2013 World Series: Best Fantasy Seasons for Cardinals and Red Sox

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

One of my favorite things about the baseball postseason is that fantasy isn’t involved. We watch the games as fans of the teams and sometimes, just the game in general.

Still, this is a fantasy baseball website and I couldn’t help but notice that we didn’t really have anything devoted to the World Series. There are plenty of sites that will break down the current rosters and make predictions. Instead, we’re going to go back in time.  These are two of the most historic teams in baseball, why not see how their best players at each position would have matched up in their best seasons? Although I will give a 2013 prediction at the end.

If you take the best seasons from each team at the respective positions, how would they stack up? Thanks to some help from the Whatifsports database, I’ve compiled a lineup for both teams. I gave myself a few rules.

1. Players were only allowed to be used once. There were a few players on each team that would qualify for different positions or eras, but we’re only allowing one of each man per team.
2. Only players from 1901 and on qualify. The Cardinals have a bit more history than the Red Sox, so it would be a little unfair if they got players in years where the Red Sox weren’t even a team. The American League as we know it today was founded in 1901, with the team we now know as the Red Sox as one of the charter members. I did bend this rule once, but you’ll see why.
3. Standard 5×5 scoring with traditional categories (Offense: R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG Pitching: K, W, SV, ERA, WHIP).
4. Offense was broken down into C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF1, OF2, OF3, UT/DH.
5. Pitching was broken down into five different eras. 1901-1920 (The Dead Ball era), 1921-1946 (Post Dead Ball/Pre-integration era), 1947-1968 (Dead Ball era Part II), 1969-1987 (Pre over-specialization era), 1988-2013 (Present era).

Catcher: 

Edge: I don’t think anyone on the Red Sox would feel that great seeing Torre on the other team, but Boston gets the edge here. Fisk was a little better in the counted categories, and in fewer at-bats.

First Base:

Edge: It’s close, but again, we’re going to give it to the Red Sox and Foxx. McGwire could certainly put one in the seats, but Foxx wasn’t bad at that, either. Even with Bic Mac getting the longball edge, I think a pitcher would rather face him than Foxx, and the 50 extra points in the batting average would speak to that.

Second Base: 

Edge: You probably figured it out, but it’s Hornsby and it’s not close. That’s one of the best offensive seasons ever produced by any player, on any team, at any position. The Cards get on the board.

Third Base:

Edge: I love that .368 average, but I can’t neglect the huge power edge that Rolen gets. Remember, he hit .314 that year and unlike the power edge we saw at first base, Boggs was never much of a power hitter. This is the first time that the man who had the better career doesn’t get the nod.

Shortstop:

Edge: It’s Nomar all the way.

Outfield 1:

Edge: The showdown to end all showdowns. Two of the best players in the history of the game square off. As great as Musial was, Teddy Ballgame gets the edge.

Outfield 2:

Edge: Two more Hall of Fame outfielders go head-to-head. As much as I hate to turn those 52 steals and 136 runs away, Medwick gets this edge. The power edge is just too significant.

Outfield 3:

Edge: Ellsbury kept some of the best Red Sox of all-time off of this list and really it’s not that close. As for this race, as much as I’d love to give it to a man who played for both the St. Louis Perfectos and Boston Americans, Ellsbury has the better across the board numbers.

DH/UTL:

Edge: Another loaded matchup. I couldn’t do a pure DH here because being a National League team, the Cardinals obviously couldn’t compete with the likes of David Ortiz. I also couldn’t put Big Papi against the best Cardinal seasons not otherwise involved, because that would be very loaded in St. Louis’s favor. So, I just thought of the two guys not already listed who are most associated with these franchises. Not a bad duo.

As for who gets the edge. Yaz was better in four of five categories. Even though Pujols has a big edge in batting average, Yaz’s overall numbers give him the nod.

Starting Pitcher — 1901-1920:

Edge: Taylor did show this year and throughout his career that you don’t need a bunch of strikeouts to be a good pitcher. In this era, I think we’re falling more in love with the notion that any time a hitter makes contact and records an out, the pitcher is lucky and that it’s not sustainable. Couldn’t be more false. Still, Wood’s better in all four starting pitching categories and gets the decision.

Starting Pitcher — 1920-1946:

Edge: Again, it doesn’t matter how the numbers happened. Cooper’s season was in the middle of World War II, when some of the best players in baseball were fighting overseas, while the war was over by 1946. Nevertheless, he has the edge in every category and as a result, he gets the nod.

Starting Pitcher — 1947-1968

Edge: Some quotes about Gibson.

"Don’t dig in against Bob Gibson, he’ll knock you down. He’d knock down his own grandmother if she dared to challenge him. Don’t stare at him, don’t smile at him, don’t talk to him. He doesn’t like it. If you happen to hit a home run, don’t run too slow, don’t run too fast. If you happen to want to celebrate, get in the tunnel first. And if he hits you, don’t charge the mound, because he’s a Golden Gloves.—Dusty Baker, remembering what Hank Aaron told him as a rookie.Bob Gibson was so mean he would knock you down and then meet you at home plate to see if you wanted to make something of it—Dick Allen"

Don’t mess with Hoot. Sullivan was good in 1957, but Gibson’s 1968 will be remembered for a long, long time. He gets a big edge.

Starting Pitcher — 1969-1987

Edge: I wasn’t expecting this to be close, and I wasn’t expecting The Rocket to lose. I was wrong on both counts. They each have an edge in two categories but in a standard scoring league, Tudor’s are more impressive.

Starting Pitcher — 1988-Present

Edge: In this ERA, the numbers Pedro put up are almost impossible. They’re even better than what Clayton Kershaw did this year, and this was in the American League. Pedro is the man here and while Wainwright was great in 2010 (still is), it’s not close.

Closer

Edge: With Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, and Dennis Eckersley, the Cardinals have had some of the best closers in the game. Unfortunately, their best years were with other teams. None of their seasons in St. Louis compare to what Izzy did in 2002, and he doesn’t stack up to Papelbon in 2007.

BONUS — Cy Young Season

Since the great Cy Young pitched for both of these teams, let’s compare his best season with each. Since we’re talking about the same pitcher, we can lift the rule that disqualified anyone’s seasons before 1901. 

Edge: Boston. Somehow I don’t think Stephen Strasburg will ever approach 370 innings in a single season.

Total Tally: 

Of the 16 positions, I gave the edge to Boston in 10 categories, with St. Louis getting 6. Still, a few of the big advantages lied with the Redbirds. So, let’s actually go to scoring.

Using the traditional stats (Offense: R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG Pitching: K, W, SV, ERA, WHIP), let’s see who has the most edges.

Offense:

Score: 3-2 Cardinals.

Pitching:

Score: 4-1 Red Sox

Total: 6-4 Red Sox. While the Cards did hold greater edges, Boston’s pure quantity of match-up wins carried the day by a slight margin. I know that I’d be pretty happy with either of these lineups and rotations.

Obligatory 2013 Prediction: It’s close, but I give an edge to the Cardinals and I’ll say they’ll win it in six. I like Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha to at least get a split against Jon Lester and John Lackey at Fenway. It’s not that the Red Sox can’t win in St. Louis, but they’ll have to make a decision to sacrifice a lot of offense or a lot of defense without David Ortiz at DH. Either way, that sets off a bit of a chain reaction. They’ll be a little more out of their element on the road than the Cards’ will, which makes up for Boston’s home field advantage.

Again, it’s very close, but I’m going to say they split the first two, the Cards win two-out-of-three at home, and then close it in Game 6. If it gets to Game 7, it’s tough to see the Red Sox losing at Fenway.

Enjoy the World Series.