1B (.349/.462/.704, OPS+ 182)
6. Fred Lynn, CF (.333/.423/.637, OPS+ 176)
7. Rico Petrocelli, SS (.297/.403/.589, OPS +168)
8. Carlton Fisk, C (.315/.402/.521, OPS+ 138)
9. Bobby Doerr, 2B (.325/.399/.528, OPS +165)
General thoughts: I can't believe that neither Jim Rice's 1978 nor Manny Ramirez's 2002 can make this team, but that's what you get when you have Yaz and Ted in front of you. I could drop either Pedroia or Nomar and carry another OFer, but that leaves me thin in the infield, and Ted is the de facto 5th outfielder already, we don't need 6. Nomar and Pedroia give me bench speed if I need it, too. Nomar/Rico was the closest battle in terms of starting position, I just think Rico's offense was nuts in the context of the 1969 season for his position. The Doerr/Pedroia debate is not far behind, you could make a good argument for Pedroia given the watered-down competition in Doerr's 1944 due to WWII.
Hard to believe Ortiz or JD Martinez won't be on the roster either.
An interesting wrinkle would be to include Babe Ruth as both a pitcher and a position player to clear up a roster spot, but to do that, you'd have to use the same season for both his batting and pitching stats. During his Sox career he was pretty clearly dominant in one area or the other, not both, so to me it's not worth the gymnastics (1919 comes the closest: he won the Triple Crown of slash stats, but his ERA+ was 102).
Argue away!
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