International League/Random Debut League

[David Watts]

What a crazy season 1980 is turning out to be. The Great Lakes Loons had an incredible August clawing their way back into the thick of things in the Northern Division, even passing the Toledo Mud Hens for second place. Then September rolled and the Loons started to scuffle and the wins started coming less frequently. The Loons fell into 3rd place and even worse they saw their hold on the 2nd wild card evaporate as well. The Loons and the Tulsa Drillers finished the season tied for the the 2nd wild card and met in game 163 to decide which team was heading to the post season. Great Lakes collapse continued, as they lost the winner takes all game to the Tulsa Drillers.

Another team that collapsed down the stretch were the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Rattlers were in first place in the Northern Division for most of the second half of the season, but like the Loons, September wasn't kind to them. Dick Donavan still managed to lead the league with 22 victories, but the wins dried up down the stretch. Same goes for Greg Maddux. Maddux was 16-12 at one point, but finished the season 16-15. The Timber Rattlers were able to nab the 1st wild card slot, but could not be happy with their late season slide into second place

The team that benefitted from the Loons and Timber Rattler struggles was hard charging Lansing Lugnuts. Wow did the Lugnuts get hot starting around the midway point of August. They would go something like 39-18 down the stretch and won all 5 of their games in October. Lansing finished the season on a 8 game winning streak passing a struggling Wisconsin team to win the division. The Lugnuts are led by superstar slugger Charlie Keller, who bats cleanup and pretty much drives in every batter that sits on base when he arrives at the plate...sure I'm exaggerating, but not by much

Memphis won the Southern Division rather easily other than their coasting a little bit too much in September.

The post season ended up with a first round of Wisconsin vs Lansing and Tulsa vs Memphis. The wild card Tulsa Drillers would win to take down Memphis, while the Lansing Lugnuts would continue their miracle season by eliminating the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in their best of seven series.

The Lansing Lugnuts are the only member of the original 12 to have never won a League Championship. 34 years without a title. Don't want to jinx them, but that distinction may be ending in 1980, as the Lugnuts are currently up 3 gams to 0 in the championship series. Bobby Lowe has been on fire for in the post season so far, driving in 15 runs and hitting 4 or 5 home runs. Charlie Keller is of course contributing as well

Tulsa's Nap Lajoie won another batting title. I think this make it 4 in a row. Need to check, but the batting titles over the last 11 or 12 years might all belong to Tris Speaker and Lajoie. Their may be a George Sisler title or 2 in the mix as well. Of course, it's time consuming to check this, as OOTP absolutely refuses to expand the awards page beyond the minimalist options of MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Reliever of the year. Such a shame that this has never been expanded(sorry to whine).

I mentioned the struggles of Greg Maddux earlier in the tread. Cedar Rapid's Jacob deGrom suffered the very same fate down the stretch. Same goes for Toledo's Dazzy Vance. I still think all three will finish high in the Cy Young voting and one may even win it, as the three were 1, 2 and 3 in terms or pitcher WAR. Just weird to see all three struggle in the final month.

Bob Gibson struggled big time in 1980. The 38 year old St. Paul Saint lost 20 games. Gibson lost 18 in 1978, but bounced back in 1979 to contend for the Cy Young award. Will be interesting to see if Gibson returns in 1981, or if he calls it quits. Gibson's dominance during the twilight of his career allowed him to build a cushion between his wins and losses, but this 20 loss season saw that cushion shrink. Another poor season in 81 could see him retire as a .500 or less pitcher. Still think he makes the Hall of Fame though, as he's won 220+ games.

The most note worthy member of this years amateur draft list is Ernie Banks. Kind of neat that Banks will be starting his career when Ron Santo is finishing his. Ron had a decent second half in 1980, but still only hit in the .230 range. Only the OOTP gods know if Santo will return for the 81 season at age 35.

Ryne Sandberg had a breakout season for the Tulsa Drillers in 1980 hitting around .330 and contending for the batting title. Sandberg hit in the middle of the lineup for the Drillers benefitting big time from having Lajoie an Roger Freed on base during so many of his at bats.

