Billy Stoltzfus:
Billy Stoltzfus represents the last of the "Group Three" Hall of Famers- those players who established their careers between the years 2023 to 2032- and by no means is he the least. In fact, a reasonable case could be made that he was the greatest. After all, his 1.014 career OPS is the highest of any of the "Group Three" players. Only Matthew Allman was also able to maintain a career OPS over 1.000, and the two of them are joined with Hector Abad as the only players to accomplish the feat in the years that have been discussed so far. (Group Four will have two such players, Group Five will have one, and Group Seven has one player thus far- a very familiar face, too, by the way).
Stoltzfus was the #2 overall pick by Atlanta in 2030. Atlanta, as I believe I have discussed with other players already, struggled throughout much of the '20s, and Stoltzfus was the kind of player a team could build around. He leaped right into the big leagues for a Braves team that won 79 games and finished in last place. He wasted no time at all in establishing himself. He batted .323 with a .928 OPS and smacked 13 homeruns in 368 at bats. Those were numbers good enough to win the AL Rookie of the Year Award. The Braves finished with a winning record in '31, but still finished in last place. Stoltzfus' power dropped off a bit, but he increased his batting average to .331, and showed the kind of plate discipline that most hitters would love to have, with 81 walks and a .414 OBP. And then, the inexplicable happened. While Atlanta slogged through a 77-85 season that wasn't good enough to get out of last place in 2032, the Grand Rapids Tigers competed for a division title in the Central Division, despite having a record that would end up at just 75-87. Despite their supposed building for the future around guys like Stoltzfus, the Braves shockingly traded Stoltzfus to Grand Rapids for a solid, 27 year old starting pitcher, and a 2B prospect. It was a stunning trade, but the young Stoltzfus didn't skip a beat. He raised his OPS back up over .900 that year, and enjoyed his first 20 homerun, 100 RBI, 100 runs scored, 100 walk season.
'33 was a breakout year for Stoltzfus. He finished second in the batting race with a .360 average, had his first 200 hit season, his first 40 homerun campaign, and put up an OPS comfortably over 1.000, which also led the league. He was also named to his first All Star game. At the end of the year, he won the AL Silver Slugger Award. Unfortunately, Grand Rapids finished just a tick under .500, at 80-82. 2034 was another fine season for Stoltzfus, but the Tigers struggled to a 75-87 finish. In '35, Stoltzfus set a career high with 46 homeruns, but Grand Rapids continued to be mediocre, winning only 80 games. 2036 was a tough year for Stoltzfus. Though Grand Rapids won 86 games, Stoltzfus wasn't able to contribute much for them. He played about one month, before being lost for the season at the end of April with a broken wrist. He would return with a vengeance, however.
Entering the '37 season, Grand Rapids hadn't won a division title since 2029, and it was the only division title for the Tigers since they had won three in a row from '23 to '25. The fans were hungry for a winner. They got their wish. Stoltzfus ripped off a .371 batting average (good enough to win the batting title), and a 1.135 OPS. Those numbers were good enough to win him his second Silver Slugger Award, and they were good enough to carry Grand Rapids to 93 wins and a Central Division title. In the ALCS, Stoltzfus was able to get revenge on Atlanta for giving up on him, and the Tigers knocked off the Braves in six games. In the World Series, they were pitted against a Portland team that was on the verge of a mini-dynasty. Stoltzfus came up big in Game One, delivering a dramatic, two out, three run homerun in the top of the ninth inning to erase a 4-3 deficit and give Grand Rapids a 6-4 victory. In Game Two, he slammed a two out, two run homerun in the third inning to give Grand Rapids a 3-0 lead. The Tigers couldn't hold that lead, and the two teams battled back and forth in the game. Portland grabbed a 4-3 lead, and pushed it to 7-3. The Tigers got close again, but Portland made it 8-6 in the 7th inning. Grand Rapids tied it in the 8th, and took a 9-8 lead in the top of the ninth inning, but the Trailblazers rallied to win 10-9 in the bottom half of the inning. In Game Three, Portland wanted no part of Stoltzfus, and he wound up drawing four walks in the contest. Unfortunately, the Tigers blew a 4-2 lead, and fell 11-7. Portland took control of the series in Game Four, pounding the Tigers 10-4. Grand Rapids returned the favor, and avoided elimination, by winning Game Five by a score of 10-4. Stoltzfus had 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs scored in the game. In the deciding Game Six, however, Stoltzfus went hitless, and the Tigers blew a 2-0 lead en route to a 3-2 Portland victory.
2038 was a disaster for the defending AL champions. Though Stoltzfus enjoyed a typically great season, the Tigers imploded to a 64-98 record. It was the worst record posted that year by any non-expansion team. '39 wasn't much better, as the Tigers went just 74-88. In 2040, Stoltzfus posted the fifth 1.000 OPS season of his career, and the Tigers returned to being competitive, with a record of 89-73. The balance of power in the American League shifted heavily to the Southeast Division in 2041, and Grand Rapids managed to win the Central Division with an uninspiring 80-83 record. The division title required a one game playoff with Tucson, which the Tigers won. Knoxville had a novel solution to beat Grand Rapids in the ALCS: Pitch around the Tigers' best player and see if anyone else can beat you. No one else could. Stoltzfus managed just 3 hits and was walked 7 times in the series. Knoxville cruised to a series win in 5 games, and the Tigers scored only 2 runs total in the final two games of the series.
In '42, Stoltzfus left Grand Rapids and signed with Tucson. Stoltzfus had a typical season, but the Diamondbacks finshed at exactly .500 on the year. In 2043, Stoltzfus set a career high with 140 walks, and posted what would be the second best OPS of his career- a 1.141 mark. The Diamondbacks, however, managed only to finish at .500 again. 2044 was Stoltzfus' career year. He set a career high with 226 hits. He posted the best OPS of his career, a 1.155 mark. Perhaps most impressively of all, he threatened to become the first player to hit .400 since Ray Monroy hit .412 for Harrisburg in 2017, and only the second player overall. On September 1st, he was hitting .408. Unfortunately, he hit "just" .333 in the month of September, and had to settle for a league leading batting average of .395. That was still good enough to break the American League single season record of .381. Despite the great season for Stoltzfus, it was not enough to lift Tucson above mediocrity, though the Diamondbacks did manage to finish above .500, at 82-80. In '45, Stoltzfus' streak of 1.000 OPS seasons came to an end at five, as he finished the season at .987. Tucson, however, won 95 games to win the Central Division. The Diamondbacks' postseason run was short-lived. Matched up against emerging power Miami, who had won the '42 World Series and lost the '43 one, Tucson was overwhelmed in four games and the Dolphins went on to win the World Series. Stoltzfus managed one homerun in the series, but otherwise contributed very little. 2046 was a momentous season for Stoltzfus. He reached both 500 homeruns and 3,000 hits that year- the ninth player in history to achieve both milestones in a career. Tucson, however, slumped to just 78 wins. 2047 was Stoltzfus' final season, and while his numbers were good, the 40 year old outfielder was gradually phased out of the lineup by the Diamondbacks.
At the time of his retirement, Stoltzfus ranked 7th all time in batting average, 7th in hits, 18th in homeruns, 6th in RBI, 3rd in walks, and 5th in runs scored. Today, he ranks 16th in AVG, 21st in hits, 12th in RBI, 5th in walks, and 9th in runs scored. After Stoltzfus set the AL single season batting average record in 2044 with a .395 mark, he held the record until 2051, when Atlanta SS, and future Hall of Famer, Rafael Aguilar became the first American Leaguer to hit .400. Augilar hit .400 on the nose.
