1964 Season Thread

[catcher24]

Maybe I was wrong and the Legends won't be in the fight all season. Already on a five game losing streak, and the offense is sputtering badly!

[catcher24]

OK, that was weird!:crazy I put up a post which should have been #18, but instead it went to the top of the first page and became Post #1. Hope that doesn't happen again with this one!

[Erik Bedard]

OK, that was weird!:crazy I put up a post which should have been #18, but instead it went to the top of the first page and became Post #1. Hope that doesn't happen again with this one!

Well, it happened again. http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?p=750692#post750692

[538280]

This is a big problem, the site's calendar has somehow gone back to January 2002. But, if we can get things fixed, the Cannons have announced a trade with the Redbirds, Sonny Jackson is going to Scott's team while I am getting Gene Oliver. Jimmy Wynn went down to the minors to make room for Oliver Scott, please confirm.

Here are the lineup changes:

[Lineup vs. RHP
1. Christopher, LF (Tresh 15%)
2. Mantle, CF (Cline)
3. Aaron, RF (Tresh)
4. Menke, 3B (Torres)
5. Hansen, SS (Weis)
6. Pagliaroni, C (Bateman 30%)
7. Buford, 2B (Weis 15%)
8. Whitfield, 1B (Cline 15%)
PH: Cline, Tresh, Oliver

Lineup vs. LHP
1. Christopher, LF (Tresh 15%)
2. Mantle, CF (Cline)
3. Aaron, RF (Tresh)
4. Oliver, 1B (Whitfield 10%)
5. Menke, 3B (Torres 10%)
6. Pagliaroni, C (Bateman 30%)
7. Hansen, SS (Weis)
8. Buford, 2B (Weis 15%)
PH: Tresh, Torres, Cline

[Wasp]

Finally some wins. :D

[leecemark]

--Welcome to the fourth season of the Classic Keeper League! Opening Day is tommorrow, December 1st. Any changes to your profile need to be submitted by midnight tonight. Best of luck to everyone. Looking forward to our best season yet.

[mac195]

On the road against the Knights and Skipjacks to start the season... I guess we'll find out what this year's Cider is made of.

[leecemark]

--The first series is in the books. The Redbirds are the only undefeated team after 3 games. In the marque matchup between tradional powers the Hard Cider and Knights the Leecemark crew gave Sandy Koufax a rude greeting to the new season with an 11-0 pasting, with Gary Peters getting his second season off to a great star for the Knights. The Hard Cider came back to win the next two and take the series though. The game of the day was a 16 inning 2-1 win for the Shoeless Joes over the Pirates. The first team reports will be out with tomorrow's series.

[leecemark]

--All 4 Hulbert Division teams are at .500 after two series. The Redbirds hold the lead in the Johnson, but dropped 2 of 3 to the Knights. Ironically, former Redbirds Billy Williams and Ken Boyer did all the damage in the 2 losses. Williams homering for the lone run in a 1-0 win and Boyer hitting a 2 run single in the bottom of the 9th in a 2-1 game. The injury bug popped up in these series. Make sure to check that report.

[mac195]

3-3 road trip at the Knights and Skipjacks. I'll take it.

Koufax* sp 9.45 0 2

Does Sandy think we're still in spring training?

[Edgartohof]

My teams offense is pathetic, so I am certainly glad that my pitching has overall been good. My teams line is: .217/.287/.318. Of course, it could be worse, I could be the Shoeless ones, hitting .192, with a .516 OPS!!!

And I know that it has only been two short series, but I am happy with Pinson at leadoff right now, which is surprising since this is supposed to be a down year for him.

[Erik Bedard]

Callison is exceeding my expectations already, tied for the league lead in HRs with Jim Gentile.

[Edgartohof]

Hey, I was wondering if I could make a slight adjustment to my lineup? Vs. RHP, this is what I currently have:

George Thomas - CF (RH) - [Vada Pinson (LH) - 40%]


And this is what I want:

Vada Pinson - CF (LH) - [George Thomas (RH) - 30%]

I plan on riding Pinson's coat tails as long as I can.

[leecemark]

--The Knights bats have been pretty silent since the opener too. 11 runs off Koufax (and friends) in the first game, but only 10 in the next 5. Go figure:crazy .

[leecemark]

Hey, I was wondering if I could make a slight adjustment to my lineup? Vs. RHP, this is what I currently have:

George Thomas - CF (RH) - [Vada Pinson (LH) - 40%]


And this is what I want:

Vada Pinson - CF (LH) - [George Thomas (RH) - 30%]

I plan on riding Pinson's coat tails as long as I can.

--I think that is your LH vs LHP you want changed.

[538280]

I have a number of roster changes to make...I am very sorry about the one ridden with errors which I posted on the offseason thread. That one was done VERY rushed, and knowing that I would not be able to get on the rest of that day or the next day. But it is my fault, I should not have waited that long in the first place. Here is my new lineups and pitching settings (changes in bold-the lineups are basically all changed):

Lineup vs. RHP
1. Christopher, LF (Tresh 15%)
2. Mantle, CF (Wynn)
3. Aaron, RF (Tresh)
4. Menke, 3B (Torres)
5. Hansen, SS (Weis)
6. Pagliaroni, C (Bateman 30%)
7. Buford, 2B (Weis 15%)
8. Whitfield, 1B (Cline 30%)
PH: Cline, Tresh, Wynn

Lineup vs. LHP
1. Christopher, LF (Tresh 15%)
2. Mantle, CF (Wynn)
3. Aaron, RF (Tresh)
4. Menke, 3B (Torres 10%)
5. Pagliaroni, C (Bateman 30%)
6. Hansen, SS (Weis)
7. Buford, 2B (Weis 15%)
8. Whitfield, 1B (Cline 40%)
PH: Tresh, Torres, Cline

Pitching
SP1 Sadecki
SP2 Ellsworth
SP3 Grant
SP4 Jay
SP5 Sheldon
Spot starter: Washburn, Reniff
Mop up: Reniff, Estelle
Long man: Gatewood, Estelle
LH set up: Perranoski, Gatewood
RH set up: Stock, Perranoski
LH closer: Stock, Perranoski
RH closer: Stock, Perranoski

[catcher24]

The Hulbert is a real jamup with everyone at 3-3. I still expect the Skipjacks to pull away shortly, but I think the other three teams will be battling it out all season! And although Mark didn't mention it, Don Drysdale has fired two shutouts in two starts for the Diablos, and has allowed a TOTAL of three hits in the two games! His batting average against (and also slugging average against) is a totally ridiculous .056!!:eek: Hope he cools off before the Legends face the devilish ones. :laugh

The stats, both team and individual, along with league leaders, are posted on the website. In case anyone has forgotten, here (http://www.geocities.com/lougehrig24/) is a link. Also, remember that you may need to clear your browser's cache in order to get the most up to date stats each time - at least, that's what I need to do with Firefox. Otherwise, I get the stats from the last week.

Remember, clicking on Game Results, then clicking on a given game in the list, will provide a boxscore for that game.
Team Totals link will bring up the team totals. Sorry about the pitching totals rankings - I mistakenly had them ranked by complete games, not ERA. I've corrected it and it should be ranked by team ERA next time.
Clicking on the batter or pitcher at the bottom will bring up the league leaders (top 15) in several categories. BTW, if there's a category that you simply can't live without, let me know - it's quite easy to modify a report.
The Injury List and Free Agents List will bring up those respective reports.
Finally, clicking on a team logo will bring up the following reports for each individual team :lookitup : Batter reports - primary, secondary, vs LHP and vs RHP; Pitcher reports - Primary, secondary, analytical, starters, relievers; Batter Usage Report; Pitcher Usage Report (remember to watch your player usage!!); Team Roster Report with batting, pitching and fielding rating sections; Team Fielding Report; and Team Game Results (again, clicking on a given game will bring up that game's boxscore).

Hope this all helps, and good luck to everyone this season. Looks to be the best yet - no doormats!!

[mac195]

--The Knights bats have been pretty silent since the opener too. 11 runs off Koufax (and friends) in the first game, but only 10 in the next 5. Go figure:crazy .

Looking at the box score for that game, I see Aguirre was brought out to start the 5th inning after Koufax was pinch hit for. Why Aguirre, I wonder? Why not Miller or Butters? It was only a 3-0 game at that point, not a blowout. Seems odd, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway since the HC never managed to score.

[leecemark]

--Another series in the books.

[jkc32]

Please move Grote up to starting catcher against lefties while Bailey is out. Same batting position.

Thanks,

Joe

[Erik Bedard]

So THIS is what it feels like to manage a winning team...

[538280]

Bumping up after today's problems.....

[leecemark]

--A dozen games in and the Skipjacks have asserted themselves with a 7 game winning streak.

[Erik Bedard]

Swept by the Pirates. Not cool.

Anyway, Mark, please make Jack Baldschun my closer. Ridzik is not doing the job well.

[mac195]

Mark, I'm still wondering about Aguirre. He has now made 7 relief apperances in 12 games, far more than Miller or Butters who are slotted ahead of him. Can you confirm that he has these assignments?


Mop up: Butters, Aguirre
Long man: Miller, Butters, Aguirre
LH set up: Shantz, Radatz, Butters
RH set up: Radatz, Miller, Butters
LH closer: Radatz, Shantz, Humphreys
RH closer: Radatz, Humphreys, Miller

[leecemark]

--Those, plus spot starter, are his assignments. Don't know why the CM is going to him so much.

[catcher24]

Web site is updated through games of 4/17. Interesting to note that Wasp has the best team BA at .305, and also has the second best team OBP, behind the Skipjacks. The Knights and Hard Cider are two of the WORST hitting teams thus far (Knights 10th and Hard Cider 11th in team BA). The Knights are staying competetive anyway with the second best team ERA, but I don't know how Mac is doing it. Must be using smoke and mirrors, since his staff is also 9th in team ERA. Mac has scored a fair number of runs, so his batters must be drawing a lot of walks (his team OBP is still 9th, though, yet he's 4th in runs scored - timely hitting for sure). Joe, we won't bring up your team, but I thought the Legends hitting was sad until I saw your team's line of 189/242/263 :ughh :hp (oops, guess we did mention it :D ). And the Legends are dead last in team ERA at 5.15 :grouchy . And it's going to be scary when JW's pitchers start to click. And the expansion Pirates are first in team ERA at a miserly 2.22! Looks like shrewd drafting so far, Robert.

