April 6, 1985
We fly back to Philadelphia. The season begins in two days against the Braves. And Dick Howser names Steve Calrton opening day starter; it will be Lefty’s 13th opening day start for the Phils, and his ninth consecutive.
April 7, 1985
The following moves bring the roster to 25:
- SP Kelly Downs reassigned to AAA Portland
- RP Paul Assenmacher reassigned to AAA Portland
- RP Karl Best reassigned to AAA Portland
- RP Chuck Cary reassigned to AAA Portland
- RP Arturo Gonzalez reassigned to AAA Portland
- RP Todd Worrell reassigned to AAA Portland
- C Mike Martin reassigned to AAA Portland
- 2B Steve Kiefer reassigned to AAA Portland
- SS Dave Concepcion reassigned to AAA Portland
- SS Steve Jeltz reassigned to AAA Portland
- LF Chris James reassigned to AAA Portland
- LF Larry Ray reassigned to AAA Portland
- LF Jeff Stone reassigned to AAA Portland
- 1B Mark Funderburk placed on irrevocable waivers
Funderburk, the story of last spring, has to go through waivers. No loss if he doesn’t make it.
Also, I released a bunch of players and put a couple more in extended spring training. Nothing too crazy here.
April 8, 1985
Opening day in some cities (Cincinnati, etc.), while tomorrow is our day.
The preseason predictions are out! The Sporting News has the Tigers winning the AL East with 102 wins, and the Red Sox, Yankees, and Blue Jays all within spitting distance. Meanwhile, it’s prognosticating a tight (and bad) AL West, with California, Kansas City, and Seattle all sitting at a leading 79 (!) wins.
In the NL West, the Dodgers are predicted to win out with 88 wins, while the upstart Padres finish in second with 84 victories. And then in the NL East, the Sporting News has the top three as so:
New York Mets - 98-64
Montreal Expos - 96-66
Philadelphia Phillies - 93-69
Wow! If we get to 90 wins, I’ll be ecstatic. I’m very surprised by this; also, I’m surprised by the defending champion Pirates being picked to only win 69 games. We’ll see. Looks out of whack, but either way, this excites me quite a bit.
And Baseball America has released its list of the the top-100 prospects. Our showing:
17. Gregg Jefferies - SS
64. Luis Polonia - CF
87. Kelly Downs - SP
That puts us back in 19th place - not good when my goal is “build a top-five farm system.” Of course, my deadline on that is 1987. Work to do. (Also, a number of my prospects graduated or just fell off with the addition of draftees.)
***
Dick Howser shared with me his opening day lineup. Here it is, and the rest of the roster:
- Von Hayes - LF
- Paul Molitor - 3B
- Juan Samuel - 2B
- Mike Schmidt - 1B
- Darren Daulton - C
- Glenn Wilson - RF
- UL Washington - SS
- Dave Stegman - CF
- Steve Carlton - SP
Bench: Tommy Thompson (C), Mike Diaz (1B/3B/RF/C), Luis Aguayo (2B/SS/3B), Bill Lyons (CF/1B/2B/3B/SS), Billy Sample (LF/RF), Bruce Fields (LF)
Starting Rotation: John Denny (SP), Charles Hudson (SP), Kevin Gross (SP), Scott Sanderson (SP)
Bullpen: Bill Campbell (RP), Larry Andersen (RP), Donnie Moore (RP), Don Carman (RP), Tug McGraw (RP), Kenneth Walker (RP)
No platoons to start. Diaz will get a few starts here and there, subbing in for Schmidt and Wilson primarily, and Molitor once in a while.
My expectation is to play around .500, if not a tad above. Eighty-five wins would be great; a surprise run that has us in contention going into September would also be great. I think the Mets are the best team in the division, but their youth hopefully will keep them from running away with the flag. I’m seeing something like last year, where three to four teams are in the race until September. I think we can be one of those teams.
If not, Bill Campbell and Tug McGraw will definitely be on the block, and I’d likely entertain trades for John Denny and Larry Andersen. Maybe even Steve Carlton. Mike Schmidt? Not sure yet. I hope I don’t get there.