## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST
Team W L WPct GB R RA
Baltimore Orioles 15 7 .682 - 92 70
Detroit Tigers 13 8 .619 1½ 79 46
Boston Red Sox 12 8 .600 2 80 53
Cleveland Indians 10 12 .455 5 92 85
Milwaukee Brewers 8 12 .400 6 57 73
New York Yankees 7 15 .318 8 60 75
LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST
Team W L WPct GB R RA
Minnesota Twins 13 8 .619 - 81 71
California Angels 14 9 .609 - 63 66
Oakland Athletics 11 9 .550 1½ 74 75
Chicago White Sox 10 12 .455 3½ 60 75
Texas Rangers 9 14 .391 5 48 62
Kansas City Royals 8 16 .333 6½ 75 110
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST
Team W L WPct GB R RA
Chicago Cubs 16 7 .696 - 87 83
St. Louis Cardinals 14 12 .538 3½ 122 93
Pittsburgh Pirates 12 11 .522 4 69 46
Philadelphia Phillies 12 12 .500 4½ 85 100
New York Mets 11 13 .458 5½ 81 96
Montreal Expos 8 16 .333 8½ 61 107
LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST
Team W L WPct GB R RA
Houston Astros 14 10 .583 - 69 77
Atlanta Braves 14 11 .560 ½ 111 101
San Francisco Giants 15 13 .536 1 95 76
Los Angeles Dodgers 13 13 .500 2 98 93
San Diego Padres 11 15 .423 4 88 104
Cincinnati Reds 9 16 .360 5½ 98 88
So... I just went through a personal brain-wracking as to whether or not I wanted to do an "around the league" recap the way I have with prior saves. I think at this point I'm not going to because, to be honest, the #1 fun thing for me in this save is playing out the games (admittedly, #2 is compiling those end-of-year team reports, but it's not super close). I like the idea and I mean, hey, #3 is writing these things, but one thing I like about this is that I can come over and just put something down when there's a transaction or if something catches my fancy, as opposed to having to take half an hour or longer at the end of every week to figure out something to say about each team (and with 24 of them instead of 16, that's a lot!).
ANYWAY though, I've chosen not to share the power rankings for now because they're really just a list of everyone's order in the standings at this point. As we get into July and August the algorithm does take current streaks and L10 and so on into account a bit (to be honest, I'd love for it to be heavier-weighted but not enough to make up my own) so maybe they'll come back then. However, in the meantime I kind of enjoy following the major categories leaders so I'll dive into that more. As for the standings, I feel like you cna see them for yourself... but just in case, I'll point you to the waaay overachieving Baltimore Orioles sitting atop the AL East, the crappy, crappy offense of the Texas Rangers - now averaging more than 2 runs per game though (and they are very, very much in the running to break the record of fewest runs in a season in the AL - held by their own franchise, actually, the 1967 Washington Senators, who scored just 429 runs en route to a 61-101 finish). In the NL, the Cubs have won a bunch of 1-run games, which has to be satisfying after their bullpen blew up so much last year. Anyway, in spite of a FUN differential of just +4 they have the best record in the senior circuit. On the flip side of that are the Reds, who just got out of the basement of the entire NL by splitting a 4 game series against the Cardinals... but anyway they've still outscored their opponents by 10 runs but are 7 games under .500. The Astros lead the NL West with a negative FUN differential. I except changes!
Speaking of changes... we've hit the part of the season where, obviously, there's easily enough time for a team like the Yankees or the Reds to rebound, but it's also about the point where guys who are in slumps may have been in them for long enough that they're just the player being washed up or otherwise bad. There are a few stories I'm monitoring (and on a side note, I do look at pitchers in between reviews; it just tends to be on an "okay, this has to be a prove-it outing for this starter" or "wow, that guy just got destroyed" basis)...
Red Sox C Jeremy Dolak (.172, 0, 4). So far I've kept him on pace to play in like 150 games but that's got to stop, not that Sid Bartoszek (.250, 0, 2) is any better.
Angels 3B Travis Corley (.176, 0, 8) hit .268/16/76 last year, which doesn't look amazing but consider the environment and the fact that this happened at the Big A. He's still starting full-time but man, the lack of power in particular is very, very troubling.
White Sox C Mike Perez (.125, 0, 3) is 2 years removed from a season where he hit .165 for the Angels as a full-time player and I'm super worried that last year's .234 average was just a dead cat bounce. For now his backup Ryan Thaxton (.267, 0, 1), who does bat left, will get into a sort-of platoon with the guy.
