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TWIWBL 69.1: Year 2, Week 12

On December 2, 2024

June 18th

We’re rounding the corner towards the selection of this year’s All-Star teams. Today, we’ll check in on last year’s all stars from the AL.

#Awards

Duke Snider hit .444 with 5 homeruns last week, earning the Brooklyn OFer the NL Player of the Week Award. In the other league, Detroit‘s irrepressible Ty Cobb was named AL Player of the Week. Cobb moved his average back over .400, finishing the week at .411 after hitting .579 with 5 homers.

#Team Performance

Pretty much status quo here.

The New York Black Yankees lead Cleveland in the Bill James Division by 5.5 games; San Francisco has extended their lead in the Cum Posey Division to 9.5 over Chicago; and Indianapolis and Kansas City remain tied atop the Marvin Miller Division.

And, over in the Effa Manley Division, 5.5 games separate Brooklyn in first and Ottawa at the bottom.

Memphis and Brooklyn have gone 8-2 over their last 10 games, while Miami has done the inverse, finishing 2-8 over their last week and a half.

#Player Performance

Batters

Someone poked Babe Ruth, insinuating that the Black Yankees’ OF might not be the dominant player in the league. Since then, he has been on fire, retaking the league lead in his usual categories.

Three batters sit over .400: Houston‘s Tony Gwynn at .427, Ty Cobb at .411, and Homestead‘s Josh Gibson at .402. Gwynn, predictably, is the only batter with over 100 hits so far in the season.

Oscar Charleston (IND). 328/380/626. 9 3B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 411/462/864. 97 H; 34 2B; 4.9 WAR.
Josh Gibson (HOM). 402/480/776. 4.5 WAR.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 427/460/668. 108 H.
Joe Jackson (CHI). 368/417/611. 35 2B.
Stan Musial (KCM). 329/394/573. 35 2B.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 297/420/768. 34 HR; 81 RBI; 67 R; 55 BB.
Larry Walker (OTT). 321/390/782. 32 HR; 73 RBI.
Ted Williams (MEM). 306/425/624. 60 R; 48 BB.

San Francisco’s Rickey Henderson continues to lead the league in steals with 51, but Ottawa’s Tim Raines has recovered a bit offensively, and being on base more has allowed him to close the gap a bit, now sitting with 44 on the year.

Pitchers

Starters

Indianapolis’ Luis Padrón and San Francisco’s Bump Hadley are the only hurlers in double digits for wins. The three pitchers with 9 victories are also included below, as well as the usual statistical leaders. Of note is the appearance of Kansas City’s A. Rube Foster, who now has (barely) enough IP to qualify here.

The dominance of Kansas City and San Francisco is worth mentioning as well.

Frank Castillo (KCM). 9-1, 4.01.
A. Rube Foster (KCM). 4-0, 2.44. 0.86 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 8-4, 3.19. 107 IP; 3.1 WAR.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 8-3, 3.68. 116 K.
Bump Hadley (SFS). 10-4, 3.81. 3.29 FIP.
Luis Padrón (IND). 10-2, 3.90.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 9-3, 3.65.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 9-4, 3.03. 107 IP; 134 K; 0.94 WHIP; 2.72 FIP; 4.6 WAR.

Relievers

Five relievers have 9 Holds at this point, and all of them are listed, making this a bit of a larger group than usual.

16 IP minimum.

Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 3.79. 19 Sv.
Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-1, 3.72. 9 H.
Ken Howell (SFS). 4-1, 1.46. 3 H.
Michael Jackson (HOM). 1-3, 3.55. 1 Sv; 9 H.
Craig Kimbrel (KCM). 1-0, 0.92. 2 Sv; 9 H; 0.71 WHIP; 2.07 FIP.
Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-2, 4.01. 18 Sv.
Rob Murphy (IND). 1-1, 2.70. 1 Sv; 9 H.
Ross Reynolds (LAA). 2-0, 1.93. 1 Sv; 1 H; 2.02 FIP.
BJ Ryan (OTT). 1-2, 4.85. 1 Sv; 9 H.
Lee Smith (HOD). 4-1, 2.97. 3 Sv; 6 H; 0.73 WHIP.

#2 Way Players

It’s been a while, so figured we should check back in on these guys. Here’s the list:

Name	Team	Batting	Pitching	Total WAR
Charles Rogan	PHI	311/356/605. 1.8 WAR.	4-5, 4.55. 1.8 WAR.	3.6
Luis Padrón	IND	252/331/390. 0.1 WAR.	11-2, 3.90. 2.9 WAR.	3.0
Smokey Joe Wood	KCM	263/364/526. 0.1 WAR.	8-3, 3.41. 2.1 WAR.	2.2
JM Ward	PHI	158/186/246. -0.7 WAR.	3-2, 3.68. 1.8 WAR.	1.1
Jim Whitney	BBB	140/178/256. -0.4 WAR.	2-2, 4.00. 1.1 WAR.	0.7
Elmer Smith	LAA	323/462/387. 0.2 WAR.	0-1, 6.46. -0.1 WAR.	0.1
Eustaquio Pedroso	MIA	210/312/296. -0.3 WAR.	2-1, 6.11. -0.2 WAR.	-0.5

Wood has received very little time in the field, so we’ll see how he does as that expands. It looks like Ward should stay on the mound, and that really, it’s only Rogan and Padrón as truly valuable 2-way talents.

#Injury Report

Cleveland’s Mel Harder, Detroit’s Hal Newhouser, Miami’s Kenshin Kawakami and perhaps most importantly, Portland’s Joséito Muñoz should all start injury rehabs later this week. Should those go well, all four teams should receive rotation boosts in the near future.

#Last Year’s All-Stars

As we ramp up to this year’s all-star game, seemed a good time to check in on last year’s designees. This week, we’ll take a look at (what was last year) the AL.

#OBV

Bob Bailey (3B, DET). Just a dependable offensive machine at the hot corner.

Rod Beck (RP, SFS). Still racking up the saves, and doing better than last season otherwise.

Hank Greenberg (1B, DET). Keeps pounding the ball.

Mike Henneman (RP, DET). Remains dominant from the bullpen.

Rogers Hornsby (2B, POR). Keeps rolling along with better numbers than last season.

Joe Jackson (OF, CAG). This year’s version is a doubles machine without nearly the homerun power, but still maintaining on OPS over 1.000.

Craig Kimbrel (RP, KCM). Dominant, and really making the argument to be moved into the closer slot for Kansas City.

Willie Mays (OF, NYG). Somehow underappreciated despite his stellar performance.

Andy Pettitte (SP, NYY). Just keeps rolling. Like the whole league, his ERA is a little higher, but his peripheral numbers are strong.

Buster Posey (C, NYG). More power than last year, a little less of everything else, but still elite.

Frank Thomas (1B, CAG). Significantly better offensively across the board, which is a truly frightening statement.

Ted Williams (OF, MEM). A borderline selection last year, he’s upped his game significantly this season, with an OPS of 1.049.

#Mebbe

Curt Blefary (C, BAL). Nowhere near as good as last season, but still a good offensive player, showing both power and control of the strike zone.

Eddie Collins (2B, CAG). Power output has fallen off, and while he’s still a top performer, is not the MVP candidate of last season.

Mike Epstein (1B, HOM). The shape of his production has changed, as his BA has dropped 80 points. But he’s slugging .570 and his OPS is virtually the same as last season.

Dan McGann (1B, BAL). At 37, he’s performing better than last season, but remains under the radar for some reason.

Stan Musial (OF, KCM). He’s hitting almost exactly the same as he did last year, but has struggled with the longball. That may be enough to nudge him off the team, unfair as that may be.

#Meh

Dick Allen (3B, CAB). Not doing badly, but clearly a long wasy from an all star at this point.

Gerrit Cole (SP, LAA). May be pitching better than last season, but without the dominant W/L record, should fall far short of the all-star game.

Mark Melancon (RP, POR). Perhaps a stretch choice last year due to a ridiculous number of wins for a reliever, is doing fine this year, but far from all-star levels.

AJ Minter (RP, CAG). Still the American Giants’ closer, but no longer among the best in the league.

Reggie Smith (OF, MEM). Other than a boost in power, struggling a bit across the board.

Bobby Wallace (SS, BAL). Injured and not performing nearly as well regardless, Wallace is still an on base machine, and clearly has value.

Brian Wilson (RP, NYG). Injured and limited to 13 games so far, but dominant in those appearances, so there’s a chance.

#What Happened?

Bill Byrd (SP, BAL). Well below average so far this season.

