Tag: Pedro Guerrero Page 1 of 5

TWIWBL 87.4: The First Basemen

On February 1, 2026

There are some names missing here that may be expected–be sure to look at the DH summary to find most of them.

This group is totally dominated by the AL, with no NL first baseman showing up until the B Tier.

We have our standard defensive stats here, with the leaders in bold and the worst performers in italics. Range Factor (RF) measures the number of plays made per game–the higher the better. Zone Rating (ZR) attempts to credit players for plays other fielders missed and ding them for plays other fielders made–the higher the better, and it has the benefit of being comparative across the position. Defensive Efficiency (dEff) measures the rate at which an individual fielder contributes to outs being made on balls put into play, with any score over 1.000 being a net positive impact. Finally, Fielding Percentage (fPct) reflects the percentage of times a chance was handled without a mistake–if someone made no errors, their fPct would be 1.000.

Of these, Range Factor is the most susceptible to the impact of the pitching staff and the ballpark, although none of these defensive ratings are perfect.

#S Tier

That’s right, none. Maybe Jim Thome belongs here? Lou Gehrig certainly does, but he played primarily as a DH this season. S Tier is supposed to be hard, and a simple 1.000 OPS doesn’t automatically grant entry.

#A Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
AL	CLE	Lance Berkman	29	276/369/633	57 HR 143 RBI 112 R	7.70 RF
AL	SFS	Jack Clark	29	257/380/605	51 HR 115 RBI 107 R 101 BB	8.36 RF
AL	DET	Hank Greenberg	24	266/352/672	59 HR 134 RBI 107 R	8.27 RF
AL	CAG	Frank Thomas	24	296/411/580		.991 fPct -2.6 ZR .944 dEff
AL	MCG	Jim Thome	28	267/375/659	59 HR 122 RBI 101 R	.993 fPct -4.0 ZR .961 dEff

This comes down to the choice between Thome and Hank Greenberg, and there’s not much to choose from between them. Note how bad this group is defensively–it just doesn’t matter much when you’re mashing the ball like this.

Frank Thomas‘ injury must be noted, with the Big Hurt expected to be out well into next season.

#B Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
NL	HOU	Jeff Bagwell	24	266/378/548	35 HR 112 RBI
NL	BRK	Dan Brouthers	25	317/363/587	23 SB
NL	NYG	Will Clark	28	292/367/585	33 HR
AL	LAA	Carlos Delgado	32	251/342/585	44 HR	.993 fPct
AL	POR	Kent Hrbek	25	289/346/575	37 HR
–	CAG/ BBB	Paul Konerko	34	288/380/584	36 HR	.998 fPct 2.9 ZR 1.050 dEff
AL	MEM	David Ortiz	27	280/371/676	34 HR
NL	HOD	Anthony Rizzo	24	287/391/594

Paul Konerko‘s defense may actually move him up into the group above, but in general the gap between this group and, say, Jack Clark, remains significant. Additionally, Konerko barely played enough in the field to qualify here–as a DH, there’s no chance he moves up a tier.

David Ortiz‘ performance probably shifts him up a level, but limited appearances and a fair bit of time at DH keeps him here for now. The same argument could be made for Anthony Rizzo and Dan Brouthers. For both, we have erred on the side of caution.

#C Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
AL	BAL	Dan McGann	38	286/400/495		9.13 RF
NL	KCM	Boog Powell	28	254/349/500		9.12 RF 3.4 ZR
NL	IND	Joey Votto	32	246/381/521	36 HR 32 SB	1.000 fPct 5.1 ZR 1.036 dEff

Mirroring the top group, all of this great defense leaves this trio as solid, respectable starters, but not much better than that. Dan McGann is actually pretty much done, with Baltimore already declaring Eddie Murray next year’s starter, but Boog Powell and Joey Votto should keep seeing action for a few more seasons at least.

#D Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Def
NL	HOM	Mike Epstein	26	215/347/495	-3.3 ZR .960 dEff
NL	BBB	Adrián González	27	252/310/487
AL	NYY	Don Mattingly	26	286/304/502	1.027 dEff
NL	OTT	Rusty Staub	21	268/333/508	.998 fPct
AL	MEM	Bill White	29	264/311/528	.993 fPct 9.05 RF

Homestead may be looking to move on from Mike Epstein given this season’s struggles, while Ottawa believes Rusty Staub will improve dramatically. Memphis has already indicated that Bill White has lost his job to Ortiz (see above). Don Mattingly and Adrián González are both conundrums: the swing is sweet, but the production is not, and both are preventing higher output players from time in the field.

#F Tier

Lg	Tm	Name	Age	Slash	Other	Def
NL	BRK	Pedro Guerrero	29	236/303/445
NL	PHI	Ted Kluszewski	31	245/289/436

Pedro Guerrero played most at 1B, but also saw action at 3B and the OF. Regardless, this is not the offensive performance the Royal Giants were looking for when they obtained him. Ted Kluszewski is likely to lose his starting job next season.

#Rookies

David Ortiz (B-Tier).

TWIWBL 86.4: Year 2 Whirled Series, Games 3, 4 & 5

By mknn

On January 26, 2026

In 2001 Playoffs, 2001 Whirled Series, TWIWBL

Well that was quite a surprise … Brooklyn heads to San Francisco, and wins 2 games against the best team in baseball. Now they have a chance to shock the world and clinch the Whirled Series on their home turf.

They’ve had a day off, but we’ll see how the 12 inning affair in game 2 affects both of these staffs.

#Game 3, Tue Oct 25.

18 game winner Bump Hadley will take the mound for San Francisco, while Don Drysedale will get the start in front of the home team.

Jimmie Foxx continued a solid postseason with a solo shot in the 2nd inning, which was all the scoring through 3. If anyone had dominated the game, it was San Francisco’s Mickey Cochrane, who had gunned down 3 runners on the basepaths, keeping Brooklyn from mounting a threat.

Two walks, 2 steals, and a single loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the 4th, but Drysedale essentially escaped: one run scored on a sacrifice fly from Turkey Stearnes, but Foxx grounded into a hard double play, leaving the score 2-0, Sea Lions.

Hadley ran into a similar situation in the bottom of the 5th: 2 walks and a hit batsmen loaded the bases with no outs for Duke Snider. Brooklyn took advantage, however: a sacrifice fly scored the first run, a bases loaded walk to John Briggs the second, and then a Dan Brouthers double scored 3 more, sending the home crowd into a frenzy: the Royal Giants led 5-2 at the end of 5.

A solo shot from Reggie Jackson chased Drysedale and narrowed the gap to 2 runs at 5-3. Brooklyn restored the 3 run edge on a solo shot from Roy White in the 6th.

Cochrane continued to put on a clinic, erasing six–SIX–runners on the basepaths and even inspiring Mike Piazza to throw someone out.

Frank Knauss has taken being pulled out of the rotation in the offseason as a challenge: here, he struck out the first 5 batters he faced in relief of Drysedale before giving up a single to Dick Lundy leading off the 8th. That summoned Trevor Hildenberger from the pen, who was brilliant during the season, but had been battered in the postseason so far. But here, he was effective, keeping San Francisco off the board, and reducing the Royal Giants’ focus to 3 remaining outs.

Brooklyn extended their lead, flexing their longball muscles: Piazza and White went deep back-to-back in the bottom of the 8th. So the Royal Giants took a 9-3 edge to the top of the 9th. The extra runs had an added importance, as they may allow Brooklyn to rest Eric Gagne, with Terry Forster being brought in for the top of the frame.

And Forster closed it out, putting San Francisco in the hardest of spots, down 3-0.

Brouthers had 3 hits, driving in 3, and both Piazza and White 2 hits and 2 RBIs each. But the real story was a solid start from Drysedale and superlative work from the bullpen: Knauss recorded 5 outs, all strikeouts, and Hildenberger and Forster closed it out allowing only a walk between them.

