The Around the Horn League (AtHoL)

[luckymann]

AtHoL Champions: San Francisco [3]

League slash line: 264/337/421 (v 257/329/415 in 1959)

League ERA: 4.48 (4.42)

League BABIP: 300 (293)

3BL Champions: Reidsville [1]

2BL Champions: Manchester [1]

1BL Champions: Providence [1]

ELYSIAN MEDAL (MOST VALUABLE PLAYER)

ARCADIAN MEDAL (PITCHER OF THE YEAR)

THREE UP THREE DOWN AWARD (RELIEVER OF THE YEAR)




RISING STAR AWARD (ROOKIE OF THE YEAR)




CHADWICK PLATE (MANAGER OF THE YEAR)

LA: Phil Hensiek, Montreal
KA: Arnold Leon, San Jose


SWING FOR THE FENCES AWARD (SILVER SLUGGER)

Lincoln Association
C: Ernie Lombardi, Cincinnati
1B: Chipper Jones, Chicago
2B: Alex Rodriguez, St. Louis
3B: Jimmy Collins, Dallas
SS: Ernie Banks, Montreal
LF: Ed Swartwood, Oakland
CF: Babe Ruth, Oakland
RF: Henry Aaron, Oakland
DH: Ted Williams, San Francisco


King Association
C: Mickey Cochrane, Montgomery
1B: Joey Votto, Baltimore
2B: Henry Moore, New York
3B: Bill Madlock, New Orleans
SS: Travis Jackson, Seattle
LF: Jake Stenzel, Boston
CF: Sammy Sosa, Philadelphia
RF: Albert Belle, Mobile
DH: Gus Bell, New York


LET'S PLAY TWO AWARD (GOLD GLOVE)

Lincoln Association
P: Andy Messersmith, Houston
C: Buster Posey, Chicago
1B: Felipe Lopez, Dayton
2B: Ian Kinsler, Montreal
3B: Placido Polanco, Indianapolis
SS: Barry Larkin, Houston
LF: Ken Griffey jr, Houston
CF: Bill Lange, Hollywood
RF: Jesse Barfield, Dallas


King Association
P: Matt Cain, Denver
C: Gabby Hartnett, New York
1B: John Olerud, Philadelphia
2B: Charlie Hollocher, Portland
3B: Kelly Gruber, Seattle
SS: Mickey Doolan, Vancouver
LF: Cody Bellinger, Baltimore
CF: Gary Pettis, Raleigh
RF: Richard Hidalgo, Boston

[luckymann]

As we're now entering into the phase where the HoF becomes a consideration, from this point I'll highlight guys who are hanging up the cleats and who'll get some ballot love in five years' time.

Hard to predict the voting patterns, but here are the 30+ JAWS guys to begin with.

And here's the top three from that list in more detail.

Of the three, I see Max as the only viable candidate and will be voting accordingly. He leaves the game its all-time leader in Strikeouts and Games Started, along with high placings in Wins (3rd), Shutouts (3rd), Innings Pitched, and pWAR (4th).

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

The work of getting our house in some semblance of order continues apace. All of the tendered deals I mentioned in my previous missive have been agreed upon and concluded.

We nail down my old mate John Smoltz on a 3/340 deal that hopefully coincides with him getting real good. We also sign FA pitchers Seth Romero (1/25), Chuck Finley (2/50) and Ray Collins (1/36).

And finally, just a couple days before the Draft, we make this deal to get us a quality starting LF or maybe CF, with Dewey switching to RF.

We'll be looking for Jim, who is yet to hit his straps, to do so. He is under TC thru 1962.


Salt Lake City - who now have the 1st overall pick - and Portland are the big winners in the Lottery. We don't get the bump we were looking for, instead we are pushed back a spot from 6 to 7. Still, at least we're not Pensacola.

We go into this Draft with a firm plan and a fairly good idea of what we're looking to gain from it overall. We'll be using early picks for prospects, middle picks for current needs and late picks for farm depth.

It doesn't quite work out that way, as is almost invariably the case. Still...

One of the biggest bats there is comes to Seattle, with the sneaky R3 Billy Pierce pickup up there with my Bresnahan poach of a year ago. And, I know, Woodie Held - couldn't help myself.

