The W.P. Kinsella League random update thread

[BirdWatcher]

Okay, I'm trying not to freak out too much and don't wish to freak out any of you (I'm looking at you Palaaemon) but for the moment the WPK is temporarily (I hope, only) lost to the world.

Just encountered an error message (sqlite database issue apparently) and in trying to fix it based upon information found here in the forums, I seem to have possibly just made it worse. Or at least completely confused myself (technologically knowledgeable I am not) and so for the moment the WPK is unavailable to me.

I have submitted a help ticket and am hoping the fine folks at OOTP Developments can help me restore the WPK. Fingers crossed.

But for now we wait. Yikes.

[Palaaemon]

OH NOs!!!!

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Palaaemon

OH NOs!!!!

Exactly.
I mean, I'm confident that the WPK is still there somewhere. And I'm an obsessive back-up'er.
Now, what the error message was about I don't know- oddly, it let me move forward day by day even though it gave me that message each time it tried to save (daily save) and I didn't actually spot anything in the league that looked amiss.
But then I mucked around a bit and now I don't know how to restore the backup.

So, again, trying not to panic, as I'm guessing there is probably a pretty simple fix to this, but due to my very limited technical know-how (my non-existent technical know-how) I can't get to it by myself.

All is not lost, I just keep telling myself. I mostly believe it.

Then again, worst case scenario, I start a new fictional league and get a new WPK rolling along.

[BirdWatcher]

Okay, I'm trying not to be overly jubilant in case there is something wrong that I haven't spotted yet. But it appears that with some friendly guidance from Alex Murray, the WPK is back and in business again.

In the end, it was a simple fix that was needed and while I will remain nervous for awhile (just feeling hypervigilant about the WPK right now) all seems to have returned just where I left it and in fine working order.

So, hurrah, hallelujah, oh frabjous day, callooh, callay! Praise be Alex and the OOTP development team!

Let the games commence again (well, let the off-season continue, actually.)

[Palaaemon]

Alex is the man! Thanks for fixing the WPK. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Bird, roll that beautiful bean footage!

[BirdWatcher]

The Portland Wild Things, fresh off their first KCS championship win, yesterday announced that they had signed top free agent right fielder Justin Vargas, a sure future Hall of Famer. While Vargas is certainly past his prime he remains a solid player who still has some of the best speed and base running in the game, a strong bat, and above average defense in right. In addition to that, he is durable and considered to have great knowledge of the game. This looks like a great addition for the mostly young and talented reigning champs. And given that 2 of the 3 players who gave them the most innings in right field last season (Ryan Rodgers and David Beane) retired while the third (Anthony Schaer) is himself a free agent, this was the exactly right player for the Wild Things to target.



Meanwhile, the reigning MGL East champs, the Brooklyn Aces, added a veteran arm to their rotation in Jose Mendoza. After Jose Hernandes and Joel Travino the Brooklyn rotation was pretty underwhelming and they also saw Marty O'Brien enter free agency at the end of the season. So getting the durable power pitching groundball specialist who is also considered a sparkplug seems like a move that makes great sense.




Over in the SJL, the Boston Berserkers, coming off a disappointing 5th place finish in spite of ending the season 4 games over .500, sign veteran third baseman Chris Tobin. Tobin, a 2-time MGL MVP, doesn't have the greatest reputation in terms of clubhouse influence (selfish) but since moving from shortstop to third base last year he is certainly providing much more value in the field while he continues to be a dangerous hitter. Although he is 35 years old he is considered durable and not showing many signs of slowing down, having put up a 5.7 WAR season in 1981, his best since his 6.6 WAR MVP season of 1977.

[BirdWatcher]

Jake DiCesare has gained the reputation the past few seasons as being one of the best third baseman in the game and largely he has earned this. But at age 30 he has also proven to be one of the most injury prone players in the game, particularly experiencing chronic knee issues. And if the Brewers scouting staff is to be believed, he may be in for a steep decline soon in on the field performance even when healthy.
For those reasons primarily, but also with the team wanting to give Craig Hoover a chance to show that he is ready to be the starter at third, where he provides elite defense. With his line drive hitting profile and decent bat tool (at least as the scouts see it) the hope is that given the opportunity and a bit more experience he can blossom into at least a very capable big league ballplayer.





