Re: To Rule in Kansas City
Code:
American League East
Team W L GB
Baltimore 20 7 --
Boston 19 8 1
Detroit 15 12 5
New York 12 12 6.5
Cleveland 11 16 9
Washington 11 16 9
American League West
Team W L GB
Los Angeles 17 10 --
Oakland 16 11 1
Minnesota 12 15 5
Seattle 9 15 6.5
Chicago 9 18 8
Kansas City 8 19 9
National League East
Team W L GB
Philadelphia 17 7 --
Chicago 18 12 2
New York 16 14 4
St. Louis 13 14 5.5
Pittsburgh 12 15 6.5
Montreal 9 20 10.5
National League West
Team W L GB
San Francisco 20 7 --
Houston 17 9 2.5
Cincinnati 12 15 8
Los Angeles 12 15 8
Atlanta 10 17 10
San Diego 8 19 12
Code:
LEADER American League National League Royals
AVG Davis (SEA) .420 Gonzalez (SD) .455 Pinella .310
HR Tied 13 Tied 17 Kirkpatrick 5
RBI Horton (DET) 39 Williams (CHC) 54 Kelly 26
Steals Campaneris (OAK) 8 Morgan (HOU) 9 Kelly 4 (6th-T)
Wins McGlothin (LAA) 5 Perry (SF) 5 Tied 1
ERA Wilson (DET) 2.47 Holtzman (CHC) 1.84 Morehead 5.85
K McDowell (CLE) 37 Gibson (STL) 58 Morehead 34 (2nd)
SV Lyle (BOS) 4 Taylor (NYM) 5 Burgmeier 2 (6th-T)
:stares at power numbers in awe:
Trades
SF to SD: Three minor leaguers (3B, 1B, C)
SD to SF: RP Al McBean (78) [30] (0-0 5.06 1 SV) (9-12 3.58 9 CG for PIT in 68)
SEA to CHC: SS John Kennedy (68) [27] (.229 0-5 0)
RP Diego Segui (79) [31] (0-2 6.00 0)
CHC to SEA: RP Hank Aguirre (75) [38] (0-1 2.45 0)
C Bill Heath (70/71) [30] (Minors in 69, last MLB in 1967)
One minor leaguer (3B)
Milestones
1B Harmon Killebrew, MIN, 400 homers
CF Willie Mays, SF, 300 steals
SP Phil Ortega, LAA, No Hitter vs. the Yankees!
1B Ernie Banks, CHC, 1500 runs
SS Luis Aparicio, CHW, 2000 hits
CF Vada Pinson, STL, 1000 runs
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
Wow! Home Runs gone wild....:eek: You oughta get your guys whatever the rest of the league is injecting themselves with.:D
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
overbay: Uhm..yep! Fortunately things seem to have calmed down. Through May the league leaders are 21 in the NL and 19 in the AL - still high, but at least not manic. BA has also dropped to .260 in the AL, .266 in the NL.
*******
May 1969
Ewing Kauffman and I had a very long talk. He expressed his growing "concern" over the Royals' performance and put me on notice. I needed to start turning things around soon, or I might not make it until October let alone next year.
I went to Joe Gordon and spoke about some lineup changes, but he seems pretty confident that, given time, they'll come around. I hope he realizes his job is as much in stake as mind. Then again, being an older man with a League pension I wonder if he really cares. After a little bit of fire and brimstone at the beginning of the season he's levelled off. I hope he's not giving up this early.
*******
Kansas City (8-19) (6th, -9g) at Boston (19-8) (2nd, -1g)
1: Red Sox 8-2 LP: Rooker (1-6)
> Rooker gives up 7 ER in 5.1 IP to raise his ERA to over 8. Mon dieu.
2: Red Sox 5-4 LP: Podres (1-4)
> The Sox try to give it to us with three errors, but we're not interested.
3: Red Sox 5-2 LP: Bunker (1-7)
> Sox mopup pitcher Juan Pizarro holds us to 4 hits in 8 innings.
*******
We now trail Seattle by 4.5 games. We're once more the worst expansion team. Ewing's made it clear that if I can't turn things around, I might not MAKE IT until October!
*******
Cleveland (12-18) (5th, -10g) at Kansas City (8-22) (6th, -11.5g)
4: Royals 4-0 WP: Morehead (2-4)
> Our first shutout! Morehead only gives up four hits and the first to get to two wins.
5: Indians 7-0 LP: Rooker (1-7)
> Now it's Cleveland's Luis Tiant's turn to shut us out.
6: Indians 9-6 LP: Nelson (1-1)
> I'm rather curious how come everyone else can hit homers, but we can't.
*******
Kansas City (9-24) (6th, -12g) at Minnesota (15-18) (3rd, -5g)
7: Twins 10-5 LP: Wright (0-1)
8: Twins 6-5 LP: Morehead (2-5), HR: Kelly (5), Kirkpatrick (6)
> Down to 6-0 we almost make it back.
9: Twins 6-1 LP: Rooker (1-8)
*******
You know, if I had a pitcher in St. Louis that was 1-8, I'd be telling Gary to retire him.
*******
Kansas City (9-27) (6th, -12.5g) at Detroit (21-15) (3rd, -4.5g)
12: Royals 6-5 WP: Podres (2-4), SV: Drabowsky (2)
> The Old Man is still one of our better pitchers. Sad, huh?
13: Royals 5-1 WP: Bunker (2-5), HR: Foy (4)
> A complete game, Bunker only lost the shutout in the bottom of the ninth.
14: Tigers 5-0 LP: Morehead (2-6)
> Wait, when did Morehead get two wins? Ah well. Detroit's Lolich holds us to 3 hits.
*******
Well, that wasn't too bad...except now we're meeting the AL East leaders.
*******
Kansas City (11-28) (6th, -12g) at Baltimore (28-11) (1st, +2.5g)
16: Orioles 8-7 LP: Wright (0-2)
> Baltimore gives up 3 errors and we still lose, though barely.
17: Royals 9-5 WP: Podres (3-4), SV: Fitzmorris (1), HR: Rico (1)
> A seven run sixth, and Podres comes through again!
18: Orioles 2-1 LP: Burgmeier (0-1)
> In a season with so few pitcher duels, this one hurt. Bunker did well, just not enough.
*******
Seattle has fallen to fifth in the AL West, five games ahead of us. Montreal's one game ahead, San Diego is tied. Naturally we're all in the rear of our divisions.
*******
Kansas City (13-29) (6th, -13g) at Minnesota (23-22) (3rd, -3.5g)
19: Twins 6-5 (10) LP: Wright (0-3)
> Our first extra inning loss as Rod Carew doubles and scores on a Nettles single.
20: Royals 4-1 WP: Drago (1-0), SV: Drabowsky (3)
> 1B Bob Oliver goes 4 for 4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI to give us the win.
21: Royals 2-1 WP: Rooker (2-8), SV: Drabowsky (4), HR: Foy (5)
> Rooker spent a week on the bench (minor injury) and comes back strong.
*******
Los Angeles (23-22) (2nd, -4g) at Kansas City (14-31) (6th, -13g)
22: Royals 5-4 (12) WP: Nelson (2-1)
> Kirkpatrick hits a bases loaded single for the win.
23: Royals 3-0 WP: Bunker (3-7)
> Shutout!
24: Royals 4-2 (15) WP: Nelson (3-1), HR: Rico (2)
> Fred Rico's two run homer gives us the sweep as the Angels have lost 7 straight.
*******
Wow. Could we have started the season in a slump and we're not that bad? (Knock on wood.) We've won five in a row! (Knock on more wood.) What's more, offense seems to be settling back to at least human levels.
*******
Kansas City (17-31) (6th, -13g) at Baltimore (33-15) (1st, +2g)
25: Orioles 6-2 LP: Rooker (2-9)
> Oriole Jim Palmer gets the complete game.
26: Royals 3-2 WP: Podres (4-4), HR: Kelly (6)
> Podres tells me he's figured out the new strike zone. I think I believe him!
27: Royals 2-1 WP: Bunker (4-7), SV: Drabowsky (5)
> And another solid performance from Wally Bunker as well.
*******
We have an outside chance of having a .500 record for the month of May. We're now only three games behind Seattle.
*******
Cleveland (23-28) (5th, -11g) at Kansas City (19-32) (6th, -13g)
28: Royals 4-3 WP: Burgmeier (1-1)
> A three run ninth lets us pull this one out.
29: Indians 5-0 LP: Rooker (2-10)
> Cleveland's Steve Hargan with the shutout.
30: Indians 4-1 LP: Drago (1-1)
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
I see how it is Cat. Just do a dynasty on the favorite team of somebody who has been following your dynasties way less than I have! That hurts... :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
Coach Owens: Sorry bud. :( I'd said back in 'Destiny' that Mack might consider the Royals, so I felt it natural. Tell you what, if I get fired or otherwise start a new dynasty we'll check out Seattle. Deal? :)
*******
May 1969 Overview
With one game left in May we're 12-15, which is far better than our 9-19 performance in April. We stumbled towards the end against Cleveland. I'll hope that's not a sign of things to come.
I don't know if I'll be here next year. Ewing is adamant about beating the other four expansion clubs as a sign of our future dominance. Seattle drafted to do as well as they could this year, however, and they're four games ahead to prove it. That's a bit of room to make up - by no means impossible, but difficult.
For some reason the Chicago White Sox are back in fifth place. Are they really that bad? Their team batting average is .255, third in the division. On the other hand their 5.55 ERA is fifth, only ahead of us.
Well, let's look at what we have.