And, without Cochrane’s heroics, it would have been worse: he finished the game with a WBL record 8 assists.

SFS 3 (Hadley 2-1) @ BRK 9 (Drysdale 201; Knauss 1 H; Hildenberger 5 H)
HRs: SFS – Foxx (7), Jackson (8); BRK – White 2 (5), Piazza (12).
Box Score

#Game 4, Fri Oct 26

This is just so shocking … Brooklyn, at home, with a 3-0 lead in the Whirled Series. Here we go.

The Royal Giants would turn to Fernando Valenzuela, holding to their 4 man rotation, while the Sea Lions would start Tommy Bridges, with everyone available in their bullpen.

Once again the Sea Lions struck first, when doubles from Turkey Stearnes and Jimmie Foxx were followed by a homerun from Bobby Bonds. When the dust settled, San Francisco held a 4-0 early lead. Jack Clark would double home another in the 3rd, and the Sea Lions would plate their 6th run on a sac fly.

A solo shot from Reggie Jackson in the 5th would chase Valenzuela, and the Sea Lions would add 2 more in the 6th against recently recalled Dick Redding.

Meanwhile, Bridges was rolling, only losing the shutout in the bottom of the 6th on solo homers from John Briggs and Ron Cey. A single by Mike Piazza chased Bridges with a 9-2 lead.

Each team scored some more, but the game was settled. So San Francisco only needs to do this 3 more times.

Bonds, Foxx, Clark, and Rickey Henderson all had 2 hits in a balanced attack for the Sea Lions. As importantly, none of their main starters had to work out of the bullpen, setting them up decently for the next (and hopefully later) games.

SFS 13 (Bridges 1-0) @ BRK 4 (Valenzuela 0-1)
HRs: SFS – Bonds (6), Jackson (9); BRK – Briggs (2), Cey (6).
Box Score

#Game 5, Sat Oct 27

Smokey Joe Williams, so impressive in game one, will take the hill for Brooklyn, with San Francisco’s ace, Lefty Grove, trying to keep the series alive.

Pedro Guerrero will get a rare start for the game for Brooklyn, adding another right handed bat to their mix as they try to clinch the title.

Jackie Robinson took Grove deep in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead for the home team. San Francisco would tie it in the 3rd on a single by Bobby Bonds, who then stole 2nd and 3rd before scoring on a sac fly from Dick Lundy, but the Royal Giants regained the lead immediately on a solo shot from Beals Becker. Another sacrifice fly, this one from Turkey Stearnes, would tie the game in the 4th, 2-2.

Guerrero came through in the bottom of the frame with a 2 out single, scoring Piazza. Another run scored on a wild pitch, and another on a single by Ray Dandridge, taking Grove out of the game. After 4 innings, Brooklyn was up, 5-2.

Reggie Jackson drove in 1 in the top of the 5th.

A single and a walk in the top of the 6th led to Williams’ departure, with Frank Knauss coming in for the final out of the inning, preserving Brooklyn’s 2 run edge, 5-3. Knauss was touched for a solo shot by Rickey Henderson in the 7th, but that was it: we had a 1 run game with Brooklyn needing 6 more outs.

Terry Forster retired 3 straight in the top of the 8th. 3 outs.

And in comes Eric Gagne. Frank Grant lined to first, but a Dick Lundy single put the tying run on base with the top of the order coming up for San Francisco in the form of Henderson. Lundy swiped second, but Rickey struck out. So here we are, the Sea Lions’ catcher, Mickey Cochrane, defensively dominant all series, against Gagne.

It’s a hard ball to the right side that slides under Robinson’s glove, with Lundy coming home to tie the game! Gagne would whiff Jackson, but the damage had been done, and we were, for the second time this series, headed to extra innings.

Trevor Hildenberger took over for Brooklyn in the top of the 10th and walked Jack Clark. Jim Devlin replaced Clark at first, but was cut down trying to steal with 2 outs.

John Briggs led off the bottom of the 10th with a double, and was replaced by the speedier George Hendrick. Cochrane would do it again, however, nailing Hendrick as he tried to swipe 3rd.

It didn’t matter: Jackie Robinson would take Rod Beck deep for his 2nd homerun of the day, and a walkoff, Whirled Series clinching shot over the right-centerfield wall!

And the Royal Giants have shocked the baseball world, taking the Whirled Series from the heavily favored San Francisco Sea Lions, 6-5 in 10 innings!

Robinson had 2 hits–the 2 homers–and Guerrero paid back the trust shown him with 2 hits as well but again this was mostly a story of the Royal Giants’ bullpen as, despite the run allowed by Gagne, they brought the series home.

SFS 5 (Beck 0-2) @ BRK 6 (Hildenberger 1-0; Gagne 2 B Sv; Forster 4 H; Knauss 2 H) [10 Innings]
HRs: SFS – Henderson (3); BRK – Robinson 2 (3), Becker (5).
Box Score

Roy White‘s 3 homeruns and sentimental value earned him the series MVP, over Smokey Joe Williams (1-0, 1.98 and 17 strikeouts in just under 14 innings) and Mike Piazza, who was bidding to win the MVP for the 3rd consecutive postseason series. Piazza hit well–2 homeruns and 6 RBI’s, but ultimately White’s 1.476 OPS and 3 homeruns took home the honors.

For the Sea Lions, it was more about who didn’t show up than who did: Bobby Bonds, Dick Lundy, Turkey Stearnes, Rickey Henderson, and Frank Grant all finished with OPS’ below–and in some cases well below–.700 for the series, with only Jimmie Foxx and Reggie Jackson really putting in decent showings offensively.

Whirled Series II is in the books!

TWIWBL 86.2: Whirled Series Preview!

By mknn

On January 24, 2026

In 2001 Playoffs, 2001 Whirled Series, TWIWBL

And here we are for all the marbles … in the end, it’s the series most people wanted, where the 2 teams with the best records in the regular season meet to decide the champion.

From the AL, we have the San Francisco Sea Lions, who finished with the best record in the WBL and 103 wins. They’ll face the Brooklyn Royal Giants, who led the NL with 99 regular season wins.

We’ll do a more detailed preview here, as befits the Whirled Series.

#Starting Pitching

What a pair of staffs we have here …

Brooklyn has a legit top 5, and while Frank Knauss hasn’t seen much action in the postseason, when your #5 starter has a WAR of 3.3 and a WHIP of 1.34, you’re doing OK.

Orel Hershiser (19-5, 3.69) will lead the way, followed by Don Drysedale (11-8, 5.66), Smokey Joe Williams (12-13, 3.93), and Fernando Valenzuela (14-5, 3.69). Some things jump out: first, Drysedale’s ERA. At the end of June, Drysedale was 5-4 with a 7.00 ERA. Since then, he shaved nearly a run off his ERA and won 5 in a row before a bit of a late season slump. Second, Smokey Joe’s record, which is largely inexplicable, other than pitching is weird. His FIP, SIERA, OPS against, etc. are all pretty fantastic. 5 of the losses came in games where Williams delivered a game score over 50, so it seems fine to chalk it up to an extraordinary run of bad luck.

But San Francisco can hold their heads high in the matchup, at least in the first 3 spots, where Lefty Grove (16-6, 4.40), Eddie Plank (20-6, 4.42) and Bump Hadley (18-6, 4.10) form the best rotation in the AL. It’s not clear who starts game 4 for San Francisco, but Tim Hudson, Tommy Bridges, Jim Devlin, and Watty Clark all were quite solid during the season.

Still Brooklyn has a top 4, San Francisco has a top 3, and Brooklyn generally allowed about 1/2 a run less. So, edge Brooklyn as San Francisco faces perhaps the only team where that would be true.

