Out of the Park Baseball provides a wonderful “What if?” laboratory for all kinds of experiments, from “What if free agency existed in Babe Ruth’s day?” to “What if baseball started expanding sooner than it really did?” It’s also great for seeing how underachieving players’ careers could have turned out, and the inspiration for this blog post hit me while watching ESPN’s “30 For 30” special about Bo Jackson.

Jackson’s baseball career was impacted by the awful injury he suffered while playing football, and he was never the same when he attempted his mid-90s comeback. So what if we rewound the clock to 1986, his rookie year with the Kansas City Royals, and took a look at what could have been? (Want to suggest a player or scenario we should use for a future “Tales From the OOTP Multi-Verse” installment? Drop us a line at info@ootpdevelopments.com.)

To set this up, I took a cue from Questdog, a user on our forum. He suggested basing potential ratings on career peak seasons in step one of the historical season setup wizard, as well as turning off recalc and using talent ratings and the OOTP development engine in step three. Recalc is normally on by default in OOTP’s historical seasons – It recalculates player ratings based on their actual stats that upcoming season, when the in-game calendar turns to January 1, so their performance is more in line with reality.

In this case, we want to base Jackson’s career performance on the potential OOTP gives him in 1986, when the possibilities are vast. However, the Kansas City Royals didn’t seem to feel that Bo knew enough to have a career with their organization, since they traded him in April or May of 1986 in every sim. After the first sim, I eschewed the minor leagues and went with the reserve roster, per Markus’s suggestion, so I suppose with guys like Willie Wilson and Lonnie Smith patrolling their outfield, Kansas City didn’t see room for Jackson on their club. He also started every sim as a highly touted prospect (usually #11 or #12 in all of MLB), so I guess his team figured he was worth more as trade bait.

I simmed Jackson’s career five times. Here are his stats from each sim, along with a composite of the five. Below you’ll find more in-depth information about each sim.

Sim 1

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 1432 4964 632 1149 174 23 201 689 502 1632 113 .231 .307 .397 2.9

Sim 2

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 657 1664 191 381 49 14 60 226 121 555 34 .229 .287 .383 0.0

Sim 3

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 663 1633 181 367 64 12 60 200 125 504 31 .225 .284 .389 -1.6

Sim 4

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 1426 5310 772 1275 162 20 280 896 434 1681 71 .240 .304 .436 9.8

Sim 5

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 1965 6362 894 1507 212 54 348 989 555 2078 139 .237 .304 .451 14.1

Composite totals:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 1228 3986 534 935 132 24 189 600 347 1290 77 .232 .297 .411 5.04

Sim 1

Declared the number 11 prospect in baseball at the start of the 1986 season, Jackson played 80 games for the Kansas City Royals’ AAA affiliate that year, hitting .271 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI. He also saw time with the parent club, batting .273 in five games, before Kansas City dealt him to the Detroit Tigers, where he hit .204 in 18 games.

The following year, he split his time between Detroit and its AAA affiliate, knocking the cover off the ball with a .329 average in the minors but struggling in the bigs with a .214 average in 96 games. He finally caught on at the major league level and played in 156 games in 1988 and 1989 with Detroit, but his .235 and .221 averages those years, respectively, led to an offseason trade with the Montreal Expos for first baseman Cecil Fielder. (Even in this alternate reality, Cecil knew he wanted to play in Detroit.)

Jackson played three years in Montreal, posting what was arguably his best year in the majors in 1991, when he hit .261 with 17 home runs and 64 RBI in 129 games. He followed that up with a three-year deal with the Philadelphia Philllies, but his numbers began to decline, and in July 1994 they dealt him to the San Francisco Giants. He finished out the Philadelphia contract in San Francisco and closed his career with one-year deals with the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, and Arizona Diamondbacks.

During his career, Jackson had five walk-off hits and had 6 RBI in a game once and 7 RBI in a game another time. He didn’t win any MLB awards and wasn’t hampered much by injuries, suffering eight of them in his career, none resulting in more than six weeks of playing time missed.

His career totals:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 1432 4964 632 1149 174 23 201 689 502 1632 113 .231 .307 .397 2.9

Other notable baseball events:

World Series winners: The New York Mets made three consecutive trips to the Series from 1986 to 1988, winning the first two against the New York Yankees but losing the third to the Chicago White Sox. The New York Yankees were back in the Series in 1989 but lost to the San Francisco Giants, making it three losses in four years, but they did bring home a title in 1993, defeating the Houston Astros.

The New York Mets went on to win the Series again in 1990, 1994, and 1996, all three times against the Boston Red Sox, who did not manage to break the Curse during the sim. The San Diego Padres also won a pair of titles, in 1991 and 1998.

Records broken: Pete Rose ended his career with 4,206 hits, rather than 4,256, but that was still good enough for the record, of course. We simmed until 1999, and the only major record to fall during that time was the season home run mark, which was broken by Andres Galarraga when he swatted 63 long balls in 1995. Jackson set the season high strikeout mark with 216 in 1994.

