Andy Pafko went deep twice, reaching 11 on the year, but those were the only runs Birmingham could manage as they fell, 3-2 to Brooklyn in 14 innings.
Hank Aaron hit 2 out, giving him 24 on the year, and the Black Barons beat Homestead 9-4. Aaron drove in 5, and Curtis Granderson and Eddie Mathews each hit their 22nd dinger of the year in support of Sam Streeter.
#Houston Colt 45s
Tony Gwynn went had 3 hits, pushing his season total over 100 and raising his average to .429 in a 7-2 victory over Philadelphia. Roger Clemens improved to 8-2 with a strong 7 plus innings.
#Indianapolis ABC’s
The ABC’s will be without their sparkplug, as Bob Bescher heads to the DL with a bruised knee. Emil Frisk was recalled from AAA. They also exchanged the struggling Sad Sam Jones for the return of Gorham Leverett from a rehab assignment.
Oscar Charleston went deep twice, leading the ABC’s to a 7-5 win over Kansas City.
Luis Padrón increased his win total to a league-leading 11 in an 8-2 victory over Kansas City. Padrón was solid through 7-plus, moving to 11-2 on the year and lowering his ERA to 3.90 while Joey Votto went deep twice for the ABC’s.
#Kansas City Monarchs
Jock Menefee, who had pitched well over a half-dozen appearances, will miss 3-4 months with a shoulder injury. Mike Kume was recalled from AAA.
Dale Murphy went deep twice as the Monarchs pounded out 20 hits in a 17-3 win over Indianapolis. Frank Castillo improved to 9-1, striking out 10 in 7 solid innings of work.
#Wandering House of David
The House of David shook up their staff, sending Wade Miley and Kerry Wood to AAA, and moving Rick Reuschel out of the rotation. Kyle Peterson and Jim Clinton were recalled from the minors.
George Gore would not be who you would have picked: he entered the day with only 3 homeruns and ended it having doubled his total to 6. It was not enough, however, as the House of David fell to the Gothams 10-9 in extra frames.
Sammy Sosa hit 3 solo homers, giving him 17 on the season. The last one gave the House of David the lead in the top of 9th, with Lee Smith earning his 2nd save in a 4-3 victory over the Gothams.
Needing a starter, the House of David sent the mightily struggling Frank Sullivan to AAA with Karl Spooner being recalled.
Clinton’s time in the WBL only lasted 2 appearances. He was effective across his 6 innings of work, but came down with a sore shoulder. Bob Shaw was recalled.
Ottawa‘s Roberto Alomar won the NL Player of the Week, hitting .625 with 4 homeruns, while scoring and driving in 9.
Manny Ramírez of the Memphis Red Sox is already approaching his production from last season, and hitting .368 with 3 homers and 10 RBI’s earned him the AL Player of the Week.
#Team Performance
I am likely to regret writing this as the season unfolds, but three of the divisions really seem to be settling down. The New York Black Yankees continue to have the best record in the WBL, leading Cleveland by 7 games in the Bill James Division. In the Cum Posey Division, San Francisco has pulled away from Miami and Chicago, leading the former by 6.5 games and the latter by 7. And, over in the Marvin Miller Division, Indianapolis and Kansas City are tied for the top spot, 7 games ahead of the House of David.
That leaves the Effa Manley Division, where nobody really wants to take control, with Homestead currently in first and Philadelphia in last place, only 4.5 games back
The New York Gothams have ridden an 8-2 streak to move within 1 game of Homestead and the Birmingham Black Barons may finally be showing some life, going 7-3 in their last 10 games. It’s too early to really get excited in Birmingham, though: that run of success leaves them with still having the worst record in the league, 11 games out of first place.
Cleveland, Homestead, the Brooklyn Royal Giants, and the House of David have all struggled a bit, sporting 3-7 records over their last 10 games.
Some differences in style are emerging across the league, with all teams playing between 62 and 65 games.
Ottawa continues to have by far the most terrifying offense in the league, sporting a team OPS over .900 and leading the way with 160 homeruns. They are also the only team to have scored 400+ runs at this point.
San Francisco and Baltimore are the most patient teams in the WBL, each with over 260 walks, over 100 more than Brooklyn and Miami at the other end of the list. San Francisco and the Black Yankees strike out the most while Kansas City and Philadelphia are the hardest to whiff by a long shot.
Finally, Indianapolis and San Francisco are neck and neck in SB with 138 and 137 respectively. Only Ottawa and Chicago are also over 100, while the New York Gothams have only swiped 45 bases.
#Player Performance
Batters
This may be the first time in the history of the WBL that Babe Ruth only leads in 2 categories and those 2–runs and walks–are arguably the least important metrics being tracked.
José Canseco and Larry Walker have each reached the 30 HR mark and Walker’s amazing streak has vaulted him over Ruth for the RBI lead.
Tony Gwynn–at a blinding .420–is the only hitter over .400, although Homestead’s Josh Gibson is edging into that territory at .399.