#Relief Pitching

San Francisco had a great back end to their bullpen, and then they acquired Joe Nathan. Nathan had racked up 22 saves as Los Angeles’ closer, but slid easily into a setup role with the Sea Lions, combining with Ken Howell to create a bridge to Rod Beck, whose 41 saves led the WBL. The three of them combined for 69 saves and 22 holds over the season, and while each had struggled at times, Beck finished with a 1.00 WHIP and Howell with a 2.79 ERA. Nathan’s arrival moved Huston Street down a notch in the pecking order, but he’s still a reasonable option.

If Beck wasn’t the best closer in the game, Brooklyn’s Eric Gagne was. Gagne had 39 saves and better peripheral numbers than Beck, proving nearly unhittable over the season. Trevor Hildenberger and Terry Forster were fantastic getting him the ball, with solid support from Dave Von Ohlen. Those 3 combined for 34 holds, although there have been some wobbles as of late. Mention must be made as well of Sandy Koufax, who started the year in Brooklyn’s rotation, but has been even more effective since joining the pen. Koufax’s stuff is eye-popping, and he finished the season with a 1.16 WHIP while averaging nearly 10 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Too close to call imo. Call this one even.

#C

Both teams are extremely strong here. Brooklyn’s Mike Piazza might be the best hitting backstop not named Josh Gibson, finishing the year with 48 homers, 117 RBI’s, and a 297/329/614. The Sea Lions’ Mickey Cochrane gets on base more than Piazza, but his over OPS is 60 points lower. Piazza is also on fire, coming into the Whirled Series having been the MVP of both the Wild Card and Division series. So, despite Cochrane slashing 289/371/513 and being a notch above Piazza defensively, the Royal Giants have a clear edge here.

#1B/3B

Ron Cey was Brooklyn’s best offensive player throughout the season, finishing with 47 homers and a 1.038 OPS. At 1B, when healthy, Dan Brouthers has been excellent, slashing 317/363/587 and, when Brouthers was unavailable, the Royal Giants turned to a mixture of Jackie Robinson and Pedro Guerrero.

But San Francisco counters with 100 homeruns and over 200 RBIs between Jack Clark and Jimmie Foxx. Clear edge, San Francisco.

#2B/SS

This one gets complicated.

San Francisco now trots out Dick Lundy and Frank Grant, who came over in a midseason trade. Lundy and Grant have 100 steals between them, and play great defense. Lundy hit better than Grant, but both are above average for their positions. The Sea Lions have Royce Clayton and his shocking .900+ OPS on the bench, along with the very versatile Phil Garner.

2B for Brooklyn is held down by Robinson, generally considered the heart and soul of the Royal Giants while hitting 288/369/549 with 52 steals. So that’s a clear edge for Brooklyn. But SS has been a struggle for the Royal Giants all year, with a mixture of Ray Dandridge and midseason acquisition Vern Stephens. Stephens .800 OPS with Brooklyn has been great, but is also far above his lifetime performance. Dandridge, on the other hand, is hitting over .400 in the postseason, but that’s an OPS 200 points above his season performance.

So, sure, Brooklyn could have the edge here. Could, if Stephens or Dandridge continue to overperform. But you really have to assume the Sea Lions edge it in the middle infield.

#OF/DH

More separation here.

Brooklyn’s trio of John Briggs, Beals Becker, Duke Snider, and Roy White are all good, with roughly 150 homeruns between them. Becker has speed, White gold glove level defense, and their OPS’ run from .934 (Briggs) to .849 (White). So … absolutely solid.

And then there’s San Francisco. Turkey Stearnes, Reggie Jackson, Bobby Bonds, and Rickey Henderson combined for about the same number of homeruns, but Henderson’s 126 steals led the WBL, the defense is comparable, and while Henderson and White have comparable OPS’, Stearnes and Jackson are both solidly above Briggs.

Clear edge to San Francisco.

#Overall

So, it comes down to a question of whether Brooklyn’s edge on the mound can suppress San Francisco’s superior firepower. It’s not clear they can, and while the teams should be quite close, San Francisco won more in the regular season and should prevail here.

But Brooklyn has a shot, and should certainly make it difficult.

Let’s say San Francisco in 6, with 5 of them being close games.

TWIWBL 84.7: NL Wild Card Round – Indianapolis ABC’s v Brooklyn Royal Giants

By mknn

On January 12, 2026

In 2001 Playoffs, TWIWBL

#Game 1, Wed Oct 3rd

Brooklyn surprised some fans by going with Orel Hershiser in the opening game of the series. Hershiser’s credentials are clear–19 wins and a sub 4.00 ERA–but Don Drysedale is (was?) the established ace of Brooklyn’s staff. We’ll see if this fires up Drysedale in Game 2, but that’s for another day.

Today, Hershiser will face the best pitcher in the league, Indianapolis’ Luis Padrón.

The game was scoreless with each hurler allowing only a single hit until Indianapolis’ Johnny Bench took Hershiser deep to lead off the top of the 5th. Hershiser drilled George Foster in the back–as you do–but escaped without allowing additional runs.

The bottom of the 6th saw the first challenge for Padrón: a walk to John Briggs was followed by a single by Jackie Robinson. Padrón whiffed Ron Cey but Mike Piazza took him deep to right, putting Brooklyn on top, 3-1. Even though he was done on the mound, Padrón wasn’t finished, though: he took Hershiser deep in the top of the 7th, once more tying the game.

Clay Carroll took over on the mound from Padrón, and was greeted quite rudely: Duke Snider and Vern Stephens singled and Beals Becker followed with a 3 run shot, doubling the Royal Giants’ advantage to 6-3. Carroll was relieved by Rube Foster, who fared little better as Piazza hit his 2nd of the day, putting Brooklyn on top, 8-3.

Stephens added a solo shot for the final tally, 9-3 in favor of Brooklyn.

Piazza drove in 5 and Stephens and Robinson chipped in with 2 hits each for Brooklyn.

IND 3 (Carroll 0-1) @ BRK 9 (Hershiser 1-0)
HRs: IND – Bench (1), Padrón (1); BRK – Piazza 2 (2), Becker (1), Stephens (1).
Box Score

#Game 2, Thu Oct 4

The key second game would fall to Johnny Cueto for Indianapolis. Brooklyn turns to Don Drysedale, and the question on everyone’s mind is how the big righthander would react to being passed over for the opening game.

Brooklyn’s Dickie Thon continues to be sidelined with an abdominal strain, but Indianapolis has regained the services of OF Emil Frisk, a useful piece off the bench, perhaps.

Drysedale struggled in the top of the first, giving up a double and a walk. But he also whiffed 2, and escaped the frame without harm. Brooklyn would take the lead on a sacrifice fly, taking advantage of an error by Indianapolis’ Barry Larkin, for an early 1-0 lead.

Oscar Charleston took Drysedale deep with a runner on, putting the ABC’s ahead, 2-1. But Indianapolis’ fielding would continue to betray them, with Jackie Robinson reaching on a miscue by Chris Sabo at 3rd and then scoring on a poor throw from Bescher in left on a Ron Cey single. Clearly frustrated, Cueto delivered a belt high fastball to Mike Piazza, who promptly hit it out. 4-2, Brooklyn.

Cueto surrendered another homerun–a solo shot to Vern Stephens–before a John Briggs single chased him from the game.

Drysedale toughed it out through 6 innings, fanning 7 and exiting with the Royal Giants up, 5-2.

Frisk would get his chance: Johnny Bench greeted Burleigh Grimes with a double, and moved to 3rd on a groundout, bringing Frisk to the plate, pinch-hitting for Tommy Helms. But Grimes prevailed, retiring Frisk and Larkin to maintain Indianapolis’ edge.

