The Spuds accomplished a lot this season, posting their first winning record since 2045, but ultimately missing the playoffs.
But there was a lot more to their performance than playing slightly above average baseball. They set several team records, and even have a couple contenders for the league Silk award. Let’s take a look back at the impressive (and sometimes downright weird) year that was the Spuds’ 2052 season.
Walking the Walk
If there was one area where the Spuds completely dominated the rest of the league, it was in taking walks. The Spuds walked 700 times this season, 138 more than the next-highest total in the JL, and more than double the total of Calgary, who had only 342. (Twin Cities in the FL walked slightly more than Boise, and dominated their league in a similar fashion. But this article isn’t about them.)
The Spuds got their walks from all sources, up and down the lineup. They had 10 different players with at least a .340 on-base percentage (minimum 200 plate appearances). Even other top offensive teams in the BBA, like Mexico City or Twin Cities, can’t say that.
Pepe & Gary
Veterans Pepe Madrid and Gary Allen, in a possibly coordinated effort, both decided to have the best seasons of their careers at the age of 32. They took the Johnson League by storm this year, with Madrid winning the batting title, Allen the home run title, and the pair finishing 1-2 on league OPS leaderboard.
But what was the precedent for such an accomplishment by a pair of teammates? The last time two teammates finished 1-2 in league OPS was in 2042, when Semei Kwakou and Théo Bourges did it for Louisville. But even still, neither of them led their league in batting or home runs.
The last time one teammate won the batting title and another the HR title was actually more recently, in 2043, when San Antonio’s Pedro Bustamante led the league with a .335 average and Larry Stinson led with 55 home runs.
So there’s some fairly recent precedent within the league, but what about in Spuds history? Surely you’re probably thinking, there’s no way Madrid and Allen were better than Spuds’ former greats, Dennis French and Félix Román?
Let’s run the numbers on that.
The most home runs French and Román ever combined to hit for the Spuds was 87, in 2041. They also combined for 290 RBI and 16.1 WAR that year.
Madrid and Allen didn’t quite match those marks, but the league’s offense was very inflated that year, so it isn’t a fair comparison. If you start looking at era-adjusted stats, Madrid and Allen have ventured into some territory hat French and Román never approached:
- Both Madrid and Allen had an OPS+ of 169 or higher — a mark French never reached, and which Román only reached during his Silk seasons of ’45-’46.
- Both Madrid and Allen had a wRC+ of 169 or higher — a mark French never reached, and which Román only reached during his Silk season of ’46.
- Both Madrid and Allen had a wOBA of .419 or higher — Both French and Román reached this number in their careers, but never in the same season.
"Just call me Dubs"
Isat Kasturirangan has earned the nickname “Dubs” in the Spuds’ clubhouse, and that’s because he does only one thing: hit doubles. It’s served him pretty well, earning him a regular utility spot on the Spuds’ roster. But it’s truly impressive just how many doubles he hits, to the extent that there’s no other player like him in the BBA, and possibly none like him in the league’s history. Let’s break down the numbers.
Kasturirangan hit 42 doubles as a part-time player, leading the team in the stat, and finishing in the top ten in the entire BBA. This doesn’t sound that impressive, until you understand that he only had 354 plate appearances. That means 11.8% of his plate appearances this season resulted in a double.
That rate of two-baggers is not matched by anyone in the BBA, and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has ever matched this number in the league’s history. Even the year Dennis French hit 70 doubles (the second-highest total of all time), it was more a product of him simply coming to the plate so many times. Only 9.4% of French’s plate appearances that year went for doubles, a rather pedestrian rate compared to Kasturirangan’s.
Another interesting tidbit, Kasturirangan also only struck out 42 times. Do I need to tell you how many other players in the BBA had the same number of doubles as strikeouts? That’s right — none.
The Lion’s Share
Staying in the category of silly proportions, Pete Davis was responsible for 84% of the Spuds’ stolen bases this season. 84%! No other team comes anywhere close to that share of steals coming from a single player.
Davis stole 37 bases, while the rest of the team combined for just 7. The Spuds as a team are not good at stealing, tied for the third-lowest steals total in the BBA. But to think that without Davis, the Spuds would have just 7 steals on the season is just ridiculous.
Ol' Reliable
For the sake of having something on the pitching side, let’s talk about the veteran Robin Cooper. He continued to be a Quality Starts machine for the Spuds this year, delivering a team-leading 16 Quality Starts, despite having had a pretty terrible season by most other measures. That gives him 189 for his career, putting him in the top-ten active BBA players for the stat (Carlos Valle leads with 305). He’ll never appear on any of the most coveted pitchers’ leaderboards, like wins or strikeouts, but there’s something about being able to barely get through six innings that Cooper seems to really excel at.
Set to become a free agent after the season, his time with the Spuds may be at an end, but he should definitely find a place on another pitching staff with his ability to keep his team in ball games.
Despite falling short of a playoff berth, the Spuds at least have a way of keeping it interesting, with all the things they achieve on the diamond. Let’s hope next season they can make history in some new ways.