Elrod Hendricks (C, HOD). Last year’s magnificent performance looks more and more like a mirage. Hendricks still has power, but is no longer elite among league backstops.

Duffy Lewis (OF, CHI). Struggling, especially in the power department.

Tricky Nichols (SP, CAG). An ERA over 6.00 and a ton of HR’s allowed.

Freddy Parent (SS, CAG). Parent rode his All Star selection–deserved at the time–to a trade to a contender, and then lost the ability to hit for power at all. Without that, he’s a mediocre SS.

Doug Rader (3B, LAA). A stunningly productive 2000 has been followed with … very little.

George Stone (OF, HOD). Significantly worse across the board. Stone looked like a budding star last year, now he looks like a decent 4th OFer.

#Other

Ned Garvin (SP, BAL). Garvin was the dominant pitcher in the league last year when he got injured. He’s been fine since his return, but has yet to find the same level.

Sean Marshall (RP, BAL). Hit by a long-term injury, Marshall is due to return to Baltimore’s bullpen by the all-star game.

TWIWBL 68.6: Marvin Miller Division

By mknn

On November 4, 2024

In TWIWBL

Team	W/L	Pct	GB
Indianapolis ABC’s	36-28	.563	—
Kansas City Monarchs	36-28	.563	—
Wandering House of David	28-34	.452	7
Houston Colt 45s	29-36	.446	7.5
Birmingham Black Barons	25-39	.391	11

Marvin Miller Division | 11 June

#Birmingham Black Barons

Andy Pafko went deep twice, reaching 11 on the year, but those were the only runs Birmingham could manage as they fell, 3-2 to Brooklyn in 14 innings.

Hank Aaron hit 2 out, giving him 24 on the year, and the Black Barons beat Homestead 9-4. Aaron drove in 5, and Curtis Granderson and Eddie Mathews each hit their 22nd dinger of the year in support of Sam Streeter.

#Houston Colt 45s

Tony Gwynn went had 3 hits, pushing his season total over 100 and raising his average to .429 in a 7-2 victory over Philadelphia. Roger Clemens improved to 8-2 with a strong 7 plus innings.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

The ABC’s will be without their sparkplug, as Bob Bescher heads to the DL with a bruised knee. Emil Frisk was recalled from AAA. They also exchanged the struggling Sad Sam Jones for the return of Gorham Leverett from a rehab assignment.

Oscar Charleston went deep twice, leading the ABC’s to a 7-5 win over Kansas City.

Luis Padrón increased his win total to a league-leading 11 in an 8-2 victory over Kansas City. Padrón was solid through 7-plus, moving to 11-2 on the year and lowering his ERA to 3.90 while Joey Votto went deep twice for the ABC’s.

#Kansas City Monarchs

Jock Menefee, who had pitched well over a half-dozen appearances, will miss 3-4 months with a shoulder injury. Mike Kume was recalled from AAA.

Dale Murphy went deep twice as the Monarchs pounded out 20 hits in a 17-3 win over Indianapolis. Frank Castillo improved to 9-1, striking out 10 in 7 solid innings of work.

#Wandering House of David

The House of David shook up their staff, sending Wade Miley and Kerry Wood to AAA, and moving Rick Reuschel out of the rotation. Kyle Peterson and Jim Clinton were recalled from the minors.

George Gore would not be who you would have picked: he entered the day with only 3 homeruns and ended it having doubled his total to 6. It was not enough, however, as the House of David fell to the Gothams 10-9 in extra frames.

Sammy Sosa hit 3 solo homers, giving him 17 on the season. The last one gave the House of David the lead in the top of 9th, with Lee Smith earning his 2nd save in a 4-3 victory over the Gothams.

Needing a starter, the House of David sent the mightily struggling Frank Sullivan to AAA with Karl Spooner being recalled.

Clinton’s time in the WBL only lasted 2 appearances. He was effective across his 6 innings of work, but came down with a sore shoulder. Bob Shaw was recalled.

TWIWBL 68.1: Year 2, Week 11

By mknn

On October 28, 2024

In TWIWBL

June 11th

Only a few weeks to All Star selections!

#Awards

Ottawa‘s Roberto Alomar won the NL Player of the Week, hitting .625 with 4 homeruns, while scoring and driving in 9.

Manny Ramírez of the Memphis Red Sox is already approaching his production from last season, and hitting .368 with 3 homers and 10 RBI’s earned him the AL Player of the Week.

#Team Performance

I am likely to regret writing this as the season unfolds, but three of the divisions really seem to be settling down. The New York Black Yankees continue to have the best record in the WBL, leading Cleveland by 7 games in the Bill James Division. In the Cum Posey Division, San Francisco has pulled away from Miami and Chicago, leading the former by 6.5 games and the latter by 7. And, over in the Marvin Miller Division, Indianapolis and Kansas City are tied for the top spot, 7 games ahead of the House of David.

That leaves the Effa Manley Division, where nobody really wants to take control, with Homestead currently in first and Philadelphia in last place, only 4.5 games back

The New York Gothams have ridden an 8-2 streak to move within 1 game of Homestead and the Birmingham Black Barons may finally be showing some life, going 7-3 in their last 10 games. It’s too early to really get excited in Birmingham, though: that run of success leaves them with still having the worst record in the league, 11 games out of first place.

Cleveland, Homestead, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, and the House of David have all struggled a bit, sporting 3-7 records over their last 10 games.

Some differences in style are emerging across the league, with all teams playing between 62 and 65 games.

Ottawa continues to have by far the most terrifying offense in the league, sporting a team OPS over .900 and leading the way with 160 homeruns. They are also the only team to have scored 400+ runs at this point.

San Francisco and Baltimore are the most patient teams in the WBL, each with over 260 walks, over 100 more than Brooklyn and Miami at the other end of the list. San Francisco and the Black Yankees strike out the most while Kansas City and Philadelphia are the hardest to whiff by a long shot.

Finally, Indianapolis and San Francisco are neck and neck in SB with 138 and 137 respectively. Only Ottawa and Chicago are also over 100, while the New York Gothams have only swiped 45 bases.

#Player Performance

Batters

This may be the first time in the history of the WBL that Babe Ruth only leads in 2 categories and those 2–runs and walks–are arguably the least important metrics being tracked.

José Canseco and Larry Walker have each reached the 30 HR mark and Walker’s amazing streak has vaulted him over Ruth for the RBI lead.

Tony Gwynn–at a blinding .420–is the only hitter over .400, although Homestead’s Josh Gibson is edging into that territory at .399.

Roberto Alomar (OTT). 324/407/616. 56 R.
José Canseco (MCG). 289/400/821. 30 HR.
Oscar Charleston (IND). 325/382/582. 7 3B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 396/446/806. 86 H, 4.1 WAR.
Josh Gibson (HOM). 399/467/759. 3.9 WAR.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 420/457/656. 96 H, 31 2B.
Pete Hill (HOU). 288/368/498. 8 3B.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 376/424/615. 31 2B.
Stan Musial (KCM). 319/384/552. 32 2B.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 292/410/712. 27 HR, 69 RBI, 58 R, 47 BB.
Larry Walker (OTT). 324/395/781. 30 HR, 71 RBI.
Ted Williams (MEM). 311/432/612. 45 BB.

Pitchers

Starters

Indianapolis’ Luis Padrón was the first hurler to 10 wins, leading the league at 10-1, and Houston‘s Toad Ramsey is the only player with 9. We’ve included the 3 starters with 8 wins and 2 or fewer losses below and everyone with an ERA below 3.00, as well as the usual statistical leaders.

It paints an odd picture, as Ramsey has actually faded a bit over the past few weeks, but retains his spot as the best pitcher in the WBL right now.

Frank Castillo (KCM). 8-1, 4.03.
Johnny Cueto (IND). 8-2, 3.38.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 7-4, 3.26. 99 IP, 2.9 WAR.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 8-2, 3.65, 109 SO.
Bump Hadley (SFS). 8-4, 4.15. 3.39 FIP.
Hardie Henderson (PHI). 6-4, 2.98.
Luis Padrón (IND). 10-1, 3.61.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 9-3, 2.68. 117 SO, 0.93 WHIP, 2.78 FIP, 3.9 WAR.
Ed Walsh (CAG). 5-2, 2.95. 1 Sv.
JM Ward (PHI). 3-2, 3.56. 1.00 WHIP.

Relievers

All three relievers with 9 holds are included, as well as all 3 with ERA’s below 1.50.

