The Great American Baseball Thrift Book (1946-1970?)

[Syd Thrift]

NLCS GAME TWO

After that wiiiiiiiild game, this has to be just about a must-win game for the Phillies. Like, yes, technically they could lose today and sweep from here on out but that would require winning 2 games in San Diego. It seems... unlikely. Don Henley (20-7, 2.36) goes against Vince Bachler (16-7, 1.91) today. It's a loooot warmer today and that wind is still blowing out to right field. Are we in for another barn-burner?

Top 1st: RF Ed O'Neill strikes out swinging on a 2-2 change. CF Phil McGraw grounds out to first base. 3B Dale Earnhardt strikes out swinging. Wow, a 1-2-3 inning. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: Don Henley opens up wild as he walks CF Bryant Tarala on 4 pitches to open things up. He only walked 68 batters in 259 IP in the regular season. SS Tony Shannon lays down a bunt and advances Tarala to 2nd base, 2-3. LF Alberto Juantorena belts a double down the left field line, scoring Bryant Tarala! 1-0, Phillies, and Juantorena is 6-6 for the series already! RF Greg Lake drops a bloop single up the middle, pushing Juantorena up 90 feet. 1B Ed Begley Jr. walks to load the bases with just one out - and the one out came on a sacrifice. C Nikolai Volkoff walks with the bases loaded! A rare wildness run against Henley! 2-0! Henley gets behind 3B Marco Villafana 2-0 before getting him to ground out sharply to SS for the inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. 2-0, Phillies.

Top 2nd: 2B Paul McCartney fouls out to 3rd base. 1B Carlos Palacios hits a soft liner right at the 2B for out #2. LF Ian Everett strikes out - Bachler's 3rd of the game - to retire the side. 2-0, Phillies.

Bottom 2nd: 2B Ivan Perez, playing in place of Bryant Gumbel, who still has DIAGNOSIS: MURDER happening, takes Henley to a full count before flying out to center. Vince Bachler, the opposing pitcher and holder of a .127 BA in '73, grounds out to shortstop. With 2 out, Tarala belts one deep to center. It gets behind Phil McGraw and Tarala steams into 2nd. Shannon whiffs to strand Tarala and end the frame. 2-0, Phillies.

Top 3rd: SS Joe Wicker strikes out. Man, that pitch selection of Bachler is working early, especially that wicked forkball. C Oliver Williams grounds out to 2nd. Don Henley is actually a good hitter for a pitcher with a .247 average this year (and .234 for his career). That said, he is Bachler's 5th strikeout victim. 2-0, Phillies.

Bottom 3rd: Juantorena tops one over to first and 1B Carlos Palacios takes it to the bag himself for the out. This is the first at-bat that "El Caballo" hasn't gotten a hit all series long. Lake also grounds out to first, unassisted. Begley Jr flies out to right. 2-0, Phillies.

Top 4th: O'Neill grounds out to 2nd. Dr. Phil hits a one-hopper just past SS Tony Shannon and on into center field for a base hit. That's the first man to reach base for San Diego all game. Dale Earnhardt makes it 2 hits in 2 at-bats as he takes an 0-2 pitch the other way for a double to right, McGraw holding up at 3rd. It's too early for crazy strategy so Bachler just pitches to Paul McCartney... and the singer/bass player pops out to 2nd base. Palacios also gets a chance to swing and all he can do is ground out 3-1. 2-0, Phillies.

Bottom 4th: Nikolai Volkoff flies out to center. Marco Villafana does the same. Ivan Perez goes down 4-3 to retire the side. 2-0, Phillies.

Top 5th: Everett hits it to deepish left but CF Bryant Tarala is able to get underneath it for out #1. Wicker flies out to left. Williams grounds out 3U. No Ks the 2nd time through the order - is Vince Bachler losing it? Or is this just 1973? 2-0, Phillies.

Bottom 5th: Bachler baaarely makes contact with a pitch and hits what turns into a 2-3 groundout. Tarala hits a high popup to the infield turf that SS Joe Wicker calls for and takes for the out. Shannon hits a tough liner to right-center that CF Phil McGraw juuuuust manages to get to in time for out #3. 2-0, Phillies.

Top 6th: Henley strikes out swinging on a big, breaking curveball. Ed O'Neill also take a big cut on 2-2 and goes down. Okay, maybe the Ks are back after all! Dr. Phil hits one to medium right field that RF Greg Lake only has to move a few steps over to take. 2-0, Phillies.

Bottom 6th: Juantorena flies out to left. Don Henley only has 1 K so far but he's really settled down after a rocky first inning. Lake pops out to 3rd. Begley lines out to 2nd. 2-0, Phillies.

Top 7th: Vince Bachler is sitting on 7 Ks and only 79 pitches thrown so far this game. He'll face the heart of this Padres order here. Dale Earnhardt hits one towards short that just plain jams up Tony Shannon and his throw to first is not in time! It's a leadoff infield hit. Bachler next throws a wild pitch. Always a battler, Bachler chooses to go after McCartney and he gets him to pop out to first base. The professional hitter Palacios works the count to 3-2 but eventually strikes out swinging at Bachler's high-80s fastball. Everett fails to collect the 2-out clutch RBI as he flies to center. 2-0, Phillies.

Bottom 7th: There's a very good chance this will be Henley's last inning, as he's due up in the 8th. Volkoff grounds out 4-3. Villafana singles past Paul McCartney at 2nd and into centerfield. Ivan Perez stays in to hit and is Henley's 2nd strikeout victim. I'm not about to pull Bachler while he's spinning a shutout so he'll come up to bat. He flies to center. 2-0, Phillies.

Top 8th: Wicker flies out to deep-ish right. Oliver Williams is Bachler's 9th strikeout victim, this time being fooled by a nice looking change of pace. Pinch-hitting for Henley is the wily veteran Elijah Johnson (.239, 0, 8), who has 1,949 career hits... also a .294 career on base percentage but let's not talk about that. He was 14-45 as a pinch hitter in the regular season. Well, he's strikeout #10 for Bachler. 2-0, Phillies.

Bottom 8th: Human piece of garbage Roy Moore (3-3, 2.30) enters the game. Did I call the back of this Padres' bullpen kind of meh? I was incorrect. Like everyone in here is good. Moore throws a low-90s fastball, a solid slider, and an occasional change-up. Tarala fights him and eventually wins with a 3-2 leadoff walk. Moore only walked 10 batters in 47 regular season innings. Shannon, 0-2 so far tonight, also walks. The last time Moore issued multiple walks in a game was on July 12, when he walked 2 Pirates batters in a 5-0 loss. He throws a wild pitch to Alberto Juantorena, which CONVENTIENTLY makes a place for him on the bases: El Caballo is intentionally walked to load the bases. Moore gets ahead of Greg Lake 1-2 and gets him to hit a line drive into right. It's caught by Ed O'Neill and when Bryant Tarala tries to score, he's cut down! The other runners do advance on the throw. Ed Begley Jr. grounds out 5-3 to retire the side. 2-0, Phillies.

Top 9th: The Phillies tried to add some insurance but couldn't but hey, Vince Bachler looks kind of lights-out right now, right? Right? O'Neill flies to left. Bachler's up at 114 pitches and is looking tired. McGraw strokes a single to center. Bachler walks Earnhardt on 4 pitches, his first walk this entire game. I can't spoil this shutout! You just need 2 more batters, Vince. He strikes out Paul McCartney, who was looking to take the lead on one pitch with his swing. Palacios gets a hold of the first pitch but skies it into left to end this one. 2-0, Phillies win!

This is a series of extremes, I'll say that much. The Padres go from 13 runs scored in the opener to a big old Chicago in game 2. Bachler incidentally set a new Phillies record for strikeouts in a playoff game. TO BE FAAAAAAAAIR Philadelphia hasn't seen too many of those: the previous record was 9 by Jon Salazar back in 1966, and Richard Starkey's 2 yesterday is actually the 8th highest total of all time.

We'll head to San Diego for Game 3 with the series knotted at a game apiece.

[Syd Thrift]

ALCS Game 2

The White Sox can still conceivably pick up a win here in Detroit to give them the advantage in this playoff series. Of course, it'll be tough but it was always going to be tough. Chris Messina (13-19, 3.41) goes against Bruce Rubio (14-13, 3.39) in this matchup of guys with really average records given their team's overall record. Messina's a 10 year vet who uses his guile and a nasty forkball to get outs. He's also pretty solid at not making big mistakes with just 20 HRs allowed in the past 2 seasons combined. Bruce Rubio is a 25 year old who maybe still hasn't hit the top of his potential but already mixes in 6 pitches he can throw at any time. It's clear skies, 51 degrees, and the wind blowing in from the right at 10 mph today.

Top 1st: SS John Johnson leads things off with a little chopper back to the mound that gets in for a base hit. It's like he planned it! Hatoyama singles back through the box to put on some early pressure. Josh Wade hits one to SS Rob Curran, who fires to 2nd but Hatoyama is able to upend Joey Ramone before he can make the pivot to first base. Johnson moves up to 3rd so we've got runners on the corners with 1 out. 1B Jeff Nation smashes one past 3B Joe Theismann for a RBI single! 1-0! Maccioli flies to center. Peabo Bryson, hitless in game one, belts one DEEP to right field! It's going back! It's going way back! It is gone! a 3-run homerun for the Chicago left fielder! 4-0! Hopka grounds out 5-3 to retire the side. 4-0, White Sox, and oh boy does Rubio wish he could have that pitch back.

Bottom 1st: Romero flies to left. Faison flies to center. Ramone strikes out swinging. 4-0, White Sox.

Top 2nd: CF Alan Parsons grounds out to short. C Chris Flores hits one towards the 2nd base bag that looks like a single but SS Rob Curran dives for it, gets up, and throws Flores out at first! Johnson flies to left. 4-0, White Sox.

Bottom 2nd: DH Jose Ayala fights off a 1-2 pitch but only pops it up to short right field where 2B Chance Hopka makes a play on it for 1 out. 1B Niki Lauda strikes out swinging. 3B Joe Theismann grounds out to 2nd. 4-0, White Sox.

Top 3rd: Hatoyama flies to short center. Wade bloops a single into right. Nation grounds to third and gets the force at 2nd but once more the runner breaks up the double play. And that turns out to mean a lot because Brian Maccioli hits one the other way for a 2-run homerun! 6-0, White Sox! Bryson flies out to left. 6-0, Chisox.

Bottom 3rd: The Tigers have their work cut out for them but hey, die by the homerun, live by the homerun. LF Danny Hohman grounds to 1st base unassisted. C Armando Flores, who was just 3-31 this year against the Sox, walks. Rob Curran hits a smash towards the hole at short, where John Johnson makes a diving grab for it... but his throw to 2nd is off line and everyone's safe! Score that one an error. Alvin Romero gets Detroit's first hit all game long, a screamer down the right field line that turns into a double! 6-1! Rob Curran comes around and tries to score... and he's cut down! Moreno stays at 2nd on the play but if anyone can steal 3rd it's this man. He stays on his bag though and Frankie Faison hits a 3-2 pitch to 2nd base for a 4-3 grounder to end the inning. 6-1, White Sox.

Top 4th: Hopka grounds out 6-3. Parsons grounds out 4-3. Rubio did score a 52% groundball rate this year, the highest of his 3 year career, which probably did cut down on the HRs... well, until today. Flores knocks a base hit past 1B Niki Lauda and into right field. Johnson hits one into left that looked like trouble off the bad but hangs up and is caught by Danny Hohman for the easy out. 6-1, White Sox.

Bottom 4th: Joey Ramone leads it off by hitting a grounder towards first that tests Jeff Nation. He lets it go by and it's a leadoff single to right. Jose Ayala is hit by a pitch! Messina only hit 3 guys this year; usually he's pretty good with that. Niki Lauda slaps a base hit into right. Joey Ramone's going to score from 2nd base! 6-2 with runners at first and second and nobody out. Theismann walks on 7 pitches to drunken up the sacks. Danny Hohman hits a short popup on the right side of the infield that 2B Chance Hopka catches just this side of the first base line. Flores hits a grounder right at SS John Johnson who induces an inning-ending, rally-killing 6-4-3 double play. 6-2, White Sox.

Top 5th: Hatoyama grounds out 6-3. Wade flies to left. Jeff Nation flies out the other way to right. 6-2, White Sox.

Bottom 5th: Curran draws a leadoff walk. That's the 3rd walk issued by Messina and the 4th man he's allowed on base through his own wildness if you count the hit batsman last inning. He's usually a bit better with the control but a. Detroit and b. these veteran slopballers have to nibble to survive and sometimes they miss. Romero drives one into center field for a base hit, Curran taking 2nd. Make it a walk and two base hits, as Frankie Faison gets his first base knock of the night with a single to right. Joey Ramone makes it three straight hits! Rob Curran scores but Alvin Romero sticks at 3rd base; CF Alan Parsons caught up to the ball too quickly and the team's down by too many runs to waste a rally on the basepaths. With the bases still loaded, Jose Ayala hits what looks like an easy fly out to center... but Alan Parsons loses track of it and it drops in front of him for the bloopiest blooper that ever bloopered! 6-4 and the bases are still loaded up! Messina's up to 83 pitches but maaan I can't pull my starter just yet, can I? Niki Lauda hits a spinner back to the mound where Messina goes home for the 1-2 force. They aren't able to get the ball to 1st for the double play though. Theismann grounds to shortstop and Josh Johnson is once more able to prevent the run with a force play at home! Danny Hohman knocks one to the wall in left-center! Ayala will score! Lauda will score! Theismann will score without a throw! And Danny Hohman slides into 3rd with a bases-clearing triple! 7-6, Tigers! Can you believe it???

All right, *that* is going to be it for Messina. I thought he was going to get out of that jam but I guess not... instead, in comes long reliever Rich Whetzel (4-18, 4.27). Whetzel spent most of the year with the last-place Twins so I'd say that record is worse than it looks but he was 1-4, 5.03 with the Sox including 0-2, 7.27 in September when they could have really used another viable starter. He's mopping up now but the White Sox could definitely stand to avoid more damage. Armando Flores does not oblige; he hits a single to left to score Hohman. 8-6! Curran grounds out to 2nd to finally end this one. 8-6, Tigers, after a 6-run 5th!

Top 6th: Bruce Rubio's been pitching to contact this game so in spite of 6 runs and 7 hits allowed he's only thrown 53 pitches so far. He gets his very first strikeout of the game on Brian Maccioli to lead it off. Peabo Bryson flies to center. Chance Hopka hits one towards Rob Curran at short. The ball hits a pebble and Curran misplays it for an error. No matter, as it just gives Rubio a chance to get his 2nd strikeout, this time looking off of Alan Parsons. 8-6, Tigers.

Bottom 6th: Whetzel stays in to face Alvin Romero and he gets the speedy speed demon to strike out. Faison flies out to center. Ramone goes down 6-3 for the 1-2-3 6th. 8-6, Tigers.

Top 7th: Rubio's still in there because after all he really only made 2 bad mistakes, right? Flores goes down 5-3. Johnson grounds out to short. Hatoyama hits an "atom" ball right at SS Rob Curran for out #3. 8-6, Tigers.

Bottom 7th: Ayala flies to right. Lauda hits one the other way into left field for a one-out base hit. Theismann strikes out; that's Rich Whetzel's 2nd of the day. He maintained a kind of bad 81/77 K/W ratio in the regular season (over 173 IP). Hohman strikes out looking and Whetzel's been surprisingly good in long relief. 8-6, Tigers.

Top 8th: Rubio's still only up to 76 pitches and let's be honest, the White Sox lineup sans Alice Cooper is not exactly scary. He'll remain in the game. Josh Wade lines out to first base. Jeff Nation strikes out looking on a knuckle curve. Is Rubio actually getting stronger? Maccioli grounds out to third base. 8-6, Tigers.

Bottom 8th: Whetzel did his job and it's time to bring in Damian Seja (4-1, 2.03) to make his first ever postseason appearance. Seja pitched in 17 games, starting 5, and did a great job of pitching to contact with 17 walks and 15 Ks in 44.1 IP. Flores flies out to left field. Rob Curran will stay in the game since Seja's a righty. He flies out to center. Romero grounds out 3-1. 8-6, Tigers, and it's hold onto your butts time!

Top 9th: This isn't like the ideal complete game situation but a. Rubio's still only thrown 87 pitches and b. we just used Jim Marceau for 2 innings last night, so in he stays. Peabo Bryson hits an 0-2 knuckle curve juuuust past a diving Joe Theismann at third and into left field for a leadoff base hit. Now Chance Hopka, representing the tying run, is lifted for PH Patrick Tambay. He also makes contact with a 2 strike pitch and bloops it into left for a base hit. 1st and 2nd, nobody out.

And we're pulling in lefty specialist Simon Crean (2-0, 2.88). Crean is a 24 year old who started the season in AAA Toledo but earned a callup with a 1.92 ERA in 16 starts. He's... not an ideal choice as a LOOGY given that his arsenal includes both a circle change and a screwball, but you can't argue with the results. Crean gets to 0-2 on Alan Parsons and then throws one past C Armando Flores and all the way to the backstop. The tying run's in scoring position! However, he strikes out Parsons on the very next pitch for one out. Little-used SS Chris Morgan (.333, 0, 0) comes in for the catcher next and is promptly walked.

Tired or no, we've got to bring in Jim Marceau again. He'll face Josh Johnson, who's 1-4 with a run scored tonight and 0-5 lifetime vs Marceau. The Tigers trade the run for the out, getting a 4-6 force at 2nd while Peabo Bryson scores. 8-7 but we're one out away! With a 3-2 count Yukio Hatoyama swings at ball four and it's over!

For the 2nd straight game the Tigers have to battle back from a deficit to win a close one at home. But hey, it's the W that counts, right? They send the series to Chicago now with the White Sox needing to sweep to make it out of this round.

[Syd Thrift]

NLCS Game 3

Bad news for the Phillies before this one even starts, as 2B Bryant Gumbel will miss the entire playoffs with a sprained ankle. Ivan Perez filled in for Game 2 but going forward it'll be former starter Nate Rowe (.216, 4, 45) at the position. Rowe suffered through a terrible year in 1973 but hit .337 in 80 games in 1971 and even last year went .254/16/70 as the club's full-time second baseman.

We're heading to sunny San Diego for Game 3. Chris Olivares (19-4, 2.84) climbs the mound for the Phillies. The 26 year old pretty much reversed his career fortunes this year and finally came through on the potential that saw him named a top 50 prospect at one point. Cesar Barreras (13-15, 3.57) is as much a reminder to the Pads fans of how fortunate they are to be seeing October baseball, as he was a member of the '69 expansion team. He's 3rd on the team in all-time wins with 27, behind Steven Tyler and Rodrigo Aguilar, who had a 60-50 record with the Pads before they sent him off to the Reds for C Oliver Williams and a pitching prospect in June.

Did I say it was sunny? It's cloudy, 66 degrees, and there's a wind blowing out to center. Even with the wind blowing out, though, San Diego Stadium has built up a reputation as a place where long flyballs go to die.

Top 1st: CF Bryant Tarala gets it started out right for the Phillies with an infield single that SS Joe Wicker just can't handle in time. Unfortunately he's immediately wiped out by a caught stealing. Tarala's speedy but was only 22/35 this year on the basepaths. SS Tony Shannon works a 7 pitch at bat into a walk. LF Alberto Juantorena flies to left. RF Greg Lake fouls out to the third baseman. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: RF Ed O'Neill flies out to left. CF Phil McGraw grounds out 4-3. 3B Dale Earnhardt freezes on a fastball and is called out on strikes. 0-0.

Top 2nd: 1B Ed Begley Jr. tags a leadoff single into right field. The Phillies employ a bit of "strategy" again, but this time it's a sacrifice bunt that works, with C Nikolai Volkoff going down but moving Begley up to 2nd. 3B Marco Villafana strikes out looking. So does 2B Nate Rowe. RBI opportunity: wasted. 0-0.

Bottom 2nd: 2B Paul McCartney hits one high and deep to center field. CF Bryant Tarala races back for it but can't get to it and San Diego Stadium is so, so deep that by the time he collects it and throws it in, McCartney slides into third with a leadoff triple. 1B Carlos Palacios swings and misses at a 92 MPH fastball to strike out for out #1. A little early to prevent one run so we're pitching to LF Ian Everett. He pops out into foul territory on the left field side, Alberto Juantorena covering. Olivares completes the getting out of the jam by inducing SS Joe Wicker to fly to center. 0-0.

Top 3rd: P Chris Olivares pops out to 2nd base. Tarala goes down looking, the 3rd strikeout for Barreras already. Tony Shannon hits a hard grounder towards the middle that SS Joe Wicker makes a heck of a play on... but he can't throw it to first in time. It's an infield hit. No matter because Juantorena strikes out to retire the side. 0-0.

Bottom 3rd: C Oliver Williams hits a grounder towards the first base hole. Ed Begley Jr dives for it, picks it up, and throws it to P Chris Olivares... but Olivares drops the throw! Williams is on with the error. P Cesar Barreras sacrifices Williams up to 2nd, 3-4 on the scoring there. Ed O'Neill walks on 4 pitches. McGraw strikes out swinging. Earnhardt pops it up in front of the plate. C Volkoff catches it and once more, Chris Olivares escapes from an obvious RBI situation. 0-0.

Top 4th: Lake pops out to 3rd. Ed Begley Jr. hits a liner over 3B Dale Earnhardt and into left. Ian Everett cuts it off but not before Begley's able to motor into 2nd with the one out double. Volkoff flies to right. Villafana whiffs on a 1-2 curveball to retire the side. 0-0.

Bottom 4th: McCartney strikes out looking. Palacios pops out to the third baseman. Everett hits a soft liner right at SS Tony Shannon for the 3rd out. 0-0.

Top 5th: Rowe flies out to left. Olivares, by the way, a guy who hit .241 this year and holds a lifetime .195 career average, flies out. WELP that was anticlimactic. Tarala flies to left. 0-0.

Bottom 5th: We're halfway through and this one's shaped up into a real pitching matchup. Wicker flies out to left. Williams singles into left field - his first hit of the postseason! Barreras tries to sacrifice him but P Chris Olivares pounces on the ball and engineers a 1-6-3 double play. 0-0.

Top 6th: Shannon pops out to 2nd base. Alberto Juantorena hits a soft line drive at SS Joe Wicker, who takes his eye off the ball for a split second. The ball ricochets off his glove and Juantorena has a free trip to first base. Lake flies to left. Begley Jr., 2-2 so far on the night, just watches as Juantorena is thrown out trying to steal 2nd. It was a good idea and he did steal 38 bags in 55 chances in the regular season (2nd in the NL). 0-0.

Bottom 6th: The upside of that sacrifice bunt double play last inning is that the Padres reset the lineup for the 6th. Ed O'Neill strikes out looking, Olivares' 5th K of the game. McGraw grounds out 5-3. Dale Earnhardt knocks one into the gap in right-center for a base hit. It sure looks like CF Bryant Tarala cuts it off in time to hold him to a single but aggressive baserunning, deceptive speed on the part of the race car driver, and let's just say an arm that's not as good as it used to be all conspire to get Earnhardt in at 2nd with a 2-out double. McCartney follows up with an infield hit as 2B Nate Rowe can't get the throw off in time to catch him. That's both McCartney's 2nd straight hit and his 2nd hit of the series. Olivares gets behind Palacios 2-0 and he hits a bloop single up the middle, scoring Earnhardt! 1-0! Everett grounds out 3U to retire the side but not before the deadlock was broken. 1-0, Padres.

Top 7th: Ed Begley Jr. gets another look at Barreras to lead off the top of the inning. He flies to left so if you assume the outcome would have been the same last inning, Juantorena's caught stealing is meaningless. Volkoff grounds out 4-3. Villafana avoids the golden sombrero this time around by hitting a fly ball to right... but it's not challenging Ed O'Neill at all and that's out #3. 1-0, Padres.

Bottom 7th: Wicker grounds out 6-3. Williams works Olivares, who might be seeing his last work tonight, to a full count but pops out to 2nd base. Barreras flies out to center.

Top 8th: Rowe grounds out 4-3. I am indeed pulling Olivares, who leaves having thrown 100 pitches on the dot and, honestly, having done a really nice job out there tonight. Billy Ocean gets out of his on deck circle and into my batter's box. He gets in the back seat, baby, by which I mean he draws a walk of of Barreras. Tarala grounds out 4-6 but Ocean manages to knock over SS Joe Wicker and break up the double play. Tony Shannon's out 5-3 to retire the side. 1-0, Padres.

Bottom 8th: Omar Sanchez takes the mound for his 2nd appearance in the postseason. He's also one of the few Phillies with prior playoff experience, having pitched 5.1 innings in the 1966 World Series. O'Neill grounds out 4-3. Dr. Phil walks. Earnhardt follows it up by inside-outing a pitch into right field for a base hit, McGraw taking 2nd. Paul McCartney echoes a different singer, Linda Rondstadt, as he watches Sanchez' sinker "Blue Bayou" for the 2nd out. Palacios pops out to SS and the Phillies now have one last chance to get into this game. 1-0, Padres.

Top 9th: Normally I'd pull in Darius Parchman but come on, Barreras has the shutty working. He had 3 shutouts in the regular season and 6 complete games total - the latter is a pretty low total but again, the Pads have that bullpen. It looks like he might strike out Juantorena but instead the left fielder deposits one into right for his first base hit of the day. That's a single. I realize "deposits" sounds like he hit one out but he didn't. Greg Lake also picks up his first hit, a single into left, and Juantorena scampers into 3rd ahead of the throw.

ALL RIGHT, it's Darius Parchman time after all. Parchman, in addition to not allowing any runs of his own, only allowed 6 out of 24 inherited runners to score. He's got his work cut out for him tonight. Ed Begley Jr. grounds to 2nd... and Paul McCartney makes a heads-up play at the plate, getting Juantorena on the 4-2 force-out! Pinch-hitting for Volkoff, who's hitless in the series, is John Belushi (.307, 1, 10). He hits one to Carlos Palacios at first, who jogs to first for the safe out. That also means first base is open and Villafana is duly walked to create a play at any base. That's only the 2nd time all season long that Villafana was walked intentionally. Pinch-hitting for Nate Rowe is wily veteran Josh Coffey (.258, 3, 45). He flies out to RF Ed O'Neill and just like that, the Padres have pushed the 104 win Phillies on the brink!

[Syd Thrift]

ALCS Game 3

Detroit's got a chance to sweep today... but it's going to take Edgar Molina (20-19, 4.02) being the good Edgar Molina to do it. Man... when he's hot, he's got a mid-90s heater and a lockdown slider and forkball. He's led the league in Ks each of the last 2 years and 3 times in the last 5. When he's not... yeah, 53 HRs is actually more than anyone in real life baseball ever gave up. His opponent Steven Chu is a 25 year old mid-rotation guy who's... solid, not great, but solid, so basically it seems like it's all up to what Molina decides to do today.

They're in Chicago today so it's spacious Comiskey Park, which should help Molina a bit. Also it's a very Chicago-y partly cloudy, 49 degrees, and a strong wind blowing in from right. This doesn't really factor into gameplay but Comiskey in the early 70s had this really, really dorky setup with a turf infield, regular old infield dirt (as opposed to the sliding dugouts that most astroturf-using teams employed in the era), and then a normal grass outfield. I'll try and post a picture...

Top 1st: CF Alvin Romero fouls out to 3rd and we are under way! RF Frankie Faison singles into right. 2B Joey Ramone hits a hard grounder wide of short; John Johnson picks it and fires to first but 2B Chance Hopka's not able to deliver the throw to first as he's wiped out by Faison. DH Jose Ayala flies weakly to center. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: SS John Johnson flies out to centerfield. DH Yukio Hatoyama hits a chopper to SS that Rob Curran is juuuuust able to pick up in time to throw out the runner. Josh Wade belts one into the right-center gap. It gets down and he's in at 2nd base standing up with a 2-out double. Jeff Nation strikes out swinging to retire the side. 0-0.

Top 2nd: 1B Niki Lauda grounds out to short. 3B Joe Theismann also grounds out 6-3. LF Danny Hohman drops a line drive past LF Peabo Bryson, where it hits the wall in left-center. He slides into 2nd well ahead of the throw for a double. C Armando Flores hits towards the middle that juuuust about looked like it had a chance but SS Josh Johnson picks it in time for the 6-3 groundout. 0-0.

Bottom 2nd: 3B Brian Maccioli launches a solid single into left. LF Peabo Bryson hits a line drive into right but directly at RF Frankie Faison for out #1. 2B Chance Hopka hits a ground ball to 3B Joe Theismann; he picks it up and gets the 5-4 putout but 2B Joey Ramone's not even close to being able to finish a double play with the ball. CF Alan Parson singles the other way into left field; the two-out base hit is his first-ever postseason hit! C Chris Flores flies out to left. It wasn't even that deep left but I'm holding onto my butt every time someone hits the ball off Rubio into the air. 0-0.

Top 3rd: SS Rob Curran hits a two-hopper back through the box for a leadoff single. Alvin Romero does the same... and CF Alan Parsons is caught napping! Curran lumbers into second ahead of the throw and the always-cagey Romero slides into 2nd behind him. No way you load the bases for this murderer's row so Frankie Faison will get to hit... the Sox trade the run for the out on the 6-3 grounder. Curran scores and Romero gets to 3rd. 1-0. No, wait! There's a quick conference at the mound and the umps concur: Faison beat the throw! We've got runners at the corners with no outs now. Ramone grounds into a 4-6-3 double play but Alvin Romero walks in from 3rd. 2-0! The Joker stands there like a statue looking at a 1-2 fastball for out #3. 2-0, Tigers.

Bottom 3rd: Johnson goes down 6-3. Hatoyama swings and misses at a 1-2 forkball that was clearly off the plate for out #2. Josh Wade continues to be a devil vs Molina and on the series (he's hitting .500) with a 2-out single up the middle. Molina can't finish off Jeff Nation with a 2-2 pitch and instead the right-hander smashes a fastball into right field for a base hit. Wade takes the sign and runs into third and the throw from RF Frankie Faison is not in time! Nation gets into 2nd on the play. Suddenly the tying run is in scoring position with 2 outs. Maccioli hits a little blooper to right-center that looks like a sure base hit... but Frankie Faison robs him of it for out #3. 2-0, Tigers.

Top 4th: Lauda hits a miles-high popup that 3B Brian Maccioli fields for the out. Theismann hits a soft liner to the shortstop. Danny Hohman hits a charge into right-center that hangs up at the end for a putout for CF Alan Parsons. 2-0, Tigers.

Bottom 4th: Edgar Molina's given up 5 hits in 3 innings, which is very uncharacteristic of him, but he's also only at 41 pitches so far. He strikes out Bryson on 3 pitches. Hopka hits a flyball into center but once more it comes down softly for Alvin Romero to catch. Alan Parsons collects his 2nd hit, a single back through the box. Flores hits a ball juuuust past SS Rob Curran into left. CF Alan Parsons scoops it up quickly and looks like he's going to nail Parsons at third easily... but the throw is over 3B Joe Theismann's head! Flores gets into second and Parsons scores on the play! 2-1. Johnson lines one right at SS Rob Curran for the final out. 2-1, Tigers.

Top 5th: Flores hits a ground ball to the left of 3B Brian Maccioli at third. He's forced to rush the throw a little bit and it pulls 1B Jeff Nation off the bag! It's getting scored as an E-5 but could have been an infield single. Curran hits a sharp line drive right at SS John Johnson. Flores got caught off the bag and he's doubled up, 6-3! Romero hits a line drive towards 2nd that looks like a single all the way but Chance Hopka somehow manages to catch up to it for the final out. 2-1, Tigers.

Bottom 5th: Molina's been really unlucky today, and yet maybe a bit lucky that most of the hits he's allowed haven't come home. He finishes a 6-pitch at-bat with Hatoyama with a fly to center. Wade hits a roller back to him and Molina records the 2nd out of the inning with a 1-3. Nation grounds out 4-3. 2-1, Tigers.

Top 6th: Faison lines one into right field for a leadoff base hit. He's 3-3 on the day now. Unfortunately he's erased by a 6-4-3 double play hit by Ramone. Ayala flies out to center to retire the side. 2-1, Tigers.

Bottom 6th: Maccioli grounds out to second. Peabo Bryson sends one into right that falls right in front of Frankie Faison for a base hit; Molina's outs streak ends at 5. Hopka singles up the middle. That's somehow the 9th hit Molina's allowed. Parson strikes out on a wicked forkball. Flores swings at the first pitch he sees and grounds out to 1B Niki Lauda, who takes 2 steps to the bag to end the 6th. 2-1, Tigers.

Top 7th: Steven Chu is doing what he does and has thrown just 60 pitches so far; needless to say, he's staying in. Lauda singles into left-center. Theismann hits a hot shot towards short; all SS John Johnson can do is knock it down. That's an infield hit! Runners on 1st and 2nd. Danny Hohman hits a chopper back to the mound. It really looks like the only play's going to be at first but Chu sees Theismann got a slow jump off of first and he fires to 2nd for the 1-4 fielder's choice play. Lauda gets to 3rd. Flores grounds out to 2B Chance Hopka but the ball's hit up the middle and so gives Niki Lauda the ability to score from third. 3-1! Hohman advances to 2nd on the play. Curran hits one over 3B Brain Maccioli's head and on into left! By the time Peabo Bryson collects it in foul territory, Curran's sitting on second base and Hohman has scored! 4-1! Romero strikes out looking to retire the side. 4-1, Tigers.

Bottom 7th: Rubio's got a little bit of a cushion now, hey hey! Tigers fans listening at home can breathe a small sigh of relief... but not too large, as the Sox have the top of the order up this inning. Rubio strikes out Johnson on a 3-2 fastball. Hatoyama also goes down swinging. Rubio gets a liiiiiiittle too fancy trying to strike out the side and grooves one for Josh Wade. He properly hits one into the right-field stands and the White Sox are a run closer at 4-2! Wade only hit 7 HRs the entire year but you can't just put one down the middle against anyone in this league and Rubio really should have figured that out by now. Nation cracks a 2 out single into left. Maccioli hits a line drive over the shortstop and Jeff Nation's able to get to 3rd as the throw from CF Alvin Romero is off line. Peabo Bryson flies to left to retire the side. 4-2, Tigers.

Top 8th: Steven Chu is still only on 85 pitches and even last inning was pitching to contact. He'll stay in but I've got my eye on him. Faison grounds out 6-3. Ramone goes down 3U. Ayala flies to left, giving Chu a much-needed 1-2-3 inning. 4-2, Tigers.

Bottom 8th: Molina's up well over 100 pitches now, although he does have a fair share of stamina: he did lead the AL in complete games (18) and finished 2nd in innings pitched (308.2). We're looking at the bottom 3rd of the order so we'll take it batter by batter. Hopka fails to check his swing on a 1-2 slider for Molina's 7th K and the first out. Parsons seemed like he'd solved Molina earlier in the day so why not leave him in? He flies to center. I will remove the catcher Chris Flores for PH Patrick Tambay, who's 1-2 in this series. Guess what happened? If you guessed a 2-out HR into right, you guessed correctly! 4-3 and I'm done with Molina.

Jim Marceau will make his second and hopefully last appearance of this series. He grounds out to 1B Niki Lauda for the inning-ending 3U. 4-3, Tigers.

Top 9th: Hey, let's give C Rene Arnoux some postseason PT! He hit .149 in the regular season but the White Sox are carrying 3 catchers so if he comes up to hit he can be safely removed. Also, since there's no reason not to I'm going to replace Steven Chu with ace closer Malcolm Post, who's making his second appearance in the postseason. Lauda flies out to center. Theismann drops one down the left field line that kicks up some chalk before bouncing into foul territory; that one's ruled a fair ball and he's into second standing up. Danny Hohman belts one down the other line and while this one does get handled by RF Josh Wade before it hits the wall, Hohman's nevertheless able to slide into 2nd with an RBI double! 5-3! OF Alejandro Cortes (.196, 7, 18) will come in to face Post. He had an awful season at the plate but is a career .292 hitter vs Post (7-24) and the 1966 MVP, so he's done it in the past. Post walks him on a 3-2 pitch. I think that was the first walk by either team this game. Curran gets jammed on an inside pitch and flies weakly into left. Alvin Romero scorches one down the first base line, past 1B Jeff Nation, and... man, you do not want to give Romero that kind of room! He slides into 3rd base with a bases clearing triple! 7-3! Faison walks. Is Post just not able to respond to the pressure? Ramone singles to right center, with Romero scoring easily and Frankie Faison charging into 3rd on the play.

ALL RIGHT that's got to be it for Post. In comes Daniel Roche (4-3, 2.95), the 35 year old who started the year in Montreal but was claimed off of waivers by Chicago at the end of July. He was 1-0, 2.49 with his new team, albeit with only 8 strikeouts in 21.2 IP. Ayala drives in Faison with a single to left. 9-3! Lauda strikes out to fiiiinally retire the side but man, this one got real ugly real quick. 9-3, Tigers.

Bottom 9th: Backup C Joel Moise (.230, 2, 24) also tastes his first postseason playing time. He proved to be a good defensive catcher his rookie year, although his arm is not graded well (he did throw out 33% of baserunners so what do the scouts know?). With the team up by 6 runs, I think it's time to save Jim Marceau for Game 4 (or, let's face it, the World Series) and instead bring in Alex Ruiz (0-1, 2.20). Ruiz was called up midseason after, if I'm being honest, not the greatest first half in AAA Toledo (6-4, 3.92, 7 Sv). He was pretty solid as a pitch-to-contact guy in 23 games in the 2nd half.

Hatoyama fouls out to 3B Joe Theismann. Josh Wade's been a real thorn tonight but Ruiz, who only K'ed 16 batters in 32.2 IP during the season, shoots down Wade with his high-80s heater. Nation's the last chance: he hits one towards short that looks like it's got a shot but SS Rob Curran dives for it, picks it, and makes the play! The Tigers are going to the World Series!!!

This one ended... I won't say like I expected but like so many Tigers games ended this year, with a few HRs allowed but so much offense that it didn't even matter. Alvin Romero was named the ALCS MVP; he was 5-14 with 2 triples, 4 runs scored, and 3 RBI for the series winners.




...and while we're at it, since this is the last time we could see this place, here's Old Comiskey circa 1973:

[Syd Thrift]

NLCS Game 4

This one's happening the same day as the ALCS Game 3 so if the Padres pull off the W they'll just get it going in a couple days. This one's a rematch between those Game 1 starters where things fell off the rails for both of them: Richard Starkey (0-0, 10.80) vs Steven Tyler (0-0, 14.40). Not great! I can't imagine we'll see another 13-10 game though.

We've got clear skies, 73 degrees, and a soft wind blowing out to center at 6 MPH. Ahhh the West Coast.

Top 1st: Tarala raps a solid base hit up the middle to lead it off. Shannon grounds out to second but 2B Paul McCartney gets to it so late that his only play is at first base. Tarala moves up to 2nd on the 4-3 groundout. Juantorena, who's been an absolute monster this series, keeps it up with a single into left. Tarala rounds third and runs home ahead of the throw from LF Russ Deuser! 1-0! Juantorena's hitting .615 for this series. Lake flies to left. Juantorena steals second on a 1-1 change - talk about picking the right pitch to run off of. Tyler loses Begley Jr. on a 3-2 fastball... juuuust off the plate for a walk. Volkoff grounds it deep in the hole at shortstop but Joe Wicker's there to complete the 6-3 out to retire the side. 1-0, Phillies.

Bottom 1st: O'Neill singles up the middle to open it up for the Padres, too. Wicker strikes out swinging. Earnhardt, hitting .545 for the series, also swings and misses at a strike 3. McCartney grounds out 4-3. 1-0, Phillies.

Top 2nd: Villafana fouls out to 1B Carlos Palacios near the dugout. Rowe singles past 2B Paul McCartney and into centerfield - his first base hit of the postseason! Starkey lays down a bunt that goes 2-3 to get him but moves Rowe into scoring position. Tarala grounds to 2nd. 1-0, Phillies.

Bottom 2nd: Palacios grounds to second. It looks like a routine play... but Rowe throws wide of first base! The Pads first baseman is in at second with the E-4 as the dust settles. McGraw hits a chopper up the middle that gets through the infield. Palacios scores well ahead of the throw, which looked kind of weak coming in... wait, what's this? 1-1 tie but Tarala looks awkward out there, like something bad happened to his back. He'll have to come out of this game. Greg Lake moves over into center and the new Phillies RF is Nelson Vargas (.317, 2, 16). Vargas is a 2-time All-Star who got hurt a couple times this season and then was just plain unable to break in past the emergent Greg Lake.

We're under way with the new outfield. The speedy McGraw, by the way, took 2nd on that throw. That matters because Russ Deuser singles up the middle to score him. It's 2-1, Padres! Oliver Williams fouls out to the catcher and that's the first out of the inning. Tyler sacrifices to the pitcher 1-3; this is a National League game after all. What you don't expect is a steal of third and that's what Deuser does here! He did steal 20 bases in 27 tries in roughly half a season so maybe you should expect that, I don't know. Ed O'Neill hits a blooper up the middle to score him and this is feeling like Game 1 all over again. 3-1, Padres. Joe Wicker BELTS one into the right-center gap... it's off the wall! O'Neill scores easily. 4-1! Wicker's running into third... and he slides in for the triple! I really, really consider pulling Starkey here but I leave him in and he strikes out Earnhardt to end it. 4-1, Padres.

Top 3rd: Shannon grounds out 3U. Juantorena flies out to center. Lake flies to right. 1-2-3 for Tyler; did he even get one of those in Game 1? 4-1, Padres.

Bottom 3rd: McCartney lines one into right but it's right at the new RF Nelson Vargas. That's one down and hey, Ringo could use a little bit of luck with the series he's having. Palacios grounds out 4-3. McGraw singles past 1B Ed Begley Jr. with 2 out. He steals 2nd on an 0-1 pitch. Deuser once agaaaaaain hits a ground ball that gets through the infield and into center. McGraw scores and it's 5-1 now! Starkey walks Williams to put men on 1st and 2nd with 2 out. Tyler hits a comebacker to the mound that Ringo picks up for the 1-3 out to end the inning. 5-1, Phillies.

Top 4th: Begley grounds out 3-1. Volkoff is retired, 6-3. Villafana's down 6-3. 8 straight batters retired by Tyler. 5-1, Phillies.

Bottom 4th: I could/should pull Ringo but a. he was the ace all season and b. even tonight he's been more unlucky than bad, I think. O'Neill grounds out to second. Wicker launches one into the left-center gap this time - Lake picks it up but the results are the same as the last at-bat as Wicker motors into 3rd base! He has TIED the ALL-TIME NLCS RECORD WITH 2 TRIPLES IN A GAME. Okay, haha, the all-time 5-year record. Still! Earnhardt strikes out for the 3rd time today - wow, the 4th inning and man's got the golden sombrero already. McCartney walks, as Ringo is not about to give his former bandmate an RBI opportunity. Palacios hits ANOTHER seeing-eye single into right. Wicker scores, McCartney advances to third, and Palacios even takes 2nd on the throw. 6-1! A 1-3 groundout ends the inning. 6-1, Padres.

Top 5th: I guess if anyone can come back from this mess, it's Philadelphia, but man, do they have their work cut out for them. Rowe flies to left. I hate to do it because honestly he hasn't pitched that badly but I'm going to pull Ringo for a pinch hitter: Josh Coffey, 0-2 for the series so far. He was 6-21 in that role in the regular season. He flies to right. Vargas strikes out looking to retire the side. 6-1, Padres.

Bottom 5th: I'll bring in Danny Plaunt in again to pitch the 5th. Yeah, he's technically the long man but he's as good as anyone else in the bullpen. He did get rocked in Game 1 to the tune of 5 runs on 4 hits in 1.2 IP. Deuser hits a sharp liner to right but is within range of Vargas to catch for the out. Williams singles up the middle. Tyler tries to bunt Williams over but pops it back to the pitcher for out #2. O'Neill flies out. 6-1, Padres.

Top 6th: Shannon pops out to Earnhardt at third base. Juantorena singles up the middle, his 2nd hit of the game and 9th of the series. El Caballo then steals 2nd on the 0-1 pitch to Lake. Lake works the count to 2-2, then lines out to 2B Paul McCartney. Juantorena dives back in juuuust ahead of the ball to avoid the DP. Begley gives the Pads a taste of their own medicine with a 2-out bloop single up the middle... that CF Phil McGraw misplays! 6-2! Begley gets to 2nd on the single + error. Volkoff grounds it back to the pitcher and that looks like that will end it... but Tyler throws over 1B Carlos Palacios' head! Begley Jr. scores and Volkoff gets into 2nd on the E-1. 6-3! Villafana, 2-12 this series, walks. Rowe flies to left to retire the side but not before the Phillies chip away at that lead. 6-3, Padres.

Bottom 6th: I'm leaving Plaunt in. Wicker hits a lazy fly into right. Earnhardt strikes out for the 4th time today. The pressure's getting to him! Fortunately the rest of the team has stepped up. McCartney flies to left. 6-3, Padres.

Top 7th: Pinch-hitting for Danny Plaunt is Billy Ocean, who hit an RBI double in Game 1 in his only plate appearance in the NLCS to date. He strikes out swinging at a Steven Tyler change. Vargas grounds out 5-3. Shannon hits one wide of first. 1B Carlos Palacios makes a diving stop but his flip to first base pulls the pitcher off the bag. Shannon's on with a single. Juantorena flies out sharply to right. 6-3, Padres.

Bottom 7th: Because why not, I'll bring in Billy Ording (10-8, 4.02). Ording's best asset as a pitcher is his hitting: he hit .393 in 1972 although he did slump to .214 this year (which is still pretty good for a pitcher!). The ERA might not look great but he did post a 3.38 in 11 relief appearances after the team demoted him to the bullpen in August. Palacios strikes out swinging. McGraw walks. Deuser strikes out. I should point out here that Ording has *decent* stuff but he averaged 5.2 K/9, nothing special. McGraw is erased at 2nd with a caught stealing to retire the side. 6-3, Padres.

Top 8th: Unbelievably, the Phillies are down to their final 6 outs. Tyler was... fine, better than Game 1 for sure, but he's up to 123 pitches so it's time for a change. I'm not sure Darius Parchman won't be out of gas if I use him for 2 innings, plus the 8-9-1 batters are due up for San Diego in the bottom of the inning, so I'll go with the #2 man Robbie Vaughn. Vaughn's no slouch himself, as we've established, I think. Lake hits a grounder to 2nd but McCartney's throw pulls Palacios off the bag. Lake reaches on the third Padres error tonight. Begley Jr. hits one over the head of CF Phil McGraw! Lake scores on the play and Begley's in at 2nd with a legit single. 6-4 and Begley's got 5 ribbies this series. Volkoff flies to center. Villafana hasn't exactly been hitting but he stays in and grounds out 5-3. The bench is getting depleted... but it's now or never. In comes John Belushi for 2B Nate Rowe. Belushi's 0-2 this series. 0-3 because he strikes out swinging to end the inning. 6-4, Padres.

Bottom 8th: IF Cecil Womack (.100, 0, 1) hasn't been used yet this series and he's got a good glove so on he comes. The pitcher will be removed for a pinch-hitter next inning but, like, let's keep this one close first, right? Tom Grohs will come in, owner of a 54.00 NLCS ERA (2 earned runs in 0.1 IP). Matt Gelinas, who hit a 2-RBI double in Game 1, will come in for C Oliver Williams to oppose him. Gelinas flies to center. Pinch-hitting for the pitcher is the old but scrappy veteran Elijah Johnson. He flies to center. O'Neill stays in to face the fellow lefty and also flies to center. 6-4, Padres.

Top 9th: The Padres are 3 outs away from making history! They go with a whole new battery for what they hope will be the final frame of the league championship series. Peter Gabriel (.211, 2, 12) steps in at catcher and of course the pitcher is Darius Parchman, the man without a nickname for some reason. I will change that, surely. Pinch-hitting for Grohs is the 2nd-to-last man off the bench, backup catcher Lee Citro (.292, 4, 23). Citro also walked 24 times against 154 official at-bats. He strikes out swinging. Vargas hits one to SS Joe Wicker who throws him out by a step. And it's up to Tony Shannon. He strikes out swinging! The Padres are going to the World Series!

[Syd Thrift]

The Padres making the Series is, of course, historical. Just a brief recap on how the other expansion teams have fared:

1961: The 2nd-run Washington Senators started out really well for an expansion team with an 87-74 mark in their first season. That would be their high water mark in the nation's capital, with just one more winning season in DC in 1971. They did finish just 2 games out of the AL West this year as the Texas Rangers so perhaps their time is close.

The Angels also had a really strong expansion year with an 86-75 record. Yeah, that was a weird year: there were 3 90-loss teams but they were all established clubs, the Indians (71-90), the then-Kansas City Athletics (68-93), and the Baltimore Orioles (63-99). Los Angeles / California was also unable to match that early success but started posting slightly-winning seasons in 1968 and have been at or over .500 ever since. That slightly-better-than-mediocre level of success has only translated into one playoff berth with an AL West Title last year.

1962: The Astros were terrrrrible to start out in '62 with a 54-108 record and didn't get over 60 wins until their 4th season in the league, 1964. They've climbed up since then with 3 straight 2nd-place finishes from 1970-72 and a 3rd place finish this year when they faded down the stretch.

The Mets were the former miracle team and who knows, maybe they still will be in a couple weeks. They also started poorly with a 55-107 record in the expansion season but put together a competitive club shortly thereafter, finishing 2nd in the NL in 1967 with a 90-72 record. They dropped 10 games in the standings the next year, then had a wonderful year from pillar to post, finishing 104-58, sweeping the Braves in the NLCS, and then taking down a veteran Minnesota Twins team in 7 games to win it all. Times have been tough for the Metsies recently, with 89 and 87 losses the past 2 seasons.

1969: Kansas City was 68-92 in '69, which is probably a more reasonable place to start from than the two 1961 expansion clubs. They then cratered in season 2 with a 60-102 record and have been working on putting a team together since. At this point they've got some nice pieces on offense but it's hard to win with a 4.63 ERA.

The Seattle Pilots had just the single "meh" year in Seatown (68-94) before moving to Milwaukee at the end of spring training in 1970, where they've stayed ever since. They seem to carry the curse of angry Seattle baseball fans, as they've finished dead last in their division each of the last 3 years.

Montreal looked absolutely horrific in their inaugural season, like in this version of history they're the 1962 Mets, basically: 48-114 and nothing really good going forward. They're still trying to build a club but have yet to win more than 70 games or finish higher than 5th in the NL East.

FINALLY the PADRES! They were only expansion-team mediocre with a 73-89 inauguaral record and they've done well to build through youth ever since. This year was still a huge breakout season, as their previous best was a 77-84 record in '71. They fell to 73-80 last year which kiiiiind of means a 16 win improvement this season (I say kind of because there was a strike last year that wiped out 9 games from their schedule). This is a team built on youth and some excellent front-line pitching, which you could tell when they won Game One of the NLCS 13-10 (still shaking my head at that one).

Yeah, I went and looked at their schedule and the Padres never scored as many as 13 runs in a game in the regular season. In fact, the only time I can find where they even scored double digits was a game... against the Phillies(!) on June 8 where they blew a 4-0 lead in the 9th to send it to extra innings and dropped 7 runs on Omar Sanchez and Robbie Mournier (the latter of whom you did not see in the NLCS because the Phillies released him at the end of July). This was LITERALLY a one-in-a-million chance, which LITERALLY means it was bound to happen.

WORLD SERIES GAME One

The 100 win Tigers will host the first 2 games of this bad boy. Since the Pads' ace Steven Tyler just threw 123 pitches in the last game they played, Don Henley (0-1, 2.57 in the NLCS) will take the mount against Chris Benavides (1-0, 2.57). It's youth vs experience here. Henley does have a tendency to let the ball get a little high in the zone, which doesn't matter as much in his home park but could be a factor in Tigers Stadium.

We're playing with the DH so I'm gonna have to scramble to put together a lineup... I'll roll with Dale Earnhardt moving to DH with 3rd base being taken over by the cagey 40 year old 19 year veteran Kevin "Swamp Fox" Landry. Landry really only got a consistent chance to start when the Padres traded for him early in the 1969 season but he is nevertheless the team's all-time leader in games, at-bats, and hits. While his career will surely be a footnote, starting in the World Series for the first time in his career - he did appear in the '68 WS with the Dodgers but as a backup - is one great way to wind it up.

It's wet, cold, and rainy tonight, 42 degrees, and there's a wind blowing in from center. Put on your coats, party people!

Top 1st: CF Phil McGraw flies to center and we are UNDER WAY! RF Ed O'Neill walks on 4 pitches. An 0-2 pitch to DH Dale Earnhardt gets past C Alvin Romero and to the backstop. O'Neill moves up 90 feet; score that a wild pitch. Earnhardt flies out to deep right but not deep enough to move Ed O'Neill to 3rd. 2B Paul McCartney raps a 2-out single to left, the kind that victimized the Phillies all that series, for the first run! 1-0! Palacios strikes out swinging. 1-0, Padres.

Bottom 1st: CF Alvin Romero grounds out 6-3. RF Frankie Faison also grounds to short. 2B Joey Ramone hits one high and deep to left but the wind catches it and it stays in for an out to LF Russ Deuser. 1-0, Padres.

Top 2nd: LF Russ Deuser flies to right. 3B Kevin Landry strikes out looking. C Oliver Williams goes down 4-3. 1-0, Padres.

Bottom 2nd: DH Jose Ayala pokes one into right field for the Tigers' first hit of the game. 1B Niki Lauda flies out to left field. 3B Joe Theismann hits a grounder up the middle for a base hit. Ayala's gonna stay at 2nd though. LF Tom Berenger, making his first start of the postseason - the White Sox used 3 right-handers - hits a grounder just past 3B Kevin Landry and into left... where Russ Deuser misplays it! It was already a single but the muffed catch means everyone moves up an extra 90 feet. Ayala scores! 1-1, and we've got runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Henley chooses to pitch to C Armando Flores and so early in the game they trade the run for the out on a ground ball to 3rd; score it 5-3 with the catcher getting the fielder's choice RBI. 2-1! SS Matt Mullen, also seeing his first postseason action, strikes out swinging. 2-1, Tigers.

Top 3rd: SS Joe Wicker grounds out 5-3. Dr. Phil walks. Ed O'Neill hits a high pop-up right in front of the plate that C Armando Flores gets underneath and catches for the out. Benavides lets another pitch go awry and it gets past Flores for his 2nd wild pitch of the night. He only had 9 of those all season. This time it doesn't matter because Dale Earnhardt hits one into the left-center gap that looks like it has a chance before LF Tom Berenger swallows it up. 2-1, Tigers.

Bottom 3rd: Romero drops one into left for a leadoff hit. Faison grounds out 6-4-3. Rarely do you see Romero be the lead man on a DP but hey it happens to all of us at some time. Ramone strikes out swinging. 2-1, Tigers.

Top 4th: McCartney walks. That's already the 3rd walk Chris Benavides has issued; he only allowed 2.8 BB/9 during the regular season. Palacios hits a grounder to 2nd that is converted into a force play at the base but SS Matt Mullen gets upended by McCartney when he tries to complete the double play. Deuser hits one towards the hole between 1st and 2nd but Ramone's able to get to that one and also finish a 4-6 forceout; no throw this time. Deuser steals 2nd. Landry strikes out for the 2nd time. 2-1, Tigers.

Bottom 4th: Ayala belts one down the left field line and... you can kiss it goodbye! 3-1, Tigers! Lauda grounds to 2nd. Theismann flies to right. Berenger hits a hard liner down the left field line. Deuser just does catch up to it before it hits the wall but no matter; Berenger's in at 2nd with a sliding 2-out double. Flores watches a 2-2 splitter just go by for out #3. 3-1, Tigers.

Top 5th: Williams flies to right. Wicker flies out down the right field line. McGraw goes down 4-3. 3-1, Tigers.

Bottom 5th: Matt Mullen hits a fly to left that juuuust gets down in front of a charging Russ Deuser for a leadoff base hit. That's the 7th allowed by Don Henley tonight. Alvin Romero belts one down the left field line. Deuser plays it off the wall and the runners are in at 2nd and 3rd with a double! Frankie Faison's a lefty so of course Henley's pitching to him here. He hits a grounder to first... and Carlos Palacios decides to go home with it! There's a big cloud of dust and... Matt Mullen is safe! Romero, of course, advances to third on the play with Faison getting himself a cheeky RBI off the blown fielder's choice. 4-1! Joey Ramone tops a ball in front of the plate. Oliver Williams gets out of his stance in a huge hurry, fires to 2nd for one... and the throw to first is in time for the 2-4-3 double play! We'll be walking Ayala on purpose to face the lefty Lauda here. Lauda juuuust gets ahold of an 0-2 cutter and sends it into right field for a clutch RBI single! 5-1! Lauda reaches 3rd without a throw. Henley fires a 1-1 strike... that C Oliver Williams can't hendle! It's a passed ball and Lauda scampers home to make it 6-1! I didn't want to pull Henley on an error by the catcher but... Theismann works it to a full count and belts one down the right field line for an RBI double! 7-1! Sorry, Don Henley, but your night has come to an end.

Ruben Estrada (4-4, 2.62) will take the mound. The 26 year old former Twins top-100 prospect was called up from the minors in midseason out of need (he was only 5-5, 3.91 with AAA Hawaii) but he sure got the job done as a long man / spot starter in the 2nd half. He's got a really great slider but has some issues getting his pitches over for strikes, hence why he's in the back of this loaded Padres bullpen. He gave up 2 runs and failed to record an out in Game 1 of the NLCS. Maybe I should have pulled Oliver Williams instead because he allows the 2nd passed ball of the inning; Theismann gets to 3rd. Berenger scores him easily with a single to right: 8-1 and that closes the books on Henley. Flores strikes out swinging and this inning is FINALLY over. 8-1, Tigers.

Top 6th: O'Neill grounds out 4-3. Earnhardt lines out to Joey Ramone at 2nd. McCartney strikes out looking to retire the side. 8-1, Tigers.

Bottom 6th: Mullen grounds out 6-3. Romero singles to left; man's 3-4 on the night and hitting .444 in October. Normally I'm a big fan of Romero but he steals in an 8-1 game. Williams doesn't even bother to throw it; I'm a little surprised the scorer doesn't rule that indifference. Faison lines out to 2nd and makes Romero dive back into the bag. Ayala strikes out swinging. 8-1, Tigers.

Top 7th: Benavides has gotten the last 9 batters out since the leadoff walk allowed to Paul McCartney in the 4th. Make that 10, as Palacios strikes out swinging. Deuser breaks the streak by working a long at-bat into a 3-2 walk. Landy makes contact with a pitch for the first time in the game... but it's an easy 5-4 groundout/fielder's choice. Williams flies to center. 8-1, Tigers.

Bottom 7th: In for Estrada on the mound is little-used Greg Grady (0-0, 1.35), who started in AAA this year and then missed roughly 2 months with injuries. The 27 year old right-hander managed to get into just 8 games in the regular season with the big league club but he made them count enough to get onto the postseason roster. Despite throwing a fastball that tops out in the mid-80s, he's got a back-breaking curve that delivered him 13 Ks in 13.1 innings this year. Ayala strikes out swinging. Lauda walks. Theismann hits a hot shot to 3rd that Landry has to dive for... he stands up and the throw is wide of Paul McCartney, who juuust manages to keep it from going into the outfield. Everyone reaches on the error by Landry. Berenger grounds out 4-6. Grady gets out of a jam by inducing Armando Flores to ground out 6-4 to retire the side. 8-1, Tigers.

Top 8th: Joe Wicker's due up but instead it's time to page Dr. Jack Holman, who was 1-1 in the NLCS with 2 RBIs. He grounds out 4-3. McGraw singles through the hole and into left field. That's just the 2nd base hit allowed by Benavides all game. Benavides by the way is up to 108 pitches and maybe starting to tire a little. I don't have to bring him out but I don't have to leave him in either. O'Neill flies out to center; someone with more power might have done something with that pitch. Earnhardt walks. That's #5 for Benavides and I think that's gonna have to be it for the erstwhile starter.

I'll bring in swingman Chris McGranahan (5-5, 2.88). McGranahan's 36 years old and first played in the big leagues in 1958 but he showed this year he can still get batters out with guile and contact: only 2.9 K/9. He did have some issues with the dinger with 10 allowed in 103 IP but somehow hitters still only hit .254 off of him and I chalk that up to veteran skill. McCartney singles to right field. McGraw rushes home and gets there ahead of the throw from RF Frankie Faison! 8-2, and the trailing runners advance to 2nd and 3rd. Palacios hits a little dribbler that juuuust gets past Joey Ramone and goes into right-center for a base hit. Both runners score on the play! 8-4. Deuser belts one down the left field line for what looks like an easy double off the bat! The throw comes home and Palacios is... safe! Deuser takes 3rd on the play. 8-5! And that is going to be it for McGranahan.

It's Jim Marceau time, although man, I feel like I already used him kind of hard in the ALCS. Oh well, go big or go home. He works Landry to 1-2 and gets him to ground to short to retire the side. 8-5, Tigers.

Bottom 8th: I'll employ a little AL style double-switch with Dr. Jack staying in to play first base and banjo-hitting backup SS Ben Dowler (.141, 1, 7) coming in to hit 5th and see his first action of the postseason. Also, circumstances have changed enough to make me want to bring in the setup man Robbie Vaughn to keep it close. Vaughn strikes out Mullen, looking, on a 1-2 forkball. Romero flies to deep center. Faison strikes out swinging. 8-5, Tigers.

Top 9th: Hold onto your butts! I've got faith in Marceau but I don't have faith in this ballpark. Pinch-hitting for C Oliver Williams to lead it off is Ian Everett. Everett started 2 out of 3 games vs the Phillies and was a combined 0-7. He walks. Dr. Jack hits a slow roller to 2nd and gives Joey Ramone just one play, the 4-3 grounder. Everett gets into scoring position; of course, the Pads need a lot more than that. Dr. Phil hits one into right-center that Alvin Romero does a good job of keeping a single and holding Everett at 3rd base. Ed O'Neill grounds out to 2nd. Ramone trades the run for the out but it's only 1 out as there's no throw to first: 4-6 with the RBI FC. 8-6! Dale Earnhardt can now tie it all up with one swing of the bat. He looks like he tries to on an 0-2 curve but he misses it and the Tigers go up 1 game to 0!

[Syd Thrift]

The Tigers took Game 1 like they should have, getting to Don Henley, and a win here really puts them in the driver's seat. It's Cesar Barreras (1-0, 0.00), who had that excellent 6-hitter in Game 3 of the NLCS, vs. Bruce Rubio (1-0, 7.88), who... got the W, right? Rubio incidentally was one of the guys the Tigers got back in the Vince Akright trade. Alvin Romero already was an awful big return although I guess to be fair TOOO BEEE FAAAAIR Akright is still pretty decent himself, albeit not with Washington/Texas anymore (19-10. 2.71 with the A's; they sent him on to Oakland in March of '72 for 2 pitchers including Billy Crystal (18-18, 2.86)).

It's clear skies today but still coooooold: 40 degrees, and there's a wind blowing in from right at 8 mph. At least maybe we won't see as many dropsies today.

Top 1st: CF Phil McGraw walks to lead it off. He steals 2nd on the first pitch into RF Ed O'Neill. O'Neill hits a blooper into center for a base hit. I swear to God, that's all these Padres do. McGraw holds up at third. Dale Earnhardt pops out to C Armando Flores in front of the mound. McCartney strikes out swinging, dropping him to 4-18 this postseason. Palacios lines to 3rd base and Rubio wiggles out of a jam. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: CF Alvin Romero strikes out swinging. RF Frankie Faison drops one in over the head of 3B Kevin Landry and into left for a base hit. 2B Joey Ramone lines a base hit into left; Faison holding up at 2nd. Ayala walks to load the bases with one out. Lauda grounds out to 2nd; Paul McCartney gambles and tries for the double play but while they get Ayala at 2nd, the throw to first is not in time! Frankie Faison scores! 1-0. 3B Joe Theismann walks, loading the sacks up again. LF Danny Hohman has a shot to break this one open but he grounds out weakly to first to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers.

Top 2nd: LF Russ Deuser pops out to first base. 3B Kevin Landry hits a sky-high can of corn into left for out number 2. Oliver Williams grounds out 5-3. 1-0, Tigers.

Bottom 2nd: C Armando Flores singles back through the box. SS Rob Curran hits a bunt back to the pitcher. Maybe he was looking for an infield single? Well, no matter; Barreras picks it up and throws him out. Score it a 1-3 sacrifice. Romero strikes out looking this time; Barreras seems to have his number tonight. Faison BELTS ONE down the left field line! It gets into the corner and he's in at second ahead of the throw from Russ Deuser! Flores scores easily, making it 2-0! Ayala flies to center; Dr. Phil McGraw walks in a few steps and squeezes it for the final out. 2-0, Tigers.

Top 3rd: SS Joe Wicker strikes out swinging at a nasty curveball. Dr. Phil hits a grounder to 2nd and Joey Ramone throws him out by a couple steps. Ed O'Neill hits one in more or less the same location with the same result: out #3. 2-0, Tigers.

Bottom 3rd: Ayala grounds out 5-3. Niki Lauda lines one up the middle for a base hit... and Phil McGraw can't hang onto it! He lets it get past him and Lauda's in at 2nd standing up with the single + E-8. Theismann flies to center and this time McGraw handles it cleanly for the out. Danny Hohman hits a pop fly into short right-center. 2B Paul McCartney is the man who gets underneath it for the final out. 2-0, Tigers.

Top 4th: Dale Earnhardt stands there like a statue and watches a slooow curve just nick the edge of the plate for out number one. Paul McCartney goes the other way with an outside pitch and lofts it into right for a base hit. Carlos Palacios hits one the other way that carries... it's going... it's caught on the warning track down the left field line for an out. We were about 5 feet away from a tie game! Deuser strikes out looking. 2-0, Tigers.

Bottom 4th: Flores singles past the first baseman. Curran strikes out looking at a 2-2 change. Romero makes contact this time but it's fairly weak contact: an easy 4-6 fielder's choice. He does get on base though! As I kind of expected (I don't make baserunning decisions) Romero attempts the steal and is successful! That's still only his 2nd steal of the postseason. Faison grounds out 3-1. 2-0, Tigers.

Top 5th: Landry flies out to right... that's all normal but Bruce Rubio is holding his upper body. He looks like he's in pain. He's got to be taken out!

In for Rubio is long man Juan Merino (3-1, 1.91). Merino followed up a 13-1, 2.70 season in Detroit by being stuck in that long man / spot starter role, which he performed so poorly at - a 5.40 ERA in April followed by a 6.10 in June - that the Tigers decided to send him down. He was absolutely lights out in AAA Toledo, including IL/AA Pitcher of the Month trophies for July and August, and did... okay in his September call-up (1-1, 4.40, 1 Sv, including 2 starts). He's got a great curve and a very good splitter and you can see why the Tigers wanted more out of him. He promptly hits C Oliver Williams in the ribcage, although Williams, ever the tough guy, doesn't even rub the spot as he trots to first. Joe Wicker socks a hard liner down the left field line - it's just fair! Danny Hohman collects it out of the LF corner and Oliver Williams repays the hit by pitch by scoring all the way from first! 2-1, Tigers! McGraw walks for the second time in the game. Hey, it makes a force play possible at least. Ed O'Neill looks sacrifice all the way and goes down 2-3, advancing Wicker and McGraw into scoring position with 2 outs. Dale Earnhardt battles to a 6 pitch at-bat but doesn't quite get all of pitch #6. Instead it floats into right field where Frankie Faison catches it for the final out. 2-1, Tigers.

Bottom 5th: Ramone strikes out on a 3-2 heater following a real battle. Ayala grounds out 4-3. Niki Lauda hits one into center that Phil McGraw just cuts off before it gets to the wall. Still, Lauda slides in at second with a 2-out double. Theismann walks - that's the 3rd walk issued by Barreras tonight. Hohman hits a grounder to 3B Kevin Landry; the Swamp Fox takes it to the bag himself for the final out of the inning. 2-1, Tigers.

Top 6th: The middle of the order is facing Merino, who, I have to say, I've got a lot less confidence in compared to Rubio. He does strike out Paul McCartney to lead it off. Palacios pops one up in front of third base and Joe Theismann catches it just this side of foul territory for the out. Deuser strikes out swinging. 2-1, Tigers.

Bottom 6th: Flores draws a leadoff walk - #4 by Barreras, who clearly doesn't have the control he had vs Philly last week. Rob Curran gets a hold of the first pitch he sees and DRILLS it into right center! The wind does pick it up a little but it still hits the wall! RF Ed O'Neill throws it in. Flores scores and Curran's in at 3rd with a triple! 3-1! Romero cracks one to left-center where it also goes to the wall. Curran's in easily from 3rd and it's a 2-bagger for the speedster! 4-1! Faison flies to left. That's the first out of the inning. Barreras by the way is up to 111 pitches. He's still looking strong but we're batter-by-batter at this point. Ramone flies out to center. Ayala lines to left to retire the side but not before the Tigers increase that lead to 4-1.

Top 7th: I *could* keep Merino in but the bullpen's in good shape so instead I'll use RHP Todd Theisen (1-2, 3.38, 3 Sv). Theisen's a former 30-save man for the Cleveland Indians who's had problems staying healthy the last few years. This year the 34 year old actually managed to remain healthy but had limited opportunities - just 30 games pitched - as a middle reliever. The Swamp Fox gets the Padres a run closer with a drive over the left field fence! 4-2! That's also Landry's 2nd-ever postseason hit and 1st RBI! Williams strikes out swinging. Wicker strikes out looking. McGraw strikes out looking as well - Thiesen recovers to strike out the side. 4-2, Tigers.

Bottom 7th: Barreras is up over 120 pitches and he hasn't exactly been great today so it's time for someone new. Terrible person Roy Moore is who's at 100% so in he'll come. He pitched one game this postseason and managed to not allow any runs but did walk 3 batters in his single inning of work. He'll face the Tigers' 5-6-7 hitters. And Niki Lauda immediately removes that goose egg! It's a deep drive to left-center that flies over the wall! 5-2! Lauda's 3-4 tonight with 2 RBIs. Theismann singles up the middle. The hits just keep on coming, as Danny Hohman belts a double off the left-centerfield wall. That scores Theismann from first. 6-2! Danny Hohman leads the Tigers in postseason RBIs. Hohman presses his luck with an attempted steal of 3rd and is thrown out by C Oliver Williams to put the bases empty. Flores drives one into center but Dr. Phil catches up with it for the out. Curran launches a 2-out double into right-center to bring up Alvin Romero. I'll leave Moore in for one more batter. We'll see. Romero grounds out 6-3 to retire the side but the Tigers add on 2 more runs. 6-2, Tigers.

Top 8th: Thiesen, now carrying a nice 4 run lead, will go ahead and try to pitch multiple innings today. He's facing the Padres' 2-3-4 hitters. Ed O'Neill hits one to dead center; Alvin Romero barely has to move to catch it for the first out. Dale Earnhardt bloops one into right for a base hit. McCartney pops out to 2nd base. Palacios hits a high pop-up in front of the mound. Thiesen looks like he's going to take it but SS Rob Curran calls him off at the last minute to grab it for out #3. 6-2, Tigers.

Bottom 8th: I'll go ahead and bring in the lefty Dan Pineau to pitch vs lefty hitting Frankie Faison here. Pineau also threw one scoreless inning vs the Phillies although he did give up 2 hits. Faison walks on a 3-2 pitch. Ramone belts a liner deep into center. It gets behind Phil McGraw and hits the wall! McGraw does throw it in quickly enough - or maybe the Tigers are just running a little bit more conservatively now - to keep it a double with Faison holding at 3rd base. The Joker is NOT going to walked and instead they face him. The gamble, which totally wasn't me accidentally pressing enter, pays off as he grounds out 1-3 with the runners staying put. Lauda pops out to Joe Wicker at shortstop for the 2nd out.

Robbie Vaughn enters for hopefully the last out of the inning plus the ability to pitch in the event of a comeback in the 9th. He's thrown a total of 3 innings in the postseason with 4 Ks. He walks Theismann to load the bases. Danny Hohman comes up, or rather would come up except that with a lefty on the mound the Tigers will bring in Tom Berenger instead. Berenger grounds out 6-3 to keep it at a 4-run margin. 6-2, Tigers.

Top 9th: Berenger takes over in left field, and on the mound... it's time for Alex Ruiz (0-1, 2.20, 5 Sv). Ruiz pitched in 1 game and had 1 IP vs the Sox in the ALCS; it was scoreless with a strikeout. Russ Deuser leads it off and picks up his first hit of the contest, a solid base hit into left field. Kevin Landry is next up and hits a sharp grounder right back to the pitcher. Ruiz scoops it up and initiates a 1-4-3 double play! The Padres are down to their final out. Pinch-hitting for Oliver Williams is Ian Everett, who's still looking for his first postseason hit. He flies out to end it. 6-2, Tigers, who now have a 2-0 lead in the Series!

[Syd Thrift]

That unknown upper body injury suffered by Bruce Rubio 2 days ago turns out to have been a strained abdominal muscle. He'll be out for the remainder of the Series although he should be back weeell in time for spring training. Still, this leaves the Tigers without their #1 and #3 starters so... it's a good thing they're up 2-0. Reportedly the Tigers will cross their fingers with Juan Merino but that's also a decision they won't have to make for a few days.

For tonight, October 11, the Series moves to San Diego where the Padres really need to win the next 2 at least and ideally all 3 games to give themselves a real shot at winning. The Tigers send out Edgar Molina (1-0, 2.35), who allowed 13 hits and 2 HRs in his ALCS start vs the Sox but somehow escaped with 2 earned runs (3 total) in 7.2 IP and a series-clinching win. Steven Tyler (1-0, 6.75), who made up for being knocked out of the box in Game 1 with his own series-clinching, 7 IP, 1 ER performance in Game 4, is the man for the Padres tonight. Tyler struck out 175 batters in 273.2 IP but Ks have been few and far between for him so far, just 3 in 12 IP so far this postseason.

Since we're in San Diego, the NL rules apply and that means the Joker Jose Ayala is starting at 3rd base in place of Joe Theismann. Ayala did play 57 games at 3rd this season before switching to full-time DH duties and he was actually not so bad, given that he'd had a reputation for being a mediocre at best defender. It's still a big, big downgrade on D; Theismann is an excellent defender who'd have been in the running for Gold Glove had he started all season.

It's a liiiitle colder tonight than it's been in San Diego but still clear skies and 56 degrees. Knowing Californians this makes it winter overcoat weather. Also a wind blowing out to center! At 3 mph!

Top 1st: CF Alvin Romero walks to lead off the game. RF Frankie Faison doesn't even give him the chance to steal this time around; he swings at the first pitch he sees and hits into a 4-3 fielder's choice with Romero advancing to 2nd. 2B Joey Ramone flies to right. 3B Jose Ayala grounds out to short. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: RF Ed O'Neill flies out to center. CF Phil McGraw strikes out swinging, the 8th K by Edgar Molina in the postseason. 3B Dale Earnhardt hits a two-hopper to third base, where Jose Ayala picks it and throws it... wide of 1B Niki Lauda! Well, Lauda got it but the throw pulled him off the bag. Either way it's an E-5 to give the Padres the baserunner. 2B Paul McCartney strikes out. 0-0.

Top 2nd: 1B Niki Lauda walks on 4 pitches. That's 2 innings and 2 leadoff walks for Tyler, who also has 7 walks in 13 postseason IPs. LF Danny Hohman flies out to center. SS Rob Curran hits a ground ball to Paul McCartney at 2nd but it's too slow for a DP. Still, they get the lead man 4-6. C Armando Flores pops out to short left field where SS Joe Wicker is there for the final out. 0-0.

Bottom 2nd: 1B Carlos Palacios grounds it back to the pitcher for the first out. LF Ian Everett pops out to 3B Jose Ayala in foul territory. SS Joe Wicker gets the first base hit for either side in this game, a base hit into right field. Oliver Williams flies to center. 0-0.

Top 3rd: Edgar Molina, of course, has a long history of hitting... and he is *not* good at it: 421 career at-bats, a .059 average, and 241 Ks. Tyler strikes him out. Romero singles into right... and steals 2nd. Look, this is Alvin Romero. You can't stop him, you can only contain him. Frankie Faison grounds out 4-3 and Romero scampers to 3rd on the play. Joey Ramone slices one into left that Dr. Phil can only pick up on one hop. Romero scores easily. 1-0! Jose Ayala strikes out swinging. 1-0, Tigers.

Bottom 3rd: Steven Tyler, on the other hand, is pretty good at hitting: a .214 BA this year and .236 on his career. He still strikes out. O'Neill strikes out swinging on a nasty slider. Dr. Phil makes contact on a 1-2 pitch and foils the attempt at striking out the side; however, he only flies to right. 1-0, Tigers.

Top 4th: Niki Lauda checks his swing and takes ball 4 to lead it off. 2nd walk by him tonight and Tyler's 3rd in 3+ innings now. Hohman hits a smash to short; they get the out at 2nd but Lauda crashes into Paul McCartney to break up the DP. Hohman steals 2nd. That's his first of the postseason. He had 27 in the regular season (6th in the AL!) though. Curran grounds out 3U with Hohman getting over to 3rd. I'll walk Flores here to face Molina. Molina goes down 4-6 to retire the side. Hey, it's cheap but once again the leadoff walk does *not* come around to score. 1-0, Tigers.

Bottom 4th: Earnhardt pops out to 2nd. McCartney flies to deep left... no, Danny Hohman's got it on the warning track. Fortunately for Molina, this is a big park. Palacios belts a 2-out double off the center field wall. Everett hits a line drive... right at SS Rob Curran for the final out. After somehow allowing 13 hits in his only ALCS start, Edgar Molina was due some "atom" balls. 1-0, Tigers.

Top 5th: Romero hits a hard grounder towards 2nd that Paul McCartney gets in front of, plays, and throws to first in time. Faison lines out to 1st. Joey Ramone gets a 2-out single just past Paul McCartney. Tyler strikes out Jose Ayala on a 1-2 change that juuuust nips the outside corner of the plate. 1-0, Tigers.

Bottom 5th: Molina's cruising but we've seen this out of him before. Curran grounds out 5-3. Williams hits a hard grounder towards short. Rob Curran gets it and throws to first... and once more the throw's off the bag! E-6. Niki Lauda for what it's worth is not terrible as a defensive 1B. Steven Tyler lays down a successful bunt that goes 3-4 with Joey Ramone covering 1st on the wheel play. Ed O'Neill, with a prime 2-out clutch opportunity, gets frozen by a 1-2 slider from Molina to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers.

Top 6th: Lauda walks for the 3rd time tonight. That's 10 walks by Tyler in 17 postseason innings. He's not used to the spotlight! Lauda pops out to Earnhardt on the foul side of the 3rd base line. Curran strikes out on the 2-2 pitch. Flores flies to center. 1-0, Tigers.

Bottom 6th: McGraw strikes out swinging. 6 Ks for Molina tonight! Earnhardt hits a dribbler to short that Rob Curran juuuust fields in time for the out. McCartney hits one to deep left-center but Romero uses his natural speed to get there in time for out #3. 1-0, Tigers.

Top 7th: Molina flies out to center. Hey, he made contact twice tonight! Alvin Romero hits a ground ball up the middle but Rob Curran gets to it just in time for out #2. Frankie Faison belts one down the 1st base line. Ed O'Neill digs it out of the corner but not even close to in time to keep Faison from getting into 2nd with a 2-out stand-up double. Ramone pops out to 2nd to retire the side. 1-0, Tigers.

Bottom 7th: Palacios pops out to short. Molina's gotten past the power part of this order but, like, the man allowed 53 HRs this year so anyone could have power. By the way he's also only at 93 pitches now and doesn't look tired at all. Everett sneaks a little ground ball just past 2B Joey Ramone and on into center for a base hit. Wicker strikes out swinging. Oliver Williams flies out to center. 1-0, Tigers.

Top 8th: This is probably Steven Tyler's last inning, given that he's due up in the bottom of the inning. He's at 106 pitches in spite of all the wildness and completed 10 games in the regular season so he doesn't *have* to. Ayala makes good contact with a 1-2 change and knocks one off the high left-field wall for a leadoff double. Tyler throws one low and outside but catchable... and Oliver Williams doesn't catch it! It's a passed ball with Ayala getting over to 3rd. With a 1 run game in place, I'm still pitching to Lauda. Nope! He walks anyway! That's his 4th walk of the game, which I am told is a new AL playoffs record. Tyler walks the bases loaded. Okay, he's not really even looking tired but I think it's time to pull the youthful Aerosmith frontman.

Robbie Vaughn enters the game; this is now his 5th game of the postseason and he's yet to allow a run yet. Theismann comes in to pinch-hit for the lefty Rob Curran. It's a clutch base hit to left! Everyone moves up 90 feet. 2-0! Flores stays in and the Padres get the 6-2 force out at the plate. I think we're going to leave it at 2 runs; Edgar Molina is pitching too well to remove. He duly strikes out for the 2nd out. OK I'm understating things (or else I lost track of how many outs there were, um), as Alvin Romero enters with a shot at a 2-out clutch RBI. He unfortunately grounds out 3U to retire the side. 2-0, Tigers.

Bottom 8th: I'm making a couple moves for defensive purposes. Joe Theismann stays in the game at 3rd base. Joe Ayala moves to 1st and taking over the 5-hole and playing shortstop is Matt Mullen. Mullen incidentally was Detroit's starting SS from 1967 to 1971 before falling into a platoon role the past couple seasons. Pinch-hitting for Robbie Vaughn is Dr. Jack Holman. He strikes out swinging. Ed O'Neill juuust makes contact with an 0-2 pitch and pops out to 3rd. Dr. Phil inside-outs an 0-2 change-up and drills it into right with a 2-out base hit. WELP. GUESS WHAT HAPPENED. Edgar Molina makes his first mistake of the day, grooving one to Dale Earnhardt for a 2-run homerun! 2-2! Paul McCartney hits an 0-2 pitch into right for a 2-out base hit. Palacios grounds out to 2nd. It's tied! 2-2!

Top 9th: I'll engineer the good old double switch, leaving Dr. Jack to stay in at 1st and putting Parchman into the 5 slot so that he can throw a couple, maybe even 3 innings if needed. This is his 5th postseason game; like Robbie Vaughn he also has yet to allow a run (or a hit for that matter). Frankie Faison leads off with a base hit up the middle. Ramone makes it two straight with a base hit into right! Ed O'Neill gets to it too quickly for Faison to take 3rd but we've got a man in scoring position with nobody out. JOSE AYALA BELTS ONE INTO RIGHT CENTER FIELD! IT IS GOING! IT IS GOING! IT IS GOOOOOONE! A 3 RUN HOME RUN BY THE JOKER AND IT'S A 5-2 BALLGAME! Parchman didn't allow a single HR in the regular season. I guess you've got to have a first some time! Matt Mullen flies out to center. Danny Hohman strikes out looking. Theismann belts a 2-out double against the right field wall. Pinch-hitting for the catcher is Manny Duran... well, he's pinch-hitting long enough to be walked on purpose. Alejandro Cortes (.196, 7, 18) makes his second post-season appearance in relief of Edgar Molina. He had a bad, bad regular season but you can't count this 3-time All-Star out. Well, he strikes out but STILL. It's 5-2!

Bottom 9th: Backup C Joel Moise makes his 2nd late-inning appearance behind the plate and his new battery-mate is Jim Marceau, who pitched in all 3 games of the ALCS and already is seeing his 2nd game in the World Series. He's no Sparky Lemus but the Tigers are being kind of forced to use him like an ace. Ian Everett leads it off and grounds out 4-3. The old crusty vet Elijah Johnson will come in to pinch-hit for SS Joe Wicker. He did hit .311 as a pinch-hitter in the regular season. However, here he flies to left and the Pads are down to their final out. It's the Swamp Fox, 40 year old Kevin Landry, coming in to pinch for C Oliver Williams, who's just 2-18 in October. Landry grounds out to short! Game over! 5-2, Tigers win!

The Pads have put themselves into a big, big hole, and in the most unexpected and yet most inevitable way possible: off of a rare meltdown by their ace stopper. It's technically not a blown save since the score was tied at the time but Parchman only blew 6 saves in 36 opportunities (which trust me is a really good ratio for 1973), so it just didn't happen much. He also had 8 meltdowns vs 33 shutdowns. I realize that's the kind of expert modern day stats we aren't supposed to know about in this era but I like the clutch messages it sends.

ANYWAY... this series might very well end in San Diego, if not tomorrow in Game 4 then the next day in Game 5.

[Syd Thrift]

Because I don't just want to replay the same game over again, I'm going to instead get going with some of the good old Thriftlon Reports for 1973. Going BORINGLY OLD ALPHABETICALLY, we start with Baltimore:




Recap: The O's were looking like a team that was maybe rebounding from a long malaise following a 103 win season back in 1964(!). However, the pitching staff fell apart, the O's were 15-26 at the end of May, and it was clearly time to start rebuilding again. Like all rebuilding projects, some of them worked out and some of them didn't, and like a lot of them, the ones that worked out seem like they might be logjammed at the same position.

1974 Outlook: The O's have some interesting pieces but I'd be really surprised if they even finish .500 next year, let along contend for a playoff berth.

Frank Abagnale
C No. 25
SR, 6'2" 202 lbs.
Born 1948-05-12

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MID AA  | .273     | 6      | 22      | 0      | 6      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 3        | 4       | 6       | 0       |
| 1971 ROC AAA | .249     | 108    | 389     | 47     | 97     | 32      | 0       | 5       | 37       | 40      | 65      | 0       |
| 1971 BAL MLB | .306     | 20     | 72      | 11     | 22     | 5       | 0       | 5       | 11       | 5       | 15      | 0       |
| 1972 BAL MLB | .284     | 109    | 430     | 44     | 122    | 28      | 1       | 10      | 51       | 35      | 79      | 1       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .257     | 122    | 487     | 54     | 125    | 28      | 1       | 13      | 66       | 29      | 77      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

There's been... a lot said about Mr. Abagnale's character and his comportment outside of the game of baseball. All we know is, within the confines of the diamond he's a pretty good player. In fact, on the field the staff even remarks that he's "a man of high character" and who are we to judge? He wasn't quite about to sock line drives all over the place as well as he was in 1972 but let's be honest, a .257 average with 13 HR power is still plenty nice for a catcher.

There are definitely better defensive catchers out there and you'd think that a guy who's so into, um, deceptive activities (look, go watch the movie "Catch Me If You Can" if you don't know this guy) would be better at pitch-framing, the most deceptive of all baseball activities. He doesn't have a great arm although all that came out to is a lot of people ran on him and not necessarily successfully (37.6% CS) so give me a bad arm, I guess. Abagnale has the speed you'd expect from a catcher, which is to say he doesn't have any.

Write him in ink, and not disappearing ink, as the Orioles' starting catcher in 1974.

Frank Beard
CF No. 3
RR, 6'1" 187 lbs.
Born 1949-06-17

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MIA A   | .196     | 25     | 92      | 10     | 18     | 4       | 2       | 1       | 16       | 12      | 21      | 7       |
| 1971 MID AA  | .287     | 75     | 275     | 40     | 79     | 12      | 7       | 9       | 38       | 37      | 53      | 7       |
| 1971 ROC AAA | .283     | 44     | 166     | 24     | 47     | 9       | 3       | 0       | 11       | 20      | 24      | 7       |
| 1972 ROC AAA | .378     | 46     | 188     | 38     | 71     | 10      | 0       | 11      | 32       | 17      | 36      | 7       |
| 1972 BAL MLB | .248     | 76     | 274     | 38     | 68     | 11      | 1       | 6       | 21       | 41      | 52      | 8       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .272     | 146    | 555     | 77     | 151    | 28      | 4       | 21      | 71       | 72      | 94      | 26      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

After sticking with Matt Nugent the previous 2 seasons (he's now a free agent, by the way), the Orioles handed Frank Beard the centerfield job in 1973 and couldn't be happier with the results. Beard made his first All-Star Game, provided the kind of middle-of-the-order power that you normally expect from a corner guy (21 HRs were 9th in the AL), and even walked a good amount (72 walks, good for 10th). He's a dead pull hitter who will punish an inside pitch that's a little too high over the plate.

Okay, I guess when I said "couldn't be happier"... I should point out that Beard looked out of place as a center fielder. He caught virtually everything he got to but he didn't get to balls a lot of the time. Also, his arm is iffy, which of course in this game meant that 15 baserunners were caught napping on him. It really looks like a move to left field is in Beard's future and probably near future at that.

Wherever he plays, though, this guy works his tail off and you can pencil him in as the cleanup hitter for 1974 and heck, probably the rest of the 70s for this team.

Jon Blevins
SS No. 12
RR, 6'0" 201 lbs.
Born 1941-05-11

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BAL MLB | .252     | 143    | 440     | 43     | 111    | 18      | 3       | 5       | 43       | 40      | 85      | 5       |
| 1972 BAL MLB | .240     | 129    | 391     | 26     | 94     | 16      | 1       | 5       | 47       | 31      | 63      | 4       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .202     | 66     | 168     | 15     | 34     | 7       | 1       | 1       | 13       | 11      | 24      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

You'll be reading through this (I hope!) and seeing me be like "hey, there's all these finesse starting pitchers who looked great last year but are bad this year, what happened?". This is why. Well, Lucky Number Blevins isn't the only reason why but generally the team already made a couple moves to make the defense not as good (thinking primarily of moving Bryant Tarala... which happened back in 1970, what do I know?), and when Blevins failed to hit and was replaced by Mario Segura, you replaced a plus defender with, let's be honest, a minus one. Blevins even at 32 is one of the better defensive shortstops in the league: good hands, good instincts on the pivot, and solid range. Segura's got none of that, let's be honest.

That said, Blevins has never been a great hitter, as the 235/283/320 career triple slash would suggest (much of this did happen in the swingin' 60s, granted) and last year he fell off a cliff. After missing nearly all of May with a sprained ankle, Blevins did a complete disappearing act in June, hitting .173 with 2 walks and 3 doubles the entire month and an OPS barely above 400. It's not, then, any coincidence that even with the worse defense the team's record actually improved in the 2nd half.

At 32 I really don't see the team moving back to Blevins at short, even if Segura fails. He's a backup here going forward or maybe can find a large role somewhere else.

Dante Chairez
1B No. 28
LR, 5'11" 193 lbs.
Born 1944-03-28

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 ATL MLB | .267     | 158    | 589     | 89     | 157    | 25      | 3       | 25      | 92       | 72      | 110     | 1       |
| 1972 ATL MLB | .226     | 139    | 505     | 63     | 114    | 11      | 2       | 28      | 68       | 53      | 97      | 3       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .238     | 149    | 564     | 75     | 134    | 21      | 3       | 25      | 81       | 64      | 128     | 3       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The Orioles acquired Chairez from the Braves over the offseason in the deal that sent longtime Orioles veteran Jon Hernandez over to Atlanta. At least from the early verdicts, it looks like Baltimore won this trade going away. Chairez is your classic slugging lefty: everything is hit into the air because of a big uppercut in his swing and he's very all-or-nothing at the plate. He led the AL in strikeouts last year with 128 but where a lot of pundits thought the power might evaporate in the marine air of Crab City it largely hung around. One cause for minor alarm is that he had a long homerless streak from August 29 to September 15 and wound up with just 2 dingers in the final month of the season. These guys are streaky though. It's part of the charm.

Chairez once played in right field and had the rep for having a good arm but he's pretty immobile so first seems like the better spot for him now. He's got deceptive speed although that hasn't translated into steals, going just 3/9 last year (and I'm sure some of those were on busted hit-and-runs). He's a guy who will fall victim to the hidden ball trick if the first base coach isn't right on it.

I see no reason why the 29 year old Chairez isn't the first baseman next year or for that matter the forseeable future. This is a team with a lot of holes; I don't think first is one of them.

T.J. Corron
LF/RF/DH No. 10
RR, 6'1" 199 lbs.
Born 1945-10-17

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BAL MLB | .292     | 105    | 226     | 27     | 66     | 9       | 2       | 5       | 37       | 20      | 29      | 3       |
| 1972 BAL MLB | .246     | 126    | 443     | 45     | 109    | 18      | 1       | 4       | 46       | 54      | 56      | 4       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .281     | 103    | 388     | 60     | 109    | 10      | 7       | 8       | 44       | 40      | 49      | 7       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Following a tough 1972, Corron kind of bucked the tide of where the Orioles were headed and had a solid third season in 1973. Corron is a really selective hitter who's also good at fouling off pitches and while he doesn't have that kind of game-changing speed or line-drive ability that would make him an elite contact hitter, an average in the .280s to .290s should be an expectation. Couple that with solid power and patience and he's a perfectly decent, serviceable corner outfielder.

I should say that he does have really nice speed - it's probably his single biggest asset in the field - that just doesn't translate in terms of steals. Corron once stole 25 bases in A ball but that was a long time ago and 7-10 stolen bases a year seems like more of his ceiling now. He's a solid outfielder who doesn't have the instincts to play center but has a gun for an arm.

Don't say this to Corron, who already thinks highly enough of himself, but yeah, he's pretty good.

George Dapson
RHP No. 23
RR, 6'0" 200 lbs.
Born 1945-03-25

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BAL MLB | 11     | 11     | 0       | 3.33     | 30     | 30      | 9       | 221.0   | 214    | 93     | 82      | 53      | 123    |
| 1972 BAL MLB | 20     | 9      | 0       | 2.93     | 34     | 34      | 8       | 251.1   | 197    | 88     | 82      | 88      | 140    |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 12     | 15     | 0       | 4.60     | 34     | 34      | 7       | 236.1   | 247    | 126    | 121     | 77      | 145    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Dapson pretty much epitomized the issues with this team: after a breakout 1972, the 28 year old struggled mightily last year, finishing 2nd in the AL in runs allowed (to Detroit's Edgar Molina, who threw 72 more innings). That was "good" for the 7th highest ERA in all of baseball among qualifiers. So what happened? Honestly the peripherals looked kind of unchanged; the biggest difference was he allowed a .268 BA last year compared to a .215 the season before. And if I'm being honest, the .268 is probably closer to Dapson's true level of ability. He's got decent control, strikes out... enough guys with a nice change of pace, and is only average at keeping the ball down (20 HRs) and holding runners (16/23 steals, although that's a big improvement on his '72 totals of 16/19).

Dapson finished the year as the Orioles' de facto #1 starter and it looks probable that he'll open 1974 as the same. He has mid-rotation written all over him.

David Delgado
C No. 26
RR, 6'1" 197 lbs.
Born 1948-01-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BAL MLB | .276     | 100    | 348     | 30     | 96     | 18      | 0       | 6       | 38       | 23      | 45      | 0       |
| 1972 BAL MLB | .290     | 46     | 138     | 8      | 40     | 5       | 0       | 0       | 10       | 15      | 12      | 1       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .264     | 45     | 148     | 17     | 39     | 6       | 0       | 2       | 16       | 13      | 13      | 6       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Delgado is a similar overall player to his battery-mate Frank Abagnale and roughly the same age to boot, but is seeing a reduced role as a backup / fill-in against hard lefties. Defense is the main culprit; while Abagnale is only kind of average behind the plate, Delgado is just plain not agile at blocking balls and lacks a quality arm. Offensively, too, his best asset is not striking out, which is useful... ish in the sense that putting the ball in play will usually get you a nice average, but he's also prone to grounding into the double play (9 in 148 at-bats last year). He also doesn't really do a ton of things outside of hit for average, which is probably why the O's weren't bigger on using him in a pinch-hitting role.

Expect that backup job to still be there. One advantage of being young here is that he could hold this for the next decade.

Tom Everett
3B/1B/OF No. 36
RR, 5'8" 187 lbs.
Born 1948-10-22

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WAL S A | .182     | 3      | 11      | 1      | 2      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 2       | 3       | 0       |
| 1971 LOD A   | .229     | 61     | 188     | 24     | 43     | 7       | 1       | 9       | 37       | 26      | 61      | 2       |
| 1971 HAW AAA | .174     | 11     | 23      | 2      | 4      | 0       | 0       | 1       | 4        | 5       | 7       | 0       |
| 1972 LOD A   | .294     | 83     | 201     | 49     | 59     | 9       | 0       | 18      | 62       | 37      | 44      | 2       |
| 1972 ASH AA  | .000     | 5      | 5       | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 3       | 0       | 0       |
| 1973 ROC AAA | .259     | 89     | 251     | 39     | 65     | 8       | 0       | 20      | 49       | 32      | 70      | 0       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .220     | 23     | 82      | 6      | 18     | 1       | 0       | 2       | 11       | 12      | 24      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

As an actor, Tom Everett seems destined to live in the shadows of some of the other guys on this team. As a hitter... well, the same might apply. Everett socked 20 HRs in just 251 at-bats in AAA Rochester last year, which earned the 24 year old a September call-up. The power was nowhere to be seen and what's worse, he struck out in more than a quarter of his at-bats. Everett is a dead-pull hitter who loves the high fastball. He looks like he could totally become a major league mistake hitter but in order to stick he's absolutely got to learn to make more contact.

In the pros he mostly played 3rd last year; however, he's also at least up to the job at first and left. Whether he sticks next year or not is really going to depend on that bat of his.

Steve Fenney
OF No. 14
RR, 5'11" 200 lbs.
Born 1941-02-16

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CHC MLB | .269     | 43     | 78      | 10     | 21     | 1       | 0       | 2       | 5        | 8       | 11      | 1       |
| 1972 CHC MLB | .234     | 82     | 197     | 26     | 46     | 6       | 2       | 4       | 13       | 16      | 20      | 4       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .231     | 43     | 117     | 16     | 27     | 4       | 0       | 0       | 7        | 6       | 11      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Fenney is the answer to the trivia question: who was the only Seattle Pilots' All-Star? He hit .308 for the one-year expansion club that year before being moved on to Houston at the end of the year to try and help them win a pennant. That never happened and Fenney's kicked around the league ever since. Now about to turn 33 and not having hit well for 3 years, it may be time for him to hang up the cleats.

Heiner Flassbeck
RHP No. 30
SR, 6'4" 191 lbs.
Born 1950-12-09

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 GAR R   | 3      | 1      | 0       | 2.01     | 4      | 4       | 1       | 31.1    | 24     | 7      | 7       | 11      | 37     |
| 1971 APP A   | 5      | 12     | 0       | 4.59     | 21     | 21      | 7       | 149.0   | 136    | 81     | 76      | 81      | 144    |
| 1972 ASH AA  | 5      | 3      | 0       | 2.71     | 8      | 8       | 6       | 63.0    | 45     | 20     | 19      | 34      | 44     |
| 1972 ROC AAA | 7      | 14     | 0       | 5.70     | 23     | 23      | 0       | 134.0   | 143    | 94     | 85      | 80      | 134    |
| 1973 ASH AA  | 2      | 0      | 0       | 0.00     | 2      | 2       | 2       | 18.0    | 9      | 0      | 0       | 7       | 16     |
| 1973 ROC AAA | 0      | 1      | 0       | 2.99     | 1      | 1       | 0       | 3.0     | 5      | 5      | 1       | 2       | 4      |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 2      | 7      | 2       | 4.57     | 42     | 2       | 0       | 78.2    | 74     | 43     | 40      | 46      | 52     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

For such a heady guy, the 22 year old Heiner Flassbeck, a native of Birkenfeld in the Rhineland part of Germany who's going to college to study economics in the offseason, leaves it all out on the field. He'll challenge anyone in the league, often to his own detriment (15 HRs allowed last year!) and he misses the plate because he's still learning to control his low to mid 90s fastball, not because he ever nibbles. Flassbeck could possibly have used another year of seasoning in the minor leagues last year. Oh well, he didn't.

The O's ended 1973 running a bullpen by committee but it would not be surprising to see Flassbeck get slotted in to become the next Montay Luiso. Those are awfully big shoes to fill.

Juan Gabriel
OF/1B No. 21
LL, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1950-01-07

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WAL S A | .305     | 36     | 128     | 13     | 39     | 5       | 2       | 1       | 15       | 22      | 15      | 0       |
| 1971 LOD A   | .346     | 16     | 52      | 11     | 18     | 2       | 0       | 2       | 8        | 9       | 9       | 1       |
| 1972 ASH AA  | .243     | 123    | 382     | 57     | 93     | 8       | 0       | 16      | 63       | 91      | 59      | 1       |
| 1972 ROC AAA | .250     | 8      | 20      | 1      | 5      | 0       | 1       | 0       | 0        | 3       | 5       | 0       |
| 1973 ASH AA  | .250     | 33     | 104     | 5      | 26     | 3       | 0       | 1       | 11       | 11      | 15      | 0       |
| 1973 ROC AAA | .300     | 79     | 200     | 22     | 60     | 10      | 0       | 10      | 40       | 20      | 35      | 0       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .276     | 24     | 76      | 9      | 21     | 7       | 0       | 1       | 5        | 14      | 14      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

A nice half-year in AAA Rochester gave El Divo de Juarez the opportunity to prove himself in a September call-up. Hey, small sample size and all that but he looks like the real deal to me. Gabriel possesses good bat speed, solid power (although you didn't see it in the bigs last year), and unlike so many of these other Orioles outfielders he hits lefty so should able to platoon well. He's no slouch defensively even though he's strictly a corner guy / first baseman. Baseball-wise Gabriel is not the brightest tool in the shed but if you give him a bat and turn him in the direction of home plate he can do a lot.

William Hart
RHP No. 1
RR, 6'2" 209 lbs.
Born 1944-08-23

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BAL MLB | 13     | 7      | 0       | 3.26     | 27     | 27      | 3       | 187.1   | 175    | 77     | 68      | 61      | 73     |
| 1972 BAL MLB | 13     | 14     | 0       | 3.69     | 32     | 32      | 5       | 224.0   | 203    | 94     | 92      | 85      | 108    |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 7      | 12     | 1       | 4.96     | 31     | 25      | 1       | 170.1   | 190    | 99     | 94      | 71      | 108    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Hart's taken a step back each of the last 3 seasons and last year he went from capable rotation guy to replacement level. He came in with more stuff than he's ever shown before: 24 Ks in 27.1 IP in April, which helped him to a 2.63 ERA for the month. Then things totally fell apart and Hart posted ERAs north of 5 - 5.62, 5.81, and 6.53 over the next three months. As you might expect, this did not win him a lot of friends on the coaching staff and by September he was relegated to middle relief - a role which, it should be noted, he didn't look any better at than he did as a starter. In fact, even though he did strike out 7 in 8.1 IP in relief, he also allowed 6 earned runs.

The 29 year old Hart's career is at a crossroads, or perhaps he's already past it. He's been a below average starter each of the last two seasons and last year posted the 2nd highest ERA in all of baseball (behind the Royals' Chris Regan (5.54)). Will he have a job at the end of training camp? A lot of things can happen, I guess.

Jorge Martinez
RHP No. 20
RR, 6'0" 187 lbs.
Born 1948-04-30

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 SAV AA  | 8      | 4      | 0       | 1.91     | 12     | 12      | 10      | 108.0   | 82     | 26     | 23      | 33      | 75     |
| 1971 RIC AAA | 8      | 5      | 0       | 3.43     | 18     | 18      | 3       | 128.1   | 130    | 55     | 49      | 40      | 65     |
| 1972 RIC AAA | 10     | 17     | 0       | 4.95     | 30     | 30      | 12      | 227.0   | 260    | 131    | 125     | 70      | 135    |
| 1973 ROC AAA | 8      | 2      | 0       | 2.12     | 13     | 13      | 2       | 97.1    | 84     | 23     | 23      | 27      | 79     |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 4      | 4      | 0       | 4.80     | 25     | 10      | 1       | 97.1    | 109    | 63     | 52      | 44      | 66     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Martinez was old for a prospect coming into the season but was still interesting enough for the Orioles to get him back as one of the guys in the trade that moved Jon Hernandez to the Braves. He had a lights-out first half in AAA and then upon being called up to the major leagues he fell into much the same malaise that befell the rest of this pitching staff. In spite of the strikeouts, Martinez doesn't have really exciting stuff and has to rely on keeping a fastball/12-to-6 curve/change combination down in the zone to win games, and that is not exactly a pitch combination that leaps out to me as one that can do that consistently. He did, it should be noted, manage to do that in the bigs at least: just 2 HRs allowed.

Martinez looks to me like a guy who's probably hit his potential but hey, I could be wrong. I expect him to have at least another year as a "tweener" while the O's decide what he's going to be going forward.

Akihisha Mera
RHP No. 33
RR, 6'1" 194 lbs.
Born 1948-09-09

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 MID AA  | 12     | 10     | 0       | 3.53     | 28     | 26      | 13      | 209.0   | 207    | 92     | 82      | 104     | 161    |
| 1972 ROC AAA | 8      | 11     | 0       | 4.56     | 21     | 21      | 7       | 153.2   | 146    | 82     | 78      | 60      | 118    |
| 1972 BAL MLB | 2      | 1      | 0       | 2.87     | 7      | 3       | 1       | 31.1    | 22     | 11     | 10      | 9       | 19     |
| 1973 ROC AAA | 7      | 5      | 0       | 3.74     | 17     | 17      | 5       | 120.0   | 96     | 53     | 50      | 39      | 101    |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 1      | 8      | 5       | 5.88     | 24     | 5       | 0       | 59.2    | 74     | 41     | 39      | 34      | 40     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

I am all about giving the kids a chance to shine but Mera flat-out was not ready last year and it showed. He was called up in May and sent right on back down after 3 starts and an 8.03 ERA and then in spite of frankly a kind of average performance in AAA he nevertheless was recalled in June to stay. The results where not great: 5.1 BB/9 and 9 HRs allowed in 59.2 IP meant that if he wasn't literally striking everybody out, he was getting knocked around pretty hard.

Mera has some wiiiild side-to-side movement on his fastball that the Orioles fell in love with last year. The head says he should go back down to AAA Rochester to refine things a bit more; the heart says The Great Kabuki will get rushed again.

Henry Molloy
OF/DH/1B No. 19
RR, 6'3" 212 lbs.
Born 1948-05-06

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1972 ASH AA  | .243     | 61     | 140     | 24     | 34     | 2       | 1       | 2       | 9        | 30      | 21      | 0       |
| 1972 ROC AAA | .229     | 17     | 35      | 3      | 8      | 0       | 0       | 1       | 5        | 3       | 9       | 0       |
| 1973 ROC AAA | .322     | 31     | 90      | 9      | 29     | 10      | 0       | 2       | 15       | 12      | 21      | 0       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .261     | 93     | 310     | 38     | 81     | 11      | 0       | 6       | 43       | 45      | 83      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

When I think of the real-life Orioles from this general era I think of a good to great infield (especially defensively) and then a lot of platooning in the outfield. This team has the outfield part right. Molloy had a solid, if unspectacular, rookie year playing wherever the O's needed him to play. He's more of an all-fields, hit-'em-where-they-ain't type hitter than a classic power guy, although he strikes out too much to really be a good contact hitter in this league. I could see him fashion a Jim Dwyer style career... or maybe I'm too down on him; after all, he's only 25.

Defensively, Molloy is a plus left fielder and average first baseman who can also play in right if you need him to. He's played a smattering of 2nd and center in the minors but will almost certainly not be called on to play those positions in the big leagues. Molloy is also reportedly a guy who will just kind of go with the flow - kids these days! - and that leads him to be pretty adaptable to change.

I think we'll see more of the same. I don't think Molloy's worth starting per se but even as a righty, carving out 400ish plate appearances as a platoon partner and fill-in seems like his ideal role.

Bill Murray
2B/3B No. 9
LR, 6'1" 179 lbs.
Born 1950-09-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MID AA  | .272     | 114    | 393     | 64     | 107    | 11      | 10      | 15      | 46       | 78      | 71      | 12      |
| 1971 ROC AAA | .273     | 26     | 99      | 14     | 27     | 5       | 1       | 2       | 8        | 16      | 24      | 0       |
| 1972 ROC AAA | .282     | 46     | 174     | 35     | 49     | 5       | 6       | 16      | 40       | 24      | 38      | 1       |
| 1972 BAL MLB | .251     | 105    | 358     | 48     | 90     | 15      | 8       | 9       | 45       | 55      | 70      | 1       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .269     | 139    | 506     | 67     | 136    | 24      | 2       | 14      | 53       | 58      | 68      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Murray's the guy I was talking about when I mentioned "log jam". He's got a bat you most definitely want to get into the lineup and to Baltimore's credit they did find a place for him. In the first half of the season that was at second base; however, the blockbuster Montay Luiso trade brought Kurt Russell back from the Angels and so the decision was made to play Murray at third instead, with a sprinkling at the new DH position for good measure. He's got a bat you just plain need to get into the lineup, that much is clear: he hits to all fields and what he lacks in classic contact he more than makes up for with a good eye and solid power for a middle infielder (although maybe it's only average for a 3rd baseman).

The biggest issue going forward is that Murray doesn't really have the arm to play third base. He was at second and not, say, shortstop because of that relatively noodley arm in fact. Truth be told, he wasn't a super fantastic 2nd baseman last year either. You could sort of see him and Russell as the double-play duo but in addition to putting the .300-hitting Mario Segura on the bench that's not a great use of Russell either. For a guy without a lot of speed, Murray does work hard, both at baseball and, I am told, at comedy.

Marco Perez
3B No. 31
RR, 6'0" 183 lbs.
Born 1944-09-09

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BAL MLB | .258     | 101    | 388     | 48     | 100    | 18      | 2       | 12      | 33       | 45      | 51      | 21      |
| 1972 BAL MLB | .256     | 121    | 446     | 71     | 114    | 21      | 3       | 9       | 48       | 64      | 59      | 18      |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .229     | 123    | 485     | 56     | 111    | 17      | 5       | 7       | 37       | 38      | 53      | 17      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Baseball is a funny game sometimes. 4 years ago Marco Perez had a monster year for anyone - a .337 average, 201 hits, 17 HRs, 91 RBI, and a .406 OBP - and an outstanding year for a third sacker. How he didn't win the MVP, I'm perplexed. 3 middling years later, he's suddenly on the outside looking in for a starting job, at least in Baltimore. He's still got great speed when he's healthy but Perez just isn't healthy a lot of the time, and back woes seem to have robbed him of a lot of his power - and with it, that ability to draw walks that was based a lot on fear.

Perez, a 5-time Gold Glover, also had a surprisingly average year in the field. He might well win number 6 based on reputation alone but those same back issues seem to have hurt his range to where he's only good, not great, in the field anymore. That's not a good combination when, according to the stat nerds, his OPS was 20% below average.

Perez is a smart guy who likely has manager as a future job. Let's hope that future comes later rather than sooner. For now, he might have to prove himself on another team.

Sitiveni Rabuka
LHP No. 40
LL, 6'0" 197 lbs.
Born 1948-09-15

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 GAR R   | 1      | 3      | 0       | 2.50     | 5      | 5       | 2       | 32.1    | 34     | 15     | 9       | 9       | 39     |
| 1971 APP A   | 0      | 3      | 0       | 4.76     | 3      | 3       | 1       | 22.2    | 22     | 14     | 12      | 10      | 9      |
| 1972 ASH AA  | 4      | 1      | 0       | 2.18     | 6      | 6       | 5       | 45.1    | 26     | 11     | 11      | 18      | 28     |
| 1972 ROC AAA | 13     | 7      | 2       | 4.20     | 26     | 21      | 6       | 158.1   | 167    | 82     | 74      | 55      | 99     |
| 1973 ROC AAA | 4      | 2      | 4       | 4.31     | 23     | 3       | 1       | 48.0    | 42     | 23     | 23      | 17      | 54     |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 6      | 3      | 1       | 4.92     | 29     | 4       | 1       | 49.1    | 57     | 30     | 27      | 12      | 26     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Everyone needs a lefty specialist, right? Rabuka has eventual aims at politics in his native Fiji but for now he's making do as a AAAA type journeyman (drafted by the White Sox in the 9th round but somehow made it into the Baltimore organization). He's got decent enough stuff, at least on paper, culimating in a solid change-up as his out pitch, but last year he didn't strike out a lot of batters. Maybe that will improve as he ages. He did get those Ks in AAA.

Tim Reece
RHP No. 29
RR, 5'9" 175 lbs.
Born 1944-03-04

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BAL MLB | 11     | 12     | 0       | 2.77     | 31     | 31      | 9       | 224.0   | 192    | 75     | 69      | 73      | 124    |
| 1972 BAL MLB | 4      | 5      | 0       | 3.72     | 24     | 6       | 0       | 70.0    | 75     | 35     | 29      | 13      | 38     |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 8      | 13     | 1       | 4.35     | 30     | 25      | 4       | 169.1   | 184    | 92     | 82      | 60      | 98     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

There's a trend on this team... lots of finesse starting pitching that shined in 1972 and fell apart in '73. Reece isn't exactly that; his big year was 1971 and he spent most of 1972 in long relief after missing out on a rotational role for much of the year last year. Nevertheless, he proved last year why that 2.77 ERA in 71 was not necessarily something to build on: after a solid start (3-4 but with a 2.77 ERA in April and May), Reece struggled the rest of the way (a 5.15 ERA from June 1 onwards) and lost his starting job to prospects in September. Reece throws a fastball that tops out in the mid 80s and so he's got to be right on point with his control to survive. He did so in 71 and 72; this year, even 3.2 BB/9 was too wild to sustain decent play.

Unlike William Hart, Reece did look pretty okay in 5 September appearances out of the 'pen and that plus his 1972 season might be what he does going forward. He does not have the kind of lightning fastball or stuff to live as a bullpen stopper but perhaps he could carve out a career into his 30s as a guy asked to pitch the 6th and 7th innings.

Rob Reiner
LHP No. 7
LL, 6'6" 208 lbs.
Born 1947-01-25

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 ALB AAA | 19     | 11     | 0       | 2.64     | 31     | 31      | 14      | 248.0   | 206    | 89     | 73      | 81      | 156    |
| 1971 LAD MLB | 1      | 2      | 0       | 3.28     | 5      | 5       | 2       | 38.1    | 37     | 14     | 14      | 5       | 16     |
| 1972 ROC AAA | 8      | 6      | 0       | 3.92     | 18     | 18      | 8       | 144.1   | 139    | 70     | 63      | 36      | 113    |
| 1972 BAL MLB | 2      | 4      | 0       | 4.05     | 9      | 7       | 1       | 51.0    | 53     | 23     | 23      | 10      | 32     |
| 1973 ROC AAA | 0      | 1      | 0       | 1.35     | 2      | 2       | 0       | 13.1    | 9      | 3      | 2       | 6       | 4      |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 8      | 5      | 0       | 3.60     | 17     | 17      | 6       | 132.1   | 131    | 54     | 53      | 39      | 77     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

In Reiner, the O's hope that they don't just have an outspoken lefty voice to Archie Bunker but a staff ace going forward. He sure looked the part in AAA Albuquerque in 1971, which is why he was the centerpiece of the trade that moved 2B Danny Fager to the Dodgers in the offseason of 1971. In 1972 he tore a ligament in his elbow in September and so didn't get to pitch at all until June 30 of this year. He wasn't exactly amazing but "Meathead" has probably the best stuff on this team - definitely in the projected starting rotation - and showed enough going forward to give Baltimore fans some hope.

It wouldn't be surprising to see Reiner take the Opening Day start in 1974. An argument can be made that George Dapson, horrible year or not, deserves it as the veteran but Reiner's a guy who's not even in his prime yet and could just take the job in spring training.

Kurt Russell
2B No. 11
SR, 5'11" 179 lbs.
Born 1951-03-17

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 QC A    | .269     | 6      | 26      | 2      | 7      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 2       | 5       | 1       |
| 1971 SHR AA  | .299     | 23     | 87      | 11     | 26     | 3       | 0       | 0       | 6        | 11      | 16      | 5       |
| 1971 SLC AAA | .358     | 13     | 53      | 3      | 19     | 3       | 0       | 0       | 5        | 6       | 6       | 0       |
| 1972 SLC AAA | .249     | 107    | 414     | 52     | 103    | 13      | 2       | 3       | 36       | 44      | 72      | 10      |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .234     | 36     | 128     | 10     | 30     | 8       | 0       | 0       | 5        | 12      | 22      | 3       |
| 1973 SLC AAA | .288     | 44     | 163     | 28     | 47     | 3       | 0       | 3       | 17       | 24      | 24      | 6       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .318     | 6      | 22      | 4      | 7      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 2        | 4       | 3       | 2       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .276     | 94     | 362     | 44     | 100    | 15      | 4       | 4       | 39       | 53      | 91      | 14      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Nothing against Montay Luiso, who was an all-World bullpen ace for the Orioles for nearly a decade (1964-midseason of 73), but this is one of these deals you look back on in 20 years as a fan and you just slap your head. Russell, whose father Bing happens to own the Angels' A-ball team (and by the way there's a great documentary about this IRL called "The Battered Bastards of Baseball"), didn't really have a place in California and they did need bullpen help... but no, there's no excuse. Russell strikes out too much and you'd like to see more power but the man doesn't even turn 23 until spring training. He's got time.

And also he's got a glove. He's never really played shortstop but you could just about project him into the position. The one thing he lacks is a rifle arm; his is only average. This makes him a potential Gold Glove Award winner at 2nd but perhaps only average at short. He's got nice speed and he walks enough to make that speed an issue for opposing pitchers. He's also, as you'd expect from a guy who did a lot of work as a child actor, an amiable guy who gets along with just about everyone.

Russell finished the year as the team's #3 hitter and everyday 2nd baseman. That might be a little ambitious but if he gets the Ks down he could for sure be the team's 2-hole hitter for the next decade or more.

Mario Segura
SS/2B No. 54
RR, 5'9" 176 lbs.
Born 1948-04-14

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MID AA  | .268     | 74     | 168     | 21     | 45     | 8       | 2       | 2       | 17       | 17      | 30      | 1       |
| 1972 ASH AA  | .271     | 36     | 129     | 14     | 35     | 4       | 0       | 0       | 8        | 18      | 14      | 2       |
| 1972 ROC AAA | .287     | 86     | 247     | 40     | 71     | 11      | 4       | 3       | 19       | 29      | 35      | 7       |
| 1973 ROC AAA | .261     | 68     | 226     | 28     | 59     | 16      | 2       | 2       | 18       | 21      | 29      | 4       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .302     | 86     | 305     | 39     | 92     | 17      | 2       | 4       | 27       | 34      | 38      | 5       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

So... as I look at this team a bit more, I think a Murray/Russell pairing up the middle might work out after all. Nothing against Segura: that's a great stat line for a shortstop to have. It's just... outside of a 56 game, 216 at-bat stretch at A Fremont in 1970, where he hit .356, Segura's not really show a lot of signs that he's this kind of a high-average hitter, and his other hitting skills are shortstoppy enough that he really does need to hit at least .280 or so to contribute.

All this would be fine if Segura was an ace fielder but he's not. His range and arm are decidedly average, although his hands did keep him from putting up some truly horrible stats in the field (13 errors, a .965 average). On paper he's fairly fast but he's never really translated that into speed on the bases either.

Long-term, Segura might be headed for more of a utility infielder role. Or else maybe I'm just downplaying what is in fact a brand new skill acquired by the 25 year old and we're looking at the Orioles' shortstop of the future.

Dave Thomas
RF/DH No. 17
RR, 6'2" 198 lbs.
Born 1949-05-20

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MIA A   | .271     | 57     | 203     | 29     | 55     | 5       | 1       | 2       | 25       | 34      | 29      | 0       |
| 1971 MID AA  | .262     | 49     | 126     | 11     | 33     | 5       | 1       | 1       | 17       | 17      | 20      | 0       |
| 1972 ASH AA  | .290     | 19     | 69      | 11     | 20     | 2       | 0       | 3       | 4        | 11      | 6       | 0       |
| 1972 ROC AAA | .333     | 3      | 9       | 2      | 3      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 2       | 4       | 0       |
| 1973 ROC AAA | .247     | 71     | 267     | 38     | 66     | 12      | 1       | 9       | 30       | 39      | 49      | 5       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .225     | 64     | 218     | 20     | 49     | 9       | 1       | 2       | 24       | 34      | 35      | 2       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The youthful Thomas, who, like teammate Bill Murray is an aspiring comedian, looked overmatched in his first trial in the major leagues this year. He'd been promoted pretty well on schedule previously so I don't think he was rushed or anything, he just couldn't get hits. He profiles as a singles hitter with good pitch recognition, although he strikes out a bit too much to hit for average (that seems like a "type" for this team). If he could hit even .260 he'd still be a factor; as a .225 hitter he's replacement level.

Thomas still got on base at a .328 clip last season but then showed a different issue: on the basepaths, he just kind of clogs them up. You'd expect a 24 year old prospect to be a bit faster but on the other hand Thomas, a known Canadian, seems to have a layer of "bear fat" he hasn't lost through several years of minor league baseball. He's got a nice arm that makes him a natural right fielder and he seems to know the game as well as a Canadian can.

It's hard to project Thomas into a bigger role if he can't hit. At the same time, he's young and the Orioles are bad.

Sergio Viera de Mello
LF/1B No. 2
RR, 5'11" 186 lbs.
Born 1947-07-16

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 ROC AAA | .327     | 81     | 278     | 44     | 91     | 13      | 1       | 2       | 28       | 19      | 11      | 1       |
| 1971 BAL MLB | .298     | 28     | 114     | 8      | 34     | 3       | 2       | 0       | 4        | 1       | 9       | 2       |
| 1972 BAL MLB | .272     | 112    | 397     | 41     | 108    | 11      | 7       | 4       | 46       | 17      | 26      | 5       |
| 1973 ROC AAA | .278     | 17     | 36      | 5      | 10     | 2       | 0       | 1       | 5        | 1       | 2       | 0       |
| 1973 BAL MLB | .228     | 49     | 162     | 14     | 37     | 6       | 0       | 2       | 19       | 2       | 13      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Viera de Mello followed up a solid rookie season with an absolute disaster of a 1973 and now I'm not sure what to do with him going forward. Even in 1972 it was looking like he didn't have the power to really hold court at the positions he plays and a real success for him would have meant hitting in the .300 range, which, I guess to be fair, he has done in the minors. The bottom fell out last year and he was sent down in June to work on his game. He didn't play much in the minors - what the heck, minor league manager? - and barely got a chance to play after his September call-up.

Yeah, no idea where The Peacemaker goes going forward. I'm guessing more AAA.

T.J. Ziegler
RHP No. 27
RR, 6'1" 200 lbs.
Born 1946-11-13

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BAL MLB | 8      | 16     | 0       | 3.31     | 33     | 33      | 4       | 222.2   | 210    | 95     | 82      | 122     | 115    |
| 1972 BAL MLB | 12     | 10     | 0       | 2.80     | 31     | 31      | 4       | 215.0   | 170    | 74     | 67      | 118     | 139    |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 12     | 13     | 0       | 3.67     | 33     | 33      | 5       | 230.1   | 214    | 104    | 94      | 111     | 129    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

I guess it's fair to point out that the entire league took a step back in terms of defense compared to the season before. Still, Ziegler, too, fell. Now a 4-year veteran, TJ has had 4 years in which wildness has held him back. In fact, last year was even a career-low for walk rate and he still finished 4th in the league. I think that even more than the extra baserunners, the walks mean Ziegler has to throw more pitches per inning and he's already not a true 130-pitch-a-night workhorse. One thing he does do exceptionally well is keep the ball down: his fastball is of the 2-seam variety and he's led the league in groundball rate in the past. Last year he finished 6th in the AL with 56% and added a league-high 36 GIDPs (only Ringo Starr had more overall).

Ziegler will never strike out a lot of guys with his stuff so you'd really like that control to be better. At this point I think it's fair to assume that's just not going to happen. You've still got a mid-rotation guy, although the fact that the O's will be heading into their new future without ace closer Montay Luiso means that that lack of stamina will not help.

[Syd Thrift]

Okay, moving on here to the Boston Red Sox because it's probably going to take me a few days to wash the taste of my computer rebooting before I saved the last WS game out of my mouth.




Recap: Boston came into the season looking like the clear second banana in the AL East race, maybe even a team who could slide in and take advantage of a really bad season by the Tigers and capture the crown. 1972 was the team's worst record and first time they didn't hit 90 wins since 1967 so some bounce-back could be expected. They did live up to the first prediction for most of the year if not the second. However, a 1-12 jaunt in September (which included 2 extra-inning losses) saw even that 2nd place finish in the East go away and by season's end they finished the furthest out from contention since they'd finished 8th in '67. The biggest culprit to my eyes was a weird lack of punch from the middle of the lineup: perennial MVP candidate Mike Miller had a real off year, nobody else on the team stepped up, and the Red Sox finished 3rd worst in the AL in home runs.

1974 Outlook: I think the team's starting to get old, which is probably not a great sign for getting back into it, and more to the point I think the Tigers as a team are just entering their prime as the dynasty of the AL 1970s. Things could always turn around, sure, and I don't think the Yankees, who finished ahead of them, are for real, but it's going to take a lot of turning the tide against inertia for these guys to hit 90 wins, let alone the 95+ it would surely take to pass the Tigers next year.

Sid Bartoszek
C No. 20
RR, 5'10" 192 lbs.
Born 1940-10-04

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BOS MLB | .259     | 53     | 139     | 17     | 36     | 10      | 0       | 9       | 33       | 21      | 30      | 0       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .235     | 86     | 251     | 27     | 59     | 11      | 1       | 8       | 33       | 36      | 67      | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .186     | 81     | 177     | 13     | 33     | 2       | 1       | 7       | 20       | 23      | 53      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The 33 year old Bartoszek was somehow good enough in 1972 to pick up an All-Star berth. I don't see it but hey. Last year, with the incumbent Jeremy Dolak having injury issues for the second straight year, he was once again slotted into an awful lot of catching duties, and this time around it wasn't so great. Sid hit .129 in the month of May - 4-31 - and never really lifted himself out of that slump. He's never been particularly great at avoiding Ks. Last year was a real low; had the team had to play him the whole season he was projected to strike out more than 150 times.

At this point in their respective careers, Bartoszek is probably the better defensive catcher than Dolak but where Dolak at least plays with a quiet intensity, Bartoszek doesn't always run out groundballs and doesn't cut even that kind of "neutral" leader that's the bare mininum you expect from a catcher. He's no spring chicken itself, and if it wasn't for the fact that this team had zero other options behind the plate, he'd likely be cut already.

Dave Bly
RHP No. 57
RR, 5'11" 187 lbs.
Born 1947-04-23

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BRI AA  | 1      | 2      | 2       | 1.18     | 28     | 0       | 0       | 30.1    | 31     | 8      | 4       | 6       | 28     |
| 1971 LOU AAA | 3      | 0      | 8       | 2.52     | 17     | 0       | 0       | 25.0    | 22     | 7      | 7       | 10      | 13     |
| 1972 LOU AAA | 2      | 3      | 14      | 3.50     | 40     | 0       | 0       | 51.1    | 44     | 21     | 20      | 28      | 48     |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 1      | 3      | 8       | 2.07     | 22     | 0       | 0       | 26.0    | 26     | 8      | 6       | 12      | 22     |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 2      | 3      | 8       | 4.07     | 41     | 0       | 0       | 53.0    | 57     | 24     | 24      | 21      | 34     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Bly had saved 22 games between AAA Louisville and the big leagues in 1972 and so it made sense to hand him the closer job. In practice, he blew it. He started out well enough in April and May: 0-1, 2 saves in 2 chances, a 2.29 ERA, 10 Ks in 15.2 IP. June was another matter: 0-1, 4 Sv, but 11 runs allowed in 11 IP. Following a 2-1, 2 Sv, 5.06 July he didn't get another save opportunity for the rest of the year and was mainly relegated to low-leverage mop-up duties in July and August.

Bly has an overpowering fastball that he pairs with a good but not great slider to get outs. In 1972 that looked like a pretty deadly combination but in 73 hitters seemed to catch up to it a lot. He'll really have to do the unthinkable and "turn back the clock" if he wants a future on this team.

Bert Blyleven
IF No. 26
RR, 6'0" 190 lbs.
1948-05-12

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 GAS A   | .333     | 3      | 12      | 1      | 4      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 0       | 1       | 1       |
| 1971 BRI AA  | .224     | 13     | 49      | 5      | 11     | 4       | 1       | 0       | 2        | 8       | 11      | 1       |
| 1971 LOU AAA | .282     | 54     | 220     | 35     | 62     | 9       | 1       | 3       | 26       | 21      | 33      | 5       |
| 1971 BOS MLB | .750     | 1      | 4       | 0      | 3      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 0       | 0       | 1       |
| 1972 LOU AAA | .292     | 97     | 407     | 57     | 119    | 22      | 4       | 10      | 48       | 33      | 106     | 5       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .250     | 15     | 32      | 3      | 8      | 2       | 0       | 1       | 2        | 2       | 6       | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .208     | 65     | 154     | 17     | 32     | 8       | 0       | 1       | 18       | 15      | 37      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Blyleven's a big Dutch man and would surely be starting for most other teams in the league. In Boston he's trapped behind Oniji Handa. I mena, maybe "trapped" is a little premature; 1973 was Blyleven's 3rd professional season and already he seems to have found a spot in the major leagues. He's very good defensively, a touch worse than Handa because everyone's a touch worse than Handa but can also fill in at 2nd and 3rd just as easily as short. He seemed to take a step back offensively but you could maybe chalk that up to not getting to play every day. Perhaps the Red Sox would have been better off letting him work on his swing in the minors for another year but you know, contending team and all that.

Blyleven somehow stole 40 bases in college. I say somehow because he's shown absolutely none of that kind of speed in the pros. He strikes out a lot and doesn't have the power to make the Ks worthwhile, although he should have more power than the none he showed in his first full year in the majors. Blyleven's a hard worker and made heads turn last spring training when he wore a shirt to camp that said "I Love To Fart" (look, I will probably say this again but dammit it's my favorite part of the real-life Bert Blyleven story). I don't know where Rik Aalbert Blyleven will play - maybe not even on this team! - but he'll play... somewhere.

Tom Brown
RF No. 33
RR, 5'12" 200 lbs.
Born 1938-11-21

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BOS MLB | .301     | 150    | 607     | 81     | 183    | 32      | 7       | 17      | 89       | 41      | 73      | 11      |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .273     | 142    | 567     | 72     | 155    | 25      | 11      | 11      | 71       | 36      | 71      | 20      |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .285     | 145    | 589     | 88     | 168    | 33      | 3       | 16      | 72       | 37      | 69      | 13      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The 34 year old Brown is the calming veteran presence in this lineup. A 5-time All-Star, Brown didn't quite reach that level this past season but he was still plenty good in that particular Tom Brown sort of way with above average hit, power, and speed tools combining with a top-of-the-line arm in right field. Baserunners should know by now not to test him and yet he still collected 15 assists in right this year. Brown's gameplan is to put the ball in play and so he'll never be a guy who works out a lot of long at-bats or posts a .400 OBP but what he does give you is an average in the .280s with 15-20 HR power and double-digit steals.

Brown's probably not going to be anything close to a Hall of Fame candidate given that he doesn't really do any one thing that well and he got his career started a little late - he didn't start until he was 25 - so his raw totals aren't super high. Now in his 3rd year with Boston after 5 in Chicago he's definitely going to be an honorary member of a "Sox" Hall of Fame.

Tom Brumfield
RHP No. 29
LR, 5'12" 177 lbs.
Born 1947-06-06

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BRI AA  | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0.00     | 2      | 1       | 0       | 5.2     | 4      | 0      | 0       | 2       | 4      |
| 1971 LOU AAA | 1      | 7      | 10      | 3.56     | 35     | 0       | 0       | 58.0    | 54     | 24     | 23      | 30      | 22     |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 3      | 6      | 0       | 4.03     | 37     | 4       | 0       | 71.1    | 75     | 36     | 32      | 18      | 21     |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 5      | 4      | 10      | 3.19     | 41     | 1       | 0       | 73.1    | 60     | 26     | 26      | 36      | 34     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

In his second full season with the Red Sox, the 26 year old Brumfield saw both his walks and strikeouts balloon. Fortunately for him with all the extra whiffs and missed pitches he also cut his HR total in half, from 12 to 6, and so had a... I wouldn't say "good" season but it was decent. Brumfield does not have anything close to overpowering stuff although last year his circle change started to get some outs. Mostly he excelled last season in getting a very good defense to get to balls he induced, holding batters to a .226 average. At times last year he did look like a bullpen ace, such as in July when he allowed just 8 hits in 18.1 IP, saved 3 games in 10 appearances, and posted a nifty 0.49 ERA. At other times... well, in September he finished 2-3, 7.24 with 2 of his 4 blown saves and 16 hits and 13 walks allowed in 13.2 IP.

Brumfield didn't really assume the stopper role until July and at the very least he'll be in competition for it in spring training this year. Right now he's probably still the best candidate for the position, which really says that Boston needs to go out and find someone... or, you know, give Dwight Schultz a try. I'd be a lot less anxious about Brumfield as a middle man than as the team's "best" reliever.

Jeremy Dolak
C No. 3
RR, 6'0" 207 lbs.
Born 1938-11-02

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BOS MLB | .249     | 119    | 394     | 37     | 98     | 24      | 1       | 6       | 45       | 21      | 38      | 0       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .214     | 72     | 215     | 10     | 46     | 9       | 0       | 1       | 24       | 14      | 32      | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .242     | 86     | 260     | 23     | 63     | 9       | 1       | 0       | 23       | 10      | 29      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Everybody nowadays remembers the Justin Kindberg for Dylan Hamilton trade but what many don't remember are two of the smalller chips: 2B TJ Pritchett going to Cleveland (Pritchett was cut loose by the Yankees in midseason and is now a 37 year old "free agent"/retired player who doesn't yet know he's retired) and this man coming back to Boston. Dolak, a 2-time All Star with the Indians, has been a solid defense-first guy with Boston over the past 5 years. That said, in 1972 he stopped hitting and while the average came back with some level of respectability last year, Dolak no longer has any kind of power whatsoever. We're now well out of the "mini deadball era" of the 60s but Dolak's still hitting like he was in that period.

Dolak's got a nice arm that mostly prevents guys from running on him (only 34.7% CS but also only 69 steal attempts off him last year). His not as nimble as he once was behind the plate. His model of leadership can best be summarized as the quiet type: he's just plain not the kind of guy to lead a locker room meeting, even as the team could have really used one in September.

Dolak is surely closer to the end of his career than the beginning. If this team had anything at all in the pipeline at catcher, surely they'd be giving them a try right now; however, their top prospect at the position is a 19 year old kid who hit .258/4/19 in 50 games in rookie-league Salem and isn't projected to hit the major leagues until 1977. There's also Alan Thicke... but this man (who won't be listed in this report because he had just 8 ML at-bats this year) hit just .182 in AAA Louisville with 91 Ks in 296 ABs and doesn't look like the COTF anymore. Clearly the team needs to find a solution from outside of the organization.

Mario Fernandez
OF/DH No. 2
RR, 5'11" 189 lbs.
Born 1946-09-10

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DAN A   | .322     | 28     | 118     | 17     | 38     | 6       | 1       | 1       | 15       | 12      | 12      | 0       |
| 1971 EVA AAA | .284     | 22     | 88      | 8      | 25     | 2       | 1       | 0       | 11       | 11      | 7       | 0       |
| 1971 MIL MLB | .368     | 10     | 19      | 1      | 7      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 5        | 1       | 0       | 0       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .281     | 57     | 135     | 21     | 38     | 7       | 0       | 0       | 15       | 8       | 12      | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .335     | 110    | 322     | 40     | 108    | 20      | 2       | 2       | 44       | 13      | 40      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Fernandez, a 27 year old native of Colombia that the Red Sox acquired in the offseason of 1971 in the same deal that netted them Bruce Springsteen from the Milwaukee Brewers, found himself the odd man out for big chunks of the year in spite of carrying the highest average on the team. You could argue that maybe having to play every day would have knocked it down but on the other hand you'd have to think that if he'd gotten more than 7 starts to break through a mini-slump in June (where he hit only .265 with 1 extra-base hit in 34 at-bats) the average might have been even higher. Outside of the contact tool he doesn't necessarily give you a huge amount, although he's versatile enough to play left, right, and first base competently and he's not a drain in the clubhouse.

This was very likely a career year from Fernandez so the Red Sox might be tempted to sell high on him this offseason. At 27, he's older than the wave of youth that's in the process of remaking this team.

Jon Glynn
CF No. 27
RR, 6'1" 187 lbs.
Born 1945-09-19

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BOS MLB | .268     | 146    | 612     | 98     | 164    | 29      | 8       | 13      | 53       | 38      | 80      | 37      |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .229     | 94     | 393     | 48     | 90     | 19      | 3       | 6       | 22       | 25      | 68      | 20      |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .263     | 130    | 547     | 79     | 144    | 19      | 6       | 10      | 58       | 34      | 82      | 40      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The Astronaut (note: that's a Bermanism; the actual John Glenn is way too old) rebounded from a rough 1972 season to get back to the level of competence he's established in 4 1/2 years as the Red Sox' starting CF. The offensive numbers, I will grant you, look kind of meh, but realize that he's not really in there for offense alone. He's probably the 2nd best defensive CF in the league behind Texas' Norm Hodge and if the Rangers decide that Hodge's glove isn't enough to keep him out there it'll be Glynn's turn to rack up the Gold Gloves. He gets to virtually everything in center, combining top-line natural speed with some great instincts. Last year he threw out 17 runners on bases, the 3rd highest number for outfielders (NY's Phil Hartman led with 19) and tops among centerfielders.

At the plate, Glynn is... fine. He's basically about average with the contact tool, making up for a propensity to strike out a little too often with his speed. He's got leadoff hitter speed, in fact finishing 2nd - a distant 2nd but 2nd nevertheless - behind Detroit's Alvin Romero in steals. He'll sacrifice when called on to do so and is pretty good at it, so good in fact that sometimes he'll bunt on his own to pick up a cheeky base hit. Jon is likeable but best suited giving him a defined role that doesn't change very often. He only ever hit leadoff last year, which suits the Sox just fine.

Following 1972 it was looking like maybe it was time to move away from Glynn but fortunately for Boston he had a nice comeback year. Still only 28, he should be the man they slot in in center for the next several years.

Oniji Handa
SS No. 8
RR, 5'9" 192 lbs.
Born 1943-10-26

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BOS MLB | .243     | 154    | 584     | 55     | 142    | 34      | 0       | 4       | 54       | 31      | 63      | 2       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .239     | 140    | 481     | 39     | 115    | 21      | 1       | 9       | 44       | 25      | 47      | 1       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .274     | 147    | 537     | 60     | 147    | 34      | 4       | 13      | 73       | 19      | 46      | 2       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Even though the team around him fell off late, Handa himself hit .309 in September with 23 RBIs and capped off a nice comeback season at the plate following two straight poor years. Of course, in the field he's a wizard, the best shortstop in all of baseball and the best guy we've ever seen at the position. At 29 he shows no signs of slowing down in the field. Naysayers might point to 20 errors this year after committing just 2 in 586 total chances last year but a .975 fielding average is still awfully good and Handa even set a new personal high with 118 double plays turned (also the 3rd highest total all time behind "Lucky Number" Blevin's 125 in 1970 and the White Sox' John Johnson this year with 120). There's no question that even with a relatively power-heavy staff, Handa is a guy who helps his pitchers out an absolute ton.

Handa had also established himself as a .290s level hitter before turning into a good-field, no-hit guy the previous couple seasons. Was he battling an undisclosed injury? It's hard to say. Whatever happened he came into last year with a renewed approach at the plate. One thing that he'd lost the previous couple years was the power: after hitting a combined 41 HRs in 1969 and 1970 he fell to just 13 the next 2 years. He didn't quite get up to his previous levels in 1973 but 13 is still a really, really nice total for a shortstop to wind up with. He's got good speed and makes smart decisions on the basepaths but won't steal unless he's got a really good jump. He's one of those guys who runs to first base on a walk and always plays at 110%.

Handa's infectious injury and crazy-good fielding makes him an asset for any team. I don't know what the game's been thinking, not voting him into the All-Star Game this year. I guess it wanted to see more. Look, OOTP gods, this is enough!

Andy Hanson
C No. 1
RR, 6'3" 219 lbs.
Born 1943-04-23

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 LOU AAA | .234     | 91     | 222     | 32     | 52     | 4       | 1       | 6       | 34       | 30      | 24      | 0       |
| 1972 LOU AAA | .277     | 119    | 429     | 58     | 119    | 18      | 4       | 8       | 45       | 37      | 70      | 0       |
| 1973 LOU AAA | .284     | 69     | 183     | 26     | 52     | 4       | 0       | 4       | 11       | 18      | 26      | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .200     | 24     | 70      | 7      | 14     | 3       | 0       | 1       | 4        | 6       | 6       | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Speaking of backstops who were unable to cut the mustard... Andy Hanson, a 30 year old minor league veteran, got into his first major league game on June 13th of this year, going 1-4 with a run scored in a 4-0 win against the Angels. That was also the high point of his season and perhaps his major league career; after 23 more games - 20 more starts - he was sent back down to Louisville when Jeremy Dolak was ready to play again and did not return, not even when rosters expanded.

Hanson has a very poor arm for a catcher: he threw out just 2 of 13 baserunners in the big leagues and only cut down 5 out of 34 runners in the minors this year. The past couple years you could maaaybe make a case that you could live with even a mediocre arm if he could hit at the levels he has but Hanson's arm would need a serious upgrade to get to "mediocre". It's hard to see a case made for him playing in the majors again.

Pat Holmgren
RHP No. 16
LR, 6'6" 197 lbs.
Born 1945-10-15

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 LOU AAA | 12     | 13     | 0       | 4.18     | 28     | 28      | 2       | 183.0   | 185    | 98     | 85      | 85      | 96     |
| 1971 BOS MLB | 1      | 1      | 0       | 7.29     | 3      | 2       | 0       | 12.1    | 17     | 11     | 10      | 3       | 9      |
| 1972 LOU AAA | 3      | 1      | 5       | 4.80     | 30     | 0       | 0       | 39.1    | 40     | 21     | 21      | 8       | 34     |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 0      | 1      | 0       | 1.28     | 9      | 1       | 0       | 21.0    | 15     | 3      | 3       | 10      | 12     |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 0      | 3      | 2       | 4.12     | 37     | 0       | 0       | 56.2    | 62     | 31     | 26      | 26      | 37     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Holmgren saw his role in relief balloon last year out of necessity. Things could have gone better for the 27 year old former 3rd round pick (in the 1964 draft). Holmgren's a guy who lives and dies by a big, breaking curveball and unfortunately last season he died a lot, allowing 15 HRs in just 56.2 IP (that's 2.4 per 9 innings). He mixes that curve up with a fastball that hits the low to mid 90s in games and so you could see why the Red Sox converted him from starter after 1971.

Holmgren absolutely has to learn to keep the ball down to survive in this league. If he can, he might become an above-average middle reliever.

Alex Izquierdo
LHP No. 7
LL, 5'12" 179 lbs.
Born 1948-09-03

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 MIL MLB | 7      | 13     | 0       | 2.73     | 29     | 29      | 10      | 210.1   | 186    | 78     | 64      | 82      | 137    |
| 1972 LOU AAA | 8      | 8      | 0       | 5.03     | 18     | 18      | 7       | 144.2   | 143    | 82     | 81      | 69      | 113    |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 4      | 2      | 1       | 2.66     | 18     | 5       | 2       | 57.1    | 44     | 19     | 17      | 13      | 38     |
| 1973 LOU AAA | 8      | 6      | 0       | 2.51     | 19     | 19      | 9       | 154.0   | 129    | 48     | 43      | 38      | 115    |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 5      | 0      | 0       | 2.88     | 14     | 6       | 3       | 59.1    | 54     | 19     | 19      | 12      | 34     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Izzy, like Brian Osborne, is a refugee from the Milwaukee Brewers organization, and like Osborne he sure seems like a guy who benefits from a good infrastructure. Well, when he gets to play, at least: this year he didn't see his first major league action until July 16. Following one pretty awful outing in long relief on the 29th of that month (2 IP, 5 ER), he fashioned a 2.26 ERA the rest of the way.

Iquierdo's big thing is keeping the ball down in the lower half of the strike zone, which he was able to do at two levels last year. Given the stacked nature of this ballclub, his sticking in the majors probably comes down to whether or not he can handle a left-handed / "we need a double play" specialist role.

Brian Johnson
DH/1B No. 21
LL, 6'2" 188 lbs.
Born 1947-10-01

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 GAS A   | .455     | 14     | 55      | 11     | 25     | 1       | 2       | 3       | 8        | 4       | 6       | 5       |
| 1971 PAW AA  | .293     | 93     | 338     | 40     | 99     | 12      | 3       | 5       | 43       | 37      | 25      | 10      |
| 1971 LOU AAA | .297     | 12     | 37      | 6      | 11     | 4       | 0       | 1       | 5        | 13      | 7       | 1       |
| 1972 LOU AAA | .384     | 36     | 138     | 20     | 53     | 8       | 0       | 4       | 27       | 18      | 6       | 3       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .294     | 49     | 170     | 23     | 50     | 14      | 2       | 1       | 14       | 18      | 17      | 7       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .317     | 149    | 533     | 64     | 169    | 38      | 4       | 8       | 68       | 38      | 58      | 4       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

At 26, Brian Johnson is too young to be a full-time DH, but it's hard to see another position for him on this team. In 1973 that didn't matter so much as Johnson hit from wire to wire and finished 6th in the AL in hitting with a .317 average. You can say all you want about him not having the power or the patience at the plate for a guy who plays a less defensive-minded position but when you're this good of a hitter, you can carve out your own reality, I say.

Johnson would actually be a pretty decent first baseman if called on to do so, and hey, if Mike Miller continues his struggles perhaps he will be a bit more. He's got decent enough range at first that if he wasn't a lefty he could probably work out at second. He's no slouch in left field either and has a good enough arm that if he got more seasoning he'd be a solid right fielder as well. He's got good running speed that doesn't translate into steals - that one year he got into double digits in AA Pawtucket came with 12 caught stealings - but it is present in other aspects of his game. He's a really good bunter, at least in batting practice. He's a hard worker and is in a band called Geordie in the offseason. People predict great things from his voice but I'll be honest I just don't hear it.

As a ballplayer, Johnson's a guy you absolutely have to stick somewhere. Will that be DH again, or will the Bosox carve out a slot for him in the outfield? Wherever he goes, it's clear that Johnson will hit.

Justin Kindberg
LHP No. 18
LL, 6'3" 203 lbs.
Born 1944-11-29

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BOS MLB | 27     | 6      | 0       | 2.05     | 41     | 41      | 18      | 319.1   | 247    | 80     | 73      | 97      | 230    |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 18     | 13     | 0       | 2.72     | 37     | 37      | 12      | 287.0   | 221    | 95     | 87      | 113     | 226    |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 17     | 16     | 0       | 2.98     | 37     | 37      | 16      | 286.2   | 241    | 105    | 95      | 82      | 183    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Kindberg's nicknamed the "Ironworker" after his dad's factory job; he might as well be called the Iron Man because of his seeming inability to ever go down with an injury. Out of the six seasons he's been a starter in the major leagues, he's carried a sub-3 ERA in 5 of them, and #6 was his first Cy Young Award season in 1969 (22-6, 3.30). Kindberg throws five different pitches for strikes but the one that really puts fear in the hearts of opponents is his forkball, which induces a whole lot of groundballs when it isn't generating strikeouts. Last year he had 28 GIDPs, up from 21 in 72 but still somehow down from the 31 and 35 he put up the 2 seasons prior.

Kindberg made his 4th All-Star Game this past season and maybe the league was reticent to have two starting pitchers from Boston on the squad, I don't know. You can read about the guy who got snubbed below. He's still, unbelievably, only 28 years old and if he can keep dodging injuries the way he has so far it's easy to see him getting into ten Midsummer Classics.

Brian Long
2B No. 39
RR, 6'1" 200 lbs.
Born 1942-02-07

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BOS MLB | .283     | 127    | 505     | 65     | 143    | 30      | 1       | 9       | 46       | 47      | 67      | 0       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .259     | 135    | 509     | 62     | 132    | 27      | 4       | 5       | 47       | 41      | 57      | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .213     | 58     | 221     | 20     | 47     | 14      | 1       | 1       | 17       | 19      | 24      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Long was just never able to get started in 1973. First a dislocated shoulder Long suffered in April meant that as late as July, he'd only played in 7 games all season long. When he came back he was clearly rusty, hitting just .185 that month and following up with a .224 August. Then his season ended early with a bad hamstring in early September.

Brian Long's... long been a glove-first player best described on the field as "scrappy". This makes him a good player when he hits in the .260-.280 range. Last year his line drive base hits too often turned into pop-ups. He's also never had a ton of power but he had virtually none when he played last year and it meant that pitchers were just plain unafraid to challenge him. He's never been a particularly fast player on the basepaths and at 31 he's no longer any threat to steal. He does have really solid bunting skills - see "scrappy" - that led him to actually lead the AL in 1972 in sacrifice hits.

I'm sure the Red Sox will give Long at least one more chance to take the second base job. Injuries got him off track last year, it's clear. I think it's hard to project him into a 5th All-Star selection, but he can be a league average keystoner.

Nobu Matsuhisa
2B/3B No. 37
RR, 5'12" 184 lbs.
Born 1949-03-14

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SYR AAA | .259     | 92     | 351     | 51     | 91     | 18      | 1       | 11      | 62       | 43      | 55      | 0       |
| 1972 LOU AAA | .256     | 72     | 258     | 42     | 66     | 11      | 0       | 18      | 49       | 31      | 47      | 0       |
| 1973 LOU AAA | .235     | 72     | 251     | 31     | 59     | 9       | 1       | 15      | 40       | 28      | 44      | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .303     | 48     | 122     | 16     | 37     | 5       | 0       | 2       | 10       | 15      | 15      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Matsu****a has shown an ability to mash in the minor leagues but has the team trainer's number on his speed dial at home, he's on the injury list so often. That's really been what's kept him from reaching the major leagues earlier. This year he mostly stayed healthy, at least until September, and flashed enough of that power in the first half to get a call-up to platoon with Kristian Schneider at 3rd and then, when Brian Long himself got hurt, fill in at 2nd. His season did end early with a strained calf but hey, he managed to steer clear until the 26th of September so, you know, personal victories.

Matsuhisa looked like a different player in the big leagues last year: no power but a high average and higher OBP. He's... fine at pitch selection but nothing amazing: expect an OBP more in the .340 range than .386. He's got an absolute cannon for an arm, so while he can play second - and he has more minor league experience there for some reason - Matsuhisa is a potential game-changer at third and even a guy who can fill in at short (theoretically, on a team that doesn't have Oniji Handa, anyway). He's slow, can sacrifice if you wanted him to (as the Red Sox did call on him for twice last season), and strikes out too much to hit and run with much.

Kristian Schneider's got himself some competition come spring training.

Mike Miller
1B No. 15
LL, 6'2" 208 lbs.
Born 1944-07-05

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BOS MLB | .292     | 155    | 599     | 87     | 175    | 39      | 2       | 20      | 90       | 78      | 101     | 0       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .260     | 151    | 562     | 78     | 146    | 25      | 4       | 17      | 68       | 74      | 97      | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .265     | 119    | 437     | 53     | 116    | 26      | 0       | 13      | 57       | 61      | 98      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Miller missed six weeks with an intercostal strain starting in early July and was clearly still feeling the effects of it when he came back in August. At the time of the injury, he was slashing .308/10/43; the final two months of the year, he hit just .227/3/14 with 33 Ks in 154 at-bats. There's some cause for worry here: Miller's never been, like, super-fantastic at avoiding Ks, but 98 in 437 at-bats is too many to be a good hitter, let alone an MVP like Miller was back in 1968 (.300/23/86 but in classic 1968 fashion the 23 HRs and 86 RBIs led the league). Probably the most disconcerting thing is the lack of power, which has now hit its 3rd season following 2 consecutive 30 HR years in 69 and 70.

Miller's a very good defensive first baseman with 2 Gold Gloves on his trophy wall. He won't win a 3rd this year but only because he missed so much time. He doesn't steal and has never had a sacrifice bunt in his life (which, to be fair, you'd be kind of dumb to order Mike Miller to sacrifice). With the plate discipline, even the bad season added up to an above average season at the plate and solid contribution from a first baseman. If the Red Sox want to contend again, they'll need Miller to figure out the whiffs and recapture the power.

Brian Osborne
RHP No. 14
RR, 6'1" 199 lbs.
Born 1943-12-23

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 MIL MLB | 8      | 17     | 0       | 3.45     | 32     | 32      | 10      | 221.1   | 210    | 100    | 85      | 107     | 101    |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 13     | 10     | 1       | 3.65     | 31     | 28      | 4       | 197.0   | 184    | 83     | 80      | 91      | 102    |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 18     | 8      | 0       | 3.21     | 31     | 31      | 8       | 224.0   | 211    | 90     | 80      | 92      | 128    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Hey, someone's got to be the 4th starter on this team. In fact, even though he was the guy who was managed way more than anyone else in the rotation, Osborne arguably had a better season than a couple of the Big Three. I would argue against that, granted, but the argument for comes down to putting his team in a position to win, especially down the stretch when everything else was falling apart. Osborne picked up 3 of the team's 12 September wins and was 3-1, 3.19 overall for the month.

Osborne's not going to wow you with his stuff and most nights he's better suited for 6 or 7 innings of good use before handing it off to the bullpen. It's wise to remember that just 2 years ago the Brewers tried to use him as their ace and he responded to that by walking more batters than he struck out and finishing the year 8-17.



Michael Pesco
LHP No. 44
LL, 5'12" 198 lbs.
Born 1943-12-01

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BOS MLB | 20     | 14     | 0       | 3.20     | 41     | 41      | 15      | 309.0   | 287    | 117    | 110     | 119     | 254    |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 24     | 10     | 0       | 2.62     | 39     | 39      | 15      | 298.1   | 207    | 94     | 87      | 134     | 245    |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 13     | 17     | 0       | 3.49     | 36     | 36      | 14      | 260.0   | 238    | 116    | 101     | 112     | 175    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Of the Red Sox' Big Three, Michael Pesco's the oldest and also the one who saw the most precipitous rise in his ERA. Also, too, it should be added, he finished with a losing record following back-to-back 20 win campaigns. So what happened? His Ks did drop quite a bit, which also meant that his .195 opponents' average in 72 ballooned to .247 last year, which is still respectable of course, just not "you're gonna have a bad time if you're a hitter" levels. He's always been a kind of an odd duck, generating all those whiffs thanks to a ton of movement on his cut fastball, curve, and change. Those balls also move around a lot and even Pesco sometimes has troubles controlling them. His walks were down last year but he still finished 3rd in the AL in that category, not to mention 4th in wild pitches with 11.

Pesco, like Sanchez below, was also an All-Star Game snub, although I guess it's more understandable why they'd do this to him. He's now the Red Sox elder statesman at pitcher, having been with the team since 1965. He could be with them until 1985 at this rate.

Robert Remus
LF/RF No. 11
RR, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1948-08-26

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BRI AA  | .268     | 82     | 317     | 41     | 85     | 11      | 0       | 3       | 36       | 35      | 38      | 16      |
| 1971 LOU AAA | .091     | 10     | 22      | 1      | 2      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 4       | 5       | 2       |
| 1972 LOU AAA | .316     | 97     | 225     | 33     | 71     | 10      | 1       | 6       | 25       | 37      | 27      | 12      |
| 1973 LOU AAA | .240     | 49     | 179     | 22     | 43     | 8       | 0       | 3       | 16       | 29      | 30      | 19      |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .247     | 45     | 93      | 17     | 23     | 0       | 1       | 1       | 8        | 22      | 13      | 10      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Remus, who wrestles in the offseason under the name Sergeant Slaughter (grossly inappropriate, man!) has been in the Red Sox system since 1968 but only just now saw big-league action. It's easy to see why: he's a guy who hits like a centerfielder and fields like a corner outfielder. Not to say that he's a bad fielder in the corners: he's got a solid arm and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. He's just, in spite of his speed, not a good center fielder: he doesn't seem to track the ball well in balls hit to that part of the outfield and it's iffy that he'll get much better.

If Remus does stick in the majors it'll be because of his speed. He stole 29 bases between AAA Louisville and Boston and that's in spite of getting only around half a season's worth of at-bats. Don't take this to mean he'd challenge Alvin Romero for the steals title if he got to play a whole year; he's still very good at base theft. Remus will also do the little things that can help a team, although usually you want your corner outfielder to not have to be that guy.

The more I look at it, the more I think Remus' real future in the majors is probably with another team. The Red Sox are absolutely loaded in the outfield right now and they're loaded with youth for the most part.

Mike Runfola
2B No. 36
RR, 5'10" 195 lbs.
Born 1945-07-31

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 LOU AAA | .268     | 90     | 339     | 48     | 91     | 16      | 1       | 5       | 45       | 32      | 43      | 6       |
| 1971 BOS MLB |          | 2      | 0       | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| 1972 LOU AAA | .326     | 86     | 285     | 48     | 93     | 17      | 2       | 15      | 53       | 30      | 49      | 9       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .227     | 65     | 194     | 21     | 44     | 6       | 1       | 7       | 31       | 18      | 22      | 4       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

For a team looked at as a contender by many, the Red Sox were sure thin at some positions. Second base, for example: when Brian Long went down with a dislocated shoulder in late April, the only guy in the organization who was ready to go was Mike Runfola, a career AAA farmhand with all of 13 games of experience under his belt. Runfola, it should be noted, was at one point in time the 12th overall pick in the draft so some people in the building still hoped he'd come through on all that potential. While he did flash some really great speed (that didn't show up in the steals stats but trust me, he was a big threat in advancing on the bases) and surprising power he also demonstrated why he's never gotten his big chance before now.

Runfola's kind of a tweener: good sock for an infielder but maybe not so good you'd be happy putting him at DH or first base (and that's assuming this loaded team even has holes there), decent plate discipline but he's not going to be a guy who walks 100 times a year, solid but not fantastic contact in the minor leagues - neither the .326 average at AAA Louisville nor the .227 in the major leagues are a true measure of his value - and the ability to play several positions if not that well.

Speaking of "not that well", Runfola only has an average arm but that could still be enough to push the incumbent third baseman Kristian Schneider for time or to take his job outright. Runfola has next to no experience playing the hot corner in the minor leagues so would have to pick it up in spring training. Weirder things have happened.

Marco Sanchez
RHP No. 31
LR, 6'3" 196 lbs.
Born 1947-06-29

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BOS MLB | 16     | 10     | 0       | 2.40     | 30     | 30      | 13      | 235.2   | 195    | 68     | 63      | 38      | 153    |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 11     | 11     | 0       | 2.60     | 28     | 28      | 13      | 210.2   | 160    | 62     | 61      | 53      | 165    |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 20     | 17     | 0       | 3.39     | 39     | 39      | 18      | 296.2   | 286    | 122    | 112     | 69      | 203    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

The Bosox leaned heavily on Sanchez this year and he continued a worrying trend of not being quite as good in terms of racking up Ws as his ERA and peripherals might suggest. When you pitch as much in a season as Sanchez did - this was easily a career high in IP and 3rd in the AL - you wind up in the top 10 in losses. Sanchez also led the AL in complete games and was one of just 9 players in either league to hit the 20 victory mark. He is, when everything's working for him, one of the top pitchers in the league. Last year the Ks were a bit down from a rate of 7.0 K/9; of course, all the extra innings made it look like he was back better than ever in that regard. He still had his normal pinpoint control and if you were worried that the downswing in strikeouts was due to a drop in velocity, scouts say you shouldn't worry about that: he's still got the same low-to-mid 90s fastball he always has.

Sanchez was a notable All-Star snub last season, which says more about the way OOTP votes in guys than any lack of ability on his part. Sanchez made the AS game in both 71 and 72 and I'd be a little surprised if he doesn't make it 3 out of 4 in 74.

Kristian Schneider
3B No. 4
LR, 5'11" 199 lbs.
Born 1940-06-07

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BOS MLB | .278     | 106    | 403     | 50     | 112    | 23      | 1       | 8       | 58       | 30      | 48      | 2       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .262     | 132    | 473     | 61     | 124    | 23      | 7       | 14      | 75       | 36      | 74      | 0       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .234     | 132    | 445     | 43     | 104    | 13      | 7       | 7       | 58       | 39      | 62      | 6       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Schneider's been a pretty underrated player forever. The expansion Senators' starter midway through year 2 of their existence on all the way to 1970, his triple-slash of 270/311/396 doesn't look like much but in the context of the 60s and that ballpark it was kind of great. He got noticed enough to reach 2 All-Star Games with that team, adding a 3rd in 1971. Now Schneider's 33 and unfortunately time is kind of mean with it. Schneider hit for the lowest average of his career in 1973 (he did hit .235 in 1967 but again, this was in Griffith Stadium, and .001 higher is still higher), failed to crest .300 in on-base percentage, and even in the field he committed 27 errors and posted a .919 fielding average.

Schneider still covers a decent amount of ground so the errors aren't all she wrote out there but those are a lot of errors. He's got decent speed for a guy entering his mid-30s and will charge hard into 2nd to break up the double play. He's been increasingly asked to bunt the past few years and has come through when needed. He's one of those guys who doesn't work a second job in the offseason and instead devotes his time to staying in shape and honing his craft. All in all, Schneider's a good guy to have on your team... when he's not hitting .234, at least.

Dwight Schultz
RHO No. 12
RR, 6'0" 198 lbs.
Born 1947-11-21

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 LOU AAA | 14     | 10     | 0       | 4.42     | 28     | 28      | 3       | 197.1   | 177    | 105    | 97      | 120     | 109    |
| 1971 BOS MLB | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0.00     | 1      | 0       | 0       | 1.0     | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0       | 1      |
| 1972 LOU AAA | 12     | 5      | 0       | 3.92     | 24     | 24      | 4       | 163.0   | 147    | 77     | 71      | 78      | 101    |
| 1972 BOS MLB | 1      | 1      | 0       | 2.67     | 7      | 4       | 1       | 33.2    | 22     | 10     | 10      | 14      | 22     |
| 1973 LOU AAA | 1      | 2      | 0       | 3.94     | 8      | 8       | 1       | 45.2    | 40     | 21     | 20      | 15      | 33     |
| 1973 BOS MLB | 4      | 4      | 0       | 3.19     | 17     | 6       | 0       | 62.0    | 66     | 23     | 22      | 24      | 31     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Schultz, a 3rd round pick out of college in 1969, entered the 1973 season in the Louisville rotation for the 3rd straight year. It must be rough being a Red Sox starting pitching prospect but "Mad Dog Murdock" (look, don't ask me why that's his nickname)(it's because he was on the A-Team, you know, I know, now be quiet) did pretty well, if not from a won-lost perspective and got what he hopes will be his final call-up in mid-season. At first he was tried in the rotation and a bit of long relief but in September they decided to cast him in a bigger role, mostly as a set-up man in the bullpen, and he showed that maybe starting won't be his thing going forward, fashioning a 1-0, 1.56 record with only 4 walks in 17.1 IP.

Murdock, ideally, throws nothing but gas, which, the more I look at it, the more I see that his future is in the bullpen. You'd love to see the K rates go up and maybe that will happen once he's able to rely even more heavily on a fastball that touches 97 on occasion that he likes to pair with a split-finger fastball that for once lives up to its "fast" name. He's also a natural leader with a good work ethic; really a guy you want to have on your team if you can make it happen at all.

Bruce Springsteen
OF No. 23
LL, 5'12" 190 lbs.
Born 1949-07-29

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DAN A   | .275     | 64     | 236     | 32     | 65     | 9       | 1       | 7       | 27       | 39      | 43      | 8       |
| 1971 MIL MLB | .290     | 32     | 124     | 16     | 36     | 4       | 0       | 9       | 21       | 10      | 25      | 2       |
| 1972 BOS MLB | .306     | 103    | 369     | 48     | 113    | 30      | 4       | 10      | 59       | 39      | 49      | 3       |
| 1973 BOS MLB | .301     | 150    | 595     | 83     | 179    | 38      | 7       | 8       | 67       | 57      | 71      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

"The Boss" really made a mark on the game in his sophomore season. He got off the ground well, including a .404 May, made his second All-Star Game, and was in among the league leaders in hitting until a really bad September (.176, 0, 8) that you could chalk up to his being tire, never having played so much baseball in one season, weighed him down. The ball comes hard off his bat and finds itself in the outfield corners a lot. While he's neither a big threat to hit a lot of dingers or steal a base, the contact tool alone makes him an elite player.

Springsteen's also a very good left fielder, so good in fact that he filled in in center in 19 starts for the Red Sox last year. The Boss has very sure hands - although he did somehow manage to commit 7 errors last year for a .967 FA... look, I'm just going off what the scouts tell me - and an above average range and arm. He's not a big steal threat and the team mostly used him as the lead man on hit-and-runs last year, owing to an abysmal 1/9 steal rate. I have no idea why he was asked to sacrifice 4 times; not only is his bat much better used for contact, he's not really that good at the bunt. Bruce is a guy who primarily thinks about chords and writing songs about the working man, not baseball; he's not about to win a baseball trivia contest any time soon.

Springsteen is now officially a 2-time All-Star - he made it in 1972 right before he got hurt and missed an entire month - and the man's only 24. If he can avoid more Septembers, I see multiple batting titles in this young rock star's future.

[Syd Thrift]

All riiiight... it's been like a week real-time, I've gotten enough of the "missed game" taste out of my mouth to go back and redo Game 3. It's still the strikeout-master but homer-prone Edgar Molina (1-0, 2.35) vs the Padres' youthful staff ace Steven Tyler (1-0, 6.75), this time for reals!

It's clear and 60 degrees out for this one. Oh boy, Southern California!

Top 1st: CF Alvin Romero grounds out 4-3. RF Frankie Faison hits one to the right of first baseman Carlos Palacios, who scoops it up and throws to P Steven Tyler for the out. 2B Joey Ramone hits a line drive right at the first baseman. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: RF Ed O'Neill strikes out swinging at a forkball. Phil McGraw flies out to center. Dale Earnhardt just stares at a low to mid 90s fastball on a 2-2 count to retire the side. 0-0.

Top 2nd: 3B Jose Ayala hits a one-hopper into right field for a leadoff base hit. 1B Niki Lauda hits into a 4-6-3 double play. LF Danny Hohman drives one into right that gets past Ed O'Neill and hits the wall for a double. SS Rob Curran hits one into right and turns it into a 2-out clutch RBI! It's a base hit with the speedy Hohman scoring from 2nd. 1-0! C Armando Flores belts one into deep left-center field! It's not going to clear the fences but it does bounce off the wall and by the time Phil McGraw gets it in, Curran's already scored from 1st base! 2-0! P Edgar Molina grounds out 4-3. 2-0, Tigers.

Bottom 2nd: 2B Paul McCartney strikes out on 3 pitches. Edgar Molina's gotten to 2 strikes on every hitter he's faced so far. 1B Carlos Palacios walks. LF Ian Everett grounds into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. 2-0, Tigers.

Top 3rd: Romero leads off with a walk. I was expecting him to steal immediately but instead Frankie Faison swings at the first pitch and drills it into right. Ed O'Neill charges it and gets on it immediately but the relay to 3rd base is still not in time, and Faison gets to 2nd on the throw. Tyler strikes out Joey Ramone on a 3-2 fastball, swinging, that was at least a foot too high out of the strike zone. He'll pitch to Ayala. Ayala lines out to Paul McCartney at 2nd and this time Alvin Romero's aggression gets the better of him, as he's caught off base and the inning ends on a L4-3 double play. 2-0, Tigers.

Bottom 3rd: Joe Wicker hits a grounder to short that SS Rob Curran juuust manages to throw in time to first for the out. C Oliver Williams strikes out swinging. Steven Tyler also whiffs to retire the side. 2-0, Tigers.

Top 4th: Niki Lauda grounds out 4-3. Danny Hohman drills one into the left-center gap. It takes a weird bounce off the wall and he steams into third base ahead of the Phil McGraw throw! Rob Curran walks this time to set up the double play (note: not intentionally). The bottom of the Tigers order continues to kill Steven Tyler as Flores hits an RBI single up the middle to make it a 3-0 ballgame! Rob Curran holds up at 2nd. Edgar Molina, holder of that career .059 average, lays down a nice bunt that goes as a 2-4 sacrifice with both runners moving up 90 feet. Alvin Romero hits a soft liner right at 2B Paul McCartney to retire the side. 3-0, Tigers.

Bottom 4th: Ed O'Neill grounds out 4-3. Dr. Phil hits a can of corn to center. Dale Earnhardt grounds out 5-3. 3-0, Tigers.

Top 5th: Faison walks to lead it off. That's Steven Tyler's 3rd walk today and his 8th of the postseason in 16 IP. Make that 4 and 9 as he loses Joey Ramone on a 3-1 fastball in the dirt. Make that 3 straight walks, this one to Jose Ayala, and now the bases are loaded with nobody out. For a rock musician, Tyler sure isn't handling the stage of the World Series well. Lauda pops out to Dale Earnhardt in front of 3rd and gives the Pads a shred of hope: they can get out of the inning with a double play. Or that... Danny Hohman strikes out looking for the 2nd out. Rob Curran hits a hot grounder that juuust gets past Paul McCartney into right field! Faison scores! 4-0! Here comes Joey Ramone to score! 5-0! The relay goes to third base and... they catch Ayala for the final out of the inning! 5-0, but it could have been worse! It's still pretty bad!

Bottom 5th: McCartney grounds out to short. He's now hitting just .217 in the postseason, speaking of guys wilting in the limelight. Carlos Palacios hits a hot grounder up the middle... SS Rob Curran dives for it, gets up, and throws him out in time! Ian Everett follows with another sure single past 2B Joey Ramone... that also turns into a diving stop and a 4-3 out! 5-0, Tigers, and something is happening right now that I can't say out loud because that would be a jinx.

Top 6th: Steven Tyler walks Armando Flores to lead it off. That's already 6 walks and he's up to 95 pitches. Molina tries to bunt, gets to 2 strikes, and then whiffs for Tyler's 2nd strikeout. Ramone hits a grounder past 3B Dale Earnhardt for a base hit, the catcher in front of him only moving up 90 feet. Frankie Faison hits one into right. Armando Flores isn't the fastest guy in the world but I guess he's not suuuper slow for a catcher... anyway he rounds 3rd to test that arm... and scores! 6-0 and Romero and Faison are on 2nd and 3rd. Tyler's not tired but maaaan we've got a game to win here; I'm calling the bullpen.

The new guy is Ruben Estrada, who's given up 2 runs on 5 hits in 1.1 IP so far this postseason. He was better in the regular season, I promise. With 1st base open... man, I hate putting the bat directly into the hands of the Joker, Jose Ayala, but we need the out at any base so the intentional walk is called. Ayala makes it academic by flying out to center field. Alvin Romero tags up and scores and it's 7-0 now! Niki Lauda hits one into the dirt in front of home plate; C Oliver Williams pounces on it easily and throws to first for the final out of the inning. 7-0, Tigers.

Bottom 6th: I'm not going to say what's happening - yet - but I will say that Molina has thrown to the minimum 15 batters so far in this game. Wicker strikes out. That's the 6th K Molina's recorded tonight. Williams grounds out 5-3. Pinch-hitting for the pitcher is Elijah Johnson; I'll save Dr. Jack for later. He grounds out 3-unassisted to retire the side. 7-0, Tigers.

Top 7th: With a couple lefties due up I'll bring in the southpaw Dan Pineau, who pitched 2/3rds of an inning the other night and previously threw a scoreless inning in that Game 1 13-10 stunner at Philadelphia. Danny Hohman's 2-3 with 2 runs scored tonight but he's been switching it up with LF Tom Berenger all season long so in comes the young actor. Berenger singles to left. Rob Curran's also been in a platoon all year but at this point with a 7-0 game I'll leave Curran and his superstar glove in this one. Pineau throws a 1-1 pitch into the dirt and it gets all the way to the backstop. Berenger moves up 90 feet on the wild pitch. 2 pitches later, Curran grounds out 3U with Berenger getting to 3rd. You intentionally walk the catcher here, right? I do that. Molina strikes out swinging and now all Pineau has to do to get out of this inning is to get the lefty batter Alvin Romero out. He does with another 3U grounder. 7-0, Tigers.

Bottom 7th: Tom Berenger takes over in left field. Edgar Molina is now 9 outs away from - turn your radios down, superstitious fans! - the first no-hitter in World Series history. WELP. I JINXED IT MYSELF. Molina loses the no-no and the shutout all at once as the leadoff man Ed O'Neill belts one into the right field stands for a leadoff homerun. 7-1! Dr. Phil grounds out 4-3. Molina by the way pitched 4 shutouts this year. How? He seems to give up at least 1 tater every single game. Dale Earnhardt grounds to short and it takes a good play by Rob Curran to throw him out. Paul McCartney hits a homerun to left-center! That's his 1st HR of the postseason and now it's 7-2! Palacios lines out to 2nd. 7-2, Tigers.

Top 8th: Someone's throwing in the bullpen - I don't have the warmup rule on to preserve my own sanity - but Pineau will stay in to face one last left-handed batter in Frankie Faison. Faison strikes out swinging and it's time to make that call...

On the mound is human scumbag Roy Moore, who allowed 2 runs on 4 hits in 1 inning in Game 2. Overall he's got a 9.00 ERA in the playoffs. Joey Ramone singles into right field. Ayala pops out to second. Moore jams Lauda on a 1-2 fastball and gets him to ground out quietly to 2nd. 7-2, Tigers.

Bottom 8th: Molina's still only thrown 75 pitches and I hate that I'm even contemplating pulling him. Well... after Paul McCartney there's not a lot of power in this lineup. Everett singles up the middle; it's the first hit in play off Molina all game long. Wicker strikes out - #7 on the night for Molina. Williams grounds out 4-3 for 2 out. Coming on in to pinch-hit for the pitcher is Dr. Jack Holman, who did have 2 HRs in 100 ABs in the regular season. He flies to center; it's no trouble for Alvin Romero, who catches it for the final out. 7-2, Tigers.

Top 9th: I'm bringing in the setup man Robbie Vaughn to keep Darius Parchman fully rested for Game 4. And hey, it's not like Vaugh is conceding the game or anything; he was 4-2, 1.34 in the regular season with 6 saves and has thrown 3.1 scoreless innings in the postseason. Berenger hits one over SS Rob Curran but Curran climbs the ladder for the line drive out. Curran flies to right. Flores hits a 2 out double into right field that will probably be for nothing because Edgar Molina's going to try to finish this game. Molina does in fact strike out to retire the side. 7-2, Tigers.

Bottom 9th: One defensive replacement here: 3B Joe Theismann will take over for Jose Ayala at the hot corner. Molina, as noted, will stay in here to pitch to the top of the Padres' order. Ed O'Neill, who homered in his last at-bat, hits a little roller in front of home plate that winds up being a base hit. Imagine if that was hit #1 of this game and not hit #4... Dr. Phil hits a slow grounder to 2nd base. Joey Ramone takes it the short way to 2nd base for out #1. Dale Earnhardt hits a slow looping line drive right at SS Rob Curran for the 2nd out. Now it's up to Paul McCartney... he grounds out 4-3 to end this one!

Well, it wasn't nearly as exciting as the first try through but the result was the same. The Tigers have sent the Padres to the brink and it'll take a good amount of effort just to not end this series in San Diego.

[Syd Thrift]

Recap: It might look like a regular old .500ish season and maybe even a step forward from 1972 but 1973 was a topsy-turvy year for the Angels. After starting the season 6-9, they went 22-7 from April 28 to the end of May to find themselves half a game up on the Rangers. Then a 1-8 swing to open June led to a 9-21 month, followed by a 12-17 July, and suddenly as of the All-Star Break they were just 47-49 and 13 1/2 games behind Texas. And theeeen, starting in August, they rattled off 5 straight wins against the Rangers and the A's which at least got them back to .500. They finished 17-9 that and as of the morning of September 1 they were 8 1/2 games back, still within shouting distance. Then they finally put together a .500 month to end the year.

The Angels had a very finesse-y pitching staff, even after the acquisition of ace closer Montay Luiso, and were kind of middle of the pack in just about everything. Again, though, this is a little deceiving: "middle of the pack" in this case means they had a couple of good, solid frontline guys but also some awful play coming from guys who were supposed to be solid veterans. The defense, which has been really solid in the past when Norm Hodge patrolled centerfield, could best be described as good and solid if not quite great.

1974 Outlook: You'd think this was a young team given their relative lack of success and all. However, the Angels have spent some money and resources over the past couple years trying to contend and their clock is ticking. In order for them to win the AL West crown they're going to probably need a combination of returns to form from veterans such as Andy Ring and Willie Vargas and setbacks by both the White Sox and Rangers. Hate to say it but it looks like the division has already passed the Angels by.

Mike Brookes
3B/DH No. 6
SR, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1938-11-28

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MIN MLB | .275     | 112    | 400     | 73     | 110    | 22      | 2       | 27      | 72       | 73      | 61      | 1       |
| 1972 MIN MLB | .204     | 106    | 362     | 39     | 74     | 12      | 3       | 13      | 34       | 68      | 76      | 4       |
| 1973 PHI MLB | .227     | 50     | 176     | 31     | 40     | 8       | 1       | 4       | 28       | 27      | 29      | 4       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .239     | 42     | 142     | 16     | 34     | 9       | 1       | 1       | 16       | 21      | 23      | 2       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The power outage that Mike Brookes, a 3-time MVP who's 22nd all-time in HRs with 306, suffered in 1972 got even worse last year and by August the longtime Twins stalwart found himself on his 3rd team in 2 years. If anything, the power problem got worse after the August 15 trade, with Brookes hitting his only AL homer of the year in a 15-7 barnburner of a loss to his former teammates in Minnesota. Throughout it all, too, he kept missing time from injury, from a strained PCL that forced him to miss all of June and most of May to a strained hamstring he suffered in mid-September that he simply tried to play through.

The Angels, needless to say, would love to see that power return. Brookes was still largely effective with the Twins in 1972 in spite of the lack of power because he draws so many walks. In fact, in 1970, his last MVP season, he finished just 2 bases on balls off the record set by Henning Rasmussen in 1955, a decade when generally there were a lot more free passes. He still walked a decent amount last year but you have to figure that those totals will drop once pitchers figure out he doesn't have that prodigious homerun stroke anymore. He's still a very good defensive third baseman; although he played 12 times at DH with his new team last year that was mostly to keep his bat in the lineup while he suffered through his latest injury. He's never been a great baserunner and of course when he's suffering through leg injuries he's no threat to do anything on the bases.

Brookes is a naturally funny guy who probably has a career ahead of him as a color commentator when his career is through. Still only 34 as of this writing, we're crossing our fingers that his career isn't through quite yet.

Gary Bruno
RHP No. 35
RR, 5'8" 176 lbs.
Born 1945-09-04

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CAL MLB | 14     | 14     | 0       | 3.27     | 38     | 38      | 11      | 277.2   | 284    | 111    | 101     | 75      | 111    |
| 1972 CAL MLB | 11     | 14     | 0       | 2.99     | 32     | 32      | 8       | 240.2   | 228    | 103    | 80      | 59      | 109    |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 15     | 14     | 0       | 3.23     | 33     | 33      | 12      | 245.0   | 245    | 100    | 88      | 65      | 129    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Bruno's a classic pitch-to-contact pitcher and he was at his pitch-to-contact most in 1973. Even though he reversed the leaguewide trend and struck out more batters last year than the year before, hitters managed to raise their average off of him from .252 to .260. That said, that .260 is kind of all guys get off of him: he allowed only 0.5 HR/9, his lowest rate in 4 years and just outside of the top 10 this year, and 2.4 BB/9, good for 10th. This allowed him to throw a lot of 7-inning, 2-3 run games, as evidenced by the 23 quality starts in 33 outings. Unfortunately for him, his team never seems to score runs around him. Do they not like him? Outside of a 16-8 1970 Bruno has never been appreciably above .500. I should note here, too, that he was really bad at keeping runners on base last season, allowing 18 stealers to take their base.

Bruno's a guy who leaves it all out on the field, pumping his fist when he gets a late strikeout (which to be fair to him is not something he does a lot). He doesn't really have the profile to be a fan favorite unless you're a fan of going to 90 minute long games. He's the Platonic ideal of a mid-rotation starter. Right now it looks like he'll be more of a #2 or #3 on this team but that's an Angels issue more than a Gary Bruno issue.

David Camacho
LHP No. 22
RL, 6'7" 201 lbs.
Born 1941-07-25

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 NYM MLB | 12     | 10     | 0       | 3.81     | 34     | 31      | 4       | 217.0   | 222    | 104    | 92      | 58      | 141    |
| 1972 CAL MLB | 10     | 7      | 0       | 3.40     | 23     | 23      | 5       | 164.0   | 147    | 63     | 62      | 45      | 95     |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 6      | 10     | 0       | 5.24     | 30     | 20      | 3       | 137.1   | 168    | 93     | 80      | 49      | 60     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

"Macho" Camacho (note: not the boxer), along with Carlos Figueroa, was one of the biggest disappointments of the year for an Angels team who really and truly thought they had a chance at contending. Although on paper he stayed healthy all year this year - his 1972 was cut short by tendinitis in his shoulder - the 32 year old Mexican native threw like he was pitching through an injury. He's always been a finesse type pitcher but he just stopped getting strikeouts at all after May: 33 Ks in 80.1 IP from June onwards. He got pulled out of the rotation following a disastrous 2-4, 6.89 July and was barely on the roster through the end of the year: just 9 games and 10.1 IP in August and September.

It's really hard to project Camacho as a successful reliever based on pitching once a week in the second half of the year. He did find ways to be effective, with just 1 run allowed in 11.1 innings in relief, but he still wasn't striking anyone out (only 5 Ks). The drop in stuff, which at least wasn't accompanied by a drop in velo, is really, really discouraging.

Shaun Dennehy
C No. 18
RR, 5'10" 203 lbs.
Born 1943-12-09

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CAL MLB | .248     | 126    | 408     | 45     | 101    | 12      | 2       | 7       | 39       | 63      | 78      | 0       |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .196     | 121    | 321     | 32     | 63     | 9       | 1       | 2       | 28       | 52      | 66      | 0       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .213     | 74     | 211     | 15     | 45     | 3       | 0       | 1       | 17       | 17      | 40      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Dennehy followed up a really terrible 1972 campaign by somehow hitting even worse last year and now the 29 year old's career is in jeopardy. The biggest issue appears to be that he just plain stopped hitting for power. Dennehy's always been a guy who chops at the ball and tries to hit to all fields, which isn't a super great profile for a lead-footed catcher, but in years past he was able to make solid contact often enough to make pitchers a little bit wary. He stopped doing that in 1972 and this past year pitchers seemed to figure that out and often let him "groove" fastballs down the pipe to weak ground balls to shortstop. His walk rate, which was really the only thing that made him stand out among hitters, plummeted and he didn't even post a .500 OPS last year.

Dennehy wont the NL Gold Glove at catcher in 1970 by default and is not really considered a fantastic defensive backstop. He threw out a lot of batters in Atlanta in 1970 but for his career he's got a perfectly pedestrian 34.3% CS rate. He's quite a bit better than teammate Tsui Hark at blocking pitches in the dirt, not that that's saying much, and he's not... terrible at handling a pitching staff. He's very much not a leader though. He'll lay down a bunt, which is just about the only thing he's above average at nowadays.

A guy like Dennehy can still stick around in the league for a while if he doesn't make waves, and he's not really the wave-making type. Right now the Angels really have nothing down the pipe to replace him as a backup. Since he does provide a decent defensive foil for the offensive-minded Hark, he should see a caddy role for at least the next year or two, even if he never finds the hitting stroke again.

Bernd Eichinger
LHP No. 21
LL, 5'10" 177 lbs.
Born 1949-04-11

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 AND A   | 4      | 3      | 0       | 2.79     | 9      | 9       | 6       | 74.0    | 68     | 23     | 23      | 15      | 66     |
| 1971 WIL A   | 5      | 1      | 0       | 2.15     | 7      | 7       | 3       | 54.1    | 52     | 14     | 13      | 21      | 30     |
| 1972 PFD AA  | 8      | 7      | 0       | 1.97     | 16     | 16      | 14      | 141.1   | 117    | 35     | 31      | 27      | 77     |
| 1972 DEN AAA | 8      | 1      | 0       | 2.74     | 11     | 11      | 6       | 88.2    | 73     | 31     | 27      | 22      | 56     |
| 1972 TEX MLB | 4      | 3      | 0       | 2.44     | 10     | 10      | 4       | 77.1    | 62     | 24     | 21      | 31      | 47     |
| 1973 SPO AAA | 4      | 4      | 0       | 3.21     | 10     | 10      | 2       | 70.0    | 78     | 28     | 25      | 14      | 44     |
| 1973 SLC AAA | 10     | 9      | 0       | 3.36     | 21     | 21      | 7       | 160.2   | 141    | 66     | 60      | 46      | 112    |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 4      | 2      | 0       | 2.15     | 6      | 6       | 3       | 46.0    | 42     | 12     | 11      | 18      | 24     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

In order to include good relievers I have a 40 IP minimum to get a write-up here. Sometimes that means that I trawl in guys like Eichinger, who put up 6 Septemver starts. They were good starts, granted. Eichinger was a throw-in in the Chris Seek for Bobby Ramirez and Tanzan Kihara trade and wasn't necessarily expected to see time this year but 14 wins between AAA Spokane and Salt Lake City combined with, frankly, a lot of mess with the major league starting rotation earned him an early shot.

Eichinger did strike out a decent amount of people in the minor leagues so unlike a lot of the guys ahead of him right now, you should expect the K rate to go up. On the other hand he's very much not a fireballer: he's worked hard to improve his velo from "can't break a pane of glass" as of spring training 1972 to "hits 90 on a good day" as of now. To make up for it he has command of 5 interesting pitches, including... wait for it... a nice changeup and a splitter that looks practically identical to his 4-seamer before tailing off at the last moment. He had some issues controlling that pitch in the major leagues but you can probably chalk that up to jitters.

Eichinger turns 25 just after the season begins and the future looks bright. I'd still expect him to begin the season in AAA but you never know...

Jared Ferrell
OF No. 9
LL, 6'2" 201 lbs.
Born 1946-05-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DAN A   | .000     | 1      | 4       | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 0       | 2       | 0       |
| 1971 EVA AAA | .315     | 33     | 111     | 18     | 35     | 5       | 0       | 7       | 18       | 18      | 18      | 0       |
| 1971 MIL MLB | .287     | 104    | 279     | 46     | 80     | 16      | 2       | 19      | 49       | 40      | 47      | 1       |
| 1972 MIL MLB | .202     | 30     | 114     | 11     | 23     | 6       | 0       | 3       | 10       | 13      | 19      | 0       |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .260     | 70     | 181     | 15     | 47     | 7       | 0       | 5       | 24       | 18      | 36      | 0       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .282     | 91     | 284     | 32     | 80     | 17      | 1       | 8       | 43       | 31      | 54      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Now a 3 year veteran, the 27 year old Ferrell has settled into a role as a platoon / 4th outfielder. He doesn't really do anything to "wow" you but when you add up all the parts he's a solidly above average ballplayer. I don't really have a huge amount to say about this guy, honestly: if he can fnd that power swing that got him 19 HRs in 279 at-bats with Milwaukee a couple years ago he could rise out of platoon obscurity but as it stands he's fine.

Carlos Figueroa
RHP No. 36
RR, 6'1" 198 lbs.
Born 1946-05-04

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 LAD MLB | 11     | 14     | 0       | 4.69     | 31     | 29      | 3       | 201.1   | 219    | 112    | 105     | 97      | 168    |
| 1972 LAD MLB | 8      | 18     | 0       | 3.42     | 31     | 31      | 5       | 233.2   | 215    | 93     | 89      | 95      | 192    |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 6      | 13     | 0       | 5.10     | 31     | 21      | 7       | 158.2   | 169    | 103    | 90      | 62      | 85     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Carlos Figueroa's 1972 season could best be described as hard luck: despite collecting almost 200 strikeouts, he led the NL in losses for a Dodgers team that hadn't yet fallen apart. That was enough to make the Angels trade across the city - man, this team looooves to trade with the Dodgers - sending back a pitcher in Ken Hansen who'd gone 14-16, 2.46 and an exciting CF prospect in Anatoly Karpov - to get him. Then this year the luck just plain ran out. Pitching to a new league, Figueroa's K rate fell almost in half and he allowed 32 HRs in 158.2 IP. On the road he was 1-7 with a 6.06 ERA and 2.2 HRs allowed per 9 innings.

Figueroa also didn't respond super well to adjustments the pitching coaches wanted him to make - he seems to be kind of uncoachable - and the team pretty well gave up on him from the All-Star break on. He pitched in just 8 games, 2 starts, from August 1 to the end of the year. He'll be in the running for a rotation job this year but maaaan, he's got to improve.

Tsui Hark
C No. 46
RR, 6'1" 201 lbs.
Born 1950-02-14

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 QC A    | .298     | 34     | 114     | 22     | 34     | 7       | 0       | 2       | 15       | 24      | 22      | 0       |
| 1971 SHR AA  | .289     | 54     | 194     | 22     | 56     | 10      | 0       | 4       | 14       | 25      | 33      | 1       |
| 1971 SLC AAA | .313     | 5      | 16      | 2      | 5      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 4       | 2       | 0       |
| 1972 SLC AAA | .274     | 79     | 237     | 40     | 65     | 11      | 3       | 7       | 30       | 41      | 32      | 0       |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .327     | 34     | 49      | 9      | 16     | 2       | 0       | 2       | 8        | 16      | 4       | 0       |
| 1973 SLC AAA | .323     | 53     | 189     | 30     | 61     | 13      | 0       | 7       | 21       | 24      | 21      | 0       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .268     | 86     | 265     | 40     | 71     | 13      | 0       | 7       | 45       | 67      | 35      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Hark came up in the second half of 1972 and was used quite a bit as a pinch-hitter and sometimes backup catcher to great effect. Nevertheless, management decided it was best to try to give the 23 year old another year of seasoning in the minors before bringing him up for good. At least that was the plan. In reality, Shaun Dennehy failed to rebound from a bad 1972 and his anointed backup Mauricio Alvarez hit just .094 with no extra base hits over 53 at-bats in the first half. Hark, who was named the #23 prospect coming into the season, was called up, probably for good this time, on June 3rd.

It wasn't just seasoning that kept the Angels from sticking Hark at catcher. Hark already has the reputation for being a less than great defensive backstop. He's got a decent enough arm and did throw out 38.2% of runners who tried to steal on him but he's got some real problems when it comes to knocking down pitches that go where he doesn't expect him to go. Hark allowed 7 passed balls in 82 starts at catcher and probably would have given up more if it wasn't for a control-focused pitching staff.

On the other hand, the hitting looks like it's for real. No, he didn't sustain the .327 average or near-.500 OBP but the .411 he did finish with would have been the 4th highest in all of baseball had he qualified. He's also got some nice pop for a catcher, pop that scouts project to 15-20 HRs when everything is all said and done. He's as slow as you'd expect a catcher to be and even though the Angels had him lay down 5 sacrifice bunts last year that's really not a great part of his game.

Hark, a Vietnamese film-maker now living in Hong Kong, clearly doesn't have his heart all the way set on baseball. Even the 80% or so he's willing to give the game makes him potentially one of the better hitting catchers in the game today.

Elijah Harper
RHP No. 1
RR, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1949-02-26

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1972 SHR AA  | 1      | 0      | 0       | 2.99     | 1      | 1       | 1       | 9.0     | 5      | 3      | 3       | 7       | 4      |
| 1972 SLC AAA | 6      | 6      | 0       | 3.12     | 17     | 17      | 3       | 121.0   | 103    | 44     | 42      | 56      | 52     |
| 1973 SLC AAA | 9      | 7      | 0       | 2.00     | 22     | 22      | 7       | 170.2   | 133    | 50     | 38      | 68      | 100    |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 7      | 5      | 0       | 2.68     | 12     | 12      | 5       | 94.0    | 73     | 29     | 28      | 40      | 50     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

24 year old Elijah Harper has been, frankly, rushed since coming out of college in 1972. In fairness to the Angels' development staff, he's looked good at every level and that includes the major leagues last year. Ideally you'd like your young pitching prospects to show a bit more power than Harper has but you play with what you have, not what you want, and the Angels suuuure do seem to have a type: Harper's yet another finesse groundball pitcher whose out pitch is a changeup.

Harper is a member of the Oji-Cree tribe who even at his young age does a lot of community development work in his home province of Manitoba. He's a guy who has a bigger picture than baseball and this seems to keep him grounded: you're not likely to see him get mad when he pitches too much or too little, and although he's been purely a starter since he was drafted he would pitch in any situation without complaint. This year I'd surely prefer him in the back of the rotation over the vets but that kind of thing is what spring training is for.

Carlos Hernandez
CF/RF No. 11
RR, 5'10" 196 lbs.
Born 1942-03-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CLE MLB | .279     | 51     | 179     | 16     | 50     | 6       | 0       | 3       | 15       | 8       | 23      | 2       |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .281     | 137    | 565     | 53     | 159    | 16      | 7       | 9       | 61       | 30      | 53      | 8       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .290     | 147    | 594     | 67     | 172    | 29      | 3       | 10      | 70       | 25      | 51      | 4       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

In his second season with the Angels, Carlos Hernandez posted his best raw numbers since he hit .296/13/57 with Clevelend in 1970. You could argue that this year was even better given that the Big A is much more of a pitcher's park than the Mistake on the Lake. On the other hand, he did have 198 hits that year and that's what pays the bills for a guy like him.

Hernandez has a natural inside-out swing and sometimes falls in love with his (40-grade) power and tries to pull everything. When this happens he usually still makes good contact, it's just, those balls wind up going right at the 3rd baseman or the left fielder. He's never exactly been a speed demon but last year was just 4/11 on steals and grounded into a career high 19 double plays. The Angels used him in center for 49 games which was a giant mistake even if they didn't have Josh Pierce available: even if he did play the position in Cleveland he has average range at best and an arm that's much better suited to right field.

Hernandez was famously traded to California after being suspended for most of the 1971 season, which in turn came when teammate Ernesto Garcia accused him of pulling a gun on him in the locker room. That may or may not have been true but the Indians had to choose to believe someone and in the end they chose their star slugger. We haven't seen anything crazy like that from Hernandez since he's been in Cal; he's not exactly the first person to show up at the park or anything (closer to the last in fact) but the worst that could be said about him is that sometimes he loafs. For now, he's producing well enough to ignore that sort of thing.

Rodrigo Juarez
2B No. 10
RR, 5'7" 154 lbs.
Born 1947-01-15

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SF MLB  | .237     | 126    | 459     | 67     | 109    | 18      | 4       | 17      | 69       | 54      | 75      | 2       |
| 1972 SF MLB  | .219     | 138    | 521     | 65     | 114    | 17      | 1       | 26      | 76       | 53      | 101     | 2       |
| 1973 SF MLB  | .200     | 3      | 10      | 1      | 2      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 0       | 5       | 0       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .282     | 144    | 547     | 80     | 154    | 21      | 2       | 23      | 88       | 58      | 127     | 3       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Acquired from the Giants in April for shortstop prospect and bass player John Deacon, Rodrigo Juarez was plugged into the cleanup role and delivered all season long. Second basemen don't usually hit for the kind of power Juarez is capable of, and after having trouble making contact in 1972 Juarez upped his batting average by 60 points last season, earning him his 2nd trick to the All-Star Game. His worst month was his first one, where he hit just .163 overall and 6-41 with the Angels figuring out the strike zone in the new league. The very next month he hit .365 with 8 HRs and 29 RBIs.

With a line like that you'd expect Juarez to be a dead-pull mistake hitter but in point of fact he likes high balls to the inside or outside part of the plate. He does hit everything with a big uppercut, which is part of why he strikes out so much. Of course, you get to round the bases for free if you hit the ball with an uppercut and hard enough so it's a good trade-off. Rodrigo is a better fielder than he sometimes gets credit for: he's got good range and hands and turned 124 DPs last season.

1973 was a career year for the high-strung Juarez. You probably have to expect a bit of regression in the average. At the same time, if anything he didn't hit for all the power he's got the potential to hit with. He's certainly one of the better cleanup men, not to mention second basemen, in the game today.

Bobby Kraljevic
3B No. 16
LR, 5'11" 204 lbs.
Born 1943-06-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CIN MLB | .241     | 143    | 497     | 58     | 120    | 20      | 2       | 12      | 58       | 87      | 67      | 1       |
| 1972 CIN MLB | .249     | 104    | 305     | 32     | 76     | 12      | 2       | 3       | 29       | 49      | 52      | 2       |
| 1973 CIN MLB | .272     | 54     | 195     | 26     | 53     | 6       | 1       | 3       | 22       | 38      | 21      | 0       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .189     | 53     | 169     | 26     | 32     | 6       | 1       | 1       | 16       | 31      | 16      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The Reds finally had enough of Bobby K's sniping and backbiting in the locker room and they shipped him off to the Angels in June for practically nothing: just two mid to low tier pitching prospects. It turns out that the joke was on California, as Kraljevic left his bat in Cincinnati. The attitude, unfortunately, traveled just fine and he was very, very unhappy when the team pulled the trigger for the second time in the season to acquire a third baseman. Bobby K barely played from August forward, getting just 43 at-bats in 17 games with 8 hits.

When Kraljevic is playing well, which cannot be said about last year in the AL, he can exhaust the opposing pitcher with foul ball after foul ball until they finally give up and walk him or give him a ball he can stroke for a solid base hit. He finished 2nd in the NL in 1970 with 123 walks and followed that up with a 6th place finish in 71. He's normally got a decent power stroke with a career high 14 HRs in 1970 although that's been absent for 2 seasons now. Defensively he's got a great arm and is good enough at the other things to make him an above average if not Gold Glove quality catcher.

Kraljevic has almost certainly already worn out his welcome in Anaheim. If he even makes it to spring training it'll only be because Mike Brookes isn't healthy yet. I'm sure some bad team will want to give him another chance to play every day though.

Montay Luiso
LHP No. 2
LL, 5'11" 201 lbs.
Born 1937-12-19

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 BAL MLB | 11     | 8      | 25      | 3.34     | 69     | 0       | 0       | 105.0   | 108    | 47     | 39      | 17      | 73     |
| 1972 BAL MLB | 5      | 6      | 27      | 2.46     | 63     | 0       | 0       | 80.1    | 66     | 22     | 22      | 21      | 69     |
| 1973 BAL MLB | 0      | 1      | 7       | 2.25     | 19     | 0       | 0       | 28.0    | 24     | 9      | 7       | 5       | 16     |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 3      | 2      | 8       | 2.68     | 30     | 0       | 0       | 50.1    | 41     | 15     | 15      | 19      | 27     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

The Angels paid a pretty penny to acquire the veteran closer Montay Luiso from the Orioles - 2B prospect Kurt Russell - and then, following a rough June (0-1, 5.56) didn't use him the way Luiso has shown he can be used in the past. On the one hand, you have to think "come on man, the time is now"; on the other, Luiso is 35 years old and the slightly lower work rate did pay dividends in July and August at least.

Luiso throws both a 4-seam fastball and a cutter for strikes, although he no longer throws those quite as fast as he did a couple years ago. These days it'll inch over 90 mph on a good day, still plenty fast. This year the lower velocity also allowed him to really hit the zone hard in his time in California, with just 1.6 BB/9 and 2 HRs allowed with California. He's every bit as crafty as you'd think a guy like him would be, with a great pickoff move that runners have learned that you just don't even try to run on.

Luiso has a bit of a reputation as a clubhouse lawyer. That rep wasn't enough to get him off the Orioles, where he spent nearly a decade after being drafted by the Giants. He's one of the few players left in the game who pitched major league baseball in the 1950s, having debuted in 1959. He's 2nd all time in saves with 305, behind Dodgers ace (and Hall of Famer) Bill Cory, who saved 350 games for Brooklyn and LA. He won't pass that mark this year but even if 15 saves is the new normal for him, that puts him on pace to get there in 1976.

Derek Massey
LHP No. 23
LL, 5'10" 188 lbs.
Born 1945-12-14

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 ALB AAA | 5      | 12     | 7       | 3.38     | 40     | 16      | 4       | 154.1   | 149    | 64     | 58      | 73      | 64     |
| 1972 ALB AAA | 5      | 11     | 0       | 2.83     | 22     | 22      | 8       | 171.2   | 134    | 57     | 54      | 87      | 115    |
| 1972 LAD MLB | 1      | 1      | 1       | 3.85     | 10     | 2       | 0       | 23.1    | 17     | 10     | 10      | 12      | 15     |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 1      | 4      | 1       | 3.97     | 34     | 0       | 0       | 43.0    | 38     | 19     | 19      | 19      | 28     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Massey, a throw-in in the Ken Hansen for Carlos Figueroa trade, spent the 1973 season as the Angels' designated left-handed specialist. Look, we are not in the LOOGY era just yet so that can mean 3-04 games and 40+ IP. Massey bucked the team trend and struck out a decent amount of guys but was perhaps just a little bit too valuable in his bullpen role to get a shot at starting. He does have the stamina and the pitch selection for it and he did look pretty decent in AAA Albuquerque in 71 and 72.

Hey, what do you know about that! Massey's arsenal includes, and I quote my scout here, "an outstanding changeup". Yeah, Derek, you and literally every single other Angels pitcher. He also throws a forkball and both a 2-seam and 4-seam fastball and in spite of not a lot of velocity he does a good job of keeping the ball down in the strike zone even when he's a little on the wild side. He ended the season pretty, pretty badly, with 8 runs allowed in his final 7.2 IP but you can blame at least some of that to rust: those innings were stretched out over 10 games in the final 2 months of the year.

Massey is waaaay down on the list for the Angels in 1974 but could certainly still find a role as a lefty... one inning guy.

Moises Melendez
RHP No. 29
RR, 6'5" 202 lbs.
Born 1948-01-24

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 SF MLB  | 14     | 10     | 0       | 2.84     | 32     | 32      | 6       | 234.1   | 215    | 86     | 74      | 52      | 102    |
| 1972 SF MLB  | 12     | 10     | 0       | 2.81     | 29     | 29      | 8       | 217.1   | 183    | 70     | 68      | 50      | 118    |
| 1973 SF MLB  | 7      | 6      | 0       | 2.70     | 17     | 17      | 7       | 129.2   | 124    | 46     | 39      | 38      | 68     |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 8      | 5      | 0       | 2.19     | 16     | 15      | 5       | 115.0   | 109    | 33     | 28      | 37      | 51     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Moises "Duck" Melendez looked like a potential staff ace in San Francisco only held back by a lack of offensive support. He continued to look like that guy in Anaheim. Don't look too hard under the hood, however: the same low-K issues that plagued teammates Carlos Figueroa and David Camacho affected Melendez as well. In fact, he struck out just 4 batters per 9 innings upon coming to the City of Angels, which is very severely at "uh oh" levels.

Melendez has always been a guy who forces you to beat him with multiple base hits. He allowed 11 HRs total and just 4 with the Angels last year, the lowest rate of his career, and he induced enough ground balls to generate 28 double plays, 12th in baseball. And you look at him pitching on the mound and that low to mid 90s fastball in particular and you think he should get more Ks than he does. Melendez won't turn 26 until January so perhaps he has room to improve. As it stands, he figures to be a top guy for this team.

Andy O'Connor
RHP No. 34
RR, 6'0" 192 lbs.
Born 1944-06-24

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 SLC AAA | 8      | 10     | 0       | 4.05     | 24     | 24      | 0       | 157.2   | 149    | 85     | 71      | 109     | 88     |
| 1971 CAL MLB | 0      | 1      | 0       | 2.63     | 4      | 1       | 0       | 13.2    | 5      | 4      | 4       | 12      | 9      |
| 1972 SLC AAA | 18     | 4      | 0       | 2.13     | 27     | 27      | 2       | 189.1   | 121    | 55     | 45      | 102     | 106    |
| 1972 CAL MLB | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0.74     | 4      | 1       | 0       | 12.0    | 6      | 1      | 1       | 4       | 13     |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 9      | 3      | 3       | 4.64     | 41     | 9       | 1       | 116.1   | 114    | 63     | 60      | 66      | 71     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Don't be fooled by the wins and losses: Andy O'Connor was all over the place last year. At times he looked great: in May he threw 13 games and 23.1 IP in relief and went 6-1(!) with a 1.16 ERA. At times, like in July and August when he got called on to start, he was average: a combined 3-2 with 4 no-decisions and ERAs of 4.95 and 3.93. And at times he was the worst pitcher in the league, as in September when he went to the mound 7 times in relief, threw 4.1 innings, and allowed 11 runs (10 earned).

Like teammate Andy Ring, O'Connor's out pitch is a change of pace with a lot of movement on it. Like Ring, he had some issues controlling it this year: he allowed more than 5 walks per 9 innings and sometimes went through stretches where he was getting to 2 or 3 balls on every hitter. One thing he did do a decent job of, despite being a flyball pitcher, was keeping the ball in the park for the most part: 8 HRs allowed isn't, like, fantastic or anything but you see a guy prone to wildness and flyballs like this and you'd almost expect that number to be double.

O'Connor captured the imaginations of fans following an 18-4, 2.14 showing in AAA Salt Lake City in 1972. It's clear that that performance was minor league smoke and mirrors. As a major leaguer he's just too wild to be much more than a very up-and-down middle reliever.

Jaco Pastorius
OF No. 8
LR, 6'0" 195 lbs.
Born 1948-09-29

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 QC A    | .000     | 1      | 3       | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| 1971 SHR AA  | .359     | 11     | 39      | 8      | 14     | 3       | 3       | 1       | 6        | 6       | 5       | 3       |
| 1971 SLC AAA | .289     | 55     | 204     | 23     | 59     | 13      | 3       | 4       | 20       | 20      | 42      | 3       |
| 1971 CAL MLB | .321     | 29     | 78      | 6      | 25     | 7       | 0       | 0       | 13       | 6       | 18      | 4       |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .199     | 86     | 221     | 31     | 44     | 14      | 1       | 2       | 19       | 22      | 50      | 6       |
| 1973 SLC AAA | .273     | 78     | 267     | 27     | 73     | 8       | 1       | 7       | 49       | 30      | 56      | 4       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .225     | 43     | 129     | 8      | 29     | 4       | 0       | 2       | 8        | 9       | 33      | 5       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

One look at Jaco - hell, one listen to the man's bass playing - and you can see why the Angels rushed him to the major leagues so heavily. He went all the way from college to the pros in 1971 and looked like a future All-Star by September of that year. That said, he's suffered a couple of real setback seasons since then that have perhaps soured the team on him a little bit.

Jaco has had some really bad issues with striking out, which alone screams "give this man more time to play in the minors". That said, he did pretty well in Salt Lake City last year after he was sent down in early May. Injuries necessitated a recall in mid-July, when he was a still-encouraging 14-52 with both of his HRs and 6 RBIs. Then he didn't see ML playing time again until late September, when he struggled again (3-18, 1 BB, 4 Ks).

It's looking like even if he solves the strikeout issues, Pastorius is a bit of a "tweener": not a good enough fielder to play center or second base, not a good enough hitter to carry a corner outfield spot. He's still only 25 years old so his situation could still improve. In the meantime... I don't think the Heavy Weather album comes out for another 2 years so potential's all I got.

Josh Pierce
CF No. 13
SL, 5'12" 192 lbs.
Born 1947-03-01

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SLC AAA | .269     | 29     | 104     | 19     | 28     | 5       | 0       | 4       | 17       | 22      | 21      | 5       |
| 1971 CAL MLB | .159     | 29     | 69      | 7      | 11     | 1       | 2       | 0       | 6        | 9       | 11      | 4       |
| 1972 SLC AAA | .224     | 96     | 343     | 44     | 77     | 12      | 5       | 7       | 44       | 57      | 43      | 14      |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .115     | 13     | 26      | 1      | 3      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 2        | 2       | 4       | 2       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .296     | 106    | 307     | 48     | 91     | 13      | 4       | 8       | 39       | 48      | 47      | 12      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The 26 year old Pierce put it all together last season and didn't just have a good, promising year, he was legitimately one of the best centerfielders in the AL by the end of the season. Pierce has always been a pesky at-bat and a lowkey tough out who will foul off pitch after pitch before finally drawing a walk or hitting a single. In years past, including in the minor leagues, those singles were too often ground balls towards short and left. This year seems to have been the second, "consolidation" season for Pierce and a bit of new-found power. I won't say it's anything great but it was good for a lot more line drives off of his bat.

Pierce's fielding is enough to make Angels fans forget about Norm Hodge in his prime. He covers an awful lot of ground in the big Big-A outfield. He's not quuuuite as fast as you might expect him to be but on the basepaths he should be good for an easy 20 or so steals given all the time he gets on base (his OBP hovered close to .400 last year). He's a guy who takes a lot of feedback as a hitter and as a fielder and has a catchy exuberance on and off the field.

Last year Pierce, a switch-hitter, spent most of the season in a semi-platoon situation where he played all the time vs lefties but only around half-time vs righties. He's clearly ready for the bigger role.

Andy Ring
RHP No. 27
RR, 6'0" 203 lbs.
Born 1939-11-19

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CAL MLB | 18     | 10     | 0       | 2.72     | 32     | 32      | 10      | 240.2   | 191    | 83     | 73      | 97      | 172    |
| 1972 CAL MLB | 15     | 11     | 0       | 2.90     | 35     | 35      | 11      | 269.1   | 217    | 91     | 87      | 83      | 192    |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 17     | 11     | 0       | 3.23     | 34     | 34      | 14      | 245.0   | 224    | 94     | 88      | 101     | 146    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

The Lizard made the move from one Tinseltown team to the other in the middle of 1970 and he's held up well as the team's ace. He still seems to be the same player he's always been; the Angels' commitment to the 5 man rotation seems to have saved the 33 year old's stamina pretty well. This past year, though, Ks were down, walks were up, and the ERA ballooned by 40 points. He likes to set up hitters with a solid, low-90s cut fastball and a slider before knocking them out with the change. That change wasn't quite finding the zone the way it had in the past. He's still got one of the best pickoff moves in the league for a right-handed pitcher.

Ring's still very much a team leader both in terms of what he does on the field and what he does off of it. Pitchers are often out in their own little world. That's not the case with Ring. Even with the slightly fluffier ERA he still found ways to win last year and there's no reason to think that will change.

Chris Seek
1B No. 3
RR, 6'2" 205 lbs.
Born 1944-10-03

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SF MLB  | .269     | 134    | 439     | 49     | 118    | 23      | 2       | 2       | 47       | 35      | 42      | 0       |
| 1972 SF MLB  | .256     | 111    | 199     | 22     | 51     | 8       | 0       | 3       | 15       | 17      | 20      | 0       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .327     | 122    | 502     | 73     | 164    | 29      | 3       | 10      | 73       | 29      | 58      | 1       |
| 1973 TEX MLB | .358     | 33     | 123     | 19     | 44     | 13      | 1       | 5       | 18       | 4       | 14      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Sometimes a change of venue is all you need. In 5 seasons with the Giants, Chris Seek had never shown himself to be anything more than an okay if not great contact guy without the power you generally need from a first baseman. In 1,193 career at-bats with San Francisco Seek put together a .278 BA, 12 HRs, 127 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 103. Then after being claimed off waivers from the Giants last November, Seek put up a scorching-hot April and May, hot enough to entire the Angels to trade away both 3B Bobby "Ghost Runner" Ramirez and RP Tanzan Kihara for him on May 20. This trade was widely panned as the worst kind of "buy high" deal you could find... except that Seek never stopped his hot streak. He finished the year leading the AL in hits with 208 and average with a .333 mark and made his very first All-Star Game.

Seek's always been a guy who prefers to hit the ball to all fields, especially on pitches up in the strike zone. In the past the criticism has been that that cuts into his power compared to if he just tried to pull everything. This year he set a career high with 15 HRs and a slugging average just south of .500 (.485). He's not a slowpoke but he gets all those hits by swinging early and often, making contact a lot, and hitting line drives. Seek is also a very good defensive first baseman. As a right-hander he lacks any kind of an arm but he's got the hands of a middle infielder. He's a quiet, mild-mannered guy who just shows up every day and gets the job done.

Is Seek for real? I'm inclined to say yes but I am an eternal optimist. Even a regression paints him as an awfully good contact man and all but ideal 3-hole hitter for the Angels in 1974.

Mark Seitz
RHP No. 25
RR, 5'11" 186 lbs.
Born 1946-11-19

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 TID AAA | 7      | 3      | 7       | 2.20     | 47     | 0       | 0       | 69.1    | 53     | 21     | 17      | 19      | 43     |
| 1971 NYM MLB | 0      | 0      | 0       | 4.10     | 12     | 0       | 0       | 15.1    | 13     | 7      | 7       | 7       | 8      |
| 1972 SLC AAA | 1      | 1      | 9       | 1.12     | 24     | 0       | 0       | 32.0    | 18     | 6      | 4       | 5       | 14     |
| 1972 CAL MLB | 1      | 0      | 2       | 3.85     | 17     | 0       | 0       | 25.2    | 25     | 11     | 11      | 9       | 18     |
| 1973 CAL MLB | 3      | 2      | 2       | 2.68     | 40     | 0       | 0       | 63.2    | 63     | 25     | 19      | 21      | 30     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

With the staff around him facing a lot of change and turmoil, Mark Seitz quietly put together a solid first full year in middle relief. Never really called on to be a high-leverage guy, Seitz didn't strike out as many guys as you'd expect a guy with a mid-90s heater to get but still did well enough to pitch the Angels through the 6th and 7th innings. He's a guy who will sometimes nibble a bit too much at the plate and then miss both off the plate and, more discouragingly, over the middle.

Seitz only allowed 7 out of 26 runners to score and carried a nice ERA in spite of the HRs. He'll surely see a bigger role on this team moving forward.

Richard Simmons
SS/3B No. 5
LR, 5'12" 192 lbs.
Born 1948-01-25

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SLC AAA | .306     | 86     | 327     | 36     | 100    | 14      | 5       | 5       | 45       | 47      | 45      | 5       |
| 1971 CAL MLB | .261     | 52     | 199     | 30     | 52     | 11      | 2       | 4       | 21       | 26      | 32      | 3       |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .234     | 136    | 441     | 47     | 103    | 15      | 5       | 10      | 44       | 58      | 77      | 10      |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .240     | 119    | 454     | 50     | 109    | 10      | 1       | 4       | 43       | 42      | 70      | 29      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

In his second full year in the majors and 3rd overall Richard Simmons showed that 80-grade speed scouts had been talking about for years. Unfortunately he lost that power that made him such an exciting prospect, finishing the year with just 15 extra base hits. At that, it took some doing to make this not a lost year. Simmons started the year out hitting .182 when he went down with a back injury in early May. He returned in June to hit a solid .284 but then fought a lingering hamstring injury that held him to .225 and .213 averages in July and August before finishing the year with a respectable .277.

Simmons needs to decide if he's a power hitter or not and play accordingly. Last year he still tried to make things work as a pull hitter even when those long flies ended on the warning track instead of the stands. If he could learn to chop at the ball instead he might be able to fashion an Alvin Romero type offensive game. One thing the Angels could do to help him with that is call on him to bunt more often: he's very good at that skill. Swinging down at the ball would also, presumably, help with the strikeouts. Defensively Simmons is very good at short with plus tools in all categories. He's a great leader, aven at 25 years of age, who leads his team in daily fitness moves and hands out cards with pictures of food on them.

I know I want to see Simmons bounce back to a truly respectable year next year. He's a good enough fielder that 1973's level of offense still makes him a net positive but a 10 HR Richard Simmons was literally an All-Star in 1972.

Paul Stewart
DH No. 28
LL, 6'3" 199 lbs.
Born 1943-03-03

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 EUG AAA | .375     | 18     | 64      | 11     | 24     | 3       | 1       | 2       | 8        | 8       | 4       | 2       |
| 1971 PHI MLB | .238     | 39     | 143     | 13     | 34     | 2       | 1       | 0       | 8        | 6       | 25      | 1       |
| 1972 LAD MLB | .262     | 125    | 465     | 49     | 122    | 12      | 1       | 12      | 50       | 36      | 49      | 2       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .266     | 84     | 282     | 25     | 75     | 13      | 0       | 7       | 36       | 13      | 46      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The Angels took Stewart on after a pretty rough rookie year with the Dodgers. THe hope was that California would pull a little bit more production out of him by allowing him to concentrate on hitting and at that not hit so much against left-handed pitching. Stewart finished the season with just 31 at-bats vs. LHPs (and hit .226 against them). All those accommodations met, however, Stewart still didn't really do anything to make himself stand out. His 1970, which is the production the Angels were chasing, is just off of this board: he went .298/14/62 for an up-and-coming Phillies team.

Stewart's power seems to ebb a little bit every year and AL pitchers, to be frank, were just not all that afraid of him. He's shown a decent if not great ability to work the count in years past but with California this season pitchers just weren't giving him a lot of 3 ball counts. A veteran of the NL, Stewart could certainly play the field if needed; he's got a good arm although not a lot of range.

It's going to be increasingly harder for the Angels or any other team to find a steady place for Stewart if the 30 year old continues to decline like this. Already the Angels were his 3rd team in 3 years. Does he need to make it 4 in 4 to get a real shot?

Stuart Tosh
IF No. 15
RR, 6'2" 194 lbs.
Born 1951-09-27

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BAK A   | .268     | 79     | 299     | 30     | 80     | 13      | 6       | 4       | 23       | 18      | 44      | 20      |
| 1971 DB A    | .287     | 43     | 171     | 21     | 49     | 6       | 10      | 3       | 12       | 7       | 22      | 18      |
| 1972 BAK A   | .310     | 99     | 423     | 83     | 131    | 25      | 4       | 10      | 48       | 33      | 63      | 62      |
| 1972 DB A    | .374     | 23     | 91      | 15     | 34     | 4       | 2       | 3       | 11       | 8       | 8       | 12      |
| 1972 EP AA   | .204     | 13     | 49      | 4      | 10     | 0       | 0       | 1       | 3        | 5       | 0       | 3       |
| 1973 EP AA   | .344     | 39     | 163     | 21     | 56     | 11      | 3       | 4       | 21       | 4       | 7       | 9       |
| 1973 SLC AAA | .350     | 58     | 254     | 35     | 89     | 11      | 4       | 4       | 16       | 3       | 26      | 9       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .296     | 21     | 71      | 9      | 21     | 4       | 1       | 4       | 10       | 4       | 16      | 7       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

What does Stuart Tosh need to do to get a job around here? After hitting well over .300 at 2 different levels in 1973, Tosh got a September call-up and played third base while Mike Brookes suffered through a badly strained hamstring that limited him to DH duties. The international discovery out of Scotland - I'm told he's a drummer - made the most of his cup of coffee and now has to be considered in the mix in 1974.

Tosh has middling power at best and climbed through the minor leagues by using his speed to get on base. He posted some ugly walk-to-strikeout rates at AAA Salt Lake City and the major leagues so it might be best for the 22 year old to spend another full year in the minor leagues. Defensively he's ready to go right now, at least at third base. He doesn't really have the range to play 2nd or short regularly but can definitely fill in both spots as a lete-inning defensive replacement or a fill-in for injury. His biggest asset as a defender is his gun for an arm. He stole 62 bases at A-level Bakersfield in 1972 although a look at him makes you wonder how that happened: he's got good enough instincts but average speed. I guess that said, Tosh did attempt 7 steals in the major leagues, being successful on all of them.

Stuart Tosh has a bit of that Scottish "tell it like it is" quality about him, which sometimes does not endear him to managers or his teammates. He's gotten in as a top-100 prospect each of the last 2 seasons and we currently grade him the 6th best guy in the Angels' organization (hey! the #2 man is Pete Carroll! GO HAWKS). I'm not predicting great things for him but hey, good things could be had.

Willie Vargas
LF/1B No. 7
RR, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1944-09-12

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CAL MLB | .281     | 135    | 552     | 67     | 155    | 30      | 5       | 5       | 46       | 36      | 50      | 32      |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .277     | 145    | 559     | 58     | 155    | 21      | 8       | 9       | 61       | 46      | 59      | 29      |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .272     | 138    | 552     | 77     | 150    | 23      | 7       | 13      | 52       | 34      | 44      | 20      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Vargas led the league in hitting in 1959 with a .357 average and 225 hits and has been a little worse every year since. The big drop-off came after 1970, when he was traded from the WHite Sox to the Angels and also fell into his approximate current level of a .270-.280 hitter. This year it was really looking like he'd figured things out and was hitting like his old self: as of the All-Star Break he was hitting .295 with 11 HRs, 38 RBI, and 57 runs scored while batting at the top of the lineup. Then he fell way off, batting just .225 and .219 in the final 2 months of the year. At the very end of it he did miss a little bit of time with a bruised shoulder, which might have been lingering for a while (note: it was not).

Vargas spreads the ball around to all fields and can make good contact - when he's doing well - to all fields. He got some of that power stroke he'd lost the previous 3 seasons back this year as well, although the 2 HRs from August 1 onward is also disconcerting. The high contact also means he's not really about spending overly long in any one at-bat. Vargas kind of needs to hit well because his natural position, let's be honest about it, is DH: he doesn't have natural instints in the field in spite of his speed and he'll often get caught misplaying a single into a double. The speed is for real, although at 29 and playing in the same league as Alvin Romero he's unlikely to lead the league in steals again. He can do the hit-and-run with the best of them and is okay with the bunt.

Unless Vargas rediscovers his Chicago swing, he might not be a good enough hitter anymore to make up for his atrocious fielding (or, if he does become the full-time DH, non-existent glove). Vargas is known around the clubhouse as a "me first" kind of guy; well, Willie, it's time to think of yourself and work on that hitting.

Brad Wagner
DH/OF No. 24
LL, 5'9" 180 lbs.
Born 1949-03-16

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 PB A    | .291     | 16     | 55      | 11     | 16     | 4       | 0       | 3       | 16       | 12      | 10      | 0       |
| 1971 MEM AA  | .271     | 91     | 321     | 41     | 87     | 20      | 2       | 14      | 34       | 48      | 64      | 0       |
| 1971 NYM MLB | .211     | 33     | 109     | 15     | 23     | 1       | 2       | 5       | 13       | 18      | 22      | 0       |
| 1972 SLC AAA | .204     | 131    | 475     | 67     | 97     | 20      | 2       | 21      | 52       | 68      | 71      | 2       |
| 1973 SLC AAA | .303     | 85     | 287     | 55     | 87     | 21      | 0       | 22      | 60       | 45      | 33      | 2       |
| 1973 CAL MLB | .293     | 42     | 123     | 20     | 36     | 8       | 3       | 5       | 22       | 18      | 23      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Wagner was rated the #35 prospect in the majors coming into 1973 and he did little to upset the scouts who'd rated him that highly, belting a career high 27 HRs combined between AAA and the majors. Wagner's your classic dead-pull hitter who loves him some high inside heat but unlike a lot of guys who play like him he doesn't make those big, huge cuts that result in embarrassing strikeouts. Indeed, in the first half at Salt Lake City he actually walked more than he K'ed. The power was very much un display in the majors last year, with 3 of those HRs coming in a September where he got the opportunity to start in 21 games. That month did see a disappointing 9-to-18 walk-to-strikeout ratio but we expect that was just growing pains.

Wagner might not be a good or even an average defensive outfielder but with the level of production he's already shown we could be looking at an All-Star in a couple of years.

[Syd Thrift]

Aaaaand we're on to Game 4 of the World Series. Can the Detroit Tigers become the FIRST TEAM EVER (in the 5th season so let's not go crazy) to sweep their way through 2 rounds of the playoffs? They have to win in San Diego to do it. Today sees Chris Benavides (2-0, 3.07 in the postseason) going against youthful Don Henley (0-2, 7.71). So far Henley has had one good start - still a loss because that was the game Vince Bachler threw a 4-hitter but hey - and then one awful one in Game 1 of the World Series. Benavides, the former Twins ace, has just been solid.

With Henley throwing from the south side of the mound, Niki Lauda is the odd man out in that packed Tigers' lineup. It's 57 degrees with a wind blowing out to center. Tigers weather?

Top 1st: CF Alvin Romero strikes out. RF Frankie Faison pops out to short. 2B Joey Ramone grounds out 4-3. 1-2-3 inning. 0-0.

Bottom 1st: RF Ed O'Neill strikes out looking. CF Phil McGraw flies to left. 3B Dale Earnhardt picks up the first hit of the game, a single into right. 2B Paul McCartney hits one towards the hole between 1st and 2nd but Joey Ramone catches up to it, gets to his feet, and throws him out by a step. 0-0.

Top 2nd: 1B Jose Ayala singles into right field to lead things off. 3B Joe Theismann flies out to center. C Armando Flores swings and misses at a 1-2 curve... what's going on? Ayala was running on the play but I guess he got a laaaaaaate jump: C Oliver Williams throws him out for the ol' strike-em-out throw-em-out double play to retire the side. 0-0.

Bottom 2nd: 1B Carlos Palacios hits a soft liner to 2nd for out #1. LF Ian Everett strikes out swinging. SS Joe Wicker grounds out 6-3. 0-0.

Top 3rd: LF Tom Berenger CRACKS ONE against Don Henley and belts it to right-center! It's going! It is gone! 1-0, Tigers, and that's Berenger's first career HR in the postseason! SS Rob CUrran grounds out 5-3. P Chris Benavides is a career .105 hitter - man, did the Tigers benefit from the DH or what? He grounds out 5-3. Romero grounds out 4-3 to wrap up the top of the 3rd. 1-0, Tigers.

Bottom 3rd: Oliver Williams flies out to right. P Don Henley hit .247 this year, not bad! I think I've brought up his hitting before though. HE grounds out 5-3 in his first at-bat. Ed O'Neill Ks on a nasty looking slider. That's Chris Benavides' 3rd strikeout and his 3rd scoreless inning. 1-0, Tigers.

Top 4th: Faison lines one into right but right at Ed O'Neill, who catches it for out numero uno. Joey Ramone pops out foul of first... and 1B Carlos Palacios drops it! No problem I guess because on the next pitch he grounds out to SS Joe Wicker. Wicker did need to make a good play on the throw but he made it so... 2 outs. Ayala drills a 2 out base hit up the middle. Theismann grounds it to Joe Wicker at short, who goes the short way for the 6-4 inning-ender. 1-0, Tigers.

Bottom 4th: Dr. Phil grounds out 3U. Earnhardt grounds out to short. McCartney strikes out swinging. That's Benavides' 4th. 1-0, Tigers.

Top 5th: Armando Flores rips one into the right-centerfield gap! It hits the wall. Phil McGraw picks it up and throws it in but Flores juuust gets in under the tag at 2nd! A leadoff double for the Tigers catcher. Berenger hits a ball just over the outstretched arm of Paul McCartney for a base hit into right. Flores, who is after all a catcher, holds up at 3rd. Rob Curran makes it 3 straight base hits with no outs on a single up the middle. Flores scores! 2-0. Berenger merely moves up 90 feet on the play. Chris Benavides lays down a bunt. He still has it, it looks like, as the only play for C Oliver Williams is to 1st for the 2-3 sacrifice. The only good news for Henley right now is the next two guys due up are lefties. Romero flies out to left, not deeply enough to bring Berenger home. Faison grounds to short to retire the side. 2-0, Tigers.

Bottom 5th: Palacios grounds out to 1st unassisted. Everett hits a roller down the third base line. Joe Theismann charges it, guns it to 1st, and juuuust gets Everett by a step. That out was created by Joe Theismann's cannon. Wicker flies to right. 2-0, Tigers.

Top 6th: Ramone grounds out 4-3. Ayala singles up the middle. He's perfect tonight: 3 at-bats, 3 hits. Theismann grounds out to short. Joe Wicker feeds it to Paul McCartney for the out at 2nd but Ayala breaks up the double play. Flores drops one into left for a base hit with Theismann moving up 90 feet. Henley's allowed 8 hits tonight. He's mostly done a good job of keeping those guys from scoring but yeah, his defense is not coming through for him. TOM BERENGER BELTS ONE TO THE EXACT SAME SPOT IN RIGHT CENTER! A 3 RUN HOME RUN! 5-0! Rob Curran knocks one over to third. It hits a rock or something and Dale Earnhardt can't get a good hand on it. That's the 2nd Padres error today and this time around it does result in a man on base. That said, Chris Benavides strikes out on what might well be Don Henley's last pitch of this game. 5-0, Tigers.

Bottom 6th: Pinch-hitting for C Oliver Williams is good old Elijah Johnson, who's yet to collect a base hit in 3 postseason at-bats. He did hit .311 as a pinch-hitter in '73. He's due! Well... no. He grounds out to first base. Dr. Jack Holman is coming on in to pinch-hit for the pitcher. It's early, I know, but the Pads need runs now. Holman lines out to 2B Joey Ramone. Ed O'Neill drops in a base hit into left field. THat's only the 2nd hit and base runner allowed by Chris Benavides tonight. Make that 3, as Dr. Phil lines one back through the box for a base hit. O'Neill gets to 3rd ahead of the throw from Alvin Romero. Earnhardt walks to load the bases with 2 out. Paul McCartney is hitting just .222 this October; this would be time to turn it around. That would be a fun story, right? Well, instead he strikes out with the bases loaded to retire the side. 5-0, Tigers.

Top 7th: Backup catcher Peter Gabriel comes in for his 3rd postseason appearance. The new man on the mound is... Dan Pineau, the lefty specialist. Weird to bring in one lefty after another but the Tigers' 1-2 hitters are lefties sooooo... Pineau's thrown 3 scoreless innings in October with 4 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Romero gets his first hit of the game, a single into right field. Faison flies to right. Pineau walks Ramone to give the Joker a one-out RBI opportunity. How about a double steal instead? Alvin Romero's practically at third when the throw goes off so instead they gun it to 2nd to try and get the turrible-slow Joey Ramone. That throw's also not in time! Joey Ramone was 1 for 5 on steal attempts in the regular season; now he's 1-1 in the postseason. Ayala's walked with 1st base open and that's going to go ahead and be it for Pineau.

The new guy for the Padres, put into this impossible position, is Darius Parchman, who, thanks to the power of my computer eating a game, has pitched 4 scoreless postseason innings with 2 walks and 2 Ks and no hits allowed. Theismann hits a grounder to third. It looks juuuust not hard enough for the around the horn double play so instead Dale Earnhardt sends it home where it juuust gets Alvin Romero on the 5-2 force. 2 outs. Parchman next gets Armando Flores on a cluuuutch strikeout to keep this game within reach. 5-0, Tigers.

Bottom 7th: Palacios singles to right. Are the Padres beginning to figure Chris Benavides out? If so... not for long, because Ian Everett hits a grounder right at Joey Ramone that he turns into a 4-6-3 double play. Joe Wicker grounds out 6-3 to retire the side. 5-0, Tigers.

Top 8th: Tom Berenger is 7-10 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs in the postseason, including 3-3 with 2 runs and 4 RBIs off of 2 ding-dongs tonight. He works the Padres ace closer to a full count before flying out to center. Rob Curran grounds out 3-1. Chris Benavides has still only thrown 85 pitches and, well, he's spinning a shutout so of course he'll stay in. Parchman strikes him out to retire the siee. 5-0, Tigers.

Bottom 8th: The Padres are down to their final six outs of the season. Benavides hasn't been overpowering but he's been more than good enough. Peter Gabriel leads it off to take his 2nd at-bat in October. He grounds out 6-3. Pinch-hitting for Parchman is the Swamp Fox, Kevin Landry, possibly making his final appearance of his career (he hasn't announced his retirement but he is 40 years old). He works Benavides to a full count and then takes a fastball that just misses for a walk. O'Neill hits a ball to 2nd base that Joey Ramone scoops up just a bit too late to transform into a double play. They still get the 4-6 force at 2nd base. Dr. Phil strikes out swinging. 5-0, Tigers.

Top 9th: Setup man Robbie Vaughn is tired from pitching yesterday but he still is the guy who puts the Padres into the best shot at holding Detroit scoreless and then getting a big rally in the bottom of this inning. He's allowed no runs on 3 hits, 2 walks, and 5 Ks in 4.1 postseason innings to date. He does walk Alvin Romero to lead off the inning. Romero's going on the very first pitch to Frankie Faison and is in with his 4th October steal. Faison strikes out looking at a forkball that juuuuust hits the bottom part of the zone. Ramone lines to first. Ayala flies to center. 5-0, Tigers.

Bottom 9th: This is it, boys! The Padres are down to their last 3 outs but are running out the heart of their order. Chris Benavides looks like he's just beginning to get a little tired at 105 pitches but he deserves a shot at winning this so in he stays. Dale Earnhardt swings and misses at a 2-2 fastball. Paul McCartney also swings and misses on a 2-strike pitch, this one a big breaking curveball. One out to go! Benavides gets Palacios to a 2-2 count and he lines one softly to short... but Joey Ramone drops it! Palacios is safe at first and the Padres still have the tiniest of chances. Benavides is running on fumes right now... but fumes are enough! Ian Everett flies to left and that's gonna do it! The Tigers win the World Series! The Tigers win the World Series!

Tom Berenger wins the World Series MVP in spite of only starting 2 games: he went 7-11 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs and was the difference-maker in Game 4. I might have given it to Chris Benavides, who was 2-0, 1.62 with 13 Ks in 16.2 IP. On the Padres' side, 2 of their starters had 10+ ERAs for the series: Don Henley (0-2, 10.97) and Steven Tyler (0-1, 11.81) as they were just kind of run off the field. It's a young team though and surely this won't be their last taste of the postseason.

[Syd Thrift]

Recap: The White Sox, following winning the pennant the first 2 seasons coming out of the war, had won just one pennant since in 1954 and their last run, 3 out of 4 years of 90+ wins from 1966-69, was definitely over by 1973. They were 70-84 in 1972 and it looked like it was going to be another growing year for the South Siders. So... instead, following an 8-9 start they pretty well blew the doors off the West: 18-9 in May, 19-10 in June. The second half, fine, they slumped a bit but they still matched the 2nd most wins they've ever had (in 1947 they went 97-57).

The bigger question for them has to be, how good would they have been / are they going forward with a healthy Alice Cooper? Like a lot of good teams, they rallied around him when his season ended with a sprained thumb on September 14, finishing 10-6 the rest of the way (10-9 if you count the ALCS but that seems unfair). Even with Cooper, though, the offense was decidedly average and they won games because of a good rotation and a great bullpen that was led by the historically great season of Malcolm Post, who set a new MLB record with 35 saves.

1974 Outlook: THe Sox ought to at least contend for the lead. They've got some big holes on the offense and I am pretty lukewarm to the idea that they'll actually be able to patch those holes given the penny-pinching management (you guys are based out of Chicago, come on now). On the other hand, the starting pitching is still young and Malcolm Post is still Malcolm Post. And, of course, the AL West is not exactly filled with up-and-coming 100 win teams.

Mohamed Abdelaziz
CF No. 24
LL, 6'1" 204 lbs.
Born 1947-08-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 TUC AAA | .311     | 17     | 61      | 10     | 19     | 4       | 2       | 1       | 7        | 7       | 9       | 9       |
| 1972 TUC AAA | .240     | 93     | 333     | 35     | 80     | 11      | 2       | 7       | 29       | 33      | 43      | 23      |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .249     | 62     | 241     | 22     | 60     | 9       | 4       | 3       | 16       | 21      | 39      | 9       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .220     | 72     | 223     | 25     | 49     | 9       | 7       | 2       | 28       | 14      | 37      | 13      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

For a contending team, man did the White Sox have some big holes at some positions. Center went essentially the entire year unsolved. Abdelazis, a 26 year old freedom fighter out of Morocco, started the year out as the team's starter but didn't last, was sent down in July, and did not re-appear for this team again (although he did get a late-September call-up and even got into a game in the ALCS). He did flash some decent power, although it's mostly shown itself as gap power in the major leagues so far, but he also perhaps thinks a bit too much of himself as a power hitter and tries to sock the high fastball like an Alice Cooper. So far for him, those have ended in loud fly outs. He's got a lot of speed but doesn't get on base enough to utilize it well.

All that would be fine if Abdelaziz was a Gold Glove quality center fielder, but that's just plain not who he is. While he may not be quite as terrible as the scouts suggest, he doesn't use his natural speed terribly well in the field because he doesn't get a good jump on the ball, and his popgun arm is best suited for left field. Even in center it got tested a fair amount and Abdelaziz was only able to throw 2 runners out in spite of a lot of people going at him.

Of course, in order to play in left in the major leagues you have to hit a decent amount and at 26 years of age now it's very iffy that Abdelaziz will manage to do that. It's not impossible that the 464 at-bats he's gotten the last 2 years represent the majority of his career.

Sergio Alvarado
LHP No. 33
LL, 6'6" 199 lbs.
Born 1950-09-23

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 COR MLB | 1      | 4      | 0       | 4.01     | 8      | 8       | 0       | 49.1    | 56     | 26     | 22      | 37      | 32     |
| 1971 APP A   | 2      | 2      | 0       | 2.85     | 4      | 4       | 3       | 34.2    | 25     | 11     | 11      | 10      | 29     |
| 1971 ASH AA  | 5      | 3      | 0       | 3.69     | 8      | 8       | 4       | 63.1    | 69     | 28     | 26      | 15      | 44     |
| 1972 KNO AA  | 1      | 1      | 0       | 1.68     | 2      | 2       | 1       | 16.0    | 14     | 5      | 3       | 6       | 9      |
| 1972 TUC AAA | 2      | 8      | 0       | 2.75     | 13     | 13      | 3       | 98.0    | 78     | 31     | 30      | 38      | 50     |
| 1972 CHW MLB | 2      | 0      | 2       | 1.49     | 36     | 0       | 0       | 36.0    | 25     | 6      | 6       | 12      | 25     |
| 1973 IOW AAA | 0      | 1      | 0       | 10.12    | 1      | 1       | 0       | 5.1     | 7      | 6      | 6       | 2       | 5      |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 6      | 3      | 1       | 3.08     | 34     | 4       | 0       | 61.1    | 48     | 22     | 21      | 26      | 51     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

It's a bit unfair to call Alvarado a left-handed one-out guy or even a one-inning guy. As a reliever, the 23 year old averaged more than an IP per game and then he also started 4 games in the 2nd half of the season (5 if you count the 1-game stint in Iowa in August). Like a lot of lefties, Alvarado doesn't throw particularly hard but like a lot of lefties all the pitches he does throw, including a curve and a change in addition to your garden variety 4 seamer, move pretty well. He's also got an absolutely deadly pickoff move: in 97.1 career innings pitched, Alvarado has had exactly none runners try to steal on him but 3 pickoffs (well, I only know caught stealings but this is a good thing to assume).

Although he was used as something of a swing man last year, Alvarado's a guy who works best when you put him in one role and leave him there. So what will that role be in 1974? He could easily be the setup man for Malcolm Post; he could just as easily fill a spot in the back of this White Sox rotation.

Rene Arnoux
C No. 19
RR, 5'10" 200 lbs.
Born 1948-07-03

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 ASH AA  | .299     | 62     | 211     | 22     | 63     | 14      | 0       | 3       | 24       | 16      | 31      | 0       |
| 1971 TUC AAA | .273     | 3      | 11      | 1      | 3      | 2       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 0       | 4       | 0       |
| 1972 KNO AA  | .286     | 27     | 91      | 12     | 26     | 1       | 0       | 2       | 11       | 15      | 8       | 0       |
| 1972 TUC AAA | .192     | 58     | 193     | 11     | 37     | 8       | 0       | 2       | 21       | 16      | 29      | 0       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .224     | 28     | 85      | 8      | 19     | 2       | 0       | 0       | 5        | 6       | 15      | 0       |
| 1973 IOW AAA | .227     | 52     | 172     | 7      | 39     | 4       | 1       | 0       | 15       | 5       | 31      | 0       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .149     | 63     | 134     | 14     | 20     | 1       | 0       | 1       | 7        | 9       | 29      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The general trend of Formula One racers turned baseball players has been pretty positive, I think. Off-hand I guess only Niki Lauda has really made a name for himself but it's a good name he's made. Arnoux on the other hand was rushed pretty badly after being drafted in the 5th round in just 1971 and, well... let's just say that 1973 is the kind of season that happens when you rush a guy who was a little iffy as a prospect in the first place. Arnoux was handed the starting job out of spring training and just didn't ever get started: he went 4-36 with 13 Ks in April and 8-48 in June before the Sox finally decided to put Chris Flores into the starting role and, eventually, send him down to Iowa in July. He still looked overmatched in AAA but a .294 September (5-17 so let's not go crazy) gave fans a glimmer of hope for the future.

Arnoux does have a gun for an arm: he threw out 42.9% of would-be base stealers last year and backed that up with a 44% rate in the minor leagues. If he could hit at all, he'd be a good asset as a catcher. That's a big, big if.

Valeriy Borzov
RHP No. 36
RR, 5'11" 167 lbs.
Born 1949-10-21

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 AMA AA  | 1      | 3      | 9       | 2.45     | 17     | 0       | 0       | 25.2    | 23     | 8      | 7       | 10      | 29     |
| 1971 PHO AAA | 2      | 1      | 11      | 2.95     | 35     | 0       | 0       | 48.2    | 39     | 16     | 16      | 26      | 31     |
| 1971 SF MLB  | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0.00     | 1      | 0       | 0       | 1.0     | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0       | 3      |
| 1972 PHO AAA | 4      | 3      | 8       | 2.83     | 29     | 0       | 0       | 47.2    | 38     | 16     | 15      | 23      | 24     |
| 1972 SF MLB  | 0      | 1      | 0       | 6.06     | 10     | 0       | 0       | 16.1    | 16     | 11     | 11      | 8       | 10     |
| 1973 IOW AAA | 8      | 7      | 0       | 2.33     | 18     | 17      | 5       | 142.1   | 97     | 44     | 37      | 44      | 112    |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 4      | 2      | 0       | 3.46     | 10     | 9       | 2       | 65.0    | 60     | 26     | 25      | 29      | 40     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

When you're contending for a division title, sometimes you can't afford to try guys out in the major leagues. That's unfortunately how Valeriy Borzov, a double gold medal winner at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, managed to drop in for 6 starts in April and early May, get sent back down, come *back* up in June for 4 more games, and then finish the entire second half in the minor leagues. When he did play, particularly in June (1-0, 1.54, 18 K in 23.1 IP), Borzov sure looked ready to go. Borzov has got a wicked heater that hits the low to mid 90s and moves all over the place plus a knee-buckling curve ball. The biggest thing he lacked when he was out there last year was stamina, averaging exactly 7 IP per start and finishing two of them. Even that might have been a function of the Sox not trusting the youngster, especially given that he was used almost exclusively in relief prior to this season.

Borzoy, who won't turn 24 until later this month, is a guy who really should be on this Opening Day roster in April, whether that's as a starting pitcher or a middle to late reliever.

Peabo Bryson
LF No. 2
LL, 5'11" 171 lbs.
Born 1951-04-06

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 POR S A | .270     | 65     | 233     | 40     | 63     | 18      | 1       | 4       | 32       | 50      | 67      | 0       |
| 1971 BUR A   | .176     | 36     | 125     | 15     | 22     | 3       | 0       | 2       | 10       | 14      | 40      | 0       |
| 1972 AGU DL  | .383     | 36     | 120     | 33     | 46     | 8       | 0       | 20      | 44       | 37      | 30      | 1       |
| 1972 BUR A   | .334     | 95     | 335     | 59     | 112    | 15      | 6       | 16      | 54       | 55      | 74      | 1       |
| 1972 BIR AA  | .183     | 23     | 82      | 8      | 15     | 2       | 1       | 2       | 7        | 15      | 18      | 1       |
| 1973 KNO AA  | .298     | 27     | 84      | 13     | 25     | 6       | 0       | 4       | 15       | 24      | 10      | 0       |
| 1973 IOW AAA | .260     | 32     | 104     | 9      | 27     | 6       | 0       | 4       | 12       | 17      | 27      | 0       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .236     | 76     | 242     | 32     | 57     | 18      | 2       | 6       | 19       | 49      | 70      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +'

Bryson is still very young so you can to some degree take his struggles at the major league level with a grain of salt. Still, they were struggles: at this point in time he has problems making contact and that cuts into a lot of what in the major league levels was gap power (but in the minors in some stops - Burlington last year - it looked like just plain power). He's not going to win awards with his speed and while he looked above average in left that's probably as good as it gets, so the White Sox need Bryson to come through on that hitting potential.

Last year Chicago utilized Bryson almost purely as a platoon guy - just 18 at-bats all year long vs LHP (2-18 with 7 Ks - yikes!). Expect to see more of the same in 1974 unless he balls out. The White Sox really aren't in a place to just give a guy like this (#12 prospect going into last season!) a full-time job just yet.

Pedro Castrejon
LF No. 34
LL, 6'2" 212 lbs.
Born 1938-05-11

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 REX MX  | .307     | 94     | 352     | 67     | 108    | 16      | 0       | 22      | 69       | 60      | 72      | 0       |
| 1972 COR MX  | .324     | 133    | 444     | 90     | 144    | 15      | 1       | 33      | 78       | 98      | 107     | 0       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .295     | 49     | 166     | 32     | 49     | 7       | 2       | 10      | 29       | 42      | 49      | 3       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Castrejon parleyed an MVP season in the Mexican League and for the first half of the season he looked like he was going to be that exact same guy in America. Then he tore a tendon in his elbow in early July and missed the rest of the season. At 35 years of age, his career is already in doubt. If he's able to come back to what he was, he's a patient hitter who will foul off lots of pitches until he sees a mistake and pounce on it. His fielding was average last year and that's one area where the Sox have to consider that his future position, should it continue to exist with this team, is "DH". Castrejon does not have great speed and if anything tried to steal more often with Chicago than he ever did in Mexico.

Going forward, there's a lot of young talent on this team. Castrejon though should be back by spring training and I know for one am hopeful he's back and ready to go.

Steven Chu
RHP No. 18
RR, 6'0" 186 lbs.
Born 1948-02-25

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 TUC AAA | 13     | 10     | 0       | 2.70     | 30     | 30      | 10      | 229.2   | 201    | 101    | 69      | 110     | 97     |
| 1972 TUC AAA | 7      | 1      | 0       | 0.92     | 11     | 11      | 7       | 88.0    | 56     | 9      | 9       | 13      | 42     |
| 1972 CHW MLB | 9      | 11     | 0       | 3.49     | 24     | 24      | 6       | 167.1   | 147    | 67     | 65      | 62      | 78     |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 17     | 12     | 0       | 3.61     | 35     | 35      | 10      | 251.1   | 221    | 109    | 101     | 66      | 122    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

The youthful Chinese-American scientist put together a nice first full year in Chicago. I don't want to say "the sky is the limit" with this guy, as he was never a super-duper high prospect, maxing out at #95 overall at the beginning of the 1972 season, but he most certainly has made the most with what he has, which includes 4 good-but-not-great pitches. Chu had some relative issues with the longball - 21 HRs in 251 IP isn't terrible but it's not great for Comiskey either. That might be an issue for him, as his lack of a really great out pitch is going to require him to nibble at the plate a lot. To his credit he doesn't miss off the plate very often at all.

Chu is a pretty political guy in the clubhouse for both good and bad. He gets along with most everyone but he's also the first guy to point out when he did something well - leave that for the coaches, man! - and one imagines that if this was a less successful team he might be one of those guys to throw his teammates under the bus. His path to #1 starter level involves him doing the extra work to develop an out pitch and Chu just seems more focused on receiving his doctorate from UC Berkeley than baseball matters. When he's on the field, he's a pretty smart guy though, as one can imagine. All of this is to say... yeah, he's a mid-rotation guy. At 25, this is likely who Chu is.

Dave Concepcion
CF/RF No. 11
RR, 6'0" 197 lbs.
Born 1948-06-09

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 APP A   | .600     | 3      | 10      | 2      | 6      | 2       | 0       | 0       | 3        | 2       | 2       | 1       |
| 1971 ASH AA  | .257     | 68     | 265     | 32     | 68     | 10      | 4       | 3       | 27       | 25      | 47      | 18      |
| 1971 TUC AAA | .100     | 3      | 10      | 1      | 1      | 0       | 0       | 1       | 5        | 2       | 1       | 0       |
| 1972 TUC AAA | .236     | 33     | 123     | 12     | 29     | 1       | 0       | 3       | 12       | 7       | 19      | 8       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .200     | 56     | 155     | 19     | 31     | 6       | 0       | 0       | 7        | 19      | 31      | 8       |
| 1973 IOW AAA | .230     | 39     | 139     | 17     | 32     | 3       | 2       | 3       | 17       | 9       | 40      | 11      |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .223     | 75     | 206     | 28     | 46     | 6       | 3       | 1       | 15       | 15      | 42      | 16      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

When I name - "name!" THESE ARE REAL FICTIONAL PLAYERS OKAY - a guy who actually played real-life baseball I do try to make them different from their real-life version. In this case, Concepcion, a classic great-glove, no-bat shortstop is... a great-glove, no-bat center fielder. Welp. Concepcion started the year as Mohammed Abdelaziz's caddy and then slipped into the starting role in July once it became clear that Abdelaziz had no business in the mmajor leagues. Unfortunately for him, his own time as a starter wasn't super long, as he quickly dropped into a platoon with Alan Parsons and by the playoffs he didn't even appear.

Concepcion could one day hit for contact if he could cut down on the strikeouts, although the man's 25 so that's probably not happening. Otherwise he has no power and doesn't walk. He does have blazing speed, speed that is translated into the field for once, but he could be the fastest man in the league and still end up with not many steals given how little he gets on base. He can do the "little things" with the best of them, so long as the "little things" don't include making contact with the ball on a hit and run. For a guy who has "hustle ratings" like these, Concepcion is occasionally prone to lapses in the field and at the plate.

Dave Concepcion is possibly an even worse hitter than his real life counterpart and he'll really need to upgrade that part of his game if he wants to become a major league regular.

Alice Cooper
1B No. 38
LL, 6'2" 194 lbs.
Born 1948-05-01

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 TUC AAA | .293     | 81     | 270     | 59     | 79     | 16      | 5       | 14      | 58       | 65      | 55      | 7       |
| 1971 CHW MLB | .275     | 64     | 211     | 42     | 58     | 10      | 2       | 20      | 47       | 41      | 52      | 1       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .261     | 140    | 495     | 84     | 129    | 14      | 2       | 44      | 96       | 92      | 115     | 6       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .289     | 139    | 501     | 96     | 145    | 18      | 2       | 40      | 95       | 92      | 113     | 2       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Cooper's been in the league for 2 1/2 years now and has established himself as the best overall hitter in the league. You can argue that maybe New York's Ernesto Garcia has more power but Cooper is better at the other things. When he sprained his thumb on September 14, that effectively ended the White Sox' World Series chances. Don't get me wrong, they rallied well without him! But the writing was completely on the wall for the league championship series.

Cooper enjoys balls that get hit up in the zone. Okay, who doesn't? He's among the best in the game at turning around on a high fastball. Last year pitchers got increasingly afraid of pitching to him: his 17 intentional walks led the league and in spite of that and all the pitching-around he still managed to lead in slugging as well (.573). Thanks to all the strikeouts - 3rd in the AL last year, he led the league in '72 - and the flyballs he only grounded into 8 double plays in 1973. He even started hitting bad balls better last season: his .289 average was the best of his young career.

Cooper is a good defensive first baseman and has been used in left field in the past with some success. Still only 25, Cooper's star might not have risen as far as it will rise just yet. That's a scary thought.

Mick Fleetwood
RHP No. 23
RR, 6'5" 203 lbs.
Born 1947-11-13

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 TUC AAA | 11     | 12     | 0       | 3.17     | 32     | 32      | 8       | 246.2   | 188    | 93     | 87      | 142     | 166    |
| 1971 CHW MLB | 1      | 0      | 0       | 5.99     | 2      | 2       | 0       | 12.0    | 13     | 8      | 8       | 6       | 5      |
| 1972 TUC AAA | 0      | 1      | 0       | 4.50     | 1      | 1       | 1       | 8.0     | 7      | 4      | 4       | 4       | 4      |
| 1972 CHW MLB | 7      | 16     | 0       | 4.02     | 28     | 26      | 4       | 181.0   | 165    | 88     | 81      | 82      | 110    |
| 1973 IOW AAA | 2      | 0      | 0       | 0.54     | 2      | 2       | 1       | 16.2    | 6      | 1      | 1       | 3       | 15     |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 12     | 12     | 0       | 3.64     | 30     | 30      | 8       | 202.2   | 198    | 98     | 82      | 81      | 122    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Fleetwood is 25 years old, is in an up-and-coming band named after him (Fleetwood Mac), and owns a nice looking curveball. Oh, to have any one of those things! Although he missed the final week and a half of the season as well as the ALCS, Fleetwood still managed to improve greatly on his 1972 season, doubling his complete games and setting new personal highs in innings pitched, strikeouts, and wins. Last year the biggest deal for Fleetwood is that he improved his control a tick while also bucking the league-wide trend in Ks by striking out almost the same number of guys per 9IP as the year before (5.4 vs 5.5).

Fleetwood clearly thinks of himself as a rock star and it's hard to really blame him for that (although one wonders if his bandmates might eventually become more well known? Nah, like I said, the band is named after him!). Scouts insist he's got a couple miles left to earn on a fastball that always hits the low 90s when everything is working right. If he gets that tick forward, boom, here's your new ace, Chicago fans.

Carlos Filipe Ximines Belo
IF No. 7
RR, 5'12" 185 lbs.
Born 1948-02-03

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 ASH AA  | .282     | 31     | 110     | 10     | 31     | 9       | 1       | 1       | 10       | 4       | 14      | 0       |
| 1971 TUC AAA | .255     | 110    | 353     | 38     | 90     | 17      | 2       | 3       | 49       | 30      | 27      | 1       |
| 1972 TUC AAA | .223     | 88     | 296     | 25     | 66     | 10      | 2       | 2       | 27       | 18      | 24      | 0       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .170     | 21     | 47      | 4      | 8      | 2       | 0       | 0       | 6        | 2       | 3       | 0       |
| 1973 IOW AAA | .258     | 20     | 66      | 5      | 17     | 4       | 0       | 0       | 5        | 1       | 2       | 0       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .248     | 38     | 113     | 11     | 28     | 3       | 0       | 2       | 15       | 5       | 6       | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Carlos raised his average 78 points compared to the year before, which launched him squarely into adequacy. He's a good-to-great defensive player so that might be good enough. On the White Sox it probably relegates him to backup infielder duties. Even though Belo makes contact with virtually everything, he's got no power, isn't particularly fast on the basepaths, and while he's a great bunter - he laid down 7 sacrifices last season for Chicago - you probably need a guy who can do more than hit ground balls to shortstop. I don't want to say he should try striking out more, but...

I don't think the 25 year old religious leader out of Timor has a whole lot of teams knocking on the door for him but if you've got an otherwise stacked lineup and you want to drop in a potential Gold Glove infielder to shore up your defense, maybe Belo is your man.

Chris Flores
C No. 20
RR, 5'10" 201 lbs.
Born 1940-03-30

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CHR AAA | .242     | 72     | 236     | 21     | 57     | 9       | 0       | 0       | 23       | 36      | 19      | 0       |
| 1971 PIT MLB | .185     | 27     | 81      | 4      | 15     | 2       | 0       | 0       | 5        | 5       | 16      | 0       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .233     | 42     | 133     | 9      | 31     | 5       | 0       | 0       | 4        | 15      | 15      | 0       |
| 1972 MIL MLB | .202     | 45     | 94      | 7      | 19     | 5       | 0       | 1       | 13       | 13      | 12      | 0       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .211     | 108    | 284     | 21     | 60     | 4       | 1       | 0       | 19       | 22      | 40      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Flores is a career backup catcher who's played for 5 different teams in his 7 year career. He's a catcher you kind of have to describe as "good field, no hit" but fact is, he's not a super great defensive backstop either. His best skill is probably in blocking the plate; otherwise his arm is average and he's neither particularly good nor bad at pitch-framing. At the plate he's singularly awful, sporting an OPS that just barely crested 500 last year (502).

Flores also doesn't cut a fine figure as a leader. The problem is, as bad as Flores is and as ill-suited as he is for starting, he's also the best the White Sox have got. If this is a serious team, they will find a better answer for 1974.

Yukio Hatoyama
2B No. 8
LR, 6'3" 193 lbs.
Born 1948-02-04

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BIR AA  | .263     | 42     | 156     | 17     | 41     | 5       | 0       | 2       | 13       | 8       | 9       | 3       |
| 1972 IOW AAA | .347     | 44     | 170     | 31     | 59     | 11      | 2       | 2       | 25       | 17      | 24      | 7       |
| 1972 SD MLB  | .200     | 10     | 15      | 0      | 3      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 0       | 1       | 0       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .272     | 60     | 191     | 16     | 52     | 6       | 2       | 1       | 23       | 25      | 28      | 4       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .275     | 102    | 335     | 39     | 92     | 20      | 6       | 4       | 38       | 20      | 34      | 9       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Hatoyama came over from the Padres in 1972 in exchange for minor league pitcher Ruben Estrada and ever since then he's basically been the left-handed half of a platoon at second base. If you ask me, it's time to lock him into a starting job. Hatoyama has good speed and power to the gaps if not over the fence. In exactly 162 career games with Chicago he's triple-slashed 275/329/382, nothing necessarily world-beating but those are good, solid middle infielder numbers. Defensively he can be a little slow on the pivot although double play partner John Johnson still did an awfully good job at turning them anyway. He also played a little bit of 3rd and short last year. Like any good second baseman, Hatoyama is good at the "little things", laying down a good bunt for a sacrifice or a base hit and making contact with the ball on the hit and run.

Hatoyama finished the year as the team's #2 hitter vs righties. Look, March Syd Thrift: this is October Syd Thrift telling you that you need to give this guy the full-time job.

Chance Hopka
2B No. 21
RR, 6'2" 201 lbs.
Born 1942-10-29

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CAL MLB | .232     | 35     | 99      | 5      | 23     | 5       | 0       | 1       | 10       | 5       | 19      | 1       |
| 1971 CHW MLB | .253     | 25     | 91      | 7      | 23     | 3       | 1       | 0       | 6        | 10      | 21      | 3       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .217     | 114    | 383     | 42     | 83     | 9       | 6       | 2       | 28       | 28      | 75      | 3       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .267     | 111    | 311     | 34     | 83     | 11      | 2       | 0       | 29       | 24      | 48      | 10      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

You'd think from looking at the numbers here and for Hatoyama above that Hopka got most of his starts at the beginning of the year... but nope! The 30 year old middle infielder had just 17 starts through the end of June and then was essentially a full-time starter in August and September. He also started all 3 games of the postseason. Hopka did hit .287 in September but the thing with Hopka is that the average is pretty much all you get: he also had just 3 extra-base hits out of 25 hits total that month (all doubles) and drew just 5 walks. He's an excellent defensive second baseman, maybe the best guy on the pivot in all of baseball, and that's a huge difference compared to Hatoyama. At the tail end of the year they basically stopped having to choose between the bat of Hatoyama and Hopka's glove; putting both players in the lineup every day probably isn't the best idea but it worked for Chicago for a month.

Going forward, I think Hopka, a career .240 hitter, will turn into a utility infielder for this team. I guess he could start elsewhere but it's kind of hard to see someone else giving up value to take on a soon-to-be 31 year old non-hitter.

John Johnson
SS No. 27
RR, 6'3" 202 lbs.
Born 1944-10-08

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CLE MLB | .233     | 96     | 382     | 43     | 89     | 17      | 4       | 3       | 21       | 19      | 35      | 6       |
| 1972 CLE MLB | .219     | 105    | 302     | 23     | 66     | 13      | 1       | 1       | 18       | 14      | 27      | 6       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .315     | 149    | 629     | 89     | 198    | 38      | 9       | 5       | 61       | 25      | 47      | 16      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Freed from Cleveland, John Johnson returned to his old form as a hitter (he hit .350 and .340 in 69 and 70) and re-established himself as the best hitting shortstop in the American League. He moved up from hitting 2nd to leadoff once it became apparent that he was a .300 hitter again and... yeah, just did those things that John Johnson did before the losing of the 71-72 Indians got to him. He'll make contact with basically any pitch, although he does have a tendency to try to pull everything sometimes, maybe not the best attribute for a natural slap hitter like he is. Defensively, only a natural lack of range keeps him from being at the Oniji Handa level of shortstop and even then last year he set major league records for putouts and total chances and the 120 double plays he turned was 5 off the record held by John Blevins in 1970. He's got decent speed and in spite of the fact that he puts the ball in play as much as anybody in the game he only had 12 GIDPs all year long.

Johnson easily made his 2nd All-Star Game last year. At 29 years of age, he's still very much in the prime of his career.

Robert Keith
C No. 29
RR, 6'2" 207 lbs.
Born 1938-10-04

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BAL MLB | .241     | 48     | 133     | 10     | 32     | 3       | 0       | 3       | 12       | 10      | 26      | 0       |
| 1972 ROC AAA | .238     | 48     | 147     | 17     | 35     | 7       | 0       | 2       | 15       | 15      | 48      | 0       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .180     | 36     | 61      | 6      | 11     | 2       | 0       | 2       | 11       | 19      | 13      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The White Sox signed Keith in June to take over for Rene Arnoux as the backup catcher. Keith went from hanging out with his kids to playing for a division winner and pennant contender. So... was he actually the best catcher on the roster? Defensively he's a former Gold Glover who still has enough of it even at the ripe old age of 35. Offensively, he has one tool - drawing walks - but that's about a tool and a half more than the other two guys who played the spot.

That said, the question of "who was better" is a different one than "who will play next year". It's cool that the Sox got so much production from Keith in 82 plate apperances. If Rene Arnoux develops, he's probably still off the roster in 1974.

Brian Maccioli
3B No. 49
RR, 6'0" 200 lbs.
Born 1945-08-23

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 LAD MLB | .283     | 151    | 584     | 68     | 165    | 30      | 1       | 16      | 61       | 47      | 74      | 0       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .252     | 139    | 512     | 57     | 129    | 21      | 3       | 15      | 63       | 57      | 84      | 0       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .231     | 136    | 502     | 47     | 116    | 18      | 1       | 8       | 42       | 42      | 74      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

While it was tempting to call that post-Alice Cooper lineup "Maccioli and cheese", the fact is that Maccioli was kind of part of the cheese last year. Maccioli's average fell for the 2nd straight year and even that lackluster .231 was propped up by a .204 July and .148 August. As of September 3, he was slashing just 222/277/313. Even September was mostly just a lot of singles and for the season Maccioli just barely cleared a 600 OPS.

Maccioli's a really good fielder at third, so good with range in fact that with some seasoning he could probably be a decent shortstop. He lacks that top-line arm a Gold Glove award winner usually has at third (althogh more importantly, if he keeps hitting like this he won't play enough to win a GG). He's slow as molasses and although he's adequate with a bunt the White Sox did not ask him to do that last year. They did ask him to hit 5th for most of the saeson and while even the 1972 version would have been OK in that role, 1973 Maccioli was just not that guy.

The White Sox don't really have a lot of great options at third if Maccioli can't find the stick in spring training. Carlos Filipe Ximines Belo is definitely an adequate fielder but he's possibly an even worse hitter than Maccioli. Their lone top-200 infield prospect, SS Floyd Bannister, was in rookie ball last year and isn't projected to hit the big leagues until 1977. Maccioli needs to turn it around pronto or the White Sox need to figure out how to get a bat in the lineup at that position.

Chris Messina
RHP No. 13
RR, 5'11" 193 lbs.
Born 1941-03-28

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CHW MLB | 11     | 15     | 0       | 3.74     | 31     | 30      | 5       | 216.0   | 210    | 105    | 90      | 64      | 92     |
| 1972 CHW MLB | 10     | 15     | 0       | 3.41     | 30     | 30      | 4       | 213.2   | 184    | 92     | 81      | 85      | 94     |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 13     | 19     | 0       | 3.40     | 36     | 36      | 7       | 256.1   | 256    | 109    | 97      | 87      | 134    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Messina, who led the Sox in innings pitched and the American League in losses last year, wasn't exactly the team's ace but he was its workhorse. He consistently gave the Sox 7 innings every 5th day and there's a ton of value in that. In fact, if anything the biggest thing "wrong" with him was a lack of support: you throw 25 quality starts, you should probably win more than 13 times. In the month of August, Messina had an ERA of 1.54 with 3 complete games in 6 starts... and a 1-5 record. Yeah, I think that pretty well sums up his year.

Messina now has a career record of 73-109 and has never had a winning record in his major league life. The closest he's gotten was his last season in Boston when he posted an 8-9 mark. At some point you wonder if this is a personal problem... that said, really the worst you can say about him is that he's a mid-rotation starter, nothing more, nothing less. He mixes two "fast"balls that can climb to 90 in the absolute best of circumstances with a forkball and primarily survives on keeping the ball down and avoiding walks. Hitters grounded into 27 double plays last year behind him and after a year where his G/F ratio was actually underwater, Messina had a 51% mark last year.

He's popular in the clubhouse and doesn't let all the losses get him down. It's always hard to predict how long a guy at this level can keep it up but I don't see any reason why Messina can't have another 1974 like the last couple. This time, it'd be cool if he won more games than he lost.

Jeff Nation
DH/1B No. 5
RR, 6'3" 202 lbs.
Born 1945-08-15

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CHW MLB | .241     | 139    | 518     | 55     | 125    | 15      | 5       | 12      | 48       | 33      | 84      | 4       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .264     | 113    | 326     | 42     | 86     | 12      | 3       | 17      | 52       | 22      | 49      | 1       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .274     | 156    | 610     | 84     | 167    | 29      | 4       | 27      | 109      | 30      | 84      | 7       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The DH really revitalized Jeff Nation's career. As of 1972, Nation was a failed third base prospect who was looking relegated to a part-time role in the bigs. Enter the designated hitter and Nation, the 1970 Rookie of the Year, finished 2nd in the league in RBIs with 109, 3rd in HRs with 27, and was the guy to drive in teammate Alice Cooper when chips were down. He even wrapped up the year by hitting .302/7/26 in September with Cooper out for most of the month and the Rangers breathing down his neck. He even hit .286 in the NLCS series loss to the Tigers.

Nation is a classic RBI man. He'll take advantage of a mistake and in 1973 did a much better job of getting a hold of non-mistakes; his .274 average was the highest it's been since his rookie year with KC. He still has a bit of an issue with the strikeout and while some will dislike his lack of pitch selection, others like the fact that with runners on base he will always try to put the ball in play. When you can clear 25 HRs it's hard to complain with the results. He played a chunk of first base at the end of the season and should be able to continue there if the Sox decide they want to use him there. Third base at this point is right out. He's got some speed on the basepaths but isn't a very good base-stealer, only 7/14 last season on steals.

Jeff Nation is a hard worker, at least as a hitter, who just doesn't have the kind of range it takes to play on the right side of the infield. He's only 28 and really too young to be a full-time DH, except that that's exactly where the White Sox need him.

Alan Parsons
OF No. 14
LL, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1948-12-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 BUR A   | .236     | 41     | 165     | 23     | 39     | 4       | 3       | 4       | 13       | 10      | 25      | 7       |
| 1971 BIR AA  | .207     | 40     | 169     | 11     | 35     | 4       | 1       | 2       | 10       | 12      | 35      | 0       |
| 1972 BIR AA  | .281     | 23     | 89      | 6      | 25     | 1       | 0       | 0       | 7        | 9       | 11      | 2       |
| 1972 IOW AAA | .256     | 110    | 375     | 60     | 96     | 22      | 3       | 8       | 40       | 31      | 72      | 13      |
| 1973 IOW AAA | .238     | 90     | 323     | 36     | 77     | 12      | 2       | 6       | 30       | 19      | 59      | 25      |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .267     | 53     | 146     | 11     | 39     | 7       | 1       | 1       | 20       | 12      | 23      | 6       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

A less than highly rated prospect, Parsons has nevertheless shot through the minor leagues since being drafted in the 10th round in 1971. This past year he was basically what you get when you are desperate for a centerfielder and will use just about anybody at the position. He did a solid job in the field: although he doesn't have the best first step he can make up for it with good speed and has soft hands (last year he didn't commit a single error in 976 innings of work in CF between the minors and majors). He doesn't really have the arm to play in right so as he matures left field will probably need to be his chosen position. That said, Parsons has very little power, which would make that move seem problematic.

