The Great American Baseball Thrift Book (1946-1970?) - Page 9

Syd Thrift · 05-30-2023, 04:28 PM

I already recapped the players in the LCS previews; here I'll just briefly opine on who I think is better.

C: Jon Stuart definitely gets the nod here. He's a known Canadian who fields behind the plate like a hockey goalie and hits well to boot. Advantage: Cardinals:

1B: I guess you give this to Lorenzo Martinez on account of his experience, plus Mike Miller had kind of a meh season. Still... advantage: Cardinals, but it's closer than you might think.

2B: I think this is basically a push, although if I were picking a team from scratch I'd for sure go with Long over Depew, who is kind of a Johnny Come Lately. Okay. I guess that means advantage: Red Sox.

3B: Likewise, Mike Galeana's going to be a great player in the future for St. Louis but Schneider has been that guy for a few seasons now. Advantage: Red Sox, although the more I think about this the less I'm super into it. I'll leave it advantage: Sox because of the edge in defense.

SS: Easy, easy, easy advantage: Red Sox even if Handa hadn't started picking things up on offense in the last 2 months. Oniji Handa is the Ozzie Smith or Mark Belanger of this league and Dusty McCully, while serviceable, is not.

LF: Both Rafael Disla and Tom Brown are stars, in fact good enough to be the cornerstone of a lesser franchise. I think Tom Brown has to get the edge here in that he plays left like a guy who could probably still start in CF whereas Disla plays like a guy you could just as easily put at first base.

CF: Nothing against Jimmy James but Jon Glynn is both a prototypical leadoff hitter and a good to great fielder. Advantage: Red Sox.

RF: I guess I'll have to give Casey Satterfield the nod over Jun Kim, if only because Kim's still recovering from injuries and missed all of September. Availability is the best ability.

Bench: The Sox have a couple of really solid pinch-hitters and while I like Ethan Keesee and am rooting for Elijah Johnson, losing McCully for a couple games really exposed how thin St. Louis' bench is. Big advantage, Red Sox.

SP1: Justin Kindberg might not be available to pitch Game 1 but he's eeeeeeeeasily the better choice over Ricardo Gomez, who was a very average pitcher in the AL before fooling a bunch of guys with an as yet unseen variety of pitches. Big advantage, Bosox.

SP2: This is Michael Pesco vs. Vince Bachler or, a guy who might be in the Cy Young mix if he didn't have Justin Kindberg as a teammate vs. a .500 pitcher. Yeah, of course Boston wins here.

SP3: Likewise, Sandy Hinojosa would be the ace of many other staffs while McCauley would be a 4th starter for 2 division rivals (the Pirates and Phillies). Advantage city, Boston.

Closer: This is probably where St. Louis can create chances, as their guy Billy Munoz has been lights out this year while the Red Sox' Matt Brock looked as unwieldy in 1 postseason appearance as he's looked since early August. Advantage: Cardinals if they can get there.

Bullpen: I think this is advantage to the Cardinals again, as they've got a great setup man in Rick Legere and a host of guys who can fill in to some more limited roles. In Boston's case the bad run of Brock trickles downward: Bubba Touchton has been fine but if he has to eat some high leverage innings instead of Brock, who do you use instead of him? Eddie Sanchez was not good this year. Kojiro Nakazawa is young. Marco Sanchez, the team's #4 starter, is the big wild card here. Advantage: Cardinals but this may be a push.

Overall: I expected it would be the Red Sox but the Cards have a chance with HRs in the middle of the order and pitching, and that's what it looks like on further analysis as well.

Syd Thrift · 05-31-2023, 12:37 PM

All riiiight, we're into mid-October now and it's time for the World Series! It looks like the Red Sox did manage to get Justin Kindberg enough rest following his great Game 4 performance to take the mound tonight, and facing him will be Vince Bachler, who pitched 8 strong innings in his one appearance in the NLCS. The series opens at Fenway Park for 2 games before heaiding to Busch Stadium in St. Louis for the next 3 (assuming there's not a sweep of course). The weather has cooled down from the league championship series highs to 53 degrees, with the wind blowing left to right at 13MPH.

Top 1st: Justin Kindberg gets Jim James to ground out to 2B Brian Long on the first pitch and the 1971 World Series is under way! Depew grounds out to SS Oniji Handa. I suspect they're going to get to know Mr. Handa pretty well. Satterfield is the first strikeout victim of the night, whiffing on a 2-2 splitter. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: Glynn grounds out weakly to shortstop to lead off. Brian Long, the second baseman with some solid pop (at least for a middle infielder) jacks a 1-1 forkball into the right-center gap. It rolls all the way to the wall and by the time the ball gets in, he's on at 2nd with a double, his 2nd extra base hit of the postseason and first since Game 1 of the ALCS. Mike Miller singles up the middle. Long careens around third base and is juuuuust safe under the tag by Jon Stuart! It was a decent throw by CF Jim James but Long got himself a great jump. 1-0, Red Sox! Tom Brown, the ALCS MVP, comes to the plate trying to extend his hot hitting. The at-bat does start well, as Bachler misses way outside with a breaking pitch and it hurtles to the backstop for a wild pitch. Brown singles in front of CF Jim James, who was playing him extreeemely deep. Brown did finish in the top 10 in both doubles (32, 6th) and triples (7, 8th) so I guess that was for good reason. Anyway, we've got runners on the corners with only 1 out. Kristian Schneider hits a high fly to deep center which does come down but which also scores Mike Miller easily from third. 2-0, Sox! Tom Brown decides that maybe the Red Sox aren't done scoring... he steals 2nd on the first pitch. Jun Kim then walks and yeah, the inning's not over yet. Oniji Handa gives the fans a little bit of excitement, as he hits one that looks like it's going to bounce off the Green Monster before the wind catches it and turns it into a long out. 2-0, Red Sox.

Top 2nd: Lorenzo Martinez coaxes a 7-pitch at-bat into a walk. Rafael Disla connects with a 2-2 fastball and sends a hard groundball to Mike Miller, who starts up a 3-6-3 double play. Miller was the 1969 Gold Glove and has a good chance of repeating this year; he's no slouch out there. With the bases now empty, Mike Galeana flies to short right field and RF Jun Kim to retire the side. 2-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 2nd: C Jeremy Dolak, not exactly the picture of discipline (a .287 OBP during the regular season) draws a leadoff walk off of Vince Bachler. Justin Kindberg sacrifices his man along to 2nd as a pitcher does, 1-3. Bachler throws his 2nd wild pitch of this game and boom, Dolak's 90 feet away from making this a 3 run game. Bachler had just 4 WPs the entire regular season; suffice to say, he's wild tonight. Is the spotlight of the World Series getting to the 25 year old? Jon Glynn hits a fly to right field which does the sac-fly job and we do in fact have a 3-0 ballgame. Brian Long flies out to LF Rafael Disla, who stands in front of the scoreboard in left to clinch the final out. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 3rd: Kindberg strikes out Jon Stuart looking at a 2-2 pitch. He has words with the umpire after the play but the ball looked in the zone to me. Dusty McCully, playing his first game in almost a week, flies out weakly to right. Vince Bachler pops out to center to retire the side. 3-0, Cardinals.

Bottom 3rd: Mike Miller slaps one back through the box and past Vince Bachler for a leadoff hit. The Red Sox have been getting to Bachler, that's for sure. Troy Brown hits a hard chopper to shortstop that Dusty McCully has to wait to come down and by the time he does, he can't get the throw off in time to catch the runner. It's an infield single! Runners on first and second. Kristian Schneider gives Bachler a big gift with a shot to shot to 2B Tom Depew that turns into a 4-6-3 DP. Mike Miller does take 3rd on the play. Schneider's now hitting just .150 for the postseason. Kim flies to left to retire the side. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 4th: Jim James pops out to SS Oniji Handa near the pitchers' mound. That's 10 men up and 10 men down for St. Louis now. Tom Depew hits one right at Mike Miller at first base, who completes the unassisted putout. Casey Satterfield breaks up the nascent no-hit bid with a soft single up the middle that juuuust gets by Oniji Handa. And the first chance he has, Justin Kindberg puts one in the dirt that Jeremy Dolak can't handle. It's a wild pitch and the Cards have a runner in scoring position for the feared Lorenzo Martinez. Martinez hits one towards the hole between Mike Miller and Brian Long. Miller gets to it and tosses the ball to Kindberg for the final out of the inning. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 4th: Hey, Bachler settled down a little last inning. Maybe he'll be able to stick? He also faces the bottom of the order in the 4th. Oniji Handa challenges 1B Lorenzo Martinez with a groundball to his right but Martinez is able to take it in and race to the bag in time to get the speedy Red Sox shortstop. Dolak hits a base hit up the middle to bring up the pitcher. Kindberg misses a bunt on a 1-2 fastball and is the 2nd out of the inning. That's also Bachler's first K, such as it is. He immediately gets his 2nd on Jon Glynn, who gets waaay in front of an 0-2 changeup to retire the side. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 5th: Disla strikes out swinging on a 2-2 curve. Galeana hits a slow roller to his counterpart at third base, Kristian Schneider. Schneider doesn't even attempt a throw as Galeana chugs in to first base with an infield single. Kindberg promptly picks him off. No soup for you! Stuart strikes out to retire the side. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 5th: Brian Long walks to lead off. That's already Bachler's 3rd base on balls. Mike Miller slaps a single into left in the next at-bat; he's been finding ways to get base hits in all October now (with a .458 average and a 3-3 game). Tom Brown swings like he wants to make it a 6 run game but he gets a little too under it and pushes it a little too much to the middle and it's just a long fly out to CF Jim James. Schneider flies out to Rafael Disla in left. Jun Kim also gives a pitch a good ride but like Tom Brown hits it into center field, where Jim James catches it on the warning track for the final out. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 6th: Dusty McCully hits a weak grounder back to Kindberg, who tosses him out 1-3. I could bring out Vince Bachler... if it was the 21st century! He's at 85 pitches but hasn't completely, like, died, so he'll stay in. It helps that this is a very low leverage plate appearance. He hits a ball so pitcher-like that Oniji Handa, the first man to get to it, can't complete the throw by the time Bachler reaches first base. That's his first base hit all postseason and the 3rd allowed - all of them pretty weakly hit balls - by Justin Kindberg. Jim James hits a line drive towards shortstop that Oniji Handa leaps up to grab for out #2. Tom Depew hits one to 1B Mike Miller, who takes it himself for the final out. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 6th: Oniji Handa Ks and gives Bachler 3 on the night to equal his number of walks. Jeremy Dolak also strikes out. Man. Bachler isn't, like, averse to the strikeout but he's defininitely more of a finesse guy, with 148 Ks in 233 innings in the regular season (5.7 per 9, which I guess is technically above average). Kindberg avoids him striking out the side by grounding out 3-1. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 7th: Casey Satterfield belts it to deep center but Jon Glynn gets on his horse and makes the catch at the warning track for out #1. Lorenzo Martinez grounds out to Brian Long at 2nd. Kindberg strikes out Rafael Disla on a 2-2 splitter to retire the side. 5 Ks for Kindberg, who earned the old-timey nickname "The Ironworker" in the Boston press for his tenacity and work ethic. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 7th: Vince Bachler is up to 110 pitches but has pitched well the past few innings. I'm going to give him a shot at pitching through the 7th and coming out for a pinch hitter. Glynn tops a low change and pulls it to Mike Galeana at third, who throws it in time for out number 1. Long walks on 4 pitches, his 2nd walk of the game and Bachler's 4th. He's on thin ice. So thin in fact that with a L-R-L configuration on its way I'm going to pull him for lefty specialist Kevin Kading. Bachler finishes with 6.1 IP, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts, 7 hits, and 3 runs so far - he is of course responsible for Brian Long.

Kading gave up 1 run in his last outing and overall had 1.1 IP in 2 appearances in the NLCS with 1 walk and 1 strikeout. He had kind of a rough year overall, finishing with an ERA of 5.00, but the 35 year old proved he can still get lefties out, as he held them to a .239 BA in 1971. He gets his shot against the red-hot Mike Miller... and he manages to use that hotness against him(?), as Miller hits a hard groundball to Mike Galeana, who initiates an around the horn 5-4-3 double play.

Top 8th: Justin Kindberg by the way is still sitting pretty at 84 pitches and has a shot at a Maddux tonight. He gets Mike Galeana to just barely break his wrists on a 1-2 forkball (which by my eyes was in the strike zone anyway). Jon Stuart hits a flare to right but Jun Kim's having nothing to do with it - he charges in and makes a diving catch for out #2. I probably should have pinch-hit for Dusty McCully, who's clearly still recovering from the strained oblique that kept him out of the last 2 games of the NLCS. I did not and he flies out harmlessly to center field. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 8th: I chose to leave Kevin Kading for reasons entirely purposeful and not at all related to having to hop out of OOTP for a call and then accidentally going into continuous mode. Anyway, he stays in to face Tom Brown, and allows a single to left. Then Kristian Schneider, a lefty, walks in and breaks out of a bad slump with a hot shot into the hole between 1st and 2nd. Tom Brown gets all the way to 3rd on the play. At this point, it's in for a penny, in for a pound, so I leave Kading in to face one more lefty, RF Jun Kim. John Stuart can't handle a very handle-able pitch and it's a 4-0 contest thanks to the passed ball! Schneider gets up to 2nd. That looks fortuitous for Boston because Kim hits a hard groundball to 2nd that almost certainly would have been a double play if Schneider was still on 2nd base. As it stands, he sneaks over to 3rd on the play, which is going to be the last for Kading.

In for Kading for the final 2/3rds (barring a major breakdown) is setup man Rick Legere. He's due up 1st in the 9th and I want to save Billy Munoz just in case there's a comeback. Handa is the first man to face him and he strikes out looking for 2 down. That brings up Jeremy Dolak, or rather Sam Marks in place of the catcher, to try and get Kristian Schneider home and make this one a 5-run ballgame. He grounds out easily to 3rd base to retire the side. 4-0, Red Sox.

Top 9th: The Cards have their work cut out for them and Justin Kindberg has been on cruise control. Sid Bartoszek comes in as the late-inning defensive replacement for Jeremy Dolak for the 3rd time in October. Pinch-hitting against the lefty Kindberg will be Dylan Dockery (.355, 1, 14), a career .226 hitter and former starting CF for the A's who had some success with the Cards this year as a right-handed pinch-hitter. As a former AL guy he's also one of the few players on this team with experience against Kindberg. It's all for naught, though, as Kindberg strikes him out on 3 pitches. That brings up CF Jim James, whom I'm also removing for a right-handed PH, this time backup catcher Jose Medina (.262, 0, 17). He flies out to left for 2 away. And now Tom Depew, also a lefty but a solid enough hitter that he gets to take his cuts. Depew hits a soft line drive towards the hole that Mike Miller is able to flag down for out #3. 4-0, Red Sox win!

Justin Kindberg looks like he's got the NL's number just as much as he had the AL's this year. Man. It's going to be haaaaard for the Cardinals to win this if they're going to spot the Sox 2 and maybe 3 wins like the one tonight.

Hammerpgh · 06-01-2023, 09:08 AM

Only just getting into all this and loving the look of this thread.. not sure how far it will go but going to enjoy reading it for however long it lasts. Great job

Syd Thrift · 06-01-2023, 12:30 PM

Game 2 features Ricardo Gomez (1-1, 4.61) going up against Sandy Hinojosa (0-1, 1.12), as Michael Pesco is still not quite ready to go following his ALCS Game 5 win. 7 games provides a lot more breathing room than 5 so a Boston win here just puts them in the drivers' seat rather than essentially winning this series. The gametime temps are all the way down to 49 degrees now, with that same right-to-left wind we had yesterday.

Top 1st: Jim James hit a groundball over to Kristian Schneider at 3rd, who throws him out for 1 away. Tom Depew lays down a bunt in an attempt to beat it out for a hit... and it works! Sandy Hinojosa is late with the throw. He is not known as a good fielder and if this was like 1911 he'd be getting bunted on left and right. Instead, Casey Satterfield tries to hit it further... and only smashes it to 2B Brian Long, who kick-starts a 4-6-3 DP. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: Jon Glynn hits a leadoff base hit to center. That's his first hit of the series. Good for him! He's been struggling. He's a threat to run whenever he gets on and... you guessed it, he runs. He's had 3 steals in October, which is especially big considering how few times he's managed to reach base. Brian Long makes it all moot with a deep fly to straightaway center field that clears the high wall out there for a homerun! It has to be said that Ricardo Gomez, who just gave up the longball, was very, very stingy with those in the regular season, allowing only 7 in 224.2 combined innings between Milwaukee and St. Louis. That's also Brian Long's 1st of the postseason and 10th of the year. Mike Miller continues his torrid pace with a line drive single to right. That brings up Tom Brown, who belts a double into right-center. Mike Miller holds up at third. Will Gomez even last the inning? He walks Kristian Schneider to load the bases and face his 6th batter, still no out. John Stuart barely saves the team from further disaster by blocking one in the dirt. Gomez fiiinally gets that first out by whiffing Jun Kim. He gets Oniji Handa too, only it's on a towering fly to deep center that scores Mike Miller ahead of the Jim James throw. 3-0! Jeremy Dolak pops a 2-1 pitch into short center, allowing Jim James to make a play on it for out #3. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 2nd: Lorenzo Martinez pops out to right field... where the ball continues to get pushed over until Jun Kim catches it in Fenway's scant foul territory for the first out. Sandy Hinojosa hits Rafael Disla with 1 out. Disla exchanges some salty words with the Boston veteran as he walks to first. Mike Galeana flies out to Tom Brown in left field. John Stuart takes an outside knuckle-curve the other way but RF Jun Kim catches up to it for out #3. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 2nd: Sandy Hinojosa hits an easy fly that carries a bit until LF Rafael Disla catches it near the warning track. Jon Glynn flies to right. Even with the hit earlier in the game he's hitting just .111 in the postseason. Brian Long hits one hard and near the place he hit the first homerun but it hangs up and this time around CF Jim James doesn't even have to go to the warning track to make the catch. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 3rd: Dusty McCully singles into right field, the 2nd hit allowed by Sandy Hinojosa as well as McCully's 2nd in the postseason (he's 2-10). Ricardo Gomez keeps trying to bunt and eventually strikes out. That's a not super heavily deserved K for Hinojosa. Jim James hits one that carries to the left field warning track but Tom Brown is there for out #2. Tom Depew hits a regular old not-bunted ground ball to 3rd base. Kristian Schneider is there to throw him out. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 3rd: Mike Miller strikes out looking on a 2-2 change. That's Ricardo Gomez' 2nd strikeout of this contest so far. He seems to have calmed down from that rough start. Tom Brown hits a routine groundball to 2B Tom Depew that ends in a 4-3 putout. Kristian Schneider flies out to medium left. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 4th: The heart of the Cardinals' order is due up here. Maybe they can get on the board for the first time this Series. It doesn't start well, as Casey Satterfield watches a 1-2 change go by him for strike three. Lorenzo Martinez hits a hard fly that looked like his 2nd postseason HR coming off his bat but which winds up being a semi-loud out to right fielder Jun Kim. Rafael Disla flies to left and the answer is "no", they cannot score. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 4th: Jun Kim flies out to center field. Oniji Handa grounds out to Dusty McCully, who has to run in a little bit to get the throw off in time, but as implied by the word "out" it arrives by a step. Jeremy Dolak hits a one-hopper just past SS McCully and into center for a 2-out base hit. The pitcher Hinojosa then hits a weak groundball to 2nd to retire the side. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 5th: Mike Galeana takes a big cut at a low fastball that he misses for strike three and out #1. I think that's Hinojosa's first official whiff, unless you count a bunt K a whiff. John Stuart belts one to deep center, where it bounces off the wall just above the gate below the stands. CF Jon Glynn tracks it down and throws it into 2nd, where Stuart is already in standing up. Dusty Glynn hits one deep to the left-center gap himself... but Glynn somehow manages to track it down! F/X tracking rates that a 5-star catch and it couldn't come at a better time! Ricardo Gomez grounds to 2nd and the Cardinals squander the best chance they've had all series. 3-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 5th: Glynn grounds out to shortstop. Brian Long hits a fly to left that Rafael Disla easily gets to for the fly out. Mike Miller singles past Lorenzo Martinez, who can only wave at the ball until it gets to RF Casey Satterfield. That's another multi-hit game for Miller and it's one on, two out for Tom Brown. Brown flies to center to retire the side. 3-0, Red Sox.

Top 6th: Top of the order is due up for the Cardinals and do I sense some desperation in those 1s and 0s? Jim James draws a leadoff walk, the first issued by Hinojosa tonight. Tom Depew flies to deep-ish left field. Hey, there's one! Casey Satterfield belts a first pitch fastball into the right field seats for a 2-run homerun! That draws the game to 3-2 and gives Satterfield his 2nd HR and 4/5th RBIs of October. Lorenzo Martinez draws a walk as Hinojosa gets a little too fine with 4 pitches. Rafael Disla hits a liner to center except it's right at Jon Glynn. 2 out. Mike Galeana also walks - that's 3 walks just this inning by Sandy Hinojosa, who is now up to 81 pitches in spite of whipping through the first 5 innings. John Stuart flies out to right field, ending what could have been an even bigger inning. 3-2, Red Sox.

Bottom 6th: Schneider grounds it to Tom Depew, who drops it, picks it up, and still manages to deliver the ball to first base in time for out #1. Jun Kim hits a weak roller to first that Lorenzo Martinez easily takes to the bag. Oniji Handa flies out into left. 1-2-3 for Ricardo Gomez... for once? Twice? I haven't kept track. 3-2, Red Sox.

Top 7th: Pinch-hitting for Dusty McCully is the Pirates' longtime leadoff man Elijah Johnson. He grounds out to Kristian Schneider at third, 5-3. That brings up Ricardo Gomez; had Johnson done more I might have pulled him but as it stands, the man's only thrown 89 pitches and has calmed waaay down from that bad first inning. He goes down on strikes for the second time today. Jim James also grounds out to third and it's a 1-2-3 inning. 3-2, Red Sox.

Bottom 7th: Joe Wicker's in at shortstop for McCully; this is already his 4th October appearance, saying a lot since he only appeared in 29 regular season games (the Cardinals had a vet in the middle infield that they traded away midway through the season). I'll go ahead and leave Jeremy Dolak and his .421 postseason average in to face Gomez. He proves me right with a single to left. That brings up Sandy Hinojosa and even if Matt Brock was operating on all cylinders it wouldn't seem fair to pull him when he's been pitching so well (that one mistake in the 6th aside). He tries to lay down a bunt - I mean, I guess the attempt to lay down a bunt was successful - but Gomez picks it up and fires to second to catch Dolak in the 2-4 fielder's choice... but Dolak slides in ahead of the throw! Everybody's safe! What is happening? Jon Glynn bunts to take the count to 2 strikes, then grounds towards the hole at short. Joe Wicker is able to pick it up and make the throw to 2nd, although it's not close to a double play. Jeremy Dolak does get into 3rd and so we've got runners on the corners with 1 out. Ricardo Gomez still hasn't thrown 100 pitches yet but nevertheless this is going to be it for him tonight.

The new man up is Cardinals ace Billy Munoz, appearing in his 4th game and most likely pitching from here on out unless the Cards rally and need a pinch-hitter. The 30 year old flashed for Cleveland in 1968 but really came into his own as a stopper this year, setting career highs in wins (10), saves (24), and matching his high in strikeouts (80). Brian Long, 1-3 on the night and hitting .348 in October, kicks the dirt in the batters' box and waits for the first pitch. He hits a dying flare to left field... which Rafael Disla somehow catches up to! That's out #2! Since he's splayed on the ground, Jeremy Dolak takes the opportunity to tag up and go home... but Disla gets up and fires in time to throw him out! Inning over! Rafael Disla is by no means a Gold Glover but that is a Gold Glove play if I've ever seen one! 3-2, Red Sox.

Top 8th: Tom Depew grounds out to SS Oniji Handa for out #1. Casey Satterfield hits one kind of weakly to 2B Brian Long for the second out. Truth be told, he's been kind of feast-or-famine all October, with those 2 HRs and 5 RBIs for sure but also hitting only .227. Lorenzo Martinez works the count full to Sandy Hinojosa before biting on a fastball for out #3. 3-2, Red Sox.

Bottom 8th: Mike Miller cannot be stopped! He singles up the middle again - 3-4 on the night - and raises his postseason average all the way up to .483. Tom Brown, of course, is even hotter, currently with a .538 average. He's also next up... and he singles, too! The line drive up the middle puts runners on first and second with no out. Schneider takes a healthy cut at a 3-2 sinker but misses for the first out. Jun Kim maybe breaks out of his slump just in time to lace a solid single to right field. It scores Mike Miller from 2nd and gives the Red Sox a 4-2 cushion! Oniji Handa hits a good looking ball into left but for the 2nd straight inning Rafael Disla gives up his body to make a diving stop and rob the batter of a base hit. This time nobody tries to run on him. 2 out. Jeremy Dolak stays in and hits one up in the air to right-center, which Disla gets to easily for out #3. 4-2, Red Sox.

Top 9th: Sandy Hinojosa is juuuust over 100 pitches now and with the 5-6-7 guys up I think he deserves a chance to finish it. He only finished 6 games in the regular season as the team pumped the brakes on the 36 year old (he turns 37 on November 1st) but we aren't in the regular season anymore. Rafael Disla knocks a 1-2 pitch over to Mike Miller at first base. He picks it up and runs to first for out #1. Mike Galeana hits a roller to short that would bedevil a lot of shortstops but is just a routine play for Oniji Handa. John Stuart rips one down the left field line. It's not over yet! Tom Brown tracks it down in the corner and the catcher is in with a double. With Jeronimo Argumedo vaguely able to play shortstop, I remove the backup Joe Wicker for Ethan Keesee, who's yet to get a postseason base hit in 3 tries so far. Make that 1 for 4, as he also doubles. The tying run is on 2nd! Billy Munoz is out of the game in favor of PH Dylan Dockery. I just don't trust Matt Brock so Sandy Hinojosa's going to stay in for one more batter. Let's do it, Sandy! He... does not do it. Dylan Dockery slams a triple into right-center and we're all tied up!

As Hinojosa is due up in the 9th and the left-handed Jim James is due up, I'm bringing in lefty specialist Byron Pratt (1-1, 2.95). Pratt spent the first half of the year in Louisville and was very successful for the Sox in this role after the All-Star Break. He walks James. That brings up Tom Depew, also a left-handed batter. Depew hits one towards second base. Brian Long nabs it on the outfield grass and throws in time for out number 3. But it's tied! 4-4.

Bottom 9th: Argumedo takes over at short, where is not exactly a superstar, and Rick Legere comes in for his 3rd appearance in the postseason. He's yet to give up a run and has 2 Ks in 2.2 innings. Pinch-hitting for Pratt is Sam Marks, 0-4 in October with a walk. He flies out to deep left. Glynn hits an easy fly to right for 2 outs. We're one out away from extra innings. Brian Long hits a groundball right to Tom Depew at 2nd and that's where we're headed! 4-4.

Top 10th: In at pitcher is Matt Brock because at some point the guy's going to get right, right? He faces the heart of the Cardinals order and induces Casey Satterfield to ground out 5-3 to lead things off. Lorenzo Martinez pops out into short center field, where Jon Glynn is there to make the play. Rafael Disla hits a hot shot down the right field line for the 2 out double - St. Louis's 4th extra base hit in the last 2 innings. Mike Galeana hits a routine popup to Oniji Handa... which the star SS drops! Oh no! Everybody's safe. It's all good in the hood, however, as John Stuart strikes out swinging to retire the side. 4-4.

Bottom 10th: Mike Miller cracks his 4th hit of the night and first double with a shot off of Rick Legere down the right field line. If this were 2023, he'd be the ghost runner! I mean, if this were 2023, this game would be over now... well, it would be complicated. Let's just leave it at that. Tom Brown hits it to deep center - not a hit for once - and it's so far out that Mike Miller chooses to test CF Jim James' arm. He looks like a goner but James' throw into third is wide. One out and the winning run is 90 feet away. Kristian Schneider's hitting just .160 in the postseason... but he laces one into center field for a base hit and it's all over! 5-4, Red Sox!

I sweeeeeeeeeear, guys just like suddenly fall completely apart with the game on the line and it drives me CRAZY. Still, the Red Sox rallied and even got a good inning out of Matt Brock to put them up 2-0 heading into St. Louis.

Syd Thrift · 06-02-2023, 12:18 PM

The Cards do need a win here in Game 3 but they've got a tough road ahead: Michael Pesco (2-0, 1.80) was instrumental in the ALCS and he's finally ready to go and he'll face Jimmy McCauley, who struggled in his only game in the NLCS, although if memory serves that was mainly from getting nickel and dimed by the Braves offense. One option I do have, sort of, is to try Mike O'Leary (1-0, 5.48) out as a starter/opener type; he's a lefty and that might hit the Sox, who are already facing bad performances from a couple of lefty hitters down in the order, right where it hurts. That feels like a thing to do in the worst case scenario, though. It's clear skies and 53 degrees in the Gateway City tonight, with the wind blowing out to left at 8mph for once.

Top 1st: Both these lineups are facing these pitchers for the first time, I should note. Jon Glynn, 3-30 for the postseason now, continues his slump with a cheap fly out to right. Brian Long strikes out looking at a 2-2 fastball. Mike Miller hits into a rare out to retire the side. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: Jim James flies out into short center field. Tom Depew also flies straightaway to CF Jon Glynn. Casey Satterfield takes a cut at a 2-2 cutter and comes up empty for out #3. 0-0.

Top 2nd: Tom Brown whiffs to lead things off. Schneider walks, the first baserunner for either side. Now Kim, only 3-25 so far in the playoffs, flies out to left on a ball that looked like it might have had a chance just for a second. Oniji Handa grounds to third to retire the side. 0-0.

Bottom 2nd: Lorenzo Martinez lines one back through the box for the first base hit of this game. Not perturbed at all, Oniji Handa grabs a grounder towards 2nd from Rafael Disla and turns it into a 6-4-3 double play. Mike Galeana draws a 2 out walk. Brian Long gets eaten alive by a hot shot to second; it's an infield hit and everyone is safe. That brings up Dusty McCully, who strikes out swinging to retire the side. 0-0.

Top 3rd: Jeremy Dolak flies into right. Michael Pesco hits an easy fly to CF Jim James. Glynn also flies out for the 1-2-3 3rd inning. 0-0.

Bottom 3rd: Jimmy McCauley flies weakly to right in his first at-bat of the night. Jim James hits one to Brian Long that he's able to handle this time for the 4-3 out. Tom Depew strikes out swinging and it's another 1-2-3 inning. 0-0.

Top 4th: Brian Long whiffs to lead it off, the 3rd K for McCauley already. He has 8 Ks in 7.1 postseason innings - of course, also 9 earned runs. Mike Miller has a long at-bat end in a fly out to right field near the foul line. Tom Brown is just too hot to stop, as he belts a double off the center field wall 414 feet away from home plate. Kristian Schneider singles into right, pulling his postseason average over .200. Brown's running all the way with 2 outs and he beats the Casey Satterfield throw to the plate! 1-0. Jun Kim flies to center but first blood has been drawn. 1-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 4th: Casey Satterfield lines a single into left field to lead things off for the Cardinals. Lorenzo Martinez then belts one into the right-center gap for a double. With no outs, Casey Satterfield plays it safe and sticks at third. He's also pretty slow on the basepaths and, well, Jun Kim has the best outfield arm in baseball. That hit, the 2nd double in postseason 1971 for Martinez and his 4th double of his playoff career, still puts runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. The lefty-lefty matchup doesn't work out for Michael Pesco, as Rafael Disla drops a base hit in between Schneider and Handa and into left field. Both runners score and the Cardinals have their first lead in this World Series! Pesco catches Mike Galeana trying to make it a 4-1 lead and strikes him out swinging on a devastating changeup. John Stuart flies out to John Glynn in right-center field. Pesco puts one in the dirt on a 1-0 pitch but Jeremy Dolak keeps it in front of him! Two pitches later, Dusty McCully grounds out to Oniji Handa to retire the side. 2-1, Cardinals.

Top 5th: Oniji Handa slaps a ball to Mike Galeana at third base and he easily throws the Red Sox shortstop out. Jeremy Dolak flies out to CF Jim James, who has to run a little to catch up to the ball in left-center. Mike Pesco, a career .128 hitter, walks with 2 out; however, Jimmy McCauley catches him napping at first base and picks him off to end the inning. 2-1, Cardinals.

Bottom 5th: Speaking of pitchers doing non-pitcher things, McCauley singles up the middle to lead off the 5th. He, truth be told, is a .215 career hitter, so pretty good for his position. Jim James tries to bunt McCauley along to 2nd and, failing that, hits a grounder to 2B Brian Long that accomplishes the opposite: a 4-6-3 double play. Tom Depew slashes a 0-1 cut fastball into right field for a base hit. Pesco continues to have issues with the middle of this order; Casey Satterfield belts a double into the left-center gap and, running at the crack of the bat with 2 outs, Depew scores all the way from first! 3-1, Cardinals. Lorenzo Martinez strikes out. That's Pesco's 5th K of the game but it's still a 3-1 Cards lead.

