sportznut
02-22-2005, 08:56 PM
Best Fantasy Seasons of All Time (20-1)
Monday, February 14, 2005
Modified: Thursday, February 17, 2005
As we count down the days to the 2005 fantasy baseball season, we're also taking a look back at the history of our game. Taking into account both the years before and after the advent of Rotisserie Baseball in the early 1980s, we're counting down the top-100 single seasons in fantasy baseball history. Here are Nos. 20-1:
20. Sandy Koufax, SP, 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers
Stats: 27-9 record, 1.73 ERA, 0.985 WHIP, 317 K, 323 IP
He certainly saved his best for last, setting new career highs in wins and ERA and leading the majors in each of those categories as well as strikeouts in his final season. Koufax would also place second in WHIP, earning himself the National League Triple Crown and major-league Cy Young award. He would retire the following winter at the age of 30 after pitching much of his career with arthritis, making his statistical accomplishments from 1963-66 all the more impressive.
19. Hack Wilson, OF, 1930 Chicago Cubs
Stats: .356 AVG, 56 HR, 191 RBI, 3 SB, 146 R, 585 AB
We've already talked quite a bit about the incredible hitting totals of the 1930 season; the 16 major-league teams combined to bat .296 that year. But don't let that detract from what Wilson accomplished. That was the year he set the single-season record for RBI, leading the majors by 16 while also topping everyone by seven homers. What was most interesting about Wilson's numbers is they only kept improving nearly 70 years later. In 1999, Major League Baseball credited Wilson with an additional RBI, raising his record-setting total from 190 to 191.
18. Walter Johnson, SP, 1912 Washington Senators
Stats: 33-12 record, 2 SV, 1.39 ERA, 0.908 WHIP, 303 K, 369 IP
League scoring was beginning to climb by the early 1910s, but Johnson's numbers kept improving as he reached his mid-20s. In 1912, he led the majors in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts and finished second in wins, finishing third in the American League Most Valuable Player voting. His 1.39 ERA was 1.95 below the league average, representing the greatest differential between those numbers of his 21-year career. Johnson became the second pitcher since 1900 to record two seasons of 300-plus strikeouts; there wouldn't be a third for another 53 years.
BEYOND THE BEST
Babe Ruth makes nine appearances in our top 100, nearly one-tenth of the greatest fantasy seasons of all-time. That might seem a lot for a player whose numbers look similar to those of Barry Bonds today, but keep in mind how scarce the home run was in Ruth's time. In 1920, when Ruth averaged one homer per 8.48 at-bats, the rest of the majors averaged one homer per 145.34 at-bats, a difference of 136.86. Here are the other biggest discrepancies in those numbers in Ruth's career:
1919: Ruth 14.90; Others 177.61
1926: Ruth 10.53; Others 102.05
1927: Ruth 9.00; Others 97.36
1924: Ruth 11.50; Others 99.05
1921: Ruth 9.15; Others 96.43
Now, for comparison's sake, let's take a look at Bonds' best season:
2001: Bonds 6.52; Others 30.78 17. Babe Ruth, OF, 1931 New York Yankees
Stats: .373 AVG, 46 HR, 163 RBI, 5 SB, 149 R, 534 AB
Even at age 36, the Bambino was still dominating fantasy leagues like few other players throughout history. The rest of the game was finally starting to catch up in the home-run department, his most dominant category, but Ruth still managed to tie teammate Lou Gehrig for the major-league lead. Ruth also placed second in batting average to Al Simmons, and trailed only Gehrig in RBI and runs scored.
16. George Sisler, 1B, 1920 St. Louis Browns
Stats: .407 AVG, 19 HR, 122 RBI, 42 SB, 137 R, 631 AB
While this was a year practically owned by Ruth, Sisler's numbers shouldn't be overlooked just because he wound up the No. 2 fantasy player of that season. He was still the major-league leader in batting average, and he trailed only Ruth in homers, RBI and runs scored. In addition, Sisler's 42 stolen bases placed him third, making him the most complete Rotisserie player of that year.
15. Pedro Martinez, SP, 1999 Boston Red Sox
Stats: 23-4 record, 2.07 ERA, 0.923 WHIP, 313 K, 213.1 IP
In another of the most dominating pitching performances in baseball history, Martinez won the AL Triple Crown and Cy Young award while leading the majors in wins, ERA and WHIP in 1999. His 2.07 ERA was a full three runs below the league average of 5.07, and he set career highs in wins and strikeouts despite making just 29 starts. Martinez struck out at least 10 batters on 13 occasions in 1999, carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning or later three times and even struck out 17 Yankees in a one-hit effort in September.
