Tag: Jimmie Foxx Page 2 of 3

Season Review: San Francisco Sea Lions

On December 15, 2023

72 - 82, .467 pct.
4th in Marvin Miller Division, 12.5 games behind.

Overall

What a disappointing season. There is talent here, they were in the mix at the all-star break, and then just totally collapsed throughout all of July. Much more is expected in Year II.

What Went Right

Reggie Jackson was an elite offensive force, finishing the year with an OPS over 1.000 and while there was a gap between him and the Sea Lions’ next best hitters, Bobby Bonds, Pedro Guerrero, and Rickey Henderson all look like they are set for quite some time.

Similarly, the top end of the rotation–Eddie Plank and Lefty Grove–look quite good, and both Nick Altrock and Bump Hadley impressed in limited starts. Ken Howell, Ron Robinson, and Rod Beck were excellent at the back of the bullpen.

ALL STARS
RP Rod Beck; P Lefty Grove; OF Rickey Henderson; RP Ken Howell; OF Reggie Jackson, P Charlie Root

What Went Wrong

The MI was never really settled. Jimmy Bloodworth was fine at 2B, Dick Lundy spent as much time injured as showing flashes of potential, and the SS job was eventually claimed by Roy Hartzell.

Gene Oliver ended up the primary backstop, which speaks to just how much Mickey Cochrane and Brian Downing struggled. John Beckwith couldn’t stick with the big league club, but at 18 he can be forgiven.

Tim Hudson imploded after being acquired from Birmingham, although he recovered a bit towards the end of the season. Nobody else really stepped up on the mound, with Dennis Eckersley and Dave LaRoche being especially disappointing.

Trade Evaluations

March

OF Pete Browning, P Rollie Fingers, SS Bert Campaneris, P Eddie Rommel & IF Mark McGwire to House of David for IF Dick Lundy, OF Bobby Bonds & P Nick Altrock

A true blockbuster with impact on both sides. As San Francisco got 3 players who spent most of the year as WBL contributors, they have to be happy with the deal, even with Browning’s performance.

June

P Rube Melton, OF Derrick May & 3rd Round Pick to Birmingham for P Tim Hudson

Hudson’s struggles make this look bad, but it still feels like a worthwhile gamble to have taken.

IF Steve Hertz & 2nd Round Pick to Homestead for IF Phil Garner

They wish they had the pick now.

OF Wally Moon, OF Dwayne Murphy, 4th Round Pick & 6th Round Pick to Los Angeles for C Brian Downing, IF Kurt Stillwell & P Dave LaRoche

Downing was supposed to solve the issues at C for San Francisco. He didn’t.

P Shawn Estes, P Turk Wendell & 5th Round Pick to Miami for P Tommy Bridges

Meh. I mean at this point the Sea Lions were still in playoff contention, and Bridges looked solid. Still. Meh.

July

P Charlie Root & P Chad Bradford to Detroit for IF Charlie Gehringer, P Red Ehret, IF Bill Sweeney & 4th Round Pick {Charlie Ferguson}

Oof. Root and Bradford helped Detroit to the Whirled Series, Gehringer was eventually released. A clear loss for San Francisco in this one.

Looking Forward

SP

Grove, Plank, and Eckersley are a solid top 3. One of the few teams with a decent amount of mound talent.

RP

Set for now, and this may be where Eckersley ends up, long term.

C

Mickey Cochrane is supposed to be the answer here, but he has to hit over .200. Some good young talent (Dave Duncan, John Mizerock), so there are options.

1B

Jack Clark will play here, but he’s really just waiting on Jimmie Foxx to come into his own. John Beckwith will factor in eventually, and newcomer Sid Bream looks impressive as well.

2B

Who knows. Keith Ginter was great at AAA, Dick Green has shown some talent, and Dick Lundy can play here when healthy.

3B

For now, Pedro Guerrero will see some time here, but it really looks like Sal Bando is the answer for a while.

SS

If Lundy can stay in the lineup, he should be here.

LF

When Rickey Henderson was hitting .230 he had some value; as he raised his average to .270, he locked this position down long-term.

CF

There really aren’t any natural CF’s here, so look for Bobby Bonds to continue to cover best he can.

RF

Everyone ends up here: Reggie Jackson for now, but it’s also the more natural position for both Bonds and Guerrero.

The Rookie Draft

Rounds 1-4

The Sea Lions only have 8 picks in the draft, and in the early rounds only 3 in the first 7 rounds (a 1st, a 4th, and a 7th). So there is a ton of pressure on their initial pick.

They reached deep for it, taking unheralded CF Turkey Stearnes. The pick thrilled many experts, even if it meant bypassing more highly touted CFers (Al Simmons, Earl Averill).

And then the Sea Lions did … nothing … until the 19th pick of the 4th round, where they picked up a project in SP Charlie Ferguson.

Rounds 5-8

And then nothing until the 7th round. The Sea Lions will be focusing on 1B, OF, and pitching, pitching, pitching from here on out, beginning with Pete Harnisch. Franchise pick Jed Lowrie proved too tempting in the 8th, even though IF isn’t an area of need, strictly speaking.

Rounds 9-12

OF Jules Thomas (final exemption); P Steve Ontiveros; P Dave Lemanczyk; and IF Nick Allen.

TWIWBL 51.0: The Awards – The Minors

By mknn

On October 25, 2023

In TWIWBL

We’ll kick off Awards Week with a trip around the minor leagues.

This is being posted after the draft–meaning after a huge influx of unproven young talent. More on that shortly–much more. For the award winners listed here, I’ve included rankings on the top prospect list, but those numbers would, of course, been higher when these awards were bestowed (that is, before the draft).

And, of course, many of the award winners are too old to be considered prospects.

I’ve also included some notes about some of the winners, hopefully setting up some future storylines.