Top 6th: A clean inning here and McCauley gets his postseason ERA down to 9. Jon Glynn walks to lead it off. He then runs on a high 80s fastball and gets ito second base! That's his 4th postseason steal and he's running practically every time he gets on. Brian Long knocks one into left field for a single but Rafael Disla is on it too quickly for Glynn to try to make a play at home. Mike Miller hits a ball to 2B Tom Depew and he's forced to trade the run for the out on a 4-6 fielder's choice. 3-2! Tom Brown hits a cheap roller... that gets past the pitcher and somehow ends up as an infield hit. Even when Brown doesn't make good contact, good things are happening for him. Kristian Schneider swings and misses at a 1-2 fastball for the 2nd out of the inning. Jun Kim hits a weak fliner that SS Dusty McCully runs in to grab for the final out. 3-2, Cardinals.

Bottom 6th: Rafael Disla gives Mike Pesco a bit of a break by swinging at a 3-0 pitch - it was down the heart of the plate - and only lining out to Kristian Schneider at 3rd base. Mike Galeana pops it up a mile into the air and it's pulled down by Mike Miller in foul territory. John Stuart hits a comebacker to the mound which Michael Pesco fields easily for a 1-2-3 bottom of the 6th inning. 3-2, Cardinals.

Top 7th: Oniji Handa flies out to center field. Now would be an okay time to pinch-hit for Jeremy Dolak and... okay, why not? Sam Marks comes in to try and get his first hit in his 7th try (0-5 so far with a walk). He does not, grounding out 4-3, and I'm going to let Pesco hit with 2 outs. He stares at a 3-2 pitch to retire the side. 3-2, Cardinals.

Bottom 7th: Sid Bartoszek comes in behind the plate for Dolak. He might even get a PA tonight! Dusty McCully raps one past a diving Kristian Schneider and into left field for a base hit. That's the 9th hit off of Michael Pesco, who held batters to a .248 average in the regular season. Jimmy McCauley has done enough, I think; he's out in favor of Ethan Keesee, now 1-4 in pinch-hitting duties in October. He's a lefty facing the lefty Pesco but he also hit .358 in the regular season. Keesee surprises everyone with a sacrifice bunt! Pesco recovers quickly enough to fire to first for the out but the Cards now have a runner in scoring position. Pinch-hitting for Jim James is veteran Elijah Johnson, 2-4 so far in the postseason. Pesco gets him to swing and miss at a low and away cutter for out #2. Tom Depew grounds out 5-3 and the Cards have fired two bullets without managing to hit anything. 3-2, Cardinals.

Top 8th: Johnson will take over in center field for James. Their new moundsman is Billy Munoz, trying to pick up a 2 inning save. He jams Jon Glynn on a 1-1 pitch, forcing the slumping CF to hit the ball right at SS Dusty McCully for out #1. Brian Long walks on 4 pitches. Mike Miller flies out and might wind up hitless for the first time in the World Series. Tom Brown - you guessed it! - raps a 2 out single into right field. Brian Long gets to third on the play and we've got another potential 2 out rally. It looks like it's going to be out #3... but then Rafael Disla badly misplays the ball hit to him! It flies over his head and bounces off the wall and by the time he can get it in, Brian Long has long scored and the runners have gotten to 2nd and 3rd! Rule that a double for the Red Sox third baseman, his 2nd in October. Jun Kim has been sooo bad so even though he does have the platoon advantage I'm going to remove him for Matt Wilson, who had a very solid 51 at-bats in the regular season (.353/2/11) and is 0-1 so far in postseason play. He hits a groundball to third that Mike Galeana is easily able to pick up and throw to first for the final out. 3-3!

Bottom 8th: Matt Wilson will stay in left and Tom Brown moves over into right field, a significant drop-off in defense but what do you do? Pesco just got over 100 pitches and has 2 lefties due up this inning so I'll let him face 3 guys and see where he's at from there. Casey Satterfield, 2-3 in the game with an RBI double, flies out to short right-center. Lorenzo Martinez walks o a 3-2 pitch; that's only Pesco's 2nd walk all game long. That brings up Rafael Disla, who drops a base hit into center field and tolls the end for Pesco, who finishes the game with 3 runs in 7.1 innings - he's also responsible for Martinez and Disla - on 10 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts.

With the pitcher due up next inning I'm bringing in former Angels hurler Bubba Touchton (5-3, 2.67, 3 Sv), who'se made just a single appearance so far in the month. He rarely hits 90 on the gun but does have a nice curveball that helped to generate a 57% GB rate this year. Facing off against Mike Galeana, he gives up a fly ball into center field. Jim James turns around and catches it but Lorenzo Martinez tags up and gets to third base on the play. Runners on the corners now, 2 down for C John Stuart, a .294 hitter in the regular season. Touchton walks him to load the bases. Touchton has only average control and it kind of left him in the worst possible moment. Pinch-hitting for SS Dusty McCully is backup catcher Jose Medina (.262, 0, 17). It was between him and Dylan Dockery and Dockery is more of a "get on base with speed" kind of guy. Medina swings at the first pitch and puts it into left field, but it carries just enough to allow Jon Glynn to get under it for the final out. 3-3.

Top 9th: Joe Wicker takes over at shortstop and this will probably be Billy Munoz' final inning, as he's due up in the bottom half. Oniji Handa grounds out to shortstop, dropping his postseason average below .250 (it's now .241). Sid Bartoszek gets his first PA all October; it's a lazy fly into right field. With 2 outs and nothing happening, I'll leave Touchton in. He strikes out swinging to retire the side - but! - and resetting the lineup should this game go into extra frames. 3-3.

Bottom 9th: Pinch-hitting for Munoz is Dylan Dockery. He hits a hard fly into left field but Matt Wilson is able to track it down for the first out. That brings up Elijah Johnson, who grounds out to 2nd. Tom Depew goes down 6-3 and we are headed for extra innings. 3-3.

Top 10th: Billy Munoz is out and Rick Legere is in. I don't like how Jon Glynn is hitting but even before I burned both of the main pinch-hitters the Red Sox don't have a particularly good defensive replacement for him, so he's staying in. He slaps a ball into the hole between short and third. Galeana lunges for it but it's past him for a base hit. Glynn's hitting over .100 for the postseason now, yay! And it should surprise nobody that he steals 2nd the first chance he gets. He's 5/5 in the postseason! Brian Long lays down a bunt that John Stuart scoops up and throws to first on the successful 2-3 sacrifice. Glynn is now 90 feet from giving the Red Sox the lead. Mike Miller is intentionally walked to face Tom Brown, who's hitting .562 in the games that count. Curious. It doesn't take a brainiac to figure out what happens next: Brown pounds one into right-center for a bases-clearing double. 5-3, Red Sox! Legere walks Kristian Schneider and that will be it for the young right-hander.

Taking the mound now is left-handed specialist Kevin Kading, now making his 4th appearance of the postseason. He's thrown 2.1 innings, given up 5 hits and 2 runs, walked 1, and struck out 1. Not exactly the best work but he's their guy when they need an out from a LHB and that's what Matt Wilson is. Wilson hits a hard grounder to third that Mike Galeana picks up and creates an around the horn double play with! 5-4-3 and the inning's over. 5-3, Red Sox.

Bottom 10th: In to save this one is Matt Brock, who's still trying to figure things out following 2 very bad months and a 6.23 ERA to date in October. He goes against the heart of the Cardinals' order too so good luck, my man. He gets Casey Satterfield to hit to Oniji Handa - always a good move if you're struggling - for a 6-3 groundout. Lorenzo carries a 3-2 fastball into medium center field for 2 outs. Just one more to go! Rafael Disla hits a weak groundball to Mike Miller over at first and he steps on the bag to end the game. 5-3, Red Sox!

Hey, Matt Brock actually came through for once! That's his first save all month, and it puts the Red Sox into a position where they might just be able to win this one in St. Louis tomorrow night. Do I hear the brooms a'sweeping?

Syd Thrift · 06-02-2023, 05:28 PM

The Cardinals now have their backs pinned firmly to the wall, needing to win 2 just to take the series back to Boston. It doesn't look good. Justin Kindberg (2-0, 1.44 in October) is back and ready to go for the Red Sox, to be faced by Vince "Biscuit" Bachler (1-1, 2.51), who's been pretty decent himself, just not shutdown-awesome like Kindberg has been.

One thing I neglected to mention before now is these teams' postseason history. They never quite played against themselves; the Cardinals beat the last Yankees dynasty of the 60s, 4 games to 3, in 1967, and Boston emerged the very next year to fall to the Dodgers 4 games to 2. Boston reached the Series one other time in its history, in 1948, when they won it all against the New York Giants, 4 games to 2. St. Louis had a massive dynasty of their own in the 60s, winning 4 World Series in 5 years from 1963 to 1967 and missing out only in '66 (when, weirdly enough, they finished with a 77-85 record). This is practically a new Cardinals team now, albeit still with superstar Lorenzo Martinez. In fact, why don't we look at those previous championship teams for both sides in a "where are they now" kind of deal?

1967 St. Louis Cardinals (96-65)
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C: Lee Citro (.249, 8, 43) split time with glove man Jason Springer (.163, 1, 19) throughout the season. Springer was basically done after that year, although he kicked around the minor leagues for 2 more seasons. Citro is now the Phillies' backup receiver.

1B: Justin Stone (.327, 39, 128), now a member of the LA Dodgers - he was moved out there in a blockbuster trade to open up 1st for Lorenzo Martinez.

2B: Chris Johnston (.270, 3, 32) was on this year's Cardinals' roster before being shipped off to Milwaukee in the trade that brought back Ricardo Gomez. He was a 4 time All-Star but had lost his job to Tom Depew.

3B: Mike Morrison (.325, 4, 55) was also in on that trade with the Brewers after Mike Galeana emerged in June as the new hotness.

SS: Chance Hopka (.235, 5, 37), traded away in 1969 for the veteran TJ Dion (since retired), spent time with the Angels and White Sox this year. Still only 28, he could still have a career if someone overlooks the meh hitting.

LF: Lorenzo Martinez (.301, 26, 74), the first guy still on this team!

CF: Joel Schaben (.297, 10, 56) was traded away to Philadelphia in the winter of 1969 in a trade that also sent Lee Citro over there in exchange for current backstop John Stuart and a couple other players. Schaben spent one year in the City of Brotherly Love before being sent to the Washington Senators, where he's continued to look like a good, solid player.

RF: Split mostly between Antonio Perez (.273, 4, 32), who retired in 1968, and Matt Wilson (.274, 6, 33), who is Boston's #2 pinch-hitter right now.

SP1: TJ Monahan (16-10, 3.29) got injured in 1968, was never really able to come back, and retired after 4 games pitched in 1970.

SP2: Mike Johnston (14-9, 3.53) has also had troubles staying on the field since '67; this year he was a back of the rotation starter and long reliever for the Reds and was 5-3, 3.52 when healthy.

SP3: Octavio "Papa" Vargas (18-9, 2.91) was shipped off to the Pirates in a trade that brought back Elijah Johnson as well as 4th starter Ernie Alvarez, who didn't make the postseason roster. At 39 years of age, he aged kind of hard this year, with a 5-12, 4.08 record in Pittsburgh.

Stopper: Ricardo Monroy (11-9, 1.45, 19 Sv) was used as a starter in '68 with limited effect, then was just plain ineffective in '69 and decided to call it quits.

1968 Boston Red Sox (93-70)
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C: Split between Mike Schultz (.225, 0, 21), who retired after a couple of not-great seasons and Jonathan Boggan (.226, 4, 13), who's still kicking around the minor leagues, although his time may be over, as he played mostly for AA Amarillo as a little-used defensive replacement.

1B: Mike Miller (.300, 23, 86), who had a monster year. He didn't qualify for ROY; otherwise he'd have won it for sure. He did win MVP and led the league in HRs and RBIs (it was the Year of the Pitcher, OK?). So far, he's only 27 but his career year appears to have come the next year, when he went .312/34/94.

2B: TJ Pritchett (.247, 5, 43), now with Cleveland, although his days there may be numbered after he managed to hit just .228.

3B: Mauro Magoni (.293, 10, 63), now with the Orioles after a brief stopover in Cincinnati. He's kind of blocked in Baltimore, though, and he's never quite matched that awesome 1968.

SS: Oniji Handa (.301, 7, 72). Still here and still an amazing glove!

LF: Mostly Jon Berry (.242, 5, 41), who led the league in runs scored (89) that year. He was traded to the Angels in '69 for Jon Baldwin in a trade considered to be the Red Sox' worst move in the last 5 years (Baldwin was cut after hitting just .170 and .189 for them in 2 seasons) and is now a backup OF for the Giants.

CF: Ryan Johnston (.239, 10, 50), who's now the Cubs' CF. The Red Sox considered the 1967 All-Star expendable because he didn't field well enough in center for their liking.

RF: Mostly Josh Teague (.259, 17, 72), now a member of the Angels following an October 1970 trade that sent him there in exchange for the current 3B Kristian Schneider. Schneider has not quite been as great as he'd been in Cal but the Red Sox I think still won that trade; Teague hasn't been able to crack the lineup on a regular basis and his career high in games played continues to be the 130 he had in '68.

SP1: Michael Pesco (17-8, 2.00), still very much on the team and very much a key member.

SP2: Marco Sanchez (14-5, 2.82), also still very much on this team, although he's not in the playoff rotation.

SP3: Dylan Hamilton (12-12, 3.24), shipped off to Cleveland in a classic "challenge trade" that demonstrates exactly why challenge trades are so rare: the return man, Justin Kindberg, is the odds-on favorite to win the Cy Young this season whereas Hamilton had an off year, going 10-13, 4.21 for a surprisingly bad Cleveland ballclub.

Stopper: Matt Brock (11-10, 1.93, 22 Sv), also still very much with the team, although I am beginning to lose confidence in him.

Enough with the trip down memory lane! Let's plaaaay ball! It's a bit warmer today at 55 degrees, with the wind blowing right to left. I'm making a minor/MAJOR change to the St. Louis lineup, pulling Jim James against the left-handed Justin Kindberg in favor of the switch-hitting vet Elijah Johnson. I'll also move Mike Galeana up a little in the order...

Top 1st: Glynn grounds out to Dusty McCully at shortstop. Brian Long drops one in front of Elijah Johnson in CF for the base hit. He's hitting .345 in the postseason now. Mike Miller comes up and Bachler completely loses one on a 1-0 pitch. The ball hits the backstop for a wild pitch with Long cruising to 2nd. He recovers to get Miller to 3-2 before he hits a groundr to Dusty McCully, who looks Long back to the bag before throwing the Red Sox 1B out at first base. Tom Brown continues his insaaaaaaane postseason with an RBI single up the middle. 1-0! Kristian Schneider flies out to straightaway center field and that's it for the first half of the first inning. 1-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 1st: Elijah Johnson proves me right immediately by dropping a Texas Leaguer into center field for a leadoff single. Tom Depew bunts one down the left field line. Kristian Schneider gets to it and just baaarely throws out the second baseman for the sacrifice and the first out. Casey Satterfield watches one go by like the Linda Rondstadt song for the 2nd out. He's struck out 8 times in 29 post-season at-bats. Kindberg walks Lorenzo Martinez with 2 out to get the force at second base. It also increases the value of a HR, which is exactly what Mike Galeana does for the 3rd time this postseason! 3-1, Cards lead, and they actually got to Justin Kindberg! Rafael Disla flies out to right field to retire the side. 3-1, Cardinals.

Top 2nd: Jun Kim flies to right. I might have to bench him if he doesn't start hitting himself. Oniji Handa pops it up in foul territory. Rafael Disla makes the grab for the second out. Jeremy Dolak is robbed of a base hit by Dusty McCully, who snares a line drive over his head. 3-1, Cardinals.

Bottom 2nd: John Stuart grounds out towards the hole at short - there is no hole, there is only Oniji Handa. Dusty McCully drops one into short center field for the base hit. Kindberg is looking more hittable so far than he's looked all of October. The Biscuit helps him out a ton, however, by pushing his bunt attempt a little too hard. Kindberg snaps it up and throws it to 2nd, where Brian Long completes a 1-4-3 double play to retire the side. 3-1, Cardinals.

Top 3rd: Kindberg kicks out back through the box for a leadoff single. He hit .262 for the regular season with 27 hits in 103 at-bats and 12 RBIs; among other things, he might win the Silver Slugger at the position. Jon Glynn grounds into a 4-6-3 double play. Man, he's in a cold streak. Brian Long strikes out looking. 3-1, Cardinals.

Bottom 3rd: Elijah Johnson hits one between Kristian Schneider and Oniji Handa that Schneider gets to and throws to first in time for the out. Tom Depew hits a routine groundout to short. Casey Satterfield hits a ball into left that hangs up and winds up being an easy flyout. 3-1, Cardinals.

Top 4th: Mike Miller cracks a base hit into right; that's his first hit in 2 days. Tom Brown can't possibly get a hit in every at-bat, can he? Well, he got one in this one. A single up the middle advances Miller 90 feet. I guess the one thing about him is he's only hit 1 HR, but the man is hitting .600 - 21 for 35 - in his first postseason appearance ever. Kristian Schneider strikes out looking at an 0-2 forkball. That's the Biscuit's 2nd. Make that 3 as Jun Kim stares at a 1-2 forkball. Make that 4, as Bachler recovers to strike out the side. 3-1, Cardinals.

Bottom 4th: 4 straight Ks now by both pitchers, as Lorenzo Martinez leads off by striking out against Justin Kindberg. Mike Galeana strikes out looking at an 0-2 splitfinger fastball. Kindberg breaks up the K streak by plunking Rafael Disla on the arm with 2 out. Kindberg's not known for protecting the inside of the plate; he hit just 4 batters in the regular season. John Stuart goes down on strikes to end it. 3-1, Cardinals.

Top 5th: Jeremy Dolak flies out to short center field. And now the out streak by Ks is done, although the Biscuit still has 5 in 5.1 IP. Justin Kindberg denies him #6, grounding an 0-2 pitch straight to Dusty McCully for out #2. Jon Glynn's out 5-3, lowering his postseason BA to .108. 3-1, Cardinals at the halfway point.

Bottom 5th: Dusty McCully hits it to Oniji Handa, who boots it for the third time this postseason. Very uncharacteristic! None of the previous miscues have led to runs though. We'll see what happens here. Vince Bachler bunts him along to 2nd, 3-1. Elijah Johnson hits a roller down to third base which Kristian Schneider picks up in time for the out. McCully's unable to move up. Tom Depew laces a 2-out single into short left-center. Dusty McCully runs in ahead of the Tom Brown throw and wow, Handa did cost them a run after all! 4-1, Cards. That's where it remains, as Casey Satterfield strikes out swinging. 3-1, St. Louis.

Top 6th: Brian Long draws a leadoff 4 pitch walk. That's Biscuit Bachler's 1st of the game. Mike Miller strikes out swinging. Tom Brown triples because he's on the crazy juice and it's a 4-2 game! Kristian Schneider grounds out to Mike Miller, who tosses to Bachler covering for the 2nd out. Brown can't seize the opportunity to go home. I'm sorely tempted to pinch-hit for Kim but I'm going to let him hit. He has what looks like a good at-bat, running the count to 3-1... before grounding out harmlessly to second. 4-2, Cardinals.

Bottom 6th: Kindberg picks up his 6th strikeout of the game on Lorenzo Martinez. Mike Galeana walks, as Kindberg's clearly trying to avoid another longball from the slugging third sacker. Rafael Disla hits a soft comebacker to the mound whose only saving grace is that it's hit too softly to start a double play. As it stands, the lead runner is out 1-4. John Stuart knocks a solid base hit into right and Disla slides safe into third on the throw by Jun Kim. There's still 2 outs, though, and Kristian Schneider makes a play on a groundball hit to him to retire the side. 4-2, Cardinals.

Top 7th: Justin Kindberg is due up but I proooobably won't pull him. Oniji Handa leads it off, now in a bit of a slump himself, as he's down to 7-31 (.226) for October. He hits the first pitch he sees the other way but RF Casey Satterfield is able to chase it down for the first out. Former Cardinal Matt Wilson steps in to pinch-hit for Dolak with one out. He's unable to go anywhere and now there are 2 down. I leave Kindberg in and he is now 3-10 for the postseason thanks to his 2nd hit of the night. That brings up Jon Glynn, or rather it would if I didn't use Carlos Rodriguez to pinch-hit for him. He grounds out to Dusty McCully to retire the side. 4-2, Cardinals.

Bottom 7th: I'm going to leave Matt Wilson in the game in left and slide Tom Brown over to center. Sid Bartoszek comes in in the spot vacated by Glynn to catch. In spite of that rocky first inning, Justin Kindberg is still only at 83 pitches. Speaking of, though, Vince Bachler is only at 91 and with Billy Munoz and Rick Legere both playing the previous night, I've got no reason to take him out. Kindberg whiffs him for strikeout number 7. Elijah Johnson hits a high fly into left taht the 35 year old Wilson gets to for out #2. Wilson played in just 36 innings in the field all season long for the Red Sox. Tom Depew makes it 8 Ks for Kindberg and that's all she wrote for the 7th. 4-2, Cardinals.

Top 8th: The 2-3-4 hitters are up for Boston this inning, so it's probably their best chance to get back into this thing. Brian Long grounds out to 2nd. Mike Miller draws a walk - only the 2nd issued by Biscuit so far. He recovers to send Tom Brown down swinging on an 0-2 forkball. That's right, Tom Brown actually didn't get a hit! Bachler is so shocked that he gives a gimme ball up to 3B Kristian Schneider, who belts one down the left field line. The ball shoots into the corner and he's got himself a 2-out double! Unfortunately for him, he tweaked something as he slid underneath the Tom Depew tag and he's forced out of the game. Troy Carmer comes in to pinch-run for him. Did I mention that Miller scored on the play? He did. It's 4-3! And with the game on the line like this, that's going to be it for the Biscuit, who finishes with 8 hits allowed in 7.2 innings with 3 walks, 6 Ks, and a runner he's still responible for in Troy Carmer.

The new guy is Billy Munoz, who is no doubt dog tired right now, but his team needs him. He'll face Sam Marks, who pinch-hits for the struggling Jun Kim. Marks works the count to 3-2 but grounds out to SS to retire the side. 4-3, Red Sox.

Bottom 8th: Marks is passable in right field so he'll stay there and Carmer will play his first innings in the field for the entire month. Carmer went .297/11/38, mostly filling in for Schneider when he was hurt but also doing a little bit of platooning when he was healthy. The 27 year old had a grand total of 5 games played and 11 PAs going into this season so he's essentially a rookie. Casey Satterfield slaps one into LF that Matt Wilson plays on a hop - a better fielder probably makes that play. Lorenzo Martinez flies out to Tom Brown in center. Mike Galeana pulls an 0-2 splitter into left but this time Matt Wilson is able to chase it down. Rafael Disla hits a ball to the right of Mike Miller, who's able to pick it up and race to the bag in time for the last out. 4-3, Cardinals, and it's hang-on time!

Top 9th: My biggest issue with pinch-hitting for Oniji Handa is that the next best fielder available is Troy Carmer, who's an excellent defensive third baseman but there's a reason why he plays third. Still, we're down to brass tacks here: Dwayne Fraser (.308, 3, 25), the team's former starter at 2nd who's filled in quietly and without complaints all around the infield this year, comes in. He flies out to right field for the first out. Mike Wilson strikes out and the Red Sox are down to their final out. Pinch-hitting for Justin Kindberg is OF Jim Coleman (.257, 0, 1), who like Carmer and Fraser is making his first playoff appearance. He Ks and the Cardinals have avoided the sweep!

Hey, you have to start somewhere, right? Kind of sucks to burn Billy Munoz but there was no tomorrow if they didn't get out of that jam. On to Game 5!

Syd Thrift · 06-04-2023, 01:41 PM

And we're still at a point where Boston can win it in St. Louis. Today it's the Red Sox' canny veteran Sandy Hinojosa (0-1, 2.70) going up against Ricardo Gomez (1-1, 4.50), their Doyle Alexander down the stretch run (I mean, only 7-3 but still, nobody else in the rotation has a winning record) who's been a bit more hittable in the postseason. Gomez did pitch a quality start in his first outing vs the Sox, although the Cards still lost. I'm also going to make a small change in Boston's lineup, bringing in Jim Coleman (.257, 0, 1) at CF to give Jon Glynn an extra day to try and fix his mechanics. Glynn is also 3-17 lifetime vs. Ricardo Gomez whereas Coleman has never faced him.

It's back up to 58 out here today with the wind blowing left to right. Play ball!

Top 1st: Jerry Coleman hits one into right and it looks like a sure single but Casey Satterfield makes a diving catch for the out. The Cardinals mean business tonight. Brian Long flies out to right. Mike Miller hits a high fly to short center for out #3. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: Jim James lines one into left but right at Tom Brown for out #1. Tom Depew walks, and then steals second on the first pitch to Casey Satterfield. 2 pitches later, Satterfield drives him home with an RBI double. 1-0, Cardinals! Lorenzo Martinez has a classic 7 pitch at-bat vs Sandy Hinojosa, only to strike out on a 3-2 fastball. Rafael Disla hits a line drive into left which also looks like it could be a single, but Tom Brown races over and makes a sliding catch to end the threat. 1-0, Cardinals.

Top 2nd: Tom Brown strikes out swinging. Kristian Schneider hits one high and deep. It gets to the warning track... and CF Jim James makes a leaping grab for the out! Jun Kim grounds out to first. 1-0, Cardinals.

Bottom 2nd: Galeana grounds one wide of first, which Mike Miller picks up and throws to Sandy Hinojosa for the first out. John Stuart pulls one into left field, where Tom Brown is able to jog over a few steps and flag it down for the out. Dusty McCully is fooled by a 3-2 fastball, which he whiffs at for the final out of the inning. 1-0, Cardinals.

Top 3rd: Oniji Handa strikes out swinging. Jeremy Dolak grounds one underneath 1B Lorenzo Martinez' glove for a base hit. Sandy Hinojosa lays down a good drag bunt that Mike Galeana picks up in time to retire him at first; its purpose of course was to push Dolak into scoring position. It doesn't matter because Jerry Coleman strikes out. 1-0, Cardinals.

Bottom 3rd: Ricardo Gomez belts one into left field - it gets past Tom Brown and hits the Busch Stadium wall for a leadoff double! Gomez hit 1 double all season long. Sandy Hinojosa walks his second man in Jim James, setting up the double play ball but probably not what he intended. Tom Depew tops one into the ground. It rolls past the pitcher and by the time 2B Brian Long can scoop it up, everybody's safe. Bases loaded, nobody out and the heart of the order up for Sandy Hinojosa. Casey Satterfield hits a fairly deep fly to left, deep enough that Ricardo Gomez is able to tag up and score ahead of the throw. 2-0! Lorenzo Martinez takes the count to full for the 2nd time today before flying out into center. Rafael Disla lines one straight at Brian Long at 2nd. 2-0, Cardinals but it could have gone a lot worse.

Top 4th: Long flies out to Casey Satterfield in deep right. Mike Miller goes down 5-3. Tom Brown collects yet another postseason hit, this time on a ground ball up the middle that 2B Tom Depew just barely gets to but can't make the throw on. Schneider gets under an 0-2 cut fastball and delivers it straight to SS Dusty McCully for a 6-4 force to retire the side. 2-0, Cardinals.

Bottom 4th: Mike Galeana belts his 4th HR of October, 382 feet down the left field line. 3-0, Cards! Looks like today might not be the Red Sox' day. John Stuart grounds out 5-3. Dusty McCully scoots one in between Mike Miller and Brian Long for a base hit into right. Ricardo Gomez sacrifices to third, 5-3. Jim James flies out but add another run to the board. 3-0, Cardinals.

Top 5th: Jun Kim knocks one down the line and into short left field for a base hit. Way to go! Unfortunately he's immediately erased as Oniji Handa hits into a 1-4-3 double play. Jeremy Dolak flies out to Casey Satterfield in right. 3-0, Cardinals.

Bottom 5th: Tom Depew grounds out 5-3. Casey Satterfield knocks one down the left field line for his 2nd double of the contest. Lorenzo Martinez grounds out to Kristian Schneider at third. No chance Satterfield was moving on that play. Rafael Disla lines one into right for a 2 out base hit. Casey Satterfield beats the Jun Kim throw! It's 4-0 now. Mike Galeana belts his second homerun of the game to make it 6-0! This one was dropped down the right field power alley. And that's going to be it for Sandy Hinojosa, who went 4.2 innings, gave up 6 runs on 8 hits, walked two, and struck out two.

I'll bring in Marco Sanchez (16-10, 2.41) in relief - he's due to hit next inning but I think I'll leave him in so as not to exhaust the bullpen. This is Sanchez' first appearance in the postseason. He was excellent in 1971 and arguably should have been the 3rd starter but Boston decided to go with the vet in Hinojosa. He throws 4 pitches, most notably an awesome change of pace, and had a K/W ratio of almost 4-1 this season (153 Ks, 38 BBs in 235.2 innings). John Stuart singles into right field for the 2 out hit. Dusty McCully flies out to center to finally end this inning. 6-0, Cardinals.

Top 6th: As noted, Sanchez leads it off but will stay in to hit. He handcuffs SS Dusty McCully on a hard grounder and reaches on an infield single! Jim Coleman hits one into deep-ish center field but not deeply enough as Jim James is able to catch up to it for the out. Brian Long hits one hard towards the right-center gap - Jim James races over to catch that one for an out. Mike Miller swings and misses at a 1-2 cutter. 6-0, Cardinals.

Bottom 6th: Ricardo Gomez is tossing a shutout so he's going nowhere, of course. In fact, he collects St. Louis' 10th hit of the night with a hard double into left-center field. Jim James follows that up with a line drive single to left. Gomez plants himself at third base - no need to stretch anything with a 6 run lead. Tom Depew swings and misses at a fastball after seeing 4 of them in a row. Casey Satterfield singles up the middle and collects his 3rd hit and 3rd RBI of the game! 7-0. Jim James stays at 2nd on the play. Lorenzo Martinez flies out to Jun Kim in right. Disla flies to LF Tom Brown to retire the side. 7-0.

Top 7th: Tom Brown hits one into right field but a little too far in the air; Casey Satterfield chases it down for out #1. Schneider grounds one slowly down the right-field line. Lorenzo Martinez catches up to it before it coasts into the outfield and races to the bag in time for out #2. Jun Kim pops out to SS Dusty McCully. 7-0, Cardinals.

Bottom 7th: Galeana flies out softly to center. Marco Sanchez strikes out John Stuart swinging, Marco's 2nd of the night. McCully goes down 5-3 to retire the side. 7-0, Cardinals.

Top 8th: Sam Marks comes on to pinch-hit for Oniji Handa. He drops one in front of the plate, practically a bunt, which C John Stuart jumps on and throws to first for the out. Jeremy Dolak will stay in this time. He draws a walk against Ricard Gomez, the first walk Gomez has issued all game. He was a control artist in the regular season, issuing just 1.2 walks per 9 innings with the Cardinals. Pinch-hitting for Marco Sanchez is the former Cardinal Matt Wilson. He continues to go hitless for October with a 3U groundout. Jim Coleman drops one into right field for a base hit. Jeremy Dolak chugs around third and scores! 7-1! That said, he stays down after the slide, clutching his side, and is going to have to be taken out of the game. Brian Long grounds out 5-3 to end the inning. 7-1, Cardinals.

Bottom 8th: Three new guys in for Boston: at shortstop, Troy Carmer (.297, 11, 38) makes his 2nd postseason appearance. Sid Bartoszek will indeed take over for Jeremy Dolak behind the plate. And the new man on the mound is Eddie Sanchez, making his first appearance in the World Series and 2nd in October. Ricardo Gomez is up to 110 pitches and started to get hit a little bit last inning so I'm going to pull him for PH Elijah Johnson. He flies out to short right field. Jim James cracks a hard fastball from Sanchez and knocks it into the seats in right center! James isn't exactly a power hitter, with 9 HRs in 332 regular season at-bats, and this was his first longball of the postseason, too. Either way, it's 8-1 now! Sanchez gives up a line drive to left that lands in front of Tom Brown. Sanchez was teeeeerrrrrible against lefties this year, allowing a .333 average with 5 extra base hits in 60 at-bats. The next guy, righty Casey Satterfield, hits one past Troy Carmer - Handa would have gotten to that one for sure - to put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Lorenzo Martinez hits one to Mike Miller, who's able to go 3-6 for the force but Carmer is upended by Satterfield and can't complete the double play. Disla walks to load the bases. Mike Galeana hits a GRAND SALAMI! That's his 3rd HR of the game and that sets a new National League playoff record for HRs in a game (3) and RBIs (7)! John Stuart singles to right and at this point Eddie Sanchez is only in there so that Boston doesn't have to burn another arm. Dusty McCully grounds out 5-3. 12-1 and the rout, she is on!

