History of Baseball - OOTP19 version

[Tiger Fan]

HALL OF FAME CANDIDATES (part 3)

Here are the final 3 newcomers to the ballot.

BOBBY SHANTZ
Had he not suffered three serious injuries Shantz might have been much better in the sim. The worst of the injuries cost him almost the entire 1951 season which was right in his prime. In the end, Shantz finished with a 125-134 career record and was a six time all-star. Shantz broke in with the Athletics as a 22 year old in 1948 and played on some bad teams with the club in Philadelphia and later Kansas City. In 1956 the then last place A's dealt him to the Giants for 3 prospects: Eddie Bressoud, Hermenio Cortes and Robert Brown. Shantz would finish his career with the Giants in 1962.

In real life Shantz was 119-99 in his career, a three time all-star and the 1952 MVP when he went 24-7.

VERDICT - Not Hall of Fame material


BOBBY THOMSON
There was no "Shot Heard Round the World" in this sim. In fact Bobby Thomson never played a World Series game but he did make 6 all-star teams and win a pair of gold gloves and platinum stick awards in a 17 year career that saw him suit up for the Giants, Athletics and Angels.

His best season was probably 1949 when the then 25 year old led the National League in WAR while batting .314 with 24 homers and 91 rbi's for a Giants club that finished 37 games out of first place. At the trade deadline in 1954 the Giants moved him to the Athletics for pitchers Karl Drews and Ken T Johnson. Drews would only win 6 games for the Giants but Johnson, a 20 year old prospect at the time, remains with San Francisco to this day and has won 128 major league games so far in his career.

Thomson's all-star seasons were done by the time he got to Kansas City (he arrived the final year of the franchise in Philadelphia) but he would put together 5 decent seasons for the Athletics. He was released prior to his age 38 season in 1962 and would be signed by the young Los Angeles Angels, where he would play the final 36 games of his major league career.

While he never played in a playoff tie-breaker or World Series game, Thomson did appear in two minor league championship series. He won both and hit a pair of key homeruns to win the Pony League title with Erie in 1944, so perhaps while not heard around the world, there might have been a shot heard round Lake Erie in this replay. (unfortunately I did not save minor league boxscores that season so can't check to see the impact of the homers)

In total Thomson appeared in 2,270 major league games, hitting .281 with 2,321 hits and 339 career homeruns. The real life Thomson is best known for his 1951 pennant winning homer, but he was a pretty good player. A 3-time all-star, Thomson played 1,779 games batting .270 for his career with 1,705 hits and 264 homeruns.

VERDICT - 21st all time in homeruns, 89th in career hits and 71st in career WAR. He had a good long career that a couple of strong post-season appearances might have earned him my vote but I think he falls just short.


EDDIE YOST
The 5 time all-star spent his entire 14 year major league career with the Senators/Twins organization. He led the American League in walks 5 times and doubles once, winning 3 platinum sticks as a third baseman. Yost's only World Series action came in 1949 when, as a 22 year old, he hit .304 with 2 homers in 6 games as the Senators fell to the Phillies.

Yost appeared in 1,926 games and was a lifetime .248 hitter. He had 1,597 career hits including 124 homers. Only 10 players in the history of the sim have walked more times then the 1,511 free passes Yost earned in his career. His .396 career on base percentage is 51st best all time and ranks the 5th most for the Senators/Twins organization trailing only Lou Gehrig, Jesse Burkett, Luke Appling and Stan Musial.

The real-life Yost was nicknamed "The Walking Man" and led the American League in walks 6 times. He played 2,109 games in his career, batting .254 with 1,863 hits and 1,614 walks.

VERDICT - Solid player and the on base percentage and walks are impressive but did not hit enough for a guy who never won a gold glove to get my Hall of Fame vote.




Next up is my Hall of Fame ballot and the results of the voting.

[Tiger Fan]

Not sure if I have posted the list of Hall of Famers before so here it is as well as the names on the current ballot.

I am leaning towards voting for the following 10. If you think I missed someone let me know:

Pete Alexander
Cap Anson
Eddie Plank
Pee Wee Reese
Jackie Robinson
Doc White
Cy Young

Those are 7 I have regularly voted for and see no reason to change. Sherm Lollar from this year's newly eligible group, deserves serious consideration and I am also looking at Ralph Kiner, Sam Rice, Rube Marquard, Tommy Henrich, Gil Hodges, Heinie Manush, Tony Lazzeri and George Uhle.


Below are the stats of the current members and a look at the 1968 ballot.

[Tiger Fan]

After some deliberation I decided to put the following 10 names on my ballot:

Pete Alexander
Cap Anson
Ralph Kiner
Sherm Lollar
Heinie Manush
Rube Marquard
Eddie Plank
Pee Wee Reese
Jackie Robinson
Cy Young

ROBINSON ENSHRINED IN COOPERSTOWN

Jackie Robinson has become the first former Negro League player to be voted in to baseball's Hall of Fame. The 48 year old Robinson spent 3 seasons with the Negro National League's Kansas City Monarchs before joining a small wave of players to break the color barrier. Robinson spent the first 8 games of the 1948 seasons with the International League's Toronto Maple Leafs, but after batting .484 with 5 homers and 10 rbi's during that time he was called up by the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite not making his Major League debut until he was 29 years old, Robinson would go on to spend a decade with the Phillies, helping them win 4 World Series titles while being named to the National League all-star team 6 times.

Robinson was the only player to be enshrined this year and he just barely made the 75% minimum to be elected as Robinson was named on 76.4% of the ballots.

[Tiger Fan]

APRIL 1968
OPENING DAY APPROACHES

There were not a lot of trade activity going on over the winter but there was a big move as Athletics owner Charlie O. Finley moved his franchise from Kansas City to Oakland. The Athletics finished 8th in the American League last season with a record of 75-87 but they have a good young club led by Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando, plus 3 of the top 15 prospects in Vida Blue, Gene Tenace and Joe Rudi.

Speaking of prospects, the A's minor league system ranks as the best in baseball right now with 4 of the top 20 players in the game. Catchers monopolize the top of the list again this season. A year ago we had Johnny Bench and Ted Simmons making their debuts in the National League. This season catchers hold 3 of the top 4 spots and there are 6 in the top 50 and 8 catchers in the top 100 prospects.

Those catchers are:
#1 Gene Tenace Oakland
#2 Carlton Fisk Boston
#4 Thurman Munson NY Yankees
#37 Manny Sanguillen Pittsburgh
#38 Joe Ferguson Washington
#49 Lamar Johnson Chi White Sox
#71 Charlie Sands Baltimore
#75 Cliff Johnson Houston

Here are the top minor league systems and the top 25 prospects

[JaBurns]

As I have said before this is what intrigues me about OOTP. The limitless "what if" scenarios, Jackie Robinson with Philadelphia which is ironic in and of itself with the trouble with Ben Chapman.

Then I started to think what would have happened if he had of ended up with Red Sox, the last team to integrate in MLB?

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

As I have said before this is what intrigues me about OOTP. The limitless "what if" scenarios, Jackie Robinson with Philadelphia which is ironic in and of itself with the trouble with Ben Chapman.

Then I started to think what would have happened if he had of ended up with Red Sox, the last team to integrate in MLB?

In my sim Chapman never became a manager and his major league career with the Yankees came to an end in 1940, well before Robinson's debut in '48. However, they might have run into each other on the diamond as Chapman played 5 games for the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League in April of 1948 before suffering a shoulder injury which he never returned from. At the same time Robinson was tearing the cover off the ball for the Toronto Maple Leafs - for whom he played 8 games for in April before being called up by the Phillies. I wish I kept minor league boxscores and history but I did not so I have no idea if Syracuse played Toronto during Robinson's brief tenure.

REDS TRADED ROSE

Speaking of "what if" scenarios, a great one just occured in my sim. Wanted to pick up the pace a little as I would like to make sure I get through the 1980's at some point so I simmed to the 1968 all-star break. I will have a more detailed update soon but here is what happened.

A couple of days before the break the Cincinnati Reds made a huge move. They dealt Pete Rose, who was hitting .365 at the time (with no other batting qualifier in either league hitting over .323) to the San Francisco Giants. The Reds, with plenty of offense but struggling on the mound, got pitcher Larry Jackson and prospect Gary Lavelle in return. Jackson is 37 years old and 4-8, 2.75 on the season after winning 12 games a year ago for the Giants. The 19 year old Lavelle is playing in the Gulf Coast League and ranked the #17 prospect in the game. Rose is 27 years old at the time and already a 2-time NL batting champ and 4 time all-star. In short, a terrible deal for the Reds.

How will this trade affect the Reds of the mid-70s? Will there still be a Big Red Machine without Rose? Although this group would have Jim Wynn and Lee May (assuming they aren't dealt at some point), would those two be enough to offset the absence of Rose and Joe Morgan - who remains in Houston in this universe? And as a Tiger fan it makes me wonder what if there was no Reds powerhouse in real life in the mid-1970s. Would the Tigers have signed Sparky Anderson and if not, how would it have changed things in Detroit going through the 1980s?

I was shocked to see the trade especially for what I consider to be so little of a return. Jackson is decent pitcher who is much better than his career record of 154-147 indicates (a 6-22 season with the brutal 1966 White Sox obviously hurts) but he is 37 years old and clearly on the tail end of his career. Lavelle could be a decent prospect and the Reds do need pitching but they gave up the best hitter in the game right now, who is still only 27 years old, for what effectively is a number 4 or 5 starter and a decent prospect.

The Reds are 7 games back of the first place Dodgers and were going through a stretch of 7 losses in 10 games when they pulled the trigger on the deal. The move allowed them to replace a struggling Mel Queen (1-4, 4.66) in the rotation with Jackson but it also meant instead of Rose playing leftfield the Reds would now rely on Art Shamsky, a 26 year old called up from AAA Indianapolis. Shamsky has played 175 major league games and is a career .251 hitter. Cincinnati is hoping there is more then enough offense to cover the loss of Rose and that Jackson is enough of an upgrade to help the Reds track down the Dodgers. In my opinion a panic move to try and win now after a disappointing 1967 season and an equally poor start to this one. Very shortsighted as Rose may be become part of a 'Big Orange Machine' in the future.

We obviously have the benefit of knowing the future in a historical sim with recalculate ratings enabled and what Rose (and Lavelle) will likely accomplish but from the Giants perspective, the deal was an amazing gift. San Francisco's offense was struggling and ranked near the bottom of the National League this season despite boasting Willie McCovey (.239,15,38), Felipe Alou (.267,3,35) and Jim Ray Hart (.225,8,33). Rose will play second base in San Francisco as the crowded outfield already has Jose Cardenal (.240,4,26), Matty Alou (.296,0,23) and Felipe Alou. San Francisco's offense is still below average but Rose is a huge upgrade. Add another future real-life Red in George Foster, who is presently a 19 year old in Class A, as well as 18 year old Gary Maddox and best of all 22 year old Bobby Bonds, who is tearing up AAA batting .334 with 21 homers and 62 rbi's in 78 games for Phoenix (why is he still in AAA?) , and the Giants have lots of offense coming.

The Giants are off to a disappointing 42-43 start this season but the deal for Rose will impact their future even more than the present. I am looking forward to an early 1970's Giants offense that includes Rose, Bonds, Foster and McCovey in the lineup.

[Tiger Fan]

1968 MID-SEASON REPORT

As the best of baseball gather for the 1968 all-star game the main topic of conversation continues revolve around the Cincinnati Reds decision to deal batting champion Pete Rose to the San Francisco Giants for 37 year old pitcher Larry Jackson and a prospect.

Offense has not been the Reds problem in the past decade as they dominate the Major Leagues in that category, although the young and exciting transplanted Athletics are scoring more runs then Cincinnati this season. Pitching has been the concern for the Reds through the years and is even more of a problem this season. With 6 pennants and 3 World Championships in the past 10 years the Reds are used to winning. They finished 2nd twice and 3rd once in the 3 seasons before last year that they did not win the pennant since 1958. Last season, the Reds fell to 4th and finished 12.5 games behind the Dodgers and this year their hated rivals from Los Angeles are already 8 games ahead of the Reds, who once again find themselves in fourth place, at the break. As a result, Reds management made a bold move to try and get back into the race this year, but it may prove very costly long term.

The Dodgers, who have 3 pennants in the past 10 years but just one World Series, look to be on a mission after blowing a 3 games to one lead to the Minnesota Twins in last season's Series. At 54-32, Los Angeles has the best record in either league at the break, with the Dodger pitching once again carrying them. Don Drysdale (2-7, 3.11) is off to an awful start, and at age 31 maybe time is catching up with the two time Cy Young Award winner. That is not the case with the Dodgers other multi-Cy Young winner. Sandy Koufax is bidding for his 5th pitcher of the year award thanks to a 13-4, 1.58 start to the season. Teammates Bill Singer (13-4, 1.90) and Don Sutton (11-4, 1.28) have also been outstanding. The offense is still near the bottom of the league in runs scored but 19 year old Steve Garvey (.285,5,30) has given them another bat to compliment Frank Howard (.244,12,31) and Roberto Clemente (.285,8,43).

The Houston Astros continue to impress as the young franchise sits in second place, 6.5 backs of the Dodgers. Pitcher Don Wilson (11-3, 1.58) has carried the club with help from Rusty Staub (.315,6,29) and ex-Red Vada Pinson (.248,11,42). Pinson was signed as a free agent on opening day after the Reds, without room for him on their major league roster, were forced to cut Pinson when he refused an assignment to AAA.

Far and away the biggest surprise in the National League is the play of the New York Mets. After finishing last and winning just 67 games a year ago, the Mets are 46-39 at the break as 23 year old Tom Seaver (13-5, 1.48) has finally had his breakout year. Jim Hardin (9-4, 2.52) and Jerry Koosman (6-5, 3.41) are also in the rotation while youngsters Nolan Ryan and Gary Gentry continue to get their feet wet in the bullpen. The offense has taken off as well thanks to a return to health from Paul Blair (.281,9,46), who missed almost 2 full seasons with injuries. Cleon Jones (.306,6,33), Donn Clendenon (.239,8,35) and Ed Charles (.249,9,29) are also contributing.

Offense is never an issue for the Reds, even without Rose. Tony Perez (.301,13,51), Jim Wynn (.316,19,43), Frank Robinson (.279,14,46), Lee May (.309,13,46) and second year catcher Johnny Bench (.306,7,32) are all enjoying strong seasons. Claude Osteen (10-4, 3.61), Ray Sadecki (10-5, 2.55), Jim Maloney (9-5, 2.57), Gary Nolan (7-5, 2.41) and newcomer Larry Jackson (4-9, 2.64) comprise the rotation.

Bob Gibson (11-4, 1.85) is dominant for the fifth place St Louis Cardinals but other pitchers like Steve Carlton (5-9, 2.65), Nelson Briles (6-9, 2.83) and most notably Denny McLain (5-9, 3.29) have not been as successful. A lack of offense, outside of Tony Oliva (.269,9,40), Tim McCarver (.284,6,36) and Nate Colbert (.264,8,21) has not helped.

The struggling San Francisco Giants hope the addition of Rose (.361,3,28) will get them going. Other key hitters include Willie McCovey (.238,15,38) and Jim Ray Hart (.225,8,34). For some unknown reason 22 year old Bobby Bonds remains at AAA Phoenix despite tearing up PCL pitching. Bonds is batting .337 with a league leading 21 homers and 62 rbi's.

It is another ho hum season for the middle of the pack Phillies. There is some talent such as Fergie Jenkins (8-8, 1.71), Rick Wise (10-3, 2.16), Larry Hisle (.294,8,27) and Dick Allen (.255,16,55) but the Phillies just can't seem to win consistently. 17 year old rookie Greg Luzinski (.248,5,19) has played himself into a starting role at first base. He has 6 errors already though.

The Pirates haven't won a pennant since 1935 and the streak will extend this year. There is very little offense but the pitching has been pretty good. Bob Veale (7-8, 1.83) threw a no-hitter this season - first for the Pirates since Joe Gibbon in 1960- and Steve Blass (5-6, 1.84) have looked good but Luis Tiant (4-9, 3.23) has not.

Lou Brock (.303,3,16 26 SB) is one of the few Chicago Cubs playing well. Ron Santo (.269,6,38) and Billy L Williams (.288,2,22) are also contributing but the pitching is awful and team defense worse.

I feel bad for Hank Aaron (.322,20,55), Joe Torre (.314,7,39), Rico Carty (.314,7,21) and Phil Niekro (6-8,2.38) as the rest of the last place Atlanta Braves roster is AAA at best. There are some prospects in the wings such as Dusty Baker and Ralph Garr but not a lot of pitching help for Atlanta in the near future.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
The Boston Red Sox suddenly have received a little quality pitching and as a result they are in the thick of the American League Pennant race. Boston has always had offense and this season is no different as Tony Conigliaro (.288,17,62), Rico Petrocelli (.294,10,48) and Orlando Cepeda (.295,13,41) are playing well enough to compensate for a down year from Carl Yastremski (.237,4,22), although Yaz did get named to his 8th all-star team. Mike Andrews (.310,6,29) and Carlton Fisk (.237,10,26), one of the many good young catchers in the game, have also played well. Jim Lonborg (10-3, 2.12), Bob Turley (10-6, 2.59) and reliever Wilbur Wood (12 sv, 1.68) have led a revitalized pitching staff that now ranks in the middle of the pack after many years at the bottom of the American League.

The Red Sox enter the break a game back of the Cleveland Indians. The 1966 pennant winners lead the league in homeruns thanks to Don Lukaszewski (.230,20,46), Bob Allison (.248,16,37) and Mack Jones (.266,16,34) but losing Tommie Agee (.220,7,23) for 3 months with an elbow injury will hurt. Sam McDowell (9-5, 2.44) remains close to the form that won him 2 Cy Young Awards and Denny Lemaster (13-3, 2.15) is enjoying a career year.

The defending World Champion Minnesota Twins are 3 games off the pace. 22 year old Rod Carew (.305,7,40) is evolving into one of the best singles hitters in the game while veteran Harmon Killebrew (.216,14,43) and youngsters Reggie Smith (.255,6,40), Joe Foy (.260,7,28) and John Donaldson (.301,1,33) are contributing. Mickey Lolich (11-7, 2.28) and Jim Kaat (11-6, 2.74) anchor the rotation with 45 year old pick-up Hoyt Wilhelm (2.23, 10sv) being a pleasant surprise out of the bullpen.

After dropping to 7th in a terrible year a season ago, the New York Yankees are back into pennant contention but they have been hit with a rash of injuries that cost them young outfielder Bobby Murcer and off-season acquisition Jim Perry for much of the first half. Mickey Mantle (.232,5,30) continues to slog along and is now just 17 homers shy of 600 but at age 36 he is clearly just a shadow of his former self. With Murcer's absence, 25 year old Curt Blefary (.256,18,49) is the new star in New York this season while 26 year old 3B Ken McMullan (.232,12,44) and 24 year old Roy White (.224,8,46) both show promise for the future. Fritz Peterson (8-3, 2.09) has taken over as the ace of the staff along with Al Downing (9-5, 3.02) but former ace Jim Bunning (6-4, 2.64) has proven he still has value. 21 year old catcher Thurman Munson is hitting .318 at AAA Syracuse and not far away from making his debut at Yankee Stadium.

The Athletics are loaded with young talent but still having a tough time drawing fans even in their first season in Oakland. Reggie Jackson (.295,17,58), Sal Bando (.296,4,49), Clarence Jones (.266,12,47), Darrell Evans (.282,9,33), Rick Monday (.242,6,30), Gene Tenace (.202,7,28) are all young and improving. Jose RA Santiago (7-2,2.85) and a pair of 23 year olds in Blue Moon Odom (7-5, 3.18) and Jim Nash (7-5, 2.96) led the pitching staff with prospect Vida Blue gaining experience in AAA Vancouver. If only this group still had Catfish Hunter, who suffered a career ending injury at age 20 in 1966.

The Baltimore Orioles last pennant was...well, never. The Orioles are over .500, at 43-40 but sit in 6th place, 8 games behind the first place Indians. The pitching, as always, is very good led by Dean Chance (11-6, 2.61), Dave McNally (8-6, 1.51) and Tom Phoebus (5-4, 1.94) and they have a 22 year old named Jim Palmer, who is 8-2 with a 1.98 ERA for the Northern League's Aberdeen Pheasants. Offense has not come easily although Willie Mays (.261,12,40) and Boog Powell (.213,13,39) are in the middle of the lineup. Mays surpassed the 500 homerun mark this season and at 508 he is just 2 homers shy of catching Mel Ott for 6th all-time.

The 7th place California Angels finished over .500 a year ago and at 4th place, enjoyed the highest finish in franchise history. However, 1968 has seen the club struggle. Rick Reichardt (.265,15,41) is really the club's only offensive threat and the pitching has been below average as well.

The Washington Senators won just 61 games a year ago, which was a big improvement on the 44-118 season they endured in 1966. The Sens did get their first no-hitter in franchise history as Gerry Arrigo (7-7, 2.92) turned the trick against Detroit. Joe Coleman (8-7, 2.58) has also pitched well but the offense is awful, with only James Whaley (.297,4,22) and James Livesey (.242,1,23) batting over .240.

The White Sox hit rock bottom in 1966 with a 56 win season - worst in franchise history since 1949 - and followed it up by going 61-101. Looks like the rebuild still has a ways to go as the 33-49 Sox continue to struggle. Norm Cash (.247,15,40), Fred Valentine (.259,9,36) and Jim Hicks (.231,9,31) led the offense while Rich P Robertson (6-6, 3.37) and Mike Hedlund (6-4, 3.63) are the top two starters. There is some talent in the pipeline including Dave Goltz, Bart Johnson, Lamar Johnson, Davey Lopes, Lou Piniella, Rick Dempsey and Ray Fosse.

The Tigers have struggled since back to back World Series titles in 1957-58 and it looks like this could be the worst season in franchise history by winning percentage. Willie Horton (.258,17,42) and Bill Freehan (.267,11,37) continue to hit well but Al Kaline (.252,8,33) is down from his usual production. Sonny Siebert, a 16 game winner a year ago has been sidelined since mid-April, so the top two pitchers are Dick Drago (7-4, 2.13) and Joey Jay (3-13, 3.16). 1968 will not be kind to Detroit in this sim.

Here are the standings and league leaders.

[JaBurns]

Boy the Tigers suck, as discussed before, quite a change from real life ‘68!

[BirdWatcher]

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

Thank you. Much the same story for me but it was a game called Extra Innings first for me when I was about 9 or 10. I remember bugging my parents to order SOM for me when I saw ads in book but they ordered Extra Innings instead for some reason. It turned out great as not only could you play the game but you could rate your own players as well.

I remember trying to play out the entire 1973 season with that dice game. Think I got until about mid-May before it fizzled it but probably took me a year to get that far. (Cue my old man voice) Kids today don't know how easy they got it with a computer that can sim a season in minutes. Back in my day we had to roll dice and look up the result of every play.

Extra Innings was my first introduction to baseball simulations as well! Though I was probably about 12 when I purchased it. I had hinted many times to my father that I thought Strat-O-Matic looked pretty great (based upon ads I saw in comic books, as I recall- could that be true?) and he let me know that ads like that were deceiving and that there was no way it would be what they promised. But a few years later I was able to scratch together enough money to buy EI (a cheaper option) and loved it. Moved on to S-O-M within a year or two. Dad has been right about a lot of things in his life. This time he was so very, very wrong. Here I am, some 40 years later and still hooked. Though now mostly it is OOTP that has my baseball gaming heart.

[JaBurns]

Originally Posted by BirdWatcher

Extra Innings was my first introduction to baseball simulations as well! Though I was probably about 12 when I purchased it. I had hinted many times to my father that I thought Strat-O-Matic looked pretty great (based upon ads I saw in comic books, as I recall- could that be true?) and he let me know that ads like that were deceiving and that there was no way it would be what they promised. But a few years later I was able to scratch together enough money to buy EI (a cheaper option) and loved it. Moved on to S-O-M within a year or two. Dad has been right about a lot of things in his life. This time he was so very, very wrong. Here I am, some 40 years later and still hooked. Though now mostly it is OOTP that has my baseball gaming heart.

You are correct Strat-O-Matic used to be advertised in comic books. I started playing with a friend of mine in ‘67 or ‘68 using his older brother’s cards on the sly. I learned how to score games and keep stats by hand in note books we used to keep religiously for every game. I finally cobbled enough money together to buy the S-O-M 6 team set in 1969. I have been playing since then with most of games that have come out over the last 50 years (that makes me feel old) but OOTP, to me, is by far the best simulation.

[Tiger Fan]

JULY 9, 1968

So much for 1968 being the year of the pitcher, at least as far as the All-Star game is concerned. The two clubs combined for 14 runs and 28 hits as the National League stars prevailed 9-5 in the contest. Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jim Wynn, who went 3-for-3 with 3 singles and scored 3 runs was named the All-Star game's most valuable player.

The hitting started early as lead-off man Rod Carew of Minnesota put the American Leaguers up 1-0 with a solo homerun off of Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax on just the second pitch of the game. Detroit's Bill Freehan also homered for the junior circuit while Rusty Staub of Houston, with a 3 run shot, and the Mets Paul Blair went deep for the Nationals. Houston's Don Wilson was credited with the victory while Boston closer Wilbur Wood was tagged with the loss.

Below are the list of all-star game participants.

[Tiger Fan]

AUGUST 1, 1968
RED SOX AND REDS MAKE MOVES

As the calendar turns to August the American League has a new leader while the National League leaders are suddenly facing a challenge from an old foe. The Boston Red Sox, led by veteran Orlando Cepeda and a powerful offense, find themselves in first place in the American League, a half game ahead of Cleveland, thanks to an 8 game winning streak. Meanwhile, in the National League the Dodgers lead, which was 6.5 games on Houston and 8 over Cincinnati at the all-star break, has been whittled down to 2.5 games by the suddenly red-hot Reds as Cincinnati reeled off 8 wins in their last 10 games while the slumping Dodgers dropped 7 of their last 10.