But another factor is that the team did decide to buy out the last season of long-time starting catcher Zacarias Martell's contract and El Paso offered the Brewers 25-year old catcher Willie Ortega, who is a gifted defender behind the plate and has the potential to be at least near league average offensively at the plate. He is also considered a dedicated, hard working professional.




In addition to Ortega, the Brewers got 23-year old outfielder Eric Dougherty, who our scouting staff thinks is better than he has been given credit for nationally, with a plus bat, including potentially elite ability to avoid striking out (though not a great propensity to draw a walk), with plus defense in left and a chance to be a quite capable center fielder, and good raw speed, though just average skills on the base paths. In addition, he has the reputation for a great work ethic and low greed. He'll start his Brewers career at AA Nashville and is already developed enough that his floor is almost surely that of a 4th outfielder while his ceiling is to be a solid outfield starter in the big leagues.

The third player the Brewers got was a 23-year old left-handed reliever with some slight potential, but most likely will be organizational filler.

In addition to DiCesare, the Dawgs get 25-year old catcher Casey Davis, who is due for a chance to crack a big league team as a pretty fair backup catcher but was not likely to make the Brewers club. The Dawgs also get the very young (turned 18 in August) infielder/outfielder Federico Martinez, who has plus power potential and is a very good base runner but has very little else to recommend him as a potential big league player.

[BirdWatcher]

There have been some rather intriguing trades pulled off recently in the WPK (not involving Denver), two of which involve a team shipping off an aging star player for a package of prospects and the third saw two talented younger players switch teams.



We will start with the latter, in which the Philadelphia Mud Hens traded from a surplus- power-hitting first basemen, to fill a need in center field, while the Jacksonville Wolf Pack got a tremendously gifted 25-year old first sacker who was an All-Star last season while also clearing up space for a young star center fielder, Tim Evans, who looks ready to be an offensive force in the SJL, even if not a tremendous defensive player. Philly already had Mike Lovett, who led the league in RBI (139) in 1979 when he put up 6.6 WAR in his second season with Philly after coming over in a trade with Denver, so Paul Lewis was expendable and in Mike Florack they gain an excellent defensive center fielder who is only 25, is a fan favorite, has elite speed, and is a pretty solid hitter as well.

Upshot: good trade that makes sense for both teams. (The two other players that Jacksonville netted in the deal are not likely to develop into big league players.)



The Brooklyn Aces took another step to solidify their rotation by trading for yet another grizzled veteran who is durable and has been consistently good (even great, at times, having won the SJL Pitcher of the Year award in 1973) in Mike Stagner. By trading Stagner the Los Angeles Spinners, who have a middle of the league farm system, gained 4 prospects. Though to be honest, none of them look likely to wow anyone. Still, they all have some skill that if it develops and they add a few more tools around it could propel them to some sort of big league role, with outfielder Ryan Whited having great speed and gap power, infielder Jeff Davey being a defensive whiz (but also a disruptive influence), starting pitcher Miguel Valdez having nasty 98-100 mph stuff and a nasty screwball, and outfielder Tom Bradshaw having massive power bat potential. So maybe one of them will exceed their current projection.




And finally, the Charlotte Sting traded away long-time team captain and star outfielder Jose Gutierrez to the El Paso Dawgs, also for 4 prospects. The 30-year old Gutierrez has had a career resurgence since being moved from center field to left field and had a 6.2 season with the 3rd place Sting in 1981. In addition to his great leadership skills he is a premium contact hitter who also has a little pop, he is one of the best base stealers and base runners in the game, and he is a plus defender in left (9.1 ZR in '81) though with a weak throwing arm. For a team like the Dawgs, who just barely fell short in their effort to take the SJL West pennant, largely because of poor defense and an underperforming lineup, this is a great pick up.

As for Charlotte, likely the best player they got in this deal is starting pitcher Alex Canty, who is durable and still developing with a chance to be a decent back end of the rotation arm (his poor control will hold him back from more likely). Lefty reliever Joe Littleton has an electric arm (99-101 mph, 9 stuff with 10 potential and a 10 fastball- again on a scale of 1-10) but he also profiles as fragile and has almost no control of his pitches. Eddie Adams could be a utility infielder and David Carter is just a throw-in, though one with great makeup who should at least make his minor league teammates better. It's not a horrible trade for Charlotte with power/speed guy Eddie Evans taking over in left but it is hard to replace a guy like Gutierrez and I don't think they have even come close to doing so.
But good on the Dawgs!

