SPB
II POST SEASON SUMMARY

Enclosed is a spreadsheet detailing the 1958 season in which
I compare the actual wins, expected wins and my pre-season predictions.  Did my own EW calculation and I hope it
is correct.
Actually with the one glaring exception of my own team the Evanston
Elephants, the actual, expected wins and forecast were all in the ballpark.  In fact the EW and actual in terms of
where the teams finished was very close with only a few minor differences.  In regard to the forecast and with the exception
of the Elephants mentioned above the only serious “error” was the Hot Rods who finished fourth despite a pre-season
pick of seventh.  Even there the
Rods were only six games away from the cellar.  The Aces were picked for fourth and
finished sixth but only four games from fourth.

The Elephants were the big underachiever in terms of
preseason, although a tight three way race was predicted which ended up as a
tight two way race.  The Surfers
overachieved in EW more than anyone else and needed it as the Bishops
underachieved more than anyone else other than the Saints.  The rest of the Division was pretty
solid in terms of forecast versus actual. The Flyers managed to finish fourth
despite a seventh place forecast although it was cautioned in pre-season that
the “Flyers might not be as bad as my formula suggests”.

There were a few games of note in September, especially a
September 8th contest between the Surfers and Bishops.  The Surfers were able to score 17 runs
on just 9 hits, helped along by 12 walks from Bishop pitchers.  All in all a very good offensive
performance except that the LA crew lost the game by 13 runs as the Prelates racked up a league record 30 runs on 26
base hits and 13 walks from eight different Surfer pitchers.

The Hornets had a 1-0 13-inning victory over the Saints but
then were clobbered 24-4 by the Surfers.
In that Game the Surfers’ Woodie Held went 5-7 with three home
runs.

Below is a Team by Team Year End Summary:

AMERICAN
LEAGUE

South
River
Gladiators (91-63 Division Winner)

The South River crew ended
the season with the best team ERA in the league and the best team BA in their
division.  Third sacker Frank Thomas
certainly didn’t win the gold glove with the erratic fielding but more
than made up for it with his bat as he had 44 homers, 113 RBI’s and a
.312 BA.  Willie Mays was right
behind him with .315,31,95.  First sacker Stan the Man Musial was a
major disappointment as he hit only .279 with 10 homers but the rest of the
offense was good enough to make up the slack.  On the mound, rookie Joey Jay was
sensational as he went 15-6 and just missed out on the ERA crown with a 2.46
mark.  Warren Spahn was once again
the work horse of the staff but posted only a 17-13 record.  Reliever Dick Hyde led SPB II with 26
saves.

West
Warwick
Monarchs (82-72 nine games behind)

The Kings lacked a big bopper as Al Kaline, despite hitting
.326 had only 7 homers although he did lead the league with 49 doubles.  Joe Adcock led with 20 homers and
catcher Gus Triandos had 19 but Gus hit only .229.  Bob Skinner and pepper pot Nellie Fox
were also big contributors.  Surprisingly
the Monarch pitching staff knocked out 14 home runs, by far the best in the
league.  Tom Brewer’s 16 wins
led the team and closer Don Elston was sensational as he saved 18 games and had
a microscopic 1.97 ERA.

Rossville
Hornets (78-76 thirteen games behind)

Shortstop Ernie Banks had an MVP quality year as he led the AL with 45 homers and
122 RBI’s.  Second sacker
Charlie Neal chipped in with 21 homers as the Hornets had by far the most
productive double play combo in all of SPB II.  Minnie Minoso (.255,16,70)
and Gil Hodges (.238,12,50) were serious under achievers.  Southpaw Billy Pierce was the AL’s only 20-game
winner but also led the division with 16 losses.  Swingman Hoyt Wilhelm had a sizzling
2.36 ERA but only pitched 136 innings for the year.  Hank Aguirre had a respectable 15 saves
but a swollen 3.76 ERA.

