Thriftlon Reports

[Syd Thrift]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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.

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

[Syd Thrift]

Overview: We admit it. We really don't know what we are doing. Two consecutive last place finishes probably caused you all to guess this anyway, but we wanted to state it for the record. Detroit seems to be a nice enough place and should turn into a nice baseball town once we figure all this out. One encouraging point, we think, is that everything was bad last year. That means that no one person will have the finger pointed at them. We do so hate confrontation.

Pitching

Chris "The Birmingham Bunter" Langdon

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Brooklyn - NL	23 35  3  3  74.1  86  41  30  2  21  14  0  0	3.63
1901 Detroit - AL	24 20  2  6  78.1  94  59  42  3  26  25  4  1	4.83
1902 Detroit - AL	25 35 14 16 237.0 253 138  95  6  59  39 19  0	3.61

One thing that we have found has worked for us is to get people who live nearby. We are considering trying out our grounds crew in spring training. Boy, can those guys shovel! Chris Langdon is from nearby Birmingham, Michigan. This was his first season in which he got the chance to start in more than seven games. It was good, and we can only expect better things as he gets used to the role.

Dempsey Quarell

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1901 Detroit - AL	33  3  0  3  24.0  20  12  11  1   9   7  2  0	4.13
1902 Detroit - AL	34 30  5 18 209.1 265 169  98  5  78  53 17  0	4.21

Quarell had an absolutely insane 1901 season in the minors. We have him recording more than 70 games started and a 26-21 record. Apparently his manager had the idea of putting him out on the mound for 5 innings every single day. We tried a more sane approach with him last year... and it appears that the insanity was the way to go with this man.

Brad Leach

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Brooklyn - NL	29 48  5  3  95.0 120  51  39  1  33  26  0  0	3.69
1901 Brooklyn - NL	30 14  1  3  36.2  49  26  21  2   9  18  0  0	5.15
1902 Detroit - AL	31 26 11  9 180.2 181  91  61  1  50  46 13  0	3.04

We bet the Superbas are really kicking themselves now that we figured out that Brad Leach is a perfectly decent starting pitcher. The White Stockings too, for that matter; they held his rights before releasing him at the end of spring training. Leach may not be the youngest player in the world, but his status as a long-time reliever means he has never been used much and as such should be a staple of this rotation for years to come.

Newton MacDaid

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1901 Detroit - AL	31 31  9 15 207.2 261 156  98  4  61  64 16  1	4.25
1902 Detroit - AL	32 24  7 15 179.1 240 131  89  2  58  46 16  2	4.47

We aren't entirely sure why this man pitched in 55 games for us over the years. It might have, ah, had something to do with a certain notion that the Irish are natural born pitchers, what with their propensity to tilt back the ale giving them extra wrist strength. We never said it was a sound theory.

Reardon "Chuckles" O'Mullany

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Cleveland - AA	23 52  3  4  95.0 119  67  44  3  45  25  0  0	4.17
1901 Detroit - AL	24 16  7  7 116.1 128  63  38  2  41  40 10  0	2.94
1902 Detroit - AL	25 17  7  9 143.2 143  60  45  3  37  59 13  0	2.82

It's good to see a man who is able to laugh. On a team such as this, it helps him to get through the good times as well as the bad. We are never really sure what he's talking about. Frankly, we think he's either one of those introspective types or touched in the head. We suppose he could be both.

Gar "Doctor Detroit" Wood

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Cleveland - AA	17 20  0  8  62.2  90  71  44  5  56  21  0  0	6.32
1901 Detroit - AL	18 34  9 18 238.1 250 155 109  4 115 109 20  0	4.12
1902 Detroit - AL	19 29  1 10 136.1 143  86  58  1  59  43  9  0	3.83

We cannot wait until this man truly learns how to pitch. He got sent down last year after a 1-7 beginning to the season, but got called back up to mop up and make the occasional spot start. He just turned 20 in December - we think that just being able to pitch at his age is something.

Everyone Else

Name			Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
Dennis Culler		31 16  6  0  70.0  61	   19  2  17  16	2.44	
Brian Mellen		37 10  2  7  79.0 103	   38  0  40  18	4.33
Fiachra Rat		23  3  0  3  21.1  26	    7  0   9   6	2.95
Ken Wilson		25  1  0  0   2.1   3	    2  1   1   0	7.72

Catcher and First Base

Earl McAllen C(91)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Detroit - AL	34  90 320  81	3  2  0	 38  26	 13  33	  1 .253
1902 Detroit - AL	35  94 317  71	6  1  0	 31  29	 15  42	  0 .224

Prior to 1901, Earl McAllen had never played in the major leagues. Even in the minors, he was a backup catcher. Let's chalk this one up to beginner's mistakes and move forward, shall we?

George O'Kyan C(51)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Detroit - AL	28  47 152  34	2  2  0	 10  14	  6  20	  0 .224
1902 Detroit - AL	29  53 166  31	2  0  0	 17  10	  7  16	  0 .187

Look, our catchers show just as much grit and determination as anybody else's catchers. Is it their fault they can't hit, run, or throw? No. Next question.

Farquhar "The Gay Slapper" Kifford 1B(140)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Detroit - AL	25  82 263  77 13  4  1	 32  29	 27  16	  0 .293
1902 Detroit - AL	26 140 542 144 25  6  3	 75  75	 56  39	  2 .266

The Gay Slapper played in every inning of every game for the Tigers and looked visibly fatigued as the year went on. He posted averages of .253 and .211 in August and September. We found this strange because we had always heard that gay men have vast, unheard of quantities of stamina, owing from the lack of stress that their laugh-filled lifestyle gives them.[It's a good thing "gay" doesn't mean something else other than happy because we'd have a lawsuit on our hands! Woo boy! - ed][Why did I add the last entry? I'm not asking you to edit anything, after all. Note to the printer: please delete both of these annotations. - ed]

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Tim McCleave		25   8  33   7	2  0  0	  3   2	  0   0	  0 .212 C(8)

Infield

Hegarty Babbage 2B(115)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Detroit - AL	28  21	78  20	3  2  0	  8   3	  6  10	  0 .256
1902 Detroit - AL	29 115 464 112 15  3  3	 48  54	 27  29	  7 .241

There sure are a lot of Irishmen on this team. We just now noticed that because we are so color-blind. We don't mind, really. We like the Irish just as much as the next guy, provided the next guy also doesn't want them buying property in our neighborhood. It's just... why do they all have to be this bad?

