MLB Showdown Obsession

 Babe Ruth is hands down the greatest hitter who ever played. Baseball was forever changed when the New York Yankees acquired the slugger and made him a full time outfielder to stop wasting his potential trying to juggle between pitching and playing the field (take note Ohtani). From there the records were shattered and the world was on notice. But before that transition, there were other so called sluggers that the baseball world knew of who would fade into obscurity in short time. In 1918, Ruth stopped being an exclusive pitcher in Boston and began playing to field sometimes to get some more at bats in. That season he led the league in homers for the first time with 11 and lead the league in the stat for 12 of the next 14 years. In 1917, while the Red Sox continued to squander the Babe's ability, Wally Pipp (yes, that Wally Pipp) would lead baseball with a whopping 9 dingers. Impressive when you consider that his chart doesn't allow for any natural homers. Meet Roger Connor a...

  It's the best time of year in baseball. Playoffs! A time where the men stand tall and the true champions take their prize. Sometimes the hero of the post season is the person you relied on all season, other times a complete unknown steps up and carries the team. Most guys do it with their bats, some pitch a gem when it matters most, and others save the day with their their leather or their baserunning. Joe Carter lived the dream we all have as kids in our backyards. One swing of the bat and the World Series is won. Considering how the 1994 post season was cancelled, this was the lasting image of a champion for 2 years, giving baseball a final triumph to enjoy before the strike ruined everything. I'll go ahead and repost the 1946 Enos Slaughter card with a more proper logo. His "mad-dash" is what allow the Cardinals to walk off in game 7 and beat the Red Sox. I've gone over that play before. Sparky Lyle was a rare relief pitcher to win the Cy Young in 1977, and i...

 There's an old saying that "defense wins championships" and in Showdown it's a massive plus to your lineup. Perfection in the field keeps runners from extra bases being taken from the outfield and makes double plays easier in the infield, while catchers arms stops stolen bases cold. Your ideal defense would be: C: 10+ 1B: 1 2B: 5 3B: 3 SS: 5 CF: 3 LF/RF: 2 The Showdown Bot has the potential for even greater defensive stats than that, so let's have some fun with some better than perfect players... Andrelton Simmons brings a +8 to the position, but c'mon, the Wizard stands alone when it comes to great defensive shortstops. You can argue that Mattingly was the superior man at 1st in NY, but Hernandez brought sustained excellence to town. Offensively, Keith couldn't compete with prime Donnie Baseball, but a +2 skill at defense is a nice trump... A perfect +5 at 2nd base is an incredibly rare stat in Showdown. What makes Martin stand out is that above picture...

 I'll sometimes make a player card or two with no real theme in mind. Sometimes I'll give them a stand alone post (Like Rick Monday or Paul O'Neill) but most are left to rot while I look for justification...Here are a few of those randoms. Gerald Williams turned out to be a funky lil error card. Roll a 20 for a double, triple AND a homer, with an impossible 21 for a 2000-style chart. Use whatever house rules you'd like to deal with that situation, should it ever arise with his 5 on-base. I made this card way back before the Bot became a lot more intricate. Now you can make a HoF card for someone by using more than one season. Still, this shot of Gary in the WS deserves to stand alone. We all know he snubbed the Mets anyway when it came to team selection... Boone hitting his game 7 pennant clinching walk-off in 2003. Just made for a magical card. I may redo this in the future. His pose fit the card format perfectly. Again, I made this forever ago... ...and it looks just...

 Sometimes when I mess around with the Showdown Bot , I'll come across something peculiar and end up down a rabbit hole. Take Rick Wilkins for example, a man who started off anonymously enough and ultimately ended up on a merry-go-round of teams to end his career. 1991, starting off behind the plate in Chicago. Nothing special, maybe a lack of power but as far as catchers go the defense holds up... 1992. Ok, the power seems to be even more lacking, but he maintains that defense and even improves on his on-base. Even cuts down on the strikeouts and even reaches base a bit more. 1993. Holy crap. From ho-hum to amazing. 30 home runs in real life and his card is pretty nice as a result. Defense blasts off from +7 to +11 and the on-base is fantastic for any position, let alone the defensive minded catchers spot. Can he maintain this? In a word...no. True, 1994 was shortened, but most people figured that insane '93 season was a blip on the radar for Wilkins. Everything regressed to t...

Sadly, the historic and iconic name "Indians" will be gone next season. So let's honor the greatest Indians team in recent memory by highlighting the 1995 team that came within 2 wins of a world championship. In '95 they won 100 games and ran away with the AL Central by 30 games. They bullied the Red Sox and pushed aside the Mariners en route to the AL flag and try for the first title since 1948...only to run into the teeth of a potential dynasty with Atlanta winning instead it's first title in their cities history. Lofton was their leadoff guy and made it his mission to make trouble on the base paths. Very ho-hum card until you notice that 11-16 single+ on his chart. Either leading off an inning or utilizing a "Long single" strategy card for someone in the way, you can easily put Lofton into scoring position 50% of the time if he gets the advantage. Neither catcher makes me really enticed, but no strikeouts or walks for either means something will alway...