Tag: Elrod Hendricks Page 1 of 5

Year II Season Preview: Wandering House of David

On April 7, 2024

Expectations

A repeat of last year’s playoff contention, at a minimum.

Best Case

Starters are found to support repeat performances from Jack Taylor and Bob Rush; Pete Browning is healthy for a full season; Elrod Hendricks doesn’t backslide too much; and the OF talent figures itself out.

Worst Case

The pitching remains an open question; none of the marginal performers–Richie Hebner, Ron Santo, Ernie Banks–take a step forward and the pleasant surprises from last season–Jim Edmonds, Anthony Rizzo, Dan Ford–all regress and Hendricks falls off a cliff entirely.

Key Questions

How does the team integrate its considerable young talent into the roster as the season progresses?

As many as 8 spots on the pitching staff are available, as are the backup C and IF jobs.

Trade Bait

There is a lot of duplicate talent here, most of it in the minors. Sorting through all that is the major task of the organization over the next year or two.

The two trades made seem fine, netting some draft picks, an arm for the future (Claude Osteen), and a hopefully revitalized Sammy Sosa.

Roster Evaluation

POS	Elite	Strong	Solid	Meh	Weak	Unknown
C	Hendricks					Chance
1B			Rizzo			Harris
2B		Sandberg			~~Grant~~	Cabrera
3B			Hebner Santo
SS			Banks
LF/ RF	Browning	Stone		Sosa
CF		Edmonds	Gore
SP	Taylor	Rush	Sullivan	Miley		Reuschel
End				Bauta Smith
RP			~~Sutter~~	Sabathia Wood	Jenkins	Gumbert

New Addition | ~~Injured~~

Above average, but needs some folks to step up dramatically on offense to reach the next level, and for the pitching to not regress at all. It’s possible–Sosa, Fergie Jenkins, Santo, and Banks all look like decent possibilities for upside.

Talent Ratings

	WBL	Minors
Raw Power	SS Ernie Banks	U Cody Bellinger
Batting Eye	OF George Gore	1B Mark McGwire
Contact	OF George Stone	1B Mark Grace
Running Speed	OF Sammy Sosa	OF Skeeter Barnes OF Tracy Jones
Base Stealing	U Frank Chance	OF Danny Green
IF Defense	U Bunny Downs	IF Deacon White
OF Defense	OF Pete Browning	OF Cy Williams
Stuff	P Kerry Wood	RP Ken McBride
Control	RP Ad Gumbert	SP Jim Clinton
Velocity	P CC Sabathia RP Lee Smith P Kerry Wood	RP Pedro Strop

Best In The Minors

Rank	Age	POS	Name
1 (2)	21	2B	Frank Grant
2 (9)	20	IF	Cap Anson
3 (14)	21	3B	Dave Malarcher
4 (47)	23	P	Karl Spooner
5 (57)	20	U	Cody Bellinger
6 (75)	21	P	Kyle Peterson
7 (118)	18	P	Larry Dierker
8 (152)	21	P	Bill Lee
9 (169)	20	P	Jocko Flynn
10 (190)	21	P	Frank Dwyer

Others: None.

It’s a top heavy system, which is what you want. Could use some more pitching, but overall the system is a strength.

	Most	Least
Age	P Early Wynn, 41	P Joe Nuxhall, 16
Height	P CC Sabathia, 6’7″	IF Bunny Downs, 5’5″
OPS	U Joe Harris .988 (WBL/AAA)	IF Ron Oester, .586 (AAA/AA)
HR	C Elrod Hendricks, 41 (WBL)	IF Frank Grant, 0 (WBL/AAA/AA)
SB	OF Pete Browning, 38 (WBL)	Many with 0
WAR	OF Pete Browning, 4.2 (WBL)	IF Johnny Giavotella, -1.3 (—)
W	Rick Reuschel, 15 (WBL/AAA) Bob Rush, 15 (WBL) Jack Taylor, 15 (WBL) Early Wynn, 15 (—)	Ross Detwiler, 4 (—) Bob Anderson, 4 (—)
SV	Bruce Sutter, 25 (WBL)
ERA	Bill Stoneman, 2.35 (—)	Bob Shaw, 6.87 (AAA/AA)
WAR	Early Wynn, 5.2 (—)	Eddie Rommel, -0.3 (WBL/AAA)

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

Season Review: Wandering House of David

By mknn

On December 26, 2023

In Season Reviews, Team News

83 - 71, .538 pct.
3rd in Bill James Division, 6 games behind.
Lost in Wild Card Round to Baltimore

Overall

The House of David caught fire in June and never looked back. That coincided, unsurprisingly, with Pete Browning‘s return from the DL (and a late season slump coincided with Browning’s cooling off at the tail end of the season). This team revolved around 3 players: Browning, Elrod Hendricks, and Jack Taylor.

On the one hand, it’s an example of how far a few well placed stars can carry you; on the other, it reveals an overall lack of quality that needs to be addressed.

What Went Right

Elrod Hendricks and Pete Browning finished with identical .961 OPS. Browning’s performance, at least, is expected to continue although his health remains a concern.

Jim Edmonds emerged as a legitimate potential star in the league with both his glove and his bat, and Anthony Rizzo did the same, minus the bit about the glove. George Stone was perhaps the most underrated offensive player in the league.

Top to bottom, the House of David were excellent offensively: Ryne Sandberg was very good at 2B and Dan Ford, quite surprisingly, hit well enough to legitimately claim the RF spot. Their worst everyday player–SS Ernie Banks–still posted a .736 OPS with 25 homeruns.

Jack Taylor was excellent, Bob Rush quite good, and both Frank Sullivan and CC Sabathia serviceable in the rotation. The bullpen trio of Tom Niedenfuer, Lee Smith, and Bruce Sutter was above average, although both Smith and Sutter faded a bit at the end of the season.

ALL STARS
C Elrod Hendricks; OF George Stone

What Went Wrong

Many of the players who were expected to fill roles struggled: Sammy Sosa (who was traded), Mark McGwire, Mark Grace, Frank Grant, and Fred Lynn were all given significant chances to impress, and all failed. That is what opened the door for Edmonds and Rizzo, so in the end it worked out.

