All-Time Fantasy Baseball Team

I was listening to one of ESPN's Fantasy Baseball Podcasts the other day and an interesting (at least to me) subject was brought up. An emailer had started a conversation by stating that Rickey Henderson's 1985 season was one of the greatest fantasy seasons ever...at least during the fantasy era (early '80's to the present). The hosts debated it for awhile and mentioned some other seasons but they eventually moved on.

Well I didn't.

My goal initially was to come up with the greatest fantasy seasons ever by position. (Assuming that it would be a roto league with the standard 5 x 5 categories--runs, home runs, RBI's, stolen bases, batting average, wins, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP and saves and the standard positions...plus two utility spots) Clearly I was going to limit my range to those seasons within the designated fantasy era...one, it makes some sense to have seasons that coincide when people actually played fantasy baseball and second, it's gets too complicated to reconcile some of the eras of baseball history to the modern era...ie the deadball era pitchers would dominate the pitching slots.

As I dove into this endeavor I realized that this was going to be no easy task. For example...when evaluating Barry Bonds which season does one put more stock in...his 73 home run season or the season where he went 40-40 (40+ home runs and steals). It became evident to me that I had to refine my purpose. Instead of just listing the best fantasy seasons per position I would come up with the best fantasy seasons in terms of fielding the best fantasy team possible. I believe that this approach lends itself to more debate and more strategy when coming up with a team.

Also...I'm not making exceptions for questionable seasons. I know some of the seasons are suspicious with players using PED's but fantasy baseball is about stats so that's the way I'm going to proceed.

Catcher

Ivan Rodriguez (1999)

.332 AVG/ 35 HR/ 113 RBI/ 25 SB/ 116 runs

This was almost a coin flip with Mike Piazza's 1997 season of .362/40/124/5/104. The number are comparable across the board but I went with Pudge's season because of the steals.

First Baseman

Todd Helton (2000)

.372 AVG/ 42 HR/ 147 RBI/ 5 SB/ 138 runs

This surprised me. In my view there is a plethora of hall of fame worthy (I don't think Helton's there yet) first baseman during this era--Bagwell, Thomas, Thome, McGwire, Delgado and Pujols but none of them can match Helton's 2000 season. McGwire's '98 season is close--
.299/ 70/ 147/ 1/ 130 but Helton's batting average sells it for me. I can make the home runs up elsewhere.

Second Baseman

Roberto Alomar (1999)

.323 AVG/ 24 HR/ 120 RBI/37 SB/ 138 runs

There's been better power seasons, Sandburg in '84 and Soriano in '02 but for an across the board attack one can't beat Alomar's '99 campaign. He's solid in all five stats.

Shortstop

Alex Rodriguez (1998)

Arod is simply ridiculous and I mean that in a positive and negative way.

Look at these three seasons

'96 .358 AVG/ 36 HR/ 123 RBI/ 15 SB/ 141 runs

'98 .310 /42 /124 /46 / 123

'01 .318 /52 /135 /18 /133

I was prepared to go with the '96 season because that batting average is eye opening but then I was going to go with the '01 season because of the power but ultimately I decided on the '98 season because of the all around balance. It's hard to look over a 40-40 season at the SS position. One isn't getting hurt in any stat category.

Third Baseman

Alex Rodriguez (2007)


.314 AVG/ 54 HR/ 156 RBI/ 24 SB/ 143 runs

I probably should have mentioned this earlier but I was going to limit it to where a player can only contribute one season. I thought this would only come into play with the starting rotation or with the outfield spots but then I came to this little dilemma. Since it's a different position I'm making an exception. One can't ignore this season. The home run and RBI total is the highest ever for a third baseman. It's really one of the all time great seasons in MLB history.

But here's the runner up for those not satisfied...Chipper Jones '99 season where he batted...
.319 AVG/ 45 HR/ 110 RBI/ 25 SB/ 116 runs.

Outfield

Rickey Henderson (1985)

.314 AVG/ 24 HR/ 72 RBI/ 80 SB/ 146 runs

I think this season pretty much speaks for itself. The man stole 80 bases and hit 24 home runs...and oh by the way...scored 146 runs.

