PBA--Philadelphia Legends, 1963 Playoffs

[Honorable_Pawn]

In my 4th year I finally managed to take the Philadelphia Legends (97-65) to their 1st ever playoff appearance in team history. Before I break down the season report I'd like to show some screenshots of the season final standings.

We will be facing off against the Tampa Bay Pirates (95-67) in the EBL Championship Series. I'll cover that match-up later but in a nut shell it's the best pitching staff in the league against the best offense in the league. Out west it's the Detroit Mongrels (97-65) squaring off against the Houston Longhorns (94-68). More on that series later.



I took over the team at the end of the 1959 season and in my 4th season I took the team to their 1st ever playoff appearance. Our team is built upon 4 elite starting pitchers and a strong bullpen. Offensively, we get on base and hope to string together a few hits for a big inning. When we are able to put up a crooked number on the scoreboard we are very difficult to beat. But when the bats slump or when we face an elite pitcher our lack of power in the batting order can be exposed especially since our defense is prone to the occasional mistake.





As you can see from the following screenshots it's all about pitching on Philadelphia's side and all about hitting on Tampa Bay's side.

[Honorable_Pawn]

[Honorable_Pawn]

Philadelphia definitely has the better pitching staff. All four starters are elite and all 4 could be matched up against Tampa Bay's ace. No matter what the match-up is whether it be our #4 against their #1 we have the advantage in starting pitching. This is very important because against New York with the #2 starting pitching staff we struggled mightily going 6-12. Our bats just couldn't wake up against that elite staff. The same held true for the #3 starting pitching staff in Baltimore who we finished 8-10 against.


It is important to note that Tampa Bay has the best closer in the league. It is imperative that we score early and often. If we find ourselves in the hole in the late innings there's not much hope of a comeback. However, our bullpen has more depth so if the game goes into extra innings I like our chances the longer it goes.

The key to our victory will be avoiding the long ball. Tampa Bay led the EBL in home runs with 151. The heart of their order is stacked with HR threats. Adding to this danger the top of their order gets on base better than other team in the league. Unfortunately, for Tampa Bay, they will be without their super star 2B Javier Reyes for about 4 more days. He is a 5-time All-Star and has won the Fred Mcfadden Defensive Award 4 times. He has posted a very impressive line this season: .288 .338 .450 32 2B 5 3B 20 HR 88 RBI. His offense at the top of the order will be sorely missed. Even so, our pitching staff--which led the league in strike-outs--needs to avoid contact as much as possible against the heart of the order. As long as we don't let the bottom of their order get cheap hits we should be able to neutralize the 3-6 batters.

Offensively, we have a fairly balanced batting order but no real threat except for the surprise story of the year in Jayden "Big Mouth" Brown. He put his tumultuous past in Boston behind him and played a huge role in our success. We have no hope to out-slug Tampa Bay. We have to remain patient at the plate and grind-out every at bat. If we can string together a few hits in an inning and put up a crooked number early our pitching staff ought to be able to hold the lead.

Basically, that's it.

In the next few posts I will write up a short bio for the starting line-ups for both teams followed by a short bio of the the starting rotations and bullpens for each team.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

1. R LF Ron Pettengill, 27
3rd overall 1957




In the Spring of 1962 we traded our best prospect 3B Tommy Johnson, 22, and 4 quality pitching prospects to the Pittsburgh Grinders in exchange for Ron Pettengill. Excluding 3B Tommy Johnson, who has been a disappointment, all of the players we traded to Pittsburgh have made contributions at the big league level. At the time LF Ron Pettengill was in his final arbitration year while Pittsburgh who had stagnated around .500 for the past decade appeared in desperate need of young talent. Although the fan base was upset at his departure it was the right thing to do. In 1962 we knew that 1963 was the year we would start gunning for the division. So we unloaded as many prospects as we could afford to shore up LF. We quickly extended him 4 seasons.

We absolutely love that career .347 OBP. Although his speed is not a serious threat he has enough for him to lead-off our order. Ideally, we would like him hitting #2 but we don't have a true lead-off hitter on the roster. Also, he has very little power. He gets hits and he draws walks. Will he steal a lot of bases? No, probably not. But when does get on base he does not make mistakes. He definitely has a knack for stretching singles from 1st to 3rd on hits to the corners. I am very happy with him at the top of the order.