14. Babe Ruth, OF, 1926 New York Yankees
Stats: .372 AVG, 47 HR, 146 RBI, 11 SB, 139 R, 495 AB
Most everyone knew about the Babe's home-run ability by this point in his career, and there's no question that he would have been the No. 1 pick overall for most of the 1920s had there been fantasy baseball back then. But Ruth was coming off a down year in 1925 due to stomach surgery, so 1926 might have been the rare year of his career where he was surrounded by serious questions. All he did was answer them by leading the majors in homers (by 26), RBI (also by 26) and runs scored (by four), finishing six points behind Heinie Manush for the batting title.
13. Ty Cobb, OF, 1911 Detroit Tigers
Stats: .420 AVG, 8 HR, 127 RBI, 83 SB, 147 R, 591 AB
It's a rarity in today's game for a player to claim league leadership in both RBI and stolen bases, but back in 1911, Cobb pulled it off, leading the majors in each category as well as batting average and runs scored. He earned AL MVP honors after setting career highs in average, RBI, runs, hits (248) and slugging percentage (.621), and he even had a 40-game hitting streak, which set a then-AL record.
12. Ken Williams, OF, 1922 St. Louis Browns
Stats: .332 AVG, 39 HR, 155 RBI, 37 SB, 128 R, 585 AB
He was baseball's first 30/30 man, and there wouldn't be a second for another 34 years. To give you a sense of how rare the feat was back then, consider that there have been 22 30/30 men in the past 10 seasons. Williams led the majors in RBI and finished in the top five in homers, stolen bases and runs scored. He had a 28-game hitting streak and dethroned four-time defending AL home run champ Ruth.
http://www.espn.go.com/media/fantasy/2005/0216/photo/a_foxx_fht.jpg
Foxx won three MVPs.
11. Jimmie Foxx, 1B, 1932 Philadelphia Athletics
Stats: .364 AVG, 58 HR, 169 RBI, 3 SB, 151 R, 585 AB
At the time, Foxx's 58 homers were the third-most in a season all time, and they were just two behind Ruth's record set just five years earlier. Foxx's total was good enough to top the majors by 17, and he would also register the most RBI while placing second in batting average and runs scored. Foxx picked up his first of three AL MVP awards in the process.
10. Sandy Koufax, SP, 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers
Stats: 26-8 record, 2.04 ERA, 0.855 WHIP, 382 K, 335.2 IP
There might not be a single more dominant pitching year than Koufax's 1965. He earned virtually every honor that season: the major-league Cy Young award, the NL Triple Crown, World Series MVP honors and the major-league lead in wins, ERA, WHIP and strikeouts. In fact, Koufax's 382 strikeouts broke a modern record at the time, and it's still the second-most since 1900. Unfortunately, the main thing that keeps him from being the top-ranked pitcher is the depth of quality pitching in his time; he simply didn't stand out quite as much against his brethren than the two men ahead of him.
9. Lou Gehrig, 1B, 1934 New York Yankees
Stats: .363 AVG, 49 HR, 165 RBI, 9 SB, 128 R, 579 AB
Looking back at the numbers, it's outright incredible that Gehrig won the AL's Triple Crown in 1934, yet finished just fifth in the MVP voting. Unfortunately, that was the year Detroit won the AL pennant, a primary reason three Tigers finished ahead of the Iron Horse in the balloting. Don't let that take away any of the luster from Gehrig's fantasy achievements, however; standings and postseason performances are irrelevant to us. He still paced the majors in batting average, homers and RBI and finished third in runs scored.
8. Babe Ruth, OF, 1923 New York Yankees
Stats: .393 AVG, 41 HR, 131 RBI, 17 SB, 151 R, 522 AB
The only time in his 22-year major-league career that he ever won the AL MVP award, Ruth led the major leagues in homers, RBI and runs scored and finished a close second to Harry Heilman for the batting title in 1923. Ruth also matched his career high in stolen bases and finished 17th in the majors in that category. This was also around the time opposing pitchers became about as afraid to pitch to Ruth as they are afraid to throw to Barry Bonds today; Ruth drew a record 170 walks in 1923, a mark since broken by Bonds.
