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Eugene Church · 03-03-2006, 08:18 PM

ALLTIME ALLSTAR ASSOCIATION

Tuesday, April 8, 1902

OPENING DAY JUST TWO DAYS AWAY IN THE AAA

AMERICAN LEAGUE ROSTER CHANGES FOR THE NEW SEASON, PART 2

NEW YORK YANKEES - 1ST PLACE (91-63)

The World Champions, the New York Yankees, made only minor changes in their roster. Manager Casey Stengel is blessed with an abundance of talent. Several of the Yanks' second stringers could be starring on other teams. New to the club are 1B Don Mattingly, C Jorge Posada and pitcher Jose Mendes. Posada will have to battle Bill Dickey for playing time, while Mattingly, as good as his credentials are, will have a tough time moving Lou Gehrig off of first. Gehrig led the AAA with 115 RBIs last season. Mendes will be used in middle relief. Stengel signed a backup shortstop, Phil Rizzuto. He is a solid defensive performer and good back up for regular Derek Jeter. Demoted in spring training were 3B Graig Nettles, CF Bernie Williams and UIF/OF Tom Tresh. Back for another season are the team's heart and soul, HR champ Babe Ruth, Gehrig, CF Joe DiMaggio and 2B Joe Gordon. They led the AAA in home run production last year with 142. Lefty Gomez, Ron Guidry, Whitey Ford will top the starters with Mariano Rivera and Goose Gossage heading up the bullpen. New York is even better than last year with Mattingly, Posada and Rizzuto on the club. They are great insurance for Gehrig, Dickey and Jeter.

PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS - 4TH PLACE (81-73)

Manager Connie Mack pretty much kept a pat hand with only a few new additions to the ballclub, which finished very well in the second half of the season and wound up fourth, 10 games out of first place. In the Special Draft they picked up Shigeo Nagashima, a Gold Glove third baseman with some power and a possible .300 hitter. Mack tried seven players there last year. He intends to give the Japanese star a good chance to take the position, although he indicated Frank Baker and Miguel Tejada would given fair shots, too. Mack intends to platoon them in the early season and see who can take charge. Buddy Rosar, a fine defensive catcher, was signed as a third catcher. The only other acquisition was power pitcher Dave Stewart. The righthander will be the sixth man in the rotation and get some spot starts. Gone from last year's team are pitcher Chief Bender, 2B Max Bishop, 3B Eric Chavez, 3B Jimmie Dykes and 3B Carney Lansford. The rest of the club is set with SS John Henry Lloyd, 1B Jimmie Foxx and OF Al Simmons in the forefront. Mack expects big things from his club this season. Lloyd only the joined the team at midseason last year and delivered quite handsomely with a .331 BA, 11 HRs, 51 Runs, 43 RBIs and 19 SBs.

ST. LOUIS BROWNS - 8TH PLACE (62-92)

Manager Earl Weaver of the St. Louis Browns needs just about everything. Pitching and power are especially absent. They hit only 79 homers and had a skyhigh 4.02 ERA. Weaver has made wholesale changes on the cellar-dwelling ballclub. He shipped out pitchers Urban Shocker, Milt Pappas and Stu Miller and brought in portsider John Donaldson, a Negro star. Weaver hopes Donaldson can give him another starter to go with Mike Cuellar, Dennis Martinez, Hoyt Wilhelm and Mike Mussina. But the thing he is most happy with is OF Ken Singleton, 3B Doug DeCinces and 2B Davey Johnson, who can all hit the ball out of the park. Weaver will also have his fabulous catcher back, Josh Gibson, who ripped 12 homers and drove in 43 runs in only 43 games, before being injured. He is back and healthy and bad news for AL pitchers. George Sisler will again play LF. Weaver hopes 1B Eddie Murray will blossom into the player everyone thinks he is. He hit a disappointing .270 last year with only 3 home runs and 25 RBIs in 59 games. If not, Sisler goes back to first and LF will go to Singleton, Sam West or Baby Doll Jacobson. Ken Williams is a fixture in rightfield. Weaver is hoping for vast improvement from his shortstops, Vern Stephens and Cal Ripken, both had poor and unproductive seasons last year. But the Browns' farm system is bare. It looks like St. Louis is improved, but it might be hard to move up in the standings as the clubs ahead are also improved.

WASHINGTON SENATORS - 7TH PLACE (66-88)

The Washingon Senators were almost as bad as the Browns and finished next to last place in the AL standings. Manager Clark Griffith is in dire need of some longball help. Last year they hit only 59 home runs, only Pittsburgh hit fewer with a paltry 55. But he found no help in his farm system and went for pitching in the Special Draft. He chose Negro League strikeout artist, Cannonball Dick Redding. One fine newcomer is 1B Mickey Vernon, a potential .300 hitter and good RBI man with a good glove, too. Farmed out this spring were pitchers Jim Kaat, George Mogridge, Jim Perry and Frank Viola. Infielder Pete Runnels also failed to make the club this year. It looks like Washington will remain in the bottom of the American League again in the upcoming season. They could be headed for the cellar.