Defensively, he has a very solid arm with good range. His key strength in LF is he doesn't make mistakes. His hands are very good. In fact, he stole the Fred McFadden Award in LF in 1960. He's never made an All-Star game but I'm fairly confident that as the years pass he will get the recognition he deserves.

Is Ron the prototypical corner OF'er that you build your team around? No, not really. But he does fit the mold for how I build my teams. He gets on base and doesn't make mistakes. Most importantly, he signed a very team friendly 4-yr extension in 1962. With a fiscally controlling owner I have to find value everywhere I can. I am very happy with the acquisition and extension of Ron Pettengill.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

2. L 1B Ron Salas, 26
98th overall 1958




In mid July of 1960 San Juan parted ways with Ron Salas citing his inability to adequately field 2B and his lack of true power for DH or 1B. No team wanted to touch Ron for the same reasons and on top of that there were concerns about his immaturity and lack of leadership skills. Over the winter and spring of 1961 Ron spent time as a volunteer assistant with his ex-coach at his alma matter Wake Forest. Our scouting department became aware of him and asked him out to a minor league try-out. Immediately, we recognized that his intelligence was through the roof and you couldn't ask for a more loyal kid. So in June of 1961 we signed him to single-A Little Rock and gave him a shot as the DH.

Less than 1 year after his life came crashing down thinking that his baseball career was over he absolutely pounded single-A pitching. He crushed 13 HR's in 181 AB's posting a monster 1.119 OPS before we had seen enough. I'm not entirely sure why 23 teams didn't give this kid a calling card but he quickly emerged as one of our best young talents. At the time his power projections were still less than what you'd want for a pure DH but he kept putting on weight.

At the end of the summer in 1961 we promoted him to AA Hollywood. He would be surrounded by stud talent and excellent coaching on a team that ended up winning 3 straight division titles from 1960-1962. At Hollywood his power numbers dipped slightly but he still put up an impressive 1.068 OPS. Most importantly, we realized that he has advanced awareness of the strike zone. He puts the ball in play and he hits it very hard. He hit .467 in the playoffs for Hollywood and put up a 1.379 OPS. It was clear that he was the best player on the field.

He started 1962 in AAA Charlotte and after 248 AB's we saw enough from him that when we had an injury he was our first choice for a call-up. We purchased his contract from AAA Charlotte even though we already had a DH and 2 1B on the big league roster as well as a corner OF'er that we were grooming for 1B. Since there was no way we were going to start him at 2B we gave him a few shots on scheduled off days. He played so well and learned 1B so quickly that it wasn't long before he was the best fielder amongst the 4 contenders at 1B. We had a roster problem. We had 4 guys vying for 2 spots.

LF Vinny Burton shattered his elbow and was out for 9 months. Then during the offseason we traded our starting DH making Ron Salas the back-up at both 1B and DH. But bad news struck for the team when our starting 1B and premier HR threat 1B Freddy Fautuex ruptured his achilles tendon in mid April going down for the season.

This year Ron got his shot.

He made the most of it.

Ron is making the league minimum of $15,800 and will hit his 1st year of arbitration in 1965. We got him long term.

A true diamond in the rough.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

3. L CF Sammy Sheffield, 27
43rd overall 1955



In 1962 Sammy Sheffield was voted to his 4th All-Star game, won his 2nd Fred McFadden Award in LF, and won his 1st Big Stick Award while with the division winning Cleveland Crooks. He was the #1 fan favorite in Cleveland. You couldn't ask for a better future. This kid was a legend in the making. So without a shred of compassion I ripped him from the grasp of the devastated Cleveland fanbase. We aren't sure who the fans in Cleveland hate more, me or their GM.

But when we put aside all of the emotional nonsense and all the fanbase whining we see that it was more than an outright theft. As strong as Cleveland's batting order was last year they had plenty of depth in the OF. They had plenty of sluggers in their order. Cleveland won 92 games last year and took home just their 2nd division title. They really hadn't sniffed the playoffs since 1951 so it's understandable that the fan base in Cleveland was angry that they traded arguably the best hitter in the WBL. Especially since they finished 81-81 this year.

