Notes from the TWB Detroit Tigers Manager

[m0ng00se]

1954 DRAFT

1B/OF 23yo James Klock - James has decent speed and a reliable glove at both 1B, LF, & RF. But, he doesn't play with a lot of range and has a weenie arm in the OF. He's an average hitter in all ways except for his HR power which is very much lacking. I'm second guessing my #1 pick for sure. He'll start at 1B for BuffaloAAA as his bat is already farther along that anyone else in our farm system.

OF 19yo George Scalzo - He's a little faster than James and plays with better range anywhere in the OF. He's not as patient a hitter as James but does possess more HR potential. He was also known as consistent and excellent in clutch situations. He'll start at CF for Duram-A.

2B 23yo Danny Garrow - We don't have much depth in the IF and Danny is a decent 2B defensively. He's fast and hits to the gaps well. He also has OK HR potential, but almost no discipline at the plate. He'll start at 2B for Duram-A

MR 22yo Ken Range - With the very last player available we got Ken who is very inconsistent, bad in the clutch and not so impressive stuff. He does have decent movement on his pitches but will have to overachieve drastically to have a real shot at the bigs. He'll be in the 'pen for Duram-A, but may move up to Little Rock-AA fairly quickly.

Honestly, I don't feel real good about this draft. There wasn't ANYONE we liked by the time we were up for our first pick. This is the one sucky thing about finishing near or at the top every year is draft day is usually a drag.

TRADES
None... so far. There were a couple deals on the table, but in the end we felt we were better standing pat. Maybe someone will surprise us with an offer but we've given up chasing anything at this point. We definitely didn't see anything anywhere near as nice as those two Yank trades. They almost certainly have my vote for GM of the Year award whether they leap frog us or not.

ROSTER CHANGES
-Alan Paule had to be release as he refused assignment to BuffaloAAA. If we knew he'd refuse assignment, we would have released him before our money man inked him to a new 6mil contract. Grrrr.
-Magnus George was called up late last season and stays on as our #2 setup guy.
-Other than that we are sticking with a team almost identical to the one that's won 2 consecutive titles.

PLAYER DEVELOPEMENT
-Corky Stell has improved his stamina. Come on Corky, hold on one more year.
-Roy Wolfe's control looks improved. I'm hoping to see him beat his 1952 stats were he went 18-11, 3.58.
-John Dirtbag Degal is looking like a true cleanup hitter and will get that spot in the lineup. He hit 28 HR last year after averaging 9 for the past few years. I'd could totally see him making it to the 40HR club this year despite his lack of at bat handicap being a full time catcher.
-Mike Kreitenberg must have been working on his glove work at home because we put no extra work in at that skill in spring training. And yet, he's improved by a nice margin. He is actually a better defensive 2B glovewise than Perly now. Perly still has a bit more range and a ton more power with the bat. But Mike will see his # of games increased at 1B, 2B, & SS because of his hard work.
-John Cano took a big hit on his scouting report. His contact hitting potential went from decent to not at all good despite some early spring training good news. He's still an excellent OF defensively, but man that hurts as we are trying to rebuild our farm system.

[m0ng00se]

1954, Opening Day THRU 4/15

4/5 DET @ BOS: WIN 5-3 Corky Stell (1-0, 3.00) got the opening day nod and won giving up 2R in 6IP. Lloyd Wyman got the first save pitching a scoreless 9th. Willard Carte (0-1, 5.14) gave up 4R in 7IP for the loss. POG went to Sox 2B Joe Bardo (4 for 4, 2R, 1RBI, 2DBL, 1HR). Their SS Morris Lutske went 2 for 3, 2BB, 1DBL. For us, Matt Perly went 2 for 4, 1R, 1RBI, 1BB. Isaac Mitchell went 2 for 4. Dennis Kitterman went 1 for 2, 1R, 3BB.

4/6 DET @ BOS: WIN 4-0 Hal Andrew (1-0, 0.00) pitched a 2H shutout for the win and POG. Ben Uren got the loss leaving the game after giving up 1R in 2.1IP due to a sore shoulder. Dang it sucks to see grampa Bryce as nothing more than a #3MR for Boston. He looks better talentwise than two of their starters. Guess he just doesn't have the stats yet to back it up. Oh well, flush another one of my ancestors down the drain. Grrrrr. Ooops, sorry about that... woke up on the wrong side of the bed again today... back to the game. Rollin Fish went 3 for 4, 2R, 1RBI, 1HR, 1SB. Dave Castaneda went 2 for 3, 2RBI. Hal Andrew went 1 for 1, 1R, 1RBI, 1BB, 1DBL.

4/7 DET @ BOS: loss 0-8 Bud Ulrich (0-1, 8.53) was just awful giving up 7R (6ER) in 6.1IP. JD Allen gave up 0R but left the game after 3IP. Ouch, bone chips in the shoulder, he's lost for the season. Now I feel a little bad about whining about grampa Bryce not starting. Tim Bice (1-0, 0.00) came in for relief and got the win pitching a scoreless 4th. Top Sox hitters were SS Morris Lutske (3 for 4, 1R, 3RBI, 1BB, 1HR, POG), 1B James Lewis (2 for 3, 1R, 1RBI, 1BB) & 3B Ben Lutske (2 for 3, 2R, 2RBI, 1BB). For us, Dave Castaneda & Dennis Kitterman were both 1 for 4 on a day where we were held to 2 singles.

4/8 WSH @ DET: WIN 11-10 Wolfe was worse than Ulrich giving up 7R in 2.2IP. However our offense was awake today giving Steven Brown (1-0, 9.00) the win despite the fact that he gave up 2R in 2IP. Lloyd Wyman gave up 1R in the final 2IP but held on for his second save. Robert Gelder gave up 8R in 3IP. The loss went to Bill Drobot (0-1, 6.00) who gave up 2R in 2IP. Top WSH hitters were RF Will Griffin (3 for 4, 3R, 6RBI, 1BB, POG), 1B Bob Finley (2 for 4, 2R, 1BB, 1DBL) & 3B Chris Anderson (2 for 4, 3R, 1BB). For us, Ray Kress went 0 for 0, 3R, 6BB. That's a new single game AL Record. Matt Perly went 3 for 5, 2R, 4RBI, 1DBL. Isaac Mitchell went 3 for 5, 1RBI. Luther Ormiston went 1 for 1, 1RBI, 4BB.

4/9 WSH @ DET: WIN 8-4 Corky Stell (2-0, 1.88) got the win giving up 4R (1ER) in 8.1IP. Bob Netsky (0-2, 6.46) gave up 7R in 6.2IP for the loss. Top WSH hitters were SS Edwin Keesaer (1 for 3, 1RBI, 1BB) & 2B Bobby Grissom (1 for 3, 1R, 1RBI, 1DBL). For us, John Dirtbag Degal got POG going 3 for 3, 3R, 5RBI, 1BB, 2HR. Matt Perly went 2 for 4, 1RBI. Luther Ormiston went 2 for 4, 1RBI.

4/10 WSH @ DET: WIN 7-0 Hal Andrew (2-0, 0.00) struck out 7 and pitched a 1H shutout for the win and POG. Van Melbourn (0-2, 8.27) gave up 7R in this CG loss. LF Delmar Yordy went 1 for 2, killing Hal Andrews no hitter. Hal then knocked Delmar out of the game with a high inside fastball upside the head. Luckily Andrew's fastball only hits 89mph, so Delmar should be back in action in a week or two. For us, Smokey Meacham went 3 for 4, 1HR. Rollin Fish went 1 for 4, 1R, 3RBI, 1HR.

4/11 DET @ BAL: loss 6-12 Bud Ulrich (0-2, 11.42) sucked again giving up 8R (5ER) in 2.1IP for the loss. Don Allen (2-0, 4.76) gave up got the CG win giving up 6R. Top BAL hitters were Tom Kruyt (4 for 5, 2R, 2RBI, POG)... actually everyone for Baltimore hit well. For us, Mike Kreitenberg went 4 for 5, 1R filling in at 1B. PH Carl Sandoz went 1 for 1, 1R, 3RBI. Luther Ormiston went 1 for 5, 1HR. Even MR Oswald Adkins got into the act hitting a solo HR with his only at bat. It was his first ML HR.

4/12 DET @ BAL: WIN 3-2 Roy Wolfe (1-0, 6.35) got the win and POG giving up 2R (1ER) in 8.2IP. Eugene Sprecher (0-2, 3.38) gave up 3R in 8IP for the loss. Top BAL hitters were RF Guss Brown (2 for 3), LF Tom Valeriano (2 for 4, 1R, 1DBL), 2B Dale Thompson (2 for 4, 1DBL). For us, Dirtbag Degal went 2 for 4, 1R, 1RBI, 1HR. Matt Perly went 1 for 2, 2R, 1RBI, 2BB.

4/13 DET @ BAL: WIN 12-2 Corky Stell (3-0, 1.96) got the win giving up 2R in 8.2IP. It's nice to see stell pitching clear into the 9th now a days. Alter Sennelnekoff (1-2, 7.43) got the loss giving up 10R in 7.2IP. Top BAL hitters were Boris Zimyanin (2 for 3, 1HR) & 1B Vince Chipple (1 for 4, 1HR). For us, Dirtbag Degal got POG going 2 for 4, 2R, 7RBI, 2HR. Isaac Mitchell went 3 for 5, 1DBL, 1HR. Dave Castaneda went 3 for 6, 4R, 1RBI. Ray Kress went 1 for 2, 1R, 2RBI, 2BB. Dennis Kittermand went 1 for 2, 2R, 2BB.

4/14 CHI @ DET: WIN 5-2 Hal Andrew (3-0, 0.69) got the win and his 3rd consecutive POG giving up just 2R in 8IP. Magnus George got his first save of the year pitching a hitless 9th. John Gordly (2-1, 3.80) got the loss giving up 5R in 7.2IP. Top Sox hitters were 3B Mike Cushman (2 for 4, 1RBI) & CF Homer Jewell (1 for 4, 1HR). For us, Ray Kress went 2 for 3, 1R, 2RBI, 1BB, 1HR. Dirtbag Degal went 1 for 3, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR. Luther Ormiston went 2 for 4, 1R. Mike Kreitenberg went 3 for 5, 1DBL filling in at SS.

4/15 CHI @ DET: WIN 11-7 Bud Ulrich (1-2, 9.19) got the win despite giving up 5R in 7IP. Magnus George got his 2nd save pitching a scoreless 1.1 innings. Ralph Benefield (0-3, 7.29) gave up 7R in 4.1IP for the loss. Top Sox hitters were C Bud Mobley (3 for 3, 1R, 1RBI, 2BB, 1DBL), RF Gin Allen (1 for 5, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR) & 3B Robbie Rael (1 for 5, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR). For us, Dirtbag Degal got POG going 2 for 4, 3R, 4RBI, 1BB, 2HR. Matt Perly went 1 for 3, 2R, 2RBI, 1BB, 1HR before leaving the game with a blister. Luther Ormiston went 2 for 4, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR.


STANDINGS
9-2, #1 overall, 1.5 games ahead of Philly

BAD NEWS
-Lots of chaos and injuries early to start the season. Luckily we got out of it with just bruises and blisters.
-Bud Ulrich (1-2, 9.19) and Roy Wolfe (1-0, 6.35) are off to poor starts.
-Kress (.259), Perly (.250), & Kitterman (.231) have been too quiet so far.

GOOD NEWS
-9-2 is a nice start, but we haven't faced NYY, PHI, or CLE yet.
-John Dirtbag Degal hit 25RBI so far this season and 8HR in the span of 7 games.
-Ray Kress broke the AL single game record with 6BB against WSH on 4/8.
-Mike Kreitenberg is our top hitters so far going .571 in 6G. I still need to convince Fite to boost this guys starts as he didn't get in as much as I'd have liked.
-Isaac Mitchell (.324) & Luther Ormiston (.308, 2HR) are off to decent starts.
-Corky Stell (3-0, 1.96) & especially Hal Andrew (3-0, 0.69, 2 shutouts, 3POG) are off to hot starts.

[Matt from TN]

Originally Posted by m0ng00se

LF Delmar Yordy went 1 for 2, killing Hal Andrews no hitter. Hal then knocked Delmar out of the game with a high inside fastball upside the head. Luckily Andrew's fastball only hits 89mph, so Delmar should be back in action in a week or two.

Was it the very next batter? If so, I'm surprised he wasn't tossed.

[jdw]

Yordy singled in the first inning. When Yordy came up for the third time in the top of the 7th, Hal looked up at the scoreboard, and saw he'd given up only one hit. Recalling it was Yordy who got the only single, Hal threw one inside. Yordy didn't completely get out of the way, as it "glanced" off his skull and sent him out with a concussion.

Hal has a bit if a rep for throwing inside. In the live era, he's been 5-5-6-5-5-3-4-2 in Hit Batsman. Weeks is the top head hunter over the past few years in the AL. Hal is in the group right behind him.


"Just lost that one. It was a
little cold and windy out there."
-Hal Andrew


John

[kreitena]

Mike Kreitenberg once again putting up amazing numbers coming off the bench but I have an idea. Why not groom him to play a little OF, CF perhaps. Roland Fish does have some nice pop but I'm sure Mike could develop the range for a CF.

[canadiancreed]

Myself i'd hope more for Detroit moving Kitterman to either a PH role or sending him to an NL contender and giving him the 1B job outright.

Or trading him to a team that could use a well fielding 1B/2B man.

[Vris]

Originally Posted by kreitena

Mike Kreitenberg once again putting up amazing numbers coming off the bench but I have an idea. Why not groom him to play a little OF, CF perhaps. Roland Fish does have some nice pop but I'm sure Mike could develop the range for a CF.

And put my grandfather out of a job? How dare ye!

[canadiancreed]

exactly. I say umm......trade him to the Reds... we like the Kreithenberg clan. We just cant' spell it

[kreitena]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

exactly. I say umm......trade him to the Reds... we like the Kreithenberg clan. We just cant' spell it

Going to the Reds is a nice idea but I kind of like the idea of him staying as a Tiger racking up rings. Two championships in two years.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by kreitena

Going to the Reds is a nice idea but I kind of like the idea of him staying as a Tiger racking up rings. Two championships in two years.

ya you cant avoid the alure of bling-bling, but I can dream

actually Detroit with K has a nice stregety for the next decade. They can either play him at 1B when Kitterman is done, and if they acquire a young 1B, they can move K over to 2B when Perly is finished. gotta love versitle players

wish he'd teach his brother how to hit

[kreitena]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

ya you cant avoid the alure of bling-bling, but I can dream

actually Detroit with K has a nice stregety for the next decade. They can either play him at 1B when Kitterman is done, and if they acquire a young 1B, they can move K over to 2B when Perly is finished. gotta love versitle players

wish he'd teach his brother how to hit

Well Sam is finally putting together a nice season in AAA but its only a month. I just can't figure out why his talent doesn't get any better because his 9 power has great potential.

[m0ng00se]

I must not be getting notifications again... didn't see this conversation going on.

John describes the concussion incident exactly as I envisioned it.

Yea, I was interested in moving Ormiston or Kitterman this year, but couldn't find a deal that worked out well for both parties. The IF is a bit crowded, but Fite is finding a way to get Kreitenberg in the game almost every day even if he has to sub him in out of position at 3B.

I try to keep a big picture in mind with this team and yea, I'd totally like to find a way to get Kreit more starts whether with us or somewhere else, but it's been hard to find a trading partner since that ring two years ago. Creed's been burning up the lines, but other than him, I've only had a few serious negotiations in the past two seasons. I'm sure most of the AL is tired of us already and hoping we fall off soon.

I've just boosted Kriet's sub number again. He'll be getting more and more at bats as the season wears on. And if we have an injury, he's almost for certain going to start some how.

I'm not crazy about the idea of him playing in the OF because of his poor throwing arm out there, but I'll keep him in mind as an emergency fill in if there are any OF injuries.

[canadiancreed]

well if the price was lower i'd gladly "help" you move Orm. The problem for me is moving Jones, who has teh issue of iffy hitting record, and age goign against him.

Kitterman i've got no use for. When youv'e got a slugger like McMurray, Kit would jsut keep the bench warm

As for burning up the phone lines, surprised you havent put my offers on ignore

[jdw]

OF is probably a really bad idea.

