The W.P. Kinsella League random update thread

[BirdWatcher]

Brett Taranto, in the final year of his current contract with the Denver Brewers, is off to a great start in 1982, having won his third MGL batting title last season, and yesterday was named the MGL Player of the Month for April.




Young (22 years old) second year starting pitcher Eric Maisch is emerging as one of the best in the game and was awarded the MGL Pitcher of the Month honors for April.



Here are updated standings as we enter May of the 1982 season:

[BirdWatcher]

Brett Taranto is in the last year of his contract with the Denver Brewers and can test the free agency market at the end of the season unless Denver can come to an agreement with him on an extension, and the 31-year old first baseman is certainly doing his best to make a case for a huge contract somewhere.




Meanwhile, although the reigning WPK champions, the Portland Wild Things, are showing signs of something of a championship hangover, they are getting excellent production from 24-year old left fielder Micah Harris, who hit 3 homers in a win against St. Louis on Sunday afternoon. The 1976 4th round draft pick was given 122 plate appearances at the big league level late last season in his major league debut and put up a slash line of .304/.347/.509 for 1.2 WAR. He is on pace for a nearly 4 WAR season this year and though he has been unheralded there are signs that the well-rounded and likeable player will exceed expectations. He has the defensive skills to be an elite left fielder, an excellent right fielder, and even a very capable center fielder and although his hit tool isn't top notch in any one area it also has no perceivable flaws. His biggest weakness, other than a propensity for nagging back tightness, is that although he is very speedy he has poor technique on the base paths and does not take full advantage of his natural gift.



Speaking of injury propensity, former Brewer third baseman Jake DiCesare is somewhat predictably not only off to a pretty good start with his new team, the El Paso Dawgs, but also once again experiencing injury problems.



Let's take a quick look at the current standings in the WPK:

[BirdWatcher]

The Denver Brewers hit their first rough patch of the 1982 season, being swept in a 3-game series by the Wild Things in Portland and then splitting a 4-game series with the Aces in Brooklyn and with the San Francisco Velocity playing well the Brewers drop to 2nd place in the MGL West.

Here are the updated standings:




The Brewers did continue to get great production from veteran first baseman Brett Taranto and the more recently acquired 23-year old second baseman Dustin Moore. (Incredibly, Moore, who was a 1st round draft pick out of Holy Redeemer High School in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania by the Velocity in the 1978 draft- 10th overall- was picked up by the Brewers when San Francisco put him on waivers in early February and Denver took a chance on him. Admittedly, his stock as a prospect has fallen greatly since he was named the 50th best prospect in the WPK at the end of the 1978 season.) Moore is known for his great defense and speed but his bat (.374/.418/.496) has come as a great surprise to everyone thus far (granted, with a .412 BABIP it is almost surely not sustainable).




Both Taranto and Moore had 5-hit games this past week, with Brett's coming in the Brewers 13-1 trouncing of Brooklyn yesterday to end the week.

The Baltimore Lords are now in a virtual tie with the resurgent Detroit Falcons for first place in the MGL East. The Lords are slumping a bit after their red-hot start but a few days ago they announced that they had reached agreement with their staff ace and the reigning MGL Pitcher of the Year, Sako Zakian, to extend his contract with the team through the 1988 season. Zakian is not off to a good start but he remains a durable, 5-pitch innings eater who is great at inducing groundball outs. This is seen in the WPK world as a strong sign of a commitment by Baltimore management to the team's future.

[BirdWatcher]

The San Antonio Keys have one of the most potent lineups in the WPK, with future Hall of Famer Bud Lindsay still very productive, first baseman John Freeman one of the more feared power hitters in the league, speedy contact hitter (and fine center fielder) Zach McClelland setting the table, and right fielder Mike Shervey in the clean up slot, but probably their best overall player these days is 28-year old second baseman John Mussaw, who is on pace for an 11.5 WAR season. But earlier this week Mussaw not only saw his 22-game hitting streak end but had the leave that very game early when he suffered a foot contusion while running the bases. The first place Keys will likely be without his services for about 2 weeks.




Denver's Jim Atwell, the 1980 MGL Pitcher of the Year, helped the Brewers salvage a 3-3 week when he hurled a 5-hit shutout against Baltimore on Sunday afternoon.



The Brewers end the week trailing the first place San Francisco Velocity, who took 2 of 3 games from Denver in a mid-week series, by 1 1/2 games. The reigning WPK champs, Portland, saw their 13-game winning streak come to an end on the same day, but find themselves heading back into contention in the MGL West after a slow start to the 1982 season.

Let's take a closer look at the updated standings:





Once again, though admittedly it is still very early in the season, it is looking like a 2-team battle in the SJL West between San Antonio and El Paso, while the SJL East is wide-open so far with first and last places being separated by fewer than 6 games.

The MGL East is also quite close, with Baltimore and the resurgent Detroit Falcons currently in a virtual tie for first place.

[BirdWatcher]

Let's take a quick look at the updated standings as we enter the month of June:



After falling out of first place briefly, the Brewers have a good end to the month of May while both San Francisco and Portland have rough final weeks for that month and the Brewers regain the lead in the MGL West. The Brewers got another fine start from 2nd year man Eric Maisch this week, albeit in a rain-shortened game.



Baltimore and Detroit continue their battle for the top spot in the MGL East, though in this weak division, the Charlotte Sting are hanging right in there and Brooklyn isn't far behind either.

