The Whirled Baseball League

Baseball The Way It Never Was

TWIWBL 100.4: Year 3, Week 3 – Effa Manley Division

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On September 5, 2026

In TWIWBL

TeamW/LPctGB
Philadelphia Stars13-6.684—
Ottawa Mounties11-7.6111.5
Homestead Grays9-9.5003.5
New York Gothams8-10.4444.5
Brooklyn Royal Giants8-10.4444.5
Effa Manley Division | 22 April

Brooklyn Royal Giants

The news on Nap Rucker‘s DL stint could have been worse, with the hurler due to miss about 5 weeks. Pedro Guerrero will be out about the same length of time, maybe a little longer, with Jim Gentile being recalled from AAA Queens, where he hit .311 with 47 homeruns last year.

Fernando Valenzuela struck out 10 in 6 innings at Homestead for his first win of the season, a welcome change from the misery of his debut performances on the season.

Homestead Grays

The very promising Tim Lincecum has begun a rehab assignment after a long-term injury.

Ottawa Mounties

Old Hoss Radbourn, Kevin Gross, Ryan Dempster and Billy Koch combined to 1-hit Philadelphia in a game that spanned 2 days due to a rain delay, with the Mounties winning 7-0. Álex Rodríguez hit 2 out in that game and did it again the next day.

Dupee Shaw was injured, with Gary Peters being recalled.

Philadelphia Stars

Bullet Joe Rogan hit 2 homeruns in a 5-3 win at the House of David, then did it again few days later. That’s 9 on the season for the unique 2-way talent.

TWIWBL 100.3: Year 3, Week 3 – Cum Posey Division

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On September 4, 2026

In TWIWBL

TeamW/LPctGB
San Francisco Sea Lions12-7.632—
Los Angeles Angels11-8.5791
Portland Sea Dogs11-8.5791
Chicago American Giants10-8.5561.5
Miami Cuban Giants9-10.4743
Cum Posey Division | 22 April

Chicago American Giants

Sam Streeter struck out 10 for the second time this year, but you wouldn’t know it from his ERA, which tops 7.00.

Los Angeles Angels

Richie Hebner hit 2 homeruns and drove in 4 in a 10-7 win at Portland.

Miami Cuban Giants

Robin Yount hit 2 out of the park in an 8-3 win over Los Angeles. It was a costly win for Miami, as Iván Rodríguez was hurt running the bases and will miss 5-6 weeks. Smoky Burgess was recalled from AAA to back up Chris Hoiles behind the plate.

A few days later Alejandro Oms joined the Cuban Giants on the DL, with Miami recalling reliver Aaron Barrett in hopes of lengthening their bullpen.

Portland Sea Dogs

Sure, Walter Johnson is the best SP in the league right now, but he’s hitting this year, too, sporting a .368 average on the young season.

Joseíto Muñoz struck out 11 in a 7-1 win over Los Angeles, with the Sea Dogs leaving the youngster in there for 142 pitches. That can’t be a great long term plan.

Chuck Klein had a hand in all 4 runs of a 4-3, 11-inning win over Baltimore: 2 solo homeruns, a 2-out single to tie it in the 8th, and scoring the winning run in the 11th. Klein is slugging over .500 as he adjusts to life in the WBL.

Jerry Blevins–hurt since well into last season–has begun a rehab assignment.

San Francisco Sea Lions

Some good pitching has brought San Francisco’s overall performance back towards expectations. Bump Hadley allowed 1 hit in 6 innings with 11 strikeouts, and then Lefty Grove struck out 13 in a 4-1 win over the Black Yankees.

Veteran Tim Hudson was injured while pitching and will miss about 2 weeks. The timing sped up Ron Robinson‘s return, with the reliever being welcomed back after an absence of close to a year.

TWIWBL 100.2: Year 3, Week 3 – Bill James Division

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On September 3, 2026

In TWIWBL

TeamW/LPctGB
Memphis Red Sox10-8.556—
Detroit Wolverines9-10.4741.5
New York Black Yankees9-10.4741.5
Baltimore Black Sox6-11.3533.5
Cleveland Spiders5-12.2944.5
Bill James Division | 22 April

Baltimore Black Sox

Ned Garvin struck out 11 in 6 innings at Portland — his 2nd double-digit strikeout game of the season.

