Overall

The best record in baseball, 3 dominant rookies, the AL Brock Rutherford Award winner, the electric leader in steals, the best closer in the league … and a crushing defeat in the Whirled Series.

Welcome to San Francisco, where the question is, how to continue with the success and bring home the ultimate prize of the championship.

The Sea Lions, it must be said, are in good shape: there is so much talent here, and so much of it is young, that even some regression to the mean would leave them a very strong club.

What Went Right

Let’s start with the incandescent talent of Norman “Turkey” Stearnes, who burst onto the scene with a 1.151 OPS, 51 homeruns, and 125 RBIs while playing a very solid CF. Just exquisite.

Jack Clark is one of the more underrated players in the league, but he has a great eye (101 BB on the year) and impressive power (51 homers).

Reggie Jackson was a little better last year, but a 283/394/574 slash line is nothing to sneeze at (although you really do wish he would attempt to run a little less often: Jackson sits as the WBL career leader in caught stealing).

So, those are the big three, with each of them both scoring and driving in 100 runs and combining for 143 homers.

Jimmie Foxx‘s obvious power blossomed this season as the burly corner infielder launched 49 homeruns. He could benefit from more contact, but the walk rate is there and at 22, that may come.

Mickey Cochrane took over at catcher and, even before his electric defensive performance in the postseason, was among the better backstops in the league, slashing 289/371/513. Brian Downing hit even better in limited time as his backup, but probably will serve in that capacity next season.

Royce Clayton posted a .919 OPS filling in around the infield and Sal Bando, displaced by Foxx at 3B, performed well as a reserve.

Rickey Henderson stole 126 bases and, as importantly, filled out soem of his offensive game, posting an .839 OPS with a .385 OBP. Dick Lundy added 57 steals while showing some decent offensive skills.

And then we have the pitching, led by their own big three in Lefty Grove, Eddie Plank, and rookie Bump Hadley. Plank led the way with 20 wins, Hadley had the best ERA at 4.10, and Grove walked away with all the hardware in the postseason awards. A 1.15 WHIP and230 strikeouts in 209 innings will do that. The three combined for a 54-19 record on the season.

Watty Clark came over midseason and was excellent over 37 appearances including 17 starts.

Rod Beck led the WBL with 41 saves, despite occasionally being hit quite hard. Ken Howell was excellent setting him up, finishing with a 5-1 record, 6 saves, and 15 holds.

Tim Hudson came back very strong from a long term injury, posting an ERA just over 4 with excellent peripherals over 12 games, and earning a few postseason starts. At 38, it’s not clear how much Hudson has left in the tank, but this was a pleasant surprise for sure.

ALL STARS

Rod Beck
Mickey Cochrane
Lefty Grove
Bump Hadley
Ken Howell
Reggie Jackson
Eddie Plank
Turkey Stearnes

MAJOR AWARDS

Rod Beck All AL First Team; AL Phineas Flint Award
Lefty Grove All AL First Team; AL Brock Rutherford Award
Ken Howell All AL First Team
Turkey Stearnes All AL First Team; AL CF Silver Slugger; AL Rookie of the Year

RECOGNITIONS

Rod Beck AL 25 & Under Team
Jack Clark, All AL 3rd Team
Mickey Cochrane, All AL 2nd Team; AL 25 & Under Team
Jimmie Foxx, All AL 3rd Team; AL All Rookie 1st Team; AL 23 & Under Team
Frank Grant, AL All Rookie 2nd Team; AL 23 & Under Team
Bump Hadley, All AL 2nd Team; AL Rookie of the Year 3rd Place; AL Brock Rutherford Award 2nd Place; AL All Rookie 1st Team; AL 25 & Under Team; AL 23 & Under Team
Ken Howell, AL 25 & Under Team
Reggie Jackson, All AL 3rd Team
Dick Lundy, All AL 3rd Team
Joe Nathan, AL Phineas Flint Award 2nd Place
Eddie Plank, All AL 2nd Team
Turkey Stearnes, AL All Rookie 1st Team; AL 25 & Under Team; ; AL 23 & Under Team

