Ruben "Streak" Souffront and the Denver Brewers

[BirdWatcher]

Denver Brewers July 1967 Team Report:

The Brewers go 15-14 in an up and down month but at least end the month by winning 4 of 6. They did have a nice month against old rivals, Los Angeles Spinners, as the Brewers took 4 of 5 from the reigning (but on the wane) MGL champs.
The Brewers continue to be at the top of the league in Stolen Bases and bullpen ERA. They are currently 3rd in defensive efficiency and 4th in team ERA. They are middle of the pack in categories like runs allowed and team batting average. Unfortunately, they are 7th in runs scored, 8th in offensive bases on balls, and 9th in offensive HR's.

Who's Hoppy?
Top 5 in WAR at this point:
1- Chad Brown, 4.3 WAR. The young shortstop Brown (.323/.351/.414) continues to have a wonderful season and is now 6th in the MGL in batting average, 3rd in hits, tied for 1st in triples (8), as well as second among MGL shortstops in range and zone rating. He has had a little error proneness lately and has now committed 19 on the season, but this is still a marked improvement over his first two seasons. Brown has also hit 19 doubles, has struck out only 19 times while walking 18 times. He does have 8 stolen bases but has unfortunately been caught stealing 12 times.

2- Antonio Puente, 3.6 WAR. Puente got hot late in the month of July and now has 15 doubles, 2 triples, and 16 HR's and has driven in 60 runs. Puente (.263/.341/.471) also plays excellent defensive leftfield (4th in Range and ZR and 2nd in defensive efficiency) and has stolen 7 bases while being caught trying 3 times.

3- Tanner Yurek, 3.6 WAR. Like Puente, Yurek (.265/.339/.458) has been hot lately and especially with the longball. Yurek now has 13 HR's to go with 19 doubles and 1 triple. He has driven in 45 runs. He also has 4 stolen bases and hasn't been caught trying to steal yet this season.

4- Daniel Torres, 2.6 WAR. Lefty Torres has taken over (just barely) from Steve Alonso as the best starter on the staff this season. Torres (9-4, 2.45) has held opponents to a .183 batting average (best in the league), has a WHIP of 1.05, has recorded 104 strikeouts while walking 54 batters and has a fine FIP of 2.84.

5- Ruben Souffront, 2.6 WAR. Ruben (.319/.336/.421) has fallen into a bit of a cold spell at the plate the past few weeks, but is still having a fine season. He has 14 doubles, 7 triples (tied for 4th in league), 3 HR's, 40 RBI and he leads all of the WPK in stolen bases at 32 (he has been caught 12 times.)

Who's Hungover?
Bottom 5 in WAR:
1- Hector Uribe, -0.7 WAR. The fine fielding thirdbaseman Uribe has struggled mightily at the plate most of the season. Uribe (.159/.214/.186) has 3 doubles but no other extra base hits and has struck out 28 times while walking just 9 times.

2- Armando Cruz, -0.5. The young flame-throwing reliever Cruz (0-4, 8 svs, 4.26) continues to have an inconsistent season but is still thought of highly by the organizational brain-trust. He continues to strike out batters at a good rate 10.2/9 IP but needs to cut down on his walks (5.4/9) and HR's (1.4/9) a bit and he will become a valuable member of the pen again.

3- Tony Silmon, -0.4. Backup catcher Silmon (.156/.188/.246) has been a bit hot at the plate lately and continues to be a solid defender (though somewhat weak armed). He does now have 2 doubles and 3 HR's on the year, though he has walked only 5 times while striking out 21 times.

4- Jose Bravo, -0.2. Utility-man Bravo (.164/.225/.246) is a fine defender and a strong runner (though this season his 3 stolen bases are eclipsed by his 4 times caught trying) but continues to show no potential at the plate. The time may soon come when the organization has a tough decision to make about whether his defense and versatility really compensate for his poor plate skills.

