Tag: Mike Henneman Page 6 of 7

#Detroit Wolverines

3 hits from Ty Cobb, including his 11th homerun of the year, led Detroit to a 4-0 win over Portland. Johnny Marcum and Mike Henneman combined on the 6-hit shutout, with Marcum moving to 8-2 on the year.

Another combined shutout would close out the series as Gene Conley continued his dominance, moving to 10-2 on the year with 7 strong innings. Buddy Napier and John Hiller helped to close out the 7-0 victory. Bill Carrigan had 3 hits and drove in 3 for the Wolverines and Robby Thompson added his 2nd homerun of the year.

#Los Angeles Angels

Anthony Young was sent to AAA, with Mike Smith being recalled for a start.

The Angels trailed 2-0 late, but a Mike Trout homerun in the 8th and George Wright‘s 12th of the year in the top of the 9th sent LA past the House of David 3-2. Pud Galvin got the win in a game that saw another impressive start–6 shutout innings–from Nolan Ryan.

#Memphis Red Sox

Francisco Lindor‘s first career homerun was one to remember: a walkoff blast in the bottom of the 11th, giving Memphis a 6-5 victory over the House of David. Wade Boggs had 3 hits for the Red Sox, including the game-tying single in the bottom of the 9th. Norwood Gibson and Heath Bell combined for 5 innings of scoreless relief, with Bell improving to 7-3 on the year.

#New York Gothams

Pete Donohue moved to 4-0 on the year with just over 7 scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over Houston. Mike Norris picked up his 10th hold and Brian Wilson closed with his 17th save despite giving up a run in the 9th. Buster Posey and Eugenio Suárez had 3 hits each for New York.

#Wandering House of David

The House of David has finally given up on Rollie Fingers for a while, sending the reliever to AAA and recalling Kerry Wood to the WBL for a debut start. In a somewhat surprising move, 27 year old Mark Grace was waived to make room for Wood. Grace, essentially the starting 1B for most of the season, managed only a 236/312/339 slash line. Fred Lynn was sent to AAA, with Jim Edmonds returning to the House of David, presumably because of his ability to also fill in at 1B behind the new starter, Anthony Rizzo.

Early returns were positive: Wood threw a strong 6 innings, with the starter he replaced–Bob Rush–adding a scoreless final 3 for his first save of the year and Rizzo hit his 6th homerun (in 32 ABs) of the season in a 7-2 win for the House of David.

Phil Regan was waived, with Eddie Rommel being recalled for an emergency start, which went fantastically: Rommel allowed 4 hits and no earned runs in 6 innings in a 12 to 2 drubbing of Memphis. Dan Ford and Ron Santo each had 3 hits including a homerun with Santo driving in 4 on the day.

TWIWBL 30.0: Series XXIII Notes

By mknn

On December 12, 2022

In TWIWBL

July 10th

Looking Back at the All Star Trades

We’re a month(ish) on from the all-star break, seemed a good time to look back at the trades and see how they are working out in the early days.

Boom Shaka Laka

The Los Angeles Angels and the Ottawa Mounties swapped 8 players, with early returns making the Angels–by far–the winner in the exchange as veteran 1B Carlos Delgado is slashing 344/400/547 since the trade, providing what may be the final piece to the Angels’ puzzle. While Rusty Staub has done OK for Ottawa, none of the rest of the pieces have shown much at all. Wally Moon, who the Angels picked up from San Francisco, has been impressive as well, slashing 354/458/458 since the break. Two of the pieces the Angels gave up for Moon–C Brian Downing and P Dave LaRoche–have done well for San Francisco (Downing at AAA, LaRoche with the Sea Lions themselves), so this deal may work out for both sides.

Encouraging

The New York Gothams gave up a haul for Don Sutton, and so far it looks OK: Sutton looks to join the Gothams’ rotation shortly, posting a 2.70 ERA in 8 relief appearances. For Brooklyn, two of the prospects received are doing quite well: OF Don Mueller is slashing 387/395/653 and P Lew Krausse, Jr. has started his career with his new organization with some strong outings on the mound.

All-Star Ron Reed has just continued his strong year having moved from Philadelphia to Cleveland, with an ERA of 0.75 over his first half-dozen games with the Spiders. Even more importantly for Cleveland’s playoff push, OF Lance Berkman looks to have blossomed with the change in scenery, slashing 276/417/500 with 4 HRs since coming over from Houston–a jump of of over 200 points to his OPS. The Spiders gave up 7 players across those 2 deals, none of which have earned significant playing time with their new clubs, although both Jap Payne (sent to Philadelphia) and Harry Stovey (to Houston as part of the Berkman deal) have hit well in limited appearances).

The Chicago American Giants brought in 4 pitchers, with encouraging returns from Dick Rudolph (acquired from Miami) and Hoyt Wilhelm (from Birmingham). The best prospect the American Giants gave up–Minnie Miñoso to the Cuban Giants–has been injured, so the jury is still out on this deal in general, but it looks alright so far, even if Don Newcombe has struggled mightily, and may have been overvalued at the trade deadline. Perhaps as importantly, the American Giants seem to have solved their SS question, as all-star Freddy Parent has continued his strong form since joining them from Ottawa.

Birmingham’s fire sale went well. We’ll cover some of those below, but both Curt Flood and Manny Trillo–picked up in the trade of Frank Isbell (who has been alright) to Brooklyn–are both tearing up AAA.

Meh

The Baltimore Black Sox have to be pleased with Manny Machado‘s performance so far, as he’s slotted quite comfortably as their everyday 3B. But the Miami Cuban Giants can’t really complain, as they aren’t going to compete for a while and Joe Dugan is tearing up AAA while Chris Hoiles has established himself as a C at the big league level. The Black Sox also brought in Joe Beggs from Memphis to solidify the end of their bullpen. Results have been mixed so far.

Memphis’ fan base was quite critical of a few of their moves, and Roger Clemens‘ short-term success in Houston has only increased their fury. But Stubby Overmire has added some depth to their staff and perhaps more importantly, 2B DJ LeMahieu and P Jim Kaat look to be strong prospects for Memphis’ future.

Disappointing

Portland hoped picking up Rogers Hornsby from Kansas City would spark their offense for a playoff push, and while he’s better than Greg Litton, his .648 OPS is actually pretty Littonish, and a far cry from his .853 mark over the first half of the season.

Tim Hudson was supposed to solidify San Francisco’s rotation, but was roughed up in his first few starts. While he’s shown signs of coming around, the 36 year old is only 1-3 with an ERA north of 5 since his move to the Left Coast. Rube Melton, one of the pieces the Sea Lions gave up for Hudson, has excelled at AAA for Birmingham, and looks to be a nice pickup for the Black Barons.

