Gordon may or may not have had a major league career. We’ve decided to be generous, taking his very limited NeL time as an indication of his underlying skillset. That puts Gordon in the long history of reserve C/1B who have some pop. Gordon also was decent defensively, making him more than just a bat wishing he could DH.
Gordon went to college, a factor in us having him enter the league in 1904, when he was 25. We’ve inserted four years at the start of his career, then another 2 before his historical 1911 to 1913 take over.
Gordon’s projection is notably worse than his historical stats, as we’re pretty sure the notion of “regression to the mean” is relevant here. But we’ve kept the essential shape: a good hitter with excellent doubles power, virtually no speed, and highly erratic walk rates. As is often the case, he gets more playing time in 1908 and 1911, when he is a far more valuable hitter (especially 1911, which is one of those freakishly good seasons you’ll see players produce once in a while); other than those years, he’s a decent reserve on a good team.
Defensively, Gordon started his career as a solid catcher with an above-average (but not spectacular) arm. His mobility behind the plate decreased, certainly a factor in his conversion to 1B where, again, he was solid.
Future work could eliminate Gordon from the set altogether: his historical record may just be too thin. But I think he is also a good example of how you can build a perfectly plausible projection from existing data. I don’t see Gordon as better than what I have here.
| Name | Sam Gordon |
| ID / Status | gordo01sam / Draft |
| Pos | C |
| DOB / i9s Career | 04/21/1878 / 1904 - 1913 |
| Birthplace | Frazier's Bottom, WV (USA) |
| Height / Weight | 6'1" / 210 |
| B / T | / R |
Batting Projections
| Year | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 1904 | 70 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0.257 | 0.297 | 0.357 | 0.654 |
| 1905 | 129 | 29 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 0.225 | 0.286 | 0.295 | 0.580 |
| 1906 | 211 | 54 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 0.256 | 0.302 | 0.318 | 0.620 |
| 1907 | 166 | 39 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0.235 | 0.291 | 0.301 | 0.592 |
| 1908 | 329 | 93 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 35 | 6 | 5 | 0.283 | 0.330 | 0.353 | 0.682 |
| 1909 | 256 | 72 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 0.281 | 0.331 | 0.336 | 0.667 |
| 1910 | 143 | 37 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 20 | 2 | 2 | 0.259 | 0.307 | 0.308 | 0.615 |
| 1911 | 301 | 114 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 35 | 6 | 6 | 0.379 | 0.417 | 0.462 | 0.879 |
| 1912 | 253 | 59 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 0.233 | 0.319 | 0.285 | 0.604 |
| 1913 | 123 | 29 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 0.236 | 0.293 | 0.285 | 0.578 |