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Series XVII Preview: Portland Sea Dogs @ Brooklyn Royal Giants

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On December 5, 2021

In Series Previews

Series XVII allows us to check back in with two teams we haven’t touched on in quite a while: for the Portland Sea Dogs, it was way back in Series II, for the Brooklyn Royal Giants, Series IV.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Portland comes into their series with the best record in the league and a 5.5 game lead in the Marvin Miller Division. As you would expect given that, there are a lot of fine performances across the board here.

On the mound, the Sea Dogs are led by Walter Johnson, who is 7-2 with a 3.61 ERA. Since moving into the rotation to replace the injured Smokey Joe Wood, Wade Miley has been a revelation, posting a 5-0 record in 6 starts, with an ERA under 4.00. The rest of the starting rotation is solid, if unspectacular, each of them with ERA’s in the mid 4’s.

The bullpen has been strong, with the emergent Joseito Munoz making it spectacular. Since his recall, Munoz has pitched in 9 games (1 start), amassing a 2-1 record, 2 holds, and 3 saves. His ERA is a microscopic 0.70, with a WHIP under 1. Elmer Brown has been great as a setup arm, and Mike Cuellar quite good as well. And all of that leads to the WBL’s saves leader, Johan Santana, who as 21 saves on the season.

No fewer than five Sea Dogs sport OPS’ over .900. Two of those share a position, with Joe Mauer (321/404/560) getting most of the time behind the plate ahead of Ivan Rodriguez (361/372/565). The others are 1B Kent Hrbek (318/393/597), CF Bobby Murcer (330/411/573), and 3B Buddy Bell (308/371/545). Hrbek leads the team in homeruns with 18 (Gil Hodges has 16) while Harry Hooper leads in RBIs with 37.

Even Greg Litton–at one point much maligned and on the verge of being sent down–has eased his OPS over .600 which, combined with his defensive versatility, continues to earn him a roster spot.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Brooklyn sits second in the Marvin Miller Division, behind the Sea Dogs, but the gap between them is fairly clear: while the Royal Giants have a fantastic pitching staff (arguably the best in the league), they have struggled to score runs.

The pitching staff is led by Don Drysedale whose 3.32 ERA and 1.23 WHIP warrant more than his 4-3 record. After Drysedale, it falls off a bit. Frank Knauss and Sandy Koufax (he of the only 1-hitter in WBL history) have been solid; Dutch Leonard and Don Sutton less so.

The bullpen has been very strong, with Eric Gagne and Trevor Hildenberger quite effectively bridging the way to closer Watty Clark (12 saves).

After their last series, the Royal Giants turned over both catchers and a few outfielders and the jury is still out on whether that was a good move. In extremely limited opportunities so far, Jermaine Dye and Al Lopez have done well, while Hi Myers and Michael Brantley are still looking to find their sea legs. Recalled a few weeks ago, Ray Dandridge has had an excellent start to his WBL career, and looks poised to take over from Dickie Thon at SS.

The team is led by the trio of Duke Snider (329/366/557), Jackie Robinson (287/349/509), and Roy White (288/354/468). Snider leads the team in homeruns and RBIs with 15 and 41, respectively.

But Brooklyn needs someone else to step up–whether one of the newly promoted players, or, perhaps more likely, Beals Becker, Davey Lopes, or Dan Brouthers–in order to have a hope of catching Portland.

#Starting Pitchers

Portland starter listed first.

Walter Johnson (7-2, 3.61) @ Dutch Leonard (4-7, 4.25)
Bert Blyleven (5-3, 4.73) @ Frank Knauss (4-4, 3.10)
Jerry Koosman (4-5, 4.85) @ Sandy Koufax (3-2, 3.86)
Wade Miller (5-0, 3.76) @ Don Sutton (2-4, 4.71)

#Series Prediction

My heart wants a Brooklyn sweep to tighten up the division race.

But my head says the best the Royal Giants could hope for is a tie, with the more likely outcome being three Sea Dogs victories.

TWIWBL 19.4: Series XVI Notes – Marvin Miller Division

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On December 3, 2021

In TWIWBL

#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 XVI Featured Game: Philadelphia Stars @ Los Angeles Angels

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On November 17, 2021

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

Entries for Series XVI come down to a single game and a great series. First, the game.