AAA

AAA Gold Gloves

P – Blondie Purcell (Seattle / Portland)
C – Hal King (Milwaukee / Chicago)
1B – Eddie Murray (Washington / Baltimore) [#26]
2B – Bobby Knoop (Buffalo / Cleveland)
3B – Tim Wallach (Las Vegas / Los Angeles)
SS – George McBride (Atlanta / Birmingham)
LF – Joe Rudi (Atlanta / Birmingham) [#200]
CF – Lance Johnson (Milwaukee / Chicago)
RF – Paul Waner (Louisville / Homestead) [#47]

AAA Reliever of the Year

Adam Russell (St. Louis / Kansas City) swept all 20 first place votes after posting 25 saves and a 1.42 ERA for St. Louis. Russell was passable in Kansas City, and should find a spot in their bullpen next season.

AAA Platinum Sticks

C – Cliff Lee (Seattle / Portland)
1B – Kevin Young (Louisville / Homestead)
2B – Juan Samuel (Norfolk / Philadelphia)
3B – Jung Ho Kang (Columbus / House of David)
SS – Cal Ripken, Jr. (Washington / Baltimore) [#29]
LF – Merv Rettenmund (St. Louis / Kansas City) [#71]
CF – Benny Kauff (Hartford / New York Gothams)
RF – Al Kaline (Toronto / Detroit) [#15]
DH – Chick Stahl (Washington / Baltimore)

An interesting list. Kaline has established himself at the WBL level and both Kauff and Samuel excelled in limited opportunities, making them likely to receive roster spots for the coming season.

Kang, on the other hand, struggled at the WBL over several opportunities.

Of the rest, Ripken is probably the most likely to see WBL time, although he is blocked at Baltimore at both SS and 3B.

AAA Pitcher of the Year

Virgil Trucks (Cincinnati / Indianapolis) swept the first place votes and dominated the award after going 10-8 with a 2.72 ERA at AAA. Unfortunately, he was hit pretty hard, with an ERA over 5.00, in 17 games for Indianapolis. Still, the talent is clearly there for the 26 year old.

AAA MVP

The MVP Award was a bit closer, with St. Louis’ Rettenmund and Montréal (Ottawa)’s Bob Watson [#52] having strong showings in the voting. But both were well out-distanced by Hartford’s Benny Kauff who slammed 39 homeruns and slashed 303/370/600 to take home the honor. Kauff is 28, clearly no longer a prospect, but he hit so well both over the final 2 weeks of the season and into the postseason that the Gothams are pretty much forced to find time for him.

AA

AA Gold Gloves

P – Ricky Bones (Tulsa/ Memphis)
C – Tucker Barnhart (Rochester / Cleveland) [#358]
1B – Mike Squires (Madison / Chicago)
2B – Dick Green (Sacramento / San Francisco)
3B – Lee Tannehill (Vancouver / Portland)
SS – Eddie Miller (Sacramento / San Francisco)
LF – Hub Collins (Fort Wayne / Detroit) [#451]
CF – Kirby Puckett (Vancouver / Portland) [#126]
RF – Darrell Miller (Madison/ Chicago)

AA Reliever of the Year

Bill Harper (Austin / Houston) [#202] had 14 saves and a 0.97 ERA at AA, earning the award as the league’s top reliever. He struggled a bit at AAA later in the season, but still did enough to dominate the lower level. At only 22, Harper probably has another year or two of minor league time ahead of him.

AA Platinum Sticks

C – Frankie Hayes (Vancouver / Portland)
1B – Prince Fielder (Atlantic City / Philadelphia) [#127]
2B – Dave Cash (Oklahoma City / Kansas City) [#101]
3B – Jimmie Foxx (Sacramento / San Francisco) [#211]
SS – Joe Sewell (Rochester / Cleveland) [#88]
LF – George Burns (Troy / New York Gothams)
CF – John Briggs (Jersey City / Brooklyn) [#80]
RF – Willie Crawford (Tulsa / Memphis) [#311]
DH – Billy Nash (Fort Wayne / Detroit) [#201]

Briggs shocked observers, excelling in Brooklyn after making the jump directly from AA. Of the rest of these, Foxx looks set to be a bench player for San Francisco and Burns may see time in the OF for Ottawa (he was traded to them mid season).

AA Pitcher of the Year

Jeremy Sowers [#271] of Fort Wayne was named the AA Pitcher of the Year after his 13-4, 3.05 season. He looks fine, but doesn’t project as much more than a back of rotation arm eventually.

AA MVP

Tulsa’s teenage sensation Willie Crawford (334/440/556) and Jersey City’s John Briggs, who basically matched his AA production of 315/437/518 after being recalled to Brooklyn, received more attention this season, but the MVP award for AA goes to Fort Wayne’s Billy Nash, who slashed 315/383/595 on the season.

Nash is only 20, so look for another year in the minors, perhaps on the fringes of Detroit’s WBL roster.

Troy’s George Burns and Nashville (Indianapolis)’s George Foster [#98] also received first place votes.

TWIWBL 46.1: Series XXXVIII Notes – September 10th (Day 2 of 4)

By mknn

On August 25, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps, TWIWBL

#The Battle for the Final Spot

Birmingham lowered their magic number to 1 with an 8-4 victory over Philadelphia. Cupid Childs broke out of a slump with 3 hits including his 5th homerun of the year and Sam Streeter improved to 7-6 with a strong 7 plus innings. The only bad news for the Black Barons concerned young Nate Colbert, who was forced to leave the game with a high ankle sprain that will keep him off the playoff roster as well.

PHI 4 (Carlton 8-13) @ BBB 8 (Streeter 7-6)
HRs: PHI – Davis 19, Judge 7; BBB – Nieman (16), Childs (5).
Box Score

Mike Schmidt had 3 hits and Babe Ruth hit his 47th longball of the season as the Black Yankees did what they could, beating Cleveland 7-2 to keep their hopes alive. Waite Hoyt picked up his 11th win of the year.

These two results mean that any combination of wins by Birmingham or losses by the Black Yankees will end New York’s season, but for now, hope prevails.

NYY 7 (Hoyt 11-6) @ CLE 2 (Gastright 1-1)
HRs: NYY – Ruth (47); CLE – Trosky (2).
Box Score

#Playoff Seeding

Boog Powell had 5 hits and drove in 4 runs and Lou Brock added 4 hits as Kansas City gave up a 7 run lead, but prevailed in 11 innings over Baltimore. The loss for the Black Sox kept Chicago’s hopes of overtaking them for the lead in the Cum Posey Division alive. The American Giants responded by riding a strong start from Ben Sheets to a 3-1 win over Brooklyn. Joe Jackson hit his 30th homerun of the year to give Chicago the lead, and to pull them within 2 games of Baltimore.

Portland and the New York Gothams combined for 21 runs and 33 hits as the Sea Dogs used 9 runs from the 6th inning on to stage a come from behind 12-9 win. For Portland, Joe Mauer and Buddy Bell had 3 hits each and–who else–Gavvy Cravath delivered a key homerun to give them the lead. For the Gothams, Will Clark had 4 hits and drove in 3 and George Van Haltren, Benny Kauff, and Buster Posey added 3 hits each in the losing effort.

#Other Games

Lefty Grove ran out of steam, missing out on a shutout in his final game of the season. Still, his 8 innings was more than good enough, earning him the victory in the 8-1 triumph over Indianapolis. Grove improved to 14-7 on the year, and finished with a league-leading 207 strikeouts. The Sea Lions’ Rickey Henderson had 3 hits (2 of which were triples, tying the league record) and Jimmie Foxx added 3 hits and 3 RBI’s.

Harry Stovey went deep twice, doubling his total for the year and Roy Oswalt was strong in his final start of the year, finishing at 14-8 as the Colt 45’s thrashed Ottawa, 10-2. Pete Hill had 4 hits and Jim Wynn 3 in the blowout win.

Bill Doak and 3 relievers combined to shutout Los Angeles over 12 innings in a 1-0 victory for Memphis over the Angels. Doak and Tim Wakefield allowed 8 hits over 10 plus innings, and Lance Broadway and Jonathan Papelbon finished it out, with Broadway picking up his 1st WBL career victory and Papelbon his 18th save. Gerrit Cole pitched excellently, allowing 5 hits and whiffing 9 over 8 innings, but finishes the year at 16-9. Sammy Sosa delivered the only RBI of the game in the top of the 12th.

Series XXXII Featured Matchup: Philadelphia Stars @ San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On May 31, 2023

In Featured Series, Game Recaps

Series preview here.

#Game One: Pete Alexander @ Nick Altrock

Pete Alexander suffered from what seemed to be a ton of rust on his return from the DL, even have gone through a rehab assignment. Alexander gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks in under 3 innings before being lifted, with 2 scoring on a double from Jimmie Foxx.

Despite the early lead, the Sea Dogs got some bad news when Dick Lundy had to leave the game with an apparent shoulder injury.

Philadelphia’s first threat came in the top of the 3rd when base hits from Aaron Judge and Ted Kluszewski put runners at the corners with 2 outs. But Nick Altrock was able to get José Ramírez to line out to right field to end the inning.

Pedro Guerrero increased the Sea Lions’ lead to 4-0 with his 22nd homerun of the year in the bottom of the 5th and Bobby Bonds made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the 7th, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.

But the story was Altrock, who finished with a 7-hit shutout, improving his record to 2-1 and lowering his ERA to 2.45.

PHI 0 (Alexander 2-7) @ SFS 6 (Altrock 2-1)
HRs: PHI – none; SFS – Guerrero (22).
Box Score

#Game 2: Steve Carlton @ Lefty Grove

Each team trotted its ace out in the second game of the series, with both Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton and San Francisco’s Lefty Grove carrying ERAs under 4.00.

A Pedro Guerrero sacrifice fly gave the Sea Lions a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. (Bobby Bonds extended his hitting streak to 18 games earlier in the inning.) A homerun from Sal Bando doubled the lead in the next inning, and a Rickey Henderson triple scored Roy Hartzell, making it 3-0.

Grove had a shutout through 5, but got into a bases loaded jam in the 6th. He got one out, but José Ramírez singled in a run to make it 3-1 and chase Grove, who gave way to Diego Seguí. Seguí gave up a sacrifice fly to Roger Peckinpaugh, but escaped with the lead intact, 3-2.

Scott Rolen took Seguí deep in the 7th to tie the game. Meanwhile, Carlton was excellent, blanking the Sea Lions into the 7th, when a single from Henderson chased him. Minnie Rojas relieved Carlton and, after Henderson stole second, gave up a single to Bonds. Reggie Jackson walked, but Rojas gave up a fly ball to LF to score a run, giving the Sea Lions a 4-3 lead.

Ramírez tied it up in the 8th with a fly that just cleared the right field wall.

In the bottom of the 9th, after Henderson singled, Bonds tried to bunt him to second (bad choice, that), but popped the ball to Rolen at third who doubled up Henderson. That effectively sent us to extra innings.

In the top of the 11th, Ramírez did it again: another fly to right that just cleared the fence to put the stars ahead, 5-4. The Stars were helped by an error by Bando, eventually pushing the lead to 7-4.

Which is how it ended: Bob Howry was stretched out, but nicely effective, allowing only 1 run in 3 innings to earn the victory.

PHI 7 (Howry 3-5) @ SFS 4 (Robinson 5-4; Seguí 1 B Sv; Howell 3 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: PHI – Rolen (17), Ramírez 2 (8); SFS – Bando (2).
Box Score

#Game 3: Hardie Henderson @ Tim Hudson

Sometimes a single big inning wins the game; sometimes it doesn’t.

