Showdown Bot Review, GREATEST 32 TEAMS OF PAST 28 YEARS: PART 1

 As a reader of this blog, I'm guessing you've become familiar with the Showdown Bot that's revolutionized and made accessible card making the past month or so! Get ready for the longest post in blog history, featuring over 600 cards. There's literally 32 full teams of 20 players below. I picked the best single season team from each franchise from the past 28 years and ranked them by points. There are surprise teams, some surprise rankings, but mainly.... just some awesome players!!! Here's a taste of some players who couldn't quite make the cut for being on the "wrong" teams when they put up super seasons.

   

BOT Review: Before we get to the teams, I want to shout out the many pros of the Bot and walk through a few of the small issues I had while using it, just so you go in ready for everything!

Pros: Trust me, there's over 600 cards waiting below, but first I NEED to walk through the many, many pros of using the Showdown Bot. I am not being hyperbolic when I say that it's been the best thing to happen to Showdown since the game stopped being offically made and sold. It really expands access and makes card creation anyone can do, rather than relying on a small group of strangers (for many fans) to put out cards. I think it's awesome that the Bot puts the ability to make sharp, useful cards in anyone's hands! Now, please check out some specific pros:

• Accessibility
• First and foremost, the Bot makes card creating easier than ever and something anyone can do -- no photoshop/graphic design or formula/math required! I think that's FANTASTIC and love what it does for the community. Anyone can make cards, cards that look good, that can play across any era of cards you prefer. I love that it lets any fan make any card within seconds, as it undoubtedly will help keep the game alive and connect it to more fans than ever before!
• Ease 
• Honestly, I cannot emphasize enough how marvelously easy the BOT makes card creation. Without it, there's no way I can put together over 600 cards from across more than 20 seasons that play together accurately in a mere two weeks like this set without it! All you have to do is put in a player's name and season, and BOOM, you've got a card! If you want to add an image, you can upload one and it'll fit in the background to create a card. If you're a fan of the 02-05 style, no photoshop necessary to create a card that looks just like the original ones! As you'll see below, it's certainly possible to make cards that look a ton like the originals in the 00 style, and you can do that in free google slides! Seriously, take some time on this BOT and you'll be dazzled by how quickly you can make your favorite players in their best years, it's awesome.
• Database
• The BOT draws from baseball reference, so you can take players from almost any era -- I've been messing around with guys from 1910 recently, it's crazy the variety. You want to do the 1927 Yankees? You can, as the BOT can pull those stats. I love love love how it works!
• Chart Accuracy
• One of the best features comes underneath the BOT's card after you hit submit: a statistical comparison of the player's real life stats and what the projected "Showdown" stats are for the card that came out. You can look and see how many HR, what OBP, etc etc you can expect from the card and compare it to real life -- super great for seeing how accurate players are, and.... as I'll expand on below, allows you to tweak player's cards to get the most accurate results!
• Stat Offset Feature
• The BOT allows you to have up to five versions of every player you could make a card of via a "stat offset"... this allows you to see a spread of "projected" stats and pick the one that works best for the player! For hitters, this means getting a couple options for On Base and outs on a chart; for pitchers, sometimes it's control, often times gives you an option to go up or down a tier. It's super simple and very, very fun!
• Uploading Image
• Super, super easy -- clearly marked area and easy to upload a simple photo or an image that you photoshopped to look like an original background!
• Card Design
• I can't go any further without shouting out the gorgeous design work on the cards that come from the template. They look JUST like the originals, regardless of the year. The logos are great, the fonts are spot on, and there's the fun "Cooperstown  Collection" and Superseason options too! Really, really cool stuff!
• Cost
• IT IS FREE!!!! Honestly, what an absolute gift to the community... considering how much time must have gone into making this, to just give it away is such a gift and really, really just *chef's kiss*
• Creator Philosophy
• As set forth above, the creator of the BOT is a big believer in accessibility for fans of Showdown. He succeeded in a HUGE way, and I'm super, super impressed by his work. Moreover, he's not only very receptive to constructive criticism, but very (and impressively) patient when dealing with questions from fans who occasionally have hiccups while using the BOT (cough cough me). Honestly, it's super refreshing in a community full of competition and exclusivity re: formulas and designs that someone made (a) an incredibly steady formula that's consistent across years while also being (b) for everyone and anyone to use, without any attempt to make people pay or fear of "stealing".... seriously, huge applause and I think it's so healthy and good for the community!
• Growth and Improvement
• On the note with constructive criticism, I've noticed how the points, charts, designs, etc etc just keep improving as the BOT gets tweaked. If you can't tell, this Blog is a big believer in "do your best and put out cards, and then work to get better with the next set." Similarly, the Bot just keeps getting better and better, more accurate and easier to use at every stage. It's scary putting out something that thousands of people will use/see, especially considering how critical so many showdown players can be of cards, and I give MAD PROPS to the BOT for coming out without having to be "perfect", but coming out in Beta and just continuing to get better as users give feedback. 

