Harry Lyerly and the Denver Brewers of the WPK

[BirdWatcher]

Hello to those few of you who might still care and apologies that I've been gone for awhile.
Everything is fine- well, you know, as fine as can be in this difficult time- in my world but I just found that I was having a hard time focusing on things that would usually bring me great pleasure, like OOTP.

Just came back to OOTP and the WPK today and have now moved into the offseason of 1976. In the next several posts I will catch things up a bit as I prepare to move the league over to OOTP 21 pretty soon and then, of course, will start a new thread in the 21 Fictional Simulations subfolder.

[BirdWatcher]

Brewers record: 4-0 (week), 104-58, 1st place, MGL (season)

October 3, versus Portland: 3-2
October 4-5, versus San Francisco: 3-1, 8-5, 9-2.

So the Brewers finish the regular season on a high note, winners of 4 straight and 8 of their final 9 games.
I won't go into game-by-game details here for the last 4 games (in fact, going forward I'll probably being doing less of that), but suffice it to say that they got some hot hitting from Andrew Kennedy, who finished second in not only the MGL but all of the WPK in batting average at .347, Rich White, Brad Tesh, and Brett Taranto at the end. And a great start from 23-year old John Weaver in the final game of the season as he tries to insert himself into future rotation plans. (That will be tough, given the depth of the current rotation and the emergence of Sekien Hamasaki.)

And with the final tally of 104 wins the Brewers now have three straight season of triple digit wins. This total is the second best in the team's history, after the 108 win season of 1971.

[BirdWatcher]

Having earned the best record of the regular season (the Columbus Whalers won 100 games to win the SJL), the Brewers get home-field advantage in the Kinsella Classic Series.

And they jump off to a good start in Game 1, behind a tremendous pitching performance by starter Sadahige Kawasaki and 2 unexpectedly strong innings from young reliever Ben Flynn, who struggled so often during the regular season. The Brewers manage just enough offense against Columbus' great ace Jim Norris to win 2-1, with Bobby Erbakan going 2 for 4 and driving in a run and light-hitting, great-fielding Nick Ward, playing third base, collecting 2 hits in 3 at-bats.


Sekien Hamasaki could not match his fellow country-man Kawasaki in Game 2 though, and the Brewers fell 5-1. Not that he could be blamed entirely. His team didn't even manage to get on the board until the bottom of the 9th, and they fell short in that attempted rally.


Before we switch to Columbus for the next three games, we should stop to note one of the biggest potential stories of this KCS.
We all should know by now that the Columbus Whalers have perhaps the best starting rotation in the WPK, even better than our impressive Brewers. What we might not all know though is that the entire rotation (all 5 during the regular season) consists of left-handers. While this imbalance could be seen as something to take advantage of, it could also be deadly to the Brewers if their top right-handed hitters- Bobby Erbakan, Brett Taranto, Rich White- can't come through.
And it means that back-up players like catcher Kirk Patnode, right fielder Jon Williams, and third baseman Nick Ward- are slated to play larger roles in the series. While Williams has some offensive skills, including a bit of power, Patnode and Ward are both offensive liabilities, although all three of these players are defensively superior to the regulars they replace. And while left-handed hitting center fielder Joe McPhillips is still expected to start every game, his bat does suffer some against same-handed pitchers.
So as the series shifts to Columbus the big question is, will the key right-handed batters in the Brewers lineup produce and can we get enough out of our left-handed bats to win?

[BirdWatcher]

And the answer to the question we concluded the previous thread with would appear to be no.

Columbus blew past the Brewers in Game 3, by the score of 7-1. Brewers starter Erik Sloan struggled and the offense, after jumping off to an early 1-0 lead in the first, went frigid. Andrew Kennedy, a left-handed hitter who seems to hit pretty much anyone, did continue his fine series with a 2 for 4 game but he got little help from his teammates.


Then in Game 4 the Brewers got an absolutely heroic performance from starter Steve Green. And nearly won. And when fans and historians look back on this series in the future this will likely be seen as the turning point and the moment that the Brewers manager will be second-guessed about the rest of his life. The Brewers took a narrow 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th with Green still on the mound. The 30-year old Kansas City native, pitching perhaps the game of his career, easily retired the first batter, Matt Fleischman, who led the SJL in batting this season at .328, on a routine ground out third base. He then got equally dangerous hitter John Kantlehener to fly out harmlessly to left field. One out away from evening the series. And at just 98 pitches thrown Green still had gas left in the tank. But the final hope for the Whalers was the fine hitting third baseman Ken Rowell, one of the few left-handed bats in the Columbus lineup. And with a well-rested lefty, Jason Gottula, who had such a fine season, in the bullpen, the Brewer manager decided better to play it safe and pull Green.
Bad decision.
Rowell doubles off Gottula.
In comes Tim Shore to take on Brett Kane, who had hit an inside the park 2-run homer in Game 2 and had been one of the heroes of game 3. Shore just needed to record an out to preserve the victory.
Kane singled, driving in the tying run.
And then Shore gave up a game-ending double to Curt Carroll.

