International League/Random Debut League

[LansdowneSt]

Enjoying the thread. I’ll take care of Mr. Langford in the next edition.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by LansdowneSt

Enjoying the thread. I’ll take care of Mr. Langford in the next edition.

Having a blast, but I do think the Negro League pitchers need to be toned down some as a whole. Brown, McDonald, Mendez are sure fire hall of famers. Hilton Smith is well on his way to the Hall. Lankford, would be a sure thing, but his career may be too short to qualify. Then again, I'm by far not a historian, so maybe these guys really would dominate. Question, is recalc run on these players, or are they operating on a more development engine basis?

Oh and Rube Waddell whiffed 393 batters in 1967. He's on pace for 365 in 1968.

Again, having a blast.

[LansdowneSt]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Having a blast, but I do think the Negro League pitchers need to be toned down some as a whole. Brown, McDonald, Mendez are sure fire hall of famers. Hilton Smith is well on his way to the Hall. Lankford, would be a sure thing, but his career may be too short to qualify. Then again, I'm by far not a historian, so maybe these guys really would dominate. Question, is recalc run on these players, or are they operating on a more development engine basis?

Oh and Rube Waddell whiffed 393 batters in 1967. He's on pace for 365 in 1968.

Again, having a blast.

So, the MLEs that were the basis for these guys (done by Eric Chalek) had a ton of work put into them to contextualize things like WAA ... that OOTP doesn't directly care about. In e-mail exchanges with Garlon, Eric expressed more confidence in the WAA analysis and resulting ERAs and such than the traditional stats. In fact, he latest version of the MLEs did not publish any of the traditional stats like HR/BB/K that OOTP needs. I'm reworking the MLEs for a revised mod as we speak and while still in a draft form, my model is far more focused on adding context to these traditional stats that feed OOTP while ensuring the results are consistent with the WAA, WAR and other more analytical metrics derived by Eric. So, the next version will be done much less in the abstract and much more with the OOTP-specific translation in mind.

As to recalc, they recalc in RD until they run out of MLE stats and then the development engine takes over with RAH off. Without calling up the MLE files themselves and just looking at my dashboard in Excel for ease, Eric's Lankford had a career K/BB ratio of 1.51 (compared to my initial redo of 1.18). Eric's K/9 rate looks like a spreadsheet error as it is 5.21 which is, for the era, very high. The engine gets a hold of that, TCR and age don't knock it down... well, there ya go.

As for Mendez, Eric had a career K/BB of 1.83 and mine came in at 1.37 for his career - still great but not obscene. Webster McDonald was at 1.41 career K/BB with Eric's calculations and my new one looks to be 1.21. For Dave Brown, whose career was cut short by legal issues, Eric had him at a career K/BB of 1.30 but mine only came in at 1.09. As for Hilton Smith, he is a legit HOF'er in real life so I had no issue when my version clocked at 1.34 K/BB versus a career 1.18 from Eric. They are also compilers since Eric had them debut early (as they did) and stick around forever (because they did).

The interesting thing is after pushing 291,866 IP of MLEs through the new model, it has their combined aggregated K/BB at 1.08 .... which is nearly exactly what Eric's is (1.06) for the same group of players. My K/9 is 3.07 and his 3.04 and my BB/9 is 2.84 and his is 2.87. Mine just distribute differently and (so far) imho, better.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by LansdowneSt

So, the MLEs that were the basis for these guys (done by Eric Chalek) had a ton of work put into them to contextualize things like WAA ... that OOTP doesn't directly care about. In e-mail exchanges with Garlon, Eric expressed more confidence in the WAA analysis and resulting ERAs and such than the traditional stats. In fact, he latest version of the MLEs did not publish any of the traditional stats like HR/BB/K that OOTP needs. I'm reworking the MLEs for a revised mod as we speak and while still in a draft form, my model is far more focused on adding context to these traditional stats that feed OOTP while ensuring the results are consistent with the WAA, WAR and other more analytical metrics derived by Eric. So, the next version will be done much less in the abstract and much more with the OOTP-specific translation in mind.

As to recalc, they recalc in RD until they run out of MLE stats and then the development engine takes over with RAH off. Without calling up the MLE files themselves and just looking at my dashboard in Excel for ease, Eric's Lankford had a career K/BB ratio of 1.51 (compared to my initial redo of 1.18). Eric's K/9 rate looks like a spreadsheet error as it is 5.21 which is, for the era, very high. The engine gets a hold of that, TCR and age don't knock it down... well, there ya go.

