The W.P. Kinsella League random update thread

[BirdWatcher]

A few posts ago I promised some updates and details about the Denver Brewers at this stage of the season, so here that is, albeit just a bit later than I intended.

We have reached the All-Star break and are just a bit past the technical mid-way point of the 1983 season.

Here are some of the numbers:








Now, going position by position with a bit more detail and analysis:

Starting Pitching:

Jim Atwell: For the veteran workhorse and sometimes ace of the staff Atwell the basic stats don't look great - 7-8, 4.21, 1.37 WHIP. Granted his BABIP against (.320) is much higher than his career average (.271). His FIP is a respectable 3.79 with a FIP- of 87. Most of his stats speak to Atwell's continuing value as one of the most consistent and durable arms in the league and the most obvious variance from the past is in the area of hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (9.8- 2 runs above career average), and with the likelihood that those BABIP numbers will come down over time, no reason to worry about Atwell.

Bryant Cox: Cox, who was drafted a few rounds after Atwell in the 1975 draft, continues to be a solid rotation arm, especially given that he was an unheralded 7th round draft pick. Cox also has raw numbers that don't convey how good he has been- 6-6, 3.82, 1.17 WHIP- but his FIP of 3.34 and FIP- of 76 speak to fine pitching on his part.

Austin Bond: The lone lefty in the rotation, Bond has clearly over-achieved in the first half, but it should be remembered that this is the same guy who went 19-6 in his true rookie year of 1980. With a high baseball IQ and a great work ethic (Sparkplug), along with his ability to induce the groundball (extreme groundball tendency), Bond is one of those guys who makes the most of his moderate talents. His 3.82 FIP and 87 FIP- indicate that it hasn't all been luck either, even if his BABIP against (.272) is a bit lower than his career average (.280). Bond was just voted into the All-Star game for the first time in his career.

Mike Costa: The Brewers current top prospect has acquitted himself quite well thus far in his rookie season. Costa's 5-2 record and 3.28 ERA come with a BABIP against of .335, though given his not great control he also has a WHIP of 1.33 that isn't all explained by that high BABIP. But when you also factor in his FIP of 2.98 and FIP- of 68, the future does look pretty bright for the groundballer with two elite pitches (curveball, changeup) to go with a plus fastball, giving him the opportunity to turn into one of the best strikeout pitchers in the league soon with off the charts stuff.

Jose Corpeno: Corpeno often gets lost in the plethora of starting pitching prospects for the Brewers, but he has done a credible job in the rotation and shows some potential for improvement still at age 25, and profiles as a valuable mid-rotation arms on most pitching staffs. An excellent curveball headlines his 4-pitch repertoire, he induces groundballs at a good rate, and he is durable. He may get passed up soon by higher ranked prospects but for now he has earned a spot at the bottom of the rotation and his future is somewhat in his hands. At the very least, he makes for an attractive bit of trade bait if and when that time comes.

Eric Johnson: The Brewers brought veteran control-artist Eric Johnson back into the fold in a trade with Pittsburgh (sending power-hitting third baseman Cameron Rodger to the Roadrunners) almost exactly a month ago. Johnson got his big league start with Denver and pitched parts of 4 seasons as a Brewer but didn't really establish himself as a valuable starter until his early 30's with the Pittsburgh (he went 20-4 with a 3.43 ERA in 1979 at age 32). He was off to a horrible start this season but remains durable and with excellent control, even if his stuff and movement are pretty pedestrian at this stage of his career. The Brewers brought him back partly for sentimental reasons (not only did he get his WPK start in Denver but he is a native of Trinidad, Colorado) but also to add some veteran depth with the loss of both Sadahige Kawasaki and Eric Maisch to injuries. Johnson is a free agent at the end of the season and likely will not return at that time, but it was thought he could be useful this season. Thus far he has gone 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA for Denver with a 4.27 FIP and a BABIP against of .322.

The Bullpen:

Tim Shore: The 37-year old 9-time All Star is the WPK career leader in saves with 378 over his 18 plus year career. This year he has 15 saves in 15 chances, an ERA of 0.38 and a FIP of 2.06. Clearly he has been a bit lucky (BABIP against of .243), but given his consistency over the years and his continued success, and the fact that he was asking for an extension with his contract up at the end of this season, he was recently re-signed through 1986 (with a team option for that last season).

Paul Johnson: The Brewers picked up Johnson in the Rule 5 draft prior to the 1980 season and while he has been mostly solid since then, this year is proving to be his breakout campaign. He is 4-2 with a 2.02 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 3.04 FIP (69 FIP-), and 1.1 WAR over the course of 49 innings pitched. All of which added up to his first All-Star game selection. He is the heir apparent to the closer role although top relief prospect Dan Folk may pass him up before Tim Shore relinquishes that job. Regardless, the 25-year old durable right-hander with multi-inning stamina should be a mainstay in the bullpen for years to come.

Diego Lopez: Speaking of Rule 5 picks, the left-handed 26-year old Lopez was the Brewers lone Rule 5 draftee this past off-season. He has done a fine job so far with 2 wins and no losses, 1 save, an ERA of 2.84 with a 1.14 WHIP, and a 3.53 FIP. He has a great cutter and plus stuff but if his average curveball doesn't start to develop towards its plus potential soon he will likely prove to be a fairly average middle reliever and/or lefty specialist.