5- Bobby Erbakan, -0.2. Young top prospect Erbakan (.178/.213/.333) looks quite over-matched at the big league level thus far, at the plate at least. He does provide excellent defense at firstbase and has played centerfield well enough in his few opportunities there and he has shown some of his extra-base power potential (2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR- among his 8 hits). The team will be monitoring his progress closely to see if a return to AAA for more seasoning is called for.

What's Brewing Around the League: The two-time reigning WPK champs, Jacksonville, continue to lead the SJL with a record of 64-39. In second is Philadelphia at 59-43, 4 1/2 games behind. Washington holds 3rd place at 64-46, 5 gb. The MGL continues to witness the rise of the Portland Wild Things who are now 67-39 and 6 games ahead of their nearest challengers, the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings who have a 60-44 record. Phoenix is in 3rd at 59-44, 6 1/2 games off the pace.
Young Jacksonville star Travis Johnson is once again leading the world in batting average at .383. Former Brewer Mark Compton leads all of the WPK in RBI with 77 and is tied with Baltimore slugger Bob Hernandez in HR's with 27.
Among pitchers, Charlotte's Jaime Schardein once again shines bright, leading in wins at 16 and strikeouts with 168, and sporting a solid 2.31 ERA, all in spite of playing for a very sub-par team. Phoenix' workhorse reliever Pat Brooks leads the WPK in ERA at 1.81 and has an 11-3 record with 11 saves.

The Streak Souffront Saga: As mentioned above, Ruben has been in a bit of slump lately but is still having a fine season. He has dropped to 8th in the MGL in batting average but continues to play fine defense in rightfield and run the bases with strength and determination. Ruben is doing fine. The future looks bright.

Brewers' Power Ranking: #14 (#1 JAC, #2 POR, #3 OKC, #4 WAS, #5 PHO)
Brewers' Record: 53-54, .495, 6th place in MGL, 14 1/2 gb POR.

[BirdWatcher]

Crazy, back-and-forth, high scoring game with L.A. in which Sam Rogers hits the walk-off 11th inning HR to win it (after the Brewers had tied it with 2 runs scored in the bottom of the 9th. Late inning heroics have been strong with this team lately.
Though it would be nice if we won a few a bit more easily.

[BirdWatcher]

Big blow today for the first place Portland Wild Things as they lose the ace of their staff, Edward Wang, to a season ending elbow injury. It will be interesting to see how this affects their ability to hold on to the top spot in the MGL.

[BirdWatcher]

I'm starting to believe that the most frustrating part of a rebuilding phase isn't when your team is at the bottom and playing a lot of unproven youngsters, hoping a few of them will catch fire, and losing by a convincing margin fairly consistently. The most frustrating part, I am now starting to realize, is when your team actually starts to look like they are coming together as planned, but just can't quite get over the hump. When some of the young players you were counting on really do start to develop into solid players and even stars (in this case, see Chad Brown and Ruben Souffront, for examples) and when the aspects of your team you have been trying to shore up do start to show demonstrable improvements (in this case, the bullpen, team defense, and stolen base efficiency). And yet, it seems like things generally don't break right for your team. You are in almost every game, and many of them look like wins until, well, they aren't.
This is what the Brewers have been experiencing lately. Case in point- the just completed four-game series against the Baltimore Lords on the road. The Brewers led 3-1 going into the bottom of the 7th in game 1, only to lose 6-4. Game 2 saw the Brewers jump out to an early lead again, scoring 2 runs in the 1st inning. And then no more. Baltimore wins 3-2. Game 3 was the most heartbreaking. Again the Brewers plated 2 in the first. Again, Baltimore came back but this time they only managed to tie the game up and we went into extra frames. And inning after inning passed without either bullpen breaking. Until the Brewers managed to put a run on the board in the top of the 15th largely thanks to a Baltimore error. But, of course, the Lords matched that in the bottom of the frame and walked it off in the bottom of the 16th to take the game 4-3. So guess what the Brewers did in the first inning of Game 4? Yup, that's right. They scored a pair of runs. And guess what they did after that? Yup, they stopped scoring and lost 4-2.
Aaaaarrrrgh!
Sometimes it is just so painful to watch your team when they are possibly on the verge of being good but just can't cross over into winning territory. And knowing that, with an aging and increasingly more problematic starting pitching staff, they might never. (Or not anytime soon, anyway.)