The Sea Lions touched Hardie Henderson for 6 runs in the bottom of the 2nd: 2 on a double from Mickey Cochrane, 1 on a Roy Hartzell single, and the rest on a 3 run blast from Reggie Jackson. And, despite losing Tim Hudson to injury early in the game, it seemed like it would hold up.

But the Stars slowly closed the gap: 6-1, then 6-3, then 6-4. A wild pitch here, a sacrifice fly there, and an RBI double from Sherm Lollar over there. All of which set the stage for the 7th inning. San Francisco’s bullpen was a bit worn out, which left Dave LaRoche in the game despite clearly tiring. Still, he had gotten 2 outs on strikeouts. But Scott Rolen took him deep to right for a 3-run shot that put the Stars on top, 7-6.

And that’s how it ended. Ray Collins danced through the 8th despite 2 baserunners and Claude Jonnard pitched a perfect 9th for his first save of the season.

Aaron Judge added 3 hits for the Stars, while Rickey Henderson had 4 knocks for the Sea Lions, raising his average to .270.

PHI 7 (Henderson 1-0; Jonnard 1 Sv; Collins 1 H) @ SFS 6 (LaRoche 1-2, 2 B Sv)
HRs: PHI – Rolen (18); SFS – Jackson (26).
Box Score

It looks like Hudson will only be sidelined a few days and should be good for his next start. Still no clarity for the Sea Lions on the status of Dick Lundy.

#Game 4: Larry Jackson @ Diego Seguí

Diego Seguí gets the start for San Francisco, looking to even the series. The Sea Lions considered pro-actively placing Dick Lundy on the DL in exchange for a fully rested starting pitcher, but decided to hold out hop that their young SS’s injury is less serious than feared.

Seguí looked rough at first, giving up hits to Willie Davis and Roger Peckinpaugh to start the game and score a run. But Pedro Guerrero‘s 23rd homerun of the season reset the game in a 1-1 tie. In the bottom of the 3rd, Rickey Henderson was hit by a pitch, stole second (his 84th steal of the year), and scored on a double from Bobby Bonds, which extended Bonds’ hitting streak to 20 games.

The Stars’ Larry Jackson was struggling: a single from Guerrero scored Bonds, and a single from Jack Clark and a walk to Sal Bando loaded the bases. But Jackson got Phil Garner to lift a soft ball into foul territory, where Peckinpaugh grabbed it for the final out.

In the end, the Sea Lions made the same mistake they did in game 3: Seguí was left in one batter too long, surrendering a 2-run shot to Aaron Judge to tie the game in the top of the 6th.

Jackson–who had settled down–was finally chased in the top of the 7th by hits to Roy Hartzell and Henderson. His replacement, Don Carman, induced a double play from Bonds to end the inning. And so we sailed on into extra innings.

Bobby Abreu led off the 10th for Philadelphia with his 3rd hit of the game, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a pinch-hit double from Ted Kluszewski. Klu scored on a sac fly, given the Stars a 2 run edge, 5-3. Their closer, Bob Howry, came in, which is always interesting. Howry has 24 saves, but also sports an ERA over 5.00 … he was facing the top of the Sea Lions’ lineup, and Henderson and Bonds started it off for San Francisco with back to back singles. Howry balked them to 2nd and 3rd, then gave up a deep, deep fly to center from Jackson, scoring Henderson and moving Bonds to third. A double from Guerrero (who ended the day with 3 hits and 3 RBIs) tied the game, and after Howry got the 2nd out of the inning, a single from Bando won it for the Sea Lions.

PHI 5 (Howry 3-6, 6 B Sv) @ SFS 6 (Robinson 6-4) [10 Innings]
HRs: PHI – Judge (2); SFS – Guerrero (23).
Box Score

Series XXXI Best Games

By mknn

On May 2, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

This time, we have two see-saw games and two series that deserve a little focus.

Let’s do the one-offs first.

#Homestead Grays @ Ottawa Mounties, Game 1

This one got wild. Ottawa took the lead on Larry Walker‘s 18th homerun of the year, a 2-run shot in the bottom of the first. Hits from Davey Johnson and Roberto Clemente got a run back for Homestead, but Ottawa scored 2 on a single from Roberto Alomar to increase their lead to 4-1. Homestead’s Rick Reichardt sent a pitch from Clayton Richard into the stands to tie the game in the top of the 3rd, so, we’re back to all square at 4-4.

The game continued to swing back and forth: a sacrifice fly from Johnson offset a solo shot from Roy Sievers, but an RBI double from Andy Van Slyke put Homestead back on top momentarily: a 2-run double from Sievers and a single from Bernie Allen gave Ottawa a 2-run lead, 8-6.

And then the 9th. Ted Bowsfield started the inning for Ottawa, walking Mike Epstein and giving up a single to Van Slyke. Bowsfield grabbed his elbow after the hit, and the Mounties brought in their closer, Ryan Dempster. Dempster retired 2 and walked one, loading the bases with Johnson at the plate. He singled to right, driving in 2. Perhaps more importantly for Ottawa, their star RF, Walker, was forced out of the game after the throw. But, the game was tied.

Tied, that is, until a single from Rusty Staub scored Carlos Beltrán to give the Mounties a walk off victory.

Nobody pitched particularly well, but Ottawa’s Monk Dubiel and Dempster did manage to escape without being scored on.

Both Bowsfield and Walker were sent to the DL after the game, with Chris Leroux and Sam Thompson being recalled from AAA.

HOM 8 (Ownbey 1-3; Brown 1 B Sv) @ OTT 9 (Dempster 4-1, 2 B Sv; Bowsfield 7 H)
HRs: HOM – Reichardt (21); OTT – Walker (18), Sievers (7).
Box Score

#San Francisco Sea Lions @ Detroit Wolverines, Game 2

This one had everything except good pitching (Mickey Lolich‘s 2 innings of clean relief for Detroit notwithstanding).

