The Whirled League

Baseball The Way It Never Was

Tag: Mike Henneman Page 1 of 7

TWIWBL 59.2: Bill James Division

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On May 16, 2024

In TWIWBL

#Baltimore Black Sox

Dennis Martínez spun a masterful 2-hit shutout and Baltimore sent 13 people to the plate in a 9 run 6th inning as they demolished Detroit 12-0. Martínez fanned 4 without giving up a walk in the complete game effort, evening his record to 1-1. Frank Robinson and Manny Machado had 3 hits each for Baltimore.

Curt Blefary went deep twice, including a long grand slam, as the Black Sox topped the Wolverines, 14-6. Blefary scored 4 times, drove in 5, and had 3 hits total.

#Cleveland Spiders

Lance Berkman went deep twice, driving in 4, and Evan Longoria delivered a walkoff blast as Cleveland beat Portland 8-7. Johnny Bates and Tris Speaker had 3 hits each for the Spiders.

Speaker drove in 4 and Berkman 3 as the Spiders took a 10-0 lead, and then held on for dear life in a 10-8 victory over Memphis. Berkman would continue his hot start the following day, driving in the winning run in the 10th in a 3-2 win for the Spiders.

#Detroit Wolverines

Ty Cobb had 4 hits–3 of which were doubles–leading the Wolverines to a 7-6 victory over Chicago. Mike Henneman continued his perfect start to the year, earning his 4th save.

Whitey Wilshere was sent to AAA temporarily as the Wolverines needed a starter. George Bechtel was recalled for the start, with an expectation that Wilshere would be recalled shortly after the game. Bechtel did fine and got the victory, but was returned to AAA that evening.

#Memphis Red Sox

Reggie Smith went deep twice, but those were the only runs Memphis could score in a 3-2 loss to Cleveland.

#New York Black Yankees

Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle each had 2 homeruns as the Black Yankees outslugged Baltimore 14-11. Ruth drove in 6–his 2nd 6 RBI game of the young season–and Mantle and Manny Sanguillén had 3 hits each for New York.

Eric Davis went deep twice and Elliott Maddox had 3 hits as the Black Yankees beat up on San Francisco, 12-4. Waite Hoyt had a decent 8 innings, moving to 3-0 on the year and Lou Gehrig and Mantle each also had homeruns for New York.

TWIWBL 58.3: Bill James Division

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On April 29, 2024

In TWIWBL

#Baltimore Black Sox

Gavvy Cravath hit 2 homeruns, but it wasn’t enough as the Black Sox fell to Detroit, 5-4, in 10 innings.

#Detroit Wolverines

Mike Henneman continued his perfect start with his 2nd save in as many chances as Detroit pulled out a 5-4 win over Baltimore.

The Wolverines ran out of arms early, having to move Juan Beníquez to AAA bring up Claude Passeau for a start. Ty Cobb had 4 hits and 5 RBI’s as Detroit came back to grab a 7-5 win over Memphis. Passeau headed back to AAA after, with Beníquez returning.

#Memphis Red Sox

SP Dean Chance headed to the DL with an injured toe, which will cause him to miss at least his first 2 starts on the season. Eddie Cicotte was recalled from AAA New Orleans.

The Red Sox scored 10 runs in the 5th inning of their season opener, keyed by triples from Ted Williams, Bill White, and Wade Boggs, which is as unlikely a trio to hit 3 triples in an inning as you can find. Reggie Smith and Claude Ritchey had 3 hits each as Memphis came from behind to win 12 to 5. David Bush got the win with 4 effective innings in relief of a wild Stubby Overmire.

#New York Black Yankees

Babe Ruth went deep twice and drove in 6 as the Black Yankees came from 4 runs down to top Los Angeles, 9-5.

TWIWBL 58.2: OPENING DAY!

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On April 24, 2024

In TWIWBL

Welcome to the opening day of games in Year 2 of the WBL!

We’ll start with last year’s victors from the Whirled Series, as the Detroit Wolverines visit the champs, the Baltimore Black Sox, with the Wolverines’ Hal Newhouser opening their season against the Black Sox’s Dennis Martínez.

New Wolverine Charlie Gehringer opened the scoring with the first homerun of the season, a 3 run shot in the top of the 3rd, and Bob Bailey added an RBI single in the following frame to give Detroit a 4-0 lead.

El Presidente lurched through his 5 innings, giving up 7 hits and 4 runs while Newhouser was far better, allowing only 1 score in his 6 innings. Newhouser did walk 6 Black Sox, so there is some concern there.

Larry Gardner got one back with an RBI single for Baltimore in the bottom of the 5th, and then the Black Sox came all the way back against Chad Bradford in the bottom of the 8th, with singles from Curt Blefary and Ken Singleton driving in the runs to tie the game at 4.

So, opening day brought us extra innings!

Detroit would use a single from Hank Greenberg, a double from Al Kaline, and a sacrifice fly from Oscar Gamble to take a 5-4 lead in the 10th, and Mike Henneman–far from dependable last season–would shut down Baltimore on 5 pitches for his first save of the year and Detroit’s first win, 5-4.

The win went to Buddy Napier while Buddy Groom took the loss.

