The W.P. Kinsella League random update thread

[BirdWatcher]

It required a 9th inning comeback to gain the walk-off win in Game 6, but the reigning WPK champions, the Chicago Fire, got the SJL LCS victory over the Jacksonville Wolf Pack in front of the home faithful at Sears Stadium and return to the Kinsella Classic Series (KCS) for the second straight year, looking to retain their title.





Fan favorite Alex Martinez, the Fire's 28-year old left fielder, not only got the series ending walk-off single but he was also named the series MVP.

Jacksonville's David Parker, who was roughed up in his Game 2 start, was much better in this one, giving up just 1 run on 3 hits over 7 innings pitched, but the bullpen could not preserve the lead for him.

Chicago now will take on the Detroit Falcons in the KCS, with the Falcons the clear underdog. Still, the Fire would do well not to become complacent, as we saw what that scrappy Detroit team could do when they rather handily defeated Phoenix in the MGL LCS.

[Palaaemon]

Bird,

Loved the interlude of info on the best (and worst ) zr in the WPK by position. You know that is the kind of stuff that keeps me going. The crunchy behind the scenes things that are not normally found that you come up with, taking time, researching, putting it altogether, writing and posting. MUCH more demanding than just uploading graphics and writing a few lines (which you always seem to find a way of incorporating interesting information about the topic when you have graphics involved). I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, just pointing out the amount of dedication and labor of love you put into your work. I know I have said all that before, but it continues to be true.

I would like to make a request. If and/or when you might have the time could you please post information concerning the history about the Kinsella Classic Series and the generic Championship Series before it please. Perhaps include which team(s) were dominant in the SJL and MJL each year besides the championship contenders, awards winners each year also perhaps. Of course anything else at all that comes to your mind to include would be great! It would be nice to see the graphic in the WPK league history that shows the champion, loser, era and batting average for that year.

Thank you and have a great day!

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

Bird,

Loved the interlude of info on the best (and worst ) zr in the WPK by position. You know that is the kind of stuff that keeps me going. The crunchy behind the scenes things that are not normally found that you come up with, taking time, researching, putting it altogether, writing and posting. MUCH more demanding than just uploading graphics and writing a few lines (which you always seem to find a way of incorporating interesting information about the topic when you have graphics involved). I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, just pointing out the amount of dedication and labor of love you put into your work. I know I have said all that before, but it continues to be true.

I would like to make a request. If and/or when you might have the time could you please post information concerning the history about the Kinsella Classic Series and the generic Championship Series before it please. Perhaps include which team(s) were dominant in the SJL and MJL each year besides the championship contenders, awards winners each year also perhaps. Of course anything else at all that comes to your mind to include would be great! It would be nice to see the graphic in the WPK league history that shows the champion, loser, era and batting average for that year.

Thank you and have a great day!

Hey Palaaemon- always good to hear from you here (and elsewhere )
And I know you particularly enjoy those more in depth analytical/historical posts and that certainly helps inspire me to keep them coming.

Now is an interesting time to look at what you are asking for as we head into the current KCS (well, already have played Game 1, but just haven't had a chance to post about it yet) with two teams that don't have a lot of post-season history. Chicago, of course, is the reigning WPK champ but last year was the first post-season for this team that was a 1975 expansion club. And for Detroit, one of the original WPK teams, this is the very first time they have made the post-season.

Thinking about the best way to fulfill your request and my initial thought is to probably do a year-by-year historical recap, probably five seasons per post, to get us up to the present. I'll likely intersperse those posts with reporting on the current KCS. Might be a few days before I get to the first one, but it should be a fun exercise for me and bring back some old memories of WPK seasons past.

[BirdWatcher]

Those pesky underdog Detroit Falcons just keep doing the improbable. Having outlasted the slugging Phoenix Speed Devils in the MGL LCS, they now find themselves facing the vastly superior Chicago Fire, the reigning WPK champions, in the Kinsella Classic Series.
And, playing on the road in Chicago, the Falcons somehow find a way to eke out a 1-run extra inning win in Game One of the KCS.





The Falcons manufactured a run in the top of the 10th inning, having seen the home town Fire plate two runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie the score, on a single, two stolen bases, a pair of intentional walks, and a sacrifice fly.
And then they survived a two-out mini-rally from the Fire in the bottom of the frame. Veteran sparkplug reliever Scott Lucas pitched the final three innings for the Falcons, blowing the save but earning the win.

Chicago second baseman Dave Kurka went 4 for 5 with a double and 2 runs scored in the loss.

[BirdWatcher]

Per request by WPK super-fan Palaaemon, this post begins a series of posts that discuss and review WPK history up until now, with an emphasis on the post-season participants, basic league stats, award winners, and other notable facts about each season.

Let's start with some of the basic facts for the inaugural season of 1965.








And now a closer look at 1965.