Cubs RF Nelson Hernandez (.217, 0, 11) started the year as the cleanup guy but his complete lack of power has moved him down to 6th and the only reason why I'm not pulling him out of the lineup entirely is that the backups are a bit on the scrubby side. They do have pinch-hitting specialist Steve Casio (.350, 0, 1), but dude is 35 years old and all putting him in the lineup really does is take a potential bat out of my hands when I need it in the later innings.
Reds 3B Bobby Kralcevic (.186, 1, 6). I've already done what I can to platoon the left-handed hitter with IF Scott Dorman (.391, 1, 5) but dude's got to start hitting. He hit .297/14/89 for the team that won the NL West in 1970. Where is that bat?
Indians 2B Luis Oropeza (.180, 4, 7) won the job from TJ Pritchett (.333, 2, 6) out of spring training but has done nothing since the games started counting. I was going to wait to bench him for the 20-loss review but screw it, Pritchett's going in there now.
Indians SS John Johnson (.179, 1, 4). After losing 100 points from a .340 average last year, he's lost another 50 so far. This has to just be a slump, right? The thing is, it could be a slump off of a .230ish average and that to me says it's time to replace him with Romneybot 5000 (.333, 0, 3), who's 3 years younger, just as good of a fielder, and hit .262 last year. The fans are going to hate it, though; they think Johnson's still a batting champion waiting to happen. I think I'm going to prolong this one for a little bit, see if Johnson can get it into shape. Unfortunately they're both righties so other than keep Romney coming in on a schedule there's not a lot I can do.
Tigers C Gianluigi Farinelli (.104, 0, 5). This one really puzzles and distresses me. Trey Forgey (.250, 0, 0) is spelling him every 4th day but Farinelli was supposed to be a key component of a great offense and also he has the 2nd best game-generated name in here... behind minor league 1B Ian Swerdlove, who is only better because the author listens to the H3H3 podcast, which has a guy on it named Ian and another guy on it named Dan whose Twitter handle is @swerdlove.
Tigers OF Adam Dittmar (.159, 2, 9). This is an awfully good team to be having so many issues. Dittmar famously went .302/22/80 in 1969 and was kind of on the periphery of MVP talk, then slumped to .222/11/34 the next season. Last year he fought his way back into a starting role and sort of split the difference with .263/15/72 in 460 at-bats. He got the starting nod with me hoping he'd be closer to '69 but so far he's been worse than '70. He's currently losing at-bats to Chris Contreras (.267, 0, 1), who himself hit .309 2 years ago, slumped to .258 in a most-of-the-time role, and has the kind of power and batting eye that make him a guy who needs to hit .300 in order to be effective. Guillermo Thompson (.111, 0, 0) also exists, although he's played sparingly this season and hasn't looked good when he has. Thompson hit .296 2 years ago with 33 steals before slumping to an empty .241 in '71. It's "meh" all around.
Astros 1B Justin Jensen (.184, 0, 8). The average I can just wait on; the lack of power, however, is worrisome. Jensen reminds me of when the Mariners traded for Kevin Mitchell in I think it was 1990, like right after he hit I think it was 47 HRs for the Giants. Mitchell came in and proceeded to not hit for power, like, at all, and in spite of the announcers extolling his ability to make productive outs and hit in the clutch (look, it was a different time), nobody was surprised when they let him go at the end of the year. Jensen has a full missed season in between now and his 42 HR campaign. To his benefit the Astros are doing fairly well and I will probably hold off just straight-up benching him until they hit 20 Ls but man, that trade he was involved in is going to be one of the worst of all time.
Astros RF Bobby Beaulieu (.091, 0, 3). To make matters worse, Beaulieu, who was acquired in that same trade (which sent RF Jaden Weaver (.263, 7, 22) to the Reds - as you can see from the line, Weaver isn't literally hitting .400 right now but he's picked up right where he left off for the 'Stros), was really looking like he'd be the hidden jewel in spring training. And I mean, he hit .266/8/44 with a .361 OBP as a half-time player last year; I'd compare him to a Mitch Haniger if I could. He's hit like Mitch Haniger 2023 so far. I've got 31 year old minor league veteran and pinch-hitter Tommy Scott (.438, 1, 6) playing a lot vs. RHPs and I recently put Jensen into RF to make room for Astros PH king Nate Ringstad (.320, 0, 1), but when this fails the way I think it will... man, it's not going to be pretty.
Royals C Nick McIntyre (.136, 0, 4). McIntyre wasn't exactly great last year with a .201/9/49 line but he did hit .266 the season before and I figured he'd, you know, at least split the difference. But no, he's been terribad and since the Royals are awwwful this year, what the heck, I'm calling it now: I'd called up a 3rd catcher and now the lefty backup Mike Fenley (.222, 1, 2) and the new guy Tyler Tigges (.225, 0, 3 at AAA Omaha) are platooning as starters with McIntyre being the "bullpen guy".
Royals 1B Josh Lewis (.113, 1, 5). I just plain haven't done anything because the guy's been basically a league average hitter as a first baseman and he's only 31. Also, Jim Davis was baaaad in spring training so I sent him down (he's hitting .250/4/13 in 44 ABs in AAA). The Royals are, like I said, bad, so if they're going to suck they should suck with the youth movement. Davis is 26 so not, like, fully a part of that but close enough. Having 3 catchers and 2 1B on the roster also means we're carrying 1 backup IF and 5 OFers; fortunately the starting OFers are doing really well so far. Lewis can try and get it back in a pinch-hitting role.
Brewers 1B Kozue Nakamura (.154, 2, 7). Kozue was a bright light and a fun story on a bad Brewers team last year. So far he's just been one more guy who hasn't lived up to Milwaukee expectations for multiple seasons. I'd acquired Barney Leriche (.000, 0, 0) not exactly knowing why before the season started; Leriche, who hit 25 HRs in about a season's worth of at-bats over the previous 2 seasons, might wind up being the answer there. For now he's playing every 3rd game in the lineup (obviously that just started recently, as he's got all of 10 ABs this season).
Twins 3B Mike Brookes (.195, 1, 5). I'm not doing anything with him but maaaan he's not hitting. This is a guy who's led the league in HRs and through 21 games he's had all of 1 to his name so far.
Twins CF Jose Villasenor (.163, 1, 5) is likewise a guy I'm choosing not to do anything with because he's got a pretty decent track record with this team. In spite of two holes in the lineup like this, they're still atop the AL West.
Expos 3B Adam Owens (.189, 1, 9). As with the Twins, I'm not going to toss him out. In this case he's a 25 year old 3rd year starter for an Expos team that is otherwise pretty lacking in good young hitters. Just, you know, hit my man...
Yankees 3B "Tiptoe" Tommy Weiss (.195, 3, 9). He was supposed to be this team's #3 man and lead a resurgence. Instead the Yankees are circling the drain and you have to think that that New York media is all over this guy. The Yankees do have Nick Hodzic (.352, 5, 21 at AAA Syracuse). It's just... even a team like the Bronx Bombers arne't going to be so unsentimental, right? Especially if the other piece of the equation is a 4th round pick who seems to have made good only over the last season or so. I don't even want to call him up right now because that probably means cutting loose Yanks ATG Ty Stover (.056, 0, 1), who has not taken well to pinch-hitting.
Mets 3B Mark Hamill (.188, 0, 3). Hamill was really supposed to take this job and run with it. Instead, he hasn't been good and then also has missed the past week with a knee contusion. Now Nick Hawkinson (.107, 0, 3 but what do you expect? The man is 43 years old) is injured and possibly out long-term.
A's 1B Ray Hawkinson (.205, 1, 6). Dude hit .369 in 179 at-bats last year. I'm not saying I thought he'd do the same in '72 but even .290 would have been nice. Now he's losing time to 43 year old Jon Skelton (.296, 0, 3) and former Yankee / known Canadian Dan Field (.250, 0, 0 in 8 at-bats) and this is a team that's supposed to be better than this (I mean, 11-9 isn't bad per se).
Phillies C Sam Rahn (.034, 0, 3). I remember putting in the Phillies' write-up that Rahn is a solid if unspectacular backstop who will give you around league average performance with the stick and OK defense. He's 2 for 59 this year and while Lee Citro (.450, 2, 5) has been on fire when he's played, it's not like Citro is anything like a long-term solution himself. I don't see anything particularly useful on the farm either, although if this keeps up I probably will need to call someone up.
Phillies RF John Belushi (.172, 1, 7). Another youngster who has looked unequal to the task since breaking spring training on the roster. Belushi was really expected to contribute this year, which is maybe a good lesson in why you should not trust 66 at-bats in September. He's currently splitting time with 29 year old Bobby Corley (.235, 1, 4), a career .210 hitter in the majors, until I figure out something better (or until Belushi starts hitting).
