Strat-O-Matic simulated our draft of the best individual Red Sox seasons. Here’s how it played out.
Khari Thompson's team, led by Ted Williams and Curt Schilling, topped Chad Finn's squad led by Yaz, Eck, and Wade Boggs.
A few weeks ago, the Boston.com sports staff set out to answer a complicated question in a fun way: “What were the best individual seasons of all-time for Red Sox players?”
Would you rather have 2004 David Ortiz or 1999 Pedro Martinez? Which version of Ted Williams was the best? Where do Manny, Nomar, Yaz, Fred Lynn, and early-stage Babe Ruth stack up?
Those were the kinds of things we had in mind.
So, we made a spreadsheet of Red Sox players, ranked by bWAR (wins above replacement) in their strongest seasons. Then we used the spreadsheet, along with other statistical research, as a guide for a snake-order fantasy draft, pitting the Boston baseball legends against each other.
Boston.com columnist Chad Finn, sports editor Gary Dzen, sportswriters Hayden Bird, Jon Couture, Conor Ryan, Khari Thompson, and sports intern Peyton Doyle each fielded a team.
Strat-O-Matic, the company that makes sports simulation games, took the teams we made and ran a simulated playoff tournament with them.
In Strat-O-Matic games, players’ attributes are printed on a player card, and outcomes are determined by dice rolls.
Our draft format didn’t result in us having complete, MLB-style rosters, but fortunately Strat-O-Matic was able to fill in open roster spots using a method that is explained below. (Editor’s note: A big thanks to Jerry Milani from Strat-O-Matic, who reached out and offered to help with this simulation).
Finn’s team was the most popular among readers, drawing 36 percent of the fan vote at the time of this posting. Couture’s team was the top-overall seed. But, Thompson’s team pulled off an upset and won it all despite being the lowest-overall seed.
Here are the full results of the simulation:
Teams:
Chad Finn: 1967 Carl Yastrzemski, 1946 Ted Williams, 1979 Fred Lynn, 1985 Wade Boggs, 1979 Dennis Eckersley, 1999 Nomar Garciaparra, 1977 Carlton Fisk, 2002 Pedro Martinez, 1995 Mo Vaughn, 1986 Bruce Hurst
Conor Ryan: 1999 Pedro Martinez, 1957 Ted Williams, 2016 Mookie Betts, 2000 Nomar Garciaparra, 1912 Smoky Joe Wood, 2011 Jacoby Ellsbury, 2017 Chris Sale, 2010 Adrian Beltre, 2018 J.D. Martinez, 2011 Adrian Gonzalez
Gary Dzen: 1942 Ted Williams, 1901 Cy Young, 1987 Roger Clemens, 2004 David Ortiz, 2004 Manny Ramirez, 1998 Pedro Marinez, 1995 John Valentin, 1995 Tim Wakefield, 1975 Fred Lynn, 2008 Daisuke Matsuzaka
Hayden Bird: 2000 Pedro Martinez, 1919 Babe Ruth, 2002 Manny Ramirez, 1972 Luis Tiant, 1988 Wade Boggs, 1986 Roger Clemens, 1938 Jimmie Foxx, 1996 Mo Vaughn, 1948 Ted Williams, 2007 Jonathan Papelbon
Jon Couture: 2003 Pedro Martinez, 2018 Mookie Betts, 1936 Lefty Grove, 1969 Rico Petrocelli, 1991 Roger Clemens, 1989 Wade Boggs, 2007 David Ortiz, 1902 Cy Young, 1988 Mike Greenwell, 1978 Carlton Fisk
Khari Thompson: 2006 David Ortiz, 1916 Babe Ruth, 1949 Ted Williams, 1978 Jim Rice, 2004 Curt Schilling, 2011 Dustin Pedroia, 2009 Jacoby Ellsbury, 1998 Nomar Garciaparra, 2002 Derek Lowe, 1987 Dwight Evans
Peyton Doyle: 1941 Ted Williams, 1990 Roger Clemens, 1912 Tris Speaker, 1970 Carl Yastrzemski, 1987 Wade Boggs, 2018 Chris Sale, 1914 Dutch Leonard, 2008 Dustin Pedroia, 1972 Carlton Fisk, 1939 Jimmie Foxx
Methodology: Strat-O-Matic added in by “snake” draft at each position the highest bWAR single-season player for each open spot. They also added a reliever/closer for the teams that didn’t have… (done by saves). After everyone was placed in the seven teams, SOM fielded a “Team Eight” with the next best single-season at each position, so we could have a true bracket.
