TCBA Yearbook

Foreword II

  INDEX

Seasons
1902  1903 
1904
1905  1906  1907 1908  1909  1910

1911  1912  1913
1914  1915  1916 1917  1918  1919

1920

1921  1922  1923
1924  1925  1926 1927  1928  1929

1930  1931  1932
1933  1934  1935 1936  1937  1938
1939

1940  1941  1942
1943  1944  1945 1946  1947  1948
1949

1950  1951  1952
1953  1954  1955 1956  1957  1958
1959

1960  1961  1962
1963  1964  1965 1966  1967  1968
1969

1970  1971  1972
1973  1974  1975 1976  1977  1978
1979

1980  1981  1982
1983  1984  1985 1986  1987  1988
 1989 

1990  1991  1992
1993  1994  1995 1996  1997  1998
1999

2000  2001  2002
2003  2004  2005 2006  2007  2008
 2009 

2010  2011  2012
2013  2014  2015 2016  2017  2018
  2019  

2020  2021  2022
2023  2024  2025 2026  2027  2028
   2029    

Miscellaneous
Foreword 1
Foreword II
Introduction
The Ad
The Letter
The Test
First Newsletter
Yesterday
Gold
Origins

TCBA Almanac

“This is not really happening (you bet your life it is!)”
from “Cornflake Girl” by Tori Amos

     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

                   

<< PreviousNext >>