It seems like everyone in the Boston lineup is now hitting the ball. The 30 year old Cepeda (.316,20,57) notched his 2000th career hit recently and leads the American League in batting average with teammate Mike Andrews (.302,7,35) sitting in third place in that category. Tony Conigliaro (.300,24,82) is having another big year while Rico Petrocelli (.284,12,57), back from an injury that cost him much of 1967, and rookie catcher Carlton Fisk (.251,13,35) are both exceeding expectations. Only Carl Yastremski (.243,6,40), who is still trying to recover from a June swoon at the plate that seeped into much of July, is hitting below expectation. On the mound, 26 year old Jim Lonborg (13-4, 2.15) is doing what is expected of him while the suddenly relevant again Bob Turley (12-6, 2.73)- a solid pitcher for the Reds in the mid-1950s - is a huge surprise for Boston at the age of 37.

Going 15-5 since the all-star break has allowed the Red Sox to skip past Cleveland but the Indians remain a formidable foe. Defending World Series champion Minnesota have succumb to the hot weather in July and, thanks to an 8-11 showing since the break, now find themselves in 4th place - 8.5 games back of Boston.

Like the Red Sox, the Baltimore Orioles have been on a tear, winning 15 of 21 since the all-star game but all that stretch did was allow them to pick up a half game so they remain 7.5 out of first place. The Orioles have the pitching but appear to lack the bats to make this a three team race down the stretch.

Over in the National League all the talk is around the slumping Dodgers and the surging Reds. Experts panned the deal that sent NL batting leader Pete Rose to San Francisco but since that move the Reds have played at a .586 clip while the Dodgers have a record of 9-17 (.346). Included in that time frame were 6 head to head matches and the Reds won 5 of them. Ironically, the only Dodger win was a 1-0 shutout victory when Bill Singer outpitched Larry Jackson - the key piece the Reds received in the Rose deal.

The Jackson trade seems to be more of a turning point for the Dodgers than the Reds as Los Angeles was dominant prior to that day and awful since. Jackson, who is the Reds number 5 starter, has struggled with a 1-4 record and a 4.06 era in 5 starts since the deal. Rose continues to rake in San Francisco, leading the majors with a .356 average so there is no question he would have helped the Reds had he still been there, but maybe the move, despite looking very bad for Cincinnati on paper right now, was intended to wake the rest of the Reds up and get the team in gear. There is no question that has happened and the Dodgers confidence appears to have been soundly shaken following the heartbreak in Cincinnati they endured from July 16-18, when the Dodgers lost 3 straight 1-run games to the Reds in which the winning run was scored in the Reds last at bat in two of them.

Houston is trying desperately to stay in the race, which would be their first pennant chase in franchise history. The Astros swept the Dodgers in a 3 game set last week on the west coast but their hopes took a bit of a beating after losing both games in a short 2-game rematch with Los Angeles at home to start this week. Losing second baseman Joe Morgan (.258,1,29) for a month in that series will also hurt plus the Astros just got word outfielder Danny Walton (.267,10,44) could be sidelined for a while as well.

The Pirates won 16 of 20 after the break before falling 2-1 in Cincinnati yesterday and are hoping for their first pennant since 1934. Pittsburgh has only finished within 10 games of first place once since 1943, and that came last year when they ended up 4th, 9.5 games back of the Dodgers.

I would also not count San Francisco entirely out of the race. The pitching seems to be improving and Rose is having a positive impact on the offense but they have a lot of teams to climb over. At least they finally had enough common sense to call-up Bobby Bonds on July 20. Bonds was hitting .344 with 23 homers and 69 rbi's in 90 games for the PCL's Phoenix Giants. Since the promotion the Giants have used him in 11 games, with 10 of them being pinch-hitting duties, and the outfielder is 5-for-14 (.357) with a homerun. For whatever reason the Giants brass seems to prefer starting either Jose Cardenal (.248,4,31) or Matty Alou (.299,0,35) over Bonds. If it was me I would move Pete Rose (.356,4,36) from the outfield to second base and replace the light-hitting Luis Zayas(.231,2,10) to open a spot for Bonds.

OTHER NOTES
The Cleveland Indians made a deadline deal to help them in their quest to beat Boston for the American League pennant. Cleveland acquired 3-time all-star shortstop Jim Fregosi (.255,3,32) from California in exchange for 1B-OF Tito Francona (.200,5,24) and 20 year old minor league pitcher Tom Griffin.

The move comes 2 weeks after the Indians added outfielder Ken Berry (.275,0,9) from St Louis for pitcher Stan Bahnsen (6-5, 3.72). The 27 year old Berry was playing for the Cardinals AAA affiliate in Tulsa where he was batting .366 before the deal. The Indians inserted him in the lineup to replace Francona. Fregosi will be a significant upgrade on light-hitting 28 year old Larry Brown (.171,3,25) both in the Indians batting order and defensively where Fregosi won a gold glove in 1964.

There were no other trades of note at the deadline.

[Tiger Fan]

KOUFAX PITCHES 52 STRAIGHT SCORELESS INNINGS

Before I get to the September 1 update I thought this deserved mention. I don't know where OOTP would track it so I have no idea if it is record or not but Sandy Koufax pitched 4 straight shutouts and went 52 consecutive inning without allowing a run. I know the real life record is 59 set by Orel Hershiser in 1988 but I have no idea what the mark is for my sim.

I am using 3 year recalc and we are in 1968, so beyond Koufax's real life retirement at the age of 31 in 1966. He just seems to be getting better each year now and looks to be well on his way to 300 career wins and may approach 5000 strikeouts.

This season, Koufax is once again leading the National League in strikeouts with 239 through September 1st. He also tops the NL with 20 wins (6 losses) and a major league best 1.44 era. With a month to play he already has 11 shutouts and is 1 shy of breaking Christy Mathewson's 1910 record for shutouts in a season.

He was named National League pitcher of the month for August after the 4 straight shutouts. His streak actually started on July 29th against Houston when, after allowing a solo homerun to Doug Rader in the first he blanked the Astros the rest of the way in an 8-1 Dodger victory. He followed that up with a 5-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Tom Seaver and the New York Mets. Next came a 4-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Pirates against Steve Blass. He and Seaver hooked up again in New York and Koufax won 1-0 on a 1-hitter. A 7th inning single from Mets outfielder Paul Blair was all that prevented Koufax from his second career no-hitter.

The shutout streak extended to 44 innings with a 3-0 win over the Pirates on August 18. This time he gave up 6 hits in the contest. The streak reached 52 innings before the Giants scored a run in the 9th inning of their game on August 23rd. It would be a no decision for Koufax as he pitched 9 innings of 2-hit ball with Ollie Brown's pinch-hit homer ending the streak and sending the game into extra innings. It would last 18 innings before the Dodgers prevailed 2-1.

Here are Koufax's career stats and his recent game performances.

[Tiger Fan]

CAN WILLIAMS' RECORD 726 EVER FALL?

Another look back on my league history and some conjecture for the future before I get to the September 1st standings update. Minnesota slugger Harmon Killebrew just hit his 400th career homerun in an 8-6 victory over Cleveland on August 28th. The homerun came off of 22 year old rookie reliever Vince Colbert, who was appearing in his 4th major league game and it was the first homer - or run of any sort Colbert ever allowed.

It got me thinking about the great collection of power hitters we get to enjoy in this era and made me wonder can any of them catch Ted Williams' magic number of 726 career round trippers. Killebrew became only the 15th player to reach the 400 mark but nearly half of them - 7 - are active right now.

Here are the top 15

400 HOMERUN CLUB
NAME		  HR	  YRS		  AGE
Ted Williams	 726	1936-61
MICKEY MANTLE	 586	1950-active NYY	  36		
Jimmie Foxx	 538	1924-43
EDDIE MATHEWS	 537	1954-active ATL   36
FRANK ROBINSON	 525	1953-active CIN	  33
WILLIE MAYS	 512	1950-active BAL	  37
Mel Ott		 510	1926-46
Stan Musial	 502	1940-63
Lou Gehrug	 496	1921-43
HANK AARON	 478	1952-active ATL	  34
Joe Adcock	 475	1948-66
Johnny Mize	 468	1930-54
ERNIE BANKS	 426	1953-active MIN   37
Babe Ruth	 411	1914-26
HARMON KILLEBREW 400	1958-active MIN   32

Let's rule out the active guys with no shot at 726.

Mantle is the closest to Williams' mark but we can easily rule him out. His numbers at the plate are steadily dropping, both batting average and homeruns. He has just 8 so far this season after hitting a career low 15 year ago. Even 600 might now be out of reach for the Yankee legend.

Mathews, at 36 just like Mantle, is following the same career trajectory. I would not be surprised if this is his final year. Mathews has started just 50 games for Atlanta and is batting .213 with 6 homers. Getting the 2 homers he needs in the final month of the season to pass Jimmie Foxx for third place all-time may be too much to ask as Mathews has not homered since July 7th, a span of 80 at bats.

The two 37 year olds in Mays and Banks are both nearing the end of great careers. Banks finally got that elusive World Series ring with Minnesota a year ago but he was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter by the Twins last season, when he hit 6 homers in 132 plate appearances. He has started a few more games this year but through the end of August has 209 plate appearances and 14 homeruns. If he can get the at bats he might have a slim chance of passing Joe Adcock's 475. I am using 3 year recalc and Banks played until age 40, hitting 32 homers in 1968, followed by seasons of 23, 12 and 3. He won't get a lot of playing time in Minnesota but if the Twins were to move him and he gets hot he could have another 45-50 homers left in him.

Mays is playing regularly and has 16 homers this season to get him over the 500 mark. Best case scenario might be 550 to end his career and I think he has a good chance to pass Foxx's 538 but Williams is well beyond his reach.

That leaves the 3 younger players in Aaron, Robinson and Killebrew. Let's start with the Twins slugger. Killebrew just turned 32 in June but he is 326 homeruns away. For comparison sake, at the end of his age 32 season in 1951, Ted Williams had 431 career homeruns. Williams would have 2 more seasons of at least 40 homers after age 32 and an additional 4 years were he topped 30. Killebrew is already 31 homers behind that pace - or what amounts to a full year's worth of homeruns off the pace Williams set but Killebrew is coming off 5 straight years of 40+ homers. This season Killebrew will likely miss the 40 mark as he has 24 round-trippers (granted it is the most pitching friendly season in baseball history) with a month to go. Looking ahead at the real life numbers, Killebrew has seasons of 49 and 41 homers left before 2 years in the 20's and then 3 final years peaking at 14 to end his career. Even if Killebrew somehow strings together a couple of 50 homer season and a pair of 40's that would still leave him well over 100 homers shy. To me, there is just no way Killebrew can catch Williams.

How about Frank Robinson? Robinson just celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday (it is Sept 1,1968 in the game) and has 525 career homeruns, leaving him 201 shy of Williams. He hit a career high 48 homers two years ago and followed that up with 22 a year ago. This season the Cincinnati Reds star has 21 homers thru 133 games. In real life he remained active through 1976 and very late in his career managed to hit 30 homers for the Angels in 1973. The real life Robinson hit 168 homers between 1969 and his retirement as a player in 1976. Duplicating that would leave him 33 shy of Williams. However, if he can stay healthy and remain good enough to be in the Reds lineup he will be playing regularly for a much better team than he did in real life where his career ended with stops in California and Cleveland. We also have a month left in the 1968 season and he hit 7 homers in July which, if duplicated gets him down to 194 shy of Williams. It will need a lot of luck but with good health and big seasons over the next 4 years he could do it.

The real-life Robinson went 32,25,28,19,30,22 in homers from 1969-74. If 3 year recalc helps smooth his numbers out, and the benefit of playing on a better team helps him, averaging 30 homers a year gets him over 700 and gives him a shot.

Finally we have Hank Aaron. Of course we already know he hit 755 in real life. However, in the sim he has 478 right now, and has averaged about 7 a month this year so lets estimate him at 485 at the end of the season. Aaron will turn 35 before the 1969 season starts and he played until age 42 (1976) in real life. At the end of 1968 in real life Aaron had 510 career homeruns so he is 25 off of his real life pace right now. The next 5 years in real life were big for him as he averaged 40 a season. If he can duplicate that feat for 5 years and then add another 30-40 homer season at the end of the string he is suddenly in the 715-725 range with possibly a couple of years in a limited role at the end to get him the final dozen or so homers he would need to pass Williams. The keys are too a) stay healthy and b) put up numbers to match real life for the next 5 seasons.

CONCLUSION - We know Williams record will fall eventually as some one will obliterate it when I get to the steriod and juiced ball era 25-30 years from now but will the Barry Bonds and ARod's of the future in this sim be chasing 726, or will they be chasing a mark greater then 726 that was established by Frank Robinson or Hank Aaron. I think both of them have a shot but it will take good health and a little luck for either of them. We will just have to sit back and let time give us our answer.

Any thoughts? Do Aaron or Robinson have a chance?

[BadluckinOOTP]

My dad was a Kansas City A's fan in the 50's and 60's, how did they do when they didn't ship all their talent to the Yankees. I'm sure they didn't compete for pennants, but they had to have been better than they actually were, right?

Were guys like Lumpe and Howser original A's farmhands?

[JaBurns]

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

CAN WILLIAMS' RECORD 726 EVER FALL?