[538280]

Just making sure you guys saw the trade I made with the Redbirds. It's at the beginning of the thread. If you already saw it, okay.

[Erik Bedard]

Willie Davis' ISO is -0.000. :crazy

[Edgartohof]

And the expansion Pirates are first in team ERA at a miserly 2.22! Looks like shrewd drafting so far, Robert.

I was expecting to be competitive with my pitching, but that is above what I was expecting - here's hoping it will last!

[leecemark]

Just making sure you guys saw the trade I made with the Redbirds. It's at the beginning of the thread. If you already saw it, okay.


--Found it, but it hasn't been confirmed. Please repost your changes once it has been.

[leecemark]

--The early races continue to be tight. The Hard Cider swept the Legends, regaining a share of first in the Cartwright - now a 3 way tie with the Diablos and Cannons. The Gamblers swept the Knights, bringing them and the Gold Sox to within a game of first. The Knights bats remain cold, as we scored only 5 runs in the series - lowlighted by a 1 hit performance in a 0-1 loss to Jim O'Toole. The Pirates remain just a game back of the Skipjacks in the Hulbert.

[leecemark]

==Here is the May schedule for those who want to plan ahead.

[catcher24]

The Hard Cider swept the Legends,

Boy, is this going to be a long season. :ughh :grouchy JW's record for futility may be in jeopardy, with me playing 24 games each against JW and the Pirates (who are red hot). Kudos to Robert. :clapping If that team playes nearly this well all season, they could actually make a run at the WC (I'm still convinced JW will eventually pull away in the division).

BTW, with me dropping rapidly out of contention, Marichal is available. I've approached one owner already. I'm looking for a first rounder in 65 or 66, plus an innings eater pitcher, or something comparable. If interested, PM me.

[Edgartohof]

I don't know if it's happening, but I guess just have George Thomas play for the next 10 games until Jim King is back from his injury.

Also, in my profile, I have:

Holding runners: standard,

I want to change that to "more" if that's all right.

[baseballPAP]

--Found it, but it hasn't been confirmed. Please repost your changes once it has been.
I confirm. I would have done so sooner, but I missed it on the thread myself....

[538280]

Here are the lineup changes again per your request, Mark:

Lineup vs. RHP
1. Christopher, LF (Tresh 15%)
2. Mantle, CF (Cline)
3. Aaron, RF (Tresh)
4. Menke, 3B (Torres)
5. Hansen, SS (Weis)
6. Pagliaroni, C (Bateman 30%)
7. Buford, 2B (Weis 15%)
8. Whitfield, 1B (Cline 15%)
PH: Cline, Tresh, Oliver

Lineup vs. LHP
1. Christopher, LF (Tresh 15%)
2. Mantle, CF (Cline)
3. Aaron, RF (Tresh)
4. Oliver, 1B (Whitfield 10%)
5. Menke, 3B (Torres 10%)
6. Pagliaroni, C (Bateman 30%)
7. Hansen, SS (Weis)
8. Buford, 2B (Weis 15%)
PH: Tresh, Torres, Cline

[leecemark]

--The Skipjacks are really starting to live up to their advance billing. JW's crew demolished the Shoeless Joes, sweeping the series and outscoring the JKC boys 34-9. They didn't put any ground between themselves and the Pirates though. Papi also put up a sweep (if in a little more modest fashion) of the Legends. The Diablos turned in a sweep of the Redbirds to claim sole possesion of 1st in the Cartwright, while the Knights swept the Cannons to gain a little breathing room in the Johnson.

[Erik Bedard]

If I could go with a three-man rotation, I would. :laugh As it is, Mark, please put Bennie Daniels on "skip".

[leecemark]

--Daniels is already on skip. Bennett has actually been worse so far though.

[ElHalo]

Finally, my team's starting to pull out of its three year long hiatus. I guess I can't use the excuse of not having gotten into the original player draft until the seventh round any more.

[Erik Bedard]

I guess I can't use the excuse of not having gotten into the original player draft until the seventh round any more.

Somehow, I think this story is best left untold.

[ElHalo]

Somehow, I think this story is best left untold.

There's no story; I do an annual disappearing act at the end of every baseball season when the Yankees get booted from the playoffs and I have to turn my attention away from baseball for a few weeks. Last year, when that was happening and I finally came back, the draft was well under way and I had to pick up a team from somebody who abandoned it.

[leecemark]

--Another series in the books. In the marque matchup the Knights, with their league leading pitching, took 2 of 3 from the Skipjacks, with their league leading hitting.
--The Pirates took 2 of 3 in their series to pull into a tie with the Skipjacks. The Diablos downed the defending champion Cannons, dropping the champs into 3rd place and below .500.

[The Dude]

Just a slight change mark.

use relievers - standard

I had it at more.

[mac195]

Mark, I will DL Romano and Hall, and bring up Coker and Clinton.

Lineup vs. RHP
1 Fairly 1B (Cash DR)
2 Robinson RF (Covington)
3 Maris LF (Covington)
4 Allen 3B (Rollins)
5 Haller C (Romano)
6 Bressoud SS (Brown)
7 Hall CF (Stephens)
8 Hunt 2B (Brown)
PH vs RHP: Covington, Cash
PH vs LHP: Romano, Rollins
Lineup vs. LHP
1 Hunt 2B (Brown)
2 Bressoud SS (Brown)
3 Robinson RF (Covington)
4 Allen 3B (Rollins)
5 Maris LF (Covington)
6 Romano C (Coker, Haller DR)
7 Cash 1B (Fairly)
8 Hall CF (Clinton)
PH vs RHP: Covington, Fairly, Haller
PH vs LHP: Rollins

[leecemark]

--Another series played, bringing us to the end of April. The Cannons already thin rotation suffered a major blow as Joey Jay goes down with a 42 day injury.

[Edgartohof]

Umm... for some reason, Tiant started 2 consecutive games??? And I have him on skip anyways.

Any idea how this happened?

Is it because Craig is injured? Because I thought my Spot starter would cover that...

Either way, if you could let me know.

[leecemark]

--I wish I could tell you. I started that game and it had Tiant listed as your SP for the second game so I cancelled out of it and checked your profile. Tiant is listed as 5th starter on skip. Started up again and he was still your starting pitcher. No reason that I can see for that to happen. Other than managing your team myself (against myself) I didn't know how to alter what the CM wanted to do there.

[Erik Bedard]

Wow, Cloninger's out-performing both of the pitchers drafted ahead of him in the expansion draft. And by a good deal, too.

[J W]

Hi guys,

Don Lock has 3 ABs so far this season. What gives? I know 2/3 games played against the Gamblers were against LHP.

[leecemark]

--JW, I don't think I ever got a detailed profile from you. Lock is listed only as the backup in CF vs RH/LH pitching. Please provide an updated version of what you want and I'll inout before the next series.

[catcher24]

It seems that the computer manager(s), even for those owners who have the game and set lineups, isn't being very cooperative this year anyway!;)

[catcher24]

Stats updated on website through games of May 1st. Player of the month is Felix Mantilla of the Skipjacks, and pitcher of the month is Dick Ellsworth of the Cannons.

Mark, do you have any idea why the computer manager would pull my starter after two innings on consecutive days? It happened to Downing and Monbouquette and I can't figure out why. I looked to see if they were injured during the game, but it didn't say so. There was also no rain delay, so I'm at a loss as to why that would happen.:confused: I realize you probably have no idea, but thought perhaps you had run into it before.

[leecemark]

--I didn't have an explanation for the Tiant thing, but I do for the Legends pitchers exiting early. Both Monboquette and Downing were pitching on 2 days rest with 125 and 124 pitches on their fatique clock entering the game. My guess is you altered the order of your rotation on your last MP. Is that the case Lew? Moving a guy's slot in the rotation can be a problem if you don't allow proper rest before that slot comes up again.

[leecemark]

--Another series in the books. The Hard Cider have resumed their traditional position atop the Cartwright. In a little more surprising news the expansion Pirates have pulled into a tie with everyone's preseason favorite Skipjacks for first in the Hulbert.

[catcher24]

Posted by Mark:
My guess is you altered the order of your rotation on your last MP. Is that the case Lew?

Yes, you're right, I did make a change in my rotation. It didn't involve Downing or Monbouquette, though. I simply switched my fourth and fifth place starters. But perhaps that was enough to confuse the game engine into starting the others too soon. Thanks for the info, Mark.

[catcher24]

Legends management announced at a hastily called news conference this evening that the Legends have reached agreement with the Pirates on a major trade. Starting pitcher Juan Marichal, along with pitchers Ray Culp and Marcelino Lopez, have been traded to Pap's Pirates in exchange for rookie hurler Luis Tiant. The Legends will also get the Pirates first round draft pick in the 1966 rookie draft.

Legends management stated:"We had high hopes for Juan when we drafted him back in 1961. We had hoped he would become the cornerstone of our staff. Unfortunately, he hasn't become the staff leader we had hoped he would. We feel it is in the best interests of Juan as well as the team to let him start fresh with another team. We feel that Tiant can fill the void left by Marichal's departure, and may in fact eventually become the staff leader that we hoped Juan would be. We wish Juan the best of luck in the future."

Robert, if you would confirm please.

Mark, do you want me to make the roster changes on my end and send the file to you, or do you want to do it and send me an updated file so I can update my PM? Thanks!

[Erik Bedard]

Aw, I was just about to PM you about him! The Gold Sox announce that they will consider almost all offers for a starting pitcher.

[Edgartohof]

The Pirates Front Office gave this announcement:

The Pirates are very pleased with this trade. We feel that Marichal has proven himself in the past, and shall be able to be the team leader, a veteran from whom others can learn from. Despite his shaky start this season, which may cause some concern among the fans and the clubhouse, we believe that the change in environment will be beneficial for him, working alongside the likes of Chris Short and Robin Roberts. We believe that he will immediately play an influence on this team, which is founded on small ball and good pitching; as they say, good pitching always beats good hitting.

We are sad to have to let go of the young Tiant, who we had the best of hopes for, but he is a young, and still inexperienced pitcher, and still needs time to develop, and that is not the direction that this team is going right now.

