"Strike Season" 1981 Cards for Statis-Pro Baseball
Not just the cards, but the schedules, too - a file of as-played and originally scheduled games is included so you can play some or all of 1981. It's the ultimate 'What-If ?'
(Note these are done as 1968 was done, in the style of the 1987 Statis-Pro Cards, individual clutch batting, 1-4 Clutch Defense. They are indistinguishable from original cards of that era.)
Other Links to Statis-Pro Baseball Content:
What is interesting about these cards is every division has a team or three that could emerge to make the playoffs in a split season. Milwaukee and New York made it in the ALEast, but Baltimore, Boston and Detroit have outside chances. Detroit has three horse starters and a pair of stoppers in the bullpen, they'll go as far as Kirk Gibson can carry them. The Yankees have the best pitching in the American League, as they can trot Ron Guidry, Tommy John, and rookie Dave Righetti out to start and back them up with Ron Davis and Goose Gossage.
In the AL West Texas and California could join the favored A's, with Kansas City probably better than their record indicates. The A's have some arms on the bump as well, and four or five guys who are very good- Henderson, Armas, Murphy, the DH Johnson, and Mike Heath. Just as in real life you have to rig up the rest of the lineup and first base is a black hole. The White Sox have a good middle infield and a few good pitchers, and Greg Luzinski at DH, and could surprise a few of the other teams.
The NL East features the Expos, with a pretty complete lineup of speedsters and a deep pitching corps, and the Phils, who have Carlton, Schmidt, and a stellar lineup, but St Louis had the best record in the division. They have a deep pitching staff and a great infield, and Hendricks is dangerous in CF.
The NL West features LA and Houston, who are the best pitching staffs. Houston in particular can throw Niekro, Sutton, Knepper, and Ryan at you, but their lineup has next to no power. LA has the triumvirate of Valenzuela, Reuss, and Hooton to counter that threat, and their lineup has Garvey, Baker, Cey, and Guerrero. The Dodgers emerged as a team in 1974, won pennants in 1977 and 1978, narrowly missed the playoffs on the last day in 1980, and of all of their teams this group was actually the strongest.
Cincinnati has a just case for being robbed of a postseason slot with baseball's best record, but I'm not sure they would stack up well in the post season against most of the other teams. Beyond Seaver, one of the NL's best starters, and Mario Soto, the pitching staff is very up and down. The lineup is among the best, top to bottom, with Ron Oester and Dave Concepcion working together well and George Foster cracking 22 homeruns, but they suffer from Johnny Bench's absence behind the plate. By 1981 Bench was no longer really catching much and Nolan could hit but was not a great receiver. That's going to make it hard to advance past the speedy Expos or Astros, and the Dodgers have much deeper pitching. Cincinnati's cards are my favorites in the National League, and I put a lot of thought into this team, but I don't think they were quite as good as their record.
Enjoy this set!
1981_American_League_Statis_Pro_Baseball_04_14_2019.pdf
1981_National_League_Statis_Pro_Baseball_09_10_2018.pdf
1981_Schedules.xlsx
Fred Bobberts, Chandler, AZ
Original Publication Date: 9/25/2018
What is interesting about these cards is every division has a team or three that could emerge to make the playoffs in a split season. Milwaukee and New York made it in the ALEast, but Baltimore, Boston and Detroit have outside chances. Detroit has three horse starters and a pair of stoppers in the bullpen, they'll go as far as Kirk Gibson can carry them. The Yankees have the best pitching in the American League, as they can trot Ron Guidry, Tommy John, and rookie Dave Righetti out to start and back them up with Ron Davis and Goose Gossage.
In the AL West Texas and California could join the favored A's, with Kansas City probably better than their record indicates. The A's have some arms on the bump as well, and four or five guys who are very good- Henderson, Armas, Murphy, the DH Johnson, and Mike Heath. Just as in real life you have to rig up the rest of the lineup and first base is a black hole. The White Sox have a good middle infield and a few good pitchers, and Greg Luzinski at DH, and could surprise a few of the other teams.
The NL East features the Expos, with a pretty complete lineup of speedsters and a deep pitching corps, and the Phils, who have Carlton, Schmidt, and a stellar lineup, but St Louis had the best record in the division. They have a deep pitching staff and a great infield, and Hendricks is dangerous in CF.
The NL West features LA and Houston, who are the best pitching staffs. Houston in particular can throw Niekro, Sutton, Knepper, and Ryan at you, but their lineup has next to no power. LA has the triumvirate of Valenzuela, Reuss, and Hooton to counter that threat, and their lineup has Garvey, Baker, Cey, and Guerrero. The Dodgers emerged as a team in 1974, won pennants in 1977 and 1978, narrowly missed the playoffs on the last day in 1980, and of all of their teams this group was actually the strongest.
Cincinnati has a just case for being robbed of a postseason slot with baseball's best record, but I'm not sure they would stack up well in the post season against most of the other teams. Beyond Seaver, one of the NL's best starters, and Mario Soto, the pitching staff is very up and down. The lineup is among the best, top to bottom, with Ron Oester and Dave Concepcion working together well and George Foster cracking 22 homeruns, but they suffer from Johnny Bench's absence behind the plate. By 1981 Bench was no longer really catching much and Nolan could hit but was not a great receiver. That's going to make it hard to advance past the speedy Expos or Astros, and the Dodgers have much deeper pitching. Cincinnati's cards are my favorites in the National League, and I put a lot of thought into this team, but I don't think they were quite as good as their record.
Enjoy this set!
1981_American_League_Statis_Pro_Baseball_04_14_2019.pdf
1981_National_League_Statis_Pro_Baseball_09_10_2018.pdf
1981_Schedules.xlsx
Fred Bobberts, Chandler, AZ
Original Publication Date: 9/25/2018
No comments:
Post a Comment