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TWIWBL 44.4: Series XXXVI Notes – Marvin Miller Division

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On August 11, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

4 hits from Curtis Granderson and Eddie Mathews‘ 24th homer of the year weren’t enough as the Black Barons fell to Houston, 4-3.

In the series finale, Bob Nieman, Hank Aaron, and Jim Pagliaroni had 3 hits and Nieman, Pagliaroni, and Adrián González all went deep as the Black Barons beat Houston, 10-6.

OF Ray Powell retired from AA.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Trying to pick which arm to demote to make room for Freddie Fitzsimmons‘ return from the DL is a bit rough for Miami: virtually everyone is struggling. But the final choice was Braden Looper–declared closer only a few weeks ago, but sporting a 7.31 ERA since then.

The challenge for the Cuban Giants as the season winds down is to spread around enough innings and plate appearances to get some more information on the quality of talent on their roster. It may be bleak.

Fitzsimmons, however: not bleak. The recent acquisition made his first start for Miami and turned in a complete game, 3 hit shutout of the House of David. The Cuban Giants pounded out 5 homeruns, with Smoky Burgess launching the first 2 of his career and Ryan Braun, Robin Yount, and also launching longballs.

Yasiel Puig is hitting over .500 with Miami. 3 more hits, including his first 2 homeruns for the Cuban Giants weren’t enough in an 8-6 loss to the House of David.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Pascual Pérez has returned to the rotation, meaning both Wade Miller and Jerry Koosman look to finish the year out of the bullpen for the Sea Dogs.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

As the AA season closed, 3B Ken Caminiti and OF Coco Crisp announced their retirement.

TWIWBL 43.4: Series XXXV Notes – Marvin Miller Division

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On July 31, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

Birmingham welcomed back reliever Harley Young from the DL.

Curtis Granderson and Pie Traynor had 2 hits each, leading the Black Barons to a 7-6 victory over Miami. Alejandro Peña was sailing along until things fell off the rails in the 7th, but still emerged with the victory, improving his record to 12-9. Juan Rincón picked up his 24th save for Birmingham.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

5 RBI’s including a grand slam from Germany Smith led the Royal Giants to a 9-2 victory over the Black Yankees. Sandy Koufax threw 5 strong innings to improve to 5-8 on the year.

Dave Von Ohlen will miss the rest of the season with a herniated disk. The Royal Giants promoted Smokey Joe Williams in his absence, something that was sure to annoy their AAA club who was looking for Williams to contribute to their playoff run.

Matt Holliday had 3 hits, including a walk-off homerun as Brooklyn won 7-6 over the Black Yankees in 10 innings.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Eustaquio Pedroso turned in a great start, allowing only 1 run in just shy of 8 innings as the Cuban Giants topped Birmingham 7-1. Paul Molitor and Robin Yount had 3 hits, with Yount driving in 3 in the win, which improved Pedroso’s record to 9-6.

Jim Thome had 2 hits including a grand slam (his 13th homerun of the year), but Miami’s comeback fell short as they were unable to overcome a disastrous start by Martín Dihigo in a 7-6 loss to Birmingham.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Gavvy Cravath–slugging around .800 since joining Portland–hit another 2 homeruns as the Sea Dogs topped Kansas City, 6-5.

3 hits from Harry Hooper helped Walter Johnson improve his record to 14-4 as Portland edged the Monarchs 2-1. Johnson allowed 1 run in just over 7 IP, with Trevor Hoffman picking up his first save since joining the Sea Dogs.

TWIWBL 42.5: Series XXXIV Notes – Marvin Miller Division

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On July 17, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Jackie Robinson had 3 hits including his 13th homerun, driving in 3 and leading the Royal Giants to a 7-2 victory over the Monarchs. Don Drysedale was solid through 5 innings, evening his record at 8-8 and stopping a recent streak of poor starts.

Dave Von Ohlen was injured during the game, but it’s not clear how long he’ll be out.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Ramón Martínez tied a WBL record with 8 walks but a great debut performance by Yasiel Puig and José Canseco‘s 32nd homerun of the year were enough for Miami to top Indianapolis, 8-7. Puig’s Miami debut saw him go 4-for-4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Dontrelle Willis and Eustaquio Pedroso pitched well in relief of Martínez, and the win went to Bob Duliba as Braden Looper picked up his 5th save despite a rocky 9th.

