1973 Recap: The A's, not exactly a franchise with a long history of success, opened the year super strong, finishing April with 11 wins in 12 games and a 15-5 record. Then the bottom pretty much dropped out and they looked like a .500ish team the rest of the way. Unfortunately for them, even though .500ish was good enough to stay within a game of the AL West in 1972, in 1973 it put them deep in the back of the division, in the "second division" even (is that a thing anymore with 6-team divisions?). The pitching was dead last in the AL in strikeouts and struggled all year long, and the offense, in spite of a 4th-in-the-AL average (.262) struggled as well.
1974 Outlook: In spite of the 90 win season 2 years ago this just isn't a team with a lot of big upside, at least that we can see. They're not super young on offense (the pitching staff does, to be fair, have its share of youth), the influx of veterans last year - they helped pick Cleveland pretty clean - didn't pan out super-hugely, and the pitching staff outside of Vince Akright is not it. It's hard to see this team getting far enough over the hump to contend in the West now that there are two legit teams in there.
Vince Akright
RHP No. 2
SR, 5'9" 187 lbs.
Born 1943-06-06
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 TEX MLB | 18 | 13 | 0 | 2.25 | 37 | 37 | 13 | 295.1 | 234 | 88 | 74 | 86 | 195 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | 14 | 17 | 0 | 2.95 | 35 | 35 | 10 | 256.0 | 220 | 88 | 84 | 91 | 201 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 19 | 10 | 0 | 2.70 | 36 | 35 | 12 | 266.0 | 245 | 93 | 80 | 86 | 152 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
After an "off" season that maybe wasn't even that much of an off season, Akright returned in 1973 as good as ever, finishing 7th in the AL in wins, 9th in innings pitched, and 3rd in ERA, and oh yeah he made his 3rd All-Star Game too. The former Tigers star has pretty well settled down in Oakland now and those fears that he might wash out of the league now seem pretty unfounded. He did seem to tire in the 2nd half (2-2, 3.62 in August, 2-4, 3.83 in September) which cost him the ERA title but hey, he's still pretty good.
Akright's Ks were down but the thing that wasn't down for him - in fact, the thing he is known for more than anything else - was his ability to get weak outs in the field. In that respect, things were "down" for him as much as ever, as in down in the strike zone. His HR rate, which is never high, was only 11 in 266 IP last year, his lowest total since 1968 when he threw 84 fewer innings to get 9 HR allowed. Akright doesn't have insane stamina but he doesn't throw very many pitches in your average inning and that allows him to pretty consistently finish about a third of his starts. Ks were down across the board last year so we do expect those to rise back up a bit.
Akright is a guy who leads by example: he's got an extensive workout regimen and while he's not a guy to call other players in to work out with him, other pitchers see his success and want to emulate it. He's still only 30 and his career 110-95 record underestimates his real value to a team: he's a legitimate #1 starter.
Lee Barnard
LHP No. 10
LL, 6'2" 199 lbs.
Born 1943-07-19
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 OAK MLB | 11 | 13 | 0 | 3.45 | 35 | 35 | 8 | 250.0 | 240 | 112 | 96 | 80 | 150 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | 15 | 12 | 0 | 2.61 | 35 | 35 | 6 | 255.0 | 207 | 79 | 74 | 67 | 153 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 11 | 11 | 0 | 4.73 | 35 | 30 | 4 | 201.2 | 231 | 107 | 106 | 69 | 98 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
The tandem of "Batty" Barnard and Rick Shelton has been a mainstay in the A's rotation since 1969. It's hard to see them continuing with these guys if they pitch like this, though. A year away from a very solid year - 15 wins, 7th best ERA in the AL - it all kind of fell apart for Barnard in 1973. Even though he's a lefty with all that goofy movement that lefties have and even though he throws absolute gas, he just plain could not generate Ks last year, falling under 100 for the first time since 1969. A move out to the bullpen in September did the opposite of pump new life, as he allowed more earned runs (13) than IPs (12) in that month.
Barnard has never quite generated the Ks you'd expect a guy with his profile to get but, well, he's already generated more than 4.4. Even in a down year for strikeouts league-wide, that's getting close to "you have to replace this guy now" level. And indeed the rest of his stats reflected the awfulness: the second worst opponents' BA in the AL (.293, behind just KC's Chris Regan), the 3rd worst ERA (behind Regan (5.54) and Baltimore's William Hart (4.97)), and the 2nd most HRs allowed with 40, behind only the "historical" season of Edgsar Molina.
Barnard could really be on his last legs in Oakland. Within the space of a year he went from a good, solid, middle of the rotation guy to one of the worst pitchers in the league. To say he needs to turn that around is underselling how dire his situation is.
Alex Canales
1B/3B No. 38
SR, 6'1" 200 lbs.
Born 1945-03-01
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SD MLB | .260 | 144 | 572 | 73 | 149 | 24 | 0 | 14 | 72 | 43 | 79 | 0 |
| 1972 SD MLB | .296 | 23 | 81 | 11 | 24 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .263 | 120 | 422 | 35 | 111 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 54 | 51 | 46 | 2 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .265 | 131 | 475 | 52 | 126 | 20 | 1 | 13 | 60 | 48 | 67 | 1 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Canales, a 4 time Gold Glover, found himself in and out of the lineup at times last year because, frankly, great glove or no, you usually want more than a .260s hitter with middling power at first base. He barely played in August and was pretty terrible when he did play - .129, 1, 2 - but recovered in September just fine, hitting a season-high 7 doubles to go with a .316 average that month.
As a hitter, Canales tries to hit the ball to all fields but sometimes falls a little too much in love with the low inside fastball. The 7 triples he hit in 1972 seem to have been a huge blip and in fact last year he seemed reticent to even stretch singles into doubles a lot of the time. All the power and that are... fine, probably not enough for a first baseman but he's not killing the A's or anything. Canales played 29 games at third base although 11 errors and an .875 fielding average probably put the end to that experiment (and might even cost him the GG at first base this year).
Canales is in the prime of his career and just kind of is who he is at this point: a 5/6 order hitter who's a little bit above average at everything and the best fielder in the AL at first base.
Mithun Chakraborty
RHP No. 46
RR, 6'1" 175 lbs.
Born 1950-06-11
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 APP A | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 1971 ASH AA | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4.42 | 29 | 8 | 3 | 75.1 | 81 | 39 | 37 | 41 | 47 |
| 1971 TUC AAA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 1972 KNO AA | 12 | 8 | 0 | 3.63 | 23 | 23 | 15 | 188.1 | 197 | 85 | 76 | 110 | 89 |
| 1972 TUC AAA | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4.79 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 30.0 | 34 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 14 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | 9 | 8 | 0 | 3.30 | 23 | 23 | 3 | 166.0 | 186 | 68 | 61 | 69 | 91 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4.16 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 71.1 | 82 | 38 | 33 | 28 | 32 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Chakraborty is an Indian actor with "star" written all over him, if not in Major League Baseball than in Bollywood. Like Ian Charleson last year, he capitalized on a good first half in AAA Tucson and wound up pitching in the major leagues. Also like Charleson, unfortunately, he struggled in his first taste of the big leagues, although he did finish his season on a high note: a 6-hit shutout of the Twins on September 25th.
Chakraborty throws gaaaaaaaaas. Scouts say that if he works at it, he could one day hit triple digits on the radar gun. So far his offerings have been a bit too straight for the majors; he'll definitely want to work with major league pitching coaches to try and add a bit of "pizazz" to his repertoire. He also had a liiiitle bit of a problem keeping his pitches out of the dirt, which is almost to be expected from a guy whose primary exposure to bat-and-ball games is the one where you get to throw the ball on a hop (cricket). With that stuff, you could definitely see this guy moving into short relief if starting doesn't work out for him.
Ian Charleson
RHP No. 19
SR, 6'0" 183 lbs.
Born 1949-08-09
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 APP A | 3 | 6 | 0 | 4.23 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 89.1 | 81 | 48 | 42 | 37 | 61 |
| 1971 ASH AA | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7.65 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 20.0 | 23 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 7 |
| 1972 KNO AA | 6 | 11 | 0 | 3.07 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 152.0 | 118 | 60 | 52 | 88 | 63 |
| 1972 TUC AAA | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2.17 | 14 | 9 | 2 | 74.1 | 52 | 19 | 18 | 32 | 34 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2.26 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 95.1 | 77 | 26 | 24 | 29 | 59 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 4 | 10 | 0 | 3.53 | 24 | 24 | 3 | 165.2 | 170 | 82 | 65 | 64 | 68 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
The Scottish music composer Ian Charleson had good success at pretty much every level before making his debut with the A's in June, and at first that success continued: he was only 2-3 in 12 starts over his first 2 months as the team kept him on a pretty strict pitch count but carried a 2.67 ERA over that time. Then he looked like he was tiring badly with a 1-4, 3.82 August and a 1-3, 5.35 September. This isn't super shocking given that he threw more innings last year than he ever has in his career (looking at it, I guess not *that* many more than in 1972) but you'd hope a future ace could last a little longer.
The more concerning thing, frankly, about Charleson was his ability, or rather lack thereof, to get major leaguers to swing and miss at his pitch offerings. Charleson throws a fantastic circle change and a curveball with some good late break which, combined with a cut fastball that hits the high 80s, ought to create at least *some* swings and misses. It really didn't and it seemed like things got worse as the year progressed. It also left him having to play a really close-run game out there, nibbling at the edges like an old veteran and doing his best to avoid long hits (which to his credit he did: just 7 HRA in the majors). Charleson threw 10 wild pitches last year, 10th most in the AL, which might indicate that he won't be able to keep up the control if left in games for longer.
The A's clearly want him to be a future part of their rotation but if he's going to be that guy for them he needs to do more.
Willis Chavez
LHP No. 25
LL, 6'1" 198 lbs.
Born 1939-01-04
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 WAS MLB | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.00 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 1971 OAK MLB | 10 | 5 | 18 | 2.33 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 77.0 | 70 | 27 | 20 | 36 | 34 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | 7 | 4 | 27 | 2.74 | 67 | 0 | 0 | 95.0 | 86 | 34 | 29 | 45 | 66 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 9 | 11 | 23 | 2.90 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 80.2 | 65 | 33 | 26 | 37 | 46 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Few pitchers have played more games than Chavez has for the A's the last 3 years (OOTP doesn't have a good way of showing this but I think it might be Paz Lemus, Geoff Saus, and Malcolm Post and that's it) and he's been efective, too, leading the league in saves in 1972 and finishing 3rd in that category last year. I guess one can say that the life of an ace reliever can be fickle, too, as Chavez blew 10 saves last season; that just happens when you lean on one guy that hard for that long an amount of time.
