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TWIWBL 88.5: Off Season Review – Birmingham Black Barons

On March 4, 2026

75 - 87, .463 pct.
5th in Marvin Miller Division, 10 GB

Overall

This was such a weird year for Birmingham. They were absolute horrid out of the gate, very strong from June through August, and then faded at the end. During all of that, they (once again) traded away an all star, found some surprising talent on their own roster, and scored way too few runs, despite hitting the ball out of the park with shocking regularity.

Once more it feels like the Black Barons are a couple strokes of luck away from either championship contention or being the worst team in the league. It all centers around making the offense more effective overall, and realizing some of the immense potential in their starting rotation.

What Went Right

Jim Pagliaroni exceeds all expectations, hitting for geometrically more power than anyone could have expected. His .958 OPS made him an elite catcher in the WBL. At 32, it may not last, but it was quite a shock, for sure.

Hank Aaron is right on the verge of superstardom, leading the team in HR (51) and RBI (105). He only drew 16 walks, emblematic of some of Birmingham’s team-wide struggles.

Two players brought in via trade excelled–or, more accurately, performed pretty much as expected. Paul Konerko and Ryan Braun each showed extraordinary power, and Konerko’s plate discipline is desperately needed in Birmingham.

At 23, Eddie Mathews’46 homeruns, 90 RBIs, 99 runs, and 80 walks sure seem like things that went right. But a .224 average and only 12 non-homerun extra base hits are not great.

Harley Young emerged as an excellent option at the back of the bullpen, finishing the year with 15 saves and a 2.29 ERA.

Akinori Otsuka, another trade acquisition, immediately steps into the setup role to get Young the ball.

Fred Fussell was excellent in limited work, laying claim to a role in the bullpen next year.

ALL STARS
Harley Young.
Jim Whitney was selected, but later traded.

MAJOR AWARDS

Ryan Braun, NL 2nd Team of the Year
Paul Konerko, NL Team of the Year

RECOGNITIONS

JP Arencibia, NL All Rookie 2nd Team
Fred Fussell, NL All Rookie 2nd Team
Albert Belle, NL Over 30 Team
Paul Konerko, NL Over 30 Team
Jim Pagliaroni, NL Over 30 Team

ORGANIZATIONAL AWARDS

Jim Pagliaroni, MVP
Harley Young, Pitcher of the Year
Hank Aaron, Heart & Soul
JP Arencibia, Fan Favorite

Gio González, Minor League Pitcher of the Year
Melky Cabrera, Minor League Player of the Year

What Went Wrong

Despite decent speed and walk rate, Cupid Childs‘s offense was so weak, the Black Barons decided to move on, trading for Bobby Grich. Grich belongs here, too, as while the overall shape of his offense is very strong, the level of performance is distressingly low.

SS was weak all year, eventually devolving into a platoon between Herman Long and Troy Tulowitzki. An upgrade here would be quite a boon.

It’s not clear what to do with Curtis Granderson: 41 homers is good, but a .206 average is most certainly not and, when you think of it, 41 homers with a SLG below .500 is pretty worrisome.

Adrián González continues to be a disappointment, hitting just enough to keep squandering his opportunities. His platoon split was pretty profound, so that may be the solution here next season.

And then there’s the pitching. All the pitching.

We can start with Greg Maddux (10-14, 5.35) and Alejandro Peña (8-11, 5.59), who allowed 109 homeruns between them. Maddux has great stuff, but cannot seem to harness it and Peña looks little more than innings eater at this point.

Bruce Chen had 12 holds, but was rocked more often then not, posting a 6.85 ERA with a 1.49 WHIP.

Warren Spahn continues to be terrible in the WBL, posting an ERA over 8 across 56 innings.

Transactions

March

P Andy Pettitte, OF Mickey Rivers, 3rd Round Pick to NYY for OF Albert Belle, P Frank Viola, P Lefty Gomez, IF Jess Barbour.

A win for both teams, and a trade that still may work out for Birmingham: Belle has been as advertised, Gomez looks a mid-rotation WBL starter, and both Viola and Barbour hold promise.

OF Bill Buckner, OF Joe Rudi to MEM for OF David Justice, IF Ozzie Albies, 2nd Round Pick.

Who knows? Only Rudi has seen the WBL, but they all have some potential, although time is running out for the 32-year old Justice.

July

Birmingham still felt they had a shot at this point, and decided to make some noise, trading Whitney–a clear all-star having a great season–to try to bring their offense up a notch.

P Jim Whitney, OF Andy Pafko, OF José Cruz, 2nd Round Pick to MCG for OF Ryan Braun, IF Richie Sexson, 7th Round Pick.

Whitney is a rare gem on the mound, and ultimately Birmingham may regret this deal, especially with how well Pafko performed for Miami. But Braun is a great talent, and will only see more time as Belle and Konerko age.

August

And now, an even more desperate play for offense.

P Sam Streeter, IF Trea Turner, 5th Round Pick to CAG for P Akinori Otsuka, IF Paul Konerko, OF Lenny Dykstra, 3rd Round Pick.

Chicago was tanking at this point. Trade feels fine–Otskuka and Konerko’s present value for Turner’s future, and whatever the American Giants can get from Streeter.

C Gene Tenace, P Vic Wilis, 1st Round Pick to LAA for IF Bobby Grich, 3rd Round Pick.

This one came out of nowhere. Grich may be a solve at 2B for Birmingham for years to come, but the price was steep: Willis has a very live arm and a first round pick is a first round pick (Tenace is good, but was pretty blocked here, so his loss is more acceptable).

Positional Overview

C

An interesting challenge for Birmingham here. Pagliaroni clearly is the incumbent, and the fan base fell in love with Arencibia, who also can help out at 1B.

But Joe Torre slashed 282/362/584 at AAA as a 21 year old, and his WBL arrival has to be imminent.

Beyond that, only Earl Battey looks to have a WBL future at some point down the road.

1B

This will be Konerko for a while: his core skillset (power and walks) ages well.

If Adrián González doesn’t impress in Spring Training, look for young Nate Colbert to get a chance, although Colbert probably needs another year in the minors.

There’s some depth here: Frank McCormick, Hal Trosky, Ron Fairly, and Jake Beckley all have some WBL talent.

2B

We’ll see. The Black Barons traded Tom Herr, were shocked by how effective Cupid Childs was, then decided to move on, anointing Bobby Grich as their future. Grich does seem to be the real deal, even if his production this year was lower than hoped.

Ray Durham will get a chance in the Spring to be Grich’s backup.

Beyond that, there is some decent youth: Ozzie Albies, Marcus Giles, Jess Barbour, and Reddy Mack all have some talent and all are under 22.

SS

This is an issue throughout the system.

Right now, it looks like the platoon between Long and Tulowitzki will continue, with George McBride available at AAA if a purely defensive situation were desired.

3B

It’s still Eddie Mathews, and there is hope his overall offensive performance will nudge upwards.

If he falters, the most likely help would come from Pie Traynor.

LF/RF

This is set, with Braun in one corner and Aaron on the other.

Tommy Davis was spectacular in September, but the 23 year old would probably be better served by starting at AAA as opposed to warming the bench.

Gary Matthews is probably the best talent here, but he’s several years off.

CF

This is Granderson’s role for now, but there are rumors that Curt Flood may be given a strong look, and the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year, Melky Cabrera, is coming behind Flood.

DH

Albert Belle is going to see most of the time here, although there are emerging concerns about his bat speed.

SP

It’s probably one more year of hoping that Peña, Maddux, and Lefty Gomez can turn it around, with John Malarkey and Rube Melton the most likely to round out the rotation, although Warren Spahn and Bill Phyle will get looks in Spring Training as well.

There are some voices advocating that Peña move to the bullpen, which would open up another rotation spot.

There’s some likely help at AAA in Pretzels Getzien, Alex Malloy, and Charlie Morton, but the highest ceilings in the organization are probably teenager Steve Avery and Gio González at AA.

RP

Harley Young is the presumed closer, with Otsuka and Fussell assured of spots as well. As long as Chen doesn’t retire or totally bomb out in Spring Training, he should be there as well.

There’s a lot of moderately useful talent in the minors, but only Carlos Diaz and, perhaps, Steve Bedrosian, have arms that truly impress.

Draft Outlook

DRAFT PICKS

1st Round: 0
2nd Round: 1
3rd Round: 2
4th Round: 1
5th Round: 0

This is not the year the system gets replenished. SS and 3B may be the areas of greatest need.

TWIWBL 87.16: The Gold Gloves

By mknn

On February 24, 2026

In TWIWBL

We previewed the Gold Gloves in August, but now it’s time to do the real thing, one per position per league. We’ll go through them first, then list the award recipients at the end.

I do believe in defense mattering over time, as such, we’re using an 800 IP minimum for the GG awards. For each position, we’re listing the top 3 in each league, AL followed by NL.

We have our standard defensive stats here, with the leaders in bold and the worst performers in italics. Range Factor (RF) measures the number of plays made per game–the higher the better. Zone Rating (ZR) attempts to credit players for plays other fielders missed and ding them for plays other fielders made–the higher the better, and it has the benefit of being comparative across the position. Defensive Efficiency (dEff) measures the rate at which an individual fielder contributes to outs being made on balls put into play, with any score over 1.000 being a net positive impact. Finally, Fielding Percentage (fPct) reflects the percentage of times a chance was handled without a mistake–if someone made no errors, their fPct would be 1.000.

Of these, Range Factor is the most susceptible to the impact of the pitching staff and the ballpark, although none of these defensive ratings are perfect.

Outfielders also have Assists (A), more romantically referred to as Outfield Kills are runners eliminated on the bases and Arm Runs (AR), which measures the net runs gained on an outfielder’s throws, including runner advancements.

Finally, catchers, who are really their own thing, also have RTO% (the percentage of runners thrown out trying to steal, abbreviated as RT), PB (passed balls), Framing Runs (the number of runs gained by the catcher’s positioning), and cERx, which reflects the ERA while the catcher was behind the plate compared to the overall staff ERA. A cERx below 1 means the catcher was better than the rest of the staff, above 1, worse.

#C

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	fPct	RF	ZR	dEff	RT	PB	cERx	FR
NL	IND	Johnny Bench	1144	.995	9.3	1.3	1.19	36	11	1.03	7
	HOD	Elrod Hendricks	923	.994	8.3	3.8	1.14	40	9	1.01	5
	NYG	Buster Posey	1095	.996	8.9	0.4	1.00	35	8	0.96	10
AL	POR	Joe Mauer	1103	.996	9.5	3.5	1.04	39	6	1.01	5
	NYY	Thurman Munson	1122	.995	9.8	2.3	1.00	35	5	0.96	4
	MCG	Iván Rodríguez	1104	.998	9.8	5.7	1.05	46	17	0.98	2

So, what is a catcher’s primary duty? Helping their staff, controlling the running game, and then, a somewhat distant third, making their own defensive plays.

The choice in the AL is pretty obvious, in the NL, I think it comes down to how much do you weigh Posey’s ability to frame pitches, and his ~150 more innings played than Hendricks.

#1B

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	fPct	RF	ZR	dEff
NL	KCM	Boog Powell	1105	.996	9.1	3.4	1.02
	HOD	Anthony Rizzo	828	.995	8.7	0.8	1.02
	IND	Joey Votto	1072	1.000	8.4	5.1	1.04
AL	DET	Hank Greenberg	1159	.996	8.3	2.5	1.02
	POR	Kent Hrbek	1007	.995	8.6	1.3	1.03
	MEM	Bill White	886	.993	9.1	0.5	1.01

Again, one choice is pretty clear–the NL this time.

In the AL, it’s much closer, but Greenberg makes some plays that Hrbek just doesn’t.

#2B

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	fPct	RF	ZR	dEff
NL	KCM	Robinson Canó	1134	.990	4.6	11.0	1.06
	BBB	Cupid Childs	1022	.983	4.5	7.3	1.09
	PHI	Chase Utley	1173	.994	4.9	13.7	1.07
AL	DET	Charlie Gehringer	971	.989	4.9	-10.7	0.94
	BAL	Miller Huggins	923	.987	4.3	10.8	1.10
	MCG	Cookie Rojas	877	.993	4.4	-3.3	0.97

These are two relatively easy choices. And, there is a question of what’s going on in the AL, where almost everyone has a negative ZR.

#SS

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	fPct	RF	ZR	dEff
NL	NYG	Brandon Crawford	1046	.966	4.2	11.4	1.07
	IND	Barry Larkin	911	.975	4.7	9.0	1.07
	KCM	Ozzie Smith	1188	.992	4.7	12.2	1.06
AL	SFS	Dick Lundy	934	.987	4.5	10.8	1.06
	CAG	Freddy Parent	952	.978	5.0	13.6	1.06
	CLE	Arky Vaughan	1143	.982	4.2	13.4	1.09

In the NL, it’s another clear choice: while Smith and Crawford both make the sensational plays, Smith makes all the plays.

The AL is much, much closer and there’s really not much to choose from between Parent and Vaughan. As such, we’ll go with the player who stayed on the field more.

#3B

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	fPct	RF	ZR	dEff
NL	OTT	Adrián Beltré	1055	.974	2.6	-0.8	1.00
	BRK	Ron Cey	1138	.975	2.5	6.0	1.03
	PHI	Scott Rolen	1155	.970	2.3	5.0	1.06
AL	POR	Buddy Bell	1169	.968	2.5	8.0	1.05
	CLE	Evan Longoria	1148	.963	2.2	4.8	1.04
	NYY	Mike Schmidt	1140	.958	2.4	5.3	1.03

The hot corner is a challenge: everyone makes 2, 2 1/2 plays a game, so RF is less useful, although Beltré’s 2.6 does stand out, as does Longoria’s more limited mobility. But it means fPct–as a proxy for errors–and dEff rise in importance. In the AL, while it’s not by a mile, I think Bell is the clear choice while in the AL, it ends up being between Cey and Rolen, with the final edge going to The Penguin.

#LF

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	fPct	RF	ZR	dEff	A	AR
NL	IND	Bob Bescher	839	.989	1.9	-4.8	0.96	2	-2.8
	PHI	Sherry Magee	839	.994	1.7	4.8	1.04	1	-2.3
	BRK	Roy White	1152	.992	1.9	10.3	1.07	6	-1.0
AL	CLE	Johnny Bates	1018	.978	2.0	8.8	1.06	4	-1.3
	SFS	Rickey Henderson	1202	.982	1.6	12.2	1.18	3	-3.6
	BAL	Frank Robinson	996	.990	1.8	0.2	1.00	5	-2.2

The AR numbers reflect just how hard it is to prevent runners from advancing on flyballs, and makes Jim Wynn‘s 3.7 mark there all the more remarkable. Unfortunately, the rest of Wynn’s numbers leave him out of the finalists entirely.

The NL is an easy choice, and one that gives us a repeat winner in Roy White. Over in the Al, it’s harder, but Bates makes more plays and has a far better arm than Henderson, despite how much ground the Sea Lions’ speedster covers.

#CF

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	fPct	RF	ZR	dEff	A	AR
NL	OTT	Carlos Beltrán	1045	.982	2.9	9.5	1.06	10	-1.0
	PHI	Willie Davis	1035	.988	2.9	16.3	1.10	4	-2.8
	NYG	Willie Mays	1214	.989	2.8	14.5	1.05	4	-4.7
AL	BAL	Paul Blair	935	.986	2.7	11.8	1.09	3	-2.6
	CLE	Tris Speaker	1047	.982	2.8	10.0	1.06	9	-2.4
	SFS	Turkey Stearnes	1027	.979	2.8	7.4	1.05	5	-4.7

Assists can be misleading: Detroit’s Chili Davis gunned down 14 runners and Kansas City’s Willie McGee 11, but they, overall, just weren’t effective enough out there to warrant their inclusion. Remember, the weaker the arm, the more often it gets run on, the more chances for assists you may get.

Look, Willie Mays is a great defensive CF. But Willie Davis, simply, had a better year out there. In the AL, you can only unseat Paul Blair if you give massive weight to Speaker’s additional 3 assists. But given how close they are in AR, it’s hard to rationalize that. So Blair it is once again, our 2nd repeat winner.

#RF

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	fPct	RF	ZR	dEff	A	AR
NL	BBB	Hank Aaron	945	.979	1.7	4.4	1.06	6	0.6
	HOM	Roberto Clemente	1134	.979	2.2	7.1	1.06	11	-2.6
	KCM	Stan Musial	972	.981	2.0	8.4	1.07	2	-0.4
AL	MEM	Mookie Betts	880	1.000	1.9	7.6	1.07	2	-3.8
	DET	Al Kaline	971	.991	2.1	3.8	1.03	6	-1.8
	LAA	Ichiro Suzuki	1195	1.000	2.0	5.7	1.04	7	-3.0

The NL is insanely close. Musial makes more spectacular plays than Clemente, Clemente makes marginally more plays overall and has that cannon for an arm, although Musial limits baserunners more effectively. It’s a coin flip, but today we’ll go with Clemente’s additional 150 innings as the difference maker.

In the AL, it’s clearly one of the players who didn’t make a single miscue, and although Betts has the edge in a few metrics, Suzuki has over 300 more innings–1200 innings without an error, but with great range, is incredible.

#P

We’re using 140 innings as the cutoff for the pitchers. Additionally, we have access to number of Framing Runs the pitcher benefitted from, as well as the SB numbers against them. Errors tend to be so low from pitchers, that fPct is no longer a really useful metric.

Lg	Tm	Name	IP	RF	ZR	dEff	RT	FR
NL	HOD	Bob Rush	186	1.2	3.7	1.00	60	0
	HOD	Jack Taylor	192	0.9	5.2	1.00	57	0
	PHI	JM Ward	196	1.0	3.4	1.16	51	0.4
AL	POR	Bert Blyleven	204	0.9	5.6	1.00	59	0.3
	BAL	Bob Feller	153	1.0	3.3	0.91	68	-0.3
	POR	Walter Johnson	214	0.8	5.0	1.20	59	0

Sample size, of course, wrecks havoc with pitcher’s defensive stats. Still, we have what we have.

Not only does Bob Rush make a lot of plays, he keeps runners from stealing, and while Jack Taylor makes more spectacular plays, Rush’s ZR is more than good enough to take the award home. In the AL, Johnson and Blyleven are neck-and-neck, but we’ll go with Blyleven, who has a slight edge in most categories.

#The Gold Gloves

Pos	American League	National League
C	Iván Rodríguez (MCG)	Elrod Hendricks (HOD)
1B	Hank Greenberg (DET)	Joey Votto (IND)
2B	Miller Huggins (BAL)	Chase Utley (PHI)
SS	Arky Vaughan (CLE)	Ozzie Smith (KCM)
3B	Buddy Bell (POR)	Ron Cey (BRK)
LF	Johnny Bates (CLE)	Roy White (BRK)
CF	Paul Blair (BAL)	Willie Davis (PHI)
RF	Ichiro Suzuki (LAA)	Roberto Clemente (HOM)
P	Bert Blyleven (POR)	Bob Rush (HOD)

There are a surprising number of teams with 2 Gold Glove winners–Baltimore, Portland, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and the House of David.

But the overall number of finalists may be more interesting, as it should give some indications as to the higher tier defensive units in the league. Here’s how that stacks up:

6. Cleveland
5. Philadelphia
4. House of David, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Portland
3. Baltimore, Detroit, New York Gothams, San Francisco
2. Birmingham, Brooklyn, Memphis, Miami, New York Black Yankees, Ottawa
1. Chicago, Homestead, Los Angeles

TWIWBL 87.5: The Second Basemen

By mknn

On February 2, 2026

In TWIWBL

Another NL dominated list with AL 2B only appearing in the B Tier and, honestly, each of those perhaps belonging one group lower.

#S Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
NL	OTT	Roberto Alomar	24	305/383/579	35 HR 109 RBI 121 R 58 SB
NL	IND	Joe Morgan	22	306/425/612	35 SB

Nobody would have predicted Roberto Alomar as the best 2B in the game before the season began, but here we are. Alomar was truly superlative, putting him in the running for the All Rounder Award, even. Alomar’s WAR of 4.9 easily outpaced the rest of the field at 2B, and perhaps the only knock on him is that he led the league with 14 errors, however he also played more innings at 2B than anybody else.

Even with all that, Joe Morgan may have edged Alomar for the top spot if he had remained healthy: he got on base more often and showed more power, and is expected to be back at full strength for Spring Training

#A Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
NL	BRK	Jackie Robinson	29	288/369/549	52 SB
NL	HOD	Ryne Sandberg	33	292/351/592	42 HR	.993 fPct 4.97 RF

Jackie Robinson spent some time elsewhere early in the season, but settled down at 2B for the champions, and won the Whirled Series with a memorable walkoff blast. While Ryne Sandberg faded a little as the season moved along (he lead the WBL in homers at one early point), this is still more than enough to cement his spot as a star in the league, especially when his defense is considered.

#B Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
AL	CAG	Eddie Collins	28	286/385/413	104 R 73 SB
NL	NYG	Larry Doyle	35	261/350/587	26 HR
—	LAA/ BBB	Bobby Grich	24	226/349/448		.976 fPct
AL	POR/ NYY	Rogers Hornsby	34	270/374/480		-11.9 ZR .904 dEff
AL	BAL	Miller Huggins	28	276/421/354	35 SB	10.8 ZR 1.100 dEff
NL	PHI	Chase Utley	30	254/341/441	26 SB	.994 fPct 4.92 RF 13.7 ZR

Eddie Collins was a borderline MVP candidate last year, and the first recipient of the All Rounder Award, and Bobby Grich wasn’t all that far behind him. This year, a 50 point drop in slash line across the board moves them into this space, where their starting jobs are safe, but they’re really in danger of no longer being considered elite. An argument could be made that Rogers Hornsby still belongs in the A Tier, but his age and defensive weakness moves him here.

Larry Doyle barely made the usage requirement for the list, which moves him down a tier and, at 35, it’s unclear how much he has left in the tank. Still, in hindsight, he clearly should have started at 2B for the Gothams all season.

Miller Huggins may not belong here, but we’re a sucker for players with 150 point spreads between their BA and OBP, and he’s clearly locked down the starting role in Baltimore. Add his defensive metrics, and we’re fine with him in this group.

Chase Utley‘s incredible defense moves him into this tier–his offensive performance alone would leave him in the C Tier.

#C Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
AL	MCG	Martín Dihigo	19	246/291/429	39 SB	1.000 fPct
AL	DET	Charlie Gehringer	25	257/335/452		4.89 RF -10.7 ZR
—	HOD/ SFS	Frank Grant	22	255/339/384	43 SB
AL	MEM	DJ LeMahieu	29	297/373/433		1.117 dEff
AL	POR	Paul Molitor	24	266/323/423	42 SB	.977 fPct

Paul Molitor‘s future is not at 2B, but to succeed anywhere else, he’ll need to up the offensive production–indeed, he is perhaps being flattered through his inclusion here.

DJ LeMahieu and Frank Grant barely made the list’s usage requirement, leaving Charlie Gehringer as the only obvious C Tier second baseman.

And then there is the enigma that is Martín Dihigo. He played mostly at 2B, but logged a ton of innings elsewhere, at a gold glove level everywhere. Add in his age, his massive jump in offensive performance, and his speed, and you could argue he belongs a tier above.

#D Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
NL	HOU	Craig Biggio	26	234/333/398	20 SB (but, 20 CS)
NL	BRK	Ray Dandridge	22	249/284/421		3.94 RF 1.131 dEff
NL	IND	Tommy Helms	25	268/300/399
AL	CLE	Chuck Knoblauch	28	230/320/381	38 SB	-12.5 ZR .926 dEff

Craig Biggio has more upside–and clearly had the better year–but either he or Chuck Knoblauch could, surprisingly, see the bench next year. Both were significantly better last year, with Knoblauch being an All Star, so there is some reason for optimism as well.

Ray Dandridge‘s future in Brooklyn is probably at SS, but he played most this season at 2B, so he’s listed here. Obviously, the offense needs to improve for his career to stabilize.

Tommy Helms is a utility infielder at best, forced onto this list by Morgan’s injury.

#F Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
NL	KCM	Robinson Canó	25	230/258/397		11.0 ZR
NL	BBB	Cupid Childs	24	224/344/327	37 SB
NL	KCM	Frankie Frisch	28	255/281/405
AL	NYY	Tom Herr	29	228/288/326	21 SB	4.02 RF
NL	HOM	Napoleon Lajoie	24	231/255/409	55 2B	.993 fPct
AL	MCG	Cookie Rojas	26	267/307/379		.993 fPct

An interesting group, honestly. Cupid Childs has gone from being a rising star to losing his starting job with the arrival of Bobby Grich; Napoleon Lajoie‘s 55 doubles speak to his potential, and Cookie Rojas is quite versatile, although, of this group, perhaps the most expendable for his team.

Note Childs’ OBP: his speed and ability to get on base should preserve his having utility in the WBL somewhere.

And then we have the misery that is Kansas City, with both Robinson Canó and Frankie Frisch buried here (although, to be fair, Frisch is a utility infielder and has value as such). And, Tommy Herr, who was supposed to be the long-term solution at 2B for New York, but whose performance prompted the acquisition of Hornsby by the Black Yankees.

#Rookies

Charlie Gehringer (C Tier) and Frank Grant (C Tier).

#Fielding Notes

Of these, Range Factor is the most susceptible to the impact of the pitching staff and the ballpark, although none of these defensive ratings are perfect.

TWIWBL 83.1: Year 2, Week 26

By mknn

On December 26, 2025

In TWIWBL

September 23rd

And then there was one … week to go.

#Awards

Houston‘s Jim O’Rourke continues a great recovery from a disappointing performance last season with a National League Player of the Week Award. O’Rourke hit .550 in the penultimate week of the season as the Colt 45’s try to clinch their first Marvin Miller Division title.

In the AL, the often-overlooked Lou Gehrig picked up the Award with the Black Yankee‘s 1B hitting .400 with 6 homeruns.

#Team Performance

#AL

The Black Yankees had a good week in the Bill James Division, moving from a virtual tie with Cleveland into a 1.5 game lead. The Detroit Wolverines, however, have picked a bad time to struggle, and they now hold only a half-game lead over Miami for the final Wild Card spot.

It’s an interesting final week on the schedule: the Black Yankees visit San Francisco in a likely playoff series preview, and then close out the year against the much-improved of late Baltimore Black Sox. Cleveland probably has the easiest schedule, hosting the lowly Memphis Red Sox, and then ending the year at Miami, who play Detroit before that series with the Spiders.

Miami not only has their future in their own hands, they also could decide the Black Yankees / Spiders race.

#NL

With 96 victories in the Effa Manley Division, the Brooklyn Royal Giants have an outside shot at 100 and, with a 5 game lead, Philadelphia looks to have locked up a Wild Card spot.

Houston has a clear path to the Marvin Miller Division crown on paper, with a 4 game lead and series left against the New York Gothams and the Wandering House of David. The final Wild Card spot is likely to come down to the final series of the year, with Kansas City hosting Indianapolis, although the House of David are technically still in the race.

#Player Performance

#Batters

An overpowered year on offense comes to a close. This list has been fairly constant for a while, I’ve added a 2nd list with less desirable stats as well.

Top 2 in most categories.

Lance Berkman (CLE). 279/369/645. 141 RBI.
José Canseco (MCG). 256/357/716. 66 HR.
Oscar Charleston (IND). 336/377/618. 196 H.
Ty Cobb (DET). 384/438/828. 214 H, 65 2B, 16 3B, 148 R, 9.4 WAR.
Josh Gibson (HOM). 395/492/798. 10.7 WAR.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 248/378/421. 103 BB, 121 SB.
Pete Hill (HOU). 270/345/449. 14 3B.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 355/410/607. 67 2B.
Tim Raines (OTT). 250/353/438. 111 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 282/416/745. 70 HR, 162 RBI, 142 R, 117 BB.

Here are some of the less positive performances. Only the leader is listed (although Dunn is 2nd in SO and Lajoie 2nd in negative WAR).

Cupid Childs (BBB). 222/343/327.
Adam Dunn (IND). 207/341/468. 190 SO.
Ted Kluszewski (PHI). 248/291/442. -1.5 WAR.
Nap Lajoie (HOM). 232/254/407. -1.4 WAR.
Manny Machado (BAL). 240/284/518. 24 GIDP.
Mickey Mantle (NYY). 254/367/588. 214 SO.
Doug Rader (LAA). 242/299/455. 24 GIDP.

This list is interesting, honestly. Childs’ OBP and Dunn’s power hide other clear faults, and it’s surprising that WAR sees Kluszewksi as that bad. Mantle is obviously the best of this group.

#Pitchers

#Starters

As it has been for most of the seasion, this list continues to be dominated by 3 names: A. Rube Foster, Luis Padrón, and Toad Ramsey. I’ve added some usage stats (GS, IP) to help fill out the picture as the season winds down, and, as with the batters, a 2nd list for some less desirable leaders (Hardie Henderson could be on both, given 18 wins and his league-leading walks number).

Top 2 in most categories.

A. Rube Foster (KCM). 11-7, 3.27. .187 BA, .217 BABIP, 1.01 WHIP.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 11-7, 4.51. 251 K.
Hardie Henderson (IND). 18-12, 3.78. 98 BB.
Orel Hershiser (BRK). 18-5, 3.76.
José Méndez (MCG). 13-5, 4.47. 35 GS.
Luis Padrón (IND). 23-3, 3.20. 228 IP, 7.0 WAR.
Andy Pettitte (NYY). 18-8, 4.26.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 19-7, 4.46.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 16-10, 3.23. 223 IP, 282 K, .182 BA, 0.97 WHIP, 3.39 FIP, 7.9 WAR.
Ed Walsh (CAG). 9-10, 3.84. .222 BABIP.
Smokey Joe Williams (BRK). 12-12, 3.87. 3.58 FIP.

Gerrit Cole (LAA). 7-15, 6.45.
Walter Johnson (POR). 13-11, 4.10. 91 BB.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 7-15, 5.58. 36 GS.

#Relievers

Top 2 in most stats, top 3 in saves. 35 Min IP for rate stats.

Rod Beck (SFS). 4-4, 5.09. 39 Sv, 1 H.
Bruce Chen (BBB). 2-4, 6.71. 4 Sv, 11 H, 67 G.
Rheal Cormier (NYY). 1-3, 4.93. 17 H.
Eric Gagne (BRK). 3-3, 3.12. 37 Sv.
Eddie Guardado (KCM). 2-3, 2.27. 2 Sv, 10 H.
Bob Howry (PHI). 4-1, 3.32. 24 Sv, 0.89 WHIP.
Michael Jackson (HOM). 1-7, 5.81. 1 Sv, 20 H.
Josh Lindblom (HOM). 8-4, 3.52. 33 Sv.
Andrew Miller (MEM). 7-8, 4.42. 4 Sv, 12 H, 71 G.
Akinori Otsuka (CAG/BBB). 8-3, 2.26. 7 Sv, 5 H.
Lee Smith (KCM/HOD). 4-2, 2.75. 6 Sv, 12 H, 0.76 WHIP.

TWIWBL 75.2 Spotlight on the Birmingham Black Barons

By mknn

On July 4, 2025

In TWIWBL

Birmingham was a bit of an expert’s favorite last season, selling hard at the all star break, and then making great moves in late August to slide into the playoffs. They were pretty active in the off-season, and while the jury is out on some of the moves, the Black Barons’ front office has earned some benefit of the doubt.

HOME PAGE | ROSTER | POSITIONAL STRENGTH | LEADERS

That said, they are 7.5 games behind, and struggling a bit for sure, and it’s not clear that trading away a an all-star arm in Jim Whitney was the right move at the midseason break.

THE OFFENSE

It’s a bit weird. The Black Barons have a ton of power, with over 250 homers, second in the NL in that department. But that’s about it. They struggle to get on base, struggle to hit singles and doubles, and, at the end of the day, are only meh at what matters for an offense, scoring runs.

#What’s Going Right

Hank Aaron continues to position himself right on the edge of superstar level, leading the team in OPS (.953), homeruns (39), and RBIs (77).

Behind Aaron, Eddie Mathews continues to be an offensive force despite struggling to hit over .230.

Newly acquired Ryan Braun is a monster at the plate given Birmingham a truly impressive top 3 in the lineup..

While not at the same level as those three, Jim Pagliaroni is among the better offensive backstops in the league and Albert Belle, brought in during the offseason to hit for power, has done exactly that.

A shade of last year: Richie Sexson was brought in over the all star break as a throw-in to the Braun trade. Sexson has 4 homeruns in his first 10 games with Birmingham.

Gene Tenace is demanding more playing time now that he’s back from injury, with an OBP over .400 and SLG over .500 in pretty limited action.

#What’s Not Going Right

Even with 31 homers, Curtis Granderson is somewhat exemplary of what’s wrong with Birmingham’s offense overall: he’s hitting under .200 despite all those homeruns, with only 7 other extra base hits. Likewise, fan favorite JP Arencibia keeps hitting them out–12 dingers in 127 PAs–but doing little else at the plate.

Despite being given every opportunity to lock down the 1B job, Adrián González is not doing much. He’s performing better than last year, but an OPS under .800 is rough from a 1B in this league.

Similarly, despite Troy Tulowitzki‘s recent improvement, neither he nor Herman Long have been able to hold onto the SS job for long.

Cupid Childs is flashy, leading the team with 28 homers and the same number of steals. But closer examination reveals some weaknesses, with his OPS hovering barely over .700 and 19 caught stealings reducing the impact of those stolen bases.

THE PITCHING

The offense is better than last year, but the record is worse: an indication that not all is great on the mound for Birmingham.

#What’s Going Right

Harley Young has moved into the closer role, and the first-time all-star has continued his dominance, with 6 saves, 6 holds, and an ERA under 3.00.

Alejandro Peña and Greg Maddux are both pitching better than their raw numbers might suggest. While both have losing records and ERA’s around 5.00, their WHIPs remain solid.

#What’s Not Going Right

Even the above has caveats: Peña and Maddux have surrendered 68 homeruns combined, which is nearly unfathomable.

Juan Rincón has 12 saves, but has been pretty awful, losing his closer role and perhaps in danger of a trip to AAA–an ERA around 8.50 will do that.

While Bruce Chen has been better of late, he still sports an ERA near 6.00, and he and Rincón are both surrendering dingers at a Peña and Maddux like rate.

Nobody else has stood up in the rotation, with John Malarkey and Lefty Gomez being thoroughly meh to date.

THE FARM SYSTEM

TOP PROSPECTS | MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM

There is talent here, but it’s not clear how it all fits together. As an example, Joe Torre looks for real behind the plate, but unlikely to unseat Pagliaroni, and it’s not clear what Curt Flood offers that Granderson does not.

That said, Jess Barbour, Marcus Giles, Trea Turner, Ozzie Albies, and Gary Matthews all have some significant upside. But right now Giles, Turner, and Albies all play the same position, and Braun’s acquisitions further crowds the OF situation.

On the mound, the best arms–Cozy Dolan and Steve Avery–are still a few years away, with little help likely from the upper levels.

WHAT’S NEEDED

Fewer solo homers, more overall offensive production, and the pitching to improve across the board.

Storylines to Watch

Key Questions from Spring Training

How will some key pieces for last season–Pettitte, Rincón, González, Childs, Pagliaroni–perform over the course of a full year. Mixed. Pettitte, of course, was traded, Pagliaroni has excelled and González has been acceptable.
With Andy Pettitte traded, how does the rotation respond and does Albert Belle perform at a level that makes it worthwhile. Belle has been good, but Birmingham would rather have Pettitte, given the rest of their roster right now. This is not in small part due to Lefty Gomez (part of the Pettitte trade) being unable to keep up his early strong performance.
Who will fill out the roster. Still a question …

FEATURED SERIES

The Black Barons travel to New York at the end of the week for a 3 game set against the Gothams.

Projected Starters

Birmingham’s starter listed first.

Lefty Gomez @ Christy Mathewson
Alejandro Peña (5-6, 4.91) @ Juan Marichal (8-9, 4.92)
Charlie Morton (4-3, 5.01) @ Gaylord Perry (8-10, 4.88)
Greg Maddux (8-9, 5.10) @ Don Sutton (11-4, 4.75)

(Forgot to grab stats for Gomez and Mathewson before playing the game.)

I mean … who knows? These are two teams still searching for an identity, let alone a .500 record.

Game One

Birmingham took the lead in the 2nd on a 2-run double from Herman Long, and then made it 4-0 on a 2-run shot from Ryan Braun in the 3rd. But Lefty Gomez gave it back in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Willie Mays and a 3-run pop fly that curled just inside the short left field pole from Will Clark.

RBI’s from Curtis Granderson and Albert Belle gave the Black Barons a 2-run lead, later halved by a solo shot from Mays. And that’s where we stood in the bottom of the 7th, 6-5 in favor of Birmingham. Clark then took Bill Phyle deep for his second homerun of the game, tying us up at 6.

On this day, though, Birmingham would prevail: Gene Tenace homered off Robb Nen in the top of the 9th and Harley Young pitched a perfect frame in the bottom for his 7th save of the season.

BBB 7 (Jackson 1-5, 5 B Sv; Kemmerer 2 H) @ NYG 6 (Crain 1-2; Henke 9 Sv)
HRs: BBB – Braun (38), Tenace (9); NYG – Clark 2 (24), Mays (37).
Box Score

Game Two

Alejandro Peña and Juan Marichal would face off in game two.

Marichal struggled immediately: a single, 2 walks, and an HBP gave Birmingham a 1-0 lead, Ryan Braun delivered a grandslam, and Curtis Granderson a 2-run shot to make it 7-0. Then it got comical: a hit, 2 errors, and a walk led to another run. So, 8-0 good guys after half an inning.

By the end of the 3rd, the Gothams had clawed their way back into it with a solo shot from Jim Ray Hart and a homerun and double from Willie Mays, closing the score to 8-5.

A rain delay of just over half an hour removed both starters in the 4th inning. Peña’s replacement, Joe Orrell, only lasted a few pitches before having to leave via injury. Birmingham brought in Charlie Morton, scrambling their rotation for the rest of the series.

A double from Benny Kauff brought the Gothams back to within a single run, 8-7, but the Black Barons remembered how to score in the 7th when Cupid Childs plated 2 with a single and Hank Aaron drove in another, for an 11-7 lead.

But New York wasn’t done: Larry Doyle took Bruce Chen deep, making it a 2 run game at 12-10. Again, though, Harley Young was up to it, giving Birmingham a 2-0 lead in the series.

BBB 12 (Morton 5-3; Young 8 Sv; Malloy 2 H) @ NYG 10 (Marichal 8-10)
HRs: BBB – Braun (39), Granderson (33); NYG – Hart (2), Mays (38), Doyle (14).
Box Score

Game Three

Before the game, even though it wasn’t clear what the exact nature of his injury was, the Black Barons needed a starter, so Joe Orrell headed to the DL with Warren Spahn being recalled for the start. He’d be opposed by Gaylord Perry for the Gothams.

Spahn was roughed up, giving up 5 homeruns in under 5 innings, with Larry Doyle going deep twice and Will Clark, Jim Ray Hart, and Buster Posey each sending one over the fence as well. After 5 innings, the Gothams led 7-0, with Perry surrendering neither a hit nor a walk in that span.

Perry walked Bob Nieman to lose the perfecto, but held onto the no-no until the 7th, when a single from Eddie Mathews gave Birmingham their first hit. At that point, it was 9-0, and the result was unlikely to come into doubt.

Perry ended with a 3-hitter, whiffing 10 in the complete game effort. Doyle and Hart had 4 hits each, and Doyle and Clark drove in 3.

BBB 0 (Spahn 2-3) @ NYG 10 (Perry 9-10)
HRs: BBB – none; NYG – Clark (25), Hart (3), Posey (29), Doyle 2 (16).
Box Score

Game Four

So, will Birmingham take the series 3-1, or will the Gothams come back and earn a series split? The Black Barons turn to Greg Maddux, while New York will counter by giving Rube Waddell the spot start.

Waddell struggled out of the gate, allowing an RBI single to Hank Aaron, walking Albert Belle with the bases loaded, and giving up a third run on a groundout while Brooklyn batted around in the top of the first.

Recently acquired Don Buford led off the bottom of the inning with his 21st homer of the year, closing it to 3-1 in favor of Birmingham.

Waddell settled down, and we were still 3-1 after 6 innings. Waddell was unlikely to come out for the 7th, but an elbow injury forced the Gothams’ hand, with Mike Norris taking the ball in the top of the 7th.

Maddux gave up a leadoff homer to Benny Kauff in the bottom of the frame, closing the gap to 3-2, and a single from Will Clark raised action in the Birmingham bullpen. Jim Ray Hart launched his 4th of the year, chasing Maddux with the Gothams having suddenly taken the lead, 4-3. Buford added an RBI with his 3rd hit of the day, and New York’s bullpen took over with a 2 run edge.

Robb Nen had a poor inning, but Jo-Jo Moore nailed Aaron at the plate to end the frame, preserving the 2 run lead. Brian Wilson had no such issues, walking 1 and whiffing 3 in picking up his 15th save of the year.

BBB 3 (Maddux 8-10) @ NYG 5 (Norris 4-4; Wilson 15 Sv; Nen 11 H)
HRs: BBB – none; NYG – Buford (5), Kauff (26), Hart (4).
Box Score

Waddell will miss a couple weeks, earning the oft-injured lefty a trip to the DL with Pete Donohue being recalled from AAA.

So, a series split. Birmingham’s bats fell off dramatically over the final 2 games, pointing to the inconsistency the Black Barons need to overcome if they are to escape the bottom few slots in the league.

Homeruns continue to plague Birmingham’s staff: the Gothams hit 15 out in the 4 games, with Jim Ray Hart launching his first 4 of the season and Will Clark and Larry Doyle hitting 3 each.

TWIWBL 67.2 Spotlight on the Birmingham Black Barons

By mknn

On October 9, 2024

In TWIWBL

Ouch.

The Black Barons were the darlings of the league last season, using a late season charge to edge into the playoffs. They were masters of the in-season trade periods, and then claimed to won the off-season as well, trading ace Andy Pettitte (because they had a surplus of arms) to add some power in the form of Albert Belle.

And nothing has worked since as Birmingham has plummeted towards a WBL worst record.

Birmingham inherits players from all the Braves (Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta).

HOME PAGE | ROSTER | POSITIONAL STRENGTH | LEADERS

Sitting 13 games behind in the Marvin Miller Division, anything that brought them within shouting distance of .500 would be a miracle. For some, this year is proof that last year was a mirage, for others, this year is just a long parade of poor fortune: how far the Black Barons recover will help the final evaluation of which is more accurate.

THE OFFENSE

Birmingham’s weakness last year was a total lack of power. They’ve addressed that with 6 players in double digits, led by Hank Aaron with 19 and Curtis Granderson and Eddie Mathews with 17 each. But everything else has plummeted: both Granderson and Mathews are hitting below .200, only 3 players have OBPs over .350.

#What’s Going Right

Jim Pagliaroni has blossomed into one of the better offensive catchers in the league, at least over the first few months, leading Birmingham in OPS at .927, powered by 14 dingers. Aaron is sporting an OPS just over .900, leading the team in runs and RBI’s as well. Mathews has seized the 3B spot, and Bob Nieman continues to be a solid contributor in the OF.

Then, at a lower pitch, JP Arencibia–while he’s fallen off significantly from his blistering start–is still hitting with a ton of power; Cupid Childs is getting on base at a good clip at the top of the order, and Belle, while currently mired in a bit of a slump, has produced some power, with 14 homeruns of his own.

#What’s Not Going Right

It’s homers or nothing for this team: only Nieman, Childs, Herman Long, and Aaron are in double digits in doubles, and there are some very odd distributions elsewhere (Pagliaroni has 1 double, Mathews 4, and Granderson 2 despite all having at least 14 homers).

Only two players (Aaron and Troy Tulowitzki, who has supplanted Long at SS) are hitting over .260.

Adrián González has seen his role reduced essentially to a platoon at 1B with Arencibia.

The team does not run well, with Childs having a whopping 15 CS to go along with 17 steals.

THE PITCHING

There are a few bright spots here, but, overall, more disappointments than pleasant surprises.

#What’s Going Right

Greg Maddux (5-5, 4.97) and Alejandro Peña (2-4, 5.23) have both pitched better than their ERA’s might suggest, and both continue to show front of rotation ability. They’ve been joined by Jim Whitney (1-1, 2.41), who has been a fantastic surprise, forcing his way into the rotation.

Harley Young (1-0, 1.80, 1 Sv, 3 H) seems to have made a full recovery from injury, and is pushing himself into the conversation at closer. Some other arms–notably Charlie Morton and John Malarkey–have done well in limited appearances.

#What’s Not Going Right

Lefty Gomez (3-6, 5.80) and Sam Streeter (1-7, 5.80–yes they both have the same poor ERA), who looked strong coming out of Spring Training, have struggled, and are in danger of losing their rotation spots.

Juan Ríncón has 6 saves, but he and Bruce Chen have both been hit very hard. Those two, along with Young, were a key trio in last year’s success, and the weakening of the back end of the bullpen has certainly been noticeable.

None of the other young talent on the mound–most notably Vic Willis, Warren Spahn, and Frank Viola–have come through.

THE FARM SYSTEM

TOP PROSPECTS | MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM

The future does look bright, with 7 prospects listed in the WBL top 50 in OFs Jess Barbour and Curt Flood, IF Marcus Giles and Trea Turner, C Joe Torre, and Ps Rube Melton and Alex Malloy. There’s a fair bit of talent off the WBL rankings radar as well, from P Steve Avery to the power of Nate Colbert and Gary Matthews to the OF skills of Ron Fairly, Melky Cabrera, and José Cruz.

So there are some options.

Of that group, Melton, Torre and Fairly are doing well at AAA while Flood is struggling a bit at that level.

WHAT’S NEEDED

Birmingham is underperforming, winning 2 fewer games than their runs scored/runs allowed numbers would indicate. But that’s only 2 games. So there are some deep underlying needs.

Most of all, the offense needs to become more than a threat of solo homeruns, which are just not enough to carry the team. The bullpen needs to settle, which may require some roster movement if Rincón and Chen can’t recover their form.

Storylines to Watch

Key Questions from Spring Training

How will some key pieces for last season–Pettitte, Rincón, Adrián González, Cupid Childs, Jim Pagliaroni–perform over the course of a full year? Overall, the answers here revealing: Pettitte is gone, Rincón and González are struggling, Childs is doing OK, and of that group, only Pagliaroni is excelling.
With Andy Pettitte traded, how does the rotation respond and does Albert Belle perform at a level that makes it worthwhile? Meh. The rotation has not really responded, and the Black Barons certainly feel the lack of a clear ace at the front of the rotation. Belle has hit a slump, but is still contributing with power. Meh.
Who will fill out the roster? Still a bit of a concern, although Arencibia’s ultra hot start was a great plus and Andy Pafko has been quite solid.

FEATURED SERIES

The Black Barons start the week with 3 games in Pittsburgh to take on Homestead and since we just talked about the Grays, it seemed like a good focus series.

Projected Starters

Birmingham starter listed first.

Jim Whitney (1-1, 2.41) @ Bob Friend (3-2, 4.75)
Alejandro Peña (2-4, 5.23) @ Doug Drabek (2-1, 3.50)
Greg Maddux (5-5, 4.97) @ Francisco Liriano (3-5, 5.12)

Game One

With Bob Friend still fatigued, Homestead went with Ray Brown. Jim Whitney struggled early, giving up 4 runs in the bottom of the first including back to back longballs to Rick Reichardt and Willie Stargell.

And then the rains came …

After the tarps were on, the game was called, to be completed the following day with the Grays up 4-0, and guaranteeing impact on the two team’s bullpens.

The following day, Fred Fussell would take the ball for Birmingham for the bottom of the 3rd while Brickyard Kennedy took over for Homestead in the top of the 4th. Whitney stayed in the game as the DH, and doubled in the 5th, scoring on a homerun from Herman Long that closed the game to 4-2.

That was effectively it as the bullpens were excellent. The Grays would add one more run as Birmingham was held to 5 hits on the day.

BBB 2 (Whitney 1-2) @ HOM 5 (Kennedy 3-0; Lindblom 16 Sv; Lee 3 H; Jackson 8 H)
HRs: BBB – Long (4); HOM- Stargell (18), Reichardt (20).
Box Score

Game Two

Homestead’s Bob Friend gets his chance here, facing off against Alejandro Peña.

The game was scoreless until the top of the 5th when a double by Albert Belle drove in Curtis Granderson. After a walk to Gene Tenace, Troy Tulowitzki hit his first homer of the season, and it was 4-0 Birmingham, with Peña yet to allow a hit.

Nap Lajoie broke up the no-no in the bottom of the frame, but that was all the drama for a while–Belle and Cupid Childs went deep, and the Black Barons were sailing along 7-0 until Roberto Clemente touched Peña for a long 3 run shot in the bottom of the 7th.

The Grays made it close enough for Juan Ríncón to earn a save, but that was it as the Black Barons evened up the series.

BBB 8 (Peña 3-4; Rincón 7) @ HOM 5 (Friend 3-3)
HRs: BBB – Tulowitzki (1), Belle (15), Childs (2); HOM – Clemente (6).
Box Score

Game Three

An intriguing pitching matchup: Greg Maddux seems perpetually on the verge of becoming a front of the rotation guy for Birmingham, while Doug Drabek is trying to solidify a claim to a rotation spot for the Grays.

Both hurlers were good through three, and then the wheels fell off. Birmingham exploded for 7 runs in the top of the 4th, led by homeruns from Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, and JP Arencibia; but Maddux collapsed as well, allowing 7 runs to Homestead in the bottom of the frame.

So, tied until Mathews went deep for the 2nd time in the following inning, and Herman Long added a 2 run shot to give Birmingham a 10-7 lead. They added 2 more in the top of the 8th, making it 12-8 and then survived Stargell’s second of the game as Juan Ríncón closed it out for a 12-11 victory.

Cupid Childs had 4 hits and 3 doubles in the victory and Long and Arencibia drove in 3 each.

BBB 12 (Malarkey 2-1; Rincón 9 Sv) @ HOM 11 (Pierce 4-4)
HRs: BBB – Aaron (20), Mathews 2 (19), Arencibia (6), Long (5); HOM – Stargell 2 (20).
Box Score

A series win is a series win, and this one showed the offense doing more for sure. But there is something a bit unconvincing in the bullpen–especially when called upon in the middle of the game, and the questions remain.

TWIWBL 66.1: Year 2, Week 9

By mknn

On September 18, 2024

In TWIWBL

May 28th

We are roughly 1/4 through the season!

#Awards

Roberto Alomar hit .500 on the week with 4 homeruns, earning the Ottawa 2B the National League Player of the Week. Over in the American League, Miami‘s José Canseco had 7 homeruns to go with a .417 average, earning the American League award.

#Team Performance

The New York Black Yankees and the Indianapolis ABC‘s have each gone 8-2 over their last 10 games. For New York, this has helped them extend their lead over Cleveland in the Bill James Division to 4 games, while Indianapolis has roared int 2nd place in the Marvin Miller Division, sitting 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Birmingham and Detroit have each gone 2-8 over their last 10, with the Black Barons now 13 games behind Kansas City and the Wolverines falling to 10 games behind the Black Yankees.

#Player Performance

Batters

The changing of the guard continues: Ty Cobb leads the league in most things, and Larry Walker is ahead of Babe Ruth (and Canseco) in homers.

