#Wandering House of David
George Gore‘s fast return from injury meant Anthony Rizzo‘s stay in the big leagues was one overnight, and no games.
Author: mknn Page 46 of 61
#Homestead Grays
Earl Hamilton had to be pulled from his first start of the year with a tight back, and was placed on the DL after the game. Chief Wilson–who had 15 homeruns in 36 games at AAA–was recalled to add some punch to the Grays’ bench.
Corey Kluber was sent to AAA when he came off the DL, where he will be joined by Francisco Liriano, who will be on a rehab assignment.
#Indianapolis ABC’s
Davey Concepcion went 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs and Doc White got his first victory of the year, allowing only 1 hit in nearly 5 innings of relief after a rain delay as the ABC’s beat the New York Gothams 8-1.
#Philadelphia Stars
Pete Alexander will miss over a month with a shoulder injury, prompting the Stars to move Jaret Wright into the starting rotation and bring Larry Jackson up from AAA.
#Baltimore Black Sox
Ned Garvin blanked the Cleveland Spiders on 4 hits as Baltimore rolled to an 8-0 win behind 3 hits from Bobby Wallace and Ramon Hernandez‘ first homerun of the year. Garvin walked none and struck out 3, improving his record to 5-1 and lowering his ERA to 2.09.
Despite a subpar outing, Dennis Martinez joined the list of 7 game winners, moving to 7-1 as the Black Sox came from behind to blow out Cleveland, 10-4. Ken Singleton went 5-for-5, Dan McGann added 3 hits, and Paul Blair–yes, Paul Blair–added 2 homeruns as every Baltimore starter got at least 1 hit.
The Black Sox just find a way to win … down 4-0 after 6, and 5-4 heading into the 9th, Larry Gardner sent the fans home happy with a 2-run walkoff single. Curt Blefary hit 2 homeruns to give him 16 on the year. The win went to Buddy Groom, his first of the year.
#Chicago American Giants
Behind a strong start from Ben Sheets and 3 homeruns from Duffy Lewis, Chicago took apart Birmingham, 12-3. Allowing only 1 run on 3 hits over 7 innings, Sheets improved his record to 5-3. Lewis drove in 4 and Eddie Collins went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs.
Ed Walsh lasted 8 pitches before having to leave the game with an apparent hamstring injury. The American Giants recalled Fernando Rodney from AAA to take Walsh’s place, and his starts should go to Joe Horlen or Frank Smith.
#Houston Colt 45’s
Trevor Hoffman‘s return from the DL moved Bones Ely back to AAA.
#Kansas City Monarchs
Robinson Cano hit 2 homeruns and drove in 4, leading the Monarchs to a 7-3 victory over Ottawa. Andy Pettite got his 4th victory of the year with 7 scoreless innings and Craig Kimbrel picked up his 8th hold. Ted Simmons also had 2 hits in a game that was a pitcher’s duel until the Monarchs exploded for 4 runs in the top of the 7th.
Willie McGee hit 2 homeruns and Frank Castillo allowed only 1 hit before running out of steam in the 8th inning as the Monarchs won the second game of the series, 9-2. McGee drove in 4, and Albert Pujols went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs as Castillo moved to 3-4 on the year.
#Ottawa Mounties
The news was not good on Bob Brown: the Mountie’s best starter all season will miss 4-5 months with a shoulder injury. Clayton Richard, 6-1 with a 3.65 at AAA Montreal, was recalled.
Ted Bowsfield threw 1 pitch in the 9-2 loss to Kansas City before having to leave the game. He was placed on the DL with the Mounties recalling Clark Griffith.
Ottawa’s 4-1 victory over the Monarchs to close out their series was costly, as Tom Henke had to leave with an apparent arm injury. A strong start from Old Hoss Radbourn improved his record to 4-3 and Johnny Podgajny made his WBL debut to relieve Henke and pickup the save. Tim Raines had 2 hits and Anthony Rendon 2 RBIs for the Mounties.