Ben Flynn: Team captain Flynn mostly serves as backup first baseman and power-hitting pinch-hitter but he has also pitched just under 23 innings this year, mostly in long-relief or blowout situations. And he has done a decent job, primarily because he has induced a much higher groundball out percentage than historically (61% this year, 50% over the course of his career) and had some luck (.257 BABIP against). He does have great stamina and can be an adequate innings eater out of the 'pen in spite of his below average stuff.

Brandon Veach: This hard-working 28-year old righty has great stamina, is durable, has 2 plus pitches (fastball, slider), and has not had a very good season (5.07 FIP, 116 FIP-, with 1 win, 3 losses, 1 save, a 4.32 ERA and 1.47 WHIP). He's a good guy, can give you multiple innings when needed, and is a completely replaceable middle innings arm. Whether he will be back for 1984 will depend a great deal upon what kind of second half he has.

Jeff Mariani: This left-handed groundball specialist with nasty stuff and plus plus movement led the SJL in saves as a member of the Seattle Alligators in 1980 (36) and compiled 31 more saves the following season. Having joined the Brewers mid-season last year, he went 3-5 with 11 saves and a 3.47 ERA and inflated 1.76 WHIP the rest of the way and then got off to a disastrous 1983 season before missing some time with an oblique strain. He has stabilized a bit since then and is 2-3 with 5 saves, a 3.47 ERA (yes, same as his time with Denver last season) and 1.46 WHIP. His BABIP against has been a bit inflated and he profiles as a much better reliever than he has been so far with the Brewers. But he's not the most likable guy on the team and at 200K not the greatest value either. He is arbitration eligible for 2 more years. He might not remain a Brewer for that entire time though.

Rand Pinti: 27-year old left-handed sinker specialist Rand Pinti is a fan favorite. And a mediocre, if serviceable, reliever. This year he is 2-0 with 1 save and a 4.18 ERA (1.25 WHIP.) He is durable, has good stamina, induces groundballs (as is the rule for Denver Brewers pitchers), but is basically a 1-pitch pitcher (he pairs a crappy changeup, not fooling anybody, with his great sinkerball) and has a low margin for error. Still, he's been a decent member of the 'pen and is incredibly well liked by teammates and fans (and was even an All-Star in 1981). He's probably not going anywhere yet.


A few others have come and gone in the rotation and bullpen this year, but the above are the current members of the staff.


Catchers: Although the Brewers have never had a superstar catcher, for the past many years they have had a solid duo who performed well. For many years that duo was Zacarias Martell and defensive backup Kirk Patnode. They are both gone now, but this new duo is having a great year in 1983.

Willie Ortega: The 26-year old Ortega, who the Brewers acquired in an off-season deal with El Paso back in December of 1981, is ostensibly the starting catcher. After a solid 1982 season (.279/.312/.445, 2.0 WAR) he is hitting a robust .307/.352/.398 this season while being on pace to reach the same WAR total as last season. He is an excellent defensive backstop though his runner thrown out stealing percentage of 28.6% is a bit lower than would be expected given his reputation of having a strong and accurate arm.

Jesse Cooper: Cooper, a 25-year old rookie, is quickly moving towards taking over the starting job. He is hitting an impressive .349/.396/.461 in 169 plate appearances, has a CERA of 3.79, 6th in the MGL (Ortega's is 3.53, 4th best), and a decent 34.4% RTO% in spite of having just an average throwing arm. His .395 BABIP is unsustainable but he does profile as a plus hitting catcher and his .370 wOBA is very excellent. He is a big (6'3", 200 lbs.), durable kid and he looks like the catcher of the future for the Brewers. And that future is starting to happen now.

First basemen:

Brett Taranto: Coming off an MVP season in which he became the first WPK player to hit .400+ for a full season, some measure of a return to earth was to be expected for the 32-year old sparkplug first baseman. His basic stats- .310/.343/.434 slash line- 8 doubles, 5 triples, 7 home runs, 42 runs scored, 45 RBI- wouldn't seem to shabby for most players for roughly a half of a season. But look a bit more closely and you see that Taranto has an OPS+ of 95, and a WAR of 0.5- on pace for an 0.9 WAR season, which would be by far the worst of his career since becoming a regular. He will likely bounce back a bit in the second half but his .304 BABIP doesn't indicate any deficit of luck.

Ben Flynn: One sometimes wonders what might have been if circumstances had led to Flynn being given the chance to be a starting first baseman somewhere and not a two-way player who rarely started. Over the course of his career, in 1,002 plate appearances, Flynn has hit .310/.358/.523 with 55 doubles, 46 home runs, and 186 RBI. He has a solid career OPS+ of 128. This season, in 110 plate appearances, he is hitting .305/.336/.600 with an OPS+ of 130, far better than the starter and reigning league MVP Taranto. Flynn isn't much of a fielder, but at 6'4" he has a long reach and can make most of the routine plays at first. Then again, he is also the most valuable power bat off the bench. And, as noted above, the team captain.

Second base:

Dustin Moore: Although Bobby Erbakan has started a few more games at second than Moore, largely because Moore has also started several games at short and was out of action at the beginning of the season with a sore elbow, Moore is the second baseman of the future for the Brewers. He is a Gold Glove caliber defender at second (and a strong defensive shortstop as well) and can hit a bit too (.308/.332/.435, but an OPS+ of 92). The 24-year old is another sparkplug for the team, is a great base-stealer and base-runner and for a guy who was picked up on waivers (from San Francisco in February of 1982) has proven to be an absolute steal.