Roberto Alomar (OTT). 324/407/616. 56 R. José Canseco (MCG). 289/400/821. 30 HR. Oscar Charleston (IND). 325/382/582. 7 3B. Ty Cobb (DET). 396/446/806. 86 H, 4.1 WAR. Josh Gibson (HOM). 399/467/759. 3.9 WAR. Tony Gwynn (HOU). 420/457/656. 96 H, 31 2B. Pete Hill (HOU). 288/368/498. 8 3B. Joe Jackson (CAG). 376/424/615. 31 2B. Stan Musial (KCM). 319/384/552. 32 2B. Babe Ruth (NYY). 292/410/712. 27 HR, 69 RBI, 58 R, 47 BB. Larry Walker (OTT). 324/395/781. 30 HR, 71 RBI. Ted Williams (MEM). 311/432/612. 45 BB.
Pitchers
Starters
Indianapolis’ Luis Padrón was the first hurler to 10 wins, leading the league at 10-1, and Houston‘s Toad Ramsey is the only player with 9. We’ve included the 3 starters with 8 wins and 2 or fewer losses below and everyone with an ERA below 3.00, as well as the usual statistical leaders.
It paints an odd picture, as Ramsey has actually faded a bit over the past few weeks, but retains his spot as the best pitcher in the WBL right now.
Frank Castillo (KCM). 8-1, 4.03. Johnny Cueto (IND). 8-2, 3.38. Lefty Grove (SFS). 7-4, 3.26. 99 IP, 2.9 WAR. Ron Guidry (NYY). 8-2, 3.65, 109 SO. Bump Hadley (SFS). 8-4, 4.15. 3.39 FIP. Hardie Henderson (PHI). 6-4, 2.98. Luis Padrón (IND). 10-1, 3.61. Toad Ramsey (HOU). 9-3, 2.68. 117 SO, 0.93 WHIP, 2.78 FIP, 3.9 WAR. Ed Walsh (CAG). 5-2, 2.95. 1 Sv. JM Ward (PHI). 3-2, 3.56. 1.00 WHIP.
Relievers
All three relievers with 9 holds are included, as well as all 3 with ERA’s below 1.50.
15 IP minimum.
Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 4.60. 15 Sv. Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-1, 3.12. 9 H. Ken Howell (SFS). 4-1, 1.23. 4 H. Bob Howry (PHI). 3-1, 3.60. 10 Sv, 0.75 WHIP. Michael Jackson (HOM). 1-2, 2.66. 1 Sv, 9 H. Craig Kimbrel (KCM). 1-0, 1.04. 1 Sv, 9 H. Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-2, 3.86. 17 Sv. Tug McGraw (HOU). 2-2, 1.04. 4 Sv. Lee Smith (HOD). 4-1, 3.55. 1 Sv, 5 H, 0.79 WHIP.
#Injury Report
Baltimore may receive a big boost to its bullpen with both John Wetteland and, more importantly, Sean Marshall due to begin rehab assignments this week. Marshall was among the most dominant relievers in the league last season before being injured.
Indianapolis’ 3B Ed Charles and Miami’s OF Al Oliver should both begin a rehab assignment late in the week
#Oddities
Thought we would check in on some of the odder performances in the league so far.
We’ll start with Homestead’s Mike Epstein and San Francisco’s Jimmie Foxx, each of which are hitting under .240 with OPS’ over .900. Epstein’s slash line is 236/369/577 while Foxx’s is 222/326/593. Half of Foxx’s 42 hits have been homeruns (Birmingham’s Curtis Granderson has 38 hits and 20 homers).
14 players who have seen a decent amount of playing time are sporting batting averages below .200. Only 2 of them have an OPS over .800. If you’re a diehard fan of the WBL, you may guess that one of them is Chicago’s eternal dilemma, Mike Fiore. Fiore is hitting .194. But 33 walks gives him a respectable .344 OBP, and 11 homers up his SLG to .472, giving him an OPS of .816. The other is Birmingham’s Eddie Mathews, who is doing it all with power. His OBP is barely over .300, but 19 homeruns gives him a .519 SLG to go with it.
On the mound, in the won-loss record is a bad stat department, I’ll offer up Bert Blyleven of the Portland Sea Dogs and Philadelphia’s John Montgomery Ward. Blyleven has 14 starts and is 6th in the league in IP, but sports only a 2-4 record while Ward has pitched excellently, holding a 3.56 ERA over 13 starts and the second best WHIP in the league at 1.00, but only managing a 3-2 record.
At the other end of the scale, 2 hurlers with at least 7 wins also have ERAs over 5.00: Ottawa’s Old Hoss Radbourn at 8-4, 5.79 and the New York Gothams’ Don Sutton at 7-3, 5.40.
We’ve entered June, so we’re clearly heading towards our midseason stride.
#Awards
Since we cross into June we have a bevy of awards.
In the AL, the New York Black Yankees‘ Babe Ruth was named the Batter of the Month, hitting .347 with 15 homers in May, driving in 34 and scoring 30 times. And look, that’s impressive. But Ruth’s reputation certainly helped him with the honor, given that he had the 3rd best OPS in the AL for the month, trailing behind Miami‘s José Canseco (1.430) and Detroit‘s Ty Cobb (1.429). Canseco also had more homeruns, leading the WBL for the month with 18. Ruth’s RBI and R numbers did lead the league, and it is hard to argue against his numbers.
In the NL, the award went to Ottawa‘s Larry Walker for the second consecutive month. Walker hit .273 with 17 dingers and a whopping 38 RBI, but his selection wasn’t unanimous. Looking at just the major slash stats, his BA was eclipsed by Houston‘s Tony Gwynn, who hit .441 for the month; his OBP by Homestead‘s Josh Gibson, who led the NL with a .480 mark; and Gibson’s teammate Mike Epstein SLG mark of .833 SLG eclipsed Walker’s .818. But Walker’s HR and RBI numbers led the league by a lot, and 38 RBI in 26 games is just remarkable.
The Black Yankees doubled it up, with Ron Guidry winning the AL Pitcher of the Month, going 6-0 with a 1.73 ERA in May while in the NL, Rob Dibble of the Indianapolis ABC‘s was a bit of a surprise selection. Dibble went 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 8 saves, certainly a strong performance. You really can’t quibble with Guidry’s selection, but Dibble was selected over San Francisco‘s Lefty Grove (5-1, 1.18) and Brooklyn‘s Smokey Joe Williams (4-1, 2.16). Homestead’s Josh Lindblom had more saves than Dibble (11 to 8), but Lindblom’s other numbers weren’t nearly as impressive. Still, if it were up to me, the award would have gone to Grove.
There’s just not a lot to say about Julio Rodríguez other than wow. Miami’s surprise starter in CF leaving Spring Training hit .397 with 13 homeruns in the month, earning the AL Rookie of the Month. Over in the NL, the award went to Smokey Joe Williams, who, as mentioned above, was in the running for the overall award, let alone the rookie honor.
Player of the Week Awards were given out as well, although overshadowed by the larger honors for May.
Philadelphia‘s Aaron Judge has continued to develop from his impressive showing last season, and a recent hot streak where he hit .444 with 3 homeruns earned him the NL Player of the Week. Canseco was significantly hotter, hitting .636 with 5 homeruns to earn the AL award for the second consecutive week, perhaps some comfort against being snubbed for the monthly honor for May.
#Team Performance
Last week I wrote The New York Black Yankees and the Indianapolis ABC’s have each gone 8-2 over their last 10 games. This week, it’s still true. New York now leads Cleveland in the Bill James Division by 6.5 games, while Indianapolis has moved into 1st place in the Marvin Miller Division, leading Kansas City by .5 games.
San Francisco has a little more breathing room in the Cum Posey Division, leading Chicago by 5.5 games and the surprising Miami Cuban Giants by 6. The Effa Manley Division is still tight, with all 5 teams separated by only 4.5 games, from Homestead in 1st to Philadelphia and Ottawa in a virtual tie for 5th.
Detroit continues to flounder, going 2-8 in their last 10 games and plummeting to 13.5 games behind the Black Yankees.
#Player Performance
Batters
A shorter list: Ty Cobb is first or second in each of the slash categories, and he, Larry Walker, and José Canseco are all challenging Babe Ruth‘s historical dominance of the league.
Cobb and Tony Gwynn are still well over .400 as the calendar turns to June.
José Canseco (MCG). 304/421/881. 29 HR. Oscar Charleston (IND). 333/390/611. 7 3B. Ty Cobb (DET). 420/471/862. 79 H, 28 2B, 4.0 WAR. Josh Gibson (HOM). 382/447/742. 48 R. Tony Gwynn (HOU). 427/463/683. 85 H. Pete Hill (HOU). 282/366/505. 8 3B. Stan Musial (KCM). 312/382/540. 29 2B. Babe Ruth (NYY). 307/426/743. 66 RBI, 55 R, 44 BB, 3.7 WAR. Larry Walker (OTT). 318/394/764. 26 HR, 61 RBI.
It often feels like the SB leaders should be handled separately: San Francisco’s Rickey Henderson leads the WBL with 42 steals. Indianapolis’ Bob Bescher has moved into 2nd place with 32 (and only 6 CS) while Ottawa’s Tim Raines has 30. Raines’ struggles at the plate are clearly contributing to his not challenging Henderson this year: while Rickey’s has an OBP just under .400 at .392, Raines is way down at .332.
Pitchers
Starters
Indianapolis’ Luis Padrón leads the league at 9-1, with Houston’s Toad Ramsey (9-2) and the Black Yankees’ Ron Guidry (8-1) close behind. Six pitchers have 7 wins, we’ve only included below the 3 that have only 1 or 2 losses. Also included are all 3 starters with sub-3.00 ERA’s (Ramsey, Philadelphia’s Hardie Henderson, and Los Angeles‘ Doc Gooden).
Frank Castillo (KCM). 7-1, 3.88. Johnny Cueto (IND). 7-1, 3.43. Doc Gooden (LAA). 5-4, 2.92. Lefty Grove (SFS). 7-4, 3.13. 92 IP, 2.7 WAR. Ron Guidry (NYY). 8-1, 3.17. 99 K, 3.39 FIP, 2.7 WAR. Hardie Henderson (PHI). 6-3, 2.83. Luis Padrón (IND). 9-1, 3.66. Eddie Plank (SFS). 7-2, 3.94. Toad Ramsey (HOU). 9-2. 2.69. 87 IP, 108 K, 0.93 WHIP, 2.66 FIP, 3.8 WAR. JM Ward (PHI). 2-1, 3.46. 1.00 WHIP.
Relievers
There really isn’t a dominant closer in the WBL this season–the league leaders in saves have given up a bunch of runs; the dominant performers haven’t been racking up the saves. Indianapolis’ Rob Dibble is probably the best of the group. Kansas City’s Craig Kimbrel, tied with the Black Yankees’ Rheal Cormier for the league lead in Holds, has probably been the best bullpen performer overall so far, and is pushing teammate Jeff Pfeffer for a shot at the closer spot.
13 IP minimum.
Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-0, 2.84. 9 H. Rob Dibble (IND). 2-1, 3.06. 12 Sv. Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 4.91. 14 Sv. Craig Kimbrel (KCM). 1-0, 1.10. 1 Sv, 9 H. Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-1, 3.80. 15 Sv. Tug McGraw (HOU). 2-2, 1.26. 1 Sv. Jeff Pfeffer (KCM). 1-2, 6.16. 12 Sv.
Some mention somewhere should be made of Brooklyn’s Fernando Valenzuela, who is 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA and 4 Holds in over 40 innings. The Royal Giants have a very strong rotation, and Valenzuela is still looking for his first opportunity to step into a starting role.
#Injury Report
Will this week be the long awaited reckoning for Chicago’s Jack Doyle? The return of SS Damian Jackson, expected at the end of the week, may be the final nail in Doyle’s WBL service time.
#A Ball Check In
Wrapping up our 3 week trip through the minors, we’ll examine A ball this week. Given A ball’s focus on youth, we won’t have an age division, instead just presenting the top 2 performers at each position. 100 A PA minimum for batters.
Frank Dwyer (21, HOD). 6-1, 1.58. Jim McElroy (21, PHI). 4-1, 1.65.
RP
Joe Edelin (24, NYY). 1-0, 1.77. 14 Sv.
Mélido Pérez (20, NYY). 3-1, 2.05. 9 Sv, 4 H.
Griffin and Kershaw standout as the only teenagers listed. The Gothams have two 2B listed, although Washington is really spending more time at SS. And, Memphis’ Bill Buckner, although currently out for a couple of weeks through injury, is just dominating the league in most categories. Of this group, he, Kershaw, and Herman are probably the best long term prospects.
Something is just not right with young Bret Saberhagen. The Colt 45s moved him down to AAA, hoping he can recover his command there. Needing a starter, they promoted teenage phenom Leon Day for his first taste of WBL action since last season.
Jim O’Rourke‘s strong performance since his recall meant that, when George Brett was available for recall from a rehab assignment, Russ Adams was the odd man out, heading to AAA.
Toad Ramsey improved to 9-2, allowing only 2 hits and 2 runs over 8 innings while striking out 14 in a 6-2 win over Birmingham. Ramsey became the first hurler in the WBL to eclipse 100 K’s on the season.
#Indianapolis ABC’s
Johnny Bench‘s poor start has finally impacted the ABC’s lineup construction, with the all-star catcher from last season dropping to 6th. It didn’t help, as Bench whiffed in all 4 of his at-bats, but Indianapolis used a solo homer from Oscar Charleston to edge Homestead 1-0 despite managing only 3 hits. Johnny Cueto, Sad Sam Jones, Rob Murphy, and Rob Dibble combined on the shutout, striking out 16.
Luis Padrón is dominating on the mound right now: the ABC’s scored 11 runs in the 3rd inning, but the story of the game was Padrón, who took a no-hitter into the 9th against the Grays, retired the first batter, gave up a single to Andrew McCutchen, and promptly induced a double-play for the 1-hitter. In doing so, Padrón dropped his ERA to 3.66 and improved his record to 9-1. Dave Henderson, Joey Votto, and Barry Larkin each drove in 3 while Larkin, Charleston, and George Foster each had 3 hits.
It wasn’t all good news for Indianapolis, however: Ed Charles headed to the DL, expected to miss a couple weeks with Robin Ventura being recalled from AAA.
#Kansas City Monarchs
A. Rube Foster moved into the Monarch’s rotation.
Despite a shaky outing, Smoky Joe Wood helped himself with his first homerun of the year, improving his record to 6-3 in a 14-6 win over the House of David. Stan Musial had 3 homeruns–one an inside the park job– and Willie McGee and Ted Simmons also went deep for the Monarchs. Musial has hit well this year, but without much power, having only one dinger coming into today’s game.
Two homeruns from Albert Pujols were enough to force extra innings, but not enough to win as the Monarchs fell to the House of David in 11 innings, 6-5.
#Wandering House of David
CC Sabathia replaced Frank Sullivan in the starting rotation for the House of David; one consequence of this is preserving Wade Miley as the sole lefty in their bullpen despite his recent struggles.
Sabathia rewarded the choice immediately, twirling a 5 hit shutout over Brooklyn in his first start. Sabathia walked 2 and fanned 3, leveling his record at 2-2 and supported by homeruns from Elrod Hendricks and Richie Hebner.
Ryne Sandberg went deep twice, but it wasn’t enough as the House of David fell to Brooklyn, 11-5. Hebner, recently installed as the House of David’s leadoff batter, did the same, going deep twice in a 9-4 loss to the Royal Giants.
Jim Edmonds went deep twice and Sammy Sosa, who entered the game as a pinch-runner, delivered a walkoff shot in the bottom of the 10th in a 4-2 win over Kansas City.
Roberto Alomar hit .500 on the week with 4 homeruns, earning the Ottawa 2B the National League Player of the Week. Over in the American League, Miami‘s José Canseco had 7 homeruns to go with a .417 average, earning the American League award.
#Team Performance
The New York Black Yankees and the Indianapolis ABC‘s have each gone 8-2 over their last 10 games. For New York, this has helped them extend their lead over Cleveland in the Bill James Division to 4 games, while Indianapolis has roared int 2nd place in the Marvin Miller Division, sitting 1.5 games behind Kansas City.
Birmingham and Detroit have each gone 2-8 over their last 10, with the Black Barons now 13 games behind Kansas City and the Wolverines falling to 10 games behind the Black Yankees.
#Player Performance
Batters
The changing of the guard continues: Ty Cobb leads the league in most things, and Larry Walker is ahead of Babe Ruth (and Canseco) in homers.
A sign that it’s still early in the season: 2 batters are still hitting over .400 (Cobb and Houston‘s Tony Gwynn); 2 have OBPs over .450 (Cobb and Ruth), and 4–FOUR–are still slugging over .800 (Cobb, Walker, Ruth, and Canseco).
José Canseco (MCG). 280/392/803. 24 HR. Oscar Charleston (IND). 314/361/581. 7 3B. Ty Cobb (DET). 420/471/882. 71 H, 28 2B, 3.6 WAR. Tony Gwynn (HOU). 417/447/669. 73 H. Rickey Henderson (SFS). 269/374/491. 39 SB. Pete Hill (HOU). 272/344/503. 8 3B. Joe Jackson (CAG). 366/411/579. 25 2B. Babe Ruth (NYY). 339/457/814. 24 HR, 62 RBI, 52 R, 41 BB, 3.8 WAR. Joey Votto (IND). 287/439/507. 36 BB. Larry Walker (OTT). 339/416/819. 26 HR, 61 RBI, 45 R.
Seems like a good time to check on the underperformers as well. Clearly a player who leads the league in whiffs can certainly have more value than someone who leads the league in worst OPS while still qualifying for the leaderboards.
Cupid Childs (BBB). 241/371/350. 6 RBI, 13 CS. Adam Dunn (IND). 242/349/571. 64 SO. Andrés Galarraga (HOU). 190/222/393. -1.1 WAR. Oscar Gamble (DET). 234/376/422. 10 GIDP. Mickey Mantle (NYY). 278/385/650. 65 SO. Tony Phillips (DET). 174/266/304. -1.2 WAR. Doug Rader (LAA). 249/305/379. 10 GIDP. Cristóbal Torriente (CAG). 187/228/253. 7 RBI.
It’s an interesting group, with only Galarraga, Phillips, and Torriente really in danger of losing their spots. Dunn and Mantle are clearly excellent players, they just strike out a lot. Childs’ OBP keeps him vital to the top of Birmingham’s lineup, and Gamble and Rader are clearly everyday players.
Pitchers
Starters
With a rain-shortened CG on Sunday, Houston’s Toad Ramsey became the first 8 game winner in the league. I’ve also included the four 7-game winners in the list, as well as the two other hurlers with sub 3.00 ERAs.
If you go by black ink, it remains Ramsey’s season.
Mark Buehrle (CAG). 5-3, 2.86. Frank Castillo (KCM). 7-1, 3.62. Roger Clemens (HOU). 6-1, 3.63. 1.01 WHIP. Johnny Cueto (IND). 7-1, 3.73. Doc Gooden (LAA). 4-3, 2.59. Lefty Grove (SFS). 6-4, 3.08. 3.36 FIP, 2.5 WAR. Ron Guidry (NYY). 7-1, 3.52. 82 K. Hardie Henderson (PHI). 6-3, 2.78. Luis Padrón (IND). 7-1, 3.45. Toad Ramsey (HOU). 8-2, 2.73. 94 K; 0.97 WHIP; 2.76 FIP; 3.4 WAR.
Relievers
Homestead‘s Josh Lindblom and San Francisco‘s Rod Beck continue to lead the league in saves with a dozen each, although Brooklyn‘s Eric Gagne (11 saves) has probably been more effective overall.
12 IP minimum.
Rod Beck (SFS). 2-2, 5.40. 12 Sv. Rheal Cormier (NYY). 0-0, 2.70. 8 H. Trevor Hildenberger (BRK). 1-0, 1.06. 1 Sv, 5 H, 0.65 WHIP. Eric Gagne (BRK). 1-1, 3.18. 11 Sv. Mike Henneman (DET). 4-0, 1.02. 8 Sv. Lefty James (IND). 1-0, 3.55. 1 Sv, 7 H. Ted Kennedy (PHI). 2-2, 3.18. 2 Sv, 7 H. Josh Lindblom (HOM). 3-1, 4.00. 12 Sv. Lee Smith (HOD). 1-0, 1.80. 1 Sv, 5 H, 0.60 WHIP.
#Injury Report
Kansas City’s Bob Gibson should start a rehab assignment later this week, as should Philadelphia‘s Jack Meyer, who has missed over a year of action.
#AA Check In
This week, it’s a look at AA, looking at both the best performers and the best prospects (24 and under) roughly 1/4 of the way through the season. 100 AA PA minimum for batters.
Pos
25+
< 25
C
Kelly Shoppach (28, BRK). 305/362/537.
Bill Dickey (22, PHI). 387/416/639.
1B
Del Bissonette (27, BBB). 337/456/675.
John Mayberry (20, OTT). 349/476/771).
2B
Steve Sax (25, CLE). 398/438/508.
Dario Lodigiani (20, SFS). 363/471/516.
SS
Jhonny Peralta (26, IND). 244/338/472.
Xander Bogaerts (23, LAA). 359/432/538.