Brodie "The Dive" Swan 3B(122)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Detroit - AL	22 108 414 116 23 10  3	 53  57	 39  38	  1 .280
1902 Detroit - AL	23 124 485  98 22  4  2	 41  53	 41  32	  1 .202

Okay, we admit it. We gave Brodie Swan the nickname because of his last name. That being said, it's not our fault he chose to fulfill it by composing a season-long Swan Lake style descent. There's no good point to bring out of this. He was bad in the beginning, middle, and end of the season. We're going to give him one more chance but that's it.

Max Fitzgerald 3B(19), 2B(16), SS(2)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Detroit - AL	29  44 150  32	3  3  0	  8  13	  4  19	  2 .213
1902 Detroit - AL	30  58 171  43	5  3  0	 21  20	  6  11	  6 .251

One of the best things Brodie Swan has going for him is that this is the guy pushing him. Pushing may be too strong of a word. Gently caressing his back, perhaps?

Montrell "Sandman" Liotta SS(78)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	25 107 340  94 14  8  1	 33  46	 11  36	 25 .276
1901 New York - NL	26 107 429 103 10  6  0	 45  54	 16  49	 31 .240
1902 Baltimore - AL	27   7	21   4	0  0  0	  1   4	  2   3	  3 .190
1902 Detroit - AL	27  78 278  73	5  5  1	 21  30	  7  27	 26 .263
1902 Total - AL		27  85 299  77	5  5  1	 22  34	  9  30	 29 .258

We believe that even when we're scouting out people on the waiver wire that they should have a good, interesting nickname. Nicknames denote character. Also, you don't give nicknames out to utility scrubs, do you? No. We envision a man who has ensorceled the Dream World to do his bidding, giving him the ability to make pitchers nap and then club singles and stolen bases off of them. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but such are the nature of dreams.

Kenyon "Christmas" Merrilees SS(45), 3B(1), 2B(1)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Detroit - AL	27  51 184  43	9  1  1	 17  21	  5  19	  1 .234
1902 Detroit - AL	28  50 115  26	5  3  0	 16  10	  7  11	  0 .226

You would think that "Christmas" Merrilees would violate our Nickname Rule, except that we were the ones who gave him the nickname and we do not know talent. He has, it should be said, done a passable job as a backup shortstop over the last two years.

Phil MacConnechy SS(35)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1902 Detroit - AL	34  36 117  26	4  1  0	 15  11	  2  13   0 .222

Okay, so we admit that giving this man 117 at-bats was not the wisest of choices. In addition to the offensive numbers you see, he also might have committed almost twice as many errors as double plays for an .887 fielding average that could have been 28 points below the worst qualifying mark in the league (Sandman Liotta's .915 - hey, we never claimed to be baseball gurus).


Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Roger Milstead		38  13	44  13	1  0  0	  4   6	  1   0	  2 .295 2B(11)

Outfield

Henry "Fireman" Hosler LF(139) AL Gold Glove, RF(1)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Baltimore - AA	20  48	89  16	0  0  1	  4  12	  6   8	  0 .180
1901 Baltimore - AL	21  15	38  12	1  2  1	  8   4	  4   8	  0 .316
1901 Detroit - AL	21  53 207  68 13  0  1	 15  37	 22  31	  0 .329
1901 Total - AL		21  68 245  80 14  2  2	 23  41	 26  39	  0 .327
1902 Detroit - AL	22 140 561 203 24  6  3	 48  97	 67  49	  3 .362

Not everything we do is tainted with the aura of not knowing what we are doing. Look at this move: we trade star second baseman Pearce Fulbrook to the Baltimore Orioles for this man *and* future considerations. Not that we couldn't use Fulbrook at 2nd base, but this man is going to be a star in this league for a long, long time. Way to go, us!

Dave Wilson CF(129)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Boston - NL	22 130 360 113 11  6  3	 48  49	 17  33	 36 .314
1901 Boston - AL	23 128 577 158 22 10  1	 45  87	 16  58	 41 .274
1902 Detroit - AL	24 129 563 137 22 15  1	 58  80	 32  36	 61 .243

What to make of Dave Wilson last year? On the one hand, his average plummeted and he looked every bit the converted left fielder, committing 31 errors in center. On the other, he doubled his walk rate and set career highs in steals and triples. He's still young, but if he needs to move to a corner outfield spot there's no place for him. My! That sounded almost like a coherent "baseball" sentence!

Bob "Pencil Case" Trantham RF(129)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Cleveland - AA	22  90 356 117 14  7  1	 52  41	 21  26	 14 .329
1901 Detroit - AL	23 137 568 167 23 15  2	 54  83	 47  66	 15 .294
1902 Detroit - AL	24 132 536 148 27 13  5	 77  87	 30  49	 15 .276

Pencil Case's average dropped for the second straight year but otherwise it was a very solid season. He demonstrated remarkable clutch capabilities, finishing 5th in the American League in RBIs despite, to be frank, playing for this squad. Overall, it looks like the outfield is pretty much set for the next decade. Nope, no reason to draft anybody or even keep backups there.

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Arthur Altichioro	20  11  41   8	0  0  0	  5   4	  0   1	  1 .195
Clint Heath		35  40	43  10	2  2  0	  5   4	  0   0	  0 .233
Gary O'Larkin		31  49	49  11	2  0  0	  5   8	  0   0	  4 .224
P.G. Wodehouse		18  11	46  13	1  2  0	  7   1	  0   2	  1 .283

[Syd Thrift]

Overview: Military precision beats... well, it beats anything else. That was what 1902 proved. Despite playing in the smallest city of all the 16 major league teams, the Colonels prevailed in the American League due to a rare combination of grit, hustle, and talent. Should one expect more of the same? We'd say yes. The top two stars on the team, Johnny Gruelle and Paul Bump, are relative rookies to this game. Fire up the bugles and raise a 76 gun salute! The Colonels are here!