Cleveland Spiders

Bob Feller fanned 13 in 7 innings, but left trailing 3-2 before Cleveland came from behind to beat Chicago, 6-5.

Bill Steen struck out 11 in an 11-2 win over Baltimore.

Terry Adams–Cleveland’s closer for the past 2 years–has begun a rehab assignment, and should be back this week. It was assumed that, when Adams went down, Aroldis Chapman would take over for the Spiders–2 blown saves and a loss later, and Cleveland can’t get their closer back soon enough.

Detroit Wolverines

Buddy Napier will miss about a month, with Jack Wilson being recalled to cover some middle innings out of the bullpen.

Wander Franco stays on his rehab assignment for now: the Wolverines can’t justify moving on from Damion Easley, who is slashing 500/579/750 as Franco’s utility IF replacement.

Justin Verlander struck out 10 in 6 innings, but surrendering 2 homeruns led to a loss. Verlander continues to frustrate Detroit, alternating between flashes of intense potential and abject failure–he’s 0-1 with a 7.23 ERA.

Memphis Red Sox

The enigma known as Skel Roach will miss about 5 weeks. LHP Jon Lester was recalled from AAA.

Ted Williams hit 2 out in consecutive games, first powering an 8-0 win over New York, then leading a wild 14-10 win over the Black Yankees.

New York Black Yankees

Lou Gehrig drove in 6 in the that 14-10 loss to Memphis.

Rogers Hornsby, who entered the day hitting .122, went 6-for-6 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBI, setting the AL regular-season record for hits in a game doing it. Hornsby ended the day with 16 total bases in a 16-6 win at San Francisco.

TWIWBL 100.1: Year 3, Week 3 – Early Days Yet

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On September 2, 2026

In TWIWBL

Sort of fun to have made it to a century of TWIWBL’s.

22 April, 2002

There’s just not a lot to write about yet–we have some injuries, we have some potentially impactful rehab assignments, and we have some early performances to track, but it’s all only 3 weeks old.

Probably the most striking thing is the lack of separation–other the abysmal start by the Indianapolis ABCs, who are 4-14, almost all of the league is held in pretty tight clusters around .500.

#Awards

Memphis‘ Ted Williams was named the AL Player of the Week, hitting .400 for the week with 6 homeruns, 13 RBI and 9 runs scored. Four of his homeruns came on a single Wednesday — 2 in a suspended game finished that afternoon, 2 more in the nightcap. Williams’ name will recur a lot this week, as the Red Sox OF is basically tearing the cover off the ball.

The NL Player of the Week is a far less well-known name: Kansas City‘s Mickey Welch threw 18 innings across 2 starts and allowed 1 earned run, giving him a 0.50 ERA with 11 strikeouts and 2 walks, including a complete-game 2-hit shutout of Brooklyn with a game score of 89, the best single start in the WBL this season.

#In The Minors

Elmer Smith (Los Angeles) took AAA Player of the Week honours at Las Vegas, Marquis Grissom (Miami) at AA Havana, and Pat Meares (Portland) in A-ball at St. Paul.

#Player Performance

In general, we list the top 2-3 in all categories, and we’ve usually seen the lists stabilize over the course of a season. It’s very early days, but a lot of the names here are quite familiar.

#Batters

The batting leaders have a Ted Williams problem, as The Splendid Splinter leads the WBL in batting average, on-base, slugging, runs, RBI and walks, and shares the homerun lead — 6 of the 9 categories outright, and a share of a 7th.

Williams shares the homerun lead with Philadelphia‘s Bullet Joe Rogan. Rogan, of course, is doing it while maintaining his spot in the Stars’ rotation. He doesn’t even qualify for the batting rate stats, making his 9 dingers even more impressive.

In addition to Gehrig below, HOM’s Judy Johnson, NYG’s Willie Mays, and CLE’s Arky Vaughan are tied with 2 triples each. KAN’s Cool Papa Bell and SFS’s Frank Grant lead the WBL with 5 SB each.

