A Fictional Fling beginning in 1961

[Brad K]

I didn't realize Boyer hit so well until I looked him up. High BA is .329 (in 1961) and he had several other years over .300..

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Brad K

I didn't realize Boyer hit so well until I looked him up. High BA is .329 (in 1961) and he had several other years over .300..

Groat ended up winning the batting title with a .346 average. The Pirates would then reward him, by trading him to St. Louis for Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon. The Pirates would then sign Woodie Held to a 7 year deal on 12/28/1961, Groat is a free agent, so it will be interesting to see if the Cardinal sign him to a new deal.

The Cardinal also made a splash during the off season by signing the 1961 AL home run king Roger Maris to a 8 year contract worth $2,158,000. The Cardinals start the 62 season with Groat hitting 2nd, Boyer hitting 3rd and Maris hitting cleanup. Ole Stan is penciled in to bat 8th as the season begins.

[Brad K]

Woodie Held to play SS? It will be interesting to see how long he can field with dev on and no recalc.

[Brad K]

Starting in 1961 the Pirates should have good market size, fan interest, etc. Historically they were 3rd in MLB in attendance in 1960 and, at least in the saves I've started in 1961, that gives them good finances for the start year. So what happened here that they're trading Mazeroski and Groat when they're going to be FAs? Bad attendance this year?

[Reed]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Groat ended up winning the batting title with a .346 average. The Pirates would then reward him, by trading him to St. Louis for Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon. The Pirates would then sign Woodie Held to a 7 year deal on 12/28/1961, Groat is a free agent, so it will be interesting to see if the Cardinal sign him to a new deal.

The Cardinal also made a splash during the off season by signing the 1961 AL home run king Roger Maris to a 8 year contract worth $2,158,000. The Cardinals start the 62 season with Groat hitting 2nd, Boyer hitting 3rd and Maris hitting cleanup. Ole Stan is penciled in to bat 8th as the season begins.

IRL Maris was traded to the Cardinals in 67 and I became a fan. My first game was in 1961 and Maris had 3 hits including a home run. Also threw out Aparicio at home after tagging up. What kind of defensive rating does Maris have?

[David Watts]

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Woodie Held to play SS? It will be interesting to see how long he can field with dev on and no recalc.

Yeah Woodie's a blue 70 at 2B, a greeenish 60 at SS and a greenish 65 at 3B.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Starting in 1961 the Pirates should have good market size, fan interest, etc. Historically they were 3rd in MLB in attendance in 1960 and, at least in the saves I've started in 1961, that gives them good finances for the start year. So what happened here that they're trading Mazeroski and Groat when they're going to be FAs? Bad attendance this year?

They drew 1,459,802 last year, averaging 18,022 per game. Only teams to average more than them were the Yankees and the Giants. They have the second highest payroll in the league at $2,705,842. Just under a hundred thousand less than the Yankees.

[David Watts]

Good news to report. Pete Rose finished out the year for the Reds and he is now the starter at 2B to start the 62 season. So he didn't disappear back to the minors. Tommy Harper is still on the Reds roster as well.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by David Watts

They drew 1,459,802 last year, averaging 18,022 per game. Only teams to average more than them were the Yankees and the Giants. They have the second highest payroll in the league at $2,705,842. Just under a hundred thousand less than the Yankees.

Better than RL, 1,199,128

OOTP gives the Pirates a high payroll in 1961 due to many players having good years in historical 1960, It really hurts the team if they don't continue winning 1961 and on.

[Brad K]

Originally Posted by David Watts

Good news to report. Pete Rose finished out the year for the Reds and he is now the starter at 2B to start the 62 season. So he didn't disappear back to the minors. Tommy Harper is still on the Reds roster as well.

Maybe someone will run over Rose at 2B and turn him into a .230 hitter.

[David Watts]

I'm a little over a month into the 62 season and last years champs, the San Francisco Giants are sitting dead last in the NL. It' early, but it's still very surprising to see a team with such a potent lineup struggling so bad. Last year's Cy Young award winner, Juan Marichal has been just awful to start the season. Willie Mays isn't hitting like he did last year either, nor is Harvey Kuenn. Cepeda and McCovey are still crushing it, so if Mays, Kuenn and Marichal figure things out, I expect the Giants to turn things around quickly. One player that isn't on the Giants roster this year that was a flat out star last year is Felipe Alou. Alou drove in 100+ runs last year, but he's sitting in AAA ball this season. He's absolutely crushing the ball at this level, so the Giants would be silly to leave him there. Like last year when the Giants were using Willie McCovey as a pinch hitter, Harvey Kuenn is the problem. Unlike last year when Harvey was having a great season, this year Kuenn isn't doing so well. The Giants have Cepeda, Mays and Kuenn in the their outfield. They would probably benefit by having that outfiedl be Cepeda, Mays and Alou. Kuenn could be the 4th outfielder and also play some in the infield.

The Phillies currently sit in 1st place with the Reds, Milwaukee and Chicago all very close behind. Another big surprise so far has to be the Mets playing .500 ball.

The Baltimore Orioles lead the AL by 4 games over the Boston Red Sox. Baltimore got out to a great start winning 13 of their first 14 games. They have cooled off a little as of late. The Detroit Tigers sit in 3rd place,

A couple of rookies have exploded onto the scene this year with both performing like seasoned vets to start the season. Boog Powell is absolutely crushing the ball for the Baltimore Oroiles. Powell kept his average over .400 for most of April and he's still hitting in the high .300's, He's hitting for power and driving in runs as well. In Philadelphia a youngster by the namd of Dick Allen is making quite the impression in his debut. Allen too is hitting for power and driving in runs at a healthy clip. He is second in the league to Billy Williams for the league home run lead.


So far the Mantle, Aaron and Mays have gotten off to quiet starts. Mantle is hitting for above .300, but his power is down. Aaron got off to a blah start to the season, but has been heating up. His average is now back over .300 and he's up to 5 home runs on the season.

[Reed]

You are bringing back memories. In 1964 I lived in San Mateo about 40 miles south of San Francisco. My dad and I went to a Giant’s night game. I don’t remember anything about the game except it was cold and windy and Marichal’s high leg kick.

A piece of trivia. Barry Bonds and Tom Brady went to the same high school in San Mateo. Not at the same time of course.

[David Watts]

The New York Mets continue to defy the odds and play .500+ baseball. In fact, a mini winning streak had them all the way up to 2nd place in the National League standings. The Mets are hitting .270 as a team so far. Meanwhile the other NL expansion team is playing more like an expansion team is expected to play. Houston sits dead last in the NL.

Pittsburgh is now the top team in the NL. Baltimore sits on top of the AL, but their lead is down to 2 games over the Boston Red Sox. Minnesota has been hot of late and now sit in 3rd place ahead of the 4th place Detroit Tigers.

[David Watts]

Just started the month of June. Dick Allen continues to have quite the rookie season for the Phillies. Allen has 18 home runs, 40+ RBI and he's hitting roughly .305. The Phillies are in 3rd place behind the 1st place Pirates and 2nd place Cincinnati Reds.

The AL race has he Orioles 1 game in front of the Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox are now 3 1/2 games back.

The AL batting race is rather interesting right now as Carl Yastrzemski is tied with Mike Hershberger(Chi) for the lead, both are hitting .362. Wondering how long this Hershberger cat can keep it going. Yaz had a nice season last year hitting above .300 for the entire season.

The Mets remain .500 entering June. The Giants have climbed out of the NL cellar and now sit a couple games above the .500 mark. The Dodgers got hot climbing as high as 2nd place in the NL. Tommy and Willie Davis are both having career years in LA. Too bad Don Drysdale went down early with a severe injury that will keep him out of the lineup for the majority of the 62 season.

[Brad K]

With the Bucs in first it looks like trading pending FAs worked out for them.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Brad K

With the Bucs in first it looks like trading pending FAs worked out for them.

Clemente is just a monster. Just had a 20+ game hitting streak end. Hitting roughly .360 so far.

[Brad K]

Who are the regulars?

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Who are the regulars?

Will post when I get home from work. Willie Stargell isn't starting, but he's making the best of his playing time. Guessing here, but I think he has 6 home runs so far. Keep meaning to catch a Pirates series, but keep getting side tracked.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Brad K

Who are the regulars?

Roberto Clemente RF
Bob Skinner LF
Norm Siebern CF
Dick Stuart 1B
Smokey Burgess C
Woodie Held 2B
Bob Bailey 3B
Gene Alley SS

Don Hoak and Charlie Neal are both injured

Rotation
Bob Veale
Bob Friend
Harvey Haddix
Earl Francis
Vern Law

Veale, Friend, Haddix and Law all 5 or more wins. Veale, Friend and Haddix all have ERA's below 3.

Bullpen
Diomedes Olivo ST
Joe Gibbon SU
Art Fowler MR
Jack Lamabe MR
Bill Kunkel MR