Chavez doesn't throw very fast but, in a weird move for a reliever, throws 5 pitches, 4 of them consistently for strikes. Last year he held opponents to a .223 batting average and he hasn't allowed one higher than .250 in the 1970s. With his profile and his stamina - Chavez has the "bounce-back" ability to appear in multiple innings in consecutive games - you'd have thought he'd be a starter but it just neer worked out that way for him and he's doing well enough in his current role, isn't he? Last season the A's heeeeavily relied on him to get them out of jams: he inherited *49* baserunners last season, more than 50% higher than his previous career high (30 in 1971), and for the 2nd straight year he had a leverage index of at least 2.
Chavez isn't getting any younger and I don't know that I want to call him "reliable", exactly, but he's a huge cog in the engine of this pitching staff. Fans love it when he comes in because they know things are going to be exciting for good or for bad.
Doug Ellis
RHP No. 34
RR, 6'0" 200 lbs.
Born 1945-05-21
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 WIC AAA | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 1971 CLE MLB | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2.81 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 16.0 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 1971 TUL AAA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2.34 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 15.1 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 |
| 1971 OAK MLB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1971 STL MLB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.18 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 12.1 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| 1972 TEX MLB | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1.18 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 60.2 | 41 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 38 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3.90 | 39 | 5 | 0 | 78.1 | 87 | 37 | 34 | 20 | 45 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Ellis really showed how fickle the life of a journeyman reliever can be. One year removed from havingga lockdown season with the Rangers, Ellis fetched a pretty heavy price to come back to the A's - pinch-hitting specialist Raul bueno and an OF prospect. He got off to a poor start - 0-1, 4.91 in an otherwise great April for the A's - got worse in May as they tried him in the rotation for a little bit (0-0, 5.68 and 3 starts that month) and basically spent the rest of the summer rehabilitating that ERA. Then, just when it did look like he'd gotten things squared away - as late as September 2nd he had a 3.01 ERA - Ellis got repeatedly torched in September to the tune of 11 runs allowed in 12.1 IP (8.03 ERA).
Ellis throws a mix of pitches that includes a nice curveball and a good 2-seamer. What he doesn't do particularly well is last long into games. It's curious that the A's chose to start him as much as they did; even the 2 spot starts he made later in the year required him to rest for a quite a while to get back up to snuff afterwards. In many ways the raw numbers you see above, which already aren't that good (a league-average ERA for a reliever?) tell a better tale than what actually happened, as Ellis came into games inheriting 39 runners and allowed more than half of them - 20! - to score.
By the end of the season Ellis was finding himself pitching in some of the lowest of low leverage situations the A's could find. That's not a great trend for a guy who cost them so much and who should be in his prime. At least some of the blame should be placed on the manager for starting him 5 more times than he ever should start. Still, you have to go by the results and the results were not great.
Matt Evenson
2B/SS No. 11
RR, 6'2" 201 lbs.
Born 1946-02-21
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 OAK MLB | .257 | 125 | 381 | 23 | 98 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 44 | 41 | 76 | 0 |
| 1972 IOW AAA | .250 | 10 | 32 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .271 | 41 | 96 | 6 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 18 | 0 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | .250 | 56 | 152 | 15 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 23 | 25 | 1 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .203 | 39 | 69 | 5 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 14 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Evenson has been riding the AAA to majors train for 4 years now. He did get a chance to start in 1971 but wasn't exactly gangbusters and now the A's are... I wouldn't say "satisfied" with the play of Brian Wilcox at short (well, not his bat) but he's been doing a job and keeping Evenson out of one. Evenson spent the first half of the year in AAA, not even seeing action in the majors until July. By September the A's were using him in a fairly lengthy role. Evensen didn't really hit in the time he was in the majors though and at this point in his career this known Canadian's best asset is his versatility: he's a solid defender at short and a plus defender at second.
Everyone needs a guy like this on their roster. This was Evenson's last option season so the A's won't be to let him ride on the train again. If he can hit like he did last year or the year before he's a solid change of pace from the good-field, no-hit Wilcox.
Sean Gabel
3B No. 8
RR, 6'2" 202 lbs.
Born 1944-05-11
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CHC MLB | .290 | 144 | 601 | 80 | 174 | 26 | 10 | 0 | 46 | 19 | 61 | 30 |
| 1972 CHC MLB | .280 | 148 | 626 | 71 | 175 | 30 | 4 | 2 | 38 | 19 | 60 | 28 |
| 1973 CHC MLB | .284 | 124 | 503 | 61 | 143 | 29 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 8 | 46 | 3 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .286 | 17 | 70 | 7 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Sean Gabel's speed, which led him to finish in the top 3 in steals in the NL 3 times, seems to have gone away last year. In spite of all of that he's still a really good player and it's kind of surprising the Cubs sold him to the A's in September for nothing but cash. In his new digs he just continued to do what he's done his whole career - save the steals, that is.
