Tag: Willie Mays Page 4 of 7

TWIWBL 38.0: Series XXX Notes

On April 20, 2023

August 9th

There was a single game on August 9th: the Indianapolis ABCs visited the House of David to makeup a game rained out earlier in the year. And what a game it was …

The ABCs Willie Mitchell has struggled a bit since joining the starting rotation, but he’s still been effective; here he would be opposed by the House of David’s Frank Sullivan.

Mitchell struggled early, giving up 4 runs in the first two innings on a 2-run single from Joe Harris and an RBI triple from Dan Ford. Both are stories of note: Harris, a 35 year old minor league veteran, has hit well over .300 since being recalled a few weeks ago and Ford, an injury fill in early in the season, has blossomed, keeping his average over .300 with some power in becoming the House of David’s starting RF.

But Mitchell settled down after that, not allowing a run through 7 innings.

In the meantime, the ABCs scratched and clawed their way back with 2 in the 6th, 1 in the 7th, and a solo homerun from Dave Henderson in the 8th to tie the game.

Anthony Rizzo singled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the frame as the game was handed over to two expended bullpens.

Indianapolis would get a pinch-hit, 2-run shot in the top of the 9th from Bob Bescher to take the lead, but Harris would answer with a 2-out solo shot in the bottom of the frame to send us to extra innings.

The 10th was scoreless, but after Ford reached on an error, Harris doubled him home to win the game.

Harris drove in 4 on 4 hits, and Ryne Sandberg and Jim Edmonds added 3 hits apiece for the winning side. Pete Browning went 1 for 6, edging closer and closer to qualifying for the league lead in batting (he currently sits at .358).

IND 6 (Carroll 2-4, 2 B Sv) @ HOD 7 (Downs 3-2; Niedenfuer 3 H; Smith 1 B Sv) [11 Innings]
HRs: IND – Henderson (10), Bescher (14); HOD – Harris (4).
Box Score

Awards

The House of David’s Elrod Hendricks was named the WBL Player of the Week, hitting .474 with a whopping 5 homeruns during 19 at-bats over the past 7 games.

Performance

Some random statistical accomplishments …

The New York Black Yankees‘ Eric Davis leads the Power/Speed combos, with 30 homeruns and 57 steals. Five other players have at least 20 of each, with Brooklyn‘s Beals Becker (21 HRs and 42 SBs) being the next highest total.

Davis’ teammate Don Mattingly has 24 homers and only 26 strikeouts.

The New York Gothams‘ Jimmy Sheckard and Willie Davis of the Philadelphia Stars have yet to hit into a doubleplay.

The Chicago American Giants‘ Dick Allen is the only player in the league in double digits in doubles (21), triples (10), and homeruns (19).

Batters

Standard stuff: top 2 in all categories, leader in bold.

Babe Ruth of the New York Black Yankees has put some distance between the rest of the homerun hitters. He and the Los Angeles Angels‘ Doug Rader are the dominant offensive players, but Ruth is clearly the man.

Dick Allen (CAG). 303/371/538. 10 3B.
Johnny Bench (IND). 302/410/598. 5.4 WAR.
Ty Cobb (DET). 343/388/562.
Mike Fiore (HOM). 241/403/396. 89 BB.
Bobby Grich (LAA). 288/377/483. 40 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 253/383/338. 80 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 305/378/594. 34 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 333/418/586. 92 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 327/444/605.
Willie Mays (NYG). 327/392/526. 147 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 333/396/585. 40 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 340/393/553. 153 H, 115 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 297/372/442. 78 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 320/435/675. 39 HR, 108 RBI, 99 R, 87 BB, 6.7 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 298/327/457. 11 3B.

Pitchers

Same as the batters: top 2 in all categories, leader in bold.

Starters

Pitchers keep passing up their opportunities to lead the league in wins: currently 3 are tied with 13 wins each. Jack Taylor of the House of David is emerging as perhaps the best starter in the league.

Bill Byrd (BAL). 12-3, 3.18.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 13-6, 4.40.
Don Drysedale (BRK). 7-6, 3.59. 1.16 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 11-7, 3.74. 169 Ks, 9.7 K/9.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 6-10, 4.67. 162 Ks, 9.2 K/9, 3.5 K/BB.
Luke Hamlin (KCM). 7-10, 4.99. 1.8 BB/9, 3.1 K/BB.
Pat Malone (CLE). 13-6, 3.89.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 13-7, 3.90.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 10-7, 3.28. 4.8 WAR; 3.13 FIP.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 9-5, 4.08. 3.28 FIP.
Stephen Strasburg. 7-6, 3.26. 3.9 WAR.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 12-8, 2.98. 1.12 WHIP.
Cy Young (CLE). 9-7, 4.50. 1.8 BB/9.

Relievers

Relievers are weird, right? The Gothams’ Brian Wilson has been the most dominant. Baltimore‘s Sean Marshall will miss the rest of the season through injury, but may still end up leading the relievers in WHIP at the end of the season.

33 minimum IP for rate stats.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 3.26. 27 Sv; 1 H.
Watty Clark (BRK). 3-2, 1.82. 21 Sv. 1.01 WHIP.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-5, 4.50. 32 Sv.
Sean Marshall (BAL). 5-0, 1.79. 1 Sv; 8H. 0.98 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-3, 1.47. 4 Sv; 12 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-5, 4.12. 3 Sv; 16 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 5-3, 3.59. 1 Sv, 16 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.02. 24 Sv.

Streaks

The king is dead! Long live the king! Boog Powell of the Kansas City Monarchs‘ has now reached base in 48 straight games, surpassing the Black Yankees’ Thurman Munson‘s mark of 43 games.

Ryne Sandberg‘s hitting streak ended at 22, tying him with Munson for 2nd place behind Ruth’s 23. During that streak, Sandberg scored in 15 straight games, setting the league record, but Ruth has scored in his last dozen contests, so we’ll see if he can reclaim that particular mark.

Baltimore’s Frank Robinson has hit a homerun in 4 consecutive games, 1 shy of the league record.

Two pitchers are threatening the Black Yankees’ Red Ruffing‘s league record of 24 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. The House of David’s Jack Taylor has a 21 inning streak and Birmingham‘s Greg Maddux is at 20 innings.

Results

Series XXX Sweeps

Indianapolis ABCs over Portland Sea Dogs

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXX

Baltimore over Memphis Red Sox
Detroit Wolverines over Philadelphia
Los Angeles over New York Gothams
New York Black Yankees over Miami Cuban Giants

Series Splits

Birmingham @ Kansas City
Brooklyn @ Ottawa Mounties
Cleveland Spiders @ Chicago
House of David @ Homestead Grays
Houston Colt 45s @ San Francisco Sea Lions

TWIWBL 36.1: Series XXVIII Notes – Bill James Division

By mknn

On March 16, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Detroit Wolverines

The Wolverines welcome Charlie Root and Chad Bradford to their staff, but perhaps the return of Tony Phillips is even more important for Detroit’s push down the stretch. Mickey Lolich and Si Johnson were sent to AAA, although both pitched decently. Robby Thompson was sent down on Phillips’ return.

Mike Henneman was the first in the league to notch 30 saves, reaching the milestone in a 7-6 victory over Houston. Sparky Adams and Ed Bailey each had 2 doubles in the contest.

An injury to Buddy Napier forced Detroit to put the effective reliever on the DL for 10 days, recalling Jason Schmidt.

#Los Angeles Angels

Pud Galvin and Harry Howell moved into the Angels’ rotation.