We are also pleased with the pickups of Ray Culp and Marcelino Lopez, as we feel they will shore up our pitching in the next few years to come.

[catcher24]

Posted by Dan:
Aw, I was just about to PM you about him!

Sorry, Dan. I actually didn't get back to Robert until earlier this evening because it's been crazy for me the last couple of days. I'd certainly have looked at other offers.

[leecemark]

--The Knights announce a somewhat smaller pitching deal, sending veteren hurler Curt Simmons and the Gold Sox 3rd round pick in 1965 to the Cannons for the Cannons 2nd round picks in 1966 and 1968. According to GM Smokey Braithwaite the Knights were able to give up Simmons due to the rapid progress of their young startign pitchers. Braithwaite went on to say he hated to give up Simmons after his many contributions over the past 3 seasons, but a team needs to consider the future. Bobby Bolin moves from the bullpen to take over the rotation spot and Ryne Duren is promoted to the 25 man roster.

[Erik Bedard]

Sorry, Dan. I actually didn't get back to Robert until earlier this evening because it's been crazy for me the last couple of days. I'd certainly have looked at other offers.

Meh. I don't really mind. Bennett isn't supposed to be THIS bad, so I hope he'll improve. Then again, Cloninger, Buzhardt, and Broglio aren't supposed to be this good, so...

[leecemark]

--Lew, I executed the trade on my end. Go ahead and do the same and send me your new PM. Tiant is fully rested, so you can insert him anywhere in your rotation with (I hope:p ) any problem.
--Robert, I stuck Marichal in Tiant's 5th starter spot until I hear from you. Your 5th starter is due up and Marichal is unavailable, so you'll be skipping back tot he top of the roation if you don't provide other direction before the next series.
--Chris, you'll need to send someone down (or just DL Jay) to make room for Simmons. You are on your 5th starter now and Simmons has had only 1 days rest so plugging him into Jay's 4 spot will work.

[Edgartohof]

--Robert, I stuck Marichal in Tiant's 5th starter spot until I hear from you. Your 5th starter is due up and Marichal is unavailable, so you'll be skipping back tot he top of the roation if you don't provide other direction before the next series.


Could you put him in the #2 spot for now, and just shift everyone else down a spot? And just put Lopez and Culp in the Minors

[catcher24]

-Lew, I executed the trade on my end. Go ahead and do the same and send me your new PM. Tiant is fully rested, so you can insert him anywhere in your rotation

OK, Mark, will do. I'll try to get my new MP to you tonight. Thanks!

[538280]

--The Knights announce a somewhat smaller pitching deal, sending veteren hurler Curt Simmons and the Gold Sox 3rd round pick in 1965 to the Cannons for the Cannons 2nd round picks in 1966 and 1968. According to GM Smokey Braithwaite the Knights were able to give up Simmons due to the rapid progress of their young startign pitchers. Braithwaite went on to say he hated to give up Simmons after his many contributions over the past 3 seasons, but a team needs to consider the future. Bobby Bolin moves from the bullpen to take over the rotation spot and Ryne Duren is promoted to the 25 man roster.

Trade is confirmed. Jay will be put on the DL and Simmons will be put into that 4th spot.

[leecemark]

--The Knights take 2 of 3 from the Pirates, allowing the Skipjacks to take sole possesion of first. The Hard CIder and Knights also gain a little breathing room. A couple significant injuries this series, so be sure and check the report.

[jkc32]

Please move Cannizzaro into Grote's starting catching and batting spot.

[Erik Bedard]

Mark, why is Stigman saving games? I currently have him as mopup.

Also, move Owens into the second setup slot, along with Ridzik. Baldschun should be the closer.

[leecemark]

--Baldshun is listed as the closer. He actually got the win though in the last game where Stigman got a save (I didn't check further back). Ridzik pitched the 6th, Bladshun the 7th and 8th and Stigman the 9th. Your bullpen is getting worked really hard, with Ridzik and Bladshun first and second in the league in games pitched. Your use relievers is only set to standard so I guess its just that your SP haven't been able to work deep into games.

[Erik Bedard]

No, my long men have got nearly no work whatsoever. What I don't understand is why my setup man is pitching in the sixth. :confused: That should be when Owens and Face are pitching, but they're not. I guess just set "Use Relievers" to "more". And one other change: I have team steals set to "less". Please set Willie Davis to "more".

[leecemark]

--You might try use relievers more, but closers less (I'll do more/standard for now though). That should get your longmen in more and restrict Bladshun more to 9th inning work. Moving Owen to backup setup man should help reduce Ridzik's workload too. Longmen tend to get the call when starters get knocked out in the 5th or earlier, although they might come in the 6th depending on the situation. Setup guys should be working the 7th/8th, but the CM can go either way (LM or SU) in the 6th. It has been leaning pretty heavy on your top 2 guys so far. Having Owen listed as both long and setup should make him an easier choice for the CM in the 6th and even 7th.

[catcher24]

Website updated through league games of 5/8. Hope everyone is taking advantage of the opportunity to check your player stats (as well other teams' players), and remember to check those player usage stats!

[Wasp]

I'll put Tsitouris on the DL, and Shaw will take his place in the rotation. Then, I'll call up Pedro Ramos and make him a spot starter in place of Shaw. Sadowski will now be the main spot starter with Ramos as a spot starter 30% of the time. Finally, I will let Carreon play 15% of the time as a back-up to Tillman.

[baseballPAP]

As the races begin to shape up, The pathetic Redbirds have decided its time to put their prime bargaining chips on the table. Orlando Cepeda is in a very good season, and is still solid beyond this year for a few more. Bob Purkey and Camilo Pascual are both very solid 2-3 starters. Hoyt Wilhelm is great out of the bullpen for those having trouble finishing games. Zoilo Versalles has a solid year in 64, and then is MVP in 65. All are available...draft picks are at a premium, and in some cases a filler player might have to be included in the deal to get me through this year.

[leecemark]

--The Skipjacks, Knights and Hard Cider all have a little breathing room, but not exactly a comfort zone. The Gamblers and Pirates are tied for the WC, with several other teams hot on their heels.

[Edgartohof]

If you get a chance, could you change my rotation to this? I had orginally asked for Marichal at #2.

SP1: Juan Marichal (RH)
SP2: Chris Short (LH)
SP3: Robin Roberts (RH)
SP4: Dave Wickersham (RH)
SP5: Roger Craig (RH)

And from my profile, I wanted to change my Relievers and Closers Usage from Less, to More.

Thanks!

[leecemark]

--Changes made. I must have missed your post slotting Marichal, he was in the 5 slot taking Tiant's place before this change. You're going to be needing to reduce Ritchie's playing time not increase it or he won't make it to the All Star break. He is already over 50% of his usage.

[J W]

Skipjacks:

Team salary: $85.75 mil, 29 players

FARM - Geiger, Horton, Linzy, Schaal

ROTATION - skip
1) Chance
2) Bouton
3) Ford*
4) Horlen
5) McDowell*

RHC - McMahon
LHC - McMahon
RHS - Roebuck, Raymond
LHS - Woodeshick*, Sparma*
LR - Miller, McDaniel
MP - McDaniel, Miller
SS - Miller, Sparma*

VS RHP
1) LF - Yastrzemski* (Lock)
2) RF - Oliva* (Allison)
3) CF - Allison (Lock 5%, DR)
4) 1B - Powell* (Allison)
5) C - Torre (Edwards* DR)
6) 3B - Ward* (Mantilla)
7) 2B - Mantilla (Mazeroski 10%, DR)
8) SS - Fregosi (Mantilla)

PH - comp control for now

VS LHP
1) SS - Fregosi (Mantilla 20%)
2) CF - Lock (Yastrzemski*)
3) RF - Allison (Oliva 25%*)
4) 3B - Mantilla (Ward* 50%)
5) C - Torre (Edwards* 50%, DR)
6) 1B - Powell* (Allison 25%)
7) 2B - Mazeroski (Salmon 20%)
8) LF - Yastrzemski* (Oliva* 25%)

PH - comp control for now

SETTINGS

I don't have time yet for specifics, so here's the jist:

Stealing Bases (SB% rating) - EX=more, VG=average, AV-PR=less
Extra Base (run rating) - EX-VG=more, AV-FR=average, PR=less
*Sac Bunt (w/rating) - EX-AV=average, FR-PR=less
Bunt FH (w/rating) - EX-AV=average, FR-PR=less
Use Relievers (SP rating) - PR-FR=more, AV-VG=average, EX=less

(* excludes pitchers, set those at average)

I'll leave the other ratings alone for now. Thanx

This was posted in the offseason thread... I'll add it to the rosters page.

minor change: I moved Chico Salmon over to backup 2B and covered for him at 1B.

[J W]

Also, we'd like to take care of some signings... all to $.25 mil/year

OF Len Gabrielson (2 yr)
UT Phil Gagliano (3 yr)
UT Chuck Hiller (3 yr)
UT Joe Koppe (1 yr)
OF Johnny Lewis (2 yr)
C Orlando McFarlane (3 yr)
C John Sullivan (2 yr)
2B Jake Wood (2 yr)

I took these off Lew's website... let me know if any are taken

[catcher24]

I hope those are all good signings, JW. I created that file using the game file Mark sent me Sunday.

[leecemark]

--Those players were all available and have been added to the Skipjacks farm roster.

[leecemark]

--Another series behind us. Almost every team has at least a minor injury (and a couple major) to deal with.

[mac195]

Mark please activate Hall and Romano and send Clinton and Coker back down.

[The Dude]

Some lineup changes here Mark. I'm banking that switching the order up will capitalize on the suprise play of Lillis and Skowron.


Lineup Vs RHP:
1.CF-Curt Flood (Cowan)
2.LF-Rico Carty (Brown-45%)
3.RF-Rocky Colavito (Brown)
4.1B-Moose Skowron (Malzone-5%)
5.3B-Harmon Killebrew (Malzone)
6.C-Elston Howard (Rodgers-10%)
7.SS-Bob Lillis (Rojas-40%)
8.2B-Jerry Adair (Rojas-10%)
9.Pitcher
Pinch Hitter: Default

Lineup VS LHP:
1.CF-Curt Flood (Cowan)
2.LF-Rico Carty (Brown)
3.RF-Rocky Colavito (Brown)
4.1B-Moose Skowron (Malzone-5%)
5.3B-Harmon Killebrew (Malzone)
6.C-Elston Howard (Rodgers-10%)
7.SS-Bob Lillis (Rojas-5%)
8.2B-Jerry Adair (Rojas-10%)
9.Pitcher
Pinch Hitter: Default

[J W]

how'dya like that... please put Fregosi on the 15-day DL and call up Joe Koppe. Bat Koppe 9th in both lineups. No other changes.

