Here we go with 1982:
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES - PETE ROSE
In 1981, Rose played primarily first base for a decent Phillies team. Rose was 40, but he had plenty left in the tank as he hit .325/.391/.390 and led the Majors with 140 hits in the strike-shortened season. He had next to no power, hitting zero home runs and 18 doubles and drove in just 33 runs. He scored 73 runs.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Probably not. While Rose had a great season, this felt more like a career achievement award. The Phillies had better choices, including Steve Carlton. But the best choice would have been NL MVP Mike Schmidt, who had an otherworldly season, hitting 31 home runs and driving in 91 while hitting .316/435/.644 which would have been great numbers in a full season, and are incredible in a strike-shortened one.
GRADE: C+. Rose is not a bad selection, but he's not the best one, and it is kind of hard to ignore the league MVP who had a fantastic season.
MONTREAL EXPOS - GARY CARTER
The Expos were good in 1981 and their catcher was one of the best in the game. Carter won the Gold Glove Award and was an All Star when he hit .251/.313/.444 and hit 16 home runs, driving in 68 runs. He led the team in RBIs and doubles (20).
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Carter is certainly a very good choice and, as a catcher, he is that much more important. But Andre Dawson had the best numbers and was also a terrific defensive player. Dawson hit .302/.365/.553 with 24 home runs and 64 RBIs, while also stealing 26 bases.
GRADE: B+. Dawson was a better choice from a pure numbers perspective, but Carter is a very good choice.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS - STEVE GARVEY
Garvey had been a major run producer for the Dodgers for several seasons leading in to 1981. Garvey led the league in games played (110) and hit .283/.322/.411 with ten home runs and a team-leading 64 RBIs for the World Champion Dodgers.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? No. 1981 was the season of Fernando-Mania as Fernando Valenzuela won the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards by going 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA and 180 strikeouts. From a hitting standpoint, both Pedro Guerrero and Ron Cey had better seasons.
GRADE: C. Garvey was decent in 1981, but the Dodgers had better players.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS - VIDA BLUE
Blue was the MVP and Cy Young winner in the AL in 1971. Ten years later, he was still decent enough, going 8-6 with an impressive 2.48 ERA, striking out 63 and walking 54 in 124.1 innings. He had the best ERA on the staff. He was also an All Star.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? No. Doyle Alexander had a better record and more strikeouts, but a higher ERA. From a hitting standpoint, Jack Clark had a very good season, hitting .268/.341/.460 with 17 home runs and 53 RBIs.
GRADE: B. He is probably not the best choice, but he is not a bad one either. The Giants did not have a lot of great choices.
DETROIT TIGERS - ALAN TRAMMELL
Trammell is a Hall of Famer, and deserved it a lot earlier than it took to get him in, but 1981 was a bad year for him. He won the Gold Glove, but he hit just .258/.342/.327 with just two home runs and 31 RBIs and stole ten bases. The slash line in particular is far off from his career line.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Definitely not. Lance Parrish (ten home runs, 46 RBIs), Lou Whitaker (.263/.340/.373) and Steve Kemp (.277/.389/.419) were better hitters. Jack Morris (14-7, 3.05 ERA) was a better selection as a hitter.
GRADE: D. It was an off year for Trammell. The Tigers were not bursting with great selections, but Trammell was a bad choice.
CLEVELAND INDIANS - LEN BARKER
Barker led the AL in strikeouts with 127, a year after he struck out 187 to lead the league. Primarily Barker made an impact by pitching a perfect game. Beyond his strikeout total, Barker went 8-7 with a 3.91 ERA.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Maybe not. Cleveland was mediocre in 1981, but had decent seasons from Mike Hargrove (.317/.424/.401) and Toby Harrah (.291/.382/.388) at the plate. Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven was 11-7 with a 2.88 ERA.
GRADE: B. I will give credit to the choice for leading the league in strikeouts and pitching a perfect game, but his ERA was a little high. The Indians were a fairly weak team though.
BOSTON RED SOX - DWIGHT EVANS
Evans had one of the best seasons in his career in 1981. He tied for the league lead in home runs (22) and led the team in RBIs (71). Evans hit .296/.415/.522 and also led the league in walks (85), OPS (.937) and total bases (215). He was an All Star and won the Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards while finishing third in the MVP race.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Yes. Only AL batting leader Carney Lansford (.336) has a reasonable argument, but his high batting average was his only edge over Evans.
GRADE: A. This is not my obvious fandom talking, this is clearly the best choice on the team.
CALIFORNIA ANGELS - ROD CAREW
At 35, Hall of Famer Carew still had quite a bit left in the tank. He led the Angels in stolen bases (16), runs (57), batting average (.305) and on-base percentage (.380) while hitting two home runs and driving in 21. Carew was an All Star in 1981.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? No. Bobby Grich came close to the team-leading numbers of Carew and had significantly more power. He hit .304/.378/.543 while tying the league lead in home runs (22) and driving in 61 runs.
GRADE: B. This is fine. There's a better choice, but Carew is not a bad one.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS - GEORGE HENDRICK
Hendrick was the primary power threat on the division-winning Cardinals, leading the team in home runs (18), runs (67) and RBIs (61). He hit .284/.356/.485 with 19 doubles.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Probably. Keith Hernandez has an argument as he hit .306/.401/.463, but he hit just eight home runs and drove in 48 runs.
GRADE: A. The Cardinals, as they have seemingly always done, were really good without too many standout players. Hendrick was an offensive force, though he may not have been on other teams.
ATLANTA BRAVES - PHIL NIEKRO
Niekro was 42 in 1981, but he was still going strong and would pitch several more seasons. Such is the nature of the knuckleball. Niekro was 7-7 for a bad Braves team, but he had a 3.10 ERA (best on the team) and struck out 62 and walked 56 in 139.1 innings.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Probably not, but there are not any real good picks either. This is a career achievement pick as the back does not mention anything from 1981. Bob Horner had a decent year at the plate, hitting .277/.345/.460 with 15 home runs. Rick Camp was terrific out of the pen with a 1.78 ERA and a 9-3 record. So without any clear-cut choices, I think it is okay to do a career achievement.
GRADE: B. I get it. The Braves were pretty mediocre in 1981 without any clear standouts.
SEATTLE MARINERS - RICHIE ZISK
Zisk had a decent season with the still-new Seattle Mariners in 1981. The team's designated hitter, he hit .311/.366/.485 and led the team with 16 home runs. He drove in 43 runs and scored 42.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Probably not. Zisk's numbers were generally lower than left-fielder Tom Paciorek's. Paciorek hit .326/.379/.509 with 14 home runs and 66 RBIs. But part of the reason I think Zisk was picked over Paciorek is due to Zisk being significantly better in the past. This was a career year for Paciorek and a bit of a down year for Zisk.
GRADE: B. Zisk's past gave him the edge over the career year for Paciorek, though Paciorek was generally better than Zisk.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES - DAVE PARKER
It was not much before 1981 that Parker was one of the best players in the National League. He was still an All Star in 1981, but injuries limited him to 67 games. He hit just .258/.287/.454 and was second on the team with nine home runs and led the team with 48 RBIs.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? No. Parker had a down year in 1981. Bill Madlock won the batting title with a .341 mark and Jason Thompson was the team's biggest power threat with 15 home runs. Omar Moreno stole 39 bases.
GRADE: D. Parker had been great in the past, but 1981 was not a good year for him.
HOUSTON ASTROS - NOLAN RYAN
The great Nolan Ryan led the Majors with an incredible 1.69 ERA in 1981. He was an easy All Star selection as he tied for the team lead in wins (11-5 record) and strikeouts (140) despite pitching in significantly fewer innings than teammates Joe Niekro, Bob Knepper and Don Sutton.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Yes. Houston had a lot of good pitchers, but Ryan was significantly better.
GRADE: A. Ryan stood out on the Astros team in 1981.
CHICAGO CUBS - IVAN DEJESUS
DeJesus was generally a very good defensive shortstop since joining the Cubs. He hit .194/.276/.233 with zero home runs and 13 RBIs. He stole 21 bases (second on the team) and scored 49 runs to lead the team.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Um, no. DeJesus was pretty much terrible with the bat. Bill Buckner (.311/.349/.480) and Leon Durham (.290/.344/.466) both had decent seasons at the plate and were significantly better than DeJesus.
GRADE: F. I have no idea why DeJesus was selected. He had been better in the past, but he was plain bad in 1981.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS - GEORGE BRETT
One year after hitting .390 on the season, Brett had another great season in 1981 when he hit .314/.361/.484 with six home runs and 43 RBIs. He stole 14 bases, led the team with 27 doubles and scored 42 runs.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Yes. He was not the big power threat on the team as Willie Aikens led the team in home runs, but Brett was clearly the best hitter on the team. Willie Wilson had the highest WAR, but he was helped primarily by his fantastic defense.
GRADE: A. There are some other decent choices, but Brett is by far the best one.
CINCINNATI REDS - TOM SEAVER
At the age of 36, Seaver was still one of the best pitchers in the game. He came in second in the Cy Young voting when he had a terrific 14-2 record and a 2.54 ERA. He struck out 87 batters in 166.1 innings pitched.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Yes. Seaver was still Tom Terrific in 1981. Goerge Foster had a great year at the plate, hitting .295/.373/.519 with 22 home runs and 90 RBIs, but Seaver was a better pitcher than Foster was a hitter.
GRADE: A. Clearly the best choice.
NEW YORK METS - DAVE KINGMAN
Kingman always had a ton of power and was a couple of seasons removed from leading the league with 48 home runs. He was far and away the Mets' most powerful slugger in 1981 as he hit 22 home runs (runner-up Lee Mazzilli had six) and drove in 59 runs. Kingman's slash line was .221/.326/.456.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? It is pretty close between him and Hubie Brooks. Brooks hit .307/.345/.411 and played a much more demanding defensive position, and played it well. Kingman had the higher OPS though.
GRADE: B+. This pick is fine. Kingman did not have one of his best seasons, but the Mets were pretty bad in 1981.
NEW YORK YANKEES - DAVE WINFIELD
Winfield had just signed a huge free agent contract to leave the Padres and join the Yankees before the 1981 season. Apparently the Yankees have always done this. He had a decent year for a strike-shortened one as he hit .294/.360/.464 with 13 home runs and a team-leading 68 RBIs. He stole 11 bases.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Probably. Winfield was probably the best overall player, but the Yankees had great performances from Ron Guidry (11-5, 2.76 ERA) and both Reggie Jackson and Graig Nettles had more home runs (15)
GRADE: A. The Yankees won the AL pennant and Winfield was a big part of it. There were other directions Donruss could have taken, but Winfield was probably the best choice.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS - MIKE NORRIS
Norris was an All Star for the only time in his career in 1981, though that was more due to the outstanding season he had in 1980 than his numbers in 1981. He was a part of a very impressive quartet of pitchers, none of whom had sustained success beyond 1981. Norris was 12-9 with a 3.75 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 172.2 innings.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? No. Rickey Henderson (.319/.408/.437, 56 steals) was the best player on the team, as he would be for years afterward. Tony Armas tied for the league lead in home runs (22). Even among the pitchers, Steve McCatty was better (14-7, 2.33 ERA).
GRADE: C. Norris was not bad, but he was pretty far from the best pick.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX - CARLTON FISK
In his first season in Chicago after signing as a free agent, the former Red Sox catcher hit .263/.354/.361. He hit seven home runs and drove in 45 runs. He was named to the All Star team and picked up his first Silver Slugger Award.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Probably not. While Fisk was probably the biggest star on the team and was a noteworthy acquisition, Chet Lemon had the best season, hitting .302/.384/.491 with nine home runs and 50 RBIs. Greg Luzinski hit 21 home runs. Britt Burns had a 2.64 ERA.
GRADE: B. Fisk was a major new acquisition for the White Sox, but he did not have a great season at the plate. The White Sox had better hitters.
SAN DIEGO PADRES - OZZIE SMITH
The Wizard of Oz was in his final season in San Diego in 1981. He made his first All Star team and won his second Gold Glove. Despite that, he was not much of a hitter, particularly in this stage of his career. He hit just .222/.294/.256 with zero home runs and 21 RBIs. He stole 22 bases.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Tough call. Other players certainly had better years at the plate. Gene Richards led the team in WAR when he hit .288/.373/.407. No one hit more than eight home runs (Joe Lefebvre). Terry Kennedy might have been the best pick as the catcher hit .301.
GRADE: C+. There are not a lot of great options here, but several players had better years at the plate, not as many in the field.
MINNESOTA TWINS - ROY SMALLEY
Smalley only played in 56 games, but he was the only player on the team to have an OPS+ over 100, making him the only player to be an above-average hitter. Smalley led the team in home runs (seven) and hit .263/.375/.443 with 22 RBIs and scored 24 runs. He had been much better in the past though and was an All Star in 1979.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Well, it's complicated. He was the only hitter to have an above-average OPS+, but he played in just over half of the team's games due to injury. Closer Doug Corbett had the highest WAR as he had a 2.57 ERA and 17 saves.
GRADE: B. There really are not any decent selections here. Smalley is a bad pick in the context of other selections, but there are not many reasonable picks on the bad Twins team.
TEXAS RANGERS - BUDDY BELL
Bell made his third All Star game in 1981. The third-baseman also won his third Gold Glove and had a good year at the plate, hitting .294/.364/.428 with ten home runs and 48 RBIs. He led the Rangers in home runs and RBIs.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? It is close, but probably. Al Oliver had a good year, hitting .309/.348/.411, but had less power.
GRADE: A. Tough to argue against this one.
BALTIMORE ORIOLES - KEN SINGLETON
Singleton was one of the more underrated hitters of the 1970's. He made his third All Star game in 1981 and hit .278/.380/.435 with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs. He was 34 years old.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? No. When the card does not even mention the season he is named for, it is not usually the best choice. In this case, Eddie Murray had a huge offensive season, hitting .294/.360/.534 while tying for the league lead in home runs (22) and driving in 78 runs.
GRADE: C. Singleton is not a horrible pick, but when Murray is passed over, he is not a good pick either.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS - JOHN MAYBERRY
Mayberry had been a power hitter for years and had the biggest power numbers for the Blue Jays in 1981. Mayberry hit .248/.360/.452 with a team-leading 17 home runs and 43 RBIs (tied with Lloyd Moseby).
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? Yes. Toronto was bad in 1981. The only other player to have an above-average OPS+ was Otto Velez, and he hit just .213/.363/.404 with 11 home runs. Dave Stieb had a decent season on the mound, but his conventional numbers were not overly impressive (11-10, 3.19 ERA, 89 strikeouts).
GRADE: B+. Stieb maybe could have been a decent selection, but Mayberry was probably the best choice.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS - GORMAN THOMAS
Thomas was an All Star for the only time in his career in 1981, though he led the league in home runs twice. He had another big power year, leading the team in walks (50), home runs (21) and RBIs (65). On the season he hit .259/.348/.493.
WAS HE THE BEST CHOICE? No. Cecil Cooper had a better year at the plate, though with less power, as he hit .320/.363/.495 with 12 home runs and 60 RBIs. Rollie Fingers won both the AL MVP and AL Cy Young Award as he 6-3 with a 1.04 ERA and saved 28 games.
GRADE: C+. Again, somehow Donruss missed the league MVP. Thomas was good, just not the best on the team.
RECAP
BEST CHOICE: Tough call between Evans, Seaver and Ryan. All three were clearly the best choices from their teams, and each had great seasons overall.
WORST CHOICE: DeJesus. I simply do not understand.
BIGGEST SNUB: Mike Schmidt was probably the best player in the game, but lost out to Pete Rose.
WEIRDEST PICK HISTORICALLY: DeJesus again. I mean, was he ever really good?
BIGGEST SNUB: Mike Schmidt was probably the best player in the game, but lost out to Pete Rose.
WEIRDEST PICK HISTORICALLY: DeJesus again. I mean, was he ever really good?
I like this idea. I'm looking forward to more posts in this series. I wonder if some of the career achievement type selections were made because this was the first year Donruss had done DK and they were making up for lost time. Even so, their choices seem to be a bit inconsistent.
ReplyDelete10 Hall of Famers isn't too shabby...
ReplyDeleteNot much of a DK fan, but '82 and '83 are by far my favorite DK sets. Just picked up a handful of '83s. Good post!
ReplyDelete