SIM COMPLETE - 1999 - SIM 5

[Carlos]

And look, not to throw all the shine at just California, but no one ever talks about Virginia. Not ever.

So how about that Chavez guy. He's not a kid anymore. It seems he's always batting over .400 at this point of the season. He ends up slowing down, but he's a career .354 hitter. Prior to the season he was hitting .352 in his career which is a good .18! points better than the number two hitter all-time (Joe Lopez).

Also, did anyone realize Joe Lopez is 2nd all-time in batting average? I doubt more than a couple guys even knew that. Of course, he continues hitting like he has these past two seasons and it won't last.

Finally, the recently retired Joe Nazaire has the highest batting average amongst non-active players at .315.

I imagine any question involving those names would be worth $1,000 on Jeopardy.

[Carlos]

Triples.

I missed this but Jose Guzman - at the age of 41 - picked up a triple recently, and that triple pushed him to the top all-time in triples in BLB history with 106.

Sure, longevity has something to do with it. But that's not what's amazing about all this. What's amazing is that up until 1996 when Guzman was the tender age of 38, he was fifth all-time with 87 triples.

Read that again. 87 triples at age 38.

Three years later, he has added another 19 triples after turning 39. And as amazing as that sounds, it actually isn't even that rare.

Mel Woodbury is second with 16 triples after turning 39. Sonny Fulton and Nick Latham had 11 each.

But what makes it all the more interesting is that the legendary Jose Guzman isn't much of a runner. While he does have a career 205 stolen bases - good for 32nd all-time - he only has 26 swipes since turning 39.

Sonny Fulton - who only played two years in the BLB at 39 and 40 - swiped 111 bags during the free-running era. Mel Woodbury took another 94 bases after 39 years-of-age (and could have taken more if he didn't suffer a career-ending injury immediately following a 31 steal campaign). And even Hall of Famer Nick Latham never lost any steam stealing 63.

So where's Guzman getting the extra boost? It could be the ballpark or we could just point to the simple fact that Guzman hasn't stopped being Guzman even in old-age.

[tomr1962]

Yep Zak Gaston wants nothing more than to man up and take a batting crown from Chavez before he belly crawls out of Virginia. You gotta wonder how long his torrid hitting can continue.

[Carlos]

Yep Zak Gaston wants nothing more than to man up and take a batting crown from Chavez before he belly crawls out of Virginia. You gotta wonder how long his torrid hitting can continue.

Poor Zak Gaston is currently third all-time in batting average and has never finished higher than third in the IL in an individual season.

Even when he batted a career high .342 in 1997, he was outdone by Hector Coronel hitting .344 and Chavez blistering the league at .375 - the highest average for a hitter in the IL since Kellum batted .379 in the 1978 inaugural season.

[Lintyfresh85]

Also, did anyone realize Joe Lopez is 2nd all-time in batting average? I doubt more than a couple guys even knew that. Of course, he continues hitting like he has these past two seasons and it won't last.

I did.

[Carlos]

I did.

You should.

[Ryan]

I did.

You should.

Is this the part where you kiss?

[Carlos]

Is this the part where you kiss?

We could.

[spot]

We could.

They did.

[Ryan]

[Carlos]

They did.

In love.

[Jake]

Couple important guys return from injury this sim:

OF rub Martinez, one of my faves, starts a rehab assignment in AAA. He finally got it over the last few years and it just figured that he had to go down with a major injury... leading to an inevitable ratings drop. My hope is that he's still servicable, but he's looking a lot more like a AAAA guy according to my scout.

SP Robby Aten, who conversely has seemed to keep all his talent. No drop in ratings (in fact, his OSA stuff went up), no drop on the top prospects list, and no drop in my org rankings. He'll return to A ball to try and rebound before he's 38.

[funclown]

OF rub Martinez, one of my faves, starts a rehab assignment in AAA. He finally got it over the last few years and it just figured that he had to go down with a major injury... leading to an inevitable ratings drop. My hope is that he's still servicable, but he's looking a lot more like a AAAA guy according to my scout.

My scout says he got destroyed. I use to love that kid.

On a completely different subject: my scout showed a nice comback for Victor 'Slider' Gonzlez at 33!!!! Is it the staduim? 13 mil development budget?? Who knows. Why I love this game.