As we would have were we in that position, Salt Lake City takes Jimmie Foxx 1st overall. Other R1ers of note include David Cone (Twins, 5th), Anthony Rendon (Cowboys, 6th), Joe Musgrove (Pelicans, 18th) and George Springer (Royals, 24th).

While we've done quite well indeed here, we've hardly serviced any of our immediate needs. I'll be off then, time's a wastin'.

A couple quick points of interest before I go. For a brief moment it looks as if both Vlad and Vlad jr are to be in this Draft, but Junior gets pushed back a year. Meanwhile, in a somewhat strange twist of fate, the Seals hire Frank Charles - whom I have replaced here in Seattle - as GM. He's been busy, re-upping Sheff and trading for Roy Campanella.

[luckymann]

To be perfectly honest, I've been so busy with our stuff I haven't had time to see what the others have been up to. Certainly have been some big names on the move, most of whom have ended up at the big clubs. We'll have a bit of a wander about through the season. For now, I'm just gonna post the screenshots and move on as we've got plenty to cover.

The experts believe our Chandler Band is set to be the tightest race and have picked us to finish bang on 500 and not far away. Won't lie to you - I'd take that right now. They are also predicting my former charges at San Fran will give the all-time season wins mark a look.

A few little settings changes. No more dice-rolling, from here on in we'll simply be following the historical timeline for LTMs. I have ticked TCR up a tad and most likely will again just to keep things interesting. Also, I have removed the restriction on trading Drafted players, as I just felt the ability to do this adds another cool dimension to the game and allows a slow rebuild if one so desires it.

XX leads the prospects list.

And here are the top-rated players:

I mentioned the Babe and Hammerin' Hank playing side-by-side at Oakland and they combined for 93 HR last season. Babe is still heading the rotation but the big question is will the Oaks re-sign Henry, who is in his walk year?

[luckymann]

There's only so much you can consume in one sitting, so I'll just stick to the facts for now and we'll add some colour as we progress.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that we'd grabbed P Rob Gardner and OF Tony Armas (from the Seals, so much for loyalty...) in the Rule 5 Draft.

We sign the following players of note:

• P Johnny Podres 3/96
• P Barry Zito 3/84
• OF Steve Brodie 1/36
• IF Jurickson Profar 1/32
• OF / P Walter Davis 1/26

And make the following trades:

I'd like to be able to tell you the Brown flip was a stroke of left-field genius but, no, I was just really tired and when I woke up the next morning realised he didn't suit us at all, so I moved him on. All's well that end's well!


Given it has been created almost from scratch in roughly six months on a fairly thin budget, this is a pretty nice little squad we've got.

BATS

This is obviously a completely different beast from the one I created at San Fran. There's no Ted Williams here, no Bagpipes, no Sheff or Johnny Val. This is more a middleball type of lineup, meaning we'll be happy to finish mid-rankings across the important stat cats, with the hopeful exception of runs scored.

SHOPPING LIST: A gift voucher will be fine thanks.

BALLS

This very much could go either way. Or many different ways. Or every which way, including loose. What would I know, I'm only the GM?

SHOPPING LIST: Heart medication.

GLOVES

Clearly our strong point, flipping both of my previous tenures on their error-prone, limited-range heads. Opens up plenty of potential for the pitching, with a bit more tolerance for higher WHIPs and the like. Still, there's only 8 of them behind the pitcher, so nothing's guaranteed.

SHOPPING LIST: A well-maintained infield.

WINGS

Look, we could have brought all our fancy new toys out into the lounge room and started playing with them immediately. But, no, that's not how I want to do things. Want, here, being the operative word. At some point ahead of time, we might need to do so. But I hope not, I'd really like to give Vlad, Larry et al a full season at AAA Rochester to get to know each other, get a bit more seasoning, and then unleash them en masse for '62.

POCKETS

You can see from those figures in the top left corner just how disciplined I have been here, with 15% of our budget unspent. That's deliberate - holes will appear for which plugs will need to be procured. And believe me, procure them I shall.

