1969 and on (royals)

[royalblue5]

Well as much as I would lovev to write an incredibly interesting thread that kept everyone on the edge of their seats, I cannot, I am just not that talented. But, I thought a few might find it intersting to keep up with the pseudo reality that I achieve in my MLB replay beginning in 1969.

I have rookies set to enter the majors with their real team, also have trades set to minimal and/or difficult, whichever it is. The league will expand and adjust just as it did in real life.

I am serving as the gm for the royals, as my username indicates they have always been my team. I will plan on giving yearly updates about the "big" things that occur around the bigs, and some team specific KC stuff.

[royalblue5]

This whole idea to post came to be a little late, it is already the 1970 season.

I will try to catch you up on what occurred in the 1969 campaign. I apologize for not including the standings, I will try to do better in the future.

The world series champs were the Baltimore orioles, they defeated the Philadelphia phillies in 6 games. The braves and the a's we're in the playoffs as well.

Single game highlights include:
Jimmy Wynn hitting 3 homers and driving in 10 for the Astros at wrigley field
Hank Aaron hitting for the cycle for the braves
Tom Seaver threw a no hitter as the mets beat the cardinals

1969 season accomplishments:
Pitching reigned supreme as 13 pitchers were 20 gm winners
Baltimore and Oakland each had 3 (cuellar, McNally, Palmer & c Dobson, hunter and blue moon odom)
MVP honors went to
Reggie Jackson (oak). .296 49 120
Willie mccovey (sf) .290 35 92

Cy young award
Mel stottlemyre jr (NYY). 24-10 2.43
Jerry koosman (nym). 22-11. 2.28

ROY
Merv Rettunmend (Balt). .300. 26. 75
Tom griffin (hou) 20-8 2.64

Milestones met
Jim Bunning (Pitt) 2500 k and 200 wins
Don drysdale (LAN) 2500 k
Bob Gibson (sl) 2000 k

Harmon Killebrew (minn) 400 hr
Orlando Cepeda (atl) 300 hr
Willie McCovey (sf) 300 hr

Roberto Clemente (Pitt) 2500 hits
Luis Aparicio (cws) 2000 hits

Of note, Mr Cub was let go and picked up by the phillies, who sent him to aaa, he is stuck on 2458 hits and 486 homers

[royalblue5]

The inaugural season of the royals was pretty poor, as is expected of most expansion teams. We finished with a record of 68-94

Here is the list of players that started the most games at rather particular position, if they were not an actual member of the 69 royals I will indicate how I received them. Also, any stats following a player indicates he led the team in that category.

C Tim mcCarver. Waivers from slouis
1b mike fiore 130 bb. 110 k
2b bill mazeroski waivers from Pitt
3b joe foy
SS Maury wills 28 sb, from mont. for Paul schaal
Of Lou piniella .291 154h, 29 doubles
Of bob Oliver 32 hr, 91 RBI
Of Ed Kirkpatrick

Sp Wally bunker 12-18. 12cg
Sp dick drago
Sp roger Nelson. 3.78 era
Sp bill butler
Sp Carl Morton from mont in wills deal
Rp moe drabowsky 14s

Went with 5 man rotation as a means to try out more starters over thes first few seasons, all other teams are set to era specific management.

After the season acquired richie Hebner from Pitt for Jim rooker
Also picked up Amos Otis from nym for Ed Kirkpatrick

Btw, Ron Bloomberg will not be the first ever dh, as his career ended in 69 with a fractured ankle.

[royalblue5]

Well we have just wrapped up the playoffs and the Minnesota Twins have captured the World Championship.

After finishing off the Baltimore Orioles the Twins went on to defeat the Houston Astros 4 games to 2. The Astros had previously swept the New York Mets.

