Overview: In an attempt to create a new Cleveland tradition, the Blues have become the first team to have an official cartoon mascot: Chief Wahoo, the blues-singing Indian. He likes the blues so much, he cannot stop grinning even though the blues are supposed to be sad! We hope that the on-paper presence of Chief Wahoo will make fans forget the horrible legacy of baseball in this city. They still aren't going to games but we are confident that just one winning season - just one! - will cause them to find their love for the game. Will this happen in 1903? Let's not go too crazy. But it should happen by the end of the decade. Unless the team is attacked by bees, which is not unlikely given the history of baseball in this town.
Pitching
Berto Sarrie
Code:
Year Team Age G W L IP H R ER HR BB SO CG Sh ERA
1900 Louisville - AA 23 54 12 15 233.1 219 107 69 7 64 77 17 2 2.66
1901 Louisville - AL 24 30 15 14 272.2 217 106 58 4 54 112 27 2 1.91
1902 Cleveland - AL 25 35 14 21 280.1 312 162 121 5 87 82 29 2 3.88
Sarrie was supposed to be the ace of this staff for the next decade. He was the key component of the trade that sent 1B Rick Harpham to the Colonels last offseason, but it just didn't work out. He was moved to the brand new New York ball club in exchange for P Sean Nickerson and CF Lynch Passager, who threatened to jump back to the National League if they had to play in the Big Apple again. Strangely, the other part of the Harpham trade, P Harry Herapeth, was also moved in the recent deal. We fully expect Sarrie to become a superstar with his new club.
Bill Hawkins
Code:
Year Team Age G W L IP H R ER HR BB SO CG Sh ERA
1900 Baltimore - AA 33 42 5 4 69.0 61 23 19 0 24 39 0 0 2.48
1901 Baltimore - AL 34 10 2 1 22.0 20 15 14 0 7 12 0 0 5.73
1901 Cleveland - AL 34 4 4 0 33.0 29 12 10 1 6 26 3 0 2.73
1901 Total - AL 34 14 6 1 55.0 49 27 24 1 13 38 3 0 3.93
1902 Cleveland - AL 35 36 14 19 254.2 283 141 81 1 105 142 21 1 2.86
Hawkins was a fantastic free-agent pickup by the Blues in '01. The former relief ace for the Orioles was jettisoned after a poor start the season before but gave Cleveland baseball fans a glimpse of what they might expect with 4 blazing starts. He didn't win every game for Cleveland in 1902, but an 18-19 career record for a team this, shall we say, less than superb is not a bad showing at all.
Harry Herapeth
Code:
Year Team Age G W L IP H R ER HR BB SO CG Sh ERA
1900 Louisville - AA 26 54 8 6 151.2 156 76 63 4 53 38 0 0 3.74
1901 Louisville - AL 27 21 3 5 82.1 87 45 31 4 34 20 4 0 3.39
1902 Cleveland - ABA 28 32 10 8 209.1 210 113 70 9 83 50 15 0 3.01
Now with his 5th major league team thanks to the Berto Sarrie trade, Herapeth just can't get started. He looks so fantastic in pre-game warmups, but that masks his true deficiency: this man simply does not have the stamina needed to consistently finish games that he starts. As such, his 10 victories last year tied the 2nd highest total of his career. Now the New York Highlanders will try and harness this tantalizing talent. And they will, be sure of that.
Kathel Semon
Code:
Year Team Age G W L IP H R ER HR BB SO CG Sh ERA
1902 Cleveland - AL 20 21 6 15 165.1 227 117 89 4 74 32 16 0 4.84
Semon didn't particularly light up the minors before the Blues brought him up, but what the heck. With a team this bad, a manager may as well watch his prospects mature up close. He actually had a pretty decent first month in the majors (3-5 with a 3.38 ERA), but it was all downhill from there (3-10, 5.77 to the end of the season).
Auliffe Oulton
Code:
Year Team Age G W L IP H R ER HR BB SO CG Sh ERA
1900 Baltimore - AA 23 47 20 20 341.1 350 158 112 15 73 91 8 2 2.95
1901 Baltimore - AL 24 16 6 7 123.2 134 60 45 3 21 46 11 0 3.27
1901 Cleveland - AL 24 10 3 7 80.2 107 56 40 2 31 26 8 0 4.46
1901 Total - AL 24 26 9 14 204.1 241 116 85 5 52 72 19 0 3.74
1902 Cleveland - AL 25 28 3 11 152.2 204 114 84 7 57 37 12 0 4.95
Oulton looked like a decent enough prospect with the old Baltimore Orioles but since coming to Cleveland in the Bill Copeland trade he's been nothing short of awful. He's still young but his problems don't seem to be the kind that will go away with age: he needs to add about a foot to his fastball and a couple inches of movement to his curve.
