The Denver Brewers of the W.P. Kinsella League

[BirdWatcher]

The Scouting Report:



Game 1:



In his first start since returning from his AAA banishment, young right-handed prospect Bryant Cox gives the Brewers an excellent outing, lasting 8 innings and giving up just 1 run on 4 hits with 2 K's and no walks allowed. Cox also drove in 1 of the Denver runs with his 5th inning double, his first of the season. Tim Shore pitches the 9th for his 29th save. Val Guzman (.314/.402/.508) was 2 for 3 and scored 1 run, while also stealing his 22nd base of the season (he also was caught stealing for the 9th time.)

Game 2:



Joe McPhillips led the team to a win in game 2, collecting 3 hits in 4 at-bats, while scoring 3 times and driving in 3 runs. Joe hit his 28th double and 1st triple of the season. Jake DiCesare (.326/.369/.509) was 3 for 5 and drove in a pair of runs while also scoring 1 and he collected 2 doubles in this one to get to 21. And young outfielder Matt Catlett got his first big league start and scratched out a pair of infield singles thanks to his great speed while also scoring a run in 5 at-bats. Steve Green gave up just 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits over 7 innings pitched for the win and Walter Hackler pitched the final 2 innings and earned his 3rd save.

Game 3:



A back and forth game ended with the Velocity getting a walk-off homer by their superstar catcher Andrew Litteral, his 2nd bomb of the game. Things may have ended a bit differently if the Brewers hadn't squandered some great early scoring chances, including leaving the bases loaded in the 1st inning. Erik Sloan was not sharp in the start, giving up 6 runs on 9 hits in his 5 1/3rd innings pitched but reliever Walter Hackler took the loss after following Ben Flynn, who was his usual erratic self (striking out the side in the 8th, but also giving up 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks over the course of 2 2/3rds innings pitched.) Of course, being Ben Flynn, he also went 1 for 2 and scored a run. Antonio Acuna (.368/.425/.607) was 3 for 5 with a run scored and 3 RBI and he hit his 18th double of the season. Brett Taranto (.327/.354/.443) also went 3 for 5 and he scored 3 runs and also drove in 3, while hitting his 10th home run of the season. And Joe McPhillips (.301/.392/.483) stays hot, collecting 2 hits in 5 at-bats in this one and hitting his 29th double of the 1979 season.

Notes from around the league:



Aaron McNally may not have the win-loss record he deserves, but he continues to prove season after season that he is the best pitcher of his generation (the man to whom Jake Harris and Cheol-han Lee passed the torch when they each retired.) Although the Brewers Sadahige Kawasaki remains the frontrunner to win the MGL Pitcher of the Year award at the end of this season, McNally is certainly determined to make it a tough decision on the part of the voters. (He is currently 3rd in the MGL in ERA, behind Kawasaki and just barely behind Portland's Brad Evans, and is 2nd in FIP, WAR , rWAR, and ERA+ behind Sadahige.)
As for McNally's Aces, they sit in 4th place with a 74-61 record and trail Denver by 15 games, meaning they still have a chance to contend, but only by virtue of some sort of miracle.
After Denver, there are 2 teams in 2nd place: the Los Angeles Spinners and the Detroit Falcons, both with 76-59 records, both 13 games behind the Brewers. At this point only 3 teams are technically eliminated: Phoenix, Oklahoma City, and now the Baltimore Lords.

In the SJL, all but 4 teams are now without a mathematic chance of competing, with Pittsburgh, the reigning WPK Champs El Paso, and Milwaukee the most recent to be eliminated. San Antonio (93-41) is in good shape at the top of the standings, leading Columbus (87-48) by 6 1/2 games, and Philadelphia (82-52) by 11. The Boston Berserkers are the only other team that still has any chance in the SJL, but they are 16 1/2 games behind San Antonio with a 77-58 record.

[BirdWatcher]

Not that the Philadelphia Mud Hens really had much chance to make a pennant run here down the stretch, but the news today that they lost their top starting pitcher, Jeff Tribble, to a torn labrum was perhaps the final nail in the coffin.



For the durable 32-year old Tribble this is the first serious arm injury of his career, and it couldn't have come at a worse time, with the talented Mud Hens battling to hang on to SJL pennant hopes.

On the bright side, their 22-year old top prospect Ron Carmouche has had three strong starts in a row, after pitching 11 games out of the bullpen in this his first season in the big leagues (he only turned 22 three days ago), and he will get even more opportunities to gain experience now down the stretch. Jose Orozco, a 23-year old side-arming righty has also pitched well in his 2 starts since being brought up from AAA Arlington.

[BirdWatcher]

So let me first start with apologies to anyone (the one or two of you? ) who might be following along faithfully and are wondering what happened next and where I went.
Recently I found myself doing a bit of a cost/benefit analysis on this thread and for once things were balancing out in the wrong direction for me. It my not be apparent, but I have expended a great deal of energy and time in reporting on the WPK and it feels to me like the level of engagement from anyone other than me has been dropping for awhile, with very few people responding here- even when I asked very specific questions and made an appeal for feedback lately- and the number of views trending lower all the time. And please don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining or laying blame on anyone (other than myself, perhaps) but it is part of any calculation about whether the time and effort is worth it to me.

And I've decided it no longer is. I can move much faster with the league while staying fully immersed without reporting out about the league here.
But although my initial instinct was simply to step away (in all honesty, I find myself not really enjoying the forums on the whole as much these days) upon further reflection that feels a bit unfair and offers no closure.

Here is the context then: we have reached December 31st of 1979 on the WPK calendar.
Let's catch you up and wrap things up (for now, at least.)