Bescher atoned for his fielding mistake with a leadoff homerun in the 8th off Terry Forster, but Rob Murphy continued to struggle on the mound, allowing a double to Dan Brouthers and a triple to Jackie Robinson. So we head to the 9th with Brooklyn ahead, 6-3 and Eric Gagne coming in from the bullpen.

Gagne was not his usual self, walking Adam Dunn and Bench to start the 9th. But he recovered, fanning 2 and getting a groundout from Larkin to end the game and put the Royal Giants up, 2 games to nothing.

Piazza’s third homerun in 2 games was key, but the errors were probably more important as only 2 of the runs were earned, leaving Indianapolis’ fans to wonder what if.

IND 3 (Cueto 0-1) @ BRK 6 (Drysedale 1-0; Gagne 1 Sv; Grimes 1 H; Forster 1 H)
HRs: IND – Charleston (1), Bescher (1); BRK – Piazza 1 (3), Stephens (2).
Box Score

#Game 3, Sat Oct 6

We head to Indianapolis for game 3, with Smokey Joe Williams getting the ball for Brooklyn and the ABC’s turning to Eppa Rixey.

Both hurlers delivered, with the game scoreless through 3 innings, but Dan Brouthers led off the 4th with a double and moved to 3rd on a single from Jackie Robinson. Ron Cey grounded into a double-play, scoring the run for a 1-0 edge to the Royal Giants.

Williams only allowed 1 hit through 5 innings, but 5 walks were nudging his pitch count up earlier than Brooklyn would like.

Rixey gave up 2 hits to start the 6th and a sacrifice fly to Dan Brouthers, doubling Brooklyn’s lead and bringing Dolf Luque in from the ABC’s.

The ABC’s got on the board in the 6th when Joey Votto took Williams yard, but Mike Piazza got the run back with a shot to right in the top of the 7th making the score 3-1 in favor of Brooklyn.

Williams stayed in until a single by Adam Dunn in the bottom of the 7th, but the rest of the inning passed without incident. But the ABC’s wouldn’t go without a fight, using a walk and a single to put runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out in the bottom of the 8th. That brought Sandy Koufax in from the bullpen to face Oscar Charleston and Joey Votto. The runners advanced on a double-steal and Charleston singled in 2 runs, tying the game at 3.

The pitching continued to be solid, and we had the first extra inning game of this year’s postseason.

Brooklyn was the first to threaten, with a Vern Stephens double leading off the 10th. Stephens was replaced by the speedier Ray Dandridge, but Clay Carroll got out of the inning when a hard liner from John Briggs turned into an inning ending double play.

George Foster singled to lead off the bottom of the 11th and after Dave Von Ohlen fanned Dunn, the Royal Giants summoned Eric Gagne from the pen. Gagne walked Luis Padrón and then gave up a game-winning single to Barry Larkin, giving Indianapolis a 4-3 victory that keeps the ABC’s in the series.

BRK 3 (Von Ohlen 0-1; Hildenberger 1 H; Forster 2 H; Koufax 1 BSv) @ IND 4 (Carroll 1-1) [11 Innings]
HRs: BRK – Piazza (4); IND – Votto (1).
Box Score

#Game 4, Sun 7 Oct

Pitching depth begins to matter more and more: for Brooklyn, they get to trot out Fernando Valenzuela, who would be a top of rotation starter for most teams, while Indianapolis goes with Joe Lake, brought over mid-season from Chicago to help bolster their staff.

Brooklyn will give Ray Dandridge his first start of the series while Indianapolis will turn to Ed Charles for the first time, sliding Chris Sabo to DH in an attempt to get more right handed bats against the lefty Valenzuela.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the first, Oscar Charleston and Joey Votto doubled, and Johnny Bench followed with a homerun, making it 3-0.

Dandridge rewarded the faith in him with an RBI single in the 2nd, and then scored on a base hit by John Briggs, making it a 1 run game at 3-2 in favor of the ABC’s.

Charleston took Valenzuela deep with a runner on, but the Royal Giants bounced back with a vengeance: Ron Cey and Mike Piazza went back-to-back with big flies and Dandridge tripled in a run by the time the inning ended, Lake had been replaced by Doc White and Brooklyn held a 1 run advantage, 6-5.

Brooklyn added 2 more, fueled by a 2-out double from Roy White, and Barry Larkin got 1 back for Indianapolis with a solo shot. At that point, both bullpens were fully engaged: Sandy Koufax for Brooklyn and Rube Foster in relief of White for the ABC’s. Koufax gave up a run on another Larkin RBI, so after 6 innings we had a 1 run game, 8-7 in favor of Brooklyn. Roy White took Foster deep and Brouthers added another RBI, giving the Royal Giants a 3 run cushion as they turned to the back end of their bullpen

Brouthers drove in 2 more with a double in the 9th, which became important when Charleston hit a 2 run shot in the bottom of the inning. That fetched Eric Gagne from the bullpen, who was able to close it out for a 12-9 win for Brooklyn, and the all-important 3-1 series lead.

Charleston finished with 3 hits and 4 RBIs in the losing cause; Briggs and Dandridge each had 4 hits for the victors.

BRK 12 (Koufax 1-0; Gagne 2 Sv; Forster 3 H; Hildenberger 2 H) @ IND 9 (Lake 0-1)
HRs: BRK – Piazza (5), Cey (1), White (1); IND – Bench (2), Charleston 2 (3), Larkin (1).
Box Score

#Game 5, Mon Oct 8

With Brooklyn having a chance to clinch, the 2 teams will bring out the same hurlers who faced off in Game 1–Orel Hershiser for Brooklyn and Luis Padrón for Indianapolis.

Pedro Guerrero will see his first action of the series for the Royal Giants while Ed Charles will start at 3B for Indianapolis in place of the struggling Chris Sabo.

Indianapolis would take the lead on a fairly unlikely event–a triple by Johnny Bench, which scored Joey Votto. Hershiser and Padrón were dealing, and the game remained 1-0 through 4 innings. In the top of the 5th, Guerrero came through with an RBI single, driving in 2. Ray Dandridge followed with a single, and Brooklyn had a 3-1 lead.

Padrón went 6, giving up the 3 runs. Duke Snider greeted his replacement, Jack Billingham, with a solo homerun; 2 walks and a hit later, the ABC’s brought in Willie Mitchell. It was a challenging ask: Mitchell came into the game with 1 out and the bases loaded. H walked in a run and gave a single to Mike Piazza, making it 7-1 Brooklyn, with 9 outs to go.

Hershiser got 2 of them, pitching into the 7th, but a walk to Padrón and a 2-out single from Bob Bescher brought Burleigh Grimes in from the pen. Grimes got the final out–a flyout from Charles–and we were off to the 8th.

Frank Knauss–yet to see action the series–was given the chance to close the game out for the Royal Giants. Knauss allowed 2 baserunners in the 9th but eventually got Bescher to groundout, ending the ABC’s season and joining Houston in the Division Series.

Dandridge continued to argue for more playing time, banging out 3 hits in the game, but it was really Hershiser’s performance that sealed the deal.

BRK 7 (Hershiser 2-0) @ IND 1 (Padrón 0-1)
HRs: BRK – Snider (1); IND – none.
Box Score

Mike Piazza took home the MVP Award, hitting .400 with 5 homeruns and 12 RBIs for Brooklyn.

