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TWIWBL 68.1: Year 2, Week 11

On October 28, 2024

June 11th

Only a few weeks to All Star selections!

#Awards

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

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

#Team Performance

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#Player Performance

Batters

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

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

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

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

Pitchers

Starters

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

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

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

Relievers

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

15 IP minimum.

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

#Injury Report

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

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

#Oddities

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

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

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

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

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

TWIWBL 67.1: Year 2, Week 10

By mknn

On October 8, 2024

In TWIWBL

June 4th

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

#Awards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#Team Performance

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

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

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

#Player Performance

Batters

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

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

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

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

Pitchers

Starters

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

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

Relievers

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

13 IP minimum.

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

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

#Injury Report

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

#A Ball Check In

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

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

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

TWIWBL 66.6: Marvin Miller Division

By mknn

On September 25, 2024

In TWIWBL

Team	W/L	Pct	GB
Kansas City Monarchs	29-21	.580	—
Indianapolis ABC’s	28-23	.549	1.5
Wandering House of David	23-26	.469	5.5
Houston Colt 45s	23-29	.442	7
Birmingham Black Barons	17-35	.327	13

Marvin Miller Division | 28 May

#Houston Colt 45s

Something is just not right with young Bret Saberhagen. The Colt 45s moved him down to AAA, hoping he can recover his command there. Needing a starter, they promoted teenage phenom Leon Day for his first taste of WBL action since last season.

Jim O’Rourke‘s strong performance since his recall meant that, when George Brett was available for recall from a rehab assignment, Russ Adams was the odd man out, heading to AAA.

Toad Ramsey improved to 9-2, allowing only 2 hits and 2 runs over 8 innings while striking out 14 in a 6-2 win over Birmingham. Ramsey became the first hurler in the WBL to eclipse 100 K’s on the season.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

Johnny Bench‘s poor start has finally impacted the ABC’s lineup construction, with the all-star catcher from last season dropping to 6th. It didn’t help, as Bench whiffed in all 4 of his at-bats, but Indianapolis used a solo homer from Oscar Charleston to edge Homestead 1-0 despite managing only 3 hits. Johnny Cueto, Sad Sam Jones, Rob Murphy, and Rob Dibble combined on the shutout, striking out 16.

Luis Padrón is dominating on the mound right now: the ABC’s scored 11 runs in the 3rd inning, but the story of the game was Padrón, who took a no-hitter into the 9th against the Grays, retired the first batter, gave up a single to Andrew McCutchen, and promptly induced a double-play for the 1-hitter. In doing so, Padrón dropped his ERA to 3.66 and improved his record to 9-1. Dave Henderson, Joey Votto, and Barry Larkin each drove in 3 while Larkin, Charleston, and George Foster each had 3 hits.

It wasn’t all good news for Indianapolis, however: Ed Charles headed to the DL, expected to miss a couple weeks with Robin Ventura being recalled from AAA.

#Kansas City Monarchs

A. Rube Foster moved into the Monarch’s rotation.

Despite a shaky outing, Smoky Joe Wood helped himself with his first homerun of the year, improving his record to 6-3 in a 14-6 win over the House of David. Stan Musial had 3 homeruns–one an inside the park job– and Willie McGee and Ted Simmons also went deep for the Monarchs. Musial has hit well this year, but without much power, having only one dinger coming into today’s game.

Two homeruns from Albert Pujols were enough to force extra innings, but not enough to win as the Monarchs fell to the House of David in 11 innings, 6-5.

#Wandering House of David

CC Sabathia replaced Frank Sullivan in the starting rotation for the House of David; one consequence of this is preserving Wade Miley as the sole lefty in their bullpen despite his recent struggles.

Sabathia rewarded the choice immediately, twirling a 5 hit shutout over Brooklyn in his first start. Sabathia walked 2 and fanned 3, leveling his record at 2-2 and supported by homeruns from Elrod Hendricks and Richie Hebner.

Ryne Sandberg went deep twice, but it wasn’t enough as the House of David fell to Brooklyn, 11-5. Hebner, recently installed as the House of David’s leadoff batter, did the same, going deep twice in a 9-4 loss to the Royal Giants.