7. Walter Johnson, SP, 1913 Washington Senators
Stats: 36-7 record, 2 SV, 1.14 ERA, 0.780 WHIP, 243 K, 346 IP
Johnson's best year was also the greatest pitching performance in fantasy baseball history. He was the AL MVP and Triple Crown winner, as well as the major-league leader in wins, ERA, WHIP and strikeouts in 1913. Among his career-high numbers that set historical accomplishments: No one has won as many as his 36 games since; his 1.14 ERA is sixth-lowest all-time; and his 0.780 WHIP is third-lowest.
6. Babe Ruth, OF, 1927 New York Yankees
Stats: .356 AVG, 60 HR, 164 RBI, 7 SB, 158 R, 540 AB
For the third time in eight seasons, Ruth set a new single-season home run record in 1927, beating his own mark of 59, set six years earlier. By this point, Ruth would own five of the six highest single-season home run totals of all time (Gehrig had the other, also in 1927). Ruth's 60 homers would stand as the record for another 34 years. He also led the majors in runs scored, finished second in RBI and eighth in batting average.
5. Lou Gehrig, 1B, 1927 New York Yankees
Stats: .373 AVG, 47 HR, 175 RBI, 10 SB, 149 R, 584 AB
We've already talked about Ruth's hitting dominance, but in 1927, the year of the fabled "Murderer's Row" Yankee team, Gehrig was every bit as feared a hitter. The AL's MVP, Gehrig would lead the majors in RBI and place second in homers and runs scored and third in batting average. Ruth and Gehrig combined to claim the first two spots in the majors in homers, RBI and runs scored, with no other player coming within 17 homers, 33 RBI or 12 runs of either of the Yankee sluggers.
4. Lou Gehrig, 1B, 1931 New York Yankees
Stats: .341 AVG, 46 HR, 184 RBI, 17 SB, 163 R, 619 AB
For years, Ruth always seemed to have the advantage over Gehrig in homers and RBI, but in 1931, Gehrig finally managed to match Ruth for the major-league home run lead and beat his teammate for the RBI crown. Gehrig would also lead the majors in runs scored and finish seventh in batting average, but it's that RBI total that deserves special note; it's the second-highest single-season total in baseball history.
3. Rogers Hornsby, 2B, 1922 St. Louis Cardinals
Stats: .401 AVG, 42 HR, 152 RBI, 17 SB, 141 R, 623 AB
The National League's Triple Crown winner, Hornsby became the first player in NL history, and second in major-league history, to hit at least 30 homers in a season. He still holds the all-time record for homers by a second baseman -- Davey Johnson matched his 42 in 1973 -- and is the only second baseman to lead the majors in homers. Hornsby also led the majors in runs scored and finished second in batting average and RBI.
http://www.espn.go.com/media/fantasy/2005/0216/photo/a_ruth_fht.jpg
Who else would top our list?
2. Babe Ruth, OF, 1921 New York Yankees
Stats: .378 AVG, 59 HR, 171 RBI, 17 SB, 177 R, 540 AB
Had fantasy baseball existed back in the 1920s, many commissioners might have had to create a rule precluding Ruth from being drafted in a league following his 1921 performance. For the second straight year he set a new single-season home run record, leading the majors in homers by 35, RBI by 32 and runs scored by 45. By the time 1922 drafts rolled around, any owner who had the first pick in the draft would have earned such an advantage in the offensive categories that it would have been downright unfair to allow Ruth's statistics to count. Of course, his owner sure wouldn't have been complaining.
1. Babe Ruth, OF, 1920 New York Yankees
Stats: .376 AVG, 54 HR, 137 RBI, 14 SB, 158 R, 458 AB
One could make a case for either Ruth's 1920 or 1921 seasons as the greatest fantasy effort of all time, but we'll give the nod to 1920 because it was probably the most unexpected performance by any player in baseball history. Fantasy baseball champions are the ones who best predict the big years, but to forecast what Ruth did in his first year in pinstripes would, quite frankly, be predicting the impossible. He led the majors in RBI and runs scored and placed fourth in batting average, but it was the Sultan of Swat's contribution in the home run category that places him atop our list. His 54 homers were 35 more than any other major leaguer, the same margin of victory as in 1921, and shattered his old record of 29, set in 1919. Ruth alone accounted for 8.6 percent of all homers hit in the major leagues in 1920, and he out-homered 14 of the 15 other teams in baseball. To give you a sense of how unbelievable his total was to baseball fans back then, it would be essentially the equivalent of someone hitting around 150 homers today. Ruth effectively created the word "slugger," so it's only fitting that a man who brought such importance to one of our primary fantasy categories earns our list's top spot.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Modified: Thursday, February 17, 2005
As we count down the days to the 2005 fantasy baseball season, we're also taking a look back at the history of our game. Taking into account both the years before and after the advent of Rotisserie Baseball in the early 1980s, we're counting down the top-100 single seasons in fantasy baseball history. Here are Nos. 20-1:
20. Sandy Koufax, SP, 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers
Stats: 27-9 record, 1.73 ERA, 0.985 WHIP, 317 K, 323 IP
He certainly saved his best for last, setting new career highs in wins and ERA and leading the majors in each of those categories as well as strikeouts in his final season. Koufax would also place second in WHIP, earning himself the National League Triple Crown and major-league Cy Young award. He would retire the following winter at the age of 30 after pitching much of his career with arthritis, making his statistical accomplishments from 1963-66 all the more impressive.