Another one who took a bit to find his footing, Tom Herr, is finally showing some life for the New York Black Yankees. Still, a 228/267/298 slash is not what the New York faithful had hoped to see from their All-Star acquisition. The Black Yankees’ other significant acquisitions–Jamie Moyer and Gary Lavelle–have struggled as well, although Lavelle has been installed as their closer, which is more a comment on the other options than a compliment to him. Several of the prospects they gave up–Bill Buckner and Charlie Keller for Birmingham and Dick Bartell and Sam Thompson for Ottawa–are performing very well for their new organizations, so these trades may come back to haunt New York.

Performance

As usual, top 2 performers in all categories, with the WBL leader in bold.

Batters

Reggie Jackson‘s triple crown hunt is back on! And Babe Ruth‘s dominance just continues unabated.

Dick Allen (CAG). 298/368/550. 9 3B.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 335/410/646. 1.056 OPS. 26 HR.
Rico Carty (PHI). 295/362/480. 34 2B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 336/379/533.
Eric Davis (NYY). 277/337/528. 4.1 WAR.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 336/441/539.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 253/389/342. 67 BB, 64SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 301/370/582. 26 HR.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 337/449/610. 1.059 OPS.
Willie Mays (NYG). 316/373/523. 112 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 331/390/585. 115 H, 31 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 316/373/523. 112 H, 88 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 298/373/454. 66 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 314/424/656. 1.080 OPS. 29 HR, 88 RBI, 73 R, 66 BB, 5.0 WAR.
Mike Trout (LAA). 318/390/455. 112 H.

Pitchers

It’s just all over the place, once you move past the dominant performances by Ned Garvin (BAL) and Gerrit Cole (LAA).

Starters

Bill Byrd (BAL). 9-2, 3.29.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 12-3, 3.66. 128 IP.
Gene Conley (CLE). 10-2, 3.17.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 8-3, 2.64. 1.14 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 9-6, 3.84. 135 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-8, 4.15. 135 K.
Waite Hoyt (NYY). 8-2, 3.29. 1.15 WHIP.
Walter Johnson (POR). 8-3, 3.60. 3.2 WAR.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 10-6, 3.96.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 8-6, 3.77. 3.5 WAR.
Red Ruffing (NYY). 10-4, 3.55.
Cy Young (CLE). 8-4, 3.84. 129 IP.

Relievers

20 IP minimum for rate stats.

Watty Clark (BRK). 3-1, 1.23. 17 Sv.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.67. 23 Sv.
Ken Howell (SFS). 3-3, 1.14. 3 Sv, 7 H.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.08. 16 Sv, 0.88 WHIP.
Ron Reed (CLE). 0-2, 2.26. 3 Sv, 16 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 4-2, 3.58. 12 H.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.78. 23 Sv.
Jonny Venters (LAA). 3-3, 3.24. 4 Sv, 12 H.
Billy Wagner (HOU). 0-2, 3.63. 11 Sv, 2 H, 0.90 WHIP.

Streaks

Not a lot of interesting active streaks. Brooklyn’s Beals Becker–who has the league record for consecutive games with a HR with 5–has a 25 game streak of getting on base. It’s no Thurman Munson, but it’s something. Becker is slashing 382/432/853 over his last 10 games. Gary Pettis, once considered a liability at the plate, is slashing 600/667/1050 over his last 15 games (because of Pettis’ utility as a defensive replacement, those 15 games cover only 24 ABs).

Christy Mathewson (NYG) hasn’t allowed a hit in over 8 innings.

Baltimore’s entire staff is on fire: Bill Byrd, Ned Garvin, Sean Marshall, Mike Mussina, and Jim Palmer are all on hot streaks on the mound. The most impressive is Byrd, who has a 1.07 WHIP and 2.38 ERA over his last 10 games.

Series Results

Series XXIII Sweeps

Cleveland over Indianapolis

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXIII

Baltimore over Brooklyn
Birmingham over Los Angeles
Houston over Chicago
Detroit over Portland
Kansas City over Philadelphia
New York Black Yankees over Ottawa

Splitting Series XXIII

Homestead @ San Francisco
House of David @ Memphis
Miami @ New York Gothams

TWIWBL 29.0 – Series XXII Notes

By mknn

On August 8, 2022

In TWIWBL

July 6th

Quick Glance at the Standings

Things are tightening up around the league, with the most shocking news being that the New York Black Yankees are now in 2nd place in the Effa Manley Division, 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Spiders.

The closest race is in the Bill James Division, where the New York Gothams, Detroit Wolverines, and Los Angeles Angels are separated by only 2 games. Over in the Cum Posey Division, the Chicago American Giants remain 3 games behind the Baltimore Black Sox.

The Marvin Miller Division has the closest thing in the WBL to a runaway leader, as the Portland Sea Dogs lead the Brooklyn Royal Giants by 5.5 games, with the Birmingham Black Barons–on a surprising 9-1 hot streak–a game further behind.

Oddball Stats

Thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the less important stats going on the WBL.

Sacrifice Hits are a big deal for some WBL teams, and 5 players are tied for the league lead with 12 each. They tend to make sense–players like Detroit’s George Davis or Baltimore’s Dan McGann. But then two names jump out: Chicago’s Duffy Lewis and the New York Black Yankees’ Lou Gehrig (Lewis has 12, Gehrig 10). What are those teams thinking? These are elite sluggers who are being told to “just move the runner over” far too often.

Wade Boggs of the Memphis Red Sox leads the WBL in GiDP, with 17, followed by Gil Hodges (Portland) and Ken Singleton (Baltimore) with 14. That all feels appropriate, although Willie Mays (New York Gothams) being next with 13 seems a little off.

Speaking of Mays, he leads all OFers with 14–FOURTEEN–OF assists. Ken Griffey, Jr–despite spending significant time in the minors for the Ottawa Mounties–is second with 12.

On the mound, let’s take a look at Meltdowns and Shutdowns, and specifically the mystery of the Kansas City Monarch‘s Trevor Rosenthal, who has 9 of the former and 10 of the latter. Roger Clemens, now of the Houston Colt 45’s, has allowed the most stolen bases in the league, as 30 players have successfully swiped bases against the Rocket.

Performance

Batters

Usual stuff: top 2 in various stats (plus all 1.000+ OPS), league leader in bold.

It’s still a widely diverse list, and it’s still dominated by Babe Ruth. The San Francisco Sea Lions‘ Reggie Jackson has fallen from leading the league in all 3 categories to “only” leading in OBP.

Dick Allen (CAG). 296/365/550. 9 3B.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 328/403/621.
Rico Carty (PHI). 295/364/481. 31 2B.
Eddie Collins (CAG). 307/408/530. 4.0 WAR.
Ty Cobb (DET). 341/385/532.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 337/443/523.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 245/400/391. 65 BB.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 258/388/348. 63 BB, 61 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 309/376/599. 26 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 331/412/583. 68 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 338/448/618.
Stan Musial (KAN). 333/392/595. 111 H, 30 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 318/371/535. 85 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 300/378/457. 65 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 311/418/664. 29 HR, 87 RBI, 69 R, 4.9 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 316/351/470. 8 3B.
Frank Thomas (CAG). 328/433/575.
Mike Trout (LAA). 322/396/466. 108 H.

