Tag: Diego Seguí Page 1 of 2

Year II Season Preview: San Francisco Sea Lions

On March 27, 2024

Expectations

Playoff contention. Last year was such a disappointment, but there is too much talent here not to be at least in the run for the postseason.

Best Case

Tim Hudson finds a full season like his time with Birmingham last year, joining Lefty Grove and Eddie Plank in a top tier rotation and 1st round pick Turkey Stearnes steps right into the CF job while Dick Lundy improves in a full season in a lineup centered around Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, and Bobby Bonds.

Worst Case

Everything stays really confused, with the pitching proving too mediocre to depend on and the offense never really sorting out playing time at 1B (Jack Clark and Jimmie Foxx) or 3B (Sal Bando and Pedro Guerrero), leaving everyone slightly underused and underperforming.

Key Questions

On a team full of logjams, who steps forward?

Trade Bait

Possibly. If Foxx explodes, Jack Clark may be expendable, depending on how the OF/DH situation looks.

The decision to trade Guerrero makes some sense, given the OF depth, although a lot is riding on Watty Clark successfully converting to being a starter at a high level to make it a decent deal.

Roster Evaluation

POS	Elite	Strong	Solid	Meh	Weak	Unknown
C					Cochrane Oliver
1B				Clark		Foxx
2B			Bloodworth
3B			Garner	Bando
SS			Hartzell		Lundy
LF/ RF	Jackson	Henderson
CF		Bonds				Stearnes
SP		Grove Plank	Altrock Hudson			Hadley
End	Howell Clark	Beck Robinson				Ontiveros
RP			Bridges		Eckersley	~~Taylor~~

New Addition | ~~Injured~~

The OF is so strong, it just needs a little help–if that happens and the pitching repeats, it could be a good year by the bay.

Talent Ratings

	WBL	Minors
Raw Power	OF Bobby Bonds	OF Frank Howard
Batting Eye	3B Sal Bando	C Brian Downing
Contact	C Mickey Cochrane IF Dick Lundy	OF Buddy Ryan
Running Speed	OF Rickey Henderson IF Dick Lundy	OF Alex Cole OF Mookie Wilson
Base Stealing	OF Rickey Henderson	OF Cameron Maybin
IF Defense	IF Dick Lundy	IF Charlie Reilly
OF Defense	OF Rickey Henderson	OF Bill Virdon
Stuff	SP Lefty Grove	RP Ed Kelly
Control	RP Rod Beck	RP Don Dennis
Velocity	RP Rod Beck	RP Drew Steckenrider

Best In The Minors

Rank	Age	POS	Name
1 (8)	21	OF	Turkey Stearnes
2 (25)	24	P	Red Ehret
3 (31)	22	P	Bump Hadley
4 (71)	22	P	Dennis Eckersley
5 (120)	19	P	Charlie Ferguson
6 (126)	20	P	Bob Hendley
7 (145)	25	3B	Mike Moustakas
8 (164)	23	P	Steve Ontiveros
9 (188)	23	IF	Bill Sweeney

Others: None.

An odd system, for sure, as neither Jimmie Foxx nor John Beckwith make the top 200 list, which ends up being a bit weak, with a lot riding on the development of the young arms. Stearnes, Hadley, Eckersley, and Ontiveros all start the year in the WBL.

	Most	Least
Age	C Mike González, 39	OF Leonidas Lee, 17
Height	P Billy Taylor, 6’8″	OF Walt Williams, 5’6″ IF Matt Broderick, 5’6″
OPS	1B Sid Bream, 1.125 (—)	IF Bob Johnson, .415 (—)
HR	1B Sid Bream, 41 (—)	IF Bill Sweeney, 0 (AAA/AA) IF Miguel Cairo, 0 (WBL/AAA/AA)
SB	OF Rickey Henderson, 99 (WBL)	Many with 0
WAR	1B Sid Bream, 8.0 (—)	IF Bob Johnson, -5.1 (—)
W	Dallas Braden, 17 (—)	Diego Seguí, 3 (WBL/AAA) Jim Buchanan, 3 (—)
SV	Rod Beck, 33 (WBL)
ERA	Tommy Hughes, 2.61 (—)	JA Happ, 5.77 (—)
WAR	Dallas Braden, 5.8 (—)	Diego Seguí, -0.9 (WBL/AAA)

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

TWIWBL 56.13: Spring Training Notes – San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On March 1, 2024

In TWIWBL

Spring Training Questions

While Turkey Stearnes will receive a lot of attention during the spring, how roles fall out between Sal Bando, Pedro Guerrero, Dick Lundy, and Roy Hartzell will see some focus as well–someone in that group is likely to end up at SS, and none of them are really naturals at that position.

Injuries

Carl Erskine was a long shot to make the roster; a shoulder injury costing him most of spring training confirmed he will start the season in the minors.

First Cuts

A host of arms were sent down: Red Ehret, Diego Seguí, Frank Barberich, James Shields, Charlie Ferguson and Rube Walberg all hit the minors, clearing quite a bit of space as the Sea Lions try to work out their staff.

Behind the plate, Mickey Cochrane has moved into the lead for the starting spot, with only Jack Warner being sent to the minors. That leaves only 3 full-time backstops in camp, which may mean that San Francisco continues to want to give John Beckwith a longer look. IF Bobby Bragan can also fill in at C if necessary.

With the Sea Lions committed to both John Beckwith and Jimmie Foxx, Don Money, Sid Bream, Bill Sweeney, and Wayne Gross found themselves with tickets to minor league camp, despite performances no worse than Beckwith’s or Foxx’s.

Denny Hocking and Ted Sizemore head to the minors, but that’s not really enough to sort out the middle infield, where Dick Lundy, Ron Hunt, and Roy Hartzell have been quite strong.

The OF is a little clearer as Turkey Stearnes has absolutely blown the cover off the ball, justifying his draft position. Eddie Murphy, Mookie Wilson, Del Unser, Jules Thomas, Darrell Brown, and Patsy Donovan were all sent to the minors while Bob Cerv remains, despite early struggles.

Second Cuts

Dave LaRoche is in danger of being sent to the minors, but for now the Sea Lions staff stays stable.

Just about the only clear message from camp so far is that Turkey Stearnes is for real and, at this point, the 22 year old rookie looks likely to start the season in CF for the Sea Lions. Aside from that … it’s all muddled. Reggie Jackson, Bobby Bonds, and Pedro Guerrero can’t hit a lick; neither Bobby Bragan nor Royce Clayton deserve to stay in camp, but with the team very thin in the MI, both do; Mickey Cochrane is making a play for the starting C spot, but both Brian Downing and Gene Oliver are refusing to claim the backup slot. So it goes.

Teenager John Beckwith heads to AAA for a bit more seasoning, and IF Jack Farrell heads down as well.

Third Cuts

Mickey Cochrane has edged ahead of the struggling Gene Oliver and even more struggling Brian Downing as the likely opening day C for the Sea Lions.

IFs Bobby Bragan and Royce Clayton were sent to AAA, but San Francisco still has some issues to sort out on the infield: too many 1B are mashing the ball (Jimmie Foxx, Jack Clark, Jason Giambi), Roy Hartzell, who finished last season as the presumptive starter at SS, has struggled, and both Phil Garner and Dick Lundy are playing well enough to demand more time.

Walt Williams has hit well, but the Sea Lions OF is pretty crowded and the trio of Frank Howard, Bob Cerv, and Josh Reddick have all hit better, so Williams is off to AAA.

It’s not clear what San Francisco does here: rookie phenom Turkey Stearnes has exceeded all expectations and looks set to play CF, leaving Rickey Henderson, Pedro Guerrero, Bobby Bonds, and Reggie Jackson competing for the corner OF and DH spots.

Final Cuts

Jair Jurrjens had raised some eyebrows in an attempt to make the roster as a swing starter, but it was always unlikely, and a couple late rough outings sealed his fate as Jurrjens heads to AAA. Josh Reddick was sent down along with slick fielding SS Eddie Miller. Miller’s demotion answers several other questions: Dick Lundy looks to be the everyday SS, with Roy Hartzell his backup, clearing the way for Sal Bando at 3B.

RP Dave LaRoche was sent to AAA along with Carl Erskine, which may virtually solidify the pitching staff for the Sea Lions, leaving only 13 arms in camp. Brian Downing continues to look good enough for the WBL until he’s actually given a chance: he’ll head to AAA, with catching duties for San Francisco falling to Mickey Cochrane and Gene Oliver in a likely platoon. Ron Hunt does have a knack for getting clipped by pitches, but that’s just not enough to justify a roster spot: he’ll start the year in AAA as well.

Jim Devlin was the final arm moved out of camp.

Jason Giambi was sent down despite his obvious power, as were Bob Cerv and Matt Holliday. Cerv refused his demotion, and was made a free agent.

That made the final cut a choice between OF Frank Howard, incumbent 2B Jimmy Bloodworth (who has struggled all Spring), and light hitting IF Roy Hartzell (which would leave the Sea Lions without a real reserve at SS). Given the OF depth on the roster, it wasn’t terribly surprising that Howard was the final cut from camp.

Series XXXII Featured Matchup: Philadelphia Stars @ San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On May 31, 2023

In Featured Series, Game Recaps

Series preview here.

#Game One: Pete Alexander @ Nick Altrock

Pete Alexander suffered from what seemed to be a ton of rust on his return from the DL, even have gone through a rehab assignment. Alexander gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks in under 3 innings before being lifted, with 2 scoring on a double from Jimmie Foxx.

Despite the early lead, the Sea Dogs got some bad news when Dick Lundy had to leave the game with an apparent shoulder injury.

Philadelphia’s first threat came in the top of the 3rd when base hits from Aaron Judge and Ted Kluszewski put runners at the corners with 2 outs. But Nick Altrock was able to get José Ramírez to line out to right field to end the inning.

Pedro Guerrero increased the Sea Lions’ lead to 4-0 with his 22nd homerun of the year in the bottom of the 5th and Bobby Bonds made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the 7th, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.

But the story was Altrock, who finished with a 7-hit shutout, improving his record to 2-1 and lowering his ERA to 2.45.

PHI 0 (Alexander 2-7) @ SFS 6 (Altrock 2-1)
HRs: PHI – none; SFS – Guerrero (22).
Box Score

#Game 2: Steve Carlton @ Lefty Grove

Each team trotted its ace out in the second game of the series, with both Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton and San Francisco’s Lefty Grove carrying ERAs under 4.00.

A Pedro Guerrero sacrifice fly gave the Sea Lions a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. (Bobby Bonds extended his hitting streak to 18 games earlier in the inning.) A homerun from Sal Bando doubled the lead in the next inning, and a Rickey Henderson triple scored Roy Hartzell, making it 3-0.

Grove had a shutout through 5, but got into a bases loaded jam in the 6th. He got one out, but José Ramírez singled in a run to make it 3-1 and chase Grove, who gave way to Diego Seguí. Seguí gave up a sacrifice fly to Roger Peckinpaugh, but escaped with the lead intact, 3-2.

Scott Rolen took Seguí deep in the 7th to tie the game. Meanwhile, Carlton was excellent, blanking the Sea Lions into the 7th, when a single from Henderson chased him. Minnie Rojas relieved Carlton and, after Henderson stole second, gave up a single to Bonds. Reggie Jackson walked, but Rojas gave up a fly ball to LF to score a run, giving the Sea Lions a 4-3 lead.

Ramírez tied it up in the 8th with a fly that just cleared the right field wall.

In the bottom of the 9th, after Henderson singled, Bonds tried to bunt him to second (bad choice, that), but popped the ball to Rolen at third who doubled up Henderson. That effectively sent us to extra innings.

In the top of the 11th, Ramírez did it again: another fly to right that just cleared the fence to put the stars ahead, 5-4. The Stars were helped by an error by Bando, eventually pushing the lead to 7-4.

Which is how it ended: Bob Howry was stretched out, but nicely effective, allowing only 1 run in 3 innings to earn the victory.

PHI 7 (Howry 3-5) @ SFS 4 (Robinson 5-4; Seguí 1 B Sv; Howell 3 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: PHI – Rolen (17), Ramírez 2 (8); SFS – Bando (2).
Box Score

#Game 3: Hardie Henderson @ Tim Hudson

Sometimes a single big inning wins the game; sometimes it doesn’t.

The Sea Lions touched Hardie Henderson for 6 runs in the bottom of the 2nd: 2 on a double from Mickey Cochrane, 1 on a Roy Hartzell single, and the rest on a 3 run blast from Reggie Jackson. And, despite losing Tim Hudson to injury early in the game, it seemed like it would hold up.

But the Stars slowly closed the gap: 6-1, then 6-3, then 6-4. A wild pitch here, a sacrifice fly there, and an RBI double from Sherm Lollar over there. All of which set the stage for the 7th inning. San Francisco’s bullpen was a bit worn out, which left Dave LaRoche in the game despite clearly tiring. Still, he had gotten 2 outs on strikeouts. But Scott Rolen took him deep to right for a 3-run shot that put the Stars on top, 7-6.

And that’s how it ended. Ray Collins danced through the 8th despite 2 baserunners and Claude Jonnard pitched a perfect 9th for his first save of the season.

Aaron Judge added 3 hits for the Stars, while Rickey Henderson had 4 knocks for the Sea Lions, raising his average to .270.

PHI 7 (Henderson 1-0; Jonnard 1 Sv; Collins 1 H) @ SFS 6 (LaRoche 1-2, 2 B Sv)
HRs: PHI – Rolen (18); SFS – Jackson (26).
Box Score

It looks like Hudson will only be sidelined a few days and should be good for his next start. Still no clarity for the Sea Lions on the status of Dick Lundy.

#Game 4: Larry Jackson @ Diego Seguí

Diego Seguí gets the start for San Francisco, looking to even the series. The Sea Lions considered pro-actively placing Dick Lundy on the DL in exchange for a fully rested starting pitcher, but decided to hold out hop that their young SS’s injury is less serious than feared.

Seguí looked rough at first, giving up hits to Willie Davis and Roger Peckinpaugh to start the game and score a run. But Pedro Guerrero‘s 23rd homerun of the season reset the game in a 1-1 tie. In the bottom of the 3rd, Rickey Henderson was hit by a pitch, stole second (his 84th steal of the year), and scored on a double from Bobby Bonds, which extended Bonds’ hitting streak to 20 games.

The Stars’ Larry Jackson was struggling: a single from Guerrero scored Bonds, and a single from Jack Clark and a walk to Sal Bando loaded the bases. But Jackson got Phil Garner to lift a soft ball into foul territory, where Peckinpaugh grabbed it for the final out.

In the end, the Sea Lions made the same mistake they did in game 3: Seguí was left in one batter too long, surrendering a 2-run shot to Aaron Judge to tie the game in the top of the 6th.

Jackson–who had settled down–was finally chased in the top of the 7th by hits to Roy Hartzell and Henderson. His replacement, Don Carman, induced a double play from Bonds to end the inning. And so we sailed on into extra innings.

Bobby Abreu led off the 10th for Philadelphia with his 3rd hit of the game, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a pinch-hit double from Ted Kluszewski. Klu scored on a sac fly, given the Stars a 2 run edge, 5-3. Their closer, Bob Howry, came in, which is always interesting. Howry has 24 saves, but also sports an ERA over 5.00 … he was facing the top of the Sea Lions’ lineup, and Henderson and Bonds started it off for San Francisco with back to back singles. Howry balked them to 2nd and 3rd, then gave up a deep, deep fly to center from Jackson, scoring Henderson and moving Bonds to third. A double from Guerrero (who ended the day with 3 hits and 3 RBIs) tied the game, and after Howry got the 2nd out of the inning, a single from Bando won it for the Sea Lions.

PHI 5 (Howry 3-6, 6 B Sv) @ SFS 6 (Robinson 6-4) [10 Innings]
HRs: PHI – Judge (2); SFS – Guerrero (23).
Box Score

Series XXXII Preview: Philadelphia Stars @ San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On May 16, 2023

In Featured Series, Series Previews

We featured Philadelphia in Series VI and XVIII and San Francisco in Series IX and XV.

These two teams have had disappointing seasons, and while both at one point seemed on the verge of contention–especially San Francisco–they are each now well under .500, with Philadelphia tied for the 2nd-worst record in the WBL.

#Philadelphia Stars

Larry Jackson leads the Stars starters in wins at 10-7, but their best pitcher overall has probably been Steve Carlton, who is only 8-9 despite an ERA just under 4.00. Bob Howry has 24 saves, but an ERA of 5.62. Hardie Henderson has pitched well since being acquired, and has been moved into the starting rotation.

The Stars have some power, with 7 players in double figures in homeruns, led by 1B Ted Kluszewski‘s 21. Rico Carty leads the team in RBI while OF George Hendrick has the highest OPS at .867. The most intriguing thing about Philadelphia right now is probably OF Aaron Judge, who has responded to the opportunities afforded by Gavvy Cravath‘s departure with an .875 OPS to start his WBL career.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

There is talent here for sure: from Reggie Jackson, who is no longer a threat for the triple crown, but does lead the league in OBP, to Rickey Henderson who leads in steals, to Lefty Grove, the WBL leader in strikeouts. But a horrible 6 weeks in June and July have left the Sea Lions well adrift, over a dozen games out of first place.

Jackson leads the team in HR with 25, RBIs (79), and OPS (1.037). But he’s far from alone, with Bobby Bonds (319/382/507) and Pedro Guerrero (304/353/530) forming a formidable OF.

With Dick Lundy‘s return from injury and the early success of Phil Garner and Roy Hartzell, the Sea Lions returned slick fielding (but awful offensively) IF Miguel Cairo to AAA.

Grove is 12-7, and Eddie Plank–who may have pitched better than Grove–is 10-5. Rod Beck has 27 saves, and the Sea Lions’ setup men–Ron Robinson and Ken Howell–have been among the league’s best.

Bump Hadley has replaced Diego Seguí in the rotation.

#Projected Starters

Philadelphia starter listed first.

Steve Carlton (8-9, 3.93) @ Nick Altrock (1-1, 4.15)
Hardie Henderson (1-1, 3.94) @ Lefty Grove (12-7, 3.62)
Larry Jackson (5-6, 5.30) @ Bump Hadley (0-1, 4.91)
Don Carman (1-2, 5.75) @ Tim Hudson (9-6, 4.47)

Series XXXI Best Games

By mknn

On May 2, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

This time, we have two see-saw games and two series that deserve a little focus.

Let’s do the one-offs first.

#Homestead Grays @ Ottawa Mounties, Game 1

This one got wild. Ottawa took the lead on Larry Walker‘s 18th homerun of the year, a 2-run shot in the bottom of the first. Hits from Davey Johnson and Roberto Clemente got a run back for Homestead, but Ottawa scored 2 on a single from Roberto Alomar to increase their lead to 4-1. Homestead’s Rick Reichardt sent a pitch from Clayton Richard into the stands to tie the game in the top of the 3rd, so, we’re back to all square at 4-4.

The game continued to swing back and forth: a sacrifice fly from Johnson offset a solo shot from Roy Sievers, but an RBI double from Andy Van Slyke put Homestead back on top momentarily: a 2-run double from Sievers and a single from Bernie Allen gave Ottawa a 2-run lead, 8-6.

And then the 9th. Ted Bowsfield started the inning for Ottawa, walking Mike Epstein and giving up a single to Van Slyke. Bowsfield grabbed his elbow after the hit, and the Mounties brought in their closer, Ryan Dempster. Dempster retired 2 and walked one, loading the bases with Johnson at the plate. He singled to right, driving in 2. Perhaps more importantly for Ottawa, their star RF, Walker, was forced out of the game after the throw. But, the game was tied.

Tied, that is, until a single from Rusty Staub scored Carlos Beltrán to give the Mounties a walk off victory.

Nobody pitched particularly well, but Ottawa’s Monk Dubiel and Dempster did manage to escape without being scored on.

Both Bowsfield and Walker were sent to the DL after the game, with Chris Leroux and Sam Thompson being recalled from AAA.

HOM 8 (Ownbey 1-3; Brown 1 B Sv) @ OTT 9 (Dempster 4-1, 2 B Sv; Bowsfield 7 H)
HRs: HOM – Reichardt (21); OTT – Walker (18), Sievers (7).
Box Score

#San Francisco Sea Lions @ Detroit Wolverines, Game 2

This one had everything except good pitching (Mickey Lolich‘s 2 innings of clean relief for Detroit notwithstanding).

San Francisco kicked off the game with a bang: a leadoff homerun from Rickey Henderson, a 2 run shot from Reggie Jackson, and an RBI groundout from Phil Garner made it 4-0 Sea Lions before Diego Seguí threw his first pitch.

But the Bailey Boys got to him the following inning: Ed Bailey launched a 3 run shot and Bob Bailey added an RBI groundout to score Sparky Adams, who had doubled, tying the game at 4. Momentarily: Garner went deep and another run scored on a Sal Bando single, putting San Francisco back on top, 7-4. A solo shot from Hank Greenberg clawed one back, but a 2-run single from San Francisco’s Pedro Guerrero made it 9-5 heading into the 6th, when Detroit chased Seguí and hammered his replacement, James Shields, who only lasted 4 batters. Al Kaline singled home one run and Tony Phillips brought in another with a double. By the time it was all done, San Francisco’s lead was slashed to a single run, 9-8. Kaline would put the Wolverines in front with a 3-run shot in the 7th, and a Bob Bailey triple scored Phillips, who was hit by a pitch. Suddenly, Detroit was up, 12-9.