#Memphis Red Sox

Jim Paglioroni‘s departure cleared the way for young Kurt Suzuki‘s promotion to Memphis, where he’ll platoon with Billy Bryan behind the plate. Nixey Callahan was returned to AAA to make room for Turk Farrell‘s return from a rehab assignment.

#New York Gothams

Vean Gregg and Steve Howe lengthen the Gothams’ bullpen, and Rube Waddell replaces Don Sutton in the rotation. But the real changes have occurred offensively. 38 year old Joe Adcock is pounding the ball, and will become the full-time DH. Pete Runnels and Will Clark step right into the lineup. Overall, New York is worse off defensively, but may generate more consistent offense. A lot depends on whether Adcock and fan favorite Wes Westrum can continue their levels of production. George Van Haltren will lose playing time coming to the Gothams to serve as a reserve OFer, but he is now in the midst of a pennant race instead of languishing in Ottawa, so there’s that.

Christy Mathewson, helped by a perfect 1.2 IP of relief from Mike Norris, improved to 12-6 on the season in an 8-4 victory over their crosstown rivals. Norris picked up his 4th save, and Jimmy Sheckard, Johnny Callison, and Willie Mays each went deep for the Gothams.

#Wandering House of David

Tweak, tweak, tweak.

Bunny Downs can’t hit any worse than Craig Reynolds and Jung Ho Kang have, and by adding him to the roster, the House of David could also promote veteran Joe Harris as a bat off the bench.

Jack Taylor twirled a 3-hit, complete game shutout as the House of David beat Brooklyn 6-0. Elrod Hendricks went deep twice and drove in 5 in support of Taylor, who improved to 11-8 on the season while lowering his ERA to 3.15, good for tops in the WBL.

TWIWBL 36.0: Series XXVIII Notes

By mknn

On March 15, 2023

In TWIWBL

July 31

Awards Preview

We’re at the end of July, so let’s take a look at the front-runners for the major awards.

The Mel Trench Award (MVP)

I mean … look, Cleveland‘s Ron Blomberg (341/410/649; 32 HR) is a great story and the key to the Spiders’ offense. And Chicago‘s Eddie Collins (311/402/513; 43 SB) may be the best all-around player in the game–it’s him or his teammate Joe Jackson (337/423/585). And some of you will create convoluted definitions of “valuable” in support of Los Angeles‘ Doug Rader, the league RBI leader and (as of right now) the only player in triple digits or Portland‘s Kent Hrbek, who is now tied for the league league in HR with 33.

But it’s really all about the guy he’s tied with. Barring something quite surprising, the New York Black Yankees‘ Babe Ruth should take the inaugural Mel Trench Award. Ruth has led the league in HRs all season, in OPS most of the year, and is in the top few in almost every offensive category. He is, simply, the most devastating offensive force in the league.

The Brock Rutherford Award (Pitcher of the Year)

Portland’s Walter Johnson began the year as the favorite here, and was then overtaken by Los Angeles’ Gerrit Cole. But Cole has stalled a bit after rattling off 5 straight victories to improve his record to 11-3, going 1-3 over his last 9 starts, allowing the rest of the league to catch up.

And then there’s Baltimore‘s Ned Garvin, who looked to be the front-runner, posting a 9-4 record and an ERA well under 3. But Garvin is out for the rest of the season.

Cleveland’s Pat Malone and the New York Gotham‘s Christy Mathewson join Cole with 12 wins, and 7 pitchers have 11. So if one of those go on a streak, they have to be considered favorites. But I would put forth three other names: Birmingham‘s Alejandro Peña has been the statistical front-runner, with an over 1 point of WAR edge on Johnson and leads the league in FIP. Peña was considered a bit of a joke when the Black Barons were buried in the standings; now that they are challenging for a playoff spot, he merits serious consideration. Jack Taylor of the House of David is posting an actual ERA at about the same level as Peña’s FIP, leading the league in both that and WHIP.

And if I had to vote, I would vote for Baltimore’s Bill Byrd, who has sat on the leaderboards all season, quietly and consistently anchoring the best staff in the league. Byrd is 11-3, with a 3.29 ERA, not league-leading, but among the leaders.

The Phineas Flint Award (Reliver of the Year)

Another award that has been greatly impacted by injury, as Portland’s Johan Santana was the clear leader here. But he’s been surpassed, and the award probably has to go to Detroit’s Mike Henneman, the league leader in saves with 30, 5 more than Cleveland’s Terry Adams.

The only other argument right now is, I think, the Gothams’ Brian Wilson, who has 22 saves and a microscopic 1.08 ERA.

Ron Reed was making a case as an all-purpose reliever, but while he still leads the league in holds, he has struggled enough since his trade to Cleveland to fall out of contention. If anyone in that category should be in the conversation at this point, it’s the Gothams’ Mike Norris.

Silver Sticks

C: Johnny Bench (IND). 308/414/602.
1B: Kent Hrbek (POR). 304/378/598.
2B: Eddie Collins (CAG). 311/402/513.
3B: Dick Allen (CAG). 315/381/548.
SS: Bobby Wallace (BAL). 309/408/441.
OF: Babe Ruth (NYY). 315/433/645.
OF: Eric Davis (NYY). 277/354/539.
OF: Willie Mays (NYG). 324/387526.

Predictably, the OF spots are the most contentious, with Joe Jackson, Reggie Jackson, and a half-dozen others not sharing the same last name all making arguments as well.

Performance

Batters

Usual stuff: top 2 in each category, leaders in bold.

Dick Allen (CAG). 315/381/548. 10 3B.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 341/410/649. 138 H.
Rico Carty (PHI). 289/359/469. 37 2B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 345/390/562.
Eric Davis (NYY). 277/354/539. 5.3 WAR.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 257/390/338. 81 BB, 77 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 304/378/598. 33 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 337/423/585. 85 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 331/445/610.
Stan Musial (KCM). 333/395/595. 39 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 333/387/544. 139 H, 104 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 299/373/451. 72 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 315/433/645. 33 HR, 99 RBI, 90 R, 83 BB, 5.8 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 305/337/473. 11 3B.

Pitchers

Starters

Top 2 in each category, leaders in bold.

Bill Byrd (BAL). 11-3, 3.29.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 12-6, 4.39.
Don Drysedale (BRK). 7-5, 3.48. 1.16 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 11-7, 3.84. 162 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 6-9, 4.56. 159 K.
Walter Johnson (POR). 10-4, 3.79. 3.4 WAR.
Pat Malone (CLE). 12-5, 3.84.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 12-6, 3.70.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 9-7, 3.44. 4.5 WAR, 3.17 FIP.
Eddie Plank (SFS). 8-5, 4.06. 3.41 FIP.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 11-8, 3.15, 1.15 WHIP.

Relievers

30 IP for rate stats.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-6, 3.44. 25 Sv, 1H.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.71. 30 Sv.
Ken Howell (SFS). 3-4, 2.15. 4 Sv, 8 H. 0.99 WHIP.
Sean Marshall (BAL). 5-0, 1.81. 1 Sv, 7 H. 0.95 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-3, 1.57. 4 Sv, 10 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-5, 3.82. 3 Sv, 16 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 4-3, 3.54. 1 Sv, 15 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.08. 22 Sv.

Awards

The Gothams’ Joe Adcock showed that 38 year olds can still hit, winning the Batsman of the Week Award by going 12-for-27 with 4 homeruns.

Streaks

Ryne Sandberg of the House of David has an 18 game hitting streak, and has scored in 10 straight games (1 off the league record).

Kansas City‘s Boog Powell is now only 2 games behind Thurman Munson‘s record 43 game on-base streak.