Pitching

Johnny "Raggedy Andy" Gruelle AL Pitcher of the Year

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1901 Saint Louis - NL	23 36 23 11 309.2 282 110  73  8  70 155 32  2	2.12
1902 Louisville - AL	24 37 27  6 315.0 273 111  74 10  40 170 30  4	2.11

Johnny Gruelle is, how should we put this... an artist. He likes to draw these funny cartoons of rag dolls and make stories about them and such. We don't get it. Clearly this is not a man who has had his will broken down and then put back together by the military. That will come sooner or later. For now, we are content to bask in this man's glory.

Kelan Quarton

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Louisville - AA	25 43 18 18 315.2 333 172 128  3  90  84  8  1	3.65
1901 Louisville - AL	26 39 20 17 330.2 302 153 113  3  80  87 33  1	3.08
1902 Louisville - AL	27 34 23 10 309.2 289 124  80  1  79  69 30  4	2.33

Now, Kelan Quarton on the other hand... this man is all about the salutes, the drumming, the trumpeting, and the logistics of the military career. If his face looks a little puffy, it's only because he has grown fat upon the hitters. Wait, that makes no sense. Actually, he eats a pretty good amount but that's okay so long as you are an officer.

Jerry "Magoo" Watson

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Philadelphia - NL	31 46 23 12 341.2 293 108  71  4  78 184  6  1	1.87
1901 Philadelphia - NL	32 36 22 13 323.2 250 108  78  9  65 218 34  2	2.17
1902 Louisville - AL	33 34 18 16 296.2 267 117  79  0  37 157 30  3	2.40

We have to admit that we're a little concerned with Watson. We expected him to be the team leader but at season's end he was just the #3 starter and Outstanding Veteran Presence. Much of that is due to the rise of Gruelle and Quarton but it must be said that while the American League remained static with a 3.14 ERA in 1902 compared to a 3.17 in '01, Watson's average jumped 27 points. As a result, we think, he also failed to win 20 games for the first time since 1896.

Jesse "Rawhide" MacLagan

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Chicago - NL	29 50 23 21 392.1 414 176 126  7  69 165 20  3	2.89
1901 Chicago - AL	30 24 14  9 194.0 182  78  48  2  27 119 21  1	2.23
1901 Boston - AL	30 16  9  7 147.1 150  60  48  3  31  78 16  1	2.93
1901 Total - AL		30 40 23 16 341.1 332 138  96  5  58 197 37  2	2.53
1902 Boston - AL	31 24 11 12 205.1 197 100  61  2  51  90 23  1	2.67
1902 Louisville - AL	31 15  8  6 128.0 116  44  32  1  17  66 12  1	2.25
1902 Total - AL		31 39 19 18 333.1 313 144  93  3  68 156 35  2	2.51

Like Watson, Rawhide MacLagan also failed to win 20 games for the first time in a long time (1892 was the last and only other time he didn't reach that plateau), but at least he had the excuse of playing for the lowly Red Stockings for half the season. A full year in Louisville for the major league career wins leader should only be a good thing.

Everyone Else

Name			Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
Jim Badgett		36  4  1  3  35.0  45	   14  1   9   4	3.60	
Ralph O'Mulvany		22 19  9  9 160.2 151	   55  9  40  48	3.08
Kent Sanders		27 12  0  1  25.1  32	    5  0   5   9	1.78
Stephen Vickers		27  4  2  1  15.2  16	   10  2   6   2	5.74

Catcher and First Base

Joey Tadlock C(71)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Louisville - AA	26 129 470 138 25 10  0	 48  53	 37  40	  4 .294
1901 Louisville - AL	27  94 338  88 26  5  1	 43  40	 31  45	  1 .260
1902 Louisville - AL	28  73 266  80 17  3  0	 45  35	  8  30	  0 .301

Joey Tadlock was more or less back to his normal self in '02. He's touted by the rest of the league as the fielding half of the excellent Colonels catching duo but his offense was nothing to sneeze at. He threw out 30 of 75 baserunners, a record good for 2nd in the league.

"Ball Four" Tony Stone C(58)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Chicago - NL	31 116 266  71	8  3  4	 33  46	 71   6	  1 .267
1901 Chicago - NL	32  64 196  45	5  3  1	 20  30	 28  11	  1 .230
1902 Baltimore - AL	33   6	21   5	0  1  0	  2   2	  5   2	  0 .238
1902 Louisville - AL	33  67 204  57 15  5  4	 34  31	 39   9	  1 .279
1902 Total - AL		33  73 225  62 15  6  4	 36  33	 44  11	  1 .276

See? Tony Stone wasn't finished. He just wasn't being used right. We think it is time to forget the aborted experiment of Stone at third base and just accept that the man is a catcher and that's it. Although we're inclined to believe that drawing walks is mostly based on luck, we're also inclined to accept that Stone is one of the few exceptions.

Rick Harpham 1B(87)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Cleveland - AL	23 124 470 147 16  4  4	 67  61	 43  37	  2 .313
1902 Louisville - AL	24  88 363 113 16  2  3  41  51	 33  27	  2 .311

In order to get the young .300 hitting Harpham, the Colonels had to part company with Berto Sarrie, a prospect they'd been developing since the mid-90s, and the inscrutable Harry Herapeth. Harpham played well during the time he wasn't injured. Unfortunately, he did miss the last 2 months of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon despite our entreaties to just play through it.

Zander Bostic 1B(50), 2B(34)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Chicago - NL	25  32	82  15	0  1  0	  2   5	  5  10	  3 .183
1901 Chicago - NL	26  81 359 100 17  9  1	 46  39	 15  48	 24 .279
1902 Louisville - AL	27  90 368 100 17  5  0	 44  58	  7  34	 30 .272

Bostic did an adequate job in the utility role and all, but what's up with that nickname "Zander"? Your full name is Alexander, one of the greatest of all war leaders in the history of world civilization. Do you think a man named Genghis would shorten it to "Genghi"? Think over these words carefully, 'Zander'.

