The most surprising team at this point of the season in the Shoeless Joe League is the Seattle Alligators, who sit in first place with a 25-13 record, a game and a half ahead of Columbus and El Paso.
One of the key players in the good start for Seattle is veteran right-handed starting pitcher Omar Melero, who is leading all of the WPK in ERA while pitching out of the #4 slot in the Alligators rotation. Melero was snatched up by the club in the Rule 5 draft this past off-season after having been released by San Francisco early in the 1977 season, then being signed to a minor league contract by the Jacksonville Wolf Pack organization only to be left off the 40-man roster and left unprotected. Jacksonville, currently sitting in 5th place, 5 1/2 games behind Seattle in spite of having the best offense in the league, probably wishes now they had kept Melero given the woeful state of their pitching staff.
Granted, Melero is a walk machine, having led the league in this category in three consecutive seasons while pitching for Pittsburgh (1973-75), and his WPK lowest (by far) BABIP of .162 is clearly unsustainable. Still, given how deep and largely durable the Seattle rotation is, and with Melero's Iron Man durability, good stamina, and solid clubhouse influence, there can be little doubt that this was a good addition for Seattle.