Gabel still has good natural speed on the basepaths that he can use to beat out base hits although truth be told everything that comes off his bat goes in a straight line so he's not a big leg-out-grounders guy. In Chicago it looks like they got tired of his caught stealing mistakes - he had 19 of them in 1972 and at the time of his traade to Oakland he was 3/11 on steal attempts - so hey, you know, maybe Chicago just nailed his foot to the bag. He was 3/3 in Oakland. Gabel doesn't hit for power and doesn't draw all that many walks so the average is pretty much all you're going to get. Well, that's unfair: Gabel is also a 5-time Gold Glove award winner at third - perhaps a 6th if the NL doesn't feel too sore about his leaving - with an 80-grade arm and soft hands that led to only 14 errors in 139 starts between two teams and a .965 FA.
Gabel will face a challence in the spring from Bobby Scott (see below) because he's at a point in his career where he can't keep his job for granted but if the A's are at all wise, it'll be his name in the lineup every day.
Zackery Hadley
LF/RF No. 18
RR, 5'8" 199 lbs.
Born 1939-01-04
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SD MLB | .254 | 95 | 362 | 47 | 92 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 27 | 62 | 30 |
| 1972 SD MLB | .273 | 67 | 176 | 22 | 48 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 32 | 19 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .385 | 9 | 26 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .237 | 91 | 266 | 39 | 63 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 25 | 21 | 44 | 19 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
"Hoss" Hadley has been a bit of an enigma for the A's and it's now plain to see why the Padres were able to give up the 2-time NL steals champion for cash. There's no question that Hadley has speed. Even at 34 he's still one of the fastest men in the league. The issue is, in order to get steals and score runs from the leadoff position you have to also get on base and Hadley was just not great at that. Since he doesn't walk, he really needs to put up some kind of average in order to come through in that regard and last year's 237 BA meant that his OBP was under .300 (.297), which is just not going to cut it. The A's recognized this and plopped him onto the bench beginning in early August.
Hadley also isn't a really good defender for all of that speed. You'd expect a guy like this to be Gold Glove level or at least pretty decent but Hadley just plain doesn't get a good jump in the outfield and although he tries to study hitters to make up for it, he just seems to have a lot of natural clumsiness out there that makes him a minus fielder even in the corners.
If 1973 wasn't already Hadley's final chance, 1974 will surely be if he doesn't suddenly hit a whole lot better than he did this year.
Ray Hawkinson
1B/PH No. 36
LR, 5'12" 201 lbs.
Born 1942-10-03
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MIL MLB | .333 | 26 | 45 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 1971 OAK MLB | .369 | 51 | 179 | 28 | 66 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 33 | 11 | 24 | 3 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .250 | 66 | 132 | 11 | 33 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 19 | 0 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .264 | 86 | 197 | 26 | 52 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 29 | 8 | 25 | 1 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Ray Hawkinson had a liiiiitle bit of a bounceback season compared to an awful 1972 but it still wasn't really adequate for a first baseman and it's hard to see a big future for the now 31 year old. He did hit .279 (12-45) with 8 RBIs as a pinch-hitter, which I guess is nice but that also means he was 255/293/386 as a starter and that, coupled with the fact that he was used against RHPs only the entire season (Hawkinson had all of 9 at-bats vs LHPs) really does not make him look like a major league player.
He's an okay defensive 1B I guess. On the other hand, for a guy who is barely hanging onto a job, he sure talks a big game in the locker room. This is a guy still riding the laurels of what was clearly a fluke 1971 and probably won't be around much longer.
Brian Jackson
RF No. 14
RR, 5'11" 205 lbs.
Born 1944-06-28
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 PIT MLB | .285 | 114 | 473 | 59 | 135 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 50 | 35 | 43 | 8 |
| 1972 PIT MLB | .267 | 131 | 524 | 65 | 140 | 19 | 9 | 9 | 50 | 45 | 38 | 10 |
| 1973 PIT MLB | .258 | 61 | 233 | 20 | 60 | 15 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 24 | 18 | 2 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .283 | 49 | 180 | 28 | 51 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 22 | 11 | 6 | 2 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Although Brian Jackson was a local fan favorite and the Pirates' #3 hitter, he'd never quite cashed in on the promise he showed as the 11th overall pick in 1967 and when the A's came a-calling at the trade deadling the cash-strapped Pirates were willing to let him go for pure monetary considerations. It's nice to have a moneybags owner. In Oakland, Jackson proceeded to hit in a way he hadn't really hit in the previous couple seasons and even demonstrated a bit more power than he had. All in all, it was more than enough to stamp this guy as the starting right fielder going into 1974.
Jackson is a guy who always tries to make the most out of RBI opportunities. He's one of the hardest men to strike out in baseball - actually, by the numbers, he was *the* hardest with a 5.3% K rate (Minnesota's Matt Highfield was 2nd with a 5.8%). He might benefit from hitting a little further down in the order, as last year he hit just 245/318/355 in the 3 hole. With all the good hitters on the Athletics roster that shouldn't be a problem. Jackson won a Gold Glove last year for his work with Pittsburgh but it was one of those sneaky Gold Gloves you win when there aren't 3 truly amazing fielders in the league. He's certainly the best defensive corner outfielder on his current team, at least. Jackson's been something of a stolen base threat in years past but it looks like he slowed up a bit last year with just 4 steals in 8 tries. The speed and his predilection for line drives did help to cut down his GIDP rate; just 9 last year in spite of all those balls in play.
Jackson is maybe just a bit below the level where you'd call a guy a star but he's still a really good player and getting him for cash was a major coup for the A's.
Ben Lamar
RHP No. 20
RR, 5'12" 189 lbs.