Route
66 Hot Rods (74-80 seventeen games behind)

The Rods were the Cinderella team for the first four months
of the season but stumbled in August and September and finished 74-80.  They were four games out of third and
four games ahead of the fifth place Fortress but only six games out of the
cellar. The name of the game for the Rods was pitching as they ended with a
3.71 team ERA, probably a run a game better than had been foreseen in the pre
season.  The big man of the staff
was Ron Kline, obtained in the off-season in a big deal also involving the Hot
Rods long time ace Early Wynn.  He
performed much better than Wynn as he won 16 games and had a sensational 2.46
ERA.  Second year man Don Cardwell
was written off as a mop up man in the preseason but he finished 12-5 with a
3.22.  The Baby Bull Orlando Cepeda
had a sensational rookie year with a .316 BA, 21 homers and 102
RBI’s.  He ended up carrying

most
of the offensive load as the team was last in homers although they did lead the
league with 105 stolen bases, far more than anyone else.

Frankfort Fortress (70-84 twenty-one games
behind)

In frustration at his team’s disappointing performance
the Frankfort
manager often called his team the Fartless rather than the Fortress.  The Forts (or Farts) were dead last in
all of SPB II in terms of team BA.
Rocky Colavito had a big year with 38 homers and 95 walks but only 92
RBI’s and a .267 BA.  Billy Bruton and Jerry Lynch did a good job in a part time role
but few other regulars stepped up to ease the pressure on the Rock.  Frankfort
was also tied for last in team ERA with Frank Lary and Johnny Antonelli as
major under achievers.  The bullpen
was clearly by committee as no one pitcher had more than seven saves.  The Fortress manager is optimistic about
the future and is already saying “wait until next year!”

Goshen Aces (69-85 twenty-two games behind)

It was thought that the move from County
Stadium (aka Death
Valley) to Seals Stadium would juice up the Aces offense enough to
get them into the first division but in effect the move only generated two more
wins than in 1957.  Harvey Kuenn
came within a whisker of winning the AL
batting crown with a .343 average and Roy Sievers belted 33 homers

but
their weren’t too many other full timers who contributed much to the
offense.  Lou Burdette and Bob
Purkey were the workhorses of the staff and won 30 games between them while
Larry Jackson and Billy O’Dell were very valuable swingmen.  The staff lacked a real closer and the
middle relief was weak.

Southport Saints (68-86 twenty-three games
behind)

The Saints surprisingly “underachieved” more
than anyone else in SPB II as they were five games worse than the EW
formula.  Pete Runnels won the Al
batting title with a .349 mark to go with an excellent .439 OBA. Jim Lemon
belted 25 homers and shortstop Daryl Spencer had 18 but unfortunately he also committed
a sickening 54 errors.  Dick Gernert
had 24 homers in only 412 at bats but his BA was a pitiful .214.  However the Holy Ones were more than
representative on the mound as Vern Law won 19 games and Dick Donovan 16 and
both had very good ERA’s.
Turk Farrell was a good closer and a few other hurlers contributed but
the lack of depth and non-existent middle relief hurt the team in many
games.

NATIONAL
LEAGUE

Los Angeles Surfers (97-57 Division and World
Series Winner)

The LA crowd won their second straight World Series and
appears to have all the makings of a dynasty and the string might have been
longer without the steroid induced shenanigans of a disgraced former
manager.  MVP candidate Mickey
Mantle had another monster year as he hit .324 with 47 homers, 113 RBI’s and
a sensational 163 walks.  Mantle and
third sacker Frank Malzone were the only Surfers to appear in more than 123
games as the Surfer manager did a magnificent job of shuttling players in and
out of the lineup to maximize their effectiveness.  The starting trio of Robin Roberts, Bob
Turley and Jim Bunning combined for 48 wins and they were backed up by several
other good starters and an excellent bullpen.  Fireballer Ryne Duren made every
appearance an adventure with his erratic control but was still able to save 20
games.

Salzburg Bishops (95-59 two games behind)

The Bishops had a wide lead in almost all offensive
categories as they scored 142 runs more than anyone else and had a run
differential of 238 which should have generated 99 wins and an easy pennant but
the team underachieved by four games and it cost them in the standings as they
lost out by two games.  Three
players (Bob Cerv, Eddie Mathews and Jackie Jensen) each had 33 or more homers
and Ted Williams chipped in with a .355 BA, 27 homers and 100 RBI’s in
only 120 games.  The Prelates fell
off a little when you get to the pitching staff as only Sandy Koufax notched as
many as 13 wins or pitched 200 innings and than just barely (202).  Several swingmen such as Art Ditmar and
Mike Fornieles did a good job while Leo Keily and Willard Schmidt were
excellent relievers but the staff could have used a real ace.