Top 9th: With 2 of the batters due up lefties, the Cardinals turn to Mike O'Leary (1-0, 5.48), who got the nod in place of Ernie Alvarez on the playoff roster because, well, he's a lefty. Leary was the Dodgers' closer last year but was not very good at it (7-8. 5.17, 13 Sv) and so had to spend most of 1971 in AAA Tulsa before St. Louis called him up in September. He throws a nice assortment of pitches and at least on paper seems like he should be a really good late reliever with a ton of stuff and to that end he did strike out 24 batters in 21.1 innings. He also walked 13, which gets to why he didn't have a big league job for most of the season. ANYWAY. Mike Miller grounds out weakly to 2B Tom Depew. Tom Brown walks, representing the down-by-10 run. Schneider also walks, bringing up Jun Kim. The decision to replace him with PH Carlos Rodriguez is obvious, so I do. He flies out to short right-center, with Tom Depew racing back to catch it. Troy Carmer gets hit by an errant O'Leary pitch to load the bases for the backup catcher Sid Bartoszek. And there it is! A strikeout by Bart to retire the side and give the Cardinals a lopsided 2nd win!

Syd Thrift · 06-05-2023, 11:16 AM

So the Cardinals did do what they set out to do, which was to avoid losing the Series in their hometown. While a large part of me always roots for Boston teams to get upset, I also kind of just want to see the Red Sox rally and pull this out now. That last game was preeeeetty ugly. We head back to Fenway for the Monday, October 18th game: Jimmy McCauley (0-0, 9.00) is the veteran glue of this rotation and he'll be called upon to pick up his first win tonight or at least not keep giving up a run an inning the way he has been. He's a 4-time champ with St. Louis but his career playoff record is only 1-1, 6.53. He's up against Michael Pesco (2-0, 2.42), who feels like he's been around forever but is seeing his first postseason action of his career this year at age 27. It's partly cloudy and 54 - we are in the latter half of October after all - with the wind blowing in from center at 11mph.

For St. Louis, additionally, as they're up against a lefty I'll pull Jim James in favor of the veteran Elijah Johnson in center field. I don't think I'll touch the other lefties in the lineup. Boston's Jeremy Dolak has a mild abdominal strain from the game the other night and since Sid Bartoszek is a very adequate backup he'll get his first start of the postseason. Kristian Schneider, too, is suffering from knee soreness and to replace him - and in an effort to get some hits from the middle-bottom of the lineup - I'll bring in Troy Carmer for him today.

Top 1st: Elijah Johnson pops it up into right-center. Jun Kim is on his horse and gets there for the out. Tom Depew hits a groundball to 2B Brian Long for a 4-3 putout. Casey Satterfield knocks a 2-out base hit into right-center that's fielded on a hop by CF Jon Glynn. He's hitting .351 in the postseason now. Lorenzo Martinez grounds out to Oniji Handa to retire the side. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: Jon Glynn grounds out weakly to Mike Galeana at third base. Brian Long hits a ball a lot harder toward Galeana but the result is the same, a 5-3 putout. Mike Miller breaks out of a mini-slump with a 2 out single into right. That's followed by yet another hit by Tom Brown that gets Miller all the way to third as he takes the base on Casey Satterfield. Nothing against Casey but he's out there primarily for the bat, not the glove. That brings up Troy Carmer, who very nearly gets a hit in his first at-bat but CF Elijah Johnson chases it down and makes a shoestring catch for the final out of the inning. 0-0.

Top 2nd: Galeana flies out to center field. Rafael Disla raps a single back through the box that CF Jon Glynn handles on a couple of hops for a base hit. Pesco gets his first strikeout of the game, a called third strike on a 2-2 cutter. Dusty McCully hits one kind of hard to left - in Fenway everything hit to left looks dangerous - and it's caught on the warning track by LF Troy Brown. 0-0.

Bottom 2nd: Kim draws a leadoff walk. I feel like cheering every time he manages to do something is giving him a complex so I won't. Oniji Handa raises his October average to .229 on a single up the middle... but Kim tries to take 3rd on the play and Elijah Johnson is having nothing to do with it! He's thrown out! Handa reaches 2nd on the play. Sid Bartoszek whiffs. Michael Pesco slaps a 1-1 split-fingered fastball back up the middle for a base hit. This time Elijah Johnson's throw back to the infield is off line and Oniji Handa scores! 1-0. Jon Glynn works out a walk off a full count. Brian Long strikes out to retire the side with just the one run scored. 1-0, Red Sox.

Top 3rd: Jimmy McCauley hits a weak grounder to 2nd for the first out. Elijah Johnson grounds out to Troy Carmer over at third base. Oniji Handa catches up to a hard grounder up the middle by Tom Depew and although his throw to first is low, Mike Miller is able to dig it out for the 6-3 groundout and a 1-2-3 inning. 1-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 3rd: Mike Miller ends a 7 pitch at-bat with a called strike three. That's Jimmy McCauley's 3rd K. Troy Brown grounds out 4-3. Troy Carmer skies one into right; Casey Satterfield walks over around 15 feet to catch it for the final out. 1-0, Red Sox.

Top 4th: Casey Satterfield stares at a 2-2 cutter for strike three. Lorenzo Martinez singles up the middle. He is a lefty but he's also one of the best power hitters in the National League. Pesco next gets Mike Galeana to pull the ripcord on a 2-2 cut fastball that winds up in the dirt. With first base occupied, no throw to 1st is necessary even though Sid Bartoszek didn't catch it cleanly. Rafael Disla hits a weak grounder to 3rd that Troy Carmer takes to 2nd for the inning-ending 5-4 forceout. 1-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 4th: Kim hits it weakly to Tom Depew at 2nd, who throws it to first in more than enough time for the out. Oniji Handa flies to center. Sid Bartoszek hits a ball into left that just gets down in front of Rafael Disla; he's on at first with the two-out single. Michael Pesco lifts one into center but Elijah Johnson jogs over and makes the catch for out #3. 1-0, Red Sox.

Top 5th: Stuart grounds out to Mike Miller, who takes it to first base himself for the unassisted putout. Dusty McCully grounds to third; he's now hitting only .208 in October. That brings up Jimmy McCauley, who's been just fine today and is only at 71 pitches so I'm not going to pull him for a PH. He singles to right. I mean, I was half hoping he'd go out so we'd reset the lineup but this works too. Elijah Johnson makes it back to back singles to right; McCauley, being both a pitcher and a man in his mid-30s, doesn't move past 2nd. Tom Depew flies out harmlessly into left field to end the mini-rally. 1-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 5th: Jon Glynn, hitting .105 for the month with a .146 OBP, flies out to fairly deep but not too deep right field. Brian Long hits a lazy looper into right-center that gets past Casey Satterfield and hits the wall! He's in standing up with a double, his 3rd of the postseason. Mike Miller hits a roller up the first base line that Lorenzo Martinez fields while practically standing on the bag. Brian Long chugs over to 3rd and so the Sox have a man 90 feet away from the plate with 2 out. That brings up Tom Brown, who actually for once does not come through in the clutch; he strikes out swinging to retire the side. 1-0, Red Sox.

Top 6th: Casey Satterfield grounds one to Troy Carmer at third, who throws across the diamond for out #1. Lorenzo Martinez hits a routine groundball to 2B Brian Long for the 2nd out. Mike Galeana knocks one into left that Tom Brown catches just short of the Green Monster to make it a 1-2-3 inning. 1-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 6th: Carmer grounds out to his counterpart Mike Galeana, 5-3. Jun Kim swings and misses at a 1-2 fastball. That's McCauley's 5th of the contest and it drops Kim to a .111 October BA. Oniji Handa drops an Ichiro down in front of the plate and, like the real-life guy, reaches first on an infield single. Sid Bartoszek works the count to full and then takes a low and outside fastball for ball 4. No way am I removing Michael Pesco right now so we'll have to live with the out. Pesco does ground out to second, kind of hard but it's still a 4-3 groundout. 1-0, Red Sox.

Top 7th: Disla hits a leadoff single that RF Jun Kim catches on one hop. However, he's pretty much immediately erased because a hard grounder by John Stuart turns into a 4-6-3 double play. Dusty McCully's not hitting but why pinch-hit for him now? He gives me another reason why not as he lines a ball into the right-center gap for a 2-out double. That brings up Jimmy McCauley, who, much as I like the way he's pitching, absolutely needs to be pinch-hit for now. Dylan Dockery, 1-3 so far as a playoff pinch-hitter, comes in for him. He hits a flare into right field that Jun Kim catches on the run for the final out. 1-0, Red Sox.

Bottom 7th: It's definitely Billy Munoz time, as the Cardinals ace makes his 7th postseason appearance. He's pitched 9 innings in October with 7 hits allowed, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts, and 3 runs, all of them earned. Also, he's got 4 saves, although this is categorically not a save situation. I let Glynn stay in to hit - we need that defense - and he just about gets one past Mike Galeana; however, Galeana does pick it and throw to first for the out. Brian Long flies out to center. Mike Miller grounds out towards the middle; Dusty McCully is able to get to it in time to make the throw for a 6-3 putout and a 1-2-3 7th. 1-0, Red Sox.

Top 8th: We're down to brass tacks. The top of the order is up for the Cards here and Michael Pesco still looks good but is up to 111 pitches so won't last forever. Johnson hits one high and deep but CF Jon Glynn was playing him kind of deep so he's able to pull it down near the centerfield warning track for the out. Tom Depew hits a grounder to 2nd and we've got 2 gone in the top of the 8th. Casey Satterfield hits another one that dies on the left field warning track for out #3. 1-0, Red Sox, and the Cardinals are down to their final three outs of the season.

Bottom 8th: Tom Brown flies to center. It's a mark of how he's hit this month that him being 1-4 tonight feels like a slump. Troy Carmer hits one towards short. Dusty McCully has to go to the outfield grass to take it on two hops and then throws out Carmer by a step. Sam Marks is in to pinch-hit for Jun Kim; he flies out to RF Casey Satterfield to retire the side. 1-0, Red Sox.

Top 9th: Tom Brown moves into right to accommodate Marks, who takes over in left field. Pesco had a pretty easy inning but is still at 125 pitches. As well as he's pitching, though, and with 2 lefties due to face him this inning, I'm going to leave him in. Lorenzo Martinez slams one towards the right-field line. 1B Mike Miller manages to catch the hot groundball but can't get it to Pesco in time and Lorenzo Martinez is on with a leadoff base hit! Mike Galeana belts his 7th HR of the postseason into the short right field porch! The Cardinals are in the lead! I don't believe it! Stubbornly, I leave Pesco in to face the left-handed batting Rafael Disla and he gets the hitter to fly to center for the 2nd out. John Stuart grounds to 3rd for 2 out. Pesco walks Dusty McCully and that means Billy Munoz will come up... or at least get pinch-hit for with C Jose Medina. The Red Sox wait for the swap to pull Pesco, who couldn't quiiiiiite get over the hump: 8.2 IP, 1 walk, 3 Ks, 9 hits, and 2 runs allowed thanks to that Galeana jack.

Bubba Touchton takes the mound to try and get the last out. He's also due up in the bottom of the inning and so this may very well be the only batter he faces. Medina grounds out 6-3. The damage, though, has been done and suddenly the Cardinals are 3 outs away from forcing a Game 7.

Bottom 9th: Rick Legere (1-2, 6.23) is in to try and earn his 1st save in October. As implied by the ERA, he's gotten roughed up a little bit this postseason and has struggled to get easy outs via the K, with only 2 of them in 4.1 IP over 4 games. Oniji Handa leads off against him with a grounder to the left of Tom Depew; the 2nd baseman is able to pick it up and make the throw for the first out. Sid Bartoszek is basically the only catcher right now so he has to remain in the game; he strikes out swinging and the Sox are down to their final out. That's Matt Wilson, in to pinch-hit for Bubba Touchton. He's 0-6 in the postseason... make that 0-7 as he grounds out to Tom Depew to end it. 2-1, Cards!

Yikes! Will the Red Sox do the reverse of what they did IRL and blow a 3-0 World Series lead? Tune in, tuner inners, and find out!

Syd Thrift · 06-05-2023, 02:21 PM

So we're on the brink of it! I have to be honest, I kind of really really don't want to see an 88 win team beat a 102 win team but hey, if it's going to happen to anyone, make it happen to the Red Sox, right? It's down to Vince Bachler (2-1, 2.86) vs Justin Kindberg (2-1, 1.91) I definitely would favor Kindberg but then, I definitely favored Michael Pesco last night (and I guess I went Grady Little on him as well but look, he was pitching well into the 9th and even then, the Sox should have given him more support than a single frigging run). Bachler has been 2 games below .500 the past 2 years (25-27 total) in spite of above-average ERAs so he has been kind of a hard-luck Harry in the regular season. Still, if St. Louis had a better starter than this guy, I'd use him....

57 degrees out with the wind blowing right to left. Kindberg's a lefty... and I think I will bring in Elijah Johnson for the pivotal Game 7 here. James hit just .194 against LHPs in 36 regular-season at-bats and although I don't expressly have them set up to platoon it still seems right. For Boston, Jeremy Dolak's back and apparently at 100%, so no changes there. I think I'm going to go back to Kristian Schneider, .222 postseason average and knee soreness aside, as he's the guy who got us here. Likewise, I've just got to hope that Jon Glynn can get things going... although you know what? Screw it, Sam Marks is starting in LF with Tom Brown sliding over into RF. Jun Kim just plain has not hit since returning from that strained hamstring and I'm past time to figure out if he's suddenly washed (it's possible; he is 33) or just in a slump. I hate that I'm losing a lot of defense in the outfield but we're up against it. I'm more convinced that Jon Glynn's slump is your garden-variety lack of hitting and the defensive drop-off from him to Jim Coleman is a lot greater so he'll stay in.

Top 1st: Elijah Johnson goes down 3-1 and we're under way! Tom Depew drops a base hit in front of CF Jon Glynn. Casey Satterfield hits one to Sam Marks in left, who catches it in front of the scoreboard for 2 out. Lorenzo Martinez hits it in the air to right center, where RF Tom Brown jogs over to catch for the third out. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: Vince Bachler gets Jon Glynn to ground out weakly... back to him for a 1-3 play. Brian Long also tests the pitcher with a weak comebacker; Bachler picks this one as well. I should note that this isn't the worst play in the world, as Bachler had 5 errors in 37 chances in '71 for an atrocious .865 FA. Mike Miller strikes out swinging to retire the side. 0-0.

Top 2nd: Kindberg gets Mike Galeana to just turn his wrists over on a curve that misses low for out #1. Disla hits what looks like a single into short center but Jon Glynn races in and catches it in a slide! As the saying goes, defense never slumps. John Stuart grounds out to SS Oniji Handa. 3 up, 3 down, and nobody left. 0-0.

Bottom 2nd: Tom Brown flies out to center. Incidentally he finished 5th in the AL in RBIs with 89 of them (it was a different time). Schneider hits a routine groundball to 2nd for the out. Sam Marks tries to place it a little closer to the hole but 2B Tom Depew gets to that one too for the 4-3 putout. 0-0.

Top 3rd: Dusty McCully hits a flare into right that Tom Brown makes a diving catch on for the out! 2 innings, 2 web gems by these outfielders and the incumbent Gold Glover is on the bench! Vince Bachler hits a hard fly to center that Jon Glynn chases down for the out. Elijah Johnson can't find a 1-2 fastball that he swung at for out #3. 0-0.

Bottom 3rd: Handa grounds out weakly to first base. Jeremy Dolak hits it towards second base on the right side of the infield but Tom Depew gets there and makes the throw for the out. Justin Kindberg grounds out to short and through 3 the Biscuit has faced the bare minimum. 0-0.

Top 4th: Tom Depew hits a ball into right center that Tom Brown cuts off before it can get to the wall; nevertheless the Cardinals 2B is still on with a leadoff single. Casey Satterfield hits a ball up the middle but 2B Brian Long just gets to it on the outfield grass. He manages to throw the slowish St Louis RF out at first but there's no play to be made at 2nd. That's 1 out and a runner is in scoring position. Lorenzo Martinez scorches one just past a diving Brian Long and into center field. It looks like it's just going to be a standard single but CF Jon Glynn drops the ball while making the transfer and everyone moves up 90 more feet, which means Tom Depew scores on the play! 1-0, Cardinals! Is this happening? Kristian Schneider takes a groundball from Mike Galeana, looks Lorenzo Martinez backs to second, and throws to first in time for out #2. Rafael Disla knocks one into left field and with 2 outs, Lorenzo Martinez is able to lumber in from second base! It's a 2-0 game! What's worse, Sam Marks is clutching his arm after the throw and has to come out of the game. I'll drop Matt Wilson in there as the Red Sox need hitting more than anything else. Jon Stuart flies out to right field to retire the side but the Cardinals are now up by multiple runs on a Red Sox team that has really, really struggled to score over the past 3 games. 2-0, Cardinals.

Bottom 4th: Jon Glynn belts a 0-1 fastball up the middle, past CF Elijah Johnson, and all the way to the wall for a leadoff double. That's a way to break out of a slump! Brian Long follows it up with a single into center field that scores Glynn from first base. 2-1! The only "bad" thing there is that Glynn didn't have a chance to steal third and now has "only" as many postseason steals (5) as hits (5). Mike Miller's also looking to hit something hard and he does, but right at Dusty McCully, who initiates a 6-4-3 double play. Tom Brown hits a ball that looks like it could be a single but Tom Depew gets there in time to turn it into a 4-3 putout. 2-1, Cardinals, but the Red Sox fiiiinally show some signs of life.

Top 5th: Dusty McCully bounces one to Kristian Schneider, who throws him out by a step, 5-3. Incidentally, both runs last inning have been counted as earned by the scorer, which seems rough. I guess the argument is that Depew would have scored anyway? Vince Bachler is for sure staying in, having thrown just 32 pitches over the first 4 innings. He hits one of those deceptively hard balls to straightaway center. Jon Glynn jogs to his left, then his right, then back to his left to pull it down. Elijah Johnson strokes a 2 out single to right, which Tom Brown catches on one hop. He steals second! I know I saw plenty during the regular season but weirdly I don't think I've seen a single CS the entire month of October. Tom Depew hits a ball into center that Jon Glynn is able to catch up to easily for the final out of the inning. 2-1, Cardinals.

Bottom 5th: Kristian Schneider crushes a 2-2 fastball over the Green Monster for his first HR of the postseason! That ties the game! Was that the first Red Sox HR of the postseason too? I know it's at least been a few days. That brings up Matt Wilson, in for Sam Marks; he flies out to center. Oniji Handa walks, which is a minor miracle in and of itself. Biscuit Bachler rolls his arm around a little and looks like he might have tweaked something but insists he's OK to keep pitching. Jeremy Dolak, hitting .357 in October, grounds out to Dusty McCully, who's got no choice but to throw to first as Handa sprints into second too quickly for the force there. Justin Kindberg singles to right and Oniji Handa gets all the way home, just ahead of Casey Satterfield's throw, and the Red Sox have pulled into the lead, 3-2! That's Justin Kindberg's 4th hit in 12 post-season at-bats. He's doing his best to make the trophy happen. Jon Glynn tests Elijah Johnson on a fly to deep center but the cagey vet and 11-time Gold Glover passes it, catching the ball just short of the warning track for out #3. 3-2, Red Sox.

Top 6th: Kindberg strikes out Casey Satterfield on 3 pitches. That's only Kindberg's 3rd K, which, I mean, is fine for 1971, don't get me wrong. A light October rain begins to fall. Lorenzo Martinez hits one into left-center that Matt Wilson is able to run over to catch for out #2. Mike Galeana comes up with that game-tying power; Kindberg neutralizes him by getting 2 quick strikes on the third baseman and, after fouling one off, he hits a groundball straight to Kristian Schneider for out #3. 3-2, Red Sox.

Bottom 6th: Brian Long hits a line drive that Lorenzo Martinez just happens to be in front of for out #1. Mike Miller hits a line shot into center; this time nobody's there to catch it before it drops and he's got himself a base hit. Tom Brown's been hitting everything hard, practically, but this time around it comes back to bite him as his shot to 3rd is turned into an around the horn double play to end the inning. 3-2, Red Sox.

Top 7th: Justin Kindberg himself has only thrown 75 pitches; one positive side effect of mostly pitching to contact. Rafael Disla hits a soft comebacker that he scoops up and throws to first for the first out. He actually had slightly reverse splits vs lefties this year - .233 vs .211 vs RHP - but I'm not sure that can be really trusted since he shut both sides down. Kindberg does give up his first walk of the game to John Stuart to give the inning the 1 on, 1 out, flavor. At that, I think it's time to pinch-hit for Dusty McCully. Jeremy Webb (.200, 0, 10), who hit .269 with a .354 OBP at AAA Tulsa in the first half, gets the call. He flies out to right field for 2 outs. That brings up Vince Bachler... who I think I'm going to leave in. Like, this is a low-leverage situation still and the consequences of his getting out are relatively small. He dutifully whiffs and that retires the side. 3-2, Red Sox.

Bottom 7th: Joe Wicker steps in at short for McCully. That's his 6th appearance this postseason. Kristian Schneider comes up with 2 HRs in 2 at-bats in mind and basically does the opposite, hitting a weak groundball back to Biscuit Bachler for the first out. Matt Wilson flies out the other way to left and continues to go hitless agaisnt his former team. Oniji Handa forces 2B Tom Depew to make a decent play at 2nd for the final out, a 4-3 grounder. 3-2, Red Sox.

Top 8th: Kindberg is still at 93 pitches, although there's a very good chance I'll pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the inning; Matt Brock's struggles aside, I don't really want to make the Grady Little mistake twice in 2 nights. In any case, this inning starts with Elijah Johnson popping out to center field for out #1. Tom Depew hits what looks like a seeing-eye single into right... but 2B Brian Long makes a diving stop, gets up, collects himself, and throws to first for the out! Say what you will about Boston, they are a fine defensive team. The rain looks like it's stopped. Casey Sattefield belts one over the head of CF Jon Glynn and all the way to the wall for a 2 out double. That web gem by Long now looks about ten times more impactful. Kindberg still needs to punch out Lorenzo Martinez, arguably the best power hitter in the National League, though. He works it to a 2-1 count and then belts one down the right field line. That's extra bases for sure... but what is this? Tom Brown sacrifices his body and dives into the corner... and comes up with the ball! The inning is over! 3-2, Red Sox still hanging on!

Bottom 8th: I think I'm actually going to leave Dolak in here... Bachler strikes him out for out #1. Speaking of pitching to contact, that's only Biscuit's 2nd K. He was a finesse guy in the regular season as well with 5.7 Ks per 9 (which, as I think I've stated, is technically above average but only technically). Pinch-hitting for Justin Kindberg is IF Dwayne Fraser, making his 2nd appearance in October. He flies out to right. Jon Glynn makes it 2 doubles in 2 at-bats with line shot off the Green Monster in left field! And he's down, clutching his knee! It's bad enough that he has to come out. Jim Coleman will pinch-run for him and probably take over in center. Brian Long grounds to 2nd and unfortunately the Red Sox don't get that insurance run. 3-2, Red Sox, and it's hang-on time!

Top 9th: Coleman will indeed take over in center. To try and mitigate the loss of range, the Red Sox will also move Tom Brown over to left and bring in Jun Kim to play right and hit 6th, should it come to that. But most importantly of all, Matt Brock (1-1, 5.71) is on to try and earn his 2nd postseason save of 1971 and hopefully not implode. He faces Matt Galeana, he of the 7 HRs and 15 RBIs in the month of October. Galeana singles into left and already you can start to hear the Boston faithful boo. Brock comes back and gets Rafael Disla, a 2-time batting champion and career .334 hitter, to strike out swinging. That brings up John Stuart, no slouch himself - he hit .294 this season and is a 4-time NL Silver Slugger. Brock throws one high and away that advances Mike Galeana to 2nd! Score it a wild pitch. Stuart belts one into left but the wind picks it up and allows Tom Brown to catch it at the warning track for out #2. One more out to go! With Jeronimo Argumedo available, I bring in Ethan Keesee to pinch-hit for the backup SS Joe Wicker. Keesee is 1 for 4 in the postseason, all as a pinch-hitter, but that one hit was a double. He hits one into left... that Tom Brown races in on and catches! THE RED SOX HAVE WON THE WORLD SERIES!

Wow, that was... a lot more dramatic than expected and that I'd kind of anticipated. NGL, I felt like this was going to be over on the next game starting with Game 4. Even that blowout 12-1 Game 5 win wasn't really and truly out of hand until the bottom of the 8th. And hey, the silver lining here is, no Boston fans in my world get to whine about The Curse of the Bambino!

Syd Thrift · 06-05-2023, 02:25 PM

Not gonna lie, I was kind of dreading seeing the Cards win this but hey. Tom Brown won the WS MVP, mostly on the first half of the Series. I think I would have named Mike Galeana the man for setting the NL record for single-game savagery in Game 5 but then again I guess he was very, very feast or famine.

Going into next year the Cardinals reeeeeally need to find some front line starting pitching. Boston could use a guy I can rely on as a closer although I guess TBF Matt Brock did deliver us from sin in Game 7 and did lead the American League in saves...

Syd Thrift · 06-07-2023, 11:12 AM

Catch-up Edition!

Major Transactions
--------------------------
There were still several to be had but I postponed them all to the offseason, which is officially... now, the 19th of October.

October 21: The Angels traded CF Norm Hodge (.232, 9, 48) and LF Nelson Vargas (.249, 5, 31) to the Indians for CF Carlos Hernandez (.279, 3, 15), CF Russ Deuser (.199, 8, 29), and P Andy Lagunas (8-16, 4.82). Even though this is kinda sorta the reverse, the impetus for this trade is, ironically, the one that moved Alex Johnson off the Angels IRL. I say "ironically" because I had that storyline involve Ernesto Garcia (.270, 65, 147) and CF Carlos Hernandez (.279, 3, 15) and decided that Cleveland decided to trust Garcia's obvious fabrication of Hernandez pointing a gun at him. Cal gets to move off of Hodge, who didn't hit very well in '71 and who is picking up a bit of a reputation for being a clubhouse lawyer. They also send off Nelson Vargas, who kind of fell apart offensively after a fine 1970 season, and get back a non-prospect in Russ Deuser and a former 21 game winner in Lagunas whom the Angels hope can lessen the gopher ball tendencies in the Big A.

October 21: The Red Sox traded 2B Dwayne Fraser (.308, 3, 25), RF Jun Kim (.283, 11, 43), CL Matt Brock (9-7, 3.79, 25 Sv), minor league C Ken Hall (.212, 7, 29 at AAA Louisville), RP Eddie Sanchez (2-2, 4.72), and "OF" Sergio Sicre (.256, 10, 62 at AAA Louisville) to the Brewers for SP Brian Osbourne (8-17, 3.46), OF Bruce Springsteen (.290, 9, 21), minor league OF Mario Hernandez (.284, 0, 11 in 88 ABs in AAA Evansville), and SP Alex Izquierdo (7-13, 2.74). An absolute blockbuster trade that at first glance just makes the 102 win Red Sox look even better. Springsteen is a prospect but a blue-chipper and the Brewers also gave up a couple of very good starting pitchers in this deal, receiving mostly Dwayne Fraser, who does deserve to start somewhere although the Brewers are pretty packed at 2nd, Jun Kim, who looked like he might be washed in the postseason, and the on-again, off-again closer Matt Brock, who I guess TBF did lead the AL in saves.

October 21: The White Sox traded P Ed Lagos (0-0, 4.11) to the Yankees for OF John Marsden (.197, 5, 30). Marsden was a disaster in both Milwaukee and NY last year and this is as much to get him off the roster as it is to take on Lagos, who was I guess OK in 1970.

October 21: The Expos purchase P Jeff Graton (6-5, 4.03, 3 Sv) from the Astros for $7,500. Graton was good in '70, not good in '71, and now he gets to reinvent himself in Montreal.

October 21: The White Sox traded OF Aaron Rhodes (.203, 1, 6) and minor league P Sherwood Polo (0-3, 5.65, 5 Sv in rookie ball) to the Phillies for P Hector Fernandez (0-0, 7.02). It's a new start for both sides here; Polo is a super-low minor league guy who will probably not ever reach the bigs.

October 21: The Cardinals returned P Ramon Lopez (0-0, 5.00) to the Royals following an earlier purchase.

October 21: The Mets traded minor league P Matt Owensby (8-11, 4.54 at AAA Tidewater), minor league P Tony Barcena (7-3, 2.09 at AA Memphis), minor league RP Paul Boerger (2-1, 3.86 at AAA Memphis), and SS Brian Wilcox (.230, 8, 31) to the Cardinals for OF Ethan Keesee (.358, 0, 8), minor league IF Logan Fletcher (.331, 1, 13 at AAA Tulsa), P Mike O'Leary (1-0, 5.48), and RP Rick Legere (7-4, 2.55, 8 Sv). The Mets kind of gutted their farm system for this move; Owensby, Barcena, and Boerger are considered 3 of their top 4 pitching prospects. They're also moving Wilcox, who's very good-field/no-hit but after having to live with Dusty McCully's average at best fielding, the Cardinals felt the need for a defensive upgrade. The Mets do get back a decent if blocked prospect in Keesee plus a decent looking chip in Fletcher to compete at 2B next year. And of course, Rick Legere, who was probably the best setup man in the league in 1971. He'll try and reprise that role with New York.

October 21: The Expos purchased P Erik Schnipke (6-5, 3.43) from the Mets for $2,500. Schnipke had a solid season with the Mets as a spot starter and middle reliever but is kind of pushed out. The Expos, on the other hand, can use all the pitching they can get.

October 21: The Brewers traded P Deshawn Maczyk (4-2, 4.28, 2 Sv) to the Giants for minor league P Freddy Lopez (4-9, 3.95 at AAA Phoenix) and minor league P Vitus Brennen (9-12, 3.51 at AA Amarillo). Maczyk should get a lot of opportunities to play for an iffy Giants' bullpen and the Brewers now seem to be into full-on... build? mode.

October 21 (actual transaction date!): The Royals purchased OF/PH Kyle Brown (.294, 7, 19) from the Senators for $10,000. Brown looks like a good prospect but was a little blocked / relegated to pinch-hitting duties in Washington so in spite of the Royals' crowded outfield this is a move that makes sense. Dammit.

October 21: The Cardinals returned RP Doug Ellis (1-0, 1.84) to the A's following a previous purchase.

October 21: The Dodgers traded minor league OF Simone Fabiano (.277, 1, 14 in AA Albuquerque) to the Phillies for OF Paul Stewart (.238, 0, 8). Stewart needs a change of venue following two injury-riddled seasons, while Fabiano is a decent prospect who looks like he's got the range to stick in center field.

News
----------------------------
As the first day of the offseason, boy oh boy are there a lot of retirements...

Baltimore: P Yen-Ti Wei (no record in 1971) missed all of 1971 with a torn rotator cuff he suffered in September of 1970 and at age 37 decided to hang it up for good. The Taiwanese national finishes his career with a record of 118-119 and a very slightly below average 3.70 ERA. His best year would have been 1963, when he led the Detroit Tigers to a 14-7 record with a 2.69 ERA.

California: 3B Jordan Wooten (.257, 1, 9) wrapped up a long career, almost all of it spent on the South Side of Chicago, as a backup 3rd baseman for the Angels. In his tenure with the Chisox he went to 3 All-Star Games and was named the AL Silver Slugger at 3B in '66 with a record of .292/24/77, which was a lot for the mid 60s. He retires with a .263 career average, 278 HRs, and 939 RBIs. A White Sox HOFer for sure, if not quite a "real" HOFer.

Chicago (A): I had actually released Sebastiano Veneziano (.227, 2, 13) during the playoffs to make room for a player coming off the DL but it looks like he took the hint and retired anyway. As recently as 2 years ago Veneziano was a key member of the Washington Senators' lineup, posting a .304/17/71 mark with 197 hits. The bottom fell out rather quickly for him after that. He wraps up his career with a .265 career average in 2,529 at-bats spread across four teams (Washington, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and the White Sox).

Chicago (N): Mark Tooley (.197, 8, 29) signed on with the Mets after being cut by the Reds this year but didn't hit in either location. He likely still would have been in the mix for the Cubbies in 1972 but Tooley decided to call it on his own terms instead. He went to the summer classic as recently as 1969, when he wen .278/16/59 for a Cubs team who, at that moment in history, were actually pretty good (though not nearly as good as the Amazin' Mets that year).