As for Mendez, Eric had a career K/BB of 1.83 and mine came in at 1.37 for his career - still great but not obscene. Webster McDonald was at 1.41 career K/BB with Eric's calculations and my new one looks to be 1.21. For Dave Brown, whose career was cut short by legal issues, Eric had him at a career K/BB of 1.30 but mine only came in at 1.09. As for Hilton Smith, he is a legit HOF'er in real life so I had no issue when my version clocked at 1.34 K/BB versus a career 1.18 from Eric. They are also compilers since Eric had them debut early (as they did) and stick around forever (because they did).

The interesting thing is after pushing 291,866 IP of MLEs through the new model, it has their combined aggregated K/BB at 1.08 .... which is nearly exactly what Eric's is (1.06) for the same group of players. My K/9 is 3.07 and his 3.04 and my BB/9 is 2.84 and his is 2.87. Mine just distribute differently and (so far) imho, better.

The reason I asked about recalc is due to none of these players having any stats listed on their real stats page. Wondered if that meant they were rolling strictly on a rating/development path. Glad to hear recalc is being used.

In the end, having these guys dominate might be actually adding to my enjoyment, as I look forward to seeing how special each of their careers turns out to be. Crazy thing is Mendez has kind of taken a back seat to Hilton Smith and Lankford over the last several seasons. That being said, Mendez is still in his early 30's and has a serious shot at reaching 300 wins. Meanwhile, a new guy from the Negro League ranks is bursting onto the scene....Ted Trent just rapped up his 2nd full season in the International League and looks like he going to be a great pitcher as well.

[David Watts]

Wrapped up the 1968 regular season this morning before heading off to work. As expected pitching completely dominated the 1968 season.

The Southern Division continues to be where the pennant races roam, as things once again went down to the final Sunday of the season. After a very long draught the once mighty Memphis Redbirds burst back on the scene managing to hold off the Birmingham Barons and the San Antonio Missions to win the division. Birmingham and San Antonio would finish the season with identical 90-72 records, notching the two available wild cards. The Dayton Dragons struggled during the last week of the season, finishing 89-73. So close, but the Dragons once again miss the playoffs. Interesting note in regards to Memphis and San Antonio. San Antonio began the 68 season with both Hilton Smith and Ad Lankford in their starting rotation. These two studs, sat in the top 3 on the ERA leadboard to at the end of 1968. Guessing Smith is a soon to be free agent, as that's the only reason I can see for the Missions to deal him away. Why they would do so to division rival in the midst of a pennant race is beyond me. That being said, it made things interesting, so I'm not complaining.

John Beckwith won his 3rd home run title in a row, finishing with 42 home runs. Beckwith held off a late season power surge from Sammy Sosa to take home the home run title. John has now hit 143 balls over the fence during the last 3 seasons.

Tris Speaker was crowned the International League batting champion in 1968. Speaker has now won that title 2 times over his first 5 seasons in the league. He won the title in 66, was in the running in 67 and led the league once again 1968.

One thing that shocked me in 68 is, pitching as a whole dominated in a huge way, so I expected to see a starter or two notch 25 or more wins. Not the case at all with 21 being the most wins by a starting pitcher on the season.

The Tulsa Drillers that were able to add George Sisler to their squad in last years amateur draft. They will once again be picking 1st in this years draft. Will be interesting to see the players available for the taking. Hankering for a Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, Josh Gibson or on the pitching side a Bob Feller, Walter Johnson or Greg Maddux.

1968 will not feature a team winning their first league championship like 1966 and 67 did. I'm picking Memphis or Peoria to win it all, but I'm kind of pulling for Mel Ott and Birmingham to win it all. It would be cool to see Ott notch another ring, before he rides off into the sunset. If Ott has a good post season power wise, he may cement his hold on most post season home runs for eternity. Ott already has 20 career post season home runs. Would be cool to see him add to that total.

Earlier I mentioned a little know pitcher named Scott Brown that's emerged as a relief pitching super star in the International league. Well, Browns prowess continues. Problem is, it really does appear that he's simply repeating the same season over and over again. I have my TCR set to 130, but it really does look like at time guys like this will dominate until they finally take a hit from the OOTP gods. Maybe for my next random, I will crank the TCR up to 200. I'm using VERY HIGH for injuries and as a whole feel guys still aren't missing enough time to injuries. Maybe like injuries, maxing TCR out is the way to go.