#Philadelphia Stars @ Los Angeles Angels, Game 3

With the series tied at 2, Philadelphia sent Jaret Wright to the mound to take on Nolan Ryan. Ryan was making his 6th start of the year, and his 3rd after returning to the rotation. It hasn’t gone great: 2 losses and 9 runs in 9 innings.

It didn’t start great for Ryan, as he gave up a leadoff single to Willie Davis and walked Rico Carty, but induced a double play from Ted Kluszewski to escape the inning.

Los Angeles scored in the bottom of the frame on a Mike Trout single after Don Buford led off with a base hit and stole second.

The top of the second was more of the same for Ryan: a single, a hit by pitch, and a walk, but no runs allowed. The third was not so kind: Gavvy Cravath doubled in a run, Kluszewski scored on a wild pitch, and Cravath scored on a groundout to give the Angels the lead, 3-1. Ryan wouldn’t make it through the 4th, as he hit another batter and walked Kluszewski, bringing in Pud Galvin from the bullpen, who was able to shut the door despite a walk to load the bases.

Wright was sailing along at this point, but a leadoff single in the bottom of the 4th was followed by a 2-run homerun from Trout, tying the game at 3.

Wright and Galvin traded goose eggs until the bottom of the 7th, when Wright walked Doug Rader and gave up a double to Bobby Grich.

So we went to the top of the 9th with the Angels ahead by a run. It had been an hard game on the Angels’ staff, and with their usual closer, Joe Nathan, a bit fatigued, they turned to Francisco Rodriguez. Rodriguez got Sherm Lollar to strike out swinging, but gave up a double to Carty.

That brought in Jonny Venters to face Kluszewski, who grounded out, sending John Montgomery Ward (who pinch-ran for Carty) to third. With that, the Angels turned to a tired Nathan to close the game out. Instead, he walked Cravath and gave up a game-tying single to Scott Rolen.

Larry Jackson, on for Philadelphia, kept it tied, and with nobody else to turn to, LA kept Nathan out there. It wasn’t a great move, as Davis took him deep for a 5-4 lead for the Stars.

The Stars’ Bobby Howry relieved Jackson, and retired the side on six pitches to preserve the win. Davis had three hits and Cravath two for the Stars, while Trout had 2 hits and 3 RBI for the Angels.

PHI 5 (Jackson 3-1; Howry 16 Sv) @ LAA 4 (Nathan 3-3, 3 BSv; Gooden 1 H; Rodriguez 4 H; Venters 7 H) [10 Innings]
HRs: PHI – Davis (10); LAA – Trout (6)
Box Score

#Brooklyn Royal Giants @ New York Black Yankees, Games 1, 3 & 4

Since I don’t want to write detailed summaries of each game–we do have a featured series, after all–I will instead trace some of the major throughlines.

Game one was a pitching duel between Frank Knauss and Red Ruffing. The Black Yankees scored a run in the bottom of the first two innings on a homerun from Babe Ruth and a triple from Lou Gehrig.

Ruffing–who is quickly moving into all-star contention–had a shutout through 8, but with one out in the 9th, gave up a double to Roy White and a single to Duke Snider. That brought in the Black Yankees’ closer, Sparky Lyle. Lyle struggled, giving up an RBI single to Jermaine Dye and base hit to Ron Cey to load the bases, before inducing a double play groundout from Hi Myers to preserve the victory.

Brooklyn shuffled its roster significantly prior to the series, and the game saw the WBL debuts of Dye and Michael Brantley.

BRK 1 (Knauss 4-4) @ NYY 2 (Ruffing 9-1; Lyle 9 Sv)
HRs: NYY – Ruth (22)
Box Score

Game three was somewhat similar: Waite Hoyt of the Black Yankees had a solid start going, while Brooklyn’s Don Sutton struggled a bit, leaving New York leading 5 to 4 (Brooklyn’s Al Lopez hit a homerun in his first WBL at-bat and Babe Ruth hit a 2-run shot for New York) heading into the top of the 9th.

Again, the Black Yankees turned to Sparky Lyle. And that’s where the game turned.

Lyle gave up a leadoff walk to Dickie Thon, a single to Duke Farrell, an RBI single to Beals Becker and another to Jackie Robinson. Roy White singled to load the bases, and that was it for Lyle. Ralph Citarella gave up a double to Duke Snider, and when the inning ended, Brooklyn was on top 8-5.