This was a great opening day for Detroit: the newcomers (Gehringer, Billy Hoeft) delivered and Henneman made the end look easy.

DET 5 (Napier 1-0; Henneman 1 Sv; Hoeft 1 H; Bradford 1 BSv) – BAL 4 (Groom 0-1) [10 Innings]
HRs: DET – Gehringer (1).

#Other Games

Jim Thome delivered a walkoff game winner against Portland’s closer, Johan Santana, as Miami came from behind to beat the Sea Dogs, 5-4.

POR 4 (Santana 0-1, 1 B Sv; Brown 1 B Sv) – MCG 5 (Terry 1-0)
HRs: POR – Hooper (1), Bell (1); MCG – Thome (1).

Homestead rode homeruns from Chris Sabo and Rick Reichardt and three hits from Josh Gibson (along with 3 errors by Philadelphia) in a 13-4 drubbing of the Stars. Francisco Liriano got the win with 5 decent innings and, perhaps more encouragingly, both Grays’ rookie arms–Doug Drabek and Tim Lincecum–were strong in relief.

HOM 13 (Liriano 1-0) – PHI 4 (Carlton 0-1)
HRs: HOM – Sabo (1), Reichardt (1).

Duke Snider went deep twice and John Briggs and Roy White added 3 hits apiece as Brooklyn gave Don Drysedale plenty of support in an 8-3 win over the New York Gothams. The only concern for the Royal Giants was reliever Dave Von Ohlen‘s departure in the 9th through injury.

NYG 3 (Mathewson 0-1) – BRK 8 (Drysedale 1-0; Von Ohlen 1 H)
HRs: NYG – Kauff (1); BRK – Snider 2 (2), Cey (1).

The House of David torched Roy Oswalt for 9 runs (5 earned) in the first 2 innings, and then held on for a 12 to 6 victory over Houston. Pete Browning had 3 hits, Ryne Sandberg drove in 3, and every starter had a hit in support of a mediocre start from Jack Taylor. Tony Gwynn had 3 hits for Houston.

HOU 6 (Oswalt 0-1) – HOD 12 (Taylor 1-0; Sabathia 1 Sv; Bauta 1 H)
HRs: HOU – Wynn (1); HOD – Sandberg (1).

Year II Season Preview: Detroit Wolverines

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On March 20, 2024

In Team News

Expectations

You finish as the runner-up, you’re supposed to get back there next year. Championship competition for sure. This is just a very well-balanced team: none of the pitchers are really superstars, but Charlie Root, Hal Newhouser, and Gene Conley could hang with any trio in the league. Likewise, the offense revolves around two stars (Ty Cobb and Hank Greenberg) and a solid supporting cast.

Best Case

It all keeps humming, with especially both Root and Conley being able to maintain their level of performance on the mound while supporting talent–the Bailey Boys (3B Bill and C Ed) and the Davis Duo (OF Chili and SS George) especially–keep on keeping on and youngster Al Kaline continues to deliver on his promise.

Worst Case

The pitching seems like it could collapse at any time–especially the bullpen, where Mike Henneman (despite tying for the league lead in saves) feels somewhat precarious. Four key players (Ed Bailey, George Davis, Tony Phillips, and Oscar Gamble) are on the wrong side of 30, so falling off a cliff is always a concern.

Key Questions

  • Who is the 5th starter?
  • Can the 3 catchers continue to be an effective approach (meaning, worth sacrificing the roster spot to carry both Bill Carrigan and Ernie Lombardi behind Ed Bailey)?
  • The MI is a concern: George Davis is a wizard with the glove, but cannot hit and 2B clearly needs a long term solution given Phillips’ age.

Trade Bait

No obvious opportunities.

Or so we thought until it became clear that Charlie Gehringer, offering a long term solution at 2B, could be available.

Roster Evaluation

POSEliteStrongSolidMehWeakUnknown
CCarriganBailey, ELombardi
1BGreenbergBeníquez
2BPhillipsGehringer
Wood
3BBailey, BNash
SSDavis, G
LF/
RF		CobbGamble
Kaline
CFDavis, C
SPConley
Root		Aguirre
Newhouser		VerlanderMarcum
EndNapierBradford
Henneman
RP
WilshereHoeft
Conway
New Addition | Injured

Al Kaline gets moved down a little due to low usage, but he certainly looks like the real deal.

That’s a lot of unknowns for a contender. But none of them are really in key spots, although Billy Nash, who isn’t truly a SS, will have to fill in there until George Davis‘ return.

Talent Ratings

WBLMinors
Raw PowerOF Oscar GambleDH JD Martinez
Batting EyeU Tony PhillipsOF Floyd Robinson
ContactOF Ty CobbOF Ron Swoboda
Running SpeedOF Ty CobbOF Dan Gladden
Base StealingOF Ty CobbSS Ray Chapman
IF Defense1B Hank Greenberg3B Jimmy Collins
OF DefenseRF Al KalineCF Jim Piersall
StuffP Vernon WilshireP Wilson Álvarez
ControlRP Chad BradfordRP Dick Donovan
VelocityRP Mike HennemanP Delin Betances

Best In The Minors

RankAgePOSName
1 (17)21OFAl Kaline
2 (68)19SSWander Franco
3 (73)23PEmil Yde
4 (113)242BCharlie Gehringer
5 (121)23PGeorge Mullin
6 (175)18PBilly Hoeft
7 (198)203BBilly Nash
Others: None.