A sign that it’s still early in the season: 2 batters are still hitting over .400 (Cobb and Houston‘s Tony Gwynn); 2 have OBPs over .450 (Cobb and Ruth), and 4–FOUR–are still slugging over .800 (Cobb, Walker, Ruth, and Canseco).

José Canseco (MCG). 280/392/803. 24 HR.
Oscar Charleston (IND). 314/361/581. 7 3B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 420/471/882. 71 H, 28 2B, 3.6 WAR.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 417/447/669. 73 H.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 269/374/491. 39 SB.
Pete Hill (HOU). 272/344/503. 8 3B.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 366/411/579. 25 2B.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 339/457/814. 24 HR, 62 RBI, 52 R, 41 BB, 3.8 WAR.
Joey Votto (IND). 287/439/507. 36 BB.
Larry Walker (OTT). 339/416/819. 26 HR, 61 RBI, 45 R.

Seems like a good time to check on the underperformers as well. Clearly a player who leads the league in whiffs can certainly have more value than someone who leads the league in worst OPS while still qualifying for the leaderboards.

Cupid Childs (BBB). 241/371/350. 6 RBI, 13 CS.
Adam Dunn (IND). 242/349/571. 64 SO.
Andrés Galarraga (HOU). 190/222/393. -1.1 WAR.
Oscar Gamble (DET). 234/376/422. 10 GIDP.
Mickey Mantle (NYY). 278/385/650. 65 SO.
Tony Phillips (DET). 174/266/304. -1.2 WAR.
Doug Rader (LAA). 249/305/379. 10 GIDP.
Cristóbal Torriente (CAG). 187/228/253. 7 RBI.

It’s an interesting group, with only Galarraga, Phillips, and Torriente really in danger of losing their spots. Dunn and Mantle are clearly excellent players, they just strike out a lot. Childs’ OBP keeps him vital to the top of Birmingham’s lineup, and Gamble and Rader are clearly everyday players.

Pitchers

Starters

With a rain-shortened CG on Sunday, Houston’s Toad Ramsey became the first 8 game winner in the league. I’ve also included the four 7-game winners in the list, as well as the two other hurlers with sub 3.00 ERAs.

If you go by black ink, it remains Ramsey’s season.

Mark Buehrle (CAG). 5-3, 2.86.
Frank Castillo (KCM). 7-1, 3.62.
Roger Clemens (HOU). 6-1, 3.63. 1.01 WHIP.
Johnny Cueto (IND). 7-1, 3.73.
Doc Gooden (LAA). 4-3, 2.59.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 6-4, 3.08. 3.36 FIP, 2.5 WAR.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 7-1, 3.52. 82 K.
Hardie Henderson (PHI). 6-3, 2.78.
Luis Padrón (IND). 7-1, 3.45.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 8-2, 2.73. 94 K; 0.97 WHIP; 2.76 FIP; 3.4 WAR.

Relievers

Homestead‘s Josh Lindblom and San Francisco‘s Rod Beck continue to lead the league in saves with a dozen each, although Brooklyn‘s Eric Gagne (11 saves) has probably been more effective overall.

12 IP minimum.

Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 5.40. 12 Sv.
Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-0, 2.70. 8 H.
Trevor Hildenberger (BRK). 1-0, 1.06. 1 Sv, 5 H, 0.65 WHIP.
Eric Gagne (BRK). 1-1, 3.18. 11 Sv.
Mike Henneman (DET). 4-0, 1.02. 8 Sv.
Lefty James (IND). 1-0, 3.55. 1 Sv, 7 H.
Ted Kennedy (PHI). 2-2, 3.18. 2 Sv, 7 H.
Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-1, 4.00. 12 Sv.
Lee Smith (HOD). 1-0, 1.80. 1 Sv, 5 H, 0.60 WHIP.

#Injury Report

Kansas City’s Bob Gibson should start a rehab assignment later this week, as should Philadelphia‘s Jack Meyer, who has missed over a year of action.

#AA Check In

This week, it’s a look at AA, looking at both the best performers and the best prospects (24 and under) roughly 1/4 of the way through the season. 100 AA PA minimum for batters.

Pos	25+	< 25
C	Kelly Shoppach (28, BRK). 305/362/537.	Bill Dickey (22, PHI). 387/416/639.
1B	Del Bissonette (27, BBB). 337/456/675.	John Mayberry (20, OTT). 349/476/771).
2B	Steve Sax (25, CLE). 398/438/508.	Dario Lodigiani (20, SFS). 363/471/516.
SS	Jhonny Peralta (26, IND). 244/338/472.	Xander Bogaerts (23, LAA). 359/432/538.
3B	Brook Jacoby (29, CLE). 319/393/553.	Ryon Healy (20, OTT). 330/365/637.
LF	Earl Webb (28, POR). 322/386/644.	Andrew Benintendi (22, MEM). 340/447/551.
CF	Keon Broxton (26, CAG). 291/413/563.	Cool Papa Bell (21, KAN). 368/429/747.
RF	Roger Maris (27, NYY). 312/425/720.	Chuck Klein (22, POR). 282/339/602.
SP	Whitey Ford (25, NYY). 5-2, 2.92. 1.6 WAR. George Winter (27, HOU). 5-0, 2.34. 1.4 WAR.	Gary Lucas (24, HOM). 3-2, 3.42. 1.6 WAR. Masahiro Tanaka (24, NYG), 6-4, 4.40. 1.4 WAR.
RP	Rob Wooten (26, MEM). 2-2, 3.00. 11 Sv.	Oad Swigert (23, IND). 0-2, 3.45. 10 Sv.

Lots and lots of talent here, as to be expected. Dickey–part of the haul Philadelphia got for Mike Schmidt–may be recalled shortly, but most of the rest of these hitters are either blocked positionally (trade bait?) or need a year or 2 more in the minors before making their case for WBL time. Dickey, Bell, Klein, and Ford are probably the best long-term prospects.

TWIWBL 63.6: Marvin Miller Division

By mknn

On July 17, 2024

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

Jim Whitney replaces John Malarkey in the Black Barons’ rotation.

Birmingham has some infield questions to answer, but for the time being, will live with Hank Aaron (far better suited to the OF) being their only alternative at 2B to Cupid Childs.

Larry Benton will miss about a year with elbow surgery. Bill Phyle was recalled, assumedly for a longer period than the first time, during which he saw no action.

#Houston Colt 45’s

David Clyde–out since early last season–started an injury rehab assignment.

Roger Clemens had a poor start, leaving him unable to become the league’s first 6 game winner, but Jimmy Wynn‘s second dinger (and 4th run scored) of the game was a walkoff shot in the bottom of the 11th inning. It was a wild game, as homers by George Brett and Craig Biggio (pinch-hitting) kept the game going in the bottom of the 10th and 11th innings.

Wynn again hit 2, but this time, after a 7 run comeback, the Colt 45’s couldn’t pull it off, losing 11-9 to the House of David in another worryingly bad start from Roy Oswalt.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

George Foster‘s 4th homerun of the year was a grand slam in the top of the 9th, leading the ABC’s to a sudden 4-2 victory over Ottawa.

Oscar Charleston had 5 hits and Adam Dunn crushed a walkoff homerun in the bottom of the 10th as the ABCs came from behind to top Birmingham, 7-5.

#Wandering House of David

Kerry Wood took Wade Miley‘s spot in the House of David’s rotation, and Orlando Cabrera was moved to AAA to clear space for Frank Grant‘s return from a rehab assignment.

Frank Chance had 4 steals but the House of David was unable to hold onto several leads, falling to Houston in 11 innings.

Miley was pressed into an emergency start … and immediately made everyone question their decisions, allowing only 2 hits and 1 run in 7 innings in clearly his best start of the year. It was an encouraging game for the House of David: Grant had 2 hits in his debut, Anthony Rizzo went deep twice, and Elrod Hendricks (2 hits, 1 HR) and Sammy Sosa (2 hits) showed signs of breaking out of their funks.

Ernie Banks went deep twice and the House of David withstood a massive comeback by Houston, holding on for an 11-8 victory. After rough outings from Rick Reuschel and CC Sabathia, Fergie Jenkins, Ed Bauta, and Bruce Sutter shut it down, allowing only 2 hits over the last 3+ innings.

Banks did it again, hitting 2 homeruns in a 7-6 victory over the Gothams. Sosa had 2 homeruns as well, including the game winning shot in the bottom of the 10th. The House of David would be encouraged by Wood’s first start of the year, in which he pitched 6 innings, fanning 10. The victory went to Sutter, who improved to 1-1 with a perfect 1+ innings of relief.

WBL Year II Statistics

I needed a place to hold statistics that aren’t easily displayed in OOTP. Most of these are game-level performances.

For complete statistics, poke around on the WBL Stats Page.

Batting Statistics

2+ 3B Games

2. Bob Bescher (IND); Craig Biggio (HOU), Ty Cobb (DET); Willie McGee (KCM); Tim Raines (OTT).

3+ 2B Games

4. Chuck Knoblauch (CLE).
3. Craig Biggio (HOU); Curt Blefary (BAL); George Brett (HOU); Ron Cey (BRK); Cupid Childs (BBB); Ty Cobb (DET); Gavvy Cravath (BAL); Josh Gibson (HOM); Hank Greenberg (DET); Joe Jackson (CAG); Reggie Jackson (SFS); HR Johnson (NYY); Napoleon Lajoie (HOM); Herman Long (BBB); Don Mattingly (NYY); Willie McGee (KCM); Joe Morgan (IND); Frank Robinson (BAL); Jackie Robinson (BRK); Cookie Rojas (MCG); Pete Runnels (NYG); Ted Simmons (KCM); Reggie Smith (MEM); Mike Trout (LAA); Bill White (MEM).

3+ HBP Games

3. Jack Doyle (CAG).

3+ HR Games

4. Tony Conigliaro (HOD); Larry Doby (CLE).
3. Jeff Bagwell (HOU); Ed Bailey (DET); Ernie Banks (HOD); Buddy Bell (POR); Carlos Beltrán (OTT); Lance Berkman x2 (CLE); Ron Blomberg (CLE); Ryan Braun (MCG); José Canseco x2 (MCG); Larry Doby (CLE); Gavvy Cravath (BAL); Larry Doby (CLE); Josh Gibson (HOM); Paul Goldshmidt (HOU); George Gore (HOD); Mark McGwire (HOD); Kevin Mitchell (CAG); Rick Monday (OTT); Stan Musial (KCM); Jim Pagliaroni (BBB); Manny Ramírez x2 (MEM); Álex Rodríguez (OTT); Babe Ruth (NYY); Ted Simmons (KCM); Sammy Sosa x2 (HOD); Gorman Thomas (HOU); Mike Trout (LAA); Larry Walker (OTT).

3+ OF Assists

4+ BB Games

4. Ed Bailey (DET); Eddie Collins (CAG); Mike Epstein (HOM); Rickey Henderson (SFS); Willie McGee (KCM); Andrew McCutchen (HOM), Joe Morgan (IND); Gorman Thomas (HOU); Joey Votto (IND).

4+ CS Games

6. Curt Blefary (BAL); Iván Rodríguez (MCG).
4. Brad Ausmus (OTT); Johnny Bench (IND); Curt Blefary (BAL); Gabby Hartnett (MEM); Jorge Posada (HOU); Mike Scioscia (PHI); Ted Simmons (KCM).

4+ Run Games

6. Ron Blomberg (CLE).
5. Chuck Knoblauch (CLE); Tris Speaker (CLE).
4. Roberto Alomar x3 (OTT); Jeff Bagwell x2 (HOU); Bob Bailey (DET); Ed Bailey (DET); Johnny Bates x2 (CLE); Albert Belle (BBB); Curt Blefary x2 (BAL); Dan Brouthers (BRK); Ron Cey (BRK); Roberto Clemente (HOM); Eddie Collins x2 (CAG); Tony Conigliaro (HOD); Gavvy Cravath (BAL); Ray Dandridge (BRK); Larry Doby (CLE); Mike Epstein (HOM); George Grantham (CAG); Rickey Henderson x2 (SFS); Pete Hill (HOU); Benny Kauff (NYG); Paul Konerko (CAG); Evan Longoria (CLE); Willie McGee (KCM); Kevin Mitchell (CAG); Rick Monday (OTT); Eddie Murray (BAL); Billy Nash (DET); Yasiel Puig (MCG); Charles Rogan (PHI); Cookie Rojas (MCG); Babe Ruth (NYY); Gary Sheffield (MCG); Chase Utley (PHI); Arky Vaughan (CLE); Larry Walker (OTT); Jim Wynn (HOU).

4+ SB Games

6. Rickey Henderson (SFS).
5. Roberto Alomar (OTT); Bob Bescher (IND).
4. Frank Chance (HOD); Rickey Henderson (SFS); Dick Lundy (SFS).

5+ Hit Games

5. Jeff Bagwell (HOU); Don Buford (LAA); Joe Jackson (CAG); Aaron Judge (PHI); Chuck Knoblauch (CLE); Jim Pagliaroni (BBB); Ichiro Suzuki (LAA); Mike Trout (LAA); Chase Utley (PHI).

5+ SO Games

6. Dale Murphy (KCM).
5. Beals Becker (BRK); Bobby Bonds (SFS); Ron Cey (BRK); Larry Doby (CLE); Mike Epstein x2 (HOM); Bryce Harper (BAL); Héctor López (NYY); Dale Murphy (KCM).

6+ RBI Games

8. Jeff Bagwell (HOU); Paul Konerko (CAG); Will Smith (HOU).
7. Jeff Bagwell (HOU); Ron Blomberg (CLE); Larry Doby (CLE); Carlton Fisk (CAG); Charlie Gehringer (DET); Hank Greenberg (DET); Evan Longoria (CLE); Manny Machado (BAL); Yasiel Puig (MCG); Manny Ramírez (MEM); Gary Sheffield (MCG).
6. Hank Aaron (BBB); Bob Bailey (DET); Ernie Banks (HOD); Albert Belle (BBB); Lance Berkman (CLE); Ron Blomberg (CLE); Johnny Callison (NYG); Carlos Correa (HOU); Gavvy Cravath (BAL); Kal Daniels (LAA); Chili Davis (DET); George Foster (IND); Josh Gibson (HOM); Kent Hrbek (POR); Joe Jackson (CAG); Aaron Judge (PHI); Tony Lazzeri (DET); Mickey Mantle (NYY); Kevin Mitchell (CAG); Rick Monday (OTT); Jim O’Rourke (HOU); Mike Piazza (BRK); Manny Ramírez (MEM); Babe Ruth x3 (NYY); Ryne Sandberg (HOD); Mike Schmidt (NYY); Ted Simmons (KCM); Roy White (BRK).

Cycles

Roberto Clemente (HOM; 4-5, 4 R, 3 RBI).
Ty Cobb (DET; 4-5, 3R, 2 RBI).
Goose Goslin (HOM; 4-5, 2 R, 2 RBI).

Longest HRs

{Note: OOTP clearly has something weird happening with overpowered HRs. It’s getting better, and, at some point, I’m going to reduce these by roughly 10%, which would leave the list at only 3 at 500 ft+ for the season so far, which seems much more realistic to me, but am waiting to see if I get any additional info/guidance from the game dev’s.}

595 ft. Dale Murphy (KCM).
558 ft. Aaron Judge (PHA).
555 ft. Albert Pujols (KCM).
551 ft. Eddie Mathews (BBB).
550 ft. Lance Berkman (CLE).
544 ft. Eddie Mathews (BBB).
542 ft. Ron Blomberg (CLE); Evan Longoria (CLE).
539 ft. Johnny Bates (CLE); Craig Biggio (HOU).
538 ft. Josh Gibson (HOM), Pete Hill (HOU); Buster Posey (NYG).
535 ft. Buster Posey (NYG).
534 ft. Robinson Canó (KCM).
533 ft. Oscar Charleston (IND).
530 ft. Dale Murphy (KCM).
528 ft. Johnny Callison (NYG); Willie Mays (NYG).
527 ft. Joe Adcock (NYG).
525 ft. Bullet Joe Rogan (PHI).
522 ft. Ron Blomberg (CLE).
519 ft. Babe Ruth (NYY).
518 ft. Willie Mays (NYG).
516 ft. Hank Aaron (BBB); Bob Nieman (BBB).
514 ft. Ron Cey (BRK); Oscar Gamble (DET).
512 ft. Tony Gwynn (HOU).
511 ft. Lance Berkman (CLE); Dan Brouthers (BRK).
510 ft. Ron Blomberg (CLE); Joe Harris (KCM).
509 ft. Johnny Callison (NYG); Jack Clark (SFS); Bryce Harper (BAL); Ted Simmons (KCM).
508 ft. Jeff Bagwell x2 (HOU); Ron Blomberg (CLE); Boog Powell (KCM); Travis Shaw (MEM).
507 ft. Bobby Grich (BBB); Ducky Medwick (KCM); Ted Simmons (KCM).
505 ft. Lou Gehrig (NYA).
503 ft. Larry Doyle (NYG); Joe Rogan (PHI); Ryne Sandberg (HOD); Oscar Gamble (DET).
502 ft. Ernie Banks (HOD); Albert Belle (BBB); Robinson Canó (KCM); Ray Dandridge (BRK); Mike Epstein (HOM).
501 ft. Gary Carter (OTT); Derek Jeter (NYA).
500 ft. Andrew McCutchen (HOM).

Pitching Statistics

80+ Game Scores

99. José Rijo (KCM).
97. JM Ward (PHI).
94. Steve Carlton (PHI).
93. Frank Castillo (KCM); Lefty Grove (SFS); Toad Ramsey (HOU); Jim Whitney (MCG).
92. Bump Hadley (SFS); Bullet Joe Rogan (PHI).
91. Frank Knauss (BRK); Christy Mathewson (NYG); Toad Ramsey (HOU)
90. Brett Anderson (LAA); A. Rube Foster (KCM); Bump Hadley (SFS); Alejandro Peña (BBB); Toad Ramsey (HOU); Joe Rogan (PHI).
89. Bump Hadley (SFS); Dennis Martínez (BAL); Gaylord Perry (NYG); Fernando Valenzuela (BRG); Smokey Joe Wood (KCM).
88. Don Newcombe (PHI); Stubby Overmire (MEM); Luis Padrón x2 (IND); Bill Steen (CLE); Justin Verlander (DET).
87. Ice Box Chamberlain (HOU); Roger Clemens (HOU); Lefty Grove (SFS); Carl Hubbell (NYG); Francisco Liriano (HOM); Dennis Martínez (BAL); José Méndez (MCG); Joseíto Muñoz (MCG); Old Hoss Radbourn (OTT); José Rijo (KCM); Jim Whitney (BBB).
86. Bartolo Colón (HOM); A. Rube Foster (KCM); Doc Gooden (LAA); Frank Knauss (BRK).
85. Roger Clemens (HOU); Gerrit Cole (LAA); Lefty Grove (SFS); Luke Hamlin (KCM); Hardie Henderson x2 (PHI); Luis Padrón (IND); Roy Patterson (LAA); Eddie Plank (SFS); Jameson Taillon (MEM); Ed Walsh (CAG); Cy Young (CLE).
84. Frank Castillo (KCM); Johnny Cueto (IND); Ron Guidry (NYY); Orel Hershiser (BRK); Ed Walsh (CAG); Smokey Joe Wood (KCM).
83. Bob Friend (HOM); Mike Mussina (BAL); Luis Padrón x2 (IND).
82. Mark Buehrle (CAG); Bill Doak (MEM); Connie Johnson (BAL); Frank Knauss (BRK); Toad Ramsey (HOU).
81. Bert Blyleven (POR); Ferguson Jenkins (HOD); Andy Pettitte (NYY); Stephen Strasbourg (HOU); Cy Young (CLE).
80. Frank Castillo (KCM); A. Rube Foster (KCM); Walter Johnson (POR); The Only Nolan (IND); Andy Pettitte (NYY); Toad Ramsey (HOU); José Rijo (KCM); Fernando Valenzuela (BRK).

