Overall

So much offense. Like … so much.

But only 2 pitchers had ERAs under 5.00. OK, 3 if you count Billy Koch‘s 3 innings. So that’s the issue.

But 7 players hit over 30 homeruns (and Rusty Staub 29), 6 full time (or nearly so) players had OPS’ over .850, and the peaks–Gary Carter, Roberto Alomar, Larry Walker, all 3 of whom both drove in and scored over 100 runs–were shockingly high.

So the question for Ottawa is relatively simple: how does a franchise maintain the offensive performance and get something approaching league average pitching.

What Went Right

Virtually everything related to the offense. We can take this by position.

Gary Carter was the 2nd best catcher in baseball.

Roberto Alomar was the best 2B in baseball.

Álex Rodríguez hit 46 homeruns as a 22 year old SS.

Tim Raines stole 115 bases and scored 119 runs.

Carlos Beltrán hit 35 homeruns, posted an .865 OPS, and went 42-3 in steals.

Larry Walker hit 54 homeruns with a .998 OPS and 126 RBIs.

And that doesn’t even mention the Rick Monday conundrum: Monday slashed 272/364/604 and just relentlessly demanded more and more playing time, most at DH. There is really no space for Monday in Ottawa, but how do you ignore that level of performance?

In 100 PAs, Josh Donaldson was similar: a 269/366/718 slash line, but somewhat blocked.

And then we have the pitching. Um … yeah.

Roy Halladay is quite good, and his 15-9 record and 1.26 WHIP are more reflective of his performance than his 5.17 ERA.

Bill Smith was every bit as good as Halladay while missing some time through injury, finishing with a 10-3 record and a stellar 3.77 ERA.

Tom Henke had a bumpy return from injury, but overall established himself as the closer for the team.

And that’s about it. Johnny Podgajny ate up innings and BJ Ryan was reasonably effective from the pen.

ALL STARS

Roberto Alomar
Álex Rodríguez
Larry Walker

MAJOR AWARDS

Roberto Alomar, NL All-Rounder Award; NL 2B Silver Slugger
Larry Walker, NL RF Silver Slugger

RECOGNITIONS

Gary Carter, Mel Trench Award 3rd Place; All NL 2nd Team; NL 25 & Under Team
Josh Donaldson, NL All Rookie 2nd Team
Rick Monday, All NL 3rd Team; NL 25 & Under Team
Álex Rodríguez, All NL 3rd Team
Rusty Staub, NL 23 & Under Team; NL 21 & Under Team
Sam Thompson, NL All Rookie 2nd Team
Larry Walker, All NL 2nd Team; NL 25 & Under Team; NL 23 & Under Team

ORGANIZATIONAL AWARDS

Roberto Alomar, MVP
Roy Halladay, Pitcher of the Year
Roberto Alomar, Heart & Soul
Gary Carter, Fan Favorite

Billy Koch, Minor League Pitcher of the Year
John Olerud, Minor League Player of the Year

What Went Wrong

The Mounties used twenty-four pitchers. Twenty-four. And while there were injuries a plenty (only Halladay had more than 30 starts, only Podgajny more than 20), there were also an overwhelming number of poor performances. Some of the lowlights:

Randy Johnson continues to struggle, posting an ERA over 8 in just over 100 innings. Johnson’s stuff is electric, but something has to shift or Ottawa needs to give up on him.

Atlee Hammaker was pummeled, allowing 40 homeruns in 89 innings. Read that again. That made Hammaker one of six Ottawa hurlers who averaged giving up at least 4 homeruns per 9 innings. Five pitchers averaged over 5 walks per 9. Max Scherzer did both.

I could go on, but it just hurts so much.

You may have noticed that 1B and 3B weren’t mentioned in the what went right review. Rusty Staub and Adrían Beltré weren’t bad, but they also were below league average for sure.

Roy Sievers and Bob Watson were bad, with each of them unable to get close to .700 OPSs.

Transactions

March

OF Ken Griffey, Jr & 4th Round Pick to POR for IF Adrián Beltré, OF Denard Span, P Atlee Hammaker, P Pedro Ramos, & 2nd Round Pick.

Portland looks to have won this on pure talent, but you have to remember this also allowed Carlos Beltrán to be the everyday CF, and Beltrán was excellent.

July

The Mounties stood pat at the All Star Break, as much for a lack of partners than a lack of desire.

August

The Mounties wanted to do something here, but their valuable pieces are too young–this nucleus holds promise, but may need to be broken up in the quest for pitching.