Roberto Alomar (OTT). 379/425/682. 1.3 WAR.
Pete Browning (HOD). 368/429/632.
Rico Carty (PHI). 389/424/759.
Ty Cobb (DET). 391/427/754. 27 H.
Carlos Delgado (LAA). 261/433/457.
Lou Gehrig (NYY). 318/416/758. 21 RBI.
Grant Johnson (NYG). 362/392/594. 10 2B.
Jackie Robinson (BRK). 301/338/521. 10 2B.
Charles Rogan (PHI). 327/375/904. 9 HR, 17 R.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 232/419/500. 17 BB.
Turkey Stearnes (SFS). 286/318/714. 8 HR.
Ted Williams (MEM). 443/568/967. 27 H, 9 HR, 19 R, 24 RBI, 19 BB, 1.7 WAR.

At the less glorious end, Los Angeles’s Dobie Moore has struck out 40 times in 48 games’ worth of at-bats and is hitting .100. Which is not a lot of return for Tom Seaver, who is pitching like an ace for Memphis.

#Pitchers

Ten hurlers have 3 wins. One of them, Portland’s Walter Johnson has been the best pitcher in the league by a distance, going 3-0 with a 1.65 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP. Johnson has done this before–he was the best pitcher over the first half of 2000 before fading a bit down the stretch.

San Francisco‘s Lefty Grove leads the league with 49 strikeouts and struck out 13 in a single start himself, the highest total of the young season.

#Starters

A very early list for sure.

Bob Feller (CLE). 1-4, 5.96. 32 K.
Dwight Gooden (LAA). 2-2, 3.86. 1.89 FIP, 1.0 WAR.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 3-1, 3.78. 49 K. 33 IP.
Walter Johnson (POR). 3-0, 1.65. 41 K. 27 IP. 0.73 WHIP, 1.94 FIP, 1.2 WAR.
Dennis Martínez (BAL). 3-0, 2.49. .178 BABIP.
Camilo Pascual (MCG). 3-0, 4.03.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 2-2, 3.57. 0.9 WAR.
Charlie Root (DET). 1-1, 2.11.
Tom Seaver (MEM). 1-1, 2.01.
J.M. Ward (PHI). 2-1, 2.35. .158 BABIP.
Mickey Welch (KAN). 2-1, 3.62. 27 IP.
Vic Willis (LAA). 2-0, 2.37. 0.74 WHIP.

#Relievers

Too early for rate stats, so we’re looking at the leaders in saves and holds only for now.

Rod Beck (SFS). 1-0, 0.00. 6 Sv.
Dellin Betances (HOD). 0-1, 5.40. 3 H.
Chad Bradford (DET). 2-1, 5.00. 3 H.
Roberto Osuna (HOU). 0-1, 1.12. 3 H.
Jonathan Papelbon (MCG). 0-0, 3.86. 5 Sv.
Harley Young (BBB). 0-1, 2.16. 5 Sv.

#Hardest Shots

Five balls tied at 119 mph this week, from homeruns to singles to a groundout to short: Ted Williams‘s 3-run blast (there’s that man again), Jim Wynn‘s solo shot, Frank Grant‘s double, and Mark McGwire‘s groundball single all at least had positive outcomes. Not so much for Mickey Mantle, who laced a ball on the ground at the same velocity, only to be thrown out 6-3.

#Injuries

Three notable losses this week.

Brooklyn will be without Pedro Guerrero for about 6 weeks, which would usually elicit a yawn, but Guerrero had started the season strong, and leaves a hole in the Royal Giants lineup. Two other high profile names hit the DL as well: Miami’s Iván Rodríguez is out for for 5-6 weeks, and Houston will be without Tony Gwynn for 3 weeks or so.

TWIWBL 99.5: Year 3, Week 2 – Marvin Miller Division

By

On August 28, 2026

In TWIWBL

TeamW/LPctGB
Kansas City Monarchs8-5.615—
Houston Colt .45’s7-6.5381
Wandering House of David7-6.5381
Birmingham Black Barons4-8.3333.5
Indianapolis ABC’s2-10.1675.5
Marvin Miller Division | 15 April

Birmingham Black Barons

Akinori Otsuka began his rehab assignment, and should be back with the big league team in about a week.