[BirdWatcher]

And yet another great case-in-point: Game 1 in a home series against the last-place Detroit Falcons (who have admittedly had our number this year) and the Brewers once again relinquish a 2-0 lead and then see former Brewer Justin Schumann, hardly a great hitter, collect a two-out clutch double in the top of the 9th against one of the Brewers finest relievers (David Brown) and the Brewers go out meekly in the bottom of the 9th for their 5th straight loss.
So. Very. Frustrating!

[BirdWatcher]

Well, I will say this for Tanner Yurek- and it might help explain why is such a fan favorite- he certainly does have a knack for the walk-off HR.
If I remember correctly, this is at least his third of the season. And much needed as the Brewers are going through a really rough patch that has management worried that a winning record is a pipe dream.
(Rumors are that several veteran players, including recently acquired firstbaseman Aaron Fuller, who has been a major disappointment since joining the club, are being actively shopped around. Also, indications are that veteran starting pitcher Jeff Burdick, whose 1968 contract hinges on him throwing 180 innings, is being skipped over in the rotation with regularity to insure that he does not reach that mark. Another veteran starter, Jason Lawson, has a player option for next season and the thought is that the club won't be at all unhappy if he exercises it, even though it is unclear who will round out the rotation in '68 if both he and Burdick are gone.
On the other hand, the club seems to have decided to let the kids play, especially centerfielder Pat Rondeau. Although Rondeau (.265/.295/.356) has seen his offensive numbers plunge since mid-season, he continues to be a superb defender and base-stealer (21 steals, only 3 CS) and has shown signs of getting hot with the bat again of late, even while playing against lefthanders, against whom he is theoretically weaker. Bobby Erbakan was recently returned to AAA for a bit more seasoning and Tom O'Donnell brought back up to the active roster. But once September rolls around Erbakan will likely get plenty of chances to play firstbase and in the outfield a bit. At this point there are no expectations of the Brewers getting into contention this year so the thought is that they might as well let the youngsters get some experience as they will be counted in to help turn the ship around in the next few seasons.)

[BirdWatcher]

With plenty of bad news right now for the Brewers, at least in terms of the outcome that matters most- winning games- what about good news?
And, you might ask, what about Ruben "Streak" Souffront?
Well, I'm happy to report that Ruben is one of the rays of light indeed in these dark times for the Brewers.
Even in the midst of this current downturn which has the Brewers now 7 games under .500, Ruben just keeps rolling along.
He is 4th in batting average in the MGL at .324, easily 1st in stolen bases at 37 (with 13 times caught stealing), he has 17 doubles, 7 triples, and 6 HR's and has been showing some signs of increasing power of late, and he continues to play above average defense in rightfield (though he is a bit error prone) and has 9 outfield assists.
Any talk from earlier in the season questioning whether Ruben is capable of being a major league starter is now a distant memory. He is our rightfielder and is solidly entrenched in the middle of our batting order. He is one of the rocks upon which the Brewers intend to build the foundation for a winning future. (Along with Chad Brown, Antonio Puente, Tanner Yurek, and likely Pat Rondeau. And hopefully Bobby Erbakan.)