Could Green have finished it off for the victory he so well deserved? We will never know.


With things looking very grim for the Brewers and Columbus having a chance to take the series in front of their hometown fans, it was the Brewers turn for some late-game heroics. Their 4-run 9th inning outburst was the high-point for the offense up to this stage of the series and it was capped by a bases-loaded triple off the bat of Joe Willemse in his first at-bat of the series. Sadahige Kawasaki gave up 3 runs on 9 hits over 6 1/3rd in his second start of the series and veteran Cheol-han Lee, working out of the bullpen in the series, came in to earn the victory. Ben Flynn picked up his 2nd save of the series with another 2 strong innings.


So the Brewers at least get to take it back to Denver though they need to win both of the final 2 games to walk away as champions.

[BirdWatcher]

But in the end the Whalers were just too tough for our heroes. Talented young starter Sekien Hamasaki had another tough outing and while the Brewers battled right to the end they fell short and lost 7-5, and the Columbus Whalers repeat as WPK Champions.


Brett Kane was tremendous in the series and took the series MVP honors. Bobby Erbakan and Andrew Kennedy both did their part for Denver, each hitting .417 for the series. In limited action, right fielder Josh Schaeffer also did quite well (also hitting .417) and there were some questions about whether he should have been used more even though he generally struggles to hit against left-handed pitching. Although in fairness, his replacement Jon Williams wasn't bad and got hot towards the end of the series including hitting one of 3 homers that the Brewers managed in the series and going 2 for 3 with a double and a stolen base in the the final game. But in spite of hitting a HR also, Joe McPhillips was held to just .250 with 1 RBI and Brett Taranto struggled to a .208 batting average. Rich White hit a bit better (.286, 1 HR) and was marvelous defensively. But the Brewers just didn't have enough fire-power to win against that tremendous lefty rotation. And while a few relievers were quite good- Ben Flynn and John Weaver- the relievers they counted on most- Jason Gottula and Tim Shore- let them down in the end.

For the Columbus Whalers it is 4 championships in 5 Kinsella Classic Series. At this point of league history, they truly are the class of the WPK.

[BirdWatcher]

The front office was a bit blind-sided when long-time head scout Nick Meskill announced following the KCS that he was retiring from the game. Meskill did a fine job for the organization and the feeling was that they were hoping to keep him around for a least a handful more season.


With a need to scramble to find a replacement the front office settled on 49-year old Ulrik Berthelsen, who in spite of never having held a head scout position is thought to have the skills to excel at the job.

[BirdWatcher]

It was well known that the Brewers and assistant G.M. Erik Newsome would be parting company at the end of the 1976 campaign.
The highly regarded Newsome's contract was expiring and he rebuffed every attempt by ownership to retain his services. It appears that he felt he was ready to take the reins as the G.M. elsewhere and the team wishes him well in that regard.

With a vacancy to fill the Brewers settled on 61-year old Mike Finger. While this is not considered an inspired choice the feeling is that an assistant G.M. in the Brewers organization has limited impact and Finger will likely at least not be a liability and his strong emphasis on targeting prospects fits well with the Brewers overall philosophy.

[BirdWatcher]

I won't bore you with all of the details regarding every award bestowed following the end of the season.

But let's at least acknowledge that the Brewers had one Gold Glover: shortstop Rich White. This was widely expected as White led his position in several categories, not just in the MGL but among all shortstops in the WPK. He led in defensive efficiency at 1.082, was tied for the lead in fielding percentage at .981, and most impressively led in Zone Rating at 17.8. His next closes competitor in all of the WPK was Washington's Jeremy Patterson at 9.9.
It was perhaps a slight surprise that Joe McPhillips was denied the Gold Glove award at center field.

In the SJL, left fielder Curtis Horah earned his 9th Gold Glove award and catcher Erik Buonopane his 7th. Interestingly the great third baseman Trevor Leach, at age 32, earned his first Gold Glove award.

In the MGL, five of the GG recipients were first time winners (including White) and only one has now won more than two- that being Brooklyn third baseman Greg Alwardt, who won his third.


As for the Silver Slugger awards, the only Brewer to win one was first baseman Brett Taranto. Former Brewer Ruben Souffront won the first of his career. Most of the MGL winners were first-timers though Cody Kane won his 3rd and the great Felix Lopez earned his 6th.

