Just a minor word before the weekend sets in and the Halloween fun begins ...
14 out of 36 team rosters are done. The Kansas Royals'77 and Houston Astros'98 and the Los Angeles Dodgers'74 have been born into the league. The Royals'77 and Astros'98 were a little tough since as expansion teams they do not share a long history with other teams. The Dodgers'74 were difficult too as they only took roots in L.A. in 1958. And, they are sandwiched in between the Brooklyn Dodgers'53 and the LA Dodgers'96 (The LA Dodgers'96 have had their name chg'd to Pasadena. Remember, I made up a few teams (who are really other MLB teams in disguise) so as to have 2 leagues, 3 divisions and 6 teams each.
There won't be any slackers in the Legends League. And, I'm purposely avoiding many teams whose "year" included the performance of many "all-time" greats so that there will be alot
of activity in bidding on players from the Free Agent Pool - imagine getting a Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson,
Joe DiMaggio, and on and on, as a free agent? Of course, in this high-salary, payroll busting environment, money is tight and each GM will be plotting, scheming, and stratigizing to find a way to
bring that big franchise player to his/her team. But, after the big bucks are spent, what if your big star gets hurt? Oh well.
The Astros with the "killer Bees" have a potent lineup and above average pitching - Mike Scott is their ace. They Royals have a very good lineup that includes George Brett and Bret Saberhagen on the mound. The L.A. Dodgers will have that old vaunted infield of Garvey, Russell, Lopes, and Cey - an aging Maury Wills is still stealing a few bases here and there too. I was happy to see one of my old favorites - Reggie Smith, too. Always known for their fine pitching, the Dodgers have Andy Messersmith as their #1 starter. Of course, they will have one of the premier pitching staffs in the league to include Iron Man Mike Marshall as their closer.
The LA Dodgers'74 lost in a practice game with the Brooklyn Dodgers'53 (temporarily named the Bridegroooms) 9-6. The game was scoreless for 4 1/2 innings until Brooklyn scored 4 times in the bottom frame as Messersmith reeled from one hit after the other coming off the bats of Snider and Campanella.
However, the LA teams rallied for 5 runs in the top of the 5th only to succumb to the constant hitting attack of Brooklyn in the end.
This weekend its on to Milwaukee Brewers, Montreal Expos,
Minnesota Twins, etc.
Happy Halloween All
Spanky