#Portland Sea Dogs

3 hits from Gavvy Cravath and a grand slam from Buddy Bell (his 18th homerun of the season) were more than enough as the Sea Dogs beat Homestead, 10-0. The real story here was Walter Johnson, who allowed only 2 hits through 6 innings and finished with a 9 strikeout, 5 hit shutout, improving to 13-4 on the season.

Bert Blyleven evened his record at 10-10 on the year with a strong 7.2 IP in a 4-3 win over Homestead. Cravath hit his 9th homerun with Portland (his 22nd overall), and Bobby Murcer, Rogers Hornsby, and Jeff Burroughs each had 2 hits.

Series XXXIV Best Games

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On July 3, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

A good collection of games overall … a few pitching duels, a few intriguing games.

We’ll start with two games from the series between San Francisco and the New York Black Yankees–first a great pitching matchup, then a bit of a see-saw.

#San Francisco Sea Lions @ New York Black Yankees, Games 2 and 4

The opening game of the series saw a great pitching matchup where, honestly, the better performance lost. Ron Guidry continued a bit of a hard-luck season, falling to 7-11 on the year despite allowing only 2 hits in 7 innings while striking out 9. But an error by Eric Davis (1 of 2 on the day by the Black Yankees’ CF) led to a run in the 6th and a solo shot by Sal Bando in the 7th put the Sea Lions up, 2-0. That was all San Francisco’s starter, Eddie Plank, needed, as San Francisco’s starter allowed 4 hits and 0 runs in his time. Plank improved to 11-6 on the season with Rod Beck picking up his 29th save.

SFS 2 (Plank 11-6; Beck 29 Sv) @ NYY 0 (Guidry 7-11)
HRs: None.
Box Score

San Francisco, powered by key hits from Bob Cerv and Pedro Guerrero, held a 5-3 edge going into the bottom of the 7th inning (Babe Ruth‘s 43rd and 44th homeruns of the year, both off Lefty Grove, had kept the Black Yankees in the game). Late season call-up Roger Maris started New York off with a pinch hit single. Maris was replaced at first by Tommy Herr, who, along with Thurman Munson, scored on a single by Mickey Mantle to tie the game. Mike Schmidt followed with a 2-run shot to put New York up, 8-5.

The Black Yankees bullpen continues to be weak, with Ralph Citarella giving up 2 runs (one one on a solo shot by Gene Oliver, the other on an RBI from Jack Clark) in the 8th. Aroldis Chapman had a rough 9th, but did survive to earn his 10th save with the Black Yankees and 30th overall.

Mantle had 3 hits on the day, Ruth scored 3 times, and Schmidt drove in 3.

After the game, San Francisco’s Mickey Cochrane hit the DL, with the Sea Lions recalling Brian Downing.

SFS 8 (Howell 4-5, 4 B Sv; Shields 2 H) @ NYY 9 (Lavelle 1-3; Chapman 10 Sv; Citarella 11 H; Cormier 3 H)
HRs: SFS – Oliver (2); NYY – Ruth 2 (44), Mantle (24), Schmidt (21).
Box Score

Let’s look at a few other games with fantastic efforts by the starting pitchers, starting with Miami‘s visit to Indianapolis then heading to Kansas City, where the Monarchs, and one of the most mercurial arms in the league, hosted Brooklyn.

#Miami Cuban Giants @ Indianapolis ABC’s, Game 2

Johnny Cueto and José Méndez each delivered their best start of the year, with Cueto’s 7 scoreless innings topped by Méndez’ 8 innings of 3-hit, shutout ball. Neither would figure in the decision. Cookie Rojas put Miami ahead with a solo shot in the top of the 9th, but Indianapolis tied it on an Ed Charles single in the bottom of the frame. The ABC’s walked off in the bottom of the 10th on a Jake Stenzel single, with Octavio Dotel earning the victory with an inning of scoreless relief.

MCG 1 (López 3-2; Looper 2 B Sv) @ IND 2 (Dotel 2-1) [10 Innings]
HRs: MCG – Rojas (2); IND – none.
Box Score

Brooklyn Royal Giants @ Kansas City Monarchs, Game 4

Kansas City’s Luke Hamlin is one of the more frustrating pitchers in the league. He turned in his 3rd start with a Game Score over 80 in this one, allowing only 3 hits over 9 innings. But he also has four starts this year with a Game Score below 30. And it’s hard to build a rotation around someone that mercurial: the 87 pitch gem he threw today merely improved his record to 9-12 with an above-league-average 4.80 ERA.