Positional Overview

C

No idea if Gary Carter can keep doing this, but what a treat The Kid was this year. Look for Emil Gross to return as his backup.

Milt May holds some long-term promise (but of course, it should be remembered that, at 21, is only 1 year younger than Carter and Gross).

1B

The Mounties have a lot of talent here, and its not clear what the right move is. It’s tempting to move Larry Walker here and deal with the surplus in the OF. In the meantime, look for John Olerud to be given every opportunity to seize this role in Spring Training.

But John Mayberry, Rusty Staub, Bob Watson, and Tino Martinez all have their supporters, and are likely to be useful WBL players at some point, either here or elsewhere.

2B

Very few people had Roberto Alomar supplanting Eddie Collins as the best 2B in the WBL, but that happened. Especially with that development, look for Tim Raines‘ occasional forays into the infield to become more and more rare.

Jimmy Dykes and Joey Cora each hold some promise in the system.

SS

Nobody is wishing Ottawa kept Freddy Parent now … Álex Rodríguez is not very far from being the best SS in the league: 46 homers at 22 will do that.

The system is pretty barren after that, with Henry Easterday and Dick Bartell offering some defensive options, but little else.

3B

Adrian Beltré has some detractors, but he’ll be here for a while, although Josh Donaldson is giving him some competition. Larry Parrish and Art Devlin are the most likely options if needed while Kyle Seager will push for playing time at some point.

It’s assumed that, eventually, Rodríguez will shift here, but that’s a problem for a future day.

LF/RF

Tim Raines in left and Larry Walker in right feel very set, although Walker’s continued injury struggles are worrisome (and part of why the move to 1B could be attractive).

There are options: Wee Willie Keeler is turning heads throughout the system; Rusty Staub, while slow, isn’t too slow for the outfield yet; and Sam Thompson has done nothing but hit when given the opportunity.

And that’s ignoring Ryan Klesko, Jackie Jensen, Terry Puhl, Jason Heyward, Warren Cormartie …

CF

Giving Carlos Beltrán the fulltime job was a great decision in hindsight. But it does nothing to help Ottawa figure out what to do with Rick Monday, who will be taking as many reps in RF as possible during Spring Training.

Others can play the position, but the only dedicated CF worth noting in the system is 20 year old Denard Span.

DH

Rick Monday, we guess?

SP

Health is such a cruel mistress.

In a perfect world, Ottawa would go with Roy Halladay and Bill Smith; Old Hoss Radbourn would step up, becoming more than an innings eater; Bill Smith or Bob Moose or Bob Brown or Gary Peters or Dupee Shaw or Max Scherzer or, well, anyone, would step up; and, most fantastically, the immense talent of Randy Johnson would show up, like, at all.

It could be a bizarre Spring.

RP

There is reason for optimism, as the closing trio of Tom Henke, BJ Ryan, and Billy Koch could be quite good.

Beyond those three, look for the fallout of the starting competition to end up here. Greg Holland, Rick Camp, and Mark Eichhorn all have potential to help, but may be a bit far from the WBL at this point.

Draft Outlook

DRAFT PICKS

1st Round: 1
2nd Round: 2
3rd Round: 1
4th Round: 0
5th Round: 1

Look for … how many picks do they have? 4? … four pitchers to be selected.

To not suck.

Beyond that, sorting through some of the young talent and making commitments around how is part of the long-term project and who is not would go a long way towards clarifying Ottawa’s future. Staying healthy would go a ways towards this, especially on the mound.

Best Case

Bob Moose, Bob Brown, and Roy Halladay all return strong from injuries, joining Old Hoss Radbourn in a decent pitching staff and the core talent sorts itself out, especially in the OF.

Worst Case

The pitching continues to be among the worst in the league and none of the massive potential of Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr or Álex Rodríguez comes to the surface.

Key Questions

• Can the staff both deliver and stay healthy?
• Who is the bullpen?
• How the young talent sorts itself out.

Trade Bait

Not really. Radbourn has some value, but he also was the only quasi reliable arm for the Mounties last season.

Well, that was interesting: Griffey, Jr. was moved on, netting Adrián Beltré plus.

Roster Evaluation

Over half the roster is either unknown or was pretty horrible last year. Hence the goal being merely not to suck.

Talent Ratings

Best In The Minors

It’s not a bad system, but it lacks–beyond the top arms–top end potential. Watson and Shaw both start the season with the Mounties.

The hits keep coming for Baltimore’s pitching staff as Sean Marshall–perhaps the most effective reliever in the league–will miss about 7 months with a shoulder injury. AAA closer BJ Ryan was recalled.

#Chicago American Giants

Carlton Fisk hit 2 homeruns including a grand slam to lead Chicago to a 7-4 victory over Los Angeles. Fisk drove in 5, Eddie Collins had 3 hits, and the just-recalled Kevin Mitchell went 2-for-4.

Here’s one way to win a game in extra innings: 5 walks, an HBP, a wild pitch, 2 singles, and a 3-run homerun from Joe Jackson. All in all, 9 runs, and a 15-6 victory over Los Angeles in 11 innings.

#Houston Colt 45s

Pete Hill was hit in the head, and will miss a week or two with concussion like symptoms. Harry Stovey was recalled from AAA, with hopes of improving the power off the bench for Houston.

The rest of the series against Philadelphia was a showcase for Houston’s pitching. First, Toad Ramsey allowed 1 run in 7 innings. Tug McGraw–yet to be scored on in the WBL–pitched a perfect 8th and Billy Wagner picked up his 16th save in the 2-1 victory.

The next day, Stephen Strasburg, Chad Qualls, and Brad Lidge combined on a 5-hit shutout (all singles). Craig Biggio drove in 3 of Houston’s 4 runs, 2 on his 6th homerun of the season.

Finally, Houston’s 5-2 win over the Stars ended up transforming the Colt 45’s pitching staff: Bones Ely struck out 7 in 3 innings, but left the game hurt. Dock Ellis and Scott Erickson have also pitched themselves out of the WBL, with Jim Kern, Ice Box Chamberlain, and Kyle Kendrick being recalled.

#Ottawa Mounties

A Larry Walker shot in the top of the 5th seemed to make the game safe, but Ottawa needed a three run homer from Carlos Beltrán in the top of the 9th to cement the victory over the House of David. Greg Holland got the win after a solid start from Kirk Reuter.

Newcomer Connie Johnson steps into the rotation, with Johnny Sain moving to the bullpen and Jim Palmer taking the final spot in the rotation. Lindy McDaniel was returned to AAA.

#Chicago American Giants

While Sonny Dixon‘s injury is still being diagnosed, David Price‘s arrival pushed Chicago to place Dixon on the DL. Clay Condrey‘s 9.00 plus ERA earned a trip to AAA as Hoyt Wilhelm returned from his injury. Price replaced Don Newcombe in the rotation, but the bullpen remains in a bit of disarray as the American Giants await AJ Minter‘s return from shoulder soreness.

While neither have impressed, José Abreu‘s continued struggles at the plate have opened the door for Magglio Ordóñez to receive more playing time down the stretch.

Dixon will miss about 8 months, so the early trip to the DL worked out, from that perspective …

Turns out it’s really hard to overcome 4 errors. Price’s first start was brilliant: 4 hits in just under 6 innings, no earned runs … but 5 runs allowed on miscues by Eddie Collins, Jack Doyle (2), and Jackie Hayes. Ed Walsh and Scott Radinsky were solid in relief, but Wilhelm gave up some key hits and took the loss. Doyle had 4 hits in the game.

Cristóbal Torriente will miss about 2 weeks, prompting Chicago to recall Kevin Mitchell from AAA.

#Houston Colt 45’s

Chad Qualls was recalled from AAA. Other than that, there’s not much change in Houston, other than the continued attempt to spread out plate appearances. This time, Pete Hill seeing more game time means George Brett seeing less.

#Kansas City Monarchs

Adam Russell and Rube Marquard were recalled from AAA, but the Monarchs did little else to reflect their build for the future outlook.

#Ottawa Mounties

Bob Moose and Kirk Reuter moved into the rotation with Clark Griffith heading back to AAA and Greg Holland joining the big league club as the merry-go-round of the Mounties’ staff continues.

Nineteen year old Ken Griffey, Jr. has done everything Ottawa has asked since his demotion, performing well at both AAA and AA. He’s been brought back up to the WBL club as Ottawa retools to see how its youth will progress. Griffey, Jr. will split time with Carlos Beltrán in CF. Trade acquisition George Burns also lands in Ottawa with both Terry Puhl and Phil Bradley heading to AAA in a major reset of the big league OF.

Things looked bleak for Ottawa as Birmingham had the lead 3-0 in the bottom of the 8th when Larry Parrish stepped up and launched his 3rd homerun of the year to tie the game. Randy Johnson and Greg Holland both pitched well in relief, and Beltrán won the game in the 12th with a walkoff grandslam. Tim Raines (who was caught stealing twice) and Anthony Rendon had 3 hits each in the 8-4 victory.