[David Watts]

Peoria has jumped out to a 3 games to 0 lead in their best of seven against the San Antonio Missions. Peoria won the first two games of the series in walk off fashion. Game 2 was a heart breaker for the Missions, as Ad Lankford pitched a gem, only to see usually solid as a rock Dave Smith enter the game and blow the save. Game 4 is in San Antonio, I use a 2-2-3 format for the wild card series, so if the Missions manage to win, it's headed back to Peoria.

The wild card Birmingham Barons lead the Memphis Redbirds 2-1 in the other wild card series. Mel Ott hit his 21st post season home run in game one of the series. Carlos Baerga and Cy Seymour have led the charge for Birmingham. Game 4 is in Birmingham.

[David Watts]

So excited to be approaching the 70's. I love 70's baseball and may even like 80's baseball even more. I've really enjoyed using the historical modifiers for this random debut league. I think it was the change I needed to get me back in the swing of things. I'm really looking forward to watching the role of the closer evolve over the next couple decades. Another stat I'm waiting to see take hold is the stolen base. 42 stolen bases is currently the most anyone has nabbed in a single season 1946-1968. Still trying to determine what year I want to stop using the historical modifiers and lock into a single season. 1984 is the obvious choice, but 1992 also appeals to me. Stopping in 84 allows me to avoid 1987, which plays a lot like a roids year and can sometimes lead to some crazy home run totals. 1992 allows for the closer to evolve just a little bit more towards the modern day role. Once I do lock in, I intend to simply let the league drift instead of using auto-calc prior to each season. If it drifts out of my zone of appeal, I will simply run auto-calc and pull it back.

Speaking of saves, it's going to be a blast to see just how long it takes someone to catch Mariano Rivera. Rivera has 300+ saves, an amazing feat seeing that he pitched in the late 40's thru the early 60's.

[David Watts]

The Birmingham Barons defeated the Peoria Chiefs 4 games to 2, winning their 5th International League championship. Mel Ott was named the MVP of the League Championship series. Ott hit 6 post season home runs and drove in 17 runs, giving him 26 career post season bombs.

Remember when I said I was hoping the lowly Tulsa Driller might get the chance to draft Greg Maddux? Well, they had that chance, but took Nap Lajoie instead. Cedar Rapids took Maddux number 2 in the draft.

The International league has 2 new Hall of Fame members. Tom Seaver and Oscar Charleston.

[David Watts]

The 1969 season is under way. I fast sim to June 1st each year and then start watching a game each day. During the fast sim, Carl Yastrzemski joined the 400 home run club. Now the countdown is on for his entry into the 3000 hit club. He has a chance to do so in 69, but if he falls short, barring injury he should do so pretty early in 1970,

Sad news in Memphis. Rube Waddell is out for the season with an injury. The Redbirds will have to depend on Hilton Smith to carry the pitching staff in Waddell's absence. So far Smith has been up to the task rolling out to a 7-0 record to start the season.

The Tulsa Drillers with George Sisler and Nap Lajoie in their lineup are still struggling. It will be crazy if they nab the rights to the 1st draft pick for the 3rd consecutive season. Meanwhile, their expansion partner the Cedar Rapids Kernels have surprised everyone by being in second place in the northern division to start the month of June. Peoria is once again leading the pack.

The Southern Division is as usual extremely competitive. Arkansas, Louisville and Birmingham are all jammed together at the top.

Mel Ott is now 30 home runs shy of 700.

John Beckwith has led the league in home runs each of the last 3 seasons. This year he's off to a dreadful start and only has 2 home runs as we begin the month of June.

In an earlier post I talked about the San Antonio Missions trading Hilton Smith to the Memphis Redbirds during the 1968 season. Assumed it was because Smith was due to be a free agent following the 68 season. Wrong! Smith was signed for one more season. Memphis didn't wait around though, as Smith and the Redbirds agreed to a 5 year deal prior to the start of 1969 season. Meanwhile, in San Antonio Ad Lankford packed his bags and signed a free agent deal with the St. Paul Saints. Lankford joins Jose Munoz a top the Saints pitching staff. San Antonio fans can't be happy. Losing what might be the two best pitchers in baseball in the span of a season has to be painful and it's clearly evident in their play. The Missions a post season team in 68, are under .500 to begin the month of June.