SOM seeded the teams based on the total bWAR for the players each reporter picked (not including the placed players)…That set up five-game series in the quarterfinals (like an LDS), and seven-game series in the semifinals and finals. All games were played at Fenway Park using late 1970’s ball park conditions (which, happily hasn’t changed much over 110 years). — Jerry Milani
The seeds:
1. Jon Couture 2. Peyton Doyle 3. Conor Ryan 4. Chad Finn 5. Hayden Bird 6. Gary Dzen 7. Khari Thompson 8. Team Eight
The Results:
Quarterfinals:
(3) Conor Ryan d. (6) Gary Dzen, 3-1
Conor 12, Gary 6
Conor 11, Gary 7
Gary 7, Conor 4
Conor 2, Gary 0
(7) Khari Thompson d. (2) Peyton Doyle, 3-2
Khari 8, Peyton 7
Peyton 7, Khari 0
Peyton 7, Khari 1
Khari 8, Peyton 6
Khari 8, Peyton 4
(4) Chad Finn d. (5) Hayden Bird, 3-0
Chad 3, Hayden 2
Chad 12, Hayden 11
Chad 13, Hayden 3
(1) Jon Couture d. (8) Team Eight 3-1
Jon 9, Team 0
Team 4, Jon 1
Jon 12, Team 5
Jon 1, Team 0
Semifinals:
(7) Khari Thompson d. (3) Conor Ryan, 4-2
Conor 7, Khari 0
Khari 6, Conor 5
Khari 5, Conor 2 (13)
Conor 7, Khari 3
Khari 11, Conor 9
(4) Chad Finn d. (1) Jon Couture, 4-2
Chad 7, Jon 3
Jon 10, Chad 7
Chad 8, Jon 7
Jon 7, Chad 0
Chad 2, Jon 1
Chad 9, Jon 3
Finals:
(7) Khari Thompson d. (4) Chad Finn, 4-1
Khari…….. 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 – 6 14 1
Chad……… 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 – 7 7 0
Game 1: Chad 7, Khari 6
WP: Eckersley 78; LP: Ruth 16; SV: Urbina 02
A six-run seventh paced by a go-ahead, two-run double by Nomar Garciaparra 99 gives Chad the win. Fred Lynn 79 led off the inning with a home run off Babe Ruth 16 before the next six batters reached base. In the ninth, Wade Boggs 86 hit a two-out single but the potential tying run Dwight Evans 87 was thrown out at the plate by Lynn to end the game.
Game 2: Khari 6, Chad 3
Khari…….. 0 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 – 6 9 1
Chad……… 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 – 3 6 0
WP: Schilling 04; LP: Martinez 02
Curt Schilling 04 allowed six hits in the complete game effort to even the series. Two-run home runs by Jim Rice 78 and David Ortiz 06 off Pedro Martinez 02 paced a nine-hit attack.
Game 3: Khari 7, Chad 6
Chad……… 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 – 6 10 0
Khari…….. 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 – 7 13 1
WP: Lowe; LP: Hurst; SV: Gordon 98
A four-run eight inning capped by a three-run home run by Rich Gedman 85 gave Khari what seemed like a safe 7-2 lead. But two hits, an error, hit batter, and two walks, the second to Carlton Fisk 77 with the bases loaded made the score 7-6. Tom Gordon 98 then induced Fred Lynn 79 to fly out to end the game. Ted Williams 46, Mo Vaughn, Mo Vaughn 98 and Gedman homered.