Jeremy Affeldt, a bit of a throw-in at the trade deadline, has been horrible for Ottawa: an ERA over 20 level horrible. So when he refused a demotion to AAA, the Mounties made the sensible move: they released him. Gary Peters was recalled from his injury rehab to take Affeldt’s place.

Bill Byrd improved to 10-2 on the year, allowing 1 run in 6 innings in a 6-5 win over Miami. Bryce Harper had 3 hits for Baltimore, and the bullpen did barely enough to hold onto the victory.

Dennis Martínez joined Byrd as a 10 game winner, carrying a no-hitter through 6 innings in an 8-2 victory. Bobby Wallace had 3 hits and Frank Robinson drove in 3 runs for the Black Sox.

Looking to strengthen their bench, the Black Sox recalled Brooks Robinson from AAA, where he seems to have found his stroke, sending Cal Ripken, Jr. down.

#Chicago American Giants

Chicago pounded out 20 hits and 15 runs in demolishing Detroit, 15-1. Dick Allen, Duffy Lewis, Magglio Ordóñez, and Cristóbal Torriente each had 3 hits, with Ordóñez scoring 3 times and Allen driving in 5 (4 coming on a grandslam). Mike Fiore had 2 homeruns, and Jack Doyle went deep as well. Dick Rudolph went to 3-1 on the year with a strong 6 innings before exiting the game after a short rain delay.

Hoyt Wilhelm hurt his thumb and will be out for at least 10 days, with Scott Radinsky recalled to take his place.

#Houston Colt 45’s

With Bret Saberhagen out for the year, Bones Ely moves into the starting rotation for Houston.

#Kansas City Monarchs

With their season plummeting, the Monarchs sent Rube Marquard to AAA. Bob Gibson–11 years Marquard’s junior–comes up from St. Louis and replaces him in the rotation.

#Ottawa Mounties

The struggle continues … Greg Holland and Clark Griffith head to AAA, with Clayton Richard coming back from a rehab assignment and Steve Howe returning from Montréal. Richard rejoins the rotation, which remains a bit of a mess overall. Ryan Dempster has been officially named the Mounties’ closer.

Game 1: Tim Wakefield @ Jim Clancy

Claude Ritchey has been quite a find for Memphis, posting on OPS over .800 since taking over at 2B earlier in the season. He opened the scoring in this game with a long homerun in the top of the 2nd inning. Francisco Lindor singled home a 2nd run, a 3rd scored on a wild pitch from Jim Clancy, and Lindor was plated on a single by Reggie Smith, making it 4-0 and chasing Clancy from the game.

Tim Wakefield was pitching well, allowing only 3 hits through 4 innings until Álex Rodríguez took him deep in the fifth. He would last until Tim Raines singled home Ottawa’s second run in the bottom of the 7th. Eddie Cicotte relieved Wakefield with Memphis up 6-2.

Which is how it ended. The game was more a failure of Ottawa to get the timely hits, as the Mounties finished with 11 hits, leaving 10 runners on base.

Wade Boggs and David Justice had 3 hits each for Memphis while Rains had 3 for Ottawa.

MEM 6 (Wakefield 4-6) @ OTT 3 (Clancy 5-5)
HRs: MEM – Ritchey (6); OTT – Rodríguez (9).
Box Score

Game 2: Jon Lester @ Clark Griffith

With scheduled starter Johnny Podgajny not quite ready, Ottawa turned to Clark Griffith in game 2, facing off against Memphis’ Jon Lester. Griffith has struggled mightily in several stints with Ottawa, sporting an ERA north of 8.00.

It was, however, Ottawa that scored first, with Rusty Staub scoring on a groundout by George Van Haltren. Van Haltren and Carlos Beltrán (who had doubled) came home on a single by Tim Raines. Raines stole second and moved to third on a groundout before scoring on a single from Larry Walker. Then, Walker and Larry Parrish scored on a homerun from Gary Carter, making it 7-0 and chasing Lester from the mound.

Griffith, meanwhile, had a shutout through 6, only faltering in the 7th when a Ted Williams single brought home the Red Sox’s first run. Bill White would plate another on a groundout, but Memphis still trailed, 7-2.

A Mookie Betts triple scored Williams, making it 7-3, but that was it, and the series was even at a win apiece. Griffith lowered his ERA by nearly a full run with the victory.

MEM 3 (Lester 8-9) @ OTT 7 (Griffith 2-5)
HRs: OTT – Carter (11).
Box Score

Game 3: Stubby Overmire @ Johnny Podgajny

Game 3 would pit Memphis’ Stubby Overmire against Ottawa’s Johnny Podgajny (now fully rested), with Overmire still looking to show his new club something after his acquisition from Houston over the all-star break.