Bobby Erbakan: The most long-standing member of the Brewers, the only player left who was drafted by the team in the league's inaugural draft, Bobby is having a decent season in the field and at the plate (.256/.335/.395, 1.2 WAR). But at this late stage of his career (he is 36) he is not only considered Wrecked in terms of injury proneness but he has also become a despised figure in the clubhouse (disruptive). Just a few days ago he was quoted as telling the Denver Daily News: "Don't care what other people think. Bobby knows who Bobby is." He is signed through 1985 but there is a team option on the last season of the contract. His days as a Brewer are numbered, but what the number is remains a bit of mystery.

Third basemen:

Craig Hoover: Hoover is an excellent defensive third baseman who should compete for a Gold Glove award. He is an adequate hitter with some occasional power (.281/.307/.384). He is also injury prone (fragile). He is the starting third baseman for now, but it is not clear how long he can keep that job.

Russell Fleming: At some point it will probably need to be accepted that Fleming's hitting stats are mostly for real. After hitting .357/.388/.510 in 255 plate appearances last season he is now hitting .372/.400/.488 over the course of 140 plate appearances this year. In what basically amounts to a full-season's worth of plate appearances at the big league level (573 career WPK PA) he has hit .342/.372/.483 with an OPS+ of 125. If it weren't for his mediocre at best fielding at third he would probably be the starter by now. He is a very fine right fielder but that job belongs to a certain 3-time MVP named Antonio Acuna. Still, Fleming is durable, he is versatile, he is a hard-worker, and he just rakes. It is probably past time that the 26-year old be given a more regular role on the club.

Shortstop:

Shawn York: York has a Gold Glove level defensive package at short. He is also probably the fastest man on the team and a tremendous base runner and stealer. And he can't hit a lick: .238/.280/.361, OPS+ of 60- and that is an improvement over earlier in the season as he's been a bit hot at the plate of late. He gives way to Dustin Moore at short usually a few games a week to strengthen the lineup a bit.

Left field:

Val Guzman: Val just keeps on being Val. Which is to say a strong leader in the clubhouse, a role model on the field and off of it, and an over-achiever. At the age of 29 he is just having another Val-type season, on pace for 4.5 WAR, was voted in as the starting left-fielder for the MGL All-Star squad, is leading the team in home runs with 15, hitting .309/.364/.526, with a 121 OPS+, has 11 stolen bases, and a decent 2.1 ZR in left with 4 outfield assists. Just Val being Val again. And yeah, he's my favorite Brewer these days!

Center field:

Joe McPhillips: The 1974 MGL MVP, McPhillips is now 34 years old and injury prone but he remains a valuable member of the club, the only team he has ever played for, when healthy and this year is hitting .317/.414/.467 with 2.1 WAR (on pace for 3.8). He probably shouldn't be playing center these days as he has lost a step or two and his -6.3 ZR is the worst of his career by far. He's another guy who plays his heart out (sparkplug) and he remains a good and aggressive base runner and base stealer. He would be a great corner outfielder but those jobs are filled at the moment with other great players. He spells Acuna in right field on occasion and perhaps will need to get more experience at first base before too long. But he will likely be a Brewer for his entire career and we can only hope that this includes several more seasons as productive as this one.

Right field:

Antonio Acuna: Acuna came basically out from nowhere to become the MGL MVP for three straight seasons (1979-1981). And while his numbers had declined a bit since then, he remains one of the finest right fielders in the league, likely to win his 3rd Gold Glove award at the end of this season. He got off to a slow start at the plate this season but he and Val Guzman have been the hottest hitters the past few weeks leading into the All-Star break and he was the 4th and final Brewer named to the All-Star squad this year (his 4th). With his recent hot streak he is now hitting .311/.342/.500 with a 3.2 WAR, on pace for a nearly 6 WAR season. He is 30 but durable and remains one of the best players on the team.

4th Outfielder:

Of the non-starters in the outfield this season, including Angelo Rivas, who has been the best defensive center fielder, and the since traded Eric Dougherty, Myles Ford has emerged as the best all-around player. Ford, a 26-year old who was picked up in a trade with Los Angeles mid-season 1982, is hitting .364/.398/.591 in 122 plate appearances, is very fast and a decent base runner, and can play all 3 outfield positions, though he is best in left field, where he could be GG caliber. He is on pace for a 2.5 WAR season as a backup outfielder, pinch-hitter, and only occasional starter and has earned the primary 4th outfielder gig for now.

[BirdWatcher]

Val Guzman came off the All-Star break on fire, hitting home runs in each of the first three games and getting Player of the Week honors in the process. Val is now tied with Brooklyn's Danny Salvador for the lead in home runs in the MGL with 18. (Val's single season high in this category was 20 in 1979 so it appears he will easily smash his personal single season record this season.)

Guzman started in left field, voted in by the fans, for the MGL All-Star squad and went 1 for 3 with a 7th inning double in the loss to the SJL. (Matt Van der Heyden was the hero much to the joy of the partisan crowd at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Field as he hit the big 1st inning 3-run home run that put the SJL up for good in what turned out to be a 7-2 victory.)