The Pennant Race:

Well, in fact, there weren't pennant races in the WPK this season. The Denver Brewers essentially had the MGL in the bag by mid-August and just cruised to their fourth straight pennant with a 108-54 record, matching their second best win total also achieved in 1971. (They won 111 games in 1978.) They were led primarily by staff ace Sadahige Kawasaki who finished the season 20-7 with a league leading ERA of 2.07, winning the ERA crown the second year in a row. Jim Atwell led the league in wins, going 21-5 with a 3.43 ERA. The offense was led by young corner outfielder Antonio Acuna and Val Guzman. Acuna led the league in hitting with a .368 batting average. He also led the league in RBI with 110 while scoring 104 runs. He combined power and speed, hitting 23 home runs while also swiping 30 bases (being caught trying just 8 times.) Guzman also had a good power/speed season as his power bat heated up in the second half and he finished with 20 homers and 90 RBI while also stealing 29 bases (caught stealing 11 times). Acuna's 7.3 WAR was second in the league behind Detroit's John Hemmah and Guzman was third at 7.1. Joe McPhillips also had a fine season, finishing with a slash line of .298/.396/.514, scoring 103 runs while driving in 100, hitting a team-best 24 home runs and putting up 5.0 WAR. And veteran second baseman Bobby Erbakan accumulated 4.6 WAR while hitting .298/.348/.469 with 22 home runs, 87 runs scored, and 84 RBI. Tim Shore finished the season tied with L.A.'s Yu-bao Tong for the most saves in the MGL with 37 (Shore also had a fine 1.62 ERA.)
Danny Salvador of Brooklyn led the MGL in home runs with 33. Detroit's John Hemmah led in stolen bases with 79. Brooklyn's Joel Travino once again led among pitchers in strikeouts with 204.

Over in the SJL, the San Antonio Keys pulled away down the stretch and won a WPK record 115 games, led by superstar third baseman Bud Lindsay who hit .394 with 38 home runs, 131 RBI, collecting 222 hits and scoring 136 runs, while playing his usual Gold Glove defense at short, all of which added up to 12.2 WAR. Lindsay likely would have won the hitting Triple Crown had he not seen his season end on September 13th due to a strained rib cage muscle (he is Wrecked). At the time he was leading in all 3 Triple Crown categories but in the end Philly's Mike Lovett passed him in RBI with 139. The Columbus Whalers finished second with an impressive win-loss record also, going 107-55 and they saw four of their starting pitchers win at least 20 games, a first in WPK history (Luis Ramirez: 22-10, Kevin DeRouen: 20-6, Jay Crosby: 20-6, and Jim Norris: 20-9). And of course their revered young closer Jamar Clay shattered the WPK single-season saves record, finishing with 51. There were many other standout seasons in the SJL, many of them coming from San Antonio batters (John Mussaw: 11.0 WAR, John Freeman: 7.8 WAR, Zach McClelland: 7.2 WAR.) Some other usual suspects were also great, including Philly's Xiao-mei Mah (7.4 WAR), Boston's Justin Vargas (7.0 WAR) and Pittsburgh's Matt Van der Heyden (6.8 WAR.) Six SJL pitchers finished with at least 20 wins, with former Brewer Eric Johnson of Pittsburgh having a career year at age 32 going 20-4 and San Antonio veteran Jesse Hartong finishing the season with the best single season winning percentage of .909, going 20-2. (Kawasaki and Atwell were the only MGL pitchers to win 20 games this season.)

Let's look at the final standings:
SJL:



MGL:



Single-season records broken:

As previously mentioned, a new single-season team win record was set by San Antonio this season.

Also mentioned but worth repeating: Jamar Clay of Columbus set a new single-season saves mark with 51. The previous record was 38 so he just demolished the former record.

The only other new pitching record set is the also aforementioned .909 winning percentage of Jesse Hartong. The previous best was .887 set by the great Jim Norris in 1971. It should be noted that actually two pitchers broke that record this year, with Philly's Jeff Tribble finishing with an .889 winning percentage.

Bud Lindsay set three new records: best batting average, with .394 (previous best was Travis Johnson's .385 in 1966), best slugging percentage, at .667 (previously Jesus Casiano, 1970, at .655), and OPS with 1.111 (again, besting Casiano's 1970 season, when he had 1.078).

Lindsay's teammate Zach McClelland set a new single-season runs scored record with 144, the previous best having been shared by three players who all had 138 runs scored (Josh Jenkins in 1970, Nate Bennett in 1977, and Matt Van der Heyden in 1978).

And finally, Detroit's speedy young center fielder John Hemmah set a new single-season stolen base record with his 79 stolen bases (he did also lead the MGL in caught stealing with 24), besting the previous mark of 72 which was set by Jeremy Brigatti in 1976.

The Kinsella Classic Series:

The KCS featured two teams with deep and fearsome lineups. Even with Bud Lindsay watching from the dugout and on the IL, San Antonio's lineup is the envy of everyone. In Lindsay's absence John Mussaw, the veritable second coming of Lindsay, moves over to shortstop, which is his natural position, and veteran great Jared Hancock was able to reclaim the starting second baseman role. And all Hancock did down the stretch was hit .367 for the month of September and win the SJL Player of the Week award for the final full week of the regular season. Denver probably had a bit of an edge in terms of starting rotation but the San Antonio bullpen was clearly superior to the Brewers 'pen.

But Denver struck first with two big wins on the road, taking the first game 9-5 with Sadahige Kawasaki getting the win in spite of allowing 4 runs on 8 hits (over 8 innings) and Rich White powering the offense with 2 for 4 game, hitting a double and a home run and driving in a pair of runs.
The Brewers won game 2 by a score of 10-3. Jim Atwell pitched a strong 7 2/3rds innings, giving up 3 runs on just 5 hits. Bobby Erbakan was the Player of the Game, going 2 for 5 and hitting a pair of homers, scoring 3 runs and driving in 3 as well. Joe McPhillips also came up big, going 3 for 4, hitting a double and a triple and driving in 3 runs.

The scene shifted to Denver with the Brewers club feeling confident. Perhaps a bit too confident. San Antonio took Game 3 with left-handed starter Michael Noland pitching a strong game, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits over 6 innings and then turning it over to the fine Keys bullpen. San Antonio wins 7-2, with the bullpen giving up 4 of the runs (Bryant Cox allowed 3 runs while recording just 2 outs) and Sekien Hamasaki took a bit of a tough loss, having allowed 3 runs on 7 hits over 6 1/3rd innings. Rich White went 2 for 5 in the loss.
And the Keys evened the series with a 5-3 Game 4 victory. John Freeman was the Player of the Game, going 3 for 5 with a home run and 3 RBI for San Antonio. Steve Green gave up 5 runs on 8 hits in taking the loss. Antonio Acuna and Jake DiCesare each went 2 for 4 in this one.

The Brewers finally got a win at home, taking Game 5 by a score of 7-2 behind a strong start from Sadahige Kawasaki, who allowed 1 run over 8 innings in spite of giving up 10 hits to the potent San Antonio lineup. Val Guzman went 3 for 4 with a double and scored 3 runs and Brett Taranto was also 3 for 4, scoring a pair of runs in the win.

Needing just one win to take the series, the Brewers headed back to San Antonio feeling good knowing that 21-game winner Jim Atwell would be on the mound for Game 6. But of course the Keys had their own agenda and their 20-game winner Jesse Hartong on the mound and they managed to get a 6-4 win to send the series to a 7th and final game. Atwell was not sharp, giving up 6 runs (5 earned) on 11 hits over his 6 innings pitched. Although the Brewers lost, center fielder Joe McPhillips was named Player of the Game, having gone 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI.

So naturally, in a back-and-forth series between two powerhouse clubs, Game 7 could not be decided in the regulation 9 innings. The Brewers staked starter Sekien Hamasaki to a 2-run lead in the first inning on the strength of a Bobby Erbakan 2-run homer off lefty Michael Noland. But the Keys came back with 2 of their own in the bottom of the frame, putting together 4 singles, drawing a pair of walks, and seeing Hamaski uncork a costly wild pitch. The Brewers then scored 3 runs in the top of the 4th to take the lead again with Hamasaki himself getting a big run-scoring single and Bobby Erbakan driving in another run with a 2-out single. San Antonio got back to within 1 run when they plated 2 in the bottom of the 6th (the big hit a 2-out 2-run double by catcher Damian Lopez, theoretically one of the weakest links in this scary lineup). And then they tied it with a run in the 7th off reliever Javy Bermudez. A rare error by Bobby Erbakan at second got things started and the run eventually scored on a sacrifice fly out by Joe Brodeur, now in the game because left fielder John Freeman suffered an injury while running the bases back in the 1st inning. The Brewers once again took the lead in the top of the 8th when Joe McPhillips led off with a double and scored when right fielder Jose Melecio threw the ball away trying to throw out McPhilips at third base on a Brett Taranto flyball out.
And the game went to the bottom of the 9th in San Antonio with Denver holding a 6-5 lead and for the first time in the series Denver's veteran closer Tim Shore took the mound. And having blown just 4 save opportunities during the regular season including one on the final day of the regular season, Shore blew this one, giving up 3 singles and allowing the tying run before finally working out of the jam. To Shore's credit he then worked the next 3 innings, nearly flawlessly, having rarely worked more than an inning in a game during the regular season. The respective bullpens were excellent from the 10th through the 12th innings. And then, in the top of the 13th inning, the Brewers offense broke through. In a pinch-hit at-bat, Jose Figueroa led the inning off with a 5-pitch walk. Joe McPhillips, still with great foot speed at age 30, got an infield hit, pushing Figueroa to second. Brett Taranto flew out, harmlessly, to center for out number one. But then Bobby Erbakan hit a seeing-eye groundball single up the middle to load the bases. Antonio Acuna, the Brewers MVP of 1979, was up next and he hit the first pitch he saw into the air, deep into the gap in right center. Although the Keys right fielder was able to track it down for the 2nd out, it was far too deep to throw out runner Figueroa from third base and the Brewers had the 7-6 lead. That would be all they would get though as Val Guzman also hit a fly out to deep right having battled to a 3-2 count on 6 pitches.

The Brewers 28-year old side-arming power pitching righty Walter Hackler then took the mound for the bottom of the 13th with a narrow 1-run lead. One can only imagine the pressure on the shoulder's of the young man who has been up and down between AAA and the bigs the past several years and only recently solidified his role in the bullpen going into next season. Hackler had the advantage of the Keys bench being depleted, meaning if he could get the first three batters he would face he wouldn't have to pitch to any left-handed hitters, who can give him fits. Hackler dropped his shoulders a bit in resignation when veteran Jared Hancock got to him for a line-drive single to center on the second pitch of the inning to lead things off. And Brewers fans thought, oh no, here we go again. But then things went Hackler, and Denver's, way, when Damien Lopez hit a sharp groundball to shortstop Rich White. 6-4-3, double play. Hackler then faced the San Antonio closer Morgan Esker, with no batters left to pinch-hit, and Esker made it a tough at-bat, seeing 7 pitches, including fouling 3 of them off, before finally hitting a meek pop up to first baseman Brett Taranto to end the game and the series.