[BirdWatcher]

There has been a bit of a pause in the action as I decided to take a little tour of the league as we approach the last month of the 1967 season. Mostly, I wanted to get a better feel for what teams were looking like in terms of current major league rosters, aging, and injury propensity. As the season progresses and maybe especially once we enter the off-season I may come back to this and share some of the conclusions I made and trends observed.
For now just a few notes on that subject:
The Jacksonville Wolf Pack, who are now two-time reigning WPK champs, don't look like they are going anywhere soon. They are not only talented but their best players are mostly young or just now in their prime and not showing any obvious injury proneness. This looks like a dynasty that could last awhile.
On the other hand, the current doormats of the SJL- the El Paso Dawgs- are old, untalented, and/or fragile. The few talented players they have likely don't have much left in the tank. This could be a tough ship to turn around. Dawgs fans might be in for years of disappointment.

Looking at this led my brain to another place, one that many of you might find morbid. It occurred to me that immersion in this fictional baseball universe would be even greater if there was some way to acknowledge the passing of former players. That for me it would be interesting to see which former players might go on to live long lives and which might be taken prematurely. Now, I have no interest in going all J. Henry Waugh and killing off current players, but nobody lives forever, even fictional ballplayers. Plus the news of the passing of a former player is often a good reminder to look back at what they did during their career as a professional baseball player. And, sometimes at least, gives some clues as to what happened in their lives post-career.
So, similar to the method I built to identify and create players who are relatives of WPK players, I have spent the past few days creating (still putting some finishing touches on this) a method of identifying annual lists of former WPK players who will pass away soon (with dates of death and cause of death). This is something that will be triggered at the beginning of the WPK universe year (January 1st in the game, in other words) and will identify former players who will die during that calendar year. These deaths, when they are for significant players or are compelling stories, will be shared when they occur during that year. It will offer an opportunity to further flesh out this world and also to link current WPK events to the WPK past. (Not much past yet, and all the retired players are under 45 years old so likely not many deaths to report on for awhile. The system does have built into it the possibility of younger former players passing away, but surely at far lower rates than older players. It will be some time before this process is really in full swing. But it will be very fun to see what former players might make it well into their 90's and hopefully there will be at least a few centenarians eventually.)

[BirdWatcher]

Pretty nice game for Zack Banks who saved the best for last as he hit a two-out triple in the bottom of the 12th inning and then proceeded to score the winning run on a wild pitch. With the tight extra-inning win the Brewers manage to edge out the lowly Charlotte Sting 3-2 in their five game series (including back-to-back doubleheaders). It wasn't easy and it wasn't always pretty but it could have ended worse.

[BirdWatcher]

Nashville outfielder Andrew Kennedy continues to tear the cover off the ball at the AA level, as he has at pretty much every level he has played thus far in his young career. Although Kennedy is not considered a top prospect, he is proving himself to be a very dangerous hitter and appears to be leapfrogging ahead of several other Brewer's outfield farmhands. There is even some talk that the young man may receive a September call-up to the bigs this season, though most consider this unlikely and premature. But even they concede that it won't be surprising at all to see him in a Brewer's uniform before the end of the 1968 campaign.
Plus, Kennedy is gaining a reputation as a great influence in the clubhouse and this has also elevated him in the eyes of the Brewer's brain trust.

[BirdWatcher]

On the one hand I'm just thrilled that the Brewers held on in this one to get a 3-game sweep of the Brooklyn Aces on the road. On the other hand, I'm a bit mystified by the news report giving Pat Rondeau credit for a key bases-clearing strikeout in the top of the sixth. Now, if you replace the word strikeout with the words, 3-run opposite field homerun, then yes, it makes perfect sense. And an opposite field 3-run HR is exactly what young Mr. Rondeau provided the team at that most important juncture of the game. While continuing to provide tremendous defense at all three outfield positions and speed on the base-paths.
Hey, have I mentioned lately how much I love this kid Rondeau?

[BirdWatcher]

Then, on another other hand, (hey, where did this third hand come from?), the game also saw the team lose one of their frontline starters- Steve Alonso- for the rest of the season when he suffered a strained forearm.