Browning’s injury was horribly impactful and Hendricks’ performance is most likely a career year. Neither of these things went wrong, technically, but both speak volumes to the House of David’s future.

The rest of the pitching staff struggled, with Frank Sullivan being thoroughly average and Ferguson Jenkins horrible in his 80+ innings. The middle relief was so weak it warranted the acquisition of Ed Bauta–Bauta was good, but when Ed Bauta rescues your bullpen …

Transactions

March

None

June

OF Sammy Sosa & 5th Round Pick to Memphis for OF Tony Conigliaro, OF Fred Lynn & 2nd Round Pick {Bill Lee}

Sosa was terrible for the House of David, so getting anything for him seemed a steal at the time. Given his performance for Memphis, it’s not as clear.

July

IF Bert Campaneris, P Jeff Heathcock & 3rd Round Pick to Miami for P Ed Bauta, 6th Round Pick {Ad Gumbert} & 7th Round Pick {Dave Malarcher}

See above: Bauta was very much needed.

P Dick Tidrow & 7th Round Pick to New York Black Yankees for P Jim Clinton, 3B Chris Brown & 2nd Round Pick {Darren Daulton}

Seems fine: Clinton has some potential.

Looking Forward

SP

Taylor and Rush look quite good, and the House of David still believe in Ferguson Jenkins. There is some other talent here as well: Rick Reuschel, Kerry Wood and, although they are still teenagers at this point, Larry Dierker and Joe Nuxhall.

RP

Assuming Bruce Sutter and Lee Smith recover from their late season slumps, this looks good with support from Don Aase, and Rollie Fingers.

C

Something has to give here: Elrod Hendricks is clearly the starter heading into next year, with both Gabby Hartnett and Frank Chance behind him, although Chance’s future is likely not behind the plate.

1B

Anthony Rizzo looks very solid here, although the House of David remain optimistic that, someday, Mark McGwire will start connecting with more pitches. This may get even more crowded as both Chance and Cap Anson are expected to drift across the diamond to first eventually.

2B

Ryne Sandberg has this locked down, but young Billy Herman is turning some heads.

3B

Ron Santo is the starter here, although Anson should see some time over the next few years as well.

SS

Ernie Banks, although his performance this year really needs to be his floor for him to maintain his roster spot.

LF

George Stone now, Billy Williams later.

CF

Browning for as long as he stays healthy. There is a need for a better long term solution here.

RF

If Dan Ford cannot hold this down, Tony Conigliaro looks decent at AAA, and George Gore was among the better 4th OFers in the league.

The Rookie Draft

Rounds 1-4

With 3 picks in the first two rounds, the House of David is looking to add a fair bit of high end talent. It starts in the 1st round with P Zack Greinke and continues in the 2nd with franchise P Bill Lee. Greinke is a great talent; Lee has a lower ceiling, but could help sooner.

The House of David had back-to-back picks later in the second round. With one, they hope to have solved a long term need at catcher: there are whispers that Hendricks’ year was a fluke and that Frank Chance‘s future may be at 1B . So, while he’s clearly a few years away, they picked up teenager Darren Daulton as a long-term project, and with their final pick of the round, they picked up the highest rated franchise player remaining, Cody Bellinger, who looks eventually to further complicate the CF question, but that’s a challenge for another day.

In the 4th round, the House of David picked up Frank Dwyer, probably the best remaining arm in the draft.

Rounds 5-8

Corner OF, 1B, and pitching should be the focus with these picks for the House of David, starting with a franchise selection, 19 year old pitcher Ad Gumbert. That was followed by their final exemption, P Al Brazle. Their 2 picks in the 7th round were Dave Malarcher and John Peters, both of whom offer some infield depth, but neither of whom have much power potential.

Rounds 9-12

P Justin Steele; OF Mitch Webster; IF Charlie Deal; P Hal Mauck.

13th overall pick Zack Greinke refused the House of David’s offer, and will re-enter the draft next year.

TWIWBL 52.2: End of Season Review – What Didn’t Go Right

By mknn

On November 9, 2023

In TWIWBL

Big Things

There’s really just one.

Mea Culpa and Massive Overperformance

These are both issues with the OOTP engine and failures of me as the ultimate arbiter of the WBL universe. The exemplars here–and really the only truly egregious examples–are Ron Blomberg and Elrod Hendricks, both of whom were superstars in Year I, a status they never, ever approached in real life.

This is part of the challenge of doing this on your own–my sense of baseball history has blind spots. I had thought Blomberg had a couple good, full time seasons, but only really remembered him, like most of us, as the first DH. In real life, injuries and a huge platoon split prevented him from ever approaching full time usage. In the WBL, not only did he play 150 G, he far outperformed anything he did irl, slashing 336/412/649 with 44 HRs and 125 RBIs.

Hendricks is even more embarrassing–I had remembered, woefully incorrectly, Elrod Hendricks as having a career similar to Cliff Johnson‘s. If Johnson hit 40+ HRs in a sim, I would squint and say, wow, that’s kind of cool. Johnson certainly had that potential, he just never actually did it. But Hendricks never even showed the capacity to do that. In hindsight, I may even have been confusing Hendricks with Elston Howard, to my profound embarrassment.

I have pretty wide tolerances here, fwiw. I think Doug Rader having a career surpassing year (a 135 OPS+ is far higher than Rader had as a full time player) is fine. Rader was a good player, a decent hitter throughout his career. It feels possible. Now, if he does it year over year, there’s an issue. But this kind of outlier year for a player of Rader’s caliber is fine for me. Similarly, Mike Fiore finishing second in the league in walks seems fine: it is his 1969 season, and, if anything, his WBL slash line of 240/405/390 underperforms his real life 274/420/428. Here the challenge is to make sure Fiore, while perhaps better in year 2 and 3 than irl, does indeed fall off a cliff, with the 1969 year an unexplained success.