Over in the SJL West, San Antonio and El Paso continue to play lead frog for first place while all others lag way behind at this stage of the season.

And the ultra-competitive SJL East currently sees Washington at the top with Philly and Pittsburgh not far behind.


The WPK witnessed it's first cycle of the season, when veteran Seattle first baseman Fred Reinhardt accomplished the feat against Pittsburgh on Thursday. Reinhardt has led the league in doubles three different seasons and has has double-digit homer totals in four different seasons, but the triple he hit in the 9th inning to get the cycle was just the 9th of his 7+ year big league career.




If it weren't for Brett Taranto's amazing start to the 1982 season (he has cooled off a bit lately but still has a slash line of .442/.469/.642), St. Louis third baseman Steve Whitehead would be the sure thing front runner for MGL MVP at this stage of the season. The biggest challenge for the power-hitting 28-year old is staying healthy as he has a reputation for being injury prone. To be fair though, since late September of 1978 he has only suffered one minor injury that kept him out of action for just 4 days during last season. If Whitehead can keep up his present pace he has a chance to threaten the single-season home run record in the WPK (54, set by Devin Schwisow in 1977.)

[BirdWatcher]

In the middle of the best week of the season thus far for the Denver Brewers (more about that in a separate post), the WPK held their annual amateur draft and the feeling in the Denver front office is that while they likely didn't get any generational impact players, they did very possibly add at least a small handful of future big league players.

The over-arching narrative of this year's draft is that the first round primarily saw collegiate players with high floors and moderate ceilings being drafted.
Top pick, third baseman Dave Harbin out of Georgia Tech, is a prime example. Chosen by the woeful Phoenix Speed Devils, the slick fielding young man with a strong potential power bat and eye but relatively poor contact skills, Harbin has already been assigned to the organization's full-season single A club, the Lincoln Whiskeyjacks. Harbin profiles as durable and although his raw foot speed is pretty uninspiring he is considered a very smart base runner. But as a 1-1, this is not an exciting pick for Phoenix fans.
The top pitcher taken came with the second pick, by the Detroit Falcons. Many experts believe that Scott Lucas, who just completed his junior year at Rice University, would have made a better 1-1. He possesses a plus plus curveball with elite level potential, a well above average fastball (though at this point he tops out in the low 90's in terms of velocity) an average sinker with a little room for growth still, and a pretty hopeless changeup. But with good makeup, particularly a great work ethic, above average stamina, and a great knack for inducing groundballs, he looks like he has a strong chance to end up at or near the top of a WPK rotation.

The Denver Brewers scouting staff believes that the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings got one of the steals of the first round when they chose Aurora College starting pitcher Isaiah Roberson with the 10th pick of the draft. Roberson could have some troubles keeping balls in the yard with movement that looks to be average at best at his peak, but his control profiles as plus plus and is already well developed and with three already big league ready pitches, headlined by a curveball that should be among the best in time, along with a well-above average slider and fastball, he finds himself starting in AA with an eye towards a quick move up the system. He is lauded for his leadership skills, great intelligence, and his tireless work ethic. In the words of Denver's head scout Ulrik Berthelsen, "perfect skill set to succeed on and off the field." And if all of that isn't enough, very few starting pitchers can match either his stamina or his ability to control the running game. Watch for this kid in the near future.


As for the Brewers, with the 23rd pick of the draft they took Davidson College right handed starting pitcher David Rodriguez. The slightly built Rodriguez is a perfect example of the trends in this draft, as he profiles as very nearly WPK-ready now but with the likely ceiling of a mid-rotation starter. Like Roberson, he has great makeup, combining smarts and great work habits with reportedly low greed. His repertoire consists of four already big league level pitches led by a changeup that could become one of the finest in the game. He is an extreme groundball pitcher, which is a Brewer specialty, but his stamina is just a bit above average and he may have control issues going forward. With the deep stable of starting pitching prospects in the system he might never crack the Brewers rotation but he could have what it takes to be a fine bullpen arm eventually or at worst good trade bait before long.



With their second round pick the Brewers went against their own well-established philosophy of never picking relief pitchers until much later in the draft when they took right-handed closer Dan Folk out of Aurora College. Why did the Brewers make this unexpected move, other than the fact that he was considered the most talented player available at that point? Well, it likely has something to do with his multi-inning profile, his reported durability, his strong work ethic and baseball smarts, and the fact that he already has elite stuff and should be a strikeout machine. On the other hand, his movement is poor and his control likely to be average at best. Might have been a reach, certainly is a risk, but with his two elite or near elite pitches (changeup, fastball) it seemed a risk worth taking.



The Brewers third round pick was shortstop Matt Enders out of Silver Lake Regional High School in Kingston, Massachusetts. While Ender appears to have modest offensive potential, he is very fast and a plus defender, although he may profile best as a second or third baseman. He could well prove to be a super utility player with the ability to be a fine corner outfielder as well (and with his strong arm, perhaps even an excellent right fielder.) And perhaps above all else, the kid looks like a future team captain.



Next up for Denver was right fielder Cameron Bergren out of Wichita State, taken in the 4th round. Bergren is another high floor, modest ceiling player. He has almost no area where he excels but also none where he is particularly deficient. He does have a very strong arm, which is his calling card in the field. And although his foot speed is just average, he is an above average runner on the base paths. He should be good at drawing walks, has a bit of pop in his bat, and will likely be about average in terms of contact skills. Not likely a future star, but almost surely will have some role in the WPK before too long.



