Baseball The Way It Never Was

Tag: Gene Tenace

Series X Featured Game: Birmingham Black Barons @ Homestead Grays

This one is a little different …

Birmingham‘s Alejandro Pena came into the game on a bit of a roll, having improved his numbers to a record of 3-3 and an ERA of 3.35. Homestead‘s Corey Kluber was just trying to stay in the league, with a record of 0-6 and an ERA over 6.

Kluber lasted only 2 innings before injury forced him from the game. He had given up one unearned run when, in the top of the first, an error by Mike Epstein allowed Tom Herr to score. Carlos Zambrano who, if anything, has been hit harder than Kluber, relieved him.

Pena allowed a run in the bottom of the 3rd and the bottom of the 4th on a sacrifice fly from Andrew McCutcheon and a bases-loaded walk to Honus Wagner that scored Josh Gibson.

So, 2-1 Homestead after 4 innings.

And then … that was it.

Pena put in 8 innings, allowing 6 hits and the 2 runs (only 1 was earned), and the combination of Kluber, Zambrano, Billy Pierce, and Michael Jackson had kept Birmingham from scoring again.

Homestead’s closer, Josh Lindblom, came into the game in the top of the 9th to close out the impressive win … and, after getting the first out, gave up a single to Billy Southworth, a walk to Troy Tulowitzki, a single to Herr, and a sacrifice fly to Frank McCormick, tying the game.

And then … that was it. For a long time, that was it.

For Birmingham, Wilhelm added 2 more innings, closer Carlos Diaz followed with 2 more, and Larry Benton added 3. For Homestead, Kent Tekulve added 2.2 and then Hal Carlson stepped in with the bullpen deeply depleted and delivered 4 crucial innings.

All scoreless. Through the 12th, scoreless. Through the 16th, scoreless. Through the 18th, scoreless.

And then … that was it.

Earl Hamilton had followed Carlson, and held Birmingham scoreless for 1.2 innings. He took the mound in the top of the 19th, and induced a groundout from Hank Aaron.

But then the floodgates opened: Omar Infante doubled, Southworth singled, and Tulowitzki broke the tie with an RBI single. Herr singled to load the bases, and McCormick walked. Then the Black Barons really took control, with Frank Isbell doubling home 2 more runs.

With Hamilton clearly gassed, the Grays called on Ray Brown, who got out of the inning, but not before allowing RBI singles to Gene Tenace, Eddie Mathews, and Infante.

So, inning after inning of no offense and then, in the top of the 19th, 7 runs for Birmingham.

It was enough: Warren Spahn retired the side in order and the Black Barons left with the win, 9-2. Honestly, Birmingham deserved to win much earlier: they banged out 28 hits during the 19 innings, with Herr and Isbell each going 5-for-10, Aaron adding 4 hits, and Infante and Southworth 3 hits apiece. But 24 of their 28 hits were singles: the Black Barons left a whopping 23 batters on base in the game.

Homestead had only 10 hits on the day, with 3 of them coming off the bat of Rick Reichardt. All 10 were singles, and the Grays had their own struggles with timing base knocks, leaving 14 runners on base.

A remarkable, and totally unexpected pitching performance from Birmingham. Even with that, both teams bullpens are likely to suffer for a few games from this one.

BBB 9 (Spahn 2-4) @ HOM 2 (Hamilton 0-1; Jackson 2 H; Lindblom 2 BS) [19 Innings]
HRs: none
Box Score

TWIWBL 3.1: Notes from Series II

#Baltimore Black Sox

Frank Robinson went 9 for 19 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs as Baltimore took 3 out of 4 from Chicago.

#Birmingham Black Barons

The Black Barons remain winless on the season after dropping 4 to the New York Black Yankees … Warren Spahn and Scott Baker have both been torched in their 2 starts. Both are 0-2, with Spahn’s ERA ballooning above 20 … Dale Murphy is hitless on the year, starting the season 0 for 14; while Eddie Mathews and Chipper Jones went hitless for the series … Gene Tenace at 286/400/714 is about the only bright spot for Birmingham offensively.

#Chicago American Giants

RP Ken Sanders has yet to allow a hit over 4 appearances … Shoeless Joe Jackson hit .500 in the 4 game series against Baltimore.

#Cleveland Spiders

The Spiders sent SP Hardie Henderson to AAA to make room for Bill Steen‘s return from the DL, but the injuries kept coming as OF Rowland Office will be unavailable for the next 2 weeks and SS Bill Dahlen was put on the 10 Day DL … Rick Burleson was recalled to take Dahlen’s place … Larry Doby–considered a key to the Spiders’ success this year–went 3 for 18 in the 4 game split with Los Angeles … looking for some more flexibility, the Spiders recalled Tom Brookens from AAA, sending down Robby Thompson.

#Houston Colt 45’s

3B George Brett went 9 for 19 with 5 RBIs in a 4 game series with Homestead, but Houston only managed a single victory.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

With Joe Morgan out for 10 days, the ABC’s recalled Lonny Frey from AAA … Hal Morris continued his hot start, going 7 for 15 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs as Indianapolis swept a 4 game series from Memphis.

#Kansas City Monarchs

The Monarchs relievers have been fantastic, with Frank DiPino, Craig Kimbrel, and Adam Wianwright combining for 7 scoreless IP out of the pen and Jeff Pfeffer has 3 saves … Albert Pujols led the Monarchs to 3 victories in 4 games against Houston with 9 hits in 15 ABs, including 3 2Bs and a HR.

#Los Angeles Angels

Larry Anderson and Chuck Finley have been great out of the bullpen, each going 1-0 without giving up a run in a combined 10.2 IP, placing Finley in line for the next spot start … Don Buford had a rough series, going 1 for 14.

#Memphis Red Sox

When David Bush went on the DL, the Red Sox had to scramble a bit, resulting in Tim Wakefield and Eddie Cicotte joining the WBL roster and Derek Lowe being sent back down to AAA … Joe Beggs, Dean Chance, Turk Farrell, and Wakefield have combined for just shy of 20 bullpen innings, giving up a total of 8 hits and 0 runs, which you would think would result in better results than being swept in 4 games against Indianapolis … 3B Wade Boggs, Vern Stephens, and Ted Williams combined to go 5 for 46 (.109) in the 4 games.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Eustaquio Pedroso has been absolutely rocked in 2 starts, giving up 13 hits and 9 runs in only 4 IP and–not surprisingly–going 0-2.

#New York Black Yankees

The Black Yankees scored 42 runs in sweeping a 4 game series from Birmingham … Babe Ruth went 9 for 18 in the series, which is nothing compared to Eric Davis‘ 7 for 16 with 3 HRs and 12 RBIs.

#Ottawa Mounties

The injury to Gary Peters–and general overusage of the bullpen–led to the Mounties’ recalling Felix Hernandez for a start, then sending him down in exchange for Monk Dubiel. Hernandez did well, giving the Mounties 7 decent innings, keeping him in line for future promotions. Dubiel was better, keeping the Mounties in the final game of the series, allowing 3 runs in 7.2 IP … Old Hoss Radbourn has been spectacular in 3 relief appearances covering 8.2 IP, putting him in line for a start in the near future … there was plenty of blame to go around as Ottawa was swept by Philadelphia in a 4 game series, but much of it goes to 1B Carlos Delgado and OF Terry Puhl, who combined for only 4 hits in 25 ABs.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Jack Clark struggled in a series against the Wandering House of David, managing only 2 hits in 17 ABs … at the other side of the spectrum, Bobby Bonds is on fire, going 8 for 13 with 5 RBIs in the same series.

#Wandering House of David

The House of David’s bullpen has been pretty fantastic, with Tom Niedenfuer, Joakim Soria, Bruce Sutter, and Dick Tidrow combining for 11 IP without giving up a run and Rollie Fingers managing a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 IP … Elrod Hendricks cooled off significantly as the House of David took 3 out of 4 games from San Francisco, managing only 1 hit in 12 ABs.

Season Preview: Birmingham Black Barons

There are the makings of a good offense here, but the pitching is riddled with question marks, and the defense is easily the worst in the league. Still, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews look solid, and if Emil Frisk can continue to hit like he has this Spring, they should score their share of runs.

Final Roster

SP: Alejandro Pena, Fred Fussell, Scott Baker, Dick Rudolph, Warren Spahn.
RP: John Clarkson & Jim Whitney; Hoyt Wilhelm & Sam Streeter; Juan Rincon & Harley Young; Carlos Diaz.

C: Gene Tenace; Dale Murphy
1BFrank McCormick
2B: Frank Isbell; Tom Herr
3BEddie Mathews; Chipper Jones
SSOmar Infante; Troy Tulowitzki
LFHank Aaron
CFGinger Beaumont
RFAl Schweitzer
DH: Emil Frisk

Notes

The bullpen has an interesting construction for Birmingham. With 3 starters unlikely to go deep in ballgames (Alejandro Pena, Fred Fussell, and Scott Baker), there is a need to eat innings, meaning the Black Barons may turn quite often to the quartet of Hoyt Wilhelm (who has struggled all Spring), Sam Streeter, John Clarkson, and Jim Whitney Dale Murphy had a horrible Spring, but Del Crandall was even worse, preserving Murphy’s spot on the roster behind Gene Tenace at C … another team struggling at SS, where Omar Infante came out of nowhere to win the starting job, with Troy Tulowitzki‘s glove edging out Herman Long in reserve … it wouldn’t be surprising for Birmingham to make some trades as, in addition to SS, LF is an area of real need. Currently, Hank Aaron looks like the starter, but he’s better suited to RF than LF … that said, the severity of Emil Frisk‘s yet-to-be-diagnosed injury could have an impact here as well … Ginger Beaumont held off Curtis Granderson to keep the starter’s role in CF.

39 year old IF Chipper Jones is winding down his career and is the oldest player on the roster by 7 years (ahead of P Fred Fussell and 1B Frank McCormick). OF Hank Aaron and 3B Eddie Mathews both look to have long careers ahead of them, projected as starters at 21 years old each.

There is some decent talent at AAA, led by 21 year old C phenom Earl Battey. At the same age, both Greg Maddux and Vic Willis could help on the mound, although John Malarkey may be more polished. 19 year old 3B Billy Nash is the brightest light at AA.

Spring Training Preview: Birmingham

  • The final 2 rotation spots are being fought over by Vic Willis, John Clarkson, and Warren Spahn.
    • Other than Alejandro Pena, the starters have been mediocre (Spahn) at best and very poor (Jim Whitney) at worst. More starts and IPs are needed here with Scott Baker having pushed his way into the mix as well.
      • Pena, Spahn, and Whitney have been confirmed in the rotation, with Clarkson, John Malarkey, Baker, Greg Maddux, and Tim Hudson fighting over the last 2 spots.
  • The bullpen has no clear leader, however: this looks like a bullpen by committee situation, unless Carlos Diaz or Juan Rincon can take hold of the closer spot.
    • The back end has clarified some: Ron Perranoski‘s Spring performance has been bad enough to move him to AAA, while Jack Wisner, Fred Fussell, and Hoyt Wilhelm are holding on to their roster spots by threads.
      • Wisner and Jay Howell were sent back to AAA (with Tommy Bond coming back as a reserve arm), but the bullpen is still unsettled. Harley Young has been the best of the bunch so far, but he really doesn’t look like closer material. Rincon has struggled, so Diaz looks most likely to be the closer on opening day.
  • 1B is up for grabs between Frank McCormick and Jake Beckley.
  • While Emil Frisk is the highest rated OF, the rest is up for grabs between Bob Nieman, Billy Southworth, Ginger Beaumont, Andy Pafko, Hank Aaron, and Al Schweitzer.
    • Curtis Granderson has forced himself into the conversation as well, with Pafko, Southworth, and Schweitzer all struggling mightily and Ken Griffey, Sr. earning a trip back to AAA.
      • Pafko is also back in AAA, with Woody English, Omar Infante, and Alfonso Soriano coming the other way.
  • Dale Murphy has hit best at C, leaving Del Crandall struggling as the 3rd option and perhaps threatening Gene Tenace‘s starting role.
  • The competition at 3B between Chipper Jones and Eddie Mathews is closer than expected, with Jones having the better Spring so far.
  • While 2B is still unclear–Tom Herr is out-performing Frank IsbellCupid Childs is heading to AAA.
Near DefiniteLikelyPossibleLong Shot
Starting PitchersAlejandro Pena
Jim Whitney
Warren Spahn
John Malarkey
John Clarkson
Scott Baker
Tim Hudson
Greg Maddux
Middle RelieversHoyt Wilhelm
Vic Willis
Fred Fussell
Sam Streeter
Tommy Bond
SetupHarley YoungJuan Rincon
CloserCarlos Diaz
CGene TenaceDale MurphyDel Crandall
1BFrank McCormick
Jake Beckley
2BFrank Isbell
Tom Herr
Omar Infante
3BEddie MathewsChipper Jones
SSHerman LongGeorge McBride
Troy Tulowitzki
Woody English
OFEmil FriskGinger Beaumont
Hank Aaron
Curtis Granderson
Bob Nieman
Billy Southworth
Al Schweitzer
Alfonso Soriano

Page 3 of 3

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén