100 Years of PEBA: The mega-test sim

[Duane]

Wow, looks like the century has been kind to the Codgers:

• second-highest winning percentage (after NJ)
• second-highest number of playoff appearances (after NJ)
• twice as many championships as hated rival Bakersfield (6-3)
• only team to never have a 100-loss season (poor Kentucky has 17! )

Isn't the alpha and omega of the thing astounding? The original two PEBA Cup combatants, New Jersey and Palm Springs, remain their respective leagues' role models for excellence over the next full century! It makes an old fellow proud...

Taken altogether, it's enough to make me coin a new moniker for my team's home city--
Palm Springs: Oasis of Victory



I have to say, I've never had the opportunity to trash-talk about events that will happen in the future like this....thoroughly enjoyable.


Did I mention this whole thing is seriously awesome? Because it, like, is.

yeah whatever, lets see you do better than projection with half your market and budget ... and 1 championship with a 101mil budget ... just cements the imbalance

[John]

yeah whatever, lets see you do better than projection with half your market and budget ... and 1 championship with a 101mil budget ... just cements the imbalance

Tell that to London and their eight championships, tied for second most recorded during this sim and two more than Palm Springs managed. Last time I checked, they had the same market size as Kentucky (actually, this sim was run before London added a market size during our current off-season). If anything, this sim proves that you're only disadvantaged if you believe you are.

[John]

Just an update: I'm working on Patrick's request for info on the top 5 Hall of Fame hitters and pitchers, and this has now developed into another full-blown write-up. I've completed the first two hitters, but it's going to take a bit of time to finish the whole thing. Hopefully I'll have it read next weekend. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions more narrow in scope I'll be happy to answer them here.

[Tyler]

Could I get just straightforward career statistics for the top batter by VORP in Coal Sox history (just time spent in WV), provided it isn't someone current, of course?

[John]

Could I get just straightforward career statistics for the top batter by VORP in Coal Sox history (just time spent in WV), provided it isn't someone current, of course?

Vaughn Benjamin was selected 18th overall in the 2073 amateur draft by the Reno Tenpinners. After establishing himself as a top-flight player with the Tenpinners, the centerfielder left the team in free agency after the '82 season and signed a 6-year/$96.8M contract with the Coal Sox. He would play for the team from '83 into 2092 (he was traded in June of that year to Manchester). Benjamin was a force for West Virginia, usually good for 30 HR, 100 RBI and 100 runs to go with his .310+ batting average. He retired from baseball after the 2093 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Benjamin was a 9-time All-Star (6 of those appearances coming in a Coal Sox uniform).

Career Statistics
G: 2434 (1346 with WV)
AB: 9007 (5013 with WV)
H: 2775 (1571 with WV)
2B: 518 (258 with WV)
3B: 79 (42 with WV)
HR: 385 (245 with WV)
RBI: 1431 (817 with WV)
R: 1706 (976 with WV - franchise leader)
BB: 1657 (969 with WV - franchise leader)
HP: 70
SF: 73
K: 800
SB: 149
CS: 155 (90 with WV - franchise leader)
AVG: .308 (.313 with WV)
OBP: .417 (.425 with WV - franchise leader)
SLG: .511 (.528 with WV)
OPS: .928 (.953 with WV)
VORP: 972.1 (596.8 with WV - franchise leader)

[Tyler]

Thanks.

[John]

As requested, the following is a career retrospective of the 5 top hitters (ranked by VORP) that were elected to the Hall of Fame. Players whose PEBA careers began before 2020 were excluded from consideration, as were players whose careers are still in progress.

Interestingly, three of the four hitters with the highest career VORP are still playing (including the ones holding down the #1 and #2 positions). Because the question posed specifically asked about Hall of Famers, I am excluding these three from this report. I am also excluding one player whose PEBA career began prior to 2020 (he was ranked #8 overall). The remaining eligible top 5 hitters hold down the #3, #5-7 and #9 positions on the all-time career VORP leaderboard. We’ll examine them in reverse order.

I'll try to do a similar write-up for pitchers next week, but no promises. I want to make sure I help owners still working out the kinks with the OOTP 9 transition, and there's a lot of preparatory work to be done for the upcoming season.