I just want us to make a good account of ourselves and to have a bit of fun this first year. Pride means I want a winning record. Over and above that is in the lap of the gods.

[luckymann]

The first game with me in charge of the Pilots ends in a walkoff loss to CC and the Pelicans.

[luckymann]

[luckymann]

... for game of the season as my former club drops a heartbreaker at home to Boston.

[luckymann]

Won't lie, had never heard of Dick Ross prior to this game - he played for the St. Louis Stars in the mid-1920s NeL.

But boy does the game like him as both a hitter and hurler...

And I've not seen this before: a two-way SP going yard 3 times in a game he's pitching. Very fancy indeed. Despite which, Eddie Rent still gets the headline. There's little justice, if any, in this world.

[luckymann]

Good to have the MiLB seemingly back working well again with the introduction of the fictional IFAs, whom I am promoting manually to A-ball if they are 17 on Opening Day. Interested to see if anything changes when the On-Deck Rookie League starts its season in July. I've set the PCMs in a way that hopefully allows just a trickle of breakout stars and a whole bunch of scrubs and warm bodies.

Anyway, Big Jeff Pfeffer has the season's first no-hitter to his credit, blanking Hot Springs while playing for AA Clarksville.

[luckymann]

It's been a good week across my saves for Mike Easler. He's coming toward the twilight in this one, but shows he's not anywhere near done yet by tearing the Vincennes pitching apart while playing for AAA Richmond. Moreover, it earns him a call-up to the parent club at Fresno.

[luckymann]

Both these freakish athletes find themselves fringe players in this tough league, with this nice touch happening today in the 3BL.

[luckymann]

Yowzers.

We were prepared for some bumps along the way. The first 60 games of the 1961 season have been more like a mid-war thoroughfare in Fallujah. This early section of my Seattle tenure - which, should things continue along this vein, may well constitute the majority of it - will forever be known to posterity as having contained The Skid. Since winning 22 of our first 35, we have gone an oh-so-unseemly 6-19 to sit equal last in our group with a 28-32 record, 7 GB Sacramento. And, as you can see from those metrics, very little has gone anywhere near close to right.

There's been no bad luck or anything - this horror show almost entirely comes down to player performance, which in turn can be seen as the wrong players being on hand. The obvious remedy is to just promote our ace prospects and be done with it, but for mine that would be a grave error that would only compound matters. As a small-budget team still growing into our mid-sized market, ST manipulation is simply an essential part of the strategy if we want to achieve sustainable success. Doby, Vlad and perhaps Sizemore will be here soon enough, no point rushing them.

What we need to be doing is setting up the rest of the squad to be ready for their arrival.

To which end, I make the following moves:

• Waiver claim P John Tudor from Seattle, P Dave Roberts from Detroit and P Lon Warneke from Seattle
• Extend P Mark Gubicza (3/99), OF Jim Wynn (2/100), C Lamar Johnson (1/22), P Dave Stewart (1/23), P Cy Morgan (2/90),
• Trade C Ben Petrick and a 10th-Round pick to San Francisco for P Shane Rawley and OF Paul O'Neill

And then just last night we swing this big trade with the Bears, which in one transaction clears four guys with no future at our club off the books and replaces them with one who certainly - hopefully - does:

Roark was in his walk year and not someone we were interested in keeping. Davis was only ever a rental and had offered little. Romero was just a bad call on my part, thinking his big-time stuff could compensate for his inability to deploy it gainfully (check out those stats...). Gruber had a PO at the end of this year and, while a handy player, was superfluous to our needs given the player on the other side of this trade.

Incoming, Bobby Bo! Selecta!

With just 3.5 bWAR to his name over 3+ seasons, it's not as if BB has found his groove yet. But with him only just starting his arb years and entering his prime, we feel confident he soon will.

Tudor, O'Neill and Rawley all now come up to the big club to fill those vacancies. You'll remember it was me who brought the first two of these to the Seals, and my ardour for each has not diminished. Warrior will be our everyday DH, with John into the rotation straight off. Shane is an underrated southpaw whom I expect will be a real workhorse for us in a swing role. He'll start in the BP.

BATS

Three guys hitting sub-200, most of the rest under 250. At or near the bottom in almost every meaningful stat cat. Nothing short of a train wreck.