Series Results

Series XXVIII Sweeps

Baltimore over San Francisco

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXVIII

Birmingham over Ottawa
House of David over Brooklyn
Cleveland over Kansas City
Detroit over Houston
Homestead over Indianapolis

Series XXVIII Splits

New York Gothams @ New York Black Yankees
Chicago @ Memphis
Los Angeles @ Portland
Miami @ Philadelphia

TWIWBL 34.1: Series XXVII Notes – Bill James Division

By mknn

On March 1, 2023

In TWIWBL

#Los Angeles Angels

The Angels have been desperate for starting pitching for a while, behind the hard-throwing duo of Gerrit Cole and Nolan Ryan. In a somewhat desperate move, they sent Chuck Finley, Tom Seaver, and Mike Smith to AAA, bringing back up Harry Howell, Sid Fernandez, and Jason Vargas.

Homeruns from Mike Trout and Carlos Delgado powered the Angels to a 12-1 victory over Kansas City in a game which, perhaps more importantly, both Doc Gooden and Fernandez pitched well.

#Memphis Red Sox

Wade Boggs hit a mammoth homerun to lead off the bottom of the 10th giving the Red Sox a 6-5 win over Portland.

#New York Gothams

The Gothams hit 5 homeruns in a 16-7 rout of San Francisco. Joe Adcock started it with a grandslam, and Jimmy Sheckard, Willie Mays, Eugenio Suárez, and Johnny Callison all going deep as well. Mays and Callison had 4 hits each; Adcock and Callions each drove in 4, and Mays scored 4 times as New York pounded out 21 hits in helping Juan Marichal improve to 9-6.

#Wandering House of David

Dan Ford had 4 hits–2 of which were homeruns–and 5 RBI, leading the House of David to a 9-5 victory over surging Birmingham. Ryne Sandberg also had 4 hits, including his 16th homerun of the year, as Bob Rush threw 7 strong innings moving to 9-5 on the year.

TWIWBL 34.0: Series XXVII Notes

By mknn

On February 27, 2023

In TWIWBL

July 27th

Let’s Talk About D, Baby

While the rest of the league is buzzing with trade talk, let’s take a look at what the game tells us about flashing the leather. We’ll go by position, trying to get a sense of the best fielders in the league so far.

C (500 IP min)

Thurman Munson of the New York Black Yankees has over 150 more total chances than Homestead‘s Josh Gibson, having started 86 games behind the plate. That has to count for something. Of starting catchers, Baltimore‘s Curt Blefary leads in cERA with 4.08, and Cleveland‘s Louis Santop–yet to turn 20–leads the league in framing runs–1.2 ahead of Gibson. In terms of gunning down base runners, everyone is clustered around 33% or so–Emil Gross (Ottawa) was way up at 46%, but couldn’t hit enough to stay in the league and Alan Ashby (Miami) has been excellent at 36% since taking over for Miami. Looking at all of that, it’s got to be Munson, Gibson, Blefary, or Santop, with apologies to Indianapolis‘ Johnny Bench and the House of David‘s Elrod Hendricks.

	IP	TC	E	RTO%	cERA	FRM
C. Blefary (BAL)	599	401	11	29.4	4.08	-1.2
J. Gibson (HOM)	718	559	14	27.2	5.77	1.5
T. Munson (NYY)	765	719	5	33.0	4.72	-1.3
L. Santop (CLE)	624	542	2	32.6	4.20	2.7

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; E = Errors; RTO% = Runners Thrown Out %; cERA = Catching ERA; FRM = Framing Runs Saved

I think Santop takes it, but I would be OK if Munson’s higher usage swung it to him.

1B (600 IP min)

Philadelphia‘s Ted Kluszewski has the best fielding percentage (.996), having committed only 3 errors, but trails well behind Dan McGann (BAL)’s league leading 10.20 Range Factor. Will Clark of the Miami Cuban Giants leads in Zone Rating at 3.3. So McGann makes the most plays overall, but Clark makes the most plays that other 1B miss.

	IP	TC	E	PCT	RNG	ZR
Will Clark (MCG)	791	818	5	.994	9.25	3.3
Ted Kluszewski (PHI)	676	711	3	.996	9.43	1.0
Dan McGann (BAL)	749	854	5	.994	10.20	2.5
Bill White (MEM)	788	814	4	.995	9.25	1.8

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; E = Errors; PCT = Fielding %; RNG = Range Factor; ZR = Zone Rating

It comes down to whether you think McGann’s RNG is more a product of his glovework or the superior Black Sox pitching staff. For me, Clark making plays nobody else in the league makes takes it.

2B (600 IP min)

Cleveland‘s Chuck Knoblauch and San Francisco‘s Jimmy Bloodworth each sport a .993 Fielding Percentage with only 3 errors each. The House of David’s Ryne Sandberg has, by a fair bit, played the most at 2B, making his leading the league in Range Factor more impressive. The New York Gotham‘s Cookie Rojas leads in ZR, trailed by Chicago‘s Eddie Collins. Those are the contenders.

	IP	TC	E	PCT	RNG	ZR
Jimmy Bloodworth (SFS)	753	423	3	.993	5.02	3.7
Eddie Collins (CAG)	715	390	5	.987	4.85	5.5
Chuck Knoblauch (CLE)	801	426	3	.993	4.75	-1.8
Cookie Rojas (NYG)	703	369	3	.992	4.68	6.5
Ryne Sandberg (HOD)	850	524	7	.987	5.48	0.8

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; E = Errors; PCT = Fielding %; RNG = Range Factor; ZR = Zone Rating

I can’t get away from Rojas. Behind him it’s rough: Collins makes some great plays, but Sandberg’s greater usage may give him the edge.

3B (600 IP min)

Mike Schmidt of the Black Yankees has the highest fielding percentage, Ottawa’s Anthony Rendon leads in Range Factor, and Philadelphia’s Scott Rolen has a massive edge in Zone Rating. It’s hard to put together.

	IP	TC	E	PCT	RNG	ZR
Ron Cey (BRK)	808	221	6	.973	2.39	5.4
Anthony Rendon (OTT)	853	266	7	.974	2.73	1.8
Scott Rolen (PHI)	813	240	5	.979	2.60	8.5
Mike Schmidt (NYY)	677	193	3	.984	2.53	6.3

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; E = Errors; PCT = Fielding %; RNG = Range Factor; ZR = Zone Rating

Rendon’s ZR confirms that his other stats are really a product of being on the field a lot. I think that leaves Rolen and Schmidt pretty much neck and neck.

SS (550 IP min)

The lower requirement is basically to allow Philadelphia’s Mickey Doolin to be listed. Homstead’s Arky Vaughan has played the most at SS, giving him roughly 20% more chances than the next few shortstops. Couple that with only 5 errors for a .990 PCT and Vaughan has to be in the argument. George Wright (Los Angeles) has a .995 PCT with only 2 errors, which is remarkable. Vaughan also leads in RNG, and is one of 3 SS with a ZR over 10, along with Detroit‘s George Davis and Kansas City‘s Ozzie Smith.

	IP	TC	E	PCT	RNG	ZR
George Davis (DET)	855	479	12	.975	4.91	13.0
Mickey Doolin (PHI)	597	343	5	.985	5.10	8.0
Ozzie Smith (KCM)	868	467	5	.989	4.79	12.5
Arky Vaughan (HOM)	884	520	5	.990	5.24	10.1
George Wright (LAA)	754	411	2	.995	4.88	9.8

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; E = Errors; PCT = Fielding %; RNG = Range Factor; ZR = Zone Rating

You gotta’ give it to Wright, right? But after that, how do you figure out the difference between Smith and Vaughan? Smith is more spectacular, Vaughan more steady … I’ve always been a sucker for the spectacular.