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Jay Hoskinson		33   5	16   2	0  0  0	  0   1	  0   0	  2 .125 1B(3), C(2)

Infield

Fergus McKnight 2B(108), LF(7)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Louisville - AA	25 145 589 172 20 10  2	 54  65	 27  27	  9 .292
1901 Louisville - AL	26 125 499 129 29  8  2	 64  59	 36  39	  0 .259
1902 Louisville - AL	27 115 486 144 30  7  0	 56  63	 28  29	  9 .296

Don't tell McKnight that offenses are in a decline! He celebrated the finest season of his career last year, setting a career high in doubles and... well, I guess it would be best to tell him that offenses are in decline after all. Or if this is what pushes him to produce, maybe it's best after all not to tell him.

Loren Larson 3B(140)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Saint Louis - NL	27 117 391 122	7  5  3	 36  48	 34  31	  2 .312
1901 Saint Louis - NL	28 140 556 162 18 12  5	 60  78	 35  49	  0 .291
1902 Louisville - AL	29 140 577 171 20  9  2	 62  86	 52  56	  2 .296

Larson played every inning of every game at the hot corner and... well, he hit well. We won't mention the fielding for the sake of humanity [but we will - 73 errors, just 10 double plays, an .848 FA - ed.] but he did hit well. Larson's obviously not the long-term solution at third but the Colonels have to find him a place in this lineup.

Brendon Harrison SS(140)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Louisville - AA	28 108 275  84 10  3  0	 34  39	 15  18	  4 .305
1901 Louisville - AL	29 139 534 170 35 17  0	 65  82	 35  51	  6 .318
1902 Louisville - ABA	30 140 541 156 19 10  1	 63  71	 35  36	  6 .288

The Colonels were, among other things, extremely provident in terms of avoiding major injury last year. Of course, the philosophers all say that providence is the residue of design and therefore we planned all of this. We wonder what would happen if Brendon Harrison and Loren Larson switched places. Surely things could not be as bad at third as they were last year.

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Lawrence Willis		26  13	15   3	0  1  0	  2   5	  0   0	  2 .200 2B(3), SS(2), 1B(1)

Outfield

Dan DeBose LF(73)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Boston - NL	27 109 368 109	8  7  4	 34  57	 29  27	 19 .296
1901 Boston - AL	28 137 557 172 23  5  0	 89  78	 47  39	 24 .309
1902 Boston - AL	29  49 198  56 11  1  3	 18  28	 14  10	  6 .283
1902 Louisville - AL	29  73 274  75 11  4  2	 44  34	 16  16	 11 .274
1902 Total - AL		29 122 472 131 22  5  5	 62  62	 30  26	 17 .278

Dan DeBose actually came from the Red Stockings in a separate trade from the Jesse MacLagan one. The Colonels traded away Jay Hoskinson and some future considerations for this guy, and although Hoskinson didn't have a place on this year's club, one still wonders if we could have gotten more.

Garrick MacPhedron RF(30), LF(19)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Louisville - AA	33 100 382 108 17  7  9	 46  66	 56  24	  3 .283
1901 Louisville - AL	34  85 329  85 17  5  2	 34  43	 41  32	  6 .258
1902 Louisville - AL	35  49 169  47	9  1  0	 22  12	 17  14	  4 .278

MacPhedron has quietly moved from starter to 4th outfielder as the young'uns around him have matured. A true organization soldier - boy, do we love that term - he enjoys whatever role we give him.

Ray Cable CF(63), RF(45), LF(1)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Saint Louis - NL	30 129 550 163 34 14  1	 85  79	 37  43	 12 .296
1901 Saint Louis - NL	31  95 398 119 33 10  2	 41  63	 13  47	 14 .299
1902 Louisville - AL	32 108 449 136 23  8  0	 65  62	 20  38	  7 .303

Cable was a key pickup in the offseason but went down for the season in August with a hernia. Again, we regret to say that he would not play through the injury. Before his loss, we were moving him around between center and right. He's a world-class fielder in right so you'd figure he'd be the man up the middle as well, but not so much.

Paul Bump RF(63), CF(47), LF(5) AL Most Valuable Player

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 Louisville - AL	22  57 234  69	4  4  3	 29  27	  7  18	  6 .295
1902 Louisville - AL	23 114 473 173 24  6  7	 44  87	 42  32	 26 .366

Bump absolutely exploded on the league in his first full year as a starter. He led the league in hitting and finished in the top 10 in 5 other categories, more than enough for Most Valuable Player consideration. The next hurdle: getting him a Gold Glove in right field, where he has incomparable range and a gun for an arm.

Carl Hendron CF(33)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Louisville - AA	30 146 655 222 27 18  0	 65 102	 20  28	 83 .339
1901 Louisville - AL	31 123 543 173 32 11  0	 45  93	 18  36	 49 .319
1902 Louisville - AL	32  33 150  52 18  4  0	 23  27	  2  10	 15 .347

Hendron's injury is the reason why the Colonels played with Cable and Bump in center for so much of the season. He broke his ankle in early June and won't be back until some time around Opening Day this year. Up to that point, he was off to one of the best starts of his career. How good will he be when he comes back? We're expecting a full recovery because that is the kind of thing that the Colonels expect out of their soldiers.

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Cipriano Izquerdo	23   7  12   1	1  0  0	  3   2	  0   0	  1 .083 RF(5)
Billy Mitchell		25  31 144  42	2  2  1	 13  10	  1   4	  5 .292 LF(31)
Ron Mure		31  19	35   4	3  0  1	  2   3	  3   1	  6 .114 LF(9), RF(2), CF(1)

[Syd Thrift]

Overview: Others may not view the acquisition of the Baltimore Orioles by owner John T. Brush as a move worthy of truth, justice, and freedom. Those are wrong. We did it, therefore it is good. Why do so many question this? The American League is a pack of fools if they think they can really compete against the venerable National League, and the ease of our little takeover just proved things. Sorry to sound so mean about this, but it's truth. Again, the first of the Three True Virtues. And with this buttressed lineup and our new manager John McGraw, we plan on vaulting to the front of the league with pure greatness.

