 |
 Home | Webstore
|
|
Latest News:
OOTP 26 Available
- FHM 12 Available
- OOTP Go! Available
Out of the Park Baseball 26 Buy Now! |
|
|
||||
| ||||
07-01-2023, 11:01 PM
|
#201 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
April 15-23, 1972 - OPENING WEEK
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS East W L PCT GB Detroit Tigers 4 2 .667 - Baltimore Orioles 5 3 .625 - Boston Red Sox 3 3 .500 1.0 Cleveland Indians 3 4 .429 1.5 Milwaukee Brewers 2 3 .400 1.5 New York Yankees 2 4 .333 2.0 West W L PCT GB Minnesota Twins 4 1 .800 - Chicago White Sox 4 4 .500 1.5 Oakland Athletics 3 3 .500 1.5 Kansas City Royals 4 5 .444 2.0 California Angels 3 4 .429 2.0 Texas Rangers 3 4 .429 2.0 Code:
NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS East W L PCT GB St. Louis Cardinals 6 2 .750 - Chicago Cubs 5 3 .625 1.0 Pittsburgh Pirates 4 3 .571 1.5 New York Mets 3 3 .500 2.0 Philadelphia Phillies 2 5 .286 3.5 Montreal Expos 1 5 .167 4.0 West W L PCT GB Atlanta Braves 9 1 .900 - Houston Astros 5 2 .714 2.5 San Diego Padres 5 4 .556 3.5 San Francisco Giants 3 5 .375 5.0 Los Angeles Dodgers 2 7 .222 6.5 Cincinnati Reds 1 6 .143 6.5 Otherwise... someone should tell the Braves that they were supposed to slip this year because they did not get the message. The only mitigating factor I can see is that closer John Winn missed most of spring training and wasn't on the roster when the LTMs were created, which is also when the preseason predictions are generated. They're also an average of the 3 seasons the game sims to figure out the modifiers so I very very very much doubt we're going to see any 65+ HR output from a certain Indians first baseman. Incidentally, Chicago (A)'s Alice Cooper leads the AL with 5 HRs so he's on pace to break it! He will not. ## Major Transactions April 15: The Astros traded P Carlos Garcia (5-3. 3.91 at AAA OKC in '71) and prospect P Armando Gomez (1-1, 4.58 at AA Columbus) to the Cardinals for P Ernie Alvarez (16-18, 4.40). Alvarez had a rough year for the Cardinals last season but he's still only 27 so they're giving him away for a practical song. Gomez was rated the #67 prospect in MLB and the #1 guy in the Houston system but he's 2 years away at least. Garcia is... an interesting guy I guess. April 20: The Cubs purchased P Raul Andrade (0-1, 2.84 in 1971) from the Padres for $7,500. With the longterm injury to Sugar Bear (see below) it only made sense for the Cubbies to bolster their bullpen. The Padres might be better this year, maybe, but do they need a 33 year old middle reliever? Sources say no. ## News April 15: OPENING DAY! April 15: Hey, an actual storyline. Usually I miss these but I guess I was acting as Cleveland when it happened... anyway, Ernesto Garcia, less than a year removed from getting a player kicked off the team, is once again making news for the wrong reasons. He got into an argument with Bobby Ramirez this time, who is too good of a player to ignore. I'm going to go ahead and suspend him for 5 games. That will hamstring Cleveland but man, Garcia's got to be better. April 15: Maybe this isn't new news, exactly, but check out the Padres' uniforms for this season: http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.o...f&Entryid=1219 1970s, go home. You're drunk. April 15: The White Sox chose not to open the year with player representative Ben "Nugget" Lamar (3-4, 2.52, 4 Sv) on the roster, as he was a last-minute cut. Sources from around the league indicate that this had nothing to do with talent and everything to do with the team not wanting a union organizer on the team. The A's have also reportedly stepped right in to snap the guy up. April 15: In a classic matchup of power vs. finesse, finesse got the upper hand today in Oakland as the Twins' Chris Benavides (1-0, 0.00) threw a 7-hit shutout and bested his opponent Vince Akright (0-1, 2.00), 2-0. Akright struck out 9 but also walked 5 as well as hitting a man (who came around to score in the 8th). Benavides only whiffed 2 men - it's 1972! - but issued just the 1 walk and allowed a new-look Minnesota defense to carry the day behind him. "We're not your father's Twins," said an elated Benavides after the game. April 15: Pirates hurler Santos Arango (1-0, 0.00) also gets his Opening Day going right by carrying a no-hitter into the 7th and finishing with a pitch-to-contact 2-hit shutout, striking out just 1 batter but never quite giving the Mets anything to hit. "We fell short last year," said a boastful Arango after the game, "but we will fall long this year." April 15: Cardinals P Raul Mendoza (1-0, 0.00) makes it 3 shutouts on Opening Day as he takes care of the Expos handily. Mendoza, a #3 starter for a packed Senators rotation last season, allowed 3 hits, struck out 7, and walked 1 in a 6-0 victory. RF Casey Satterfield (1.000, 2, 4) got things going with - you can see this from his statline - a 4-4 game with 2 HRs and 4 RBIs. April 15: Make that *four* Opening Day shutouts. Tony Rivera (1-0, 0.00) of the Astros takes advantage of the opportunity to face the weak-hitting Giants in the Astrodome with a 3-0 win. He allows 7 hits, walks 4, and strikes out just 2 but it's the results that count. "I heard we're supposed to suck this year," he said after the game with a wry grin. "We'll see about that." April 15: The Braves and Padres face off at San Diego Stadium and... man oh man it is a 70s-off. Those uniforms... it's like a MLB record for the most 70s uniforms on one field. This one, too, looked... OK, mostly it looked garish but it also looked like shutout #5 until the Padres rallied in the 8th and chase George House (1-0, 2.45). However, the Braves then got to use their biggest weapon, superstar closer John Winn (0-0, 1 Sv, 0.00), who threw a scoreless 1 2/3rds innings to close out a 6-2 win. April 16: Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, the first giant pandas in the United States, arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, as a gift from the People's Republic of China. The two pandas were super duper popular and both lived into the 90s. April 17: Ford announced the recall of all of its 1972 model year Ford Torino and Mercury Montego models - 436,000 automobiles in all - to correct a defect in the real axles. Nope, not the Pinto, amazingly enough. April 17: Looks like Cardinals 1B Lorenzo Martinez (.265, 37, 100 in 1971) is going to miss another 2 weeks with a sprained knee that's not healing as quickly as thought. That means another 50 or so at-bats for 28 year old rookie TJ Tortorella (.182, 1, 2), who broke out of a little slump yesterday with a 2-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI day. April 17: Dodgers 2B Danny Fager (.636, 0, 1), slowed by injuries in each of the past 2 years with the Orioles, is among the "walking wounded" with a strained Achilles tendon. Given that they're not expected to do much and given Fager's proneness, they're pushing last year's starter Francisco Pena into that role for the next couple weeks or until Fager's 100% again. April 17: Texas Rangers rookie Billy Crystal has done the IMPOSSIBLE in his 1972 debut: a no-hitter! Look, I guess it's teeeechnically not impossible but it's very, very hard, especially for a guy with all of 15.2 major league innings to his name heading into the season. He gave up just 1 walk, too, to the Chicago White Sox and overall faced just one man over the minimum 27. "I won't lie, my forkball looked mahvelous today. Did it feel mahvelous? Not at first. But it looked mahvelous." This game, which was pitched in Comiskey Park - Arlington Stadium has still yet to have its opener - was the first no-hitter in either league since Crystal's new teammate Kevin Freeman tossed one on July 30, 1970 for the then Washington Senators. Yep. First in war, last in no-no's, first in... no-no's. Washington/Texas has in fact pitched the last 3 no-hitters now, as Chad Daugherty was the man who did the feat before Freeman on May 3rd. To get to the first non-Senator/Ranger you've got to go to Josh Matthews, then with Cleveland (now with San Francisco) who tossed the first of 3 of them in 1970 on April 12th. April 19: The Phillies (1-4) needed 2 games' worth of innings to prevail against the visiting Cardinals (4-1). Marius Gaddi (0-0, 6.94) gave them 8 innings but made a couple of long mistakes and left with a 3-2 deficit. The Phillies then staged comebacks against both the setup man Edward James Olmos and stopper Billy Munoz, then had to have long man Billy Ording (1-0, 0.00) outlast Cardinals middle reliever Miguel Hernandez (0-1, 2.70) for almost 4 innings in a 17-inning 5-4 win. The Phightin Phils finally (phinally?) won it on a single by 2B Victor Serna (.304, 1, 5). April 20: 1972 is already the Year of the Shoulder Inflammation. Today, Cubs stopper Antonio "Sugar Bear" Martinez (4-5, 3.36, 10 Sv) left his first game this year with it and now is going to miss the next 4 months. The Cubs spent the offseason stockpiling guys with closer experience so hopefully this doesn't hit too hard. April 21: American astronauts John W. Young and Charles Duke become the ninth and tenth people to walk on the moon. Take that, Soviet Union! April 21: Norm Hodge (.350, 0, 0) goes 3-4 against his old team and Jim Kenner (1-0, 1.35) gives the Rangers 6.2 good if wild innings as the Rangers christened their new home in style with a 7-2 win over the California Angels. Kenner left the game with the bases loaded and 2 outs, the only time in the game when the Angels looked threatening, but Andres Rivera (0-0, 0.00) induced 1B Willie Vargas (.158, 0, 0) to ground out weakly to second to end the inning. "This is how we make the pie higher," said 1B George W. Bush (.455, 0, 1). April 22: The second set of buildings in the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex were demolished. The process was filmed and later immortalized in the cult classic Koyaanisqatsi. April 23: Fresh off that 5 game suspension, Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.500, 1, 2) hit his first homerun of the season and also drove in 2 runs and batted in 2 in the Indians' 6-3 win over the visiting Baltimore Orioles. "One down," Garcia said, pointedly, following the game. "Sixty-five to go." ## Teams in Review ABSOLUTELY NOT
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
07-04-2023, 12:49 PM
|
#202 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 8 3 .727 - 40 16 Boston Red Sox 7 4 .636 1 37 27 Baltimore Orioles 8 5 .615 1 46 42 Cleveland Indians 6 6 .500 2½ 53 50 New York Yankees 4 8 .333 4½ 27 43 Milwaukee Brewers 3 7 .300 4½ 27 40 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Oakland Athletics 8 3 .727 - 49 35 Minnesota Twins 7 4 .636 1 47 33 California Angels 7 6 .538 2 31 38 Chicago White Sox 5 8 .385 4 36 44 Kansas City Royals 5 9 .357 4½ 37 49 Texas Rangers 4 9 .308 5 17 30 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 10 3 .769 - 50 21 Chicago Cubs 10 4 .714 ½ 44 40 St. Louis Cardinals 8 5 .615 2 69 41 Philadelphia Phillies 7 7 .500 3½ 55 59 New York Mets 5 7 .417 4½ 45 48 Montreal Expos 2 11 .154 8 30 71 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Atlanta Braves 10 5 .667 - 69 56 San Francisco Giants 10 6 .625 ½ 54 37 Houston Astros 7 7 .500 2½ 37 45 San Diego Padres 7 9 .438 3½ 57 74 Los Angeles Dodgers 6 9 .400 4 45 65 Cincinnati Reds 2 11 .154 7 52 50 But the actual baseball, the actual baseball! The White Sox' young star Alice Cooper (.227, 5, 12) leads the AL in HRs and RBIs, although the Indians' Ernesto Garcia (.407, 3, 10) is catching up after missing the first five games with a suspension. Boston's Justin Kindberg (2-1, 1.50) is coming off of his 27-win 1971 with 27 Ks in 30 IP; he's looking like the early Cy Young choice in the AL. We also have 3 players - Boston's RF Tom Brown (.405, 3, 10), Oakland's RF Richard Berman (.400, 1, 7), and his teammate SS Matt Evenson (.400, 2, 11) - hitting .400. Not that they'll keep that up with a league projected to hit in the .240s but you do love to see it! On the NL side of things, the Giants are 10-1 since losing their first 5 games of the season and so are at the top of the heap in the early West race. The Pirates are leading the East thanks to not allowing anything in the way of runs. And Montreal and Cincy are reeeeally bad to open up (although the Reds have a positive FUN differential thanks to a 15-0 drubbing of the Cubs this week). Nothing's suuuper standing out individually outside of St. Louis's Roger Quintana (2-0, 2.18) pulling a reverse Steve Carlton with 29 Ks in 33 IP to date (he played with the Phillies last year and is even a lefty!). Mets 1B Joshua Waltenbery (.370, 2, 10) is just barely ahead of Houston OF Big George Foreman (.364, 1, 5) in the batting race, and Cards RF Casey Satterfield (.333, 4, 13) held down the fort while Lorenzo Martinez was away with an injury (he still has 3 days left) and might have earned himself a Hitter of the Month award in the process. ## Major Transactions April 28: The Yankees purchased minor league P Chris Allen (1-1, 4.35 in the majors in 1971) for $5,000. Allen gives the Yankees a second lefty out of the bullpen to complement Roy Holm and the A's get out from underneath a known locker room talker outer. ## News April 24: (real life) Chipper Jones, future Hall of Fame third sacker for the Braves (which probably means he'll be a middle reliever in this game), was born in DeLand, Florida. April 24: Year of the Pitcher II won't be the Year of the Pitcher for everyone, it seems. Padres SP Alfredo Lopez (0-1, 4.91) will miss the entire season and, as he's 38, maybe end his career after suffering a torn flexor tendon in his elbow. Lopez has had issues staying healthy the last couple years, him being in his late 30s and all, and, if his career is done, he ends just short of 100 wins with a 97-90 record and a 3.15 ERA. April 24: 36 year old Indians reliever Eddie Sanchez (2-2, 4.72 last year) told me he's going to accept a job with NBC next season and so this year will be his last. I guess NBC has a requirement for middle relief men too. Huh. April 24: The very first AL Player of the Week award goes to Kansas City Royals OF RJ Dominguez (.276, 4, 7), who went .350 last week with all 4 of his HRs and all 7 of his RBIs. Dominguez is 27 and this is his 2nd PotW; he won his first last may. He was also an All-Star last year and the AL Silver Slugger in RF; he's now got himself a nice little collection of hardware. April 24: Somehow hitters won both of these awards: in the NL it goes to Braves leadoff man and LF Chris Ward (.393, 1, 3). Ward missed the first 3 games of the season but still got 11 hits in his first 28 at-bats, stole 2 bases, had 4 extra base hits, and scored 6 times. This was, amazingly enough (to me!), Ward's very first PotW award and now he gets that 1972 Braves uniform immortalized FOREVER. You only see the hat but even that hat looks 1972. April 25: Edwin H. Land of the Polaroid Corporation introuduces the SX-70 film and camera and photographs that develop "right before your eyes". April 25: Cleveland goes way against the grain and pounds the White Sox for 8 runs in the 8th inning en route to a 12-2 win. The inning, which saw 3 Chicago pitchers, was extended twice by bad errors, including one by 2B Chance Hopka (.250, 0, 3) playing out of position at shortstop (to be fair to Hopka, he's actually played more shortstop - 444 games - than 2nd - 162 games - in his career). RF Tommy Pron (.429, 0, 4) went 3 for 6 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs for the victors, who even their record up at 4-4 with this one. April 26: Some good news on the injury front for somebody, at least: Cubs 2B Juan Perez (.248, 6, 27 in 1971), who successfully fought off a challenge from Manuel Lozano (.129, 0, 0) only to sprain his ankle at the end of spring training, is recovering well from the injury and should be ready to come back some time next week. The Cubs, in spite of Lozano, have gotten off to a nice 7-3 start, built off of a weirdly good starting rotation that's carrying a 1.85 ERA so far. April 26: Meanwhile in New York City, the news is bad: Mets SP John Mash (0-0, 1.35), who was pulled early from a game 3 days ago complaining of tenderness in his leg, will miss the next month with a hamstring strain. The 35 year old was looking to come back from a tough 9-18, 3.94 season that saw his K rate dip to 4.8/9 innings. Mike O'Leary (1-0, 5.48 in 1971), who was a reliever for the Dodgers in 1969 and 1970 before being used as a starter in the Cardinals' organization last year, will take his place in the rotation... for now. April 27: Embattled West German chancellor Willy Brandt, accused by his detractors of being soft on communism, faces a "constructive vote of no confidence" (I won't bother to put the German in here but it is of course only 2 words) that would permit the German parliament (the Bundestag) to remove him. The vote requires a simple majority of the 498 members and fails by 2. April 27: Edmund S. Muskie announces that he's dropping out of the race for the Democratic Party nomination for President amid charges that he's too emotional to handle the job. In late February he'd given a speech to supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire during a snowstorm that made it appear that he was crying. The press duly reported that he'd broken down and cried during this. Although he was the early front-runner his campaign never really recovered from this (which, as it will turn out later, was spun this way as part of Richard Nixon's "dirty tricks" campaign). April 28: An astronomer with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announces the possibility of a tenth planet based on calculations of gravitational data. Unlike Pluto, this one would have been larger than Saturn. The possibility will be ruled out after further study. April 28: In spite of sitting him, Dodgers 2B Danny Fager's (.583, 0, 1) strained Achilles tendon has gotten worse and now it's unclear when he'll be ready to go. As the Dodgers are sitting at 4-8 and not expected to do a lot, I'm just going to go ahead and banish him to the DL, which the league is kind enough to backdate to the 26th. Last year's starting SS Luis Solis (.208, 1, 2 at AAA Albuquerque) is called up to replace the spot on the roster although Francisco Pena (.342, 0, 2) made this an easy decision given the way he's hitting right now (and he'll continue to start). April 28: Reds C Oliver Williams (.214, 2, 5) went 3 for 6 with 2 HRs and 4 RBIs from the 8 hole, snapping a season-long slump and helping lead Cincinnati to an easy, easy 15-0 win over the Cubs in Wrigley Field. Steve Waiters (1-2, 1.82) really didn't need to go the whole way, especially not after a 7 run 8th put the game out of reach, but on the other hand he almost threw a Maddux, finishing with 103 pitches on 2 hits, 1 walk, and 9 strikeouts. "I'm not ever going to complain about support," said Waiters after the game. Prior to this, the 2-9 Reds had scored 31 runs over their first 10 games (which is actually kind of close to the average in this horribly low-offense year). Two Cubs errors committed heavily to the onslaught; 10 of the 15 runs Chicago allowed were scored as unearned. April 29: An uprising in Burundi by the Hutu people against the Tutsi-dominated government began with machete attacks that killed more than 3,000 Tutsi civilians and soldiers. In the words of one observer, "the ferocity of the ensuing repression by the army was beyond imagination", with more thna 100,00 Hutus being massacred over the next five months. In the following genocide, educated Hutu people were murdered, "especially anyone wearing glasses". April 30: Arthur Godfrey ends his broadcasting career with the final show of his CBS Radio Network program, "Arthur Godfrey Time", which had run since 1945. ## Teams in Review Still too early!
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
07-08-2023, 02:21 PM
|
#203 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 12 4 .750 - 65 29 Baltimore Orioles 11 6 .647 1½ 70 57 Boston Red Sox 9 5 .643 2 51 35 Cleveland Indians 9 8 .529 3½ 76 61 Milwaukee Brewers 6 8 .429 5 42 50 New York Yankees 5 11 .312 7 37 59 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Oakland Athletics 10 4 .714 - 61 44 Minnesota Twins 8 7 .533 2½ 56 53 California Angels 9 8 .529 2½ 44 48 Chicago White Sox 7 10 .412 4½ 49 64 Texas Rangers 6 12 .333 6 28 43 Kansas City Royals 5 14 .263 7½ 52 88 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cubs 14 5 .737 - 71 59 St. Louis Cardinals 12 7 .632 2 97 67 Pittsburgh Pirates 11 7 .611 2½ 62 35 Philadelphia Phillies 11 9 .550 3½ 76 80 New York Mets 7 11 .389 6½ 60 76 Montreal Expos 3 14 .176 10 39 85 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA San Francisco Giants 13 9 .591 - 81 57 Atlanta Braves 12 9 .571 ½ 94 87 Los Angeles Dodgers 10 10 .500 2 69 77 Houston Astros 8 10 .444 3 48 63 San Diego Padres 9 12 .429 3½ 69 87 Cincinnati Reds 6 13 .316 5½ 75 68 The Indians, in spite of all the offseason turmoil, are kind of bouncing back this year. How is this happening? They really haven't played all that many cupcakes - I guess they *have* played them, which at this point is big. They're a combined 2-2 against KC and Milwaukee, which isn't even all that huge, and they've yet to play that Yankees team who looks like they finally went too far with loading up on veterans. Boston's Tom Brown (.404, 3, 11) is still hitting over .400, which has been kind of huge for the Red Sox given how 1B Mike Miller (.200, 2, 8) has been slumping all season long. Cleveland's 1B Ernesto Garcia (.333, 6, 16) is once more in charge of the AL HR and RBI race, and Detroit's Jimmy Goddard (5-0, 1.38) is the first 5 game winner in the American League. On the NL side, San Francisco is clearly doing grrrrrreeat, which is a happy story to balance out Cincinnati's terrible start (which, at 6-13, is even coming with 4 straight wins). Somehow they're 3rd in the NL in runs scored, which I'm sure is partially due to the fact that they've played more games than anyone else but they're also just, you know, not terrible at hitting this year the way they were last year. "The Ritz" Barry Cooper (.312, 0, 6) missed the first couple weeks of the season but has looked like the Barry Cooper of old for them. Atlanta's Kevin Dwyer (.388, 2, 14) is not far off of .400 himself and Chicago's Jeremy Taylor (.235, 6, 15) has so far been equal to Ernesto Garcia in terms of HR hitting (I guess to be fair, Garcia was suspended for the first 5 games of the season). Cincinnati's Jaden Weaver (.284, 5, 18) has picked up right where he left off last year in Houston - man, that trade is going to hurt. And last year's Cy Young, Santos Arango (4-2, 0.71) is leading the NL in both wins and ERA and would surely be another 5 game winner if he got more consistent support in Pittsburgh. ## Major Transactions May 5: The Angels traded P Andy Lagunas (0-0, 0.00) to the Royals for PH/3B Mike Ramos (.333, 0, 0). Lagunas was a starter for most of the year last year in Cleveland although he was not effective (8-16, 4.82). Nevertheless, KC is very thin at SP so he'll likely drop right into their rotation. They really had no need for a 34 year old corner infielder and pinch-hitting specialist whereas the Angels could use both of those things and seem pretty topped up with regards to their own pitching staff. ## News May 1: Hutu rebels set up their own short-lived Peoples' Republic of Martyazo in the Bururi Province. The Tutsi-dominated Burundian Army will end this movement in two weeks before beginning the slaughter of thousands of Hutu (see last week's news). May 1: The North Vietnamese Army captured the South Vietnamese province and city of Quang Tri. May 1: A's CF David Mesa (.255, 0, 0), who performed so well last year that Oakland felt they could trade away the potential star but oft-injured Alex Vallejo, will himself miss the next month with a high ankle sprain. Oakland is really thin at this position; to fill the spot they called up reggae artist "Jah Lion" Lloyd, who had just 18 extra-base hits in 388 AAA at-bats last year (slashes of .245/4/31) but also won the IL/AA Silver Slugger in RF, which mostly tells me that the IL/AA had nobody who was any good in right last year. Anyway, he's not a great fielder in center but hopefully he hits well enough to hold down the fort until Aperture Science returns. May 1: Hey, look at that! A pitcher won the AL Player of the Week. It was Detroit's own Edgar Molina (3-0, 1.59), who went 2-0 with a 0.50 ERA, including 14 Ks and 4 walks in 18 IP, to earn the honors. This was Molina's first-ever PotW, owing mainly to the fact that pitchers don't win this award very often. He also won the Pitcher of the Month in 1969 and was an All-Star selection in 1968... which, if you ask me the really amazing thing there is that he hasn't been back since. May 1: Meanwhile in the NL, the PotW was Mets' superstar Joshua Waltenbery (.370, 2, 10), who did everything he could to keep his team from going under offensively. It, um, didn't work so well inasmuch as they still went 2-4 but he personally was great: 12 hits in 26 at-bats (.462), 5 doubles, a HR, 7 runs, and 7 RBIs. Waltenbery has earned this award 13 times in his career now and no doubt this will not be his last. May 1: Hey, even a short month gets X of the Month awards to hand out. I'll start out with the Rookies of the Month. In the NL it was the Cubs' Jose Torres (2-0, 0.50), a Rule V pick out of Pittsburgh who somehow fell out of the Pirates' plans in spite of going 16-3 in AAA Charlotte last year with a 1.70 ERA and 150 walks in 180 IP. I guess to be fair the Pirates have an excellent rotation and already had to turn guys away. Still, he's helping to put together a surprisingly decent Chicago pitching staff that for right now is leading it to first place in the NL West. On the AL side of the ledger, the top newcomer was a guy who didn't even make the Opening Day roster: the massive short king Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell (2-0, 2.76), aka the Mountain from Stone Mountain. Blackwell is listed at 5'9" and... 475 pounds. He's a wrestler in the offseason and some of that weight has to be his league exaggerating things, but he is a large, large man, at least horizontally speaking. He had 2 starts, completing one of them and winning both with a sub-3.00 ERA. I won't mention that the latter is only average in a low-offense AL right now because I do not want to make this man angry. May 1: On to the pitchers! The AL Pitcher of the Month is Tigers ace Jimmy Goddard (3-0, 1.09), who made 4 starts, pitched 33 innings, struck out 14, and walked 5. Yeah, he was a bit more pitch-to-contact than some guys who could have won this but it's still a very fine performance by the man who started 1971 out in the bullpen and worked his way back to a 19-8 record with a 2.59 ERA last year. Like his teammate Edgar Molina, he hasn't made the All-Star Game since 1967 (well, Molina made it in '68, but still). Maybe that all changes this year, we'll see. The senior circuit award goes to last year's Cy Young Award winner and Pirates P Santos Arango (3-1, 0.77). HO HUM. Well... not really; it was a very non-ho-hum month for him. He completed all 4 of his starts, picked up 2 shutouts, and allowed 2 and 1 runs in the other 2. It was also a pitch-to-contact performance by Arango, although he still managed to hold opponents to a .150 batting average. He's won the award 4 times now, the last time for July of last year. May 1: As I'd guessed in last week's recap, St. Louis RF Casey Satterfield (.333, 4, 13) did indeed win the NL Batter of the Month. Hitting .333 (19-57) with a .579 slugging average and a league-leading 13 RBIs will do that for you. I'm a little surprised that he's only made it to one All-Star Game himself, although I guess he's still only 26 and was looking at possibly being replaced as recently as the 1970 offseason. This is Satterfield's very first Batter of the Month, although he did win the Rookie of the Month for July of 1969 (he also finished in 2nd place in ROY award voting that year). Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.407, 3, 10) was just Ernesto being Ernesto. He missed the first 5 games after yet another incident where he blamed a player for starting a fight with him but still got things going for himself in a big, big way. He hit .407 - 11-27 - and although that "month" basically constitutes one week, it was good enough for April. You have to wonder how long Cleveland will put up with this; I guess the answer is, as long as he hits like this when he's in the lineup. This was Garcia's 4th Batter of the Month and his 2nd straight - he won the award for last September, too. May 2: A silver mine fire near Kellogg, Idaho killed 91 miners. Most of them were killed when the mine ventilation system and fans spread carbon monoxide after the fire started. Another 82 miners were able to escape. May 2: A US pantent was issued to Corning Glass for fiber optic cable, the first such patent in US history. May 2: J. Edgar Hoover, the, um, let's just say controversial head of the FBI from the 1930s until now, was found dead in his home today by his maid Annie Fields. May 2: Expos P Javier Olvera (1-2, 3.71), who bucked, like, every trend imaginable in going 16-9 for Montreal last season, was diagnosed with a torn flexor tendon in his elbow and will miss... the next 14 months. 14! That puts him back some time after the All-Star Break, taking rehab into account. He's still only 23 so it's possible he can bounce back from this. May 2: Speaking of pitchers and their injuries, Giants RP Matt "Rattlesnake" Bailey (0-0, 0.00), who had a 2.80 ERA in 64.1 innings and was expected to be a much-used setup guy for stopper John "The Assassin" Booth, hasn't pitched since hearing a tear in his shoulder on Sunday. We'd all been expecting the worst and... it is the worst, a torn rotator cuff that's so bad that he's just not going to be able to come back from it. Bailey, only 26 and the 6th overall pick in 1967, had taken a beating in the minors but after a successful conversion to relief, he had one full year in the major leagues and that was last year. He finishes with 54 career games, 2 starts, and a 2.52 ERA. What could have been... May 2: The Year of the Pitcher Jr. hits brand new pitchery lows as the Indians are in Texas to face the Rangers. Texas SP Chris Regan (1-2, 2.33) has a perfect game going through 9 - no, make that 10 - innings but his teammates can do absolutely nothing against Robbie Coltrane (2-1, 2.84), who wound up throwing 12 shutout innings of his own. That's right, no runs whatsoever were scored until the top of the 13th, when fatigue finally got the most of Regan, who was pulled after giving up a leadoff single to RF Nelson Vargas (.306, 2, 3) and a double to pinch-hitter TJ Pritchett (.308, 2, 5) to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no out. Gabe Slaughter (0-0, 0.00) then allowed both runners to score on a sacrifice fly, a fielder's choice, and a 2-out error by Slaughter himself. Jake Duckett (1-0, 0.00, 2 Sv) then pitched a scoreless bottom of the 13th to send the punchless Rangers down. Texas (4-10) is dead last in the AL in runs scored (17), hitting (.182) and on-base percentage (.232) and in spite of a lineup that features 3 guys who could conceivably hit 30 HRs apiece, they have just 3 HRs so far this season. May 3: Cardinals 1B/premiere slugger Lorenzo Martinez had a quiet 1972 debut - 0-2, 3 walks - but the important thing was that he was back in the lineup. St. Louis did manage to go 9-5 without him, granted, but it's best for all of baseball when Martinez is out there walloping long shots. Career minor leaguer TJ Tortorella (.255, 2, 11) did a solid job in his absence and might deserve a longer look outside of St. Louis. May 3: Someone really needs to get the memo to the Phillies that this is the Year of the Pitcher Jr. because man, their starters just are not getting it. Philadelphia's Tim Natalie (1-2, 4.40) got knocked out of the box in the 5th inning today as the Dodgers clubbed him and his pitching-mates, 10-3 in Dodger Stadium. It's bad enough when guys like 1B Justin Stone (.260, 3, 11) go off against you (as he did; 2-5 with 2 R and 3 RBI including a HR), but weak-hitting catcher Jason Davis (.227, 1, 10) also broke out of a season-long slump with a 4-4 night with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs of his own. Amazingly, the Phillies are only 9th in the league in starters' ERA with 4.42 - nestled in amongst the past couple days and the first 5 games of the season they did pretty OK, I guess. Marius Gaddi (1-2, 6.39) seems dead-set on becoming this save's version of Denny McClain and the only guy in the rotation with a sub-3 ERA is Vince Bachler (2-2, 2.61). May 4: The authors daaaaad turned 24 today. Do I want to put him in the game? Kind of no, honestly, but I'm constantly tempted and knowing my ADHD-ness, I will give into the temptation eventually (well, I don't name guys once they turn 25 so I just have to hold out for another year!). May 4: Cubs SP Jason Sanders (3-1, 1.45), who was expected to be the #1 starter in what was a very weak rotation last year, will miss the entire season with... wait for it... shoulder inflammation. I guess "hey, we don't know what's happening right now but the kid can't play" is appropriately 70s, although probably there would be more "rub some dirt on it, meat, and get back in there" thrown in. I'll go with a 4-man rotation with Sanders gone, at least for now, although a 4 man rotation is going to be asking a _lot_ of the guys in there right now... May 4: So... the A's haven't played all week. I guess there were rainouts? Sucks to be the schedule-makers this season. May 5: Two separate planes were hijacked in US airspace, Eastern Airlines Flight 175 shortly after takeoff from Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Western Airlines Flight 407 after takeoff from Salt Lake City. Both hijackers initially got away, the Eastern Airlines guy parachuting from the plane over Honduras after he touched down in Washington, DC long enough to collect a $303,000 ransom and let the 48 passengers and 1 member of the cabin crew go, and the Western Airlines guy forcing the plane to land in Cuba. Both hijackers were eventually caught, although the Western Airlines-to-Cuba guy didn't get extradited back to the US until 1975. May 5: Hey, a full slate of games, just in time for the weekend! I expect we're going to see a loooot of doubleheader Sundays... May 5: A's CF Jah Lloyd made his debut a memorable one, belting 2 HRs off of Yankees starter Manny Carbajal (1-2, 4.15) and leading his A's to a 4-0 win. Vince Akright (3-1, 2.54) went all the way for a 5-hit shutout of the Bronx "Bombers" - more like the Bronx BLOOPERS amirite??? - who fall to 4-10 with this one. Whatever else happens, any season that includes an awful Yankees team is a good season. May 6: Five American soldiers are rescued 13 days after their helicopter crashed in Vietnam. The five had been presumed dead until two of them had reached a radio to signal a distress call. May 7: Edmund Kemper picked up two hitchhiking Fresno State University studients, drove them to a remote location, murdered them, and dismembered their bodies, beginning a nearly year-long crime spree as a serial killer. Prior to murdering the six eventual victims, Kemper had killed his grandparents when he was 15 and spent several years in juvenile detention after being released from a psychiatric hospital. And in case you're wondering, no, detective work did not catch him; instead, he killed his mother and her friend and called the Santa Cruz police. May 7: The LA Lakers won their first NBA title since moving from Minneapolis more than a decade earlier, knocking off the New York Knicks in 5 games. Yes, back in the 70s, the Knicks even made the finals! ## Teams in Review Still too early!
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
07-13-2023, 07:44 PM
|
#204 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
May 8-14, 1971 (it's too much summary, Jake! I CAN'T TAKE IT)
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Baltimore Orioles 15 7 .682 - 92 70 Detroit Tigers 13 8 .619 1½ 79 46 Boston Red Sox 12 8 .600 2 80 53 Cleveland Indians 10 12 .455 5 92 85 Milwaukee Brewers 8 12 .400 6 57 73 New York Yankees 7 15 .318 8 60 75 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Minnesota Twins 13 8 .619 - 81 71 California Angels 14 9 .609 - 63 66 Oakland Athletics 11 9 .550 1½ 74 75 Chicago White Sox 10 12 .455 3½ 60 75 Texas Rangers 9 14 .391 5 48 62 Kansas City Royals 8 16 .333 6½ 75 110 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cubs 16 7 .696 - 87 83 St. Louis Cardinals 14 12 .538 3½ 122 93 Pittsburgh Pirates 12 11 .522 4 69 46 Philadelphia Phillies 12 12 .500 4½ 85 100 New York Mets 11 13 .458 5½ 81 96 Montreal Expos 8 16 .333 8½ 61 107 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 14 10 .583 - 69 77 Atlanta Braves 14 11 .560 ½ 111 101 San Francisco Giants 15 13 .536 1 95 76 Los Angeles Dodgers 13 13 .500 2 98 93 San Diego Padres 11 15 .423 4 88 104 Cincinnati Reds 9 16 .360 5½ 98 88 ANYWAY though, I've chosen not to share the power rankings for now because they're really just a list of everyone's order in the standings at this point. As we get into July and August the algorithm does take current streaks and L10 and so on into account a bit (to be honest, I'd love for it to be heavier-weighted but not enough to make up my own) so maybe they'll come back then. However, in the meantime I kind of enjoy following the major categories leaders so I'll dive into that more. As for the standings, I feel like you cna see them for yourself... but just in case, I'll point you to the waaay overachieving Baltimore Orioles sitting atop the AL East, the crappy, crappy offense of the Texas Rangers - now averaging more than 2 runs per game though (and they are very, very much in the running to break the record of fewest runs in a season in the AL - held by their own franchise, actually, the 1967 Washington Senators, who scored just 429 runs en route to a 61-101 finish). In the NL, the Cubs have won a bunch of 1-run games, which has to be satisfying after their bullpen blew up so much last year. Anyway, in spite of a FUN differential of just +4 they have the best record in the senior circuit. On the flip side of that are the Reds, who just got out of the basement of the entire NL by splitting a 4 game series against the Cardinals... but anyway they've still outscored their opponents by 10 runs but are 7 games under .500. The Astros lead the NL West with a negative FUN differential. I except changes! Speaking of changes... we've hit the part of the season where, obviously, there's easily enough time for a team like the Yankees or the Reds to rebound, but it's also about the point where guys who are in slumps may have been in them for long enough that they're just the player being washed up or otherwise bad. There are a few stories I'm monitoring (and on a side note, I do look at pitchers in between reviews; it just tends to be on an "okay, this has to be a prove-it outing for this starter" or "wow, that guy just got destroyed" basis)... Red Sox C Jeremy Dolak (.172, 0, 4). So far I've kept him on pace to play in like 150 games but that's got to stop, not that Sid Bartoszek (.250, 0, 2) is any better. Angels 3B Travis Corley (.176, 0, 8) hit .268/16/76 last year, which doesn't look amazing but consider the environment and the fact that this happened at the Big A. He's still starting full-time but man, the lack of power in particular is very, very troubling. White Sox C Mike Perez (.125, 0, 3) is 2 years removed from a season where he hit .165 for the Angels as a full-time player and I'm super worried that last year's .234 average was just a dead cat bounce. For now his backup Ryan Thaxton (.267, 0, 1), who does bat left, will get into a sort-of platoon with the guy. Cubs RF Nelson Hernandez (.217, 0, 11) started the year as the cleanup guy but his complete lack of power has moved him down to 6th and the only reason why I'm not pulling him out of the lineup entirely is that the backups are a bit on the scrubby side. They do have pinch-hitting specialist Steve Casio (.350, 0, 1), but dude is 35 years old and all putting him in the lineup really does is take a potential bat out of my hands when I need it in the later innings. Reds 3B Bobby Kralcevic (.186, 1, 6). I've already done what I can to platoon the left-handed hitter with IF Scott Dorman (.391, 1, 5) but dude's got to start hitting. He hit .297/14/89 for the team that won the NL West in 1970. Where is that bat? Indians 2B Luis Oropeza (.180, 4, 7) won the job from TJ Pritchett (.333, 2, 6) out of spring training but has done nothing since the games started counting. I was going to wait to bench him for the 20-loss review but screw it, Pritchett's going in there now. Indians SS John Johnson (.179, 1, 4). After losing 100 points from a .340 average last year, he's lost another 50 so far. This has to just be a slump, right? The thing is, it could be a slump off of a .230ish average and that to me says it's time to replace him with Romneybot 5000 (.333, 0, 3), who's 3 years younger, just as good of a fielder, and hit .262 last year. The fans are going to hate it, though; they think Johnson's still a batting champion waiting to happen. I think I'm going to prolong this one for a little bit, see if Johnson can get it into shape. Unfortunately they're both righties so other than keep Romney coming in on a schedule there's not a lot I can do. Tigers C Gianluigi Farinelli (.104, 0, 5). This one really puzzles and distresses me. Trey Forgey (.250, 0, 0) is spelling him every 4th day but Farinelli was supposed to be a key component of a great offense and also he has the 2nd best game-generated name in here... behind minor league 1B Ian Swerdlove, who is only better because the author listens to the H3H3 podcast, which has a guy on it named Ian and another guy on it named Dan whose Twitter handle is @swerdlove. Tigers OF Adam Dittmar (.159, 2, 9). This is an awfully good team to be having so many issues. Dittmar famously went .302/22/80 in 1969 and was kind of on the periphery of MVP talk, then slumped to .222/11/34 the next season. Last year he fought his way back into a starting role and sort of split the difference with .263/15/72 in 460 at-bats. He got the starting nod with me hoping he'd be closer to '69 but so far he's been worse than '70. He's currently losing at-bats to Chris Contreras (.267, 0, 1), who himself hit .309 2 years ago, slumped to .258 in a most-of-the-time role, and has the kind of power and batting eye that make him a guy who needs to hit .300 in order to be effective. Guillermo Thompson (.111, 0, 0) also exists, although he's played sparingly this season and hasn't looked good when he has. Thompson hit .296 2 years ago with 33 steals before slumping to an empty .241 in '71. It's "meh" all around. Astros 1B Justin Jensen (.184, 0, 8). The average I can just wait on; the lack of power, however, is worrisome. Jensen reminds me of when the Mariners traded for Kevin Mitchell in I think it was 1990, like right after he hit I think it was 47 HRs for the Giants. Mitchell came in and proceeded to not hit for power, like, at all, and in spite of the announcers extolling his ability to make productive outs and hit in the clutch (look, it was a different time), nobody was surprised when they let him go at the end of the year. Jensen has a full missed season in between now and his 42 HR campaign. To his benefit the Astros are doing fairly well and I will probably hold off just straight-up benching him until they hit 20 Ls but man, that trade he was involved in is going to be one of the worst of all time. Astros RF Bobby Beaulieu (.091, 0, 3). To make matters worse, Beaulieu, who was acquired in that same trade (which sent RF Jaden Weaver (.263, 7, 22) to the Reds - as you can see from the line, Weaver isn't literally hitting .400 right now but he's picked up right where he left off for the 'Stros), was really looking like he'd be the hidden jewel in spring training. And I mean, he hit .266/8/44 with a .361 OBP as a half-time player last year; I'd compare him to a Mitch Haniger if I could. He's hit like Mitch Haniger 2023 so far. I've got 31 year old minor league veteran and pinch-hitter Tommy Scott (.438, 1, 6) playing a lot vs. RHPs and I recently put Jensen into RF to make room for Astros PH king Nate Ringstad (.320, 0, 1), but when this fails the way I think it will... man, it's not going to be pretty. Royals C Nick McIntyre (.136, 0, 4). McIntyre wasn't exactly great last year with a .201/9/49 line but he did hit .266 the season before and I figured he'd, you know, at least split the difference. But no, he's been terribad and since the Royals are awwwful this year, what the heck, I'm calling it now: I'd called up a 3rd catcher and now the lefty backup Mike Fenley (.222, 1, 2) and the new guy Tyler Tigges (.225, 0, 3 at AAA Omaha) are platooning as starters with McIntyre being the "bullpen guy". Royals 1B Josh Lewis (.113, 1, 5). I just plain haven't done anything because the guy's been basically a league average hitter as a first baseman and he's only 31. Also, Jim Davis was baaaad in spring training so I sent him down (he's hitting .250/4/13 in 44 ABs in AAA). The Royals are, like I said, bad, so if they're going to suck they should suck with the youth movement. Davis is 26 so not, like, fully a part of that but close enough. Having 3 catchers and 2 1B on the roster also means we're carrying 1 backup IF and 5 OFers; fortunately the starting OFers are doing really well so far. Lewis can try and get it back in a pinch-hitting role. Brewers 1B Kozue Nakamura (.154, 2, 7). Kozue was a bright light and a fun story on a bad Brewers team last year. So far he's just been one more guy who hasn't lived up to Milwaukee expectations for multiple seasons. I'd acquired Barney Leriche (.000, 0, 0) not exactly knowing why before the season started; Leriche, who hit 25 HRs in about a season's worth of at-bats over the previous 2 seasons, might wind up being the answer there. For now he's playing every 3rd game in the lineup (obviously that just started recently, as he's got all of 10 ABs this season). Twins 3B Mike Brookes (.195, 1, 5). I'm not doing anything with him but maaaan he's not hitting. This is a guy who's led the league in HRs and through 21 games he's had all of 1 to his name so far. Twins CF Jose Villasenor (.163, 1, 5) is likewise a guy I'm choosing not to do anything with because he's got a pretty decent track record with this team. In spite of two holes in the lineup like this, they're still atop the AL West. Expos 3B Adam Owens (.189, 1, 9). As with the Twins, I'm not going to toss him out. In this case he's a 25 year old 3rd year starter for an Expos team that is otherwise pretty lacking in good young hitters. Just, you know, hit my man... Yankees 3B "Tiptoe" Tommy Weiss (.195, 3, 9). He was supposed to be this team's #3 man and lead a resurgence. Instead the Yankees are circling the drain and you have to think that that New York media is all over this guy. The Yankees do have Nick Hodzic (.352, 5, 21 at AAA Syracuse). It's just... even a team like the Bronx Bombers arne't going to be so unsentimental, right? Especially if the other piece of the equation is a 4th round pick who seems to have made good only over the last season or so. I don't even want to call him up right now because that probably means cutting loose Yanks ATG Ty Stover (.056, 0, 1), who has not taken well to pinch-hitting. Mets 3B Mark Hamill (.188, 0, 3). Hamill was really supposed to take this job and run with it. Instead, he hasn't been good and then also has missed the past week with a knee contusion. Now Nick Hawkinson (.107, 0, 3 but what do you expect? The man is 43 years old) is injured and possibly out long-term. A's 1B Ray Hawkinson (.205, 1, 6). Dude hit .369 in 179 at-bats last year. I'm not saying I thought he'd do the same in '72 but even .290 would have been nice. Now he's losing time to 43 year old Jon Skelton (.296, 0, 3) and former Yankee / known Canadian Dan Field (.250, 0, 0 in 8 at-bats) and this is a team that's supposed to be better than this (I mean, 11-9 isn't bad per se). Phillies C Sam Rahn (.034, 0, 3). I remember putting in the Phillies' write-up that Rahn is a solid if unspectacular backstop who will give you around league average performance with the stick and OK defense. He's 2 for 59 this year and while Lee Citro (.450, 2, 5) has been on fire when he's played, it's not like Citro is anything like a long-term solution himself. I don't see anything particularly useful on the farm either, although if this keeps up I probably will need to call someone up. Phillies RF John Belushi (.172, 1, 7). Another youngster who has looked unequal to the task since breaking spring training on the roster. Belushi was really expected to contribute this year, which is maybe a good lesson in why you should not trust 66 at-bats in September. He's currently splitting time with 29 year old Bobby Corley (.235, 1, 4), a career .210 hitter in the majors, until I figure out something better (or until Belushi starts hitting). Giants OF Jimmy Walker (.167, 1, 5). Walker is only 24 and when he hit well last year (.276, 14, 56) it was over 107 games and 399 at-bats so it's not a Belushi situation in the least. So why isn't he hitting??? I hadn't started yet but the Giants do have Jon Berry (.167, 0, 1), who once upon a time led the AL in runs scored with Boston (with 89 in 1968 so let's not go crazy here). He'll spell the right-handed walker vs some RHPs; mostly though, I just want Walker to, you know, hit and stuff. Cardinals 1B Lorenzo Martinez (.150, 3, 5). He did miss the first 14 games of the season with an injury and so this is only a 40 at-bat sample. He also broke out of a low-power slump with 2 HRs in his last 5 games so it's mostly singles I'm waiting on (in fact, he has 12 walks so far and an OBP of .358). Nope, not worried. NOT WORRIED IN THE LEAST Cardinals 3B Mike Galeana (.177, 5, 18). If he just struck out more he'd be Joey Gallo! 11 of Galeana's 17 hits have been for extra bases so far and he still has a 111 OPS+ in this horrible offensive environment so mostly I'm just concerned about the batting average. I shouldn't be. Probably. Rangers 1B George W. Bush (.186, 1, 5). This is mainly who I was thinking of when I decided I wanted to go around the league and look at all the slumparinos. Dubya is the least slumpy of the slumpers on this slump-team but he's still not getting it done. It's worth noting that prior to his .281/13/40 stint with Washington last year (almost said Texas!), Bush hit .185/17/46 in AAA. Hey, still 30 HRs though... and that's exactly what he hasn't done so far. I have old man David Salinas (.250, 1, 4) playing some in his place, especially against lefties, but I know who Salinas is and Bush is, well, a potential slugger. Rangers 2B Jose Hernandez (.120, 2, 7). Hernandez hit maybe the emptiest 25 HRs you could hit in 1971 but it's still 25 HRs and what's more it came at RFK Stadium. So far this year his .229 average and .295 OBP look like too much to wish for. Something haaas to be done so I'm going to offer Rule V pick Jesus Rodriguez (.000, 0, 0 in 8 ABs) back to the Phillies and use the roster spot on Reggie Jackson (.2643, 1, 6), who is more of a 3rd baseman than a 2nd baseman and not a super fantastic hitter, period, but he probably won't hit .120. Hernandez will keep playing every now and then to see if he can break out of the slump. Rangers LF Matt Levario (.097, 2, 4). Levario feels like Justin Upton's final season in baseball: he was pretty bad last year - .214/5/19 in 82 games - but this is a guy with 447 career HRs as well as a player the scouting reports insist still "will have no trouble with a starting role". He's 7-72. Maybe this is bad luck but at this point there's just too much accumulated bad luck to go around. I won't cut him... yet but he's going to have to just, like, come alive as a pinch-hitter and spelling the new guy, 22 year old speedster/professional golfer Philippe Toussant (.360, 2, 13 at AAA Denver). OOOK so all that said, there have been some good players out there, too! Royals RF phenom Tony "The Boss" Danza (.395, 0, 6) went on a big old hot streak this week to wind up just shy of .400. He's pursued closely by the also red-hot Twins 2B Daniel Gilmet (.368, 2, 8) with Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.348, 9, 22) right there, too. Garcia also paces the AL In HRs and RBIs now, with Royals cleanup man RJ Dominguez (.322, 8, 18) the #2 guy in both of those categories. Weirdly - I think he's been hobbled a bit by injury, Tigers speed demon Alvin Romero is *not* among the league leaders in steals. Right now it's a tie between "The Nuge" Matt "Not Ted And Frankly I Might Not Have Ted In This Save Because He's Kind of Gross" Nugent (.264, 5, 13) and White Sox CF Arnold "Yes, That Arnold" Scharzennegger (.197, 0, 5) with 7 apiece with Boston's Jon Glynn (.233, 2, 2) right behind them with 6 of his own. It's suuuper early for ERA of course so, you know, don't expect the likes of Baltimore's Santos Rodriguez (2-0, 1.20) to be leading for much longer, or for newly Angelified David "Macho" "No, the real Macho Camacho is named Hector" Camacho (4-0, 1.23) to be here in another month. One name we'll surely continue to see is Jimmy Goddard (5-1, 1.40), who's 3rd and one of 2 5-game winners in the AL along with Boston's Michael Pesco (5-1, 3.00). Oakland's Roberto "Not Nolan Ryan But May As Well Be" Ortiz (1-1, 3.97) has had 4 no-decisions but also 48 strikeouts in 45.1 innings so far, which puts him just ahead of Boston's Justin Kindberg (3-2, 1.92) and Jimmy Goddard's Johnny Sain-esque teammate Edgar Molina (4-2, 2.09). Oakland's Willis Chavez (1-1, 5.25) and the Orioles' Montay Luiso (1-0, 0.00) are the co-leaders in saves with 6, although you can see from the stats that the two stoppers have pitched much different seasons so far. In the NL... Braves 2B Kevin Dwyer (.364, 4, 16) only did pretty OK this week and so has fallen into a virtual tie for 1st with Cubs CF Alex Vallejo (.364, 2, 8). Dodgers 3B cum backup singer for the Bee Gees Robin Gibb (.346, 2, 9) has come out of nowhere to be the #3 hitter in the NL. For HRs we've got 3 guys tied with 7 in the higher-hitting National League: Braves 1B Dante Chairez (.228, 7, 12), Cardinals RF and early MVP candidate Casey Satterfield (.308, 7, 19), and the Reds' RF Jaden Weaver (.263, 7, 22), who also leads the senior circuit in ribeyes. Have I mentioned how ugly that trade is yet (note: the real one saw Joe Morgan go to the Reds in the prime of his career). Cincinnati's 2B Pedro "Speedy" Ortiz (.276, 1, 9) is stealing every chance he can get and leads everyone everwhere with 11 steals so far; Mets SS Chris Adams (.240, 2, 11) and Braves LF Chris Ward (.307, 2, 7) round out the top 3. The NL has its very own 6 game winner, Houston Astros star Tony Rivera (6-1, 2.13). Yeah, that's a good ERA too, a full run better than the 3.20 that Rivera put together last season (which, playing half your game in the Astrodome, that is not a superstar ERA). It's still not good enough for top 3 just yet! Santos Arango (4-4, 1.23) has somehow lost 4 games this year but has allowed barely an earned run per 9 innings. He's followed closely by the Dodgers' Fernando Apolonio (4-2, 1.41) and the Cubs' Jason Sanders (3-1, 1.45), who will fall off this list after teams have played 31 games because he's out for the season. IRL the Cardinals traded Steve Carlton to the Phillies this offseason and watched him become a star; in this save they traded *for* Roger Quintana (3-2, 2.56), who is leading the NL with 49 Ks and so far looks like he's cut down on the gopher balls that made him only an above-average starter last season. Sitting 7 Ks behind him are two guys, teammate Raul Mendoza (2-4, 3.32), who's had some poor luck this year, and the Dodgers' Rogelio Salinas (3-2, 3.50), who's got 10.5 K/9 but a 3.50 ERA due to 19 walks in 36 IP (4.8/9) and 5 HRs given up so far (1.2/9). ## Major Transactions May 8: The Angels returned minor league P Scott Richey (0-0, 3.58 in AAA Salt Lake City) following an earlier purchase. This does, admittedly, stretch the definition of "major". Richey got into 1 whole game for San Diego while playing most of the year - and doing kind of badly (5-7, 4.34) - in AAA Hawaii (and technically, this transaction was Hawaii itself, not the Pads, who I guess had a rather loose association with this team IRL, acquiring the pitcher Dennis Bennett, who'd last played in the majors in 1968). Richey will still have to fall through waivers but frankly that should not be an issue. May 10: The Tigers traded RP Robbie Vaughn (0-0, 0.00, 1 Sv) to the A's for minor league 3B Danny Hernandez (.307, 3, 11 at AAA Iowa). You can never have enough pitching, right? That's the A's mantra. The man they give up to get the injury-prone Vaughn is a former good prospect - last ranked #73 in 1969 - where the bloom has come off the rose primarily because of an inability to field. He could make the transition to first, I guess, because he can still hit, but the Tigers already have Tim Suman and Danny Villegas there so... organizational depth I guess? May 11: The Mets traded RP Charlie Bechtel (5-3, 2.89 in 1971) to the Giants for RF Barry "The Ritz" Cooper (.340, 0, 6). This is the Willie Mays trade although of course the Giants don't have anyone like the actual Willie Mays and so the Mets are doing this for a guy who should fill a sudden, gaping hole left by Jimmy Washington's season-ending injury. Cooper slumped badly last year to .258 but seems like he's got his hitting stroke back and boy oh boy do the Mets need outfielders. Bechtel is a really good reliever in his own right. The Mets sit at 8-11 but don't consider themselves out of the mix just yet; the Giants maybe should have considered themselves more in the mix at 13-11 but they were bad last year and this gets them a little younger (also their GM loooved this trade so they don't think much of Cooper). ## News May 8: In a nationally televised speech, Richard Nixon announced that the United States would lay mines in North Vietnam's harbors in order to stop further supply of weapons and material. The mines would be timed to become active within 72 hours. In the operation known as Pocket Money, they were dropped at Haiphong Harbor by 9 American attack aircraft flying from the carrier USS Coral Sea and at six other ports, which were blocked for 300 days until the mines were removed by the US in 1973. May 8: Voting in Italy's parliamentary elections was completed after two days with the coalition of Christian Democrats and their allies, led by Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, retaining power. May 8: The lead singer of the band Savage Garden, Darren Hayes, was born. What exactly is a chicken cherry cola? May 8: 37 year old Pirates reliever Bong-Ok Park, who pitched all of last year in AAA (and was also injured for most of it) announced that he is going to retire after the season is done. Not sure if that's really your decision, Mr. Park, but OK... May 8: You love to see it: Orioles 3B Marco Perez (.319, 5, 11), who was bedeviled by injuries and a lack of clutch hitting last season, took home this week's best player in the AL award with a .533 (8-15) performance with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. He's actually 2nd in the AL in HRs now! The 6 time All-Star and 4-time Gold Glove Award winner also has 6 PotW awards under his belt, although this is his first since June of 1970. May 8: The NL PotW is another veteran, Atlanta 2B Kevin Dwyer (.388, 2, 14). Dwyer hit .481 (13-27) with 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, and 4 runs scored for a powerful Braves attack. Dwyer, a guy who's lived in the shadow of RF Henry Riggs his entire career, is an 11 time All-Star and surefire future HOFer in his own right, and this is his 9th PotW award. He "only" won one last season, in April. Dwyer by the way is a .316 career hitter and at age 33 has 1,902 hits. Barring injury he should reach 2,000 by the end of the year and 3,000 seems well within reach. May 9: Israeli soldiers stormed a hijacked Belgian jet and freed all 97 hostages on board, killing 2 of the 3 hijackers in the process. Sabena Flight 571 had been sitting at the Lod Airport in Tel Aviv after being captured the day before; the hijackers threatened to blow the plane up unless Israel released imprisoned Arab guerillas. May 9: The Mets' Jimmy Washington (.100, 1, 1) just had a bad start to a season turn worse, as he tore a PCL on the 7th and will miss the entire season as a result. Washington wasn't that great last year (.254, 17, 66) and has never quite reached the heights he got to in the Miracle '69 year (.290, 29, 113); at this point the Mets probably just need to find a long-term replacement in right field. May 10: As part of Operation Linebacker, American warplanes downed 11 North Vietnamese MiG fighters, three of them by future Congressman Duke Cunningham. One American plane, an F-4D, was shot down by a North Vietnamese Shenyang Y-6; the pilot refused to eject but his weapons officer, Roger Locher, did so and landed, unseen by either friendly or enemy forces, only 40 miles away from Hanoi. May 11: All 74 people on board the British merchant ship Royston Grange were burned to death after it collided with the oil tanker Tien Chee in a fog off of the coast of Uruguay. Flaming oil from the tanker (which also lost 9 people) created a ring of fire around the freighter. Nightmare fuel... May 11: The body of Dr. George Duncan was dragged out of River Torrens in Adelaide, South Australia, where he had been thrown the day before by three policemen. The banks of the river was known as a popular homosexual pickup spot. It was also, reading the Wikipedia entry, a popular spot for homophobic cops to beat gay men up and toss them into the river. One other man was also thrown in in the same incident; his ankle was broken by the fall but he survived and was picked up by a passing motorist. Duncan could not swim and drowned. The law school lecturer and gay activist became a martyr to the gay and lesbian movement throughout Australia and his murder led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in the country. The case also remains officially open although, I mean, it looks like everyone in South Australia knows who murdered the man. May 11: USAF 1st Lieutenant Michael Blassie, 23, was shot down near An Loc in South Vietnam, but his body will not be discovered for another five months by South Vietnamese troops. Classified as unknown by the Mortuary Affairs Division, he will eventually be interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from 1984 to 1988, when DNA testing confirms his identity. Blassie will be subsequently re-interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. May 11: The Phillies have been overachieving what I thought they'd do, anyway, at 12-9 so far, but they'll have to further figure things out without SS Tony Shannon (.260, 2, 8, 6 SB), who will miss the next 5 weeks with plantar fascitis. 28 year old rookie Jose Singleton (.234, 8, 32 in AAA Eugene in 1971) will take over for the time being but really this will just kind of be a hole for the next month plus. May 12: (in real life) the Twins and Brewers go 21 innings of tied baseball before the 1am curfew stops play; although Milwaukee scores in the top of the 22nd to win when play resumes on Saturday, 4-3, they go on to lose the regularly scheduled game against the same Twins 4-3 in 15 innings. That's an AL record for most innings in consecutive days and a sign that no, it's not just me who gets these super long-lasting extra inning games during this era. May 13: The first successful use of a laser-guided bomb was accomplished when US forces destroyed the Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam. They had previously attempted to blow this bridge up using more conventional methods for the previous seven years with no success, beginning in 1965. May 13: A fire on the third floor of the Senichi Department Store building in Osaka, Japan killed 117 people partying at the Play Town Cabaret. 60 people were able to escape, and while the flames never reached the seventh floor where the nightclub was, ninety-seven died from smoke inhalation and another 20 were killed when they fell from the roof. May 13: Dan Blocker, known by fans as "Hoss" on TV's Bonanza, died at the age of 43 today. Blocker had undergone routine surgery for the removal of his gall bladder on May 1 and died of a pulmonary embolism the day after his release from a hospital in Inglewood, California. May 13: Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.355, 9, 22) did Ernesto Garcia things today against the visiting Texas Rangers. He belted 3 HRs and accounted for all 4 of Cleveland's runs. However, 4 runs were not enough to win today as the Rangers jumped on starter Dylan Hamilton (1-3, 6.16) and stopper Jake Duckett (2-0, 0.79, 2 Sv) for 4 runs in the 8th inning and won 5-4. Beleaguered LF Matt Levario (.097, 2, 4) had one hit, a home run, for Texas but his days in the league are numbered unless he can string together a lot more hits very quickly, I think. May 13: David "Macho" Camacho (4-0, 1.23) isn't quite the guy the real-life Angels traded for in the offseason of 71-72 - that was a guy you might know named Nolan Ryan - but his pitch to contact nature has done him extremely well for his new ballclub. Today he tossed a 6-hit shutout against the New York Yankees and needed to be as on as he was, since it finished 1-0. Camacho is only getting 4.7 Ks per 9 so far (23 in 44 IP) but has allowed just 7 walks (1.4/9) and a single HR (0.2). I find it a little funny that the Mets even have a Ryan comp in "The Wild Thing" Ernesto Carrillo (2-4, 3.70), who has walked 31 batters in 41.1 innings, but I felt that that trade would be a little unfair/not quite to the Mets' doing since Carrillo has won 56 games for them over the last 3 seasons and is clearly their ace (well, maybe not so much this year). In any case, Camacho, the anti-Nolan, seems to be just what the doctor ordered for the 13-9, first place Angels. May 13: 1971 Cy Young Award Winner Santos Arango (4-4, 1.23) came into today with an opportunity to become one of the first 5-game winners in the game. All he had to do was outduel Houston's own ace Tony Rivera (6-1, 2.13). He did... fine; if you told me Arango pitched a complete game and gave up just 2 runs, I'd probably assume he'd have won it. But this being the Year of the Pitcher Jr., he was on the receiving end of a 2-0 loss as Rivera tossed a 4-hitter against the hapless Bucs offense (currently 3rd worst in the NL in runs scored (68) and average (.220)). "I don't like to lose," said an angry Arango after the game. "It just isn't right." May 14: 19 year ole Romas Kalanta set himself on fire to become a martyr for Lithuanian independence. When police prohibited a public funeral (as the USSR does), thousands of students and workers will take to the streets on May 18 to take up Kalanta's cause. The uprising will be supressed later in the month with the arrest of over 500 people, only 8 of whom are ever tried. Lithuania, who was annexed by the USSR during World War II, will get its own sovereignty when the communist nation breaks up in 1990. May 14: It's Mother's Day! May 14: In a horrible gift to his own mom, 36 year old Cardinals SP Jimmy McCauley (2-1, 3.76) was diagnosed with a torn UCL today. The injury, which forced him to leave the game on the 12th in the 3rd inning, is a very serious one; he's expected to be out until after the All-Star Break of 1973. Which, given his age, may mean that there will be no returning. McCauley had put together some late-career success since 1969, going 45-30 over the previous 3 seasons, although he did slump to 12-12 with a below-average 3.91 ERA last year. His peripherals suggest he's more of a back of the rotation guy with around league average stuff and mediocre control; who knows what a year+ layoff will do to that. Mario Garcia (2-5, 4.78 at AAA Tulsa), a former prospect who had injury issues of his own last season that cut into his playing time and rendered him not super effective when he did play (6-5, 4.03 last year in 19 starts), will take his spot in the rotation. May 14: A 2nd inning error by Tigers 3B Jose "Joker" Ayala (.227, 3, 9) led to a rare meltdown by Tigers ace Jimmy Goddard (5-1, 1.40) and wound up with him leaving in the 4th inning with 7 runs allowed but just 1 of them earned and taking the loss in an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the 7-14 Royals. Ayala's muffed grounder occurred with 1 out and runners on 1st and 3rd and allowed weak hitting C Nick McIntyre (.138, 0, 4) to reach and load the bases. Goddard got the next guy, the pitcher Jorge Cervantes (1-3, 4.38) on a fly to center that was deep enough to bring Edwin Manchego (.318, 2, 3) home. From there Goddard gave up a walk, a 2-run single with the bases loaded, and then a 3-run homerun to Royals slugger RJ Dominguez (.341, 8, 18). As the Tigers had another game to play today (I don't think the AI takes this into account but hey, I'll make excuses), he lingered on for another 1.1 innings after that. Cervantes incidentally stayed in the whole game and picked up the complete game victory, his first of the year. Incidentally, because the game likes to be mean, the Royals wound up sweeping the double with a 14 inning walk-off off of Tigers' setup man Todd Thiesen (1-2, 1.35), who arrived after solid performances by starter Bruce Rubio (3-1, 1.84), who pitched 9 innings of 2-run ball but whom I felt I had to take out in the top of the 10th because he had thrown 151 pitches and was at bat in a LIRISP position, as well as closer Jim Marceau (0-2, 2.77), who managed to pitch through poor control (4 walks in 4 IP) and only gave up a solo HR to Royals star Dave Corona (.259, 4, 6) - that HR incidentally retied the game in the 12th at 3-3 after the Tigers had rallied to take the lead in the top of the inning. Jon Gutierrez (1-0, 3.86) was the winner for KC and also the very last man left in the bullpen; starter Jason LaPointe (1-1, 3.86) was forced to leave in the 6th with back stiffness. In spite of the setback, Detroit is still 13-8 and is only in 2nd in the AL East because of a Baltimore Orioles team who is, frankly, playing way above their heads right now. May 14: Rangers SP Billy Crystal (2-3, 2.27) had a no-hitter earlier this year. Today he had to pitch in himself to avoid becoming the victim of a no-no at the hands of Indians P Robert Rivera (1-2, 3.27). Rivera actually had a perfect game going for 7.1 innings before issuing a couple of walks in the 8th. That left Crystal, who tossed a 5-hitter of his own tonight, to come in as the leadoff hitter in the top of the 9th. He slapped a ground ball up the middle and just past Cleveland SS Jon Johnson (.179, 1, 4) to record the Rangers' first hit all day. This seemed to be contagious as CF Norm Hodge (.239, 0, 5) then dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt down the 1st base line - so perfect, in fact, that the speedster wound up safe at first himself. 3B Tyler Knight (.205, 1, 3) slapped a single of his own into left field to load the bases, setting up RF Bubba Wilson (.202, 0, 4) to drive in the only run in the whole game on a sac fly to deep right field. The win was actually Crystal's first outside of the no-no. "I'm always thinking what I need to do, what I haven't done, what I did do, what I didn't do as well as I could. I'm relentless that way with myself", Crystal confessed to reporters after the game. May 14: The Cubs and Braves battled one out into the late night - fortunately for the narrative this game took place in Atlanta - with the 16-7 Chicago team finally eking it out in the 19th on a set of base hits off of Braves long man Jake Cari (0-2, 2.31), who'd previously thrown 2 shutout innings before this occurred. The game got tied up at 4-4 in the 9th after the Cubs got to Atlanta ace John Winn (0-3, 2.25, 4 Sv), who blew his very first save this season... and then it just kind of stayed that way for another 10 innings. I hate the early 1970s sometimes. Frank Castro (1-0, 3.38), the last man in the bullpen for Chicago, picked up the win with 4 innings of shutout ball. ## Teams in Review Nothing this week but I'm around 99% positive we'll see our first reviews next.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
07-20-2023, 01:30 PM
|
#205 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
May 15-21, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Boston Red Sox 17 9 .654 - 99 61 Detroit Tigers 18 10 .643 - 109 60 Baltimore Orioles 16 12 .571 2 101 92 Cleveland Indians 12 15 .444 5½ 104 107 Milwaukee Brewers 11 14 .440 5½ 70 83 New York Yankees 8 19 .296 9½ 69 91 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Minnesota Twins 18 10 .643 - 115 96 California Angels 17 13 .567 2 96 95 Oakland Athletics 14 13 .519 3½ 97 107 Texas Rangers 13 17 .433 6 78 93 Chicago White Sox 12 16 .429 6 83 105 Kansas City Royals 11 19 .367 8 101 132 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cubs 19 11 .633 - 113 112 Pittsburgh Pirates 17 13 .567 2 90 65 Philadelphia Phillies 17 14 .548 2½ 125 125 St. Louis Cardinals 17 16 .515 3½ 145 117 New York Mets 15 17 .469 5 110 130 Montreal Expos 10 22 .312 10 80 134 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 18 12 .600 - 90 97 Atlanta Braves 17 15 .531 2 137 124 Los Angeles Dodgers 17 15 .531 2 126 118 San Francisco Giants 18 18 .500 3 130 116 San Diego Padres 15 18 .455 4½ 122 129 Cincinnati Reds 12 21 .364 7½ 129 130 NL-wise, the Cubs are still on top of the East. Is this sustainable, even with them losing probably their best starter for the season? I'm going to say not and point to the FUN differential, but you never know I guess. The Pirates are right there with a full-on opposite approach to baseball. Power vs. pitching: who will win? Sadly, in the NL West the Astros have Twins-like overcome some bad starts by some key players to lead the division by 2 games over the incumbent Braves and the "how are they doing this?" Dodgers. Also, sadly, the Reds have finally gotten outscored this season. LET'S LOOK AT SOME STATS BOYS Tony Danza (.390, 0. 8) hit a whole bunch of singles this week - 9-24 - and is still maybe chasing .400. .400 is about the most unlikely thing to see this year but hey, it's late May and there he is. Twins 2B Daniel Gilmet (.351, 3, 11) hit "only" .259 this past week to fall all the way to 3rd in the race, with Detroit speedster Alvin Romero (.363, 1, 11, 9 SB) hitting .616(!) this week. Right there, that's my guess for AL PotW. Ernesto Garcia (.345, 11, 25) and Alice Cooper (.310, 10, 26) continue to mash and chase each other in the HR and RBI race (and by extension the MVP race) with Royals slugger RJ Dominguez (.305, 8, 22) right on in behind them. Imagine how bad the Royals would be without that man in the middle of their lineup. As you'd expect with the averasge, Alvin Romero is now co-leading the AL in steals with bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger (.220, 0, 5, 9 SB), who seems to do nothing but steal when he gets on base (in spite of the BA he does have a league-average .310 OBP). The Twins' Rich Whetzel (3-0, 1.20) is somehow out in the lead in the ERA race in spite of an even BB/K ratio. Finesse still wins in the early 70s I guess; also, Minnesota's been managing him kind of hard so far. He just did pass Jimmy Goddard (5-2, 1.31), who messed up his run by getting knocked out of the box in the 4th last week against the Royals - well, then again, only 1 of the 7 runs he allowed was counted as earned. Still, when you're allowing nothing, that can be huge. The Red Sox' Marco Sanchez (3-3, 1.40) only has a .500 record to show for his 3rd-best ERA but he's like the only Red Sox pitcher who's not getting support. Speaking of Bosox pitchers, Michael Pesco (6-1, 2.47) became the AL's first 6 game winner with a 1-0 win over the 2nd place Detroit Tigers this week, and teammate Justin Kindberg (5-2, 1.86) struck out 9 Yankees today to vault the Tigers' Edgar Molina (5-2, 1.73) in the strikeout race, 59 to 57. In the National! Baseball! League!, I think .400 has flown the coop. Still, Cubs CF Alex Vallejo (.350, 2, 8) was only 3-12 this week due to, you guessed it, injuries, but the rest of the league fell off I guess so he's leading the league in average now. Rookie phenom Robin Gibb (.337, 2, 12) might be the least well-known of the Gibb brothers but he's the best hitter. And look out, NLers, because 1970 batting champ Alonzo Huanosta (.331, 0, 15) is now in Cincinnati and seems to be up to his old ways. Braves 1B Dante Chairez (.236, 9, 20) is the early HR leader, edging out Cubs SS Jeremy Taylor (.231, 8, 23) and Cards 3B Mike Galeana (.198, 7, 22), and man, the low-average HR hitter is more than a cliche in the NL. Jaden Weaver of the Reds (.258, 7, 25) is slightly bucking that trend (the leage BA is .236) to pace the league in RBIs. And man, Reds 2B Pedro "Speedy" Ortiz (.279, 1, 9, 13 SB) seems hell-bent on breaking the 3 year old NL steals record (69, held by Zackery Hadley of the Padres in their expansion season). I guess he's "only" on pace to get to 64 but still. BUT STILL. The Astros' Tony Rivera (7-1, 1.97) has combined good pitching with good run support to lead everyone in baseball in wins. Nobody else in the league has more than 5. The Expos' Frank Evans (2-1, 1.32) is in the back of their rotation but probably not for much longer, given that he's leading the NL in ERA right now, 3 points ahead of the Dodgers' Fernando Apolonio (5-2, 1.35). Jason Sanders is #3 for the final week; he, as noted many times before, is out for the year and threw 31 pitches. The Cubs are at 30 games. Cards' SP Roger Quintana (3-3, 2.31) could be the biggest acquisition in an offseason of big acquisitions; he leads the NL with 63 strikeouts now, well ahead of Ernesto "Wild Thing" Carillo (2-5, 3.67), who's control issues have prevented him from pitching further into games. As such he's struck out almost a batter an inning but has "only" 56.1 of them to date (52 Ks). ## Major Transactions May 15: The A's traded SS Gil Wilson (.167, 0, 0) to the Cardinals for minor league P Matt Owensby (2-2, 2.63 in AAA Tulsa). I left him off of my Mad List but the Cardinals' current SS Brian Wilcox (.157, 1, 4) has been baaaad, so much so that they really need someone to spell him a lot and the left-handed batting Gil Wilson seems like a great fit. The A's traded for a loooot of relief pitching this year, apparently, and they're kind of packed right now so instead I took on the Cardinals' #2 pitching prospect in Owensby. Was that too much? Look. This is the Cardinals' window. As in right now. And meanwhile, there just wasn't anyone at the major league level that fit the bill to match this trade up properly. May 16: The White Sox traded minor league P Oscar Amador (1-3, 2.48 at AAA Tucson) to the Cardinals for minor league P Dusty Collins (0-1, 4.70 at AAA Tulsa). This is a deal with both teams cutting bait on pitchers who are aging out of prospect status. Collins got into the majors in 1970 but sucked (2-5, 7.41) and walked almost twice as many men as he struck out in AAA ball last year. Still, he did crack the majors. Looking at it, I guess Amador, an international scouting discovery back in 1963 who's never been able to overcome bad control, did too last year and was similarly bad (0-2, 6.38). Last year, prior to the call-up, he went 14-11, 3.86 for the Toros, striking out 176 batters in 217 innings (great!) but walkine 186 (woooow). Good luck to both guys, I guess. May 16: The A's traded RP Robbie Vaughn (0-1, 27.00), C Derek Kane (.000, 0, 0), and minor league CF Jeremy Harrison (.235, 2, 17 at AAA Iowa) to the Padres from LF/1B Alex Canales (.296, 3, 7). Canales is a former Gold Glove award winner at first base, which is where he may see a lot of action what with Ray Hawkinson (.222, 1, 6) not really cutting it and now being plagued with an uncertain-return sprained knee. To get him, they send back Vaughn, a man they just acquired from Detroit who got to pitch one game (he was blown up in it, hence the 27 ERA) in A's green before the move, their backup catcher in Kane, and a 25 year old not-really-a-prospect who can field, at least. The Padres' GM was ecstatic about this deal for some reason. May 19: The Reds traded CF Sonny Burwell (.214, 0, 4) to the Cardinals for minor league OF/1B Chris Cooper (.256, 3, 11 at AA Arkansas). Hey, the Reds are going nowhere so they will go ahead and trade off the 23 year old Burwell, who hit .299 and made the All-Star Team last year, for the 23 year old Cooper, who's rated as St. Louis' #2 prospect and #1 hitting prospect. He hasn't hit super well in AA so far so he's probably at least a year away, but even hitting only .256 the man loves to draw bases on balls. Meanwhile, the scouts kind of hate Burwell but again, this man was an All-Star last year. St. Louis is trying to contend; their current guy Jim James (.244, 1, 6) is a heck of a find for a Rule V pick but even when he hit .286 last year it was accompanied by a .307 OBP, which is just not good enough for leadoff. ## News May 15: After 26 years of rule by the United States, the island of Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands were returned to the jurisdiction of Japan. Unbeknownst to anyone, this move would later become important as conquering the world as Ryukyu became Europa Universalis 4's version of the Kobayashi Maru, the scenario that is supposed to be unwinnable unless you cheat and/or cheese the game out of existence. Literally dozens of players have gotten the "Three Mountains" achievement FWIW. May 15: Alabama governor George Wallace was shot 5 times while campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President. Wallace survived but was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. At the time of the shooting Wallace had won more votes in the primaries than either George McGovern or Hubert Humphrey but was second to McGovern in delegates. Wallace was fresh off of running a gubernatorial campaign that Jimmy Carter called "one of the most racist campaigns in modern southern political history", which is really saying something. I'm not one to root for assassins but... let's just say that the American people may have dodged a bullet when Wallace failed to do the same. May 15: Yankees MI Ty Stover (.056, 0, 1) went right past "hey man, put me in the lineup already" and is requesting a trade. I don't know if I can do it! I've gone ahead and added him to the trading block to remind me and in the meantime the guy I named as his replacement at 2B, Jonathan "Mike Ermantraut" Banks (.243, 0, 6), is not exactly lighting up the American League so I'll start working Stover in a little harder. He was a starting SS 2 years ago but there's absolutely no way he can field at that position anymore. May 15: A small bit of good news for the Mets, as Nick Hawkinson's (.107, 0, 3) is not as bad as once feared and he should be able to play again in a few days. On the other hand, the early returns on Hawkinson is that he's showing his age and the end is near. May 15: The NL Player of the Week is a guy who very nearly got onto my Mad List I composed last week, young Padres RF Ed "Al Bundy" O'Neill (.237, 1, 6). He got his role shaved down a bit last week and responded by hitting 10-18 (.588) with a HR, 3 RBIs, and 4 runs scored. If that's how to get production from him, OK! O'Neill is now carrying an OPS+ Of 94 so he's still got some room to grow. This was also the 26 year old future "Married With Children" and "Modern Family" star's 1st ever Player of the Week. And also, apparently Ed O'Neill is older than the guy who played Mike Ermantraut. Really? May 15: The AL also went with a future comic actor for its Player of the Week award and if you read my NOVEL last week, you might have figured out who it is: Royals RF Tony "The Boss" "Tony Micelli" Danza (.395, 0, 6). Danza also hit over .500 but got a few more at-bats: 12-21, .571. In spite of hitting 5th in the order for the Royals he's got no kind of power and so he only had 2 RBIs but did hit 2 doubles and 2 triples. Only 2 runs though. Soooomeone's algorithm does not include clutch! Anyway, this was also Danza's first PotW and there will surely be many more. May 15: The Boss, Tony Danza (.418, 0, 6) raised his average to over .400 with a 3-3 game but it wasn't enough as the Rangers had an absolute offensive outburst of a 5-3 win. Danza might even have contributed a little to the loss as he was caught trying to stretch a double in the 8th inning into a triple by the slick fielding Rangers CF Norm Hodge (.228, 0, 5). "That's the way the cookie crumbles," said Danza after the game. "Also, I'm not just an actor, I am a boxer too." May 16: The Pirates (12-12) have been dealing with the middle infield decently well by using a tandem of Henry Villar (.263, 0, 6) and Luke Dunnahoe (.254, 0, 8). It hasn't exactly been gangbusters but meh. That said, Dunnahoe's now out for the next month plus with a herniated disc in his back and that means they're reverting to what they came up with last year, which involved moving the Gold Glove of Villar to shortstop and using the former starting SS Tyler Webster (.250, 0, 3) at 2nd. Webster has lost some range at short but kind of hits like a shortstop, not a 2B, so it's not a great fix for a team who's still trying to contend. The backup MI replacement is a familiar if disappointing face: Sergio Cando (.239, 3, 5 in AAA Charlotte), who hit .169 last year in 21 starts and who is already 29. Unlike the so-called prospects, though, Cando at least can field the positions. May 16: The Pirates take 16 innings to edge their rivals the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 at Three Rivers Stadium. What this essentially came down to was that the Pirates finally got to the already-depleted Cards bullpen; long man Paul Boerger (0-1, 2.04) threw 3 innings of shutout ball but then tired in his 4th frame. Both starting pitchers went more than 9 innings to try to get this - St. Louis' Mario Garcia (0-0, 0.90) went 10 in his first major league outing of the season and Pittsburgh's Jeremy Battaglia (2-4, 2.29) went 12. The winning pitcher Miguel Urbina (1-0, 0.00) actually also hit the game-winning RBI, driving in "Doctor" Jack Holman (.278, 2, 11) from 2nd base on a 2 out single. May 17: Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers (?) played to a 1-1 draw in the first ever UEFA Cup Championship. As Spurs had won the first game 2-1, this delivered them the championship. HOORAY EUROPE A TIE May 17: Some movement today in the AL homerun race: Chicago's Alice Cooper (.318, 9, 24) hit 2 dingers to temporarily put him into a tie with Cleveland's Ernesto Garcia (.347, 10, 23), only for the bulky Indians first baseman to hit a solo shot late in his team's 3-1 win over the Yankees. That made him the first player in the major leagues with double-digit HRs. "Hey, I'm all for competition," said Garcia, who famously hit twice as many HRs last season as the AL #2 guy. "As long as Ernesto Garcia comes out on top." May 17: The first-place Detroit Tigers (16-8) will have to figure out how to score runs without their #3 hitter, 2B Joey Ramone (.299, 1, 12), who tore a ligament in his thumb and will miss the next month and a half. Frankie "Commissioner Burrell" Faison (.325, 0, 7 at Toledo), a 22 year old not-really-a-prospect who nevertheless was raking in AAA this year, will come up to take Ramone's place. 1B Danny Villegas (.302, 6, 22) is already out with an as-yet-undiagnosed injury so the Tigers are truly scrambling for runs now. Their teammates, especially SP Edgar Molina (5-2, 1.80) still did enough to beat the Orioles 3-0 today. May 17: MY DAD picked up his first loss, giving up 5 runs in 6 innings for the Expos in a 6-2 loss. No walks, 3 Ks, 9 hits allowed. He's not getting a lot of help! May 17: Dodgers 2B Danny Fager (.529, 0, 1) picked up right where he left off. Playing his first game in almost a month, the oft-injured Fager went 2 for 5, including a single in the 8th that helped contribute to the 4-3 Dodgers win inasmuch as the next man up, 1B Justin Stone (.226, 6, 21) clobbered a homerun over the right field wall in San Diego Stadium. "I'm just glad I can be back to where I can put my money where my mouth is," Fager, a 3-time All-Star, said after the game. May 18: Following a march four days earlier by more than 100,000 protestor, Madagascar president Philibert Tsiranana agreed to step down and hand over all power to General Garbriel Ramanantsoa. Never let it be said that I do not report on Madagascari news! May 18: Robert Lee Johnson, a 50 year old former US Army sergeant who was 7 years into a 25-year prison sentence for treason and espionage, was murdered by his own son in a visitor's area at the federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. His son would tell authorities that the patricide was "a personal matter". May 18: The other shoe fell, and fell hard, for the Tigers today. 1B Danny Villegas' (.302, 6, 22) sore hand turned out to be a fracture and as a result he'll be out until the All-Star Break. Villegas was off to a typically strong start; now, without either him nor Joey Ramone, the Tigers are left with a lot of guys who just plain aren't producing much this year... and the top of the lineup, where CF Alvin Romero (.327, 0, 6, 6 SB) and LF Danny Hohman (.319, 0, 8, 7 SB) are doing all of the speedy things. May 18: I'm a little surprised that Red Sox P Mike Pesco (6-1, 2.47) had never struck out more than 13 batters a game but I guess that's true, as he pitched an 11 inning shutout in a classic pitching duel against Detroit's Jimmy Goddard (5-2, 1.31) en route to a 1-0 victory. Pesco tied Boston records with 12 Ks in regulation and 13 (hey, he was tiring) in the full game. This was the 11th time a Red Sox player hit 12 Ks, many of those by Pesco himself (including the last time it happened in June of 1971) and the 3rd time a Red Sox pitcher has reached 13 in extras (last accomplished by Marco Sanchez in 1970; Pesco never reached this mark before). Goddard, on the losing end of this one, might want to get used to the feeling... May 18: The Reds have been struggling this year (11-18) in part due to blowing 1-run games (they've still scored 5 more runs than they've allowed, 117-112). Today their young first baseman Alonzo Rivera (.312, 3, 22) sprained his elbow pretty badly making a play at first base, which is going to make the road that much harder for this team. They did beat the Giants 9-5 because whenever they win, they win big. Junior Cannon (.154, 0, 0), who was one of the best hitters in the league 2 years ago, will take his place while he's out, with LF Alonzo Huanosta (.321, 0, 13), who looks like last year's .261 average was just a one-year blip, taking over in the 3 hole. May 19: A bomb exploded at the Pentagon, destryoing an unoccupied women's restroom where it was placed. Although nobody was injured a computer tape archive with highly classified information was severely damaged. May 19: The Eagle Scouts were created. I might have been an Eagle Scout once if only I had any ability to concentrate on anything at all when I was in school... May 19: Northeast Airlines was acquired by Delta. May 19: Angels IF Mike "Pappy" Ramos (.207, 0, 3), who was looking out for a role this year after hitting .302 in 232 at-bats for KC last year, will miss the entire season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Ramos had played in 5 games for his new team after being traded from the Royals for P Andy Lagunas. And now the 3-time All-Star will be out, and at his age, it's not out of the question that that's the last we've seen of him (I'm going to guess not though). May 19: In waaay better news for the Dodgers, who are still hanging around the West at 16-14, Rogelio Salinas (3-2, 3.92), who was removed from yesterday's game as a precaution after he complained of a sore arm, will in fact miss no time. "Phantom pains, I guess," said Salinas. May 19: Phillies backup Lee Citro (.440, 2, 6) made a kind of a bizarre requesat, at least me: he demanded to start (actuallu he straight up asked to be traded). I guess when I look at his history he did start for St. Louis for several years, even making the All-Star Game in 1965. With incumbent Sam Rahn (.032, 0, 3) now 2-63 on the season, why not? May 19: Meanwhile in San Diego 3B Kevin Landry (.320, 0, 2) wants to start as well. Here, while I can feel for Landry, who's been San Diego's AS rep the past 2 seasons, he's also 39 years old and while Dale Earnharft (.247, 3, 8) hasn't been anything amazing... hmm. I think I will stick Landry into that spot. There will be plenty of time to play Earnhardt in the future and if he's really good enough to take out Landry, he can earn it (which, he did earn it in spring training but now he's got a .302 OBP... also his OPS+ is 118 but I'm going to use this as an excuse, okay!?). May 19: Phillies "stopper" Tom Grohs (1-2, 4.76, 2 Sv) is really struggling to open the year. Tonight he came in in the 8th to protect a 3-2 lead and blew it in the 9th for a 4-3 loss to the Mets. "I guess my sinker just wasn't sinking enough," said Grohs after the game. "Man." It's still early but so far it looks like the stuff that caused him to strike out 81 batters in 89.1 innings in 1970 but which fell to a pedestrian 60 in 86.1 (still 6.3/9, still above average, just not "stopper" level) has not returned: he did strike out 2 batters tonight but has only 11 in 17 innings (5.8/9) to date. May 20: The Indiana Pacers win the New York Nets 108-105 to win the ABA Championship in Game 6. The Pacers and Nets, of course, would go on to join the NBA, although the Nets were more or less forced to sell off their superstar - and star of the ABA - Julius "Dr. J" Erving. May 20: Cardinals OF Elijah Johnson (.238, 1, 4), forced to take more of a backup/pinch-hitter role now that the 38 year old's defense has gone from great to merely OK over the last couple years, will miss the next 4 weeks with shoulder tendinitis. The Cardinals are 17-14 and 1 1/2 games out of first in the NL East, so not terrible by any means, but this is a team that could really, really use prime Johnson. The injury also does give the Cards the opportunity to call up French-Canadian race car driver cum center fielder Gilles Villenueve (.325, 5, 18 at AAA Tulsa), who was raking in the minors. May 20: Pirates 3B Roberto Prieto (.074, 0, 0) announced he'll retire at the end of the season. If he makes it that far, I guess. A 3-time All-Star, the 38 year old Prieto was the team's starter last year and has been a starter with the Pirates since 1965. Before then he was a guy for the Reds, where he was a starter for the pennant-winners in 1960 but lost that job for a few years with the emergence of a young Mike Ramos. Now he's kind of back into that pinch-hitting role, although he hasn't exactly shone. Prieto is a lifetime .264 hitter whose relative lack of starting chances means he's only got 1,289 hits. May 20: Maybe the newly Barry Cooper-free Giants are a prime target for a "get right" game. In any case, they certainly played the part for Braves P Julio Sandoval (5-1, 3.93), who's been pretty shaky this year in spite of that record. Today he put everything together, throwing a 3-hit shutout and leading the Braves to a 2-0 win in Candlestick Park. 2B Kevin Dwyer (.331, 4, 18), who's been in a little slump of his own as of late, drove in both runs and was 2 for 3 on the night. May 20: Astros RF Justin Jensen (.200, 1, 11) finally got on the board with HRs and he got his at the best possible time. Coming in in the 10th inning with a man on base, Jensen belted one into the RF alley at Dodger Stadium off reliever Arthur Wood (0-1, 11.00) to give the 'Stros a 4-2 lead that stopper Jon Douglas (1-1, 2.77) turned into Houston's 18th victory of the season. "I was pressing a little, I won't deny it," said the Longview, Washington native who cruelly and terribly went to Oregon State University instead of staying in the greatest state in the union. "Now that number 1 is out of the way, it's time for another forty". Jensen has 284 HRs in his career, which stretches back to 1961, and includes 2 40+ HR years and 5 30+ ones. May 21: The Communist Party of the Soviet Union announced the removal of Petro Shelest, the now-former leader of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, where he'd led since 1963 as the First Secretary of ts Communist Party. Shelest was accused of "mestnichestvo" (localism) and placing Ukraine's interest over those of the larger USSR and was transferred to a job as a Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers. Following his removal, many of his associates were purged from office, which I think and hope by the early 70s just meant "fired" as opposed to "tortured and murdered". May 21: Michaelangelo's 475 year old masterpiece, the sculpture Pieta, was heavily damaged by Laszlo Toth with a hammer. Just goes to show, this kind of thing is not an exclusively 21st century phenomenon... May 21: The rapper Notorious BIG (Christopher Wallace) was born today. May 21: The struggling Yankees played kind hosts to the Boston Red Sox today -- too kind, in fact. They scored just 2 runs in a double-header sweep at the hands of their classic rivals, losing the opener 5-2 as Justin Kindberg (5-2, 1.86) threw a 3-hitter and then getting shut out in the nightcap 4-0 behind the high-control pitching of Marco Sanchez (3-3, 1.40). The two losses put the Yankees at 8-19 on the season and on the brink of a REVIEW, which also means I've got to take a long look at 39 year old Ty Stover (.125, 0, 1) and 38 year old Aaron Sullivan (.067, 0, 1). Stover is the face of the franchise but man, he is not doing well in his new role as a backup and right-handed pinch-hitter, whereas Sullivan was acquired to be a captain and to pinch-hit and when you can't do the latter nobody listens to you when you try to be the former. May 21: Speaking of doubleheaders between top teams and bottom ones, the Twins salvaged a split of their 4-game series vs the Texas Rangers by sweeping the twinbill at Arlington Stadium. At least the Rangers here scored a few runs in the first game, though they still lost it 7-4 thanks to a 5 RBI outburst by Minnesota SS Justin Ramey (.263, 2, 14). Whatever issues Minnesota may be having this year, they turned a major weakness into a strength by acquiring Ramey from the Brewers last year. In Game 2, Rich Whetzel (3-0, 1.20) gave his team 7 solid innings and then allowed lefty specialist Walt Gurganus (2-0, 3.60) and closer Travis Livingston (0-2, 0.57, 7 Sv) to put the game to bed for the 6-1 victory. It was still, in fact, 3-1 in the 9th when the old veteran slugger Angelo Ramos (.234, 7, 19) parked his 7th HR of the year into the left field seats for a 3 run HR off of Rangers stopper Gabe Slaughter (0-2, 5.84, 3 Sv), who so far has kind of shown why this team, when it was still called the Senators, stopped using him as a co-closer with the now-departed Jake Duckett. Texas is 13-17, having started to put things together a little after a monumentally slow start. This... this is not helping. May 21: Call today the Doubleheaders of Truth, I guess. The Pirates swept the Expos at home in their own double although they had to go 14 in the first game to do so. They wound up winning that one 7-4 thanks to a 2 out 3-run HR by RF Justin Lawson (.246, 6, 17), who had a rare multi-HR game at Three Rivers Stadium. Paz Lemus (2-0, 0.00) continued his 1972 scoreless streak with 10 games and 20.1 innings of run-free baseball for the W. Game 2 came down to a pitchers' duel between back of the rotation guys Richard "MY DAD IS THE BEST DAD" Craven (0-2, 2.74) and Danny Perez (3-0, 2.37). Perez went 7 strong innings and handed the ball over to Bucs setup man Brian Bruno (0-2, 4.91), who finished the 2-0 shutout and picked up his first save on the year in the process. Asked if he pitched well today, Richard Craven said "I gueeeeesssss" and then changed into a plaid shirt. ## Teams in Review May 20: It took until Saturday but I was right! The Montreal Expos are the first team to 20 losses and as such the first team I "get" to take a look at. Montreal is dead last in the NL in both runs scored and runs allowed, not a great combination. The pitching is especially, especially bad though; although the Texas Rangers out-futile them at the plate nobody is worse than Montreal's 4.19 ERA. Rotation: Annoyingly it's the top of the Expos' rotation, the guys who were supposed to carry, who have been awful for the most part. Neither DJ Fletcher (2-4, 4.43) nor Jeff Graton (2-4, 4.43) are looking like much at all but neither looks like a guy I feel comfortable swapping out, especially given the complete lack of good pitching in AAA Peninsula. Nate Lancaster (1-3, 5.76) was an 11 game winner for the A's last year but hasn't even been able to average 6 IP a start so I'm going to flip-flop him and the guy who's been the team's situational lefty so far, Andy Tudor (0-1, 2.61). For now that'll have to be all. Bullpen: Lancaster was a tweener last year too, with 13 starts and 14 games in relief, so maybe he'll bounce back in the 'pen. Otherwise, the bullpen's kind of not that bad. Long reliever Melvin Navarro (0-0, 4.11) has had some crazy control issues so far (15 walks in 15.1 IP) but that right now is less of a reason to cut the 28 year old and more of a reason to keep him out of the rotation... yet. Infield: 1B Willie Morales (.241, 5, 9) is hitting dingers but not a whole lot else, as evidenced, too, by a .278 OBP. I'm going to start mixing in the old vet, Armando Munoz (.158, 0, 1) against righties. It's a natural platoon! The former Cub David Holcolmbe (.172, 2, 6) was supposed to be the guy at second this year but he is not and the team has a guy doing well - I guess tearing it up in 1972 terms - in AAA in the AAAA player Luis Alvarez (.297, 4, 7 at AAA Peninsula). It looks like a 50/50 platoon between him and Danny Waters (.263, 1, 2). I just noticed that I'd been trying Ruberto Yebra (.150, 0, 1) there against lefties; that's a bad idea although somehow the stone-handed Yebra hasn't made an error in 7 games and 62 innings at the position to date. I totally didn't realize this but even though George Yarbor (.193, 0, 2) and Hudson Watts (.286, 3, 5) are the same age - 25 - Watts as a toooon more cachet, given that he was the 1st overall pick in the 1970 draft. I'd entered the year with Yarbor as the starter but, meh fielding or no, Watts is the clear choice out there. Outfield: I'll probably not make huge changes but it's not because the OF is settled. Paul Kahl (.257, 3, 12) is the only guy who's actually hitting so far. RF Matt Williams (.105, 0, 2) has had a baaaad 10 games since starting the season late; I'm pretty much set on forcing the 1971 All-Star to hit, eventually, if that's a thing that works. CF Marc Ash (.178, 1, 4) is also not hitting in a larger sample, too. His backup Anton Mendoza (.208, 0, 2) is equally not hitting; he was a starter before Williams came back so he's got a decent sample now - 77 at-bats - as well. May 21: The Cincinnati Reds do have the 2nd worst record in baseball but honestly... they aren't really that bad, I don't think. The pitching is certainly not good and we'll need to look into that but they've successfully upgraded the offense, even with the injuries (and the recent trade of Sonny Burwell). What can we do? We shall SEE. Rotation: Basically everyone outside of Steve Waiters (4-3, 2.10) has an ERA higher than 4. This cannot stand! I'm immediately going to pull both Josh Mullett (1-4, 5.10) and Mike Johnston (0-6, 5.53) out, replacing them with Tom Bertan (0-0, 2.25), who hopefully won't have an ERA higher than an airplane this year as he did last year with his disastrous 7.51, and Hector Fernandez (0-0, 3.12), who was 11-7 with a 2.72 ERA in AAA Eugene last year. That still leaves a 5 man rotation, which... I'm confident that the Reds aren't as bad as their record but not *that* confident. Love to give Waiters more outings but I'm not so hot on the remaining two guys, "Bullet Bill" Vanover (6-6, 4.35) and Joe Hagan (3-3, 4.78), both of whom are having issues with HRs early on. Bullpen: For a little while it looked like Mullet would just be a guy who puts up a 4 ERA anywhere but in 1972 there's no place where a 4 ERA is OK and also he got hammered a couple times since that point. I'm still putting him in as the middle relief guy because I kind of think Mike Johnston might be washed. I'll also promote Brian Yates (0-0, 0.00) to a setup role as the only other guy in the 'pen I'm sure of. Well, actually, Pete Lynn (0-1, 2.70, 2 Sv) has looked pretty OK as the stopper and to be honest he might be someone the Twins let get away a little too quickly. Infield: Junior Cannon (.125, 0, 0) is not off to the greatest start as a pinch-hitter and now the interim 1B but he's kind of all we have there. Even when Rivera was healthy, Carlos Gomez (.286, 2, 6) was pinch-hitting for him late so I'll move him in as a platoon partner for Cannon in the hopes that Cannon can find that 25 HR stroke he exhibited in '69 and '70 before he slumped to just 18 dingers and a .222 average last year. I've already pushed Bobby Kralcevic (.179, 1, 6) down into a platoon role with Scott Dorman (.353, 1, 7) and I'm worried I'll need to do more soon. Kralcevic hit .277 and .291 his first 2 years, then slumped to .241 in 1971. It he hits .280 he's still one of the best third sackers in the National League. That seems kind of far off right now. Dusty McCully (.263, 0, 4) has been getting the job done but not "he should start every day" levels of getting the job done so I'll start mixing in last year's starter Mike Wendt (1 whole at-bat so far this year). McCully is a better hitter and fielder than Wendt so there's no real chance that I see of Wendt getting his job back but I don't think there's a lot of point here in pushing McCully until he gets hurt or something. Outfield: Here I called up OF Dan "Horse" Issel (.299, 2, 12 at AAA Indianapolis). Issel plays for the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA when he's not playing baseball and in fact was so good at that that he even won All-Star MVP this year. As a ballplayer, he's got really good range in the outfield thanks to those long big man legs and hit for a high average this year at Indianapolis. He's kind of new to baseball, having just joined up with Trois-Rivieres last year when that team was added to the minor league system, so it's hard to come to any hard conclusions on the guy. I'm going to try to use him as much as I can though. For starters, he'll be the right-handed half of the CF platoon I'm putting together with the loss of Burwell; Dennis bin Naim (.265, 1, 14) being the other half. I'm happy to report that the corner guys are doing just fine with their new teams; the former AL batting king Alonzo Huanosta (.308, 0, 13) looks like he's put a rough 1971 (a .261 average) behind him and RF Jaden Weaver (.274, 7, 25) is among the league leaders in HRs.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