The Blomberg and Hendricks seasons are just too far outside the pale.

There are a couple of things at work here. First, I need to have a practice of looking at the overperformers more thoroughly. Second, I need to figure out what levers within OOTP to lean on. There are three I know of right now:

OOTP does allow us to set a usage limit, below which it depresses stats. I have that set at 300 AB for hitters, and could raise it. But that just moves the bar, right? No matter where you put the bar, there will be someone who consistently falls just outside of it.
Manually reducing ratings. Perfectly fine with this, but not really a fan of it. It’s a little too much of a thumb on the scale for MLB players (I do it for NeL players, but that’s because I use my own MLE’s).
Injuries. This is the more likely route I would take. If I had recognized just how out of bounds Hendricks and Blomeberg’s performances were, I would have just upped their injury ratings significantly. This keeps an interesting narrative (man, if he could only stay healthy) while retaining a sense of luck (maybe he does stay healthy) while most likely reducing these outlying performances.

So, a pretty important thing to monitor in Year 2, imo.

Smaller Things

Triples & NeL Players

This is sort of a philosophical decision. There are two schools of thought out there. They are, broadly

NeL baseball (I am using this term to refer to all of the non-MLB environments) was fundamentally different, full of more daring, more speed, more creativity. This resulted in more triples and, perhaps oddly, fewer doubles.

and

Meh, that’s nonsense for a lot of reasons, and if you are combining these histories, you need to adjust that, essentially increasing 2B and depressing 3B so the overall universe of players is relatively evenly distributed.

Philosphically, I tend towards the latter–I don’t think NeL players were somehow “better at hitting triples,” and I don’t think they were universally faster (although some were each of those things). But practically, as MLE’s are created, the tend towards the former.

Certainly Year I did: 5 of the top 9 leaders in triples were NeL players. But it dropped off to 7 of the top 25 (that ranges from Louis Santop, the league leader with 14 to Pete Hill, one of 8 players who finished the season with 6 three baggers). There may be less here than meets the eye: if it weren’t for the presence of Santop and Josh Gibson (both catchers, of course, but also both under 20 at the start of the season) maybe this doesn’t even get noticed?

Something to track in Year II.

Money Money Money … Money

The initial salaries for the league were totally randomly invented. Turns out they were far too low: FA’s are demanding more in salary than the retained stars. So I just need to fiddle and figure it out. The goal is that each franchise has certain players they have 3-year and 5-year rights to, but those players should have highish comp, I think.

Time & Opportunity Cost

I played every single game. By hand. And only mis-clicked, issuing an intentional walk by mistake, a few times.

I enjoyed doing that. I really like the slow unfolding of the season, and I really like not seeing the AI do inexplicable things to the detriment of some team. I really like being able to massage the two-way players the way I want to. Lots of likes.

But I am not a young man.

At 3 real life years per season, I am unlikely to get more than 10 seasons out of the WBL. Which would barely see the current young players reach their peaks, let alone their retirements.

So I need to do something differently. Maybe not in Year 2, but at some point I’ll have to find a way to move through the seasons more quickly, most likely by playing certain weeks or months via the AI.

AI April? Machine managed May? Something.

Even Smaller Things

NeL Defense

Just a learning curve, need to slightly nerf NeL defense ratings.

Closers

38 saves to lead the league feels a little light. More, the number of closers who actually pitched pretty poorly was a little high, most notably Detroit’s Mike Henneman, who led the league in saves for most of the season. Cleveland’s Terry Adams tied him in the final weak, but Adams’ ERA was 2 runs lower (and his FIP just slightly below 2 runs better). At the same time, both had WHIPs that weren’t great, so … maybe not a real issue? Relievers are weird.

Base 10 Numbering

I don’t know why I started numbering TWIWBL’s with .0. But it made everything a bit more confusing, and starting with these, we’re going to start each series of TWIWBL with .1. Because that’s, you know, normal.

TWIWBL 51.7: The Awards – Mel Trench Award

By mknn

On November 3, 2023

In TWIWBL

This is far more clear cut than the Brock Rutherford Award. But we should still look at the contenders, just for the sake of completeness.

This list contains the top 5 in OPS, HR, RBI, RC/27, and WAR.

Name	Tm	HR	RBI	OPS	RC/27	WAR
Johnny Bench	IND	32	90	.951	8.0	6.0
Ron Blomberg	CLE	44	125	1.061	10.2	5.8
Eddie Collins	CAG	20	70	.922	8.6	6.5
Mike Epstein	HOM	24	79	.948	8.8	4.7
Hank Greenberg	DET	31	113	.969	8.3	3.9
Elrod Hendricks	HOD	41	94	.961	7.7	4.1
Kent Hrbek	POR	36	106	.921	7.5	4.1
Joe Jackson	CAG	31	102	1.000	9.5	5.7
Reggie Jackson	SFS	30	105	1.013	8.4	4.3
Mickey Mantle	NYY	27	85	.971	9.1	5.5
Stan Musial	KCM	25	98	.972	8.4	4.5
Doug Rader	LAA	18	134	.920	7.8	3.7
Frank Robinson	BAL	37	111	.921	7.3	4.3
Babe Ruth	NYY	48	136	1.091	10.8	8.1
Mike Trout	LAA	21	100	.889	7.7	6.0

Interestingly, the batting champion, Ty Cobb of Detroit, doesn’t make that list.

Offensively, it’s clearly between Ruth and Blomberg. Doug Rader had his supporters before Ruth overtook him in the last week of the season for the RBI lead.

Factor in defense and the rest of what goes into WAR and Blomberg suffers, but Ruth, basically, does not (and the trio of Collins, Bench, and Trout leap to the fore).

And, yeah, the arguments about second place could go on forever–Blomberg’s impossible offense v. Collins’ all-around excellence? Joe Jackson and Mickey Mantle’s under-appreciated contributions?

But the winner is pretty clear-cut: chalk one up for the Babe.

We’ll go with Ruth followed by Blomberg and Collins.