Cons: There are only a few criticisms that I can fairly level against the Bot, and they're all honestly nitpicks that should in no way be seen as a reason to avoid using the BOT:

• Point Values 
• This is probably the primary concern users have expressed. Honestly, I think this is more on the original sets not having as internally consistent a point system as we may have believed and the flaw is being reflected here. Regardless, it's rough to have guys who would be much less in the 00 game cost over 500 points here (see Ichiro in 2001) and makes it tougher to integrate Bot cards in with 00 cards than many would've hoped. That said, it's easy enough to change points yourself after getting a card with very accurate, very playable charting. Overall, I think this flaw can only hold you back if you let it!
• Slightly Over-Favoring Pitching
• As you'll see below, I've created over 640 cards on the Bot. I feel that's enough cards to notice some trends without it just being a small sample size. On the whole, I found that the Bot *tended* (not universally, but maybe 75-80% of the time) to slightly overpower pitchers and underpower hitters. By that, I mean a pitcher's projected OBP given up may be .010 or .015 better than expected, with it only getting better with each "stat offset", whereas the opposite was true with hitters -- a batter may have had a .345 OBP IRL, but receive an OB 7, on at 4 for a projected .330 to start and every subsequent "stat offset" would be worse and get into OB 6, on at 4 territory rather than give him an OB 8, on at 5 for a slightly higher than real OBP. My guess would be pitchers cards focused on projected OBP while hitters focused more on matching projecting HR and 2B, then syncing the projected AVG and OBP as closely as possible. This is all just hypothesis from my card making and noticing the projected HR was almost always DEAD on, seemingly at the expense of OBP at times. I think the con here is players favor OB over power often, and players especially don't mind if a hitter is a little overpowered. It was frustrating being unable to make sure hitters with OBP over .390 get an OB 10 (or even a good OB 9 option at times). That said, this is a nitpick -- again, the top statline projections are almost always within .015 between projected and real life stats, so it's more an observation that pitching is slightly stronger. Also, this is not a data driven analysis, all based on my feelings while creating!
• Logos
• Obviously, the pro outweighs the con here, so this really shows how much nit-picking I had to do to reach another con. Really -- this is splitting hairs. BUT with that preamble out of the way, teams like the Orioles, Astros, and Brewers are locked into their present logo in the card making process. This means classic teams for these franchises (e.g. 1997 Orioles, 1982 Brewers, 1998 Astros, etc. etc.) have noticeably different logos, which slightly throws off the aesthetic for those specific types of cards. Like I said, this is a bigtime nitpick con, and I'm sure a full logo database will eventually be uploaded (it recently added old logos, so for example, all seasons that the Angels were the "California Angels" have the CA logo, all years as "Anaheim Angels" have that logo, etc. etc.). However, this ended up being a problem for the 2002 Angels, which were in Anaheim and thus have the old logo pop up (despite using the same "halo" logo as the team uses today.... even so, I think they turned out pretty well). All things considered -- it's a tiny issue (literally, the logos are super small) and is unlikely to pester users for much longer, and even then it probably impacts 2-3% of all possible cards you could make. 