Standings
AL East
Baltimore 107-55
Yankees 88-74
Tigers 88-74
Senators 83-79
Indians 71-91
BoSox 70-92

AL West
Twins 95-67
Royals 82-80
ChiSox 80-82
Angels 78-84
A's 77-85
Brewers 53-109

NL East
Mets 104-58
Pirates 84-78
Phillies 80-82
Cubs 76-86
Expos 75-87
Cardinals 73-89

NL West
Astros 94-68
Giants 92-70
Reds 88-74
Dodgers 82-80
Braves 68-94
Padres 56-106

Season accomplishments
Once again there were double digit 20 game winners with 11, The Orioles again had 3 (Palmer, Cuellar and McNally) while the Mets also had 3 (Seaver, Koosman and Jim McAndrew)

MVP honors
AL Jim Palmer (Bal) 24-9 2.00 era 7 shutouts 18 cg's
NL Willie McCovey (SF) .303 42 HR and 127 rbi (back to back winner)

Cy Young
AL Jim Palmer (Bal) see above
NL Jim McAndrew (NYM) 24-6 2.32 era 5 shutouts 15 cg

ROY
AL Roy Foster (Clev) .289 36hr 102 rbi
NL Ken Singleton (NYM) .310 20 hr 71 rbi

Milestones met
3000 hits-Hank Aaron (ATL)
2500 hits-Al Kaline (Det)
2000 hits-Vada Pinson (MIL)
600 HR-Willie Mays (SF)
300 HR-Norm Cash (Det)
Frank Howard (Wash)
200 W- Juan Marichal (SF)

Tony Perez had the seasons longest hitting streak at 29 games
Sam McDowell (Clev) and Bert Blyleven (Minn) both had 15k games
On a sad note Blyleven suffered a shoulder injury that forced him to retire after this, his, rookie campaign he went 16-7 2.73 era

[royalblue5]

AL-Rod Carew (Minn) 222 hits, 45 2b and a .380 avg
NL- Billy Williams (CHC) .337 avg
Bobby Tolan (CIN) 212 hits
Pete Rose (CIN) 41 2b

AL- Bill Melton (CHW) 44HR, 131 rbi
NL-Tony Perez (CIN) 45 HR
Willie McCovey (SF) 127 rbi

AL Bert Campaneris (OAK) 73 sb
NL-Joe Morgan (HOU) 57 sb

AL- Dave McNally (Balt) 27-10
NL-Larry Dierker (HOU) 24-7

AL-Jim Palmer (Balt) 2.00 era
Sam McDowell (Clev) 286k
NL-Tom Seaver (NYM) 2.22 era, 251k

Marty Pattin (MIL) went 9-26 and Steve Carlton (SL) was 10-23

[royalblue5]

Here is a look at the most common lineup used by manager Joe Gordon
The team finished at 82-80

C-Tim McCarver
1B-Mike Fiore 93bb
2B-Mazeroski
3B-Richie Hebner.313 avg
SS-Maury Wills 35sb, 26 doubles
OF-Lou Piniella 88 rbi, 174 hits
OF-Amos Otis 17HR
OF-Joe Keough

SP-Dick Drago 16-10 2.68 era
SP-Wally Bunker
SP-Paul Splittorff
SP-Roger Nelson
SP-Carl Morton
RP Moe Drabowsky 17s

Bob Oliver barely cleared the mendoza line at .209 and led the team with 79k

Reserve clause era will remain in effect until I enter the preseason of 1976, if anyone knows why I should begin the FA era any sooner I am open to suggestions

[royalblue5]

Well ownership has given me an expectation of at least .500 ball

Annual Sporting News preseason publication gave me the lofty 64-98 record to live up to. Somebody is going to be way off, I just hope it is the Sporting News, because they do not sign my paycheck.

And, to make matters worse we have lost the following regulars

1B Mike Fiore
3B Rich Hebner
OF Pat Kelly for 5 weeks
OF Lou Piniella for 2 Months

btw Sporting News looking good we are 1-4

[royalblue5]

In a move of perhaps desperation the Royals have added some "leadership" to their club, or at least, some seniority

They shipped Chuck Harrison and Dave Wickersham to the Phillies for Ernie Banks and George Brunet. We certainly got older, but, saved a little bit of coin. Banks will be playing first with Fiore out, freeing up Oliver to help in the much maligned OF.

We also now have 3 veterans to come check out on their milestone marches

Bill Mazeroski- 17 hits away from 2000

Maury Wills-66 hits away from 2000
22 SB from 600

Ernie Banks-38 hits away from 2500
14 HR from 500


On another note the Say Hey Kid got hit # 3000

[kev24fan]

How is your team doing?

