Has anyone ordered/gotten the 1912 season yet?
It’s a previously unreleased set by APBA but we got a sneak peak when they released their World Series set a while back which included the 1912 pennant winners, the Red Sox and Giants teams.
That was a while ago but one thing that stands out was Smokey Joe Wood’s card. Based on a 34-5 record over 344 innings, they gave him the heralded A&B rating. His ERA was a fantastic yet mortal 1.91.
My guess is that they’ll have to down grade Wood to probably an A&C. The concept of neutralized stats was not that prevalent back when the original set came out.
Besides, if Wood DOES get his A&B, there are two pitchers with comparable stats, Ed Walsh and Walter Johnson.
Johnson had just one fewer win than Wood (33) but his ERA was much lower (1.39 to 1.91). Walsh’s stats didn’t quite reach Wood’s or Johnson’s (27 wins, 2.15 ERA) but he was a workhorse, pitching almost 400 innings (393 IP).
So I’d be interested to see if Smokey Joe retains his coveted A&B and further, if he is the only one. I’d be surprised if both were true.
while I’m at it,
Other highlights of the 1912 season:
- Cobb’s .409 batting average followed by Jackson’s .395
- top HR in either league was Chicago’s Heinie Zimmerman of the with 14
- Clyde “Deerfoot” Milan led both leagues in SB with 88
- This was the year of Pittsburgh’s Owen Wilson’s record breaking 36 triples
A&B sounds great, but the dirty secret is that A&B pitchers are WEAKER than A&Cs in all versions of the game charts I’ve seen.
BTW, Is there a master game grade given for Wood?
Steve,
I remember reading the asme thing many years ago- that an A&C is stronger than an A&B. I guess this is due to the fact that a runner on first
occurs more frequently than a runner on third or first and third combined.
Does a relief pitcher A&C move to A&B for the first batter he faces?
I believe that he does no? It’s still pretty cool havinh an A &B however.
CLuke
agree with both of you… the A&B is more for boasting rights than anything unless you’re playing MG.
seem to remember Wood getting a MG grade in the WS set.. forgot what it was tho :P
Getting in on this thread three years late, but I hadn’t heard about the A&C > A&B thing before. Is that based on frequency of base states, or does it include the “normal” distribution of 8s & 9s? (My homebrew grades put Wood ’12 as an A(18)YZ; any A&B the gameco gave him is indisputably a function of his W-L record).
The one advantage in having the A&B vs. the A&C is when you hit and run with a man on first. 9 is still an out and advancing the runner 1 base. 31s become hits, and often a roll of 5-3 will also become a hit. It really depends on what type of team you are facing.