Overall takeaway: I am not being hyperbolic when I say that the Showdown Bot is the most groundbreaking creation in the Showdown fandom since the original cards stopped being made. It is an unbelievably generous gift to the Community and I hope y'all are having as much as I have been using it. I'm still going to make my own sets using the formulas that Matt, Bob and I have worked so hard to craft, but I really, really appreciate the tool of year-to-year comparison that Showdown bot has provided! Plus, it's so incredibly user friendly and easy to use. With just a little photoshop know-how, you can make cards like you see below..... and the Bot creator has been giving away the backgrounds for free too, so all you have to do is figure out how to make photo cut outs! Honestly, you don't even need photoshop, it can probably be done extremely effectively in Google Slides. 

So yeah, in conclusion -- definitely, definitely worthwhile to check out and use the BOT, I'm giving it an A rating!

SHOWDOWN BOT ULTIMATE TEAMS OF PAST 28 YEARS

Get ready for all the superstar teams below - I hope you enjoy them! Just at the get-go, these are all 20 team rosters with a mixture of hitters/pitchers based on usage, but every team has every position filled. I generally attempted to put teams in some sort of batting order and/or rotation/bullpen order, but it's not official or anything -- so feel free to download these and use however you want! Overall, I hope you have as much fun walking through memory land on these as I did! First, final bonus players:

And here we goooooooooooooo

32. 96 Orioles: 

We start the list with the most controversial inclusion to this list, the 1996 Orioles (selected over their more successful 1997 campaign, with largely the same cast of characters). However, I maintain that (despite winning 10 less games), the '96 team with a loaded offense and subpar pitching is superior to their predecessors with a weaker lineup and lights out pitching. Especially using the Bot! Coming in at a mere 5040 points -- giving them the weakest regular season (88 wins), Pythagorean W-L (.523), and point total in this list. That said, I think they'd beat a lot of the other sub-6000 point teams thanks to a good offense and some pretty decent bullpen options. They're also hurt by Mussina and Erickson being a combined 240 points less than their 2000 versions despite being almost the exact same cards. Also, you got to love having PRIME Roberto Alomar and the 50-HR version of Brady Anderson. My main takeaway? I'm hyped for Bob to finish his 96 Set so I can see his version of these players and face them off against the 96 Yankees and Indians!

31. 2010 Rays: 

Coming in at 5,270 points, it's the 96 win Rays from 2010! This squad lacks massive star power at the plate, although Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria put up very useful OB 8 cards. The best player is easily SP David Price, putting together an impressive Tier 2 card. However, the guys that most fans will want to use for themselves are in the bullpen -- Rafael Soriano and Joakim Benoit. Even with their weaknesses, I'd put this squad over the A's below.

T-29. 2014 A's: 

Ok ok ok, I know I said the 1996 Orioles are the most controversial pick, but....... it's probably choosing the 2014 A's over the 2001 or Moneyball A's. However, I've had a weird fascination with this A's squad ever since they choked after the trade deadline and SUPER choked in the 2014 AL Wild Card game as I watched in a Missouri bar on $2 pitcher night. Coming in at 5,360 points, this squad has almost no hitting but some wicked good options to take the mound in the rotation..... but what strikes me about this team is the drastic difference between their actual W-L (88 wins) vs the Pythagorean projection (99 wins). Playing in the hitting dry early 2010s, I think this team wins 100 games against other 2014 cards with Lester and Samardzija for a whole season in the rotation... even if the lineup is heavily reliant on low OB hitters. Also, sadly the weakest team on this list in my opinion.

BONUS: Just to really highlight the difference a decade makes, here's superstar ace Barry Zito's card for the 2001 team. He'd be the fifth best starter on the 2014 A's, not even cracking the lineup! That said, the 2001 A's are definitely on my shortlist of "100 win teams I need to create" moving forward!

T-29.     2015 Royals: 

Somewhat ironically, the A's are tied on this list with the improved version of the squad that prematurely ended their 2014 campaign: the World Series champion Royals, coming in at 5,360 points. Despite winning it all in 2015, the Royals are actually the cheapest of the three teams from 2015 that made this list (but more on the other teams later). KC's lineup is an obvious upgrade over the A's by virtue of having 5 hitters with an OB 8 or better plus a pretty stellar Moustakas. The strength of the WS champs is obviously their bullpen, bolstered by Tier 0 Wade Davis. The rotation leaves a lot to be desired, but trade deadline superstar Johnny Cueto definitely fills his role as the "Ace"... overall, this is a versatile and fun team, and I definitely understand how they snagged a division crown and were deadly in the playoffs... even if they do not look like a worthy opponent for the best Showdown squad of 2015.

