[jksander]

October 11, 1957: Don Bollweg has announced his retirement from baseball at age 36. He didn’t play at all at the MLB level this season, but hit .321 with 22 doubles, eight triples and 14 homers at the AAA level, with 48 RBIs and 4.3 WAR. He finished his career with just 276 games played, hitting 36 doubles and 22 homers with 92 RBIs and a career average of .247. Eventually everybody hits the wall and has to stop playing this game, but he’ll have the memories for a lifetime.

In this year’s rookie draft we’re not going to have nearly as good a pick as we did the last few years, so though we have our eye on some great players, it’s going to be tough to get one of the power sluggers in the mix (the top three appear to be outfielder Frank Howard, age 21, outfielder Billy Williams, age 19, and first baseman Ron Fairly. I also like first baseman Fred Whitfield, who would not be coming in as ready-to-go as those three, with a lot of the 19-year-old’s potential yet to be met. Shortstop Zolio Versalles, 19, has a great deal of upside as well, both offensively and defensively, where he has Gold Glove potential at short. 19-year-old outfielder Manny Mota also has a ton of potential to become a great hitter for contact. We’re focused on adding offense in the upper rounds of this draft, but there are some pitchers too who would be tough to skip if they fall to us ... most notably 19-year-old Juan Marichal, 19-year-old Gaylord Perry and 20-year-old Jim O’Toole. But there are some lesser-known guys I may be able to pick up in the second or third round, so I’m thinking this is a solid draft we can make good use of. Our scouts are working overtime to find any other diamonds in the rough, and we’ll be drafting on November 15th.

October 19, 1957: The offseason officially began this morning, and right off the bat there was big news, as Chicago’s White Sox and Washington’s Senators fired their GMs. Neither job is considered a good one based on ownership, though at least Chicago has their large market and a bigger budget along with the better farm system, though both of them have top five systems. I got feelers from the White Sox ownership group, but for now I’m happy in Kansas City. We’re on the upswing after adding Banks and Sievers to the lineup, and I think we can continue to make big strides for the fans here in western Missouri. Besides, the cranky owner you know is better than the one halfway across the country who you have no relationship with. I’m in the final year of my contract, however, so I need to have another solid season to keep Richard Doyle happy with our progress so I can continue to stick around.

Our goals for the upcoming season remain to continue to stay at or above .500 and start really focusing on improving our fan interest. We were at a 32-rating when I took over the team three years ago, and now we’re at 47 ... he says he’d like to see that significantly higher by 1961, and he still hopes we can make the playoffs by the end of the decade. Continue to work on winning road games ... this year we were 50-27 here in Kansas City but only 30-47 on the road. And he wants a top three farm system and for us to continue to bring players up quickly to the majors and show immediate results ... those two goals run counterintuitively, and I just have to keep his attention on one or the other.

October 21, 1957: We’ve signed a new team trainer, Bryan Teal, a 62-year-old veteran who is excellent at fatigue recovery, outstanding at preventing leg injuries and legendary for his ability to avoid back injuries. He has 19 years experience, but has been out of the game for a few years while he went back to college to update his training to match the modern knowledge of sports injuries and recovery. We’ve signed him to a four year deal worth $9,500 per year to take over the job.

October 24, 1957: We’ve come to terns with a new pitching coach, Dick Jones! Jones, a 55-year-old with 17 years of experience in the baseball world, is outstanding at developing pitchers and influencing their mechanics, excellent at teaching pitching in general, and good at handling aging. He has a solid reputation overall, and though he only has average relationships with our existing players, Pappas and Erskine recommended him based on what they’d heard about his work with this year’s Los Angeles Angels, who won the league crown with a 105-win record. If he can do that with our pitchers, I’ll be damned happy with him ... he’ll be earning $12,000 a year for the next four years as he looks to put his mark on our pitching corps.
 
October 27, 1957: The Gold Glove awards have been announced, and we cleaned up! Ernie Banks won at first base, Danny O’Connell won at second, and Roy Sievers won in left field! This was the first for O’Connell and Sievers, but was Banks’ second in a row.

October 29, 1957: Platinum Stick awards were handed out today, and Ernie Banks was our big winner at first base, bringing home his third in a row thanks to this year’s 6.4 WAR season ... he hit .284/.342/.587 with 24 doubles, six triples and 49 homers.

