From: steph@pegasus.cs.uiuc.edu (Dale Stephenson)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Fantasy League MVP, Cy Young help needed
Summary: which one to choose
Keywords: MVP, Cy Young
Date: 27 Jan 93 08:39:22 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois, Dept. of Comp. Sci., Urbana, IL

I just finished a season in my fantasy league, and have handed out most of
my awards.  I've only got two to hand out, the AL (Allied League) MVP and
Cy Young awards.  I can't decide who to give them to.

Background:  The AL has a wide talent distribution -- some stars, but still
a lot of starters (position & pitching) who shouldn't be in the majors.  It
is heavy on the offense -- league average is 272/342/397, league ERA is
4.66 with an average of 5 runs scored per game.  The season is only 86 games
long, but an 87th game was played by the Dragonne Swordsmen and the Corralea
Princes for the division title.

MVP Contenders:
Gaston Cromwell (3B -- Dragonne Swordsmen)
Tangibles:  G  AB  R  H  RBI  2B  3B  HR  SB  BB  K  BA  OBA  SLG
           78 309 67 121  76  19   5  21  25  32 11  392/449/689
1st in Slugging, OPS; 2nd in Total Bases, Extra Bases, On Base Average;
3rd in batting average, doubles; 4th in Home Runs; 6th in Runs, Hits.

Intangibles:  Widely considered most talented player in baseball.  2nd best
defensive 3rd baseman in league.  Team was expected to walk away with division,
won divison in one game playoff (Cromwell was 1 for 4).  MVP preceding year.
Highest All-star vote getter, two consecutive years.  Personally popular, but
team is most hated in baseball.  Injured for a few weeks.

Jeremy Price (C -- Corralea Princes)
Tangibles:  G  AB  R  H  RBI  2B  3B  HR  SB  BB  K  BA  OBA SLG
           87 363 87 127  90  14   1  28   0  29 43  350/398/625

1st in Games, Runs, RBI, Homers, and Total Bases; 2nd in Hits, slugging;
3rd in Extra Base Hits, OPS; 5th in At bats; 10th in Batting average.

Intangibles:  Led unheralded team to one game playoff with heavily favored
Dragonne.  (Was 1 for 4 in game, which they lost).  Former Rookie of the Year.
Third best defensive catcher in league, had 92 runners try against him, 46
were caught for 46.7%.  Most "bases removed" of any catcher in either league.
TWG.

So who should I give the MVP to?  Price has the Intangibles and the glory stats
(#1 in HR and RBI), but Cromwell's 449/689 is better than Price's 398/625.
Price does get a defensive nod.

CY YOUNG:

All sorts of contenders here: (all starters)
            ERA  W - L  GS  IP    H   BB   SO  BR/9    RA  
Corviss    2.71 11 - 4  20 139.1 115  73  168 12.14   2.91
Chrisline  2.89  9 - 5  21 146.1 104  56  217  9.84   3.32
Growgreen  2.29  9 - 5  20 137.2 107  55  212 10.59   3.07
Druff      3.74 12 - 6  21 142   104  94  190 12.55   4.25
Planchet   2.94 11 - 5  22 159.1 104  79  203 10.34   3.22

Rankings:
ERA:  Growgreen #1, Corviss #2, Chrisline #3, Planchet #4 (86 IP min.)
Wins:  Druff #1, Planchet & Corviss #2, Growgreen & Chrisline #10
GS:  Planchet #1, Druff & Chrisline #2, Corviss & Growgreen #4
CG:  Planchet, Chrisline & Corviss #2
Sho:  Corviss #1
IP:  Planchet #1, Chrisline #2, Druff #5, Corviss #7, Growgreen #8
BB:  Druff #1, Planchet #3, Corviss #5
SO:  Chrisline #1, Growgreen #2, Planchet #3, Druff #4, Corviss #6
BR/9 (43 IP):  Chrisline #4, Planchet #5, Growgreen #8
H/9 (43 IP):  Planchet #1, Chrisline #2, Druff #3, Growgreen #7
K/9 (43 IP):  Growgreen #1, Chrisline #2, Druff #3, Planchet #5, Corviss #10
RA (43 IP):  Corviss #3, Growgreen #5, Planchet #9, Chrisline #10

Intangibles:
Corviss -- team below .500, lousy defense behind him, but above average
  offense.  Plays in pitcher's park.  
Chrisline -- team won division, good defense, good offense.  1/2 elf.
Growgreen -- team has below average defense, offense, and bullpen.  Yes, 
  they finished below .500.  Hobbit.
Druff -- team contended.  Plays in extreme hitters park.  Team has good
  offense, lousy defense, putrid bullpen.  All star game starter, rookie
  of the year, dwarf.
Planchet -- team won division.  Good defense, good bullpen.  Shutout Corralea
  Princes in one game playoff.  Former all star game starter, two time all
  star, won Cy Young last year.  Only lefty among contenders.  Can't hold
  runners.  Egotistical.


In case any of you are wondering, the two races in the other league were 
easier to decide.  Simon Stuart went 16-0 with a 1.88 ERA, making the Cy
a foregone conclusion.  The MVP was tougher.  Stephen Promise had every
intangible on his side (TWG, led team to record win total, big games, etc),
while Arn Arn won the triple crown.  Arn & Promise were 1-2 in RBI, Xtra
Base Hits, total bases, OPS, and slugging percentage.  They were 2-3 in
OBA.  But Arn Arn's home field boosted offense by a ludicrous 25% (I'm moving
the fences back next year), while Promise's depressed it a little.  Taking
that into consideration, Arn's 407/458/721 no longer looked better than
Promise's 385/434/646.
-- 
Dale J. Stephenson |*| (steph@cs.uiuc.edu) |*| Baseball fanatic

  "It is considered good to look wise, especially when not 
   overburdened with information" -- J. Golden Kimball
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball