Are you playing Immaculate Grid over at Baseball-Reference? If not, you owe it to yourself to give it a try. Just go to the B-R home page and there’s a link to the game in the upper left. It’s a daily game, complete with a link to their archives. Thursday’s game is the 256th, so you can go back and play over two-thirds of a year’s worth of games.
It’s a 3×3 grid, typically with team names making up the x and y-axis. So, at the intersection you have to pick a player who has played for both clubs. If it’s the Mets and Yankees, you could pick Dwight Gooden or David Cone or Yogi Berra. Occasionally, instead of a team, one of the prompts will be a category, like 20-game winner or 300-lifetime wins. If those intersected with the Mets, the answers could be R.A. Dickey and Tom Seaver, respectively.
When I first started playing, my goal was just to complete the grid. You only get nine picks, so if you miss one, it’s not immaculate. But the more you play, the goal inevitably shifts from completing the grid to trying to get a low rarity score. After you make a correct selection, the player’s picture shows up with a rarity score. The more popular the player, the higher the rarity score. So, if it’s Mets-Angels and you pick Nolan Ryan, you’re going to get a higher rarity score than if you picked Leroy Stanton.
After the game is completed, it gives you an overall rarity score. My goal is to be under 50. Ten times my rarity score has been in single digits, with a personal best of three. If you miss a player, your rarity score will be in triple digits. The last time that happened to me, the one that stumped me was a Cleveland player who only played for that club. It really bugged me at the time, because the other eight all had great rarity scores.
Being a card collector definitely helps in this game but it’s by no means a requirement. If you watch a lot of games, you should be able to complete some grids. Obviously, Hall of Famers and multi-year All-Stars are guys who get picked the most. If you know your bench players, you’ll be able to get low rarity scores. Also, older players – sometimes even stars – will get you a lower-rarity score than a current player.
My preference is for teams who’ve been active since the 1960s. It’s a drag to see the ’77 expansion teams and the grids that include the ‘90s expansion teams are even worse. And somehow, the White Sox give me trouble, too. You never know which teams or what categories you’re going to get on a given day. You can get the Mets three times in a week and then go over two weeks before seeing them again.
So, here are some low-rarity scores for Mets players when combined with other teams:
Angels – Don Rose
Astros – Jesus Alou
Athletics – Steve Henderson
Blue Jays – Nino Espinosa
Braves – Claudell Washington
Brewers – Danny Frisella
Cardinals – Fernando Tatis
Cubs – Cal Koonce
Diamondbacks – Kelly Stinnett
Dodgers – Charlie Neal
Giants – Charlie Williams
Guardians – Dick Tidrow
Mariners – Lenny Randle
Marlins – Dave Magadan
Nationals – Donn Clendenon
Orioles – Chuck Estrada
Padres – Mickey Lolich – this one’s for you, Bob
Pirates – Junior Ortiz
Phillies – Dallas Green
Rangers – Doc Medich
Rays – James Loney
Reds – Bruce Berenyi
Red Sox – Pumpsie Green
Rockies – Glendon Rusch
Royals – Philip Humber
Tigers – Dean Chance
Twins – David West
White Sox – Ken Boyer
Yankees – Phil Linz
Here’s the link to the current game – https://www.immaculategrid.com/
It is a really cool game. My son introduced me to it a few months ago and often looks for me to help with obscure players to lower his rarity score. It’s great to be able to come up with one that almost no one else has. And thanks for the reminder about Lolich. I’m still traumatized by losing Rusty for him!