[BirdWatcher]

Yesterday the Denver Brewers Antonio Acuna, a 3-time MGL MVP, who has been hot since the All-Star break, saw his 22-game hitting streak come to an end, but in his final at-bat of the game he did manage to drive in the tying run in the top of the 8th inning to make the score 2-2 in Montreal.



His fellow Brewers corner outfielder, Val Guzman, continuing a strong season, hit his second home run of the game in the top of the 9th to put the finishing touches (well, other than the tense but ultimately scoreless inning of relief by Paul Johnson to earn his 8th save) on the come from behind victory. Guzman's 21st home run of the season was a 2-run shot that made it 5-2 Denver, which is how it would end. This is now a single season best in the homer category for Guzman and we are still one day (and one game) away from August.




A few days earlier another multi-time league MVP, Pittsburgh's Matt Van der Heyden, saw his hitting streak end at 26 consecutive games, the longest streak of the 1983 season in the WPK.

[BirdWatcher]

As the calendar turns to August, let's look at the updated standings in the WPK:



Over in the SJL West, the Chicago Fire are the feel good story of the 1983 season and this 1975 expansion club looks like they are a team on the rise, but for this season at least it appears the the mighty San Antonio Keys may take the division easily. El Paso could still climb back into contention but they have been hit hard with injuries and have an underpowered lineup.

Things are much tighter, as they tend to be these days, over in the SJL East. Washington is once again on top but Philly has been putting pressure on them and while no other team in the division is even at .500 the distance between first and last place is the smallest in the WPK.

The Denver Brewers had their second straight 17-9 month and have quietly built up a sizeable lead in the MGL West. San Francisco might have the most talented lineup and their rotation is headed by the Harris/Lee Award favorite Jon Harrington. The L.A. Spinners, the richest club in the league, had a fine month of June to get back into something possibly approximating contention, but they seem to be falling back to the break-even record that is most likely their fate this year. As always the question with the Phoenix Speed Devils is whether they will accumulate 100 losses or merely end with 95 plus losses.

In the MGL East, the Brooklyn Aces, who got off to the hottest start in the WPK this year, have recently seen the Detroit Falcons overtake them for first place. Can the recently hot Baltimore Lords get back into contention? Perhaps, but their -21 run differential suggests that if anything they are over-achieving a bit.

Let's take a look at the SJL top-3 leaderboards:




Chicago rookie shortstop Pat Thompson, who looks like he might soon qualify as the best player at his position in the game and is just one of the young players helping the Fire to what should be their first winning season, is contending for the SJL batting title. (Watch for 21-year old center fielder Grady Parvin also- he looks like a guy who could well become a multi-year 30/30 guy.) John Mussaw is currently out for about 3 more weeks- having been injured nearly a month ago- with a hamstring strain, and it will be interesting to see if 2-time MVP Matt Van der Heyden will catch him as the MVP frontrunner for 1983. Pittsburgh's Toby Noguchi is on pace to shatter the single-season home run record in the WPK (on pace for 62), although he does little else well. Washington's Dusty Swarthout, who turned 23 in early June, is on pace to win 28 games, which also would be a single-season WPK record (current record holder is Aaron McNally who won 25 games in 1974.)

On to the MGL:



Although the Phoenix Speed Devils remain one of the worst teams in the league, their 23-year old right fielder Luis Olivez has been a real bright spot and has a legitimate shot at being the MGL MVP in his first full season. (He did go .355/.393/.518 with 3.1 WAR over 295 plate appearances in 1982, so this isn't exactly out of the blue, but he has also never been a top 100 prospect and was a 5th round draft pick IMG Academy.) Another right fielder who was relatively unheralded before his breakthrough in the WPK, Denver's 3-time MVP Antonio Acuna, is having a great second half thus far and is also back in MVP contention. (Interestingly, Acuna was also a 5th round draft pick, 4 years prior to Olivez- Olivez was the first pick of the 5th round in 1978 and Acuna the second pick of that round in 1974.) Antonio's outfield teammate (the 34th overall pick in the 1972 draft) Val Guzman is improbably leading the MGL in home runs at this time.

[BirdWatcher]

If there is a predominant factor to explain the under-performance of the Portland Wild Things this season, it would be the injuries they have suffered to key players. Shortstop Willie Romero, arguably the best defensive player in the WPK, missed 5 weeks at the beginning of the season with a calf strain and is now back on the IL with a strained hamstring suffered on July 29th and is not expected back until mid-September. They are also without starting pitchers Jason Good and Jared Johnson (team captain) until at least early September and their young star center fielder Quincy Schultz is expected to miss 3 more weeks with an intercostal strain (having been out for about a week already). And now they get the news that perhaps the biggest star of the team, Justin Ficklin, has been lost for the season. Ficklin is a distraction in the clubhouse (disruptive) but he is a force on the field and his loss might be the final nail in the Wild Things coffin this season when it comes to any hopes of getting back into contention for the MGL West division title.



The San Antonio Keys also got some bad news, though with their deep and talented lineup they will likely still be able to win the SJL West, when they learned that their MVP-candidate second baseman John Mussaw's recovery from a hamstring strain is not going well and he is not expected to return to action until at least early September. While this won't likely keep the Keys from another pennant, it might mean that Mussaw won't win his second straight SJL MVP award.