Another look back on my league history and some conjecture for the future before I get to the September 1st standings update. Minnesota slugger Harmon Killebrew just hit his 400th career homerun in an 8-6 victory over Cleveland on August 28th. The homerun came off of 22 year old rookie reliever Vince Colbert, who was appearing in his 4th major league game and it was the first homer - or run of any sort Colbert ever allowed.

It got me thinking about the great collection of power hitters we get to enjoy in this era and made me wonder can any of them catch Ted Williams' magic number of 726 career round trippers. Killebrew became only the 15th player to reach the 400 mark but nearly half of them - 7 - are active right now.

Here are the top 15

400 HOMERUN CLUB
NAME		  HR	  YRS		  AGE
Ted Williams	 726	1936-61
MICKEY MANTLE	 586	1950-active NYY	  36		
Jimmie Foxx	 538	1924-43
EDDIE MATHEWS	 537	1954-active ATL   36
FRANK ROBINSON	 525	1953-active CIN	  33
WILLIE MAYS	 512	1950-active BAL	  37
Mel Ott		 510	1926-46
Stan Musial	 502	1940-63
Lou Gehrug	 496	1921-43
HANK AARON	 478	1952-active ATL	  34
Joe Adcock	 475	1948-66
Johnny Mize	 468	1930-54
ERNIE BANKS	 426	1953-active MIN   37
Babe Ruth	 411	1914-26
HARMON KILLEBREW 400	1958-active MIN   32

Let's rule out the active guys with no shot at 726.

Mantle is the closest to Williams' mark but we can easily rule him out. His numbers at the plate are steadily dropping, both batting average and homeruns. He has just 8 so far this season after hitting a career low 15 year ago. Even 600 might now be out of reach for the Yankee legend.

Mathews, at 36 just like Mantle, is following the same career trajectory. I would not be surprised if this is his final year. Mathews has started just 50 games for Atlanta and is batting .213 with 6 homers. Getting the 2 homers he needs in the final month of the season to pass Jimmie Foxx for third place all-time may be too much to ask as Mathews has not homered since July 7th, a span of 80 at bats.

The two 37 year olds in Mays and Banks are both nearing the end of great careers. Banks finally got that elusive World Series ring with Minnesota a year ago but he was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter by the Twins last season, when he hit 6 homers in 132 plate appearances. He has started a few more games this year but through the end of August has 209 plate appearances and 14 homeruns. If he can get the at bats he might have a slim chance of passing Joe Adcock's 475. I am using 3 year recalc and Banks played until age 40, hitting 32 homers in 1968, followed by seasons of 23, 12 and 3. He won't get a lot of playing time in Minnesota but if the Twins were to move him and he gets hot he could have another 45-50 homers left in him.

Mays is playing regularly and has 16 homers this season to get him over the 500 mark. Best case scenario might be 550 to end his career and I think he has a good chance to pass Foxx's 538 but Williams is well beyond his reach.

That leaves the 3 younger players in Aaron, Robinson and Killebrew. Let's start with the Twins slugger. Killebrew just turned 32 in June but he is 326 homeruns away. For comparison sake, at the end of his age 32 season in 1951, Ted Williams had 431 career homeruns. Williams would have 2 more seasons of at least 40 homers after age 32 and an additional 4 years were he topped 30. Killebrew is already 31 homers behind that pace - or what amounts to a full year's worth of homeruns off the pace Williams set but Killebrew is coming off 5 straight years of 40+ homers. This season Killebrew will likely miss the 40 mark as he has 24 round-trippers (granted it is the most pitching friendly season in baseball history) with a month to go. Looking ahead at the real life numbers, Killebrew has seasons of 49 and 41 homers left before 2 years in the 20's and then 3 final years peaking at 14 to end his career. Even if Killebrew somehow strings together a couple of 50 homer season and a pair of 40's that would still leave him well over 100 homers shy. To me, there is just no way Killebrew can catch Williams.

How about Frank Robinson? Robinson just celebrated his 33rd birthday yesterday (it is Sept 1,1968 in the game) and has 525 career homeruns, leaving him 201 shy of Williams. He hit a career high 48 homers two years ago and followed that up with 22 a year ago. This season the Cincinnati Reds star has 21 homers thru 133 games. In real life he remained active through 1976 and very late in his career managed to hit 30 homers for the Angels in 1973. The real life Robinson hit 168 homers between 1969 and his retirement as a player in 1976. Duplicating that would leave him 33 shy of Williams. However, if he can stay healthy and remain good enough to be in the Reds lineup he will be playing regularly for a much better team than he did in real life where his career ended with stops in California and Cleveland. We also have a month left in the 1968 season and he hit 7 homers in July which, if duplicated gets him down to 194 shy of Williams. It will need a lot of luck but with good health and big seasons over the next 4 years he could do it.

The real-life Robinson went 32,25,28,19,30,22 in homers from 1969-74. If 3 year recalc helps smooth his numbers out, and the benefit of playing on a better team helps him, averaging 30 homers a year gets him over 700 and gives him a shot.

Finally we have Hank Aaron. Of course we already know he hit 755 in real life. However, in the sim he has 478 right now, and has averaged about 7 a month this year so lets estimate him at 485 at the end of the season. Aaron will turn 35 before the 1969 season starts and he played until age 42 (1976) in real life. At the end of 1968 in real life Aaron had 510 career homeruns so he is 25 off of his real life pace right now. The next 5 years in real life were big for him as he averaged 40 a season. If he can duplicate that feat for 5 years and then add another 30-40 homer season at the end of the string he is suddenly in the 715-725 range with possibly a couple of years in a limited role at the end to get him the final dozen or so homers he would need to pass Williams. The keys are too a) stay healthy and b) put up numbers to match real life for the next 5 seasons.

CONCLUSION - We know Williams record will fall eventually as some one will obliterate it when I get to the steriod and juiced ball era 25-30 years from now but will the Barry Bonds and ARod's of the future in this sim be chasing 726, or will they be chasing a mark greater then 726 that was established by Frank Robinson or Hank Aaron. I think both of them have a shot but it will take good health and a little luck for either of them. We will just have to sit back and let time give us our answer.

Any thoughts? Do Aaron or Robinson have a chance?

I think Williams is safe until the hopped up steriod era, cannot see Aaron hitting 242 more round trippers.

[BadluckinOOTP]

I've never played with the recalc settings. You have it on this time around, right? Does that mean Koufax is doomed to fall to pieces in the next year or two?

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by BadluckinOOTP

I've never played with the recalc settings. You have it on this time around, right? Does that mean Koufax is doomed to fall to pieces in the next year or two?

I am not sure. I have always used the OOTP development engine instead of recalc so I really don't know. I think he will continue to be okay as I thought I remember reading something that the development engine will take over after they run out of real seasons....and if so, it really works in Koufax favour because his final real seasons were so good and there was no drop-off most players have as they get into their mid thirties and beyond.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

I think Williams is safe until the hopped up steriod era, cannot see Aaron hitting 242 more round trippers.

I would agree but between 1969-76 in real life he hit 245 by my count.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by BadluckinOOTP

My dad was a Kansas City A's fan in the 50's and 60's, how did they do when they didn't ship all their talent to the Yankees. I'm sure they didn't compete for pennants, but they had to have been better than they actually were, right?

Were guys like Lumpe and Howser original A's farmhands?

KANSAS CITY ATHLETICS 1955-67

It was not a very productive stay for the Athletics in Kansas City as the club in last place in the American League in 10 of their 13 seasons.

KANSAS CITY ATHLETICS YEAR BY YEAR RECORD
YEAR	 W   L	 PCT   FINISH   GB
1955	49  105	.318	8th	60
1956	37  117	.240	8th	64
1957	42  112	.273	8th	50
1958	64   90	.416	7th	35
1959	57   97	.370	8th	33
1960	44  110	.286	8th	50
1961	57  105	.352	10th	43
1962	47  115	.290	10th	60
1963	49  113	.302	10th	59
1964	58  104	.358	10th	41
1965	58  104	.358	10th	41
1966	83   79	.512	6th	16
1967	75   87	.463	8th	34
------------------------------------
TOTAL  720  1338 .350		

Once the class of the American League, winners 23 pennants and 13 World Series titles, the Athletics have not won anything since 1939 and are on to their third city. They brought a very bad team to Kansas City but 13 years later they abandoned the midwest for Oakland with a collection of great young talent that could restore the lustre to the franchise.

Unfortunately for fans in Kansas City, the A's subjected them to bad team after bad team, finishing with a .350 win percentage and an averaged over 100 losses a season during their 13 year stay. The 1956 Athletics won just 37 games and hold the distinction of having the worst winning percentage (.240) in Major League history. The starting rotation for the '56 A's looked like this:

NAME		 AGE  W-L  GS  ERA
Art Ditmar	 27  7-17  33  4.04
Roger Craig	 26  6-15  30  5.25
Elmer Singleton  37  6-20  28  5.59
Steve Gromek	 36  5-17  25  5.46
Bobby Shantz	 30  2-9   16  3.13

6-time all-star Roy Campanella (.171,11,29) was the catcher on that team, but at 34 years of age he was well past his prime. They had another 6 time all star in outfielder Bobby Thomson (.227,24,66) but was 32 and also on the downside of his career. One of the A's issue at that time is they dealt youth for veterans just as those veterans started to decline. For example, Thomson was aquired at the expense of prospect Ken Johnson, who is still active with the Giants in 1968 and has won 137 career games including a 17 win season in 1966.

After being stuck in that bad happen of dealing youth to get a older player who they thought might help but seldom did, the Athletics suffered through a terrible first decade in Kansas City. That changed in the mid-1960s when youngsters like Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Jim Nash and Rick Monday arrived. They would team with players like 24 year old Bert Campaneris, 23 year old Lew Krausse Jr and 29 year old Clete Boyer to help the A's in 1966 post their first winning season in Kansas City - in fact you would have to go back to 1950 to find a .500 season for the franchise.

Last year the team took a step back and finished 75-87 in part because of the devasting career ending injury suffered by Catfish Hunter. However, more young talent is trickling in....names like Darrell Evans, Gene Tenace, Rollie Fingers, Joe Rudi and Vida Blue are adding to their talent base. However, Kansas City fans will not be rewarded with the option to watch a young, exciting team as the club pulled up stakes and moved to the West Coast after seeing the success the Dodgers, Giants and young Angels clubs had financially. Kansas City will be given an expansion team next year but that likely means at least a number of bad seasons for area baseball fans to suffer through again.



To answer about Lumpe and Howser: Howser did start with Kansas City but Lumpe began with the Yankees.

DICK HOWSER

Now 32 year's old, Howser is playing for the San Diego Padres of the PCL this season, where he is batting just .212 in 116 games. He skipped the minors when he made his pro debut in 1958 at the age of 22, making the Athletics out of spring training. He would play in 106 games that season, hit .261 and finish second to Harmon Killebrew of the Senators in the American League rookie of the year voting.

After four seasons in Kansas City, Howser was dealt to the New York Yankees after the 1961 season in exchange for 3 catchers: catcher William Madden, who was on the Yankee roster at the time and is still a back-up with the A's and won a gold glove in 1966, Walter James who played about 200 big league games over 5 seasons and Kenneth Slater, who played 22 major league games and is still in the A's system.

Howser was the Yankees everyday second baseman for 5 seasons, making an all-star team for the only time in his career in 1964. He 2 months in 1965 with shoulder problems and lost his starting job upon his return to Horace Clarke. The Yankees moved him to third base for the 1966 season but after batting just .224 he was released at the end of the season. The Giants signed the now 31 year old and gave him a few major league games in 1967 but he was cut after batting just .167. Cleveland picked him up and he finished last season with the Indians, getting into 34 games while hitting .250. His contract was not renewed for this season so he signed a minor league deal with the Phillies and is presently with their AAA affiliate in San Diego.

He played in 3 World Series while a member of the Yankees, appearing in 18 post-season games but the Yankees lost all 3 times. It

Howser has played 1,280 major league games, batting .259 with 1,275 hits and 37 homers. In real life he only played in 789 games, hitting .248 with 16 homeruns.

JERRY LUMPE

Lumpe made his pro debut in the Yankees system as an 18 year old in 1952 but it was not until 1959 when he made his major league debut as a late season call-up. He was hitless in his first 8 at bats, but got his first career major league in Kansas City on August 13, 1959. It was an rbi single in a 6-4 loss to the Athletics. Lumpe's hit, was a 5th inning ground ball up the middle off of A's reliever Herm Wehmeier and went between Kansas City middle infielders Dick Howser and Dick Schofield.

Lumpe would spend most of the 1960 season on the Yankees roster, but started just 64 games and hit .278. His efforts impressed the expansion Washington Senators enough that they selected him 5th overall in the expansion draft. He would spend 5 seasons as the Senators everyday second baseman before being traded to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for OF Roger Repoz and minor league infielder Joe Rowe following the 1965 season. Despite hitting a decent .263 for the Cubs in 1966 they released him early in the 1967 season and he has not played since.

He did win a playoff MVP award in the Kitty League as a 19 year old, when he went 13-for-32 (.406) in a 7 game series. Two years later he hit .545 in another minor league playoff.

Real life numbers were 1371 games played, 1314 hits, a .268 career average. In the sim, Lumpe played 1016 games, batting .259 with 959 hits.