Cincinnati: Jerry Martinez was a starter for 4 years with Baltimore in the early 60s and then kind of hung around as a 4th/5th OF and pinch-hitter ever since. He went to 3 AS games with the O's, the last one in 1963 when he slumped to a .240 BA (still with 25 HRs) which took him out of a regular spot in the lineup. Martinez always had power, finishing with 184 career HRs and 25 per 162 games.

Houston: A victim of a career-ending torn labrum injury in August, P Aaron Shepard (4-3, 3.56, 1 Sv) was a 10 game winner in 1970 who could never quite put everything together for an Astros team who, it should be said, could have used that arm down the stretch this year. He retires with a career record of 46-52 and a 3.54 ERA.

P Juan Lara (3-4, 6.06), who was released by the Astros in July and never did find a new club, decided not to keep it going. He went 18-4 as a starter for the Yankees in 1961 but was never able to back up that awesome performance. He nevertheless retires with a highly positive 87-52 record and a 3.23 ERA.

Kansas City: SS Carlos Altman (.195, 0, 12) was the Royals' Opening Day starter at short in 1969 and continued to provide decent glovework if no bat for the past 3 years. Before then he was a career inor leaguer with 123 total games in the big leagues.

P Tim Banks (2-4, 5.36, 13 Sv) tried to be the Royals' closer for much of '71 but at age 37 he just didn't have much left and so he called it quits. He opened his career as an innings-eating starter but only 33 of his career 216 starts came after he turned 30. The second half of his career is a kind of common story: injury-prone mostly reliever when he was healthy enough. Lifetime he went 87-94 with a 3.81 ERA... so, like, he wasn't *that* good as a starter in the first place (he did have a nice year in 1960 (17-9, 3.67)).

Los Angeles: Jason "Gomer" Parsley (2-1, 4.25) was a starter with the Red Sox in the first half of his career, got injuried and missed most of 3 seasons, and tried to bounce back as a reliever with limited success. He finally reached the end of the line with the Dodgers this year. He didn't quite hit the century mark in wins, finishing 82-81 with a 3.68 ERA and 21 career saves, most of those in his rookie year of 1960, when he pulled his Red Sox teammates to victory 17 times.

Milwaukee: 2B Chris Johnston (.271, 2, 17) was traded to the Brewers over the summer but got into only 8 games with them before being cut loose in August. He retires as a 4-time All-Star with the Cardinals with 1,450 career hits, a .309 batting average, and 4 World Series rings.

Minnesota: Ricardo Magdaleno (0-2, 5.59) followed up the best year of his career in 1969 (13-8, 3,14) with his worst (8-16, 4.73) and last year the Twins didn't have a lot of confidence in him, using him in low leverage relief before cutting him loose in July. Still only 34, he decided to hang it up with a career 72-77 record and a 3.99 ERA, mostly with the Reds.

Montreal: C Brent Putnam (.197, 3, 15) called it a relatively early day as he was not awarded the starting job in Montreal he felt he deserved. He was a more-or-less starter for the Cubs from 1962 to 1969, making the All-Star Game 3 times during that period, and he retired with a .227 career average and a catcherly 383 RBIs.

New York (A): Danilo Caneas (8-13, 4.48) posted an ERA above 4 each of the last 2 seasons, making his career stats look maybe not as good as they really were. He toiled with the Senators, Pirates, and Yankees (also 10 games with the Dodgers as a rookie in 1958), posting a record over .500 only in New York City. He finishes with a record of 108-126 with a 3.97 ERA.

New York (N): OF Ramiro Palencia (.167, 0, 1) officially called it quits on an illustrious career that saw him go to 6 All-Star Games, win the MVP in 1960 with the Yankees, and have enough World Series rings to fill an entire hand (5, of course). He finishes with 2,067 hits, 328 HRs, and 1,115 RBI. Had his career been in a more offense-happy era, he might be a Hall of Famer... as it stands, he's got a HOF Monitor score of 98 so might make it in anyway.

Oakland: Ryan O'Neal (no record in 1971) suffered a career-ending rotator cuff injury and officially retired. He had a lifetime record of 43-60, all in the Athletics organization, which also means he never did get to play in the playoffs. Sad.

Philadelphia: RP Luis De la Cruz (1-4, 6.98) led the league in saves with 26 for the Cardinals in 1968 and followed that up with a 13 save, 2.49 ERA season in '69 but that wound up being the last time he was really effective. He finishes his career with an even record of 60-60, 61 saves, and a 3.57 ERA in 429 career appearances.

Pittsburgh: Scott Woodcock (.143, 0, 4) joined the Pirates after hooking on as an unlikely veteran starter for the Tigers from 1966 to 1969. He hit pretty well for a backstop, at least until the last 2 years, retiring with a .264 BA and 316 career RBIs. He also managed to appear in 2 All-Star Games during that run with Detroit in '67 and '68.

OF Chris Granneman (.143, 0, 5) played only briefly with the Phillies this year after more than a decade as a starter with the Dodgers. He made the All-Star Game 5 times in his career, won 2 World Series in LA, and finishes with a career .249 BA, 159 HRs, and 676 RBI. Obviously he's no Hall of Famer but he's in the Dodgers' Hall.

San Francisco: IF Jason Staiti (.202, 12, 56 in AAA Phoenix) never quite got the call back up to the majors this year and decided that that was going to be all she wrote. Staiti was always a good-field, no-hit shortstop, even in the best of times; he retires with a career .198 BA and a .254 OBP. He did have some good pop for a shortstop, as evidenced in 1966 when he belted 19 HRs in 427 at-bats (he still hit .202 that year so, you know, that's who he was). He finished wth 88 career dingers total in 2,424 at-bats.

C Pat Molina (.254, 1, 13) was picked up to provide some veteran leadership and... he was fine, if not nearly the same player he'd been as a mainstay of the Braves' lineup from 1958 to 1969. A 9-time All-Star, Molina doesn't appear to have the numbers to make it into the Hall of Fame but might do anyway.

St. Louis: P Danny Mojica (1-0, 0.00) got just one appearance this year and 10 combined over the last 2 seasons, so the game retired him, really. He finishes with a career record of 69-63, a 3.90 ERA, and 31 career saves. At bes he was a volatile reliever and sometimes starter for the old Senators and Twins from 1957 to 1969. He did get a single All-Star appearance in 1959 with the Sens thanks to a 9-4 record and a 3.15 ERA in 26 appearances (16 starts).

Syd Thrift · 06-11-2023, 04:26 PM

Major Transactions
----------------------------
October 22: The Angels purchased P Scott Richey (5-7, 4.34 in AAA Hawaii) from the Padres for $1,500. Richey, a former Angel, moves back to Cal in an "our old depth is the best depth" move.

October 22: The Dodgers traded LF Ernie Griffin (.246, 18, 61) to the Twins for 3B prospect DJ Lewis (.284, 5, 28 in AA Charlotte). Lewis is probably a year away, which is fine for the Dodgers, whose big surge at the end of the season kind of hid the fact that they are now in mediocre-ville. Griffin has had a long and excellent career in Tinseltown but his bat went a bit sideways last year and this is a "what have you done for me lately" league.

October 22: The Orioles traded minor league P Jon Diaz (8-11, 3.87 at AA Dallas/Fort Worth) and 3B Leo Lujan (.242, 6, 30 at AAA Rochester) to the Brewers for 3B Mike Morrison (.283, 5, 49) and minor league C Clint Welles (.320, 1, 4 at AAA Evansville). The Brewers continue to purge their roster of anyone over 30, receiving a mid-level pitching prospect and, perhaps, a replacement for Morrison in Lujan in return. If nothing else, Morrison should be available to fill in when the incumpent Marco Perez (.258, 12, 33) inevitably gets hurt.

November 3: The Cardinals traded SS prospect Arthur Faucher (.283, 1, 14 at AA Arkansas) and P Robert McHugh (0-2, 4.61) for SP Raul Mendoza (16-11, 3.45). Mendoza had a good season in Washington after coming in from the White Sox but was reportedly on the outs with management. The Senators/soon-to-be-Rangers get back a solid middle infield prospect who should at least challenge 2B Jose Hernandez (.229, 25, 86), who hit a lot of HRs but also led the AL in strikeouts, as well as the Cards' top pitching prospect in McHugh.

November 3: The Astros traded CF John Rohrbough (.280, 2, 35) to the Cardinals for C Jose Medina (.262, 0, 17). Rohrbough has the range to play center field and the Cardinals hope to use him in conjunction with Jim James to shore up that spot for them. They send back Jose Medina, who figures to give Houston a boost in terms of handling pitchers and covering the plate if not necessarily a great arm.

News
---------------------------
October 22: I'm getting all of the awards set up but I will wait to reveal the winners until their schedule! I'm pretty sure the schedule goes away once you set up the winners manually but WHATEVER. I'm also already up to 163 hours in the new game so pbpbpbpbpt I guess (although who I'm razzing, I have no idea... Markus I guess)?

October 29: The Gold Glove Award winners were announced for both leagues today.

In the AL:

P Michael Pesco, BOS (1st)
C Josh Lewis, OAK (1st) - Lewis threw out 44.9% of opposing baserunners and that was just plain too much to ignore.
1B Mike Miller, BOS (2nd) - Miller also won in 1969; the incumbent, Jose "Joker" Ayala, played mostly 3B this year. Anyway, Miller is an excellent fielder.
2B Danny Fager, BAL (2nd) - 2nd straight award for Fager, who had a ZR of 16.9 at 2nd base this year.
3B Chase Jones, OAK (1st) - I had to give this to Jones instead of Baltimore's Marco Perez because a. Perez missed missed around 50 games that Jones did not, and b. Jones was, frankly, a better fielder.
SS Oniji Handa, BOS (7th) - Like clockwork, Handa wins another GG.
OF Norm Hodge, CAL (7th) - Hodge took a step back with the bat this year but was as good as he's ever been in the field.
OF Fernando Ceballos, MIL (1st) - I'm not a huuuge fan of handing an award to a guy who will probably only ever have the one season as a starter (Ceballos hit .225/3/23 in 520 at-bats with an OPS of .514) but he was soooo good in the field for the Brewers this year - a 9.2 ZR and *22* baserunner kills.
OF Tom Brown, BOS (2nd) - usually this slot's occupied by a right fielder but Brown played an excellent LF and frankly Jun Kim just plain missed too much time.

And the NL:

P Jason Gilmer, SD (3rd) - Gilmer's a 2 time award winner in the AL so this was an obvious choice.
C Greg Darrow, CHI (1st) - He's on a team with a bad defensive and pitching rep but the stats indicate that Darrow did everything he could to combat that - 12 framing runs and a 38.4% RTO rate.
1B Antonio Lopez, CHI (1st) - This kid is just entering his prime and while I wouldn't expect a lot of these in the future, he's a serviceable first baseman.
2B Pedro Ortiz, CIN (2nd) - Ortiz took a big tumble offensively but, as the saying goes, defense doesn't slump. He posted a FA of .988 - just 9 errors in 761 chances - and a 9.2 ZR.
3B Sean Gabel, CHI (4th) - With 3 GGs on this team, maybe I should re-evaluate their reputation? Gabel wins these every year and for good reason - this year featured a 14.4 ZR.
SS Brian Wilcox, NYM (4th) - John Timonem is no longer starting so this is basically Wilcox's award to lose.
OF Danny Seligman, SF (2nd) - Even missing 37 games this year, The Phantom carried a ZR of 14.9 out there.
OF Bryant Tarala, PHI (2nd) - Another guy coming over from the junior circuit, Tarala got hurt a lot like he always does but also played exemplary CF.
OF Brian Jackson, PIT (1st) - Jackson won in large part because of a strong arm that picked up 10 BRKs, but he also put together a 13.4 ZR in right field so he had a lot of range as well.

October 30: The Rolaids Relief Awards came out:

AL:

1. Montay Luiso, BAL: 11-8, 25 Sv, 3.34 ERA in 69 G
2. Matt Brock, BOS: 9-7, 25 Sv, 3.79 ERA in 59 G
3. Willis Chavez, OAK: 10-5, 18 Sv, 2.34 ERA in 56 G

Matt Brock had the award in the bag but suffered through a really bad last couple of months. In any case, he's plying his trade in Cleveland now. Montay Luiso was a step off his normally lights-out self this year but was still the best man standing. Willis Chavez was probably the best pure reliever on a day-in, day-out basis.

NL:

1. John Winn, ATL: 10-3, 31 Sv, 1.32 ERA in 62 G
2. Geoff Saus, NYM: 11-12, 34 Sv, 2.91 ERA in 75 G
3. Billy Munoz, STL: 10-6, 24 Sv, 2.69 ERA in 67 G

Winn had such an awesome season that he could have won the Cy if the starters' field was smaller (note: it wasn't). Saus was in some ways the Matt Brock of the NL, although Brock was even below average as a pitcher on the season if you're judging by ERA. Enough about Matt Brock! 12 losses is a lot by a stopper, even in 1971. Billy Munoz was awfully good himself but, well, 30+ saves are the 50+ saves of the early 70s.

October 31: It's Silver Slugger time!

AL:

P: Dylan Hamilton, CLE (1st): .312/2/22
C: Josh Lewis, OAK (1st): .293/14/66 and the A's #3 hitter for most of the year
1B: Ernesto Garcia, CLE (1st): .270/65/147 - pretty much any time you tie the all-time record for HRs, you win a SS
2B: Jose Hernandez, WAS (1st): .229/25/86 - not a fan of the BA but it was kind of a weak field this year
3B: Tom Weiss, NYY (1st): .307/27/99 - how he hasn't won one of these before is beyond me
SS: Tyler Knight, WAS (1st): .266/6/69 - in a year where the Big Two shortstops regressed kind of badly at the plate, Knight was who was left
LF: Tom Brown, BOS (1st): .301/17/89 - Everybody's a first-timer this year! What have I done!?
CF: Alvin Romero, DET (2nd): .335/8/48, 50 SB - Romero missed some time this year and his steals were down but he's still the pre-eminent leadoff hitter in baseball
RF: RJ Dominguez, KC (1st): .284/26/85 - This guy just plain stuck out to me as the obvious choice, 1st timer or no

NL:

P: Richard Starkey, PHI (1st): .277/0/16 - One of many to come for Ringo, I think
C: John Stuart, STL (5th): .294/12/59 - A satisfying return to form for Stuart, who fell to .222 last year
1B: Lorenzo Martinez, STL (5th): .265/37/100 - His first as a 1B and a controversial choice - Antonio Lopez mashed as well (.312/42/125) but ultimately I decided that his numbers were inflated by Wrigley and he also put them up for an 85 loss, non-contending team
2B: Paul McCartney, SD (1st): .289/26/87 - Also one of many to come, no doubt. FWIW George Harrison hit .388 as a September call-up; he might be on this list soon as well
3B: Mike Galeana, STL (1st): .238/30/80 - A part-timer and a rookie, yes, but 30 HRs in 382 at-bats is nothing to sneeze at
SS: Jeremy Taylor, CHI (3rd): .268/29/85 - I'm not sure how long I can keep him at short but as long as he's here he's a SS waiting to happen
LF: Justin Lawson, PIT (1st): .250/24/98 - Not eye-popping numbers but he was the heart of a Pirates lineup and just missed the century mark in RBIs
CF: Curtis Hope, NYM (1st): .287/22/85 - Missed out on the GG this year thanks to Bryant Tarala getting traded to the league; he can take this SS as consolation
RF: Henry Riggs, ATL (12th): .299/43/119 - The 36 year old keeps chugging along, leading the NL in HRs and finishing 2nd in RBI

November 1: Getting on to the BIG AWARDS now! First, Rookie of the Year:

AL:

1. 3B Bobby Ramirez, CLE (.344, 15, 67)
2. 2B Israel Gaytan, OAK (.291, 6, 51)
3. 1B Kozue Nakamura, MIL (.313, 4, 65)

This was pretty much Ramirez' award all the way, as he led the AL in hitting. Going forward he could definitely stand to work on the gap power (20 doubles, 10 triples) but, well, .344 is nothing to sneeze at. Izzy Gaytan kind of came out of nowhere to be a solid keystone option for the AL West champion A's. I wouldn't exactly say that the sky's the limit on the guy, but he's serviceable. Nakamura is already 29 but the career farmhand and 1970 Rule V pick (California) socked 177 hits in 565 at-bats to finish 3rd in the AL in average himself.

NL:

1. 2B Paul McCartney, SD (.289, 26, 87)
2. SP Richard Starkey, PHI (19-8, 3.52)
3. LF Willie Morales, MON (.268, 27, 89)

Yep, 1 and 2 are former Beatles and the other 2 members of the old Fab Four are close to breaking in. McCartney is looking like a potential Hall of Fame 2B in the making. His 26 HRs were actually "only" the 15th highest total for a 2nd baseman (Ty Stover hit 37 in 1961) so he's got plenty of room to fill in, and at the baseball age of 22 he's got plenty of time to do it. Ringo won 19 in part because he got the run support that teammate Marius Gaddi (16-20, 3.47) didn't get, but credit where it's due: he finished in the top 10 in BB/9 and H/9, so even if he's more of a finesse guy (4.8 K/9), he's still good enough to be a top pitcher in this league. Morales put up numbers similar to McCartney, only in a corner OF spot. That's still valuable!

November 3: Cy Young award time! I did not track the actual Cy Young Points here and I'm too lazy to pull up the MySQL workbench. These are based on a formula though.

NL:

1. Santos Arango, PIT (24-8, 2.50)
2. Tony Rivera, HOU (25-9, 3.20)
3. Jeremy Battaglia, PIT (22-14, 2.61)

Would real-life voters have marked Arango down for his poor September (2-3, 4.43)? I guess there's an argument to be made that he was ineffective when the Bucs needed him the most (and another one that IRL the pro-Pirates vote would have been split between him and Battaglia). Still, he did lead the NL in ERA and if I'm being perfectly honest, Rivera was only pretty good. A 3.20 ERA in the Astrodome isn't super-amazing, although their team ERA was pretty bad and that made him a much-needed ace. Battaglia might have won in a "normal" year, whatever that means.

AL:

1. Justin Kindberg, BOS (27-6, 2.06)
2. Vince Akright, WAS (18-13, 2.26)
3. Michael Pesco, BOS (20-14, 3.20)

Another deal where theoretically the Boston vote might have split things but here if there were such a thing as a unanimous 1st place vote in the algorithm I think Kindberg would have won it. He just missed the pitching Triple Crown; his 230 Ks were 3rd behind Oakland's Roberto Ortiz (260) and teammate Michael Pesco's (254). OK, that's not all that close. Still, he was really good and also tied the year-old modern record for most wins in a season. The previous record, 26 by Jeff Borden, was set in 1955 and sat untouched throughout the pitching-heavy 60s. Vince Akright had a lowkey great season himself and will now be the staff ace for the newly minted Texas Rangers.

November 4: And the BIG DADDY of awards, the MVP! This year I more or less eyeballed it; sue me.

AL:

1. 1B Ernesto Garcia (.270, 65, 147)
2. 1B Mike Miller (.292, 20, 90)
3. 3B Tom Weiss (.307, 27, 99)

Garcia doesn't hit for average, is the slowest player in the AL, doesn't field well, and is enough of a clubhouse cancer that he got a teammate kicked off by (allegedly) fabricating a claim about the teammate flashing a gun on him. When you hit 65 HRs, even with all that you're the most valuable player. Mike Miller might have a better case if voters were allowed to take the postseason into account; he went 18-48 in the ALCS and the Fall Classic. Tiptoe Tommy Weiss got started pretty late in his career and so only has 2 AS games under his belt as a 32 year old. For now, he's still one of the best players in baseball.

NL:

1. RF Henry Riggs, ATL (.299, 43, 119)
2. 1B Antonio Lopez, CHC (.312, 42, 125)
3. 1B Lorenzo Martinez, STL (.265, 37, 100)

Riggs won by a paper-thin margin; in the end, I decided that while both Lopez and Riggs were helped out a lot by their home parks, Riggs at least put up his gaudy numbers for a division champion while the Cubs lost 85 games this year. Also, I'm sure Lopez will win plenty of hardware in his future; the kid only turned 25 this year. Veteran Lorenzo Martinez hit the century mark in RBIs while amassing just 498 at-bats. Some of that was his customary lack of desire to put the ball in play (Martinez led the league in walks for the 2nd straight year with 113) but he also missed 17 games this season despite moving out of the outfield this year.

Syd Thrift · 06-11-2023, 05:24 PM

1970 Recap: The O's were a dark horse in the East well into August until the Red Sox firmly established themselves in the lead. Then they completely fell apart in September.

1971 Outlook: What means more here, the first five months or the last one? The balance says that this was yet another mediocre season for the mediO's and we should expect more to come.

Pitching
---------------------

Code:

Pitching                Age   BT   W   L    WL %      ERA   G  GS  GF  CG SHO  SV     IP    H    R   ER   HR   BB  IBB   SO    WHIP    H9   HR9   BB9   SO9
Ziegler, T.J.            24   RR   8  16    .333     3.31  33  33   0   4   2   0  222.2  210   95   82   11  122    4  115   1.491 100.0   0.4   4.9   4.6
Giron, Hector            30   SR  12  15    .444     4.05  32  31   0   7   2   0  217.2  243  111   98   15   51    2   99   1.351 100.0   0.6   2.1   4.1
Reece, Tim               27   RR  11  12    .478     2.77  31  31   0   9   3   0  224.0  192   75   69   16   73    4  124   1.183 100.0   0.6   2.9   5.0
Dapson, George           26   RR  11  11    .500     3.34  30  30   0   9   3   0  221.0  214   93   82   20   53    6  123   1.208 100.0   0.8   2.2   5.0

Luiso, Montay            33   LL  11   8    .579     3.34  69   0  59   0   0  25  105.0  108   47   39    3   17    4   73   1.190 100.0   0.3   1.5   6.3
Bowman, Phil             24   RR   6   3    .667     1.18  47   0  25   0   0   3   68.2   49   11    9    3   24    4   53   1.063 100.0   0.4   3.1   6.9
Valenzuela, Chris        28   RR   2   4    .333     3.86  45   0  27   0   0   4   65.1   60   30   28    8   36    3   52   1.469 100.0   1.1   5.0   7.2
Hart, William            26   RR  13   7    .650     3.27  27  27   0   3   2   0  187.1  175   77   68   17   61    4   73   1.260 100.0   0.8   2.9   3.5
Scott, Joe               26   RR   0   1    .000     4.08  22   0   8   0   0   1   35.1   21   16   16    7   12    0   31   0.934 100.0   1.8   3.1   7.9

Fallon, Zachariah        25   RR   1   2    .333     5.85   5   5   0   1   0   0   32.1   34   21   21    4   11    1   10   1.392 100.0   1.1   3.1   2.8
Contreras, Alfredo       28   LL   1   1    .500     9.42  15   0   3   0   0   0   14.1   21   16   15    6    5    0    8   1.814 100.0   3.8   3.1   5.0
McNicholas, Dave         27   SR   0   1    .000     2.53   4   1   0   0   0   0   10.2   10    3    3    1    4    0    6   1.313 100.0   0.8   3.4   5.1
Torres, David            29   RR   0   0    .000     0.00   4   0   0   0   0   0    4.0    2    0    0    0    2    0    1   1.000 100.0   0.0   4.5   2.3
Overmann, Mike           33   RR   0   0    .000     1.93   3   0   0   0   0   0    4.2    4    4    1    1    2    0    4   1.286 100.0   1.9   3.9   7.7
Christie, Blaine         27   RR   0   0    .000     2.70   4   0   3   0   0   0    3.1    3    1    1    1    2    0    3   1.500 100.0   2.7   5.4   8.1
Pierson, Pat             25   LL   0   1    .000     6.75   3   0   0   0   0   0    2.2    3    2    2    0    0    0    0   1.125 100.0   0.0   0.0   0.0

Code:

Baltimore Orioles (76-82)
Starting Pitching        GS  Wgs  Lgs   ND Wchp LTuf  WTm  LTm  tmW-L%   CG  SHO   QS    QS% GmScA Best Wrst  sDR  lDR RS/GS RS/9  IP/GS Pit/GS     <80   80-99 100-119   >=120     Max
Ziegler, T.J.            33    8   16    9    0    9   13   20   0.394    4    2   23    70%   52   79   10    7   15  2.3  3.1    6.7    109       1       6      18       8     144
Giron, Hector            31   12   15    4    2    7   13   18   0.419    7    2   19    61%   49   86   14    5   15  3.6  4.7    7.0    101       3       9      16       3     130
Reece, Tim               31   11   12    8    2    9   18   13   0.581    9    3   23    74%   58   93   27    6   14  2.6  3.3    7.2    103       2      10      15       4     151
Dapson, George           30   11   11    8    2    4   14   16   0.467    9    3   16    53%   55   89   25    4   15  3.4  4.2    7.4    107       1       8      14       7     154
Hart, William            27   13    7    7    2    4   16   11   0.593    3    2   21    78%   53   82   20    3   18  3.1  4.1    6.9    103       2       9      13       3     127
Fallon, Zachariah         5    1    2    2    0    1    2    3   0.400    1    0    2    40%   44   69   21    1    4  3.6  5.0    6.5     93       2       2       0       1     125
McNicholas, Dave          1    0    1    0    0    1    0    1   0.000    0    0    1   100%   55   55   55    0    1  1.0  1.5    6.0    107       0       0       1       0     107

Code:

Relief Pitching          GR  Wgr  Lgr SVOpp   Sv  BSv    SV%  SvSit  Hld   IR  IRS   IRS%     ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo  Run  Emp  <3O  >3O  0DR  1DR  2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Luiso, Montay            69   11    8   32   25    7    78%     32    0   21    7    25%   1.634    31    24    24   13   56    4   36   22   16   17   14    4.6     22
Bowman, Phil             47    6    3    4    3    1    75%      7    3   22    9    29%   1.159    11    27    27   14   33    7   22   11   12    4   20    4.4     20
Valenzuela, Chris        45    2    4    4    4    0   100%      7    3   12    2    14%   1.156    12    24    23    5   40    4   18    7   11    5   22    4.4     24
Scott, Joe               22    0    1    1    1    0   100%      3    2   16    2    11%   0.727     2    15    15   11   11    1   10    3    1    4   14    4.8     26
Contreras, Alfredo       15    1    1    1    0    1     0%      3    2   10    3    23%   0.929     4     7     7    5   10    4    2    3    3    1    8    2.9     17
Torres, David             4    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    1    1    50%   0.447     0     3     3    1    3    0    0    1    0    0    3    3.0     12
Christie, Blaine          4    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    3    2    40%   0.347     0     3     3    2    2    2    0    1    0    0    3    2.5     14
Overmann, Mike            3    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.557     0     2     2    0    3    1    1    0    0    0    3    4.7     33
McNicholas, Dave          3    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    3    1    25%   0.250     0     3     3    2    1    1    2    0    0    0    3    4.7     21
Pierson, Pat              3    0    1    1    0    1     0%      1    0    2    1    33%   1.773     2     1     1    2    1    1    0    1    0    0    2    2.7     12
Giron, Hector             1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.450     0     1     1    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    1    3.0     11

The first takeaway here is that the pitching staff was good but not great, not at all on the level of Boston's, and definitely not good enough to prop up a kind of mediocre hitting attack. The biggest issue here is the lack of an ace. By default I guess that's George Dapson, but he's... not really enough. He's got mostly average stuff outside of a great change of pace and he looks like a big time control artist. That's not reeeeally #1 starter material unless you put together a Randy Jones type season. For now, TJ Ziegler is the #2 man; somehow those 16 losses were only 7th worst in the AL last year, and all that was mostly bad support. Giving up more walks than Ks is a bad sign, although he won't turn 25 until November 13. The other big, huge, gaping red flag (gaping?) is his 2-9 record to finish the season. He completed just 1 start out of his last 17 and posted a 6.00 ERA during that time. Tim Reece isn't super old himself and could supplant Ziegler as the #2 starter. He's another control guy, although his 2.9 BB/9 just missed a top 10 finish. The #4 guy at least for now is 13-game winner William Hart, whose biggest issue, to be frank, is stamina: he barely averaged 6 IP per start and completed just 3 of them. Out of all the O's starters, the O's only won more games under Tim Reece, so there is that.

Rounding out that rotation, the O's will try to run it back with Hector Giron, the elder statesman of this rotation at 30 years of age. He set career highs in games started and innings pitched but also hits allowed, runs allowed, and ERA. They've also got former Mets' prospect Dave McNicholas, who spent more or less all of 1971 in Rochester, where his posted a 12-13, 4.14 record - not exactly fantastic but usable, right? Beyond that they've got 1970 Eastern League PotY winner Zachariah Fallon, whom scouts think is better off as a long reliever. Chris Valenzuela, the fireballing former Padres closer, is another guy who might do well to be used more, although he had some really iffy control last year.

The gameplan for this team, generally, was for the starters to get them into the 7th and 8th and then rely on the shutdown relief of Montay Luiso to take them the rest of the way. That worked out... okay for most of the year, but in September Luiso fell off the same way the rest of the team did, to the tune of a 1-2 record and a 6.11 ERA. He's 33 now and I'm not sure the O's can count on him to be their... Ted Abernathy any longer. Phil Bowman looked pretty OK as their setup guy but probably needs to pitch a lot more - the O's would be better off using him the way the Cardinals used Rick Legere. He's only 25 and now is the time to put him in those higher-leverage slots.

Batting
-----------------------

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Delgado, David           23   RR  100  348   30   96   18    0    6   38   23   45    0    1   13    .276    .322    .379       23
DiGirolamo, Ted          24   LR   53  139   16   35    5    2    1   12   12   23    0    0    6    .252    .305    .338        2
Keith, Robert            33   RR   48  133   10   32    3    0    3   12   10   26    0    0    4    .241    .295    .331        2
Abagnale, Frank          23   SR   20   72   11   22    5    0    5   11    5   15    0    0    4    .306    .346    .583        2

I'm super duper close to winding back the "experiment" of pushing Jon Hernandez out to first base. For one, Hernandez hits well for a catcher but not super great for a first baseman. For another, although I moved him because he doesn't field super well, nobody I've replaced him with fields worth a damn either. David Delgado was a Rule V pick from the Senators last year and while he was great with the bat, one can see why Washington never really considered him in the mix - he threw out just 20.9% of baserunners attempting to steal and was considered a big minus in terms of pitch framing. Ted DiGirolamo has been with the O's since they drafted him in 1966 but his lack of D is a known quantity. Robert Keith is the only plus defender really in the mix but that .241 average he put up was a career high. Out of all of these guys, it's the 23 year old con artist cum catcher, Frank Abagnale who might be the guy to catch on - his arm is lacking, too, but he at least seems to know how to block the plate.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Hernandez, Jon           28   LR  123  399   44  104   19    1    9   52   53   77    1    2   12    .261    .347    .381       32
Rodriguez, Omar          28   RL   46  123   10   22    4    1    3   16    8   32    1    0    4    .179    .222    .301        3
Cutter, Devin            30   LL   20   16    0    3    1    0    0    2    2    4    0    0    0    .188    .263    .250         
Prentiss, Justin         26   RR    2    2    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    .000    .000    .000         

Fager, Danny             30   RR  130  498   66  146   25    4   12   60   37   52   14    5   10    .293    .347    .432     4*/6
Davis, Amani             26   RR   22   76    5   12    2    0    0    2    6   18    0    0    3    .158    .220    .184        4

Perez, Marco             27   RR  101  388   48  100   18    2   12   33   45   51   21    5    6    .258    .339    .407        5
King, Dave               28   RR   80  225   25   56   10    1    3   24   21   40    0    0    7    .249    .308    .342     5/36
Magoni, Mauro            32   RR   18   48    3   13    2    0    2   10    6   12    0    0    0    .271    .352    .438     /537
Lujan, Leo               25   RR   13   14    2    3    0    0    1    3    0    3    0    0    1    .214    .214    .429      /53

Blevins, Jon             30   RR  143  440   43  111   18    3    5   43   40   85    5    7   11    .252    .312    .341       6*
Clark, Dustin            27   RR   67  139   11   29    8    2    2   11   15   23    0    0    7    .209    .286    .338     64/5

The flip side to Hernandez at 1B is that the O's seem to be just fundamentally awful at producing first basemen. Hernandez has at least been a league average to slightly above average hitter, which, hey, is not great for first but it's better than they could get from anyone who played there in 1970 or '71. Omar Rodriguez was offered a share of the job after being included in the Bryant Tarala trade last December; he hit .179 in a platoon role and then was sent down to the minors and allowed to become a free agent at the end of the year. Justin Prentiss walked 64 times againsdt 186 at-bats at AAA Rochester last year; that kind of plate discipline is right up the O's alley, at least.

Danny Fager did everything the Orioles could ask for out of a second baseman other than stay healthy. He made it to his 3rd All-Star Game, won his 2nd Gold Glove, and finished 10th in the AL in hitting with that .293 average. He's no longer the speedster who led the league in steals in 1967 with 40 of them but this is a guy who is clearly in his prime as a player.

