[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Can you imagine the stories to come in future years talking about how the Reds passed on the Splendid Splinter for the honor of drafting Sergio Romo? But, then there's the Giants. The Giants took Jeremy Bonderman over Williams. Insane. When Bonderman announces he no longer is having fun playing baseball, Williams will probably be earning a triple crown.


In other news, has there ever been a city with a worse case of identity crisis than Cleveland. 3 years into this league and Cleveland is on their third nickname. They are now the Naps.

Well the New York Giants traded 4 players to acquire Derek Jeter following the inaugural season. He had a nice season for the Giants in 1902, but I noticed towards the end of the year he was losing some starts to Jonathon Villar. 1903 begins and Jeter is the backup. Villar is a switch hitter, so maybe the AI has Jeter and Villar platooning. I will keep my eye on things.

I was correct when I predicted Mantle for the AL MVP and Trout for the NL. What surprised me though is Honus Wagner finishing 4th in the NL. Dude hit .371. Guessing Wagner's lack of power is what held him back.


Can't believe the American League is 0-8 in World Series play.

One more 140 game season and then it's up to 154 for 1904.

Gaylord Perry took home Cy Young honors for the 1902 season. Perry led the Detroit Tigers to the AL crown with a 17-11 record. Jack Harshman was awarded the Cy Young in the NL. Harshman topped two of his teammates, Bill Sherdel and Jake Peavy. I guess a St. Louis sweep of the World Series was in the cards when you realize the top 3 of their rotation were the top 3 in the entire NL.

Will be watching to see if 1903 is a comeback year for Randy Johnson. In 1901 Johnson finished second to Dizzy Dean in the Cy Young race. Johnson struggled the entire 1902 campaign. His strikeouts were way down and his ERA way up. The 1903 preseason predictions have Johnson bouncing back big time. Lord knows his team the Philadelphia Athletics need him to do so. Dean also struggled some in 1902 after a dominant 1901 season. For Dean it was a slow start that held him back. By the end of 1902 he was looking like himself again and he managed to receive a few Cy Young votes for 1902....of course, we figure a few came from voters partial to the Blues, Bronchos, Naps or whatever Cleveland is calling themselves at the moment.

Another guy pitching in Cleveland is Greg Maddux. Ugh! Maddux is 37 years old going into the 1903 season. I so wish he was younger, but you take what the random gods deal you. On the other side of this, John Smoltz was the first pick in the 1901 amateur draft. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles, which means he's now a New York Highlander in 1903.

Did you know the story of why Cleveland renamed their team to the "Naps"? They acquired superstar second baseman Nap Lajoie during the 1902 season when they were still the Bronchos. In his first full season, they named their damn team after him. That wouldn't go to your head too much would it? The Brooklyn Robins also did this for their manager Wilbert Robinson. I wonder if it's happened elsewhere? Probably, but nothing's coming to me right now.

OOTP does not like Jeter's defense. Like, at all. They shouldn't because it was kind of terrible, but they may go a little bit overboard with that sentiment.