Starting Pitchers

Gerrit Cole (LAA). 12-3, 3.66. 128 IP.
Ray Collins (PHI). 7-6, 3.96. 127.1 IP.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 7-3, 2.82. 1.13 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 8-6, 3.96. 128 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-8, 4.32. 127 K.
Dennis Martínez (BAL). 8-5, 3.23.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 8-6, 3.81. 3.4 WAR.
Red Ruffing (NYY). 10-3. 3.63.
Cy Young (CLE). 8-4, 3.48. 1.14 WHIP, 3.4 WAR.

Relievers

25 IP for rate stats.

Tommy Hanson (BRK). 0-0, 3.16. 0.86 WHIP.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.96. 22 Sv.
Ken Howell (SFS). 3-3, 1.23.
Chuck Porter (CLE). 4-3, 2.16. 0.84 WHIP.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-2, 2.42. 15 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 4-1, 3.44. 11 H.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.78. 23 Sv.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.37.

Streaks

Hank Aaron has an 18 game hitting streak, the only active streak that makes the league leaders. Aaron has hit homeruns in his last 3 games, as has Babe Ruth, but the leader in that category, surprisingly, is the Brooklyn Royal Giant‘s Beals Becker, who has gone deep in 5 consecutive games.

That gives Becker a stunning 1.300 SLG over those 5 games. Carlos Delgado, on fire since his trade to LA, is hitting .542 over his last 6 games.

Series Results

Series XXII Sweeps

Homestead Grays over Philadelphia Stars

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXII

Birmingham over Memphis
Houston over Portland
San Francisco over Ottawa

Series Splits

New York Gothams @ Baltimore
Brooklyn @ Cleveland
Chicago @ Miami Cuban Giants
Kansas City @ Detroit
Los Angeles @ Indianapolis ABC’s
New York Black Yankees @ Wandering House of David

Series XXI Featured Matchup: Detroit Wolverines @ Homestead Grays

By mknn

On June 30, 2022

In Featured Series, Game Recaps

Series preview here.

#Game One: Si Johnson @ Earl Hamilton

A sacrifice fly by Jimmy Collins in the top of the 2nd opened the scoring, and a 2-run HR from Tony Phillips in the top of the 5th made it 3-0.

But Detroit’s Si Johnson didn’t make it out of the bottom of the frame, giving way to Justin Verlander with the bases loaded and no outs. Verlander fanned 2, escaping the danger with no runs scoring, on his way to delivering 3 innings of 1-hit relief, fanning 3.

An Arky Vaughan error plated the 4th run, followed by an RBI single from George Davis, putting the Wolverines up 5-0 heading to the bottom of the 8th.

A Chief Wilson homerun ended the shutout, but Detroit would add one more run on a Ty Cobb triple and Hank Greenberg double in the top of the 9th, making it 6-1.

The Grays would not go without at least a semblance of a fight, with a Roberto Clemente pinch-hit homerun closing the gap to 6-3 and forcing Detroit to turn to its closer, Mike Henneman. Henneman would hit Andrew McCutcheon and give up a triple to Andy Van Slyke and an RBI single to Rick Reichardt (who finished with 3 hits), but would preserve the victory, 6-5.

DET 6 (Verlander 5-2; Henneman 20 Sv) @ HOM 5 (Hamilton 1-3)
HRs: DET – Phillips (6); HOM – Wilson (3), Clemente (10)
Box Score

#Game Two: Gene Conley @ Francisco Liriano

This one was a pitcher’s duel early, with Gene Conley showing why Detroit moved him from the bullpen into the rotation, fanning 5 of the first 6 batters he faced. Francisco Liriano matched him frame for frame, and the game was scoreless going into the bottom of the 6th. Roberto Clemente led off the inning with a triple and scored on Mike Epstein‘s single to right to give Homestead a 1-0 lead.

Detroit would tie it up in the top of the 7th when Ernie Lombardi singled home Ty Cobb, who had doubled with 1 out.

Conley was sent back out for the bottom of the 7th, and Honus Wagner greeted him with a long shot to left-center field for his 8th homerun of the year and a 2-1 Grays lead.

Josh Lindblom relieved Liriano and retired the side in order, including pinch-hitters Oscar Gamble and Hank Greenberg. Those moves led to Detroit forfeiting the DH for the rest of the game.

Homestead added to their lead with RBI’s from Andy Van Slyke and Wagner, and then tried to seal the game with a 2-run shot from Arky Vaughan which sent them to the bottom of the inning leading 6-1.

Bob Bailey walked and Cobb followed with an infield single, bringing in Michael Jackson, who was greeted by Chili Davis‘ 13th homerun of the year to make it a 2-run game, 6-4. Jackson hit Lombardi, but whiffed George Davis before Geoff Jenkins doubled, putting runners at 2nd and 3rd. Greg Brock–pinch-hitting for the pitcher’s spot–struck out, bringing up Greenberg as the winning run.

The ball was sent deep to left, but not deep enough, and Homestead evened the series at 1 game apiece.

DET 4 (Conley 8-2) @ HOM 6 (Liriano 4-3; Lindblom 6 H)
HRs: DET – C. Davis (13); HOM – Wagner (8), Johnson (8).
Box Score

#Game 3: Hal Newhouser @ Vean Gregg

This one could be the best pitching matchup of the series, with Detroit’s Hal Newhouser facing Homestead’s Vean Gregg.

Detroit would strike first on a 2-run homerun by Geoff Jenkins in the top of the 2nd. But Newhouser wasn’t especially sharp, and Homestead scored once in the 2nd and once in the 3rd to tie it up. The first run was driven in by Pops Stargell, the second by Rick Reichardt.

But it’s not like Gregg was was shutting them down, and Detroit started off the 4th with a single by Oscar Gamble and consecutive doubles from Jenkins and Ed Baily, giving the Wolverines a 4-2 lead. Sparky Adams would add an RBI single, and a walk to Tony Phillips and double from Ty Cobb would chase Gregg from the game with Detroit up, 6-2.

Bob Friend relieved Gregg, fanning Hank Greenberg and Chili Davis to get out of the inning without any further damage being done.

Honus Wagner doubled to right in the bottom of the frame, scoring Stargell from 1st–which is quite a sight as Pops rounded third, huffing and puffing. But Newhouser settled a little, allowing only the single run, keeping the lead at 6-3.