Sim 2

This time, the Kansas City Royals shipped him to the Chicago White Sox on May 22, 1986 for catcher Joel Skinner. His new club flipped him several weeks later, along with a pitcher, to the Chicago Cubs for third baseman Ron Cey. He struggled mightily with his second Chicago team, but he did manage to hit .288 with 12 home runs and 44 RBI in 111 games in 1990.

The Chicago Cubs gave up on him, though, and traded him to the Cincinnati Reds for third baseman Chris Sabo during the offseason. He signed a pair of one-year extensions in Cincinnati, but he didn’t even play for the team during the second one, since they traded him to the Minnesota Twins in December 1992. He only played in 52 games in 1993 and then signed a two-year deal with the San Francisco Giants, where his career ended with a whimper.

He managed four walk-off hits during his 10-year career, but there was nothing else of interest to speak of.

His career totals:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 657 1664 191 381 49 14 60 226 121 555 34 .229 .287 .383 0.0

Other notable baseball events:

World Series winners: The New York Mets again proved that they probably underachieved in real life during the late 1980s: They won the World Series in 1986, 1987, and 1988 and made another trip in 1990 but lost. They defeated the Kansas City Royals for two of those titles, but Kansas City managed a championship in 1992.

Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox broke the Curse with a vengeance, winning three straight titles from 1995 to 1997. They broke Montreal Expos’ fans’ hearts in the first two of those World Series and downed the Pittsburgh Pirates for the third championship.

Records broken: Pete Rose ended up with 4,206 hits. The other major records stood except, once again, most home runs in a season: Jose Canseco hit 70 in 1994.

Sim 3

This time, the May 1986 trade was with the Philadelphia Phillies, in exchange for shortstop Tom Foley. Jackson only hit .143 in limited action with his new team, though, and they traded him to the Montreal Expos during the offseason. Jackson hit .260 in 50 at-bats through July 10, 1987, when he was sent with relief pitcher Kent Tekulve to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Joe Orsulak.

Jackson saw limited playing time in Pittsburgh, and they traded him to the Atlanta Braves in July 1990. He spent nearly the rest of his career in Atlanta, signing a series of one-year extensions through the 1997 season, when he posted his best numbers: a .277 average with a dozen home runs and 36 RBI. He then hooked up with the Toronto Blue Jays for the 1998 campaign, but a .158 average in 19 at-bats convinced him to hang up his cleats.

While his time in Atlanta was lackluster, he did help them to World Series wins in 1994 and 1997, and twice in 1992 he hit walk-off solo home runs.

His career totals:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 663 1633 181 367 64 12 60 200 125 504 31 .225 .284 .389 -1.6

Other notable baseball events:

World Series winners: Those aforementioned World Series wins by the Atlanta Braves were their only ones during the sim. The New York Mets again visited the championship series in 1986, 1987, and 1988, although they lost the first time, to the California Angels. (An intriguing alternate history, since the Boston Red Sox defeated California to get to the World Series in real life that year.) They beat the Oakland A’s the other two times.

The Toronto Blue Jays, though, were a powerhouse, winning the American League pennant five straight times, from 1989 through 1993, and securing a World Series victory every year but the first one, when they lost to the San Diego Padres. The Texas Rangers won their franchise’s first title in 1998.

Records broken: Pete Rose ended up with 4,217 hits. The season home run record again fell, this time when Sammy Sosa knocked 61 balls out of the park in 1998. However, a few other season marks went down too: Rusty Greer had 264 hits in 1996 and Bip Roberts hit 216 singles in 1995. On the pitching side, Kerry Wood set a record with 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings in 1998 – He pulled off a similar feat in the first two sims too.

Sim 4

Jackson’s career improved quite a bit over the first three sims, proving to be very eventful. The traditional beginning-of-career trade sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he hit .308 in 26 at-bats in 1986. Los Angeles shipped him to the Cleveland Indians that offseason, and he went to the Seattle Mariners in June of 1987.

Amazingly, he won the Player of the Week Award on the same day that he was traded to the New York Yankees in July of the following year. At that point, he had posted some reasonable batting averages during his young career, but in very limited action. However, he stuck with New York through the 1992 season, and in 1990 he hit .232, with 30 home runs and 98 RBI. The following year, he hit .285 with 43 home runs and 146 RBI, earning himself the AL Platinum Stick Award at DH and a six-year, $11 million deal with the club.

In 1992, though, he hit just .204 in 132 games, and during that offseason, he was shipped to the Houston Astros, where he spent four years and posted some decent stats. Houston traded him back to the New York Yankees after the 1996 season, and after he became a free agent when his deal ended, he hooked up with the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks for a pair of one-year contracts. He retired after the 1999 campaign.

In addition to his single Platinum Stick Award in 1991, he earned his only selection to the All-Star Game that year, and he helped the New York Yankees win the World Series. He added another championship ring in Houston in 1995. He also won six Player of the Week and two Batter of the Month awards during his career.

