The Good IV League On-Line:
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Winners and Losers

Here are the highlights of the Good IV League team performances since our founding in 1989.  Feel free to send in any inquiries for further trivial results and highlights, if your memory is fading.  For a summary of overall results from 1989 to 1996, see Report 8.05.  Other past reports and further detail are available in the Good IV League Archive and more will gradually become available as I get around to it.

• 1989

• 1.  Noble Savages*  64 pts	6.  Townsend Cities  40.5
  2.  Mitsocks und Schlagers  55.5	7.  Wolf Pack*  40
  3.  Goldman Pets  55	8.  Cavallari Fines  37.5
  4.  Cox Shirleys  43	9.  Rosenberg Mountain Men  37
  5.  Skid Rowes  42.5	10.  Fuller Bulls*  25

  *I made these names up.  They didn't bother to name their teams.

• The Savages took the inaugural league title by dominating in pitching, winning 39 points out of 40.  That's not too hard when your staff consists of Saberhagen, Stewart, Welch, Key, and Stieb, plus Eckersley and Thigpen.  But they also held their own in hitting, focusing on the power categories, with a kid named Griffey, Jeff Leonard, Dave Parker, and the great Nick Esasky.  The Schlagers challenged with a balanced attack, led by Roger Clemens, Jeff Mongomery, Robin Yount, and Rickey Henderson.  The Pets' debut roster was spearheaded by Joe Carter and the immortal Allan Anderson (17-10 that year, 7-18 the next).  The Pets also picked up free agent Randy Johnson in June, and made the first and only trade of the year, with the Cities, giving up Ivan Calderon for Dave Righetti.

  1990

  1.  Skid Rowes 52 pts	6.  Noble Savages  41
  2.  Goldman Pets 49	7.  Rosenberg Mountain Men  34.5
  3.  Townsend Cities 45	8.  Mitsocks und Schlagers 31
  4.  Keller Kings 41	9.  Eggert Egglegs 25.5
  5.  Wilk-Freedman Jay Jays 41

  The Skid Rowes began their dominance of the 1990s with a solid, exciting win.  The Skids dominated the power and starting pitching categories, earning 57 wins from Greg Hibbard, Scott Sanderson, Randy Johnson, and Tom Gordon, for a combined cost of $7 (70 cents at the time).  The Pets were the best hitting team overall, despite a lack of superstars; his best players being Blue Jays Fred McGriff, John Olerud, and Kelly Gruber.  The 3rd place Cities rode the record-shattering season of Bobby Thigpen and a slew of singles hitters to 1st place in Saves and BA, enough to offset mediocrity everywhere else.

  1991

  1.  Wilk-Freedman Jay Jays 58.5 pts	6.  Blicher Bums  42
  2.  Rowe-Gambale Mud Hens 49.5	7.  Lipshutz Russett Eagles  41
  3.  Goldman Pets 46	8.  Rosenberg Mountain Men  39
  4.  Keller Kings 45	9.  Skid Rowes 39
  5.  Eggert Egglegs 43	10.  Townsend Cities

  The Jay Jays arrived as the Team we Love to Hate, beating the field by 9 full points.  As would become their regular pattern, the JJs swept the hitting categories (39 pts) plus Saves (9), and nearly bottomed out everywhere else.  JJ mainstays Tony Phillips, Paul Molitor, and Edgar Martinez signed lifetime contracts, while the relief corps was anchored by Tom Henke and the ill-fated Steve Olin.  The newly arrived Mud Hens suceeded well with a new strategy: all pitching (a full 40 pts) and no hitting (last in 3 of 4 categories).  Their best hitter was Dan Pasqua, but their staff included Jim Abbott, Kevin Appier, Jimmy Key, and Kevin Tapani, along with Brian Harvey and Mike Henneman; good enough to trade Roger Clemens at mid-season.  The 3rd place Pets kept on plugging, behind Robin Ventura and Harold Reynolds, plus Scott Erickson, Jack McDowell, and Gregg Olson.  The Commisioner's Cities began a run of futility that would see them finish last in 4 out of 5 seasons.

  1992

  1.  Wilk-Freedman Jay Jays 58 pts	6.  Keller Kings  38
  2.  Lipshutz Russett Eagles 57	7.  Rosenberg Mountain Men  36
  3.  Legere Baby Boomers 55	8.  Eggert Egglegs 35.5
  4.  Skid Rowes 51.5	9.  Rowe-Gambale Mud Hens  31
  5.  Goldman Pets 50	10.  Townsend Cities  28

  The closest race in league history saw the top three teams finish within 3 points of each other, and two more in striking distance until the end.  The Jay Jays repeated as champions with the same no-starting-pitching strategy.  They shrewdly benefited from the Good IV League's switch from Batting Average to On-Base Percentage, as guys like Phillips and Molitor, and even Randy Milligan, became much more valuable.  The 2nd place Eagles came within a hair of winning it all (they were tied with a week to go), behind a solid staff of Ron Darling, Bill Wegman, Dave Stewart, and Juan Guzman.  The Baby Boomers arrived, completing the modern Good IV League lineup of teams, and promptly finished 3rd, having inherited Ken Griffey and Cecil Fielder from the forgotten Blicher Bums.

  1993

  1.  Skid Rowes  63 pts	6.  Wilk-Freedman Jay Jays  37
  2.  Legere Baby Boomers  62	7.  Lipshutz Russett Eagles  37
  3.  Rowe-Gambale Mud Hens  55	8.  Goldman Pets  36
  4.  Townsend Cities 52.5	9.  Ham 'n' Eggerts  24.5
  5.  Rosenberg Mountain Men  52	10.  Keller Kings  21

  These are the players the Skid Rowes carried over from their 9th place 1992 team, and their prices: Frank Thomas ($20), Travis Fryman ($10), Juan Gonzalez ($23), Mo Vaughn ($10), John Olerud ($15), Bernie Williams ($10), Chad Curtis ($1), Paul Sorrento ($7).  Little wonder they swept 40 pts in the hitting categories, and held on to edge the fast-charging Boomers by a point.  The Boomers were 5 points back entering the final week, but put on a charge behind Griffey, Jay Buhner, Don Mattingly, and Bo Jackson.  The Mud Hens returned to respectability, launching the No-Relief strategy after trading their only closer, Mike Henneman, in May.  Tino Martinez led their offense in the first of his half-decade (and counting) of residence on the Mud Hens' roster.  Dumping became a major controversy, leading to big-time rules changes for 1994, including our famous Salary Cap.

  1994

  1.  Rowe-Gambale Mud Hens 60 pts	6.  Keller Kings  43
  2.  Rosenberg Mountain Men  54.5	7.  Lipshutz Russett Eagles  42
  3.  Wilk-Freedman Jay Jays  50	8.  Skid Rowes  38.5
  4.  Ham 'n' Eggerts  47.5	9.  Goldman Pets  31
  5.  Legere Baby Boomers  45.5	10.  Townsend Cities  28

  This was beginning of the Dark Times.  The Year of the Strike.  The Mud Hens won a tainted championship when the season ended 6 weeks early.  How likely were they to stay in 1st place, leading by 5-1/2 points on August 14?  Well, in 1997, the Mud Hens were leading by 7 points on August 3, and by August 24 they were in 3rd place.  We'll never know, but for part of a season the No-Save strategy worked, augmented by David Cone, Alex Fernandez, Jose Canseco, and Kirby Puckett.  The Mountain Men were in close contention for the first time, with a formidable pitching staff led by Pat Hentgen, Dennis Martinez, Mike Mussina, and Rick Aguilera.  But the M-Men also made a fateful trade to the Skids down the stretch, obtaining Option-year Thomas and Olerud for bargain-priced Manny Ramirez, John Valentin, and Mussina: the core of the Skids' 1995 championship team.

  1995

  1.  Skid Rowes 64 pts	6.  Rowe-Gambale Mud Hens  45
  2.  Keller Kings 63	7.  Wilk-Freedman Jay Jays  38
  3.  Rosenberg Mountain Men  51	8.  Hammerin' Eggerts  33.5
  4.  Goldman Pets  50	9.  Legere Baby Boomers  29.5
  5.  Lipshutz Alberta Lippers  47	10.  Townsend Cities  19

  The Strike continued into May, with the dreadful prospect of Replacement Player Rotisserie, until it finally ended in a mad flurry of free agent signings and abbreviated Spring Training, bringing us to the Draft table late and unprepared, and highly cynical.  Out of the muck arose another good pennant race, with the Skids claiming their third Good IV League crown, by a hair at the end over the upstart Keller Kings.  In the year of the Red Sox' improbable Division Championship, MVP Mo Vaughn carried the Skids as well, who amazingly overcame the loss of Ken Griffey for half the season.  The previous season's trade with the Mtn Men proved decisive, as both Valentin and Ramirez had career years, and Mussina won 19.  The 2nd place Kings had carried Randy Johnson for 3 years at $13, waiting for this Cy Young season, and their gambles on Lee Smith, Brady Anderson, Rafael Palmeiro, and Lance Johnson all paid off handsomely.  The Mountain Men went after an aged core group of Gary Gaetti, Chili Davis, Paul Molitor, and Daryl Strawberry, and in the Year of the Slugger, Part I, got a lot of mileage out of them to finish third.  The Cities slogged to an all-time worst 19 points, jettisoning all high-priced talent to build for Next Year.

  1996

• (Does anyone have the final standings report from 1996?  I lost mine.  Other than the first 3 places, these are the standings from mid-July.)

  The Year of the Slugger, Part II, and the first full season of baseball since 1993, this was the year the long-suffering Cities finally put it all together.  They had as good a breakout year in the Good IV League as their $7 phenom, Alex Rodriguez, had in real baseball. Several years of accumulating young, cheap talent (Derek Jeter, Carlos Delgado, Garret Anderson, Troy Percival, Mike Timlin) paid off in the biggest margin of victory (and most boring pennant race) in League history.  The Cities, however, made some ill-advised trades (Jeter, Jeff Cirillo, Tony Clark) which didn't affect their championship run, but may have prevented their establishing a truly awesome dynasty.  The Lippers took 2nd place with a point total that would have won most years, on the strength of bad-boy Albert Belle and surprise Cy Yong winner Pat Hentgen (a $5 draftee).   The ever-dangerous Skids held onto Griffey through more injuries, along with mainstays Vaughn and Ramirez, and managed a respectable 3d place finish.

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