Their closer (and the WBL leader in saves), Mike Henneman, struggled in the 9th, facing 8 batters and giving up 2 runs (one on a solo shot by Jimmie Foxx, the other on a single by Guerrero). But he got Jack Clark to ground out with 2 batters on to preserve the victory.

SFS 11 (LaRoche 1-1, 1 B Sv; Hadley 2 H) @ DET 13 (Bradford 2-0)
HRs: SFS – Jackson (25), Henderson (6), Foxx (2); DET – E. Bailey (6), Greenberg 2 (24), Kaline (5).
Box Score

#Memphis Red Sox @ Miami Cuban Giants, Games 1 & 3

This series is a battle of basement teams, but that doesn’t keep the games from being entertaining.

The Red Sox scored 4 runs early with the RBIs coming on a sacrifice fly, a fielder’s choice, a bases-loaded walk, and an error by Miami’s shortstop, Robin Yount. Miami took a more conventional route back: a walk and 4 singles scored 3 runs in the 4th. But they followed Memphis’ lead to tie the game, as a sacrifice fly from José Cardenal plated Ryan Braun. The Cuban Giants then took the lead on a solo shot from their best player, José Canseco.

Wade Boggs finally brought home a conventional run for Memphis in the 8th with a single, but the Red Sox immediately reverted to form, with a bases-loaded walk and another sacrifice fly giving them a 7-5 lead. Three perfect relief innings from Turk Farrell, Heath Bell, and Jonathan Papelbon, closed the game out.

Ted Williams and Bill White finished the game with 3 hits each for Memphis; Cookie Rojas had 3 for Miami.

MEM 7 (Farrell 2-3; Papelbon 11 Sv; Bell 5 H; Callahan 4 B Sv) @ MCG 5 (Consuegra 0-4)
HRs: MEM – none; MCG – Canseco (30).
Box Score

In Game 3, Memphis was up 6-0, and then 8-5, powered by a grandslam from David Justice and 2 homers from Billy Bryan. It wasn’t enough: Minnie Miñoso broke out of his funk with 3 hits and 3 RBIs and Cookie Rojas, Gary Sheffield, and Chris Hoiles each drove in 2. As importantly for Miami, Eustaquio Pedroso, Sandy Consuegra, Ricky Nolasco, and Braden Looper combined for 4 innings of 1-hit relief of an ineffective Ramón Martínez.

MEM 8 (Callahan 5-10) @ MCG 11 (Pedroso 7-6; Looper 3 Sv; Consuegra 2 H; Nolasco 2 H)
HRs: none.
Box Score

New York Black Yankees @ Houston Colt 45’s, Games 2 and 4

In Game 2, Houston had a 6-3 lead heading to the 9th inning. The Colt 45’s got 2-run shots from Jim O’Rourke and Tony Gwynn and a solo dinger from Jorge Posada to take the lead.

The problem was their closer, Billy Wagner, was tired, leaving them turning to Brad Lidge, who had been solid since his recall, but here reverted to his old form: an RBI groundout from Tom Herr and a 3-run shot from Don Mattingly put the Black Yankees up 7-6.

Andrés Galarraga singled home a run in the bottom of the 9th, sending us to extra innings. Mattingly and Eric Davis homered in the 10th to put New York up 11-7, which seemed safe until you remembered the fragility of the Black Yankees’ bullpen. Here, Ralph Citarella and Rheal Cormier gave up RBI’s to Jim Wynn and Craig Biggio, but Cormier fanned Galarraga with the tying run on third base to close it out.

NYY 11 (Chapman 1-0, 1 B Sv; Cormier 1 Sv) @ HOU 10 (Kern 0-2; Chamberlain 1 H; McGraw 7 H; Lidge 4 B Sv) [10 Innings]
HRs: Mattingly 2 (26), Davis (31); HOU – O’Rourke (6), Gwynn (8), Posada (7).
Box Score

Game 4 of the series was a similar story: a Houston comeback that just fell short. Mattingly had 3 hits and 3 RBIs and Mike Schmidt hit his 17th homerun for the Black Yankees, who also got 3 brilliant innings from Goose Gossage. They did have to withstand a horrible outing from the heretofore solid Dick Tidrow, who surrendered 4 hits (2 to pinch hitters Jim O’Rourke and Harry Stovey) and 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning.