[leecemark]

--9th huh? You got it Mr LaRussa:laugh .

[leecemark]

--Pop Oldfarte annouced a few changes in an attempt to jumpstart the Knights anemic offense. Ernie Banks takes his 500 OPS to Kalamazoo and Junior Gilliam is activated to take his spot on the 25 man roster. "After missing all of 1963 to a knee injury we want to get him some more consistent ABs to try and get his stroke back", said Oldfarte.
--Gilliam will be getting most of the playing time at secondbase, with Dick Green getting some extra time in the cage to try and improve on his 500 OPS. Ken Boyer will also be getting some time for extra batting practice due to yet another OPS+ sitting in the 500s:eek: . Rookie Don Wert, who has looked impressive in limited playing time, assumes the regular job at thirdbase. Boyer will be taking over Banks slot at firstbase vs LHP.
--Pop says "our pitching has been championship caliber, but the hitters haven't held up their end of the bargain. We should be hitting much better than we have and it was time to make some changes".

[Erik Bedard]

Fun fact of the day: If all of the Gold Sox's league-leading nine blown saves had been converted, they would be 25-11.

[Wasp]

I'll bench Brock for the time being and replace him with Pearson. My lineup should look like this:

1B Norm Siebern (Coleman 10%)
C Bob Tillman (Carreon 15%)
3B Eddie Matthews (Smith 5%)
LF Chuck Hinton
SS Dick Howser (Amaro 10%)
2B Jerry Lumpe (Tracewski 40%)
RF Albie Pearson
CF Bill Virdon
Pitcher

[catcher24]

Website updated through games of May 15.

I did a quick review of player usage. We are 21% of the way through the season. The following players are over 40% usage, and should be watched closely, at least for a while:

PITCHERS
Dick Estelle - Cannons 50
Aubrey Gatewood - Cannons 57
Bob Humphreys - Hard Cider 47
Carl Willey - Redbirds 56
Terry Fox - Redbirds 51
Ralph Terry - Redbirds 43
Jay Ritchie - Pirates 62
Don Mossi - Gamblers 52
Bill Stafford - Stingers 41

POSITION PLAYERS
Ty Cline - Cannons 48
Jim Coker - Hard Cider 77
Smokey Burgess - Redbirds 42
Camilo Carreion - Stingers 41

Relief pitchers are getting the most overuse. That happens pretty easily if your starters aren't going very deep into games and can create real problems with reliever usage. Of the position players, only Cline is NOT a catcher, so lets all cut back on our catcher abuse.;)

[538280]

I'm going to make a few changes to take care of some usage patterns with Estelle, Gatewood, and Cline:

[Lineup vs. RHP
1. Christopher, LF (Tresh 15%)
2. Mantle, CF (Cline)
3. Aaron, RF (Tresh)
4. Menke, 3B (Torres)
5. Hansen, SS (Weis)
6. Pagliaroni, C (Bateman 30%)
7. Buford, 2B (Weis 15%)
8. Whitfield, 1B (Cline 5%)
PH: Tresh, Cline, Oliver

Lineup vs. LHP
1. Christopher, LF (Tresh 15%)
2. Mantle, CF (Cline)
3. Aaron, RF (Tresh)
4. Oliver, 1B (Whitfield 10%)
5. Menke, 3B (Torres 10%)
6. Pagliaroni, C (Bateman 30%)
7. Hansen, SS (Weis)
8. Buford, 2B (Weis 15%)
PH: Tresh, Torres, Whitfield

Pitching
SP1 Sadecki
SP2 Ellsworth
SP3 Grant
SP4 Simmons
SP5 Sheldon
Spot starter: Washburn, Reniff
Mop up: Washburn, Estelle
Long man: Reniff, Gatewood
LH set up: Perranoski, Gatewood
RH set up: Stock, Perranoski
LH closer: Stock, Perranoski
RH closer: Stock, Perranoski

[Edgartohof]

Mark, I guess I'll change my Closer Usage to Less

[leecemark]

--Another series down. The Skipjacks have won 4 in a row and 9 of 10 to regain the league's best record. At the other end, the Redbirds swept the Shoeless Joes to leapfrog over JKC and out of the league's worst record. No significant injuries today.

[The Dude]

I only see the game results for mac...?

[Erik Bedard]

This is the second time that I've only been able to see Chris's game results.

[leecemark]

00Sorry I must have forgotten to click "include all teams". Here is the full list, full the June schedule and some team stats. You've got to feel for the Shoeless Joes whose team OPS is 80 points worse than the 2nd to the last club (me:( ) - a rousing 583:eek: .

[jkc32]

Yep, pretty much stinking up the place so far. The hitting can't get much worse (can it?!).

[baseballPAP]

From the can it get worse file.... :)

The Redbirds send Camilo Pascual and Zoilo Versalles to The Gold Sox for their '68 1st round pick, trheir '66 2nd round pick and Bob Johnson. For the record, Pascual has a salary of 8.75 M, and Versalles was a 62 FA, signed through '65 for 6.25 M.

The Redbirds purge some salary, and get Johnson to cover some of the void at SS....although not overly well :)

[leecemark]

--I'll need a confirmation from the Gold Sox and new profile data from both teams. The next series will be played shortly, so please post ASAP.

[leecemark]

--The Knights swept the second place Gamblers to take a commanding 8 game lead in the Johnson Division. The Diablos swept the Cannons, pulling into a tie for the WC berth, but gaining no ground on the Hard Cider. The Shoeless Joes bats came to life, putting up 21 runs in a sweep of the Legends. Pending confirmation of the Redbirds/Gold Sox deal the players involved were inactivated for their series.

[Erik Bedard]

Gold Sox confirm. Mark, simply shift Groat over to 2B, farm Blasingame, start Versalles at short, with Fox backing up 15%. Insert Pascual into the third starter slot, and I need to figure out what to do with my pitching situation. I guess farm Bennett for now.

[baseballPAP]

New MP sent Mark....

More trades in the works.....

And still not a nibble even for Cepeda?

[Wasp]

I'll move Brock back to the number one slot in the lineup. My lineup should look like this:

RF Lou Brock
1B Norm Siebern (Coleman 10%)
3B Eddie Matthews (Smith 5%)
C Bob Tillman (Carreon 15%)
LF Chuck Hinton
SS Dick Howser (Amaro 10%)
2B Jerry Lumpe (Tracewski 40%)
CF Bill Virdon (Pearson 45%)
Pitcher

[catcher24]

Posted by Mark:
The Knights swept the second place Gamblers to take a commanding 8 game lead in the Johnson Division.

So what else is new?;) :laugh

The Shoeless Joes bats came to life, putting up 21 runs in a sweep of the Legends.

So what else is new?:grouchy :ughh

[catcher24]

Web site updated through games of 5/22.

[Edgartohof]

Well my trade for Marichal has worked out great so far, he had an ERA around 6.00 coming in, but he has pitched 2 games (one was a complete game), and only given up 3 runs, striking out 8, and walking none so far!

[J W]

Obviously he was just unhappy in Lewland. :p

[catcher24]

Posted by Robert:
Well my trade for Marichal has worked out great so far, he had an ERA around 6.00 coming in, but he has pitched 2 games (one was a complete game), and only given up 3 runs, striking out 8, and walking none so far!


I would tell you what you can do, but this is a family website!!:grouchy I had him three years, and I think he pitched three really good games - TOTAL!! Must be JW is correct - he didn't like Lewland. Maybe I'd better hire a new manager - a lot of my players seem to do better after I trade them! Or maybe I have a clubhouse cancer type player - look at my roster and let me know who it is!!:eek:

[leecemark]

--I'm pretty sure its Santo. I think Pop can straighten him out if you want to ship him to the Knights though;) .

[Erik Bedard]

Brooks Robinson didn't seem to be to happy in EBopolis, but he seems to have straightened out. And Johnny Blanchard seems to love it here, as does Leon Wagner. :eek:

[catcher24]

Posted by Mark:
I'm pretty sure its Santo. I think Pop can straighten him out if you want to ship him to the Knights though

I'd be happy to - for Mays, Siebert and Williams. :laugh :dance

[leecemark]

--Another series played. No siginificant developments that I noticed.

[mac195]

Mark, I'll DL Humphreys and bring up Murakami to replace him, same assingments.

[Wasp]

I'll put John Tsitouris back in the third spot of the rotation. Then, I'll farm out Nuxhall. My pitching setup should look like this:

Pitching:
SP 1: Turk Farrell
SP 2: Claude Osteen
SP 3: John Tsitouris
SP 4: Bob Shaw
SP 5: Pedro Ramos

Spot Starter: Sadowski, Lemaster (40%)
Mop-up: Rick Wise, Lemaster
Long-man: Lemaster, Wise (20%)
Middle Relief: Sadowski, Stafford, Wise
Set-up: Joe Gibbon
Closer: Johnny Klippstein

[leecemark]

--the Skipjacks have run off a 6 game streak to regain the league's top record. The Gold Sox have a 7 game streak to move into 2nd place in the Johnson. Several major injuries in these series, with the Hard Cider losing Sandy Koufax and Jimmie Hall each for a couple weeks.

[mac195]

What's with the sudden rash of "general" injuries? I'm starting to get generally annoyed. Well, I guess I'll DL Hall again, along with Koufax. I'll bring up Clinton and Chi Chi Olivo.

-Clinton bats in Hall's slot vs. LHP

-Olivo is the primary mop up pitcher

-Aguirre replaces Koufax in the rotation

-Butters is the spot starter

[leecemark]

--The program refers to the majority of injuries as "general". The only other injury categories are brawls, which are relatively uncommon and usually result in multiple injuries and HBP. There have been a fair number of injuries recently (and the Hard Cider have been hit the hardest), but over the course of the season there don't seem to be an unusual amount.

[Erik Bedard]

There are also "Collision" injuries.

