The Team: Toronto Blue Jays
The Year: 2039
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W/L Record: 120-42
Run Differential: 1014 RS vs. 608 RA +406 Runs
Awards: AL RBI Leader: Sean Vogel (149), AL Win Leader: Aaron Anderson (20), AL Save Leader: Tom Hoving (43), AL Cy Young: Aaron Anderson, AL Rookie of the Year: 2B Chad Noah
All Stars: 2B Sean Vogel, LF Philip MacGruer, CF Bob Houcke, SP Aaron Anderson, 3B Jose Vargas
League Leading Stat Categories: .57 Away Wins, .726 Team Defensive Average, .985 Team Fielding Percentage, 63 Home Wins, .818 Team OPS, .292 Opponent Team OBP, 1014 Runs scored, 17 Team Shut-outs, 162 Stolen Bases
Lineup/Bench Rotation/Bullpen
RF Bob Houcke Aaron Anderson
CF Carlo Musquez Fernando Ontario
DH Philip MacGruer Jorge Vendor
SS Sean Vogel Kevin Wemys
3B Jose Vargas Jay Robinson
1B Brent Stalwell CL Tom Hoving
LF Kevin Dungey SU Kevin Weeks
2B Chad Noah SR James Thurston
C Nick Vaisman SR Giovanni Nevah
MR Albert Barrundia
LR Andy Kamp
SS Tom Plakke
C Theo Fitt
IF Treven Johnson
OF Keith Boreland
OF Samuel Marquez
The Key Players: Well, I'm sure to some chagrin, here we are in Toronto again. But here we are celebrating another 120 win team as well. The 2039 Blue Jays managed to win that many games minus one of their best players - HOFer Fernando Ontario who was knocked out of the season with a severed knee ligament on May 10th of 2039. So the burden of carrying the torch for the team fell on Aaron "Double A" Anderson. While the team never embraced the "Four Horsemen" nickname at the time, it's clear there was a central core at work on those Blue Jays teams. Taking the role of the Nature Boy was clearly Sean Vogel. Aaron Anderson playing Arn and Fernando Ontario playing Ole. And Philip MacGruer taking the role of Tully Blanchard. (You might make the case Jose Vargas was the Curt Henning or Lex Luger of the group as well) All five men (including Vargas) have their busts in the FCM Hall of Fame and their championship run in 2039 would be one of their finest efforts.
Let's focus on the pitching and our HOF namesake Double A. Aaron Anderson isn't one of the leagues all-time greats. You could even make the case that he's in the lower run of the starters that made the Hall, but his impact during his career was huge. Anderson was added to the Jays in 2033 in a swap for 1B Spencer Malone. While the team certainly missed Malone at first base, it never looked back from the acquisition as Anderson developed into the top-end starter he was hoped to be. 2039 represented his fourth season in the league and his finest performance to date. In his career he would go on to win 250 games and in 2037 he had managed to win 22, but his 20-3 performance in 2039 was amongst his best performances as a pro. It managed to win him one of two Cy Young awards he'd take in his career. Beyond his great record, Anderson posted a 2.74 ERA in 190 innings, walked 45, struck out 165, and allowed a paltry .201 OBP against. He also went 4-0 in the playoffs, pitching 42 innings and allowing only 9 runs. This included a short-rest Game 7 start in which he pitched very poorly (4 2/3 while giving up 6 runs) but it was good enough to win the game as he left trailing 6-4 and his team rallied to score the next 8 runs on their way to a World Series Title. Anderson would go on to pitch another 17 seasons, going to 13 total all-star games, and adding one more Cy Young to his resume, but 2039 was the last time he'd be part of a championship team.
Helping him out in the rotation with Ontario down, was second year player (and current HOF contender) Jorge Vendor. Vendor had been added to the Toronto farm three years earlier (along with Chris Barger and Jameson Thurston) for Will Taylor, Ryan Barker, and Toby White. Vendor became a surprising contributor since he was not the highlight of the package at the time. Still, he went on to develop himself into a very solid pitcher despite having some difficulty giving up the long ball. In 2039 Vendor went 17-6 with a 3.97 ERA in 208 innings. He struck out 170, walked 62, gave up 28 home runs, and had a .246 OBP against. Not sterling numbers, but sufficient with an excellent Toronto defense behind him.