TWIWBL 78.6: Effa Manley Division

By mknn

On September 17, 2025

In TWIWBL

Team	W/L	Pct	GB
Brooklyn Royal Giants	73-50	.593	—
Homestead Grays	64-60	.516	9.5
Philadelphia Stars	61-62	.496	12
Ottawa Mounties	59-64	.480	14
New York Gothams	59-65	.476	14.5

Effa Manley Division | 19 August

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

The Royal Giants exploded for 23 hits in a 21-4 demolishing of Homestead. Dan Brouthers had 4 hits, Beals Becker and Duke Snider drove in 4 apiece, and Mike Piazza scored 4 times for the Royal Giants. Snider hit 2 out, and Piazza, Becker, and Pedro Guerrero each had homeruns as well, backing a decent outing from Smokey Joe Williams, who improved to 11-11 on the season.

#Homestead Grays

The Grays–finally–found themselves with some hard decisions to make on the mound, as both Cliff Lee and Bartolo Colón were recalled from their rehab assignments. Bob Knepper and Russ Kemmerer were sent down, and Ricardo Rincón started a rehab assignment of his own.

The net effect of this is that the Grays move Lee back into the starting rotation, and vacate their fifth spot, allowing it to be split between Bob Friend, Colón, Hal Carlson, and the newly acquired David Price and Juan Marichal.

#New York Gothams

Aaron Loup, Santiago Casilla, and Guy Hecker were recalled from AAA to fill out the Gothams’ staff and Ben Oglivie, George Kell, Carl Furillo, and Bill Terry were added to the bench.

Benny Kauff crushed 2 homers, Buster Posey added a grandslam, and Kell hit one out in his first WBL at bat as the Gothams doubled up the Mounties, 12-6.

#Ottawa Mounties

Bill Crouch will miss about a week, earning a trip to the DL. Bob Brown was recalled from his rehab assignment in his place.

Larry Walker hit 2 out as the Mounties topped Indianapolis, 7-4. Despite earning his 3rd victory of the season, the Mounties removed Atlee Hammaker from the rotation after the game, preferring a committee approach to their 5th (and, depending on how Al Orth fares in his next outing, even the 4th) spot on their staff.

Bill Smith was recalled from his rehab assignment, along with Ps Clark Griffith and Max Scherzer and field players John Olerud, Terry Puhl, Emil Gross, and Bob Watson.

Utility man Mike Dorgan will miss about a week with a strained back, earning himself a trip to the DL with Ottawa recalling Josh Donaldson from AAA.

Rick Monday will play regularly somewhere next season. Somewhere. He had 4 hits, scored 4 times, and drove in 6 with 3 homers in a 17-3 drubbing of the Gothams. Donaldson, Walker, Rusty Staub, and Roberto Alomar also went deep and Roy Halladay improved to 14-7 on the year.

#Philadelphia Stars

Aaron Judge hit 2 out, but the Stars fell to the House of David 11-10 in 13 innings. Joe Rogan and Bob Howry were both injured on the day, with Rogan only expected to miss a few games, but Howry out for about a week. The Stars recalled Luke Weaver from AAA.

TWIWBL 77.2 Spotlight on the Brooklyn Royal Giants

By mknn

On August 28, 2025

In TWIWBL

Nobody, and I mean nobody, would have predicted a double digit lead in the Effa Manley Division for Brooklyn this season. But here we are.

HOME PAGE | ROSTER | POSITIONAL STRENGTH | LEADERS

The Royal Giants’ success is a product of a great pitching staff and just enough offense, anchored by a few breakout performances. And there is room for improvement: not only can they hold onto their division, this is a team that could impress in the postseason.

THE OFFENSE

It’s not a great offense, but it has some true high points, and seems to have just enough to keep the runs coming.

#What’s Going Right

First, the breakout: Mike Piazza has exploded, leading the team in almost all offensive categories, with a 307/338/677 slash line, 42 homeruns and 98 RBIs. For a catcher not named Gibson, that’s great output, and it’s a fantastic return after Piazza’s struggle last season.

Almost as surprising has been the excellence of Ron Cey at the hot corner, whose 963 OPS is third on the team, behind Piazza and the true heartbeat of the Royal Giants, Jackie Robinson. Robinson leads the team in OBP, has 32 steals, and is involved in almost every key rally for the team while moving between 1B and 2B. Robinson and Beals Becker provide a good bit of speed, with each having over 30 steals at decent success rates.

John Briggs faced a lot of doubters heading into this season, but he’s performed excellently in CF.

Dan Brouthers has an OPS of .960 in part-time duty at 1B and, honestly, keeps wondering why the Royal Giants won’t just commit to him long term.

8 players have at least 20 homeruns (Piazza, Duke Snider, Becker, Cey, Robinson, Pedro Guerrero, Briggs, and Roy White).

#What’s Not Going Right

Pedro Guerrero was brought in to add punch to the offense, and while he’s picked it up of late (one of the points of possible improvement mentioned above), his 784 OPS still leaves a lot to be desired.

Duke Snider is doing Duke Snider things, which means a lot of power–his 30 homers are second on the team–but not a lot else.

SS has been a challenge all year, with neither Dick Bertell nor Germany Smith proving a solution. Vern Stephens‘ overall numbers aren’t great, but he’s slashing 317/328/633 since coming to Brooklyn over the all-star break.

Ray Dandridge remains a 21 year old who struggles with WBL pitching, but his future remains bright in spite of his current sub .700 OPS.

Overall, the team needs to get on base a bit more: only Cey, Robinson, Briggs, and Brouthers have OBPs over .350.

THE PITCHING

This is easily the strength of the team, and it’s only gotten better for Brooklyn over the season, as Fernando Valenzuela‘s emergence has given them an excellent rotation, front to back, complemented by a very strong bullpen.

#What’s Going Right

The Big Three for Brooklyn are as impressive as nearly any in the league, led by the brilliant Smokey Joe Williams and the surprising Orel Hershiser. Williams’ record isn’t great at 10-9, but he and Hershiser both sport sub 4.00 ERA’s with excellent secondary numbers.

The third of the group is Don Drysedale, who was struggling mightily over most of the first half of the season, but has shaved 1.5 runs off his ERA since the start of July. Five consecutive wins in there have improved his record to 10-5.

Valenzuela’s emergence has been quite spectacular, and the lefty is now firmly entrenched in the rotation.

Eric Gagne could be the best closer in the WBL, with 25 saves and a 2.52 ERA, and Trevor Hildenberger has been fantastic as his setup.

#What’s Not Going Right

Sandy Koufax keeps lingering on the edge of brilliance, but he lost his place in the rotation to Valenzuela and while he’s been solid out of the bullpen, it still feels like his eventual role is as a starter.

That’s about it: Burleigh Grimes, Terry Forster, and Dave Von Ohlen have all been mediocre, but that’s certainly better than not going right.

THE FARM SYSTEM

TOP PROSPECTS | MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM

It’s a decent farm system, but a lot of the talent is already in Brooklyn (White, Briggs, Snider, Becker, Dandridge, Cey, Guerrero, Robinson, Piazza, Brouthers, Williams, Drysdale, Koufax, Gagne, and Forster are all under 25).

But there’s still some surplus talent: Ed Delahanty and Al Simmons have WBL quality bats and Doc Newton, Dick Redding, Dazzy Vance, and Walker Buehler all should have some upside on the mound.

It doesn’t necessarily mean much, but all three of Brooklyn’s minor league affiliates–AAA Queens, AA Jersey City, and A Albany–are in first place in their leagues.

WHAT’S NEEDED

These opportunities don’t come around very often, so we would expect the Royal Giants to make some moves at the trading deadline, hoping to power their playoff run.

Most of all, Brooklyn needs to stay healthy.

Storylines to Watch

Key Questions from Spring Training

In addition to the pitching staff changes mentioned above, the rest of the roster is very much in flux. This all seemed to settle down without a problem, especially if Stephens solves the SS issue.
Can John Briggs continue to set the world on fire? Smoldering, if not on fire.
Will Mike Piazza finally take hold of the starting C role? Yes, yes he will.