Despite giving up a leadoff single to Lou Gehrig, Brooklyn’s closer, Watty Clark, shut the door in the bottom of the 9th.

Becker, Robinson, Snider, and Lopez each had 2 hits for the Royal Giants while Mickey Mantle was 4-for-4 for New York.

BRK 8 (Hildenberger 3-0; Clark 11 Sv) @ NYY 5 (Lyle 0-2, 3 BSv; Betances 4 H)
HRs: BRK – Lopez (1); NYY – Ruth (23)
Box Score

The final game of the series promised to be another pitching duel between Brooklyn’s Don Drysedale and New York’s Ron Guidry. It wasn’t. Drysedale gave up 10 hits and 6 runs (5 earned) in 6 innings and while Guidry fared a little better (4 runs in 5.2 innings), it wasn’t a great performance by any means.

Guidry did become the first WBL pitcher to notch 100 strikeouts on the season.

The Black Yankees led 6 to 4 heading to the top of the 8th. But Jermaine Dye took Lady Baldwin deep for a 2-run homerun to tie the game. Then, in the top of the 9th, Goose Gossage (perhaps auditioning to become New York’s new closer) gave up another 2-run shot, this one to Roy White, to give the Royal Giants the lead.

Thurman Munson continued his torrid streak, getting his fourth hit of the day with a double to lead off the bottom of the 9th, but Watty Clark was able to get out of the inning with only 1 run scoring, giving Brooklyn the win and a 3-1 edge in the series.

BRK 8 (Gagne 2-2; Clark 12 Sv) @ BYY (Gossage 3-3; Baldwin 3 BSv)
HRs: BRK – Cey (10), Dye (1), White (8); NYY – Jeter (5), Belle (7)
Box Score

TWIWBL 18.4: Series XV Notes – Marvin Miller Division

By

On November 10, 2021

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

With a pitching staff decimated by use, the Black Barons went ahead and placed Scott Baker on the 10-day DL, even as they await details on the extent of his injury. John Malarkey was recalled from AAA to help out in the meantime.

Hank Aaron went deep twice and Tom Herr and Frank Isbell hit back-to-back triples leading Birmingham to a 10-4 win over Baltimore. Dick Rudolph got the win and Vic Willis picked up his first save.

Willis has allowed only 2 hits in 11 innings, earning the 5th spot in Birmingham’s rotation from here on out. The pairing of Del Crandall and Dale Murphy behind the plate hasn’t really worked out, but it still seems like the best option. Frank McCormick‘s struggles have reduced his playing time going forward, and Pie Traynor‘s incredible start is demanding some more starts at 3B.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Ray Dandridge continued his torrid start in the big leagues, scoring twice and adding 3 hits and Duke Snider drove in 2 with 3 hits of his own as the Royal Giants topped Kansas City, 9-4.

The highly-touted pitching matchup between Brooklyn’s Don Drysedale and Kansas City’s Andy Petitte delivered, with both starters turning in solid performances. But the game was won in the bottom of the 9th on a walk-off homerun just over the left field wall from Raul Mondesi, his 7th blast of the season. Trevor Hildenberger moved to 2-0 with 2 innings of perfect relief.

The Royal Giants shook up their lineup a bit, sending Steve Yeager, Mike Piazza, and Mondesi to AAA–none of them with an OPS over .615. Coming the other way are C Al Lopez, and OFs Jermaine Dye and Michael Brantley. Hobe Ferris was released.

#Miami Cuban Giants

The Cuban Giants’ 2-1 win over Indianapolis was pretty costly. The win was fueled by 4 innings of one-hit relief by Marcelino Lopez after Rube Waddell had to leave the game complaining of a wrist injury. Roenis Elias got the win and Clay Condrey the save, with Alejandro Oms driving in the winning run. Waddell will miss a couple weeks; the news on Carlos Moran is worse, with the speedy outfielder out for 7 or 8 weeks with plantar fasciitis. P Dontrelle Willis and OF Sandy Amoros were recalled after the game to fill the roster spots.

It got a bit worse, even: Alex Colome will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, prompting Miami to recall Sandy Consuegra.

Willis was returned to AAA right after his first start, with Jose Mendez being recalled from his rehab assignment.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Rick Langford was returned to AAA, with Bump Hadley taking his spot in the Sea Lions’ bullpen.