Parsons finished the year as the Chisox CF and will likely go into 1974 as the front-runner for that job. He's nothing like a long-term solution at this position though, and even his hold on next year's job is contingent on Chicago's penny-pinching ways - it would be very easy, you'd think, to find a better replacement if they ever decided to spend some money on the problem.

Malcolm Post
RHP No. 1
RR, 6'1" 182 lbs.
Born 1946-03-21

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CHW MLB | 7      | 4      | 24      | 2.22     | 60     | 0       | 0       | 97.0    | 82     | 24     | 24      | 38      | 73     |
| 1972 CHW MLB | 10     | 5      | 18      | 2.13     | 62     | 0       | 0       | 92.2    | 81     | 26     | 22      | 28      | 72     |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 8      | 2      | 35      | 2.30     | 68     | 0       | 0       | 93.2    | 76     | 24     | 24      | 35      | 51     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Perhaps the most surprising thing about the 27 year old Post is how long the rest of the league took to recognize his greatness. His All-Star appearance (he threw a scoreless inning because of course he did) was his 2nd of his career, his first coming in 1972. Is it the anti-Dutch sentiment? Post, who was born and raised in Veenendaal in the Netherlands, throws a 2-seam fastball that is faster than most guys' 4-seamers, a nasty slider, and a change that he pops in every now and then for strikes. That, plus the Sox using him heavily - Post led the AL in games pitched and finished for the first time in his career - plus all the winning meant that when he came into the 8th against the A's and threw 2 scoreless innings en route to a 7-4 victory, that save edged out Geoff Saus's 1971 (11-12, 2.91, 34 Sv) and Montay Luiso's 1964 (11-4, 1.14, 34 Sv) as the greatest single-season relief performance ever.

With Luiso aging and Geoff Saus coming off of, frankly, a very bad season, the 27 year old Post along with Pittsburgh's Paz Lemus are the two relief aces in the major leagues now.

Rich Reese
RHP No. 9
RR, 6'5" 187 lbs.
Born 1944-08-17

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 TUC AAA | 12     | 6      | 0       | 2.61     | 24     | 24      | 5       | 175.1   | 126    | 62     | 51      | 91      | 122    |
| 1971 CHW MLB | 4      | 3      | 0       | 3.53     | 10     | 10      | 2       | 71.1    | 59     | 28     | 28      | 37      | 53     |
| 1972 CHW MLB | 5      | 1      | 3       | 1.98     | 36     | 0       | 0       | 54.1    | 33     | 15     | 12      | 27      | 40     |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 18     | 7      | 0       | 2.67     | 34     | 34      | 7       | 238.2   | 170    | 82     | 71      | 135     | 152    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

The jewel in the White Sox' rotational crown, Reese took a pretty rocky road towards staff ace-ness. Reese came up with the Twins but following a couple of, frankly, pretty awful years in 68 and 69 (2-2, 5.59 in '68, 7-5. 4.84 the next year) the Twinkies traded him for a song: SS Jun Ho-Baek, who is currently technically on the Cardinals' roster, at least at the time of this writing (he hit a paltry .102 for them in 17 starts and I'd be surprised if he even gets a camp invite). After mostly doing minor league duty in 70 and 71, the Sox decided to convert him into a reliever in 72 and he was suddenly kind of lights out. That made them say "hmm, let's try him as a starter again", which is very often a move that will not pay off but somehow it did.

For a guy with a sub-3 ERA, Reese is kind of up and down and definitely benefits from having Malcolm Post behind him to pitch the 8th and 9th innings when needed. When he's on he can generate good outs with a 12-to-6 curveball and a nice changeup and slider. There's no coincidence he led the league in fewest hits per 9 IP, although the strikeouts don't necessarily show that. When he's not... he also led the AL in walks this year with a pretty high 5.1/9IP walk rate. Speaking of rates, he's also severely limited HRs with a grand total of 19 allowed over 374.2 career innings with Chicago. The curve, not to mention a forkball that Reese likes to put out there as a show-me pitch, also induces a lot of ground-outs and 31 GIDPs last season.

Was Reese just fantastically lucky last year? You may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like. Mick Fleetwood might oust him as the team's #1 starter last year but that's only because of the ascending star of that young player.

Daniel Roche
RHP No. 12
RR, 5'11" 183 lbs.
Born 1938-05-01
[code]
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl | w | l | sv | era | g | gs | cg | ip | h | r | er | bb | k |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CHW MLB | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4.21 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 36.1 | 38 | 22 | 17 | 19 | 18 |
| 1972 CHW MLB | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| 1972 MON MLB | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4.06 | 24 | 9 | 1 | 82.0 | 64 | 37 | 37 | 34 | 42 |
| 1973 MON MLB | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3.20 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 39.1 | 39 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2.49 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 21.2 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
[code]
Roche was the first of two vets the White Sox acquired from their former teams off the waiver wire (Rich Whetzel being the other). Roche, now 35 years old and the grand old man of the White Sox staff, was originally poached by Montreal when the White Sox tried to slip him through waivers in June of 1972 so in a way it's only fitting that this was how he rejoined. The Dan Roche of old was a 3-time All-Star who did a good job filling a mid-rotation role for a White Sox team that had a fair bit of success in the 60s. This version of Roche probably isn't a guy you want to start or maybe even protect a tight lead anymore but between Montreal and Chicago he did show that he's still got at least some ability to prevent runs.

Will Roche be on this roster in 1974? I don't want to say yes but I think he'll be *somewhere*.

Damian Seja
RHP No. 37
RR, 6'2" 203 lbs.
Born 1943-05-30

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1972 RIC AAA | 1      | 2      | 0       | 4.50     | 6      | 6       | 1       | 44.0    | 54     | 22     | 22      | 10      | 16     |
| 1972 ATL MLB | 0      | 1      | 0       | 3.52     | 5      | 2       | 0       | 23.0    | 18     | 9      | 9       | 6       | 9      |
| 1973 IOW AAA | 2      | 2      | 0       | 2.30     | 6      | 6       | 1       | 43.0    | 36     | 13     | 11      | 7       | 22     |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 3      | 1      | 1       | 2.03     | 17     | 5       | 0       | 44.1    | 43     | 13     | 10      | 17      | 15     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Once a top-ten prospect with the Braves organization, Atlanta finally decided they were done with the fireballing right-hander and all of his injuries, releasing him outright in November. The White Sox signed him up to a minors-majors option deal in March and Seja, frankly, continued to do what he'd been doing for the Braves for years: get hurt a lot but show a lot of promise when he's not hurt. Seja throws a fastball with a good deal of hop but gets his outs with a 12-to-6 curve and a forkball, both of which also produce a good amount of ground balls. He's a guy who's content with getting hitters to ground out to shortstop instead of getting strikeouts although last year his rate fell from "this is a choice" to "we should be worried".

Seja isn't the best guy to have in a locker room but you'd think that being on the edge of the bullpen also means people won't bother talking to him much. As hard as he throws, it's hard to see the kinds of results that made him the #8 prospect in baseball so many years ago. Now 30, he doesn't even have 30 major league decisions: 13 wins, 8 losses in spite of 33 career starts and even more appearances in relief. This is a crossroads season.

Josh Wade
RF No. 76
RR, 5'11" 205 lbs.
Born 1943-11-08

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CHW MLB | .279     | 115    | 427     | 44     | 119    | 22      | 3       | 2       | 32       | 10      | 66      | 5       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .276     | 99     | 344     | 41     | 95     | 14      | 6       | 4       | 40       | 17      | 48      | 4       |
| 1973 CHW MLB | .291     | 148    | 645     | 65     | 188    | 30      | 8       | 7       | 66       | 18      | 78      | 10      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

There's nothing... wrong with Josh Wade per se. He's a perfectly functional outfielder who hits for good contact. In fact his .291 average was his highest since his first season in Chicago in 1970 when he hit .296. Wade hit leadoff or 2nd in the order all season, finishing the year 1st in the AL in at-bats, and that's just plain too large of a role for the guy, as the paltry 65 runs would suggest. Wade doesn't walk, doesn't really have the kind of bat control you'd want from a 2-hole hitter - he gets his singles by spraying balls throughout the park - and never walks. Defensively he's best described as adequate, with a good arm papering over a lack of range in right field. Wade's got average speed at best, although it must be said that he did steal 10 bases last year, a career high, and only grounded into 9 double plays. He'll lay down a bunt, as he was asked to do 9 times last year (10th in the AL).

In 1973 the White Sox had too many other issues in the outfield to mess with Wade, who they trotted out and used every day. Wade hit .323 in 1969 and it seems like the Sox have been expecting that level of production out of him ever since. That's just not who he is at this point in his career.

Rich Whetzel
RHP No. 42
RR, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1945-01-31

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 MIN MLB | 8      | 5      | 0       | 3.39     | 22     | 22      | 1       | 135.0   | 126    | 56     | 51      | 62      | 57     |
| 1972 TAC AAA | 2      | 4      | 0       | 2.87     | 8      | 8       | 3       | 62.2    | 49     | 20     | 20      | 29      | 30     |
| 1972 MIN MLB | 7      | 12     | 0       | 3.99     | 21     | 21      | 3       | 142.0   | 132    | 74     | 63      | 63      | 76     |
| 1973 MIN MLB | 3      | 14     | 0       | 4.03     | 21     | 21      | 3       | 133.2   | 143    | 83     | 60      | 56      | 70     |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 1      | 4      | 0       | 5.03     | 7      | 6       | 1       | 39.1    | 40     | 24     | 22      | 21      | 11     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Whetzel, a longtime Twins organizational soldier, was the victim of a numbers game in August when he was waived and then picked up by Chicago off the waiver wire. The Sox really needed that extra arm in the rotation but Whetzel, already 3-14 at the time of the acquisition, only managed to not lead the league in losses because of the hard luck of his new teammate. Whetzel is still only 27 and throws as hard as ever but once he got to Chi-town he seemed unable to get batters out by himself and that led to a lot of nibbling and all the issues that come with nibblers.

Whetzel was once a top-50 prospect and still has a bit of that luster about him, although 2 straight losing seasons have taken quite a bit of that luster off. First things first, though, he needs to figure out how to get that heat past hitters every once in a while. This is a man who can reportedly get into the mid-90s when conditions are right: how do hitters get around on those pitches so much?

Gavin Yates
RHP No. 26
RR, 6'1" 198 lbs.
Born 1939-10-21

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CAL MLB | 4      | 6      | 0       | 4.63     | 32     | 0       | 0       | 44.2    | 41     | 25     | 23      | 10      | 29     |
| 1972 CAL MLB | 2      | 1      | 1       | 2.94     | 31     | 0       | 0       | 39.2    | 42     | 13     | 13      | 13      | 27     |
| 1972 CHW MLB | 0      | 1      | 0       | 0.81     | 8      | 0       | 0       | 11.0    | 6      | 2      | 1       | 1       | 3      |
| 1973 CHW MLB | 3      | 4      | 0       | 4.00     | 41     | 0       | 0       | 60.2    | 59     | 29     | 27      | 18      | 35     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Yates had a very up and down 1973. When he was up, as he was in the month of July (2-1, 2.55 in 12 G and 17.2 IP) he looked like he could hold court with any middle reliever in the game. When he was off, for instance in September (0-2, 5.79, 8 BB, 7 K in 11 IP) he was really bad. For the most part Yates has decent control although when he can't hit his slider for strikes he starts to miss the edges of the plate and misses over it as often as away from it. The White Sox threw him in mainly lower leverage situations, saving the really important times for Malcolm Post of course, but even guys like Sergio Alvarado got more use late and close than the 33 year old.

Yates has fairly cemented this role as a middle-of-the-pack riser-slider guy. Last year the overall results were kind of meh, which isn't the best trajectory for a guy entering his mid 30s.

[Syd Thrift]

Recap: Cleveland won the AL East and 104 games in 1969, finished just a game out in 1970, and, following a 72-90 setback season of 1971, were a competitive 87-69 in 1972. Unfortunately for fans of the Indians, at least what's left of them, the Tribe sold off most of their assets last offseason and began the fans' worst nightmare known as "the rebuild". And oh boy did it start out poorly. They opened the year 4-17 and, following a small patch of decentness, were 14-33 and looking like they could be the worst team in baseball history by the end of May.

And then... things got weird. Cleveland had just one losing month from that point on and even that was a 15-16 July (31 games! There was an All-Star break!). They even finished the year 16-11, a run that included playing spoilers to the Red Sox and Yankees in the final 2 weeks of the season (they won 2 out of 3 in Boston from September 14-16, won 2 out of 3 at home vs the Yankees on the 22nd and 23rd, and swept the Red Sox on the 25th and 26th).

The hitting at least as a whole never quite got turned around. Cleveland Municipal Stadium will always be a hitters' haven but don't let that fool you: the Indians were 4th worst in average and 3rd worst in runs scored. A young defense wasn't good in the ways you'd expect a young defense to be but the pitching showed up and did a surprisingly good job of it anyway.

1974 Outlook: The AL East at this point is very clearly a stars-and-scrubs division with the Indians being the best of the scrubs. They're going to need big improvements from their young stars to catch up to Boston and several miracles to hope of catching up to Detroit. How confident you are about them going forward really depends on how confident you are that their pitching staff, which was decimated with injury last year, can rebound and be difference makers.

Tony Aguillon
2B/IF No. 30
RR, 6'2" 199 lbs.
Born 1945-10-02

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WIC AAA | .300     | 120    | 446     | 49     | 134    | 14      | 1       | 3       | 50       | 41      | 30      | 2       |
| 1971 CLE MLB | .444     | 16     | 45      | 8      | 20     | 3       | 0       | 1       | 5        | 4       | 3       | 1       |
| 1972 POR AAA | .244     | 110    | 365     | 30     | 89     | 7       | 1       | 4       | 28       | 17      | 15      | 1       |
| 1972 CLE MLB | .342     | 19     | 38      | 3      | 13     | 1       | 0       | 0       | 4        | 1       | 4       | 0       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .312     | 74     | 218     | 18     | 68     | 11      | 0       | 4       | 23       | 6       | 20      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

There's going to be a lot of sad-sack stories coming through on this team, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Cleveland really struggled at points last year and really, if it were up to the projected talent in the lineup, this would be a 100 loss team. It's not all bad news, though! Tony Aguillon showed that his September callup in 1972 wasn't a fluke as he hit .312 last year and made a really good case for himself, at the ripe old age of 28, to be a regular starter in 1974.

The contact tool is a relatively recent add but it does seem to be for real (just ignore that 1972 season nspent in Portland). Aguillon protects the plate even with less than 2 strikes and will rarely strike out as a result. He prefers the low fastball and mostly what he hits come out as ground ball singles. As you'd expect from a guy with this profile and hitting philosophy, Aguillon will rarely draw a walk either. He's a really great hit and run guy although he hit too far down in the order for Cleveland to utilize the hit and run that much (I know IRL they ran the hit and run a toooon during this period so I might just have to goose up those rates and see what happens). Defensively, Aguillon lacks range but picks up most of what he gets to, and he's got a really strong arm that would make him a fine replacement at 3rd base... assuming he continues to hit .300 of course.

You don't normally see guys come out of nowhere to contend for a batting title and Aguillon has still yet to hit this well over a full season but I think he's earned the right to try. And hey, weirder things have happened, right?

Brandon Anderson
RF/CF No. 17
RR, 6'1" 201 lbs.
Born 1948-07-31

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 EUG AAA | .344     | 43     | 160     | 27     | 55     | 11      | 4       | 2       | 21       | 22      | 18      | 8       |
| 1971 PHI MLB | .274     | 112    | 368     | 52     | 101    | 19      | 4       | 8       | 46       | 57      | 71      | 10      |
| 1972 PHI MLB | .243     | 96     | 276     | 37     | 67     | 6       | 5       | 9       | 35       | 47      | 37      | 11      |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .287     | 156    | 596     | 90     | 171    | 26      | 2       | 23      | 83       | 64      | 65      | 13      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Anderson was the odd man out in a crowded Phillies outfield and so he found himself moved to Cleveland in what looked like a pretty clear cost-cutting move (veteran hitting specialist Nelson Vargas was sent out in the other direction). Instead, Anderson adapted well to the cozy confines of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, hit career highs in every category, and even made his first All-Star Game. It was a great season, all in all, and one that Indians fans hope will be one of many in the future.

The biggest surprise was the power. Anderson had never hit double-digit HRs at any step in his career before last season, when he led the Indians in that category. Well... there's that and then there's the way he got that power, somehow, by shortening his swing. Prior to last season Anderson had a big, looping swing that missed pitches an awful lot. This past season he concentrated more on taking what he was given and that seems to really have unlocked some potential. You can blame the low RBI totals more on a lack of opportunities than "clutch", although if we're being honest that's probably the one area where we'd like to see improvement.

Anderson is a fine fielder overall. Still only 25, he could definitely play more centerfield than he's been asked to so far. He's got a good first step and uses his natural speed to catch up to balls hit into the gaps. He also has good hands, committing just 3 errors in the field all season long. His biggest downside, which is not a small once given that he started 134 games in right last year, is that his arm is only average. He got ran on enough that that average arm still collected 8 OF assists but left is probably a better fit for him as he gets older. Harpst is a very good base runner but needs to work on his instincts out there a bit better: he was caught 11 times in 24 steal attempts and occasionally made outs on hits as well. He laid down 6 sacrifice bunts last season; while he can do that, he really, really should not.

Anderson is not really a natural leader except of course with his powerful bat. He's more of "a guy" in the clubhouse. Ideally you'd like a guy of his stature to take up that team captain role but that's not really Anderson's thing. Instead, he'll merely be a top RBI man for this team for the next decade.

Richard Berman
LF No. 27
RR, 5'10" 184 lbs.
Born 1945-10-22

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 OAK MLB | .285     | 137    | 527     | 72     | 150    | 36      | 5       | 2       | 39       | 38      | 42      | 17      |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .276     | 128    | 492     | 52     | 136    | 17      | 8       | 3       | 40       | 43      | 41      | 10      |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .286     | 102    | 419     | 48     | 120    | 22      | 5       | 6       | 50       | 25      | 47      | 5       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Now in his second stint with Cleveland, Berman over the past 4 seasons has established himself as a contact hitter you can just about justify hitting 3rd for you when he's healthy. Berman was not always healthy this past year, missing 60 games due to injury, and the last one was the worst: he broke a bone in his elbow trying to break up a double play. It was a bad break that he'll be nursing all offseason and early reports are that he might not be back until May or June.

When he did play, Berman was... fine. He mostly hit 3rd for the Tribe but that's more a sign that the team was very undermanned on offense than him really being well suited for the role. He did hit .317 for Milwaukee in 1970 and .372 in AAA the year before (that year coming after the season spent in Cleveland as a pinch-hitter) so there's always that chance he'll break out and become a batting champion level guy. Berman doesn't hit for a lot of power and prefers spraying line drives into the gaps. He's shown more signs of speed than he did with Cleveland in the past; that's one area where the injuries are beginning to pile up. On defense he's adequate at best, with a lack of range hurting his cause more than an on-paper good arm (I say on paper because Berman recorded no baserunner kills this year) helps, especially in left. DH might be a better spot for him in the future although in order to play DH long-term he probably needs to do more with the stick than what he's doing now.

Whatever Cleveland decides to do with Berman, they aren't going to have a chance to make that decision until the middle of the season. He's still, along with Brandon Anderson, the best pure hitter on the team, and given how few good hitters the Indians have, it'd seem they're practically required to give him at-bats for at least another season.

George W. Bush
1B/OF No. 42
LL, 6'2" 202 lbs.
Born 1946-04-25

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DEN AAA | .185     | 80     | 248     | 47     | 46     | 8       | 3       | 17      | 46       | 86      | 49      | 1       |
| 1971 TEX MLB | .281     | 74     | 253     | 47     | 71     | 24      | 1       | 13      | 40       | 47      | 38      | 2       |
| 1972 DEN AAA | .250     | 52     | 180     | 36     | 45     | 7       | 0       | 14      | 29       | 35      | 38      | 2       |
| 1972 TEX MLB | .172     | 63     | 192     | 24     | 33     | 2       | 1       | 4       | 15       | 36      | 54      | 1       |
| 1973 OKC AAA | .228     | 58     | 167     | 28     | 38     | 5       | 3       | 11      | 29       | 35      | 37      | 4       |
| 1973 SPO AAA | .175     | 35     | 120     | 17     | 21     | 4       | 0       | 6       | 13       | 19      | 23      | 2       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .174     | 40     | 109     | 14     | 19     | 2       | 1       | 5       | 18       | 19      | 22      | 2       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

It's easy to see why George W Bush keeps getting chances. The prodigious power is on display and pitchers are kind of afraid of him. He looked like a future star with the Rangers in 1971. Since then, though, he hasn't gotten close to .200 in 2 stints in the major leagues and it's all because of the strikeouts. He just can't get around it. He's at a point in his career where he has to in order to last but he's 27 already - this is his prime.

Bush is a very good defensive first baseman. If he could learn to make contact even a normal amount he could totally push Hodzik out to 3rd and form a very good defensive corner infield. He's got decent outfield range but a weak arm means he's pretty well set as a left fielder should the team decide to use him there (he didn't play in the outfield at all in the big leagues last year). You'd expect a guy with this hitting profile to be turrible slow but Bush actually has good speed. He's no leader (ahahaha) but he also doesn't stick out in the clubhouse.

This is pretty much the use it or lose it year for Bush. He's reportedly very unhappy that he was relocated from Texas last offseason - he talked about that team like he wanted to own it some day - but them's the breaks and when you are physically unable to make contact with the baseball, you either take what you can get or you follow your father into politics.

Giorgio Cavazzano
RHP No. 34
RR, 6'5" 202 lbs.
Born 1947-10-04

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 SHE AA  | 4      | 4      | 3       | 3.71     | 28     | 0       | 0       | 36.1    | 39     | 15     | 15      | 15      | 35     |
| 1971 CHR AAA | 1      | 1      | 3       | 0.81     | 12     | 0       | 0       | 22.0    | 17     | 3      | 2       | 7       | 9      |
| 1972 CHR AAA | 10     | 4      | 14      | 3.12     | 52     | 0       | 0       | 72.0    | 73     | 29     | 25      | 19      | 49     |
| 1972 PIT MLB | 0      | 0      | 0       | 5.06     | 3      | 0       | 0       | 5.1     | 7      | 3      | 3       | 1       | 1      |
| 1973 OMA AAA | 4      | 6      | 2       | 4.34     | 21     | 0       | 0       | 29.0    | 33     | 17     | 14      | 10      | 23     |
| 1973 OKC AAA | 2      | 2      | 4       | 2.75     | 10     | 0       | 0       | 16.1    | 15     | 5      | 5       | 6       | 16     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 0      | 0      | 0       | 13.50    | 5      | 0       | 0       | 8.0     | 16     | 12     | 12      | 3       | 5      |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 1      | 2      | 2       | 2.38     | 21     | 0       | 0       | 34.0    | 34     | 9      | 9       | 12      | 16     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Cavazzano managed to finish 3rd in voting for Fireman of the Year in the combined IL/AA voting in 1972 and that, plus, let's be honest, salary was enough for the Tribe to ship off their top reliever in 1972 in Jake Duckett in exchange for this guy. Duckett did well with the new team but truth be told, Cavazzano was a nice add himself. An Italian inker and cartoonist in his spare time (he'd probably tell you that baseball is what takes up his spare time), Giorgio is a fastball/curveball pitcher who generated a lot of whiffs in AAA in spite of less than overpowering stuff. Is it a deceptive motion? Let's call it a deceptive motion. He pays zero attention whatsoever to runners whe they do get on board, a point which looks like it hasn't quite filtered around the league yet but probably will if he stays in the major leagues.

At this point in time the 26 year old Cavazzano has got a spot in the Indians' bullpen with his name on it.

Alfredo Contreras
LHP No. 32
LL, 6'4" 201 lbs.
Born 1942-07-10

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 ROC AAA | 5      | 3      | 2       | 5.68     | 32     | 0       | 0       | 50.2    | 54     | 34     | 32      | 18      | 36     |
| 1971 BAL MLB | 1      | 1      | 0       | 9.41     | 15     | 0       | 0       | 14.1    | 21     | 16     | 15      | 5       | 8      |
| 1972 WH AA   | 0      | 1      | 0       | 3.52     | 6      | 1       | 1       | 15.1    | 19     | 6      | 6       | 7       | 8      |
| 1972 SYR AAA | 0      | 1      | 0       | 4.50     | 12     | 0       | 0       | 18.0    | 25     | 9      | 9       | 7       | 17     |
| 1972 NYY MLB | 0      | 0      | 0       | 11.57    | 4      | 0       | 0       | 2.1     | 4      | 3      | 3       | 2       | 2      |
| 1973 NYY MLB | 2      | 0      | 0       | 4.95     | 14     | 0       | 0       | 16.1    | 19     | 10     | 9       | 11      | 14     |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 4      | 2      | 1       | 4.11     | 31     | 1       | 1       | 39.1    | 38     | 19     | 18      | 7       | 27     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Contreras is... a crazy reclamation project. After playing at 3 different levels in 1972, the 31 year old excited someone in the Cleveland front office enough to trade reliever Elias Sanchez to the Yankees to pick him up. Contreras has been, really, nothing but bad at his previous 2 stops: 2-3, 6.54 in 23 games at Baltimore, 2-0, 5.79 in New York. And then in Cleveland... he was kind of good. Maybe "good" is too strong of a word but Contreras definitely did the job against left-handed hitters, holding them to a triple-slash of 239/292/489 and overall put together a pretty nice K/BB ratio in Cleveland.

If you squint you can see how at one point - granted it's been almost a decade now - Contreras was considered a top 100 prospect. He throws a lot of heat and mixes in a change of pace against lefty hitters. A guy who throws as hard as Contreras does and with his history of wildness is almost guaranteed to allow dingers, and he most certainly did last year, with 8 HRs allowed in 39.1 Cleveland innings. He was still effective enough to pick up an AL-leading 9 holds, all of them with the new team.

We are not in the era of the LOOGY by any stretch but Contreras seems like he could be effective enough against righties to stick around on this team... if he mostly plays on the road.

Lorenzo Escobedo
DH/RF No. 12
RR, 6'1" 204 lbs.
Born 1946-04-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 JAX AA  | .250     | 15     | 60      | 6      | 15     | 4       | 1       | 1       | 6        | 5       | 6       | 0       |
| 1971 WIC AAA | .227     | 97     | 300     | 33     | 68     | 8       | 0       | 9       | 36       | 43      | 31      | 0       |
| 1972 SPO AAA | .218     | 110    | 390     | 33     | 85     | 19      | 0       | 12      | 47       | 45      | 37      | 0       |
| 1973 OKC AAA | .237     | 45     | 152     | 22     | 36     | 7       | 0       | 11      | 33       | 17      | 18      | 0       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .281     | 94     | 331     | 35     | 93     | 19      | 0       | 10      | 57       | 38      | 39      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Escobedo was a 27 year old rookie last year who didn't get the call to the major leagues until June but really made the most of it. He's got major league power and while he's not super fast he seems to avoid strikeouts enough to where a .287 average seems repeatable (I should note that he hasn't hit to that level since a good stint in AAA Wichita in 1970, but hey, look at the numbers). Last year he had reverse splits at the plate, which I do not expect to continue. Defensively he's got a gun for an arm but not a lot of range; if the Tribe decide to put Brandon Anderson in centerfield to open 1974, Escobedo could be at least a decent fit in right.

Escobedo is a hard worker and a great camp story. The fans don't pay him much attention but man, if I was a Cleveland fan I sure would.

Lee Evans
RHP No. 37
RR, 6'0" 198 lbs.
Born 1947-08-03

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 DEN AAA | 15     | 3      | 0       | 2.80     | 23     | 23      | 7       | 166.2   | 116    | 59     | 52      | 60      | 97     |
| 1971 TEX MLB | 1      | 1      | 0       | 3.49     | 4      | 4       | 1       | 18.0    | 14     | 7      | 7       | 3       | 17     |
| 1972 DEN AAA | 4      | 1      | 10      | 2.45     | 28     | 0       | 0       | 40.1    | 31     | 11     | 11      | 14      | 31     |
| 1972 TEX MLB | 3      | 5      | 0       | 3.87     | 10     | 8       | 1       | 58.0    | 53     | 25     | 25      | 21      | 22     |
| 1973 OKC AAA | 7      | 1      | 0       | 1.11     | 11     | 10      | 2       | 81.0    | 35     | 10     | 10      | 22      | 75     |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 9      | 5      | 0       | 2.77     | 23     | 23      | 4       | 165.1   | 150    | 56     | 51      | 65      | 85     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

The only thing holding sprinter Lee Evans, who won gold at the 1972 Olympic Games, from stardom is a lack of stamina. If he can just last a bit longer in games, he has it all: a sinker/splitter combo that rarely gets above the middle of the plate and will cause hitters to swing and miss (at least in the minors), decent control (although it wasn't the best in the major leagues last year). Evans throws almost underhanded so there's a tooon of left-right break to all of his pitches. I guess that might be thing #2 standing in his way: he held righties to a triple-slash of 212/278/275 but lefties hit 289/369/363 against him. They didn't get a single HR off of him though.

Okay FINE I guess maybe Evans might be better suited to the bullpen in the long term. For now the Indians will surely try him as a starter owing to how they don't really have anything better to do with him.

Kevin Freeman
LHP No. 11
LL, 5'9" 171 lbs.
Born 1942-07-15

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 WAS MLB | 11     | 15     | 0       | 3.26     | 33     | 32      | 10      | 239.2   | 221    | 102    | 87      | 63      | 126    |
| 1972 TEX MLB | 10     | 14     | 0       | 3.29     | 33     | 26      | 9       | 202.0   | 177    | 81     | 74      | 56      | 118    |
| 1973 TEX MLB | 3      | 0      | 0       | 3.23     | 5      | 5       | 1       | 39.0    | 38     | 15     | 14      | 11      | 21     |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 11     | 14     | 0       | 4.73     | 27     | 27      | 6       | 190.0   | 209    | 105    | 100     | 56      | 139    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Freeman came over to the Indians in what can only be described as a somewhat bizarre move. Last year's fire sale left them without a first baseman or enough front-line pitching, so they made a trade with the Texas Rangers in May to try to get both: Freeman and 1B George Bush. The price for those 2 was then 22 year old RHP Robbie Coltrane, who'd just come off of a 10-10, 3.72 rookie year and was just 2-2, 5.20 at the time of the trade. Coltrane instantly turned into a staff ace with his new team while Kevin Freeman and Bush were pretty bad. Freeman got worse as the year progressed and finished the season with a 2-3, 5.45 August and a 3-2, 6.08 September.

Freeman's always been a guy who throws a lot of gas but never quite has the Ks you'd expect from all that heat. In Cleveland at least he seemed to turn that around, and he continued to display his always-impeccable control. On the other hand, he allowed 25 HRs in 190 IP - he'd always been a bit HR prone in Washington but it was masked somewhat by the large confines of Griffith Stadium - and hitters still managed to hit the ball away from the fielders behind him last year to the tune of a .279 opponents' batting average. Freeman does to his credit have a great pickoff move that keeps runners absolutely nailed to the base: people tried to steal on him just 10 times last year, including pickoffs, and were successful just 3.

To hear Freeman say it, he's the best there is and the only reason he's not at the top of the leaderboards is that people don't support him enough. In years past there was a case to be made for that. In 1973 Freeman was just plain not good. He's still 31, in the prime of his career, and you can never discount a left-hander who gets into the low to mid 90s with his fastball, but Freeman does indeed need a comeback year this year.

Larry Gatlin
IF No. 17
LR, 6'0" 194 lbs.
Born 1948-04-29

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CBS AA  | .243     | 83     | 226     | 23     | 55     | 9       | 3       | 4       | 16       | 28      | 60      | 4       |
| 1972 CBS AA  | .310     | 103    | 210     | 37     | 65     | 6       | 2       | 7       | 33       | 43      | 26      | 0       |
| 1972 OKC AAA | .333     | 3      | 3       | 1      | 1      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| 1973 OKC AAA | .256     | 64     | 160     | 21     | 41     | 9       | 1       | 6       | 23       | 16      | 33      | 1       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .200     | 30     | 65      | 8      | 13     | 5       | 1       | 1       | 6        | 15      | 18      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Gatlin is a tweener type prospect, not a good enough fielder to stick in the infield, not a good enough hitter to stick anywhere else. He filled in for 3 weeks last year when Mauricio Mendez went down with an injury and his play seemed to back that up, to the point that Cleveland didn't even add him to their September roster.

Gatling has a short, line drive swing that allows him to take pitches wherever they come. In theory that could lead to a lot of doubles into the gap. In practice, it's been a lot of singles, even where he hits well, such as AA Columbus in 1972. He's patient enough to take a walk as well when offered, although one wonders how well that will translate to the major leagues given that he's no threat with the bat. Defensively he played throughout the infield in the minors last year, which was enough to inform the major league team that Gatlin is a 2nd baseman and only a 2nd baseman. He does have decent speed, even if he'll never be a weapon with that, and can lay down a bunt when needed.

Even on a team with issues as big as Cleveland's, it's hard to see them finding a place for this guy. More than likely, in 5 years time if he makes the news at all it'll be in the country band he's a part of with his two brothers.

Dylan Hamilton
RHP No. 16
RR, 6'3" 197 lbs.
Born 1943-06-04

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CLE MLB | 10     | 13     | 0       | 4.20     | 32     | 32      | 8       | 222.1   | 241    | 116    | 104     | 83      | 105    |
| 1972 CLE MLB | 13     | 16     | 0       | 3.64     | 32     | 32      | 9       | 224.2   | 230    | 99     | 91      | 63      | 133    |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 13     | 15     | 0       | 3.46     | 32     | 32      | 8       | 221.0   | 233    | 91     | 85      | 81      | 113    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

At this point a 5 year veteran and acknowledged staff ace of the Indians, Dylan Hamilton had arguably his best season in the Forest City (do they still call it that?). It still led him to a losing record because of Cleveland's anemic offense but hey, you do what you can with what you have. At that, the 13-15 record is only as "good" as it is thanks to a 4-1, 2.57 September. As late as August 24, Dylan was 8-14, 3.76. Hamilton's been a really nice fit for the park, as he's a groundball guy who keeps the ball low in the zone. Last year he allowed only 14 HRs all season long, including just 5 in 110.2 IP on the road. Hamilton throws a change of pace and a curveball that, owing to his throwing motion, breaks straight down.

Hamilton was actually one of the pitchers most adversely affected by the AL DH rule in 1973. A career .222 hitter, he'd hit .247 with an OPS approaching 600 in 1972 and actually picked up 22 RBIs as a pitcher the year before. He is one of the worst men in the league at holding runners: last year 29 out of 37 men were successful in stealing on him. At times Hamilton just plain forgets who's over there. Speaking of his demeanor in the field, he comes off the mound awkwardly and doesn't field the bunt well.

Should the Indians decide that his time in Cleveland is up, they should fetch a decent return for Dylan Hamilton. He'd be a solid guy in most places, perhaps not a #1 but a #2.

Corey Harpst
OF No. 19
RR, 6'0" 201 lbs.
Born 1942-07-05

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 PHI MLB | .225     | 46     | 173     | 11     | 39     | 5       | 3       | 0       | 11       | 9       | 26      | 2       |
| 1971 DET MLB | .231     | 32     | 104     | 11     | 24     | 3       | 0       | 1       | 7        | 7       | 18      | 1       |
| 1971 CLE MLB | .179     | 29     | 117     | 10     | 21     | 4       | 0       | 3       | 10       | 17      | 24      | 1       |
| 1972 POR AAA | .233     | 122    | 348     | 36     | 81     | 12      | 7       | 5       | 25       | 35      | 38      | 7       |
| 1972 CLE MLB | .000     | 1      | 1       | 0      | 0      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 0       | 1       | 0       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .224     | 57     | 165     | 22     | 37     | 3       | 0       | 4       | 8        | 11      | 17      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Corey Harpst is a 2 time Gold Glove award winner in 68 and 69 with the Phillies and is still only 31 years old. Time, she is a harsh mistress in this league. It doesn't help that Harpst hasn't even had an above average bat since 1968. At this point he's a .255 career hitter with 20 career HRs in 2,277 at-bats. To his credit he did toil in AAA Portland last year and while he wasn't exactly good he filled a positional need enough for the Tribe to recall him and put him on the roster all season long. Harpst got most of his appearances early - 28 of his 43 starts came prior to July 1 - and like a lot of vets on bad teams the opportunities dried up as the season progressed.

Harpst is still everything, virtually, that he once was in the field: he won those gloves in right and he still has that same cannon for an arm. Due to the emergence of Brandon Anderson he wound up playing mostly left field for Cleveland last year, further lowering his value, but hey, you know, he covers a ton of ground for a left fielder and that's an advantage of sorts. At this point in his career he's a big zero offensively and doesn't smash lefties the way some righties do so there's no real added value there. Harpst once had decent speed on the bases but that's gone now.

I would be very, very surprised to see Harpst get 165 at-bats with this or any team in 1974. In fact, this is almost certainly the last time he shows up in this... book?

Miguel Hernandez
RHP No. 8
RR, 6'0" 203 lbs.
Born 1943-01-09

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 TUL AAA | 3      | 1      | 13      | 2.14     | 38     | 0       | 0       | 54.2    | 33     | 14     | 13      | 24      | 49     |
| 1971 STL MLB | 1      | 2      | 0       | 5.21     | 16     | 3       | 0       | 38.0    | 46     | 23     | 22      | 12      | 23     |
| 1972 STL MLB | 9      | 4      | 0       | 1.91     | 34     | 4       | 0       | 75.1    | 50     | 16     | 16      | 38      | 47     |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 2      | 1      | 1       | 4.59     | 33     | 1       | 0       | 49.0    | 58     | 29     | 25      | 24      | 40     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

When the Cardinals left the 30 year old Cuban on the waiver wire at the start of the season, Cleveland must have thought it was too good to be true. Turns out, it was. Hernandez, who'd been stunning as a swingman for the Cards in 1972, saw his ERA balloon in 1973. Some of that you can probably put down to the DH league and the new park but some of it, too, is that he's never had great control and last year he just got a bit lucky with not allowing a lot of hits. If anything, his fastball/slider combo was more devastating to the new league than the old but when hitters did make contact they managed to tattoo him for a .287 BA (compared to a .190 the year before).

Hernandez is all about himself at the end of the day. If we had free agency he'd probably try and go off to the highest bidder. Come to think of it, that might be a good reality check: I don't think there are a lot of bidders for a guy like this.

Nick Hodzic
1B/DH No. 9
LR, 6'0" 203 lbs.
Born 1946-11-21

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SYR AAA | .270     | 126    | 422     | 88     | 114    | 19      | 3       | 6       | 58       | 118     | 56      | 2       |
| 1971 NYY MLB | .500     | 7      | 12      | 7      | 6      | 1       | 1       | 0       | 0        | 3       | 1       | 0       |
| 1972 SYR AAA | .278     | 110    | 385     | 58     | 107    | 19      | 2       | 15      | 52       | 63      | 57      | 1       |
| 1972 NYY MLB | .147     | 22     | 34      | 2      | 5      | 2       | 0       | 1       | 2        | 6       | 7       | 0       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .280     | 149    | 500     | 73     | 140    | 25      | 0       | 21      | 75       | 95      | 71      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Hodzic was one of three players to come back for Ernesto Garcia last season (John Lennon and SS Massimo D'Alema being the two others) and he essentially slipped into the Ernesto Garcia role for this team last year. On the one hand, he's simply not at Garcia's level of incredible HR power, and the boo-birds in Cleveland need to be cognizant that guys like Garcia come around once a generation if at that. On the other, he's most certainly less of a headache than his predecessor.

Hodzic is a patient hitter who loves the high inside fastball but is savvy enough to not be fooled by balls that come in looking like high heat but wind up elsewhere. His trip to the All-Star Game last year was probably more due to his being the best player on a bad team than him being a top offensive force at the position. He did heat up in the last 2 months of the year, pitcing up 8 HRs and almost half of his RBIs (35) in that time frame. Hodzic is a very good fielder at first base, which you'd expect from him given that he's a converted 3rd baseman. In fact, he could slip into 3rd should Tyler Knight continue to struggle.

Most of all, Hodzic is "just a guy" in the clubhouse. He's there a lot to work on stuff but isn't the kind of guy to keep a little book on every pitcher the way some top hitters do. The power, such that it is, is almost certainly elevated by his home park and it's probably unwise to think that the 26 year old is capable of 30 HR seasons. What he actually is, though, is a good, solid corner infielder.

Bobby Kaplan
CF No. 1
RR, 5'12" 192 lbs.
Born 1946-11-18

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WAS MLB | .303     | 137    | 512     | 61     | 155    | 21      | 2       | 2       | 55       | 37      | 60      | 10      |
| 1972 CLE MLB | .274     | 131    | 551     | 68     | 151    | 23      | 6       | 4       | 41       | 33      | 68      | 16      |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .257     | 121    | 491     | 59     | 126    | 22      | 1       | 7       | 35       | 30      | 50      | 7       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Kaplan won a Gold Glove for 1972 but, even though awards voting won't be released for a little while yet, it seems unlikely that he's going to repeat. Kaplan was good if not overwhelming in the field, with decent range for a centerfielder and a nice arm (9 assists!). His season also ended in the beginning of September when he broke his wrist on a hit-by-pitch (he led the league in them with 10, so this is kind of an occupational hazard for him), although unlike Richard Berman he figures to be fully healed and ready to go by spring training.

Kaplan hit leadoff for the Indians all season long but frankly was out of place there, as the very low 59 runs total would suggest. His .313 OBP was the lowest of his career and where he'd flashed good speed in the past, Kaplan was just 7/13 in steals this year. He did hit a career high 7 HRs so that's nice. Kaplan is willing and able to lay down the bunt when needed and is a good enough contact guy that the hit and run makes sense. He's consistently one of the first guys at the park and last to leave.

Kaplan's a good guy to have around but good guy to have around only gets you so far and, taking the offensive surge of 1973 into account this was his worst season as a pro. If his September replacements had played well I'd be talking about him going into 1974 as a backup but they did not and so he'll get at least another season to prove last year was a fluke.

Bae-hee Kim
RHP No. 38
LR, 6'6" 209 lbs.
Born 1945-11-29

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CBS AA  | 2      | 1      | 0       | 1.33     | 3      | 3       | 3       | 27.0    | 17     | 6      | 4       | 15      | 20     |
| 1971 OKC AAA | 1      | 2      | 6       | 5.95     | 33     | 0       | 0       | 42.1    | 39     | 30     | 28      | 34      | 31     |
| 1972 OKC AAA | 1      | 1      | 0       | 4.93     | 12     | 3       | 0       | 34.2    | 38     | 21     | 19      | 19      | 31     |
| 1973 OKC AAA | 3      | 0      | 0       | 0.96     | 6      | 6       | 0       | 37.1    | 20     | 5      | 4       | 16      | 26     |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 6      | 7      | 0       | 4.14     | 22     | 15      | 1       | 100.0   | 85     | 53     | 46      | 69      | 43     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

A 3rd round draft pick back in 1968, the 27 year old Kim had basically been an organizational soldier in the Indians farm system before a combination of a hot start and some rotational desperation pushed him into the major leagues. Kim actually looked pretty okay at times: it's hard to argue with a 3-2, 3.16 July, for instance (although looking at that a little more closely, it's easier to argue with 25 walks vs just 10 Ks in 31.1 IP). However, an awful August (2-3, 5.79) basically ended his season; he pitched just twice in relief following a 4.2 IP, 5 run debacle at Detroit.

Kim's big issue is control. Always has been. When he can keep the ball in the zone, he can be an effective pitcher. He's just never been able to do that with any kind of consistency. When he does get his curve ball over for a strike he can make a lot of knees buckle but the scouting report last year was for hitters to just lay off that pitch entirely. Unlike a lot of wild pitchers Kim misses away more than he misses over the plate. He's a solid if unexciting fielder, although why you'd ever want to bunt on this guy when you can just wait him out is beyond me.

Will Kim get more PT this year? He'll be 28 years old going into spring training so this is probably as good as it gets.

Bruno Kirby
LHP No. 15
LL, 6'1" 191 lbs.
Born 1949-04-27

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 AUS R   | 0      | 0      | 1       | 0.00     | 5      | 0       | 0       | 7.1     | 5      | 0      | 0       | 1       | 12     |
| 1971 STP A   | 1      | 1      | 3       | 0.96     | 6      | 0       | 0       | 9.1     | 7      | 1      | 1       | 1       | 11     |
| 1971 CBS AA  | 2      | 0      | 3       | 1.47     | 21     | 0       | 0       | 24.1    | 22     | 4      | 4       | 8       | 32     |
| 1972 STP A   | 6      | 4      | 11      | 2.33     | 40     | 0       | 0       | 61.2    | 55     | 16     | 16      | 23      | 59     |
| 1973 OKC AAA | 1      | 0      | 10      | 0.56     | 25     | 0       | 0       | 32.0    | 17     | 2      | 2       | 12      | 37     |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 2      | 3      | 14      | 3.42     | 31     | 0       | 0       | 44.2    | 40     | 18     | 17      | 23      | 29     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

I want to make nothing but "City Slickers" references but a. that movie won't come out for another 20 years yet, and b. Kirby was also in "When Harry Met Sally". Instead, I will focus on Bruno Kirby the pitcher: he was fine. 14 saves in 19 opportunities isn't the greatest in the world but it won't kill you. The same can be said for the 3.413 ERA and the .241 OBA. I think ideally you want your ace reliever to be more than okay but that's the position Cleveland is in right now and hey, Kirby's also 24 so could still get better, right?

Kirbu throws 2 kinds of fastballs, neither one of them a riser, for strikes and that's pretty much it. If he ever starts a game, fire that manager immediately. His stuff seemed to fool AAA hitters a lot more than major league guys, which, you know, is how the major leagues work but still: there's reason to think the K rate will rise in his sophomore season. If so, maybe he can justify the use in short relief. And if not, Jamie Lee Curtis will never, ever ask for his wagon wheel table if they get divorced.

Tyler Knight
3B No. 44
RR, 5'10" 196 lbs.
Born 1941-08-12

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 TEX MLB | .266     | 149    | 482     | 53     | 128    | 21      | 0       | 6       | 69       | 57      | 89      | 4       |
| 1972 TEX MLB | .231     | 54     | 173     | 19     | 40     | 5       | 0       | 3       | 14       | 16      | 41      | 1       |
| 1972 OAK MLB | .194     | 62     | 222     | 17     | 43     | 3       | 1       | 1       | 15       | 26      | 43      | 2       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .239     | 139    | 465     | 49     | 111    | 13      | 1       | 7       | 37       | 54      | 102     | 6       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

At this point, on his 3rd team in 3 years, Tyler Knight is at less of a career crossroads and more of a dead end. The 32 year old former Gold Glove award winner at second base (3 times with the new Senators in the 60s) is now not even an average fielder and his bat never quite woke up from the mini-deadball era. Arriving over as the "main piece" in the Tommy Pron trade to the A's (which, let's face it, was about cutting payroll), he played every day mostly because Cleveland didn't have anything better. Sorry to be so down on the guy but Knight just does nothing really outstanding. The only tool you can chalk up as even average for him is speed and, well, you generally need to get on base to make that happen. Anyone thinking about moving him back to 2nd is just thinking wishfully, as his range is way, way down from where it used to be.

I have a 75 PA (rough) cutoff for writing these reports. I think this will be the last one I write about Knight as a starter and I would not be surprised if this is his last report, period. Even a bad farm system has to have more guys here than this (Nick Hodzic, for example, which of course just opens a hole at first base but first is easier to find bodies for).

John Lennon
C No. 28
RR, 6'2" 198 lbs.
Born 1949-02-14

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WH AA   | .313     | 21     | 83      | 15     | 26     | 11      | 0       | 2       | 13       | 7       | 14      | 0       |
| 1971 SYR AAA | .255     | 95     | 341     | 51     | 87     | 14      | 1       | 9       | 58       | 46      | 48      | 2       |
| 1971 NYY MLB | .160     | 7      | 25      | 1      | 4      | 0       | 0       | 1       | 3        | 2       | 4       | 0       |
| 1972 NYY MLB | .259     | 74     | 239     | 20     | 62     | 10      | 1       | 4       | 30       | 31      | 37      | 0       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .239     | 125    | 456     | 52     | 109    | 26      | 0       | 11      | 57       | 32      | 58      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

So far, Lennon's baseball star hasn't risen as high as his former Beatles bandmates. While Paul, George, and Ringo all look like stars or close to it, John just seems like a merely decent catcher. Initially signed by Cleveland, Lennon was sent to baseball purgatory in the big Ernesto Garcia trade last November. In some respects this was good news for him as he got a chance to play full-time. In other respects, even setting aside New York to Cleveland, it meant John was constantly having to shuttle between his home in Manhattan and the new "home" town. He did, at least, seem to get used to the situation as time progressed: following a horrible June (.187, 3 HR, 14 RBI), he settled in with averages of .232, .250, and .250 over the final three months.

Lennon tries to be a contact hitter but as a catcher lacks the speed to be a really effective one. "Imagine" if he was faster (I'll stop now). Mostly what it does is it makes him liable to get doubled up on the basepaths. He does have decent pop for a 2, pop that will hopefully only improve as Lennon gets used to the game. He's not blessed with the best arm but is decent at making his pitchers look good through pitch framing and he gets along with everyone, which surely must calm a wild pitcher down sometimes: what could they possibly be going through that's any wilder than Lennon's days in the Fab Four?

Lennon is for sure the Indians' starting catcher in 1974 and the foreseeable future. I'm less sanguine about his chances to stay in that role for the next decade than I might have been a year ago.

Jose Martinez
RHP No. 2
RR, 6'6" 201 lbs.
Born 1945-01-24

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CLE MLB | 5      | 5      | 0       | 3.53     | 25     | 16      | 1       | 124.2   | 129    | 58     | 49      | 29      | 97     |
| 1972 CLE MLB | 22     | 7      | 0       | 2.36     | 31     | 31      | 14      | 240.0   | 178    | 72     | 63      | 53      | 220    |
| 1973 OKC AAA | 1      | 2      | 0       | 8.10     | 3      | 3       | 0       | 16.2    | 22     | 15     | 15      | 7       | 18     |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 3      | 7      | 0       | 4.01     | 13     | 12      | 6       | 92.0    | 112    | 45     | 41      | 21      | 71     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Coming off of a Cy Young level 1972, Jose Martinez' 1973 can best be described as a. short and b. disappointing. In May, carrying a 1-5 record with a still salvageable 3.79 ERA, Martinez left a game vs the Red Sox in the 7th inning complaining of tighness in his forearm. He didn't appear again in the major leagues until September 1, and then in 39.1 IP he was less than fantastic, posting a 2-2, 4.12 ERA the rest of the way. Perhaps most distressingly, his K rate, which was a solid 8.0 up to the point of the injury, plummeted to 5.5 in that final month.

Martinez throws a fastball with eerie side to side movement. If he were to throw a pure riser he'd probably hit the mid to upper 90s but this ball stays just a bit below that. It's very, very hard to hit, though, or at least it was before the injury. He goes after everybody, which worked well when he was getting all those Ks but isn't so great when he's not. Still, even with the late-season woes, he had a really nice K/W ratio (24-8 the final month). He has the stamina to go deep into games when his stuff is on and even sometimes when it's not.

You don't normally look to a pitcher for leadership but Martinez bucks that trend. Martinez is a great guy to have in the clubhouse. Hopefully he'll be in that clubhouse all season long.

Mauricio Mendez
2B No. 14
RR, 6'0" 190 lbs.
Born 1946-09-01

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CAL MLB | .273     | 113    | 400     | 53     | 109    | 10      | 3       | 10      | 44       | 30      | 54      | 21      |
| 1972 CAL MLB | .227     | 112    | 410     | 47     | 93     | 12      | 3       | 8       | 29       | 42      | 47      | 22      |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .247     | 118    | 457     | 51     | 113    | 13      | 1       | 10      | 43       | 36      | 60      | 25      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Mendez is one of those guys who does a lot of things fairly well but isn't great at any one of them. The Angels had long looked at him as a second choice at 2nd but also a guy they'd wind up turning to eventually when the first choice wasn't ready or wasn't very good. The Indians got him back for Bobby Ramirez in, let's face it, a pure cost-cutting trade last year and he just continued to do what it is that Mauricio Mendez does. He got all but 8 of his at-bats at the top 2 spots in the order last year thanks to his speed (8th in the league in steals, his 3rd straight top 10 finish). It's maybe not the best position to put a guy who's carried OBPs of .304 and .306 the last 2 seasons but it's a philosophy. Mendez continued to swing for the fences at times, for better or for worse, although as always line drives into the gap eluded him.

Mendez at this point tries hard out there but isn't a really great fielder. In spite of that speed he just doesn't seem to have the instincts to make a good first step on the ball and at age 27 it's unlikely he's going to figure that out. He did a surprisingly decent job at avoiding errors with just 10 last year for a .983 FA; he's gotten double that number in the past. Maybe that's a good sign, although coupled with that extreme lack of range, some scouts think he's among the worst in the league in terms of regular players there. Mendez' arm is only average, which isn't an issue at 2nd of course but would be if they tried to use him at 3rd. He's only okay with the sacrifice and seems to be good for around 2 sacrifices a year. He doesn't really make enough contact to be a good hit and run guy but there are worse.

Mendez is a guy who tries hard all the time and tries to get little edges in games. On a better team he'd surely be a fan favorite. On a better team, he'd be a backup.