[royalblue5]

Sorry for very little info, more to come soon

However, we now sit at 11-13 on May 1, after just taking 2 at home from the Orioles

[royalblue5]

Leaders by division
AL East
Orioles (however all 6 teams are within 2.5 gms)
AL West
White Sox
Royals last place 3.5 back

NL East
Pirates up 4.5 on 2nd place Mets
NL West
Astros are on fire 20-5, 6gm lead over Giants

AL leaders
Avg
Manny Mota(Clev) .429
Joe Foy .370
HR
Reggie Jackson (Oak) 10
RBI
Amos Otis 22
SB
Sandy Alomar Sr (CWS) 8

Wins
Stan Bahnsen (NYY) 5
ERA
Stan Bahnsen (NYY) 0.23
K
Vida Blue (Oak) 45

NL Leaders
Avg
Ken Boswell (NYN) .371
HR
Bob Bailey (HOU) 6
John Mayberry (HOU) 6
Willie Mays (SF) 6
RBI
Earl Williams (Atl) 21
SB
Cesar Cedeno (Hou) 12
Joe Morgan (Hou) 12

Wins
Ken Forsch (Hou) 5
ERA
Gary Gentry (NYN) 1.00
K
Fergie Jenkins (CHN) 50

Not too difficult to see why the Astros are out in front, lots of early league leaders.

As for the Royals well we have won 2 in a row, just got Hebner and Fiore back from injury. As you could see Foy filled in great in Hebners absence, AO has been great from the start, in fact he garnered AL hitter of the month for April.
On the bump, Paul Splittorff and Dick Drago have been great as for the rest, so so to say the best.

[royalblue5]

In a 3-1 victory by the Royals over the Orioles, Bill Mazeroski reached the 2000 hit plateau. Maz went 1-4 as the Royals completed their second straight sweep of the talented Orioles. In fact the club has won 8 while only losing 2 in the month of May.

Orlando Cepeda (Atl) also collected #2000
Sam McDowell (Clev) got his 2000th K

[royalblue5]

Well here we go

AL East
Orioles have built a 3.5 game lead over Detroit
O's lose Frank Robinson for 5 weeks


AL West
White Sox continue to impress, maintain a 3.5 game leave over the potent A's
Royals 8 GB, 22-28

NL East
Mets and Cardinals tied, Pirates only 1.5 back

NL West
Astros (40-12) running away from Giants up 10 games

AL Leaders
avg
Ron Fairly (Clev) .385
Joe Foy (KC) .350
HR
REG-GIE (Oak) 15
Amos Otis (KC) 6
rbi
Bill Melton (CWS) 38
Amos Otis (KC) 34
SB
Sandy Alomar Jr (CWS) 16
Campy Campaneris (OAK) 14
Maury Wills (KC) 8

Wins
Pat Dobson (DET) 8
Dick Drago (KC) 5
ERA
Bill Gogolewski (Wash) 1.59
Dick Drago (KC) 2.02
K
Vida Blue (OAK) 87
Roger Nelson (KC) 49

NL Leaders
avg
Wes Parker (LAN) .335
HR
Dick Allen (PHIL) 17
RBI
Earl Williams (ATL) 48
SB
Joe Morgan (HOU) 24

Wins
Jack Billingham (HOU) 10
ERA
Jack Billingham (HOU) 1.44
K
Fergie Jenkins (CHC) 101

Ernie Banks has performed fairly well, however, he just went on the DL, he was hitting .233 with 3 HR and 24 RBI

Milestones
In addition to Mazeroski, Brooks Robinson has now joined the 2000 hit club

[royalblue5]

Joe Gordon, has been released as the manager of the KC Royals. To date, he is the only manager the team has known. He was 181-214 in his 2 plus seasons, not too bad for an expansion manager, but the recent "dry spell" of the offense, having lost 4 of 5, left management with no other choice.

The team has given Will Smith, a relative unknown, the remainder of the season to prove whether or not he is worthy to take over the reins of this young club

[royalblue5]

Smith has really shaken things up, the Royals are 4-3 and winners of 4 of the last 5 under his watch.