Series XV Featured Game: Baltimore Black Sox @ Birmingham Black Barons

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On October 29, 2021

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

The opening and closing matches between the Baltimore Black Sox and the Birmingham Black Barons were both worthy of consideration as the Game of the Series.

The first game started with Birmingham taking it to the best team in the league, with the legend that is Tom Herr and Dale Murphy both going deep. Earlier in the season, Murphy was sent to AAA after an absolutely horrific start to the season, and while he’s not exactly setting the world on fire, he has been doing better since his recall.

A Frank Isbell homerun extended Birmingham’s lead to 4-3, but the Black Sox tied it up in the top of the 5th when Ken Singleton drove in 2 with a single.

And there it stayed until the bottom of the 7th, when there goes that man again as Herr doubled and scored on a single by Bob Nieman. But Bobby Wallace took Hoyt Wilhelm deep for a 2-run shot and for a brief moment, the world was normal once more, with Baltimore on top, 6-5.

I did say briefly. Hank Aaron led off the bottom of the inning against Mike Mussina with a solo shot of his own, knotting the contest at 6.

And there we stayed, until the top of the 13th, when Bryce Harper singled home Curt Blefary for a 7-6 lead for Baltimore. And with Don Bessent heading out for the bottom of the frame, Black Sox fans began to pack up … but Aaron would lead off with a single, moving to 3rd on a base-hit from Pie Traynor. He would score on a groundout by Del Crandall, which moved Traynor to third … and Curtis Granderson would deliver the walk-off base-hit for an improbable victory for The Black Barons.

But the series wasn’t done delivering the goods. Baltimore’s Bill Byrd threw a 3-hit shutout in game 2, and Birmingham rode big days from Aaron and Isbell to win game 3.

That brought us to what could be a great pitching matchup, with Baltimore’s Ned Garvin taking on Birmingham’s Tim Hudson. Neither pitcher were in their team’s rotations at the start of the year (Hudson was in AAA), and both were doing fantastically well.

Garvin came into the game at 5-2 with a 2.47 ERA and Hudson at 5-0 with a 2.70 ERA.

And, for once, the matchup held! Hudson had a shutout through 6 innings while Garvin’s line was only marred by a 2-run homerun from Granderson.

The 7th was definitive for the game: Hudson gave up a homerun to Blefary and an RBI single to tie the game in the top of the frame, but Garvin was touched for an RBI double from Murphy and a run-scoring single from Frank McCormick, extending the lead to 4-2.

Neither starter would make it out of the 8th, as a solo shot from Frank Robinson chased Hudson. His replacement, Steve Bedrosian, was greeted by Blefary’s second homerun of the game, with the back-to-back jacks tying the game at 4.

Buddy Groom came in for Baltimore to start the bottom of the 8th, and gave up an RBI double to Aaron and a 2-run shot to Troy Tulowitzki, putting the Black Barons back in front, and their closer, Juan Rincon came on to shut the door on the 7-4 victory.

So, a great series with an especially thrilling two games.

BAL 7 (Bessent 1-2, 1 B Sv) @ BBB 8 (Benton 1-1; Wilhelm 1 B Sv) [13 Innings]
HRs: BAL – Wallace (4); BBB – Murphy (1), Herr (2), Aaron (8), Isbell (1)
Box Score

BAL 4 (Groom 1-1) @ BBB 7 (Bedrosian 1-0, 1 BSv)
HRs: BAL – Blefary 2 (18), Robinson (14); BBB – Granderson (7), Tulowitzki (7)
Box Score

Other Games of Note

That’s more like it. After struggling in his first start, Sandy Koufax delivered perhaps the finest start in the league so far, a 1-hit shutout of Kansas City. Koufax walked 2 and struck out 8 in the 3-0 victory. Brooklyn took the lead on a solo homerun from Roy White, and was helped out by2 hits from Duke Snider. Luke Hamlin pitched quite well, but still took the loss and Kansas City’s only hit was a double by Stan Musial in the top of the first.

