1958
PRE SEASON PROGNOSIS

AMERICAN
LEAGUE

South
River
Gladiators

The defending AL
champs are the class of the division in almost categories but the edge is very
thin and any of three teams could easily capture the flag.  As always the M & M boys (Mays &
Musial) will be the leaders of the team and either could contend for the MVP
trophy and/or the batting championship.
Third sacker Frank Thomas (the first
incarnation of Frank Thomas!) could easily lead the team and even the
league in homers.  The middle infield
is a grab bag of several players, all of whom are OK in the field and nothing
to get excited about at bat.  A cast
of thousands will be needed to cover the catching position.  Southpaw Warren Spahn once again leads
the mound staff but he’ll get first class support from Cal McClish, Stu
Miller & Joey Jay.  Dick Hyde is
an excellent closer and the middle relief is more than adequate.

West
Warwick
Monarchs

The Kings are right there with the Gladiators and
won’t need too many breaks to reach the post season.  They have no one-two punch to match the
M & M boys but an outfield of Al Kaline, Bob Sinner and Bobby Thompson with
Norm Seibern in reserve is certainly more than adequate.  Gus Triandos should be one of the
league’s premier catchers but the rest of the infield, other than pepper
pot Nellie Fox is unsettled and the manager will need to move several players
in and out of the lineup all year long.
West Warwick has a deep and capable
starting staff with five pitchers capable of winning 15 plus games.  Don Elston and Roy Face are both great
closers and the only “problem” will be getting both of them enough
work.  The starters who aren’t
starting and Clem Labine will provide the balance of the bullpen support.

Rossville
Hornets

The Hornets aren’t that far behind the two teams above
and it wouldn’t be a great upset for them to find themselves at the top
of the standings by year end.  Short
stop Ernie Banks is poised for a sensational season with the MVP award being a
real possibility.  Duke Snider suffered
some off season injuries and may not be able to play a full season but Minnie Minoso
will be a big contributor although the rest of the outfield will need to be
managed creatively to get the maximum from them.  Charlie Neal is an excellent defender and
has offensive potential closer to an outfielder rather than a second
baseman.  Billy Pierce is once again
the class of the staff and he has some decent support but the depth is thin.  Hoyt Wilhelm is a solid reliever and
George Zuverink a capable set up man.
The rest of the staff is adequate but unexciting.

Goshen Aces

The Aces abandoned “Death Valley”
(aka County Stadium) for the friendlier confines of
Seals Stadium and this should help their won/lost record.  Harvey Kuenn, Roy Sievers and maybe Brooks Robinson are the
only full time everyday players on the roster and Brooksie may be benched
occasionally if he doesn’t hit enough.  Second baseman Gil McDougal is excellent
in the field and more than adequate at the plate but shortstop will be a season
long problem area.  Lou Burdette and
Bob Purkey are potential 20-game winners and Billy O’Dell might be able
to join them if he can get enough starts.
The rest of the staff is decent but not spectacular and real depth is
lacking.

Frankfort Fortress

The Forts have some problems on offense and the pitching
staff is adequate at best.  With a
few breaks they could rise to third but too many things would have to go right
for them and wrong for the teams above to wish for much more than that.  Johnny Temple is an All-Star quality
second baseman and young slugger Rocky Colavito is poised to fulfill his great
potential.  Shortstop will be a
problem, especially in those games when Rocky Bridges is unable to play.  Eddie “the Walking Man” Yost
is back for another year but his skills are starting to deteriorate.  First base is also a problem as rookie
Dick Stuart isn’t yet ready to be a full time player.  Frank Lary and Johnny Antonelli are a
very good righty/lefty duo but the rest of the starting staff is thin and they
lack a first rate closer.

Southport Saints

The Saints and Hot Rods should have a hot race; for the
cellar that is.  Each is either 6th
or 7th in all the categories of my complex formula so either rising
above that level is unlikely.  The
Holy Ones have a pitiful offense with only second sacker Pete Runnels as even
the possibility of making the All Star team.  Jim Lemon might hit a few homers but
will probably have a sub .250 batting average.  Except for SS Daryl Spencer, the rest of
the lineup is littered with mediocre fielders who also can’t hit very
much.  Dick Donovan could win 20
games with a better team while Vern Law and Ray Narleski are decent starters
but there isn’t much else and Turk Farrell is the only thing approaching
a standout reliever.

Route
66 Hot Rods

The Rods will improve tremendously over their 106 losses of
1957 but it might only amount to a rise from 7th to 6th
place in the standings. The “Baby Bull” rookie Orlando Cepeda is by
far the best hitter on the team.
The double play combo of Don Blasingame and Luis Aparicio are well above
average on both offense and defense but the team will probably finish last in
the division in homers and the outfield is arguably the worst in the
league.   The pitching staff
has some potential but it is probably a year or two away.  Ron Kline will lead the staff but he has
some control issues and will give up more than his share of home runs.  The bullpen will be a grab bag of pitchers
who are not starting and youngsters like Bob Shaw, Don Cardwell and Lindy
McDaniel who are too raw to contribute much this year.

