Gemini - 2009 Ten Year Retrospective

After analyzing the 2019-20 versions of Aries and Taurus, I went back 20 years to see how those signs measured up as represented by All-Star Baseball 2001 for the Nintendo 64 (Aries here and Taurus here). I will likely follow suit with Gemini, but first I'm making a stop at the halfway point and doing a ten-year retrospective for the Gemini Twins of 2009. I'm not quarantining with my PS2, so I won't be able to accompany this post with screenshots from MLB 10: The Show. Instead you'll have to be content with starting lineups and rotations represented by my patented baseball database in spreadsheet form.

Starting with the top fantasy point-scorer on the team, 2009 was the year that Ben Zobrist burst onto the scene as an All-Star super utility player, seeing time at every position on the diamond except for pitcher and catcher. Ironically enough, he's best utilized at his primary position of second base in this lineup, since new Philly Raul Ibanez and Houston Astro Carlos Lee have the corner outfield spots locked up (not to mention starting DH Jason Kubel, who spent plenty of time on the grass as well). Speaking of Carlos Lee, when I put together my preliminary Astrology All-Decade teams, I cheated somewhat by putting the Panamanian outfielder at first base for most of the latter half of the 2000's (the decade, not the millennium), even though he didn't start playing first base regularly until 2010. The emergence of Cuban slugger Kendrys Morales for the Angels makes '09 one of the rare years in that time frame where Gemini had a decent hitter actually qualify at first base.

Speaking of putting players at positions for which they didn't technically qualify, that was the case with Jhonny Peralta at third base for most of his Gemini career, given that he was a shortstop first and foremost. Peralta normally ceded his primary position to Jose Reyes - 10 out of 12 times 2006 thru 2017 - although various leg injuries kept the longtime Mets shortstop from action in '09, opening the door back up to his predecessor Miguel Tejada (the Gemini shortstop from 2000 thru '05). In case you're not familiar with the color-coding of my lists, the green in the position column next to Matt Wieters indicates that 2009 was the uber-prospect's rookie year, although it's clear to say he didn't measure up to the expectations. Meanwhile the cyan shading on Scott Hairston's name columns means that he changed teams during the season (traded from the Padres to the A's), although Hairston is only manning center field due to Josh Hamilton's missing a large portion of 2009 with rib and abdominal injuries.

How's this for a parallel: current Gemini ace Jacob deGrom won the NL Cy Young Award in 2018 and 2019, while GEM09 ace Tim Lincecum won the same award in 2008 and 2009. Creepy, right? Unlike the Twins teams teams of the recent years, however, The Freak didn't have a star-studded supporting cast of starters backing him up in 2009. Jake Peavy actually had the next best per-game performance, but that came in an injury-shortened season that he split between the Padres and the White Sox. As for the rest of the rotation, Andy Pettitte was well past his prime during his return engagement with the Yankees, Carlos Zambrano was perhaps better known for his prowess with the bat, winning his third Silver Slugger trophy in 09, and Joe Saunders was little more than an innings eater for the Angels.

The 2009 Gemini bullpen was actually quite impressive, even in the last year before longtime closer Craig Kimbrel's MLB debut. Jonathan Broxton was in full swing closing games for the Dodgers, having taken over from Japanese import Aquarian Takashi Saito the year prior. Rookie of the Year closer Andrew Bailey was one of the few bright spots on a third place Athletics team, although his career never took off as hoped. Cubs ninth inning specialist Kevin Gregg wins the battle for the third spot, but there are two more bona fide save-getters behind him on the depth chart: Mike Gonzalez of the Braves and Kerry Wood who settled in as the Indians closer after redefining himself as a reliever with the Cubs in 2008.