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| League History: 1998 |
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Some rules were easy to tweak. It was obvious a fielder had to go. Better players had to
be playing (aside from Joey and Scott, the league hit .190 in 1997), and hitters had to be thrown a bone. The strike zone,
though obscenely large, had its advantages. Pitchers, even poor ones, could throw strikes at such a large zone. While offense
would surely pick up if the strike zone was reduced in size, most of that offense would be the result of walks. Walks are arguably
the most annoying aspect of baseball (ignoring little-league dads and grown men bringing gloves to games, of course), and this
league knew to avoid it if at all possible. So instead, they pushed the mound back a few feet to its conclusive distance of 43
feet from the plate. Finally, the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioner tried once again to promote the league to ensure that
untalented guys like Evan Markey would never throw 8 scoreless innings again.
All plans worked out wonderfully and the league ended up enjoying its most successful season to date. The total number of
games and ABs more than doubled the previous highs from 1996. Eight players crossed the 100 AB barrier (only one had ever
before). Nearly every record was broken. Terry Creighton, who was flunking every class in high school except for his web
development class, created a league website that featured all the stats as well as poorly written news bits and articles.
It was, for all intents and purposes, the first season of the league's "modern era" (which is why you can view "post-1998"
stats as well as full career stats). Matt Holmberg, Luke Carriere, and Joey Holt all returned to action. Jason Eberhardt
won the league's first ever Rookie of the Year award. Scott was named MVP and Cy Young for the first of 19 or so times,
and Nate Stuempfig was named Most Improved Player of the Year thanks to a miraculous 39-117 season that saw him hit 9 HRs
and 15 RBIs and raise his career average to a now more representative .274. Clint Wattenberg, the colonoscopy lover, was
overwhelmed by the influx of talent and finished near the bottom in both hitting and pitching while leading the league in
errors and pitches thrown behind a batter. Jason Eberhardt made a habit of throwing Clint nothing but curveballs 15 feet
outside the strike zone. Clint Wattenberg made a habit out of swinging at every single one, never hitting one.
For the first time, the league now looked like a league rather than a group of pubescent boys hanging out, trying to
survive Chico's deathly summers.
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