1958 PRE SEASON PROGNOSIS

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 v= ery 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.&nb= sp; 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 nothi= ng to get excited about at bat. = A cast of thousands will be needed to cover the catching position. Southpaw Warren Spahn once again l= eads the mound staff but he’ll get first class support from Cal McClish, S= tu Miller & Joey Jay. Dick H= yde 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 matc= h 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 pep= per pot Nellie Fox is unsettled and the manager will need to move several playe= rs in and out of the lineup all year long.&nb= sp; West Warwick has a deep and capab= le starting staff with five pitchers capable of winning 15 plus games. Don Elston and Roy Face are both g= reat closers and the only “problem” will be getting both of them eno= ugh work. The starters who aren&#= 8217;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 a= bove and it wouldn’t be a great upset for them to find themselves at the t= op of the standings by year end. Short stop Ernie Banks is poised for a sensational season with the MVP award bein= g a real possibility. Duke Snider= suffered some off season injuries and may not be able to play a full season but Minn= ie 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 defen= der 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 a= nd George Zuverink a capable set up man. The rest of the staff is adequate but unexciting.

Goshen Aces

The Aces abandoned “Death V= alley” (aka County Stadium) for the friendlier confin= es of Seals Stadium and this should help their won/lost record. Harvey Kuenn, Roy Sievers and maybe Brooks Robinson a= re 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 exc= ellent in the field and more than adequate at the plate but shortstop will be a se= ason long problem area. Lou Burdet= te and Bob Purkey are potential 20-game winners and Billy O’Dell might be ab= le to join them if he can get enough starts.&= nbsp; The rest of the staff is decent but not spectacular and real depth is lacking.

Frankfort<= /st1:City> Fortress

The Forts have some problems on offense and the pitching staff is adequate at best. Wi= th a few breaks they could rise to third but too many things would have to go ri= ght for them and wrong for the teams above to wish for much more than that. Johnny Temple is an All-Star quali= ty second baseman and young slugger Rocky Colavito is poised to fulfill his gr= eat 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 ro= okie Dick Stuart isn’t yet ready to be a full time player. Frank Lary and Johnny Antonelli ar= e a very good righty/lefty duo but the rest of the starting staff is thin and t= hey lack a first rate closer.

Southport Saints

The Saints and Hot Rods should have a hot race; for the cellar that is. Each is eithe= r 6^th or 7^th in all the categories of my complex formula so either ris= ing above that level is unlikely. The Holy Ones have a pitiful offense with only second sacker Pete Runnels as ev= en the possibility of making the All Star team. Jim Lemon might hit a few homers b= ut will probably have a sub .250 batting average. Except for SS Daryl Spencer, the r= est 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 approach= ing 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 7^th to 6^{th
place in the standings. The “Baby Bull” rookie Orlando Cepeda i=
s by
far the best hitter on the team.
The double play combo of Don Blasingame and Luis Aparicio are well a=
bove
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 st=
aff
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 “C= urse 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 vi= gorous off season workup regime and boasts that he will not only win the batting t= itle but oust the Surfers Mickey Mantle as the All-Star centerfielder. Hank Aaron probably won’t re= peat his monster 50 homer, 166 RBI performance of 1957 but should have a great season nonetheless. Evanston has a de= ep 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 off= ense 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 cl= early the best catching combo in the league.&nbs= p; 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 bi= t from his sensational 1957 season but will still be a major presence in the coming season. An off season trade f= or 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 bec= ause the Surfers can field a great defensive team that doesn’t hit too wel= l 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 Rob= erts and Jim Bunning. The middle r= elief 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 Achill= es Heel. The big lumber is repre= sented by Frank Robinson and Roger Maris but they have plenty of help from the lik= es of Harry Anderson and Elston Howard. Defensively the Cruisers are sensational and will save the pitching staff a lot of runs. Lefty Wh= itey Ford is clearly the leader of the staff with his main sidekick being Jim Brosnan. However other than c= loser 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 Vir= don is a great defensive CF but it would be nice if he hit a little bit more. The team has four semi regulars th= at 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 o= f 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 tea= m in the field but they just don’t hit enough and have an almost pathologi= cal 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 actu= ally be as bad in 1958 as my formula suggests but they do have problems. Yogi Berra should retain his All-S= tar 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 proble= ms 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.