FEATURED SERIES

The Royal Giants host Houston for 4 games to close out the week.

Projected Starters

Houston’s starter listed first.

Toad Ramsey (13-8, 3.13) @ Orel Hershiser (15-5, 3.79)
Roger Clemens (13-7, 3.50) @ Fernando Valenzuela (9-4, 3.73)
Roy Oswalt (5-8, 6.41) @ Smokey Joe Williams (10-10, 3.68)
Stephen Strasburg (4-8, 6.19) @ Don Drysedale (10-5, 5.67)

Brooklyn’s starters are just so, so, so good. That of course means the games will be slugfests, but I see the Royal Giants taking 3 out of 4 here, solidifying their division lead.

Game One

Roy White had the first hit of the game, a solo shot to right in the second inning, giving Brooklyn a 1-0 lead. A Jackie Robinson triple scored John Briggs in the 3rd, doubling it to 2-0.

Orel Hershiser held the Colt 45’s hitless into the 5th when, with 2 outs, Pete Hill lined a double. Jorge Posada brought him home with single, halving the lead to 2-1. In the 6th, with 2 on and 2 out, George Brett sent a ball screaming into CF, ending up with a triple, bringing both runners home and giving Houston the lead, 3-2.

Dan Brouthers got a knuckler that didn’t from Toad Ramsey, and sent it deep into LF with a runner on: 4-3 Brooklyn.

And that was it: the Royal Giants bullpen is excellent, and in this one, Dave Von Ohlen and Trevor Hildenberger passed the ball to Eric Gagne, who pitched a perfect 9th for his 26th save.

This was a bit of a hard luck loss for Houston, with Ramsey surrendering only 3 hits in his 8 innings while fanning 10.

HOU 3 (Ramsey 13-9) @ BRK 4 (Hershiser 16-5, Von Ohlen 3 H; Hildenberger 8 H; Gagne 26 Sv)
HRs: HOU – none; DET – White (22), Brouthers (15).
Box Score

Game Two

Another stellar pitching matchup, as Houston’s Roger Clemens will face off against the home side’s Fernando Valenzuela.

Mike Piazza took Clemens deep in the 2nd for his 43rd homerun of the year. Roy White and Pedro Guerrero followed with longballs of their own, and the Royal Giants were up 3-0 on the back to back to back shots. Brooklyn added to their lead in a more traditional way: a single from Dan Brouthers who eventually scored on a sac fly from Ron Cey.

Meanwhile Valenzuela was magnificent, allowing 2 hits over 5 innings while fanning 8.

Houston got on the board in the 5th when Carlos Correa brought home Tony Gwynn. Correa eventually scored on a wild pitch, but Brooklyn still held the 4-2 edge.

Recently recalled Gorman Thomas launched his 2nd homerun int he 7th, chasing Valenzuela and turning the game over to the Royal Giants’ exceptional bullpen, beginning with Burleigh Grimes, who ended the inning with Brooklyn up, 4-3.

Homeruns from Vern Stephens and Cey gave them some buffer, and Duke Snider’s 34th of the season gave Brooklyn an 8-3 lead heading into the top of the 9th.

The Colt 45’s added a run, but the outcome was never really threatened.

If you hit 6 homeruns, you’re supposed to win …

HOU 4 (Clemens 13-8) @ BRK 8 (Valenzuela 10-4; Grimes 3 H; Forster 2 Sv)
HRs: HOU – Thomas (2); BRK – White (23), Piazza (43), Guerrero (23), Stephens (8), Cey (29), Snider (34).
Box Score

Game Three

Houston came through the trade deadline much changed, Brooklyn less so, but the game–and the series between the two clubs–goes on. The starters for this game remain unchanged, with Houston’s Roy Oswalt taking on Brooklyn’s Smokey Joe Williams in a matchup that significantly favors the Royal Giants.

Mike Piazza drove in 1 with a single and Beals Becker followed with a 2 run double, giving Brooklyn a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. John Briggs hit his 22nd homer of the year in the 2nd, increasing the lead to 4-0.

Williams has struggled at times with wildness, and back to back walks to open the 3rd came back to bite him, as Tony Gwynn followed with a 2 run double to halve the lead. Gwynn scored on an RBI groundout from Jeff Bagwell, and Houston kept piling it on with deep shots from Jim Wynn and Pete Hill. When the inning ended, the Colt 45’s had seized the lead, 6-4.

Williams gave up a double to Bagwell to open the 5th, then walked 2 more: that was enough and Brooklyn summoned Sandy Koufax from the bullpen to face the bases loaded jam. Koufax struck out 2, but walked in a run, giving Houston a 7-4 advantage.

Jim O’Rourke added a solo shot and Houston’s bullpen–their Achilles heel all year–suddenly found itself with Vida Blue, Jim Kern, John Franco, Roberto Osuna, and Andrew Chafin combining for 4 innings of hitless relief of Oswalt.

HOU 8 (Oswalt 6-8; Blue 1 H; Kern 1 H) @ BRK 4 (Williams 10-11)
HRs: HOU – Wynn (27), Hill (7), O’Rourke (9); BRK – Briggs (22).
Box Score

Game Four

The Royal Giants will look to take the series behind the rejuvenated Don Drysedale, who after a horrific start to the season, now sits at 10-5 with an ERA south of 6.00 and dropping. The struggling Stephen Strasbourg will oppose him for Houston.

Drysedale had to leave the game in the 2nd, but is not expected to miss his next start, certainly good news for Brooklyn. But it may stress the Royal Giants’ bullpen today.

Gorman Thomas touched Burleigh Grimes for his 3rd homer in 4 career ballgames to give the Colt 45’s a 1-0 lead in the 3rd. Ron Cey tied it up in the bottom of the frame with his 30th longball of the year.

Houston put up a crooked number in the 6th, as Grimes walked in a run, hit a batter for another, and then gave up a grand slam to Jim O’Rourke to make it 7-1.

Ray Dandridge got a couple back with a 2-run homer, but Houston continued to pile it on, capped by George Brett‘s 13th of the season, launched off Jim Bunning with a runner on. So, after 5 innings, Houston was ahead, 10-3.

There were some more runs–most notably O’Rourke’s second dinger of the game–but the outcome was never threatened.

Gentleman Jim finished with 6 RBIs for Houston, who evened up the series.

HOU 14 (Strasburg 5-8) @ BRK 4 (Grimes 0-4)
HRs: HOU – Thomas (3), O’Rourke 2 (11), Brett (13); BRK – Cey (30), Dandridge (12).
Box Score

Brooklyn really had a shot at taking the series, even with Drysedale’s exit, but Grimes–usually reliable this year–had a horrible outing. For Houston, the 2 wins after juggling their roster somewhat significantly are certainly an encouraging sign.

TWIWBL 71.5: Effa Manley Division

By mknn

On January 31, 2025

In TWIWBL

Team	W/L	Pct	GB
Brooklyn Royal Giants	47-34	.580	—
Homestead Grays	43-38	.531	4
New York Gothams	43-41	.512	5.5
Philadelphia Stars	39-44	.470	9
Ottawa Mounties	38-44	.463	9.5

Effa Manley Division | 2 July

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

The much maligned Pedro Guerrero had himself a day, hitting 3 homeruns and delivering the walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 11th as Brooklyn topped Birmingham, 8-7.

Beals Becker went deep twice and Fernando Valenzuela was fantastic as the Royal Giants beat the House of David, 4-1. Valenzuela improved to 6-1 with the complete game effort, allowing only 2 hits while whiffing 10.

Mike Piazza hit 2 out, giving him 33 on the year, and, in fantastically welcome news for Brooklyn, Don Drysedale put in his best start of the season as the Royal Giants topped the House of David, 9-1.

