The W.P. Kinsella League random update thread

[BirdWatcher]

The Denver Brewers fall short in Game 1 on the road against the powerhouse San Antonio Keys but perhaps even more devastating news is that veteran starting pitcher Sadahige Kawasaki was forced to leave after recording one out in the 6th inning with an as yet unspecified injury. Brewer nation holds its collective breath that the injury isn't serious. Top pitching prospect Mike Costa took over, getting his first taste of post-season baseball in the WPK, and acquitted himself quite well, giving up just 1 hit and striking out 3 batters in 2 2/3rds scoreless innings pitched. Dustin Moore had a good game for the visitors, going 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI and hit his 3rd double of the post-season.

[BirdWatcher]

Well, give the Brewers credit for battling in this one and forcing extra innings, even if the final result is the same and they now trail 2 games to none in the series. At least now the scene shifts to Denver and maybe they can redeem themselves a bit at home.

Starter Bryant Cox was not good- giving up 5 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks in his 4 innings pitched. The bullpen was nearly perfect though (Austin Bond, Paul Johnson, Rand Pinti, and Tim Shore all pitching at least an inning without allowing any runs) until Jeff Mariani allowed the game-winning run in the 11th.

Still no word on Sadahige Kawaski's diagnosis or prognosis.

[BirdWatcher]

Well, this isn't good news.



Apparently Sadahige is going to need Tommy John (whoever the heck that is!) surgery and will be out at least 14 months. Certainly complicates things for the rest of the KCS but also opens up some opportunities for Brewers pitching prospects next season.

[BirdWatcher]

As well as he is pitching this post-season even Jim Atwell couldn't completely shut down this ultra-potent San Antonio lineup. But he held them in check just enough to give his teammates and chance to win and they found a way to do so in front of the jubilant hometown crowd.



So far in this series the San Antonio player who has probably hurt the Brewers the most is also one of the least well-known members of this famous lineup: 26-year old left fielder Danny Belmontes. This year, in his first full season with San Antonio (he had 102 plate appearances in 1981 with Charlotte), Belmontes put up a solid 2.9 WAR. Although he didn't do much in the SJL LCS, he has hit 2 home runs against the Brewers and driven in 7 runs in the first 3 games of the KCS.



The Brewers, meanwhile, continue to get production from an unlikely source as well: Russell Fleming. The rookie third baseman/right fielder went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI in today's win and was .333/.375/.733 in the MGL LCS, hitting 2 homers and driving in 5 runs.

[BirdWatcher]

It must be said the Brewers are at least in every game in this KCS, putting up their best fight. But it seems that in the end it may prove that they just don't have enough offensive firepower to keep up with the star-studded San Antonio lineup.
In this one, Eric Maisch struggled early, Danny Belmontes hit yet another home run, and the Brewers mini-rallies later in the game came up short.
The Keys are on the verge of their second WPK championship, which would give them 2 in the past 3 seasons.

[BirdWatcher]

The Brewers build a big lead early in the final game of the season to be played in Centennial Stadium and then very nearly blow it but somehow manage to just barely sneak across the finish line with a 1-run victory.
Joe McPhillips, the Brewers 33-year old veteran center fielder, has quietly had a fine post-season, going .400/.400/.467 in the MGL LCS, and now .323/.312/.645 in the KCS, with his 2 home runs in Game 5 giving him 3 with 5 RBI in this series.




The teams now head back to San Antonio where the Keys just need to win one of these final two match-ups to be crowned WPK champs.

[BirdWatcher]

The Denver Brewers went into Game 6 in San Antonio just hoping somehow to eek out a victory with smoke and mirrors (and as many pitchers as needed) to get to a Game 7 and put the ball into the hands of Jim Atwell with everything on the line.
But it was not to be. Although they did get an early lead and were still leading 3-1 going into the bottom of the 7th, they just couldn't hold down the Keys devastatingly talented lineup enough to take the series to one last, deciding, game.




The San Antonio Keys are your 1982 WPK Champions!

In spite of Denver losing the series, their dynamic first baseman Brett Taranto was named the KCS MVP, having collected 12 hits in 25 at-bats, including 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 1 home run and driving in 7 runs while scoring 4.