Game 4: Khari 7, Chad 2
Chad……… 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 – 2 9 0
Khari…….. 0 1 3 1 0 2 0 0 – 7 12 1
WP: Ruth 16; LP: Young 04
Babe Ruth 16 scattered nine hits over eight innings to earn the win, supported by two home runs by Dustin Pedroia 11 and one each by David Ortiz 06 and Nomar Garciaparra 98. Pedroia also doubled for Khari, which banged out 12 hits in all for the 3-1 series lead
Game 5: Khari 7, Chad 3
Chad……… 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 – 3 7 0
Khari…….. 0 1 4 0 0 0 1 1 – 7 13 0
WP: Schilling 04; LP: Eckersley 78; SV: Gordon 98
Going for the clincher, Khari sent Curt Schilling 04 to the mound and he delivered 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball, fanning seven. Khari took a 5-1 lead with a four-run third which featured seven singles, including RBI hits by David Ortiz 06, Dustin Pedroia 11, Nomar Garciapparra 98 and Jacoby Ellsbury 09. Chad tried to rally late on an eighth-inning, two-out, two-run home run by Ted Williams 46 to make it 6-3, but Ted Williams 49’s solo shot in the bottom of the frame added an insurance run, and Chad went down in order in the ninth as Khari secured the championship
Statistical Leaders (full tournament):
Khari (.281, 5.9 runs/game, 4.66 ERA)
Williams 49, .355, 7, HR 12 RBIPedroia 11 .339, 2, 9Ellsbury 09 .318, 1, 6Lowe 2-1, 4.45 ERA
Hayden (.287, 5.3 r/g, 9.36 ERA)
Williams 48 .500, 2 HR, 3 RBIBoggs 88, .364, 0, 1Eddie Lake 45, .308, 1, 2Martinez 00 0-1, 3.38 ERA
Conor (.317, 6.4 r/g, 5.30 ERA)
Garciaparra 00 .452, 1 HR, 8 RBIBeltre 10 .390, 4, 10Gonzalez 11 .372, 0, 5Grove 35, 2-0, 1.00
Jon (.257, 5.0 r/g, 4.60 ERA)
Speaker 14 .390, 0 HR, 5 RBIGreenwell 88 .343, 0, 5Betts 18, .302, 2, 4Petrocelli 69, .279, 6, 12Young 02, 2-0, 0.00 ERA
Gary (.280, 5.0 r/g, 7.68 ERA)
Lynn 75 .500, 2 HR, 5 RBIYoukilis 09 .417, 1, 1Ramirez 04, .313, 1, 3Ortiz 04, .313, 2, 7Martinez 98, 1-0, 4.00
Chad (.263, 5.9 r/g, 5.75 ERA)
Fisk 77 .308, 2 HR, 7 RBIWilliams 46 .295, 4, 11Garciaparra 99, .283, 3, 15(Vaughn 95 5 HR)Eckersley 78 4-1, 4.19
Peyton (.292, 6.2 r/g, 3.63 ERA)
Speaker 12 .474, 0 HR, 3 RBIYaz 70 .381 1, 1Pedroia 08 .316, 0, 4Sale 18 1-0, 0.00Leonard 14 1-0, 0.00Team8 (.263, 3.8 r/g, 4.89 ERA)Fisk 80 .533, 1 HR, 2 RBIStephens 49 .467, 1,1Yaz 68 .444, 2,2Clemens 92 1-0, 1.00 ERA
Team8 (.263, 3.8 r/g, 4.89 ERA)Fisk 80 .533, 1 HR, 2 RBIStephens 49 .467, 1,1Yaz 68 .444, 2,2Clemens 92 1-0, 1.00 ERA
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com