[BirdWatcher]

Denver Brewers August 1967 Team Report:

The Brewers go 14-15 in August. It is tale of two halves as they struggle the first half of the month and are 3-8 through the 15th but then are much better the second half and record 11 wins and 8 losses the rest of the month.
At the end of August the Brewers remain #1 in the MGL in stolen bases, are 3rd in bullpen ERA, 4th in defensive efficiency (they have been quite error prone of late), are middle-of-the-pack (5th) in runs scored, OBP, team batting average, and runs against. Their starter ERA ranks 6th while they are 8th in team HR's.

Who's Hoppy? Top 5 in WAR:
1- Tanner Yurek, 5.0 WAR. Yurek (274/.342/.460), the Brewers' secondbaseman, has been catching up to Antonio Puente for the team HR lead. Tanner now has 17 HR's along with 24 doubles and 2 triples. He has driven in 55 runs and scored 59. He also has swiped 8 bases while not being caught once yet this season.
2- Antonio Puente, 4.9 WAR. Leftfielder Puente (.261/.342/.485) is having a bit of an off year at the plate and finishes August with just 23 HR's to go along with 19 doubles and 2 triples. Puente does remain a very gifted fielder who has also provided plus defense in rightfield on occasion, and he has driven in 87 runs, scored 56, and has 10 stolen bases with only 3 times caught stealing.
3- Chad Brown, 4.8 WAR. Twenty-one year old shortstop Brown (.313/.344/.392) continues to have a break-out season, both at the plate and in the field. Brown finishes August with 23 doubles, 8 triples, and 1 HR thus far on the season. He has driven in 42 while scoring 69 times. Although he has also stolen 14 bases that is offset by the 14 times he has been caught trying.
4- Ruben Souffront, 4.0 WAR. Young rightfielder Souffront (.319/.347/.434) also continues his strong 1967 campaign. Souffront has collected 19 doubles, 7 triples, and 7 HR's, leading to 53 RBI and 60 runs scored. He is first in the MGL in stolen bases at 38 and has been caught trying to steal 14 times.
5- Daniel Torres, 3.6 WAR. At this point lefty Torres (10-6, 2.56) has emerged as the staff ace. Torres has held opponents to a .195 batting average and has produced a 1.07 WHIP. He has struck out 131 batters while walking 62 (control is his primary issue.) He has a solid 2.72 FIP.

Who's Hungover? Bottom 5 in WAR
1- Tom O'Donnell, -0.6 WAR. The young leftfielder has bounced back and forth from AAA Chester to the Brewers, and while he has hit the cover off the ball at Chester he has struggled mightily at the plate at the big league level this season. O'Donnell (.175/.239/200) is a poor defensive outfielder and his value is primarily in his hitting and running abilities, and with him not hitting and not getting on base he really has provided no value to the team whatsoever this season.
2- Armando Cruz, -0.6 WAR. The young fire-throwing righty reliever has had much better results of late and should be a valuable member of the pen going forward. Cruz (1-5-9, 3.80) has put up a 1.36 WHIP and 4.09 FIP but has also only allowed a .226 batting average to opponents. Cruz only needs to improve his control a bit to be a valued reliever (43K, 24 BB).
3- Jose Bravo, -0.4 WAR. Great fielding utility-man Bravo (.165/.223/.250) continues his season-long struggles at the plate.
4- Kyle Green -0.4 WAR. Green (1-1,2.60) has bounced back and forth between AAA and the Brewers and really hasn't had much chance yet to prove himself. He has put up a very poor 2.40 WHIP and allowed opponents to hit at a .359 clip, but again, all of this is in a very small sample size.
5- Tony Silmon, -0.2 WAR. Backup catcher Silmon (.171/.213/.267) has been playing a bit better of late and does provide very solid defense behind the plate (though he is weak armed). There is talk that they team will be looking for an upgrade at back-up next season, but if they can't locate one Silmon could still prove useful given time to develop.