Two errors by Memphis (one by Wade Boggs, the other by Billy Bryan) loaded the bases in the bottom of the 2nd, but Overmire induced a double-play from Jim Stephens. It scored a run, but the damage was far less than it could have been.

Boggs would get the Red Sox’s first hit in the top of the 4th, but was left stranded.

Overmire looked good until, with 2 outs in the 4th and 2 runners on base, Carlos Beltrán took a delivery deep into the stands for the first homerun of his career, extending Ottawa’s lead to 4-0. The pitching duel was evidently over, as Podgajny surrendered 3 consecutive hits to start the 5th, including an RBI double from Vern Stephens that drove in Memphis’ first run. Iván de Jesus plated another with a sacrifice fly, and Reggie Smith chased Podgajny from the game with an RBI double.

Boggs greeted Monk Dubiel with an RBI single, and Memphis ended the 5th having come all the way back to tie the game at 4.

Two hits in the bottom of the frame–Álex Rodríguez‘ 3rd of the game, and a single by Roy Sievers–chased Overmire. Eddie Cicotte looked to have gotten out of the inning, but Rusty Staub beat out a slow roller for an infield hit, giving the lead back to the Mounties. Beltrán would extend it to 6-4 with his second homerun of the game.

Bill White would get one back, but Ottawa’s bullpen held on for the 6-5 win. Beltrán finished with 4 RBIs, and Rodríguez with 3 hits.

MEM 5 (Overmire 1-3) @ OTT 6 (Dubiel 3-2; Bowsfield 2 Sv; Leroux 3 H)
HRs: OTT – Beltrán 2 (2).
Box Score

Game 4: Dean Chance @ Old Hoss Radbourn

Ottawa will turn to one of the hottest pitchers in the league, Old Hoss Radbourn, in an attempt to win the series, while Memphis will hope Dean Chance can even it out at 2 games apiece.

Memphis draws first blood as Francisco Lindor delivered a 2-run double with 2 outs in the top of the second, and Reggie Smith added a 2-run single in the 4th. Lindor’s 3rd hit of the game–a single with 1 out in the top of the 6th–chased Radbourn from the game.

Meanwhile, Chance was sailing along, allowing only 1 hit through 5 innings. The 6th was rockier, but Chance preserved the shutout with Memphis ahead 4-0. He lasted until there were 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, when Heath Bell was brought in with runners on 1st and 3rd. Bell got a groundout to end the inning.

Ottawa has to be encouraged by the recent outings from Randy Johnson: the big lefthander brought his ERA under 6 with 2.2 innings of hitless relief. The story has been less positive for Greg Holland, who gave up 2 runs in the 9th, extending the lead for the Red Sox to 6-0.

This was probably Chance’s best start of the year, combining with Bell on the 3-hit shutout.

MEM 6 (Chance 7-7; Bell 1 Sv) @ OTT 0 (Radbourn 7-8)
HRs: none.
Box Score

#Series Notes

The split has to be a bit of a disappointment to both teams, given how the series played out.

For Memphis, Wade Boggs went 7-13 and, most surprisingly, Francisco Lindor had 5 hits in his 8 at-bats in his 2 starts. Nobody for Ottawa had more than 4 hits over the 4 games … so, yeah.

#Memphis Red Sox

Memphis is 20 games below .500, languishing in last place in the Bill James Division, 15 games behind the leaders. So, yeah, this year is pretty much done.

As a team, Memphis does nothing well. Well, other than run the bases. They do that well. For all it matters. Individually, however, there are at least some signs of life.

The class of the team is clearly Reggie Smith, who is slashing 310/379/537 and playing strong defense in CF. Ted Williams (259/345/500) has slumped over the past few months, but leads the team in HR (18) and RBI (65). And … that’s it. Claude Ritchey and Wade Boggs get on base a bit, Bill White has some power … but, yeah. If there are some disappointments here, they are OFs Mookie Betts and Manny Ramírez, both of whom are stuck with OPS’ in the low 700s.

Jon Lester (8-8, 4.04) has been their best starter, although Len Barker‘s return from injury is encouraging. Barker has a 3.31 ERA, but is still looking to establish himself as a starter. The bullpen is suspect, with closer Jonathan Papelbon struggling of late although he still leads the team in saves with 7.