19. Hack Wilson, OF, 1930 Chicago Cubs
Stats: .356 AVG, 56 HR, 191 RBI, 3 SB, 146 R, 585 AB
We've already talked quite a bit about the incredible hitting totals of the 1930 season; the 16 major-league teams combined to bat .296 that year. But don't let that detract from what Wilson accomplished. That was the year he set the single-season record for RBI, leading the majors by 16 while also topping everyone by seven homers. What was most interesting about Wilson's numbers is they only kept improving nearly 70 years later. In 1999, Major League Baseball credited Wilson with an additional RBI, raising his record-setting total from 190 to 191.
18. Walter Johnson, SP, 1912 Washington Senators
Stats: 33-12 record, 2 SV, 1.39 ERA, 0.908 WHIP, 303 K, 369 IP
League scoring was beginning to climb by the early 1910s, but Johnson's numbers kept improving as he reached his mid-20s. In 1912, he led the majors in ERA, WHIP and strikeouts and finished second in wins, finishing third in the American League Most Valuable Player voting. His 1.39 ERA was 1.95 below the league average, representing the greatest differential between those numbers of his 21-year career. Johnson became the second pitcher since 1900 to record two seasons of 300-plus strikeouts; there wouldn't be a third for another 53 years.
BEYOND THE BEST
Babe Ruth makes nine appearances in our top 100, nearly one-tenth of the greatest fantasy seasons of all-time. That might seem a lot for a player whose numbers look similar to those of Barry Bonds today, but keep in mind how scarce the home run was in Ruth's time. In 1920, when Ruth averaged one homer per 8.48 at-bats, the rest of the majors averaged one homer per 145.34 at-bats, a difference of 136.86. Here are the other biggest discrepancies in those numbers in Ruth's career:
1919: Ruth 14.90; Others 177.61
1926: Ruth 10.53; Others 102.05
1927: Ruth 9.00; Others 97.36
1924: Ruth 11.50; Others 99.05
1921: Ruth 9.15; Others 96.43
Now, for comparison's sake, let's take a look at Bonds' best season:
2001: Bonds 6.52; Others 30.78 17. Babe Ruth, OF, 1931 New York Yankees
Stats: .373 AVG, 46 HR, 163 RBI, 5 SB, 149 R, 534 AB
Even at age 36, the Bambino was still dominating fantasy leagues like few other players throughout history. The rest of the game was finally starting to catch up in the home-run department, his most dominant category, but Ruth still managed to tie teammate Lou Gehrig for the major-league lead. Ruth also placed second in batting average to Al Simmons, and trailed only Gehrig in RBI and runs scored.
16. George Sisler, 1B, 1920 St. Louis Browns
Stats: .407 AVG, 19 HR, 122 RBI, 42 SB, 137 R, 631 AB
While this was a year practically owned by Ruth, Sisler's numbers shouldn't be overlooked just because he wound up the No. 2 fantasy player of that season. He was still the major-league leader in batting average, and he trailed only Ruth in homers, RBI and runs scored. In addition, Sisler's 42 stolen bases placed him third, making him the most complete Rotisserie player of that year.
15. Pedro Martinez, SP, 1999 Boston Red Sox
Stats: 23-4 record, 2.07 ERA, 0.923 WHIP, 313 K, 213.1 IP
In another of the most dominating pitching performances in baseball history, Martinez won the AL Triple Crown and Cy Young award while leading the majors in wins, ERA and WHIP in 1999. His 2.07 ERA was a full three runs below the league average of 5.07, and he set career highs in wins and strikeouts despite making just 29 starts. Martinez struck out at least 10 batters on 13 occasions in 1999, carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning or later three times and even struck out 17 Yankees in a one-hit effort in September.