What's Brewing Around the League? In the Shoeless Joe League, the Jacksonville Wolf Pack remain at the top of the pack though not by much. Jacksonville is 82-83 while the second place Philadelphia Mud Hens are 2 1/2 games behind at 79-55. In third place is the Washington Night Train at 79-57 (3 1/2 gb). The Moonlight Graham League continues to see Portland dominate. They are now 83-52 and have an 8 game lead on Oklahoma City (74-59) and are 9 1/2 up on Phoenix and Baltimore (both are 73-61.)
Travis Johnson of Jacksonville once again leads all of the WPK in batting average at .388. Former Brewer Mark Compton (L.A.) is leading in HR's and RBI at 42 and 103 respectively. Jaime Schardein (Charlotte) remains the winningest pitcher in the WPK at 19, in spite of playing for an also-ran. He also leads in strikeouts at 204. Jake Harris (Columbus) has the best ERA (1.77.)

The Streak Souffront Saga: See Who's Hoppy above. Ruben is now 7th in the MGL in batting average and remains in first in stolen bases (though also tied for 3rd in caught stealing.)

Brewers' Power Ranking: #12 (#1 JAC, #2 POR, #3 WAS, #4 PHO, #5 PIT.)
Brewers' Record: 67-69, .493, 7th place MGL, 16 1/2 gb POR.

[BirdWatcher]

Tanner Yurek does it again and this time his walk-off HR is a grand slam that breaks a 2-2 tie with Brooklyn in the 12th inning.

[BirdWatcher]

But in spite of the dramatic win the Brewers are once again on the outside looking in with regards to the post-season.

[BirdWatcher]

A little late-season clubhouse drama hits the Brewers. Young outfielder Tom O'Donnell, known for his high work ethic and fiery spirit (Sparkplug) calls out Erik Shelton, with whom he came up in the Brewers farm system, for his lack of effort (Shelton is Unmotivated). It has created a tricky situation for management as O'Donnell, in spite of all of his efforts, has been a minus on the field for the Brewers whereas Shelton, although experiencing an offensive downturn this season, provides solid defense and versatility (1B and outfield) and is expected to continue to have a role on the team in 1968. O'Donnell may not be around next season with the emergence of better outfield options. Still, given Shelton's violent reaction, a message does need to be sent that this behavior will not be tolerated. (Three options for response were to release Shelton, to suspend him for 5 games, or to do nothing. I chose to suspend him for 5 games as releasing him wasn't an option at this point and it seemed doing nothing might be a bad idea.)

Interestingly, in spite of this minor kerfuffle, all indications are that the Brewer's clubhouse, even with the team having been eliminated from contention, is quite happy (Ecstatic). Captain Sam Rogers provides great leadership and it is generally a group of solid characters.

[BirdWatcher]

And with a two-game sweep of the L.A. Spinners the Brewers return to .500.
The big hit of this game came off the bat of thirdbaseman Hector Uribe- a two-run double in the bottom of the 8th to break a 0-0 tie.
Hector has been on fire the past month or more. In fact, oddly since a scouting report came out lowering expectations about his hitting ability (contact when down from 6 to 5) he has been hitting much better. And he has always been a well-above average defensive thirdbaseman.
While there are rumors that the team might be looking at the possibility of targeting a power-hitting thirdbaseman in the off-season, Uribe seems to be building a solid case to deserves an important role on next year's club.

[BirdWatcher]

Ah, more journalistic zaniness! Puente came up with a big two-run walk in the bottom of the fourth? If by walk you mean, he hit the ball into the seats and then walked around the bases at a medium-paced clip. Then yes, that's about right.

[BirdWatcher]

Well, I guess we won't be facing this great hitter the rest of the series against Phoenix.

In other news around the league, talented young Jacksonville centerfielder Mike Mansaray once again has a season shortened by injury.

[BirdWatcher]

Well, not quite sure what to make of this as team chemistry seems to still be terrific and we have now won 5 games in a row.
Maybe the team needed a little controversy to give it a bit of a spark?