TWIWBL 51.4: The Awards – Silver Sticks

By mknn

On November 1, 2023

In TWIWBL

With no regard for defense, here are the best hitters at each position.

#C

Catching is hard. Only 5 full-time catchers qualified (plus Houston’s Craig Biggio, who only played a couple hundred innings behind the plate). And while Thurman Munson and Buster Posey had fantastic seasons, with OPS’ over .850, the top three are obvious

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	RC/27
Johnny Bench	IND	31	2	32	82	90	287	385	566	0	8.0
Curt Blefary	BAL	23	3	29	84	90	280	392	549	3	8.1
Elrod Hendricks	HOD	27	1	41	79	94	283	342	619	1	7.7

Blefary is clearly third best. Imma go with Bench here as the more dangerous offensive force despite Hendricks‘ edge in homeruns.

#1B

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	RC/27
Mike Epstein	HOM	22	0	24	80	79	316	420	528	0	8.8
Hank Greenberg	DET	45	4	31	93	113	317	374	595	1	8.3
Kent Hrbek	POR	36	0	36	91	106	297	365	556	0	7.5

You could spend a lot of time arguing about Epstein and Hrbek, but it wouldn’t change the fact that Greenberg was the best.

#2B

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	RC/27
Eddie Collins	CAG	28	4	20	106	70	315	409	513	61	8.6
Larry Gardner	BAL	26	5	12	84	72	318	393	471	16	6.8
Bobby Grich	LAA	42	5	12	77	76	288	378	476	12	6.7
Rogers Hornsby	KCM/POR	35	3	19	75	88	294	365	487	2	6.4

There is so little to separate Gardner, Grich, and Hornsby that I had to list all three of them. But they are all far, far behind the force of nature that is Eddie Collins.

#3B

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	WAR
Dick Allen	CAG	30	10	26	86	109	311	383	559	5	7.9
Bob Bailey	DET	22	3	21	76	70	277	364	462	5	6.1
Doug Rader	LAA	43	7	18	85	134	330	391	529	0	7.8

I like RBI’s too. Really, I do. And BA. But I’ll take Dick Allen over Doug Rader every day. I hadn’t realized how thin the pickings got at 3B after those two.

#SS

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	RC/27
Jim Fregosi	POR	32	3	17	78	61	300	373	472	16	6.1
Bobby Wallace	BAL	40	4	5	99	60	302	396	418	18	6.1
Robin Yount	MCG	30	5	14	24	68	276	314	454	16	5.0

The choice between Wallace and Fregosi is close, but Fregosi is slightly the better offensive player, even if Wallace is the better shortstop if you add defense into the equation.

#OF

The outfielders include all fulltime players with an OPS over .900 or with a runs created per 27 outs over 7.0.

#LF

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	RC/27
Rick Reichardt	HOM	23	8	27	83	98	301	378	531	1	7.2
Frank Robinson	BAL	17	2	37	101	111	302	383	539	2	7.3
Babe Ruth	NYY	35	3	48	127	136	312	427	663	14	10.8

The easiest choice of all …

#CF

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	RC/27
Pete Browning	HOD	34	4	26	82	82	331	370	591	38	8.4
Bobby Murcer	POR	29	8	24	95	87	314	388	542	11	8.2
Willie Mays	NYG	30	5	24	99	97	322	384	516	11	7.1
Reggie Smith	MEM	39	5	22	100	72	304	381	522	20	6.8
Mike Trout	LAA	27	6	21	102	100	321	390	498	37	7.7

Browning‘s year has to be discounted from the amount of time he missed, which really leaves this to Bobby Murcer.

#RF

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	RC/27
Ron Blomberg	CLE	39	0	44	110	127	336	412	649	0	10.2
Ty Cobb	DET	41	4	21	92	89	352	391	557	52	8.7
Joe Jackson	CAG	33	3	31	109	102	330	412	588	34	9.5
Reggie Jackson	SFS	29	1	30	75	105	317	424	589	23	8.4
Mickey Mantle	NYY	34	2	27	101	85	319	420	552	3	9.1
Stan Musial	KCM	49	4	25	94	98	329	395	577	6	8.4

The quality in RF rolls deep … Ron Blomberg takes this, with Joe Jackson very close behind. The deepest position in the league.

#DH

Name	Tm	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	SB	RC/27
Gavvy Cravath	PHI/POR	36	3	27	86	85	310	385	560	5	7.9
Lou Gehrig	NYY	25	4	27	74	79	275	379	526	3	7.1
Frank Thomas	CAG	33	3	25	93	105	297	405	505	3	7.4

Gavvy Cravath spent a lot of time in RF, both with Philadelphia and Portland, but we’re still going to count him here, where he edges out both Thomas, who slumped late in the season, and Gehrig, who got red-hot as the Black Yankees failed in their attempt to make the playoffs.

#The Silver Sticks

C: Johnny Bench (IND)
1B: Hank Greenberg (DET)
2B: Eddie Collins (CAG)
3B: Dick Allen (CAG)
SS: Jim Fregosi (POR)
LF: Babe Ruth (NYY)
CF: Bobby Murcer (POR)
RF: Ron Blomberg (CLE)
DH: Gavvy Cravath (PHI/POR)

TWIWBL 48.7: The Playoffs! Wild Card Round, Day IV– September 19

By mknn

On September 19, 2023

In 2000 Playoffs, Featured Games, TWIWBL

Three teams could clinch today: Detroit, New York, and Baltimore all lead their series 3-0. A victory by Chicago over Portland, however, would even that series at 2 games apiece.

#Portland Sea Dogs v Chicago American Giants, Game 4

Portland leads, 2-1.

The choice for the Sea Dogs comes down to either Pascual Pérez (1-2, 4.92) or Mike Cuellar (13-8, 4.56). Cuellar has been more comfortable coming out of the pen all season, making only 6 starts, which is probably the reason for Pérez getting the nod. There is little controversy for Chicago, where Dick Rudolph takes his scheduled turn.

Adrián Beltré gets the nod at 3B for Portland over Buddy Bell while Rocky Colavito gets the start in LF for Chicago.