Stoltzfus' stats:
Code:
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Teams
2030 111 368 119 21 6 13 67 71 53 87 2 2 .323 .409 .519 .928 ATL
2031 151 568 188 29 5 11 91 92 81 100 6 5 .331 .414 .458 .872 ATL
2032 154 570 178 36 0 23 105 100 104 102 5 6 .312 .418 .496 .915 ATL GR
2033 154 583 210 33 10 42 164 130 92 136 5 1 .360 .447 .667 1.115 GR,AL
2034 156 572 183 23 4 42 136 131 111 154 5 1 .320 .430 .594 1.025 GR,AL
2035 157 586 172 18 3 46 143 120 106 142 9 3 .294 .402 .570 .972 GR,AL
2036 26 99 34 5 1 9 32 21 18 19 0 2 .343 .444 .687 1.131 GR
2037 147 545 202 36 8 36 158 127 103 132 9 2 .371 .471 .664 1.135 GR,AL
2038 155 572 180 20 3 34 128 110 109 137 7 6 .315 .424 .538 .963 GR
2039 154 566 184 30 5 31 136 123 115 125 9 9 .325 .439 .560 .999 GR,AL
2040 155 553 181 31 7 34 128 129 118 134 5 8 .327 .446 .593 1.039 GR,AL
2041 158 576 205 35 6 29 137 133 116 123 5 4 .356 .464 .589 1.052 GR,AL
2042 152 580 195 29 5 39 116 126 101 151 5 9 .336 .435 .605 1.040 TUC,AL
2043 154 566 209 27 5 40 127 151 140 149 10 5 .369 .494 .647 1.141 TUC,AL
2044 156 572 226 29 5 37 125 143 117 120 9 6 .395 .498 .657 1.155 TUC,AL
2045 155 540 180 20 8 27 110 113 99 135 6 6 .333 .437 .550 .987 TUC,AL
2046 153 521 161 19 4 27 102 114 105 132 2 0 .309 .425 .516 .941 TUC
2047 106 355 106 9 3 11 46 57 58 94 1 0 .299 .397 .434 .831 TUC
Total 2554 9292 3113 450 88 531 2051 1991 1746 2172 100 75 .335 .440 .574 1.014
Career Minor League Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2037, AAA 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500 1.000
Career Postseason Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS
2037 12 45 17 2 0 2 10 12 11 16 0 0 .378 .500 .556 1.056
2041 5 14 3 0 0 0 0 3 7 7 0 1 .214 .476 .214 .690
2045 4 14 3 0 0 1 1 4 4 4 0 0 .214 .389 .429 .817
Total 21 73 23 2 0 3 11 19 22 27 0 1 .315 .474 .466 .939
Player History
Drafted in 1st round, 2nd overall pick, by Atlanta in 2030...
Had first career hit (homerun) on 4/3/2030, off George Brownlow (NAS)...
Won Rookie of the Year Award in 2030, hitting .323 with 13 HR, 67 RBI...
Had 20-game hitting streak snapped on 9/5/2031...
Traded from Atlanta to Grand Rapids on 7/31/2032 (Going to ATL: P T. Doyon, 2B J. Leblanc. Going to GR: RF B. Stoltzfus)...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 5/14/2033...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/26/2033, hitting .500 with 4 HR, 10 RBI...
Was selected to the 2033 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/21/2033, hitting .452 with 3 HR, 9 RBI...
Had 25-game hitting streak snapped on 7/26/2033...
Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2033, hitting .378 with 8 HR, 36 RBI...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2033, hitting .360 with 42 HR, 164 RBI...
Was selected to the 2034 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/28/2034, hitting .500 with 2 HR, 9 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2034, hitting .593 with 1 HR, 8 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Memphis on 9/12/2034...
Had 5 hits with 3 RBI against Tucson on 6/3/2035...
Was selected to the 2035 Allstar game...
Injured on 4/29/2036 with a Broken Wrist, out for full season...
Drove in 7 runs against Memphis on 5/3/2037...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/26/2037, hitting .583 with 2 HR, 10 RBI...
Was selected to the 2037 Allstar game...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2037, hitting .360 with 9 HR, 26 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2037, hitting .429 with 3 HR, 10 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/22/2037, hitting .462 with 4 HR, 15 RBI...
Won Silver Slugger Award in 2037, hitting .371 with 36 HR, 158 RBI...
Was selected to the 2039 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Denver on 8/30/2039...
Was selected to the 2040 Allstar game...
Drove in 6 runs against Kansas City on 9/1/2040...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/8/2040, hitting .500 with 5 HR, 15 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/15/2040, hitting .526 with 4 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2040, hitting .442 with 11 HR, 39 RBI...
Hit 3 homeruns against Kansas City, driving in 7 runs on 5/22/2041...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/26/2041, hitting .522 with 5 HR, 13 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2041, hitting .389 with 7 HR, 24 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 6/6/2041...
Drove in 7 runs against Denver on 6/17/2041...
Was selected to the 2041 Allstar game...
Had 2000th career hit on 8/30/2041, off Edson Villegas (WAS)...
Won Batter of the Month award on 9/1/2041, hitting .379 with 7 HR, 26 RBI...
Signed as a free agent by Tucson on 2/7/2042 to a 6-year deal worth $12,647,000 per year...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/14/2042, hitting .545 with 3 HR, 9 RBI...
Had 6 hits with 5 RBI against Knoxville on 6/19/2042...
Was selected to the 2042 Allstar game...
Injured on 9/28/2042 with a Stiff Knee, out for one week...
