A long, long time ago, Mick presented his all-July 20 team, and it was pretty good. He's done other days too (like August 9, December 25, April 14, and the devilish June 6s.) But, were any of these teams the best? So, it's Friday and time for a challenge.
The idea is this. Pick a date, any date, and use the amazing Baseball
Reference to locate the players born on that date. Next, assemble a
ballclub, with batting order and pitching staff taking the statistics
of the birthday boys in their respective career years. So, for example,
the August 23rds look like this
Starting Lineup
Player
Position
Year
PA
BA (Lg. Avg.)
OBP(Lg.)
SLUGGING(Lg.)
Other
Julio Franco
2B
1991
659
.341(.258)
.408(.326)
.474(.391)
36-9 SB/CS
George Kell
3B
1949
612
.343(.271)
.424(.363)
.467(.393)
only 13K
Ron Blomberg
DH
1973
301
.329(.256)
.395(.324)
.498(.376)
George Davis
SS
1897
572
.353(.295)
.407(.358)
.509(.393)
Mark Bellhorn
1B
2002
529
.258(.264)
.374(.337)
.512(.419)
Dale Mitchell
LF
1948
656
.336(.269)
.383(.354)
.431(.389)
Casey Blake
RF
2006
456
.282(.272)
.356(.336)
.479(.432)
Sherm Lollar
C
1958
491
.273(.259)
.367(.328)
.454(.394)
John O'Rourke
CF
1879
325
.341(.262)
.357(.278)
.521(.339)
Bench
Johnny Romano
C/DH
1961
580
.299(.260)
.377(.335)
.475(.398)
platoon DH/occ. C
Jerry White
CF
1980
249
.262(.267)
.351(.329)
.430(.387)
Lonny Frey
SS/2B
1935
588
.262(.283)
.352(.338)
.437(.403)
Jeff Manto
3B/1B
1995
280
.256(.276)
.325(.351)
.492(.436)
17 HRs
Paul Meloan
OF
1910
251
.243(.246)
.315(.311)
.324(.317)
Bobby Estalella
C/PH
2000
361
.234(.262)
.357(.338)
.468(.428)
14HRs
I really like the offence. Runners on base galore and
Blomberg, Davis and Bellhorn supplying pop. Three guys on the
bench who can supply the late 3 run homer if needed, and everyone on
the bench with a role. On to the pitching.
Rotation
Pitcher
Year
Innings
ERA+
K/9
W/9
Mike Boddicker
1984
261
139
4.5
2.9
Guy Bush
1929
270
129
2.7
3.6
Lew Richie
1911
253
142
2.8
3.7
Nels Potter
1945
255
143
4.6
2.4
Cowboy Jones
1900
292
102
2.1
2.5
Bullpen
Pitcher
Year
Innings
ERA+
K/9
W/9
Randy St. Claire
1987
67
104
5.8
2.7
John Morris
1970
73
97
4.9
2.7
Ken Holcombe
1945
55
194
4.4
3.2
Danny Murphy
1969
31
193
4.6
2.9
Bob Lawson
1901
46
109
2.3
5.5
Nels Potter might have had the best season among the
pitchers. His K and walk rates were among the best in the league
in 1945. Overall, the pitchers are like a mirror image of the
hitters. Effective but not too many home runs or
strikeouts. The control for the pitchers is better than league
average, whereas the hitters have better than average plate
discipline. The August 23rds are going to win a lot of 6-4 and
5-3 games.
So, can you do better? Give me the date, your 25 man roster and
the career years of each. Try to make sure that the player played
the position you want him to play in the career year. You'd also like to have players who can give you 600-700 PAs at each position, and 1500 innings in total.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20070812093526918