Newhouser wouldn’t get through the 5th, as Reichardt and Josh Gibson opened the inning with singles. Doyle Alexander relieved Prince Hal, and induced a double play, but then gave up a 2-run shot into the left field bleachers from Davey Johnson, making it a 1-run game at 6-5. In the next inning, Alexander would balk home the tying run.

Wagner would give the Grays the lead in the bottom of the 7th, doubling in a run with a shot down the left field line off Kevin Hart.

Detroit would empty the bench in an attempt to tie it in the top of the 8th. Jenkins led off with a single, and George Davis pinch-ran for him. Ernie Lombardi and Bob Bailey–both pinch-hitting–delivered singles, loading the bases with no outs and chasing Billy Pierce from the game.

Adams greeted Frank Linzy with a sacrifice fly to LF to tie the game, and Phillips followed with a double, scoring Lombardi and Bailey. Phillips was injured on the play and will miss a few weeks. That brought Detroit’s final bench player, Greg Brock, to the field, which will make their defensive arrangement interesting, to say the least.

Greenberg ended up at 3B for the final 2 innings, and Mike Henneman was able to shut the door, earning the save in a hard-fought win for Detroit.

Phillips was put on the Disabled List following the game, with Robby Thompson being recalled to the WBL.

DET 9 (Hart 2-3; Henneman 21 Sv) @ HOM 7 (Pierce 0-2; Linzy 1 BSv)
HRs: DET – Jenkins (6); HOM – Johnson (9).
Box Score

#Game 4: Johnny Marcum @ Stan Bahnsen

Detroit took the lead in the 3rd when Bob Bailey took Stan Bahnsen deep after a George Davis single for an early 2-0 lead.

Bill Mazeroski would hit the first homerun of his WBL career in the bottom of the frame off Johnny Marcum, cutting the lead in half.

Another 2-run shot, this one off the bat of Chili Davis, extended the Wolverine’s advantage to 4-1. And that seemed likely to be plenty, as Marcum was throwing well.

The Grays would cut the lead in half in the bottom of the 6th with a solo shot form Rick Reichardt. Josh Gibson and Arky Vaughan singled, chasing Marcum from the game, but Whitey Wilshere would escape without further damage.

Mike Henneman came in to close the game in the bottom of the 9th, but surrendered back-to-back doubles to pinch-hitter Chief Wilson and Andrew McCutcheon, pulling the Grays within 1 run. A deep fly to center moved McCutcheon to third, and Henneman plunked Reichardt to put the winning run on first. Tom Brown ran for Reichardt, giving Homestead some speed on the basepaths. Josh Gibson doubled, tying the game, and bringing Vaughan up with the winning run 90 feet away.

Vaughan walked, loading the bases somewhat inconsequentially, and bringing up Pops Stargell. Henneman tried to work the veteran inside, and got too far inside, plunking Stargell to drive in the winning run.

DET 4 (Henneman 1-4, 3 BSv; Wilshire 1 H; Verlander 3 H) @ HOM 5 (Zambrano 2-5)
HRs: DET – Bailey (15), Davis (14); HOM – Mazeroski (1), Reichardt (12).
Box Score

Series Review

A surprising split–certainly encouraging for Homestead, but a missed opportunity for Detroit, locked in a dogfight with the Gothams for the lead in the Bill James Division.

For Detroit, Ty Cobb was 7-for-19, but did most of his damage in the first 2 games. Oscar Gamble had 6 hits and Geoff Jenkins and Ernie Lombardi each went 4-for-9 in the 3 games they played.

Homestead was led by Rick Reichardt, who went 7-for-13. Andrew McCutcheon, Honus Wagner, Arky Vaughan, and Davey Johnson each had 5 hits.

Series XXI Preview: Detroit Wolverines @ Homestead Grays

By mknn

On June 27, 2022

In Featured Series, Series Previews

This is only the 2nd featured series for the Detroit Wolverines, something that is a little unfair given they are in first place in the Bill James Division. Homestead has been featured twice before, despite languishing in last place in the Effa Manley Division, one of only two teams with a winning percentage under .400.

#Detroit Wolverines

Detroit is solid, top to bottom. They are a bit better offensively and defensively than on the mound, but they’ve earned their place atop the division. The heart and soul of the team is Oscar Gamble, who leads the group in HR (18) and RBI (63), although the trio of Hank Greenberg, Ty Cobb, and Bob Bailey have produced better numbers. Cobb is hitting .341, Baily has a .384 OBP, and Greenberg a .587 SLG. All four of them–plus OF Chili Davis–carry an OPS over .830.

The pitching staff is a work in progress, even at this stage of the season. Johnny Marcum (7-2) has been the best of the starters, but Hal Newhouser is quickly taking over as the ace of the staff. The wildcard here is Gene Conley, who was 8-1 out of the bullpen before being moved into the rotation at the all-star break. Mike Henneman has been spectacular as the closer, with 19 saves. There are a few pitchers–Justin Verlander, Kevin Hart, Buddy Napier–who have shown moments of greatness. If any of them take a big step forward, it could make all the difference for the Wolverines.

Detroit only made one move at the all-star break, bringing in Ernie Lombardi to platoon with Ed Bailey behind the plate. Lombardi has only played in 4 games for the Wolverines, with 1 HR.

#Homestead Grays

The Grays can hit a little, but they can’t pitch at all, ranking dead last in the league in runs against and starters’ ERA, and 19th out of 20 in bullpen ERA. It’s not pretty.

Vean Gregg (7-6, 3.95) has easily been the most reliable starter. Beyond that … Earl Hamilton, Stan Banhnsen, and Francisco Liriano have shown flashes of goodness, but none have managed an ERA under 4.60. The less said about the bullpen, the better.

Mike Epstein (335/439/530) and Josh Gibson (304/390/464) were both all-stars, and deservedly so. And, the OF trio of Roberto Clemente, Rick Reichardt, and Andrew McCutcheon have been solid. Add in Pops Stargell‘s 14 HRs and the occasional promise showed by Honus Wagner, and the Grays score enough to be a .500 team, which would be a huge improvement from their current state.

#Series Matchups

Detroit starter listed first

Si Johnson (3-4, 4.48) @ Earl Hamilton (1-2, 4.65)
Gene Conley (8-1, 3.59) @ Francisco Liriano (3-3, 5.08)
Hal Newhouser (4-3, 2.83) @ Vean Gregg (7-6, 3.95)
Johnny Marcum (7-2, 3.77) @ Stan Bahnsen (3-2, 4.64)

#Prediction

I mean … Detroit is just so much better, and the matchups line up well for them as well. I’m going to go ahead and predict a sweep for the Wolverines, prolonging the Grays’ misery.

TWIWBL 26.0: Series XX Notes

By mknn

On June 20, 2022

In TWIWBL

June 27th

League Norms

Now that we’re past the All-Star Break, it seems a good time to take a look at the overall context of the WBL. Given that the model year was 2000, things are tracking pretty well.

