Tag: Dick Lundy Page 3 of 4

#Birmingham Black Barons

Frank McCormick led the Black Barons to a 7-1 win over Miami, driving in 5 with 2 homeruns. One was a grand slam, the other a 525 foot bomb for the 2nd longest homerun in WBL history. Omar Infante, Frank Isbell, and Bob Nieman added 2 hits each in support of Alejandro Pena, who moved to 5-5 with 6 strong innings.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

3 hits each from Duke Snider and Jermaine Dye (including Snider’s 15th homerun of the season) led Brooklyn to a 10-5 victory over the Black Yankees. Jackie Robinson and Ray Dandridge added 2 hits apiece and each scored 2 runs in support of Sandy Koufax, who improved to 3-2 on the season.

#Miami Cuban Giants

A WBL record-tying 3 doubles from José Cardenal weren’t enough as the Cuban Giants fell to Birmingham, 5-4. Manny Machado added 2 hits for Miami, who are more troubled by Camilo Pascual‘s fall from among the league’s best than this particular loss. Pascual is now 4-5 with an ERA heading towards the mid-3.00’s.

With Paul Molitor out for about a month, Miami recalled Pete Runnels from AAA. Runnels, who started the year with Memphis, was released on May 25th and signed with the Cuban Giants five days later.

The injuries keep coming for Miami: Alejandro Oms is out for just over a week with a strained shoulder. Eddie Milner was recalled from AAA to help out in CF in Oms’ absence.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Harry Hooper drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 11th in a game Portland almost gave away. Hooper and Fred Dunlap each drove in two runs, and Mike Cuellar earned the victory with three innings of relief, evening his record at 4-4.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Dick Lundy, who has forced his way into the starting lineup, will miss about a month with a strained oblique muscle. This both prolongs the challenge of Eddie Joost (still struggling at 156/277/291) and brings Miguel Cairo up from AAA.

Wally Moon and Rickey Henderson had 3 hits each, leading the Sea Lions to a come from behind victory over Memphis by a score of 8-6. Henderson scored 3 times and stole 2 bases–just another day at the office for Rickey–and Jack Clark hit a 3-run homerun. After Cy Falkenberg struggled through 5 innings, the victory went to Huston Street, with Rod Beck picking up his 16th save.

Series XV Featured Matchup: New York Black Yankees @ San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On October 12, 2021

In Featured Series, Game Recaps

Preview here.

#Game One: Dave Righetti @ Lefty Grove

Despite a few superb outings, New York‘s Dave Righetti comes into this game with a losing record (3-4) and a poor ERA (5.43). San Francisco will start one of the more dependable arms so far in the league, Lefty Grove, who sits at 5-2 with a sparkling 3.23 ERA.

Derek Jeter led off the game against Grove with a grounds-rule double, but was left stranded at 2B. San Francisco’s leadoff hitter, Rickey Henderson, walked and, as he is wont to do, stole second while Bobby Bonds and Reggie Jackson were striking out. But Pedro Guerrero singled to left, and Henderson scored easily, putting the Sea Lions up, 1-0.

It didn’t last long: Lou Gehrig took Grove deep in the top of the 2nd to tie the game. Willie Randolph–continuing to keep his average over .200–added an RBI single to give the Black Yankees the lead, but it could have been much worse for Grove, as Bonds caught a fly ball by Don Mattingly in shallow centerfield for the 2nd out and nailed Thurman Munson, trying to score from 3rd, to end the inning.

Again the lead barely lasted: Jimmy Bloodworth took Righetti deep to lead off the bottom of the 2nd. Later in the inning, a Henderson single scored Cy Perkins to edge San Francisco in front, 3-2.

It was a sloppy game through 3 innings with each team committing 2 errors (Randolph and Babe Ruth for New York, Dick Lundy and Jack Clark for the Sea Lions), Righetti walking 2 and Grove walking 3.

Mattingly would tie the game with homerun in the top of the 4th, and Jeter would drive in a run in the top of the 6th, giving the lead back to New York, 4-3. Again though: a lead with a short life. Perkins chased Righetti from the game with a 3-run shot in the bottom of the frame, with the Black Yankees bringing in Dellin Betances who got out of the inning without any further damage and a 6-4 lead for San Francisco.

The Black Yankees got one run back when Eric Davis singled, stole second and third, and scored on a base hit by Albert Belle.

San Francisco added 2 in the bottom of the 7th on Randolph’s second error of the game, an errant throw that allowed both Henderson and Bonds to score.

But this New York team is hard to put away: Davis led off the top of the 9th with a single against Ron Robinson, and after Gehrig whiffed, Belle walked and Munson doubled, scoring Davis to make it a 2-run game, 8-6. Ken Howell relieved Robinson and promptly fanned Doug DeCinces and got pinch-hitter Mike Schmidt to groundout weakly in front of the plate to end the game.