KCM 0 (Hamlin 3-5) @ BRK 3 (Koufax 2-2)
HRs: BRK – White (7)
Box Score

The opening game of the Cleveland Spiders’ visit to Houston was an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel. For the Colt 45’s, Roy Oswalt‘s only error in 8 innings was a first inning homerun by Ron Blomberg as the Houston starter only allowed 5 hits and 2 walks in that span. But Cleveland’s Bob Feller was even better, throwing a 6-hit shutout with 9 whiffs over 7.2 innings. Trevor Hoffman came on in the top of the 9th, and Blomberg took him deep for his 2nd of the day, and the Spiders’ closer, Terry Adams, made it stand up.

CLE 3 (Feller 5-4; Gearrin 4 H; Adams 14 Sv) @ HOU 0 (Oswalt 5-4)
HRs: CLE – Blomberg 2 (15)
Box Score

The series closer between Indianapolis and Miami was notable for a few reasons. First, Miami’s Dontrelle Willis was making his first career start. It did not go well, as Willis was touched for 5 runs (4 earned) in 4 innings. But Indianapolis’ Red Faber fared little better, surrendering 7 runs in only 5 innings of work. The Cuban Giants’ Eustaquio Pedroso delivered 3 solid innings of relief en route to the victory for Miami, which also saw Alejandro Oms hit for the first cycle in WBL history. Jim Thome added 3 hits and 2 homeruns for Miami, and Oscar Charleston and Ed Charles had strong days at the plate for the ABC’s. Finally, Aroldis Chapman did indeed record his 11th save, but he did it in Chapman style, giving up 2 walks while walking his tightrope.

IND 6 (Faber 4-4) @ MCG 9 (Pedroso 3-4; Condrey 2 H; Bauta 8 H; Chapman 11 Sv)
HRs: MCG – Oms (2), Thome 2 (9)
Box Score

TWIWBL Special Edition: All Star Preview II – Center Fielders

By

On October 6, 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: Willie Mays, Reggie Smith, Jim Wynn.

The New York Gothams’ Mays is the clear starter, with an OPS just shy of 1.000 and great defense.

The next three are hard to separate: Memphis’ Smith and Houston’s Wynn are joined by Kansas City’s Willie McGee. All 3 have OPS’ around .875 with similar power numbers. Wynn leads the trio with 25 steals, and Smith has the best defensive numbers, so maybe we go with those two. But that could change over the next few weeks.

So, I would take the same three as before, while the AI only selects Mays and Smith.

#NL – Effa Manley & Marvin Miller Divisions

Original Selections: Eric Davis, Bobby Bonds, Bobby Murcer.

Everyone keeps waiting for The Black Yankees’ Davis to fade. Hasn’t happened yet: he’s tied with teammate Babe Ruth for the league lead in homeruns with 19, leads the league in RBIs with 59 and has stolen 28 bases without being caught for good measure.

He’s the starter.

By OPS, Portland’s Murcer is actually outhitting Davis, 1.033 to .928. Murcer’s defense is very suspect, but he clearly belongs. The final slot should go to San Francisco’s Bonds who has picked up right where he left off after an injury, slashing 331/382/577.

The AI also selects Brooklyn’s Duke Snider and his 13 homeruns in addition to Davis and Murcer (it selects Bonds as a RF as well).

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

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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 – Center Fielders

By

On August 2, 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. }

Put me in Coach, I’m ready to play …

#AL Center Fielders – Bill James & Cum Posey Divisions

The Pete Browning question looms large here. The House of David CF is slashing 385/419/606, but is currently on his second stint on the DL. He’s missed about 1/4 of the team’s games so far. But that–along with 16 SBs–is a helluva slash line.

The New York Gothams’ Willie Mays is at 354/405/536 with 38 RBI and Reggie Smith has been the sparkplug for Memphis’ offense all season, slashing 302/360/489. The same could be said for Houston’s Jimmy Wynn, hitting 291/402/475.

That leaves a group including Chicago’s Mike Fiore (262/403/404) and Los Angeles’ Mike Trout (294/375/395) on the outside looking in.

Fiore, Mays, and Smith have been the strongest defensive CFers, with Mays probably the best, so that’s covered here as well.

I’d go with Mays, Smith, and Wynn, with Mays as the starter; the AI selects the same trio.

#NL Center Fielders – Effa Manley & Marvin Miller Divisions

The Black Yankees’ Eric Davis is hitting 291/338/555 which, frankly, is excellent, but not spectacular. But he has 14 homeruns, 20 stolen bases (without being caught) and a WBL-leading 52 RBIs.