Denver Brewers fans were very pleased to learn that 26-year old left-handed starting pitcher Austin Bond has inked a contract with the club for the 1984 season, getting a well deserved raise from league minimum ($58K) to $250K next season. The signing wasn't a surprise given that Bond still has two more years of arbitration eligibility but many were relieved to see this box checked well before the stretch run of this season.

[BirdWatcher]

The month of August hasn't been very kind to the Brewers and only a recent upswing at home has brought them back to .500 in the month with 3 games remaining.



But their 3-time MGL MVP right fielder Antonio Acuna continues to have a strong second half of the 1983 season and this past week once again took MGL Player of the Week honors.
Acuna not only now leads the team in home runs (Val Guzman has been sitting at 21 for some time now) and is 3rd in that category in the MGL, but he also has stolen 22 bases (caught stealing 10 times), and he has a 10.9 ZR in right with 13 outfield assists.
While he isn't having quite an MVP caliber season he remains the best player on the Brewers and one of the most consistently well-rounded stars in the game.

[BirdWatcher]

The Denver Brewers entered a 3-game home series against the second place San Francisco Velocity needing just a series win to clinch the MGL West pennant.
In game 1 they got a strong start by Austin Bond (15-7, 3.53) and a 3 for 3, 1 run scored and 2 RBI performance from star right fielder Antonio Acuna (.316/.352/.522) to claim a relatively easy 8-3 win (the Velocity scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th before being shut down).
But the Velocity weren't ready to roll over and play dead yet as they powered to a 10-3 win in game 2. The Brewers starter Mike Costa (8-8, 3.76) gave up 4 home runs in his 6 1/3rd innings pitched (2 each to veteran infielders Leo Willis and Kasey O'Neil). Antonio Acuna went 2 for 4 in the game and hit his team best 26th home run and collected his MGL-best 109th RBI.



The Brewers jumped out to a 5-run lead in the 3rd inning of game 3 and although the Velocity answered with 4 runs of their own in the top of the 4th, veteran starting pitcher Eric Johnson then shut things down and the Brewers eventually would run away with the game by scoring 4 runs in both the 7th and 8th innings on the way to a 13-5 win to clinch the pennant. Johnson, whose WPK career started in Denver and who is a native of Trinidad, Colorado, started the season poorly as a member of the Pittsburgh Roadrunners, going 1-6 with a 5.86 ERA but has now gone 7-3 with a 3.10 ERA since joining the Brewers, winning 5 of his last 6 starts (with the lone loss a low scoring affair which was decided by a single run). With the inconsistencies of the rotation this season, Johnson's importance in stabilizing things a bit down the stretch run should not be under-estimated. Foremost among the offensive stars of this game was veteran second baseman Bobby Erbakan, who has had a solid season at the plate (.282/.342/.446) even while being a jerk in the clubhouse and in the dugout. Fourth outfielder Myles Ford (.332/.369/.540) has quietly built a great case for more playing time in 1984, not only with a good bat, including flashing some real power, but with excellent defensive play in center field.




Meanwhile, over in the MGL East the Brooklyn Aces took another step towards claiming their 2nd division pennant in the past 3 seasons with a win over the second place Detroit Falcons to take 2 of 3 in a series in Brooklyn. Brooklyn now leads the MGL East by 4 games over Detroit and 10 1/2 over Oklahoma City, the only other team that hasn't been mathematically eliminated from contention in the division.




Prior to the Brewers clinching the MGL West, the mighty San Antonio Keys and their murderers row lineup clinched the SJL West and have a WPK-best 96-56 record.

In the MGL East, the Washington Night Train, having relinquished first place to the Philadelphia Mud Hens earlier in the month, have recently had an 11-game win streak and now lead the division over Philly and Boston by 4 1/2 games.

[BirdWatcher]

(Yes, I abandoned you for a long time- if indeed there is a you to see this- but this 1984 pennant race in the MGL West has become too interesting not to share. So we have jumped forward about a year from where we left off and I will likely try to catch you all up on what has transpired in the meantime in the next few days.)


The Denver Brewers entered the month of September of the 1984 WPK season with most people writing them off as an also-ran for the first time in over a decade. After a strong first half of the season (they went 16-9 in April, fell a bit to 16-13 in May, but then rebounded to a 17-10 June record) that saw them in first place until the San Francisco Velocity caught up with them on June 23rd, things really fell apart after the All-Star break and by September 3rd the Brewers had fallen as far back as 6 1/2 games out and had for some time been in third place behind not only San Francisco but also the surprise team of 1984- the until recently lowly Phoenix Speed Devils.

The Brewers front office wouldn't admit to any thought of temporary tanking to move up in next year's draft, but certainly the focus was on playing some less experienced players and thinking ahead towards 1985. And then something funny happened. The Brewers got hot. And that coincided with the two teams ahead of them starting to struggle down the stretch. Still, when the Brewers entered back-to-back three game series on the road against Phoenix and then San Francisco, they remained very much a longshot to win the division. But they swept the Speed Devils in Phoenix and then took two of three from the Velocity in San Francisco.

All that remained of the regular season for Denver was four games at home against Los Angeles and then three in Portland to end the season.
Little used outfielder Angelo Rivas, a September call-up who has played parts of four seasons now on the big league club and is known mostly for his defense and speed, led the Brewers to an easy 11-3 in game one in L.A., going 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.
In game 2, center fielder Myles Ford, probably the biggest contributor down the stretch and one of the biggest revelations for the team this season, went 4 for 4 and hit his team-leading 17th home run in game 2 as the Brewers won 6-4. (In 90 plate appearances in September, Ford has gone .341/.378/.528 with 5 doubles, a triple, and 3 home runs while continuing to play very fine defense in center field.) Veteran staff workhorse Jim Atwell got the win, improving to 16-7 with a 3.56 ERA.