Batters, minimum 40 AB
Code:
1969 Batting Team G AVG AB H 2B 3B HR BB K SB CS R RBI SLG OBP
Adair, Jerry KCR 46 .258 155 40 5 1 0 15 24 0 1 13 16 .303 .320
Alcaraz, Luis KCR 50 .214 182 39 5 1 1 7 36 4 0 13 17 .269 .241
Fiore, Mike KCR 34 .243 70 17 3 0 2 22 14 1 0 12 8 .371 .424
Foy, Joe KCR 54 .265 189 50 9 3 5 35 25 2 2 35 25 .423 .382
Kelly, Pat KCR 47 .306 183 56 13 1 6 25 38 6 5 37 39 .486 .388
Kirkpatrick, Ed KCR 52 .243 169 41 7 0 6 39 27 1 3 32 27 .391 .385
Northey, Scott KCR 25 .259 54 14 4 1 1 3 11 1 0 6 4 .426 .310
Oliver, Bob KCR 46 .259 162 42 8 2 2 8 32 0 0 13 17 .370 .297
Piniella, Lou KCR 51 .299 187 56 8 2 2 9 21 0 1 17 24 .396 .328
Rico, Fred KCR 29 .281 89 25 4 0 2 9 18 3 0 16 13 .393 .347
Rodriguez, Ellie KCR 26 .333 66 22 2 0 0 17 7 0 0 12 9 .364 .476
Severson, Rich KCR 31 .217 83 18 5 0 1 6 15 1 1 12 11 .313 .270
Taylor, Hawk KCR 38 .177 124 22 3 0 0 7 24 0 0 9 7 .202 .224
One or two bright spots, and one or two not so bright.
First, Taylor is demoted to backup and replaced by Ellie Rodriguez (.333 0-9 0 in 66 AB).
Second, I'm not really pleased with Alcaraz, but Frank White and Rich Severson are struggling on the bench. (White is .235 0-1 0 in 17 AB). I'd also like it if White would get some more seasoning in AAA.
Therefore I go shopping. Our organization is still blessed with far too many catchers, so I offer C Fran Healy (68/76) [22] (.244 1-22 1 in AAA). We get a few offers. but nothing really exciting until Gary calls from St. Louis. It seems Phil Gagliano is very tired of being backup and willing to give us a shot. Granted he makes $19,000 more than Healy, but he's worth a risk or two. 2B Phil Gagliano (75) [27] (.368 0-0 0 in 19 AB) will be our new starter.
Third, Mike Fiore (.243 2-8 1 in 70 AB) will replace Oliver at 1B. Fiore doesn't hit quite as often, but gets on base much more. (.424 vs .297)
Pitchers, minimum 13 IP
Code:
1969 Pitching Team IP ERA G GS W L SV K BB R/9
Bunker, Wally KCR 83.2 4.84 13 13 4 7 0 55 34 13.77
Burgmeier, Tom KCR 15.2 4.60 14 0 1 1 2 6 2 10.34
Drabowsky, Moe KCR 18.0 4.00 12 0 1 0 5 11 12 12.00
Drago, Dick KCR 40.1 5.13 14 4 1 1 0 19 19 14.73
Fitzmorris, Al KCR 27.0 2.67 13 0 0 0 1 8 15 14.00
Morehead, Dave KCR 80.2 5.13 13 13 2 6 0 68 48 13.61
Podres, Johnny KCR 71.1 6.56 12 12 4 4 0 43 28 15.39
Rooker, Jim KCR 74.1 7.14 12 12 2 10 0 41 45 17.56
Wright, Ken KCR 30.1 5.93 15 0 0 3 0 16 21 15.43
Pitching is settling down noticeably, though still unhealthy. Podres is our steadiest pitcher despite his painful looking ERA, while Morehead remains our strikeout king.
Jim Rooker's 2-10 record is just too much for me to abide right now and he becomes our #5 starter - in other words never used. This allows Dave Wickersham (76) [33] to get some playing time.
Even though I have two starters (Nelson, 3-1 1 SV 4.91 ERA) and Fitzmorris, in middle relief I'm calling up Paul Splittorff to see what he can do. Splittorff (74/91) [22] is 3-1 2.81 ERA in AAA. Going down will be Ken Wright, who might benefit from more time in Omaha.
(I have a die roll to see if Gordon will let me mess with his lineups. He finally agreed. I guess he wants to keep his job too...)
*******
Standings
Code:
American League West
Team W L GB
Oakland 33 21 --
Los Angeles 26 26 6
Minnesota 27 28 6.5
Seattle 24 30 9
Chicago 22 32 11
Kansas City 20 34 13 *****
AL East: Baltimore (35-19), Boston (34-20, -1g), Detroit (28-26, -7g)
NL East: ChiCubs (31-23), NY Mets (31-26, -1.5g), St. Louis (27-24, -2.5g)
NL West: San Francisco (40-14), Houston (28-23, -10.5g), Cincinnati (28-26, -12g)
Code:
Expansion Team Comparison
Team W L GB
Seattle 24 30 --
Kansas City 20 34 4
Montreal 19 35 5
San Diego 18 36 6
Leader Boards
* American League (Royals in italics)
AVG: Rico Petrocelli (BOS) .377, Al Kaline (DET) .355, Pat Kelly .306
HR: Willie Horton (DET) 19, two tied with 17, Kelly, Kirkpatrick 6
RBI: Willie Horton (DET) 60, Harmon Killebrew (MIN) 52, Pat Kelly 39 (10th)
SB: Bert Campaneris (OAK) 25, two tied with 12, Pat Kelly 6 (10th)
W: Five tied with 7, Wally Bunker, Johnny Podres 4
ERA: Gary Bell (SEA) 2.44, Fritz Peterson (NYY) 2.63, Wally Bunker 4.84
K: Luis Tiant (CLE) 79, Dave Boswell (MIN) 73, Dave Morehead 68 (6th)
SV: Sparky Lyle (BOS) 11, John Wyatt (OAK) 9, Moe Drabowsky 5 (8th)
*National League
AVG: Billy Williams (CHC) .388, Pete Rose (CIN) .374
HR: Billy Williams (CHC) 21, Willie McCovey (SF) 21
RBI: Billy Williams (CHC) 78, Willie McCovey (SF) 61
SB: Lou Brock (STL) 18, Bobby Bonds (SF) 14
W: Juan Marichal (SF) 10, Gaylord Perry (SF) 9
ERA: Ken Holtzman (CHC) 1.79, Gaylord Perry (SF) 2.44
K: Gaylord Perry (SF) 116, Bob Gibson (STL) 96
SV: Ron Taylor (NYM) 8, two tied with 6
Trades, Milestones and Retirements
None worth mentioning.