The choice of Pérez proved immediately controversial: Eddie Collins took his 4th pitch into the right field stands for a 1-0 Chicago lead. But Pérez quickly settled down, lasting all the way until the 7th, when Dick Allen doubled with one out and Mike Fiore walked. Cuellar was called on, and got the second out of the inning, but Colavito doubled, increasing the lead to 3-0.

Rudolph was even better, not giving up a hit until a Gavvy Cravath single in the top of the 5th inning, then nothing thereafter. The one-hit shutout was still intact after 8, and with Rudolph on only 88 pitches, he headed back out to the mound.

He got the first two outs, but Joe Mauer singled. After a visit to the mound, Rudolph fanned Kent Hrbek, and we had a series tied at 2 games each!

Obviously, this one was all about Rudolph: 2 hits and 5 strikeouts in a complete game, 99 pitch gem.

POR 0 (Pérez 0-1) @ CAG 3 (Rudolph 1-0)
HRs: POR – none; CAG – Collins (2).
Box Score

And now we move to the win or go home games.

#Detroit Wolverines v Birmingham Black Barons, Game 4

With no need to push things, Detroit will turn to the red hot Hank Aguirre (9-10, 4.34) while Birmingham counters with Vic Willis (4-6, 3.57), but today, and for any future games, all of Birmingham’s staff is down in the pen, ready to go. The Black Barons make 2 tweaks to their lineup, starting Al Schweitzer in CF over the struggling Curtis Granderson, and giving Jim Pagliaroni a day off behind the plate in favor of Gene Tenace.

Schweitzer repaid the faith immediately, singling in the bottom of the first and coming around to score on a hit from Eddie Mathews. Not to be outdone, Tenace doubled to lead off the home second, but was stranded at third.

Willis was sailing until the 4th, when he gave up homeruns to Bob Bailey, Hank Greenberg, and Chili Davis, putting Detroit up 4-1, and ending his afternoon. Andy Pettitte was summoned from the bullpen, hoping to make up for his subpar start in game one of the series.

Aguirre struggled a bit through his five plus innings, giving up 6 hits and a walk, but he surrendered only the single run.

Johnny Marcum relieved Aguirre and got into some trouble in the bottom of the 7th: Tenace walked, and Granderson pinch-ran and promptly stole second. Then, Adrián González, pinch-hitting for Herman Long, was granted first on catcher’s interference. After an out, Marcum walked Bob Nieman to load the bases. That fetched Buddy Napier from the Wolverines’ bullpen to face Schweitzer, who lifted a fly to shallow center. Chili Davis made the catch and nailed the runner at home to end the inning.

And so we made our way to the bottom of the 9th with Birmingham trailing 4-1 and the Wolverines’ closer, Mike Henneman, on the mound. Three up, three down, and Detroit were through to the next round!

Yeah, Willis gave up the three homers, but Birmingham knew it would need to tally more than a single run to have a chance. At the end of the day, the fault has to be laid at the feet of their offense, who managed only a single homerun in the 4 games. Mention should be made of Pettitte’s effort as well: 3.2 scoreless innings and, clearly tiring, getting Ty Cobb to end the 7th with his final pitch.

DET 4 (Aguirre 1-0; Henneman 1 Sv; Marcum 1 H; Napier 1 H) @ BBB 1 (Willis 0-1)
HRs: DET – B. Bailey (1), Greenberg (2), C. Davis (1); BBB – None.
Box Score

Hank Greenberg was declared the MVP of the series, hitting .438 with 2 homeruns and 7 RBIs.

#Cleveland Spiders v New York Gothams, Game 4

This one surprised quite a few people, but the Gothams are just a solid team. The Spiders will turn to Stan Coveleski in what could be their final game of the season, while New York has the luxury of giving the mercurial Rube Waddell a game.

Lance Berkman gets the start at first for Cleveland, with John Ellis sliding behind the plate in place of the slumping Louis Santop.

The Spiders would clearly not go quietly: Kenny Lofton beat out an infield hit to start the game, moved to second on a walk to Tris Speaker, and scored on a soft single to right by Jake Stahl. A 2-out double by Chuck Knoblauch plated them both, giving the Spiders an early 3-0 lead.

Benny Kauff continues to impress: after a leadoff double from Willie Mays, Kauff took a pitch from Coveleski off the wall in centerfield, putting the Gothams on the board. Without another hard hit ball, New York loaded the bases and scored on a soft topper by Jimmy Sheckard that didn’t make it past the mound. Another infield hit–this one by Pete Runnels–tied it up.

Both pitchers recovered, but were beginning to tire. Coveleski didn’t make it out of the 5th: a walk to Buster Posey and a single from Mays chased him. Cleveland turned to Ron Reed, looking to prove he was worth his mid-season acquisition: the jury is out, as Reed walked Kauff and surrendered a bases-clearing double to Will Clark for a 6-3 lead for the Gothams.

That took the wind out of Cleveland’s sails, and when New York added 2 more on a double from Runnels and sacrifice hit from Mays.

New York rode its bullpen, like it’s done all year, right into the next round.

Nobody hit for Cleveland, other than Lofton. But Ron Blomberg‘s 1-for-16 performance jumps off the page–that ain’t no MVP performance, that’s for sure.

CLE 3 (Coveleski 0-1) @ NYG 8 (Waddell 1-0)
HRs: None.
Box Score

Willie Mays won the MVP hitting .438 for the series, but Will Clark rediscovering his stroke and the contributions of Benny Kauff deserve some recognition as well. And if you could, the MVP award really could go to the entire Gothams bullpen, who allowed 4 runs in 11 effective innings.

#Baltimore Black Sox v Wandering House of David

Baltimore leads, 3-0.

Can any of the teams with their backs against the wall gain any breathing room? The House of David will turn to CC Sabathia (13-13, 4.83), with a full bullpen behind him, while Baltimore will counter with Mike Mussina (7-4, 4.08).

Jim Edmonds slides over to 1B, with George Gore taking over in CF for the House of David.