Jim Edmonds went deep twice and Sammy Sosa, who entered the game as a pinch-runner, delivered a walkoff shot in the bottom of the 10th in a 4-2 win over Kansas City.

TWIWBL 66.1: Year 2, Week 9

By mknn

On September 18, 2024

In TWIWBL

May 28th

We are roughly 1/4 through the season!

#Awards

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

#Team Performance

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

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

#Player Performance

Batters

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pitchers

Starters

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

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

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

Relievers

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

12 IP minimum.

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

#Injury Report

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

#AA Check In

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

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

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

TWIWBL 65.1: Year 2, Week 8

By mknn

On August 26, 2024

In TWIWBL

May 21st

We are roughly 1/4 through the season!

#Awards

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

#Team Performance

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

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

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

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

Marvin Miller Division Standings

#Player Performance

Batters

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

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

Also, Tony Gwynn hitting .421 is fun.

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

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

Pitchers

Starters

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

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

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

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

Relievers

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

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

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

#Injury Report

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

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

#AAA Check In

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

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

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

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

TWIWBL 64.6: Marvin Miller Division

By mknn

On August 9, 2024

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

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

#Houston Colt 45’s

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

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

OF Johnny Damon was recalled from AAA.

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

#Indianapolis ABC’s

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

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

#Kansas City Monarchs

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

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

TWIWBL 64.1: Year 2, Week 7

By mknn

On August 2, 2024

In TWIWBL

May 14th

The season is beginning to hit its stride, very rapidly approaching the quarter-pole. Clearly, the time from now through the all-star break is vital in defining how things fall out.

#Awards

Albert Pujols of the Kansas City Monarchs hit .650 for the week, winning the NL Player of the Week Award while Babe Ruth took home the AL Player of the Week, hitting .522 with 5 homeruns.

Pujols beat out the House of David‘s Ernie Banks, who had 7 homeruns and drove in 14, and Scott Rolen of the Philadelphia Stars who posted a 1.997 OPS, hitting .474 with 6 dingers and 8 RBIs.

#Team Performance

The New York Black Yankees (Bill James Division) and the Kansas City Monarchs (Marvin Miller Division) continue to be the only teams above .600, while Birmingham (in the basement of the Marvin Miller Division) and defending champs Baltimore are both at 13-26, tied for the worst record in the league, and a 1-9 record in their last 10 games has seen the Memphis Red Sox (in the Bill James Division along with Baltimore) plummet to a .378 percentage.

The other 2 divisions are much tighter, with the San Francisco Seals leading the Chicago American Giants by .5 games in the Cum Posey Division and Brooklyn and Homestead in a dead heat for first in the Effa Manley Division, where the Ottawa Mounties, in last place, is only 3 games back.

#Player Performance

Batters

Usual stuff here–top 2 in most categories, league leaders in bold. Ruth’s performance is expected, but Detroit‘s young star, Ty Cobb, is far exceeding expectations at this point.

Lance Berkman (CLE). 326/393/803. 17 HR.
Ty Cobb (DET). 400/463/846. 22 2B; 2.8 WAR.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 402/441/621. 53 H.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 294/386/515. 31 SB.
Pete Hill (HOU). 273/356/531. 7 3B.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 386/427/636. 54 H; 21 2B.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 308/386/664. 38 RBI; 34 R.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 326/440/770. 17 HR; 42 RBI; 37 R; 28 BB; 2.7 WAR.
Larry Walker (OTT). 357/431/754. 38 RBI.
Bobby Wallace (BAL). 233/385/341. 30 BB.

Pitchers

Starters

Just look at that Toad go! Ramsey has been magnificent for the Houston Colt 45’s, although he’s struggled a little in his most recent starts. There are a few more pitchers with 6 wins, I’ve only included the two sitting at 6-1, plus Ramsey.

