The Whirled League

Baseball The Way It Never Was

Tag: Babe Ruth Page 3 of 11

TWIWBL 56.2: Spring Training Notes – New York Black Yankees

By

On February 19, 2024

In TWIWBL

Spring Training Questions

The pitching staff will be under great scrutiny, with 5th round pick Noah Syndergaard having an outside shot at the rotation.

Last season the Black Yankees were hampered by limited MI flexibility, which will be a concern they want to address.

First Cuts

Things on the mound went much as expected for New York, as Cal Eldred, Don Liddle, Paul Shuey, Frank Viola, Bill Monbouquette, and John Danks all moved on to the minor leagues. Dave Righetti remains in camp, but his control continues to be a concern. On the other side, Lefty Gomez, Noah Syndergaard, and Whitey Ford have all impressed out of the gate.

Darrin Fletcher and Benny Bengough were both reassigned, with the Black Yankees planning to take a look at Ron Pruitt behind the plate as a 4th option. Fred Whitfield and Nick Etten have impressed at 1B, with Ryan Garko being sent to the minors while at 3B Aaron Hill and Elliott Maddox have been stellar (and Héctor López quite good), while Josh Harrison and Red Rolfe were both moved to the minors.

The 2B/SS situation was quite convoluted but poor starts from Mark Grudzielanek, Jess Barbour, Charlie Irwin, and Alcides Escobar have helped clear some space as all four of those IFers were reassigned, with Willie Randolph barely hanging on to a spot in camp.

In the OF, despite there not being much room on the eventual roster, only Bill Lange was moved from the major league camp, although there are doubts as to how long Clyde Milan and Nick Swisher will stick around.

Second Cuts

Other than Jeff Nelson, the pitching has been excellent for the Black Yankees, with nobody else posting an ERA over 3.00. Nelson heads to the minors while New York tries to sort out the rest.

C Gary Alexander was recalled for some depth, and to see if his impressive power holds up against better pitching.

Nick Swisher, Willie Randolph, and Ron Pruitt were sent down as well.

Third Cuts

Lady Baldwin and Vic Raschi were sent down, clearing up the back end of the staff a bit. Whitey Ford and Sparky Lyle are next on the chopping block, depending on what they do over the next week or so.

Eric MacKenzie, Pee Wee Reese, Red Rolfe, and Roger Maris were all sent to AAA. MacKenzie’s demotion keeps Gary Alexander in camp for a while, as much for his defensive flexibility as anything else.

While the IF starters–Tom Herr, Derek Jeter, and Mike Schmidt–are pretty much set, it’s unclear how the reserves will sort out, with Aaron Hill, Héctor López, and Elliott Maddux all making cases for roster spots. Veteran Doug DeCinces looks like he may be done, but he’ll be given another week to turn it around.

Final Cuts

SS Alex Arias was the first to go, in a move that would seem to indicate that Aaron Hill will break camp as the backup infielder for the Black Yankees. That was followed by the demotion of P Dewey Adkins, always considered a long shot to make the opening day roster.

1B Fred Whitfield had a good Spring, but there’s just too much blocking him at 1B, moving him to AAA for the time being.

Gary Alexander was pulled into camp to take some of the load behind the plate. He showed some pop, but little else, and was moved back to AAA as was Hardy Richardson, who was outperformed throughout the Spring by several lesser regarded prospects.

Whitey Ford clearly has the arm to have a future in the WBL, but his time is yet to come as the young lefty will start the season at AAA. He’ll be joined by veteran AJ Burnett, who had a spectacular Spring but was edged out by rookie Noah Syndergaard for the last spot on New York’s staff.

Aaron Hill was sent to AAA, cementing roster spots for Héctor López and Elliott Maddox and, perhaps surprisingly, sending veteran 3B Doug DeCinces (who was adequate as Mike Schmidt‘s backup last season) down as well. Maddox and López were retained partially for their defensive flexibility, pushing both Clyde Milan and recent acquisition Mickey Rivers to the minors.

All of that meant that Spring surprise Nick Etten starts the season with the Black Yankees.

Oh yeah … Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig made the team …

Season Review: New York Black Yankees

By

On December 21, 2023

In Season Reviews, Team News

81 - 73, .525 pct.
2nd in Effa Manley Division, 5 games behind.

Overall

From pre season championship favorite to missing the playoffs: it was a massively disappointing year in the Bronx, and while most of the blame has been focused on the bullpen, there are other concenrs.

Long term, this is an old franchise; but it is also built to win now, so it has conflicting incentives in terms of getting WBL level help immediately and building depth throughout the organization.

Also, Babe Ruth.

What Went Right

Babe Ruth did Babe Ruth things.

Perhaps no other team offers as dangerous a series of 7 hitters as the Black Yankees, with Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig, Albert Belle, Thurman Munson, Eric Davis, and Don Mattingly. It is very hard to work more than 6 of them into the lineup at the same time, but still.

Waite Hoyt, Jack Scott, and Red Ruffing were all excellent (Ruffing will miss much of next season through injury, however).

After being blasted for much of the season, the bullpen finally turned the corner with the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman. Once Chapman arrived, he, Rheal Cormier, and Goose Gossage began to consistently close out games.

The stats wonks insist that Ron Guidry was a top 5 starter this year, so he has that going for him.

ALL STARS
OF Eric Davis; 1B Lou Gehrig; SS Derek Jeter; OF Mickey Mantle; C Thurman Munson; P Red Ruffing; OF Babe Ruth.

What Went Wrong

The Black Yankees came out of the break with all-stars at both 2B (Tom Herr, acquired from Birmingham) and SS (Derek Jeter). Both struggled the rest of the season. Nothing worked in the middle infield all year: Willie Randolph was replaced by Herr, neither Hardy Richardson nor Red Rolfe did anything of note, and New York even turned to Pee Wee Reese, released earlier by Brooklyn. 2B/SS remains several notches below the level of the rest of the team.

