[BoSoxFan]

Although Sting faithful were hopeful of a repeat performance after an 82-80 '46 campaign, good for the fifth AL seed, it was not meant to be. The Sting lost to the San Francisco Timberwolves in a tightly-contested six-game ALCS.

Fans continued to be nervous when they realized that the contract of Tom Little, their ace, had run out. The Sting had to seek to either resign or replace the star RHP.

However, Jeff Osborn, general manager of the Sting, was up for the task. In November, Osborn traded several prospects to the Dallas intruders for their ace pitcher, Ralph Baldwin. Although Baldwin was seen as a downgrade from Little, Baldwin was fourth in the AL in WAR in 1946, and was a worthy ace.

Osborn's work was far from over. The Sting proceeded to heavily invest in their lineup. The Sting signed C Mike Atkinson to a one-year deal in January, but the deal that made the most headlines came in early February.

On February 4, the Sting acquired free agent Chae-pong Pak to a six-year, $152M deal. Pak was one of the best hitters in the league, having an MVP and five Silver Slugger awards to his name. These two acquisitions were expected to help a team score runs that was ninth in that department in the 1946 season.

Opening day lineup and rotation, with 1946 stats:

1. RF Ken Evans, age 29, .290 AVG, 22 HR, 65 RBI, 124 OPS+, 3.2 WAR
2. 2B Tim Gaines, 32, .306/14/70/116/4.8
3. 3B Chae-pong Pak, 32, .292/27/91/158/5.7
4. LF Eugene Assar, 34, .258/35/103/142/3.9
5. DH Grant Cook, 36, .291/27/90/133/3.8
6. 1B Johnny Barnett, 34, .233/13/38/101/0.3
7. C Mike Atkinson, 25, .293/18/104/135/2.9
8. SS Anderson Campbell, 25, .136/0/5/7/-0.8
9. CF Bryant Simmons, 22, First year player

1. RHP Ralph Baldwin, age 29, 16-16, 122 ERA+, 259-73 K-BB, 1.19 WHIP, 6.8 WAR
2. LHP Reed Wall, 26, 10-19/94/192-83/1.44/3.6
3. RHP Jay Smith, 37, 13-12/86/186-45/1.35/2.0
4. RHP Milo Jennings, 20, 1-5/43/12-32/2.37/-0.4