Offense

It’s a year that favors the offense, for sure. As a whole, the league is slashing 264/336/429. The 765 OPS would make it a top 10 offensive year for MLB, driven almost entirely by the .429 SLG, which would be the 6th highest in MLB history. Teams are hitting 1.16 HR/G, a total that would rank 6th as well.

There are some fun anomalies that come with an all-star league: teams are averaging roughly 1 SB/G, not an outlandish number, but one that is in the top third or so of seasons overall. But also, under .20 3B/G, easily in the bottom third of historical seasons.

Pitching

The pitching story is pretty much the inverse: the 4.56 league ERA would rank 8th highest in MLB history. Clearly all those homeruns aren’t helping, but there’s more here. The 1.42 league WHIP is actually decent–not 1968 by any means, but not too bad. So what is causing the high ERA? One issue might be strikeouts: the 6.08 K/G is clearly a modern number but it’s lagging a bit for sure.

Performance

Same as usual: the top 2 performers in most offensive categories are listed.

Batters

The length of the list is a testament to how widespread the offensive depth is in the league. San Francisco‘s Reggie Jackson–still leading in 2 of the triple crown categories–and Babe Ruth of the New York Black Yankees are the only batters leading the league in multiple categories. Four batters (Jackson, Ron Blomberg, Ruth, and Kent Hrbek) have OPS’ over 1.000.

Blomberg, often on the edges of this list, forced himself on with a 1.434 OPS since the All-Star Break.

Dick Allen (CAG). 302/365/569. 9 3B.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 341/414/645.
Rico Carty (PHI). 296/359/479. 31 2B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 341/379/540.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 335/439/530.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 238/388/397. 57 BB.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 258/392/360. 59 BB; 55 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 320/384/626. 25 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 325/405/575. 63 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 347/461/616.
Willie Mays (NYG). 327/384/557. 101 H; 3.8 WAR.
Stan Musial (KAN). 334/395/580. 102 H; 27 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 320/373/535. 75 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 309/384/466. 60 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 304/413/644. 26 HR; 76 RBI; 4.1 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 305/343/460. 8 3B.

Pitching

Like the batters, there are just not a lot of dominant individuals, although Baltimore’s Ned Garvin is making an argument.

20 inning minimum for the rate stats.

Gerrit Cole (LAA). 11-3, 4.03.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 7-2, 2.90. 2 H. 1.08 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 8-5, 3.86. 121 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-8, 4.35. 120 K.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-3, 2.49. 19 Sv.
Ken Howell (SFS). 3-3, 1.35. 3 Sv; 4 H; 0.93 WHIP.
Walter Johnson (POR). 8-3, 3.86. 2.8 WAR.
Dennis Martínez (BAL). 9-4, 2.99.
Willie Mitchell (IND). 5-2, 1.08. 1 Sv; 1 H.
Joseíto Muñoz (POR). 3-1, 1.17. 3 Sv; 2 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-2, 2.47. 3 Sv; 14 H.
Red Ruffing (NYY). 10-2, 3.73.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.45. 23 Sv; 1H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.54. 12 Sv; 0.90 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 8-3, 3.36. 1.14 WHIP; 3.2 WAR.

Streaks

Larry Gardner (BAL) has an 18-game hitting streak, currently good for the 5th best in the league.

Detroit‘s Chili Davis has reached base in 8 consecutive plate appearances, with a base hit in his last 7.

The New York Gothams‘ Johnny Callison has a 1.534 OPS over his last 6 games, while Philadelphia‘s George Hendrick has the best extended streak in the league, slashing 386/435/860 over his last 22 games with 7 HR and 21 RBI. Mention should be made of Baltimore’s recent call-up Baby Doll Jacobson who, after a very slow start, has 4 homeruns in his last 20 ABs.

Series Results

This was a weird series. Homestead, Miami, and Birmingham–generally considered three of the weakest teams in the league–each won their series.

Series XX Sweeps

Cleveland over Memphis

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XX

Birmingham over San Francisco
Los Angeles over Brooklyn
Chicago over New York Gothams
Detroit over Ottawa
Homestead over Houston
Miami over Kansas City
House of David over Philadelphia

Series Splits in Series XX

Portland @ Baltimore
New York Black Yankees @ Indianapolis

TWIWBL 24.5: Mid-Seasons Review – Detroit Wolverines

By mknn

On February 25, 2022

In Team News, TWIWBL

Summary

Only 1 game behind in the Bill James Division, the Wolverines are still right in the hunt for the postseason.

What’s Gone Right

Power. Five batters have reached double-digits in homeruns, led by Hank Greenberg with 15 (the others are Bob Bailey, Ty Cobb, Oscar Gamble, and Chili Davis).

The Bullpen. Mike Henneman has 15 saves, but the real bullpen strength has been in the trio of Matt Anderson, Buddy Napier, and Gene Conley (who is a remarkable 7-1 out of the pen).

The Outfield. The trio of Gamble, Davis, and Cobb has been excellent, with Gamble leading the team in homeruns and RBIs.

What’s Gone Wrong

Half the Bailey Boys. Bob Bailey has held up his end of the deal, but Ed Bailey has been little more than adequate behind the plate, an issue magnified by Bill Carrigan’s injury.

The Middle Infield. That’s a little unfair: veteran Tony Phillips has been solid, usually at 2B. But the rest–George Davis at SS, Jimmy Collins at 3B, and Sparky Adams all over the place–have struggled.

The Back of the Rotation. Whitey Wilshire–expected to be one of their top starters–has just about pitched his way out of the rotation, and Si Johnson has been only a shade better.

Key Storylines

Can a team this top heavy and without a star pitcher make it to the end?

There are three intriguing questions on the mound for Detroit: two are whether Matt Anderson and Hal Newhouser can continue their success and the third is if Justin Verlander–who has been occasionally brilliant and often quite poor–can turn it around.

Cobb looks like the real deal–or as much as the real deal as a 20 year old can. So the real questions are some of the other contributors–especially Bob Bailey and the surprising–and currently injured–C Carrigan.

Trading Outlook

BUYING.

But there just isn’t a lot to sell. Maybe veteran minor leaguer Cecil Fielder?

AAA Shuttle

They’ve only really used it on the mound, with mixed results. Napier and Anderson have been excellent, but their efforts at finding starting pitchers have been far less successful.

Midseason Changes

Wilshire moves to the bullpen, and Conley gets a chance to see if he can win some more games as a starter.

Awards

All Stars: Bob Bailey (DH); Hank Greenberg (1B); Mike Henneman (P).

Pitcher of the Month: Johnny Marcum (May)
Player of the Week: Hank Greenberg (4/24)

Offensive MVP: Hank Greenberg (1B)
Pitching MVP: Hal Newhouser (SP)

Down on the Farm

AAA: Toronto Maple Leafs

Next to the Show: 1B Cecil Fielder, OF Ron LeFlore, 2B Robby Thompson, RP Jamie Walker.