Pitching

Nathan "Pretty Bird" Woombill

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 New York - NL	31 48 19 21 368.1 396 184 112  6  75  96 11  2	2.74
1901 New York - NL	32 29 14 15 249.2 263 122  82  6  47  93 26  1	2.96
1902 New York - NL	33 40 23 17 354.0 353 142  97  7  62 109 36  1	2.47

Woombill was the unsung hero of this team. Well, one of the unsung heroes. Being that this team is 100% heroes, any team members who do not have songs composed for them are by definition unsung. Woombill trimmed half a run off his ERA and won 20 for the first time this decade. He is now tied for the 2nd highest win total of all time with 274.

John "Big Six" Pearson

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 New York - NL	22 16  2  2  30.2  42  20  18  3   7  11  0  0	5.28
1901 New York - NL	23 15 11  3 130.0 106  33  26  4  18  66 14  2	1.80
1902 New York - NL	24 39 24 13 344.2 301 123  96 11  43 140 36  2	2.51

When we say that manager John J. McGraw is a heavy drinker with the tongue of the devil himself, we say so only because we acknowledge that super powers come in all sorts of forms. Also, we say this to contrast him with clean-living, milk-drinking golden boy John "Big Six" Pearson. This man has every quality a young boy should fashion to become a smart, classy young man. That he's also a budding superstar is almost besides the point.

Bill "Snoopy" Haddon

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Baltimore - AA	29 53 29 20 461.0 477 194 151 13  72 203 44  3	2.95
1901 Baltimore - AL	30 40 27 12 347.2 314 111  73  4  39 219 37  6	1.89
1902 Baltimore - AL	31 23 18  5 202.2 148  53  40  5  17  87 22  4	1.78
1902 New York - NL	31 23 16  6 194.1 185  56  38  4  24 100 19  2	1.76
1902 Total - ABA	31 46 34 11 397.0 333 109  78  9  41 187 41  6	1.77

It was a season for the ages for Snoopy Haddon. It seems rather unfair that he did not make Pitcher of the Year in either league, considering he was probably the best hurler for both. For what it's worth, we looked up the 3 people who finished with better single-season ERAs than Haddon. The record-holder is Blake Biddulph, a relief pitcher from the inaugural season who was retired by the end of 1895. Can anyone say "fluke"? Numbers 2 and 3 were by American Leaguers.

Cullen Crewe

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 New York - NL	30 33  9  9 178.2 204  92  70  6  78  30  5  2	3.53
1901 New York - NL	31 30 10 14 212.2 218 120  82  3  61  76 21  2	3.47
1902 New York - NL	32 23  8 12 190.0 195 103  67  3  57  18 20  2	3.17

Talk about your eerie coincidences: Crewe was a teammate of Haddon's on the Orioles from 1894 through 1896, although by that time he was no longer a regular member of the team's roster. Crewe's resurrection with the Giants was the stuff of legends, actually; he'd been almost completely out of the game since the Orioles cut him in 1897 but has returned to be, if not the greatest pitcher in the world, a man who can win nearly as many games as he loses. This is a valuable level for a 4th starter to be at.

Everyone Else

Name			Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
Pat Nihil		38 17  7 10 151.1 154      51  2  39  31	3.03	
John O'Cloonan		31  7  1  1  17.1  17	    1  0   5  12	0.52
Bob Shank		33  3  1  1  13.2  10	    1  0   4   8	0.66

Catcher and First Base

Garrett Olson C(91)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	31  65 101  28	2  0  0	 12  10	  2   5	  0 .277
1901 New York - NL	32  74 258  67	8  4  0	 37  32	 18  28	  0 .260
1902 New York - NL	33  92 339  83 11  3  0	 45  38	 12  22	  1 .245

Olsen, a career vagabond who finally found a home in the Big Apple three short years ago, starts because of the way he handles pitchers as well as a rocket for an arm that has allowed him to catch 40% and 38% of opposing steal attempters the past two seasons. We would give him a flashy superheroic nickname but frankly we don't know how much longer he's going to be around.

Dylan Nelson C(57)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Brooklyn - NL	30  91 187  43	8  0  1	 23  14	 20  18	  1 .230
1901 Brooklyn - NL	31  38 122  34	5  3  1	 18  18	 12   8	  0 .279
1902 Brooklyn - NL	32  32	95  30	6  1  1	 13  11	  9   4	  0 .316
1902 New York - NL	32  30	92  19	3  0  0	 10  11	 12   5	  0 .207
1902 Total - ABA	32  62 187  49	9  1  1	 23  22	 21   9	  0 .262

Nelson's career path has been almost exactly the opposite: he was with the Brooklyn Superbas since the league's inception. We say "almost" because after all he is on another ballclub now. The Giants picked him up to add some flashy stickwork (flashier stickwork, at least), but he appeared to have left his bat back in the other borough. He'll face a severe challenge this spring training for the backup backstop position; the Giants own the rights to one Alexander Fleming, a chemist by trade who whupped opposing pitchers like the polio virus in the minors last year (.306 average).

John "The Black" Knight 1B(68)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	30  71 268  90 11  6  5	 41  36	 23  15	  2 .336
1901 New York - NL	31 140 561 155 26  7  7	 72  95	 55  60	  9 .276
1902 New York - NL	32  71 258  67	8  1  0	 27  27	 30  15	  3 .260

Knight's New York career came to an abrupt halt on the 16th of July when he was unceremoniously cut by new manager John McGraw. McGraw had to make a statement as to the kind of play he would accept and not accept, and in addition the writing was really on the wall when he announced he'd brought over former Cincinnati Reds phenom Cody Plummer. We'll miss you, Black Knight, but we're sure you'll find a job somewhere.

Cody Plummer 1B(132)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Cincinnati - AA	22 140 427 140 20  7  9	 79  76	 61  18	  1 .328
1901 Cincinnati - NL	23 125 512 159 32 11 10	 70  96	 65  34   1 .311
1902 Baltimore - AL	24  66 262  76 10  3  4	 44  38	 38   7	  1 .290
1902 New York - NL	24  66 253  77 19  4  0	 39  35	 31  12	  1 .304
1902 Total - ABA	24 132 515 153 29  7  4	 83  73	 69  19	  2 .297

Some pundits have claimed that the Giants made a mistake in signing a notorious kangaroo like Plummer and letting their long-time first sacker go in the process, but those people do not, we think, pay enough attention to what this man can do. He makes pitchers' knees wobble: last season they gave him an automatic ticket to first base 30 times. That is why we started calling him "The Punisher".