So much ink has been spilled about their bullpen struggles, but it has to be mentioned. Suffice to say that Sparky Lyle and Dave Righetti pitched themselves right down to AAA, Ralph Citarella was pretty poor all season, and Gossage struggled until Chapman’s arrival.

The naked eye would insist that Guidry–their #1 starter going into the season–struggled. Plenty of strikeouts, but an 8-12 record and a 4.35 ERA are not what was expected.

Transactions

March

C Bill Dickey, OF Aaron Judge & 1B Prince Fielder to Philadelphia for 3B Mike Schmdit & P Cole Hamels

Right now, looks like a steal for New York, but the jury is still very much out.

June

IF Reddy Mack, OF Bill Buckner, P Heathcliff Slocumb, OF Charlie Keller, 1B Moose Skowron & 10th Round Pick to Birmingham for 2B Tom Herr

Birmingham got as much as they could from the deal and, given Herr’s struggles in New York, probably got the best of it.

IF Dick Bartell, OF Sam Thompson & 4th Round Pick to Ottawa for P Gary Lavelle and P Jamie Moyer

Meh. Given that both Lavelle and Moyer are in the twilights of their careers, you have to give Ottawa the edge here if any of the players turn into anything.

July

C Smoky Burgess & P Cole Hamels to Miami for P Aroldis Chapman & 3rd Round Pick {Brett Gardner}

A win for New York, even if Hamels develops as expected.

P Jim Clinton, 3B Chris Brown & 2nd Round Pick to House of David for P Dick Tidrow & 8th Round Pick {Elliott Maddox}

Tidrow was wildly inconsistent, so who knows.

P LaTroy Hawkins, P Fritz Coumbe, IF Mike Bordick & 3rd Round Pick to Philadelphia for P Rheal Cormier & 4th Round Pick {Mark Grudzielanek}

Meh. All of these deals were made to win now, and since that didn’t happen, have to be judged somewhat harshly.

Looking Forward

SP

Should be strong. Ron Guidry, Waite Hoyt, Whitey Ford, and Lefty Gomez will be supported by Vic Raschi, Frank Viola, and Dave Righetti long term. That’s a solid bunch.

RP

There is depth here, but not a lot of confidence. For now, Aroldis Chapman and Goose Gossage will close out games, but Sparky Lyle and David Robertson are both available as reinforcements.

C

Thurman Munson had a magnificent season.

1B

Lou Gehrig and Don Mattingly should have this–and DH–locked down for quite some time.

2B

The Black Yankees still hope that Willie Randolph comes around. But there’s a decent chance they are in the market for a 2B.

3B

Mike Schmidt should have a lot of good years left, although there is very little talent behind him.

SS

There is a lot of optimism about Derek Jeter, but so far it seems to have been misplaced.

LF

Ruth forever, some Albert Belle sprinkled in for now.

CF

A mixture of Mickey Mantle and Eric Davis.

RF

Ruth, Mantle, and Belle–essentially the Black Yankees have 4 starting OFers to go along with their 2 starting 1Bs.

The Rookie Draft

Rounds 1-4

What the Black Yankees need most–immediate help in the bullpen and depth at the big league level–won’t come through the rookie draft. As such, they are guided here by a desire to grab the best, youngest talent available. In the first round, that meant 19 year old David Cone, who has the advantage of being a franchise player as well.

With the 2nd pick of the 3rd round, they added another franchise selection in CF Brett Gardner and with the first choice of the 4th round, tried to fill in some MI depth with Mark Grudzielanek.

Rounds 5-8

The Black Yankees took a high risk/high reward flyer on P Noah Syndergaard, who could contribute in the next year or so, but also looks unlikely to stay healthy for very long, and then picked U player Jess Barbour in the 6th. Carlos Rodón is a bit of a project, but he becomes the final exception for the Black Yankees in round 7.

From here on out, it’s best talent with a slight preference for young position players, as their A level is pretty empty. That starts with young SS Anthony Volpe followed by IF/OF Elliott Maddox.

Rounds 9-12

OF Aaron Hicks; P Scott Kamieniecki; IF Charlie Irwin.

They were unable to come to terms with their first round pick, P David Cone.

Season Review: Los Angeles Angels

By

On December 19, 2023

In Season Reviews, Team News

72 - 82, .467 pct.
4th in Bill James Division, 17 games behind.

Overall

Perhaps no team in the WBL has a larger gap between their obvious talent on the mound and their performance. Until the Angels figure that out, they are no better than a .500 team, if that, in spite of some useful pieces on offense.

What Went Right

Doug Rader had a career year, leading the WBL in RBIs up to the final few days of the season (his 134 finished 1 behind Babe Ruth, no shame in that), but perhaps the best news was the season-long development of CF Mike Trout, who only needs to add some power to move into the elite of the league.

Carlos Delgado–acquired when the Angels were still in the hunt–continued to mash the ball, and Bobby Grich was excellent at 2B all year long.

It’s unclear if the performances of Don Buford, John Stearns, or George Wright went right or wrong. They weren’t bad, but they also weren’t especially good.

For a team whose struggles were attributed to their pitching, the Angels had some surprising bright spots: the starting trio of Gerrit Cole, Pud Galvin, and Brett Anderson were excellent (when Anderson was healthy) and Jonny Venters and Francisco Rodríguez were excellent out of the bullpen. Cole, of course, was one of the better in the league for much of the year, finishing with 16 wins and Rodríguez will most likely challenge Joe Nathan for the closer role next season.