Which brings us to today, when Eric Maisch, who returned this season after missing most of 1983 with an arthritic throwing elbow (having won the Harris/Lee award in 1982) equaled an MGL single game record for strikeouts by a pitcher when he fanned 15 L.A. batters over 8 innings pitched. Maisch got off to a very slow start this season but has gradually been picking up steam and has now gotten wins in his last six decisions (with a few impressive no decisions mixed in). He also went 2 for 2 at the plate in another 6-4 win for Denver, scoring twice and hitting his 3rd double of the season while also drawing a walk.



So having practically given up any hope of keeping their MGL West pennant streak alive, the Brewers now head into their final four games of the season in a tie with San Francisco and a game ahead of Phoenix.
While San Francisco is still considered the favorite to win the division, the reality is that San Francisco and Phoenix face each other for the last three games of their regular seasons so if they beat up on each other a little the Brewers could be in the driver's seat.



Stay tuned.

[Palaaemon]

Good to see you posting again! I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours as well as happy holidays to everyone else out there. Take care, be safe and keep on keeping on.

Palaaemon

[BirdWatcher]

And the Brewers get the sweep of L.A. in their final four regular season home games of the 1984 season, the last three all by 6-4 scores.




Ben Hartman (.356/.388/.463, 3.6 WAR in 420 PA) and Victor Martinez (.293/.373/.438, 4.0 WAR in 464 PA), who along with Myles Ford were probably the best position players on the team and mark a changing of the guard for the club, led the way in the final game of this series. Hartman, hitting in the leadoff slot, went 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored and an RBI, hitting his 9th home run of the season.


And Martinez chipped in with a 3 for 4, 1 run scored, 2 RBI game and was in the middle of turning a pair of double plays on defense.


Sadahige Kawasaki (10-11, 4.32), who returned from a torn UCL suffered in the 1982 post-season which sidelined him for all of 1983 clearly diminished at age 36, pitched a strong game in this one, good enough for the win anyway.

The Washington Night Train clinched the SJL East yesterday and so now three of the four post-season spots have been clinched and it all just comes down to the three-team race in the MGL West.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

Good to see you posting again! I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours as well as happy holidays to everyone else out there. Take care, be safe and keep on keeping on.

Palaaemon

Thanks and same to you my old friend.
I figured if anyone was missing WPK reports it was likely you.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers may be hot but so are their final opponents, the Portland Wild Things and in game one of the final regular season series it was Portland that came out on top.



Denver starter Mike Costa (9-8, 4.43) took the loss. In spite of his pedigree as a 1st round draft pick and top 5 prospect in the WPK, the feeling is that the Denver front office is ready to move on from Costa. While he has three elite pitches and great stuff, he is held back by pedestrian movement and by control that is average at best and which the Brewers scouting staff is seeing as actually heading in the wrong direction. He will likely be trade bait in the offseason, especially with a few other pitching prospects (particularly Stephen Brooks, who just needs to harness his control a bit better, and is ranked the #30 best prospect) who are mostly WPK-ready.


Meanwhile, Jon Harrington likely cemented his claim on the 1984 MGL Harris/Lee (best pitcher) Award when he earned his 20th victory with a complete game, 4-hit shutout of the offensively potent Phoenix club. The loss mathematically eliminated the Speed Devils from contention, but they still have to be happy with at least a 90-win season after having lost at least 97 games in each of the past 7 seasons, with a low mark of 52-110 in 1977. With a good young pitching staff, excellent team defense, and some young hitters who get the advantage of playing in the league's best hitters park, Phoenix appears to be a team poised to contend for the foreseeable future.

[pauwoo]

Let's go Brewers!

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by pauwoo

Let's go Brewers!

Attachment 839571

Thanks pauwoo.

Just getting ready to play those final two games of the regular season and will report back soon.

Then I'll see about a general catching up of what happened between the end of last season and where we are now.

[BirdWatcher]

So here we are, down to the final day of the 1984 WPK regular season, and the MGL West contenders San Francisco and Denver are tied at 93-68 each thanks to the results detailed below from the penultimate day of the season.



The Brewers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in Portland and then just hung on for a 5-3 victory. Right handed starter Jose Corpeno (6-4, 4.23) wasn't spectacular in this one but as he often does he kept the team in the game long enough to turn it over to the Brewers vaunted bullpen (more about that in a later post) and gave them a chance to win. Corpeno is likely to be one of the main beneficiaries, in terms of rotation opportunities, at least in the short run, should the Brewers trade Mike Costa in the offseason.
We have talked quite a bit about newer faces on the team, so let's give some love to one of the old veterans, Joe McPhillips. At age 35, McPhillips remains a steady and hard-working presence on the team. This year he has gone .285/.356/.428 with 15 doubles, 3 triples, and 11 home runs, putting up 1.9 WAR in 418 plate appearances. These days he mostly plays right field where his defensive skills remain very high and while his stolen base numbers were not good this year (9 stolen bases, 13 times caught trying) he remains fast and a very savvy baserunner. He went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI in today's win. He is only under contract for one more season and the club has a buy-out option at the end of this season, but the thought is that he is well worth the relatively modest pay he is due and he should remain a Brewer for at least one more season.



While the Brewers were holding on to a road win, the Velocity saw their bottom of the 9th inning rally fall short against Phoenix in San Francisco, setting up the possible tie-breaker scenario depending upon what each team does in their final regular season game.

[BirdWatcher]

Well, considering how far out of the race the Brewers were in early September they deserve a ton of credit for taking it down to the final day of the regular season before finally seeing the division title go to the San Francisco Velocity.





The Brewers were clinging to a narrow 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the 9th inning in Portland but just couldn't withstand the Wild Things talented offensive attack, led by their star center fielder Quincy Schultz who singled to lead off the bottom of the 9th and then drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th as part of a 4 for 6, 2 run, 2 RBI day. Schultz, who is a gold glove fielder as well as a fine hitter, led the MGL in WAR among position players with 7.9.

No blame can be put on the shoulders of Brewers center fielder Myles Ford, who finished his season with a 3 for 5, 1 run, 2 RBI game. Ford finishes the season with a slash line of .299/.360/.482 and a team best (among hitters) 4.5 WAR.

Catcher Willie Ortega, who was hitting .237/.316/.329 at the end of July, was great down the stretch, hitting .344/.369/.508 in September and finished with a .262/.333/.367 slash line and went 3 for 5 with a run scored and his second triple of the season in this final game of 1984.


Here are the final standings for the 1984 season:

[BirdWatcher]

As promised, I will now look backwards and catch you up a bit on what happened between late September 1983 and where we picked up here in late September 1984.

Let's look at the final standings and award winners in the Shoeless Joe League for 1983:





The San Antonio Keys remained the powerhouse of the WPK, led by their fearless Captain and probable Greatest of All Time shortstop Bud Lindsay, and that uber-potent lineup. Lindsay's WAR of 5.9 was third best on the team with fellow middle infielder John Mussaw leading the way at 8.7 and slugging first baseman Mike Shervey putting up 7.4 WAR while belting 39 homers, along with a league-leading 50 doubles and also league-leading RBI of 161. All of this added up to Shervey winning his first league MVP award. (Spoiler alert- he led the league in RBI this year again too with 143.) Add in left fielder John Freeman (5.5 WAR), emerging star third baseman Ryan Cambell (4.9 WAR), and underrated right fielder Danny Belmontes (4.3 WAR) and you get an idea of just how scary this lineup was for opponents.
But in the end the resurgent Washington Night Train, a team that was one of the powerhouses in '60's, with their superior pitching (22-year old Paris, Kentucky native Dusty Swarthout led the league in wins with 22 and K's with 196 (another spoiler alert- he would also lead the league in K's in 1984 with 190) and won the SJL Harris/Lee award) and situational hitting, swept the Keys in the SJL Championship series.
The Chicago Fire, one of the 1975 expansion clubs, showed some signs of hope and improvement, putting together their first winning season ever with their previous high win total being 75 the previous season of 1982. As it turns out they took a slight step backwards in 1984, winning two fewer games than '83, but they are young and talented and should be competitive for awhile going forward.
The El Paso Dawgs, on the other hand, remained competitive in '83 but were aging and there were signs they were headed in the wrong direction. And, indeed, they finished in 5th place in 1984 and had their worst record (68-94) in over a decade.
Similarly, the Philadelphia Mud Hens were in the race for the SJL East until late in the 1983 season and then cratered in 1984, getting off to a horrific start before bouncing back a bit to finish with a 70-92 record, but in last place. They are a club in serious need of a rebuild.


Now let's take a look at 1983 standings and award winners in the Moonlight Graham League:




The Denver Brewers failed to win 100 games for the first time since 1973 but still easily took the MGL West title over San Francisco. On the other hand, the Phoenix Speed Devils avoided losing 100 games, to break a three-year streak of triple digit futility. Still, there were no strong signs yet of the incredible improvement they would achieve in 1984 when they got off to a hot start and though they faded a bit down the stretch still finished with their best record since they won 105 games back in 1971. Phoenix was led by surprising break-out superstar right fielder Luis Olivez, who at age 23 led the league in hits with 219, batting average (.348) and WAR with 6.8 and was named MGL MVP at the end of the season. Olivez was a 5th round draft pick out of IMG Academy back in 1978 and was never a heralded prospect, but while his offensive numbers are certainly inflated a bit by the Phoenix' home park being the most hitter friendly park in the WPK, he also possesses strong defensive skills with a cannon for an arm (19 outfield assists in 1983, 13 in '84) and great speed, though he needs to improve his base stealing technique (in approximately 2.5 seasons in the WPK he has 36 stolen bases and has been caught trying 30 times).
The Los Angeles Spinners, by far the biggest market and biggest budget team in the MGL, continued to underperform and likely need a management shakeup. After their weak 5th place finish in 1983 they had an even weaker 5th place finish in 1984, winning 3 fewer games than the season before.

Over in the MGL East, it was finally time for the often underachieving Brooklyn Aces to win it all. They were led by a strong and veteran pitching staff (though the bullpen was anchored by 23-year old fan favorite closer Michael Tucker), and by a couple of very good players coming into their prime in third baseman Andy Raley (4.5 WAR) and center fielder Chris Caldwell (4.1 WAR). They also got good production from veterans Adam Pester (4.0 WAR in left field at age 35) and slugging first baseman Danny Salvador (3.4 WAR and 21 homers at age 35). (As it turns out this was probably the last hurrah for Salvador as he was only given 136 plate appearances in 1984 and hit 4 homers with a .235/.321/.378 slash line and 0.5 WAR.) The Aces won a tough six game contest with Denver in the MGL Championship series and then took the KCS over Washington in an epic 7 game battle. The Detroit Falcons, for so long seen as a team on the rise only to disappoint, fell six games short in 1983 and then won 20 fewer games in 1984, finishing a distant 4th place as future Hall of Fame pitcher Aaron McNally (who surely regrets that free agency contract he signed with the Falcons back in 1979) had a decent 1983, going 15-12 with a 3.23 ERA before having a disastrous 1984, finishing with by far a career worst record of 9-19 and a 4.30 ERA which is nearly a run and a half higher than his career ERA.
The Montreal Royals, who improbably won the MGL East in their first season of existence as an expansion club in 1980 (with an 82-80 record) lost 100 games in 1983 and followed that up with a 112-loss season in 1984. (The 1967 El Paso Dawgs still hold the record for futility in a season with 117 losses, but they do set a new MGL record for losses in a season, breaking Phoenix' record of 110 losses suffered in 1977.)

San Francisco Velocity staff Ace Jon Harrington won his first Harris/Lee Award in 1983 and will likely repeat again when the 1984 awards are announced. His rotation mate Brad Stephens took MGL Rookie of the Year honors and followed that up with a 16-7 1984 season in which he led the league in ERA at 2.35. (They are both pretty bad makeup guys- with Harrington profiling as selfish and Stephens as not loyal to the team, but that is pretty much the norm for San Francisco as they also have a disruptive right fielder in Greg Dohman, an unmotivated center fielder in Matt Christensen, and a disruptive left fielder in Cameron Olsen. So basically the core of the best players on the team are jerks, with the exception being veteran first baseman Leo Willis, who is highly respected and well-liked.)

[BirdWatcher]

During the offseason between the 1983 and 1984 WPK seasons, three new members were inducted into the WPK Hall of Fame.




Jamel "Cobra" McNeil, the greatest relief pitcher in the history of the WPK thus far, and one of the most despised players as well, was elected on his first ballot with a strong 93.7% of the vote in spite of his surly personality. McNeil was a multi-inning force out of the bullpen and won a record 8 Reliever of the Year awards while pitching for six different teams (three of them in two separate stints) and getting two championship rings. He finished his career with the most career strikeouts of any pitcher in the WPK in spite of starting only one game in his career (in his rookie season) and even today is third all-time in K's with 2,227. He holds career records in games pitched (1,064), in hits allowed per 9 innings pitched (5.87), in K/9 (10.66), in WHIP (1.03), in opponents average against (.185), in opponents OBP (.265), in opponents SLG (.267), and in opponents OPS (.532). He was a dominant force and the standard bearer for the position, in performance if not in personality.


Jesus Casiano is that rare breed of superstar who played for the same team his entire career. His uniform number 3 was retired by the Jacksonville Wolf Pack when he retired in 1979. Along with Jesus Hernandez, he defines the position of third base for the first generation of the WPK. Casiano is just one of two players in WPK history to win the Triple Crown in hitting and he did so in 1970 with arguably the best single offensive season in WPK history. He went .367/.423/.655 that year with 46 home runs and 152 RBI. His 417 total bases that season remains the single-season record in the WPK. Although decreasing range forced him to move to first base the final few seasons of his career, he won 6 Gold Glove awards as a third baseman earlier in his career. He was slow and he struck out quite a bit more than he walked but he was a force at the plate and in the field and was considered one of the smarter players of his era. He enters the Hall on his first ballot and it is well deserved.


Andy "Lemonhead" Wilson was probably the first true superstar in the WPK, and the biggest question with Wilson is just how good he could have been if he wasn't already 30 when the league formed. Likely had he been younger when the league started he would have ended up being a first ballot Hall of Famer instead of having to wait for his fifth ballot to be inducted. As it is, he won two Gold Gloves as a shortstop early in his WPK career and was a 2-time MGL MVP, leading the league in WAR 4 times and having a WAR of 5.1 at the age of 36, having moved to second base full time a few years prior. He wasn't a leader by any means but he was well-liked and very popular around the league and when you consider the numbers he put up without playing a single WPK game before the age of 30, he is well deserving of his plaque in the WPK Hall of Fame.

[BirdWatcher]

Coming back to the present for a moment, both of the League Championship Series in the WPK this year went 7 games, with San Antonio prevailing in the SJL (team Captain Bud Lindsay winning the series MVP honors) and the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings finally conquering the San Francisco Velocity with their veteran left fielder Frank Ortega awarded the series MVP honors.

[BirdWatcher]

For the third time in the past five seasons the San Antonio Keys are the WPK champions, as their offensive firepower proved to be too much for the MGL champs, Oklahoma City.



Mike Shervey, last season's league MVP, was named the Kinsella Classic Series MVP. He hit 3 of his 4 post-season home runs in the KCS and went 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI in the championship clinching game yesterday. Shervey was also the 1980 SJL Championship Series.