LF (500 IP min)

Homestead’s Rick Reichardt has spent the most time out there, has the best RNG among qualifiers, and leads LFers with 10 OF Kills. Los Angeles’ Don Buford and Ottawa’s Phil Bradley are second with 6, so that’s quite a gap. There are six–SIX–LFers who qualify who are yet to make an error. Of those, only Brooklyn‘s Roy White and Detroit’s Oscar Gamble have positive supporting metrics as well. White has routinely pulled of the spectacular, making roughly 4 additional plays in LF than the Gotham’s Jimmy Sheckard and San Francisco’s Rickey Henderson.

	IP	TC	A	E	PCT	RNG	ZR
Phil Bradley (OTT)	552	121	6	0	1.000	1.97	-1.9
Don Buford (LAA)	629	144	6	3	.979	2.02	1.0
Oscar Gamble (DET)	535	118	2	0	1.000	1.99	1.5
Rickey Henderson (SFS)	689	173	5	3	.983	2.22	2.7
Rick Reichardt (HOM)	799	211	10	2	.991	2.35	-1.2
Jimmy Sheckard (NYG)	865	207	5	4	.981	2.11	2.6
Roy White (BRK)	865	204	2	0	1.000	2.12	6.7

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; A = Assists; E = Errors; PCT = Fielding %; RNG = Range Factor; ZR = Zone Rating

I think White has to get the nod here, and behind him it’s a bit f a jumble. Reichardt is far from spectacular, but he’s added twice as many cold, hard outs than the next contenders without many miscues, so he gets a nod despite the negative ZR.

CF (600 IP min)

The Gothams’ Willie Mays has 15 OF kills to lead the way, but of note is Ottawa’s Ken Griffey, Jr., who has 13 in half the games. Griffey, currently at AAA, doesn’t qualify here, but what an arm! Baltimore’s Paul Blair has yet to make an error. Mays and Philadelphia’s Willie Davis make the most plays, with Blair, Mays, and Birmingham‘s Curtis Granderson leading in ZR.

There are others having strong years–Kansas City’s Willie McGee, Memphis’ Reggie Smith, and Detroit’s Chili Davis spring to mind–but it’s really between those initial four names.

	IP	TC	A	E	PCT	RNG	ZR
Paul Blair (BAL)	801	303	8	0	1.000	3.40	9.0
Willie Davis (PHI)	781	323	7	2	.994	3.70	5.2
Curtis Granderson (BBB)	631	247	10	3	.988	3.48	6.4
Willie Mays (NYG)	899	381	15	2	.995	3.79	7.7

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; A = Assists; E = Errors; PCT = Fielding %; RNG = Range Factor; ZR = Zone Rating

Mays and Blair seem the easy choices here.

RF (500 IP min)

RF is probably the most difficult of the OF spots to evaluate. The Gothams’ Johnny Callison leads in OF Kills, but with only 8. Callison is tied with Homestead’s Roberto Clemente in ZR, far, far ahead of the next cluster. Jeff Burroughs (POR) has yet to make an error, but the rest of his numbers aren’t terribly impressive. The House of David’s Dan Ford leads in RNG and is solid enough elsewhere.

The challenge is that several of the best in RF–Miami’s Alejandro Oms, Indianapolis’ Oscar Charleston, and Ottawa’s Larry Walker–don’t qualify here. Walker especially draws the eye, with 7 Kills and great peripheral numbers. But all of them are under 400 innings.

	IP	TC	A	E	PCT	RNG	ZR
Johnny Callison (NYG)	671	181	8	1	.994	2.41	6.2
Roberto Clemente (HOM)	747	194	4	2	.990	2.31	6.2
Dan Ford (HOD)	542	160	5	4	.975	2.59	1.2

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; A = Assists; E = Errors; PCT = Fielding %; RNG = Range Factor; ZR = Zone Rating

I think it’s pretty clear that Ford is in third place here and I think it’s hard to push Clemente above Callison.

SP (100 IP min)

Sample size is clearly an issue here, but the Gothams’ Gaylord Perry had handled the most chances and leads in RNG. Jack Taylor (HOD) and Dutch Leonard (BRK) lead in ZR. Unwinding a pitcher’s responsibility for controlling stolen bases is hard, but since we know that, on the whole, the league runs about 33% in terms of cutting them down, we can look for who is far above that: Leonard shows up, but if we look at those with at least 10 attempts against them, we are looking at San Francisco’s Eddie Plank, Taylor, and Portland‘s Jerry Koosman.

	IP	TC	RNG	ZR	RTO%
Jerry Koosman (POR)	119	12	0.83	2.2	46
Dutch Leonard (BRK)	139	18	1.17	2.4	67
Gaylord Perry (NYG)	117	27	1.92	-0.5	21
Eddie Plank (SFS)	116	13	0.93	1.8	64
Jack Taylor (HOD)	142	21	1.26	2.5	56

IP = Innings Played; TC = Total Chances; RNG = Range Factor; ZR = Zone Rating; RTO% = Runners Thrown Out %

I think this ends up going to Taylor and Leonard, but there will probably be more churn here than in other fielding evaluations between now and the end of the season.

Final Analysis

	Gold Glove	Silver Glove
C	Louis Santop (CLE)	Thurman Munson (NYY)
1B	Will Clark (MCG)	Dan McGann (BAL)
2B	Cookie Rojas (NYG)	Ryne Sandberg (HOD)
3B	Scott Rolen (PHI)	Mike Schmidt (NYY)
SS	George Wright (LAA)	Ozzie Smith (KCM)
LF	Roy White (BRK)	Rick Reichardt (HOM)
CF	Willie Mays (NYG)	Paul Blair (BAL)
RF	Johnny Callison (NYG)	Roberto Clemente (HOM)
SP	Jack Taylor (HOD)	Dutch Leonard (BRK)

Defense is so hard to evaluate, right? Despite being the only team with 3 players listed here, the Gothams aren’t at the top of any of the team fielding ratings.

Looking at overall mentions may be more interesting–here is the list of players considered above, by team.

5 – New York Gothams
4 – Homestead; Philadelphia
3 – Baltimore; Brooklyn; House of David; San Francisco
2 – Cleveland; Detroit; Los Angeles; New York Black Yankees; Ottawa
1 – Birmingham; Chicago; Kansas City; Memphis; Miami; Portland
0 – Houston

Yeah, not any better actually. The Gothams are among the best teams in the league, but both Homestead and Philadelphia are most decidedly not.

Defense. Shrug.

Performance

Batters

Top 2 in each stat, leader in bold.

Dick Allen (CAG). 310/380/544. 10 3B.
Johnny Bench (IND). 314/421/608. 5.2 WAR.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 338/407/649. 31 HR.
Rico Carty (PHI). 285/356/460. 35 2B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 350/390/572. 134 H.
Eric Davis (NYY). 278/353/539. 81 R.
Bobby Grich (LAA). 284/370/474. 35 2B.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 252/383/335. 76 BB, 72 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 303/376/591. 31 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 334/419/592. 81 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 331/445/610.
Stan Musial (KCM). 332/391/594. 37 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 335/391/546. 135 H, 100 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 299/371/449. 72 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 312/429/643. 32 HR, 96 RBI, 85 R, 79 BB, 5.6 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 304/336/468. 10 3B.

Pitchers

Starters

Top 2 in each stat (top 4 in ERA and WHIP), leader in bold.

17 pitchers have at least 10 wins, accounting for why we went deeper in ERA and WHIP this time. Have also included FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) for the first time, helping to unravel some of the mystery of Alejandro Peña.