ORGANIZATIONAL AWARDS

Turkey Stearnes, MVP
Eddie Plank, Pitcher of the Year
Jack Clark, Heart & Soul
Rickey Henderson, Fan Favorite

Red Ehret, Minor League Pitcher of the Year
Josh Reddick, Minor League Player of the Year

What Went Wrong

2B was a bit of a mess for most of the year: Jimmy Bloodworth was awful, Phil Garner is a decent utility player, but not much more than that, and Frank Grant struggled to adopt to life in San Francisco after his trade, although he is clearly the future here.

The middle of the bullpen was a bit of a slog, with Huston Street and, especially, Dennis Eckersley struggling more than succeeding, although Street seemed to pick it up after Nathan’s arrival shifted him down the pecking order.

And … yeah … that’s about it. Best record in baseball and all that.

Transactions

March

OF Pedro Guerrero to BRK for P Watty Clark & OF Matt Holliday.

Looks good for San Francisco, as Guerrero has struggled and Clark should be with the WBL team next year.

July

IF John Beckwith to HOD for IF Frank Grant.

They may regret this one, as, at only 19, Beckwith hits the ball as hard as anyone in baseball. But Grant is only 21 and fills a clear and present need, so it seems fine.

August

IF Eddie Miller & IF Freddie Freeman to LAA for P Joe Nathan, IF Wally Joyner, & 1st Round Pick.

It seems solid enough: Nathan makes the Sea Lions’ bullpen stronger, and Freeman for the 1st rounder feels equitable enough long term. Helps both teams, for sure.

Positional Overview

C

This should be Mickey Cochrane for a while, with Brian Downing being brought in as the backup next season. There’s not a lot of talent in the system, so hopefully those two can stay healthy.

1B

At some point, this may become an issue, as Jimmie Foxx really is better suited for 1B than 3B, but for now, Jack Clark reigns, with Foxx filling in.

Wally Joyner and Sid Bream are available as needed as well.

2B

The Sea Lions gave up a lot for Frank Grant, now he needs to produce. The team is pretty confident he will, with Phil Garner on hand as a reserve infielder.

There is some talent in the system here: Jack Farrell, Ron Hunt, and Dario Lodigiani all have some talent, and last year’s incumbent, Jimmy Bloodworth, is still bouncing around.

SS

Dick Lundy has this locked down, offering a rare mixture of speed, defense, and occasional power.

Royce Clayton‘s performance has earned him a hard look, although his lack of versatility is a thing. Bill Sweeney and Jed Lowrie are options as well if needed.

3B

The Sea Lions have a lot of talent here. The starting role is obviously Foxx’s, but Sal Bando is an excellent option. Bando is expendable if the right offer came along as others, including Wayne Gross, Denny Walling, and Don Money could also serve as Foxx’s backup.

LF/RF

With CF settled, the corner spots are a bit congested between Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, and Bobby Bonds. Henderson has a firm lock on LF, and Jackson and Bonds will probably share RF and DH duties, as neither of them are spectacular defensively.

The Sea Lions’ Minor League Player of the Year, Josh Reddick, could figure in here, as could Matt Holliday, Eddie Murphy, or the slugging behemoth that is Frank Howard.

CF

Assuming Turkey Stearnes doesn’t succumb to the sophomore slump, the job is his for a long time.

Lots of players can fill in here, but in terms of true CFers, only Del Unser and Mookie Wilson catch the eye in the system.

DH

A mix of Foxx, Jackson, and Bonds should be more than sufficient here.

SP

This is pretty much set, certainly with the trio of Lefty Grove, Eddie Plank, and Bump Hadley leading the way. Watty Clark showed enough to be projected as the 4th starter, leaving some competition between Tom Brewer, Tim Hudson, Tommy Bridges, and Mel Stottlemyre Sr. Veterans Nick Altrock and Cy Falkenberg and the Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Red Ehret may be given a look as well.

