Accoring to Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball
Last July when I was bored, and decided to rate the current Minnesota Twins based on the rating system from the 1994 baseball game listed above for the Super Nintendo Entertainment Syetem. It's something I'll probably do once we get closer to the season, but as we roll into the doldrums of the off-season (SOMETHING PLEASE HAPPEN, HAVE LEW FORD SLIP IN A BATH OF JELLO, ANYTHING) I'm going to periodically share with you how my season is going with the '94 Twins in Junior's debut game in his franchise. First, your roster. And this is the real roster with real names, not the default roster names.
Pitchers
Name Spd Con Fat
Kevin Tapani 6 9 8
Scott Erickson 6 7 7
Willie Banks 7 7 6
Eddie Guardado 5 7 6
Greg Brummett 5 6 6
Mike Trombley 6 7 3
Mike Hartley 7 6 2
George Tsamis 7 4 2
Larry Casian 7 10 2
Rick Aguilera 9 9 2
Position Players
Line Up BAT POW SPD DEF
Shane Mack 7 5 6 10
Chuck Knoblauch 7 4 7 7
Kirby Puckett 9 7 6 9
Kent Hrbek 5 8 4 6
Dave Winfield 7 8 6 6
Brian Harper 9 5 4 5
Pedro Munoz 5 6 5 6
Terry Jorgensen 5 5 5 5
Pat Meares 6 4 7 9
Bench BAT POW SPD DEF
Lenny Webster 4 6 3 7
Chip Hale 8 2 4 8
Jeff Reboulet 4 5 4 5
Dave McCarty 4 4 8 4
Gene Larkin 7 4 4 3
Bernardo Brito 3 8 4 4
Again, for those who are still reading and need a refresher, the player attributes are pitch speed, pitch control and fatigue for pitchers; batting for average, hitting for power, speed on the bases and defensive prowess (which includes arm strength and how fast you run in the field).
Clearly this was not a very good team, or at least the folks in charge of the ratings didn't think the Twins would be very good in '94. The starting pitching was below average, as Tapani's attributes would make him a solid #3 starter on many teams. The bullpen was unspectacular but solid, and was especially strong at the end if Trombley and Hartley could hold whatever leads the offense could hand over.
On offense, it's hard to put together a full lineup. Shane Mack had sandwiched a .276 batting average in the middle of a five-year stretch of hitting .310 or better, and as a result was only given a '7' for batting for average. Knoblauch was clearly unappreciated in three of his four categories, although he had yet to clear hitting .300. The rest of the ratings are pretty accurate, with the bench being a curious rag-tag assortment of players. Apparently Chip Hale was a good hitter, Dave McCarty was a speedster, Gene Larkin couldn't throw and Berndardo Brito's minor league home run numbers were carrying over into the majors. Most of these things weren't true.
In the end this clearly wasn't the '94 Twins. What essentially happened was that whatever your team looked like in '93, that's who comprised your roster. At any rate, enjoy as the pseudo-1994 season unfolds. Real news will fill this space when it hits, but if there's a slow day...you might just get an update 14 years in the making.
And if you haven't voted, there's a dog fight going on here between Duensing and Parmelee. Cast your ballot and be a part of TwinkieTown's Top Prospect voting, couresty of Seth Stohs!