October 30, 1957: Milt Pappas was named the AL’s Rookie of the Year, following a stellar season -- the 18 year old right handed starter had a 17-8 record, a 2.53 ERA and 136 strikeouts through 256.1 innings, putting together 5.5 WAR in his debut! He’s already a fan favorite, and what’s crazy is he hasn’t even come close to his potential either with his overall stuff or his control. He may not be a flamboyant personality off the field, but he’s got the potential to become one of the league’s greats.

We’ve also signed our new hitting coach -- 52-year-old Johnny Hodapp, who’s been involved in baseball for as long as anyone can remember, comes to us from the Pioneer league, where he’s been working with the Billings Mustangs. He’s a legendary hitting coach, who is outstanding about handing aging and excellent when it comes to development and influencing hitting mechanics. He focuses on patience, working with players to maximize their abilities rather than forcing them to make radical changes. He’s agreed to a four year deal worth $13,000 per year. He worked with Roy Sievers back in his early days in St. Louis when he first got signed, and Roy’s been a big booster so far. Here’s hoping he does well in making introductions with the rest of the hitting corps.

November 15, 1957: Draft day has arrived! We’ve got the 10th pick in the first round and the 9th pick in each subsequent round thanks to the Orioles, who due to a comp pick from a non-signing last year get to pick 1st and 3rd in this year’s draft. They wound up taking Billy Williams with the #1 pick, and Washington went with 22-year-old lefty starter Bob Veale, which left a lot of us scratching our heads -- he’d looked like a late-level first rounder at best. Baltimore, happy with their rival’s miscue, took 19-year-old Gaylord Perry, and if you’re thinking the Orioles are going to stink next year I’d guess again, those are two KILLER picks (if they can manage to sign them!) Juan Marichal went to Cincinnati, so at least we won’t have to play against that monster arm ... he should be ready to be their ace on day one. And Frank “Hondo” Howard rounded out the top five, as he’ll head to the Phillies.

Here’s who we wound up getting this year:

ROUND 1, Pick 10 -- 1B Ron Fairly
Bond grades out as a first baseman right now, but the 19-year-old lefty hitter has just as much potential in the outfield as on the right corner. He’d committed to play for Mississippi State, but I love his athletic frame, and he’s got the eye to be an above-average contact hitter to go with above-average power. He has a very promising future, and though he may start out at AAA, there’s a chance this kid’ll be ready to come straight up. His outfield arm is the most impressive, and with above average range, I think he’s got the potential to be a powerful right fielder once fully developed.

ROUND 2, Pick 29 -- SP Dennis Bennett
Dennis Bennett is a 6’5” 205 pound starting pitcher from Oakland California, and the 18-year-old has a biting curveball, an above average change up and a solid fastball. His stuff has explosiveness, and he has a knack for the strike zone. He is expected to develop the tools to propel him into a mid-rotation spot. He won’t be anywhere near ready to come up to the big show, but his potential has me excited to see what he can do when he puts it all together.

ROUND 3, Pick 46 -- CF Jose Tartabull
Tartabull, at 18, has great outfield range and potential to develop into a leading defender at all three outfield positions. The Cuba native projects to be an above .270 hitter, and is a great runner, using his speed to pick up every extra base he can. He is considered an average center fielder at the moment, but his bat and his hustle should make him a frontrunner for a future audition as an outfielder.

ROUND 4, Pick 64 -- RP Jim Duckworth
Duckworth is all raw potential at the moment, but the 18-year-old from National City, California, projects to have a repertoire that includes a looping curve, a nice sinker and a good changeup. Once developed he should be among the league leaders in strikeouts year in and year out. But sometimes he tries too hard and that can get him in trouble with the longball. He’s a power reliever, and he’s always going to rely on his stuff (which is potentially incredible) to mask his well-bel0w-average control.

ROUND 5, Pick 80 -- 1B Gerald Reimer
Another young guy at age 19, Reimer is fast, has above average strike zone judgment, and has great potential to develop as a defender both at first base and in the outfield. But he’s raw, raw, raw. He’ll have to work hard to translate his untapped potential into reality in order to reach his goal of making the major leagues. His gap power is the thing that really drew my attention ... he might not be too far away from the majors if he can put his nose to the grindstone and really put in the work.

Beyond that level everybody we picked is a total crapshoot, like it is in almost every draft. We’re currently overbudget at this point, so I’m not expecting to make a lot of offseason moves at this point ... it’s going to be a matter of seeing what this team can do when it’s together for a full season of play. I don’t see any need to overreact and make moves for the sake of it.