At lower levels, Charlie Ferguson and Jair Jurrjens have both showed some promise.

RP

The back end has the potential to be devastating, with Joe Nathan and Ken Howell setting up Rod Beck. That only gets better if Ron Robinson is able to make a clean return form injury or if Huston Street can develop a bit more consistency.

Draft Outlook

DRAFT PICKS

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

What do you get the team that has everything? That’s right, 2 first round picks. Especially with the sudden departure of Jules Thomas, the cupboard is a bit bare, so this will be a restocking exercise for the Sea Lions.

But … San Francisco looks prime for a stumble, as the team that won the most games in the WBL in the regular season was taken to a full seven games by Detroit, who finished well behind Cleveland in their division.

The Spiders didn’t get much out of Willie McCovey, Ron Blomberg, or Tris Speaker, but still got here, largely on the backs of Larry Doby, Arky Vaughan, and Johnny Bates (and the surprising performance of Chuck Knoblauch, a disappointment for most of the regular season). Also look for John Ellis to get a few starts behind the plate, as he is the only backstop hitting in the postseason. On the mound, a strong performance from Cy Young would go a long way to giving the Spiders a chance here. Yordano Ventura and, especially, Bob Feller, showed up well in the first series, and may be moved up a slot in the rotation.

San Francisco may get even stronger, as Frank Grant is back from a short-term injury. This may have happened at the perfect time, as Royce Clayton–superlative over the regular season as a substitute for Grant–struggled in the first series. That left the Sea Lions with a challenging decision, between replacing Wayne Gross or Phil Garner on the playoff roster. They opted to keep Garner, mostly due to defensive flexibility. The Sea Lions also brought Tommy Bridges onto the roster, replacing Mel Stottlemyre Sr.

Other than that, it’s just more of the same for San Francisco: the big 3 of Lefty Grove, Eddie Plank, and Bump Hadley will continue to drive the rotation, and Rod Beck will continue to close the games out. And the offense is clicking on all cylinders right now, hitting 17 homers and stealing 11 bases in the 7 game series.

It’s hard to make any prediction other than San Francisco. And, honestly, it’s hard to see Cleveland putting up much resistance, Sea Lions in 5. But note, we had the same opinion of the matchup with Detroit. So.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Carlos Morán did fine in a brief trial with Miami, but Al Oliver‘s return from injury forces Morán back to AAA. Barry Latman was demoted as well, with Jason Hammel being recalled.

Kenshin Kawakami was named to the rotation for Miami, leaving only the final spot vacant for the time being.

Jim Thome went deep twice, giving him 30 for the season and leading Miami to a 6-4 win in a rain-shortened game against Cleveland. José Méndez gave up 4 runs, but fanned 11 in his 6 innings of work, improving to 7-4.

Thome did it again, increasing his total to 32, and he and José Canseco drove in 4 runs each as the Cuban Giants beat Portland, 12-2 behind a solid outing from Cole Hamels.

#Los Angeles Angels

Mike Trout hit 2 homers, but the Angels’ bullpen sort of collapsed, and Los Angeles fell to Detroit, 7-5.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Eddie Plank became the WBL’s first 12 game winner despite one of his worst starts of the season in an 8-5 win over Chicago. Plank gave up all 5 runs in his 5 innings of work, but Mel Stottlemyre Sr. and Rod Beck were perfect in relief. Bobby Bonds‘ 23rd homer of the year was a grand slam which, combined with Reggie Jackson‘s 3 doubles, was enough to guide the Sea Lions to victory.

The Sea Lions were pretty disappointing last season, and it wasn’t really clear what to expect from them. Right now, things are going just about as well as could be hoped.

San Francisco inherits players from all the Athletics: Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Oakland.

HOME PAGE | ROSTER | POSITIONAL STRENGTH | LEADERS

San Francisco is pulling away from the Cum Posey Division, playing .615 ball and holding a 6-7 game lead over Miami and Chicago. At this point, expectations have been raised to certainly making the playoffs and even making some noise once there.

