Juan Olguin spent the first ten seasons of his career with the pitching-rich Columbus Whalers, first in the bullpen primarily and eventually settling into the back end of that great rotation. As a result, he largely labored in anonymity in spite of putting together an 85-50 career won-lost record with a fine 3.48 ERA and 1.21 WHIP. The durable veteran lefty pitched for Boston last season and matched his finest previous season (1976) by WAR with a 3.7 campaign. This year he is with Philly and on pace for pretty much the same and recently he tossed the first no-hitter of his career.
It is something of a testament to how good that pitching program is in Columbus that even their castoffs are among the better pitchers in the game.
Having not long ago reached the career 3,000 hit milestone and in the midst of one of his strongest seasons in years, Felix Lopez has been lost for what will likely be the rest of the regular season due to a severely strained hip muscle. At 37, Lopez is a sure first ballot Hall of Famer but has shown a great propensity for getting injured with a variety of ailments over the past several seasons and one wonders just how much longer he will choose to battle through the pain. He signed just a 1-year contract with Pittsburgh in the offseason as a free agent and it will be interesting to see if he comes back to try again in 1981. The one thing Felix has never been able to experience in his storied career is the post-season and with Pittsburgh leading the SJL East one wonders if he will find his way back to the roster for the playoffs this year, if his team makes it. One can imagine that if his club did manage to win it all and finally get him that championship ring it might be fortuitous time to hang up the spikes.
One other quick note, in case you haven't noticed it, is that several teams in the WPK got some nifty uniform upgrades to start the 1980's. I particularly like that Philadelphia uni that Olguin is sporting above.