Giants OF Jimmy Walker (.167, 1, 5). Walker is only 24 and when he hit well last year (.276, 14, 56) it was over 107 games and 399 at-bats so it's not a Belushi situation in the least. So why isn't he hitting??? I hadn't started yet but the Giants do have Jon Berry (.167, 0, 1), who once upon a time led the AL in runs scored with Boston (with 89 in 1968 so let's not go crazy here). He'll spell the right-handed walker vs some RHPs; mostly though, I just want Walker to, you know, hit and stuff.
Cardinals 1B Lorenzo Martinez (.150, 3, 5). He did miss the first 14 games of the season with an injury and so this is only a 40 at-bat sample. He also broke out of a low-power slump with 2 HRs in his last 5 games so it's mostly singles I'm waiting on (in fact, he has 12 walks so far and an OBP of .358). Nope, not worried. NOT WORRIED IN THE LEAST
Cardinals 3B Mike Galeana (.177, 5, 18). If he just struck out more he'd be Joey Gallo! 11 of Galeana's 17 hits have been for extra bases so far and he still has a 111 OPS+ in this horrible offensive environment so mostly I'm just concerned about the batting average. I shouldn't be. Probably.
Rangers 1B George W. Bush (.186, 1, 5). This is mainly who I was thinking of when I decided I wanted to go around the league and look at all the slumparinos. Dubya is the least slumpy of the slumpers on this slump-team but he's still not getting it done. It's worth noting that prior to his .281/13/40 stint with Washington last year (almost said Texas!), Bush hit .185/17/46 in AAA. Hey, still 30 HRs though... and that's exactly what he hasn't done so far. I have old man David Salinas (.250, 1, 4) playing some in his place, especially against lefties, but I know who Salinas is and Bush is, well, a potential slugger.
Rangers 2B Jose Hernandez (.120, 2, 7). Hernandez hit maybe the emptiest 25 HRs you could hit in 1971 but it's still 25 HRs and what's more it came at RFK Stadium. So far this year his .229 average and .295 OBP look like too much to wish for. Something haaas to be done so I'm going to offer Rule V pick Jesus Rodriguez (.000, 0, 0 in 8 ABs) back to the Phillies and use the roster spot on Reggie Jackson (.2643, 1, 6), who is more of a 3rd baseman than a 2nd baseman and not a super fantastic hitter, period, but he probably won't hit .120. Hernandez will keep playing every now and then to see if he can break out of the slump.
Rangers LF Matt Levario (.097, 2, 4). Levario feels like Justin Upton's final season in baseball: he was pretty bad last year - .214/5/19 in 82 games - but this is a guy with 447 career HRs as well as a player the scouting reports insist still "will have no trouble with a starting role". He's 7-72. Maybe this is bad luck but at this point there's just too much accumulated bad luck to go around. I won't cut him... yet but he's going to have to just, like, come alive as a pinch-hitter and spelling the new guy, 22 year old speedster/professional golfer Philippe Toussant (.360, 2, 13 at AAA Denver).
OOOK so all that said, there have been some good players out there, too!
Royals RF phenom Tony "The Boss" Danza (.395, 0, 6) went on a big old hot streak this week to wind up just shy of .400. He's pursued closely by the also red-hot Twins 2B Daniel Gilmet (.368, 2, 8) with Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.348, 9, 22) right there, too. Garcia also paces the AL In HRs and RBIs now, with Royals cleanup man RJ Dominguez (.322, 8, 18) the #2 guy in both of those categories. Weirdly - I think he's been hobbled a bit by injury, Tigers speed demon Alvin Romero is *not* among the league leaders in steals. Right now it's a tie between "The Nuge" Matt "Not Ted And Frankly I Might Not Have Ted In This Save Because He's Kind of Gross" Nugent (.264, 5, 13) and White Sox CF Arnold "Yes, That Arnold" Scharzennegger (.197, 0, 5) with 7 apiece with Boston's Jon Glynn (.233, 2, 2) right behind them with 6 of his own.
It's suuuper early for ERA of course so, you know, don't expect the likes of Baltimore's Santos Rodriguez (2-0, 1.20) to be leading for much longer, or for newly Angelified David "Macho" "No, the real Macho Camacho is named Hector" Camacho (4-0, 1.23) to be here in another month. One name we'll surely continue to see is Jimmy Goddard (5-1, 1.40), who's 3rd and one of 2 5-game winners in the AL along with Boston's Michael Pesco (5-1, 3.00). Oakland's Roberto "Not Nolan Ryan But May As Well Be" Ortiz (1-1, 3.97) has had 4 no-decisions but also 48 strikeouts in 45.1 innings so far, which puts him just ahead of Boston's Justin Kindberg (3-2, 1.92) and Jimmy Goddard's Johnny Sain-esque teammate Edgar Molina (4-2, 2.09). Oakland's Willis Chavez (1-1, 5.25) and the Orioles' Montay Luiso (1-0, 0.00) are the co-leaders in saves with 6, although you can see from the stats that the two stoppers have pitched much different seasons so far.
