The Brewster

There was a time where 250 wins was kind of a line of demarcation for a pitcher. Two-fifty wins got you into the Hall pretty much no questions asked. pretty much locked you in. Over the years, as bullen use became the norm, and as OOTP’s injury algorithm came into more realistic play, that number faded, though. Maybe 30 years ago, it seemed that 225 was the magic marker. Nowdays It’s probably 200.

Check it out, right?

As I type, 35-year-old Dave Corfield old and 36-year-old Barney Lindsayay are at 225. Pretty much clam dunks. Bernie Short is at 210. He’s probably in? Maybe? Dave Lee and Reuben Vazquez at 198 and 190 are going to be interesting conversations. Lee is 39 and close to done, Vazquez is 37 and the same. Mahad Einen is 34 and sits at 188 wins. Thomas Turned is 35 and has 179. Thirty-five-year-old Phil Coleole sits are 157.

So, yeah. The world has changed since those Grand Old Days. Two hundred wins is kind of a marker today. Though you could argue that maybe 210 or 215 is the harder line.

Of course, we haven’t discussed the unicorn in the room.

Yes, I’m talking about Alaric Wullenweber. The 40-year-old Boy Wonder who some were writing off a few years back, but who has simply latched his wagon the Portland Lumberjack trailer and continued to win and win. Here’s a comp for you. Nolan Ryan is arguably the Alaric Wullenweber. Heading to the end of August, 2060, Wullenweber sits at 4,249 strikeouts. Ryan finished at 5,714. Other than that, and the fact that Wullenweber has won both championships and about seven billion Nebraskas, the two are similar in certain ways. Both are guys who avoided injury enough to pitch hard into their old ages. And with a paid more years on his contract, there’s no telling where Wullenweber might end up.

What’s that, you say?

Wasn’t this about Pitcher Wins?

Why, yes it was.

Wullenweber has … in this day and age … wait for it … 287 victories.

That’s right. In an era where the line of Hall Demarcation is sliding south as fast as an icy cliff in the Arctic Circle Alaric Wullenweber is threatening the lofty regions of 300. For reference, here is the list of 300 game winners throughout BBA history:

# # #

Steve Nebraska

# # #
Yes. That’s it. Steve Freaking Nebraska. That’s the list. If Alaric Wullenweber makes 13 more victories over the next two and a few seasons of his contract, he will join Steve Nebraska as the only 300 game winners in league history. Of course, Nebraska wound up with 382, so I think that record is not on the table. But it would be interesting to compare and contract the pair relative to their peers. Nebraska compiled his in that era where 250 was the line. Si he was 130 up on a baseline of 250. Let’s say Wullenweber finishes at 305…that would say he was 105 up on a baseline of 200. Nebraska probably wins that. By a little.

Still, Alaric Wullenweber and Steve Nebraska.

Enjoy him while he’s here folks.

Still kind of hard to believe we have only had one 300 game winner. Especially since the 1970s and 1980s were pretty old-timey pitching heavy.

Even into the 90's and 00's.

Consider this:
https://statspl.us/brewster/reports/new ... 0_208.html

Not a SINGLE active player on the list.

I'm not advocating for it, but it almost makes me want to fiddle with the stamina settings. I admit I love the story of Starting Pitchers.

I would have to think this is a case of us playing the game more like real-world baseball is now played. Even in my other league, where I have really good starting pitchers, I've become an extreme form of modern-day pitch-count management: 85-100 pitches, a 6-man rotation... If I were a fan, I'd be calling sports-talk radio and complaining about myself.

I sometimes wonder how the game would handle it if I turned guys loose in a 4-man rotation, like the game I grew up with.

That was the whole idea when the Brewster got started. Over time it slid, settings wise, more towards todays game.

recte44 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2024 3:54 pm

Even into the 90's and 00's.

Consider this:
https://statspl.us/brewster/reports/new ... 0_208.html

Not a SINGLE active player on the list.

Stoller pitched a bunch of innings and completed a lot of games!

JimSlade wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2024 4:00 pm

I would have to think this is a case of us playing the game more like real-world baseball is now played. Even in my other league, where I have really good starting pitchers, I've become an extreme form of modern-day pitch-count management: 85-100 pitches, a 6-man rotation... If I were a fan, I'd be calling sports-talk radio and complaining about myself.