On the other hand, it's hard to know what to make of Marco Perez now. He missed 57 games this year, which alone probably knocked him out of contention of winning a 7th Gold Glove, but on top of that rumors abound that maybe he was going to lose out to Oakland's Chase Jones anyway. He still has the best infield arm in baseball but has reportedly lost a step in the field and has held fielding averages of .933 and .931 over the past 2 seasons. More perplexing is his complete lack of clutch ability this season: a year removed from driving in 91 runners, Perez collected just 33 RBIs in almost 400 at-bats and hit just .231 with runners in scoring position and .208 in high leverage situations (16-77). Will the O's need to move him down in the order? Do they even have that option given the poor state of the rest of this lineup?

Jon "Lucky Number" Blevins is a mainstay in the 8 hole of this team's lineup. He's not a hitter and it's unfair to ask him to be one. He has just one Gold Glove in his possession (from 1964) and he'll likely never win a 2nd as long as Oniji Handa remains in this league, but he's good at what he does and the fact that the Orioles would love to get more production out of the position isn't really his fault per se. The organization does have 22 yaer old international player Katsuo Kamata (name subject to change), who was the 16th overall pick in 1969 and who hit .291 as a 21 year old in AA Dallas/Fort Worth in 1971.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Jenkins, Jamal           27   RL   68  242   29   54    9    2   10   28   26   57    6    2    4    .223    .309    .401       79
Baca, Mario              33   RR   77  206   28   45    5    2    7   22   21   40    2    3    6    .218    .291    .364      7/9
Viera de Mello, Sergio   24   RR   28  114    8   34    3    2    0    4    1    9    2    1    3    .298    .317    .360        7

Nugent, Matt             25   LL  148  594   78  137   19    6   17   61   67  109   34   11    2    .231    .305    .369       8*
Nichols, Mike            24   RR   13   29    1    7    0    1    0    1    1    8    0    0    0    .241    .267    .310       /8

Martinez, Luis           28   LL   70  229   29   60   13    1    5   20   23   48    0    0    6    .262    .327    .393        9
May, Ralph               23   LL   81  272   39   76   20    2   13   43   35   53    0    0    7    .279    .361    .511       97
Corron, T.J.             26   RR  105  226   27   66    9    2    5   37   20   29    3    3    4    .292    .340    .416    9/784
Riessen, Justin          27   RR    8   14    1    3    1    0    1    1    0    5    0    0    0    .214    .214    .500       /9

Now, outfield, though... that's where the production just plain has to happen if this team's ever going to improve. And it's also where I just don't see a lot going on. In left, the Peacemaker Sergio Viera de Mello looks like he might emerge as a player, although his upside seems like a .300ish hitter without a lot of power or plate discipline - a corner OFer with a center fielder's bat. Jamal Jenkins has the power you'd like from the position - 29 HRs in the last 2 years from roughly 1 full season's worth of at-bats - but he hasn't hit well enough or found enough ways to get on base to stick in the lineup. Mario Baca lost about 70 points of average from 1970 to 1971 and, as he no longer fits into the teams' plans, he has been released.

One thing the team did get when they sent Bryant Tarala packing to Philadelphia was availability at center field. Tarala had a bad habit of missing a third of the year or more with various ailments, whereas Matt Nugent played, essentially, the entire season. Problem is, he's not anywhere near the Gold Glove quality CF that Tarala was and even at 25 may not have the range to stick there. At the plate he was kind of Tarala-light: still lots of strikeouts but with only decent power and kind of an average eye. Sean Eads rose 3 levels in the minors in 1971 and managed to hit .283 in AAA Rochester; if he's ready, he might make Nugent a 1-year Sammy.

The other corner OF is perhaps even more dire. Ralph May missed time with an injury but even when healthy he mostly sat vs. lefty pitching, picking up just 21 at-bats the whole season against portsiders. Luis Martinez was a piece Baltimore got back from Bryant Tarala but seems like a stopgap measure at best. If he only hit right instead of left... TJ Corron hit for a decent average and did serve pretty well as a right-handed pinch-hitter and platoon mate for May and Martinez, I guess. There's nothing here that screams "star", let alone "heart of the order hitter".

Syd Thrift · 06-11-2023, 06:10 PM

1971 Recap: In a magical season the Red Sox led from pillar to post, took down an overmatched A's team in the ALCS and then won a surprisingly close World Series against a veteran Cardinals team.

1972 Outlook: Even if Boston falters in '72, flags fly forever. And there's no reason to think they'll falter...

Pitching
---------------------

Code:

Pitching                Age   BT   W   L    WL %      ERA   G  GS  GF  CG SHO  SV     IP    H    R   ER   HR   BB  IBB   SO    WHIP    H9   HR9   BB9   SO9
Pesco, Michael           27   LL  20  14    .588     3.20  41  41   0  15   4   0  309.0  287  117  110   23  119    4  254   1.314 100.0   0.7   3.5   7.4
Kindberg, Justin         26   LL   0   0    .000     2.04  41  41   0   0   0   0  251.2  187   61   57   10   78    3  185   1.053 100.0   0.4   2.8   6.6
Hinojosa, Sandy          36   RR  14  11    .560     3.33  37  37   0   6   3   0  272.2  238  114  101   21   94    5  179   1.218 100.0   0.7   3.1   5.9
Sanchez, Marco           24   LR   0   0    .000     2.61  30  30   0   0   0   0  103.1   85   32   30   10   20    1   73   1.016 100.0   0.9   1.7   6.4

Brock, Matt              31   RR   0   0    .000     2.88  56   0   0   0   0   0   40.2   36   13   13    4   13    4   36   1.205 100.0   0.9   2.9   8.0
Touchton, Bubba          27   RR   5   3    .625     2.67  44   0  24   0   0   3   54.0   43   17   16    4   21    3   33   1.185 100.0   0.7   3.5   5.5
Sanchez, Eddie           35   RR   2   2    .500     4.73  37   0  12   0   0   1   40.0   45   23   21    4   21    3   17   1.650 100.0   0.9   4.7   3.8
Pratt, Byron             24   LL   1   1    .500     2.95  31   2  10   0   0   0   39.2   38   15   13    4   17    0   15   1.387 100.0   0.9   3.9   3.4
Nakazawa, Kojiro         25   RR   5   3    .625     3.21  28   6   9   0   0   2   75.2   65   30   27   10   14    1   54   1.044 100.0   1.2   1.7   6.4

Zeniya, Shunichi         33   RR   2   1    .667     5.17   5   2   0   0   0   0   15.2   20   12    9    4    9    0    9   1.851 100.0   2.3   5.2   5.2
Holmgren, Pat            25   LR   1   1    .500     7.30   3   2   1   0   0   0   12.1   17   11   10    3    3    1    9   1.622 100.0   2.2   2.2   6.6
Bryant, Terrance         33   LL   0   0    .000     6.75   5   1   0   0   0   0    2.2    2    2    2    1    0    0    1   0.750 100.0   3.4   0.0   3.4
Boyce, Lamar             28   LL   0   0    .000     0.00   2   0   0   0   0   0    3.2    1    0    0    0    0    0    5   0.273 100.0   0.0   0.0  12.3
Groff, David             23   RR   0   0    .000     0.00   1   0   1   0   0   0    1.0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1   0.000 100.0   0.0   0.0   9.0

Code:

Starting Pitching        GS  Wgs  Lgs   ND Wchp LTuf  WTm  LTm  tmW-L%   CG  SHO   QS    QS% GmScA Best Wrst  sDR  lDR RS/GS RS/9  IP/GS Pit/GS     <80   80-99 100-119   >=120     Max
Pesco, Michael           41   20   14    7    1    4   25   16   0.610   15    4   28    68%   58   91    9   31    3  3.7  4.5    7.5    116       2       4      18      17     176
Kindberg, Justin         41   27    6    8    2    4   31   10   0.756   18    8   32    78%   65   89   31   33    3  3.9  4.5    7.8    116       1       4      20      16     151
Hinojosa, Sandy          37   14   11   12    2    5   21   16   0.568    6    3   22    59%   56   85   30   24   10  3.8  4.6    7.4    113       0       4      21      12     147
Sanchez, Marco           30   16   10    4    2    7   18   12   0.600   13    3   25    83%   63   88   13   17   11  3.3  3.8    7.9    110       2       6      12      10     132
Nakazawa, Kojiro          6    4    1    1    2    1    4    2   0.667    0    0    4    67%   58   70   44    1    4  4.7  6.2    6.8     95       0       5       0       1     120
Zeniya, Shunichi          2    1    1    0    0    0    1    1   0.500    0    0    1    50%   46   49   42    1    1  3.5  4.7    6.7    111       0       0       2       0     115
Holmgren, Pat             2    1    1    0    0    0    1    1   0.500    0    0    1    50%   36   59   14    1    1  4.0  6.0    6.0    108       0       0       2       0     113
Pratt, Byron              2    0    1    1    0    0    1    1   0.500    0    0    0    00%   33   34   32    1    1  2.5  3.8    6.0     79       1       1       0       0      84
Bryant, Terrance          1    0    1    0    0    0    0    1   0.000    0    0    0    00%   30   30   30    0    1  2.0  2.6    7.0     94       0       1       0       0      94

Code:

Relief Pitching          GR  Wgr  Lgr SVOpp   Sv  BSv    SV%  SvSit  Hld   IR  IRS   IRS%     ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo  Run  Emp  <3O  >3O  0DR  1DR  2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Brock, Matt              59    9    7   34   25    9    74%     34    0   26   14    35%   2.242    37    13    13   15   44    6   26   19   12    7   21    4.6     23
Touchton, Bubba          44    5    3    6    3    3    50%     12    6   19    5    21%   1.546    20    19    19   12   32    6   15    8   15    5   16    3.7     19
Sanchez, Eddie           37    2    2    1    1    0   100%      7    6   23    7    23%   1.043     9    15    14   17   20   11   12    9    4    6   18    3.2     17
Pratt, Byron             29    1    0    0    0    0     0%      2    2    9    6    40%   0.676     4    20    20    5   24    3    0    9    7    5    8    2.9     15
Nakazawa, Kojiro         22    1    2    2    2    0   100%      4    2   14    4    22%   0.856     5    13    12    7   15    2    8    7    2    1   12    4.8     22
Bryant, Terrance          4    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.371     0     4     4    0    4    2    0    0    1    0    3    2.5     20
Zeniya, Shunichi          3    1    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    2    0     0%   1.724     1     1     1    1    2    1    0    0    0    0    3    2.3     19
Boyce, Lamar              2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    0    0     0%   2.025     1     0     0    0    2    1    1    0    0    1    1    5.5     23
Holmgren, Pat             1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    3    0     0%   1.400     0     0     0    1    0    1    0    0    0    0    1    1.0      4
Groff, David              1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.033     0     1     1    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    1    3.0     11

Yeah, that's a good pitching staff. Justin Kindberg had arguably the best year a pitcher has had in the postwar era: he tied for the all-time record with 27 wins and out of all the players who finished ahead of him in terms of that TOTAL STAT NERD stat that is WAR, only Marius Gaddi's 1970 happened since 1959. His Cy Young was the 2nd he was awarded in the last 3 years and frankly it's a crime that he's only made it to 2 All-Star Games. Michael Pesco came back from a season-ending torn flexor tendon in his elbow he suffered in 1970 to be just as much of a workhorse as he's always been. Maaaaybe he was a tough off of his career numbers, but even at that, how much of it was just due to the lively ball? Pesco threw as many as 176 pitches in a game because it's 1971 and who needs an arm? The Bosox made a... decision in October to use [b]Sandy Hinojosa[b] as their 3rd starter instead of Marco Sanchez. I'm still not sure that was the right one but hey, they won it all, right? Going forward the gameplan is to use Hinojosa as the team's closer, so, assuming everything is still intact come postseason time, this will resolve itself.

That also means that their new #4 starter is, at least as of this writing, Alex Izquierdo, acquired from the Brewers in the trade that sent Matt Brock to Wisconsin. Izquierdo was just 7-13 with Milwaukee last year but posted a sub-3.00 ERA and now gets to pitch in front of that amazing Red Sox defense. If not him, they also have co-tradee Brian Osborne, who also combined a bad record in Milwaukee with decent enough peripherals, or 26 year old post-prospect Pat Holmgren, who was a .500 pitcher with AAA Louisville last year.

As noted, Hinojosa plans to fill Brock's shoes in the bullpen. They also lose Eddie Sanchez, although he was kind of not great - he did allow only 23% of inherited runners to score so at least that was a thing. One figures that both Bubba Touchton and Kojiro Nakazawa will play a bigger role with the team now along with, of course, lefty specialist Byron Pratt (which, generally speaking, I feel like I don't use lefty specialists nearly enough and I need to rectify that). There's also David Groff, ranked as the team's #2 pitching prospect and perhaps a guy who can make the leap in 1972.

Batting
-----------------------

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Dolak, Jeremy            32   RR  119  394   37   98   24    1    6   45   21   38    0    0   15    .249    .284    .360       2*
Bartoszek, Sid           31   RR   53  139   17   36   10    0    9   33   21   30    0    0    2    .259    .364    .525        2
Hall, Ken                26   RR   14   32    3   10    2    0    0    6    2    7    0    0    1    .313    .343    .375      2/3
Thicke, Alan             24   RR    2    1    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    .000    .000    .000       /2

Jeremy Dolak isn't a perennial Silver Slugger or Gold Glover. He just gets the job done year after year. This past year he managed to throw out 40.3% of would-be basestealers; is he developing an arm in his old age? Sid Bartoszek was also just plain serviceable as Dolak's backup, even starting a game in the postseason. He also had some nice pop for a backstop, with 9 HRs in just 139 at-bats. Alan Thicke is an intriguing prospect at catcher should he be able to stick behind the plate, at least. He has the look and feel of a TV dad.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Miller, Mike             27   LL  155  599   87  175   39    2   20   90   78  101    0    0   22    .292    .377    .464       3*
Puig, Ramon              33   SL   32   34    6    5    2    1    1    3    6   11    0    0    1    .147    .275    .353      /37
Sicre, Sergio            25   LL   10   10    1    2    0    0    0    0    2    1    0    0    0    .200    .333    .200      /37

Long, Brian              29   RR  127  505   65  143   30    1    9   46   47   67    0    1    8    .283    .335    .400     4*/6
Fraser, Dwayne           26   RR   56  169   21   52    9    3    3   25    7   22    1    0    6    .308    .335    .450        4

Schneider, Kristian      31   LR  106  403   50  112   23    1    8   58   30   48    2    3   10    .278    .321    .400        5
Carmer, Troy             27   RR   62  222   38   66   14    1   11   38   14   18    0    1   11    .297    .346    .518      5/6
Madriles, Edwin          24   RR   13   28    6    5    1    0    1    3    3    5    0    0    0    .179    .258    .321       /5

Handa, Oniji             27   RR  154  584   55  142   34    0    4   54   31   63    2    3   21    .243    .280    .322       6*
Escobesco, Tony          28   LR   16   27    2    5    0    0    0    1    1    6    0    0    2    .185    .207    .185      6/4
Blyleven, Bert           23   RR    1    4    0    3    1    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    .750    .750   1.000       /6

Hard to believe that Mike Miller is only 27. The 4-time All-Star already has 750 career hits to his name, an MVP, and multiple top 3 finishes for that award. He's probably never going to hit even half as many HRs as Cleveland's Ernesto Garcia did this year but that's not his game, nor do the Red Sox wish it was. Instead, he's a solid to great 3 hole hitter who's also one of the top fielding first basemen in the game.

Brian Long displaced the incumbent Dwayne Fraser in part because of the hitting - Long belted 43 HRs in 1970 to lead the AL - but even moreso because he's a top quality fielder. The Orioles' Danny Fager won the award over him but Long still posted a ZR of +4.5. Fraser, for his part, took the demotion in stride and filled in when Long missed time this year (and also when Long played as a late-inning replacement for when the Red Sox were forced to pinch-hit for SS Oniji Handa). He's off to Milwaukee now to try and show the Red Sox what they were missing.

Kristian Schneider was merely good last year after being excellent in 1970. It was still quite enough, I have to say. He made his 3rd All-Star Game in spite of missing a lot of time with various injuries (he actually had just gotten back from a sore elbow when the AS rosters were announced). His backup Troy Carmer seems firmly ensconsed in that role, although the Red Sox did do a little bit of platooning there for a while, which seems to have worked out well for both parties.

Oniji Handa took a big step back with his bat but with the glove he was the same superstar that he's always been. It does bear noting that he hit .281 and .330 in August and September, but those who argued that that meant that the first 4 months were just an extended slump have to ignore his postseason as well, when he regressed to .225 with 2 RBIs in 12 games. He also only missed 8 games the whole season. I guess if any of that should change or if he regresses further with the bat, the Red Sox like what they see in 23 year old Bert Blyleven, who went .282/3/26 at AAA Louisville, got called up to the majors for 1 game, and promptly suffered a torn ACL that he's still recovering from.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Brown, Tom               32   RR  150  607   81  183   32    7   17   89   41   73   11    5   13    .301    .343    .461    7*9/8
Marks, Sam               28   LR  100  243   33   79   19    0    4   33   20   22    0    2    6    .325    .376    .453       79
Rodriguez, Carlos        26   RR   25   50    8   18    2    1    1    9    5    5    0    0    2    .360    .418    .500      /73
Miller, Cody             27   RR    5    7    2    2    0    0    0    0    2    2    0    0    0    .286    .444    .286       /7
Runfola, Mike            26   RR    2    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    .000    .000    .000      /74

Glynn, Jon               26   RR  146  612   98  164   29    8   13   53   38   80   37   13    6    .268    .301    .405       8*
Coleman, Jim             28   RR   36  101   10   26    1    0    0    1    7   14    1    4    0    .257    .303    .267    8/792

Kim, Jun                 33   LL  111  396   43  112   12    4   11   43   37   60    7    2    3    .283    .345    .417       9*
Wilson, Matt             35   LL   46   51    9   18    2    0    2   11    9   10    0    0    3    .353    .450    .510      /97

[b]Tom Brown[b] did such a great job defending the Green Monster in 1971 that he'll be asked to patrol right field in 1972. I also have to say, the former White Sox star might be the most unsung hero in the game, especially after winning both the ALCS and World Series MVP awards. Brown was absolutely on fire in October, hitting .511 (24-47) with 9 RBIs. That really helped cement a legacy for the 32 year old 4-time All-Star, who also has 1,433 hits to go with a career .281 average. Those are "Hall of Very Good" numbers but the 70s figure to be a lot more high-flying than the 60s. The new left fielder is 22 year old New York singer/guitarist/hitter Bruce Springsteen, who fits into this team of working-class heroes well. At least as of this writing, the team also figures to employ Sam Marks as a 4th OF and pinch-hitter, although it would not be surprising to see someone pry him loose from Boston to try out as a starter. Marks is only 28 and has hit .325 or better the last 3 years running.

Speaking of guys who just put on the hard hat, Jon Glynn covers a lot of ground in the outfield and has a fair bit of pop for a center fielder but doesn't get the accolades of a Norm Hodge or Alvin Romero. He struggled terribly in October at a time when the team needed him to shine; perhaps with Springsteen replacing the similarly struggling Jun Kim, he'll be more able to settle down next October (I may be getting ahead of myself here). Jim Coleman is a serviceable backup and that's probably about all I can say about him.

Jun Kim is gone to Milwaukee after missing all of September and then having a very poor October. Is he done? My guess is no, but that's now Milwaukee's problem to solve. If for some reason Brown goes down with an injury or turns into a pumpkin, there's not a huge amount of depth on the farm. I have to say, that's just about the smallest criticism it's possible to levy against a team.

Syd Thrift · 06-12-2023, 01:15 PM

1971 Recap: The Angels chased the Twins and A's in a weak AL West before succumbing to .500ness at the end of the season.

1972 Outlook: This was their worst finish in 4 years and you have to assume that a retooled and refitted Angels club will be contending in the West again - this time, perhaps, with more wins than losses.

Pitching
---------------------

Code:

Pitching                Age   BT   W   L    WL %      ERA   G  GS  GF  CG SHO  SV     IP    H    R   ER   HR   BB  IBB   SO    WHIP    H9   HR9   BB9   SO9
Bruno, Gary              25   RR  14  14    .500     3.27  38  38   0  11   2   0  277.2  284  111  101   21   75    5  111   1.293 100.0   0.7   2.4   3.6
Ring, Andy               31   RR  18  10    .643     2.73  32  32   0  10   5   0  240.2  191   83   73   19   97    4  172   1.197 100.0   0.7   3.6   6.4
Hansen, Ken              25   RR  12  11    .522     3.10  37  31   4   9   2   0  241.1  210   93   83   14   86    8  144   1.227 100.0   0.5   3.2   5.4
Lafler, Parker           32   RR   5   7    .417     3.70  28  18   4   2   0   0  143.1  147   67   59    6   55    3   35   1.409 100.0   0.4   3.5   2.2

Livingston, Travis       24   RR   7   4    .636     2.18  53   1  34   0   0  14   82.2   68   20   20    2   49    7   64   1.415 100.0   0.2   5.3   7.0
Kihara, Tanzan           30   SR   2   7    .222     3.49  54   0  37   0   0  10   77.1   78   33   30   17   18    4   71   1.241 100.0   2.0   2.1   8.3
Flores, Luis             27   RR   6   6    .500     3.86  34  10  11   0   0   3   91.0   95   44   39    6   33    6   55   1.407 100.0   0.6   3.3   5.4
Yates, Gavin             31   RR   4   6    .400     4.63  32   0  18   0   0   0   44.2   41   25   23   12   10    2   29   1.142 100.0   2.4   2.0   5.8
Vardaman, Jeremiah       32   RR   3   5    .375     4.11  22   8   9   2   2   0   72.1   77   37   33    9   27    2   46   1.438 100.0   1.1   3.4   5.7

Beaulieu, Dustin         34   LL   3   4    .429     5.43  21   9   4   1   1   0   68.0   79   45   41    9   27    0   39   1.559 100.0   1.2   3.6   5.2
Gore, Al                 22   RR   5   3    .625     3.48   8   8   0   1   1   0   54.1   55   22   21    7   14    1   35   1.270 100.0   1.2   2.3   5.8
Irons, Jordan            26   LL   2   2    .500     3.57  21   4   2   1   0   0   45.1   53   24   18    1   18    1   22   1.566 100.0   0.2   3.6   4.4
O'Connor, Andy           27   RR   0   1    .000     2.63   4   1   1   0   0   0   13.2    5    4    4    0   12    0    9   1.244 100.0   0.0   7.9   5.9
Hernandez, Bill          24   RR   0   0    .000     6.00   1   1   0   0   0   0    6.0    3    4    4    1    7    0    3   1.667 100.0   1.5  10.5   4.5
Flores, Jose             24   RR   0   1    .000    13.50   1   1   0   0   0   0    4.2   10    7    7    1    4    0    0   3.000 100.0   1.9   7.7   0.0
Sudler, Amir             26   RR   0   0    .000     5.40   2   0   1   0   0   0    1.2    1    1    1    0    0    0    1   0.600 100.0   0.0   0.0   5.4

Code:

Starting Pitching        GS  Wgs  Lgs   ND Wchp LTuf  WTm  LTm  tmW-L%   CG  SHO   QS    QS% GmScA Best Wrst  sDR  lDR RS/GS RS/9  IP/GS Pit/GS     <80   80-99 100-119   >=120     Max
Bruno, Gary              38   14   14   10    2    7   16   22   0.421   11    2   26    68%   53   80   19   16    7  3.5  4.3    7.3    108       3       6      20       9     145
Ring, Andy               32   18   10    4    3    5   19   13   0.594   10    5   23    72%   60   85   17   12    7  3.7  4.4    7.5    114       1       5      15      11     144
Hansen, Ken              31   12   11    8    0    7   15   16   0.484    9    2   24    77%   57   86   -5   11    8  3.0  3.6    7.5    113       2       4      13      12     158
Lafler, Parker           18    5    7    6    2    4    8   10   0.444    2    0   12    67%   47   68   17    6    6  3.8  5.0    6.9    110       1       3       7       7     140
Flores, Luis             10    3    4    3    0    0    6    4   0.600    0    0    6    60%   46   69    2    3    2  2.4  3.5    6.1     92       1       8       1       0     116
Beaulieu, Dustin          9    3    4    2    2    0    5    4   0.556    1    1    2    22%   39   74   14    3    3  3.8  5.5    6.1    104       1       3       4       1     157
Vardaman, Jeremiah        8    3    4    1    0    1    4    4   0.500    2    2    5    63%   54   82   26    2    3  2.1  2.8    6.9    105       1       3       2       2     135
Gore, Al                  8    5    3    0    1    1    5    3   0.625    1    1    5    63%   54   82   32    2    2  3.9  5.1    6.8    100       1       4       2       1     124
Irons, Jordan             4    1    2    1    0    1    2    2   0.500    1    0    3    75%   50   73   31    2    2  4.0  4.9    7.3    121       0       0       1       3     129
O'Connor, Andy            1    0    1    0    0    1    0    1   0.000    0    0    1   100%   63   63   63    0    1  1.0  1.1    8.0    131       0       0       0       1     131
Hernandez, Bill           1    0    0    1    0    0    0    1   0.000    0    0    0    00%   46   46   46    0    1  4.0  6.0    6.0    108       0       0       1       0     108
Livingston, Travis        1    1    0    0    1    0    1    0   1.000    0    0    0    00%   59   59   59    0    1  5.0  9.0    5.0     88       0       1       0       0      88
Flores, Jose              1    0    1    0    0    0    0    1   0.000    0    0    0    00%   12   12   12    0    1  0.0  0.0    4.7     88       0       1       0       0      88

Code:

Relief Pitching          GR  Wgr  Lgr SVOpp   Sv  BSv    SV%  SvSit  Hld   IR  IRS   IRS%     ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo  Run  Emp  <3O  >3O  0DR  1DR  2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Kihara, Tanzan           54    2    7   13   10    3    77%     16    3   16    4    20%   1.257    19    25    25   10   44    6   26    9   12   16   17    4.3     21
Livingston, Travis       52    6    4   19   14    5    74%     21    2   17    8    32%   1.892    28    18    18    9   43    5   26    9   15    6   22    4.5     24
Yates, Gavin             32    4    6    1    0    1     0%      3    2   21    8    28%   0.929     8    18    17   11   21    3   15    7    4    4   17    4.2     20
Flores, Luis             24    3    2    6    3    3    50%      9    3   15    7    32%   1.855    13     7     7    7   17    6   10    3    7    4   10    3.8     19
Irons, Jordan            17    1    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    7    3    30%   0.860     3     7     7    3   14    5    3    4    2    5    6    2.8     15
Vardaman, Jeremiah       14    0    1    0    0    0     0%      0    0    7    3    30%   0.504     0    10    10    5    9    1    6    1    1    3    9    3.6     21
Beaulieu, Dustin         12    0    0    0    0    0     0%      2    2    2    0     0%   0.553     1     8     8    1   11    1    2    2    1    4    5    3.2     17
Lafler, Parker           10    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    7    4    36%   0.454     0     8     8    4    6    0    6    1    0    2    7    5.9     28
Hansen, Ken               6    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    2    0     0%   0.431     0     5     5    1    5    0    4    0    1    2    3    4.7     21
O'Connor, Andy            3    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    7    3    30%   0.457     0     2     2    3    0    0    2    1    0    0    2    5.7     26
Sudler, Amir              2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    1    0     0%   0.467     0     2     2    1    1    1    1    0    0    0    2    2.5      6

The Angels, more or less, had two "aces" of the staff last year. Andy Ring spent his first full season in Angels red and white picking up where he left off in Dodgertown. Despite missing a couple weeks in May with a hamstring strain - not an arm injury! - he still finished in the top 10 in complete games and shutouts (he was actually 3rd) and probably would have been a Cy Young contender if he'd pitched just a little bit more. Gary Bruno on the other hand was the man the Halos turned to day in , day out. He doesn't possess the overpowering stuff that Ring does but what he does possess is 3 pitches that cause opponents to put the ball into the ground. He probably should have had a better record than he did, with 7 tough losses to his name in '71. That mark tied for the Angels' team lead with the hard-luck Ken Hansen, who, like, Bruno, is part of California's youth movement with the pitching. He spent the entire season in the big leagues for the first time in his career in 1971 and the 4th overall pick in 1968 appears to be here to stay.

Rounding out the rotation should be one of 3 guys. The slight favorite going in is Andy Lagunas, was recently acquired by the Angels in the blockbuster trade that moved Norm Hodge out to Cleveland. Lagunas was terrible for the Indians last season but then, everyone on the mound was kind of terrible for the Indians last season and California has to hope that a year in one of the most forgiving parks in the league instead of the least forgiving one can only help. Lagunas' peripheral numbers look almost the same as they did 1970, when he finished 19-9. If not Lagunas, Al Gore has some inconvenient truth regarding opposing hitters, namely that he gets them out. He looks like a future guy more in the model of a Bruno than a Ring; he exhibited some nice control last season but was barely above average in Ks per 9 innings. And Bill Hernandez (who probably keeps this NORMAL ASS NAME given that he's turning 25 in February) was 15-7 at AAA Salt Lake City last season; the way pitchers work, he'll probably fit into the mix as well.

Tanzan Kihara opened the year as the Angels' bullpen stopper but following an 0-3, 6.35 April he mostly relinqushed the role to the younger, wilder Travis Livingston. In a sense, that wildness served Livingston well last year, as hitters found it very hard to make good contact with his pitches. Kihara, on the other hand, appeared to nibble a bit too much when he got behind in the count, which led to opponents teeing off on him (especially in April, when he allowed 6 of the 17 HRs he allowed in just 17 IP). Kihara did recover as the season progressed and at least as of this writing appears to be set to be their setup guy. Nobody else on the team relieved as many as 40 games, as guys either went in and out of the rotation (as was the case with Luis Flores) or they came in and out of the minor leagues.

Batting
-----------------------

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Dennehy, Shaun           27   RR  126  408   45  101   12    2    7   39   63   78    0    1   17    .248    .349    .338       2*
Dimmock, Eddie           29   LR   41  117   11   25    4    1    1   13   15   24    0    0    5    .214    .303    .291        2
Garza, Estevan           31   RR    4   11    1    2    0    0    0    1    0    2    0    0    0    .182    .182    .182       /2
Shen, Xiu-tou            28   LR    4   11    1    2    1    0    0    0    0    3    0    0    0    .182    .182    .273       /2

Shaun Dennehy played in California for the full year after arriving from Atlanta in that bizarre late-season trade that left the Braves without a backstop to speak of. He's the epitome of a serviceable, good but not great catcher. He won the Gold Glove in the NL by default in '70 and might win a couple in the AL when all is said and done. Eddie Dimmock held a much-diminished role compared to his stint with the Dodgers the previous two seasons but the Reading, MA native appears to be OK with that. He rebounded only slightly with the bat after hitting under .200 the year before; in spite of his rare status as a lefty-hitting catcher, the Angels weren't able to use that very much.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Vargas, Willie           27   RR  135  552   67  155   30    5    5   46   36   50   32   14   10    .281    .337    .380     3*/7
Dennie, Brent            30   RR   24   39    3    9    2    0    1    7    2    3    0    0    1    .231    .268    .359       /3

Mendez, Mauricio         25   RR  113  400   53  109   10    3   10   44   30   54   21    5    0    .273    .325    .388        4
Simmons, Richard         23   LR   52  199   30   52   11    2    4   21   26   32    3    4    2    .261    .351    .397      4/9
Hopka, Chance            28   RR   35   99    5   23    5    0    1   10    5   19    1    2    0    .232    .264    .313      4/6
Gray, Jake               30   RR    2    2    0    1    0    0    0    1    2    1    0    0    0    .500    .750    .500       /4

Corley, Travis           26   RR  144  514   78  138   16    4   16   76   63   86    7    4   11    .268    .353    .409       5*
Wooten, Jordan           40   LR   33   74   10   19    5    0    1    9   10   10    2    0    0    .257    .341    .365        5
McSparren, Wayne         28   RR   33   40    4    9    5    0    1    2    5    8    0    0    1    .225    .319    .425        5
Peternek, Reilly         30   SR    1    2    1    1    0    0    1    3    1    0    0    0    0    .500    .667   2.000       /5

Adams, Chris             30   RR  148  553   63  123   10    4   15   68   45   75   22    6   11    .222    .280    .336       6*
Perez, Ivan              27   RR   23   63   11   15    1    0    3    9    7   14    0    1    0    .238    .333    .397      6/4

Willie Vargas was supposed to be half of the high-flying "Circus Vargas" following his trade to the Angels in December of last year. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out for either him or Nelson, who is now off to Cleveland to try and find his hitting form in a crowded outfield. For Willie's part, a .280 hitter with no power and a .337 OBP isn't exactly the Platonic ideal for a first baseman; Cal hopes he can return to the form that saw him lead the league in BA (.357) and hits (225) in 1969.

