Baseball The Way It Never Was

Tag: Will Clark

TWIWBL 5.6: Series IV Notes – Marvin Miller Division

Brooklyn leads the division, with San Francisco and Portland close on their heels. Even this early, a bit of a gap appears between those three teams and Miami and Birmingham at the bottom of the division.

Leading Starters: Don Drysedale, BRK, 3-0, 1.27 ERA, 1.03 WHIP; Walter Johnson, POR, 3-0, 2.54 ERA, 1.16 WHIP; Lefty Grove, SFS, 2-0, 1.57 ERA, 0.78 WHIP.
Leading Relievers: Johan Santana, POR, 7 SV, 1.69 ERA, 1.31 WHIP; Dave Von Ohlen, BRK, 2-0, 2 H, 2.19 ERA.
Leading Batters: Reggie Jackson, SFS, 396/500/679; Bobby Bonds, SFS, 364/432/697; Will Clark, MCG, 211/234/493, 6 HR, 19 RBI; Beals Becker, BRK, 293/408/379, 9 SB; Rickey Henderson, SFS, 250/424/359, 9 SB.

#Birmingham Black Barons

OF Al Schweitzer–one of the better performers for the Black Barons in the early season with a 267/389/422 line–is injured; depending on the duration, a roster move might be looming, with both Dale Murphy (038/194/038) and Chipper Jones (088/238/206) possibly being sent to AAA as part of the transaction.

#Brooklyn Royal Giants

It was an unkind week for the Royal Giants, with both SP Orel Hershiser and 3B Jim Delahanty hitting the injured list. Hershiser will miss close to 2 months with an oblique strain, moving Dick Redding into the rotation. Lefty Frank Knauss was recalled from AAA to take Redding’s slot in the bullpen. Delahanty will be out close to a year, and Duke Farrell was recalled to take his spot, also clearing room for phenom SS/3B Ray Dandridge to move to AAA.

RP Jeff Montgomery–released by Houston–was signed to a minor league contract.

#Miami Cuban Giants

An 0-4 day at the plate against the New York Giants ended Will Clark‘s 10 game RBI streak.

#San Francisco Sea Lions

Dennis Eckersley was put on the 10-Day IL and Carlos Carrasco was demoted to AAA to help address some pitching issues. If, as expected, Eddie Plank is available in a day, the Sea Lions should be fine with the addition of Ps Rick Langford and Diego Segui from AAA.

FA OF Mookie Wilson was signed to a minor league contract.

TWIWBL 1.0: Final Preseason Notes

#BAL

Bill Byrd was moved from the DL to the 5th rotation spot as expected–we’ll see if the risk pays off for the Black Sox. Miller Huggins, acquired from Indianapolis, steps into most of the playing time at 2B (Larry Gardner will play there some as well). Huggins cost Baltimore Rube Foster in a league where pitching is at a premium, so there’s some risk there.

Rick Ferrell, Don Aase, Jesse Burkett, and Bill Sweeney were all designated for assignment to make space on the 40 man roster.

#BBB

Birmingham has had to rejuggle some key parts of their roster as DH Emil Frisk, one of their standout Spring performers, will miss about 5 weeks with a concussion. The Black Barons have recalled Billy Southworth from AAA Atlanta.

#BRK

Tommy Corcoran showed enough to play at the WBL, but he still has minor league options, so along with Pee Wee Reese, untested Dickie Thon breaks camp at SS for Brooklyn.

#CAG

Julio Gotay went from competing for a WBL role at SS to being waived, as Chicago broke camp with Damian Jackson as a reserve IF instead.

#CLE

The Spiders picked up 3B Evan Longoria from Miami. Longoria will pair with Ken Keltner, sending Bob Elliott to AAA. Whit Wyatt will likely miss his first start of the season, with Stan Coveleski most likely to take his place.

#DET

The Wolverines made a minor deal coming out of Spring Training, picking up RP Ron Perranoski and 3B Billy Nash. Perranoski may see the big leagues this season; Nash is several years away. Si Johnson has some elbow tenderness, putting his first start in doubt: Detroit has 4 SP in their bullpen, so there are plenty of candidates to take his place.