#Detroit Wolverines
Each player in Detroit’s starting lineup had 1 hit, with the biggest being a 2-run single by Oscar Gamble leading the Wolverines to a 4-2 win over the Black Yankees. Johnny Marcum moved to 5-1 with 7.2 strong innings, and Mike Henneman earned his 10th save of the season.
Mickey Lolich was sent to AAA to make room for Si Johnson‘s return from his rehab assignment. Johnson’s return pushes Justin Verlander back to the bullpen.
#Los Angeles Angels
The less said about the 18-3 loss to Miami, the better. Aaron Heilman hit the DL after the game, and Doc Gooden‘s 6th loss of the year–4 innings, 6 walks, 6 hits, 8 runs–sent him to AAA to see if he can work out his great promise. Sid Fernandez and Francisco Rodriguez were recalled from AAA Las Vegas.
AT LAST! After many attempts, Gerrit Cole became the WBL’s first 7 game winner, improving to 7-3 with 7 strong innings in an 8-3 victory for the Angels over Miami. Mike Trout led the way with 4 hits and Don Buford and Bobby Grich added 3 each.
Brett Anderson threw a 4-hitter, blanking Miami 5-0 in a complete game effort. Derrek Lee and Grich each went deep and had 2 hits for Los Angeles.
#New York Gothams
Al Mays will miss a couple weeks after straining his wrist in a 7-1 loss to Indianapolis. Pete Donohue was recalled from AAA to take Mays’s place.
The Gothams’ other Mays–Willie Mays–showed a flash of what the future might hold as the 23 year old hit 2 homeruns, drove in 4, and threw the tying run out at the plate to end the game as New York beat Indianapolis, 5-4. Juan Marichal improved to 6-1 and Brian Wilson, despite giving up 3 hits and a run, was bailed out by Mays’ throw to gain his 6th save.
John Kerins has been tearing up AAA on his rehab assignment, leading the Gothams to send down Joe Adcock, returning Kerins to the big league club as a 1B, and given them 3 catchers on the roster. Carson Smith was also recalled from a rehab assignment, with Carl Hubbell‘s recent injury landing him right back on the DL.
#Wandering House of David
Elrod Hendricks had 2 homeruns and he and Ernie Banks had 3 hits each to back a masterful performance from Jack Taylor, who spun a 2 hit shutout against Portland to improve his record to 3-5. Taylor walked 2 and struck out 6, lowering his ERA to 3.88.
May 26
There were no series sweeps in Series XIII, and half the matchups resulted in 2 game splits, leading most of the divisions to drawing closer together.
The best teams in the WBL continue to surprise, with only two teams playing over .600 ball: the Baltimore Black Sox lead the way at 35-19 and the Portland Sea Dogs are at 34-20. Baltimore leads the Cumberland Posey Division by 6 games; Portland is atop the Marvin Miller Division by 5.5. The other two divisions are much closer, with the Los Angeles Angels, New York Gothams, and Detroit Wolverines all within 1 game in the Bill James Division (the Angels lead the way at 29-25) and the New York Black Yankees ahead of the Philadelphia Stars by 3 in the Effa Manley Division.
Only 1 team–the Miami Cuban Giants–is playing under .400 ball, with Florida’s team managing only 21 wins so far on the season.
After a few weeks of trying, the WBL has its first two 7 game winners, with Los Angeles’ Gerrit Cole and Baltimore’s Dennis Martinez both reaching that mark.
Martinez has probably surpassed Walter Johnson as the best pitcher in the league right now, and the Black Yankees’ Ron Guidry is the only starter ranking 1st or 2nd in four major statistical categories.
Two closers, Aroldis Chapman of Miami and Joe Beggs of the Memphis Red Sox, have yet to give up a run in roughly 13 innings each.
Reggie Jackson‘s run at the triple crown continues: he leads the league in BA and OBP and is fifth in SLG. Jackson’s performance may be the most surprising, but catcher Louis Santop leading the league in triples has to be close, as is the continued excellence from Curt Blefary.
All that said, the Black Yankees’ Babe Ruth continues to be the most valuable offensive player in the league, followed closely by the centerfielder for the cross-town Gothams, Willie Mays.