Brooklyn’s Frank Knauss was the hard-luck loser here, giving up a single to Stan Musial to lead off the bottom of the 9th. Knauss was replaced by Trevor Hildenberger, who surrendered a deep fly to Ducky Medwick, scoring Jack Rowe, who had pinch-run for Musial.

BRK 0 (Knauss 11-5) @ KCM 1 (Hamlin 9-12)
HRs: none.
Box Score

Two more season finales of note.

#Philadelphia Stars @ Memphis Red Sox, Game 4

Memphis‘ Bill Doak turned in a strong start, but Philadelphia used a late comeback to force extra innings in this one. The game entered the 9th inning tied at 2, but a homerun by one of the few bright spots for Philadelphia, young RF Aaron Judge, gave the Stars a 1 run lead.

It wouldn’t last, as Memphis’ Claude Ritchey followed up a Vern Stephens sacrifice fly with a 2-run triple, putting the Red Sox up, 5-3 with their closer, Jonathan Papelbon taking the mound in the top of the 9th. Papelbon was hit hard: a single by Juan Samuel was followed by a triple from Willie Davis and a double from Bobby Abreu, tying the contest at 5.

Sammy Sosa–who is playing fantastically for Memphis after being brought over from the House of David–singled to lead off the bottom of the 10th and eventually scored the winning run on a Manny Ramírez double.

PHI 5 (Howry 3-7; Rojas 2 B Sv) @ MEM 6 (Farrell 3-4; Papelbon 5 B Sv) [10 Innings]
HRs: PHI – Freeman (17), Judge (4); MEM – none.
Box Score

#Detroit Wolverines @ Los Angeles Angels, Game 4

Homeruns by Mike Trout and Steve Garvey helped the Angels to a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the 5th, but a 2-out rally fueled by 2 walks, a wild pitch, and a 2 run single by Ty Cobb pulled Detroit back into the lead, 5-4. A sacrifice fly from Los Angeles’ Elmer Valo tied the game in the 8th, and the bullpens took over from there.

The 11th was eventful, as Oscar Gamble touched Francisco Rodríguez for a solo shot, giving Detroit a 1 run lead. The Wolverines turned to the league leader in saves, Mike Henneman, who promptly blew the game, allowing a single and 2 walks to load the bases, followed by a sharp single from Trout that allowed the winning run to score when Chili Davis‘ throw was wildly errant.

Gamble and Cobb had 3 hits each for Detroit; Trout and John Stearns had 3 hits for the Angels, with Trout driving in 4.

DET 6 (Henneman 1-6, 5 B Sv; Anderson 2 B Sv) @ LAA 7 (Venters 5-3; Smith 2 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: DET – Gamble (26); LAA – Trout (18), Garvey (3).
Box Score

TWIWBL 41.4: Series XXXIII Notes – Marvin Miller Division

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On June 26, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

Birmingham is still tinkering with the edges of their roster; for now, Scott Baker replaces Jim Whitney as their #5 starter.

Hank Aaron had 4 hits and Frank McCormick added 3 to go with 4 RBIs as Birmingham beat the Gothams 12-8, overcoming a subpar start from Alejandro Peña who improved to 11-8 despite allowing 4 runs in 5 shaky innings. McCormick, Adrián González, Bob Nieman, and Cupid Childs each went deep for the Black Barons.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Frank Isbell went 4-for-4 and scored 4 runs as Brooklyn topped San Francisco 7-2. Frank Knauss had a strong start to improve to 11-4, Beals Becker hit his 24th homerun of the season and Roy White added his 12th as a pinch-hitter.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Freddie Fitzsimmons will miss about a week, prompting the Cuban Giants to put him on the DL, recalling Bob Duliba from AAA.

Eustaquio Pedroso had 3 hits and Minnie Miñoso was hit by pitches 3 times, but that was about all that went right for Miami in a 9-6 loss to Cleveland.

