SPB II POST SEASON SUMMARY

SPB II POST SEASON SUMMARY

Enclosed is a spreadsheet detailing the 1958 season in w= hich I compare the actual wins, expected wins and my pre-season predictions. Did my own EW calculation and I ho= pe it is correct.&nbs= p; 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.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> 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-sea= son pick of seventh. Even there t= he 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 Surfe= rs 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 four= th despite a seventh place forecast although it was cautioned in pre-season th= at the “Flyers might not be as bad as my formula suggests”.

There were a few games of note in September, especially a September 8^th 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 pi= tchers. 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.&n= bsp; 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 the= ir 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 w= as 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 a= gain 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 hitt= ing .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. S= urprisingly 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 homer= s 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 sizzli= ng 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 mon= ths 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 p= re season. The big man of the st= aff 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 Card= well was written off as a mop up man in the preseason but he finished 12-5 with a 3.22. The Baby Bull Orlando C= epeda had a sensational rookie year with a .316 BA, 21 homers and 102 RBI’s. He ended up carr= ying

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 perform= ance the Frankfort manager often called his team the Fartless rather than the Fortress. The Forts (or Farts) were dead las= t 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. Bi= lly 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 bu= llpen 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 behin= d)

It was thought that the move from County Stadium (aka Death Valley) to Seals Stadium would juice up the Aces offense enoug= h to get them into the first division but in effect the move only generated two = more wins than in 1957. Harvey Kue= nn 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 al= so committed a sickening 54 errors. Dick G= ernert had 24 homers in only 412 at bats but his BA was a pitiful .214. However the Holy Ones were more th= an 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 b= ut 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 RBI̵= 7;s and a sensational 163 walks. Mant= le 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 a= nd 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 seve= ral 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 t= hey lost out by two games. Three players (Bob Cerv, Eddie Mathews and Jackie Jensen) each had 33 or more hom= ers 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 notche= d as many as 13 wins or pitched 200 innings and than just barely (202). Several swingmen such as Art Ditma= r 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. Centerfi= elder 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 seri= ous 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 se= ason 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 maj= or 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 beh= ind)

The Cruisers played their home games in the bandbox call= ed 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 th= e 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 t= eam down the stretch. =

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

The Flyers got some big contributions from part timers F= rank 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 defen= sive chances). However, Roberto Clemente, Don Hoak and ro= okie 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 tha= n 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 clos= er with 13 saves & 7 wins. W= hat 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 a= s Ed Bouchee, Moose Moryn &= ; Jim Marshall signific= antly overachieved at the plate but this may be a factor of their home park, Busch Stadium, which was very hitter friendly.&n= bsp; 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.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Paul Foytack<= /span>, Gary Ding Dong Bell and Mike McCormick were decent starters but the bullpen= was weak and somehow Billy Hoeft was forced to star= t 23 games despite a stratospheric 6.63 ERA.&nb= sp;

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 tea= m OBA, by far the worst in SPB II. <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Portland had a co= uple of decent players such as Lee Walls, Hank Bauer& Ken Boyer but overall the attack was very weak. Too man= y 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 do= uble 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.