15 IP minimum.

Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 4.60. 15 Sv.
Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-1, 3.12. 9 H.
Ken Howell (SFS). 4-1, 1.23. 4 H.
Bob Howry (PHI). 3-1, 3.60. 10 Sv, 0.75 WHIP.
Michael Jackson (HOM). 1-2, 2.66. 1 Sv, 9 H.
Craig Kimbrel (KCM). 1-0, 1.04. 1 Sv, 9 H.
Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-2, 3.86. 17 Sv.
Tug McGraw (HOU). 2-2, 1.04. 4 Sv.
Lee Smith (HOD). 4-1, 3.55. 1 Sv, 5 H, 0.79 WHIP.

#Injury Report

Baltimore may receive a big boost to its bullpen with both John Wetteland and, more importantly, Sean Marshall due to begin rehab assignments this week. Marshall was among the most dominant relievers in the league last season before being injured.

Indianapolis’ 3B Ed Charles and Miami’s OF Al Oliver should both begin a rehab assignment late in the week

#Oddities

Thought we would check in on some of the odder performances in the league so far.

We’ll start with Homestead’s Mike Epstein and San Francisco’s Jimmie Foxx, each of which are hitting under .240 with OPS’ over .900. Epstein’s slash line is 236/369/577 while Foxx’s is 222/326/593. Half of Foxx’s 42 hits have been homeruns (Birmingham’s Curtis Granderson has 38 hits and 20 homers).

14 players who have seen a decent amount of playing time are sporting batting averages below .200. Only 2 of them have an OPS over .800. If you’re a diehard fan of the WBL, you may guess that one of them is Chicago’s eternal dilemma, Mike Fiore. Fiore is hitting .194. But 33 walks gives him a respectable .344 OBP, and 11 homers up his SLG to .472, giving him an OPS of .816. The other is Birmingham’s Eddie Mathews, who is doing it all with power. His OBP is barely over .300, but 19 homeruns gives him a .519 SLG to go with it.

On the mound, in the won-loss record is a bad stat department, I’ll offer up Bert Blyleven of the Portland Sea Dogs and Philadelphia’s John Montgomery Ward. Blyleven has 14 starts and is 6th in the league in IP, but sports only a 2-4 record while Ward has pitched excellently, holding a 3.56 ERA over 13 starts and the second best WHIP in the league at 1.00, but only managing a 3-2 record.

At the other end of the scale, 2 hurlers with at least 7 wins also have ERAs over 5.00: Ottawa’s Old Hoss Radbourn at 8-4, 5.79 and the New York Gothams’ Don Sutton at 7-3, 5.40.

TWIWBL 67.1: Year 2, Week 10

By mknn

On October 8, 2024

In TWIWBL

June 4th

We’ve entered June, so we’re clearly heading towards our midseason stride.

#Awards

Since we cross into June we have a bevy of awards.

In the AL, the New York Black Yankees‘ Babe Ruth was named the Batter of the Month, hitting .347 with 15 homers in May, driving in 34 and scoring 30 times. And look, that’s impressive. But Ruth’s reputation certainly helped him with the honor, given that he had the 3rd best OPS in the AL for the month, trailing behind Miami‘s José Canseco (1.430) and Detroit‘s Ty Cobb (1.429). Canseco also had more homeruns, leading the WBL for the month with 18. Ruth’s RBI and R numbers did lead the league, and it is hard to argue against his numbers.

In the NL, the award went to Ottawa‘s Larry Walker for the second consecutive month. Walker hit .273 with 17 dingers and a whopping 38 RBI, but his selection wasn’t unanimous. Looking at just the major slash stats, his BA was eclipsed by Houston‘s Tony Gwynn, who hit .441 for the month; his OBP by Homestead‘s Josh Gibson, who led the NL with a .480 mark; and Gibson’s teammate Mike Epstein SLG mark of .833 SLG eclipsed Walker’s .818. But Walker’s HR and RBI numbers led the league by a lot, and 38 RBI in 26 games is just remarkable.

The Black Yankees doubled it up, with Ron Guidry winning the AL Pitcher of the Month, going 6-0 with a 1.73 ERA in May while in the NL, Rob Dibble of the Indianapolis ABC‘s was a bit of a surprise selection. Dibble went 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 8 saves, certainly a strong performance. You really can’t quibble with Guidry’s selection, but Dibble was selected over San Francisco‘s Lefty Grove (5-1, 1.18) and Brooklyn‘s Smokey Joe Williams (4-1, 2.16). Homestead’s Josh Lindblom had more saves than Dibble (11 to 8), but Lindblom’s other numbers weren’t nearly as impressive. Still, if it were up to me, the award would have gone to Grove.

There’s just not a lot to say about Julio Rodríguez other than wow. Miami’s surprise starter in CF leaving Spring Training hit .397 with 13 homeruns in the month, earning the AL Rookie of the Month. Over in the NL, the award went to Smokey Joe Williams, who, as mentioned above, was in the running for the overall award, let alone the rookie honor.

Player of the Week Awards were given out as well, although overshadowed by the larger honors for May.

Philadelphia‘s Aaron Judge has continued to develop from his impressive showing last season, and a recent hot streak where he hit .444 with 3 homeruns earned him the NL Player of the Week. Canseco was significantly hotter, hitting .636 with 5 homeruns to earn the AL award for the second consecutive week, perhaps some comfort against being snubbed for the monthly honor for May.

#Team Performance

Last week I wrote The New York Black Yankees and the Indianapolis ABC’s have each gone 8-2 over their last 10 games. This week, it’s still true. New York now leads Cleveland in the Bill James Division by 6.5 games, while Indianapolis has moved into 1st place in the Marvin Miller Division, leading Kansas City by .5 games.

San Francisco has a little more breathing room in the Cum Posey Division, leading Chicago by 5.5 games and the surprising Miami Cuban Giants by 6. The Effa Manley Division is still tight, with all 5 teams separated by only 4.5 games, from Homestead in 1st to Philadelphia and Ottawa in a virtual tie for 5th.

Detroit continues to flounder, going 2-8 in their last 10 games and plummeting to 13.5 games behind the Black Yankees.

#Player Performance

Batters

A shorter list: Ty Cobb is first or second in each of the slash categories, and he, Larry Walker, and José Canseco are all challenging Babe Ruth‘s historical dominance of the league.

Cobb and Tony Gwynn are still well over .400 as the calendar turns to June.

José Canseco (MCG). 304/421/881. 29 HR.
Oscar Charleston (IND). 333/390/611. 7 3B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 420/471/862. 79 H, 28 2B, 4.0 WAR.
Josh Gibson (HOM). 382/447/742. 48 R.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 427/463/683. 85 H.
Pete Hill (HOU). 282/366/505. 8 3B.
Stan Musial (KCM). 312/382/540. 29 2B.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 307/426/743. 66 RBI, 55 R, 44 BB, 3.7 WAR.
Larry Walker (OTT). 318/394/764. 26 HR, 61 RBI.

It often feels like the SB leaders should be handled separately: San Francisco’s Rickey Henderson leads the WBL with 42 steals. Indianapolis’ Bob Bescher has moved into 2nd place with 32 (and only 6 CS) while Ottawa’s Tim Raines has 30. Raines’ struggles at the plate are clearly contributing to his not challenging Henderson this year: while Rickey’s has an OBP just under .400 at .392, Raines is way down at .332.

Pitchers

Starters

Indianapolis’ Luis Padrón leads the league at 9-1, with Houston’s Toad Ramsey (9-2) and the Black Yankees’ Ron Guidry (8-1) close behind. Six pitchers have 7 wins, we’ve only included below the 3 that have only 1 or 2 losses. Also included are all 3 starters with sub-3.00 ERA’s (Ramsey, Philadelphia’s Hardie Henderson, and Los Angeles‘ Doc Gooden).

Frank Castillo (KCM). 7-1, 3.88.
Johnny Cueto (IND). 7-1, 3.43.
Doc Gooden (LAA). 5-4, 2.92.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 7-4, 3.13. 92 IP, 2.7 WAR.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 8-1, 3.17. 99 K, 3.39 FIP, 2.7 WAR.
Hardie Henderson (PHI). 6-3, 2.83.
Luis Padrón (IND). 9-1, 3.66.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 7-2, 3.94.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 9-2. 2.69. 87 IP, 108 K, 0.93 WHIP, 2.66 FIP, 3.8 WAR.
JM Ward (PHI). 2-1, 3.46. 1.00 WHIP.

Relievers

There really isn’t a dominant closer in the WBL this season–the league leaders in saves have given up a bunch of runs; the dominant performers haven’t been racking up the saves. Indianapolis’ Rob Dibble is probably the best of the group. Kansas City’s Craig Kimbrel, tied with the Black Yankees’ Rheal Cormier for the league lead in Holds, has probably been the best bullpen performer overall so far, and is pushing teammate Jeff Pfeffer for a shot at the closer spot.