I sometimes wonder how the game would handle it if I turned guys loose in a 4-man rotation, like the game I grew up with.

You can play it that way, and it should be at least okay. The ramifications are more injury proneness, and exposing starters to the third-time through the order penalty. The reason the game is as it is today is that as a general rule, fresh arms are just better than tired arms. If that wasn't the case via the data, then obviously, teams wouldn't do that.

I occasionally drop to 4-man rotations in the BBA, though usually when I do that I'm dropping pitch count a little so it ends up using the bullpen more in order to keep the starter fresher to start with.

Jwalk100 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2024 4:04 pm

recte44 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2024 3:54 pm

Even into the 90's and 00's.

Consider this:
https://statspl.us/brewster/reports/new ... 0_208.html

Not a SINGLE active player on the list.

Stoller pitched a bunch of innings and completed a lot of games!

And still didn't get to 300 wins. He was probably, before Wullenweber, the last great workhorse ace.

RonCo wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2024 4:28 pm

JimSlade wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 21, 2024 4:00 pm

I would have to think this is a case of us playing the game more like real-world baseball is now played. Even in my other league, where I have really good starting pitchers, I've become an extreme form of modern-day pitch-count management: 85-100 pitches, a 6-man rotation... If I were a fan, I'd be calling sports-talk radio and complaining about myself.

I sometimes wonder how the game would handle it if I turned guys loose in a 4-man rotation, like the game I grew up with.

You can play it that way, and it should be at least okay. The ramifications are more injury proneness, and exposing starters to the third-time through the order penalty. The reason the game is as it is today is that as a general rule, fresh arms are just better than tired arms. If that wasn't the case via the data, then obviously, teams wouldn't do that.

I occasionally drop to 4-man rotations in the BBA, though usually when I do that I'm dropping pitch count a little so it ends up using the bullpen more in order to keep the starter fresher to start with.

I almost always switch to a four man whenever I have days off, unless I'm switching up my rotation and I don't have the rested guys matching up correctly.

Yeah. But sometimes I've gone just straight four-man regardless of days off.

Injury risk and 3rd order issues are why I don't protect my starters more against my lousy pen.

Wullenweber is a much better pitcher than Nolan Ryan, who. Appreciate for his durability but think his quality of performance is overrated. He walked a lot of batters.

7-no hitters.


https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-ryan-ama ... -and-facts

Nolan Ryan is an enigma. You look at him across the board and you see he was so dominating. Which he was...at certain times. Day-to-day, he was amazing. But over that long career, he never actually won a Cy Young ... and only came in second one time. Seven AS appearances, but they were scattered. He won only one World Series, and that was with the Mets when he was a kid and got only 83 IP. He was not a major player on that team, but that is the team that keeps him out of the discussion (along with Ernie Banks) as best player to never win a World Series.

He did walk a gazillion hitters, too. 2,795 by BBREF. He walked 204 hitters in one year alone. No BBA pitcher in all of its history has walked more than 161 in a season, except Ace Holder ... for whom there is an obvious data error. Ryan walked 202 in another year. And 186 in a third. His ERA+ during those years was sometimes pretty good, but just as often below league average.

If you love the story of the moment, Ryan is your guy. Most of his career he was an all-or-nothing kind of pitcher, who wound up with nothing as often as he did it all. Is that a Good Pitcher? I dunno. It's certainly an entertaining pitcher, but at many points in his career, I'm not sure I'd be very comfortable having him on the mound at crunch time.

So ... I kind of agree that in that context, his durability can be considered his greatest and most consistent asset.

Players like him are just fun to talk about.

Well said, Ron.

What I have found interesting, in having Wullenweber these last two seasons, is how my manager and/or the game doesn't use him like it did the other good pitchers I had (Sparks, Thompson). Wullenweber is allowed to pitched 120-130 pitches and go deep into games. The game doesn't pull him like it did those other guys and any other guy I have had. He led the league with 221 innings last year and had 3 complete games. Barring injury in the final month, he's going to lead the FL yet again in innings pitched. If that continues the next few seasons, I see no reason why he shouldn't get to 300.

He nabbed 288 in this last sim since Ron wrote this piece as well.