THE OFFENSE

A balanced offense, with a lot of power and a ton of speed. There are some holes, but more has gone well than not.

#What’s Going Right

Almost everything.

Let’s start with the surprises. C Mickey Cochrane has exploded in a big way, slashing 318/408/581 after a very difficult rookie season. Turkey Stearnes, the 7th pick in last season’s draft, has exceeded all expectations, locking down the CF job and posting an OPS over .950. And, finally, Jimmie Foxx, while still a bit of an enigma, is showing he has at least one spectacular skillset, leading the team with 21 homeruns.

One strength of San Francisco last season was the OF trio of Bobby Bonds, Jack Clark, and Reggie Jackson. Two of them continue to deliver: while Jackson isn’t contending for the triple crown as he did for a lot of last season, he is second on the team in homeruns with 18 and first in RBI with 52. And Clark is just consistent: 259/382/569 with 17 homeruns.

The emergence of Stearnes and Foxx has triggered some changes here, as Clark has shifted to play mostly at 1B with Bonds seeing his playing time drop slightly.

The combination of Rickey Henderson and Dick Lundy put a ton of pressure on the other team: the 2 have combined for 74 steals (against 20 CS), with each of them having an OBP over .350.

#What’s Not Going Right

Bobby Bonds has regressed slightly (although his OPS is still around .875).

And then there is the rest of the IF. Jimmy Bloodworth started the season as the incumbent at 2B, but struggled before being shelved with an injury (Bloodworth may be back within a week or two) while at 3B Sal Bando is adequate at best (he’s hitting for more power than last year, but his other stats are down). The other options so far have struggled: Phil Garner has been downright bad, Roy Hartzell demoted, and the jury is still out on the latest to be given opportunities, Denny Walling and Royce Clayton. Lundy’s flexibility gives the Sea Lions a lot of options here, but a MI seems to be a strong need for the team, assuming Foxx is given more and more time at 3B.

THE PITCHING

Last week, this would be described as going perfectly, but Ron Robinson‘s injury has a shot at disrupting what has been an excellent staff, top to bottom.

#What’s Going Right

Lefty Grove (7-4, 3.26) and Eddie Plank (8-3, 3.51) are as good a top two as any staff in the league can claim. Both are likely all-stars.

After them, nobody has excelled, but nobody has really struggled either, with Bump Hadley, Watty Clark (now a fulltime starter), and Tommy Bridges all pitching quite well in the rotation, with Jim Devlin, Mel Stottlemyre Sr, and the surprising Tom Brewer all filling in quite admirably when needed.

And the back of the pen–Rod Beck, Ken Howell and the now-missing Robinson–has been lights out, with Beck recording 15 saves and Howell sporting a 1.23 ERA.

#What’s Not Going Right

It’s more an issue of the question marks: Dennis Eckersley continues to tempt with potential, but really be quite average, and asking Huston Street and Brewer to step in for Robinson might be far too much of a reach.

THE FARM SYSTEM

TOP PROSPECTS | MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM

It’s really hard to complain about a system that added Stearnes.

But there’s not a lot behind him. John Beckwith–currently sidelined with injury–is starting to show his offensive strength, but at 19 may be a year or two away. Beckwith is also blocked, as his defensive skills are really somewhat identical to Foxx’s.

Red Ehret is heralded as a pitcher, but doesn’t really pass the eye test. Dario Lodigiani may be a long term solution at 2B, but he’s a ways away. OF Jules Thomas and P Steve Ontiveros look good, but are also a few years away.

WHAT’S NEEDED

The pitching needs to continue to excel, with the largest challenge being how to cover for Robinson in the bullpen. If the IF can be resolved, the lineup will be truly scary 1 through 9, always a goal.

Storylines to Watch

Key Questions from Spring Training

• On a team full of logjams, who steps forward? Strikes me as a pretty lame question, honestly. The issue was really solved with the trade of Pedro Guerrero to Brooklyn, with Watty Clark being the key piece coming back. That, and Foxx really jumping Bando in the pecking order at 3B.