Claudio Rainieri
RHP No. 6
LR, 5'11" 162 lbs.
Born 1951-10-27

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 REN A   | 12     | 14     | 0       | 3.48     | 31     | 31      | 10      | 232.1   | 218    | 100    | 90      | 118     | 165    |
| 1972 PAR R   | 5      | 0      | 0       | 1.99     | 5      | 5       | 5       | 45.0    | 37     | 11     | 10      | 6       | 56     |
| 1972 REN A   | 16     | 3      | 0       | 3.65     | 25     | 25      | 13      | 189.2   | 163    | 81     | 77      | 95      | 171    |
| 1973 OKC AAA | 9      | 9      | 0       | 2.97     | 22     | 22      | 10      | 181.1   | 139    | 64     | 60      | 72      | 149    |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 5      | 4      | 0       | 2.14     | 12     | 12      | 5       | 88.0    | 79     | 25     | 21      | 27      | 60     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Rainieri is a very, very young Italian footballer who has yet to really cash in on his huge potential. Even what he has harnessed so far, a nasty curve ball and a rising fastball that might one day approach the mid to high 90s, was enough to stun opposing hitters last season. Some guys have a deceptive motion: I wouldn't call Rainieri deceptive, I'd say you know exactly what you're getting and you still can't hit it.

Rainieri was named the #64 prospect in all of baseball at the All-Star Break, even pitched in the Futures game, and then made his first major league start on July 29, pitching into the 8th inning against the Boston Red Sox. He could probably still use some seasoning in AAA but then... how can you "season" this guy?

Robert Rivera
LHP No. 7
LL, 6'1" 200 lbs.
Born 1939-10-12

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 SF MLB  | 14     | 15     | 0       | 2.91     | 32     | 32      | 14      | 246.2   | 223    | 86     | 80      | 43      | 173    |
| 1972 CLE MLB | 12     | 10     | 0       | 3.22     | 31     | 31      | 6       | 234.1   | 227    | 90     | 84      | 67      | 162    |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 10     | 11     | 0       | 3.63     | 22     | 22      | 9       | 163.1   | 158    | 70     | 66      | 42      | 75     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Robert Rivera missed the last 2 months of the season with a torn meniscus in his shoulder (the old "biscuit meniscus" like I always say)(to myself). Even before then though he was facing a worrying trend, seeing his ERA climb for the 2nd straight year following a pair of hard-luck years in San Francisco (combined record of 16-34 but an ERA of 3.15). He's always been a finesse guy but last year, in spite of a slightly faster fastball (it still maaaybe hits 90 on a good day) reported in spring training, Rivera's K rate went into the ground. Now 34 (it's literally his birthday at the time of this writing), he's not at a point where you can just shrug off a big dip in the stats as a one-year slump.

Rivera still showed some ability to stick around into the 9th although if he completes 14 games again it's because the Indians don't have a bullpen. The biscuit meniscus should be - should be - all healed in time for spring training. If he's ready to go, the Indians almost have to put him in there every 5th day until he shows he's straight up not adequate.

Mitt Romney
SS/IF No. 20
RR, 6'2" 202 lbs.
Born 1947-10-06

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 JAX AA  | .232     | 104    | 357     | 28     | 83     | 18      | 2       | 6       | 36       | 30      | 70      | 1       |
| 1971 CLE MLB | .263     | 48     | 160     | 20     | 42     | 5       | 2       | 3       | 19       | 17      | 27      | 2       |
| 1972 CLE MLB | .206     | 101    | 277     | 33     | 57     | 12      | 0       | 6       | 32       | 23      | 40      | 1       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .221     | 98     | 222     | 21     | 49     | 5       | 2       | 4       | 23       | 22      | 53      | 4       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Romney, or "the Romneybot 5000" as his teammates like to call him, is a great defensive player but the 26 year old has now had 3 years to show that he can hit and the results - 659 at-bats, a .225 average, 13 HR, 74 RBI, 120 strikeouts - don't indicate that he's good enough to supplant German Ybarra. He did get into a good number of games for this team in the first half but once again failed to hit and had just 42 at-bats from August 1 to the end of the season.

Defensively is where Romney shines and where he could still fashion a major league career as a utility guy. He mostly played sort last year but has a more than good enough arm (if not the bat) to play third base. He did commit 21 errors in just 65 starts last year at short (he had another in 43 innings at 3rd) for a .940 fielding average. Hopefully a less important role will allow him to concentrate a bit better in the field. Romney will gladly do the "little things" at the plate when he's asked to, although more often than not if it's a close game and he's starting, what he'll be asked to do is hit the bench in favor of a pinch-hitter.

Romney can probably stay in this league as long as his glove holds up. It looks pretty clear by now that he just doesn't have what it takes to be an every day player. Something something 2012 Presidential election.

Jorge Sanchez
OF No. 5
RR, 5'11" 191 lbs.
Born 1942-11-27

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 WIC AAA | .385     | 4      | 13      | 1      | 5      | 0       | 1       | 0       | 3        | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| 1971 CLE MLB | .245     | 35     | 110     | 15     | 27     | 2       | 2       | 0       | 12       | 8       | 13      | 6       |
| 1972 CLE MLB | .269     | 48     | 130     | 19     | 35     | 1       | 1       | 3       | 13       | 9       | 21      | 10      |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .229     | 40     | 131     | 17     | 30     | 0       | 1       | 2       | 5        | 7       | 24      | 6       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Sanchez has been with the Indians since 1969 and has carved out a role as a right-handed hitter who can play all 3 outfield positions with leadoff hitter speed. There's a lot of value to this when he hits .269 but not so much when the average is at .224. Sanchez adds zero power and his aggressive approach at the plate just results in a lot of ground balls and pop ups. He did sock lefties to the tune of a .257 average although the flip side of that is that he was practically unplayable vs RHPs (197/246/279 triple slash).

Sanchez isn't getting any younger - he'll be 31 in November - and although I wouldn't say the Indians have better options in the outfield, they definitely have younger ones.

Ray Varner
C No. 3
LR, 5'10" 201 lbs.
Born 1943-01-01

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 JAX AA  | .279     | 24     | 68      | 5      | 19     | 3       | 0       | 1       | 6        | 4       | 12      | 0       |
| 1971 WIC AAA | .281     | 13     | 32      | 2      | 9      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 2        | 2       | 8       | 0       |
| 1971 CLE MLB | .125     | 7      | 8       | 0      | 1      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 0       | 1       | 0       |
| 1972 CLE MLB | .233     | 116    | 322     | 32     | 75     | 10      | 2       | 8       | 33       | 28      | 45      | 0       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .206     | 45     | 141     | 7      | 29     | 2       | 1       | 0       | 5        | 3       | 27      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Varner was maybe the biggest loser of the Ernesto Garcia deal, seeing his playing time dimished from at least half-time starter level to straight up backup this year. He didn't take it well and now his future with the Indians is in doubt. Varner is slow, doesn't hit particularly well, and even the paltry walk rate in 1972 was boosted by hitting in front of the pitcher all season long: his 13 intentional walks actually led the league last year. This season he posted an isolated walks number of just .016. Also, whatever power he had in 1972 was gone in 73.

The one thing that Varner does bring to the plate, or rather behind it, is defense. He's got a nice arm, blocks the plate well, and can pick up a bunt quickly. He was only used twice last season to sub for Lennon as a defensive guy late as the Indians were trying to train the "young" catcher into the position but that might be a way he gets used more going forward... assuming he's still here.

Varner's got a skillset that can probably get him a job in the major leagues or in "AAAA" for another 5 years. Will those years be with Cleveland? He reportedly wants out so maybe not.

German Ybarra
SS/2B No. 36
RR, 5'10" 182 lbs.
Born 1947-07-10

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 NYY MLB | .248     | 137    | 435     | 50     | 108    | 30      | 1       | 5       | 35       | 59      | 89      | 1       |
| 1972 SYR AAA | .207     | 20     | 58      | 6      | 12     | 7       | 0       | 0       | 5        | 9       | 15      | 0       |
| 1972 NYY MLB | .180     | 88     | 222     | 18     | 40     | 11      | 1       | 5       | 16       | 30      | 61      | 0       |
| 1973 CLE MLB | .258     | 102    | 271     | 21     | 70     | 12      | 1       | 2       | 28       | 32      | 57      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Following an awful 1972 season with the Yankees, Ybarra was one of several players sent back to Cleveland in exchange for Ernesto Garcia, and he bounced back pretty well with the bat. I don't know how this man made the All-Star Game in 1971 and I doubt he'll make another one but when he wasn't hurt, Ybarra was effective enough on offense that the Indians could take advantage of his good-to-great glove. His swing is still a little bit long for his power but I guess on the other hand if he shortened things up he might lose what little gap power he currently has.

Defensively Ybarra will never win a Gold Glove, not with Oniji Handa in this league, but he's definitely in the next tier down. He's got good range, soft hands, and a good arm. He did get put on the disabled list twice last year and sometimes back injuries like the ones he was suffering from wind up sapping a man's defense but it hasn't happened yet. Ybarra is no threat to steal at all and any speed he shows is purely on the defensive side of the diamond. Even though he's often in a position to lay down a sacrifice, he's had just 1 in the last 3 years, which is a reflection of the fact that he's not very good at it.

Ybarra probably won't concede quite as much time as he did to Mitt Romney this year, as Romney didn't look very good and Ybarra's got fewer questions to answer with his bat. Look for a return to more full-time play, assuming he remains injury free.

[Syd Thrift]

Recap: The 1972 World Champion Detroit Tigers, surprisingly, were only a .500 team following a 2 game sweep at the hands of the California Angels, games in which they allowed 9 and 13 runs. Was it all falling apart? I think you know the answer already: no. They rattled off 7 straight wins and 14 out of 15 from there, putting them at 25-13 as of the evening of May 20th and in first place for good. From there, as we know, they completed series sweeps of the White Sox and Padres to win their 2nd straight World Series.

At this point this isn't a "dynasty in the making", it's just a plain old straight-up dynasty. Detroit improved on their 1972 record of 95 wins with a new team record 100. They also recorded the highest team batting average in team history and were one of only three teams in the AL to score 710 or more runs (joining Kansas City and the Yankees who both scored 745). They also stole nearly a base a game, finishing with 150 of them; that's what happens when you have a guy like Alvin Romero at the top of your lineup, and that was also just 2 steals off of the all-time AL record set by California in 1970. Not to be outdone, the pitching was also a very close 2nd to the Rangers in terms of allowing runs (3.4 R/G, although they were juuuust behind the Rangers with a 3.10 ERA to Texas' 3.05), which they did by picking up 927 strikeouts in a pretty strikeout-averse season. If the team had one Achilles heel, it was the propensity of some guys to allow HRs, which I'll get into in the player reports, but as a club the Tigers gave up 148 dingers.

1974 Outlook: Detroit finished a full 12 games ahead of the Yankees. New York and Boston will need to spend a lot of money and also hope for some pretty big drop-offs to catch up to the Tigers next year. More than likely they make the playoffs for the third straight season and... could we get a three-peat? The last team to do it was the St. Louis Cardinals from 1963-65 and the last/only AL team to get there were the Yankees in the mid-50s. I know, I know, it's very early to be talking about this... but the possibility is there.

Jose Ayala
3B/DH No. 33
RR, 5'12" 199 lbs.
Born 1941-05-29

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DET MLB | .267     | 135    | 460     | 49     | 123    | 16      | 0       | 16      | 52       | 35      | 76      | 0       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .260     | 135    | 511     | 65     | 133    | 22      | 2       | 20      | 74       | 36      | 93      | 2       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .310     | 155    | 609     | 83     | 189    | 28      | 2       | 24      | 98       | 36      | 88      | 6       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Ayala enjoyed a career year as the cleanup hitter and veteran slugger for the World Series winners. Moving between third base, DH, and a little bit of third base depending on where the Tigers needed him, the "Joker" (who is nicknamed that not because he's a practical joker but because he's a "wild card") set career highs in HRs and RBIs and hit for his highest average since 1966 (when he hit .332/23/96, his previous career year). He even stole 6 bases, giving him a total of 11 for his career. Ayala slugged .519 against lefties with 10 of his HRs coming in 185 at-bats against southpaws. He wrapped it all up by going 10-26 with 2 HRs and 6 RBIs in the postseason. Ayala certainly could have won playoff MVP awards but there were Tigers who shined just a little brighter (Alvin Romero in the ALCS, and Tom Berenger had an insane 11 at-bats in the World Series).

Ayala has an aggressive approach to the plate and is one of those guys who won't let an RBI opportunity drop to the next guy in the lineup. That allowed him to finish 3rd in the AL in ribbies. That walk total is itself inflated by 8 intentional walks, 7th most in the junior circuit. Like many power hitters, Ayala loves the high fastball but unlike some of them he'll handle it inside or outside and he can make good contact with balls further down in the strike zone as well. Defensively he's never been a great third baseman and at 32 his range is pretty below average. He's still got a good arm and in 1973 at least used that to make up for sometimes bobbling the ball a bit before throwing to first base (a .966 FA, which is fiiine for a 3rd baseman). His future is probably more as a 1B/DH, especially with the emergence of Joe Theismann.

Will Ayala repeat what he did in 1974? I think it's possible. Even if he regresses to a .260/20/80 guy he's still one effective player.

Chris Benavides
RHP No. 30
RR, 6'2" 204 lbs.
Born 1941-07-23

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 MIN MLB | 19     | 17     | 0       | 3.25     | 41     | 41      | 8       | 295.2   | 309    | 119    | 107     | 87      | 178    |
| 1972 MIN MLB | 14     | 19     | 0       | 3.02     | 41     | 40      | 10      | 294.2   | 274    | 111    | 99      | 105     | 185    |
| 1973 DET MLB | 20     | 7      | 0       | 2.87     | 34     | 34      | 7       | 250.2   | 200    | 89     | 80      | 77      | 163    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

After playing second fiddle to Angelo Ramos in Minnesota for so many years, Chris Benavides was shipped to Detroit for Ergot Newman and cash following a superficially rough 1972 season. Mostly though in 72 Benavides still pitched well; he just didn't get a lot of support and was left out too long sometimes. Detroit managed him well and, more importantly, scored behind him and as a result Benavides celebrated a career year. His 20 wins tied a career high and the 2.87 ERA was his lowest in 4 years (he was 18-14, 2.61 in 1970). Nerds tell me that his ERA relative to the league was a career-best 153 (100 is average, higher is better because nerds). When Jimmy Goddard's season ended, Benavides simply took things to the next level, going 4-1, 2.03 in September and then 3-0, 1.90 in 3 postseason games.

On most other teams Benavides would be the hardest thrower. On the Tigers, that's Edgar Molina. Goddard will rear back and throw a riser that can hit the mid-90s and mix in a devastating slider and knee-bucklng curveball. A cagey veteran, he keeps the ball low in the strikezone unlike his harder-throwing counterpart, and on top of holding opponents to a .218 average and a 2.8 BB/9 rate he also induced 28 double plays. Benavides has a really awkward throwing motion that has maybe led to fewer injuries than you might expect - he really gets his whole body into it - but leaves him in a bad position to field bunts and comebackers.

Benavides missed the All-Star Game last year because... I guess because you can only name so many Detroit Tigers to the game. It's still highway robbery. If he has another year like this one, and there's no reason to think he can't, he should get back there again.

Tom Berenger
OF/1B No. 17
RR, 6'1" 199 lbs.
Born 1949-05-27

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CLI A   | .285     | 71     | 277     | 46     | 79     | 27      | 0       | 11      | 68       | 38      | 46      | 1       |
| 1971 MGM AA  | .240     | 62     | 233     | 25     | 56     | 16      | 1       | 2       | 22       | 26      | 32      | 1       |
| 1971 TOL AAA | .143     | 2      | 7       | 1      | 1      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| 1972 MGM AA  | .220     | 41     | 141     | 21     | 31     | 9       | 0       | 3       | 21       | 30      | 15      | 1       |
| 1972 TOL AAA | .322     | 47     | 171     | 28     | 55     | 12      | 2       | 9       | 28       | 17      | 24      | 0       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .299     | 39     | 117     | 17     | 35     | 9       | 0       | 4       | 19       | 9       | 16      | 0       |
| 1973 TOL AAA | .337     | 22     | 83      | 12     | 28     | 6       | 0       | 6       | 17       | 12      | 9       | 0       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .257     | 64     | 175     | 29     | 45     | 11      | 1       | 4       | 18       | 17      | 21      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Although he's only 24, Tom Berenger has the look of someone who might play a grizzled veteran on his last legs in a 1980s comedy. In order to get there, he'll need to stick around in the big leagues first. Berenger showed a lot of promise in his second bite at the major league apple. His average was down but the power was still there, especially to the gaps, and he blitzed lefties in the regular season to the tune of a 275/348/442 triple slash. The lefty-killing really came to fruition in the World Series where Berenger dropped 7 hits including 2 HRs in 11 at-bats to win himself the World Series MVP.

Berenger's only 24 so it seems unkind to say that that could be the highlight of his career... but he doesn't really look like a full-time player to me. He's only okay with contact and whiffs a bit too much for a guy with pretty average power. Right-handers gave him absolute fits in 1973 (he hit just .218 against them) and, like, right handed pitching is not some exotic beast that is never seen in the wild. Berenger is not a good outfielder, lacking the range to even play in right all that effectively and is more of a LF/1B/DH type. Speed is not really a part of his game.

Berenger is a guy who is known for working hard and you can never count a guy with a solid work ethic out. It's very, very tough to project him into a starting role unless he gets traded off to a bad team or one with some huge holes at the offensive-heavy positions.

Alejandro Cortes
LF/DH No. 20
LL, 6'2" 201 lbs.
Born 1937-10-11

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MIN MLB | .218     | 83     | 266     | 34     | 58     | 15      | 3       | 9       | 32       | 31      | 39      | 8       |
| 1972 MIN MLB | .247     | 56     | 146     | 16     | 36     | 8       | 1       | 3       | 15       | 16      | 28      | 3       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .196     | 56     | 153     | 21     | 30     | 7       | 0       | 7       | 18       | 19      | 28      | 9       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Cortez had rebounded from a poor 1971 season and that was enough for the Tigers to purchase him from the Twins last offseason but even with Danny Villegas going down this year, he just plain didn't hit and was barely used in the second half of the season: 10 games, 24 at-bats from August 1 onward. Some of that was due to going on the DL twice himself for extended stints but even when he was healthy, Cortez struck out a lot and no amount of power or speed was going to make up for that.

You can never count out a former MVP, although at this point that MVP year - .293/43/107 in 1966 - is so, so far away. It's hard to see him getting another shot in a crowded Tigers outfield/DH situation and at 36 it's equally hard to see him hooking on with a rebuilding team.

Rob Curran
SS No. 31
LR, 6'1" 203 lbs.
Born 1946-11-14

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DET MLB | .245     | 107    | 269     | 33     | 66     | 12      | 1       | 3       | 21       | 41      | 60      | 0       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .265     | 123    | 400     | 50     | 106    | 16      | 3       | 5       | 30       | 57      | 53      | 8       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .259     | 126    | 379     | 52     | 98     | 18      | 0       | 2       | 35       | 49      | 46      | 3       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Curran spent 1973 in, basically, a platoon with the veteran Matt Mullen; he had just 65 at-bats vs LHPs all season long. Really, the only thing that kept it from being a full platoon was the fact that Detroit felt fine leaving him in with close leads even against lefty pitching because of his great defense. I know I've said this before but the presence of Oniji Handa means he's not going to win any Gold Gloves any time soon but he's the next tier down for sure. Curran's a guy who pretty well concentrates on his fielding to the detriment of everything else. Last year he looked like he was adding new wrinkles to his offensive game but even with the offensive explosion in the AL he took a step backwards with the bat. As a .260ish hitter who harasses pitchers into giving him the occasional walk, that's enough with his level of defensive supremacy though.

Curran could slide into a larger role depending on now the team feels about Matt Mullen. He's something of a luxury for a team with so many good hitters on it but there's no question that he played a big role in the Tigers hitting the century mark in wins and sweeping its way through the playofs. The super stat nerds even tell me he contributed more (3.3 "WAR", whatever THAT IS) than the Joker (3.2 WAR) but there's a reason why we keep those people in the basement.

Frankie Faison
RF No. 77
LR, 5'9" 171 lbs.
Born 1949-06-08

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CLI A   | .233     | 32     | 103     | 17     | 24     | 3       | 1       | 1       | 11       | 17      | 24      | 0       |
| 1971 MGM AA  | .313     | 83     | 304     | 41     | 95     | 24      | 2       | 1       | 29       | 25      | 38      | 0       |
| 1971 TOL AAA | .235     | 13     | 51      | 4      | 12     | 1       | 1       | 0       | 3        | 5       | 2       | 0       |
| 1972 TOL AAA | .325     | 33     | 123     | 12     | 40     | 7       | 1       | 0       | 7        | 14      | 10      | 0       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .323     | 74     | 198     | 30     | 64     | 10      | 1       | 3       | 24       | 16      | 11      | 1       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .304     | 149    | 606     | 79     | 184    | 36      | 1       | 7       | 83       | 43      | 61      | 5       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Fans had some right to be skeptical of Faison's outburst in 1972. A former 2nd round pick in 1968 out of high school, Faison took a couple years in rookie ball to find his swing and even then it was kind of an off and on thing: as recently as 1971 he had a 103 at-bat stint in A ball that was less than fantastic. Also, he's a pure hitter, no power or speed to draw on if the hitting goes sideways. Well... the hitting did not go sideways. Faison consolidated a strong rookie year with an outstanding 1973 that opened up with him leading the league in hitting for a while: on June 29 he was hitting .386 and looked like he might even have a shot at .400. A couple of more normal months followed but Faison was back up to .317 in September and .310 (9-29) in the postseason.

Faison's aggressive approach to hitting allowed him to finish in the top 10 in hits (7th), doubles (10th) and RBI (10th). He just doesn't wait out that many plate appearances to get a lot of walks and that's probably not ever going to be a part of Faison's game. He's also, in spite of the profile, not a particularly fast guy: those 5 steals (in 10 chances) could be the high water mark of his career. He's solid if not spectacular in right, making up for meh range with a good arm. It wouldn't seem like he's a great candidate to sacrifice with but yet the Tigers have had him lay down 4 bunts over the past 2 years so what do I know (note: the AI handles offensive strategy like this, although if it goes crazy, like there was a year where a guy on the Royals stole like 35 bases in 65 chances, I'll tell them to dial it down for that player). He's the ideal guy to do the hit and run with with the one caveat that him protecting the plate takes away some of those doubles.

Faison is an actor in his spare time and wants to get paid for all of this. We can't blame him; he sure seems worth the money.

Armando Flores
C No. 21
RR, 5'10" 200 lbs.
Born 1942-07-23

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 TEX MLB | .290     | 120    | 497     | 47     | 144    | 23      | 2       | 7       | 65       | 15      | 68      | 0       |
| 1972 ATL MLB | .235     | 120    | 425     | 26     | 100    | 11      | 3       | 6       | 47       | 23      | 58      | 0       |
| 1973 ATL MLB | .357     | 27     | 98      | 8      | 35     | 5       | 0       | 0       | 16       | 3       | 8       | 0       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .228     | 101    | 342     | 28     | 78     | 16      | 1       | 6       | 41       | 12      | 44      | 3       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Flores has the reputation of being a nice hitter for a backstop and after a good first month the Tiger may have bought into that a bit hard (on the other hand, the asking price for him was only C Gianluigi Farinelli, who was already falling out of favor as the backup backstop). Flores had slumped to a .235 average with Atlanta in 1972 and once he arrived in Detroit he basically hit at that level for the rest of the year. If anything, he was pretty awful in June and July - .163/1/8 and .192/3/10 - before picking it up to the end of the year, not to mention the postseason, where he was 10-23 with 4 doubles and 5 RBIs, starting all 7 games behind the plate.

Even if Flores' bat is no longer a part of his game, he's still a valuable asset to any team. He threw out 44.7% of base-stealers last year and has a good reputation for blocking the plate and calming down younger guys (I guess in fairness he worked with a lot of vets after he arrived in the Motor City). Offensively he will sometimes fall in love with the inside fastball a bit too much for his own good. He attempted a surprising 6 steals and somehow only managed to ground into 6 DPs, which is way down from the 26 and 32 he had his last 2 years in Washington. I'd chalk that up to weird randomness more than any real increase in speed.

Flores is still 31 which is kind of young for a catcher. Even with the current rate of hitting you should write his name into the lineup for this team for the next few years.

Jimmy Goddard
RHP No. 50
SR, 5'11" 198 lbs.
Born 1940-03-16

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 DET MLB | 19     | 8      | 0       | 2.58     | 33     | 29      | 6       | 226.0   | 187    | 75     | 65      | 68      | 149    |
| 1972 DET MLB | 18     | 13     | 0       | 2.33     | 41     | 41      | 11      | 311.2   | 263    | 92     | 81      | 95      | 184    |
| 1973 DET MLB | 24     | 4      | 0       | 2.06     | 36     | 35      | 14      | 274.1   | 218    | 73     | 63      | 71      | 183    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

If Jimmy Goddard doesn't win the AL Cy Young, I'll eat my hat. I don't even own a hat. I will buy a hat and eat it so I can wear it. Goddard was an absolute beast this year. He for sure would have threatened the all-time wins record of 27 if his season didn't end on September 5th with a torn back muscle. Goddard didn't post a monstly ERA over 2 until August (where he was still 4-2, 2.65), had 8 shutouts, 1 off from the all-time record itself, and generally in a season where the DH rule caused league ERA to jump by 48 points he managed to post the 20th highest earned run average ever.

The back injury is not a little issue. Goddard has never had back problems in the past, although he did miss a week with a sore back this year. He does have a kind of long history of arm troubles that have contributed to him "only" being 127-74 in his career in spite of a strong career 2.61 ERA. Actually the biggest factor, looking back, was that he got started reeeeeeally late for a superstar: Goddard didn't get more than 8 starts in a season until 1966, when he was 26 years old. He missed most of 1970 but has been largely healthy the last 3 years. What the Tigers have gotten from him is a guy with good control and a change-up that is practically a breaking pitch with all the movement it has. Goddard is not a great pitcher and mainly what keeps players from bunting on him is that his pitches are really tough to get a hold of. Some people have called him arrogant; well, when you're as good as Jimmy Goddard is, you're just... gant.

Goddard will return in February to be the team's #1 starter - the league's #1 starter - until someone knocks him off that perch.

Danny Hohman
LF No. 1
LL, 5'11" 191 lbs.
Born 1944-01-19

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 ALB AAA | .750     | 1      | 4       | 1      | 3      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 1       | 0       | 0       |
| 1971 LAD MLB | .283     | 26     | 106     | 15     | 30     | 4       | 2       | 2       | 11       | 7       | 16      | 2       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .260     | 94     | 346     | 47     | 90     | 18      | 1       | 5       | 40       | 44      | 43      | 18      |
| 1973 DET MLB | .282     | 102    | 354     | 45     | 100    | 21      | 4       | 5       | 53       | 33      | 42      | 27      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Once upon a time, Danny Hohman was a star. The numbers don't necessarily pop because they happened in the mini dead ball era (well, his 1969 does: .325/5/41) but he was at one point one of the best contact hitters in the National League and a 3 time All-Star to boot. Then Hohman tore his PCL, missed the entire 1970 season and most of 1971, got traded to the Tigers, and now here he is, the left-handed half of a left field platoon. Hohman faced left-handed pitching just 39 times in 1973 and for pretty good reason: he hit 5-34 (.147) with no extra-base hits against them. In the postseason he was overshadowed by his platoon buddy Tom Berenger.

Hohman for his part seems completely recovered from his knee injury. He set a career high this season with 27 steals, good for 6th in the AL despite not being a regular player, and also legged out 25 doubles and triples. He's all about the contact at the plate, though he prefers balls on the inside half of it. Defensively Hohman has a great arm that's a little underused in left; if you played him full-time he'd compete for a Gold Glove in right. He'll lay down the bunt when you need him to: he had 7 sacrifice hits in 1968, for example, and he's almost an ideal hit-and-run man.

Hohman just gets along. Like Matt Mullen and to his credit he isn't griping about the newer more restricted role with his now not-so-new club. In fairness, 2 World Series chips has the tendency to make one a lot happier about a situation like this.

Bob Irwin
OF No. 18
RR, 6'0" 197 lbs.
Born 1943-04-29

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 TOL AAA | .262     | 51     | 191     | 28     | 50     | 10      | 2       | 11      | 44       | 10      | 16      | 4       |
| 1971 DET MLB | .316     | 23     | 79      | 14     | 25     | 2       | 1       | 3       | 16       | 1       | 9       | 2       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .213     | 46     | 89      | 10     | 19     | 0       | 0       | 1       | 10       | 4       | 15      | 4       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .230     | 34     | 100     | 12     | 23     | 1       | 0       | 6       | 17       | 5       | 10      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

A lot of first round picks would have the late start and low middle to a career like Bob Irwin has and would call it quits. I guess Irwin just loves baseball too much. He's got a bit of pop but is also a career .235 hitter and is never going to crack this lineup. Defensively he does a good job as a 5th outfielder type, able to play all 3 positions pretty well. In a different world you could maybe see a guy like this get a (late) start and turn into a decent, perhaps ML average player but on Detroit he's content earning World Series rings.

Niki Lauda
1B No. 24
LL, 6'0" 201 lbs.
Born 1949-10-09

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MGM AA  | .258     | 38     | 128     | 22     | 33     | 7       | 1       | 4       | 14       | 23      | 20      | 0       |
| 1971 TOL AAA | .314     | 95     | 357     | 71     | 112    | 23      | 0       | 17      | 61       | 60      | 35      | 0       |
| 1971 DET MLB | .471     | 17     | 17      | 7      | 8      | 1       | 0       | 1       | 4        | 5       | 2       | 0       |
| 1972 TOL AAA | .299     | 35     | 127     | 20     | 38     | 11      | 1       | 7       | 19       | 17      | 23      | 0       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .280     | 117    | 354     | 52     | 99     | 18      | 0       | 18      | 65       | 53      | 51      | 1       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .255     | 144    | 522     | 72     | 133    | 26      | 1       | 20      | 64       | 68      | 72      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Lauda had a bit of a sophomore slump this year, losing 25 points from his batting average and only getting 2 more HRs than the season before in spite of having 170 more chances. As such, he missed the All-Star Game where he'd made it previously. To his credit, he ended the season strong - .283/3/8 in September followed by .320/1/4 in 6 postseason games (he didn't play in one World Series game because of the lack of the DH rule) - and a decent amount of that slump can be attributed to a .210 average (210/245/297 actually, yuuuuck) vs lefty pitchers.

Lauda has got a big swing but he also for the most part knows how to contain it, at least against righties. Against left-handed pitchers he will fall prey early and often to breaking pitches. He plays first base for a reason: Lauda lacks speed - off the field he gets around everywhere he needs to go by a very fast car - and outside of covering a decent amount of ground, he's prone to defensive gaffes - 9 errors last year - and when he does have a ball played to him he can be slow in making the transfer. In 1973 he did manage to play the whole year without injury but his 1972 was curtailed with several leg injuries and that, plus his non-baseball job (Lauda is a Formula One driver) leads one to worry that he'll have problems staying on the field in the future.

Ideally you probably want a platoon mate / someone who can fill in for Nikki Lauda when he's not available to play. The Tigers didn't have that, really, last year and getting that set up in 1974 will require a comeback season from Danny Villegas.

Jim Marceau
RHP No. 2
RR, 5'9" 183 lbs.
Born 1941-05-30

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 DET MLB | 5      | 3      | 11      | 2.21     | 54     | 0       | 0       | 69.0    | 63     | 22     | 17      | 24      | 66     |
| 1972 DET MLB | 5      | 7      | 25      | 3.56     | 62     | 0       | 0       | 83.1    | 76     | 37     | 33      | 41      | 72     |
| 1973 DET MLB | 7      | 7      | 21      | 2.42     | 53     | 0       | 0       | 78.0    | 63     | 25     | 21      | 22      | 52     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Marceau bore dwon in his second year as the Tigers' closer. He throws a big old curveball and a fastball that's as fast as anything anyone throws, including teammate Edgar Molina, and just plain tries to overpower you. Last year he cut his walk rate almost in half, which in turn led to a drop of over a run in his ERA. Marceau's high heater will sometimes lead to some long homeruns and Tiger Stadium sure doesn't help with that. Last year he did blow 9 saves in 30 opportunities. On the other hand, Marceau came in with runners on base a lot - 44 inherited runners, 5th most in all of baseball - and allowed only 12 of them to score, a mark comparable to Malcolm Post (17-47) and Geoff Saus (15-47).

I wouldn't call Marceau one of the elites in short relief but he's certainly the next tier down, and that's pretty, pretty okay for the Tigers.

Chris McGranahan
RHP No. 14
RR, 6'5" 202 lbs.
Born 1937-10-04

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 MIL MLB | 4      | 1      | 0       | 1.08     | 6      | 6       | 2       | 50.0    | 35     | 7      | 6       | 13      | 25     |
| 1971 DET MLB | 4      | 5      | 1       | 4.38     | 30     | 13      | 1       | 104.2   | 107    | 53     | 51      | 21      | 44     |
| 1972 TOL AAA | 0      | 2      | 0       | 9.81     | 2      | 2       | 0       | 11.0    | 16     | 12     | 12      | 3       | 4      |
| 1972 DET MLB | 4      | 3      | 0       | 3.44     | 16     | 8       | 2       | 62.2    | 57     | 28     | 24      | 15      | 25     |
| 1973 DET MLB | 5      | 5      | 0       | 2.88     | 21     | 11      | 4       | 103.0   | 99     | 36     | 33      | 28      | 33     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

McGranahan missed a little bit of time with a sore elbow but mostly he was the Tigers' "break in case of emergency" man in a season where there weren't many emergencies. He did get 3 starts in September after Jimmy Goddard's injury and did well, going 1-0, 3.15 with only 5 walks allowed in 20.1 IP. McGranahan is a pretty extreme finesse pitcher at this point in his career. He won't walk a lot of people and gets batters to swing at pitches on the corners. At this point in his career his fastball might hit 90 on a hot day and that need to nibble means that every now and then he'll break off a little too large of a piece and get blown up for it. Or, hitters will be able to track his pitches and he'll just plain have a bad day altogether, for example his outing in Game 1 of the World Series where he turned what looked like an easy win for Chris Benavides into a save situation for Jim Marceau.

McGranahan's been doing this for several years now and although that strikeout rate is well below what I'd normally feel safe with, you have to ask yourself: what's to stop him from doing this in 1974? Some day it will all come crashing down but people have been predicting that "some day" for 4 years now (following a 10-12, 3.97 1971 with Milwaukee and Detroit where he did in fact have to pitch every day).

Juan Merino
RHP No. 26
SR, 6'2" 191 lbs.
Born 1947-02-23

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 DET MLB | 12     | 12     | 0       | 3.86     | 31     | 31      | 4       | 226.0   | 210    | 105    | 97      | 88      | 144    |
| 1972 DET MLB | 13     | 1      | 0       | 2.70     | 26     | 21      | 3       | 166.2   | 131    | 54     | 50      | 69      | 109    |
| 1973 TOL AAA | 9      | 2      | 0       | 2.20     | 13     | 13      | 4       | 98.0    | 83     | 31     | 24      | 23      | 71     |
| 1973 DET MLB | 3      | 1      | 1       | 3.91     | 15     | 3       | 2       | 46.0    | 39     | 21     | 20      | 19      | 32     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Merino - lots of "M" pitchers on this team - was yet another "break glass in case of emergency" guy who never really saw a big glass-breaking situation in 1973. Followinng a 13-1, 2.70 stretch run the season before, Merino was so much the odd man out that following a 2-0, 3.69 record through June (which in fairness to the Tigers, that ERA was a full run higher at 4.76 before his final game, a spot start 4-hitter against the Yankees) he was even sent down to the minor leagues to get playing time. Recalled in September, Merino was scheduled to be the starter for Game 5 of the World Series had Game 5 happened, which of course it did not.

Merino's best two pitches are a low-90s fastball and a split-finger pitch that comes out looking like the heater but dives out of the strike zone at the last minute. He also has a show-me slider and a curve that he only sometimes can get over the plate. Last year he actually posted a higher K rate than he did in 1972, way against the grain of the American League, but his ERA climbed when he fell a little too in love with the curve and it hung over the plate at bad moments.

Merino might be better utilized in short to medium relief where the fastball-splitter combo can wreak havoc on opposing hitters and he wouldn't have to worry so much about getting his other pitches over for strikes. In theory, at least: in practice Merino was 2-1, 3.22 as a starter last year and 1-0, 4.56 as a reliever. Small sample size?

Joel Moise
C No. 9
RR, 6'4" 207 lbs.
Born 1947-02-06

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 MGM AA  | .261     | 82     | 280     | 24     | 73     | 24      | 0       | 4       | 37       | 20      | 29      | 0       |
| 1972 MGM AA  | .296     | 23     | 81      | 12     | 24     | 2       | 0       | 3       | 15       | 8       | 6       | 0       |
| 1972 TOL AAA | .268     | 90     | 299     | 38     | 80     | 18      | 0       | 12      | 42       | 19      | 50      | 1       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .230     | 70     | 187     | 17     | 43     | 6       | 0       | 2       | 24       | 9       | 36      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

No offense to Moise, who was originally an 11th round draft pick by the White Sox who moved to Detroit as a minor league free agent in 1971, but he was placed into the starter's role at the beginning of the season and was just plain overmatched. After May he got just 29 starts at catcher, finished the year 8-50, and didn't even play in the postseason.

Moise showed good pop and some ability to hit for average in AAA Toledo in 1972 but displayed none of that in the major leagues. One can hope that he was nervous or somethig but more probably Moise is just a career backup catcher. He's as slow as a catcher can be and in spite of playing with a pitching staff that's all in all pretty good at holding runners, Moise allowed a pretty average 67% of them (30/45) to steal successfully. He is very good at using his big body to get in front of wild pitches; maybe too good for his own good as 6 passed balls in 514.1 IP might suggest.

There aren't exactly a million backup catchers out there and for that reason along Moise probably has a decent career ahead of him. Just don't expect too much.

Edgar Molina
RHP No. 32
RR, 6'2" 187 lbs.
Born 1944-10-13

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 DET MLB | 19     | 14     | 0       | 3.47     | 36     | 35      | 11      | 259.1   | 256    | 117    | 100     | 85      | 183    |
| 1972 DET MLB | 21     | 11     | 0       | 3.09     | 40     | 40      | 15      | 305.0   | 234    | 111    | 105     | 108     | 264    |
| 1973 DET MLB | 20     | 19     | 0       | 4.02     | 42     | 41      | 18      | 308.2   | 281    | 143    | 138     | 97      | 225    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Molina won 20 games for the 2nd straight year... and let's face it, the big story here was he set the new record for pitcher HRs allowed. Not just set it, destroyed it. Molina allowed 53 HRs, more than anyone did IRL (I think the real life record) (what is this real life?) (is in the low 40s, set by Bert Blyleven in the 80s). Prior to this season, the only guys who ever gave up as many as 40 HRs were in expansion years (Eric Cartee allowed 46 for the Orioles in 1961 and Nate Herod allowed 40 for the new Senators the same year) (also Lee "Batty" Barnard" allowed 40 this year). Molina also led the league in losses but also strikeouts, even though by season's end he was reaaaally scuffling in the regular season (1-3, 7.92 ERA in September including 8 HRA) and had it not been for the injury to Jimmy Goddard, he'd probably have been a long reliever in the postseason. Of course, then he was 2-0, 2.16 in the playoffs so what do we even know...

Molina throws as hard as anybody in the league and is afraid of nobody. The K rate might seem like it was down last year - and okay, it was compared to years past - but the 6.6/9 rate still led the league. He's also a guy who can give you 8 solid innings before he suddenly kind of blows up and allows multiple HRs. It's very, very easy to rely on him to give you all those innings, especially if you're a team with a less-than-great short relief situation like Detroit has. This year Molina also had his lowest walk rate since 1970... which, you know, maybe he could have missed off the plate a bit more if it would have meant not missing over the middle as much.

There's no question that Molina, who turns 29 tomorrow as of this writing, is going to be given a starting job every 4th game. He's just too... extreme not to. He's absolutely got to figure out how to avoid the dinger though, like, he's led the league in most HRA 4 of the last 5 years and gave up 31 the year he didn't, but all of those years pale in comparison to the 53 from here. That 4 ERA, it was earned.

Matt Mullen
IF No. 35
RR, 5'10" 203 lbs.
Born 1941-08-12

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DET MLB | .226     | 137    | 402     | 28     | 91     | 13      | 2       | 0       | 27       | 23      | 76      | 5       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .187     | 62     | 155     | 11     | 29     | 2       | 1       | 1       | 13       | 17      | 30      | 0       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .276     | 102    | 272     | 26     | 75     | 5       | 1       | 5       | 32       | 9       | 42      | 3       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Mullen rebounded nicely from a terrible 1972 and spent the year as a platoon mate for Rob Curran (Mullen hit 293/319/402 vs lefties) and a defensive replacement / fill-in body throughout the rest of the infield. The .276 average was the highest of his career and turned him into a vaguely adequate player. Somehow he also set a career high in HRs. He'll never be mistaken for a good hitter but last year he was surprisingly adequate. Defensively he's still very solid, not on Rob Curran's level but he's got a good arm and soft hands and completes the pivot well when asked to play second base. Mullen's got decent speed even in his 30s although he doesn't often get a chance to use it given how little he gets on base.

Matt Mullen's a calm, steady veteran presence in the clubhouse. Some guys in his position would be griping over the loss of playing time (Mullen was the team's starting shortstop from 1966 until they brought in Rob Curran in 1971) but Mullen seems like he's just happy to be there and collect a couple of rings. He's got to be a near lock to regress from what he did last year but even if he does and he just turns into a regular old utility player, there's a lot of value to that.

Joey Ramone
2B/DH No. 19
RR, 5'11" 178 lbs.
Born 1948-12-30

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 LAK A   | .000     | 1      | 3       | 0      | 3      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 2        | 1       | 0       | 0       |
| 1971 MGM AA  | .290     | 25     | 100     | 13     | 29     | 7       | 0       | 4       | 8        | 6       | 19      | 1       |
| 1971 TOL AAA | .361     | 9      | 36      | 2      | 13     | 2       | 1       | 1       | 10       | 3       | 9       | 0       |
| 1971 DET MLB | .343     | 68     | 254     | 35     | 87     | 17      | 4       | 6       | 34       | 31      | 49      | 3       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .304     | 116    | 461     | 61     | 140    | 29      | 7       | 13      | 62       | 43      | 85      | 4       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .310     | 146    | 571     | 79     | 177    | 42      | 1       | 11      | 97       | 53      | 88      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Ramone was drafted only in 1971 but absolutely zoomed through the minor leagues. Any worries that he was rushed are now completely gone: Joey is the best second baseman in the American League and it's a toss-up between him and Paul McCartney as to who's the best in the big leagues. Ramone's finished 4th in the league in doubles in each of the last 2 seasons; this year 4th just meant a whole lot more. He also finished in the top 10 in average (9th) and RBIs (4th). He did go through a bit of a slump in September, hitting .223 with just 1 HR and 11 RBI and losing out on a chance to contend for a batting title, butto be fair to the young punk rocker he's never had anywhere near 146 "gigs" at any level of baseball (no, I don't like that).

Ramone is also a fine fielder at second base. He has the range to be a great shortstop, even, although a below-average arm really limits him to the left side of the diamond. He helped turn 102 double plays last season and although the error total seems high (25) it comes with a decent .964 fielding average and, frankly, is an artifact of how many balls Ramone is able to reach. He stole 39 bases in college (I doubt that real Joey Ramone went to college but look, this is a game) but I've never seen any kind of speed like that and, after going just 4/13 his rookie year the Detroit coaches just plain didn't run him in 1973. I'm told he's "in your face" as a punk rock man but in the clubhouse he mostly keeps to himself in case you were worried that he'd be a cancer or need to be sedated or something.

Ramone won't even turn 25 until the end of the year. He's a superstar and a backbone of the Tigers offense.

Alvin Romero
CF No. 41
LL, 6'3" 203 lbs.
Born 1945-12-10

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DET MLB | .335     | 129    | 531     | 98     | 178    | 34      | 6       | 8       | 48       | 48      | 45      | 50      |
| 1972 DET MLB | .296     | 148    | 595     | 103    | 176    | 30      | 5       | 4       | 41       | 75      | 55      | 48      |
| 1973 DET MLB | .300     | 148    | 626     | 116    | 188    | 47      | 15      | 5       | 54       | 43      | 49      | 80      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Romero broke his own stolen bases record (of 72 in 1970) with 80 last year. He's an absolute devil on the basepaths: you give up a single and it might as well be a double. Also he only got caught 13 times and grounded into just 6 double plays all season in spite of being a pretty big-time contact hitter. Romero shortens his swing on purpose but has a lot more power than you'd expect: lots and lots of line drives into the gaps, or even not quite into the gaps wind up in doubles and triples off his bat. He finished 2nd in runs scored for the 2nd straight year and those stupid stat nerds say that by "WAR" - I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT STAT NERDS - he was the 2nd best player in the league.

Romero won a Gold Glove in 1970 as well but it was as a center fielder. He actually did have a career year in the field this year; although he doesn't get the best read on a ball, his speed more than made up for that last year and he combined that with just 4 errors allowed all season and a nice arm that allowed him to throw out 9 runners last year. Romero is already 4th lifetime in MLB history in steals with 268 and a good year will see him surpass Zackery Hadley at 312 (who's still playing but was pretty terrible - he'll get a write-up with the A's - and he only managed to steal 19 bases due to playing time and not getting on base) and World War II vet Adam Bullman with 318 (he came in as a 27 year old rookie in 1946 and played until 1961, leading the one-base-at-a-time 50s in steals 6 ties but never getting more than 29 in a season). Only Bob Mitchell with 368 (1948-1968) is really out of reach this year.

Romero is everything you could ask for: the pre-eminent leadoff hitter, a good defender, a perennial All-Star in the prime of his career. Also, he's my favorite player and yes I am biased.

Bruce Rubio
RHP No. 10
RR, 5'8" 176 lbs.
Born 1948-02-18

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 DET MLB | 16     | 10     | 0       | 3.03     | 35     | 35      | 7       | 261.1   | 244    | 101    | 88      | 91      | 165    |
| 1972 DET MLB | 18     | 13     | 0       | 3.31     | 37     | 37      | 6       | 274.0   | 241    | 106    | 101     | 78      | 174    |
| 1973 DET MLB | 14     | 13     | 0       | 3.38     | 35     | 35      | 8       | 241.2   | 247    | 104    | 91      | 74      | 141    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

One thing that definitely kept the Tigers at the top of the league this year was that they were extremely injury-lucky when it came to the pitching. They got 240 innings out of 4 different players, which is really saying something. Rubio was the youngest one of them - he'll still only be 26 when he celebrates his birthday right before pitchers and catchers report next year - and there's still some untapped potential for this stocky right-hander. Rubio likes to throw a 2 seam fastball as well as a "cut" one, both of which clear 90 mph, and then has a huge arsenal of 4 other pitches. He does have a bit of a proclivity to push the ball over the plate when he gets into trouble and that's one area where the Tigers' pitching coaches will want to work with him, as that can become a big, big issue in Detroit (just ask Edgar Molina!). Last year he was able to get a few more groundballs than he has in the past with his forkball but it's hard to tell if that's a trend or just a blip in the action.

Rubio was kind of bad in the postseason - 1-0, 5.11 - and had to leave the last game early with a strained abdominal muscle. That injury won't come close to keeping him out of spring training. He'll be back and ready to go as the #4 starter on a loaded Tigers pitching staff.

Tim Suman
1B No. 28
SR, 6'0" 201 lbs.
Born 1947-03-03

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 TOL AAA | .222     | 3      | 9       | 1      | 2      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 2        | 3       | 0       | 0       |
| 1971 DET MLB | .322     | 108    | 276     | 35     | 89     | 14      | 0       | 6       | 40       | 15      | 17      | 0       |
| 1972 TOL AAA | .284     | 29     | 81      | 11     | 23     | 5       | 0       | 4       | 14       | 1       | 5       | 0       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .233     | 62     | 120     | 14     | 28     | 6       | 0       | 1       | 14       | 9       | 12      | 0       |
| 1973 TOL AAA | .349     | 21     | 43      | 7      | 15     | 4       | 1       | 2       | 5        | 4       | 5       | 0       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .232     | 42     | 95      | 6      | 22     | 4       | 0       | 2       | 8        | 0       | 6       | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Suman is a switch-hitting first baseman who's been in the Detroit system for years but regressed in terms of getting ML at-bats last year. He seems like a perfect foil for Niki Lauda (and in fact, 55 of his 95 at-bats in the majors this year were vs LHPs). His issue? He never walks. Like, I'm trying to run things with a 1970s mindset and Bill Buckner is a man who existed in this league (Dave Kingman too) but there are limits. Suman had no walks and a sac fly in the major leagues last year which meant that his batting average of .232 was actually higher than his on-base percentage (.229). That's crazy and you have to be a great hitter or have a lot of power to overcome that. Suman has neither. Even with the injury to Danny Villegas he didn't get used much and was sent down for good in August.

I saw that the Toledo Mud Hens actually played Suman in 10 games in the middle infield which is crazy. Suman has iffy range for a first baseman and committed 3 errors in 8 starts(!) for a .906 average when used that way. Hey, he does hit like a shortstop so you can see why they tried... anyway, he's a good clubhouse guy who might be a coach or manager when all is said and done but he is at best minor league depth.

Todd Theisen
RHP No. 11
RR, 6'0" 202 lbs.
Born 1939-08-08

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 POR AAA | 2      | 0      | 0       | 1.99     | 4      | 4       | 0       | 27.0    | 22     | 7      | 6       | 13      | 12     |
| 1971 MIN MLB | 1      | 3      | 5       | 5.58     | 14     | 0       | 0       | 19.1    | 26     | 14     | 12      | 4       | 14     |
| 1971 STL MLB | 2      | 0      | 1       | 5.58     | 7      | 0       | 0       | 9.2     | 7      | 6      | 6       | 1       | 5      |
| 1972 DET MLB | 8      | 6      | 4       | 3.61     | 37     | 7       | 0       | 94.2    | 89     | 40     | 38      | 42      | 52     |
| 1973 DET MLB | 1      | 2      | 3       | 3.37     | 30     | 0       | 0       | 42.2    | 44     | 18     | 16      | 22      | 31     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Thiesen is a big strapping Southerner out of Tennessee who over the past few seasons has gone from an oft-injured question mark to one of the more reliable relievers in baseball. This year, yeah, I know, 30 games isn't much but the Tigers just have a starting rotation that goes deep into games and a short man in Jim Marceau who was able to fill in when they weren't able to finish and as such he just wasn't needed all that often. When he did play he did the Todd Thiesen game of mixing in a high-80s to low-90s fastball with a devastating change of pace. In 1972 the Tigers called on him to start 7 games but this year there was none of that tomfoolery.

Thiesen is a bit too wild to be a closer - he did do that job one season with Cleveland and was pretty successful at it but still - but he excels in middle relief. Last year only 8 of 27 baserunners he inherited came around to score. With his wildness I wouldn't expect that to continue - 1972's numbers were 8 of 12 - but if you bring him in to open an inning he can usually end it without fanfare.

Joe Theismann
3B No. 99
RR, 5'10" 181 lbs.
Born 1949-09-21

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CLI A   | .333     | 12     | 48      | 7      | 16     | 2       | 0       | 1       | 3        | 6       | 3       | 3       |
| 1971 MGM AA  | .286     | 95     | 364     | 49     | 104    | 24      | 5       | 4       | 40       | 29      | 47      | 9       |
| 1972 MGM AA  | .325     | 37     | 120     | 23     | 39     | 3       | 2       | 3       | 10       | 19      | 17      | 1       |
| 1972 TOL AAA | .342     | 19     | 73      | 18     | 25     | 4       | 1       | 3       | 9        | 5       | 16      | 2       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .316     | 48     | 95      | 10     | 30     | 4       | 1       | 2       | 8        | 11      | 13      | 3       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .289     | 104    | 360     | 46     | 104    | 22      | 2       | 5       | 38       | 29      | 50      | 9       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

One big, big silver lining to the cloud of losing DH Danny Villegas to a torn ACL in June was that it allowed the team to discover Theismann, a former #54 rated prospect who somehow fell off the top 100 list in 1972. Even though he was on the roster, Theismann played in just 10 games with 19 at-bats through the end of May. Even before Villegas went down, however, the Tigers decided that Theismann's glove and bat were too good to leave on the bench and he started to get playing time. He got better as the year progressed, culminating in a .291 August and a .322 September. Theismann mostly hit 6th in the lineup for Detroit last year although he showed some promise in the rare instances he was handed a higher-impact role (.341 in 44 at-bats hitting 5th, 5-13 in the cleanup spot).

Theismann's much more of a contact hitter than his counterpart at third in Jose Ayala and is probably better suited for 2nd in the order instead of in the heart of it. Above and beyond the batting though what Theismann really brings to the table is great to elite level defense. He's got good enough range to have played in 2 games and 10 innings at shortstop this year but third really showcases the best of his talents: soft hands (just 9 errors in 95 games) and the kind of gun for an arm you'd expect from a guy who's a pro quarterback in the NFL when he's not doing baseball. Theismann's not one to clog up the basepaths but 9 steals will probably be pretty close to a career best when all is said and done. He can lay down a bunt and is nice with the hit and run.

Theismann was more or less a nice find in 1973. In 1974 he'll play third all year long and remove one question from the Tigers' lineup.

Danny Villegas
DH No. 12
RR, 6'0" 201 lbs.
Born 1937-06-10

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 DET MLB | .289     | 110    | 384     | 64     | 111    | 14      | 1       | 29      | 76       | 58      | 72      | 2       |
| 1972 DET MLB | .265     | 47     | 162     | 24     | 43     | 2       | 0       | 12      | 40       | 32      | 25      | 0       |
| 1973 DET MLB | .230     | 27     | 100     | 13     | 23     | 6       | 0       | 3       | 13       | 7       | 21      | 2       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The DH role seems practically built for Villegas, who previously toiled at second base for the Tigers and hit a career .272 with nice power when he wasn't getting himself injured by someone sliding in to break up a double play. Villegas has been penciled in as a starter for Detroit since 1965 but has started more than 100 games just 4 times in that period. It's gotten especially bad the last two seasons when he's managed basically half a year of play out of it. Which brings me to the latest point: in spite of not having to play the field anymore, Villegas nevertheless tore his ACL sliding into second base - oh, the irony! - in a 3-1 loss to the Twins on June 17th and did not play again.

The good news, at least for the Tigers, is that they found replacements for the "Icebox". That's not so great news for Villegas. Where is he going to play? You could probably play him at second base but that seems like you're just asking him to miss another hundred games for you at this point, and besides, the Tigers have a guy there already. I guess if he stays on the team currently he could platoon with Niki Lauda at first base. More than likely though I think he's going to be trade fodder: surely, even at age 36, someone can find a spot for him as their full-time designated hitter with that power.

[Syd Thrift]

Recap: In spite of finishing in last place in 1972 Kansas City fans had some reason for optimism: a young lineup that figured to only get better and a pitching staff that managed to get the old ERA down below 4 for the first time in 3 years. Well... maybe a little too optimistic, as it turns out: although the hitting was as advertised the bottom completely fell out of the pitching staff and led the team to a bad 73-89 record. I guess it's still better than what they did in in 70 and 71 but that's still not great. The bottom completely fell out with a 9-19 July, which is right around the time the Royals collectively decided to stop even worrying about things like team defense and just tried to win all games 12-11.

1974 Outlook: The Royals had exactly two guys on the pitching staff get 100 or more strikeouts, which is a bad combination for a team that gave Dave Corona 46 starts in center field and James Ellroy 126 starts at second base. You can expect some rebound from the pitching staff just because it's hard to imagine them being any worse and also the Corona-in-center experiment has got to be over with by now, you'd think. Even having a mediocre pitching staff could be enough to push these guys into .500 - it should be noted that Royals Stadium is one of the most extreme pitchers' parks in the league. That pitching staff has got a long, long way to go before they can be called mediocre.

Tom Bertan
RHP No. 24
RR, 6'6" 199 lbs.
Born 1942-12-23

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CIN MLB | 2      | 10     | 0       | 7.51     | 29     | 14      | 1       | 109.0   | 124    | 94     | 91      | 49      | 79     |
| 1972 CIN MLB | 2      | 3      | 0       | 5.10     | 11     | 5       | 0       | 42.1    | 42     | 24     | 24      | 9       | 18     |
| 1972 NYM MLB | 0      | 1      | 0       | 2.57     | 1      | 1       | 0       | 7.0     | 6      | 2      | 2       | 3       | 4      |
| 1973 MIL MLB | 6      | 8      | 0       | 4.90     | 21     | 19      | 4       | 130.1   | 130    | 78     | 71      | 44      | 69     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 4      | 1      | 0       | 3.57     | 6      | 6       | 2       | 45.1    | 51     | 21     | 18      | 10      | 24     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

After the Brewers released Bertan in August, he sat for nearly a month before the Royals gave him a call and, after looking like a new man in September, looks like a near-lock to step into this rotation on Opening Day. Bertan's 20-win 1970 has now, sadly, fallen off the 3-year recaps but that's still what the Royals are chasing. They just hope not to catch the Bertain that posted the 7.51 ERA the next year or for that matter the almost-5 mark with the Brew Crew.

Bertan throws really, really hard for a guy who doesn't collect that many Ks and really breaks off a curve, too. How the raw talent never quite adds up to results on the field is something that's bedeviled the teams he's played for - and he's now on his 4th team in 2 years. Control has been an issue in the past although part of Bertan's September renewal case was that he seems to have put those issues behind him. He's also, especially when he's pitching well, a really great guy to have in the clubhouse. He can't exactly teach guys how to throw as fast as he can but he can and does work with some of the younger pitchers to show them how to pitch in the major leagues.

Fingers crossed that that September is for real!

J.P. Carter
3B/1B No. 4
RR, 6'0" 192 lbs.
Born 1946-10-09

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 TUC AAA | .298     | 66     | 228     | 27     | 68     | 15      | 2       | 1       | 30       | 22      | 17      | 6       |
| 1971 CHW MLB | .275     | 54     | 109     | 8      | 30     | 5       | 1       | 2       | 10       | 6       | 15      | 2       |
| 1972 TUC AAA | .203     | 139    | 518     | 45     | 105    | 18      | 5       | 7       | 38       | 37      | 55      | 12      |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .280     | 147    | 582     | 72     | 163    | 37      | 7       | 9       | 85       | 28      | 65      | 4       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The former first round pick by the Yankees was looking at backing up and maybe competing for a job with the White Sox (in spite of an awful, awful 1972) when the Royals swooped in in February of this year to pick him up, sending back their own busted prospect in LF Michael Kamen in return. Carter took the third base job this year and never relinquished it and was pretty much a league-average hitter, heights that looked unreachable the season before. Carter likes to hit just about anything that comes over the plate for a strike (and sometimes not quite a strike) and he's good at going with outside pitches. Where I've talked about deceptive power from some of the guys on this team, that's not really the case with Carter, who even hit 5 of his 9 HRs last year in Royals Stadium - he's a line drive hitter, through and through.

Defensively Carter has the good arm you want from a third baseman. He doesn't have the softest hands in the world - 20 errors and a .952 FA will attest to that - but he's no butcher out there either. He'll sit safely in between the range of guys who could win a Gold Glove and the guys who actually lose teams games with their glove. He's not terribly slow or anything although I would be really surprised if he stole 12 bases, ever, in the major leagues as he did in Tucson last year. In the pros he's 6/6 stealing-wise. Carter does the "little things" well, including laying down 5 bunts and hitting 12 sac flies for this team.

Carter at this point in his career is "just a guy". You never really want to count 1st round draft picks out but it does kind of look like a league average third baseman is basically his ceiling.

Jorge Cervantez
RHP No. 21
RR, 5'11" 172 lbs.
Born 1945-07-14

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 KC MLB  | 11     | 11     | 0       | 3.81     | 34     | 23      | 4       | 174.2   | 198    | 80     | 74      | 44      | 56     |
| 1972 KC MLB  | 5      | 7      | 7       | 3.24     | 45     | 12      | 3       | 133.0   | 118    | 50     | 48      | 48      | 47     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 2      | 4      | 9       | 2.63     | 56     | 0       | 0       | 82.0    | 77     | 28     | 24      | 21      | 37     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Cervantez really swam against the tide last year. The former starter settled into a role as the Royals' short man to open the season and... well, I wouldn't call him great by any means but he had 6 saves and a 3.57 ERA at the end of May and hit a high point of 9 and a 2.09 ERA on June 24th. Then the Royals traded for TJ Duckett and Cervantez slipped into a middle relief role without too much of a fuss. He had no save opportunities and just 2 holds through the rest of the season as he pitched less and less in clutch situations.

Cervantez throws decently hard but not crazily so and if anything gets a few more Ks now that he's in a relief role. He was a pure pitch-to-contact guy as a starter. He's also got a decent enough split-finger fastball and circle change that hitters will pound the ball into the ground a lot. Cervantez could definitely help himself out more by being more attentive on the mound. He does have a decent pickoff move although runners were only caught once in 6 tries when he was throwing. The biggest reason why he lost the closer's job was he allowed almost half of his inherited runners to score last year - 19 of 39.

Cervantez was definitely part of the problem last year. It would seem really unwise to put him back in the rotation - and in fact it was weird that he had no starts last year given how messed up the rotation was - but he seems like he could ride out this role in the middle innings for several years.

Prince Charles III
CF No. 9
RR, 6'2" 202 lbs.
Born 1947-11-13

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 REN A   | .257     | 39     | 144     | 15     | 37     | 5       | 4       | 3       | 22       | 15      | 32      | 6       |
| 1971 JAX AA  | .218     | 98     | 353     | 41     | 77     | 17      | 0       | 6       | 27       | 23      | 71      | 10      |
| 1972 OMA AAA | .241     | 106    | 398     | 56     | 96     | 14      | 3       | 16      | 45       | 38      | 81      | 11      |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .258     | 24     | 97      | 17     | 25     | 6       | 1       | 4       | 9        | 12      | 15      | 3       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .194     | 106    | 351     | 42     | 68     | 15      | 3       | 9       | 35       | 57      | 55      | 5       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

You'd really expect the future King of England to be kind of lackadaisical in the field or perhaps be one of those guys seeking personal glory by way of the homerun but credit where credit is due, Prince Charles is a really hard worker who really seems to want to get to known the game of baseball. That's why it's so unfortunate that he doesn't appear to be able to hit well enough to carry a job. Last year the Royals opened the year with him in center, lived through a rough first month (.169, 1 HR, 5 RBI) and for a while it looked like it was working out - as of June 27 Charles had a .224 BA and a .734 OPS - before he absolutely cratered in July (.162, 0, 3) and from then on lost his job to Dave Corona. The "good" news was, Corona, who had played the position in the minors and when he was first called up to the major leagues, proved absolutely and completely unable to play the position and that alone probably gives him a second chance to prove himself.

There's a lot to like about Charles. He's very solid defensively, with his one potential downside being a tendency to try to do too much in the field which leads to the occasional stupid looking error. He even had 13 baserunner kills from the position, ranking 7th in all of baseball (for CFs) in spite of his barely playing in the last 2 months of the year. Charles had decent power numbers and a solid walk rate that made that .194 average look even worse in comparison. He doesn't have that kind of breakneck speed you'd expect from a top-level defensive centerfielder but it's fine, probably good for 15-20 steals a year if he figures out the American game.

Charles has a lot of fans in the clubhouse if not necessarily the fanbase. Fans might want to get used to him because if he could learn how to hit - granted, that's a big if - he could be this team's CFOTF.

Ian Coleman
2B No. 10
RR, 5'8" 182 lbs.
Born 1942-05-07

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 KC MLB  | .254     | 141    | 507     | 49     | 129    | 17      | 6       | 7       | 57       | 50      | 85      | 6       |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .211     | 64     | 190     | 14     | 40     | 5       | 3       | 5       | 22       | 19      | 30      | 1       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .211     | 46     | 109     | 9      | 23     | 7       | 0       | 1       | 10       | 14      | 19      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Coleman, an original Royal and one-time starter, had a pretty limited role as caddy/late inning "defensive" replacement for James Ellroy. "Defensive" is in quotes because Coleman was absolutely brutal in the field when the Royals did start him from 1969 to 1971 - in 69 he committed 26 errors! At second base! - and he hasn't gotten better with age (he did go the whole year without committing an error though, which is nice). Coleman also struck out a bit too much when he was a starter and still managed to K in about 20% of his at-bats. He's got decent speed but a below-.250 average is probably about where you can expect him to hit. Coleman always showed a bit of pop on the road as well.

At this point in his career Ian Coleman is a guy who might not have much of a role left on Kansas City and to be honest it's hard to see him having a big role elsewhere unless someone is absolutely desperate for second base help.

Dave Corona
RF/"CF" No. 19
LL, 5'11" 181 lbs.
Born 1949-05-29

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 KC MLB  | .288     | 152    | 546     | 113    | 157    | 28      | 14      | 13      | 63       | 137     | 87      | 52      |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .262     | 137    | 507     | 71     | 133    | 27      | 7       | 14      | 47       | 87      | 75      | 40      |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .295     | 144    | 546     | 118    | 161    | 22      | 16      | 14      | 53       | 105     | 68      | 36      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Corona didn't have one of those classically awful defensive seasons where some basic statistic jumps out at you and makes you talk about it 50 years later but make no mistake he was baaaaaaad in center. It's sliiiightly understandable why the Royals made the move to him in the last 2 months: Prince Charles wasn't hitting, Corona had after all played the position in the past, and he's got that profile of a guy who'd be a good center fielder. He is just not that guy, though. Corona lacks the awareness to get a good jump on the ball in the outfield and was so, so often caught flat-footed in center. In 47 games in the field, only 2 centerfielders posted worse ZRs than him: Frank Beard in Baltimore (-20.4, wow, now I understand why their pitching fell apart), who at least took a full season to be that bad, and the equally terrible Pirates prospect George Macchia (-14.0 in 34 starts).

As a hitter, Corona proved that his off year in 1972 was a fluke and was back to being that 290s level hitter with leadoff-man speed and top-of-the-order peskiness at the plate. Corona finished in the top 10 in on-base percentage for the 3rd straight year (4th), led the league in triples for the 3rd time in 4 years, and finished 2nd in the league in walks as well. He can do just about everything as a hitter and he's got a swing that seems ideally suited for his home park. Corona also has that superstar mien about him that makes him shine extra-high in medium and high leverage situations (.304 in medium, .309 in high).

A move back to the outfield corners is going to be necessary for everyone's sanity, although kudos to Corona for not letting the defensive woes affect his hitting. This team is practically embarrassed by its wealth of great line drive hitters.

Juan Correra
RHP No. 3
RR, 6'3" 200 lbs.
Born 1944-08-04

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 OMA AAA | 0      | 0      | 1       | 0.00     | 2      | 0       | 0       | 2.0     | 2      | 0      | 0       | 0       | 1      |
| 1971 KC MLB  | 4      | 11     | 0       | 4.71     | 30     | 21      | 2       | 137.1   | 167    | 85     | 72      | 52      | 59     |
| 1972 KC MLB  | 5      | 7      | 4       | 3.50     | 41     | 6       | 1       | 97.2    | 92     | 40     | 38      | 28      | 43     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 12     | 14     | 0       | 4.50     | 31     | 29      | 8       | 200.0   | 228    | 108    | 100     | 65      | 80     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Correra was decent enough as a swing man in 1972 that the Royals decided to give him a second chance in the rotation. Correra got off to a pretty awful start - 2-2, 5.06 - but the team did rally around him twice so he stayed in the rotation. Then he had a really nice May that saw him hit his high water mark for the season at 6-4, 3.70, followed by a meh June, an awful July where the KC lineup once again bailed him out (2-2, 6.28), and then one final good - well, "good" because he lost 4 tough games - month in August (2-4, 3.27) before the bottom completely dropped out in September when he allowed 11 runs in 11.1 IP and got kicked out of the rotation following two awful, awful starts. If anything, it's a little surprising that Correra didn't finish in the bottom 10 in ERA or runs allowed; in fact, he was only on one negative leaderboard (8th most HRA with 23).

As a finesse/control pitcher, Correra was just about as poorly paired with this team as is humanly possible. Even when things were going well in 1972 Correra just wasn't a strikeout guy. He's got a fastball that can barely break a window and a splitter and change he mostly uses to try to induce groundballs. As implied by the HRs he'll be effective at nibbling at the plate but then when he does miss it's as likely to miss over the heart of it as it is off the plate entirely. Sometimes a guy like this can give you like 150 pitches a game and still do what he does; that is not the case with Correra who only has average stamina and as it stands was probably pushed too late into games at times last year.

Correra could very well get another shot at the rotation in 1974 just because of how very, very bad things are there. They did bring up a couple guys late (who won't have write-ups because they lack the 40+ IPs) but youngsters often flame out and at least Correra can provide replacement-level innings.

Dave Cowens
DH/1B No. 23
LR, 6'9" 230 lbs.
Born 1948-10-23

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CHL AA  | .357     | 44     | 143     | 21     | 51     | 11      | 0       | 3       | 16       | 34      | 29      | 0       |
| 1971 POR AAA | .227     | 98     | 321     | 45     | 73     | 15      | 1       | 9       | 40       | 81      | 47      | 0       |
| 1972 REN A   | .378     | 38     | 127     | 38     | 48     | 8       | 0       | 15      | 41       | 35      | 16      | 0       |
| 1972 ELM AA  | .400     | 1      | 5       | 0      | 2      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 2        | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| 1972 POR AAA | .219     | 49     | 151     | 20     | 33     | 2       | 0       | 10      | 21       | 42      | 23      | 0       |
| 1972 OMA AAA | .291     | 60     | 203     | 44     | 59     | 13      | 0       | 23      | 46       | 39      | 28      | 0       |
| 1973 OMA AAA | .251     | 105    | 374     | 46     | 94     | 10      | 1       | 17      | 44       | 52      | 55      | 0       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .236     | 41     | 123     | 14     | 29     | 5       | 0       | 6       | 11       | 13      | 18      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Some of these Cleveland deals over the past year or so are real headscratchers... yeah, we get all the salary dumping on some level but they traded Cowens to the Royals for... relief pitcher Jake Callaway? Who they then wound up sending out to Texas for a lesser prospect in Phil Stevens? Yeah, I don't get it (and I make these trades!). Cowens got called up at the end of July and by mid-August he was the team's regular DH. He's shown some real signs of not just good but great power, although it's hard to say how well that will translate to Royals Stadium - even last year, 5 of his 6 dingers came on the road. It's hard to know exactly what to make of his contact, as he has had some big +.300 years in the minors along with some where he barely hit .250. He's got walks, for sure - who wouldn't try to pitch around a guy with his power? - and although he's not particularly fast the fact that he only played 3 games at first base in the majors is more down to the Royals having a guy in Christopher Durang they preferred there than any kind of unplayability at the position.

Cowens would look mighty, mighty nice in the Indians' lineup. He is a Royal, however, and we'll just have to see how good this man gets in a park that's not really suited for him.

Jeff Culliton
C No. 20
LR, 6'3" 200 lbs.
Born 1943-05-13

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 HAW AAA | .111     | 8      | 9       | 0      | 1      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 0       | 0       | 0       |
| 1971 SD MLB  | .140     | 16     | 43      | 0      | 6      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 3        | 5       | 9       | 0       |
| 1971 OAK MLB | .200     | 5      | 5       | 0      | 1      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 0       | 2       | 0       |
| 1971 VER MLB | .308     | 39     | 78      | 9      | 24     | 5       | 0       | 1       | 8        | 9       | 6       | 0       |
| 1972 VER MLB | .220     | 99     | 332     | 24     | 73     | 13      | 2       | 2       | 24       | 26      | 44      | 0       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .308     | 31     | 91      | 13     | 28     | 5       | 0       | 0       | 7        | 2       | 8       | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Culliton, one of the original Seattle Pilots, made some waves in the 1969 season when he hit .347 for the A's as a catcher/pinch-hitter (the A's acquired him via trade). To some degree, teams have been chasing after that ever since, although the chase was largely over in 1973. Culliton is not the best guy to have around in the locker room and apparently he was too much even for the Mexican League, who declined to renew the contract he signed to play for them in 1972. The Royals called him up in August, were surprised that he answered at all, and frankly have to be even more surprised that he played as well as he did.

Culliton's thing is he hits line drives. That's really all he does. He's a left-handed hitting catcher who can hit .300 for you if all the signs are right. He's not a good defensive catcher, he's more likely to cause friction in the clubhouse than to ease it, and he's got all the speed that you expect out of a catcher, which is to say none. And yet, here he is: a catcher who can hit is worth his weight in gold.

Culliton was used a *lot* after the Royals signed him last year. I would not expect that much usage but some kind of semi-platoon arrangement can surely happen should he hit .300 again. If not, he's probably out the door and fast.

Tony Danza
LF/RF No. 28
LL, 5'11" 190 lbs.
Born 1948-06-26

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SJ A    | .250     | 1      | 4       | 1      | 1      | 0       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 1       | 0       | 0       |
| 1971 ELM AA  | .364     | 7      | 22      | 2      | 8      | 2       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 7       | 5       | 0       |
| 1971 OMA AAA | .316     | 65     | 231     | 35     | 73     | 10      | 3       | 1       | 17       | 45      | 37      | 8       |
| 1971 KC MLB  | .400     | 6      | 5       | 1      | 2      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 0        | 0       | 1       | 0       |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .338     | 139    | 527     | 89     | 178    | 28      | 17      | 7       | 50       | 80      | 68      | 34      |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .319     | 151    | 574     | 95     | 183    | 51      | 11      | 11      | 83       | 92      | 75      | 3       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Danza hit .370 in September to make a last-minute case for the batting title; unfortanately he fell just short, finishing 4th in average. It was still more than enough for him to earn his second ticket to the All-Star Game and name him one of the pre-eminent hitters in the American League. Danza finished in the league's top 10 in just about everything he's good at: on-base percentage (.413, 3rd), doubles and triples (led the league in doubles and finished 6th in triples), hits (8th), runs (5th), walks (5th), and even slugging (.503, 3rd). The stat nerds tell me he had more "runs created" than anyone in the AL, and I like the stat nerds slightly more when they tell me good things so I'll allow it.

Danza's not exactly a perfect player. In 1972 he stole 34 bases but also got caught 30 times and so was told to nail his foot to the bag in 1973. He does still have a tendency to be overly aggressive on the basepaths, which leads to more runs on the one hand but also can lead to some costly outs. For all of his natural speed, Danza doesn't get off to a good jump in the outfield and doesn't read pitches or hitters well out there. His arm is merely average and starting 55 games in right field last year was not a great idea.

Still, even with all those flaws, he is "the Boss" both on and off the field for KC and by my prognostications should see at least 8 more All-Star Games, making (at least) 10 total.

Mike Dawson
SS No. 8
RR, 6'2" 194 lbs.
Born 1947-07-28

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 OMA AAA | .202     | 137    | 501     | 67     | 101    | 13      | 3       | 8       | 36       | 92      | 81      | 19      |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .233     | 128    | 408     | 51     | 95     | 14      | 5       | 7       | 37       | 53      | 79      | 21      |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .219     | 132    | 333     | 41     | 73     | 11      | 3       | 1       | 22       | 35      | 85      | 11      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

This is the state of the league in 1973: even the best hitting team in baseball has a guy or two who's a pure defensive player. Mike Dawson is, strictly speaking, holding onto a job because he fields so well. He's juuuuust a step below Oniji Handa as a player, lacking Handa's range but having perhaps even better hands (although he did commit 19 errors for a .968 FA this year). It's unlikely he'll ever win multiple Gold Gloves, however, because his bat is just not going to allow him to stay in the lineup. Dawson can make decent contact with pitches low and inside and basically whiffs at anything else. Offensively he's best defined as "scrappy", although he never learned to lay down the bunt as well as you might think (he did sacrifice 6 times though out of necessity).

Dawson also works as hard as anyone on the team and is all in all a good guy to have in the clubhouse. You do have to wonder what the Royals were thinking when they drafted him 22nd overall in 1969 but I guess they wanted to make a point about the direction the team was headed.

Jake Duckett
LHP No. 14
LL, 5'9" 173 lbs.
Born 1945-04-18

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 OAK MLB | 1      | 1      | 3       | 1.19     | 11     | 0       | 0       | 15.0    | 9      | 2      | 2       | 8       | 11     |
| 1971 TEX MLB | 4      | 6      | 15      | 3.30     | 47     | 0       | 0       | 65.1    | 63     | 26     | 24      | 34      | 46     |
| 1972 CLE MLB | 10     | 4      | 22      | 2.94     | 59     | 0       | 0       | 67.1    | 53     | 22     | 22      | 33      | 61     |
| 1973 CLE MLB | 0      | 2      | 3       | 2.27     | 19     | 0       | 0       | 27.2    | 21     | 7      | 7       | 17      | 16     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 4      | 3      | 13      | 2.48     | 33     | 0       | 0       | 50.2    | 43     | 16     | 14      | 24      | 36     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Having a veteran stopper on a team like this might seem a luxury but to the Royals it just means that they were able to worry a bit less about one inning a night. Jake Duckett is maybe a bit underrated as a stopper, too: he throws decent, low-to-mid 90s heat and does the old riser-splitter combination that's really devastating when you can hide what you're doing until the last second, which is something Duckett is really good at. As you'd expect, this makes him completely useless as a starter but for an inning or two a game, it's pretty, pretty good.

The Royals didn't really give up all that much to acquire Duckett, just 26 year old reliever Giorgio Cavazzano. I wouldn't call that the Steal of the Century or anything but it's a good trade that helps push a team past the expansion doldrums. Duckett himself, despite being in the league since 1968, is still only 28 years old himself and should be able to fill this role for the Royals for the next several years.

Christopher Durang
1B/3B No. 35
RR, 6'2" 200 lbs.
Born 1949-01-05

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SJ A    | .303     | 65     | 218     | 42     | 66     | 13      | 1       | 10      | 37       | 27      | 32      | 0       |
| 1971 WAT AA  | .214     | 62     | 220     | 24     | 47     | 6       | 1       | 3       | 30       | 32      | 32      | 0       |
| 1972 OMA AAA | .268     | 110    | 354     | 53     | 95     | 13      | 1       | 17      | 64       | 47      | 61      | 0       |
| 1973 OMA AAA | .216     | 48     | 162     | 20     | 35     | 6       | 0       | 6       | 17       | 30      | 23      | 0       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .272     | 92     | 254     | 33     | 69     | 10      | 0       | 7       | 39       | 32      | 35      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Durang, a young playwright, played mostly first base in his rookie year but the versatility is part of why the Royals like him. He has a good grasp of the strike zone that led the team to call him up as a pinch-hitter in June in spite of a really rough start to his season at AAA. He was the team's full-time starter in August and September and that should be where he goes going forward. Durang should also hit for more power although poor speed and the lack of that line drive angle lead me to believe that he's not much more than a .270 hitter.

Durang's got a really great arm so you can understand why the Royals see him as a third base option. He doesn't have the best baseball IQ when it comes to balls hit outside of his normal range, especially to his left, and while he only committed 4 errors in 404 defensive innings at 3rd in the minors last year, scouts aren't convinced by his hands at this point either. As implied above, Durang is not fast and doesn't figure to be a part of the Royals' baserunning wrecking crew.

Durang will probably never be a star per se but 15-20 HRs with a .270ish average and a lot of walks is still good for a middle of the lineup role in Royals Stadium.

James Ellroy
2B No. 44
RR, 5'10" 191 lbs.
Born 1948-03-03

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 SJ A    | .286     | 27     | 98      | 17     | 28     | 2       | 0       | 5       | 17       | 9       | 20      | 1       |
| 1971 WAT A   | .279     | 26     | 43      | 10     | 12     | 2       | 0       | 3       | 3        | 4       | 8       | 0       |
| 1971 ELM AA  | .311     | 25     | 90      | 11     | 28     | 6       | 1       | 1       | 13       | 10      | 15      | 1       |
| 1972 ELM AA  | .321     | 58     | 193     | 23     | 62     | 9       | 1       | 6       | 27       | 13      | 34      | 2       |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .270     | 86     | 371     | 39     | 100    | 18      | 2       | 5       | 41       | 19      | 66      | 4       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .264     | 127    | 518     | 70     | 137    | 31      | 5       | 9       | 81       | 45      | 91      | 10      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

Ellroy had a good, solid second season with the bat... so why are the Royals not so hot on him being their second baseman of the future? Simply put, it's defense. Some of the stat nerds here claim that Ellroy was as bad as Dave Corona was in centerfield for this team. I don't believe that; Corona was flat-out playing out of position as an experiment while Ellroy is, at least in uniform, a second sacker. To his credit, too, he only committed 8 errors for a .987 fielding average last year. That said, he had all the range of a postage stamp and is too slow for his own good on the pivot. A move to third is out of the question as well as the primary reason Ellroy plays on the right side of the infield is a poor arm.

Offensively he did what you ask a second baseman to do. The strikeouts are not a great sign but in spite of them, and due to plus speed, Ellroy was still able to coax out a decent batting average. He's also got deceptive power, at least on the road: 7 of his 9 HRs came outside of Kansas City. He doesn't bunt terribly well and the swings and misses make him a less than ideal candidate for the #2 position. That's still mostly where he played last season because, like, second basemen hit 2nd.

Ellroy is only 25 years old and so the defensive bugs could still work themselves out, or he could conceivably improve enough as a hitter - cutting down on the strikeouts would be huge - to justify a move into the outfield. For 1974, I suspect the Royals will continue to try him at second base, much to the chagrin of the pitching staff.

Bryan Graves
LHP No. 22
LL, 5'9" 161 lbs.
Born 1950-06-20

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 SJ A    | 2      | 0      | 0       | 0.51     | 2      | 2       | 1       | 17.1    | 12     | 1      | 1       | 4       | 14     |
| 1971 WAT AA  | 12     | 7      | 0       | 3.05     | 23     | 23      | 9       | 191.2   | 167    | 71     | 65      | 127     | 142    |
| 1971 OMA AAA | 0      | 1      | 0       | 4.41     | 3      | 3       | 0       | 18.1    | 15     | 9      | 9       | 10      | 10     |
| 1972 WAT AA  | 3      | 1      | 0       | 2.01     | 5      | 5       | 3       | 44.2    | 31     | 13     | 10      | 23      | 22     |
| 1972 OMA AAA | 2      | 0      | 0       | 2.79     | 6      | 6       | 0       | 38.2    | 37     | 15     | 12      | 13      | 28     |
| 1972 KC MLB  | 3      | 2      | 0       | 1.10     | 32     | 0       | 0       | 40.2    | 25     | 5      | 5       | 19      | 16     |
| 1973 OMA AAA | 1      | 0      | 0       | 1.49     | 6      | 6       | 0       | 30.0    | 21     | 9      | 5       | 16      | 20     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 2      | 1      | 1       | 4.35     | 41     | 1       | 0       | 62.0    | 78     | 31     | 30      | 25      | 30     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Graves was probably called up too quickly last year but he looked good - well, he got results in spite of an underwater K/BB ratio. He opened 1973 in the bullpen and was one of the best relievers in the business through May - 0-1, 2.10 - but literally the day the calendar ticked over into June, Graves got blasted for 5 runs in 4.1 innings of long relief and that's when everything fell apart. It got so bad that he was demoted to Omaha in July, where he immediately started to look like the Bryan Graves of 1972 so back up he came - he even got his one start of the year in that mix. I mean, he got blown up by the lowly Twins for 6 runs in 2.2 IP (the Royals did go on to win that game 16-13), so it wasnt, um, good. He was on the roster in September but barely pitched: 5 outings, 5 IP.

Graves throws a lot of pitches but throws soft even for a lefty and none of those pitches have a really great amount of movement. The Royals' organization keeps putting him in positions to start but all that's really come out of that is that Graves has very clearly shown that he is not a starter except in absolute emergency situations. He's still only 23 so something could still happen for him, I guess.

Terrence Hicks
OF/DH No. 5
RR, 6'3" 202 lbs.
Born 1944-12-26

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 OMA AAA | .277     | 84     | 148     | 14     | 41     | 11      | 1       | 2       | 21       | 24      | 15      | 0       |
| 1972 OMA AAA | .431     | 18     | 51      | 11     | 22     | 4       | 0       | 5       | 15       | 6       | 3       | 0       |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .286     | 68     | 112     | 15     | 32     | 3       | 1       | 1       | 17       | 14      | 25      | 0       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .301     | 73     | 176     | 19     | 53     | 17      | 1       | 3       | 31       | 27      | 29      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

I swear, the Royals collect guys like this like... Pokemon? What did people collect in 1973? Pet rocks? Terrence Hicks is a defensively challenged corner outfielder/first baseman/DH who gets away with it by hitting lots and lots of line drives into the cavernous Royals Stadium outfield. As the team's 4th outfielder he also appeared 23 times as a pinch-hitter (5-19 but a .391 OBP). Even though he got a steady diet of left-handed pitchers to face last year he actually hit exactly the same against both sides.

At 28 Hicks might be a liiiiittle too old for a bad team to want to try out full-time in the outfield... and yet, the Royals are pretty packed there and definitely from their standpoint they could stand to give a guy like this up for pitching help.

Uwe Kliemann
IF No. 98
RR, 5'9" 167 lbs.
Born 1949-06-27

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 REN A   | .232     | 45     | 177     | 23     | 41     | 5       | 2       | 3       | 20       | 22      | 36      | 15      |
| 1971 SUM A   | .263     | 29     | 118     | 18     | 31     | 5       | 4       | 0       | 10       | 9       | 24      | 6       |
| 1971 JAX AA  | .200     | 5      | 15      | 2      | 3      | 0       | 0       | 1       | 1        | 0       | 1       | 1       |
| 1972 ELM AA  | .220     | 30     | 109     | 16     | 24     | 1       | 4       | 4       | 16       | 16      | 12      | 4       |
| 1972 OMA AAA | .291     | 46     | 172     | 20     | 50     | 6       | 0       | 2       | 10       | 18      | 35      | 2       |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .226     | 42     | 133     | 17     | 30     | 5       | 6       | 0       | 12       | 10      | 22      | 8       |
| 1973 OMA AAA | .345     | 15     | 29      | 6      | 10     | 1       | 0       | 1       | 5        | 5       | 4       | 1       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .186     | 66     | 102     | 12     | 19     | 4       | 1       | 0       | 9        | 9       | 21      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

If there was a way to combine different players' abilities - say, Uwe Kleimann's defense and pivot at second with James Ellroy's hitting - the Royals would have an All-Star on their hands. As it stands, Kleimann is a 1971 3rd round pick who rose through the ranks quickly due to being able to play plus defense at three positions in the field. Unfortunately, while he also hit over .300 in two separate stints at AAA that contact has been completely lacking in the pros. In fact, Kleimann struck out more than 1/5th of the time at the plate this year (trust me, in 1973 that's bad). Time and again in the pros he's tried to do too much with an inside fastball when what he really should be doing is taking advantage of speed to hammer out grounders.

Kleimann for his part isn't at all the kind of guy to rock the boat and seems pretty content wherever you put him. He's also not even 25 yet and still only a year and a half removed from college ball and so he could conceivably figure out the contact issues.

Edwin Manchego
DH/OF No. 29
LL, 6'3" 200 lbs.
Born 1944-11-16

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 OMA AAA | .244     | 99     | 336     | 59     | 82     | 13      | 2       | 21      | 59       | 63      | 51      | 0       |
| 1971 KC MLB  | .248     | 38     | 117     | 18     | 29     | 9       | 0       | 9       | 27       | 20      | 19      | 1       |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .276     | 139    | 416     | 55     | 115    | 19      | 2       | 27      | 77       | 55      | 56      | 3       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .223     | 133    | 435     | 61     | 97     | 11      | 5       | 21      | 82       | 53      | 81      | 8       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The Royals sent RJ Dominguez away because they felt like they had another, better power hitter for the middle of their order in Edwin Manchego. However, Manchego fell in love a little bit too much with the high fastball and turned into a one-dimensional guy last year. The forced move to DH probably didn't help much although Manchego's not a super great fielder anyway. The Royals soured on him as the season progressed and gave him just 7 starts in August and 6 in September.

One thing Manchego did in 1972 that really helped his status with the team was he got the ball in play a lot. A power hitter like this is going to whiff a decent amount because of that big upper-cut swing but Manchego did a pretty decent job of getting the bat on the ball in 72 which is how he managed to hit .272 and make the All-Star Game. To his credit he did get the ball in play enough with runners on base to lead the AL in sacrifice flies (14) but the K rate went way up and with it his average tumbled. Manchego somehowm anaged to hit 10 of his 21 HRs at home: on the road he was pretty awful, actually - a triple slash of 200/271/379.

The fact that you can't really do a home-road platoon of a guy means Manchego's job is in some serious jeopardy in 1973. He's also unhappy with the situation, blaming the hitting coach for making him concentrate so hard on power (which, I mean, he was penned in as the cleanup hitter). It might be better for both sides to sell him this offseason, even taking into account that the Royals will be selling low.

Dylan Mincher
LHP No. 6
SL, 5'8" 185 lbs.
Born 1943-02-22

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 ALB AAA | 10     | 2      | 0       | 1.84     | 19     | 19      | 1       | 126.2   | 86     | 36     | 26      | 64      | 79     |
| 1971 LAD MLB | 2      | 1      | 1       | 2.70     | 17     | 3       | 0       | 30.0    | 25     | 14     | 9       | 6       | 12     |
| 1972 LAD MLB | 3      | 3      | 0       | 3.68     | 17     | 9       | 0       | 66.0    | 62     | 31     | 27      | 35      | 31     |
| 1972 KC MLB  | 1      | 4      | 0       | 7.62     | 9      | 4       | 1       | 28.1    | 37     | 27     | 24      | 20      | 13     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 3      | 2      | 0       | 1.94     | 48     | 0       | 0       | 78.2    | 69     | 24     | 17      | 21      | 51     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

I've got to say, this team was surprisingly good in relief last year. The bullpen ERA was still 5th worst in the AL but that's a damn sight better than the rotation. Mincher is a lefty with a changeup as an out pitch that gives him reverse splits (.255 OBA vs LHB, .220 vs RHB) and last season he really seemed to calm down in terms of getting the ball over the plate: he allowed only 2.4 walks per 9 innings, the best mark of his pro career save a 30 inning stint with the Dodgers in 1971.

Mincher got used a bit less in the second half of the season to make way for youth but pitched well enough that he should get plenty more opportunities. Those opportunities are very unlikely to come starting but Mincher did a crackerjack job in relief so why look a gift horse in the mouth?

Ryan Newton
3B/SS No. 26
LR, 5'11" 200 lbs.
Born 1945-08-03

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 KC MLB  | .302     | 114    | 371     | 47     | 112    | 27      | 1       | 7       | 47       | 28      | 49      | 13      |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .232     | 130    | 435     | 41     | 101    | 21      | 2       | 4       | 36       | 24      | 71      | 10      |
| 1973 OMA AAA | .250     | 28     | 80      | 11     | 20     | 2       | 0       | 3       | 9        | 4       | 17      | 8       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .186     | 45     | 86      | 6      | 16     | 2       | 1       | 0       | 5        | 4       | 21      | 6       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

When the Royals traded for JP Carter in February, Newton was immediately the odd man out. He's still only 2 years removed from hitting .300 but this year he struggled to even hit .200 and scouts think his true level is somewhere in between. That's... not really too great when you provide no power. Newton fields third base well enough and even appeared 3 times as a late-inning replacement at shortstop. He's got good hands and decent range for the position. He just can't hit anywhere near well enough to play there regularly. Newton also has got quite a bit of speed. He stole 39/50 bases in his 3 years as a starter for this team, so you could still use him as a pinch-runner if you had him on your roster.

Newton's kind of the classic "not good enough but good enough for now" type player that an expansion team gives a lot of at-bats to early on. And like a lot of those guys, 5 years into the new team he doesn't have much of a job anymore.

Edward James Olmos
RHP No. 12
SR, 5'11" 179 lbs.
Born 1947-10-18

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 IND AAA | 1      | 3      | 7       | 2.34     | 25     | 0       | 0       | 38.1    | 30     | 10     | 10      | 19      | 22     |
| 1971 CIN MLB | 3      | 5      | 14      | 2.50     | 39     | 0       | 0       | 64.2    | 61     | 22     | 18      | 21      | 43     |
| 1972 STL MLB | 5      | 3      | 15      | 1.94     | 58     | 2       | 0       | 92.2    | 72     | 21     | 20      | 28      | 50     |
| 1973 OMA AAA | 5      | 3      | 0       | 2.72     | 14     | 14      | 1       | 95.2    | 68     | 30     | 29      | 19      | 74     |
| 1973 STL MLB | 0      | 2      | 0       | 19.89    | 6      | 0       | 0       | 6.1     | 13     | 14     | 14      | 9       | 5      |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 4      | 5      | 0       | 4.18     | 14     | 12      | 1       | 81.2    | 82     | 44     | 38      | 18      | 33     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Olmos came over to the Royals last summer in a trade of blown pitching prospects: Ellison Onizuka was dispatched to the Cardinals in that deal. Olmos was certainly better with KC than he'd been with St. Louis but I'd hesitate to call that "good". There was a reason why he was converted into relief his last year in Cincinnati and then in 1972 with the Cards. He lacks the stamina to go long distances and on top of that pitching an inning or two at a time allows him to highlight his curveball more and get away from throwing a slider that's not really a major league pitch. The Royals seemed really intent on grabbing guys who throw strikes, as hittable as those may be, and Cervantez is definitely another one of those guys.

Ideally Olmos is a guy who should be able to "stand and deliver" 70 innings of middle to short relief for you. 12 starts? Uh uh, don't like that.

Mike Perez
C No. 16
RR, 6'2" 199 lbs.
Born 1938-07-07

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CHW MLB | .234     | 109    | 380     | 48     | 89     | 18      | 1       | 18      | 58       | 61      | 97      | 0       |
| 1972 CHW MLB | .164     | 42     | 110     | 13     | 18     | 7       | 0       | 1       | 8        | 11      | 33      | 0       |
| 1972 KC MLB  | .229     | 48     | 140     | 15     | 32     | 9       | 0       | 6       | 25       | 25      | 37      | 0       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .186     | 119    | 366     | 39     | 68     | 5       | 0       | 12      | 45       | 47      | 86      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

The 35 year old Mike Perez hit decently well in 1972 after being released by the White Sox and so the organization said "hey, this guy's a former All-Star and he seems like he can still hit a little; why not push him into the starting job?". In fairness to the Royals the guy who held the position before, Jonathan Escobar, hit .183 in AAA this year (he's still in the organization) and then went 4-27 in a brief injury-fill-in call-up in July. And there is just straight up nobody in the farm system, to the point that the Royals' next catcher probably isn't even on the team yet.

And I guess to be fair to Perez that even though he's clearly not the hitter he once was he was still a solid guy for the Royals at the position. His arm wasn't the greatest in the world even before he got older and at this point it's downright bad. Still, there's more to a catcher's life than his arm, believe it or not; Perez blocks the plate well on wild throws and also has a knack for turning borderline pitches into strikes. He's not really a guy who will light a fire under a struggling pitcher in a mound visit but he's also not a guy who will make them melt down all by himself so that's a plus. Speed-wise, Perez is a catcher.

Unbelievably, barring a trade it looks like Perez is an easy favorite to win this position in 1974 too. I hate to say it but there are worse options out there.

Chris Regan
RHP No. 18
RR, 6'1" 199 lbs.
Born 1940-11-02

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 CLE MLB | 5      | 4      | 0       | 4.82     | 33     | 14      | 1       | 115.2   | 149    | 68     | 62      | 29      | 57     |
| 1972 TEX MLB | 7      | 9      | 0       | 3.43     | 19     | 18      | 4       | 139.0   | 123    | 54     | 53      | 43      | 73     |
| 1972 KC MLB  | 6      | 1      | 0       | 3.39     | 8      | 8       | 3       | 61.0    | 65     | 23     | 23      | 14      | 28     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 7      | 17     | 0       | 5.53     | 30     | 26      | 7       | 180.1   | 223    | 117    | 111     | 43      | 96     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Sometimes a veteran can be a stabling presence on a pitching staff. Sometimes he just helps blow everything up. The Royals picked Regan up off of waivers in August of 1972 after the Rangers decided they didn't to deal with him any longer and at least for 8 starts down the stretch he looked lika a good, solid player. Then... last year. Yeah. Remember how I said something to the effect of "wow, I can't believe Correra wasn't in the bottom 10 in ERA"? Regan was dead last with a 5.54 mark and, following an actually kind of decent 2-3, 2.89 July he allowed 37 runs in 32.2 IP the rest of the way. Regan wasn't merely bad: the next worse pitcher in either league was Baltimore's William Hart, who posted an ERA more than half a run lower (4.97). He also allowed the highest opponents' batting average in all of baseball - the average hitter facing Regan last year hit like an All-Star (.303, 19 HRs, 108 RBI). Lefties absolutely massacred him: hitting 330/391/570 with 15 of his 19 HRs allowed vs that side.

Somehow Regan is still on this roster. He did, once upon a time, win 15 games for Cleveland (15-10, 3.23 in 1969) and even looked like a decent control guy with a good K rate while doing so. That's not even remotely close to the Chris Regan we saw this year. I'd be surprised and yet not shocked if he makes this Opening Day roster. I guess if you used him in relief and studiously avoided any and all left-handed batters he could be somewhat effective...

Alonzo Rivera
1B/LF No. 13
LL, 6'2" 201 lbs.
Born 1948-01-21

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CIN MLB | .403     | 21     | 62      | 7      | 25     | 6       | 0       | 3       | 6        | 3       | 5       | 0       |
| 1972 CIN MLB | .302     | 108    | 387     | 46     | 117    | 24      | 1       | 7       | 52       | 31      | 28      | 0       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .322     | 151    | 580     | 74     | 187    | 45      | 4       | 8       | 79       | 46      | 49      | 0       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

It cost them a pretty penny - middle-of-the-order hitter RJ Dominguez - but the Royals added another contact-oriented middle of the order hitter in Alonzo Rivera over the offseason. Rivera's future is almost certainly at first base, not left field, but last year the Royals went experimenting in the second half and moved Rivera back up the old defensive spectrum. It was not successful, most notably with Dave Corona trying and failing to play centerfield but Rivera was pretty bad in his own right in left. He displayed no range and had nothing of an arm to speak of. He's actually a pretty darn good first baseman, too, so the move was even more inexplicable in that regard.

As a hitter, Rivera just plain doesn't strike out. He finished 5th in the majors and 4th in the AL in strikeout rate with just 7.3%. You couple that with an extreme line drive stroke and you get a perennial batting champion. Even with the relative lack of power - and honestly, that might be overrated given his home park - that's a guy you want in there year in, year out. He finished 3rd last year in hitting and honestly we might be looking back 10 years from now and seeing this as the low-water mark for his career. Rivera doesn't take a lot of chances on the bases which is good because he's a pretty slow runner. He'll execute the hit and run for you - for Rivera, this process is just known as "hitting".

Rivera's not raelly a mover or a shaker but a quiet guy who will "quietly" compete for a batting championship year in, year out.

Howard Rollins
RHP No. 11
RR, 5'9" 157 lbs.
Born 1950-10-13

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 SJ A    | 7      | 7      | 0       | 3.60     | 17     | 17      | 11      | 140.0   | 125    | 59     | 56      | 53      | 124    |
| 1971 ELM AA  | 2      | 3      | 0       | 4.28     | 5      | 5       | 2       | 35.2    | 31     | 20     | 17      | 20      | 24     |
| 1971 OMA AAA | 0      | 5      | 0       | 4.64     | 8      | 8       | 1       | 52.1    | 56     | 28     | 27      | 17      | 22     |
| 1972 OMA AAA | 7      | 4      | 0       | 3.17     | 16     | 16      | 0       | 105.0   | 94     | 42     | 37      | 29      | 112    |
| 1972 KC MLB  | 6      | 4      | 0       | 3.29     | 17     | 17      | 6       | 123.0   | 110    | 49     | 45      | 57      | 95     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 16     | 11     | 0       | 3.03     | 32     | 32      | 10      | 237.1   | 188    | 90     | 80      | 106     | 147    |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

If you've read this far, you've reached the Royals' only actually good pitcher (well, starter). Congratulations! Howard Rollins is only 22 and would be a massive Rookie of the Year candidate except that he got into 123 innings from 17 starts in 1972. Rollins delivers a knee-buckling curveball that he pairs with a low to mid 90s fastball and should generate a lot of whiffs as he continues to learn the game. As it stands, he did lead the Royals in strikeouts last year - also wins, innings pitched, and games started. And walks, which didn't hurt him as much as you might expect in 1973.

Rollins hit .262 in the only chance he got to play in the lineup in 1972 and he might be a little bit hurt by the DH rule compared to other guys in the league. Like a lot of guys who throw as hard as he does, he comes off the mound in an awkward position to field baseballs. Although he's got a good pickoff move the Royals' backstops were in no position to throw many guys out last year so it's really reflected in the stats (18 attempts, 12 steals allowed).

Rollins is pretty good wherever you put him. He's a tough guy on the mound and does acting in his spare time - apparently he looks up to Sidney Poitier so much that he hopes to one day play Virgil Tibbs himself - so isn't really looking hard for a payday. In the grand scheme of things he might be more of a #2 than a #1 but for the Royals he's 1, 2, 3, and 4.

John Timonen
SS No. 7
RR, 6'1" 201 lbs.
Born 1942-12-19

+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| yrtmlvl      | avg      | g      | ab      | r      | h      | 2b      | 3b      | hr      | rbi      | bb      | so      | sb      |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +
| 1971 CHC MLB | .189     | 36     | 90      | 11     | 17     | 4       | 1       | 1       | 5        | 2       | 16      | 1       |
| 1972 CHC MLB | .136     | 51     | 103     | 8      | 14     | 8       | 0       | 1       | 7        | 10      | 28      | 0       |
| 1973 CHC MLB | .139     | 19     | 36      | 2      | 5      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 2        | 0       | 7       | 0       |
| 1973 ATL MLB | .133     | 29     | 60      | 3      | 8      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 3        | 1       | 18      | 0       |
| 1973 KC MLB  | .128     | 28     | 39      | 1      | 5      | 1       | 0       | 0       | 1        | 1       | 14      | 1       |
+ ------------ + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + -------- + ------- + ------- + ------- +

This has got to be the final stop for the 30 year old Timonen. The former 6 time Gold Glover can still pick it as well as anyone in baseball - yes, including Oniji Handa - but he's a career .179 hitter who at this point looks like .200 - the fabled "Timonen Line" - is straight up unreachable. In 1973 3 different teams tried their luck with him as a change SS / late-inning defensive replacement and all 3 were disappointed. He was "best" with Kansas City inasmuch as he posted an OPS+ (OPS-?) of -8, better than the -17 and -14 he posted with the other 2 clubs.

This is basically the Ray Oyler of this save (who?). The real-life Oyler was out of baseball after the 1970 season so perhaps Timonen can look back on an 11 year career with some satisfaction. Or maybe not look upon it at all; he actually has the 40th most Ks of all time (961) and it's only the lack of offense that kept him out of the lineup from his being higher up.

Carlos Torres
LHP No. 2
LL, 6'6" 200 lbs.
Born 1938-06-07

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 PIT MLB | 0      | 1      | 1       | 4.67     | 17     | 0       | 0       | 17.1    | 22     | 10     | 9       | 12      | 12     |
| 1971 OAK MLB | 3      | 0      | 0       | 4.50     | 13     | 1       | 0       | 18.0    | 23     | 13     | 9       | 4       | 11     |
| 1972 IOW AAA | 10     | 5      | 0       | 3.85     | 16     | 16      | 8       | 126.0   | 127    | 56     | 54      | 27      | 88     |
| 1972 OAK MLB | 6      | 9      | 0       | 3.32     | 20     | 19      | 7       | 146.1   | 121    | 60     | 54      | 40      | 91     |
| 1973 OAK MLB | 7      | 11     | 0       | 4.66     | 26     | 17      | 6       | 137.0   | 158    | 77     | 71      | 30      | 79     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 3      | 3      | 0       | 4.86     | 6      | 6       | 2       | 40.2    | 43     | 22     | 22      | 9       | 29     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Time has not been kind to the now-35 year old Carlos Torres, who, like Thomas Bertan, was signed as a free agent at the end of August and given a month to show what he could do. In some respects, he did flash: a nice 29/9 K/W ratio and on September 9 he thrww a 6-hit shutout against the Angels in which he struck out a career-best 11 men. He also gave up 5 HRs that month and got knocked out of the box early on two separate occasions. Is this really a guy you want to rely on? As of this writing the Royals seem to be leaning towards "yes" but I would very, very much doubt we'll be saying much about him in these write-ups next year.

Torres does still have good stamina and when he's on it has to be said that his pitches move around a lot. He managed to qualify for league leaders last year and posted the lowest BB/9 mark in the AL, not to mention the highest groundout rate, which, you know, good for him. On the flip side, he gave up 23 HRs, 1.2/9 innings, and that is, let's just say, not good. Usually a guy who induces so many grounders doesn't allow all the dingers but that's what you get with Torres at this point. He did allow 17 of those 23 HRs vs righties, who slugged .460 off of him; perhaps he could stick better as a lefty specialist.

Time is ticking for Torres, who was never a great pitcher in the first place.

Josh Wille
LHP No. 37
LL, 5'9" 187 lbs.
Born 1943-12-15

+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| yrtmlvl      | w      | l      | sv      | era      | g      | gs      | cg      | ip      | h      | r      | er      | bb      | k      |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +
| 1971 PHI MLB | 2      | 3      | 2       | 2.37     | 41     | 3       | 0       | 60.2    | 41     | 20     | 16      | 9       | 49     |
| 1972 PHI MLB | 0      | 1      | 0       | 1.35     | 13     | 0       | 0       | 13.1    | 10     | 2      | 2       | 4       | 13     |
| 1972 ATL MLB | 0      | 2      | 1       | 3.58     | 28     | 1       | 0       | 37.2    | 32     | 15     | 15      | 21      | 33     |
| 1973 ATL MLB | 1      | 1      | 0       | 4.03     | 16     | 2       | 0       | 29.0    | 38     | 17     | 13      | 11      | 18     |
| 1973 KC MLB  | 1      | 2      | 0       | 6.08     | 12     | 2       | 0       | 23.2    | 27     | 19     | 16      | 9       | 17     |
+ ------------ + ------ + ------ + ------- + -------- + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------- + ------ + ------ + ------- + ------- + ------ +

Wille is yet another veteran the Royals acquired off the scrap heap. I'd love to look at the line here and say that he's a natural lefty specialist who's season was ruined by a few bad starts but the opposite is sort of true: Willie was 2-2, 3.55 in 4 starts with the Royals and Braves and 0-1, 6.26 with 3 meltdowns in 24 appearances and 7 HRs allowed in 27.1 IP as a reliever. He most certainly did not get better as the season progressed, either, as 5.87 and 7.36 ERAs the last 2 months can attest to. You can blame some of that on rust - Wille threw only 10 games and 11.1 IP over that time - but how much of that was due in the first place to him being awful when he did play?

Wille's going to really have to show something in spring training if he doesn't want to make this the last stop of his career. Even that may be beyond his ability at this point.