1989 - 30th Anniversary: Why Not?

[connja]

What would need to happen?   Bundy contends for Cy Young.  Cashner and Cobb are sub-4 era.  Great defense.  Davis hits 40.  Likely?  No.  Possible?  Why Not??!!

 

Hope springs eternal!

[ShaneDawg85]

I'd be ecstatic if Chris Davis came even close to 1989 Randy Milligan's 3.7 WAR at 1st base.  Hell, I'd consider it nothing short of a miracle.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, connja said:

What would need to happen?   

Well for one thing, we’d have to go back 10 years to when the 20th anniversary occurred, and totally change the team.   

[TonySoprano]

For starters, the Red Sox and Yankees would decide to stay in London after their series there.  That would give the Orioles a full 3 months to try to make up ground in the standings.

[DrungoHazewood]

45 minutes ago, TonySoprano said:

For starters, the Red Sox and Yankees would decide to stay in London after their series there.  That would give the Orioles a full 3 months to try to make up ground in the standings.

The Blue Jays won the AL East in '89 with 89 wins.  There were three AL East teams in 2018 with more wins than that.  The Red Sox coasted to 108.

[TonySoprano]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

The Blue Jays won the AL East in '89 with 89 wins.  There were three AL East teams in 2018 with more wins than that.  The Red Sox coasted to 108.

In my scenario, TB wins the division and the O's would be looking at the second wild card.  I did preface my statement with "for starters."

[Moose Milligan]

Would have to get starters with average stuff strike out like 1.5/9 and play great defense behind them.

[now]

8 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Would have to get starters with average stuff strike out like 1.5/9 and play great defense behind them.

Anderson, Devereaux, Finley... *sigh*

[Cumberbundy]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

Prodigious spin is paramount 

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

Would have to get starters with average stuff strike out like 1.5/9 and play great defense behind them.

Jeff Ballard was involved in some kind of Robert Johnson level demonic stuff that year.

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, now said:

Anderson, Devereaux, Finley... *sigh*

Bradley, Orsulak...

Which would have been better, the 1988 outfield of Sheets, Gerhart, and Lynn, or two of Anderson, Devereaux and Finley?

[Moose Milligan]

2 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Bradley, Orsulak...

Which would have been better, the 1988 outfield of Sheets, Gerhart, and Lynn, or two of Anderson, Devereaux and Finley?

Phil Bradley had a really solid 1989 campaign.  Always forget about that guy but he was pretty key.  

[maybenxtyr]

Each loss counts as a win. That's about the only way their numbers are going to come close to the rest of the division.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, now said:

Anderson, Devereaux, Finley... *sigh*

Of course, those guys started no more than 3 games together all year, possibly fewer, and even late in games could not have been on the field together in more than 21 games total.    Here’s a breakdown of who started in the OF that year (total games for the “big 3” added in parentheses):

CF: Devo 72 (80), Brady 65 (75), Finley 18 (23), Jefferson 7.

LF: Bradley 138, Orsulak 19, Finley 3 (14),  B. Davis 1, Jefferson 1, Devo (4), Brady (3)

RF: Orsulak 80, Finley 33 (41), Devo 25 (35), Jefferson 24, Brady (1).

So, of the three only Finley ever started in LF, and that was only 3 times.    The three combined only got in 21 games in LF, including 18 times as defensive substitutions.  So that’s the maximum number of times all three could have been in the OF at the same time.   

[foxfield]

11 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Bradley, Orsulak...

Which would have been better, the 1988 outfield of Sheets, Gerhart, and Lynn, or two of Anderson, Devereaux and Finley?

Without question an outfield with 6 players, especially as good as Anderson, Devereaux and Finley.