#Ottawa Mounties

The Mounties are 14 games behind in the Cum Posey Division, so while they have a better record than Memphis (43 wins to 37), they are really in similar positions. But, somehow, Ottawa is just a little more intriguing–perhaps due to a near constant player churn that is generating some interesting questions. First, though, an overview.

The Mounties’ best players, by some distance, are Tim Raines (298/373/454 with a league-leading 66 SB) and Larry Walker (287/373/581). Walker has struggled to stay healthy, playing in only 34 games so far, but he is still tied for the team league in homeruns with 10 (along with Raines and Gary Carter, who also leads in RBIs with 40).

Carter has been on a tear recently, validating the Mounties’ choice to make him their everyday catcher. The team has a challenge with what to do with Roberto Alomar, who has started his WBL career at a 308/357/442 clip, and may push Raines into LF fulltime. Finally, while not as impressive as Carter’s run, SS Álex Rodriguez has raised his OPS about 100 points over the last few weeks.

The Mounties’ pitching corps seems to be in continual disarray, but one constant has been Old Hoss Radbourn, who is 7.7 with a 3.99 ERA. Jim Clancy and Monk Dubiel have been solid as well, and Clayton Richard‘s return from the DL could even give them an adequate top 4 hurlers. The challenge is, and then what? Ryan Dempster seems to be moving into the role of closer, but getting to him is a challenge. Greg Holland was absolutely torched earlier in the season, but is doing better having been recalled.

And then there is Randy Johnson, whose overall numbers are still pretty ugly, but has dropped his ERA by 2 1/2 runs since returning to the WBL in late June.

#Pitching Matchups (Memphis starter listed first)

Tim Wakefield (3-6, 5.44) @ Jim Clancy (5-4, 4.52)
Jon Lester (8-8, 4.04) @ Johnny Podgajny (1-2, 4.68)
Stubby Overmire (3-5, 3.79) @ Old Hoss Radbourn (7-7, 3.99)
Dean Chance (6-7, 4.24) @ Joe Mays (1-1, 5.52)

#Series Predictions

A split. I would root for Ottawa, but there’s so little to choose from between these two, gotta’ go for the split. The Overmire – Radbourn matchup is the most interesting.

Two trade acquisitions–SS Freddy Parent and SP Dick Rudolph–were key in the American Giants’8-5 win over Baltimore. Rudolph had a strong start and Parent drove in 3 with a key triple. As importantly, Chicago’s OFers gunned down three runners trying to score, with Joe Jackson nailing 1 and Mike Fiore 2.

The American Giants sent Herb Pennock to AAA, recalling Ed Walsh from his rehab assignment and Jack Doyle from the injured list. Tom Brookens was released and Damian Jackson sent to AAA following his recovery from injury.

#Houston Colt 45’s

Roy Oswalt pitched into the 9th inning and Carlos Correa had 3 hits and 4 RBI’s as Houston topped Kansas City, 8-1. Oswalt evened his record at 6-6 with a strong outing, allowing 8 hits and 1 run in just over 8 innings pitched.

Paul Goldschmidt and Carney Lansford were sent back to AAA, with Andrés Galarraga and reliever Luke Gregerson receiving the call to the big leagues.

#Kansas City Monarchs

Smokey Joe Wood replaces Frank Castillo in the rotation.

#Ottawa Mounties

Clayton Richard had to leave his start injured, landing on the DL for 10 days. Greg Holland, dominant at AAA after being horrible for Ottawa at the start of the year, was recalled. A 3-run HR by Carlos Beltrán was the key hit as the Mounties won the game over Philadelphia, 8-3.

Joe Mays was recalled from AAA for a start, with Bobby Castillo being demoted. Mays was added to the rotation, but that may be very short-term.

A homerun from Gary Carter in the 11th inning led the Mounties to a 3-1 victory over the Stars. The win went to Ted Bowsfield, but Jim Clancy was strong through 5, and Holland (solid since his recall), Gary Peters, and Mays combined with Bowsfield for 6 innings of scoreless relief.

#Indianapolis @ Memphis, Game 2

Just another see-saw …

A solo homerun by Mookie Betts and a 2 run shot by Ted Williams were the key hits as the Red Sox jumped out to a 7-0 lead. A 2-run homerun by Danny Hoffman and a triple from Oscar Charleston made it 7-3, and then, in the 7th inning, another homerun from Hoffman and a key, 2-0ut, 2-run shot from Johnny Bench brought the ABC’s within 1 run at 7-6. Reggie Smith added a solo shot off Lefty James, making it 8-6 heading to the top of the 9th.