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Keith Bissell		34  28  90  18	4  0  0	  8   9	  0   0	 10 .200 C(27)
Jerry Turner		26  32  50  12	2  0  0	  7   4	  0   0	  1 .240 1B(6)

Infield

Duarte Gonzalez 2B(66), SS(66)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	22  95 377 109 15  8  4	 40  60	 24  24	 10 .289
1901 New York - NL	23  81 310  96 11  6  0	 55  44	 23  23	 13 .310
1902 New York - NL	24 132 516 139 22  3  1	 60  69	 30  33	 29 .269

Gonzalez finally enjoyed his first full season as a regular. One looks at the averages and figures that perhaps he started off hot and then cooled down as he found himself unaccustomed to the regularity of play, but such was not the case. He pretty much hit in the .270 range all year long. Alas, that seems to be pretty good for a short-stop.

Norm "The Big Napoleon" Aston 3B(71), 2B(64)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	29 145 520 146 14  7  6	 65  71	 83  11	 11 .281
1901 New York - ABA	30 137 504 179 30 17  5	 93  98	 92  10	 12 .355
1902 New York - ABA	31 135 491 139 20  7  7	 74  93	106   6	 17 .283

Okay, the '02 model wasn't quite as solid as the '01 one was, but take a gander at that strikeout to walk ratio. Admittedly, we haven't looked that hard, but that's the best rate we can find in the history of the league, exclusing people who had 5 walks and no strikeouts in 19 at-bats, of course. And he did it all while learning a new position.

Dolan Packard 3B(140)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Baltimore - AA	28 115 443 157 13  7  1	 47  69	 38  26	 19 .354
1901 Baltimore - AL	29 140 594 203 25  3  1	 64  98	 55  41	  9 .342
1902 Baltimore - AL	30  77 339 116	8  3  1	 31  54	 25  22	 14 .342
1902 New York - NL	30  64 275  98 11  2  1	 29  48	 16  15	 14 .356
1902 Total - ABA	30 141 614 214 19  5  2	 60 102	 41  37	 28 .349

How often can you bring a superstar in his prime onto a ballclub? Normally you have to pick out a "rooky" who looks like he's going to be great one day and then nurture him into stardom. With Packard, the Giants don't have to do that. They did have to move the infield around a bit but complaining about that is a lot like looking a prize horse that you were just given in the mouth for cavities.

Chris Fortescue SS(43), 2B(4)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Pittsburgh - AA	31  57 110  12	3  2  0	  8   8	  9  13	  6 .109
1901 Pittsburgh - NL	32  35 107  19	4  4  0	 13  12	  8  13	 10 .178
1902 New York - NL	33  49 141  32	8  6  0	 13  20	  6  11	 22 .227

What were they thinking? The fact that the pre-McGraw Giants gave this guy 149 at-bats is a very good part of why they were not in contention until the Little General took over. Yes, he was filling in a hole. That's no excuse.

Doonan Sidebotham SS(36)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	25  35	74  17	2  1  0	  7   6	  0   5	  0 .230
1901 New York - NL	26  36 129  37	5  2  0	 21  14	  5  11	  0 .287
1902 New York - NL	27  36 134  23	2  2  0	  9  11	  4  14	  0 .172

Sidebotham, at least, showed some signs of being a major-league quality hitter. Not many signs, mind you. But he was quite a bit younger than Fortescue and hadn't just hit .109 and .178 the previous two seasons. He's still in the organization just in case somebody gets an owie.

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Luciano Chevere		22  48  81  28	3  1  1	14   11	  5   1	  4 .346 SS(10), 2B(7), 3B(6)
Sexton Blake		22  11	13   6	0  0  0	 0    0	  0   1	  0 .462 SS(7), 2B(1)

Outfield

Tracy "The Hit Doctor" Welsman LF(83), CF(38)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	28 122 438 133 13  9  2	 36  55	 50  21	 21 .304
1901 New York - NL	29 111 430 128 17  8  4	 55  70	 42  20	 28 .298
1902 New York - ABA	30 121 469 136 23  6  1	 65  74	 54  14	 28 .290

Welsman managed to avoid getting hurt until the very end of the season and as a result appeared at the plate in '02 more times than he had so far this century. We're using the plebian definition of "century" here that includes the year 1900. Yes, we know that it really started in 1901. Now that he is in his prime, it's clear that the Hit Doctor is never going to be a star but nevertheless he is what he is: a corner OF who will hit somewhere around .300 for you and who will cover enough ground to play center field if needed. There are certainly worse men out there to give a baseball-related job to.

Paul Blenkiron LF(29)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1901 New York - NL	27  23	42   9	2  0  1	 10   7	  3   3	  1 .214
1902 New York - NL	28  29 118  30	9  1  2	 17  12	  5   9	  3 .254

Blenkiron will always be one of the great "what if" tales in baseball lore. What would have become of him had he not torn up his ankle that dark day in June? Would he have forever been a poor man's King Royal, or would he have swung the stick like a man who truly belonged in an outfield full of Giants? The world, sadly, will never know.

Ray Pearl CF(87), LF(10)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1902 New York - NL	20 102 384 112	6  4  2	 69  53	 14  19	 27 .292

Ray Pearl didn't just take advantage of the Blenkiron injury, he leapt upon his opportunity with the ferociousness of a singles-hitting tiger. In addition to the hitting, he fielded the position very, very well and probably would have won the Gold Glove had he played all season in center.

Rick Douglas RF(137)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	24  78 304  93	9  4  1	 25  38	  3  36	 18 .306
1901 New York - NL	25 135 530 172 16 14  8	 85  86	 50  51	 36 .325
1902 New York - ABA	26 139 577 155 20 14  3	 37 107	 65  52	 49 .269

Douglas still swings at too many bad pitches, but despite seeing his average drop nearly 60 points he still managed to finish 2nd in the National League in runs scored. That's precisely what you ask a leadoff hitter to do, score runs. When he did get on base, he made sure he got into scoring position. He finished in the top 10 in both triples and stolen bases.