FEATURED SERIES

The Sea Lions open with 4 games hosting Baltimore; given that the Black Sox are beginning to show signs of life, seemed a good series to focus on.

Projected Starters

Baltimore starter listed first.

John Tudor (2-3, 4.75) @ Bump Hadley (8-4, 4.15)
Dennis Martínez (6-3, 4.55) @ Watty Clark (3-2, 4.50)
Ned Garvin (3-2, 5.03) @ Lefty Grove (7-4, 3.26)
Mike Mussina (3-3, 4.83) @ Tommy Bridges (1-2, 5.59)

Game One

Baltimore’s John Tudor had to leave early via injury, and Phil Garner, whose struggles were mentioned above, took Tudor’s relief, Connie Johnson, deep in the 3rd for a 1-0 lead for the Sea Lions. Turkey Stearnes went deep in the 4th and Johnson was chased as San Francisco added another in the the 5th for a 3-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Bump Hadley had a shutout through 6, allowing the Black Sox only 2 hits. A pair of 2 out walks led to Hadley exiting the game in the 8th, but Ken Howell closed the inning out and Rod Beck pitched a perfect 9th for the combined shutout.

BAL 0 (Johnson 4-5) @ SFS 3 (Hadley 9-4; Beck 16 Sv; Howell 3 H)
HRs: BAL – none; SFS- Garner (2); Stearnes (16).
Box Score

Game Two

The Sea Lions took the early 3-0 lead on Reggie Jackson‘s 19th homer of the year and a an RBI single from Phil Garner. But Baltimore came back in similar fashion–a solo shot from Manny Machado and a 2 run single from Paul Blair. Both Dennis Martínez for Baltimore and Watty Clark for San Francisco looked strong, and the game remained 3-3 until the top of the 8th.

And here we see the potential impact of Ron Robinson‘s absence. Instead, San Francisco turned to Tom Brewer–who has been excellent so far, but has nowhere near the track record of Robinson. Brewer gave up a hit and a walk and a runner reached on an error, loading the bases and summoning Ken Howell from the Sea Lions’ bullpen. Curt Blefary singled in 2 and a 3rd scored on a sacrifice fly from Cal Ripken, Jr. giving Baltimore a 3 run lead heading to the bottom of the 8th.

Gregg Olson gave up a leadoff walk to Rickey Henderson and a double to Dick Lundy, bringing in Justin Hampson from the Black Sox bullpen to face a couple of lefties. Both Mickey Cochrane and Jackson delivered sacrifice flies, making it a 6-5 game.

Machado’s 2nd of the game and 20th of the year pushed the cushion back up to 2. Joe Beggs closed it out in what felt like a bit of a disappointing loss that evened the series.

BAL 7 (Martínez 7-3; Beggs 11 Sv; Hampson 5 H) @ SFS 5 (Brewer 0-1)
HRs: BAL – Machado 2 (20); SFS – Jackson (19).
Box Score

Game Three

Baltimore’s Ned Garvin was solid, allowing only a 2 run HR to Reggie Jackson in the bottom of the first over his 6 innings of work. But Lefty Grove was better, striking out 10 in his 8 innings of work. Grove was chased leading 3-1 after a pinch-hit homerun from Gavvy Cravath, but Baltimore could get no closer, with Rod Beck tossing a perfect 9th for the save, his second of the series.

BAL 2 (Garvin 3-3) @ SFS 3 (Grove 8-4; Beck 17 Sv)
HRs: BAL – Blefary (14), Cravath (20); SFS – Jackson (20).
Box Score

Game Four

Tommy Bridges has been a bit rough since his return from injury, but he was magnificent today, with 7 shutout innings before giving up a longball to Manny Machado in the 8th. Meanwhile, the heart of the Sea Lions’ order (Dick Lundy, Reggie Jackson, and Turkey Stearnes) went 8-for-12 including Stearnes’ 17th homer of the year, building a 5 run lead.