Due to injuries the rest of the Toronto rotation was very much cobbled together, but effective. The last three spots were held down by Glen Albright, Jay Robinson, Andy Kamp, Kevin Wemys, and Albert Barrundia to varying degrees. Barrundia pitched the most innings of the bunch, going 166 with 131 strikeouts, a 9-8 record, and a 4.23 ERA. Glen Albright pitched about the same with 168 innings, 100 strikeouts, and a 14-9 record. But the guys that helped the most were the other three men. Rookie Andy Kamp got the call when Barrundia went down to injury and went 6-1 in 69 innings with 30 strikeouts and a 4.72 ERA. 35 year old veteran Jay Robinson was added at the trade deadline and went 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA in 46 innings for the team, holding his opponents to a .172 OBP despite striking out only 19 batters. He did, however, have a critical 7 inning, one run effort in the World Series that helped swing the series in favor of Toronto. Lastly, another rookie named Kevin Wemys came up and managed to go 8-1 in 14 starts with a 2.55 ERA in 95 innings while striking out 59 and holding his opponents to a .220 OBP.
While the patched together rotation held in there to help the team to the league's second best record ever, the bullpen more than held their own. Veteran Tom Hoving held down the closer's spot with a 3.25 ERA, a 4-2 record, while saving 43 of his 46 opportunities. He pitched 61 innings for the team, held the opposition to a .229 OBP, allowed just 8 home runs, and struck out 40. It was his 8th consecutive season with the team with at least 30 saves, despite not being a shut down closer he was very effective. His setup guy may have been even better - Kevin Weeks was a ground-ball machine who helped the team to hold close leads. He pitched 81 innings in 2039 with a 3.10 ERA, an 8-5 record, 3 saves, 57 strikeouts, and a .197 OBP against. In the middle innings were lefty Eduardo Garcia and righty Jameson Thurston. Thurston pitched 81 innings as well and had a 5-1 record with a 2.21 ERA, 55 strikeouts, and a .204 OBP against. Garcia pitched just 20 innings for the team after replacing Alex Hurley and his 4.34 ERA in 77 innings, but he posted a very nice 3.72 ERA and a 1-0 record with 1 save. Lastly was Giovanni Nevah who had one of his worst seasons with the team, pitching 76 innings but posting a 6.01 ERA and a 9-6 record with 5 saves.
While the pitching injuries were bad enough, the offense had it's own share of major issues staying healthy. But the core middle of the lineup - P-Mac, Vogel, and Vargas carried a huge load for the team. In the conversation for best middle of the order in FCM history, these three have to be in the conversation. It wasn't the finest performance of any of their careers, but all three of them posted some big numbers on the way to leading the Jays to the best offensive production in baseball. But the team may have gotten the biggest boost in August when they called up one of their most highly rated prospects: Carlo Musquez. Musquez ended up falling short of the Hall of Fame, but he still holds the season record in FCM for hits in a season with 255. (And also the second best mark with 242) Musquez came in to play centerfield, which pushed long time CFer Bob Houcke to right field, Kevin Dungey to left field, and star Philip MacGruer (and his declining skill set) to DH. The reshuffling was a huge defensive improvement for the team in large part because Musquez was an exceptional defensive player. The former 86th overall selection also managed to hit .341 in 287 at-bats with 22 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 40 RBI, 49 runs scored, 6 stolen bases, and an .847 OPS.
His emergence gave the team a very St. Louis North sort of feel in the outfield. Former CFer Bob Houcke had an exceptional season in the leadoff spot, scoring 129 times while hitting 50 doubles, 10 triples, 3 home runs, driving in 62, stealing 38 bases in 42 tries and slashing .304/385/435 for an .820 OPS. The lefty speedster made the allstar team and, when combined with Musquez and P-Mac, gave the team three hitters at the top of the lineup with an OBP .385 or higher. That will go a long way to explaining the RBI totals posted by the middle of the lineup.