Prospects: Al Kaline (20). George Mullin (22).

Projects: SP Mickey Lolich (26).

Suspects: OF Wes Covington (32), C Ramón Cabrera (25), IF Rob Picciolo (31), SS Damion Easley (27).

AA: Fort Wayne Daisies

Prospects: 3B Billy Nash (19), 2B Jorge Orta (22). SS Donie Bush (20), SS Ray Chapman (22).

Projects: P Jeremy Sowers (24), OF Johnny Jeter (25), 2B Charlie Gehringer (24), RP Willie Hernández (31), RP Alex Wilson (29).

Suspects: CF Herm Winningham (28), C Johnny Gooch (30), RP Brandon League (22).

TWIWBL 23.2: The All-Star Game

By mknn

On February 10, 2022

In All Star Games, TWIWBL

Alright, everyone, here we go: the first annual All-Star Game in WBL history.

The game will open with Dennis Martínez (Baltimore Black Sox) on the mound and Tom Herr (Birmingham Black Barons) digging in at the plate. Herr is one of the feel-good stories of the year, starting the year at AAA and now the heart of a struggling Black Barons squad.

Herr slaps a hard ground ball towards right, but Eddie Collins (Chicago American Giants) makes a nice diving stop. A good throw and Herr is out by a step to open the game. Martínez retired Joe Mauer (Portland Sea Dogs) and Reggie Jackson (San Francisco Sea Lions) for a scoreless opening half-inning.

Red Ruffing (New York Black Yankees) got the start for the NL, facing Collins, who fouled a few pitches off before sending Ruffing’s seventh delivery into the left field stands for a 1-0 NL lead. Baltimore’s Bobby Wallace and Chicago’s Frank Thomas grounded out to Jim Fregosi (Portland) at SS, but Elrod Hendricks (House of David) drew a two-out walk before Duffy Lewis (Chicago) flew out to center to end the inning.

Martínez came back out for the second inning, but gave up an infield single to Babe Ruth (Black Yankees) and a soft liner into right to Ron Blomberg (Cleveland Spiders). With the bullpen in full swing, Kent Hrbek (Portland) flew out to right for the first out, with Ruth moving to third. Bobby Murcer (Portland) would score Ruth with a sacrifice to left, tying the game.

Ruffing walked Willie Mays (New York Gothams) to open the bottom of the second. Hank Greenberg (Detroit Wolverines) replaced Mays at first on a fielder’s choice, and scored when WBL RBI leader Doug Rader (Los Angeles) launched a homerun. A single by Joe Jackson (Chicago) chased Ruffing from the game, with Birmingham’s Tim Hudson taking his place on the mound. Hudson retired the next two batters, ending the threat with the AL up, 3-1.

The WBL leader in wins, Gerrit Cole (Los Angeles), took the mound in the top of the 3rd and delivered a scoreless inning. Little of note–other than a ton of substitutions–happened until the top of the 4th, when Lefty Grove (San Francisco) gave up hits to Greenberg (who was replaced at first by Reggie Smith of the Memphis Red Sox) and George Stone (House of David). That brought in Cleveland’s Cy Young, who retired Joe Jackson and Collins to close the inning.

The game was uneventful (again, other than the substitutions) until the bottom of the 6th, when Ted Williams (Memphis) greeted Don Drysedale (Brooklyn Royal Giants) with a leadoff homerun, making the score 4-1. Williams’ teammate, Reggie Smith, followed with a single, but was left stranded.

The AL pitchers had allowed only 2 hits until, with one out in the top of the 7th, Chuck Knoblauch doubled off of Mark Melancon (Houston Colt 45’s). After another out, Rolen walked and pinch-hitter Johnny Bench (Indianapolis) doubled to left-center, scoring two to make the score 4-3.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the inning, Curt Blefary (Baltimore) singled, with Freddy Parent (Ottawa Mounties) pinch-running for him. Dick Allen followed with a single, sending Parent to third. Ron Reed relieved Ken Howell and retired Williams to end the inning, so we went to the 8th with the AL leading, 4-3.

The AL turned to Brian Wilson in the top of the 9th to close the game. He walked Knoblauch to lead off the inning, but got a flyout from Eric Davis (Black Yankees) for the first out, bringing up his teammate, Mickey Mantle, for his first at-bat of the game. Mantle walked, and that was it for Wilson, who was replaced by Mike Henneman (Detroit).

Henneman fanned Bench and got Rickey Henderson to groundout, and the AL wins, 4-3.

The NL only managed 5 hits in the game, and only the AL’s Blefary had 2 hits, with his teammate Rader’s 2 RBI’s the most seen on the day. That earned Rader the MVP award. Cole (who earned the victory), Reed, and Craig Kimbrel were the most impressive pitchers on the day.

NL 3 (Ruffing 0-1) @ AL 4 (Cole 1-0; Henneman 1 Sv; Pettitte 1 H; Melancon 1 H; Kimbrel 1 H; Nichols 1 H; Wilson 1 H)
HRs: AL – Collins (1), Rader (1), Williams (1)
Box Score

TWIWBL 21.0: AL All Star Selections

By mknn

On January 25, 2022

In All Star Games, TWIWBL

Here we go! It is the 14th of June, time to finalize the inaugural All-Star rosters!

We’ll start with the AL.

The bottom line is that the Baltimore Black Sox and the Chicago American Giants lead the way with seven players each. Chicago has four starters, while the Black Sox have four pitchers going to the midseason classic.

Both the Ottawa Mounties and the Houston Colt 45’s are sending a lone player to the game. For Ottawa, this is no surprise, but for Houston–who have been hovering around .500 most of the season–it highlights the limits of a team of solid contributors, but no stars.

Ottawa’s Tim Raines was easily the hardest omission, and one that may, in the end, prove indefensible.

In the list in each section, players in bold are the selections.

Catchers

The top three are pretty easy here. The House of David‘s Elrod Hendricks is the clear starter, with over half his hits going for extra bases. There’s not a lot to choose from between the New York Gotham‘s Buster Posey and Baltimore’s Curt Blefary–Posey is hitting .348, but Blefary has been among the power leaders in the league all season–but they are head and shoulders above the other candidates, the best of which is probably Chicago’s Carlton Fisk.

Blefary has handled a strong pitching staff well, putting up a CERA just over 4.00 while Posey has thrown out 30% of would-be base stealers, leading this group. Ottawa’s Emil Gross has been the best defensive catcher in the AL, but has neither hit well enough nor played enough to really merit consideration.

