Round 3 - The Finals Scoring!
Here it is! For all the marbles (think Marble Madness, here, no real marbles will be awarded to the winner...), we have ...
Bill - Indians 1990-1999 vs. James - Cardinals 1980-1989
1. What was your team's winning percentage for the decade? (1 pt, to whoever is closer)
90's Tribe: 0.525, with an actual of 0.531, for a 0.006 difference.
80's Cards: 0.523, with an actual of 0.529, for a 0.006 difference!
You both get the point!
Bill 1, James 1
2. How many postseason appearances did your team make? (1 pt)
90's Tribe: 5, yes!
80's Cards: 3, yes!
Bill 2, James 2
3. Place each of the 10 seasons in order by team winning percentage:
90's Tribe:
1. 1995 - 1 pt
2. 1997 - actually 1996
3. 1998 - actually 1999
4. 1999 - actually 1994
5. 1996 - actually 1998
6. 1994 - actually 1997
7. 1993 - actually 1990
8. 1992 - 1 pt
9. 1990 - actually 1993
10. 1991 - 1 pt
80's Cards:
1. 1985 - 1 pt
2. 1982 - actually 1987
3. 1981 - 1 pt
4. 1987 - actually 1982
5. 1986 - actually 1989
6. 1984 - 1 pt
7. 1983 - actually 1986
8. 1980 - actually 1983
9. 1989 - actually 1988
10. 1988 - actually 1980
Both of you got 3 points here, with James' omission of 1984 and adding it back in the right spot being one of them. Bill had a slight advantage on this question as the Tribe had identical win percentages in 1992 and 1993, so either the 8th or 9th slot worked for those years.
Bill 5, James 5
4. Over the next 3 questions, we'll put together a roster for your team. Name the player who was your team's regular starter at each defensive position the most years: (1 pt each)
90's Tribe:
C: Sandy Alomar Jr. - Yes!
1B: Jim Thome - No, actually was Paul Sorrento with 4 seasons to Thome's 3.
2B: Carlos Baerga - Yes!
3B: Jim Thome - Yes!
SS: Omar Vizquel - Yes!
LF: Albert Belle - Yes!
CF: Kenny Lofton - Yes!
RF: Manny Ramirez - Yes!
80's Cards:
C: Tom Pagnozzi - No, actually was Darrell Porter
1B: Keith Hernandez - Yes, actually was Keith Hernandez/Jack Clark tied at 3 seasons each.
2B: Tommy Herr - Yes!
3B: Terry Pendleton - Yes!
SS: Ozzie Smith - Yes!
LF: Vince Coleman - Yes!
CF: Willie McGee - Yes!
RF: George Hendrick - Yes!
I was impressed with the fact that you both got all but one position right. I was expecting you to miss the positions you did, those struck me as the hardest in both cases, but I thought you might miss on one of the other ones simply due to brain fart.
Bill 12, James 12
5. Name the top 5 starting pitchers by games started:
90's Tribe:
1. Charles Nagy - 1.25 pts
2. Bartolo Colon - actually Orel Hershiser - 1 pt
3. Dennis Martinez - actually Bartolo Colon - 1 pt
4. Chad Ogea - actually Jaret Wright, Ogea was 7th, just behind Greg Swindell.
5. Orel Hershiser - actually Dennis Martinez - 1 pt
80's Cards:
1. Bob Forsch - 1.25 pts
2. Joaquin Andujar - 1.25 pts
3. Joe Magrane - actually Danny Cox -Magrane was 6th just behind LaPoint.
4. Danny Cox - actually John Tudor - 1 pt
5. John Tudor - actually Dave LaPoint - 1 pt
Nagy was the only starter to be a regular for the Indians for the entire decade. Nice work in both cases!
James 16.5, Bill 16.25
6. Name the top 5 relief pitchers by relief appearances (G-GS):
90's Tribe:
1. Eric Plunk - 1.25 pts
2. Paul Assenmacher - 1.25 pts
3. Paul Shuey - actually Jose Mesa - 1 pt
4. Jose Mesa - actually Paul Shuey - 1 pt
5. Mike Jackson - 1.25 pts
80's Cards:
1. Jeff Lahti - actually Todd Worrell - 1 pt
2. Todd Worrell - actually Ken Dayley - 1 pt
3. Ken Dayley - actually Bruce Sutter - 1 pt
4. Bruce Sutter - actually Jeff Lahti - 1 pt
5. Bob Forsch - actually Rickey Horton
So, I hope this question was worded clearly as relief appearances. Forsch is in the top 5 of Cardinals in terms of appearances, but most of those were starts. Rickey Horton made 44 starts, too, but it wasn't enough to push him off the list.
Bill 22, James 20.5
7. For each team, below is the draftee that has produced the most WAR (BB-Ref) from each draft class. Put them in order of draft pick, as if they had been drafted in the same draft.
For each of these, I've included the player's career WAR and some other picks of "note" from that draft class.