07-27-2023, 04:14 PM
|
#206 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
May 22-28, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 23 11 .676 - 145 79 Boston Red Sox 20 12 .625 2 123 87 Baltimore Orioles 20 14 .588 3 122 105 Cleveland Indians 15 18 .455 7½ 126 122 Milwaukee Brewers 13 18 .419 8½ 95 122 New York Yankees 9 24 .273 13½ 83 121 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 24 13 .649 - 139 103 Minnesota Twins 21 12 .636 1 130 116 Oakland Athletics 17 16 .515 5 116 142 Texas Rangers 16 21 .432 8 101 115 Chicago White Sox 13 21 .382 9½ 97 133 Kansas City Royals 12 23 .343 11 115 147 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cubs 22 14 .611 - 146 153 Pittsburgh Pirates 21 15 .583 1 116 83 St. Louis Cardinals 21 18 .538 2½ 172 137 Philadelphia Phillies 18 19 .486 4½ 139 155 New York Mets 16 22 .421 7 140 168 Montreal Expos 15 23 .395 8 115 152 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 22 16 .579 - 122 127 Los Angeles Dodgers 21 18 .538 1½ 147 141 Atlanta Braves 20 18 .526 2 156 144 San Francisco Giants 21 22 .488 3½ 157 144 San Diego Padres 19 21 .475 4 161 155 Cincinnati Reds 14 24 .368 8 139 151 It's interesting that the Angels and Twins are starting to emerge in the AL West, well ahead of the A's... and I feel like the Rangers might be frisky in the future but I also think they've already dug too large of a hole. And in the AL East, it's Tigers vs. Red Sox, a matchup I expect will be hitting all season long. Let's take a look at them statistical races... Tony Danza (.383, 0, 8) is still sticking close to .400, somehow. He had another great-hitting week - a .375 average - and man, he's just looking like... a boss. Alvin Romero (.360, 1, 13, 13 SB) is well behind him but .360 would lead the league most good seasons, let alone one where both leagues are hitting below .240. And Twins 2B Daniel Gilmet (.355, 3, 11) looks locked into the #3 spot now. With HRs, it's still Ernesto Garcia (.343, 13, 31) putting up record-breaking numbers with Alice Cooper (.274, 10, 26) now one of 4 guys in baseball with double digit HRs and RJ Dominguez (.298, 9, 25) looking like he could be #5. That's also the 1-2-3 in RBIs. Michael Pesco (8-1, 2.02) is now one of two 8 game winners in major league baseball and is also 2nd in Ks with 65 in 80 innings. Just a fantastic year so far. Jimmy Goddard (7-2, 1.32) is right behind him and also leads the league in ERA, ahead of Pesco's tammate Marco Sanchez (3-3, 1.65) and the A's Lee "Batty" Barnard (5-1, 1.67). Roberto Ortiz (1-2, 3.72) still leads the league in Ks and man, he has gotten a looot of no-decisions so far. Justin Kindberg (5-3, 2.19) rounds out the top 3 in strikeouts and is the third of that trio of Red Sox starters who are absolutely dominating the league early on. In the NL, the Cubs' Alex Vallejo (.344, 2, 10) is nowhere near .400 but is still having a nice season relative to this league, followed closely by the Reds' Alonzo Huanosta (.324, 0, 15) and... hey, look at that, a new guy, Mets C Jason Bushon (.317, 5, 22). The Mets have struggled but man, Bushon hasn't. Looks like a PotW award is on its way. Two guys in the NL have broken double digits in HRs - Dante Chairez (.221, 10, 22) and Jeremy Taylor (.230, 10, 28), with Cardinals third sacker Mike Galeana (.196, 9, 25) rounding out the trio of low-average, high HR guys leading the NL (looks like Paul McCartney is also on that list). RBIs are like a completely different group: Dodgers 1B Justin Stone (.248, 8, 29), Taylor, and Padres 2B Paul McCartney (.260, 9, 26), who opened the year slow but went 8-25 last week and is .270/6/16 in May. Fernando Apolonio (6-2, 1.17) is putting up some Bob Gibson numbers to lead the NL (and technically all of baseball) in ERA so far. For the record that single-season ERA record seems veeeery beatable: it's a 1.61 set by Jeff Borden in 1956 (he was 24-9 that year). Frank Evans of the Expos (3-1, 1.50) and Jason Sanders has now officially been replaced with the Mets' John "Cliff Claven" Ratzenberger (4-3, 1.64). Tony Rivera (8-2, 1.98) is still pacing the league in Ws and is maybe about to get into the top spots in ERA soon too, with youngster Steve Tyler (7-2, 2.40) of the Padres, who spent most of last year in the bullpen after a mid-season call-up, as the other guy over 6 victories. The Cards might not be dominating pitching overall but the top two slots in Ks are both held by them - 72 by Roger Quintana (4-3, 2.22) and 59 by Raul Mendoza (2-5, 3.56) - with Ernesto "Wild Thing" Carillo (2-5, 4.26) falling behind mostly because he hasn't been able to pitch as many innings. ## Major Transactions May 28: The Angels traded minor league SP Jordan Irons (2-3, 2.31 at AAA Salt Lake City) to the Brewers for LF Jared Ferrell (.202, 3, 10). Farrell has been pretty bad this year after leading the team in HRs last season and hey, the Brewers get a relatively young (Irons is 27) pitcher back. For Cal, LF is a really, really bad sore spot and this is a team who's contending for the AL West title this year. On Milwaukee's side, they get to give Rule V pick Jacquot Mazzucato (.261, 2, 7) a shot at real at-bats in left. May 28: The Cubs purchased minor league UT Jon Cooley (don't get attached to that name!) (.309, 1, 15 at AA Asheville) for $10,000. I'm not sure Cooley will stick around anywhere and he's already 24 so might not have much left to move but he plays a lot of positions well and this seems like a good skill for a guy to have. May 28: The A's traded RF Carlos Montoya (.444, 0, 0) to the Cardinals for 3B Jeremy Webb (.000, 0, 0). Webb is pretty well stuck behind Mike Galeana (.199, 9, 24) at the hot corner in St. Louis. Truth be told, Chase Jones (.186, 3, 10) was pretty good last year too but he seems to need a guy who can rest him a bit, as he has not done well as a full-timer this year at all. Montoya is also 25 and is a 4th OFer type, although he hasn't filled that role in the majors just yet. ## News May 22: Richard Nixon became the first US President to visit Moscow, and the 2nd, following FDR, to visit the Soviet Union, when he and Henry Kissinger arrived to begin a summit meeting with Soviet First Secretary Brezhnev. smdh they go all that way only to meet with a secretary May 22: The Astronaut John Glynn (.227, 2, 2), their longtime center fielder who's been struggling to hit this year, suffered a strained oblique yesterday that will hobble him for the next three weeks. Because the Red Sox have options and because of Glynn's struggles, they agreed to put him on the disabled list while they try out Brian Johnson (.384, 4, 27 at AAA Louisville). I'd say you might know him better as the guy who took over for Bon Scott as the lead singer of AC/DC after Scott died but that won't happen for a few years. In the meantime, he hit .293 at AA Pawtucket last year and so far has upped the ante at AAA Louisville. May 22: Hey, guess what? I correctly predicted the AL PotW again. Yes, it was CF Alvin Romero (.363, 1, 11, 9 SB), who went 16 for 26 last week (.616!) with 6 runs, 6 RBIs, 4 extra-base hits, and 5 steals. About the only thing he didn't do last week was draw walks; I guess he was just too busy getting hits. This was his first PotW of the year and his 3rd overall. He was also the AL Batter of the Month for August of last year. And he's still only 26. May 22: In the NL, it was also a guy I could maybe have predicted but I did not: Reds LF Alonzo Huanosta (.331, 0, 15), who got shifted into the 3 hole and responded with a 15 for 31 week (.484) with 7 RBIs, 7 runs scored, and 6 of his 7 doubles. That's... a lot of 2 base hits. That's the 31 year old's 7th such award and his first since September of 1970. Last year was not a good one for him. Still, he's a .309 career hitter who already has 1,259 hits in his career. May 23: In Moscow, Presidents Nixon and Nikolai Podgorny signed, on behalf of the USA and USSR, the "Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection". Boy oh boy, did that one ever work out... May 23: The fictional character Rerun van Belt (Linus and Lucy's baby brother) was born in the pages of the comic strip Peanuts. May 23: Expos OF/2B Ruberto Yebra (.159, 0, 1) wasn't hitting at all but might have saved himself a job by getting himself injured. A strained hamstring will keep him out until after the All-Star Break; in the meantime the Expos will get to try out younger and perhaps better players at his spot, which had turned into "backup LF/2B and barely a 2B". Of course, it being the Expos, it's entirely possible that what they'll figure out is that nobody can fill Yebra's very fittable shoes. For now, Johnny Vargas (.333, 0, 1) will get called back up from Peninsula and figures to fill a much larger role than he had previously, serving as the team's 4th OFer and constant platooner-inner against right-handed pitching. May 23: One reason why I can't be tooo hinky about slumps is that one good day and the player isn't in one anymore. This happened to Angels OF Jaco "The GOAT" Pastorius (.286, 1, 4), who entered the game hitting .227 with 0 HRs and 1 RBI and left... well, let's just say a lot better. "That bat felt like a fretless bass in my hands today", said a happy Pastorius. His Angels, now 19-13 on the year, absolutely destroyed the A's today, 17-2, which is like 25-4 in 1990s terms. May 24: West Germany formally relinquished all claims to territory lost by Germany to the USSR and Poland following World War II, as the West German President Gustav Heinemann signed the Moscow Treaty and Warsaw Treaty. Both had been approved the week before by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. Included were the former German city of Konigsberg, which became the Russian city of Kaliningrad, and the former Breslau, which became Wroclaw in Poland. May 24: Bank robber Stanley Ray Bond died today at the age of 27. He was killed while trying to assemble an improvised explosive device in his cell at the Walpole State Prison in Massachusetts. Five robbers were involved in the robbery Bond participated in, which was made to finance various left-wing groups, although the 5 of them each took a $500 cut. He and two others were captured immediately; the remaining two remained at large until 1975 and 1993(!). May 24: Expos OF Matt Williams (.118, 0, 2) has had a really rough time of it this year. The lone Expos All-Star last year sprained his knee in spring training and didn't play until May 9, and he's struggled to get on track in the 14 games since. And now he's got himself a broken foot that's going to cause him to miss yet another month. To replace him, I'm calling up right-hander Jose Maldonado (.283, 10, 19), who hit just .167 in 36 September at-bats last year but who has hit for all kinds of power in Peninsula so far this year. May 24: For the A's, SS Matt Evenson (.274, 2, 12) always felt like more of a stopgap than a real solution the last couple years. Now the 26 year old will force the A's into scramble mode at the position for the next 3 months as he's out for at least that long with torn ligaments in his ankle. In spite of being a fallback, Evenson has been their starting SS for the past year and a half and was pretty solid offensively in 1971, though admittedly his defense leaves a bit to be desired. His replacement is Donald Fagen (.273, 0, 6), a jazz/rock keyboard player and singer for a band named after a, um, particular instrument in the William F. Burroughs (not a baseball player) novel "Naked Lunch". May 25: In one of these "wait, this didn't happen in 2018?" stories, the first computerized fly-by-wire airplane flight was made by test pilot Gary Krier in an F-8 Crusader that had been equipped with the digital computer that had been used on Apollo space missions. May 25: The cult classic "Ciao! Manhattan" was completed after five years of stop and start production. May 25: A couple of injury reports here: first, Giants CF Danny "The Phantom" Seligman (.239, 2, 7) is - and this will shock you - injured. The good news is, he's only slowed down by back stiffness. I'll still keep him out of the lineup as a precaution. In the long-term it's tough because so much of his value is wrapped up in his Gold Glove quality fielding and yet last year was a high-water mark for games played and at-bats since 1967 with 115 and 489 respectively. May 25: In less-good news, Braves LF Chris "Presto" Ward (.280, 2, 7, 11 SB), known as much for complaining as he is for his steals, has something new to complain about: a fractured hand that will keep him out for more than a month. Michael Lee "Meatloaf" Aday (.266, 4, 12 at AAA Richmond), who broke camp with the team but was sent down because he wasn't going to play much, has been recalled to play in center with the current CF Josh Damon (.256, 5, 18) moving over to left. "Who am I? Why am I here?" asked Aday, possibly rhetorically, when interviewed about the callup. "Forget the question, someone give me another beer." May 25: I swear to God I was just about to give Twins LF Alejandro Cortes (.267, 0, 3) his job back but instead he busted his ankle up today and will immediately miss the next 2 months. Looking at it, I had in fact started using him most of the time against RHP with Jeff Franks (.229, 2, 9) not meeting up to the .352 average he posted over 46 games last year. Kyle Ship (.143, 0, 0) has kind been trapped as the #2 PH on this team all season and if you ask him, he's deserved a bigger role for years. He'll start to get that chance now. May 25: The Cardinals managed just one hit off of the Pirates' Santos Arango (5-5, 1.66) but they made it count. Rafael Disla broke up the no-hitter in the 7th with a 3-run homerun which proved to not only be all the runs the Cards got but all the runs they needed in the 3-1 win. Arango has gotten just 2.7 runs per game in support, which, looking back, isn't even all that out of the ordinary for him - he had exactly that number in 1967 and 1968. May 26: Two historic nuclear arms control agreements were signed at Moscow between the US and President Richard Nixon and the Soviet Union by First Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. The SALT I Treaty (I think at this time it was just the SALT treaty haha), an acronym for the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks that it grew out of, prohibited both sides from building additional offensive nuclear missiles, while the ABM Treaty restricted both sides to two sites for Anti-Ballistic Missiles with 100 missiles each. May 26: A team associated with the Committee to Re-Elect the President (or CREEP for short; seriously, Nixon, what the F), failed in its first attempt at wiretapping the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex. May 26: Call him the Vulture. The Red Sox' Bubba Touchton (1-1, 6.75) entered the game against the Brewers today with a 4 run lead in the 8th inning and promptly blew it. He allowed a bases-clearing double to the struggling Kozue Nakamura (.150, 2, 10) and then a 2-run HR to Ross Poynor (.275, 4, 14) to tie the game at 6. Luckily for him, former Red Sox stopper Matt Brock (2-2, 2.21) (I almost said his former teammate but Touchton was an Angel in 1971) came into the bottom of the inning and allowed a HR of his own, a solo shot by backup C Sid Bartoszek (.214, 1, 3). "I made some big mistakes," said Touchton after the game. "I'm glad we won but I don't like it." May 26: Phillies SP Marius Gaddi (3-4, 5.72) continues to do his best Denny McLain impersonation. Gaddie went 7 innnings and gave up 5 runs in an 8-3 loss to the Pirates today. What's wrong with Gaddi, the former 27 game winner? It's really hard to tell. He might have gotten overused last year, when he finished 16-20, 3.47, but this year he's been weirdly bad. The peripherals don't even back up the badness - the 3.4 BB/9 to 6.5 K/9 is great, even above average, and while he's given up 7 HRs in 61.1 innings, that's only a little below average. I'd point to a .301 opponents' BABIP I guess, although with bad luck you'd, like, expect the luck to turn some time. May 27: OSHA announced its plans as an American government agencuy to form advisory commissions for the purpose of regulating 13 different occupational hazards including toxic chemicals, excessive noise, and radiation. May 27: Speaking (going back to the fake-MLB stories) of embattled former star pitchers, Yankees starter Tracy Mosher (2-6, 4.10) lost his 6th game and saw his ERA rise above 4 after allowing 4 runs over 7 innings in a 5-3 loss to the Tigers. Mosher's given up a loot more HRs - 1.5/9 so far - and did lead the AL in HRs allowed last season with 29 but still, that high rate amounts to 11 in 68 innings where, like, 9 allowed would still be an OK amount. Still... how close am I to moving either of these guys to long relief? May 28: The Watergate burglars succeeded in their second attempt to break into the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate complex in Washington, DC, placing wiretaps on two telephones and escaping undetected. When it became clear that the "bug" on DNC Chairman Larry O'Brien was not working, the men broke in again three weeks later and were caught. The botched June 17, 1972 burglary was the beginning of the Watergate scandal. I'm kind of surprised that it happened this early, although I guess it makes sense (the bugs being placed on DNC members, not the McGovern campaign itself). May 28: The first major accident resulting from the design of the Ford Pinto automobile occurred near Barstow, California. Mrs. Lilly Gray and her teenage son were severely burned after the gas tank in their 1972 Pinto exploded after their car stalled and was rear-ended on INterstate Highway 15. Mrs. Gray died from her injuries and her son was scarred for life. The Ford Motor Company was sued and lost, although the initial $125M in punitive damages was cut down to $3.5M and the case lingered all the way to 1981 when the verdict was upheld on appeal. May 28: Former King Edward VIII died at the age of 77 at his home in France, more than 35 years after he abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson and totally not because he was soft on Nazis and agreed to semi-quietly duck out instead of making an even bigger scandal out of the whole situation. May 28: OKAY so Rick James' (.400, 0, 0) major league career has been halted for now at 2 games; he suffered an intercostal strain in today's 8-4 loss to the Cardinals. I guess Chris Adams is going to get another month to try and get things right. I did call up AAAA guy 2B Logan Fletcher (.355, 2, 19), who's definitely blocked off at his natural position but has hit like a beast the past couple years so can maybe find a role as a pinch-hitter. ## Teams in Review May 24: The New York Yankees (8-20, 6th AL East) are just really, really bad this year. That "worst in baseball" record is not bad luck. This is a team that was chasing vets for years and now the chickens have come home to roost. I think I know the directions I'm going to make on Ty Stover and Aaron Sullivan but hey, we'll see. Incidentally this is a team that is now scoring fewer runs than the Rangers, and while overall they're 7th in the AL in ERA, their starters are 2nd worst with a 3.76 ERA. Rotation: Haha we ran a 4-man rotation out of spring training. That feels... horrifically optimistic. Definitely moving to a 5-man now. That said, I don't really see anyone just absolutely blowing ass out there. Tracy Mosher (2-5, 3.98) seems like he's no longer that front-line man he was as recently as 1970 (he went 25-12, 2.67) and it'll be interesting to see how a guy who's led the league in innings pitched 3 times and just missed last year will handle a smaller workload. I'll call up... Noah Cooper (4-0, 2.87 at AAA Syracuse), who will not suddenly transform into a minor celebrity by the rules of this game because he's already over 25. He's also put together a solid 6 starts and seems like he's finally turned a corner. I guess we'll see! To make room for that 5th starter... I'm cutting Aaron Sullivan (.062, 0, 1) loose. Sorry, buddy! The team also doesn't like that we're cutting a team captain. Well, this team has bigger issues than chemistry. Bullpen: The 'pen has held up pretty well, all things considered. I need to use Roy Holm (0-0, 0.00) a loooot more - he's only played 3 games so far. I'll generally lean on the 'pen a lot more often but I've named the 1964 Cy Young Award winner (which... 10-11, 2.15 is not a classic Cy Young line) a lefty specialist / setup man. Infield: There's nothing wrong with Khalil Tabb (.279, 0, 3) at catcher, really, but I'm still going to start working in the "23" year old John Lennon (.200, 0, 0) because there's no reason not to at this point. Tabb's still only 27 so he could still be in this league for a long time. Instead of cutting Stover (.143, 0, 1) I'm going to shave at-bats at first base off of Pete Jennings (.245, 2, 9) to make him more or less a half-time player. This probably won't make him any happier but I can't find it in me to send him out just yet and I'm not into looking down the trades list to see if he might get traded. For now, he's a Yankee, and that means I'm going to try to play him into shape. It doesn't hurt his chances that Jonathan Banks (.229, 0, 7) is a real minus this year. The guy hit .313 in 211 at-bats in 1971! Come on, man. He's still a Gold Glove quality second baseman so I'm not, like, benching him or anything. Stover's going to start eating a lot of his time though, at least for now. It sucks that Tiptoe Tommy Weiss (.212, 3, 11) took so long to get a starting job but he's not hitting this year, the Yankees' best hitting prospect (well, the best guy close to the majors leagues) is a third baseman, and time waits for no man. I called up Nick Hodzic (.350, 5, 29) because he can't be ignored any longer. Weiss will still get the majority of at-bats at third but watch this space. Outfield: I'm going to drop LF Alan Rickman (.200, 3, 8) to the bench on account of the lack of hitting and replace him with a platoon combo of former Cubs starter Ryan Johnston (.500, 0, 0 in 2 whole at-bats) and career backup Eric Green (.077, 0, 0). In fact I'm going to send Rickman down to Syracuse since he has all of his options (and he's still only 25); let's give him some PT in the minors to right the ship. In center, Micah MacMillan (.196, 1, 7) is yet another guy who's scuffling and so I'm going to start mixing in Johnston in center a little against righties while sitting the lefty bat of Micah against LHPs in facor of Jeff Murphy (.000, 0, 0). These are all kind of short-term moves but hey, the Yankees suck right now. May 26: And now, when it rains it pours... the Kansas City Royals (12-20, last AL West) were expected to make a step up this year and maybe become a .500 team. That hasn't happened yet although of course the season is still young. The genesis of their issues, as last year, is a combination of bad pitching and worse defense, although in the case of the latter they've "improved" all the way from worst in the league to 2nd worst in defensive efficiency. Rotation: I've already done most of the manuevering I'd do at this point with these guys and as such only Jose Chaves (0-4, 4.63) is still in there and straight up not pitching well (everyone else currently has an ERA below 4, which granted, is still not great for 1972). Chavez was OK last year (10-5, albeit with a 4.54 ERA) and so deserves a slightly longer leash. Also of note is that Andy Lagunas (1-0, 1.59 in KC) has migrated to his 3rd team in about seven months (he was traded to the Angels from Cleveland as part of the Norm Hodge trade and then sent to KC for Mike Ramos at the beginning of this month) and so far through 2 whole starts looks like he might be more like the guy he was from 1969-70 (40-19 overall) than last year (8-16). Bullpen: Here, however, it's a complete mess. Joe Field (1-1, 8.16) has been the setup man but has only set up failure. He was still good last year so I don't want to cut bait. I think I will send down Ismael Gonzalez (0-1, 4.72), who's been pretty wild (9 walks in 13.1 innings) in favor of the 30 year old Rick Rodriguez (3-5, 3.36 at AAA Omaha0), who has struck out more than a man per inning in AAA so far this year. Infield: Catcher has been a complete mess - the starter / incumbent Nick McIntyre (.136, 0, 4) stopped hitting but then, no other catcher is doing that either. Somehow former A's starter Jonathan Escobar (.217, 2, 13 in 1971) is still out there so I'll snap him right up and figure things out once he's inked the new deal. Given the way California Josh Lewis (.107, 1, 5) has completely failed to hit and Jim Davis (.214, 1, 3) has been very "meh" himself, this looks like a great opportunity to go expansion-team and hand the 1B job over to the hot bat in Edwin Manchego (.382, 5, 6). Davis will continue to play a bit... and I wish Josh Lewis success in wherever he may land (by which I mean, he's been released). Not really a MASSIVE change but Nate Sita (.165, 0, 12) is the best defender on this team but isn't hitting worth anything so I'll start pushing backup Mike Dawson (.167, 1, 5) into being the guy against LHPs (Sita is a switch-hitter). Outfield: After these switching-aroundings there were only 4 OFs on the roster (I reccalled Terrence Hicks (.431, 5, 15 at AAA Omaha) to make it 5) but that kind of doesn't matter because here the Royals have 3 guys who are doing really well. I mean, Dave Corona (.307, 6, 9) is obviously not cut out for center field but the corner guys are, well, corner guys and I can figure out what to do with him next year when (spoiler alert!) the AL gets an extra position player in the lineup with the DH rule. May 26: The San Francisco Giants (19-20, 4th NL West) have just played a lot of games relative to the rest of the league, so even though they hit the 20 loss mark they really aren't doing super horrible. They're actually outscoring their opponents 141-127, in fact. The recent trade of Barry Cooper might impact that a bit although I'm a little skeptical that one guy, and not even a superstar guy at that, can have that much of an effect. Rotation: Do we move to a 4-man? Is this team going to be competitive? I guess my biggest issue is that the top part that would wind up getting more playing time is kind of meh right now: Mike Stuckey (3-4, 3.26) and Josh Matthews (4-2, 3.44) are fine but nothing special at the moment. I guess we do ride with that for now but maybe more because the bullpen is a sore spot and this is a way to shore it up... Bullpen: So... I'm goin to go ahead and send Deshawn Maczyk (0-0, 5.56) down to AAA Phoenix and drop Sam Williams (3-4, 3.33) into the bullpen to take his place. Nothing against Williams; he was just being kind of league average and the other guys in the back of the rotation - Moises Melendez (4-4, 2.82) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3-4, 2.72) are doing a little better than that. Otherwise I'll keep things kind of peachy there. Infield: I'm generally surprised at how well this team is holding up offensively if I'm being honest. The catching platoon of Chris Campbell (.192, 1, 5) and Iggy Pop (.232, 2, 8) doesn't look so great but, like, it's actually working so I'm going to leave it alone. At third, George Harrison (.241, 2, 11) isn't bad per se but he's also clearly not going to repeat the .388 average he posted last year - he already has more ABs in 1972 compared to 1971 - and he's not really hitting like an everyday player, so Tim Mock (.279, 1, 3), last year's starting 3B who's already been playing a lot at first, will start to mix in at 3rd as well. Outfield: Jimmy Walker (.169, 2, 10) has reached that point in the season where a bad slump is now apparently who he is, so changes should be made. Jon Berry (.323, 1, 5) was already starting to eat up time vs RHP; now he'll play full-time against that hand with Walker still being the guy vs lefties for now. With two guys in the outfield nursing injuries, that's the extend of what I can really do at the moment but CF Chae-whi Park (.154, 0, 4), don't act like I don't see you... May 26: The San Diego Padres (17-20, 5th NL West) don't quite have the lots-of-games excuse that the Giants have but hey, they're still growing. Their issue is just straight up bad pitching, which, in spite of the 2nd-worst runs allowed mark (18th in the majors in ERA), their team zone rating is all right (5th in the NL) and the defensive efficiency is top-10 in baseball (9th). Rotation: Here I just don't see the want or the need to switch out of the 5-man rotation. The top guy Ben Feldhusen (0-4, 3.38) is a guy who at best needs to be treated with kid gloves and so far he really hasn't even been that good. Actually the team's "ace" right now, to the extent that they have one, has to be Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler (6-2, 2.07). Both he and fellow rock star David Bowie (2-5, 4.85) are pitching to contact kind of hard this year but maybe they can develop some Ks. Aside from Bowie there's nobody who's been, like, downright bad per se and I don't really want to move things around. Bullpen: TBH Judge Roy Moore (0-0, 4.50) - yes, that Judge Roy Moore - sticks out like a sore thumb on this team but he's just a long man and at least he's young (weird to know that Moore is the same age as Bowie and only a year older than Tyler). I had Darius Parchman (0-4, 3.43, 6 Sv) and Robbie Vaughn (1-1, 6.35, 1 Sv) kind of splitting closer duties for a bit but I'm going to modify that to go back to Parchman being the guy, although I'm using him waaaay too much early on (21 IP and 14 G already). Infield: I pushed Kevin Landry (.245, 1, 6) back into the starting 3B job after he complained about PT earlier. Now I'm going to try and get Dale Earnhardt (.232, 3, 8) some more time but less at Landry's expense and more at current 1B Carlos Palacios' (.243, 1, 13). Palacios was a rock in the lineup last year with a .333 average but hasn't even begun to hit like that so far and Earnhardt is a highly regarded prospect both in the MLB as well as on the racetrack. I guess there's nothing wrong with Ben Dowler (.243, 1, 6) per se but he's 34, didn't start here previously (the job was Armando Troncoso's (.412, 0, 3) last year but I pushed him out due to bad defense) and isn't going to be a guy who is a major player on the next good team. Instead I'm going to make the primary guy the recent callup and Atlanta Rhythm Section bandmate Barry Bailey (.220, 6, 19) with Troncoso doing more backup stuff - maybe he can, I don't know, learn to field or something - and Dowler mostly getting used as a defensive replacement and perhaps right-handed pinch-hitter. Outfield: There's really nothing I like about Greg Cowan (.291, 1, 10) to make me want to give him a lot of ABs in LF except that he's hitting .291 (and he hit .290 last year too so maybe he's a legit .290 hitter) and isn't suuuper old at 30. Ray Herring (.308, 0, 3) is splitting time with him at the position now and is kind of a reclamation project so I don't particularly trust him either. In center, Jake Leone (.202, 2, 10) had pretty modest production last year - a .249 average and 5 HRs in 269 at-bats - that he hasn't even been able to reach this year. Also he's really not a very good defensive guy. I'm going to send him down in favor of Texas pro wrestler Chavo Guerrero Sr. (.214, 0, 8, 11 SB at AAA Hawaii). He isn't much of a hitter either but he's capable of making acrobatic plays in the field and is speedy and tricky on the basepaths in the rare occasions he gets on. May 27: I actually forgot about these guys until right after I'd clicked "Play Game" but the Texas Rangers (16-20, 4th AL West) have issues. For all the "offense last, defense first" mentality... okay, for all that mentality I personally imagine them as having, they're only 5th in the AL in runs allowed - 6th in the MLB in ERA though! - albeit with top-rated defense so far (2nd in baseball in defensive efficiency). The offense is now 9th in runs scored in the AL but a lot of that is because they've just straight up played a lot of games so far - they're still dead last in average (.216), on-base percentage (.275), and 11th in HRs (13th). Rotation: I'm going to go against the grain and just give 4 men a try because the top 3 guys are legit really good right now and deserve to be played to tiredness. Jim Kenner (1-3, 4.47) is the odd man out, although given that he's 30 and is out of options, I'll send down long man Jake Powers (1-0, 0.00) to give him more PT. Chad Daugharty (5-2, 2.67), Kevin Freeman (1-5, 2.38), and Billy Crystal (4-3, 2.06) will all get more opportunities. Bullpen: Gabe Slaughter (0-2, 5.65, 4 Sv) has been really, really scuffling as the lone stopper this year and with 2 lefties in the bullpen now I think I'll promote Ron Shepherd (0-0, 2.45) into that spot. If nothing else, that should keep me from overusing Slaughter, and the guy did split time with Jake Duckett last year anyway (that is, before Duckett just kind of took over). Infield: 1B George W Bush (.192, 1, 7) is annoying putting up reverse splits this year - .278 vs LHP, albeit in a small sample. Also the entirety of his issue right now is that he's not hitting HRs. Dude's even getting the walks. It's annoying but this is a long way of saying that I'm going to just keep doing what I'm doing there, which is spelling him heavily with the veteran hitsman David Salinas (.200, 1, 5), a career .297 hitter who is also, annoyingly, not hitting this year. I've already replaced Jose Hernandez (.123, 2, 7) and his underperforming self with Reggie Jackson (.344, 0, 5), who is about the only guy on the team hitting above his weight. In fact, as of today I'm sending Hernandez down to see if he can get his stroke back and calling up Omar Dominguez (.265, 2, 8) to take his place. Dominguez is a 3rd baseman who will play an awkward second backing up Jackson until/unless Hernandez gets it back. I'm not huge on how Tyler Knight (.226, 1, 6) is hitting either for a 3rd baseman but he's not completely dead the way other guys on this team are so I'm going to just let him stay in there with the aforementioned Salinas playing a good deal too. I think between backing up first and third, Salinas is up around a half-time guy. If he's still around next season he's got DH written all over him. Outfield: I keep hoping for him to have a sudden 5-5 game and get back into things, but nah, it's time to cut bait on OF Matt Levario (.087, 2, 4). He's just plain done. I even had a roster spot available but there's a point to where you just have to accept that dude's not going to hit. And because I am determined not to learn my lesson with this team, I'm working on signing Scott Lammers (.233, 11, 27), who at least is only 30 years old and who led the Giants in HRs as recently as 1969 (granted, with 22). Right now I've got the new kid Philippe Toussaint (.347, 1, 7) getting the bulk of the starts in left and while he's doing well I don't particularly trust him, especially against lefties. The only right-hander off the bench who can play OF right now is Devin Bucciarelli (.368, 0, 4), who is also the team's only decent CF outside of Norm Hodge (.227, 0, 8), who also isn't hitting like a starter ought to, so I need someone else... so see above. May 27: And when it rains, it pours... the New York Mets (16-20, 5th NL East) are just mediocre. I'm finding it harder and harder to see a track for them to get back on top of the division. An awful lot has to go right and also go wrong for everyone else. They're bad on offense (9th in runs scored) and worse on D (11th in runs allowed), they aren't like super young, and at this point I guess it's fair to say that the magical 1969 season was just a fluke. Is it time to just pack it in all the way? Rotation: We opened up with a 4-man rotation but it's obvious that that is not working out. Every single starter except the #4 guy John Ratzenberger (4-2, 1.51) have ERAs over 4. The biggest argument against doing this is the sheer lack of quality pitching outside of these 4 guys but even there, man, if you throw enough darts at the dartboard, you've got to find something... and also, I guess, if this all blows up they get a nice high draft pick. For now, long man Ryan Weisberg (0-1, 4.57) will flip into that role but I'm also going to look to free agency to sign a literal replacement-level player. Bullpen: Right now we're a man short with Weisberg moving to the rotation; I'm not confident enough in anyone in the minors (although I just sent offers out to 3 guys so we'll see). Setup man Rick Legere (1-3, 8.49) has been blown up a lot this year but he was really good last year and I'm not convinced that it's not just a run of bad luck. It definitely makes it harder to make a case for using Geoff Saus (1-2, 3.38, 7 Sv) less. Infield: It reeally feels like the end for Nick Hawkinson (.143, 0, 3). Mark Hamill (.227, 1, 9) isn't exactly blowing it up as a third baseman either but at least he's playing like a major leaguer. Man, I hate to do it but Nick, ya gone. Yeah, he's 43 and a leaguewide fan favorite but it's not like he's got a long history with this team in particular (he's a Giants guy who was traded here in the offseason of '69-'70). Adri van Zanten (.227, 0, 1) lacks the arm to play 3rd regularly but Hamill needs a caddy and he's the best we've got. I guess I'm leaning towards rebuilding now... I just called up MI Rick "Brickhouse" James (.319, 7, 29 at AAA Tidewater) and he will immediately take Chris Adams' (.246, 3, 14) place at short. Adams was off last year which is why the Mets were able to land him over the offseason - it did cost them David Camacho (5-0, 2.05 with Cal this year) but I feel like this is why these trades happened a lot of the time - struggling guy can't get demoted with the original club, so he goes somewhere else for that to happen. Anyway, I gave the guy 142 at-bats to get going and James looked like a guy who's both mighty might and letting it all hang out. Outfield: OK, so rule V pick Josh Phillips (.227, 0, 0) is just not working out; he's going back to the Yankees' organization. I do see why we went after him though now that I sent him back: man, this team is thin at OF. I just reached out to a couple vets but we've got like 2 1/2 OK outfielders right now. LF Ethan Keesee (.257, 2, 12) is the "half"; I'd love to see a better platoon half or perhaps even someone who can walk into that position full-time, as Keesee seems like more of a 4th OFer type to me. May 28: We're not done! It's time to look at the Chicago White Sox (13-20, 5th AL West). The dark horse favorites to contend in what was supposed to be a weak AL West haven't quite done it: not only is the West not at all as weak as it was made out to be, the Sox have not gotten the job done. In spite of the presence of 1B/OF Alice Cooper (.283, 10, 26) the team is 3rd worst in the AL in both runs scored and runs allowed; in fact, their runs scored mark is 3rd worst in all of baseball. They seem to be good defensively, so there's that! Rotation: I'm not going to go away from the 5 man and the worst performing starter is the supposed #1 in Obe Olthof (2-4, 4.99). So... no changes. Bullpen: Manny Venegas (0-2, 8.38) was great last year as a lefty specialist but has hit a rough patch early in the season. I'll choose to trust in him for a bit longer. The middle relief is actually not super great in general and just to shake things up a bit I'm sending Jesus de la Crus (0-0, 4.70) down in favor of physicist Steven Chu (7-1, 0.92 at AAA Tucson), who's been lighting it up in the minors this year. Infield: I'm not at all satisfied by the setup of Mike Perez (.153, 0, 4) and Ryan Thaxton (.143, 0, 1). However, nobody in the minors looks like they're ready or can hit in the majors so I'm going to dip into the free agent market to pick someone up. Chance Hopka (.219, 0, 6) won the 2B job out of spring training but hasn't hit. Problem is, last year's guy Ian Reeder (.148, 0, 2) has been even worse. To further shake things up, I'm sending Reeder down to give him more PT - dude's still only 27 and could turn it around - and calling up defense-first middle infielder Carlos Filipe Ximines Belo (.238, 1, 13 in AA Tucson), who, in spite of the name, hails from East Timor and is a religious prelate in the offseason. I guess I extended the competition at shortstop into the regular season? Not sure if I just forgot or whatever but Chris Morgan (.203, 0, 3) and Jim Fiederlein (.229, 0, 2) have been splitting time evenly so far. In spite of his being the worse hitter I'm going to hand Morgan the job, at least for now, based on his being 4 years younger and perhaps in a position where he could still get better. Granted, in all probability we'll need to look elsewhere for a first-division shortstop. Outfield: LF John Marsden (.245, 2, 9) seems to be carving out a decent season, at least in 1972 terms, after a disastrous 1971 (.197, 5, 30 in 269 at-bats last year). He's still not looking like the .300 hitter he was last year but hey, splitting the difference is... okay? I'm going to start mixing in Josh Wade (.208, 0, 2) a bit more; Wade hit a pretty empty .279 last year but that's maybe better than a not-exactly-full .245. Against LHPs Alice Cooper continues to move up to left with Jeff Nation (.243, 3, 6) playing first. I'm letting Dave Concepcion (.158, 0, 0) play vs lefties in CF but that's more a matter of Ian Everett (.232, 0, 7) doing nothing (and being pretty meh last year) than anything Concepcion has shown. Maybe Ahnold (.222, 0, 5, 10 SB) can be the man there eventually? The main reason I'm not using him there now is that he's more versatile than Everett, who basically only knows how to play in center. Schwarzennegger to date is hitting like a center fielder though.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
08-06-2023, 02:24 PM
|
#207 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
May 28 - June 4, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 27 14 .659 - 164 102 Baltimore Orioles 25 16 .610 2 143 122 Boston Red Sox 20 19 .513 6 133 111 Cleveland Indians 19 20 .487 7 143 133 Milwaukee Brewers 18 20 .474 7½ 128 150 New York Yankees 10 32 .238 17½ 99 148 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Minnesota Twins 26 13 .667 - 159 127 California Angels 26 18 .591 2½ 157 125 Oakland Athletics 22 19 .537 5 153 167 Chicago White Sox 19 23 .452 8½ 123 153 Texas Rangers 18 26 .409 10½ 125 155 Kansas City Royals 16 26 .381 11½ 132 166 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 27 16 .628 - 136 98 Chicago Cubs 25 17 .595 1½ 172 174 St. Louis Cardinals 25 20 .556 3 200 152 Philadelphia Phillies 21 23 .477 6½ 178 190 New York Mets 19 25 .432 8½ 159 184 Montreal Expos 15 28 .349 12 125 173 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 28 17 .622 - 149 149 Los Angeles Dodgers 26 20 .565 2½ 165 160 Atlanta Braves 23 20 .535 4 171 158 San Diego Padres 21 24 .467 7 174 179 San Francisco Giants 22 29 .431 9 168 165 Cincinnati Reds 16 29 .356 12 173 188 The NL races are a little closer I guess but the divisions have also gotten themselves fairly stratified. The Pirates have their classic pitching-based approach and are a game and a half ahead of the Cubs, who have the exact opposite philosophy (and, in spite of a 10-2 win over the Padres today, have allowed more runs than they've scored) and 3 up on the Cardinals, who... it's hard to say what they're trying to do, exactly, although they love walks and homeruns. The West has the Astros leading the Braves (in spite of, once again, allowing as many runs scored as allowed) with the Dodgers and Braves more or less right there. The batting leaders in the AL have shaken riiiight on up. As happens, one bad week by Royals RF Tony Danza (.352, 0, 8) means he's not only not really in the .400 chase anymore but he's dipped all the way down to 3rd place in the average race, with pesky Tigers CF Alvin Romero (.359, 1, 14, 15 SB) on top - also leading the league in steals - and Twins 2B Daniel Gilmet (.354, 3, 14) right behind him. Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.313, 15, 36) is not far off from being a triple crown threat as he leads in both HRs and RBIs, trailed by White Sox 1B/OF Alice Cooper (.276, 11, 32) and Royals OF RJ Dominguez (.276, 10, 29) in both categories. And as noted, Romera has taken the steals lead over the Sox' Arnold Schwarzennegger (.227, 0, 6, 14 SB), who really needs more on-base opportunities if he wants to keep pace, and Royals OF Dave Corona (.293, 7, 10)... speaking of, how is it that the Royals have so many young stars but are so bad? Boston's Michael Pesco (8-2, 1.97) is the first 8-game winner in the AL and one of 4 guys in all of baseball to get to that mark. He's closely pursues by the Tigers' Jimmy Goddard (7-2, 1.31). Pesco incidentally was "scheduled" to play in the 2nd game of a double-header today but was tired so got pushed back to playing on Boston's next game against the White Sox on Tuesday. Goddard meanwhile leads the AL in ERA - that 1.31 would be a record - followed by Cleveland's Jose Martinez (5-3, 1.64), who's come out of nowhere to put together a really nice opening stretch, and Lee "Batty" Barnard (5-2, 1.72) of the A's, who is like the lone finesse guy in a rotation full of hard throwers. Which, speaking of, his teammate Roberto Ortiz (3-2, 3.40) has 81 Ks in 79.1 innings to lead the AL, although Oakland would I'm sure love to see him get some more decisions (6 NDs in 11 starts so far). Edgar Molina (6-3, 2.06) of the Tigers is right behind him with 77 and then you've got Pesco himself with 77. In the NL, Chicago once again has a guy in the leaderboards who will fall out of it due to injury - in this case it's Alex Vallejo (.353, 2, 10), who's currently leading the NL in hitting. Former Indians star Alonzo Huanosta (.339, 0, 18) is behind him at #2 with the Astros' "Big George" Foreman (.315, 2, 13) sitting in at 3rd with a relatively low .315. As of right now Braves 1B Dante Chairez (.240, 11, 23) and Cubs SS Jeremy Taylor (.253, 11, 31) are deadlocked in the HR race while brand new Cincinnati'an Jaden Weaver (.250, 9, 34) is just edging Taylor in that category, with Dodgers 1B Justin Stone (.251, 8, 30) coming in right behind them. I guess when the league is hitting below .240, a mid-.250s average is like... a .270 or so in most years so maybe it's unfair to call these guys low-average sluggers? Anyway, Reds 2B Pedro Ortiz (.287, 1, 10) is far and away the leader in steals with 18 so far. He's on pace to swipe 65, which would be the 2nd highest total in the NL and 3rd highest ever (I guess tbf all of these records have been reached since 1969). As noted in the AL notes, we've got a triumvirate of 8-game winners in the NL - LA's Fernando Apolonio (8-2, 0.93), who's also leading everyone in the country in ERA, Pittsburgh's DJ Cheeves (8-1, 1.60), who just got win #8 today, and the Astros' Tony Rivera (8-2, 2.08). Cheeves is the #2 guy behind Apolonio in ERA as well with his teammate Santos Arango (6-5, 1.69) in 3rd in spite of a tough-luck record. St. Louis' Roger Quintana (6-3, 1.91) continues to shock everyone with 88 Ks in 96 IP to date. Well behind him due mainly to a relative lack of innings is "Wild Thing" Ernesto Carillo (2-7, 3.84) of the Mets with 72 of them (but also 49 walks, hence the lower IP and higher ERA). Santos Arango is nipping at Carillo's heels with 68. By the way, somehow Alec Cosby (1-0, 0.43, 10 Sv) of the Dodgers is out-saving Paz Lemus (2-0, 0.00, 9 Sv) in spite of his saving both halves of a double-header today and, so far on the year, not allowing a single run (he did allow one inherited runner to score). ## Major Transactions May 29: The Mets signed P Octavio "Papa" Vargas (5-12, 4.08 in 1971), former Twins OF Brian Dees (.208, 0, 2 last year), and P Trevon Dean (8-7, 4.48). Vargas is very much a "me first" player so don't expect much veteran leadership from the 40 year old, but I think he was probably the closest of these 3 to being immediate impact guys. Trevon Dean did win 20 just a couple years ago - 1969 (21-5, 3.76) - but he also had big issues trying to be a finesse flyball guy in the Launching Pad. Dees barely played for the Twins last year but can play center, which makes him the only guy on the team other than starter Curtis Hope (.238, 2, 13), who himself has lost his power after hitting 40 over the past 2 seasons - maybe he'll get it back not feeling like he has to handle the New York OF all by himself. May 30: Luis Garcia (.202, 3, 27) signed with the Chicago White Sox. Garcia is 36 and doesn't figure to have much left, period, but the Chisox situation is diiiiire. Maybe I could put up with Mike Perez' (.162, 0, 4) if a. the average was just a fluke or b. he hit with any kind of power at all, but this is the same guy who hit .165 with the Angels in 1970 in 352 at-bats and the 2-time All-Star who hit 27 HRs for Cincinnati in 1969 has yet to hit a single round-tripper this season. May 30: The Orioles traded minor league RP Joe Scott (2-2, 3.95, 7 Sv with AAA Rochester) to the Angels for minor league C Estevan Garza (.213, 1, 11 with AAA Salt Lake City). This is a depth deal for both teams, mostly, although I suspect Joe Scott will get promoted to the major leagues shortly to shore up a shaky back end of the Angels' bullpen. May 30: The Padres purchased minor league IF Yukio Hatoyama (.347, 2, 25) from the A's for $15,000. It's a pretty price to pay for Hatoyama, who might not be able to field at shortstop, which is where SD will likely be trying him out, but desperate times call for desperate measures and all that. May 30: The Tigers traded OF Guillermo Thompson (.179, 0, 4) to the Rangers for minor league RP Richard Pulido (0-0, 8.44 at AAA Denver). This is a pure "new horizons" move for Thompson, who so far has followed up a disappointing 1971 (.241, 1, 45) with an unable-to-hit 1972. He'll be the latest in a line of people the Rangers will attempt to use in the OF corners. Pulido is bad but he's been good enough to play in the major leagues in the past so hey. June 2: The White Sox purchased RP Raul Andrade (1-0, 6.23, 1 Sv) from the Cubs for $7,500. Andrade has always been a guy who battles with poor control but it seems like it's come to a head this year - he's walked 14 batters in 14.2 IP - and that's made him expendable for the Cubs, who just acquired him a month ago for the same asking price the White Sox are taking him for. For Chicago, this will give them the opportunity to DFA Daniel Roche (0-0, 5.40), who used to be a major starter on this team before he fell out of favor. Maybe he can find what he's been missing in the minors? ## News May 29: President Nixon and Soviet leader Brezhnev concluded their summit conference with the signing of a join declaration of long-range plans to avoid a military confrontation and eventually disarm. This I'm sure seemed like small potatoes at the time but... we did avoid global thermonuclear war, which in retrospect is Kind of a Big Deal. May 29: Moe Berg died today. Berg was a professional baseball player who spied on Japan for the US government in the lead-up to World War II (he took pictures of military installations among other things while on a barnstorming tour with other major league players in the 30s) and then reprised that role with the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA, in WW2 proper. This is all chronicled in an excellent book about him called "The Catcher Is A Spy". May 29: The AL Player of the Week is... a pitcher! You can't deny that the Red Sox' Michael Pesco (8-1, 2.02) got the job done. He threw the regulation 18 innings in 2 games, striking out 14 and winning both of his matches. He held opponents to a .119 batting average and put up a 0.50 ERA. Pesco, the early favorite for the Cy Young, has 3 Players of the Week in his career, the last one all the way back in 1968. Great week! May 29: Wow, 2 pitcher Players of the Week! The NL guy is the Expos' DJ Fletcher (4-4, 3.28), who went 2-0 himself with a 0.50 ERA in 18 innings. He was waaaaay more pitch to contact than Pesco was with just 4 Ks (and 6 walks) in his own regulation 18 innings but it's hard to argue with the results. Fletcher, a classic mid-round guy who's made good, picked up his first-ever Player of the Week with this, with his only other hardware in his career, major or minors, being his All-Star selection last year. May 29: Rangers 3B/1B David Salinas (.204, 1, 6) says he should be starting. This would be an easier choice to make if he was hitting this year; then again, nobody on the Rangers is hitting. I'm not quite going to start him daily per se but I was already playing him around 30% of the time and I'll up that to about half between 1st and 3rd. It's too bad you can't really Tony Phillips a guy in this game but I'm not sure how you'd do that, exactly (I guess you can install a guy as a starter at a "later" position like LF and then set him to spell at other positions that come before it but that's a lot of work to be honest). Actually, I'm going to try that anyway - Salinas is now starting at 3rd but Tyler Knight (.220, 1, 6) will wind up playing a lot. May 29: Embattled Cubs starter Javy Obregon (4-3, 4.55) got to face the Expos at exactly the right time. Facing a "prove it" game with an ERA over 5 on the season, Obregon pitched a 4-hit shutout - at Wrigley on top of it! - to lead his team to a 4-0 victory. The win was Obregon's first shutout and even first complete game since 1970; he pitched 130.1 IP and started 19 games but never took one home last year. "It was a battle," said the Cuban ex-pat after the game, "but I won, just as capitalism will always win over communism." May 29: A duel between two of the top striker outers in the league ended with a 2-1 win for the Cardinals today. Roger Quintana (5-3, 2.10) threw a 4-hitter and narrowly outfought Ernesto "Wild Thing" Carrillo (2-6, 4.02) of the Mets. Carrillo has had issues this year with walks but allowed a relatively small for him 4 today. However, he also made the only big mistake by either pitcher, giving up a solo HR on a fat pitch to St. Louis slugger Lorenzo Martinez (.188, 6, 15). May 29: Braves pitcher Damian Seja (0-1, 3.24) had a bittersweet first outing in the major leagues in almost 2 years. He went into the 9th pitching a shutout and carrying a 2-0 lead but gave up a 2-run HR to the Padres' Greg Cowan (.266, 2, 12) and then allowed what turned out to be the winning run to get on base before being pulled. David Bowie (2-5, 4.60) stayed out of trouble just enough to get the no-decision; the win went to middle reliever Scott Richey (1-0, 3.60) with stopper Darius Parchman (0-4, 3.27) getting out of a jam in the 9th to earn his 7th save. "I'm just glad to be back", said Seja, who last threw in the big leagues on September 1, 1970. He suffered a torn UCL in that game, which caused him to miss all of 1971. Still only 28, Seja has never pitched more than 70 innings at any one level in a season. May 29: The Padres meanwhile find themselves suddenly short on shortstops, as Ben Dowler (.242, 1, 6) strained his intercostal in a collision at second base and will miss the next month. I'd just called up Barry Bailey (.250, 0, 2) to try and be the guy but he's also got a yet-to-be-diagnosed injury of his own (which, it's been a couple days so things do not look good). As of now, Armando Troncoso (.333, 0, 3), whom I'd been keeping away from regular starting because of severe issues with range and his hands (he did have a FA of .961 last year which I guess isn't abjectly terrible, although a ZR of -20.9 is in fact abjectly terrible). May 30: The Lod Airport massacre took place in Tel Aviv. Members of the Japanese Red Army terrorist group pulled submachine guns and hand grenades from their luggage as they and other passengers waited to claim their baggage and fired into the crowd, killing 26 adn injuring another 78. One terrorist was shot by another one with a second killed by his own grenade. The third was jailed but eventually released in a prisoner exchange in 1985. May 30: Five children were killed and another 13 injured in the derailing of a roller coaster called the "Big Dipper" at Battersea Park in London. The roller coaster broke loose from its haulage rope during the start of the ride, bagan to roll back, and when the emergency rollback brake failed, it crashed through a barrier into two other carriages. This accident also caused the roller coaster itself to be closed and dismantled and, with the loss of their most popular ride, the shuttering of Battersea Park in 1974. Somehow nobody was found criminally liable for this in spite of testimony that indicated that, after a fire had damaged the ride in 1970, they had brought in second-hand stock that was more than 50 years old (so... placing its creation into the late 1910s) and that the entire structure was in a rotted and unsafe condition, which led directly to one of the deaths (the victim survived the initial impact but fell through the handrail to her death). May 30: More like Manny 30, amirite??? Manny Ramirez, being Manny, was born in Santo Domingo, DR today. May 30: The Yankees enter today's game having lost their last 5 in a row and 11 of their last 12. You love to see it. ETA: Sadly they won. Oh well. They were playing the Brewers, who aren't super great themselves at 14-19. Even the win puts the Yanks at 10-26. May 31: The 145th and final mission of the CORONA spy satellite program came to an end when its exposed film was recovered. Since 1969, the CORONA satellites were launched with Kodak film and then returned to Earth after taking photos of the USSR and its neighbors. Direct transmission of images from spy satellites made the CORONA program obsolete. May 31: Three Italian Carabinieri (police officers; the literal translation is "riflemen") were killed in a car bomb explosion in the city of Peteano. An activist for the neo-fascist organizations Avanguardia Nazionale ("National Vanguard") and Ordine Nuobo ("New Order") would later be convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. May 31: Dr. Walter Freeman, an American doctor (Wikipedia calls him a "neurosurgeon" but he had no actual training in surgery and indeed the majority of the lobotomies he performed were done with an ice pick) who popularized the lobotomy, died today. Freeman performed over 4,000 lobotomies in his lifetime, some of them on patients as young as 4 years old. He performed his final lobotomy on a patient in 1967 and was banned from performing the treatment after that patient died of a cerebral hemorrhage. June 1: Andreas Baader, the co-founder of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, was arrested after West German police traced him to a warehouse in Munich. Captured as well were Holger Meins and Jan-Carl Raspe. The other half of this German "Bonnie and Clyde" story, Ulrike Meinhof, was still on the run but would be captured later in the month. June 1: The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals was signed in London by twelve nations... but no seals. SHAKING MY DAMN HEAD June 1: Pablo Picasso completed his final painting, "The Embrace", at his home in Mougins, France. He died ten months later at the age of 91. June 1: White Sox 1B/OF Alex Cooper () released his breakout album "School's Out". June 1: It was pretty bad for Padres SS Barry Bailey (.250, 0, 2). He suffered a high ankle sprain and will miss the next six weeks. The Pads are pretty well forced now to use Armando Troncoso (.357, 0, 3) now; I was pretty dead set against using him at short because he cost the team _20_ runs last season according to zone rating. June 1: To be honest, I was not aware that Padres P Steven Tyler (7-2, 2.40) was eligible for rookie-based awards, but here he is, winning the NL Rookie of the Month for May. He went 5-1 in 6 starts last month with a 2.06 ERA in 48 innings pitched and completed 4 of his 6 starts. He also had a nice K/BB ratio of 26/14 during that time. "I guess my catcher just loves my big ten inch," said Tyler. "Record of my favorite blues." June 1: The AL Rookie of the Month was also a pitcher: Billy Crystal (4-4, 2.39), who didn't even get his no-hitter in May. In fact he was "only" 3-2 but the young comic pitched 40 innings over 4 starts, including 2 CGs and a shutout, with 22 Ks and 10 walks. When asked if he starts slow - which was, I'll be honest, a weird thing to ask given that he opened the season with a no-no, Crystal replied "you rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles." Garbage in, garbage out, I guess. June 1: The NL Pitcher of the Month was Dodgers starter Fernando Apolonio (7-2, 1.04), who really took his game to another level in May with a 5-1 record that included allowing just 28 hits in 55 innings pitched (a .150 batting average), 39 Ks vs 17 walks, and 5 CGs and two shutouts in 6 starts for an ERA of 0.98. Apolonio has never won the PotM before, although he did win Rookie of the Month awards for September 1964. June 1: In the AL, meanwhile, the award was Michael Pesco's (8-1, 2.02) to take thanks to a 5-0, 1.38 record with 42 Ks in 52.1 innings. Pesco also was very stingy with allowing hits, giving up just 32 last month for a .179 OBA. This is his 3rd Pitcher of the Month, albeit his 1st in 4 years: the two-time Cy Young award winner's last such award came for May of 1968. June 1: Dodgers 1B Justin Stone (.250, 8, 30) has some kind of pedestrian-looking numbers this year but his May was nevertheless voted as the best hitting month in the NL. He cracked 8 doubles, 6 HRs, drove in 22 men, and hit... .252 for the month. I guess this is what production in the year 1972 looks like. Stone has... 22(!) of these wards in his career, including the award for September 1971. June 1: And last but not least, there wasn't really any choice but to hand the AL Batter of the Month award to Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.328, 13, 31), who's looking like an early Triple Crown candidate. Garcia hit .303 with 10 HRs, 21 RBIs, and added 13 runs scored. This is already his 2nd Batter of the Month this season - will he win all 6? Also though, will his team find a way to rally around him? The Tribe is just 15-20 on the season so far and in spite of looking like a contender in the preseason they're percentage points worse than they were last season (72-90). June 2: The Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Indians filed "Joint Tribal Council of the Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Morton", a suit against the state of Maine in the US District Court in Portland (not Oregon). Attorney Tom Tureen sued for enforcement of a treaty that provided the tribe ownership of 2/3rds of the state. Judgment would be made in favor of the tribes in 1980. June 2: The Four Power Agreement on Berlin was signed by foreign ministers of the Allied Powers in World War II - Britain, France, the USSR, and the USA. June 2: Improvisational comic and singer Wayne Brady was born today in Orlando, Florida. June 2: The Twins travel to Detroit this weekend in a possible preview of the ALCS. Game 1 did not disappoint the fans. Clinging to a 3-2 lead in the 9th, Tigers closer Jim Marceau (1-2, 2.35, 8 Sv) blew his 2nd save of the year by throwing an inopportune wild pitch with 2 outs, but then made up for it in the bottom of the inning with a game-winning solo homerun. "My mom always said I had power", said a humble Marceau, who'd last HRed in 1967 as a member of the NY Mets. June 2: Cardinals starter Roger Quintana (6-3, 1.91), a former mid-rotation guy in Philadelphia, has quietly emerged as one of the top pitchers in the league after landing in St. Louis in exchange for the similarly statused Vince Bachler (3-3, 2.74 with the Phillies). Today he threw a five-hit shutout in a 10-0 blowout of the Dodgers (who fell to 24-20), matching his career high in "Chicagos" with 2 already. "I don't like to think about counting stats like that," said Quintana after the game. "I could get into a boating accident tomorrow." June 3: Sally Priesand became the first American woman to be ordained as a rabbi as one of 26 Hebrew Union College graduates ordained at the Isaac M. Wise Temple in Cincinnati. She would go on to become an associate rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City and, later, the leader of Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey until her retirement in 2006. June 3: The Orioles (24-15), who've been weirdly contending this year, now suddenly will have to deal with a spate of injuries. With starting 2B Alex Perez (.214, 0, 4) already out with an as-yet-undiagnosed injury on a play a couple days ago (the extra time they're taking doesn't look good), they also lost corner IF/PH Mike Morrison (.300, 0, 1) for the next month to month and a half with a torn abdominal muscle he suffered in today's 8-4 loss to the Oakland A's. That said, the loss of Morrison will give the team a chance to take a longer look at prospect Bill Murray (.282, 16, 40 at AAA Rochester), who's been absolutely mashing in the IL/AA. "If only this league started using minor comedians and potential future celebrities a few years earlier," Murray mused upon his call-up. "Then my brother Brian Doyle Murray would have been in this league." Murray enjoys golf and sketch comedy in the offseason. He is currently studying under pioneering improv comedian / artiste Del Close. June 3: The Twins take the 2nd game of the 3-game series vs the Tigers 5-3, thanks to 6 solid innings by veteran Angelo Ramos (6-2, 3.39) and a timely homerun by OF Ernie Griffin (.227, 7, 18). Minnesota is 25-13 themselves and no slouches by any means. June 3: Released by the Braves out of spring training following two rough seasons, SP Trevon Dean (1-0, 1.00) was recently signed by the Mets and he made his 1972 debut against his former team. Dean was not kind, issuing a 6-hitter and winning the game 5-1. Felix Carranza (5-4, 2.90) gave up 5 runs in 7 innings for the loss; he's been very up and down all season long. "I'm not going to lie, I was hurt when they cut me loose", said the 30 year old Dean after the game. "That made this win all the more sweeter." June 4: African-American activist Angela Davis was acquitted by an all-white jury in San Jose, California, after a 14 week trial. Davis, formerly a 28 year old instructor at UCLA, had been charged with conspiracy for murder and kidnapping in a 1970 murder of a judge in Marin COunty. Jurors, who deliberated over the weekend, later said that they had doubted her guilt throughout the trial. June 4: Soviet author Joseph Brodsky was expelled from the USSR and placed on a plane to Vienna, Austria. The author/poet, who had been accused of "pornography" and anti-Soviet behavior, never returned to Russia again, in spite of being invited back after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and also never again saw his ex-wife Maria Basmanova, who had been coerced by the government to divorce him in 1967. Brodsky would go on to become the poet laureate of the US and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987. June 4: Robert Harrill, aka the Fort Fisher Hermit, died today. Harrill had lived a hermit-like existence since the mid-1950s, after having left a mental institution, and squatted in an abandoned World War II bunker, subsisting on a diet of fish, clams, and oysters and vegetables from a garden he planted and tilled himself. At one point in time he was the 2nd largest tourist attracting in the state of North Carolina, trailing only the battleship USS North Carolina in terms of yearly visitors. Harrill died under mysterious circumstances; the coroner officially called it a heart attack but rumors suggested that he was assaulted by three men. June 4: Speaking of mysterious deaths... okay, inappropriate! The Cubs found out that CF Alex Vallejo (.353, 2, 10) will miss the next month plus with a sprained knee. Anyone surprised by this should not be. For the Cubs, this looks like an excellent opportunity to try out 1969 first round pick Sammy Hagar (.344, 7, 19 at AAA Wichita), who frankle has come out of absolutely nowhere this season - the man went .215/7/19 in half a year in AAA last season. They've also got former A's starter Mike Schurke (.171, 0, 3) in the mix; Schurke is only 24 but his CF defense is horrible even by Cubs' standards. June 4: A's reliever Chris Wilson (1-1, 4.00, 1 Sv) wants to start... ? That's 35 year old reliever Chris Wilson, who's been only OK this year with the team - granted, this is also coming off of 2 straight solid seasons in middle and long relief. The relatively high-use middle relief role he's had isn't enough, I guess. I also have no room for him in the rotation but I guess I'll keep it in mind... okay, actually, the #4 guy Steve Tidwell (3-4, 5.10) has been kind of bad so far so what the heck. Congratulations, Chris, you're a starter now. June 4: The first round of All-Star votes are in! The top vote-getters are Dodgers 1B Justin Stone (.249, 8, 30) and... Royals RF RJ Dominguez (.288, 10, 29), who has 2,000 more votes than 1B Ernesto Garcia (.320, 15, 36). June 4: The Twins' Mike Larsen (6-2, 1.83) throws a 3-hit shutout to beat the Tigers 5-0 and carry home the series win for his team, 2 games to 1. "We were going to be tested and I guess we were ready," said Larsen after the game. "Me and the boys are heading out for a brewski. Wanna come?" June 4: The Braves' Julio Sandoval (7-2, 3.04) just barely missed throwing a reverse Maddux (who?) today. He scattered 8 hits and 1 walk over 9 innings, striking out zero batters but still leading his team to a 2-1 victory over the Mets at Shea Stadium. He was even under 100 pitches going into the final frame but struggled just enough, allowing a base hit to C Jason Bushon (.299, 5, 22) with one out and taking CF Curtis Hope (.244, 2, 15) to a full count before settling down and ending the game with 106 pitches thrown. So far on the year Sandoval has been the picture of control (24 walks in 80 IP, 2.7/9), which is good because the 1967 All-Star and former 18-game winner with the Mets has not missed a lot of bats with his stuff (28 Ks, 3.1/9). Lucky for him we're in the (general) era of Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres (who IRL won 22 games and the Cy Young Award in 1976 in spite of only striking out 93 men in 315 IP) or else I'd worry. June 4: The game reeeeally likes to get cheeky with doubleheaders sometimes. I had one earlier in the day where game 1 went 16 innings and killed both bullpens. Well, here the Pirates and the Giants had themselves a mighty pitching duel between the Bucs' DJ Cheeves (8-1, 1.60) and San Francisco's Josh Matthews (5-4, 2.66) that ended in a scoreless tie at the end of regulation and then kept going like that until Matthews gave up a 2-run HR in the *13th* to veteran slugger Albilio Valdivia (.246, 1, 6). I guess I say "slugger" but truth be told, that was Valdivia's first HR of the year and he also only hit 5 all of last year. Anyway, Cheeves came out in the bottom of the 13th in favor of Pirates' ace Paz Lemus (2-0, 0.00, 8 Sv), who kept the shutout and the win intact with a clean inning. Incidentally, Lemus also appeared in the nightcap, allowing just one baserunner on a hit batsman in 2 innings to deliver his 9th save of the season. Lemus has now pitched 27.1 scoreless innings and has also allowed just 1 inherited runner (of 7) to score. I'm not saying the Cy Young will go to a reliever this year but if it does... ## Teams in Review May 29: The Philadelphia Phillies lost #20 in between a double-header so this shakeup may strain REALITY OOOOOOO. Things just have not gone as planned so far; the front-line pitching has really struggled, with the team actually posting the 2nd highest runs scored in the NL (19th in the MLB in ERA), with the offense just plain not making up for it - they're 7th in the NL in runs (and 9th in MLB) so, you know, average, but that comes from an MLB-worst .214 BA. They make it back with power (33 HRs, 4th most in baseball) and it looks like walks (8th in OBP) but, you know, it's not enough. It's definitely not time to throw in the towel but... changes? Rotation: Marius Gaddi (3-4, 5.72) is sitting out the nightcap because he's not quite ready to go but he's got to be perilously close to losing his job altogether. He was still decent if overused last year (16-20, 3.47 and 233 Ks in 298.1 IP) but he's just been baaaad this year. I will say that that's in spite of a decent 44/23 K/W ratio and a pretty normal HR rate - 2023 me says this is bad luck; 1972 me says he's allowing too many timely hits. Otherwise, nobody else in the rotation has an ERA over 4 - Tim Natalie (3-5, 3.89) was the closest but he just gave up 2 runs in an 8-inning complete game loss to the Pirates. I guess the rotation stays as-is. Bullpen: Stopper Tom Grohs (1-2, 3.92, 3 Sv) seems like he's going to be exactly who he was last year and that feels like not enough. I do have 36 year old Robby Mournier (2-0, 3.86 in AAA Eugene) on a rehab assignment. Mournier has played really sparsely in the majors the past few years but was a middle of the rotation guy for the Mets in the 60s and I feel like at the least he can help out in a higher leverage role. He's still got 19 days left on that assignment and nobody who's pitching well in the 'pen has options left so I guess I'll have to stand pat here for now as well. Infield: I've already let Lee Citro (.308, 2, 8) take over for Sam Rahn (.070, 0, 3) at catcher but as you can see, Rahn has not gotten right yet. Rahn somehow has an option year left so I'm going to send him down to see if he can figure it out in Eugene. In his place comes the Croatian Nikolai Volkoff (.206, 1, 13), recently released from the Worldwide Wrestling Federation. When he's not busy being a Communist heel, Volkoff is a solid defender with a good arm who's still kind of learning out there. At second base, Victor Serna (.176, 4, 13) has just not been hitting well enough to keep the job. Yes, he hit 37 dingers and drove in 107 men in 1970. Since then he hasn't even hit .200 and even the power is merely good instead of leading-the-league levels. Francisco Carrasco (.278, 2, 10) will start there for now although I'll keep an eye out for when everyone's healthy as a potential landing spot for utility guy Nate Rowe (.250, 5, 16), who's currently starting in left field. Speaking of slumping infielders, 3B Alex Becerra (.100, 1, 4) is beginning to hit the point where his slow start is turning into a bad year. Somehow 34 year old veteran Cris Ramos (.214, 0, 2) was sitting in our AAA squad so I'll call him up immediately and have him start mixing in at the position. Jose Singleton (.184, 2, 5) hasn't really blossomed at shortstop but Tony Shannon is back in 2 weeks so I'm going to choose not to worry about it. Outfield: Bryant Tarala (.200, 3, 7) continues to be a real enigma. He's a great defensive center fielder so you can put up with the poor hitting but he always seems to flash signs that he might be better than what he is. Also, it should be noted that even with the .200 average he's got a .342 OBP, well above average for 1972. So... no changes, just frustration. John Belushi (.229, 3, 13) is beginning to hit now that he's only playing vs. righties (.269, 2, 7 in May). It's nice to see that at least one position is a positive now. Bobby Corley (.236, 2, 5) is putting up numbers that wouldn't be acceptable if this wasn't 1972. June 1: It just hasn't been a good year for the Cleveland Indians (15-20, 5th AL East). They were hoping to bounce back from a rough 1971 but it's just not happening. I guess the good news is, in a Reds-like fashion, they're outscoring their opponents in spite of the record (130-128) with both their offense and defense in the top half of the league if only barely. Looking a little deeper it's no surprise that a team led by Ernesto Garcia (.328, 13, 31) is up among the league leaders in HRs (2nd with 35) but they've been plagued by some reeeeally bad defense so far (11th in the AL in ZR with -11.2, 23rd in MLB in defensive efficiency with .703). Rotation: Ugh this is SO annoying... it seems like with every dang team, the worst-performing starter is the #1 guy. That's Dylan Hamilton (1-5, 5.56), who I guess TBF is only the #1 by default as his ERA has ridden up around 4 over the past 2 seasons. So... I'm going to go ahead and ride out a 4 man rotation for a little while, which means sending down the 5th guy, youngster Noah Bando (0-2, 3.75) to give him more PT. I also promoted Robert Rivera (2-2, 3.08) to the #1 slot, which probably won't mean a whole lot given that he was previously the #2. Bullpen: Setup man Elias Sanchez (0-0, 6.91, 2 Sv) has gotten blown up a bit in 14.1 innings so far but a. sample size and b. it's pretty well built off of a .340 BABIP so... bad defense too. If he can't put it together his namesake / brother from another mother Eddie Sanchez (0-0, 3.00, 1 Sv) is right there to take things, although he's also already announced he will retire at the end of the year. Infield: Joe Wolfe (.162, 1, 5) filled the "oh crap the starter sucks now" role well last season; .241/3/30 isn't superhuman or anything but it's good for a catcher and he also carried a .357 OBP. Now he's in the "role" Jonathan House filled last year and it's probably past time to platoon him with known Canadian Ray Varner (.245, 0, 4), a 29 year old with 64 career ML at-bats going into the year. He's a stopgap at best, maybe backup catcher material I guess. So like I really wanted to push Luis Oropeza (.216, 5, 11) into the starter's job at 2nd but not only is he not hitting (well, the power is nice) but he's an atrocious fielder. TJ Pritchett (.303, 3, 11) was already getting the lion's share of appearances there and now I'm just putting him back in as the full-time starter. Hope this doesn't burn too many bridges, bud! John Johnson (.206, 1. 5) went from batting champ to batting chump last year (.233, 3, 21) and I'm seeing no signs at all that he's going to get better, so I think it's time to mix Romneybot 5000 aka Mitt Romney (.222, 0, 4) harder into this mix. I'd love to come to some kind of platoon arrangement; unfortunately both guys are right-handers. Outfield: Man, Tommy Pron (.262, 1, 9) really looked like he had come back in April but a .191 May makes me doubt all of that. Cleveland has former Giants 1B/OF Bobby Turner (.267, 7, 19 at AAA Portland) in the minors and he looks like a man who should get the shot. Turner's never shown this kind of power before so I won't be super surprised if/when he doesn't equal it in the majors but Pron over the last year and a half has turned into a guy who's a .270s-ish hitter with no secondary offensive skills and poor D. Surely we can do better. I'm not nearly so sure we can do better than Bobby Kaplan (.212, 1. 5) and so I'm really going to count on him to hit something close to .303 again as he did last year. Jorge Sanchez (.222, 1, 5) is mixing in but the 29 year old is back of the roster filler and not much more. June 3: The Los Angeles Dodgers (24-20, 2nd NL West) have surprised everyone this season by doing as well as they have but the 20th loss comes to us all eventually. In typical Dodgers fashion they're winning by combining an iffy offense (8th in the NL in runs scored although that also makes them tied for 9th in baseball thanks to the AL not hitting their way out of a paper bag) with decent defense/pitching (11th in MLB in ERA, 5th in the NL). I guess that's not, like, great, and actually it's the defensive side of pitching/defense that's having problems (9th in DE, 8th in ZR). Still, it's hard to look at this team with anything other than a lens of "wow, how is this happening?". Rotation: The Dodgers run a 5 man rotation. That is the Dodger way. The bottom 2 guys, Rogelio Salinas (3-4, 5.15) and Aidan Williams (3-4, 5.12) are having a rought time of it so I will replace Williams with Dylan Mincher (0-1, 4.76), who's been doing work as the lefty specialist so far and has kind of barely played so the high looking ERA isn't necessarily an issue. Bullpen: Speaking of... the bullpen? I've been using 5 man pens throughout the league and it's getting to be very, very obvious that a lot of teams just don't need that many pitchers. The Dodgers in particular don't need a 10 man staff. So Williams will take over both the lefty specialist role and long relief and Pistol Pete Maravich (0-0, 0.00) will go back down to AAA Albuquerque to get more playing time and maybe work on his control (he walked 5 batters in 4.1 IP in his brief stint with LA). Infield: In fact, I'll just go ahead and use the newly opened 25 roster slot on a catcher, Jason Zimmerman (.176, 4, 11 at AAA Albuquerque). Zim's pretty much proven he's not a hitter but he'll be the best defensive catcher on the team by a long shot now and is a better choice than the lefty-batting Mauricio Alvarez (.161, 1, 3) to fill in for Jason Davis (.226, 1, 16) when Davis is tired and a lefty pitcher is in town. Not a personnel change per se but I think Robin Gibb (.299, 3, 16) has proven himself well enough that I'll get him into the 2 hole in place of 2B Danny Fager (.239, 1, 7), who started the season late and has been pressing a bit so far. Fager will continue to be their full-time keystoner because he's got Gold Glove caliber defense (sorry Billy Tristan!) Outfield: LF Paul Stewart (.245, 3, 15) seems to have come back well from an injury-riddled and disappointing 1971 (.238, 0, 8 in 139 at-bats for Philadelphia); he's getting on base a lot more and is hitting for power, which is great. I'm also not sure he's got the profile of a full-time left fielder, and last year's starting SS Luis Solis (.429, 9, 3) really needs to play more (not at SS mind you), so I'll using Solis in there a bit more against RHPs (unfortunately both he and Stewart are left-handed batters) and use the newly displaced JD Heil (.175, 0, 4) against LHP. Center has been not great and this team isn't so close to contention that they can't give a guy like 25 year old Ronney Yitzahki (.208, 4, 13 at AAA Albuquerque) a shot, at least to spell Ben Ernst (.218, 1, 10) against lefties. I wouldn't call Yitzakhi a prospect by any stretch but he has good range and can play some in the infield as well should the need arise for a utility guy. June 4: I would be remiss if I said I had any idea what to make of the Atlanta Braves (22-20, 3rd NL West). I guess the "best" news is that it still seems like a fairly weak division - the Astros are on top and do in fairness have the best record in the NL but they feel... vulnerable, and the Dodgers were supposed to be bottom feeders this year. Still, even as the reigning division champs this team is also just 2 years removed from 82-80. As the rotation goes, so goes the Braves I guess, and so far the rotation has kind of been the anchor weighing everything else down. Rotation: George House (6-3, 4.75) is the team's returning ace but also its biggest offender so far. He somehow managed to only allow 16 HRs in 277 IP last year (0.5/9) in spite of the home park, so the 9 HRs allowed to date (1.0/9) are a rude awakening. That's still not horrible and his other peripherals (1.9 BB/9, 6.4 K/9) are well above average so I'm going to keep going here. I'm also absolutely convinced that knuckleball specialist Colin Rose (3-4, 4.17) needs to become a major league starter so I'm going to keep using him, dammit. Bullpen: Setup guy Mikhail Baryshnikov (1-0, 3.79, 3 Sv) is young and has been a bit volatile this year so I think I'm going to drop him into some slightly lower leverage situations. Steve Hollopeter (1-0, 2.13) has made this choice easier; he was great in 1970 with the Mets but struggled heavily last year and it's nice to see that he seems to have worked everything out in 1972. So far he's struck out 14 batters in 12.2 innings, a career high rate. Specialist Roger Evans (0-0, 0.90) also looks like he deserves a bigger role. Infield: SS Jon Reid (.193, 1, 6) is pretty much the only guy in the infield who hasn't been keeping up offensively. I've been swapping him out with gloveman Ryan Dietrich (.192, 1, 3) and will start to do so more heavily unless, of course, Reid finds his bat again. Outfield: Ideally I'd love to see Michael Lee "Meatloaf" Aday (.238, 0, 4) start to hit; he's easily the team's best defensive outfielder. I guess the BA is league average this year but he has shown no power so far (.262 SLG); he did flash a good amount of it in AAA with 4 HRs in 109 at-bats and I don't necessarily need a tooon of it as a center fielder / bottom part of the order hitter. He's got 4 more weeks until Chris Ward (.280, 2, 7) is back from his fractured hand to show us what he can do.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
