Kansas City Royals - From Beginning to Glory

[boblight24]

[boblight24]

It's simply really. I started a historical replay in 1901, with real expansion and rookies NOT being drafted by their original teams. I created an almanac for the league with a detailed history and decided to take the reins over the expansion Royals in 1969. I will act as GM of the team (in Commissioner Mode so I don't get canned) and try to build a contending team. What I am most looking forward to is seeing th ballplayers I grew up watching go through their career durin gthe 1970's and 1980's. Some things are like they are in real life, Ted Williams is the Home Run King with 660, Kid Nichols holds the top spot for wins with 389. Once I get it polished up a bit more I will post a link to the full history of the league.

What I will be posting here is a snap shot of the team from time to time, not a game by game rundown, I find that spending too much time writing tends to make them game less fun, that's just me. I will ask opinions to the group about transactions that I'm thinking of making and whether this player or that is Hall of Fame worthy. This is nothing more than a fun ride through the history of the greatest sport around. A "what if" replay. If I get bored then I'll resign and try to get a job with another club and so on and so forth.

Thanks for reading!

[boblight24]

While I'm still at work I thought I'd post some notes about the league to this point:

American League Pennants
14 Detroit Tigers
11 Chicago White Sox
9 New York Yankees
8 Minnesota/Washington
8 Oakland/Kansas City/Philadelphia
7 Boston Red Sox
5 Baltimore/St Louis
4 Cleveland Indians
2 California/Los Angeles

National League Pennants
18 Pittsburgh Pirates
9 Chicago Cubs
9 San Francisco/New York
8 Los Angeles/Brooklyn
8 St Louis Cardinals
6 Atlanta/Milwaukee Boston
6 Philadelphia Phillies
4 Cincinnati Reds

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
12 Pittsburgh Pirates
7 Minnesota/Washington
6 St Louis Cardinals
5 San Francisco/New York
5 Atlanta/Milwaukee Boston
4 Chicago Cubs
4 Chicago White Sox
4 Detroit Tigers
4 Oakland/Kansas City/Philadelphia
3 Cincinnati Reds
3 Boston Red Sox
3 New York Yankees
2 Los Angeles/Brooklyn
2 Philadelphia Phillies
2 Baltimore/St Louis
1 California/Los Angeles
1 Cleveland Indians

The Tigers might very well be the best team in the history of the league if they hadn't kept running into St Louis or Pittsburgh in the World Series. Their line-up in the early 1960's consisted of Mickey Mantle, Harmon Killebrew, and Eddie Matthews. It was their pitching that did them in.


Babe Ruth won the National League Most Outstanding Player an amazing 12 times, including 10 in a row. Nap Lajoie won the first 7 American League Most Outstanding Player Awards. Johnny Mize won the AL M-O-P 7 times and Ted Williams was named M-O-P 10 times, 7 in the NL and 3 in the AL. The Pitchers are another story, there has been almost no dominant pitcher since the early 1900's. Walter Johnson was named Most Outstanding Pitcher 3 times, and what might be a change of fortune for the pitchers, Gaylor Perry has won three straight Outstanding Pitcher Awards heading into the 1969 season.

The 1962 San Francisco Giants are owners of the best overall record in a season with a 111-51 mark in 1962. The Detroit Tigers have won 100 or more games 7 times and every original franchise won at least one World Series.

More to come!

[boblight24]

We get to act like kids in a candy store. Each of the Major League teams can protect a certain number of players, the rest are available in the Expansion Draft, we got the 1st pick. Let's see where we stand after 35 rounds.

#1- Ray Sadecki, SP
#2- Felipe Alou, OF
#3- Jim Cosman, RP
#4- Doc Edwards, C
#5- Pancho Herrera, 2B
#6- Al Downing, SP
#7- Joey Jay, SP
#8- Jose Pagan, SS
#9- Whitey Ford, SO
#10- Hank Allen, 3B
#11- Sonny Siebert, SP
#12- Jim Lonborg, SP
#13- Leon Wagner, RF
#14- Clete Boyer, 3B
#15- Bobby Richardson, 2B - no this is not Yankees part 2
#16- Tommy McCraw, 1B
#17- Jose Herrera, LF
#18- Jay Ritchier, RP
#19- Don Pavletich, C
#20- Jon Warden, RP
#21- Gene Garber, RP
#22- Paul Lindbland, CL
#23- Billy Williams, OF
#24- Jan Dukes, RP
#25- Zolio Versailles, SS
#26- Bobby Valentine, SS
#27- Cookie Rojas, SS
#28- Dick Radatz, RP
#29- Bill Mazeroski, 2B
#30- Jim Gentile, 1B
#31- Cesar Geronimo, OF
#32- George Foster, OF
#33- Carlton Fisk, C
#34- Rocky Colavito, OF
#35- George Gerberman, SP

We were lucky to get some great prospects late in this one, Fisk is a 21 Catching prospect who was drafted last year by the Giants, but never made it to the majors and George Foster is a 20-year old slugger who was drafted last year by Cincinnati.

Immediately following the draft the Expansion teams hit the free agent market. Trying to get some butts in the seats, we signed 37 year old Eddie Matthews to play 1B. Matthews is a 2-time AL Most Outstanding Player and a 12 time All-Star. His skills have declined some, but he is still a very popular player. We signed him for 2 years for $100,800.

After signing RP's Don Mossi and Ralph Terry, I took a long look at our finances. While we had picked up some big names, we also picked up some big salaries. I spent some time talking to Manager Ernie Williams and our Scout, Jon Adams and we decided to focus on youth and the future. With that in mind we sent Jim Gentile and Leon Wagner to Montreal, another expansion team, for 1B Mike Jorgenson and SP Mel Stottlemyre. We then sent veteran OF Billy Williams to Minnesota for back-up 1B George Stone.

Unfortunately baseball is a business and sometimes two sides can't come together on money. We lost Al Downing, Jose Pagan, and Tommy McCraw shortly after the draft. We didn't want to pay them what they wanted and wish them all the best in their baseball future.

[boblight24]

[boblight24]

I know that many of you, like myself, think that Bill James should be on Mount Rushmore and that his birthday should be considered a National Holiday. I for one would follow him to the gates of the World Baseball Classic. Bill James has given baseball fans and math nerds a utopia of stats that he created in order to compare players from different generations, or to see how many runs Bubbles Hargrave created during his career. For the purpose of this post we will use his most innovative formulas, the Hall of Fame Monitor Test (HOFM) and the Black Ink Test. We are blessed without having to deal with the politics of the seemingly mindless elections to the real Hall of Fame each year, and can do this based on statistics. James' HOFM is a test whereby a players stats are broken down and he is awarded points for reaching certain accomplishments. An average HOFer will score a 50, but for this dynasty any player who scores over a 45 will be inducted and players who score between a 35 and a 44 will be discussed and potentially inducted as well. In addition to that we will use the Black Ink Test or BIT. This Jamesonian creation awards players points for leading different statistical categories throughout their playing career, an average HOFer will score a 27 on their BIT. I took some slight liberties with the calculations, but I don't think I disturbed the integrity of these tests. From time to time I will ask the community if so-and-so is Hall of Fame worthy, but for the most part if you score high enough, you're in. We won't have yearly inductions or Veterans Committees, I'll put people in when I feel like going through the stats, once I get caught up to present day (1969) then I will put people in yearly. So since this dynasty's inception in 1901 through the 1968 season, here are some of the players that will be inducted and their HOFMs, I will use the BITs if a player is close to that 35 point benchmark.

BATTERS:
Ted Williams - 105.065
Eddie Collins - 74.117
Ty Cobb - 70.097
Babe Ruth - 64.814
Joe Jackson - 64.098
Joe DiMaggio - 61.047
Mel Ott - 60.043
Stan Musial - 60.020
Yogi Berra - 58.888
Cap Anson - 57.676
Rogers Hornsby - 57.242
Johnny Mize - 56.956
Tris Speaker -56.774
George Davis - 55.969
Nap Lajoie - 54.394
Arky Vaughan - 54.351
Bill Dickey - 54.155
Billy Hamilton - 53.529
Frankie Frisch - 52.783
Lou Gehrig - 52.633
Ed Delahanty - 51.713
Jesse Burkett - 50.133
Enos Slaughter - 50.059
Mickey Cochrane - 48.477
Gabby Hartnett - 48.400
Harry Heilmann - 47.798
Honus Wagner - 47.296

The following players are between that pesky 35 and 45 point mark and haven't been automatically inducted, these players will need closer inspection.
Luke Appling - 44.265
Frank Baker - 42.48
Goose Goslin - 41.392
Frank Schulte - 39.031
Jack Fournier - 38.832
Zack Wheat - 38.557
Hank Greenberg - 38.419
Hugh Duffy - 37.731
Willie Keeler - 37.344
Charlie Gehringer - 37.294
Joe Kelley - 36.89
Larry Doyle - 36.071
Buddy Myer - 35.918
Jimmie Foxx - 35.161
Jake Beckley - 35.002

PITCHERS:
Kid Nichols - 72.357
Walter Johnson - 70.334
Cy Young - 67.166
Christy Mathewson - 66.323
Rube Waddell - 62.534
Eddie Plank - 60.277
Hippo Vaughn - 57.160
Pete Alexander - 56.377
Lefty Grove - 53.718
Carl Hubbell - 51.424
Curt Simmons - 51.264
Chief Bender - 50.881
Cy Falkenberg - 48.813
Deacon Phillippe - 47.879
Red Ames - 47.759
Elmer Steele - 47.504
Amos Rusie - 47.074
Ed Walsh - 45.538

The following players are between that pesky 35 and 45 point mark and haven't been automatically inducted, these players will need closer inspection.

Jack Powell - 44.839
Jim St Vrain - 43.163
Babe Adams - 42.248
Eddie Cicotte - 41.728
Clark Griffith - 40.976
Dutch Leonard - 40.425
Jack Quinn - 38.145
Bob Rush - 37.764
Ray Fischer - 36.995
Chick Robitaille - 36.571
Robin Roberts - 35.301

As many of you know, it's very easy to get sidetracked in this amazing game when you start looking at stats. The lists above constitute a very small amount of players that I have examined and this list will surely grow as the days pass. I have created an Excel Workbook that will house the HOF and once I get it started I will post a link for that.

[boblight24]

Ralph Kiner To Be Honored By Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox announced today that prior to their Opening Day game against the California Angels, they will honror former Red Sox player Ralph Kiner by retiring his jersey at Fenway Park. Kiner, who played for Boston from 1945 through 1958 was one of the most popular players of his time, not only in Beantown, but all through the baseball world. Drafted with the first overall pick in the 1945 Amateur Draft, Ralph Kiner won the 1948 American League Most Outstanding Player Award, he also won the Triple Crown that season, Kiner was also a five time American League All-Star and a two-time Golden Glove left fielder. Over his career, which also saw him play in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Kansas City, Kiner amassed 378 Home Runs, scattered 1,653 Hits, and drove in 1,150 Runs. Most of those stats came while he was wearing the #80 for the BoSox as injuries hit him hard as his career wound down. In August of 1956 his season ended early when he fractured his ankle while sliding into third base and two years later he suffered a broken arm after being hit by a pitch. He tried to rehad from the arm injury, but couldn't get his swing back and decided to hang up his cleats. He tried a comeback with the Pirates, but never made it back to the majors and retired for good following the 1962 season. Herman Franks, the Red Sox General Manager and President said of Kiner, "We're honoring Ralph because his is what we want all our players to be. Warriors. He played hurt and never complained, he just went out there and did his job and he made those around him better. We are honored that Ralph Kiner's #80 will be forever displayed at Fenway Park."

[Kelric]

Unimportant, but I felt the need to mention it anyways. The Red Sox policy under the Yawkeys and the new guys is that a number only gets retired for a Hall of Famer. Just sayin'.

[boblight24]

taken from 1969 Boston Red Sox Media Guide

BOSTON RED SOX Wall of Champions



BOSTON RED SOX Retired Numbers



Gabby Hartnett spent his entire career in Boston as a battery mate to some of the finest pitchers in the game. Hartnett, who was drafted 5th overall in 1921, was a mainstay on the line-up card for the Sox from 1921 to 1940. In that time, Gabby totaled 2,512 Hits including 247 Home Runs, he knocked in 1,541 Runs, and had a career Batting Average of .276. The Woonsocket, RI native was also a stellar defensive catcher, winning two American League Gold Glove Awards. Hartnett's #38 was retired on April 14, 1952.



On Opening Day this season, Ralph Kiner will become only the second player in Red Sox history to have his number retired. Kiner, who was the centerpiece of the Boston outfield in the 1950's played for 14 seasons in a Red Sox uniform and captured the 1948 Nap Lajoie Trophy, which is awarded to the Most Outstanding Player in the American. That season he won the American League Triple Crown, batting .321 with 51 Home Runs, and 126 RBIs. Kiner was the #1 overall pick in the 1945 Amateur Draft and in his tenure in Boston he ended up with 1,540 hits, 360 Home Runs, 1,086 Runs Batted In, and a .260 average.