But in the 1962 playoffs the Cleveland Crooks pitching staff was seriously exposed. It was fairly obvious to most experts that the offense could carry this team through much of the season but there wasn't enough pitching to get it done. The worse part is that they had very little pitching brewing in the farm. They needed more than a true ace. They needed a whole rotation.

That's where I came in. I traded SP Carlos Oviedo, 28, who happened to go 20-8 2.67 ERA 1.09 WHIP 7.1 WAR for Cleveland this season. They got a stud pitcher who happens to give you 250 IP year after year. That's not all they got. I had to fork over the #36 prospect C Tommy Jenkins and promising 3B Robby Pennington. Let's not forget that Sammy Sheffield was coming up on free-agency in a couple of seasons and his contract was escalating. Moreover, there were question marks about his knee holding up long term. With all that offense Cleveland's payroll was about to explode. So they made a terribly difficult decision and got good value on a player that may have returned 2 supplemental picks that may or may not have panned out 6-8 years from now.

Do I feel guilty?

Nope, not at all. I took a big risk on a player coming into his most-expensive 2 seasons of his contract. I'm a little surprised that Cleveland had him so cheap and I thought he should have commanded much more 2 years ago. Apparently, he and his agent were worried about his knee holding up and took the guaranteed money that Cleveland was offering.



Has it been all great for me? Not really. I knew that he had a bunch of little nagging injuries over the years and I was aware that he broke his knee cap in 1959 and was lost for 9 months. I wasn't overly concerned before the trade but now I am nervous. He only played 93 games this season due to injury. He sprained the same knee in Spring Training and was lost for 4 weeks. Then after the All-Star break we lost him for 6 weeks due to plantar fascitis. I'm not sure if playing him out of position in CF contributed to his injuries but I have struggled mightily replacing him. After I let Ted "Tard" Applegate walk at the trading deadline last season I don't have anyone in my entire organization system that can play CF.

It's do-or-die time and Sammy is just coming off a rehab stint as we head into the playoffs. But I can't treat him with kid gloves. I need every ounce out of him.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

4. R 3B Jayden "Big Mouth" Brown, 27
209th overall 1955



When I acquired Jayden "Big Mouth" Brown during the offseason it was a long shot that I would win the trade long term. At first glance his numbers in his first 2 seasons are fairly impressive. But you have to keep in mind that State Street Stadium in Boston is an extreme hitters park. Also, he developed a reputation in Boston as a trouble maker. So what do I do? I traded away DH William Mumford who was converted from pitcher to DH. Mumford was my surprise find last year and our fans loved him. He even hit. But with the emergence of Ron Salas I just didn't have room on my roster for 4 1B. Somebody had to go.

Since Mumford didn't have a lot of proven value I had to take what I could get. So I settled on a questionable fielding 3B who could hack his way in left field, if necessary. Not exactly the type of player that fits my philosophy. At 3B I had aging superstar 3B Roberto Molina and in LF I had newly acquired Ron Pettengill. When I acquired Jayden it was to back-up 3B, DH, and to be the emergency #3 in LF. I really wasn't expecting much from him but he was making the league minimum and I got some value from the loss of Mumford.

Surprise surprise surprise. Aging super star 3B Roberto Molina struggled mightily and 1B Freddy Fauteux went down for the season. Jayden ended up getting a lot of AB's as the DH. In fact, he played so well early in the season while 3B Roberto Molina struggled that I ended up trading away Molina. Yup, Jayden Brown played so well that I ended up moving him to 3B. This meant that somehow I needed a DH. In return for Molina I traded for for an aging 3-time All-Star C with two bad knees--more on that later.

After Brown's torrid start to the season he ended up hitting .206 over August and September with just 6 HR's and a .562 OPS. If he continues his slump into the playoffs I may be forced to going with defense at 3rd base. I hate to sacrifice his bat considering he is my only true threat but I can't have the mistakes in the infield. He'll probably get defensive subbed after 3 or 4 AB's.

He's batting 4th in my order probably based upon a really good 1/2 season but I have to roll the dice with him.

He's currently making the league minimum of $15,800 but could end up hurting me with an early arbitration estimate that looks way too high at $48K.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

5. R DH Tony "Munge" Mungia, 33
#34 prospect inaugural 1950 season



Before his knee blew out in 1961 Tony Mungia was a hot-shot young catcher who was dominating the west coast while not getting enough playing time. Then in his free-agency year in 1960 he made his mark in the PBA. Overnight, he was a bonafide superstar. He won a king's ransom in free-agency from New Jersey during the 1960 off season. As fate was to have it he blew-out his knee in the first week of the 1961 season. After missing an entire season he stormed back in 1962 and was often hailed as the comeback player of the year. I knew all about Tony as I almost signed him during the 1960 offseason. Instead, I acquired Munguia this season at the trading deadline from the New Jersey Rats.

New Jersey decided to start the #1 prospect in the league Luis Mirabal at C over Tony towards the end of May and there was no room for him at DH as New Jersey (67-95) was in full rebuild mode. Essentially they had one of the highest paid players in the league riding the pine while still being on the hook for $150,000 in 1964 and the remainder of $138,000 this season.

So I traded them 3-time All-Star and 8-time Fred Mcfadden Award winner 3B Roberto Molina, 35. At first glance this move really doesn't look like the move a rebuilding team would make. Both players put up about the same numbers and both are past their primes. But at this stage in his career Tony Mungia is unlikely to command any significant youthful prospect. Essentially this worked out to be a salary dump for New Jersey. Roberto Molina had a salary of $95,000 this season and $120,000 in 1964. Basically New Jersey saved $20K this year and $30K next year for a player that was going to ride the pine. Not to mention Roberto Molina can still play excellent defense at 3B.

I made this trade because I thought I struck gold with 3B Jayden Brown. In retrospect I'd rather have Molina's 8 Fred McFadden Awards on the hot corner. Nevertheless, Tony is still a threat with the bat and I desperately need power in the middle of my order. Especially since my power-hitting opening-day starter at 1B, Freddy Fauteux, went down for the season. I could probably pick up a little OBP playing one of my bench players at DH but at some point it will take slugging % to bring home those OBP guys.

If he hits .200 and gets me 4-5 XBH during the series I'll be happy.

Long-term? I doubt that he is going to make my opening day roster next season. I'll probably release him at the end of the playoffs and eat his salary this season while the GM is ecstatic. I wouldn't necessarily say I lost this trade since Molina was such a tough piece to move but...I lost this trade.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

6. L C Carlos Patino, 25
17th overall 1957



During the Winter Meetings of 1960 the New York Powers were forced to try and pass Carlos Patino through waivers after a series of trades. After putting up .284 .402 .503 28 HR 88 RBI in AA during the 1960 season I'm pretty sure New York knew he wouldn't make it past 23 other teams. In fact, he only made it past one team. There was no way I was going to let this guy get past two. To that point in his minor league career he was substantially dominant at each level. Moreover, my minor league system was fairly devoid of catching prospects so this was a complete theft-job from an organization that was just oozing catching talent.

Their loss is my gain. He is also the reason that I did not sign free-agent C Tony "Munge" Munguia during the off season that year. New Jersey ended up paying that price.

Anyhow, I started Carlos Patino off in AA in 1961 and rushed him up to the bigs too soon. I was overly excited by his production at the plate. He hit .346 .502 .692 with 22 HR's and 50 RBI's in just 283 AB's. I promoted him straight from AA to the majors. Hey, he held his own but it was obvious that he wasn't ready at the age of 22 so I started him at AAA in 1962. Although he didn't play poorly he didn't light up the show either. It was clear to me that his defense behind the plate was sorely lacking and that he didn't seem to be improving. Also his bat seemed somewhat pedestrian. I would have liked to have left him down in AAA for the rest of the season but a series of injuries forced me to call him up where he was completely over-matched batting just .181 with 4 HR's in 216 AB's.

When Spring Training of 1963 rolled around we had ourselves an old fashioned competition for the starting job. Winner take all. Carlos hit .375 .423 .583 with 1 HR 3 RBI 2 2B's in 24 AB's. He was the clear favorite to be the opening day starter. Then disaster struck. He fractured his fibula in a collision at home plate and missed 4 months.

He rehabbed for 28 PA's before getting his starting job back. After platooning 3 journeymen behind the plate for 4 months it felt like hitting the mother load getting replacement level production behind the dish. I don't expect much from Carlos Patino and he only starts against right-handed pitchers. When a lefty is on the mound I start veteran back-up R C Tony Maynez, 34.

I'm still not sure about Carlos Patino's long-term future but he will be given every opportunity over the next season or two to prove himself. Otherwise he will have to make way for a somewhat decent wave down in my farm system.

Currently, he is making league minimum at $15,800 and won't be arbitration eligible until 1965.

[Westheim]

Bo Chuck's almost through the lineup, I better get some snacks.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

7. L RF Pat Emmons, 27
24th overall 1956



Pat Emmons was originally a supplemental pick by the previous regime who was once ranked as high as the 45th best overall prospect in 1958. His stats in the minor leagues were a lot like the numbers he has put up over the past 3 seasons in the PBA. He's a hard working kid that shows glimpses of greatness but he just doesn't seem to be putting it together. He doesn't have a lot of speed but he has very good instincts on the base paths.

I really like Pat even though there is so much lacking. His defense is very good but his lack of speed really hurts his range. It's hard to put my finger on it but the closest I can put it is that this kid would be a 5-tool player if he only had 5 tools.

To be fair he has been absolutely plagued by injuries. Bruised ankle, sore back, mild abdominal strain, torn ankle ligaments, strained abdominal muscles, knee sprain, recuring back spasms, jammed finger, strained abdominal muscles, mild concussion, fractured ankle, wrist tendinitis, knee contusion, hamstring tendinitis, oblique strain, shoulder tendinitis, intercostal strain, etc. Luckily, there hasn't been that big career-changing injury but there has been a lot of nagging injuries. Maybe that was due to a poor team trainer, maybe it was due to bad luck, or maybe he just has a propensity for getting injured. I don't know...I turn that option off.

I sit him against lefties but I don't really have a good replacement. I have a couple of decent corner outfield prospects in AAA Charlotte and AA Hollywood but I need help in the OF especially since LF Vinny Burton never recovered properly from shattering his elbow last season.

Long term? I'm hoping the owner ups the budget so I can get a veteran free-agent in the off season. In the meantime, I'm paying Pat $23,700 and he has 3 arbitration seasons left. His estimate at the end of this season is $37K. He doesn't feel worth that much to me so I'll take one chance at beating him in arbitration this year before deciding if I will offer arbitration next season or not. I highly doubt I will let him make it to his final arbitration season in 1965. I just can't see spending more than $15K-$20K on a guy like this. Don't get me wrong I really like Pat...I just don't know why.

Maybe an EBL Championship Series MVP Award will give me the answer I'm looking for. Who knows?

[Honorable_Pawn]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Bo Chuck's almost through the lineup, I better get some snacks.

I figure since I'm only covering the playoffs I had do something to set the stage.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

8. R 2B Diego Trevino, 29
international free-agent 1950



I acquired 2-time Fred McFadden Award winner and 1-time All-Star 2B Diego Trevino during the off season this past year. I was looking for one of the best all-around players in the league to shore up my middle infield. I focused on Diego early in free-agency since he was the best middle infielder available. I wasn't the only team interested in his services. The price kept getting jacked up on me but I was already committed to the 1963 season. There was no way that I could not get him. The entire season could have gone up in flames if I was unable to secure a premier IF to support my newly acquired rotation.

In the end, I was able to outlast a serious bidding war that significantly impaired my ability to acquire much needed OF, C, and DH help. Diego Trevino became the first player in the history of the PBA to land a contract in excess of $1 million dollars.



Diego Trevino played exceptional defense this season splitting time at SS and 2B. He gave me everything I expected in the field. In the beginning of the season he batted 2nd in the order and by the end of May he was hitting .302 with 2 HR, 19 RBI, 23 RS, and a .351 OBP. Then he went down for 5 weeks with shoulder tendinitis and hasn't been the same. Since the injury he has hit .219 with 1 HR, 24 RBI, 23 RS with a .284 OBP that has steadily declined month over month until he bottomed out at .202 .272 .298 in September.

Needless to say, I have moved him down in the order to take the pressure off but I need his defense in the field.

Long term? I don't have a choice. I'm stuck with him. Signing a player to a $1 million contract is the kind of mistake GM's get fired for if it doesn't work out. Right now, it's not a big concern but at some point I'm going to have to rid myself of this contract. In the meantime I'm hoping to get 3 more years of All-Star caliber production out of him.

I believe in Diego Trevino. I just hope that this fat contract doesn't make him lose his ambition and motivation.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Line-up

9. L SS Eddie Vizcaino, 27
international scouting discovery 1953



Eddie Vizcaino was "the player to be named later" in a trade that I made with Las Vegas in 1962. It appeared to be fairly insignificant trade that involved 7 mostly minor league players. The only real chip in that trade was CF Ted "Tard" Applegate that I essentially let walk in his final contract year. Las Vegas was making a run at the division and needed a rental in the OF. I was able to pick up 3B Eddie Vizcaino, 2B Ernie Maye, and a couple of minor league relief pitchers while giving up a solid SP prospect and a free swinging RF'er. This was a mostly unnoticed trade but most of the minor league pieces involved in that trade are starting to get some major league service time. It looks like the SP that I gave up will turn out to be the best in the bunch.

Oh well.

Either way, Eddie has served me well. He has split time at 3B and at SS. He is an average SS at best but tends to excel at his natural position at 3B. Since his production has been such a pleasant surprise I have been able to field a balanced infield with interchangeable parts that each serve specific roles. Eddie is my early game offense at the bottom of the order that I don't hesitate to replace with a better fielder in tight late-game situations. Although I do not like his OBP he gets just enough XBH's to make him dangerous at the bottom of the order.

He is recently coming off a rehab assignment so if he struggles early on in the series 2B Zachary Evans (more on him later) will likely see the lion's share of the starts for the rest of the series at 2B while I move 2B Diego Trevino over to SS.

Long term? Very unlikely. His OBP is too low for my team and his defense is not what I am looking for with a dominant ground ball pitching staff. I'll look to unload him every chance I get. It won't be easy because he is grossly overpaid. In the meantime, this is his opportunity to shine.

[Honorable_Pawn]

That's it for tonight. I'll get to the Bench and starting rotation tomorrow.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Bench

S 2B Zachary Evans, 29
348th overall 1958



Zachary Evans is solid line-drive switch-hitter that is better from the right side of the dish. He is patient at the plate and fouls off a lot of pitches. While he tends to put the ball in play he just hasn't learned to find the holes.

Defensively, he is very good at three infield positions--2B, SS, 3B. He also plays a very strong LF. Zachary's main weakness is that he tends to make blunders on the basepaths. Unfortunately he doesn't have the speed to recover from these mistakes.


He will start at 2B against lefties while Diego Trevino will move over to SS. As I mentioned earlier he will likely see more starts this series than SS Eddie Vizcaino should Vizcaino start off slowly. Zachary Evans will see late game action as a defensive replacement in games he doesn't start. Ultimately, he will start most of the games at 2B this series but game 1 will go to Eddie Vizcaino so I can see where he is at.

Despite his poor work ethic and his inability to get along with teammates I really like Zachary's talents. My scouts absolutely love him regardless of his actual production. I'm not sure if I mishandled Zachary by not bringing him up sooner when I took over the team in 1960 but I sure wish I had more data on him.

Long Term? I'm not sure. I really like him at 2B and I like that he hits from both sides of the plate. And I really like his glove. He is just so damn streaky at the plate. One month he'll bat .400 and the next .180. You never know what you'll get from him. Next season, I'm going to try and get him 500+ AB's so I can see what I have.

Right now Evans is making league minimum at $15,800. I don't think he will be arbitration eligible this season but 1964 he will. To me he is worth $25K-$35K/yr so we'll see.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Bench

R C Tony Maynez, 34
#38 prospect inaugural 1950 season



Tony Maynez started his career as a young back-up hotshot C in Havana back in the Havana glory days. He was blocked early in his career and ended up getting traded to Philadelphia where he started to show flashes of the potential he was once thought to have had. He put up a .346 OBP while throwing out 53% of base stealers in his first season with Philadelphia. So in 1958 he was given more playing time and responded with a .399 OBP and a .892 OPS while throwing out 43% base stealers. That was enough for him to win the starting job in 1959 where he put up some very impressive numbers.

When I took over in 1960 he was penciled in as my starter. The team sucked and he was the least of my worries. But he struggled for a couple of seasons. I tell you what, regardless of his struggles in 1960 and 1961, I was more than willing to stick with him a little bit longer. I had Carlos Patino in the minors and Maynez was perfect for grooming him along. Especially since they hit from opposite sides of the plate. I did my best to negotiate a contract extension with him in his free-agency year but he was totally unreasonable with his demands so I let him walk.

He ended up signing for near league minimum with Houston where he saw very little playing time before they let him walk after one season. He sat in the free-agency pool until May when I just needed a warm body on the bench after a series of injuries in both AAA and on the big-league club. Welcome back. I rotated him with 2 other career journeymen while Carlos Patino was on the shelf. He performed well this season and posted a .352 OBP. He will start against lefties in this series.

Long term? Well, I rewarded him for his performance this year and extended him 1 season at $25K. As long as he doesn't get greedy he may stick around longer. We shall see.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Bench

R LF T.J. Leonard, 36
starter inaugural 1950 season



Hmmm...where to begin? How about a 6-time All-Star Selection? What about 6 Fred McFadden Awards in LF? Does 3 Premier Cup Championship rings sound good? At the start of the 1963 season T.J. Leonard was the 3rd all-time leader in total hits with 2015 and the 3rd all-time leader in total stolen bases with 216. I'm not sure what happened but it looks like after a freak injury in 1961 he fell out of favor with management in Boston. Then they let him walk.

Surely at 36 years old he still had a few good seasons in him. Surely he would start somewhere in the PBA. It wasn't to be. Maybe its because he can only play gold glove defense in left field. I don't know. But for whatever reason he floundered in free-agency until June 8th when I offered him a minor league contract. He just wanted to get back in the game. He thankfully accepted.

I wish I could have given him more playing time but I have Ron Pettengill in left. So T.J. is limited to starting against Lefties. He will start this series against lefties in left field. I will simply move Ron Pettengill over to right and bench RF Pat Emmons.

Long Term? T.J. Leonard is not done in this league. He still has life in his legs. He can still run and he can still field. Right now now he's making the league minimum of $15,800. So I approached his agent about an extension for next season...never mind. He's asking for $45K. I'm not even going to negotiate at that starting price. I just hope that when he ends up signing for minimum wage next season that he ends up on a team that can give him some playing time.

I really like T.J. Leonard. A real class act. I sure hope to get him his 4th championship ring. Too bad he's so greedy.

[Honorable_Pawn]

Bench

R 3B/1B Lou Isley, 29
70th overall 1952



Both my scouts and the OSA still feel that Lou Isley has upside. According to them he should grade out somewhere between 0.5-1.0 WAR. According to his scouting reports he should be better than a replacement level player. What's the problem? I understand that Colonial Penn Park in Philadelphia is slight pitcher's park. And I get that he hasn't exactly seen a lot of playing time. But I'm just not seeing the kind of power that he shows in the batting cage. With no speed and a pedestrian glove it's pretty clear to me writing this right now that I only keep him around because my scouts got him wrong.

He probably won't see any game-time this series unless it is as a late game replacement at 1B.

Long Term? There ain't no long-term. He hit arbitration early in his career due to extended playing time his first 2 seasons. I lost the first arbitration case against him so he's making $23,700 this season with an arbitration estimate of $24,885 this season. I don't know what to do. Allow him to walk? Offer $23,700? I haven't decided. I'm afraid that if I let him walk he ends up beng up superstar somewhere else. What am I thinking? What do you think?

[Honorable_Pawn]

Bench

R OF Tom Bagby, 26
140th overall 1956



It took him 8 years to finally break into the PBA. He can run and he can field the corner OF spots and he can hit a little bit. He'll probably stick around the PBA as a career 5th OF'er.

Long Term? He'll probably stay on my 40-man roster for a few seasons but he won't see a dime in arbitration.