Mauricio Mendez has never quite been given full credit for everything he does here. This year he lost the job on Opening Night to fitness guru Richard Simmons on account of the latter's defensive skills but then wound up playing the lion's share of games at the position for the 3rd straight year anyway as Simmons succumbed to hustle injuries. Mendez is only 25 but it might already be time for him to take his chances with another team. Another guy kind of deep in the mix is Kurt Russell, who made it all the way up to AAA Salt Lake City at the end of the year and calls the next move his "escape from New York".

At third, Travis Corley stepped up and did a serviceable job at third base, allowing the team to not have to put the old man Jordan Wooten out there too much (Wooten retired at the end of the season). He's nothing flashy as a player and hit almost twice as many HRs last season as he has at any level of the minor leagues so he may be due for a bit of a regression. The top prospect at this position is a guy named Edgar Martinez, which, I swear to God if the Angels have a star third baseman named Edgar Martinez I will punish the league in the manner of a vengeful deity.

Shortstop was in the capable hands of Chris Adams, at least in the field. At the plate he seems to have fallen a little bit too much in love with the power stroke that saw him hit 19 HRs in 1970. That's fantastic when you're hitting .295; when your average falls to .222, maybe it's time to go back to doing shortstop things. 1970's 22nd overall pick Zach James (name subject to change) is there in case Adams regresses further with the bat or can't field the position into his 30s.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Vargas, Nelson           28   RL  108  410   49  102   16    9    5   31   36   56    7    7    9    .249    .310    .368      7/9
Pastorius, Jaco          23   LR   29   78    6   25    7    0    0   13    6   18    4    2    1    .321    .363    .410     7/89
LaChance, Mike           31   LL   40   63    9   19    0    1    1   11    3   14    1    1    0    .302    .328    .381     /789
Puente, Gerardo          24   RR    1    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0    .000   1.000    .000       /7

Hodge, Norm              30   LL  138  488   52  113   11    4    9   48   36   75   21   12    4    .232    .281    .326       8*
Pierce, Josh             24   SL   29   69    7   11    1    2    0    6    9   11    4    0    3    .159    .253    .232     8/79

Tyree, Chris             27   RL   98  396   39  129   19    5    2   45   10   29   13    9    8    .326    .338    .414      9/7
Teague, Josh             29   LL   91  277   35   76    9    5   11   36   21   61   10    5    1    .274    .320    .462       97
Leriche, Barney          29   RR   91  240   27   54    9    4   10   32   19   45    3    4    4    .225    .277    .421    937/8
Walkowiak, Lindsey       22   RR   23   60    3   14    1    1    0    3    3   10    1    0    1    .233    .270    .283     9/87
Dulin, Andy              28   RR   11   10    3    4    0    0    0    1    0    1    0    0    0    .400    .400    .400       /9

Jaco Pastorius didn't walk a huge amount and had no power but when you hit .321 and can play the fretless bass the way this man can, things are going to happen around you. In this case, what happened was Nelson Vargas getting shipped off to Cleveland to open up a lineup slot for him. Vargas is himself only a year removed from an All-Star berth but this is a "what have you done for me lately" league.

In center, the team relied on Norm Hodge and he was as good as he's ever been in the field. At the plate, however, he barely cleared a 600 OPS and, what may be worse, started bickering with some of the young stars - especially Richard Simmons - in the clubhouse. With all the hubbub surrounding the incoming guy Carlos Hernandez, the Angels made that move as much to get rid of a guy as to add a new one. Hernandez only played in 51 games because he was suspended for most of the season (Cleveland finally reinstated him at the end of the year as it became more and more evident that Ernesto Garcia's charges against him were fabricated). In 1970, when he played 150 games, he hit .296 and scored 88 runs in front of a potent middle of the order. The Angels hope for a return to that form. They did add Russ Deuser in the same trade; Deuser started most of the season with Cleveland but is mainly along for the ride so the team doesn't have to give Josh Pierce at-bats again in the event of an injury.

I'd love to figure out what's going on in right field. Chris Tyree wound up as the de facto starter but the Angels were just plain not happy with his non-corner levels of power. He does have solid range and a good arm so he's not a total slouch. I'd probably prefer to use Barney Leriche because of that prodigious power but the man struggled to make contact last season and can no longer be considered anything like a prospect. So then there's Josh Teague, the former guy in Boston whom the Angels expected to rebound from a bad 1970 where he hit .230 with a .260 OBP. He did rebound somewhat but not anywhere near the .312/25/69 levels he'd hit in 1969, and now he seems like a roving backup and pinch-hitter as well.

Syd Thrift · 06-12-2023, 02:01 PM

1971 Recap: The White Sox havve long been an enigma, acting like a small market team in spite of playing in a very large market, and last saeson they did the small-market move of blowing everything up and starting over. It was a rough year all around, although a 16-16 July gave the few remaining South Side fans hope that maybe things will be better in the future.

1972 Outlook: These White Sox are probably a few years away but they've got a couple of very intriguing younger players who might be on the next contending team, assuming the next contending team ever happens.

Pitching
---------------------

Code:

Pitching                Age   BT   W   L    WL %      ERA   G  GS  GF  CG SHO  SV     IP    H    R   ER   HR   BB  IBB   SO    WHIP    H9   HR9   BB9   SO9
Williams, Aidan          28   LL  13  14    .481     3.16  31  31   0   9   3   0  236.2  236   92   83   25   61    5  108   1.255 100.0   1.0   2.3   4.1
Messina, Chris           30   RR  11  15    .423     3.75  31  30   0   5   0   0  216.0  210  105   90   18   64    6   92   1.269 100.0   0.7   2.7   3.8
Anderlik, Tim            27   SR   9  15    .375     4.94  30  30   0   4   2   0  200.1  253  112  110   29   62    6  115   1.572 100.0   1.3   2.8   5.2
Colucci, Nick            29   SR   9  13    .409     4.48  27  23   1   4   1   0  162.2  148   87   81   14   79    3   95   1.395 100.0   0.8   4.4   5.3

Post, Malcolm            25   RR   7   4    .636     2.23  60   0  49   0   0  24   97.0   82   24   24    2   38    2   73   1.237 100.0   0.2   3.5   6.8
Lamar, Ben               23   RR   3   4    .429     2.52  51   0  39   0   0   4   64.1   51   22   18    4   25    7   59   1.181 100.0   0.6   3.5   8.3
Venegas, Manny           30   LL   1   2    .333     2.67  51   0  20   0   0   1   57.1   40   17   17    4   17    5   33   0.994 100.0   0.6   2.7   5.2
Lagos, Ed                27   RR   0   0    .000     4.11  25   0   8   0   0   0   30.2   29   14   14    5    4    1   13   1.076 100.0   1.5   1.2   3.8
Roche, Daniel            33   RR   0   3    .000     4.21  21   3   9   0   0   0   36.1   38   22   17    3   19    2   18   1.569 100.0   0.7   4.7   4.5

Davila, Franklin         31   RR   6   7    .462     3.87  17  15   0   2   0   0  102.1  112   47   44   13   33    4   54   1.417 100.0   1.1   2.9   4.7
Reese, Rich              26   RR   4   3    .571     3.53  10  10   0   2   2   0   71.1   59   28   28    5   37    1   53   1.346 100.0   0.6   4.7   6.7
de la Crus, Jesus        25   RR   3   4    .429     3.33  18   4   6   1   1   0   54.0   46   30   20    8    9    2   35   1.019 100.0   1.3   1.5   5.8
Reyes, Bob               31   SR   2   2    .500     5.62   8   6   0   1   0   0   41.2   48   28   26    8    9    0   14   1.368 100.0   1.7   1.9   3.0
Martinez, Jason          27   LL   0   4    .000     4.42   7   5   0   0   0   0   36.2   39   18   18    2   13    2   11   1.418 100.0   0.5   3.2   2.7
Amador, Oscar            24   RL   0   2    .000     6.38   3   3   0   0   0   0   18.1   19   16   13    4    8    0   16   1.473 100.0   2.0   3.9   7.9
Fleetwood, Mick          23   RR   1   0   1.000     6.00   2   2   0   0   0   0   12.0   13    8    8    1    6    0    5   1.583 100.0   0.7   4.5   3.8
Gebhardt, Aaron          27   RR   0   0    .000     5.59   9   0   1   0   0   0    9.2   12    6    6    1    3    0    6   1.552 100.0   0.9   2.8   5.6
John, Brennan            28   LL   1   0   1.000     0.00   3   0   1   0   0   0    4.0    1    0    0    0    2    0    0   0.750 100.0   0.0   4.5   0.0

Code:

Starting Pitching        GS  Wgs  Lgs   ND Wchp LTuf  WTm  LTm  tmW-L%   CG  SHO   QS    QS% GmScA Best Wrst  sDR  lDR RS/GS RS/9  IP/GS Pit/GS     <80   80-99 100-119   >=120     Max
Williams, Aidan          31   13   14    4    1    8   13   18   0.419    9    3   23    74%   55   92   15    6   13  3.2  3.8    7.6    112       0      10      13       8     162
Messina, Chris           30   11   15    4    1    7   12   18   0.400    5    0   20    67%   52   82   21    5   16  3.3  4.1    7.2    105       1      10      15       4     144
Anderlik, Tim            30    9   15    6    1    3   12   18   0.400    4    2   14    47%   45   79   14    6   15  2.7  3.7    6.7    104       3       6      19       2     161
Colucci, Nick            23    9   13    1    0    2    9   14   0.391    4    1   12    52%   51   84   14    6   13  2.9  3.8    6.8    107       2       6      10       5     148
Davila, Franklin         15    6    7    2    0    5    7    8   0.467    2    0   11    73%   51   66    9    2    8  2.7  3.7    6.6     99       2       5       7       1     136
Reese, Rich              10    4    3    3    1    1    6    4   0.600    2    2    5    50%   56   81   40    1    6  3.5  4.4    7.1    119       0       0       7       3     150
Reyes, Bob                6    2    2    2    1    1    4    2   0.667    1    0    2    33%   44   72   16    0    4  3.0  4.2    6.5     91       1       4       1       0     102
Martinez, Jason           5    0    4    1    0    3    1    4   0.200    0    0    4    80%   46   68   18    0    3  0.8  1.2    5.8     87       1       3       1       0     100
de la Crus, Jesus         4    1    2    1    0    1    1    3   0.250    1    1    3    75%   55   75   26    2    1  1.5  2.0    6.7     92       1       2       1       0     109
Roche, Daniel             3    0    0    3    0    0    2    1   0.667    0    0    0    00%   52   57   49    1    1  4.3  9.8    4.0     71       2       1       0       0      82
Amador, Oscar             3    0    2    1    0    1    1    2   0.333    0    0    1    33%   43   52   31    0    2  2.3  3.4    6.1    102       0       0       3       0     104
Fleetwood, Mick           2    1    0    1    0    0    2    0   1.000    0    0    1    50%   42   55   30    0    2  4.5  6.8    6.0    106       0       1       0       1     129

Code:

Relief Pitching          GR  Wgr  Lgr SVOpp   Sv  BSv    SV%  SvSit  Hld   IR  IRS   IRS%     ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo  Run  Emp  <3O  >3O  0DR  1DR  2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Post, Malcolm            60    7    4   27   24    3    89%     27    0   23    9    28%   1.758    24    18    18   11   49    5   31   11   24    9   16    4.9     24
Venegas, Manny           51    1    2    1    1    0   100%      7    6   16    4    20%   0.774     8    30    30    9   42   11   16   14    6    8   23    3.4     15
Lamar, Ben               51    3    4    6    4    2    67%      8    2   20    5    20%   0.927    13    31    31   10   41    5   20   12    7   10   22    3.8     19
Lagos, Ed                25    0    0    2    0    2     0%      3    1   18    5    22%   0.725     3    17    15    8   17    6   10    2    4    5   14    3.7     17
Roche, Daniel            18    0    3    1    0    1     0%      2    1   16    4    20%   0.757     2    12    12    8   10    4    9    2    2    1   13    4.1     23
de la Crus, Jesus        14    2    2    0    0    0     0%      0    0   13    4    24%   0.794     3     9     9    8    6    3    8    3    2    2    7    5.9     28
Gebhardt, Aaron           9    0    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    4    2    33%   0.409     0     8     8    3    6    4    2    1    1    1    6    3.2     19
Colucci, Nick             4    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    3    0     0%   0.297     0     3     3    2    2    2    2    0    0    0    4    4.5     28
John, Brennan             3    1    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.350     0     2     2    0    3    0    1    0    0    0    3    4.0     13
Davila, Franklin          2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    1    1    50%   0.567     0     2     1    1    1    0    2    1    0    0    1    4.0     27
Martinez, Jason           2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    4    0     0%   0.524     0     2     2    2    0    0    2    0    0    1    1   11.5     65
Reyes, Bob                2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.182     0     2     2    0    2    0    1    0    0    0    2    4.0     15
Messina, Chris            1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   1.280     0     0     0    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    1    3.0     26

Chicago's pitching staff looked about like a pitching staff does when you yank its ace out. That was Sandy Hinojosa, now a mid-rotation starter in Boston. In his stead, Aidan Williams was their guy, coming off of 2 14 win seasons. He very nearly made it a third in spite of this team, but where he was 14-4 and 14-8 in '69-'70, he was a below-.500 pitcher last season. Probably worse news for Chicago was that he stopped getting strikeouts with his stuff; he was never a big K guy but 4.1 K/9 is kind of bad, even for the era. Tim Anderlik and Chris Messina were similar finesse-based guys who suffered a bit from not being able to close down opponents. They also combined for 30 losses in 60 games and the team had identical 12-18 records in games they started. Which is not good.

Still, it's hard to see those men being knocked out of the rotation; Chicago simply doesn't have enough arms. Nick Colucci probably gets another chance to show whether he's a major league caliber starter again for similar reasons. The 30 year journeyman old barely had a K/BB ratio over 1. This is generally the kind of pitcher you want in the minors as an injury replacement. Singer/guitarist/SP Mick Fleetwood was 11-12 but with an impressive 3.17 ERA in AAA Tucson before starting 2 games in September; he'll get a longer look in spring training. He at least is an interesting chip. Rich Reese is the closest thing to a power pitcher the White Sox have; he throws a variety of pitches, including a 4-seamer that touches the low 90s. And we can't count Oscar Amador out... well, maybe not fully. He potentially has the stuff to be an ace but walked 186 batters in 217 innings in AAA.

Malcolm Post is a luxury a 90-loss team really doesn't need but on the other hand he's only 25, so why not? Should the White Sox do, like, anything, the game plan will surely change to use and abuse him at every opportunity. Manny Venegas was a rare situational lefty I actually used. Hooray for him! Ben Lamar represents another guy who should probably play more often going forward. We'll see!

Batting
-----------------------

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Perez, Mike              33   RR  109  380   48   89   18    1   18   58   61   97    0    1    6    .234    .338    .429       2*
Hackney, Matt            26   RR   34  110   11   17    2    1    1    5    1   12    0    0    7    .155    .168    .218      2/3
Thaxton, Ryan            30   LR   25   62    8   19    1    0    5   17   15    9    0    0    2    .306    .442    .565        2
Salazar, Bruce           28   SR   16   40    5    8    2    0    2    3    5   13    0    0    0    .200    .289    .400        2

1971 was a year that was kind of all about moving various catchers from one city to another. Chicago added the veteran signal-caller Mike Perez, who'd hit just .165 the previous year with the Angels and who looked like a guy who might be done. The amiable Perez proved the doubters wrong and recaptured some of that power that made him such a big threat for the Reds in 1969 and a desired component for the Angels in the first place. Once upon a time Matt Hackney was seen as a guy who could do some damage at the plate as well as behind it. Last year any hitting ability he had seemed to leave him and as of this writing he is now plying his wares in the Mexican League. That leaves Bruce Salazar and Ryan Thaxton, neither of whom look like they'll ever play significant major league games.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Jennings, Pete           30   RR  158  621   90  176   28    3   16   77   68   75    2    1   35    .283    .349    .415       3*

Reeder, Ian              26   RR  133  509   58  127   12    3    6   40   49   72   17    7   11    .250    .311    .320   4*/759
Hopka, Chance            28   RR   25   91    7   23    3    1    0    6   10   21    3    0    1    .253    .308    .308        4

Nation, Jeff             26   RR  139  518   55  125   15    5   12   48   33   84    4    4    7    .241    .290    .359       5*
Carter, J.P.             25   RR   54  109    8   30    5    1    2   10    6   15    2    0    2    .275    .314    .394      5/3
Perry, Mike              27   LR   13   31    2    5    2    0    0    4    4    8    0    0    2    .161    .250    .226       /5
Arellano, Pedro          33   LR   15   17    1    3    1    0    0    1    0    5    0    0    1    .176    .176    .235       /5

Henderson, Justin        33   RR  115  317   23   74    9    3    0   24   27   50    2    2   12    .233    .295    .281     6*/4
Fiederlein, Jim          28   RR   83  183    8   35    6    1    1   18    6   46    0    0    3    .191    .211    .251       64
Morgan, Chris            23   SR   24   67    7   14    2    0    1    9   11    7    1    1    1    .209    .313    .284        6

Amidst all the other things going wrong for this team, Pete Jennings was kind of a rock in the middle of the order. It's hard to see him making another All-Star Game - he's gone to 4 in his career - but he's an above average hitter with a decent enough eye and enough gap power to hit 40+ doubles if the situations permit it. He's also getting a reputation as a malcontent, although he seems happy enough right now (which itself could be seen as a red flag - should you be happy with a 90-loss team)?

Ian Reeder was a 26 year old rookie and new debutant in 1971 who was, essentially, the epitome of a replacement level player. Nothing against him; he's just not all that good. As of this writing the White Sox look like they're going to want to go with Chance Hopka, the former California Angels starter at 2nd base whom the Sox claimed off of waivers on Septembe 1st, as their new guy. If that happens, Reeder might still be able to carve out a career as a utility man.

Jeff Nation was a huge disappointment coming over from the Royals. The biggest fears - whether he'd be able to man third base - were mostly quelled; he committed only 9 errors in 322 chances and although he lacks range, that's really good - but the Chisox also expected him to hit like a middle of the order man and he just plain did not do that. He's only 26 so he could easily bounce back to the .292/21/84 form he had in KC in 1970. If he doesn't, JP Carter is there. Carter doesn't hit for any kind of power but hit .298 in Tucson last year and .321 at AA Mobile in 1970. Perhaps if Chicago can get over the perceived need for power at the position...

I grew tired of Justin Henderson, a 3-time Gold Glover with the Dodgers and a 7 year starter in this league. He's still a rock solid defender but even for a shortstop he's not a good hitter. The issue is, the White Sox don't really have anyone ready to step up. Jim Fiederlein is a backup middle infielder with backup middle infielder skills. Chris Morgan got some September starts but for him I'm not even sure if it's a question of being "ready" so much as it is a question of "is he capable". The top prospect is Richie Flanagan, a 21 year old kid who saw all of 5 games and 18 at-bats at AA last season. Henderson could return just because there's nothing else here.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Kane, Brandon            28   LL  117  291   38   89   21    2    7   41   27   48    1    0    7    .306    .368    .464      7/9
Lammers, Scott           29   SR   51  172   27   40    4    1   11   27   39   41    0    0    6    .233    .373    .459        7
Veneziano, Sebastiano    34   LL  101  141   10   32    2    1    2   13    5   23    2    0    2    .227    .257    .298      7/8
Rhoades, Aaron           27   RR   35   59    7   12    2    1    1    6    6    8    0    0    1    .203    .271    .322     /798
Carrillo, Guillermo      31   RR    3    3    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    .333    .333    .333      /78

Everett, Ian             29   LL   90  333   27   88    8    3    2   18   18   74    8    9    3    .264    .302    .324        8
Weyenberg, Eric          23   LL   89  294   29   77   10    1    4   30   33   30   14    2    0    .262    .337    .344        8

Wade, Josh               27   RR  115  427   44  119   22    3    2   32   10   66    5    5   10    .279    .300    .358       97
Cooper, Alice            23   LL   64  211   42   58   10    2   20   47   41   52    1    6    2    .275    .396    .626     97/8
Schwarzenegger, Arnold   24   LL   28  112   21   36    5    2    0    6   19   17   10    3    0    .321    .417    .402      9/8
Barone, Josh             25   RR    7    8    1    2    0    0    0    1    2    1    1    1    0    .250    .400    .250      /96

The outfield, at least, has the look of something that could make waves in the near future. The penciled-in starter in LF heading into 1972 is Alice Cooper, a "glam" rocker who makes us adults feel queasy but who the kids love, I guess. He's also one hell of a power hitter, with 20 HRs in just 211 at-bats. That performance unfortunately will make him ineligible for Rookie of the Year honors in '72 but I think Chicago will be fine if the 23 year old merely becomes a 30 HR hitter at the heart of the order. In 1971 this position was a bit of a grab bag and a lot of those guys remain. Scott Lammers in particular is a guy 2 years removed from .267/22/74 at Candlestick Park; it's hard to see where he'd play but a return to form would be pretty huge. Brandon Kane also deserves at-bats somewhere, although again the question of where is a strong one.

29 year old Ian Everett will return as the incumbent, although he is starting to miss a lot of time. Last year the Sox used Eric Weyenberg in the second half of the season after Everett went down in July with a broken kneecap. He held up the offensive end of the bargain but is an average at best center fielder and should Everett miss time again it's more probable that the Sox will try and make do with projected RF Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Speaking of "Ahnold"... for a bodybuilder, the man sure does not hit for power. He cracked a grand total of 6 HRs between Tucson and Chicago last season along with 23 doubles and 10 triples. He also hit .321 for Chicago, which was miles ahead of the .240 he hit in AAA but which is also probably closer to his true form. He's also a huge gym rat who's reportedly trying to get other guys on his team into his weightlifting regimen. Also, he fields right like the converted center fielder he is, which is to say he's really good out there.

Syd Thrift · 06-13-2023, 12:42 PM

1971 Recap: Expectations were high for the Tribe to not only contend again but repeat as AL East champions. Instead, they struggled early, completely fell apart in June, and only a HR race by Ernesto Garcia kept the fans coming to the park by season's end as they fell to dead last in the division.

1972 Outlook: Cleveland's pitching all kind of turned into pumpkins last year but they also got old and slow in a big hurry. They appear to be set to retool, not rebuild, but maybe it's time for the latter.

Pitching
---------------------

Code:

Pitching                Age   BT   W   L    WL %      ERA   G  GS  GF  CG SHO  SV     IP    H    R   ER   HR   BB  IBB   SO    WHIP    H9   HR9   BB9   SO9
Matthews, Josh           25   LL  13  17    .433     3.57  35  35   0  10   2   0  267.1  257  118  106   14   99    3  165   1.332 100.0   0.5   3.3   5.6
Hamilton, Dylan          28   RR  10  13    .435     4.21  32  32   0   8   3   0  222.1  241  116  104   23   83    1  105   1.457 100.0   0.9   3.4   4.3
Lagunas, Andy            30   RR   8  16    .333     4.82  38  29   6   6   1   2  203.1  213  120  109   23   69    4  144   1.387 100.0   1.0   3.1   6.4
Martinez, Jose           26   RR   5   5    .500     3.54  25  16   2   1   0   0  124.2  129   58   49   16   29    7   97   1.267 100.0   1.2   2.1   7.0

Godard, Eric             30   RR   1   8    .111     4.53  41   0  32   0   0  16   59.2   66   31   30    4   29    2   41   1.592 100.0   0.6   4.4   6.2
Sanchez, Elias           33   RR   6   6    .500     2.85  50   0  27   0   0   4   72.2   68   27   23    6   23    2   27   1.252 100.0   0.7   2.8   3.3
Regan, Chris             30   RR   5   4    .556     4.82  33  14   7   1   0   0  115.2  149   68   62    7   29    1   57   1.539 100.0   0.5   2.3   4.4
Zavala, Fernando         29   LL   3   3    .500     4.44  27   8   9   0   0   0   75.0   73   40   37    4   18    0   37   1.213 100.0   0.5   2.2   4.4
Pacheco, Keith           32   RR   5   6    .455     4.15  23  10  11   2   1   5   82.1   92   43   38   10   28    1   67   1.457 100.0   1.1   3.1   7.3

Coltrane, Robbie         21   RR   5   3    .625     3.34   8   8   0   2   1   0   56.2   60   29   21    5   14    0   34   1.306 100.0   0.8   2.2   5.4
Herrera, Gerardo         26   LL   2   2    .500     5.40  18   0   5   0   0   0   26.2   32   16   16    2   20    1   20   1.950 100.0   0.7   6.8   6.8
Johnson, Malik           25   RR   1   1    .500     4.30  19   0   8   0   0   0   23.0   28   13   11    3    9    0   17   1.609 100.0   1.2   3.5   6.7
Whittier, Landon         26   LR   1   0   1.000     4.37   9   2   4   0   0   0   22.2   24   11   11    5   16    0   17   1.765 100.0   2.0   6.4   6.8
Lopez, Ramon             27   LL   1   1    .500     3.00   8   2   1   1   1   0   18.0   17    6    6    4    4    0   14   1.167 100.0   2.0   2.0   7.0
Ellis, Doug              26   RR   0   0    .000     1.64  10   0   0   0   0   0   11.0    8    3    2    0    2    0    8   0.909 100.0   0.0   1.6   6.5
Andrade, Raul            33   RR   1   0   1.000     4.86   7   1   1   0   0   0   16.2   15   10    9    3   12    0    7   1.620 100.0   1.6   6.5   3.8
Boyce, Lamar             28   LL   1   0   1.000     8.62  14   0   6   0   0   1   15.2   17   16   15    1   19    1   12   2.298 100.0   0.6  10.9   6.9
Hernandez, William       23   RR   1   0   1.000     3.00   2   2   0   1   1   0   15.0   14    5    5    0    8    0    5   1.467 100.0   0.0   4.8   3.0
Bando, Noah              22   SR   1   1    .500     3.21   2   2   0   0   0   0   14.0   13    5    5    0    1    0    9   1.000 100.0   0.0   0.6   5.8
Carr, Chris              25   LL   0   1    .000     8.31   3   1   1   0   0   0    8.2   15   11    8    3    1    0    3   1.846 100.0   3.1   1.0   3.1
Becker, Chris            26   RR   0   0    .000     5.40   7   0   3   0   0   0    6.2   11    4    4    1    1    0    5   1.800 100.0   1.4   1.4   6.8
Washington, Jerry        26   LL   0   0    .000     0.00   2   0   0   0   0   0    1.1    0    0    0    0    0    0    1   0.000 100.0   0.0   0.0   6.8

Code:

Starting Pitching        GS  Wgs  Lgs   ND Wchp LTuf  WTm  LTm  tmW-L%   CG  SHO   QS    QS% GmScA Best Wrst  sDR  lDR RS/GS RS/9  IP/GS Pit/GS     <80   80-99 100-119   >=120     Max
Matthews, Josh           35   13   17    5    1    9   16   19   0.457   10    2   25    71%   54   86    2   14    8  3.2  3.8    7.6    118       0       3      18      14     151
Hamilton, Dylan          32   10   13    9    0    5   10   22   0.313    8    3   18    56%   48   80   13   12    9  4.0  5.1    6.9    109       0       6      21       5     144
Lagunas, Andy            29    8   14    7    2    3   10   19   0.345    6    1   14    48%   48   81   19   11    9  2.6  3.5    6.6    103       3       9      12       5     135
Martinez, Jose           16    4    5    7    0    2    8    8   0.500    1    0    9    56%   54   84   24    5    6  2.8  3.7    6.6     97       2       4       8       2     127
Regan, Chris             14    4    4    6    2    1    6    8   0.429    1    0    6    43%   41   64    3    4    6  3.6  5.1    6.5     99       2       5       6       1     122
Pacheco, Keith           10    3    5    2    1    1    4    6   0.400    2    1    3    30%   47   77   25    6    2  3.0  4.2    6.4    105       1       3       4       2     136
Zavala, Fernando          8    3    1    4    1    0    6    2   0.750    0    0    3    38%   47   72   19    2    3  4.0  6.0    6.0     91       2       3       3       0     114
Coltrane, Robbie          8    5    3    0    1    1    5    3   0.625    2    1    5    63%   52   88   13    1    4  3.3  4.1    7.1    104       1       1       5       1     122
Lopez, Ramon              2    1    1    0    0    0    1    1   0.500    1    1    1    50%   56   86   25    0    1  1.5  2.1    6.5     89       1       0       0       1     120
Hernandez, William        2    1    0    1    0    0    2    0   1.000    1    1    1    50%   54   79   29    0    1  2.0  2.4    7.5    119       0       0       1       1     127
Whittier, Landon          2    1    0    1    0    0    2    0   1.000    0    0    2   100%   53   57   49    1    1  2.5  3.6    6.3    116       0       0       1       1     123
Bando, Noah               2    1    1    0    0    1    1    1   0.500    0    0    2   100%   58   60   56    0    2  3.0  3.9    7.0     90       0       2       0       0      91
Andrade, Raul             1    1    0    0    0    0    1    0   1.000    0    0    1   100%   49   49   49    0    1  3.0  4.3    6.3     88       0       1       0       0      88
Carr, Chris               1    0    1    0    0    0    0    1   0.000    0    0    0    00%   18   18   18    0    1  1.0  1.6    5.7     89       0       1       0       0      89

Code:

Relief Pitching          GR  Wgr  Lgr SVOpp   Sv  BSv    SV%  SvSit  Hld   IR  IRS   IRS%     ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo  Run  Emp  <3O  >3O  0DR  1DR  2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Sanchez, Elias           50    6    6    9    4    5    44%     14    5   17    3    15%   1.298    14    24    22   12   38    5   24    8   14    6   22    4.4     22
Godard, Eric             41    1    8   21   16    5    76%     21    0   14    3    18%   1.960    24    11    11    7   34    6   15    8   14    9   10    4.4     23
Zavala, Fernando         19    0    2    1    0    1     0%      5    4    8    3    27%   1.246     5    10     8    5   14    1    8    4    8    3    4    4.3     21
Regan, Chris             19    1    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0   13    4    24%   0.501     3    16    16    9   10    3    8    3    4    3    9    4.0     21
Johnson, Malik           19    1    1    2    0    2     0%      5    3   14    5    26%   1.026     6    11    11    7   12    4    7    3    6    3    7    3.6     20
Herrera, Gerardo         18    2    2    1    0    1     0%      2    1    6    3    33%   1.571     6    10    10    4   14    5    7    3    3    4    8    4.4     26
Boyce, Lamar             14    1    0    1    1    0   100%      3    2    6    3    33%   0.693     3     8     8    4   10    4    4    2    3    0    9    3.4     24
Pacheco, Keith           13    2    1    5    5    0   100%      6    1    8    2    20%   2.164     7     5     5    5    8    1    6    2    4    2    5    4.3     22
Ellis, Doug              10    2    3    2    1    1    50%      2    0    6    2    25%   1.698     4     2     2    2    8    0    5    3    2    0    5    4.8     23
Lagunas, Andy             9    0    2    2    2    0   100%      3    1    3    1    25%   1.276     4     3     3    2    7    1    5    1    3    2    3    3.9     22
Martinez, Jose            9    1    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    8    4    33%   0.757     2     5     5    4    5    0    6    0    1    1    7    6.3     32
Becker, Chris             7    0    0    0    0    0     0%      2    2    6    3    33%   1.150     2     4     4    3    4    2    1    2    1    1    3    2.9     13
Whittier, Landon          7    0    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    1    0     0%   0.902     1     4     4    1    6    0    3    1    2    0    4    4.3     32
Andrade, Raul             6    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    2    1    33%   0.260     0     6     6    2    4    0    4    1    1    0    4    5.2     31
Lopez, Ramon              6    0    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    6    0     0%   0.635     2     4     4    3    3    4    1    1    0    0    5    2.5     13
Carr, Chris               2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.264     0     2     2    0    2    0    1    1    0    0    1    4.5     23
Washington, Jerry         2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    2    0     0%   3.525     1     1     1    1    1    1    0    1    0    0    1    2.0      6

At this point, examining the trade of Dylan Hamilton for Justin Kindberg is just painful, so let's not focus on that and just focus on what Hamilton has become for this team: a finesse-based innings muncher who, even in an off year, can still get 100 Ks, and who throws a 12-to-6 curve that forces hitters to pound the ball into the ground. This was especially necessary this past season as Cleveland Municipal Stadium sported HR ratings of 138 and 168 - great for Ernesto Garcia, sure, but deadly for this pitching staff. Actually, in that context Hamilton's 23 allowed doesn't look so bad; indeed, he only allowed 9 of those on the road. Josh Matthews was/is the homegrown talent and he at least didn't fall quite as far, although he still had a losing record and 17 losses because of a team-high 9 tough losses. For now, Jose Martinez looks like the only other sure thing in the rotation. Hes got better stamina than the CGs would suggest and he's got 2 swing and miss pitches but there has to be a reason why the guy will be 27 and has never sdtarted more than 16 games in a season.