Wandering House of David

Some roster notes for the House of David staff: Bob Rush is out for about 3 months, with Fergie Jenkins sliding into his rotation spot. It’s a short-term move, as Jim Clinton is currently rehabbing at AAA, and is expected back soon. Claude Osteen was recalled to take Rush’s roster spot in the meantime.

Newly acquired Brett Anderson combined with Jimmy Key, Dellin Betances, Karl Spooner, and Ed Bauta on a 4 hit shutout in a 3-0 victory.

Mark McGwire launched his first 2 homeruns of the year in an 8-5 win over Indianapolis.

Houston Colt .45’s

Toad Ramsey, still looking to recapture last year’s form, whiffed 10 in just over 6 innings in a 14-4 win over Birmingham. The game may have carried some other good omens for Houston: Pete Hill, mired in a deep slump, had 2 doubles, drove in 3, and scored 3 times.

Indianapolis ABC’s

Oscar Charleston hit 3 homeruns in a 19-5 drubbing of the Gothams, driving in 5 and scoring 4.

Ed Swartwood started a rehab assignment–in about a week, the ABC’s will have some choices to make on their reserve OF, with Pete Rose having about that long to make an impression.

Kansas City Monarchs

A lot of pitching staff churn: the biggest impact is losing closer Craig Kimbrel for about 3 weeks, although Lee Smith certainly looks up for the interim role. Joe Thatcher heads to AAA on a rehab assignment, as does Earl Hamilton, with Jeff Reardon coming back from his to take one WBL spot and Matt Thornton being recalled for another.

Jock Menefee, Reardon, and Smith combined on a 3-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over the House of David.

TWIWBL 99.4: Year 3, Week 2 – Effa Manley Division

By

On August 27, 2026

In TWIWBL

TeamW/LPctGB
Philadelphia Stars10-3.769—
New York Gothams7-5.5832.5
Homestead Grays7-6.5383
Ottawa Mounties6-6.5003.5
Brooklyn Royal Giants5-8.3855
Effa Manley Division | 15 April

Brooklyn Royal Giants

Some roster churn in Brooklyn: Trevor Hildenberger began MiL rehab assignment while Nap Rucker heads to the DL. Eustace “Doc” Newton was recalled from AAA.

New York Gothams

Grant “HR” Johnson has been mashing, hitting 3 doubles in a 16-12 win over Indianapolis.

Dave Righetti–brought over in the same deal that netted Johnson–combined with George Jeffcoat, Vito Tamulis, and Brian Wilson on a 3-hit shutout of the ABC’s the next day, with New York taking the game, 4-0.

Willie Mays hit 2 out against the ABC’s the next day, the only bright spot in a 19-5 drubbing of a loss–a game so bad that Johnson pitched the back end, giving up 7 runs in true mop up duty, but preserving some arms in the beleaguered Gothams’ pen.

The staff did it again later in the week, with Pete Donohue, Masahiro Tanaka, Kent Tekulve, and Wilson holding Kansas City to 3 hits over 10 innings, with the Gothams winning on a Jimmy Sheckard single in the 10th.

Tip O’Neill began a rehab assignment, which should become a more interesting story in about a week. O’Neill is a legitimate 2-way player, and a Rule V choice, so New York may have some decisions to make when he’s ready to be activated.

Ottawa Mounties

Gary Carter had 3 homeruns and 6 RBIs in an 11-2 drubbing of Brooklyn.

Philadelphia Stars

Andrew Payne was recalled to provide some late inning defense after Sherry Magee hit the DL. Payne stepped up to the first PA of his WBL career and launched a 481 foot moonshot off Sandy Koufax for the go-ahead run in a 3-2 win over Brooklyn. Sure, Koufax provided most of the velocity but still .. that ball might still be rolling.

Bullet Joe Rogan just keeps rolling on, as the 2-way star hit 2 homeruns against Brooklyn in a game Harmon Killebrew eventually won with a walkoff shot. Killebrew would add 2 more in a game later in the week, blasting a pair of solo shots in a 6-5 loss to Homestead.