NYY 6 (Righetti 3-5) @ SFS 8 (Grove 6-2; Howell 3 Sv; Street 1 H; Devlin 2 H; Robinson 8 H)
HRs: NYY – Gehrig (14), Mattingly (10); SFS – Perkins (3), Bloodworth (10)
Box Score

#Game Two: Waite Hoyt @ Eddie Plank

This one started out as a pitching duel, with New York’s Waite Hoyt and San Francisco’s Eddie Plank each only allowing a single hit through 4 innings.

New York added 2 hits in the 5th–a double by Mike Schmidt and a single by Willie Randolph–but Plank fanned Derek Jeter and Don Mattingly to get out of the inning.

Dick Lundy opened the scoring in the bottom of the 5th when Lundy singled home Bob Cerv. Lundy would score in a hit by Rickey Henderson, and the Sea Lions took the lead, 2-0.

Plank held the shutout through the 6th, then gave up a single to Thurman Munson and a walk to Schmidt to lead off the 7th. That was it for him, as San Francisco brought in Chad Bradford from the pen with 2 on and no outs. New York would counter by bringing Lou Gehrig out to pinch-hit for Randolph. Gehrig was retired, but Bradford allowed one run before getting Babe Ruth to end the inning on a flay to deep center.

That narrowed the game to a 2-1 lead for San Francisco, which is where it stayed heading to the top of the 9th, where the Sea Lions turned to their closer Rod Beck.

The first batter was Munson, who immediately added to his incredible few weeks by taking Beck into the left field seats to tie the game. Schmidt would walk, followed by an infield single from Gehrig, and it suddenly felt like New York might blow the game open. Instead, Jeter grounded into a double play, and with the hugely ineffective Craig Counsell up, San Francisco seemed in decent shape … until Beck’s 2-2 pitch was wild, bouncing past Mickey Cochrane and allowing Schmidt to score. Counsell flew out to left, but the Black Yankees were ahead, 3-2.

They brought in their closer, Sparky Lyle, who set the side down in order, striking out Bobby Bonds to end the game.

Munson ended the day 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored as all 6 of the Black Yankees’ hits came from the bottom 3 slots in their lineup.

NYY 3 (Hoyt 5-1; Lyle 7 Sv) @ SFS 2 (Beck 0-1, 1 B Sv; Bradford 2 H)
HRs: Munson (7)
Box Score

#Game 3: Ron Guidry @ Cy Falkenberg

Rickey Henderson led off the bottom of the first with a long fly that sliced down the right field line, and barely stayed fair for a leadoff homerun off Ron Guidry and a 1-0 Sea Lions lead.

Leading off the bottom of the 3rd, it was Henderson again, this time with a double. He scored on an RBI single from Pedro Guerrero, making it 2-0. And, while Henderson led off the bottom of the 5th with a strikeout, the Sea Lions did add to their league on singles from Guerrero, Bobby Bonds, and Jimmy Bloodworth.

Through 5 innings, Cy Falkenberg had easily outmatched Guidry, allowing only 1 hit and 2 walks while strikeout out 5. But the top of the 6th began with a leadoff walk to Mickey Mantle, followed by Babe Ruth‘s 20th homerun of the year, cutting the lead to 3-2. Falkenberg walked Lou Gehrig and Albert Belle, and Thurman Munson dinked a little looper into right to load the bases. Don Mattingly tied the game with a sacrifice fly, but Falkenberg was able to escape the inning without further damage.

So, Guidry got a reprieve, having given up 8 hits through 5 innings while striking out 6. He struck out John Beckwith and Eddie Joost to lead off the 6th, but Dick Lundy doubled to deep left-center, chasing Guidry from the game in favor of Cole Hamels, who was able to retire Henderson to maintain the tied score.

Rick Langford may have pitched himself to AAA, allowing homeruns to Mantle and Gehrig, giving the Black Yankees a 6-3 lead.

Henderson would plate 2 in the bottom of the 8th with a double, scoring Beckwith and Lundy, and pulling San Francisco to within 1 run.

Ralph Citarella relieved Hamels, and promptly surrendered a ground-rule double to Guerrero, tying the game once more. Left in to pitch the bottom of the 9th, Bloodworth took Citarella deep to win the game for San Francisco.

Guerrero had 4 hits in the victory and Henderson 3 hits, driving in 3 and scoring 3 times.

NYY 6 (Citarella 1-3, 1 B Sv) @ SFS (Howell 3-2)
HRs: NYY – Ruth (20), Mantle (8), Gehrig (15); SFS – Henderson (3), Bloodworth (11)
Box Score

#Game 4: Jack Scott @ Diego Segui

Ah, the pitching duel we all expected … Diego Segui has been one of the shocks of the season, with an ERA near 2.00 since being recalled from AAA. He delivered here, allowing only 1 hit through 5 innings while the Black Yankees’ Jack Scott did him one better, with a no-hitter through 5.

Manny Sanguillen took Segui deep for his first homerun of the year in the top of the 6th and from there the wheels sort of fell off: Mickey Mantle drove in 1 run, then Babe Ruth hit his 21st homerun of the year with a couple runners on, making it 5-0 New York.

A single by John Beckwith broke up the no-no, but Scott kept the shutout intact for another inning, until Reggie Jackson sent a line drive into the rightfield stands, cutting the lead to 5-1.

An Eddie Joost homerun closed it to 5-2, and Sparky Lyle seemed to close the door, easily retiring the first 2 Sea Lions in the bottom of the 9th. But singles by Jimmy Bloodworth and Wally Moon were followed by a pinch-hit double from Bob Cerv, bringing the winning run to the plate in the form of the conundrum that is Joost.

Lyle struck him out on a slider, preserving the win for New York and splitting the series at 2.

Derek Jeter was 3-for-4 for New York.

NYY 5 (Scott 6-3; Lyle 8 Sv; Gossage 4 H) @ SFS (Segui 2-3)
HRs: NYY – Sanguillen (1), Ruth (21); SFS – Jackson (11), Joost (6)
Box Score

#Series Notes

So, a split in a close series with some excellent baseball on both sides.

Babe Ruth hit 2 homeruns, driving in 5 for New York, but those were his only 2 hits in the series. Other than the unstoppable Thurman Munson–who went 6-for-11, lifting his average to .320 on the year– and Derek Jeter (6-for-18) the Black Yankees offense was kept largely in check.

For San Francisco, Jimmy Bloodworth went 6-for-17 with 2 homeruns and Pedro Guerrero 5-for-17. Perhaps more importantly for the Sea Lions, Rickey Henderson showed signs of breaking out of his slump, going 5-for-10 while scoring 5 runs and driving in 5.

TWIWBL Special Edition: All Star Previews II – Shortstops

By mknn

On October 2, 2021

In All Star Games

{ With under three weeks until the All Star Teams are announced, we’re looking at what’s changed since our original previews. }

Preview I here.

#AL – Bill James & Cum Posey Divisions

Original Selections: George Wright, Bobby Wallace, & Freddy Parent.

Baltimore’s Wallace is is the likely starter here, slashing 325/427/471, but after him it gets difficult. Parent is hitting well for a shortstop, slashing 275/341/464, but he’s been slightly less than a fulltime player for Ottawa.

Behind those two, the House of David’s Ernie Banks, Memphis’ Vern Stephens, and Los Angeles’ Wright are all pretty identical offensively, with OPS’ in the .770s. Banks has 8 homeruns (as does Parent), and 31 RBIs to lead the group.

Detroit’s George Davis, Los Angeles’ Wright, and Kansas City’s Ozzie Smith have been the best defensive shortstops in the AL.

So, given all that, I think we go with Wallace, Banks, and Wright. But if Parent continues to post an OPS over ,800 while staying in the lineup, he’ll have to displace either Banks or Wright.

The AI avoids the confusion, only selecting Wallace.

#NL – Effa Manley & Marvin Miller Divisions

Original Selections: Jim Fregosi, Derek Jeter, & Arky Vaughan.

Homestead’s Vaughan made the original list solely on the strength of his defense, and the conundrum continues: with an OPS of .670 to go along with the best defensive numbers in the league, Vaughan remains a borderline choice.

Portland’s Fregosi is the likely starter right now, slashing 281/344/444, and the Black Yankees’ Jeter isn’t that far behind at 288/335/415. So the two of them are in.

After that, it’s between Vaughan and three others: San Francisco’s Dick Lundy is hitting well enough to make it, but just recently moved from a reserve role to the starting lineup; Birmingham’s Troy Tulowitzki and Miami’s Robin Yount are both hitting around the same level as Vaughan.

So, right now, I would stick with same trio as before, but with a sense that one of the others–perhaps Lundy, perhaps Yount–gets on a hot streak to force the conversation.

The AI ducked the issue again, selecting only Fregosi.

Series XV Preview: New York Black Yankees @ San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On September 21, 2021

In Series Previews

It hasn’t been too long since we visited these two teams: the San Francisco Sea Lions were featured in series IX and the New York Black Yankees in Series XI.

#New York Black Yankees

Really, not a lot has changed. The Black Yankees are still in first place, they still look like a dominant team, and they still have no idea what to do at 2B.

They are, pretty clearly, the best offensive team in the WBL, and while the production of Babe Ruth (1.122 OPS, 19 homeruns, 51 runs, 54 RBIs) and Lou Gehrig (somehow, a quiet 1.033 OPS) was expected, that of Albert Belle (.981 OPS in less than a full time role) and especially Eric Davis (.928 OPS, tied with Ruth for the league lead at 19 homeruns and leading the league with 59 RBIs) was not.

Add in Thurman Munson, who has an argument to be included in the elite catchers of the league and steady production from Mickey Mantle and Don Mattingly, and you have a nightmare for opposing pitchers.

The only black mark are the continued struggles of Willie Randolph (.622 OPS) and Craig Counsell (.577 OPS) at 2B. Randolph has actually been hitting much better of late, raising his OPS about 20 points in the last month. Counsell would be demoted immediately if there were any other options–right now, the minor league system is totally barren in the middle infield.

Ron Guidry (5-5, 3.67 ERA) has struggled a little bit more of late, although he still leads the WBL in strikeouts and remains the ace of the staff. At the other end, Dave Righetti (3-4, 5.43 ERA) seems to have lost his mojo and may actually be facing demotion to the bullpen. The other starters–Red Ruffing, Waite Hoyt, and Jack Scott–have combined for a 16-5 record with solid secondary numbers.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

The Sea Lions are, perhaps, more interesting. They trail Portland by 5 games in the Marvin Miller Division, and feel like a team that is underperforming.

Part of the conundrum remains what to do with Rickey Henderson, who leads the WBL in walks (47) and stolen bases (41), but has an OPS barely over .700. He still has an OBP around .400, so he holds on to his leadoff spot, but the choice is much clearer when he’s doing something besides walking to help out at the top of the order.

San Francisco has a frightening big three behind Henderson, led by triple crown contender Reggie Jackson, who is leading the league in batting average and on base percentage with an OPS of 1.134. Bobby Bonds is slashing 331/382/577 and Pedro Guerrero–who started the year at AAA–continues to hack, posting a .933 OPS. Add in 9 homeruns from Jimmy Bloodworth at 2B and 10 homeruns from Jack Clark, as well as the emergence of Dick Lundy as a solid infield presence, and you have a very strong offensive team.

So the problem must be on the mound, right?

It’s certainly not in the bullpen. Rod Beck has 14 saves and an ERA of 0.66, and the rest of the back end–Ron Robinson, Chad Bradford, and Ken Howell–have great numbers.

Lefty Grove hovers just outside the elite starters of the league, at 5-2 with a 3.23 ERA and Diego Segui has been fantastic since he joined the rotation (2-2 with a 2.18 ERA). But beyond that … well. Cy Falkenberg, Jim Devlin, and Eddie Plank have all struggled, with Devlin replaced in the rotation by Charlie Root.

So there it is: if the starters can do their job, the Sea Lions have a shot.

#Projected Starters

Black Yankees starter listed first.

Dave Righetti (3-4, 5.43) @ Lefty Grove (5-2, 3.23)
Waite Hoyt (4-1, 3.84) @ Eddie Plank (4-3, 4.27)
Ron Guidry (5-5, 3.67) @ Cy Falkenberg (3-2, 5.11)
Jack Scott (5-3, 3.75) @ Diego Segui (2-2, 2.18)

It could be a great series, but I think it’s more likely the Black Yankees take 3 of the 4–losing to Grove and winning the rest.

Series XIV Featured Game: Brooklyn Royal Giants @ San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On September 13, 2021

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

Brooklyn had already lost the first 2 games of the series against San Francisco when they sent Dutch Leonard to the mound to face Diego Segui. The two pitchers were on dramatically different trajectories: Leonard, at 3-7 with an ERA approaching 5.00, was trying desperately to hold on to his place in the Royal Giants’ rotation; Segui, on the other hand, had performed well enough since being recalled in mid-April to earn his 5th start of the season. His record was only 2-2, but his ERA was a sparkling 2.36.

Roy White would take Segui deep in the top of the first, but that would be the only run he allowed in 7 sparkling innings where he actually lowered his ERA to 2.18 before departing.

Leonard matched him frame-for-frame, though, only giving up a run in the 4th, when a leadoff single by Ricky Henderson was followed by a double from Jack Clark and a sacrifice fly from Pedro Guerrero to tie the game at 1.

So, after 7 innings, we had a 1-1 deadlock, with the game now in the hands of the two bullpens.

They were not up to the task.

Huston Street relieved Segui and gave up a 2-out, 2-run homerun to Duke Snider, scoring White and putting Brooklyn on top, 3-1.

But Eric Gagne–who had been lights out for the Royal Giants all season–gave up a leadoff homerun to San Francisco’s Cy Perkins, and then a triple to Dick Lundy. Lundy would score on a sacrifice fly by Henderson, and after 8 innings, we were tied at 3.

Ken Howell set Brooklyn down in order in the top of the 9th, setting the stage for the bottom of the frame. Gagne got two outs, but then allowed a double to Wally Moon, prompting Brooklyn to bring in Trevor Hildenberger.

Out came Reggie Jackson–triple crown and early season MVP candidate–to pinch hit. The crowd rose as one, the ever-present chant of REG-GIE, REG-GIE filling the air …

… Jackson delivered, lifting an RBI single into right field that easily scored Moon for the walkoff victory for the Sea Lions.

BRK 3 (Gagne 1-2, 3 B Sv) @ SFS 4 (Howell 2-2)
HRs: BRK – Snider (13), White (6); SFS – Perkins (2)
Box Score

Other Notable Games

Homestead suffered from an overly tired bullpen, as the Grays really had nobody to pick up the slack once starter Carlos Zambrano ran out of steam. Instead, Kansas City was able to chip away until scoring 3 in the bottom of the 9th, with Rogers Hornsby delivering the winning, walk-off single. Hornsby and Ted Simmons had 3 hits each and Ducky Medwick went 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs. Roberto Clemente had a strong game for the Grays in a losing effort, with 3 hits and 2 RBIs.

HOM 8 (Lindblom 0-3, 3 B Sv; Linzy 1 H) @ KCM 9 (Kimbrel 2-1)
HRs: n/a
Box Score

It was a wild night in Portland as the Sea Dogs held off a furious rally by Ottawa to hold on for an 11-10 victory. Freddy Parent hit 2 homeruns and Alex Rodriguez 1 for the Mounties while Jeff Burroughs, Bobby Murcer, and Harry Hooper all went deep for Portland. Murcer drove in 5 on 3 hits and Burroughs added 3 RBIs.

OTT 10 (Griffith 1-5) @ POR 11 (Miller 3-0; Santana 18 Sv; Kern 5 H)
HRs: OTT – Parent 2 (8), Rodriguez (4); POR – Burroughs (6), Murcer (9), Hooper (5)
Box Score

Despite a shaky outing that saw him surrender his first earned runs of the year, Aroldis Chapman did enough to earn his 10th save as Miami defeated Cleveland 7-6. The Cuban Giants got 2 hits each from Gary Sheffield and Carlos Moran and 2 RBIs from Jim Thome, while Jake Stahl had 3 hits and 3 RBIs (including a solo homerun off Chapman) for the Spiders.

MCG 7 (Bridges 4-1; Chapman 10 Sv; Willis 1 H; Bauta 6 H) @ CLE 6 (Coveleski 3-1)
HRs: CLE – Stahl (11)
Box Score

TWIWBL Special Edition: All Star Preview – Shortstops

By mknn

On July 30, 2021

In All Star Games, TWIWBL

{ The All-Star game is about a month away. We’ll post occasional articles about the contenders for participation in the mid-season classic. These are written “as of now,” so the final selections may vary dramatically, but hopefully these will add to the ongoing flavor of the league. }

#AL Shortstops – Bill James & Cum Posey Divisions

It’s a two man race for the starting position between Los Angeles’ George Wright (290/342/500) and Baltimore’s Bobby Wallace (314/412/436). Both of them should make it.

Behind them, it gets trickier. The pool probably contains Memphis’ Vern Stephens (273/349/439), the House of David’s Ernie Banks (289/306/440), and Ottawa’s Freddy Parent (263/336/432). Banks has 27 RBIs, which leads the group by quite a bit.

Eugenio Suarez of the New York Gothams is slashing 338/378/574, but has probably not played enough to warrant an all-star selection.

But, these are shortstops, so their defensive performance should count for something. Here, Parent has the clear edge, with Wright and Kansas City’s Ozzie Smith (who at 265/349/325 just hasn’t hit enough to force his way into the conversation) being the dominant fielders in the AL.

So, let’s call it Wright, Wallace, and Parent. The AI agrees, but avoids the difficult question by selecting Wright and Wallace.

#NL Shortstops – Effa Manley & Marvin Miller Divisions

Portland’s Jim Fregosi (275/350/450) is the only clear selection, and therefore the starter.

Offensively, you could argue for the Black Yankees’ Derek Jeter (289/338/407). But he’s really the only other candidate with a decent OPS.

Defensively, Homestead’s Arky Vaughan has probably been the best shortstop in the WBL to date (it’s either him or Detroit’s George Davis), so in this weak of a division, he could get a nod.

I’ll go with Fregosi, Jeter, and Vaughan at this point, but I wouldn’t be surprised if San Francisco’s Dick Lundy or Birmingham’s Troy Tulowitzki forced their way into the conversation by the end.

The AI punted on this one, selecting not a single shortstop to the NL squad.

TWIWBL 10.0: Series VIII Notes

By mknn

On July 1, 2021

In TWIWBL

{I forgot to finish this out, so a few teams played their first Series IX games before doing so.}

May 4th

Awards

The first monthly awards brought no surprises, as the Brooklyn Royal Giants‘ Don Drysedale won the inaugural Pitcher of the Month in the WBL, notching a 4-0 record and a 1.26 ERA and the New York Black Yankeess‘ Babe Ruth was the Player of the Month, hitting .404 with 10 homeruns, 27 RBIs, and 32 runs scored.

Ron Blomberg of the Cleveland Spiders was the Player of the Week, posting a.688 average over the past 7 days.

Performance

League Standings | League Statistics

The league saw its first two five game winners in Series VIII in Los Angeles‘ Gerrit Cole (5-1) and Portland‘s Walter Johnson (5-0).

Perhaps more noteworthy, a slight slump from the Black Yankees’ Babe Ruth (he was dominant enough in early April that he was still, easily, the strongest offensive force in the league) has reduced his grip on the offensive categories. Ruth still leads the league in SLG, R, and WAR, but is only tied for the HR league at 12 (with Baltimore‘s Curt Blefary).

Leading SP: Walter Johnson (POR) 5-0, 3.21 ERA, 1.6 WAR; Gerrit Cole (LAA) 5-1, 4.12 ERA; Don Drysedale (BRK) 4-0, 1.26 ERA, 1.09 WHIP; Ron Guidry (NYY) 4-2, 3.31 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 60 K.
Leading RP: Johan Santana (POR) 0-1, 3.48 ERA, 13 Sv; Bob Howry (PHI) 0-2, 9 Sv, 6.92 ERA; Ron Reed (PHI) 0-0, 2.16 ERA, 2 Sv, 8 H; Tom Niedenfuer (HOD) 0-0, 0.90 ERA, 7 Sv, 1 H; Joe Beggs (MEM) 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 Sv, 0.90 WHIP; Jonathan Papelbon (MEM) 0-1, 0.96 ERA, 3 Sv, 2 H, 0.70 WHIP.

Leading Batters: Buster Posey (NYG) 407/471/720, 2.3 WAR; Reggie Jackson (SFS) 392/508/686; Babe Ruth (NYY) 373/462/731, 12 HR, 36 RBI, 38 R, 2.5 WAR; Joe Jackson (CAG) 368/459/692, 37 RBI, 2.4 WAR; Rico Carty (PHI) 330/389/554, 13 2B; Kal Daniels (LAA) 314/413/535, 13 2B; Terry Puhl (OTT) 246/315/412, 5 3B; Louis Santop (CLE) 305/348/475, 5 3B; Curt Blefary (BAL) 297/421/714, 12 HR; Eric Davis (NYY) 292/331/533, 42 RBI; Rickey Henderson (SFS) 292/456/416, 33 BB, 28 SB.

We’re getting to the point where projections begin to return to the world of possibility–Blefary and Ruth are on pace to clear 50 HR; Davis and Doug Rader (LAA) are on pace for over 180 RBI, and Henderson for over 125 SBs. All great marks, for sure, but none that are world-breaking.

Streaks

Memphis‘ Eddie Rosario has a 14 game hitting streak going into Series IX. Brooklyn‘s Beals Becker and Baltimore’s Bobby Wallace have reached base in 16 consecutive games.

San Francisco is just running amok on the base paths, with Henderson stealing 17 straight bases and Bobby Bonds and Dick Lundy successful on their last ten attempts.

Camilo Pascual saw his scoreless streak end at 19 innings, but Houston‘s Toad Ramsey now has a 15 inning streak going.

Detroit‘s Bob Bailey has the most impressive hot streak in the league right now, hitting 403/469/778 over his last 18 games with 7 HRs. Brooklyn’s Duke Snider has 6 HRs in his last 10 games, hitting at a 439/477/878 clip over that span.

Cleveland‘s Cy Young has a 1.89 ERA over his last 5 starts, but has come out of that with only a 2-1 record.

At the other end of the scale, Baltimore is struggling with three of the coldest hitters in the league: Paul Blair is hitting 102/197/136 over 19 games, Miller Huggins is hitless in his last 27 ABs, and Brooks Robinson is at 138/194/138 over 15 games.

Ottawa finally gave up on the Randy Johnson experiment after the Big Unit posted a 9.61 ERA over his last 4 starts. Hopefully some time at AAA might help the big left hander turn it around.

Series Results

Series VIII Sweeps

Houston over Brooklyn

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series VIII

House of David over Birmingham
Detroit over Miami
Indianapolis over Ottawa
San Francisco over New York Gothams

Series Splits in Series VIII

Baltimore v Philadelphia
Chicago v New York Black Yankees
Cleveland v Homestead
Kansas City v Los Angeles
Memphis v Portland

TWIWBL 2.1: Notes From The Opening 5 Games

By mknn

On September 4, 2020

In TWIWBL

All 20 teams opened with 5 game series this week. Some notes from around the league.