28. 2007 Rockies:

The next squad jumps up 100 points in salary, up to 5,460 points, and it's Colorado's sole pennant winner. Despite being swept in the World Series after being a wild card qualifier, this is one of the few Rockies teams to have juuuuust enough starting pitching to matchup with teams, buoyed by a serviceable bullpen. However, as can be expected from a Rockies team, it's the lineup that will turn heads (as well as the slick black background). Leading the charge is a studly version of Matt Holliday, coming in hot with xbh starting at 14, and Showdown Hall of Famer Todd Helton with yet another 500 point card. Another stud is a young Troy Tulowitski, who the bot gave an incredible +6 fielding at SS to go along with a hard-hitting OB 8. No one in the starting 9 drops below an OB 7, and Kaz Matsui is a pretty useful 2B as one of said OB 7, making it a strong lineup that you can see doing very well against average or below average teams, as well as helping it get RED HOT in time to make a sensational run to the World Series. 

27. 2012 Reds: 

Here comes another team from the 2010s, again featuring a subpar lineup with stellar pitching, the 97 win 2012 Reds arrive at 5,620 points. The highlight of this team is clearly 590 point Joey Votto, bringing an EARNED OB 11 in an era where guys getting OB 8 would get an OB 10 in the 2012 set for numbers adjustments alongside an incredible 16-19 double range. Add in the +1 at 1B and I think a lot of people can squeeze this card onto their teams. Jay Bruce also has a really fun card, but the rotation and bullpen is where the strength of this team resides. Johnny Cueto makes his second appearance in this countdown with another Tier 2 stud, and Aroldis Chapman makes his first appearance as a Tier 1 closer with no doubles and a massive K range. He's essentially Billy Wagner, and we all know how y'all love that card! Overall, a solid team that gets overshadowed amongst later entries.

26. 1994 Expos: 

For all of you wondering where the 32 teams came from, here's the first "ooooo that makes sense" addition to the list: the legendary and much-hyped 5,810 points 1994 Expos! Honestly, I expected more from the lineup. That said, Grissom is a great OB 7 and Larry Walker + Moises Alou make a dangerous 2-3 combo. However, following them is a lot of mediocrity and I think they'll struggle against strong pitching teams (see, practically every other team on this list). However, the rotation is stout thanks to Tier 2 Pedro and Tier 2 Fassero, plus Ken Hill is a Tier 3 with no doubles. The bullpen is also solid, especially thanks to John Wetteland and Mel Rojas. Joining these guys in the C3, 1-18 out no doubles "card camp" is one of the most fascinating cards in the set -- 280 point Butch Henry. With 4 IP at that Tier 2, no doubles clip, he may be an early round pick if y'all were to do a draft out of these cards for his incredible value. In the end, I'm a little bummed this team isn't better on paper, because I'm really, really beginning to doubt the claims that this team was a lock for a World Series title without the strike.

25. 1997 Marlins: 

Following the Expos is another NL East team that's also had a rebranding to a worse look, the Florida Marlins! Honestly, this looks like a solid playoff team in a normal set -- which perfectly tracks the '97 Marlins 92-70 (90-72 Pythagorean) record. The squad comes in at a respectable 5,880 points. Despite having the second worst Pythagorean record of the teams here, the Marlins squad jumps from 31 to 25 in points. This team was, ironically, seen as desperate attempt to buy a championship with its assemblage of veterans from other places... right before the massive sell-off of 1998. But for that one glorious season (including heartbreak for our Cleveland readers), the Marlins took the crown in a highly competitive World Series that, in all honesty, is the first World Series I actually remember watching (I loved the color matchup and the games featuring snow). Oddly enough, many of the stars on this squad were better for Florida in 1996 (Sheffield, Lieter and Brown in particular), but the depth here is superior and they've got solid contriubtors all around. The lineup feels a lot like the 94 Expos, and the rotation is similar but the key difference is THREE Tier 2 starters to lean on. Also, shout out to Charles Johnson, who'll probably get draft consideration for a +12 arm with an OB 8 for under 300 points. A sneaky fun team, in my mind.