TWIWBL 99.3: Year 3, Week 2 – Cum Posey Division

By

On August 26, 2026

In TWIWBL

TeamW/LPctGB
Chicago American Giants7-6.538—
Los Angeles Angels7-6.538—
Miami Cuban Giants7-6.538—
Portland Sea Dogs7-6.538—
San Francisco Sea Lions7-6.538—
Cum Posey Division | 15 April

Chicago American Giants

Mark Buehrle threw a 1-hitter! But … rain ended the game after 6 innings. So, yay him, but not quite the usual celebration. Travis Jackson carried the offense with 2 homeruns.

The American Giants got a combined shutout, also weather shortened, as Waite Hoyt, Wilbur Wood, and Will Smith held Los Angeles to 5 hits in just under 8 innings, with Chicago winning 2-0.

Miami Cuban Giants

Some meh news from the medical staff: there is still no clear date for Julio Rodríguez‘ return from injury.

Jim Whitney, still really trying to find his groove, whiffed 10 in a no decision against San Francisco.

San Francisco Sea Lions

Bump Hadley and Charlie Ferguson split each side of a rain delay, combining on a 3 hit, 11-0 romp over Miami. Ferguson’s 4 hitless innings gave him that odd statistical achievement of a save in a blowout.

Portland Sea Dogs

Walter Johnson (2-0) delivered one of the finest starts of the year in a 2-1 victory over Detroit. Johnson whiffed 13 in 8 innings, allowing only 4 hits and 1 run (a solo shot to Ty Cobb), for a game score of 83 on the day. The Big Train DHs when he pitches (and is hitting .385 with a dinger), and he was key here, doubling in the 8th with 1 out to move the winning run to 3rd.

TWIWBL 99.2: Year 3, Week 2 – Bill James Division

By

On August 25, 2026

In TWIWBL

TeamW/LPctGB
Detroit Wolverines8-5.615—
New York Black Yankees7-6.5381
Memphis Red Sox6-6.5001.5
Baltimore Black Sox5-7.4172.5
Cleveland Spiders3-10.2315
Bill James Division | 15 April

Baltimore Black Sox

John Tudor begins a MiL rehab assignment–at 37, these can be tricky, but he’ll likely get a WBL recall when healthy.

Cleveland Spiders

The Spiders’ closer, Terry Adams, will miss about a week. This makes the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman look even smarter, as Chapman logically steps right into the role. In a bit of a surprising move, Stew Cliburn was recalled from AAA Buffalo.

The injury bug continued to bite: starter Pat Malone will join Adams on the DL, also for about a week, with reliever Andrew Bailey recalled from AAA. It’s not clear who takes Malone’s starts in the meantime, but it will likely call to either Whit Wyatt or Chuck Porter.

Detroit Wolverines

Twenty year old Wander Franco began his rehab assignment.

New York Black Yankees

Lou Gehrig had himself a day: 4-for-5, 3 R, 8 RBI, 3 HR including a grand slam, and 14 total bases in an 11-9 victory over Cleveland. It was a nice turnaround, as Gehrig had whiffed 5 times a few games earlier, tying the American League mark for futility in a single game.

Don Mattingly, Gehrig’s 1B/DH partner, launched 2 of his own a couple days later, including a walkoff shot in an 8-6 win. That game saw Rogers Hornsby hit his first of the year and Mickey Mantle and Eric Davis go back-to-back as the Black Yankees keep searching for their swagger in the early season.

Whitey Ford, Hoyt Wilhelm, and Goose Gossage combined on a 3 hit, 3-0 blanking of Baltimore. It was Ford’s 2nd win and Gossage’s 1st save of the season.

TWIWBL 99.1: Year 3, Week 2 — The Rains of April

By

On August 24, 2026

In TWIWBL

15 April, 2002

Awards

WBL Players of the Week

Manny Ramírez takes the American League award for Memphis, Oscar Charleston the National League for Indianapolis. Charleston’s case was essentially made in a single afternoon, as he launched 3 homeruns in a 19-5 win over the New York Gothams. Those were 3 of the his 4 homeruns on the week, during which he hit .385 with 11 RBIs.

Ramírez didn’t show Charleston’s power, but he did hit .524 for the week.

MiL Players of the Week

The Minor League seasons have begun!

