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The 1967 Yankees: An Underrated Team?

© Harold Friend

Almost everyone has experienced it. You are looking out the train window at another train. Neither train is moving. One train slowly starts to move and you get the sensation that your train is moving but soon realize that you were fooled. It was the other train that was moving.

In order to compare things, we need reference points. By observing the train station, you ascertained that since the walls of the station weren't moving relative to your train, neither the station nor your train was moving, which led to the inference that the other train was moving. Of course, it is possible that BOTH your train and the station were moving at the same speed, which would make it appear that the other train was moving.

The above illustration points out the difficulty of evaluating different baseball eras. What would be the results if Mickey Mantle played in the 21st century and Barry Bonds played in the 1950s? One of baseball's great attractions is that fans can argue forever but the issues remain subjective.

We are living in an era of statistics. Managers use books of players' data whose thickness rivals that of the Department of Homeland Security's dossier on Usama Bin Laden. Red Sox manager Terry Francona has stated that he would not make a move without first knowing what the situational statistics dictate. Players are rated on Winshares, pitch counts determine when to remove a pitcher, and managers are evaluated by the use of the Pythagorean winning percentage (As Casey Stengel might ask, "How do you pitch to Pythagoras? High and inside").

Computer simulation baseball games have become extremely sophisticated and can create a virtual reality that rivals The Matrix. After the Red Sox and Cubs lost in the 2003 playoffs, USA Today used APBA's computer simulation to discover what would occur if the teams played each other in the World Series. APBA can be used to create any match-ups from any era and any teams can be put into any simulated leagues. Everything is based on statistics.

What would happen if a league consisting of eight of the worst teams in history were created and they played each other? That is just what was done using the APBA simulation. The New York Yankees of 1967 (72-90) were in a simulation league with the 1951 Browns (52-102), 1952 Pirates (42-112), 1952 Tigers (50-104), 1954 A's (51-103), 1961 Phillies (47-107), 1962 Mets (40-120), and 1965 Red Sox (62-100). The results were fascinating.