Bill Byrd (BAL). 11-2, 3.09. 1.17 WHIP.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 12-5, 4.07.
Don Drysedale (BRK). 7-4, 3.37. 1.15 WHIP.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 9-4, 2.80. 1.18 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 11-7, 3.75. 160 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 6-9, 4.41. 155 K, 3.5 WAR.
Frank Knauss (BRK). 10-4, 3.07.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 9-7, 3.54. 3.24 FIP, 4.2 WAR.
Gaylord Perry (NYG). 8-7, 3.92. 3.54 FIP.
Stephen Strasburg (HOU). 6-6, 3.27.
Jack Taylor (HOD). 10-8, 3.35. 1.18 WHIP.

Relievers

Top 2 in each stat (top 4 in ERA and WHIP), leader in bold. 25 IP for rate stats.

Terry Adams (CLE). 2-5, 3.09. 24 Sv.
Elmer Brown (POR). 3-4, 1.65. 7 Sv, 9 H.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.94. 28 Sv.
Trevor Hildenberger (BRK). 3-0, 2.45. 1 Sv, 3 H, 0.94 WHIP.
Ken Howell (SFS). 3-4, 2.17. 4 Sv, 7 H, 1.01 WHIP.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.81. 19 Sv, 0.97 WHIP.
Mike Norris (NYG). 4-3, 1.62. 3 Sv, 10 H.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-5, 3.73. 16 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 4-3, 3.80. 14 H.
Carson Smith (NYG). 2-0, 1.80. 1 Sv, 8 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.11. 21 Sv, 1.02 WHIP.

Series Results

Series XXVII Sweeps

Baltimore over Philadelphia

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXVII

Detroit over Miami
Kansas City over Los Angeles
Portland over Memphis
New York Gothams over San Francisco

Series XXVII Splits

House of David @ Birmingham
Houston @ Brooklyn
New York Black Yankees @ Chicago
Homestead @ Cleveland
Ottawa @ Indianapolis

TWIWBL 31.0: Series XXIV Notes

By mknn

On January 13, 2023

In TWIWBL

July 14th

Early Pennant Race Update

Look, it’s July. Not even late July. Mid July. It’s far too soon to talk pennant races, right?

Never.

Bill James Division

The Detroit Wolverines and the New York Gothams are neck and neck, separated by a single game. Both the Wandering House of David and the Los Angeles Angels are close enough–5 games back–to make a move, but they can’t let too much more separation occur between them and the league leaders.

Cum Posey Division

The Baltimore Black Sox–with the best record in baseball–just can’t shake the Chicago American Giants, who are 5 games back. The rest of the division would need to make a significant move to change this from a two team race, with the Houston Colt 45’s–9 games back–the closest.

Effa Manley Division

The Cleveland Spiders are writing a great story, having overtaken the dominant favorite New York Black Yankees, who they now lead by 3.5 games. Everyone expects the Black Yankees to catch up, but they also never expected Cleveland to be where they are. The Indianapolis ABC’s sit 8.5 games back.

Marvin Miller Division

The Portland Sea Dogs leads the division by 5.5 games, but the story here is really the sudden resurgence of the Birmingham Black Barons, who have ridden a great streak to pull within 5.5 games. The Brooklyn Royal Giants sit 7 games back.

Performance

As usual, top 2 performers in all categories, with the WBL leader in bold.

Batters

Everything is tightening up: 6 batters sit between .336 and .339 for the league lead in BA, but the Black Yankees’ Babe Ruth continues to be the dominant offensive force in the league. It’s still a long list, though.

Dick Allen (CAG). 307/374/557. 9 3B.
Johnny Bench (IND). 301/420/585. 4.5 WAR.
Rico Carty (PHI). 289/361/469. 34 2B.
Willie Davis (PHI). 283/336/509. 9 3B.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 336/439/544.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 257/394/351. 72 BB; 64 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 308/375/593. 27 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 339/422/598. 74 R.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 339/410/646. 27 HR.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 336/447/610.
Willie Mays (NYG). 325/382/536. 119 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 337/396/591. 121 H; 34 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 325/378/542. 92 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 298/373/447. 69 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 321/431/659. 30 HR; 91 RBI; 78 R; 69 BB; 5.3 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 311/345/467. 9 3B.

Pitchers

There are 5 other pitchers tied with Bill Byrd with 10 victories; other than that the top 3 in each category are listed with the league leader in bold. No idea why Alejandro Peña is so highly rated in WAR.

Starters

Bill Byrd (BAL). 10-2, 3.20. 1.19 WHIP.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 12-4, 4.03.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 8-3, 2.64. 1.14 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 9-6, 3.86. 142 SO.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-8, 4.13. 138 SO.
Roy Halladay (OTT). 3-9, 4.13. 1.19 WAR.
Walter Johnson (POR). 8-3, 3.57. 3.4 WAR.
Johnny Marcum (DET). 9-2, 3.33.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 10-6, 3.91.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 8-6, 3.77. 3.5 WAR.
Jack Scott (NYY). 10-4, 4.10.
Cy Young (CLE). 8-4, 3.81. 3.2 WAR.

Relievers

20 IP minimum for rate stats. Top 2, leaders in bold.

Terry Adams (CLE). 0-5, 3.60. 23 Sv.
Watty Clark (BRK). 3-1, 1.20. 17 Sv.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.54. 24 Sv.
Trevor Hildenberger (BRK). 3-0, 2.18. 0.92 WHIP.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.08. 16 Sv, 0.88 WHIP.
Ron Reed (PHI). 0-3, 2.52. 16 H.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.78. 23 Sv.
Jonny Venters (LAA). 3-3, 3.15. 13 H.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.23. 18 Sv.

Streaks

There are 4 active on-base streaks of note, led by Brooklyn’s Beals Becker (30 games). Iván Rodríguez (POR, 27 G), Don Buford (LAA, 26), and Boog Powell (KAN, 25) are also live. Not much else: George Stone of the Wandering House of David has delivered 4 straight pinch-hits.

Series Results

Series XXIV Sweeps

Kansas City Monarchs over San Francisco Sea Lions

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXIV

Indianapolis over Brooklyn
Detroit over Chicago
Homestead Grays over New York Black Yankees
House of David over Los Angeles
Portland over Philadelphia Stars

Splitting Series XXIV

Baltimore @ Miami Cuban Giants
Cleveland @ Birmingham
New York Gothams @ Houston
Memphis Red Sox @ Ottawa Mounties

Series XXIV Best Games

By mknn

On January 11, 2023

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

The theme this time out is surprising bullpen collapses, as a range of usually dependable closers struggled to hold on to victories.

New York Black Yankees @ Homestead Grays, Game 2.

As the game began, the Black Yankees were encouraged by Ron Guidry‘s return to form, allowing only 3 hits–although 2 runs–in 5 innings of work. But Homestead‘s Stan Bahnsen was almost as good, settling down after giving up Mickey Mantle‘s 16th homerun of the year in the first inning. Bahnsen was chased from the game in the 6th, as consecutive singles from Mantle, Lou Gehrig, and Eric Davis put the Black Yankees up by 1. An inning later, a sacrifice fly by Don Mattingly made it 4-2, with the Black Yankees looking safe to take their expected victory … but then New York’s weakness showed up big time, as Sparky Lyle imploded in the 8th, giving up 2 run single to Pops Stargell (his 3rd hit of the day) to tie the game. Ralph Citarella pitched OK, but was saddled with the loss when midseason acquisition Gary Lavelle–sporting a gaudy 9.39 ERA since joining New York–gave up the game-winning single to Mike Epstein for a 5-4 win for the Grays.