[David Watts]

Can't remember all the players involved, but Birmingham traded away 5 players in order to acquire Travis Hafner.

[David Watts]

Sad news, Jim Thome's quest for 600 home runs just hit a huge road block. Thome will miss the remainder of the 69 season with a severe knee injury. Thome is 40 years old, so I'm really scared this may be the end of his incredible career.

Well, Tulsa no longer has the worst record in baseball. The worst record belongs to the San Antonio Missions. Losing Ad Lankford and Hilton Smith is proving to be too much for the Missions to overcome. It's early, but the Missions are losing a lot to start the season.

As of June 22nd, the Peoria Chiefs are sitting a top the Northern Division and the Louisville Bats lead the Southern Division. The Bats acually have a 4 game cushion, that's a huge lead when it comes to the race in that division.

[David Watts]

If you get a chance to take a look at the career of Buzz Arlett. At the age of 32, Arlett made his big debut for the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1931 Arlett played in 121 games. Over 469 plate appearances, Arlett hit 18 home runs and drove in 72 runs. He hit .313 and sported a .387 OBP. Nice season. According to Arlett's WIKI page he was a poor fielder. After the 31 season the Phillies sold his contract to the minor league Baltimore Orioles. Buzz would finish his baseball career as the minor leagues all time leader in both home runs(432) and RBI(1786). He is now currently in 2nd place in both those categories.

Reason I've brought up Buzz Arlett? Well ole Buzz is turning out to be quite the player in my random debut. Arlett hits cleanup for the mighty Peoria Chiefs, hitting behind the leagues best hitter Tris Speaker. Arlett has plenty of home run pop and is his ability to drive in runs is among the leagues best. Pretty cool. I figured he would be a one year wonder, but several years later he remains a force to reckoned with.

Tell me again, how OOTP can be considered anything less than one of the best inventions in the history of sports simulations?

[David Watts]

The addition of Nap Lajoie and George Sisler is starting to pay dividends for the Tulsa Drillers, as they enter the month of July with a 40-40 record. Meanwhile it looks like it could be a race to the finish between Wisconsin and San Antonio for the 1st pick in the draft. Neither of those 2 teams are used to losing, so I'm guessing it has to be tough sailing.

John Beckwith is up to 9 home runs on the season, but is way off the pace of his last 3 seasons. Sammy Sosa currently leads the home run race.

Peoria remains on top of the northern division, while Louisville leads the southern division. Peoria's lead is only 2 games over the Toledo Mud Hen, so unlike the last 2 few seasons they aren't running away with things. Toledo is the top wild card team, so that too is different as it's been all Southern Division the last few years in terms of the wild cards.

Mel Ott is 8 RBI from reaching 2000. He is inching closer to 700 as well, I'm thinking he's 29 shy at this time.

Got to looking last night and Greg Maddux the 2nd round pick of the Cedar Rapids Kernels, did not sign a contract, so he's currently pitiching for some college in Tennessee. Oh my, that gives San Antonio and Wisconsin a strong reason to lose.

Earlier I reported that Hilton Smith rolled out to a 10-0 start fir the Memphis Redbirds. I then had to go back and edit it because it was actually 7-0. Not sure if any of you saw that. Well, I was just a little premature in my reporting...a month premature, as Smith begins the month of July 10-0. What a total stud.

Just curious, have any of you ever had Bob Gibson dominate in one of yur random debuts? I never have and this go round is no different. Gibson hasn't been bad by any means, but I always expect him to dominate and he always lets me down.

Just checked and yes he did pitch some in the bigs, George Sisler is currently operating as a 2 way player for the Tulsa Drillers. Pretty cool. He didn't pitch for the Drillers in his first season, but is currently part of the rotation this year.

[David Watts]

July 23rd 1969, Mel Ott drives in run number 2000. Ott has scored 2029 times and driven in 2000 runs. He's up to 679 home runs.

Just discovered an interesting tidbit last night. The leagues two premier power hitters, Mel Ott and Jim Thome both made their debuts in 1949.

07/25/1969, Jose Mendez notched strikeout number 3000.

Rick Reuschel who went 20-7 in 1968, is currently 6-8 in 1969. Reuschel has now lost 231 games over the coarse of his career to go along with 216 wins.

The Next players on track to reach 3000 hits are Sam Rice and Carl Yastrzemski, both have 2921 hits. Rice is 41 years old, while Yaz is 38. 36 year old George Burns currently has 2898 hits.