Everyone Else
Code:
Name Age G W L IP H R ER HR BB SO CG Sh ERA
Brian Gilbert 23 7 1 6 56.0 75 36 2 29 15 5.79
Dave Jaynes 30 3 0 1 11.0 10 4 0 3 5 3.27
Bobby Ralph 32 2 1 0 3.0 5 2 0 1 0 6.00
John Thurmond 27 5 1 4 45.0 60 34 1 22 12 6.80
Kevin Trimbey 31 6 4 1 56.2 57 22 1 10 6 3.49
Catcher and First Base
Chad Werrett C(66)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1900 Baltimore - AA 25 117 171 44 9 2 0 22 23 13 15 4 .257
1901 Baltimore - AL 26 23 53 17 3 1 1 15 2 12 3 0 .321
1901 Cleveland - AL 26 35 127 34 10 3 1 11 18 5 12 0 .268
1901 Total - AL 26 58 180 51 13 4 2 26 20 17 15 0 .283
1902 Cleveland - AL 27 66 227 60 15 3 0 30 25 16 15 0 .264
The second third of the Bill Copeland trade, Werrett was solid but unspectacular at the backstop. He is reportedly not all that happy to be in Cleveland, but his lack of relative talent may preclude the team from moving him any time soon. Congratulations, Chad! Everybody else in the Forest City is sad as well! You'll continue to blend right in.
John Coleman C(61), CF(1)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1901 Cleveland - AL 22 43 135 35 10 1 1 18 14 10 14 0 .259
1902 Cleveland - AL 23 63 211 53 15 1 0 20 24 14 21 0 .251
Coleman earned a spot in the majors by batting .287 and .298 in the minors from 1899-1900. The way he's played, he could probably use some more time somewhere other than the American League, but the Blues prefer to get their fans acclimated to the players who one day might take this squad into storied mediocrity.
Nivens "Quack" O'Mulvaney 1B(63), LF(7)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1900 Chicago - NL 35 133 528 151 16 8 5 102 83 64 56 31 .286
1901 Cleveland - AL 36 103 348 86 13 6 3 35 61 39 48 19 .247
1902 Cleveland - AL 37 92 276 58 6 1 3 40 40 31 31 8 .210
It's probably about time that "Quack" calls it a career. He's been a fixture at left field and first base for the Blues over the past couple of years due to his ability to draw fans, but at some point one has to look to the effect a bad offensive player has to the wins and losses, which also influence attendance. For Cleveland, that point came midway through last season. O'Mulvaney is still on the roster as of this writing as a pinch hitter.
Werner "Charlie Chan" Oland 1B(34), 2B(1)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1901 Cleveland - AL 25 8 27 7 0 0 0 1 1 1 3 0 .259
1902 Cleveland - AL 26 44 140 28 2 0 1 10 16 9 15 0 .200
Oland got his first chance to show what he could do, and he just didn't look comfortable at the plate. Actually, he looked somewhat more comfortable imitating Chinese people, which got him in trouble with teammate Ning Zhang and eventually kicked off the team.
Bill Young 1B(33)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1900 Washington - AA 33 64 48 15 3 2 1 7 9 7 1 0 .313
1901 Washington - AL 34 44 159 42 8 0 3 32 22 15 8 0 .264
1902 Washington - AL 35 29 26 9 2 1 0 9 6 3 4 1 .346
1902 Cleveland - AL 35 36 135 33 5 0 0 10 19 10 13 2 .244
1902 Total - ABA 35 65 161 42 7 1 0 19 25 13 17 3 .261
Bill Young was the Blues' final candidate for the first base job. They picked him up from the Louisville Colonels for 2B Rowan Dillon, who was rumored to be in discussions with the Cincinnati Reds in a potential "kangaroo" action. The American League could not afford to lose anybody to the senior circuit so the Blues moved him for this former starter with the Washington Nationals who has been hitting mostly in the pinch the last couple years.
Code:
Player Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
Ernest Ka'ai 19 4 14 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .143 C(4)
Charles Goddard 21 13 46 10 0 2 0 8 1 0 0 2 .217 1B(11), 2B(2)
[b]Infield[b]
Ning Zhang 2B(83), 3B(51)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1900 Philadelphia - NL 28 73 310 101 9 1 3 34 49 12 21 24 .326
1901 Philadelphia - NL 29 9 34 12 1 0 1 4 9 4 2 2 .353
1901 Philadelphia - AL 29 8 29 7 1 0 0 2 5 1 2 1 .241
1901 Total - ABA 29 17 63 19 2 0 1 6 14 5 4 3 .302
1902 Cleveland - AL 30 134 570 148 17 4 0 37 73 31 58 29 .260
What was the Philadelphia Athletics' loss turned out to be the Blues' gain. After the Philadelphia AL entrant lost a lawsuit filed by the Phillies, it appeared that Zhang and Kevin MacKeochan were going to have to go back to the National League. Not so fast! The suit filed only to the state of Philadelphia and the American League quickly got around the issue by re-assigning Zhang and MacKeochan to Cleveland. The Phillies dropped the suit shortly thereafter, after it became clear that the team was unwilling to actually pay the salaries of these two players.
