If you look at my profile (SOM) you’ll notice that I have rarely played in any All-Time Greats leagues.  I prefer playing in 200x leagues where I can simulate the outcome with the CD-Rom game.  I still enjoy browsing the ATG card sets every once in a while, however.  ATG IV was released a while ago and I haven’t really studied the cards until now.

While browsing the set I was wondering how I could build a competitive team without having any ATG4 experience.  Then, I remembered that official records for ATG leagues are kept by Mighty Moose, Strat-O-Matic Baseball Online’s official record keeper.  For newbies, this data can be quite valuable for selecting a new team.

Batting

Take a look at At Bats and Hits leaders.  You’ll see George Sisler a few times.  Now, take a look at his card.  .407 batting average, a 1 at 1B, AA base stealing, with 1-17 speed.

Under the Doubles section you’ll notice Bob Meusel listed in the top 2.  He hits 15% of his doubles against lefties and 9% against righties.  He could be a good pick for a pitcher’s park.  He has a ‘-5′ throwing arm is a 1 in the outfield.

Ralph Kiner is dominating the leader board in Home Runs.  Look how many home run chances he has on his card.  It would be nice to have him on any team.  I wonder how hard it is to grab him.

Bobby Bonds and Jose Canseco are the only ones listed as Strikeout leaders.  I would probably avoid these two.

Pitching

You see Pete Alexander listed all over the leader boards.  I’d like to see if there’s been a team with Alexander that had a losing record.  This guy only allows singles on his card.

Dick Radatz shows up twice under the Relief ERA leaders.  When deciding on relief pitchers for your team, make a note of his best results.  The higher the better.  Anything over 40 is good.  Radatz is 44 against lefties and 51 against righties. Also check out the leaders under opponents batting average.  Radatz is listed twice there as well.

You’ll find Bruce Sutter and Dennis Eckersley listed the most times under Relief WHIP.  I would probably prefer Eckersley ($4.71M) over Sutter($5.19M) because I like Eck’s 66 best results against righties.  Also, Sutter has a high wild pitch count (wp-20).

I’m not sure if the Games Finished leader board will help us decide on a pitcher but if Wilcy Moore is the ‘all-time leader’ he has to be popular.  He’s only $.3.5M.  Wait a minute.  Take a look at his relief endurance – r5.  Now I see why he has the all-time record in games finished.  I would have to say that I must go after this pitcher.

Noodles Hahn ($7.02M) gives up a lot of hits but with a name like that it would be neat to have him on my team.

Juan Marichal shows up a quite a few times under Home Runs allowed.  If you are in a pitcher park I suppose he might be a good addition.

J.R. Richard is dominating the leaderboard in Strikeouts.  Also check out the leaders for Strikes Per 9 Innings.  He has 49 strikeout chances against righties.  He is definitely worth considering as one of your starting pitchers.