Behind him the Indians like what they see in young Robbie Coltrane, a massive bear of a man who tells people he keeps a corral of magical creatures in the offseason (I'm told he's actually an actor but those folks can be rather fanciful). He's projected to be more of a finesse guy than a strikeout guy but has the command to potentially make that happen. The 5 hole for now is down to Chris Regan, who struggled mightily last year as a starter but posted a 2.13 ERA in relief, and 23 year old Noah Bando (probably not his real name), who followed up a 15-9, 2.76 campaign at AAA Wichita with 2 solid September appearances.

The bullpen has long been a mess for Cleveland and 1971 it just got messier. Eric Godard, the Rolaids Relief Award winner in 1964, started the season as the team's closer but, following a 4 save, 1.08 ERA April, he missed all of June and a chunk of July, during which time Elias Sanchez stunk up the joint. Godard responded with a solid July (0-2, 5 sv, 2.89) but then fell off a clif after August 1 (1-6, 7 Sv, 6.34). I can't say that that puts his entire career in doubt given the state of this pitching staff but it presents them with a conundrum to say the least, especially as Sanchez proved able to pitch in lower leverage situations (and, somehow given the defense behind him, in spite of not getting Ks). Malik Johnson probably has to see a lot of PT in the 'pen this year just based on a lights-out slider.

Batting
-----------------------

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Wolfe, Joe               26   RR   98  270   31   65   10    0    3   30   45   43    0    0   13    .241    .353    .311        2
House, Jonathan          29   LR   90  249   17   54    6    2    3   26   20   52    0    0   11    .217    .271    .293        2
Mexia, Cesar             30   RR   17   35    2    3    2    0    0    1    4    8    0    0    0    .086    .179    .143        2
Varner, Ray              28   LR    7    8    0    1    0    0    0    1    0    1    0    0    0    .125    .111    .125       /2

Jonathan House struggled at the plate and saw his average fall for the third straight season. As he's already got a fairly weak arm - he only threw out 22.6% of would-be stealers in 1971 - that meant that as the season progressed he lost more and more PT to his intended platoon-mate and caddy Joe Wolfe. Wolfe is at least average at shutting down the running game and the pitching staff seems to prefer his low-key approach to House's desire to be the center of attention. In AAA the AI insists that Pete Easter is ready to be called up but the numbers say he slashed .122/.265/.201 in AAA Wichita so I disagree.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Garcia, Ernesto          27   LL  156  627  105  169   30    0   65  147   44  119    1    0   18    .270    .317    .628       3*
Kelver, Kyle             32   RR    5    5    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    2    0    0    0    .000    .000    .000       /3

Pritchett, T.J.          35   RR  132  430   53   98   13    3   10   42   75   78    0    2   14    .228    .341    .342       4*
Escobedo, Marcos         32   RR   51  143   13   34    4    2    0   10   18   21    0    6    6    .238    .321    .294      4/3
Oropeza, Luis            25   LR   15   40    5   12    2    0    1    4    2   10    0    0    1    .300    .333    .425        4

Ramirez, Bobby           23   LR  142  515   84  177   20   10   15   67   66   54   32   17    3    .344    .418    .509       5*
Hernandez, Roberto       29   RR   63  127   13   32    6    1    4   25    7   17    0    0    6    .252    .287    .409      5/3
Aguillon, Tony           26   RR   16   45    8   20    3    0    1    5    4    3    1    0    0    .444    .500    .578     /564

Johnson, John            27   RR   96  382   43   89   17    4    3   21   19   35    6    3   10    .233    .272    .322        6
Romney, Mitt             24   RR   48  160   20   42    5    2    3   19   17   27    2    0    6    .263    .330    .375        6
Grube, Chris             29   LR   31   83    7   12    1    0    1    6    5   10    1    1    1    .145    .191    .193        6

What else do I have to say about Ernesto Garcia? He's very, very clearly the MVP, and to put that HR record into perspective the #2 guy in the league, Oakland's Chase Young, hit 30 of them (the NL had a couple of 40 HR guys). Easy ballpark or no, Garcia lapped the field. He's also a less than great defender, perhaps the slowest player in the league, and, this past year, showed himself to be a malcontent. Long-term, is he too big a personality for the city of Cleveland? Only time will tell. For now, first base is his and his alone.

I'm not sure the same can be said for TJ Pritchett, who looked every bit his 35 years of age at times last season. He still walks a lot and he's still a solid defender at second base, but his .228 average was the lowest of his career and outside of 1970 he's never been much in the way of a power guy. Luis Oropeza, who hit .308/16/61 in 208 at-bats at AAA Wichita, will compete with Pritchett for the 1972 job and probably has the inside track. Tony "Critter" Aguillon is another guy in that mix. He also cleared .300 in AAA ball but is more of a third baseman than a keystoner.

In a sea of disappointing seasons, Bobby Ramirez was, along with Garcia, a standout in terms of not having one. He came out of nowhere to take over Roberto Hernandez' job, lead the league in hitting, and win the Rookie of the Year Award. The sky's the limit for Ramirez and one has to think that Cleveland will now seek to get value from Hernandez, who still won't turn 30 until after the season starts. Hernandez was a 3 year starter for the Tribe and roughly a league average player during that time, although his bad 1970 (.263/15/66 but an OBP of just .280) opened the door for Ramirez in the first place.

John Johnson was a guy you accepted the defense from because he'd hit .340 for you. Last year, the defense seemed pretty fine but he lost more than 100 points off of his average before his season was shut down with a fractured ankle he suffered on July 30. This at least opens the door for the robot-like Stanford(? note: I can't seem to find BYU in the college database) alum Mitt Romney, although truth be told the Indians would vastly prefer Johnson just returns to normal.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Huanosta, Alonzo         30   RR  141  591   80  154   27    4   13   57   46   70    2    1    9    .261    .317    .386     7*/3
Whitney, Travis          27   LL   74   82   18   21    3    1    5   17   20   20    0    0    2    .256    .387    .500     /789
Miller, Nick             26   LL   14   18    4    5    2    0    0    2    2    2    0    0    0    .278    .350    .389      /79

Deuser, Russ             24   RR   85  337   42   67    8    5    8   29   28   67   19    5    3    .199    .261    .323        8
Hernandez, Carlos        29   RR   51  179   16   50    6    0    3   15    8   23    2    2    2    .279    .308    .363      8/9
Harpst, Corey            29   RR   29  117   10   21    4    0    3   10   17   24    1    2    0    .179    .287    .291      8/9
Sanchez, Jorge           28   RR   35  110   15   27    2    2    0   12    8   13    6    2    2    .245    .282    .300     89/7

Pron, Tommy              29   LR  136  494   51  135   13    1    9   48   65   52    0    1   13    .273    .356    .358       9*
Fonseca, Chris           24   LR   85  190   25   49    9    2    2   14   12   26    3    2    1    .258    .304    .358     97/8

Both corner outfielders also fell way, way off from their yearly norms. Alonzo Huanosta outdueled John Johnson to win the batting title in 1970 with a .345 mark but lost more than 80 points off that average. He'll compete for the job - not to mention right field - with another guy who suffered a horrible season in Nelson Vargas, recently traded from the Angels in the deal that sent CF Carlos Hernandez out the door. Of the two, Vargas is 2 years younger but also doesn't have even the average-ish power that Huanosta has. The argument here, I guess, is that if you have enough guys with down years, one of them is bound to rebound.

The jewel of the trade with the Angels - and one big reason why, in spite of the trade happening out of necessity, it might even work out positively for Cleveland - is CF Norm Hodge. Hodge also suffered an off year with the bat but his glove is as great as it's ever been, and that means that for once the Indians are going to have not just a a guy with plus range at a primary position but arguably the pre-eminent CF in all of baseball. One question with him is how he'll get along with Ernesto Garcia. That's one that simply cannot be answered until they're in same locker room.

Tommy Pron also had his bat short-circuit and that, given his lack of power, might make him the most vulnerable outfielder on the roster right now. Like Huanosta, he's a former BA champ; unlike Huanosta, he won it in the Year of the Pitcher with just a .315 mark. .273 still constitutes a big-time off-year for the career .302 hitter but, well, 30 points off prime is more explainable as a new normal than 80 points is. To underscore the low-power point, Pron hasn't cleared double digits in HRs since 1969.

Syd Thrift · 06-13-2023, 01:33 PM

1971 Recap: Although never truly in a position to catch the Red Sox, Detroit stayed in the race all season long and, if we were still playing single-division baseball, would have finished in the same place in the league as they did in the division.

1972 Outlook: There's no reason to think Boston will fall off but should that happen, the Tigers are right there to pick up the slack.

Pitching
---------------------

Code:

Pitching                Age   BT   W   L    WL %      ERA   G  GS  GF  CG SHO  SV     IP    H    R   ER   HR   BB  IBB   SO    WHIP    H9   HR9   BB9   SO9
Molina, Edgar            26   RR  19  14    .576     3.47  36  35   0  11   2   0  259.1  256  117  100   29   85   11  183   1.315 100.0   1.0   2.9   6.4
Rubio, Bruce             23   RR  16  10    .615     3.03  35  35   0   7   3   0  261.1  244  101   88   18   91    8  165   1.282 100.0   0.6   3.1   5.7
Merino, Juan             24   SR  12  12    .500     3.86  31  31   0   4   1   0  226.0  210  105   97   28   88    8  144   1.319 100.0   1.1   3.5   5.7
Goddard, Jimmy           31   SR  19   8    .704     2.59  33  29   0   6   4   0  226.0  187   75   65   12   68    2  149   1.128 100.0   0.5   2.7   5.9

Madrigal, Alex           31   LR   9   7    .563     2.24  50   0  42   0   0  20   76.1   56   22   19    8   30    5   44   1.127 100.0   0.9   3.5   5.2
Marceau, Jim             30   RR   5   3    .625     2.22  54   0  38   0   0  11   69.0   63   22   17    9   24    3   66   1.261 100.0   1.2   3.1   8.6
Khoury, Nate             24   LL   3   2    .600     2.61  45   0  18   0   0   3   48.1   45   15   14    5   15    0   19   1.241 100.0   0.9   2.8   3.5
Bryan, Danny             30   SR   0   4    .000     3.79  31   7  13   0   0   0   80.2   74   40   34    9   42    2   47   1.438 100.0   1.0   4.7   5.2
McGranahan, Chris        33   RR   4   5    .444     4.39  30  13   8   1   0   1  104.2  107   53   51   15   21    1   44   1.223 100.0   1.3   1.8   3.8

Coffey, Kent             26   SR   2   2    .500     5.05   6   6   0   1   1   0   41.0   39   23   23    1   26    2   22   1.585 100.0   0.2   5.7   4.8
Rouser, Shane            28   RR   1   1    .500     3.49   5   4   1   0   0   0   28.1   21   11   11    2   19    0   19   1.412 100.0   0.6   6.0   6.0
Schmidt, Romain          34   LL   1   0   1.000     5.54  10   0   6   0   0   0   13.0   14   10    8    2   15    0    8   2.231 100.0   1.4  10.4   5.5
Diaz, Benito             31   SR   0   0    .000     2.89   2   1   0   0   0   0    9.1    5    3    3    1    4    0    5   0.964 100.0   1.0   3.9   4.8
Cranfill, Joey           27   RR   1   0   1.000     1.13   1   1   0   0   0   0    8.0    6    1    1    0    4    0    5   1.250 100.0   0.0   4.5   5.6
Krug, Niklas             30   RR   0   0    .000    21.00   5   0   0   0   0   0    3.0    7    7    7    1    3    0    3   3.333 100.0   3.0   9.0   9.0
Vaughn, Robbie           26   LL   0   1    .000     2.25   4   0   2   0   0   0    4.0    5    1    1    0    1    0    3   1.500 100.0   0.0   2.3   6.8
Ruiz, Alex               25   RR   0   0    .000      ---   1   0   0   0   0   0    0.0    3    2    2    0    0    0    0     ---   ---   ---   ---   ---

Code:

Starting Pitching        GS  Wgs  Lgs   ND Wchp LTuf  WTm  LTm  tmW-L%   CG  SHO   QS    QS% GmScA Best Wrst  sDR  lDR RS/GS RS/9  IP/GS Pit/GS     <80   80-99 100-119   >=120     Max
Molina, Edgar            35   19   14    2    2    7   21   14   0.600   11    2   25    71%   55   85   17   17   10  3.7  4.6    7.3    110       4       5      16      10     175
Rubio, Bruce             35   16   10    9    2    2   22   13   0.629    7    3   24    69%   57   83   30   15   10  3.5  4.2    7.5    113       3       4      15      13     169
Merino, Juan             31   12   12    7    0    2   14   17   0.452    4    1   19    61%   53   79   34    8   13  3.1  3.9    7.3    111       0       7      17       7     149
Goddard, Jimmy           29   19    8    2    5    6   21    8   0.724    6    4   22    76%   60   87   26   16    4  4.0  4.8    7.4    109       0       7      15       7     145
McGranahan, Chris        13    4    5    4    1    1    7    6   0.538    1    0    7    54%   46   74   17    2    4  3.8  5.2    6.5     91       1      10       2       0     101
Bryan, Danny              7    0    3    4    0    2    2    5   0.286    0    0    5    71%   50   68   11    1    5  2.1  3.0    6.5    103       1       2       3       1     138
Coffey, Kent              6    2    2    2    0    0    2    4   0.333    1    1    3    50%   47   80   19    0    5  2.7  3.5    6.8    110       0       1       4       1     123
Rouser, Shane             4    1    1    2    0    1    1    3   0.250    0    0    3    75%   55   64   44    1    3  1.8  2.3    6.8    113       0       0       3       1     120
Diaz, Benito              1    0    0    1    0    0    1    0   1.000    0    0    1   100%   52   52   52    0    1  1.0  1.4    6.3     83       0       1       0       0      83
Cranfill, Joey            1    1    0    0    0    0    1    0   1.000    0    0    1   100%   67   67   67    0    1  3.0  3.4    8.0    128       0       0       0       1     128

Code:

Relief Pitching          GR  Wgr  Lgr SVOpp   Sv  BSv    SV%  SvSit  Hld   IR  IRS   IRS%     ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo  Run  Emp  <3O  >3O  0DR  1DR  2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Marceau, Jim             54    5    3   12   11    1    92%     17    5   31    9    23%   1.387    19    23    23   14   40   11   16    9   16    7   22    3.8     20
Madrigal, Alex           50    9    7   24   20    4    83%     26    2   18    4    18%   1.899    26    12    12    9   41    4   25   10   15   11   14    4.6     22
Khoury, Nate             45    3    2    7    3    4    43%     12    5   19    7    27%   1.029    10    19    19   14   31    9    8    9    9   11   16    3.2     16
Bryan, Danny             24    0    1    0    0    0     0%      0    0   10    2    17%   0.494     1    19    19    8   16    4   12    3    5    0   16    4.4     26
McGranahan, Chris        17    0    0    2    1    1    50%      4    2    7    1    13%   1.083     4    11    11    5   12    1    4    4    2    2    9    3.6     17
Schmidt, Romain          10    1    0    0    0    0     0%      2    2    4    2    33%   0.538     2     7     7    3    7    0    3    1    2    3    4    3.9     26
Krug, Niklas              5    0    1    1    1    0   100%      1    0    3    1    25%   1.132     2     3     3    2    3    1    4    0    0    1    4    4.2     31
Goddard, Jimmy            4    0    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    4    1    20%   0.486     1     3     3    3    1    0    3    0    0    0    4    8.0     43
Vaughn, Robbie            4    0    1    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.841     0     2     2    0    4    1    1    1    0    0    3    3.0     20
Diaz, Benito              1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.182     0     1     1    0    1    0    1    0    0    0    1    9.0     42
Molina, Edgar             1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.800     0     0     0    0    1    0    1    0    0    0    1    9.0     60
Rouser, Shane             1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.075     0     1     1    0    1    0    0    0    0    0    1    3.0     14
Ruiz, Alex                1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    2    3    60%   0.275     0     1     1    1    0    1    0    0    0    0    1    0.0      9

In the last 2 seasons, the Tigers have shipped off two of their best starting pitchers in Vince Akright and Jason Gilmer and yet starting pitching continues to be one of their top positions. Edgar Molina was the team's workhorse, if not necessarily their most effective starter. The Dominican has been a starter for Detroit for 4 years now and has a 63-60 record to show for it. 1971 saw him hit a career high in wins, although his K rate of 6.4/9 innings was well off what he did the previous 2 seasons (a league-best 8.1 in '69 and 8.3 in 1970). In a perfect world, he'd probably benefit from pitching less. Jimmy Goddard, on the other hand, was handled with kid gloves after missing most of 1970 with a torn labrum, and as a result he put in a season that saw the Tigers go 21-8 in his 29 starts. He even threw almost as many innings per start as Molina did in spite of only completing 6 games the entire season.

This is a team that is pretty well set in the rotation should Bruce Rubio come back from the torn triceps he suffered at the very end of the season. All accounts indicate that he'll be ready to go by spring training but it's a fairly big speedbump for a guy who's kind of expected to fill the shoes of Vince Akright, whom he was traded for (to be fair he was one of several players coming back in that deal). Juan Merino rounds out the rotation. He's the epitome of a .500 pitcher, which is just fine for a 4th starter. Should one of these guys fail to go the Tigers also have Chris McGranahan, liberated from Milwaukee in May; he posted a 1.08 ERA with the Brewers but a 4.39 with Detroit.

Alex Madrigal is a guy who got results last year almost in spite of himself: posting a 44/30 K/W ratio, he nevertheless went 20-24 in save opportunities and allowed only 18% of inherited runners to score. It was a similar year for his setup guy Jim Marceau, who also filled in while Madrigal was out with an injury over the summer, although Marceau did strike out 66 men in 69 innings the way a short reliever is supposed to. Nate Khoury's 45 games pitched feels like the upper limit of how I'm capable of using lefty specialists - AGAIN I will try to get better at that.

Batting
-----------------------

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Farinelli, Gianluigi     30   RR  126  465   53  127   22    2   13   69   40  105    0    0   13    .273    .333    .413       2*
Forgey, Trey             29   RR   42  124    6   23    4    2    1   12   19   23    0    0    3    .185    .288    .274        2
Bostic, Craig            30   RR    3    1    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    .000    .000    .000       /2

Gianluigi Farinelli has all but made Detroit fans forget about the now-retired Scott Woodcock since he took over for him in 1970 (he was also listed as the team's starter in 1965!). The Venezuelan has been embraced by Detroit's Italian-American community, who calls him "the Badalisc" after the Italian mythological creature. He missed out on the All-Star Game last year although truth be told he probably deserved more than in 1970. Still only 30, he could easily be the team's catcher of the 1970s. Trey Forgey is no threat to do much of anything except back Farinelli up and even then the Tigers will probably want to find someone better.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Suman, Tim               24   SR  108  276   35   89   14    0    6   40   15   17    0    0   10    .322    .358    .438        3
Valdez, Danny            28   LL   47  131   13   31    5    0    3   12   14   26    0    1    3    .237    .308    .344        3
Lauda, Niki              22   LL   17   17    7    8    1    0    1    4    5    2    0    0    0    .471    .591    .706       /3
Barrientos, Alfonso      26   LL    3    2    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    0    .000    .333    .000         

Villegas, Danny          34   RR  110  384   64  111   14    1   29   76   58   72    2    0    6    .289    .393    .557       43
Ramone, Joey             22   RR   68  254   35   87   17    4    6   34   31   49    3    2    9    .343    .411    .512        4
Hernandez, Ivan          25   RR   53   89   12   15    3    0    3   13   11   17    1    0    3    .169    .255    .303      4/6
Perez, Alex              27   RR    6   14    3    3    1    0    0    0    1    4    0    0    0    .214    .267    .286       /4

Ayala, Jose              30   RR  135  460   49  123   16    0   16   52   35   76    0    1   15    .267    .317    .407       53
Curran, Rob              24   LR  107  269   33   66   12    1    3   21   41   60    0    3    9    .245    .335    .331       56
Busby, Don               26   RR   12   12    2    1    0    0    0    0    3    4    0    0    0    .083    .267    .083       /5

Mullen, Matt             30   RR  137  402   28   91   13    2    0   27   23   76    5    5   11    .226    .266    .269       6*
Rose, Josh               26   RR   64   69    5   14    2    1    1    9    7   10    0    0    2    .203    .276    .304      6/4

Tim Suman did well as the de facto starter last year but is probably out of a job at least for 1972 because Danny Villegas figures to move to first base full time after playing 32 games there late in the season. Villegas has a severe problem staying in shape and it's hoped that the move to the easier position will help with that. Down the line, rumors abound that the American League will adopt a designated hitter rule, a role that would be ideal for this guy. When healthy, he's got the ability to lead the league in HRs, at least in a year when Ernesto Garcia isn't playing the entire season. Suman will still in all likelihood get a lot of play as a pinch-hitter and a caddy for Villegas. Race car driver Niki Lauda is also an intriguing prospect.

Part of what made Villegas' move to first look like such a good idea was the emergence of punk rocker Joey Ramone, who in his off time fronts a band composed of him and his brothers. It just sounds like noise to us but what do we know? We're old. Ramone would have contended for the batting title had he been called up earlier in the year. There were actually a whole bunch of young stars who emerged last season and while I wouldn't necessarily label Ramone as the brightest light of them all, he's got a chance to be.

Jose "Joker" Ayala keeps moving around from first to third. He's a classic tweener which unfortunately also means he's got a third baseman's bat but a first baseman's glove. He fielded only .941 with poor range last year, which isn't great but could be a lot worse. Rob Curran, Washington's starter in 1970, exists as a guy who could challenge him at the position. He's a much, much better fielder but his hitting approaches middle infielder levels of futility.

And speaking of futile-hitting middle infielders... Matt Mullen is about as "good field no hit" as you can get in the league now that John Timonem is a backup. He did hit .226 but, well, it was about as empty a .226 as you'll ever see out of a non-pitcher. He's an excellent shortstop, good enough to maybe even rival Oniji Handa out there, which is why he stayed in the lineup all season long. Well, that and the fact that potential replacements Josh Rose and Ivan Hernandez are even worse as hitters. Dave Abramowitz (watch this space) is the Tigers' #4 prospect and top middle infield guy who the team will probably want to play a full year in AAA before fully challening Mullen. He

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Dittmar, Adam            29   RR  135  460   71  121   19    2   15   72   75   89   22   14    6    .263    .366    .411    739/8
Thompson, Guillermo      28   RR  126  497   59  120   22   10    1   45   22   59   11    3   15    .241    .271    .332       79
Birley, Joshua           26   LL   16   29    4   11    1    0    1    2    0    2    0    2    1    .379    .367    .517       /7

Romero, Alvin            25   LL  129  531   98  178   34    6    8   48   48   45   50   10    2    .335    .385    .467       8*
Swan, Bill               25   RR   51  138   19   26    1    0    5   12   11   30    0    1    4    .188    .247    .304    87/93
Irwin, Bob               28   RR   23   79   14   25    2    1    3   16    1    9    2    3    1    .316    .317    .481      8/7

Contreras, Chris         27   LL   88  322   34   83   15    3    5   46   11   41    1    2    6    .258    .287    .370        9
Harpst, Corey            29   RR   32  104   11   24    3    0    1    7    7   18    1    1    2    .231    .277    .288     9/87

Adam Dittmar essentially split the difference between an All-Star 1969 campaign and a disappointing 1970 to become... a league average left fielder. The Tigers would really like to have more than that. Guillermo Thompson is a possibility there as well. Thompson's season was a tale of two halves: after hitting .200 and losing his job through the month of July, he rallied to hit .355 in August and .278 in December to kind of salvage his season. He hit .290 or better each of the previous 3 seasons and frankly that's the level he needs to hit to be effective. Joshua Birley is also around but seems like basically a poor man's Guillermo Thompson.

Alvin Romero is not a guy with a bad personality or smelly feet or anything; the fact that he played for his 3rd team in 3 years is just a thing that happened. If anything he seemed determined to prove California and Washington wrong about him: before he got hurt, he was making a case to not just be the best leadoff man in baseball but the best pure hitter, period. It also seems, on the downside of things, that his high-flying, gutsy style of play caused him to miss 34 games last year and will probably put him on the DL every year for a stretch.

I'm not at all convinced that Chris Contreras is the answer in right field. Like Thompson, he's a former high-average hitter who didn't hit for average last year. At this point it seems likely that Detroit will go with THompson over him. Another option is some sort of platoon arrangement. Their top outfield prospect, Coby Plunk (yeah right, like that's going to be his name when he debuts) is probably at least a year away and projects as yet another hitter in the Thompson/Contreras mold, perhaps with a bit more plate discipline.

Syd Thrift · 06-15-2023, 12:46 PM

1971 Recap: An up-and-down season by the third year expansion team nevertheless led to the team's best finish ever. EVER!

1972 Outlook: The Royals have some severe issues with their pitching staff and the lack of range on defense doesn't help matters much. Still, it looks like they've built up a good power base on offense and that side of things looks like they're only a player or two away from contending.

Pitching
---------------------

Code:

Pitching                Age   BT   W   L    WL %      ERA   G  GS  GF  CG SHO  SV     IP    H    R   ER   HR   BB  IBB   SO    WHIP    H9   HR9   BB9   SO9
Chavez, Miguel           31   LL  12  11    .522     3.00  33  33   0   7   5   0  245.2  208   90   82    8  110   13  186   1.294 100.0   0.3   4.0   6.8
LaPointe, Jason          32   RR  11  11    .500     4.18  26  26   0   7   3   0  180.2  189   90   84   14   58    6   91   1.367 100.0   0.7   2.9   4.5
Cervantez, Jorge         25   RR  11  11    .500     3.81  34  23   3   4   2   0  174.2  198   80   74   10   44   12   56   1.385 100.0   0.5   2.3   2.9
Correra, Juan            26   RR   4  11    .267     4.72  30  21   4   2   1   0  137.1  167   85   72   16   52    7   59   1.595 100.0   1.0   3.4   3.9

Banks, Tim               37   LL   2   4    .333     5.36  45   0  30   0   0  13   48.2   60   34   29    4   30    2   23   1.849 100.0   0.7   5.5   4.3
Reyes, Victor            29   RR   4   4    .500     4.98  53   0  30   0   0  12   68.2   78   42   38    4   23    4   53   1.471 100.0   0.5   3.0   6.9
Field, Joe               33   LR   4   2    .667     3.13  35   3  17   0   0   1   60.1   58   21   21    0   38    8   32   1.591 100.0   0.0   5.7   4.8
Bump, Vince              25   RR   3   2    .600     4.08  31   0  21   0   0   2   39.2   41   20   18    2   20    7   28   1.538 100.0   0.5   4.5   6.4
Chaves, Jose             30   RR  10   5    .667     4.54  31  20   2   3   0   0  162.2  158   84   82   28   47    2  123   1.260 100.0   1.5   2.6   6.8

Onizuka, Ellison         25   RR   4   8    .333     5.88  15  13   0   1   1   0   85.2  101   58   56   14   33    2   42   1.564 100.0   1.5   3.5   4.4
Marrero, Mario           30   RR   3   3    .500     5.88  13  10   1   2   2   0   67.1   78   46   44   14   23    1   35   1.500 100.0   1.9   3.1   4.7
Rodriguez, Rick          24   LR   3   3    .500     3.69   6   6   0   2   0   0   39.0   42   17   16    5    7    1   28   1.256 100.0   1.2   1.6   6.5
Zuazua, Jose             25   RR   2   2    .500     7.16   6   4   1   0   0   0   27.2   36   22   22    5   16    0   13   1.880 100.0   1.6   5.2   4.2
Albarran, Eddy           29   LL   0   2    .000     5.61  24   0   9   0   0   0   25.2   31   17   16    5    3    0   16   1.325 100.0   1.8   1.1   5.6
Chavera, Ed              24   LR   1   3    .250     8.46   7   2   1   0   0   0   22.1   37   21   21    3   18    3   21   2.463 100.0   1.2   7.3   8.5
Gonzalez, Ismael         26   RR   1   0   1.000     4.26  16   0   4   0   0   0   19.0   20    9    9    3    5    0   15   1.316 100.0   1.4   2.4   7.1
Quinn, Kevin             36   RR   0   3    .000     5.56   9   0   5   0   0   2   11.1   15    7    7    0   12    2    9   2.382 100.0   0.0   9.5   7.1
Lopez, Ramon             26   LR   0   0    .000     2.57   5   0   4   0   0   1    7.0    8    2    2    0    1    0    3   1.286 100.0   0.0   1.3   3.9
Bailey, Allen            23   RR   1   0   1.000     3.00   3   0   1   0   0   0    3.0    5    1    1    0    1    0    1   2.000 100.0   0.0   3.0   3.0

Code:

Starting Pitching        GS  Wgs  Lgs   ND Wchp LTuf  WTm  LTm  tmW-L%   CG  SHO   QS    QS% GmScA Best Wrst  sDR  lDR RS/GS RS/9  IP/GS Pit/GS     <80   80-99 100-119   >=120     Max
Chavez, Miguel           33   12   11   10    0    4   16   17   0.485    7    5   23    70%   58   91   19    9   13  2.7  3.3    7.4    115       1       4      20       8     197
LaPointe, Jason          26   11   11    4    3    5   14   12   0.538    7    3   14    54%   50   83    0    7   12  3.8  4.9    6.9    103       5       6       7       8     148
Cervantez, Jorge         23   10   11    2    2    6   10   13   0.435    4    2   14    61%   49   82   27    8    8  3.1  4.1    6.8     98       3      11       5       4     146
Correra, Juan            21    4   11    6    1    4    7   14   0.333    2    1   11    52%   43   73   -2    6   10  2.4  3.6    6.1     98       3       6      11       1     122
Chaves, Jose             20    9    5    6    2    1   11    9   0.550    3    0   11    55%   52   79   15    2    9  3.6  4.7    6.9    104       1       5      12       2     120
Onizuka, Ellison         13    4    8    1    2    0    5    8   0.385    1    1    3    23%   42   77   10    3    4  2.6  3.7    6.4    101       0       7       5       1     122
Marrero, Mario           10    3    3    4    1    0    6    4   0.600    2    2    4    40%   45   84   18    2    6  3.6  5.0    6.5     99       2       3       4       1     130
Rodriguez, Rick           6    3    3    0    1    2    3    3   0.500    2    0    4    67%   54   77   41    2    3  3.8  5.3    6.5     93       1       1       4       0     116
Zuazua, Jose              4    2    2    0    2    0    2    2   0.500    0    0    0    00%   31   45   11    1    2  4.5  6.8    5.9     99       0       2       2       0     111
Field, Joe                3    2    1    0    0    1    2    1   0.667    0    0    3   100%   59   71   49    1    2  2.7  3.4    7.1    109       0       2       0       1     147
Chavera, Ed               2    0    2    0    0    0    0    2   0.000    0    0    0    00%   32   47   16    0    2  1.0  1.6    5.5    106       0       1       1       0     115

Code:

Relief Pitching          GR  Wgr  Lgr SVOpp   Sv  BSv    SV%  SvSit  Hld   IR  IRS   IRS%     ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo  Run  Emp  <3O  >3O  0DR  1DR  2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Reyes, Victor            53    4    4   16   12    4    75%     18    2   22    7    24%   1.240    16    26    26   12   41    9   22   12   10    4   27    3.9     20
Banks, Tim               45    2    4   15   13    2    87%     16    1   12    7    37%   1.239    15    18    18    7   38    8   12   13   11   10   11    3.2     19
Field, Joe               32    2    1    3    1    2    33%      5    2   23   12    34%   0.792     5    20    20   12   20    7   10    6    7    7   12    3.7     20
Bump, Vince              31    3    2    3    2    1    67%      6    3   18    6    25%   1.001     5    19    18    9   22    4   10    3   12    6   10    3.8     20
Albarran, Eddy           24    0    2    2    0    2     0%      7    5   18    8    31%   1.139     8    11    11   10   14    8    6    5    4    5   10    3.2     15
Gonzalez, Ismael         16    1    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    6    2    25%   0.638     2     9     9    5   11    5    4    2    5    2    7    3.6     17
Cervantez, Jorge         11    1    0    1    0    1     0%      2    1    7    2    22%   0.819     2     7     7    4    7    1    9    2    0    2    7    4.9     24
Chaves, Jose             11    1    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    6    4    40%   0.562     0     6     6    4    7    1    7    1    2    2    6    6.5     34
Quinn, Kevin              9    0    3    3    2    1    67%      3    0    3    3    50%   2.366     4     3     3    1    8    2    3    3    2    1    3    3.8     28
Correra, Juan             9    0    0    0    0    0     0%      1    1    1    0     0%   0.568     0     5     5    1    8    2    1    2    1    2    4    3.1     16
Lopez, Ramon              5    0    0    1    1    0   100%      2    1    0    0     0%   0.966     1     2     2    0    5    0    2    1    2    1    1    4.2     17
Chavera, Ed               5    1    1    0    0    0     0%      0    0    2    2    50%   0.894     0     3     3    1    4    1    3    0    0    0    5    6.8     45
Marrero, Mario            3    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    1    1    50%   0.236     0     3     3    1    2    1    1    0    0    0    3    2.7     17
Bailey, Allen             3    1    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    1    1    50%   1.840     2     1     1    1    2    1    1    0    0    2    1    3.0     17
Zuazua, Jose              2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    2    2    50%   0.241     0     2     2    1    1    0    2    0    0    0    2    6.0     34
Onizuka, Ellison          2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    2    1    33%   1.078     1     1     1    1    1    0    0    0    0    0    2    3.0     14

Miguel Chavez is not a real #1 starter but he does the job for KC. The former Twins mid-rotation guy threw the most Ks he's ever thrown in Kansas City and the 2nd highest total of his career (he tossed 201 in a 1967 year where he went 13-13 with a 2.83 ERA). After making the All-Star Game last year with a full-season ERA of nearly 5, he didn't make it this year in spite of finishing 8th in that category. A quick check of his midseason stats indicates that he was 6-6, 3.11 at the break: fine but the team was already represented by Dave Corona, so why bother? Jose Chavez is penciled in as the #2 man following a season with a nice record if not the greatest peripheral numbers. The Royals will put the "he's a winner" moniker to the test. It's worth noting that his ERA was completely blown up by 3 very, very bad relief appearances in August before the Royals handed him a rotation slot in September: you take those away and his ERA drops to 4.21. The other guy who's a surety to be in the rotation to open the year is 26 year old Jorge Cervantez, who transferred a gig in the back of the bullpen with Pittsburgh into a starting job with these Royals. Cervantez is a pure control guy who really needs to get more people to whiff on his split-fingered fastball to stay in this league.