[John]

#5. 1B/DH Jeffrey Steele – Born 11/20/2013 (Brooklyn, NY) – 6’1”, 209 lbs. – LHB

Code: Select all

From-To	  G	   AB	  R	   H	   2B	 3B   HR	 RBI	 SB	CS	
2035-2053	2327	8351	1574	2619	548	39	487	1581	31	22	

BB	  SO	   AVG	 OBP	 SLG	 OPS   VORP
1685	1154	.314	.429	.564	.992	1108.0

Fielding data was turned off for this sim to speed the process and minimize the size of the league file, so unfortunately I can’t tell if Steele actually played 1B or not. Certainly by the time he reached the age of his retirement (41) he was well beyond a liability in the field, so it’s reasonable to assume he spent at least some (if not most or all) of his career as a DH.

While his glove may have been a liability, Steele was as sure a thing as they come with the bat. As a youngster he attended Union City HS in NJ and absolutely annihilated the poor kids that had the misfortune to pitch against him. After batting .407 and hitting 40 HR during his HS career, Steele was the no-brainer #1 overall selection in the ’32 PEBA amateur draft. Yuma was the lucky team to be holding that pick, and Steele was assigned to SS-A Kivalina.

He spent all of ’32 in SS-A and started the ’33 season there as well, probably thanks to a very rough pro transition (.190/.193/.216 in 269 AB). The ’33 go-around in Kivalina would be much more positive (.399/.449/.492 in 356 AB). Steele skipped Hi-A and went straight to AA Calgary to start ’34. He ended up splitting the season between Calgary and AAA Henderson. Despite performing well during his 66 games at Henderson, Steele was asked to repeat AAA in ’35. Although his OPS fell from .872 to .807, Yuma made Steele a September call-up that season. His .388/.461/.627 line in 18 games clearly indicated that he was ready for the majors, and starting in ’36 Steele was a full-time regular for the Bulldozers.

OSA prospect rankings: #32 (’33), #2 (’34), #1 (’35), #1 (’36)

Steele was decent in his first full year in the bigs, outstanding in ’37 and ’38, and he became a full-blown superstar starting in ’39 thanks to a .355/.462/.622 line that year. What changed was his discipline. In ’36 Steele struck out 120 times to just 44 walks. By ’39 that ratio had turned on its head: 57 K vs. 121 BB. Steele had become an on-base machine and an incredibly tough out. His 30-HR power made him the ideal #3 hitter.

Steele’s breakout year powered Yuma’s ’39 championship team and earned him the first of three Royal Raker Awards. It also earned him a fat arbitration award that would eventually push his asking price beyond the Bulldozer’s means. Unwilling to give Yuma a home team discount, Steele tested the waters of free agency after the ’41 season and found his match in Palm Springs. The Codgers signed him to a 3-year/$63.72M contract, the first of 3 such contracts he’d receive from the organization. To say Palm Springs was rewarded for their outlay would be an understatement. Steele led the boys in salmon to titles in ’42, ’44 and ’46. He had an OPS above 1.000 in each of his first 7 seasons with the Codgers.

Steele’s decline was precipitous. He fell from being a .300 hitter to batting just .227 in ’49, became a part-time player in ’50 and spent ’51-’53 collecting splinters on the Codgers’ bench (he actually spent 29 games in AAA Provo that year). After a trip to the Minarai Doumei in ’54 (during which time he won the Sun & Moon Series with Gojira), Steele retired from baseball. He finished his career with the 6th highest OPS ever (.992). His 34-game hitting streak tied for the 4th longest in PEBA history.

14-time Player of the Week, 6-time Batter of the Month, 1-time Rookie of the Month, 12-time All-Star, 3 Royal Rakers (’39, ’41, ’45)

[John]