And for the 4th time in the team's history, the Brewers are the WPK Champions! With 3 home runs in the series and a 4 for 7, 4 RBI game in Game 7, Bobby Erbakan is named the MVP of the KCS. (I probably should have noted earlier that Bobby, who is injury prone, was suffering from a back strain at the end of the season, sidelining him for the final week and had only just returned to health as the KCS began.)


In Part 2 of 3 (likely later today): Awards Season, Fond Farewells, Re-alignment, Expansion, and the Expansion Draft.

[BirdWatcher]

Awards Season, 1979:

It should be no surprise that San Antonio's Bud Lindsay captured his 4th straight Shoeless Joe League MVP award after having had the best season of his illustrious career. Lindsay captured all 24 first place votes and got 336 total points with his nearest competitors for the honor being teammates John Mussaw (215 points) and John Freeman (187). Philadelphia's slugging first baseman Mike Lovett (former Brewer) came in 4th with 163 points.

The SJL also saw a repeat Pitcher of the Year as Columbus left-hander Luis Ramirez captured his second statue for this distinction. Ramirez also got all the first place votes and finished with 168 points with teammate Jim Norris, himself also a 2-time Pitcher of the Year award winner, coming in second with 96 points. Then another Whalers pitcher, Kevin DeRouen with 57 points followed by the unheralded 25-year old Jacksonville right-hander Jose Becerra (13-9, 3.00) with 39 points.

Speaking of repeats, Sadahige Kawasaki took his 2nd straight MGL Pitcher of the Year award, and also with unanimous first place votes. His 168 points gave him a pretty sizeable advantage over Brooklyn's Aaron McNally (18-12, 2.39) who netted 96 points in the voting. Young Joe Shetler (16-9, 2.91) of Oklahoma City came in 3rd at 63 points and Denver's Jim Atwell placed 4th with 29 points.

There was no repeat in the MGL MVP voting however. Last year's winner, the Brewers Brett Taranto, had a fine season but finished tied with 2 other players at the bottom of the list of players receiving votes for this one with 2 total points. On the other hand, his teammate Antonio Acuna went from being the Brewers 4th outfielder at the beginning of the 1979 season to being the latest member of the team to walk away with the league MVP hardware. Acuna got 13 first place votes and 281 points while Detroit's excellent young center fielder John Hemmah was right behind him with 11 first place tallies and 269 points. Denver's Val Guzman finished third, with 190 points and Brooklyn's Danny Salvador was 4th with 163 points. Joe McPhillips was also in the running, garnering 109 points to finish in 6th place, Jake DiCesare was 10th with 31 points, and Bobby Erbakan finished just behind him with 17 points.

Pittsburgh third baseman Bobby Glaus was the unanimous winner of the SJL Rookie of the Year voting, having hit .318 with 18 homers and 113 RBI for a 4.2 WAR season. John Miller of Chicago and Rick Downey also got some votes but finished far behind Glaus.

In the MGL, Brooklyn catcher Jim Hilll was a bit of surprise pick, narrowly edging out Charlotte outfielder David Freeman. Each received 12 first place points but Hill had 96 total points to Freeman's 94.

One would think that setting a new saves record- in fact demolishing the old one- would have been enough to get Jamar Clay his second straight SJL Reliever of the Year award, and the fact that he is also one of the most well loved and respected players in the game on top of that makes it a bit of shocker that the honor went instead to Jeff Ault of Chicago, who captured all but 4 of the first place votes. (The others went to Clay, of course.) The fact that Ault threw 151 innings, going 10-6 with 13 saves and a 2.86 ERA must have influenced voters who saw that Clay threw only 78 1/3rd innings this season. (It should be noted that Clay threw just over 172 innings last season, all in relief, and 122 1/3rd the season before.) Ault got 112 points in the voting to Clay's 65.

In the MGL, 25-year old Joey Johnson of Portland, who had a breakout season, getting 26 saves with a 1.84 ERA over 107 innings pitched, was the unanimous winner with 120 points overall. Another young reliever on the rise, Vinny Arreola of Charlotte, came in second with 70 points. Tim Shore of Denver, who was the 1974 SJL Reliever of the Year, came in third with 19 points.

I won't go into any great depth about the somewhat less glamorous awards but suffice it to say that no Denver players earned Gold Gloves this season but four did walk away with Silver Slugger awards at their position in the MGL, including starting pitcher Jim Atwell (.305/.294/.354), third baseman Jake DiCesare (.329/.371/.528), left fielder Val Guzman (.325/.412/.522) and of course right fielder Antonio Acuna (.368/.420/.581).


Fond Farewells:

Before the WPK regular season had ended a pair of WPK greats who had been languishing in the minors this season decided to call it quits and upon announcing their retirements it was also announced that the teams they played for the longest were also retiring their uniform numbers. Jason Wilson who finished his career with 209 wins and 147 losses and a career ERA of 3.26 pitched 11 of his 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Spinners and during that time had four 20-win seasons and won the 1969 MGL Pitcher of the Year award. The Spinners honored his years of sterling service by retiring his uniform number 47, making him the first player to be so honored by the club.
Jesus Casiano played the entirety of his 14 year big league career in a Jacksonville Wolf Pack uniform, a career that will almost surely make him a first ballot Hall of Famer. His uniform number 3 becomes the first to be retired by the Wolf Pack.