90's Tribe:
- 1. Paul Shuey (1992) - Yes - Rnd 1, 2nd (6.1 WAR, Rnd 3, 70th pick Jon Nunnally had 4.8 WAR) - 2 pts
- 2. Manny Ramirez (1991) - Yes - Rnd 1, 13th (64.8 WAR, Rnd 4, 112th pick Paul Byrd had 14.0 WAR, Rnd 44, 1148th pick Damian Jackson had 5.7 WAR, Herbert Perry (4.2), Chad Ogea (4.2), Pep Harris (2.7), and Albie Lopez (2.5) also) - 2 pts
- 6. David Bell (1990) - CC Sabathia (1998) - Rnd 1, 20th - (50.5 WAR) - 0 pts
- 3. CC Sabathia (1998) - Sean Casey (1995) - Rnd 2, 53rd (14.3 WAR) - 1 pts
- 10. David Riske (1996) - Russell Branyan (1994) - Rnd 7, 185th (9.7 WAR, Rnd 1, 10th pick Jaret Wright had 3.5 WAR and Rnd 4, 101st pick Danny Graves had 4.8 WAR) - 0 pts
- 8. Richie Sexson (1993) - David Bell (1990) - Rnd 7, 190th (12.7 WAR, Rnd 17, 460th pick Dave Mlicki had 4.9 WAR) - 0 pts
- 5. Russell Branyan (1994) - Dustan Mohr (1997) - Rnd 9, 291st (1.7 WAR) - 0 pts
- 7. Dustan Mohr (1997) - Richie Sexson (1993) - Rnd 24, 671st (15.5 WAR, Rnd 8, 223rd pick Steve Kline had 9.2 WAR and Rnd 47, 1303rd pick Dave Roberts had 7.9 WAR) - 1 pts
- 4. Sean Casey (1995) - John Gall (1999) - Rnd 50, 1469th - (-0.1 WAR) - 0 pts
- 9. John Gall (1999) - David Riske (1996) - Rnd 56, 1560th (6.6 WAR, Rnd 12, 363rd pick John McDonald has 5.3 WAR) - 1 pts
80's Cards:
- 3. Todd Zeile (1986) - Joe Magrane (1985) - Rnd 1, 18th (11.2 WAR) - 0 pts
- 4. Ray Lankford (1987) - Brian Jordan (1988) - Rnd 1s, 30th (30.8 WAR, Rnd 6, 158th pick Rheal Cormier had 8.0 WAR and Rnd 9, 236th pick Mark Clark had 4.6 WAR) - 0 pts
- 2. Brian Jordan (1988) - Todd Zeile (1986) - Rnd 2s, 55th (15.9 WAR, Rnd 1, 23rd pick Luis Alicea had 9.8 WAR and Rnd 4, 104th pick Mark Guthrie had 8.2 WAR) - 1 pts
- 5. Lance Johnson (1984) - Ray Lankford (1987) - Rnd 3, 72nd (35.7 WAR) - 1 pts
- 10. Rick Aguilera (1980) - Lance Johnson (1984) - Rnd 6, 139th (27.8 WAR, Rnd 22, 554th pick Jeff Fassero had 21.6 WAR) - 0 pts
- 1. Joe Magrane (1985) - Terry Pendleton (1982) - Rnd 7, 179th (25.1 WAR, Rnd 10, 257th pick Vince Coleman had 10.5 WAR, Rnd 1, 21st pick Todd Worrell had 10.1 WAR, and Rnd 11, 283rd pick Rob Dibble had 8.7 WAR) - 0 pts
- 8. Danny Cox (1981) - Tom Pagnozzi (1983) - Rnd 8, 208th (6.6 WAR) - 1 pts
- 6. Terry Pendleton (1982) - Danny Cox (1981) - Rnd 13, 319th (7.9 WAR, Rnd 1, 8th pick Bob Meacham had 3.3 WAR) - 0 pts
- 7. Tom Pagnozzi (1983) - Bill Hurst (1989) - Rnd 20, 510th (0.1 WAR) - 0 pts
- 9. Bill Hurst (1989) - Rick Aguilera (1980) - Rnd 37, 803rd (20.4 WAR, Rnd 2, 41st pick Dan Plesac had 15.9 WAR) - 1 pts
This question was, of course, incredibly hard. Bill remembered that Shuey was the 2nd overall pick and that Manny followed, and that was the big difference here.
Bill 29, James 24.5
8. Name 5 players who played the final game of their major league career for your team in this decade: (1 pt each)
90's Tribe:
Steve Olin - Yes, sadly enough. I remember the coverage of the accident fairly well.
Eddie Murray - No, Murray played for the Tribe in 1996, but was traded to Baltimore for Kent Mercker. He spent 1997 with the Angels and Dodgers.
Tony Pena - No, Pena also played for the Tribe in 1996, but spent 1997 with the White Sox and Astros.
Dennis Martinez - No, if only the world had ended in 1996! Martinez played for the Tribe that year, but spent 1997 in Seattle and 1998 in Atlanta.
Orel Hershiser - No, but at least he spent 1997 with the Tribe. He played 3 more years after that, with the Giants, Mets, and Dodgers.
80's Cards:
Jim Kaat - Yes! He ended his career after 24 appearances at age 44 in 1983.
Mark Littell - Yes! He never pitched after age 29 in 1982.
Gene Tenace - No, he had 53 games as a Pirate in 1983 after his two seasons in St. Louis.
Mike Dunne - No, he was actually drafted by the Cardinals and traded WITH Van Slyke and Lavalliere for Tony Pena. Dunn debuted with the Pirates in 1987 and retired after a stint with the White Sox in 1992.
John Stuper - No, he made 33 appearances, including 13 starts for the Reds in 1985 to end his 4 year MLB career.
IMO, a fun question that is remarkably challenging, particularly when there are old guys who hung on for another year.
Bill 30, James 26.5
9. Name 1 player who led their league (AL for Tribe, NL for Cards) in a statistic. Name the player, the statistic (e.g. HR's, RBI, etc.), and the year he led the league. (1 pt for each component = 3 pts total)
90's Tribe:
Albert Bell, 1995 HR's - Yes to all 3, and 50 is indeed the right number, but you don't get points for that bit.
80's Cards:
Vince Coleman, 1985 SB's - Yes to all 3, although your guess of 130 was a bit high of his 110. Incidentally, that was his rookie year and first of 3 100 SB seasons he had. Crazy to think about anyone doing that now. Guys like him and Rickey attempted to steal almost every chance they possibly had.
Bill 33, James 29.5
Bill wins! Congrats!