Larry Walker (1997)

.366 AVG/ 49 HR/ 130 RBI/ 33 SB/ 143 runs

This may be arguably the greatest fantasy season of the fantasy era. It's all there--the power--the speed--the average. Truly a historic season.

Sammy Sosa (2001)

.328 AVG/ 64 HR/ 160 RBI/ 0 SB/ 146 runs

One's definitely taking a hit with the zero steals (come on Sammy) but one can't ignore the other numbers. They're off the chart.

Feeling a little dirty with Sammy's season...a runner-up season would be Griffey's '97 season--
.304 AVG/ 56 HR/ 147 RBI/ 15 SB/ 125 runs


Utility Spots

Barry Bonds (2001)

.328 AVG/ 73 HR/ 137 RBI/ 13 SB/ 129 runs

You knew it was coming. I don't see how one can ignore 73 home runs. The other numbers are very impressive even if the stolen base total is low.

Feeling dirty with this season as well...here's the irony...there's a handful--OK maybe even a half-dozen of seasons prior to the alleged juicing years that are--almost--on par with this season. The one I would take would be his 40-40 season in '96 .308 AVG/ 42 HR/ 129 RBI/ 40 SB/ 122 runs.


Tim Raines (1983)

.298 AVG/ 11 HR/ 71 RBI/ 90 SB/ 133 runs

OK..I had to get a little ridiculous. But here's my reasoning. I have enough power...the lowest HR total on my team is 24. I need steals...and something to make up for Sosa's big fat zero. The batting average isn't going to hurt, although it's the lowest on the team. I probably have enough in the run department but I'm getting the 133 runs as well as the insane stolen base total. Basically my utility spots are taken to the extreme but when they are combined...it makes for a more complete package, which is what I'm going for.


Starting Pitching

Dwight Gooden (1985)

24-4 W-L/ 1.53 ERA/ 0.96 WHIP/ 268 SO

I'm not going to romanticize with the "what might have been" for Gooden but the bottom line is that his '85 season is one of the bests in history. This is a no-doubter.

Greg Maddux (1995)

19-2 W-L/ 1.63 ERA/ 0.81 WHIP/ 181 SO

Maddux's '95 season is historic (back to back sub-2.00 ERA's) and might have been more historic if he didn't miss the 4-5 starts that the work stoppage affected (the season started later). The strikeout total is lower than the rest of the staff but the ridiculous low ERA and WHIP more than make up for it.

Roger Clemens (1997)

21-7 W-L/ 2.05 ERA/ 1.03 WHIP/ 292 SO

I'm not a Clemens fan but I can't ignore this season (he won the AL triple crown-wins, ERA and strikeouts) and for what it's worth Clemens didn't allegedly start juicing until 1998 so it's a season that is hopefully on the up and up.

Pedro Martinez (1999)

23-4 W-L/ 2.07 ERA/ 0.92 WHIP/ 313 SO

His 2000 season is arguable just as good (18-6/1.74/0.73/284 SO) but I went with the 2000 season because of the higher win and strikeout total. Simply dominant as he won the AL pitching triple crown.

Randy Johnson (2001)

21-6 W-L/ 2.49 ERA/ 1.01 WHIP/ 372 SO

He won the NL pitching crown the following year but I went with this year because of the higher strikeout total 372 to 334. The other stat categories are a wash.


Relief Pitching

Trevor Hoffman (1998)

4-2 W-L/ 1.48 ERA/ 86 SO/ 0.85 WHIP/ 53 saves

Hoffman's the all-time saves leader and this season was his best.

Eric Gagne (2003)

2-3 W-L/ 1.20 ERA/ 137 SO/ 0.69 WHIP/ 55 saves

Gagne has since flamed out and he was mentioned in the Mitchell Report but this season was one for the ages for relief pitchers. His strikeout ratio was simply ridiculous...137 K's in 82.1 innings (15.0 K/9 innings).

John Smoltz (2003)

0-2 W-L/ 1.12 ERA/ 73 SO/ 0.87 WHIP/ 45 saves

Interesting that 2003 produced two out of the three best seasons for closers (during this era). Gagne's season overshadowed what Smoltz accomplished this year but one just can't beat that ERA.

Put it on the board.