April 6th, 1969
It will be opening day tommorrow, but some teams will be missing a few players due to injuries sustained over spring training. Some of the injuries to key players are....
Pittsburgh Pirates 2B
Gene Alley has been placed on the DL and will miss up to 3 months. The 28 year old hit .245 with 4 HRs and 39 RBIs in 133 games last year for the Pirates. Alley had a career high 173 hits during the 1966 season with the Pirates, in 147 games he hit .299 with 7 HRs and 43 RBIs.
Atlanta Braves LF
Rico Carty is on the DL and will miss up to 3 weeks. The 29 year old hit 255 with 15 HRs and 64 RBIs in 1967 for the Braves. He missed the complete 1968 season as well. Carty had a career high 175 hits during the 1970 season when he hit .366 with 25 HRs and 101 RBIs in 136 games with the Braves.
Los Angeles Dodgers CF
Willie Davis will be on the DL and is expected to miss up to 3 weeks. The 28 year old hit .250 with 7 HRs and 31 RBIs in 160 games for the Dodgers last year. Davis set a career high with 180 hits in 1964 when he hit .294 with 12 HRs and 77 RBIs in 157 games for the Dodgers.
San Francisco Giants LF
Ken Henderson will miss up to 4 weeks and is on the DL. The 22 year old hit .333 with 0 HRs and 0 RBIs in 3 games last year for the Giants. Henderson had a career high 36 hits and when he hit .190 with 4 HRs and 14 RBIs in 65 games for the Giants in 1967.
Chicago White Sox LF
Tommy McCraw will miss up to 6 weeks and is placed on the DL. The 28 year old hit .235 with 9 HRs and 44 RBIs in 136 games with the White Sox last year. McCraw set a career high with 112 hits in last season.
Top Performers of the Week
New York Yankees SP
Mel Stottlemyre allowed 7 hits and struckout 5 over 7.1 IPs in a 2-1 win over the Senators. The 27 year old is now 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in 2 starts. Stottlemyre is a 3-time All Star.
New York Mets SP
Tom Seaver allowed 4 hits and struck out 12 in a 8-1 complete game win over the Expos. The 24 year old is now 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 2 starts. Seaver was the 1967 NL Rookie of the Year and is a 2-time All Star.
Chicago Cubs SP
Fergie Jenkins allowed 5 hits and struck 8 in a complete game 2-0 win over the Phillies. The 26 year old is now 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in 2 starts. Jenkins was an 1967 All Star.
St Louis Cardinals SP
Bob Gibson allowed 6 hits and struck out 10 in a complete game 4-1 win over the Pirates. The 33 year old is now 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in 2 starts. Gibson won the 1968 NL Cy Young, he also won the 1968 ML MVP award. Gibson is a 5-time All Star and a 2-time World Series MVP.
This Weeks Major Transactions
The Chicago White Sox have released LF
Leon Wagner. The 34 year old did not appear in a game this season, last year he hit .284 with 1 HR and 18 RBIs in 69 games with the White Sox. Wagner was an All Star in 1962 and 1963.
The California Angels have signed 1B
Dick Stuart as a free agent. The 36 year old hit .242 with 7 HRs and 22 RBIs in 69 games for the Dodgers and Mets in 1966, the last year he played in the MLB. Stuart was an All Star in 1961.
The Montreal Expos originally the Expos drafted
Donn Clendenon in the expansion draft in 1968 from the Pirates. He was later traded to the Houston Astros along with
Jesus Alou for
Rusty Staub.
Clendenon refused to report to Houston so the Expos send
Jack Billingham to the Houston to complete the trade and
Clendenon is back in Montreal. The 33 year old
Clendenon hit .257 with 17 HRs and 87 RBIs in 158 games with the Pirates last year. The 26 year old
Billingham was 3-0 with 8 saves, a 2.17 ERA in 50 games for the Dodgers in 1968.
April 14th, 1969
Cleveland Indians 3B
Larry Brown was named the AL Player of the Week. The 29 year old is hitting .545 with 1 HR and 6 RBIs in 5 games this year.
New York Mets LF
Cleon Jones was named the NL Player of the Week. The 26 year old is now hitting .583 with 1 HR and 5 RBIs in 6 games this year.