In the NL... Braves 2B Kevin Dwyer (.364, 4, 16) only did pretty OK this week and so has fallen into a virtual tie for 1st with Cubs CF Alex Vallejo (.364, 2, 8). Dodgers 3B cum backup singer for the Bee Gees Robin Gibb (.346, 2, 9) has come out of nowhere to be the #3 hitter in the NL. For HRs we've got 3 guys tied with 7 in the higher-hitting National League: Braves 1B Dante Chairez (.228, 7, 12), Cardinals RF and early MVP candidate Casey Satterfield (.308, 7, 19), and the Reds' RF Jaden Weaver (.263, 7, 22), who also leads the senior circuit in ribeyes. Have I mentioned how ugly that trade is yet (note: the real one saw Joe Morgan go to the Reds in the prime of his career). Cincinnati's 2B Pedro "Speedy" Ortiz (.276, 1, 9) is stealing every chance he can get and leads everyone everwhere with 11 steals so far; Mets SS Chris Adams (.240, 2, 11) and Braves LF Chris Ward (.307, 2, 7) round out the top 3.
The NL has its very own 6 game winner, Houston Astros star Tony Rivera (6-1, 2.13). Yeah, that's a good ERA too, a full run better than the 3.20 that Rivera put together last season (which, playing half your game in the Astrodome, that is not a superstar ERA). It's still not good enough for top 3 just yet! Santos Arango (4-4, 1.23) has somehow lost 4 games this year but has allowed barely an earned run per 9 innings. He's followed closely by the Dodgers' Fernando Apolonio (4-2, 1.41) and the Cubs' Jason Sanders (3-1, 1.45), who will fall off this list after teams have played 31 games because he's out for the season. IRL the Cardinals traded Steve Carlton to the Phillies this offseason and watched him become a star; in this save they traded *for* Roger Quintana (3-2, 2.56), who is leading the NL with 49 Ks and so far looks like he's cut down on the gopher balls that made him only an above-average starter last season. Sitting 7 Ks behind him are two guys, teammate Raul Mendoza (2-4, 3.32), who's had some poor luck this year, and the Dodgers' Rogelio Salinas (3-2, 3.50), who's got 10.5 K/9 but a 3.50 ERA due to 19 walks in 36 IP (4.8/9) and 5 HRs given up so far (1.2/9).
## Major Transactions
May 8: The Angels returned minor league P Scott Richey (0-0, 3.58 in AAA Salt Lake City) following an earlier purchase. This does, admittedly, stretch the definition of "major". Richey got into 1 whole game for San Diego while playing most of the year - and doing kind of badly (5-7, 4.34) - in AAA Hawaii (and technically, this transaction was Hawaii itself, not the Pads, who I guess had a rather loose association with this team IRL, acquiring the pitcher Dennis Bennett, who'd last played in the majors in 1968). Richey will still have to fall through waivers but frankly that should not be an issue.
May 10: The Tigers traded RP Robbie Vaughn (0-0, 0.00, 1 Sv) to the A's for minor league 3B Danny Hernandez (.307, 3, 11 at AAA Iowa). You can never have enough pitching, right? That's the A's mantra. The man they give up to get the injury-prone Vaughn is a former good prospect - last ranked #73 in 1969 - where the bloom has come off the rose primarily because of an inability to field. He could make the transition to first, I guess, because he can still hit, but the Tigers already have Tim Suman and Danny Villegas there so... organizational depth I guess?
May 11: The Mets traded RP Charlie Bechtel (5-3, 2.89 in 1971) to the Giants for RF Barry "The Ritz" Cooper (.340, 0, 6). This is the Willie Mays trade although of course the Giants don't have anyone like the actual Willie Mays and so the Mets are doing this for a guy who should fill a sudden, gaping hole left by Jimmy Washington's season-ending injury. Cooper slumped badly last year to .258 but seems like he's got his hitting stroke back and boy oh boy do the Mets need outfielders. Bechtel is a really good reliever in his own right. The Mets sit at 8-11 but don't consider themselves out of the mix just yet; the Giants maybe should have considered themselves more in the mix at 13-11 but they were bad last year and this gets them a little younger (also their GM loooved this trade so they don't think much of Cooper).
## News
May 8: In a nationally televised speech, Richard Nixon announced that the United States would lay mines in North Vietnam's harbors in order to stop further supply of weapons and material. The mines would be timed to become active within 72 hours. In the operation known as Pocket Money, they were dropped at Haiphong Harbor by 9 American attack aircraft flying from the carrier USS Coral Sea and at six other ports, which were blocked for 300 days until the mines were removed by the US in 1973.
May 8: Voting in Italy's parliamentary elections was completed after two days with the coalition of Christian Democrats and their allies, led by Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, retaining power.
May 8: The lead singer of the band Savage Garden, Darren Hayes, was born. What exactly is a chicken cherry cola?
May 8: 37 year old Pirates reliever Bong-Ok Park, who pitched all of last year in AAA (and was also injured for most of it) announced that he is going to retire after the season is done. Not sure if that's really your decision, Mr. Park, but OK...
May 8: You love to see it: Orioles 3B Marco Perez (.319, 5, 11), who was bedeviled by injuries and a lack of clutch hitting last season, took home this week's best player in the AL award with a .533 (8-15) performance with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. He's actually 2nd in the AL in HRs now! The 6 time All-Star and 4-time Gold Glove Award winner also has 6 PotW awards under his belt, although this is his first since June of 1970.
May 8: The NL PotW is another veteran, Atlanta 2B Kevin Dwyer (.388, 2, 14). Dwyer hit .481 (13-27) with 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, and 4 runs scored for a powerful Braves attack. Dwyer, a guy who's lived in the shadow of RF Henry Riggs his entire career, is an 11 time All-Star and surefire future HOFer in his own right, and this is his 9th PotW award. He "only" won one last season, in April. Dwyer by the way is a .316 career hitter and at age 33 has 1,902 hits. Barring injury he should reach 2,000 by the end of the year and 3,000 seems well within reach.
May 9: Israeli soldiers stormed a hijacked Belgian jet and freed all 97 hostages on board, killing 2 of the 3 hijackers in the process. Sabena Flight 571 had been sitting at the Lod Airport in Tel Aviv after being captured the day before; the hijackers threatened to blow the plane up unless Israel released imprisoned Arab guerillas.
May 9: The Mets' Jimmy Washington (.100, 1, 1) just had a bad start to a season turn worse, as he tore a PCL on the 7th and will miss the entire season as a result. Washington wasn't that great last year (.254, 17, 66) and has never quite reached the heights he got to in the Miracle '69 year (.290, 29, 113); at this point the Mets probably just need to find a long-term replacement in right field.
May 10: As part of Operation Linebacker, American warplanes downed 11 North Vietnamese MiG fighters, three of them by future Congressman Duke Cunningham. One American plane, an F-4D, was shot down by a North Vietnamese Shenyang Y-6; the pilot refused to eject but his weapons officer, Roger Locher, did so and landed, unseen by either friendly or enemy forces, only 40 miles away from Hanoi.
May 11: All 74 people on board the British merchant ship Royston Grange were burned to death after it collided with the oil tanker Tien Chee in a fog off of the coast of Uruguay. Flaming oil from the tanker (which also lost 9 people) created a ring of fire around the freighter. Nightmare fuel...
May 11: The body of Dr. George Duncan was dragged out of River Torrens in Adelaide, South Australia, where he had been thrown the day before by three policemen. The banks of the river was known as a popular homosexual pickup spot. It was also, reading the Wikipedia entry, a popular spot for homophobic cops to beat gay men up and toss them into the river. One other man was also thrown in in the same incident; his ankle was broken by the fall but he survived and was picked up by a passing motorist. Duncan could not swim and drowned. The law school lecturer and gay activist became a martyr to the gay and lesbian movement throughout Australia and his murder led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in the country. The case also remains officially open although, I mean, it looks like everyone in South Australia knows who murdered the man.
May 11: USAF 1st Lieutenant Michael Blassie, 23, was shot down near An Loc in South Vietnam, but his body will not be discovered for another five months by South Vietnamese troops. Classified as unknown by the Mortuary Affairs Division, he will eventually be interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from 1984 to 1988, when DNA testing confirms his identity. Blassie will be subsequently re-interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.