Alan Ashby was the star, breaking out of a funk with a 4-for-4 day that included scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 9th on, of all things, a wild pitch. Camilo Pascual was strong over 7 innings, and Duliba and Pedroso were perfect in relief, with Pedroso improving to 8-6 on the year with the victory.

Four hits from Paul Molitor helped the Cuban Giants to a come from behind 9-7 victory over Cleveland. Molitor scored 3 times and José Cardenal and Alejandro Oms (who is now tied for the league lead in triples with 11) drove in 2 for Miami.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

4 hits from Pedro Guerrero and 3 from Bob Cerv led the Sea Lions to a 5-3 win over Brooklyn. Guerrero and Reggie Jackson went deep, and 4.1 innings of near-perfect relief from Dave LaRoche, Ron Robinson, and Rod Beck closed out the contest.

Series XXXI Best Games

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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 38.4: Series XXX Notes – Marvin Miller Division

By

On April 27, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

The Black Barons just keep rolling. This time, it was 5 RBIs from Herman Long and a strong 7 innings from Vic Willis in a victory over Kansas City.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

4 hits from John Briggs were wasted as the Royal Giants lost 7-2 to Ottawa. That brought Briggs’ average up to over .350, and while it’s still early (his WBL career is only 23 games in), it certainly helps to silence the critics who were protesting that the 20 year old would be overmatched, despite his spectacular showing at AA.

Briggs was injured in the final game of the series, and will miss 2-3 weeks; Ty Cline was recalled from AAA.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Braden Looper has been named Miami’s closer for the time being.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Cliff Lee did well in his brief WBL debut (273/333/409), but with Joe Mauer‘s return from a rehab assignment, Lee heads back to AAA and the Sea Dogs once again find themselves with the conundrum of what to do with Mauer (313/389/504) and Pudge Rodríguez (331/350/512). There is a similar issue in CF with Bobby Murcer (316/400/555) and Gary Pettis (405/489/557 with great speed and defense). These are good problems to have.

For now, Mauer and Rodríguez return to their platoon arrangement, and Pettis continues to be the first man off the bench.

With Walter Johnson sidelined for another week or so, Atlee Hammaker has moved into the rotation.

Series XXX Best Games

By

On April 18, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

No real theme this time, just three close contests and checking in on the New York Black Yankees’ revamped bullpen.

Miami Cuban Giants @ New York Black Yankees, Game #2

Down 2-0 and 4-2, the New York Black Yankees scored the last 5 runs of the game in a 7-4 victory over Miami. Most importantly, the reconstructed New York bullpen provided 3.2 innings of scoreless, 2-hit relief to close out the game, with Aroldis Chapman picking up his 3rd save since being acquired. As is often the case, Miami was nearly totally reliant on José Canseco, who had 3 hits and 3 RBIs, including his 29th homerun of the year. Ryan Braun also had 3 hits for Miami.

MCG 4 (Pedroso 6-6; López 1 B Sv) @ NYY 7 (Burnett 3-2; Chapman 3 Sv; Cormier 1 H)
HRs: MCG – Canseco (29); NYY – Mattingly (24).
Box Score

Baltimore Black Sox @ Memphis Red Sox, Game #2

Baltimore held an early 4-2 lead, but Memphis exploded in the 5th inning, with Ted Williams‘ 3-run shot being the key hit. That put the Red Sox in front, 6-4.

It wouldn’t last very long: RBI hits from Bryce Harper and Manny Machado gave the lead back to the Black Sox, but another 3 run homerun, this one from Vern Stephens, put Memphis back ahead by 1 run at 9-8.

The Red Sox’s closer, Jonathan Papelbon, took the mound in the top of the 9th. He pitched decently, but a single by Paul Blair, an error by Memphis’3B, Wade Boggs, and a sacrifice fly from Larry Gardner tied the game. Papelbon and Baltimore’s Joe Beggs traded scoreless frames through the 11th, but in the 12th, Frank Robinson hit a long homerun off Bill Doak, his 29th of the season, to put the Black Sox ahead, 10-9.

Baltimore’s bullpen was pretty stretched, but Johnny Sain and Buddy Groom combined to successfully close out the game.

