Offense in 2008 - An exercise in nerdiness

[Syd Thrift]

AL ERA: 4.12
NL ERA: 4.18

AL AVG/OBP/SLG: 257/328/393
NL AVG/OBP/SLG: 259/333/406

These are... fantastic. I'm sure that I am biased by growing up in the 1980s, but to me, having a league ERA of about 4 and league OPS numbers of around 260/330/400 are just plain ideal for figuring out who is good and who isn't. Your average fan can now look at a pitcher with a 3.50 ERA and understand that he's a bit above average, not a potential superstar (like we had to figure a guy like that from 10 years ago). .280 is a good, solid batting average again, and .360 a decent OBP. Having .400 as the cut-off for averageness at SLG also makes that metric, which for me is often the hardest to determine value by eyeballing it, easier to read as well.

This is also the offensive environment where one-run baseball intermingles with Earl Weaver 3-run homeruns win ballgames strategy. In the late 90s/early 2000s, the latter was the better strategy in most cases. In 1981 or the late 60s it went too far the other way. I prefer a mix.

[koohead]

Totally agree with this. These were the numbers I shot for when creating my fictional league in OOTP8. I wanted a sub 3.00 ERA to mean something and to hit .300 to be something special again.