The Whirled League

Baseball The Way It Never Was

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TWIWBL 7.3: Series VI Notes – Effa Manley Division

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On June 7, 2021

In TWIWBL

{With the day off on April 25th, it was a time of roster moves and lineup and pitching adjustments. As such, there are a few more notes for each team than usual.}

#Cleveland Spiders

A back injury has landed Napoleon Lajoie on the disable list, with the 22-year old expected to miss about two weeks. OF Kenny Lofton was recalled from AAA.

OF Johnny Bates tied the WBL record with 5 hits, going 5-for-6 with 3 runs scored as the Spiders blew out the Wandering House of David 11-2 behind a strong performance from SP Bill Steen.

Despite making his big league debut with 4.2 scoreless innings, Wilbur Cooper was sent back to AAA when Mel Harder was activated from the DL.

The above really dictated the roster moves for the Spiders, but the lineup has seen some real changes. Look for Lofton, Rowland Office, and Sammy Strang to see significantly more playing time as the next set of games unfold.

#Homestead Grays

Ps Frank Linzy and Daniel Hudson have been absolutely hammered, and both will move to AAA, with Carlos Zambrano staying in the big leagues, but being moved out of the starting rotation, to be replaced by Hal Carlson. Despite an 0-4 record and an ERA over 8, Corey Kluber stays in the rotation for now.

Jim Hegan went 0-for-11 in his big league debut, making the choice of what to do when Peaches Graham returned from the DL pretty easy: Hegan heads back to AAA Louisville.

Pedro Feliz‘ 130/141/195 nightmare is over, as the 3B was demoted with Chris Sabo being added to the big league roster. Sabo has pressure behind him, especially at AA, where both Andy Van Slyke and Freddie Lindstrom are performing very well at the hot corner.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

Bronson Arroyo‘s refusal to accept a AAA assignment places him in a precarious position if his performances don’t improve, but for now he remains in the bullpen. Both Doc White and Tony Mullane are pitching well for Cincinnati, but remain at AAA for now.

The roster is challenging right now: when Joe Morgan returns (which is a subject of great mystery right now), Lonny Frey will head to AAA, but he’s needed right now. Pete Rose‘s slow start makes him expendable, and he’ll try to get back on track in the minors, freeing up a roster spot for RP Rob Murphy‘s return from the DL tomorrow.

#New York Black Yankees

Babe Ruth was on base 4 times and still saw his 23-game hitting streak end: 4 walks and a strikeout will do that. Still, streak sets the WBL standard on the young season.

New York has the luxury of carrying Willie Randolph, despite his 186/311/256 start, but look for Craig Counsell to see a bit more time at 2B.

#Philadelphia Stars

While the results of Jack Meyer‘s injury may change this, right now the Stars’ staff looks solid, although there is still some uncertainty as to who the final rotation member might be (John Montgomery Ward and Jaret Wright are the current candidates, with Jack Easton pitching well at AAA despite an 0-4 record there).

IF Al Smith (132/226/226) is headed to AAA, and Gene DeMontreville (135/135/162) should be joining him, but the lack of adequate middle infield depth keeps him with the Stars for the time being. Jose Ramirez will take Smith’s place on the big league roster.

TWIWBL 6.3: Series V Notes – Effa Manley Division

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On May 25, 2021

In TWIWBL

#Cleveland Spiders

John Ellis went 3-for-4 with 2 HRs and a double in the final game of the Spiders‘ series with Birmingham, leading Cleveland to a 4-2 win and a 3-1 edge in the series.

Rowland Office came off the DL for Cleveland, but with Peanuts Lowery hitting 333/353/424, the Spiders had to look elsewhere to free up space on the roster. They turned to 3B where both Evan Longoria (153/254/271) and Ken Keltner (182/182/303) have struggled and Sammy Strang has only gotten 3 plate appearances. Strang will be given a real shot in platoon with Longoria, meaning Keltner will head down to AAA.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

Virgil Trucks was demoted to AAA after the ABC’s 3 game series with Brooklyn, with Willie Mitchell joining the big league club. Rumors are Indianapolis also wanted Bronson Arroyo to spend some time in AAA, but the 31 year old veteran refused to head to the minors.

Joe Morgan will be out for another week or so, giving Lonny Frey a few more games to show he can handle WBL pitching (so far, he can’t, as he’s hitting at a 143/231/143 clip). With Dennis Menke slashing 321/406/500, Frey looks likely to head down to AAA when Morgan returns.

#New York Black Yankees

Dave Righetti threw one of the finer games of the year so far, a 3-hit shutout against the Homestead Grays. Righetti walked 3 and struck out 11 on his way to an 89 Game Score, improving his numbers on the year to 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA.

Not to be outdone, Ron Guidry improved to 3-1 on the season with his own 3-hit shutout against the Grays, striking out 10 in a 3-0 win. Guidry’s effort yielded an 88 Game Score, and his ERA dropped to 2.39.

In sweeping the four games from Homestead, the Black Yankees outscored the Grays 42 – 6.

#Philadelphia Stars

3B Al Smith hit a pinch-hit HR in the ninth inning against Portland‘s Johan Santana, who had been virtually unhittable up to that point. Buck Freeman hit his 3rd of the season in the 10th–also off Santana–giving the Stars a 3-2 win.

Ken Forsch‘s time in Philadelphia was short: two outings, 2 earned runs in just over an inning, and then back to AAA with Ted Kluszewski returning.

TWIWBL 5.5: Series IV Notes – Effa Manley Division

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On May 15, 2021

In TWIWBL

At 14-4, the New York Black Yankees lead Philadelphia by 2 games. Indianapolis is playing .500 ball, with Cleveland at the bottom of the division at 6-12.

Leading Starters: Ray Collins, PHI, 3-0, 3.96 ERA; Red Ruffing, NYY, 3-0, 4.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP; Vean Gregg, HOM, 1-1, 2.08 ERA; Ron Guidry, NYY, 2-1, 3.14 ERA, 0.98 WHIP.
Leading Relievers: Bob Howry, PHI, 7 SV, 1.08 ERA, 0.60 WHIP; Ron Reed, PHI, 2 SV, 6 H, 0.90 ERA, 1.00 WHIP.
Leading Batters: Lou Gehrig, NYY, 421/522/860, 6 HR; Babe Ruth, NYY, 440/517/853, 8 HR, 22 RBI; Rico Carty, PHI, 382/419/709; Eric Davis, NYY, 303/321/658, 8 HR, 28 RBI, 8 SB.

#Cleveland Spiders

Mel Harder‘s nagging shoulder forced him to the DL for 10 days, forcing a roster move for the Spiders, with Wilbur Cooper joining the ML staff after a good start to the season in AAA. Bill Steen will–for the moment–take Harder’s spot in the rotation.

#Homestead Grays

With Peaches Graham out for 10 days, Jim Hegan was recalled from AAA to serve as the backup C.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

C Johnny Bench nudged his BA over .200 with a 2-HR game, leading the ABC’s to an 8-2 victory over Cleveland. But the ABC’s hit some injury snags during the series, with OF Oscar Charleston and 2B Joe Morgan both out. Morgan will miss about 2 weeks, and Indianapolis recalled OF Edd Roush from AAA to take his roster spot. Losing Charleston for any length of time would hurt, as the young OF is slashing 348/375/522 to date. Luckily, his wrist looks bruised, not broken, and should only keep him out for a few days.

There are questions about the pitching staff, with either Bronson Arroyo or Virgil Trucks facing demotion if fresh arms are needed.

#Philadelphia Stars

In an impressive 8-6 win over Kansas City, Willie Davis went 3-for-4 with 2 solo HRs and Rico Carty went 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs.

The Stars’ mound corps are heavily overused at the moment, necessitating some roster moves. Ted Kluszewski and Larry Jackson were both sent to AAA Norfolk, but they are both expected to return shortly. Despite not giving up a hit in a handful of AAA innings, Jerry Blevins was released to make room for Jaret Wright on the WBL roster. P Ken Forsch was also recalled.

TWIWBL 5.2: Notes from Series IV

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On May 12, 2021

In TWIWBL

The WBL saw its first on-field brawl, as Kansas City‘s Boog Powell charged the mound after getting plunked by Philadelphia‘s Robin Roberts. Powell was suspended for 5 games, Roberts for 6.

WBL Player of the Week

The Wandering House of David‘s Pete Browning went 13 for 22 for the week–that’s a 591/591/909 slash line–with 5 RBIs and 6 runs scored to take home the WBL Player of the Week.

He had some competition: Homestead‘s Mike Epstein hit 571/625/1143; and the New York Black Yankees‘ Babe Ruth hit 417/462/1000 with 4 HRs and 10 RBIs. On the mound, Birmingham‘s Scott Baker went 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA in 2 starts and Philadelphia’s Bob Howry had 3 saves.

Series IV Results

Series IV Sweeps

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series IV

Game of Series IV: New York Black Yankees @ Ottawa Mounties

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On May 11, 2021

In Featured Games, Game Recaps, TWIWBL

Sometimes a game is so good it deserves its own writeup.

Such was the case in game two of the series between the New York Black Yankees and the Ottawa Mounties. A lot of narrative threads came into play in this one, although before the game started, the only items of note were the disparity in records (New York came into the game at 12-3, Ottawa at 5-10) and Babe Ruth‘s 15 game hitting streak.

Ron Guidry (2-1) got the start for New York while Bob Brown (0-1) took the mound for Ottawa.

Eric Davis singled in the New York 2nd, and promptly stole 2nd and 3rd, but Brown was able to get back-to-back popups from Lou Gehrig and Thurman Munson, stranding Davis at 3rd.

Meanwhile, Guidry was unhittable, striking out the first 5 batters he faced.

Mike Schmidt–struggling with a sub .200 average–led off the 3rd inning with a HR to left, putting the Black Yankees up, 1-0.

Larry Walker–fresh off a return from the DL–led off the bottom of the 5th with a double. Anthony Rendon reached on an error by Willie Randolph, but was thrown out on the back end of a double-steal and Guidry forced a groundout from Gary Carter to get out of the inning with the 1-0 lead.

Guidry was great, allowing only 3 hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking 1 and striking out 10, but when, in the bottom of the 7th, Freddy Parent doubled with 2 outs, The Black Yankees went to the bullpen, bringing in Dellin Betances to face Carter. Betances walked The Kid, but got a popout from Ken Griffey, Jr to end the inning.

And, when Ruth threw out Tim Raines at the plate in the bottom of the 8th after Phil Bradley–mired in a horrific slump–doubled into the corner, it looked like the Black Yankees had the game in hand.

If anything, Brown was even better than Guidry, allowing 3 hits in 8 innings with 11 strikeouts, before giving way to Old Hoss Radbourn. Radbourn got Ruth to fly out to LF in the top of the 9th, presumably ending the Babe’s hitting streak.

The bottom of the 9th saw New York’s closer, Sparky Lyle, take the mound with the 1-0 advantage. But Lyle’s first pitch was launched by Walker deep into the night for a 450 foot HR to tie the game. Rendon followed with a double, but Lyle was able to get out of the jam, sending the game into extra innings.

Schmidt doubled in the 10th and scored on pinch-hitter Manny Sanguillen‘s single. A hit by Derek Jeter chased Radbourn from the game, and New York greeted Ted Bowsfield quite rudely, with Don Mattingly singling in a run and then Ruth–getting an unexpected chance to extend his streak–singling through the infield to plate Jeter. When the inning ended, New York now led 4-1.

After a leadoff walk to Raines, Lyle was relieved by Lady Baldwin, who struck out Bradley and Carlos Delgado around an Alex Rodriguez double. That meant there were 2 outs and 2 on for Walker, who promptly deposited a Baldwin pitch deep, deep into CF for his 2nd HR of the game, a game-tying, 487 foot HR monstrosity of a blast.

That took us to the 11th. Gehrig led off the inning with a 4-pitch walk from Bowsfield, and Munson followed with a single to RF. Walker threw out Munson trying to stretch the hit into a double for the 1st out of the inning. It would matter, as Schmidt hit his 2nd HR of the game to give the Black Yankees a 6-4 lead. Bowsfield recovered to strike out Craig Counsell and Jeter.

Baldwin gave up consecutive singles to Parent and Emil Gross before getting Griffey, Jr. to fly out. He was relieved by A.J. Burnett, who gave up a single to Raines to load the bases with 1 out.

John Olerud pinch hit for Bradley and grounded the ball down the 1B line. Gehrig picked it cleanly and threw to Jeter, but the return throw was too late for the double play, and Parent scored, making it a one run game.

Rodriguez singled to score Gross and tie the game, Delgado singled to load the bases and that brought up, you guessed it, Walker.

He deposited Burnett’s first pitch into shallow RF, scoring Olerud and giving Ottawa a great 7-6 win in extra innings.

Burnett ended up taking the loss, with Lyle, Baldwin, and Burnett all blowing save opportunities while the victory went to a largely ineffective Bowsfield.

So, Ruth extended his hitting streak to 16 games; Schmidt pushed his BA above .200 by going 3-for-5 with 2 HRs, 3 runs, and 3 RBIs, and Walker won the game almost single-handedly with 4 hits, 2 runs, 5 RBIs, and 2 HRs, plus an OF assist.

TWIWBL 4.1: Notes from Series III

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On September 30, 2020

In TWIWBL

The New York Black Yankees saw their 10 game winning streak come to an end in a 4-2 loss to the Wandering House of David. The Black Yankees are tied with the Kansas City Monarchs for the best record in the league at 11-3, with the Brooklyn Royal Giants the only other team with double-digit victories. Those 4 teams–New York, Wandering, Kansas City, and Brooklyn–each lead their divisions.

Two decent hitting streaks are still intact: Babe Ruth has a 14 game streak (see below for a dramatic extension by Ruth) and the Baltimore Black Sox‘s Dan McGann has hit safely in 13 straight games.

Philadelphia‘s Ray Collins and Brooklyn‘s Don Drysedale are the only 3 game winners in the league (both are 3-0), and Portland‘s Johan Santana leads the league with 6 saves.

Houston‘s George Brett hit .538 with 2 HR’s and 7 RBIs to win the WBL Player of the Week.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Orel Hershiser (1-0) gave up only 5 hits while striking out 8 in a complete game victory over Cleveland. Hershiser’s only mistake of the day was a 2-run HR to Evan Longoria as the Royal Giants eased to a 6-2 win.

#Cleveland Spiders

Cleveland has basically created a fast shuttle between their AAA affiliate in Buffalo and the big leagues. Just across these five games, here’s who used it:

  • With John Ellis no longer carrying an injury, the Spiders demoted Harry Bemis.
  • Jim Gantner was called up from AAA to provide some depth at 2B behind Chuck Knoblauch.
  • Whit Wyatt returned from the DL, sending Sudden Sam McDowell down.
  • Yordano Ventura was put on the IL even though the Spiders were, at the time, unsure as the extent of his injuries (turns out to have been fine, Ventura is out for 4 months with bone spurs).
  • With the OF totally gassed and lacking depth, Peanuts Lowrey was called up.

Not all news for Cleveland was injury related: Bob Feller moved to 2-0 with 8 shutout innings against Brooklyn in a 9-1 Spiders’ victory.

#Detroit Wolverines

Phenom Ty Cobb continues to press for more playing time, going 3-for-4 with a HR in a start against Kansas City.

#Homestead Grays

With Corey Kluber still injured, Homestead recalled Cliff Lee for an emergency start. Lee was excellent, leading the Grays to keep him on the roster at the expense of Bill Fischer, who had struggled in a few early season appearances.

#Houston Colt 45’s

Bret Saberhagen was still not 100%, so the Colt 45’s did some roster juggling, sending Saberhagen to AAA for a day and recalling David Clyde. Clyde was lit on fire in his start, and sent right back to AAA after the game.

Roy Oswalt (2-1) combined with Trevor Hoffman for a 6 hit shutout against Portland.

#Kansas City Monarchs

The Monarchs’ Luke Hamlin–of all people–threw the best start of the year so far, allowing only 1 hit over 7 innings against Detroit while striking out 11. Neither Frank DiPino nor Jeff Pfeffer allowed a hit in closing the game out for a 1-0 Kansas city win.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Ramon Martinez tied the best game score of the year with a 5-hit complete game shutout of Chicago that took only 94 pitches, earning his first victory of the year.

#New York Black Yankees

With a 12-game hitting streak on the line, Babe Ruth came to the plate as a pinch hitter with his team down 2 in the bottom of the 9th and a runner on first. Ruth deposited Tom Niedenfuer‘s pitch in the left field seats for his 4th HR of the year to tie the game, extending his streak to 13 (New York would lose the game 5-4 in 13 innings).

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Lefty Grove continued his dominant start to the year, pitching 8 innings of 3-hit, 1-run ball while striking out 11 against Ottawa to go 2-0 on the season. Grove’s game score of 80 was the best in the league to date (later surpassed by Hamlin).

#Wandering House of David

OF Pete Browning continued his torrid start with a 4-for-4 game against the Black Yankees with a 2B, a 3B, and 2 RBIs to key a 13 inning HoD victory.

TWIWBL 3.2: Previewing Series III

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On September 13, 2020

In TWIWBL

Series III has all teams playing 5 games.

We’re going to focus on two struggling teams in the 3rd series, as the Memphis Red Sox (3-6) host the Birmingham Black Barons (0-9) for 5 games.