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Dante Bommarito		34  23	71  16	5  1  0	11   10	  3   3	  9 .225 LF(10), CF(8), RF(4)
Liam Gascoine		19  11  42   8	1  0  0	0     4	  4   0	  0 .190 LF(11)

[Syd Thrift]

Overview: Given the way this team was savagely rent asunder by the conniving mountebanks at the Polo Grounds and in Cincinnati, it is amazing that this team still managed to finish 2nd in their league. They never really had a chance of staying in first place but the youngsters not only made a "game" of it, they showed that they might just be the foundation of a club that will have to be reckoned with for some time to come. That dynasty, should it exist, will happen in Hilltop Park, just outside of Manhattan Island, a state of the art facility that should have Giants cranks flocking to see their crosstown brethren.

Pitching

Sean Nickerson

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Chicago - NL	29 22  2  2  40.2  31  14   8  0  10  15  0  0	1.77
1901 Chicago - NL	30 29 18 11 251.2 251 101  68  4  37 126 27  1	2.43
1902 Baltimore - AL	31 40 26  9 331.1 284 110  89 15  53 123 33  5	2.42

Nickerson is, shall we say, a grump. That might explain why he didn't taste real big league experience until he was 30 years of age. It most certainly is the reason he is now with his 3rd team in 3 years. The Highlanders were more than willing to keep him but he expressed an extreme desire to get out of New York to the press so there you go.

Jim Badgett

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Louisville - AA	34 33  9 20 238.0 258 151 113  2 124  23 12  0	4.27
1901 Louisville - AL	35 35 20 13 286.1 284 165  97  2 127  49 28  0	3.05
1902 Louisville - AL	36  4  1  3  35.0  45  23  14  1   9   4  4  0	3.60
1902 Baltimore - AL	36 26  7 16 185.2 219 138  93  5  76  16 14  0	4.51
1902 Total - AL		36 30  8 19 220.2 264 161 107  6  85  20 18  0	4.36

Acquired in early May for catcher Tony Stone, Jim Badgett's career has been an enigma. Despite having walked nearly 3 times as many men as he's struck out (1588 to 573), Badgett has a career record very near .500 (207-230). Whatever the riddle, opposing hitters seemed to have solved it as of late. Badgett's time in the league may be running short.

Ed Gargen

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Cleveland - AA	21 38  5 14 157.0 170  95  51  2  31  53  1  0	2.92
1901 Baltimore - AL	22 17  9  7 138.0 129  45  27  2   7  51 11  0	1.76
1902 Baltimore - AL	23 15  6  8 117.2 125  66  40  1  15  27  9  2	3.06

Gargen was a casualty of a manager (John McGraw) who wanted so badly to win right now that he could not see the talent in front of him. Gargen pitched for Baltimore entirely after McGraw skipped town and was a lot better than his numbers suggest. He was rough around the edges in his first month but then really put it together in September, going 5-1 with an ERA of 1.04. He is by default the team ace for 1903.

Fionn Kempson

Year Team		Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
1900 Baltimore - AA	26  6  0  0   7.2   7	1   1  0   0   3  0  0	1.17
1901 Baltimore - AL	27  6  0  3  19.1  17	7   5  1   3  10  0  0	2.33
1902 Baltimore - AL	28 15  7  5 115.1 117  57  46  2  23  53  9  1	3.59

Kempson's another guy who came more or less out of nowhere to keep the Orioles respectable in the second half of '02. His spot in the rotation is nearly assured.

Everyone Else

Name			Age G  W  L    IP   H   R  ER HR  BB  SO CG Sh   ERA
Bill Copeland		34 21 14  6 193.2 191      52  3  24  60	2.42
Don Cushingham		29  1  0  1   2.1   6	    3  0   1   1       11.57
Bill Haddon		31 23 18  5 202.2 148	   40  5  17  87	1.78
Kirby Iversen		28 17  4  3  71.0  79	   22  1  23  10	2.79
John O'Cloonan		31  9  1  4  56.1  73	   24  2  19  14	3.83

Catcher and First Base

Von Craufurd C(95)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Baltimore - AA	31 130 487 137 31  7  2	 75  66	 40  35	  2 .281
1901 Baltimore - AL	32 107 433 120 33 10  1	 72  61	 24  53	  0 .277
1902 Baltimore - AL	33  97 351  81 17  3  2	 43  35	 15  36	  0 .231

Craufurd didn't play as much as he usually does and wasn't that effective when he did play, but you have to give the man a break: after John McGraw left, he handled the managerial reins. He's back in that dual role in 1903. His arm is still there as well as his sure hands (only one catcher in all of baseball had a higher fielding average last season) but you have to wonder how long it might take for him to notice his own slide downward in hitting proficiency.

Elliott Strong C(48)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Saint Louis - NL	26  64	84  18	1  0  2	 16  13	 13   6	  0 .214
1901 Boston - AL	27  69 197  39	9  0  1	 24  23	 28  13	  0 .198
1902 Boston - AL	28   3	 3   2	0  0  0	  0   0	  0   0	  0 .667
1902 Baltimore - AL	28  54 138  34	5  0  2	 20  19	 18   8	  0 .246
1902 Total - AL		28  57 141  36	5  0  2	 20  19	 18   8	  0 .255

Strong came over in a relatively unheralded trade from the Red Stockings and was decidedly average in his backup role. That's not such a bad thing in and of itself but it does mean that he probably would not be the heir apparent should Craufurd fall.

Bill McAchounich 1B(63)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1902 Baltimore - AL	23  63 256  68 15  2  2	 47  29	 11  26	  1 .266

Although he showed that he was ready for the bigs by hitting .320 in half a season in the minors, it was clear that

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
Tony Stone		33   6	21   5	0  1  0	  2   2	  5   2	  0 .238 C(6)
Emiliano Zapata		23   4	12   3	0  0  0	  1   1	  0   1	  0 .250 C(4)
Cody Plummer		24  66 262  76 10  3  4	 44  38	 38   7   1 .290 1B(66)
Bob Perry		31  14  43   6	0  0  0	  5   3	  4   6   0 .140 1B(11)

Infield

Pearce "Captain New Jersey" Fulbrook 2B(91)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 New York - NL	32 127 527 155 14 13  4	 71  71	 34  33	  5 .294
1901 Detroit - AL	33  69 265  81 11  7  2	 28  29	 35  18	  2 .306
1901 Baltimore - AL	33  61 253  70	7  1  0	 37  35	 22  16	  1 .277
1901 Total - AL		33 130 518 151 18  8  2	 65  64	 57  34	  3 .292
1902 Baltimore - AL	34  91 389 106 19  7  1	 32  64	 36  17	  6 .272

We were surprised as anybody else to see that Pearce Fulbrook, a man who seems to enjoy changing teams once every couple years just to see the continent, did not join his teammates in moving back to the Giants. Perhaps he felt he had worn out his welcome in the big city. Or maybe he was just a big fan of crab cakes. Anyway, shortly after the Big Evil Thing he was lost for the season with a bad back and then the Orioles moved to New York.

Ed Higson SS(84), 2B(27)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Baltimore - AA	26 142 540 169 22  9  7	 56  94	 32  35	 15 .313
1901 Baltimore - AL	27 125 475 114 12  8  3	 50  63	 30  37	  2 .240
1902 Baltimore - AL	28 115 445 113 11  3  1	 41  47	 21  30	  5 .254

'02 was going to be the year where Higson would show whether he was the heavy hitter of the 1900 season or the weakling of 1901. Sadly, he appeared to be mostly a weakling. He's still a more than adequate middle infielder who can aid the Orioles with his utility.

Pablo Picasso 3B(41), 2B(18)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1902 Baltimore - AL	20  59 259  72	6  3  2	 26  44	  7  26	  6 .278

Picasso is also, we ought to point out, a painter. What we've seen of his painting style is just... weird. Not bad, mind you. We just don't get it. It looks terribly modern and he might have an issue with depth perception. We are happy to say that this possible depth perception thing did not manifest itself on the ballfield, where he showed himself to be of major league quality at the young age of 20.

Fred Sisk SS(45), 2B(6)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1902 Baltimore - AL	24  53 193  62 11  3  1	 29  29	 29  16	  3 .321

Sisk was as responsible as anybody else for the late-season resurgence of the Orioles. Not only did he hit a strong .321, he also fielded what many pundits consider the hardest position in the field. He didn't do it terribly well, mind you, but he was out there day after day in the months of August and September. Far from wilting in the late months as so many rookys do, Sisk batted .341 in September and had 5 hits in 12 October at-bats.

Everybody Else

Player			Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
E.M. Forster		25  32	95  21	2  0  1	 10  13	  3   6   0 .221 3B(23), 2B(1)	
Montrell Liotta		27   7	21   4	0  0  0	  1   4	  2   3   3 .190 SS(7)
Dolan Packard		30  77 339 116	8  3  1	 31  54	 25  22  14 .342 3B(77)
Leegan Perot		21   6	23   3	0  0  0	  2   3	  1   4   0 .130 SS(6)

Outfield

Crowmarn Kempe CF(45), LF(29)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Baltimore - AA	25  19	19   4	0  0  0	  2   2	  2   2	  1 .211
1901 Baltimore - AL	26  13	31   8	1  0  0	  1   3	  1   4	  1 .258
1902 Baltimore - AL	27  83 284  91	9  1  5	 32  48	 32  11	  5 .320

Kempe was finally given an opportunity to play major league baseball and looked like a man who should have had his chance about 3 years previously. What position he'll play is sort of up for grabs but it's for certain that he'll be in the lineup somewhere.

Casey Labrey LF(27), CF(4), RF(2)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Baltimore - AA	29 126 281  87 17  5  2	 45  50	 29  10	 30 .310
1901 Baltimore - AL	30  48 140  44	5  6  0	 17  25	 17   5	  4 .314
1902 Baltimore - AL	31  39 131  35 11  1  0	 11  23	 11   4	 11 .267

What happened to Casey? Following a solid year as a 4th outfielder in 1900, he struggled to get at-bats as the Orioles brought in one superstar outfielder after another. Then when all those guys left he finally got a shot at starting only to hurt his shoulder on August 1 and miss the remainder of the season. At this point, the Orioles probably can't count on him to be an everyday starter, but he's yet to disappoint us when he is able to play.

Valentin Lochilosurdo RF(44), LF(23)

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Cincinnati - AA	32  37	41  13	4  0  1	  8   7	  3   5	  0 .317
1900 Brooklyn - NL	32  87 351 101 10  5  4	 52  41	 15  29	  0 .288
1900 Total - ABA	32 124 392 114 14  5  5	 60  48	 18  34	  0 .291
1901 Cleveland - AL	33 109 425 133 22  7  0	 59  59	 34  41	  1 .313
1902 Cleveland - AL	34  49 184  37	6  0  0	  5  18	 12  14	  1 .201
1902 Baltimore - AL	34  25	99  22	3  0  0	  8  14	  4   8	  0 .222
1902 Total - AL		34  74 283  59	9  0  0	 13  32	 16  22	  1 .208

Lochilosurdo's career seems to be just about over after a horrendous 1902. Being released by the lowly Cleveland Blues should have ended things right there but the Orioles were in need of outfielders so he got one final chance. He didn't hit then either. It wasn't a bad career - a lifetime .291 average, 1481 hits, 203 doubles, 764 career runs scored.

Lynch Passager CF(88) AL Gold Glove CF

Year Team/League	Age  G	AB   H 2B 3B HR	RBI   R	 BB   K	 SB  AVG
1900 Baltimore - AA	26 105 408 127 15  6  3	 61  71	 59  16	 13 .311
1901 Baltimore - AL	27  84 322 120	9  7  4	 70  56	 52  20	  4 .373
1902 Baltimore - AL	28  88 356 122	9  7  4	 42  62	 36  30	 11 .343

If Passager could ju