After Bridges’ departure, the mystery that is Dennis Eckersley surrendered a shot to Bryce Harper, making it a 1 run game, but again Rod Beck closed out the victory.

BAL 4 (Byrd 3-3) @ SFS 5 (Bridges 2-2; Beck 18 Sv)
HRs: BAL – Machado (21), Harper (14); SFS – Stearnes (17).
Box Score

A strong series for the Sea Lions, as they took 3 out of 4 from the defending champs. The wins encapsulated San Francisco’s success so far this year: excellent starting pitching, Rod Beck closing out each of the 3 victories, and a highly productive offense with Stearnes and Jackson each hitting 2 out in the 4 games.

5 hits from Joe Jackson weren’t enough as the American Giants fell to Detroit, 8-6. Mark Buehrle had his first rough outing of the year, failing to become the league’s first 6 game winner and falling to 5-1.

Paul Konerko went deep twice, the 2nd shot a walkoff job in the bottom of the 10th to give the American Giants a 5-4 win over Detroit.

Akinori Otsuka will miss about 2 weeks with an elbow issue, weakening Chicago’s bullpen significantly. Tom Williams was recalled.

#Los Angeles Angels

The Angels recalled Elmer “Mike” Smith from his rehab assignments. Not wanting to be without a lefty, Los Angeles retained Noah Lowry while demoting Anthony DeSclafani despite DeSclafani’s better performance.

With George Wright being recalled from his rehab assignment, Eddie Joost is waived with the Angels hoping to retain him in AAA.

Mike Trout had himself a day: 5 hits, 3 homeruns (and 2 doubles), including a game-tying shot in the 9th and a game-winning walkoff in the bottom of the 13th.

Doc Gooden improved to 4-2 on the year with a 4 hit shutout of the Black Yankees. 4 RBI’s from Steve Garvey–including his 3rd homerun of the season–accounted for all of the Angels’ runs, more than enough to support Gooden, who whiffed 7 and walked none.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Freddie Fitzsimmons horrific start to the year (2-4, 8.17) has cost him his rotation spot, with Ed Brandt being named Miami’s #4 starter. Their 5th rotation slot remains open.

Julio Rodríguez was recalled from his rehab assignment, with the Cuban Giants (finally?) deciding that Minnie Miñoso would be better served with time at AAA. Rodríguez’ return (and Miñoso’s departure) resulted in a bunch of lineup juggling for Miami, as their OF remains quite crowded.

Rodríguez went 2 for 4 in his return as the Cuban Giants fell to Baltimore, 4-3.

The Cuban Giants came back from a 9-1 deficit in the 8th inning to beat Baltimore, 9-8. José Canseco went deep in the 8th and the 9th and Rodríguez in the 9th. Throw in a pinch-hit 2-run double from Gary Sheffield and you have a massive comeback for a shocking victory.

Needing a starter, Fitzsimmons’ continued battering led to his being sent to AAA with Lou Fette being recalled.

Al Oliver fractured his foot, and will miss about 5 weeks, with Carlos Morán recalled from AAA.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Jeff Cirillo headed back to AAA with Rogers Hornsby‘s return from a rehab assignment.

Walter Johnson was magnificent, allowing only a homerun through 8 innings before being chased by a single in the 9th in a 3-1 victory. Johnson evened his record at 3-3 with a 13 strikeout performance, walking none and lowering his ERA to 2.79.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

It was bullpen rejigger week for the Sea Lions, with San Francisco sending Bobby Seay, Steve Ontiveros, and Nick Altrock to AAA, with Tom Brewer, Mel Stottlemyre Sr, and Jim Devlin all being promoted. With both Bump Hadley and Watty Clark struggling, those 3, along with Dennis Eckersley, have to all be considered as auditioning for rotation slots.

Helped by Reggie Jackson‘s 13th homerun, Hadley, Devlin, Ken Howell, and Rod Beck combined on a 4 hit shutout, leading the Sea Lions to a 2-0 win over Chicago.

With Jimmy Bloodworth due to miss over a month, the Sea Lions recalled Denny Walling from AAA.