So they have their own Player of the Week awards: Roger Maris (New York Black Yankees) took AAA at Newark, Mike Benjamin (Birmingham Black Barons) at AA, and Bill Hallman (Homestead Grays) at A-ball. Of those, only Maris seems to be knocking on the WBL door, but he’s likely shutout unless injury hits the Black Yankees.

Behind the Curtain

I wanted to highlight some things that I’ve been doing in the OOTP engine itself, mostly as information that might be useful for other folks running their own leagues.

In the offseason, I updated the ballparks to actual precipitation rates.

Turns out that’s not great. Here’s why:

Precipitation in OOTP really impacts the game; as such, the question is not how much did it rain, the question is how often did enough rain fall that it impacted play?

The higher precipitation rates–in effect for the first two weeks of the season–were highly, highly impactful. Just under half the games saw rain, just under 10% of the games were postponed, and, in something new to OOTP 27, it seems like rain now pushes error rates up in a noticeable way.

Note that I like rain delays and rainouts–I like anything that stresses roster construction, things that force teams to make roster moves, etc. But this was ridiculous.

A quick sample of impacted games:

  • Chicago threw shutouts on consecutive days and neither was 9 innings. The 4/13 win over Los Angeles was called in the 8th for bad weather (Waite Hoyt, 6 innings, 8 strikeouts); Mark Buehrle‘s 1-hitter the next afternoon was called in the 6th.
  • Ottawa‘s Roy Halladay got 2 innings and 20 pitches on 4/12 before a 36-minute delay ended his night.
  • The Gothams’ 1-0, 10-inning combined 3-hitter at Kansas City on 4/13 was shaped entirely by weather: a 38-minute delay in the 5th ended Pete Donohue at 55 pitches and Masahiro Tanaka piggybacked the rest.
  • San Francisco‘s 11-0 on 4/14: a 33-minute delay in the 5th ended Bump Hadley at 5 innings, and Charlie Ferguson threw the last 4 without giving up another hit.

So what changed?

Essentially, if you go by real-world precipitation rates, you will see a lot of 30s in the weather table.

I just cut each number in half, rounding up. That was it–I left the driest months in LA and San Francisco alone so those summers are still bone dry, and I left Houston alone because of the roof.

We’ll be tracking these numbers and will report back at the end of the month.

The Stats

… will debut next week. Wanted to wait for 3 weeks of data.

Hardest-Hit Balls

Welcome to a new feature, enabled by Claude, who can parse through the game logs quickly and accurately!

So we can now present each week the hardest hits and the hardest outs.

This week, two men tied at the top, each launching bombs at 121 mph. Willie Stargell of Homestead got the better end of it — his solo shot off Houston’s Stephen Strasburg travelled 495 feet, which ties it for the longest home run struck in the league this season. Rogers Hornsby of the New York Black Yankees matched the exit velocity three days later, a 2-run drive off Cleveland‘s Ron Reed.

The hardest out belongs to Portland‘s Paul Molitor, who hit a 119 mph groundball out. Molitor had homered earlier in the game, on a ball hit 16 mph softer. That’s baseball.

TWIWBL 98.5: Year 3, Week 1 – Marvin Miller Division

By

On August 20, 2026

In TWIWBL

TeamW/LPctGB
Kansas City Monarchs5-2.714—
Birmingham Black Barons3-4.4292
Wandering House of David3-4.4292
Houston Colt 45s2-5.2863
Indianapolis ABCs1-5.1673.5
Marvin Miller Division | 8 April

Birmingham Black Barons

The Black Barons opened the year by shutting out the defending champions. Greg Maddux started with 6 scoreless and Kerry Ligtenberg, Bruce Chen and Akinori Otsuka finished a 5-hit combined shutout, 1-0 over Brooklyn.

Otsuka was injured and will spend some time on the DL, with Steve Bedrosian activated in his place.

Indianapolis ABCs

Ed Swartwood was hit by a pitch and is on the disabled list, with Pete Rose recalled from AAA Cincinnati.

Kansas City Monarchs

Smokey Joe Wood struck out 10 over 7 innings in a 7-3 win over Houston, improving to 2-0.

Joe Thatcher was injured while pitching and is on the disabled list; Jeff Reardon was recalled.

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