Taking a stab at putting RSL stats in context

[tadashi]

It seems like there is always some frustration when it comes time to vote for Hall of Fame candidates since we don't have a long tradition in this league of "milestones" that are unique the the RSL. Who knows if 3000 strikeouts or 500 home runs are worthy of the RSL hall of fame? Actually I really hate static milestones so I decided to take a stab at trying to figure out what is "very good" vs. what would qualify as "best of all time".

I started with the pitchers who are currently in the HoF. It appears that, historically, ~1000 innings pitched was the minimum amount of innings that a pitcher needed to get the necessary support from voters. Filtering all RSL pitchers, retired, former and current, who have thrown at least 1000 innings generated a list of almost 400 players. Since there are 18 pitchers in the HoF currently, that means we've voted in about 4.5% of all RSL pitchers. To try to get some context on stats that might be used to determine if a player belongs in the hall, I used Excel to generate a list of the the numbers that constitute the 95th, 90th, 75th, 50th, 25th, and 10th percentiles for a slew of pitching stats. The idea is that a player would probably need to be in the 95th percentile or above in at least a few categories to receive strong HoF consideration. (For numbers like ERA where smaller is better, I changed the formula so that the "95th" percentile is actually the "5th" percentile).

I just did this to give some perspective on stats through the history of the league. I'm not suggesting we have to have specific rigid standards on the HoF or that I should tell you who to vote for. Obviously, leagues evolve. I'm not sure a player retiring today with Luis Cantu's numbers would make the hall but that was a long time ago in RSL years. I just got tired of not knowing enough about what the standards are for stats in the RSL and thought I'd put together this little project. Positional players will be a much larger challenge but I thought I'd start with pitching and see what turns up.


https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...UNjZQNnc#gid=0

There are two tabs: one just for the percentiles and one for all 396 pitchers who made the cut.

I feel like I was very careful not to screw up the reports I created or calculations I made in excel. If you see something weird, I'd appreciate your help.

As it turns out, the 95th percentile for strikeouts is 3068; so, yeah, 3000 strikeouts is really really good.

E: Update: OK, I think I actually got everybody....

[McExpos]

You're really putting some pressure on Joe to be better at stat-nerding.

[tadashi]

You're really putting some pressure on Joe to be better at stat-nerding.

He's a little more accurate and a lot better at actual statistics.

[Spindelphia]

His nerd glasses are bigger than yours though, and he has tape on them.

[Buane]

This is a pretty awesome reference.

And further proof that Larry Duplessis is not a HOFer.

[Nah-Lin]

Pretty interesting how Lefebvre compares with this. Its favorable for him in terms of Ks, K/9, and VORP. But the struggles at the beginning of his career leave him with only around the 75th percentile for ERA and his BB/9 rate is barely above 50th. Pitching for the consistently mediocre Nighthawks also leave his wins a little low, though he should get to 200 assuming he sticks around a few more years. Damn nice three year peak though from 2021-23

[Tavarin]

This is a pretty awesome reference.

And further proof that Larry Duplessis is not a HOFer.

You suck.

[Jontler]

He's a little more accurate and a lot better at actual statistics.

Stats are easy, it's getting and implementing a good idea that's tough. This is a really good idea, and, as Greg said, it's a great reference.

I'd love to see a similar document for position players, maybe broken down by position even. The samples will be much smaller, of course, but still interesting. How did you generate the giant list of pitchers?

[tadashi]

Stats are easy, it's getting and implementing a good idea that's tough. This is a really good idea, and, as Greg said, it's a great reference.

I'd love to see a similar document for position players, maybe broken down by position even. The samples will be much smaller, of course, but still interesting. How did you generate the giant list of pitchers?

I used the OOTP Report "List all RSL Players". Then I set it to "Include Retired Players". After that, I changed the position to "All Pitchers", the scope to "Rising Star League" and the Split to "Career". Then I set a filter for 1000 pitching IP. That returns a list of 18 pages of players. Hopefully that's everybody but I wouldn't mind if somebody else checked it. Also, I checked the other leagues and did not see a former RSL pitcher with at least 1000 innings pitched in the RSL. Also something that would be helpful if somebody else looked.