ALL STARS
P Gerrit Cole; 3B Doug Rader

What Went Wrong

There is so much talent on the mound here: the ball just explodes out of the hand for Doc Gooden, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, and Chuck Finley. But of them, only Gooden had anything close to a good season, and he finished 8-10 with an ERA over 5. It’s really that simple: if two of this group step up, they’re a borderline playoff team; if three of them step up, they’ll challenge for the division championship; if all four of them deliver, they could challenge for a championship.

Too much mediocrity from position players: C never got settled (John Stearns was decent, Ron Hassey poor), RF was OK, although Kal Daniels–for all his tools–is probably better suited for a platoon arrangement.

It’s unclear if the performances of Don Buford or George Wright went right or wrong. They weren’t bad, but they also weren’t especially good.

Transactions

March

None

June

OF Rusty Staub to Ottawa for IF Steve Garvey & OF Spud Johnson

Garvey played very well for LA, so call this one a push.

P Dave Bennett, OF Carlos Beltrán, C Jim Stephens & P Sean O'Sullivan to Ottawa for 1B Carlos Delgado

Remember, they were in contention. As such, it’s not a bad deal, although Los Angeles clearly did give up more talent.

C Brian Downing, IF Kurt Stillwell, P Dave LaRoche to San Francisco for OF Wally Moon, OF Dwayne Murphy, 4th Round Pick {John Lackey} & 6th Round Pick {Omar Olivares}

Feels like a win overall.

July

None

Looking Forward

SP

If things develop as expected, the Angels are loaded, looking at a rotation of Gerrit Cole, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Doc Gooden and Pud Galvin. And those are only the arms under long term deals.

RP

Lots of talent here, both at the WBL (Joe Nathan, Jonny Venters, Francisco Rodríguez) and in the minors, led by Carlos Mármol, Darren Holmes, Larry Anderson, and some others.

C

An area of need, especially if John Stearns cannot step up.

1B

Needs some talent long term, but Carlos Delgado has it for a little while. The Wally’s–Joyner and Pipp–have shown some promise as well. Steve Garvey may end up here, but it’s not clear if he’ll hit enough to warrant an everyday slot.

2B

Bobby Grich for the foreseeable.

3B

Doug Rader for now, with very little behind.

SS

George Wright is elite defensively, but offers little else. Andrelton Simmons should take over at some point.

LF

Don Buford was good enough, but they could take an upgrade here.

CF

Mike Trout, Mike Trout, Mike Trout.

RF

If Kal Daniels continues to struggle against lefties, a platoon may be in order.

The Rookie Draft

Rounds 1-4

Los Angeles needs star power. With the 8th pick in the first round, they get a player who should step right into the RF spot: Ichiro Suzuki. The Angels should spend the rest of the draft adding offensive talent–a luxury few franchises have, but the sheer glut of pitching potential in their system sort of necessitates it.

In the 2nd round, they took Babe Herman, who is probably a year away, but look like a masher; and in round 3, Marcus Semien, who is a few years away, giving him time to figure out where on the infield he might settle.

Los Angeles has back-to-back picks in the 4th round and looked to add some pitching in franchise pick John Lackey and using their final franchise exception on Estaban Loiza.

Rounds 5-8

The Angels’ 5th round pick, OF Brandon Nimmo, has aspirations to carry Mike Trout’s luggage.

They followed that with P Omar Olivares and Bryan Harvey with back-to-back selections in the 6th round and continued the focus on pitching with Tom Morgan in round 7 and Al Jackson in round 8.

Rounds 9-12

P Tom Hausman; 1B Casey Kotchman; IF Tony Womack; and P Randy Tate.

The Angels’ 10th round pick, Casey Kotchman, refused Los Angeles’ final offer, preferring to go back into next year’s draft.

TWIWBL 52.1: End of Season Review – What Went Right

By

On November 8, 2023

In TWIWBL

The first of a 2-parter reflecting on Year I of the WBL.

Overall Statistical Model

Somewhat arbitrarily, I used 2000 as the base year for Year I. MLB produced its 2nd highest ever OPS that season, slashing a cumulative 270/345/437. Year I of the WBL ended at 268/339/433.

That’s pretty darn close.

Year I was actually an almost perfect match for 2006’s 269/337/432.

So, yeah, offense heavy, but not more than asked for.

All Around Player Performance

Tomorrow I’ll publish what didn’t go so well, and the biggest thing is a couple specific outlier performances. But, so much about the league felt right. Babe Ruth did Babe Ruth things, sure.

But the all-around players were also dominant in a great way: Eddie Collins may have been the best player in the league, Willie Mays‘ impact was irresistible. Players who had “career years” (Tom Herr, Doug Rader, even Eric Davis) did so well within the overall shape of their MLB careers.

Pitching was weird as always. But the list of those at the front of the “best starter in the league” ranking was a great list: Walter Johnson, Gerrit Cole, Jack Taylor, Andy Pettitte, Christy Mathewson? Sure. Pettitte and Taylor overperformed, but pitching–and especially of course W/L records–are weird. Ron Guidry had a great year according to the deep stats, but struggled in the traditional evaluations.

And lots of pitchers struggled, which, again, feels about right.

NeL Players

The all-time greats may feel a little under-represented, but that’s largely because of the career perspective of the WBL. Cristóbal Torriente, Pete Hill, Oscar Charleston, and Louis Santop were each everyday starters by the end of the season despite being teenagers. Martín Dihigo and John Beckwith struggled a bit, but again, teenagers.

Here’s an overview of how the NeL entries did.

NameTeamAgePosNotes
John BeckwithSFS18IF237/306/384. Sent to AAA midseason. Showed WBL power, but struggled at AAA. Likely another year at AAA.
Ray BrownHOM23P7-7, 5.80. Struggled in WBL, but in the running for Year 2 rotation spot.
Bill ByrdBAL26P14-3, 3.33. An all-star and a front of rotation starter for the best team in the league.
Oscar CharlestonIND19OF277/313/438. Not many HR, but good power, great defense. A solid start.
Ray DandridgeBRK21IF256/323/359. Sparkplug for Brooklyn when healthy. A solid enough offensive start.
Leon DayHOU18P1-1, 4.91. Day was promising across 14 games (2 starts) before struggling with injuries and then being knocked out in June for the rest of the season. Expected to compete for swing role in Year 2.
Martín DihigoMCG18U195/235/319; 0-2, 12.15. Overwhelmed as a hitter, purely mop up on the mound. But perhaps the greatest defensive talent the league has ever seen, and adds so much roster flexibility that, if the OPS can just get over .600, a valuable piece.
Bunny DownsHOD25U216/256/351. 40 PAs of mediocre utility. Defensive flexibility helps.
Josh GibsonHOM20C289/386/448. An all star behind the plate at 20? Yes, please. Power will come, a great start.
Frank GrantHOD21IF200/263/200. A rough first 100 PA for the promising IF. AAA likely next year.
Pete HillHOU17OF287/323/440. A starter for about half the year. What a start for a 17 year old.
HR JohnsonHOU24IF252/310/357. A bit disappointing, honestly. Defensive flexibility is nice, but the Colt 45’s need more from him offensively.
Dick LundySFS21IF268/284/377. Total sparkplug when healthy. good defense, 30 SB. Should be a starter next year.
Carlos MoránMCG21OF221/369/262. Great defense and an OBP machine. Certainly in the mix to start in Year 2.
José MéndezMCG22P4-6, 4.56. Good secondary numbers and, by the end of the year, looked like a front of the rotation starter.
Joséito MuñozPOR19P5-5, 2.57. Fantastic when healthy. But now out until a few months into next year.
Alejandro OmsMCG20OF259/313/410. Solid. more power and better zone control would help. But, solid.
Eustaquio PedrosoMCG22OF/P278/316/444; 9-6, 4.81. Someone who performs around league average both in the field and on the mound has value.
Dick ReddingBRK20P0-5, 4.57. Not good enough to stay with Brooklyn all year, but not horrible. Showed enough at AAA at the plate (106 OPS+) to warrant a look as a two-way player.
Louis SantopCLE19C293/322/447. Doesn’t get on base enough, but he’s a C with solid D and still a teen. Future star.
Sam StreeterBBB24P7-6, 4.91. Very solid, pushed to bullpen at end of year.
Cristóbal TorrienteCAG17OF289/347/392. Excellent defense, solid–if low on power–offense. Likely to be a mainstay for the American Giants for a long time.
Smoky Joe WilliamsBRK20P4-1, 3.47. Sent down to spend most of the year at AAA, returned very strong down the stretch.

There are, of course, some others in the minor leagues–A. Rube Foster (9-2, 4.60 ERA across 5 minor league teams), Cool Papa Bell (252/304/339 with 39 SB, mostly at AA), some others.

Continuity

I started the first season of the WBL something like 40/45 years ago. The third season was completed over 20 years ago. This season–the first on OOTP, the fourth overall–was completed in about 3 years.

Across all of that–from handheld Strat-O-Matic play through SOM on a half-dozen different computers (beginning on a Commodore 64, natch) through 3 versions of OOTP–it feels similar. Storylines emerge that I enjoy, frustrations emerge at players underperforming, personalities of teams and franchises begin to appear.

I love all that.

I have no idea what to do with the first 3 years–the teams were totally different, some players occur in this version as well, many do not. If I can find an easy way to incorporate that history, I may do so, but I don’t see it yet. Shock of shocks, Babe Ruth would be the career HR leader …

TWIWBL 51.7: The Awards – Mel Trench Award

By

On November 3, 2023

In TWIWBL

This is far more clear cut than the Brock Rutherford Award. But we should still look at the contenders, just for the sake of completeness.

This list contains the top 5 in OPS, HR, RBI, RC/27, and WAR.

NameTmHRRBIOPSRC/27WAR
Johnny BenchIND3290.9518.06.0
Ron BlombergCLE441251.06110.25.8
Eddie CollinsCAG2070.9228.66.5
Mike EpsteinHOM2479.9488.84.7
Hank GreenbergDET31113.9698.33.9
Elrod HendricksHOD4194.9617.74.1
Kent HrbekPOR36106.9217.54.1
Joe JacksonCAG311021.0009.55.7
Reggie JacksonSFS301051.0138.44.3
Mickey MantleNYY2785.9719.15.5
Stan MusialKCM2598.9728.44.5
Doug RaderLAA18134.9207.83.7
Frank RobinsonBAL37111.9217.34.3
Babe RuthNYY481361.09110.88.1
Mike TroutLAA21100.8897.76.0

Interestingly, the batting champion, Ty Cobb of Detroit, doesn’t make that list.

Offensively, it’s clearly between Ruth and Blomberg. Doug Rader had his supporters before Ruth overtook him in the last week of the season for the RBI lead.

Factor in defense and the rest of what goes into WAR and Blomberg suffers, but Ruth, basically, does not (and the trio of Collins, Bench, and Trout leap to the fore).

And, yeah, the arguments about second place could go on forever–Blomberg’s impossible offense v. Collins’ all-around excellence? Joe Jackson and Mickey Mantle’s under-appreciated contributions?

But the winner is pretty clear-cut: chalk one up for the Babe.

We’ll go with Ruth followed by Blomberg and Collins.

TWIWBL 51.4: The Awards – Silver Sticks

By

On November 1, 2023

In TWIWBL

With no regard for defense, here are the best hitters at each position.