24. 2015 Pirates: 

The second 2015 team to enter the countdown is the 100 win Pirates of 2015, wracking up a 5900 points squad even though they had a quick exit from the postseason. The lineup is not impressive, although better than the 2014 As's. However, this rotation is ROCKING behind Gerrit Cole and JA Happ, featuring a studly Francisco Liriano and Jeff Locke and Charlie Morton to boot. Then the bullpen has deadly arms, especially Melancon and Watson with Tier 1 cards. I also like Blanton's IP 2 card, really emphasizing the strength of his transition to the bullpen. Honestly, I think they're very much in the 94 Expos vein, but since they had 6 SP, got a slight points boost. Overall, I think I actually prefer the 97 Marlins.... but it's always nice seeing an OB 10 card for McClutch!

T-22. 1993 Giants: 

I had the choice to make the 2002 Giants (again) or one of the less-talented World Series teams... but in the end, it just felt right to make the 103 win squad from 1993 that was part of the last great pennant race! Coming in at 6,010 points, this squad marks the beginning of seven teams within 100 points of each other. The '93 Giants have a good claim to being the best version of these squads thanks to the SF staple: Barry Bonds in MVP form and costing over 700 points. The lineup around him is a slight upgrade for those we saw before, but still has more OB 7 than most managers would like to use. I really like Willie McGee and his affordable OB 8. Bill Swift leads the rotation, but the most fun card on this team may be BUD BLACK with an ok C3, no doubles card. The bullpen has a lot of IP flexibility, but Rod Beck (in a fun pose) is truly the cream of that crop. Overall, a team definitely centered around Bonds, but has some more play around him (and a lot of flexibility for lineups).

T-22. 2002 Angels:  

Tied with the 1993 Giants at 6,010 points are the 2002 Angels, who defeated the 02 Giants in the first all Wild Card world series of 2002. These cards illustrate one of the few criticisms I have of the BOT at the moment, as they automatically come out with the late 90s Anaheim Angels logo (which does look super fresh, it just doesn't apply to this team). That said, I *did* put the earlier uniform on my favorite Angels player, Darin Erstad, who has an absolutely bonkers CF+5!! I enjoy that the BOT's defense breaks the mold for elite defenders, I forgot to mention that with Tulo. The Angels lineup features six hitters of OB 8 or better, plus a doubles machine in OB 7 Garrett Anderson. Although off the bench there's two more OB 8 guys, so you can craft a nearly all OB 8 or better lineup! The rotation has a pair of low control Tier 2 starters at the top followed by a pair of Tier 3 guys, and the bullpen keeps up the pitching bonanza. Honestly, a solid team all around that doesn't have a lot of weaknesses. However, it lacks the star power of a '93 Bonds. Which one do you prefer?

21. 2020 White Sox: 

Who here likes top heavy squads? Well, have I got a team for you with the 6,020 point salary 2020 White Sox. Yes, the '94 and '05 team were discussed, but we've made the 2005 squad a lot and '94 Frank Thomas a lot, so we went with the really sensational small-sample size squad of 2020 for the White Sox. With a Pythagorean W-L of .603, this squad came in exactly where they were projected (21st).... however, with the right pitchers, this lineup is deadlier than merely 21st and it's their lack of depth that does them a disservice. Honestly, makes me hyped to see Lance Lynn fill in for this rotation and Adam Eaton step in for Mazara. I'm sure lots of readers will be disappointed by Robert's low onbase, but at least Anderson and Jimenez got STUD cards to pair with an MVP level Jose Abreu. Madrigal is too expensive for my taste, but a really funny card to look at. Moreover, the rotation matches the Angels for low control studs at the top, and then the bullpen kicks it to another gear. Honestly, how'd this team go down so softly in the postseason??? I am HYPED to see how the 2021 version does (you heard it here first: 100 wins are incoming!).

DUE TO FILE SIZE, I have updated this post to only be teams 32 to 21. The other teams on the list are on Part 2 and Part 3 also published on the blog! I hope you check them out and enjoy!