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
It looked as if you were putting together a nice string of wins there. It might just come down to whether or not the Royals can remain healthy -- sooner or later, position players are going to start having broken shins, wrists, hips, etc. and the Royals might be the beneficiaries.
--Pet
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
petrel: Unfortunately your comment was rather prophetic. Ugh.
*******
May 31, 1969
After a number of roster changes it's off to Boston to visit the 34-20 'Sox. We have no chance of catching Oakland, but if I expect to be with the Royals next season I need to catch the Pilots.
Kevin Calahan was suitably sympathetic. "I'd love to help you, but I think Dewey's banking on us doing well this year." He told me that Sicks Stadium finally completed its first round of renovations, adding bleachers to raise capacity to 25,000, "...but the contractors haven't been paid. I think Dewey's robbing from Peter to pay Paul over here."
"I could probably give you money for a few players," I replied, only half teasing.
"Sure. We can talk in July."
*******
June 1
Well ****.
First, we lost to Boston 1-0. Wally Bunker pitched great, giving up one run in seven innings. Tom Burgmeier did well in relief allowing two hits. Dick Ellsworth and Sparky Lyle combined for a shutout, though.
It gets worse. Dave Morehead, our strikeout leader, is on the 15-day DL. No one wants to go into details, but doctors say whatever he did, he pulled his groin doing it.in two innings.
While he's recovering we recall Chris Zachary and stick him in middle relief, hopefully out of trouble.
*******
June 3
Two rookie pitchers made their debut against the 'Sox, and both did outstanding.
Paul Splittorff pitched 7 innings and hit the GWRBI as we beat the 'Sox 7-6. Four of those runs came in the sixth and seventh off two homers when he began to tire.
Dave Wickersham meanwhile took a 1-1 lead into the 7th until Carlton Fisk's homer unnerved him. He loaded the bases and gave up two more runs before escaping and takes the loss, but not bad for a first try.
Today is the Amateur Draft
What's more, Joe Cronin called to let me know I get the first pick! Let's hope that never happens again in Royals history.
What do we need? Well, just about everything though we need to try and get outfielders.
Looking at the list, however, it's hard to ignore that there's a pitcher coming out of high school that could start for us tomorrow. Finally we go with Bert Blyleven (76/93) [18]. He already has four good pitchers. I might bring him up in September or once we see how he does.
The Top 10 picks were:
1. KCR - SP Bert Blyleven (76/93)
2. MON - RF Dwight Evans (65/93)
3. SDP - 3B Buddy Bell (62/93)
4. SEP - RF Dave Parker (63/94) - the guy I considered taking.
5. WSA - RF Dave Winfield (64/93)
6. LAA - 3B Bill Madlock (61/91)
7. CHW - RP John D'Acquisto (69/83)
8. HOU - CF Billy Baldwin (61/89)
9. NYM - RP Don Stanhouse (66/86)
10. LAD - CF Cesar Cedeno (64/87)
In addition, Kansas City takes...
2. RF Al Cowens (56/90) - Good numbers for a rookie. Should rise fast.
3. RP Dave Rajsich (49/92) - Two good pitches, already a good defender
4. LF Derek Bryant (53/81) - Fair speed, good eye
5. RP Randy Wiles (46/85) - Just like Rajsich, but not as good
6. LF Dan Thomas (51/77) - Best of a dwindling pool
*******
June 6
In the East, Baltimore and Boston are in a deathgrip. We're caught in the middle as we just finished three hosting the Orioles. Podres won his fifth and took a complete game to start things off, while Ed Kirkpatrick hit his eighth homer, but after that they shut our offense down pretty good. The only good news is we're slowly inching up on Seattle, now three behind them and still at the bottom of the division.
Meanwhile, we're starting to see on the news reports from some place called Hamburger Hill in Vietnam. It seems we've been fighting the VietCong over it for the better part of a month now, sometimes taking it but always withdrawing afterwards. The soldiers don't understand it, and I don't think the reporters do either.