#C

Catching is hard. Only 5 full-time catchers qualified (plus Houston’s Craig Biggio, who only played a couple hundred innings behind the plate). And while Thurman Munson and Buster Posey had fantastic seasons, with OPS’ over .850, the top three are obvious

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBRC/27
Johnny BenchIND31232829028738556608.0
Curt BlefaryBAL23329849028039254938.1
Elrod HendricksHOD27141799428334261917.7

Blefary is clearly third best. Imma go with Bench here as the more dangerous offensive force despite Hendricks‘ edge in homeruns.

#1B

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBRC/27
Mike EpsteinHOM22024807931642052808.8
Hank GreenbergDET454319311331737459518.3
Kent HrbekPOR360369110629736555607.5

You could spend a lot of time arguing about Epstein and Hrbek, but it wouldn’t change the fact that Greenberg was the best.

#2B

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBRC/27
Eddie CollinsCAG2842010670315409513618.6
Larry GardnerBAL265128472318393471166.8
Bobby GrichLAA425127776288378476126.7
Rogers HornsbyKCM/POR35319758829436548726.4

There is so little to separate Gardner, Grich, and Hornsby that I had to list all three of them. But they are all far, far behind the force of nature that is Eddie Collins.

#3B

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBWAR
Dick AllenCAG3010268610931138355957.9
Bob BaileyDET22321767027736446256.1
Doug RaderLAA437188513433039152907.8

I like RBI’s too. Really, I do. And BA. But I’ll take Dick Allen over Doug Rader every day. I hadn’t realized how thin the pickings got at 3B after those two.

#SS

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBRC/27
Jim FregosiPOR323177861300373472166.1
Bobby WallaceBAL40459960302396418186.1
Robin YountMCG305142468276314454165.0

The choice between Wallace and Fregosi is close, but Fregosi is slightly the better offensive player, even if Wallace is the better shortstop if you add defense into the equation.

#OF

The outfielders include all fulltime players with an OPS over .900 or with a runs created per 27 outs over 7.0.

#LF

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBRC/27
Rick ReichardtHOM23827839830137853117.2
Frank RobinsonBAL1723710111130238353927.3
Babe RuthNYY353481271363124276631410.8

The easiest choice of all …

#CF

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBRC/27
Pete BrowningHOD344268282331370591388.4
Bobby MurcerPOR298249587314388542118.2
Willie MaysNYG305249997322384516117.1
Reggie SmithMEM3952210072304381522206.8
Mike TroutLAA27621102100321390498377.7

Browning‘s year has to be discounted from the amount of time he missed, which really leaves this to Bobby Murcer.

#RF

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBRC/27
Ron BlombergCLE39044110127336412649010.2
Ty CobbDET414219289352391557528.7
Joe JacksonCAG33331109102330412588349.5
Reggie JacksonSFS2913075105317424589238.4
Mickey MantleNYY342271018531942055239.1
Stan MusialKCM49425949832939557768.4

The quality in RF rolls deep … Ron Blomberg takes this, with Joe Jackson very close behind. The deepest position in the league.

#DH

NameTm2B3BHRRRBIBAOBPSLGSBRC/27
Gavvy CravathPHI/POR36327868531038556057.9
Lou GehrigNYY25427747927537952637.1
Frank ThomasCAG333259310529740550537.4

Gavvy Cravath spent a lot of time in RF, both with Philadelphia and Portland, but we’re still going to count him here, where he edges out both Thomas, who slumped late in the season, and Gehrig, who got red-hot as the Black Yankees failed in their attempt to make the playoffs.

#The Silver Sticks

C: Johnny Bench (IND)
1B: Hank Greenberg (DET)
2B: Eddie Collins (CAG)
3B: Dick Allen (CAG)
SS: Jim Fregosi (POR)
LF: Babe Ruth (NYY)
CF: Bobby Murcer (POR)
RF: Ron Blomberg (CLE)
DH: Gavvy Cravath (PHI/POR)

TWIWBL 47.0: End Of Season Review

By

On September 1, 2023

In TWIWBL

September 14

Just a quick look through the performances at the end of the season. Look for both award posts and more in-depth reviews of the season over the offseason. BUT FIRST … are you ready for some playoffs?

Awards

Portland‘s Jim Fregosi won the final Player of the Week Award, hitting .588 down the final week of the season.

Performance

Batters

Babe Ruth finished the season on fire, taking over the league lead in RBIs and walks and maintaining his edge in … almost everything else. At the end of the season, it looks like he should indeed walk away with the MVP.

Ron Blomberg (CLE). 336/412/649. 44 HR, 109 R.
Eddie Collins (CAG). 315/409/513. 6.5 WAR.
Ty Cobb (DET). 352/391/557. 192 H.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 240/405/390. 109 BB.
Hank Greenberg (DET). 317/374/595. 45 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 279/400/371. 99 SB.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 317/424/589.
Willie Mays (NYG). 322/384/516. 186 H.
Stan Musial (KAN). 329/395/577. 49 2B.
Alejandro Oms (MCG). 259/313/410. 13 3B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 330/391/529. 134 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 282/362/414. 92 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 312/427/663. 48 HR, 136 RBI, 127 R, 110 BB, 8.1 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 293/322/447. 14 3B.

Pitchers

Starters

For context, included all 15 game winners, as well as the league leaders in BA against, BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play), HR/9, and BB/9.

Bill Byrd (BAL). 14-3, 3.33.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 16-9, 4.16.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 14-7, 3.46. 207 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 8-12, 4.35. 188 K.
Walter Johnson (POR). 14-5, 3.50. .211 Avg.
Pat Malone (CLE). 17-8, 3.84. 5.0 WAR.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 17-8, 3.50. 211 IP.
Tricky Nichols (CAG). 15-9, 4.14.
Roy Oswalt (HOU). 14-8, 3.70. 207 IP.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 12-9, 3.79. 5.1 WAR, 3.52 FIP.
Andy Pettitte (KAN/BBB). 15-5, 3.20.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 12-7, 3.87. 1 Sv, 3.47 FIP, 0.5 HR/9.
Charlie Root (SFS/DET). 10-6, 3.53. 1.06 WHIP, .239 BABIP.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 15-9, 3.42. 1.14 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 11-10, 4.36. 1.7 BB/IP.

Relievers

35 IP for rate stats.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 2.65. 38 Sv. 0.0 HR/9.
Rod Beck (SFS). 2-7, 5.23. 33 Sv.
Mike Henneman (DET). 2-7, 4.60. 38 Sv.
Sean Marshall (BAL). 5-0, 1.79. 1 Sv, 8 H. 0.98 WHIP, .182 Avg.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.61. 30 Sv. 2.88 FIP.
Buddy Napier (DET). 2-1, 2.81. 2 Sv, 9 H. 0.94 WHIP, .198 BABIP.
Don Newcombe (MCG/CAG). 4-15, 6.29. 2 H. 1.3 BB/9.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-4, 1.47. 8 Sv, 15 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 1-6, 4.61. 3 Sv, 17 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 7-5, 3.86. 1 Sv, 18 H.
Carson Smith (NYG). 3-0, 2.05. 1 Sv, 10 H. 0.0 HR/9.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 2-0, 2.13. 29 Sv, 1 H. 0.0 HR/9, 2.58 FIP.

Final Series Results

Series Sweeps

Detroit Wolverines over Wandering House of David
Memphis Red Sox over Los Angeles Angels

Taking 3 out of 4

New York Gothams over Portland Sea Dogs
Baltimore Black Sox over Kansas City Monarchs
Chicago American Giants over Brooklyn Royal Giants
Houston Colt 45’s over Ottawa Mounties
San Francisco Sea Lions over Indianapolis ABC’s
Miami Cuban Giants over Homestead Grays
Birmingham Black Barons over Philadelphia Stars

Series Splits

New York Black Yankees @ Cleveland Spiders

TWIWBL 46.1: Series XXXVIII Notes – September 10th (Day 2 of 4)

By

On August 25, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps, TWIWBL

#The Battle for the Final Spot

Birmingham lowered their magic number to 1 with an 8-4 victory over Philadelphia. Cupid Childs broke out of a slump with 3 hits including his 5th homerun of the year and Sam Streeter improved to 7-6 with a strong 7 plus innings. The only bad news for the Black Barons concerned young Nate Colbert, who was forced to leave the game with a high ankle sprain that will keep him off the playoff roster as well.

PHI 4 (Carlton 8-13) @ BBB 8 (Streeter 7-6)
HRs: PHI – Davis 19, Judge 7; BBB – Nieman (16), Childs (5).
Box Score

Mike Schmidt had 3 hits and Babe Ruth hit his 47th longball of the season as the Black Yankees did what they could, beating Cleveland 7-2 to keep their hopes alive. Waite Hoyt picked up his 11th win of the year.

These two results mean that any combination of wins by Birmingham or losses by the Black Yankees will end New York’s season, but for now, hope prevails.

NYY 7 (Hoyt 11-6) @ CLE 2 (Gastright 1-1)
HRs: NYY – Ruth (47); CLE – Trosky (2).
Box Score

#Playoff Seeding

Boog Powell had 5 hits and drove in 4 runs and Lou Brock added 4 hits as Kansas City gave up a 7 run lead, but prevailed in 11 innings over Baltimore. The loss for the Black Sox kept Chicago’s hopes of overtaking them for the lead in the Cum Posey Division alive. The American Giants responded by riding a strong start from Ben Sheets to a 3-1 win over Brooklyn. Joe Jackson hit his 30th homerun of the year to give Chicago the lead, and to pull them within 2 games of Baltimore.

Portland and the New York Gothams combined for 21 runs and 33 hits as the Sea Dogs used 9 runs from the 6th inning on to stage a come from behind 12-9 win. For Portland, Joe Mauer and Buddy Bell had 3 hits each and–who else–Gavvy Cravath delivered a key homerun to give them the lead. For the Gothams, Will Clark had 4 hits and drove in 3 and George Van Haltren, Benny Kauff, and Buster Posey added 3 hits each in the losing effort.

#Other Games

Lefty Grove ran out of steam, missing out on a shutout in his final game of the season. Still, his 8 innings was more than good enough, earning him the victory in the 8-1 triumph over Indianapolis. Grove improved to 14-7 on the year, and finished with a league-leading 207 strikeouts. The Sea Lions’ Rickey Henderson had 3 hits (2 of which were triples, tying the league record) and Jimmie Foxx added 3 hits and 3 RBI’s.

Harry Stovey went deep twice, doubling his total for the year and Roy Oswalt was strong in his final start of the year, finishing at 14-8 as the Colt 45’s thrashed Ottawa, 10-2. Pete Hill had 4 hits and Jim Wynn 3 in the blowout win.

Bill Doak and 3 relievers combined to shutout Los Angeles over 12 innings in a 1-0 victory for Memphis over the Angels. Doak and Tim Wakefield allowed 8 hits over 10 plus innings, and Lance Broadway and Jonathan Papelbon finished it out, with Broadway picking up his 1st WBL career victory and Papelbon his 18th save. Gerrit Cole pitched excellently, allowing 5 hits and whiffing 9 over 8 innings, but finishes the year at 16-9. Sammy Sosa delivered the only RBI of the game in the top of the 12th.

TWIWBL 45.0: Series XXXVII Notes

By

On August 17, 2023

In TWIWBL

September 9th

Pennant Race

And then there were two …

Only one division has been won–the surprise Cleveland Spiders win the Effa Manley Division–but only one postseason spot remains undecided.

That comes down to the Cinderella Birmingham Black Barons and the disappointing New York Black Yankees. Birmingham’s magic number is 3–meaning any combination of 3 wins by the Black Barons or losses by the Black Yankees will seal their improbable run to the playoffs.

The exact order of finish is up in the air, but here are your nine playoff contenders (numbers in bold & italics are that team’s magic number):

TeamPctDivisionNotes
Baltimore Black Sox.587Cum PoseyClinched playoff; 2
Detroit Wolverines.567Bill JamesClinched playoff; 4
Chicago American Giants.567Cum PoseyClinched playoff
Cleveland Spiders.560Effa ManleyClinched division
New York Gothams.560Bill JamesClinched playoff
Portland Sea Dogs.553Marvin MillerClinched playoff; 3
Wandering House of David.553Bill James1 to clinch playoff
Birmingham Black Barons.540Marvin Miller3 to clinch playoff
New York Black Yankees.527Effa Manley

The Black Yankees visit Cleveland to end the season. The Spiders will be focused on getting their roster ready for the post season, so that may open the door for New York. But Birmingham hosts the worst team in the WBL, the Philadelphia Stars, so it seems like that would make them the safe bet to progress.

Portland visits the New York Gothams and the House of David hosts Detroit in other playoff preview matchups.

Performance

Four more games, so these are very close to final numbers.

Batters

With the Black Yankees possibly missing the playoffs, the noise for Ron Blomberg‘s MVP campaign just gets louder.

Remember when it looked like Pete Browning would swoop in from injury and win the batting crown? Yeah, Ty Cobb had something to say about that.

Omitted below are Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays and Alejandro Oms of the Miami Cuban Giants (tied for 2nd in the league in triples with 12) and Tim Raines of the Ottawa Mounties (2nd in steals with 91).

Ron Blomberg (CLE). 337/412/648. 43 HR, 107 R.
Ty Cobb (DET). 349/389/558. 187 H.
Eddie Collins (CAG). 312/408/512. 6.4 WAR.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 240/405/390. 109 BB.
Hank Greenberg (DET). 317/374/591. 45 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 269/394/357. 95 SB.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 330/412/579. 107 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 319/426/591.
Willie Mays (NYG). 326/389/523. 183 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 328/393/574. 49 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 336/395/539. 183 H, 133 RBI.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 312/428/658. 46 HR, 132 RBI, 122 R, 106 BB, 7.8 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 299/329/457. 14 3B.

Some milestones possible in the final series:

Musial needs one double to reach 50; Elrod Hendricks (HOD) needs two homeruns to join Ruth and Blomberg in the 40+ club; Rick Reichardt and Mike Trout (Homestead and the Los Angeles Angels, respectively) sit at 98 RBIs; six players have between 96 and 99 runs scored; and Frank Thomas (CAG) needs one walk to reach triple digits.

Pitchers

Starters

It’s unclear if Cleveland’s Pat Malone or the Gothams’ Christy Mathewson will get another start in the regular season: if they do, they’ll be aiming to become the WBL’s first 18 game winners.

Gerrit Cole (LAA). 16-9, 4.33.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 13-7, 3.55. 199 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 8-12, 4.35. 188 K.
Pat Malone (CLE). 17-8, 3.84. 5.0 WAR.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 17-8, 3.51. 205 IP.
Stubby Overmire (HOU/MEM). 9-7, 3.31.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 12-9, 3.86. 3.52 FIP.
Andy Pettitte (KCM/BBB). 15-5, 3.20.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 12-7, 3.87. 3.47 FIP.
Charlie Root (SFS/DET). 10-6, 3.53. 1.06 WHIP.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 15-9, 3.38. 1.14 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 11-10, 4.36. 204 IP, 5.0 WAR.

Overmire needs a few more innings to finish the year qualifying for the ERA title. Cleveland’s Stan Coveleski and Detroit’s Hal Newhouser are the other starters with ERAs under 4.00 who could qualify with 1 more start, although in Newhouser’s case, it would take a complete game. Detroit’s Gene Conley (3.28) and Cleveland’s Bill Steen (a potentially league-leading 2.93) will miss the cutoff, although each are likely to see starts in the postseason.

Relievers

Check out the trio from the New York Gothams bullpen.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 2.76. 36 Sv, 1 H.
Clay Carroll (IND). 2-6, 4.14. 3 Sv, 11 H. 64 G.
Mike Henneman (DET). 2-7, 4.70. 37 Sv.
Sean Marshall (BAL). 5-0, 1.79. 2 Sv, 8 H, 0.98 WHIP.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.72. 29 Sv. 2.90 FIP.
Buddy Napier (DET). 101, 2.75. 2 Sv, 8 H, 0.97 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-4, 1.52. 8 Sv, 15 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-6, 4.56. 3 Sv, 17 H. 64 G.
Carson Smith (NYG). 2-0, 1.77. 1 Sv, 10 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.96. 29 Sv, 1 H. 2.63 FIP.

Streaks

Not a lot going on here, other than Mike Trout‘s 33 game streak of reaching base.

Series XXXVII Results

Series XXVII Sweeps

Wandering House of David over Houston Colt 45’s
Indianapolis ABC’s over Philadelphia

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXXVII

Detroit over Birmingham
Memphis over Brooklyn
Portland over Chicago

Series Splits in Series XXXVII

Los Angeles @ New York Black Yankees
New York Gothams @ Kansas City Monarchs
Baltimore @ Homestead
Miami @ Ottawa Mounties
Cleveland @ San Francisco Sea Lions

Series XXXVII Featured Matchup: Los Angeles Angels @ New York Black Yankees

By

On August 16, 2023

In Featured Series, Game Recaps

Series preview here.