Hoeft and Franco were a surprise this Spring, with Hoeft, Nash, Gehringer, and Kaline all breaking camp with the Wolverines. That’s the good news. The bad news is the cupboard is bare at this point.

MostLeast
AgeU Tony Phillips, 38RP Billy Hoeft, 18
C Bill Freehan, 18
HeightP Gene Conley, 6’8″SS Bill McClellan, 5’5″
SS Earl Adams, 5’5″
OPSOF Hi Myers, 1.019 (WBL/AAA)1B Eric Hosmer, .509 (WBL)
HR3B Joe Werrick, 51 (WBL)OF Wally Moses, 1 (AAA/AA)
SS George Davis, 1 (AAA/AA)
2B Earl Adams, 1 (WBL)
SBOF Ty Cobb, 52 (WBL)Many with 0
WAROF Al Kaline, 4.9 (WBL)1B Eric Hosmer, -3.0 (WBL)
WRay Washburn, 17 (—)Doyle Alexander, 1 (WBL/AAA/AA)
SVMike Henneman, 38 (WBL)
ERARay Washburn, 2.44 (—)Dennis Rasmussen, 6.75 (—)
WARRay Washburn, 5.6 (—)Vernon Wilshire, -0.7 (WBL/AAA)
Stats are across all levels. 200 PA / 75 IP min. Non WBL leagues indicated by —.

Season Review: Detroit Wolverines

By

On January 3, 2024

In Season Reviews, Team News

89 - 65, .577 pct.
1st in Bill James Division, 3 games behind.
Lost to Baltimore in Whirled Series

Overall

Finishing runner up to the best team in the league made last year a success in Detroit, but it also leaves a bit of a sour taste: what did they need to get over that final hurdle, and how quickly is the window closing? That last is more of a concern for the Wolverines than most WBL teams with sparkplug Tony Phillips, C Ed Bailey, and SS George Davis all on the wrong side of 35.

On the other hand, none of their three top starters were in Detroit’s rotation at the start of the season (Hal Newhouser was at AAA, Gene Conley was in the bullpen, and Charlie Root was pitching for San Francisco), so a full season of them should help. And on the third hand, this is a team that did it with only two stars–Hank Greenberg and Ty Cobb–and, even if you add phenom Al Kaline to that group, could really use some additional high end offense.

What Went Right

Greenberg and Cobb, for sure. Both are young, Cobb won the batting title and hit for power with speed and Greenberg was on the fringes of the MVP discussion all season.

Kaline had an OPS nearing .950 over 34 games. So, that went very right, but is also not a proven commodity at this point.

Chili Davis, Oscar Gamble, and Bob Bailey all hit better than expected, combining for 68 homers and 242 RBI.

George Davis managed 2.7 WAR despite a .662 OPS–that’s how good he was with the glove at shortstop.

Tony Phillips was an ageless wonder, posting an OBP near .400 at the top of the lineup.

The catching trio–Ed Bailey, Bill Carrigan, and Ernie Lombardi–was effective, although as you would guess, finding enough at bats for them all was a challenge.

Once Newhouser, Conley, and Root settled in, this was as good a top 3 as there was last year. Conley led the trio–and the team–with 12 victories, but it was Newhouser who really provided consistent greatness on the mound for Detroit.

Mike Henneman tied for the league lead in saves with 38 and Chad Bradford and Buddy Napier were among the best in the business in bridging to the closer.

Hank Aguirre and Johnny Marcum were solid, especially once they moved to the back half of the rotation.

ALL STARS
3B Bob Bailey; 1B Hank Greenberg; RP Mike Henneman

What Went Wrong

Sparky Adams was never meant to be more than a utility infielder … but wow did he not hit well. It was only his defensive flexibility that kept him around over Robby Thompson–clearly a better option at 2B–and Jimmy Collins, who despite being great with the glove at 3B, barely hit more than Adams.

Tony Phillips was fragile, and it’s not clear, at 38, if he has any full seasons left in him.

Justin Verlander never really established himself despite a lot of opportunities. He wasn’t bad, for sure, as evidenced by his 10-4 record, but he wasn’t consistent and couldn’t hold a rotation spot.

Vernon “Whitey” Wilshere and Si Johnson were both downright bad as starters.

Transactions

March

1B Nate Colbert to Birmingham for P Ron Perranoski and 3B Billy Nash

Sure, whatever.

June

SS Donie Bush, 2B Jorge Orta, P Brandon League, OF Gene Martin & 2nd Round Pick to Indianapolis for C Ernie Lombardi

Unsure. Lombardi was OK for Detroit, and more will be asked of him, but that’s a lot to give up for a part-time catcher.

July

2B Charlie Gehringer, P Red Ehret, 3B Bill Sweeney & 4th Round Pick to San Francisco for P Charlie Root & P Chad Bradford

A clear win, even if Gehringer eventually finds his footing.

