{With the day off on April 25th, it was a time of roster moves and lineup and pitching adjustments. As such, there are a few more notes for each team than usual.}
#Baltimore Black Sox
P Lindy McDaniel, massively ineffective over 7 appearances, was sent down to AAA with Mike Mussina coming back the other way. Chick Stahl is tearing up AAA, and if Paul Blair–currently slashing 205/287/337–continues to struggle, he may get a call-up in the next few weeks.
#Chicago American Giants
P Lee Meadows was waived and Joe Lake was sent down to AAA Milwaukee, with Sonny Dixon and Frank Smith joining Chicago. Herb Pennock will join the rotation, replacing Lake.
#Houston Colt 45’s
The final slot in the Colt 45’s rotation remains a mystery, with the team hoping someone from Stubby Overmire, Leon Day, and Dock Ellis steps forward.
Larry Hisle‘s continued struggles (194/275/222) sent him down to AAA San Antonio. 37 year-old Ken Caminiti was waived to make room for DJ LeMahieu‘s promotion to Houston.
Paul Goldschmidt‘s 176/300/265 line sees him likely getting much less playing time in the near future.
#Kansas City Monarchs
After a heart-breaking loss to the Black Yankees, the Monarchs had to do some roster juggling, both to help with bullpen fatigue and to bring in some help for Ozzie Smith at SS. Bob Gibson was sent back to AAA and Bill Doak was waived to free up roster space for RP Adam Russell and SS Jack Rowe.
But the Monarchs fought back, defeating the Black Yankees, first 8-3 and then on a walk-off 5-4 victory powered by Boog Powell‘s 2 HRs and Stan Musial‘s 4 hits in 4 at-bats.
The Monarchs ended up splitting the four game set with the Black Yankees–no mean feat.
1B Andre Thornton‘s slow start (139/333/250) earned him a trip to AAA St. Louis with 2B Robinson Cano, who was tearing up the league at 423/461/634 coming up to Kansas City. The roster still needed a RH OF, so Russell was sent back down after only a few days with the big league team in favor of Ducky Medwick.
#Ottawa Mounties
Randy Johnson may have done just enough–barely–to stay in the big leagues with a decent 5 inning performance against Los Angeles. After the game, RP Greg Holland hopped back on the AAA express, with the Mounties in desperate need for depth at 2B. They recalled George Cutshaw to help there (Cutshaw would have a nice debut, going 1-for-3 with a grand slam HR).
Freddy Parent delivered a 2-0ut, 2-run single that scored Carlos Delgado and Terry Puhl, giving Ottawa a walk-off victory against Los Angeles’ closer Joe Nathan, who fanned the first two batters before collapsing and giving up a three run lead.
Recently recalled Jim Clancy was called into duty as an emergency starter, and the jury is still out. On the one hand, 5 innings, only 1 run, and the victory in a 5-1 win over Los Angeles is great; on the other hand, the traffic on the basepaths was nonstop, with Clancy giving up 10 hits and 2 walks in the 5 innings. Gary Lavelle pitched 2.2 scoreless innings for his second hold, and Tom Henke finished it out for his 7th save.
The Mounties pitching staff is a mystery. They are committed to Johnson, despite the 25 year-old’s 7.27 ERA, as well as to 19 year-old Ken Griffey, Jr, who is only slashing 205/253/217 to date. Gary Peters has been very ineffective, and will spend some time at AAA trying to work out his kinks, joining John Olerud in Montreal with veteran 1B/OF Roy Sievers and P Jamie Moyer heading to the big time (Terry Mulholland was waived to make room for Moyer).
The fifth rotation slot is still unsettled, with Moyer, Clancy, and Monk Dubiel all in play.