#Game 1: Gerrit Cole @ Waite Hoyt

Lou Gehrig‘s 25th homerun of the year and an RBI single from Thurman Munson put the Black Yankees on top 2-0, but Waite Hoyt was unable to hold it, surrendering 2 runs in the top of the 3rd to tie the game.

Hoyt was chased by singles from Mike Trout and Doug Rader to leadoff the 5th, with AJ Burnett coming in for New York. Burnett escaped further damage but Gerrit Cole gave up the lead in the bottom of the inning as Mickey Mantle led off the frame with his 26th homer.

Burnett walked Trout with the bases loaded to tie the game again, and then gave up a 2 run single to Rader. Dave Righetti was brought on, but Carlos Delgado delivered an RBI single, and Elmer Valo a run-scoring double and when the smoke cleared, the Angels were up, 7-3.

They would add 5 more in the following inning, and the score was only respectable due to Babe Ruth hitting his 45th homer of the year in the 9th inning.

Trout and Rader had 4 hits each, and Delgado added 3. The 3 of them drove in 11 runs, with Rader maintaining his overall lead in the RBI race over Ruth, 131 to 130.

LAA 12 (Cole 16-9) @ NYY 7 (Burnett 5-3)
HRs: LAA – Delgado (11); Gehrig (25), Mantle (26), Ruth (45).
Box Score

With Cleveland losing, this was a lost opportunity for New York, who end the day still 3 games out of the final wild card spot and 5 behind the Spiders for the division lead.

#Game 2: Pud Galvin @ Jack Scott

Mike Trout‘s 21st homerun of the year put the Angels up 2-0 in the top of the first. Two more homeruns (Bobby Grich‘s 12th and Doug Rader‘s 18th) doubled the lead in the 3rd to 4-0. RBI singles from Thurman Munson and Don Mattingly cut it back to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning.

Both pitchers were laboring and New York’s Jack Scott was relieved by Bryan Hickerson with 1 out in the top of the 6th while Pud Galvin gave way to Chuck Finley in the bottom of the frame.

Harry Howell led off the 7th with a pinch hit triple, but was gunned down at the plate on a nice throw from Albert Belle.

Rader doubled in another run–his 133rd RBI of the year–in the top of the 8th, extending Los Angeles’ lead to 5-2. That run loomed large after the bottom of the 8th, when Mattingly hit his 27th homerun of the year after a leadoff double from Munson (his 40th of the year) made it 5-4.

The Angels brought in their closer in the bottom of the 9th, but Joe Nathan was greeted by a leadoff homerun from Mickey Mantle. That sent us to extra innings.

Kal Daniels took Aroldis Chapman deep in the top of the 12th after Hi Myers led off with a walk. And that was it: Francisco Rodríguez held on in the bottom of the 12th as the Angels put another dent in the Black Yankees’ post-season hopes.

Daniels finished with 3 hits for the Angels.

LAA 7 (Rodríguez 4-3; Nathan 9 B Sv; Finley 6 H; Seaver 2 H) @ NYY 5 (Chapman 1-1) [12 Innings]
HRs: LAA – Trout (21), Grich (12), Rader (18), Daniels (14); NYY – Mattingly (27), Mantle (27).
Box Score

#Game 3: Jason Vargas @ Ron Guidry

The Black Yankees enter game 3 of the series 3.5 games back of the final wild card slot with 6 games left in their season. Not only do they need to, essentially, win out, they need help.

But all they can control is trying to win out.

Consecutive doubles by Thurman Munson and Doug DeCinces gave New York the lead in the 2nd, and a 2-run homerun from Hardy Richardson (the first of his career) extend it to 4-0- in the 4th. Ron Guidry was dominant early, but began to struggle in the 5th walking in a run and giving up another on a sacrifice fly, but a 2-run shot from Don Mattingly essentially ended the contest, giving New York a 6-2 edge.

As always, New York’s bullpen is a question mark, but AJ Burnett, Dick Tidrow, and Rheal Cormier were solid in relief of Guidry, and the Black Yankees remain alive.

LAA 2 (Vargas 1-3) @ NYY 7 (Guidry 8-12)
HRs: LAA – none; NYY – Richardson (1), Mattingly (28).
Box Score

#Game 4: Brett Anderson @ Red Ruffing

The Black Yankees bypass Jamie Moyer‘s spot in the rotation, sending out a rested Red Ruffing to face Los Angeles’ Brett Anderson.

Don Buford greeted Ruffing with a dinger to lead off the game, but Thurman Munson–who else for New York?–tied it up with a single in the 2nd, scoring Lou Gehrig. Derek Jeter would bring Munson home, giving the Black Yankees a 2-1 edge.

Both pitchers settled, and the score stayed that way until the bottom of the 5th, when Babe Ruth launched one over 450 feet for his 46th of the year and a 4-1 lead for New York.

Ruffing had to leave injured in the 7th, but he was likely coming out anyway after giving up a leadoff single to Mike Trout. The Angels scored one off Goose Gossage on a double by Don Buford, and then loaded the bases with one out against Aroldis Chapman. Steve Garvey lofted a deep fly to center to make it a 1-run game, but Hi Myers grounded out to end it.

LAA 3 (Anderson 7-8) @ NYY 4 (Ruffing 14-9; Chapman 13 Sv; Righetti 1 H; Gossage 7 H)
HRs: LAA – Buford (18); NYY – Ruth (46).
Box Score

Page 3 of 11

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén