Brooklyn Royal Giants

The defending champions won 2 games in walk-off fashion inside 3 days, but both took a while. Duke Snider ended a 12-inning affair with Ottawa with a 2-run homer, 10-8, and Ray Dandridge — last October’s Whirled Series MVP — finished a 13-inning game with a solo shot, giving the Royal Giants a 4-3 win over Ottawa.

Pedro Guerrero had 4 hits and 4 RBIs, including 2 homeruns, in a 12-5 rout of Kansas City. Jackie Robinson drove in 4 in the victory.

Homestead Grays

Josh Gibson seems poised to resist the sophomore slump. He hit a 3-run homer and drove in 5 in a 9-1 win over Indianapolis, then, in the second game of a doubleheader 2 days later, came off the bench to hit a pinch-hit 3-run homer that won it 4-3 — 444 feet, and off the bat at 115 mph, the hardest ball anyone in the division struck all week.

New York Gothams

Christy Mathewson threw the best game of the week: 8 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 13 strikeouts, a game score of 88, and a 4-1 win over Philadelphia. The single hit was a Rico Carty home run which travelled a monstrous 465 ft, which is one way to spoil a no-hitter.

Jim Ray Hart outdid Carty, sending a ball 475 ft off the Stars’ Charlie E Smith in a 9-6 win.

Ottawa Mounties

Carlos Beltrán hit 2 home runs, scored 3 and drove in 3 in a 9-4 win at Brooklyn with Gary Carter adding a 2-run shot of 455 feet and Roy Halladay working 7 innings for the win.

Rick Monday keeps being Rick Monday, hitting 2 out in a 12-inning loss to Brooklyn.

Philadelphia Stars

Charles Rogan continued his brilliance: first, as the DH, he went 5-for-5 — tying the NL single-game record for hits — scoring 3 and driving in 4 in a 10-2 win at the House of David. Then he pitched: 7 innings, 6 hits, no runs, 9 strikeouts, and a 4-0 win over Indianapolis. Chase Utley supplied all 4 runs with a grand slam in that one.

J.M. Ward was nearly as good — 8 innings, 2 hits, no runs, a game score of 82 in a 3-1 win over Indianapolis.

We mentioned Rico Carty’s blast above; Mike Scioscia matched his distance with his own 465 ft shot in a 3-2 win over the Gothams.

Jim Fregosi is back, his 5-game suspension — carried over from spring training for bumping an umpire — now served.

Welcome to Year III! Woot woot!

The Whirled Baseball League opened its third season on the first of April, 2002, but the weather proved a mightier force than the ump crying Play Ball! Four of the ten scheduled openers were impacted by the wet — Houston at Homestead, Birmingham at Brooklyn, Chicago at Baltimore and Los Angeles at Cleveland all went to the tarp, and all four were made up as day-night doubleheaders the following afternoon. Of the six games that did get played, three were interrupted by rain anyway.

After the first week, The Detroit Wolverines sit alone at 6-1. Nobody else in the league has more than five wins. But Detroit is doing it with mirrors: they have scored 43 and allowed 39, which should put them at about 4-3. So we’ll see what holds.

Awards

American League Player of the Week: Dick Allen, Chicago American Giants.

The 24-year-old third baseman opened the year 11-for-27 with three home runs, nine runs batted in and nine runs scored, a .407/.467/.963 line across thirty plate appearances.

National League Player of the Week: Roberto Alomar, Ottawa Mounties.

Fifteen hits in thirty-one at-bats, with two home runs earned Alomar the Award. In one of those early season oddities, he didn’t draw a walk or reach base any other way, so both BA and OBP sit at .484.

Opening Day Games

Kansas City 5, Ottawa 4.

Not a single home run was hit in this one, and it was still the best game of the day. It opened messily on both sides: Kansas City scored twice in the first, one of the runs on a passed ball, and Ottawa gave one straight back in the bottom half on a wild pitch. The Mounties drew level in the third, and there it sat.

Then the sky opened. A thirty-eight minute delay in the fifth ended both starters’ afternoons — Roy Halladay had kept Ottawa in it to that point — and Kansas City came out of the break with two runs in the sixth to lead 4-2.

Ottawa’s answer in the eighth was what lifted the game above the level of the mundane: Eddie Guardado came on for the Monarchs and Roberto Alomar greeted him with a line-drive double. Gary Carter followed with a double of his own — an absolute rocket that left the bat at 111 miles per hour — and Carlos Beltrán scored Carter on a single to center. Tie game, and Kansas City called on Lee Smith to stop the bleeding (which he did).