Looking Forward

SP

This should be solid, with an eventual combination of Hal Newhouser, Charlie Root, Gene Conley, Mickey Lolich, and Justin Verlander.

RP

It’s a strong trio now with Buddy Napier, Chad Bradford, and Mike Henneman, and Matt Anderson and Delin Betances offer some depth in the system.

C

Could be an area of need, but for now Bill Carrigan and Ernie Lombardi will see more of the time here, with the aging Ed Bailey being phased out.

1B

Hank Greenberg.

2B

Another area of need, unless Robby Thompson takes a major step forward.

3B

Bob Bailey looks good here, as did Olmedo Saénz in a brief audition.

SS

George Davis has this for now, but after that it’s not really clear: it’s possible Alfredo Griffin, Ray Chapman, or even Ed Brinkman develop; it’s possible they need to bring some more talent in.

LF

Oscar Gamble should have this for a while.

CF

Some mixture of Ty Cobb and Chili Davis, although each of them may be more suited to a corner OF spot. There is some talent behind them in Jody Gerut and Ron LeFlore.

RF

The Wolverines are banking a lot on Al Kaline‘s performance not being a mirage, although Geoff Jenkins will continue to push for more time as well.

The Rookie Draft

Rounds 1-4

The first round pick is pretty easy: with Joe Torre taken, the C talent is pretty thin, add in the fact that Bill Freehan is a franchise choice, and Detroit has–it hopes–its backstop of the future.

Another franchise pick, Frank Lary, was picked up in the 3rd round.

Rounds 5-8

With all of their exceptions still available, the Wolverines can cherry pick–of mediocre talent, but still. They can use depth across the board: every position, plus arms, so it truly is a “best player available” moment.

It started with another franchise selection, P Billy Hoeft and was followed in the 6th round by C Johnny Romano who is so much better than the other remaining talent behind the plate his selection felt pretty mandatory. They picked up P Logan Hensley in the 7th and OF Bob Fothergill in the 8th.

Rounds 9-12

IF Wander Franco (final exemption); OF Riley Greene; OF Kerry Carpenter; C Derek Norris.

10th round pick Riley Greene refused Detroit’s offer.

TWIWBL 52.2: End of Season Review – What Didn’t Go Right

By

On November 9, 2023

In TWIWBL

Big Things

There’s really just one.

Mea Culpa and Massive Overperformance

These are both issues with the OOTP engine and failures of me as the ultimate arbiter of the WBL universe. The exemplars here–and really the only truly egregious examples–are Ron Blomberg and Elrod Hendricks, both of whom were superstars in Year I, a status they never, ever approached in real life.

This is part of the challenge of doing this on your own–my sense of baseball history has blind spots. I had thought Blomberg had a couple good, full time seasons, but only really remembered him, like most of us, as the first DH. In real life, injuries and a huge platoon split prevented him from ever approaching full time usage. In the WBL, not only did he play 150 G, he far outperformed anything he did irl, slashing 336/412/649 with 44 HRs and 125 RBIs.

Hendricks is even more embarrassing–I had remembered, woefully incorrectly, Elrod Hendricks as having a career similar to Cliff Johnson‘s. If Johnson hit 40+ HRs in a sim, I would squint and say, wow, that’s kind of cool. Johnson certainly had that potential, he just never actually did it. But Hendricks never even showed the capacity to do that. In hindsight, I may even have been confusing Hendricks with Elston Howard, to my profound embarrassment.

I have pretty wide tolerances here, fwiw. I think Doug Rader having a career surpassing year (a 135 OPS+ is far higher than Rader had as a full time player) is fine. Rader was a good player, a decent hitter throughout his career. It feels possible. Now, if he does it year over year, there’s an issue. But this kind of outlier year for a player of Rader’s caliber is fine for me. Similarly, Mike Fiore finishing second in the league in walks seems fine: it is his 1969 season, and, if anything, his WBL slash line of 240/405/390 underperforms his real life 274/420/428. Here the challenge is to make sure Fiore, while perhaps better in year 2 and 3 than irl, does indeed fall off a cliff, with the 1969 year an unexplained success.

The Blomberg and Hendricks seasons are just too far outside the pale.

There are a couple of things at work here. First, I need to have a practice of looking at the overperformers more thoroughly. Second, I need to figure out what levers within OOTP to lean on. There are three I know of right now:

  • OOTP does allow us to set a usage limit, below which it depresses stats. I have that set at 300 AB for hitters, and could raise it. But that just moves the bar, right? No matter where you put the bar, there will be someone who consistently falls just outside of it.
  • Manually reducing ratings. Perfectly fine with this, but not really a fan of it. It’s a little too much of a thumb on the scale for MLB players (I do it for NeL players, but that’s because I use my own MLE’s).
  • Injuries. This is the more likely route I would take. If I had recognized just how out of bounds Hendricks and Blomeberg’s performances were, I would have just upped their injury ratings significantly. This keeps an interesting narrative (man, if he could only stay healthy) while retaining a sense of luck (maybe he does stay healthy) while most likely reducing these outlying performances.

So, a pretty important thing to monitor in Year 2, imo.

Smaller Things

Triples & NeL Players

This is sort of a philosophical decision. There are two schools of thought out there. They are, broadly

  • NeL baseball (I am using this term to refer to all of the non-MLB environments) was fundamentally different, full of more daring, more speed, more creativity. This resulted in more triples and, perhaps oddly, fewer doubles.

and

  • Meh, that’s nonsense for a lot of reasons, and if you are combining these histories, you need to adjust that, essentially increasing 2B and depressing 3B so the overall universe of players is relatively evenly distributed.

Philosphically, I tend towards the latter–I don’t think NeL players were somehow “better at hitting triples,” and I don’t think they were universally faster (although some were each of those things). But practically, as MLE’s are created, the tend towards the former.

Certainly Year I did: 5 of the top 9 leaders in triples were NeL players. But it dropped off to 7 of the top 25 (that ranges from Louis Santop, the league leader with 14 to Pete Hill, one of 8 players who finished the season with 6 three baggers). There may be less here than meets the eye: if it weren’t for the presence of Santop and Josh Gibson (both catchers, of course, but also both under 20 at the start of the season) maybe this doesn’t even get noticed?

Something to track in Year II.

Money Money Money … Money

The initial salaries for the league were totally randomly invented. Turns out they were far too low: FA’s are demanding more in salary than the retained stars. So I just need to fiddle and figure it out. The goal is that each franchise has certain players they have 3-year and 5-year rights to, but those players should have highish comp, I think.

Time & Opportunity Cost

I played every single game. By hand. And only mis-clicked, issuing an intentional walk by mistake, a few times.

I enjoyed doing that. I really like the slow unfolding of the season, and I really like not seeing the AI do inexplicable things to the detriment of some team. I really like being able to massage the two-way players the way I want to. Lots of likes.

But I am not a young man.

At 3 real life years per season, I am unlikely to get more than 10 seasons out of the WBL. Which would barely see the current young players reach their peaks, let alone their retirements.

So I need to do something differently. Maybe not in Year 2, but at some point I’ll have to find a way to move through the seasons more quickly, most likely by playing certain weeks or months via the AI.

AI April? Machine managed May? Something.

Even Smaller Things

NeL Defense

Just a learning curve, need to slightly nerf NeL defense ratings.

Closers

38 saves to lead the league feels a little light. More, the number of closers who actually pitched pretty poorly was a little high, most notably Detroit’s Mike Henneman, who led the league in saves for most of the season. Cleveland’s Terry Adams tied him in the final weak, but Adams’ ERA was 2 runs lower (and his FIP just slightly below 2 runs better). At the same time, both had WHIPs that weren’t great, so … maybe not a real issue? Relievers are weird.

Base 10 Numbering

I don’t know why I started numbering TWIWBL’s with .0. But it made everything a bit more confusing, and starting with these, we’re going to start each series of TWIWBL with .1. Because that’s, you know, normal.

TWIWBL 51.3: The Awards – Phineas Flint Award

By

On October 31, 2023

In TWIWBL

The Phineas Flint Award is given to the best reliever each year in the WBL.

Here are the contenders

NameHW-LERASvBSvHGInnSDMD
Terry AdamsCLE2-62.6538715451267
Chad BradfordDET6-62.6326960751811
Aroldis ChapmanMCG/NYY5-42.6232304848265
Rob DibbleIND3-42.5230414950199
Buddy GroomBAL2-21.9682135164144
Mike HennemanDET2-74.6038605447277
Mark MelanconHOU/POR10-23.56231256611112
Robb NenNYG3-54.81931560671711
Mike NorrisNYG4-41.4784155767226
Ron ReedPHI/CLE1-64.61371766841416
Ron RobinsonSFS7-53.86131854702014
Jonny VentersLAA5-32.7952155358219
Brian WilsonNYG2-02.1329114042183
Sv = Saves | BSv= Blown Saves | H = Holds | G = Games | Inn = Innings | SD = Shutdowns | MD = Meltdowns

Some of this is pretty easy to navigate, though: Henneman isn’t a contender, because Adams matched him with saves with far superior numbers elsewhere; likewise, Chapman is a slightly better version of Dibble and Groom a better version of Venters. Reed and Melancon are sort of statistical anomalies (Reed for holds, most of which were in the first half of the season with Philadelphia, leading to his all-star selection; Melancon for vulturing win after win). Bradford, Nen, and Robinson all had good years, but too many outings where they failed to do their jobs.

That leaves 3 pure closers: Adams, who tied for the league lead in saves; Chapman, who was not only fantastic but settled a horrifically ineffective Black Yankees’ bullpen; and Wilson, who was, simply, magnificent, but in far fewer opportunities and with far fewer saves.

I think those three rank Adams, Wilson, Chapman.

So, was Buddy Groom better than Chapman? I don’t think so. Groom started in the middle of the pen, and was the Black Sox closer by year end. He was great throughout, but I’d take Chapman’s season over his.

But then you have Mike Norris. Mike Norris did everything, all season, without ever letting up. He pitched in 57 games, allowing less than a hit per inning and allowed only 1 homerun all season. He was asked to pitch in high leverage situations (where he held opposing batters to a 211/310/284 slash line) and low leverage situations, save situations and key 8th innings. And no matter what, he came out and did his thing. He had three scoreless streaks of over 12 innings.

Norris was, simply, the best reliever in the league, followed by Terry Adams and Norris’ teammate, closer, Brian Wilson.

TWIWBL 50.6: THE WHIRLED SERIES! Detroit Wolverines v Baltimore Black Sox, Game VI – October 10th

By

On October 18, 2023

In 2000 Playoffs, 2000 Whirled Series, Game Recaps, TWIWBL

And here we are, a Baltimore victory away from crowning the first WBL champion.

#Detroit Wolverines v Baltimore Black Sox, Game 6

Both teams are a little betwixt and between with their rotations. Detroit will send out Charlie Root, hoping they get the chance to benefit from an extra day’s rest for Gene Conley while the Black Sox will counter with Johnny Sain. Sain, Mike Mussina, and Jim Palmer have each at different times held down the number four slot; Sain seems to be the strongest at the moment.

Detroit clearly knows what’s at stake: Tony Phillips led off the game with a homerun and Hank Greenberg added a 2 run shot for an early 3-0 lead and lots of second guessing for the Black Sox’s choice of starting pitcher.

Baltimore got one back right away: Bobby Wallace doubled and consecutive sacrifice flies brought him home.

Sain only lasted 3 innings, departing having given up 5 hits and 4 runs. Palmer was magnificent in relief: 3 scoreless innings, 1 hit, and 5 strikeouts.

Frank Robinson singled and Curt Blefary walked to start the 6th, chasing Root and bringing the home crowd to its feet. Justin Verlander fanned Dan McGann and Bryce Harper, but walked Ken Singleton to load the bases. Up stepped Manny Machado, who reprised his role as playoff hero with a grand slam into the left field bleachers. Baltimore was now up, 5-4.

Bob Miller retired Detroit in order in the 7th.

The 8th was much more difficult: Gregg Olsen gave up 2 singles and a walk to load the bases with one out, bringing in Don Bessent to face Al Kaline … who promptly tripled, swinging the score back in favor of the Wolverines. Kaline would score on a sacrifice fly from George Davis, putting Detroit up 8-5.

Matt Anderson retired Baltimore in order in the 8th.

Mike Henneman did his usual thing in the 9th: one out, then a walk and a single to make it interesting, bringing up Robinson as the tying run. Robinson singled to load the bases, but Henneman struck out Blefary. Two outs, with McGann up … and then Henneman uncorked a wild pitch making it 8-6. Eventually, Henneman came through as McGann flew out to center, ending the game and giving us a game 7.

Gardner and Robinson had 3 hits for Baltimore; Cobb had 3 for Detroit.

The drama was fantastic: the much-maligned Machado’s grand slam, and then the hot rookie Kaline’s triple.

DET 8 (Verlander 1-0, 1 B Sv; Henneman 3 Sv; Anderson 3 H) @ BAL 6 (Olson 0-1; Bessent 1 B Sv; Miller 1 H)
HRs: DET – Phillips (1), Greenberg (4); BAL – Machado (3).
Box Score

TWIWBL 50.0: THE WHIRLED SERIES, Preview Edition

By

On October 9, 2023

In 2000 Playoffs, 2000 Whirled Series, Series Previews, TWIWBL

We have our matchup for the very first WHIRLED SERIES, the Detroit Wolverines against the Baltimore Black Sox. This was the matchup the numbers wanted from the beginning: Baltimore had the best record in the league during the regular season, finishing with 91 wins and a .591 winning percentage, but Detroit was right behind them with 89 wins and a .578 percentage.

As you would expect, both teams were solid all around, but the general theme is that the Black Sox rode a superior pitching staff while the Wolverines do a little more offensively.

Today we’ll do things a little differently, comparing the teams position by position as we get ready for the fall classic.

#Starting Pitching

The Wolverines starters have been excellent, led by Hal Newhouser. Their rotation has been transformed since opening day, with Gene Conley joining the staff from the bullpen and Charlie Root being obtained via midseason trade. Behind those three, Justin Verlander and lefty Hank Aguirre are most likely to get starts, with the struggling Johnny Marcum being moved to the bullpen.

Some questions have emerged during the postseason for Baltimore’s rotation. During the regular season, the trio of Bill Byrd, Dennis Martínez, and Connie Johnson (a mid-season acquisition) were spectacular, but in the postseason, only Martínez has really lived up to his billing, with Byrd alternating dominant starts with being hit pretty hard. Behind them, there is a bit of a logjam: Mike Mussina is struggling, as is Jim Palmer, so if a 4th starter is needed, look for Johnny Sain to get the opportunity.

Edge: I’ve got to go with Baltimore, with an expectation that their top three bounce back to their level of performance during the regular season. But Newhouser has been the most dominant pitcher left in the postseason, which can always count for something.

#Relief Pitching

This gets interesting. Baltimore’s bullpen has suffered injuries all year, and has just kept rolling along. Ned Garvin was here before spending a few weeks as the best starter in the league, before getting injured. Don Bessent and Bob Miller were co-closers for a time, before getting injured. Sean Marshall was among the most dominant bullpen arms in the league, before getting injured. Sense a theme?