[BirdWatcher]

And this is how you lose (in this case, how the San Francisco Velocity, probably the Brewers primary challenger for the MGL West crown next season, lose) a valuable veteran Iron Man member of your rotation.



You know, storylines.

[BirdWatcher]

As we head rapidly in the WPK offseason towards 1983, let's wrap up a few things regarding the 1982 season, starting with the post-season awards.

Among the less prestigious awards, the Denver Brewers did earn one Gold Glove: for the second year in a row Antonio Acuna won this for his terrific play in right field for the Brewers. Among other MGL Gold Glove winners there were no real surprises. The best defensive player in the game currently, Portland shortstop Willie Romero, earned his third straight GG at age 24. His even younger teammate, center fielder Quincy Schultz got his second. The only first time winners in the MGL were Portland starting pitcher Ruben Ramirez (just 23 years old) and Charlotte third baseman Phil Goglin.
In the SJL, San Antonio's dynamic keystone combination, Bud Lindsay at shortstop (7th GG) and John Mussaw (5th GG), were also honored for the defense. Philadelphia's veteran third baseman Juan Mendoza picked up his 8th GG award and Boston catcher Elvis Iniguez earned his 6th. First time winners in the SJL included Boston first baseman Kyle Adams, Houston center fielder Chris Heisler, and Boston right fielder Jose Meraz.

Denver's Brett Taranto was the lone Silver Slugger winner on his team- it is third time winning this award. Los Angeles catcher Jason Ott got his 5th Silver Slugger trophy. Among the first time winners of this award in the MGL were Detroit veteran shortstop Ren-qing Leong, Portland center fielder Quincy Schultz, and Charlotte right fielder Eric Hammock.
Over in the SJL, Boston third baseman Chris Tobin won his 10th Silver Slugger award and San Antonio's Bud Lindsay his 8th. First time winners included veteran starting pitcher Dan Bottom (El Paso), Boston first baseman Kyle Adams, Philadelphia center fielder Mike Florack, and San Antonio right fielder Mike Shervey.

The Shoeless Joe League Rookie of the Year award winner was Pittsburgh's 27-year old right fielder Steven Kelley, who got a chance to shine this year due to the season-ending injury to superstar Matt Van der Heyden.



The Moonlight Graham League Rookie of the Year was Baltimore center fielder Noel McMillan.




The Reliever of the Year in the SJL was Rich Davis of El Paso. This is the first time he has earned this award.



And in the MGL, the Reliever of the Year was the fantastically talented Charlotte Sting closer Vinny Arreola. It is Arreola's first such award but it would not be a surprise if he won a few more before his career is over.

[BirdWatcher]

Now onto the high profile awards, starting with:


Shoeless Joe League Pitcher of the Year:




In an earlier post with about 3 weeks left in the regular season we speculated about who the most likely candidates were for the league MVP and Pitcher of the Year awards were and these mostly turned out to be accurate. While we considered Parker Rayfield, the veteran Philadelphia Mud Hen starting pitcher as a legitimate candidate for the SJL Pitcher of the Year award it was felt that Edgar Lira (Jacksonville) might have the raw stats (win-loss record and ERA) that would give him the award. In fact, Rayfield, in spite of his underwhelming 13-10 record, was awarded with his first Pitcher of the Year honor of his 9 plus season career. He did lead the league in WAR (7.0) and in innings pitched (275.1) and was also the stingiest with the longball (0.2 HR/9). Lira did finish second, and as predicted the Columbus Whalers likely future Hall of Fame lefthander Luis Ramirez also finished in the top 3.

Moonlight Graham League Pitcher of the Year:



We also just missed on our prediction about the MGL Pitcher of the Year award as we thought Denver veteran Sadahige Kawasaki might have the slight edge over 22 (now 23) year-old teammate Eric Maisch. But in this case things like Maisch's 21-4 record, easily the best in the WPK, as well as his 2nd best strikeout total (205), 2nd best ERA (2.44, behind only Kawasaki at 2.38), best K/BB rate (4.6), etc. gave the young hurler his first, but perhaps not last, MGL Pitcher of the Year award. A third Denver hurler, Jim Atwell, finished 4th in the voting, with Oklahoma City's 22-year old Mike Piles finishing a somewhat surprising (but deserved) third.

Shoeless Joe League MVP:



We were spot on though in predicting that San Antonio second baseman John Mussaw would win his first SJL MVP award. He got all 24 first place votes. Philly's breakout star Mike Florack finished 2nd and Pittsburgh catcher Kevin Broadbent 3rd, pretty much exactly as predicted. The great Bud Lindsay, winner of 4 SJL MVP awards in his illustrious career, finished 4th.

Moonlight Graham League MVP:



For the 5th straight year a Denver Brewer was named the MGL MVP. The past three years that honor has gone to right fielder Antonio Acuna. Prior to that, in 1978, first baseman Brett Taranto won his first MGL MVP award. And now he has won his second, getting all but 1 of the first place votes. J.J. Hebert, slugging St. Louis outfielder, got the one that Brett didn't, and finished second in the voting. Other Brewers who got votes were left fielder Val Guzman (10th) and second baseman Dustin Moore (11th).

[BirdWatcher]

The probable future Hall of Fame second baseman Josh Jenkins retired at the end of this just recently completed season, having gone unsigned as a free agent this year and having last played in the WPK in 1981 as a member of the Denver Brewers. Upon his announcement of retirement it was also announced by the Jacksonville Wolf Pack organization, for whom he starred his first eleven seasons a big leaguer, that they are retiring uniform number 4 in his honor.




Possible Hall of Famer, and a great team captain, Cody Kane also stepped away from the game at the age of 36. The slightly built outfielder was injury prone and his body just wasn't up to the task any longer.



Another great leader of men, 38-year old third baseman Trevor Leach, is also saying goodbye to his playing days (there is much speculation that his baseball career should shift to management as he has much to offer in that regard.) Leach is a borderline Hall of Fame candidate but no doubt one of the notable players of his generation.



Former Brewer starting pitcher, and 1972 MGL Pitcher of the Year, Erik Sloan also retires at age 39. With a career record of 167-147, an ERA of 3.40, and a WAR of 56.6 (JAWS: 46.6) he is another Hall of the Very Good candidate, but almost surely not a legit HOF candidate.



Also retiring is the infamous Joe Brodeur. Brodeur won the 1973 SJL MVP award, a season in which he was the batting Triple Crown winner (.361, 41 HR, 141 RBI). He was only 22 at the time and looked like a future Hall of Famer. But he was also a nasty individual who was universally disliked. When he was suspended for 80 games in the 1975 season for testing positive for an illegal performance enhancing drug, there was little surprise and no sympathy. Although he came back with a 4.5 WAR season in '76 and put up 3.4 WAR the following season, his game was in steep decline and soon after he was just battling to stay on a WPK roster. His last stint at the big league level was 75 plate appearances with Baltimore in 1981, in which he hit .224/.293/.313 with a 0.1 WAR.
He will not be missed.

[BirdWatcher]

Parker Rayfield just won his first Pitcher of the Year award at age 32 and he has now parlayed that into a lucrative 5-year contract on the free agency market with the reigning SJL East pennant winning Washington Night Train.
He adds a reliable and durable arm to the Washington rotation which expects to be without staff ace Jose Casillas for most, if not all, of the upcoming season.

[BirdWatcher]

(No, not to join the band Ministry. Though the timing on this would be pretty good.)




Ricky Cabrera was originally signed as a youngster out of Nicaragua by the Oklahoma City Diamond Kings in 1968 and after playing parts of three seasons for the Diamond Kings from 1974-1976, he was traded to Milwaukee for a journeyman reliever (Doug McGarry, who never joined the big league club and last pitched in the WPK way back in '68, and retired in 1979) and a young minor league pitcher (Matt Davi, now a member of the Montreal Royals) who pitched poorly for parts of three seasons in Oklahoma City.
Meanwhile, Cabrera turned into a solid starting backstop in Milwaukee, going to a pair of All-Star games (as recently as 1981) and averaging right around 3 WAR per season. His production really fell off though this season as he went .206/.265/.249 and with -0.9 WAR. So at age 31 it is understandable if the humble young man might wish to step away to pursue a more spiritual calling.

This does leave the Cadets with a big hole in their roster though as their only other catcher is the 34-year old Chris Paulsen, who is fragile, not very talented, and a disruptive force in the clubhouse.

[BirdWatcher]

Having watched this past season's SJL Pitcher of the Year leave them via free agency only to join the team they are trying to unseat as the SJL East champs (the Washington Night Train), the Philadelphia Mud Hens decided to sign the guy who came in second to Parker Rayfield in the SJL Pitcher of the Year voting: Edgar Lira.



Lira had a great season in 1982 for Jacksonville and he is considered durable. On the other hand, he will be turning 33 early in the 1983 season and really only has two above average pitches in his arsenal at this point, with poor stuff, though pretty good movement and control. But perhaps most importantly for those who question this move by the Mud Hens is Lira's reputation as a destroyer of clubhouse chemistry.

[BirdWatcher]

And there's your answer for how the Milwaukee Cadets replace the recently retired Ricky Cabrera.
They steal a solid catcher from the woeful Chicago Fire.



Okay, to be fair, outfielder Dan Shaffer has some skills with the bat- particularly a good eye and a bit of pop. And although he is slow he is a smart and baserunner who will swipe some bags if the defense falls asleep on him and runs the bases pretty well. But as a defender he is barely adequate in left field, doesn't appear to have the minimum skills necessary to play first in spite of having the size, and has poor bat to ball skills.

In Victor Munoz the Cadets are getting a defensively gifted catcher with a decent bat and makeup that says captain in the making.




The Cadets also have a rotation consisting of young starting pitchers with good potential (two of them are fragile, unfortunately, but some others, like the durable righty Jon Murrah and durable lefty Cory Young, have a chance to develop into Pitcher of the Year contenders). A catcher like Munoz could really boost this pitching staff going forward.
Nice move by Milwaukee!

[BirdWatcher]

And as was anticipated, the W.P. Kinsella Hall of Fame in Dubuque, Iowa now has its first two inductees.

Appropriately enough the two greatest starting pitchers of the first generation of WPK player: Jake Harris, the greatest left-handed starter, and Cheol-han Lee, the greatest right-handed starter, go in to the Hall together.










Let's look at the total voting results:




Andy Wilson, the first true superstar in the WPK, and a 2-time league MVP, after falling just short of induction last year with 74.6% of the ballots including him, took a step back on this his 4th ballot to drop to just over 70%.
Interestingly, reliever Pat Brooks, who had his number retired by the Phoenix organization back in 1975, after getting just over 50% in the voting his first year of eligibility and dropping down to 46.5% last year, surged back up to 56.8% this year, suggesting he might still have a shot eventually.
A somewhat disappointing first ballot though for another guy who had his uniform number retired some time ago, as Brad Tesh, the only former player other than Jake Harris whose number the Columbus Whalers have retired, only garnered mention on 51.4% of the ballots. Still, plenty of time for him to get to 75% and a decent chance he will before his name drops off the ballot completely.
No other players on the ballot this year got the kind of support that would indicate they are likely to ever make it into the Hall.

[BirdWatcher]

So let's take a look at those first two plaques that will grace the main exhibition room of the WPK Hall of Fame on the banks of the Mississippi in lovely Dubuque, Iowa:





It has also been announced by the WPK League office that heretofore the annual league Pitcher of the Year awards will be rechristened as the Harris/Lee Award, honoring the greatest left-hander and the greatest right-hander of the inaugural generation of WPK pitchers.

[BirdWatcher]

The great Bud Lindsay, a sure thing future 1st ballot Hall of Famer, yesterday reached agreement with the only WPK team he has ever been a member of on an extension that will keep him under contract through the 1988 season.



The recently freshly shaven Lindsay is looking younger than ever but with his long standing propensity for injury the belief in the WPK is that his body is an old 32 (Wrecked.) On the other hand, he appeared in 157 games last year, in the starting lineup in 152 of them, and had another MVP-caliber type season, finishing 4th in the MVP voting and ending up with 7.3 WAR to add to his now 85.5 career total in that category. (He also became the 6th member of the WPK career 200/200 club, as he now has 222 home runs to go with 262 stolen bases.)
Whether he can keep going strong through his age 38 season is highly doubtful. But given his place in the history of this organization, and of this game, it is hard to blame the Keys for taking steps to insure that theirs is the only uniform he ever wears in his WPK career.

[BirdWatcher]

So here we are again at Opening Day in the WPK with a new season spread out in front of us, an unknown near future which will begin to reveal itself day by day, game by game.


Let's see what the prognosticators think that might look like.

Starting in the SJL:







It isn't surprising that the San Antonio Keys are seen as the favorite to once again not only win the SJL West but also finish with the best record in not only the SJL but in all of the WPK. It is a surprise that their main competitor these past several seasons, the El Paso Dawgs, are expected to drop to a last place finish in 1983, with the Houston Cavaliers moving up into second, albeit a distant second.
The SJL East predictions see Philly finally capturing first place, but as has been the case for the past few years, this division is thought to be quite tight with not clear-cut great team. Washington, who won the pennant in the SJL East last season, are expected to finish in second place, but with a record barely above .500.
Nobody you wouldn't expect in the predicted best batters list while Bill Hritz of Philadelphia is probably the most noteworthy addition to the top pitchers list, having worked exclusively in the bullpen the past two seasons. (To be fair, it was only a matter of time before he cracked the rotation and the durable young left-hander looks like he could have a very nice WPK career ahead of him.) Hritz' teammate Ron Carmouche is another talented young arm on the list, but he is considered a real injury risk unlike his more durable staff mate.


On to the MGL:




The experts believe that the 1981 WPK champs, the Portland Wild Things, will bounce back in '83 and not only win the MGL West but also post the best record in the league, with Denver coming in second with their worst record in at least a decade. More amazingly, the belief is that the Phoenix Speed Devils will be almost respectable and avoid losing at least 100 games for the first time since 1979 (when they lost 97).
Oklahoma City is expected to repeat as the MGL East champs, but has been the case with the East divisions for some time, the feeling is that parity will be the rule and the eventual division winner will battle just to finish with a winning record.

Part of Phoenix' rise (yes. a little bit of an intended pun there) is thought to be the emergence of 23-year old right fielder Luis Olivez as one of the best hitters in the league. Otherwise it is pretty much the usual suspects on this list. As for pitching stars, Denver's twin aces (with Sadahige Kawasaki out for the season), Eric Maisch and Jim Atwell are again expected to be among the best. Most of the top expected top pitchers in the MGL are 27 years of age or younger, with the exceptions being grizzled veterans Craig Luther (36), Jose Mendoza (32), and the great Aaron McNally (32).

[BirdWatcher]

Here is the new Top 10 Best Prospects list for the WPK entering the new season:





Dan Johnson of Phoenix remains the top ranked prospect in the WPK but as he is just entering single A, he isn't expected to crack the big league roster until 1985. The next three top prospects are all pitchers, with the Brewers top prospect Mike Costa moving into 4th on the list overall and 3rd among pitchers. Costa was dealing with a nagging injury for much of the Spring Training (a herniated disc in his neck, which has been a recurring injury for him) and as a result is starting the season at AAA just to knock the rust off a bit. All indications though are that he is big league ready.



Let's take a look at the system rankings:







There seems to be some reason for hope among perennial doormats like Phoenix and Chicago that better days are ahead. And the already very competitive San Francisco Velocity maintain one of the best systems in the game in spite of having graduated a handful of top prospects the past few years. Milwaukee is 4th best mostly on the strength of starting pitching and they already have a young and talented rotation so if they could only find some hitting they may be on the rise also. As for the Denver Brewers, well, more of the same. Not a single position player in the top 100, but a whopping 7 pitchers in the top 100. A few are nearly WPK ready (Stephen Brooks and Eric Fehrenbacher) while some others (Bernie Lopez and Eddie Gonzalez- by far the most promising international scouting discovery the Brewers have had in years) are still very young and years away from the big leagues.
At the bottom of the list are several of the more successful clubs of the past few years- San Antonio, El Paso, Pittsburgh, Portland. So it is possible that these teams are going to be looking to maximize their chances now before talent ages out and starts to run thin again.