New York State of Mind: Darryl Strawberry and Gary Carter

Let's head across town to see what going on in Flushing.

Darryl Strawberry. He was the first case where I looked at the stats and said "Wow, it's a shame what he did with his career. What might have been..."

His OB 9 and six extra-base results usually put him in the 3-4-5 slot on a team. I like that his defense is average, and the speed will surprise some people. Overall, a nice little slugger for 450 points, which can allow for nice back-up.

From the 2011 Topps set.

Gary Carter is a Met and not an Expo because I just liked this one picture best.

He's on the border with OB 7/8, which explains the five outs he has on his card. No real weaknesses, just a catcher with excellent defense who does okay with only four extra-base results (two of which are homers), and a whole lot of singles. I would park him maybe in the #2 slot (though his speed is a potential problem) or lower in the order (5-6-7) because he can still drive in runners with all those singles.

Card made from a Google image. Not hard to find.

New York State of Mind: Phil Rizzuto

So, having discussed how I did the "Legends", let's start in the Big Apple!

Phil Rizzuto represents the traditional MLB shortshop: good defense, low power. Unlike a true good-field/no-hit shortshop though, he could actually get hits (mainly singles, but whatever).

Clocking in at an OB 8, Rizzuto is a good candidate to lead off in a line-up, especially coupled with his Speed A. SS+5 is always a nice thing to have, and his low cost (240 points) allows you to take a chance of hitters with questionable fielding but better bats around the infield.

Now, there isn't a lot of power. Only three extra-base results, none being homers, will limit some stats (like RBI). But, all around not a bad little piece.

Card is from the 2011 Topps set. Link http://sportscardradio.com/sports-card-directory/product-previews-a-reviews/740-2011-topps-series-1-baseball-box-complete-set-checklist, since I loved how these cards looked.

A brief review of my "Legends" series of MLB Showdown cards

When I make my "Legends" series of MLB Showdown customs*, I have to be careful how to scrutinize the data.

1) Dead-ball era and 1960s era hitters are a pain to try and do. Just do the best you can, and I usually up the offense a little bit, imagining if they played in today's era.

2) Peaks matter. I usually take a stretch of time when the player was at the top of their game (as judged by OPS+ or ERA+ as a quick reference), not taking into account decline because frankly you remember those players at their best, don't you?

3) Take the down with the bad, don't cherry-pick. This isn't usually a problem, but players like Roy Campanella were up and down. Just smooth out the data.

4) Make an average of the peak (min. 5 seasons I prefer) and extrapolate from there.

*It's got Hall of Famers and non-Hall of Famers, so the blanket term for cards for retired players is "Legends".

Returning

My oh my, life has gotten in the way for far too long. I'm planning a wedding for this summer, so forgive me for the long absence.

Some of you may have noticed that the costs for some of the MLB Showdown pitchers differ a bit (usually costing more) from their counterparts that were actually printed. The reason being simple... the costs were originally undercosted.

Say you have a 19 pitcher (16 outs +3 Control) and a 20 pitcher (16 outs +4 Control). Assuming IP 6, the first will cost about 330 points, the second about 450 points. One step up to a 21 pitcher, and we have 550 points.

Now, a +5 control pitcher (15 outs) and a +4 control pitcher (16 outs) are functionally the same. Both are 20 pitchers.

Why is it that these 20 pitchers, with 6 IP, when stacked with other 20 pitchers with 7 IP only see a 30 point increase?

As such, a 20 pitcher with IP 7 has been bumped up a smidge to about 510 to 530 points to bring costs in line.

Also, the 2001 cards were undercosted as a whole as well. Power creep is best done when not blatant...