3B
Brook Jacoby (29, CLE). 319/393/553.
Ryon Healy (20, OTT). 330/365/637.
LF
Earl Webb (28, POR). 322/386/644.
Andrew Benintendi (22, MEM). 340/447/551.
CF
Keon Broxton (26, CAG). 291/413/563.
Cool Papa Bell (21, KAN). 368/429/747.
RF
Roger Maris (27, NYY). 312/425/720.
Chuck Klein (22, POR). 282/339/602.
SP
Whitey Ford (25, NYY). 5-2, 2.92. 1.6 WAR. George Winter (27, HOU). 5-0, 2.34. 1.4 WAR.
Gary Lucas (24, HOM). 3-2, 3.42. 1.6 WAR. Masahiro Tanaka (24, NYG), 6-4, 4.40. 1.4 WAR.
RP
Rob Wooten (26, MEM). 2-2, 3.00. 11 Sv.
Oad Swigert (23, IND). 0-2, 3.45. 10 Sv.
Lots and lots of talent here, as to be expected. Dickey–part of the haul Philadelphia got for Mike Schmidt–may be recalled shortly, but most of the rest of these hitters are either blocked positionally (trade bait?) or need a year or 2 more in the minors before making their case for WBL time. Dickey, Bell, Klein, and Ford are probably the best long-term prospects.
Hank Aaron went deep twice and Greg Maddux improved to 4-4 with a solid outing as the Black Barons went up early and held on for dear life, topping the ABC’s 7-6. Jim Pagliaroni, Andy Pafko, and Eddie Mathews also went deep for Birmingham.
#Houston Colt 45s
Bret Saberhagen‘s disastrous start in an 8-2 loss to Brooklyn removed him from the starting rotation for Houston, who will use a starter-by-committee to round out their staff.
#Indianapolis ABC’s
Joe Morgan went deep twice, leading the ABCs to a 12-3 walkover of Kansas City. Rube Foster improved to 2-3, but faded in the 9th, losing a shot at the complete game. Still, a fine outing for Foster in a game that saw Morgan drive in 4 and Oscar Charleston and Jake Stenzel 3 each.
#Kansas City Monarchs
With Bob Gibson out for a week or so with back issues, the Monarchs placed the struggling youngster on the DL and recalled Jock Menefee from AAA.
#Wandering House of David
Bob Robertson was excellent in his time with the House of David, but Pete Browning‘s return from injury sends Robertson back to AAA.
Ryne Sandberg went deep twice as the House of David hit 6 homeruns in a 12-6 win over Ottawa that wasn’t even that close. Sandberg had 4 hits and scored 4 runs and Bob Rush improved to 5-4 with a solid 7 innings.
Ernie Banks hit 3 homeruns and drove in 6 as the House of David beat Houston 10-3. He wasn’t done, as Banks hit 2 more including a walkoff blast in another victory over Houston, this one 10-8. Ron Santo, Sandberg, and Anthony Rizzo also went deep, but the victory had a downside, as Browning will be sidelined for most of the next week with tightness in his back.
Jim Whitney replaces John Malarkey in the Black Barons’ rotation.
Birmingham has some infield questions to answer, but for the time being, will live with Hank Aaron (far better suited to the OF) being their only alternative at 2B to Cupid Childs.
Larry Benton will miss about a year with elbow surgery. Bill Phyle was recalled, assumedly for a longer period than the first time, during which he saw no action.
#Houston Colt 45’s
David Clyde–out since early last season–started an injury rehab assignment.
Roger Clemens had a poor start, leaving him unable to become the league’s first 6 game winner, but Jimmy Wynn‘s second dinger (and 4th run scored) of the game was a walkoff shot in the bottom of the 11th inning. It was a wild game, as homers by George Brett and Craig Biggio (pinch-hitting) kept the game going in the bottom of the 10th and 11th innings.
Wynn again hit 2, but this time, after a 7 run comeback, the Colt 45’s couldn’t pull it off, losing 11-9 to the House of David in another worryingly bad start from Roy Oswalt.
#Indianapolis ABC’s
George Foster‘s 4th homerun of the year was a grand slam in the top of the 9th, leading the ABC’s to a sudden 4-2 victory over Ottawa.
Oscar Charleston had 5 hits and Adam Dunn crushed a walkoff homerun in the bottom of the 10th as the ABCs came from behind to top Birmingham, 7-5.
#Wandering House of David
Kerry Wood took Wade Miley‘s spot in the House of David’s rotation, and Orlando Cabrera was moved to AAA to clear space for Frank Grant‘s return from a rehab assignment.
Frank Chance had 4 steals but the House of David was unable to hold onto several leads, falling to Houston in 11 innings.
Miley was pressed into an emergency start … and immediately made everyone question their decisions, allowing only 2 hits and 1 run in 7 innings in clearly his best start of the year. It was an encouraging game for the House of David: Grant had 2 hits in his debut, Anthony Rizzo went deep twice, and Elrod Hendricks (2 hits, 1 HR) and Sammy Sosa (2 hits) showed signs of breaking out of their funks.
Ernie Banks went deep twice and the House of David withstood a massive comeback by Houston, holding on for an 11-8 victory. After rough outings from Rick Reuschel and CC Sabathia, Fergie Jenkins, Ed Bauta, and Bruce Sutter shut it down, allowing only 2 hits over the last 3+ innings.