13 IP minimum.

Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-0, 2.84. 9 H.
Rob Dibble (IND). 2-1, 3.06. 12 Sv.
Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 4.91. 14 Sv.
Craig Kimbrel (KCM). 1-0, 1.10. 1 Sv, 9 H.
Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-1, 3.80. 15 Sv.
Tug McGraw (HOU). 2-2, 1.26. 1 Sv.
Jeff Pfeffer (KCM). 1-2, 6.16. 12 Sv.

Some mention somewhere should be made of Brooklyn’s Fernando Valenzuela, who is 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA and 4 Holds in over 40 innings. The Royal Giants have a very strong rotation, and Valenzuela is still looking for his first opportunity to step into a starting role.

#Injury Report

Will this week be the long awaited reckoning for Chicago’s Jack Doyle? The return of SS Damian Jackson, expected at the end of the week, may be the final nail in Doyle’s WBL service time.

#A Ball Check In

Wrapping up our 3 week trip through the minors, we’ll examine A ball this week. Given A ball’s focus on youth, we won’t have an age division, instead just presenting the top 2 performers at each position. 100 A PA minimum for batters.

Pos
C	Lew Brown (22, KCM). 331/369/633.	Tom Egan (20, PHI). 279/353/545.
1B	Babe Herman (21, LAA). 246/325/515.	Aubrey Huff (22, CLE). 254/330/443.
2B	Tim Shinnick (21, NYG). 316/416/424.	Ron Jackson (23, NYG). 240/352/473.
SS	Alfredo Griffin (19, DET). 333/389/454.	Dick Schofield (22, HOM). 260/395/360.
3B	Steve Hertz (20, HOM). 276/350/579.	Bob Aspromonte (18, IND). 263/351/444.
LF	Bill Buckner (20, MEM). 415/443/694.	Pip Koehler (24, HOD). 286/385/519.
CF	Odúbel Herrera (22, PHI). 319/394/610.	Clyde Milan (22, NYY). 316/445/480.
RF	Hugh Duffy (20, POR). 283/231/530.	Marquis Grissom (23, MCG). 279/376/430.
SP	Sean Newcomb (24, NYY). 4-1, 2.54. Clayton Kershaw (19, HOM). 4-2, 2.48.	Frank Dwyer (21, HOD). 6-1, 1.58. Jim McElroy (21, PHI). 4-1, 1.65.
RP	Joe Edelin (24, NYY). 1-0, 1.77. 14 Sv.	Mélido Pérez (20, NYY). 3-1, 2.05. 9 Sv, 4 H.

Griffin and Kershaw standout as the only teenagers listed. The Gothams have two 2B listed, although Washington is really spending more time at SS. And, Memphis’ Bill Buckner, although currently out for a couple of weeks through injury, is just dominating the league in most categories. Of this group, he, Kershaw, and Herman are probably the best long term prospects.

TWIWBL 66.1: Year 2, Week 9

By mknn

On September 18, 2024

In TWIWBL

May 28th

We are roughly 1/4 through the season!

#Awards

Roberto Alomar hit .500 on the week with 4 homeruns, earning the Ottawa 2B the National League Player of the Week. Over in the American League, Miami‘s José Canseco had 7 homeruns to go with a .417 average, earning the American League award.

#Team Performance

The New York Black Yankees and the Indianapolis ABC‘s have each gone 8-2 over their last 10 games. For New York, this has helped them extend their lead over Cleveland in the Bill James Division to 4 games, while Indianapolis has roared int 2nd place in the Marvin Miller Division, sitting 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Birmingham and Detroit have each gone 2-8 over their last 10, with the Black Barons now 13 games behind Kansas City and the Wolverines falling to 10 games behind the Black Yankees.

#Player Performance

Batters

The changing of the guard continues: Ty Cobb leads the league in most things, and Larry Walker is ahead of Babe Ruth (and Canseco) in homers.

A sign that it’s still early in the season: 2 batters are still hitting over .400 (Cobb and Houston‘s Tony Gwynn); 2 have OBPs over .450 (Cobb and Ruth), and 4–FOUR–are still slugging over .800 (Cobb, Walker, Ruth, and Canseco).

José Canseco (MCG). 280/392/803. 24 HR.
Oscar Charleston (IND). 314/361/581. 7 3B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 420/471/882. 71 H, 28 2B, 3.6 WAR.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 417/447/669. 73 H.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 269/374/491. 39 SB.
Pete Hill (HOU). 272/344/503. 8 3B.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 366/411/579. 25 2B.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 339/457/814. 24 HR, 62 RBI, 52 R, 41 BB, 3.8 WAR.
Joey Votto (IND). 287/439/507. 36 BB.
Larry Walker (OTT). 339/416/819. 26 HR, 61 RBI, 45 R.

Seems like a good time to check on the underperformers as well. Clearly a player who leads the league in whiffs can certainly have more value than someone who leads the league in worst OPS while still qualifying for the leaderboards.

Cupid Childs (BBB). 241/371/350. 6 RBI, 13 CS.
Adam Dunn (IND). 242/349/571. 64 SO.
Andrés Galarraga (HOU). 190/222/393. -1.1 WAR.
Oscar Gamble (DET). 234/376/422. 10 GIDP.
Mickey Mantle (NYY). 278/385/650. 65 SO.
Tony Phillips (DET). 174/266/304. -1.2 WAR.
Doug Rader (LAA). 249/305/379. 10 GIDP.
Cristóbal Torriente (CAG). 187/228/253. 7 RBI.

It’s an interesting group, with only Galarraga, Phillips, and Torriente really in danger of losing their spots. Dunn and Mantle are clearly excellent players, they just strike out a lot. Childs’ OBP keeps him vital to the top of Birmingham’s lineup, and Gamble and Rader are clearly everyday players.

Pitchers

Starters

With a rain-shortened CG on Sunday, Houston’s Toad Ramsey became the first 8 game winner in the league. I’ve also included the four 7-game winners in the list, as well as the two other hurlers with sub 3.00 ERAs.

If you go by black ink, it remains Ramsey’s season.

Mark Buehrle (CAG). 5-3, 2.86.
Frank Castillo (KCM). 7-1, 3.62.
Roger Clemens (HOU). 6-1, 3.63. 1.01 WHIP.
Johnny Cueto (IND). 7-1, 3.73.
Doc Gooden (LAA). 4-3, 2.59.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 6-4, 3.08. 3.36 FIP, 2.5 WAR.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 7-1, 3.52. 82 K.
Hardie Henderson (PHI). 6-3, 2.78.
Luis Padrón (IND). 7-1, 3.45.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 8-2, 2.73. 94 K; 0.97 WHIP; 2.76 FIP; 3.4 WAR.

Relievers

Homestead‘s Josh Lindblom and San Francisco‘s Rod Beck continue to lead the league in saves with a dozen each, although Brooklyn‘s Eric Gagne (11 saves) has probably been more effective overall.

12 IP minimum.

Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 5.40. 12 Sv.
Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-0, 2.70. 8 H.
Trevor Hildenberger (BRK). 1-0, 1.06. 1 Sv, 5 H, 0.65 WHIP.
Eric Gagne (BRK). 1-1, 3.18. 11 Sv.
Mike Henneman (DET). 4-0, 1.02. 8 Sv.
Lefty James (IND). 1-0, 3.55. 1 Sv, 7 H.
Ted Kennedy (PHI). 2-2, 3.18. 2 Sv, 7 H.
Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-1, 4.00. 12 Sv.
Lee Smith (HOD). 1-0, 1.80. 1 Sv, 5 H, 0.60 WHIP.

#Injury Report

Kansas City’s Bob Gibson should start a rehab assignment later this week, as should Philadelphia‘s Jack Meyer, who has missed over a year of action.

#AA Check In

This week, it’s a look at AA, looking at both the best performers and the best prospects (24 and under) roughly 1/4 of the way through the season. 100 AA PA minimum for batters.

Pos	25+	< 25
C	Kelly Shoppach (28, BRK). 305/362/537.	Bill Dickey (22, PHI). 387/416/639.
1B	Del Bissonette (27, BBB). 337/456/675.	John Mayberry (20, OTT). 349/476/771).
2B	Steve Sax (25, CLE). 398/438/508.	Dario Lodigiani (20, SFS). 363/471/516.
SS	Jhonny Peralta (26, IND). 244/338/472.	Xander Bogaerts (23, LAA). 359/432/538.
3B	Brook Jacoby (29, CLE). 319/393/553.	Ryon Healy (20, OTT). 330/365/637.
LF	Earl Webb (28, POR). 322/386/644.	Andrew Benintendi (22, MEM). 340/447/551.
CF	Keon Broxton (26, CAG). 291/413/563.	Cool Papa Bell (21, KAN). 368/429/747.
RF	Roger Maris (27, NYY). 312/425/720.	Chuck Klein (22, POR). 282/339/602.
SP	Whitey Ford (25, NYY). 5-2, 2.92. 1.6 WAR. George Winter (27, HOU). 5-0, 2.34. 1.4 WAR.	Gary Lucas (24, HOM). 3-2, 3.42. 1.6 WAR. Masahiro Tanaka (24, NYG), 6-4, 4.40. 1.4 WAR.
RP	Rob Wooten (26, MEM). 2-2, 3.00. 11 Sv.	Oad Swigert (23, IND). 0-2, 3.45. 10 Sv.

Lots and lots of talent here, as to be expected. Dickey–part of the haul Philadelphia got for Mike Schmidt–may be recalled shortly, but most of the rest of these hitters are either blocked positionally (trade bait?) or need a year or 2 more in the minors before making their case for WBL time. Dickey, Bell, Klein, and Ford are probably the best long-term prospects.

TWIWBL 65.1: Year 2, Week 8

By mknn

On August 26, 2024

In TWIWBL

May 21st

We are roughly 1/4 through the season!

#Awards

Miami Cuban Giants OF Ryan Braun, who hit 6 homeruns with a .417 average, was the AL Player of the Week and Mike Epstein of the Homestead Grays took home the NL Player of the Week. Epstein hit .556 with 5 homeruns.

#Team Performance

It’s still far too early, of course, but there is a sliver of daylight emerging in 3 of the 4 divisions.

In the Bill James Division, the New York Black Yankees lead the Cleveland Spiders by 4 games; in the Cum Posey Division, the San Francisco Sea Lions have ridden an 8-2 streak to a 3 game lead over the Chicago American Giants, and in the Marvin Miller Division, the Kansas City Monarchs have opened up a 4.5 game edge over the Indianapolis ABC’s.

So that leaves the Effa Manley Division, where all 5 teams are separated by only 5 games from the Grays on top to the Philadelphia Stars at the bottom. Here’s how it stacks up:

Team	W/L	PCT	GB
Homestead Grays	26-19	.578	–
Brooklyn Royal Giants	24-19	.558	1
New York Gothams	23-22	.511	3
Ottawa Mounties	22-22	.500	3.5
Philadelphia Stars	21-24	.467	5

Marvin Miller Division Standings

#Player Performance

Batters

Returning to normalcy: all the bold next to Babe Ruth.

But there are a ton of new storylines here as well: is Ty Cobb for real? Just how many doubles can he hit? Ruth tied for the league lead in homeruns isn’t news, but being joined by Ryan Braun and Larry Walker is (similarly, Ruth leading with 50 RBI’s is familiar; Walker joining him is not).

Also, Tony Gwynn hitting .421 is fun.

League leaders in bold, top 2 for most categories listed.

Ryan Braun (MCG). 320/366/765. 20 HR.
Ty Cobb (DET). 404/462/861. 61 H; 25 2B; 3.2 WAR.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 421/456/679. 67 H; 40 R.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 271/377/484. 34 SB.
Pete Hill (HOU). 286/356/539. 8 3B.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 365/416/591. 22 2B.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 312/398/659. 40 R.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 316/443/770. 20 HR; 50 RBI; 43 R; 37 BB; 3.2 WAR.
Joey Votto (IND). 295/442/508. 31 BB.
Larry Walker (OTT). 342/423/770. 20 HR; 50 RBI.
Bobby Wallace (BAL). 250/387/342. 31 BB.

Pitchers

Starters

6 pitchers have 6 wins, but only 2 have 7 and of those only Kansas City’s Frank Castillo is undefeated.

Houston‘s Toad Ramsey has come back to the pack some, but all that bold shows just how far ahead of them he had gone. It’s no longer clear who the best starter in the league is at the moment, although Castillo certainly has a decent argument. But Ramsey’s teammate Roger Clemens is in there, as is Indianapolis’ Johnny Cueto, and it’s hard to ignore the ERA leader, Chicago’s Mark Buehrle.

League leaders in bold, top 2 for most categories listed.

Mark Buehrle (CAG). 5-2, 2.42.
Frank Castillo (KCM). 7-0, 2.85.
Watty Clark (SFS). 2-0, 5.21. 3.24 FIP.
Roger Clemens (HOU). 6-0, 3.47. 0.98 WHIP.
Johnny Cueto (IND). 7-1, 3.51.
Doc Gooden (LAA). 4-3, 2.60.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 5-4, 3.49. 67 IP.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 6-1, 3.52. 75 K; 2.0 WAR.
Walter Johnson (POR). 4-4, 2.94. 67.1 IP; 2.0 WAR.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 6-2, 2.60. 81 K; 2.9 WAR; 0.88 WHIP; 2.52 FIP.

Relievers

Brooklyn‘s Trevor Hildenberger is probably the hottest reliever in the league, but really nobody is truly dominant from the pen so far, other than his teammate, Fernando Valenzuela, whose future is almost certainly as a starter.

12 IP minimum; league leaders in bold, top 2 for most categories listed.

Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 5.40. 12 Sv.
Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-0, 3.38. 7 H.
Trevor Hildenberger 1-0, 1.20. 1 Sv, 5 H; 0.60 WHIP.
Ted Kennedy (PHI). 2-2, 3.48. 2 Sv, 7 H.
Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-0, 2.55. 12 Sv.
Lee Smith (HOD). 1-0, 2.04. 1 Sv; 5 H; 0.57 WHIP.
Fernando Valenzuela (BRK). 2-0, 1.16. 4 H.

#Injury Report

Brooklyn’s Jackie Robinson is expected back this week, as is Detroit‘s SS George Davis.

The New York Black Yankees hope to send Red Ruffing–out for nearly a year–on a rehab assignment later in the week.

#AAA Check In

We’ll take a little look at AAA, both in terms of the best performers and the best prospects (24 and under) roughly 1/4 of the way through the season.

Pos	25+	< 25
C	John Stearns (26, LAA). 266/380/587.	Darrin Fletcher (23, NYY). 383/408/742.
1B	Fred Luderus (32, PHI). 336/375/734.	Eddie Murray (22, BAL). 321/389/629).
2B	DJ LeMahieu (28, MEM). 377/417/521.	Jorge Orta (23, CAG). 216/250/405.
SS	Bill Dahlen (34, CLE). 250/325/519.	Travis Jackson (22, HOU). 331/358/559.
3B	Jung Ho Kang (29, HOD). 313/361/701.	Chris Brown (23, HOD). 346/452/731.
LF	Lefty O’Doul (26, MEM). 385/416/644.	Starling Marte (24, HOM). 341/410/609.
CF	Kenny Lofton (26, CLE). 354/424/599.	Jack Gleason (23, LAA). 257/361/478.
RF	Elmer Valo (35, LAA). 397/484/733.	Tony Conigliaro (23, HOD). 299/361/649.
SP	Cliff Lee (29, HOM). 3-2, 1.67. 1.8 WAR. George Bechtel (28, DET). 402, 2.38. 2.2 WAR.	Dick Redding (21, BRK). 6-2, 2.93. 2.6 WAR. Kyle Peterson (22, HOD). 4-3, 3.38. 1.8 WAR.
RP	Roberto Osuna (22, HOU). 1-1, 3.86. 8 Sv.	George Jeffcoat (26, NYG). 0-1, 2.57. 9 Sv.

For the batters, the dominance of players from Las Vegas (Los Angeles‘ AAA franchise) and Columbus (the AAA home for the House of David) is striking. Of these, Stearns may get a look soon given the Angels’ current struggles behind the plate and Valo’s performance may force himself back to the WBL. With both Kang and Brown blocked by Ron Cey–having a great season with the House of David–perhaps those 2 end up as trade bait?

Pitchers are highly unpredictable, of course. Redding and Peterson are doing excellently and seem destined for great things; at the same time, both Lee and Bechtel have struggled with their big league clubs.

TWIWBL 64.6: Marvin Miller Division

By mknn

On August 9, 2024

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

Desperate to address a disaster zone of a bullpen, the Black Barons sent Vic Willis and Warren Spahn to AAA, hoping they can get on track and/or their replacements, Fred Fussell and Charlie Morton, can step in with more effectiveness.