And with their 5th round pick the Brewers went with another right fielder, slugger Matt Turner out of Buffalo College. As alluded to, Turner's carrying card is power. He has little speed and profiles as a pretty average defensive outfielder at best (probably more a left fielder than a right fielder in the bigs). His contact skills at the plate should be adequate, but not much more than that. But with a strong work ethic, and as a flyball hitter who should be able to lift plenty of baseballs into the seats, Denver decided to take a chance on him even though he doesn't fit the usual toolsy, athletic profile of outfielders that the organization nearly always favors.



Certainly they did get a few guys who fit that description just a bit later in the draft (Roger Reimer out of El Paso College in the next round, super speedster Javier Hernandez out of East Tennessee State in the 11th), as well as as somewhat promising bat-first, power-first first baseman named Gene "Basher" Brasher (yes, I just gave him that nickname) in the 8th round. Catcher Rich Fugate (out of Austin College), taken in the 7th round, has some potential with very good catching ability (but an average arm) combined with potentially quite good contact hitting skills (he should rarely strike out, though he won't draw many walks either.)
Perhaps the dark horse candidate for some big league success in this draft for the Brewers is their 18th round pick, a 19-year old shortstop out of San Jose College named John Rowe. Rowe, in spite of being slow footed, profiles as a potentially gold glove caliber second baseman (an average arm keeps him from being a truly legit shortstop), he should have a great eye and strong enough plate discipline that he might over-achieve his very poor contact tool projection. And, like his more talented middle infield draft compatriot Matt Enders, he looks like a possible future captain in the clubhouse.

[BirdWatcher]

So here are several indications of just how June has gone so far for the Denver Brewers:








Not only have the Brewers won 6 straight to being the month (9 straight going back to the end of May) but in those 6 games the Brewers have outscored their opponents (the Los Angeles Spinners and the Montreal Royals) by 58 runs to 6 runs. Pure, utter domination!


Here are the updated standings as of June 7th, 1982:

[BirdWatcher]

Denver Brewers staff ace Jim Atwell helped cap off a tremendous week for Denver nation when he signed on to pitch for the team for 8 more seasons, which means he should be in Brewers purple and gold for most if not all of his career. The deal was announced the day after Atwell turned 29 years old. Although Atwell may not long be considered the staff ace, especially with the rise of Eric Maisch, he is very durable, a true innings eater, a hard worker, and has perhaps the best curveball in the game. And given that WPK analysts believe that he signed well under market value to stay with his original club, it is hard to imagine a less sure bet than this one. (Though, hey, he's a pitcher and he'll be 30 next year, so, you know, no such thing as an actual sure bet.)

Here are some details about his contract:


And for comparison, here are the current top 5 highest paid players in the game, including the comparable ace Aaron McNally and Atwell's teammate Brett Taranto, who is a free agent at the end of the season and almost surely will be holding out for over a million dollars a year starting next season. (No word yet on any movement for the Brewers to work out an extension with Taranto.)



In other WPK superstar news, we may have jinxed poor Steve Whitehead here lately by discussing his push for the MGL MVP but also mentioning that he is injury prone but has been lucky for several seasons. Because now that luck has run out and, having suffered a torn rib cage muscle, the St. Louis third baseman is expected to miss 3 months of the season, hopefully getting back in time for the stretch run of this season. It is a blow to his chances to get that MVP award as well as his quest to set a new single season home run record and it might just be a fatal blow to his team's chances to contend this season.

[BirdWatcher]

Phil Satterfield of El Paso threw the first no-hitter of the season when he completely shut down his former team, the Seattle Alligators, on 96 pitches, striking out 7 batters and walking just 1.
Satterfield, who has a career record of 71-88 with a 3.87 ERA, was originally a supplemental 1st round draft pick of the Alligators in the 1972 draft (#37 overall). Although his record doesn't speak to great success, he is a 2-time All-Star and led the league in ERA in 1980, the season in which he was traded from Seattle to El Paso mid-season. He is durable, smart, and has very good movement on his pitches.
And now he is also one of those rare pitchers who can say he hurled a no-hitter in his WPK career.

[BirdWatcher]

Aaron McNally is a probable future Hall of Famer, has won three MGL Pitcher of the Year awards and has two Pitching Triple Crowns in his career. After starring for the Brooklyn Aces for 8 seasons McNally signed a big 7-year deal with the Detroit Falcons as a free agent at the end of the 1979 season. At the time the Falcons looked like a team that was coming out of a decade plus long run of futility and picking up a true ace like McNally seemed like a great step towards becoming a competitive team for multiple seasons.
It didn't really work out so well though. While McNally continued to be a good pitcher the Falcons as a team took a significant step backwards after an 88-win 1979 campaign, losing 89 in 1980 and then getting much worse- losing 102 games- in 1981. Playing for a poor team McNally was still a respectable pitcher but others passed him by for the distinction of best in the game. And then the Falcons showed signs of bouncing back early this season and McNally was a big piece of their early success, going 8-1 with a 2.35 ERA into early June. He lost his first two games in June, and in the second game it may have become clear why as he was forced to leave early with acute elbow soreness. He should be back before the end of the season but with Detroit having gone 1-9 in their past 10 games and falling to 2 games below .500, it may too late to help them contend by the time he is healthy again.