#HOD

House of David RP Lee Smith was sent to AAA after he came off the DL. In a smaller deal, they obtained CF Jim Edmonds, who will start the year in the minors.

In a much bigger deal, the HoD picked up CF Pete Browning, Ps Rollie Fingers and Eddie Rommel, SS Bert Campenaris, and 1B Mark McGwire. All but

#IND

15 year old Piggy Ward was waived. The ABC’s added Rube Foster to their pitching staff from Baltimore, pushing Virgil Trucks to the bullpen to open the season.

#MIA

With 2 separate deals, Miami welcomed 1B/3B Jim Thome, CF Gus Bell, 1B Will Clark, C Harry Danning, and OF Carlos Moran to the club. It’s a little bit of a confusing haul, but a couple of things are clear from it: first, the club’s commitment to Martin Dihigo is solidified by clearing the way for the versatile 17 year old; secondly, Paul Molitor was recalled to Miami, presumably to play 2B while Dihigo develops.

Moran makes the roster as well, but Danning and Bell are both players for the future at this point.

#NYA

A bit of a blockbuster brought 27 year old Mike Schmidt–who had a historically bad Spring–over from Philadelphia. Schmidt steps into a lineup with no pressure, moving ahead of Doug DeCinces in the pecking order.

#NYG

The Gothams gained a starting 2B in Cookie Rojas and some veteran offense at 1B in Joe Adcock in a a trade with Miami. OF Yasiel Puig and P Livan Hernandez were also acquired in the deal, and moved to the minors.

#OTT

The most surprising news to come out of Ottawa is that SS Freddy Parent–considered one of the prizes on the market–remains with the team. Despite talent to offer at 1B as well, the Mounties were quiet on the preseason trading front.

#PHI

Moving Schmidt not only cleared the way for Scott Rolen at 3B, it also netted Philadelphia 2 big league talents in C Bill Dickey and OF Aaron Judge, as well as prospect 1B Prince Fielder. Dickey steps into a platoon with Sherm Lollar while Judge will begin the season in the minors.

3 P’s were released: Bob Moose, Edwin Jackson, and Hal Kelleher.

#SFS

The Seals made a deal that left their fan base scratching their head. But they’re confident that 20 year old SS Dick Lundy has a great future, OF Bobby Bonds will step right in at the WBL level, and Nick Altrock will prove a useful arm to have around. All 3 made the roster, sending Eddie Miller to the minors.

Season Preview: New York Gothams

The Gothams look to have one of the strongest pitching staffs in the league, and assuming that holds up, they should go far this season. The lineup looks solid–one of the keys is whether Buster Posey can continue to perform at an elite level offensively.

Final Roster

SP: Christy Mathewson, Mickey Welch, Sad Sam Jones, Juan Marichal, Carl Hubbell.
RP: Al Spalding & Gaylord Perry; Marcel Lachemann; Robb Nen & Mike Norris; Brian Wilson.

C: Buster Posey; John Kerins
1BWillie McCovey
2B: Brian Dozier; Mark Loretta
3BPinky Higgins
SSArt Fletcher; Eugenio Suarez
LF: Jimmy Sheckard; Ben Oglive
CF: Willie Mays
RF: Johnny Callison & Carl Furillo
DH: Wally Berger

Notes

Buck O’Brien imploded at the end of Spring Training, making him the final cut from the pitching staff … despite limited appearances in the Spring, Carl Hubbell will slide into the 5th rotation spot once he’s back from injury … Will Clark‘s injury proved decisive, and he’ll start the year at AAA … The final cut, after OF Carlos Moran, is quite a challenge: at the end of the day, the Gothams have decided to leverage their expected strength on their pitching staff and go with 11 arms, sending Sergio Romo down.

35 year old RP Mike Norris is the oldest player on the opening day roster, with 20 year old SP Christy Mathewson the youngest.

The Gothams loved what Moran offered in the OF, but the 20 year old needs a little more experience. The most likely immediate help at AAA would come from SP Pete Donohue or OF Benny Kauff. 1B Hi Myers might be closest to contributing from AA.

Will Clark is pictured as he has not yet been sent to AAA due to current short-term injury.