#Houston Colt 45’s

Jason Castro‘s horrid start to the season has led to Houston swapping out backup catchers, with the much-maligned Jim O’Rourke being recalled from AAA. O’Rourke’s first longball of the year was a walkoff job, as 2 homeruns from Tony Gwynn helped the Colt45’s complete the comeback before O’Rourke finished the job in a 10-8 victory over Ottawa.

Roger Clemens twirled a complete game gem as Houston topped Ottawa 7-1. Clemens improved his record to 6-0, allowing only 2 hits and a single unearned run and Andrés Galarraga delivered a key homerun. Pete Hill had 3 hits in the game, which also saw George Brett return to the DL with a hamstring issue.

OF Johnny Damon was recalled from AAA.

Damon delivered with 2 hits and a homerun in his WBL debut, but the game was carried by Jeff Bagwell, who went deep twice, scored 4 times, and drove in 5 as Houston demolished Ottawa 14-5.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

Lefty James and Joe Morgan were recalled from their injury rehab assignments, with Lynn Breton and Denis Menke heading to AAA. The last was a bit of a surprise, but forced by Tommy Helms‘ fantastic performance with the ABC’s.

Despite a rough outing, Johnny Cueto became the first 7 game winner in the league, improving to 7-1 in a 9-8 victory over the Gothams. The Only Nolan, James, Jack Billingham, and Rob Murphy did enough in relief to preserve the win as Bob Bescher, Morgan, Joey Votto, and Jake Stenzel each went yard.

#Kansas City Monarchs

Boog Powell and Ducky Medwick each went yard twice as the Monarchs used a 6 run 8th to power an 11-4 win over Birmingham. Frank Castillo wasn’t very good, but he was good enough to hold on for the victory, improving to 6-0 on the season.

Later in the week, Castillo improved to 7-0 with a 4 hit shutout, striking out 14 (the most in the WBL this season) and walking none in a brilliant performance. Ozzie Smith and Medwick went deep in support of Castillo.

TWIWBL 63.1: Year 2, Week 6

By mknn

On July 10, 2024

In TWIWBL

May 7th

We’re slightly changing how TWIWBL works. Each week, we’ll focus on a new randomly chosen team in detail, and the featured series will be covered there, leaving this entry to focus on awards and individual performances.

#Awards

Houston‘s Jeff Bagwell used his 3 homerun game to take down the NL Player of the Week Award, hitting .381 with 11 RBI over the week. Over in the AL, Detroit‘s Ty Cobb, who is putting together a pretty special campaign so far, earned the AL Player of the Week with a .435 average and 6–SIX–homers and 14 RBI’s.

#Team Performance

The New York Black Yankees are clearly focused on erasing the poor memories of last season’s disappointments, leading the WBL with a .688 winning percentage and currently on a 6 game winning streak. Chicago and the surprising Kansas City Monarchs are the only other teams over .600, and each lead their divisions.

New York and the Detroit Wolverines are each 7-3 over their last 10 games.

At the other end, 3 teams are under .400, including the defending champion Baltimore Black Sox, along with Portland and the Birmingham Black Barons. Baltimore sits 11 games behind the Black Yankees, facing a significant uphill climb to get back into playoff position. It is, however, early May, so it’s certainly doable.

#Player Performance

Batters

Through the first month of the season, the WBL feels a little less like Babe Ruth‘s league offensively, as both Detroit’s Ty Cobb and Ottawa‘s Larry Walker are putting up numbers to rival the Babe, who doesn’t even lead the league in homeruns, sitting 1 behind teammate Mickey Mantle, Walker, and the House of David‘s Ryne Sandberg who all have 13. In addition to Ruth, another Black Yankee, Lou Gehrig, San Francisco‘s Jimmie Foxx, and Cleveland‘s Lance Berkman also have 12 dingers so far.

In fact, with his Player of the Week performance, it’s feeling a bit like Ty Cobb‘s world: Cobb leads the WBL in all 3 slash categories, as well as doubles and overall WAR, and is 2nd in hits and RBI.

Standard stuff: top 2 in most categories, leader in bold.

Ty Cobb (DET). 398/462/858. 45 H, 19 2B, 32 RBI, 2.6 WAR.
Mickey Cochrane (SFS). 368/452/667.
Eddie Collins (CAG). 311/438/485. 23 BB.
Eric Davis (NYY). 274/358/581. 30 R.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 393/430/598.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 295/389/562. 23 SB.
Pete Hill (HOU). 290/374/561. 5 3B.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 383/422/617. 46 H, 17 2B.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 306/374/621. 32 RBI.
Dick Lundy (SFS). 356/430/593. 2.3 WAR, 18 SB.
Mickey Mantle (NYY). 313/406/704. 13 HR.
Tim Raines (OTT). 286/385/545. 5 3B.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 286/406/661. 33 RBI, 32 RBI, 29 R, 23 BB.
Ryne Sandberg (HOD). 336/383/755. 13 HR.
Turkey Stearnes (SFS). 312/359/667. 5 3B.
Larry Walker (OTT). 374/433/776. 13 HR.
Bobby Wallace (BAL). 243/391/336. 24 BB.

One thing obvious from this list: the Black Yankees and the San Francisco Sea Lions are both on fire offensively, at least in the top halves of their lineups.

Pitchers

Year 2 is a bit more pitcher friendly than last season, to the point where I would expect to end the year with a handful of sub 3.00 ERAs (last season, there Andy Pettitte, then with Birmingham, led the league with a 3.20 mark).

Starters

Eight pitchers are tied for the league lead in wins with 5 each; we’ve only included the 4 who are undefeated in the list below.

Houston’s rubber-armed Toad Ramsey is having quite a moment, but it’s unlikely the knuckleballer can maintain this level of performance.

Mark Buehrle (CAG). 5-0, 1.49.
Frank Castillo (KCM). 5-0, 2.41.
Roger Clemens (HOU). 5-0, 3.48.
Johnny Cueto (IND). 5-1, 2.66. 0.93 WHIP.
Hardie Henderson (PHI). 5-1, 2.17. 1.6 WAR.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 1-5, 4.47. 48 IP, 47 K.
Luis Padrón (IND). 5-0, 2.35.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 5-2, 1.53. 53 IP, 65 K, 0.75 WHIP, 2.5 WAR.

Relievers

10 IP Minimum.

Rod Beck (SFS). 1-2, 7.20. 9 Sv.
Sandy Consuegra (MCG). 1-1, 0.66. 3 Sv, 1 H, 0.59 WHIP.
Mike Henneman (DET). 0-2, 0.77. 6 Sv.
Bob Howry (PHI). 2-1, 3.75. 7 Sv, 0.58 WHIP.
Eric Gagne (BRK). 0-0, 1.59. 9 Sv.
Eddie Guardado (KCM). 1-0, 0.77. 1 H.
Robb Nen (NYG). 1-0, 0.90. 8 Sv.
Jeff Pfeffer (KCM). 0-0, 3.86. 8 Sv.

2 Way Players

A new section for the opening TWIWBL is a check in on the players doing it both on the mound and at the plate led, perhaps surprisingly, by Indianapolis‘ Luis Padrón.

Player	Pitching	Batting	pWAR	bWAR	WAR
Luis Padrón (IND)	5-0, 2.35 (38 IP, 5 GS)	400/455/625 (44 PA)	1.3	0.5	1.8
Joe Rogan (PHI)	1-3, 5.81 (31 IP, 5 GS)	297/343/515 (108 PA)	0.0	0.6	0.6
J.M. Ward (PHI)	0-1, 3.00 (36 IP, 6 GS)	192/192/385 (26 PA)	0.7	-0.1	0.6
Jim Whitney (BBB)	0-1, 1.88 (24 IP, 12 G)	143/200/214 (15 PA)	0.5	-0.1	0.4
Eustaquio Pedroso (MCG)	0-0, 4.26 (19 IP, 10 G)	208/345/208 (29 PA)	0.3	-0.1	0.2

Ted Williams (Memphis), Cristóbal Torriente (CAG), Martín Dihigo (Miami Cuban Giants), and Smokey Joe Wood (KCM) (among others) have yet to really be used in a 2-way capacity.

#INJURY REPORT

Indianapolis’ Joe Morgan should start a rehab assignment mid-week, as should Miami’s José Méndez.

TWIWBL 60.1: Year 2 – Week 3

By mknn

On May 29, 2024

In TWIWBL

April 16

#Team News

The best record in the league falls to the Kansas City Monarchs, who have won 9 in a row and sit atop the Marvin Miller Division at 10-2. The Chicago American Giants are 9-3.

At the other end, the Portland Sea Dogs are off to a rough start at 4-10, and Birmingham and defending Whirled Champion Baltimore are barely better at 4-9. Very early days, of course.

#Player News

Kansas City’s Albert Pujols was the NL Player of the Week, hitting .500 (10 for 20) with 2 homers over the span. Miami‘s Jim Thome took home the honors in the AL, hitting .458 with 6 homeruns and 12 RBI for the week.

Some fun stat lines from the early going:

Gary Carter (OTT). 412/500/941. 5 HR.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 510/527/804. 26 H; 1.2 WAR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 510/547/878. 12 2B; 17 R; 1.2 WAR.
Ryne Sandberg (HOD). 465/478/1.093. 8 HR. 18 RBI.
Frank Thomas (CAG). 435/527/739.
Jim Thome (MCG). 372/500/884.

In case you missed it there, Sandberg’s SLG is over 1.000 at the moment.

On the mound, Smokey Joe Wood (KCM) hasn’t allowed an earned run and Memphis‘ Jon Lester has an ERA of 0.75. Kansas City’s Luke Hamlin, Waite Hoyt of the New York Black Yankees, and Jack Taylor of the House of David each have 3 wins, and San Francisco‘s Rod Beck and Detroit‘s Mike Henneman have 5 saves each.

#Injury Watch

A few important ones over the first couple weeks (only considering injuries that will last a couple of weeks at minimum):

Once more the House of David is without their offensive leader, as Pete Browning will miss about a month.
San Francisco’s Tim Hudson may have suffered a career-threatening shoulder injury; at a minimum he’ll miss about 4 months.
Miami’s Julio Rodríguez is out for 2 more weeks, as is Portland’s 2B Rogers Hornsby.
Joe Morgan of the Indianapolis ABC’s will miss about a month with a badly sprained ankle.

Some players are, of course, healing, with Baltimore’s Ned Garvin–the most dominant pitcher in the league when he went down last year–likely to begin a rehabilitation assignment sometime this week. Philadelphia‘s promising stud Aaron Judge should return this week, as will Portland’s young hurler, Walter Ball.

#Featured Series

This time we’re going to go with a 3 game set between the 6-5 Ottawa Mounties visiting the 10-2 Kansas City Monarchs.

We picked this series because the Monarchs have won 9 in a row and Ottawa is a shock in the young season, carrying a team OPS of 1.001–their overall slash line as a unit is 343/406/595, figures that easily lead the league (it’s not like the Monarchs are struggling at the plate, posting a 329/370/566 line as a team).

Ottawa was horrible on the mound last year, and really haven’t been much better so far, with a 6.14 team ERA while Kansas City’s hurlers have been, as you may guess from their record, excellent as a unit, one of only 2 teams with a sub-4.00 ERA at 3.83.

Probable Matchups:

Ottawa hurler listed first.

Bob Moose (1-0, 6.52) @ José Rijo (1-1, 8.68)
Randy Johnson (1-0, 7.71) @ Smokey Joe Wood (2-0, 0.00)
Old Hoss Radbourn (2-1, 2.61) @ Frank Castillo (2-0, 3.38)

Game One

The one game that seemed least likely to be a pitching duel was, in fact, a pitching duel. Both Ottawa’s Bob Moose (2 hits and 1 earned run in 6 innings) and Kansas City’s José Rijo (4 hits and 2 earned runs in 6 innings) were excellent, but Ted Simmons‘ second 500 foot plus moon shot of the year was a 2-run walkoff blast, propelling the Monarchs to victory in the opening game of the series.

OTT 2 (Hammaker 0-2) @ KCM 4 (DiPino 1-0)
HRs: OTT – Carter (6); KCM – Murphy (3), Simmons (4).
Box Score

Game Two

It didn’t take long for Ottawa to score off Smokey Joe Wood: Tim Raines doubled to lead off the game, stole third, and scored on a sac fly from Roberto Alomar, events made noteworthy as it was the first run off Wood all season. Ottawa would add 2 more in the inning, and then 3 more in the top of the 3rd behind a double from Larry Walker, a triple from Carlos Beltrán, and an inside the park homerun from Sam Thompson.

Randy Johnson was slated to start the game for the Mounties, but when he was unable to go, Ottawa turned to Clark Griffith. Griffith gave up a 3 run shot to Boog Powell in the bottom of the 3rd, halving Ottawa’s lead. Griffith didn’t pitch poorly, allowing only 5 hits in 5 innings, but the Monarchs have been masters of timely offense so far, converting those 4 hits into 5 runs.

Dupee Shaw relieved Griffith, giving up a long RBI double to Robinson Canó to tie the game.

An Adrian Beltré homerun off Bob Shawkey put Ottawa back in front, 8-6.

There was some more scoring–a solo shot from Walker in the 9th and Powell’s second of the game in the bottom of the frame–but Ottawa held on for the 10-7 win, evening the series.

Walker went 4 for 4 and scored 3 times and Thompson finished with 3 RBIs for Ottawa while Powell drove in 5 on 3 hits for the Monarchs.

OTT 10 (Shaw 1-1, 1 B Sv; Ryan 1 H; Dempster 2 Sv) – KCM 7 (Shawkey 1-1)
HRs: OTT – Thompson (3), Beltré (3), Walker (5); KCM – Powell 2 (4), Smith (1).
Box Score

Game Three

This is what Ottawa hoped for from Randy Johnson: 6 fairly dominant innings with 6 strikeouts and only 2 runs allowed. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as some timely hitting from the Monarchs–a 2 run double from Willie McGee, a homerun from Ducky Medwick, and Lou Brock and Ozzie Smith scoring 3 runs from the bottom of the lineup as Kansas City took the rubber match, 4-2.

Frank Castillo was even better than Johnson, allowing only 3 hits in almost 7 innings, with Dustin Hermanson, Craig Kimbrel, and Jeff Pfeffer combining to allow a single hit in 2.1 innings of relief.

OTT 2 (Gregg 0-1) @ KCM 4 (Hermanson 1-0; Pfeffer 5 Sv; Kimbrel 4 H)
HRs: KCM – Medwick (1).
Box Score

WBL Year II Statistics

I needed a place to hold statistics that aren’t easily displayed in OOTP. Most of these are game-level performances.

For complete statistics, poke around on the WBL Stats Page.

Batting Statistics

2+ 3B Games

2. Bob Bescher (IND); Craig Biggio (HOU), Ty Cobb (DET); Willie McGee (KCM); Tim Raines (OTT).

3+ 2B Games

4. Chuck Knoblauch (CLE).
3. Craig Biggio (HOU); Ron Cey (BRK); Cupid Childs (BBB); Ty Cobb (DET); Gavvy Cravath (BAL); Josh Gibson (HOM); Hank Greenberg (DET); Joe Jackson (CAG); Joe Morgan (IND); Frank Robinson (BAL); Cookie Rojas (MCG); Pete Runnels (NYG); Reggie Smith (MEM); Mike Trout (LAA).

3+ HBP Games

3. Jack Doyle (CAG).

3+ HR Games

3. Jeff Bagwell (HOU); Ed Bailey (DET); Ernie Banks (HOD); Carlos Beltrán (OTT); Lance Berkman (CLE); Ron Blomberg (CLE); Ryan Braun (MCG); José Canseco (MCG); Gavvy Cravath (BAL); George Gore (HOD); Stan Musial (KCM); Manny Ramírez (MEM); Álex Rodríguez (OTT); Babe Ruth (NYY); Sammy Sosa (HOD); Mike Trout (LAA); Larry Walker (OTT).

3+ OF Assists

4+ BB Games

4. Ed Bailey (DET); Eddie Collins (CAG); Mike Epstein (HOM); Willie McGee (KCM); Andrew McCutchen (HOM), Joey Votto (IND).

4+ CS Games

4. Johnny Bench (IND); Gabby Hartnett (MEM); Jorge Posada (HOU).

4+ Run Games

5. Chuck Knoblauch (CLE); Tris Speaker (CLE).
4. Roberto Alomar x2 (OTT); Jeff Bagwell x2 (HOU); Bob Bailey (DET); Ed Bailey (DET); Johnny Bates x2 (CLE); Albert Belle (BBB); Curt Blefary x2 (BAL); Dan Brouthers (BRK); Ron Cey (BRK); Roberto Clemente (HOM); Gavvy Cravath (BAL); Mike Epstein (HOM); Rickey Henderson (SFS); Benny Kauff (NYG); Willie McGee (KCM); Billy Nash (DET); Yasiel Puig (MCG); Babe Ruth (NYY); Gary Sheffield (MCG); Jim Wynn (HOU).

4+ SB Games

6. Rickey Henderson (SFS).
4. Frank Chance (HOD); Rickey Henderson (SFS); Dick Lundy (SFS).

5+ Hit Games

5. Jeff Bagwell (HOU); Don Buford (LAA); Joe Jackson (CAG); Chuck Knoblauch (CLE); Mike Trout (LAA).

5+ SO Games

5. Beals Becker (BRK); Bobby Bonds (SFS); Ron Cey (BRK); Larry Doby (CLE); Héctor López (NYY); Dale Murphy (KCM).

6+ RBI Games

7. Jeff Bagwell (HOU); Ron Blomberg (CLE); Carlton Fisk (CAG); Charlie Gehringer (DET); Manny Machado (BAL); Yasiel Puig (MCG); Gary Sheffield (MCG).
6. Hank Aaron (BBB); Bob Bailey (DET); Ernie Banks (HOD); Johnny Callison (NYG); Gavvy Cravath (BAL); Chili Davis (DET); Josh Gibson (HOM); Mickey Mantle (NYY); Mike Piazza (BRK); Manny Ramírez (MEM); Babe Ruth x3 (NYY); Ryne Sandberg (HOD); Mike Schmidt (NYY); Roy White (BRK).

Cycles

Roberto Clemente (HOM; 4-5, 4R, 3 RBI).

Longest HRs

{Note: OOTP clearly has something weird happening with overpowered HRs. It’s getting better, and, at some point, I’m going to reduce these by roughly 10%, which would leave the list at only 3 at 500 ft+ for the season so far, which seems much more realistic to me, but am waiting to see if I get any additional info/guidance from the game dev’s.}

595 ft. Dale Murphy (KCM).
558 ft. Aaron Judge (PHA).
555 ft. Albert Pujols (KCM).
551 ft. Eddie Mathews (BBB).
550 ft. Lance Berkman (CLE).
544 ft. Eddie Mathews (BBB).
542 ft. Ron Blomberg (CLE); Evan Longoria (CLE).
539 ft. Johnny Bates (CLE); Craig Biggio (HOU).
538 ft. Josh Gibson (HOM), Pete Hill (HOU); Buster Posey (NYG).
535 ft. Buster Posey (NYG).
534 ft. Robinson Canó (KCM).
530 ft. Dale Murphy (KCM).
528 ft. Johnny Callison (NYG); Willie Mays (NYG).
527 ft. Joe Adcock (NYG).
525 ft. Bullet Joe Rogan (PHI).
522 ft. Ron Blomberg (CLE).
519 ft. Babe Ruth (NYY).
518 ft. Willie Mays (NYG).
516 ft. Hank Aaron (BBB); Bob Nieman (BBB).
514 ft. Ron Cey (BRK); Oscar Gamble (DET).
512 ft. Tony Gwynn (HOU).
511 ft. Lance Berkman (CLE); Dan Brouthers (BRK).
510 ft. Ron Blomberg (CLE).
509 ft. Johnny Callison (NYG); Jack Clark (SFS); Bryce Harper (BAL); Ted Simmons (KCM).
508 ft. Ron Blomberg (CLE); Boog Powell (KCM); Travis Shaw (MEM).
507 ft. Ducky Medwick (KCM); Ted Simmons (KCM).
505 ft. Lou Gehrig (NYA).
503 ft. Larry Doyle (NYG); Joe Rogan (PHI); Ryne Sandberg (HOD); Oscar Gamble (DET).
502 ft. Ernie Banks (HOD); Albert Belle (BBB); Robinson Canó (KCM); Ray Dandridge (BRK); Mike Epstein (HOM).
501 ft. Derek Jeter (NYA).
500 ft. Andrew McCutchen (HOM).

Pitching Statistics

80+ Game Scores

99. José Rijo (KCM).
97. JM Ward (PHI).
93. Frank Castillo (KCM); Lefty Grove (SFS); Toad Ramsey (HOU).
92. Bump Hadley (SFS).
91. Frank Knauss (BRK); Christy Mathewson (NYG); Toad Ramsey (HOU)
90. Brian Anderson (LAA); A. Rube Foster (KCM); Alejandro Peña (BBB); Toad Ramsey (HOU); Joe Rogan (PHI).
89. Smokey Joe Wood (KCM).
88. Luis Padrón (IND); Bill Steen (CLE); Justin Verlander (DET).
87. Roger Clemens (HOU); Lefty Grove (SFS); Carl Hubbell (NYG); Francisco Liriano (HOM); Dennis Martínez (BAL); Jim Whitney (BBB).
86. A. Rube Foster (KCM); Doc Gooden (LAA).
85. Roger Clemens (HOU); Gerrit Cole (LAA); Lefty Grove (SFS); Hardie Henderson (PHI); Eddie Plank (SFS); Jameson Taillon (MEM); Ed Walsh (CAG).
84. Frank Castillo (KCM); Ron Guidry (NYY); Orel Hershiser (BRK); Ed Walsh (CAG).
83. Bob Friend (HOM); Mike Mussina (BAL).
82. Mark Buehrle (CAG); Bill Doak (MEM); Toad Ramsey (HOU).
80. Walter Johnson (POR); The Only Nolan (IND); Andy Pettitte (NYY); Toad Ramsey (HOU).

10+ Strikeout Games

14. Frank Castillo (KCM); Toad Ramsey (HOU).
13. Brian Anderson (LAA); Ron Guidry (NYY); Charlie Root (DET).
12. Johnny Cueto (IND); Doc Gooden (LAA); Lefty Grove (SFS); Bump Hadley (SFS); Mike Mussina (BAL); Toad Ramsey x2 (HOU); José Rijo (KCM); Bill Steen (CLE); JM Ward (PHI).
11. Johnny Cueto (IND); Ron Guidry (NYY); Connie Johnson (BAL); Walter Johnson (POR); Frank Knauss (BRG); Christy Mathewson (NYG); The Only Nolan (IND); Old Hoss Radbourn (OTT); Toad Ramsey x2 (HOU); Don Sutton (NYG); Justin Verlander (DET); Smokey Joe Williams (BRK).
10. Steve Carlton (PHI); Frank Castillo (KCM); Watty Clark (SFS); Bob Friend (HOM); Doc Gooden (LAA); Lefty Grove (SFS); Ron Guidry x2 (NYY); Hardie Henderson (PHI); Orel Hershiser (BRK); Frank Knauss (BRK); Ramón Martínez (MCG); Billy Pierce (HOM); Don Sutton (NYG); Smokey Joe Williams (BRK).

8+ Walk Games

8. Ed Brandt (MCG); Hardie Henderson (PHI).
9. Randy Johnson (OTT).

Shutouts

NO HITS. José Rijo (IND).
1 Hit. A. Rube Foster (KCM); Luis Padrón (IND); Toad Ramsey (HOU).
2 Hits. A. Rube Foster (KCM); Lefty Grove (SFS); Bump Hadley (SFS); Frank Knauss (BRK); Francisco Liriano (HOM); Dennis Martínez (BAL); Joe Rogan (PHI).
3 Hits. Frank Castillo (KCM); Roger Clemens (HOU); Lefty Grove (SFS); Carl Hubbell (NYG); Christy Mathewson (NYG); Eddie Plank (SFS); Toad Ramsey (HOU).
4 Hits. Frank Castillo (KCM); Gerrit Cole (LAA); Doc Gooden (LAA); Lefty Grove (SFS); Jim Whitney (BBB).

Shutouts (Combined)

1 Hit. Justin Verlander / Mike Henneman (DET); Bill Steen / Terry Adams (CLE).
2 Hits. Jameson Taillon / Skel Roach / Andrew Miller (MEM); Ed Walsh / Tom Williams (CAG); Pud Galvin / Francisco Rodríguez / Joe Nathan (LAA); Brett Anderson / Ross Reynolds (LAA).
3 Hits. Hardie Henderson / Robin Roberts (PHI); Orel Hershiser / Eric Gagne (BRK).
4 Hits. Toad Ramsey / Bones Ely (HOU); Hardie Henderson / Brad Kilby / Tim Belcher / Ted Kennedy (PHI); Dwight Gooden / Francisco Rodríguez (LAA); Bump Hadley / Jim Devlin / Ken Howell / Rod Beck (SFS); Greg Maddux / John Malarkey / Bruce Chen / Juan Rincón (BBB); Johnny Podgajny / Tom Henke (OTT).
5 Hits. Kenshin Kawakami / Barry Latman / Ed Brandt / Sandy Consuegra (MCG); Len Barker / David Bush / Andrew Miller (MEM); Johnny Cueto / Sad Sam Jones / Rob Murphy / Rob Dibble (IND); Smoky Joe Wood / Mike Kume (KCM).