Wow, I haven't had a single injury yet! :crazy

Is there some way I can see Versalles and Pascual's total stats, not just with my team? Or are their total stats displayed, and Scott just wasn't using them?

[leecemark]

--Team reports will only show a players that with that team. If either of them made the top 10 in anything with their combined numbers (which I think Pascaul does in losses and HR allowed:p ) that will show on the leaderboards. Check the last team report before the trade to see how they were doing with the Redbirds (both were playing regularly).

[catcher24]

Website is updated through games of May 29th.

[ElHalo]

Unfortunately, I don't have anybody to pull up to replace Rose, so the loathsome duo of Bobby Klaus and Chico Ruiz will have to hold the fort down for the next couple of weeks. Shame, because Rose was playing much better than could be expected from his rather poor actual stats for the season.

[baseballPAP]

The Hoyt Wilhelm sweepstakes is over!
Wilhelm is a Pirate....in exchange for Papi's 1st rounder in '67, their 3rd rounder in '65 and current closer Jay Ritchie.

EHOF to confirm.....

[Edgartohof]

The Hoyt Wilhelm sweepstakes is over!
Wilhelm is a Pirate....in exchange for Papi's 1st rounder in '67, their 3rd rounder in '65 and current closer Jay Ritchie.

EHOF to confirm.....

I am confirming this trade.

The Pirates are very pleased with this trade, as we feel that he will be able to produce for a long long time, whereas any future draft picks are a crapshoot at best. So the Pirates immediately will install Wilhelm as our closer and will increase our closer usage to MORE again.

[leecemark]

--Pretty good return on that deal Scott. It does make the Pirates even more dangerous for the short term though. They look like a threat to not only make the playoofs but make some noise there this year.

[J W]

Well, this'll happen mid-series but, when Fregosi's ready I'd like to return Koppe to the farm and change things back to normal.

[baseballPAP]

Now one more big name on the block....surely someone out there has interest in the reigning MVP, Orlando Cepeda?

[leecemark]

--The Gold Sox take two of three from the Knights and are the league's hottest team winning 9 of their last 10. Wilhelm and Ritchie were inactive for these series, pending confirmation of that trade by the Pirates. Fregosi active.

[mac195]

Mark, I can't believe you are averaging under 4 runs per game and you stilll have the second best record in the league. Hate to think what you'll do when the bats heat up.

[leecemark]

--Yeah, pretty much everybody is hitting below expectations. I didn't expect to match the offensive powerhouses I've had in previous seasons, but I didn't expect to be amoung the worst hitting teams in the league either. OTOH, my rotation was much better on paper last year, but is performing much better this year. I'll take the wins however I can get them.

[538280]

The Cannons continue to dissapoint. I didn't expect this to be a great year for my team, and I though the pitching would be very weak. But my team hasn't been hitting well at all....I expected to have a really good offense this year.

[leecemark]

--To a certain extent the downturn in offense for most teams was predictable this year. Offense was trending down in real life and the effect is exaggerated in our league by the doormats being replaced by the much more competitive expansion teams. Last year there were 8-10 horrible pitchers getting regular turns in the rotation for guys to beat up on, while some better ones were trapped in the minors for good teams (for example Jim Bunning was in the minors for the HC all season last year). This year those pitchers (or their 1964 equivalents) are in the pen or minors and for the most part the best 60 SP are getting the starts, with the worst dozen of those getting skipped.

[Erik Bedard]

--The Gold Sox take two of three from the Knights and are the league's hottest team winning 9 of their last 10. Wilhelm and Ritchie were inactive for these series, pending confirmation of that trade by the Pirates. Fregosi active.

Finally, over .500! :gt Of course, I'm still in third place, and have nearly no standout players (Callison and Davis... kinda). Fun fact: I'm 8-1 since trading for Pascual and Versalles.

BTW, the Pirates confirmed the deal.

I am confirming this trade.

The Pirates are very pleased with this trade, as we feel that he will be able to produce for a long long time, whereas any future draft picks are a crapshoot at best. So the Pirates immediately will install Wilhelm as our closer and will increase our closer usage to MORE again.

[leecemark]

==I must have missed the confirmation on the page turn. Sorry, I'll get that done right away. Scott, I'll stick Ritchie into Wilhelm's previous role until you provide further direction. Carefull about his usage. The Pirates worked him hard.

[Wasp]

I'll DL Farrell and bring up Nuxhall. Sadowski will take Farrell's spot and Nuxhall will take Sasowski's spot (same usage percentage).

[538280]

--To a certain extent the downturn in offense for most teams was predictable this year. Offense was trending down in real life and the effect is exaggerated in our league by the doormats being replaced by the much more competitive expansion teams. Last year there were 8-10 horrible pitchers getting regular turns in the rotation for guys to beat up on, while some better ones were trapped in the minors for good teams (for example Jim Bunning was in the minors for the HC all season last year). This year those pitchers (or their 1964 equivalents) are in the pen or minors and for the most part the best 60 SP are getting the starts, with the worst dozen of those getting skipped.

It's not just raw numbers though, even relative to league my team as well as yours seem to be slumping below expectations. Yours still has pitching to fall back on though. I can only hope my bats heat up or else I have no chance.

[Erik Bedard]

I still have trouble seeing how Mark's team is "slumping".

[leecemark]

--My bats have been slumping all season. The Knights are second to last in runs scored. Our pitching was been terrific though and that is keeping us on top of the division.

[baseballPAP]

Mark, I'll farm Ritchie, and recal Duliba, slotted in the closer role. Cepeda Cepeda, Caepeda....don't want anyone to forget Cepeda can be had for the right deal....Cepeda...Cepeda.... :)

[catcher24]

The Legends are in the middle in hitting, and I'm pleasantly surprised by that. I had three regulars hitting over .300 as of the last league file I got from Mark (Gonzalez, Robinson, Freehan, Santo), and my cheap second base pickup (Sammy Stewart) was at .294. Unfortunately, my pitching has been abysmal (next to last; only the Wasps are worse). I've had very few pitchers come anywhere near their real life performance in this league, and this year is no different. Ron Kline's ERA is better than real life, but he's actually allowing more R/9 than he did in reality, and Harvey Haddix is close in ERA, but again a LOT more R/9 than he actually allowed. The rest are above their actual ERA (to be expected in this league, I think), but my starters are especially poor: Kralick, Downing, Tiant are all 2 or more runs higher.

But at this point, Freehan has to be a top candidate for rookie of the year, and Santo is putting up all-star (and near MVP) numbers. If I was in the race, he'd be a strong MVP candidate.

[leecemark]

--The upstart Pirates travel to Balitmore in hopes of closing the gap with the Skipjacks. Instead the JW pitching holds them to a total of 3 runs in 3 games, while sweeping the series and opening a daunting lead in the division. Worse for the Pirates, the Diablos explode for 35 runs in a sweep of the Redbirds. The EH crew has won 5 straight to take the lead in the WC and close to within a game of the division lead.

[Erik Bedard]

Two out of three, and second place! This is far beyond what I had expected for my squad.

[catcher24]

Dan - You put together a pretty decent team. You're doing well this season, and you still have some decent prospects for future years. Max was looking more to the future, and it shows in his team's record this season, but he has some decent prospects too. Robert was going all out this year and put together a darn good expansion team, but he still has some future depth, too. I think you all did a very nice job putting together those expansion teams!

The website is updated through games of June 5. We're now about one third of the way through the season (hard to believe!!:eek: ), and the following players are over 50% usage. If they're on your team, start keeping an eye on them!

Position Players

Cannons: Ty Cline, 56
Legends: Doug Clemens, 51 :o
Hard Cider: Jim Coker, 77 (farmed)
Redbirds: Woodie Held, 54; Smokey Burgess, 51
Stingers: Camilo Carreon, 77

Pitchers

Cannons: Dick Estelle, 71; Aubrey Gatewood, 89
Gold Sox: John Buzhardt, 51
Hard Cider: Bob Humphreys, 57 (currently disabled)
Redbirds: Bo Belinsky, 52; Terry Fox, 77; Ralph Terry, 64; Carl Willey, 60 (farmed)
Pirates: Billy Pierce, 50
Gamblers: Don Mossi, 75
Stingers: John Klippstein, 57; Bob Shaw, 57; Bill Stafford, 62

Hope that helps.

[Edgartohof]

I'm wanting to make a small change here.

I want to send Rakow down to the minors, and bring up Al Jackson as my new Mopup Pitcher.

[Erik Bedard]

Gold Sox: John Buzhardt, 51

Awwww... Buzhardt's one of my best pitchers. I'll leave him for now, I guess.

[J W]

The Legends are in the middle in hitting, and I'm pleasantly surprised by that. I had three regulars hitting over .300 as of the last league file I got from Mark (Gonzalez, Robinson, Freehan, Santo), and my cheap second base pickup (Sammy Stewart) was at .294. Unfortunately, my pitching has been abysmal (next to last; only the Wasps are worse). I've had very few pitchers come anywhere near their real life performance in this league, and this year is no different. Ron Kline's ERA is better than real life, but he's actually allowing more R/9 than he did in reality, and Harvey Haddix is close in ERA, but again a LOT more R/9 than he actually allowed. The rest are above their actual ERA (to be expected in this league, I think), but my starters are especially poor: Kralick, Downing, Tiant are all 2 or more runs higher.

But at this point, Freehan has to be a top candidate for rookie of the year, and Santo is putting up all-star (and near MVP) numbers. If I was in the race, he'd be a strong MVP candidate.

Surprising hitting and disappointing pitching might point to your ballpark. Maybe a change of venue would help?

[catcher24]

Posted by JW:
Surprising hitting and disappointing pitching might point to your ballpark. Maybe a change of venue would help?

Actually, I did change, from Forbes to Shea. Forbes was actually more hitter friendly EXCEPT for homeruns by RH batters. It killed Santo last year, and I could envision it doing the same to Freehan, so I switched. Shea actually favors pitchers, according to DM's rating factors, while Forbes heavily favors hitters except for homeruns. The thing that really surprises me about my batters is that some are actually doing as well, or better, than in real life! I've never had that happen to a batter, in either league I'm in, so it's a shock! I think the pitching points more to another patched together staff, looking to the future. Watch out in a couple of years! I have Tiant, Tommy John, Downing turns upward again, and whoever I draft in 65 and 66.