First, the WBL Player of the Week went to Indianapolis’ Hal Morris, Morris did hit 450/476/1000 with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs. Still, Lou Gehrig of the New York Black Yankees (538/600/1154, 2 HRs, 6 RBIs) and the Portland Sea Dog’s Buddy Bell (412/444/1059 with 3 HRs) had to deserve significant consideration as well.

#Birmingham Black Barons

SP Fred Fussell and DH Emil Frisk will both miss about a month with injuries to start the season, with Greg Maddux returning to the WBL to replace Fussell.

The Black Barons’ starter’s ERA of 11.84 is the biggest contributor to their 0-5 start to the season.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Dutch Leonard tossed a 5 hit shutout in his 1st start of the year, and teammates Don Drysdale and Brickyard Kennedy only allowed 1 run in their starts, leading the Royal Giants to a 4-1 start. Dickie Thon–handed the starting SS role despite not playing in Spring Training–hasn’t embarrassed himself, hitting .250 so far.

#Chicago American Giants

Ticky Nichols threw a 3 hit shutout on 111 pitches to start the season.

#Cleveland Spiders

With John Ellis out about a week, the Spiders sent Hardie Henderson to AAA and recalled Harry Bemis to spell Andy Etchebarren at C. Ellis is still on the active roster, but Detroit has a league-leading 7 players on the DL, but Whit Wyatt, Doug Corbett, and Bill Steen should all be back within about a week.

#Detroit Wolverines

OF Oscar Gamble was hot out of the gates, with 3 HRs and 7 RBIs in the 1st 5 games. Hal Newhouser lasted less than 2 innings before his elbow gave out, sidelining him for a couple weeks. With Claude Passeau also injured, it’s not clear who will get Newhouser’s starts between Gene Conley, Johnny Marcum, and Justin Verlander.

#Kansas City Monarchs

Stan Musial is as hot as any player in the league, opening the season at a 455/500/773 clip. Jose Rijo fanned 10 in 8 IP in a strong 1st start.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Camilo Pascual only allowed 3 hits in 8.2 IP in a strong opening start for the Cuban Giants.

#New York Black Yankees

Eric Davis leads the league with 11 RBI. Both Willie Randolph and Mike Schmidt are still looking for the 1st hits on the season.

#New York Gothams

It’s been a rough 5 days to be a Gothams pitcher: Carl Hubbell is out for over a month, Carson Smith for a few weeks, and Al Mays will be out about a week. Mat Latos (freshly returned from the injury list himself), Al Spalding, and Gaylord Perry are on hand to pick up the starts.

Brian Wilson has 2 saves in the Gothams’s 3 wins.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Mike Cuellar is the 1st 2-game winner in the league, picking up 2 victories in relief and Johan Santana leads the league with a save in each of the Sea Dogs’ 3 wins.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Lefty Grove only gave up 3 hits and 1 run in a complete game win in his 1st start of the year. Jack Clark is hitting 417/417/750 with 10 RBI, leading the Sea Lions to a 5-0 record. Newly acquired Dick Lundy proved a sparkplug off the bench for San Francisco, even managing a steal of home in his first appearance.

TWIWBL 1.0: Final Preseason Notes

By mknn

On August 23, 2020

In TWIWBL

#BAL

Bill Byrd was moved from the DL to the 5th rotation spot as expected–we’ll see if the risk pays off for the Black Sox. Miller Huggins, acquired from Indianapolis, steps into most of the playing time at 2B (Larry Gardner will play there some as well). Huggins cost Baltimore Rube Foster in a league where pitching is at a premium, so there’s some risk there.

Rick Ferrell, Don Aase, Jesse Burkett, and Bill Sweeney were all designated for assignment to make space on the 40 man roster.

#BBB

Birmingham has had to rejuggle some key parts of their roster as DH Emil Frisk, one of their standout Spring performers, will miss about 5 weeks with a concussion. The Black Barons have recalled Billy Southworth from AAA Atlanta.

#BRK

Tommy Corcoran showed enough to play at the WBL, but he still has minor league options, so along with Pee Wee Reese, untested Dickie Thon breaks camp at SS for Brooklyn.

#CAG

Julio Gotay went from competing for a WBL role at SS to being waived, as Chicago broke camp with Damian Jackson as a reserve IF instead.

#CLE

The Spiders picked up 3B Evan Longoria from Miami. Longoria will pair with Ken Keltner, sending Bob Elliott to AAA. Whit Wyatt will likely miss his first start of the season, with Stan Coveleski most likely to take his place.

#DET

The Wolverines made a minor deal coming out of Spring Training, picking up RP Ron Perranoski and 3B Billy Nash. Perranoski may see the big leagues this season; Nash is several years away. Si Johnson has some elbow tenderness, putting his first start in doubt: Detroit has 4 SP in their bullpen, so there are plenty of candidates to take his place.

#HOD

House of David RP Lee Smith was sent to AAA after he came off the DL. In a smaller deal, they obtained CF Jim Edmonds, who will start the year in the minors.

In a much bigger deal, the HoD picked up CF Pete Browning, Ps Rollie Fingers and Eddie Rommel, SS Bert Campenaris, and 1B Mark McGwire. All but

#IND

15 year old Piggy Ward was waived. The ABC’s added Rube Foster to their pitching staff from Baltimore, pushing Virgil Trucks to the bullpen to open the season.

#MIA

With 2 separate deals, Miami welcomed 1B/3B Jim Thome, CF Gus Bell, 1B Will Clark, C Harry Danning, and OF Carlos Moran to the club. It’s a little bit of a confusing haul, but a couple of things are clear from it: first, the club’s commitment to Martin Dihigo is solidified by clearing the way for the versatile 17 year old; secondly, Paul Molitor was recalled to Miami, presumably to play 2B while Dihigo develops.

Moran makes the roster as well, but Danning and Bell are both players for the future at this point.

#NYA

A bit of a blockbuster brought 27 year old Mike Schmidt–who had a historically bad Spring–over from Philadelphia. Schmidt steps into a lineup with no pressure, moving ahead of Doug DeCinces in the pecking order.

#NYG

The Gothams gained a starting 2B in Cookie Rojas and some veteran offense at 1B in Joe Adcock in a a trade with Miami. OF Yasiel Puig and P Livan Hernandez were also acquired in the deal, and moved to the minors.

#OTT

The most surprising news to come out of Ottawa is that SS Freddy Parent–considered one of the prizes on the market–remains with the team. Despite talent to offer at 1B as well, the Mounties were quiet on the preseason trading front.

#PHI

Moving Schmidt not only cleared the way for Scott Rolen at 3B, it also netted Philadelphia 2 big league talents in C Bill Dickey and OF Aaron Judge, as well as prospect 1B Prince Fielder. Dickey steps into a platoon with Sherm Lollar while Judge will begin the season in the minors.

3 P’s were released: Bob Moose, Edwin Jackson, and Hal Kelleher.

#SFS

The Seals made a deal that left their fan base scratching their head. But they’re confident that 20 year old SS Dick Lundy has a great future, OF Bobby Bonds will step right in at the WBL level, and Nick Altrock will prove a useful arm to have around. All 3 made the roster, sending Eddie Miller to the minors.

Season Preview: Wandering House of David

By mknn

On August 19, 2020

In Team News

There is a lot of talent throughout this organization, but they may be a year or two away from being real contenders. The bullpen seems solid, and CC Sabathia and Nick Altrock look like true front of rotation arms. The offense looks solid, but the real story is the amount of talent top to bottom under the age of 24.

Final Roster

SP: CC Sabathia, Nick Altrock, Wade Miley, Fergie Jenkins, Frank Sullivan.
RP: Jack Taylor & Bob Rush; Dick Tidrow; Joakim Soria & Bruce Sutter; Tom Niedenfuer.

C: Elrod Hendricks; Gabby Hartnett
1B: Mark Grace; Anthony Rizzo
2B: Ryne Sandberg; Frank Grant
3B: Richie Hebner & Ron Santo
SS: Ernie Banks
LF: George Stone
CF: George Gore & Jerry Mumphrey
RF: Sammy Sosa
DH: Bobby Bonds

Notes

Dick Tidrow did barely enough to keep a roster spot in the bullpen, which was just about the only question is a fairly settled pitching staff, although he is most likely to be sent down when Lee Smith comes off the DL … Gabby Hartnett has been so miserable in Spring Training that not only has he lost the starting C spot to Elrod Hendricks, there was an argument that Frank Chance deserved the backup role. Hartnett’s glove keeps him on the roster … Dan Ford cooled off towards the end of Spring Training, leaving him in AAA to start the season … the final cuts were pretty difficult. With roster space at a premium, the luxury of a lefty specialist is hard to justify, sending Arnold Carter to AAA … then you have the case of Dick Lundy and Frank Grant. Both of these 20 year olds have great futures ahead of them, but there isn’t room on the roster for both of them right now, and Grant’s slightly better bat keeps him on the roster for now … finally, a moment for Robinson Cano, who hit .373 this Spring and still couldn’t earn a roster spot.

34 year old P Dick Tidrow is the oldest player on the opening day roster (if he gets sent down, it’s 32 year old Joakim Soria), with 20 year olds 3B Ron Santo and 2B Frank Grant the youngest.

Lundy and C Frank Chance are the best prospects at AAA, with 19 year old Cap Anson not likely to stay at AA very long.