The San Francisco Sea Lions’ Bobby Bonds has hit even better than Davis, at 333/399/616, but is just returning from the DL. Portland’s Bobby Murcer, at 329/410/539 is in the mix, especially with his 30 RBIs.

Interestingly, Homestead’s Andrew McCutcheon (309/378/506) and Indianapolis’ Oscar Charleston (331/365/517) have very similar overall numbers to Davis, but a lot less media attention. Charleston has stellar defensive numbers, and McCutcheon adds 15 steals into the mix.

Finally, Brooklyn’s Duke Snider (298/344/506 with 10 homeruns) is at the fringes of the conversation.

Limited to three, I don’t see how you don’t select Davis and Bonds. I really want to select Charleston, but I think Murcer has to be the final choice at this moment.

The AI goes with Davis, McCutcheon, and Murcer, with Bonds selected as a RF.

TWIWBL 10.0: Series VIII Notes

By

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

Series VIII Featured Game: Brooklyn Royal Giants @ Houston Colt 45’s, Game 4

By

On June 29, 2021

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

These are, simply, fair-to-middling teams with more promise than performance so far on the season. Houston has won the first three games of the series, raising their record to 15-18 while lowering Brooklyn‘s to 18-14.

The final game would see Brooklyn’s Don Sutton face the Colt 45’s Roy Oswalt, a well anticipated matchup as both hurlers have shown flashes of strong performances.

In the top of the first, Oswalt gave up a 1-out double to Beals Becker, but he struck out Duke Snider and seemed to be out of danger when Roy White lashed the first pitch he saw into right field for an RBI single, giving the Royal Giants an early 1-0 lead.

Houston would tie it up in the bottom of the frame when Casey Stengel sent a pitch from Sutton deep into the night for a solo homerun.

Oswalt struggled all day, never really finding his rhythm, giving up 2 more runs in the top of the second on RBI hits from Jackie Robinson and Becker, and then another in the top of the third on a double from Robinson. He would get through 5 innings, leaving the game with Houston down 4-2 (they scored their second run in the bottom of the 5th on an RBI groundout from DJ LeMahieu, scoring Carlos Correa who had led off the inning with a double down the left field line).

Houston would tie it up in the bottom of the 6th on doubles from Jimmie Wynn, Jeff Bagwell, and Lance Berkman. Despite the 4 runs, Sutton was actually in control for most of the game, and lasted 8 innings, allowing only 6 hits and 1 walk.

Houston’s Leon Day followed Oswalt with 2 scoreless innings, and he was followed by Trevor Hoffman, who pitched a scoreless 8th.

That brought us to the top of the 9th, with Hoffman still on the mound. Dickie Thon led it off with a single, then stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Robinson. Becker hit a ball deep enough to centerfield to score Thon, and Brooklyn had a 5-4 lead. Hoffman served a gopher ball into the short left field seats to Snider, giving the Royal Giants a 2-run cushion.

Brooklyn’s closer, Watty Clark, relieved Sutton in the bottom of the 9th. His first 16 pitches included 11 balls and a wild pitch, with George Brett and Correa starting the inning with walks before Jorge Posada doubled them both home to tie the game at 6. That was enough for Clark, who was relieved by Terry Forster … who had similar problems, walking pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt on five pitches (HR Johnson replaced Posada as a pinch-runner) and Tony Gwynn on four to load the bases. Forster got Wynn to ground weakly to Robinson at second, who threw to Mike Piazza to force Johnson at the plate, and when Stengel flew out in shallow right field, it looked like extra innings were likely.

Bagwell worked Forster from a 1-2 count to 3-2 … and looked on as his next pitch was low and outside, forcing in the winning run.

Bagwell finished the game 2-for-4 with a run and 2 RBIs, Correa scored twice and Posada drove in 2 as well as the Colt 45’s left only 3 runners on base all day.

Brooklyn outhit Houston 11 to 7, with Robinson, Becker, White, and Thon each having 2. Thon scored three times and Robinson and Becker drove in 2 each.

Clark suffered both his 2nd blown save of the year and his first loss, giving up 3 runs on a hit and 2 walks without recording an out. Mark Melancon picked up the win for one-third of an inning in relief of Hoffman.

BRK 6 (Clark 2-1, 2 BS) @ HOU 7 (Melancon 2-1)
HRs: BRK – Snider (8); HOU – Stengel (4)
Box Score

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