No Sleep 'til Brooklyn (Wins) - life in the USBL

Lee · 03-24-2015, 12:17 AM

The ultimate in what have you done for me lately, as the wiz kid GM I had joined the Salt Lake Bees of the United States Baseball League in 1980. From my first pick, a 20 year old collegiate player name Boo Evers, who made the big team in his first spring training and went on to become one of the games bright young stars, to the way the stars themselves aligned those first two years on the job. Everything was perfect.

The Bee’s made the playoffs each of my first three seasons as GM and won the World Series in both 1981 and 1982. The 1982 squad was particularly impressive as the Bee’s clocked in with 105-57 record and defeating the Philadelphia Liberties 4 games to 3 in a thrilling series. The squad was led by Evers .296/.421 OBP with 43 steals, C Matt Wolf .307-28-107 and 2B Ricardo ‘Viper’ Valdes .321-11-104, 40 SB. On the mound we had two 20 game winners in Octavio Guzman 21-9 2.16 and the Wiley Smiley, who on top of one of the best names in the game, went 20-9 2.61.

One of the smallest markets in the 36 team USBL was making money and winning championships and had the youth to become a dynasty. But then 86-76 happened on 1983, which resulted in a 3rd place finish. Despite bouncing back to 98-64 in 1984, we again finished 3rd as the Albuquerque Dukes raced to a league record 115-47 mark. The Oklahoma City Dusters took second in the Western League Southwest division at 101-61, so despite having the third best record in the Western League, we were shutout of the playoffs.

Bee’s owner Wayne Hays, an egotistical penny pincher, who often sat in the dugout and liked to take credit for my moves had now seen enough. Unfortunately, he caught me in a bad mood and my response to his dress down got me a one way ticket out the door. On top of that, his behind the scenes wrangling made me a near leper in the Western League, so I was left with one suitor. The Brooklyn Excelsiors, doormat of the Eastern League.

Brooklyn was owned by Charles Ebbets IV and despite his grandfatherly nature, he was even cheaper than Hays, also like to meddle, though mainly to save money and loved profit above all else. The Excelsiors had average a record of 65-97 over the past 5 seasons, losing over 100 twice. Despite being in the largest market in the US, they were still the little brothers to Manhattans’ New York Highlanders and had average just over 12,000 fans a game in 1984, dead last in the league and a payroll of just $3,968,000, 34th.

The end result was a miniscule budget and a team that really only featured two marquee names. Dalton Anderson, a 6’7 235 pound beast of a starter, who had winning records in three of the five seasons, but had also suffered the indignity of a 7-22 campaign in 1983. 2B Bill Ward (24) was regarded as a budding star and coming off a .269-13-90 season, with room to improve. Outside of these two, catcher Lou O’Muldoon (25) and 3B Ron Anderson (24) were considered decent young players, but the drop off was steep after them.

I had my work cut out for me, but my goal was to take Brooklyn to where Salt Lake had been and do it with a familiar player. You see, Boo Evers, normally reserved and a complete team player, had ripped Hays in the press after my dismissal, so despite Hay’s disdain for me, he would probably have no issue sending Evers to join me in purgatory for the right price.

Lee · 03-24-2015, 12:49 AM

I go straight to work to try and get some ammunition to pry Evers away from Salt Lake and trade my starting CF Jesus Gutierrez (62/69) and minor league C Vittorio Tenucci (20/38) to the Cincinnati Red Stockings for 17 yr old super prospect RF Pedro Bello (21/79) from Venezuela, coming off a .291 season at single A Pontiac at the age of 16. Fan interest drops, but there it really can’t go much lower.

I turn around and approach Hays new Gm in Salt Lake (Roberto Ortiz) and offer Dalton Anderson and starting Bello for Boo Evers. It is obvious Hays is pulling the strings and they counter by requesting journeyman pitcher Michael Hairston (31/22) and 37 years old, along with starting SS Andrew McGrath 25 yrs old (58/76) and minor league outfielder Octavio Velazquez 21 yrs old (21/34). It is mortgaging the farm, but I give in and bring the centerpiece to the future to Brooklyn. To my surprise, the fans love it and fan interest jumps considerably.

With a spring in my step I meet with Ebbets to discuss the goals for the coming season. He is unimpressed and merely requests that we
• Don’t suck completely
• Upgrade at third base
• Bring more of our drafted players to the team
• Reach the playoffs within 5 years and turn a profit

Myself and the future of Flatbush

Lee · 03-24-2015, 01:29 AM

Yeah, it could be a long season, because I have no money to spend! This is what we enter spring training looking like.

Brooklyn Excelsiors Preseason 1985

Front Office

Projected Lineup 1985 (1984 Stats)

Scouting

1985 Projections

Larry Woods RF

.229-8-42

25/73 - Below average hitter, speed, good def

Staff Payroll

$523,500

William Chavez LF

.000-0-0

21/66 - Should be above average contact

Player Payroll (32nd)

$3,968,800

Boo Evers CF

.321-7-65

78/80 - Filled to the brim with talent and skill

Current Budget (34th)

$8,800,000

Bill Ward 2B

.269-13-90

60/74 - A tick above average, solid regular

Projected Profit

$1,103,984

Lou O'Muldoon C

.252-10-61

25/64 - No shot at long term career

Misc

Nacho Sandoval DH

.261-11-69

59/59 - Not great, but better than average

Scouting Budget

$1,411,600

Vicente Moran 1B

.188-1-10

21/21 - Barely even a minor league talent

Development

$1,261,200

Juan Alonso 3B

.231-2-22

21/21 - Lacks the talent to hit well

Available FA

$0

Ron Anderson SS

.269-0-11

34/74 - If he plays to form .250/.310 batter

Available Ext

$161,800

Rotation

1984 Overview

Reinaldo Eschbach

3-14 4.66

35/29 - Barely a respectable 5th starter

Attendance

1,039,476

Ray Martin

2-2 4.26

20/38 - Should try his luck at shortstop

Attendance Rank

36th

Kevin Montgomery

12-16 4.07

23/35 - Below average, should get shelled

Ron Hansen

2-4 4.50

20/74 - An ace in the making, possible top P

Gate Revenue

$2,834,604

Javier Lopez

4-6 4.35

20/20 - Destined for a career in the minors

Season tickets

$1,958,740

Bullpen

Media Revenue

$3,900,000

Will King

7-6 3.97 29 sv

56/56 - Plus reliever, should anchor bullpen

Merchandising Revenue

$398,344

Matt Horn

0-0 0.00

21/67 - Big upside, difference maker close games

Revenue Sharing

$0

Matt King

2-5 6.20

20/56 - Could develop as 3rd/4th starter

Cash

$44,184

Jorge Berum

2-2 3.65

20/23 - Use only for mop up duty

Jeff Wall

0-3 4.57

20/20 - Can never be trusted to hold a lead

Player Expenses

$3,044,249

Emilio Torres

4-6 4.35

20/23 - If down 1, when he leaves it will be 5

Staff Expenses

$539,499

Awards

Signings

None

1B Xavier Sandoval (19) Minor League deal

Balance

$55,140

Retirements

General

N/A

Owner

Charles Ebbets IV

Expectations

Don't Suck

Trades

Mood

Delighted

Injuries

CF Jesus Gutierrez (27) & C Vittorio Tenucci (21)

Market Size

Very Big

N/A

to Cincinnati for RF Pedro Bello (17)

Fan Loyalty

Pathetic

Fan Interest

48

P Dalton Anderson (26), P Michael Hairston (37),

SS Andrew McGrath (24), RF Pedro Bello (17) &

Staff

LF Octavio Velasquez (21) to Salt Lake for

Ken Seguin

Manager

CF Boo Evers (25)

Chris Hess

Bench Coach

Released

Jason Johnston

Pitching Coach

N/A

Joaquin Rojas

Hitting Coach

Mark Peck

Head Scout

Eugene Hayes

Trainer

Lee · 03-24-2015, 09:43 PM

For as depleted as we are 7-10 in spring training is a fine record, as I have no money for signings and no trade bait I can afford to lose.

Highlights of the spring include:
C Lou O'Muldoon .320-0-6
LF Reid James .476-1-4
RF Nacho Sandoval .269-0-9, but 18 hits and 12 runs
SP Kevin Montgomery was 0-3, but posted a 2.25 ERA and 1.17 WHIP
RP Matt King logged 20 innings and went 1-0 1.80, 1 save

Boo Evers only hit .184, but still had a .407 OBP due to 15 walks and I am confident he will be fine. I now pare the roster down and we head to the regular season.

NYY #23 · 03-24-2015, 09:50 PM

I have to follow this just on the title alone.

Good luck in Brooklyn, it looks like you've got your work cut our for you!

Lee · 03-25-2015, 11:27 PM

		Brooklyn Baseball Weekly
		April 3, 1985	Record: 0-0
		Schedule: 3 Games vs Chicago White Stockings, 1 game @ New York Highlanders
		We open with 3 against the White Stockings and over 26,000 show up for the opener, that sees three Excelsiors get nailed at home, but the 3 runs we plate are enough as Reinaldo Eschbach is brilliant over 8 and we open with a 3-0 win. Unfortunately in game 2 Kevin Montgomery could not get out of the 4th inning as Chicago built a 6-0 lead and not even Lou O'Muldoon and his second straight 3-4 performance could overcome the deficit as my Excelsiors fell 6-3, but the rubber match is all O'Muloon and Evers, who drive in 5 runs between them as we coast 8-0.Ray Martin ran out of gas and fell one out short of the complete game in the series finale.

		Next is a trip across the bridge to end the week with the first of three games against the darlings from Manhattan, the hated Highlanders, who despite the media's preening over them are 0-2. Our brightest pitching prospect, 22 yr old Ron Hansen starts the opener against the capable Jeffrey Rhodes and the youngster pitches into the 7th, striking out 5 and escaping a 1 out bases loaded jam in the 4th, combining with Jorge Berum on a 5 hitter in a 7-0 win. O'Muldoon has two more hits and finishes the first week of the season hitting .588. The biggest surprise though is our pitching, which accounts for 3 shutouts, which I would have been happy with for the season with this crew!

		Injuries:
		None

		Transactions:
		We send 23 yr old minor league 2B Roberto Rijo (21/66) and 19 yr old SS Les Jackson (20/50) to Milwaukee for 26 yr old 1B Esteban Silva, the trade addresses our need at 1B and we still have 2B Ernest Ballard (21/68) in single A

		I release 34 your old LF Eric Sawyer from Triple A Albany where he hit .277 in 1984, but at his age does not figure into my future plans. In two major league seasons he hit .247 over 541 at bats, with 5 home runs.

		I finish the week signing 19 yr old 1B Ricardo Anel (20/63) to a minor league deal, he could end up being a steal as thin as we are at first base.


		News and Notes:
		Brooklyn is picked dead last in the Atlantic division with a projected record of 66-96
		LHP Artie Evans is listed as the #2 USBL prospect, if we had kept Pedro Bello we would have #1 too

The rampaging Lou O'Muldoon, scourge of the USBL

Lee · 03-26-2015, 09:56 PM

		Brooklyn Baseball Weekly
		April 7, 1985	Record: 3-1
		Schedule: 2 games @ NY Highlanders, 3 games vs Pittsburgh Alleghenys
		A new week starts with game 2 against the Highlanders and we break out to an early lead on Larry Woods solo homer in the 3rd, but Arnold Dixon is wild and gives a run back in the bottom of the inning on three walks and a sac fly. We build a 3-1 lead, but Arnold, who ends up with 7 walks lets the highlanders back into the game and it's tied at 3 after 7.From there we explode as a 3 run curcuit clout from Bill Ward in thr 8th and a 2 RBI single from Evers in the 9th leads to a 9-4 victory. We lose a 2-1 heartbreaker in the series finale as Eschbach is outdueled by New Yorks Ricardo Orosco who fans 9, O'Muldoon is a bright spot getting 2 hits to keep his average at .500

		We welcome the Alleghenys, also 4-2, for a 3 game set and Ken Mitchell stymies us in game 1 as we only get two runners to third the entire game, falling 2-0 as Kevin Montgomery is the tough luck loser, O'Muldoon is shackled going 0 for 4. Esteban Silva gets us going in game two with a run scoring double in the 1st, but after that its a series of missed chances, which bites us as Pittsburgh ties it in the top of the 6th, right before the game is called for rain. We play a little small ball to close the series as Bill Ward doubles to lead off the 2nd, goes to 3rd on a grounder and scores on Nacho Sandoval's sac fly, which is all we need to take it 1-0 behind Ray Martin and Will King.

		Injuries:
		None

		Transactions:
		None
		None

		News and Notes:
		Omaha Cyclones LF Hiroyasu Matsumoto surpasses 20 games on his current league best hitting streak
		Our very own Lou 'Heartthrob' O'Muldoon wins the Eastern League player of the week honors!
		We are ranked 4th in the current power rankings and our team ERA of 1.76 is first, smoke and mirrors

22 year old Ray Martin, 0 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings!

Lee · 03-27-2015, 01:42 AM

		Brooklyn Baseball Weekly
		April 12, 1985	Record: 6-3
		Schedule: 3 games vs Washington Nationals, 3 games @ Birmingham Barons
		Bill Ward starts the Washington series off with a bang, clobbering a prodigious home run to center in the 2nd inning, but the route is on from there as Washington tees off on Arnold Dixon en route to a 9-1 thrashing, Ward is a bright spot though as he leads the team in both HR (3) and RBI (10).In game two it is Boo Evers leading a comeback 3-2 win, going 3-3 with the game winning triple in the bottom of the 7th, he is now hitting .306 and is gaining quite the following in Flatbush.We take the finale before we hit the road 4-2 with O'Muldoon (who had been cooling off) and Ward each driving in 2 runs and Reinaldo Eschbach moving to 2-1 1.52 with another strong outing

		Leaving New York for the first time this season, we get rained out in the opener at Birmingham and play a doubleheader on April 17th, which we sweep 4-2 and 4-0.The opener goes 12 innings with William Chavez poking a 2 run single to plate the winning runs, in the nightcap young Ron Hansen moves to 3-0 with the complete game shutout, which lowers his ERA to 0.44.I had him pegged as a future star, well the future might be now.Evers and Esteban Silva each contribute 3 hits in the 2nd game win.We drop the lowly Baron's to 2-13 as we take the finale 6-2 for the sweep, with Evers scoring a pair and SS Luther Courtney banging out 3 hits.We now sit at 11-4!!!

		Injuries:
		None

		Transactions:
		None
		None

		News and Notes:
		Hard to believe Reinaldo Eschbach is the same pitcher who was 3-14 4.66 last season, hope he doesn't flame out
		We have yet to sustain a significant injury, which is key to our 11-4 start, the best record in Baseball!

The three amigos, Eschbach, Martin and Hansen, a combined 7-1 with an ERA under 1.00

Lee · 04-03-2015, 12:04 PM

		Brooklyn Baseball Weekly
		April 19, 1985	Record: 11-4
		Schedule: 3 games vs Atlanta Rebels (5-10), 3 games @ Baltimore Robins (9-6)
		We open the Atlanta series as Kevin Montgomery is hit hard, but hangs in until the 3 run 7th put us down 4-1, but once again our young team does not know we are supposed to be bad a Lou O'Muldoon ties it with a 2 run double in the bottom of the 9th. Matt Horn collapses in the top of the 14th and gives up 3, but William Chavez singles in Bill Ward and Esteban Silva to cut it to 7-6 before rookie SS Luther Courtney whiffs to end it. Game 2 was rained out, so we wrap it up with a double header in which we are swept 7-2 and 10-8 as our vaunted pitching reverts to preseason expectations with both Eschbach and Hansen failing to get past the 4th, William Chavez does go 4-4 in game 1

		We get our groove back in the opener against the Robins 9-4 in a game that featured a 53 minute rain delay, Ray Martin threw 6 innings of 2 hit ball and SS Luther Courtney drove in 5, including a 3 run homer to right center. O'Muldoon, still batting .389 also added his second bomb of the season. Game two sees Estaban Silva stake us to a 3 run lead with a 3 run shot in the first, but we give it back and into extras, winning 9-5 with a 5 run explosion in the top of 12th, all with two outs. The final game is nothing to write home about as we fall 5-0 on a combined two hitter by David Woods and Guillermo Calderon, with Kevin Montgomery falling to 1-3, Anderson and Woods get our only hits

		Injuries:
		None

		Transactions:
		None
		None

		News and Notes:
		Louisville's Michael 'Ox' Abrams has his hitting streak snapped at 21 games
		We are currently #8, right behind Salt Lake City in team power rankings
		Cincinnati's Alejandro Camacho hits for the cycle against Charlotte
		While we remain injury free Miami's Pedro Herrera (2-1, 1.35) falls down the stairs at home and will miss 3 months

03-24-2015, 12:17 AM	#1
Lee Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: The Scorched Desert Posts: 4,652	No Sleep 'til Brooklyn (Wins) - life in the USBL The ultimate in what have you done for me lately, as the wiz kid GM I had joined the Salt Lake Bees of the United States Baseball League in 1980. From my first pick, a 20 year old collegiate player name Boo Evers, who made the big team in his first spring training and went on to become one of the games bright young stars, to the way the stars themselves aligned those first two years on the job. Everything was perfect. The Bee’s made the playoffs each of my first three seasons as GM and won the World Series in both 1981 and 1982. The 1982 squad was particularly impressive as the Bee’s clocked in with 105-57 record and defeating the Philadelphia Liberties 4 games to 3 in a thrilling series. The squad was led by Evers .296/.421 OBP with 43 steals, C Matt Wolf .307-28-107 and 2B Ricardo ‘Viper’ Valdes .321-11-104, 40 SB. On the mound we had two 20 game winners in Octavio Guzman 21-9 2.16 and the Wiley Smiley, who on top of one of the best names in the game, went 20-9 2.61. One of the smallest markets in the 36 team USBL was making money and winning championships and had the youth to become a dynasty. But then 86-76 happened on 1983, which resulted in a 3rd place finish. Despite bouncing back to 98-64 in 1984, we again finished 3rd as the Albuquerque Dukes raced to a league record 115-47 mark. The Oklahoma City Dusters took second in the Western League Southwest division at 101-61, so despite having the third best record in the Western League, we were shutout of the playoffs. Bee’s owner Wayne Hays, an egotistical penny pincher, who often sat in the dugout and liked to take credit for my moves had now seen enough. Unfortunately, he caught me in a bad mood and my response to his dress down got me a one way ticket out the door. On top of that, his behind the scenes wrangling made me a near leper in the Western League, so I was left with one suitor. The Brooklyn Excelsiors, doormat of the Eastern League. Brooklyn was owned by Charles Ebbets IV and despite his grandfatherly nature, he was even cheaper than Hays, also like to meddle, though mainly to save money and loved profit above all else. The Excelsiors had average a record of 65-97 over the past 5 seasons, losing over 100 twice. Despite being in the largest market in the US, they were still the little brothers to Manhattans’ New York Highlanders and had average just over 12,000 fans a game in 1984, dead last in the league and a payroll of just $3,968,000, 34th. The end result was a miniscule budget and a team that really only featured two marquee names. Dalton Anderson, a 6’7 235 pound beast of a starter, who had winning records in three of the five seasons, but had also suffered the indignity of a 7-22 campaign in 1983. 2B Bill Ward (24) was regarded as a budding star and coming off a .269-13-90 season, with room to improve. Outside of these two, catcher Lou O’Muldoon (25) and 3B Ron Anderson (24) were considered decent young players, but the drop off was steep after them. I had my work cut out for me, but my goal was to take Brooklyn to where Salt Lake had been and do it with a familiar player. You see, Boo Evers, normally reserved and a complete team player, had ripped Hays in the press after my dismissal, so despite Hay’s disdain for me, he would probably have no issue sending Evers to join me in purgatory for the right price.

03-24-2015, 12:49 AM	#2
Lee Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: The Scorched Desert Posts: 4,652	I go straight to work to try and get some ammunition to pry Evers away from Salt Lake and trade my starting CF Jesus Gutierrez (62/69) and minor league C Vittorio Tenucci (20/38) to the Cincinnati Red Stockings for 17 yr old super prospect RF Pedro Bello (21/79) from Venezuela, coming off a .291 season at single A Pontiac at the age of 16. Fan interest drops, but there it really can’t go much lower. I turn around and approach Hays new Gm in Salt Lake (Roberto Ortiz) and offer Dalton Anderson and starting Bello for Boo Evers. It is obvious Hays is pulling the strings and they counter by requesting journeyman pitcher Michael Hairston (31/22) and 37 years old, along with starting SS Andrew McGrath 25 yrs old (58/76) and minor league outfielder Octavio Velazquez 21 yrs old (21/34). It is mortgaging the farm, but I give in and bring the centerpiece to the future to Brooklyn. To my surprise, the fans love it and fan interest jumps considerably. With a spring in my step I meet with Ebbets to discuss the goals for the coming season. He is unimpressed and merely requests that we • Don’t suck completely • Upgrade at third base • Bring more of our drafted players to the team • Reach the playoffs within 5 years and turn a profit Myself and the future of Flatbush Attached Images

03-24-2015, 09:43 PM	#4
Lee Global Moderator Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: The Scorched Desert Posts: 4,652	For as depleted as we are 7-10 in spring training is a fine record, as I have no money for signings and no trade bait I can afford to lose. Highlights of the spring include: C Lou O'Muldoon .320-0-6 LF Reid James .476-1-4 RF Nacho Sandoval .269-0-9, but 18 hits and 12 runs SP Kevin Montgomery was 0-3, but posted a 2.25 ERA and 1.17 WHIP RP Matt King logged 20 innings and went 1-0 1.80, 1 save Boo Evers only hit .184, but still had a .407 OBP due to 15 walks and I am confident he will be fine. I now pare the roster down and we head to the regular season.

03-24-2015, 09:50 PM	#5
NYY #23 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 13,112	I have to follow this just on the title alone. Good luck in Brooklyn, it looks like you've got your work cut our for you!