Performances
Top Starting Pitchers.
| Name | Tm | W-L | ERA | Other |
| Dennis Martinez | BAL | 7-1 | 3.16 | 1.11 WHIP |
| Gerrit Cole | LAA | 7-3 | 4.04 | |
| Don Drysedale | BRK | 4-2 | 2.71 | |
| Ron Guidry | NYY | 5-4 | 3.23 | 1.13 WHIP; 86 K |
| Walter Johnson | POR | 6-1 | 3.58 | 2.5 WAR |
| Luke Hamlin | KAN | 3-4 | 3.92 | 2.1 WAR |
| Lefty Grove | SFS | 5-2 | 3.23 | 77 K |
Top Relievers.
| Name | Tm | W-L | ERA | Sv | Hld | WHIP |
| Johan Santana | POR | 1-1 | 3.00 | 17 | ||
| Bob Howry | PHI | 1-2 | 4.58 | 14 | ||
| Aroldis Chapman | MIA | 0-2 | 0.00 | 9 | ||
| Joe Beggs | MEM | 0-0 | 0.00 | 8 | ||
| Ron Reed | PHI | 0-2 | 2.83 | 2 | 11 | |
| Craig Kimbrel | KAN | 1-1 | 3.09 | 8 | ||
| Ned Garvin | BAL | 5-1 | 2.09 | 2 | 0.87 |
Top Batters.
| Name | Tm | Slash | Other |
| Reggie Jackson | SFS | 376/485/643 | |
| Willie Mays | NYG | 354/408/561 | 75 H; 2.8 WAR |
| Mike Epstein | HOM | 333/437/549 | |
| Babe Ruth | NYY | 325/427/685 | 19 HR; 48 R; 52 RBI; 3.0 WAR |
| Curt Blefary | BAL | 288/402/660 | 16 HR |
| Frank Thomas | CAG | 353/430/607 | 71 H |
| Rico Carty | PHI | 352/415/560 | 20 2B |
| Louis Santop | CLE | 316/346/513 | 8 3B |
| Eric Davis | NYY | 284/339/552 | 54 RBI |
| Jimmy Sheckard | NYG | 309/418/470 | 41 R |
| Rickey Henderson | SFS | 236/392/315 | 45 BB; 39 SB |
| Tim Raines | OTT | 292/377/458 | 37 SB |
Streaks
The Homestead Gray‘s Roberto Clemente has hit in 14 straight games, Baltimore’s Dan McGann has scored in 9 straight, and Detroit’s Oscar Gamble as hit a homerun in his last 3 games.
While there aren’t many hitting streaks of note, the Black Yankees’ Thurman Munson has reached base in 26 straight games, the Ottawa Mounties‘ Terry Puhl in 23, and the Gothams’ Jimmy Sheckard in 22.
Baltimore’s Ned Garvin hasn’t allowed a run in 15 innings, and his teammate Dennis Martinez has had 5 consecutive quality starts, as has the Kansas City Monarchs‘ Andy Pettite.
The Brooklyn Royal Giants‘ Raul Mondesi was an early season surprise, but the bloom is off the rose: he’s struggling at 115/164/135 over his last 14 games. Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson–122/170/134 over 35 games–is easily the coldest hitter in the WBL, to the point he’s no longer in the WBL, having been optioned to AAA.
Series XIII Results
Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XIII
Baltimore over Cleveland Spiders
Brooklyn over Homestead
New York Gothams over Indianapolis ABCs
Los Angeles over Miami
Portland over Wandering House of David
Splitting Series XIII 2-2
Chicago @ Birmingham
New York Black Yankees @ Detroit
Kansas City @ Ottawa
Memphis @ Houston
San Francisco @ Philadelphia
The final game between the New York Black Yankees and the Detroit Wolverines saw Justin Verlander make his 7th start of the year for the home team, while Dave Righetti would start for the visiting Black Yankees.
Verlander had been incredibly effective as a reliever to start the year, but less so as a starting pitcher, making this an important game for him as Detroit tries to sort out its pitching staff.