Another former Brewer, El Paso catcher Spencer Wilson, won the SJL SS for the catching position, the first such honor of his career. Most of the SJL recipients were also first or second-timers, including Philly's Xiao-Mei Mah (2nd), San Antonio's Bud Lindsey (2nd), Pittsburgh's Bill Winchester (2nd), Boston's Chase DiMascio (2nd), and fabulous rookie El Paso left fielder Pete Wiederkehr (1st).

[BirdWatcher]

The Houston Cavalier's 29-year old closer Sam Pruiett, who pitched for the Brewers from 1970-1974, had a career year in 1976 and edged out the legendary Jamel McNeil for the SJL Reliever of the Year.




In the MGL, 22-year old Golden, Colorado native Joe Hall of the San Francisco Velocity was a unanimous choice as the Reliever of the Year. It was a something of a surprise though that L.A.'s Shouta Hori, who led the league in wins at 20 without starting a single game, didn't get any first place votes, though he did finish in second in the voting. Denver's lefty reliever Eric Marino is largely unheralded, even in Denver, but finished third in the voting.

[BirdWatcher]

It should come as no surprise that 25-year old El Paso left fielder Pete Wiederkehr was the unanimous winner of the SJL Rookie of the Year award for 1976. The hard-working young man should win many more awards before his career is over.



For the second straight year, a Denver player has taken MGL Rookie of the Year honors. In 1975 it was third baseman Rodrigo "RodRod" Rodriguez and this season the distinction goes to 25-year old first baseman Brett Taranto. After having played in bits of big league seasons the past three years, Taranto finally was given a chance to be a full-season starter and he made the most of it.

[BirdWatcher]

As was widely expected, the Columbus Whalers young lefty Ace Jim Norris captured his first Pitcher of the Year award at age 25. In a testament to just how impressive the Columbus rotation was, his teammates Cody Barnhart and Luis Ramirez finished 2nd and 3rd in the voting respectively, while future HOF'er Jake Harris finished 7th and veteran Juan Olguin finished 8th. In other words, the entire Whalers rotation finished in the top 8 in Pitcher of the Year voting in the SJL!



It was the year of Obandomania and while L.A. fans were disappointed that they couldn't ride this wave to the post-season, it does end with Eduardo Obando being named the Pitcher of the Year in the MGL. Denver's Sadahige Kawasaki finished in 2nd place in spite of his underwhelming win-loss record (poor support). Steve Green finished tied for 7th in the voting and (not pictured) Erik Sloan tied with Aaron McNally (disappointing season for the man who won the award the past 2 seasons) with a single point in the voting.

[BirdWatcher]

The feeling around the league has long been that if San Antonio's talented shortstop and team captain Bud Lindsay could only stay healthy for a full season he would eventually capture an MVP award. And 1976 was that season. Lindsay is that rare 5-tool infielder and one of the best leaders in the game but in his 5-year career this is only the second time he has been able to stay healthy enough to record more than 500 plate appearances, and the first time was his Rookie of the Year season in 1972. The only other player in the SJL to get any first place votes was last year's Rookie of the Year award winner, Philadelphia's Xiao-mei Mah.

[BirdWatcher]

Let it be noted that on his way to the WPK Hall of Fame in Dubuque, Iowa, Felix Lopez won his second league MVP award at the age of 34. And for the first time in his storied career, Lopez collected over 100 RBI (102). His 56 stolen bases is the second highest season total of his career. The same can be said of his 224 base hits. He led the league in triples with 18, the third highest season total of his career. If he is slowing down it is barely showing. He remains not only one of the finest hitters in the game but also one of the best base stealers and base runners in spite of perhaps not having quite as blinding raw speed as he did in his younger days. And with his incredible work ethic the feeling is that there should be several fine seasons still ahead for the great Lopez, who is likely to be a free agent soon, failing the Aces reaching agreement with him on a contract extension. Denver's Brett Taranto, who earlier in the week took Rookie of the Year honors, finished an impressive second in the MVP voting. The Brewers' Joe McPhillips finished 6th with no first place votes but 113 points. Other Brewers receiving points in the voting: Josh Schaeffer (33), Andrew Kennedy (5), and Bobby Erbakan (4). Former Brewer and fan favorite Ruben "Streak" Souffront finished just behind McPhillips in the voting with 69 points.

[BirdWatcher]

In a move mostly meant to clear up some space on the 40-man roster, the Denver Brewers yesterday sent 25-year old outfielder Izzy Veliz and 26-year old shortstop Oscar Pantoja to the Charlotte Sting for 27-year old middle infielder Luis Hernandez.