Curt Blefary (BAL). 265/379/578; 19 HR; 47 RBI.
Carlton Fisk (CAG). 288/401/440.
Emil Gross (OTT). 218/290/370.
Elrod Hendricks (HOD). 314/363/628; 15 HR; 18 2B.
Buster Posey (NYG). 348/440/535; 16 2B.

First Base

Hank Greenberg of the Detroit Wolverines is the best of the pure first basemen, and will start at the position. But Chicago’s Frank Thomas has been the best hitter at the position, putting together a monstrous 355/445/596 slash line. Thomas will start for the AL at DH, having played roughly half the innings in the field as Greenberg.

There’s really not a lot between Baltimore’s Dan McGann and the Memphis Red Sox‘s Bill White–McGann has an OBP over .400, while White has hit for solid power for the Red Sox. McGann has been among the better defensive 1B in the league, so that may tip the scales in his favor.

Hank Greenberg (DET). 306/367/589; 15 HR; 19 2B; 56 RBI.
Dan McGann (BAL). 303/405/488.
Frank Thomas (CAG). 355/445/596; 15 HR; 17 2B; 65 RBI.
Bill White (MEM). 296/367/532.

Second Base

This gets difficult. Well, after Chicago’s Eddie Collins, the obvious starter, that is.

The Kansas City Monarch‘s Rogers Hornsby, Baltimore’s Larry Gardner, and Ottawa’s Tim Raines all deserve consideration. Hornsby is the best hitter of the trio, but Raines has probably been the Mounties best player all season, while his offensive numbers are really indistinguishable from Gardner’s (Gardner gets on base more, Raines has 50 SBs already).

Mention should be made of Bobby Grich (Los Angeles) and HR Johnson (Houston), who are making strong offensive contributions from the middle infield. Defensively, Johnson has been the best of this group overall, although the House of David’s Ryne Sandberg has probably been the best defensive second baseman overall.

Eddie Collins (CAG). 309/422/549; 51 R; 34 SB.
Larry Gardner (BAL). 293/405/435.
Bobby Grich (LAA). 277/351/453; 24 2B.
Rogers Hornsby (KAN). 311/390/477; 15 2B.
HR Johnson (HOU). 308/366/425.
Tim Raines (OTT). 301/377/462; 16 2B; 52 R; 50 SB.
Ryne Sandberg (HOD). 274/355/437; 16 2B.

Third Base

Chicago’s Dick Allen has been critiqued throughout the season, but his OPS is virtually identical to Doug Rader‘s, who has received acclaim for his clutch hitting all season. Both make the team, but Rader’s 73 RBI do warrant some attention for sure.

Note that if Detroit’s Bob Bailey had played more in the field, there’d be little discussion here, as he has hit better than either Allen or Rader. He’ll make the team as a DH.

The odd man out is likely Kansas City’s Albert Pujols.

None of these have fielded very well, but the best with the leather–Baltimore’s Harlond Clift–just hasn’t hit a lick.

Dick Allen (CAG). 287/348/555; 52 RBI.
Bob Bailey (DET). 309/394/533.
Harlond Clift (BAL). 202/303/369.
Albert Pujols (KAN). 291/349/486; 17 2B; 51 RBI.
Doug Rader (LAA). 317/372/532; 16 2B; 73 RBI.

Shortstop

While the starter is pretty clear, it gets difficult after that.

Baltimore’s Bobby Wallace has been pounding the ball, and has been the best shortstop of the group all season.

After Wallace, Ottawa’s Freddy Parent has been excellent since being given the starting position, and deserves a spot from his offensive contributions even with a little less playing time than the others.

After Parent, the trio of George Wright (Los Angeles), Ernie Banks (House of David), and Vern Stephens (Memphis) are pretty indistinguishable, and while they have been solid, it’s not clear that any of them are really deserving of being all-stars. That trio is very similar defensively, something neither Wallace nor Parent have shown much skill at.

Ernie Banks (HOD). 265/285/423; 46 RBI.
Freddy Parent (OTT). 278/327/493.
Vern Stephens (MEM). 254/311/388.
Bobby Wallace (BAL). 328/423/472; 24 2B; 45 R.
George Wright (LAA). 250/299/426.

Left Fielders

Chicago’s Duffy Lewis will start, as his consistency has nudged him ahead of Baltimore’s Frank Robinson and the House of David’s George Stone. Jimmy Sheckard has been key to the New York Gothams’ attack all season, but may fall just beneath the level of an all star, and a similar argument can be made against Oscar Gamble, despite his 57 RBIs for Detroit.

Oscar Gamble (DET). 260/380/500; 16 HR; 57 RBI; 40 R.
Duffy Lewis (CAG). 306/351/603; 19 HR; 15 2B; 47 RBI.
Frank Robinson (BAL). 302/383/521; 16 HR; 47 RBI; 44 R.
Jimmy Sheckard (NYG). 295/401/475; 16 2B; 50 R; 25 SB.
George Stone (HOD). 298/382/545; 15 HR; 45 R.

Center Fielders

New York’s Willie Mays is the clear starter in center. Not only has he been best with the bat, he also has 13 assists and has been among the better defensive centerfielders.

Reggie Smith of the Memphis Red Sox and Kansas City’s Willie McGee have been solid all season with Smith providing more power and McGee a bit more speed. An argument can be made against McGee as he has played in fewer games, but if Parent makes it at shortstop, you really can’t argue against McGee.

But that leaves the Pete Browning question unanswered. The House of David’s star has played in only 39 games, having been injured for almost half of the season to date. But when he’s played, Browning has hit an MVP level.

Only a late collapse by Houston’s Jimmy Wynn has kept him out of the discussion, but the Toy Cannon has dropped well behind McGee at this point.

Pete Browning (HOD). 359/389/614; 20 SB.
Willie Mays (NYG). 345/401/585; 18 2B; 54 RBI; 53 R.
Willie McGee (KAN). 329/378/486.
Reggie Smith (MEM). 297/366/506; 18 2B; 50 R.
Jim Wynn (HOU). 259/376/438; 50 R; 28 SB.

Right Field

Shoeless Joe Jackson of the Chicago American Giants is in the MVP conversation at this point, and will start in RF. He’s closely trailed by Kansas City’s Stan Musial.

Memphis’ Ted Williams has trailed off significantly over the past few weeks, but he is still in the conversation; as is Detroit’s Ty Cobb.

Ty Cobb (DET). 324/364/534; 18 2B; 42 RBI; 21 SB.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 333/416/602; 16 HR; 20 2B; 53 RBI; 57 R; 21 SB.
Stan Musial (KAN). 336/399/568; 21 2B; 50 RBI; 46 R.
Ted Williams (MEM). 283/374/543; 16 HR; 15 2B; 53 RBI; 47 R.

Starting Pitchers

Two members of Baltimore’s rotation make the team, with Dennis Martínez getting the honor of the start over teammate Ned Garvin due to Garvin only recently being added to the Black Sox rotation. Gerrit Cole may not have the supporting numbers, but an 11-3 record is enough to make the team (no other pitcher in the AL has more than 8 wins).