May 11: The Phillies have been overachieving what I thought they'd do, anyway, at 12-9 so far, but they'll have to further figure things out without SS Tony Shannon (.260, 2, 8, 6 SB), who will miss the next 5 weeks with plantar fascitis. 28 year old rookie Jose Singleton (.234, 8, 32 in AAA Eugene in 1971) will take over for the time being but really this will just kind of be a hole for the next month plus.
May 12: (in real life) the Twins and Brewers go 21 innings of tied baseball before the 1am curfew stops play; although Milwaukee scores in the top of the 22nd to win when play resumes on Saturday, 4-3, they go on to lose the regularly scheduled game against the same Twins 4-3 in 15 innings. That's an AL record for most innings in consecutive days and a sign that no, it's not just me who gets these super long-lasting extra inning games during this era.
May 13: The first successful use of a laser-guided bomb was accomplished when US forces destroyed the Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam. They had previously attempted to blow this bridge up using more conventional methods for the previous seven years with no success, beginning in 1965.
May 13: A fire on the third floor of the Senichi Department Store building in Osaka, Japan killed 117 people partying at the Play Town Cabaret. 60 people were able to escape, and while the flames never reached the seventh floor where the nightclub was, ninety-seven died from smoke inhalation and another 20 were killed when they fell from the roof.
May 13: Dan Blocker, known by fans as "Hoss" on TV's Bonanza, died at the age of 43 today. Blocker had undergone routine surgery for the removal of his gall bladder on May 1 and died of a pulmonary embolism the day after his release from a hospital in Inglewood, California.
May 13: Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.355, 9, 22) did Ernesto Garcia things today against the visiting Texas Rangers. He belted 3 HRs and accounted for all 4 of Cleveland's runs. However, 4 runs were not enough to win today as the Rangers jumped on starter Dylan Hamilton (1-3, 6.16) and stopper Jake Duckett (2-0, 0.79, 2 Sv) for 4 runs in the 8th inning and won 5-4. Beleaguered LF Matt Levario (.097, 2, 4) had one hit, a home run, for Texas but his days in the league are numbered unless he can string together a lot more hits very quickly, I think.
May 13: David "Macho" Camacho (4-0, 1.23) isn't quite the guy the real-life Angels traded for in the offseason of 71-72 - that was a guy you might know named Nolan Ryan - but his pitch to contact nature has done him extremely well for his new ballclub. Today he tossed a 6-hit shutout against the New York Yankees and needed to be as on as he was, since it finished 1-0. Camacho is only getting 4.7 Ks per 9 so far (23 in 44 IP) but has allowed just 7 walks (1.4/9) and a single HR (0.2). I find it a little funny that the Mets even have a Ryan comp in "The Wild Thing" Ernesto Carrillo (2-4, 3.70), who has walked 31 batters in 41.1 innings, but I felt that that trade would be a little unfair/not quite to the Mets' doing since Carrillo has won 56 games for them over the last 3 seasons and is clearly their ace (well, maybe not so much this year). In any case, Camacho, the anti-Nolan, seems to be just what the doctor ordered for the 13-9, first place Angels.
May 13: 1971 Cy Young Award Winner Santos Arango (4-4, 1.23) came into today with an opportunity to become one of the first 5-game winners in the game. All he had to do was outduel Houston's own ace Tony Rivera (6-1, 2.13). He did... fine; if you told me Arango pitched a complete game and gave up just 2 runs, I'd probably assume he'd have won it. But this being the Year of the Pitcher Jr., he was on the receiving end of a 2-0 loss as Rivera tossed a 4-hitter against the hapless Bucs offense (currently 3rd worst in the NL in runs scored (68) and average (.220)). "I don't like to lose," said an angry Arango after the game. "It just isn't right."
May 14: 19 year ole Romas Kalanta set himself on fire to become a martyr for Lithuanian independence. When police prohibited a public funeral (as the USSR does), thousands of students and workers will take to the streets on May 18 to take up Kalanta's cause. The uprising will be supressed later in the month with the arrest of over 500 people, only 8 of whom are ever tried. Lithuania, who was annexed by the USSR during World War II, will get its own sovereignty when the communist nation breaks up in 1990.
May 14: It's Mother's Day!