The winning hit travelled about ninety feet in the air. Doug Rader walked to open the ninth and, after Ted Simmons grounded into a force play, Kolten Wong singled Simmons to second. Frankie Frisch came on to pinch-run from there, tagged up to third on an Ozzie Smith fly ball to right, and scored when Cool Papa Bell beat out a weakly hit infield chopper that left the bat roughly 50 mph slower than Carter’s smash.

Craig Kimbrel set Ottawa down in order in the ninth for the save; the win went to Lee Smith for the eighth.

Benny Kauff finished the day with three hits for the Monarchs.

KAN 5 (Smith 1-0; Kimbrel 1 Sv; Guardado 1 BSv) @ OTT 4 (Dempster 0-1)
HRs: none.
Box Score

San Francisco 5, New York Black Yankees 2.

For six innings this was the pitchers’ duel the marquee promised: Lefty Grove struck out twelve over six and a third — tying the Sea Lions’ franchise record for a single game — and Andy Pettitte matched him nearly stride for stride with six shutout innings and eight strikeouts of his own. Through four the scoreboard was blank in both directions.

Lou Gehrig broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth, taking Grove over the wall with one out for the season’s first run at Yankee Stadium. That held until the seventh, when New York summoned Hoyt Wilhelm to protect the one-run lead.

Whoops. Turkey Stearnes led off the seventh and tied the game on the spot with his opening dinger of the season, and although New York handed Wilhelm a fresh lead in the bottom half — Don Mattingly driving in the go-ahead run for 2-1 — he gave that one back too, and then some. San Francisco put up three in the eighth. Reggie Jackson added a solo shot off David Robertson in the ninth for good measure.

So: blown save, loss, and four earned runs across two innings for Wilhelm, and even on opening day the questions start being asked about the Black Yankees’ bullpen. Trevor Hoffman got the win in relief, Joe Nathan handled the 8th, and Rod Beck finished it off — the Sea Lions’ pen had no such queries asked.

SFS 5 (Hoffman 1-0; Beck 1 Sv) @ NYY 2 (Wilhelm 0-1, 1 BSv)
HRs: SFS – Stearnes (1), Jackson (1); NYY – Gehrig (1).
Box Score

New York Gothams 9, Indianapolis 6.

The week’s largest crowd — 54,814 — was treated to seven home runs (1 by a starting pitcher) and four lead changes. Don Buford led off the bottom of the first by putting a Luis Padrón offering into the seats, and Brandon Crawford did the same in the third.

Indianapolis finally solved Christy Mathewson in the fourth: Johnny Bench went deep with two out, and moments later, with a man aboard, Buddy Bell turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. It lasted one inning. HR Johnson answered with a two-run homer in the fifth, and the Gothams tacked on a couple more in the sixth to lead 6-3 with nine outs to go.

Which is where it got strange. Luis Padrón, still in at the DH for the ABC’s, led off the seventh by homering off Masahiro Tanaka, and two batters later Oscar Charleston hit a two-run shot to tie it at six. Tanaka had blown the save and, in the way these things sometimes go, was about to be rewarded for it: New York retook the lead in the bottom half, and Buford’s second home run of the day, a two-run drive in the eighth, put it out of reach.

Mathewson struck out ten but walked five and got no decision. Tanaka got the win. Nobody got much peace, but the fans got a good show to start the season.

IND 6 (Mitchell 0-1) @ NYG 9 (Tanaka 1-0, 1 BSv; Wilson 1 Sv)
HRs: IND – Charleston (1), Bench (1), Bell (1); NYG – Buford (2), HR Johnson (1), Crawford (1).
Box Score

Detroit 7, Miami 5.

Charlie Root was the story at first — five and two thirds innings, no runs, no walks, and eleven strikeouts. Detroit’s lineup took its time with Miami starter José Méndez, opening with doubles from Bobby Wallace and Charlie Gehringer before Oscar Gamble finally got one out of the park in the fifth. Eustaquio Pedroso came on in relief of Méndez and it went no better — Al Kaline took him deep for two in the seventh, Gehringer in the eighth.

Miami got a two-run shot from Alejandro Oms and three hits from Gary Sheffield, but never was able to overtake the Wolverines.

MCG 5 (Méndez 0-1) @ DET 7 (Root 1-0; Henneman 1 Sv)
HRs: MCG – Oms (1); DET – Gamble (1), Kaline (1), Gehringer (1).
Box Score

Portland 7, Memphis 3.

Walter Johnson started, went three and a third (departing after a rain delay in the 4th), and hit a home run. Paul Molitor added a two-run shot of his own and Ken Griffey Jr had three hits and two runs batted in. Memphis answered through David Ortiz, who drove in three with a homer, and Johnny Briggs, who had three hits, but Portland held the lead throughout.