Andrés Galarraga had 4 hits and Casey Stengel and Jorge Posada had 3 each for Houston. Tug McGraw closed the game for the Colt 45’s, and has yet to surrender a run in his first 10 innings at the WBL level.

NYY 8 (Gossage 5-4; Chapman 5 Sv; Citarella 10 H) @ HOU 7 (Strasburg 7-7)
HRs: NYY – Schmidt (17); HOU – Stengel (9), Biggio (7).
Box Score

TWIWBL 24.18: Mid-Season Reviews – San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On May 4, 2022

In Team News, TWIWBL

Summary

The Marvin Miller is a hard division. The Sea Lions are over .500, and within striking distance of Portland, but it will take some doing.

What’s Gone Right

REG-GIE REG-GIE. Those chants may turn into MVP MVP MVP by the end of the year. Reggie Jackson is threatening the triple crown and while that feels very unlikely, well, he’s got a shot.

The Rest of the Lineup. Bobby Bonds and AAA find Pedro Guerrero have OPS’ just under .900; Jimmy Bloodworth, Rickey Henderson, Jack Clark, and Wally Moon follow them without a real weak link.

High End Arms. Lefty Grove, Rod Beck, Ken Howell, Charlie Root, and Diego Seguí have all performed excellently in their roles.

What’s Gone Wrong

The Rest of the Arms. Jim Devlin and Cy Falkenberg have pitched themselves back to AAA, but it’s not clear who is there to replace them.

Achilles’ Heels. Henderson has 52 steals and an OBP around .400 … but little else. John Beckwith hits the ball as hard as anyone in the league … but only to a .700 OPS. Clark has power … but not much else. There are significant questions about many key contributors.

Shortstop. Dick Lundy solved this … and then he got hurt, putting San Francisco back in the hands of Eddie Joost, who has a good eye, some power, but cannot put it all together in a way that lifts his OPS over .600.

Key Storylines

Can the new players–Guerrero, Lundy, Seguí–keep up their torrid pace? And can a team likely to stay pat during the trading period improve in the second half?

The continued development of Grove bears watching, and the OF has storylines at all three spots: is Jackson’s triple crown pursuit for real? Can Henderson improve offensively to complement his unworldly base-stealing? And can Bonds continue to perform at a very high level?

Trading Outlook

HOLDING.

Bob Cerv and Moon could each move on in search of more playing time, but that’s about it.

AAA Shuttle

Guerrero and Seguí look to be true gems, as did Lundy before his injury, and both Cerv and Miguel Cairo have started very well. Overall, it’s been quite a success.

Midseason Changes

Falkenberg and Devlin head to AAA, with Nick Altrock coming back, as well as Dennis Eckersley, who struggled mightily to start the year with the big league club.

Awards

All Stars: Rod Beck (P); Lefty Grove (P); Rickey Henderson (LF); Ken Howell (P); Reggie Jackson (RF); Charlie Root (P).

Offensive MVP: Reggie Jackson (OF)
Pitching MVP: Lefty Grove (SP)

Down on the Farm

AAA: San Jose Bees

Next to the Show: P Nick Altrock, 2B Ron Hunt, 3B Sal Bando

Prospects: P Bump Hadley (21)

Projects: P Nick Altrock (28), 3B Sal Bando (25), Ron Hunt (29)

Suspects: P Rube Walberg (34)

AA: Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

Prospects: 1B Jimmie Foxx (20)

Projects: P Chad Gaudin (22), OF Dwayne Murphy (24), 2B Dick Green (23), SS Bill Russell (20), P Shawn Estes (35), RP Turk Wendell (28), RP Joe Klink (28), P Matt Barnes (25).

Suspects: C John Mizerock (22),

Series XVIII: Featured Game – New York Black Yankees @ Los Angeles Angels

By mknn

On January 20, 2022

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

Series XVIII was a little light on compelling games. The best of the series was the second game of the New York Black Yankees visit to the Los Angeles Angels.

The Yankees’ Jack Scott would get the start with Ron Romanick making his WBL debut for the Angels. Not a lot is expected of Romanick–Los Angeles would be thrilled to get 5 decent innings from him before he heads back to AAA.