[J W]

ah, ok... well, I sure know things won't be so easy in the near future.

Nice to see the Diablos having a good start. The past three seasons were not kind to them and it may be their turn to shine.

[538280]

I'll send Gatewood down in favor of Jim Roland and change the pitching rotations to the following:

Pitching
SP1 Sadecki
SP2 Ellsworth
SP3 Grant
SP4 Simmons
SP5 Sheldon
Spot starter: Washburn, Reniff
Mop up: Washburn, Roland
Long man: Reniff, Roland
LH set up: Perranoski, Roland
RH set up: Stock, Perranoski
LH closer: Stock, Perranoski
RH closer: Stock, Perranoski

[leecemark]

--You lost Roland to the Gold Sox in the expansion draft.

[Erik Bedard]

Looking over the team totals on the website, I find that my team is the definition of average. The only place where I'm below average is in my bullpen. I've got a league-leading 13 blown saves, without which I'd be 41-13. :eek: It seems that aside from Callison, Davis, Cloninger, and Broglio, everybody on my team is very, very, average.

[leecemark]

--The Knights shakeup the lineup once again. Junior Gilliam goes down to AAA Kalamazoo where he will serve as player-coach. Ernie Banks returns to the big club to play 1B vs LHP. Ken Boyer returns to the everyday job at 3B and Don Wert, perhaps the only overachiever amoung Knight's batters, slide over to SS. The Dick McAuliffe experiment at 2B is back on. Mac will be platooning with Dick Green there. Heres hoping this new combination will result in a few more runs. It sure doesn't help the defense:p .

--This alignment didn't last long as Wert turned an ankle in his first game at SS and went on the DL, with Gilliam back up.

[leecemark]

--No changes at the stop of the standings this series, but the bottom half has some interesting developments. A 5 game slide by the Legends, combined with a 5 game strak by the Joes, cements Lew's crew in the basement. The Redbirds are on a nine game slide of their own and have established themselves as a clear favorite for the first pick in next year's rookie draft. The Hard Cider swept the Cannons, dropping the defending champs 12 games back in the division race - and 10 back in the Wild Card.
--All the news was not so good for the Macmen though. The HC continue to be the league's most injury plagued team as Johnny Romano got the worst of a collision at home plate and will miss at least 3 weeks.

[Wasp]

I'm lowering Carreon's playing time to 10%. BTW, what's the maximum playing time until a player is done for the season?

[Erik Bedard]

125% of their real-life PT, IIRC. Mark, Lew, or JW, please verify.

[leecemark]

--125 is correct. In addition to losing the player you also lose a 3rd rounder in the next year's rookie draft. That gets bumped up to a first rounder for a second violation, so keep on top of that playing time.

[catcher24]

Yeah, don't invoke the penalty, especially since you're headed in the same direction I am. Your third rounder will be more valuable than Mark's, JW, Mac - we're going to finish a LOT lower than them, I think. And if you're not in the race, no sense losing a draft pick, especially to give a backup catcher more playing time. Has to be a FA you could pick up for the minimum (Dick Bertell has 353 AB, Tom Satriano has 255).

[Wasp]

Okay, I'll release Carreon and sign Dick Bertell. Bertell will play 15% of the time.

[leecemark]

--Another series in. Gambers rookie pitcher Mel Stottlemyre went down for 3 week and Skipjack slugger Felix Mantilla went down for a month.

[mac195]

Mark, I will DL Romano again and bring Coker back up. Haller will start against both left and right handers with Coker strictly a backup.

Also, I will activate Koufax, Humphreys and Hall, and send down Olivo, Murakami and Clinton.

-Koufax replaces Aguirre in the rotation, Aguirre moves back to spot starter, 2nd mop up and 3rd long man.

-Humphreys replaces Murakami in the pen

-Hall plays full time in CF backed by Stephens

[catcher24]

Boxscores, standings, team stats updated through games of 6/13 on the website.

[The Dude]

I put mel on the 15-day Dl and brought up Spahn to replace him. I moved Richardson ahead of Mossi in the LH-Setup role.


SP5: Warren Spahn (SKIP when Possible)
LH-Setup: Gordie Richardson, Don Mossi

[leecemark]

--Another series in and these were a little more eventfull. The Hard Cider swept the Diablos to open some ground in their divisional race. All 3 division leaders are now up by at least 6 games. The Wild Card race is pretty tightly bunched though. The Shoeless Joes continue their rise with a sweep of the Knights. They have now won 9 of 10 and are now one of 5 teams clustered within 5 games of the WC.
--All the news was not good for the Joes as Jim Maloney had to be removed in his last start and is expected to miss a couple turns. All the news remains bad for the Legends;) , as CF Tony Gonzalez had his hand broken by a Jim Kaat fastball and will be out for a month.

[538280]

--You lost Roland to the Gold Sox in the expansion draft.

Oh, sorry. Replace him with Jim Perry in those settings.

[J W]

Ouch. There's some work to do with this one.

Please put Felix Mantilla on the DL (is there a 30-day here? if not, the 15-day DL). Mazeroski mans 2B full-time for a while... and go ahead with Ward at 3B full-time.

The Skipjacks will sign player #38, 2B Ron Campbell, to a 1 yr/$.25 mil contract. Campbell starts in the farm system. Please bring up Joe Koppe again and have him back up at 2B, 3B and SS.

The lineup vs RHP is a tad different, and the linup vs LHP is put in a blender:

Lineup vs. RHP
1) LF - Yastrzemski* (Lock)
2) RF - Oliva* (Allison)
3) CF - Allison (Lock 5%, DR)
4) 1B - Powell* (Allison)
5) C - Torre (Edwards* DR)
6) 3B - Ward* (Koppe)
7) SS - Fregosi (Koppe)
8) 2B - Mazeroski (Koppe)

PH vR - comp control
PH vL - Salmon

Lineup vs. LHP
1) LF - Yastrzemski* (Oliva* 25%)
2) SS - Fregosi (Koppe)
3) CF - Lock (Yastrzemski*)
4) RF - Allison (Oliva* 25%)
5) 1B - Powell* (Allison 25%)
6) C - Torre (Edwards* 50%, DR)
7) 3B - Ward* (Koppe)
8) 2B - Mazeroski (Koppe)

PH vR - comp control
PH vL - Salmon

[catcher24]

Two more one run losses, and the loss of my leadoff hitter for 33 games....:ughh :hp :grouchy What more can I say??

Sure a good thing I moved my home park, too. 13-11 on the road; 10-29 at home!!

[jkc32]

Please move Reed up to start in Maloney's spot while JM is out.

[catcher24]

Mark - I'll DL Gonzalez, bring up Skinner to fill the slot. I've sent an updated MP with a note.

[leecemark]

--These series featured the second half of a group of home and away matchups. The Hard Cider made it 5 of 6 vs the Diablos to take a stranglehold on the division lead. Mac does come away from it completely in the black though as the other half of his catching platoon, Tom Haller, joins Johnny Romano on the injured list.
--The Shoeless Joes made it 5 of 6 vs the Knights as they continue their surge back into contention. The Knights lone win came on a 15th inning walkoff HR by Tim McCarver. The marathon game, a drubbing in the next game and an injury to Arnie Early has left the Knights bullpen in tatters. John Wyatt gets the call up to replace Earley.

[leecemark]

Mark - I'll DL Gonzalez, bring up Skinner to fill the slot. I've sent an updated MP with a note.


Didn't get this before running todays games. I;ll be sending a new file momentarily. let me know if want to use the mp you sent now or a new one.
-- i won't be running any games 12/24-26. i figure most of us will have other things going on.i

[mac195]

HC sign free agent catcher Cam Carreon to a one year 250K contract. He goes directly to the major league squad to start vs. both LHP and RHP. Rollins is sent down. Hunt will back up Allen at 3B.

[J W]

Joe Horlen is on pace to win 30 games this season. :gt

Unfortunately, he probably won't reach that DMCKL milestone due to his lack of real-season BF. At some point I anticipate switching Horlen with McDowell (on "skip") in my rotation.

One thing I was aiming for however was to match the 1971 Orioles team with four 20-game winners. The big three (Horlen-12, Ford-9, Chance-8) are still on pace while my #4 starter (Bouton-7) is one game behind. It's going to require consistent play, and some luck, to pull this challenge off, and by now I can't do much but watch like the rest of us. But it's something to keep an eye on.

Mac is finding a way to keep on winning despite his injuries. He's only two games off our league-best record. I don't feel like complimenting him anymore so, start losing darnit! :D

[Wasp]

Farrell's healthy again, so I'll send down Nuxhall, and put Sadowski back as the main spot starter with Lemaster as his alternative %40 of the time.

[leecemark]

--The Skipjacks traveled to Yankee Stadium and broke out the broom on the Hard Cider today. They now have a 5 game advantage over both the Hard Cider and Knights for leagues best record and look to be the dominant team as predicted in the pre-season.

[J W]

That's better :p .

My 3B is looking like Mac's C spot though. We will elect not to DL Pete Ward, placing Joe Koppe at the hot corner. Please make one minor change; Chico Salmon will be the backup 2Bman instead of Koppe.

[Erik Bedard]

A sweep of the Gamblers, and no ground gained on the Diablos? Not fair!

[mac195]

Normally getting swept at home would bother me, but hey, it's the '64 Skipjacks, maybe the best team this league will ever see.

[ElHalo]

Well, at least my boy Drysdale is looking like the probably CY winner... could help if I manage to scratch my way into the playoffs.

[leecemark]

--Jim, It may be a little early to think about year end awards (and Horlen looks like the favorite at this point), but the All Star ballots will be going out fairly soon. The break is July 23-25. July schedule and some team stats are attached.
--You've managed to scratch your way into the lead in the WS race, but the Pirates and Gold Sox are just one game behind. The Joes, Gamblers and Cannons are each just a hot streak away from getting into the thick of it as well.
--Merry Christmas All. Thanks for being such a fun group to play with.

[Erik Bedard]

Cloninger looks like a solid third in CY voting. To me at least.

BTW, how did I end up with a 15-game road trip? With nine consecutive games against the Gamblers?

[leecemark]

--He's pitched great for you, but you haven't given him much support. That 6-5 record isn't as impressive as the rest of his marks.

[Erik Bedard]

That's probably because he usually gets matched up against the other team's ace.

