The Team: Philadelphia Phillies
The Year: 2041
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W/L Record: 112-51
Run Differential: 1082 RS vs. 672 RA +410 Runs
Awards: NL Triple Crown: Paul Audley (46 HR, .385 batting average, 144 RBI), NL Win Leader: Giovanni Villareda (19), NL Cy Young Award: Giovanni Villareda, NL MVP: Paul Audley, NL Gold Glove: Barry Roberts C
All Stars: LF Kevin Russell, 3B Paul Audley, LF Collin McConnell, SP Giovanni Villareda, RF Brandon Zimmerman, SP Pete Duguay
League Leading Stat Categories: .308 Team Batting Average, 64 Home Wins, .380 Team OBP, .858 Team OPS, 1082 Team Runs Scored, .478 Team Slugging Percentage
Lineup/Bench Rotation/Bullpen
CF Collin McConnell Giovanni Villareda
1B Kevin Russell Pete Duguay
RF Brandon Zimmerman Prescott Underwood
DH Paul Audley Jeremy Box
3B Randy Young Rich Arikawa
LF Steve Chausse CL Jason Stockhausen C Barry Roberts SU Nick Stice
2B Brian Loudermilk SR Steve Virata
SS Chomei Takahashi SR Romain Davis
MR Eric Whited
LR Jolindo Cisneror
OF Samuel Roches
C Pedro Saldina
3B Kelly Guillot
1B Jim Lafontaine
IF Justin Hutchens
The Key Players: I think the discussion of this team has to start with the centerpiece to what was one of the most dominant offenses in league history: Paul Audley. Audley made the Hall of Fame after a career that saw him post 2300 hits, almost 1500 runs scored, over 450 doubles, over 400 home runs, nearly 1500 RBI, almost 1700 walks, a career OPS of .937, and 3 MVP awards. Audley was an on base machine over his career but combined that with some serious power that made him especially dangerous. In 2041 that danger was in rare form: Audley posted a Triple Crown in the NL. He lead the league in batting average at .385, hit 46 home runs to lead that category, and knocked in a ridiculous 144 RBI. In addition he hit 28 doubles, 4 triples, scored 124 times, walked 148 times (struck out only 102 times), and slashed .385/.514/.743 for a 1.257 OPS. All of that he accomplished despite missing almost a month of the season. His 2041 campaign ranks as the 5th best batting average of all time, the 3rd most hits in any campaign, the best all-time OBP at .514 (40 points higher than the next best!), and the best OPS in any single season in FCM history. It might be safe to say it was the best single season campaign by any hitter in the history of the league.
Unfortunately the team wasn't able to get past the Mets in the playoffs, though Audley would go on to win two World Series in 2043 and 2045 with the team. However, his effort in 2041 simply can't be overstated. There haven't been many Triple Crowns in the history of the league (none that I can recall, though there may have been some), so that accomplishment alone is something to hang his hat on. But he also hoisted the MVP that year and a ridiculous array of single season records. Suffice to say, without him on this team they may not even crack this list. With him, they deserve this recognition.
Audley wasn't the only guy on this team to post some ridiculous numbers. Setting the table for Audley and the rest of the Philly mashers was a man named Collin McConnell. McConnell was a former second round draft choice of the Yankees, who came to the Phillies as a draft day trade. Within three years he was on the Phillies and in his third season on the team he posted an outstanding season. In just 113 games he scored 109 times, had 39 doubles, 5 triples, 14 home runs, 71 RBI, 14 stolen bases, and slashed .349/424/532 for a .956 OPS to go with solid defense in CF for the team. The lefty all-purpose player was a catalyst for the team for most of his career and posted fringe-HOF numbers that had him up for consideration. He was a key cog in the subsequent runs to the World Series for the Phillies in 2043 and 2045.
Maybe the most surprising member of the lefty producers at the top of the Philly lineup was 1B Kevin Russell. Russell was a draft day acquisition a few years before by the Phillies in exchange for Rich Hall. In his fourth full season with the team, Russell had established himself as an extremely productive player, but in 2041 he took that to new heights. Playing in 156 games he posted a ridiculous pile of runs scored at 138 (on the top 10 leaderboard for all-time seasons), he had 239 hits, an FCM record 62 doubles, 7 triples, 18 home runs, 133 RBI, and he slashed 342/379/529 for a .908 OPS. He wasn't able to sustain that for as long as he would've wanted to but 2041 was a shining beacon in his career and a huge part of the success of the Phillies. Hitting a 1B second in a lineup is pretty atypical but it's hard to argue with the kind of success he had.
The last of the big four at the top of the Philly lineup was a grizzled veteran who had transformed his career moving just down the road in Pennsylvania: Brandon Zimmerman. For 8 seasons Zimmerman had played first base for the Pittsburgh Pirates before being traded to the Brewers as part of a larger deal for Mark McShane. But after a short stay there he was shipped back to Pennsylvania, but this time to the City of Brotherly Love. That change launched what had been an ok, but not great career into one that would put him in the Hall of Fame. Ultimately, Zimmerman finished with over 2700 hits, 1500 runs, 600 doubles, 350 home runs, 1600 RBI, 1100 walks, and an .887 career OPS with 1 MVP award. The vast majority of that production happened in Philadelphia in what should have been the twilight of his career, instead it was easily the most productive he had ever been.
2041 continued that for Zimmerman as he had 195 hits, 131 runs scored, 40 doubles, 23 home runs, 123 RBI, 87 walks to only 50 strikeouts, and slashed 344/428/543 for a .971 OPS. He also switched to RF for the first time in his career and went from a gold glove caliber first baseman to a very steady outfielder. That switched allowed the team to protect Audley at DH while also playing Kevin Russell at 1B.
From here the Philly offense takes a step backwards from that dominant top four, but there are still a couple of very good players. The next three guys in the lineup were 3B Randy Young, LF Steve Chausse, and C Barry Roberts. Young was a switch hitter signed in FA by the club to add some offense and he did that with 75 runs, 34 doubles, 17 home runs, 108 RBI, and a slash line of .313/359/473. It wasn't quite worth his 26M dollar price tag, but it helped!
Chausse was another grizzled Philly veteran - the fan favorite had been a former 2 time MVP winner in the past and was consistently good for 25-40 HR and over 100 RBI every season. By 2041 he was in decline for the team but he still managed to scored 88 runs, hit 28 doubles, 22 home runs, 88 RBI, and slashed .281/360/468. Lastly, well-traveled Barry Roberts was at catcher where the Phillies had again opened up the checkbook in FA and signed him to a 5 year 125M dollar contract. The 33 year old backstop scored 82 runs, hit 31 doubles, 22 home runs, drove in 65, and slashed .280/389/514 for a very nice .903 OPS.
From there the Philly lineup took a major, major step backwards. The middle infielders for the team were nothing short of putrid. At 2B was Brian Loudermilk who was a mediocre fielder who scored just 57 runs, hit 22 doubles, 7 home runs, drove in 73, and slashed .257/318/345 for an ugly .663 OPS. The shortstop was a bit better as Chomei Takahashi provided some excellent defense and scored 100 runs on the season with 27 doubles, 1 home run, 56 RBI, and slashed .307/387/373 for a .760 OPS.
The bench was ok - Kelly Guillot and Jim Lafontaine all saw some time due to the other injuries. LaFontaine hit 12 home runs and drove in 44 while Guillot hit 11 home runs and drove in 30 in limited time. Backup catcher Pedro Saldina also hit .309 with 1 homerun and 31 RBI on the season.
The team's pitching staff sported at least one name that is on the all-timer list for FCM: Giovanni "Primetime G" Villareda. Villareda is a HOF player and largely considered the second or third best arm in the history of our league. In his career he managed a 309-112 record, a 2.89 ERA (insane considering the ballpark he pitched half his games in), 15 all-star appearances, 3 Cy Young Awards, and over 3600 strikeouts. He was absolutely dominant despite his home ballpark being a bandbox for hitters. Had he pitched in even a neutral ballpark we may be talking about a rival for Donovan Pace.
Villareda held down the ace role for the Phillies for 20 extremely productive seasons and 2041 was a big part of that success. He went 19-6 with a 2.69 ERA in 228 innings. He struck out 210 batters, allowed only 54 walks, a .226 OBP against, 18 home runs, and pitched 3 complete games with 1 shutout. He didn't win his one shot at the postseason but he had one helluva season for the Phillies.
Primetime's long time running buddy Pete Duguay was the #2 man in this rotation and he posted a nice season himself but for an unfortunate injury in mid-September. Duguay pitched 172 innings with a 2.98 ERA and a 15-6 record. He struck out 126, walked 48, held opponents to just 9 home runs, and had a .234 OBP against. His loss from the playoff roster was a big blow to this Phillies team that got knocked out in the first round. He also went on to a long career that became fringe HOF worthy as he played on and was part of the subsequent runs the Phillies made.
Rounding out the rotation were a group of solid, if not spectacular, arms. Due to injuries the last three spots were manned by four guys: Prescott Underwood, Travis Andres, Jeremy Box, and Rich Arikawa. Leading this pack was longtime Phillie starter Prescott Underwood, a former Top 5 pick who pitched a long time for the team but was never anything electric. The solid veteran pitched 188 innings in 2041 with a 3.78 ERA and 129 strikeouts. He went 18-6 with a .232 OBP against on the season and pretty much did the role the team had him pegged for. Next up was Jeremy Box, a rookie who had been drafted in the first round a few years before. Box pitched 155 innings with a 3.61 ERA and a 15-4 record. He allowed 20 home runs, struck out 123, and had a .239 OBP against. He was a solid contributor who went on to be a back end starter for the team for a long time.
Arikawa was the 37 year old swing man who had spent various parts of his career jumping from the bullpen to the rotation. In 2041 he pitched 159 innings with a 13-3 record and a 4.87 ERA. He allowed 26 home runs and a .285 OBP against - so pretty crappy production. Andres was another part-time player, he pitched 112 innings with a 9-4 record and a 3.45 ERA.
The bullpen was lead by the very talented Jason Stockhausen. In his first full-time season as a closer (he had spent a few years as a setup man in Boston before being traded over to Philly in 2040), he had an absolutely awesome season for the team. He pitched 47 innings, went 3-1, struck out 33, walked 14, and had a 1.34 ERA. He also saved 35 games in 39 tries, but where his regular season was fantastic, he let the team down bigtime in the playoffs. He pitched just 3 innings but managed to give up 4 runs and blow two saves that resulted in losses. Those games ultimately sunk the team in the playoffs.
Setup man Nick Stice pitched 80 innings with a 3.50 ERA with 45 strikeouts, an 8-5 record, and 4 saves. Youngster Steve Virata pitched 71 innings with 62 strikeouts, a 2-2 record, and 4 saves as well.
The backend of the pen featured two pretty poor arms and one up and coming stud. In the short relief role Romain Davis pitched 36 innings with a 5.94 ERA, 22 strikeouts, a 4-3 record, and 1 save. Eric Whited pitched 47 innings with 28 strikeouts and a 4.98 ERA with a 1-2 record. But in the long relief role came rookie Jolindo Cisneror who pitched 80 innings with a 3-1 record, 53 strikeouts, and 1 save. He had a 3.40 ERA and developed into an arm that would make an impact on the team's future runs in the playoffs.
Interview with the Owner: None Available
What Sets Them Apart: I think what sets this team apart is pretty obvious: This was probably the best offense in FCM history. This team holds the all-time FCM record for team OPS and OBP and were one of the highest scoring in league history. McConnell, Russell, Zimmerman, and Audley were absolutely outrageous in 2041. They may not be the best foursome in terms of pure talent or career success, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better series of hitters in one season than these three. Audley had a triple crown season that highlighted him as one of the league's all-time greats. While he may not have been able to sustain it over a career, what he did do was spend several seasons as the league's most dominant and dangerous hitter. But this team wasn't just offense, with guys like Primetime G at the top of the rotation they were a threat in a number of different ways. This team had a real claim against the top spot in the countdown but ultimately their lack of depth in the lineup and pitching staff make them the second best team.
Coming Next: The Best Team in FCM History: The Flying V's
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