That back of the rotation is... rough. Rick Rodriguez might have the inside track with a solid September that followed a 12-12, 3.26 campaign in AAA Omaha. He at least is young enough to improve and scouts love his slider. Ellison Onizuka, an engineer for NASA in his spare time, was given 13 starts to show what he could do and just plain did not look ready to go. Given the previous calendar year at Omaha (11-11, 3.07 in 222.2 combined innings from 1970-71) and his still young age, he'll get a long look in spring training. And don't count Juan Correra out. The Royals acquired him late last offseason from the Red Sox and he... well, he stunk. I'd barely mention him except that the last guy in the mix at this moment is Jose Zuazua, who has done nothing but look like cannon fodder in 9 starts over 2 seasons (3-4, 6.66 ERA THE ERA OF THE BEAST).

The bullpen, for all its faults, wasn't absolutely terrible at holding leads. Victor Reyes resuscitated his career after a horrific 1970 (1-8, 6.50 combined between ATL and KC). He still had an awfully high ERA but somehow converted 75% of his save chances; it seems like when he did blow up, it was in lower leverage situations. Tim Banks was their #2 closer last year but retired following a pretty rough campaign of his own... although like Reyes, he came through when it counted. Joe Field ended the year as Reyes' second-hand man. He's another finesse guy with iffy control, which is probably not great long-term but he's going to be rewarded for the 2.77 ERA he put up for this team that finished dead last in the league in pitching.

Batting
-----------------------

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
McIntyre, Nick           28   LR  110  383   34   77   18    3    9   49   33   90    0    0   11    .201    .259    .334       2*
Johnson, Isaiah          28   RR   37   83    7   16    3    0    1    6    7   26    0    0    1    .193    .245    .265        2
Hernandez, Carlos        33   RR   26   63    9   10    4    1    0    3    7   20    0    1    1    .159    .243    .254        2
Cashion, Justin          25   LR   18   42    4    8    1    1    0    1    3   15    1    0    0    .190    .292    .262        2

Nick McIntyre was expected to do so much more for the Royals in 1971. Coming off of a .266/20/54 year in just 286 at-bats for the White Sox, the Royals felt they could trade away a top outfield prospect in Moniko Fernandez (name subject to change) to get some good pop and potential Silver Slugger level hitting at the position. Instead, McIntyre barely hit above the Timonen Line and didn't even reach double digits in HRs. His arm was also only average at best. The best news for him, if not for KC, is that they have absolutely nothing behind him. Isiah Johnson has a slightly better arm than McIntyre but that .193 average may even be a high water mark, given that he hit .165 in 200 at-bats before getting called up. Justin Cashion is a guy who got a September look because he hit .309 in AAA but in addition to clearly not being ready, that 94 AB stint in Omaha came after hitting .207 in AA. He's not considered anything more than a complementary player. Kansas City's highest rated prospects are either internationals or guys in the low, low minors who are all several years away from being ready.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Davis, Jim               26   LL   69  213   37   44   12    1   13   30   57   67    0    1    5    .207    .373    .455        3
Ono, Yahashi             40   RR   89  243   24   52    5    1    1   25   27   39    0    2    8    .214    .288    .255        3
Lewis, Josh              30   RR  118  227   22   61   11    0    5   31   26   31    2    0    8    .269    .344    .383        3

Coleman, Ian             29   RR  141  507   49  129   17    6    7   57   50   85    6    7    9    .254    .317    .353       4*
Jaquez, Arturo           28   RR    2    5    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    .000    .000    .000       /4

Newton, Ryan             26   LR  114  371   47  112   27    1    7   47   28   49   13    5    7    .302    .343    .437     5/68
Ramos, Mike              34   LR   85  232   24   70   14    2    4   28   13   31    4    0    4    .302    .333    .431     5/34
Carroll, Matt            26   RR   33   71   10   19    3    1    2   12    1   15    0    0    1    .268    .274    .423      5/3

Sita, Nate               25   SR  149  507   56  114   12    3   15   52   60  122    4   12    7    .225    .302    .349     6*/4
Altmann, Carlos          35   SR   62  154   17   30    2    6    0   12   17   24    5    0    5    .195    .273    .286     64/5
Steinmetz, Andy          30   RR    5   11    2    6    0    0    1    5    2    1    0    0    0    .545    .615    .818     /654

Jim Davis writes a cartoon in his spare time about a cat who likes to eat lasagna. We're not sure if this has wings but hey, maybe he'll sell it eventually. As a hitter, he looked very feast-or-famine last season, with the month of September (.191/3/8) being mostly a famine month that weighed everything else down. He's still a haevy favorite to start this year if for no other reason than that he's still at least relatively young and the Royals don't really have a lot left at the position after Yahashi Ono fell apart following 2 nice years with the team. Josh Lewis will likely spell the lefty hitting Davis a lot at first; he was solid and maybe a little above league average last year after suffering through a 1970 season (.234/10/54 in 398 at-bats) with the White Sox that could have been his last had the Royals not come calling.

Ian Coleman has been the team's starter at the keystone for all 3 years of their existence. Last year he set career highs in RBIs and intentional walks, the latter because he spent most of the year hitting in the 8 hole. One very intriguing prospect is Wilton Bruselas (name subject to change) who was drafted in the 17th round last year but looked very promising, jumping 3 levels and at the time of this writing sitting on the team's AAA roster. There's no way I'm going to put him in the mix but Coleman doesn't do anything really all that well and so he's vulnerable.

Once the team settled on Ryan Newton, he rewarded them with some fine hitting and solid defense and now he looks like a long-term starter at the position. That's bad news for the former 3-time All-Star Mike Ramos, who's kicked around the league since getting cut by Cincinnati early last season and now looks like a backup corner infielder and pinch-hitter at best. He does have value in that role and is reportedly OK with his situation with the Royals. Matt Carroll is also in the mix at the position, although if I'm being honest he'd be a lot more in the mix if his plate discipline (he had a .383 OBP in 64 games in Omaha) translated into the major leagues.

Nate Sita is a 25 year old with a great chance of being 30 in 5 years. OK, he does have good pop for a shortstop but otherwise there's not a lot he does that makes him look like a long-term fit. He finished 2nd in the AL in strikeouts, which if anything tells me he played too much. In the field he's got good range and great hands - maybe the best hands in all of baseball in fact - but a comparatively weak arm. No doubt he'd be a Gold Glove contender at second base... but he doesn't hit like a second baseman so that's right out. For now the Royals don't really even have a serviceable backup as Carlos Altmann called it quits following a 9-season major league career as a backup SS (he was the Royals' starter in '69). For now it's Mike Dawson (possible name change incoming) but the 22nd overall pick in the 1969 draft struggled mightily in AAA Omaha last year (.202/8/36) and while his glove definitely looks ready for the big leagues, they could be hurting his development if they decide to bring him up too soon.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Corona, Dave             22   LL  152  546  113  157   28   14   13   63  137   87   52   17    0    .288    .430    .462      7*8
Manchego, Edwin          26   LL   38  117   18   29    9    0    9   27   20   19    1    0    1    .248    .360    .556      7/9
Barlow, Terry            27   LL   26   42    6    8    0    0    3    5    3    7    0    2    0    .190    .255    .405      /79
Danza, Tony              23   LL    6    5    1    2    1    0    0    0    0    1    0    0    0    .400    .400    .600       /7
Martinez, Alex           26   LL    3    2    1    1    0    0    0    1    1    0    0    0    0    .500    .667    .500       /7

Scurry, Allen            25   RR  131  425   54  103   12    6   13   57   66   68    7   16    6    .242    .337    .391     8*/7
Coldiron, Josh           25   LR   41   95    8   20    3    1    0    7   13   11    8    4    1    .211    .303    .263     8/97

Domínguez, R.J.          26   RR  150  518   99  147   24    1   26   85  124   91    2    5    8    .284    .424    .485       9*
Hull, Tom                30   RR   24   35    3    3    0    1    0    4    2    5    0    0    0    .086    .132    .143      /97
Birley, Joshua           26   LL   17   18    0    4    2    0    0    2    0    2    0    0    0    .222    .190    .333       /9

Dave Corona is a guy the Royals feel they can build their entire team around and for good reason. Still only 22 years of age, he's now a multi-time All-Star and not just because the rules say that someone has to go from every team. Corona led the league in walks and on-base percentage and was the MVP choice for stat nerds who don't care about home runs and RBIs. For 1972 the Royals will try to see if he can produce like this in center field. He had 30 starts at the position in '71 and if anything looked a little less shaky in terms of committing errors there than in left (he committed 9 errors for a .965 FA in left vs. 1 for .990 in center). I guess we'll see! If that works, look for RJ Dominguez to take over in left following a very nice and relatively unexpected campaign of his own. And like Corona, this is a man who loves to draw out plate appearances and coax walks.

Last year's starter in center, Allen Scurry wasn't really anything great at the position, although he's certainly got better tools there than Corona. Should the man the fans call "Cookie Monster" prove unable to handle the duties, he's right there and ready to return. And hey, at 25, maybe he still has a little bit of growing left to do. Josh Coldiron is pretty much nothing special. He did improve his BA by 60 points over 1970, which only goes to show how uniquely terrible he was that year.

As of this writing the Royals are looking to Kyle Brown as their man in right. Brown spent the entire season as a pinch-hitting specialist for the Washington Senators due to their crowded outfield but the Royals paid a lot of money for him and want to give him a shot. He profiles for good power and, as is now the custom for Royals OFers, a good ability to draw walks. He's the current new hotness over Tony Danza, who was probably rushed a little into getting 6 September appearances after being drafted 2nd overall last June. You'd think a full year in the minors would do him well but then again, he went .316/1/17 in 65 games in Omaha last year; maybe he's ready after all. I'd say the biggest issue with him getting playing time is that he lacks range and his worn-out boxers' hands can lead to some bad misplays in the field.

Syd Thrift · 06-15-2023, 06:22 PM

1971 Recap: Milwaukee suffered through another bad 90+ loss season, thanks in large part to a completely anemic offensive attack that at times looked like it was going to be one of the worst of all time. They did move out of that eventually; while they had the worst offense in baseball it was not historically bad.

1972 Outlook: 3 years in and that trade they ran with Boston looks like they're rebuilding once again, this time around defense from the looks of it. To be fair there wasn't much to rebuild with.

Pitching
---------------------

Code:

Pitching                Age   BT   W   L    WL %      ERA   G  GS  GF  CG SHO  SV     IP    H    R   ER   HR   BB  IBB   SO    WHIP    H9   HR9   BB9   SO9
Osborne, Brian           27   RR   8  17    .320     3.46  32  32   0  10   1   0  221.1  210  100   85    9  107    8  101   1.432 100.0   0.4   4.4   4.1
Olivares, Chris          24   RR   9  15    .375     4.18  32  30   0  10   4   0  217.2  219  112  101   18   73    9  125   1.342 100.0   0.7   3.0   5.2
Izquierdo, Alex          22   LL   7  13    .350     2.74  29  29   0  10   1   0  210.1  186   78   64    8   82    5  137   1.274 100.0   0.3   3.5   5.9
Gomez, Ricardo           30   RR   0   0    .000     3.21  20  19   0   0   0   0   56.0   62   21   20    3   16    2   32   1.393 100.0   0.5   2.6   5.1

Plaunt, Danny            26   RR   6   6    .500     3.42  67   0  55   0   0  23   97.1   88   38   37    6   28    8   70   1.192 100.0   0.6   2.6   6.5
Mazyck, Deshawn          29   SR   4   2    .667     4.28  54   0  30   0   0   2   69.1   71   33   33    4   33    3   39   1.500 100.0   0.5   4.3   5.1
Pettijohn, Elliot        24   RR   2   2    .500     4.41  40   0  14   0   0   0   49.0   51   28   24    3   28    2   20   1.612 100.0   0.6   5.1   3.7
Whittier, Landon         26   LR   4  10    .286     5.35  26  17   1   0   0   0  109.1  107   67   65   17   78    3   55   1.692 100.0   1.4   6.4   4.5
Chavez, Pedro            28   RR   0   2    .000     5.01  18   0   7   0   0   0   32.1   39   24   18    6   15    2   20   1.670 100.0   1.7   4.2   5.6

Coffey, Kent             26   SR   0  11    .000     3.66  17  11   1   0   0   0   78.2   87   50   32    3   47    3   32   1.703 100.0   0.3   5.4   3.7
Youngblood, Jonas        29   SR   6   2    .750     4.17   9   9   0   0   0   0   58.1   61   27   27    5   25    1   26   1.474 100.0   0.8   3.9   4.0
McGranahan, Chris        33   RR   4   1    .800     1.08   6   6   0   2   1   0   50.0   35    7    6    2   13    2   25   0.960 100.0   0.4   2.3   4.5
Rivera, Jose             29   RR   2   2    .500     6.06   9   4   5   0   0   0   32.2   39   22   22    3   15    1   21   1.653 100.0   0.8   4.1   5.8
Labbe, John              30   RR   3   1    .750     3.66  16   0   4   0   0   0   19.2   27    8    8    0    5    0   15   1.627 100.0   0.0   2.3   6.9
Zapata, Dave             29   LL   0   1    .000     5.52  15   0   4   0   0   0   14.2   18   10    9    3    3    0    9   1.432 100.0   1.8   1.8   5.5
Garcia, Edwin            30   SR   1   1    .500     4.73   2   2   0   0   0   0   13.1   18    7    7    0    4    0   11   1.650 100.0   0.0   2.7   7.4
Jimenez, Omar            22   LR   1   1    .500     4.26   2   2   0   0   0   0   12.2   10    6    6    1    5    1   10   1.184 100.0   0.7   3.6   7.1
Field, Joe               33   LR   1   0   1.000     0.00   5   0   2   0   0   0    8.0    4    0    0    0    2    0    5   0.750 100.0   0.0   2.3   5.6
Garcia, Dave             30   RR   0   0    .000     4.50   1   0   1   0   0   0    2.0    2    1    1    0    1    0    3   1.500 100.0   0.0   4.5  13.5

Code:

Starting Pitching        GS  Wgs  Lgs   ND Wchp LTuf  WTm  LTm  tmW-L%   CG  SHO   QS    QS% GmScA Best Wrst  sDR  lDR RS/GS RS/9  IP/GS Pit/GS     <80   80-99 100-119   >=120     Max
Osborne, Brian           32    8   17    7    1   10    9   23   0.281   10    1   22    69%   52   80   14    7   15  2.4  3.2    6.9    107       3       6      14       9     150
Olivares, Chris          30    9   15    6    1    7   14   16   0.467   10    4   17    57%   52   90   22    5   15  3.0  3.7    7.2    107       2       8      11       9     152
Izquierdo, Alex          29    7   13    9    0    8   12   17   0.414   10    1   21    72%   58   84   25    7   13  2.1  2.7    7.3    112       1       7      12       9     160
Gomez, Ricardo           19    6   10    3    1    3    8   11   0.421    5    0    9    47%   49   81   29    4   12  2.9  3.7    7.1    108       2       4       8       5     137
Whittier, Landon         17    3   10    4    1    2    5   12   0.294    0    0    7    41%   43   61   25    5    7  2.5  3.9    5.9     97       1       7       9       0     111
Coffey, Kent             11    0   11    0    0    6    0   11   0.000    0    0    6    55%   45   79   17    1    6  0.5  0.6    6.3    105       1       3       4       3     164
Youngblood, Jonas         9    6    2    1    3    0    7    2   0.778    0    0    3    33%   49   74   29    2    4  5.3  7.4    6.5    105       1       1       4       3     128
McGranahan, Chris         6    4    1    1    0    1    5    1   0.833    2    1    6   100%   70   80   63    0    5  2.2  2.3    8.3    115       0       1       3       2     140
Rivera, Jose              4    2    2    0    0    0    2    2   0.500    0    0    2    50%   38   57   12    0    2  3.0  4.1    6.7    115       0       0       3       1     139
Jimenez, Omar             2    1    1    0    0    0    1    1   0.500    0    0    1    50%   54   62   45    0    2  7.0  9.9    6.3     98       0       1       1       0     102
Garcia, Edwin             2    1    1    0    0    0    1    1   0.500    0    0    1    50%   46   67   26    0    1  1.5  2.0    6.7    108       0       0       2       0     114

Code:

Relief Pitching          GR  Wgr  Lgr SVOpp   Sv  BSv    SV%  SvSit  Hld   IR  IRS   IRS%     ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo  Run  Emp  <3O  >3O  0DR  1DR  2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Plaunt, Danny            67    6    6   32   23    9    72%     32    0   25   14    36%   1.520    30    20    20   13   54    7   31   21   20   11   15    4.4     20
Mazyck, Deshawn          54    4    2    5    2    3    40%     11    6   16   11    41%   1.068    11    33    33   10   44    6   20    6   22   14   12    3.9     21
Pettijohn, Elliot        40    2    2    0    0    0     0%      6    6   31   13    30%   0.841     9    23    21   18   22    9   13    7    7    8   18    3.7     21
Chavez, Pedro            18    0    2    1    0    1     0%      1    0   12    7    37%   0.618     2    12    12    7   11    4    8    1    4    1   12    5.4     31
Labbe, John              16    3    1    0    0    0     0%      3    3   10    7    41%   0.916     3     8     8    6   10    5    4    3    1    4    8    3.7     20
Zapata, Dave             15    0    1    0    0    0     0%      2    2   11    5    31%   0.739     3     8     7    6    9    6    5    4    2    2    7    2.9     17
Whittier, Landon          9    1    0    1    0    1     0%      2    1    8    4    33%   0.661     2     6     6    4    5    2    1    3    2    0    4    3.1     19
Coffey, Kent              6    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    5    2    29%   0.585     0     5     5    3    3    1    3    1    0    1    4    4.7     27
Field, Joe                5    1    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    1    0     0%   0.794     1     3     3    1    4    0    3    1    0    1    3    4.8     20
Rivera, Jose              5    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    5    1    17%   0.208     0     5     5    2    3    1    2    0    0    0    5    3.6     21
Olivares, Chris           2    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.144     0     2     2    0    2    0    1    0    0    0    2    4.0     27
Gomez, Ricardo            1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    2    0     0%   0.333     0     1     1    1    0    0    1    0    0    0    1    8.0     39
Garcia, Dave              1    0    0    0    0    0     0%      0    0    0    0     0%   0.878     0     0     0    0    1    0    1    0    0    0    1    6.0     25

Having traded away a couple of their best arms in Brian Osbourne and Alex Izquierdo, the Brewers will go to the mat in 1972 with a rotation that's sure to be one of the youngest if not the youngest in baseball. The "ace" is Chris Olivares, now 17-26 in 2 seasons as a Milwaukee starter. He looks like a roughly league average player by the peripherals who finished below average via ERA because of some poor defense behind him. The Brewers did manage to win 14 out of his 30 starts; perhaps he was also pitched a little bit too hard. Milwaukee should also be interested to see if Jonas Youngblood can capitalize on a solid August and September. If so, he might be a trade chip, given that he's potentially the old man of the staff at 29. Landon Whittier will probably also at least start in the rotation in the first full season of a project to convert him from the relief role he filled admirably in Cleveland in 1969. Speaking of converted relievers, expect to see last year's stopper Danny Plaunt get tried out as a starter. He started the entire 1968 season in Washington and was 14-14 with a fine, even for the year, 2.88 ERA.

Who, then, on the back end? Kent Coffey is a less than glamourous choice as the 5th starter given his 0-11 record in Milwaukee last year (he was 2-13, 4.14 combined between the Brew Crew and Detroit). He's a former 17 game winner (in 1969) who's still just 26 so there's reason to think he'll be able to bounce back. Of course, even a bounce-back year means he will probably have to contend with low run support. Oscar Jiminez struck out 10 guys in 12.2 September innings, which all by itself puts the young Dominican into the mix.

For all the talk of his bad year in Boston, Matt Brock still co-led the AL in saves in 1971 and he should lowkey be an improvement over Plaunt, who put up superficially fine numbers but allowed 14 of the 25 men he inherited to score. Not good! Brock himself allowed 14 of 26 but is a year removed from only allowing 5 of 22 to come in. Also not noted in the relief breakdowns above is that Plaunt had 14 meltdowns to 25 shutdowns whereas Brock, as bad as he looked in August and September, had 12 vs 30. Perhaps less reliable - but still an upgrade over the old guy Deshawn Maczyk - is 35 year old Eddie Sanchez, who had a very high 4.72 ERA but at least didn't let inherited men score behind him (7/22). His huge drop in K rate - 7.2 to 3.8 - has to be the biggest concern. Elliott Pettijohn is there in case Sanchez is washed, although he mostly looks like a 10 years younger version of what Sanchez is right now.

Batting
-----------------------

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Garcia, Luis             36   RR  106  277   12   56    6    0    3   27   33   60    0    0   10    .202    .283    .256        2
Brown, Adam              23   LR   93  246   33   59   13    3    7   33   35   49    0    1    8    .240    .330    .402      2/3

If he's not careful, Luis Garcia might just go from starter (de facto starter but still a starter) to out of a job on Opening Day. Milwaukee is the 5th team he's been a member of in his 14 year career that included technically 3 World Series championships (he was a late-season call-up for the Yankees in 1958 and 1960 but did contribute meaningfully as their backup backstop in 1962) but his hitting dipped badly last season after a .274/5/33 campaign with St. Louis in 1970 and at this point in his career he's average at best defensively. He's well regarded as a leader, which might have been the main thing that kept him on the roster last year. That said, he's reportedly sick and tired of playing for a losing team and blamed his offensive malaise on the environment. Adam Brown was the 23rd overall pick and even played in the Futures Game in 1970 but somehow never made the top 100 list for prospects. He seems like he'd be a career backup on a better team. Milwaukee added Ken Hall from Boston in the Jun Kim trade; should Garcia get cut, it'll be because they consider him ready to go. He hit just .212/7/29 in half a year with AAA Louisville but did much better in relief of Sid Bartoszek in the bigs (.312/0/6, albeit in 32 at-bats).

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Nakamura, Kozue          29   RR  150  565   60  177   29    2    4   65   46   56    0    4   29    .313    .366    .393       3*
Hawkinson, Ray           29   LR   26   45    4   15    4    0    0    4    2    5    0    0    0    .333    .354    .422       /3
Rogers, Jim              30   LL   36   42    3   12    2    0    2    7    4    8    0    0    0    .286    .348    .476     /379
Fleischaker, John        28   RR   15   12    3    5    1    0    1    1    1    1    0    0    0    .417    .429    .750       /3
Johnston, Chris          37   RR    8    9    2    3    1    0    0    1    3    1    1    0    0    .333    .500    .444      /34

Yi, Wing-fung            27   RR   56  183   30   49   10    3    4   17   29   27    9    2    2    .268    .366    .421        4
Biron, Eric              24   RR   46  169   19   45   11    0    3   10   12   32    3    0    1    .266    .315    .385     4/76
Jones, Pat               34   LR   53  155   21   49   15    2    2   16   11   18    0    1    2    .316    .355    .477     4/56
Moore, Chris             31   RR   14   45    2    9    2    0    0    3    4   11    0    0    1    .200    .265    .244     /453
Rios, Esteban            25   RR   18   38    2    6    1    0    0    4    1   10    0    0    2    .158    .179    .184      4/8
Louderback, Frank        28   RR   10   24    2    3    1    0    0    1    4    3    0    0    0    .125    .250    .167       /4

Martinez, Francisco      24   LR  103  373   34   94   11    1    4   35    9   35    0    0   10    .252    .275    .319      5/6
Morrison, Mike           30   RR   56  234   23   71   10    0    5   24   14   15    1    2    8    .303    .345    .410        5
Villafana, Marco         25   RR   15   29    4    5    1    0    1    7    5    5    0    0    0    .172    .297    .310      /56

Temudo, Guido            24   RR   64  192   15   39    5    2    1   16   24   25    1    1    9    .203    .299    .266        6
Armand, Mike             31   RR   43  148   20   34    5    2    2   18   20   30    7    2    2    .230    .320    .331     64/5
Yeater, Andrew           24   LR   61  151   16   32    2    0    2   17   12   31    3    1    3    .212    .274    .265    6/457
Flores, Hugo             29   SR   35  112   10   22    4    2    3   11    3   19    1    1    1    .196    .222    .348      6/4
Ramey, Justin            32   RR   13   57   12   14    0    0    2    6    2   10    0    1    2    .246    .271    .351      6/4

This team went through a looooooot of position players. It's what you do when you're very bad. That said, they managed to alight on one guy to play first base and kept him the entire season. That was 29 year old rookie Kozue Nakamura, a Rule V draft pick from the Angels who immediately made good after getting out of that particular logjam. It's easy to see why California didn't ever use him - Nakamura has no power whatsoever and is only an adequate fielder - but for Milwaukee he was a source of some of the only offense they could muster. His bat control meant he put the ball in play a *lot*, which contributed to a high average but also to 29 double plays. The other guys at this position were mainly pinch hitters and failed players from other systems; I'd be very surprised if anyone other than Nakamura played the majority of games for this team in '72.

Second base was pretty much a revolving door all season long and as of this writing it's not completely clear who the team will choose for 1972. Eric Biron was the incumbent from 1970 but he got hurt in May and barely played the rest of the season. That opened the way for... a big mess, although eventually Milwaukee acquired two former Yankees in Wing-fung Yi and Pat Jones. Jones in particular hit well but seems kind of against the overall youth movement going on here; nevertheless, as of this writing he's still on the team. All that said, one of the main pickups in the blockbuster trade with the Red Sox was [b]Dwayne Fraser (.308, 2, 14), who was the Red Sox' starter in 1970 and who was great as a backup for the World Series Champs. His big downside, indeed the reason why the Red Sox benched him, is an arm that's bad even for a keystoner. He's also rather lacking in range. These are probably issues the Brewers will learn to live with.

Mike Morrison swept in, gave the Brewers a huge upgrade at third base over the final two months, and for his production he was shipped off to the Orioles for a couple of minor leaguers. That means that Francisco Martinez is at least on paper the 3rd baseman again. Martinez hit for about as empty a .252 average as you will ever see. He is a plus fielder at third, at least if you can get over his occasional stone hands, but is that enough? I'd say that one of the guys Milwaukee got back for Morrison, Leo Lujan, would compete here, but the AI smartly released him on the 28th. At this point it looks like they'll need to find someone via trade or off the waiver wire, as their top infield prospects all have pretty bad arms.

Shortstop was also a pain position in 1971 and doesn't look to be much better in '72. They should at least have Guido Temudo for the entire year; the 25 year Venezuelan was out until August with a broken bone in his elbow he suffered in the 1970 offseason. The only thing keeping him from being a Gold Glove quality fielder is a lack of range; granted, that's a pretty big thing. He also hit .257 in 1970 and the Brewers will hope that that, and not a 1971 season that was spent trying to get back into the swing of things, represents his true value. Andrew Yeater, his backup going forward, is the dictionary definition of replacement level.

Code:

Batting                 Age   BT    G   AB    R    H   2B   3B   HR  RBI   BB   SO   SB   CS   DP      BA     OBP     SLG      Pos
Powell, Andrew           27   LL  117  382   38   92   14    0    2   24   16   38    1    0    9    .241    .275    .293       79
Ferrell, Jared           25   LL  104  279   46   80   16    2   19   49   40   47    1    0    4    .287    .383    .563     79/8
Allen, Mike              33   RR   20   45    4    2    0    0    0    2    2   15    0    0    1    .044    .098    .044     /789
Barlow, Terry            27   LL   16   44    3   11    1    2    1    3    5    7    0    0    1    .250    .340    .432        7
Zalaznik, Josh           27   RR   13   26    2    6    0    0    1    3    4    4    0    0    2    .231    .313    .346      /73
Fernandez, Mario         25   RR   10   19    1    7    1    0    0    5    1    0    0    0    0    .368    .400    .421       /7
Ashbaker, Ryan           28   RR    6   17    1    5    1    0    0    1    0    2    0    0    0    .294    .294    .353       /7
Arredondo, Antonio       28   RR    6    9    2    3    0    0    1    2    0    1    0    0    0    .333    .333    .667       /7

Ceballos, Fernando       28   RR  136  520   54  117    7    5    3   23    9   75   14    3    4    .225    .236    .275     8*/9
Springsteen, Bruce       22   LL   32  124   16   36    4    0    9   21   10   25    2    0    1    .290    .341    .540      8/7
Haskell, Jason           30   LR   13   20    2    4    0    0    0    1    4    3    0    1    0    .200    .333    .200      /87
Berry, Jon               31   LL   14   14    2    5    1    0    0    1    2    2    2    0    0    .357    .412    .429      /87

Poynor, Ross             28   LR   79  284   31   73    5    7    7   27   20   39    8    5    3    .257    .300    .398     9/87
Marsden, John            28   LL   47  177   14   35    4    1    4   17   16   24    2    0    4    .198    .263    .299        9
Greeno, Roger            29   RL   24   40    4    8    1    1    0    3    7   11    0    0    1    .200    .319    .275     9/78

Left field was also a big, big mess in 1971 that the team hopes will resolve itself. Andrew Powell was acquired in late April with the hopes that he'd become a cornerstone of the lineup. Instead he hit an empty .241 - almost 60 points below his 1970 average - and lost his job as the season went on to the intriguing Jared Ferrell. It's safe to say that Ferrell was blocked in what has now been shown to be a talented Kansas City outfield. Nevertheless, Ferrell was the best hitter on this team over the second half of the season and hopes to be their cleaup hitter of the future. He does have a strong enough arm to play in right and so might see a lot of time there, especially if Jun Kim is as washed as some people fear.

Fernando Ceballos is another guy who just kind of finds himself in ownership of a starting job in spite of a really, really bad 1970 season. Ceballos is a top notch fielder, it must be noted. You've still got to carry an on-base percentage of higher than .236 to survive in this league, great defender or no. For that reason rumors abound that the actual CF for 1972 is the failed Yankees prospect Ross Poynor. Poynor was a good, solid starter for NY in 1969 (.298, 8, 41) who then lost his job in 1970 because the Yankees love them some old men. He was then traded to the Brewers for virtual peanuts (specifically, the peanut named John Marsden) in early June. He was hitting just .220 for the Yankees at the time of the trade so his .257/7/27 was pretty solid, all things considered. It's still well south of what the Brewers expected. And we have to be honest: even if he plays in center, he's got the range of a corner outfielder.

Jun Kim figures to be the team's starting right fielder and the veteran leader the front office insists that they need to kickstart this team. Kim missed all of September with a strained hamstring and hit just .111 in the postseason, leading some to believe he was done. Cooler minds think he just struggled to come back from the first major injury of his career. The missed time also meant he failed to win his 6th Gold Glove but at least on that front everyone agrees that his magnificent arm is still intact.

06-01-2023, 09:08 AM	#163
Hammerpgh Minors (Single A) Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: London, England Posts: 85	Only just getting into all this and loving the look of this thread.. not sure how far it will go but going to enjoy reading it for however long it lasts. Great job