Clearly, the question here is when Birmingham will get their 1st win of the year. As a team, the Black Barons are at 220/283/383, giving them the 2nd worst OPS in the league (ahead of only Los Angeles), but it’s not like Memphis is tearing the cover off the ball at 250/342/377. The real struggle for Birmingham is the team ERA of 9.24, easily the worst in the league. Now, that’s a bit inflated coming off a horrible series against the Black Yankees, but still.

Memphis’ pitching has been a little bit better than league average, led by their bullpen, which has been fantastic, posting the 2nd best ERA in the WBL. If the starters can improve on their 5.94 mark, the Red Sox should recover nicely.

Elsewhere, we’ll see if the Wandering House of David (6-3) can do anything to slow down the New York Black Yankees (8-1) as they pay a visit to the Bronx. The Kansas City Monarchs, sporting the 2nd best record in the league at 7-2, host the Detroit Wolverines.

TWIWBL 3.1: Notes from Series II

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On September 12, 2020

In TWIWBL

#Baltimore Black Sox

Frank Robinson went 9 for 19 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs as Baltimore took 3 out of 4 from Chicago.

#Birmingham Black Barons

The Black Barons remain winless on the season after dropping 4 to the New York Black Yankees … Warren Spahn and Scott Baker have both been torched in their 2 starts. Both are 0-2, with Spahn’s ERA ballooning above 20 … Dale Murphy is hitless on the year, starting the season 0 for 14; while Eddie Mathews and Chipper Jones went hitless for the series … Gene Tenace at 286/400/714 is about the only bright spot for Birmingham offensively.

#Chicago American Giants

RP Ken Sanders has yet to allow a hit over 4 appearances … Shoeless Joe Jackson hit .500 in the 4 game series against Baltimore.

#Cleveland Spiders

The Spiders sent SP Hardie Henderson to AAA to make room for Bill Steen‘s return from the DL, but the injuries kept coming as OF Rowland Office will be unavailable for the next 2 weeks and SS Bill Dahlen was put on the 10 Day DL … Rick Burleson was recalled to take Dahlen’s place … Larry Doby–considered a key to the Spiders’ success this year–went 3 for 18 in the 4 game split with Los Angeles … looking for some more flexibility, the Spiders recalled Tom Brookens from AAA, sending down Robby Thompson.

#Houston Colt 45’s

3B George Brett went 9 for 19 with 5 RBIs in a 4 game series with Homestead, but Houston only managed a single victory.

#Indianapolis ABC’s

With Joe Morgan out for 10 days, the ABC’s recalled Lonny Frey from AAA … Hal Morris continued his hot start, going 7 for 15 with 2 HRs and 5 RBIs as Indianapolis swept a 4 game series from Memphis.

#Kansas City Monarchs

The Monarchs relievers have been fantastic, with Frank DiPino, Craig Kimbrel, and Adam Wianwright combining for 7 scoreless IP out of the pen and Jeff Pfeffer has 3 saves … Albert Pujols led the Monarchs to 3 victories in 4 games against Houston with 9 hits in 15 ABs, including 3 2Bs and a HR.

#Los Angeles Angels

Larry Anderson and Chuck Finley have been great out of the bullpen, each going 1-0 without giving up a run in a combined 10.2 IP, placing Finley in line for the next spot start … Don Buford had a rough series, going 1 for 14.

#Memphis Red Sox

When David Bush went on the DL, the Red Sox had to scramble a bit, resulting in Tim Wakefield and Eddie Cicotte joining the WBL roster and Derek Lowe being sent back down to AAA … Joe Beggs, Dean Chance, Turk Farrell, and Wakefield have combined for just shy of 20 bullpen innings, giving up a total of 8 hits and 0 runs, which you would think would result in better results than being swept in 4 games against Indianapolis … 3B Wade Boggs, Vern Stephens, and Ted Williams combined to go 5 for 46 (.109) in the 4 games.

#Miami Cuban Giants

Eustaquio Pedroso has been absolutely rocked in 2 starts, giving up 13 hits and 9 runs in only 4 IP and–not surprisingly–going 0-2.

#New York Black Yankees

The Black Yankees scored 42 runs in sweeping a 4 game series from Birmingham … Babe Ruth went 9 for 18 in the series, which is nothing compared to Eric Davis‘ 7 for 16 with 3 HRs and 12 RBIs.