Banks did it again, hitting 2 homeruns in a 7-6 victory over the Gothams. Sosa had 2 homeruns as well, including the game winning shot in the bottom of the 10th. The House of David would be encouraged by Wood’s first start of the year, in which he pitched 6 innings, fanning 10. The victory went to Sutter, who improved to 1-1 with a perfect 1+ innings of relief.
Bill Phyle‘s time at with the big league club was minimal, as Steve Bedrosian‘s return from the DL sent Phyle back to AAA. Harley Young began a rehab assignment, signaling more good news for the Black Barons’ bullpen.
The starting rotation was supposed to be a strength for Birmingham. Instead, it’s in shambles and, even though it’s early, some changes are in store, most notably Lefty Gomez replacing Vic Willis in the rotation. Jim Whitney is also pushing for a spot, with some pressure on Sam Streeter and John Malarkey to step it up in their next starts.
Jess Barbour‘s miserable start to the year will result in some reduced playing time, but his defensive flexibility keeps him on the roster.
Alejandro Peña was ridiculously good, allowing only 1 hit in over 8 innings, but he wasn’t around when Herman Long drove in the winning run with a 2 out single in the bottom of the 9th, giving Birmingham a 1-0 walkoff win over Brooklyn.
Curtis Granderson went deep twice as the Black Barons lost to Brooklyn, 5-4. Greg Maddux had an encouraging start for Birmingham, but Bedrosian imploded, giving up 2 homeruns in the 8th.
#Houston Colt 45’s
Toad Ramsey was magnificent, striking out 12 and allowing only a single hit in a 1-0 win over Kansas City. Carlos Correa extended his 28 game hitting streak with 2 doubles and Craig Biggio drove in HR Johnson for the game’s sole tally.
Correa’s hitting streak ended at 29 games, but 2 homeruns from Casey Stengel, along with solo shots from Tony Gwynn and Jeff Bagwell carried Houston to an 8-6 win over Birmingham. Stengel drove in 4 and Gwynn had 3 hits.
Correa bounced right back, sending a ball into the Crawford Seats for a walkoff 3 run homer in a 5-2 win over Birmingham.
#Indianapolis ABC’s
2 homers from Johnny Bench and 3 hits from Oscar Charleston weren’t enough as the ABC’s fell to Homestead, 5-4.
Gorham Leverett‘s spell with the ABC’s was awfully short, as an oblique injury forced him to the DL. Lynn Brenton was recalled from AAA to take Leverett’s spot.
Eddie Mathews smashed a ball 544 feet for his 5th homerun of the year, but it wasn’t enough as the Black Barons fell to the Gothams, 3-2. Matthews continued to mash, sending a ball 551 feet the next day, again in a losing effort. Bob Nieman and Jim Pagliaroni went deep twice each, but disastrous outings from both John Malarkey and Warren Spahn were too much to overcome as the Black Barons fell to the Gothams, 12-8.
Curtis Granderson and Albert Belle each had 3 hits and each went deep twice and Hank Aaron added a longball of his own as the Black Barons beat the Gothams 11-6. Jim Whitney continued his brilliant start to the season with 2 perfect innings, picking up his first victory of the year.
Gene Tenace, off to a great start at the plate, will miss about 2 weeks, with JP Arencibia being recalled from AAA to backup Pagliaroni. With Arencibia able to play 1B, the Black Barons demoted the mightily struggling Jake Beckley and brought up Frank Viola from AA to make a start. Viola was absolutely torched, giving up 4 homeruns in 2 innings, and heading back to AA after the game with Bill Phyle taking his roster spot.
Granderson went deep twice in a 6-2 victory over Ottawa, the second shot giving the Black Barons the lead in the top of the 12th. Perhaps as importantly, Sam Streeter, Lefty Gomez, Juan Rincón, Larry Benton, and Bruce Chen all put in strong shifts on the mound, holding the Mounties to only 5 hits.
Birmingham hit 5 homeruns in an inning, including four in a row, and still needed some late inning heroics to pull out a 12-10 win over Ottawa. Recently recalled Arencibia was the star of the show, going 4 for 4 with 2 homeruns in his first WBL game. Arencibia’s first followed consecutive homers from Mathews, Andy Pafko, and Adrián González. Pafko had 3 hits and Belle also went deep for the Black Barons.
#Houston Colt 45’s
Tony Gwynn and HR Johnson had 4 hits each and combined for 7 RBIs as Houston put a beating on Philadelphia, 13-4. Bret Saberhagen was a little shaky, but evened his record at 1-1 in a game where the Colt 45’s pounded out 19 hits and saw Johnson and Carlos Correa each go deep. Gwynn ended the day batting .536 on the year.
Andrés Galarraga hit his first 2 homeruns of the year, but it wasn’t enough as a poor showing by Billy Wagner led to a 6-5 loss to Philadelphia.
Russ Adams was a bit of an afterthought coming out of spring training, but he’s making a case for more playing time. Adams had 4 hits in a 12-6 victory over the House of David. Johnson and Galarraga each drove in 3 in the win, with Roger Clemens improving to 3-0 with a decent outing.
#Indianapolis ABC’s
Both Lefty James and Dick Tidrow were forced out of the game via injury in an 8-4 win over Kansas City. James was immediately placed on the DL, anticipated to miss about 2 weeks while Tidrow’s injury was less clear. Rob Murphy was recalled to take James’ spot in the pen.