NYY 4 (Citarella 2-5; Moyer 2 H; Lyle 4 B Sv) @ HOM 5 (Lindblom 2-4) [10 Innings]
HRs: NYY – Mantle (16).
Box Score

Los Angeles Angels @ Wandering House of David, Game 3

Tom Seaver had been rocked in his first few appearances, but here the 22 year old showed some of his promise, allowing 2 runs in the first and nothing thereafter over 5-plus innings. Doug Rader drove in 2 with a homerun in the 3rd and another with a single in the 5th as the Angels held a 4-2 lead. Solid relief work from Jonny Venters and Pud Galvin took the game to Los Angeles’ closer, Joe Nathan, who got 2 quick outs before a single from Richie Hebner setup a 2 run, game-tying homerun from Jim Edmonds. Hebner would win the game for the House of David in the bottom of the 11th with a solo shot, his 9th of the season. Mike Trout had 3 hits in the Angels’ losing effort.

LAA 4 (Rodríguez 3-1; Nathan 7 B Sv; Galvin 2 H; Venters 13 H) @ HOD 5 (Rommel 2-0) [11 Innings]
HRs: LAA – Rader (14); HOD – Edmonds (3), Hebner (9).
Box Score

New York Gothams @ Houston Colt 45’s, Game 4

This one was a great pitching duel with the Gotham‘s Christy Mathewson and Houston‘s Stephen Strasburg matching arms through 6 innings. Before leaving with an injury, Strasburg’s only blemish was a solo homerun by Willie Mays in the 1st inning while Matty sailed along until the bottom of the 5th when Houston picked up 2 runs, one on a Craig Biggio double, the other an RBI groundout from HR Johnson. The Colt 45’s 2-1 lead held until the top of the 9th, when their closer, Billy Wagner, came in the game. Wagner gave up a 2-out double to Eugenio Suárez, scoring Yasiel Puig and tying the game. New York’s Mike Norris–fantastic all season–was asked to stretch beyond his usual single inning, allowing a leadoff triple to Johnson in the bottom of the 10th. After 2 intentional walks to load the bases, Norris gave up a single to George Brett (his 3rd hit of the day), winning the game for Houston. Jimmy Sheckard had 4 hits for New York in the contest.

NYG 2 (Norris 3-2) @ HOU 3 (Ely 1-0; Wagner 5 B Sv; Hoffman 5 H) [10 Innings]
HRs: NYG – Mays (16).
Box Score

Chicago American Giants @ Detroit Wolverines, Game 3

Eddie Collins and Shoeless Joe Jackson each had 3 hits for Chicago, with Jackson hitting his 21st long ball of the year, but it wasn’t enough as Detroit used Oscar Gamble‘s 21st dinger to stay in the game, winning it in the bottom of the 9th on a wild pitch from the usually reliable Hoyt Wilhelm.

CAG 4 (Wilhelm 2-2) @ DET 5 (Hart 3-3; Hiller 1 B Sv)
HRs: CAG – Jackson (21); DET – Gamble (21).
Box Score

TWIWBL 30.0: Series XXIII Notes

By mknn

On December 12, 2022

In TWIWBL

July 10th

Looking Back at the All Star Trades

We’re a month(ish) on from the all-star break, seemed a good time to look back at the trades and see how they are working out in the early days.

Boom Shaka Laka

The Los Angeles Angels and the Ottawa Mounties swapped 8 players, with early returns making the Angels–by far–the winner in the exchange as veteran 1B Carlos Delgado is slashing 344/400/547 since the trade, providing what may be the final piece to the Angels’ puzzle. While Rusty Staub has done OK for Ottawa, none of the rest of the pieces have shown much at all. Wally Moon, who the Angels picked up from San Francisco, has been impressive as well, slashing 354/458/458 since the break. Two of the pieces the Angels gave up for Moon–C Brian Downing and P Dave LaRoche–have done well for San Francisco (Downing at AAA, LaRoche with the Sea Lions themselves), so this deal may work out for both sides.

Encouraging

The New York Gothams gave up a haul for Don Sutton, and so far it looks OK: Sutton looks to join the Gothams’ rotation shortly, posting a 2.70 ERA in 8 relief appearances. For Brooklyn, two of the prospects received are doing quite well: OF Don Mueller is slashing 387/395/653 and P Lew Krausse, Jr. has started his career with his new organization with some strong outings on the mound.

All-Star Ron Reed has just continued his strong year having moved from Philadelphia to Cleveland, with an ERA of 0.75 over his first half-dozen games with the Spiders. Even more importantly for Cleveland’s playoff push, OF Lance Berkman looks to have blossomed with the change in scenery, slashing 276/417/500 with 4 HRs since coming over from Houston–a jump of of over 200 points to his OPS. The Spiders gave up 7 players across those 2 deals, none of which have earned significant playing time with their new clubs, although both Jap Payne (sent to Philadelphia) and Harry Stovey (to Houston as part of the Berkman deal) have hit well in limited appearances).

The Chicago American Giants brought in 4 pitchers, with encouraging returns from Dick Rudolph (acquired from Miami) and Hoyt Wilhelm (from Birmingham). The best prospect the American Giants gave up–Minnie Miñoso to the Cuban Giants–has been injured, so the jury is still out on this deal in general, but it looks alright so far, even if Don Newcombe has struggled mightily, and may have been overvalued at the trade deadline. Perhaps as importantly, the American Giants seem to have solved their SS question, as all-star Freddy Parent has continued his strong form since joining them from Ottawa.

Birmingham’s fire sale went well. We’ll cover some of those below, but both Curt Flood and Manny Trillo–picked up in the trade of Frank Isbell (who has been alright) to Brooklyn–are both tearing up AAA.

Meh

The Baltimore Black Sox have to be pleased with Manny Machado‘s performance so far, as he’s slotted quite comfortably as their everyday 3B. But the Miami Cuban Giants can’t really complain, as they aren’t going to compete for a while and Joe Dugan is tearing up AAA while Chris Hoiles has established himself as a C at the big league level. The Black Sox also brought in Joe Beggs from Memphis to solidify the end of their bullpen. Results have been mixed so far.

Memphis’ fan base was quite critical of a few of their moves, and Roger Clemens‘ short-term success in Houston has only increased their fury. But Stubby Overmire has added some depth to their staff and perhaps more importantly, 2B DJ LeMahieu and P Jim Kaat look to be strong prospects for Memphis’ future.

Disappointing

Portland hoped picking up Rogers Hornsby from Kansas City would spark their offense for a playoff push, and while he’s better than Greg Litton, his .648 OPS is actually pretty Littonish, and a far cry from his .853 mark over the first half of the season.

Tim Hudson was supposed to solidify San Francisco’s rotation, but was roughed up in his first few starts. While he’s shown signs of coming around, the 36 year old is only 1-3 with an ERA north of 5 since his move to the Left Coast. Rube Melton, one of the pieces the Sea Lions gave up for Hudson, has excelled at AAA for Birmingham, and looks to be a nice pickup for the Black Barons.

Another one who took a bit to find his footing, Tom Herr, is finally showing some life for the New York Black Yankees. Still, a 228/267/298 slash is not what the New York faithful had hoped to see from their All-Star acquisition. The Black Yankees’ other significant acquisitions–Jamie Moyer and Gary Lavelle–have struggled as well, although Lavelle has been installed as their closer, which is more a comment on the other options than a compliment to him. Several of the prospects they gave up–Bill Buckner and Charlie Keller for Birmingham and Dick Bartell and Sam Thompson for Ottawa–are performing very well for their new organizations, so these trades may come back to haunt New York.