Romanick got through the top of the first without incident, and when Doug Rader took Scott deep with Don Buford and Mike Trout on base for a 3-0 lead, the Angels could begin to feel a little optimistic. Romanick got the first two batters in the second, but RBIs from Doug DeCinces and Willie Randolph made it 3-2, and then homeruns by Don Mattingly and Eric Davis in the 3rd but New York ahead, 5-3.

It turns out Scott was the first starter to leave, as 6 hits and a walk in the bottom of the 3rd chased him from the mound. The innings started with doubles by Buford and Kal Daniels. Rader, Elmer Valo, and Ron Hassey singled in runs, bringing in Cole Hamels from the Yankees’ bullpen.

Hamels gave up hits to Tim Wallach and Buford, and the inning ended with Los Angeles putting up 6, and now leading 9-5.

Babe Ruth would take Romanick deep in the 4th for a 2-run shot, and Romanick would finally leave the game in the top of the 5th after giving up a leadoff single to Davis. He stole second and third, and scored on a wild pitch by Romanick’s replacement, Doc Gooden. That reduce the league to a single run, 9-8.

Davis would tie it in the top of the 7th with his second homerun of the game.

And we would stay that way until the top of the 12th inning, when Mike Schmidt would take Pud Galvin deep for an 11-9 lead for the Black Yankees.

Note that we haven’t mentioned any offense for Los Angeles after their 6 run burst. That’s because New York’s bullpen provided over 9 innings of scoreless relief, with Hamels, Dellin Betances, Ralph Citarella, and Goose Gossage combining to allow only 4 hits for the rest of the game.

It’s not like the Angels’ pen was bad: Gooden, Francisco Rodríguez, and Joe Nathan allowed one run in 7 innings before handing it over to Galvin in the 12th.

Davis scored 3 times and drove in 3 to lead New York. Trout and Buford had 3 hits each and Rader had 4 RBIs for Los Angeles.

NYY 11 (Gossage 4-3) @ LAA 9 (Galvin 2-5) [12 innings]
HRs: NYY – Mattingly (12), Davis 2 (22), Ruth (24); LAA – Rader (11)
Box Score

Other Games of Note

Both Diego Seguí of the San Francisco Sea Lions and the Cleveland Spiders‘ Pat Malone came into the game pitching well. Instead, the offenses dominated with the Spiders’ Johnny Bates driving in the winning run–his 3rd RBI on the day–in the bottom of the 9th for an 8-7 victory for Cleveland. The Sea Lions’ John Beckwith went 3-for-3 with a homerun in the losing cause.

SFS 7 (Bradford 1-5, 4 BSv; Devlin 1 BSv) @ CLE 8 (Gearrin 1-4)
HRs: SFS – Beckwith (5); CLE – Knoblauch (4)
Box Score

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 Preview II – NL Starting Pitchers

By mknn

On September 26, 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. }

Initial preview here, selecting Walter Johnson (Portland), Don Drysedale (Brooklyn), Camilo Pascual (Miami), Ron Guidry (New York Black Yankees), and Cy Young (Cleveland).

Johnson (6-1, 3.58 ERA), Drysedale (4-2, 2.71 ERA, which leads the league), and Guidry (5-4, 3.23 ERA) remain obvious choices, and while Young has fallen off a bit, Pascual, at 4-4 with a 3.19 ERA for a truly poor Miami team is likely still to make it.

That leaves one slot, with San Francisco’s Lefty Grove (5-2, 3.23 ERA) and Philadelphia’s Ray Collins (6-2, 3.20 ERA) as the likely candidates, although a case still could be made for Young (4-2, 3.82 ERA, 1.25 WHIP).

In addition to the 3 shoo-ins, the AI picks Collins, Grove, and Pascual along with Brooklyn’s Frank Knauss and San Francisco’s Diego Segui. Knauss has certainly pitched well, but he’s only made 6 starts, and while he’s gone 4-2 with a 2.76 ERA, it’s just not enough yet to merit consideration. Segui has seen even fewer innings and, again, while a 2.36 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP are impressive, you have to be putting up Hal Newhouser numbers to make the all star team as a starter with that few innings.

So we’ll go with Walter Johnson as the starter (although he needs to win another game someday: Johnson has 2 no-decisions and 1 loss in his last 3 starts), along with Drysedale, Guidry, Grove, and Collins.

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.