With the 2014 MLB regular season over, APBA fans are wanting to know what the upcoming cards will look like. I know I do.
Fortunately for us, there are couple people who pull out their formulas (and crystal balls) on yearly basis and help us get through the lean weeks between the end of the season and before the cards come out by giving us their predictions on what the cards will look like. Even though they aren’t official, they still give us solace.
Bruce Norlander is one of those people. A hero this time of year on the Between The Lines forum, he works his magic and comes out with his pitching grade as well as some hitting card predictions. Bruce notes on his blog that he is starting the process (quick summary: pitching was at its strongest in decades both leagues in 2014). Stay tuned to archrivalsbaseball.wordpress.com for more updates. That site will become quite popular soon, I’d wager.
Also, Mike Bunch who is our commissioner in the Illowa APBA League, comes out with predictions. He does pitching and hitting predictions. For my money, he gets it pretty close every year.
Alas, they are only for players in our 10-team league. You can see what he predicts for our league players here.
[Update] I’m also adding Steve’s APBA Card Computer put together by Steve Stein. I can’t believe I forgot it, to be honest. It’s a great tool to get a sense of what the cards will look like with a nice graphical interface. You can even input your own stats too.
By the way, if you get a Java error with Steve’s APBA Card Computer, it’s an easy fix.
I’ve done a little work on the Card Computer. The mystery for me will be where the line is between 00088899 and 000888899. I call that the “hit adjustment” – better league pitching means the cards get A LITTLE BETTER on the margins.
For me, the most interesting example is Trevor Plouffe. I think he’ll be 3 14s and 000888899. But one fewer hit, and he’d only have 3 8s, not 4.
Oh Dang….. Went through this whole list and didn’t see the Sharks!!! :/ LOL
It’s that time of year. I’ve run the AL and NL pitchers through my spreadsheets, and I have a pretty cgood assessment of what the Master and Basic grades should be. How do I send you my summary spreadsheets, Thomas?