So things aren't going so great in San Diego. Not only are the Padres in their expected last place, but their outfielders are greatly outclassed by what the departed Dave Winfield is doing in LA, or what Jerry Mumphrey is accomplishing in Pittsburgh.
And now both Omar Moreno and Gene Richards are injured, to boot. So, it's reinforcement time. Stu Pederson is covering center field (having already easily surpassed the 5 PA he got for the 1985 Dodgers, which were the entirety of his MLB career in OTL, his long duty in AAA aside), but LF has fallen to the untried Pat Casey.
In OTL, Casey wouldn't peak until he put up strong years at Calgary in 1985-86. Did this earn him a ticket to Seattle? Obviously not; instead the Ms dumped him on the Twins, who sent him to Portland, where, after a mediocre six weeks, he got dumped.
However…being in Oregon and playing for a team called the "Beavers" didn't turn out so badly for Casey, after all. He eventually became the longtime head coach at Oregon State, leading those Beavers to consecutive CWS titles in 2006-2007.
Sorry it's just one pic, and at an angle, but since it's from his final playing season and he's already looking somewhat weathered, perhaps Casey's coaching pics might also be a help, if need be.
Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, things are…mediocre. Yes, they're ahead of the Yankees…but who isn't? (Apart from Cleveland, of course.) They're probably wishing they had Larry Gura back from Boston, right now. (And Gura, who has a player option for next year, might consider it; he's doing his share, what with that 8-1 record and tying Matlack for the league lead in wins…but Eckersley and Bob Stanley and Montefusco are all getting bombed. I mean, when Ray Burris is now your #2 arm…)
(Mind you, the Sox have won five in a row and are in 3rd place. But it's been a rocky road.)
Besides Gura, the Brew Crew would love to have Cecil Cooper back from the Sox, as well. 1B is turning into a bit of hole in Beer Country. (Randy Ready? Really?) Well, Mike Henderson's been called up, anyhow, so if they want to slide Molitor over to 1B to prolong his career, Mike's ready to cover SS.
The AI rates Mike's eye highly off of his 1978-79 seasons for Holyoke, where he rang up 126 BB to only 48 K's. But when promoted to AAA Vancouver, he was no longer able to turn that .306 BA into an outstanding OBP, and he never had any power, so… (Also, a terrible base-stealer; 22 SB, 32 CS in his career.)
So really, Mike's just glad to be in Milwaukee. Dreams of busting up that Molitor/Gantner DP combo aside.
(Hey, did I mention that Pittsburgh is still leading the NL East? And never mind Mumphrey and Dave Parker and George Brett, as nicely as they're all doing…Drew Macauley is leading the League in batting average! Go, Drew!)