607 of those 2898 hits by George Burn have been doubles. Over the course of his 17 year big league career Burns has averaged 39 doubles per season.

[David Watts]

Just discovered this one while looking at the league's single season leaderboard. In 1967 Fort Wayne's John Beckwith whiffed a grand total of 279 times. 279 times! Beckwith hit 48 home runs during that season to lead the league. Beckwith has 687 strikeouts over the last 3 seasons to go along with 143 home runs.

[David Watts]

Oh man, Mel Ott is out with a rotator cuff strain. Injury will keep him out of the lineup for 5 weeks. Ott entered the league in 1949 and this is the first injury of his career that required a stint on the IL. Earlier I mentioned Jim Thome is out for the season with a knee injury. Thome did had a 4 week injury way back when he first entered the league in 1949, but remained injury free until the current injury struck.

[David Watts]

Down to the final week of the 1969 season. It's the Peoria Chiefs once again in the North. For the 4th season in a row the Chief have run a away with the division. Barring a down final week they will finish 12 games ahead of the second place team. The Southern Division is once again a tight race. Louisville sits in 1st place, 2 1/2 games up on the Arkansas Travelers. The Wild Card race is really interesting. Arkansas is close to having the 1st wild card sewed up, as they have a 4 1/2 game lead. Meanwhile, there are 4 teams tied for the 2nd wild card with 78-75 records. Those teams are the Birmingham Barons, Corpus Christi Hooks, Toledo Mud Hens and the St. Paul Saints. Should be an interesting final week.

Hilton Smith has an amazing 20-1 record for the Memphis Redbirds. Ad Lankford has 383 strikeouts, so 400 isn't out of the realm of possibilities.

Sammy Sosa is the top Home Run hitter with 41 home runs

David Ortiz has come out of nowhere to lead the league in hitting. Ortiz is hitting an impressive .351 on the year. Ortiz has been a solid player over his career so far, but I don't think anyone saw this .351 season coming. Want to say Ortiz is 35 years old. Maybe he's gearing things up for a late career push for the Hall of Fame.

Kind of cool that as soon as Mel Ott returned from his 5 week stint on the IL, the Birmingham Barons managed to claw their way back into the race for the post season. Talk around the league is, should the MVP Trophy be named the Mel Ott Award? Doubt it will happen, but it's cool to hear Ott getting the recognition.

John Beckwith managed to right the ship and now has roughly 23 home runs on the season.

Kind of sad to see a guy I had such high hopes for when he entered the International League struggling so much. Adley Rutschman is currently finishing up his 4th season in the league. Rutschman simply hasn't developed. He's nothing more than a backup at this time. His defensive ratings are an awful 36, Wouldn't be surprised to see him out of baseball in the next year or two. Sad.

Wisconsin and San Antonio are neck and neck in the battle for the 1st pick in the draft. If the season ended today, the pick would go to San Antonio, but their only 2 games worse than Wisconsin, so we will have to see how the final week goes. We already know Greg Maddux will be in the draft, but we don't know if any other future superstars will join him.

The Lansing Lugnuts are the only original member team to have never won a championship. 24 seasons and counting.

Tris Speaker is having another great season for the the Peoria Chiefs. He's hitting .330+ on the season with 20+ home runs and 80+ rbi. Speaker has a career average in the .330's, so far and shows no signs of slowing down.

Johnny Grubb is also hitting in the .330's. Where oh where did this come from? So cool. Love it when my old Tiger pals do well.

[David Watts]

Need to remind myself to check Tris Speaker's contract status when I get home. Not sure if he's in his 5th or 6th season in the league. I don't remember seeing a news story about Chiefs extending him, so if it's the 6th season, this years free agent list might get very interesting. Personally, I'm hoping I just missed the news story. I love it when superstars stick with one team for long periods of time.

[David Watts]

What a crazy finish to the 1969 season. Peoria and Louisville clinched the the division titles. Peoria fell one win shy of winning 100 games. Birmingham took charge over the last couple weeks and were able to lockdown the first wild card slot. The second wild card turned out to be a battle of attrition in which 4 teams appeared to do everything in their power not to win. Not sure if the players had early vacations planned or what, earning a chance to compete for a title didn't appear to be their top priority. Toledo was the first team to fold. The Mud Hens were in control of the second wild card spot for the majority of the second half, but crashed come September. Arkansas carried a 1 game lead into the final Saturday of the season over the Corpus Christi and St. Paul. All three teams lost their games on Saturday. All three teams would do the same on Sunday. Arkansas gets the final spot. Kind of anti-climatic to say the least. Arkansas battled all season with Louisville for the Southern Division title, but had to crawl their way into the post season.