Hitting third was Philip "P-Mac" MacGruer who scored 104 runs, hit 42 doubles, 8 triples, 17 home runs, drove in 126 RBI (a career high), stole 35 bases, and slashed .346/393/541 for a .934 OPS. PMac, at age 34, had lost a step as a defensive player but as a DH had outstanding production for the team from the third spot in the lineup. It surely didn't hurt that behind him was FCM's all-time best hitter: Sean Vogel. Vogel lost about a month of the 2039 season but still managed to slash .287/.354/.558 for a .912 OPS, with 89 runs, 27 doubles, 4 triples, 35 home runs, 149 RBI, and great defense at shortstop in his first full season at the position. (At age 36) The RBI total is insane considering a month of lost games in the middle of the season.
Behind Vogel was his long-time running mate Jose Vargas. Vargas had crushed his way past the 300 HR mark during the season on his way to a HOF berth largely on the basis of his power. In 2039 he scored 103 times, hit 31 doubles, 8 triples, 43 home runs, drove in 107 runs, stole 6 bases, and slashed a very Vargasy .250/.329/544 for an .873 OPS.
After that middle of the order things got dicey because of the rash of injuries the 2039 Jays faced. The following players were significant parts of the last four spots in their lineup: Brent Stalwell and Samuel Marquez at 1B, Kevin Dungey and Keith Boreland in LF, Chad Noah at 2B, and Nick Vaisman and Theo Fitt at catcher.
Brent Stawell broke his wrist in August, finishing him for the season despite the fact that he had already posted 30 home runs and 72 RBI with a .230/287/485 slash line. He wasn't a great player, but an effective one to hit sixth in the lineup and clean up runners the middle had left behind. After his injury, the team was forced to put Samuel Marquez at 1B (as well as Sean Vogel for a stretch) to patch for his absence.
Similarly, Nick Vaisman, going into 2039, was largely considered the best young catcher in the league. However, a broken wrist in June totally derailed his career. He lost all of his luster and became a fringe starting catcher the rest of his career. It was a huge blow to the team that was planning on him being somewhat of a Joe Mauer-lite type of catcher. He showed those skills the first two months hitting .299 with a .400 OBP, 5 home runs, 4 stolen bases, 34 runs, and 24 RBI. After his injury the team turned to switch hitter Theo Fitt who hit .267 with 1 homer, 40 runs, and 33 RBI. However, he also got hurt before the playoffs and the team had to turn to a September FA signing in Vincent Herman going into the playoffs.
In LF Kevin Dungey and Keith Boreland combined for a very effective platoon (even though they were both left-handed). Combined they hit .315 with 13 home runs, 25 stolen bases, 107 runs scored, 118 RBI, 49 doubles, and 6 triples. Very solid production for the team, but perhaps the best surprise was from rookie Chad Noah. Noah had forced Vogel off of his long-time post at 2B and over to SS and the shuffle paid off. Noah played elite defense and brought a very solid bat on his way to an AL Rookie of the year award. He scored 107 runs, hit 28 doubles, 2 triples, 12 home runs, drove in 62, had a BB to K ratio of 51-76, stole 12 bases, and OPS'd .709.
Interview with the Owner: Thoughts sprinkled in
What Sets Them Apart: If we could count up man games lost, the 2039 Blue Jays would blow anyone else on this list out of the water. They won 120 games despite losing their ace, their best player for a month, their starting catcher, starting first baseman, two other starting pitchers, and went into the playoffs with a catcher pulled off the September scrap heap. And, despite all of those obstacles, they still beat a very tough Cardinals team to win the 2039 World Series. This team sported one of the best 1-5s in any lineup in FCM history and featured a ton of future hall of fame players (5 with one fringe guy in Musquez). It won't hold the title as the best Blue Jays team of FCM history, but it might have if not for all the injuries.
Coming Next: 5th Best Team in FCM History: Heeeerrrreee's PETER!!!!
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