Johnny Cueto (IND). 6-1, 2.85. 0.91 WHIP.
Doc Gooden (LAA). 4-2, 1.72. 2.80 FIP; 1.8 WAR.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-1, 3.79. 66 K.
Walter Johnson (POR). 4-3, 2.82. 60.2 IP; 1.8 WAR.
Frank Knauss (BRK). 6-1, 2.19.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 6-2, 1.63. 60.2 IP; 74 K; 0.77 WHIP; 2.31 FIP; 2.9 WAR.

Relievers

12 IP Minimum.

None of the closers have really been dominant–Gagne had been, but his ERA has risen over the past few weeks.

Rod Beck (SFS). 1-2, 5.84. 12 Sv.
Jack Billingham (IND). 0-1, 2.25. 2 H; 0.62 WHIP.
Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-0, 3.29. 6 H.
Eric Gagne (BRK). 0-0, 2.51. 12 Sv.
Bob Howry (PHI). 2-1, 3.29. 8 Sv; 0.51 WHIP.
Kenshin Kawakami (MCG). 2-0, 1.02.
Tim Lincecum (HOM). 0-0, 9.00. 1 H; 1.19 FIP.
Ross Reynolds (LAA). 1-0, 0.75. 1 Sv; 1 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 1-0, 1.38. 1 Sv; 3 H; 1.96 FIP.

2 Way Players

Not a ton of change here. Most of these guys are clearly contributing significantly more one side or the other, with only Luis Padrón of the Indianapolis ABC‘s and Philadelphia’s Joe Rogan really manifesting as 2-way contributors (indeed, those are the only players with positive WARs each way). Chicago’s Cristóbal Torriente saw his first time on the mound in a blowout, but has a ways to go before being listed here.

Player	Pitching	Batting	pWAR	bWAR	WAR
Luis Padrón (IND)	5-1, 4.04 (42 IP, 6 GS)	365/441/596 (59 PA)	1.2	0.6	1.8
Joe Rogan (PHI)	3-3, 4.50 (46 IP, 7 GS)	288/328/504 (134 PA)	0.4	0.5	0.9
J.M. Ward (PHI)	0-1, 3.43 (42 IP, 7 GS)	207/233/379 (30 PA)	0.7	-0.2	0.5
Jim Whitney (BBB)	1-0, 2.19 (37 IP, 16 G)	100/143/150 (21 PA)	0.8	-0.4	0.4
Eustaquio Pedroso (MCG)	0-0, 4.24 (23 IP, 13 G)	222/344/222 (32 PA)	0.1	-0.1	0.0

#Injury Report

Chicago’s Akinori Otsuka is out for about 2 weeks, weakening the American Giants’ bullpen significantly.

Detroit lost both Hal Newhouser and Johnny Marcum from their rotation this week.

Memphis may get some help on the mound this week, as both Shane Bieber and Skel Roach may return from injury.

Jimmy Bloodworth is out for over a month for San Francisco, which is not all bad news for the Sea Lions as it opens more playing time for the irrepressible Dick Lundy.

TWIWBL 63.1: Year 2, Week 6

By mknn

On July 10, 2024

In TWIWBL

May 7th

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

#Awards

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

#Team Performance

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

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

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

#Player Performance

Batters

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

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

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

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

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

Pitchers

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

Starters

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

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

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

Relievers

10 IP Minimum.

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

2 Way Players

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

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

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

#INJURY REPORT

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

TWIWBL 62.1: Year 2, Week 5

By mknn

On June 20, 2024

In TWIWBL

April 30

#Awards

Willie Mays (RIP IRL) of the New York Gothams was the NL Player of the Week after hitting .417 with 3 home runs. Over in the AL, the AL Player of the Week Award went to Miami‘s Ryan Braun, who hit .471 with 5 dingers.

As the calendar flipped from April to May, we also have the first player of the month awards.

