April 1986 Recap
 

May 1986 Recap
 

Out of the Shadows: Bill Drake
 

A bit later than usual with our first OotS feature for 1986 as Seamheads has been down.

Bill "Plunk" Drake pitched for 12 seasons mainly just after WW1, with the St. Louis Giants and KC Monarchs the two clubs he's most closely associated with. He was a member of the 1924 NeL Championship team with the latter.

Born in Sedalia MO in 1895, Bill briefly made his NeL debut with the Giants in 1916 after a couple seasons in semipro baseball with the Tennessee Rats (a lesser-known version of the Indy / Ethiopian Clowns) and All Nations club (kind of a Noah's Ark of ballplayers from different ethnic backgrounds). Jim Riley makes mention of a no-hitter Bill reportedly threw in Sioux Falls SD but furnishes no further details.

It wasn't until 1920 that Bill's NeL career began in earnest, with him posting a 27-23 record in that season and the next for St. Louis before heading to KC the following year.

For his career, SH allocates him an 81-79 record and 104 ERA+ (3.74 raw). EC has him pegged at nearly 25 WAR in his most recent MLEs, with a record just above the break-even mark as per the IRL.

Bill lived a long but low-key life from all reports, dying aged 82 in St. Louis.


In the EL, Bill was taken as the 10th overall pick in the 1976 Draft by the Royal Giants, where he remains and with whom he is under contract thru next year.

Bill has had some control issues in this timeline (3.7 BB/9) and this, coupled with playing for one of the league's less successful franchises, has left him with a slightly underwhelming 121-133 record and ERA+ of 96 (4.35 raw), good for 33 WAR (28 rWAR) at the time of writing.

On his day, however, he has proven a real challenge for hitters, with a number of 1-, 2- and 3-hitters to his credit. Perhaps a no-no is in his EL future, we'll keep tabs on him to see if that is so.

June 1986 Recap
 

Transit League All-Stars, 1986
 

EL Top Prospects
 

Ralph Garr of the EGs is currently the EL's top-ranked prospect ahead of Vinny Castilla and Jimmy Hill.

1986 EL All-Star / Prospects Squads and Games
 

El Clásico, 1986
 

Both Cuban Stars clubs are struggling again this year but still their annual battle draws plenty of attention as the East - led by Ken Griffey jr and Andre Rogers - narrows the running total gap to 13-6 with a 2-1 series win that also leaves them tied at 41-58 for the season in progress.

July 1986 Recap
 

Out of the Shadows: Ted Trent
 

Born in Portland ME, Ted "Big Florida" Trent stood just 2-feet-6 tall when fully-grown... wait, what?

Nah, just making sure you were paying attention.

Theodore Trent was indeed born in the Sunshine State - Jacksonville, to be precise - and stood well over 6 feet tall. He put that height to good advantage over the course of his 13 NeL seasons spanning 1927 thru 1939, winning 92 games against just 69 losses while fashioning a nifty 3.22 lifetime ERA, equivalent to 122 ERA+.

Eric Chalek parses that out to a 165-146 / 3.62 MLE - good enough for more than 30 WAR.

Although he spent the final years of his career with the American Giants, it is the St. Louis Stars that Ted is most readily associated with as part of their successful late-1920s squad that won numerous NNL pennants. He was their regular "Sunday pitcher" for a number of years, when the majority of bigger games were scheduled, and Seamheads has his record with the club at a superb 61-26.

Among his many accolades are four East-West Game appearances and, showing his versatility, two seasons in which he led the league in Saves.

Sadly, Ted either contracted tuberculosis or caught pneumonia not long after retiring from the game and died in 1944, aged just 40.

Ted has fared OK in the EL, although if I am being honest not quite as well as one might have expected. Currently in his age-33 season, Ted recently notched his 100th career win against 86 losses and his ERA stands at 4.21 at the time of posting.

Taken 5th overall in the 1975 Rookie Draft by the Monarchs, he only left that club the season before the one currently in progress, spending last year with the Giants before signing a 3-year deal with.. you guessed it, the American Giants.

He is 15-8 on the current season and on track to eclipse his 18-win 1982 season. His stats give the impression he might be a late bloomer and we'll as always keep tabs on him over the remainder of his stay in the league.

August 1986 Recap
 

Notes from the Transit Lounge: end of 1986 TL regular season
 

Out of the Shadows: Willie Bobo
 

Willie Bobo is one of many NeL players who seem to have all but passed by unnoticed by history. Stats exist for them, perhaps a passing reference or two. But as far as any anecdotal or biographical depth goes, next to none has survived them. At least not where I search for it, which is pretty much anywhere and everywhere.

What I can tell you about him is this.

He was born somewhere in Texas near the end of the 19th century and died aged just 33 in San Diego. Jim Riley alleges his demise came about due to an "unsavoury association with the bootlegging business" but I have no way of refuting or collaborating that assertion.

In between the womb and the tomb, Willie played 8 NeL seasons spanning 1923 to 1930, with the St. Louis Stars his most closely associated team.

He sure looks like he was a handy type, slashing 314/405/468 for his career according to SH, with 1925 clearly his banner season with him hitting 359 and putting 14 into the bleachers. He also led the NNL in walks with 55 in just 87 games, all of which helped him to a nifty 167 OPS+.

The brevity of his career and the fact he played 1B are clearly driving factors behind EC only pegging him for less than 6 WAR all told.

His EL avatar joined the league in the 1981 Draft, where he was taken 9th overall by the Black Barons, where he remains at the time of writing. He has done well in his nearly 4 seasons to this point, with a 282/383/473 line and 74 HR, good for 13 WAR or thereabouts. He already has two All-Star appearances to his name and won the Kindling Award at 1B last season.

He is just 27 and next year will be his walk year at the BBs, so it will be interesting to see if they re-up with him or if he ends up elsewhere. Birmingham is in the thick of the playoff mix this year and Willie is sure to be an important cog in that wheel over the next month or so.

We'll check back in with him along the way but Willie seems set for a highly-productive career in this timeline.



That's it for the OotS features for another year and, as always, here is an updated list of how all of the active subjects are faring on the field.

Back with more in '87!

Notes from the Transit Lounge: Finally Going Gray
 

1986 EL Regular Season Endgame
 

1986 EL Conference Championship Series
 

1986 Transit League Major Awards
 

1986 Eclipse League World Series
 

1986 Housekeeping
 

1986 Awards