1965:
WPK Champs: Jacksonville Wolf Pack, 98-64, .605 (+9 over Philadelphia Mud Hens)
SJL Champs: Jacksonville Wolf Pack
MGL Champs: Los Angeles Spinners, 97-65, .599 (+10 over Denver Brewers)
SJL MVP: Frank Hernandez, 1B, El Paso Dawgs
MGL MVP: Andy Wilson, SS, Portland Wild Things
SJL Pitcher of the Year: King Bedlecom, Washington Night Train
MGL Pitcher of the Year: Jose Santos, Los Angeles Spinners
SJL Rookie of the Year: Brad Tesh, CF, Columbus Whalers
MGL Rookie of the Year: Joe Esman, LF, Phoenix Speed Devils

Notes: The Jacksonville Wolf Pack ran away with the SJL pennant in the inaugural WPK season, with rookie center fielder Mike Mansaray having what would prove to be his career year at age 20. Mansaray put up 6.8 WAR, hit a league leading 23 triples and a career-best 22 home runs, hitting .302/.312/.511. Mansaray would have a handful of fine seasons following this one, including an injury-shortened 1967 season where he hit .360/.400/.550 and put up 5.5 WAR in just 90 games played. In fact, injuries would be his downfall with his production basically falling off a cliff at the age of 26 and he would retire in 1977 having last played at the big league level the year before as a 31-year old part-time player. This Jacksonville team also featured a 21-year old second baseman Josh Jenkins who is a likely Hall of Famer and 23-year old first baseman (who would play most of his career at third base) Jesus Casiano, who is already in the Hall of Fame and whose uniform number the team has retired. Their best pitcher, by WAR at least, was Micah Ray, who won the Reliever of the Year award at age 22. (Ray had a few more good years but was out of the league but didn't pitch at the big league level after his disastrous age 28 season in 1971.) Their top starting pitcher was 33-year old Juan Soto, who would have several more really good seasons before finally retiring at age 42.
El Paso first baseman Frank Hernandez won the SJL MVP award, excelling for the 4th place Dawgs. Hernandez led the league in walks, and would for three more seasons consecutively after this. He was a free agent at the end of the season and signed on with the Portland Wild Things, who then entered the 1966 season with both of the reigning MVP's as Hernandez joined 30-year old Andy "Lemonhead" Wilson, who put up 12.6 WAR in 1965, leading the league in runs scored for the first of three times during his now Hall of Fame career.
Pitchers of the year in 1965 were 41-year old former Iowa Baseball Confederacy (one of the antecedent professional leagues that merged into the WPK) superstar King Bedlecom. Bedlecom would pitch one more season in the WPK (going 6-13 with a 3.59 ERA at age 42) and has since served both as a big league bench coach and a pitching coach (currently the pitching coach for the Baltimore Lords) as well as seeing himself honored by having a AAA league named after him. In the MGL it was 26-year old fan favorite Jose Santos of the MGL pennant-winning L.A. Spinners who took this honor, the first of two in his storied (but apparently slightly shy of Hall of Fame) career. Santos teammate Jesus Hernandez, the almost sure future Hall of Fame third baseman, was a huge contributor in the Spinners pennant victory as well, putting up 9.7 WAR at age 24. They also got big contributions from three veteran position players- right fielder Dan Boesch, second baseman Korey Kleinman, and center fielder Scott Cardente- none of them destined to have much left in the tank and only Kleinman among them had at least one season other than 1965 that approached the numbers he put up that season. But L.A. did have another weapon in 24-year old multi-inning reliever Jamel McNeil, who would win the first of his 8 Reliever of the Year awards at the end of the season, on the way to his Hall of Fame career and the title as the greatest relief pitcher in WPK history and the standard-bearer at the position.
The Rookies of the Year were Brad Tesh, a borderline Hall of Fame candidate and the player with the best power-speed combination among the first wave of WPK players, and Joe Esman, who led the league in homer with 46 in his rookie season and would hit 216 in his career but saw a steep drop off in production after leaving Phoenix following the 1970 season and would be a mostly replacement-level player for four seasons in Jacksonville before he retired.


Among the significant accomplishments of the 1965 season, Denver Brewers second baseman Tanner Yurek clubbed 4 home runs in a blowout win over Brooklyn on May 4th, 18-year old San Francisco third baseman Jesse Cibula hit for the cycle against Detroit on June 13th (the only cycle in 1965), and three pitchers hurled no-hitters this season: 22-year old Portland hurler Jesse Hartong, whose 230 career wins is currently the most in WPK history, 25-year old Boston starter Carlitos Uva, who would have a few good seasons before retiring from the game at age 31, and 40-year old Baltimore hurler Jim Wright, who only would start 9 games in his WPK career, saving the best for last when he no-hit the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings on September 28th, striking out 6 and walking one batter. Wright was a very successful WPK pitching coach starting in 1970 and has now served as the bench coach for the Pittsburgh Roadrunners since 1981.

1965 also saw the first Triple Crown winner in WPK history, as Charlotte starting pitcher Jaime Schardein, who would go on to win 2 Harris/Lee (then simply called Pitcher of the Year) awards in his near Hall of Fame career, led the MGL in wins with 18, ERA at 1.99, and strikeouts with 196.

The top pick in the amateur draft in 1965 was starting pitcher Kyle Bidwell, chosen by Portland. Bidwell ended up being a 4-time All-Star and when he retired recently he had amassed a career WAR of 35.4 with a record of 149-146 and a career ERA of 3.71. A solid career if a little underwhelming for a 1-1.

Editor's Note: When I started this post it was supposed to cover the five-year period of 1965-1969. But I realized I had too much to talk about just with 1965 and it was going to take forever to cover five seasons. So this series of posts will instead go year by year and hopefully I will have it completed before I move on to the next season of the WPK (and before migrating the WPK to 23 and to a new thread in the forums).