Born 1947-07-12
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CHW MLB | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2.51 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 64.1 | 51 | 22 | 18 | 25 | 59 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | 6 | 1 | 6 | 2.42 | 53 | 1 | 0 | 78.0 | 49 | 21 | 21 | 30 | 56 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5.61 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 73.2 | 74 | 51 | 46 | 39 | 46 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Lamar is a former union rep in Chicago who the A's signed for free after the penny-pinching White Sox cut him outright. Now they're contenders and Lamar is fighting to stay in the league. There is no justice in this world. Lamar is reportedly really unhappy with his usage - he thinks he should be a stopper - and the A's were equally unhappy with his performance in 1973. Lamar has a 4 seam fastball with some life and a pretty okay curve but he had a lot of trouble finding the plate with both of them last year. Even that would have been OK if he'd done like he did his last year in Chicago and struck out nearly a batter an inning but he barely K'd more guys than he struck out in 1973.
Lamar is still only 26 and could really easily bounce back. That bounceback might not come with the A's; Charlie Finley has as big a reputation as a miser as the White Sox do.
Josh Lewis
C/DH No. 5
SR, 6'4" 203 lbs.
Born 1948-08-23
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 OAK MLB | .293 | 128 | 508 | 62 | 149 | 31 | 1 | 14 | 66 | 35 | 49 | 0 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .288 | 119 | 480 | 58 | 138 | 19 | 1 | 18 | 73 | 39 | 32 | 3 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .290 | 128 | 500 | 60 | 145 | 30 | 4 | 10 | 52 | 51 | 51 | 1 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
"Texas Josh" Lewis has been a marvel of consistency in 3 full seasons in the major leagues, hitting between .299 and .293. If you zoom in, you'll see a guy who's just as prone to streaks and slumps as anybody else; it just all seems to work out in the end for him. Last year Lewis bad month came in August, right after he appeared in his 3rd straight All-Star Game (.209, 1, 2), followed by a great September (.381, 2, 14). And so it goes.
Lewis lost a bit of the power he'd established his first two seasons but he still had some and overall it's hard to be anything but impressed by his hitting ability as a catcher. Lewis was unquestionably the best player on the team. Whatever small advantages Tommy Pron or Casey Satterfield might have provided at the plate, Lewis made up for by playing one of the hardest positions in the field. He improved his walk totals for a 3rd straight year and now seems to be a much more selective hitter than the "hit everything that moves" guy he was as a prospect. He's slow but come on, he's a catcher. As a fielder, too, he's come into his own: he won the last 2 Gold Gloves, which is more of a sign of the lack of truly great backstops in the AL, but he was just as good this year. Lewis handles pitchers well, doesn't get on the bad side of umpires, and also blocks the plate pretty well, all of which help to make up for an only average throwing arm (average for a catcher! Still great for anyone else!).
Lewis only turned 25 in August and likely has another decade in this league at least. How many All-Star Games will this man play in when all is said and done?
David Mesa
CF No. 30
LL, 6'0" 201 lbs.
Born 1948-05-04
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 IOW AAA | .333 | 7 | 27 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 1971 OAK MLB | .282 | 67 | 252 | 32 | 71 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 16 | 45 | 9 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .231 | 100 | 407 | 46 | 94 | 21 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 23 | 66 | 14 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .259 | 99 | 413 | 47 | 107 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 20 | 57 | 18 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Mesa, a 2nd round pick in the 1971 amateur draft, has already not only risen through the ranks in the Oakland system but has gotten to the point to where he's "established" himself and led the A's to start looking for a better answer in centerfield. Mesa has good speed - he stole 36/40 bases his senior season at LSU - but like his counterpart "Hoss" Hadley he doesn't get on base enough to make that count. Mesa's biggest issue is that he just does not like to allow pitches outside of the strike zone to go past him. He's actually pretty good at laying his bat on the ball, especially balls outside of the zone, considering, but the end result is a lot of soft fly balls into right field. Oh, right: Mesa, in spite of a complete lack of power, also tries to pull everything.
Mesa's a solid centerfielder. He's never going to win a Gold Glove but he won't kill you out there either. Possibly he looks a bit less than "all right" because the A's have a bad habit of surrounding him with guys who don't cover a lot of ground; however, it needs to be remembered that when a ball lands on the right-field side of right-center, even if Mesa is the closest guy to it, it's probably on the right fielder for not getting to that ball before it hits the wall. Mesa killed 14 baserunners in just 97 starts in center last year.
Unfortunately for all the flash Mesa hasn't shown an ability or willingness to work on his obvious offensive flaws and even at the young age of 25 he's probably a "what you see is what you get" guy for this roster.
Tommy Pron
RF/LF No. 9
LR, 6'1" 202 lbs.
Born 1942-08-02
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CLE MLB | .273 | 136 | 494 | 51 | 135 | 13 | 1 | 9 | 48 | 65 | 52 | 0 |
| 1972 CLE MLB | .326 | 141 | 506 | 77 | 165 | 18 | 1 | 16 | 58 | 73 | 51 | 0 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .304 | 138 | 493 | 62 | 150 | 27 | 0 | 12 | 76 | 85 | 41 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
After the A's acquired Pron in late March, the 31 year old outfielder had a good, solid Tommy Pron season, even returning to the All-Star Game for his 4th time and first time since 1969. The 1968 batting champion juuuuust finished in the top 10 in hitting (10th exactly) for the 5th time and the big outfield dimensions at Oakland Coliseum helped him to hit the most doubles he's hit since 1970 (35, also a career high). Pron has some of the best bat control in the league. When he doesn't swing at something you can be almost sure it's a ball. He'd probably hit for more power if he was a bit more selective with what he did swing at but would be a .300 hitter anymore? I'd say no and on top of that his power isn't terrible or anything.
Pron is a liability on defense. Weirdly, since it usually goes the other way around, he's a bigger liability in left than in right because in right he gets to use his cannon of an arm. Last year he only threw out 7 baserunners in 82 RF starts as runners just plain know not to run on him. The A's issue is that their stadium is so, so big that a guy who lacks range and natural speed like Pron is going to be giving up a lot of extra base hits wherever he plays, and for now DH is owned by an even worse fielder in Casey Satterfield. Pron is very slow and hasn't stolen a base since 1969 (when he had 1); he's 0-6 in attempts since then.
Pron provides a good amount of leadership to a clubhouse as well. Although the A's slipped a bit last year they definitely benefitted from his experience and hitting ability.
Bobby Scott
3B/OF No. 35
LR, 5'12" 191 lbs.
Born 1947-12-13
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 ASH AA | .191 | 36 | 110 | 10 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 29 | 0 |
| 1971 TUC AAA | .253 | 71 | 162 | 20 | 41 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 29 | 40 | 32 | 1 |
| 1972 KNO AA | .224 | 34 | 107 | 13 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 27 | 22 | 0 |
| 1972 TUC AAA | .196 | 58 | 51 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 0 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | .253 | 72 | 194 | 26 | 49 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 18 | 22 | 50 | 1 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .300 | 65 | 200 | 30 | 60 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 33 | 34 | 47 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Perhaps the A's found a late bloomer in Bobby Scott? He'd never shown anything like the power he hit for last season and you have to go back to 71 at-bats in short-season A ball in 1970 to find a higher batting average but Scott was legit pretty good in the major leagues last year. Scouts do seem to think that the power increase at least is mostly legit. What may not be legit is his hands. I'm not saying they were great - Scott committed 10 errors in 57 games at 3rd for a .937 fielding average - but they have the reputation of being very stoney, which, .937 is not quite stone.
With this performance and the fact that the A's finally cut bait on Chase Jones (.207, 2, 15) in September, Scott looks like a contender for the starting 3B job or, failing that, something in the outfield.
Jagadguru Rambhadracharya
1B/DH No. 12
LR, 6'1" 200 lbs.
Born 1950-01-12
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 LEW S A | .337 | 72 | 255 | 39 | 86 | 17 | 0 | 5 | 61 | 54 | 60 | 1 |
| 1972 LEW S A | .340 | 77 | 297 | 53 | 101 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 63 | 35 | 47 | 0 |
| 1973 BIR AA | .307 | 54 | 199 | 40 | 61 | 15 | 0 | 7 | 30 | 36 | 24 | 0 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | .330 | 35 | 91 | 10 | 30 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 0 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .227 | 23 | 66 | 11 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
The 23 year old Indian guru climbed through 3 levels of the minors - kind of 5 if you count the fact that he skipped regular A ball and was in short A for all of 1972 - and only stopped hitting when he reached the majors in September. He still did a lot in spite of the low average - a .393 on-base percentage, for one, and good power that capped off a 14 HR season in 356 at-bats. He probably won't hit .300 in the majors anyway but he's still young and could still fill that part of his game in and even if he doesn't he is for now a pretty decent left-handed complement to Alex Canales.
Rambhadracharya is, it should be said, a guy who tends to insist that his methods of physical fitness are the best and that was reportedly something that annoyed his teammates in the minors. As he gets older, perhaps he'll get a bit less... strident. Still, if that's the worst you can say about the guy, he's still looking pretty good to me.
Casey Satterfield
DH/OF No. 39
RR, 5'12" 204 lbs.
Born 1946-02-24
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 STL MLB | .302 | 144 | 526 | 72 | 159 | 30 | 4 | 13 | 70 | 71 | 80 | 2 |
| 1972 STL MLB | .270 | 110 | 440 | 57 | 119 | 14 | 0 | 18 | 56 | 45 | 53 | 0 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .219 | 34 | 128 | 12 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 22 | 0 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .261 | 153 | 579 | 70 | 151 | 26 | 1 | 19 | 82 | 56 | 93 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Although the DH seemed practically tailor-made for the poor fielding Satterfield, it's not without its challenges. The biggest issue is that playing in the field helps you to keep your head in the game an while Casey Satterfield would never admit it, it did seem sometimes like he was a bit detached last year, especially in the last month of the season when the A's weren't doing much more than playing a spoiler role for the Rangers and White Sox. Satterfield hit just .110 in the final month, dropping his average from a respectable .286 to a less than respectable .261.
Although he played just 12 games all year in the field, Satterfield actually set personal highs in games and plate appearances last year, and, thanks to that, RBIs. 82 is still a low-ish total for a cleanup hitter in our book but even the 19 HRs worth of power was by far the best on the team so perhaps it was the park that suppressed the ribbies. Only Tommy Pron and Josh Lewis truly hit better than he did, even with the awful September. Satterfield could probably play left field if he had to but he's very slow and doesn't do anything special in the outfield to make up for that. He's willing to do whatever the A's want him to do though.