The post season matchups are Birmingham vs Louisville and Arkansas vs Peoria. Louisville scored double digits to beat Birmingham in game one of their series, meanwhile, Arkansas came from behind to beat Peoria in game one.

Corpus Christi's Sammy Sosa led the International League with 46 home runs.

Lansing's David Ortiz hit .349 to take home the leagues batting title. Ortiz was second in home runs with 34 and also led the league in RBI. Johnny Grubb(Dayton) completed an incredible campaign to finish second in the batting race with a .330+ average, while Peoria's Tris Speaker finished 3rd with an average in the .320's

Hilton Smith(Memphis) finishes up the 1969 season with an incredible 21-1 record. Have to think that's a winning pct. record for sure. Can't see any way Smith doesn't take home Cy Young honors, but you never know.

Ad Lankford did not reach 400 strikeouts, finishing with 389 instead.


Forgot to check if San Antonio or Wisconsin earned the first pick in the draft.

[David Watts]

After struggling down the stretch the Arkansas Travelers put it all together and defeated the 99 wins Peoria Chiefs to earn a trip to the League Championship Series. Wally Berger hit 5 home runs to lead the Travelers past the Chiefs. Peoria, did win a championship 3 years ago, but they have to smacking themselves that they've only manage one title with how dominate they have been during the regular season.

In the other wild card series, Louisville took defeated the Birmingham Barons. Mel Ott hit one home run for the Barons, to up his post season home run total to either 27 or 28. Meanwhile, Baron's fans were not happy to see their manager pinch hit several times for Ott during the series. Especially, seeing that the guy hitting for him was often a useless slug. Peoria fans were just as angry to see their manager do the same to Buzz Arlett. Arkansas did it one time to Wally Berger as well. Looks like maybe their's a problem with the postseason AI trying to out think the room and in doing so, it's making stupid moves. Why it mainly involves the cleanup hitter is kind of strange.

Arkansas would defeat Louisville 4 games to 2 in the League Championship Series. The series was close through the first 4 games, but then the Travelers took over. Game 6 in Louisville ended up being a blowout giving the Travelers the title. Christian Yelich took home series MVP honors.

Rookie of the Year honors when to Lansing's Noodles Hahn

Cy Young obviously went to Hilton Smith. The Memphis Redbird finished 21-1 on the season. Smith now has 138 wins on his career. He's 32 years old.

MVP honors went to Peoria's Tris Speaker. Fans in Lansing were not happy with the decision as they felt their superstar DH, David Ortiz deserved the MVP trophy. Ortiz hit .349 with 34 home runs and 134 RBI. Speaker once again led the league with 9+ WAR. He hit in the .320's, scored and drove in plenty of runs, and hit 20+ home runs. He also took home Gold Glove honors at this position. In the end, I think the award went to the right guy.

The Draft

San Antonio earned the first pick in the 1969 draft. As we knew all season, since the Cedar Rapids Kernels failed to sign Greg Maddux prior to the 69 season, someone was going to be able to select a sure fire pitching superstar. Question was, would any other super studs join Maddux at the top of the draft. Well, me thinks the answer turned out to be a resounding YES, as Mr. Roberto Clemente made the list of players available for the draft. Now the question turned to, would the San Antonio Missions select Greg Maddux, the great pitching prospect, or Roberto Clement the incredible outfield prospect? Wisconsin fans were just as excited as Mission's fans, because they knew they were getting whichever player San Antonio passed on.

The pick........San Antonio chooses...........Roberto Clemente with the first pick in the 1969 draft. Wisconsin gets Greg Maddux. Now the question is, can San Antonio convince Clemente to sign?

Cedar Rapids the team that failed to sign Maddux last year, picked 3rd in the draft. They selected 3B Ken Caminiti. They also got a compensation pick, but I was rushing out the door for work this morning and forgot to check which player they selected.

I did finally check Tris Speaker's contract status last night. Speaker reupped with Peoria and is signed until 1975. If he stays healthy and keeps trucking, Peoria should be very good for some time forward. Question is, can they get over their post season hiccups.