A sacrifice fly from Edmonds scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second, and Richie Hebner and George Stone took Mussina deep with back to back jacks in the next inning. That made it 3-0, but Dan McGann hit his second homerun of the series with a man on to close the score to 3-2.

Mussina gave up another shot to Stone in the 5th, and was relieved by Jim Palmer, who let in another run. The House of David had hope, a 5-2 lead, and a cruising Sabathia. He was replaced by Ed Bauta in the 7th, then Lee Smith in the 8th, and Bruce Sutter in the 9th.

Each team added runs, but the outcome was secured: we will have a game 5!

Stone and Gore had 3 hits each for the House of David, and Elrod Hendricks even had his first hit of the series–a weak single to right, but still, a hit.

Things just got worse for Baltimore: Larry Gardner was forced out of the game in the bottom of the 7th with an apparent rib injury.

BAL 3 (Mussina 0-1) @ HOD 8 (Sabathia 1-0)
HRs: BAL – McGann (2); HOD – Stone 2 (2), Hebner (1), Gore (1).
Box Score

News on Gardner was better than feared: he’ll be day-to-day for about a week, so Baltimore will hold off on roster moves for now.

TWIWBL 48.0: Wild Card Previews – Wandering House of David @ Baltimore Black Sox

By mknn

On September 6, 2023

In 2000 Playoffs, Series Previews, TWIWBL

The House of David were the wild card team with the worst regular season record, resulting in a matchup with the best team in the WBL, the Baltimore Black Sox.

#Wandering House of David

The House of David will turn to Jack Taylor (15-9, 3.42), Bob Rush (15-6, 4.39), and then either Frank Sullivan (9-10, 4.77) or CC Sabathia (13-13, 4.83). There’s quite a gap between Taylor and Rush and the rest, and Taylor’s fade–remember, after the all star break he was hailed as the best starter in baseball–is a cause for concern.

Tom Niedenfuer impressed enough to push Scott Downs off the playoff roster, and will, along with Ed Bauta and especially Lee Smith, try to get the ball to Bruce Sutter to close out ballgames. Look for Wade Miley to get the call from the pen when the House of David needs a lefty, with Sabathia being the other option.

But if the House of David are going to make some postseason noise, it’s going to fall on their offence. When they’re clicking on all cylinders, they can mash with the best of them. But its taken a lot of tinkering to make the engine hum: Jim Edmonds (293/348/576), Joe Harris (263/338/526), and Anthony Rizzo (247/346/515) were all in the minors at the start of the season. The key here is Pete Browning, who has to figure out a way out of his late season slump (Browning still finished the year at 331/370/591 after a protracted injury absence). Elrod Hendricks (41) and George Stone (30) lead the team in homeruns, but Browning, Ernie Banks, and Ryne Sandberg each added at least 20.

#Baltimore Black Sox

How do you finish with the best record in the WBL?

You boast a starting rotation where Connie Johnson (9-5, 3.65) is the 4th arm up, behind Bill Byrd (14-3, 3.33), Dennis Martínez (14-10, 3.80), and Mike Mussina (7-4, 4.08).

How do you finish with the best record in the WBL?

You can bring Buddy Groom, John Wetteland, and Joe Beggs out of the bullpen, none of which have an era over 3.60 or a WHIP over 1.25.

How do you finish with the best record in the WBL?

You do all of that while surviving injuries to Ned Garvin (9-4, 2.80) and Sean Marshall (whose injury prompted the acquisition of Beggs from Mephis).

How do you finish with the best record in the WBL?

You back that up with the duo of Frank Robinson (302/383/539 with 37 homeruns and 111 RBIs) and Curt Blefary (280/392/549). Perhaps more importantly–and perhaps a bit overlooked–you add the trio of Larry Gardner, Dan McGann, and Bobby Wallace, each of which have OBPs just shy of .400 to set the table for your big bashers. If there is a weak spot offensively, it’s in CF, but Paul Blair‘s OPS still hovers around .700 to support his excellent defense.

The playoff roster is a little odd–there are many players the Black Sox would rather have on than Brooks Robinson, whose struggles at the plate sent him to AAA for most of the season. But the options weren’t eligible for the post season, so look for Robinson to make a few late inning appearances as Manny Machado‘s glove.

#Prediction

Baltimore’s pitching is just too strong. Black Sox in 5.

TWIWBL 46.2: Series XXXVIII Notes – September 11th (Day 3 of 4)

By mknn

On August 28, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps, TWIWBL

#The Battle for the Final Spot

Albert Belle went deep twice t0 keep the New York Black Yankees hopes alive, driving in all 4 runs in a 4-2 victory over Cleveland. Rheal Cormier earned his first win as a member of the much maligned New York bullpen, and Goose Gossage ended the game for his 3rd save of the year.

NYY 4 (Cormier 1-0; Gossage 3 Sv) @ CLE 2 (Porter 4-5)
HRs: NYY – Belle 2 (19); CLE – Speaker (5).
Box Score

In the end, it didn’t matter: Birmingham’s Cupid Childs brought home Billy Southworth in the bottom of the 10th, beating Philadelphia 4-3 and securing the final playoff spot for the Black Barons. It was Childs’ 3rd RBI of the day, and he and Southworth had 2 hits each.

PHI 3 (Howry 3-8) @ BBB 4 (Gunderson 2-0; Malarkey 2 B Sv) [10 Innings]
HRs: PHI – Freeman (21); BBB – Mathews (26).
Box Score

With that, the playoff teams are set, with Birmingham sealing the final spot.

#Playoff Seeding

Baltimore’s 6-1 win over Kansas City settled the Cum Posey Division, with the Black Sox clinching first place (and the best record in baseball). Curt Blefary had 3 hits and Chick Stahl hit his 3rd homerun since being recalled a few weeks ago in support of a strong 5 innings from Connie Johnson.

A come from behind, walkoff victory for the New York Gothams finalized the standings in the Bill James Division. Wes Westrum‘s 2nd hit of the day brought in the winning run for New York with Brian Wilson getting the win despite allowing 3 hits and a run in his inning of work. With the win, Detroit will win the division and the House of David will finish in 3rd, with the Gothams safely through to the post-season in second place.

#Other Games

There has been very little encouraging about Miami’s pitching this year. But the Cuban Giants may have something in trade acquisition Freddie Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons allowed 1 run in 4 hits in a complete game victory over Homestead, improving his record to 3-1 while lowering his ERA to 1.57. Jim Thome hit a bomb just shy of 500 feet in the win, one of 3 hits on the day for him.

Continuing to make a strong argument for extended playing time next year, Roy Hartzell had 4 hits and 4 RBIs as San Francisco blew out Indianapolis, 11-3.

Gary Carter had 5 RBI on 3 hits, Álex Rodríguez had 4 hits including 3 doubles, and Larry Walker add 3 hits as Ottawa downed Houston, 8-5.

Frank Smith got a spot start for Chicago as the American Giants had nothing left to play for, and promptly delivered a 2-hit shutout in a 7-0 win over Brooklyn. Carlton Fisk hit his 14th homerun to seal the victory.

The House of David’s Elrod Hendricks went deep twice, giving him 41 on the year (and making him the 3rd batter to surpass the 40 homerun mark), but it wasn’t enough as Detroit won 4-2 behind a strong effort from Justin Verlander and Hank Greenberg‘s 31st longball of the season. Verlander reached double digits in wins at 10-4 and Mike Henneman picked up his 38th save despite giving up 3 hits in his inning of work.

TWIWBL 45.0: Series XXXVII Notes

By mknn

On August 17, 2023

In TWIWBL

September 9th

Pennant Race

And then there were two …

Only one division has been won–the surprise Cleveland Spiders win the Effa Manley Division–but only one postseason spot remains undecided.

That comes down to the Cinderella Birmingham Black Barons and the disappointing New York Black Yankees. Birmingham’s magic number is 3–meaning any combination of 3 wins by the Black Barons or losses by the Black Yankees will seal their improbable run to the playoffs.

The exact order of finish is up in the air, but here are your nine playoff contenders (numbers in bold & italics are that team’s magic number):

Team	Pct	Division	Notes
Baltimore Black Sox	.587	Cum Posey	Clinched playoff; 2
Detroit Wolverines	.567	Bill James	Clinched playoff; 4
Chicago American Giants	.567	Cum Posey	Clinched playoff
Cleveland Spiders	.560	Effa Manley	Clinched division
New York Gothams	.560	Bill James	Clinched playoff
Portland Sea Dogs	.553	Marvin Miller	Clinched playoff; 3
Wandering House of David	.553	Bill James	1 to clinch playoff
Birmingham Black Barons	.540	Marvin Miller	3 to clinch playoff
New York Black Yankees	.527	Effa Manley

The Black Yankees visit Cleveland to end the season. The Spiders will be focused on getting their roster ready for the post season, so that may open the door for New York. But Birmingham hosts the worst team in the WBL, the Philadelphia Stars, so it seems like that would make them the safe bet to progress.

Portland visits the New York Gothams and the House of David hosts Detroit in other playoff preview matchups.

Performance

Four more games, so these are very close to final numbers.

Batters

With the Black Yankees possibly missing the playoffs, the noise for Ron Blomberg‘s MVP campaign just gets louder.

Remember when it looked like Pete Browning would swoop in from injury and win the batting crown? Yeah, Ty Cobb had something to say about that.

Omitted below are Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays and Alejandro Oms of the Miami Cuban Giants (tied for 2nd in the league in triples with 12) and Tim Raines of the Ottawa Mounties (2nd in steals with 91).

Ron Blomberg (CLE). 337/412/648. 43 HR, 107 R.
Ty Cobb (DET). 349/389/558. 187 H.
Eddie Collins (CAG). 312/408/512. 6.4 WAR.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 240/405/390. 109 BB.
Hank Greenberg (DET). 317/374/591. 45 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 269/394/357. 95 SB.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 330/412/579. 107 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 319/426/591.
Willie Mays (NYG). 326/389/523. 183 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 328/393/574. 49 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 336/395/539. 183 H, 133 RBI.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 312/428/658. 46 HR, 132 RBI, 122 R, 106 BB, 7.8 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 299/329/457. 14 3B.

Some milestones possible in the final series:

Musial needs one double to reach 50; Elrod Hendricks (HOD) needs two homeruns to join Ruth and Blomberg in the 40+ club; Rick Reichardt and Mike Trout (Homestead and the Los Angeles Angels, respectively) sit at 98 RBIs; six players have between 96 and 99 runs scored; and Frank Thomas (CAG) needs one walk to reach triple digits.

Pitchers

Starters

It’s unclear if Cleveland’s Pat Malone or the Gothams’ Christy Mathewson will get another start in the regular season: if they do, they’ll be aiming to become the WBL’s first 18 game winners.

Gerrit Cole (LAA). 16-9, 4.33.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 13-7, 3.55. 199 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 8-12, 4.35. 188 K.
Pat Malone (CLE). 17-8, 3.84. 5.0 WAR.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 17-8, 3.51. 205 IP.
Stubby Overmire (HOU/MEM). 9-7, 3.31.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 12-9, 3.86. 3.52 FIP.
Andy Pettitte (KCM/BBB). 15-5, 3.20.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 12-7, 3.87. 3.47 FIP.
Charlie Root (SFS/DET). 10-6, 3.53. 1.06 WHIP.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 15-9, 3.38. 1.14 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 11-10, 4.36. 204 IP, 5.0 WAR.

Overmire needs a few more innings to finish the year qualifying for the ERA title. Cleveland’s Stan Coveleski and Detroit’s Hal Newhouser are the other starters with ERAs under 4.00 who could qualify with 1 more start, although in Newhouser’s case, it would take a complete game. Detroit’s Gene Conley (3.28) and Cleveland’s Bill Steen (a potentially league-leading 2.93) will miss the cutoff, although each are likely to see starts in the postseason.

Relievers

Check out the trio from the New York Gothams bullpen.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 2.76. 36 Sv, 1 H.
Clay Carroll (IND). 2-6, 4.14. 3 Sv, 11 H. 64 G.
Mike Henneman (DET). 2-7, 4.70. 37 Sv.
Sean Marshall (BAL). 5-0, 1.79. 2 Sv, 8 H, 0.98 WHIP.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.72. 29 Sv. 2.90 FIP.
Buddy Napier (DET). 101, 2.75. 2 Sv, 8 H, 0.97 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-4, 1.52. 8 Sv, 15 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-6, 4.56. 3 Sv, 17 H. 64 G.
Carson Smith (NYG). 2-0, 1.77. 1 Sv, 10 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.96. 29 Sv, 1 H. 2.63 FIP.

Streaks

Not a lot going on here, other than Mike Trout‘s 33 game streak of reaching base.

Series XXXVII Results

Series XXVII Sweeps

Wandering House of David over Houston Colt 45’s
Indianapolis ABC’s over Philadelphia

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXXVII

Detroit over Birmingham
Memphis over Brooklyn
Portland over Chicago

Series Splits in Series XXXVII

Los Angeles @ New York Black Yankees
New York Gothams @ Kansas City Monarchs
Baltimore @ Homestead
Miami @ Ottawa Mounties
Cleveland @ San Francisco Sea Lions

Series XXXVII Best Games

By mknn

On August 15, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

Playoffs, playoffs, playoffs. Every game here featured at least one team bound for the postseason or one desperately trying to force their way in.

#Birmingham Black Barons @ Detroit Wolverines, Game 1

The matchup between Birmingham’s Alejandro Peña and Detroit’s Hal Newhouser was supposed to be a pitching duel, and while it started that way, things got out of hand in the bottom of the 4th when Detroit rocked Peña for 6 runs on an RBI single from Hank Greenberg, a 3-run shot from Oscar Gamble, and a 2-run homer from Ed Bailey. But the Black Barons made a comeback, keyed by a 3-run dinger from Curtis Granderson and a 2-run double from Eddie Mathews. That gave Birmingham a 7-6 lead heading into the bottom of the 8th.

Bruce Chen has been quite reliable for Birmingham all season, but Detroit touched him for 2 runs on a single from Al Kaline to take the lead. But Mike Henneman, the league leader in saves, couldn’t hold the 8-7 advantage, giving up a 2-run shot to Mathews in the top of the 9th. Birmingham’s closer, Juan Rincón held it down in the bottom of the inning, keeping Birmingham’s postseason drive alive.

BBB 9 (Bedrosian 4-2; Rincón 26 Sv; Merkcer 3 H; Chen 1 B Sv) @ DET 8 (Henneman 2-7, 6 B Sv; Lolich H 7; Schmidt 1 B Sv)
HRs: BBB – Granderson (18), Mathews (25); DET – Gamble (28), E. Bailey (9).
Box Score

#Houston Colt 45’s @ Wandering House of David, Game 1

George Gore hit 2 homeruns, including a walk-off blast in the bottom of the 12th inning to secure a 10-8 victory for the House of David. Gore finished the day with 3 hits and 5 RBIs. Houston was unable to pull out the victory, despite out-hitting the House of David, 17-10, led by 3 hits each from Jimmy Wynn and George Brett.

Houston took the lead with 4 runs in the 8th, keyed by a 2-run triple from Pete Hill and RBI doubles from Andrés Galarraga and Brett, but Ernie Banks tied it up in the bottom of the inning with a 2-run single. Each team scored in the 11th (Houston on a double from Tony Gwynn, the House of David on Elrod Hendricks‘ 36th homerun of the season), setting the stage for Gore’s heroics in the 12th.

HOU 8 (Hartley 1-2; Howell H 4; Wagner 9 B Sv) @ HOD 10 (Jenkins 4-6) [12 Innings]
HRs: HOU – Brett (7); HOD – Rizzo (14), Edmonds (18), Gore 2 (5), Hendricks (36).
Box Score

#Memphis Red Sox @ Brooklyn Royal Giants, Game 2

Brooklyn left it late, but preserved their slim post-season hopes by scoring 2 in the bottom of the 9th to beat Memphis, 4-3. The Red Sox tallied a run in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th to take a 3-0 lead, including the resurgent Sammy Sosa‘s 7th homerun for his new team. Memphis’ Len Barker was sailing along until the bottom of the 5th when Brooklyn’s Germany Smith–a surprising source of power for the Royal Giants–went deep with Al López on base to make it a 1-run game.

Both bullpens were solid into the 9th, with Tim Wakefield and Jon Lester for Memphis and Orel Hershiser and Fernando Valenzuela for Brooklyn each keeping the score 3-2 Memphis. Then, in the bottom of the 9th, Roy White greeted Memphis’ Heath Bell with a homerun to tie the game. White’s blast was followed by singles from Ron Cey, Frank Isbell, and pinch-hitting Matt Holliday, giving Brooklyn a walk-off victory.

MEM 3 (Bell 9-5, 3 B Sv; Wakefield 4 H; Lester 2 H) @ BRK 4 (Gagne 6-5)
HRs: MEM – Sosa (7); BRK – Smith (6), White (17).
Box Score

#Chicago American Giants @ Portland Sea Dogs, Game 4

This game featured 2 playoff teams, and held some storylines to keep a watch on as we move into the postseason.

For Portland, who scored 6 runs in their final 2 innings, Gavvy Cravath shows no sign of slowing down since his mid-season acquisition. In this game, Cravath had 3 hits and 3 RBIs. The key here is the efficiency of the Sea Dogs, who scored 7 times on 12 singles (a bit of an oddity for a team that is 3rd in the league in homeruns and top-half in extra base hits overall). For Chicago, the bullpen continues to be a bit of a worry, as neither Hoyt Wilhelm nor Ken Sanders were effective in this one after a decent start from David Price.

CAG 4 (Wilhelm 5-5, 2 B Sv) @ POR 7 (Miller 11-6; Porterfield 7 Sv)
HRs: none.
Box Score