#4. 3B Miguel Martínez – Born 6/4/2003 (Los Angeles, CA) – 6’3”, 211 lbs. – LHB

Code: Select all

From-To	  G	   AB	  R	   H	   2B	 3B   HR	 RBI	 SB	CS	
2025-2044	2795	9940	1619	3190	591	28	318	1553	15	17	

BB	  SO	   AVG	 OBP	 SLG	 OPS   VORP
2001	741	.321	.435	.482	.917	1128.2

Whereas Steele was a sure thing taken first overall, Martínez was considered a project when Kalamazoo took a flier on him with the first pick in the 5th round (#97 overall) of the ’21 draft. Martínez didn’t even begin playing baseball until his sophomore season in high school, when he walked onto the James River Rapids club and spent most of the year riding the pine. The coaches must have seen something in him because his playing time increased his junior year and he was promoted to full-time player as a senior. His line that year – .508/.550/.780, earning the ’21 IF Outstanding Hitter Award – should have been enough to catapult him up to the 1st round. Confusing things, however, was a serious injury he suffered near the end of the season. Martínez suffered a ruptured medial collateral ligament, and any team selecting him knew that he wouldn’t be ready to play again until ’22. The risk involved combined with his inexperience allowed Martínez to slide so far in the draft.

It would be June before Martínez again swung a bat competitively, a layoff of 13 months. The Badgers wisely gave him a full season at SS-A Ketchikan to allow Martínez to get his feet under him. The rust was evident, but things went much better the next season at Hi-A Nampa (.345/.388/.515 in 499 AB). Before that season, Martínez wasn’t regarded too highly by prospect watchers. But the league took note of the performance, and so did the Badgers. Martínez was ranked on the OSA’s top prospect list in ’24 for the first time, and Kalamazoo decided to challenge their burgeoning hitter by having him skip AA. His performance at AAA Grand Rapids was quite impressive for a 20-year-old: .304/.370/.466. Martínez spent the first 21 games of ’25 back at AAA before receiving the call to The Show. He would never return to the minors.

OSA prospect rankings: NR (’22), NR (’23), #31 (’24), #3 (’25), #3 (’26)

Martínez quickly developed into a premier leadoff man. He didn’t have much base-stealing speed, but his ability to draw a walk and put the bat on the ball was second to none. During his entire 20-year career, Martínez hit under .300 only three times and had an OBP under .400 only twice. He even developed 20 HR power to go with the 30-odd doubles he’d hit each season. These kind of numbers aren’t sexy to some, but Kalamazoo wisely recognized his value and locked him up with a 7-year/$86.31M the summer before he was due to hit free agency. Martínez repaid the Badgers with consistent production throughout his career, never really tailing off at any point.

After signing two more extensions with the team covering a total of 5 years, Martínez finally left the Badgers for a 2-year $29.8M contract with Bakersfield in 2043. His first season with the Bears wasn’t up to his normal standards and he lost his full-time job. He’d only get into 25 games in his second year with Bakersfield. By the time that season ended Martínez was 41 and recognized it was time to hang ‘em up. He ended as one of only 21 players to top 3,000 hits. His 2,253 singles ranked #6 all-time, and he also topped the leaderboard in career OBP (#10) and walks (#2). Not the sexiest categories to be sure, and perhaps that explains why he won just one Royal Raker (’29). But that’s not the kind of hitter Martínez was. He was consistency over flash, one of the most valuable players of his era. The 2040 Kalamazoo Badgers will attest to this; Martínez led them to the Rodriguez Cup that year.

11-time Player of the Week, 4-time Batter of the Month, 12-time All-Star, 1 Royal Raker (’29)

[John]

#3. CF Eric Webb – Born 6/14/1997 (Philadelphia, PA) – 5’11”, 197 lbs. – LHB

Code: Select all

From-To	  G	   AB	  R	   H	   2B	 3B   HR	 RBI	 SB	 CS	
2020-2036	2413	9307	1746	2811	583	85	589	1821	349	100	

BB	  SO	   AVG	 OBP	 SLG	 OPS   VORP
1267	2124	.302	.388	.573	.960	1160.9

Eric “Slaughter” Webb was a true natural to the game of baseball. He ravaged opposing pitchers as a member of the Horizon HS Huskies, amassing 70 HR and 220 RBI in his four years there. Reno had the first pick in the ’16 amateur draft and selecting Webb was a no-brainer.

Like a lot of youngsters turning pro out of high school, Webb struggled in his first exposure to wood bats. He hit .252/.313/.342 in his first pro season SS-A Angoon. The Tenpinners weren’t concerned and the plan was to give him a few more ABs at SS-A the next year and then quickly promote him. Those plans went out the window when Webb strained an elbow ligament 18 games into the season, ending his year prematurely. Undaunted, the Reno brass chose to start Webb at Hi-A in ’18, and after just 8 games there he was promoted to AA Red Deer. Not surprisingly, the aggressive promotions resulted in mediocre performance. Webb did improve somewhat while repeating the level in ’19, but it was his performance at AAA Glendale in ’20 – .316/.381/..531 – that served notice he had arrived. He was called up by the Tenpinners late in that season and became a full-time starter in ’21.

OSA prospect rankings: #8 (’17), #10 (’18 ), #5 (’19), #4 (’20), #2 (’21)

Webb roared out of the gate in his first full season. His mammoth campaign resulted in 40 HR, 135 RBI and 21 steals thrown in for good measure. While Reno had to be thrilled, Webb’s 160 strikeouts may have foretold the speed bump to come. Webb dropped from 40 to 15 HR in ’22. Some of this was due to missing 2 months with a fractured wrist, but that injury was suffered after he had been scuffling for over three months. He was able to increase his doubles from 33 to 38, however; impressive given that he played in 49 fewer games. And as it turns out, there was never anything to worry about. Webb bounced back better than ever in ’23. He hit 42 bombs that season and 51 the next (one of three times he’d reach the 50 HR plateau). His performance resulted in a 127.35 VORP, the 9th highest single-season mark in PEBA history. Four years later he’d also lay claim to the 8th highest VORP in a season (128.24). That was accomplished thanks in part to the 59 HR he belted, tied for 4th all-time.

Reno made a very shrewd move to sign Webb to 3-year, $32.67M extension during the ’25 season, a year and a half before he was slated to hit free agency. Coming off his monster ’24 campaign, Webb had struggled in the early part of the new season. Though the money was still quite generous, it’s likely he’d have commanded a lot more if he had waited until his walk year to ink a deal. Webb ended up staying with the Tenpinners all the way until 2033, when he was traded at the deadline to London. Before he left town he led Reno to Planetary Extreme Championships in ’22 (admittedly his down year) and ’32. While he wasn’t quite the dominant force he had been in Reno, Webb was no slouch for the Underground. He gave them two full solid years in ’34 and ’35 before tailing off in ’36. His contract expired after that season and he eventually announced his retirement in ’37 at the age of 40.

Webb’s six Royal Raker Awards ranked him third all-time in that honor. His 1,746 runs scored rank 7th in PEBA history.

20-time Player of the Week, 12-time Batter of the Month, 15-time All-Star, 3 All-Leathers, 6 Royal Rakers (’23-’26, ’28, ’32)

[John]

#2. 1B Sebastian Holland – Born 6/2/2049 (Sydney, Australia) – 6’4”, 249 lbs. – LHB

Code: Select all

From-To	  G	   AB	  R	   H	   2B	 3B   HR	 RBI	 SB	CS	
2073-2091	2677	9202	1714	2946	621	38	440	1609	37	24	

BB	  SO	   AVG	 OBP	 SLG	 OPS   VORP
1933	1703	.320	.444	.539	.984	1257.4

Holland attended Georgetown University for four years but didn’t become a full-time starter until his senior year (reportedly he was dealing with issues related to being away from his family in Sydney). He did show promise before that, though (.345, 9 HR in 72 games). His senior campaign was also very solid (.341/.417/.543 in 39 games). The Arlington Bureaucrats made him the 5th overall pick in the ’70 amateur draft. There was a division of opinion on the pick. Some scouts lauded the selection, drooling over his contact and HR power potential. More sabermetically-inclined observers cast doubts, however, citing Holland’s questionable plate discipline and limited track record. Plus he wasn’t exactly the most athletic boy (249 lbs. was probably a bit generous a listing).

Holland made such a smooth transition to hitting with wood bats that Arlington chose to get aggressive with him, promoting him first from SS-A to Hi-A and then up to AA in his first pro year. AA finally presented Holland with a bit of a challenge, but a .276/.369/.321 line at that level is nothing to sniff at for a player who has just turned pro. After spending 41 additional games at AA to open the ’71 campaign, Holland was promoted to AAA Newport News. He played reasonably well but displayed none of the HR power that was projected from him (1 HR in 386 AB). He did hit 30 doubles though, a positive sign that the power would be coming. Sure enough, the power began to manifest itself as he repeated AAA the next season (11 HR, 48 2B).

OSA prospect rankings: NR (’71), #2 (’72), #5 (’73)

Opening the ’73 season as Arlington’s starting 1B, Holland got out of the gates with a bang. He won the IL Rookie of the Month award for April, raising expectations amongst ‘Crats fans for what was to come. “The book” on Holland quickly got passed around the league, however, and as pitchers started making adjustments to him the rookie found it difficult to make adjustments of his own. He ended up struggling to the finish, hitting .254 with 14 HR and 137 K vs. 48 BB. The Bureaucrats’ brass kept the faith, however, and to say their patience was rewarded would be quite an understatement. Starting with the 2074 season, Holland became the most dominant hitter of the era. His lowest batting average from ’74 to ’84 was .311 (highest was .363) and he failed to reach 30 HR just once (’80). He knocked in 100 or more every single season during that span. Most importantly to Arlington fans, Holland carried the ’77 club to a PEC victory.

Success comes at a price, however, and Arlington was not able to pay that price. Holland departed in free agency after the ’78 season and signed a 5-year/$81.68M deal with Manchester. The return on the investment was outstanding. Holland became the key cog in the Maulers one and only Rodriguez Cup in 2080. He was wildly popular in Manchester and across America, putting the team on the map nationally and driving sales of Maulers merchandise. Holland’s eight years in Manchester resulted in him topping the franchise’s leaderboard in career batting average (.329), OBP (.469), SLG (.573) and OPS (1.042). Holland finally left the Maulers after a subpar ’86 season and joined the London Underground on a 5-year contract. He had a whale of a bounce-back year in ’87 for London, performed reasonably well in ’88, then tailed off for the final three years of his career. He became a free agent again in ’91, spent ’92 unsuccessfully trying to latch on with another club, and finially made his retirement official in ’93.

In quite possibly the single most impressive individual feat in PEBA history, Holland earned every single IL Royal Raker handed out between ’76 through ’84. His 9 total Royal Rakers were 2 more than the next closest player. He ranked 4th all-time in OBP (.444), 6th in walks (1933) and 9th in OPS (.984). Holland quite simply had no equal as a hitter during the bulk of his career. A shining example of scouting over statistical analysis, Holland was able to harness his tools and develop the plate patience he needed to become an elite hitter later on down the line.

25-time Player of the Week, 12-time Batter of the Month, 1-time Rookie of the Month, 14-time All-Star, 9 Royal Rakers (’76-‘84)

[John]

#1. 1B Chris Stevens – Born 11/4/2013 (Saraland, AL) – 6’1”, 206 lbs. – LHB

Code: Select all

From-To	  G	   AB	   R	   H	   2B	 3B   HR	 RBI	 SB	CS	
2036-2052	2674	10395	1752	3393	729	52	656	2028	33	20	

BB	  SO	   AVG	 OBP	 SLG	 OPS   VORP
1239	1945	.326	.400	.596	.996	1325.0

So here’s a crazy one for you. Chris Stevens, the greatest hitter currently enshrined in the PEBA Hall of Fame, didn’t even play ball in school. That’s not to say he wasn’t athletic – he was the quarterback of the Union City HS Hillers and an 11-time letterman in various sports – but who would dream that such a hitting star wouldn’t even have played the game until he turned pro?

Despite this little fact, Stevens was a hot commodity come draft time. His amazing athleticism had everyone wanting a piece of him. Rice offered him a scholarship to play baseball for them. Of greater concern for PEBA teams considering drafting him, Stanford was offering a full scholarship to become their starting QB. Uncertainty over his signability caused Stevens to drop to 11th overall in the ’32 amateur draft despite positively fawning reports on his raw baseball potential from everyone who scouted him. The beneficiary of this drop was the London Underground; they pounced on Stevens and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. Stevens turned down the scholarships and chose to begin his pro career right away.

Given his lack of experience, it would have been a shock if Stevens hadn’t struggled right off the bat. Sure enough, that exactly what happened in his first season at SS-A Maui (.247/.267/.334). No one was panicking though, and there was certainly no need to. Stevens cruised through SS-A in his next season. He jumped out to a torrid start when promoted to Hi-A Dover to start ’34, prompting London to bump him up to AA Montreal. After AA proved no challenge he was shipped to AAA Worcester for 19 games to close out the season. That was a bit of a stretch, and London wisely gave him a full season at Worcester in ’35. His .340/.383/.548 line that year seemed to indicate that he was ready for The Show, but London wasn’t ready to contend and didn’t want to start Stevens’ arbitration clock too early. As a result, Stevens was left to open ’36 in Worcester once again. He got the call-up to the big league club in June, ending his minor league career once and for all.

OSA prospect rankings: #24 (’33), #7 (’34), #3 (’35), #4 (’36), #1 (’37)

The extended experience garnered at AAA served Stevens well. Despite missing the first 2+ months of the season, Stevens was able to win the IL Wunderkind by hitting .320 with a .910 OPS, 17 HR and 60 RBI. He also struck out 103 times. That trend would lead to problems in his sophomore season at the PEBA level. The 169 whiffs racked up by Stevens in ’37 tied for the 80th worst in a single season. As a result, Stevens average dropped to .276 and his OPS fell almost 100 points. Strikeouts continued to plague him in ’38 (157), but this time he was able to overcome them to bat a whopping .339/.384/.673. He also launched 51 bombs, one of three times he’d crack over 50 in a season. Stevens won the first of five consecutive Royal Rakers that season at the tender age of 24. He had officially arrived.

You almost never see this anymore, but Chris Stevens stayed with the organization that drafted him for his entire career. Sure, it cost the team over $20M/season during his prime years to lock him up, but it was worth every penny. Stevens improved his plate discipline, knocking 40 Ks off his previous totals and eventually drawing 75-100 walks a season. This enabled him to maintain a batting average well north of .300. When you add that to the 40+ HR he was going to give you every season (he hit at least 40 in 12 of his 17 seasons), you had a monster at the plate guaranteed to provide 110-150 RBI.

The one knock on Stevens was that he couldn’t provide London with a Rodriguez Cup. All those amazing seasons, and yet from his debut in ’36 all the way to ’46 the Underground made three playoff trips (’41-’43) and couldn’t capitalize on any of them. They finished first in the Pan-Atlantic once (’42, the only year they made the PEC during this stretch). Another one series-and-out in ’47 had Underground fans wondering if Stevens would become the greatest player never to sip from the Cup. The thing about Stevens, though, is that he never really slumped at any point in his career. Right up through his retirement after the ’52 season he was still an offensive force. And he would not be denied. In ’48, at the age of 34, he carried the Underground to their second PEC victory. As if to prove he point, he did it once again in ’51. His legacy was now cemented; no longer the best of the losers, he was truly the best of the best.

Of course he was beloved in London, helping to boost interest in the game of baseball across the pond. After retirement he became a sort of ambassador for the game, setting up ballparks across Europe so that children could grow up with the game. Amongst the numerous career leaderboards he tops are average (.326 – 5th), OPS (.996 – 5th), hits (3,393 – 4th) and total bases (6,194 – 3rd). He had 5 separate hitting streaks of 21 games or more (including a 30-game streak). Only 16 players ever achieved the batting Triple Crown; Stevens accomplished the feat three separate times:

• 2038: 51 Home Runs, .339/.384/.673, 142 RBI and 118 Runs in 669 AB, 94.8 VORP
• 2039: 48 Home Runs, .368/.424/.662, 142 RBI and 116 Runs in 653 AB, 110.4 VORP
• 2047: 46 Home Runs, .346/.440/.648, 146 RBI and 134 Runs in 622 AB, 108.8 VORP

36-time Player of the Week, 11-time Batter of the Month, 3-time Rookie of the Month, 11-time All-Star, IL Wunderkind (’36) 7 Royal Rakers (’38-’42, ’47, ‘50)

[Badgers]

Wow John, those write ups were way more than I was asking for, but they were awesome!

Thanks a lot!

[John]

Wow John, those write ups were way more than I was asking for, but they were awesome!

Thanks a lot!

I have a tendency to do that. You're very welcome!

[Tyler]

I second that motion - these were great!