Spring Training Preview: New York Gothams

  • There’s a lot of SP depth, but perhaps 1 of Sad Sam Jones, Matt Latos, and Al Mays could force their way into the conversation.
    • The Gotham pitching has been pretty remarkable all Spring, which hasn’t really clarified the situation. It has meant that Pete Donohue‘s struggle probably move them out of the rotation contenders.
      • Donohue is headed back to AAA. The 5th spot is still up for grabs, most likely between Gaylord Perry and Al Spalding, with Buck O’Brien and Mays having a shot as well.
      • Carl Hubbell should be back before the end of Spring Training, but Latos will miss opening day.
  • Will Clark and Willie McCovey will both make the roster, but it’s not clear which will play 1B.
    • Neither McCovey nor Bill Terry are playing well, and the less said about Clark’s first 10 games, the better.
      • Terry is still struggling, but both McCovey and Clark have recovered.
  • 2B is up for grabs between Brian Dozier and Mark Loretta.
    • Not so much: Dozier is playing great and Loretta could lose the backup spot to newly recalled Larry Doyle.
  • The starting OF is pretty much set, but it’s not clear who between Jimmy Sheckard, Wally Berger, Carl Furillo, and Carlos Moran will make the team as reserves.
    • Johnny Callison‘s struggles have opened up an opportunity in the OF, with Berger, Moran, and Furillo all playing very well.
      • George Burns is back in AAA.
  • SS has been remarkable productive, with Brandon Crawford, Art Fletcher, and Eugenio Suarez all knocking the cover off the ball with regularity.
    • Suarez has cooled off a bit.
  • Pinky Higgins has seized the 3B job, with neither Art Devlin nor Ken Boyer doing much at all. Boyer, in fact, has been optioned to AAA.
  • John Kerins has leapfrogged Dick Dietz to be the likely backup to Buster Posey behind the plate.
Near DefiniteLikelyPossibleLong Shot
Starting PitchersChristy Mathewson
Mickey Welch
Sad Sam Jones
Juan Marichal
Gaylord Perry
Al Spalding
Matt Latos
Carl Hubbell
Al Mays
Buck O'Brien
Middle RelieversMatt Thornton
Mike Norris
Aaron Loup
Marcel Lachemann
Sergio Romo
SetupRobb Nen
Carson Smith
CloserBrian Wilson
CBuster PoseyJohn KerinsDick Dietz
1BWillie McCoveyWill Clark
Bill Terry
2BBrian DozierMark LorettaLarry Doyle
3BPinky HigginsArt Devlin
SSArt Fletcher
Brandon Crawford
Eugenio Suarez
OFWillie Mays
Wally Berger
Benny Kauff
Carl Furillo
Carlos Moran
Johnny Callison
Jimmy Sheckard
Ben Oglive

Seed Players

Each franchise, working within a WAR (Wins Above Replacement, per bb-ref) budget, selected historical players to seed their franchise. This group was augmented by a somewhat arbitrary top-40 NeL players, and a handful of 19th century players and/or players who “belonged” to franchises not represented in the league.

The budget led to some difficult choices–as an example, the New York Gothams (the New York and San Francisco Giants franchise) start in the WBL without Barry Bonds, instead opting for the duo of Christy Mathewson and Willie Mays as their franchise anchors (in addition to Al Spalding, Bill Terry, Buster Posey, Pop Lloyd, Carl Hubbell, and Carlos Moran).

Each of these players enter the league towards the start of their careers, and received a 5 year contract.

Each team additionally maintained “franchise rights” to a handful of players. Many of these players were in the 3,000+ players comprising the initial draft class for the WBL; the rest will appear on the franchise when, randomly, they appear in a rookie class down the road

Sticking with the Gothams, this meant the franchise starts with Gaylord Perry, Juan Marichal, Will Clark, and Willie McCovey as well, with each of them signed for 3 years. These players entered the league at points throughout their career, but almost always with at least a few peak season remaining.

It also means that, whenever they enter the WBL, Homestead will hold the rights to Bonds, Mel Ott, Roger Connor, and Tim Keefe.

You can see on each team’s home page the Seed Players, the Franchise Rights players, and the players for which they hold Future Rights.

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