BAL 10 (Sain 9-7; Groom 2 Sv; Wetteland 1 B Sv) @ MEM 9 (Doak 1-3; Callahan 1 H; Bell 4 H; Wakefield 1 B Sv; Papelbon 3 B Sv) [12 Innings]
HRs: BAL – Wallace (5), Robinson (29); MEM – Williams (23), Stephens (6).
Box Score

Brooklyn Royal Giants @ Ottawa Mounties, Game #3

Pitching lines can be deceptive, right? Brooklyn’s Tommy Hanson looks to have been thoroughly average, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings. But he turned in an solid start, fanning 9 but suffering from giving up 2 homeruns (to Carlos Beltrán and Gary Carter) and an ineffective outing from Dave Von Ohlen, who allowed both inherited runners to score.

Brooklyn used a 3 run shot from Ron Cey to keep the game tied at 5 after 7 innings, but were unable to manage anything late, as Monk Dubiel, Randy Johnson, and Ryan Dempster combined to allow only 1 hit over the final 3 innings.

Ottawa’s Larry Parrish hit a walkoff homerun to give the Mounties the victory.

BRK 5 (Gagne 4-5; Von Holen 4 H; Hildenberger 2 B Sv) @ OTT 6 (Dempster 3-1)
HRs: BRK – Cey (18); OTT – Carter (15), Beltrán (8), Parrish (4).
Box Score

Wandering House of David @ Homestead Grays, Game #4

Homestead got off to a great start as Mike Epstein hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first. But the House of David clawed back, scoring in 3 different innings to tie the game at 4. The Grays again responded with the long ball, with Davey Johnson hitting a 2-run homerun in the bottom of the frame, but again we were quickly tied with Ron Santo going deep in the 7th.

And there we stayed for 4 more innings, until the House of David’s Bruce Sutter–asked to stretch into a second inning–gave up a triple to Chief Wilson and a 2-run shot to Rick Reichardt for a walk-off victory for the Grays. Homestead’s duo of Cliff Lee and Dave Giusti combined for 4 innings of 2-hit relief.

The standout performance of the game–by far–came from the House of David’s Pete Browning, who had 5 hits in 6 at-bats, raising his average to .361 in the process. If he stays healthy, Browning should take over the WBL lead in batting within the month.

HOD 6 (Sutter 2-3) @ HOM 8 (Giusti 2-0; Zambrano 2 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: HOD – Santo (13); HOM – Epstein (20), Johnson (13), Reichardt (20).
Box Score

TWIWBL 36.4: Series XXVIII Notes – Marvin Miller Division

By

On March 23, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Birmingham Black Barons

The arrival of Jim Pagliaroni sent Del Crandall packing (he refused a demotion to AAA), with Gene Tenace being relegated to reserve duty.

Nate Colbert was the odd man out with Andy Pettitte‘s arrival prompting Birmingham to carry 12 pitchers. Colbert will be back when rosters expand if not sooner. Pettitte slides into the rotation, with Larry Benton heading to the bullpen. Optimistically, the trio of Alejandro Peña, Pettitte, and Greg Maddux are on par with any trio of starters in the league, but that depends on Maddux maintaining his current form and all three staying healthy.

Pettitte’s first start was a success: 6 shutout innings, and combining with Steve Bedrosian and Kent Mercker on a 10 hit blanking of Ottawa. The Black Barons turned a league record 6 double plays in the game, and Frank McCormick, Hank Aaron, and Bob Nieman all went deep.

Harley Young will miss about a month, a pretty big blow to the Black Barons bullpen. Jim Whitney was recalled to take Young’s place.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Art Griggs will miss about 2 weeks of action with an oblique strain. The Royal Giants recalled OF Matt Holliday from AAA.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Lots of roster juggling here …

Cole Hamels and Freddie Fitzsimmons join the big league roster, with Hamels sliding right into the rotation. José Méndez takes over the final rotation spot, pushing Eustaquio Pedroso back to the bullpen. Once Ozzie Canseco clears waivers, Sandy Consuegra will be recalled from AAA.

The departure of Ed Bauta and Aroldis Chapman leave the Cuban Giants pretty weak at the back end of the pen, so they’re hoping some mix of Brown, Braden Looper, and Ricky Nolasco can handle closing games out.

Willie Kamm was promoted all the way from AA, and Jim Thome recalled from AAA to replace the departed Will Clark.

Fitzsimmons pitched in 2 games and then hit the DL with a hamstring problem, prompting Miami to recall Marcelino López to fill out the bullpen.