#Ottawa Mounties

The injury to Gary Peters–and general overusage of the bullpen–led to the Mounties’ recalling Felix Hernandez for a start, then sending him down in exchange for Monk Dubiel. Hernandez did well, giving the Mounties 7 decent innings, keeping him in line for future promotions. Dubiel was better, keeping the Mounties in the final game of the series, allowing 3 runs in 7.2 IP … Old Hoss Radbourn has been spectacular in 3 relief appearances covering 8.2 IP, putting him in line for a start in the near future … there was plenty of blame to go around as Ottawa was swept by Philadelphia in a 4 game series, but much of it goes to 1B Carlos Delgado and OF Terry Puhl, who combined for only 4 hits in 25 ABs.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Jack Clark struggled in a series against the Wandering House of David, managing only 2 hits in 17 ABs … at the other side of the spectrum, Bobby Bonds is on fire, going 8 for 13 with 5 RBIs in the same series.

#Wandering House of David

The House of David’s bullpen has been pretty fantastic, with Tom Niedenfuer, Joakim Soria, Bruce Sutter, and Dick Tidrow combining for 11 IP without giving up a run and Rollie Fingers managing a 1.69 ERA in 5.1 IP … Elrod Hendricks cooled off significantly as the House of David took 3 out of 4 games from San Francisco, managing only 1 hit in 12 ABs.

TWIWBL 2.3: Looking Ahead to Series II

By

On September 6, 2020

In TWIWBL

All teams have a 4 game series scheduled, making this another easy and clean segment.

#Featured Series

We’ll feature a series where the New York Gothams host one of their cross-town rivals, the Brooklyn Royal Giants. Brooklyn is 4-1 on the young season, and the game 1 matchup of Brooklyn’s Dutch Leonard, who tossed a shutout in his 1st start, against the Gotham’s Christy Mathewson. Brooklyn’s pitching staff has been dominant the 1st trip through the rotation, but neither team has really woken up offensively so far on the young season.

#Other Series of Note

Everything’s of note when you’re 5 games in, right? So let’s focus on the extremes.

The San Francisco Sea Lions will take their perfect 5-0 record against the Wandering House of David, and the 0-5 Birmingham Black Barons will host the formidable New York Black Yankees, hoping that home field advantages aids in their search for their first victory of the year. Finally, the matchup between the Kansas City Monarchs and the Houston Colt 45’s features 2 teams each at 4-1 so far.

TWIWBL 2.2: Practice? We Talking About Practice?

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On September 5, 2020

In TWIWBL

It’s only 5 games, but here’s a quick look at whether or not Spring Training means anything.

Spring? We’re So Cold, It’s More Like Winter, amirite?

These are the players who tore the cover off the ball (or were lights out on the mound) during the Spring who have struggled now that the season has started.

#Baltimore Black Sox

Baltimore’s 19 year old OF Bryce Harper forced his way onto the roster with a torrid Spring. He’s hitting .238 so far, but his .429 SLG does hint at the talent there. Of more concern to Baltimore is Curt Blefary, who was supposed to be the slugging C in the middle of the order for the Black Sox, but has started the season with a 154/313/154 line.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

2B Davey Lopes–another player who became a starter in Spring Training–opened the season at 188/316/188.

#Cleveland Spiders

Rowland Office is struggling with a 150/190/200 start. That may not surprise many people, but Larry Doby‘s struggling to a 136/200/136 start is a bit of a shock.

#Indianapolis ABCs

Johnny Bench is struggling to a 053/182/211 start and surprise platoon starter at 3B Chase Headley has started out 083/083/333. Both Bench and Headley have a single hit: a HR each.

I Yam Who I Yam

Players who have performed over the first few games much like they did in the Spring.

#Chicago American Giants

Ben Sheets was fantastic in the Spring, and continued with 8 strong IP in his opening day win. Likewise, Shoeless Joe Jackson finished the Spring with an OPS around 1.2 and finished his 1st 5 games at 1.226.

#New York Black Yankees

And then there’s Mike Schmidt, who played himself out of a job in Philadelphia, was the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade, and has now started the season hitless for the Black Yankees.

#New York Gothams

Buster Posey continues to be a torrid offensive force, starting the season at 350/350/750.

It Was Just Spring, What Do You Want?

These are the Iverson’s, those for whom Spring Training is a meaningless flurry of sun and windsprints.

#Detroit Wolverines

1B Hank Greenberg had shown signs of life towards the end of Spring Training, and he continued the hot streak right into the games that matter, putting up a 444/522/778 line.

#Memphis Red Sox

After a poor Spring, Reggie Smith performed as soon as the bell rang, starting the year with a 348/423/609 line.

#New York Black Yankees

Lou Gehrig struggled so much in Spring Training there was talk of him starting the year at AAA. Instead, he’s opened the season leading the league with a 538 AVG a 1.154 SLG.

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