Satterfield has a core spot in the middle of the lineup every single day. Hopefully that September isn't a harbinger of things to come...
Alberto Sepulveda
2B/SS No. 15
RR, 6'1" 196 lbs.
Born 1948-08-29
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 STP A | .348 | 6 | 23 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1972 OKC AAA | .293 | 119 | 440 | 57 | 129 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 57 | 38 | 49 | 8 |
| 1973 BIR AA | .141 | 17 | 71 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | .243 | 91 | 333 | 36 | 81 | 13 | 3 | 9 | 32 | 10 | 30 | 3 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .350 | 34 | 103 | 14 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Second base was, shall we say, something of an unsolved position for the A's in 1973. The top two guys on the team in innings - Jon Reid (.242, 7, 49) and Israel Gaytan (.237, 1, 13) were both shipped off to other locales in August and July. That left the A's to aggressively promote Sepulveda, who only celebrated his 25th birthday in August and who started the year, frankly, awful in AA before injuries forced him ot get moved up anyway.
It seems like the most wishful of wishful thinking to think that this guy will hit anywhere near .350 again but scouts do think he has at least above-average contact, his minor league stats from this season notwithstanding. The A's aren't really headed anywhere any time soon; perhaps this is a good opportunity to take a season to see what they have in the Columbian.
Rick Shelton
RHP No. 16
LR, 5'11" 189 lbs.
Born 1940-12-09
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 OAK MLB | 15 | 15 | 0 | 3.71 | 36 | 36 | 6 | 259.1 | 227 | 125 | 107 | 144 | 174 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | 5 | 6 | 1 | 4.43 | 35 | 15 | 0 | 130.0 | 124 | 66 | 64 | 62 | 94 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 11 | 14 | 0 | 4.34 | 33 | 30 | 9 | 215.1 | 223 | 108 | 104 | 77 | 111 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Shelton was the co-leader in wins for the 1969 Seattle Pilots with 10 and look, if I brought that up last year I will probably keep bringing it up until he retires. It's kind of his "thing". Unfortunately, retirement might not be too far off: Shelton was pretty bad last year, bad enough that he got taken out of the rotation in September. As his fortunes fell, so did the A's: he opened the year 4-0, 1.85 in April and immediately fell apart to 1-3, 6.07 in May.
Shelton throws heat and in the past has been able to use that velocity to rack up a lot of strikeouts. His fastball seemed a bit straighter than it's been in the past few years and the results weren't pretty: a K rate that was his lowest since he was put into rotations and a career-high 29 HRs allowed. The one upside, I guess, is that where Shelton has a reputation for being really, really wild sometimes - he even led the league in BBs in 1970 with 141 - his walk rates were pretty close to league average last year.
Shelton's now 32 years old and has pretty clearly established himself as a below average back of the rotation starter. The A's could probably still use his veteran presence but if he can't hitters to miss his pitches or if his control goes bye-bye again, his career could be coming to an end soon.
Cat Stevens
CF/RF No. 29
SR, 6'2" 205 lbs.
Born 1948-07-13
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 LEW S A | .334 | 79 | 302 | 56 | 101 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 44 | 56 | 35 | 25 |
| 1972 LEW S A | .348 | 76 | 319 | 67 | 111 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 48 | 29 | 22 | 24 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | .234 | 48 | 171 | 16 | 40 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 19 | 25 | 5 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .268 | 79 | 276 | 39 | 74 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 32 | 47 | 4 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Even though Stevens and teammate David Mesa are the same age, at this point Stevens is looked upon as the project / potential future star while Mesa seems locked into a "he's our guy for now" role. This in spite of the fact that Stevens actually came out of college a year before Mesa and was even signed for free after a fantastic season at the Angels' Northwest League affiliate in Bend in 1970. What did he say or do to get him that early release? Since he's come to Oakland he's been nothing but a nice guy, if a little overboard with telling people to "come on the peace train", whatever that means. Last year saw an aggressive promotion all the way from short-season A ball to AAA, where the raw numbers don't really tell the whole story. The big league second half numbers tell a better and arguably more accurate one though.
Stevens stole only 4 bases in 11 tries and probably will not ever have true leadoff man speed. That said, he does things that David Mesa and Hoss Hadley simply don't or can't do, namely get on base. Stevens posted a .343 OBP last year, which is "only" above average but looks fantastic compared to those guys. He also has an interesting amount of power for a guy who mostly excels in slapping at the ball and legging out base hits. Defensively he's a stud: in addition to covering a lot of ground in center, like David Mesa he caught a lot of runners as they tried to take extra bases on him: 8 OF assists in just 57 starts in centerfield (he had another 12 starts in the OF corners but somehow didn't record any further assists). Stevens will lay down a bunt to move his fellows along but strangely isn't very good at dropping a good drag bunt to help get himself on base.
You look at a guy with this kind of history and that early cutdown and you think "oh no, he must be a problem". All I can think is, the Angels hate peace and holy rollers. Stevens' lively play is already winning him fans locally.
Frederick Sumaye
OF/2B No. 22
SR, 5'12" 163 lbs.