#Homestead Grays

Reliever Dave Giusti was sent to AAA, with Russ Kemmerer recalled to take his place in the bullpen.

Rick Reichardt hit two homeruns, including a grand slam, and Josh Gibson had 4 hits, raising his average to .399 as we hit the all star break. All in all, the Grays pounded out 23 hits in a 12-4 thumping of Ottawa.

#New York Gothams

Vean Gregg–called into emergency duty as a starter–turned in a great effort, combining with Mike Norris and Brian Wilson on 3-hit shutout of Ottawa. Pinky Higgins delivered all of the runs with a 3-run shot, his 9th of the year and Gregg fanned 9 in his 6+ innings of work. Norris picked up his 7th hold and Wilson his 12th save of the season.

Buster Posey hit 2 homeruns, but the Gothams fell to Ottawa, 7-5. This unfortunate pattern repeated as Larry Doyle hit his 10th and 11th of the year in an 11-9 loss to the Stars.

#Ottawa Mounties

Ottawa firmly believes in the talent of Randy Johnson. But there’s just so many unsuccessful attempts to move his ERA under 9.00 they can stomach. So they’re sending The Big Unit to AAA in hopes he can harness his immense talent. Clark Griffith–not exactly successful historically with the Mounties–was recalled. Bob Watson also headed to AAA after a mostly unsuccessful few months with Roy Sievers returning to WBL action.

The Rick Monday parade continues, with the shocking performance of the rookie continuing with 2 homeruns in a 4-1 win over the Gothams, giving him 18 on the year. As importantly for Mounties’ fans, Roy Halladay turned in a good performance, improving to 8-6, and Tom Henke picked up his 5th save of the season.

Monday did it again, hitting out 2 for 20 on the year and Gary Carter also went yard twice (giving him 30) as the Mounties beat the Gothams, 7-5.

Tim Raines–of all people–went deep twice, but it wasn’t enough as Ottawa fell to Homestead, 8-5.

#Philadelphia Stars

Bullet Joe Rogan was masterful, hitting his 16th homerun and tossing a 1 hitter as the Stars beat the Gothams, 3-0. Rogan walked 1 and whiffed 8 in the complete game effort, improving his record to 5-8 on the year.

Chase Utley hit a 2-run walkoff homer in the bottom of the 10th, giving the Stars an 11-9 win over the Gothams. Scott Rolen went deep twice, and Aaron Judge, Rico Carty, Ted Kluszewski, and Mike Sciosia also sent balls over the fence.

TWIWBL 68.2 Spotlight on the San Francisco Sea Lions

By mknn

On October 29, 2024

In TWIWBL

There is some optimism building by the Bay.

The Sea Lions were pretty disappointing last season, and it wasn’t really clear what to expect from them. Right now, things are going just about as well as could be hoped.

San Francisco inherits players from all the Athletics: Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Oakland.

HOME PAGE | ROSTER | POSITIONAL STRENGTH | LEADERS

San Francisco is pulling away from the Cum Posey Division, playing .615 ball and holding a 6-7 game lead over Miami and Chicago. At this point, expectations have been raised to certainly making the playoffs and even making some noise once there.

THE OFFENSE

A balanced offense, with a lot of power and a ton of speed. There are some holes, but more has gone well than not.

#What’s Going Right

Almost everything.

Let’s start with the surprises. C Mickey Cochrane has exploded in a big way, slashing 318/408/581 after a very difficult rookie season. Turkey Stearnes, the 7th pick in last season’s draft, has exceeded all expectations, locking down the CF job and posting an OPS over .950. And, finally, Jimmie Foxx, while still a bit of an enigma, is showing he has at least one spectacular skillset, leading the team with 21 homeruns.

One strength of San Francisco last season was the OF trio of Bobby Bonds, Jack Clark, and Reggie Jackson. Two of them continue to deliver: while Jackson isn’t contending for the triple crown as he did for a lot of last season, he is second on the team in homeruns with 18 and first in RBI with 52. And Clark is just consistent: 259/382/569 with 17 homeruns.

The emergence of Stearnes and Foxx has triggered some changes here, as Clark has shifted to play mostly at 1B with Bonds seeing his playing time drop slightly.

The combination of Rickey Henderson and Dick Lundy put a ton of pressure on the other team: the 2 have combined for 74 steals (against 20 CS), with each of them having an OBP over .350.

#What’s Not Going Right

Bobby Bonds has regressed slightly (although his OPS is still around .875).

And then there is the rest of the IF. Jimmy Bloodworth started the season as the incumbent at 2B, but struggled before being shelved with an injury (Bloodworth may be back within a week or two) while at 3B Sal Bando is adequate at best (he’s hitting for more power than last year, but his other stats are down). The other options so far have struggled: Phil Garner has been downright bad, Roy Hartzell demoted, and the jury is still out on the latest to be given opportunities, Denny Walling and Royce Clayton. Lundy’s flexibility gives the Sea Lions a lot of options here, but a MI seems to be a strong need for the team, assuming Foxx is given more and more time at 3B.

THE PITCHING

Last week, this would be described as going perfectly, but Ron Robinson‘s injury has a shot at disrupting what has been an excellent staff, top to bottom.

#What’s Going Right

Lefty Grove (7-4, 3.26) and Eddie Plank (8-3, 3.51) are as good a top two as any staff in the league can claim. Both are likely all-stars.

After them, nobody has excelled, but nobody has really struggled either, with Bump Hadley, Watty Clark (now a fulltime starter), and Tommy Bridges all pitching quite well in the rotation, with Jim Devlin, Mel Stottlemyre Sr, and the surprising Tom Brewer all filling in quite admirably when needed.

And the back of the pen–Rod Beck, Ken Howell and the now-missing Robinson–has been lights out, with Beck recording 15 saves and Howell sporting a 1.23 ERA.

#What’s Not Going Right

It’s more an issue of the question marks: Dennis Eckersley continues to tempt with potential, but really be quite average, and asking Huston Street and Brewer to step in for Robinson might be far too much of a reach.

THE FARM SYSTEM

TOP PROSPECTS | MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM

It’s really hard to complain about a system that added Stearnes.

But there’s not a lot behind him. John Beckwith–currently sidelined with injury–is starting to show his offensive strength, but at 19 may be a year or two away. Beckwith is also blocked, as his defensive skills are really somewhat identical to Foxx’s.

Red Ehret is heralded as a pitcher, but doesn’t really pass the eye test. Dario Lodigiani may be a long term solution at 2B, but he’s a ways away. OF Jules Thomas and P Steve Ontiveros look good, but are also a few years away.

WHAT’S NEEDED

The pitching needs to continue to excel, with the largest challenge being how to cover for Robinson in the bullpen. If the IF can be resolved, the lineup will be truly scary 1 through 9, always a goal.

Storylines to Watch

Key Questions from Spring Training

On a team full of logjams, who steps forward? Strikes me as a pretty lame question, honestly. The issue was really solved with the trade of Pedro Guerrero to Brooklyn, with Watty Clark being the key piece coming back. That, and Foxx really jumping Bando in the pecking order at 3B.

FEATURED SERIES

The Sea Lions open with 4 games hosting Baltimore; given that the Black Sox are beginning to show signs of life, seemed a good series to focus on.

Projected Starters

Baltimore starter listed first.

John Tudor (2-3, 4.75) @ Bump Hadley (8-4, 4.15)
Dennis Martínez (6-3, 4.55) @ Watty Clark (3-2, 4.50)
Ned Garvin (3-2, 5.03) @ Lefty Grove (7-4, 3.26)
Mike Mussina (3-3, 4.83) @ Tommy Bridges (1-2, 5.59)

Game One

Baltimore’s John Tudor had to leave early via injury, and Phil Garner, whose struggles were mentioned above, took Tudor’s relief, Connie Johnson, deep in the 3rd for a 1-0 lead for the Sea Lions. Turkey Stearnes went deep in the 4th and Johnson was chased as San Francisco added another in the the 5th for a 3-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Bump Hadley had a shutout through 6, allowing the Black Sox only 2 hits. A pair of 2 out walks led to Hadley exiting the game in the 8th, but Ken Howell closed the inning out and Rod Beck pitched a perfect 9th for the combined shutout.