Check League Reports here:
http://aaa.allsimbaseball.com/

03-03-2006, 08:18 PM	#386 (permalink)
Eugene Church Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 16,947 Thanks: 92 Thanked 96x in 50 posts	ALLTIME ALLSTAR ASSOCIATION Tuesday, April 8, 1902 OPENING DAY JUST TWO DAYS AWAY IN THE AAA *AMERICAN LEAGUE ROSTER CHANGES FOR THE NEW SEASON, PART 2* NEW YORK YANKEES - 1ST PLACE (91-63) The World Champions, the New York Yankees, made only minor changes in their roster. Manager Casey Stengel is blessed with an abundance of talent. Several of the Yanks' second stringers could be starring on other teams. New to the club are 1B Don Mattingly, C Jorge Posada and pitcher Jose Mendes. Posada will have to battle Bill Dickey for playing time, while Mattingly, as good as his credentials are, will have a tough time moving Lou Gehrig off of first. Gehrig led the AAA with 115 RBIs last season. Mendes will be used in middle relief. Stengel signed a backup shortstop, Phil Rizzuto. He is a solid defensive performer and good back up for regular Derek Jeter. Demoted in spring training were 3B Graig Nettles, CF Bernie Williams and UIF/OF Tom Tresh. Back for another season are the team's heart and soul, HR champ Babe Ruth, Gehrig, CF Joe DiMaggio and 2B Joe Gordon. They led the AAA in home run production last year with 142. Lefty Gomez, Ron Guidry, Whitey Ford will top the starters with Mariano Rivera and Goose Gossage heading up the bullpen. New York is even better than last year with Mattingly, Posada and Rizzuto on the club. They are great insurance for Gehrig, Dickey and Jeter. PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS - 4TH PLACE (81-73) Manager Connie Mack pretty much kept a pat hand with only a few new additions to the ballclub, which finished very well in the second half of the season and wound up fourth, 10 games out of first place. In the Special Draft they picked up Shigeo Nagashima, a Gold Glove third baseman with some power and a possible .300 hitter. Mack tried seven players there last year. He intends to give the Japanese star a good chance to take the position, although he indicated Frank Baker and Miguel Tejada would given fair shots, too. Mack intends to platoon them in the early season and see who can take charge. Buddy Rosar, a fine defensive catcher, was signed as a third catcher. The only other acquisition was power pitcher Dave Stewart. The righthander will be the sixth man in the rotation and get some spot starts. Gone from last year's team are pitcher Chief Bender, 2B Max Bishop, 3B Eric Chavez, 3B Jimmie Dykes and 3B Carney Lansford. The rest of the club is set with SS John Henry Lloyd, 1B Jimmie Foxx and OF Al Simmons in the forefront. Mack expects big things from his club this season. Lloyd only the joined the team at midseason last year and delivered quite handsomely with a .331 BA, 11 HRs, 51 Runs, 43 RBIs and 19 SBs. ST. LOUIS BROWNS - 8TH PLACE (62-92) Manager Earl Weaver of the St. Louis Browns needs just about everything. Pitching and power are especially absent. They hit only 79 homers and had a skyhigh 4.02 ERA. Weaver has made wholesale changes on the cellar-dwelling ballclub. He shipped out pitchers Urban Shocker, Milt Pappas and Stu Miller and brought in portsider John Donaldson, a Negro star. Weaver hopes Donaldson can give him another starter to go with Mike Cuellar, Dennis Martinez, Hoyt Wilhelm and Mike Mussina. But the thing he is most happy with is OF Ken Singleton, 3B Doug DeCinces and 2B Davey Johnson, who can all hit the ball out of the park. Weaver will also have his fabulous catcher back, Josh Gibson, who ripped 12 homers and drove in 43 runs in only 43 games, before being injured. He is back and healthy and bad news for AL pitchers. George Sisler will again play LF. Weaver hopes 1B Eddie Murray will blossom into the player everyone thinks he is. He hit a disappointing .270 last year with only 3 home runs and 25 RBIs in 59 games. If not, Sisler goes back to first and LF will go to Singleton, Sam West or Baby Doll Jacobson. Ken Williams is a fixture in rightfield. Weaver is hoping for vast improvement from his shortstops, Vern Stephens and Cal Ripken, both had poor and unproductive seasons last year. But the Browns' farm system is bare. It looks like St. Louis is improved, but it might be hard to move up in the standings as the clubs ahead are also improved. WASHINGTON SENATORS - 7TH PLACE (66-88) The Washingon Senators were almost as bad as the Browns and finished next to last place in the AL standings. Manager Clark Griffith is in dire need of some longball help. Last year they hit only 59 home runs, only Pittsburgh hit fewer with a paltry 55. But he found no help in his farm system and went for pitching in the Special Draft. He chose Negro League strikeout artist, Cannonball Dick Redding. One fine newcomer is 1B Mickey Vernon, a potential .300 hitter and good RBI man with a good glove, too. Farmed out this spring were pitchers Jim Kaat, George Mogridge, Jim Perry and Frank Viola. Infielder Pete Runnels also failed to make the club this year. It looks like Washington will remain in the bottom of the American League again in the upcoming season. They could be headed for the cellar. Check League Reports here: http://aaa.allsimbaseball.com/ Last edited by Eugene Church; 06-24-2007 at 02:06 AM.