Speaking of contending teams, the El Paso Dawgs signed veteran right handed starter Danny Napier as a free agent earlier this season to bolster their deep but aging rotation as they battle to overtake the San Antonio Keys as the best in the SJL West. While Napier does not have the track record of McNally he did have one the best seasons of his career last year in helping the Washington Night Train to a somewhat surprising 2nd place finish in the SJL East. And while he had only started 7 games for the Dawgs thus far in 1982 (having not signed until late April), he did have a 1.63 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in those starts. But having suffered a partially torn UCL just under a week ago, he won't be returning this season at all and at age 36 and some history of injury proneness it is hard to know whether anyone will take a chance on him for next season, when he again will be on the free agency market.

[BirdWatcher]

After their red-hot start to the month of June the Denver Brewers cooled off a bit in the second full week of the month.

They did get a bit of good news though when it was announced that they had reached agreement on a one-year extension with veteran closer Tim Shore, who otherwise would have once again been a free agent at the end of this 1982 season.




Updated standings:

[BirdWatcher]

Lazaro Lowndes has long been considered an almost sure future Hall of Famer but yesterday, in collecting the 3,000th hit of his illustrious career, he pretty much cemented his first ballot HOF induction.





He joins Felix Lopez as the only other WPK player to reach this mark. His 500 doubles are the most in a career for any WPK player as are his 210 career triples. He is third all-time in stolen bases with 548 although he also easily ranks #1 in career times caught stealing with 361. (His nearest competitor in this category is Felix Lopez, who has been caught stealing 239 times while having the most career stolen bases with 655.)

At age 35 Lowndes has a good chance to surpass Lopez as the hit king before his career is over and while he certainly isn't as great a player as he was during his MVP caliber peak, having moved from center field to left field he remains a plus fielder and one of the most gifted base stealers and base runners in the game, rarely strikes out, and should continue to pick up his share of hits.

[BirdWatcher]

Rich Serrano was an exciting young starting pitcher just coming into his prime at age 27 when he suffered his second torn labrum in his pitching arm in a little over 5 years and decided that his body just couldn't do this job any longer.




Serrano combined a nasty as they get knuckle curve with a wicked screwball and if that isn't enough the young man could then throw an upper-90's fastball by a batter for strike 3. Although he control was roughly average and he was a bit prone to the longball, his stuff was tremendous and possibly even getting better and he led the SJL in 1981 in strikeouts. K/9, WHIP, and games started. And he steps away with the third lowest ERA in the SJL at this point of the 1982 season.

He was a favorite of fans not only in Milwaukee but around the league. Having been signed as a youngster out of the Dominican Republic by the Cadets in January of 1972, he rose through the Milwaukee minor league system and at one point was ranked the #2 prospect in the WPK. His first torn labrum occurred not long after, before he reached the big leagues, and while he came back from this injury slightly diminished in the prospect rankings (#23) he remained a premium prospect.

His story will be one of those classic WPK what could have been tales.




In a far less dramatic and sad story, Jaden Francis, former Denver Brewer (he was Denver's 1st round pick, #16 overall, in the 1965 amateur draft), and now Portland Wild Thing reliever, saw his season end early as he is dealing with severe shoulder inflammation that is expected to shut him down for 7 to 8 months. At age 36, the journeyman right-handed reliever hasn't had a career that stands out in any way, except perhaps for longevity and consistency. He has fashioned a 12 plus season career with a career record of 42 wins, 33 losses, 51 saves, a 3.05 ERA, and a 1.24 WHIP. While it would be an insult to say that he has been a model of mediocrity, it can fairly be said that he does personify how hard work and a modicum of talent can lead to a career of quietly modest accomplishments.
The story isn't necessarily over at age 36, but it is likely headed towards a conclusion before too long.
Still, Brewers fans wish him the best and still remember his contributions to the team over the course of 7+ seasons, including his role in two championship seasons (1970 and 1974, when he had a career high in saves with 21).

[BirdWatcher]

The Denver Brewers have been playing flat lately, having lost four in a row and 11 of their last 17 games.
On Saturday afternoon they looked to their veteran right-handed 2-time MGL Pitcher of the Year Sadahige Kawaski to play the role of stopper and get the team back on the winning path.




What they didn't bargain for though was that Kawasaki would dominate the Brooklyn Aces in Denver, not only throwing just the second no-hitter in Brewers history but also the second Perfect Game by a Brewers starter in the past two seasons.

The Brewers bats also broke out of a slump and gave him plenty of run support in an easy 8-0 victory. Every Brewer starter (including Kawasaki) collected at least one hit in the game and off their 13 hits, 5 were doubles and 2 were home runs. Special notice to catcher Willie Ortega (.261/.303/.435) who went 3 for 4, hitting his 7th double and 5th homer of the season.

But in the end, the lion's share of the glory goes to 34-year old sparkplug and possible future Hall of Famer out of Hitachinaka, Japan. With the Perfect Game win Kawasaki now leads the MGL in wins and ERA while also having the lowest BB/9 (1.4) in all of the WPK this season. If he keeps it up, perhaps a 3rd Pitcher of the Year award will adorn his trophy case this next off-season.

[BirdWatcher]

As we enter the month of July of the 1982 WPK season, let's take a look at the current standings:




As you can see, the SJL West remains a two team race between San Antonio and El Paso with everyone else well below .500 and, as we approach the mid-way point of the season, essentially out of the running. El Paso has certainly got a boost from off-season free agent signing Jose Gutierrez. Gutierrez (.346/.408/.517) is not only the team captain but is on pace for the best season of his already fine career and looks to be a legitimate SJL MVP candidate. They also have had great success with their veteran, deep, but unheralded starting pitching rotation, though they do have some injury danger, especially for the oft-injured (Wrecked) 31-year old 1974 SJL Pitcher of the Year Dan Bottom, who is currently day-to-day with a sore back.
San Antonio continues to have the most feared lineup, probably in all of the WPK. With four batters in the middle of their lineup all among the top six in home runs in the SJL and three of those four hitting over .300 (the exception being future Hall-of-Fame and 4-time league MVP Bud Lindsay, who is hitting .291/.340/.510, is considered wrecked physically, but remains a defensive force, is the team captain, and is on pace for an 8 WAR season), this team just rakes. While their pitching staff is not as dominant it is more than competent though the defense behind them is mostly merely competent (in spite of Gold Glovers up the middle of the infield in Lindsay at short and SJL MVP frontrunner John Mussaw at second base).

Over in the SJL East, the Washington Night Train continue to stretch out a lead as their primary contenders fade away a bit towards mid-season, particularly the under-achieving reigning division champs (2 years running), the Pittsburgh Roadrunners. A player to watch for on the Night Train is 22-year old right-handed starting pitcher Dusty Swarthout, who is 10-1 with a 2.46 ERA at this stage of the season. Swarthout already has a nasty changeup, slider combination in his 5-pitch repertoire and should his screwball develop to its potential, he looks like a dominant ace in the future. Washington is getting great production from a pair of young South Korean players- left fielder Myon-ki Choi and second baseman Ki-moon Kym- and veteran first baseman Luis Gonzales continues to be one of the more consistent power-hitters in the league at age 35 (more below).


Looking at the MGL East, this is looking like it has the potential to be the hardest fought race in the WPK, with no standout teams but several teams jostling for position at the top of the standings.

And in the MGL West, the Denver Brewers, after an odd month which saw them red-hot at the beginning, slumping a bit in the middle, and again quite hot at the end, retain first place over the reigning champs, Portland, and the early leaders San Francisco.


Let's spotlight the top performers this month, starting with the SJL's top pitcher:



In a long and consistent career Jose Casillas has largely been overshadowed by more spectacular aces and has never won a Pitcher of the Year award and has only been a All-Star twice. All of which is odd for a man who is a fan favorite and is now 4th all time in career wins. But with Washington once again a strong team this may be the year that Casillas will finally get more recognition and some end of season hardware.


The SJL's top batter this past month:



We talked about him a bit above, but you can see a theme here that might indicate why Washington is doing as well as they are.


The top pitcher in June in the MGL:



Joe Shetler is not only one of the finest starting pitchers in the league, he is also a real fan favorite!


And finally, the top hitter in the MGL for June:



Yeah, Denver's Brett Taranto isn't just flirting with hitting .400 this season, he's making it look like child's play. Surely he has to come back to earth sometime, right? But thus far, every time it looks like that might happen he heats right back up again. Currently he is carrying a 17-game hitting streak into July.

[BirdWatcher]

David Rodriguez, who the Denver Brewers had chosen in the first round of this year's amateur draft, 23rd overall, was recently named the 99th best prospect in the WPK and had gotten off to a great start pitching in single A for the Bainbridge Brawlers.

And then disaster struck. A torn rotator cuff and expected to be out of commission for more than a year.



Although the Brewers have a deep stable of pitching talent, they have to hope that this bright, hardworking young man with the potentially elite changeup can come back from this serious injury to remain a legitimate prospect going forward.

[BirdWatcher]

Many around the WPK have been waiting for years to see Chris Heisler accomplish big things. The first overall draft pick of the 1976 draft out of Fresno State has been in the top 20 of the prospect ratings for years, though his peak status on that list was as the #12 best prospect way back in the off-season of 1977.
The 24-year old outfielder had an unspectacular rookie season for the Houston Cavaliers in 1980 and then missed most of 1981 with a torn ACL, though he did come back late season and played pretty well though in just 13 games.

He has developed into an outstanding defensive center fielder with excellent speed and a well-balanced contact/power bat profile. And he is on pace for a 3.5 WAR season, which, while not tremendous does indicate movement in the right direction.

And certainly there are flashes of great talent, like yesterday when he collected just the second batting cycle of the season in the WPK and the first in Houston Cavaliers history.



Concerns remain about his ability to stay healthy but if he can and if he continues to develop towards his potential, he has a chance to give the expansion Cavaliers one of the best young outfields in the game in combination with the current #4 best prospect Alex Raymos (this kid is going to win some MVP's, I predict) and the 1981 SJL Rookie of the Year, 25-year old right fielder Matt Wright.

And, of course, they also still have future Hall of Famer Lazaro Lowndes out there in the present, who reached the 3,000 career hit mark earlier this season and is on pace for about a 3 WAR season at the age of 35.

[BirdWatcher]

In a come-from-behind one-run victory over the Charlotte Sting on Friday night, the lone remaining original Brewer, veteran second baseman Bobby Erbakan, collected 4 hits, not only helping to lead his team to victory but also joining the 2,000 career hit club in the process.




