1946 Landis Millers - Preseason Check-In
Randy Winn, the owner of the Landis Millers, got a taste of pennant fever in 1945 and told manager
Boone Tucker that he’s in “Win Now!” mode for the 1946 campaign. If you recall, the Millers won the 1945 regular season in the North Carolina State League but stumbled in the championship series to Concord (blah).
Thankfully, most of the 1945 lineup will be back in Landis, including:
- Star pitcher John Twitty,
- MVP centerfielder Phil Durham,
- Left fielder John Meeks
- Second baseman Ross Stokes.
Let’s hope Durham has snapped out of the slump that plagued him in the post-season.
We got an alarming note from our scout, significantly downgrading Twitty’s ratings for “stuff”. It was enough to drop him from a 4.5-star to a 3.5-star player. Yikes. Hoping we didn’t burn him out last season or that something else isn’t wrong.
With that in mind, Boone Tucker spent the off-season trying to find a couple more veteran arms to add to the rotation and bullpen. Here’s the haul:
- LHP Tim Minnis (age 33): 5-4 with 7 saves, 1.94 ERA with Hickory in 1945 – either lower end starter or reliever
- RHP Kevin Meadows (age 25): 6-5 with 17 saves, 3.13 ERA with rival Salisbury. He’ll likely be our main setup guy or stopper-type (they didn’t really use true closers in the 1940s).
- RHP J.D. Melton (age 30): We snatched him from Concord after he led the Weavers with 14 wins in 1945 … He may have played over his head last season because his ratings don’t look great now that it’s 1946 and he’s wearing Landis colors.
Production at the plate lagged from the corner infielders, so Boone added a couple of free agents at those spots as well:
- John Johnson (age 29): The most boringly named first baseman was a reserve for Carolina League champion Burlington last season
- 3B Marc Mayer (age 30): Hit .327 in reserve duty for the Charlotte Hornets
I did the rookie draft before inserting the Tobacco State League and Coastal Plain League into the game. Landis landed some guys who might factor into the rotation right away:
- 22-year-old starting pitcher Dylan Myott (Catawba College) could challenge for the 3 or 4 spot.
- 23-year-old catcher Brian Lacey from Cary might beat out Jeremy Moorhouse for the backup role in year one. He might end up the starter by season’s end. Boone Tucker really likes him – at least his potential (and moxie).
Lots of position battles going into spring. Several guys aren't going to be happy ending up on the reserve roster