This is the first war where reporters are actually inserted on the ground with US troops. I'm not sure that's a good idea. I wouldn't say the media lies, but I would say they're not above stretching a point or two to get better ratings. Their horror stories leave us with the impression things are going very badly over there. I don't believe them. We beat the Chinks in 1953, I don't see why we can't beat the junior Chinks now.
What these long haired hippies don't realize is that there are good guys in this world, and there are bad guys. It really is that simple. We're in Vietnam, because if we weren't the Commies would enslave the people. They wouldn't own property, they wouldn't have any rights except what some red starred dictator said they could, and the Coms would just move on to the next country to take over.
I'll be the first to admit we aren't perfect. The My Lai massacre last year comes to mind. C'mon though: At least here you have the right to disagree with what's happening. If these demonstrations and peace songs and what not were happening in Moscow or Peking, they'd be shot.
*******
June 8
Last night we beat the third place Twins 10-1. Podres pitched his second consecutive complete game, and Joe Foy, Pat Kelly and Mike Fiore all hit homers. Beautiful.
Except, as near as I can tell, Pat's grip shifted on his bat at the worst possible moment. He hit his homer, but the ball's momentum forced the bat to snap back ... and break his wrist. Badly.
Doctor Stovall is not at all optimistic. This isn't something that only needs a cast, he says. This will take extensive off season therapy to get Pat ready to play again.
Yes, off season. Kelly is out, finishing .325 7-44 and 7 SB. He had the team's best batting average, most RBIs and stolen bases, and trailed homers by only one to Ed.
****.
No one is even close to ready to replace him, but I guess Fred Rico (.280 3-16 3) gets to try. I also bring up George Spriggs (67/69) [28] from Omaha. Spriggs batted .359 0-17 3 down there, and played for the 65-67 Pirates.
*******
June 10
We are now sixteen games out, four behind Seattle, and host the high flying Oakland Athletics for five games over seven days. Oakland is 40-23. We're 23-40. How...equitable.
With Pat gone I'm much less sanguine about any hope of catching the Pilots.
The news on the TV isn't making me feel better either. President Nixon announced he's pulling 25,000 men out of Vietnam. Now, during his campaign Nixon did indeed talk about ways to bring our boys home...but the job's not done yet! How are we supposed to win a war if we back out?
*******
Code:
American League West
Team W L GB
Oakland 40 23 --
Los Angeles 31 30 8
Minnesota 31 33 9.5
Chicago 28 36 12.5
Seattle 26 35 13
Kansas City 23 40 17 ***
AL East: Boston (40-24), Baltimore (38-23, -0.5g), Detroit (33-31, -7g)
NL East: Philadelphia (33-28), St. Louis (32-28, -0.5g), ChiCubs/NY Mets (34-30, -0.5g)
NL West: San Francisco (43-18), Houston (36-25, -7g)
Team Leaders
Wins: Johnny Podres (6)
ERA: Wally Bunker (4.73)
K: Dave Morehead (68)
Saves: Moe Drabowsky (5)
BAvg: Pat Kelly (.325)
HR: Ed Kirkpatrick (8)
RBI: Pat Kelly (44)
SB: Pat Kelly (7)
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
Good lord. It's hard to say where this team needs help. The only advice I can give you is from Casey Stengel, who suggests building your team around a catcher because if you don't have a catcher "you'll have a lot of passed balls".
--Pet
P. S. Maybe you can get Casey out of his bank job in California for some advice?
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
Quote:
Originally Posted by
petrel
Good lord. It's hard to say where this team needs help. The only advice I can give you is from Casey Stengel, who suggests building your team around a catcher because if you don't have a catcher "you'll have a lot of passed balls".
--Pet
P. S. Maybe you can get Casey out of his bank job in California for some advice?
Yeah! Name the 79 year old Stengel who will die in 6 years, manager!
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
petrel, Coach Owens: Stengel? Hm...well, you haven't steered me wrong before. We'll see what we can do.
*******
June 10, 1969
Something else happened yesterday in Cincinnati: President Nixon declared the 9th a national day of mourning in honor of Robert Kennedy. The Braves players voted, by a slim margin, to boycott their game with the Reds.
GM Mike Moore, who already announced he planned to retire after this season, asked for nine volunteers to play. Aaron, Cepeda and Alou walked onto the field. A few minutes later the rest of their club followed. They'd lose to Cincinnati 6-5.
(In our time line, it was Cincy threatening to walk against St. Louis. However the instigators, Milt Pappas and Vada Pinson, play for Atlanta and the Cards respectively in this universe. Therefore I picked one.)
*******
June 14
Dave Morehead's ready to come back. Since my birthday's tomorrow I'll consider that a present. I'm just not sure where to put him. Our starting rotation currently looks like this:
1. Wally Bunker (80/87) (4-9 4.73 2 CG)
2. Paul Splittorff (74/91) (1-0 5.82)
3. Dave Wickersham (76) (0-1 3.86)
4. Johnny Podres (72) (6-5 5.27 2 CG)
?. Dave Morehead (78) (2-6 5.13 1 CG)
Before Morehead's injury I'd "demoted" Podres to long relief, making him my spot starter. That was before he completed two consecutive games. He can stay. So really, it's Splittorff or Wickersham. Wickersham has 9K vs. Splittorff's 7 in about the same amount of work, so we'll let Paul try his hand at long relief/spot starting for a bit.