[BirdWatcher]

The latest Hall of Fame voting results have been announced and the great Portland middle infielder Andy "Lemonhead" Wilson, the WPK's first dominant superstar, fell just shy of getting enough votes for Hall induction in his third time on the ballot.



While he still has many years to earn induction the path will likely get tougher going forward, with sure first ballot inductees like Jake Harris and Cheol-han Lee hitting the ballot next time around to be followed by Jesus Casiano and Jamel McNeil on the 1984 ballot, Nate Bennett (the career home run leader) in 1985, though at this time the 1986 ballot looks weaker and if Wilson can hang around until then he just might have a chance at that time.

A pair of great relievers, Pat Brooks in his second year of eligibility and Benni Heregger in his first, had fine showings but are unlikely to ever earn induction. Another solid closer who had his best years as a member of the Denver Brewers and was a 6-time All-Star, Miguel Solis, did not get enough votes to move onto a second ballot and sees his hopes, small as they were, dashed.
Two-time MGL Pitcher of the Year Jose Santos, one of the more beloved figures of his generation. garnered votes on 41.4% of the ballots submitted this year but again, with his more spectacular counterparts Harris and Lee eligible next year, the chances of Santos getting in anytime soon, if ever, are probably not great.

(Back to Wilson: there are rumblings that the WPK is looking at naming the various minor leagues in honor of former WPK players and that Andy Wilson is a prime candidate for being honored in this way.)

[BirdWatcher]

The Montreal Royals, coming off their second season as a WPK franchise, and having taken a big step backwards from their surprising MGL pennant winning 1980 season, traded away veteran starting pitcher Derrick Morant to the San Antonio Keys yesterday and in exchange received a promising, if under-developed 23-year old second baseman in Jose Esquivel, currently ranked as the 61st best prospect in the game. Esquivel will need to greatly improve his bat to ball skills to take advantage of his impressive power potential and great eye and with just acceptable defensive tools his bat will need to carry him.




As for the reigning SJL champs, Morant provides another capable and proven arm to a rotation that includes the 1981 SJL Pitcher of the Year Steven Wells (who, unfortunately, has injury proneness issues), 23-year old control Cuban-born control specialist Humberto Ramirez, and innings eating left-hander Michael Noland, who just turned 27 in mid-October and may be the most reliable starter on the team.

With the level of talent already on this team and a solidified rotation, and then given that top prospect Jaylen Watkins (#29 prospect in WPK), a third baseman with well above average all-around tools and elite makeup (a future captain, perhaps) is WPK ready, the Keys should remain the team to beat for the foreseeable future in the SJL West.

[BirdWatcher]

The Detroit Falcons, having had a disastrous 1981 season, finishing last in the MGL East and losing 102 games, needed an offensive upgrade at third base. By trading two players to the Chicago Fire to get 26-year old John Miller they accomplished that, but not by a great deal, and likely at too high a price.

Miller, after a strong rookie campaign in 1979 when he had an OPS+ of 123 and put up 4.2 WAR, has proven to be a weak offensive player who strikes out far too much and doesn't put bat to ball enough to reach his strong power potential. He managed a 100 OPS+ in 1981 to improve a bit on his 1980 2.3 WAR season (2.6 WAR in 1981). He is a strong defender but certainly not an upgrade in that area over the very defensively strong Steve Goldberg, who started just 28 games at that position in 1981 and had an OPS+ of just 78. The fact is that the Falcons just never settled on a third baseman in 1981, with five different players started at least 16 games at the position, and the highest total being 49 (utility infielder Bill Hotop). Miller is a solid starter at the position. So on that level, the Falcons probably improved themselves a bit.


But in the process the Chicago Fire got a defensively gifted young catcher in Manfred de Korte (granted, he was stuck behind star starting catcher Zach D'Amico) and 23-year old outfielder Alex Martinez, who looks like he could develop into a solid starting left fielder in the WPK with good all-around tools, particularly elite speed and base-path disruption abilities. This gives the Fire a strong catching tandem (they also have a great defender and clubhouse influence in 27-year old Victor Munoz), it allows them to move budding star George Brown (who had a 2.0 WAR rookie season) back to his natural position of third base after he played mostly right field last season, with not great results.