#Portland Sea Dogs

Hal Griggs and Frank Williams were sent to AAA to clear room for Trevor Hoffman and Mark Melancon and Dizzy Trout took the final spot in their rotation. Gavvy Cravath‘s arrival sent Ruben Sierra back as well. Cravath slides into RF, most likely reducing both Jeff Burroughs‘ and Greg Litton‘s playing time.

The Sea Dogs hit 6 homeruns in an 11-5 thrashing of Los Angeles, with Harry Hooper (a grandslam), Kent Hrbek (twice), Buddy Bell, Iván Rodriguez, and Rogers Hornsby all sending balls over the fence. Hrbek once again tied for the league lead with his 33rd of the season. Despite extreme wildness, Joséito Muñoz surrendered only 1 run in just over 5 innings, leveling his record at 5-5 on the season.

Walter Johnson will miss about a week, requiring a quick trip to the DL. The Sea Dogs recalled Ray Fontenot from AAA, but Atlee Hammaker is likely to get the nod for Johnson’s next start. Both Pascual Pérez and, more interestingly, Joe Mauer, began rehab assignments at AAA.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Billy Taylor and Nick Altrock were promoted to San Francisco, with Altrock sliding right into the back of the rotation as the Sea Lions try to figure out just what they have in the 28 year old hurler.

Gene Oliver was brought up to platoon with Mickey Cochrane behind the plate, with Cy Perkins being let go. There may be more moves ahead, depending on the status of Dick Lundy‘s injury. San Francisco would really like to move Miguel Cairo down, but it’s not clear who is ready for big league minutes at SS, especially if Lundy is out for any length of time.

Lundy will miss about 2 weeks, prompting the Sea Lions to recall Roy Hartzell from AAA.

Hartzell started his WBL career with a bang, hitting a homerun in his first at-bat. Bobby Bonds and Bob Cerv also went deep, and Tim Hudson seems to have turned the corner in his time in San Francisco as the Sea Lions beat Baltimore, 6-2.

Two homeruns from Pedro Guerrero led the Sea Lions to a 6-5 victory over the Black Sox. Guerrero drove in 5, helping Eddie Plank move to 8-5 on the year with Rod Beck picking up his 22nd save.

Taylor appeared in one game and tore his rotator cuff, putting him out for about 10 months. Bump Hadley was recalled from AAA.

TWIWBL 35.1: The Final Trading Window!

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On March 14, 2023

In TWIWBL

Welcome to the wild final day of trading for the season! We’re going to present these from the point of view of the contenders, with teams examined in order of their winning percentage so far this season.

Look for roster moves and implications in the next installments of TWIWBL. With 3/4 of the league making at least one deal, the impacts should be felt for a while …

Baltimore Black Sox

Baltimore got their hands on one of the best arms available, bringing in Connie Johnson from Kansas City. The Monarchs added a 5th round pick, receiving 2 prospects (OF Merv Rettenmund and RP Gene Garber) and a 2nd round pick for the 33 year-old hurler.

Grade: A. Johnson looks to be the real deal and should help the Black Sox withstand the recent rash of injuries.

Portland Sea Dogs

The Sea Dogs keep tweaking, sending 3 prospects–CF Kirby Puckett, RP Jim Kern, and SP Rick Wise–to Houston, with Trevor Hoffman and Mark Melancon coming back. Hoffman may compete with Elmer Brown for the closer role for Portland. The teams also traded some draft picks, with Houston sending a 4th to Portland in exchange for a 3rd and a 5th.

They also picked up perhaps the best OF available, as highly touted prospect Harmon Killebrew and a 1st round pick netted Gavvy Cravath and a 2nd round pick from Philadelphia, with the Stars also picking up most of Cravath’s salary for the rest of the season.

Grade: B. If they make the playoffs, sure, it makes sense. But Cravath is old, and Killebrew and Puckett are a lot of talent to give up (although both are pretty blocked by existing WBL talent).

New York Gothams

The Gothams were clearly trying to bolster their pitching, and pulled off a minor deal, sending prospects Travis Bowyer and Mike Shannon along with a 4th round pick to Homestead for Vean Gregg and a 5th rounder. They also added Steve Howe to their bullpen, sending the disgruntled Jeremy Affeldt and prospect Bob Moose to Ottawa.