Hank Greenberg took Righetti deep in the bottom of the second for a 1-0 lead for the home team, but it was short-lived, as Thurman Munson continued his argument as the best catcher in the league with a homerun to lead off the 3rd off Verlander. Two outs later, Derek Jeter went deep as well, pushing New York out to a 2-1 lead.
But the Wolverines are a decent team, and they fought back with an RBI single from Chili Davis in the bottom of the 4th that left 2 on and 2 out. However, Righetti retired Geoff Jenkins on a flyball to right to end the threat.
The same New York duo struck in the 5th when Jeter singled home Munson to edge the Black Yankees back in front, 3-2.
That lasted until Righetti–who was perhaps left in a few batters too long–gave up a 3 run home run to Bill Carrigan, scoring Greenberg and Ty Cobb and moving Detroit into the lead, 5-3. A solo homerun by Lou Gehrig made it 5-4, with the Wolverines trying to hold on for the victory.
In the top of the 9th, Detroit had its closer–Mike Henneman–on the mound, and made three defensive substitutions, including putting Greg Brock at 1B in place of Greenberg. Remember that.
Henneman gave up a single to Albert Belle, who was replaced at first by Eric Davis. Davis promptly stole 2nd and 3rd, and scored, after a walk to Munson, on a single by Mike Schmidt. That tied the game, and when Jeter again brought Munson home with a single, the Black Yankees moved in front.
With usual closer Sparky Lyle a bit tired, New York turned to Goose Gossage to face a Detroit lineup weakened by their defensive substitutions. The first of them, Sparky Adams, led off with a walk, and was bunted to second by Jimmy Collins. Cobb singled him to third, bringing up Brock … who promptly whiffed, making the Wolverine faithful question the choice to replace Greenberg.
But, with 2 outs, Oscar Gamble took Gossage’s second pitch deep into the night for a walkoff, 3-run homerun giving Detroit the 8-6 win. This marked the second consecutive game both Greenberg and Gamble went deep for the Wolverines.
It was one of those odd nights for relievers, as Henneman picked up both a blown save and a victory, and Gossage a blown save and a loss.
NYA 6 (Gossage 3-2, 4 BSv) @ DET 8 (Henneman 1-2, 2 BSv)
HRs: NYA – Jeter (4), Munson (6), Gehrig (12); DET – Gamble (13), Carrigan (3), Greenberg (14)
Box Score
Other Games of Note
The third game between New York and Detroit–the one preceeding the above–was memorable for its shenanigans, as Whitey Wilshire plunked Albert Belle, resulting in a bases-clearing brawl. Belle was suspended for 4 games; Wilshire for 6. Additionally, New York’s David Robertson was injured while pitching, leading to the recall of OF Sam Thompson from AAA. The game itself was never really in doubt as New York led wire-to-wire in an 8-4 victory.
NYA 8 (Ruffing 6-1) @ DET 4 (Wilshire 6-3)
HRs: NYA – Ruth (19), Mantle (6); DET – Greenberg (13), Gamble (12)
Box Score
Indianapolis outhit the New York Gothams 16 to 9, and scored 4 runs in the final 2 innings … but it was all for naught, as the Gothams rode an early 8-1 lead to an 8-6 victory. Jimmy Sheckard had 3 hits, 3 runs, and 3 RBIs for the Gothams. Edd Roush had 4 hits for the ABCs, raising his average to .352 on the season.
NYG 8 (Perry 2-4; Norris 1 Sv) @ IND 6 (Luque 3-5)
HRs: NYG – Sheckard (5), Mays (7)
Box Score
Sandy Koufax, who had impressed mightily from the bullpen, took the mound for Brooklyn for his first start of the season against Homestead. It didn’t go great, as Koufax gave up 5 runs in 5 innings before giving way to Dick Redding. Redding and Dave Von Ohlen combined for 5 innings of 2-hit relief. Brooklyn needed all of that, as the Grays had a 5-1 lead after 5 innings behind 2 homeruns from Davey Johnson. But the Royal Giants came back to tie the game, and Mike Piazza–he of the sub .200 average–won it in the bottom of the 10th with a solo shot against Homestead’s closer, Josh Lindblom.
HOM 5 (Lindblom 0-2; Jackson 4 H; Tekulve 1 BSv) @ BRK 6 (Von Ohlen 3-0)
HRs: HOM – Johnson 2 (6), Epstein (9); BRK – Cey (9), Robinson (6), Piazza (4)
Box Score
We haven’t touched on these two clubs since the very start of the season, when Houston visited Homestead in Series I and Memphis hosted Birmingham in Series III.
#Memphis Red Sox
Memphis is struggling. They come into series XII 10 games below .500 at 20-30, but only 6 games out in the Bill James Division.
They have really had issues across the board, with some recent hiccups in the bullpen calling what had been a strength all season into question.
There are some bright spots: Ted Williams is a likely all-star, slashing 291/381/542 and Reggie Smith has been on a tear, bringing his line up to 307/368/513. Those two, along with Mookie Betts and Bill White have been quite dependable all season.
The biggest concern offensively is probably Wade Boggs, who has been removed from the 2-spot in the lineup given his 244/362/327 slash line. Still, the OBP is solid and the Memphis faithful are convinced he’ll bounce back. The bigger question is how the sextet of recently promoted players, especially infielders Claude Ritchey and Wayne Causey, will perform at the WBL level.
On the mound Jon Lester leads the staff in wins at 5-3 with a quite solid 3.91 ERA. Roger Clemens, who has shown real flashes of brilliance, has little to show for it, at 0-4 with a 5.56 ERA to date. The other starters–Dean Chance, Tim Wakefield and Nixey Callahan–have been perfectly fine, but little more.
Joe Beggs has 7 saves and is yet to allow a run over 13 innings, and Jonathan Papelbon has been fantastic setting him up. Getting to Papelbon via Turk Farrell and Heath Bell has been bumpy at times, but overall the bullpen has been solid for the Red Sox.
So, it’s a team in need of better starting pitching and hoping the changes they have made offensively might all click.
#Houston Colt 45’s
Houston is who they are: currently 25-25 and 7 games back in the Cum Posey Division. They’re a solid team across the board, lacking power and suffering a bit in their bullpen, but just … solid. Which is almost a compliment.
Jim Wynn, Jeff Bagwell, and HR Johnson have been their best players offensively. Wynn, slashing 293/402/467, leads the team in OBP and SLG, and Johnson at .324 in BA. Wynn and Johnson have combined to steal 33 bases in 42 attempts, making the top of their lineup dangerous on the basepaths. Bagwell has 7 homeruns to lead the Colt 45’s and his 27 RBIs trail George Brett by 1.
The most obvious need is for one or more of Tony Gwynn, Craig Biggio, or Carlos Correa to break out of OPS’ hovering roughly around .700.
The starting pitching has been anchored, as expected, by Roy Oswalt at 5-2, 4.21. But the contributions of Toad Ramsey and Stubby Overmire have been totally unexpected, and if Bret Saberhagen‘s recent starts are indicative of him getting back on track, the rotation could be significantly better than average.
In the bullpen, Brad Lidge leads with 6 saves, but his 9.35 ERA has moved him out of the closer role, which now falls to Billy Wagner, who has impressed with a team low 2.38 ERA and 0.79 WHIP. It’s not clear how much longer the team will stick with Leon Day, Dock Ellis, or Bones Ely at the deep end of the bullpen.
#Series Matchups
Memphis’ starter listed first. Nixey Callahan (3-5, 4.91) @ Stubby Overmire (0-2, 3.58); Tim Wakefield (2-3, 4.33) @ Stephen Strasburg (2-3, 3.81); Roger Clemens (0-4, 5.56) @ Bret Saberhagen (3-3, 5.29); Jon Lester (5-3, 3.91) @ Roy Oswalt (5-2, 4.21).
It’s hard to argue that Memphis has the edge in any of the matchups: maybe, if Clemens puts together all the parts of his best starts and maybe Lester over Oswalt.