To Rule in Kansas City

[CatKnight]

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

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

[Overbay17]

Wow! Home Runs gone wild.... You oughta get your guys whatever the rest of the league is injecting themselves with.

[CatKnight]

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)

[Coach Owens]

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...

[CatKnight]

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

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

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

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)

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.

[petrel]

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

[CatKnight]

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?
*******

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)

[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?

[Coach Owens]

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!

[CatKnight]

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!

[petrel]

There should be a box in the League Editor screen which says "Do not trade first year draftees".

--Pet

[CatKnight]

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

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

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

[Coach Owens]

Are the Cards your favorite team in real life, Cat?

[CatKnight]

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."
*******

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)

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)

[CatKnight]

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."