Veliz is a gifted fielder with blazing speed but likely will be restricted to 5th outfielder status at best because of his sub-par hitting skills. Pantoja is a good leader but likely mostly minor league depth. Much the same can be said of Hernandez though, to be fair, though he is a very hard worker and gifted defender.
But most importantly the move was a net gain of 2 spots on the 40-man roster for Denver.

[BirdWatcher]

In a more significant trade of prospects, the Brewer yesterday also sent 27-year old pitcher Damian Hahn and 24-year old catcher Chris Moon (along with 30-year old former WPK pitcher Nick Baldwin who went 17-8 at AAA Chester this season after being signed to a minor league contract as a free agent) to Jacksonville for catching prospect Erik Bettencourt and a pair of lesser prospects.


Hahn deserves a chance to be a big league hurler but there was no room on the Denver staff for him. And while Moon was once considered a top prospect in the Brewer organization the team felt that Bettencourt was a better fit with his great bat tools and good skills behind the plate, in spite of a sub-par throwing arm. He will likely push Kirk Patnode, whose offensive deficiencies become more clear during the 1976 season, for the backup role in 1977 and might be given a chance to compete with Zacarias Martell for the starting job as early as 1978. (Though it should be noted that Martell had a fine 1976 season, his 4.4 WAR a career high, and at only 2 year older than Bettencourt won't likely be giving up the starting job without a fight.)

[BirdWatcher]

With this year's crop of free agents having filed a handful of days ago team's a starting to land the stars they hope will help propel them to victory next season and beyond.

One of the earliest big signings was completed yesterday by the Philadelphia Mud Hens when they inked a 5-year deal with 30-year old slugging first baseman Luis Gonzales. Gonzales had played his entire career with Washington up to this point and was the 1970 Rookie of the Year. While he has a reputation as a fine hitter (whose power has not yet led to the kind of home run totals that are projected for him) he is not strong defensively (he did win a Gold Glove at first in 1970 but his skills have diminished considerably since then) and has a reputation for selfishness and isn't considered a very likable teammate.

[BirdWatcher]

Coming off an injury-shortened season in 1976, 40-year old two-time Pitcher of the Year award winner Jaime Schardein is apparently eager to prove he still has some life left in that magical right arm of his. And the L.A. Spinners made a commitment yesterday to let him try in a Spinners uniform, signing him to a two-year deal.


It's something of a homecoming for Schardein, who pitched for L.A. from 1968 through 1971 and won the 2nd of his 2 consecutive Pitcher of the Year awards as a Spinner in '68.

[BirdWatcher]

It appears that the Washington Night Train are intent on signalling their intention to compete to over-take the reigning SJL champs Columbus in the 1977 season.


Having earlier signed starting pitcher Art Ferrante (talented, a great leader, but fragile!) to a 7-year deal, yesterday they scored probably the biggest name in this year's free agent market when they inked Felix Lopez to a 4-year deal. The Night Train will be the third team Lopez has played for in his career and this will be the first time Lopez will compete in the SJL, after 5 seasons in Oklahoma City and 7 in Brooklyn. Lopez will be taking the place of 29-year old Lazaro Lowndes, who himself is on the market after having spent the first 11 seasons of his career in a Night Train uniform.

[BirdWatcher]

Former Brewer Kevin Curtis is on his way to the Philadelphia Mud Hens after two years spent with the expansion Houston Cavaliers. In spite of the frustration of playing for an also-ran team, Curtis found his career rejuvenated in Houston and in 1976 put up his best year in terms of WAR with 3.9.
And he has now found his hard work rewarded with a 2-year deal with the Mud Hens, earning considerably more than he has in his career up to this point.

[BirdWatcher]

Curtis Horah may be the most under-rated star in the WPK.
In his 10-year career he has put up 68.5 WAR including a phenomenal 13 WAR season in 1968. He has averaged 8 WAR for every 162 games he has played as a big leaguer. He is a 7-time All-Star and 9-time Gold Glove winner in the outfield.
But he is hard-worker with little flash, doesn't hit for much power, rarely leads the league in any category (though he has led in stolen bases twice and plate appearances once), and mostly flies under the radar.



Apparently the El Paso Dawgs some something they liked though as yesterday they signed the 28-year old to an 8-year deal. The upstart Dawgs finished in 2nd place in 1976 and they are hoping that Horah can help them to their first SJL pennant ever soon. The only real danger in the signing is that Horah is considered an injury risk. On the other hand, at this point of his career while he often suffers from nagging injuries that might keep him out for days or even a few weeks, he has only had one injury- a broken bone in his elbow late in the season in 1973- that has laid him up for a considerable period of time.