His career totals:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 1426 5310 772 1275 162 20 280 896 434 1681 71 .240 .304 .436 9.8

Other notable baseball events:

World Series winners: Another sim, another trio of World Series trips by the New York Mets to start this alternate reality. They won all of them but never made it back to the championship round. (The sim ended after the 1999 season.) The New York Yankees’ 1991 win was their only visit to the World Series, but the Kansas City Royals were champions in 1990, 1994, and 1996.

The Chicago Cubs broke their own Curse with a title over the Anaheim Angels in 1998, but the Boston Red Sox never played in the World Series in this sim.

Records broken: Pete Rose ended up with 4,204 hits. No one broke the home run record, but Todd Helton set the single-season hits mark with 268 in 1998. Kerry Wood again set the strikeouts per nine innings mark with 13.66 in 1999.

Sim 5

This ended up being Jackson’s best sim, even if his career batting average was on the low side. The obligatory 1986 trade happened at the start of the season, rather than in May, as the Kansas City Royals shipped him to the California Angels, where he played through the 1995 season. In 1988, he helped lead his new team to a championship, hitting .271 with 40 home runs and 113 RBI along the way, and he earned himself MVP, Platinum Stick, and All-Star honors that year.

He was also an All-Star the following year, although his total home runs for the year dropped to 20 in 122 games. He missed several weeks to various injuries that season, although that was an aberration in a career that amazingly lasted through the 2006 season, when he finally hung up his cleats at the ripe old age of 43.

Like so many players who have started their careers red hot, Jackson simply couldn’t keep up that early production as he moved into his late 20s, and he often found himself playing partial seasons. He played in 162 games in 1990 and 152 in 1991, but his batting average was .230 and .220, respectively, those years, leading to a drop-off in playing time. During his final year in California, 1995, he played in only 47 games, although he did hit .304.

Unlike in the other sims, Jackson was part of only a single trade after the one that started his career. In 1989, he signed a six-year deal worth $6.6 million with California, and when that ended, he became a journeyman, signing one-year deals with the Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Colorado Rockies. Arizona shipped him to the San Francisco Giants ahead of the trading deadline in 2002.

The exception to that string of one-year contracts was when he signed a two-year deal with San Diego for 1998 and 1999. He saw a jump in playing time from previous years, but he only managed batting averages of .189 (132 games) and .222 (132 games), respectively. His second stint in San Diego two years later wasn’t any better, as he hit .181 in 91 games.

Even though Jackson didn’t return to his early halcyon days as his career progressed, we can imagine him becoming the wise old veteran in the clubhouse during those later years, becoming an invaluable dispensary of advice and strategy to younger players. Maybe he even parlayed that into a job as an analyst on MLB Network afterward.

Perhaps “Bo knows baseball” became the phrase that ended up defining him, even though he fell well short of the standards required by Cooperstown. After all, there are plenty of players worthy of admiration even though they didn’t have the statistics to vault them into the pantheon of baseball gods.

His career totals:

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG OBP SLG WAR 1965 6362 894 1507 212 54 348 989 555 2078 139 .237 .304 .451 14.1

Other notable baseball events:

World Series winners: Perhaps taking a cue from Bo Jackson, the New York Mets didn’t start this sim the way they started the others: They failed to reach the World Series in 1986, but they played in five of them from 1987 through 1991 and won four championships, so hopefully their fans in this alternate reality forgave them for underachieving in 1986. (The California Angels defeated them in 1988.)

The Montreal Expos won a pair of titles, in 1992 and 1995, and the Pittsburgh Pirates played in three World Series (1994, 1996, and 1997), winning two of them. Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox took their only trips to the title series in 1991, 1993, 1994, and 1995 but failed to break the Curse any of those times. They had not returned to the World Series as of 2006, the final season of this sim, and the Chicago Cubs never appeared in the Series.

The Oakland A’s played in four World Series, winning two of them, and the Houston Astros won back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002. The San Diego Padres also represented the Senior Circuit twice in a row, 2005 and 2006, and secured one of those titles. In 2005, San Diego lost to the Cleveland Indians, whose fans finally had a chance to rejoin after several decades of heartbreak.

OOTP Hall of Fame inductees: Previous sims didn’t offer much of interest here, but since this sim went much further into the future, I thought I’d report on what happened this time. Fernando Valenzuela and Dwight Gooden were inducted into the OOTP Hall of Fame in 2005, and Sid Fernandez was chosen in 2006, so New York Mets fans had more reasons to be happy in this alternate universe. (Valenzuela pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers through 1986 and then signed with the Seattle Mariners, where he spent the rest of this career, during which he won 308 games.)

Records broken: Pete Rose ended up with 4,204 hits. (Yes, exactly the same as last time.) The single-season home run record fell to Juan Gonzalez, who hit 67 taters in 1995, and Rick Ankiel set the strikeouts per nine innings mark with 12.59 in 2004.