BAL 0 (Johnson 4-5) @ SFS 3 (Hadley 9-4; Beck 16 Sv; Howell 3 H)
HRs: BAL – none; SFS- Garner (2); Stearnes (16).
Box Score

Game Two

The Sea Lions took the early 3-0 lead on Reggie Jackson‘s 19th homer of the year and a an RBI single from Phil Garner. But Baltimore came back in similar fashion–a solo shot from Manny Machado and a 2 run single from Paul Blair. Both Dennis Martínez for Baltimore and Watty Clark for San Francisco looked strong, and the game remained 3-3 until the top of the 8th.

And here we see the potential impact of Ron Robinson‘s absence. Instead, San Francisco turned to Tom Brewer–who has been excellent so far, but has nowhere near the track record of Robinson. Brewer gave up a hit and a walk and a runner reached on an error, loading the bases and summoning Ken Howell from the Sea Lions’ bullpen. Curt Blefary singled in 2 and a 3rd scored on a sacrifice fly from Cal Ripken, Jr. giving Baltimore a 3 run lead heading to the bottom of the 8th.

Gregg Olson gave up a leadoff walk to Rickey Henderson and a double to Dick Lundy, bringing in Justin Hampson from the Black Sox bullpen to face a couple of lefties. Both Mickey Cochrane and Jackson delivered sacrifice flies, making it a 6-5 game.

Machado’s 2nd of the game and 20th of the year pushed the cushion back up to 2. Joe Beggs closed it out in what felt like a bit of a disappointing loss that evened the series.

BAL 7 (Martínez 7-3; Beggs 11 Sv; Hampson 5 H) @ SFS 5 (Brewer 0-1)
HRs: BAL – Machado 2 (20); SFS – Jackson (19).
Box Score

Game Three

Baltimore’s Ned Garvin was solid, allowing only a 2 run HR to Reggie Jackson in the bottom of the first over his 6 innings of work. But Lefty Grove was better, striking out 10 in his 8 innings of work. Grove was chased leading 3-1 after a pinch-hit homerun from Gavvy Cravath, but Baltimore could get no closer, with Rod Beck tossing a perfect 9th for the save, his second of the series.

BAL 2 (Garvin 3-3) @ SFS 3 (Grove 8-4; Beck 17 Sv)
HRs: BAL – Blefary (14), Cravath (20); SFS – Jackson (20).
Box Score

Game Four

Tommy Bridges has been a bit rough since his return from injury, but he was magnificent today, with 7 shutout innings before giving up a longball to Manny Machado in the 8th. Meanwhile, the heart of the Sea Lions’ order (Dick Lundy, Reggie Jackson, and Turkey Stearnes) went 8-for-12 including Stearnes’ 17th homer of the year, building a 5 run lead.

After Bridges’ departure, the mystery that is Dennis Eckersley surrendered a shot to Bryce Harper, making it a 1 run game, but again Rod Beck closed out the victory.

BAL 4 (Byrd 3-3) @ SFS 5 (Bridges 2-2; Beck 18 Sv)
HRs: BAL – Machado (21), Harper (14); SFS – Stearnes (17).
Box Score

A strong series for the Sea Lions, as they took 3 out of 4 from the defending champs. The wins encapsulated San Francisco’s success so far this year: excellent starting pitching, Rod Beck closing out each of the 3 victories, and a highly productive offense with Stearnes and Jackson each hitting 2 out in the 4 games.

TWIWBL 63.5: Effa Manley Division

By mknn

On July 16, 2024

In TWIWBL

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

Roy White went deep twice, but it wasn’t enough as the Royal Giants gave up a late lead and lost in 12 innings, 6-5, to the Gothams.

Frank Knauss became the league’s first 6 game winner with a 2 hit shutout, striking out 10 en route to a 2-0 victory over Ottawa. Solo homeruns from Duke Snider and Pedro Guerrero were all Knauss needed to move to 6-1 on the year.

#Homestead Grays

Daniel Hudson and Carlos Zambrano are both struggling mightily, but both hold their roster spots for now. It’s assumed that one will go down when Corey Kluber comes back from injury; it’s likely the other will follow shortly thereafter unless something turns around.

Francisco Liriano tossed a 2-hit shutout, leading the Grays to a 5-0 win over Kansas City. Liriano walked 4 and whiffed 8, and was helped along with homeruns from Mike Epstein and Willie Stargell.

Owen Wilson, struggling to regain his from from last season, will miss about a month and a half with a separated shoulder. OF Goose Goslin was recalled from AAA to take Wilson’s role as lefty OF off the bench.

Doug Drabek–perhaps the Grays’ best hurler in the early going–hit the DL with a sore wrist. Drabek should only miss a couple starts, but still. Brickyard Kennedy was recalled from AAA. Kennedy pitched well for Brooklyn last season in limited opportunities, but at 35, was released by the Royal Giants in February.

#New York Gothams

Brandon Crawford hit the shortest homerun of the day, but it was enough to give the Gothams a 6-5 walkoff victory in 12 innings over Brooklyn. In great news for the Gothams, Brian Wilson saw his first action of the year, giving up 1 hit and striking out 3 in 1.2 innings. The win went to Mike Norris, who improved to 2-0 with 2+ perfect innings.

Willie Mays went deep twice and Carl Furillo might have staved off his release with his first homerun of the year as the Gothams beat the House of David, 7-5.

Benny Kauff went deep twice, giving him 10 on the year, as the Gothams beat the House of David, 7-3.

#Ottawa Mounties

It was assumed that Ryan Dempster would lose his role as closer when Tom Henke returned. The surprise came when the Mounties moved Dempster to AAA, along with Dupee Shaw, as both Henke and Johnny Podgajny were recalled from their rehab assignments.

#Philadelphia Stars

Tim Belcher was sent to AAA with John Burkett being recalled as the Stars try to address their bullpen.

Joe Rogan tossed a complete game, 2-hit shutout as the Stars beat Birmingham, 7-0. He also drove in 2 while Art Fletcher and Willie Davis had 3 hits each, with Fletcher driving in 4.

Rogan was again the star, delivering a walkoff 2 run single to lead the Stars, who scored 6 runs over the final 3 innings, to a 7-6 victory over Birmingham. Ted Kluszewski went deep twice in the game and Burkett was excellent in his debut, delivering 2+ innings of 1 hit relief with the victory going to Ted Kennedy, now 2-1 on the year.

Scott Rolen went deep twice, but the Stars couldn’t hold a lead, falling to Homestead, 7-6.

TWIWBL 59.1: Year 2 – Week 2

By mknn

On May 15, 2024

In TWIWBL

Welcome to the first general issue of TWIWBL for Season 2!

April 9th

#Team Starts

3 teams have a single loss–Chicago, Brooklyn, and the House of David, each at 4-1–and 3 teams have a single victory on the year (Los Angeles is 1-4 while both Philadelphia and Houston are 1-6).

#Individual Starts

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.

IND 4 (Cueto 2-0; Dibble 2 Sv; James 2 H) @ BRK 1 (Knauss 1-1)
HRs: IND: Charleston (1).
Box Score

Game Two

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.

IND 4 (Tidrow 0-1) @ BRK 6 (Mateo 1-0; Gagne 2 Sv)
HRs: IND – Menke (1); BRK: Guerrero (1).
Box Score

Game Three

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