If the Minnesota Twins do not win the AL West in The Globe’s fantasy 1991 season, it may be because of pitching. Allan Anderson started the year with a surprising 7-1 record, but after two more weeks of action, he has lost his spot in the rotation and has been placed on the reserve roster.
Perhaps it was only a matter of time. Anderson wasn’t great in real life in 1991, posting a 5-11 record with a 4.96 ERA, and now he’s out, replaced by David West.
With no real major league baseball to follow due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are using OOTP-20, a comprehensive baseball simulation strategy game, to replay 1991. It was a year that, in real life, saw the Minnesotans win the West by eight games and go on to beat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series.
We wanted to see if the Twins can do it again.
So far, despite Anderson’s fall to earth, the Twins continue to lead the division with a 34-16 record. But the Chicago White Sox are close, at 30-16. Texas is 24-20. In the East, Boston is on top at 30-18 and Milwaukee is 27-21.
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In the NL West, the Dodgers (31-18) and the Giants (27-23) lead. In the NL East, it’s Pittsburgh (36-11) and St. Louis (30-18).
The White Sox are staying on the Twins’ tail pitching-wise with Charlie Hough (5-0 record) and Jack McDowell (6-3) leading the way, and Carlton Fisk (.324, six HR) and Frank Thomas (.315, 13 HR) lifting the offense.
The Twins’ pitching staff is now being paced by Jack Morris (7-3) and Scott Erickson (6-2). Meanwhile, the Twins lead the league in batting with a .275 average. Brian Harper is hitting .350, Chuck Knoblauch .346, Kirby Puckett .337 and Kent Hrbek .323. Puckett and Chili Davis (.259) lead the team with nine home runs apiece.
Knoblauch’s .346 average places him in a tie with the Red Sox’ Wade Boggs in third place among American League hitters. Puckett leads the league in hits, with 68.