Nap Lajoie's streak of 8 straight seasons with 100 runs driven in came to an end in 1980. Lajoie finished with 60+ RBI on the season. As the season wore on, the Drillers did hit Lajoie 3rd in the lineup at times helping him increase his final RBI total.

Some cat named George Hogreiver is the new International League single season stolen base king. George led off all season for the Memphis Redbirds and pilfered at least 70 bases if not 80 on the season(I always type this stuff up while on work from memory, so hopefully y'all don't mind that it's not very precise). Ole Hogreiver played a grand total of 123 games over 2 years in the majors, 1895 and 1901. Haven't checked his Wiki page, but based on his Baseball Reference picture, I'm guessing Hog's was probably too busy being a serial lady killer from 1896-1900 to play much big league ball.

Jackson Merrill missed most of the 1st half of 1980 due to injury, but boy did he make his presence known upon his return. Merrill hit well over .300 and drove in runs at a healthy clip for his Great Lakes squad.

Hilton Smith, will you return for another season? I'm hoping so, as the great one still needs a few more wins to become only the 2nd pitcher in International League history to reach 300.

Still waiting to see if Catfish Hunter will ever evolve into a super stud pitcher in a OOTP random debut league. So far, it's a no go, but he's very young, so only time will tell. Hunter was prone to giving up the longball in real life and I've always wondered if that hurts him in OOTP runs. Right now Hunter's only claim to fame in my league is the tantrum he threw in regards to their being another guy, George Metkovich in the league using the Catfish nickname.

[David Watts]

I know I probably drive many of y'all completely nuts with my devotion to all the counting stats, but I don't think that will ever change. One of the things I love most about creating a long running OOTP league is how doing so makes it so darn evident just how long a player has to play to reach many of the statistical milestones. Even 300 home runs isn't something to scoff at during the years of 1946-1992. 200 wins is amazing in itself, but 300 is incredible. I love seeing guys reach the 3000 hit mark. So, I apologize to all for bringing the statistical world back to the stone ages

[David Watts]

Lansing completes the sweep of the Tulsa Drillers to win their first International League title. Edwin Encarnacion takes home MVP honors for the series.

[David Watts]

What a start to the offseason. The Tulsa Drillers just a few days from getting swept in the League Championship Series, pull off a trade that has every baseball fan in the world scratching their head. Tulsa dealt 26 year old Ryne Sandberg to Arkansas for 27 year old LF Curt Motton and 22 year old Doc Martin. Sandberg is coming off a 1980 season in which he hit .332, .364, .513 with 16 home runs and 97 RBI. Not sure what the Drillers were thinking in regards to this deal. Sandberg isn't a free agent till 1984, so it's clearly not a contract thing. Cool thing is this gives Arkansas a double play combo of Ryne Sandberg and 2B and a soon to be 20 year old Alan Trammell at SS.

[David Watts]

Huge year in terms of free agents as well
Eric Davis
Greg Maddux
Hilton Smith--hoping this means he's sticking around for another year.
Charlie Keller

[David Watts]

Joe Kelley calls it quits, retiring with 3234 hits, 348 home runs and 1527 RBI. He also stole 265 bases and scored 1726 runs.

[David Watts]

This years Hall of Fame inductee

[David Watts]

I will be righting these wrongs at some point. Moises Alou and Sam Rice were both dropped from Hall of Fame eligibility. Sorry, but 3000 hits gets you in.

[David Watts]

[David Watts]

What about this one? A year ago the Arkansas Travelers traded Eric Davis to the Biloxi Shuckers for SS Alan Trammell. Davis had a great season for Biloxi in 1980,hitting .302 with 30 home runs, 96 RBI and 35 stolen bases. Well on 01/08/1981 the Arkansas Travelers sign Davis to a 8 year free agent deal totaling $9,280,000. So the Travelers now have a lineup that features Ryne Sandberg at 2B, Alan Trammell as SS, Eric Davis in LF, Barry Bonds in CF and Carlos Santana behind the plate. Davis and Sandberg are the grizzly veterans of the group coming in the ripe old age of 26.

[David Watts]

Greg Maddux(30) signs a 6 year $10,800,000 deal with the Dayton Dragons.

[David Watts]

39 year old Bob Gibson becomes a free agent following the 1980 season and as of the 2nd week of the 1981 season he remains unsigned. Bob went 9-20 in 1980 for the St. Paul Saints. Looks like his career may be over.

Hilton Smith signed on to play for the Great Lakes Loons in 81. Sadly he sustained a injury during Spring Training and will miss at least the first 6 weeks of the season.

Greg Maddux is off to a great start in 81 throwing 18 scoreless innings over his first 2 start for his new team the Dayton Dragons. Jacob deGrom is off to a nice start as well, winning his first 3 starts.

The game fooled me by showing Alan Trammell listed as the starting SS for the Arkansas Travelers during the off season. When the season started Royce Clayton was back at SS for the Travelers and Trammell wasn't even on the active roster. Instead he's sitting on reserve roster.

The Great Lakes Loons are predicted to win 103 games in 81. I'll believe it when I see it.

I inducted Sam Rice and Moises Alou into the Hall of Fame this morning. I like to be 100% hands off, but I'm not going to tolerate 3000 hit players not making the Hall of Fame. Even if there aren't enough injuries in OOTP, 3000 hits is a huge accomplishment in my opinion.

[David Watts]

Took a few seasons, but Early Wynn is starting to roll. Off to a great start in 1981 with a no-hitter tossed in as well.

Dazzy Vance is now 6-0 as we reach mid May.

Greg Maddux is only 3-1, but he's not giving up any runs, so once again his team isn't giving him much support. Dayton is pretty much picking up where Wisconsin left things.

Mark McGwire has 10 home runs to lead the pack so far

Reggie Jefferson just had his 34 game hitting streak snapped. Will have to check, but I think that may be the longest streak in league history.

The St. Paul Saints are in second place in the Northern Division, trailing the Great Lakes Loons. The Saints just activated their huge free agent signee Charlie Keller and he began making his presence known immediately. Keller suffered a oblique strain during Spring training. The Loons have such a potent lineup, barring injuries they will be hard to beat in the north. Home Run Baker, Mark McGwire and Roberto Clemente hitting 3, 4 and 5 in your lineups is darn right scary. Clemente is rolling at .380+ and as of late, he's found his power stroke.

San Antonio currently leads the Southern Division by a slim margin over the Arkansas Travelers. Pete Rose is once again getting a lot of hits and Rusty Staub has now joined him in that regard. The Missions aren't a power packed team by any means, as they only have 7 total home runs after a month and a half of games. In the long run, I wonder if this will hurt them. Arkansas is such a fun team to watch. Sandberg, Davis and Bonds are all rolling. Davis and Bonds could be 30/30 guys by the end of the season. Imagine having that hitting 3 and 4 in your lineup. The Travelers have Sanberg batting leadoff, so Bonds and Davis seem to always have someone on base to drive in.

Tris Speaker is looking like the Tris Speaker of his younger days, hitting .400 over his first 30+ games, His long time team the Peoria Chiefs are playing decent ball to start the season.

After losing Greg Maddux and Paul Petit, both to Dayton the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are struggling in 81. Their record is currently below the.500 mark on the season.

Hilton Smith lacks a week or more barring any set backs before he makes his debut in the Great Lakes Loons rotation. Smith needs 6 victories to reach 300 wins.

Starting to wonder if William Bell will be the next Negro League destined for super stardom in the International League. Bell is off to an incredible start in 1981, sporting an 8-0 record. Looks like 81 will be Bell's first full season on the mound. He's pitched briefly in each of the last 2 seasons.

Of course, I really need to start posting more about Andy Cooper as well. Cooper has been a very good pitcher in this league. Extremely consistent

Probably an obvious reason for this, but why were so many of the Negro League pitchers from the state of Texas? All three that I've mentioned in this post, Andy Cooper, Hilton Smith and William Bell were from Texas. Dave Brown another pitcher from the Negro Leagues is already in my Hall of Fame and he's from Texas as well.

Guessing I could play this league for 200 years and never even come close to running out of players. I don't think I have the stamina to pull that off:

Bob Gibson remains a free agent, as no team has signed him. Heck, sign him and stick him in the bullpen.

Why do I grow to love workhorse pitchers so much? Rick Reuschel who won 250+ games, but lost almost the same amount, is still one of my favorite International League pitchers. More recently I'm starting to really like Bob Friend as well. Something about guys that just go out and take the ball and pitch to decisions earns my love. Of course, this league will never evolve into the fake nonsense we see being called baseball these days. Sure, complete games are down and will continue to decrease till 92, but I will not abide pitchers that crumble upon the 3rd trip through the lineup. That crap is as gross as Lainey Wilson's fake southern accent.

[David Watts]

Sorry double post.

[David Watts]

What a difference a year makes. In 1980 Dick Donovan won a Cy Young award, going 22-6 2.18 with a 0.99 WHIP. He held opponents to .219 average. In 1981 Donovan is 3-13 on July 22nd. Thing is he's won his last 2 starts, so he started his season 1-13.

William Bell is now 14-2, 1.68 on the season. He is tied with Elmer Ponder for wins. Bell's 1.68 ERA is actually second to Greg Maddux's 1.66.

Roberto Clemente leads the league with a .386 batting average.

Mark McGwire is leading the league with 27 home runs. He's also leading all others with 70 RBI.

The Great Lakes Loons are leading the Northern Division by 3 games over the Peoria Chiefs. St. Paul is in third place, 5 games back.

The San Antonio Missions are in first place in the Southern Division, 8 games ahead of the Arkansas Travelers.

Right now, the Arkansas Travelers and the Peoria Chiefs are in line for the 2 wild cards.

Hilton Smith is 3-4 over 11 1981 starts, giving him 297 wins on his career.

[David Watts]

The Race for the batting title in 1981 is going to be a great one. A couple weeks into the Month of August, Nap Lajoie, Roberto Clemente and Tris Speaker are all bunched together with all three hitting in the .360's. Lajoie is the current leader, but all three are so close, the leaderboard can change on a daily basis.

Mark McGwire is running away with the home run race. Mark is up to 37 home runs on the season.

Dazzy Vance has been on a strikeout tear as of late. He's whiffed 10 or more batters in around 7 straight games now.

Almost got to see a no-hitter this morning. Ross Stripling went 8.1 innings before giving up a single to Elijah Dukes. Stripling walked the next batter he faced and was removed from the game, but he did record the victory.

The division races are turning out to be less than dramatic so far in 1981, as the Great Lakes Loons and San Antonio Missions both have 7 game leads in their respective divisions. Maybe we will get a close race for the wild cards.

[David Watts]

08/19/1981 Hilton Smith beats the Biloxi Shuckers to pick up his 300th win. Smith is now 300-202, 2.84 with 3916 strikeouts. Can he get those 84 strikeouts to reach 4000.

Speaking of 4000 strikeouts. Rube Waddell(37) is only 12 shy of reaching 4000. Problem is, he's been relegated to the Cedar Rapids bullpen this season, making only 7 starts. He's pitched a total of 59 innings with 28 strikeouts in 1981.

Only one pitcher has reached 300 wins and that same pitcher is also the only pitcher to reach 4000 strikeouts. Yup it's the great Jose Mendez who finished his career with 338 wins and 4190 strikeouts.

[David Watts]

With the 4th pick of the 1981 draft, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers select 1B Prince Fielder. Pretty cool, as Prince's dad Cecil is also a Timber Rattler. Well, for the time being that is, as he's a free agent following the 82 season. Wonder if they will trade Cecil away for prospects?

[David Watts]

Ad to the Hall of Fame

[David Watts]

Mendez joins the Hall as well.