Playing in the Sandbox

If there is a doldrums in the baseball world, this is it. The off-season flurry of player moves is over, and spring training hasn’t started. There’s almost nothing happening now.

When times are slow like this, I browse through the archives. Recently I pulled down the 1987 Baseball Abstract by Bill James and re-discovered a neat little toy to pass the time.

In that book, James lays out how to calculate Star Value, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Points are awarded on the following basis:
Batters
MVP award 5 points
Led league in Home Runs, Runs Scored, RBI, or Batting Average 3 points
Hit 40 Home Runs (not leading league) 3 points
Drove in or scored 100 runs (not leading league) 2 points
Had 200 hits 2 points
Hit 30-39 Home Runs (not leading league) 2 points
Led league in Doubles, Triples, Walks, Stolen Bases, or Hits with less than 200 1 point
For each 100 games played in excess of 1,000 1 point
For each 100 games played in excess of 900 at Catcher, Second Base, or Shortstop 1 point

Pitchers
MVP or Cy Young Award 5 points
Led league in Wins, Winning Percentage, Strikeouts, or ERA 3 points
Saved 30 or more games 3 points
Won 18 or more games (not leading league) 2 points
Had 200 Strikeouts 2 points
Saved 20-29 games 2 points
Led league in Games, Innings Pitched, Shutouts, Complete Games, or Saves with a total of 10-19 1 point
For each 10 wins over 80 and for each 10 saves over 130 1 point

Add up all the points, and the total gives you the following Star Value:
All-Time Great 76+
Major Star 46-75
Marginal Hall of Famer 26-45
Minor Star 11-25
Good Ballplayer 1-10

Because I’m a geek, and I had too much time on my hands, I figured the Star Values for some players who have been involved in recent Hall of Fame debates:

Albert Belle 53 points
Bert Blyleven 49 points
Ron Santo 30 points
Andre Dawson 42 points

The good folks at Baseball Reference make it easy to rate your favorite players. They also have some other fun toys there, too – like the Black Ink Test, the HoF Standards, and HoF Monitor. Check it out while you’re impatiently waiting for baseball to start again…