Tag: Germany Smith

TWIWBL 25.4: Series XIX Notes – Marvin Miller Division

On June 10, 2022

#Birmingham Black Barons

With all of the trades, the Black Barons brought Warren Spahn back to the big leagues and promoted both Kent Mercker and Bruce Chen. Changes in the field include a platoon at first between Frank McCormick and newcomer Adrián González and at third between Eddie Mathews and Pie Traynor. Herman Long and Ginger Beaumont were both promoted as well.

Bob Nieman and Del Crandall had 3 hits each and Hank Aaron drove in 3 runs as the Black Barons started the 2nd half with a 7-3 victory over Philadelphia.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Darren Dreifort joins the Royal Giants’ bullpen and newcomer Frank Isbell steps right into the lineup.

With Ray Dandridge missing a couple weeks, the Royal Giants recalled SS Germany Smith from AAA.

#Miami Cuban Giants

José Méndez and Eustaquio Pedroso join the rotation, with Sandy Consuegra, Bill Landrum, and Phenomenal Smith all getting promotions to the big leagues. Alan Ashby took over a the fulltime catcher, with newly acquired Chris Hoiles his backup and Charlie Bennett moving to AAA.

Alexei Ramírez was sent to AAA as was José Tartabull (whose WBL stay lasted exactly one game) as both Alejandro Oms and Martín Dihigo were activated from the DL.

José Cardenal went deep twice and Ashby drilled a go-ahead 3-run homerun to lead the Cuban Giants to a come from behind, 8-6 victory over the Grays.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Frank Williams and Pascual Pérez move up to Portland’s bullpen. Rogers Hornsby‘s arrival means Fred Dunlap goes down to AAA, as Greg Litton‘s flexibility continues to keep him around.

Wade Miller improved to 6-0 by carrying a no-hitter through 6 innings en route to a 7-2 victory over the New York Gothams. Buddy Bell had 3 hits and he and Harry Hooper drove in 2 runs each for the Sea Dogs.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Lots of churn here. Huston Street and Eddie Joost were waived, although the Sea Lions hope to retain them. With a lot of moving parts, the Sea Lions are taking a risk by going with only one shortstop–Miguel Cairo–until Dick Lundy comes of the DL. Ron Hunt and Sal Bando are called up in the interim.

Two homeruns by Pedro Guerrero and a stellar start by Charlie Root weren’t enough as Indianapolis came back to beat San Francisco 4-3 in 10 innings. Chad Bradford balked in the winning run after Rod Beck suffered his third blown save of the season.

Series XIX: Best Games – Chicago American Giants @ Brooklyn Royal Giants

By mknn

On May 13, 2022

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

And with all that, we are back from the first All-Star Break!

The theme in Series XIX was what came after the great starting pitching, as three of the games feature no-hitters in the early going.

#Chicago American Giants @ Brooklyn Royal Giants, Game Four

The American Giants would send Dick Rudolph to the mind, hoping to salvage a split of the series against Brooklyn, with the Royal Giants countering with young Sandy Koufax.

Frank Isbell–acquired by Brooklyn over the all-star break–singled off Rudolph in the bottom of the first and Jermaine Dye singled and scored on a double by Duke Snider in the bottom of the 4th.

And that was it.

Rudolph was good. But Koufax was masterful.

He was perfect through five innings before walking Mike Fiore and Freddy Parent to start the 6th, and didn’t allow a hit until the top of the 8th, when Dick Allen led off with a single and, after Carlton Fisk whiffed, Fiore hit a homerun. That was it for Koufax, who was clearly tiring, but what a performance!

After Koufax was replaced by Trevor Hildenberger, Freddy Parent singled and scored on a double by Magglio Ordóñez, putting Chicago in front, 3-1.

Rudolph allowed six hits, but only the single run through 7 innings. But his replacement, Sonny Dixon, wasn’t as strong, allowing a leadoff double to Beals Becker in the bottom of the 8th, and eventually seeing Becker score on a groundout from Dye.

Chicago sent their closer, A.J. Minter, to the mound in the bottom of the 9th with a 3-2 lead. Roy White doubled to lead off the inning, but Minter retired Ron Cey and Hi Myers, putting the American Giants one out away from the win … but Al López ripped a single through the infield, scoring White and sending the game to extra innings.

Fisk started the extra frame with a double off Eric Gagne. After one out, Parent–acquired as the final piece in Chicago’s postseason push–hit his second homerun as an American Giant, making the score 5-3.

Minter retired Isbell to start the bottom of the tenth, and was then replaced by Clay Condrey to close the game. But Germany Smith, in his first at-bat in the big leagues, greeted Condrey with the first hit of his WBL career, a homerun that just cleared the right field fence. Condrey retired Jackie Robinson for the second out, and walked Duke Snider. Up stepped White, who has really been the heart and soul of Brooklyn all year … and he deposited Condrey’s pitch into the right-field stands for a walk off victory for Brooklyn.

Chicago 5 (Condrey 0-1, 1 BSv; Dixon 3 H; Minter 1 BSv) @ Brooklyn 6 (Von Ohlen 5-0) [10 Innings]
HRs: CAG – Fiore (8), Parent (2); BRK – Smith (1), White (9).
Box Score

#Other Games of Note

Two games from the Los Angeles Angels‘ visit to Memphis bear mentioning. In the first, Los Angeles jumped out to 6-0 lead while Doc Gooden carried a no-hitter through 4 innings before Jim Pagliaroni singled with one out in the fifth. Two singles and a walk would chase Gooden … and then the wheels would come off for the Angels, who ended up giving up 7 runs in the inning. Mike Trout would hit one out of the park in the 8th to put them ahead, and the Angels, led by Carlos Delgado‘s 4-for-5 debut after his acquisition from Ottawa, would win, 9-7.

Another pitcher would take a no-hitter into the middle of the third game of the series, but it wasn’t the WBL leader in wins, Los Angeles’ Gerrit Cole. Instead, Memphis’ Tim Wakefield had his knuckleball dancing, not allowing a hit until Don Buford‘s solo homerun in the top of the 6th. The back end of the Angels’ bullpen wasn’t available, forcing Los Angeles to turn to Harry Howell to close out the game, which didn’t work out well, as Memphis’ David Justice took Howell deep for a walk-off homer to win the game for the Red Sox.

Los Angeles 9 (Rodríguez 2-0; Venters 9 H; Nathan 11 Sv) @ Memphis 7 (Farrell 0-3, 4 BSv)
HRs: LAA – Delgado (1), Trout (8)
Box Score

Los Angeles 3 (Howell 3-5, 1 BSv) @ Memphis 4 (Bell 5-3)
HRs: LAA – Buford (6), Delgado (2); MEM – Justice (1)
Box Score

Lefty Grove and Doc White locked horns in the second game between Indianapolis and San Francisco, which was scoreless through 6. Indianapolis scored 4 times in the top of the 7th, keyed by a 2-run double by Jake Stenzel, and held on as Lefty James retired Pedro Guerrero with the bases loaded to preserve a 4-3 victory for the ABC’s.

Indianapolis 4 (Faber 5-4; James 1 Sv; Dibble 1 H) @ San Francisco 3 (Grove 8-4)
HRs: None
Box Score

TWIWBL 24.2: Mid-Season Reviews – Brooklyn Royal Giants

By mknn

On February 17, 2022

In Team News, TWIWBL

Summary

Brooklyn sits in 2nd place in the Marvin Miller Division, only 3.5 games behind Portland, despite a general sense they’ve underperformed on the season. So, I guess that’s good?

What’s Gone Right

The pitching. Don Drysedale has been among the better starters in the league, and Frank Knauss has emerged as a quality #2 starter. Don Sutton, Dutch Leonard, and Sandy Koufax have been solid behind them with Koufax occasionally spectacular (including the only 1-hitter in the league). Add to that a back-end trio in the bullpen of Dave Von Ohlen and Trevor Hildenberger setting up Watty Clark, and the Royal Giants have everything they need on the mound.

The AAA Shuttle. The Royal Giants have been quite successful in their call-ups.

Orel Hershiser and Smokey Joe Williams started the year in the WBL, but struggled. Their replacements–Tommy Hanson, Knauss, and Von Ohlen–have been excellent.
The original duo behind the plate–Mike Piazza and Steve Yeager–were horrible. Their replacements, Al López and Duke Farrell, look OK so far.
Raúl Mondesí, who earned a spot on the roster out of spring training, struggled, but Jermaine Dye looks to be the real deal as his replacement.

The Running Game. Five players (Duke Snider, Beals Becker, Jackie Robinson, Davey Lopes, and Dickie Thon) have more than 10 steals each.

What’s Gone Wrong

Power. Only Snider and Ron Cey have more than 10 homeruns (although, to be fair, both Becker and Robinson have 9). Still, some more pop would be a welcome addition.

Catching. As referenced above, Piazza was especially a disappointment, as he was expected to add some power to a lineup that really needs it.

The Infield. Cey is set at 3B, and Robinson clearly has a role. But the rest has been … unsettled at best. Dan Brouthers has been miserable at 1B, and may be on his way out of town, and neither Lopes (2B) nor Thon (SS) have really convinced. Ray Dandridge has been excellent in a limited opportunity, and should be an everyday starter from here on out.

Key Storylines

The Royal Giants have managed their AAA movement very well, as detailed above. Probably the key storyline here is their ability to remain competitive while still searching for their identity.

Koufax is a bit of an enigma, and his continued development bears watching–and the thought of what he and Smokey Joe Williams could be is quite enticing.

What to do with Robinson remains a challenge: he doesn’t field well enough to play 2B a ton, and doesn’t hit well enough to play 1B.

Trading Outlook

BUYING.

OFs Dye, Hi Myers, and Matt Holliday have some value. If the right opportunity came along, some of their SP surplus could be on the trading block: Hershiser, Leonard, Knauss.

AAA Shuttle

Piazza and Yeager have both done well at AAA, and may be due for a recall if López or Farrell falter. Likewise, Hershiser has been dominant in the minors and he, along with Darren Dreifort, are ready should they be needed.

Midseason Changes

Infield changes a-plenty. Robinson becomes the everyday 1B, with Brouthers being sent to AAA (Eric Karros was recalled to backup Robinson). 2B/SS is trickier: Dandridge becomes the starter at one of those, but there’s just nobody in the system arguing for playing time. So Dandridge will start, with a bit of rotation between Thon and Lopes, if no other moves are made.

Hildenberger moves into the setup role, demoting Eric Gagne.

Awards

All Stars: Don Drysedale (P).

Pitcher of the Month: Don Drysedale (April)

Offensive MVP: Duke Snider (CF)
Pitching MVP: Don Drysedale (SP)

Down on the Farm

AAA: Queens Kings

Next to the Show: OFs Matt Holliday & Curt Flood, RP Darren Dreifort.

Prospects: P Ralph Branca (22), P Tim Stauffer (26).

Projects: There are a ton, but let’s just focus on the 24 year-olds: P Smokey Joe Williams, C Mike Piazza, OF Raúl Mondesí, OF Curt Flood, and 1B Dan Brouthers.

Suspects: Ron Perranoski (25), Jordan Zimmerman (26), IFs Todd Walker and Manny Trillo (both 33), SS Germany Smith (28).

AA: Jersey City Skeeters

Prospects: CF John Briggs (20), P Lou Marone (23), 3B Hank Majeski (23).

Projects: P Chris Short (21), P Fernando Valenzuela (23), P Dustin McGowan (23), OF Morrie Arnovich (25), C Phil Lombardi (23), SS Sonny Jackson (19).

Suspects: P Ben Hendrickson (23), 1B Kevin Maas (30), IFs Don Heffner (33) and César Izturis (27). P Johnny Ryan (22).