*******
June 18
We took two of the last three (and the last six) from Oakland. Morehead's return wasn't very triumphant as he gave up 7 runs in 5 innings, and Wickersham didn't do well either (though Fitzmorris held on for the win.) Oakland's running away with the division - no surprise. Nor is San Francisco's dominance, nor the Cubs battling it out with my old team. The BoSox are putting up a pretty good fight for the AL East though, and last year's World Series champs, the Tigers, are in distant third.
*******
June 20
Two stunning pitching performances. Two days ago Podres gave up only three hits (though one of them was a three run homer) in 8.1 innings. Yesterday it was Wally Bunker and Tom Burgmeier combining for four hits and a shutout as we blanked the Angels 1-0.
Oh, Johnny's win was the 150th of his career. He said he could retire happy now. Fine, just not until the end of the season.
*******
June 24
The Yankees swept us, and we have our first trade offer. Granted it's mildly insulting, but let's take a look.
Kyle Halwell and the Tigers will give me:
3B/LF Jeremy Irvine (50/74) [19] (Batted .186 in A and just promoted to AA)
C Gene Lamont (61/72) [22] (Batting .235 in his fourth year of D ball)
LF Dick Sharon (56/68) [19] (.235 in D ball)
In exchange for:
3B Joe Foy (77) [26] (.256 6-29 2)
"Uhm...didn't you pick up Irvine in the draft a month ago?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't league rules say we can't trade those?"
Halwell laughed. Apparently it was a joke to try and get the new GMs to accept illegal trades. Very funny.
(Hm...the AI doesn't know it can't trade draftees!?)
*******
June 26
Well, we finally snapped our six game losing streak today by taking the last one from Oakland. Splittorff did well enough for six innings, but it was Fitzmorris who picked up his second win, and Drabowsky his seventh save. Trailing 1-0 entering the eighth, Ellie Rodriguez singled, advanced on Gagliano's sacrifice, and scored on a Joe Foy single. An inning later Jerry Adair and Scott Northey walked, Ellie Rodriguez singled, and Phil Gagliano brought two home with a single. We didn't get one extra hit in the game, but we won 3-1.
We learned that Philadelphia is having trouble with Dick Allen. Oh, he's playing great ... but he tends to show up late and, in one case recently, not at all. He claimed he was watching a horse race in New Jersey and got caught in traffic. He's too valuable to suspend, so instead they fine him heavily.
*******
June 30
I love Cleveland! I love the Indians! They were so nice to us! Sweep!
On the 27th, Bunker and Dick Drago combined on a shutout. We had a homer (a rarity this season) and beat them 10-0. Mike Fiore had 4 RBI including his three-run shot.
The next day it was 4-2, with Morehead finally getting his third win. Lou Pinella went 3 for 4 with a triple, run scored and 3 RBI.
On the 29th, another shutout! Dave Wickersham earned the first CG and ShO of his career, and it was Phil Gagliano's turn to come through with 3 RBI.
After this the Indians tumbled to last in the AL East, and we are only half a game behind the Pilots!
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
There should be a box in the League Editor screen which says "Do not trade first year draftees". :D
--Pet
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
petrel: There is, and it's checked. Apparently the AI doesn't notice! When I tried to balance the offer I received an error warning me it wasn't a legal trade, but I guess no one told the AI!
June 30, 1969
Standings
Code:
American League East
Team W L GB
Baltimore 49 29 --
Boston 46 35 4.5
Detroit 43 38 7.5
NY Yankees 39 42 11.5
Washington 36 45 14.5
Cleveland 35 46 15.5
American League West
Team W L GB
Oakland 54 27 --
Chi WhiSox 41 40 13
LA Angels 40 41 14
Minnesota 39 42 15
Seattle 30 48 22.5
Kansas City 31 50 23 *****
National League East
Team W L GB
St. Louis 45 33 --
Chi Cubs 45 36 1.5
NY Mets 45 36 1.5
Philadelphia 41 40 5.5
Pittsburgh 40 41 6.5
Montreal 34 46 12
National League West
Team W L GB
San Francisco 53 28 --
Houston 50 31 3
Cincinnati 41 37 10.5
LA Dodgers 35 43 16.5
Atlanta 32 49 21
San Diego 21 62 33
Code:
Expansion Teams
Team W L GB
Montreal 34 46 --
Seattle 30 48 3
Kansas City 31 50 3.5 *****
San Diego 21 62 14.5
*******
American League Leaders
Average: Rod Carew (LAA) .359, Rico Petrocelli (BOS) .355
HR: Frank Howard (WAS) 25, Willie Horton (DET) 24
RBI: Willie Horton (DET) 73, Harmon Killebrew (MIN) 71
Steals: Bert Campaneris (OAK) 40, Dave Nelson (CLE) 24
Wins: Jim Palmer (BAL) 12, three tied with 10
ERA: Juan Pizarro (BOS) 2.42, Jim Nash (OAK) 2.78
Strikeouts: Luis Tiant (CLE) 116, Ray Culp (BOS) 1.08
Saves: Three tied with 14
National League Leaders
Average: Billy Williams (CHC) .384, Gary Sutherland (MON) .359
HR: Billy Williams (CHC) 34, Ernie Banks (CHC) 26
RBI: Billy Williams (CHC) 112, Willie Mays (SF) 73
Steals: Lou Brock (STL) 30, Bobby Bonds (SF) 23
Wins: Juan Marichal (SF) 14, two tied with 11
ERA: Ken Holtzman (CHC) 2.57, Tom Seaver (NYM) 2.70
Strikeouts: Bob Gibson (STL) 143, Gaylord Perry (SF) 140
Saves: Five tied with 9
Montreal Expos Leaders
Average: Lou Pinella .296
HR: Ed Kirkpatrick 9
RBI: Pat Kelly 44
Steals: Pat Kelly 7
Wins: Wally Bunker, Johnny Podres 7
ERA: Wally Bunker 4.00
Strikeouts: Dave Morehead 82
Saves: Moe Drabowsky 7 (Tied 8th)
*******
Trades
Baltimore to San Diego:
One minor leaguer (CF)
San Diego to Baltimore:
CF Tony Gonzalez (84) [32] (.316 8-31 4)
Oakland to Cleveland:
RP Ed Sprague (72/84) [23] (0-3 3.44 0)
Cleveland to Oakland:
SP Stan Williams (81) [32] (2-5 4.09 0)
Boston to San Diego:
Three minor leaguers (2 RP, 1B)
San Diego to Boston:
SP Dick Selma (75) [25] (0-1 3.82 0)
*******
Milestones
10: CF Willie Mays (SF) hit his 600th homer. He's only the second player to do that!
20: 1B Ernie Banks (CHC) hit his 500th. That's only the NINTH player to manage even that.
*******
Retirements
RP Bill Henry retired from the Houston Astros at age 41, having played 15 seasons.
He didn't appear in 69. Lifetime he finishes 46-50 3.28, 12 CG, 90 SV.
He played for the 1952-55 BoSox, 58-59 Cubs, 60-65 Reds, 65-68 Giants and 68 Pirates
Henry went to the 1960 All Star Game
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
Are the Cards your favorite team in real life, Cat?
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
Coach Owens: No..es..hm. The short answer is not really - I grew up loving the Red Sox, and now I live in Cleveland and love them for offing the Yankees (who I despise.) I remember last year hunting around for an NL team I could like - I despise the DH rule too - and settled on the Cards: Middle market, good team that usually contends but isn't an overpowering dynasty, I can work with that. Plus, I always liked Whitey Herzog.
Didn't really get to follow them last year though. Maybe I can change that this time around.
On a related note, this 5/6/5 5/5/4 division system really needs to go. It's unfair to the NL Central teams and favors those in the AL West. The only obvious alternative is expansion and a 4/4/4/4 setup though, and that reminds me too much of the NFL.
Why do you ask? 'Cuz Hunter came from St. Louis? Actually I picked them 'cuz they won the NL Pennant in '68. I wanted him to come from a 'winner' to an expansion team, thus the 'To Rule In...' reference.
*******
June 30, 1969
Pretty soon I will have to decide how best to carry the Royals into the future. The trading deadline is in a month, and I need a plan before the contending clubs come calling. As before there are really two options.
First is what Ewing Kauffman seems to want ... and so do most KC fans. It involves getting rid of any deadwood in favor of people who can help us advance as quickly as possible. It would certainly be nice if we didn't finish last. Certainly Seattle followed a similar strategy in the draft and for awhile they were actually in fourth.
Second is the classic strategy for a (re)building ball club: Dump the veterans for prospects. Admit you can't do much this year, build up and invest heavily in your farm system, and grit your teeth through August and September.
I drafted with this in mind, and I think that's what I need to do... but will I be here next year if the Royals stop putting it together? For the past two months we've managed nearly .450 ball, which for a building club is fantastic. I need to decide soon, before the Kevin in Seattle, the Expos and Padres start grabbing prospects...
*******
July 3
Correction. I need to decide now. The Cincy GM just called with an offer:
They will give me SS Dave Concepcion (67/77) [21] (.250 0-0 0 in 4 AB) (.349 4-61 11 in B) in exchange for RP Moe Drabowsky (79) [33] (1-0 3.74 7 SV)
If I am to try and purge my veterans, Drabowsky would be one of them at age 33. It's also true I'm not impressed with the shortstops we have - Jerry Adair (73) [32] is another veteran, and not a good one. (.244 0-27 1) Lately Rich Severson (68/75) [24] (.199 1-18 3) also had some playing time, and no one remotely interesting is coming up through the farm.
On the other hand, I have no relievers that can really replace Moe this year. Yet, our future there does look bright...
I talked to Richie Perrin, my scouting director: "So long as we surround him with the right coaches, I don't see why Concepcion can't be a fine shortstop in time." On the other hand, "Moe probably has two good years left in him based on his age. If you think we'll have a better reliever in that time frame, pull the trigger."
So I walked through the narrow halls of Municipal Stadium - no wonder we're leaving in a few years, God this place is old and peeling - and find Moe himself.
"Tell you the truth, Mr. Hunter, I'd be just as happy to go to the Reds. I'd like to play for a contender."
"Cincy is 44-37 and something like nine games out."
"Better than here."
Alright. We send Concepcion to our High Point-A (AA) club. Drabowsky becomes Cincy's setup pitcher. Our payroll drops $108,000. Chris Zachary returns from AA [i[(AAA)[/i] Omaha yet again. Oh, and a handful of people mail me warning that my soul is in mortal danger.
*******
Meanwhile Rich Severson will go down to Omaha to practice a bit, and we'll bring back Paul Schall (76) [26] (.190 0-1 0) (.267 3-35 4 in AA) and let him try short for awhile. The problem is... Schall's a third baseman. I hope he can make the adjustment.
*******
July 8
Thank God that's over.
We lost the last two of a three game set in Oakland, then went to Washington where they swept us. Again. Everyone struggled, and Joe Gordon let SP Jim Rooker out of his 'cage' long enough to earn his eleventh loss. Sad thing is, it was one of his better performances (3 ER 7 IP).
Now that it's the All Star Break I make my call. KC is a young team that needs time to build. It's only going to do that if we let these boys play, and that means clearing out those who won't be part of Kansas City's future.
I called Ewing and explained the situation. "You can fire me if you want, but it's not in the best interests of the club...our club...to continue to push for wins in 1969. I don't think we can get them, and it means I'll miss opportunities to ready the club for 1970 and beyond. Yes, I might...might give you a .400 record this year, but unless I invest heavily in our farm system, including trading players for prospects, we're going to stay at .400 indefinitely."
He paused. "I did not take you for a defeatist, Chuck."
"I am not a defeatist. I am a realist. I will give you the best team of up and coming prospects I can this year, and I will give you a winning season by '72, but those players who can't help us get there because they won't be wrong, or will be substantially weaker by then, have to go."
Kauffman paused again. Perhaps he was thinking, perhaps looking up the numbers of prospective GMs. "Do what you feel necessary, Chuck. However, your objective is unchanged. You're less than two games behind the Pilots. I expect you to catch them and the Expos."
*******
Code:
American League West
Team W L GB
Oakland 58 29 --
Minnesota 45 42 13
Chicago 42 45 16
Los Angeles 42 45 16
Seattle 32 52 24.5
Kansas City 32 55 26
ALE: Orioles (53-31), Red Sox (51-36, -3.5g)
NLE: Cardinals (50-34), Cubs (47-40, -4.5g), Mets (46-41, -5.5g)
NLW: Giants (58-29), Astros (52-35, -6g)
Code:
Expansion Teams
Team W L GB
Montreal 35 49 --
Seattle 32 52 3
Kansas City 32 55 4.5
San Diego 22 65 14.5
Team Leaders
AVG: Lou Pinella (.289)
HR: Ed Kirkpatrick (9)
RBI: Pat Kelly (44)
SB: Pat Kelly (7)
W: Johnny Podres (8)
ERA: Wally Bunker (4.00)
K: Dave Morehead (91)
SV: Moe Drabowsky (7), Tom Burgmeier (5 - on team)
Re: To Rule in Kansas City
July 9, 1969
Pat Kelly, our All Star representative (even though hadn't played in a month) would meet me at the airport for our flight to Washington.
Before leaving, however, I spoke with the one player I felt deserved the biggest explanation for what would happen in the next few weeks: Johnny Podres. Acquired from San Diego at the beginning of the season, after a rocky start he'd turned into the real leader of our pitching staff. A habitually quiet man, he often spent much of practice helping the younger pitchers try out different ideas. Perhaps in doing so he regained his old form, and now stood at 8-7 with a 5.22 ERA.
In other words, he needed to go now before his value dipped or he decided to retire.
I told him the truth: He'd regained some value, we were very grateful for everything he'd done, but as he was already talking retirement and KC needed to look to the future...
"Where will you send me?" he asked flatly.
"I don't know. We'll see who makes the best offer."
He nodded shortly. "Well, I want to thank you and Joe for letting me reach 150. I don't think any other manager would. In fact, I doubt they'll use me at all."
"I wouldn't know." Probably not, however. If it wasn't for his spurt of success and nostalgia, I probably should have released him or sent him to Omaha months ago. He'd simply lost too much from his glory days, though this season he made up for it somewhat by being smarter.
"Perhaps it's just as well," he added finally. "Some of the players... no offense to you. They're young. They're aggressive, like the wrong music, don't treat women very well, are loud... Some of their curses. Oh, we cursed in Brooklyn alright, but not so often, not for no reason at all. I'm not sure where baseball is going. I'm not sure I like it."
"You did well helping them with their pitches though," I pointed out.
He smirked. "That's easy. Baseball itself doesn't change, just the people in it. That's what worries me." He stood. "Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Hunter. Let me know when you have something worked out." We shook hands. "Good bye." He headed for the door.
"Johnny!"
He turned back.
"When this is all over - when you do decide to retire, feel free to come back. I need a pitching coach to teach these youngsters how the game's supposed to be played."
