A tough old job this baseball managing gig, with Brooklyn’s George Milstead – pilot for their two recent Championships – unceremoniously dumped after they miss out by one lousy game this year. The only other skip to be flipped is Billy Wagner of the Yankees, while ownership of the Giants franchise changes hands.
We exercise the final year option for both Eddie Joost and Sibby Sisti, despite the latter suffering a massive defensive ratings slide across his secondary positions. Even with this he remains a cheap backup option for us, although he may well spend the year at AAA awaiting the call. We sit down with Bob Elliott but it becomes almost instantaneously clear that we are on different pages and he’ll head off to the FA market. The plan is for Wally Westlake to move over to 3B in his stead, with Paf back to CF, Ralph at LF and Luscious at 1B. That leaves us in the market for both a utility IF with special focus on SS and a catcher, with Frank House still at least a year off being ready. We also lose Hitting Coach Shoeless Joe Jackson to retirement.
Retirees this year include Eddie Miller, Thurman Tucker, Nick Etten, Vince DiMaggio, Barney McCosky, Babe Young, Stan Hack, Cliff “Mountain Music” Melton, Fritz Ostermueller and Schoolboy Rowe.
NeLer Ramón “El Profesor” Bragaña has become a bit of a fave of mine for his sheer tenacity. He looked gone about a decade ago but has plodded on until this year, ending his long career with a far-from-shabby 184 wins, along with two Championship rings in 1931 and 1945.