Performance

As usual, top 2 performers in all categories, with the WBL leader in bold.

Batters

Reggie Jackson‘s triple crown hunt is back on! And Babe Ruth‘s dominance just continues unabated.

Dick Allen (CAG). 298/368/550. 9 3B.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 335/410/646. 1.056 OPS. 26 HR.
Rico Carty (PHI). 295/362/480. 34 2B.
Ty Cobb (DET). 336/379/533.
Eric Davis (NYY). 277/337/528. 4.1 WAR.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 336/441/539.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 253/389/342. 67 BB, 64SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 301/370/582. 26 HR.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 337/449/610. 1.059 OPS.
Willie Mays (NYG). 316/373/523. 112 H.
Stan Musial (KCM). 331/390/585. 115 H, 31 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 316/373/523. 112 H, 88 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 298/373/454. 66 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 314/424/656. 1.080 OPS. 29 HR, 88 RBI, 73 R, 66 BB, 5.0 WAR.
Mike Trout (LAA). 318/390/455. 112 H.

Pitchers

It’s just all over the place, once you move past the dominant performances by Ned Garvin (BAL) and Gerrit Cole (LAA).

Starters

Bill Byrd (BAL). 9-2, 3.29.
Gerrit Cole (LAA). 12-3, 3.66. 128 IP.
Gene Conley (CLE). 10-2, 3.17.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 8-3, 2.64. 1.14 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 9-6, 3.84. 135 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-8, 4.15. 135 K.
Waite Hoyt (NYY). 8-2, 3.29. 1.15 WHIP.
Walter Johnson (POR). 8-3, 3.60. 3.2 WAR.
Christy Mathewson (NYG). 10-6, 3.96.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 8-6, 3.77. 3.5 WAR.
Red Ruffing (NYY). 10-4, 3.55.
Cy Young (CLE). 8-4, 3.84. 129 IP.

Relievers

20 IP minimum for rate stats.

Watty Clark (BRK). 3-1, 1.23. 17 Sv.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.67. 23 Sv.
Ken Howell (SFS). 3-3, 1.14. 3 Sv, 7 H.
AJ Minter (CAG). 1-0, 2.08. 16 Sv, 0.88 WHIP.
Ron Reed (CLE). 0-2, 2.26. 3 Sv, 16 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 4-2, 3.58. 12 H.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.78. 23 Sv.
Jonny Venters (LAA). 3-3, 3.24. 4 Sv, 12 H.
Billy Wagner (HOU). 0-2, 3.63. 11 Sv, 2 H, 0.90 WHIP.

Streaks

Not a lot of interesting active streaks. Brooklyn’s Beals Becker–who has the league record for consecutive games with a HR with 5–has a 25 game streak of getting on base. It’s no Thurman Munson, but it’s something. Becker is slashing 382/432/853 over his last 10 games. Gary Pettis, once considered a liability at the plate, is slashing 600/667/1050 over his last 15 games (because of Pettis’ utility as a defensive replacement, those 15 games cover only 24 ABs).

Christy Mathewson (NYG) hasn’t allowed a hit in over 8 innings.

Baltimore’s entire staff is on fire: Bill Byrd, Ned Garvin, Sean Marshall, Mike Mussina, and Jim Palmer are all on hot streaks on the mound. The most impressive is Byrd, who has a 1.07 WHIP and 2.38 ERA over his last 10 games.

Series Results

Series XXIII Sweeps

Cleveland over Indianapolis

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXIII

Baltimore over Brooklyn
Birmingham over Los Angeles
Houston over Chicago
Detroit over Portland
Kansas City over Philadelphia
New York Black Yankees over Ottawa

Splitting Series XXIII

Homestead @ San Francisco
House of David @ Memphis
Miami @ New York Gothams

Series XXIII: Best Games

By mknn

On December 7, 2022

In Featured Games, Game Recaps

For Series XXIII, we’re going to look at 3 series, each of which had 2 compelling games to visit more closely.

#Baltimore Black Sox @ Brooklyn Royal Giants, Games 1 and 3

The opening game of the series between Baltimore and Brooklyn was a bit of a surprise as the pitching matchup–Dennis Martínez and Don Drysedale–hinted at a pitcher’s duel. Instead, it was a see-saw affair, with the Black Sox taking an early lead, and then surrendering 6 runs in the bottom of the 6th. The key hit was Germany Smith‘s 2nd homerun of the year which, along with another run the following inning, gave the Royal Giants a 7-4 lead. Baltimore came back with a run in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th behind Larry Gardner‘s second homerun of the day en route to a 9-7 victory. Gardner finished with 3 hits and 5 RBIs for the Black Sox, whose bullpen delivered 5 innings of 1-hit relief.

BAL 9 (Palmer 7-7; Bessent 12 Sv; Beggs 3 H) @ BRK 7 (Dreifort 0-2, 1 B Sv; Hanson 4 H)
HRs: BAL – Gardner 2 (8), Robinson (19); BRK – Smith (2), Snider (20).
Box Score

The 3rd game of the series went to extra innings, but we should start with the great starts put in by Baltimore’s Mike Mussina (4 IP, 1 run) and Brooklyn’s Sandy Koufax (5 shutout innings allowing only 2 hits). Both of their days were cut short by a long rain delay, turning the game over to a pair of already thin bullpens. They got by–at the end of the 6th, the game was tied at 2, and it stayed that way into the 11th.

In the top of the frame, Baltimore’s Baby Doll Jacobson put down a great bunt to score Brian Roberts from 3B, and later came around on a single from Bobby Wallace to give the Black Sox a 4-2 lead.

The Royal Giants wouldn’t go down without a fight, however: Ron Cey doubled home Jackie Robinson to cut the lead to 1 run, and a 2-out single from Dickie Thon loaded the bases … but Don Bessent got the Royal Giants’ John Briggs to popout to 3B to end the game.

BAL 4 (Miller 3-1; Bessent 13 Sv) @ BRK 3 (Hanson 0-1; Gagne 5 B Sv)
HRs: BRK – Thon (4)
Box Score

#Miami Cuban Giants @ New York Gothams, Games 2 and 3

Miami‘s pitching–and especially their bullpen–has been pretty woeful all year, so when the Gothams scored 4 in the bottom of the 2nd to take a 4-3 lead, you could be excused for thinking the game was over. But the Cuban Giants fought back behind 2 homeruns from José Canseco and effective innings from Ed Bauta and Aroldis Chapman, not to mention a key OF kill from Alejandro Oms, who gunned down Willie Mays trying to score in the bottom of the 8th.

MCG 10 (Elias 3-3; Chapman 14 Sv; Brown 1 H; Bauta 9 H) @ NYG 7 (Marichal 7-6)
HRs: MCG – Canseco 2 (21); NYG – Adcock (3), Kerins (3), Higgins (7)
Box Score

José Méndez turned in one of his better performances of the year for Miami in game 3: 5 innings, 2 earned runs. A quality start. And nobody was talking about it, as New York’s Christy Mathewson won his 10th game of the year with a masterful 1-hit complete game shutout, striking out 7 and walking only one. Indeed, it was one of the best starts in the WBL all season, and Mark Loretta‘s 2 hits and 3 RBIs were more than enough for the Gothams.

MCG 0 (Méndez 2-4) @ NYG 3 (Mathewson 10-6)
HRs: n/a.
Box Score

#Houston Colt 45s @ Chicago American Giants, Games 2 & 4

Finally, we have two games from the Houston Colt 45s visit to Chicago. Game 2 was a pitcher’s duel between Houston’s Bones Ely and Chicago’s Mark Buehrle. Ely was better, allowing 1 run in over 7 innings of 3-hit ball, but Buehrle was quite good, allowing only an unearned run on an error by Dick Allen over 6 innings of work.