It's too bad there isn't a real ST in the game where you could move Luther to 1B and teach Kreitenberg 3B. Given the 2B range, he should pull a good range at 3B and he has that nice arm. Possibly something you might have left him in the minors a bit longer for - stay down there until he learned 3B. Too late now, but something to reference for a future prospect.


John

[m0ng00se]

1954, 4/16 THRU 4/30

4/16 CHI @ DET: WIN 7-6 Roy Wolfe gave up 6R (4ER) in 8.1IP. Magnus George (1-0, 3.00) got the final two outs and the win. Max Matamoros gave up 4R in 5.2IP. The loss went to John Mora (0-1, 9.00) who gave up 2R, blowing a save in the 9th. Top CHI hitters were RF Gin Allen (2 for 3, 1R, 1RBI, 1TRPL) & 3B Mike Cushman (2 for 4, 1R, 2RBI). For us, Luther Ormiston went 2 for 4, 1R, 2RBI, 1BB, 1HR. Dennis Kitterman went 2 for 4, 1R, 1BB, 1DBL. Dave Castaneda got POG going 3 for 3, 2R, 1RBI, 1BB, 1HR however he was pulled in the 8th in favor of Perly. Why Fite put Perly in at SS when Dave was having such a great game, I don't know, but it almost lost us the game as Perly committed 2 errors in the 8th costing us two runs and the lead. However, Perly redeemed himself by hitting a 2R HR in the 9th for the win. Should have moved Kreitenberg from 2B to SS and put Perly in at 2B if you absolutely felt the need to swap out Dave. A bone headed mistake in my opinion, but alls well that ends well.

4/17 CHI @ DET: WIN 9-3 Corky Stell (4-0, 2.25) got the CG win giving up 3R. Ernest Cohen (2-1, 2.20) gave up 4R in 6IP for the loss. Top CHI hitter was LF Henry Thomas (2 for 4, 1R, 2DBL). For us, Dennis Kitterman got POG going 2 for 3, 3R, 2RBI, 1BB, 1TRPL, 1HR. Dave Castaneda went 2 for 3, 2R, 2BB. Mike Kreitenberg went 1 for 1, 1R, 3RBI, 1TRPL in his only at bat subbing in at 3B late in the game. Wow, once again, a strange out of position substitution late in the game. But Mike blew open the game with that triple, so it all worked out.

4/18 day off

4/19 DET @ CLE: WIN 8-2 Hal Andrew (4-0, 1.04) got the win giving up just 2R in 8.2IP. Lex Tjeenk-Willink (2-2, 4.67) gave up 7R (5ER) in 5.1IP for the loss. Top CLE hitter was SS John Henning (1 for 3, 1BB, 1DBL). For us, John Dirtbag Degal got POG going 2 for 5, 2R, 3RBI, 1DBL, 1HR. Dave Castaneda went 3 for 5, 1RBI, 1DBL. Luther Ormiston had to leave the game after his 2nd at bat after bruising his heal sliding into second on that double. But for the 3rd game in a row, someone was played out of position. Mike Kreitenberg came in at 3B and went 1 for 2, 1R, 1RBI, 1TRPL. But common sense would have said, move Perly to 3B and let Kreitenberg play 2B. What is with this game lately, it shouldn't take a ton of AI to play people at the correct positions when you have a flexible roster of players like I do.

4/20 DET @ CLE: WIN 9-4 Bud Ulrich (2-2, 7.43) got the win giving up 4R (3ER) in 7.1IP. Houston Boler (1-1, 4.82) got the loss giving up 7R in 4.1IP. Top CLE hitter was CF Honus Dietrich (3 for 5, 2R, 1RBI, 1TRPL). For us, Mike Kreitenberg got POG going 4 for 5, 2R, 1RBI, 1SB filling in at 2B. Dennis Kitterman went 2 for 4, 1R, 1RBI, 1BB, 1TRPL. Rollin Fish went 1 for 5, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR.

4/21 DET @ CLE: loss 2-3 Roy Wolfe only gave up 4H & 1R in 8IP. However, the loss went to Don Vonkitzing who was unable to hold in the 16th inning. Adam Sardina gave up 1R in 9.1IP for POG. The win went to John Ashley who pitched a scoreless 15th & 16th. Top CLE hitters were 1B Jerry Tuggle (3 for 7, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR) & LF Robbie Delcambre (2 for 4, 1R). For us, Dave Castaneda went 3 for 7, 2R. Isaac Mitchell went 3 for 7.

4/22 BAL @ DET: WIN 6-3 Corky Stell (5-0, 2.47) got the win giving up 3R in 8IP. Eugene Sprecher (0-4, 4.11) gave up 6R in 6.2IP for the loss. Top BAL hitters were RF Gilbert Brown (2 for 4, 1R, 3RBI, 1HR) & 3B Boris Zimyanin (2 for 3, 1R, 1BB). For us, Ray Kress went 3 for 4, 2R, 3RBI, 1HR. Dirtbag Degal went 2 for 4, 1R, 3RBI. Matt Perly went 2 for 3, 1BB, 1DBL. Dave Castaneda went 2 for 4, 1R, 1BB.

4/23 BAL @ DET: WIN 1-0 Hal Andrew (5-0, 0.82) walked 2, but struck out 10 and pitched his first ML CG NO-Hitter despite a 2nd inning rain delay. Alter Sennelnekoff (2-3, 4.76) also pitched well giving up just 1R in this CG loss. Top hitter of the day was Ray Kress who went 3 for 4, 1HR.

4/24 BAL @ DET: WIN 3-2 Bud Ulrich gave up 2R in 7.2IP. The win went to Magnus George (2-0, 2.25) who got the final out of the 8th. Lloyd Wyman got his 3rd save pitching a scoreless 9th. Buster Davis gave up 1R in 7IP. The loss went to Rosendo Zarzuela (0-1, 6.75) who gave up 2R in the 8th. Top BAL hitters were 3B Boris Zimyanin (2 for 3, 1R, 1BB), C Thomas Kruyt (2 for 4, 1R) & CF Jessie Witt (2 for 4, 1RBI, 1DBL). For us, Luther Ormiston got POG going 3 for 4, 2R, 1RBI, 1HR. Ray Kress went 2 for 4.

4/25 DET @ BOS: WIN 2-1 Roy Wolfe (2-0, 3.53) got the win and POG giving up just 1R in 8IP. Magnus George got his 3rd save pitching a scoreless 9th. Bryce Ostrander (1-3, 5.63) got the loss giving up 2R in 8IP. Top BOS hitter was LF Grady Fisher (1 for 3, 1R, 1TRPL). For us, Dirtbag Degal went 3 for 4, 1R. Isaac Mitchell went 1 for 2, 2BB.

4/26 DET @ BOS: WIN 5-1 Corky Stell (6-0, 2.40) gave up 1R and remains undefeated but had to leave the game after 5IP as he pulled an elbow ligament. He's expected to miss a week or two. Cort Nagel (1-2, 3.67) gave up 4R in 8IP for the loss. Top BOS hitters were LF Grady Fisher (3 for 4), C Don Lock (2 for 4, 1RBI) & Cort Nagel (2 for 3). For us, Matt Perly went 2 for 3, 2R, 2RBI, 2HR. Isaac Mitchell went 2 for 4, 1R. Dirtbag Degal went 1 for 4, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR.

4/27 DET @ BOS: loss 7-8 Hal Andrew had been so hot this month, but finally lost giving up 7R in 7.1IP. Willard Carte (2-2, 3.45) got the win giving up 4R in 7.1IP. Top BOS hitters were Ben Lutske (1 for 4, 2R, 3RBI, 1HR, POG), SS Morris Lutske (1 for 5, 1HR), 2B Tre Maples (2 for 3, 1R, 1RBI, 1BB, 1DBL) & SS Morris Lutske (1 for 5, 1HR). For us, Dirtbag Degal went 3 for 4, 2R, 2RBI, 1BB, 1HR. Ray Kress went 2 for 4, 2R, 1BB. Isaac Mitchell went 2 for 4, 1RBI.

4/28 day off

4/29 CLE @ DET: WIN 13-6 Bud Ulrich (3-2, 5.59) got the win giving up 3R in 8IP. Houston Boler (1-3, 5.82) gave up 7R (5ER) in 4.2IP for the loss. Top CLE hitters were 3B Dave Lemmings (2 for 3, 2RBI, 1DBL), LF Al Jackson (1 for 4, 1R, 3RBI, 1HR) & RF Frank Winsett (1 for 4, 1HR). For us, Dave Castaneda got POG going 3 for 5, 2R, 4RBI, 1BB, 1TRPL, 1SB. Luther Ormiston went 2 for 3, 1R, 2RBI, 3BB. Matt Perly went 1 for 3, 2R, 1RBI, 3BB, 1HR. Rollin Fish went 1 for 2, 3R, 2BB, 1DBL, 1SB. And Bud Ulrich was a monster going 3 for 5, 2R, 1RBI.

4/30 CLE @ DET: WIN 5-1 Roy Wolfe (3-0, 3.02) allowed 5H, 0BB and only 1R in this CG win for POG. Adam Sardina (2-3, 4.56) gave up 5R for a CG loss. Top CLE hitters were CF honus Dietrich (3 for 4) & RF Frank Winsett (1 for 3, 1HR). For us, Ray Kress went 3 for 5, 2R, 1RBI, 1DBL, 1HR. Dennis Kitterman went 2 for 3, 1R, 2BB. Luther Ormiston went 2 for 4, 1R, 2RBI, 1HR.


STANDINGS
20-4, #1 overall, 5.5 games ahead of Philly and NYY, 11-2 in the last two weeks

BAD NEWS
-Corky Stell will miss at least one start with a bum elbow. Hopefully his control won't take more of a hit than he has already suffered. Cole will get Stell's next start, but hopefully Stell will be back into the rotation after that one spot start.

GOOD NEWS
-After poor starts, Ulrich and Wolfe appear to be settling down some. I felt that they were in for a good year after a real positive spring training so hopefully they'll continue to get better.
-Hal Andrew pitched a 2 hitter, a 1 hitter, and a NO hitter. Up until his last game his ERA was well under 1.00. He's retaken the "ace" spot for now... oh yea and he won AL Pitcher of the Month.
-John Dirtbag Degal was on fire this month and got the AL Batter of the Month hitting .377, 40RBI, 12HR.

APRIL BATTING

Name            G AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB  K  AVG  OBP  SLG

 
O. Adkins       9  2  1  0  0  1   1  1  1  1 .500 .667 2.000 
M. Kreitenberg 17 45 20  1  2  0   8  8  0  1 .444 .444 .556 
J. Degal       22 77 29  1  0 12  40 21  8  5 .377 .416 .857 
D. Castaneda   23 85 31  1  1  1  10 22 18  9 .365 .476 .435 
R. Kress       24 78 28  3  1  4  11 18 25 14 .359 .509 .577 
J. Meacham     12 27  9  4  0  1   4  5  1  4 .333 .357 .593 
L. Ormiston    23 74 24  2  0  5  18 12 15  7 .324 .433 .554 
I. Mitchell    21 79 25  3  0  1   7  6  7  8 .316 .368 .392 
D. Kitterman   22 90 26  3  2  1   7 20 14  2 .289 .396 .400 
B. Ulrich       6 19  5  2  0  0   2  2  0  2 .263 .263 .368 
M. Perly       23 79 19  3  0  7  18 15 17  9 .241 .371 .544 
H. Andrew       6 17  4  1  0  0   2  2  1  2 .235 .278 .294 
C. Sandoz       9 15  3  1  0  1   6  2  3  3 .200 .333 .467 
R. Fish        21 77 13  1  0  3   8 11 10  8 .169 .264 .299 
P. Short        9 12  2  0  0  0   2  1  2  4 .167 .267 .167 
C. Darling      5  7  1  0  0  0   0  0  2  4 .143 .333 .143 
M. Ferron       8 17  1  0  0  0   0  0  1  3 .059 .111 .059 
G. Young        3  2  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0 .000 .000 .000

APRIL PITCHING

Name          G GS W L SV ERA  IP  HA  R ER BB  K

 
C. Stell      6 6  6 0 0 2.40 45.0 34 15 12 21 20 
H. Andrew     6 6  5 1 0 1.93 51.1 20 11 11 16 38 
B. Ulrich     6 6  3 2 0 5.59 38.2 46 29 24 21 31 
R. Wolfe      6 6  3 0 0 3.02 44.2 35 18 15  7 21 
M. George     9 0  2 0 3 1.29  7.0  6  1  1  0  3 
S. Brown      3 0  1 0 0 4.91  3.2  6  2  2  0  2 
S. Cole       8 0  0 0 1 1.29  7.0  5  1  1  2  2 
D. Vonkitzing 5 0  0 1 0 7.50  6.0  6  5  5  7  5 
L. Wyman      5 0  0 0 3 1.42  6.1  4  1  1  3  3 
O. Adkins     9 0  0 0 0 6.75  9.1 15  7  7  3  5

[m0ng00se]

No Creed, I couldn't imagine putting you on ignore. You come up with some creative offers for sure. And if I weren't so stubborn we might have pulled off something at some point. But like I mentioned earlier and many seasons ago. I've got a picture in mind of how I wanted this team and it's developed quite nicely... even if it did take a year or two longer than I had hoped. I know I need to shake things up sooner than later due to my aging players. But I also don't like breaking up a team before it's time.

Yea, John, I agree with you. And, I've never been a fan of playing people out of position. At the time I got Kreit, I didn't expect him to reach his potential so dang quickly and I had no depth at 1B, so that's why I wanted him to be able to back up those 3 spots. I had three stars who could play 3B and no one who was ready to back up Kitt. So that was my reasoning for giving him a couple of minor league sims at 1B. But I agree, 3B probably would have made more sense for him.

As far as that solid defense goes at 2B... he was decent at 2B when we drafted him, but he wasn't as good as he is now. He improved fairly significantly defensively at the beginning of the season even though I kept his training numbers totally even. So his current range and field % is a bit deceiving.

[Matt from TN]

Originally Posted by jdw

OF is probably a really bad idea.

It's too bad there isn't a real ST in the game where you could move Luther to 1B and teach Kreitenberg 3B. Given the 2B range, he should pull a good range at 3B and he has that nice arm. Possibly something you might have left him in the minors a bit longer for - stay down there until he learned 3B. Too late now, but something to reference for a future prospect.

Who says you have to do it in ST? Put Luther at 1B now & ride it out. Check his defensive stats every sim. He should do fine, and by season's end, he'll rave a rating at 1B. Same w/ Kreit at 3B. If you were teaching him C during the season or CF, I'd say watch out. But toggle him to a SS (he has that rating right?) and put him at 3B everyday. He'll learn it, and should do fine.

[canadiancreed]

i'd vote against that.

I tried Rutty in LF back in teh day during the season, you'd think it'd be no issue right? His Cf range was seven, his LF range turned out to be one

yes one.

[m0ng00se]

Originally Posted by Matt from TN

Who says you have to do it in ST? Put Luther at 1B now & ride it out. Check his defensive stats every sim. He should do fine, and by season's end, he'll rave a rating at 1B. Same w/ Kreit at 3B. If you were teaching him C during the season or CF, I'd say watch out. But toggle him to a SS (he has that rating right?) and put him at 3B everyday. He'll learn it, and should do fine.

And then we are back to the point of Kitterman being out of a job. Can't make everyone happy. LOL

You've guys have given me stuff to think about for sure.

[canadiancreed]

Originally Posted by m0ng00se

And then we are back to the point of Kitterman being out of a job. Can't make everyone happy. LOL

You've guys have given me stuff to think about for sure.

always a good thing.

the problem with Kitterman is that every contender has a 1B solution as rebuilding teams dotn have a need for a 36 yr old contact monster.

for example:

The Yanks have Stewart :droll:
The A's have Poulos or Gallais or whatever his latest prospect is
The Indians have Tipple
The Cards have Nunez
The Pirates have Giardiano(sp?)
The Phillies have Arrendale
and we've got McMurray

I think only the Cubbies would really have a use for him, and even then I think they've got someone there (Johnson?)

Not exactly good news for moving him at all. He'd be too expensive to be a PH and he has no proficentcy in other positions. If ti was the DH era it'd be different, but he's forty years too early for that extension of his career.