OOTP15 gives you the ability to hold fantasy drafts, not just with active players, but also with a combination of active and historical players. It is interesting to see how players from earlier years would ‘measure up’ against today’s competition. Today we will focus on one of those historical players, Herb Score. Below is OOTP15’s scouting report for Herb.

Summary: (80/80 overall rating – 96-98 velocity)
Can you say superstar? Yes, Score is heading toward stardom in the big leagues.
Stuff: (95/80 stuff ratings)
Score can make even the best of batters look foolish. He gets some nasty late break that makes batters just freeze up.
Movement: (55/80 movement ratings)
Never seems to give up hard contact. When batters connect, they can’t do much damage.
Control: (30/80 control ratings)
Confuses a lot of catchers. They set up low and outside, and the ball come in high and tight. Command is definately an issue.
Personality/Makeup:
Score knows the game pretty well.

According to Wikipedia:
In the book “The Greatest Team Of All Time” (Bob Adams, Inc, publisher. 1994), Mickey Mantle picked Herb Score as the toughest American League left-handed pitcher he faced (before the injury). Yogi Berra picked Herb for his “Greatest Team Of All Time”.

You can learn a bit more about the injury below.

Here is an excerpt from SABR’s Herb Score biography page:

“It’s going to be a tough act for the kid to follow,” said Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller. Indeed it would be. Feller had just thrown the 12th one-hitter of his fabulous career, blanking Boston, 2-0, in the first game of a doubleheader at Cleveland on May 1, 1955. Boston catcher Sammy White singled to center field in the seventh inning for the only Red Sox safety.   He had been kept alive at the plate when Tribe catcher Jim Hegan could not corral a foul tip on a 2-2 count. The 36-year-old Feller, who had not been given a starting assignment by the Indians in the previous season’s World Series, reminded those who had written him off that he could still contribute in a big way to arguably the best pitching staff in baseball, even in his 17th season in the major leagues.

“The kid” Feller referred to was a tall, left-handed rookie from Lake Worth, Florida, Herb Score. Score was making his third start of the season. After witnessing Feller’s mastery of the Red Sox, Score sat in front of his locker thinking, “This is gonna be great . . . me coming in after that performance.”    But if he was concerned about measuring up to Feller, his anxiety was quickly eased. Score struck out nine batters in the first three innings and 16 for the game in a 2-1 Cleveland victory. He came within two strikeouts of equaling the record at the time for strikeouts in a game held by Feller. “In the first innings I had a good fastball and a great curve,” said Score.   “Later the curve wasn’t so good and neither was my fastball. I’m just glad I got by.   I knew I had an awful lot of strikeouts. But I wasn’t counting ’em.”

But the promise of future greatness that shined so brightly in that game was not to be fulfilled. After Score pitched two outstanding seasons for the Tribe, in 1955 and 1956, his career was curtailed by a line drive that struck him in the face on May 7, 1957.  Score returned to pitch the following year, and always denied that the ball hit by New York’s Gil McDougald cut short a productive career.  But Cleveland fans will always ponder what kind of a career Score could have had after posting a won-loss record of 38-20 before the injury, as opposed to his record of 17-26 after it.”

For reference, I am drafting a 23 year old Herb Score ahead of a 33 year old Greg Maddux. Would you do the same?

Categories: OOTP Replay