May 14: In a horrible gift to his own mom, 36 year old Cardinals SP Jimmy McCauley (2-1, 3.76) was diagnosed with a torn UCL today. The injury, which forced him to leave the game on the 12th in the 3rd inning, is a very serious one; he's expected to be out until after the All-Star Break of 1973. Which, given his age, may mean that there will be no returning. McCauley had put together some late-career success since 1969, going 45-30 over the previous 3 seasons, although he did slump to 12-12 with a below-average 3.91 ERA last year. His peripherals suggest he's more of a back of the rotation guy with around league average stuff and mediocre control; who knows what a year+ layoff will do to that. Mario Garcia (2-5, 4.78 at AAA Tulsa), a former prospect who had injury issues of his own last season that cut into his playing time and rendered him not super effective when he did play (6-5, 4.03 last year in 19 starts), will take his spot in the rotation.
May 14: A 2nd inning error by Tigers 3B Jose "Joker" Ayala (.227, 3, 9) led to a rare meltdown by Tigers ace Jimmy Goddard (5-1, 1.40) and wound up with him leaving in the 4th inning with 7 runs allowed but just 1 of them earned and taking the loss in an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the 7-14 Royals. Ayala's muffed grounder occurred with 1 out and runners on 1st and 3rd and allowed weak hitting C Nick McIntyre (.138, 0, 4) to reach and load the bases. Goddard got the next guy, the pitcher Jorge Cervantes (1-3, 4.38) on a fly to center that was deep enough to bring Edwin Manchego (.318, 2, 3) home. From there Goddard gave up a walk, a 2-run single with the bases loaded, and then a 3-run homerun to Royals slugger RJ Dominguez (.341, 8, 18). As the Tigers had another game to play today (I don't think the AI takes this into account but hey, I'll make excuses), he lingered on for another 1.1 innings after that. Cervantes incidentally stayed in the whole game and picked up the complete game victory, his first of the year.
Incidentally, because the game likes to be mean, the Royals wound up sweeping the double with a 14 inning walk-off off of Tigers' setup man Todd Thiesen (1-2, 1.35), who arrived after solid performances by starter Bruce Rubio (3-1, 1.84), who pitched 9 innings of 2-run ball but whom I felt I had to take out in the top of the 10th because he had thrown 151 pitches and was at bat in a LIRISP position, as well as closer Jim Marceau (0-2, 2.77), who managed to pitch through poor control (4 walks in 4 IP) and only gave up a solo HR to Royals star Dave Corona (.259, 4, 6) - that HR incidentally retied the game in the 12th at 3-3 after the Tigers had rallied to take the lead in the top of the inning. Jon Gutierrez (1-0, 3.86) was the winner for KC and also the very last man left in the bullpen; starter Jason LaPointe (1-1, 3.86) was forced to leave in the 6th with back stiffness. In spite of the setback, Detroit is still 13-8 and is only in 2nd in the AL East because of a Baltimore Orioles team who is, frankly, playing way above their heads right now.
May 14: Rangers SP Billy Crystal (2-3, 2.27) had a no-hitter earlier this year. Today he had to pitch in himself to avoid becoming the victim of a no-no at the hands of Indians P Robert Rivera (1-2, 3.27). Rivera actually had a perfect game going for 7.1 innings before issuing a couple of walks in the 8th. That left Crystal, who tossed a 5-hitter of his own tonight, to come in as the leadoff hitter in the top of the 9th. He slapped a ground ball up the middle and just past Cleveland SS Jon Johnson (.179, 1, 4) to record the Rangers' first hit all day. This seemed to be contagious as CF Norm Hodge (.239, 0, 5) then dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt down the 1st base line - so perfect, in fact, that the speedster wound up safe at first himself. 3B Tyler Knight (.205, 1, 3) slapped a single of his own into left field to load the bases, setting up RF Bubba Wilson (.202, 0, 4) to drive in the only run in the whole game on a sac fly to deep right field.
The win was actually Crystal's first outside of the no-no. "I'm always thinking what I need to do, what I haven't done, what I did do, what I didn't do as well as I could. I'm relentless that way with myself", Crystal confessed to reporters after the game.
May 14: The Cubs and Braves battled one out into the late night - fortunately for the narrative this game took place in Atlanta - with the 16-7 Chicago team finally eking it out in the 19th on a set of base hits off of Braves long man Jake Cari (0-2, 2.31), who'd previously thrown 2 shutout innings before this occurred. The game got tied up at 4-4 in the 9th after the Cubs got to Atlanta ace John Winn (0-3, 2.25, 4 Sv), who blew his very first save this season... and then it just kind of stayed that way for another 10 innings. I hate the early 1970s sometimes. Frank Castro (1-0, 3.38), the last man in the bullpen for Chicago, picked up the win with 4 innings of shutout ball.
## Teams in Review
Nothing this week but I'm around 99% positive we'll see our first reviews next.