When Erbakan has been healthy this year- he missed about a month of play earlier this season with a chronic back condition that also sidelined him for a bit more than a month in 1981 and even longer in 1980- he has played quite well. There have, however, been rumblings from inside the locker room that the notoriously lazy Erbakan has increasingly become a drain on team morale (he know carries the Disruptive label). He is signed through the 1985 season (though the club does have an option to buy out that last season) but there are some questions about which will wear out first: his body (Wrecked) or his welcome.

[BirdWatcher]

With his last round of arbitration eligibility coming up at the end of the current season, veteran All-Star (he was named the starter in left field for the MGL for this year's All-Star game and is a 3-time All-Star) left fielder Val Guzman has reached agreement with Denver Brewers management on a 5-year contract extension that should keep him in Brewers purple and gold through the 1987 campaign.




With the team having traded his primary contender for the starting left field job- Matt Catlett, who himself was an All-Star last season but had put up -0.7 WAR in the early going this season and for a time found himself demoted back down to AAA- to Seattle earlier this month, and with Val once again being such a reliable producer for the club as well as a well-liked and respected member of the community, the decision was made to make a more long-term commitment to the Brewers 1972 supplemental 1st round draft pick.

Guzman has reportedly slipped a bit defensively but is still a competent left fielder and other than 3-time MGL MVP outfield mate Antonio Acuna, he possesses perhaps the best power/speed combination of skills on the team. Guzman is on pace to hit 23 home runs this season and to steal 29 bases. He also is on pace for a 5.7 WAR season, his best since his near MVP 1979 season, when he finished with 7.2 WAR.

Reports indicate that the Denver fanbase was made ecstatic by this news.

[BirdWatcher]

One of the things I particularly enjoy, and perhaps spend an inordinate amount of time on, with the WPK is tracking players Hall of Fame indicators and chances.
Once a season I update five lists which track roughly the top 30 players in the following Hall of Fame measurement tools: JAWS, Hall of Fame Monitor, Hall of Fame Standards, Black Ink, and Gray Ink.

Given that the WPK is still mostly in its infancy, for the time being I am tracking both retired and current players on these lists, though eventually I will probably need to keep separate lists for these groups. Based upon these lists I was making predictions earlier today about the Hall of Fame chances of the players who found themselves on at least one of these top 30(ish) lists.
Basically, I divided them into 4 categories:
1) Probable first ballot Hall of Famers,
2) Likely Hall of Famers,
3) Possible Hall of Famers, and
4) Borderline Hall of Fame candidates/ Hall of the Very Good candidates.


I'd like to share some of these predictions/projections with you now. In this post I am going to start with the retired WPK players who earned a spot on these five indicator lists and will go through them in order of the 4 categories listed above. For these retired players the team name listed in parentheses is the club that they would be representing in the Hall if they are inducted. The slash lines listed are the scores in the 5 indicators listed above (again, JAWS, HOF Monitor, HOF Standards, Black Ink, and Gray Ink.) Since no players have been inducted yet into the WPK Hall of Fame, assumptions about what qualifies a player for the Hall are based upon MLB historical data in these categories. I assume that OOTP follows these pretty closely and in my experience that has proven to be true.


So looking at them by category:

1. Probable first ballot Hall of Famers (in order of when they first appear on HOF ballots):

--Jake Harris, LHP, (Columbus)- 70.5/197/55/52/218.
The premiere left-handed starting pitcher of his generation, Harris was a 4-time Pitcher of the Year, 11-time All-Star, has 4 championship rings, and put together a 211-101 record with a 2.50 career ERA over the course of 13 WPK seasons (he was already 26 when the league was formed.) He will be on the ballot for the first time this upcoming offseason. And there can be no doubt that he will be elected to the Hall on this first try. His 197 HOF Monitor score is the second best of any WPK player thus far as is his 218 Gray Ink score. He has the third highest Black Ink score, fourth highest HOF Standards score, and the highest JAWS score of any pitcher in WPK history thus far. His uniform number 11 was retired by the Columbus Whalers in 1978.

--Cheol-han Lee, RHP, (Denver)- 69.6/158/51/40/206
And when Harris is inducted into the Hall he will pretty surely be joined by long-time Denver Brewer ace right-hander Cheol-han Lee. Although Cheol-han's credentials are slightly less impressive than Harris's he is also most surely a first ballot inductee and will also be on this off-season's ballot. Cheol-han put together a career record of 205-106 with a 2.75 ERA, was a 3-time Pitcher of the Year, a 9-time All-Star, has 3 championship rings. Cheol-han was the first player to have his uniform number (16) retired by the Denver Brewers. There are rumors that the annual Pitcher of the Year awards will be getting renamed once these two are officially in the Hall to the Harris/Lee Award (official name not yet fully decided.)

--Jesus Casiano, 3B, (Jacksonville)- 61.0/163/50/47/181
Jesus Casiano played his entire 14 year big league career for the Jacksonville Wolf Pack and helped them earn 3 WPK Championships. His 1979 MVP season continues to be one of the most impressive offensive seasons in WPK history as he won the triple crown while batting .367, slugging 46 home runs, and driving in 152 runs. He started and ended his career at first base and in his early days he won back-to-back Gold Glove awards at the position, only then to win 4 more in his career as a third baseman. He was a 8-time All-Star, won 7 Silver Slugger awards, and had a reputation as an extremely savvy ballplayer who might someday make a great coach or manager. His first, and likely only, HOF ballot will be in the off-season following the 1983 season.

--Jamel McNeil, RP, (Jacksonville)- 50.9/143/69/22/140
Jamel McNeil was the nastiest relief pitcher of his generation, both on and off the field. He was feared and hated in equal measure. But there can be no doubt that no relief pitcher in the WPK has ever been as dominant and impactful on the field. He only recently was passed by veteran starting pitcher Jose Casillas for the top spot on the career strikeouts list and he holds several WPK records that may never be broken (Hits Allowed/9 IP-5.87, K/9- 10.66, WHIP- 1.03, OAVG- .1849, OOBP- .2651, OSLG- .2671, and OOPS- .5321). He was the league Reliever of the Year 8 times and earned 13 All-Star roster berths. In a WPK record 1,065 games, only 1 as a starter, he went 143-75 with a 2.16 ERA and 280 saves. He also owns 2 championship rings. The Chicago, Illinois native will never be beloved, but he is begrudgingly respected as the best darn relief pitcher ever to don a WPK uniform. He too will be on the ballot starting in the off-season 1983, and likely never again as he is sure to be inducted immediately.

--Nate Bennett, RF, (Boston)- 53.7/179/54/39/220
Nate Bennett has the lowest JAWS score of any position player in this category but his 220 Gray Ink score is the highest yet, and his 179 HOF Monitor score marks him as a sure thing. And perhaps most particularly because he is by far the top home run hitter of the WPK at this stage of league history, having hit 452 bombs (with the 2nd best total being 392). He was a quiet, unassuming presence in the clubhouse but his bat spoke loudly, earning him 11 Silver Slugger awards and 10 All-Star roster inclusions. He is the top name among first ballot HOF candidates who will be eligible in the offseason following the 1985 season.

--Travis Johnson, LF, (Los Angeles)- 66.7/175/54/31/200
Travis Johnson would certainly never have been mistaken for a defensive specialist. Over the course of his career he had a zone rating of -116.3 in just over 6,227 innings played in left field. He moved to first base late in his career, but he wasn't much better there. But boy could he hit! This 2-time league MVP earned 8 Silver Slugger awards, 9 All-Star selections, and was a member of a championship club once (the 1966 Jacksonville Wolf Pack.) He was known to be a hard worker and this helped him to play into his 40's- he had 110 not altogether unsuccessful plate appearances in 1981 at the age of 42. His 2,730 hits are 4th All-Time in the WPK and he is also tied for 4th in doubles with 447. He will be on the ballot for the first time in the offseason after the 1987 campaign.

--Jesus Hernandez, 3B, (Los Angeles)- 81.7/150/50/21/175
Jesus Hernandez has the highest JAWS total of any WPK player thus far. The 1966 MGL MVP at age 24 had another near MVP season in 1978 at the age of 37 and a whole lotta great years in between. He was a 10-time All-Star, a 7-time Gold Glover, won 5 Silver Slugger awards, led the league in home runs twice and batting average once. He was a hard worker who had great savvy on the basepaths despite having very little foot speed and even managed to swipe 96 career bases while hitting 389 homers and putting up an impressive career WAR of 102.4. He will be on the same ballot with sometime team member Travis Johnson. Sadly, Hernandez was never on a championship winning ballclub.

2) Likely Hall of Famers:

--Ryan Rodgers, CF, (Denver)- 76.3/124/50/23/110

Joining Travis Johnson and Jesus Hernandez on the 1987 ballot will be long-time Denver Brewer Ryan Rodgers. And it might be the presence of these other superstars that will keep Rodgers from being a first ballot HOF'er himself. Though he certainly could earn induction his first time around. Rodgers led the league in batting average 3 times in his long career and led in walks 4 times on his way to a WPK best (thus far) 1,540 career bases on balls. His career batting average of .3206 is the best among retired WPK players who qualify. He was the 1967 SJL MVP as a member of the Washington Night Train, won 4 Gold Glove awards (3 in center, and the last in right field), was an All-Star 8 times, won 4 Silver Slugger awards, and has 4 championship rings. He was a real fan favorite and had his uniform number 15 retired by the Denver Brewers in 1981.

3) Possible Hall of Famers:

--Andy Wilson, 2B, (Portland)- 66.7/115/43/12/128
Wilson was the first true superstar in the WPK, the best player of the earliest days of the league. But he was also already 30 years old when the league was formed. Had he played in the WPK in his 20's, he would almost surely already be in the Hall of Fame. He has been on the ballot 3 years now and very nearly got in this past year as he was included on 74.6% of the ballots. So he should get in, but the next few years he will suddenly be facing much steeper competition for votes. So maybe not. He is a two-time MVP who came close a few other times, he won 2 Gold Glove awards at his original position of shortstop, he was an All-Star 7 times and a Silver Slugger winner 7 times also. His is the ultimate what-if story in the WPK.

--Chris Hernandez, RHP, (Philadelphia)- 51.4/108/30/32/140
Hernandez has been on 3 HOF ballots and has finished with somewhere around 35% representation on the ballot each time. He won the SJL Pitcher of the Year award in 1971, was a 6-time All-Star, has a championship ring, and was very well regarded particularly for his strong work ethic. He is probably not a Hall of Famer though.

--Jamison Bash, 3B, (Detroit)- 60.0/80/33/15/102
This aptly named slugging third sacker was on the ballot for the first time this past offseason and was named on 28.5% of the ballots cast. He won an MVP award (in his one full season in Denver), was an All-Star 5-times, and a Silver Slugger 6 times. He was also not well liked and has left an insignificant impact on fans around the WPK. He shouldn't be a Hall of Famer. And probably won't be.