Other well-known WPK players who retired at the end of the season include starting pitcher Bobby Cruz, who pitched his entire career with the Washington Night Train, finishing with 180 career wins and 134 career losses, with a 3.22 ERA and 45.1 WAR.
Another famous starting pitcher, Reece Vaughan, who pitched for Oklahoma City from 1965-1973 before being traded mid-season to Jacksonville, where he pitched until early in the 1978 season when he suffered a torn rotator cuff injury which in the end doomed his career (he pitched 6 games at AAA this season upon return, but put up a 6.06 ERA), also steps away from the game but has already been hired by the Denver Brewers organization as their pitching coach at AA Nashville.
And Rigby Muckenfuss, one of the early stars of the league as a member of the Charlotte Sting, having not played a single inning of big league ball in 1978, got to say his goodbyes to the WPK in a brief 5-game, 5 plate appearance stint with El Paso at the end of this season. Muckenfuss walks away from the game he loves with a respectable 35-war, 12+ year career to show for it.

Realignment, Expansion, and the Expansion Draft:

As the WPK enters a new decade, the 1980's, it also embarks on a new adventure, with the SJL and MGL splitting into two divisions each with six teams in each division. This will lead to one round of playoffs prior to the Kinsella Classic Series, with the division winners facing off for a best of seven game contest to claim their league title.
Of course, the only way that each division can have six teams each is for the MGL to add two new teams to their mix. And thus they have. The Montreal Royals will now be the first team in the WPK representing Canada and will play in the new MGL East while the St. Louis Redbirds take up residence in the new MGL West (where, of course, our Brewers also play.) (Yes, the names are not very clever or original I admit. This is just not the sort of thing I tend to labor over very long.)
Having come off a season where there was little drama surrounding who would represent each league in the KCS, and also with the Columbus Whalers finishing with a 107-win record just going home at the end of the regular season it seemed like a good time to shake things up a bit. Granted, as it turned out, three of the four divisions would have also not seen any pennant race, with Denver, San Antonio, and Columbus all easily having the best record of the teams in their new divisional alignments. However, it would have been a tremendous race in the MGL East, as the Detroit Falcons and Brooklyn Aces finished with identical 88-74 records.

The Expansion Draft rules were a bit different this year than those prior to the 1975 season, when Chicago and Houston joined the SJL. Teams were allowed to protect only 18 players (though those with less than 3 years on a 40-man roster were exempt) with the hopes being that the new teams might have a fighting chance of not being completely awful from the start.
And indeed, there were some real steals in the draft. Perhaps the biggest was when the Boston Berserkers inexplicably failed to protect their 26-year old slugging first baseman Chase Moeller, who had just put together a 4.6 WAR All-Star season, hitting .315 with 24 homers and 124 RBI. He is slated to hit 3rd in the Royals lineup this upcoming season. Montreal will also feature second baseman Nick Ward, grabbed from the Brewers with the 3rd overall pick in the Expansion Draft. The first overall pick, also now with Montreal, was starting pitcher Bobby Martinez, formerly of Philadelphia. With their third pick the Royals took Denver reliever Nick Schroeder and with their 4th pick they got speedy veteran outfielder Jeremy Brigatti from Brooklyn. Not a bad start to the draft for Montreal. The Royals also got an excellent young closer in Edgar Cruz from the Brooklyn Aces, a fine first baseman from Baltimore in David Vinson, and right fielder Danny Martinez, who was the 1974 SJL Rookie of the Year, from Philadelphia. In addition to Ward the Royals also got the Brewers other utility middle infielders- Joe Willemse (this one hurts) and Geoff Bartholomew. The other player they took off the Brewers hands was catcher Erik Bettencourt, who along with Ed Brown from Jacksonville gives the Royals a solid catching duo. In terms of 1979 WAR totals, the Royals walked away from the Expansion Draft having mined 30.1 WAR, not a bad haul at all.

St. Louis was a bit less successful in terms of immediate impact, having picked players who accumulated 21 WAR in 1979. They did get a pretty decent prospect in second baseman Alvin Yeckley from the Columbus organization. One of their most interesting picks was young left fielder Eddie Evans from Baltimore. Evans isn't a great contact hitter but he did come in 2nd in the MGL in home runs this past season with 31, is a fine defensive outfielder and a great base stealer, and is hard working, durable, and 26-years old. They also took a chance and picked 25-year old two-way player Jean Auge from Columbus. Auge is the 94th top prospect in the game, a good hitting first or second baseman and a decent relief pitcher who could still develop into the starting rotation. But he also profiles as fragile. So one questions whether his days as a 2-way player are numbered. The Redbirds top starting pitcher will be veteran left-hander Erik Sloan, no longer a Brewer, having been selected with their 3rd pick. Their second pick could end up being a great one- as they nabbed 26-year old third baseman Steve Whitehead from Houston (how on earth did they leave this guy unprotected?). Whitehead is a smart player with a hit tool trending towards excellence and good enough defense. Their first pick was a bit of a puzzling one though, as they took 40-year old future Hall of Famer Travis Johnson. I mean, he will get fans in the seats, so that makes sense. And he's still a pretty good hitter, in theory at least, but the man cannot play any defensive position whatsoever without costing his team dearly. Other players (in addition to Sloan, that is) the the Redbirds took off the Brewers hands: minor league pitcher Jimmy Bottello (eh), and, well, I just realized that's it. They did get former Brewer Rodrigo "RodRod" Rodriguez, for what that's worth (not that much these days.) Right fielder Jose Melecio, from the San Antonio Keys, has a great arm and is a decent hitter with some power. First baseman Sean Brunson from Houston is, well, not the worst player for an expansion club to have on the roster. And 31-year old Doug Helmick, nabbed from Milwaukee, has experience playing on an expansion club in their first season, having been chosen by Houston in the previous WPK expansion draft and he has some power, plays left field quite creditably, and is a good teammate. Honestly, there isn't much to say about the St. Louis Redbirds, other than that they will probably suck for awhile. (Oh, and they have a tiny market size with pathetic team loyalty and no money. But their home field, Ballpark of the Gateway, is pretty.)


Coming up, tomorrow at the latest, is the final part of this wrap-up, where free agent signings will be discussed as well as a bit of a look forward to 1980 and beyond for our Denver Brewers and the W.P. Kinsella League.

[BirdWatcher]

Okay, so it's time to put the final touches on the wrap-up of this thread.
I should clarify that the W.P. Kinsella League is not wrapping up. Far from it. If anything it is rolling along, picking up steam. I hope to be playing this league far, far into the future.

But the detailed reportage of the league here is coming to an end with this post, for now at least, if not forever. (Only time will tell.)

It should also be noted that we are now about a week into the Spring Training exhibition season of the WPK for 1980. Teams are largely coming into shape though there are several key free agents available- mostly, of course, aging stars who are well past their prime. For instance, the great Felix Lopez, a sure first ballot Hall of Famer, is still looking for a new club at age 37. Lopez has lost a step or several and is now a below average fielder but he remains a skilled base stealer and base runner and still has a great contact bat. But with a propensity for injury no team has decided to take a chance on him yet. (If only one of the expansion clubs actually had a little money to spend, this would be a great veteran to have on your bench, if he could be content in that role.) The WPK home run king, Nate Bennett, also is without a baseball home at the moment. But he's 40 and useless at any position on the field, even at first base, so he may have to take a minor league contract if he isn't ready to call it good on his career. Similar with 43-year old David Beane. Former Brewer catcher Spencer Wilson is also still available, but that is unlikely to last as Wilson still provides great defense and a plus eye at the plate.
But enough about the handful of guys who haven't been signed.


Free Agent Signings:

Let's start in the new MGL East because that is where probably the most interesting storyline has played out. The Brooklyn Aces have been active this offseason. They signed two veteran free agent starting pitchers, Devin Washburn and Jon Weldon, each of whom put up slightly more than 2 WAR last season. They also signed future Hall of Fame third baseman Jesus Hernandez, still a productive regular at age 38, as his 3.7 WAR 1979 season will attest. And probably most importantly they were able to bring back their fan favorite shortstop Chris Blackmore, a 5-time All-Star as an Ace, to a 4-year contract as a free agent. The biggest story was one who got away, and even more so where he landed. Aaron McNally, having won 3 MGL Pitcher of the Year awards in a Brooklyn uniform, and well on his way to eventual Hall of Fame induction, will not only not be an Ace next year, but he in fact signed a 7-year deal with the Detroit Falcons, the team most likely to compete with Brooklyn for the division crown this coming season. McNally's deal could well make him the first million dollar man in the WPK in 1983, when he is slated to pull down 1.1 million, a number that will be repeated through the 1986 season. With Brooklyn also losing players like Jeremy Brigatti (1.5 WAR) and closer Edgar Cruz (1.7 WAR) in the expansion draft and starting pitchers Shannon Petrik (2.7 WAR) and Derrick Morant (1.7 WAR) in free agency, they see their net WAR from 1979 add up to -9.3. (The only two teams who saw a higher negative WAR from offseason transactions were the two KCS clubs, San Antonio and Denver, who are deep enough and have enough young talent that it is probably less worrisome for them (San Antonio is -11.6 and Denver -12.1.) Detroit essentially broke even over the offseason but a closer examination shows that the value they gained was far more impactful than what they lost and with their core young stars in place and their best pitching prospects having a bit of experience under their belts now, they have to be considered the frontrunners to win the MGL East in 1980.

Among the other biggest free agent signings in the offseason was the Los Angeles Spinners, the Brewers top competitor in the MGL West, signing the offensively gifted right fielder Bill Winchester (formerly of Pittsburgh). Winchester had what for him was a disappointing season in 1979, putting up 3.9 WAR and hitting just 16 home runs after having blasted 28 the season before and 34 in 1977. But at age 30, he remains a dangerous force in the middle of a lineup.

Los Angeles did see one half of their WPK best catching tandem move on in free agency though, as 31-year old Greg Foster signed a 5-year deal with Columbus. He's only an average defensive backstop, but with the almost obscene talent of the Whalers pitching staff it is hard to believe that will be too detrimental, and he adds a potent bat to a lineup that has been a bit underpowered. (He is certainly also one of the fastest catchers in the game, even at his somewhat advanced age.)

Former Denver hurler Steve Green ended up signing a 5-year deal with the Washington Night Train, so at least the Brewers won't have to worry about facing him in the regular season soon.
Another former Brewer, Josh Schaeffer, takes his elite batting eye to Jacksonville, having inked a 4-year deal.

As for the Brewers, their lone major league free agent signing was reliever Javy Bermudez, who returns to the team he has played for the past two seasons (he missed much of 1978 with an arm injury but was one of the more consistently decent relievers on the club in 1979). Bermudez was signed to a 1-year pact. The Brewers also, of course, made several minor league free agency signings, including bringing back a small handful of players who were in the Denver system last season. One of their minor league free agent signings will be a bit more significant (theoretically, at least) but we'll talk about that a bit more below.