[catcher24]

Ron Santo would be (at this early juncture) a great candidate for MVP honors IF he played on a winner. Unfortunately, he plays on the Legends (legendarily bad this year) so won't receive a whole lot of support (and justifiably so), even should he maintain his current pace the entire season (questionable at best). I can foresee a problem for the Skipjacks players, with MVP votes getting divided among Allison, Yaz and Mantilla to the point where Aaron, Mantle or Callison sneaks in! As Mark indicates, though, still a long way to go in the season, and any kind of slump could knock any of these fine candidates out of the running.

At this juncture, the leading Cy Young candidates certainly are Drysdale and Horlen. Right now, I personally would vote Drysdale, since all his stats except wins are better. If he had the support Horlen has enjoyed, he could easily be 12-0. But it's basically flip a coin between Drysdale and Horlen, unless you put heavy emphasis on won/lost record, then it's definitely Horlen. Drysdale has an advantage in that he can continue to pitch at his current rate for the rest of the season; with over 300 IP in real life he's still less than 40% to his max. Horlen will almost certainly need to get scaled back at some point, since he's at 52% max. Cloninger is a very solid third spot candidate now, but that could change down the road. I think he's playing way above his real life level, while Drysdale and Horlen will more likely continue to do what they've been doing all season.

[catcher24]

And let me join Mark in wishing all Classic Keeper League owners (and my online family, so to speak)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

[Erik Bedard]

Cloninger is certainly playing well above his real-life stats, but I couldn't be happier with his performance. He's one of the main reasons I'm 38-31. Better than Ray Sadecki, certainly. :D

[J W]

Happy Holidays everyone!

Re: MVP, If you ask our team now who our team MVP is, we'd have to vote Carl Yastrzemski. Among the leaders in batting average and OBP again, he is also tracking down everything in LF and runners are hesitating going home on his arm. This season he's also hanging around the top ten in slugging.

Lew makes a good point but with Mantilla's injury, his candidacy shrinks a bit. That leaves Yaz and Bob Allison... and Aaron and Mantle are on the same team as well. Tip of the hat to Johnny Callison, who is finally free from his 1961 season shackles.

[J W]

I agree with Lew as well on Drysdale. Horlen will need a break eventually and my staff as a whole will be penalized by their run support (unless you all see the light ;) ). Drysdale meanwhile is the only real life pitcher in 1964 with a WHIP rivaling Horlen and Chance.

[Erik Bedard]

My team awards aren't even close. Cloninger and Callison, by a mile, with Broglio and Davis distant seconds.

[The Dude]

Killebrew is on his way to his 4th team MVP award by a mile, and he could get some votes for league MVP this year. Worthington has been amazing out of the pen,.

[leecemark]

--Not long ago Gary Peters was the best pitcher in the league. A few bad starts later and he may not be the best on my team. Willie Mays has been easily my best position player, but he would have to pick it up quite a bit to figure in the MVP voting.

[ElHalo]

Drysdale is obviously my best pitcher (probably the best in the league), and for position player I'd probably go with White over Hart.

[catcher24]

Who has a decent Rookie of the Year candidate? At this point, I know I have Bill Freehan, who has been exceptional, and Jim has Jim Hart, thanks to me.:laugh As usual, I'm not always sure who is a rookie and who isn't without checking past seasons, so if anyone has any decent ROY candidates, please mention it so I can sort of keep an eye on the top candidates this season.

[mac195]

There's a fellow on my team called Dick Allen...

[Erik Bedard]

I hope Tony Conigliaro can pick up the pace and be in contention for RoY...

On another note, Tony Cloninger pitched 26 innings for the Cannons last year. Is he RoY eligible? By MLB standards, I believe he would be.

[leecemark]

--The surging Gold Sox take 2 of 3 from the Knights to pull within 4 of the division lead and remain 1 game back in the Wild Card. The Knights were saved from a sweep by Gary Peters, who broke out of his slump with a 3 hit shutout to pick up his 9th win.
--The Pirates sweep the Cannons, dropping the defending champs 10 games back in the WC race and perhaps turning the thoughts of Numbersville fans to 1965. There were no significant injuries in any of these games.

[baseballPAP]

I wouldn't say NO injuries....Willie Smith is down for 18 days. Bob Chance will slot in in his stead Mark, as the Redbirds try to outlast the 62 Mets.

[catcher24]

Website stats are updated.

We're now 43% of the way through the season. I have listed below any players who are at 65% or more of their playing time. Since a player may be used to 125% of actual usage, anyone at 65% now has used up over half of their total usage limit, with 57% of the season to go yet. It would pay to keep an eye on these players.
MAC: You may want to do something with Coker.
SCOTT: I'd farm Terry Fox ASAP. He'll be over before you know it and you'll invoke the penalty clause.
WIL: You might want to consider farming Mossi soon as well.
BATTERS
Cannons: Ty Cline, 67
Hard Cider: Jim Coker, 100
Redbirds: Woodie Held, 72

PITCHERS
Cannons: Dick Estelle, 79; Aubrey Gatewood, 94 (presently farmed); Hal Reniff, 68
Gold Sox: John Buzhardt, 65
Hard Cider: Bob Humphreys, 65
Redbirds: Bo Belinsky, 70; Terry Fox, 109; Willie Smith, 69; Ralph Terry, 80
Pirates: Billy Pierce, 66
Gamblers: Don Mossi, 93
Stingers: John Klippstein, 79; Bob Shaw, 84; Bill Stafford, 80

Hope this helps!:waving

[leecemark]

--Another series in the books. The Diablos take 2 of 3 from the Knights to pull into a tie for the WC lead. Gary Peters again saved the LM squad from a sweep with a 1-0 shutout win. The fireballing lefty came within one out of a no hitter in this one, with a Bill White single with 2 down in the ninth spoiling his bid for immortality. The Gold Sox also took 2 of 3, making for a 3 way tie for the WC lead and closing to 3 back of the Knights in the Johson division.

[mac195]

Mark, I will bring Haller and Romano off the DL and send down Coker and Carreon. Also, the dissapointing Maris is benched, trading places with slugging pinch hitter Wes Covington.

Lineup vs. RHP
1 Fairly 1B (Cash DR)
2 Robinson RF (Covington)
3 Covington LF (Maris DR)
4 Allen 3B (Rollins)
5 Haller C (Romano)
6 Bressoud SS (Brown)
7 Hall CF (Stephens)
8 Hunt 2B (Brown)
PH vs RHP: Maris, Cash
PH vs LHP: Romano, Rollins
Lineup vs. LHP
1 Hunt 2B (Brown)
2 Bressoud SS (Brown)
3 Robinson RF (Covington)
4 Allen 3B (Rollins)
5 Covington LF (Maris DR)
6 Romano C (Haller DR)
7 Cash 1B (Fairly)
8 Hall CF (Stephens)
PH vs RHP: Maris, Fairly, Haller
PH vs LHP: Rollins

[baseballPAP]

Mark, please farm out Fox and recall Guisti....and slot him in Fox's spot.

Thanks,
~S

[baseballPAP]

The Redbirds would like to sign Buster Narum, releasing Dal Maxvill. Those BF sure go fast when your ERA is more than double what it "should" be....

[leecemark]

--The Skipjacks run their winning streak to 13 games as they race away from the field. The Pirates hit a bump in the road, slipping behind the Diablos and Gold Sox (who close to 2 back of the Knights) in the Wild card race and losing 2 players to injury.

[The Dude]

I only see the cannons results.

[Erik Bedard]

Same here.

Mark, start Bond in Johnson's place until he gets back. Also, take Daniels off skip. That should get Buzhardt's BF down a bit...

[leecemark]

--For those interested in games not involving the Cannons:p ....

[ElHalo]

Interesting. My team has now scored the third most runs in the league, and given up the fewest, and yet I'm still way back in my division and barely hanging on in the wild card. I must have had some really lopsided wins and close losses.

[Edgartohof]

I'm happy that I'm still at least in the race, which is what I was looking for. It's too bad about my 2 recent injuries, I've been doing real good this season in that area.

[catcher24]

Posted by ElHalo:
Interesting. My team has now scored the third most runs in the league, and given up the fewest, and yet I'm still way back in my division and barely hanging on in the wild card.

You piqued my interest, Jim, so I ran the Pythagorean standings for our league to this point. Your team is four games under what they should be for your runs scored/runs allowed - which, I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know, is the worst for any team. Interestingly, the Skipjacks are two games under what their Pythoagorean record predicts for them. Amazingly, as abysmal as they have been, the BEST improvement over the predicted record belongs to the Shoeless Joes, who are five games over what their RS/RA would predict. Next best belongs to the Pirates, four games over their predicted.

[Edgartohof]

Next best belongs to the Pirates, four games over their predicted.

Well, I am hoping to keep that up and possibly improve on this.

[leecemark]

--The Knights snap the Skipjacks winning streak and take 2 of 3 from that mighty crew. That much needed series win gives my boys an extra game of breathing room over the Gold Sox who are now in a 3 way tie (Pirates/Diablos) in the Wild Card struggle. The bad news just keeps on coming for the Redbirds, who lose SP Ray Herbert for the better part of a month.
--The All Star game is just 5 series/days away. The All Star Ballot thread will be up short;y.

[Wasp]

The Stingers will release Nuxhall, and sign Jim Hannan. Hannan will be a middle reliever along with Stafford, and Wise.

[leecemark]

--Nuxhall was in the minors, so somebody else will have to go down if Hannan is going to be active. Also, middle relief is not a role in the program. He would have to be a mop up man, long man and/or RH setup man.

[The Dude]

Stottlemyre off the Dl and Spahn back in the minors. Mossi is still in the majors, but I took him out of the entire rotation/bullpen.

SP1: Jim O'Toole
SP2: Gaylord Perry
SP3: Larry Jackson
SP4: Jim Kaat
SP5: Mel Stottlemyre (SKIP when Possible)
Spot: Ron Herbel
Mop: Moe Drabowsky
Long: Bob Lee, Moe Drabowsky
RH-Setup: Bob Lee, Don Lee
LH-Setup: Gordie Richardson, Don Lee
Closer: Al Worthington

[baseballPAP]

Mark, I'll disable Herbert and call up Bruce Howard to take his slot in the rotation....for 2 or 3 starts anyway :)

[Erik Bedard]

I think we jinxed Cloninger. :eek: Let's not say anything about Broglio just yet.