14. Babe Ruth, OF, 1926 New York Yankees
Stats: .372 AVG, 47 HR, 146 RBI, 11 SB, 139 R, 495 AB
Most everyone knew about the Babe's home-run ability by this point in his career, and there's no question that he would have been the No. 1 pick overall for most of the 1920s had there been fantasy baseball back then. But Ruth was coming off a down year in 1925 due to stomach surgery, so 1926 might have been the rare year of his career where he was surrounded by serious questions. All he did was answer them by leading the majors in homers (by 26), RBI (also by 26) and runs scored (by four), finishing six points behind Heinie Manush for the batting title.
13. Ty Cobb, OF, 1911 Detroit Tigers
Stats: .420 AVG, 8 HR, 127 RBI, 83 SB, 147 R, 591 AB
It's a rarity in today's game for a player to claim league leadership in both RBI and stolen bases, but back in 1911, Cobb pulled it off, leading the majors in each category as well as batting average and runs scored. He earned AL MVP honors after setting career highs in average, RBI, runs, hits (248) and slugging percentage (.621), and he even had a 40-game hitting streak, which set a then-AL record.
12. Ken Williams, OF, 1922 St. Louis Browns
Stats: .332 AVG, 39 HR, 155 RBI, 37 SB, 128 R, 585 AB
He was baseball's first 30/30 man, and there wouldn't be a second for another 34 years. To give you a sense of how rare the feat was back then, consider that there have been 22 30/30 men in the past 10 seasons. Williams led the majors in RBI and finished in the top five in homers, stolen bases and runs scored. He had a 28-game hitting streak and dethroned four-time defending AL home run champ Ruth.
http://www.espn.go.com/media/fantasy/2005/0216/photo/a_foxx_fht.jpg
Foxx won three MVPs.
11. Jimmie Foxx, 1B, 1932 Philadelphia Athletics
Stats: .364 AVG, 58 HR, 169 RBI, 3 SB, 151 R, 585 AB
At the time, Foxx's 58 homers were the third-most in a season all time, and they were just two behind Ruth's record set just five years earlier. Foxx's total was good enough to top the majors by 17, and he would also register the most RBI while placing second in batting average and runs scored. Foxx picked up his first of three AL MVP awards in the process.
10. Sandy Koufax, SP, 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers
Stats: 26-8 record, 2.04 ERA, 0.855 WHIP, 382 K, 335.2 IP
There might not be a single more dominant pitching year than Koufax's 1965. He earned virtually every honor that season: the major-league Cy Young award, the NL Triple Crown, World Series MVP honors and the major-league lead in wins, ERA, WHIP and strikeouts. In fact, Koufax's 382 strikeouts broke a modern record at the time, and it's still the second-most since 1900. Unfortunately, the main thing that keeps him from being the top-ranked pitcher is the depth of quality pitching in his time; he simply didn't stand out quite as much against his brethren than the two men ahead of him.
9. Lou Gehrig, 1B, 1934 New York Yankees
Stats: .363 AVG, 49 HR, 165 RBI, 9 SB, 128 R, 579 AB
Looking back at the numbers, it's outright incredible that Gehrig won the AL's Triple Crown in 1934, yet finished just fifth in the MVP voting. Unfortunately, that was the year Detroit won the AL pennant, a primary reason three Tigers finished ahead of the Iron Horse in the balloting. Don't let that take away any of the luster from Gehrig's fantasy achievements, however; standings and postseason performances are irrelevant to us. He still paced the majors in batting average, homers and RBI and finished third in runs scored.
8. Babe Ruth, OF, 1923 New York Yankees
Stats: .393 AVG, 41 HR, 131 RBI, 17 SB, 151 R, 522 AB
The only time in his 22-year major-league career that he ever won the AL MVP award, Ruth led the major leagues in homers, RBI and runs scored and finished a close second to Harry Heilman for the batting title in 1923. Ruth also matched his career high in stolen bases and finished 17th in the majors in that category. This was also around the time opposing pitchers became about as afraid to pitch to Ruth as they are afraid to throw to Barry Bonds today; Ruth drew a record 170 walks in 1923, a mark since broken by Bonds.