Now, midseason acquisition Joe Beggs and Buddy Groom form the back end. Groom has been especially dominant, with a 1.96 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP over 51 games. John Wetteland has been excellent since being recalled from the minors, and Bessent and Miller join him in handling the middle innnings.

For the Wolverines, the bullpen has been a bit of an oddity. Mike Henneman ended the season tied for the season league in saves, but he certainly had his struggles, exemplified by his 4.60 ERA and 6 blown saves. John Hiller and Buddy Napier were excellent getting the ball to Henneman, but Hiller is out injured, meaning Detroit will be leaning heavily on Matt Anderson and Chad Bradford, both of whom were solid in the regular season. Either Aguirre or Mickey Lolich may be called on for key outs against lefties in Hiller’s absence. Finally, there is Verlander, who was on the verge of moving into the rotation all season, but never quite made it. He is the most reliable option in the early or middle innings, if needed.

Edge: Solidly in favor of Baltimore. That said, Verlander, Henneman, Napier, and Anderson have combined to allow 3 runs in 17 innings this postseason, so the gap may be narrower than it appears from the regular season performances.

#C

In the regular season, Detroit split its duties behind the plate between Bill Carrigan, Ed Bailey, and Ernie Lombardi with Carrigan and Bailey in a rough platoon until Lombardi came over from Indianapolis. Bailey is one of the hottest hitters around these days, so look for him to get most of the starts, but Carrigan was the best of them in the regular season, slashing 316/369/477.

Curt Blefary had a spectacular year for Baltimore, with a 280/392/549 slash line and 29 homeruns. He has struggled mightily in the postseason, but showed signs of coming out of it against Portland.

Edge: Even with Detroit’s far greater depth, you have to give the edge here to Baltimore and Blefary.

#1B

Baltimore’s Dan McGann may be 37, but sure plays like he has a lot left in the tank, racking up a 282/388/445 slash line for the Black Sox.

It’s all about Hank Greenberg for Detroit, one of the Wolverines’ two elite players. Greenberg finished the regular season at 317/374/595 with 31 homeruns and 113 RBI’s.

Edge: McGann had a great year. Greenberg is in the second tier of the MVP conversation. Edge, Detroit.

#2B

Detroit is thrilled to have their 38 year old sparkplug, Tony Phillips, back from injury. Phillips is a nuisance at the top of the batting order, with an OBP just shy of .400. He is not very good defensively, as Sparky Adams will often replace him late in the game, earning him the nickname The Old Man’s Glove.

Larry Gardner‘s 318/393/471 slash line is fantastic for anywhere, let alone a middle infielder. Gardner looks like he is fully recovered from a chest contusion suffered in the first round of the playoffs.

Edge: Baltimore.

#SS

Bobby Wallace is one of the better offensive shortstops in the WBL, slashing 302/396/418, drawing lots of walks and hitting 40 doubles in the regular season. He’s not bad defensively.

Detroit’s George Davis is a whiz defensively, and his .662 OPS, while well under league average, isn’t awful for a middle infielder.

Edge: Baltimore, although Davis’ defense does close the gap a bit.

#3B

When Bob Bailey was injured, Olmedo Sáenz filled in admirably, earning a spot on the playoff roster over Jimmy Collins, by far the better fielder. But he was no replacement for Bailey, who slashed 277/364/462 in the regular season. Sáenz remains a threat off the bench.

Manny Machado hit better for Baltimore than he did for Miami at the start of the year, but is still seen as a bit of a disappointment overall, with a .729 OPS for the year. Brooks Robinson hasn’t shown anything offensively, but is a whiz defensively, providing essentially the same role at 3B as Adams does for Detroit at 2B, but without the cool nickname.

Edge: Detroit

#LF

Frank Robinson is the most feared hitter on the Black Sox, with 37 homeruns, 111 RBIs, and a 302/383/539 slash line. Truly elite.

For Detroit, this is usually the provenance of Oscar Gamble, whose 28 homeruns were second on the team. Gamble was the emotional heart of the Wolverines, and should stay out there despite some late season struggles. Gamble is the best fielder of the group here.

Edge: I love Gamble, too, but the edge here goes clearly to Baltimore.

#CF

Detroit’s Chili Davis is fairly significantly under appreciated, both in Detroit and across the WBL. But Davis is a solid performer out there, slashing 273/328/443 while playing solid defense. The Wolverines are a bit thin here, with Cobb the presumed backup should Davis go down.

Paul Blair could barely make contact for the first third of the season. The fact that he got his OPS to .700 is a strong accomplishment, and, combined with his elite level defense, makes Blair a solid contributor for Baltimore. Baby Doll Jacobsen, who has a fair bit of pop, is the usual reserve here, although Harper can slide over as well.

Edge: Detroit

#RF

The Black Sox stuck with Bryce Harper through his early season struggles, and it paid off as the nineteen year old settled into the league. He has a great eye, a bit of power, and ended up slashing 259/360/403 on the year.

The other legitimate elite player for the Wolverines is the batting champion, Ty Cobb, whose 352/391/557 slash line and 52 SB’s combine to form a truly fantastic offensive player.

Edge: Detroit.