Award	Player
AL Player of the Month	Ty Cobb (DET)	.411; 5 HR; 23 RBI; 21 R
AL Pitcher of the Month	Mark Buehrle (CAG)	5-0, 1.24
AL Rookie of the Month	Turkey Stearnes (SFS)	.352; 6 HR; 18 8RBI
NL Player of the Month	Larry Walker (OTT)	.395; .454 OBP; 9 HR; 23 RBI; 22 R
NL Pitcher of the Month	Toad Ramsey (HOU)	5-1, 0.96
NL Rookie of the Month	Adam Dunn (IND)	.253; 5 HR; 13 RBI

#Team Performance

Look, it’s way too early for any of this to matter. But, currently, only 3 games separate the best team in the Effa Manley Division (the Brooklyn Royal Giants at 14-11) and the worst (the Philadelphia Stars mirroring them at 11-14). The Homestead Grays are 1/2 game behind Brooklyn, and the New York Gothams and Ottawa Mounties sit at .500.

Brooklyn, Homestead, and the San Francisco Sea Lions have all gone 7-3 over their last 10 games, while the House of David are in the roughest patch of any team in the league, at 2-8 over their last 10.

#Player Performance

Batters

Some things that jump out: the House of David’s Ryne Sandberg is having an incredible start, the first player in the league to 11 homeruns. Led by Sandberg, 5 players have SLG over .700 but “only” 2 have BA over .400.

Ty Cobb (DET). 389/451/756. 18 2B, 1.8 WAR.
Carlos Correa (HOU). 420/474/659.
Eric Davis (NYY). 306/373/612. 27 R.
Lou Gehrig (NYY). 247/358/634. 10 HR.
Josh Gibson (HOM). 379/426/793.
Curtis Granderson (BBB). 256/330/654. 10 HR.
Tony Gwynn (HOU). 416/442/629.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 396/426/635. 38 H, 15 2B.
Dick Lundy (SFS). 394/467/681. 4 3B, 15 SB, 2.3 WAR.
Mickey Mantle (NYY). 274/361/621. 10 HR.
Boog Powell (KCM). 268/344/622. 26 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 293/381/576. 5 3B.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 308/430/659. 28 RBI, 24 R, 21 BB.
Ryne Sandberg (HOD). 365/409/824. 11 HR.
Bobby Wallace (BAL). 50/405/364. 22 BB.

Pitchers

Starters

Mark Buehrle (CAG). 5-0, 1.24.
Johnny Cueto (IND). 4-1, 2.38. 0.88 WHIP.
Bill Doak (MEM). 3-1, 2.76. 1.5 WAR.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 2-3, 5.03. 39.1 IP.
Frank Knauss (BRK). 5-1, 2.62.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 1-4, 4.15. 43.1 IP, 39 K.
Toad Ramsey (HOU). 4-1, 1.19. 0.74 WHIP, 45 K, 1.7 WAR.

Relivers

Rod Beck (SFS). 1-2, 6.75. 7 Sv.
Eric Gagne (BRK). 0-0, 1.74. 10 Sv.
Craig Kimbrel (KCM). 1-0, 0.00. 1 Sv, 5 H.
Troy Percival (NYG). 0-0, 5.40. 5 H.
Jeff Pfeffer (KCM). 0-0, 4.32. 7 Sv.

#Featured Series

We’ll check in on a team that looks much improved over last season, the Homestead Grays. The Grays are hitting better than expected, but more importantly, are finally hitting enough to overcome their usual rough performances on the mound. They are visiting Indianapolis for a 4-game set, and are hoping to keep a recent slide by the ABC’s going.

Scheduled Starters

Homestead’s hurler listed first.

Billy Pierce (2-1, 6.55) @ Johnny Cueto (4-1, 2.38)
Carlos Zambrano (0-4, 9.15) @ Luis Padrón (3-0, 2.38)
Ray Brown (1-2, 6.28) @ Doc White (1-3, 4.93)
Francisco Liriano (1-2, 4.36) @ Rube Foster (1-1, 3.86)

Cueto has performed fantastically so far this year, and Padrón, while no Joe Rogan, has been a decent 2-way threat all season.

Game One

With the announcement that the Grays have moved Zambrano out of the rotation, their starters for the series are all a bit up in the air. They’ll lead it off with Doug Drabek, who is taking Zambrano’s spot and will be making his first start of the year.