Born 1950-06-10
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BUR A | .333 | 10 | 33 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 1 |
| 1971 BIR AA | .264 | 51 | 182 | 32 | 48 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 31 | 30 | 33 | 3 |
| 1971 IOW AAA | .185 | 68 | 243 | 30 | 45 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 44 | 53 | 2 |
| 1972 BIR AA | .148 | 8 | 27 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| 1972 IOW AAA | .271 | 124 | 435 | 77 | 118 | 30 | 3 | 25 | 100 | 60 | 109 | 2 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .091 | 5 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | .236 | 75 | 276 | 38 | 65 | 14 | 0 | 15 | 35 | 33 | 46 | 5 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .343 | 20 | 70 | 16 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Sumaye is a young African (Tanzanian) politician who is also a pretty good hitting prospect. He's had some issues with strikeouts, although some of that might be an artifact of being really young for his league (in Iowa in 71 and 72) and still learning the game. His power sure seems for year though, and he had a beastly September that ought to make the A's think about where to put this guy. Sumaye played in 59 games at second base in the minor leagues and in spite of a repuation for having less than great hands he only committed 4 miscues for a .986 fielding average. He can also play in the outfield corners as he did when he got his September cup of coffee.
Sumaye is, well, a prospect. It's easy to project him into 20 HRs, which would be some real power for a middle infielder. One could just as easily project him into going back to his native Tanzania and starting a long career in politics.
Philip Trapasso
LHP No. 26
LL, 6'4" 200 lbs.
Born 1944-03-07
Code:
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 IOW AAA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.97 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 27.1 | 19 | 6 | 6 | 22 | 23 |
| 1971 OAK MLB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1972 IOW AAA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2.25 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 20 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.48 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 59.1 | 41 | 23 | 23 | 36 | 63 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2.35 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 49.2 | 38 | 16 | 13 | 34 | 25 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
Trapasso was wiiiiiiiild last year, sometimes seemingly unable to get any of his pitches over for strikes. Like a lot of wild pitchers, batters couldn't seem to locate his pitches well either and he finished with a really nice .212 opponents' batting average and allowed just 7 out of 36 runners he inherited to score. Trapasso tries to be as much of a lefty specialist as you can have in the early 1970s; he faced lefties around 40% of the time, although paradoxically he managed to get better results out of righties (lefties held an OBP of .388 against him). Ooooh, I just noticed this: he's a knuckleballer. Now it all makes sense!
Trapasso could definitely - maybe should - get a look-see in the rotation even though he doesn't have much experience there. The dancer is a hard pitch to capture and harder to capture when you're only pitching an inning or so every outing.
Brian Wilcox
SS No. 3
RR, 5'10" 190 lbs.
Born 1942-03-15
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 NYM MLB | .230 | 110 | 365 | 36 | 84 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 31 | 31 | 67 | 5 |
| 1972 STL MLB | .182 | 109 | 302 | 24 | 55 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 26 | 29 | 50 | 8 |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .093 | 22 | 43 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 1 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .219 | 132 | 406 | 31 | 89 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 44 | 19 | 78 | 18 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Wilcox was... better last year but "better" was still not very good at least at the plate. It should surprise virtually nobody that the career .212 hitter hit .219 last year, and in later years that has been a very, very empty .219. Thanks to catchers being awful in this league, Wilcox's OPS+ is only the 3rd worst in baseball. What the heck, the bottom 5:
1. Khalil Tabb, C NYY 54
2. Mike Perez, C KC 62
3. Brian Wilcox, SS OAK 63
4. Justin Ramey, SS MIN 64
5. Justin Hearl, CF PIT 66
Most if not all of those guys are in serious jeopardy of losing their job next year, as well they should.
The reason Wilcox stays in the lineup, of course, is the defense. At 31, he's a 5 time Gold Glover who could probably win one in the AL if it wasn't for the reputation of Oniji Handa. He's got the softest of hands, with just 16 errors all year and a .977 FA, and wound up with a +24.7 zone rating at short, which, frankly, is a lot, enough all by itself to turn a replacement level to worse than that bat into a league average player or better. Wilcox is surprisingly not great at laying down the bunt; you'd think with his offensive "abilities" that would be something he works on. He is pretty fast; in spite of just 10 doubles and triples, he actually stole a career high 18 bases last year.
Wilcox is an offensive black hole but is an awwwwfully good defensive player. This is far from the weakest link on this team.
Emanuel Zamarripa
RF/LF No. 15
RL, 6'1" 194 lbs.
Born 1948-03-28
Code:
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl | avg | g | ab | r | h | 2b | 3b | hr | rbi | bb | so | sb |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DEC A | .260 | 37 | 123 | 10 | 32 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 27 | 0 |
| 1971 AMA AA | .235 | 76 | 162 | 9 | 38 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 40 | 1 |
| 1972 AMA AA | .273 | 76 | 183 | 26 | 50 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 37 | 40 | 29 | 2 |
| 1972 PHO AAA | .333 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1973 TUC AAA | .261 | 44 | 115 | 16 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 19 | 23 | 3 |
| 1973 OAK MLB | .289 | 28 | 76 | 8 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 17 | 0 |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
Zamarripa made his major league debut last May and in spite of hitting .289 as a 4th/5th outfielder in June and July he found himself the victim of a numbers game as the A's sent him back down and didn't bring him up in September. Zamarripa is a bit of a "tweener": good speed and power but strikes out too often to hit for a good average, and as a fielder a guy who's best suited for left field or DH. He did hit and got on base at both levels he played at and that's nothing to sneeze at. Zamarripa is also a guy who's worked hard to get to where he is.
It's really hard to project stardom or even a long major league career out of this man but stranger things have happened to guys without his work ethic.