BALLS

This is more like a massive fender-bender on an LA cloverleaf. Zito wins his first five and looks unhittable, then becomes extremely hittable virtually overnight, costing him his rotation spot for now. Different setting, same story with the BP as at San Fran. Lots of work needed here, there and everywhere.

GLOVES

I cannot bear thinking where we'd be if we didn't have the defence we do, the IF in particular.

WINGS

Four in the Top 50 is a nice start. Clearly the highest two of those are ready and Sizemore doesn't look far off. Pierce is probably more a '63 arrival.

POCKETS

A stack of room for this group to grow into. Fan interest takes a hit from that trade, but it's a small price to pay in the bigger scheme of things. More moves, inevitably, to come.

[luckymann]

Fascinating to see how v23 treats these NeLers without any meddling from yours truly. And, although we're yet to see any of the really big names come through since I migrated, plenty of these slightly lesser-known guys like Clarence Smith are coming through and, on occasions such as this one, starring.

[luckymann]

The top flight gets its first no-hitter of the season courtesy of Hollywood's Jim Hughes.

[luckymann]

A first for me...

He gets his wish. Meanwhile, we go 2-10 to start July, including 8 straight losses, plunging us to 30-41. When we finally win one, in takes us 18 innings to do so. Bobby Bo's first tater for us proves the difference.

After three straight Championships, I now know the true meaning of from the rooster to the feather-duster and will be most "interested" to hear what the Boss has to say about all this...

[luckymann]

And hot on the heels we get another one, this time involving my former team and one of the all-time greats, in the midst of a great season.

[luckymann]

Apologies, I forgot to post this and all have already signed.

Signed by: Chicago Whales ($156k)




Signed by: Portland Beavers ($202k)




Signed by: Denver Bears ($69k)




Signed by: Montreal Royals ($26k)




Signed by: Hollywood Stars ($49k)

[luckymann]

Players of note among this year's AtHoL MiLB All-Star squads:


3BL (AAA)

Parks Conference

• 1B JT Snow (Temple)
• OF George Springer (Schenectady)
• OF Phil Cavaretta (San Antonio)

Lewis Conference

• C Ameal Brooks (Rochester)
• C Kurt Suzuki (Hagerstown)
• 2B Larry Doby (Rochester)
• OF Vladimir Guerrero (Rochester)
• OF Adam Comorosky (New Haven)

HR Derby winner

George Springer (Schenectady)

ASG result

Lewis Conference 9, Parks Conference 8

ASG MVP

Roy Grimes (Buffalo)


2BL (AA)

Baldwin Conference

• P Ferdie Schupp (Oklahoma City)
• P Al Worthington (Fulton)
• 1B Bruce Caldwell (Tulsa)
• 2B Silvio Garcia (Brownsville)
• 3B Tony Boeckel (Clarksville)
• OF Jim Hicks (Aspen)
• OF Mike Young (Hot Springs)

Morrison Conference

• P John Harper (Troy)
• P Joe Musgrove (Wichita Falls)
• 1B Pancho Herrera (Wichita Falls)
• 1B Scott Stahoviak (Gainesville)
• 2B Jerry Coleman (Texarkana)
• OF Stan Javier (Manchester)
• OF Mike Jorgensen (Jacksonville)

HR Derby winner

Bruce Caldwell (Tulsa)

ASG result

Baldwin Conference 6, Morrison Conference 3

ASG MVP

Mike Young (Hot Springs)


1BL (A)

Bobby Conference

• P Ryan Dempster (Mexicali)
• C Chappie Johnson (Decatur)
• 2B Norm Miller (Redondo Beach)
• 2B Bobby Murcer (Corsicana)
• 2B Bobby Richardson (Fort Myers)
• OF Ken Harrelson (Peoria)
• OF Whitey Platt (Decatur)

Jack Conference

• P Jose Quintana (Port City)
• OF Ken Henderson (Walden)

HR Derby winner

Arismendy Alcantara (Des Moines)

ASG result

Bobby Conference 8, Jack Conference 4

ASG MVP

Mike Lamb (Salinas)