Hit 3 homeruns against Nashville, driving in 5 runs on 5/7/2043...
Was selected to the 2043 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/14/2043, hitting .600 with 2 HR, 4 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2043, hitting .463 with 8 HR, 22 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 8/18/2043, hitting .476 with 5 HR, 12 RBI...
Hit 3 homeruns against Denver, driving in 5 runs on 9/22/2043...
Hit 3 homeruns against Washington, driving in 8 runs on 9/25/2043...
Won Player of the Week award on 9/29/2043, hitting .609 with 7 HR, 15 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 10/1/2043, hitting .422 with 8 HR, 26 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/26/2044, hitting .609 with 3 HR, 5 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2044, hitting .467 with 10 HR, 26 RBI...
Was selected to the 2044 Allstar game...
Had 20-game hitting streak snapped on 8/15/2044...
Was selected to the 2045 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/14/2045, hitting .632 with 4 HR, 8 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 7/28/2045, hitting .583 with 1 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 8/1/2045, hitting .471 with 6 HR, 29 RBI...
Had 500th career homerun on 5/5/2046, off Heijuurou Tadao (NAS)...
Had 3000th career hit on 9/18/2046, off Michael Farrier (MEM)...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2049.
Batting Leader Boards Appearances
AVG
2033 - .360 - 2nd
2037 - .371 - 1st
2041 - .356 - 3rd
2043 - .369 - 2nd
2044 - .395 - 1st
2045 - .333 - 7th
OBP
2031 - .414 - 4th
2032 - .418 - 3rd
2033 - .447 - 1st
2034 - .430 - 5th
2035 - .402 - 7th
2037 - .471 - 2nd
2038 - .424 - 8th
2039 - .439 - 2nd
2040 - .446 - 4th
2041 - .464 - 2nd
2042 - .435 - 6th
2043 - .494 - 1st
2044 - .498 - 1st
2045 - .437 - 2nd
2046 - .425 - 6th
SLG
2033 - .667 - 2nd
2034 - .594 - 5th
2035 - .570 - 8th
2037 - .664 - 2nd
2039 - .560 - 7th
2040 - .593 - 4th
2041 - .589 - 2nd
2042 - .605 - 6th
2043 - .647 - 2nd
2044 - .657 - 3rd
OPS
2033 - 1.115 - 1st
2034 - 1.025 - 4th
2035 - .972 - 7th
2037 - 1.135 - 2nd
2039 - .999 - 5th
2040 - 1.039 - 4th
2041 - 1.052 - 1st
2042 - 1.040 - 4th
2043 - 1.141 - 1st
2044 - 1.155 - 2nd
2045 - .987 - 8th
Hits
2033 - 210 - 2nd
2037 - 202 - 2nd
2041 - 205 - 2nd
2043 - 209 - 4th
2044 - 226 - 2nd
Doubles
2037 - 36 - 10th
2041 - 35 - 10th
Triples
2033 - 10 - 4th
2037 - 8 - 5th
2040 - 7 - 9th
2045 - 8 - 9th
Homeruns
2033 - 42 - 4th
2034 - 42 - 5th
2035 - 46 - 4th
2037 - 36 - 6th
2038 - 34 - 10th
2040 - 34 - 7th
2042 - 39 - 9th
2043 - 40 - 6th
2044 - 37 - 9th
RBI
2033 - 164 - 1st
2034 - 136 - 6th
2035 - 143 - 3rd
2037 - 158 - 1st
2038 - 128 - 7th
2039 - 136 - 3rd
2040 - 128 - 4th
2041 - 137 - 4th
2042 - 116 - 10th
2043 - 127 - 8th
Runs
2033 - 130 - 3rd
2034 - 131 - 2nd
2035 - 120 - 5th
2037 - 127 - 2nd
2039 - 123 - 5th
2040 - 129 - 3rd
2041 - 133 - 1st
2042 - 126 - 3rd
2043 - 151 - 2nd
2044 - 143 - 2nd
2045 - 113 - 9th
BB
2031 - 81 - 10th
2032 - 104 - 1st
2033 - 92 - 6th
2034 - 111 - 2nd
2035 - 106 - 4th
2037 - 103 - 4th
2038 - 109 - 3rd
2039 - 115 - 1st
2040 - 118 - 1st
2041 - 116 - 1st
2042 - 101 - 4th
2043 - 140 - 1st
2044 - 117 - 1st
2045 - 99 - 4th
2046 - 105 - 2nd