Drabek was fantastic, allowing 2 hits and 1 run in 7 innings, but Rick Ownbey couldn’t hold the lead, giving up Barry Larkin‘s first homer of the year, a 2 run shot to tie the game in the 8th. Luckily for the Grays, Willie Stargell‘s 2nd homerun of the game gave them the lead in the 10th, and Josh Lindblom was able to hold on for the 4-3 win in extra innings.

HOM 4 (Lindblom 3-0; Ownbey 3 B Sv) @ IND 3 (Murphy 0-1)
HRs: HOM – Stargell 2 (10); Epstein (3); IND – Larkin (1).
Box Score

Game Two

The Grays turned to Billy Pierce in game 2, putting their rotation back on its expected schedule. His mound opponent, Luis Padrón, tossed a masterful 8 innings in a 14-3 walkover, allowing 5 hits and 1 run while fanning 8. Padrón improved to 4-0 and Tommy Helms had 3 hits and 4 RBI and Helms and Jake Stenzel each scored 3 runs in the rout.

Helms, Stenzel, George Foster, Adam Dunn (fresh off being named Rookie of the Month for April), and Johnny Bench each went yard for Indianapolis as they evened the series at 1 game each.

HOM 3 (Pierce 2-2) @ IND 14 (Padrón 4-0)
HRs: HOM – Clemente (3); IND – Helms (3), Foster (2), Stenzel (3), Dunn (6), Bench (7).
Box Score

Game Three

Chris Sabo went deep twice, driving in 3, and the Grays held on to take the series lead with a 5-4 win. Ray Brown pitched very well, but the trio of Corey Kluber, Michael Jackson, and Josh Lindblom were all a bit shaky in relief. Still, they got the job done. Tommy Helms and Bob Bescher had 2 hits for the ABC’s and Joey Votto went deep in the losing effort.

Kluber–fresh off an injury–had to leave the game with an elbow issue, and headed to the DL afterwards. Cliff Lee was recalled.

HOM 5 (Brown 2-2; Lindblom 4 Sv; Jackson 2 H) @ IND 4 (White 1-4)
HRs: HOM – Sabo 2 (5), Lajoie (2); IND – Votto (3).
Box Score

Game Four

Homestead’s bullpen did the job, with Dave Giusti, Rick Ownbey, and Josh Lindblom combining for 3+ innings of 1 hit relief of an effective Francisco Liriano. Mike Epstein went deep for the Grays and Andy Van Slyke showed signs of breaking out of an early season slump with 3 hits. All the ABC’s could muster on the day was a 2 run shot from Adam Dunn to tie the game early.

Homestead takes the series, 3-1, continuing their surprising start to the season.

HOM 4 (Liriano 2-2; Lindblom 5 Sv; Giusti 3 H; Ownbey 2 H) @ IND 2 (Foster 1-2)
HRs: HOM – Epstein (4); IND – Dunn (7).
Box Score

TWIWBL 59.1: Year 2 – Week 2

By mknn

On May 15, 2024

In TWIWBL

Welcome to the first general issue of TWIWBL for Season 2!

April 9th

#Team Starts

3 teams have a single loss–Chicago, Brooklyn, and the House of David, each at 4-1–and 3 teams have a single victory on the year (Los Angeles is 1-4 while both Philadelphia and Houston are 1-6).

#Individual Starts

Nobody comes close to matching House of David 2B Ryne Sandberg, whose slash line is a ridiculous 455/458/1.273, and he leads the league in homeruns (6) and RBIs (15). Ottawa‘s Larry Walker (11) and Birmingham‘s Albert Belle (10) are the other batters in double digits in RBI.

Houston’s Tony Gwynn is the sole player with a BA over .500, at .552. That’s only good enough to put Gwynn 3rd in the OBP rankings, behind Portland’s Harry Hooper (.577) and Indianapolis‘ Joey Votto (.571).

#Featured Series

Each week we’ll take a look at single series, preferring 4-game sets and teams we haven’t taken a close look at before.

This week, we’ll be focusing on Indianapolis’ visit to Brooklyn. The Royal Giants are 4-1, and the ABC’s started the season 5-0 before losing their last 2 contests.

