These three pitchers were no doubt cheated out of a better grade by APBA:
1990 Jose DeJesus DW 7 wins, 3.74 ERA, 22 starts, 130 IP
1979 Steve Busby DW 6 wins, 3.63 ERA, 22 games, 12 starts, 94.1 IP
1937 Spud Chandler D 7 wins, 2.84 ERA, 12 games, 10 starts, 82.1 IP
(by the way, this post and the research was inspired by a posting on APBA- Between the Lines. Check it out for some good insight).
There are reasons why, in the past, APBA had downgraded pitchers.
- limited appearances and innings
- to bring the team’s overall strength within the scope of its actual potential
- and to some degree, to compensate for control ratings
Mostly though, it appears that those pitchers in past seasons suffered the most when they pitched a very low amount of games and/or innings. If a starter such as Chandler was given a B grade, perhaps it was thought that he would be used as such throughout the season as a full timer, giving his team an unfair advantage.
But it seems there was a change in recent times. Those Spud Chandlers of today would be given their due grade.
Why the change?
The APBA fans had more than likely made it known that the true grade was what they wanted. Let’s face it, baseball fans are more savvy now when it comes to baseball replays. They have better access to schedules, actual pitching rotations, and lineups and the like. If I’m doing a 1979 replay, I can quickly go to sites like Baseball Reference and get a quick read on how KC used their pitching staff.
More importantly, APBA fans want to be in control of the replays. It’s their business who they play and for how long. In APBA’s formative years, perhaps they attempted to “guide” us by downgrading pitchers who pitched well in a small sample size. By now, we’re ready to take command of our replays.
As a side note, the downgrading of pitchers in past years really hurt those who were in leagues with these pitchers. If I had Jose DeJesus on my team in 1991 (the year after his 1990 season), it would have been disappointing. Most leagues already implement some sort of limit system to prevent any sort of over use. So the idea, of downgrading a pitcher because of low actual innings was beyond the point.
That’s not to say some pitchers don’t still get downgraded but APBA realized this and started giving more representative grades. It’s a good change and one that most APBA replayers welcome.
By the way, if you can think of other egregious D pitchers wondering what they did to deserve their fate, pass them on.
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