08-17-2023, 12:29 PM
|
#208 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
June 5 - June 11 DRAFT DAY
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Baltimore Orioles 29 18 .617 - 161 134 Detroit Tigers 28 19 .596 1 190 141 Milwaukee Brewers 24 21 .533 4 161 166 Boston Red Sox 23 21 .523 4½ 159 125 Cleveland Indians 23 22 .511 5 179 157 New York Yankees 12 36 .250 17½ 115 170 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 30 20 .600 - 186 151 Minnesota Twins 27 18 .600 ½ 176 160 Oakland Athletics 26 21 .553 2½ 182 197 Texas Rangers 22 28 .440 8 141 165 Chicago White Sox 21 27 .438 8 136 179 Kansas City Royals 17 31 .354 12 155 196 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 32 17 .653 - 159 111 Chicago Cubs 29 19 .604 2½ 194 184 St. Louis Cardinals 29 22 .569 4 223 177 Philadelphia Phillies 25 25 .500 7½ 200 205 New York Mets 21 29 .420 11½ 174 206 Montreal Expos 17 31 .354 14½ 148 193 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 32 19 .627 - 173 166 Los Angeles Dodgers 28 24 .538 4½ 180 187 Atlanta Braves 26 23 .531 5 188 178 San Diego Padres 23 28 .451 9 192 194 San Francisco Giants 23 34 .404 12 183 191 Cincinnati Reds 18 32 .360 13½ 189 211 Otherwise, the Astros are also kind of separating themselves from the pack, though that's probably more because of the inability for thye Braves to get consistent and the Dodgers being... well, the Dodgers. Still think they're a rebuilder! Both AL races are super close so far, which is to be expected when neither of the front-runners are hitting on all strides just yet. The Red Sox just got through a big swoon that saw them lose 9 in a row; they're 3-1 since then. And of course, everyone's records so far in the junior circuit are beefed up by the execrable Yankees, who are on pace to break a couple of futility records. HOLD ME CLOSE OH Tony Danza (.345, 0, 11) leapfrogged his way back into the AL batting lead this week off of a .304 week... so yeah, mostly Daniel Gilmet (.340, 3, 16, and .250 this week) and Alvin Romero (.335, 1, 15, .167 this week) slumped. Good news for Danza, at least! Also good news for him is that his teammate David Corona (.312, 7, 10) is back in the lineup after being out since May 31st with back tightness. Danza is cool but Corona is their best hitter and he'll surely protect Danza in the lineup batting 2nd. Otherwise in the AL hitting leaderboards, Ernesto Garcia (.286, 17, 46) has taken a commanding lead in both the HR and RBI races over Alice Cooper (.255, 13, 38) and RJ Dominguez (.260, 10, 34)... and speaking of the last guy, if the Royals ever find some pitching, look out! Romero at least has the co-lead in steals (with 15) to comfort him in his off week; White Sox sprinter/bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzennegger (.212, 0, 6) is tied with him and would probably steal 100 bases if he could get on base more. Cincinnati's Alonzo Huanosta (.319, 0, 19) looks like he's back to his old self in his new environs; the former Indians 3-hole hitter is getting the job done for a frustrating Reds team and is leading the NL in average, beating out 2 guys who are barely at .300: the Mets' Barry Cooper (.302, 1, 15), who's "only" hitting .286 with his new club after getting traded from the Giants earlier this year, and the Astros' Big George Foreman (.301, 3, 17). The NL homerun race is much, much closer than the AL's, with the Reds' (and formerly Astros') RF Jaden Weaver (.269, 13, 40) getting his 1970 homerun stroke back; he's also leading the league in RBIs. 3 guys are tied with 12 dingers apiece: the Braves' Dante Chairez (.232, 12, 26), Paul McCartney (.246, 12, 33) of the Padres, and Jeremy Taylor (.247, 12, 33). McCartney and Taylor are also tied for 2nd in the league in rib-eyes. Meanwhile, the Reds' Pedro Ortiz (.284, 1, 11) had just one stolen base attempt this week (he was caught stealing) but he still holds a commanding lead in steals with 18. Injured Braves' OF Chris Ward (.280, 2, 7) and the Cubs' Sean Gabel (.277, 1, 15) are the only 2 other NLers with double-digit steals so far. The Red Sox may be underachieving this year but Michael Pesco (9-2, 2.30) sure isn't so far. He had a rough outing this week in his only start (7 IP, 5 ER) but his team knocked the opposing White Sox around and allowed him to become one of three 9 game winners in all of baseball. 4 other guys in the AL have 7 wins; TOO MANY TO LIST, although the Yankees' Gene Lueders (2-9, 4.10) is the major leagues' only 9 game loser, so there's that. The A's Lee "Batty" Barnard (6-2, 1.66) is still just barely on pace to break Jeff Borden's single-season ERA record of 1.69 and is closely followed by overachieving Orioles youngster Santos Rodriguez (5-3, 1.72), who's coming off of a kind of average 1971 with the Dodgers (8-11, 3.65) and up and coming Indians right-hander Jose Martinez (6-3, 1.73), who himself was kind of meh last year with a 5-5 record and a 3.54 ERA in 25 games and 16 starts. He's also struck out a guy per inning but his 73 Ks is only 5th; the Tigers' Edgar Molina (7-4, 2.53) had 13 Ks in an otherwise disappointing week (1-1, 5.65) and now has 90, which is 3 more than 1971 Cy Young Award winner Justin Kindberg (5-6, 2.94). And you might think of him as a glorified lefty specialist but the A's Willis Chavez (2-1, 3.00) leads the AL with 12 saves, 2 more than the Twins' Travis Livingston (1-2, 0.81). Both of the other 9 game winners, of course, are in the NL, those being the Pirates' DJ Cheeves (9-1. 1.64) and the Astros' Tony Rivera (9-3, 2.29). Rivera's been accused of being a paper tiger in the past but he is pitching like a true staff ace this year, that's for sure. Meanwhile, the Dodgers' Fernando Apolonio (8-3, 1.05) may be tied at 8 victories with a lot of other NLers but he's having a Bob Gibson (he's a fictional player in my Inside of an Actual Ballpark league) style season... well, sort of; he doesn't have Gibby's pure power but he's been forcing a lot of outs. Those super low ERAs are soooo hard to sustain though. I mentioned Cheeves and Arango in my summary of the NL above; they're 2 and 3, with the Mets' John Ratzenberger (4-4, 1.87) rounding out the list of 4 NL pitchers with sub-2 ERAs. The Cardinals' Roger Quintana (6-4, 2.33) would love some run support to go with his strikeouts but the man is leading all of the majors now with 94 of them, a full 17 strikeouts more t han the Mets' own Wild Thing Ernesto Carillo (2-7, 4.00). And I'd be remiss without mentioning the two 10-save men in the NL right now: the Dodgers' Alec Cosby (2-0, 0.36), who has 11, and Paz Lemus, who has not even begun to really do the rubber-armed, pitch-every-game thing he's known for. ## Major Transactions June 5: The Expos claimed P Matt Roche (0-0, 5.40) off waivers from the Chicago White Sox. Roche was a starter and a real workhorse through 1969 but has struggled to stay healthy the last 2 years and, as of late, middle relief wasn't taking to him so well. Montreal will surely try to drop him back into a starter's role. June 7: The Astros sent P Herman Rodriguez (1-1, 6.00) to the Yankees as part of a conditional deal. Rodriguez has been bad for a season plus with the Astros but the Yankees need all the help they can get. Maybe Rodriguez will meet those conditions (which, I have no idea what they are; it doesn't look like the RL Astros ever got anything back in this deal); probably not. June 7: The A's sent P Steve Tidwell (3-4, 4.67) to the Cardinals as part of a conditional deal. As with Rodriguez, Tidwell has just not been good with the A's - he was recently demoted from the rotation - and in this case the otherwise contending Cardinals have got some real issues in the back of their rotation right now. This one (again, no idea what the actual "conditions" are; maybe I'll send a free minor leaguer back) seems a little more likely to vest. June 9: The Yankees claimed OF Dan Field (.175, 0, 3) off of waivers from the A's. Field is one of many younger players the Yankees have shipped off to try to win now over the past couple seasons and they were all there to snap him up when the A's tried to send him down to the minors after a bad start that followed a mediocre 1971 (.251/8/41 in 81 games and 351 at-bats with Oakland). Field, 27, is still a guy who made the All-Star Game for the Yankees back in 1970, when he went .295/17/87; New York will hope and pray he has some of that magic left in his bat. June 9: The Expos purchased minor league P Neil Yost (1-1, 1.35 at AA Birmingham) from the A's for $5,000. This was a roster filler move for the Expos more than anything else, as the 26 year old Yost hasn't pitched in the major leagues since 1970 and doesn't look like much of a prospect. Hopes and prayers for some good TCR I guess. ## News June 5: The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, also called the Stockholm Conference, convened in Sweden for the largest international meeting ever held on ecological issues. The 12 day conference led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme. June 5th is now observed annually by the UN as National Environment Day. Too bad this didn't, like, do much! June 5: G Gordon Liddy spoke with James McCord Jr. about problems with getting anything useful from wiretaps planted more than a week before on the phone of DNC Chairman Larry O'Brien. Liddy recounted later that if the problem was not fixed, McCord's team would get no further money from CREEP (the aptly initialed Committee to Re-Elect the President) "because the job should have been done correctly the first time". The burglars would have to break back into the Watergate Hotel complex. June 5: A whole big wave of guys were promoted from their respective international complexes today. June 5: Giants CF Danny Seligman (.243, 2, 7), who finally got to put together a relatively injury... light campaign last year and make his first All-Star Game because of his health, has been playing sparingly since late May due to back stiffness. And now the injury's progressed to "unknown". UGH. I'm going to drop him onto the DL so I'm not tempted to use him. That also means that light-hitting Chae-Hwi Park (.152, 3, 8), who's been hitting quite a bit lighter than normal, will get to show if he can do anything in the majors for the next 3ish weeks. June 5: The AL PotW was, for the second straight week, a pitcher, Minnesota's Mike Larsen (6-2, 1.83). Larsen's a pitch to contact guy but delivered 16 innings, giving up just 1 run on 11 hits over 2 starts, both wins. He walked 3 and struck out 3. He's only gotten 24 Ks in 78.2 IP so far (2.7/9) but is still making it happen for the Twins thanks to pinpoint control (2.1 BB/9), only 2 HRs allowed all year, and, so far, a weird ability to miss bats (a .237 OBA). Larsen won the Player of the Week back in April of 1968. June 5: In the National League, John Belushi (.283, 5, 20) has gone from almost out of a job to Player of the Week in a pretty short span. This past week Belushi hit .500 (12-24) with 2 Hrs and 7 RBIs along with only 2 strikeouts. That last bit might be the biggest key, as Belushi is pro-rated to whiff close to 100 times per 550 at-bats this season (he's got 20 in 120 at-bats). Can he sustain the low K rate? If so, maybe he's legitimately a .280+ hitter. June 5: The draft is today AHISTORICALLY BECAUSE IT SHOULD BE ON THE 6TH. Anyway, the first round... 1. Yanni, 17yo P/OF, Milwaukee 2. Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea, 18yo CF, Montreal 3. John Candy, 21yo RF, Chicago (AL) 4. Tom Petty, 21yo RF, Cleveland 5. Manny Trillo, 21yo CF, Cincinnati 6. Robert "The Chief" Parish, 18yo SP, San Francisco 7. William H Macy, 22yo SS, Kansas City 8. "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler, 18yo CF, Chicago (NL) 9. "Dr." Phil McGraw, 21yo CF, San Diego 10. Billy Joel, 23yo 2B, Baltimore 11. Alan Moore, 18yo RF, Los Angeles 12. Rush Limbaugh, 21yo SP, New York (A) 13. Anatoly Karpov, 21yo CF, California 14. Bobby McFerrin, 22yo CF, Minnesota 15. Huey Lewis, 21yo SS, Pittsburgh 16. Ron "Opie" Howard, 18yo 3B, New York (N) 17. Douglas Adams, 20yo RF, Texas 18. Billy Ocean, 22yo LF, Philadelphia 19. Tony Blair, 19yo SS, St. Louis 20. Steve Prefontaine, 21yo SS, Oakland 21. Steve Van Zandt, 21yo C, Houston 22. Christopher Cross, 21yo CF, Detroit 23. Nouri al-Maliki, 21yo 1B, Atlanta 24. Kevin Nealon, 18yo CF, Boston June 5: The A's, running way short on pitching, turned the ball over to new debutant Ronnie van Zant to face the Cleveland Indians today and... let's just say he did not exactly throw a no-hitter. The Southern Rock vocalist was chased in the 4th inning after allowing 9 earned runs and that got the A's to 20 losses (22-20). The Indians, by the way, have won 5 straight and have clawed their way back to a .500 record (20-20). A low-round pick (13th in 1969) made good, van Zant actually played American Legion ball in real life and at one point thought he might become a pro ballplayer. Well, in this universe... results are mixed. June 6: The Orioles hope that 21 year old Bill Murray (.282, 16, 40 at AAA Rochester) can keep up what he was doing in the minor leagues because the named starter at 2nd, Alex Perez (.214, 0, 4) will miss the season with a torn ACL. In a sense this is probably worse news for Perez than it is for the O's, as Perez was really just a placeholder between the departed Danny Fager (.239, 1, 7 with the Dodgers) and Murray. June 6: In the midst of an 8 run 9th inning the Angels ran into a minor disaster as C Sean Dennehy (.176, 0, 7), pinch-hitting for today's starter Eddie Dimmock (.250, 0, 8), pulled up lame on a double and had to be taken out of the game. As a result the Angels were forced to use 3B Reilly Peternek (.182, 0, 1), who last played the position in high school, for the bottom of the inning. He did allow a wild pitch but otherwise was good enough to allow his team to escape with a 10-5 victory. It also doesn't look like Dennehy's hamstring injury is not serious, although he'll probably sit out the next few games as a precaution. June 6: It's still early enough to right the ship, of course, but the Boston Red Sox (20-20, 3rd AL East) are in an absolute freefall right now. Today's 3-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox (20-23) was their 9th straight and carries them all the way down to .500. To make matters worse, they're being sunk by bad play from regulars / star players, most notably 1B Mike Miller (.242, 6, 19), a career .293 hitter, and SS Oniji Handa (.195, 2, 9), who I guess in fairness did start to fall off last year a bit, although he's also still a career .280 hitter. The Bosox still have the fewest runs allowed in the AL and are 4th in the majors in ERA but man, the hitting... June 7: The US Department of Labor issued the first regulations in America to limit exposure to asbestos. At the time there were 200,000 workers in the asbestos industry. It's a little crazy how we went from "miracle rock" to "murder rock" in a relatively short amount of time because by the 90s there really was no "asbestos industry" to speak of. June 7: The 1950s nostalgia musical Grease begane the first of 3,388 performances on Broadway, running until April 13, 1980. June 7: A measurable amount of rain (more than 0.01 inches) fell on Phoenix, Arizona for the first time since the start of the year after a drought in the city that had lasted for 160 days, a record for any major US city. I lived in Phoenix for a year and a half and this is accurate. June 7: EM Forster, the British novelist who wrote "A Passage to India" among other novels, died today at the age of 91. June 7: Cardinals OF Elijah Johnson (.238, 1, 4), who was expected to return soon, saw his shoulder tendinitis flare up and now is gone until the end of the month at the earliest. Johnson, 38, is an 11 time Gold Glover who slipped into a key 4th outfielder role for the pennant-winning Cardinals. June 7: Speaking of injury-prone NL centerfielders... the Dodgers' Butch Magana (.205, 0, 1), who hasn't set foot on a baseball diamond since Septemper 1 of last year, suffered a setback in his recovery from a broken kneecap and now will be out until September if he returns this season at all. Magana was set to be the Dodgers' starting CF going into last season but got hurt and could never seem to quite catch a break. He won't turn 26 until August so there's still time for him to have a career but he'll need to, you know, get and stay healthy first. June 8: A South Vietnamese village outside of Trang Bang was accidentally bombed by napalm by the South Vietnamese Army shortly after 11:30AM. 21 year old Vietnamese-American photographer Nick Ut took a photograph of a 9 year old girl Phan Thi Kimp Phuc, which later won a Pulitzer Prize and became synonymous with the horrors of war in Vietnam. Phuc survived the war, defected to Canada along with her husband in 1992, and was granted Canadian citizenship in 1997. June 8: Texas looked like they were going to be on the receiving end of a no-hitter tonight against John Carpenter (2-6. 2.89) and the lowly Yankees. They didn't get their first hit against the horrific director-to-be until the 7th and only got 2 on the night total. That's also all the hits they needed as they took down the punchless Bronx... Goners 1-0. IF Tyler Knight (.225, 1, 7) came on to pinch-hit for George W. Bush (.171, 2, 9) in the 7th with 2 outs and a runner - RF Guillermo Thompson (.133, 0, 0 with TEX) in scoring position. At first it looked like Carpenter had gotten out of the inning but then Yankees RF Phil Hartman (.242, 2, 5) muffed an easy foul ball to give Knight another chance. Knight lined the following pitch up the middle for the base hit and what turned out to be the winning run. The Yankees (10-35) are on pace to hold the worst record in MLB history. The current record for futility belongs to the expansion Montreal Expos, who went 48-114 in 1969. June 9: At 10:45PM, the Canyon Lake Dam at Rapid City, South Dakota gave way under the pressure of a downpour, sending millions of gallons of water through the city, claiming 238 lives with 3.057 injured and 700 homes destroyed in the process. Total damages for the tragedy, known as the Black Hills Flood, amounted to $165M. June 9: Red Sox LF Bruce Springsteen (.271, 5, 17), signed to a ten record deal with CBS Records today. June 9: Dodger PH/OF Jamal Rhone (.171, 0, 0), who hasn't exactly been hitting like a guy who was going to keep a job anyway, announced that he's accepting a contract to announce games with the Dodgers Television Network after the season and as such will be retiring. Rhone never made the All-Star Game but contribruted to two Dodgers World Series victories in 1959 and 1968 and has been a fan favorite in LA for years. June 9: Looks like Boston is back, baby! After dropping to .500 with 9 straight losses, the Red Sox have now won 2 in a row with tonight's 8-1 romp over the Angels. Marco Sanchez (4-5, 1.91) went all the way, giving up 6 hits and striking out 8 and this time getting a whole bunch of run support. 1B Mike Miller (.247, 8, 23), who's been in a downturn all year long, was an especial star, going 2 for 4 with 2 runs, 2 RBIs, and a homerun. "We know we're all pretty good," Miller said after the game. "We just need to hit more." June 9: Cardinals C John Stuart (.288, 6, 22), hitting only .238 for the month but with 3 HRs in 21 at-bats, had to be taken out of the game early after getting hit in the head by a pitch. Fortunately it doesn't look like he's badly hurt, but the St. Louis front office will nevertheless take it easy with the 4-time All-Star and will bring up 24 year old Australian actor/backstop Jonathan Hyde (.297, 4, 16). The Cardinals sit at 29-20, tied for 2nd in the NL West, and really hope this Hyde kid fights pitching the way he's rumored to fight mummies (or did he awaken the mummy? Look, it's been like 20 years since that movie came out). June 10: Barbara Jordan, President Pro Tempore of the Texas State Senate, was sworn in as Acting Governor of Texas for one day as Governor Preston Smith and Lieutentant Governor Ben Barnes were absent. In doing so, Jordan became the first African-American woman in history to serve as a state Governor. June 10: Sometimes when you want to get something done, you've got to do it yourself. That's the case with Yankees, um, top pitcher Tracy Mosher (3-8, 3.68) today. Not only did he throw a 4-hit shutout against the Kansas City Royals, Mosher went 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs, including a 4th inning triple. The three-base hit was Mosher's 2nd of his career and first since 1965. "I wanted to stay at second base," said Mosher after the game, "but Roger [Forbes, the Yankees' 3rd base coach] kept waving me on." Even with the win, the Yankees are sitting at 11-36 on the season and are on pace to set records for overall futility with a .234 winning percentage as well as the fewest runs per game (Houston in 1968 scored 427 runs for 2.6 per game; so far the Yanks have scored 2.4). June 10: The Giants' Josh Matthews (6-4, 2.41) took a while to get into NL shape but he was in his best form tonight. He scattered 6 hits in a complete game shutout over the Cubs and needed to be exactly that good as his teammates only got a single run out of the Cubs' ace Bill Lucas (4-5, 3.36). Lucas himself had an awful year last year (8-15, 5.17) and had gotten off to a rough start but has allowed just 1 run in 17 innings in his last 2 outings. "Pitching's like fishing," said the Kansas City native. "You just go whatever gets bites and... what was I saying again?" June 10: Man, if this is the real Year of the Pitcher, call this the Day of the Pitcher. The Padres' Steven Tyler (8-3, 2.66) finished a 3-hit shutout of his own against the Cardinals and led his (struggling) team to an 8-0 romp. 1B/3B Dale Earnhardt (.236, 4, 11) went 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs and a homerun to help win this one for San Diego. "If I had my choice, I wouldn't wear these dumb batting helmets," said Earnhardt following the game. "They're too restrictive." June 11: "Deep Throat", the most famousest porno of all time, made its debut at the World Theatre in Manhattan. Made for $25,000, the film returned more than $600M worldwide. June 11: Hey, 24 replaced the "copy to Facebook" link that nobody used with "copy to clipboard"! Anyway, here are the AL and NL All-Star votes so far... Below are the current standings for the American League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jun. 11th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is R.J. Domínguez with 247,546 votes. CATCHER 1. Josh Lewis, Oakland Athletics: 156,604 2. Frank Abagnale, Baltimore Orioles: 137,464 3. Khalil Tabb, New York Yankees: 119,972 FIRST BASE 1. Ernesto Garcia, Cleveland Indians: 247,471 2. Mike Miller, Boston Red Sox: 191,515 3. Alice Cooper, Chicago White Sox: 188,970 SECOND BASE 1. Joey Ramone, Detroit Tigers: 171,840 2. Daniel Gilmet, Minnesota Twins: 155,846 3. Israel Gaytan, Oakland Athletics: 142,752 THIRD BASE 1. Tom Weiss, New York Yankees: 218,129 2. Marco Perez, Baltimore Orioles: 188,483 3. Mike Brookes, Minnesota Twins: 187,544 SHORTSTOP 1. Justin Ramey, Minnesota Twins: 160,728 2. Richard Simmons, California Angels: 140,506 3. Michael Luna, Texas Rangers: 120,103 LEFT FIELD 1. R.J. Domínguez, Kansas City Royals: 247,546 2. Lou Morgenstern, California Angels: 140,385 3. Jeff Franks, Minnesota Twins: 121,644 CENTER FIELD 1. Alvin Romero, Detroit Tigers: 238,420 2. Dave Corona, Kansas City Royals: 215,882 3. Carlos Hernandez, California Angels: 108,053 RIGHT FIELD 1. Chris Tyree, California Angels: 178,043 2. Tom Brown, Boston Red Sox: 177,511 3. Tony Danza, Kansas City Royals: 157,638 STARTING PITCHER 1. Justin Kindberg, Boston Red Sox: 113,912 2. Jimmy Goddard, Detroit Tigers: 111,386 3. Michael Pesco, Boston Red Sox: 105,966 4. Marco Sanchez, Boston Red Sox: 105,525 5. Jose Martinez, Cleveland Indians: 100,120 RELIEVER 1. Sandy Hinojosa, Boston Red Sox: 148,602 2. Montay Luiso, Baltimore Orioles: 136,694 3. Malcolm Post, Chicago White Sox: 134,842 4. Jake Duckett, Cleveland Indians: 116,168 5. Phil Bowman, Baltimore Orioles: 116,117 To date Domínguez has a .266 career batting average and has totaled 49 home runs. Below are the current standings for the National League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jun. 11th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Justin Stone with 230,272 votes. CATCHER 1. Jason Bushon, New York Mets: 207,238 2. John Stuart, St. Louis Cardinals: 183,712 3. Armando Flores, Atlanta Braves: 145,634 FIRST BASE 1. Justin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers: 230,272 2. Antonio Lopez, Chicago Cubs: 219,073 3. Joshua Waltenbery, New York Mets: 209,218 SECOND BASE 1. Kevin Dwyer, Atlanta Braves: 230,232 2. Paul McCartney, San Diego Padres: 196,477 3. Pedro Ortiz, Cincinnati Reds: 163,859 THIRD BASE 1. Mike Galeana, St. Louis Cardinals: 152,495 2. Vicente Luna, Atlanta Braves: 143,500 3. Nate Rowe, Philadelphia Phillies: 129,617 SHORTSTOP 1. Jeremy Taylor, Chicago Cubs: 181,205 2. Tony Shannon, Philadelphia Phillies: 179,059 3. Akiho Fujimoto, San Francisco Giants: 150,640 LEFT FIELD 1. Rafael Disla, St. Louis Cardinals: 176,633 2. Alonzo Huanosta, Cincinnati Reds: 162,528 3. Justin Lawson, Pittsburgh Pirates: 157,839 CENTER FIELD 1. Alex Vallejo, Chicago Cubs: 217,496 2. George Foreman, Houston Astros: 183,754 3. Bryant Tarala, Philadelphia Phillies: 165,522 RIGHT FIELD 1. Jaden Weaver, Cincinnati Reds: 218,940 2. Henry Riggs, Atlanta Braves: 183,335 3. Casey Satterfield, St. Louis Cardinals: 163,186 STARTING PITCHER 1. Tony Rivera, Houston Astros: 84,445 2. George House, Atlanta Braves: 76,089 3. Santos Arango, Pittsburgh Pirates: 72,978 4. Steve Waiters, Cincinnati Reds: 70,537 5. Ben Feldhusen, San Diego Padres: 63,907 RELIEVER 1. John Winn, Atlanta Braves: 108,590 2. Geoff Saus, New York Mets: 89,102 3. Pete Lynn, Cincinnati Reds: 83,716 4. Charlie Bechtel, San Francisco Giants: 71,658 5. Paz Lemus, Pittsburgh Pirates: 65,875 Over his 1647-game career Stone has compiled a .323 batting average and collected 2052 hits, 440 home runs and 1307 RBIs. June 11: I talked about the divebombing Red Sox a few days ago and there's always a flip side in this league! That team in the AL is, I guess, the Cleveland Indians (23-22, 5th AL East). The Tribe did lose 2 of 3 vs Oakland at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in a mid-week series, but they just beat the top-of-the-West Twins 8-3 to wrap up a 3-game sweep where they scored 23 runs. 1B Ernesto Garcia (.286, 17, 46), who's now one hot week from being on pace to break the all-time HR record, blasted a grand salami in the wrap-up game today and Robbie "Hagrid" Coltrane (5-4, 2.58) just barely missed getting his 4th complete game in 10 tries as he fell apart in the 9th - setup man Elias Sanchez (0-0, 6.11) did come in with the bases loaded and 2 men out and mostly got out of that inning free. "I am what I am and I'm not ashamed," said Coltrane following this one. The Indians are 8-2 so far in June. June 11: Hot Brewers prospect / possible wizard 2B James Hong (.053, 0, 1) hit a whole bunch of HRs in the first third of the season in the minors but his rookie debut has not been sparkling so far. He finally got the first hit of his career tonight after starting it 0-18, a single off of White Sox long reliever Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell (4-3, 4.07), aka The Mountain of Stone Mountain. He was immediately erased on a 1B Sergio Sicre (.353, 0, 0) fielder's choice. Welcome to the big leagues, James! The Brewers won the game 7-0 on the backs of a 3-hitter by hard-throwing righty Omar Jiminez (2-0, 0.60), who also made his major league debut this week. Incidentally, Milwaukee held Chicago scoreless in the 2nd game of this double-header too, winning 2-0 on a Chris Olivares (4-5, 2.90) 4-hitter, so the White Sox at least tied an unbreakable record for single-day futility (I have no way to look that up of course since the game doesn't track stuff like this but, you know, it's impossible to score fewer runs than 0). ## Teams in Review June 6: The Oakland Athletics (22-20, 3rd AL West, 6 GB) overachieved a lot last year and the chickens are coming home to roost a bit. They're not terrible by any means but in spite of winning 90 games last year they were actually outscored. This season continues that trend - they've been outscored 176-158 (which, the pitching has been baaaad) but are still somehow slightly over .500. Rotation: I pre-emptively - mostly because everyone was tired - switched out to a 5 man rotation, promoting Ronnie Van Zant (0-1, 22.09), who got blown up yesterday to give the team L #20. He'll surely see more time in the future but he was an emergency pull in the first place so I'm going to send him down in favor of King Decker (8-2, 2.54 in AAA Iowa), who's been up before and who has done really well so far this year (well... the peripherals are somewhat meh but it's hard to argue with that ERA). Otherwise, Vince Akright (4-6, 4.02) has struggled as the top man in the rotation and his 3rd team in 3 years but I think he'll settle down. I'm a little less sanguine about Roberto Ortiz (3-2, 3.40), whose control issues have gotten really bad this yer (47 walks in 79.1 IP). At the end of the day it's hard to argue with his awesome stuff though. Bullpen: The 'pen has been really bad for some reason. Willis Chavez (2-1, 3.38, 10 Sv) has been... fine as a co-closer, although a 3.38 ERA in this era isn't really all that great. His right-handed partner, the former union head in Chicago Ben Lamar (1-0, 4.70, 1 Sv) has had a rougher go of it but at least with him I'm primed to keep using him there as he's only 24 and had that closer-level stuff - 8.3 K/9 - last year in the Windy City. On the other hand, I am thiiiis close to cutting Rick Shelton (1-1, 5.32), who I have a little bit of an affinity for since he's a former Seattle Pilot but that really should mean nothing to the A's. Steve Tidwell (3-4, 4.67) straight up got demoted to the bullpen after a bad start that's also seeing him failing to miss bats (3.6 K/9 so far). Things are suuuch a mess here but I don't quite want to make changes just yet... Infield: C "Texas" Josh Lewis (.259, 4, 19) (there's another Josh Lewis in the league) has struggled horribly against lefties so far - he's hitting just .133 against them (4-30) although the relative lack of strikeouts (only 5) tells me that this might just be a run of bad luck. He's also the team's 3-hole hitter and you need something north of .259 (he is hitting .292 against RHP). Even though both the starter and the backup are switch-hitters, I'm going to start plugging in Ramiro Gonzalez (.304, 0, 1) in there against LHPs pretty regularly. Catchers do need a lot of time off anyway, this frees up Texas Josh to pinch-hit, and hey, even Larry Walker sat against tough lefties. 3B Chase Jones (.215, 4, 15) is having a rough start and maybe a Jim Presley type turnaround to a really nice 1971 (I remember Presley due to him being a Mariner but in the 80s he had a couple of nice 30+ HR seasons and then fell off a cliff). He's not having a "I have to replace him right now" level of bad year but this is a "if he keeps hitting like this he is not the future of the club" performance so far. He's hitting .353 so far in June though! (6-17) The early returns on SS Donald Fagen (.270, 0, 2) are that Matt Evenson (.274, 2, 12) might not have a job when he comes back in the 2nd half. Fagen is 2 years younger and a much better fielder and so if he can hit even reasonably well I think the job is his. By the way... 6th round pick in 1970 so he might have gotten a little bit of the good old TCR. Outfield: LF Adam Groves (.212, 3, 10) seems like he's finally getting out of the big hole he dug for himself at the beginning of the year. Ideally he's a guy who gives you good power and also gets on base a lot but his average has been so low that the walk rate has only translated into a slightly better than average .318 OBP. Dan Field (.175, 0, 3) was kinda sorta supposed to be his caddy this year but he's not been hitting much at all so I'm going to send him down. He's also out of options and could be snapped up given that he's only a couple years removed from being a decent player for the Yankees. In any case, English rockstar done good Steve Winwood (.260, 4, 14 at AAA Iowa) is playing well and is a lefty so he's a better fit for this team anyway. CF Jah Lloyd (.253, 2, 8) has played well enough that I think he's worth platooning with the incumbent David "Aperture Science" Mesa (.250, 0, 1). I think this team as a whole needs to be treated like a work in progress more than a contending team that should mostly stand pat. Mesa is, it should be noted, a far, far better fielder than Lloyd. RF Richard Berman (.248, 2, 14) is another guy having a mediocre but not bad enough to replace year. Not much to say, really, except please start hitting, Mr. Berman! I'll start spelling him against RHPs with Jah Lloyd; both of them are right-handers but since Lloyd is already playing every game in CF against LHPs this just turns him into a half-time player to some degree, and as a meh defensive CF he makes a very, very good defensive RF. June 6: I'm a little surprised it's taken this long for the Milwaukee Brewers (18-20, 5th AL East, 6 1/2 GB) to get a review. Part of it's because they've played a little less than everyone else, but they're also surprisingly close to .500 so far. They've played the Yankees 5 times and you'd think that'd be why but nope, they're actually only 2-3 against the Bronx Goners (get it???). With an offense that's 20th in the majors in runs scored and a pitching staff that's 19th in ERA, 2 games below .500 is probably overachieving but hey, we'll see. Rotation: Omar Jiminez (4-3, 2.54 at AAA Evanston) has been tearing it up in Indiana and desereves a look in the major leagues. The wins and losses do not tell the whole story there; he's struck out 92 batters in 85 IP and scouts love his change and his split-fingered fastball. To make room for him I'm demoting Jonas Youngblood (3-2, 3.63) into relief and DFAing John Labbe (1-1, 6.23). I'd be very, very surprised if anyone picks up the 31 year old who's just kicked around as a minor league free agent the past several years. This move also means that the Brew Crew have just one over-30 guy in their rotation, former Cub Victor Marin (2-5, 3.83), and right now he's also the worst performer so that may not last either. I will say in Marin's defense that he's much improved over last year (5-10, 4.19) and while he does not exactly have world-beating stuff, he's been very stingy at allowing walks so far (10 in 54 IPs, 1.7/9). Bullpen: I'm dropping Landon Whittier (0-0, 11.74) into long relief on account of his being awful. He's still only 27 and has been good with Cleveland in the past so I don't want to cut bait just yet. He's just been veeeery wild - 9 walks in 7.2 IP - and hasn't been getting guys to strike out since he came over from the Tribe in June of last year. Infield: I think the Adam Brown (.247, 2, 14) and Chris Flores (.207, 0, 4) semi-platoon (Flores plays every other game against LHPs) is just plain working, somehow so even though neither guy seems like the real answer I'm not going to touch it. I do have to do something about Kozue Nakamura (.165, 2, 11), Milwaukee's All-Star representative last year who's literally hitting about half as many hits per at-bat as last year. What's going on here? Maybe some time in the minor leagues will help stort things out. Somehow he has no minor league options used - he was just kind of languishing in the Angels' minor league system until the Brewers picked him up in the Rule V draft. That also allows me to call up the failed Royals semi-prospect Sergio Sicre (.280, 5, 23 at AAA Evanston). Maybe "failed" is too harsh but I tried to get him to play in left and 2 years on, he's just not very good at it. He's a decent 1B though and he's a lefty with some power so hopefully he'll fit right in. Against lefties, the new 1B guy is Barney Leriche (.286, 0, 5), a guy who could never quite come through on his prodigious batting practice power in California. I'm beginning to see why the Red Sox moved on from Dwayne Fraser (.261, 3, 15) at 2nd base last year even though he's still only 27. He's been very meh as a hitter, although .261 could just be a slump off of his .314 mark in 1970 over 573 at-bats. He's also a pretty bad fielder though with minus range and an arm that pretty much plants him at 2nd or left field. I'm going to start mixing in Wing-fung Yi (.273, 0, 4) a bit harder. Maybe I've been overlooking the former Yankees prospect all this time, I don't know. Yi's got a good eye and definitely fields the position better. The true long-term guy, "19" year old James Hong (.263, 12, 30) is... oh jeez, I didn't see the dingers. He's ready, isn't he. Looks like the Dwayne Fraser era is over already. I'd really like to play Francisco Martinez (.196, 0, 3) more at 3rd but man... when he hits. 300 like he did in 1970, great. When he hits .252 like last year, it's a really empty .252 and he's one of the worst offensive 3rd basemen in baseball. When he hits .196... well, come on now. Mauro Magoni (.207, 4, 11) is 8 years older than the 25 year old Martinez, doesn't have that history as a .300 hitter, and clearly isn't going to be a part of the next/first good Brewers team, but of the two of them he's the one who's actually getting results so far. At that I guess he did hit .293 for the Red Sox back in 1968, a campaign that earned him his only All-Star trip, so there is that. Given that neither Andrew Yeater (.194, 1, 3) nor Guido Temudo (.295, 1, 5) are considered great prospects, I don't think I have any issue just handing the job to the guy who's hitting. It doesn't hurt that Temudo is also the far better defensive player. Yeater can continue to play a bit against righties. Eric Biron (.311, 2, 8 at AAA Evanston) is also there but also doesn't field super well. Last year these 3 all got like 180ish at-bats; we can do better. Outfield: Leriche getting PT at first base really moves things out for 1971 Rule V pick Jacquot Mazzucato (.306, 4, 12) to play more. If nothing else the Brewers have done really, really well in the Rule V draft. I don't super like Ross Poynor (.276, 4, 14) as a center fielder but a. he's definitely hitting well enough to start for this team and b. he's only displacing Fernando Ceballos (.143, 0, 0), who won himself a Gold Glove last year but hits like a shortstop and not even an average shortstop at that. Dude had 15 extra base hits in 520 at-bats last year. That is soooo bad. The difference in handedness does make me want to use Ceballos every now and then against lefties to ensure that when Poynor does sit, it's not against RHPs. June 6: If you go by FUN differential the St. Louis Cardinals (25-20, 3rd NL East, 3 GB) should be in first place. By the numbers they've got the top offense in all of baseball and a very good pitching staff and defense as well (okay, maybe not defense; they're 8th in the NL in defensive efficiency, dead last in zone rating, and have committed the 3rd most errors). And it's early enough that 2 wins turned into losses is basically the difference. STILL. It's time to look at this team! Rotation: I'm going to probably work back to a 5 man rotation once Raul Mendoza (2-5, 3.56), currently nursing a sore elbow, is healthy again. Even though this team is doing well statistically, that is a kind of a thin rotation. Roger Quintana (6-3, 1.91) has been excellent but his excellence has kind of come out of the blue and it's hard to trust him. Even with Mendoza back, there are two rough spots at the back of the rotation, currently filled by Edward James Olmos (2-1, 1.26), who was Cincinnati's closer for much of last year, and Future Villains Band drummer Joey Kramer (0-1, 4.50), who looks like he'll be a good starter but has all of 6 major league innings so far. Mario Garcia (2-1, 1.12) is still a couple weeks away from recovery from... gout (seriously, Mario? Are you a 400 pound 18th century monarch? How do you have the gout?) so this is where they'll have to be for a little while. Bullpen: I guess the good news here is that in spite of the adversity - 3 guys projected to be on the pitching staff are currently on the DL - everyone seems to be doing pretty well. Closer Billy Munoz (0-4, 4.12, 6 Sv) is I guess the exception but he's fiiiine and I'm not going to demote him based on a bad 2 months. The next highest ERA in the 'pen belongs to lefty specialist Franklin Medrano (0-0, 3.68) and he's struck out 14 guys in 14.2 IP so I don't think he's actually been bad. Infield: 1B TJ Tortorella (.242, 3, 12) is basically only filling a pinch-hitting role with Lorenzo Martinez (.228, 8, 20) back and healthy and that's not going to change any time soon. I'd say send him down to get more PT but the guy is already 28 and I think he is what he is. Probably better for trade fodder than anything else but even at that I think he'd be a guy who'd have some use on a bad team who in turn would not have a lot to give up in return. Of course Tom Depew (.204, 4, 14) gets into his first prolonged slump in 4 years with the team after I've traded away his backup. Ugh. 2nd base is still his job to keep; as Jeronimo Argumedo (.080, 0, 3) answers nothing. That said, Barry Wilshire (.349, 0, 3 at AAA Tulsa) is tearing it up in the high minors, albeit in not a lot of at-bats, so I'll keep an eye on that (on the flip side, Argumedo hit .307/4/9 in 75 at-bats at the same level prior to his call-up this year so I should probably make sure I'm not throwing out the good for the OK). 3B Mike Galeana (.200, 10, 27) has also struggled to collect base hits but at least he's got that power. The .200 average does make it easier to focus on his downsides though: weirdly his K rate isn't high and he's not even that slow so I guess he's just a Justin Smoak style pop-up machine out there. His fielding is not great; he's not going to, like, post a sub-.900 fielding average or anything but he's not going to win a Gold Glove either. Anyway, what am I going on about? He's not going to lose this job. I traded for Gil Wilson (.077, 0, 1) to provide a better hitting if worse fielding option for Brian Wilcox (.200, 2, 10). That hasn't worked out at all so far although to be fair Wilson still only has 26 at-bats with the Cards. I'll continue to work him in against RHP a good amount and also have him on the bench for when I inevitably want to pinch-hit for the notoriously light-hitting Wilson. Wilcox incidentally leads the team in steals, which is more of a sign of how slow these guys are than anything else. Outfield: I've JUST ABOUT HAD IT with RF Casey Satterfield (.254, 8, 23), who opened the season like gangbusters, hit .196 last month, and so far in June is back to hitting .333. He needs to get that average up overall in order to be a real contributor because he doesn't have the power profile of a Lorenzo Martinez and if I'm being honest he's a defensive minus, especially in right (and he's not moving to left because Rafael Disla (.280. 5. 21), the 3-time All-Star and 2-time batting champion, is settled in there). I think Gilles Villeneuve (.111, 0, 0) may eventually supplant him, although definitely not yet and double-definitely not on a contender. June 7: Don't look now but the Boston Red Sox (20-20, 3rd AL East, 5 1/2 GB) have absolutely fallen off a cliff as of late. Their losing streak is now at 9 games and their run scoring has dipped to 8th in the league now (granted that they haven't played as many games as some teams). Pitching's been great. Hitting? Not so much. Rotation: The rotation has been pushing really, really hard; it's almost a 3 1/2 man rotation the way it's working. I'm going to scale that back a bit over the next bunch of games. Guys are doing well for the most part outside of, ironically since I'm making the decision, the #4 man Brian Osborne (2-3, 4.09) but maybe with regular rest that can go even harder. Bullpen: Like last year, the rotation means that even with 4 men, they really don't need 5 guys in the 'pen. Pat Holmgren (0-1, 1.54) has just 5 games played so far so I'll send him down to get more work. Otherwise, the bullpen is kind of not super great outside of Sandy Hinojosa (1-0, 0.82, 4 Sv), who's really taken to the closer role after a whole career as a starter, but they're not like 6.00 ERA bad, just "in the 3s in 1972" bad. Infield: C Jeremy Dolak (.227, 0, 8) has mostly recovered from a bad start... in terms of pure average. He's got 2 extra base hits all season long, both doubles, and he's not walking much either. I'm going to start mixing in Sid Bartoszek (.300, 1, 3) a bit harder. I want to do something about 2B Brian Long (.221, 1, 13), but what? I guess former A's starter and All-Star Chris Moore (.259, 2, 4), although at age 32 I don't think he's really starting material for a contending team. Long should be a lot better than this. Both Long and Moore are righties so unfortunately that leaves just spelling Long with Moore equally and seeing if that helps. I'm really not seeing how Kristian Schneider (.238, 4, 21) made the All-Star Game last year; he was decidedly average. This year he's a step worse. I think I need to recall Edwin Madriles (.245, 4, 12) from the minors to use with Schneider in case he's legitimately going down. That also means cutting 34 year old LF Frank Meneses (.179, 1, 2) loose. Meneses has barely played this year and just doesn't figure into the team's plans. I'm juuuust starting to spell Oniji Handa (.195, 2, 9) at short with Tony Escobedo (.125, 0, 1) about once a week. I don't know what's wrong with Handa; bad TCR I guess. He may have become a classic good-field, no-hit shortstop, which is still super valuable but might not make him the automatic Hall of Famer he looked like 2 years ago. On the other hand he's still only 28. Outfield: CF Jon "The Astronaut" Glynn (.227, 2, 2) is back in a week but Brian Johnson (.325, 0, 2) has done more than just do a passable job as a replacement. Look out, Jon! Johnson's even a lefty (where Glynn bats right) so I can semi-platooninate them... June 11: The California Angels (29-20, T-1st, AL West) have been having themselves a nice season to date but they did run into the surging Red Sox this weekend and, earlier in the month, were one of Cleveland's latest victims, so they've reached 20 losses and therefore a deeper look. They've got the best scoring attack in the AL (7th overall), which, you know, is pretty nice, and their pitching is shaping up as well - 4th in both the American League and all of baseball. I guess if they have any issues it's a lack of power (25 Hrs, tied for 9th in the AL and 20th in the majors), but... they play in the Big A. Is that really a downside? Truth be told, this is a young and contending team that looks like they could just be the foil for the aging Twins. Rotation: They've gotten it done so far with a strict 5 man rotation and I don't really see a lot of good reason to move away from that, at least not yet. Their ace Andy Ring (5-3, 1.76) seems like exactly a guy who thrives on regular rest - he went 18-10, 2.73 last year but only started 32 games, and it seems like his rough spots in the past have come when the Dodgers, his former team, tried to use him too much - he started 35 games in '69, went only 12-13, 3.81, and then an awful start to his 1970 campaign (3-8, 5.48) is what led him to the Dodgers. David "Macho" Camacho (7-1, 2.28) seems like if anything he's exceeding expectations and while it's theoretically nice to take away those starts from your worst starter to give them to your best, it seems like doing so might kill the proverbial goose. Bullpen: The large rotation also means the Angels get to carry a 4 man bullpen, which has worked out really well for them - so far, 3 out of the 4 guys have sub-2 ERAs with only Joe Scott (0-0, 3.38), who has 1 earned run in 2.2 IP, as the outlier. Anyway, no need to change things here either. Infield: It's probably time to just accept that we're trying to win now and that means that former Dodgers starting C Eddie Dimmock (.250, 1, 11) should do a full-on platoon with the incumbent Shaun Dennehy (.179, 1, 8). Dennehy should be better than this but that's not the point! He'll still play a lot but I want to pencil in Dimmock, a left-handed batter, for the lion's share of starts vs. RHPs. 1B Willie Vargas (.282, 1, 16) just kind of is who he is. Normally a .280s hitter with no power is not who you want at first base but in 1972 terms it's OK. I've been kind of disappointed with Mauricio Mendez (.248, 4, 14) this year. For the past 2 years he's had to earn his way into the starting job and this season, having been handed the gig on a platter out of spring training, he's gotten off to the worst start of his career - a .150 (5-40) April. That said, he hit .254 last month and is at .280 so far in June so I guess things have turned around on their own. 3B Travis Corley (.200, 1, 17) is also disappointing and is kind of right there on the edge of being so bad I have to replace him. It's not just that he's lost 68 points of average so far, it's that he has absolutely no power whatsoever - a .234 SLG which means a 34 isolated power number, which is Wayne Tolleson levels of low. I've already got Wayne McSparren (.000, 0, 0) on schedule to fill in for him more and more, but man, I'd prefer some legit options - or, you know, for Corley to start hitting. Outfield: Mostly what I want to do is find a place for CF Jaco Pastorius (.282, 1, 7), aka the GREATEST BASS PLAYER OF ALL TIME. I would make music puns but nobody would get them (Jaco played with a jazz fusion band called The Weather Report with Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul in the 70s and played on a song called "Birdland" which you will for sure know if you hear it). The thing is, Lou Morgenstern (.257, 4, 22) has provided the good power the Angels were hoping for when they traded for him in left field, CF Carlos Hernandez (.271, 2, 18) has looked exactly like what the Indians gave up when they chose Ernesto Garcia over him, and RF Chris Tyree (.322, 2, 24) looks like the team's #3 hitter for the next 5 years. Where to put the man? Theoretically he could play 1st or 2nd as well but I think you want to keep him in the outfield where his amazing range can be best be put to use.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
08-26-2023, 06:43 PM
|
#209 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
June 12 - 18, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Baltimore Orioles 32 21 .604 - 185 152 Detroit Tigers 32 21 .604 - 210 156 Milwaukee Brewers 27 24 .529 4 181 182 Boston Red Sox 26 24 .520 4½ 188 152 Cleveland Indians 26 25 .510 5 196 173 New York Yankees 15 38 .283 17 138 192 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Minnesota Twins 30 21 .588 - 191 176 California Angels 32 24 .571 ½ 198 174 Oakland Athletics 29 24 .547 2 204 219 Chicago White Sox 25 29 .463 6½ 164 198 Texas Rangers 25 30 .455 7 159 174 Kansas City Royals 18 36 .333 13½ 174 240 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 36 19 .655 - 187 127 Chicago Cubs 32 22 .593 3½ 212 204 St. Louis Cardinals 31 25 .554 5½ 233 196 Philadelphia Phillies 28 28 .500 8½ 220 227 New York Mets 23 33 .411 13½ 197 235 Montreal Expos 21 34 .382 15 164 206 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 34 23 .596 - 182 182 Los Angeles Dodgers 31 26 .544 3 198 200 Atlanta Braves 30 26 .536 3½ 211 202 San Francisco Giants 27 36 .429 10 203 197 San Diego Padres 24 33 .421 10 209 231 Cincinnati Reds 22 34 .393 11½ 221 230 Taking a look at the old statistical races... Tigers CF Alvin Romero (.338, 1, 16) has cooled off this month, hitting only .266 in June, but right now it's still good enough to lead the AL. He's followed by the usual suspects, Royals OF Tony Danza (.332, 0, 11) and Twins 2B Daniel Gilmet (.325, 3, 17). Ernesto Garcia (.267, 17, 48) is still easily the leader in HRs and RBIs but at least is no longer a Triple Crown threat; the guys right after him are White Sox 1B Alice Cooper (.241, 13, 39) and, newly cracking the top 3, Twins 1B Angelo Martinez (.234, 12, 33), who's still got a few knives left in the old drawer at 36. Royals LF RJ Dominguez (.247, 11, 38) rounds out the top 3 in RBIs. Romero and Sox OF Arnold Schwarzennegger (.218, 0, 10) remain deadlocked, now at 17 steals apiece, with two more guys tied for 3rd in that category - the aforementioned Tony Danza and Red Sox OF Tom Brown (.285, 5, 25), trying to will his team back into the pennant race through pure speed. As noted in the notes below, Michael Pesco (10-3, 2.46) became the first man in either league to amass 10 Ws this week and now holds a 2-win lead over 3 guys - Texas' Chad Daugharty (9-2, 2.08), the Tigers' Jimmy Goddard (8-4, 2.04), and his teammate Edgar Molina (8-4, 2.34). We still have 3 guys with sub-2 ERAs in the league, including 2 guys who are ahead of the all-time ERA record: Baltimore's Santos Rodriguez (6-3, 1.54) and the A's Lee Barnard (7-2, 1.59) are ahead of the pace with young Cleveland ace Jose Martinez (7-4, 1.93) just off of it. Edgar Molina's got 97 Ks now, just ahead of Boston's Justin Kindberg (5-6, 2.88) and Oakland's Roberto Ortiz (4-3, 3.91), who both have 94. Speaking of the A's, Oakland has been relying on their stopper Willis Chavez (2-1, 2.61, 14 Sv) at a record-setting saves level themselves, followed by the Twins' Travis Livingston (1-2, 0.71, 12 Sv) as the only 2 guys in the AL in double digits. In the NL, the batting race seems kind of similar to the real-life AL's in 1968 (when Yaz led everyone with a .301 average): Mets RF Barry Cooper (.310, 1, 17) has the best average but it's not, like, amazing or anything. He's just ahead of the Reds' Alonzo Huanosta (.308, 0, 21), the AL batting titlist in 1970, and the Cubs' 1B Antonio Lopez (.302, 10, 24). RF Jaden Weaver (.263, 15, 44) isn't super happy with the losing but he seems dead set on showing the Astros that they shouldn't have traded him to the Reds - he leads all NLers with 15 HRs. 3 more guys have 13 apiece: the Braves' 1B Dante Chairez (.242, 13, 31), San Diego's 2B Paul McCartney (.239, 13, 35), and Cubs SS/RF Jeremy Taylor (.240, 13, 37). Those 3 are, as has been the case in the AL for so much of the year, also the top 3 in RBIs. It's like teams bat their best power hitters cleanup or something. The overall league leader in steals is Reds 2B Pedro Ortiz (.271, 1, 11) with 20, with injured Braves OF Chris Ward (.280, 2, 7) still in 2nd at 11 and just ahead of the only other 2 senior circuit baserunners with 10+ steals, Houston's Big George Foreman (.284, 3, 17) and Chicago's Sean Gabel (.288, 1, 18) with an even 10 apiece. 3 men in the NL now have 9 wins and thus the best chance to be the first 10 game winners: the Dodgers' Fernando Apolonio (9-3, 1.05), who's also lapping the field in ERA, the Pirates' DJ Cheeves (9-2, 1.95), and Tony Rivera (9-4, 2.20) of the Houston Astros. Well behind Apolonio but still doing pretty darn well if you ask me in the ERA race are Cheeves' Pittsburgh teammate Santos Arango (8-6, 1.92) and, improbably, young Mets know-it-all John Ratzenberger (4-5, 1.94). Cheeves is the 4th and last guy in the league with an ERA under 2, which is still a lot of guys. Speaking of counting milestones, the Cardinals' Roger Quintana (6-5, 2.54) became the first guy in either league to reach 100 Ks this week; he's at that number exactly and that's waay out in front of Santos Arango with 82 and the Mets' Ernesto Carrillo (2-8, 4.50), who might be in danger of moving off this list just by getting demoted to the bullpen if he can't cut down on those walks. We do have 3 guys with double digit saves in the senior circuit now: in spite of his blown save tonight, Alec Cosby (2-2, 1.67, 12 Sv) still edges out the Pirates' Paz Lemus (3-1, 0.50, 11 Sv) and the Astros' Jon Douglas (2-1, 1.35, 10 Sv). ## Major Transactions June 12: The Astros traded minor league RF Josh Huckaby (.261, 4, 20 at AAA Oklahoma City) to the Expos for minor league 2B Zachary Taylor (.292, 7, 19). This is pretty much a depth move for both teams, with Taylor probably more likely to see major league PT than Taylor. Then again, Montreal is bad and Huckaby does have a lot of speed... June 14: The Expos traded C Roberto Carranco (.260, 6, 12) to the Phillies for currently minor league C Sam Rahn (.070, 0, 3 in the major leagues this year). The Expos got a new starter from the Rule V draft this year and Carranco has been vocally unhappy about the reduced playing time. He's traded with fellow disgruntled backstop Rahn, who was the Phillies' starter in both 1970 and 1971 before a horrific start led the team to panic-move him down to AAA. Now he can restart in Montreal. June 15: The Braves traded RP Roger Evans (0-0, 2.38) and RP Steve Hollopeter (2-1, 5.62) to the Phillies for RP Josh Willie (0-1, 1.35) and minor league 1B Mitchell Lile (.308, 5, 28 in AAA, name is not set in stone). The centerpiece here was swapping LOOGYs in Evans and Willie. Hollopeter looks all right with the walks and strikeouts (17 K, 8 BB in 16 IP) but he's a flyball guy who has a really bad problem with the longball (25 allowed in 94.2 IP combined the last 2 years), which makes him below replacement level in Atlanta. The Braves get a 22 year old minor league 1B to sweeten the pot; he's blocked by Dante Chairez but hitting is hitting. June 16: The Giants traded P Dan Ballard (0-3, 4.11) to the Cardinals for minor league P Oscar Amador (0-4, 3.86 in AAA Tulsa). Ballard's been OK with serving in the bullpen in SF but he's got a long history of starting - the man is a 150 game winner - and the Cards have been a bit thin there. Amador in return is not the greatest prospect in the world - I mean, technically he isn't one given that he's already 25 - but he did get a cup of coffee with the White Sox last year and could maybe turn into something. The Giants are 4-10 for the month of June following an 11-19 May; whatever thoughts they had early in the season of being a surprise contender are pretty much gone now. ## News June 12: The city of North Charleston, South Carolina, made up of predominately African-American areas that had been kept outside of the city limits of predominately white Charleston, was formally incorporated, 14 months after a referendum had passed with a majority of voters approving a separate city. North Charleston still exists today and is the 3rd largest city in the state. June 12: American Airlines Flight 96 made an emergency landing after an improperly closed cargo door was blown off at 12,500 feet shortly after the DC-10 took off from Detroit on a flight to Buffalo. Captain Bryce McCormick struggled with failing flight controls but still successfully landed the jet with 67 passengers on board. In a similar incident 2 years later on Turkish Airlines Flight 981, all 340 souls will be lost when the cargo door falls off. June 12: Let's have some lighter news! Well, a successful landing is good news. ANYWAY. I was expecting... who was it, Justin Kindberg? to win the AL PotW after he gave up 1 run in 16 innings last week but he also went I think 0-1 in that time. Instead the award went to 23 year old rookie Omar Jiminez (2-0, 0.60) of the Brewers, who gave up 1 run in 15 innings himself, striking out 14 in the process. Jiminez had 2 late-season starts (after a combined 25-2 record in the minors - wow!) last year so it's still just 4 total and as you can imagine this was his first ever Player of the Week. June 12: In amidst all the turmoil in Cincinnati, Jaden Weaver (.269, 13, 40) is starting to come around as a hitter and he picked up his first Player of the Week this season. Weaver went 9-21 (.429) with 4 HRs, 5 runs, and 6 RBIs. He also struck out just once; for such a big power guy, Weaver's got some surprising bat control. This is Weaver's 4th PotW and first since April 12th of last year. June 13: Captain Nikolay Grigoryevich Petrov, a GRU secret agent stationed in Indonesia, defected to the US by surrendering to the American naval attache in Jakarta. Petrov had stolen $900 (I would assume the equivalent in rubles but still) from his supervisor and panicked. He provided a lot of intel to the US and later, against the advice of the CIA, returned to the USSR in the late 70s and was never heard from again. June 13: Red Sox SP Mike Pesco (9-3, 2.68) came into today's game vs. the Royals with a shot at being the first 10-game winner in baseball and he was even cruising fairly well through 6, allowing just 2 runs in a 2-2 tie at the time. Then Kansas City's young and up and coming lineup got to him to the tune of 5 runs (he was charged with 4 of them) as the Royals wound up cruising to an 8-2 victory. Reclamation project Andy Lagunas (3-2, 1.86) allowed 2 unearned runs in 7 innings for the Royals and RJ Dominguez (.260, 10, 37) belted a bases-clearing double in the 7th to put an exclamation point on the inning. June 13: Meanwhile in Texas, Chad "Dog" Daugherty (8-2, 2.08) threw a 7-hitter to beat the Brewers 4-0 and put him 1 victory behind Pesco in the race. Daugherty wasn't at 100%, having just thrown 141 pitches in a 1-0 win against the Yankees on the 8th, but he was good enough. "I just try to take what I can," said Daugherty after the game, describing his pitching style. "Some call it nibbling, I call it taking off small pieces at a time." Daugharty is a 2-time All-Star but, in spite of going 33-22 over the last 2 seasons, hasn't reached the Midsummer Classic since 1969. That may change this season, although he hasn't appeared in the top 5 in voting for starters yet. June 13: This might not be the year for the Chicago Cubs (30-19, 2nd NL East, 2 GB) but it's not for the lack of trying. They'd been bridesmaids in '69 and '70 before falling to 77-85 last year and so far it's looking like they've got that old... second place mojo back (sorry fake players!). Tonight they pulled one out against the Pads in exciting fashion. Stopper Jesse Kelly (4-0, 2.02, 6 Sv), coming off of a tortured campaign with the Yankees last year (8-7, 4.90 ERA, 12 Sv), blew his 3rd save in the 9th by allowing a solo HR to RF Ray Herring (.270, 3, 8) but stayed in for another 2 innings, allowing no further damage, and eventually got the vultured victory when CF Sammy Hagar (.316, 0, 2) made his 2nd RBI of the year the game-winner in the bottom of the 11th when he drove home Greg Darrow (.217, 1, 14), who himself had pinch-walked for tonight's starting C John Kohut (.233, 0, 4) at the top of the inning. Robbie Vaughn (1-2, 4.82) took the L for San Diego, who falls to 23-29 on the year. "I feel like my future life might be defined as being in the shadow of another person," said Hagar following the game. "I'm just happy that here I can be my own man." June 13: Dodgers SP Rogelio Salinas (5-4, 4.52) has had extreme issues with homeruns this year (16 allowed so far in 73.1 IP) and today... it came to bite him in a whole new way. Salinas threw a one-hitter, walked one man, and faced just one guy over the minimum... and OK, I made it sound like he lost the game, which he didn't. But that 1 hit was indeed a HR to Casey Satterfield (.250, 10, 27) and it meant that he was merely able to rack up a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. "Hey, I don't like the dongs anymore than anyone else," said Salinas following the game. "If anyone's got an idea on how to avoid them, I'm all ears." The Dodgers are expecting a deluge of mail. June 14: DDT, a widely used and well-known pesticide, was banned in the US by order of EPA director William D. Ruckelshaus, with all use to cease by the end of 1972. The wrestling move, controversially, remained free to use. June 14: Japan Airlines Flight 471 crashed while attempting to land at New Delhi, killing 82 of the 87 souls on board (one crew member and 4 passengers survived) and an additional 4 on the ground. The cause of the incident remains disputed, with Japanese investigators pointing to a possible false flight path signal and their Indian counterparts blaming pilot error, specifically the captain ignoring instrument indications and not having sight of the runway (the first officer was flying the approach to New Delhi). June 14: Pirates 3B Roberto Prieto (.068, 0, 1) announced his retirement today. Prieto, a 3-time All-Star and 2-time World Series champion (1960 and 1966), had been a mainstay in the Bucs lineup since they acquired him from Cincinnati in 1965. The 39 year old Prieto, who has 1,290 hits and 154 homeruns in his career, won't be a Hall of Famer but will for sure be a member of the Pirates' Hall of Fame. June 15: Dougal Robertson, his wife, 3 children, and a family friend were sailing on their yacht "Lucette" when the boat was attacked and capsized by... orcas. Yes, orcas. Killer whales. The six of them spent 38 days adrift in the Pacific Oceaen, first on an inflatable life raft and then a dinghy. Robertson wrote about the experience in a book called "Survive the Savage Sea", which, come on man, there are better titles to come up with. "Black and White and DEAD All Over", maybe, or "Blackfish". June 15: Ulrike Meinhof, the second half of the Baader-Meinhof gang (you'll recall the Baader half was arrested earlier) was arrested in a teacher's apartment in Langenhagen, West Germany along with her partner in crime, Gerhard Muller. June 15: Cathay Pacfic Flight 7002 crashes shortly after takeoff from Bangkok bound to Hong Kong, killing all 81 people on board. The crash was traced to the explosion of a bomb on the plane 22 minutes after the Convair CV-880 had taken off. A former police lieutenant in Thailand who had purchased $270,000 worth of flight insurance on his girlfriend and daughter before the departure, would be indicted for premeditated murder but the charges were eventually dismissed. This man sued the insurance companies and eventually received about $180k of the payout. It was reported that "airline staff and relatives [had considered] hiring a hitman to kill him". June 15: Real life baseballer Andy Pettitte was born today in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. June 15: Pirates hurler Jeremy Battaglia (5-6. 2.18) has had some horrifically bad run support behind him this year - 1.9 runs scored per start so far - and tonight it was looking like yet another all-effort, no-results night for him as he battled Giants starter Mike Stuckey (4-8, 2.96) to a scoreless tie through 8 1/2 innings. Then the seas just baaaarely parted enough - RF Brian Jackson (.278, 3, 14) socked his 4th triple of the season to lead off the bottom of the 9th and then cleanup man LF Justin Lawson (.266, 8, 27) drove him in to win it. "The game was getting long," said Lawson following it, "and I just wanted to get it over with." The win puts the Pirates at 33-18, the best record in baseball and 2 games up on the Cubs in the NL East. In the nightcap, by the way, Pirates' starter DJ Cheeves (9-2, 1.95) was the second man to try for 10 wins and like the first, he wasn't up to the task, allowing a season-high 5 runs in 6.1 innings in a 6-0 loss to San Francisco. I guess to be fair to him, he had to be better than perfect since Josh Matthews (7-4, 2.21) threw an 8-hit shutout to pick up the W. Pittsbugh does have issues scoring runs... June 16: The FCC issued its "Open Skies" decision, clearing the way for private companies to operate their own ground systems for use of orbiting communications satellites, so long as they obtained FCC approval and complied with FCC rules, which included offering their transmissions to a wide range of customers. The decision opened the door for the first cable networks (um, sounds like satellite networks but what do I know? I guess the first cable companies got their programming delivered to them via satellite) to offer their own programming to paying customers. June 16: A rockfall inside of a mile long railway tunnel near Soissons, France led to the collision and derailment of two passenger trains, killing 107 people. At 8:50PM six carloads of passengers were travelling from Paris to Laon and, after entering the tunnel, ran into a pile of rock and concrete. Minutes later, as survivors lay in the wreckage, a second train came into the tunnel from the opposite direction with its own three carloads of passengers and collided with the rubble and the first train. An additional 90 people were injured but survived. June 16: Brewers 2B James Hong (.167, 0, 2) has been making me rue calling him up and displacing Dwayne Fraser (.252, 3, 15) so quickly - prior to today he'd been in a 2-31 slump since the call-up. Well, today he started to make me a believer with 4 hits in 5 at-bats, an RBI, and a steal in an easy 7-0 win over the Royals at County Stadium. June 16: Braves SP George House (7-4, 4.12) has been having a rough time of it this year but today he pitched a real beauty, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 10 in a 1-0 shutout of the lowly Montreal Expos. In fact, this game was in doubt right up to the bottom of the 9th, when "Cranklin" Martinez (.286, 3, 8), in to pinch-hit for House, hit a bases-loaded single to send the Atlanta fans home happy. I'm not sure if 10 Ks is a career high for him or not; I know that of the several games he's got in his career highlights, he's never hit 10. On the other hand, he does average 6.8 K/9 this year and 6.6 on his career so he's got to have hit double digits before, right? In the nightcap - why is it that when I find something good to write about in the first game of a double-header, there's always something worth noting in game 2??? - The Hammer, RF Henry Riggs (.269, 6, 19) finally broke out of his homerun drought with a solo shot in the 4th inning off of Expos starter DJ Fletcher (5-6, 3.68). The Braves went on to win and sweep today's games with a score of 7-4. Riggs last dialed 8 (for long distance!) over a month ago, on May 14. Scouts insist that the 36 year old just had a bad run but we're worried - is this the end for the all-time HR leader? Riggs is sitting at 529 of them right now. I guess he did literally just win the MVP last year so maybe it's not time to worry yet. June 16: Speaking of troubled starters doing well, the Reds' Joe Hagan (4-6, 4.26), a 20-game winner in 1970 before falling to 9-17, 3.86 last season, threw a 3-hit shutout and didn't even need to face the Expos to do it. His victim was the New York Mets lineup. Hagan picked up his 1st shutout and 3rd complete game of the season in the 7-0 victory. RF Jaden Weaver (.265, 14, 42) hit a homerun and collected 2 RBIs for his team, who also just Tom Bertan (2-3, 5.10) yesterday after the fellow former 20 game winner (also in 1970) couldn't turn it around after suffering through one of the worst dropoffs in major league history (he went 2-10, 7.51 last season and spent the last couple months on the DL with a "he can't pitch so I'm not going to keep him on the roster" injury). June 16: Man, another shutout today! (there was a 17-2 game in there too) This time Vince "The Eligible" Bachler (5-3, 2.67) outdueled the Astros' Tony Rivera (9-4, 2.20) to a 1-0 win for his Phillies, who themselves get back to .500 at 27-27 with the win. It was, like that Braves-Expos game, also knotted up going into the 9th but this time the visiting Phillies scratched out the winning run on a single by leadoff hitter and RF Bobby Corley (.228, 2, 6). The loss denied Rivera his 10th victory, making him the 3rd straight pitcher to whiff on the attempt at double digit wins. June 17: At around 2:30 in the morning, five men were arrested at the Democratic National Committee headquarters on the sixth floor of the Watergate Office Building in Washington, DC but city police. Three police officers, one in uniform and two in plainclothes, arrived after being called by security guard / HERO Frank Wills (no relation to the Seattle Mariners reliever to my knowledge). You can guess what this kicks off. I'll give you a hint: it's in the name of the building. June 17: Nine firefighters were killed in a fire at the Hotel Vendome in Boston. This was the worst firefighting tragedy in Boston history. The Vendome was a luxury hotel that was built in 1871 so was more than 100 years old at the time of the fire. The building was having renovations being performed on it and as such was largely empty this afternoon. The fire had begun at approximately 2:35PM and an alarm was called at 2:44PM. A total of sixteen engine companies, five ladder companies, two aerial towers, and a heavy rescue company responded. Althoug the fire was largely under control by 4:30PM, at 5:28PM, without warning, all five floors of a 40x45 foot section at the souteast corner of the building collapsed, burying Ladder 15 and 17 fighters beneath a two-story pile of debris. Following the fire the Vendome was successfully renovated and still stands to this day. June 17: As the city mourned the sudden loss of those nine men, Michael Pesco (10-3, 2.46) was successful in his second try to become the major league's first 10-game winner, as he outlasted Chris Messina (4-6, 2.69) and the White Sox to win 2-0. It was a "walk between raindrops" kind of day for Pesco, who allowed 10 hits and allowed the bases to be loaded on 3 hits in the 9th before shutting things down by striking out Brian Maccioli (.277, 6, 24) and Josh Wade (.271, 0, 5) to end the game. "I guess it's a shutout but I didn't pitch well," said a weirdly dejected Pesco after the game. "I have my own standards I hold myself to and I didn't reach them." The win also puts the Red Sox up to 26-23 and 6-3 since their all-hands meeting a couple weeks ago. June 17: Don't look now but the Yankees are on a STREAK! The team, which is still flirting with record-setting badness (15-38, last AL East), swept today's double-header against the equally punchless Texas Rangers (now 25-30), 6-4 and 3-2 in 12 innings. That second game... man, it was a Rangers/Yankees game if ever I've seen one: the score was tied at 2-2 by the 5th and then neither team could generate any offense at all until PH Nick Hodzic (.167, 1, 1), who I'm almost certainly about to demote back to AAA, hit his first HR and got his first RBI with a solo shot in the bottom of the 12th. "We've just got to start grinding," middle reliever Ed Lagos (2-1, 2.08), who picked up the win tonight with 2 innings of shutout ball, said after the game. "Don't look at the record. Just grind." June 17: Phillies SP Marius Gaddi (5-7, 5.17) seems like he's turning into the true Denny McClain of this league, having really fallen off hard since his record-setting 27 win season in 1970. Well, today at least he turned things around as he threw a 3-hit shutout against the NL West leading Houston Astros, winning 6-0, striking out 4, and walking just one. Walks have been an issue for him so far - 3.8/9 which is well up from 2.8 last year and 2.1 in his big 1970 - so this was especially nice to see. Still like to see this guy start striking out guys again but hey, a shutout is a shutout. June 18: In the worst air disaster in Britain to date (and well as the worst air accident - as in, not caused by a terrorist incident - in Britain to this day), all 118 people aboard British European Airways Flight 548 were killed when the Trident jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport. Although there's no evidence of sabotage, there was apparently an extremely heated argument between the pilot and co-pilot before this crash, which may have contributed to a poor cockpit atmosphere; however, it seems that the ultimate cause was a fairly well documented issue with the model of the plane itself that had led to several crashes previously. June 18: Airline pilots launched a worldwide 24 hour strike to protest hijacking (the above argument was in reference to the pilot demanding that they still fly, apparently), but only three US carriers were grounded and one of those resumed flights at midmorning. June 18: I wish these had the brief little statline I use but here's the latest All-Star voting standings: Below are the current standings for the American League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jun. 18th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is R.J. Domínguez with 394,567 votes. CATCHER 1. Josh Lewis, Oakland Athletics: 262,424 2. Frank Abagnale, Baltimore Orioles: 236,222 3. Khalil Tabb, New York Yankees: 192,099 FIRST BASE 1. Ernesto Garcia, Cleveland Indians: 390,412 2. Mike Miller, Boston Red Sox: 309,931 3. Alice Cooper, Chicago White Sox: 301,981 SECOND BASE 1. Joey Ramone, Detroit Tigers: 280,168 2. Daniel Gilmet, Minnesota Twins: 252,221 3. Israel Gaytan, Oakland Athletics: 235,755 THIRD BASE 1. Tom Weiss, New York Yankees: 370,287 2. Mike Brookes, Minnesota Twins: 309,764 3. Marco Perez, Baltimore Orioles: 296,787 SHORTSTOP 1. Justin Ramey, Minnesota Twins: 269,531 2. Richard Simmons, California Angels: 225,173 3. Michael Luna, Texas Rangers: 205,248 LEFT FIELD 1. R.J. Domínguez, Kansas City Royals: 394,567 2. Lou Morgenstern, California Angels: 238,389 3. Bruce Springsteen, Boston Red Sox: 213,896 CENTER FIELD 1. Alvin Romero, Detroit Tigers: 384,495 2. Dave Corona, Kansas City Royals: 355,565 3. Carlos Hernandez, California Angels: 185,934 RIGHT FIELD 1. Tom Brown, Boston Red Sox: 300,110 2. Chris Tyree, California Angels: 286,228 3. Tony Danza, Kansas City Royals: 260,673 STARTING PITCHER 1. Justin Kindberg, Boston Red Sox: 185,172 2. Jimmy Goddard, Detroit Tigers: 177,610 3. Marco Sanchez, Boston Red Sox: 175,585 4. Michael Pesco, Boston Red Sox: 169,244 5. Jose Martinez, Cleveland Indians: 163,314 RELIEVER 1. Montay Luiso, Baltimore Orioles: 228,619 2. Sandy Hinojosa, Boston Red Sox: 225,880 3. Malcolm Post, Chicago White Sox: 215,416 4. Phil Bowman, Baltimore Orioles: 188,643 5. Travis Livingston, Minnesota Twins: 181,834 Over his career Domínguez has batted .264 and collected 264 hits, 50 home runs and 163 RBIs. Below are the current standings for the National League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jun. 18th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Kevin Dwyer with 374,851 votes. CATCHER 1. Jason Bushon, New York Mets: 338,537 2. John Stuart, St. Louis Cardinals: 305,407 3. Armando Flores, Atlanta Braves: 234,207 FIRST BASE 1. Justin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers: 372,079 2. Antonio Lopez, Chicago Cubs: 365,908 3. Lorenzo Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals: 340,472 SECOND BASE 1. Kevin Dwyer, Atlanta Braves: 374,851 2. Paul McCartney, San Diego Padres: 321,388 3. Pedro Ortiz, Cincinnati Reds: 270,579 THIRD BASE 1. Mike Galeana, St. Louis Cardinals: 248,551 2. Vicente Luna, Atlanta Braves: 232,316 3. Pete Little, Houston Astros: 226,679 SHORTSTOP 1. Tony Shannon, Philadelphia Phillies: 303,349 2. Jeremy Taylor, Chicago Cubs: 296,687 3. Akiho Fujimoto, San Francisco Giants: 248,650 LEFT FIELD 1. Rafael Disla, St. Louis Cardinals: 288,292 2. Alonzo Huanosta, Cincinnati Reds: 266,968 3. Justin Lawson, Pittsburgh Pirates: 260,973 CENTER FIELD 1. Alex Vallejo, Chicago Cubs: 354,203 2. George Foreman, Houston Astros: 299,776 3. Bryant Tarala, Philadelphia Phillies: 272,650 RIGHT FIELD 1. Jaden Weaver, Cincinnati Reds: 369,939 2. Henry Riggs, Atlanta Braves: 295,717 3. Casey Satterfield, St. Louis Cardinals: 271,254 STARTING PITCHER 1. Tony Rivera, Houston Astros: 136,205 2. George House, Atlanta Braves: 125,027 3. Santos Arango, Pittsburgh Pirates: 122,085 4. Steve Waiters, Cincinnati Reds: 117,108 5. Ben Feldhusen, San Diego Padres: 102,222 RELIEVER 1. John Winn, Atlanta Braves: 175,170 2. Geoff Saus, New York Mets: 142,499 3. Pete Lynn, Cincinnati Reds: 136,223 4. Charlie Bechtel, San Francisco Giants: 121,074 5. Paz Lemus, Pittsburgh Pirates: 107,719 Dwyer's career batting average is .315. In 1592 games, he has gotten 1933 hits, 204 home runs, 826 RBIs and scored 900 runs. June 18: In amidst a Detroit rally that led to a grand slam by Niki Lauda (.271, 4, 13) and an 8-4 win for the Tigers, the Angels had disaster occur as RF and #3 hitter Chris Tyree (.294, 2, 24) came up lame fielding a single and throwing the ball into the infield. He was immediately removed, examined by trainers, and diagnosed with a rotator cuff strain in his throwing arm. He's been immediately placed on the DL. Let's hope prospects Jaco Pastorius (.260, 1, 7) and Minzengo Pinda (.375, 0, 0) can take up the slack while he's out, because it's looking like he might be gone for the next month. The Angels, with the loss, fall half a game behind the Twins in the AL West. June 18: SS/RF Jeremy Taylor (.240, 13, 37) reminded everyone why he's 2nd in the league in All-Star voting at short - and maybe should be first - today as he belted a 3-run homerun in the bottom of the 9th off of Dodgers stopper Alec Cosby (2-2, 1.67, 12 Sv) to win the game for his Cubbies 5-4. The loss was Cosby's 3rd blown save but also only his 3rd meltdown all year (against 14 shutdowns - blame bullpen usage in the 70s for that blown save ratio). The Cubs remain 3 1/2 games behind the hot-as-a-hot-pocket Pittsburgh Pirates with the win as Taylor for now is in a big old tie for 2nd in NL HRs. They're also 10 games over .500 for the first time since 1970. ## Teams in Review June 13: I've been expecting the 20-loss plateau from the Houston Astros (32-20, 1st, NL West) for a while now, but they've kind of stopped losing since a 7-7 April: 27-13 since that point, including 8-3 so far in June. It's a little smoke and mirrors, as they have the 3rd worst offense in the NL (15th overall) but then again they do a. play in the Astrodome, which curbs offense, and b. are #2 in runs allowed (8th in the MLB in ERA). I guess they're just back to what they were last year! Rotation: 3 1/2 games up on the Braves, I just don't see any reason to change up a good thing. Caleb McDonald (4-7, 4.89) has had a rough time of it and wasn't that good last year either in spite of a 16-10 record (4.07 ERA and more walks than Ks) so he's definitely someone to look at, but why mess with something that's working? Bullpen: I think I will drop the 'pen down to 4 men even with a 4 man rotation. Freddy Mangual (2-0, 7.00) is the odd man out; with Adam Eastin (0-0, 1.29, 2 Sv) due back in less than a week from his DL stint with a sore elbow, I'll probably have to make a further decision soon. It's just... as-is, guys aren't really being used enough. Alex Ochoa (0-1, 4.38) is probably in line to get sent down but he's also got 12 Ks in 12.1 innings so far (see? Not enough usage) so maybe things do change. Infield: C Dan Rigdon (.199, 1, 8) has been awful but he's also one year removed from his first All-Star appearance. He was a pretty decent hitter last year... and he's thrown out 51.5% of base-stealers, so it's not really time to give Nate Williams (.211, 0, 2) significant time just yet. I guess I will put him in the regular rotation vs RHPs but that's mainly becauase he's a switch-hitter and Rigdon is a righty and that's a way to ensure that Rigdon continues to play 100% of the time against lefties. 1B/OF Justin Jensen (.211, 2, 17) meanwhile has been a complete disappointment at first base. That was a duuuumb trade, let's face it. He did hit 42 HRs in 1970 but he missed all of last year and, whatever you might think of now-Reds RF Jaden Weaver's (.266, 13, 40) attitude, there were no asterisks attached to his production. That said, what to do here? I've been using Nate Ringstad (.315, 3, 11) as a first baseman vs LHPs a bunch with Jensen in right but, with all due respect to Nate, he's been a great pinch-hitter but not a regular position player the past several years, and he's 36 himself. What I will do is just... end that, allow Jensen to get his stroke back against lefties while playing first, and let Bobby Beaulieu (.130, 2, 9) more opportunities to hit. I'm not a fan of 2B Jordan Green (.241, 3, 20) on defense but I guess this is the bed Houston's made, and his backup Jon Sherron (.167, 0, 3) looks like he'd be a disaster if I put him in there. 3B Pete Little (.283, 2, 18) is a guy I want to call slumping but by RC/27 he's actually outproducing last year even taking the lower offensive environment into account. That's what upping your batting average by 53 points will do I guess. I'd still love to see the HRs return (Little ha 16 last year) but it's not enough to complain about. SS Masanori Hattori (.242, 4, 8) is, like Green, awful defensively but he should have a bat that can carry him. At least, it's carried the team to the best record in the NL West so far, and I'm not going to replace him with 34 year old Elijah Patton (.235, 1, 4). What I will do is call up 33 year old Alejandro Chairez (.293, 3, 26 in AAA OKC), who was baaad last year bit hit about as well as he's hitting in the minors this year in the major leagues in 1970, and let him be Hattori's caddy. We definitely need something better here in the long term. Outfield: As noted, Bobby Beaulieu is going to get more time out there. He's been sooo bad I know but he was very solid, even above average for a corner outfielder last season (.266, 8, 44 in 83 games with a .361 OBP). Let's just hope he learns how to adapt his swing to the Astrodome; so far this year he's been cutting and missing way too often (33 Ks in 100 at-bats). June 14: Like the Astros above, the Detroit Tigers (29-20, 2nd AL East, 1 GB) are doing pretty well, all things considered. Yes, the O's are somehow doing even better but the Tigers were supposed to do well this year and they pretty much are. If anything, in spite of the adversity the hitting has faced so far, it's still leading the way - they lead the league in runs scored (7th overall) and are 3rd in ERA (4th overall). The advanced stats seem to indicate that maybe the offense has gotten a little lucky with the sequencing but we don't care about them advanced stats! Rotation: Yeah, not touching things here. The top 3 guys are pretty great and even #4 man Chris McGranahan (4-2, 3.05) has been well above average so far. Bullpen: I think we need to follow everyone else here and drop down to a 4 man bullpen and an 8 man staff overall. I'm going to send down Alex Ruiz (0-0, 4.09) instead of long man Juan Merino (2-0, 1.69) on the basis that Merino has also been useful as a spot starter; any time the Tigers have to play a double-header, he's been rolling in there like a man who deserves a starter's job. And maybe he does... dude was 12-12 last year and has struck out 16 batters in 21.1 IP to date. For now, he'll just pitch some of the longer innings out of the bullpen. Infield: I feel like I *should* be moving Gianluigi Farinelli (.167, 3, 11) out of the starting catcher slot but a. he's been a good hitter the past 2 seasons, and b. backup Trey Forgey (.250, 0, 4) has been very bad at stopping the run with only 14.3% of stealers being thrown out. I think if anything I'm going to just take the pressure off of Farinelli, name him the once-more full time starter, and if I make a decision here again, it'll be in like August. Tim Suman (.233, 1, 7) has been a big disappointment filling in for Danny Villegas (.302, 6, 22) at first while the veteran recovers from a fractured hand. It suuucks because not only do we need to count on Villegas not being able to play a whole season, next season will see the DH in this league and that means that either Suman or young race car driver Niki Lauda (.321, 3, 9) will be playing the bulk of first (assuming we drop Villegas - who is a very solid defender at 2nd let alone 1st - to DH to try to keep him in the lineup). The numbers tell me it's time to drop to a straight platoon; I'd previously been using them both around 50/50. I've got 1969 2nd round pick Joe Theismann (.342, 3, 9 at AAA Toledo) up to take some time away from Jose Ayala (.218, 6, 17) at 3B. "The Joker", as the fans call him, is still getting his power in but not only is the average not showing up this year but the 2-time Gold Glove (granted, at first base) is looking like a defensive minus at the position now. Theismann on the other hand is a potential Gold Glover himself, except actually at third, with a quarterback's cannon for an arm and a great pair of legs about which you hope nothing will ever happen to. Calling up Theismann also led me to make yet another decision in the infield, this time pushing incumbent Matt Mullen (.200, 1, 10) to the bench in favor of 25 year old Rob Curran (.292, 3, 7), acquired from Washington in the David Salinas trade and reportedly unhappy because he believes he ought to be starting. Well, now he'll get that chance. He's not the defensive wizard that Mullen is but he's not at all bad at the position and of course he profiles as a plus on offense and therefore far better than Mullen, a man who at his best hit for an empty .268 in 1970 which he hasn't come close to since. Outfield: I already made the biggest move out here in sending Guillermo Thompson (.185, 0, 5 combined) to Texas in exchange for minor league pitcher Richard Pulido (2-0, 3.18 combined in AAA). Still, though, as much as I think and hope he'll get on track, corner OFer Adam Dittmar (.149, 2, 19) has been completely unable to hit so far this year and the man has to hit the bench. Chris Contreras (.261, 3, 11) will take his place, with one of those guys in the infield maybe moving up into left once Villegas and 2B Joey Ramone (.299, 1, 12) return from the DL. June 16: And hey, all the good teams coming in at once! Here I've got the Baltimore Orioles (30-20, 1st AL East), who I do not for a second think will keep this up but hey, let's ride it while it lasts. They're 2nd in the AL in ERA (5th overall) and 7th in runs scored (17th overall) so it's your general story of good pitching making up for only OK hitting. As a whole, though, the peripherals for the hitting is not as bad as the runs scored suggests other than a general lack of power (28 HRs, t-8th in the AL and t-19th in MLB)... okay, and a general lack of speed (22 SB, t-9th). We're kind of stuck in a spot where I think a lot of the players really aren't super great but this is not at all the time to start switching guys who are producing out. Rotation: The O's only recently moved out of a strict 5 man rotation and it shows in the very even distribution between the top 2 and bottom 2 guys - 11 starts vs 10 starts. That'll change a bit but in truth we've got ourselves a pretty deep rotation. The weakest link so far - and it's hardly even a weak link - is William Hart (5-3, 3.30), who's just a touch worse than average by ERA. He was also 13-7 with this team last year and is a pretty solid pitch-to-contact guy overall. No changes to be made, outside of that switch to the 4-man rotation that already happened. Bullpen: The biggest "move" here is that Phil Bowman (2-0, 0.50) has been used two times since mid-May because of a lingering strained back. He's looking like he might be returning from that fully next week. In retrospect, we probably could have dropped him on the DL. Otherwise, I feel like the ace Montay Luiso (3-1, 1.40, 9 Sv) needs to be used even more and I'd flush someone else from the bullpen but the only guys with options left are Bowman and Luiso, who are also the two best throwers out of the 'pen. Infield: C Frank Abagnale (.319, 3, 20) has been pretty much everything the Orioles could ask for out of a young catcher. OK, almost everything; he's only throwing out 25% of basestealers, but his backup David Delgado (.342, 0, 8) is just not a good defensive backstop, period, which is why Abagnale got the bigger opportunity in the first place. The team's old catcher, 1B Jon Hernandez (.215, 4, 21) continues to inhabit that sphere in between hitting like a catcher and like a proper corner infielder. He doesn't really hit for enough power and his upside seems like a .260 average but he does draw walks and that is something Baltimore adores in a hitter. I've been using him in a platoon situation with OF/humanitarian Sergio Viera de Mello (.270, 1, 14) and that's... OK I guess. Love to find a bit more pop here. 3B Marco Perez (.244, 5, 19) is another guy who looks like he's very meh but is better than you'd think thanks to a goodly amount of walks. He's a 6-time All-Star and 4-time Gold Glover and I'm not doing anything with him except hoping he stays healthy so he can continue to stay in the lineup every day. The lucky days may have run out for SS Jon "Lucky Number" Blevins (.243, 2, 12). He's hitting about like he always has, although man, that .283 OBP is very un-Orioles like. The issue though is that in the past he's been the 2nd best shortstop in the AL and that just doesn't look like it's the case any longer. As such, 23 year old singer/SS Charles Bradley (.343, 0, 2) has been playing more and more in there. I'm not letting Bradley take over just yet but the way I run this team, I tend to pop guys in and out if we're facing a pitcher they have a record against, and Blevins... has a bad record against a lot of guys, let's just leave it at that. Outfield: Matt Nugent (.228, 6, 18) in CF is exactly a guy I feel I can't just pull from the lineup with the team doing this well. I more or less expected him to be Bryant Tarala lite when I traded Tarala to the Phillies. He's been... maybe a bit too lite. He share's Tarala's speed and propensity to strike out but he doesn't have Tarala's range or ability to get on base with walks (relatively speaking; he did walk 67 times last year and this season, in spite of the low average, his .303 OBP is about league average). There is a guy waiting for that job in Frank Beard (.286, 0, 0), who I felt I had no choice but to call up after he went .378/11/32 in the AAA Rochester Red Wings' first 46 games. He's also a far better fielder than the "Nuge". OK, we were platooning but I'm just going to turn most of the reins over to Beard. Nugent will still play a bit and hey, if someone in the corners gets hurt or sucks, he can take over there. June 16: In second place in the NL East, the Chicago Cubs (31-20, 1 1/2 GB) are having a pretty good comeback year. Is it all that? They're top 3 in the NL in runs (and overall) but only 7th in runs allowed (and 12th overall), which I guess is pretty good for the Cubbies at Wrigley. I'm not sure it's a thing they can count on going forward but hey, they are where they are. I have IDEAS. Well, one idea. Rotation: The problem with the Cubs running a 4 man rotation is that their top guys just aren't that good. Scott Coffey (5-4, 3.83) is kind of their ace, I guess? He's got only 55 Ks vs 42 walks but he's the #1 guy on the basis of he didn't implode last year a la Bill Lucas (4-5, 3.40). I'm calling up 26 year old rookie Alex Guizar (6-2, 2.51 at AAA) to be that guy. Gordon Summer (6-3, 2.71), who insists on being called "Sting", which sounds too much like a wrestler nickname to us, is also there should someone else in the rotation go down or get bad. Bullpen: I'm kind of surprised that Jesse Kelly (4-0, 1.77, 6 Sv) has held up as well as he has; he was baaad with the Yankees last year (8-7, 4.90, 12 Sv). It's good, too, because last year's closer, now LOOGY/middle reliever Freddy Uscanga (1-2, 4.19, 2 Sv) has continued to struggle. Why is it so hard to find pitchers for this team (I know the answer: it's "homeruns")? Infield: OK HERE IS MY BIG IDEA: moving Jeremy Taylor (.242, 12, 34) off of shortstop against LHPs. This is a team that has the best pure fielder of this generation in John Timonen (.000, 0, 0) but he's barely played and I don't want to remove Taylor from the lineup overall. Instead, I'm going to shoot Taylor out into right field, which is probably where he'll go in the longterm anyway, with 35 year old Jason Workman (.253, 6, 21), who seems like he's gone from a .310ish hitter to a low-average slugger the last couple years, turning into a platooner. Outfield: I'm not saying I'm happy with CF Sammy Hagar (.250, 1, 3) but Alex Vallejo (.353, 2, 10) should be back in around 3 weeks and he's good enough for now. The only Van Hagar song I can think of is the one about driving 55 and that's not super applicable here. June 17: The Minnesota Twins (29-20, 2nd AL West, 1/2 GB) were going along pretty well, all things considered, but all the injuries caught up to them this month to the tune of a 6-8 record so far. Mike Brookes (.227, 3, 11) is still out and let's just also say that the former MVP is not being very MVPish so far. As a whole, this team is performing like a roughly league average team but the home/road splits (15-5 vs 14-15) indicate that maybe they'll improve as they play more games at the Met... or that the .750 record is unsustainable. Rotation: We're still working with the 4 man rotation although Angelo Ramos (6-5, 4.58) doesn't look like he's going to be the ace of the staff anymore. He's 36 and in spite of 199 Ks last year he was off so this is not unexpected. Chris Benavides (7-6, 3.63) isn't exactly lighting things up either but I guess at this point a middle-of-the-road innings eater is the best they've got. Bullpen: Travis Livingston (1-2, 0.74, 11 Sv) has been just plain awesome so far and the game plan going forward is going to be to lean on him haaaaaard. We still have a 5ish man bullen; 5ish because Mike Larsen (7-2, 2.05) has been nursing a finger blister recently and so Victor Ruiz (0-0, 10.80) is at least theoretically in the rotation right now (he's also perilously close to losing his job here altogether). Setup man Ricky Rosas (2-2, 4.02) has also been lit up a bit but maybe there the issue is just that he hasn't played enough; he also has 14 Ks in 15.1 IP. Infield: I'm worried about Mike Brookes (.227, 3, 11) as much for the lack of power (those HRs are in 119 ABs) as much as anything but there's not a lot I can actually do about this. Danny Pellot (.241, 1, 8) has filled in for him, which is... fine but Pellot is pretty much exactly what a replacement-level infielder is supposed to be. Brookes, even at 33, should still have the bat (and the eye) to be the best 3rd baseman in the AL. Outfield: I just noticed that Mike Grigg (.245, 2, 6) was "platooning" in the outfield by starting vs RHP. Oops! He's a righty himself and he's not a bad hitter but at age 38 he's got nooo range left so he's best suited as a pinch-hitter. Kyle Ship (.320, 0, 2) is a switch-hitter and clearly the guy I wanted to have in there. In center Jose Villasenor (.158, 2, 6) is off to a horrible start but I'm not going to pull the plug at all - dude's 26, he hit .306 and made the All-Star just last year, and while the Twinkies do have a couple of interesting CF prospects they aren't really ready yet, and plus I'm not going to pull the trigger on a move like that until/unless Minnesota falls out of contention, which feels unlikely.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