Hall of Fame Voting Results:

This year was the first big test for WPK Hall of Fame voters as the question was how they deal with the candidacy of Andy "Lemonhead" Wilson. Wilson was almost surely the biggest star of the league in the early years, the Bud Lindsay of his time. As the undisputed best player of the Portland Wild Things he won MGL MVP awards in 1965 and 1969, led the league in WAR 4 times, was a 2-time Gold Glove shortstop before switching over to second base later in his career, led the league in runs scored 3 times, in OPS 3 times, in slugging and OBP once each. He was a 7-time All-Star and 7-time Silver Slugger. And he helped lead his team to 2 MGL pennants, in 1967 and 1968, though he never got the championship ring he so desired. But here is the thing- Wilson was already 30 years old when the WPK formed. His overall numbers, his Hall of Fame credentials, are not nearly as overwhelming as those of players like Felix Lopez, Jesus Hernandez, Jesus Casiano, Travis Johnson, or even pitchers like Jake Harris, Cheol-han Lee, and Jamel McNeil. But they are Hall of Fame worthy, even if not by a lot. And if you ask those important Bill Jamesian questions like, was this guy ever the best player in the league?, was he the best player at his position?, was he the best player on his team?, did he make significant contributions to several pennant races?, the answers are surely, yes, yes, yes, and mostly yes.
In my mind this guy is a WPK Hall of Famer and he is the first person who has gotten their name on a ballot I cast.

In his first year on the ballot he didn't quite make it, but things look pretty good for eventual enshrinement for Wilson.

Here were the tallies this year:




(Personally, I think this was a little rough on Juan Soto. I think he was more worthy of consideration than several of the guys who came ahead of him in the voting.)

Looking Ahead, the Denver Brewers and the WPK:

I'm going to dispense with going into any kind of depth about the other teams around the WPK here but I will talk a bit about the Brewers and how things are looking for 1980 and a bit beyond as I head to the finish line here.

Mostly the Brewers remain intact for 1980, though they do have a few areas of flux and some potential weaknesses that will bear attention.
Let's start with the starting rotation where the return the reigning MGL Pitcher of the Year (2 years running now) Sadahige Kawasaki, who remains a rock and shows no signs of slowing at age 31. Jim Atwell comes off an MGL best 21-win season and if the scouting staff is to be believed the best is yet to come. The durable hard-throwing righty would be the staff ace for almost any team that isn't the Brewers or the Whalers (or, well, maybe Detroit with Aaron McNally). Sekien Hamaski has shown some proclivity for injury in the past season or two but he continues to look like a solid #3 (a #2 on many teams and a #1 on several probably). But with the departures of Steve Green and Erik Sloan, things get a little less predictable after that. Bryant Cox will start the season in the #4 slot of the rotation and management hopes he is ready to step into that role. At this point Cox still looks like a useful big league starter, but his ceiling is probably mid-rotation at best. And as for the bottom of the rotation, well this will probably be a 3-pitcher battle, with righty Taylor Blair looking like he could give the team solid if unspectacular innings and lefty Terry Dubiel similar but without one pitch that stands out the way Blair's curveball does (in terms of potential anyway.) The dark horse candidate, and some of the better news out of Spring Training, is left-hander Austin Bond, who was the Brewers 2nd round pick in 1977 and looks like he might finally start to fulfill some of his early promise. He is durable and only 23 and with his high work ethic and intelligence he has a chance to at least rise to the level of valuable mid-rotation arm. And the Brewers need left-handed pitching at this point. And for the first time in his career young Eric Maisch, the top prospect in the system, is in camp with the big leaguers. And at age 20, Maisch, who will almost surely start the season in AA but could well be a Brewer by this coming September, is looking more and more like a future top of the rotation guy, with his elite level changeup and a great curveball heading towards also being special. If he refines his control to the level the scouts expect (it is average now, but it projects as very, very good) he is going to be another special arm that came through the Denver farm system.


The 1980 bullpen won't be much different than 1979, although lefty Nick Schroeder did get picked by Montreal in the Expansion Draft. The newest addition is a young man the Brewers took in the Rule 5 Draft, snatching him out of the Philadelphia farm system. Paul Johnson is a durable right-hander with a fine sinker/slider combination who throws in the upper 90's and induces ground balls. Being in a big league bullpen might be a bit of reach for him as he approaches his 22nd birthday but his potential has Brewers scouts salivating. And most intriguingly of all, the kid also is a catcher! And at least in terms of defensive catching ability, a pretty darn good one. He gives the team some nice flexibility, having a 3rd catcher on the roster hidden in the bullpen. Tim Shore returns as the anchor of the 'pen and Javy Bermudez provides veteran set-up experience. Ben Flynn will still be there, but this season he is likely to get more at-bats and probably play first base more often, giving Brett Taranto more breathers. Walter Hackler with his great strikeout ability and lefty Rand Pinti likely round out the 'pen, but several others could also contend and will make the journey between AAA Chester and Denver over the course of the season as needed.

The catching duo remains the same, though there are indications that the defensively gifted Kirk Patnode may be assuming more of the starting role this season, although Zacarias Martell remains a well-respected and valuable member of the team. Behind them at AAA will be another fine defender in Joey Mendiola (who doesn't hit much, but has an advanced approach at the plate in terms of discipline and eye).