For Brooklyn, Duke Snider, John Briggs, and Roy White have all started the season with OPS’ over 1.000 while offseason acquisition Pedro Guerrero is scuffling with a slash line of 143/250/214.

Bob Bescher and Joey Votto have been mashing the ball for the ABC’s while Ed Charles is still trying to get some traction going, slashing 190/308/238 over the opening half-dozen games.

Projected Starting Pitchers:

Johnny Cueto (1-0, 0.00) @ Frank Knauss (1-0, 3.38)
Luis Padrón (1-0, 0.00) @ Orel Hershiser
Sad Sam Jones (0-0, 6.75) @ Smokey Joe Williams (1-0, 1.50)
Rube Foster (1-0, 3.00) @ Sandy Koufax (0-1, 2.45)

Game One

Both Johnny Cueto and Frank Knauss had good starts, but while Cueto blinked first (Maury Wills walked, stole a base, and scored on a John Briggs double), Knauss was hit harder, giving up a 2 run shot to Oscar Charleston in the 6th before an Ed Charles double chased him in the 7th. Burleigh Grimes relieved Knauss and gave up RBI doubles to Denis Menke and Joe Morgan.

Lefty James and Rob Dibble followed Cueto with just over 2 innings of hitless relief to seal the deal for Indianapolis. Johnny Bench had 3 hits for the ABC’s.

IND 4 (Cueto 2-0; Dibble 2 Sv; James 2 H) @ BRK 1 (Knauss 1-1)
HRs: IND: Charleston (1).
Box Score

Game Two

Pedro Guerrero launched a 3 run shot in the bottom of the 1st, but the Royal Giants couldn’t hold it with RBIs from Oscar Charleston and Jake Stenzel tying the game at 4 in the top of the 5th. After a brief rain delay in the bottom of the 8th, Mike Piazza and Ray Dandridge singled runs home, allowing Brooklyn to bring in their closer, Eric Gagne, with a 6-4 lead. Gagne set the side down in order, and Brooklyn evened up the series, 1-1.

IND 4 (Tidrow 0-1) @ BRK 6 (Mateo 1-0; Gagne 2 Sv)
HRs: IND – Menke (1); BRK: Guerrero (1).
Box Score

Game Three

We had a pitchers’ duel in game 3 of the series as Luis Padrón and Smokey Joe Williams were each excellent, but a bit unlucky: despite giving up only 1 earned run in over 6 innings, Williams took the loss and Padrón did not get the win, despite 5 scoreless. Joe Morgan went deep for the ABC’s.

IND 2 (Nolan 1-0; Dibble 3 Sv; James 3 H; Billingham 2 H) @ BRK 1 (Williams 1-1)
HRs: IND – Morgan (2).
Box Score

Game Four

It sure looked like the ABC’s would take the series: after scoring 6 in the 6th, they had surged to a 8-3 lead heading to the bottom of the 7th. But Art Griggs hit a key 2-run double in that frame, and the Royal Giants were able to rough up Indianapolis’ closer, Rob Dibble, in the bottom of the ninth, scoring runs on a sacrifice fly from Jackie Robinson, an RBI single from Pedro Guerrero, and a game-winning sac fly from Duke Snider.

Robinson hit his first homerun of the year and drove in 4 on the day, and Guerrero, Mike Piazza, and Beals Becker each had 2 hits. Both Brooklyn starter Sandy Koufax and the ABC’s Doc White pitched better than their scorelines represent, but the key was Dibble’s implosion (2 walks and 3 hits in 1/3 of an inning) and Brooklyn’s Darren Dreifort chipping in with 2 scoreless innings for the win.

Of concern for the ABC’s, 2B Joe Morgan had to be lifted for a pinch runner with an apparent elbow injury, but so far no further information is available as to his status.

IND 8 (Dibble 0-1, 1 BSv; Carroll 1 H) @ BRK 9 (Dreifort 1-0; Valenzuela 1 BSv)
HRs: IND – Dunn (1); BRK – Robinson (1).
Box Score