09-05-2023, 10:11 AM
|
#210 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
June 19 - 25, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 36 23 .610 - 245 178 Baltimore Orioles 33 26 .559 3 209 187 Boston Red Sox 30 27 .526 5 207 171 Milwaukee Brewers 30 28 .517 5½ 204 217 Cleveland Indians 28 29 .491 7 216 203 New York Yankees 17 40 .298 18 157 208 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 37 26 .587 - 221 196 Minnesota Twins 34 24 .586 ½ 220 205 Oakland Athletics 32 28 .533 3½ 224 242 Chicago White Sox 28 32 .467 7½ 197 217 Texas Rangers 28 33 .459 8 174 191 Kansas City Royals 21 38 .356 14 199 258 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 38 22 .633 - 203 144 Chicago Cubs 35 25 .583 3 231 225 St. Louis Cardinals 35 26 .574 3½ 258 209 Philadelphia Phillies 31 29 .517 7 245 238 New York Mets 25 37 .403 14 212 263 Montreal Expos 23 38 .377 15½ 179 230 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 39 25 .609 - 206 198 Atlanta Braves 33 28 .541 4½ 229 217 Los Angeles Dodgers 33 30 .524 5½ 215 228 San Francisco Giants 30 39 .435 11½ 225 217 San Diego Padres 26 36 .419 12 226 249 Cincinnati Reds 25 38 .397 13½ 233 244 The NL races, well, it's also too early to say stuff is done but the Astros are the most complete team in the West and that's something that both the Braves - who lack good frontline pitching - and the Dodgers - who were supposed to be in a rebuilding year - have to deal with. The Pirates are pretty flawed offensively but the defense is just so, so good that it might not matter, especiallyy given that the 2nd place Cubs have the exact opposite issues. The Cards aren't super far out either and I feel like a big part of why they're underperforing is weirdly poor performance from decent players. The AL batting race continues pretty much as it has all season: Royals OF Tony Danza (.340, 0, 14) is just holding off Detroit speedster Alvin Romero (.332, 1, 21) and Twins 2B Daniel Gilmet (.320, 4, 19). Ernesto Garcia (.278, 19, 53) leads the other two Triple Crown categories but there's one new guy in this mix in HRs at least - Chicago 1B/OF Alice Cooper (.245, 15, 41) is there as always but look at this! He's now tied with 36 year old Twins 1b Angelo Martinez (.235, 15, 40). Royals' slugger RJ Dominguez (.251, 12, 42) is still 2nd in ribbies thanks in part to Danza table-setting for him but a 2 HR month so far has dropped him to 4th in the league in that category. In steals, Romero has jumped way up on the 2nd place guy, White Sox CF Arnold Schwarzennegger (.211, 0, 10) with 22 steals to 17, with Red Sox'... cleanup hitter? RF Tom Brown (.293, 5, 28) on here and trying to will his team back into contention. A couple of top guys got a bit lit up this week pitching wise so the top of the ERA board looks a little different. Rangers ace Chad Daugharty (10-2, 1.76) suddenly looks like a good Cy Young candidate if I'm being honest. His career high is 17 wins and now he only needs 8 in the last 3 months more to break that. A's man Batty Barnard (7-4, 1.91) is right behind him, with Orioles' 23 year old Santos Rodriguez (6-4, 1.92) giving up 5 runs in 6 innings this week to fall to 3rd. Michael Pesco (11-3, 2.38) is just off the ERA pace but he's the wins man, followed by Daugharty and two Tigers - Jimmy Goddard (9-4, 2.06) and Edgar Molina (9-4, 2.26) with 9 Ws apiece. Justin Kindberg (6-7, 2.71) got absolutely ABUSED today by the idiot manager there with 14.1 IP and over 200 pitches thrown today but hey, he's got 113 Ks to lead the league now until his arm blows out. Molina is right in back of him with 108 and now Pesco has 104 to tie him up with wild man for the A's Roberto Ortiz (5-3, 3.67), who also has 71 walks in 108 innings this year. Speaking of Athletics, the A's Willis Chavez (2-1, 2.36, 15 Sv) still leads the AL in saves, followed by Minnesota's Travis Livingston (1-2, 0.59, 12 Sv) and Detroit's Jim Marceau (1-3, 3.27, 11 Sv). Man, that NL batting "race" looks dire... Mets OF Barry Cooper (.304, 1, 18) leads with an average just barely over .300, followed closely by the Reds' Alonzo Huanosta (.303, 0, 23) and Cubs 1B Antonio Lopez (.300, 12, 29), who's starting to heat up a bit. Right now the HR race is tied at the top between Cubs SS Jeremy Taylor (.238, 15, 39) and the Reds' Jaden Weaver (.261, 15, 44), with Dante Chairez (.252, 14, 33) belting a couple of dingers to be right behind them. Weaver's also the RBI man so far - nice work given Cincinnati's issues this year - with Dodgers 1B Justin Stone (.251, 12, 41) and Taylor right behind him. And yeah, to nobody's surprise, Reds 2B Pedro Ortiz (.275, 1, 11) has 20 steals, which is almost double the next guys - the Cubs' Sean Gabel (.287, 1, 19) and injured Braves OF Chris Ward (.280, 2, 7) with 11 apiece. Maybe Ward will catch up once he's back - he's out for another week. Dodgers LHP Fernando Apolonio (9-4, 1.31) carried a 5.40 ERA this week but he's still well on pace to best Jeff Borden's 1.62 single-season record. There's one other guy in the NL with a sub-2 ERA: the Astros' Tony Rivera (11-4, 1.98). Santos Arango (8-7, 2.10) is 3rd with an ERA ever so slightly lower than his Pirates' teammates. Rivera's pitching in front of that lineup combines for a league-leading 11 Ws with 4 guys - teammate Ernie Alvarez (9-2, 2.48), Apolonio, the Braves' Felix Carranza (9-5, 2.89), and the Pirates' DJ Cheeves (9-3, 2.14) all deadlocked with 9 wins apiece. The Cards' Roger Quintana (6-5, 2.54) didn't play this week - St. Louis had some rainouts and only played 5 games including a doubleheader today - and so remains at 100 Ks, which is still a chunk better than the NL's own wild man Ernesto Carrillo (3-8, 4.33) of the Mets and Santos Arango with 83. In the saves race, Alec Cosby (3-2, 2.56, 13 Sv) has had a horrible month (2-2, 5.68) that includes a 7.71 ERA this week and an 18(!) ERA last, still has lucky number 13 to lead the next 3 guys - Houston's Jon Douglas (2-1, 1.20, 11 Sv), the Bucs' Paz Lemus (4-1, 0.45, 11 Sv), and the Cardinals' Billy Munoz (2-5, 3.57, 11 Sv). ## Major Transactions June 19: The Reds released Josh Mullett (1-4, 6.79). I don't normally list releases but here was a guy who was 12-7, 1.90 back in 1968 - a performance that earned him an All-Star berth - and ever since then I've been in awe and wonder how he could do what he does - which is to say, walk a lot of guys, not strike out all that many, and still somehow win 15 games a year - ever since. He went 46-34 for the Astros between 1970 and 1972 before he was traded to Cincinnati in the Jaden Weaver trade. Welp... the chickens, they finally came home to roost. Mullett fell out of the rotation with a 1-4, 5.10 record in 6 starts, then gave up 15 earned runs in 9.1 relief innings and that was just plain too much. June 20: The Padres traded SS Andy Johnston (.182, 1, 2) to the Cardinals for minor league SS Joe Wicker (.244, 4, 16 at AAA Tulsa) and minor league P Carlos Garcia (0-1, 4.97 at AAA Tulsa). The Pads are in semi-desperate need of a guy who can actually play the position at shortstop, as the pitching staff is getting sick and tired of the daily butchery Armando Troncoso (.318, 0, 3) provides. This is otherwise kind of a "here, take our scrubs and we'll give you our scrubs back" move. Wicker did spend some time as a backup middle infielder for the Cardinals last year and although he's not going to get any better at age 27 he can be at least an average-field, no hit guy. Garcia... doesn't look like much. June 20: The Brewers traded OF Antonio Arredondo (.136, 0, 1) to the A's for OF Steve Winwood (.150, 1, 2). Even though Arredondo hasn't hit much in the small amount he's played, he's 29 and is a known quantity whereas Winwood, a 13th round pick in 1970, is at best an unknown and at worst a AAAA player. The Brewers, hot month or no, are in a better position to test Winwood (and a worse position to just use Arredondo as the 5th outfielder that he is) than the A's. Arredondo is also a known trouble-maker but again, a team that is at least sort of in the running for a division can quiet that down, maybe... ## News June 19: The Supreme Court of the US, days after elements of the Committee to Re-Elect the President were caught breaking in to the DNC headquarters at the Watergate office complex, rule 8-0 in United States v US District Court that the American government did not have the ability to spy, without a warrant, on private citizens within the United States. June 19: I guess this was SCOTUS "hand down the judgment" day because they also upheld baseball's antitrust exemption in Flood v. Kuhn. I can't even remember who I made the "Curt Flood" in this game but I guess it's a moot point since this version decided to play through. June 19: A couple of bad injuries came out today. First, for the Braves SP Julio Sandoval (8-4, 2.99), the most effective starter on the roster this year, is going to miss the next 3 weeks with elbow inflammation. Jake Cari (0-2, 2.02 in an earlier stint) has been recalled to take his place. Worse for the Pirates, not to mention the league because this could be all she wrote, is their longtime 1B Albilio Valdivia (.245, 1, 6) is going to miss the rest of the year with a fractured knee. If this is it - and Valdivia is, after all, 40 - he'll finish his career with 1,802 hits, a .321 average, 165 HRs and 775 RBIs. He's only a 4-time All-Star so that plus the lack of counting stats (sorry, 1960s) probably keeps him out of the Hall but of course he'll be in the Pirates' Hall. June 19: Does the game just give out booby prizes sometimes? I don't think so but I'm finding it hard to explain the AL PotW award to Yankees CF Micah MacMillan (.189, 2, 15), who maybe started to turn around an awful year this week by hitting 8-20 with a HR, 5 RBIs, and 5 runs scored. Like, I know the stars are kind of all slumping but really? This should keep the former 1967 first round pick in a starting job for a bit longer, at least. This is the 27 year old's first ever Player of the Week too, and for a 5-year starter his grey ink is reeeeally sparse (he's only ever finished in the top 10 in 3 categories, all in 1969). June 19: In the NL the league chose to hand the award to towering pitcher / NBA superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5-6, 2.88), who won both of his starts and gave up just 1 run over 16.1 innings (a 0.55 ERA) with 6 Ks and 10 hits allowed. This is the first time the master of the skyhook has won this award, too, so that's neat (and to be fair, this is after all KAJ's rookie year). June 20: From 11:30am to 1:00pm, on their first day back at the White House after the Watergate break-in, President Nixon and Chief of Staff Haldeman meet at the Oval Office. The conversation was taped because Nixon was Nixon but this is the conversation that had 18 1/2 minutes mysteriously erased from it when it was subpoena'ed. June 20: The Tallahatchie Bridge, memorialized in Billy Gentry's 1967 song "Ode to Billie Joe", collapsed after being burned in a fire that was later attributed to vandalism. The bridge, which has since been rebuilt, was also referenced in civil rights protest music as Emmett Till was beaten to death and dumped into the Tallahatchie River. June 20: SPEAKING of no no no that's just not right... Tigers SP Chris McGranahan (4-2, 2.98) was pulled out of last night's game with an elbow strain and will miss the next 6 weeks as a result. McGranahan, 34, was kind of iffy as a long reliever and spot starter for the Tigers last year after they acquired him from Milwaukee in June but was off to a nice start this year. The lanky righty uses his long arms to get leverage but doesn't get the strikeouts or for that matter the groundouts you'd expect from a guy his size. Still... he was doing pretty good and now the Tigers will have to make do without him. 25 year old Juan Merino (2-0, 1.65), who was the team's 4th starter last year and who's game screamed "4th starter" (12-12, 3.86), will take over. June 20: Cardinals C John Stuart (.288, 6, 22), who's been out since June 9 with a concussion, now has no timeline for a return. Previously, trainers thought he'd be on schedule to return some time this week but the 4-time All Star is complaining of headaches. The Cards will put him on the DL and for now continue to work with 24 year old Australian Jonathan Hyde (.190, 0, 0) behind the plate. June 21: The world record for highest altitude in a helicopter - 40, 815 feet - was set by Jean Boulet in an Aerospatiale SA-315 Lama. This sounds incredibly dangerous to me, as you kind of have that big old issue with stalling that high in thin air due to the way helicopters work and also helicopters are notoriously hard to pull out of stalls. I am not a pilot though. June 21: In what might turn into one of those season-altering games, the Brewers, 13-5 to date on the month, got absolutely pasted by the White Sox 14-3 in their home park. Starter Victor Marin (3-7, 4.85) got chased in the 2nd and the bullpen just kept setting their own fires. 3B Brian Maccioli (.286, 6, 26) went 4-5 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs and finally had a game where he looked like a legit #3 man for them this year. CF Ian Everett (.224, 2, 14) was the clear hitter of the game with a 3-6, 3-run, 4-RBI output that included the Chisox' lone homerun of the game, a 3-run blast that was the final nail in the coffin for Marin. Obe Olthof (5-6, 4.06) pitched 8 strong innings for the White Sox, then kind of fell apart in the 9th but of course by that time the game was out of reach. June 22: MCI (Microwave Communications, Inc.) which would eventually fight AT&T's monopoly on US telephone service and emerge victorious in the 80s, went public, offering 40% of its shares for sale at ten dollars per share. The offering sold out immediately and pegged MCI's valuation at $120M. June 22: The 1 millionth Ford Thunderbird was produced, rolling off an assembly line in Los Angeles (which, side note, TIL that LA once had an auto manufacturing industry). The car was first produced in 1955. June 23: US President Richard Nixon and his Chief of Staff HR Haldeman had three conversations where the President directed that the FBI be told to stop further investigation of the Watergate burglary. All Oval Office conversations were recorded by a voice-activated system and when the transcript of this particular tape was released 2 years later, it led to Nixon's resignation within the week. June 23: The Omnibus Education Bill, providing for the first time diret federal aid to public and private colleges and universities, was signed into law by President Nixon. Of particular long-lasting importance is Title IX of the new law, which advised that "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance". This led directly to the huge growth in women's college sports, as schools had to provide athletic programs for women as well as for men if they wanted to receive federal funding for those programs. As federal school funding expanded, so too did opportunities for girls at the primary and secondary school levels. June 23: Hurricane Agnes was downgraded to a tropical storm after reaching Florida on June 19. Combined with existing storm systems in the northeastern US it still produced record-breaking rainfalls and floods. Ultimately, 118 people died and 370,000 were left homeless (also there are a loooot of rainouts right now and this explains why). Five states - New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida - were declared disaster areas. June 23: Zinedine Zidane, the French footballer best known for headbutting a dude and then flopping in the World Cup, was born today. June 23: Red Sox C Jeremy Dolak (.220, 0, 10) has been suffering from a sore back and largely staying out of the lineup since June 17 (in fact, that was the last time he played). His condition has just been upgraded to "unknown" and so I'm gonna drop him on the 21 day DL. 25 year old Canadian Alan "Growing Pains" Thicke (.213, 10, 37) has been called up to take his place. Gotta like that power, gotta not like that .213 average... June 23: 37 year old Expos 1B Armando Munoz (.237, 3, 11) unsurprisingly wants to start and has gone so far as to demand a trade. I don't know that a trade is on its way but hey, maybe. In the meantime it looks like he's already splitting time at first with Willie Morales (.258, 7, 15), who hit 27 HRs and drove in 89 guys last year for Montreal and as also 9 years younger. It looks to me like Morales might just have to stay mad. June 24: Helen Reddy's song "I Am Woman" entered the Billboard Top 100 at 99 but will drop back out after three weeks. In September it will re-enter at 87 and then gradually climb up the charts, hiting #1 on December 9. June 24: Skyjacker Martin Joseph McNally hijacked American Airlines Flight 119 as it flew from St. Louis to Tulsa. He received just over $500k in ransom money and parachutes at St. Louis but the plane was rammed... by a car? that crashed through an airport fence (unfortunately there's no actual Wikipedia article and all I can tell is that this was a third party trying to save the day). He moved to another plane but got discombobulated I guess and when he tried to parachute out on the flight, he lost the suitcase holding the ransom money as it was swept away by the jetstream. Now without any cash, he reached the ground (via parachute I guess) and will be arrested near Detroit on the 28th. June 24: Hey! Giants CF Danny Seligman (.243, 2, 7) is back from his latest injury! It looks like he'd been suffering from a stiff back that lingered on and on. He seems to be 100% now which is pretty decent given that his backup Chae-hwi Park (.216, 7, 15) has been unable to hit for average (although he does have pretty good power - maybe he'll stay up for a bit longer). June 24: A key weekend series between the Tigers and Orioles is not starting out well for Baltimore. Is this the beginning of the end for their pennant hopes? In game 1, they just plain couldn't generate any offense against starting pitcher Jimmy Goddard (9-4, 2.06), who yielded to Nate Khoury (1-0, 3.52) and then stopper Jim Marceau (1-3, 3.38, 10 Sv) for the save in a 5-2 loss. Alvin Romero (.332, 1, 18) went 2 for 4 in that game and looks like he might be hitting again (he's still "only" batting .271 for the month). The nightcap is where it got really ugly. Up 2-1 going into the 9th, the O's had their ace Montay Luiso (3-2, 3.21, 9 Sv) on the mound and... well, Luiso just lost it. He wound up being charged with 6 runs in the inning, which more that doubled his runs allowed output all season (going into the game he had a 1.35 ERA and had allowed just 4 runs). It didn't help that Hector Giron (2-2, 3.75) allowed a 3 run HR after replacing Luiso. The pair of victories now puts Detroit 2 games up in the AL East. June 24: Rangers SP Chad Daugharty (10-2, 1.76) became the 3rd and most unlikely member of the 10 Win Club today by pitching 8.1 innings of a 2-0 shutout of the White Sox in Arlington. Daugharty, a 27 year old whose previous high in victories was 17 in 1970 (17-8, 2.44), started to fall apart a bit in the 9th and, I mean, the man has already completed 8 games in (now) 14 starts with 4 shutouts so I felt like it was fine to bring in a closer, in this case Ron Shepherd (1-2, 4.11, 3 Sv), who got the final two batters out to retire the side. Texas, in spite of their 4-9, no-runs April are now 28-32 on the season and 11-8 for the month. June 24: At 28, Astros SP Tony Rivera (11-4, 1.98) is having a career year and he just took over the MLB wins lead with a sterling 1-0 shutout of the last-place Reds. Rivera scattered 7 hits and struck out 6 for the win. This, coupled with his 3-hit, 1-run game on the 20th, could just be enough to win him the Player of the Week, an award he's never won before. June 25: A 19 member team of Croatian Revolutionary Brotherhood separatists fought a battle with the Yugoslavian Army in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Out of this group, 15 would be killed in action, another 3 will be captured and executed in July, and the lone survivor will be caught and sentenced to 20 years in prison. June 25: All-Star voting update! Below are the current standings for the American League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jun. 25th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is R.J. Domínguez with 563,080 votes. CATCHER 1. Josh Lewis, Oakland Athletics: 390,329 2. Frank Abagnale, Baltimore Orioles: 362,630 3. Andres Gamez, Texas Rangers: 287,064 FIRST BASE 1. Ernesto Garcia, Cleveland Indians: 558,491 2. Mike Miller, Boston Red Sox: 446,142 3. Alice Cooper, Chicago White Sox: 435,974 SECOND BASE 1. Joey Ramone, Detroit Tigers: 400,193 2. Daniel Gilmet, Minnesota Twins: 370,850 3. Israel Gaytan, Oakland Athletics: 345,729 THIRD BASE 1. Tom Weiss, New York Yankees: 538,979 2. Mike Brookes, Minnesota Twins: 440,320 3. Marco Perez, Baltimore Orioles: 428,828 SHORTSTOP 1. Justin Ramey, Minnesota Twins: 397,250 2. Richard Simmons, California Angels: 330,952 3. Michael Luna, Texas Rangers: 313,553 LEFT FIELD 1. R.J. Domínguez, Kansas City Royals: 563,080 2. Lou Morgenstern, California Angels: 347,207 3. Bruce Springsteen, Boston Red Sox: 323,908 CENTER FIELD 1. Alvin Romero, Detroit Tigers: 553,752 2. Dave Corona, Kansas City Royals: 514,968 3. Ross Poynor, Milwaukee Brewers: 288,534 RIGHT FIELD 1. Tom Brown, Boston Red Sox: 443,731 2. Chris Tyree, California Angels: 412,757 3. Tony Danza, Kansas City Royals: 380,598 STARTING PITCHER 1. Justin Kindberg, Boston Red Sox: 263,740 2. Marco Sanchez, Boston Red Sox: 248,697 3. Jimmy Goddard, Detroit Tigers: 245,169 4. Michael Pesco, Boston Red Sox: 236,550 5. Jose Martinez, Cleveland Indians: 230,644 RELIEVER 1. Montay Luiso, Baltimore Orioles: 313,147 2. Malcolm Post, Chicago White Sox: 292,663 3. Sandy Hinojosa, Boston Red Sox: 292,580 4. Phil Bowman, Baltimore Orioles: 254,978 5. Travis Livingston, Minnesota Twins: 249,812 In his career, Domínguez is batting .265 with a total of 50 home runs. Below are the current standings for the National League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jun. 25th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Jaden Weaver with 544,105 votes. CATCHER 1. Jason Bushon, New York Mets: 492,234 2. John Stuart, St. Louis Cardinals: 446,194 3. Armando Flores, Atlanta Braves: 338,325 FIRST BASE 1. Antonio Lopez, Chicago Cubs: 536,796 2. Justin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers: 536,204 3. Joshua Waltenbery, New York Mets: 482,149 SECOND BASE 1. Kevin Dwyer, Atlanta Braves: 539,316 2. Paul McCartney, San Diego Padres: 466,837 3. Pedro Ortiz, Cincinnati Reds: 395,579 THIRD BASE 1. Mike Galeana, St. Louis Cardinals: 359,370 2. Pete Little, Houston Astros: 350,673 3. Sean Gabel, Chicago Cubs: 346,421 SHORTSTOP 1. Tony Shannon, Philadelphia Phillies: 446,244 2. Jeremy Taylor, Chicago Cubs: 427,585 3. Akiho Fujimoto, San Francisco Giants: 368,430 LEFT FIELD 1. Rafael Disla, St. Louis Cardinals: 421,137 2. Justin Lawson, Pittsburgh Pirates: 388,914 3. Alonzo Huanosta, Cincinnati Reds: 383,832 CENTER FIELD 1. Alex Vallejo, Chicago Cubs: 504,924 2. George Foreman, Houston Astros: 435,141 3. Bryant Tarala, Philadelphia Phillies: 410,442 RIGHT FIELD 1. Jaden Weaver, Cincinnati Reds: 544,105 2. Henry Riggs, Atlanta Braves: 419,464 3. Casey Satterfield, St. Louis Cardinals: 399,097 STARTING PITCHER 1. Tony Rivera, Houston Astros: 192,219 2. George House, Atlanta Braves: 181,247 3. Santos Arango, Pittsburgh Pirates: 173,023 4. Steve Waiters, Cincinnati Reds: 167,971 5. Ben Feldhusen, San Diego Padres: 144,061 RELIEVER 1. John Winn, Atlanta Braves: 251,027 2. Geoff Saus, New York Mets: 203,492 3. Pete Lynn, Cincinnati Reds: 193,824 4. Charlie Bechtel, San Francisco Giants: 172,168 5. Paz Lemus, Pittsburgh Pirates: 152,975 His numbers show Weaver is carrying a .264 lifetime batting average with 224 home runs and 619 RBIs. June 25: Detroit gets to the Orioles's bullpen for the second straight day as they sweep the 3-game tilt in Baltimore. All tied up 6-6 going into the 9th, the Tigers this time got to O's setup man Phil Bowman (2-1, 2.42) for 3 runs and a football score 9-6 win (I mean hey, sure, it's a football score you might see in the 1970s at least). Nate Khoury (2-0, 3.31) got his 2nd win in as many days by being the pitcher of record in this one as their starter Juan Merino (2-0, 2.97) went from hero to zero, twirling a shutout through 5 and then giving up a 6 run 6th. C Gianluigi Farinelli (.187, 3, 13) went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs and struggling, about-to-get-cut OF Adam Dittmar (.162, 3, 22) delivered the 2-run double in the 9th that broke the deadlock. "I try to live as cleanly as I trim my beautiful beard," said the red-headed Dittmar. "This is where it pays off, in the clutch." ## Teams in Review June 23: Hey, it's the 24th and final team to get a look this year! The Pittsburgh Pirates (37-20, 1st NL East) have been pretty great overall so far. Sure, they aren't scoring runs at all (11th in the NL, 17th overall), but who needs offense when you've got all this pitching? No major league team has a better ERA and what's more, they're also #1 in defensive efficiency (#1 in all of baseball in this one) and zone rating and are #2 in the NL in fewest errors. Pretty good... Rotation: The highest - the HIGHEST - ERA in the rotation right now belongs to the #4 man Danny Perez (7-0, 2.28). As often happens with a team with a great defense behind it, all of the starters are kind of similarly excellent. No changes! Bullpen: Paz Lemus (3-1, 0.49, 11 Sv) is a beast and in some ways has only begun to exert his influence on this team, given how awesome the rotation has been so far. I guess if you get deeper into the 'pen, you see the only signs of weakness (like Brian Bruno (2-3, 5.06), although he's also struck out 21 guys in 26.2 innings so even he's probably just unlucky) but that's picking some bad nits. Infield: C Doug Connally (.222, 3, 17) is starting to hit the way we expected him to (.271 for the month), which is great because I didn't really want to replace him with youngster Brent Spiner (.206, 0, 3) given the team's contending status. Spiner might be the guy eventually but he's not there yet and at 22 he doesn't have to be. Now that Albilio Valdivia (.245, 1, 6) is out for the year, there's a real question as to who plays 1B vs LHP now. Jack Holman (.271, 3, 17) has always shown himself to be a platoon guy who can't hit lefties to save his life and their main backup/pinch-hitter, Ian "H3H3" Swerdlove (.329, 12, 38 in AAA Charlotte) is also a lefty. For now we're using Padres reject Eli Ware (.267, 0, 4) but this does feel like a position that needs to get rectified at some point this year. Speaking of Ware, he's also the backup for the struggling Alex Flores (.207, 2, 14). Flores will at least draw a walk (.320 OBP) but man... he hit .271 last year in about the same number of at-bats and that's kind of what we were expecting. Ware is the backup but I can't bring myself to replace him. As is the case in OOTP and in real life, there are a few meh guys sitting in AAA right now who could conceivably play the position but nobody's such an awesome standout that it warrants replacing a struggling starter with one of them. Outfield: CF Michio Kakyu (.190, 1, 16) had pushed himself into the CF conversation after a good half-season last year (.281, 5, 17 in 221 ABs) but he's been pretty meh this year and his defense is also not all that it's cracked up to be so I'm going to go back to using Justin Hearl (.226, 0, 3) a lot more. They do create a natural platoon with Hearl as the lefty so I'll run with that for now.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
09-17-2023, 04:18 PM
|
#211 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
June 26 - July 2 (Independence Day Weekend!)
## Standings / Recap / Comments277]
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 39 27 .591 - 271 213 Baltimore Orioles 37 29 .561 2 245 206 Boston Red Sox 34 30 .531 4 236 198 Milwaukee Brewers 34 32 .515 5 230 253 Cleveland Indians 33 33 .500 6 254 234 New York Yankees 20 45 .308 18½ 189 247 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 42 28 .600 - 264 226 Minnesota Twins 37 30 .552 3½ 257 249 Oakland Athletics 35 33 .515 6 262 281 Chicago White Sox 34 35 .493 7½ 244 264 Texas Rangers 32 36 .471 9 190 214 Kansas City Royals 24 43 .358 16½ 220 277 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cubs 41 27 .603 - 267 252 Pittsburgh Pirates 40 27 .597 ½ 223 175 Philadelphia Phillies 38 31 .551 3½ 283 258 St. Louis Cardinals 37 33 .529 5 286 254 Montreal Expos 28 41 .406 13½ 213 261 New York Mets 27 42 .391 14½ 237 290 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 42 29 .592 - 231 227 Los Angeles Dodgers 39 31 .557 2½ 244 246 Atlanta Braves 37 32 .536 4 256 246 San Diego Padres 31 39 .443 10½ 266 274 San Francisco Giants 32 44 .421 12½ 239 246 Cincinnati Reds 27 43 .386 14½ 266 282 So, Tony Danza (.335, 0, 14) didn't quite hit up to his normal levels this past week ("only" a .286 BA, although he did get on base 40% of the time) as a knee contusion threatens to slow him down. He's still the leading hitter in the AL, ahead of Twins 2B Daniel Gilment (.324, 4, 22) and Detroit's speed demon Alvin Romero (.316, 1, 24). You know who the HR leader is - Ernesto Garcia (.281, 22, 60) - he even clocked 3 more HRs in 9 games this week - and he's now well ahead of the clearcut "place" and "show" players, White Sox 1B/OF Alice Cooper (.246, 17, 43) and 36 year old Twins 1B Angelo Martinez (.239, 16, 41). The RBI race is also pretty well set the way it was last week, with Garcia well ahead of KC's RJ Dominguez (.239, 12, 47), who's also now a distant 4th in HRs, and Cooper (Martinez is 4th). With 23 steals but injuries also slowing him down a little, Alvin Romero's inviting a challenger to the AL SB crown, White Sox CF Arnold Schwarzennegger (.209, 0, 11) - imagine how many more steals he'd have if he hit even .250 - and Tony Danza, who's got 16 just by being on base so much. With the Pitcher of the Month award in hand, Chad "Dog" Daugharty (11-2, 1.81) takes the lead in both ERA and wins now, edging out Baltimore's Santos Rodriguez (7-5, 1.87), who did have a 1.59 ERA over 17 innings to make up for a bad start the week before. Indians ace Jose Martinez (9-5, 2.11), who is relatively unknown but not a rookie since he threw 124.2 innings last year, is the 3rd place guy, just inches ahead of Detroit's Jimmy Goddard (9-5, 2.19). When I said Daugharty "took the lead" in wins, I half-lied, as he's tied there with Michael Pesco (11-3, 2.60). 3 other guys have 9 wins, which means that those two are also the only double-digit winners so far (New York's Gene Lueders (2-11, 4.08) does have double digit losses). Justin Kindberg (7-7, 2.60) has a 12-K lead in the strikeout race now with 124 to Edgar Molina (DET)'s 112 (9-5, 2.40), a mark also held by the aforementioned Michael Pesco, he of the high-80s fastball and devastating curve. Willis Chavez (2-1, 2.06, 16 Sv) is doing everything he can to rescue the A's, and while it hasn't quite been enough (look up at the standings!), he's leading the league and is on pace to break the all-time record with 38 of them. Minnesota's Travis Livingston (1-2, 0.84, 13 Sv) is next and the surprising Brewers have their own closer Matt Brock (3-3, 1.79, 12 Sv and a World Series ring from 1971) tied with Detroit's Jim Marceau (2-3, 3.72, 12 Sv) for 3rd. SAVING THE BEST FOR SECOND - well, not really - the NL as a whole has seen the AL catch up to it in scoring and they just plain do not have the top hitters in this league the way the junior circuit does. Their new batting leader, passing the Mets' Barry Cooper (who went just 7-28 for a careening Mets team to fall percentage points out of "show"), is the Reds' RF Alonzo Huanosta (.309, 0, 31). You may recognize 'Zo from all his years up there on the AL leaderboards with Cleveland. He slumped to .261 last year and that was enough for the Tribe to ship him away. Oops! #2 is Chicago's 26 year old phenom at first base Antonio Lopez (.302, 15, 33), who's starting to look like a Triple Crown threat, and then, iiinches ahead of Cooper (.298, 2, 21) is the Reds' Pedro Ortiz (.298, 1, 12). Cincy has a real starts-and-scrubs lineup this year, as also evidenced by the 3-way tie for 1st in HRs between Jaden Weaver (.249, 16, 47), the Cubs' SS Jeremy Taylor (.247, 16, 44), who I guess I need to start calling a SS/RF since he's mostly playing in the outfield against lefties, and San Diego crooner / beltist Paul McCartney (.265, 16, 47). Justin Stone (.251, 15, 49) is tied for 4th in HRs with Lopez and he actually leads the leagues in RBIs. followed by Paul and Weaver. Pedro Ortiz actually has 22 steals now so could surpass Romero for the overall lead; he's trailed by the Cubs' 3B Sean Gabel (.281, 1, 19) with 13 and a whole passel of guys with 11. Oh yeah that's right... here though the true story is Dodgers' star Fernando Apolonio (10-4, 1.21), who's now about 10 miles ahead of everyone for the ERA lead and who also is well ahead of the all-time record. Behind him, if this even counts, are Houston's Tony Rivera (12-5, 1.95), the only other qualifier in the NL with a sub-2 ERA, and Pittsburgh's DJ Cheeves (10-3, 2.14), who's given up a pedestrian 8 runs in 23.2 innings over the past 2 weeks - I mean, still incredible but when you're trying to catch a guy who's barely giving up a run a game... Rivera is MLB's first 12-game winner and is 2 ahead of the other double-digit men in the AL, Apolonio and Cheeves. Roger Quintana (7-6, 2.57) remains the only NLer with more than 100 Ks for another week with 113, almost 20 more than the next guy Ernesto "Wild Thing" Carrillo (4-8, 4.08), who has 94, and Vincent "The Eligible" Bachler (7-4 2.90) with 93. Alec Cosby (4-3, 2.68, 14 Sv) has just 2 saves in the last 2 weeks and is carrying an ERA of 4.50 during that time, allowing Paz Lemus (4-1, 0.81, 13 Sv) and Jon Douglas (3-2, 1.29, 12 Sv) back into the saves race, appropriate because both of those guys have been unstoppable in 1972. ## Major Transactions June 28: The A's purchased IF Kellen Owen (.071, 0, 3) from the Cubs for $7,500. The A's could use some more infield depth and so they're acquiring their former starter. PRETTY SIMPLE June 29: The Braves traded SS Jon Reid (.204, 1, 12) to the A's for P Roberto Ortiz (5-3, 3.67). The A's just don't think Donald Fagen (.237, 0, 7) is entirely ready to go so they're acquiring Reid, who looks like he's starting to bounce back from a rough start to get back to that .267/6/63 level he was at last year. They're giving up Ortiz, who has a world of talent but has had huge, huge issues with his stuff this year. Atlanta in turn could use all the pitching they can get. July 2: A 3-team trade where we don't really know what one team did at all... the Yankees sent minor leaguer "Pedro Garibo" (10-3, 4.38 at AAA Syracuse; name subject to change since he's 23 and might make the major leagues before he's 25) to the Expos, and the Expos sent minor league OF Alan Kurokawa (.286, 6, 17) to the Mets. The Yankees are... just left out I guess. I'm not sure how quickly "Garibo" will see action, although you've got to like the won/lost record (the AI does not - it's sent him all the way down to AA Quebec). Kurokawa gets some youth back in the Mets' minor league outfield system now that John W Henry is in the major leagues. ## News June 26: Boxer Roberto Duran defeated WBA lightweight champion Ken Buchanan in a fight at New York's Madison Square Garden. This began a 17 year reign in boxing at the levels of lightweight (72-79), welterweight (80), junior middleweight (83) and middleweight (89), June 26: The McDonnell Douglas F-15 fighter jet was introduced at their factory in St. Louis. June 26: A 19 year old woman in Pennsylvania became the last American to be sentenced to death prior to the US Supreme Court's ruling that the death penalty was unconstitutional. The defendant ahd pleaded guilty the week prior in the January 5th murder of 2 police officers; however, in spite of this plea, she did not enter a plea bargain and was still sentenced to death. Four days later the US Supreme Court will enter their decision in Furman v Georgia which will render this sentence invalid and on June 29 (justice moves fast sometimes, I guess) she'll be sentenced to two consecutive life terms. June 26: What is this, Replay Town? Micah MacMillan (.217, 5, 21) of the Yankees just won his second consecutive and also second ever AL Player of the Week award, hitting .444 (8-18) with 3 HRs and 6 RBIs. "Hey, I don't know what's going on anymore than anyone else does," said MacMillan late Sunday night. "Now I'm going to go get hammered because the moon is out." June 26: The NL PotW was *not* a repeat at least. Houston's Tony Rivera (11-4, 1.98) went 2-0 with just 1 run allowed in 18 innings, striking out 14 batters during that period. This is Rivera's first-ever PotW, given that pitchers don't win it all that much. He's also finished in the top 3 in the Cy Young voting each of the last 2 years, so there's that! He's also leading the league in most Renaissance era facial hair. June 26: The Angels and Twins open up an important early-week 3-game series at the Met (in Minneapolis) today. California played the role of the evil visitor today, tattooing spot starter Pete Eason (0-1, 6.75) for 11 runs (9 earned) in 3.1 innings before he was finally knocked out and hanging on to win 12-7. 2B Mauricio Mendez (.258, 6, 20) went 3 for 5 with 3 runs and a 2-run HR in the top of the 1st inning for the Halos, who also benefitted from having all starters save one - RF Jared Ferrell (.218, 5, 16), who walked in the 2nd and then had to be removed after a home plate collision. The win puts California at 38-26 and a game and a half up on the 34-25 Twinkies. June 27: Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney incorporated Atari, Inc. in California to mass produce video games. Their first choice, "Syzygy", was already in use by a candlemaker in Mendocino (and also sounds like a character Gary Gygax would have played) and so they used a term from the Japanese game "Go" which is roughly analagous to the term "check" in chess. June 27: In "huh, that happened way earlier than I expected" news, William Reagan Johnson beccame the firsdt openly gay minister of a major American denomination when the United Church of Christ ordained him. June 27: The new World Hockey Association, founded to rival the existing NHL, scored a huge coup in signing superstar Bobby Hull to a contract that makes him, at this moment in time, to highest-paid athlete in North America. Hull, a longtime member of the Chicago Blackhawks, will jump to the Winnipeg Jets (who, yes, will eventually join the NHL when the WHA folds). June 27: Cleveland's Ernesto Garcia (.274, 20, 55) blasted his 20th homerun on the season, producing all the runs the Indians got and needed in a 2-1 win over Boston. Garcia, their first baseman, is not quite on pace to match his 65 HR output from last season but he's doing preeeetty well if you ask me, especially given the moribund state of offenses leaguewide (the AL league ERA is just 3.18 and Garcia's total is just 4 less than the entire Rangers' team so far). June 27: Game 2 of the big Angels-Twins series also ended with a big, high-scoring Angels win, 10-5. The Twins played a double-header that included a 17 inning battle vs the Royals on Sunday and man it shows. Today Rich Whetzel (4-5, 3.79) left in the 6th with the bases loaded and no outs. The Angels had every chance at a nobletiger but reliever Victor Ruiz (0-0, 6.87) kindly allowed them out of it by giving up a GRAND SALAMI to SS Richard Simmons (.226, 6, 25). "I just dealt them a real meal," said Simmons following the game. Cal has now clinched the series and will go for a sweep tomorrow. June 27: Pads left-hander "Bronco" Ben Feldhusen (1-8, 3.71) fiiinally turned in his first win in 14 starts, throwing a 3-hit shutout in a 6-0 victory over the Astros. Feldhusen's been managed so far this year but he threw 143 pitches because look, it's the 1970s and also, pitch count or no he'd given up just the 1 hit through 7. "Yee ha," said Feldhusen after the game. "This is why you don't mess with Texas." 2B Paul McCartney (.262, 15, 41) also homered in the game, putting him into a 3-way tie in the NL race. June 28: Give that man a starting job! 28 year old Philip Trapasso (3-0, 2.79), who'd been the A's lefty specialist so far this year, was given a shot at starting and he gave up just 3 hits over 8.1 innings, striking out 11 in a 7-0 Athletics victory over the White Sox. He'd gotten up to 123 pitches and had allowed runners to get on base so I felt the need to pull him even with the shutout running; however, Ben Lamar (2-0, 3.08) got the final two outs to secure the team "Chicago" (it's an old timey term, look it up). I'm just going to immediately make Trapasso the #4 starter in place of 35 year old Chris Wilson (2-4, 4.02), who has more walks than strikeouts this year YUCK. June 28: The Twins' pitching finally showed up in game 3 of the series... well, sort of. Mike Larsen (8-4, 2.30) had a quality start blown when Walt Gurganus (2-0, 3.38) gave up the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. That also wound up being the winning run, as relievers Joe Scott (1-0, 0.00) and Tanzan Kihara (4-2, 1.23, 6 Sv) didn't give up a run in 3 innings to preserve the 4-3 win. Also credit SS Richard Simmons (.232, 6, 28) with a big bases-clearing double that turned a Larsen shutout into a 3-3 tie in the top of the 7th. The sweep puts the Angels 3.5 games up on the Twins with a record of 40-26 to Minnesota's 34-27. It ain't over, not in June, but that's a blow. June 28: I guess it's safe to say that 2B James Hong (.259, 1, 10) is here to stay. Today the "19" year old belted his first career major-league HR - he had 12 in 198 AAA at-bats in AAA this year but had been stymied thus far - and it was the difference maker in a 5-4 win against the Cleveland Indians. Hong, who started out his MLB career in a really bad slump, hit .308 last week and so far is 4-11 with 2 extra-base hits and 4 RBIs in 3 games this week. June 29: The landmark Supreme Court case Furman v George is passed down, which renders the death penalty unconstitutional, at least temporarily, in a 5-4 vote. The tie-breaking vote came from Heisman Award winner Byron "Whizzer" White, a conservative who surprised court observers by agreeing that the laws violate guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment. All 629 prisoners on death row currently will be spared the death penalty, including the man at the heart of this case, William Henry Furman, who will be paroled in 1984. The states will re-work their laws to conform to the ruling and by 1977 they will start instituting the penalty again. Incidentally, Furman is still alive, although it looks like he wasn't able to stay out of trouble after his parole. In 2004 he was convicted of burglary and paroled in April of 2016. Now he's in his 80s and presumably past the age of breaking into peoples' houses. June 29: That whole attempt by the Padres to install a better fielder at SS, Joe Wicker (.167, 0, 3), has lasted all of 4 games, as Wicker is heading to the DL with torn ankle ligaments. He's expected to be out until August. This pretty much leaves Ben Dowler (.231, 1, 9) to play all the innings at the position, with Armando Troncoso (.329, 0, 3) sent down to try and maybe learn 2nd so the Pads can... try out Paul McCartney at short. I do not like this but Padres gotta Padres. June 29: In Milwaukee, the loss of one international player gives rise to another. RF Jun Kim (.279, 6, 24) left the game today with a strained back and trainers could immediately tell this would keep him out for 3 weeks. With only 4 OFers left on the roster, I took the opportunity to call up future Kazakh Prime Minister Nurlan Balgimbaev (.297, 5, 14) - in the future, there is no Soviet Union, who knew? - who's been doing some good work in AAA so far. He's a 7th round pick and kind of straddles the line between not quite having the power to play in the corners and not quite having the speed to play in center but hey, he could be a good backup. June 30: In perhaps the SINGLE LARGEST NEWS ITEM OF THIS SAVE, the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado stopped the clock at 23:59:59 GMT, creating the very first observed leap second. June 30: Forward Pass officially wins the 1968 Kentucky Derby. Yes, you read that right. Dancer's Image had initially won the race but was then disqualified for drug abuse (so sad when horses abuse drugs) by Churchill Downs. The owner, although I'd like to think it was the horse himself, appealed the decision, which was upheld by the state racing commission, reversed by a circuit court in 1970, and just today restored by the Court of Appeals. The Derby purse of $122,600 was released to the owners - and, I'd like to think, the horse himself. June 30: In the second straight weekend series between these two teams, the Tigers continue their absolute dominance of the Orioles with a 4-3 win in Detroit. Juan Merino (3-0, 2.45) pitched 7 solid innings - not great but hey, it's a quality start - and then gave the ball over to the bullpen and setup man Todd Thiesen (3-6, 3.86, 2 Sv) to preserve the victory. "Ja, ve really sock it to zem," said 1B Niki Lauda (.266, 5, 15), who went 3 for 3 and cracked a solo HR in this game. The Tigers are now 9-1 vs. the Orioles, which pretty much spells the 4-game difference between these two teams in the AL East (Detroit's 39-25 vs Baltimore's 35-29). June 30: Another big weekend series between division rivals opened up in absolutely wild fashion, with the Braves winning 7-5 over the Astros in 12 innings. Down 5-2 in the top of the 9th, Braves 3B Vicente Luna (.254, 10, 33) belted a ball deep into the right-center gap in the Astrodome. Two runners were on base and they both scored... and then Luna came around to finish the job with an inside the park home run! "They don't call me Havoc because I don't wreak havoc," said Luna after the game. The win puts Atlanta (37-30) 2 games behind Houston (40-29) with 3 more games to go in this series, which concludes on Monday, July 3rd. June 30: In a 9-0 loss to the Reds, the Giants did have one piece of I guess good news: 1B Justin Richens (.244, 3, 13) went 1 for 4 today and in doing earned his 2,500th hit of his career. "It's a real milestone," said the 10-time All-Star after the game was over. "I'm not saying I've got 3,000 in me but I'm not saying I don't either." Richens does not have 3,000 hits in him. July 1: John Mitchell, who had earlier resigned as the Attorney General to head the Committee to Re-Elect the President, quits, ostensibly to reconcile with his wife Martha. We all know what the real reason is, though... July 1: Gloria Steinhem publishes the first issue of Ms. Magazine with Wonder Woman on the cover and the title "Wonder Woman for President. Steinhem, who felt that images of Wonder Woman in the 60s had objectified her, used the cover to encourage WW editor Dick Giordano to reinstate her truth lasso, bracelets, and origin story. July 1: The first official UK Gay Pride Rally was held in London. July 1 was chosen as the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall Riots in New York City during the period from June 28 to July 3, 1969. The rally attracted approximately 2,000 participants. July 1: After losing his job and then winning it back, Indians 2B TJ Pritchett (.266, 6, 19) learned today that he'll be out until the very end of the season with a torn thumb ligament. The timeline is such that he might just barely be back in time for the final couple games of the regular season. I guess technically he could make the playoffs too in the highly, highly unlikely event that Cleveland wins the division. With Marcos Escobedo (.147, 1, 4 at AAA Portland) also out for the next month and a half with a dislocated shoulder, it looks like the 2B job is Luis Oropeza's (.214, 5, 12) for the forseeable future. July 1: It's time for some awaaaaaards! First up, the Rookies of the month... in the NL, Jose Torres (6-4, 2.74) has been a real rock for the Cubs and in June he just put it all together, more or less, going 4-2 with a 2.62 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched. He also held opponents to just a .223 average, which is only a little above average this year but it looks nice. He's only given up 76 hits in 101 innings to date for a .209 average so I guess if anything he was slightly off his game in that regard. Still, Rookie of the Month! In the AL, the award goes to another pitcher, the Brewers' Omar Jiminez (4-0, 1.89), who did all the major-league pitching he did last month, so yeah, he earns the award with a 4-0, 1.89 record. That includes 28 Ks in 38 innings over 5 starts and a .157 opponents' batting average. Now *that* is not sustainable but we'll be looking forward to some fine pitching by the 23 year old. On to the top pitchers... the senior circuit Pitcher of the Month award goes to the Astros' Ernie Alvarez (9-2, 2.75), who kind of lowkey turned into Houston's ace in June with a 5-0, 2.05 record. He struck out 28 men in 57 innings. I guess the walk rate - 20 - was a bit high but hey, we're not complaining. This is Alvarez' 2nd Pitcher of the Month; he also won it for April 1967, a campaign where he wound up finishing 15-11, 2.73 for the Pirates. On the AL side of the ledger the PotM was Texas' (I almost typed in Washington's!) Chad "Dog" Daugharty (11-2, 1.81), who went from pretty good to potential Cy Young candidate with a 5-0, 0.96 month. Wow! He pitched 46.2 innings over 6 starts, allowing only 36 hits (a .223 average) in spite of a kind of pedestrian 18/22 BB/K ratio. Daugharty is also a 2-time Pitcher of the Month man now, having won it (along with the Rookie of the Month award) in June of 1968. He went 14-10, 2.17 that year, a personal best for ERA... before this season, at least. Finally, the Batters of the month. In the NL, in retrospect there could be no other: Chicago's Antonio "Walrus Gunboat" Lopez (.310, 15, 33) really raised his game to MVP contention levels with a month where he hit .318 - okay, good but let's not go crazy here - 8 HRs and 15 RBIs. He also walked 15 times to pick up an OBP of .400 and a SLG of .591. Trust me, these are good numbers for 1972! Lopez is only 26 so the fact that he's "only" made 3 All-Star Games isn't so strange (the fact that he missed the 1971 Summer Classic is weird though). This is actually his 3rd Player of the Month, having also won for May 1969 and September 1970. In the AL, you can prooooobably guess who the Batter of the Month was. Hint: dingers. That's right, Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.278, 22, 58) came way off of the high BA he carried in April but even a .220 average can get you BotM when you combine it with 9 HRs and... 27(!) RBIs in 28 games. He walked enough - 17 times - that he actually had an above-average .325 OBP in June, too. This is maybe not who I would personally give this award too but at the same time, it's hard to ignore that clutch ability for an Indians ballclub that righted the ship from a 9-14 May to finish 17-11 in June. Garcia has won this coveted award *5* times now, making it the most common award on his mantlepiece: he's made 4 All-Star trips and somehow has only been Player of the Week 4 times. July 1: O's SP Santos Rodriguez (7-5, 1.87), who might have had a case for June Pitcher of the Month if he'd gotten just a little more support (he went 2-4, 2.64), stymied the Tigers today with a 3-hit shutout and picked up his 7th win in a 9-0 shellacking of Detroit. 1B Jon Hernandez (.220, 5, 30) got the party started right with a 2-run HR off of Bruce Rubio (7-6, 2.79) and Baltimore never looked back after that. "I just want to keep working, be the best I can be," said the understated Rodriguez, who has already matched his personal record for complete games he set last year with 6 (it took him 25 starts to get there). This win gets Baltimore back to 3 games behind le Tigres. July 1: Royals SP Howard Rollins (1-0, 0.00) had one heck of a major league debut, shutting out the Rangers on 3 hits and adding an RBI single of his own in the bottom of the 8th in a 6-0 victory. "They call me MISTER Tibbs," said Rollins after the game. Rollins, who'd earned the call-up by striking out 112 men in 105 innings in the minor leagues, whiffed 6 Texas Rangers and allowed only 2 walks in the game. July 1: I hadn't noticed this but man, Independence Day Weekend is also Pennant Race Weekend. The Cubs and SP Javy Obregon (7-4, 3.82) won their game against the 1st place Pirates 3-0 to pull to within 1/2 a game of first place. Obregon, who's had his ups and downs in his career since defecting from Cuba in 1967, stymied the Bucs with 3 hits and 8 Ks in the win. These two teams have 2 more games left in this series - like a lot (maybe all?) of series this weekend, they're extending to Monday. July 1: In the NL West series the Astros take down the Braves 5-2 to even up the series and maintain their 2 1/2 game lead in the division. Caleb McDonald (6-10, 4.69) pitched... decently into the 8th before he ran out of gas and then Jon Douglas (3-2, 1.29, 12 Sv) came in 2 days removed from pitching 3 innings and 54 pitches to get the final 4 outs for the save. Struggling RF Bobby Beaulieu (.173, 2, 16) belted a bases-clearing triple in the 6th off of Braves starter Colin Rose (6-6, 4.10), who is a knuckleballer and who WILL BE GOOD EVEN IF I HAVE TO CHEAT DAMMIT. July 2: The musical Fiddler On The Roof closes on Broadway after a record 3,242 performances. It had first been performed on September 22, 1964. I'm pretty sure that that performance record was broken by a CERTAIN musical about singin' cats. July 2: The North Slope Borough in Alaska was created. Lying above the Arctic Circle, the borough, similar to a county, is the northernmost state subdivision in the United States. July 2: All-Star update! Below are the current standings for the American League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jul. 2nd , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Ernesto Garcia with 727,001 votes. CATCHER 1. Josh Lewis, Oakland Athletics: 516,207 2. Frank Abagnale, Baltimore Orioles: 484,789 3. Andres Gamez, Texas Rangers: 364,085 FIRST BASE 1. Ernesto Garcia, Cleveland Indians: 727,001 2. Mike Miller, Boston Red Sox: 581,077 3. Alice Cooper, Chicago White Sox: 573,309 SECOND BASE 1. Joey Ramone, Detroit Tigers: 520,349 2. Daniel Gilmet, Minnesota Twins: 486,109 3. T.J. Pritchett, Cleveland Indians: 454,719 THIRD BASE 1. Tom Weiss, New York Yankees: 687,863 2. Marco Perez, Baltimore Orioles: 561,060 3. Mike Brookes, Minnesota Twins: 555,654 SHORTSTOP 1. Justin Ramey, Minnesota Twins: 525,966 2. Richard Simmons, California Angels: 445,835 3. Michael Luna, Texas Rangers: 416,933 LEFT FIELD 1. R.J. Domínguez, Kansas City Royals: 716,999 2. Lou Morgenstern, California Angels: 457,959 3. Bruce Springsteen, Boston Red Sox: 433,245 CENTER FIELD 1. Alvin Romero, Detroit Tigers: 718,688 2. Dave Corona, Kansas City Royals: 659,586 3. Ross Poynor, Milwaukee Brewers: 377,353 RIGHT FIELD 1. Tom Brown, Boston Red Sox: 581,151 2. Chris Tyree, California Angels: 522,324 3. Tony Danza, Kansas City Royals: 500,246 STARTING PITCHER 1. Justin Kindberg, Boston Red Sox: 338,935 2. Marco Sanchez, Boston Red Sox: 322,620 3. Jimmy Goddard, Detroit Tigers: 315,571 4. Michael Pesco, Boston Red Sox: 309,650 5. Jose Martinez, Cleveland Indians: 301,115 RELIEVER 1. Montay Luiso, Baltimore Orioles: 386,099 2. Sandy Hinojosa, Boston Red Sox: 371,328 3. Malcolm Post, Chicago White Sox: 369,767 4. Travis Livingston, Minnesota Twins: 321,761 5. Phil Bowman, Baltimore Orioles: 314,742 His all-time numbers show Garcia is carrying a .246 career batting average with 240 home runs and 580 RBIs. Mike Brookes (.194, 5, 14), the reigning MVP, is looking like he's on the outside looking in for the AS Game right now. Which, he's been kind of terrible this season so I guess it's not thaaaat weird... but still. Man's got to start hitting and soon. On the flip side of that, Red Sox 1B Mike Miller (.244, 9, 30) is not hitting super well but is still managing to stay ahead of the White Sox' Alice Cooper (.249, 17, 43). I guess experience matters! And in the NL: Below are the current standings for the National League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jul. 2nd , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Kevin Dwyer with 707,282 votes. CATCHER 1. Jason Bushon, New York Mets: 638,579 2. John Stuart, St. Louis Cardinals: 577,831 3. Armando Flores, Atlanta Braves: 447,821 FIRST BASE 1. Justin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers: 703,500 2. Antonio Lopez, Chicago Cubs: 699,873 3. Lorenzo Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals: 622,607 SECOND BASE 1. Kevin Dwyer, Atlanta Braves: 707,282 2. Paul McCartney, San Diego Padres: 612,697 3. Pedro Ortiz, Cincinnati Reds: 525,641 THIRD BASE 1. Mike Galeana, St. Louis Cardinals: 472,760 2. Pete Little, Houston Astros: 468,807 3. Sean Gabel, Chicago Cubs: 454,570 SHORTSTOP 1. Tony Shannon, Philadelphia Phillies: 580,717 2. Jeremy Taylor, Chicago Cubs: 568,250 3. Akiho Fujimoto, San Francisco Giants: 482,122 LEFT FIELD 1. Rafael Disla, St. Louis Cardinals: 555,637 2. Justin Lawson, Pittsburgh Pirates: 518,875 3. Alonzo Huanosta, Cincinnati Reds: 500,742 CENTER FIELD 1. Alex Vallejo, Chicago Cubs: 639,437 2. George Foreman, Houston Astros: 563,004 3. Bryant Tarala, Philadelphia Phillies: 545,998 RIGHT FIELD 1. Jaden Weaver, Cincinnati Reds: 702,025 2. Henry Riggs, Atlanta Braves: 541,354 3. Casey Satterfield, St. Louis Cardinals: 528,277 STARTING PITCHER 1. Tony Rivera, Houston Astros: 241,187 2. George House, Atlanta Braves: 230,234 3. Santos Arango, Pittsburgh Pirates: 217,336 4. Steve Waiters, Cincinnati Reds: 217,043 5. Ben Feldhusen, San Diego Padres: 182,239 RELIEVER 1. John Winn, Atlanta Braves: 313,948 2. Geoff Saus, New York Mets: 258,690 3. Pete Lynn, Cincinnati Reds: 246,244 4. Charlie Bechtel, San Francisco Giants: 215,962 5. Paz Lemus, Pittsburgh Pirates: 199,817 In his all-time stats Dwyer is hitting .315 with 1946 hits, 206 home runs, 904 runs scored and 831 RBIs. Here I'm a little surprised that Tony Shannon (.312, 3, 14) is leading Jeremy Taylor (.251, 16, 44) but as long as they're both going to go in, I guess I'm OK with that. Also it's kind of funny that Alex Vallejo (.353, 2, 19) is cleaning up in center even though he's missed roughly half the season so far with a knee sprain and a strained back. I guess that's just the state of CF - Big George Foreman (.285, 4, 21) is fiiiiine but nothing special if I'm being honest. July 2: The Orioles take a 2 games to 1 lead in their weekend series with the AL East-leading Tigers with a 3-1 win. George Dapson (8-5, 3.26) went 7 solid innings before yielding ground to Baltimore's bullpen ace Montay Luiso (3-2, 3.09, 11 Sv), and on the hitting side of the ledger 3B Marco Perez (.257, 6, 27) cracked an 8th inning double to break a 1-1 deadlock to put the team into the position to bring Luiso in. "It's bittersweet," said Perez, who was pulled right after the play with tightness in his back. "I don't know if I'm gonna be able to play for a bit but hey, at least I tweaked my back doing something good." The win gets the O's back to 2 games behind the Tigers with 1 game left to play tomorrow. July 2: Minnesota's playing their 3rd double-header in 8 days in amidst a run of 16 games in 14 days. This schedule, man... hope the starters - one of whom is lefty specialist Walt Gurganus (2-0, 3.22) - can go long today! Incidentally, the starters were... OK but the Twins dropped both ends of this twinbill to the White Sox, 6-3, and 4-3. The Twins are now 37-30 and the Sox are within a game of .500 at 34-35. This isn't what this blurb was supposed to be about but still... Chicago hasn't really been around .500 since early in 1970. July 2: The old saw says that whoever is leading on July 4 will win the division, right? Well, the Cubs just scooched ahead of the Pirates in the NL East with a 3-1 win over their rivals to take a 1/2 game lead. Alex Guizar (2-2, 3.62) entered the game not quite being 100% but being the most in-shape starter the Cubbies have; he carried a 1-hit shutout into the 8th and left with a 2-1 lead that Jesse Kelly (6-0, 1.56, 10 Sv) saved for the W. Jeremy Battaglia (6-9, 2.26) took yet another tough loss for Pittsburgh, who is 11th in the NL in runs scored in spite of their 40-27 record. "I take what I get and unfortunately I just didn't pitch well enough today," said a dejected Battaglia after the game. The Pirates led the division by as many as 4 1/2 games on June 19 and really didn't even have that bad of a month overall - they finished last month 17-9 - but a relative swoon over the past couple weeks has brought Chicago right back into the thick of things. July 2: On the western - well, "western" - side of the senior circuit, the Astros took down the Braves 3-0 as their main man Tony Rivera (12-5, 1.95) took over the way he's done all season now. He threw a 5-hit shutout, his 5th of the season (tying his career high he set in '68) and never really allowed Atlanta a chance in this game. George House (7-6, 3.72) had one of those only-by-definition quality starts on the Braves' end, yielding 3 runs on 11 hits before getting lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 8th. Beleaguered Astros 1B Justin Jensen (.207, 3, 22) drove in the game-winners in the 3rd with a 2-RBI single. The win puts the Astros firmly in first base and even knocks the Braves to a full game behind the Dodgers (who haven't played yet). ## Teams in Review June 26: If anything, the 40 loss plateau was a long time coming for the New York Yankees (17-40, 6th AL East, 18 GB), who, thanks to a combination of OK play and rainouts, went 2-2 last week. That still put them to 7-13 on the month and in a spot where they could still break the single-season loss record. So... the pitching staff isn't even that bad so far. It's not, like, good - the starters are 10th in the AL in ERA - but they're only 16th in baseball in ERA so things could be worse. What's dragging them down is their horrible, horrible offiense, dead last in baseball in runs scored (157), average (.220), and steals (7). Rotation: We've hit the 5 man hard andd results are... meh. Herman Rodriguez (1-1, 6.27) isn't particularly young and hasn't been very good as the 5th man. I'm not really sure what there is to replace him with though: Roy Holm (0-0, 4.50) has a lot of experience but he's 36 and is barely holding down the LOOGY job in the bullpen, I'm not super enamored with the guys in AAA - Noah Cooper (1-2, 3.80) has more walks than Ks and Henning Mankell (7-6, 4.35) looks kind of iffy to me. Still... the scouts do like Mankell, who had an extended cup of coffee last year (he went 1-4 with a 3.88 ERA in 10 appearances and 72 innings) and he's posted a career-high K rate of 7 per 9 so far, so hey, maybe he's turned things around. I sent Rodriguez, 28, down as he still has an option year remaining (well, he did anyway). Bullpen: I aaaalmost cut Holm but dude's also struck out 21 guys in 16 IP. It feels like it's just bad sequencing that's hurting him so far. Well, that and the HRs but that's always been an issue with him (he's allowed 3 so far, which is a lot but not, like, an insane amount). The 'pen is actually the #1 ranked bullpen in the AL, which to me says "we should do some trades" but knowing the Yankees, they're already looking at that crop as part of the next World Series Champions. Infield: C Khalil Tabb (.216, 0, 8) seems to have forgotten how to hit this year but his backup, "23" year old John Lennon (.240, 0, 2) isn't really taking things so far - he's got exactly 0 extra-base hits. I don't want to be too complacent out here but I don't really see what else to do at this position. For now I feel like MI Ty Stover (.205, 1, 6) has done just barely enough to keep him on the roster. I've already got the team's best middle infield prospect in Alex Sanchez (.288, 6, 16 in AAA Syracuse) in the majors - he'll start playing more - and I just sent down the struggling Nick Hodzic (.147, 1, 2) in favor of Estonian musician cum third baseman Jaak Joala (.343, 9, 35) in his place. Going forward I don't see a lot of use for the guy except as a pinch-hitter but hey, he's still around for now! Meanwhile, starter Jonathan Banks (.247, 0, 11) hasn't exactly wowed people with his bat but he is a top-rated fielder so there's that at least. The aforementioned Alex Sanchez, who's been limited to 3 games and 5 at-bats so far this year, will start spelling him heavily as the Yankees look for something from the youth. I also think that "Tiptoe" Tommy Weiss (.264, 10, 28) is legit back to having a good season this year and for the sake of the rest of the team he needs to be starting full-time. So, congratulations Joala, you just got called up to do nothing. German Ybarra (.168, 3, 11) hit a pretty solid .248 last year and I'm just going to mostly keep him in the lineup hoping he can get back to that level. Sanchez will spell him a decent amount. My biggest issue with Sanchez is that he's got the reputation for having hands of stone and as such has played very sparingly at short so far in his career. Maybe he'll turn it around (note: that doesn't happen). Outfield: Ryan Johnston (.246, 2, 4) deserves to play more, Micah MacMillan (.217, 5, 21) has literally been the best player in the AL over the past 2 weeks, and Dan Field (.143, 2, 4 with NYY) has been nothing but awful since coming over from Oakland so... we'll use him in LF against RHP going forward. I'm still hopeful Field can et his stroke back but now it'll be exclusively against lefties. June 27: The San Francisco Giants (30-40, 5th NL West, 11.5 GB), in fact, nearly out-40ed the Yankees, although that's in large part because they've played a toooon more games. This team's big start was definitely swamped by an 11-19 May, which... 30 games, man. So far this month they've played 24 (9-15) and still have 4 more to go so I guess they'll have a lighter back end at least. They're listed as more or less league average but that's a little misleading: there are 6 teams in the NL averaging 3.7 runs scored or more and the Giants lead the 2nd group with 3.3 per game, which is well below the 3.6 average, which on the one hand is ahead of where they were last year, at least ordinally (they averaged 3.8, which was 2nd worst in the NL to the Pirates), but on the other hand, it's not good and they've traded away their top offensive player in Barry Cooper so don't expect that to get better. The pitching is decent, with 3.2 R/G built off the 9th best ERA in the MLB, but that's not a recipe for success, which, the team is 10 games under .500 after all. Rotation: For now I'll leave it as-is. The weakest starter so far has been Sam Williams (4-6, 3.43), who's been fine for a 4th/5th starter. This isn't a weakness of the team and they're also at least fairly young: the oldest guy in this rotation is 31 year old Mike Stuckey (6-8, 2.66), who's also the staff ace. Bullpen: I'm switching over to a 5 man bullpen, which is large given the rotation but meh, we were carrying like 7 outfielders and didn't need to do that either. The new guy is Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (4-3, 2.83, 8 Sv in AAA Phoenix), who's been a workhorse in AAA so far. I'll try and dole out appearances like candy from here on out; why make life at all hard on the starting 5? Infield: C Iggy Pop (.220, 3, 1) isn't really coming through on the promise he showed last year, when he hit .277 in 101 at-bats, and now the not-great defense is starting to get talked about. I'm going to get Chris Campbell (.207, 2, 7) back into the mix a bit heavier; he's better at handling the staff and has a stronger arm (Pop's got a slightly better RTO so far - 37% to 33% - but sample size) and hitting-wise, at least you know what you're getting. The owner has listed upgrading 1B as a priority and I do agree that Justin Richens (.245, 3, 13) is not it. The 10 time All-Star is 40 now and at the end of the line. He is 2 hits away from 2500 so that'll be fun to see when he reaches that milestone. Depending on how you want to look at it, he's either regressed into mediocrity and only the poor offensive levels are keeping him productive, or else he's a better-than-average hitter whose productivity is masked by the park and the era. Chris Seek (.248, 2, 9) is there too but he's exactly the guy the owner wants us to upgrade from. Meh. 3B George Harrison (.254, 4, 18) was never going to repeat the .388/2/13 he hit in 121 at-bats last year and at this point I think it's just time to accept him for what he is: a roughly league average hitter with zero power and a top-rated fielder at the third sack. Tim Mock (.248, 1, 5) exists there as the team's incumbent the previous 2 years but if anything I'm going to use him in a smaller role going forward rather than a larger one. Outfield: I'm not sure what happened to Jimmy Walker (.177, 4, 15) but he's been pushed out of PT and I think he needs to get more in the minor leagues, so I'm sending him down. He was playing in LF vs LHP and I'm going to replace him there with Pat Piper (.294, 2, 5A), who is at least at a point where he is what he is (which, by the way, was pretty bad in AAA before he was called up - .210/4/11). Hopefully Walker rakes and we can bring him back up by the end of the year. June 28: Right on cue the Cincinnati Reds (25-40, 6th NL West, 13.5 GB) have also reached the 40 loss mark. It wasn't supposed to be like this and I still look up and down the lineup and wonder how they could be this bad. Which, speaking of, the owner wants to win the World Series this year... I think it's time for my man to experience disappointment. They're 5th in the majors in runs scored but 2nd-worse in ERA, which should tell you all you need to know about why. Rotation: I've mostly already burned off the chaff here; the one change I'm making is pushing Graham Panarello (1-0, 2.70) out of long relief and into the rotation. He was kind of bad in AAA (4-7, 5.30 this year) but, like, Hector Fernandez (1-4, 4.55) has been bad in the majors - okay, that's not as bad, is it - and has a really huge split as a reliever (3.12 ERA, 7 Ks in 8.2 IP) vs a starter (4.92, 23 in 46.2) so perhaps it's best to just put him in relief. Also he's a whole entire year older than Panarello so, you know, youth movement and stuff. Bullpen: Stopper Pete Lynn (1-6, 4.11, 8 Sv) should be better than he's been so far so I think for now I'm just going to leave him in that role. Brian Yates (1-0, 0.82) has been great, I will grant you, but the 27 year old also has struggled with injuries and has just 22 career games played in the major leagues, 19 of them this year. I want to see him do this at least through the All-Star Break, and probably more than that. Infield: 1B Junior Cannon (.222, 5, 15) has been basically the same player he was last year, which at first looks like a huge disappointment but on further reflection it's kind of good for a first baseman right now. That said, 24 year old MC "Swamp Thing" Gainey (.386, 9, 34) has been tearing it up in AAA and given the way the team's been going, he definitely deserves to play in the major leagues. Both of them are lefties, which is annoying, but I'll find a way to make it work... speaking of which, Alonzo Rivera (.312, 3, 22) should be back tomorrow. This team is just plain loooooaded with first basemen and corner outfielders. Outfield: There are too many corner guys and they've got a pretty big hole in center - Dennis bin Naim (.204, 0, 0) has zero RBIs in 93 at-bats, which is insane to me - but there is just plain nothing in the cupboard right now, to the extent that I just extended minor league contract offers to a couple of 30 year old free agents in case bin Naim gets hurt. I'd say "hey, trade time" but I don't see anything like that on the horizon so I guess we'll stand pat. Oh yeah, the Horse Dan Issel (.159, 1, 2) also exists and has 2 more RBIs than bin Naim, and that's about the extent of the good things I can say about him so far. June 30: A whole big heck of updates today, starting with the Kansas City Royals (22-41, 6th AL West, 16 GB). They are, yes, at 41 losses because they dropped both halves of a double-header yesterday to the Minnesota Twins. It's been preeetty rough going for the Royals, needless to say: I know I've spoken to their league-worst 4.3 runs allowed per game (22nd in the MLB and 12th in the AL in ERA with 3.91) but they've also been kind of bad at scoring runs as well: 3.3 per game is ahead of the potentially record-setting Rangers and Yankees but only them. They have a pretty extreme stars-and-scrubs roster too, with a couple guys - Tony Danza (.336, 0, 14) and RJ Dominguez (.237, 12, 42) appearing on the leaderboards this year and a third guy in Dave Corona (.307, 7, 16) really only off because he got hurt. Rotation: There are a couple of guys having really good years in the minors so I'm going to have to pull at least one guy out to make room... Jorge Cervantez (2-7, 3.84) was 11-11 for this team as a starter last year but he's sure not doing that this year and his K rate is in the dumper right now at 2.5/9. I'm dropping him into the bullpen and sending down Jake Callaway (1-0, 2.08) to make room. Callaway is 30 but hey, has option time left and I'm not going to go crazy with carrying guys here. It's also time to send 31 year old Jose Chaves (1-9, 5.01) into the bullpen. We'll carry a 10 man staff for now. The new 4 and 5 guys to replace them are Rick Rodriguez (5-6, 4.08 at AAA Omaha), who had a kind of high ERA but struck out more than a batter an inning in AAA, and top-rated prospect Howard Rollins (7-4, 3.17 at Omaha), who also struck out more than a guy an inning in AAA and who, if you ask us, looks like he could play Virgil Tibbs if they ever made a TV show out of the movie "In The Heat of the Night". Bullpen: Chavez will play in middle relief with Chaves the new long man and spot starter. Chaves was 10-5 last year, albeit with a 4.54 ERA so there's... hope? Things may not get better per se but they'll get younger going forward. Infield: To make room for the pitching above, too, but also just to see if he can work things out, I'm sending Nick McIntyre (.134, 0, 5) down to the minors. He only hit .201 last year but .201 feels like miles above where he is right now. The remaining guys - Jonathan Escobar (.138, 0, 8) and Tyler Tigges (.000, 0, 1) - are also awful but there's only so much you can do. At first base, I want to use Jim "Garfield" Davis (.194, 3, 5) more but he's not hitting at all - great at drawing walks though! - and his counterpart Edwin Manchego (.290, 10, 17) is. Neither of them is doing any kind of clutch hitting which is annoying and more annoying is that the team is loaded with guys who can play the OF corners and like nothing else. Let's just go whole-hog here... I'm going to call up 2B James Ellroy (.321, 6, 27 in AA Elmira) all the way up from AA and plopping him into the starting job. This will not make Ian Coleman (.202, 4, 17) happy but then, Coleman even at his best last year was kind of meh (.254/7/57 over 141 games and 507 ABs) and Ellroy looks pretty good. Neither is that great of a fielder but the younger Ellroy has got fantastic hands, at least. I'd love to do something with shortstop but I feel like the current situation is as good as it gets. Mike Dawson (.205, 3, 14) is not hitting well but he's a decent enough fielder, and the other guy who could play there, the incumbent Nate Sita (.153, 0, 12) is doing an awful job at the plate to say the least. Outfield: Literally the only 3 guys who are regulars and are hitting on this team are the 3 outfielders. At that, Dave Corona is not a natural center fielder at all and we'll need to figure that out, but I guess at the moment the fact that he doesn't always pay a lot of attention in the field is the least of our worries. June 30: Got the rare double-review today as the New York Mets (26-40, T-5th NL East, 15 GB) are playing the Expos, the team they're tied with, today. Remember when these Mets were Amazing in 1969? It seems so long ago... at this point they're just amazingly cellar-bound. There's, like, nothing about this team that says anything but truly mediocre, from the dead-last ERA to the 16th-in-baseball (and 9th in the NL) runs scored. They don't hit HRs, they don't have speed... I guess they do have defense, but that seems to only say even worse things about their pitching staff. Rotation: The only thing keeping Papa Vargas (0-4, 4.50) on this team is the fact that there is absolutely nobody worth calling up right now. The top 2 starting pitching prospects are in AAA but they're both awful. I'll save the names since those are bound to be changed once they get the call... but man, one of these guys is carrying a 5.65 ERA in Tidewater in spite of a decent K/BB ratio and when I looked him up, the man has given up 31 HRs in 106.2 innings. Suffice it to say, I'm not going to call him up! I do see that Eduardo Navarro (0-1, 6.00) was called up earlier in spite of a not-great record in AAA himself (also due to a ton of dingers - what is up with the IL this year? I just checked the settings and I see that I put them to exactly ML level...) but Vargas isn't striking anyone out anymore and so I'm going to drop him into long relief. Bullpen: The TRUE TRAGEDY is that I'm not able to find as many appearances for Geoff Saus (4-3, 2.74, 9 Sv) with the team faltering around him. Saus did lead the league in saves last year but it feels unlikely that he'll repeat. With the rest of the bullpen - especially Rick Legere (1-5, 7.97), who was supposed to ease the burden - so bad, though, it's probably time to go back to using Saus early and often. Infield: It's never a good time for your rock of the lineup to go to mediocre but it feels like an especially bad time for "Superman" Joshua Waltenbery (.247, 7, 33) to do so. We need you, man! Of course I'm going to keep playing him every day - even this production is better than anything else I'll find at first base - but he needs to improve, man. 3B Mike Medford (.158, 0, 2) has already taken over the 3rd base job from the struggling youngster Mark Hamill (.210, 1, 13) but it's going to be very hard to expect any real production from a guy who hasn't seen work since being released by the Braves last August. So far he's hitting about as well as I'd feared, which is not at all. We'll see. We'll have to see. There aren't other options in the minors. Hamill was supposed to be the young option. At shortstop, the thinking here was that 3-time All-Star Chris Adams (.222, 4, 23) just needed a change of pace to get back to his old form. Instead, he's been even worse than he was last year, where he already went only .222/15/68. I guess the clutch hitting down in the order is nice but we kind of wanted to use him as a #2 guy and that's just not who he seems to be anymore. Rick James (.319, 7, 29) is up to spell Adams and/or give him a bit of a run for at-bats but he's only 2-11 so far in the major leagues. Even so, if this team keeps performing like this, James almost has to get starts here or at 2nd base (where Bill Heyen is a marginally less disappointing .239/3/12). Outfield: I don't like starting Met turned Expo turned Met Gabe Martinez (.321, 0, 5) in left - he's not even young anymore at 30 - but once again, he's the best in a bad situation. Actually though... we do have a guy in the minors, our 9th best prospect (nowhere close to the top 200 because this minor league system is horrific) John W. Henry (.351, 2, 14 in AAA Tidewater), the son of farmers who wants to own a baseball team of his own one day. Good luck! You're going to need it. He was a 6th round pick last year who's risen through the ranks pretty quickly. I'm not enamored with his power - he was drafted as more of a CF but it doesn't look like he's got the speed for that role in the major leagues - but hey, let's use the 22 year old who might do something over the 30 year old pinch hitter. June 30: And yeah, the Montreal Expos (26-40, T-5th NL East, 15 GB) are here too but they were kind of supposed to be. This is also a team who screams mediocre across the board and, 4 years removed from expansion, it's about time they did something. They just aren't there yet. The pitching isn't awful, at least. The offense is worst in the NL and only the Rangers and Yankees prevent them from being last in baseball. Rotation: The rotation is just kind of a mess behind the top 2 guys - DJ Fletcher (7-6, 2.99) and Jeff Graton (5-6. 3.40) - but I don't see a lot I can do about it. MY DAD is doing meh in the minor leagues and seems best used as the 6th starter / injury replacement, as the guys who are struggling right now are out of options and probably on their last legs in the majors. I'm talking about you, Melvin Navarro (2-4, 4.96) and Daniel Roche (0-2, 5.23). Bullpen: On the other hand, the trio of Erik Schnipke (1-2, 2.01, 6 Sv), "Danger Zone" Kenny Loggins (2-2, 1.91), and Ernesto Hernandez (0-0, 1.12) have been pretty great. Probably we'll start trying to just push the starters to go into the 7th and then give it up to the 'pen. That always feels easier said than done in the 70s but still. Infield: 1B/OF Willie Morales (.252, 7, 19) could really make the fact that 37 year old Armando Munoz (.227, 3, 13) is mad that he's no longer the starter at first base easier by hitting like he did last year. Dude belted 27 HRs in 1971. Where are all those ding-dongs? That said, much as I hate to do it to the man who was our very first All-Star... I think it's time to release Munoz to recall Willie Ortega (.295, 11, 32), who is, to be fair, tearing up the minor leagues at least from a power point of view. Using him in a platoon with Morales will hopefully boost both players. 2B Danny Waters (.204, 2, 4) was looking like he was going to have a bounce-back season this year after a disappointing .224/5/25 year with the Mets... and then he hit .123 for the month of June. Ugh. He's platooning with 28 year old Luis Alvarez (.234, 0, 4), who looks like he's never gotten a real chance because of his bad attitude as much as anything else. I don't really know what to do with this so I'll leave it like that for now. At third base, though, I've got to do something with Adam Owens (.157, 1, 24), who's literally lost half of his average from last year. What's going on here? I'm sending him down to AAA Peninsula to see if he can find his stroke in a less intimidating venue and just handing that job over to last year's starting SS George Yarbor (.239, 1, 6), I guess. With SS Hudson Watts (.257, 4, 19) performing OK (I don't want to give him too much props - the #1 overall pick in the 1970 draft is already 25 and is only above average as a hitter right now), this seems like the best setup, at least until/if Owens finds that stroke again. Outfield: I'm not really enthused by LF Paul Kahl (.232, 5, 21) but I guess he's been exactly what he was supposed to be, a roughly league average hitter a bad team can start in a corner OF position. He's also a replacement level pitcher! But he hasn't been used like that and likely won't be because dammit this is 1972, not Shohei Ohtani Town. CF Marc Ash (.177, 1, 7) is another guy who was handed the job after a .300 campaign in 1971 who's stunk up the joint, and like Adam Owens I think it's high time I replace him with... another guy who hasn't hit well this year in Anton Mendoza (.175, 0, 3). Neither of these guys looks great but Mendoza is 3 years younger at 26 and hasn't been caught 7 times in 14 steal attempts the way Ash has.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
09-26-2023, 12:33 PM
|
#212 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
July 2 - 9, 1972 (July 4th!)
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 45 29 .608 - 312 234 Baltimore Orioles 41 33 .554 4 271 229 Boston Red Sox 38 32 .543 5 258 211 Cleveland Indians 38 35 .521 6½ 289 259 Milwaukee Brewers 34 38 .472 10 241 271 New York Yankees 22 49 .310 21½ 209 268 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 47 30 .610 - 282 243 Oakland Athletics 42 33 .560 4 290 296 Minnesota Twins 38 35 .521 7 270 277 Chicago White Sox 36 40 .474 10½ 269 305 Texas Rangers 35 41 .461 11½ 211 241 Kansas City Royals 27 48 .360 19 246 314 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 45 30 .600 - 258 200 Chicago Cubs 43 34 .558 3 303 311 Philadelphia Phillies 41 35 .539 4½ 307 289 St. Louis Cardinals 38 37 .507 7 301 284 Montreal Expos 32 43 .427 13 238 281 New York Mets 30 45 .400 15 259 315 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 46 32 .590 - 258 248 Atlanta Braves 43 35 .551 3 318 293 Los Angeles Dodgers 41 35 .539 4 270 272 San Diego Padres 36 41 .468 9½ 302 297 San Francisco Giants 34 48 .415 14 253 268 Cincinnati Reds 31 45 .408 14 295 304 Tony Danza (.335, 0, 14) has been nursing an owie on his knee and barely played this week but that non-play was enough to keep him just ahead of Daniel Gilmet (.332, 4, 22) and a recovered Alvin Romero (.326, 1, 26) in the batting race. Romero hit .440 after a 4-25 performance the week before to get right back into the thick of things. Of COURSE Ernesto Garcia (.296, 27, 72) is on top in HRs; he's kind of lapping the field at this point and is even starting to hit for average again - .296 is good for 5th in the AL right now. Alice Cooper (.245, 19, 51) and the Twins' Angelo Martinez (.230, 17, 43) are 2 and 3 and Cooper has more dingers than any NLer so there's that. Garcia and Cooper also top the ribbie race. Garcia's actually on pace to break his own AL RBI record he set last year (147), although it seems like the all-time record by Justin Stone of 169 in 1964 is a bit beyond him right now. With Romero hitting again, it's no surprise that he's staked out a lead of his own in steals with 27 to #2 guy Ahnold's 19 (.201, 0, 11). Tony Danza's right there with 16 and could easily scooch up to 2nd if/when the White Sox finally get tired of Schwarzennegger's lack of ability to get base hits. Michael Pesco (12-4, 2.44) still tops the league in wins, chased by "Dog" Daugharty (11-4, 1.97) and Edgar Molina (11-5, 2.38). In the ERA race, Jose Martinez (10-5, 1.95) has had a beast of a July so far with 1 run allowed in 15.1 innings over 2 games to take a tiny, tiny lead over Daugharty, who had a "rough" week (read: he was league-average with an 0-2 record and a 3.46 ERA). Santos Rodriguez (8-5, 2.12) was the ERA guy last week but got slightly crushed this week to the tune of a 4.38 ERA in 12.1 innings so he's barely in the top 3 now. Speaking of big weeks, Michael Pesco struck out 18 men in 17 innings over the past 7 days to take the K lead at 127 to teammate Justin Kindberg's (8-7, 2.66) and Molina's 124. Tight race! And with saves, it seems appropriate that Willis Chavez (5-1, 1.74) is leading with 17 of them given the way the A's are starting to lean on him super-hard. He's followed by the Twins' Travis Livingston (1-2, 0.80) with 13 and 3 guys with 12 each. Was Alonzo Huanosta (.310, 1, 34) actually the hitting leader in the NL last week? I don't think so but I'm too lazy to check. Anyway he was 7-22 from July 2 to today and 11-29 so far in July to be the top hitter, albeit with a pretty low BA for a top guy. Kevin Dwyer (.307, 11, 44), who probably won't play very much before the All-Star Break (which happens the week after next), and Antonio Lopez (.307, 17, 37) are in a virtual tie for 2nd with "The Ritz" Barry Cooper (.306, 4, 26) percentage points behind them in 4th. Jaden Weaver (.245, 18, 52) is only 3rd in baseball in HRs but that's good enough for #1 in the NL. Lopez and slugging Dodgers 1B Justin Stone (.261, 17, 54) are right behind him should he suffer a power outage. Stone also leads everyone in RBIs, right in front of Weaver and 5 ahead of San Diego crooner/guitarist/2B Paul McCartney (.268, 16, 49). Pedro Ortiz (.299, 1, 17) might legitimately challenge Alvin Romero for the MLB steals lead; he's got 23 now. Recently returned Chris Ward (.311, 3, 11) has got himself 2nd with a somewhat paltry 14 and Shawn Gabel (.270, 1, 19) remains in 3rd with 12. Tony Rivera (13-5, 1.84) only got into 1 game this week but it was enough to push him into the overall MLB wins lead with 13. DJ Cheeves (12-3, 1.98) is also, as you'd expect from the 2 top teams in the NL, right there, with Dodgers' phenom Fernando Apolonio (11-4, 1.35) right off the pace. Speaking of Apolonio, he even had a "rough" week with a 2.51 ERA over 14.1 IP that saw his overall ERA rise by 20 points. He's still far and away the leader, with Rivera and Cheeves 2 and 3 there, too. Hey, new faces in the K race at least! Roger QUintana (7-6, 2.69) could really use some help from his offense but hey, his 122 Ks leads the NL. Ernesto Carrillo (4-9, 4.09) is 2nd with 101, although his 8 walk game today is a measure of why he might not pitch enough to stay up here. The Pirates' Santos Arango (10-9, 2.54) and Vince "The Eligible" Bachler (7-5, 2.91) round out the top "3" and also are the only guys to hit the century mark in Ks so far. What's with strikeout artists and low support? Paz Lemus (4-2, 1.97) got roped this week to the tune of a 11.17 ERA but still collected 2 saves to give him the NL lead with 15. Alec Cosby (4-4, 3.07) fell to 2nd with his own bad week (a 6.75 ERA over 3 games with no saves); he's still built up 14 to stay in second ahead of Jon Douglas (3-3, 2.08) with 12 and who also had a tough week (0-0, 9.00). ## Major Transactions ## News July 3: Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi and President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto signed the Simla Agreement, resolving to peacefully negotiate future disputs, releasing prisoners of war, and withdrawing their military forces behind their sides of a 460-mile-long border. July 3: The leagues seem to have gotten the message about what this year is about, as both Players of the Week are once again pitchers. In the AL, it's the Rangers' Chris Regan (4-7, 3.34), who was as good as it gets in 2 games - 2-0, 2 shutouts. Regan is a career 85 game winner at age 31 although surprisingly he's won hardware before - in 1967 he was Pitcher of the Month for May (he finished 17-13, 2.88 for Cleveland that year). Regan had washed out of the Cleveland organization following an injury in 1970 and rank ineffectiveness last year, so it's a neat comeback story. The NL Player of the Week was big Texas lefthander "Bronco Ben" Feldhusen (2-8, 3.44), who not only won his first 2 games all season, he did so with 1 unearned run allowed in 17 innings, including a shutout of the NL West-leading Astros on June 27. Feldhusen's a guy who's had his career kind of wrecked by arm troubles but after basically 2 1/2 years away from the game he's made a comeback with the Padres since the middle of last season. This is his 2nd Player of the Week but his first since 1965, the 2nd of 2 straight years when he led the league in ERA while pitching for the Baltimore Orioles. He now has a lifetime record of 95-74, which is not going to get him into the Hall but maybe he'll be in the Padres' personal Hall of Fame. July 3: Tigers SP Edgar Molina (10-5, 2.25) ensures that the series between his team and the Orioles will end in a tie by hurling a 4-hitter against the O's and delivering his team a 2-0 victory. Backup CF Bruce Irwin (.062, 0, 2) delivered the only RBI of the game on a 4th-inning sacrifice fly; the other run scored when SS Rob Curran (.288, 3, 11) reached on an error and scored Alvin Romero (.316, 1, 24), who'd sat this game out to rest but came in to pinch-run for starting 1B Niki Lauda (.270, 5, 15) in the 6th. TJ Ziegler (5-6, 2.61) took the tough loss for Baltimore, who are now 3 games behind Detroit and only 1 ahead of the Red Sox, who also won with a shutout today, beating the Twins 4-0 behind Michael Pesco's (12-3, 2.43) 4-hitter. July 3: The Pirates avoid the weekend series sweep thanks to DJ Cheeves (11-3, 2.01), who threw a 4-hit shutout and delivered a 4-0 win. The game was scoreless going into the 7th but Cubs SP Scott Coffey (7-5, 3.33) came in tight from a rain delay in the bottom of the inning and got removed after dealing a 3-run HR to C Doug Connally (.212, 4, 23). "I throw the ball like I cast my lure," said Cheeves after the game. "Don't ask me to explain it, it just happens." July 3: Atlanta also salvages a weekend series split vs the Astros, although it's not because of pitching in this case (which, it's Atlanta, what did you expect?). Down 3-2 in the 8th, the Braves lit up stopper Jon Douglas (3-3, 2.00, 12 Sv) for 3 runs and held on to win 5-3. I'd say this was the first time Douglas got roughed up like this but I guess he does have 3 losses and 4 meltdowns to date so I guess I'm wrong. John Winn (0-5, 1.49, 9 Sv), who just straight up hasn't been pitching enough, threw the final 2 innings for the save. The Braves finish the day 3 games in back of the Astros in 3rd place. July 4: Happy birthday, America! July 4: At 10AM, announcements were made simultaneously in North and South Korea that the two nations had secretly negotiated an agreement to discuss reunification. Spoiler alert: it won't happen. July 4: Yankees P Roy Holm (0-0. 4.50) is not willing to be "reuinified" with his team any longer and has requested... a "trade". I'm not seeing anything coming up so I'm going to oblige his wishes by cutting him loose. Holm was acquired in 1970 for Dan Ballard but never really got things going in the Bronx. His Yankees career ends with a 17-16 record and a 4.42 ERA thanks in large part to allowing 38 homeruns in 295.1 innings. I figured that being a lefty in Yankee Stadium would help with the dingers. I was wrong. July 4: Cubs OF Jason Workman (.268, 8, 29) sprained his UCL making a throw in from the outfield today and will miss the next month plus. Workman was trying to rebound from a lackluster 1971 campaign in which he turned into a rather one-dimensional power hitter. At 35, what he looks like is probably what he is but he's definitely better being in the game than out of it. Cubs prospect Chance Cooper (.280, 27, 64 at AAA Wichita), who'd had an extended look last year but couldn't stick (.248/8/22 in 59 games and 153 at-bats) is coming up to take his place after a monstrous first half in the minors. July 5: Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party chooses Kakuei Tanaka for their choice as new Prime Minister over outgoing PM Eisaku Sato's protege, Foreign Minister Takeo Fukuda, on the second ballot by a 282-190 majority. Tanaka will receive majority approval in both houses of the Diet tomorrow. July 5: A levee collapses in the Japanese village of Kami, killing at least 61 people, as part of a series of flood disasters that will kill 447 people and injury 1,056 between July 3 and 13. Jul 5: French President Georges Pompidou fires Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas, who had been under investigation because of income taxes. I'm not going to pretend to understand how 1970s French politics worked. July 5: In San Francisco. a team of FBI agents storm a hijacked Pacific Southwest Airlines jet and kill the 2 men who had been holding 86 people on board Flight 710 hostage. One passenger, Stanley Carter of Quebec, was killed in the crossfire and two other men were wounded, including Victor Sen Yung, who played Hop Sing on the TV series Bonanza. July 5: Kevin Dwyer (.300, 9, 38) is tempting me... I'd been playing the Braves 2B through shoulder tendinitis because, well, who cares about throwing with a 2B? The injury has expanded so he'll be feeling it for 3 weeks now. I'm going to recall the Icelander David Oddson (.300, 7, 24) to spell Dwyer but I mean, the man is the best or one of the best keystoners in the NL and as long as he's anywhere near healthy he's got to suit up. July 6: The first payment of "hush money" to the Watergate burglars is made today from the Committee to Re-Elect the President. Over eight months, lasting until March 22 of next year, almost $430,000 will be paid to the maen to keep them from implicating the White House in the break-in of DNC headquarters. July 6: Brandon De Wilde dies when his car skids off the road during a thunderstorm near Lakewood, Colorado and hits a parked construction truck. De Wilde, 30, was a child actor best known as the kid who said "Come back, Shane!" in the eponymous movie (by which I mean "Shane", not "Brandon De Wilde" because the latter is not a movie). July 6: I was thiiiiiiis close to making a final decision on OF Adam Dittmar (.146, 3, 22) and hey, that decision may still be upcoming but for now he's "safe" since LF Chris Contreras (.247, 3, 16) is going to miss the next six weeks with a badly sprained knee he suffered in today's 2-1, 16-inning grueler with the Royals. I'll be giving Bob Irwin (.059, 0, 2) some at-bats in left to replace him along with newly called up Bill Wilson (.285, 9, 31), a 28 year old rookie. Otherwise though, the outfield cupboard is kind of bare in the Tigers system. July 6: Atlanta, Cubs, Fulton County Stadium... what did you expect would happen? In spite of the fact that this is a big pitching year... just yikes. The Cubs took a 9-4 lead in the 7th thanks to 2 solo HRs off of long reliever Jake Cari (3-2, 2.53), only for Cubs fans to listen in horror on WGN as the Braves dropped *11* runs in the bottom of the inning off of starter Alex Guizar (2-2, 4.86) and relief pitcher / eventual game loser Suk-min Moon (1-3, 3.34), who saw his ERA climb by 2 runs today. 4 men hit doubles in that huge, huge inning and for a while it just seemed like it was going to go on forever. "Doubles are twice as good as singles," said 1B Dante Chairez (.240, 16, 37), who was one of the 4, after the game. As a side note, mostly because I forgot to mention it, RF Chance Cooper (.500, 4, 7), playing in his 3rd game in the majors this year, belted 3 HRs in the loss. He became the 8th Chicago Cub to do so in league history and the first since Mark Tooley did in 1969 (Tooley, not exactly known as a power hitter, finished that year .278/16/59). July 6: Tony Rivera (13-5, 1.84) shut out the Pirates today in taking his Astros to a 2-0 win. He has 6 of them so far; it's barely July and he's already 2/3rds of the way to the record of 9 set by Justin Kindberg in 1970 (Kindberg went 23-13, 2.43 that season, finishing 2nd in Cy Young Award voting to Tracy Mosher (25-12, 2.67)). Houston now has a game and a half lead over the Braves and frankly it's hard to lose too much when you have a guaranteed win every 4th start. July 7: Harold B. Lee is formally ordained as the 11th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, succeeding Joseph Fielding Smith (yes, it's a common name but yes, he was descended from the actual Joseph Smith via one of his wives), who had died 5 days previously. At 73, Lee is the youngest leader of the Mormons in 40 years (Smith had taken office in 1970 at the ripe old age of 93). July 7: UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim visits Auschwitz. It will later be revealed that he was an active participant in the Holocaust. July 7: WNBA superstar Lisa Leslie is born today. July 7: In amidst a weird, injury-plagued day, Padres SP Stephen Tyler (9-6, 3.58) had to sit in to play 3 innings at third base today after both starter Dale Earnhardt (.253, 5, 15) and Kevin Landry (.231, 4, 16) were forced out of the game. This gave them a spectacular 3-musician infield (2B Paul McCartney (.268, 16, 49) and C Peter Gabriel (.297, 1, 25) also played today) with a potential 4th guy almost ready to go in Atlanta Rhythm Section guitar player / SS Barry Bailey (.250, 0, 2) due to return from injury in about a week. When asked about contributing to an all-musical infield, Tyler said "Dream on! I'm a pitcher." Neither Earnhardt's nor Landry's injuries look particularly bad and both should resume play immediately. July 8: A 3 year, $750M deal for the Soviet Union to purchase grain from the United States is announced by Henry Kissinger in between bombings of Southeast Asian countries. The Soviets, who needed to make up for agricultural shortfalls, agreed to purchase the grain on credit at 6 1/8% annual interest, the standard rate for the Commodity Credit Corporation of the US Department of Agriculture. July 8: Palestinian author and spokesman Ghassan Kanafani is assassinated in Beirut when a bomb destroys his car shortly before he started it. The blast, believed to have been arranged by Mossad in retaliation for hte Lud Airport massacre, killed his 18 year old niece as well. July 8: It looks like the Mossad did a number on the Twins this month too... they're 0-8 and about to get swept by the Yankees, thanks to a 2-1 loss to John Carpenter (4-7, 3.65) at Metropolitan Stadium. They're now just 2 games over .500 - 37-35 - 7 1/2 games out of first place in the AL West and even 3 games behind the 2nd place A's. It wasn't supposed to be like this! But maybe it was... July 9: A ceasefire between the Irish Republican Army and British forces effectively comes to an end wen British troops kill 5 civilians in Belfast, three of whom were teenagers. I guess it wasn't much of a cease-fire, as several Protestants were murdered by the IRA during this one, which began on June 26. July 9: The Braves were super waiting for Julio Sandoval (8-4, 2.99), who's been out of action and on the DL since June 17 with elbow inflammation. The inflammation is not going down and Sandoval's status has been downgraded to "unknown". With him out, the Braves have already had to go through a grueling 7 games in 5 days stretch ending today (they're 4-2 so far, pending the final game of a 4-gamer vs the Pirates today). July 9: Boy am I in the mood for a good DUMP. The All-Star voting! Below are the current standings for the American League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jul. 9th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Ernesto Garcia with 902,494 votes. CATCHER 1. Josh Lewis, Oakland Athletics: 646,551 2. Frank Abagnale, Baltimore Orioles: 619,878 3. Andres Gamez, Texas Rangers: 439,074 FIRST BASE 1. Ernesto Garcia, Cleveland Indians: 902,494 2. Mike Miller, Boston Red Sox: 717,649 3. Alice Cooper, Chicago White Sox: 710,140 SECOND BASE 1. Joey Ramone, Detroit Tigers: 649,954 2. Daniel Gilmet, Minnesota Twins: 607,326 3. T.J. Pritchett, Cleveland Indians: 574,258 THIRD BASE 1. Tom Weiss, New York Yankees: 833,862 2. Marco Perez, Baltimore Orioles: 710,194 3. Mike Brookes, Minnesota Twins: 685,261 SHORTSTOP 1. Justin Ramey, Minnesota Twins: 662,751 2. Richard Simmons, California Angels: 567,023 3. Michael Luna, Texas Rangers: 524,688 LEFT FIELD 1. R.J. Domínguez, Kansas City Royals: 867,417 2. Lou Morgenstern, California Angels: 589,918 3. Bruce Springsteen, Boston Red Sox: 550,290 CENTER FIELD 1. Alvin Romero, Detroit Tigers: 878,775 2. Dave Corona, Kansas City Royals: 803,272 3. Ross Poynor, Milwaukee Brewers: 468,621 RIGHT FIELD 1. Tom Brown, Boston Red Sox: 724,880 2. Chris Tyree, California Angels: 635,565 3. Tony Danza, Kansas City Royals: 630,357 STARTING PITCHER 1. Justin Kindberg, Boston Red Sox: 413,693 2. Marco Sanchez, Boston Red Sox: 405,261 3. Jimmy Goddard, Detroit Tigers: 395,216 4. Michael Pesco, Boston Red Sox: 392,060 5. Jose Martinez, Cleveland Indians: 385,098 RELIEVER 1. Malcolm Post, Chicago White Sox: 457,325 2. Sandy Hinojosa, Boston Red Sox: 453,413 3. Montay Luiso, Baltimore Orioles: 451,447 4. Travis Livingston, Minnesota Twins: 401,695 5. Matt Brock, Milwaukee Brewers: 387,231 Garcia has batted .248 for his career with 702 hits, 99 doubles, 6 triples, 243 home runs, and 589 RBIs. Yeah, Frank Abagnale is 2nd in the AL in catcher voting. Wow! Below are the current standings for the National League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jul. 9th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Kevin Dwyer with 867,728 votes. CATCHER 1. Jason Bushon, New York Mets: 795,063 2. John Stuart, St. Louis Cardinals: 711,541 3. Armando Flores, Atlanta Braves: 559,986 FIRST BASE 1. Antonio Lopez, Chicago Cubs: 859,650 2. Justin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers: 857,309 3. Lorenzo Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals: 760,316 SECOND BASE 1. Kevin Dwyer, Atlanta Braves: 867,728 2. Paul McCartney, San Diego Padres: 768,444 3. Pedro Ortiz, Cincinnati Reds: 671,785 THIRD BASE 1. Pete Little, Houston Astros: 597,070 2. Mike Galeana, St. Louis Cardinals: 592,179 3. Vicente Luna, Atlanta Braves: 573,210 SHORTSTOP 1. Tony Shannon, Philadelphia Phillies: 716,963 2. Jeremy Taylor, Chicago Cubs: 716,139 3. Akiho Fujimoto, San Francisco Giants: 605,410 LEFT FIELD 1. Rafael Disla, St. Louis Cardinals: 701,859 2. Justin Lawson, Pittsburgh Pirates: 656,767 3. Alonzo Huanosta, Cincinnati Reds: 627,301 CENTER FIELD 1. Alex Vallejo, Chicago Cubs: 782,036 2. Bryant Tarala, Philadelphia Phillies: 693,173 3. George Foreman, Houston Astros: 684,449 RIGHT FIELD 1. Jaden Weaver, Cincinnati Reds: 856,970 2. Barry Cooper, New York Mets: 669,706 3. Henry Riggs, Atlanta Braves: 668,396 STARTING PITCHER 1. Tony Rivera, Houston Astros: 276,426 2. George House, Atlanta Braves: 268,752 3. Steve Waiters, Cincinnati Reds: 258,630 4. Santos Arango, Pittsburgh Pirates: 249,624 5. Ben Feldhusen, San Diego Padres: 216,048 RELIEVER 1. John Winn, Atlanta Braves: 361,777 2. Geoff Saus, New York Mets: 303,077 3. Pete Lynn, Cincinnati Reds: 286,884 4. Charlie Bechtel, San Francisco Giants: 246,354 5. Paz Lemus, Pittsburgh Pirates: 243,852 Dwyer has a career .315 batting average and .364 on-base percentage. He has recorded 1956 hits with 318 doubles, 59 triples, 209 homers, 842 RBIs and scored 910 runs since coming into the league. On the flip side here... George House (7-6, 4.10) has an ERA over 4 and is... 2nd? I guess popularity is the king. He does play in the Launching Pad so there's that I guess (he's also only made 6 of his 18 starts in Atlanta and his road ERA (4.08) is almost as bad as his home ERA (4.14)). July 9: In a brutal 13-4 shellacking of the White Sox that probably spelled the end of RP Raul Andrade's (1-0, 8.89) career, the Tigers lost yet another outfielder as Danny Hohman (.263, 2, 29) strained his hamstring diving into third on a single and will be out for at least a month. I guess that means career AAAA'er Joshua Birley (.267, 3, 16) gets a shot to play the outfield and also Adam Dittmar (.146, 3, 22) remains on the team due to sheer numbers. July 9: Twins SP Rich Whetzel (5-7. 3.78), who if I'm being honest is not really having a great year, came so, so close to immortalizing himself today. The big right-hander carried a no-hitter against the Yankees into the 9th inning, finally giving up his first hit with 1 out to pinch-hitter Jonathan Banks (.279, 0, 16). He then allowed a 2-out hit to RF Phil Hartman (.268, 4, 10) and had to get 1B Pete Jennings (.261, 5, 20) to ground out to end the game with the tying run at first base because his team could only themselves muster 1 run against Henning Mankiell (0-2, 4.12). It's that kind of season, I guess. ## Teams in Review July 7: I was almost expecting not to have one of these this week... the San Diego Padres (33-40, 4th NL West, 9 GB) have seemingly upgraded from "expansion bad" to "expansion mediocre". They're obviously not close to contention but hey, there are some bright spots. The pitching staff and defense are not bright spots (although their "ace" Ben Feldhusen (2-8, 3.44) is... fine) but hey, that's the point of an expansion team! The owner wanted us to not suck completely this year and that feels in the bag. Rotation: I feel like the rotation is in decent enough shape to just keep it as-is for now. The only other +30 guy in there besides Feldhusen (who has resurrected a once-promising career derailed by injury in San Diego) is Rodrigo Aguilar (8-5, 3.32), who's averagely contributing to a middle slot in the rotation and has been 27-23 over the past two seasons. There are a couple guys who look interesting in the minors: Don Henley (5-12, 2.59), who I'd love to see start striking out more guys, and an as-yet-unnamed prospect (7-5, 2.39), who's fine, too, but there's no reason to call these guys up early I don't think. Bullpen: The easiest spot here is MR Scott Richey (1-0, 6.06), a 29 year old who was projected to get his first real shot at extended innings (he went 0-1, 2.79 in 19.1 innings with California in 1970). It's clear to see, at least for now, why he didn't get use and hey, the Pads only spent $1,500 for the guy so no big loss, right? He's been released. I'll call up Pat Fix (0-2, 3.46 at AAA Hawaii), who has kind of similarly gotten spotty action over the course of a career spent between the major leagues and AAA. Hey, we'll see! Infield: Hey, you know, nothing against C Michael DeBose (.214, 5, 14) - the man was a surprising find as a Rule V pick last year - but I think it's clear that 21 year old C Peter Gabriel (.289, 1, 22) has at least earned a shot at full-time play... in my eyes. The light, the heat. I'll still use DeBose a lot against lefties so I guess it's still like a semi-platoon but Gabriel should make the bulk of starts going forward onless he falls apart or something. 1B Carlos Palacios (.252, 4, 24) has been pretty brutal after a key .333 campaign last season. I feel like I have virtually no choice except to keep trying the 26 year old out there for the most part. Hey, he's young, and he's got a pretty decent history of hitting for average in the minors, so fingers crossed, he'll rebound (and I mean, .252 in 1972 is like .270 in most normal years). I do have 1B/3B Dale Earnhardt (.249, 5, 15) filling in a lot for him, especially against lefties. I don't really want Dale at that spot long-term but long-term Kevin Landry (.234, 4, 16) will retire and open up 3rd base... I've been really, really, really going back and forth all season about moving Paul McCartney (.264, 16, 48) over to shortstop. I've pretty much avoided it because I don't want to mess with his rhythm and now, at least, we seem to have a legitimately decent fielder at the position in Ben Dowler (.234, 1, 12). Dowler is 34 though with a career high of 172 at-bats in a season and so he's probably not even a medium-term solution there. Barry Bailey (.250, 0, 2) should be back from a high ankle sprain in about a week and he at least is 24, plus he should fit right in to a musician-heavy infield (Bailey is the guitar player for the Atlanta Rhythm Section). Outfield: LF Greg Cowan (.242, 8, 27) is immediately a guy I look at and think "why is he playing?", but then I see that he's 2nd on the team in dingers and RBIs. Cowan, 30, has never gotten a shot at everyday play but a. this is still a 4th year expansion team and I'm not exactly filled to the gills with prospects here, and b. he's now .267/17/56 in 315 career San Diego at-bats, so that ought to count for something. OK, I've convinced myself to let him keep this job. In center, Chavo Guerrero (.156, 0, 2) is not hitting at all but he also provides a level of defense that nobody else on the team can equal. His backup is Zackery Hadley (.237, 1, 5), who was kind of a hybrid center/right guy with Cincy before coming over and, now that I'm looking at it, never a very rangey CF at any point in his career. He's been the team's starter there since its inception and it's very, very clearly time to go with someone else. I see another (unnammed) guy in AAA who could come up but as with the starting pitchers there's just no good reason to use options if I don't have to (maybe Hadley will force me to by being bad) and the particular guy I'm looking at (.249/2/14 at AAA Hawaii) isn't a very good center fielder himself, although his bat sure looks like a CF's bat. July 8: Things had mostly been picking up for the Texas Rangers (33-40, 5th AL West), at least before their 2-6 start to the month of July. They now seem kind of firmly entrenched in 5th, really needing to establish themselves as a .500 team to even think of making a play at Chicago and Minnesota in front of them. To do that, it goes without saying that they'll need to improve upon their hitting, which is now just barely ahead of the 1967 Senators in the race for worst of all time (the Nats averaged 2.7 runs per game, the Rangers are currently at 2.8). While the move out to Texas was mostly to chase fans, there was also some hope that a move to a warmer climate and a not completely jacked up stadium would give this team a bit more punch but that has not been the case; instead, this pitching staff (4th in the AL in runs allowed) is specializing in 3-2 losses. One upside I just noticed, though: they've got 7 guys in the midseason top 100 prospects list! Rotation: First and foremost, it's high time we got out of the 4 man rotation. It was nice giving extra starts to Chad Daugharty (11-4, 1.97) and Kevin Freeman (4-10, 3.08) but there's just no reason to push them so hard with the team where they are. Also, we're playing a double-header today. I'm calling up Nate Kemp (6-10, 3.95 at AAA Denver), who had a cup of coffee last year. Even though he's 23 and was just named as the #31 prospect in all of baseball, he's a pitch-to-contact control guy instead of a barn-burner. At this point, if he can be a worthy #4 starter, that's more than good enough. Bullpen: The top of this 'pen is the team's non-hitting Achilles heel to be sure. Neither Gabe Slaughter (1-4, 5.40, 6 Sv) nor Ron Shepherd (1-2, 4.82) seem to be doing much of anything. I think for now I'll only demote Slaughter to middle relief since he now has a good year and a half of showing he's not cut out for clutch innings. Doug Ellis (1-0, 2.22) will be the new right-handed closer going forward. Infield: 1B Jesse Lancaster (.222, 0, 3) isn't hitting so much but he's only played in 9 games in the majors so far. Let's give him more time! George W. Bush is kind of raking in the minors (.286, 9, 17 in 26 games in AAA) so I don't know how long I can keep things like this. I recently called up Dennis Green (.323, 6, 23 in AAA Denver) to man 3rd base while David Salinas (.206, 1, 10) recovers from hamstring tightness and if I'm being honest I think I'll probably just leave him there even after the 36 year old is 100% healthy. Salinas has taken a huge offensive downturn, which has been kind of instrumental in this team's offensive woes given that he hit .292 for them last year, although he mostly served as a table-setter rather than a pure runs or RBI guy in his own right. Green is a football head and is 13 years younger. Outfield: I already made this move but still... CF Norm Hodge (.192, 1, 12) has been as good as ever in the field but at the age of 30 it looks like he's stopped hitting against lefties (.099/0/2 in 71 at-bats this year). There's bad and there's... that. Bill Iverson (.289, 4. 17 at AAA Denver) is their new platoon CF. I don't have super high hopes for him but hey, maybe he and Hodge can combine to become a league average hitter. I don't know what's wrong with OF Bubba Wilson (.217, 1, 14), who hit .292 in full-time play last season, but he has options left so I'm going to send him down to AAA to see if he can figure things out. Also, I need a slot for a 10th pitcher with a double-header today (and, frankly, going forward). Congratulations, Guillermo Thompson (.306, 0, 3 with Texas), you've kind of lucked your way back into a starting job.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
10-08-2023, 12:53 PM
|
#213 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
July 10-16, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 48 33 .593 - 350 274 Boston Red Sox 42 35 .545 4 283 228 Baltimore Orioles 44 37 .543 4 302 262 Cleveland Indians 42 38 .525 5½ 328 286 Milwaukee Brewers 35 44 .443 12 251 304 New York Yankees 28 50 .359 18½ 237 275 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 50 34 .595 - 294 264 Oakland Athletics 45 37 .549 4 301 318 Minnesota Twins 42 38 .525 6 304 297 Chicago White Sox 40 43 .482 9½ 299 329 Texas Rangers 39 44 .470 10½ 233 274 Kansas City Royals 30 52 .366 19 294 365 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cubs 48 36 .571 - 339 343 Pittsburgh Pirates 46 36 .561 1 280 233 St. Louis Cardinals 44 37 .543 2½ 331 297 Philadelphia Phillies 45 38 .542 2½ 333 313 Montreal Expos 35 46 .432 11½ 257 303 New York Mets 33 48 .407 13½ 281 341 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 51 35 .593 - 295 281 Atlanta Braves 44 40 .524 6 336 318 Los Angeles Dodgers 43 40 .518 6½ 289 295 San Diego Padres 39 44 .470 10½ 321 321 San Francisco Giants 38 50 .432 14 287 288 Cincinnati Reds 33 49 .402 16 318 334 Otherwise, everyone else is at least a series ahead of their contenders. I wouldn't call Detroit a perfect team but with the O's falling by the wayside, they're getting the job done. Look out for the Red Sox though! They're 10-6 on the month in spite of still not really getting the hitting going yet and if they do, this could be a race. Cal and Houston look like the best teams in their respective leagues, which is a neat bookend given that both were early-60s expansion teams. The AL hitting race is kind of the same ol', same ol'... Tony Danza (.332, 1, 22) recovered from injuries to put together a 9-29 week to keep leading the league in hitting, followed by Alvin Romero (.324, 1, 26) and Daniel Gilmet (.323, 4, 23). Ernesto Garcia (.302, 31, 81) had a 4 HR, 9 RBI week and so continues to lap the field in both of those categories - he's also back to 5th in BA so watch out, Tiny Dancer! Alice Cooper (.247, 23, 57) and Angelo Martinez (.236, 19, 50) round out the top 3 in HRs and almost in RBIs; Royals' OF RJ Dominguez (.239, 15, 58) fell off the HR pace a few weeks ago but is still #2 in ribbies. Romero continues to lead the AL with 29 steals, followed by Ahnold (.250, 0, 11) with 21 and Danza with 17. Two less than ideal weeks by the Rangers' Chad "Dog" Daugharty (11-4, 2.02) mean that nobody in the AL has a sub-2.00 ERA. Daugharty is now 0-2, 3.00 through 4 starts in July; in any other year those are still good numbers. He' i's still 20 points ahead of the #2 guy Santos Rodriguez of the Orioles (8-5, 2.23), who had the "only technically" quality start (6 IP, 3 ER) in his only outing this week. The Tigers' Jimmy Goddard (9-6, 2.24) rounds out the top 3, one single point ahead of Red Sox stud Marco Sanchez (8-8, 2.25). It's another Bosox man, Michael Pesco (12-6, 2.52), who's #1 in wins, followed by Dog, the Indians' Jose Martinez (11-6, 2.32), and the Tigers' Edgar Molina (11-6, 2.47). This is going to be a close Cy Young race, I can see it already. Molina and Pesco are now actually tied in the K race with 143 of them apiece, with the former top guy Justin Kindberg only 10 strikeouts off with 133 of them - the 2-time Cy Young Award winner had a tough week, going 1-1 (hey!) with 7 earned runs allowed in 14 innings and only 6 Ks vs 5 walks. Willis Chavez (5-1, 1.52, 20 Sv) continues to be the stopper Oakland needs and is in the saves stratosphere. Twinkies stopper Travis Livingston (1-2, 0.74, 14 Sv) is next, followed by the Brewers' Matt Brock (3-4, 1.79, 13 Sv). Braves 2B Kevin Dwyer (.318, 12, 47) just got called bakc into active duty after sitting a few games with shoulder tendinitis. You can see why the Braves need him; he still leads the senior circuit in hitting and is one of just 4 guys with a plus-.300 average so far. The rest: Cincinnati Reds star Alonzo Huanosta (.309, 1, 35), the Mets' Barry Cooper (.306, 4, 29), and Huanosta teammate Pedro Ortiz (.301, 1, 19). Why are the Reds so bad!? Justin Stone (.265, 20, 59) just had a 2-HR game today (and a 3-HR week) to get him into a tie for the league lead with Cincy's(!) Jaden Weaver (.237, 20, 55). Cardinals' 3B Mike Galeana (.219, 19, 51) is right behind them and, perhaps most important to his long-term success, seems to no longer be flirting with the Timonem Line. The RBI race looks like Stone, Weaver, and Cubs' SS/OF Jeremy Taylor (.253, 17, 53), who himself is one good week away from that HR race. Pedro Ortiz continues to chase Alvin Romero in the MLB steals race; he has 26 to lead all NLers. Cubs' 3B Sean Gabel (.276, 1, 19) and Braves' LF Chris Ward (.298, 3, 11) are tied for 2nd with 15 apiece. Fernando Apolonio (11-5, 1.61) had a bad week that you can really only barely have if you want to set the ERA record. I mean, he only had one start but he allowed 5 ER in 7 IP to raise his ERA 40 points and put him just barely in front of the all-time mark of 1.65. Tony Rivera (15-5, 1.92) could get into that race but he'd have to string together a looot of scoreless innings to do so; he's still 2nd with the Expos' Frank Evans (7-4, 2.08) an unlikely 3rd in this race. Rivera's also put himself on pace to break the modern record of 27 wins with a 2-win week (2.65 ERA so he even fell off the ERA-record race). DJ Cheeves (12-4, 2.16) of the Pirates is 2nd with 12 Ws and two guys have 11 - Apolonio and Cheeves' teammate Santos Arango (11-9, 2.49). Roger Quintana (9-6, 2.59) had 15 Ks in 16.1 IP this week (he was otherwise 2-0, 1.65 and could be PotW for that) and now leads in the K race by 30 over Ernesto "Wild Thing" Carillo (4-10, 4.32) with 107 and Arango with 106. Alec Cosby (4-4, 2.78, 15 Sv), who's looked kind of bad since June (3-4, 6 Sv, 13 ER in 26.1 IP), and Paz Lemus (4-3, 2.64, 15 Sv) still co-lead in saves with the Cubs' Jesse Kelly (7-0, 1.81, 14 Sv) right behind them. ## Major Transactions July 10: The White Sox trade minor league P Ruben Estrada (3-7, 2.11 in AAA Tucson) and $20,000 to the Padres for 2B Yukio Hatoyama (.347, 2, 25). Hatoyama was blowing up AAA so hard that the Pads called him up recently but the guy is just plain not going to get PT with Paul McCartney (.268, 16, 49) in front of him. Instead, they ship him off for a bunch of cash and a "PTNBL" in Estrada. July 10: The Indians trade minor league 1B "Gregg Cooper" (.219, 10, 21 at AAA Portland) to the Royals for minor league RP Jake Callaway (1-3, 3.38, 3 Sv at AAA Omaha). "Cooper" is in quotes because he's 23 and is likely to make his MLB debut in time to get renamed. Cleveland is in bad need of pitching and the Royals can't seem to find a thing that fits at first base (plus DH is going to be a thing starting next year) while of course Cleveland's got Ernesto Garcia at the position. Cooper immediately becomes KC's #4 prospect. July 10: Yankees 2B Ty Stover (.186, 2, 8) announced his retirement rather than being cut loose by the team he's called home since 1955. Baseball endings are rarely good ones and this one, for the 11-time All Star, is no exception. Stover just wasn't able to get hits as a pinch-hitter and the team appears to have moved on at second base. He retires with 2,028 hits in spite of a .251 career average, 412 HRs, 1,302 RBIs, 10 Silver Slugger awards, the MVP in 1958, and a whole ton of World Series appearances. I'd peg his HOF chances at 101%. July 10: It's forced retirement day! Dodgers PH Jamal Rhone (.140, 0, 0) hit .264 in the same role last year but at age 39 he seems to have given up the ghost. Rhone spent his entire career, which also began in 1955, with the Dodgers, although he was only a starter for 4 seasons between 1959 and 1963. He'd carved out a decent space for himself since '64 as a part-time OFer and pinch-hitter, with the latter becoming a bigger and bigger component as he got older. This year he only started 5 games in 49 total appearances. Rhone finishes with a lifetime .274 average, 1,051 hits, and 2 World Series rings. July 12: The Indians acquire minor league P Ramon Lopez (0-1, 8.22 at AAA Omaha) for $5,000. Lopez has put up some baaad numbers this year thanks to 9 HRs allowed in 23 innings but he also has a 22/4 K/W ratio and has been good enough to get cups of coffee in the majors the past 2 seasons. KC brought him back last year after releasing him in January of 1970 (he spent that year in the Cardinals' organization) and now, at age 27, he's probably gone from their system for good. In Cleveland's case, they do need pitching and if he can turn those gopher issues around, he'd be a great relief pitcher. ## News July 10: MK-Ultra, a CIA program that tested drugs for mind control on unsuspecting people, is officially terminated after 19 years. Yes, this was actually a thing that happened. Its existence will be confirmed in 1977 in hearings by a Senate investivigative committee. July 10: An intentionally set fire on board the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal causes $7M worth of damage and is the largest act of sabotage in US Navy history. Seaman apprentice Jeffrey Allison will later be convicted of starting the blaze. The same ship was the site of a fire in 1967 that had killed 132 people. July 10: Sofia Vergara was born today! Her husband in Modern Family is playing in this league! July 10: The season appears to be over for Phillies SP Vince "The Eligible" Bachler (7-5, 2.91). The 25 year old left the game 3 days ago with shoulder inflammation and that hazy, ill-defined injury looks like it's going to just straight up take him out until... November. If I get winter leagues up and running this year, maybe he'll be a part of one of those. His loss elevates Billy Ording (4-2, 4.17) to the rotation, at least for now, although I'm not super sold on the 28 year old either - he was 10-15, 4.22 last year and just looks like a back of the rotation guy at best. July 10: Ernesto Garcia (.295, 27, 72) seems to be heating up and taking his fellow Indians along with him. Last week Garcia hit .414 - 12 for 29 - with 5 HRs and 12 RBIs(!) to win the AL Player of the Week award. That's 5 PotWs for him in his career, now equalling his Batter of the Month awards. And at this rate, he's going to get his 2nd MVP this year too. July 10: Over in the NL, it's a new guy but a much deserved reward nonetheless. Braves CF Michael Lee "Meatloaf" Aday (.342, 0, 17) hit a wicked .500 (16-32) with 7 doubles to take this bad boy home. Aday is fairly unique as a member of the Braves lineup inasmuch as he doesn't hit dingers but instead sets the table for everyone else. When you get a hit in literally half of your at-bats, nobody in Atlanta is going to care. This is Aday's first PotW and in fact the first bit of hardware he's won in the minor or major leagues. July 11: A long-anticipated chess match between the USSR's Boris Spassky and the USA's Bobby Fischer begins in Iceland at Reykjavik, nine days after the original start date. With no opponent present, Spassky moves pawn to queen-4 in the first of 24 games. Fischer arrives minutes later. July 11: US Senator George McGovern of South Dakota is assured the Democratic presidential nomination after his chief rivals, Hubert H. Humphrey and Edwin Muskie, announce that they will release their delegates to him. July 11: Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott, Alfred WOrden, and James Irwin are reprimanded for carrying 400 stamped envelopes to the Moon and back as a favor for West German stamp dealer Herman Sieger. July 11: Twins 3B and reigning MVP Mike Brookes (.200, 7, 17) has been laid up once more with an injury - this time knee tendinitis - and as a precaution and because their chances in the AL West seem to be dropping like a stone, they've elected to drop him on the disabled list for the duration. He should be 100% after the All-Star Break, and hopefully this will reap more dividends than repeatedly trying to play him hurt has so far this season. July 11: Bad day for AL 3rd basemen... Orioles man Mike "Sheriff" Morrison (.300, 0, 1), who Baltimore acquired over the offseason to provide some veterancy in the high chance that incumbent Marco Perez (.257, 6, 27) missed time, tore his abdominal muscle last month just 20 games played and 7 starts into the season and today learned that the injury will keep him out for the rest of the season. The O's had previously expected to bring the 2-time All-Star back after the All-Star Break. July 11: I guess it was only inevitable but Padres SP "Bronco Ben" Feldhusen (3-9, 3.69), who's managed to carve out a decent little cimeback after missing basically 2 1/2 seasons, had to leave the game today with shoulder tendinitis. He'll miss the next month and a half at least. Don Henley (6-12, 2.50 in AAA Hawaii), the 24 year old pitch-to-contact man who also has thoughts about hotels in California, will get the call to replace Feldhusen in the rotation. July 12: The "Intersputnik" Treaty, takes effect, formally creating the "Organization for Cooperation of Socialist Countries in Telephone and Postal Communications" agreement, which, in addition to whats implied by the name, also included sharing of satellite technology between Communist nations. Representatives from Albania, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, North Korea, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the USSR, and North Vietnam signed the treaty in November of 1971. July 12: Mother Teresa's mother, Drana Bojaxhiu, died today. July 13: The UK House of Commons narrowly approves their entry into the European Economic Community, voting the ratify the Treaty of Accession by a vote of 301-284 on its third reading. Thankfully, that's over now for them and they'll never need to worry about this issue again. July 13: The Democratic National Convention meets in Miami Beach, Florida, and formally nominates George McGovern as their candidate. McGovern is not able to find a running mate until late in the afternoon when Senator Thomas F. Eagleton of Missouri agrees to join the ticket. The formal nomination of Eagleton will not happen until 1:51 the next morning and as a result of that, McGovern will not issue his acceptance speech until most viewers have gone to bed. July 13: NFL owners Robert Irsay (formerly owner of the LA Rams) and Carroll Rosenbloom (formerly owner of the Baltimore Colts) swap franchises. The teams and their players are not moving as a result of this trade, although Irsay will eventually move the Colts to Indianapolis in the early 80s and Rosenbloom's widow will move the Rams to St. Louis. July 13: Adding, um, insult to injury following Mike Brookes' (.200, 7, 17) trip to the DL earlier in the week, 3B/OF Jeff Franks (.288, 7, 27) fractured his thumb in the Twins' victory over the Brewers yesterday and will miss the next month himself. Longtime Twins man Danny Pellot (.222, 1, 8) will take over the position while he and Brookes are out. July 13: Talk about all or nothing. Tigers SP Edgar Molina (11-6, 2.47) tied the American League record by striking out 16 batters today but also allowed 2 HRs and lost to the Kansas City Royals, 4-3. The homerizers were PH Jim Davis (.198, 5, 8), who's been relegated to the bench because all he does is hit HRs. and SS Mike Dawson (.217, 4, 16), who I guess does have good power for a middle infielder. Andy Lagunas (6-4, 2.24) took the win for the Royals with a far more pedestrian 7 inning, 4 BB, 6 K performance. Despite the loss, the performance now places Molina on top of the strikeout leader board in the junior circuit with 143 of them, just ahead of Michael Pesco's 135. July 14: McGovern finally gives his acceptance speech today at 2:30AM Eastern Time. He will later say "I finished at 3:15. Probably the best speech I ever gave in mhy life... but how many people saw it at 2:30 or 3 in the morning? I think my wife did. Maybe my mother if she didn't get too sleepy...". July 14: The Rangers lost their pitcher Andres Rivera (1-2, 6.55) for the season today after the middle reliever had a hot iron fall on his foot when he was ironing clothes. Why are you not leaving the wife to do these things, Andres!? It's the 70s! July 14: The Yankees (27-49, last AL East) are showing some weird signs of life this month. They swept a double-header against the A's today 1-0 and 4-1 and are now 9-5 from July 1 onwards. They've won 7 out of their last 8 and in their last 7 they've held opponents to 0 or 1 runs every time (their single loss was a 1-0 debacle at the hands of Rich Whetzel (5-7, 3.78)) and the Twins. "The kids are just playing for fun now," said veteran Tracy Mosher (5-9, 3.44) about the play of the pitching staff so far. He didn't pitch today but 23 year old John Carpenter (5-7, 3.34) and 24 year old Henning Mankell (1-2, 3.14) did. July 14: Milwaukee won the first game of a double-header on July 2nd, evening their record for the month up at 1-1. They have not won a game since and, with today's 2-1 loss to the Angels, they've now lost 11 in a row. In classic Milwaukee fashion they led 1-0 going into the 7th thanks to some quality starting pitching by Cris Olivares (6-8, 2.97) but then fell behind on a bunch of hits, the largest of which was an RBI double by Angels' cleanup hitter LF Lou Morgenstern (.242, 6, 31). That wound up being all California needed because their own starter Andy Ring (7-6, 2.30) was practically unhittable, allowing just 2 base knocks in the game and giving up his only run on a 1st inning error by 2B Jaco Pastorius (.212, 1, 11). "We've got to start banking these," said Ring after the game. "I don't care who we're playing, we need to get some distance between us and the other guys as quickly as possible." The Angels incidentally have a 3 1/2 game lead over the A's, who (see above) were swept in Yankee Stadium today by the worst team in baseball. July 15: Jane Fonda posed for photographs in front of a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun at Hanoi and today the first images of this shoot were printed in a newspaper in Poland. Pictures of the actress gazing through the gunsight of a weapon used to shoot down American planes during the ongoing Vietnam War will run worldwide tomorrow. July 15: According to the famous Charles Jencks quote, modern architecture - or, rather, Modern Architecture - died today at 3:32PM when several of the buildings in the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis are demolished in a widely televised event. The 33 buildings in the project will all be vacated and demolished over the next four years. Over the years, the project will become emblematic of the Modern Architecture movement along with its weaknesses. In the case of Pruitt-Igoe, the hostile architecture elements included deliberately small apartments with undersized kitchen appliances and "skip stop" elevators that forced most residents to walk up or down a flight or two of stairs to reach their unit. Originally opened only in 1954, the buildings were already beginning to lose the city money by 1960 repeated rent rises throughout that decade led to a 9-month rent strike by the tenants in 1969. Nevertheless, even at the end of things, 78% of residents reported that they were satisfied with their apartment. The site has remained vacant ever since, although there are currently plans to build a university building there as of 2020. July 15: The ground temperature at Death Valley, at the aptly named Furnace Creek, reached a record high of 201 degrees Fahrenheit(!). 201 degrees! That's 95 degrees Celsius to non-Americans. The air temperature was 129 degrees (55 C), 5 degrees off of the all-time air record, also recorded in Death Valley in 1913. July 15: The Brewers finally won their 2nd game in July thanks to Danny Plaunt (8-4, 2.56), who went 8+ shutout innings and also went 3-3 at the plate with 3 RBIs en route to a 4-0 victory over 1st place California. Plaunt was really looking like he was in cruise control on the mound through 7 but left the bases loaded in the 8th and allowed the first two batters he faced in the 9th, leading the Brew Crew to turn to stopper Matt Brock (3-4, 1.79, 13 Sv) to finish this one. David Camacho (9-4, 2.75) took the L for the Halos, who are still pretty good at 48-34. With the losing streak out of the way the Brewers can now concentrate on making up ground in the East: they're 11 1/2 out and 5 1/2 behind 4th place Cleveland. July 15: Houston edges Pittsburgh 4-3 in a weekend matchup that might be a preview of the NLCS; they're now up 2-0 for the weekend and if they sweep the double-header tomorrow then the Astros will improve to 9-3 against the Bucs this season. "We just have their number, I guess," said ace starter Tony Rivera (15-5, 1.92), who didn't have his finest stuff tonight but got the job done with a complete game. "But don't ask me, ask Jordan [Green]. When Jordan's setting the plate, we're hard to stop." Indeed, the 2nd baseman (.262, 6, 28) went 2-3 and drove in 2 runners from the leadoff spot, including Rivera himself on an 8th inning double that gave Houston the lead they held onto and which chased Pirates starter Jeremy Battaglia (6-12, 2.35). July 16: Metropolitan Bishop Demetrios Papadopoulous is selected as the 263rd Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and the leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Hey, Eastern Orthodox Church, you might want to review the status of "Constantinople"... July 16: Mafia kingpin Thomas Eboli is shot and killed in a drive-by shooting as he left his girlfriend's apartment in Brooklyn. As boss of the Genovese family since 1969 he had borrowed money from fellow mobster Carlo Gambino to fund a drug operation but the cops had busted it and, well, that made Gambino mad. Frank Tieri will succeed as the leader. July 16: Natalie Wood and and Richard Wagner remarry aboard the yacht "Ramblin' Rose", anchored off of Paradise Cove in Malibu, California. The two will stay together until Wood drowns in mysterious circumstances in 1981. In 2018, Wagner will be named a person of interest in a "cold case" investigation of Woods's death. July 16: Braves SS Ryan Dietrich (.169, 1, 7) is the latest of guys who need a big dose of "reality therapy"; the former All-Star who has hit over the Timonen line just once in the last 4 seasons demanded a "trade". Dietrich is still a solid defender at short and the Braves are still within shouting distance of the NL West but at 33, I think I'm just not going to mess around and grant him his "trade" to the circular file. 22 year old auteur Pedro Almodovar (.238, 5, 33 at AAA Richmond) isn't exactly a great hitter himself but he fields well, is more versatile than Dietrich, and best of all is 11 years younger. He'll take over and spell newly anointed starter Bill Clinton (.250, 2, 8). July 16: Time for the penultimate All-Star voting update! Below are the current standings for the American League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jul. 16th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Ernesto Garcia with 1,104,805 votes. CATCHER 1. Josh Lewis, Oakland Athletics: 792,344 2. Frank Abagnale, Baltimore Orioles: 764,873 3. Khalil Tabb, New York Yankees: 529,882 FIRST BASE 1. Ernesto Garcia, Cleveland Indians: 1,104,805 2. Mike Miller, Boston Red Sox: 869,761 3. Alice Cooper, Chicago White Sox: 865,524 SECOND BASE 1. Joey Ramone, Detroit Tigers: 809,182 2. Daniel Gilmet, Minnesota Twins: 755,534 3. T.J. Pritchett, Cleveland Indians: 713,907 THIRD BASE 1. Tom Weiss, New York Yankees: 993,182 2. Marco Perez, Baltimore Orioles: 869,962 3. Mike Brookes, Minnesota Twins: 819,996 SHORTSTOP 1. Justin Ramey, Minnesota Twins: 807,067 2. Richard Simmons, California Angels: 703,012 3. Michael Luna, Texas Rangers: 651,071 LEFT FIELD 1. R.J. Domínguez, Kansas City Royals: 1,032,264 2. Lou Morgenstern, California Angels: 728,905 3. Bruce Springsteen, Boston Red Sox: 683,535 CENTER FIELD 1. Alvin Romero, Detroit Tigers: 1,068,078 2. Dave Corona, Kansas City Royals: 956,135 3. Carlos Hernandez, California Angels: 572,186 RIGHT FIELD 1. Tom Brown, Boston Red Sox: 880,031 2. Tony Danza, Kansas City Royals: 780,232 3. Jun Kim, Milwaukee Brewers: 766,058 STARTING PITCHER 1. Marco Sanchez, Boston Red Sox: 491,590 2. Justin Kindberg, Boston Red Sox: 491,439 3. Michael Pesco, Boston Red Sox: 481,378 4. Jimmy Goddard, Detroit Tigers: 472,865 5. Jose Martinez, Cleveland Indians: 463,189 RELIEVER 1. Malcolm Post, Chicago White Sox: 543,491 2. Sandy Hinojosa, Boston Red Sox: 529,654 3. Montay Luiso, Baltimore Orioles: 526,580 4. Matt Brock, Milwaukee Brewers: 479,995 5. Travis Livingston, Minnesota Twins: 476,601 His career numbers show Garcia is batting .250 with a total of 249 home runs. Below are the current standings for the National League All-Star Fan voting (as of Sun. Jul. 16th , 1972) for the All-Star Game, which will be played on Tue. Jul. 25th , 1972. The top vote getter at this point is Kevin Dwyer with 1,054,747 votes. CATCHER 1. Jason Bushon, New York Mets: 966,057 2. John Stuart, St. Louis Cardinals: 857,971 3. Armando Flores, Atlanta Braves: 684,813 FIRST BASE 1. Justin Stone, Los Angeles Dodgers: 1,043,243 2. Antonio Lopez, Chicago Cubs: 1,043,075 3. Lorenzo Martinez, St. Louis Cardinals: 920,842 SECOND BASE 1. Kevin Dwyer, Atlanta Braves: 1,054,747 2. Paul McCartney, San Diego Padres: 937,761 3. Pedro Ortiz, Cincinnati Reds: 837,602 THIRD BASE 1. Pete Little, Houston Astros: 745,642 2. Mike Galeana, St. Louis Cardinals: 714,944 3. Vicente Luna, Atlanta Braves: 708,523 SHORTSTOP 1. Jeremy Taylor, Chicago Cubs: 876,713 2. Tony Shannon, Philadelphia Phillies: 867,388 3. Akiho Fujimoto, San Francisco Giants: 752,119 LEFT FIELD 1. Rafael Disla, St. Louis Cardinals: 858,339 2. Justin Lawson, Pittsburgh Pirates: 812,816 3. Alonzo Huanosta, Cincinnati Reds: 776,796 CENTER FIELD 1. Alex Vallejo, Chicago Cubs: 952,033 2. Bryant Tarala, Philadelphia Phillies: 862,808 3. George Foreman, Houston Astros: 830,488 RIGHT FIELD 1. Jaden Weaver, Cincinnati Reds: 1,033,075 2. Barry Cooper, New York Mets: 838,585 3. Henry Riggs, Atlanta Braves: 806,651 STARTING PITCHER 1. Tony Rivera, Houston Astros: 312,964 2. George House, Atlanta Braves: 308,090 3. Steve Waiters, Cincinnati Reds: 297,324 4. Santos Arango, Pittsburgh Pirates: 282,519 5. Ben Feldhusen, San Diego Padres: 246,459 RELIEVER 1. John Winn, Atlanta Braves: 413,431 2. Geoff Saus, New York Mets: 344,856 3. Pete Lynn, Cincinnati Reds: 327,729 4. Paz Lemus, Pittsburgh Pirates: 285,434 5. Charlie Bechtel, San Francisco Giants: 274,201 In his career, Dwyer has compiled a .315 batting average and collected 1957 hits, 209 home runs and 842 RBIs. July 16: In the most Tigers Stadium game I've ever seen, the Royals' Henry Rollins (2-0, 2.37) no-hit Detroit for 6 1/3 innings before falling apart and giving way to the bullpen. Now only up 4-3, KC got a 5-spot in the top of the 8th... and both teams went insane until it was actually *tied* at 13-13 after 9 innings. Unfortunately for Detroit, they used up all of their mojo coming back, as they were unable to score in the 10th and 11th and watched the Royals put up 2 more in the top of the final frame to win it, 15-13. 2B James Ellroy (.361, 3, 13) went 4-6 with 5 RBIs and a homerun in this game, which also spelled the probable end to Royals hurler Jose Chavez' (1-10, 5.95) career; he gave up his 20th and 21st HRs of the year in the 8th to help bring Detroit right back into this and was silently cashiered following the game. July 16: ...and the Brewers, after breaking their 11 game losing streak yesterday, begin a brand new one today by dropping both games of a double-header vs. California, 4-2 and 4-0. I mean, hey, Cal is maybe the best team in baseball but jeezola the Brew Crew is fading faaast. A 2-run HR by OF Steve Winwood (.245, 3, 6) was the only scoring Milwaukee got at all today. Somehow this offense, which itself looked like it might be record-breakingly bad last year, is only 3rd worst in the AL; we'll see how that continues, I guess. July 16: The Braves blow out the Cubs 9-4 at their home park to avoid the series sweep and stay within shouting distance of the Astros. 2B Kevin Dwyer (.318, 12, 47), still recovering from a shoulder injury he suffered back in the middle of June, was back in the lineup today and went 4-for 5 with 3 runs, 3 RBIs, and a homerun. It was PH/1B "Cranklin" Martinez' (.197, 4, 13) grand salami in the 7th off of reliever Freddy Uscanga (1-3, 4.50) that turned out to be the real back-breaker though. "We know how to win and we've been here before," said the no-nonsense Dwyer after the game. "We intend to be there in October." ## Teams in Review July 10: They've been (surprisingly?) treading water but since we're basically at the halfway point in the season, treading water means 40 losses for the Chicago White Sox (36-40, 4th AL West, 10 GB) and so it's time to take a deeper look. They're average on offense and near the bottom on D, which doesn't look to me like a .500 team but hey, what do you do. Given that this is also a team with no aims at the division title and already double-digits behind the Angels, it may be time to pack it in and look at rookies (to the extent that that's not already happening). We'll see! Rotation: Mick Fleetwood (3-8, 4.12) is the first guy I'd look at to remove, as he's been a little too generous with the longball (11 HRs in 94 innings) but dude's also only 24 and I'd like to see the young musician drum(?) his way into shape. The only +30 guy in the rotation is Chris Messina (6-7, 3.24) and he's holding the fort pretty well... I mean, I guess a 3.24 is average this year but it's still the best on the roster for guys who've started at least 10 games. Bullpen: I went down to 4 guys in the 'pen to make space for Hatoyama (see the transactions list above) so... guys will just need to pitch more. I've already begun to use Malcolm Post (4-2, 1.40, 11 Sv) in the manner of a 60s/70s stopper (well, at least to the extent I'm able to... I'm kind of bad at that) and that'll just get ratcheted up. The current guys in the bullpen all have sub-4 ERAs and I think Jerry Blackwell's (5-4, 3.91) is only as high as it is because the Rule 5 pick was asked to start. Infield: C Mike Perez (.175, 1, 8) hit .165 2 years ago before bouncing back to .234 last year and... I guess a sub-.200 average is his actual level at this point, so I've been using Luis Garcia (.255, 2, 11) instead. That said... ugh. Garcia's 36 so he's not at all the catcher of the future (Perez is 34). I've got to mix things up, don't I... out goes Garcia on waivers - we'll see if he clears - and in comes 26 year old Claudio Padilla (.225, 6, 17 at AAA Tucson). Padilla doesn't look like the future either but at least he's under 30 and he does field well. I just acquired 2B Yukio Hatoyama (again, SEE ABOVE) and he's in a 2B platoon now with Chance Hopka (.229, 1, 15), who I installed at the position after bringing him over late last year from California. He's clearly not the answer, unfortunately. He is a fantastic fielder at 2nd but you kind of need a bit more with the bat, my man. Although... now that he's released from 2nd, he can join the logjam at short... SS Chris Morgan (.203, 0, 12) is doing a decent job of fielding the position but man, a .203 average is already bad and he's got to have just about the emptiest .203 average I've ever seen: 7 walks in 182 at-bats and 4 extra base hits. He's still 24 and only Hopka fields at his level so I'm going to continue to use him this year but maaaaan that's bad. Outfield: Another guy who's going to get DFA'd here is LF Brandon Kane (.136, 0, 1). He was a part-time starter and pinch-hitter last year and hit .306 but just plain has not been able to handle the larger "just a PH" role, which is disappointing to say the least given that that would have put him first in line for DH next season. Instead, I'm calling up Morroccan/Sahrawi activist / CF Mohamed Abdelaziz (.240, 7, 29), a former 1st round pick with the Royals who was traded to Chicago for C Nick McIntyre (.134, 0, 5). That could wind up being a fantastic trade for the Sox if this guy winds up being good. For now, he'll bat vs RHP and allow Arnold Schwarzenegger (.201, 0, 11) to try to find his hitting stroke a little further down in the order (he'll still start in RF; Abdelaziz displaces Ian Everett (.218, 2, 18), who's been a replacement-level hitter for the past year and a half now). July 12: It wasn't so long ago that the Milwaukee Brewers (34-40, 5th AL East, 10 1/2 GB) were hitting above their weight and having the best year out of any of the 4th year expansion teams. Then they opened July in a 1-10 slump and... here we are. The numbers suuuure don't look like a .500 team to me - 10th in runs scored, 9th in runs allowed - and I'd lean more towards trying out more youth than shooting for whatever would count as contention. Still, I think we mostly did that going into the season... Rotation: Victor Marin (4-9, 3.96) seems like the weak spot of the rotation and he's also the oldest. He's also, as you might imagine, the guy with the largest track record of success - well, "success" - having gone 16-11, 3.91 in 1968. 16 wins is nice! An ERA of almost 4 in the Year of the Pitcher is not. He did play in Wrigley so there's that. He hasn't had an ERA below 4 since that season, which is definitely a point against him. Still, I think I'm just going to leave him there. Bullpen: Julio Garcia (0-0, 5.40 in AAA Evansville) played 41.1 innings in 1970, tore his UCL in July of that year, and since then has pitched this one rehab assignment since. I'm still going to call him up just based on Jordan Irons (1-3, 4.89) being completely unable to hit the strike zone (26 walks vs 8 Ks in 42.1 IP). The 'pen has got itself a lot of sore spots. Man. Pedro Chavez (2-2, 4.19) has also been pretty bad. He doesn't have options remaining though so if I choose to dump him, it's probably for good, and I don't see anyone in Evansville looking like a good guy to bring up (like, there's one single guy with a sub-4 ERA and he's only striking out 3.3 batters per 9, which is bad even for 1972), so he keeps that job for now. Infield: The Chris Flores (.182, 0, 8) end of the catcher slot isn't hitting but he's got good defense (unlike 24 year old starter Adam Brown (.229, 3, 18), who has the rep of having a less than fantastic arm, although he's throwing out a competitive 31.1% of runners). The guy in AAA, Ken Hall (.187, 5, 28) is hitting at Flores levels in the minors so no changes shall be made. I'm not really convinced that Barney Leriche (.233, 1, 9) is working out either and maybe I'll make former Royals prospect Sergio Sicre (.313, 1, 6) the full-time starter (he's the man vs RHP) come August or so but hey, Leriche has had power in the past, in the Big A no less, and he should find it again. Mauro Magoni (.156, 5, 20) has been a pretty nifty fielder at the hot corner and has hit .293 in seasons past. He's just plain not hitting this year. He was starting but man.... the guy is 33 and looks like he's done. I'm releasing him outright and calling up 2B/3B Pat Jones (.214, 0, 2 at AAA Evansville) to take over. I wouldn't be super surprised if he gets himself cut loose within a month either. Francisco Martinez (.236, 0, 7) at this point has to be thinking what he has to do to win his job back. The answer is, do better, Francisco. The good news for Martinez is that he's still only 25 so he just might outlast everyone. I'd been spelling Guido Temudo (.215, 2, 9) a lot vs RHP because of fears that he wouldn't hit. And... he's not hitting but when the backup Andrew Yeater (.194, 2, 7) is not only also not hitting but looks like a statue out there at shortstop, it seems clear that Temudo should be playing more just for the sake of the rest of the team. Outfield: LF Jacquot Mazzucato (.240, 10, 30) got promoted to cleanup because he's far and away the best power hitter on the team. As much as I'd prefer to put him down in the lineup, the Rule V pick is making things kind of clear in terms of where he should play. We've already got an all-non-USAer platoon in right, with Steve Winwood (.244, 2, 4) paired with USSR man (and future Kazakhstani) Nurlan Balgimbayev (.200, 0, 1) trying to complement each other as best they can. As you can see from the splits, they kind of are not so far; as you might expect, there's not a lot readily available to challenge them with so the two 24 year olds will probably hold here for the forseeable future. Maybe one or both of them will even shift to DH next year! July 16: Both of the NL West runners-up are getting a look today, starting with the Atlanta Braves (43-40, 2nd NL West, 6 1/2 GB). In truth, this is turning into a boat race in the division although it's definitely not too late to get back. In order to do so they're going to need to get better performances from their starting pitching in particular but I'm also still waiting for RF Henry Riggs (.261, 11, 37) to bust out. As you'd expect from a Launching Pad based team, the hitting (3rd in the NL in runs scored, 5th in baseball) is ahead of the pitching (8th in runs allowed in the NL, 15th in baseball in ERA). Rotation: With Colin Rose (7-8, 3.89) out for the next week with an elbow strain, the options are kind of limited here. I'm actually a little surprised that this team is as strong as 6th in the NL in starters' ERA (3.61); it seems like the starting staff is constantly getting the team into holes that they only sometimes dig out of. I'm especially disappointed in George House (7-7, 3.91), who won 23 games last year but has looked like a mid-rotation guy at best so far. Long-man Jake Cari (3-2, 2.06) is in the hole vacated by Rose and might stay in here even after I figure out what to do with the knuckleballing Rose. Bullpen: I'm a big fan of the front of this bullpen but... well, fine, it's really just Chuugo Takahashi (0-1, 5.21) that I'm bothered by. I'm going to go ahead and send him down in favor of Mark Ferguson (0-1, 2.40), who's mostly just looked like a control guy in the minors but he seems like a guy we'll lose in the Rule V anyway so hey, giving him a chance. Infield: Dante Chairez (.230, 17, 39) leads the team in dingers but he's kind of not performing well, especially against lefties (.190, 3, 8, .582 OPS) so I'm going to work him into a platoon with "Cranklin" Martinez (.188, 3, 9), who himself has been hitting pretty poorly as the team's primary PH but maybe he'll do better here. I wanted to give 2B Kevin Dwyer (.309, 11. 44) and his shoulder tendinitis more of a chance to rest but his backup David Oddson (.200, 2, 4) has been very meh in replacement and I'm going to choose to panic. Dwyer's back - hey, 2nd base doesn't require much of an arm, right? - and he's the 3-hole guy again. Outfield: I may be pressing the panic button here a bit but even if I wasn't, OF Wolf "The Situation Room" Blitzer (.314, 17, 52 at AAA Richmond) is hitting so well in the minors that I have almost no choice but to call him up. I slightly hate to use him instead of LF Chris Ward (.300, 3, 11), who's done a fine job as the leadoff guy when he's healthy, but Blitzer's just hitting way too well to not be in the lineup at least sometimes. Man, we've got a crowded crew. I would consider spelling Riggs in RF but a. both Blitzer and Riggs are lefty hitters and b. that's blasphemy. July 16: The "other" plus-.500 NL West team, the Los Angeles Dodgers (42-40, 3rd NL West, 7 GB) were still kinda sorta in a rebuilding phase this year - I mean, when does an LA-based team ever rebuild? but still - and didn't really expect to be this good already. And so I'm a little unsure what to do here... I think we're still too far away from really being in the mix to make drastic moves. The team is kind of the opposite of the Braves/Cubs "score a million runs" model: 9th in the NL in runs scored (17th overall) although the team ERA is a little shaky at 12th in the MLB. That's pretty much entirely due to the bullpen being 2nd worst in the NL with a 3.82. Rotation: We are the Dodgers and we run a 5-man. PERIOD. Rogelio Salinas (9-4, 3.97) seems like the most worthy guy to pull out but his peripherals still look good to me so no. Maybe Carlos Figueroa (4-9, 3.60)? He does have the "benefit" of being awful last year (11-14, 4.69) but here, too, the iffy ERA hides a goodly number of strikeouts (93 in 115 IP) and I don't exactly trust anyone currently in the bullpen to be better. Bullpen: Former starter Aidan Williams (5-5, 4.99) has gone from bad to worse in the bullpen and somehow the 29 year old still has an option year left so I'm going to use it in favor of fellow lefty Derek Massey (5-11, 2.83 at AAA Spokane), a 26 year old rookie who looks like he's taken a step forward with his change-up to get Ks. Hopefully Williams can figure it out in AAA. Infield: This crowded infield is getting even more crowdeder but with 2B Danny Fager (.224, 4, 15) not pulling his weight I'm feeling the need or at least the want to call up 27 year old Ben Toscano (.261, 4, 32 at AAA Albuquerque) to spell him a bit. Toscano got a cup of coffee with this team last year so it's not out of the question for him to get used here, although he does not at all look like the 2B of the future. One big factor in bringing up Toscano instead of using the guys who are already up in this role is that Fager is a 2 time Gold Glover with his former team, the Baltimore Orioles, and everyone else is kind of not good at fielding. Toscano at least is adequate. I'm also going to turn the reins at shortstop over to Rule 5 pick Tommy Martin (.306, 0, 9), who's a potential Gold Glover whose main thing keeping him out of the mix in Atlanta was a lack of hitting. As long as he hits anywhere near .300, he's more than adequate for this job. Justin Henderson (.234, 0, 14) moves all the way to the bench wth prospecty type Luis Solis (.273, 1, 8) taking over as the backup. Outfield: I won't say that everything's fine here but everything is kind of adequate. I might use Ray Costa (.216, 8, 39) less when he comes back from back stiffness because Ronnie Yitzhaki (.273, 2, 5) is looking kind of like the real deal out there but we'll make that decision when we need to.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
10-18-2023, 12:13 PM
|
#214 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
July 17-23, 1972 (Pre-AS BREAK WEEK)