San Francisco kicked off the game with a bang: a leadoff homerun from Rickey Henderson, a 2 run shot from Reggie Jackson, and an RBI groundout from Phil Garner made it 4-0 Sea Lions before Diego Seguí threw his first pitch.

But the Bailey Boys got to him the following inning: Ed Bailey launched a 3 run shot and Bob Bailey added an RBI groundout to score Sparky Adams, who had doubled, tying the game at 4. Momentarily: Garner went deep and another run scored on a Sal Bando single, putting San Francisco back on top, 7-4. A solo shot from Hank Greenberg clawed one back, but a 2-run single from San Francisco’s Pedro Guerrero made it 9-5 heading into the 6th, when Detroit chased Seguí and hammered his replacement, James Shields, who only lasted 4 batters. Al Kaline singled home one run and Tony Phillips brought in another with a double. By the time it was all done, San Francisco’s lead was slashed to a single run, 9-8. Kaline would put the Wolverines in front with a 3-run shot in the 7th, and a Bob Bailey triple scored Phillips, who was hit by a pitch. Suddenly, Detroit was up, 12-9.

Their closer (and the WBL leader in saves), Mike Henneman, struggled in the 9th, facing 8 batters and giving up 2 runs (one on a solo shot by Jimmie Foxx, the other on a single by Guerrero). But he got Jack Clark to ground out with 2 batters on to preserve the victory.

SFS 11 (LaRoche 1-1, 1 B Sv; Hadley 2 H) @ DET 13 (Bradford 2-0)
HRs: SFS – Jackson (25), Henderson (6), Foxx (2); DET – E. Bailey (6), Greenberg 2 (24), Kaline (5).
Box Score

#Memphis Red Sox @ Miami Cuban Giants, Games 1 & 3

This series is a battle of basement teams, but that doesn’t keep the games from being entertaining.

The Red Sox scored 4 runs early with the RBIs coming on a sacrifice fly, a fielder’s choice, a bases-loaded walk, and an error by Miami’s shortstop, Robin Yount. Miami took a more conventional route back: a walk and 4 singles scored 3 runs in the 4th. But they followed Memphis’ lead to tie the game, as a sacrifice fly from José Cardenal plated Ryan Braun. The Cuban Giants then took the lead on a solo shot from their best player, José Canseco.

Wade Boggs finally brought home a conventional run for Memphis in the 8th with a single, but the Red Sox immediately reverted to form, with a bases-loaded walk and another sacrifice fly giving them a 7-5 lead. Three perfect relief innings from Turk Farrell, Heath Bell, and Jonathan Papelbon, closed the game out.

Ted Williams and Bill White finished the game with 3 hits each for Memphis; Cookie Rojas had 3 for Miami.

MEM 7 (Farrell 2-3; Papelbon 11 Sv; Bell 5 H; Callahan 4 B Sv) @ MCG 5 (Consuegra 0-4)
HRs: MEM – none; MCG – Canseco (30).
Box Score

In Game 3, Memphis was up 6-0, and then 8-5, powered by a grandslam from David Justice and 2 homers from Billy Bryan. It wasn’t enough: Minnie Miñoso broke out of his funk with 3 hits and 3 RBIs and Cookie Rojas, Gary Sheffield, and Chris Hoiles each drove in 2. As importantly for Miami, Eustaquio Pedroso, Sandy Consuegra, Ricky Nolasco, and Braden Looper combined for 4 innings of 1-hit relief of an ineffective Ramón Martínez.

MEM 8 (Callahan 5-10) @ MCG 11 (Pedroso 7-6; Looper 3 Sv; Consuegra 2 H; Nolasco 2 H)
HRs: none.
Box Score

New York Black Yankees @ Houston Colt 45’s, Games 2 and 4

In Game 2, Houston had a 6-3 lead heading to the 9th inning. The Colt 45’s got 2-run shots from Jim O’Rourke and Tony Gwynn and a solo dinger from Jorge Posada to take the lead.

The problem was their closer, Billy Wagner, was tired, leaving them turning to Brad Lidge, who had been solid since his recall, but here reverted to his old form: an RBI groundout from Tom Herr and a 3-run shot from Don Mattingly put the Black Yankees up 7-6.

Andrés Galarraga singled home a run in the bottom of the 9th, sending us to extra innings. Mattingly and Eric Davis homered in the 10th to put New York up 11-7, which seemed safe until you remembered the fragility of the Black Yankees’ bullpen. Here, Ralph Citarella and Rheal Cormier gave up RBI’s to Jim Wynn and Craig Biggio, but Cormier fanned Galarraga with the tying run on third base to close it out.

NYY 11 (Chapman 1-0, 1 B Sv; Cormier 1 Sv) @ HOU 10 (Kern 0-2; Chamberlain 1 H; McGraw 7 H; Lidge 4 B Sv) [10 Innings]
HRs: Mattingly 2 (26), Davis (31); HOU – O’Rourke (6), Gwynn (8), Posada (7).
Box Score

Game 4 of the series was a similar story: a Houston comeback that just fell short. Mattingly had 3 hits and 3 RBIs and Mike Schmidt hit his 17th homerun for the Black Yankees, who also got 3 brilliant innings from Goose Gossage. They did have to withstand a horrible outing from the heretofore solid Dick Tidrow, who surrendered 4 hits (2 to pinch hitters Jim O’Rourke and Harry Stovey) and 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning.

Andrés Galarraga had 4 hits and Casey Stengel and Jorge Posada had 3 each for Houston. Tug McGraw closed the game for the Colt 45’s, and has yet to surrender a run in his first 10 innings at the WBL level.