For this Chicago team who showed signs of improvement last year and currently have the top ranked farm system in the WPK, this looks like a smart trade that should yield dividends down the line as they look to develop into a legitimate contender in the next 2-4 years.

[BirdWatcher]

Sad news in the WPK world today (February 15th, 1982) as former WPK second baseman and long-time Chandler College Head Coach Willie Cardoza has lost his life at the age of 56, reportedly from a heart attack as a result of untreated hypertension.



Cardoza was already at an advanced age as a professional ballplayer at the time of the establishment of the WPK and therefore only played one season with the El Paso Dawgs at the age of 39 before retiring from the game.




But starting in 1974 he was the head coach of the Chandler College Crawdads baseball club in Chandler, Arizona. While Cardoza's 8-year collegiate coaching career produced a winning record just slightly over .500 and no collegiate championships for the Crawdads, he did have an excellent reputation for teaching hitting techniques and for helping his young players develop strong fundamentals and baseball mechanics.

At the time of his death his carried 200 pounds on his 5'10'' frame and those who knew him well said that he was committed whole-heartedly to leading his team and helping prepare his kids for big league careers perhaps to the point of neglecting his own well-being and health. It may have contributed to his pre-mature death, but at least it can always be said that he died having spent most of his life fully involved in the sport that he passionately loved.

[BirdWatcher]

Ten games into the 1982 pre-season exhibition schedule, and the reigning SJL East champs, the Pittsburgh Roadrunners, have already had some very bad luck with injuries to their premiere outfielder.

First, Matt Van der Heyden, the SJL MVP the past two seasons and almost surely the best player in the game today, went down with elbow inflammation early in the 5th game of the pre-season and will miss much of the exhibition schedule.



And then, yesterday, left fielder Larry Leshane, a 3-time All-Star who had a 6.1 WAR season in 1981, suffered broken bone in his elbow, and he will be out for the entire season. Fortunately the Roadrunners have some depth in their outfield ranks and 26-year old Victor Oseguera will be given the first crack at the starting job in left. Oseguera has a decent bat and is much better defensively than Leshane, but Leshane's potent bat will be missed in the middle of that lineup.

On a more tragic note, the Boston Berserkers talented young two-way player Jason Walkinshaw, who at age 24 has suffered a series of injuries in his professional career, was diagnosed with the second torn rotator cuff in 3 years and it appears he will be stepping away from a promising career very prematurely.

[BirdWatcher]

We have arrived at Opening Day of 1982 in the WPK and the prognosticators have spoken, delivering their rather detailed predictions for the about to commence season.


Shoeless Joe League:






The San Antonio Keys are expected to take their third straight SJL West title in spite of being predicted to have the highest team ERA in the SJL. But with superstar middle infielders like Bud Lindsay (how long before his wrecked injury prone status leads to disaster?) and John Mussaw, power-hitting John Freeman, now having been moved from the outfield to first base, and speedy center fielder Zach McClelland, they are expected to outscore most of their opponents by a good margin.
El Paso will once again likely be their primary competitor for the SJL West pennant, but in the relatively weak division most of the teams are expected to be clumped somewhere near the .500 mark.

Over in the SJL East, the feeling is that the Philadelphia Mud Hens will finally earn a post-season entry with veteran great second baseman Xiao-mei Mah leading the way. Much depends upon the 35-year old fragile player maintaining his health as well as young left-handed starting pitcher Bryce Ferland (also fragile) of whom a breakout year is expected. Another young pitcher, Ron Carmouche, who threw a no-hitter last season, also is known to have some injury risk.
The Pittsburgh Roadrunners, having recently lost one of their key offensive contributors (Larry Leshane) for the season, are expected to finish just behind Philly, with the best offense in the division but a more questionable pitching staff. They still have the current best player in the game (Matt Van der Heyden) plus the most dynamic young first baseman in the WPK (Nick Johnson) and their 23-year old center fielder Brendan Beaver is likely to improve his already strong game with more experience. But the rotation is either old or fragile or both. And with the 17th ranked farm system (out of 24) there aren't a lot of significant reinforcements coming soon.
As with the SJL West, parity is expected to be the dominant force in the SJL East, and so don't be surprised if a few key injuries or the emergence of a new star player or just someone having a career year means that pretty much any of these teams could rise up to capture a pennant and a chance at the KCS.

When it comes to individual performances, most of the usual suspects are expected to dominate but watch for the emergence of Jacksonville's Tim Evans, who will be turning 24 at the end of the month. Evans doesn't likely have the defensive chops to stay in centerfield but with his elite hitting tools and speed he should be a star corner outfielder soon.


Moonlight Graham League:




The Denver Brewers are expected to win the MGL West after seeing the upstart Portland Wild Things narrowly edge them out last season. The biggest factor is likely the Denver pitching, particularly that deep and talented starting pitching. Jim Atwell is expected to remain one of the dominant aces in the game while veteran Sadahige Kawasaki is thought to have a good chance for a bit of a comeback season (not that he was really that weak in 1981) at the age of 34 (he turns 34 in early May) and young Eric Maisch, not long ago the #2 prospect in the WPK, is expected to start his emergence as yet another great Ace in the Brewers rotation. (And guess what- spoiler alert- the next wave is coming and sure enough yet another Brewer starting pitcher has emerged as the 3rd best prospect in the WPK now that Maisch has graduated from prospect status.) The main question with the Brewers will be the production from an unsettled and injury-prone infield. But veteran first baseman Brett Taranto is expected to once again be a league leader offensively (while providing Gold Glove caliber defense at first).
The San Francisco Velocity, who got off a great start in 1981 only to fade in the second half, are thought to be on the rise again. They have a very talented young outfield trio (though two of them are disruptive forces in the clubhouse) and a deep pitching staff who gets to play their home games in the best pitcher's park in the MGL. They are expected to be the only team in the MGL to put up better pitching numbers than the Brewers (though in fairness, the Brewers play in a much better hitter's park).
The reigning WPK champs Portland are expected to experience some regression this year (a somewhat beat up and not very deep rotation one of their main challenges) but it would be dangerous to count out the Wild Things, particularly given that they almost surely have the best up the middle defense in the game (shortstop Willie Romero with a 51.5 ZR in 1981, second baseman Justin Ficklin 9.4 ZR after a 13.2 ZR season in 1980, young center fielder Quincy Schultz 19.8 ZR, and catcher Kyle Luker with 3.4 ZR and a CERA of 2.63).

In the MGL East the Brooklyn Aces are expected to repeat but there is some hope that the Detroit Falcons, who not many years ago were looking like an emerging team only to see the bottom fall out the past two seasons (especially 1981, when they lost 102 games), might be reemerging as a contender. John Hemmah had a down year in 1981 but is expected to bounce back to be a strong contender for the batting title in 1982 and the rotation is anchored once again by 3-time MGL Pitcher of the Year Aaron McNally.

As for individual player performance predictions in the MGL, while some of these players may have flown below the radar a bit (Chris Caldwell of Brooklyn, Frank Ortega of Oklahoma City, Mike Sudbrink of L.A.) for the most part everyone on this list was very good last season (or, in the case of John Hemmah, prior to last season). The one new name here is bat-first outfielder Eric Hammock, who missed most of last season after having been traded from Denver to Charlotte (he is now considered fragile).

Among MGL pitchers, it is mostly experienced veterans who are expected to once again be at the forefront along with some of the younger stars who are already well established- the Joe's (Barbour and Shetler) and Jim Atwell. The biggest new name is Denver's Eric Maisch, as mentioned previously.

[BirdWatcher]

Let's take a look at the latest WPK prospects lists mostly from the perspective of the team rankings:




As you can see, the two first wave expansion clubs- the Chicago Fire and the Houston Cavaliers- are both in the top 3 on this list. Chicago has the top ranked pitcher in Mike Low and Houston's top prospect, Alex Raymos, is only listed at #5 but if the Brewers scouting staff is right, this kid is going to own the WPK soon with his absolutely elite all-around bat tools and strong leadership makeup. The lowly Phoenix Speed Devils, who have lost at least 100 games in three of the past five seasons (and in the other two lost 97 each season) has the 2nd ranked farm system, so perhaps better days are ahead. Their 19-year old future Gold Glove award winning center fielder Dan Johnson is considered the best prospect in the game (his not great bat to ball skills might hold him back though, according to Denver scouts) and they have some solid pitching prospects on the list after that. Of course, Phoenix Municipal Stadium is death to pitchers.

Speaking of pitching, our Denver Brewers have the 4th best farm system on the strength of starting pitching prospects- 5 of them in the top 100- and this in spite of Denver having put together 8 straight 100 win or better seasons (holy crap, I'm not sure I knew the streak was this long) and not having had a losing season since 1967.

And hey, look at that, with the Denver Brewers having recently had the #2 top prospect graduate to the big league club in Eric Maisch, last year's 1st round pick, Mike Costa, is already up at AAA Chester and is now considered the 2nd best pitching prospect in the WPK, 3rd best prospect overall. Watch for this kid later this season. As you can see, he isn't necessarily a well-rounded hurler the way Maisch is, but Costa looks like a guy who will simply mow batters down with his elite level pitch repertoire and nasty as it comes stuff.




But back to the team strength list to wrap up. It certainly looks like contending teams like the Philadelphia Mud Hens, El Paso Dawgs, Brooklyn Aces, and San Antonio Keys better take full advantage of their current strengths as they have some of the least promising prospects in the game. And how sad it must be to be a Montreal Royals fan. After their surprising MGL pennant in their first year as a club (1980) they have not only dropped to the bottom of the standings but they also have the 20th ranked farm system, with their top prospect a pitcher with serious injury risks.

[BirdWatcher]

The Denver Brewers are off to a good start in the first week of the 1982 WPK regular season, going 5-2, and among the many players who deserve credit, none perhaps was bigger than first baseman Brett Taranto.



For his excellent week he took home MGL Player of the Week honors and is currently at the top of the leader boards in batting average. (Yes, it's just one week and this is an extremely small sample size, but for a guy who has now won three MGL batting titles in his career this is a fine start.)

Other Brewers off to great starts are Val Guzman (.500/.609/1.167) who hit the first inside the park homerun of the Brewers season and has 2 homers to go with 4 doubles and a triple, third baseman Craig Hoover (.407/.448/.704), whose 5 doubles lead the WPK, and Joe McPhillips (.429/.429/.500).
Pretty much the entire pitching staff has done well so far other than Austin Bond, who gave up 5 runs on 10 hits over 5 2/3rds innings in his lone start thus far.

Batters off to slow starts include 3-time running MGL MVP Antonio Acuna (.182/.182/.318), who hit a massive home run in his 2nd at-bat of the season but has done little since, and shortstop Shawn York (.267/.294/.333.)

Longtime Brewer Bobby Erbakan, it should be noted, started the season on the IL with a back issue (herniated disc) and isn't expected to be ready to play for a few more weeks. In his absence, the newly acquired Dustin Moore has done a fine job taking his place, both at the plate (.308/.308/.346) and even more so in the field (already 1.4 ZR).

Elsewhere around the WPK, the Brooklyn Aces and Baltimore Lords have both gotten off to a great start in their quest to win the MGL East title, tied at 6-1. The St. Louis Redbirds are in a tie with Denver also at 5-2. The Boston Berserkers are at the top of the standings, also 5-2, in the SJL East and the Seattle Alligators and San Antonio Keys are tied atop the SJL West at 4-3 each.

The worst starts so far: the Los Angeles Spinners and Phoenix Speed Devils, both at 1-6.

[BirdWatcher]

There are a number of pretty significant individual milestones that players might reach this season in the WPK.

Let's start with a few pitching categories, especially wins.




Barring some sort of unforeseen catastrophe, the Washington Night Train's veteran number 1 starter Jose Casillas will soon join the 200 win club. He has already won his first two starts and remains one of the more reliable starters in the game. Casillas has never won a Pitcher of the Year award and remarkably has only been a All-Star twice in his 13+ year career. But he is a fan favorite and has quietly put together an excellent, possibly Hall of Fame, career. His career 199-144 record has largely come with the Night Train, although he did pitch for the San Antonio Keys for 2 1/2 seasons before coming back home to Washington in a trade mid-season 1981. Casillas will likely become just the 5th player thus far in WPK history to reach 200 wins and given his age and relative good health combined with skills that show little sign of diminishment (elite curveball, excellent slider, above average stuff, movement, and control), he has a decent chance of eventually landing at the top of the career wins list (currently led by the recently retired Jesse Hartong at 230).

Somewhat less likely to make it is 36-year old Devin Washburn, who is currently pitching at AAA on a minor league free agent contract in the San Francisco Velocity organization. Still, Washburn is considered an Iron Man, and is not completely without merit as a pitcher, so a late-season promotion is not out of the question and he does just need a pair of wins to get to 200.

Mike Stagner has averaged just under 16 wins his last 3 seasons and given that he is pitching for a contender in Brooklyn, remains durable, and has solid skills still, he has a good chance to reach 200 this season and if not almost surely will in early 1983.

Manny Alvarado is out of commission with a torn triceps muscle and although he still has some skills at age 38 it might be a long shot for him to get the 17 wins he needs to get to 200 before he has to call it quits on his career. He definitely won't make it this year as he isn't even expected to be in action for at least 3 more months.

Mike Stagner will almost surely reach the 2,000 career strikeouts mark in one of the next few starts.
But former Brewers Erik Sloan is far less likely to ever get there.
Brooklyn starter Joel Travino, who has led the league in K's each of the last 5 seasons is an Iron Man, continues to blow batters away, and should breeze past 2,000 next season at least, if not yet in 1981.

Veteran reliever Isaiah Scott needs 19 saves to get to 200. But he's 40 years old and almost never gets an opportunity to close out games anymore, so it's unlikely he makes it, this year or at all.
He should however get to 700 career appearances soon.
But that's nothing compared to the Denver Brewers closer Tim Shore, who is just 6 away from 900. The career leaders is future Hall of Famer Jamel McNeil at 1064 so if Shore continues on his current pace and with his current level of success he might get there in before his career ends. Though it is probably a bit of a reach.

Ben Bakeman is only 33 and has never suffered any kind of injury in his professional career, so not only will be blow past 600 games this year but he might ultimately challenge McNeil's career total.


On to the batters:



The great Lazaro Lowndes needs 60 hits to get to 3,000, which would make him just the second player in WPK history to reach that mark. He isn't the player he once was, but just last season he collected 164 hits and the lowest single season total of his long career was 116 (in an injury shortened 1980 season). So it's pretty hard to believe that he won't get to 3,000 somewhere perhaps a bit past the middle of this season.

Among the players approaching lesser milestones in this category, the one likely with the best chance to eventually get to 3,000 is the durable two-time league MVP Chris Tobin, who is off to a slow start this season but remains a really fine hitter.



Ju-au Ju needs just 9 homers this year to get to 400 where he would join only the great Nate Bennett (452). But Ju turns 40 at the end of July, is fragile, and has only had 2 at-bats thus far this season. He might get there, he might not. Almost surely this season is his last shot though.

40-year old Nick Haran will likely get to 350 soon (he hit 16 in 1981 between 2 teams and 22 the season before) and still has a chance, though much slimmer, of getting to 1,500 career runs scored and 1,500 career bases on balls.



And several players should get to milestones in career stolen bases, led by Lazaro Lowndes who needs just 8 to get to 550. He is unlikely though to ever catch Josh Jenkins or Felix Lopez, who are tied at the top of the career leader boards with 654 each.

Detroit's John Hemmah is young and will fly by 300 career stolen bases soon so he has a chance to challenge Jenkins and Lopez eventually.

[BirdWatcher]

Six-time All-Star third baseman Kasey O'Neil picked up his 2,000th hit yesterday in his 14th big league season. O'Neil, who played for the Boston Berserkers for his first 12 seasons and is now a member of the San Francisco Velocity, has been a consistent performer for years and shows up every day to play, having played in at least 151 games every season of his career from the age of 21 to now. He was out for 4 games last season with a case of bronchitis, but other than that, he is a true Iron Man. And with all of that consistency, durability, and longevity, O'Neil now becomes the 22nd player in WPK history to collect at least 2,000 career hits.



On the subject of durability, for Baltimore Lords fans that sadly is not a description they will likely ever hear said of their star center fielder Mike Schimmel. A day after seeing his 20-game hitting streak (stretching back to the 1981 season) end, the 4-time Gold Glove winner and 1 time All-Star suffered a season ending torn PCL. He and his team were both off to a great start and his absence is the first major challenge for the Lords this season. Fortunately for the Baltimore club, they have a pretty good young prospect in Noel McMillan who should be ready to step in and at least hold his own, with an above-average all-around hit tool, elite speed, and good defensive chops.

Let's take a quick look at the standings at the end of the second full week of the 1982 season:




As you can see, the Brewers stay hot, getting some nice performances this week from new guys catcher Willie Ortega (.333/.400/.667), who went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored, 4 RBI, hitting his 1st double and 2nd home run of the season in the Brewers Saturday evening 9-2 win over Brooklyn, and second baseman Dustin Moore (.356/.396/.467).
The Brewers also got great starts from Sadahige Kawasaki (3-0, 1.61), Jim Atwell (0-2, 3.00), who gave up 1 earned run on 7 hits with 11 K's in 8 innings pitched in a heartbreaking extra inning loss to Brooklyn on Friday night. And then second year man Eric Maisch (3-0, 1.61) continued his brilliant start to the 1982 season as he one-upped Atwell with 8 shutout innings, giving up 4 hits and no walks while striking out 12 batters in the Brewers Sunday afternoon 7-0 shutout of the Aces. (Maisch was pulled having thrown 109 pitches with the game well in hand and the Brewer manager not wanting to take any chances with the young man who isn't known to have great stamina and is still developing at age 22.)

Val Guzman now leads the MGL in batting at .500 and Brett Taranto is second at .480.

[BirdWatcher]

Jose Casillas became just the 5th pitcher in WPK history to get to 200 career victories when he went the distance in yesterdays 9-2 win over Seattle, giving up just 2 runs on 5 hits with 11 ground ball outs induced and an economical 109 pitches thrown.




On the same day, Denver ace Jim Atwell finally picked up his first victory of the 1982 season, going the distance for an 8-hit shutout of the red-hot Baltimore Lords in Baltimore as the Brewers took game 3 of the series 6-0 and took the series 2 games to 1.
This after the Brewers saw the Lords come back from a 6-2 deficit in game 1 only to score 4 runs in the 8th inning and then get the walk-off win in the bottom of the 9th. And then it took 14 innings for the Brewers to get 3-2 win in game 2.

[BirdWatcher]

Let's start with the current standings as we head into the last week of April:




As you can see, the Baltimore Lords remain the team with the best record in the WPK, and quite a bit of credit can be given to this guy:




It is the second week in a row that Mustard, a fan favorite and clubhouse leader, earned the MGL Player of the Week honors. The 1978 MGL Rookie of the Year is a 4-time All-Star who has finished each of the last two seasons with a 5.5 WAR and while not really excelling at any one thing in particular is a strong all-around player.


The Brewers lead the MGL West largely on the strength of this starting rotation:



They also continue to get great production from Brett Taranto (.447/.463/.658), who did see a 20-game hitting streak end this past week, and who is tied in WAR with Mustard and St. Louis third baseman Steve Whitehead at 1.6 to lead the league. Left fielder Val Guzman (.393/.469/.643) has cooled off a bit while new guy Dustin Moore (.362/.413/.464), getting nearly all the playing time at second base with Bobby Erbakan just now getting ready for a rehab assignment at AAA Chester, if anything got even more impressive this past week. In addition to his fine bat so far he has been one of the best fielders on the club thus far and has a ZR of 1.7.

On the other hand, Antonio Acuna (.226/.279/.452), who has won the MGL MVP award the past 3 seasons, continues to scuffle at the plate, though he is a marvel in right field and has thrown out 3 baserunners thus far while putting up a solid 0.8 ZR.
And left fielder/center fielder Matt Catlett (.241/.268/.296), who was an All-Star for the first time last season, is really scuffling and so far has a -0.4 WAR. Part of the problem is that the team was playing him in center field a good deal of the time and it is becoming clear that he can't handle the challenges there (-2.5 ZR) and it is hard for him to push Val Guzman for time in left the way Val is hitting.