Rowan Dillon 3B(85)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1902 Cleveland - AL 25 85 336 92 22 5 4 51 33 6 37 2 .274
Yes, Dillon needs to walk more and strike out less. He's still quite a pickup considering the Indians snatched him out of free agency after he spent six fruitless seasons in the Reds and Phillies organizations. He showed nice average, power, and a solid glove at the third base position.
George "Krazy Kat" Herriman SS(91)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1901 Cleveland - AL 23 7 25 7 1 0 0 4 1 0 6 1 .280
1902 Cleveland - AL 24 93 324 95 6 1 1 40 38 10 28 4 .293
Herriman, a talented artist who specializes in what the youngsters call "cartoons", also showed a fair bit of promise in his rookie campaign. If he can improve his power, watch out... if you are the pitcher, because he will likely hit a lot of hard comebackers that will bounce past you for a base hit.
John Parris SS(46), 2B(3), 3B(3)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1900 Cleveland - AA 26 113 322 77 14 5 2 35 31 32 12 1 .239
1901 Cleveland - AL 27 71 242 59 10 2 2 27 19 13 20 1 .244
1902 Cleveland - AL 28 52 168 33 10 1 2 18 15 4 9 0 .196
Parris was one of those guys rescued from the old Spiders to give the club some of that "local flavor". Which raises the question: why would you want fans to *remember* the Spiders? He was pretty awful last year, awful enough that maybe he won't play for Cleveland anymore.
Everybody Else
Code:
Player Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
Rowan Dillon 27 45 179 55 9 3 2 23 35 16 3 22 .307 2B(45), SS(1)
German Queiruga 38 14 37 4 1 0 0 4 4 0 0 5 .108 2B(9), 3B(2)
Igor Stravinsky 21 12 47 8 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 .170 SS(12)
Outfield
Kevin MacKeochan LF(130), SS(1)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1900 Philadelphia - NL 35 136 526 178 23 3 1 60 91 75 13 19 .338
1901 Philadelphia - AL 36 12 49 21 5 0 0 8 7 3 2 1 .429
1902 Cleveland - AL 37 130 492 143 16 2 2 48 77 66 31 10 .291
MacKeochan, as mentioned, came along with Ning Zhang in the lawsuit. It figures that the only way the Blues get good players is by another team suing for them. Anyway, MacKeochan made the transition from second base into left field and put up a decent season that may not be anything like his years in Philly (of course not!) but was still the best performance of any Blues player.
Nealon Bryson CF(69)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1901 Cleveland - AL 36 9 32 13 2 2 0 3 7 5 2 3 .406
1902 Cleveland - AL 37 75 265 62 11 2 1 26 31 23 13 27 .234
Yes, the Blues employed a 37 year old rookie for half the season in center field. No, we don't want to talk about it.
Kevin Bright CF(49)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1901 Cleveland - AL 29 31 109 20 2 1 1 16 6 7 13 0 .183
1902 Cleveland - AL 30 49 192 52 8 0 2 13 18 7 13 2 .271
Okay, prattle on if you will about the folly of playing Bryson so much. It's not like they were taking valuable playing time away from this man. He did hit a lot better when given the chance, but what's the best case scenario there? The team finishes 6th instead of 7th? Even that's unlikely.
Jim Shears RF(81), CF(20)
Code:
Year Team/League Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
1900 Boston - NL 25 31 42 8 1 0 0 5 5 3 4 1 .190
1901 Cleveland - AL 26 109 424 118 20 14 0 36 70 33 34 10 .278
1902 Cleveland - AL 27 102 416 103 17 6 0 51 49 16 41 6 .248
When he played the position, Shears was the rangiest CF the team used. Of course, he was also a poor hitter last year after an encouraging 1901, and playing him in center generally meant the team was using Valentin Lochilosurdo in right (granted, that doesn't then excuse them from using Shears in RF but these are the Blues we are speaking of).
Everybody Else
Code:
Player Age G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB AVG
Bip Campbell 28 34 64 19 1 0 1 5 6 2 3 3 .297 CF(5), LF(4), RF(3)
Ken Collen 29 12 46 15 0 1 3 9 7 0 0 4 .326 RF(12)
Valentin LoschiLosurdo 34 49 184 37 6 0 0 5 18 1 0 12 .201 RF(44)