## Standings / Recap / Comments387
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 53 35 .602 - 379 296 Baltimore Orioles 50 38 .568 3 328 274 Boston Red Sox 47 39 .547 5 318 270 Cleveland Indians 46 41 .529 6½ 344 303 Milwaukee Brewers 41 46 .471 11½ 280 326 New York Yankees 31 54 .365 20½ 259 300 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 54 38 .587 - 325 291 Oakland Athletics 49 42 .538 4½ 337 352 Minnesota Twins 44 43 .506 7½ 326 322 Chicago White Sox 41 49 .456 12 312 358 Texas Rangers 41 49 .456 12 251 294 Kansas City Royals 33 56 .371 19½ 314 387 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cubs 52 38 .578 - 367 368 Pittsburgh Pirates 49 39 .557 2 296 248 St. Louis Cardinals 49 39 .557 2 362 327 Philadelphia Phillies 48 40 .545 3 347 330 Montreal Expos 38 49 .437 12½ 277 328 New York Mets 36 51 .414 14½ 300 360 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 52 40 .565 - 316 312 Atlanta Braves 49 42 .538 2½ 364 336 Los Angeles Dodgers 44 45 .494 6½ 307 319 San Diego Padres 43 46 .483 7½ 348 340 San Francisco Giants 41 52 .441 11½ 303 298 Cincinnati Reds 34 54 .386 16 339 360 MAJOR SHAKEUP IN THE BATTING RACE as we head to the break too! Well, not MAJOR but Minnesota 2B Daniel Gilmet (.337, 5, 30) went 13 for 28 this week to take the lead. He also officially made his first All-Star Game since 1965 so it's been a pretty great past seven days for the 34 year old. Alvin ROmero (.330, 1, 27) is still in the 2 spot which means that Tony Danza (.328, 1, 25) "slumped" his way all the way to 3rd with a 9-31 week (which is still good for a .290 average, hence "slumped" being in quotes). Danza will console himself with his own first trip to the Midsummer Classic. There was a double-header in there where it looked like Ernesto Garcia (.294, 33, 86) might have his HR lead if not his RBI lead challenged by young White Sox star and noted eyeshadow wearer Alice Cooper (.248, 26, 62) but Garcia quickly made it moot. Cooper does have the 2nd highest HR total in all of baseball. #3 in the AL (also #3 in the MLB) is old man Angelo Martinez (.235, 22, 55), doing what he can to keep the Minnesota Twins above water while they wait for Mike Brookes to return. The RBI race is identical to the HR race except that the 3-hole man is KC's RJ Dominguez (.243, 16, 61), who might be an AS Game scratch due to a lingering back injury. Romero continues to lap the field in steals with 35, followed by Ahnold (.199, 0, 12) with 24 and a TIE between teammates Tony Danza and Dave Corona (.264, 9, 21). Corona by the way appears to have missed out on the Game although I wouldn't call his staying at home a "snub" exactly. Chad "Dog" Daugharty (12-4, 1.91) threw a shutout in the only game he pitched this week and now he's the only qualifier in the AL with a sub-2 ERA. He's followed by the O's Santos Rodriguez (10-5, 2.03), who earned a ticket to his own first AS appearance and went 2-0, 0.53 in the past seven days to boot. Just baaarely in 3rd now is fellow first-time AS Jose Martinez (11-6, 2.17), all of 2 points in front of the veteran Tigers man Jimmy Goddard (11-6, 2.19), who did, to be fair, punch his own AS ticket for the first time since 1967 (he finished 17-11, 2.32 that year). Michael Pesco (13-6, 2.65) leads all ALers in wins, followed by two 12-game guys: Daugharty and Edgar Molina (12-7, 2.66) of the Tigers. Molina did *not* make the All-Star roster, which yes, that is a snub. Molina also leads everyone in Ks with 156, 9 ahead of both Pesco and Pesco's Red Sox teammate Justin Kindberg (11-8, 2.90). I'd probably put Molina in over Kindberg but then Kindberg's got the past-season hardware, including 2 Cys, so I can somewhat understand. Willis Chavez (5-2, 1.73) crossed the 20 save mark already and he's well ahead of the Twins' Travis Livingston (1-2, 0.67) and the O's Montay Luiso (4-3, 2.47), who both have 15. The NL batting race is now led by 12-time All-Star Kevin Dwyer (.319, 13, 50), who fought off injuries to hit .333 (10-30) for the week. He's ahead of the Reds' Alonzo Huanosta (.311, 1, 39), aka the only other +.300 hitter in the league, as the third place man, triple crown threat Antonio Lopez (.299, 19, 45) of the Cubs, is just barely below that mark. Jaden Weaver (.234, 22, 61) might wish that he's still an Astro with the way his team is playing but there's no denying the league-leading HR power (and league-leading RBI total as well). Two other NLers have 20 HRs: Cardinals 3B Mike Galeana (.222, 20, 57) and the very, very familiar face of Justin Stone (.255, 20, 59), who's got himself 452 ding-dongs at the "young" age of 32. The RBI race is slightly flip-flopped with Weaver leading Stone and Galeana in that order; Padres 2B / Wings frontman Paul McCartney (.274, 18, 56) is right there in terms of clutch. For steals, Cincinnati's Pedro Ortiz (.290, 1, 19) has been one heck of a table-setter for Weaver this year and leads the league with 26 base thefts, followed by Sean Gabel (.291, 1, 23) with 17 and Chris Ward (.301, 4, 14) with 16. Ward's a guy who was just looking like he was going to move to a backup role in Atlanta but was "saved" by the injury to their star RF Henry Riggs. He's definitely a guy who could catch up to Lopez if he played regularly. Fernando Apolonio (12-5, 1.63) just baaaaarely maintained his pace to break the all-time ERA record (1.65) this week. Will he make it? He's trailed by a suprising Frank Evans (8-5, 2.00) of the Expos, who by the way will *not* be their lone All-Star - that honor goes to SS Hudson Watts - and the DJ Cheeves (12-4, 2.14) of the Pirates. Tony Rivera (15-7, 2.18) pitched his way out of the ERA race, at least temporarily, with an 0-2, 5.28 week. I'd say he could use the rest but he'll be the AS Game starter for the NL. 3 men in the NL have 12 victories: Apolonio, Cheeves, and Cheeves' Pirates teammate Santos Arango (12-10, 2.58), who, maaan has gotten a lot of decisions this year. The Phillies' Roger Quintana (9-6, 2.59) has 6 no-decisions so far, otherwise he'd probably be up there too; as it stands he leads the NL in Ks with 143 of them, with Arango a mile behind at 120 and Ernesto "Wild Thing" Carrillo (5-10, 4.21) and Cardinals underachiever Raul Mendoza (5-9, 3.85) tied with 114 apiece. The NL leader in saves is, still surprisingly to me, the Cubs' Jesse Kelly (7-1, 2.35) with 17 of them. Kelly went from being kind of awful (8-7, 4.90) as a left-handed pitcher in Yankee Stadium last year to being the ace of Chicago's staff in spite of playing half his games in Wrigley Field (he in fact is 5-0, 1.91 with 9 saves at home). Paz Lemus (6-3, 2.39) is right behind him with 16 saves, followed by Alec Cosby (4-4, 2.61) still in this hunt with 15 of them (although adding to that total would mean the Dodgers would have to get back to winning games again). ## Major Transactions July 18: The Tigers release OF Adam Dittmar (.146, 4, 24). Dittmar did hit .263/15/72 last year and just turned 30 yesterday but he's always kind of been a hit-or-miss low average guy and it really looks to me like the bottom has dropped out of his swing. Bye, Adam; hope you find work elsewhere. July 20: The A's send OF Elijah Wright (.246, 1, 5), SS Donald Fagen (.237, 0, 7), and minor league P Ronnie van Zant (8-3, 3.01 in AAA Iowa) to the Rangers, receiving 3B David Salinas (.202, 1, 11) and SS Tyler Knight (.231, 3, 14). Is this a white flag trade for the Rangers? Salinas has been pretty bad this year and Knight, a 3-time Gold Glove Award winner himself, hasn't been super-fantastic himself. They get 3 under-25 guys to fill out the roster for the future. From the A's perspective, Salinas can hopefully return to his old hitting form and spell the equally struggling Chase Jones (.191, 5, 24) for them at third whereas Tyler Knight will start at 2nd base, where he won the Gold Gloves. July 20: To make room for the new guys, the A's anounce the retirement of 1B Jon Skelton (.228, 2, 9). Skelton "only" made the All-Star Game 4 times in his career but somehow managed to stick around as a regular until he was 41 and in this league until he was 43. He's old enough that he made the move from Brooklyn to LA with the Dodgers, although he wound up playing the most games in his career with the other LA team, the expansion Angels. ## News July 17: Two explosions, believed to be caused by American mines that had washed away after having been laid in North Vietnam's ports, damaged the American destroyer USS Warrington beyond repair. The damage made the Warrington the only American warship to be lost in the Vietnam War. July 17: Speaking of being lost, Yankees CF Ryan Johnston (.258, 7, 19), who'd been one of the few guys hitting his weight in the Bronx outfield, found that he tore his labrum on the 14th and will be out until somewhere around Opening Day of next year. Johnston, an All-Star in 1967, had moved on from the Cubs after they opted to use him in center for most of the year. July 17: Some younger guys winning PotW awards here! In the AL it's Tigers' racecar driver slash first baseman Niki Lauda (.317, 9, 30), who's quickly made himself an indispensable member of this lineup. He went 12 for 23 (.523 average) this past week with 3 HRs and 9 RBIs to edge Ernesto Garcia for the award. This is Lauda's first PotW award and in fact his first major-league hardware; he was also the IL/AA MVP last season after going .314/17/61 in just 95 games with Toledo. July 17: I mentioned this guy in passing in the DINGERS race but Cardinals 3B Mike Galeana (.219, 19, 51) went 10 for 22 (.455) with 5 HRs and 9 RBIs to vault himself into the NL homer race and also get his average well over .200 on the year. Galeana also has 54 walks in 269 at-bats so he's no slouch when it comes to getting on base either (a .347 OBP). This is already Galeana's 2nd PotW award in his 2nd season; he also was the Silver Slugger at 3rd last year and the NLCS MVP. July 18: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat surprises the world with an announcement that he has asked the USSR to withdraw all of their military advisors and other personnel. Sadat concluded that the presence of the Soviets had hindered his ability to run the country. More than 20,000 Soviets left the country after Sadat's order. July 18: Phillies' 2B Victor Serna (.182, 4, 18) is demanding a spot in the lineup (not a trade, at least not yet). This is a guy who was an MVP candidate as recently as 2 years ago (.224/37/107 in 1970) but he was bad last year (.200/22/71) and lost his starting job this year. He's still only 31 and I'm hopeful he can get it back (although not thaaat hopeful; his career is as a guy who strikes out way too much and that big HR output seemed like a one-year wonder type of deal). What I am going to do for now is send him down to AAA Eugene to see if he can find his stroke. Amazingly, he accepted the demotion. This also gives me the leeway to move utility man Nate Rowe (.256, 8, 35) to 2nd base and call up speedster / literal track star Alberto Juantorena (.264/12/42 with 27 SB at AAA Eugene). July 18: Echoing real life somewhat - the Padres' Steve Arlin IRL threw a no-hitter into the 9th before it was broken up by a single to Denny Doyle - the A's Carlos Torres (1-2, 3.00) had a no-no going into the 9th when pinch-hitter Sergio Sicre (.286, 1, 6) singled with 1 out in the 9th. Just a couple pitches later, CF Ross Poynor (.252, 7, 28) broke up the shutout by blasting his 7th HR of the season. The A's still won this one handily, 5-2. This was the second game of a double-header in Milwaukee County Stadium; the Brewers also dropped the first game and are now 2-16 for the month of July. July 19: In the Battle of Mirbat, nine British Special Air Service troops led by Captain Mike Kealy successfully repel an invasion by 250 guerrillas seeking to overthrow the government of Oman... well, according to their own reports, at least. 38 bodies of the attacking PFLOAG guerrillas were recovered, although the SAS said that somehow they killed more than 200 of them. July 19: The Salvarodan military send troops and armor into the University of El Salvador and arrest more than 800 students and members of the faculty. The university will be closed for 2 years. Universities and dictatorships: historically not a good mix. July 19: A six month old baby was killed by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA in Strabane, Northern Ireland. July 19: Dodgers OF Ray Costa (.216, 8, 39) has been fighting back stiffness for the past week or so and now it looks like there's no end to his miseries in sight. I've largely kept him out of the lineup while he was recuperating because, well, he hasn't been that good (I guess his clutch hitting is still holding together) and I'd prefer to only use him at 100%. So... he'll just keep sitting it out and hopefully he'll get better soon. July 19: Angels OF Chris Tyree (.289, 2, 26), a guy who flashes All-Star potential at times but just can't stay healthy, tore his meniscus in his knee making a diving catch in the outfield today and will miss the remainder of the season. The silver lining to this dark cloud is that the Halos won today 4-2 at Fenway Park against a surging Red Sox team and are now 3 1/2 games up on the rest of the division. I guess the second half of the season will be Minzengo Pinda's (.250, 0, 2) chance to show what he can do. July 19: Tigers SP Jimmy Goddard (10-6, 2.12) tied his career high of 4 shutouts today with a 7-0 romp over the White Sox at Tigers Stadium. Goddard, who's somehow only made the All-Star Game once (back in 1967; he was 17-11. 2.32) has a pitching arsenal rather uniquely suited for his home park: though never a wizard at getting guys to swing and miss at his stuff (I guess TBF he's a little above average with a lifetime 5.9 K/9 rate), Goddard never throws the ball over large parts of the plate and as such prevents homeruns even in the bandbox that is his home park (fun trivia time: the term "bandbox" was originally used to describe the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, I think more because of its unique shape than its proclivity for HRs to occur there) (well, it's fun to me!). This year he's allowed just 6 HRs in 178 IP, which is among the league leaders, and stat nerds tell me that his 5.5 "WAR" (HUH GOOD GOD WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING amirite???) leads the AL. A slightly less stat nerdy stat is that he leads the AL in quality starts with 19 and is 2nd in ERA. July 20: Sun Pinghua of the Peoples' Republic of China arrives in Tokyo to meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Masayoshi Ohira, renewing Sino-Japanese relations for the first time since the Second World War. July 20: 15 year old Lynne Cox sets a new record for swimming the English Channel, becoming the first person to make the crossing from England to France in less than 10 hours, at 9 minutes 57 seconds. This record will be broken later this year by Richard Hart, whose record Cox will go on to break herself in following years. July 20: Friedrick Flick died at the age of 89. Flick was a German billionaire who was convicted of war crimes by the Nuremburg tribunal for using slave labor during World War II. July 20: Giants 1B Justin Richens (.247, 4, 20), who was expected to provide the team with some clutch hitting, especially after they traded away their #3 hitter Barry Cooper, tore a muscle in his back and will be out for the season. As Richens is 40 years old and on his 5th team in 4 years (he was released out of spring training by the Reds before he appeared in an at-bat for them and signed with the Giants right after the strike ended), this may also be the end of his career. Richens made the All-Star Game 10 times and just collected his 2,500th hit on the 29th of June. July 20: White Sox C Mike Perez (.164, 1, 8) got demoted from starting recently and, well, he's complaining that he wants to start again. You can see from the basic slashes why he's not. Perez did recover from a disastrous .165 season in 1970 to hit .234/18/58 last season but he's not even hitting for power this year so probably all that's going to happen here is if he gets mad enough to demand a trade, I'll just "trade" him into the ether. July 20: WELP I guess I know who plays DH next year at least... Tigers 1B/2B Danny Villegas (.296, 7, 24) sprained his knee sliding into 2nd base on a play today in today's 5-2 win over the Rangers and will be out for 2 months. He'd only recently returned from a fractured hand; in fact, with this, his comeback amounts to 3 games. He should be back just in time for a couple weeks at the end of the year and then the postseason, assuming the Tigers continue their hot pace. July 20: This is why that ERA record is so hard... Dodgers starter Fernando Apolonio (12-5, 1.63) pitched a fine game, a 5-hitter against the Mets. However, since he also allowed 2 earned runs (LA won 5-2), that means his ERA actually tipped slightly towards the side of not breaking hte record: it was 1.61 going into the game. I personally am not super-optimistic he's going to keep up this pace; although he's definitely a control artist and his stuff was good enough to win 18 games last year, he does not miss bats very well even for the era (4.9/9) so he has to rely on his defense to make plays. Thus far they've done so to the tune of a .185 OBA (off of a .207 BABIP for you stat nerds). July 21: Two car bombs explode in Belfast, Northern Ireland within minutes of each other, killing nine and injuring 130 in an event that became known as "Bloody Friday". The IRA claimed responsibility; the terror attacks were considered retaliation for "Bloody Sunday" in January in which British soldiers opened fire on a protest in Derry and killed 26 unarmed civilians. Britain will launch a new offensive against the PIRA tomorrow. July 21: A malfunctioning signa al El Cuervo de Sevilla leads to a head-on collision in Spain and their worst railroad disaster ever. At 7:36AM an express train crashes head-on into a local passenger train heading in the opposite direction, killing 76 and injuring another 130. July 21: The 44 year old King of Bhutan, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, does while on a visit to Kenya. July 21: Catherine Ndereba, a Kenyan marathon runner who won the world championships in 2003 and 2007, is born today in Gatunganga. July 21: Juuuust when he was starting to look like a major league player, the Mets will be without the use of 3B Mark Hamill (.258, 3, 28) until September after he badly strained his hamstring running the bases in today's 4-2 win over the Giants. Hamill, 23, had recently won his job back from free agent signing Mike Medford () and was hitting .364 with 12 RBIs through the month of July when this happened. Longtime - well, fine, 2+ year - backup infielder Lorenzo Ortega (.167, 0, 2) should see a lot more PT with this unfortunate occurrence; the organizational cupboard is pretty bare at the hot corner. Meanwhile, a spate of injuries will cause the Giants to shuffle their lineups and call up 20 year old top prospect / future NBA star Bob McAdoo (.261, 4, 19) to play second base. Can the 6'9" tower play the position? The scouts sure think so, and the Giants believe in him enough that they're moving the 25 year old Rodrigo Juarez (.231, 16, 45) off the spot and over to first base to accommodate him. July 22: The Soviet space probe Venera 8 lands on the planet Venus at 1:29PM Moscow time (10:29AM GMT). WIth an improved cooling system and structure, the satellite transmitted data back to Earth for almost an hour before temperatures of nearly 500 degrees Fahrenheit and an atmospheric pressure of 90 bars shut it down. The Venera 7 probe had previously been the first man-made object to land on Venus but tipped over and sent only limited data. July 22: Vice President Spiro Agnew was officially nominated as Richard Nixon's candidate for the election, quieting speculation that he would be replaced by a more moderate candidate. Agnew was considered by some to be a good candidate for the 1976 Presidential election himself but certain "nattering nabobs of negativity" felt otherwise... July 22: Taiwanese President Chiang Kai-Shek falls into a coma a few days after what will prove to be his final public appearance. The 84 year old leader, who first took over China in 1925 and who still insists that he is their leader in spite of the presence of Mao Zedong, will linger on until 1975. July 22: IRL Reds pitcher Wayne Simpson was offered a bribe to throw today's game vs the Pirates; however, Simpson instead reported the attempt, made by an anonymous caller, and pitched the game anyway, a 6-3 win for the Reds. July 22: Chi Chi, the London Zoo's giant panda, dies today. In human news, however, Keyshawn Johnson, later to become a NFL wide receiver for the NY Jets, was born. July 22: 36 year old Henry Riggs (.255, 12, 38) will miss significant time with a strained hamstring; in fact, doctors think he'll be out until at least September. The Braves will... make do in his absence. In a sense they had 5 guys who could reasonably start in the outfield so it's not a total loss, although Riggs' power will be hard to make up for. July 22: Meanwhile in Atlanta, knuckleballing P Colin Rose (7-8, 3.89) had been out with an elbow strain since the 14th and now that injury has been downgraded to "unknown" so I'm going to DL him and call up Richmond's closer / known Canadian Bobby Orr (6-3, 2.43, 10 Sv in AAA) in his place. July 22: I swear I just reported that this guy wanted to start... White Sox C Mike Perez (.164, 1, 8) is now demanding a trade. The man is hitting .164, he's 34 years old, and has hit under .200 in 2 of the last 3 years (including this one). He's also whiffing a loooooot for the era - 33 Ks in 110 at-bats - which tells me that the stick ain't coming back. Perez will get his "wish" inasmuch as I've released him effective immediately. This may also spell the end of his major league career, we'll see. In the true White Sox spirit of "next man up", Frenchman René Arnoux (.192, 2, 21), a 5th round pick in last year's draft, will come up in his place. He's so slow on the basepaths, you wouldn't even think of what his offseason hobby is: Formula racecare driving. July 22: In "what are you thinking, schedulers?" news, the Angels and Yankees are playing a double-header today after playing one yesterday. They'll also play tomorrow, so that's 5 games in 3 days prior to the All-Star Break. July 23: The Earth Resources Technology Satellite, ERS-1, is launched from California's Vandenburg Air Force Base at 11:08 in the morning. The satellite will be placed in orbit at 567 miles that will carry it over every part of the glove over a period of 18 days and transmit photographs at a resolution of 80 meters. This satellite, which I swear is not a spy satellite, promise, will be operational until January 6, 1978. July 23: Marlon Wayans of the Wayans brothers and that movie about the white girls was born today. July 23: Expos LF Ruberto Yebra (.184, 0, 2), frustrated over his lack of playing time, has requested a trade. My issue is, he's got decent speed but fielding-wise he's a first baseman and that's really about it - he has kind of bad range even for a left fielder - and as a hitter he hits like a CF. It's just not a good combination. I'm going to just release him and let him catch on somewhere else. July 23: The All-Star rosters have been announced! I'll forgo the final vote totals in favor of these: Half of the season has been played and now it's time for the All-Star game! It's a game where the fans will get to see their favorite players compete on the same field together, a game where the players themselves become fans and all of baseball comes together to celebrate one of the great traditions of the game -- the Major League Baseball All-Star game. The American League and the National League will come together today to decide the title of the best league for this season. Here are the talented stars on the American League roster: SP Chad Daugharty (TEX) - 12-4, 1.91 ERA, 155.2 IP, 1.14 WHIP, 5.0 K/9, 2.9 WAR SP Jimmy Goddard (DET) - 10-6, 2.12 ERA, 178.0 IP, 1.11 WHIP, 5.6 K/9, 4.7 WAR SP Justin Kindberg (BOS) - 11-8, 2.90 ERA, 177.0 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 4.4 WAR SP Jose Martinez (CLE) - 11-6, 2.17 ERA, 141.0 IP, 0.99 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 4.9 WAR SP Michael Pesco (BOS) - 13-6, 2.65 ERA, 170.0 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 4.9 WAR SP Danny Plaunt (MIL) - 9-4, 2.52 ERA, 128.1 IP, 1.24 WHIP, 4.9 K/9, 2.3 WAR SP Santos Rodriguez (BAL) - 9-5, 2.09 ERA, 138.0 IP, 0.98 WHIP, 5.0 K/9, 4.2 WAR SP Marco Sanchez (BOS)* - 8-8, 2.26 ERA, 159.1 IP, 0.99 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 4.5 WAR CL Willis Chavez (OAK) - 5-2, 20 SV, 1.73 ERA, 57.1 IP, 1.22 WHIP, 5.7 K/9, 1.3 WAR CL Montay Luiso (BAL) - 4-3, 14 SV, 2.53 ERA, 46.1 IP, 1.08 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, 1.8 WAR CL Malcolm Post (CHW)* - 5-2, 11 SV, 1.18 ERA, 45.2 IP, 1.18 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 1.5 WAR C Frank Abagnale (BAL) - .317/.379/.448, 230 AB, 5 HR, 1 SB, 153 wRC+, 3.3 WAR C Sid Bartoszek (BOS) - .282/.370/.444, 117 AB, 4 HR, 151 wRC+, 1.6 WAR C Josh Lewis (OAK)* - .265/.320/.407, 275 AB, 9 HR, 3 SB, 127 wRC+, 2.2 WAR 1B Alice Cooper (CHW) - .246/.366/.525, 297 AB, 25 HR, 4 SB, 178 wRC+, 3.6 WAR 1B Ernesto Garcia (CLE)* - .298/.362/.659, 305 AB, 32 HR, 208 wRC+, 4.6 WAR 1B Niki Lauda (DET) - .317/.415/.563, 167 AB, 11 HR, 204 wRC+, 2.9 WAR 1B Angelo Martinez (MIN) - .235/.317/.495, 319 AB, 22 HR, 150 wRC+, 2.2 WAR 2B Daniel Gilmet (MIN) - .339/.390/.467, 289 AB, 5 HR, 7 SB, 162 wRC+, 2.9 WAR 2B Joey Ramone (DET)* - .304/.373/.495, 194 AB, 5 HR, 163 wRC+, 3.5 WAR 3B Brian Maccioli (CHW) - .279/.349/.439, 305 AB, 10 HR, 146 wRC+, 3.5 WAR 3B Tom Weiss (NYY)* - .264/.343/.442, 292 AB, 13 HR, 146 wRC+, 1.9 WAR SS Rob Curran (DET) - .276/.390/.425, 174 AB, 4 HR, 5 SB, 146 wRC+, 2.9 WAR SS Michael Luna (TEX) - .273/.344/.391, 253 AB, 5 HR, 1 SB, 129 wRC+, 2.7 WAR SS Justin Ramey (MIN)* - .235/.338/.336, 277 AB, 6 HR, 4 SB, 105 wRC+, 2.4 WAR SS Richard Simmons (CAL) - .238/.344/.383, 269 AB, 8 HR, 6 SB, 126 wRC+, 3.5 WAR LF Edwin Manchego (KC) - .294/.364/.569, 204 AB, 14 HR, 3 SB, 186 wRC+, 2.5 WAR LF Bruce Springsteen (BOS) - .308/.374/.495, 214 AB, 6 HR, 2 SB, 165 wRC+, 2.6 WAR CF Alvin Romero (DET)* - .325/.401/.401, 332 AB, 1 HR, 34 SB, 147 wRC+, 4.3 WAR RF Tom Brown (BOS)* - .287/.327/.450, 327 AB, 8 HR, 14 SB, 139 wRC+, 3.4 WAR RF Tony Danza (KC) - .332/.420/.462, 286 AB, 1 HR, 17 SB, 173 wRC+, 2.5 WAR RF R.J. Domínguez (KC)* - .244/.347/.462, 303 AB, 16 HR, 1 SB, 148 wRC+, 3.8 WAR (Injured) RF Phil Hartman (NYY) - .288/.391/.406, 278 AB, 6 HR, 156 wRC+, 2.8 WAR RF Nelson Vargas (CLE) - .287/.350/.391, 289 AB, 7 HR, 7 SB, 132 wRC+, 2.2 WAR And these are the gifted players for the National League: SP Fernando Apolonio (LAD) - 12-5, 1.63 ERA, 149.0 IP, 0.91 WHIP, 4.8 K/9, 3.7 WAR SP Jeremy Battaglia (PIT) - 6-13, 2.35 ERA, 188.0 IP, 0.97 WHIP, 4.5 K/9, 4.9 WAR SP D.J. Cheeves (PIT) - 12-4, 2.14 ERA, 172.2 IP, 1.07 WHIP, 5.2 K/9, 2.9 WAR SP George House (ATL) - 8-7, 3.77 ERA, 141.0 IP, 1.18 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, 2.8 WAR SP Tony Rivera (HOU)* - 15-6, 2.10 ERA, 189.0 IP, 1.03 WHIP, 5.1 K/9, 4.4 WAR SP Steve Waiters (CIN) - 6-8, 2.95 ERA, 131.0 IP, 1.24 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 2.9 WAR RP Jake Cari (ATL) - 4-2, 1.68 ERA, 48.1 IP, 1.10 WHIP, 5.8 K/9, 0.6 WAR CL Geoff Saus (NYM) - 5-3, 11 SV, 2.73 ERA, 59.1 IP, 0.88 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 0.0 WAR CL John Winn (ATL)* - 1-6, 11 SV, 2.29 ERA, 51.0 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 1.2 WAR C Jason Bushon (NYM)* - .269/.359/.438, 242 AB, 8 HR, 2 SB, 150 wRC+, 3.1 WAR C Greg Darrow (CHC) - .253/.307/.344, 241 AB, 3 HR, 93 wRC+, 2.5 WAR C John Stuart (STL) - .265/.344/.450, 189 AB, 8 HR, 138 wRC+, 1.8 WAR 1B Rodrigo Juarez (SF) - .229/.290/.435, 292 AB, 16 HR, 2 SB, 124 wRC+, 2.6 WAR 1B Antonio Lopez (CHC)* - .297/.391/.506, 330 AB, 19 HR, 1 SB, 170 wRC+, 3.9 WAR 1B Justin Stone (LAD) - .252/.348/.518, 326 AB, 20 HR, 6 SB, 168 wRC+, 3.5 WAR 2B Kevin Dwyer (ATL)* - .320/.395/.502, 309 AB, 13 HR, 179 wRC+, 5.1 WAR (Injured) 2B Paul McCartney (SD) - .274/.345/.476, 332 AB, 17 HR, 5 SB, 156 wRC+, 4.4 WAR 2B Pedro Ortiz (CIN) - .294/.365/.367, 343 AB, 1 HR, 26 SB, 129 wRC+, 3.5 WAR 2B Juan Perez (CHC) - .279/.344/.502, 215 AB, 13 HR, 1 SB, 162 wRC+, 2.8 WAR 3B Mike Galeana (STL) - .221/.349/.456, 285 AB, 20 HR, 1 SB, 147 wRC+, 3.2 WAR 3B Robin Gibb (LAD) - .275/.315/.408, 309 AB, 8 HR, 2 SB, 119 wRC+, 2.1 WAR 3B Pete Little (HOU)* - .282/.351/.370, 308 AB, 5 HR, 3 SB, 125 wRC+, 2.8 WAR SS Tony Shannon (PHI) - .295/.402/.418, 220 AB, 3 HR, 10 SB, 142 wRC+, 2.1 WAR SS Jeremy Taylor (CHC)* - .246/.310/.464, 321 AB, 17 HR, 8 SB, 139 wRC+, 2.3 WAR SS Hudson Watts (MON) - .265/.360/.388, 219 AB, 5 HR, 2 SB, 128 wRC+, 2.6 WAR LF Rafael Disla (STL)* - .288/.363/.455, 323 AB, 12 HR, 1 SB, 156 wRC+, 2.6 WAR LF Alonzo Huanosta (CIN) - .312/.372/.373, 314 AB, 1 HR, 6 SB, 133 wRC+, 2.7 WAR LF Justin Lawson (PIT) - .277/.348/.442, 321 AB, 11 HR, 1 SB, 143 wRC+, 3.2 WAR CF George Foreman (HOU) - .285/.378/.417, 326 AB, 8 HR, 14 SB, 146 wRC+, 3.3 WAR CF Bryant Tarala (PHI) - .233/.342/.436, 275 AB, 12 HR, 8 SB, 141 wRC+, 3.5 WAR CF Alex Vallejo (CHC)* - .364/.419/.514, 173 AB, 4 HR, 6 SB, 179 wRC+, 3.5 WAR RF Barry Cooper (NYM) - .300/.335/.416, 317 AB, 5 HR, 14 SB, 134 wRC+, 3.5 WAR RF Brian Jackson (PIT) - .267/.324/.387, 344 AB, 6 HR, 6 SB, 123 wRC+, 3.1 WAR RF Jaden Weaver (CIN)* - .233/.312/.483, 317 AB, 22 HR, 1 SB, 143 wRC+, 2.4 WAR WHAT EVEN IS WAR I DON'T GET IT July 23: I think Braves SP George House (9-7, 3.54) has mostly just been unlucky this year; his peripherals, which include 6.6 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9, don't look like a below-average pitcher at all. Well... today he looked decidedly above average, tossing a 4-hitter against the contending Cardinals to lead his team to a 2-0 win. I should note here that the fans also agree with me, as House is heading to his 3rd All-Star Game in 4 years (he missed in 1970 because he missed the entire season with an injury). ## Teams in Review July 19: 1972 has just been a 2 steps forward, 2 steps back kind of season for the Cleveland Indians (42-40, 4th AL East, 7 GB). It does seem clear at least that these guys won't lose 90 games again but they still feel like they're vaguely underachieving. They score runs as well as anyone in the AL - 2nd (6th overall) but a roughly league average pitching staff has held them back. I think I have a couuuuuuple ideas on how to improve but they feel like probably only incremental improvements. One general place to improve is defense: the Tribe are dead last in the major leagues in defensive efficiency (.717) and are also 12th in the AL in zone rating (-19.4). Rotation: This might not exactly be a "win now" move but I'm going to switch down to a 5 man rotation for the time being and let the starters breathe a little bit more. The top 2 guys - Robert Rivera (7-5, 2.42) and Jose Martinez (11-6, 2.32) - have been pretty great, which in and of itself tells me I should ride them harder, but I think Dylan Hamilton (5-11, 3.97) may be showing signs of overuse and Rivera just had to leave a game early with an abdominal strain (fortunately it wasn't serious) so I'm going to take things down a notch. Bullpen: Elias Sanchez (0-2, 4.76) has been pretty bad and isn't really doing anything to tell me he should stick around. He's been a mainstay in this bullpen the past 2 years though so I'm reluctant to cut him loose just yet. Still, putting a 34 year old as your long man isn't really ideal. For now, he's not really blocking anyone in the minor leagues so he'll get more chances to get things right. Infield: Last year it was Jonathan House who fell apart hitting-wise at catcher, this year it's Joe Wolfe (.164, 1, 6). Ray Varner (.253, 2, 14) is a lefty so it's not ideal to use him too much vs LHPs but I'll make him into the full-time guy now, I guess. Both guys are roughly equal defensively; Varner has the flashier arm, although he's only thrown out 10 of 38 baserunners, and Wolfe has a better rep for handling pitchers. I don't particularly like what Luis Oropeza (.207, 6, 16) is doing at 2nd either with the bat or with the glove but with TJ Pritchett (.266, 6, 19) now out for the season I feel stuck... which is why I'm going to call up Iranian poli sci grad student / outspoken critic of the Shah / second baseman Sadegh Zibakalam (.339, 5, 32 at A Reno) to see what he can do. He hit only .212 in 33 AAA at-bats so I'm probably rushing him but what the heck, if he can handle possible incarceration by the Shah, he can handle big league pitching. Also, he is a far, far better fielder than Oropeza, who was fixing to be one of the worst defensive 2B in the AL had he kept starting there. 3B Bobby Ramirez (.219, 10, 33), the 1971 AL Rookie of the Year, has frustratingly failed to hit after leading the league in hitting last year. BA is like that I guess. I've already gone back to a platoon between him and the old guy out there, Roberto Hernandez (.333, 0, 7). Ramirez has responded to this poorly, hitting a season-low .182 for the month. At shortstop, and speaking of former batting champions, John Johnson (.203, 1, 12) has gone from a high-average, top of the lineup guy to someone who can barely break .200, and he's hitting an empty .203 at that (.225 OBP, .248 SLG). As such, it's time for Mitt Romney (.238, 1, 10) to step in. The Romneybot hasn't ever shown he can hit anything like what Johnson did in 1969 and 1970 (.350 and .340 averages) but Johnson hasn't really shown that he can do that in the past 2 years either. Outfield: The outfield isn't exactly great but outside of noticing that CF Bobby Kaplan (.257, 3, 16) had recovered from back issues that had kept him out of the lineup for the past week, there are no changes to be made here. July 21: As they limp into 40 losses, you've got to ask if the Philadelphia Phillies (45-40, 4th NL East, 4 1/2 GB) are really contending this year. They sure looked the part in June at 17-9 but a 9-10 July seems more in line with the rest of the season. The offense is decent if not fantastic and the pitching is only average, with the starters decidedly less so (3.74 starters' ERA, 3rd word in the NL). Defensively they are 2nd worst in the circuit with a -12.4 ZR so that's definitely a place that could be improved. Rotation: The giant albatross here is Marius Gaddi (6-10, 4.62), who wasn't really hot last year either (16-20, 3.47). He's still only 29 but the question needs to be asked: did he get pushed too hard the last 2 years? I've been a bit more liberal with the hook on him this year; the former 27 game winner is averaging barely over 7 IP per start with only 4 complete games in 20 outings. I'm not sure it's helped all that much though. There are games where Gaddi just doesn't seem to have it. Another guy who's been struggling a bit is former White Sox prospect Tim Natalie (6-8, 4.21); although I think his peripherals are fine I want to make a change and so I'm going to send him down to Eugene in favor of Navy engineer / semi-prospect Manley "Sonny" Carter (8-12, 2.84). Carter has grander ambitions than baseball - he reportedly wants to be an astronaut - but he looked like a decent enough pitch-to-contact guy in the minors so let's see what he can do. Bullpen: The bullpen as a whole is doing pretty well. Only the lefty specialist Roger Evans (2-0, 4.24) has an ERA over 4 and I'm not going to swap him out. If anything the gameplan is probably to go to them more and more often come late July and August. Infield: I feel like we've hit critical mass with 3B Alex Becerra (.168, 7, 17). He's just plain not hitting this year. Hey, he hasn't been completely atrocious in the field but... .168 in what is now 137 at-bats. You just can't stick with that. Instead, Matt Highfield (.393, 0, 4), a non-prospect who was called up to spell Becerra, will get a lot more at-bats now. There's still an ongoing question as to who is their cleanup guy but, like, that's not a question you answer by dropping a guy who clearly can't play anymore into the role. And hey, maybe Becerra figures things out on the bench, I guess. Cris Ramos (.250, 2, 16) should be back off the DL after the All-Star Break as well, so there's that. Outfield: Assuming the super-prospect Alberto Juantorema (.264, 12, 42 at AAA Eugene) can stick, I have no questions in the outfield. You'd think with a team ZR so bad that the Phillies would be using a less than adequate guy in center but nope, that's former Orioles gloveman Bryant Tarala (.228, 12, 28), who won 2 Gold Gloves in his time in the AL and would surely have won more if it wasn't for the presence of Norm Hodge in that league. July 22: The Oakland A's (48-40, 2nd AL West, 4 1/2 GB) seem to finally be putting it together after a sluggish start. They've still got big problems with the pitching and defense; they're 3rd worst in the AL in spite of getting an MLB-high 567 strikeouts to date. That probably won't keep up since they've traded away their top K guy Roberto Ortiz (8-4, 3.77, 133 Ks in 141 IP on the year) but there is this kind of all-or-nothing sense from the pitching staff. Rotation: I keep flip-flopping on this but for now I'm going to put Rick Shelton (3-4, 4.81) back in the rotation. He's been pretty meh as a starter (3-3, 4.53) but he's also their guy who's started 71 games for them over the past 2 years and they don't really have a lot of other options. I used 36 year old Chris Wilson (5-5, 3.46) in there for a stretch but he seems better set up for relief usage. Bullpen: Going forward, this team really needs to be about just getting the starters to go into the 7th or 8th and giving it up to the bullpen, which has been pretty lights-out so far. The stats "only" say 4th in the AL with a 3.28 ERA but guys like Willis Chavez (5-1, 1.63, 20 Sv) would tell you differently... Infield: 1B Ray Hawkinson (.216, 1, 6) just came back from a lat strain that had kept him out for a month and a half. He's probably not the guy who hit .369 in 51 games for the A's last year... but he's better than this, right? I can't change things right now. Alex Canales (.259, 2, 24 with Oakland) exists if Hawkinson can't or won't hit. I've already made some big trades (well, they were ordained by real-life trades, but still) to replace both 2nd and shortstop... so welcome in Tyler Knight (.228, 3, 14) from Texas and Jon Reid (.220, 4, 20) from Atlanta. Of those two, I guess Reed is the most vulnerable to losing his new spot but he seems to have found his stroke since leaving the ATL (.256, 3, 8 in 78 ABs with the A's) and I am just not a fan of Israel Gaytan's (.284, 5, 38) defense. That man might play a lot at DH next year. I also added David Salinas (.202, 1, 11) in the Tyler Knight trade and if anything he could fill a larger hole, as Chase Jones (.195, 7, 29) is following up a career year (31 dingers in '71!) with a complete dud year. However, Salinas is 36 and is really showing his age. 26 year old Jeremy Webb (.288, 6, 17 at AAA Iowa) is also mashing in the minor leagues but there is a limit as to how many guys at one position I can stick in the bigs. Outfield: LF Adam Groves (.211, 7, 27) is hanging onto his job thanks to hitting .263 with almost half his overall RBIs - 12 - this month. We do have Jah Lloyd (.253, 2, 14) in case he starts to struggle again but Lloyd at this point feels more like a 4th outfielder kind of guy. I also reeeeally need to find a place for <redacted> (.278, 17, 69), a 22 year old who looks too good to pass up. But what if he sucks in the big leagues? Ugh, you can't make a decision like that with a contending team like this! July 22: The Minnesota Twins (44-40, 3rd AL West, 6 1/2 GB) are... not moving in the same direction; they're just 7-13 this month and 21-28 since June 1st. Being without the reigning MVP 3B Mike Brookes (.200, 7, 17) sure isn't helping, although Brookes hasn't been super-fantastic himself this year. I think this team is too old to think about throwing in the towel and relying on kids the rest of the way but man... this is a Ron Swanson dealio here because that means they are going to have to just half-ass being competitive instead of whole-assing waiting until next year. Rotation: I feel like maybe I've been a bit too strongly tied to Rich Whetzel (6-8, 3.87). He was... fine as a 26 year old rookie last year and did post a winning record (8-5, 3.40, although 9 no-decisions in 22 starts) but, like, why am I that committed to him? Dude's barely struck out more batters than he's walked (57 to 53 in 109.1 IP) and... there's a guy in the minors in Santiago Serrano (12-3, 1.54 at AAA Tacoma) who is absolutely lighting it up. OK, I convinced myself... although schedules being what they are, Whetzel will get one final start today before he goes down. Bullpen: I aaaaaaalmost cut Victor Ruiz (1-0, 5.83) to make room but... struggles or no, the man has 30 Ks in 29.1 IP. That has to be useful somehow. Infield: Right now 37 year old Danny Pellot (.230, 1, 9) is the only man on the roster who can play 3rd base; I had to temporarily send down Fred Blades (.200, 7, 25 in AAA Tacoma) to make room for the bigger-for-one-day pitching staff. Pellot seems closer to the waiver wire himself than seriously starting. Mike Brookes is back in about 10 days. Outfield: I don't know what's wrong with CF Jose Villasenor (.175, 3, 16), who literally just hit .306 a year ago, but even if he's like a .260 hitter in a slump he's clearly regressed in the outfield as well and so bringing in football guy - European football, the sport we True Americans call soccer - Ronnie Hellstrom (.304, 2, 3) seems like what we've got to do to save this pitching staff. Hellstrom has amazing range in the field, although he'll probably never hit .300 in a season the way Villasenor did. Jose, it should be noted, is still only 26 and I'm going to keep giving him a lot of chances to find that stroke against RHPs going forward. To the above, RF Ernie Griffin (.200, 11, 30) has also not been hitting. He at least has that power though. I'm platooning him with Kyle Ship (.237, 2, 12) now because... I don't feel like I have a lot of other choices right now. Ship is a decent enough pinch-hitter but reeeeally doesn't have the power for a corner OF position.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
10-23-2023, 06:03 PM
|
#215 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
July 24-30, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments387
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 57 37 .606 - 399 313 Baltimore Orioles 52 40 .565 4 335 283 Boston Red Sox 50 42 .543 6 336 284 Cleveland Indians 50 42 .543 6 362 316 Milwaukee Brewers 43 50 .462 13½ 299 346 New York Yankees 32 58 .356 23 264 314 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 56 40 .583 - 337 314 Oakland Athletics 52 44 .542 4 352 373 Minnesota Twins 46 45 .505 7½ 344 330 Chicago White Sox 45 50 .474 10½ 333 369 Texas Rangers 43 52 .453 12½ 278 314 Kansas City Royals 34 60 .362 21 324 407 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA St. Louis Cardinals 54 39 .581 - 394 345 Philadelphia Phillies 52 42 .553 2½ 378 351 Pittsburgh Pirates 52 42 .553 2½ 315 266 Chicago Cubs 53 43 .552 2½ 391 408 Montreal Expos 39 52 .429 14 287 344 New York Mets 38 54 .413 15½ 311 374 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 55 42 .567 - 334 323 Atlanta Braves 53 42 .558 1 386 341 San Diego Padres 46 48 .489 7½ 363 356 Los Angeles Dodgers 45 49 .479 8½ 319 343 San Francisco Giants 43 54 .443 12 314 313 Cincinnati Reds 35 58 .376 18 354 382 In the latest league standings, the Detroit Tigers are holding a strong lead in the East division with a record of 57 wins and 37 losses, boasting a .606 winning percentage. The Baltimore Orioles trail behind by 4 games, with a record of 52-40, closely followed by the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians, both sitting at 50-42. Over in the West division, the California Angels are flying high with 56 wins and 40 losses, securing a .583 winning percentage. The Oakland Athletics are 4 games behind, maintaining a record of 52-44. The Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox are in a close race for the third spot, with the Twins at 46-45 and the White Sox at 45-50. As for the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals, they find themselves further down in the standings, facing a tougher climb to make an impact in the division. The Rangers are at 43-52, and the Royals are at 34-60. In the tightly contested East division, the St. Louis Cardinals are currently leading with a record of 54 wins and 39 losses, securing a .581 winning percentage. The Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates are closely trailing, both with a 52-42 record, just 2.5 games behind the Cardinals. The Chicago Cubs are also in the mix, sitting at 53-43. Out in the West, the Houston Astros are setting the pace with 55 wins and 42 losses, boasting a .567 winning percentage. The Atlanta Braves are hot on their heels, trailing by just 1 game with a 53-42 record. The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers are in a competitive battle for the third spot, while the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds face a tougher climb in the standings. In the race for batting supremacy, Daniel Gilmet (.332, 5, 30) from the Minnesota Twins leads the pack with an impressive .332 batting average. Right on his heels is Alvin Romero (.331, 1, 29) of the Detroit Tigers at .331, followed by Tony Danza (.320, 2, 26) of the Kansas City Royals with a .320 average. When it comes to getting on base, Danza takes the top spot with an On-Base Percentage of .412, closely pursued by Romero at .407 and Phil Hartman (.283, 6, 18) of the New York Yankees at .385. The power hitters are led by Ernesto Garcia (.290, 35. 92), who not only has an Isolated Power of .359 but also leads in home runs with an impressive 35. Garcia has slugging king with a remarkable .650 Slugging Percentage, and he also tops the On-Base + Slugging chart with a total of 1.004. Garcia again shines with a wRC+ of 204, followed by Alice Cooper of the Chicago White Sox (.246, 266, 63) at 178. On the basepaths, Romero showcases his speed with an impressive 38 stolen bases, leaving the competition in the dust. Cooper is the workhorse, leading in games played with 94, and Romero tops the charts in at-bats with 356. (I asked the ChatGPT to summarize the pitching leaderboards as if it was a sportswriter from the 1970s and... lol) In the era of tight pants and handlebar mustaches, the pitching duel is heating up in the American League, and the stats tell a groovy tale. Santos Rodriguez (10-5, 1.95) of the Baltimore Orioles is the man with the golden arm, leading the league in ERA with a far-out 1.95. He's keeping it real, tied for the best winning percentage with .667, matching the vibes of Jose Martinez (12-6, 2.11) from the Cleveland Indians. When it comes to saves, Willis Chavez (5-2, 1.61) of the Oakland Athletics is laying down some serious funk with 21 saves, while Michael Pesco (14-7, 2.48) of the Boston Red Sox is the wins maestro, racking up 14 victories. Marco Sanchez (9-9, 2.21) of the Red Sox is serving up some serious heat with a mind-blowing 0.96 WHIP, and his opponents are seeing stars with a mere .198 batting average. In the strikeout showdown, Edgar Molina (13-7, 2.59) of the Detroit Tigers is leading the charge with 165 Ks, while J. Martinez from the Indians is putting on a clinic with a K/BB ratio of 4.8. It's a wild ride on the mound, and these pitchers are spinning some serious vinyl. Can they keep the hits low, the strikeouts high, and the disco ball spinning? Stay tuned, sports fans. (here I told it to give me the leaderboards in the style of a crusty old sportswriter who hates statistics. Still hilarious) In a time when men were men and stats were just numbers, let me tell you about these National League sluggers who are swinging for the fences. Kevin Dwyer (.321, 13, 51) of the Braves is making batting look easy with a .321 average, leading the charge like a true warrior. Tony Shannon (.295, 4, 19) of the Phillies is showing some serious patience with a .407 on-base percentage, and Antonio Lopez (.300, 20, 46) of the Cubs is hitting the ball like he's got a personal vendetta against it, boasting a .510 slugging percentage. But let's cut to the chase—the guy they can't ignore is Justin Stone (.248, 21, 62) from the Dodgers. He's knocking it out of the park with a .256 isolated power, sending those balls into the stratosphere. In the power department, Jaden Weaver (.240, 23, 65) from the Reds is the Sultan of Swat, leading the pack with 23 home runs. Pedro Ortiz (.293, 1, 20) of the Reds is pulling off some sweet heists with 28 stolen bases, making pitchers sweat like they're on a hot summer day. Now, for those who love the classics, there's Lorenzo Martinez (.218, 16, 38) of the Cardinals, walking his way to greatness with 67 bases on balls. And just to spice things up, Stone is taking one for the team—literally—getting hit by pitches like it's a badge of honor (note: ChatGPT decided not to mention that he has 9). So, there you have it, folks. In a world where men swung lumber instead of numbers, these players are leaving their mark on the diamond. Will they be remembered in the annals of baseball history? Only time will tell. (finally, for the NL pitchers, I'm just gonna tell it to tell these to me like it was Peter Gammons) Ah, the golden era of pitching in '72, my friend. Let me spin you a tale of the mound maestros in the National League that year. First, let's talk about Fernando Apolonio (12-6, 1.74) of the Dodgers, a craftsman with a 1.74 ERA, practically making hitters beg for mercy. DJ Cheeves (13-4, 2.10) of the Pirates and Tony Rivera (16-7, 2.19) of the Astros aren't far behind, keeping the opposition in check with ERAs that would make a nun blush. Victories are like currency for pitchers, and Rivera cashed in with 16 wins for the Astros. Cheeves and Santos Arango (12-11, 2.58) of the Pirates held their own in the winner's circle, standing tall with 13 and 12 wins, respectively. And when the game hung in the balance, the saviors emerged. Jesse Kelly (7-1, 2.35) of the Cubs, the man with the golden arm, notched 18 saves, locking down victories like a bank vault. Paz Lemus (6-3, 2.24) of the Pirates and Billy Munoz (4-6, 3.50) of the Cardinals weren't far behind, proving that closing the deal was an art form. Now, let's talk about the workhorses. Rivera of the Astros, a man on a mission, threw a hefty 205.1 innings. Arango of the Pirates was hot on his heels, showcasing endurance with 198.2 innings of battle. The strikeout kings, Roger Quintana (10-6, 2.56) of the Cardinals and Ernesto Carrillo of the Mets (5-11, 4.29), ruled the mound with finesse, carving up the plate like Michelangelo with a chisel (um, kind of the opposite for Carrillo, "Peter"). In the realm of control, Bullet Bill Vanover of the Reds (8-8, 3.50) was a virtuoso, walking only 1.7 per 9 innings. And the WHIP leaders, Apolonio, Jeremy Battaglia (7-13, 2.24), and Quintana, danced through lineups with grace, making each batter a mere pawn in their chess game. So there you have it, my friend, a glimpse into the majesty of pitching mastery in the National League of '72. The days when men on the mound were not just hurlers but artists, painting the corners and sculpting victory from every pitch. ## Major Transactions July 28: The Angels trade C Eddie Dimmock (.205, 1, 12) and 3B Reilly Peternek (.148, 0, 1) to the Brewers for C Chris Flores (.202, 1, 13) and minor league 3B Joel King (.289, 6, 41). For the contending Angels this is mostly about getting some pieces that didn't work out this year off the roster, although to be fair the 27 year old King might wind up working out a bit at 3rd with the poor play of Travis Corley (.194, 2, 25) this year. The Brewers get the veteran leadership of Dimmock plus Peternek, who... is a human. July 29: The Angels purchase minor league C Bobby Copeland (.233, 1, 9 in AAA OKC) for $5,000. The Angels just traded for Chris Flores to be their backup but why have 1 guy when you can have two? Copeland was Dan Rigdon's caddy last year so the 28 year old has plenty of experience in the big leagues. He'll start out in the minors but expect this guy to get a call-up soon. July 30: The Yankees claim OF Blake Clark (.100, 0, 3) off of waivers from the Houston Astros. Clark had been struggling this year and was criticized by the Houston press of spending too much time plying his secondary trade of acting. Now he'll get to work in New York City. For the Yankees, yeah, he's not been great but who in this Yanks outfield has been any good? July 30: The Royals claim P Dylan Mincher (3-3, 3.68) off waivers from the LA Dodgers. This was simply a situation where LA just plain had too many arms to keep a hold of the 29 year old former prospect who never quite got everything together. To date his career year is still the 5-5, 2.89 1968 season where he was shuffled between starting (10 starts, although 0 complete games) and the closer role in the bullpen (11 saves). He then got pushed down into the minors the next season and has been just bobbing up and down ever since. At least in KC, their relative lack of quality pitching should mean Mincher will get a lot of chances to prove himself. ## News July 24: Pharmacologist David Wong of Eli Lilly and Company tests Bryan Molloy's chemical compound #L110,140 and finds that it inhibits uptake of serotonin without uptake norepinephrine. This is a lowkey huge finding as the compound, which is assigned the name fluoxetine, will be tested on human volunteers in 1976 and will eventually make its way on the market under the brand name Prozac. It's still marketed as an "anti-depressant" but SSRIs are really more geared towards bipolar people inasmuch as some bipolar brains churn through serotonin like it's candy, which both causes some of those scary manic conditions and then creates big depression spirals when the serotonin runs out. Since the drug doesn't actually produce serotonin but prevents the body from taking too much in (see: reuptake inhibitor), it doesn't necessarily do much for people who "only" have depression. Still, big, huge find. July 24: Lance Reventlow, the heir to the Woolworth department store fortune, "millionaire playboy" (Wikipedia's words, not mine), and a race car driver, was killed in the crash of his Cessna 206 airplane during a severe thunderstorm in Aspen, Colorado; the crash also killed the other 3 occupants of the plane. I saw this blurb and immediately though "oh, he was the pilot and he made a dumb decision, of course" but nope, even though he was an experienced pilot, the actual pilot was an inexperienced student who'd accidentally flown into a blind canyon and then stalled the aircraft trying to turn out of it. July 24: I usually just looked at these guys when working through the league leaders so... it's no surprise TO ME anyway that Twins' 2B Daniel Gilmet (.337, 5, 30), now the AL leader in hitting, won the PotW award with 13 hits in 28 at-bats (a .464 average) and 7 RBIs. Ultimately his team still suffered a rare 5-game series sweep to the lowly Milwaukee Brewers but there's only so much one man can do, I guess. Gilmet is a 4-time All-Star, including this season, although this is also his first appearance since 1965. He's won the Player of the Week award 4 times although again the last one he took home was 7 years ago. Long time coming! July 24: The NL guy is also someone I touched on in the previous week's writeup, Cubs' 3B Sean Gabel (.291, 1, 23). Gabel is a guy who teammates describe as "scrappy" and who is mainly a singles hitter, although he's got a great arm and hands at third base so he's definitely a positive even when he's "only" hitting .290. This week he went 13-27 (.481) with 4 rib-eyes from the 2-hole to earn Player of the Week honors. Gabel, who was snubbed from the game for the 2nd straight year, is a 3-time PotW award winner, the last one coming last August. July 24: The prospects game has been announced, although I won't post the rosters because many/most of those guys will have their names changed upon their MLB debuts. I do notice that "Lee Zgonc", a first round pick in 1970 I mostly remember because of his awesome name (which sadly will probably not last), has made his 2nd Futures Game but also is somehow in the Orioles' organization now. Otherwise, I do see 2B Geoffrey Rush (.358, 4, 14 at AAA Denver), the Rangers' 7th overall pick in 1971 in there... 3B Nick Hodzic (.307, 9, 28), who briefly appeared with the Yankees this season but could not unseat Tiptoe Tommy Weiss, is somehow eligible for the team... also, Brad Wagner (.206, 17, 40 for AAA Salt Lake City) had 106 at-bats for the Mets last year but is still just 23 and now a member of the Angels' org.. Bert "Be Home" Blyleven (.303, 8, 42 for AAA Louisville) is a Red Sox prospect in this save... and hey! Funny man CF Robin Williams (.289, 5, 23 in AA Asheville) is also playing today! Woo hoo! In the NL I see "Roc" Charles Dutton (6-3, 3.54 for AAA Charlotte), who frankly looks a little average, albeit as a 21 year old in AAA, but that's also enough to give him the starting nod tonight... Sully Sullenburger (2-1, 3.04 at R Evanston) kind of stunk in A ball this year (3-7, 4.82) but has 32 Ks vs 4 BBs in rookie ball and hey, the future HERO is still only 19... Cubs P Gordon Summer (10-6, 3.34 at AAA Wichita), who you might know better by his stage name "Sting", is looking like a guy who'll at least get a September call-up at the young age of 22... I'm not sure how or when I added Larry Parrish (.239, 1, 6 at R Trois-Rivieres) to this save but there he is as an 18 year old in the rookie league... Reds SS prospect Roberto "No Mas" "honestly a way better boxer than 2 words" Duran (.250, 2, 8 at AA Trois-Rivieres, and yes, apparently I have 2 teams located in that city) looks like he's another year or two away but looks like he's on the way... and finally Cubs CF Sammy Hagar (.314, 8, 24) can't drive 55 or make it into a crowded Cubs' outfield this year (he did get a 17 game call-up to fill in for Alex Vallejo when he got hurt) but he's playing in today's game, so that's a thing. The AL won 2-1 in kind of a boring game. Sting started over Dutton for some reason and also for some reason wound up pitching the entire game, which he lost on a Geoffrey Rush triple in the 8th. July 25: The Tuskegee Study is made public by the reporting of Jean Heller, who released a story in the Washington Star with the headline "Syphillis victims in US Study Went Untreated for 40 Years". Peter Buxtun, who had worked for the Public Health Service, was the whistle-blower here; he first told the story to Edith Lederer, who then assigned the story to Heller. The next day an assistant secretary held a press conference to announce his utter shock that this study had gone on. More than 100 men, if memory serves all of them African-American, infected with syphillis died while believing they were being treated. Eventually a lawsuit will be settled in 1974 for $10M which will be divided among the 600 survivors and decedent's families. A personal apology will be made in 1997 to the final 5 survivors. July 25: Vice Presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton discloses today that he had three psychiatric hospitalizations between 1960 and 1966 and that he underwent electric shock therapy during that time. Initially, Presidential candidate George McGovern stands beind his man but will eventually decide, under much pressure from the press (as well as, I believe, people telling him behind the scenes that Eagleton was likely to relapse and present a security threat should he become President) to replace him with Sargent Shriver. July 25: Red Sox OF Brian Johnson (.282, 0, 8), who plays in a band the kids call "AC/DC" when he's not playing ball, will need 6 weeks to recuperate from a torn abdominal muscle he suffered on the 21st. This, coupled with a sprained ankle suffered by starter Bruce Springsteen (.312, 6, 36) suddenly places the Bosox in a hole both in terms of league-ready outfielders and rock stars. July 25: The All-Star Game was also a low-scoring affair, just like the Futures Game, but at least one of the managers didn't do weird stuff with the pitching staff. The NL beat the AL 2-1 with Cubs 2B Juan Perez (.284, 13, 35) scoring both senior circuit runs and winning the AS MVP award as a result. Chad "Dog" Daugharty (12-4, 1.91) took the loss with a rare run allowed in his single inning of play. The lone AL run was scored on a solo shot by White Sox phenom Alice Cooper (.248, 26, 62), who broke up a team shutout in the 9th inning. In fact, I told ChatGPT to give me a recap of this one. I give it a 6 out of 10: In a thrilling matchup at Busch Memorial Stadium, the National League All-Stars emerged victorious over their American League counterparts with a final score of 2-1. The game, held on Tuesday, July 25th, 1972, showcased the best talents in Major League Baseball. The star of the night was undoubtedly Juan Perez, who not only contributed to the National League's offensive effort but also took home the MVP honors for his outstanding performance. Perez went 2 for 3 at the plate, making a significant impact on the game. The National League got on the scoreboard early, scoring a run in the third inning and adding another in the fifth. The American League, however, struggled to mount a comeback until the ninth inning when A. Cooper hit a solo home run off D. Cheeves, bringing the score to 2-1. Despite the late effort, the National League held on for the win. Pitching played a crucial role in the National League's success, with S. Waiters starting the game and setting the tone. F. Apolonio, J. Cari, G. Saus, J. Winn, and D. Cheeves combined forces on the mound, limiting the American League to just one run. On the American League side, M. Pesco started the game, delivering a solid performance with a scoreless inning. The subsequent pitchers, including J. Martinez and C. Daugharty, worked to contain the National League offense. However, they were unable to prevent the National League from securing the victory. The game featured several substitutions and strategic moves by both teams, showcasing the depth and versatility of the All-Star rosters. The clear skies, 75-degree weather, and a crowd of 53,138 spectators created a perfect backdrop for this mid-season showcase. The game lasted 2 hours and 30 minutes, providing fans with an exciting display of talent and competition. In the end, Juan Perez's stellar performance and the National League's collective efforts secured a well-deserved victory in the 1972 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Memorial Stadium. July 26: The contract to build the Space Shuttle is awarded to the North American Rockwell COrporation. July 26: President Richard Nixon personally asks Alabama Governor George Wallace not to run for the Presidency in 1972. He'd really thrown a monkey wrench into the 1968 campaign in a similar role and had run unsuccessfully for the Democratic party nomination this year. He won primaries in Maryland and Michigan but an assassination attempt in May effectively took him out of the campaign and confined him to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. July 27: In a famous American kidnapping that includes a ransom that will be paid but never recovered, Viginia Piper, the wife of the CEO of an investment firm in Minneapolis, is taken from her home in Orono, Minnesota. She is taken to a state park in the northern part of the state where she is tied to a tree for 2 days until the $1M ransom is paid. Two suspects will be convicted of the kidnapping in 1979 but will be freed when the verdict is overturned, and only $4,000 of the money will ever be recovered. July 27: The F-15 gets taken for its very first "test drive" at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The US Secretary of the Air Force claims that the new jet fighter will "outclimb, outmanuever, and outaccelerate any fighter threat in existence or seen on the horizon" and he'll prove to be largely correct. USAF Major General also makes the claim that it's "equal to anything the Soviet Union is flying now", which includes the MiG-23. July 27: Maya Rudolph, the American comedian and daughter of singer Minnie Ripperton, is born todauy in Gainesville, Florida. Among other things, she now does a Prince cover band called, appropriately, Princess. July 27: Red Sox ace Michael Pesco (14-6, 2.51) didn't have his best stuff tonight but apparently against the Yankees you don't have to. The 28 year old left-hander struck out only 3 men in 9 innings but also gave up just 3 hits and, most importantly, 0 runs in a 6-0 victory over New York. "Sometimes the old curveball isn't snapping the way it should," said Pesco after the game, "and I have to rely on the defense." This was Pesco's 5th shutout of the season, tying the career best he set in 1969. July 27: Welp, it wouldn't be a baseball season if Phillies CF Bryant Tarala (.235, 12, 30) didn't hurt himself making some big, gutsy play. Today he sprained his ankle breaking up a double play in a 7-1 win over their rivals the Chicago Cubs. That will reportedly keep him out until September at the earliest. There's hope that he's back in time for the playoffs. With the horrible regression of 2B Victor Serna (.182, 4, 18) and 3B Alex Becerra (.168, 7, 17). Tarala had become the team's most consistent power hitter. To replace him, the club is calling up "bass guitar" player (sheesh, like bass guitar is even an instrument*)/singer/songwriter/member of the band King Crimson Greg Lake (.260, 13, 64 at AAA Eugene), the 10th overall pick in 1969 who looks like he's finally put things together. *note: this is HIGHLY SATIRICAL as the author is a bass guitar player July 28: China announces what happened to Defense Minister Lin Biao, who had not been seen or heard in public or referred to by the government in Beijing for more than a year. "Lin Piao died September 13, 1971", the statement begins, adding that "he attempted a coup d'etat and sought to assassinate Chairman Mao Zedong. His plot was foiled and he fled on September 12 toward the Soviet Union in an aircraft which crashed in the People's Republic of Mongolia". It will surprise nobody, I'm sure, that this statement has since been found to have been complete BS. July 28: Actress Elizabeth Berkley is born today in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Is she better known now for Saved by the Bell or for Showgirls? I guess the former but the latter is a 90s camp classic. July 28: Red Sox SP Marco Sanchez (9-9, 2.21) came sooooooo close to making history today against the Yankees. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, he faced pinch-hitter Jonathan Banks (.283, 1, 23) having not only allowed zero hits so far but hadn't allowed a single batter to reach base. That's right, a perfect game... which Banks spoiled with a sharp hit back through the box. This seems to have momentarily rattled Sanchez, who gave up 2 more hits to CF Joel Schaben (.250, 0, 0) and RF Phil Hartman (.284, 6, 18) before he finally induced 3B Tiptoe Tommy Weiss (255, 13, 41) to pop out to 2B Brian Long (.256, 3, 33) to end the game. "Major bummer, man," said Sanchez after the game. "I've been taking it on the chin this year and I really wanted this one." As an addendum, there was a second game played at Yankee Stadium today; the Yankees didn't score until the 8th, barely getting out of a wholly different kind of record (for fewest runs scored in a double-header). They still lost 2-1. July 28: When you're the hardest-luck pitcher in baseball, how do you turn things around? If you're Pirates SP Jeremy Battaglia (7-13, 2.25), you simply don't give up runs. Battaglia threw a 5-hitter against the Mets to will the Bucs to a 2-0 win and keep within a game of the division-leading Cubs. "I'm a fan of getting the team involved," said Battaglia following the game. "I'm just happy we got that W." In spite of the bad record, this was Battaglia's 5th shutout of the year, which ties his career high from last year (which also led the league). July 28: Astros closer Jon Douglas (4-5, 3.65) falls apart late *again*, handing his team a 5-4 loss in a game they were winning 3-1 when he entered the game. Douglas, who is now 1-3 in the month of July with 15 runs allowed in 15.2 innings pitched, gave up the tie in the 8th on a RF Ronny Yitzakhi (.279, 3, 8) triple, and then gave up the ghost on a 2-run homerun by 1B Justin Stone (.251, 21, 62) the next inning. The Dodgers had to dodge some bullets of their own in the bottom of that inning, as Rich Wilson (2-3, 3.63) loaded the bases with 1 out and then had what would have been the game-tying run erased on a dart from LF Paul Stewart (.268, 8, 30), who caught PH Jordan Green (.257, 6, 31) trying to score from second on a single to left by CF George Foreman (.283, 8, 40). July 29: A second attempt by the Soviet Union to launch a space station fails when one of the second-stage rockets misfires 162 seconds after launch. July 29: Star Trek: TNG star and early 2000s nerd pop icon Wil Wheaton is born today in Burbank, California. July 30: The Associated Press and the Xinhua News Agency, controlled by the Chinese government, reach an agreement to regular exchange news and photos, marking the first time since 1950 that any American news agency would have a channel with the Peoples' Republic of China. July 30: For the first time in a long time, no updates on the All-Star voting! I am sadge. There are however 19 games happening today, 9 in the AL and 10 in the NL. Yeah, that's 7 double-headers, many of them involving teams that just played 2 earlier this week. Milwaukee might have the worst of it: they had a double-header on Thursday, and now they've got one with Cleveland both today *and* tomorrow. 8 games in 5 days! And, as I look down their schedule, they don't get a day off until August 14 and have two *more* double-headers in that time. 23 games in 18 days! I realize y'all want to make up for the strike, schedule-makers, but woooow. July 30: I would not at all call these the games of the week even though it (was) two top AL East teams going at it... but the Tigers swept the Red Sox by two identical 5-3 scores to go up by a commanding 6 games on the incumbent champs. As both teams were playing their 6th game in 4 days, both had to make some big decisions with their pitching staff. Detroit chose to run out two spot starters, and those guys - Danny Bryan (2-1, 4.98) and Todd Theisen (5-6, 3.80) - got the job done with a pair of quality starts before turning it over to Jim Marceau (4-4, 3.61, 18 Sv), who shut down the Bosox in the 9th in both contests. On the other hand, Boston tried using their ace Michael Pesco (14-7, 2.48) on short rest and it just did not work out for them as they'd hoped, as he left in the 7th inning, holding onto a 2-1 lead that was erased by a poor relief job by the brand new Dave Bly (2-3, 3.51 in AAA prior to the debut). In the second game their own spot starter Tom Brumfield (3-2, 2.92) just plain wasn't up to the task. Boston has a real hole to dig out of now. In addition to being 2 full series out of first place, they also now have to get past the Orioles (51-40 pending today's game) and Indians (50-42 following a doubleheader sweep of their own against the fading Brewers). July 30: There are games where you are actively trying to win and games where you're just trying to survive. With all these double-headers happening one right after the other this week. it's sort of been the case for a lot of teams. The Cubs, though... they entered the game with no rested starters and so they tried using a spent Javy Obregon (10-5, 3.96) and then Haruki Murakami (0-1, 9.00) as a spot starter. Not only did they drop both games - Obregon did do OK but the bullpen blew that game late for a 7-5 loss - but the stupid AI (UGH) used the presumptive starter in relief when Murakami got KOed in the 2nd game. I guess to be fair, literally everyone in the Cubs' bullpen was tired and not even slightly tired. Still... they lost that game 10-3 in part because I was kind of forced to make long reliever Jose Torres (7-8, 4.50) just sit in there and take the punishment to the tune of 4 runs allowed in the 9th inning. This sweep puts the Cardinals in the top seat of the NL East, a full 2 1/2 games in front of the Pirates, Cubs, and Phillies, all of whom are tied (I guess technically the Cubs are percentage points behind; you can see the standings above). They've also won 5 straight and are 18-8 for the month. ## Teams in Review July 27: The Houston Astros (52-40, 1st NL West, - GB) lost their 40th on the last game of the first half so I've had all All-Star Break to stew over this (not really). They... frankly look like the best team in a somewhat mediocre division if I'm being honest. The hitting is probably better than 7th given the Astrodome but that also means the pitching's not as good as advertised. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. ZR/defensive efficiency has been a sore spot but I think I've already made moves to fix that issue. Rotation: Caleb McDonald (6-14, 4.67) keeps getting chances and I was just about to give him another one given Jason Gilmer's (8-7, 3.16) slow recovery from a dead arm but nah, I'm just going to bear it. Mike Birdwell (8-6, 3.25 at AAA OKC) got called up right before the first half ended, although he got blown up in his only start so far. He's one of those "wild man" types who will blow the other guy up with strikeouts when he can locate his pitches. For now he seems like a better chance to take than McDonald. Bullpen: Nothing really wrong with the 'pen... Adam Eastin (2-0, 1.47) is outplaying the stopper Jon Douglas (4-4, 3.25) but Douglas is our guy so he's got to stick around. Overall we probably start relying on the bullpen more and more in the 2nd half. I know I keep saying this but one of these days it will stick! Infield: I don't know what happened to Dan Rigdon (.198, 2, 14), who made the AS game last year and was previously a pretty solid hitter for a backstop. This feels like a really bad time to try out new parts and Rigdon's still only 28 so could very easily bounce back. Also his backup Nate Williams (.207, 0, 7) isn't exactly a wizard at the plate and his arm leaves something to be desired. I feel like it's time to more or less cut bait with 1B/OF Justin Jensen (.204, 5, 27). Sunk cost or no, he's just plain not hitting and he's old. I'm not the biggest fan of Nick Miller (.271, 2, 14) long-term at first base but he's who we've got. Outfield: The other disappointment from the Jaden Weaver trade is RF Bobby Beaulieu (.175, 3, 17). He was supposed to be at least a 4th OF type but he just plain hasn't hit this year. He's still got options - dude's still just 25 - so I'm going to send him down in favor of Brazilian actor Antonio Fagundes (.282, 8, 30 at AAA OKC), an 8th round pick in last year's draft who's really risen through the ranks. Well... against RHPs anyway. I'm doing some sorcery here against LHPs which is going to wind up with 2 minus guys in the outfield in Jesse Lockhart (.237, 7, 35), who's fine in LF but doesn't really have the arm for RF where he's expected to play, and 2B/LF/PH Jon Sherron (.318, 1, 6), whose fielding absolutely screams "DH". The above is a bigger gamble than I probably should be taking with a 1st place team, but... man, RF has been bad this year... July 28: Fokkowing a really good June (17-9) the Pittsburgh Pirates (50-40, 3rd AL East 1 1/2 GB) have nosedived in July, going 10-15 so far this month (which, also, MAN that's a lot of games for July). In fact, if you leave out the series sweep at home against last-place Cincinnati, they're 1-8 over the past 2 weeks against the Astros, Braves, and now the Mets (with whom they just split a double-header to get to loss 40). As is terminally the case with this team, it's a story of a great pitching staff being held up by a not-even-average offense. What is there to be done? Rotation: The rotation is of course set. LESSER MEN might considered benching Jeremy Battaglia (6-13, 2.35) but that would be stupid: wins and losses aside, hes's been as effective as anyone and he serves as a nice pitch-to-contact foil for DJ Cheeves (13-4, 2.10) and Santos Arango (12-11, 2.58). Bullpen: Also too the bullpen has been great and if anything it's my job to get the ball into the hands of stopper Paz Lemus (6-3, 2.34, 16 Sv) whenever it's close and late and probably a lot of the time even when it's not. Kent Tekulve (0-2, 4.15) is the long man and also the only guy with an ERA higher than 4 on the roster but hey I kind of like the guy (and yes, I did import him). Infield: What happened to C Doug Connally (.205, 6, 32). See above for my comments about Dan Rigdon but this seems like what 1972 is at this point: the year that catchers fall apart. I'm going to continue to use him because I'm not going to change horses mid-stream. I did call up Hungarian money NERD Miklos Nemeth (.278, 2, 9) to play a bit; he's a lefty to Connally's right-handed batting stance so I'll be able to rest Connally against righties he struggles against, so there's that at least. With 1B "Doctor" Jack Holman (.247, 4, 20) struggling to hit for his customary power, first base is also kind of wide open too. I really wanted to make Ian Swerdlove (.325, 14, 43 for AAA Charleston) work out but he went 0-18 as a pinch-hitter and, like Holman, bats left, so he got sent back down. I have Mike Jackson (.284, 2, 19 at AAA) up now but man, he's just not having that high-flying season that Swerdlove is. OK... so doooo I go out on a limb? Yes, what the heck. I'm going to send down struggling CF prospect Michio Kaku (.192, 1, 17) to run 3 first basemen with Holman becoming the team's primary pinch-hitter now. 3B Alex Flores (.213, 3, 26) has also been pretty bad this year... what did I expect? He's a 28 year old career farmhand who won the job because he hit .271 in a 133 at-bat trial as a backup last year. Granted, Roberto Prieto was even worse this year and he chose to retire... okay, right, I do have NEPO BABY Hank Williams, Jr. (.375, 1, 9), who's jumped up 3 levels this year. I'm reticent to give him lots of at-bats so early but we're kind of desperate and he does fit in as a third sacker vs RHP. Outfield: As noted above, Kaku, who was the primary guy vs LHP, is back down in AAA; Frank Menner (.324, 2, 8) takes over out there. He is a far, far cry from what Pirates fans are used to seeing out there in center but Elijah Johnson is gone to St. Louis and besides he's not that Gold Glover anymore himself. At this point, trading some defense for offense seems like the way to go. July 29: Given that this team was 76-82 last year and hasn't had a winning record since 1968, this 50-40 start for the Baltimore Orioles (50-40, 3rd AL East, 4 1/2 GB) is gravy. Do I reconfigure this roster to contend, though? Man, I just don't know. They feel like they're still a year or two away but, like, do they really have anything to lose is the real question. Rotation: The O's have been winning on the backs of a fine rotation; the highest ERA of the 4 main guys is 3.35 (George Dapson, who's still 10-7) and Santos Rodriguez (10-5, 1.95) could wind up leading the league in ERA when all is said and done. Zero changes. Bullpen: Likewise, the bullpen is awfully, awfully good. I promised myself I'd lean on the 34 year old Montay Luiso (4-4, 2.49, 15 Sv) less this year but if anything I don't hit the stopper nearly as hard as teams did in real life in the early 70s. Still, his #2 man Phil Bowman (2-1, 1.89) is also really good this year so a more committee-based approach is probably in the cards to some extent. Infield: I keep thinking of 1B Jon Hernandez (.243, 7, 40) as a disappointment because his numbers look, well, pedestrian for a first baseman. They were great for a catcher, good enough to earn him 3 trips to the All-Star Game earlier in his career, but he's gone from being adequate at blocking pitches and framing the strike zone to being kind of terrible at it. That said, I should probably use him more as a backup at that position than I do. The return of 3B Marco Perez (.257, 6, 27) should hopefully solve a few problems across the infield, assuming Perez can stay healthy of course. 21 year old Bill Murray (.239, 4, 22) had been playing there in his absence but in spite of playing error-free at 13 games there, he lacks the arm to carry the position and the infield singles he was allowing seem to have taken a toll on his confidence at the plate. He'll move back to his native second base with this. Perez will also return to the cleanup spot, which also means that fans can stop gettin on the case of RF TJ Corron (.272, 2, 37), a perfectly fine hitter, for not having the power to hit in that slot. Outfield: I'm just going to have to keep telling myself that CF Matt Nugent (.237, 6, 22) is just a placeholder until standup comic/part-time "Mork"/CF Robin Williams (.274, 6, 26 at AA Asheville). Nugent hits well enough for a center fielder but he's been bad in the field and it feels worse than bad because of the man he replaced, Gold Glove quality outfielder Bryant Talara (.235, 12, 30 with Philly this year). To be fair, Tarala was always injury-prone and now he's on the DL for his new team too. 23 year old Frank Beard (.214, 3, 5) is also up; the 23 year old drummer for ZZ Top has been told he has to cut his beard to play baseball. He hit really well in the first half at Rochester (.378, 11, 32) but I don't think I can break it to Nugent or his teammates to replace "the Nuge" until/unless the team seriously falls out of contention. July 29: Man, when you get one team into review time, you get 'em all... here it's the division-leading Chicago Cubs (53-40, 1st place NL East, - GB), who've been just good enough to take over this month when the Pirates fell off. They haven't been super-fantastic themselves outside of a 10-4 April. This is the most Cubsiest team yet - they are #1 in all of baseball in runs scored and dead last in the NL in runs allowed (21st in the majors in ERA). Yep, this is who these guys are. Wrigley, especially Wrigley of the 1970s, is a huge hitters' park but it ain't exactly Coors Field; mostly, this team just has a legit great offense and a legit baaad pitching staff. Rotation: I elevated Javy "El Conde" Obregon (10-5, 3.93) to the #1 spot coming out of the break he rewarded me by getting knocked out of the box in the 5th inning vs the Phillies this past Thursday. He's still possibly the most effective of the starters and that's saying something. Jose Torres (7-7, 4.22) is a good guy to maybe push off into the bullpen in the 2nd half; I'd say send him down but he was a Rule V pick from the Pirates and so has to stay on the roster all season (and, contending or not, he was just rated the #50 prospect in all of baseball to open the year so I don't want to just get rid of him). Bullpen: What I *can* do is send down the struggling Alex Guizar (3-2, 4.19) and DFA the 32 year old reliever Frank Castro (2-2, 4.19). I love Castro's 25/8 K/W ratio but he's actually allowed more HRs than walks (10 in 38.2 IP). There are limits to what I can handle, even in Wrigley. In their place arrive Hong Kong entrepreneur Walter Kwok (9-2, 4.03 at AA Wichita), who at least had a good record in the first half, and RP Haruki Murakami (1-3, 2.97 at AAA Wichita). Kwok will go to the rotation with Murakami taking over in middle relief and Torres becoming the new long man for this team. Infield: In an effort to work more defense out of this team, I'm going to push Jeremy Taylor (.244, 17, 55) off of shortstop and start the classic great-field, no-hit man Jon Timonen (.127, 0, 3) at short. Still only 29, Timonen basically puts a 2nd pitcher in the lineup in terms of hitting ability but man, can that man cover some ground at shortstop, and Jeremy Taylor is sporting a -11.5 ZR to date so it might finally be time to take him off of the spot. Outfield: The man losing his job in the shuffle is LF Nelson Hernandez (.226, 6, 32), who was solid down the stretch after getting traded from San Diego last season (.298, 10, 34 in 245 at-bats) but he's struggled hard this year. There'd have still been a slot for him except that 24 year old Chance Cooper (.289, 5, 15) is up again and this time I think here to stay. July 30: Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox (50-40, 3rd AL East, 4 GB) seem to be putting things back together; they're 18-11 on the month but are still not in the driver's seat because of a 13-10 May and a (ugh) 12-15 June. They're still kind of, sort of the Pirates of the AL, built on a great defense (2nd in the MLB in ERA) and a very average offense to date (7th in the AL in runs scored, 13th overall). At least it is average, which does elevate them above the Bucs. Enough about the Bucs! Rotation: Yeah, nothing to change here. The only guy with a below-average ERA in there is the #4 guy Brian Osborne (8-5, 3.43) and he's only below average because the league sucks at hitting this year. Bullpen: The game doesn't like Sandy Hinojosa (2-3, 2.44, 15 Sv) but he's clearly getting the job done. That said, there are some icky parts in this bullpen: Bubba Touchton (1-3, 4.55) and Byron Pratt (1-3, 4.42) haven't really been up to snuff so far. Touchton, in spite of being a 4 year vet, somehow has an option left so I'm gonna send him down in favor of Dave Bly (2-3, 3.51 at AAA Louisville); that ERA might not look great but he struck out 48 guys in 51.1 first-half innings so he brings the smoke, something that Touchton simply did not do (only 4.9 K/9 this year and 5.5 the year before). Infield: 1B Mike Miller (.248, 12, 42) has dropped his RC/27 by a run every year since 1969 (yes, I know that's an 80s stat, not a 70s stat but shut up about that). He was sooo good in '69 that his bat is still worth 5.1 runs per game but it's beginning to be a worry. He seems to have transmogrified into a low-average HR hitter this year so I dropped him to 4th for the time being. I reeeeeeally hope I don't have to start time-sharing at this position in the near future. Miller is still only 27. 2B Brian Long (.253, 3, 33) is meh and there's an interesting guy on the horizon in Bert "Be Home" Blyleven (.299, 8, 44 in AAA Louisville). I am not going to change horses midstream with the team finally putting everything together though. Maybe Blyleven earns himself a September call-up. 3B Kristian Schneider (.256, 8, 43) is another guy who's been kinda meh all year and potentially could be replaced. However, he's really turned it on in July (hitting .348 now) and the current situation where he gets sat a lot vs LHPs in favor of Edwin Madriles (.300, 2, 11) seems to be the way to go. I keep waiting for SS Oniji Handa (.219, 6, 21) to be the guy he used to be but I guess he's just a glove guy now. It's fine. He's the best shortstop in the AL and probably the 2nd best overall to John Timonen. Outfield: Losing LF Bruce Springsteen (.312, 6, 36) - still out for another 2 weeks with a sprained ankle - really hurts. I'm using a combination of PH specialist Sam Marks (.269, 0, 3) and Mario Fernandez (.316, 0, 10) out there but yeah, that's a temporary solution. What am I worried about? The BOSS will be back and everything will be fine. I feel like I am inching close to needing to make a decision on CF Jon "The Astronaut" "but no not really, the computer-generated name was similar" Glynn (.248, 5, 13). He scored 98 runs for us last year and looked like he'd taken his game up a notch in his age-25 season but now he's kind of right back to who he was in 1970, which is an average to below average hitter who doesn't walk enough to hit leadoff super well. He's still a plus CF (2.3 ZR so far, which isn't stupendous but it's not a negative at least), which is more than can be said for any of the guys who'd replace him. July 30: Just because the California Angels (55-40, 1st AL West, = GB) have a nice little lead in their division - going into today they were 4 1/2 up on the A's, although Oakland just swept the Rangers so it's a wee bit closer - doesn't mean I can't look around at these guys and make sure everything is in good order, right? As you'd expect from a team that plays in the Big A, they've got good, solid pitching (3rd in the AL in runs allowed) and so far the hitting has had some issues with power (3rd worst in the AL with 52 HRs, which is also 21st in the MLB) and from that, scoring their own runs (7th in the AL and 13th in baseball, which OK, isn't thaaat bad). They're also only hitting .235 which, okay, is about the league average so it just looks worse than it actually is, I guess. I'm noticing that their owner, country music singer and movie star Gene Autry, only wanted them to finish .500 this year so he must be ecstatic already. Rotation: Since this is an LA based team, we're doing the 5 man rotation. It's also, frankly, just plain working out well. 3 guys have 10 wins and nobody's got an ERA over 3.30. Why mess with success? Bullpen: We have an extra spot open on the roster right now so I'm going to go with 10 men, not necessarily because it's completely needed (although all 4 of the current relievers are tired) but because we can. I'm actually bringing two guys in relief because I'm also going to send down Joe Scott (1-0, 4.61), who we acquired from the Orioles in May but who hasn't worked out in the major leagues. Coming in are Mark Seitz (1-1, 1.12 at AAA SLC), who was up for a bit earlier in the year, and 27 year old rookie Parker Leonard (14-2, 2.20 at AAA SLC), who leapfrogged a couple of bigger-name prospects in the high minors with a monster first half. I'll drop him straight into middle relief and see what he can do in... medium leverage situations. Infield: C Shaun Dennehy (.196, 2, 18) isn't playing but I've already committed to calling up Tsui Hark (.274, 7, 30 at AAA SLC) to back him up and I am not switching out the starting backstop on a contending team. Also, Hark is very much still learning the position and now that I look at it I'm not 100% sure the 22 year old will be able to stick at the position. 1B Willie Vargas (.273, 4, 35) has shown his level in California as a .280ish guy with no power. Unfortunately he just doesn't care enough to play well in the field in spite of great speed and so first base is sort of his natural position. He might even be a DH next year should that rule pass. This is probably still good enough - I keep having to remind myself that this is a good team overall in a really bad hitter's park in a really bad year for hitters. 2B Mauricio Mendez (.245, 7, 22) is another guy I just have to talk myself out of moving around. Anyway, he always winds up being the starting 2B by the end of the year anyway, right? May as well just let him be. Helping his cause is the fact that his main rival Jaco Pastorius (.209, 1, 12) isn't exactly producing solo bass albums, if you catch my drift (which, look, the man was the greatest bassist of all time, indulge me here). I did pull the trigger on Jean-Pierre Raffarin (.179, 0, 0) to take over for Travis Corley (.195, 2, 25) and of course now he's not hitting either. I guess he didn't have that great of a first half in the minor leagues (.244/9/46 at SLC). I'll let that play out a little longer and dial it back a notch if I need to. And hey, Corley could still get hot, right? He was a rookie All-Star last year (.268, 16, 66). Outfield: All 3 of the guys out here are... meh but just good enough. I don't super like it but it'll have to do.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-02-2023, 11:53 AM
|
#216 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
July 31 - August 6, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 62 40 .608 - 427 343 Cleveland Indians 55 47 .539 7 404 354 Baltimore Orioles 54 47 .535 7½ 363 321 Boston Red Sox 53 47 .530 8 357 311 Milwaukee Brewers 45 57 .441 17 327 380 New York Yankees 42 58 .420 19 313 343 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 60 43 .583 - 364 352 Oakland Athletics 55 48 .534 5 374 397 Minnesota Twins 51 48 .515 7 373 353 Chicago White Sox 49 53 .480 10½ 357 388 Texas Rangers 46 57 .447 14 303 342 Kansas City Royals 37 64 .366 22 358 436 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cubs 60 44 .577 - 421 428 St. Louis Cardinals 56 44 .560 2 412 371 Philadelphia Phillies 57 45 .559 2 404 377 Pittsburgh Pirates 55 47 .539 4 339 291 Montreal Expos 43 57 .430 15 321 374 New York Mets 41 59 .410 17 329 397 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 58 46 .558 - 358 346 Atlanta Braves 56 48 .538 2 412 374 San Diego Padres 51 51 .500 6 392 376 Los Angeles Dodgers 49 52 .485 7½ 341 368 San Francisco Giants 45 60 .429 13½ 337 343 Cincinnati Reds 41 59 .410 15 378 399 The NL West is kind of more of the same. Both the Astros and Braves seem catchable except that nobody else in the division seems to have anything like what it takes to get to 85-90 wins. Houston's offense is probably better than it looks but they've been weighed down by the albatross that is OF/1B Justin Jensen (.205, 6, 30), who at least is no longer starting. The pitching outside of Tony Rivera (17-8, 2.22) seems vulnerable too. Atlanta meanwhile has got great hitting, the best stopper in the game in John Winn (2-6, 2.05, 12 Sv) and... a whole lot of questions. The AL, I just don't thik I need to spend a lot of time on. The Tigers enjoyed a 5-2 week with series wins over the Brewers and Indians to extend their lead to 7 games in the division. I full expect that to get out to double digits soon. The Angels may not win their own division by as much but the A's are also getting outscored and not even by a little bit so it'll take a huge run by the aging Twins to make that close. OKAY, so let's take a look at those leaderboards... like I said, no ChatGPT, although on second thought maybe I will mix that in like, every other week. These summaries feel like I'm repeating myself much less often than I do when I do it weekly. Twins 2B Daniel Gilmet (.333, 7, 36) hit .346 this week and is now leading the league in hitting by a pretty good chunk. This would be his 3rd batting title of his career but his first since 1966. Thanks to injuries the 34 year old only has 1600-odd hits but 2000 seems reasonable to get to at least. Tigers CF Alvin Romero (.325, 1, 29) is playing through back spasms but still is just barely in front of Royals LF Tony Danza (.323, 2, 27). Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.296, 37, 95) is still lapping the field in HRs and RBIs with White Sox 1B/OF Alice Cooper (.243, 27, 67) and veteran Twins 1B Angelo Martinez (.229, 24, 61) still 2nd and 3rd in HRs, with Royals OF RJ Dominguez (.246, 16, 68) a diiiiiistant 2nd in RBIs. I recall him being among the HR leaders at one point but he's hit just 6 ding-dongs since June 1. The steals title is pretty much Romero's to lose with 38; at this point he could potentially win without stealing another base, as the #2 guy Ahnold (.188, 0, 12) has been sent back down to AA Tucson and Royals CF Dave Corona (.247, 9, 22) has surpassed his teammate Tony Danza with 23 as he hasn't been told to nail his foot to the bag (Danza did steal 2 bases, pulling his SB/CS ratio up to 20/22 - yes, that's 22 caughts). Nobody in the AL has a sub-2.00 ERA this year. Cleveland's Jose Martinez (14-6, 2.08) comes the closest. He's come out of nowhere but could be be the Cy? Santos Rodriguez (10-6, 2.17) recovered from a bad start on July 31 to only allow 2 runs in 8 innings in his lone start this week and consolidate his hold on 2nd, and the Red Sox' Marco Sancez (10-10, 2.21) rounds out the top 3 with a very hard-luck season. With much less hard luck you've got the Tigers' Edgar Molina (15-7, 2.74), who somehow missed the All-Star Game but is having a career year. Martinez and Boston's Michael Pesco (14-8, 2.59) are both 14 game winers. Molina also leads the league in Ks with 174 and is a good last 2 months away from a Triple Crown. He's followed by Pesco with 164 and a tie between Martinez and the 3rd Red Sox to appear on these liests, Justin Kindberg (12-9, 2.88), with 161. And in the saves race, the A's Willis Chavez (5-2, 1.85) is a huge part of how the A's have overachieved with 22 saves in 23 opportunities, followed by the Tigers' Jim Marceau (4-4, 2.38) with 21 (although 5 blown saves and, bad news for him, Alex Madrigal (0-0, 0.00) has returned from a shoulder injury he suffered in spring training - he'll take the bulk of closer duties in Detroit now) and then new guy Travis Livingston (3-3, 1.03) of the Twins, who has 18 saves and will likely be leaned on haaaaard down the stretch. On to the NL! There's now only one man hitting over .300 in the NL this year: Atlanta 2B Kevin Dwyer (.318, 13, 51), who's been an absolute rock for the Braves as they try to contend. Reds LF Alonzo Huanosta (.297, 1, 43) is nexxt because somebody has to be, right? It is TBF nice to see him bounce back from a bad .261/13/57 season with the Indians last year, although it's equally too bad to see him put up these numbers for a bad Cincinnati team. Cubs 1B Antonio Lopez (.297, 20, 48) is in a virtual tie with him and otherwise is juuuust out of the leaderboards in the other big categories. In HRs the Reds' Jaden Weaver (.241, 24, 68) managed 1 HR and 3 RBI this week to stay just ahead of Dodgers 1B Justin Stone (.257, 23, 67), who had 2 and 5. Pop superstar / Padres 2B Paul McCartney (.278, 21, 69) muscled his way into this conversation with 3 HRs and 12 RBIs - coupled with a .440 BA, I'm guessing he'll be the Player of the Week. Reverse the HR top 3 for the ribbie top three! With steals, the Reds' Pedro Ortiz (.284, 1, 25) paces everyone with 29 although now that the Braves' Chris Ward (.304, 7, 20) is healthy, he's catching up with 20 of them, including 2 this week. Cubs 3B Sean Gabel (.280, 1, 27) has 19 for 3rd. Fernando Apolonio (12-7, 1.96) is no longer even close to breaking the ERA record but he's still the last guy in either league with a sub-2.00 ERA, which puts him well ahead of the #1 guy... Expos P Frank Evans (9-7, 2.11). Like, I don't see Apolonio being able to continue at this level but I deeeeefinitely don't see Evans doing so. Jeremy Battaglia (8-14, 2.16) is the first "legit" guy on that list and is also having some terrible, terrible run support this season. Tony Rivera (17-8, 2,22) leads all major leaguers in wins and is 4th in ERA to boot; he's followed by 3 guys - Pittsburgh's Santos Arango (13-11, 2.60) and DJ Cheeves (13-6, 2.48) and the Phillies' Richard Starkey (13-8, 2.96) with 13 Ws apiece. 24 year old fireballer Roger Quintana (10-7, 2.71) of the Phillies leads all NLers with 160 Ks with Arango behind him with 138 and LA's Rogelio Salinas (10-4, 3.68) with 129. Atlanta's Roberto Ortiz (9-5, 3.75) has a combined 153 between the two leagues. Jesse Kelly (7-1, 2.12) has pulled the Cubs out of the fire all season long with a league-high 20 saves, followed by LA's Alec Cosby (4-4, 2.39) with 17 of them and 3 guys with 16. ## Major Transactions August 1: The White Sox claim C Chris Flores (.202, 1, 13) off of waivers from the California Angels. The Angels had just traded for the 32 year old backstop and were trying to sneak him into the minor leagues. Little did they know that the Chisox have just plain nobody at the position! Flores probably leaps straight into the starting position for them. ## News July 31: Operation Motorman begins today in Northern Ireland at 4 in the morning as 13,000 British troops roll into the "no go" areas of Belfast, Derry, Lurgan, Armagh, Prtadown, Coalisland, and Dungannon. Although violence will continue in Northern Ireland it will be greatly reduced and will never again reach the levels of July 1972. July 31: Nine civilians are killed in the Claudy bombing in Northern Ireland when three separate bombs explode without warning at about 10:30 in the morning in that small town. July 31: An explosion incinerates 17 employees at the Box Flat Colliery in Australia. Six were coal miners, another 8 were members of the Mines Rescue Service who had volunteered to fight a(n unrelated?) fire (man, mines are scary), and three others were working in a shed outside the entrance of the No. 5 shaft when the fiery blast occurred at 2:58AM. July 31: George McGovern drops Thomas Eagleton from the Democratic presidential ticket. July 31: Yet another hijacking on US soil (man, this was the era for that): Flight 841 from Detroit was hiacked by five members of the Black Liberation Army as it was approaching Miami. After receiving a ransom of $1.7M they commandeered the flight to Boston, refueled, and then flew it 5,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to Algeria. All five hijackers would eventually be caught although one man, George Wright, would remain on the lam until 2011. July 31: We've got some more new blood this week for PotW honors! In the AL the award goes to Indians CF Bobby Kaplan (.286, 3, 17), who turned around his season in one week's time with a 12-19 (.632) performance with 5 runs scored. He only played in 4 of his team's games but I mean that's enough, isn't it? Kaplan started his career out in Cleveland, was sold to the Washington Senators in October of 1970, and then, following a solid rookie year, was traded back to the Tribe in the MASSIVE Tommy Pron/Eric Godard/Jonathan House deal. This is his first hardware of any kind at the ML level, although he won the IL/AA Golden Glove in 1969. In the NL, the award goes to 100% new blood in the form of Dodgers OF Ronney Yitzakhi (.310, 4, 11), who went 9-19 (.474), also in part-time work but also super-effective. He also had 2 of his 4 dingers and 5 of his 11 RBIs last week. Yitzahki, an 11th round pick back in 1969 who's outshone everyone's takes on him coming out of the draft, won Player of the Week twice in the minor leagues. He began this year in AAA and got the call in spite of hitting just .208/4/13 in 144 at-bats at that level, which was the furthest up he'd reached previously. He's mostly a utility guy who can play 6 positions at a plus level - everywhere except catcher and first base. July 31: Hey, "only" 2 double-headers today, although also nobody gets today off in spite of it being a Monday. Get back to work, strikers! I guess... July 31: It's only Monday but this might be the Game of the Week! I'll let ChatGPT, who I told to act like a bitter old sportswriter, take over: Well, gather 'round, folks. We got ourselves a clash between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies. A real nail-biter that ended with the Phillies edging out the Buccos, 5-4, at Veterans Stadium. Now, the Pirates started with a glimmer of hope, notching a couple of runs in the third inning. But wouldn't you know it, the Phillies answered back with a four-spot in the bottom of the inning, led by Matt Highfield's two-run single. Talk about a momentum swing. The Pirates tried to rally, plating a couple more runs, including a solo shot by Mike Jackson. But, you know how it goes, too little, too late. Richard Starkey on the mound for the Phillies held his own for seven innings, giving up just four hits, securing himself a W. Now, folks, it was a game worth watchin', even if it's just to see who'd come up short. Starkey earns the "Player of the Game" title, and to add insult to injury, the Pirates lost Greg Lake to an injury during some defensive play. That's baseball for you, a mix of highs and lows. The Phillies walked away with the win, and the Pirates, well, they'll have to regroup and hope for better luck next time. The game's got a way of humbling even the proudest, and today, it was the Pirates' turn to feel it. (I didn't tell ChatGPT to be a Pirates' fan but I guess when you tell it to be bitter, that's what it does naturally. Also "the Buccos" is a new one to me) July 31: Because of the DUMB AI (read: the fact that the Cubs were completely out of pitchers yesterday) I have to recall Alex Guizar (3-2, 4.19) for one game to spot start against the first-place Cardinals. He... did surprisingly well, pitching maybe his best game of the year with 2 runs allowed in 7 innings for a 6-2 win that lowered his seasonal ERA just below 4. The Cubs have a pretty brutal schedule coming up so I think I'm gonna have to leave him on the major league roster for now. August 1: The first article in the Watergate investigative series by reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward appears on the front page of the Washington Post, with the headline "Bug Suspect Got Campaign Funds". August 1: 47 year old professional wrestler Ray Gunkel dies from heart trauma after defeating Ox Baker in a match in Savannah, Georgia. Initially reported to have died in the ring, a spokesperson said that "[h]e went to the dressing room, showered, dressed, and felt great... He was sitting in a chair, talking to the Savannah promoter... Then as the promoter got up to leave, he fell to the floor." Although pretty much unremembered in pro wrestling history since he did all of his work in the pre-"Rock and Wrestling" era WWF, Gunkel will still eventually be recognized in the George Tragos / Lou Thiesz Hall of Fame in 2008. August 1: Twins IF Danny Pellot (.234, 1, 12), who has been with the team since 1965, is annoyed enough by his reduced role with the club and their lack of success that he's demanded a trade. Like, what? Dude, you're 37. Pellot still has something left with his glove but honestly it's not enough to deal with poor chemistry. I'm going to cut this guy loose; if this is the last we hear of him, he made 5 All-Star Games in the 60s and has 1,876 hits, definitely good enough for both the Tigers' and Twins' personal Halls. August 1: And it's time for the monthly awards! The NL Rookie of the Month goes to... a guy who just got sent down but then called back up in Cubs P Alex Guizar (4-2, 3.96). Guizar was 3-0 with a 3.56 ERA and although I thought he was the 10th best guy on the staff, he was still good enough. Guizar put together 23 Ks in 30.1 innings in July against only 10 walks. The .272 opponents' average was probably even a little unlucky. He was also the IL/AA Pitcher of the Month for May this year so... he's doing pretty well. The AL Rookie of the Month feels a bit more... normal. Tigers 1B Nikki Lauda (.291, 11, 37) took the league by storm in July to the tune of a .314 average (32-102), 6 HRs, and 22 RBIs. He played so well, in fact, that the 22 year old was even named to the All-Star Game. Lauda was also the Player of the Week for the week ending July 16th so he wasn't just the best rookie, he was one of the best players, period. The NL Pitcher of the Month award goes to Tony Rivera (16-8, 2.23), who did end it with a whimper, losing 3 of his last 4 starts, but that only goes to show how awesome he'd been in the first part. He finished the month 5-3 with a 2.58 ERA and 43 Ks in 66.1 IP. Batters hit just .238 against him and he continued to force hitters to beat him with singles, allowing only 3 HRs (8 on the year in 214.1 IP). If it looks like a bad month for Rivera, that's only because Rivera's kind of good. Kind of surprisingly, Rivera had never won the PotM before now. In the AL, the Pitcher of the Month is a guy who was literally claimed off the scrap heap by the Kansas City Royals in May; they acquired this guy, Mike Lagunas (8-5, 2.18) for backup 3B Mike Ramos. Lagunas got things going just a little too late to make an All-Star appearance but 5-1, 1.84 is still pretty OK, especially for a team with as beleaguered a pitching staff as the Royals. Lagunas struck out 34 and walked 20 in 53.2 July innings and was veeeeery stingy with the hits, allowing a tiny .196 opponents' average (which, sure, is a bit lucky, but a GOOD PITCHER MAKES HIS OWN LUCK). Lagunas has never won this award before. Penultimately the NL Batter of the Month was the Braves' superstar 2B Kevin Dwyer (.314, 13, 51), who carried his team almost all the way to first place (they're just a game behind the Astros right now) with a .362-5-18 month. He also scored 18 times, had a total of 12 extra-base hits, and slugged a monstrous .650. Dwyer, a 12-time All-Star, also somehow never won this award before now. Surprising! And two guesses as to who the AL Batter of the Month for July was. If you guessed anyone other than Indians 1B Ernesto Garcia (.288, 35, 93), maybe you should read more of this dynasty! Garcia hit .306 with 13 - thirteen! - HRs and 35 RBIs in 31 games (which, that is a loooooot of games to play in July but I digress). The reigning AL MVP is somehow outslugging last season - .644 vs .628 in 1971 - and is back on pace to hit 60 HRs again. Will he break his own AL record of 65? It looks like a big no at this point but I wouldn't put it past him. Garcia has won this award 6 times now; he now has more of them than All-Star appearances (5). He really should get all the credit for carrying his team to a 19-12 record that puts them within shouting distance of the first-place Tigers. August 1: Some guys who did *not* make it onto the monthly boards in July - the Minnesota Twins, who went 9-19 on the month with just 3.57 runs scored per game. I bring this up because they lost *again* today to the Texas Rangers 1-0 in a game they did not look like they were about to score runs in at all. 24 year old Billy Crystal (9-10, 2.42) looked mahvelous today (I've probably already used that but GET USED TO IT) with the 5-hit shutout for Texas, while Chris Benavides (11-13, 3.25) wasn't exactly terrible but was not, sadly for the Twinkies, perfect. The loss puts the Twins a game under .500 at 46-47, and it's really starting to look like last year's 80-80 record was not a fluke. August 1: In what turned out to be one of the best pitching matchups of the season, San Francisco's Mike Stuckey (7-11, 2.43) and Los Angeles' Rogelio Salinas (10-4, 3.68) dueled for 12 innings at Chavez Ravine. Neither pitcher gave up much of anything in regulation; in fact, Salinas even had a no-no going into the 6th, when 3B George Harrison (.261, 5, 30) finally broke it up with a single up the middle with one out. He didn't come around to score and neither did anybody else until Stuckey finally faltered in the bottom of the 12th, allowing a leadoff double to 3B Robin Gibb (.277, 9, 35). He walked the ferocious Justin Stone (.249, 22, 64) intentionally... and then LF Paul Stewart (.259, 9, 33) sent the LA fans who hadn't already left in the 8th as LA fans do happy with a 3-run blast. The win hopefully will help the Dodgers find their bearings after a disastrous 9-18 July that not only took them out of contention in the NL West but left them 3 games under .500 entering this one. August 2: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi announce today that their respective nations would unite into one by September 1, 1973. "The Arabs have realized that the challenges of Zionism and imperialism can only be surmounted by a large entity with enourmous resources and capabilities. The union, which will never actually happen, would have had the ninth largest area in the world. August 2: The Red Sox entered into this 4-game series with the last-place Yankees looking at an opportunity to sneak in some wins and try to make some ground against the first-place Tigers. A series sweep was almost expected for the reigning champs. A split would have been a disaster. So... what do you call being on the brink of getting swept? The Red Sox lost both ends of the double-header today to fall all the way to 51-45 and 7 games behind the Tigers (whom I've yet to play today). In game 1, starter Justin Kindberg (12-9, 2.88) went all the way but just didn't quite have all of his stuff he usually has and in spite of a 9th inning rally the Bosox still fell 4-3. They hoped to right the ship in the nightcap but after Brian Osborne (8-6, 3.70) got tired in the 7th he left the game to a tired bullpen, who blew open a still-close 4-2 game into a bad 9-4 loss. Boston's biggest issue all year long has been inconsistent hitting; they may be 4th in the AL in runs scored right now but man, they sure don't play like an upper echelon offense. August 2: Twins 1B Angelo Martinez (.228, 23, 57) reached a big milestone today with his 400th career HR in a 6-5 win over the Rangers at Arlington Stadium. The 36 year old may be into the low-average slugger portion of his career but he's clearly not done yet, as his 3rd-best 23 HRs, 4th-best RBIs, and 11th ticket to the All-Star Game indicate. August 2: This is the type of year that it is, I guess. Kansas City and Oakland went through a scoreless tie through 9 and then the A's fiiinally erupted for a single run in the bottom of the 10th to win it. Starter Carlos Torres (2-4, 3.79) is a career journeyman and minor league guy but he struck out 11 Royals tonight, so he's found something at age 34 I guess. His opponent, the young Rick Rodriguez (1-3, 2.68) pitched an excellent game himself but could only be so perfect with the punchless KC lineup failing to provide him any support at all. The win does at least get the A's to within shouting distance of the Angels at 2 1/2 games back. They will host the Minnesota Twins over the weekend in what feels like a potential elimination series for the Twinkies. August 2: The meltdowns continue for Astros CL Jon Douglas (4-6, 3.54, 14 Sv). He didn't blow a save tonight - that was setup man Adam Eastin's (2-0, 1.67) thing tonight - but he inherited a 2-2 tie and turned it into a 4-2 loss to the lowly Cincinnati Reds thanks to a 9th inning HR by SS Dusty McCully (.272, 7, 35). Douglas has blown 6 saves since July 1, when he saved his 12th game on the year and sat at 3-2, 1.29. Since then he's allowed 17 runs in 20.2 IP for a 6.97 ERA (1 of those runs, the 2nd he allowed tonight in fact, was unearned) with 6 meltdowns in 15 appearances. Is it time to demote him, one month removed from his looking like one of the best relievers in the game? August 3: The "diploma tax", to deter Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union, is enacted by the Supreme Soviet as Decree No. 572: "Citizens of the USSR leaving for permanent residence abroad in other than socialist countries must compensate the State for their education received from institutions of higher education". The tax, as much as 25,000 rubles (and I can't get good dollar values for rubles in '72, let alone how much that would be today), will be abolished in 1973 but not before 1,435 Soviet Jews pay it. August 3: In an 88-2 vote the US Senate ratifies the Soviet-American Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which will last beyond the disestablishment of the USSR until it is finally abolished when the USA backs out of it in 2002. August 3: The Yankees complete a humiliating sweep of the Red Sox with a 5-4 win at Fenway Park. Gene Lueders (5-13, 3.51) goes 7 quality innings for the win and Kojiro Nakazawa (3-6, 3.98) pitches a 1-2-3 eighth and collects himself after allowing a Sam Marks (.296, 1, 5) HR to shut things down for save #11. Boston's starter Michael Pesco (14-8, 2.59), who's looking like he might be on another Cy Young campaign, was wild today and not the good kind of wild, leaving in the 7th after having allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and 7 walks, a mark which ties his season high (he walked 7 in an 8-2 loss to the Royals on June 13). The win gets New York to 20 games under .500 at 38-58 but more importantly, they play an early August spoiler to the Red Sox, who drop to 51-46 and 4th place in the AL East race. August 4: Arthur Bremer is sentenced to 63 years in prison after being found guilty of having shot and paralyzed Alabama Governor / Presidential candidate George Wallace and wounding three other people on a May 15 shooting. He will eventually be released from the Maryland Correctional Institution - Hagerstown in 2007 after 35 years. August 4: Bobby Fischer reaches his highest live ELA rating of 2789.7 after a win in Game 10 of the World Chess Championship. This rating will not be surpassed for another 22 years. August 4: I wouldn't call it luck exactly but things keep happening to leave a roster spot open for struggling PH Billy Tristan (.192, 0, 2). The 42 year old, who's played for the Dodgers since 1959, is really really looking like he's at the end of the rope but today an injury to Danny Fager (.215, 6, 19), which forced LA to shake the lineup up and move utility man Ronney Yitzakhi (.252, 1, 10) to second from CF, was also making things look like they were going to need Tristan's roster spot to drop in a backup center fielder. Instead, Fager was diagnosed with a sprained wrist and will be out until September. He was placed on the DL and Tristan's spot remains intact for now. August 4: Hey, only one double-header today! The schedulers took a break, I see. August 5: With the national convention long adjourned, the DNC confirmed George McGovern's sixth choice to replace VP candidate Thomas Eagleton, former ambassador to France and Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver. McGovern previously was turned down by Ted Kennedy, Abraham Ribicoff, Hubert Humphrey, Reuben Askew, and Edmund Muskie. August 5: So with the draft I generally just offer players initially and then let it go with that. It usually works! Even when it doesn't work, it works in its own way. This year the Indians look like they had like zero draft room and so a whole host of players went undrafted for them, including their 2nd and 3rd round picks, who they'll get compensation for next year. In fact, only one other top-3 pick failed to sign, the 3rd rounder for the Reds. August 5: Tigers CF Alvin Romero (.326, 1, 29) has been playing through back spasms for the past week and now they've been downgraded to "unknown" duration. He's still going to stay in the lineup because, frankly, the Tigers need him. Maybe if they jump way out in front of this division that will change. August 5: Call them the Cardiac Cubbies. Chicago (N) eked out a 3-2 win over the fading New York Mets in 11 innings today to pull 2 1/2 games up in the NL East standings, pending games by their rivals. This is in spite of the fact that the team has actually been outscored this season. How are they here, you ask? Well, they are 23-12 in one-run contests now and 9-6 when games are tied up at the end of regulation. Stopper Jesse Kelly (7-1, 2.20, 20 Sv) has certainly been a huge part of that but tonight it was all Bill Lucas (10-8, 3.83). The big 6'3" righty has had a rough time of it the past 2 years since winning 23 for this team in 1969 but he went all 11 innings today to record his 6th complete game of the season. The Cubs got their final game-winner off of old man Tom Owens (1-1, 3.86), who was recently signed by the Mets after these Cubs cut him in April. August 6: WHY ISN'T THIS IN THE GAME at Hogan Park in Midland, Texas today, a game is called "on account of grasshoppers" whe millions of the insects swarm into the park during the second game of a doubleheader. Grasshoppers dimmed the lighting and alighted upon many of the 857 spectators. Midland wins the game the next day when it is resumed, 2-1, which answers my other question: apparently this was not in fact a Biblical omen and the city of Midland, Texas was not in fact smote. August 6: Ginger Spice (aka Gerri Halliwell) is born today. August 6: We are right back into it with 19 games scheduled today! Every team but two in the AL are going in for two while the NL "only" has 2 double-headers today. August 6: In a double-header that pretty much sums up this season, the Yankees swept the Brewers by identical 1-0 scores. YUCK. In Game 1, Manny Carbajal (8-9, 3.03) "outdueled" 23 year old Omar Jiminez (5-7, 2.93); "outdueled" is in quotes because both of these offenses are punchless. Game 2 was more of the same: rookie Henning Mankell (4-2, 1.81) scattered 8 hits and got out of a bases loaded, 1 out rally in the 9th to best Joel Youngblood (6-5, 3.12). Imagine being a Brewers fan right now. ## Teams in Review July 31: On paper I swear this team should be better. The Kansas City Royals (34-60, 6th AL West, 21 GB) have some stars on their roster but a lot of scrubs I guess and unlike, say, the Reds, their runs scored and allowed do kind of match up with the bad record. STILL THOUGH, they've got a really nice hitting outfield... maybe that's all they've got. Dead last in baseball in ERA and 9th in the AL (16th overall) in runs scored does not get you very far. They do hit a lot of homeruns though (71, 3rd in the league). I think the team's been playing for future seasons all year long anyway so the fact that we're completely mired in last place, maybe even in line to get the #1 pick in the draft, probably won't change anything. Rotation: I'm not a huuuuge fan of how many older guys are in the rotation right now but I guess to be fair they're also the better guys in there. 32 year old Andy Lagunas (7-5, 2.24) is basically the ace of the staff, Miguel Chavez (9-8, 4.09) is a 5 time All-Star who just had some success last season (12-11, 3.00), and they just added 29 year old Dylan Mincher (3-4, 3.53 combined) off of waivers from LA. Due to already having just made a move here when I sent down Ellison Onizuka (1-3, 4.97) I won't make any more. Bullpen: Juan Correra (2-5, 4.43) is clearly not working out as the stopper, leading me to switch out at the position once more this year. This bullpen has been baaaaad. The job feels like an awful lot to put on 24 year old Jon Gutierrez' (2-2, 3.06) shoulders but this is what it it's going to be for the Rule V pick. I'm considering sending Correra down as he still has an option left... but there's really nobody in Omaha right now who a. looks like anything and b. I haven't already tried. So we'll mostly stay as-is, I guess. Infield: We've tried 4 different players at catcher and it's amazing in a way how badly all of them have hit. Nobody's been anywhere close to .200; in fact, the current guys are hitting .117 and .128 respectively. I'm going to go so far as to reach out to veteran free agent Mike Perez (.164, 1, 8), who was so bad this year that the White Sox cut ties with him; that .164 would lead all Royals catchers at this point. 1B Jim Davis (.195, 11, 25) is an all-or-nothing guy at the best of times. He seems to fiiiinally be starting to hit, although even at that he's just hitting .203 for the month. That power though. If he wasn't already the creator of Garfield I'd swear he was real-life Royal Steve Balboni. He has to have a big exploitable loop in his swing against LHPs but somehow he's 4-9 against them this year so I'll keep on the notion that maybe he'll get more time against them, not less. 3B Ryan Newton (.232, 1, 21) went from stud to dud this year. I guess I should be happy that he can at least field at the position, which is ultimately the reason KC cut ties with 1970 AL Rookie of the Year Jeff Nation (now .292/12/35 with the White Sox, although he's logged only 92 innings at the third sack there). There is precious little in the minors... except I guess that last year's 3rd round pick, Uwe Kleinmann (.291, 2, 10 at AAA Omaha) jumped two levels this year and seems like he might be ready to go. You can tell from the FUNNY NAME that he's a German "footballer" (read: soccer player) in the offseason. Scouts rave about his strike zone recognition but I'm not so sure: the guy struck out 35 times in 172 at-bats in AAA. I'm guessing he'll probably stink. But hey, it's not like KC was contending anyway... Outfield: The issue we have in the OF, really, is that we've got 4 corner outfielders and 2 spots to put them in. I've been living with 23 year old Dave Corona (.252, 9, 21) as the "center fielder" but he's been slumping lately and I'm beginning to wonder if playing a position he's just not qualified to play is hurting his confidence. He missed the All-Star Game after making it the previous 2 seasons. Displacing him would mean benching either potential BA champ Tony Danza (.320, 2, 26) or slugger RJ Dominguez (.239, 16, 62) and I'm not willing to do either right now. Also, as it is, Edwin Manchego (.290, 15, 32) deserves more PT, not less. Oh yeah, one thing I will do is start nailing Danza's foot to the bag once he's on base. The man has got amazing speed but he is 18/40 on steals. He could be up there with Alvin Romero if he made better decisions! Oh well. August 1: We are looking down the barrel at one hell of a pennant race with the St. Louis Cardinals (54-40, 1st NL East, - GB) currently on top... but check back next week! They are currently, with today's game yet to be played, just 1/2 a game up on the Phillies and 1 game up on the Cubs, who beat them 6-2 yesterday to drop them to 40 losses. Unlike some of the other teams in this division the Cardinals have a pretty decently balanced team: 3rd in the NL in runs scored (4th overall) and 6th in the league in runs allowed (9th in the MLB in ERA). At that, it looks to me at least at a glance like the pitching staff itself is OK but is weighed down a bit by an error-prone defense (dead last in ZR in the NL, 2nd worst in errors). I'm not sure how much I can do about that but... we'll see, I guess. Rotation: I guess one thing it does tell me is that I don't necessarily need to do much with the rotation or the pitching staff a whole lot at all. The worst starter is Raul Mendoza (6-9, 3.85), who was a 16 game winner for Washington last year and would still be an ace on a lot of staffs. At that, he's got a solid 119/39 K/W ratio and is allowing only a .238 OBA so I feel like he's been unlucky more than anything. That said, I don't reeeeeally think the front end of the rotation is so fantastic that I need to lean on them heavily so I'm going to expand, for now, to 5 men and work Steve Tidwell (3-2, 4.12) back in. Tidwell himself was a 14 game winner for the Cubs last year. Bullpen: I also have a 10 man pitching staff going right now with the return of Dan Schoner (0-0, 13.50) from a torn rotator cuff injury that had kept him out since June of last year. The early returns are not positive on him but I'm hopeful he can figure it out in long relief. Otherwise, Billy Munoz (4-6, 3.50, 16 Sv) feels like more of a problem than a solution as the stopper. He just plain gets torched too much: 11 meltdowns last year and already 11 this year. Is Edward James Olmos (5-4, 2.25, 5 Sv) ready to take over the mantle? He did save 14 games for Cincy last year so sure, why not? Infield: 2B Tom Depew (.215, 5, 20) has lost almost 100 points off of his average from last year and frankly the hitting is what made him a valuable part of this team. I'm not really in a position to sit him, at least outside of letting IF prospect / blues man Buddy Miles (.279, 2, 14 at AAA, .278, 0, 3 in 18 ABs so far in the majors) take some ABs against tough lefties. One to keep an eye on for next year I guess - and hopefully this just turns out to be a season-long slump. SS Brian Wilcox (.195, 4, 22) came over from the Mets to be a low average good glove hitter and I guess that's exactly what he's been... but to an extreme. Wilcox is hitting for the lowest average of his career since the first season he was a starter back in 1964 and is doing pretty much nothing in terms of secondary average either with a sub-.600 OPS. On the other hand, he leads all NL shortstops in fielding percentage with a scintillating .994 and at age 30 is still competitive in terms of range (his ZR is 3rd, a mile behind Pittsburgh's Henry Villar but essentially tied with the Dodgers' Justin Henderson). Again, in spite of the low average, I just can't swap him out right now and risk ruining the team - especially given that the entire rest of this defense is bad at all the things that Wilcox is good at. Outfield: I'm not really sure how but CF Jim James (.281, 2, 15) seems to be outplaying Sonny Burwell (.245, 4, 15) as a fielder. Kind of the whole entire point of bringing in Burwell was for the defensive upgrade and although his offensive woes are pretty well documented, this is kind of a shocker. I'm going to just move James back into the starting role - look, he's the guy who got us there last year, as far as we went, and all Burwell did in the last year and a half was lead a bad Reds team and then underperform here. The grizzled old veteran Elijah Johnson (.259, 2, 6) is going to stick around to steal some ABs with either guy given that they're both lefties and Johnson hits well against portsiders. Casey Satterfield (.261, 16, 46) came on strong last month with a .287-5-12 July to rest worries about his bat at least. He really shouldn't be playing in RF but a. the Cards already have two 1B/LF types on this team already and b. again, I'm not making big changes like moving him off. And hey, he's still just 26 so it's conceivably possible that he could improve out there, right? Honestly, he just lacks range. He concentrates well enough and he doesn't slough off; he's just not all that fast. And, well, his arm is not the greatest.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-12-2023, 11:20 AM
|
#217 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
August 7 -13, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 67 43 .609 - 466 378 Baltimore Orioles 60 49 .550 6½ 386 335 Boston Red Sox 58 49 .542 7½ 386 331 Cleveland Indians 56 53 .514 10½ 437 401 New York Yankees 47 61 .435 19 343 368 Milwaukee Brewers 46 64 .418 21 345 411 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 63 46 .578 - 384 371 Oakland Athletics 59 51 .536 4½ 404 423 Minnesota Twins 56 50 .528 5½ 402 374 Chicago White Sox 51 57 .472 11½ 375 410 Texas Rangers 49 60 .450 14 325 367 Kansas City Royals 39 68 .364 23 381 465 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Philadelphia Phillies 62 46 .574 - 451 404 Chicago Cubs 62 48 .564 1 451 454 Pittsburgh Pirates 60 48 .556 2 363 309 St. Louis Cardinals 58 49 .542 3½ 426 386 Montreal Expos 45 62 .421 16½ 348 426 New York Mets 44 62 .415 17 346 418 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Atlanta Braves 61 50 .550 - 448 408 Houston Astros 60 50 .545 ½ 382 370 San Diego Padres 53 55 .491 6½ 416 393 Los Angeles Dodgers 51 56 .477 8 357 402 San Francisco Giants 50 61 .450 11 360 357 Cincinnati Reds 44 63 .411 15 412 433 The West is also shaping up into a good race. Fun fun fun! I have zero love lost for the Astros of course but the Braves feel like they're running a similar con job. I guess overall the story is PARITY LEAGUE in the NL. In the AL at least teams are manly enough to lose a lot, even with the Yankees going on their weirdo second half run. ## Major Transactions August 8: The Cardinals purchase minor league IF Nick Weber (.212, 5, 23) from the Astros for $5,000. Third base specifically is where the Cards don't have a lot of organizational depth and while Weber doesn't like a major league player anymore, he can be somewhere near replacement level if Mike Galeana (.203, 20, 57), I guess. The Astros... get money for a guy who wasn't in their plans. ## News August 7: At 11:19AM EDT the most powerful solar flare ever measured is observed on Earth. Slow news day! August 7: The Angels are dealt a blow to their attempts to wrap up the AL West as David Camacho (10-6, 3.24), who came over from the Mets in the offseason, will miss the next 6 weeks with shoulder tendinitis. That should bring him back just in time for the playoffs. With Al Gore (10-7, 3.24) also out for a couple weeks it looks like it's 4-man rotation time for California. August 7: Padres OF Greg Cowan (.230, 9, 32) wants to start. I do see it - yeah, the average is low but he hit .290 last year and the 9 HRs are in only 178 at-bats - but it just looks like the corners and first base are manned by guys I want to start more. I guess I'll start mixing him in in right with the struggling Ed O'Neill (.229, 7, 27) but even there, O'Neill has got some greeeeeat range. Wait up, I know what I can do. O'Neill moves to center, replacing the punchless Chavo Guerrero (.170, 0, 7) and Cowan can play in... left with failed CFer Ray Herring (.285, 5, 21) taking over in right. O'Neill is 4-33 on the year against lefties so I'll just, um, leave him out of there... August 7: I did not expect either of these guys to win Player of the Week but... I guess they work. In the AL the man is Indians rookie 2B Sadegh Zibalakam (.329, 2, 8), whose big league career is all of 3 weeks long. This week he played in 10 games, starting 9 of them, and hit .406 (13-32) with 2 HRs and 7 RBIs to win the award. Needless to say, this is his first ever big league award; the 24 year old won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger for the NY/Penn League in 1970 too. In the NL the award did not go to Paul McCartney after all but Atlanta LF Chris Ward (.304, 7, 20), who hit .385 (15-39) in 9 games with 9 extra-base hits - 5(!!!!!) triples! - 8 runs, and 6 RBIs. All right, I'll give it to him; that's one hell of a week. Ward won the PotW earlier this year back in April so I'll look for someone else to make a baseball card for in the NL this week. August 7: A's 1B Alex Canales (.266, 6, 37) had himself quite a game today in helping his boys to a 7-5 win over the Royals. Canales hit a 3-run HR in the top of the 1st, then cracked a double in the 3rd, and, following a fly-out in his next at-bat, drilled the hardest hit of them all, an RBI triple in the 7th. Then, with 1 out in the 9th inning and Royals fans on the edge of their seats rooting for their rivals, he hit a hot shot towards 2B James Ellroy (.289, 4, 19) that the youngster wasn't able to handle. A single! The crowd - well, the ones that were left - erupted in celebration! It was the first cycle hit in over a calendar year. The last one was by Cardinals catcher(!) John Stuart on June 18 of 1971. August 7: I hadn't noticed this last week, although I did highlight the pair of 1-0 wins they got... but the Yankees, at one point looking like a sure 100 loss team who might even break the record for worst offense in a season, have won 10 straight and are now just a game and a half behind Milwaukee in the race to get out of the cellar. The offense is still baaaaaaad but they do have pretty decent pitching. What is going on? They didn't play today but STILL. Those 10 straight include 3 doubleheaders and so this has all happened over a period of a single week, which include series sweeps against the Red Sox and Brewers and a double-header sweep vs the Orioles (they'd lost game 1 of that series on the 30th). They've got a 3 game series at home against the Tigers coming up; well, I guess it was fun while it lasted. August 8: The US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, orders changes in the US Navy's rules to allow women to serve on ships, become aviators, and attend the US Naval Academy. Previously WAVES were limited to stateside service. "There will be some who are concerned," says Zumwalt. "but when you look at the level to which our society has developed, there is no reason in theory, in sociology, or in equity why women should not have the same opportunities that men have." 52 years later STILL NO WOMEN BASEBALLISTS IN OOTP CMON August 8: With his team sitting at 54-47 and fading, and teammate RF Tom Brown (.288, 9, 49) still waiting to get word back as to the nature of his own injury he suffered yesterday, Red Sox OF Bruce Springsteen (.312, 6, 36) had his condition downgraded to "uncertain return". Springsteen was formerly counted on to return from the DL within a week to 10 days. August 8: The most improbable winning streak in OOTP HISTORY continues as the last-place Yankees win their 11th start, a 6-2 victory over the division leading Detroit Tigers. It was a one-run game in the bottom of the 8th but a bunch of singles, including a 2-RBI job by the starting pitcher Gene Lueders (6-13, 3.43, also .192, 0, 5) with 2 outs, made this one not even all that close. "I out there for our last loss," said Lueders after the game, "and I don't intend to lose again." Tigers ace Jimmy Goddard (12-9, 2.45) threw into the 8th and left after allowing a leadoff walk to Bronx Bomber 1B Jamil Mahuad (.223, 2, 19). August 8: Some days you just don't have it, I guess. Braves SP Roberto Ortiz (9-6, 4.23) was knocked out of the box against the division-leading Astros in the 4th after giving up 10 runs on - get this - *11* walks. He "only" allowed 3 hits, one of which was a 2-run HR by CF George Foreman (.286, 10, 45), but... wow, just wow. 11 walks sets the Braves all-time record and is 2 off from the *13* that the Expos' Melvin Navarro gave up in a game on August 22, 1969. Ortiz had a sub-4 ERA going into this game at a combined 3.75 between this team and the A's. Not anymore! August 9: Ugandan President Idi Amin summons Bhutan's representative and other diplomats to his residence and announces that all Asians who are not Ugandan citizens must leave within 90 days. Between 40,000 and 80,000 of Uganda's Asian residents had opted to keep British citizenship when the former British colony had attained independence. August 9: Major bullet dodged by the Red Sox as RF Tom Brown's (.288, 9, 49) back injury has turned out to only be a relatively minor oblique strain. He's still going to be out until the weekend but since he's been the best hitter on the team, things could have gone a lot worse for Boston's fading pennant chances. August 9: On the other hand, Tigers OF Danny "The Phantom" Hohman (.263, 2, 29), who was expected back soon (see below!) had his condition downgraded to "unknown". Hohman is not exactly a newcomer to the DL; he missed all of 1970 and played in just 26 games last year. August 9: Mets P Tom Owens (1-1, 3.00), who I just signed and juuuuuust (see below!) pushed into the rotation, announced he's retiring at the end of the season. Owens is a 4 time All-Star who really should have more than a 152-127 record to his name. He went 18-6 in 1957, leading the NL in shutouts that year with 4, but, like the way OOTP likes to go, just plain didn't pitch a lot in the 60s, relatively speaking, before his arm conked out anyway and he missed all of '68. August 9: The Tigers fiiiiiinally snap the Yankees' winning streak at 11 games with a 3-1 win at Yankee Stadium. Edgar Molina (16-7, 2.66) went all the way, scattering 9 hits, and RF Bill Wilson (.316, 2, 13) drove in 2 runners with a pair of singles... and boom, make that a brand new 2-game losing streak, as the Yankees blow a 5-3 lead in the 9th as PH Alfonso Barrientos (.190, 1, 3) and CF Alvin Romero (.319, 2, 30) both jack HRs off of Yankees closer Kojiro Nakazawa (3-7, 4.47) to win it 6-5. This was only Nakazawa's 2nd blown save this year although he's had 10 meltdowns in 35 appearances, not exactly what you want out of your bullpen ace. Then again, if you're looking for draft picks, perhaps that is what you want... August 9: For one storied night, time seemed to reverse and the Mets looked good. Well, the first part at least. 40 year old Tom Owens (2-1, 0.75), recently signed off the street by New York, got the start today and delivered his first shutout since 1967 in a 1-0 win against the Cardinals. Owens scattered 7 hits, walked 4, and got 4 Ks right when it mattered. "Every inning feels like it could be the last," said Owens after the game, "and these nine, well, they felt real special." August 10: A meteor comes with 36 miles of the Earth, entering the atmosphere over Utah for 101 seconds before skipping back out. The fireball was visible in daylight with the occurrence happening at 2:30 in the afternoon local time. August 10: Not the greatest of news for the Cubs but I guess not the worst either, as Javy Obregon (11-5, 3.90) will miss the next 3 weeks with a sore elbow that bothered him and forced him to leave the game on the 8th. Gordon Summer (12-7, 3.13), who insists on being called "Sting" but I'm gonna call him Gordon Summer, will get the call up to replace him for the time being and perhaps just stay up since Obregon's return should coincide with September roster expansion. August 10: Atlanta came back to beat the Astros 4-2 and pull to within 1/2 a game of the NL West but it was a bittersweet comeback, as the game also saw SP George House (10-9, 3.33) tear his hamstring sliding into 2nd base on a 7th inning double. He'll miss the next month at least, which should bring him back in time for the playoffs... but the Braves have to make those playoffs first. Fortunately (I guess) Colin Rose (7-8, 3.89) is ready to come back but House has been the team's de facto ace of the staff (well, really it's stopper John Winn (3-6, 1.95, 12 Sv) but among starters). He joins starting RF/team cornerstone "Hammering" Henry Riggs (.255, 12, 38) and PH specialist "Cranklin" Martinez (.217, 5, 16). Do the Braves have enough pieces left to keep up with Houston? August 10: Reds SP Bullet Bill Vanover (10-8, 3.33) had just about the most Bullet Bill game there is to have. He just missed a Maddux as he threw over 100 pitches but in spite of giving up 12 hits, Vanover went all the way and picked up a 4-3 win because he threw no walks and didn't even get his only strikeout in the game until he whiffed Dodgers 2B Ronny Yitzakhi (.270, 4, 12) with 1 out in the 9th. August 11: With the deactivation of the 3rd Battalian of the 21st US Infantry, the last American ground units are pulled out of South Vietnam. The 1,043 man unit had been assigned to the US airbase at Da Nang. More than 40,000 US servicemen are still in the country, now relegated to air and sea operations. August 11: 27 year old Andrew Topping (sorry, not int the save!) is arrested at the boat basin at New York's Central Park after he attempted to hire a hit man to kill President Richard Nixon. He only paid the guy, who was an undercover federal agent, $1,000. If you ask me, that should have been his first tip-off. August 11: More bad news for the Red Sox: 25 year old Marco Sanchez (10-10, 2.20), who won a career high 16 games last year and who is currently 3rd in the league in ERA, left the game against Cleveland on the 9th with what it turns out is a strained oblique that will leave him out until, basically, the end of the year. We're hopeful he'll get a start or two in before the season's done but it feels like a real long-shot that that'll make a difference. Taking his place on the roster, if not in Boston fans' hearts, is 24 year old Dwight Schultz (12-5, 3.92 at AAA Louisville), who is "HOWLING MAD" in his own words. ...and it just keeps on happening! The Red Sox lost 5-3 to the Orioles today but more importantly long-term, CF John "The Astronaut" Glynn (.236, 6, 15) will be out until late September with a severe hip strain. This is just not Boston's year. In his place... it's King Goodwill Zwelithin (.304, 8, 48 in AAA), who was named King of the Zulus upon the death of his father in 1968. This man is king; he gets to do what he wants. August 11: The Brewers faced a team that on paper at least was a good choice to break their 9 game losing streak. And they did, even though in practice the New York Yankees are not such an easy out anymore. In fact, the Yankees even held a 5-3 lead going into the 9th when their brand new closer Will Wright (2-1, 2.12) gave up the ghost in the form of 2 hits and 3 walks. Milwaukee PH Kojiro Nakamura (.171, 2, 13), who's just come back from a month at AAA Evanston where it looks like he might have found his swing, delivered the go-ahead 2-run bases loaded single. This also puts Milwaukee a full game up on the Yankees with 3 games left to go in this series. August 11: Pirates SP Jeremy Battaglia (9-14, 2.07) is having an absolute hard-luck season this year. His teammates have managed to score just 1.8 runs per game for him, which is why he's 2nd in the NL in ERA but first in losses. Well, tonight he got next to no run support again, but "next to no" was enough because the 29 year old lefty scattered 6 hits in a 1-0 shutout victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. That's been Battaglia's career-high 6th shutout; he had 5 last season and that was actually enough to lead the league. Man would be having a Cy Young season if he could just learn to tell his teammates to score more. August 11: Yeesh... this is why you pay your closers the big bucks. The Astros entered the 9th up 6-3 over the Giants and dropped set-up man Adam Eastin (2-0, 2.10) in to wrap things up. He did not wrap things up. Instead, he pitched to 5 batters, allowing 4 singles and a walk, which required Houston to bring in their ace John Douglas (4-6, 3.38) into an impossible situation - the bases were loaded, the score 6-5, and the 3-hole hitter George Harrison (.266, 5, 34) was due up. I will grant you that the first out, a diving stop by SS Masanori Hattori (.231, 9, 22) that wound up nipping PH Pat Piper (.269, 2, 5) at home, wasn't really on Douglas per se - give credit to Hattori, who's been criticized this year for his fielding. That said, Douglas then went on to strike out the cleanup man Rodrigo Juarez (.219, 19, 54) - Juarez does K a lot but that was still huge - and then induced Carl Weathers (.224, 9, 39) to hit a weak grounder to 1st base to end it. The win keeps Houston a half-game ahead of the Braves in the NL West race. August 12: Arrowhead Stadium opens in Kansas City with a preseason game for the Missouri Governor's Cup. August 12: The original Hairless Terrier is born. Scientists, you have the power but why use it on this??? August 12: The Chevrolet Corvair automobile, the subject of the first chapter of Ralph Nader's book "Unsafe At Any Speed", is exonerated by NHTSA in a letter to all Corvair owners. The car had been discontinued three years previously. August 12: W. Averall Harriman and Cyrus Vance, the two original negotiators at the Paris peace talks, said in a press conference that Richard Nixon had missed an opportunity in 1969 to end the Vietnam War at a time when the North Vietnamese had withdrawn most of their combat troops from South Vietnam's northernmost provinces. I guess Nixon didn't want to appear to "cave" on the prospect of a two-state solution there, which of course had been the state of things since the French had pulled out of the region in the 1950s, and instead he did wind up with a one-state Vietnam, just, you know, not the state the US wanted. August 12: Del the Funkee Homosapien was born today in Oakland. DEFINITELY going to be in this league if OOTP is around in 20 years... August 12: Speaking of funky homo sapiens, Angels 2B Mauricio Mendez (.246, 7, 22) broke his foot a couple days ago and will miss the next 3 weeks... which, how do you miss 3 weeks with a broken foot and 6 weeks with a strained oblique? I realize OOTP injuries are based on real life observations but WOW. Either way, he's out and with utility guy Jaco Pastorius (.208, 2, 18) struggling to his (which come on he's only 23 - dude hasn't even recorded "Birdland" yet), I'm going to call up "21" year old Kurt "Snake Plissken" Russell (.249, 3, 36 at AAA SLC). Yeah, the average is low, even for 1972, and he's not exactly a big power guy, but this kid fields. August 12: Meanwhile, elsewhere in the LA metro area, 11-time All-Star and 6-time MVP Justin Stone (.258, 24, 68) really looked like he was going to be missing substantial time, as there was a pretty monstrous delay in his injury diagnosis. I guess X-Rays of his hand revealed nothing and he'll just sit out a couple more (he left a game on August 8) with a cut hand. This should give 42 year old Billy Tristan (.198, 2, 10) a couple more games to show that hitting prowess that still has him as a lifetime .300 hitter, even with this bad last (I guess it's not official? But this has got to be it) season. August 12: He's now kind of far off a record ERA pace but Dodgers starter Fernando Apolonio (13-7, 1.86) isn't finished taking down the league by any means. Today his teammates put together just 1 run off of Padres starter Steven Tyler (12-9, 3.18) but he made that run count with a 4-hit, 1-walk shutout. This was Apolonio's 5th shutout and 11th complete game on the season. August 13: Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark returns from North Vietnam, saying that he confirmed that the US was bombing hospitals and dikes and that he had been told that the North Vietnamese would release US hostages once this stopped. His comments will be proven false in a few days; the New York Times even going so far as to chide him for his "poor judgement". In 1974 an investigation into the matter will show that Clark had been exploited by the Hanoi regime. August 13: As if getting thrashed 14-2 wasn't enough, the Expos endured a record-breaking night as a Phillies player tied the franchise RBI record with 7. That player? Starting pitcher Billy Ording (6-4, 4.31), who even left the game in the 8th after tiring out. Ording hit a grand salami in the 3rd and followed it up with a 2-run bomb in the 7th. "Sure, why not?" Ording responded after being asked if he wanted a spot in the lineup. "Anything I can do to help our guys win." Four players previous to Ording have knocked in 7 men for the Phillies. The last man to do it was Alex Becerra in 1970. August 13: The last game of the week... Houston falls behind the Braves by 1/2 a game by losing a STONE COLD STUNNER 1-0 against the Giants. Yeah, the Giants aren't very good, but their pitching is and if you can't score, there's only so much you can do. Today Moises Melendez (10-7, 2.49) outdueled Ernie Alvarez (10-6, 3.10) with a 7-hitter where he struck out 7. The only run in this game came in the 7th when C Iggy Pop (.216, 5, 22) singled in RF Carl Weathers (.228, 9, 41). ## Teams in Review August 8: You might say that the Detroit Tigers (62-40, 1st AL East, - GB) get a look-see just in time, as they open a series against the last place but red-hot Yankees. They have the best record in baseball - only a .608 winning percentage but someone's got to be #1 - and unlike a couple teams this season they actually look as good as a team as their record indicates. Nobody in baseball scores more runs than they do thanks to a 4th-highest in MLB .246 average (YUCK) and an MLB-high .318 OBP (DOUBLE YUCK). The pitching is pretty great, too; the team ERA is 4th in baseball behind a 2nd-in-the-AL 2.82 ERA. The bullpen has been a bit more shaky but hey, got to make the rest of the league feel like they're in it, right? Rotation: I am of course sticking with the 4 man rotation but le Tigres are reaching a point to where they might move into a 5-man, not because they're out of the race but because the rest of the AL East is. I'll wait for Labor Day to even think about that though. Bullpen: Alex Madrigal (0-0, 0.00, 1 Sv) juuuust came back from a rehab stint and is their new stopper. He did lead the team with 20 saves last year and posted a 2.24 ERA so he displaces Jim Marceau (4-4, 3.38, 21 Sv), who on the one hand was 2nd in the AL with 21 saves but on the other hand blew 5 opportunities and hasn't been that kind of "pull in case of emergency" guy that Madrigal could be. The rest of the bullpen is... good enough I guess. Infield: I'm still waiting for C Gianluigi Farinelli's (.184, 4, 27) bat to come out of hiding. He hit .257 and .273 the last 2 years as the Tigers' starter so... let's get back to that, my man. I don't care enough about this to replace him with Trey Forgey (.184, 0, 11) and anyway Forgey isn't hitting worth a lick either. When Danny Villegas (.296, 7, 24) returns in about a month, I'm going to have to make some decisions, as both 1B Niki Lauda (.286, 12, 39) and 2B Joey Ramone (.287, 6, 32) are excelling this year. Next year, rumors are flying that the AL will add a designated hitter for the pitcher, which should be ideal for the oft-injured Villegas, who even this year has only played in 24 games. ANYWAY, no changes, just... changes afoot. Outfield: OF Danny "The Phantom" Hohman (.263, 2, 29) is another guy who's coming back from the DL - he's back in a week though and when that happens it's almost certainly Tom Berenger (.310, 3, 7) who will move back to the bench. Man, this team has an embarrassment of young riches. August 8: I'm still convinced that the Cincinnati Reds (41-60, 6th NL West, 15 1/2 GB) are better than their record indicates but it's clearly past time to look at the kids. How far do I go into that though? Like, I've already gone pretty far with this but it feels like there are limits: RF Jaden Weaver (.242, 24, 68) is not happy with the direction the franchise is going and is surely inches away from demanding a trade, especially given how well his old teammates in Houston are doing. One thing I do notice that might help with him is that he's unhappy with the team chemistry almost as much as the losing. The team is feuding and it's time just for those reasons to move people around. Rotation: The first danger spot is SP Amadou Toumani Toure (1-6, 4.91), who's spoiled his 9 starts this year with 13 HRs allowed in 9 games. Also he doesn't work very hard and that is not making his teammates happy at all. I'm going to send him down. Will I forget that he was a bad influence come September 1? Not gonna lie, I probably will. But for now he's going down to AAA Indianapolis. There is veery little worth bringing up in his place; I'll promote 27 year old rookie Tracey Larazabal (7-6, 3.86), who at least doesn't have the same dinger issues and has a much tighter work ethic (he almost as to in order to stay in the game). Bullpen: Brian Yates (2-3, 2.05, 5 Sv) had a very average July (1-3, 3.72), which puts him pretty much in line with the rest of this average bullpen. Nobody's terrible but nobody's really that good either. At least there's no whiners out there! Otherwise I opened a roster spot (see below) but maaan the Indianapolis pitching staff is baaaad - we're talking a team ERA of over 5 in freaking 1972. I'm going to dig down deep into AA and call up 1971 12th round draft pick Vincent Schiavelli (3-3, 1.72) from AA Trois-Rivieres. Some may know Schiavelli from his various roles playing a kind of sad-sack guy (Wikipedia doesn't include this in the regular article but I'll always remember him for his part as the ghost Patrick Swayze meets on the subway in "Ghost") but what you may not know is that he throws 3 pitches for strikes and hits the low 90s. He'll be our new long man. Infield: Backup C Jarrod Day (.150, 0, 4) has had a disastrous year and is now lashing out at anyone who comes near his locker room so it's time to send him down and try out someone a little less cantankerous. In his place, it's Leron Lee (.285, 10, 43 at AAA Indy), a man who IRL had a decade-long career in Japan after a few cups of coffee in the majors. I may be getting a liiittle thin with celebrities born in 1948. Anyway, Lee's got good power and if he has problems making contact (73 Ks in 319 AAA at-bats), he can join the club. Okay, so one move I am 100% making is that as much as I love the name Junior Cannon (.225, 5, 17), the 1969 NL Rookie of the Year has been anything but cannon-like in the past 2 seasons and this year he's just straight up lost his job to better players. Still only 28 I'd normally still stick with him but he is one of two guys who's been a huge disruptive influence on this team and so he's got to go. Buh-bye, Junior. I'm sure you'll land somewhere. The other big minus in the clubhouse is 3B Bobby Kralcevic (.240, 3, 21) but I just can't bring myself to cut him straight away. He's still a really useful player even if he's now shown over the past 2 years that he's a .240s hitter. He also OBPs .354 and before this year he had multi-digit HR power too. Maybe the shake-up will make him change his ways. If not, maybe we can fetch something for him in the offseason. One move I do see happening is that there's a 24 year old infield prospect (just baaarely still classified as one; he was born in September 1947) named Theodore Long (.324, 5, 32 at AAA Indianapolis) who's tearing it up in the minors; I'm sending down middle infielder Scott Dorman (.227, 2, 13) to make room. If Long can hit over the last 2 months, it would make moving away from Bobby K that much easier. Backup SS Mike Wendt (.170, 1, 6) was passed over in favor of Dusty McCully (.265, 8, 37) this year and he's barely played at all. I'll start mixing him in a liiiitle bit more; maybe I can find a taker for him in the offseason too? Outfield: So the Horse, OF Dan Issel (.141, 2, 6) is clearly not ready for prime time and must be sent down. In his place I'm calling up 1B/OF Chris Cooper (.282, 6, 21), who we got from the Cardinals this past offseason - he was the #8 pick in last year's draft. He also looks pretty bad in terms of range so he'll probably have limited ABs, at least until September. The man I'm mixing with is Alonzo Huanosta (.299, 1, 43), who's 2nd in the NL in hitting right now. I don't have a massive amount of allegiance to him and he's coming off a kind of bad year (.261, 13, 47) that got him traded away from Cleveland to here, so I don't feel toooo bad making him split a bit of time. Moving Issel out of the way opens up a chunk of PT in center for 27 year old non-prospect Robert Hopkins (.268, 0, 3). He doesn't look like much to me but hey, he's the best defensive CF on the roster now ("best" being a relative term). I've been using Dennis bin Naim (.219, 1, 8) in a platoon with Issel in that role but bin Naim lacks the first step you need for a CF even though he's got good speed. All these changes will probably not make the team a whole lot better (although getting Issel out of the lineup will surely help) but hey, maybe some of these kids can stick... August 8: They aren't openly feuding at least but the San Francisco Giants (45-60, 5th NL West, 14 GB) aren't going anywhere this year either. It's probably about time to really pack it in - to the extent I haven't already, really. They've got really nice pitching - 2nd in the NL in runs allowed and 6th overall in ERA - but the hitting is as bad as you'd expect it to be if you've followed these Giants recently. Rotation: Outside of Mike Stuckey (8-11, 2.52) everyone in the rotation is under 30 and they're all pitching well so there's just plain nothing to do here other than find them some support. Bullpen: I've had a general policy of not bringing in people whom I have a flat-out antipathy for... so how is Benjamin Netanyahu (0-1, 4.91) in this save? As a player he's not super great but it's 5 big league games and he's 22. The bullpen as a whole has honestly been very, very good. Infield: Neither Chris Campbell (.195, 3, 11) nor Iggy Pop (.207, 5, 20) have hit much at all and Campbell is the obviously better fielder... but I don't care. It's time to let Pop play as much as he can. He's a lefty batter so that means Campbell will still play a lot against LHPs. Does Rodrigo Juarez (.217, 17, 50) have any kind of a future as a low-average slugging 1B? He was interesting as a low-average slugging 2B but this, not so much. This is also a bad year to make judgments based on batting average. With the closest rated prospect at first base in AA right now, Juarez should have at least through the end of the year and probably next year as well to show if he can carry the position with power alone. I mean, he could also always move back to 2nd, where 20 year old Bob McAdoo (.255, 0, 2) has been OK but by far the best that I can say about him is that he's providing something close to value at his young age. George Harrison (.270, 5, 31) could also move there; he can play all over the infield. He's a potential Gold Glover at 3rd so I'm inclined to leave him there if his bat can justify it. SS Akiho Fujimoto (.266, 0, 23) is 34 and as such just doesn't really have a place in the youth movement. He's also one of the best players on the team and is 2nd in average to Harrison. With Mario Sangez (.186, 3, 5) looking like he can't hit and the farm system being completely bare of shortstops who are anywhere close to the big leagues, he's going to stick around for a while longer, I guess. Outfield: Ryan Jersey (.265, 2, 6) is the LF now by default with Jimmy Walker failing to hit (and he's hitting .167 in the minors so it's not getting any better) and Jon Berry (.239, 3, 14) still a couple weeks away from returning from the DL. He's been pretty decent, actually. Will it be enough for him to nab a real job? I doubt it. This team is all basketball players and actors... okay, and Iggy Pop and George Harrison. And Don Henley in the rotation. FINE. It means they're young! Carl Weathers (.230, 9, 39) has been pretty "meh" in RF but he's 23. Mostly this team walkthrough has been about me looking at positions and deciding they're fine as-is. August 8: Three 60 loss NL teams in one day! This one's the New York Mets, who are probably the worst of the bunch but also probably have the lightest farm system. Yeah. Not sure what to do with these guys. They just suck. Rotation: Things have been so bad that I signed two veterans to this staff, including former Giants star Roy Holm (0-2, 3.38 with NYM), released by the Yankees earlier this year because they're also bad. Life is hard for New York sports fans this year. I have absolutely zero reason to start the other guy, 40 year old Tom Owens (1-1, 3.00)... but I will anyway because why not? Owens is a career 152 game winner and would probably be up over 200 wins if the AI didn't do what the AI loves to do in the 50s and 60s (run wide rotations and pull pitchers early). He also hasn't started more than 2 games in a season since he missed all of 1968. Do we expect much? No, we do not. Bullpen: That also allows me to see if Ernesto Carillo (5-11, 4.21) can rein in his control in the bullpen. I feel like that's generally the opposite of what pitchers do when they hit the 'pen but... Carillo led the league in Ks the last 2 years but dude's walking 6.3 men per 9 this year - 100 walks even in 143.1 innings - and that's led to an awful 4.21 ERA. He's still only 28 so maybe the yips are temporary, we'll see! Joe Beane (4-5, 4.72) is another guy banished to the bullpen after a bad start. He's been pretty bad as a LOOGY too and I'm only keeping him on because the next step is probably Release Town - at that, he was 10-13, 4.82 last year so the end might be in sight anyway... I'm really only leaving him in at this point because the two other lefties in AAA have a. already been tried this year and b. were worse than Beane has been. Infield: I'm not going to sit 1B Joshua Waltenbery (.243, 11, 45). The 9-time All-Star missed the Summer Classic for the first time in his career. He still walks a ton and still has good power; this year, his average fell off a cliff along with the rest of the league. Yeah, I figure he gets at least next season and probably longer to prove things. 2B Bill Heyen (.219, 3, 16) was supposed to be the prototypical #2 man on this team. He's been baaaad. Lucky for him, his potential replacement Rick James (.180, 1, 1) has been "super freaky" at the plate and not in a good way. He's honestly not even that good of a prospect. This team has got 2, count 'em, 2 prospects in the league top 200 and both are in rookie ball. 3B Mark Hamill (.258, 3, 28) was looking like a big old bust, then he got hurt and now the Mets are down to using guys who aren't even busts. Mike Medford (.132, 1, 6) got cut by the Braves after hitting .203 last year; it's clear now why nobody picked him up and we're going to dump him too. I'm going to take a flyer on former Twins guy Danny Pellot (.234, 1, 12 with MIN), as he's like the only guy sitting at home who looks like he isn't completely done. In the meantime, remember Adri van Zanten (.353, 1, 5 in AAA)? He was pretty OK hitting-wise last year but lost his job because he's really bad in the field... at second base. He's probably even worse at 3rd. Let's find out how bad he is! I'm a little hard-pressed to even call SS Chris Adams (.234, 6, 33) disappointing at this point; if anything he's hitting slightly better than how he hit last year with the Angels (.222, 15, 68) and frankly the fact that the Mets expected him to return to his All-Star level .295/19/97 levels of 1970 is on us, not him. Also, wait for it... nobody else can play here. We do have Lorenzo Ortega (.169, 1, 4), about whom the less is said the better. Outfield: Somehow LF John Everhart (.229, 3, 6), a man who played his way out of the league last year by hitting .152 with San Francisco, has been a positive. That's how bad it's gotten. He does walk well and has 3 dingers in 48 at-bats. He's 37 and will not be around for very long. I guess if/when he falls off a cliff again there is failed Expos guy Gabe Martinez (270, 0, 12), who at least isn't embarrassing with the bat. There are a couple of interesting-ish guys in the high minors but one of them - John W Henry (.333, 3, 22 in AAA Tidewater) - failed to hit in a trial already and the other - Alan Kurokawa (.254, 10, 23 combined in AAA) - is hitting .220 with 6 RBIs in 100 at-bats since being purchaed out of the Expos' organization. In center I'm pretty much resigned to play Curtis Hope (.215, 6, 35) every day and... hope he can return to the .287/22/85 numbers that made him look like not just an All-Star but the best offensive CF in the NL. He is... not going to repeat the Silver Slugger. Hey... I totally missed this guy because the scouts don't like him, but Kjell Isaakson (.314, 4, 30 at AAA Tidewater) has put up good numbers in AAA and he's an Olympic level pole vaulter to boot. He'll be our new LF until we can figure out what to do. August 10: Remember when the Milwaukee Brewers (45-60, 5th AL East, 19 GB) looked good? No, seriously, there was a time. This season, even! They have now lost 8 in a row, are just 1 game ahead of a Yankees team who looked like a sure bet to lose 100 games a year ago, and are 12-30 since July 1. This is not the right direction to head! And I think it's probably just about time to suck it in and play the kids if I haven't already done so. Rotation: The pitching was a strength for much of the year but the team is now 19th in the majors in ERA so I can't even really say that's the case anymore. I think the worst thing here is, there are a lot of people on this staff who are in their early 30s and kind of meh. Like, Jonas Youngblood (6-5, 3.12). He's... fine but do I really need to give him a slot in the rotation? How about I hand that to lefty specialist Abraham Sarmiento Jr. (3-0, 5.26) instead? Granted, Sarmiento's looked not great and he has zero AAA experience but maybe he'll give up fewer dingers as a starter or something, I don't know. What's the cost of him not working out? He along with the recently called up Ignazio Visco (9-6, 3.26 at AAA Evanston) at least mean that the back 40% of the rotation is new. Bullpen: "Fortunately" for the arms left in the bullpen, everyone in AAA is either also in their early 30s or is just not very good. So everyone stays! Hooray! That includes Victor Marin (4-11, 3.66), who I just demoted. Infield: 1B/OF Barney Leriche (.216, 2, 15) has shown absolutely none of the power he had last year and I think I'm just done with him. Remember Kozue Nakamura (.369, 1, 5 at AAA Evanston), last year's starter? He's tearing up AAA and seems like a good bet to take over Leriche's role as the team's primary PH vs LHPs. I think Sergio Sicre (.280, 3, 11) has locked down first base in one of the few good stories for this team this year. Not really sure what I was thinking with trying to use Reilly Peternek (.143, 1, 3 with Milwaukee) at all; he turned out to be as bad as he'd been with Cal. He's used his option with Cal this year so I'll send him down to AAA for free and see what to do with him this offseason. That means 3rd belongs to Francisco Martinez (.226, 0, 7), who doesn't really deserve but hey he's 25. Perhaps I shouldn't have cut Pat Jones loose... Outfield: There's a big old hole in left vacated by cutting Leriche and I called up speedy OF Kevin Kline (.256, 1, 10 at AAA Evanston) to replace him. He'll lock right in against LHPs; for now I do still like Jacquot Mazzucato (.222, 12, 35) against RHPs although I am really, really beginning to see why he was left unprotected in last year's Rule V draft. CF Ross Poynor (.248, 10, 33) leads the team in average! That's because he's the only qualifying hitter so it's not so great, really. Also he has been completely handcuffed by LHPs this year (.145, 2, 4 in 76 ABs) so I'm just going to give those at-bats up to last year's starting CF Fernando Ceballos (.288, 0, 3). Ceballos is nothing like a prospect and wasn't even very good last year. He is at least an upgrade over Poynor in the field and perhaps we can generate a decent platoon duo between them. August 10: On the flip side, the New York Yankees (43-60, 6th AL East, 20 GB) have looked pretty decent lately. How? Like, they really don't have a lot of real, actual prospects and this is mostly a dead cat bounce I think. I've mostly brought in what kids there were to bring in too so... we'll see. Rotation: Tracy Mosher (6-12, 3.50), that old Yankees hound dog, is the only guy in the rotation over 30. Also, none of those guys look super bad so... we're keeping it how it is. Bullpen: Kojiro Nakazawa (3-7, 4.47) seems... not ready for the closer role. He's 11/13 in save situations, fine. He's also melted down 10 times in 35 appearances and a 4.47 ERA is baaaad in 1972 terms, period. I'll promote Will "Not The Sim City Guy" Wright (2-0, 1.27) just on the basis of him doing really well this year. I'm not super sure he's got a future in this role but I mean, last place team, let's not worry about it. Gabriel Covarrubias (1-0, 4.35) has also been meh but he has all of 3 appearances so far. Infield: C Khalil Tabb (.207, 1, 18) went from All-Star Hero last year with a .283/3/39 line in 438 at-bats to... this, an OPS barely above 500. John Lennon (.279, 1, 10) exists; why not let him try out for the remainder of the year? 1B Jamil Mahuad (.234, 4, 23) is frankly not playing as well as the man they initally brought in to play this position, Pete Jennings (.257, 6, 23), but Mahuad is 8 years younger at 23 and we're already committed to youth so he stays. Next year we should be able to find a place for both of these guys. I've been waiting for SS German Ybarra (.182, 5, 16) to get off the schneid all season long. He's clearly not! It's time to just send him down since he's still got options left. We even have a decent-ish looking replacement for him in prospect Vladimir Matorin (.276, 9, 34), who's got power, a decent average, and a deep, throaty bass voice. What he doesn't have is the kind of great range you want out of your shortstop. Still very much worth taking a look at though. Outfield: LF Dave Dornbush (.189, 1, 4) is the latest in a long line of Yankees outfielders who can't break the .300 mark. He's only 15 games in and hit .293 in the first half at AAA Syracuse so I'll give him more time. Remember when Joel Schaben (.211, 0, 1) played his way off the Cardinals with awful defense in center field? Well... he's baaaack. In center anyway. I don't really like him here either but with Micah MacMillan (.199, 6, 23) also not hitting this year - is there something in the water? - and also looking even worse afield than Schaben, this was not even that hard of a choice to make. August 12: I could have sworn the Montreal Expos had dropped number 60 earlier but, welp, here we are so I guess not. They were actually pretty OK in June with a 14-11 record before getting back to their classic Expos ways with a 5-8 August so far. At that, it's high time we just cleared everything out for the youngsters (to the extent I haven't already) so... Rotation: I don't think DANGER ZONE Kenny Loggins (0-4, 2.45) is any kind of a starter - dude throws 2 pitches and the game lists him as an "emergency" starter under projected role - but he's young and hey, why not. Guys like this get starts when they're young just to prove they can't, right? Slotting him into the bullpen allows me to pull the 32 year old Jeff Graton (8-7, 3.87) out. and into the 'pen. I now have two converted relievers in there plus the recently called up Carlos Acosta (0-3, 5.12); things may begin to get dicey. Bullpen: The flip side of putting all the youth in the rotation is now the bullpen seems old... amazingly Daniel Roche (2-5, 4.11) has an option left; however, the 34 year old refused reassignment to the minors so that's out of the question. Waiver claim or no, I don't really want to get rid of him entirely so I'll just live with the man in middle relief for now. On the other hand, I don't think anyone's gonna care if I expose Nate Lancaster (2-5, 4.17) to waivers, which I will do in order to make room on the roster for MY DAD Richard Craven (7-4, 3.58 at AAA Peninsula). He's the best guy down there in a not-great Expos minor league situation. I'm going to also risk - "risk" - putting Melvin Navarro (4-7, 4.11) on the waiver wire to call up fellow Washingtonian Patrick Simmons (11-10, 3.99), who moonlights in the offseason with a little band called the Doobie Brothers. I wouldn't say he throws smoke with a fastball that reached the mid-80s but, especially for a young guy, he loves to toss pretty much anything at you which is wavy and groovy. Infield: Even though there's a pretty solid OF/1B prospect in AAA by the name of <redacted> I think I'm going to need to stick with Willie Morales (.238, 10, 28) at least until rosters expand. He's awwwwwful this year. He was the epitome of the power-hitting cleanuppy first baseman last year (.268, 27, 89) and the 28 year old is hopefully just having a sophomore slump after finishing 3rd in NL ROY voting in 1971. With production like this, he won't get a chance to get the junior turnaround though. I'm going to switch Hudson Watts (.275, 8, 31) over to 3rd instead of SS; he doesn't have the arm for 3rd, really, but he doesn't have the anything for shortstop. Lucky he was the 1st overall pick in 1970 or I'd think about looking at other people there! Okay, that's unfair; his offensive numbers are pretty good for 1972 and he was even the team's rep for the All-Star Game this year. The new shortstop is the old 3rd baseman, George Yarbor (.235, 4, 19), who was the starter at short last year but was moved aside for the prospect. Now we're re-moving. And actually, looking at the entire roster, I'd sent down Adam Owens (.157, 1, 24) after he just plain refused to hit in the first half. Well, he's raked in the minors to the tune of .321/7/29 over the past 36 games so I think he deserves another chance. This also affords me the opportunity to DFA the malcontent Luis Alvarez (.231, 0, 8), who, hey, if you're going to bring a bad attitude to the clubhouse, you should bring it as a good player. And by "another chance" I mean he'll spell Watts at third. Outfield: Willie Ortega (.250, 5, 11) had his chance to take the LF in 1970 and went a very blah .236/12/38 in 96 games. He's not any better this year, really - that .269 OBP, ugh - but everyone around him is kind of bad so he'll probably wind up with 200-250 ABs anyway. And for now he's the starter again.... you know what? No. Paul Kahl (.215, 5. 24) is the same age (28) and is a plus fielder, which is kind of the only "plus" attribute either guy has. I jus assumed Kahl was older because he's already had 25 chances in this league. Likewise, CF Anton Mendoza (.198, 1, 8) is pretty bad but he put up a little over 800 at-bats over the previous 2 seasons as a .300 hitter. He's got to get that swing back, right? Right? Matt Williams (.209, 12, 23) round out a disappointing trio (I guess 4 counting both Ortega and Kahl in left) of outfielders. Williams is by far the oldest but also has the best power and at least has the excuse of getting hurt this year (he's still got only 57 games and 191 at-bats this season).
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-18-2023, 12:40 PM
|
#218 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
August 14-20, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 71 45 .612 - 495 400 Baltimore Orioles 63 52 .548 7½ 413 367 Boston Red Sox 62 52 .544 8 411 350 Cleveland Indians 62 53 .539 8½ 469 411 New York Yankees 50 64 .439 20 370 384 Milwaukee Brewers 47 68 .409 23½ 357 439 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 64 51 .557 - 399 405 Oakland Athletics 60 55 .522 4 422 445 Minnesota Twins 58 54 .518 4½ 426 402 Chicago White Sox 56 59 .487 8 409 440 Texas Rangers 52 63 .452 12 336 382 Kansas City Royals 42 71 .372 21 406 488 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Pittsburgh Pirates 64 50 .561 - 384 327 Chicago Cubs 65 51 .560 - 469 473 Philadelphia Phillies 63 51 .553 1 469 440 St. Louis Cardinals 59 54 .522 4½ 447 413 Montreal Expos 48 65 .425 15½ 379 451 New York Mets 47 65 .420 16 360 435 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Atlanta Braves 65 53 .551 - 467 428 Houston Astros 64 53 .547 ½ 425 403 San Diego Padres 56 58 .491 7 435 411 San Francisco Giants 56 62 .475 9 393 379 Los Angeles Dodgers 53 60 .469 9½ 375 424 Cincinnati Reds 48 66 .421 15 431 450 And hey, at least there's a good team over there. The NL East is a mess - the Pirates can't score, the Phillies can't stop giving up runs, and... the Cubs are even worse than that and are only in the mix because they're 24-15 in one run games. There's even the Cardinals, who are still only as far out as the A's are from the Angels so they deserve mention, I guess. On the other hand, they also went 1-5 and don't even have the excuse of playing winning teams: they dropped a series vs San Diego and then just got swept by the Giants. And in the West it's a battle of two teams who just plain look incomplete. Atlanta's been to the dance 2 of the last 3 years so you'd think they have the inside track but I mean they aren't exactly the kings of run prevention themselves. Houston... just desperately misses Jaden Weaver and all the pieces they got back for him are not cutting it. OK so how about them statistical races then???? The AL still boasts 5 whole full-time players who are hitting .300! That's a thing. Anyway, Daniel Gilmet (.323, 7, 40) maintains a grip on the batting lead with rookie Tony Danza (.317, 2, 28) right behind him. Both guys have lost a *little* bit of ground but Danza's hit .291 and .297 the past two months so I wouldn't exactly say he's cooled off. The 3rd place guy is still Tigers speed demon Alvin Romero (.309, 4, 36), who's been battling back spasms all month and is hitting just .221 in August to date. The HR race is pretty much what it was 2 weeks ago, the Indians' Ernesto Garcia (.294, 43, 116) leading the White Sox' Alice Cooper (.253, 34, 80) with Twinkies veteran 1B Angelo Martinez (.238, 28, 74) not far behind. Man, if Garcia wasn't in the league we'd all be talking about the great start to Cooper's career. RBIs are Garcia, Cooper, and then, still, the Royals' RJ Dominguez (.249, 18, 75), and steals are looking about the same, too, with Romero way out ahead of KC's Dave Corona (.253, 11, 28) with 39 steals to 26. Somehow Arnold Schwarzenegger (.188, 0, 12) is still 3rd despite now having been down in AAA for 3 weeks. Tony Danza's right up there on him although KC has stopped using him quite as much (only 5 attempts in August) due to his horrific judgment (dude has 23 caughts on the year). Baltimore's Santos Rodriguez (11-7, 1.99) juuuust slides in under the 2 ERA mark to continue to lead the AL; it had climbed all the way to 2.17 at one point but the 23 year old phenom has allowed just 2 earned runs over his last 3 starts (encompassing 24 innings). Boston's Marco Sanchez (10-10, 2.20) will not see his ERA change for the next month since he's on the DL with a strained oblique, so Jose Martinez (15-7, 2.35) will just have to pitch better if he wants to succeed him. Sanchez got knocked out of the box last week, allowing 8 runs in 2.2 IP, that saw his ERA rise 40 points. It takes a long time to build up a record like that and one bad game to lose it. Win-wise, Michael Pesco (18-8, 2.49) is doing what he can to carry the Red Sox - he's also 6th in ERA - and leads Edgar Molina (16-8, 2.88) and Santos Rodriguez' teammate George Dapson (15-7, 3.24) and Martinez in W. Molina's the K man with 188, juuuuust barely ahead of Pesco with 186. Pesco is coming off of an 8 K performance against the K-able Rangers; Molina on the other hand managed "only" 5 in his last outing on the 17th (he's scheduled to start tomorrow vs the A's). Willis Chavez (5-2, 2.28, 23 Sv) is still the leader in saves and if anything that lead will widen with the Tigers' Jim Marceau (4-5, 3.65, 21 Sv) now demoted to setup with the return of Alex Madrigal (1-1, 5.73, 3 Sv) from injury. Montay Luiso (5-5, 2.73, 20 Sv) is quietly having another Montay Luiso season. The NL batting race is not nearly as close, with the Braves' Kevin Dwyer (.319, 14, 60) easily leading Pirates' RF Justin Lawson (.303, 14, 69) and Houston's George Foreman (.299, 10, 49). Alonzo Huanosta (.298, 3, 51) was in there but he went 2-15 this week. Huanosta's Reds teammate Jaden Weaver (.238, 28, 76) is carrying his team with the league lead in HRs and RBIs - desptie that the Reds are still in last in the NL West - with Dodgers veteran Justin Stone (.262, 26, 71) sitting at #2 and #3 in those categories. Paul McCartney (.285, 234, 74) is tied for 3rd in dingers with Atlanta's Dante Chairez (.241, 24, 53) and is the #2 man in rib-eyes. Chairez has had 4 HRs in the last 2 weeks to get into the race. Steals-wise, the leader is still Cincy's Pedro Ortiz (.274, 1, 26), who looked like he was going to give Romero an overall run for his money but has hit just .171 with a .217 OBP this month so he hasn't gotten a lot of opportunities. Atlanta's Chris Ward (.286, 8, 24) is healthy again and has 22 steals for a distant second, and good old Big George Foreman's got 19 for 3rd, although now that he's hitting 3rd for the 'Stros he also might not see a lot more opportunities. Fernando Apolonio (13-8, 1.88) is no longer even close to breaking Jeff Borden's single season ERA record but hey, he still has that sub-2.00 ERA so that's nice. It's no surprise that the Pirates' Jeremy Battaglia (11-14, 2.04) is 2nd; he's won 5 out of his last 6 games and - gasp - the Bucs have even scored runs for him in the past two (4 and 6 runs). 24 year old Frank Evans (9-7, 2.33) is #3 here and will probably be on this list as the Expos' ace for years to come. Tony Rivera (19-8, 2.44) got blown up the start before last, allowing 5 runs to the Expos, or he'd be in the top 3; as it stands, he only leads the major leagues in victories. DJ Cheeves (16-6, 2.58) is the 2nd of 3 Pirates starters to get mentioned here, with his teammate Santos Arango (15-12, 2.66) and the Phillies' Ringo Starr (15-8, 2.90) tied for 3rd in wins. Roger Quintana (11-8, 2.65) has been a little hard done by himself to not be among the leaders in the first to categories but he does hold the K lead right now with 172, leading Arango with 150 and the Dodgers' vet Rogelio Salinas (11-6, 3.81) with 146. The Cubs' Jesse Kelly (7-4, 2.70, 21 Sv) has gotten lit up a bit recently with weekly ERAs of 7.36 and 7.94 but still leads the NL in saves, juuuust ahead of Alec Cosby (4-4, 2.24, 20 Sv) and the Pirates' Paz Lemus (6-3, 2.14, 20 Sv). ## Major Transactions August 15: The Red Sox trade PH/OF Sam Marks (.277, 1, 5) to the Angels for minor league OF Andy Dulin (.296, 7, 21 at AAA SLC). Hey, it's a white flag trade but from Boston's standpoint Marks seems like a career pinch-hitter and Dulin can at least play the field a bit. California gets a much-needed bat off the bench. August 17: The Angels trade RP Gavin Yates (2-1, 2.95) to the White Sox for two minor leaguers. I won't mention them by NAME because both are likely to have that changed but they're two pretty decent CF prospects. This is one of these "huh?" moves that happens in this save because the teams in question are in a different position than they were IRL. In actual 1972 the Angels finished 75-80 and were not even close to contending for the AL West title (the White Sox at least were awful - not mediocre as they are in the game, granted, but the kind of team to make a lateral move like this). August 18: The Brewers claims minor league RP Pablo Garcia (1-0, 0.89 at AA Shreveport) from the Angels. Garcia's the guy Cal DFA'd to make room for Marks. He is a 28 year old who last pitched in the big leagues in 1970. He does have a nice ERA in AA but his peripherals - 17 walks, 19 Ks in 30.1 IP - suggest that's based on smoke and mirrors. Welp, Milwaukee has the space on their 40-man roster... August 18: Kansas City claims SP Chris Regan (7-9, 3.43) off waivers from Texas. This guy on the other hand is kind of good and, lost season or no, KC is in desperate need of pitching of any kind. Regan was 66-46 over 4 seasons from 1966-69 with Cleveland but had battled injuries and ineffectiveness the last 2 years. He did do a pretty OK job of it with Texas, though. It was just a numbers game for them and there is the point that Arlington Stadium is a preeeeetty good pitchers' park this season. As a control guy, the Royals hope he can help cool down the rest of the staff. August 18: The Orioles trade SS Charles Bradley (.308, 2, 12) to the Cubs for OF Jason Workman (.264, 9, 30). This was IRL kind of a big trade to happen in mid-August - it was Elrod Hendricks for Tommy Davis, the latter of whom didn't play much in '72 (injuries?) but was a starter for a good O's team the very next year. Here the Cubs are moving Workman, who is still a good player but lost his job because Chance Cooper (.224, 6, 19) has really needed to start in the majors for the past couple years now. This season the guy finally convinced everyone with 27 HRs in AAA in the first half. In Bradley they get back a guy who fields well and also can hit, which Jon Timonen (.139, 1, 7) has been awful at even by John Timonen standards. Bradley is only 23, which on the one hand means he's still a prospect; on the other hand, it means he's unproven. Right now, unproven is better than "proven to be the worst hitter in MLB history". ## News August 14: In the worst aviation accident in Germany to date, all 156 people on board an Ilyushin Il-62 of East German airline Interflug are killed when the aircraft crashes near Konigs Wursterham. August 14: The AL Player of the Week is a vet and yet a newcomer to the junior circuit. A's 1B Alex Canales (.269, 7, 44) went 11 for 27 (.407) with 2 HRs and 11 RBIs(!) in 7 games to take home the award. Like so many guys this year, it's easy to underrate Canales, who's hit "only" .261 since arriving in Oakland but as the stats show he's kind of good at it. Dude's got more walks than strikeouts (38-36) and sure, the power isn't quite what you want out of a first baseman but on the other hand Canales is a 3-time Gold Glove winner at first who keeps getting moved off to other positions to try and take advantage of his athleticism; even with just 65 games at first base this year, he's got a great chance at a 4th. Canales has never actually won the PotW before. August 14: I guess the NL dislikes the Astros as much as I do because they awarded the Player of the Week award to the guy who knocked Houston out of first place in the NL West yesterday. P Moises Melendez (10-7, 2.49) did in fairness throw 2 shutouts, leading his team to a 2-0 record with 12 Ks in 18 innings. His start before that on the 2nd, he allowed 1 run in 13 innings, so that means the 24 year old has a 0.29 ERA for the month of August. As pitchers rarely win this award, this is in fact Melendez' first. He did win Rookie of the Month for August of last year; I guess August is his month. August 15: On the 25th anniversary of its independence, India introduces the six digit "PIN Code" for mail delivery, essentially the Indian version of the ZIP code. Huge news story, I know. Honestly the fact of India's 25th anniversary as an independent state is the interesting part here. August 15: Deep Purple plays live in Osaka, Japan. August 15: Ben Affleck is born today in Berkeley, California. August 16: King Hassan of Morocco survives an assassination attempt when his Boeing 727 was fired upon by rebels within the Moroccan Air Force. The King escapes injury but the pilot of the plane is only able to land after falsely stating that he had been killed. While this was taking place, the royal palace is bombed by others in the plot. As it comes to pass, the attempt was carried out by Morocco's Defense Minister Mohammed Oufkir, who had conspired with others in the Moroccan armed forces to stage a coup d'etat and set up a republic. Oufkir will die on the 17th, officially by suicide but rumors abound that Hassan himself kills him. August 16: Twins backup IF Pietro Palmarocchi (.253, 2, 11) is... mad. Mad enough that he wants to be traded. This is unfortunate because he's been pretty useful but at the same time I don't see any way to give him more PT given that he's backing up Daniel Gilmet (.327, 7, 40), who, you know, is only leading the league in hitting right now. He has to accept that this wouldn't happen until the offseason so I'll just stick him on the block and see what we can do come October. August 16: Indians slugging 1B Ernesto Garcia (.288, 40, 109) belted his 40th HR on the year, a grand salami off of Angels rookie Parker Leonard (1-2, 3.67) that lifted his team to a 5-0 victory in Los Angeles. Garcia isn't on pace to break his own record of 65 HRs that he set last year (well, he tied it with the Cardinals' Lorenzo Martinez, who hit his 65 in the expansion season of 1962), plus the season figures to be a few games shorter, but he could always go on a tear, you never know. He had 13 of them in July with "only" 5 so far this month; he's also got 258 of them in his career, currently the 27th highest total of all time and 1 behind White Sox legend Pat Soler. He's just 28 years old this year so suffice it to say, there will be a lot more where this came from. August 16: For one game at least, 40 year old Tom Owens (3-1, 0.43) was able to turn back time. The career 154 game winner was signed by the Mets earlier this month after the Cubs released him in April. The Mets then stuck him in the rotation because, well, back in the day he won games that way... and now he's pitched 2 shutouts in 2 tries. "The change was working for me today," an understated Owens said after the game. Since the Astros seem intent on deep-sixing their season - they've now lost 5 in a row - the Braves maintain a 1 1/2 game lead in the NL West in spite of a .544 record. August 17: It's Indonesia's independence day an to celebrate, President Suharto announces changes in the spellig of the Indonesian language in Djakarta, beginning with the change of the name of the capital to Jakarta. Big, big news. Look. It's literally the only news item of the day. August 17: Rangers new debutant Robert McHugh (1-0, 1.00) makes a real splash, setting a "Texas Rangers" record with 11 strikeouts in a 3-1 win over the Red Sox. I put "Rangers" in quotes because two members of this franchise have recorded more Ks than that in a game, including Lee Evans last season, but for the actual physical team that lives in Texas, no fan has seen their guys do more. I should note that McHugh did play 9 games and 27.1 innings for the Cardinals last year so this isn't a tooootally new debut. Maybe that should have been in quotes too! August 18: Houston narrowly avoids a series sweep at the hands of the Expos and a 6-game losing streak with a 3-2 win in Montreal. Ernie Alvarez (11-6, 3.08) went 7 solid innings before giving the ball to the setup man Adam Eastin (2-0, 1.88, 4 Sv) but man, this team is having some issues scoring run. Today they made some big changes to the lineup, dropping 2B Jordan Green (.255, 9, 40) off the leadoff spot and into the cleanup position and starting OF Jose Lopez (.212, 3, 10) in the 1 hole. Lopez was the Astros' starting CF last year but between bad fielding at that position and just getting hurt, he'd lost his job. That said, I took a look at the lineup and was like "why is Antonio Fagundes (.243, 2, 6) starting in front of this guy?". August 19: NBC runs the TV show "Midnight Special" for the first time at 1AM. This show, a rock concert series, proves to be immediately successful and runs through 1981. August 19: Bennet Hanna of Peach Springs, Arizona is killed when he backs his car too far on Hualapi Hilltop at the Grand Canyon. The car falls 500 feet to its death. 2 months ago we were talking about Bloody Sunday... now this. August 19: The first episode of the second incarnation of "The Price Is Right" is taped at CBS Television City, to be aired on September 4. I don't know for a fact that the yodeler is a part of this episode but man that thing feels 1972. August 19: A's SS Matt Evenson (.274, 2, 12) has been on the DL since May with torn ankle ligaments. With Jon Reid (.228, 3, 11) doing... OK in the field, I'm going to send him down to AAA for a week to tune up before plopping him back in the lineup. The A's are struggling this month, only 7-9 and only still 3 games back because the Angels have been struggling just as hard (also 7-9 in August). August 19: Mets SP Roy Holm (2-2, 3.40) is maybe the most frustrating pitcher in the game. Part of that frustration is the fact that when he's on, the 36 year old looks like one of the best pitchers in the game. Such was the case tonight when he held the Reds to 1 run on 6 hits and tied the Mets record with 13 strikeouts. The one run came on the other thing he allows a lot of - homeruns. RF Jaden Weaver (.238, 28, 76), who is in fairness the top power man in the National League, prevented the shutout with a solo shot in the 6th. Scouts keep saying that Holm would be the whole enchilada if he'd only settle down. It's probably about time to just accept that he is who he is. August 20: The Church of the First Born of the Fullness of Times has a conflict that goes violent when the leader Joel LeBaron is tricked into coming into the Mexican town of Ensenada and then is shot to death. The shooting is ordered by Joel's brother Evril, who had founded the Church of the Lamb of God after being kicked out of this church. Another brother, Verlan, takes over leadership. Evril will continue to order reprisals against members of his former church until he is captured and convicted of murder; he will die in prison in 1981. August 20: Wattstax, a concert at the LA Coliseum, attracts 100,000 black citizens who pay $1 each to watch a variety of acts including the Bar-Kays, the Staple Singers, and Isaac Hayes. August 20: Unrelated to anything, really, but we're in the DOG DAYS of August and I just noticed that the Astros' Tony Rivera (18-8, 2.49) was the #1 overall pick in the 1963 draft. It's basically been 10 years so... now's a good a time as any, right? How has that draft class fared? Let's look at the top... several. Also I looked at the wrong year so... um. 1963! 1. DET - SP Jason Gilmer (8-11, 3.59). I mean, he's an Astro too, right? Um. Still not sure what I did. Anyway, Gilmer flashed early with the Tigers, going 16-9, 3.14 in 1965 en route to his single AS appearance, but then was just... under the radar since. He's not bad by any means but that career 89-86 record looks about right. 2. STL - SP Jimmy Goddard (13-9, 2.46). Goddard and Gilmer were teammates for a bit. Goddard is now the ace of that staff, going 19-8, 2.46 last year and making his 2nd AS game this year. 3. BAL - CF Bryant Tarala (PHI) (.235, 12, 30). Tarala's been a solid defensive player (2 GGs in CF) and a 7 time All-Star who was traded to Philadelphia from Baltimore in 1970. His biggest issue has been staying on the field; he's broken 142 games just twice in his career so far. 4. SF - SP Mike Stuckey (8-12, 2.57). Stuckey honestly is also one of the best pitchers in the game, although he has gotten zero support from his Giants teammates and so is "only" 84-82 to date. This year is a real microcosm: he's got that sub-3 ERA and a losing record. He also is a perennial All-Star snub; the only year he made it is '68, when he also led the league with a 1.83 ERA (and an 18-5 record because OOTP doesn't know how to do pitching in the 60s). 5. CLE - 3B Mike Morruison (.300, 0, 1) is out for the year with a torn abdominal muscle he suffered in June. He had a run as the starting 3B for the Cardinals for several years, making 2 AS games, but was moved last year to Milwaukee when St. Louis decided that they'd rather work with the power-hitting Mike Galeana there instead. He probably would have played a good deal with BAL this year given how often the regular Marco Perez gets hurt. 6. CHC - OF Ben Aldridge (.083, 0, 0) - Aldridge might be the first guy in this top 10 to have his career end. It's not over yet but being a AAAA outfielder for the expansion Expos is about as close to over as it gets. Aldridge was drafted out of high school and just never quite looked like a superstar. His high water mark was probably 1967, when he hit .286/13/60 at single-A Lodi and was named the #21 prospect in baseball at one point that year. 7. BOS - CF Ben Menke (.149, 4, 18 at AAA Tacoma). Umm... nope, that would be Menke who's the closest. Wow, he is not a major league player, like, at all right now. He did get a 4 year run from 1965 to 1968 with the Red Sox and White Sox as the starter and somehow made 2 All-Star Games in spite of never posting averages over .226 (in fact, the 2 ASes came when he hit .226 and .224) and then led the league in Ks twice with 155 and 143... and he hit a *total* of 11 HRs those 2 years (he did hit 31 combined in the other 2 years). 8. CIN - OF Greg Cowan (.222, 9, 34). Cowan's had a rough year but is coming off of a 162-at-bat campaign in last year with San Diego when he went .290/9/29 so the Pads are back to trying him out a bit again. He's... fine, pretty much a career 4th OFer at this point. 9. MIN RP Bob Wagner (retired). Wagner suffered a torn UCL in his rookie season of 1964 and was forced to retire. He looked like he could have been something; he was on 3 top 20 prospect lists before the CEI. 10. MIL (now ATL) - 1B Jeremy Holden (.229, 0, 1). Holden is still only 26 but he seems like he's pretty much become a pinch-hitter in the majors now unless the Braves trade him or something. He does a career .301 average... in just 462 major league at-bats with 92 starts and 203 games. Right now he's a pinch-hitter in AAA Richmond. Rivera was the 1st overall in 1965. I am dumb. OH WELL this was still fun, right? ## Teams in Review August 15: I could have sworn I got these guys already, but I did not. The Texas Rangers (49-60, 5th AL West, 13 1/2 GB) were supposed to contend this year but obviously that never happened, thanks in large part to an offense that looked for a while like it was going to set records for futility. By the way, they're all the way up to 3 runs per game, well off the pace of the 1967 Senators (hey, the same team!) who scored 2.7 per game. I think I've more or less gone to youth just as a result of trying to make something work this year but hey, we'll see. Maybe this team has not yet truly begun to be awful! They are 3rd in the AL in runs allowed so there is plenty of room for... disprovement. Rotation: So the first opportunity I see is that the veteran Kevin Freeman (7-14, 3.31) has been fine but why keep "fine" in the rotation when you can look at kids? I'll DFA 31 year old reliever Jim Kenner (2-3, 3.64) to make room for the new guy... former Cardinals prospect Robert McHugh (15-9, 3.45 at AAA Denver). McHugh has struck out more than a guy per inning this year in the minors but carries a not-so-hot 3.45 ERA thanks to 25 HRs allowed in 200.2 innings. Let's see how he does in Texas' big old stadium. While I'm at it, 31 year old Chris Regan (7-9, 3.43), who the Rangers acquired as a throw-in in the Tommy Pron trade (which, they traded Pron back so...) has done nothing this year and isn't really guy we care about if he gets picked up off of waivers anyway. He had a really good run with Cleveland from 1966-68 - 41 wins, 36 losses, and led the league in games started all 3 years - but he just hasn't looked all that great, and we've got some more minor leaguers to try. Like how abut 23 year old southpaw Bernd Eichinger (8-1, 2.74 at AAA Denver)? All he's done is climb 2 levels and now 3 and do some lights-out pitching in 11 AAA starts this year, right? He also is a bit of a screenplay writer, I am told. Bullpen: Freeman and Nate Kemp (2-4, 3.76) are demoted to the bullpen with these moves. Ron Shepherd (4-3, 3.78, 5 Sv) has also not really fit well as a lefty co-closer but meh, what am I going to do? Immediately promote Freeman into that role? Nah. Infield: 1B George Bush (.170, 4, 14) has been terrible in the majors, it's true, but he also hit 14 HRs in 52 games in Denver and his dad is the head of the CIA so we're a little scared to bench him. Anyway, the best guy on the list to replace him is 3B Dennis Green (.202, 6, 15) and he's already stationed at third. IF Geoffrey Rush (.328, 4, 21) seems like another guy who deserves a shot soon; however, the 22 year old 7th overall pick in last year's draft has played all of 34 games in AAA so I'll resist the urge and maybe call him up for September, depending. Outfield: I am sooo close to benching CF Norm Hodge (.191, 2, 18); Gold Glove fielder or no, it's hard to justify keeping a guy in the lineup when he's OPS+ing under 600. Still... I'll give him at least to the end of the month to find his stroke.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-26-2023, 12:19 PM
|
#219 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
August 21-27, 1972
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 74 48 .607 - 513 413 Cleveland Indians 67 54 .554 6½ 502 430 Boston Red Sox 65 54 .546 7½ 425 365 Baltimore Orioles 66 55 .545 7½ 430 385 New York Yankees 53 68 .438 20½ 398 413 Milwaukee Brewers 50 71 .413 23½ 380 459 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 66 55 .545 - 415 429 Oakland Athletics 63 58 .521 3 434 460 Minnesota Twins 60 58 .508 4½ 448 431 Chicago White Sox 59 61 .492 6½ 428 459 Texas Rangers 53 68 .438 13 348 405 Kansas City Royals 47 73 .392 18½ 439 511 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Philadelphia Phillies 68 52 .567 - 496 450 Pittsburgh Pirates 68 52 .567 - 403 337 Chicago Cubs 68 54 .557 1 493 496 St. Louis Cardinals 61 59 .508 7 465 444 Montreal Expos 51 69 .425 17 403 478 New York Mets 50 68 .424 17 388 457 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 67 56 .545 - 450 432 Atlanta Braves 67 57 .540 ½ 483 457 San Diego Padres 61 60 .504 5 467 429 San Francisco Giants 59 64 .480 8 413 400 Los Angeles Dodgers 55 65 .458 10½ 387 446 Cincinnati Reds 51 70 .421 15 449 471 The NL East is an interesting one that's come down to 3 teams, two of which score well but give up too many runs and the other of whom is great at preventing runs but bad at scoring them. Of those 3 I have to once again discount the Cubs and their league-worst runs allowed but I guess to be fair they are still very, very much in there. The Cards are 7-19 for the month and just lost 3 out of 4 to the Padres so I think they're done. In the West, neither the Astros (12-13 in August) nor the Braves (14-14) seem to want it very much, which has opened the door for the expansion Padres (14-12) to be on the outskirts of it. Their pitching is better than either Houston's or Atlanta's, so there's that. ## Major Transactions August 27: The Cardinals trade RF Casey Satterfield (,270, 18, 56) to the A's for CF Jah Lloyd (.256, 3, 24) and minor league P Vince Rothacher (6-15, 4.82 in AA Birmingham). This is as clear a white-flag trade as there is to have (and hey IRL the Cards traded Matty Alou so I'm not stretching this super far); the A's gain a power bat in the middle of the lineup and the Cardinals gain... okay, Lloyd was decent enough as a CF when David Mesa was out but he's probably not starting corner OF material. The Cards are likely not done tearing things down... and on the up side, it does clear the team of one guy who really shouldn't be playing anything but LF or 1B. ## News August 21: The Copernicus satellite is launched into orbit. Carrying an 80cm UV telescope and spectrometers, the Copernicus satellite will transmit data until 1979 and provide detailed information about the stars at which it is aimed. The day before the launch - so yesterday - an astronomer with NASA discovered that an error had been made in some of the calculations for the focus in the mirrors and so, that getting fixed, they didn't come out all blurry and stuff. August 21: SPEAKING OF BLURRY, the AL Player of the Week was second year man Joey Ramone (.310, 8, 42), the Tigers' 2B who's legit playing himself into the batting race. He went 14 for 29 last week (.483) with 2 HRs and 7 RBIs in 6 games (which, the whole league as slowed down now PHEW). This is Ramone's very first POTW; he also made the All-Star Game this year. In the NATIONAL... baseball league the PotW is a guy who's been in and out of the Expos' doghouse (and admittedly my own doghouse): pitcher turned OF Paul Kahl (.241, 6, 26). Given a new lease on life at least for the season, Kahl went 12-19 last week with 4 runs scored, raising his BA from a terrible .215 to an "I guess I have to accept this" .241. This is also the 28 year old Kahl's first such award. He was also an All-Star in 1968 and, before I decided I did not want 2 way players, a 3-time Silver Slugger at pitcher (with a career 95 ERA+ so let's not go crazy here). August 21: The Cardinals may be falling out of the NL East race but don't blame it on NL K leader Roger Quintana (12-8, 2.54), who single-handedly willed his team to a win in Dodger Stadium with a 1-0 win over Luis Castillo (5-10, 3.89). That the Cards couldn't get to Castillo, who's been sporting a near-4 ERA this year, is an issue that can be set aside for another day because Quintana struck out 9 batters and scattered 4 hits in a nice and easy shutout where the Dodgers never looked particularly threatening. "I had the smoke tonight," said Quintana. "It was so smokey and beautiful, like when you set things on fire." August 22: On a hot August afternoon in Brooklyn, three men rob a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank and their string of bad luck becomes the basis of the 1975 film "Dog Day Afternoon". John Wotjowicz and Salvatore Naturile find that most of the cash in the bank had gone out in an armored car that morning. They are then surprised by the police as they try to get away. They then hold the people in the bank hostage until the following morning, when Naturile is shot to death and Wotjowicz is arrested. The heist is at first reported as a means to pay for gender-affirming surgery for Wotjowicz' partner (which is also how it's depicted in the movie) but according to Arthur Bell, a reporter for the Village Voice who knew Wotjowicz, this was only a front for what was actually a well-planned Mafia operation that went horribly wrong. August 23: The Prime Minister of Japan, Kakuei Tanaka, is approached by a man representing the US aircraft manufacturer Lockheed, Hiro Hayama. Hayama proposes that if Tanaka influences All Nippon Airways to choose his company, he would give Tanaka 500M yen (roughly $6M US). In October, All Nippon will announce that it has awarded the contract to Lockheed and in August of 1973 Tanaka will receive his first 100M yen. These kickbacks will come to light in 1976, after Tanaka is no longer the PM. August 23: Cubs SP Jason Sanders (3-1, 1.45) was already not expected to return this season but that inflamed shoulder he just hasn't been able to pitch through got worse again and he's reportedly about to undergo surgery. Given the schedule now he doesn't look to be able to return until May of 1973 at the earliest. August 24: Hot August Night, Neil Diamond's double platinym album, is recorded live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles (better known nowadays, I guess, as the inspiration for the Russell Brand movie "Get Him To The Greek"). August 24: The lone NL game is a real pitchers' duel between the established ace Steve Waiters (9-10, 2.59) of the Reds and newcomer Richard "the Dad" Craven (0-4, 2.72) of the Expos. As you can probably glean from the records, Waiters emerged victorious but it took his Cincinnatians 10 innings to finally crack open Craven, who struck out 9 tonight. When asked if he was disappointed in the loss, Craven said "I guuuuueeeeess." August 25: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange. On its opening day, prices close at $33 a share. Although the value of the stock drops 77% over its first two years, an invesment of $1,000 in 1972 would grow to $870,000 by 2008. August 25: Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison, who is a lot older than I thought he was, I guess, is born today. August 25: Is it too little, too late? Probably. But the Indians have at least turned around a very, very bad first half of the month, as a 6-4 win over the Angels tonight in 10 innings gives them their 10th straight win. C Ray Varner (.240, 4, 21) hit a leadoff single in the 10th and then came around to score the winning run on a CF Bobby Kaplan single (.282, 4, 29) off of Halos P Luis Flores (2-4, 4.47) to win it for Jake Duckett (10-2, 2.75). The win still only puts Cleveland at 15-10 for the month but fans are already beginning to rename their hometown "Believeland" just in case. August 26: The 1972 Summer Olympics open in Munich, Germany. I knew we were missing a major news story this year... well, let's hope they go off without a hitch. August 26: Japanese mountaineer Naomi Uemura makes the first solo ascent of Mount McKinley (now Denali) in Alaska. August 26: Speaking of firsts, the first person to sail around the world by himself, Sir Francis Chichester, died today at 65. The cause of death was cancer. BORING August 26: Brewers SP Danny Plaunt (12-6, 2.78) earned his way into the record books today, sort of, with a 6 hit shutout of the White Sox at Milwaukee County Stadium. Plaunt threw a "Maddux", which of course 1972 people cared about so little they didn't have a name for it, but still. He struck out 0, threw 98 pitches, and actually very, very nearly had himself a full Tewksbury as his lone strikeout came against 1B Alice Cooper (.253, 34, 81) came in the 9th inning. "I'm just happy we could get the win," said Plaunt after the game. This has nothing to do with the Maddux but both Milwaukee runs came on solo HRs by 3B Francisco Martinez (.235, 4, 14), who is not exactly known for his power. The multi-dinger game gives him 13 for his major league career, which is now up to 1,210 at-bats. August 26: Cleveland's losing streak finally ends at 10 with a 3-1 loss at California. The win streak was not exactly against the doormats of the league: following a loss to Detroit on the 13th, they swept California, Oakland, and Minnesota at home before dropping the 2nd of 2 games vs CAL on the road. August 27: A dist storm in Kern County, CA leads to two separate multiple-vehicle collisions, resulting in 7 deaths and 96 injuries. (96!!!) The big one was on I-5, in which 84 people were injured in one of those limited-visibility situation where people keep crashing into the stopped cars in front of them. 4 of those injured died in this one. August 2: President Nixon and his wife Pat host 400 Hollywood celebrities at the "western White House" in San Clemene, CA. None of the attendees were injured or died in the dust storm (which I'm pretty sure was in a completely different part of CA anyway). ## Teams in Review August 21: The Los Angeles Dodgers (53-60, 5th NL West, 9 GB) had an interesting run this year but even with the Braves and Astros hovering around mediocrity, it's over. They've just fallen behind the Giants and are now only in front of the Reds in the division. That's where a 16-29 record since July 1 will get you. Offensively, they're one of the 5 teams in the circuit who don't score runs and the pitching has lately only been average. This is not a good combination! Rotation: John Buday (2-2, 7.08) had a 3.01 ERA in AAA this year, which earned him a shot in the majors... and since coming up he's allowed 18 walks in 20.1 innings. Nope! You're headed back down (maybe you'll come back in 10ish days)! I'll call up Mario Juarez (6-6, 2.15), a 27 year old who threw 52 innings for this team last year, in his place. Bullpen: I'm gonna need to carve out a 5th bullpen position, which necessitated the forced retirement below. This will be recalling LHP Aidan Williams (5-5, 4.99), who was pretty bad in his last stint with this team but this is a guy who once led the AL in ERA (the Angels in '69) and as recently as last year was 13-14, 3.16. I'll use him as a lefty specialist for now, which also means demoting Derek Massey (0-1, 6.92), who's been as awful as those numbers suggest, into long relief. Infield: Yeah... it's time. Bye, Billy Tristan (.196, 0, 3). He couldn't cut it as a pinch-hitter this year but hey, dude's 42. He finished his career with 2,135 hits, an even .300 batting average, 4 All-Star appearances, and... just not a lot to make you think he's a HOFer, frankly. Definitely he's a Dodgers Hall of Famer. He led the league in hits exactly one time and as a top 2nd baseman he was always clearly behind someone else, either Giants' star Jeff Beckwith or, more recently, the Braves' Kevin Landry. C Jason Davis (.193, 1, 21) has been bad at the plate and has thrown out only 27% of baserunners. The backups are also going nowhere and I'm not fond of the guys in the minors so he'll keep his job, but man... Outfield: RF Ray Costa (.213, 9, 45) has also been teeeerrible but like Davis the backup options don't look any better. Also, Costa is a lot younger than I thought he was - only 26. The guys in the minor league pipe are there but all look like they're in the low minors so... let's give him the rest of the year to see if he can get back towards that 20 HR power that made him look like a neat idea last year. August 26: I'm a little surprised that the Chicago White Sox (57-60, 4th AL West, 7 GB) aren't worse; then again, they do have a couple of reeeeeally nice front-line pieces (namely 1B/OF Alice Cooper (.256, 34, 81)). It's definitely well past time to look at the youths though, although I'll probably stay conservative with cutdowns since roster expansion happens in 5 days. On the flip side, this team is teeeeechnically still in the AL West race with California unable to separate itself from the pack, but realistically no. Rotation: The rotation has already undergone the youth movement, with the only +30 guy in there being the staff "ace" (at least of the rotation), Chris Messina (10-9, 3.29). Other than proabably moving out to like a 6 man rotation and giving everyone pleeeenty of rest, I forsee no changes at this time. Bullpen: Likewise, the only guy in the 'pen who isn't performing well is Mick Fleetwood (6-12, 3.89) and that's pretty much all because he had a bad run as a starter this year. He has one whole game in long relief. Infield: The whole infield, I guess save catcher, is young, so that's nice. SS Chris Morgan (.210, 0, 15) hasn't been producing but his backup Jim Fiederlein (.217, 0, 7) hasn't either, is 5 years older (at 29), and is a career .187 hitter. I think I'll just stay with Morgan. Also there really isn't anyone in the minors that makes me want to try them out. Carlos Filipe Ximines Belo (.170, 0, 6) already had a 21 game trial this year and isn't exactly blowing up the minors right now (actually I guess .236/2/27) is somewhat average for AAA this year but yuuuuck). Outfield: Minor league OF Patrick Tambay (.249, 6, 47 in AA Knoxville) doesn't look like he's ready for AAA, let alone the major leagues, but it's not like the Chisox have anyone else doing well in LF. Likewise, OF Josh Wade (.264, 3, 27) is nothing special at all except that in this horrible season that .264 average would be tied for the team lead with 3B and 3-hole hitter Brian Maccioli (.264, 13, 51)... so yeah, he should clear 300 ABs this year at least (he's got 242 so far). August 26th: It's been a real up and down season for the San Diego Padres (59-60, 3rd NL West, 6 GB), which, you know, great for an expansion team and all that. They went 17-10 in June and are 12-12 so far in August. How much do I want to change? As bad as the Braves and Astros have been there really does feel like they've got an outside, outside chance at the division title so... why not? Rotation: I can't believe I'm doing this but I'm going to drop the rotation down to 4 men for I think the first time this season to accommodate the last-gasp effort to get that division T. Cesar Barreras (7-6, 2.86) is the odd man out because I don't trust his extreme lack of stuff (55 Ks in 145 IP) and Ben Feldhusen (3-10, 3.63) is back from missing over a month with should tendinitis. He's gotten into 18 starts now, which is already his 2nd highest total since 1967 (he had 24 last year). The comeback is real! Bullpen: The odd man out here is Pat Fix (1-1, 5.62), who just could not put it together in 8 games with the team this year. He's 30 so I guess there's a chance he'll still have a career somewhere but I kind of doubt it. The rest of the bullpen has been playing waaaay over their heads. I'll probably save that story until the offsaeson. Infield: This is usually about the time I sort everyone out and stop doing the "every X games" setting for regulars... but man, 1B Carlos Palacios (.258, 7, 38) has been... fine, I guess for 1972 but the semi-platoon arrangement he's worked out with UT Dale Earnhardt (.260, 9, 32) is just plain working. Earnhardt's also taking time in 3rd, LF, and RF, all of which work for me. Which, honestly, 39 year old Kevin Landry (.212, 8, 32) really isn't getting it done but yeah, to the extent that this is a playoff run, this arrangement is what got them here so it's got to continue. And hey, he did hit .277 last year, so he could rebound, right? Joe Wicker (.315, 1, 13) has just kind of fallen into being the starting SS now. That's why we traded for him in June and that's why he's still in there. Yeah, looking at it, the only reason he's got only 89 ABs with the team is that he got hurt. He's healthy now and he'll play every day. Outfield: I'm not, like, suuuuuper fond of LF Greg Cowan (.215, 9, 34) in the lineup but I also feel like replacing him is a 1973 conversation. He's played his way into it and he's got the 2nd best power on the team behind 2B Paul McCartney (.277, 24, 75). And Ray Herring (.261, 5, 24) frankly only looks "meh" as a RF because all stats in 1972 are "meh". He's fine. In Cleveland he was a guy who couldn't field at all in center but the Pads don't use him there. In right he's fine.
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
11-30-2023, 08:21 PM
|
#220 | |
|
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,611
|
August 28 - September 3, 1972 LABOR DAY WEEKEND
## Standings / Recap / Comments
Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Detroit Tigers 79 49 .617 - 536 421 Cleveland Indians 70 57 .551 8½ 529 457 Baltimore Orioles 69 58 .543 9½ 460 409 Boston Red Sox 67 57 .540 10 443 381 New York Yankees 56 72 .438 23 423 444 Milwaukee Brewers 52 75 .409 26½ 404 493 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA California Angels 66 61 .520 - 422 459 Oakland Athletics 66 61 .520 - 452 480 Minnesota Twins 64 60 .516 ½ 482 461 Chicago White Sox 60 66 .476 5½ 444 488 Texas Rangers 60 68 .469 6½ 389 418 Kansas City Royals 50 75 .400 15 463 536 Code:
LEAGUE STANDINGS EAST Team W L WPct GB R RA Philadelphia Phillies 74 54 .578 - 533 477 Pittsburgh Pirates 72 54 .571 1 414 349 Chicago Cubs 73 55 .570 1 516 509 St. Louis Cardinals 65 62 .512 8½ 479 456 Montreal Expos 55 70 .440 17½ 438 496 New York Mets 53 71 .427 19 404 481 LEAGUE STANDINGS WEST Team W L WPct GB R RA Houston Astros 70 59 .543 - 473 451 Atlanta Braves 69 62 .527 2 513 492 San Diego Padres 63 64 .496 6 485 451 Los Angeles Dodgers 59 68 .465 10 399 457 San Francisco Giants 59 70 .457 11 420 415 Cincinnati Reds 52 75 .409 17 465 505 In the NL, 3 teams in the East are separated by a single game in the standings. Hey, look at that, the Cubs are actually outscoring their opponents now! I didn't notice that. Anyway, they and the Phillies are the top 2 teams in the league in offense whereas the Pirates lap the field defensively. All three of these teams have roughly half of what would be a really great... something. They are beginning to beat up on the weaker sisters of the league so at least there's that. The Astros, meanwhile, have gotten 11 games over .500 so that's nice. I doubt they'll win 90 games but they do kind of look like they're going to pull out their first ever division title this year. I'd mentioned the Padres as a potential dark horse but in order to do that you have to actually, you know, win games and they've lost their last 4 straight. In the AL batting race, the Twins' Daniel Gilmet (.332, 9, 45) has now taken a pretty commanding lead over the Royals' Tony Danza (.318, 3, 35) with... what is this? A new guy at #3 in Tommy Pron (.307, 9, 46) of the Indians. Pron won the title back in 1968 with a .315 average and had mostly been a +.300 guy until he slumped to .273 last year. Detroit's Alvin Romero (.302, 4, 37) fell out of the top 3 because he's hit .228 and .231 the last two months. Of course you all know who's leading the HR and RBI boards - Ernesto Garcia (.296, 54, 135), who's back on pace to meet or break his own 65 HR record and also is a big month away from a Triple Crown. He's the Barry Bonds of this save, only 30 years too early. Behind him is Alice Cooper (.256, 38, 89), who's almost single-handedly keeping the White Sox on the map, and then in #3 is the Twins' Angelo Martinez (.247, 31, 83). Your steals man is of course Alvin Romero with 40 - not even the poor hitting can take away his speed on the basepaths - followed by KC's Dave Corona (.249, 11, 31) with 31 of them and Tony Danza with 28 (against 24 caught stealings, which actually means he's been good with that lately - 10/12 since August 1). But Thriftlon, you ask, what about the pitching? I will tell you! Santos Rodriguez (12-9, 2.04) still paces the league in ERA but it's no longer below 2 and that alone I think puts #4 man Michael Pesco (20-8, 2.48) into the forefront of any Cy Young talk. Also in there are the injured Marco Sanchez (10-10, 2.20) and Detroit's Jimmy Goddard (16-10, 2.25). Honestly, I'd probably call Goddard my 2nd best bet for the Cy. With wins, it's Pesco followed by Cleveland not-quite-a-rookie Jose Martinez (18-7, 2.51) and the Tigers' Edgar Molina (18-8, 2.81). Pesco just edges Molina in Ks, 209 to 206. Did I say Goddard was my #2? Maybe it's Molina. Incidentally, Chris Benavides (12-17, 3.26) leads the AL in losses and almost certainly will end up there, marking the 2nd straight season a Minnesota Twin will lead in that category. Willis Chavez of the A's (5-2, 2.14) leads the AL in saves with 25 and, showing he deserves it, shutdowns with 31 (this wouldn't have been available in real-life 1971 but, like, people would have a sense of it). Montay Luiso (5-6, 2.83) is right behind him in both categories - 24 ad 26 - and the 34 year old is showing no signs of stopping. In 3rd, pretty much due to opportunities, is Jim Marceau (4-7, 3.99) with 21, although he was really bad in August (0-3, 5.84) and has ceded the stopper role in Detroit to their vet Alex Madrigal (1-1, 3.78, 4 Sv). The #3 guy in shutdowns by the way is the White Sox' Malcolm Post (9-4, 1.84), who on the one hand seems like a luxury a mediocre team doesn't really need but on the other hand, dude's only 26 and hey, maybe the Chisox will be good soon. On to the NL... I don't remember the leader being Kevin Dwyer (.314, 15, 67) before this past month but I'm probably wrong. Anyway, he's just a tiny bit ahead of the surging George Foreman (.308, 14, 59). Those two guys are the only 2 NL hitters clearing .300 right now; there's more or less a 3-way tie for 3rd between Pittsburgh's Justin Lawson (.292, 14, 72), Cincy's Alonzo Huanosta (.292, 5, 60), and the Cubs' Antonio Lopez (.292, 22, 55). Interesting to me anyway that the AL hitting leaders are basically all leadoff/Wade Boggs/Rod Carew types whereas the NL guys, outside of Huanosta anyway (who's much more Boggs than Carew), are power hitters. We have some bona fide races for HRs and RBIs. Justin Stone (.256, 29, 75) is tied for the HR lead with Cincinnati's Jaden Weaver (.237, 29, 80). Stone is of course a guy who's been up at the top of this list for a decade in spite of having played so much in Busch Stadium. Now he calls Dodger Stadium home and it's if anything better for his HR stroke. Right behind them is Braves 1B Dante Chairez (241, 27, 61), who's somehow up there in spite of getting completely owned by lefties (.189 with only 4 HRs in 127 ABs). Weaver just baaaarely edges San Diego's Paul McCartney (.268, 25, 79) in RBIs although Stone's one huge day away from taking that lead himself. Granted, this race looks a little consolation-prizey given what Ernesto Garcia is doing to the AL, but still... the Reds' Pedro Ortiz (.269, 2, 30) is #1 in the NL and #2 in baseball in steals with 34 of them, followed by Braves leadoff guy Chris Ward (.273, 8, 26), who's got his 27 thefts in only 84 games (he was hurt earlier) and then a new guy, Phillies' SS Tony Shannon (.278, 11, 34). Shannon swiped 39 bases last year but also hit .330 which, you know, means a feeew more opportunities. He's still not really hitting - .253 in August, .235 in September - but he's turned up the juice with 9 steals since August 1. And pitching! Fernando Apolonio (14-10, 1.87) is still leading everyone in ERA, though he's now only 10 points ahead of hard luck case Jeremy Battaglia (12-14, 1.97) of the Pirates, who's also 2nd in the NL in losses. His teammates Santos Arangos (18-13, 2.45) and DJ Cheeves (18-7, 2.46) are basically tied for 3rd with the Giants' Mike Stuckey (9-12, 2.47) also right in there. Tony Rivera (19-10, 2.56) went 0-2, 5.29 this week to drop out of the ERA chase but is still leading the NL in victories. Arango, Cheeves, and the Phillies young star Richard Starkey (18-8, 2.79) are right there if Rivera keeps falling off. Roger Quintana (12-10, 2.69) is no slouch himself with a league-high 192 strikeouts; that's 20 more than Arango and the Cardinals' Raul Mendoza (9-12, 3.30) have. Mendoza is a weird case, with an ERA+ of 100 in spite of 7.2 Ks per 9 (that's good for 1972) and good control (2.3 BB/9). He has given up a few HRs (21, 6th most in the NL) but mostly it just looks like... bad sequencing, like his BABIP isn't even that bad (.260, a little better than the league average). The Cubs' Jesse Kelly (8-4, 2.52) and the Mets' Geoff Saus (7-4, 2.00) co-lead in saves with 22. What to make of that, though? Kelly also leads the majors with 33 shutdowns so it's not just a matter of him being the guy who happens to go into the 9th a lot. But at the same time, Saus is doing what he does with what might be the worst team in the NL (record-wise that's Cincinnati but it's close). Saus is 3rd in shutdowns with 29, by the way. The #2 guy in saves and #3 in shutdowns is the Dodgers' Alec Cosby (6-4, 2.16) with 21 and 31, respectively, I'm a little surprised that the rubber-armed Paz Lemus (7-3, 2.42) isn't higher up - he is 4th in saves with 20 but his 24 shutdowns don't even crack the top 5 this year. Big NL year for stoppers, I guess. ## Major Transactions August 28: The Padres sign OF Junior Cannon (.225, 5, 17 with CIN) to a new contract. Cannon had played his way off the Reds roster in spite of winning the ROY in 1969 with a failure to hit and a reputation for being a clubhouse lawyer. He's still only 28 and although he figures to be mostly a pinch-hitter for the stretch run, the deal he signed is not a deal you give out to a part-timer (oh, OOTP - I just click on the "accept offer" button and rarely if ever try to lowball FAs). August 30: St. Louis seems like they want to singlehandedly force the league to add a trade deadline, as they make yet another trade with the Oakland A's. SS Brian Wilcox (.182, 4, 26), who's having a classic good-field no-hit SS season, leaves the Cards for minor league SS "Jonathon Turner" (.215, 2, 20 at AA Birmingham) and minor league C "Connor Chapman" (.198, 3, 23 at AA Birmingham). Of the two of those, it looks like "Chapman" is the most likely to have his TRUE NAME revealed, although "Turner" is the A's #2 SS prospect so you never know. Neither of the recipients are of course hitting in the minors, as you can see... but it's 1972, lots of guys aren't hitting this year. August 31: The Tigers purchase C Jonathan House (.187, 1, 8) from the Rangers for $10,000. House has been struggling this year in the backup role but a. join the club and b. somehow even with the struggles he's doing better than the Tigers' own Trey Forgey (.165, 0, 11). Gianluigi Farinelli (.193, 4, 35) has also been really bad, of course, but House is not expected to take his place, although the fact that he bats lefty means Detroit can do a little kinda-sorta platoonish deal there. August 31: The Yankees trade P Kojiro Nakazawa (3-8. 4.47, 11 Sv) to the Rangers for P Jim Kenner (2-3, 3.61). Nakazawa took over in May Yankees' closer but a horrible stretch in July and August saw him lose that job and, increasingly, pitch in lower and lower leverage situations. New York is of course in no position to contend but they're always angling for something and Kenner has just done a better job of it this year. For Texas, they get a guy who's a full 5 years younger than the veteran Kenner if they can figure out how to get Nakazawa to stop giving up the longball (11 HRA in 50.1 IP). September 1: The Padres purchase minor league P Benito Diaz (5-1, 4.30 in AAA Tulsa) for $1,000. He's not that good and he's 32 but he's depth. Wahey. September 2: The Cardinals claim IF Angelo Serrano (.213, 0, 4) off waivers from the Oakland A's. Serrano was, with all the movement on the A's this year, the 4th string SS when all was said and done. He's still 26 and looked kinda good in AA Birmingham in 1970 (.261, 3, 33); given that the Cardinals were using Jeronimo Argumedo (.111, 1, 9) at the position, he should get a chance to prove himself in St. Louis. The Red Sox purchase minor league P Bill Castillo (5-8, 4.54 in AAA Charlotte) from the Pirates for $2,500. Castillo's only 25 but he was pretty bad in the minors this year and pitching is just plain not a need for Pittsburgh right now. It's not like a super need for Boston either but they are reeeeally short of decent looking pitching in the high minors and he at least ticks that box. ## News August 28: Captain R. Stephen Ritchie becomes the first American ace fighter pilot in the Vietnam War when he downs his fifth enemy airplane in combat. Charles DeBellevue (yes, that is a real name) will down his 5th and 6th planes in September. All 5 of Ritchie's victories were against MiG-21 fighters. August 28: Prince William of Gloucester, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, died today at 30 when his airplane crashed during a race. Yes, that is the headline. August 28: Harry Gold, 61, the American spy and chemist who was imprisoned from 1960 to 1965 after being convicted of espionage against the American nuclear program, dies today during heart surgery. He had stayed in the US following his release (with time off for good behavior! Apparently that was a factor in spying against us for the USSR) and become a clinical chemist in the pathology lab of John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia. August 28: Looks like the season is over for Royals up-and-coming RF RJ Dominguez (.251, 19, 77). Even with just short of 400 at-bats, the 27 year old will surely finish among the league leaders in the power categories. For the Royals, well, they're not good and so losing the 2-time All-Star for the last 5 weeks of the season might be a blessing in disguise. August 28: I kept forgetting to write a blurb about this guy but... remember how I said that Cleveland 1B Ernesto Garcia (.294, 50, 130) was off of last year's pace? So... he had 7 HRs last week - 10 hits total - in 25 at-bats to pick up the Player of the Week award for the AL. At this point the only thing stopping him from breaking his own HR record is the shortened season. As it is, I believe I'm counting 32 games left for Cleveland this year so he very much has a shot. This was Garcia's 6th PotW, now equalling - at least for another 2 days - his Batter of the Month career totals. (I'll try and find a different guy to post a baseball card for - Garcia's already had TOO MANY) August 28: The NL PotW was a newcomer, Philadelphia's OF Alberto Juantorena (.328, 10, 22), who's taken the senior circuit by storm after a combination of injuries and poor play necessitated his call-up. Last week Juantorena hit .407 (11-27) with 4 of his 10 HRs and 7 RBIs. The 21 year old Cuban has been hitting leadoff but he's got some serious middle of the order power. This was, of course, the first PotW award for the 21 year old rookie. He also made the Futures Game in 1971. And if those accolades don't get you, those mutton chops will. August 28: Oh BOY do I hate this season sometimes... Pirates spot starter Brian Bruno (3-5, 2.81) ties the NL record with 14 strikeouts in an extra inning game but it's not enough to win because his team can't score a single run all night and he finally falters in the 14th, dropping this one to the Padres 2-0. San Diego started their own spot man, Roy Moore (4-0, 0.89), who made the first start of his major league career in doing so. Hey, at least the Pads are climbing ever closer to the NL West race... August 29: In real-life baseball, Jim Barr of the San Francisco Giants got to 41 consecutive outs - 21 in his last game vs Pittsburgh and 20 today vs the Cardinals - to set a new record. This record will be held until 2007, when it's tied by Bobby Jenks, and then not broken until 2009 by Mark Buehrle, who will set the current record of 45 straight. August 29: President Nixon announces that 12,000 more American soldiers will be withdrawn from Vietnam over a 3 month period, with only 27,000 remaining by December 1. The withdrawal represents a 95% drop from the peak of 543,400 in April 1969. August 29: Another day, another maddeningly close 1-0 game. Today it's Detroit Tigers #4 starter Juan Merino (9-0, 2.83) besting California Angels ace Gary Bruno (9-10, 3.02) at the Big A. Merino allowed only 4 hits and 1 walk (and that lone walk came in the 9th, so this was almost a Maddux) and needed to be every inch that good because aside from an RBI single by C Gianluigi Farinelli (.196, 4, 35) in the 2nd, Bruno was unstoppable himself. The win drops the Angels to 66-56 and a game and a half up on the A's. Probably the bigger threat is from the veteran Twins, who are 3 games back, have all their main vets healthy and ready to go, and, unlike the "top" 2 teams, actually outscore their opponents. August 29: It really, really looked like the Astros' Tony Rivera (19-9, 2.55) was going to be the first man to reach 20 wins this year but the Red Sox' ace Michael Pesco (20-8, 2.40) came out of nowhere to snatch it away. Pesco gave up 6 hits in 7 innings today in beating the White Sox 5-1 to win the race; Rivera had his own chance to do it at the same time but had a bad night with 6 runs credited to him in 6.1 IP against the Phillies (to be fair, two of those runs came after he left, as the Astros went to demoted closer Jon Douglas (4-9, 4.35), who continued to struggle after he was put in). Pesco is nicknamed "The Dozens" because he loves to make 'jokes' about other peoples' mothers. His teammates don't care as long as he's pitching like this. August 30: The Brown Berets, a group to promote the rights of Hispanic-Americans, stages its most visible protest ever as 26 men peacefully occupy California's Santa Catalina Island, which they claim is sovereign territory of Mexico. After arriving on the ferry to the island in separate groups, the "Caravana de la Reconquista" changes into military-style unifoprms and shortly after 10AM unfurls the Mexican flag over Avalon Bay. They manage to stick around until September 22, when an American court order forces them to leave. The group will disband the following year; the island remains in American hands to this day. August 30: Cameron Diaz is born today in San Diego, as is one of the 9/11 hijackers (although not in San Diego obviously). August 31: At the Olympics, American sprinters Eddie Hart, Rey Robinson, and Robert Taylor are scheduled to run in the quarterfials of the 100 meter dash which their coach Stan Wright said would take place at 7PM. Shortly after 4:15, the three men were watching a TV feed to ABC Sports, which is showing runners lining up for a race... the race that they are supposed to be in! They race to the track but only Taylor gets there in time to actually run his heat, which he only has the time to strip off his pants, do a couple of leg bends, and get into the starters' blocks for. I'm not seeing if he advanced or not, although since he's considered the #2 sprinter in the world and didn't medal, I'm guessing not. August 31: The Newark Evening News publishes its final edition. The paper, which had been founded in 1883, never recovered from a sale to Media General in 1970 or a year-long strike by the newsroom which only finished in April of this year. In the interim, the new owners had sold their presses, along with the Sunday News edition, to the rival Star-Ledger; towards the end, the Evening News was having its issues printed by the other paper's presses. August 31: The last game of the "chess match of the century" between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassy begins. 40 moves later, the game will be adjourned to tomorrow, when Fischer will be declared the winner as Spassky does not show up. August 31: Speaking of last games... Braves RP Mikhail Baryshnikov (6-3, 3.76) received the worst news possible. He felt a tear in his arm yesterday and today the team trainer confirmed that he'd suffered a torn UCL. The initial verdict was that the recovery would be a long one but Baryshnikov, who is a world-class ballet dancer in the offseason, chose to concentrate on his side career instead. This was the 23 year old's first full season in the majors; he'd been up and down this year but there was no doubting his talent. August 31: The Yankees have gone from zero to heroes and right on back to zeroes again over the course of the month. Remember when they won 11 straight at the beginning of this month? Well, now they've lost 6 in a row, finishing a series sweep against the equally lowly Rangers today with a 5-2 loss. They've got some interesting young pitching for the future, so there's that, but if this team wants to contend in the future they're going to need to find hitting somehow; outside of 3B Tiptoe Tommy Weiss (.259, 16, 58) and funny man / OF Phil Hartman (.290, 8, 33 and also 80 walks in 411 ABs), nobody seems to be interested much in the lumber in the Bronx. September 1: Fischer, by the way, won more than $154k for that "win" today. September 1: Raul Sendic, leader of the Uruguayan guerilla group theTupamaros, is captured after a shootout. September 1: A fire at the Blue Bird Cafe in Montreal which was set by three men who had been kicked out of the adjoining Wagon Wheel bar, kills 37 people. The bar, known as a place where working class, English speaking youth could come to dance and drink and, you know, do bar things, goes up in flames as the trio light a fire on the staircase that serves as the only regular entrance or exit for Wagon Wheel customers. Due to conflicting city building codes, the upstairs bar has too few fire exits for its patrons and indeed patrons are able to use just two: through the kitchen onto a folding fire escape (the emergency exit is chained shut) or by climbing through a window in the women's restroom and dropping 20 feet onto a parked car. Five firefighters are also injured by smoke inhalation in fighting the blaze. It remains the worst nightclub fire incident in Canadian history. September 1: 33 year old Astros infielder Alejandro Sanchez (.194, 2, 7) informed me today that he's a starter and wants the playing time of one. I guess to be fair he'd been Houston's starting SS from 1968 through last year before being supplanted by Masanori Hattori (.227, 9, 22) this season. Chairez is the better fielder of the two, not that he's anything super special, but I'm not going to change horses in midstream, buddy. I'll stick him on the trade block so I remember him but I really don't think anyone's going to give him what he wants. September 1: Your NL Rookie of the Month for August is a guy who's been doing all he can to lead the unlikely San Diego Padres charge at a division title: SP Steven Tyler (14-10, 3.17), who went 4-2 in 50 innings pitched with a 2.16 ERA, 4 complete games, and 2 shutouts. Tyler, the lead singer of both Aerosmith and the Future Villains Band, struck out 26 batters - hey, he's a control guy - while allowing just 14 walks during that time.Tyler had gotten off to a graet start but ERAs of 5.34 and 4.29 in June and July made it look like he wasn't "the man", but he told everyone to just "walk this way" in August. Will Tyler wrap up the ROY? Only time will tell. It looks like he's got a good shot though. September 1: AL's Rookie of the Month is also a pitcher, albeit one with a team in a far different situation. The Yankees' John Carpenter (10-12, 3.11) supplies a horrifying presence on the mound that in August allowed him to work to a 2.82 ERA in 54.1 innings with a 4-3 record, a shutout, and 36 Ks. I feel like it's unlikely that Carpenter will win the ROY, given the existence of Tony "The Boss" Danza (.317, 3, 34) but hey, weirder things have happened, I guess. September 1: The NL Pitcher of the Month, Pittsburgh's Santos Arango (17-13, 2.52), is no stranger to stardom and has worked as hard as he ever has. He responded to a bizarre All-Star snub with a 5-2, 2.31 August with 3 complete games in 8 starts, a shutout, and 40 Ks in 62.1 innings. He's got a record that's awfully close to .500 but that's really because the Pirates have been absolutely awful at scoring runs for a contending team. September 1: In the AL, the Pitcher of the Month was an easy choice: Boston's Michael Pesco (20-8, 2.40). Pesco's putting together a Cy Young type season and August was his best month yet: 6-1, 2.13, 4 of 7 games completed, and 46 whiffs in 55 innings pitched for a .172 opponents' batting average. Yeah, his team is miles behind the Tigers right now but that's got nothing to do with "Dozens". September 1: The NL Batter of the Month seems like almost an afterthough compared to the AL guy (coming up!) but CF Big George Foreman (.308, 12, 56) hit .390 in August (an even 39-100) with 3 HRs and 13 RBIs as the Astros dropped him into the 3 hole to try and wring out an NL West division title. Foreman has now insinuated himself into the NL batting race - he's 2nd behind Atlanta's Kevin Dwyer (.315, 15, 64) and at this point it feels like a matter of not if but when he'll catch up to the veteran Brave. September 1: If you've been reading this at all, you probably know who the AL Batter of the Month is. If not, allow me to introduce you to Indians' 1B Ernesto Garcia (.295, 51, 131). Garcia had been doing just fine going into the month but man... the man hit *16* homeruns in 28 games, hit .315 (34-108) during that time, drove in *38* batters, and pretty much single-handedly willed Cleveland back into the pennant race. Well, they're kiiiind of in the pennant race. They're as in it as anyone in the AL East is outside of the Tigers. The game puts Garcia on pace to hit 67 HRs but I think that's based on a 162 game season (he's played 117 out of a possible 124 so far and the predictions have him playing in 154 of them) but it's still very possible, even with the strike and even with the leaguewide decline in hitting, that he could break the record of 65 HRs he co-holds with Lorenzo Martinez (currently still with STL, currently hitting .223/17/45 so not exactly a threat anymore). September 1: The 1st place Phillies are running an absolute gauntlet this weekend. It's not enough that they're doing a 5-game, 3-day series against the Braves (who of course are also fighting for 1st in the NL West); on Monday they have *another* double-header against their division rivals the Pirates. 7 games in 4 days! The scheduling, man... I did see this coming so I kept the Phightin' Phils in a phive man rotation going into this. Things open up well, at least... well, mostly well. Philadelphia sweeps the opening double-header 5-3 and 3-2 but the first game becomes an unintentional bullpen game because starter Tim Natalie (7-10, 4.20) pulls his hamstring in the bottom of the 2nd inning and is forced to come out. The good news is, it's not super bad and he should be ready to pitch in one of the games on Monday. Still, even with the expanded roster, this and the nightcap, which featured new debutant / Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh (18-5, 1.89 at AAA Eugene), who was fine but stretching him in a 1-run game would have been a terrible idea, the entire bullpen save lefty specialist Roger Evans (2-0, 5.83) is tired going into tomorrow. September 2: In real-life baseball, Milt Pappas of the Cubs retires the first 26 batters he faces in order but loses his perfect game on a very close call on a 3-2 pitch to Larry Stahl of the Padres with 2 outs in the 9th. Pappas goes on to retire the last guy, preserving the no-no if not the perfecto. September 2: The Soviet hockey team beats Team Canada 7-3 at the Montreal Forum in tyhe first game of the Summit Series between the two nations. The Canadian team is composed not of collegians as you'd expect from that score but of NHL stars including Ken Dryden and Tony Esposito as goaltenders and Phil Esposito and Bobby Clarke as forwards. September 2: THe Confederation of Arab Republics is officially founded between Egypt, Libya, and Syria. September 2: Former Detroit Pistons star Reggie Harding dies a day after being shot in the head. September 2: Reality therapy comes to us all... Expos OF Marc Ash (.183, 1, 8) just straight up demanded a trade after I called up minor leaguer Arsene Wegner (.242, 6, 40 in AAA Peninsula) to play CF while Anton Mendoza (.222, 4, 21) recovers from an intercostal strain. Ash is being paid a looooot of money, I just noticed, and he was terrible this year, so I think it's time to cut ties with the 29 year old. September 2: Today's OOTP Milt Pappas is, I guess, Rangers SP Robert McHugh (2-1, 2.10), who carries a no-hitter into the 9th vs Milwaukee until he walks the leadoff guy, watches as 1B Phil Stevens (.237, 4, 15) misplays a grounder towards the bag, and then gives up a solid single to right by PH Steve Winwood (.294, 7, 16). McHugh does settle down with the bases loaded, getting two force-outs at home and forcing the Brewers into a game-ending Nobletiger and a 4-0 win. September 2: More good news / bad news for the Phillies, as they continue to blow through the Braves in the Big Labor Day Gauntlet, taking both ends of their 2nd straight double-header 7-4 and 6-5. The bad news is that that second game took 12 innings to complete. Granted, it also took the Braves 12 innings to complete, including 4 by relief ace and eventual loser John "Scorpion" Winn (4-7, 2.09), but that ain't gonna mean much when they fly to Pittsburgh after tomorrow afternoon's game. I mean, they have banked a 74-53 record now and with the Bucs yet to play they're 2 1/2 games up so if this keeps up they might even have a bit of a cushion. September 2: The Pirates keep the heat on in just the way the Pirates do, beating the lowly San Francisco Giants 1-0 on single by C Doug Connally (.211, 7, 41) in the bottom of the 9th. "Coach showed confidence in me and I showed why," said Connally, who has, like the rest of the league but worse, stopped hitting this year after posting a .264/8/34 in 314 at-bats in 1971. The win keeps the Pirates even with the Cubs at 71-54 (technically the Cubs are 72-55, so percentage points behind) and 2 games behind the Phillies, who are 74-53 (also the 2nd best record in the majors behind the Tigers' 79-48). September 3: The elections for the Khmer Republic's 126 member National Assembly takes place. Because of a decree design to give President Lon Nol's Social Republican party and advantage, the other parties withdraw and as a result they win all 126 seats in what was claimed to be a 78% turnout. September 3: Patty Cake, a gorilla, is born in captivity at New York's Central Park Zoo. Months after her highly publicized birth she will have her arm broken when it gets stuck in a cage when her mother takes her away from her father. The incident, anthropromorphized as a domestic dispute between the two parents, was probably just an accident according to zoologists. Patty Cake lives her like at the zoo and dies in 2013. September 3: Whoever wins the AL West, it looks like they're going to back in. The Angels, putatively at the top of their division, lost their 7th straight today, a 3-1 heartbreaker at the Big A against the Orioles. Al Gore (10-9, 3.26) went all the way but the inconvenient truth was that he also allowed 2 HRs to O's OF Jason Workman (.247, 12, 36), recently arrived from the Chicago NL team. George Dapson (16-8, 3.28) was the latest to calm the California bats but truth be told they've been off all year. Fortunately, I guess, the Twins got overpowered by Ernesto Garcia (.296, 54, 135) and the Indians today so they're still in that driver's seat... if they can win some games. The third team in the race, the Oakland A's, avoided getting swept by the Tigers at home in a 3-1 win today so maybe I should not count them out. In fact... wow, they're tied for 1st in the division now, with the Twins 1/2 game back! Vince Akright (14-12, 2.85) went all the way for them. They still have that little issue where they've allowed more runs than they've given up but a. so have the Angels and b. the A's do at least have a bit of a secret weapon in the form of OF Casey Satterfield (.265, 18, 58) who they recently picked up from the St. Louis Cardinals during that team's fire sale over the past month. The A's are 13-17 since August 1: you can understand why I'm skeptical of them. September 3: Meanwhile, the Braves just do push past the Phillies in the final game of their 5-game series with a 4-3 victory. PH Wolf Blitzer (.327, 6, 21) blasts a solo HR off of reliever Adam Yon (0-1, 13.50), who made his major league debut tonight, and then Vicente Luna (.257, 13, 58) drove home the eventual winning run with an RBI single off of his former teammate Roger Evans (2-0, 4.98). Bobby Orr (2-2, 4.84) pitched a clean enough 8th for the win and, speaking of team-switchers, former Phillies guy Josh Willie (0-2, 1.97) earned his first save as an Atlantan with a scoreless 9th. The win puts the Braves a game and a half behind the Astros - pending their match today - with a 2 game series against them at the Astrodome coming up. September 3: And the Pirates pirate their way to a 3-2 *15 inning* victory over the Giants. How this team can just not score any amount of runs is beyond me but hey, they won in the end. Santos Arango (18-13, 2.45) rested the entire Pirates bullpen by going all the way in this one (which, bad idea? I mean, he allowed 5 hits the entire game. 190 pitches or not, the Giants were doing absolutely nothing against him). The win keeps them 2 wins - 1 game - behind the Phillies heading into tomorrow's double-header. But nope, you can't count Chicago out either... man. Down 5-2 in the 9th inning and facing San Diego's ace reliever, Darius Parchman (3-8, 2.52), the Cubbies needed the old grand salami treatment from PH Steve Casio (.252, 3, 13) and that's exactly what they got. One pitch, one 6-5 win. 1 game separates 3 teams in the East. And the Braves needed that win of theirs just to keep up with the Astros, who downed the last place Mets 8-0 at the Astrodome. Ernie Alvarez (12-7, 2.91) scattered 7 hits and recorded his 3rd shutout of the year - his career best is 5. Meanwhile CF George Foreman (.308, 14, 59) continued to lift the team with a HR and 2 runs scored. ## Teams in Review Meh, once it gets to / past Labor Day, I keep these at a minimum: for one, I just make micro-decisions when rosters expand / minor league seasons end / teams fall out of the pennant race; for another, there's not a lot of time to go and evaluations are better done in the offseason (and I just don't think teams used the 40 man roster expansion in the early 70s the way they did in, say, the 90s).
__________________
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Bookmarks |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
