WHAT DO YOU VALUE AS AN OWNER?

by Mr_Stickball

We all value different things in our teams, but one thing I have always put value in is NP/PA (number of pitches seen per plate appearance).  On the other side of the ball, I at least try to put emphasis on strong defense up the middle.  The main idea here is to attempt to put stress on your opponent's Starter by stretching out each out as much as possible, while lessoning stress on your own Starter by gaining some extra outs with good defense.

In Season 23, Ripken0713's  San Antonio Papaya (Today's San Antonio Rustlers) attained Stickball World's Best NP/PA of 3.76.  AND they were very strong up the middle.

That Papaya team, which won 102 games and the WS Title, had some real stars on it's roster.  Anchoring the lineup were two future HOF'ers: 

1. Playing Left Field, the truly amazing Will Stevenson (.302|.391|.570, with 42 HRs and 110 RBIs); and, 
2. Catcher/DH, Bruce Sandberg (.296|.360|.587), with 39 HRs, 97 RBIs, and a career high ERA Against of only 3.42.  He happened to make the All Star Team and win the Home Run Derby that season as icing on the cake.

Adding to that duo, although not HOF Inductees, the S23 Papaya offense featured some other incredible All-Star talent:

• Playing a flawless 1B, Miguel Andujar hit (.292|.385|.588) with 43 HRs and 113 RBIs and made the All-Star team;
• Playing Center Field, Harry Sanchez, who was nearing the end of his amazing Gold Glove laden career, managed to hit (.271|.337|.406) and although declining, fielded well; 
• Despite his weak bat -- which makes the team NP/PA record even more impressive -- playing a quite rangy (RF 5.33) Shortstop and truly shoring up the defense was the then quite young Philip Jackson.  Jackson managed to win a Gold Glove that season; and, 
• Shoring up the middle infield defense at Second Base was a platoon of veteran Alton Howard (3 time All Star who, while declining, still managed a RF of 4.81) and then rookie, Hack Brown (who played a decent 2B despite his inexperience, and managed to draw a lot of walks with his good batting eye).  Considering Brown played a defensive position, he finished that season with a NP/PA of a not-too-shabby 3.71.

And that combination of a high NP/PA (which tires out the opponent's starter) and strong defense up the middle, with some very good pitching to be fair, led to one of the more impressive teams in the World's History.

It's worth noting that in Season 26 Ripkin won another WS title with a similar formula. He still had Bruce Sandberg (C), Miguel Andujar (1B), and for half of the season had the then-aging Will Stevenson (LF), but by then Phillip Jackson  (SS) was an All-Star as well as a GG winner, and Ripken had managed to actually improve at CF with the Silver Slugger and All-Star, Morgan Venafro. 

In all, we lost a great owner when Ripken hung it up, but I think his formula for success was quite sound.  

As of this posting, Redsox666666's Chicago Charge is on pace to tie the World record, with Mr_Stickball's Colorado Stickballers nipping at the record with a close-but-no-cigar NP/PA of 3.75.  Can either of these squads dethrone Ripken's S23 SA Papaya?  And do these metrics really matter very much in your opinion?  What do you value most as a GM/Manager?