VETERAN'S COMMITTEE
There are a bunch of Negro League stars and some minor leaguers from the early days of the sim that belong in my Hall of Fame, as well as some major leaguers who missed the cut. In order to recognize these overlooked players I will manually elect some players thru my veteran's committee. I figure I will begin it sometime in the next couple of seasons in my game.
If there is any interest I might even leave it up to anyone following along to vote from a list of 3-5 candidates I will put forward each year. I figure the maximum allowed in will be 2 a season.
This is by no means a detailed list but here are some players I think are worthy of consideration:
PRE-1901 MAJOR LEAGUERS
Pitchers John Clarkson (378 career wins) and Gus Weyhing (327 wins) need to be considered as does Cy Young (341 wins) who pitched both pre and post 1901.
NEGRO LEAGUERS
Buck Leonard is a 7-time Negro League MVP and seems like a sure bet for the veteran's committee to add at some point. He is the single season and career leader in many categories with an amazing triple crown season of 1938 (.493,58,169) in 118 games for the Homestead Grays. He was signed by the New York Yankees in 1947 but never made it to the majors.
Josh Gibson is another obvious candidate. He spent his entire career in the Negro Leagues and is the all-time homerun king with 515. Pitcher Lawrence Terrell (270-145) is another story worth exploring.
Oscar Charleston had 3,457 career hits in a career that began in Indianapolis of the independent American Association in 1915 and culminated 25 years later in the Negro National League.
A long-time rival of Charleston in the American Association was Al Bridwell who had over 3000 hits and 775 stolen bases in a long career with Columbus as well as a few seasons with Newark of the International League.
OFF-SEASON NOTES
It was a very quiet winter for Major League Baseball with only 4 minor trades being made. The deals are as follows:
Cubs send 25 year old OF Roger Repoz and 23 year old 2B-OF Joe Rowe to Washington in exchange for 32 year old 2B Jerry Lumpe
Repoz hit .200 in 60 games as a rookie with the Cubs while Rowe played in 21 games for the Cubs this past season and hit .333. Repoz will likely get a starting job on a very weak Washington team. Lumpe had been the Senators starting 2B ever since he was selected from the Yankees in the expansion draft of 1961. He hit .246 with 3 homers and 41 rbi's last season. Lumpe is expected to replace 23 year old Ken Hubbs at second for the Cubs after Hubbs batted just .230 a year ago.
Braves send 30 year old pitcher Don Nottebart to Baltimore for 4 minor leaguers.
Nottebart was 12-12 for the Braves last year and is 39-52 in his major league career. He will likely be shifted to the pen with the Orioles due to their deep rotation. Going from Baltimore to Atlanta are 23 year old catcher Paul Casanova, 24 year old 1B-OF Larry Stahl, 24 year old pitcher Lloyd Fourroux and 23 year old OF Bob Raudman. Stahl, who played 40 games for the Orioles (.252,4,12) last season is the only one expected to start the season in the major leagues.
The Angels dealt 32 year old 3B Humberto Guerrero and 23 year old minor league catcher Randy Hundley to the White Sox for 27 year old OF Arthur Blunt.
It is the third year in a row Blunt was moved over the winter as he started his career in Pittsburgh before going to Detroit for the 1964 season and the White Sox last year. He hit just .231 in 110 games for Chicago. Guerrero split last season between Washington and California, batting .267 in 96 games. Before joining the Senators in the expansion draft he played 4 seasons in Chicago with the Cubs.
Finally, the Kansas City Athletics sent 36 year old infielder Hector Lopez to the Mets for 31 year old righthander Joe Bierly.
Lopez is a 2-time all-star who began his career with Brooklyn in 1954. Last season, his first in Kansas City, he hit .273 with 9 homers in 114 games. Bierly is 82-92 in a 9 year career with the Orioles and Mets. He was 13-11 with a 3.49 era last season.
BRAVES RELOCATE TO ATLANTA
The biggest off-season news was the move of the Milwaukee franchise to Atlanta. This will be the first season without professional baseball in Milwaukee since 1899 when the American Association formed. The Milwaukee Brewers remained active in that loop until the Boston Braves relocated to Milwaukee in 1953. Atlanta had made a big to get the Kansas City Athletics but when it fell through the city turned it's attention to the Braves and built a $18 million stadium for the club. Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium seats over 50,000 fans. The Braves finished 9th in the National League last season, 45 games back of the Cincinnati Reds.
BAD NEWS FOR BALTIMORE, MAYS SIDELINED UNTIL AUGUST
The Baltimore Orioles learned that all-star outfielder Willie Mays will be sidelined longer than expected. The 34 year old 3-time MVP is not expected to be back in the line-up until at least June. Mays tore up his knee in a game last July and has not played since. It was the first injury of any duration in his career. Mays has played 2,399 career games and is a lifetime .309 hitter. He has 2,837 hits and 472 homeruns.