Chicago would score its first run in the bottom of the 8th on a wild pitch by Andrew Chafin, and win the game on a walkoff homerun from Allen, atoning for his earlier miscue. Mid-season acquisition Hoyt Wilhelm got the win with 3innings of 1-hit relief.

HOU 1 (Melancon 8-2; Chafin 2 B Sv) @ CAG 2 (Wilhelm 2-0)
HRs: CAG – Allen (15).
Box Score

The series finale was a fun one.

Houston jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind homeruns from Jimmy Wynn and Jeff Bagwell, but also left nine batters on base through the first 4 innings, which is actually hard to do. But with Roger Clemens giving his best work since joining the Colt 45’s, it seemed OK. Clemens reached 100 pitches after 6 innings of work, and left with leading, 6-3.

But Chicago rocked Luke Gregerson and Scott Erickson, torching Houston’s relievers for 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th to take the lead, 8-6. Recently recalled Andrés Galarraga sent a moon shot into the RF stands in the top of the 8th to swing the lead back to Houston, 9-8, and with Houston’s closer, Billy Wagner, taking the mound in the bottom of the 9th, all looked safe.

But Carlton Fisk reached on an error by SS Carlos Correa and José Abreu walked, setting the stage for a double from Magglio Ordóñez to tie the game and a single from Eddie Collins (who finished the day with 3 hits and 5 RBIs) to win it.

HOU 9 (Wagner 0-2, 4 B Sv; Gregerson 2 H; Melancon 8 H; Erickson 1 B Sv) @ CAG 10 (Newcombe 1-2, 1 B Sv)
HRs: HOU – Wynn (13), Bagwell (10), Galarraga (2).
Box Score

TWIWBL 29.0 – Series XXII Notes

By mknn

On August 8, 2022

In TWIWBL

July 6th

Quick Glance at the Standings

Things are tightening up around the league, with the most shocking news being that the New York Black Yankees are now in 2nd place in the Effa Manley Division, 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Spiders.

The closest race is in the Bill James Division, where the New York Gothams, Detroit Wolverines, and Los Angeles Angels are separated by only 2 games. Over in the Cum Posey Division, the Chicago American Giants remain 3 games behind the Baltimore Black Sox.

The Marvin Miller Division has the closest thing in the WBL to a runaway leader, as the Portland Sea Dogs lead the Brooklyn Royal Giants by 5.5 games, with the Birmingham Black Barons–on a surprising 9-1 hot streak–a game further behind.

Oddball Stats

Thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the less important stats going on the WBL.

Sacrifice Hits are a big deal for some WBL teams, and 5 players are tied for the league lead with 12 each. They tend to make sense–players like Detroit’s George Davis or Baltimore’s Dan McGann. But then two names jump out: Chicago’s Duffy Lewis and the New York Black Yankees’ Lou Gehrig (Lewis has 12, Gehrig 10). What are those teams thinking? These are elite sluggers who are being told to “just move the runner over” far too often.

Wade Boggs of the Memphis Red Sox leads the WBL in GiDP, with 17, followed by Gil Hodges (Portland) and Ken Singleton (Baltimore) with 14. That all feels appropriate, although Willie Mays (New York Gothams) being next with 13 seems a little off.

Speaking of Mays, he leads all OFers with 14–FOURTEEN–OF assists. Ken Griffey, Jr–despite spending significant time in the minors for the Ottawa Mounties–is second with 12.

On the mound, let’s take a look at Meltdowns and Shutdowns, and specifically the mystery of the Kansas City Monarch‘s Trevor Rosenthal, who has 9 of the former and 10 of the latter. Roger Clemens, now of the Houston Colt 45’s, has allowed the most stolen bases in the league, as 30 players have successfully swiped bases against the Rocket.

Performance

Batters

Usual stuff: top 2 in various stats (plus all 1.000+ OPS), league leader in bold.

It’s still a widely diverse list, and it’s still dominated by Babe Ruth. The San Francisco Sea Lions‘ Reggie Jackson has fallen from leading the league in all 3 categories to “only” leading in OBP.

Dick Allen (CAG). 296/365/550. 9 3B.
Ron Blomberg (CLE). 328/403/621.
Rico Carty (PHI). 295/364/481. 31 2B.
Eddie Collins (CAG). 307/408/530. 4.0 WAR.
Ty Cobb (DET). 341/385/532.
Mike Epstein (HOM). 337/443/523.
Mike Fiore (CAG). 245/400/391. 65 BB.
Rickey Henderson (SFS). 258/388/348. 63 BB, 61 SB.
Kent Hrbek (POR). 309/376/599. 26 HR.
Joe Jackson (CAG). 331/412/583. 68 R.
Reggie Jackson (SFS). 338/448/618.
Stan Musial (KAN). 333/392/595. 111 H, 30 2B.
Doug Rader (LAA). 318/371/535. 85 RBI.
Tim Raines (OTT). 300/378/457. 65 SB.
Babe Ruth (NYY). 311/418/664. 29 HR, 87 RBI, 69 R, 4.9 WAR.
Louis Santop (CLE). 316/351/470. 8 3B.
Frank Thomas (CAG). 328/433/575.
Mike Trout (LAA). 322/396/466. 108 H.

Starting Pitchers

Gerrit Cole (LAA). 12-3, 3.66. 128 IP.
Ray Collins (PHI). 7-6, 3.96. 127.1 IP.
Ned Garvin (BAL). 7-3, 2.82. 1.13 WHIP.
Lefty Grove (SFS). 8-6, 3.96. 128 K.
Ron Guidry (NYY). 5-8, 4.32. 127 K.
Dennis Martínez (BAL). 8-5, 3.23.
Alejandro Peña (BBB). 8-6, 3.81. 3.4 WAR.
Red Ruffing (NYY). 10-3. 3.63.
Cy Young (CLE). 8-4, 3.48. 1.14 WHIP, 3.4 WAR.

Relievers

25 IP for rate stats.

Tommy Hanson (BRK). 0-0, 3.16. 0.86 WHIP.
Mike Henneman (DET). 1-4, 3.96. 22 Sv.
Ken Howell (SFS). 3-3, 1.23.
Chuck Porter (CLE). 4-3, 2.16. 0.84 WHIP.
Ron Reed (PHI/CLE). 0-2, 2.42. 15 H.
Ron Robinson (SFS). 4-1, 3.44. 11 H.
Johan Santana (POR). 1-1, 2.78. 23 Sv.
Brian Wilson (NYG). 1-0, 1.37.

Streaks

Hank Aaron has an 18 game hitting streak, the only active streak that makes the league leaders. Aaron has hit homeruns in his last 3 games, as has Babe Ruth, but the leader in that category, surprisingly, is the Brooklyn Royal Giant‘s Beals Becker, who has gone deep in 5 consecutive games.

That gives Becker a stunning 1.300 SLG over those 5 games. Carlos Delgado, on fire since his trade to LA, is hitting .542 over his last 6 games.

Series Results

Series XXII Sweeps

Homestead Grays over Philadelphia Stars

Taking 3 out of 4 in Series XXII

Birmingham over Memphis
Houston over Portland
San Francisco over Ottawa

Series Splits

New York Gothams @ Baltimore
Brooklyn @ Cleveland
Chicago @ Miami Cuban Giants
Kansas City @ Detroit
Los Angeles @ Indianapolis ABC’s
New York Black Yankees @ Wandering House of David