[BirdWatcher]

In spite of another gutsy performance by the Detroit Falcons (they tied the game at 2-2 in the 4th inning on a squeeze play!), the Chicago Fire prevailed at home in Game Two to even the series.





Chicago's best player, Pat Thompson, had been held hitless in his first 7 at-bats of the series but came through with the big hit in this one, a 7th inning double which put the Fire on top for good. Thompson also then scored on a Jose Flores single to make it 4-2, a score which would stand, in spite of Detroit getting the first two batters on base in the top of the 9th against Chicago closer Tyler Criss (groundball single, walk) before being retired via a strikeout and two flyball outs.

[BirdWatcher]

As we continue our review of WPK history up to this point in time, let's turn our attention to the 1966 season.

Starting with some of the basic facts, including final standings and award winners.









Summary/Highlights/Accomplishments/Notes, etc.:

The Jacksonville Wolf Pack repeated as WPK champs in 1966, once again defeating the Los Angles Spinners in the Championship Series (not yet christened the Kinsella Classic Series), for the second year in a row also needing seven games to accomplish this task.
Jacksonville saw 27-year old left fielder Travis Johnson have a career year, putting up 10.5 WAR, hitting .385/.463/.578 (leading the league in each of those categories), swiping 51 bases (also league leading), and collecting a WPK-best 238 hits. All of which earned him his first (of two) league MVP awards on the way to a sure Hall of Fame career. They also had the Pitcher of the Year in Juan Soto. Soto was already 33 years old when the WPK formed or he would be a likely Hall of Famer too and as it is did finish his WPK career with a record of 108-54 and with a 2.66 ERA and 34 WAR. Jacksonville, of course, also got fine seasons from Hall of Fame corner infielder Jesus Casiano and likely Hall of Fame second baseman Josh Jenkins.
Their MGL counterparts, the Los Angeles Spinners, easily won the MGL and received what would prove to be a career-best season from another future Hall of Famer, third baseman Jesus Hernandez, who all of the WPK with 11.5 WAR, hitting .346/.425/.646, hitting 43 homers and scoring a league-best 126 runs while also earned the second of his eventual seven career Gold Glove awards. Hernandez won the MGL MVP award, the lone of his great and distinguished career. The L.A. offense dropped off considerably after Hernandez, with the second best WAR on the club among position players belonging to 24-year old shortstop Philip "Seymour" Hoffman (4.1 WAR), who hit just .269/.317/.374 but provided solid defense (6.2 ZR) and stole a team-high 26 bases (8 CS). (Hoffman, who once looked so promising, saw his career tail off considerably before age 25 and he was retired from the game by 1971, when he was still only 29 years old.) But L.A. had terrific pitching, led again by Jose Santos but with strong contributions from starter Miguel Chavez (17-6, 2.60 ERA) and reliever extraordinaire Jamel McNeil (138 IP, 23 saves, 2.22 ERA, team-high 177 strikeouts).
Los Angeles also had the MGL Rookie of the Year in 21-year old first baseman Jay Ebersole. Ebersole slugged 29 homers and drove in 96 runs, both of which would prove to be career bests for him. On the other hand, he was a poor fielder, and although he had a 121 OPS+ he hit just .264/.299/.486. Power was his calling card and with his one dimensional skills his career ended up being undistinguished and his 3.8 WAR 1971 season with Portland would be his peak season (at age 26). He stuck around the WPK for a little more than 11 seasons, but never was an All-Star and his ROY honor was the only seasonal award he ever earned.

SJL Rookie of the Year Joo-il Kim, who was already 30 years old when he signed with the Pittsburgh Roadrunners as an international free agent out of South Korea, fared a bit better, in spite of his advanced age. Although his 39 home runs in 1966 would be a WPK career high for him, he did slug at least 30 bombs in five different seasons with Pittsburgh and he amassed a career WAR of 30.5. He was a 3-time All-Star and 1-time Silver Slugger award winner. He also led the league in bases on balls in 1970 with 132 (he would exceed 100 in five seasons, although he also struck out over 100 times in six of his eight plus WPK seasons).
Pittsburgh also had the Reliever of the Year in the SJL in 1966. Twenty year old Aaron Metzler had done quite well as a 19-year old in 1965 as well, when he collected 13 saves with a 1.92 ERA. In 1966 he upped his saves total to 24, lowered his ERA to 1.60, and amassed 3.2 WAR in 101 innings pitched. Although he would hang around in the WPK for more than 16 seasons, he never again put up numbers like those first few seasons. He retired in 1983 with a career saves total of 95, an ERA of 3.10, and 8.7 WAR.

The MGL Pitcher of the Year in 1966 was San Francisco's Mike Young. Young was not when the WPK formed, as he was already 34 when he won his long Pitcher of the Year (now Harris/Lee) award. He led the league in ERA in 1966 (2.24) with an 18-10 record for the 3rd place Velocity. He would have one other 18 win season (1969, when he went 18-9 with a 3.60 ERA) before retiring in 1971 at the age of 39.
The MGL Reliever of the Year was Baltimore's Seth Landry, who went 12-3 with a 1.56 ERA in 98 innings out of the 'pen. Landry would end up leading the league in saves the following two seasons but this would be the lone Reliever of the Year award he would receive in his 16-season WPK career. He retired in 1980 at the age of 42 with 199 career saves. He was named on a little over 21% of the Hall of Fame ballots this past year but will surely not be enshrined in Dubuque.

1966 saw one player hit for the cycle: Jacksonville's 21-year old right fielder Ken Brackeen in a September 5th game against San Antonio. (Brackeen would have a pair of 5 WAR seasons in his inconsistent career, in addition to the 4.6 he put up in 1966, but he also had some injury issues which led to decreased production and poor defense over time and he would hover around zero WAR (and at times below that) for several seasons before retiring in 1977, having last played in the WPK in 1975 at age 30.)
Three players would have 3-homer games in 1966 (Matt Birch with Philadelphia, Ricky Peralez with San Antonio, and HOF'er Andy Wilson for Portland).
1966 would also witness the first 50-homer season in the WPK: Jamison Bash, the 30-year old Detroit Falcons third baseman, would accomplish this, hitting exactly 50 while driving in 111 runs and putting up 10.5 WAR.
Jaime Schardein, of Charlotte, hurled the first 15 strikeout game in WPK history against the Denver Brewers on September 28th.

There would be no no-hitters in 1966 and the longest hitting streak of the season (longest in the WPK up to that point) was a 28-game stretch for Washington Night Train center fielder Ryan Rodgers.

The top draft pick in the 1966 amateur draft was starting pitcher Mike Stagner, chosen by the Milwaukee Cadets. Stagner would end up having a very good, if perhaps not quite Hall of Fame level, career. He retired in 1985 with a career record of 210-191, a 3.52 ERA, and 69.4 WAR accumulated. He was the Pitcher of the Year for Milwaukee in 1973, one of two seasons in which he won at least 20 games (20-10 in 1973). He was a 5-time All-Star and even won a Silver Slugger award but never got that elusive championship ring.
But surely the best player taken in that year's draft was Justin Vargas, who went 11th overall to L.A. but never played a single game at the WPK level for the team that drafted him. The best year's of his sure Hall of Fame career were spent with Boston, where he won 2 SJL MVP awards. He was also an 11-time All-Star, a 3-time Silver Slugger, and won a single Gold Glove award. He retired recently with a career WAR of 87.0.

[BirdWatcher]

In a tightly, well pitched contest which featured tremendous defensive plays by both teams (including Detroit twice throwing out Chicago runners at home), the Detroit Falcons thrilled the home town crowd by over-coming a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the 9th for the walk-off win in Game three of the 1986 KCS.





The question that will probably linger, possibly for years if Detroit ends up prevailing in the series, is why Chicago manager Donald Gray, only in his second season managing and 39 years old, left reliever Tyler Criss on the mound when he was clearly gassed, having come into the game to start the 8th inning. (Gray was a 12th round draft pick of the El Paso Dawgs back in 1966, having played collegiately at San Diego State. The somewhat diminutive first baseman had an extremely brief and unsuccessful professional career as a player, never rising above Rookie ball, but his intelligence was always evident and it was not a surprise when he went entered the coaching ranks.)

It was 25-year old rookie third baseman Joe Lowe, who in 367 plate appearances this season hit .262/.335/.463, hitting 14 home runs and an impressive 23 doubles, who got the game-winning walk-off pinch-hit single, the first post-season hit of his young career.

The two starting pitchers- left hander Stephen Kretzer for Chicago and the young budding star and team leader Andrew Carr (just 23 years old) for Detroit- were both excellent and neither figured in the decision.

[BirdWatcher]

The facts:









Summary/Highlights/Accomplishments/Notes, etc.:

After seeing the same teams take their respective league pennants in the first two seasons of the WPK- Jacksonville in the SJL and Los Angeles in the MGL- in 1967 neither team was able to repeat and the Washington Night Train emerged as the best in the SJL while the Portland Wild Things rose to the top in the MGL.
The SJL did maintain control of the championship title, with Washington prevailing in yet another 7-game championship series.
The Night Train were led by their 28-year old center fielder Ryan Rodgers, who won the MVP award, leading the league in WAR with 12.0, in batting average at .373, and OBP (.483), while also scoring the most runs (125) and earning his 3rd consecutive Gold Glove award. They also got great production out of 20-year old left fielder (their future center fielder) Lazaro Lowndes, who hit .321/.360/.416, accumulated 6.1 WAR, and stole 33 bases but incredibly was also caught stealing 44 times! (This would be a pattern for Lowndes, who has since retired and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame before long, who currently holds the 3rd
spot in career stolen bases with 568 but also easily holds the record for most times caught stealing in a career at 371.) Lowndes earned Rookie of the Year honors for his performance. Both Rodgers and Lowndes would go on to have Hall of Fame careers, with Rodgers holding the career record for bases on balls (1,540) and Lowndes being just one of three players to collect 3,000 thus far in WPK history.
The Washington pitching staff didn't have a true ace but the rotation did go 4 deep with guys who had at least 3 WAR seasons, with 27-year old Bobby Cruz the one who ended up with the most impressive career. (Cruz led the league in WHIP in 1967 at 0.95.)
The upstart Philadelphia Mud Hens were Washington's chief SJL rival, getting a 19-win season from staff ace Chris Hernandez (19-6, 2.25 ERA), and career years from slugging first baseman Nate Kuykendall (8.2 WAR, 29 homers) and 33-year old catcher Rey Zacarias (5.8 WAR).

Although the Columbus Whalers finished middle of the pack, there were already beginning to be signs of their impending success, led by a sterling pitching staff. Their staff ace, Jake Harris (now a Hall of Famer and the Harris portion of the Harris/Lee (Pitcher of the Year) award moniker), won the first of his eventual four Pitcher of the Year honors, leading the league in both wins and ERA (22-6, 1.80 ERA).

The SJL Reliever of the Year was Milwaukee's Benni Heregger, who would win this award three times in his illustrious career, being named an All-Star six times, and he has now been hanging around on the Hall of Fame ballots for six years, having peaked in his first year of eligibility by being named on 40.2% of the ballots. While Heregger is unlikely to gain induction, he does have the distinction of being the greatest player in WPK history who was born in Austria (Vienna).

The MGL champs, Portland, featured two former league MVP's- Andy Wilson and Frank Hernandez- both still producing at prodigious rates in their early 30's. Wilson, who is now a member of the Hall of Fame, hit .312/.419/.568, once again leading the league in WAR with 10.4 and runs scored with 105, also hit 30 homers and led the MGL in slugging with .568, but somehow failed to win his 2nd MVP award. Hernandez hit .309/.423/.495, leading the league for the third straight year in bases on balls (109) and for the second time in his career in OBP. Although his home run production fell from 40 in 1966 to just 23 in '67, he put up an impressive 8.5 WAR season. He also won his third straight Gold Glove at first base. Jesse Hartong, a 24-year old righty who would go on to win the most games in WPK history thus far (230), led a deep rotation with his 15-3, 3.41 ERA, 5 WAR season. He would be one of six pitchers on the team to get double digit wins on the season.

The Oklahoma City Diamond Kings, who had finished in the middle of the pack their first two seasons, though hovering around 85 wins in each, rose to second place in 1967. They got tremendous seasons from three young players: 23-year old second baseman Josh Waldron (7.7 WAR), 24-year old center fielder Felix Lopez (6.7 WAR), and 24-year old shortstop Josh Nix (6.4 WAR). While both Waldron and Nix would end up having fine big league careers (career WAR's of 44.6 and 46.3 respectively) it would be Lopez who would end up having a legitimate claim as best player of his generation and who will surely be a first ballot Hall of Famer. (He finished his career- retiring in 1983- with career WAR of 98.2, having won two MVP awards, six Silver Sluggers, having been an All-Star eleven times, being the first WPK player to reach 3,000 hits (currently 2nd all-time with 3,148), holding the WPK career record in stolen bases with 656 and singles with 2,450. The Diamond Kings veteran closer, Corey Carpenter, won the Reliever of the Year honors in the MGL at age 33.

The MVP of the MGL was Phoenix second baseman Chris Flaim, who led the league in hits with 225 and batting average at .360. Flaim, who was already 30 years old when the WPK formed, saw his production drop precipitously at age 34 and is one of the great what-could-have-been stories in the WPK. (He would have a bit of resurgence in 1971 at the age of 36 while playing for El Paso, when he led the league in doubles with 42, hitting .293/.329/.460 and putting up 2.9 WAR.)

Although the Charlotte Sting lost 93 games, they did see their staff ace Jaime Schardein win his first Pitcher of the Year award, which he would repeat the following year (but with L.A.) , going 20-9 with a 2.54 ERA and leading the league in K's with 249.
The lowly Sting also had the Rookie of the Year in 21-year old third baseman Kyle Watts. Watts would go on to have a solid but rather undistinguished big league career and retired in 1979 with a career WAR of 33.2.

Among the notable accomplishments of the 1967 season was Denver Brewer second baseman Tanner Yurek, who had a 4-homer game in 1965, hitting 3 home runs against Phoenix on September 29th.
The best hitting streak of the season was a 24-game span for Josh Jenkins of Jacksonville.
But other than that not much to report: no cycles, no no-hitters, no Triple Crowns.
Oh, but there was a 6-hit game. This was accomplished by 24-year old Charlotte right fielder Rigby Muckenfuss against the Detroit Falcons on August 24th.

[BirdWatcher]

And, against all odds, the underdog Detroit Falcons, who for almost their entire existence have languished in the second division, are just a single win away from capturing their first WPK championship, in their very first trip to the post-season.





Chicago starter Mike Fritzsche, who was 16-4 with a 3.70 ERA in the regular season and who last postseason was 2-0 with a 3.94 ERA in his two starts, has been having a disastrous 1986 post-season. Fritzsche allowed 6 runs on 8 hits, and most tellingly 6 walks, in his 5 1/3rd innings pitched and now is 0-2 with a 14.14 ERA, having been demolished by Jacksonville in Game 4 of the SJL League Championship Series. In that series, Chicago was up 3 game to none going into Game 4 so the Fire were able to recover. But this time they find themselves now down 3 games to 1 and with one more game to be played in the motor city and things are looking very dire for the reigning champs.

The Detroit Falcons got a surprising star turn from 30 year old lefthander Terry Dubiel (a former Denver Brewer), who scattered 9 hits over 7 innings pitched, allowing just 3 runs to the Fire. And veteran first baseman Bryant Polley, who hit a career-high 22 homers during the regular season, hit his 4th bomb of this post-season to help lead the Detroit offense.

[Palaaemon]

Rigby Muckenfuss.

What a name! Gotta love it. One of my favorite names that have come out of the WPK.
Speaks for itself, well it would if it had lips...and a mouth...and a tongue...and a...

[BirdWatcher]

The facts:










Summary/Highlights/Accomplishments/Notes, etc.:

It was only fitting that in a season of dominant pitching, it was the Columbus Whalers, who over the first decade plus of the WPK would become known as a pitching factory, who not only rose to the top of the SJL but also won their first WPK championship.
The Whalers rotation was anchored once again by the great left-handed starter Jake Harris, who went 19-6 with a 1.78 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. The rest of what would become a dominant pitching staff wasn't fully in place yet in 1968 but they did get a fine performance from 29-year old Jeff Parker, who went 15-9 with a 2.18 ERA. The bullpen was also excellent, led by 29-year old Ron Dippold, who led the league in saves with 27 and had a 1.32 ERA and also saw the emergence of 22-year old Tim Shore (12 saves, 0.88 ERA), who would go on to become the WPK career record holder in saves with 434 and counting.
The offense was led by 25-year old speed/power combo center fielder Brad Tesh, who led the league in runs scored (97) and in spite of a modest slash line of .292/.348/.462 put up a 10 WAR season in this season of low offensive production league-wide. Tesh won his lone MVP award at the end of the season.

The Washington Night Train, who lost MVP center fielder Ryan Rodgers to the Denver Brewers via free agency in the offseason, finished in second place, getting another great season from Lazaro Lowndes, now having taken over in center for Rodgers in the Night Train outfield. They also got a career year from 35-year old left fielder Manny Nieto, who clubbed 23 homers and put up 7.2 WAR.
The Pitcher of the Year in the SJL went to 5th place Milwaukee Cadets ace Cheol-han Lee, who led the league in ERA at 1.54 and finished the season with a 17-11 record for a team that finished below .500. Milwaukee also had the Reliever of the Year again, as Austrian star closer Benni Heregger won the award for the second straight year.
El Paso Dawgs shortstop Matsuichi Miyamoto, who had joined the league from Japan as an international free agent, was named the SJL Rookie of the Year in spite of his sub-par defense at the key position. Miyamoto was already 29-years old in 1968 and although he would have a few solid seasons in the WPK, with his best coming in 1973 at age 34 (3.2 WAR), his WPK career was mostly insignificant, ending after 8 seasons with 13.9 WAR accumulated.

Over in the MGL, the Portland Wild Things repeated as pennant winners only to once again lose in the WPK championship series, this time being swept by Columbus, the first time a championship series hadn't gone 7 games thus far in WPK history.
Portland got another tremendous year from superstar middle infielder (now having moved to second base at age 33) Andy "Lemonhead" Wilson, as he hit .297/.386/.490 and put up 10.5 WAR. But it was 27-year old left fielder Danny Sanchez who won the MVP award this season, having hit .340/.394/.494, leading the league in batting average in this season when the league average was a miniscule .226, as well as hits (215) and doubles with 38. Although the 7-time All-Star Sanchez would have a distinguished, Hall of the Very Good type career, and finish with 58 WAR over 15 plus WPK seasons, this was by far the best season of his career.

The Denver Brewers and Phoenix Speed Devils ended up tied for 2nd place, just 2 games behind Portland in a tight race for the MGL pennant.
Denver saw their free agency acquisition Ryan Rodgers put up 8.6 WAR in his first year with the club, leading the league in OBP with a .411 mark. The pitching staff was anchored by 33-year old lefty Daniel Torres, who was control-challenged throughout his career but had good stuff and was very stingy with hits allowed. He went 13-7 with a 2.25 ERA and led the league in lowest HR/9 at 0.1 (2 homers allowed in just over 216 innings pitched).
Phoenix had the Reliever of the Year in Pat Brooks, the most dominant closer in the early days of the league other than the aforementioned Benni Heregger and the incomparable Jamel McNeil, who existed on another planet entirely.
The Pitcher of the Year in the MGL was L.A.'s Jaime Schardein, who had won the award for Charlotte the season before. Schardein went 17-13 with an ERA of 2.15, led the league in games started with 36, innings pitched with 293.1, and K's at 261, while pitching for a fading Spinners team, who would finish just 2 games over .500 in 6th place.
And the Detroit Falcons, who were competitive in 1968 and finished just 4 games out in 4th place, had the Rookie of the Year in 24-year old shortstop Hugo Munoz. Munoz would have a handful of decent seasons, putting up WAR's of 3.8, 2.8, and 2.1 in the following seasons, but ultimately was destined for an undistinguished career, mostly serving as a utility infielder after the age of 27 and retiring in 1981 with 15.8 career WAR.

The only player to hit for the cycle in 1968 was Seattle first baseman Jody Cussen, not known for his speed or power (he only hit 41 career home runs and 14 career triples). Cussen is one of the more improbable players to hit for the cycle, particularly given that it came in a season with historically suppressed offense. But somehow he accomplished this feat on July 7th against the Philadelphia Mud Hens.
There were, less surprisingly, 3 no-hitters tossed in 1968. The first happened on April 21st and was hurled by San Francisco lefty Dennis Daniel, against Brooklyn. Daniel had a decent big league career, lasting over a decade, and finished his career with a 126-120 record and a respectable 3.15 ERA. But this game would be the personal highlight of his career. The second no-no was pitched by Chris Priest of Charlotte. Priest, despite the great name, was not much of a big league hurler, though this was not entirely his fault as he was already 36 years old when the league formed. He led the league in losses in 1966 with 19 and pitched for five different teams in his five WPK seasons (Charlotte twice). But at the age of 39, on July 2nd, he no-hit the Denver Brewers. And the third no-hitter of the 1968 season came from a much more likely source, Columbus ace and future Hall of Famer Jake Harris. On July 17th he no-hit Pittsburgh in what would prove to be the lone no-hitter of his storied career.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

Rigby Muckenfuss.

What a name! Gotta love it. One of my favorite names that have come out of the WPK.
Speaks for itself, well it would if it had lips...and a mouth...and a tongue...and a...

Yup, this was always one of my favorite WPK names also. Although not one of my favorite players because he always seemed to rise to the occasion and play his best against our Brewers particularly during the Charlotte Sting portion of his career.

This led, as I mentioned a few years ago in one of the earlier WPK threads, to me giving him a nickname which can't be repeated here as I will admit it is certainly on the profane side of linguistic utterings.

[BirdWatcher]

And there it is: the Detroit Falcons, the unlikeliest of WPK champs, having finally made it to a postseason for the first time in the franchise's 22-year history, and with a record of 87-75 in the weakest division in the game, defeated the reigning WPK champions, the Chicago Fire, 4 games to 1, clinching it in front of the hometown crowd at Conway Park.





After seeing Chicago get on the board first in the opening half inning but also seeing a runner getting picked off first base, Detroit then drove Chicago starter Mike Low (17-10, 4.20 in regular season) from the game in the 2nd inning. Low got a complete game victory in the LCS against Jacksonville, but was beat up badly in both of his starts in the KCS.

Detroit's veteran second baseman, Phil Martin, had to leave the game in the 9th inning after suffering a foot contusion while completing a fielder's choice put out for the penultimate out of the game, but ended up being named the MVP of the KCS.

[Palaaemon]

Congratulations to the Detroit Falcons. The newest champions of the WPK. It has been a long time coming for these scrappers. Facing much better foes in the first round and the championship, they showed guts, heart and desire to win in achieving their collective dream. What will the future hold for this group? We shall see.

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

Congratulations to the Detroit Falcons. The newest champions of the WPK. It has been a long time coming for these scrappers. Facing much better foes in the first round and the championship, they showed guts, heart and desire to win in achieving their collective dream. What will the future hold for this group? We shall see.

True that.

Looking forward just a bit for this team, one plus is that they do have quite a few young talented pitchers coming into their own, including a few who have been pitching out of the bullpen but should be ready to move into the rotation. They also have some terrific relievers so pitching in general is a strength for the Falcons and should remain so for the near future at least.

On the other hand, their position players are mostly over 30, and the younger ones are not that talented, other than potentially 24-year old catcher Josh Moore, who combines a plus hitting tool with above average defensive skills. Though on the whole he is above average at best.
And the farm system is ranked 19 out of 24, so not a lot of prospects on the way. Their two best prospects are pitchers and both are still far from the majors (and the best of the lot- Brooks Wilson- is fragile). They do have a good young second baseman (Jason Eggleston) on the way, but their outfield is an area of particular weakness and it doesn't look like they have any young players likely to significantly improve the big league outfield any time soon, if ever. Left fielder Eric Dougherty, one of their best players, is only 28 but he is also very injury prone and there are some signs of it taking a toll on his offensive skills.

Bottom line is that the players the Falcons are likely to lose this offseason to free agency aren't significant (and might even be additions by subtraction) and in the weak MGL East they should have a good chance to contend again in 1987, particularly if their talented rotation stays healthy and pitches up to their potential.
But long-term this doesn't look like a dynasty in the making and the window of opportunity for winning another championship with this current squad is probably very small, if there is one at all.

[BirdWatcher]

The probable Hall of Fame starting pitcher Sadahige Kawasaki, who spent 10 of his 12 WPK seasons as a member of the Denver Brewers, winning 2 Harris/Lee awards while wearing Brewers purple and gold, having concluded his farewell tour in 1986, is having his uniform number 36 retired by the Brewers. He becomes the third player in Brewers history to be so honored, joining Hall of Fame starting pitcher Cheol-han Lee and likely soon-to-be Hall of Fame outfielder Ryan Rodgers.




Kawasaki pitched for the El Paso Dawgs in his final season this year, going 12-14 with a respectable 4.35 ERA but also led the league in walks allowed with 140. He finishes his WPK career, having come over from Japan at age 27, with a record of 162-94, a 2.99 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 3.21 FIP and 77 FIP-, 62.2 WAR and 68.5 rWAR. In addition to the aforementioned 2 Harris/Lee awards, he was a 7-time All-Star and has 2 championship rings.


In other Brewers news, bench coach Jimmy Nochese, who prior to taking over in that role in 1983 had a long and highly successful career as the manager of the Brewers AAA farm club, the Chester Big Stick, from 1965 through 1982, announced his retirement at the age of 65. Nochese was an 8-time Manager of the Year in the King Bedlecom League (AAA) and was at the helm the team for 5 championships as well as leading the team to the playoffs in 3 other seasons.



With Nochese leaving the game, the Brewers hired former Denver farm-hand and recent Davenport River Rats (Iowa Baseball Confederacy, independent league) pitching coach, Eric Greenstein as their new bench coach. Greenstein, who was renowned for his leadership abilities (Captain) as a player, was drafted by Denver in the WPK inaugural draft and played in the Denver farm system as a center fielder for 7 seasons and then for several more seasons in the Charlotte and Milwaukee organizations. Greenstein never made it the big leagues as a player but now has as a 40-year old bench coach.

As is his custom, Denver manager Barry Allen is thought likely to turn over a good deal of the in-game management decision making to young Mr. Greenstein and the evidence suggests that Greenstein's strategic philosophy emphasizes balance and moderation, with a more conservative approach towards base stealing and base running aggressiveness (somewhat counter-balanced by second-year third base coach Yebrir Kodwo's more aggressive instincts), but a more active use of infield shifts defensively. Greenstein as a pitching coach was considered pretty average but he is thought to have very strong skills when it comes to teaching mechanics and defensive skills (particularly for catchers and outfielders), is thought to be a positive influence on player development, and is generally well regarded in terms of his instructional skills. There is also a perception that he might have a somewhat calming influence on a coaching staff that doesn't often work well together.

[BirdWatcher]

Former Brewer phenom Harry Lyerly, who served as the pitching coach for Denver affiliate Bainbridge (A) for just one season, was recently named the Charlotte Sting manager, replacing the fired veteran manager Colt Wilson, who had been at the helm for the Sting since 1982 and prior to that had some success (2-time Manager of the Year) as the manager of the AAA Newtown Classics in the Charlotte system.

[BirdWatcher]

The Gold Glove award winners for the 1986 season were announced a few days ago.

Here are the SJL results:





This is the 9th Gold Glove for future Hall of Fame San Antonio second baseman John Mussaw (10.7 ZR). Veteran third baseman Pat Crews has won a Gold Glove 6 times now, the first two coming as a member of the Baltimore Lords in the MGL and now 4 as the Washington Night Train third baseman. This marks the 4th time that Washington shortstop Abelard Cooper has won a Gold Glove and the 3rd time that Washington pitcher Matt Jenkins and Chicago center fielder Kyle Hanley have earned the honor. Seattle catcher John Pepin gets his 2nd GG. First timers are all veterans: 33-year old first baseman Chase Moeller in his first year with Columbus, 30-year old right fielder Brian Paul in his 3rd year with Philly, and 28-year old Pittsburgh left fielder Brendan Beaver (10.5 ZR, 10 outfield assists).


The MGL winners are:




Portland Wild Things' center fielder Quincy Schultz (younger brother of long-time first baseman Josh Schultz, who won a pair of Gold Gloves himself) struggles to stay in the lineup due to extreme injury proneness, but when he does play he is the consensus best defensive center fielder in the game and one of the best defenders in the WPK period. Schultz wins his 6th Gold Glove award at age 26 (14.2 ZR).
Oklahoma City third baseman Antonio Briones wins his 3rd Gold Glove award, although the first came while he was playing shortstop still.
Phoenix catcher John Sposato wins his 2nd Gold Glove and is one of 4 Speed Devils players to win one for their play this past season. First timers are starting pitcher Jonathan Reichman, second baseman Jim Cleveland, and shortstop John Rains. In Cleveland and Rains the normally offensive-minded Phoenix club has arguably the best up-the-middle infield defense in the game (with the aging duo of Bud Lindsay and John Mussaw still right up there) while getting little offensive production from these positions. Rains won out over the Denver Brewers 5-time Gold Glove shortstop Willie Romero, with Rains 30.3 ZR leading not just all MGL shortstops but all WPK players at any position (Chicago center fielder Kyle Hanley was second at 20.0.)
Other first time winners in the MGL are veteran Brooklyn first baseman Andy Raley (mostly a third baseman prior to this past season), San Francisco rookie left fielder Ryan Frommeyer (who also led the MGL in batting average and had a ZR of 8.5 and 12 outfield assists), and St. Louis rookie right fielder Jonathon Georgian (12.8 ZR, 9 outfield assists).

[BirdWatcher]

In the SJL:




Pat Bergeron will never be considered one of the good guys of the game- in fact he is pretty much universally disliked with his nasty disposition and immature approach to the game and to life- but at least last year he was considered the best relief pitcher in the SJL. At age 32 he has had other very excellent seasons and also several disastrous ones. 1986 was by far the best of his two and half seasons with Jacksonville and he is eligible for free agency this offseason.


In the MGL:




While there were many key contributors in the Phoenix Speed Devils MGL West pennant winning effort, that of 23-year old closer Steve Hensgens should not be lost in the shuffle. The smart and well-liked young groundball specialist has emerged as one of the dominant closers in the game. He led the league in saves in 1985 with 47 but was even better in 1986, in spite of finishing with 10 fewer saves. His ERA dropped from 2.84 to 2.16, his WHIP from 1.20 to 0.94 and after an 0.8 WAR 1985 season he accumulated 3.5 WAR in 1986, despite pitching 8 fewer innings. He well deserves this honor.

Denver closer Dan Folk finished third in the voting but garnered the second most first place votes and all indications are that he and Hensgens are likely to be battling for title of best reliever in the MGL for the foreseeable future. (Though watch for 21-year old St. Louis closer Bryan Ryan too. Not only does he have nasty stuff with a wicked cutter and elite change-up but he also has next level, future Captain makeup.)