Building the rosters for 1945 debut
I had a lot of ideas for how I wanted to stock rosters at the outset of this play-through. I finally settled on the most simple, using a full inaugural draft with all 16 teams together. I randomized the draft order and stopped when I got one that had the more prominent Carolina League teams mostly at the top.
I created Landis as one of the smallest franchises in this world, and I actually gave away their first-round pick to a Carolina League team to simulate the bigger clubs having a competitive edge. The Millers’ first player selection wouldn’t come until No. 21 overall.
When it was finally time for Boone Tucker to pick, he didn’t hesitate to go with the best available pitcher. Remember this name:
John “Pokey” Twitty, age 18, from Charlotte (pictured first above). Not sure how he dropped this far. Most teams went for hitters in the opening round and beyond. Twitty doesn’t have much of a fastball but he’s got a NASTY splitter, sinker and forkball. He may end up the ace of the staff from the get-go.
Landis didn’t pick its second player until No. 44 overall. Boone stayed young with this one as well, nabbing 18-year-old right fielder
Mike Andersen, also from Charlotte (pictured 2nd). He has a nice profile: solid skills, high in leadership, loyalty and work ethic. A total package (if he fulfills his potential of course). Hopefully, these two will become cornerstones of a long run of success in Landis.
The only other Landis draft picks to really jump off the page were centerfielder
Phil Durham and second baseman
Ross Stokes. Since both are older (26 and 30), I am just going to assume these guys had played for Landis before the war and were being re-signed to the club. Durham has great speed (lead off man?) and gap power. Stokes is more of a contact hitter and offers elite defense.
Brandon Windstein is the likely opening day starter at catcher, a position dear to Boone Tucker’s heart. The new manager isn’t quite sure what to make of him though. He’s only 21 and looks like a lightweight as a hitter. But Windstein is plus-plus defensively, and that’s a big deal with a young, inexperienced pitching staff.
Jeremy Morehouse stands ready as the backup backstop. He’s older and also solid defensively, but players have already started complaining that he’s unmotivated. Tucker grabbed two other young catchers as depth pieces just in case. Those two will start on Landis’ 15-player reserve roster (25 players on the active roster).
The most intriguing player on the Landis Millers roster is 39-year-old corner infielder
Bruce Elliott. The grizzled vet of 18+ years on various professional circuits still looks like he can mash the ball, doesn’t strike out much and can play either third or first with high-end defensive ability. That his profile calls him a “sparkplug” is even better.
For the record, the
Asheville Tourists got the first overall pick in the inaugural draft, taking 2B
Nick “Pag” Harmon, 25, from Gastonia. “He knows the game inside and out.” The top overall pitcher also was taken by Asheville, 28-year-old
Bob “Tom” Sustarsic from Charlotte (pictured third above). Watch out for the Tourists! (Bob? Tom? What?)
Two more notes: I started this dynasty in OOTP26 and hope to move it over eventually to the new version ... Also I set batter and pitcher development a tad faster than default. And I set aging for both batters and pitchers to be a little slower. So we could have a lot of long careers, guys continuing to rake into their late 30s and early 40s. I'm here for it.
Now, let’s play some baseball!
(Fade out to Take Me Out to the Ballgame played on banjos...)