POR 7 (Trout 1-0) @ MEM 3 (Overmire 0-1)
HRs: POR – Molitor (1), Griffey Jr (1), Johnson (1); MEM – Ortiz (1).
Box Score

Philadelphia 9, Wandering House of David 5.

The ageless wonder that is Rico Carty opened the season by going 4-for-4 with a home run and Roger Peckinpaugh (sitting in at SS for Philadelphia for the suspended Jim Fregosi) drove in three, and Philadelphia was never really threatened once Hardie Henderson got through six. The House of David did get 2 homers from young John Beckwith and another from Anthony Rizzo. Jack Taylor gave up eleven hits in the loss.

PHI 9 (Henderson 1-0) @ HOD 5 (Taylor 0-1)
HRs: PHI – Carty (1), Peckinpaugh (1); HOD – Beckwith (2), Rizzo (1).
Box Score

Bits & Bobs

You Always Remember Your First
Houston’s Pete Hill is 0-for-17 with eight strikeouts. He posted a .800 OPS over 594 plate appearances last season, which makes him the furthest any regular has fallen from his own track. Memphis’s Herman Long is 0-for-10 since being signed to solve shortstop for the Red Sox, and Chicago’s Jay Bell and Birmingham’s Ron Fairly are also hitless.

The Root of Things
Nine and a third innings, seventeen strikeouts — the league lead — and not one walk for Detroit’s Charlie Root.

Singles? We Don’t Need No Stinking Singles.
Baltimore’s Gavy Cravath has six hits this season — three doubles and three home runs. Josh Gibson (Homestead), Manny Ramírez (Memphis), Oscar Gamble (Detroit) and Jack Clark (San Francisco) are also yet to hit a single this season.

Swing, miss, duck.
The Sea Lions’ Lefty Grove has sixteen strikeouts in eleven and a third innings — and a 6.35 earned run average and 0-1 record to show for it.

Who Needs the DH?
Five homeruns came from pitchers during the opening week. 2 came from Charles Rogan (Philadelphia), which isn’t terribly surprising, but Walter Johnson (Portland), Luis Padrón (Indianapolis), and Jim Whitney (Miami) all joined in as well.

Seven Mounties hit 30 home runs last year. Gary Carter hit 57 from behind the plate, Larry Walker hit 54, Álex Rodríguez hit 46 as a 22-year-old shortstop, and , just for grins, Tim Raines stole 115 bases. And, Ottawa finished 76-86, 4th in the Effa Manley Division, 23 games out.

The pitching is where it all went. The staff gave up 6.35 runs a game — 20th out of 20, in a league that averaged 5.38 — and exactly 2 Mounties who threw 20 innings finished under a 5.00 ERA. That would be Bill Smith and BJ Ryan. Twenty-five different men took the ball.

Here’s the complication: nobody in Ottawa knows how bad that staff actually was. The Mounties spent 2001 in the friendliest hitting environment in history, a bandbox of a park that saw ball after ball land in (and beyond) the bleachers.

The net result: Walker’s .998 OPS were worth 1.3 WAR; Rodríguez’s 46 came attached to a 252 average and 1.2 WAR. The counting stats were enormous; the value mostly wasn’t. And whatever that yard was doing to the hitters, it was doing something inverse to the ERAs too — Ottawa just can’t quantify how much.

Hilltop Park is a different building this year: bigger, deeper in the gaps, with homers harder to come by from both sides. It will cost this lineup a pile of home runs, and they’ve never been happier.

▌ 2001 Revisited

Last spring we set the expectation at to not suck, which was either the most honest line we’ve ever printed or the laziest. Ottawa cleared it: 69-85 became 76-86.

The best case wanted Bob Moose, Bob Brown and Roy Halladay back healthy alongside Old Hoss Radbourn, and the young surrounding talent to sort itself out. Halladay held up his end — 195 innings, 15-9, and a 1.26 WHIP that describes his year far better than his 5.17 ERA. However, Moose is still hurt, and Brown is in the minors. Radbourn threw 202 innings of 5.89 ball while surrendering 2.19 homers per 9, which makes him either a near-ace in a launching pad or an innings eater — either way, there’s value there.

The worst case was that the pitching stayed among the worst in the league and none of the potential in Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr or Rodríguez ever surfaced. That landed at about half strength. The pitching wasn’t among the worst — it was the worst. But Rodríguez hit his 46, and Griffey went to Portland in March for Adrián Beltré and a package, which also handed center field to Carlos Beltrán, who promptly went 42-for-45 in steals to complement a deeply respectable .865 OPS.

Johnson is the one who … um … sucked. He threw 100 innings with an 8.16 ERA. His arm is beyond live, but until he can throw strikes, it won’t really matter. Ottawa is determined to give him one more chance — we’ll see how it goes.

One question did get a clean answer. Who is the bullpen? turned out to be Tom Henke, BJ Ryan and Billy Koch, and it went from the roster’s disaster to a relative strength.

▌ Key Changes

In: Nip Winters (FA)

Out: —

Opening Day Rookies: Billy Jurges; Wee Willie Keeler; Billy Koch; Dupee Shaw; Nip Winters

▌ Best Case for 2002

The new park is kind to the arms. Halladay’s ERA falls to meet his peripherals, Smith’s 3.77 across 124 innings turns out to be exactly what it looked like, and most of Radbourn’s home run problem stays behind in the old yard. Johnny Podgajny holds the back end. Max Scherzer, who has climbed from 50th on the prospect board to 6th, arrives and is what the ranking says.

And the offense survives the move. This is the league’s most efficient running team, and a big park with deep gaps is built for that. Carter does it again. Rodríguez and Beltrán are 23 and 25 and continue to improve. Roberto Alomar, the organizational MVP and Heart & Soul winner, continues to be the best second baseman in baseball.

▌ Worst Case for 2002

The park changes and the ERAs don’t, which is the answer nobody in Ottawa wants, because it would mean the yard was never the problem.

Walker — dinged 4 separate times last season — misses another 60 games. Rick Monday‘s 272/364/604 turns out to have been mostly architecture, and a 30-homer DH with nowhere to play becomes a 16-homer DH with nowhere to play. Rusty Staub and Beltré stay below average at the corners. A lineup that scored all those runs while getting nothing from either of them scores a good deal fewer now that the fences have moved.

The other thing that could get found out is the handedness. Walker, Monday, Wee Willie Keeler, John Olerud and Staub all hit left-handed, and there is no real right-handed bat on the roster to break the pattern up.

▌ Key Questions

• Is the staff any good? Halladay’s WHIP and Radbourn’s 8.2 strikeouts per 9 say the top of the rotation is fine. The 25 arms used last year say the depth is not.
• Big Unit or Broken Unit? Two years in we have an ERA over 8, a strikeout rate that would look good on an ace, and a spring in which he punched out 16.8 per 9. Other clubs have asked; Ottawa has said no every time. The patience is thinner than it ever has been.
• Where do the extra bats play? Monday refused to stop hitting, forcing his way into a job that didn’t exist: Beltrán has CF, Walker and Raines have the corners, and Monday is now claiming DH. Olerud, Staub, Bob Watson and John Mayberry are stacked up behind him.

▌ Roster Evaluation

Tier = the player’s 2001 positional grade (S best → F worst; color coded S A B C D F). Bold names carry a substantive WBL track; italic names are pure projection — a hope, not a grade — with no qualifying track to anchor them.

Carter hit 57 home runs, posted a 1.062 OPS and led the club in WAR at 22 — the same age as Emil Gross, the prospect backing him up. Shortstop, meanwhile, falls off a cliff the moment Rodríguez wants a day: Billy Jurges is here as a glove and nothing else.

▌ Talent Ratings

▌ Best In The Minors

Others: P Gary Peters, P Mark Eichhorn, IF John Mayberry, IF Joey Cora.

Graduated to the active roster since the ranked list: Dupee Shaw (3), Wee Willie Keeler (8).

A year ago this list ran 9 deep and was mostly arms. Scherzer is the one who went the right way, from 50th to 6th. The rest went sideways: Al Orth, ranked 4th in all of baseball last spring, is at Triple-A Montréal; Dan Haren, then 30th, spent last season at A-ball and finished at −1.0 WAR. Jim McCormick is new to the list and Ryon Healy is the only position player on it.

▌ Superlatives

Stats across all levels, 2001. 200 PA / 75 IP min (SV: all pitchers). Non-WBL levels tagged.

The Big One

MEM sends OF Mookie Betts, C Billy Bryan, P Jim Kaat, 3rd Round Pick to BRK for P Don Drysdale, P Red Ruffing, 5th Round Pick.

We start off with pretty much a blockbuster: Red Ruffing‘s signing turns out to be a sign and trade as Ruffing and disgruntled starter Don Drysdale head to Memphis for OF Mookie Betts, backup C Billy Bryan, and minor league P Jim Kaat. Brooklyn sends a 5th round pick and Memphis will send a 3rd round pick to even out the deal.

It turns out Drysdale was furious at being surpassed as the #1 starter for Brooklyn, and will now bring his near-manic intensity to the Red Sox, immediately stepping into the top of their rotation along with Stubby Overmire.

Cuban Giants Address Current Need

MCG sends P Jon Matlack, 2nd Round Pick to HOD for P CC Sabathia, 5th Round Pick.

The Cuban Giants addressed a clear need, bringing swingman CC Sabathia over from the House of David. They gave up a prized pitching prospect in Jon Matlack, and took the worst of a pick exchange (a 2nd for a 5th) to bring in Sabathia, who looks to have a shot at the Cuban Giants’ rotation if has a good Spring.

Coming Back Home

OTT sends P Dan Collins, 3rd Round Pick to MCG for P Steve Rogers.

This was about getting Rogers back to his historical franchise to see how that developed.

The Sea Lions Commit Even More

SFS sends IF Royce Clayton to POR for P Trevor Hoffman.

Portland entered these conversations hoping to get back draft picks; instead they ended up with a possible middle infielder for the future–look for an open competition with Clayton and Hughie Jennings in the Spring, while Hoffman walks into a dream situation–no pressure on a near guaranteed contender.

Overall

So much offense. Like … so much.

But only 2 pitchers had ERAs under 5.00. OK, 3 if you count Billy Koch‘s 3 innings. So that’s the issue.

But 7 players hit over 30 homeruns (and Rusty Staub 29), 6 full time (or nearly so) players had OPS’ over .850, and the peaks–Gary Carter, Roberto Alomar, Larry Walker, all 3 of whom both drove in and scored over 100 runs–were shockingly high.

So the question for Ottawa is relatively simple: how does a franchise maintain the offensive performance and get something approaching league average pitching.

What Went Right

Virtually everything related to the offense. We can take this by position.

Gary Carter was the 2nd best catcher in baseball.

Roberto Alomar was the best 2B in baseball.

Álex Rodríguez hit 46 homeruns as a 22 year old SS.

Tim Raines stole 115 bases and scored 119 runs.

Carlos Beltrán hit 35 homeruns, posted an .865 OPS, and went 42-3 in steals.

Larry Walker hit 54 homeruns with a .998 OPS and 126 RBIs.

And that doesn’t even mention the Rick Monday conundrum: Monday slashed 272/364/604 and just relentlessly demanded more and more playing time, most at DH. There is really no space for Monday in Ottawa, but how do you ignore that level of performance?

In 100 PAs, Josh Donaldson was similar: a 269/366/718 slash line, but somewhat blocked.

And then we have the pitching. Um … yeah.

Roy Halladay is quite good, and his 15-9 record and 1.26 WHIP are more reflective of his performance than his 5.17 ERA.

Bill Smith was every bit as good as Halladay while missing some time through injury, finishing with a 10-3 record and a stellar 3.77 ERA.

Tom Henke had a bumpy return from injury, but overall established himself as the closer for the team.

And that’s about it. Johnny Podgajny ate up innings and BJ Ryan was reasonably effective from the pen.

ALL STARS

Roberto Alomar
Álex Rodríguez
Larry Walker

MAJOR AWARDS

Roberto Alomar, NL All-Rounder Award; NL 2B Silver Slugger
Larry Walker, NL RF Silver Slugger

RECOGNITIONS

Gary Carter, Mel Trench Award 3rd Place; All NL 2nd Team; NL 25 & Under Team
Josh Donaldson, NL All Rookie 2nd Team
Rick Monday, All NL 3rd Team; NL 25 & Under Team
Álex Rodríguez, All NL 3rd Team
Rusty Staub, NL 23 & Under Team; NL 21 & Under Team
Sam Thompson, NL All Rookie 2nd Team
Larry Walker, All NL 2nd Team; NL 25 & Under Team; NL 23 & Under Team

ORGANIZATIONAL AWARDS

Roberto Alomar, MVP
Roy Halladay, Pitcher of the Year
Roberto Alomar, Heart & Soul
Gary Carter, Fan Favorite

Billy Koch, Minor League Pitcher of the Year
John Olerud, Minor League Player of the Year

What Went Wrong

The Mounties used twenty-four pitchers. Twenty-four. And while there were injuries a plenty (only Halladay had more than 30 starts, only Podgajny more than 20), there were also an overwhelming number of poor performances. Some of the lowlights:

Randy Johnson continues to struggle, posting an ERA over 8 in just over 100 innings. Johnson’s stuff is electric, but something has to shift or Ottawa needs to give up on him.

Atlee Hammaker was pummeled, allowing 40 homeruns in 89 innings. Read that again. That made Hammaker one of six Ottawa hurlers who averaged giving up at least 4 homeruns per 9 innings. Five pitchers averaged over 5 walks per 9. Max Scherzer did both.

I could go on, but it just hurts so much.

You may have noticed that 1B and 3B weren’t mentioned in the what went right review. Rusty Staub and Adrían Beltré weren’t bad, but they also were below league average for sure.

Roy Sievers and Bob Watson were bad, with each of them unable to get close to .700 OPSs.

Transactions

March

OF Ken Griffey, Jr & 4th Round Pick to POR for IF Adrián Beltré, OF Denard Span, P Atlee Hammaker, P Pedro Ramos, & 2nd Round Pick.

Portland looks to have won this on pure talent, but you have to remember this also allowed Carlos Beltrán to be the everyday CF, and Beltrán was excellent.

July

The Mounties stood pat at the All Star Break, as much for a lack of partners than a lack of desire.

August

The Mounties wanted to do something here, but their valuable pieces are too young–this nucleus holds promise, but may need to be broken up in the quest for pitching.

Positional Overview

C

No idea if Gary Carter can keep doing this, but what a treat The Kid was this year. Look for Emil Gross to return as his backup.

Milt May holds some long-term promise (but of course, it should be remembered that, at 21, is only 1 year younger than Carter and Gross).

1B

The Mounties have a lot of talent here, and its not clear what the right move is. It’s tempting to move Larry Walker here and deal with the surplus in the OF. In the meantime, look for John Olerud to be given every opportunity to seize this role in Spring Training.

But John Mayberry, Rusty Staub, Bob Watson, and Tino Martinez all have their supporters, and are likely to be useful WBL players at some point, either here or elsewhere.

2B

Very few people had Roberto Alomar supplanting Eddie Collins as the best 2B in the WBL, but that happened. Especially with that development, look for Tim Raines‘ occasional forays into the infield to become more and more rare.

Jimmy Dykes and Joey Cora each hold some promise in the system.

SS

Nobody is wishing Ottawa kept Freddy Parent now … Álex Rodríguez is not very far from being the best SS in the league: 46 homers at 22 will do that.

The system is pretty barren after that, with Henry Easterday and Dick Bartell offering some defensive options, but little else.

3B

Adrian Beltré has some detractors, but he’ll be here for a while, although Josh Donaldson is giving him some competition. Larry Parrish and Art Devlin are the most likely options if needed while Kyle Seager will push for playing time at some point.

It’s assumed that, eventually, Rodríguez will shift here, but that’s a problem for a future day.

LF/RF

Tim Raines in left and Larry Walker in right feel very set, although Walker’s continued injury struggles are worrisome (and part of why the move to 1B could be attractive).

There are options: Wee Willie Keeler is turning heads throughout the system; Rusty Staub, while slow, isn’t too slow for the outfield yet; and Sam Thompson has done nothing but hit when given the opportunity.

And that’s ignoring Ryan Klesko, Jackie Jensen, Terry Puhl, Jason Heyward, Warren Cormartie …

CF

Giving Carlos Beltrán the fulltime job was a great decision in hindsight. But it does nothing to help Ottawa figure out what to do with Rick Monday, who will be taking as many reps in RF as possible during Spring Training.

Others can play the position, but the only dedicated CF worth noting in the system is 20 year old Denard Span.

DH

Rick Monday, we guess?

SP

Health is such a cruel mistress.

In a perfect world, Ottawa would go with Roy Halladay and Bill Smith; Old Hoss Radbourn would step up, becoming more than an innings eater; Bill Smith or Bob Moose or Bob Brown or Gary Peters or Dupee Shaw or Max Scherzer or, well, anyone, would step up; and, most fantastically, the immense talent of Randy Johnson would show up, like, at all.

It could be a bizarre Spring.

RP

There is reason for optimism, as the closing trio of Tom Henke, BJ Ryan, and Billy Koch could be quite good.

Beyond those three, look for the fallout of the starting competition to end up here. Greg Holland, Rick Camp, and Mark Eichhorn all have potential to help, but may be a bit far from the WBL at this point.

Draft Outlook

DRAFT PICKS

1st Round: 1
2nd Round: 2
3rd Round: 1
4th Round: 0
5th Round: 1

Look for … how many picks do they have? 4? … four pitchers to be selected.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

With the division locked up, look for Dickie Thon to see time this final week as he makes his way back from injury and Dick Redding to get some ABs as well as a start or 2.

George Hendrick hit 2 out, but Brooklyn fell to Ottawa, 10-7. Hendrick has been tearing the cover off the ball since he came over from Philadelphia, and is making a very strong case for a role in the postseason for the Royal Giants.

The Royal Giants hit four consecutive homeruns, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to Birmingham, 11-9. Ray Dandridge, John Briggs, Jackie Robinson, and Beals Becker all went deep in the 7th, part of an 8 run explosion that gave Brooklyn a 9-5 lead. The usually dependable Trevor Hildenberger imploded, however, leading to the surprising defeat.

#Homestead Grays

The Grays recalled Paul Waner, Sterling Marte, Moose Haas, and Ray Brown for the final few games of the season.

Josh Gibson hit 2 out and nudged his BA back up to .396 as he chases .400 over the last few games of the season, but Homestead fell to Birmingham, 6-5. 2 more hits from Gibson nudged his average back to exactly .400 with 2 games to play as the Grays fell to Ottawa, 10-3.

#Ottawa Mounties

Chris Bosio and Mike Sharperson were sent to AAA to clear room for Dave Gregg and Mike Dorgan‘s return from their rehab assignments.

Bill Crouch will miss the last few games of the season, with Mike Minor being recalled.

Josh Donaldson hit 2 out as the Mounties rolled over the Grays, 10-3.

#Philadelphia Stars

Harmon Killebrew hit 2 homeruns, but the Stars faltered, falling 15-8 to Indianapolis.

Sherry Magee and Charles Rogan each drove in 5 (Rogan on 4 hits) and Odúbel Herrera scored 4 times as the Stars put an old fashioned whupping on the Gothams, 16-1. Rogan and Herrera doubled twice and Bill Dickey, Aaron Judge, and Killebrew each went deep in support of an excellent start from Ray Collins, who pitched 7 shutout innings allowing only 3 hits.

Both Scott Rolen and Judge hit 2 homeruns on the final day of the season, leading the Stars to an 8-4 win over the New York Gothams.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Dickie Thon was recalled from a rehab assignment, along with Dick Redding, Eric Karros, and Raúl Mondesi. With Brooklyn having clinched the pennant, look for Karros and Jim Gentile to platoon at 1B, and for Redding to get a few starts in the final 2 weeks of the season.

Redding pitched well in his first start, but wasn’t around for the decision in a 5-4, 12 inning win over Kansas City. Ron Cey went deep twice, as the victory went to Trevor Hildenberger, who improved to 6-2 on the year.

With Dan Brouthers‘ return from injury, Karros was returned to the minors.

John Briggs hit 2 out, giving him 30 on the year, as the Royal Giants beat the Gothams, 7-6 in 10 innings.

#Homestead Grays

David Price will miss most of the reset of the season with young Tim Lincecum being recalled for a few more WBL innings.

#New York Gothams

Despite a decent showing in his last outing, the Gothams sent Guy Hecker down to take a look at young Masahiro Tanaka, who impressed all season at AA.

While Christy Mathewson and Gaylord Perry may each get a start or 2 as the year winds down, the Gothams are looking at the last 2 weeks as a time to audition arms for next year. With that in mind, OFs George Van Haltren and Ben Oglivie were traded out for Wally Berger and Fred Lewis.

Benny Kauff hit 2 out and Tanaka had a solid debut as the Gothams edged Homestead, 8-7.

#Ottawa Mounties

Clark Griffith was sent back to the minors, allowing the Mounties to take a look at Billy Koch, who has a chance at a bullpen role next year.

Larry Walker‘s magnificent season may be over, as the OF/1B with a near 1.000 OPS heads to the DL. Mike Sharperson was recalled from AAA for the final 10 days of the season.

Max Scherzer strained a hamstring, landing the young right-hander on the 60 Day DL. Chris Bosio was recalled for the final week.

#Philadelphia Stars

With AAA club Norfolk being knocked out of the playoffs, the Stars recalled Ps Don Newcombe and John Burkett, IFs Jung Ho Kang and Harmon Killebrew, C Sherm Lollar, and OF Odúbel Herrera.

Harry Hooper–who has struggled since joining the Stars–will miss the rest of the season with a foot injury. Rafael Palmiero was recalled, creating even more of a logjam at 1B for the Stars.

With Bill Gatewood‘s return from injury, Burkett was returned to the minors.

Newcombe made a statement in his first start of the year, twirling a 3-hit, complete game shutout of Ottawa. Powered by a grandslam from Scott Rolen as well as homeruns from Aaron Judge and Chase Utley, the Stars rolled to a 7-0 win. Newcombe fanned 7 and didn’t walk anyone, showing the promise that made him so highly rated before a disastrous season last year when he led the WBL in losses. Perhaps now, on his 3rd franchise, the 31 year old is finally set to deliver.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Dickie Thon began a rehab assignment, marking a return from a long term injury.