And then they pulled off a bit of a blockbuster, as discussions with Miami surrounding Rube Waddell quickly spiraled out of control, with heavy drink most likely being involved. The Gothams sent Freddie Fitzsimmons, Cookie Rojas, Yasiel Puig, and a 2nd round pick to the Cuban Giants, receiving Waddell, Pete Runnels, and Will Clark in return.

Finally, as they now needed more depth they hit redial on their rotary phone and got in touch with Ottawa again, sending prospects George Burns and Art Devlin along with a 3rd round pick to the Mounties for George Van Haltren and two mid round picks (a 5th and a 6th).

Grade: C. It just seems like a lot of wheel-spinning. Is having Waddell and Gregg in the rotation really all that different than Moose and Fitzsimmons? Clark has been mediocre at best with Miami, and Rojas is a real loss.

Chicago American Giants

Chicago bolstered their pitching, picking up David Price from Indianapolis. Jorge Orta also goes to Chicago, with the American Giants sending prize prospect Robin Ventura, RP Tyler Clippard, and 2 draft picks (a 4th and a 5th) to the ABC’s.

Grade: A. Price may help compensate for the deeply flawed acquisition of Don Newcombe earlier in the summer.

Cleveland Spiders

The Spiders paid pretty dearly to upgrade the one slot in their lineup crying out for it, sending prized prospect Nap Lajoie, RP Arodys Vizcaíno, and a 1st round pick to Homestead for SS Arky Vaughan, SP Stan Bahnsen, and a 3rd rounder.

Grade: B. It all makes sense: Vaughan fills a need, Bahnsen has been solid at the WBL level and while Lajoie clearly is talented, for a team that has a shot at a championship this year, it works.

Detroit Wolverines

Especially with the loss of Whit Wyatt to injury, if Detroit is to make a move this year, they need pitching. So they sent quite a package of potential–2B Charlie Gehringer, 3B Bill Sweeney, SP Red Ehret, and a 4th Round Pick–to San Francisco for Charlie Root and Chad Bradford. It’s a lot, and the loss of Gehringer may hurt, but Detroit is really in win-now mode.

Grade: B. Root is excellent, and while they paid a little dearly, this year really looks to be the Wolverines’ best chance.

Birmingham Black Barons

Birmingham is unsure if its streak can continue, but an upgrade at C can’t hurt, so the Black Barons sent 2 IF prospects (SS Woody English and 3B Candy Jim Taylor) to Memphis for Jim Pagliaroni and a 4th round pick.

Then, late in the day, the pulled the trigger on a bit of a blockbuster, adding Andy Pettitte from Kansas City to their rotation. It cost quite a bit: C Dale Murphy (still a prospect despite his miserable WBL debut earlier in the season), P A. Rube Foster, a 2nd round pick and a 4th round pick. It was quite a declaration of intent by the Black Barons, we’ll see if it pans out.

Grade: A. Suddenly, Birmingham has a shot at the playoffs. Pettitte immediately becomes their #2 starter, and while they gave up some good talent, neither Murphy nor Foster look like world-burners at this point.

Wandering House of David

The House of David can still get lucky this year, so it moved to shore up a weak spot, sending prospects Bert Campaneris and Jeff Heathcock and a 3rd round pick to Miami for Ed Bauta and 2 later round picks (a 6th and a 7th).

Grade: C. Meh.

New York Black Yankees

The Black Yankees are desperate for bullpen help. They started to address the need picking up Aroldis Chapman from Miami, sending back Cole Hamels and Smoky Burgess, with Miami adding a 3rd round pick. With Bauta and Hoffman off the market, New York was forced to look at names further down their list.

They brought in Dick Tidrow from the House of David (who also threw in a 7th round pick), giving up a 2nd rounder and 2 prospects: SP Jim Clinton and 3B Chris Brown and then sent a similar package (LaTroy Hawkins, Fritz Coumbe, Mike Bordick, and a 3rd round pick) to Philadelphia for Rheal Cormier and a 4th rounder.

Grade: C. Overpaid on all fronts. Understandable, given the totally shambolic nature of the Black Yankees’ bullpen, but the loss of Hamels may hurt for many years, and Tidrow is little more than a fill-in.

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