7. Walter Johnson, SP, 1913 Washington Senators
Stats: 36-7 record, 2 SV, 1.14 ERA, 0.780 WHIP, 243 K, 346 IP
Johnson's best year was also the greatest pitching performance in fantasy baseball history. He was the AL MVP and Triple Crown winner, as well as the major-league leader in wins, ERA, WHIP and strikeouts in 1913. Among his career-high numbers that set historical accomplishments: No one has won as many as his 36 games since; his 1.14 ERA is sixth-lowest all-time; and his 0.780 WHIP is third-lowest.
6. Babe Ruth, OF, 1927 New York Yankees
Stats: .356 AVG, 60 HR, 164 RBI, 7 SB, 158 R, 540 AB
For the third time in eight seasons, Ruth set a new single-season home run record in 1927, beating his own mark of 59, set six years earlier. By this point, Ruth would own five of the six highest single-season home run totals of all time (Gehrig had the other, also in 1927). Ruth's 60 homers would stand as the record for another 34 years. He also led the majors in runs scored, finished second in RBI and eighth in batting average.
5. Lou Gehrig, 1B, 1927 New York Yankees
Stats: .373 AVG, 47 HR, 175 RBI, 10 SB, 149 R, 584 AB
We've already talked about Ruth's hitting dominance, but in 1927, the year of the fabled "Murderer's Row" Yankee team, Gehrig was every bit as feared a hitter. The AL's MVP, Gehrig would lead the majors in RBI and place second in homers and runs scored and third in batting average. Ruth and Gehrig combined to claim the first two spots in the majors in homers, RBI and runs scored, with no other player coming within 17 homers, 33 RBI or 12 runs of either of the Yankee sluggers.
4. Lou Gehrig, 1B, 1931 New York Yankees
Stats: .341 AVG, 46 HR, 184 RBI, 17 SB, 163 R, 619 AB
For years, Ruth always seemed to have the advantage over Gehrig in homers and RBI, but in 1931, Gehrig finally managed to match Ruth for the major-league home run lead and beat his teammate for the RBI crown. Gehrig would also lead the majors in runs scored and finish seventh in batting average, but it's that RBI total that deserves special note; it's the second-highest single-season total in baseball history.
3. Rogers Hornsby, 2B, 1922 St. Louis Cardinals
Stats: .401 AVG, 42 HR, 152 RBI, 17 SB, 141 R, 623 AB
The National League's Triple Crown winner, Hornsby became the first player in NL history, and second in major-league history, to hit at least 30 homers in a season. He still holds the all-time record for homers by a second baseman -- Davey Johnson matched his 42 in 1973 -- and is the only second baseman to lead the majors in homers. Hornsby also led the majors in runs scored and finished second in batting average and RBI.
http://www.espn.go.com/media/fantasy/2005/0216/photo/a_ruth_fht.jpg
Who else would top our list?
2. Babe Ruth, OF, 1921 New York Yankees
Stats: .378 AVG, 59 HR, 171 RBI, 17 SB, 177 R, 540 AB
Had fantasy baseball existed back in the 1920s, many commissioners might have had to create a rule precluding Ruth from being drafted in a league following his 1921 performance. For the second straight year he set a new single-season home run record, leading the majors in homers by 35, RBI by 32 and runs scored by 45. By the time 1922 drafts rolled around, any owner who had the first pick in the draft would have earned such an advantage in the offensive categories that it would have been downright unfair to allow Ruth's statistics to count. Of course, his owner sure wouldn't have been complaining.
1. Babe Ruth, OF, 1920 New York Yankees
Stats: .376 AVG, 54 HR, 137 RBI, 14 SB, 158 R, 458 AB
One could make a case for either Ruth's 1920 or 1921 seasons as the greatest fantasy effort of all time, but we'll give the nod to 1920 because it was probably the most unexpected performance by any player in baseball history. Fantasy baseball champions are the ones who best predict the big years, but to forecast what Ruth did in his first year in pinstripes would, quite frankly, be predicting the impossible. He led the majors in RBI and runs scored and placed fourth in batting average, but it was the Sultan of Swat's contribution in the home run category that places him atop our list. His 54 homers were 35 more than any other major leaguer, the same margin of victory as in 1921, and shattered his old record of 29, set in 1919. Ruth alone accounted for 8.6 percent of all homers hit in the major leagues in 1920, and he out-homered 14 of the 15 other teams in baseball. To give you a sense of how unbelievable his total was to baseball fans back then, it would be essentially the equivalent of someone hitting around 150 homers today. Ruth effectively created the word "slugger," so it's only fitting that a man who brought such importance to one of our primary fantasy categories earns our list's top spot.