After those three, it all gets difficult. Andy Pettitte of Kansas City probably has the best argument, but only sports a 5-3 record while Chicago’s Tricky Nichols sits at 8-2, but with worse numbers across the board than Pettitte. A stronger argument could probably be made for a third Black Sox, as Bill Byrd has better numbers than Pettitte, and his 6-2 record matches Garvin’s.

Bill Byrd (BAL). 6-2; 3.09; 1.11 WHIP.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 11-3; 4.02; 1.33 WHIP.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 6-2; 2.90; 2 H; 1.04 WHIP.
Dennis Martínez (BAL). 8-4; 3.04; 1.19 WHIP.
Tricky Nichols (CAG). 8-2; 3.38; 1.31 WHIP.
Andy Pettitte (KAN). 5-3; 3.12; 1.19 WHIP.

Relief Pitchers

Detroit’s Mike Henneman has been the best closer in the AL, with 15 saves. New York’s Brian Wilson and Memphis’ Joe Beggs have been virtually unhittable, but Beggs just hasn’t put in enough innings to warrant inclusion. Chicago’s AJ Minter has a stronger case, while Los Angeles’ Joe Nathan‘s ERA (over 5.00) keeps him off the roster.

John Hiller (Detroit), Jonny Venters (LA), and Craig Kimbrel are tied for the league lead in Holds with 8 each, but only Kimbrel has better overall numbers.

Mark Melancon (Houston) and Gene Conley (Detroit) are each 7-1 out of their bullpens, while Sean Marshall and Mike Mussina (both with Baltimore) have both been virtually unhittable in a decent number of innings.

Joe Beggs (MEM). 1-0; 9 Sv; 1.06; 1.06 WHIP.
Gene Conley (DET). 7-1; 3.96; 4 H; 1.22 WHIP.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-3; 15 Sv; 3.06; 1.36 WHIP.
John Hiller (DET). 0-1; 1 Sv; 4.66; 8 H; 1.31 WHIP.
Craig Kimbrel (MEM). 2-2; 3.34; 8 H; 1.21 WHIP.
Sean Marshall (BAL). 3-0; 2.10; 4 H; 1.03 WHIP.
Mark Melancon (HOU). 7-1; 1 Sv; 3.20; 7 H; 1.42 WHIP.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0; 11 Sv; 2.35; 0.98 WHIP.
Mike Mussina (BAL). 2-0; 1 Sv; 2.20; 1 H; 0.94 WHIP.
Joe Nathan (LAA). 3-4; 10 Sv; 1 H; 5.23; 1.35 WHIP.
Jonny Venters (LAA). 2-2; 3 Sv; 4.30; 1.43 WHIP.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0; 10 Sv; 1.77; 0.89 WHIP.

Selections by Team

Listed alphabetically, Italic indicates a starter.

Baltimore Black Sox: Bill Byrd (P); Curt Blefary (C); Ned Garvin (P); Sean Marshall (P); Dennis Martínez (P); Dan McGann (1B); Bobby Wallace (SS)
Chicago American Giants: Dick Allen (3B); Eddie Collins (2B); Joe Jackson (RF); Duffy Lewis (LF); AJ Minter (P); Tricky Nichols (P); Frank Thomas (DH)
Detroit Wolverines: Bob Bailey (DH); Hank Greenberg (1B); Mike Henneman (P).
Houston Colt 45’s: Mark Melancon (P)
Kansas City Monarchs: Rogers Hornsby (2B); Stan Musial (RF); Andy Pettitte (P)
Los Angeles Angels: Gerrit Cole (P); Doug Rader (3B)
Memphis Red Sox: Craig Kimbrel (P); Reggie Smith (CF); Ted Williams (RF)
New York Gothams: Willie Mays (CF); Buster Posey (C); Brian Wilson (P)
Ottawa Mounties: Freddy Parent (SS)
Wandering House of David: Elrod Hendricks (C); George Stone (LF)

TWIWBL Special Edition: All Star Previews II – AL Relievers

By mknn

On September 27, 2021

In All Star Games

{ With under three weeks until the All Star Teams are announced, we’re looking at what’s changed since our original previews. }

Preview I here, which selected Tom Henke, Jonathan Papelbon, Chuck Finley, Craig Kimbrel, and Adam Wainwright.

This gets complicated pretty quickly: both Finley and Wainwright are now in their teams’ starting rotations (Finley for Los Angeles, Wainwright for Kansas City), but both still are worthy of consideration. Finley is 2-0 with 4 holds, a 3.16 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP and Wainwright is 0-1 with 1 hold, a 2.35 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP.

For closers, Henke and Detroit’s Mike Henneman continue to lead the way. Henke was injured in Ottawa’s most recent game, so that will play a factor, but he’s currently 0-3 with 12 saves for the Mounties. The problem is recent struggles have ballooned his ERA to 5.00–combine that with his injury, and he may no longer be in contention.

Henneman is 1-2 with 10 saves and a 3.46 ERA, but he would probably be behind Memphis’ Joe Beggs, who has yet to give up an earned run to go along with his 8 saves. For them, along with the New York Gothams’ Brian Wilson (6 saves, 2.40 ERA), the next few weeks will be key.

Kimbrel is still a likely choice, sitting at 1-1 with 8 holds and a 3.09 ERA for Kansas City, as is Memphis’ Papelbon (0-3, 3 saves, 4 holds, 2.13 ERA, 1.07 WHIP). Baltimore’s Ned Garvin has to receive strong consideration as well. Garvin has appeared in 12 games, starting 4 of them, and has a 5-1 record with 2 holds, a 2.09 ERA, and a 0.87 WHIP.

Two more names to consider. The House of David’s Bob Rush has 13 relief appearances and 1 start, having just moved into the rotation. So far, he is 4-1 with a 1.83 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. The Gothams’ Mike Norris continues to excel as well, appearing in 22 games out of the bullpen with a 2-1 record, 1 save, 3 holds, and a 1.91 ERA.

The AI picks Garvin and Rush as starters, and then, in addition to Norris, Houston’s Andrew Chafin, Memphis’ Turk Farrell, and Baltimore’s Buddy Groom.

Of those, Groom makes sense, both on his own merit (4 holds, 1.91 ERA, 1.06 WHIP) and as a nod to Baltimore’s overall record. Chafin has been quite good (3-1, 2.25 ERA), and Farrell is incomprehensible: 0-2 with a 3.51 ERA just doesn’t cut it.

So, given all that, I would go with Garvin, Kimbrel, Papelbon, Rush, and one of the closers. Let’s say Beggs. But Groom has probably been more valuable than any of the closers, it’s just wanting someone with some saves to be in there as well.