NYY 8 (Gossage 5-4; Chapman 5 Sv; Citarella 10 H) @ HOU 7 (Strasburg 7-7)
HRs: NYY – Schmidt (17); HOU – Stengel (9), Biggio (7).
Box Score

TWIWBL 37.4: Series XXIX Notes – Marvin Miller Division

By mknn

On April 11, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

The newcomers just keep delivering. Adrián González went deep twice and is sporting an OPS nearly 300 points higher than his time with Chicago and the newly acquired Andy Pettite moved to 2-0 with Birmingham with 7 strong innings as the Black Barons defeated Homestead 8-2.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Beals Becker hit 2 homeruns, putting him in the 40/20 club (20 homers, 41 steals), but it wasn’t enough as the Royal Giants fell 6-4 to Detroit.

#Portland Sea Dogs

It took an injury to stop the force known as Greg Litton. As the utility player hit the DL, Portland recalled Fred Dunlap from AAA. Dunlap, who started the year at 2B for the Sea Dogs, hit even less than Litton in that stretch, as inconceivable as that seems. Litton went out with a bang, getting 3 hits in the game where he was injured. Gil Hodges also had 3 hits, including his 24th homerun of the year, in a come-from-behind 8-6 victory over Cleveland.

Portland’s 6-2 victory in the 3rd game was notable for a few things: 5 runs in the last 2 innings; another strong performance by Joséito Muñoz; a key homerun by Gavvy Cravath (his first as a Sea Dog); more hits from Gary Pettis, who moved his average back over .400; and a decent showing by Dunlap, looking to stay in the bigs this time. Mike Cuellar moved to 11-6, despite only 1 start.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

With Reggie Jackson‘s return from the DL, the Sea Lions chose to send 18 year old John Beckwith to AAA in hopes of more regular at-bats, keeping Jimmie Foxx at the WBL level.

Tim Hudson put in another strong start in Jackson’s first game back, allowing 1 earned run in 7 innings. Six Sea Lions–including Jackson–had 2 hits in the 9-2 victory.

TWIWBL 33.4: Series XXVI Notes – Marvin Miller Division

By mknn

On February 20, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Nap Rucker‘s stay was brief, as the lefty was sent down to clear room for Ralph Branca to make a start at the big league level.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Mike Cuellar had 9 wins out of the bullpen when called upon to make his first start of the year. He tossed a solid 5 innings against the Black Yankees, getting the win and improving his record to 10-5. Rogers Hornsby and Gary Pettis (who pushed his average over .400) had 3 hits each and Hornsby and Kent Hrbek went deep for the Sea Dogs in the victory. Hrbek now has 29 dingers, good for 2nd in the league.

Unfortunately for Portland, their pitching staff was still in need of rest even after Cuellar’s effort. That necessitated some roster moves, and Hughie Jennings was the odd man out, at least temporarily. Hal Griggs was recalled: Griggs struggled from the bullpen earlier in the year, but has been dominant at AAA since.

It didn’t work: Griggs was rocked, and Pascual Pérez injured. The former was returned to AAA, the latter placed on the DL. Ray Fontenot was recalled from AAA, along with Ruben Sierra.

Bobby Murcer went deep twice and the Sea Dogs pounded out 14 hits in a 10-4 win over New York. Walter Johnson moved to 10-3 on the year with a strong 6 innings of work.

More rough news for the Sea Dogs: Joe Mauer‘s recovery hasn’t gone so well, and will take at least another week before he’s ready to return.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Tommy Bridges has struggled since being acquired from Miami over the all-star break, posting an ERA approaching 9.00. Needing an emergency starter, the Sea Lions finally pulled the trigger, sending Bridges to AAA and recalling James Shields.

It didn’t last: the Sea Lions needed another emergency starter, and Shields didn’t do that well, so he headed back, with Rick Langford coming up to make the start. Langford was excellent: 1 run in 6 gutsy innings, so he should remain with the WBL for a while.

Reggie Jackson had quite a day: a record-tying 3 homeruns, 7 RBIs, 4 runs scored, and a hamstring injury that is likely to keep the Sea Lions’ best offensive player out for at least a week. Pedro Guerrero, Bobby Bonds, and Jack Clark also went deep in the 12-5 win that also saw Tim Hudson‘s best start for San Francsico.

Jackson was put on the DL after the game, with 20 year old phenom Jimmie Foxx being called up to make his debut.

TWIWBL 28.1: AA Roundup, July 1st

By mknn

On July 20, 2022

In TWIWBL, WBL Minor Leagues

Another month, another quick trip through the minor leagues!

Featured Team: Austin Black Senators

The Black Senators have the best record in AA, playing at a .650 clip and leading their division by 5 games.

Their offense is thoroughly mediocre, but their pitching is something else, led by Kyle Kendrick (6-2, 3.84) and Bill Harper, who is 4-2 with 13 saves and a 1.07 ERA out of the bullpen. Nineteen year-old Vida Blue has shown flashes of great potential, averaging almost 11 K’s per 9 innings, but is currently injured.

Offensively … well it’s hard to find who the real leaders are, but it’s probably IF Russ Adams (311/404/444) and OF Derek Bell (315/344/489). Dick Williams leads the team with 9 HRs and 30 RBIs. Part of the issue is who’s no longer here: Travis Jackson, Pete Hill, and Von Joshua, each of whom have been stellar offensively, are at AAA, the majors, and on the injured list respectively. Mid-season acquisition Harry Stovey (part of Houston’s trade for Roger Clemens) looks to add something as well: overall, he’s slashing 374/447/835, although he’s a little off that in his first 10 games with Austin.

#AA Leaders

John Briggs, perhaps the most dominant player at AA has been recalled to Brooklyn. Briggs was slashing 315/437/518 with a dozen homeruns and over 50 Rs and RBIs. Behind Briggs, the best batters at AA are probably Adam Dunn (Nashville / Indianapolis ABC’s) and Jimmie Foxx (Sacramento / San Francisco Sea Lions). They are 1st and 2nd in SLG and OPS, and Dunn is 2nd in the league in homeruns with 21, while Foxx has 20. Vancouver’s Frankie Hayes (Portland Sea Dogs) leads AA with 23 HRs and Prince Fielder is tied with Dunn (Atlantic City / Philadelphia) with 21. Fort Wayne’s Billy Nash (Detroit Wolverines), Rochester’s Ken Keltner (Cleveland Spiders), and Tulsa’s Willie Crawford (Memphis) join Dunn and Foxx as the only AA batters with an OPS over 1.000.