10+ Strikeout Games

15. Joseíto Muñoz (MCG).
14. Frank Castillo (KCM); Roy Oswalt (HOU); Toad Ramsey (HOU).
13. Brett Anderson (LAA); Bob Feller (CLE); Ron Guidry (NYY); Toad Ramsey (HOU); Charlie Root (DET); Smokey Joe Wood (KCM).
12. Ice Box Chamberlain (HOU); Johnny Cueto (IND); Bob Feller (CLE); Doc Gooden (LAA); Lefty Grove (SFS); Bump Hadley (SFS); Frank Knauss (BRG); Mike Mussina (BAL); Toad Ramsey x2 (HOU); José Rijo (KCM); Bill Steen (CLE); JM Ward (PHI); Jim Whitney (MCG).
11. Len Barker (MEM); Johnny Cueto (IND); Paul Derringer (IND); Ned Garvin (BAL); Ron Guidry x2 (NYY); Ferguson Jenkins (HOD); Connie Johnson (BAL); Walter Johnson x2 (POR); Frank Knauss (BRG); Christy Mathewson (NYG); Joseíto Muñoz (MCG); The Only Nolan (IND); Luis Padrón (IND); Old Hoss Radbourn (OTT); Toad Ramsey x4 (HOU); José Rijo (KCM); Sam Streeter (CAG); Don Sutton (NYG); Justin Verlander (DET); Smokey Joe Williams (BRK); Cy Young (CLE).
10. Tony Brizzolara (NYY); Steve Carlton (PHI); Frank Castillo x2 (KCM); Watty Clark (SFS); Roger Clemens (HOU); Don Drysedale (BRK); Bob Feller (CLE); A. Rube Foster (KCM); Bob Friend (HOM); Ned Garvin x3 (BAL); Lefty Gomez (BBB); Doc Gooden (LAA); Lefty Grove x3 (SFS); Ron Guidry x3 (NYY); Bump Hadley (SFS); Hardie Henderson (PHI); Orel Hershiser (BRK); Connie Johnson (DET); Frank Knauss x2 (BRK); Dennis Martínez (BAL); Ramón Martínez (MCG); Hal Newhouser (DET); Luis Padrón x2 (IND); Alejandro Peña (BBB); Gaylord Perry x2 (NYG); Andy Pettitte (NYY); Billy Pierce (HOM); Toad Ramsey x5 (HOU); José Rijo (KCM); Charlie Root (DET); Bob Rush (HOD); Tom Seaver (LAA); Bill Steen (CLE); Stephen Strasbourg (HOU); Don Sutton (NYG); Fernando Valenzuela x2 (BRK); Jim Whitney (MCG); Smokey Joe Williams (BRK); Smokey Joe Wood (KCM).

8+ Walk Games

8. Ed Brandt (MCG); Hardie Henderson (PHI); Smokey Joe Williams (BRK).
9. Randy Johnson (OTT).

Shutouts

NO HITS. Steve Carlton (PHI); José Rijo (IND).
1 Hit. A. Rube Foster (KCM); Bump Hadley (SFS); Stubby Overmire (MEM) [5 inn]; Luis Padrón (IND); Toad Ramsey (HOU); Bullet Joe Rogan (PHI).
2 Hits. A. Rube Foster (KCM); Lefty Grove (SFS); Bump Hadley (SFS); Frank Knauss (BRK); Francisco Liriano (HOM); Dennis Martínez (BAL); José Méndez (MCG); Stubby Overmire (MEM); Luis Padrón (IND); Old Hoss Radbourn (OTT); José Rijo (KCM); Joe Rogan (PHI); Jim Whitney (MCG).
3 Hits. Frank Castillo (KCM); Roger Clemens (HOU); Bartolo Colón (HOM); Lefty Grove (SFS); Hardie Henderson (PHI); Carl Hubbell (NYG); Christy Mathewson (NYG); Don Newcombe (PHI); Luis Padrón (IND); Gaylord Perry (NYG); Eddie Plank (SFS); Toad Ramsey (HOU).
4 Hits. Bert Blyleven (POR); Frank Castillo (KCM); Gerrit Cole (LAA); Johnny Cueto (IND); Doc Gooden (LAA); Lefty Grove (SFS); Bump Hadley (SFS); Dennis Martínez (BAL); Luis Padrón (IND); Jim Whitney (BBB); Cy Young (CLE).

Shutouts (Combined)

1 Hit. Justin Verlander / Mike Henneman (DET); Bill Steen / Terry Adams (CLE).
2 Hits. Jameson Taillon / Skel Roach / Andrew Miller (MEM); Ed Walsh / Tom Williams (CAG); Pud Galvin / Francisco Rodríguez / Joe Nathan (LAA); Brett Anderson / Ross Reynolds (LAA); Connie Johnson / Justin Hampson (BAL); Bob Feller / Ron Reed (CLE); Luke Hamlin / Craig Kimbrel (KCM).
3 Hits. Hardie Henderson / Robin Roberts (PHI); Orel Hershiser / Eric Gagne (BRK); Stephen Strasbourg / John Franco / Tug McGraw (HOU); Vean Gregg / Mike Norris / Brian Wilson (NYG); Justin Verlander / Billy Hoeft / Chad Bradford (DET); Stubby Overmire / Heath Bell / Jonathan Papelbon (MEM); Brett Anderson / Ross Reynolds / Joe Nathan (LAA).
4 Hits. Toad Ramsey / Bones Ely (HOU); Hardie Henderson / Brad Kilby / Tim Belcher / Ted Kennedy (PHI); Dwight Gooden / Francisco Rodríguez (LAA); Bump Hadley / Jim Devlin / Ken Howell / Rod Beck (SFS); Greg Maddux / John Malarkey / Bruce Chen / Juan Rincón (BBB); Johnny Podgajny / Tom Henke (OTT); Herm Wehmeier / Goose Gossage (NYY); José Rijo / Jeff Pfeffer (KCM); Smokey Joe Williams / Trevor Hildenberger (BRK); Kyle Peterson / Karl Spooner / Ed Bauta (HOD); Frank Knauss / Trevor Hildenberger (BRG); Ice Box Chamberlain / Andrew Chafin (HOU); Walter Ball / Johan Santana / Dick Jones (POR).
5 Hits. Kenshin Kawakami / Barry Latman / Ed Brandt / Sandy Consuegra (MCG); Len Barker / David Bush / Andrew Miller (MEM); Johnny Cueto / Sad Sam Jones / Rob Murphy / Rob Dibble (IND); Smoky Joe Wood / Mike Kume (KCM); Waite Hoyt / Herb Pennock / AJ Minter (CAG); Bob Feller / Whit Wyatt / Al Smith / Ron Reed (CLE).

Year II Season Preview: Birmingham Black Barons

By mknn

On April 7, 2024

In Team News

Expectations

Pretty hard question: nobody expected a playoff run last season, now the fans will demand a repeat, but if the Black Barons can’t address some core offensive issues, that may be unlikely.

Best Case

The pitching continues to dominate, Juan Rincón holds down the closer spot, and either Sam Streeter or Warren Spahn step up to seize the 5th starting spot. On the other side, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews move into the elite of the league and someone–anyone–steps up to support them.

Worst Case

The pitching falls apart, with Andy Pettitte and Alejandro Peña becoming solid, but no longer world-beaters and the bullpen collapses while the offense continues to be far too slapdash to be dependable.

Key Questions

How will some key pieces for last season–Pettitte, Rincón, Adrián González, Cupid Childs, Jim Pagliaroni–perform over the course of a full year.
With Andy Pettitte traded, how does the rotation respond and does Albert Belle perform at a level that makes it worthwhile.
Who will fill out the roster.

Trade Bait

The Black Barons would happily welcome an offensive star, but would have to mortgage their farm system to get one. Or, mortgage their best starter … which in a bit of a shock, is exactly what they ended up doing. It’s an interesting gambit: a true top of rotation star gone in exchange for a “win-now” bat (but Belle is aging) and a few arms for the future in Lefty Gomez and Frank Viola. We’ll see.

Roster Evaluation

POS	Elite	Strong	Solid	Meh	Weak	Unknown
C				Pagliaroni Tenace
1B			González	McCormick		Beckley
2B						Childs
3B		Mathews
SS			Long	Tulowitzki
LF/ RF		Aaron Belle	Nieman			Barbour Pafko
CF				Granderson
SP		Peña	Maddux Willis		Streeter	Malarkey
End			Bedrosian Rincón
RP				Benton Chen ~~Young~~		Gomez ~~Malloy~~ Whitney

New Addition | ~~Injured~~

Doesn’t look like a strong playoff contender to me. Now, if 3 to 4 players shift left one column … there’s just so much uncertainty. Six new faces, plus Belle, and while most of them are in reserve roles, it feels like a lot to ask for the Black Barons to repeat last year’s success.

Talent Ratings

	WBL	Minors
Raw Power	3B Eddie Mathews	1B Nate Colbert
Batting Eye	3B Eddie Mathews	OF John Titus
Contact	OF Hank Aaron	3B Pie Traynor
Running Speed	SS Herman Long	OF Rajai Davis
Base Stealing	SS Herman Long	OF Rajai Davis
IF Defense	SS Herman Long	3B Pie Traynor
OF Defense	OF Andy Pafko	OF Billy Southworth
Stuff	SP Sam Streeter	RP Bill James
Control	SP Jim Whitney	RP Johnny Ryan
Velocity	RP Juan Rincón	RP Kerry Ligtenberg

Best In The Minors

Rank	Age	POS	Name
1 (32)	24	P	Jim Whitney
2 (36)	20	C	Joe Torre
3 (43)	20	U	Jess Barbour
4 (54)	20	2B	Trea Turner
5 (58)	25	OF	Curt Flood
6 (62)	21	P	Cozy Dolan
7 (63)	26	P	Rube Melton
8 (151)	22	P	Alex Malloy
9 (156)	19	2B	Marcus Giles
10 (173)	21	P	Jonathan Pettibone

Others: OF Melky Cabrera; P Steve Avery.

Whitney, Dolan, Malloy, and Barbour start the season in the WBL (Malloy on the DL, but still). This is very much a make or break year for Flood.

	Most	Least
Age	OF Sam Rice, 37	SP Steve Avery, 18
Height	P Dustin Nippert, 6’8″	OF Al Schweitzer, 5’6″
OPS	OF Max Kepler, 1.233 (—)	IF Gerry Jestadt, .604 (—)
HR	OF Max Kepler, 61 (—)	IF George McBride, 1 (AAA) OF Rajai Davis, 1 (AAA/AA) OF Brock Davis 1 (AA)
SB	OF Billy Southworth, 26 (WBL/AAA)	Many with 0
WAR	1B Nate Colbert, 4.4 (WBL/AAA/AA)	IF Gerry Jestadt, -2.0 (—)
W	Bill Phyle, 17 (—)	Harry Matuzak, 1 (—)
SV	Juan Rincón, 26 (WBL)
ERA	Aaron Sanchez, 1.98 (—)	Johnny Ryan, 6.90 (AA)
WAR	Aaron Sanchez, 7.3 (—)	Fred Fussell, -0.8 (WBL/AAA)

Stats are across all levels. 200 PA / 75 IP min. Non WBL leagues indicated by —.