Memphis brought in Jonathan Papelbon to close it out, which was certainly a reasonable choice. Tommy Helms led off the inning with a single, but a groundout by Hoffman seemed to set Memphis on the road to victory.

And then, Edd Roush and Charleston singled to load the bases and Bench cleared them with a double. A single by Dave Henderson scored Bench, and another by Denis Menke chased Papelbon from the game with Indianapolis having come all the way back to take the lead 10-8. Rob Dibble dominated the bottom of the frame, and the ABC’s had a great comeback win under their belt.

IND 10 (James 5-1, Dibble 16 Sv) @ MEM 8 (Papelbon 0-4, 2 BSv; Cicotte 1 H; Farrell 3 H)
HRs: IND – Hoffman 2 (11), Bench (17); MEM – Betts (6), Williams (18), Smith (11).
Box Score

#Ottawa @ Philadelphia, Game 2

A mismatch on paper as a tough Philadelphia lineup faces Joe Mays in his WBL debut. Tim Raines opened the game with homerun for Ottawa, but after that it went pretty much according to form, with Mays surrendering back-to-back-to-back homeruns in the 1st (José Ramírez, Rico Carty, and Scott Rolen) and then being chased from the game by back-to-back doubles in the 4th. Ottawa turned to Randy Johnson in relief, and the Big Unit delivered with a couple effective innings. Ottawa scored 7 runs in 2 innings to take the lead in a game with decimated bullpens. It was dicey throughout–Greg Holland, just recalled from AAA, had been hammered at the WBL level earlier in the year. But he gave the Mounties a good inning, and was followed by Ryan Dempster, asked to close the game. Dempster did so, but only when Raines threw out J.M. Ward at home for the final out. Larry Walker finished with 3 hits including his 8th homerun for the Mounties.

OTT 8 (Johnson 2-4; Dempster 2 Sv; Holland 3 H) @ PHI 7 (Cormier 4-1, 3 BSv; Laskey 1 H)
HRs: OTT – Raines (10), Walker (8); Ramírez (4), Carty (9), Kluszewski (14), Davis (14).
Box Score

#New York Gothams @ Brooklyn, Game 2

A tight pitching duel: Brooklyn’s Dick Redding was as good as the Gotham’s Christy Mathewson, but New York managed a sacrifice fly and a well-timed single by Eugenio Suárez to lead, 2-0. It was enough: Mathewson allowed 7 hits through 7 innings, but was dominant, fanning 11 and allowing only a solo shot from Duke Snider. Robb Nen and Brian Wilson slammed the door in relief to preserve the narrow victory.

NYG 2 (Mathewson 9-6; Wilson 13 Sv; Nen 4 H) @ BRK 1 (Redding 0-3)
HRs: BRK – Snider (19).
Box Score

#Miami @ Portland, Game 2

Portland only managed 2 hits, but leveraged 3 Miami errors and 10 walks by Cuban Giant hurlers to score 5 runs. Four of the runs scored off a chain of 2 walks, a double by Rogers Hornsby, and then 2 more walks and a wild pitch. The winning run in the bottom of the 9th was scored on a sacrifice fly from Joe Mauer after Adrián Beltré delivered a pinch-hit single. Eustaquio Pedroso‘ pitching line wasn’t pretty, but he was really let down by Phenomenal Smith‘s wildness, and Pedroso’s start was actually a source of some encouragement for Miami.

MCG 4 (Bauta 1-4; Smith 1 BSv) @ POR 5 (Williams 2-1)
HRs: MCG – Braun (11), Sheffield (3).
Box Score

#Birmingham @ New York Black Yankees, Game 4

We had to put something in here for the shocking performance of the Black Yankees in this series, who came into the final game desperately trying to avoid a sweep by the Black Barons having only scored 3 runs total over the first 3 games.

New York took the lead in the bottom of the 1st on a 2-run shot by Don Mattingly and extended it to 3-0 on a solo shot by Manny Sanguillén in the 5th. And that seemed plenty as Ron Guidry was dominant in his best start since early in the season, allowing only 3 hits and 1 walk through 7 innings while striking out 7.

But then came the 8th. Guidry gave up back to back walks and a single to load the bases and was clearly out of gas, relieved by Ralph Citarella, who let the wheels fall of: an error and a wild pitch scored runs, and then RBI singles from Curtis Granderson, Bob Nieman, and Pie Traynor chased Citarella with Birmingham holding a 6-3 lead.