Two teenagers from Albuquerque (Wandering House of David), 15 year-old Joe Nuxhall and 17 year-old Larry Dierker, continue to dominate on the mound. Nuxhall is first in ERA (2.59), Dierker leads in wins with 11, and the 2 are first and second in strikeouts. Vern Law (Syracuse / Homestead Grays) and Jeremy Sowers (Fort Wayne) have 10 wins each, and are 2nd and 3rd in ERA behind Nuxhall (Dierker is 6th).

AA can be a little odd: Heathcliff Slocumb (Montgomery / Birmingham Black Barons) leads with 19 saves, but 18 of those were with Hudson Valley (New York Black Yankees). Slocumb was part of the Tom Herr trade, taking over from Steve Bedrosian for Montréal, who had 17 saves before being called up to the WBL. Albuquerque’s Karl Spooner (2.08 ERA, 0.65 WHIP), Havana’s Glenn Spencer (Miami Cuban Giants; 2.92 ERA, 0.89 WHIP), and Madison’s Víctor Cruz (Chicago American Giants; 2.42 ERA, 0.92 WHIP) are among the other strongest relievers.

#AA Awards

Dierker won the AA Pitcher of the Month Award, going 4-0 with a 2.83 ERA, striking out 45 while walking only 4. Jorge Orta of Nashville was the AA Batter of the Month, hitting .330 with 7 homeruns in June.

Players of the Week: Casey Blake (Rochester), John Mayberry (Edmonton / Ottawa Mounties), Orta, Travis Jackson (Austin).

#AA Hottest Prospects (24 Years and Younger)

80 AAA PA/40 AA IP minimum; must be in AA now, or only recently promoted.

C: Frankie Hayes (19, Vancouver). 256/344/584. 23 HR.
1B: Jimmie Foxx (20, Sacramento). 302/397/649. 20 HR.
2B: Asdrúbal Cabrera (21, Charlotte). 327/399/565.
3B: Mike Moustakas (24, Sacramento). 323/392/684.
SS: Bert Campaneris (22, Albuquerque). 322/387/527.
LF: George Burns (23, Troy / New York Gothams). 371/458/667.
CF: Willie Crawford (17, Tulsa). 338/448/556.
RF: Adam Dunn (21, Nashville). 279/433/637. 21 HR, 52 RBI.

SP: Larry Dierker (17, Albuquerque; 11-4, 3.60, 1.09 WHIP); Vern Law (24, Syracuse; 10-0, 2.86, 1.17 WHIP); Joe Nuxhall (15, Albuquerque; 7-2, 2.59, 1.07 WHIP); Jeremy Sowers (Fort Wayne, 24; 10-4, 3.19, 1.28 WHIP).

RP: Jeff Heathcock (23, Albuquerque; 1-3, 2.34, 15 Sv); Karl Spooner (23, Albuquerque; 0-2, 2.08, 4 Sv, 0.65 WHIP); Glenn Spencer (22, Havana; 2-0, 2.92, 0.89 WHIP).

TWIWBL 24.18: Mid-Season Reviews – San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On May 4, 2022

In Team News, TWIWBL

Summary

The Marvin Miller is a hard division. The Sea Lions are over .500, and within striking distance of Portland, but it will take some doing.

What’s Gone Right

REG-GIE REG-GIE. Those chants may turn into MVP MVP MVP by the end of the year. Reggie Jackson is threatening the triple crown and while that feels very unlikely, well, he’s got a shot.

The Rest of the Lineup. Bobby Bonds and AAA find Pedro Guerrero have OPS’ just under .900; Jimmy Bloodworth, Rickey Henderson, Jack Clark, and Wally Moon follow them without a real weak link.

High End Arms. Lefty Grove, Rod Beck, Ken Howell, Charlie Root, and Diego Seguí have all performed excellently in their roles.

What’s Gone Wrong

The Rest of the Arms. Jim Devlin and Cy Falkenberg have pitched themselves back to AAA, but it’s not clear who is there to replace them.

Achilles’ Heels. Henderson has 52 steals and an OBP around .400 … but little else. John Beckwith hits the ball as hard as anyone in the league … but only to a .700 OPS. Clark has power … but not much else. There are significant questions about many key contributors.

Shortstop. Dick Lundy solved this … and then he got hurt, putting San Francisco back in the hands of Eddie Joost, who has a good eye, some power, but cannot put it all together in a way that lifts his OPS over .600.

Key Storylines

Can the new players–Guerrero, Lundy, Seguí–keep up their torrid pace? And can a team likely to stay pat during the trading period improve in the second half?

The continued development of Grove bears watching, and the OF has storylines at all three spots: is Jackson’s triple crown pursuit for real? Can Henderson improve offensively to complement his unworldly base-stealing? And can Bonds continue to perform at a very high level?

Trading Outlook

HOLDING.

Bob Cerv and Moon could each move on in search of more playing time, but that’s about it.

AAA Shuttle

Guerrero and Seguí look to be true gems, as did Lundy before his injury, and both Cerv and Miguel Cairo have started very well. Overall, it’s been quite a success.

Midseason Changes

Falkenberg and Devlin head to AAA, with Nick Altrock coming back, as well as Dennis Eckersley, who struggled mightily to start the year with the big league club.

Awards

All Stars: Rod Beck (P); Lefty Grove (P); Rickey Henderson (LF); Ken Howell (P); Reggie Jackson (RF); Charlie Root (P).