[leecemark]

--Another series played. The Legends-Cannons series proved a bloody one, with each team now having 2 multi-week injuries to deal with. The All Star ballot thread is now up. Please get those ballots in over the next few days.

[catcher24]

The Legends-Cannons series proved a bloody one, with each team now having 2 multi-week injuries to deal with.

Now I know how Mac felt earlier in the season!:eek: My starting CF, SS and best mid-reliever are all gone, so why is my team suddenly winning? Strange.

[Edgartohof]

Mark, I am going to pick up Nuxhall, and put him in the minors.

[538280]

Mark, make Gene Oliver fill in for Pagliaroni at catcher and give Whitfield all the 1B PAs until Pagliaroni comes back. Thanks.

[catcher24]

Stats on website updated through July 12.

[Wasp]

The Stingers will send down Klippstein and insert Hannan as a RH setup man.

EDIT: I'm lowering Amaro's playing time to 5%.

[leecemark]

--Another series played. Last year's RoY, Jimmie Hall, continues to suffer the sophmore jinx going down to injury for the third (fourth?) time this season.

[Erik Bedard]

All of a sudden I can't seem to win the second or third game of a series... what happened?

[Edgartohof]

Dropping 3 in a row sure hurts, but luckily I'm still in the race, but I don't have the momentum that I had early in the season.

I was lucky then, with several players overperforming, but now I have several players that should be doing well that... aren't.

[leecemark]

--The Diablos take 2 of 3 from the Hard Cider to keep the Cartwright somewhat interesting. The Pirates pick up a sweep, gaining no ground on the Skipjacks;) , but pulling back into a tie for the WC lead.

[Edgartohof]

My team seems to play the extremes. They will sweep the series or lose all the games. That's exactly what it's been the last 3 series: win 3, lose 3, win 3 (luckily I have come out ahead, but still...).

[mac195]

Mark, please put Maris in to start in CF while Hall is out.

Lineup vs. RHP
1 Fairly 1B (Cash DR)
2 Robinson RF (Covington)
3 Covington LF (Maris DR)
4 Allen 3B (Rollins)
5 Haller C (Romano)
6 Bressoud SS (Brown)
7 Hall CF (Maris)
8 Hunt 2B (Brown)
PH vs RHP: Maris, Cash
PH vs LHP: Romano, Rollins
Lineup vs. LHP
1 Hunt 2B (Brown)
2 Bressoud SS (Brown)
3 Robinson RF (Covington)
4 Allen 3B (Rollins)
5 Covington LF (Maris DR)
6 Romano C (Haller DR)
7 Cash 1B (Fairly)
8 Hall CF (Maris)
PH vs RHP: Maris, Fairly, Haller
PH vs LHP: Rollins

[Erik Bedard]

Broglio gets ANOTHER shutout, and now is tied for the league lead in ERA with Don Drysdale.

That series also concluded my bizarre nine-game road trip against the Gamblers.

[leecemark]

--That was matched by my 9 game run vs the Redbirds:crazy . We do play 24 vs division rivals, but I would have prefered the schedule generator spread them out a little more.

[leecemark]

--Today will be the last series before the All Star break. Deadline for ballots will be midnight EST tonight. I'll run no games tomorrow, so if anyone wants to rearrange their pitching to take adantage of the 3 off days in the schedule you've got at least 24 hours to do that.

[J W]

Bill Mazeroski has done such a good job at 2B that I'm not sure what to do with Felix Mantilla, who's coming off the DL. Updated profile is on the way.

[J W]

...ok, please take Felix Mantilla off the DL and send down Chico Salmon:

Lineup vs. RHP
1) LF - Yastrzemski* (Lock)
2) RF - Oliva* (Allison)
3) CF - Allison (Lock 10%, DR)
4) 1B - Powell* (Allison 5%)
5) C - Torre (Edwards* DR)
6) 3B - Ward* (Koppe)
7) SS - Fregosi (Mantilla 50%)
8) 2B - Mazeroski (Mantilla 25%)

PH vR - comp control
PH vL - comp control

Lineup vs. LHP
1) LF - Yastrzemski* (Oliva* 25%)
2) SS - Fregosi (Mantilla)
3) CF - Lock (Yastrzemski*)
4) RF - Allison (Oliva* 25%)
5) 1B - Powell* (Allison 20%)
6) C - Torre (Edwards* 50%, DR)
7) 3B - Ward* (Mantilla 25%)
8) 2B - Mazeroski (Mantilla 25%)

PH vR - Mantilla
PH vL - Mantilla

[leecemark]

--We're at the break. The Gold Sox are the league's hottest team at mid-season, riding a 6 game win streak into a tie for the WC lead and closing to within 3 games of the division lead. The other divisions aren't quite as close, but the Diablos are within striking distance as well as tied for the WC lead. The Pirates aren't going to catch the Skipjacks, but are only one game back in the WC.
--The Gamblers still have a shot at the playoffs, but the other 3rd and 4th place teams should probably be looking toward next season. The trade deadline could be interesting this year with a few more teams in contention than has been the case in earlier seasons.

[Erik Bedard]

This is well above where I expected to be at this point, and I'm very happy. I figured I'd be around .500, not leading the WC.

[The Dude]

The Gamblers are looking at trading for a high quality pitcher for the rest of the season. First round draft picks are up for the talks, although my '65 and '67 are already gone.

[leecemark]

--The intra-divisional marathons continue in the Johnson Division after the break. The Knights and Gold Sox play 3 straight series' that could alter the balance of power in the division. Meanwhile, the third place Gamblers get 9 games vs the Redbirds in what could be their best opportunity to close the gap between them and the leaders. The August schedule and updated team vs team records are attached.

[ElHalo]

If it wasn't for that juggernaut team up north, Drysdale would have a chance at a fascinating sweep: he currently leads in ERA, WHIP, K's, IP, CG, SH, and OPSA. The W's are a little lacking but it's not for lack of trying.

The award winners at the half are pretty clear to me: Drysdale for CY, Allison for MVP.

[leecemark]

--The Knights sweep the Gold Sox to open a 6 game cushion in the division race, while the Gamblers sweep the Redbirds to pull within 4 in the WC chase.

[Erik Bedard]

Ouch. Still, I'm only one back in the WC, which looks like it will go right down to the wire.

[leecemark]

--Not sure if the Gold Sox pitching can hold up to the finish line. Ernie Broglio (79%) and John Buzhardt (88%) are going to have to skip some starts somewhere along the line to avoid going over the usage limit. Top reliever Steve Ridzik (74%) is also on pace to burn out before the end of the season.

[Erik Bedard]

OK, Mark, please bump Leon Wagner's PT in LF up to 45%. More changes will likely come when Buzhardt and Broglio get closer to 125.

[catcher24]

If any contenders are interested, Jack Kralick is available in a trade. At this point he is only 5-8, but that is through no fault of his own. His ERA is 2.79 in 116 IP, his WHIP is 1.21, and he's allowed 4 HR in the 116 IP. His contract is only good through the end of this season, and his salary is 2.5M. He is presently at 60% usage, so should be good as a regular starter through the end of the season. If interested, PM me. I'd also consider including Steve Hamilton for the right deal.

[The Dude]

Only a minor change Mark. Herbel and Stottlemyre's roles have switched. Also take the SKIP off of Herbel, I want a 5 man rotation for now.

SP5: Ron Herbel
Spot: Mel Stottlemyre

[Erik Bedard]

Is it possible to do a six-man rotation? That might get Buzhardt and Broglio's BF down.

[catcher24]

The notes have been updated through games of July 28th. However, the file Mark sent didn't include the boxscores, so boxscores for the games of 7/20 through 7/28 won't go up unless they are in the next file I get.

We have now played 57% of league games. That translates to 71% of maximum playing time (57% of 125). I have listed below any player that has exceeded 85% of playing time, batters then pitchers.

SCOTT: Get Bruce Howard farmed out. He's at 120% (21/22 IP). He'll be at max with one more IP.
MAX: You should farm Shaw immediately and watch Stafford very closely.

Cannons: Fred Whitfield, 86
Hard Cider: Jim Coker, 100 (farmed)
Redbirds: Charlie Lau, 85

Cannons: Dick Estelle, 90; Aubrey Gatewood, 94 (farmed); Hal Reniff, 93
Gold Sox: John Buzhardt, 88
Shoeless Joes: Howie Reed, 101
Legends: Steve Hamilton, 85
Hard Cider: Bob Humphreys, 95
Redbirds: Bo Belinsky, 87; Terry Fox, 116 (farmed); Dave Giusti, 92; Bruce Howard, 120;Ralph Terry, 90
Pirates: Billy Pierce, 97
Gamblers: Don Mossi, 94
Stingers: John Klippstein, 93 (farmed); Bob Shaw, 116; Bill Stafford, 107

[catcher24]

Incidentally, for you contenders, I also have Harvey Haddix available. Lefthanded reliever, current ERA is 1.83 in 34.1 IP, with a 1.16 WHIP and 3 HRA in the 34.1 IP. K/BB ratio is currently about 3.8/1, and he's only used up 40% of his playing time. His salary is 750K.

[538280]

Farm Reniff and bring up Bill Kelso. New pitching:

Pitching
SP1 Sadecki
SP2 Ellsworth
SP3 Grant
SP4 Simmons
SP5 Sheldon
Spot starter: Washburn, Perry
Mop up: Washburn, Kelso
Long man: Perry, Kelso
LH set up: Perranoski, Perry
RH set up: Stock, Perranoski
LH closer: Stock, Perranoski
RH closer: Stock, Perranoski

[baseballPAP]

Mark, please farm Howard and activate Willie Smith. Willie's wheels still don't feel up to the OF, but his arm feels OK, so I'll slot him into Howard's slot until Herbert is ready.

Orlando Cepeda is available for those looking for a big stick for the stretch drive....but his price goes up the more I realize he'll be good again before I can right this ship.. :)

[leecemark]

--Dan, A 6 man rotation is not an option. You're just going to have to pull them out of rotation for a few starts somewhere along the way. With Broglio you could keep him under just by making him the #5 and auto skipping him when you have an offday. Buzhardt will probably have to be replaced for awhile sometime between now and the end of the season.