Granderson added a 2-run inside-the-park-homerun in the 9th, giving plenty of cushion even when Albert Belle got 2 runs back in the final frame with his 10th homerun of the year. Vic Willis continued the strong start to his career, striking out 9 in 6 innings despite not factoring in the decision and Bruce Chen was nearly perfect over 2 innings in relief for the win, sealing the most surprising series sweep of the season.

BBB 8 (Chen 1-0) @ NYY 5 (Citarella 1-4; 3 BSv)
HRs: BBB – Granderson (10); NYY – Mattingly (17), Sanguillén (2), Belle (10).
Box Score

Ned Garvin kept Los Angeles’ Gerrit Cole from becoming the first 7 game winner in the WBL, spinning a brilliant 8 innings, allowing only 2 runs in a 4-2 Black Sox victory. Garvin moved to 4-1 on the year, and Bob Miller picked up his 4th save. Curt Blefary hit his 14th and Harlond Clift his 8th homerun of the year.

In the next game, Dennis Martinez moved to 6-1 on the year, allowing only 3 hits and 1 run in 7.2 innings. Bryce Harper drove in 2, and Harper, Ken Singleton, and Dan McGann all chipped in with 2 hits.

Bill Byrd pitched 8.1 innings of shutout ball before being relieved by Don Bessent, who finished the job in a 5-0 win for the Black Sox. Byrd brought his ERA under 4.00 and improved his record to 4-2, helped by 3 hits from Bobby Wallace and the suddenly resurgent Paul Blair, who even hit his 4th homerun of the year in the game.

Clearly not a fan of the if it ain’t broke school of thought, the team with the best record in the WBL shook its roster up some on the day off, demoting P Mark Baldwin, 3B Brooks Robinson, and SS Mark Belanger to AAA. Baldwin and Robinson had done very little in their opportunities, and Belanger had only played in 7 games all season. P Bob Welch, and IFs Cal Ripken, Jr. and Brian Roberts were recalled to the big league club.

#Chicago American Giants

Frank Thomas went 3-for-4 and Dick Allen had 3 RBI’s to lead Chicago to a 5-4 victory over Indianapolis. Herb Pennock survived 6 rocky innings to pick up his 2nd win, with AJ Minter pitching a perfect 9th for his 6th save.

Adrian Gonzalez was sent to AAA, ending his nightmare of a year so far in the majors; with Joe Horlen being promoted to fill out the bullpen and C Pop Snyder being waived.

All of that will result in Cristobal Torriente and Avisail Garcia seeing more time in the American Giants’ OF.

#Houston Colt 45s

Behind 3 hits and 3 RBIs from George Brett, including his 5th homerun of the year, the Colt 45s put away the Black Yankees, 9-4. It could be a difficult game for Houston, as Bret Saberhagen and Casey Stengel (who also hit his 5th homerun) both had to leave with injuries.

Bones Ely was recalled, and if you ignore a 499 foot homerun to Babe Ruth and one nearly as long to Lou Gehrig, he did alright, earning the save with 3 innings of work in a 13-5 blowout win. Craig Biggio drove in 4 and HR Johnson and Lance Berkman 3 each in support of Roy Oswalt, who moved to 5-2 on the year.

Brad Lidge was replaced by Billy Wagner as Houston’s closer, with Mike Hartley being sent to AAA. Carney Lansford was recalled from the minors to add another bat off the bench.

#Kansas City Monarchs

2 homeruns from Stan Musial helped the Monarchs overcome a 90 minute rain delay in an 11-5 win over the House of David. Musial drove in 4, and the win went to Connie Johnson, who pitched 3 scoreless innings after the rains came down.

Who knows what to make of Luke Hamlin? He seems to mix mediocre starts with absolute gems. This was one of the latter, as Hamlin had a no-hitter into the 7th and ended up with a 2-hit, complete game shutout to level his record at 3-3. 5 pitchers had thrown 3-hit shutouts, but this was the first game to go below that, and it was the 3rd best game score of the season at 86.

Willie McGee was 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs in the 6-0 victory. Hamlin’s performance was especially welcome, as the Monarchs’ bullpen was fairly decimated.

Jose Rijo lost his spot in the starting rotation in favor of Adam Wainwright, and McGee–who had been in a platoon with Fielder Jones–has become the everyday CF for the Monarchs.

#Ottawa Mounties

Greg Holland was sent to AAA with Ryan Dempster coming back the other way. Josh Donaldson–0-for-15 in his time in the big leagues–was returned to AAA as well, with Steve Garvey coming off the DL to return to Ottawa. The Mounties would like to promote Larry Parrish, who is playing very well at 3B, but haven’t found a corresponding move to free up room on the 40-man roster.