     I (recently) read Joe (Elinich’s) comments regarding fielding and center-fielders with a great deal of care and interest. They represent the need to address a very basic and fundamental question - are we simply replaying reality, in effect, or are we creating a new and different universe? This is the issue which actually separates replayers (even those that experiment with what-if's, but are still within a real-life framework) and the draft-leaguers whose creations have no 'real' counterpart.

     To illustrate what I mean, I'll take Joe's comment regarding seeing Yaz in right or Al Kaline in left. He is exactly correct IF WE ARE RELATING TO THE 'REAL' BOSTON RED SOX OR DETROIT TIGERS of, say, 1973. If we are in an 'alternate' reality, however, represented by the TCBA, and Yaz plays right (or center), then THAT is what is real and correct - the position he plays for the Norfolk Pilots is the correct one for our alternative universe. I maintain vigorously that is just what gives the TCBA the appeal that we have come to appreciate - the existence of that alternative universe. Bob Braun (has put) together (in this Yearbook) a statistical compilation and history of over twenty years, not of major league baseball as represented by the TCBA, but of the TCBA Today itself.

     I would argue, therefore, that what is 'real' in major league history may not apply to the equally 'real' but different world of TCBA. The patterns may be similar - Rod Carew is a pretty good hitter in both - but the number and nature of batting titles he wins very likely will be different. Parallel universes, similar but differing in some respects, are also stock features of science fiction. If any of you are Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts, there are a large number of organizations and an immense bibliography of highly scholarly works dedicated to what is known as the 'great game'; that is, Holmes and Watson were actual people and that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was the Literary Agent for Dr. Watson who forwarded his works for publication.

To me, therefore, whether a centerfielder in the 1972 American League plays centerfield in the 1973 TCBA-Y is irrelevant - what he does in each is correct for the context. That's also why the whole issue of 'accuracy' is somewhat moot - accuracy in relation to what? The TCBA creates its own internal and historical accuracy. We have rules regarding player usage because of the nature of the players we have - we already know within reasonable parameters what they do in a season's worth of ball games. The Major Leagues have no such rules - which is real/right? Obviously, 'it depends'.

I've commented before on the 'alternative universe' concept, and I am absolutely convinced this is what makes organizations like the TCBA viable over long periods of time. It takes on its own existence, entirely separately from (even though dependent upon) what we like to think is 'true' reality, to become 'real' itself. That's what makes it fun..... Enough serious thought, however; time to fire up BBWIN and get on with the (real?) games.

- Dan Warren, December 1995

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