The infield starters remain unchanged (Taranto at first, Bobby Erbakan at second, Jake DiCesare at third, and Rich White at shortstop) but other than Jose Figueroa their backups from 1979 are all departed. Given that 3 of the 4 starting infielders are injury prone (fragile) (Taranto is, on the other hand, an Iron Man), this could be important. The Brewers scoured the free agent list for a suitable utility infielder or two. And didn't have a lot of luck. But they did sign veteran shortstop Brennan Anderson to a minor league deal and he will likely make the big league club out of Spring Training, if only because they don't have any other decent backup option at short. Anderson is nearly as good defensively as Rich White but offers very little offensive value. (He will draw some walks and although he's quite slow he picks his spots and is a good base stealer and base runner.) The Brewers farm system has very little to offer in the way of infield prospects and with some aging and injury-prone starters this is likely an area that will need to be addressed before too long.

The outfield, on the other hand, is never a problem for the Denver Brewers. Val Guzman has turned into a star left fielder and team leader at age 26. Antonio Acuna is coming off an MVP season and is in his prime having recently turned 27. And Joe McPhillips had a strong 1979 campaign and mostly stayed healthy now for the past 2 seasons and remains a star at age 31 (his birthday was 3 days ago on the WPK calendar). If the Spring Training exhibition games are any indication though, it appears that McPhillips may be starting a transition to a corner outfield position (right field) with the younger and rangier Acuna playing more in center. The outfield is rounded out with the speedy, contact-first sparkplug Matt Catlett and the bat-first (and what a bat it is!) Eric Hammock. They could likely both be solid starters on any other team (Hammock would be the best player on several teams.)

And that, my friends, is where we will leave things, at least for now.


As I said, the WPK lives on, bigger and better than ever. And I would be very surprised if I didn't occasionally feel the inspiration to post some updates here, just in case anyone is curious.

Many thanks to anyone and everyone who has followed along here and a special thanks to folks who have interacted, offering feedback and encouragement along the way. (Palaaemon, stevem810, and pauwoo, in particular, but others also, so please don't be offended if I didn't name you here.)


Anyway, that's all for now folks.

See you at at the ole' ballyard!

[stevem810]

It's been one of the more amazing threads, ever, in terms of documentation of a single league over a span of three versions of the game. So very well done.

I took a step back with frequency of posts with my own league as it is time consuming. And, it's nice to change things up a bit and vary the routine, too.

Kudos, big time, for the wonderful and rich text over the past few years.

[pauwoo]

A deep and immersive world... One of my very favorites. I've enjoyed reading very much - fair winds and following seas.

Selfishly, I'll be on the lookout for the occasional update. Doing a proper dynasty is a lot of work, and is, obviously, very time consuming. Your efforts here were always appreciated. Reading about the W. P. Kinsella and the Brewers was always a nice reprieve from the daily grind.

[BirdWatcher]

Thank you friends- I appreciate the kind words.

In some ways I do miss reporting on the WPK and at times I find myself thinking about how I will report something before I remember that I'm not doing that any longer.
At the same time, I am moving a bit faster- and without any loss of immersion- without the time consuming aspect of composing these posts.

But given your responses I am even more inclined to post some periodic updates for the few, like you, who might be curious how things are going.

A bit of a spoiler alert here: the Brewers are doing well in 1980 but it was the San Francisco Velocity who got off to the hottest start, and as we head into mid-June they continue to lead the new MGL West. San Antonio remains the class of the SJL but El Paso is experiencing a bounce-back season and providing them with their biggest challenge so far in the SJL West.
The MGL East is very weak and the expansion Montreal Royals are actually sitting on top of the standings right now in spite of having just a .500 record. The SJL East is seeing good competition between the surprisingly strong Washington Night Train, the Pittsburgh Roadrunners, the Jacksonville Wolf Pack (also surprising), and the Philadelphia Mud Hens, with Columbus in 5th place but still 4 games over .500 (their mighty pitching staff has been mortal this season), and only Boston well under .500.

Perhaps a few tidbits about the 1980 Brewers later (one teaser- Antonio Acuna remains the best player on the team and is on pace for a 40-40 season, which would be the first in WPK history if he can get there.)

[Sizeman21]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

So let me first start with apologies to anyone (the one or two of you? ) who might be following along faithfully and are wondering what happened next and where I went.
Recently I found myself doing a bit of a cost/benefit analysis on this thread and for once things were balancing out in the wrong direction for me. It my not be apparent, but I have expended a great deal of energy and time in reporting on the WPK and it feels to me like the level of engagement from anyone other than me has been dropping for awhile, with very few people responding here- even when I asked very specific questions and made an appeal for feedback lately- and the number of views trending lower all the time. And please don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining or laying blame on anyone (other than myself, perhaps) but it is part of any calculation about whether the time and effort is worth it to me.

And I've decided it no longer is. I can move much faster with the league while staying fully immersed without reporting out about the league here.
But although my initial instinct was simply to step away (in all honesty, I find myself not really enjoying the forums on the whole as much these days) upon further reflection that feels a bit unfair and offers no closure.

Thanks for the great dynasty BirdWatcher, it was a fun ride. I admit, I did not read every single post on this story but you filled every post with great detail that always had me interested and never bored. Hopefully we will see another dynasty of yours on the forums soon!

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Sizeman21

Thanks for the great dynasty BirdWatcher, it was a fun ride. I admit, I did not read every single post on this story but you filled every post with great detail that always had me interested and never bored. Hopefully we will see another dynasty of yours on the forums soon!

Thanks for the kind words!

I remain very committed to the WPK and it makes up basically 100% of my OOTP gaming time at this point.
What I am thinking of doing, now, given some of the recent feedback, is creating a new thread for the WPK which is less immersive than this one has been but which offers periodic updates on the league for anyone interested in such things.
That would be more manageable for me and still hopefully would offer some value to the community (and even to me).