NATIONAL
LEAGUE

Evanston
Elephants

It is with great trepidation that I inflict the “Curse
of the Preseason Favorite” (similar to the curse of the Sports
Illustrated Cover) on my own team and even considered jiggering the formula to
prevent it but I finally decided to let the chips fall where they may.  Actually the top three teams in the
National are all very close and the pennant race should be a real
dogfight.  The Pachyderms will often
have five .300 hitters in the lineup at the same time but they lack home run
power and that could be a problem as the season progresses.  Ritchie Ashburn is fresh from a vigorous
off season workup regime and boasts that he will not only win the batting title
but oust the Surfers Mickey Mantle as the All-Star centerfielder.  Hank Aaron probably won’t repeat
his monster 50 homer, 166 RBI performance of 1957 but should have a great
season nonetheless.  Evanston has a deep
pitching staff, both starters and relievers but probably no real
standouts.

Salzburg Bishops

The Bishops and Surfers are mirror images of each other and
will both battle for the pennant all year along with the Elephants.  The Prelates have a thundering offense
but a mediocre pitching staff while the Surfers are sensational on the mound
but have some problems at the plate.
Ted Williams once again leads the offense but he’ll get plenty of
help from the likes of Bob Cerv, Jackie Jensen & Eddie Mathews.  Russ Nixon and Sherm Lollar are clearly
the best catching combo in the league.
Salzburg
has plenty of bullpen arms but only Camilio Pascual as a solid full time
starter.

Los Angeles Surfers

The defending champs could certainly repeat.  Mickey Mantle should fall off a bit from
his sensational 1957 season but will still be a major presence in the coming
season.  An off season trade for Wes
Covington will give the lineup a major boost but he is a defensive
liability.  It’s too bad
baseball doesn’t have offensive and defensive teams like football because
the Surfers can field a great defensive team that doesn’t hit too well or
a good offensive team which can’t field.   The LA crowd is sensational on the
mound as they have three potential 20-game winners in Bob Turley, Robin Roberts
and Jim Bunning.  The middle relief
is great and Ryne Duren could easily win the closer of the year award.

Hampton Road Cruisers

The Cruisers look to be “out of the money” in
1958 but they could surprise.  The
offense is very good but pitching problems could once again be their Achilles
Heel.  The big lumber is represented
by Frank Robinson and Roger Maris but they have plenty of help from the likes
of Harry Anderson and Elston Howard.
Defensively the Cruisers are sensational and will save the pitching
staff a lot of runs.  Lefty Whitey
Ford is clearly the leader of the staff with his main sidekick being Jim
Brosnan.  However other than closer
Gerry Staley, the rest of the staff is clearly below par.

Minneapolis Lakers

The Lakers have some problems on offense but a decent
pitching staff and could rise to the first division but much more would be
asking a lot.  Walt
“Moose” Moryn is probably the Lakers best hitter, certainly the one
with the most power.  Bill Virdon is
a great defensive CF but it would be nice if he hit a little bit more.  The team has four semi regulars that all
play just two positions, 2B & 3B, but are sorely lacking at SS with only
light hitting Chico Fernandez.
Rookie Gary
“Ding Dong” Bell
teams with Paul Foytack and Bob Rush to form the heart of the pitching staff
but there isn’t much else and the bullpen is adequate at best.

Portland Beavers

The Beavers finished last in the division during 1957 and
they might do a little better this year but could just as easily remain in the
cellar.  They do have a core of good
young players like Vic Power, Kenny Boyer, Bobby Richardson & Tony Kubek
but right now they just don’t have the horses to complete with the big
boys.  They do have a good team in
the field but they just don’t hit enough and have an almost pathological
aversion to the base on balls.  There are plenty of candidates for the
starting staff; an amazing 22 pitchers are on the roster, but no take charge
leader of the staff.  Somewhere
there are some decent pitchers in that group but it will take some creative
managing to get the right man in the game at the right time.

Dayton Flyers

The Flyers finished over .500 in 1957 and might not actually
be as bad in 1958 as my formula suggests but they do have problems.  Yogi Berra should retain his All-Star
status and Bill Mazerowksi is an above average hitter in addition to being a spectacular
fielder.  The infield defense is
superb but they need to hit a little more.
The outfield is not that strong when compared to the rest of the
division.  Assorted arm problems
have afflicted the pitching staff in the off season and there is no standout
staff leader who can be counted on every firth day.  The manager will have to run quite a few
starters out on the mound in order to get through the season.  The bullpen will probably be by
committee and made up of Marv Grissom and whoever isn’t starting that
day.