Offensive MVP: Reggie Jackson (OF)
Pitching MVP: Lefty Grove (SP)

Down on the Farm

AAA: San Jose Bees

Next to the Show: P Nick Altrock, 2B Ron Hunt, 3B Sal Bando

Prospects: P Bump Hadley (21)

Projects: P Nick Altrock (28), 3B Sal Bando (25), Ron Hunt (29)

Suspects: P Rube Walberg (34)

AA: Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

Prospects: 1B Jimmie Foxx (20)

Projects: P Chad Gaudin (22), OF Dwayne Murphy (24), 2B Dick Green (23), SS Bill Russell (20), P Shawn Estes (35), RP Turk Wendell (28), RP Joe Klink (28), P Matt Barnes (25).

Suspects: C John Mizerock (22),

TWIWBL 19.1: AA Roundup

By mknn

On February 23, 2022

In TWIWBL, WBL Minor Leagues

{ Whoops. This never got published, despite being about 3 weeks ago, in terms of game-time.

It’s the first of June, so it’s time to look at the minor leagues; throughout, we identify both the AAA team and their WBL franchise. }

Featured Team: Albuquerque Isotopes

When writing the April summary, Albuquerque’s teenage pitchers caught my eye, so they’re the focus this time around. This is a bit of a departure, as the Isotopes have a mediocre 28-25 record, 5 games behind in the AA-West. This represents a fairly strong degree of underperformance, as (other than homeruns), Albuquerque is one of the top offenses in the league.

Two of their better performers–OF Cy Williams and IF Bunny Downs–have been promoted to AAA. That hurts, as Williams led the team with 11 homeruns and 35 RBIs and Downs’ 360/436/472 was a key cog in their offensive engine.

OF Danny Green‘s 11 homeruns and 34 RBIs pace the Isotopes currently, and a trio of infielders–Bert Campaneris (333/379/580), Frank Grant (312/408/453), and Luis Aparicio (339/394/402)–have kept the offense going. But it’s a team that really could use some pop: after Green, Campaneris has 5 homeruns and Cap Anson has 4, and that’s it.

Which brings us to the real interesting part. Albuquerque’s pitching staff is led by a trio of teenagers. 17 year-old Larry Dierker has been the best of them at 7-4 with a 3.93 ERA and Joe Nuxhall, at a tender 15 years of age, is 5-1 with a fantastic 2.18 ERA. They’re joined by 19 year old Jack Jenkins, who has chipped in with a 3-0 record.

Jeff Heathcock–at the venerable age of 23–anchors the bullpen with 11 saves and Tom Harrison (20 years old) has been almost unhittable as his setup man.

#Checking In On …

We left the Madison Black Wolf struggling at 6-20, having lost 15 consecutive games. They’ve stabilized slightly, sitting going 10-17 since that point. They’re still in last place, but it’s certainly an improvement. Scott Radinsky is all the way up to 7 saves.

#AA Leaders

In terms of record, Vern Law (9-0; Syracuse/Homestead), Al Spalding (8-1; Troy/New York Gothams), and John Anderson (7-0; Montgomery/Birmingham) lead the way. Sean O’Sullivan (Las Vegas/Los Angeles) leads the league with a 1.80 ERA, followed by phenom Joe Nuxhall (Albuquerque/House of David) at 2.18.

Steve Bedrosian (Montgomery)’s 17 saves have already gotten him promoted to the big leagues, leaving Heathcliff Slocumb (Hudson Valley/New York Black Yankees) the league leader with 13. (Mychal Givens also has 13, but Homestead has already moved him to AAA.) Montgomery’s Rick Camp (3-1, 2 saves, 5 holds, 0.90 WHIP) and Hudson Valley’s Joba Chamberlain (1-2, 5 holds, 1.08 WHIP) deserve a mention as well.

Offensively, John Briggs (Jersey City/Brooklyn) and Jimmie Foxx (Sacramento/San Francisco) have dominated the league. Briggs is hitting 333/455/559 with 37 RBIs and Foxx has 19 homeruns and a .705 slugging. Willie Crawford of Tulsa/Memphis leads the league with a .367 average and a .466 OBP. Oklahoma City/Kansas City’s Kolten Wong leads AA with 45 RBIs.

#AA Awards

AA Pitcher of the Month: Al Spalding, Troy/New York Gothams
AA Batter of the Month: Ken Keltner, Rochester/Cleveland

AA Players of the Week: Kolten Wong (Oklahoma City); Travis Jackson (Austin/Houston); Nate Colbert (Montgomery/Birmingham); Charlie Grimm (Rochester/Cleveland).

#Hottest Prospects (24 Years and Younger)

SP: Vern Law (24; Syracuse/Homestead) 9-0, 2.88 ERA; Joe Nuxhall (15; Albuquerque/House of David) 5-1, 2.18 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 77 K [*]; Al Spalding (24; Troy/New York Gothams) 8-1, 3.62 ERA.
RP: Heathcliff Slocumb (24; Hudson Valley/New York Black Yankees) 0-2, 2.89 ERA, 13 Sv; Rick Camp (23; Montgomery/Birmingham) 3-1, 3.63 ERA, 5 H; Elmer Burkart (19; San Diego/Los Angeles) 2-0, 1.12 ERA.

C: Frankie Hayes (24; Vancouver/Portland) 282/377/664, 17 HR. [*]
1B: Jimmie Foxx (20; Sacramento/San Francisco) 313/395/705, 19 HR. [*]
2B: Kolten Wong (23; Oklahoma City/Kansas City) 295/337/608, 45 RBI.
3B: Ken Keltner (22; Rochester/Cleveland) 289/372/615.
SS: Travis Jackson (21; Austin/Houston) 298/340/555, 43 RBI.
OF: Adam Dunn (21; Nashville/Indianapolis) 317/442/698; Willie Crawford (17; Tulsa/Memphis) 367/466/627, 20 2B [*]; John Briggs (20; Jersey City/Brooklyn) 333/455/559, 43 R, 43 BB.

Bold indicates league leader; * indicates a player selected for April’s list as well.