Two relievers, Jeff Montgomery and Dick Tidrow, announced their retirement. Tidrow amassed 70 somewhat mediocre appearances over his career with the House of David, the New York Black Yankees, and Indianapolis.

Ron Cey hit 2 out, but the Royal Giants were downed by a late inning bullpen collapse, falling to Homestead, 13-4.

#Homestead Grays

Gary Lucas and Nip Winters were recalled from AA champions Syracuse.

#New York Gothams

37 year old minor league 1B Dan Johnson unsurprisingly announced his retirement.

#Ottawa Mounties

Dave Gregg and Mike Dorgan began rehab assignments as they try to make it back to Ottawa before the end of the year.

P Kirk McCaskill retired.

Emerging superstar Roberto Alomar tied a league record with 5 steals in a 9-6 win over the New York Gothams. Alomar had 2 hits and 3 RBIs, giving him 99 on the year, in a game that saw Rusty Staub, Sam Thompson, Gary Carter, and Josh Donaldson all go deep for Ottawa.

#Philadelphia Stars

Minor league pitcher Shane Greene announced his retirement.

Aaron Judge went deep twice and the Stars topped Homestead, 8-3. Charles Rogan improved to 12-9 with 7 shutout innings.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Brooklyn recalled reliever Juan Mateo from his rehab assignment and pulled C Kelly Shoppach up from AA for the rest of the stretch drive.

Dan Brouthers will miss about a week, heading to the DL with Brooklyn recalling Jim Gentile from AAA.

Duke Snider hit 2 homeruns as the Royal Giants doubled up the Stars, 8-4.

#Homestead Grays

Bartolo Colón–virtually unhittable over his first 25 innings in the WBL–has been named to Homestead’s rotation for the final weeks of the season. He turned heads immediately, fanning 10 in 6 shutout innings against the Gothams in a game the Grays would eventually lose in 11 innings, 4-2.

#New York Gothams

Minor league OF Hosken Powell retired.

Willie Mays hit 2 out including a go ahead grandslam as the Gothams came from behind to top Homestead, 7-5.

#Ottawa Mounties

Bryn Smith‘s year is likely done as the righty heads to the DL with a strained forearm. The Mounties recalled Bill Crouch from his rehab assignment to take Smith’s place on the roster.

Emil Gross hit 2 homeruns, one of which a grand slam, but Ottawa fell to the House of David, 10-7.

#Philadelphia Stars

Closer Bob Howry began a rehab assignment, likely to return to Philadelphia over the weekend. When promising hurler Bill Gatewood hit the DL with an oblique strain, the Stars went ahead and recalled Howry after a single AAA appearance.

Brad Kilby, reasonably effective all year as a late inning lefty, will miss a couple of weeks through injury. Pedro Feliciano will take Kilby’s role, with Tommy Hunter being promoted from AAA.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Ron Cey hit 2 out and Fernando Valenzuela put in another fine effort as the Royal Giants topped the Gothams, 9-1. Valenzuela improved to 12-4 on the year with the complete game effort.

Cey did it again, reaching 36 homers on the year with 2 more deep balls. Here, his second was a walkoff in a 4-2 win over the Gothams. Then it was John Briggs‘ turn, who hit 2 out in a 5-3 win over Ottawa.

And then it was 2 from Duke Snider in a 14-2 rout of Ottawa. Orel Hershiser fanned a dozen, improving his record to 17-5 and lowering his ERA under 4.00. Roy White, Beals Becker, and Mike Piazza also went deep in the dominant victory.

#Homestead Grays

Ricardo Rincón was recalled from his rehab assignment.

Goose Goslin hit out 2 to no avail as the Grays fell to Philadelphia, 7-2.

#New York Gothams

The Gothams gave up 3 hits, but unfortunately 2 of them were 2-run homeruns as they fell to Brooklyn, 4-2.

Larry Doyle hit 2 out of the park as the Gothams doubled up Kansas City, 8-4.

#Ottawa Mounties

Gary Carter hit 2 out, but the Mounties fell to Birmingham, 13-4.

#Philadelphia Stars

Scott Rolen hit 2 homeruns leading the Stars to a come from behind win over Kansas City, 8-7 in 11 innings.

Aaron Judge had himself a day, going 5 for 6 with 2 homeruns and 6 RBIs as the Stars trounced the Grays, 18-7. Philadelphia hit 7 homeruns on the day, with Ted Kluszewski, Rico Carty, Art Fletcher, Scott Rolen, and Bill Dickey all also knocking one over the fence.