Evanston Elephants (84-70 thirteen games
behind)

The underachieving Pachyderms could have done much worse if
they hadn’t gone 40-16 in the last two months when they were already out
of the pennant race.  Centerfielder
Ritchie Ashburn led the league with a sizzling .370 average and also drew 85
walks and scored 96 runs but he could have done a lot more but for the serious
lack of clutch hitting on the part of Hammering Hank Aaron who dropped from 50
homers and 166 RBI’s in 1957 to just 19 and 85 in 1958.  Several hitters such as Red Wilson and
Gene Woodling did very well but others such as Dick Groat and Bob Boyd were
major disappointments.  Off season
acquisition Ike Delock led the league with a 2.45 ERA and won 12 games while
rookie Ray Semproch had 15 wins and a very respectable 3.46 ERA.  Bob Friend and Early Wynn were major
disappointments as they won only 13 and 11 games respectively but Tom Morgan
was a very good reliever who saved 22 games, tops in the NL.

Hampton Road Cruisers (79-75 eighteen games behind)

The Cruisers played their home games in the bandbox called
KC Municipal Stadium and it showed as they led the league with 204 homers. Roger
Maris slammed 44 dingers and had 123 RBI’s while catcher Elston Howard
hit a dazzling .382 but was limited to just 369 at bats.  A host of other Cruisers joined the hit
parade and several part timers were also very productive.  On the mound southpaw Whitey Ford won a
league-high 22 games and was far and away the leader of the staff.  Pete Ramos won 14 games but led the
league with 17 losses and had a swollen 4.57 ERA.  Gerry Staley saved 20 games and a few
other pitchers were productive but enough others were not and it hurt the team
down the stretch.

Dayton Flyers (68-86 twenty-nine games
behind)

The Flyers got some big contributions from part timers Frank
Torre (.363 BA) and Charlie Paw Paw Maxwell
(.319,14,65 in only 373 AB’s) and Yogi Berra was his usual steady self
offensively and defensively behind the plate (no errors in almost 700 defensive
chances).  However, Roberto Clemente, Don Hoak and rookie
Curt Flood were disappointments.
Pint size lefty Harvey Haddix had a fine
season with 12 wins and a 2.88 ERA but lacked the stamina to start more than 28
games.  Dick Drott
and Jack Sanford put up some good stats but that didn’t translate into
wins as they went 8-15 & 9-16 respectively.   Marv Grisson was a serviceable closer
with 13 saves & 7 wins.  What
the Flyers lacked in quality they made up for in quantity as 19 different
pitchers saw action at some point during the season.

Minneapolis Lakers (67-87 thirty games behind)

Several Laker players such as Ed Bouchee, Moose Moryn & Jim Marshall significantly
overachieved at the plate but this may be a factor of their home park, Busch
Stadium, which was very hitter friendly.
Moose knocked out 33 homers and had 108 RBI’s.  Bob Nieman
(.341,16,58) was devastating in a part time role.  All this led to 730 runs which was fifth
in the league but only 13 runs away from third.  However on the mound, the Laker pitching staff allowed a league high 805 runs.  Paul Foytack,
Gary Ding Dong Bell and Mike McCormick were decent starters but the bullpen was
weak and somehow Billy Hoeft was forced to start 23
games despite a stratospheric 6.63 ERA.

Portland Beavers (56-98 forty games behind)

The Beavers had the worst record in the league by far and
hit only 93 homers, second from the bottom.  Even worse was a pathetic .305 team OBA,
by far the worst in SPB II.  Portland had a couple of
decent players such as Lee Walls, Hank Bauer& Ken Boyer but overall the
attack was very weak.  Too many poor
hitting, lousy fielding players were forced to play a lot more than anyone
would have liked, especially the Portland
manager.  Twenty-two different
pitchers appeared in games for Portland
but no one pitched more than 159 innings and only Don Larsen with 11 had double
figure wins. Murray Wall had 11 saves with only one blown save and a decent ERA
but he had far too few leads to protect.