--Jose Santos, LHP, (Los Angeles)- 58.6/104/38/10/158
Jose Santos, on the other hand, was well known and well-liked around the league. He was considered a team captain, won 2 Pitcher of the year awards, was a 7-time All-Star, and a 4-time Gold Glove winner. In his first year on the ballot this past offseason he was named on 41.4% of the ballots. He could get into the Hall but it will be tougher once his more successful peers- guys like Jake Harris and Cheol-han Lee- enter the ballot. I'm rooting for him, even though he was a member of the Los Angeles Spinners for several seasons.

--Brad Tesh, CF, (Columbus)- 67.9/121/38/8/155
Perhaps the guy most likely to be a Hall of Famer from this grouping of players. Tesh has the JAWS and HOF Monitor scores to qualify pretty well but not much in the way of Black Ink and a subpar HOF Standards score. He is the lone member thus far of the 300-300 career club in the WPK with 301 homers and 358 stolen bases. He was the 1965 SJL Rookie of the Year and the 1968 SJL MVP and has 4 Silver Slugger awards in his case at home. He was a 7-time All-Star and is also the proud owner of 3 championship rings. He was considered an all-around good guy and team sparkplug and the Whalers retired his uniform number 24 in 1978. He probably should eventually make it into the Hall, but it might take a few tries. He enters the ballot this offseason.

--Jaime Schardein, RHP, (Los Angeles)- 54.0/97/38/41/177
Another great former L.A. hurler who won 2 Pitcher of the Year awards, led the league in K's 3 times, in WHIP 3 times, and in wins twice. He was a 5-time All-Star but doesn't have a significant following anywhere at this time. Probably won't quite make it to the Hall. Will be on the ballot at the end of the 1984 season.

--Jesse Hartong, RHP, (Portland)- 58.6/86/44/30/172
Hartong finished his career with a 230-146 record and a career ERA of 3.24. His 521 career starts is a WPK high and those 230 wins are also a WPK most. So, he's got some counting stats with great longevity and a rubber arm. But he's really likely not a Hall of Famer. He was a 4-time All-Star, led the league in ERA once, and WHIP once. He did have great control, leading the league in BB/9 7 times. But that's not usually the kind of thing that earns you Hall of Fame induction unless it comes paired with much more than Hartong's resume offers.

4) Borderline Hall of Famer's/Hall of the Very Good candidates:
(and we'll make this a bit quicker)

--Pat Brooks, RP, (Phoenix)- 29.6/41/48/7/59
Other than Jamel McNeil, probably the best reliever of his era. He has been on the ballot for 2 years now and got somewhere around 50% of the voters each time. But my guess is he doesn't make it.

--Benni Heregger, RP, (Milwaukee)- 33.4/21/41/0/56
Another fine relief pitcher of the first generation of WPK players and the only Austrian (native of Vienna) player to make an impact in the WPK. Got on 40.2% of ballots his first time around this past offseason. Probably going downhill from there.

--Jesse Cibula, 3B, (San Francisco)- 53.3/60/32/11/75
Cibula is the great cautionary tale for anyone trying to project whether a young player is HOF bound. At age 26 he looked like a lock, having won a league MVP and been an All-Star 8 times (he put up a 5.3 WAR season at the tender age of 18.) And then the bottom fell out on his career. He wasn't considered particularly injury prone (though he did have a broken kneecap injury that sidelined him for nearly 9 months in 1971, but he had a couple of 4 WAR seasons after that) and he had a reputation for good makeup. His last big league action was 107 plate appearances in 1976, at the age of 29, which resulted in -0.4 WAR, but he knocked around the minors through 1980 when he finally called it quits while performing horribly at AA and single A ball.

--Antonio Sosa, CF, (San Francisco)- 56.3/36/35/0/103
In the WPK encyclopedia, under the term Hall of the Very Good, you will find a picture of Antonio Sosa. He is the very definition of the term. Also was a team captain and a beloved figure in the Bay Area, where he played the majority of his career.

--Jason Wilson, RHP, (Los Angeles)- 51.3/89/38/44/170
--Reece Vaughan, RHP, (Oklahoma City)- 49.8/83/35/25/148
Two guys who pitched a long time and often quite well. Two guys who will be on the HOF ballot together for the first time in the offseason in 1984. Two guys who likely won't ever be Hall of Famers.

-- Bobby Cruz, RHP, (Washington)- 47.2/55/35/16/150
See Wilson and Vaughan above, except Cruz isn't on the ballot until 1985.

--Mike Robinette, 2B, (Seattle)- 57.8/75/42/13/101
Will be the Ringo Starr of the 1987 HOF ballot. He's good, but he's no Lennon, McCartney, or Harrison (Travis Johnson, Ryan Rodgers, or Jesus Hernandez).

--Daniel Torres, LHP, (Denver)- 37.9/31/27/19/66
The former Brewer is on the list because his Black Ink just snuck him into the tail end of the top 30ish list. Led the league in ERA twice. Good guy. And, well, you know, former Brewer. Was on the HOF ballot in 1978. Got on 3.6% of ballots. So, not a Hall of Famer, by a longshot.


In the next post (which might not be until tomorrow- it took forever to complete this one), we will look at players not yet retired but who are considered possible or probable Hall of Fame candidates.