#DH

Al Klaine has 34 games under his belt at the WBL, and has slashed 301/374/573 in that span. That performance has generally left Detroit without a spot for Geoff Jenkins, who was the usual DH, especially against right-handers.

As both Harper and Jacobson established themselves throughout the season, DH duties for Baltimore fell more and more often to Ken Singleton, who was … fine. Singleton was almost the picture of a useful hitter, slashing 266/352/407 with 17 homeruns and 88 RBIs. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to love, either. He’s been excellent so far in the postseason.

Edge: Toss up, although if Kaline maintains his level of performance, slides to Detroit.

#Overall

Quantitatively, 6-4 in favor of Baltimore, with one tie. So, very close.

I have to go with Baltimore: they are so good at getting on base, and their pitching is just better. But Detroit really has no weak spots offensively (maybe SS with Davis), and if they can get enough from their pitching staff, they certainly have a shot.

Prediction: Black Sox in 6.

TWIWBL 49.6: The Playoffs! Division Round, Day VI– September 30

By

On October 4, 2023

In 2000 Playoffs, Featured Games, TWIWBL

Two game six’s on tap …

#Detroit Wolverines v New York Gothams, Game 6

Detroit leads, 3-2.

The news on John Hiller was not good, as he will be sidelined for about 5 months with a torn pectoral muscle. Mickey Lolich was added to the playoff roster as Hiller’s replacement.

New York would turn to Gaylord Perry for this must-win contest while Detroit would counter with Gene Conley in their attempt to clinch.

Hank Greenberg would open up the scoring for Detroit in the bottom of the 3rd, singling home Tony Phillips, who had doubled to lead off the inning. Perry would lose the strike zone, walking in not one, but two runs before getting out of the inning. Detroit was up 3-0, one-third of the way through the game.

Perry would last into the 4th, when a 2-out double by Ty Cobb would bring in Juan Marichal from the Gothams bullpen, who was able to end the inning without any damage.

The problem for New York was Conley, who was in full control, scattering 5 hits over 6 innings of work. Conley was relieved after the 7th, and the game remained 3-0 Wolverines as we entered the top of the 9th, with Mike Henneman on the mound to close it out.

Benny Kauff–2-for-3 today and hitting .500 in the postseason–led it off, but whiffed on a pitch on the inside corner. Will Clark foulded out to Oscar Gamble in left. Which meant the Gothams’ season was down to Carl Furillo. A lazy fly ball to Cobb in right later, and we knew the first team to the Whirled Series, the Detroit Wolverines!

Cobb went 4-for-4, but the plaudits need to go to Conley, Lolich, Buddy Napier, and Henneman, who combined on a 6 hit shutout to clinch the series. Mention should also be made of the Gotham’s Marichal, who was roughed up in his first start, but delivered 3 scoreless innings here to keep the game seemingly within reach.

NYG 0 (Perry 0-1) @ DET 3 (Conley 2-1; Henneman 2 Sv; Lolich 1 H; Napier 2 H)
HRs: None.
Box Score

Cobb’s .538 average earned him the MVP award, although a strong argument could made for Hal Newhouser, who finished the series 2-0 with a 0.57 ERA.

#Portland Sea Dogs v Baltimore Black Sox, Game 6

Pascual Pérez‘ recent struggles led Portland to offer Mike Cuellar his first start of the playoffs as they try to finish off Baltimore, whose season rests on the capable right arm of Connie Johnson, 2-0 so far in the postseason.

A bloop single, a walk, a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly from Kent Hrbek led to Portland’s first run and an RBI double from Gavvy Cravath doubled their lead. Rogers Hornsby singled home Cravath, and the Sea Dogs had staked Cuellar to a 3-0 lead before his first pitch.

Baltimore would come back in the bottom of the 3rd, on RBI singles by Larry Gardner and Curt Blefary and a sacrifice fly from Dan McGann. That tied the game at 3, and got the Sea Dogs’ bullpen up and working. A leadoff double from Bryce Harper chased Cuellar, but Pérez was able to close out the inning cleanly.

Gardner took Pérez deep in the 5th to give the Black Sox a one run lead, but Hornsby sent a pitch from Johnny Sain deep into the night with a runner on, putting Portland back on top.

Mark Melancon came in for the bottom of the 7th and walked pinch-hitter Baby Doll Jacobson and, after a Bobby Wallace sacrifice bunt, retired Gardner. Frank Robinson singled home Jacobson to tie the game and bring in Atlee Hammaker to face Blefary, who fanned. Wade Miller relieved Hammaker and got McGann to ground out to Hornsby at second.

So: 7 innings played, and we are tied at 5 runs each with Baltimore’s season on the line.

Manny Machado has struggled all postseason, but he now has a chance to go down as Black Sox hero, as his homerun in the bottom of the 8th off Miller gave Baltimore a slim advantage.

Joe Beggs was perfect in the 9th, and we were heading to a game seven!

Machado, Gardner, Robinson, and Blefary each had 2 hits for Baltimore, but it will be Machado’s key blast that is most remembered.

POR 5 (Miller 0-1; Melancon 1 B Sv) @ BAL 6 (Beggs 1-0; Sain 1 B Sv)
HRs: POR – Hornsby (3); BAL – Gardner (2), Machado (2).
Box Score

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