AL East
Orioles have a 2 game lead over the pesky Senators

AL West
White Sox maintain a 7gm lead over the A's
Royals sit in 5th 13.5 back

NL East
Cardinals lead the Mets by 2.5

NL West
Astros (56-23) all but wrapped up the west, 9.5 up on the Giants

Leaders
Avg
Ron Fairly (Clev) .353 Bob Watson (HOU) .336
Amos Otis .324
HR
REG-GIE (OAK) 22 Dick Allen (PHIL) 17
Richie Hebner 9
RBI
Bill Melton (CHW) 62 Earl Williams (ATL) 70
Amos Otis 49
SB
Sandy Alomar Sr (CHW) 29 Joe Morgan (HOU) 26
Amos Otis 13

Wins
Bill Gogolewski (WSN) 12 Jack Billingham (HOU) 12
Fritz Peterson (NYA) 12
Paul Splittorff 7
ERA
Bill Gogolewski (WSN) 1.50 Steve Carlton (SLN) 1.88
Paul Splittorff 2.79
K's
Vida Blue (OAK) 125 Tom Seaver (NYN) 143
Joe Coleman (WSN) 125
Paul Splittorff 75

Dick Drago and Lou Piniella have landed back on the DL, Piniella has only managed 24 ab on the season, and Drago had been one of the better starters in the AL.

Juan Marichal (SF) recorded his 2000 strikeout
The Braves have sent Orlando Cepeda to the A's, as Charlie Finley attempts to catch the red hot White Sox

[royalblue5]

In Haiti for a few days, sorry no updates for 10-12 days

[JRockne]

Thanks for the storyline. I've started in 1969. I'm playing with the Seattle Pilots.

I play out each game and I did not think of siming the league like you are doing.

My dad covered the Seattle Pilots for the Seattle Times. (for part of the season). He's got some great stories from that year and team. Of course I am also rereading Ball Four.

With your interest in baseball of that era, have you read The Team that Changed Baseball? http://www.amazon.com/The-Team-That-.../dp/1594160309

Great book.

[royalblue5]

I have not, I will have to check that out, and thanks for checking out my Royals thread

[royalblue5]

Well the trading deadline has now passed without a whole lot of movement, and none at all by the Royals
The club sets at 52-56 in 4th place

AL East
Baltimore has a 10.5 gm lead on the Senators

AL West
White Sox continue to hold off the Twins with a 4gm lead

NL East
St Louis holds a 4gm lead over the Pirates

NL West
Astros still the talk of baseball at 73-35, Giants 13 back

Leaders
Avg
Amos Otis (KC) .326 Dave Cash (Pitt) .339

HR
REG-GIE (Oak) 29 Lee May (Cin) 25
Hebner (KC) 15

RBI
Bill Melton (CHW) 82 Earl Williams (ATL) 84
Amos Otis (KC) 72

SB
Campy Campaneris (Oak) 37 Joe Morgan (HOU) 36
Amos Otis, Maury Wills (KC) 23

Wins
John Curtis (Bos), Fritz Peterson (NYY) 16 Bill Stoneman (MON) Jack Billingham (HOU) 16
Paul Splittorff (KC) 9

ERA
Bill Gogolewski (Was) 1.94 Nolan Ryan (NYN) 1.88
Roger Nelson (KC) 3.10

K
Sam McDowell (Cle) 182 Tom Seaver (NYN) 189
Roger Nelson (KC) 102

Dick Drago and Lou Piniella are back off of the DL, Moe Drabowsky, the teams all-time saves leader was released. Interim manager Will Smith has been given complete control of the lineup and the staff, a privilege Joe Gordon was not granted. Perhaps this will serve as a lesson to GM Lasher, not to meddle too much.
Roger Nelson SP, Richie Hebner 3B and Amos Otis CF, represented the Royals in the AS Game

Around the league
1970 ROY Ken Singleton has been lost for 4 months with a broken leg
the Mets have also lost Nolan Ryan for 10 months with a stretched elbow ligament

Jim Lonborg (BOS) and George Stone (ATL) each threw no-hitters

Maury Wills got hit # 2000
Billy Williams hit HR # 300

Ernie Banks needs only 2 hits to reach the 2500 plateau

[royalblue5]

In the bottom of the 9th, Ernie Banks laced a one hopper off of the glove of Bert Campaneris. The milestone came off of Rollie Fingers at Municipal Stadium in downtown Kansas City