Ed Charles broke out of a slump in a big way with 4 hits and his first homerun of the season, but the real star of the game was Luis Padrón, who drove in 4 and got the win with 6 solid innings on the mound. Johnny Bench drove in 3 and Padrón, Bench, Denis Menke, and Oscar Charleston all joined Charles in going yard in the 13-5 win over the Monarchs.
After the game, the ABC’s put Tidrow, who is expected to be out for just over a month, on the DL. Gorham Leverett was recalled from AAA to take Tidrow’s place.
#Kansas City Monarchs
Albert Pujols hit 2 solo shots, but it couldn’t overcome a poor start from Bob Gibson–who couldn’t make it out of the first inning–in a 13-5 loss to Indianapolis.
Smokey Joe Wood is the best pitcher in the WBL right now. He improved to 3-0 with a 2 hit shutout of the ABC’s. Dale Murphy went deep twice for the Monarchs in the game.
Nobody comes close to matching House of David 2B Ryne Sandberg, whose slash line is a ridiculous 455/458/1.273, and he leads the league in homeruns (6) and RBIs (15). Ottawa‘s Larry Walker (11) and Birmingham‘s Albert Belle (10) are the other batters in double digits in RBI.
Houston’s Tony Gwynn is the sole player with a BA over .500, at .552. That’s only good enough to put Gwynn 3rd in the OBP rankings, behind Portland’s Harry Hooper (.577) and Indianapolis‘ Joey Votto (.571).
#Featured Series
Each week we’ll take a look at single series, preferring 4-game sets and teams we haven’t taken a close look at before.
This week, we’ll be focusing on Indianapolis’ visit to Brooklyn. The Royal Giants are 4-1, and the ABC’s started the season 5-0 before losing their last 2 contests.
For Brooklyn, Duke Snider, John Briggs, and Roy White have all started the season with OPS’ over 1.000 while offseason acquisition Pedro Guerrero is scuffling with a slash line of 143/250/214.
Bob Bescher and Joey Votto have been mashing the ball for the ABC’s while Ed Charles is still trying to get some traction going, slashing 190/308/238 over the opening half-dozen games.
Projected Starting Pitchers:
Johnny Cueto (1-0, 0.00) @ Frank Knauss (1-0, 3.38) Luis Padrón (1-0, 0.00) @ Orel Hershiser Sad Sam Jones (0-0, 6.75) @ Smokey Joe Williams (1-0, 1.50) Rube Foster (1-0, 3.00) @ Sandy Koufax (0-1, 2.45)
Game One
Both Johnny Cueto and Frank Knauss had good starts, but while Cueto blinked first (Maury Wills walked, stole a base, and scored on a John Briggs double), Knauss was hit harder, giving up a 2 run shot to Oscar Charleston in the 6th before an Ed Charles double chased him in the 7th. Burleigh Grimes relieved Knauss and gave up RBI doubles to Denis Menke and Joe Morgan.
Lefty James and Rob Dibble followed Cueto with just over 2 innings of hitless relief to seal the deal for Indianapolis. Johnny Bench had 3 hits for the ABC’s.
Pedro Guerrero launched a 3 run shot in the bottom of the 1st, but the Royal Giants couldn’t hold it with RBIs from Oscar Charleston and Jake Stenzel tying the game at 4 in the top of the 5th. After a brief rain delay in the bottom of the 8th, Mike Piazza and Ray Dandridge singled runs home, allowing Brooklyn to bring in their closer, Eric Gagne, with a 6-4 lead. Gagne set the side down in order, and Brooklyn evened up the series, 1-1.
We had a pitchers’ duel in game 3 of the series as Luis Padrón and Smokey Joe Williams were each excellent, but a bit unlucky: despite giving up only 1 earned run in over 6 innings, Williams took the loss and Padrón did not get the win, despite 5 scoreless. Joe Morgan went deep for the ABC’s.
IND 2 (Nolan 1-0; Dibble 3 Sv; James 3 H; Billingham 2 H) @ BRK 1 (Williams 1-1) HRs: IND – Morgan (2). Box Score
Game Four
It sure looked like the ABC’s would take the series: after scoring 6 in the 6th, they had surged to a 8-3 lead heading to the bottom of the 7th. But Art Griggs hit a key 2-run double in that frame, and the Royal Giants were able to rough up Indianapolis’ closer, Rob Dibble, in the bottom of the ninth, scoring runs on a sacrifice fly from Jackie Robinson, an RBI single from Pedro Guerrero, and a game-winning sac fly from Duke Snider.
Robinson hit his first homerun of the year and drove in 4 on the day, and Guerrero, Mike Piazza, and Beals Becker each had 2 hits. Both Brooklyn starter Sandy Koufax and the ABC’s Doc White pitched better than their scorelines represent, but the key was Dibble’s implosion (2 walks and 3 hits in 1/3 of an inning) and Brooklyn’s Darren Dreifort chipping in with 2 scoreless innings for the win.
Of concern for the ABC’s, 2B Joe Morgan had to be lifted for a pinch runner with an apparent elbow injury, but so far no further information is available as to his status.
IND 8 (Dibble 0-1, 1 BSv; Carroll 1 H) @ BRK 9 (Dreifort 1-0; Valenzuela 1 BSv) HRs: IND – Dunn (1); BRK – Robinson (1). Box Score
