The inspiration for Retrotisserie Baseball came from two of my friends, Stuart Gelbwasser and Kevin Brazee.
Stu was in a simulation baseball league back in the day, and asked my advice on selecting a third baseman for his team. The format was single-best-season, 1900 to present. I had no idea what that was, but it sounded pretty darned cool to me. Based on who was still available, I did my research and selected Wade Boggs 1987. What’s not to like about a guy who hit .363 with 24 home runs? Stu promptly chose someone else, some guy by the name of Caminiti. Turns out it was the right call, as Boggs struggled to hit .300 in the game over several seasons. I continued on as an advisor, trying to find the needle in a haystack, a role-player with one stellar year that might have value on a team of all-time greats. So while I really enjoyed the research and player valuation, simulation distorted the true effectiveness of the players. If I pick Wade Boggs, I want Wade Boggs.
I used to discuss top 5’s and top 10’s with Kevin. But once you’ve been through all the positions, your list is set – you can add guys to the list over time and knock others off, but having the discussion again is pointless. Kevin also had a picture displaying the best player at every position for the decade of the 70’s. Each guy had his own baseball card, and they were arranged in a diamond formation. I remember Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Steve Carlton and Lou Brock. I loved that picture. But again, once you’ve decided on the best first baseman of the 70’s, no one else gets that crown. End of story.
I thought about how to keep telling that story. What about the best player over a shorter, arbitrary period of time? Some guys come to mind – Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux, Dale Murphy (one of Brazee’s favorites, it kills him that Murph isn’t in Da Hall.). And what if you made a game out of it, competing to build the best team over that time period, fantasy-baseball style?
That’s how Retrotisserie Baseball was created. You don’t have to worry about daily lineups, injuries and off years, the way you do in traditional fantasy baseball. And you don’t have to worry about the head-scratching differences between a player’s actual stats and how he comes out of the black box of simulation software. In both cases, the stats are already in the books. And what baseball fan doesn’t like stats?
Thanks, guys. I couldn’t have done it without you.