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The off-season
Oct. 5th, 2024 10:07 pmWell, it could have been worse. My Senators finished 67-95, last in the Beta Division of the American League in Da Tech Guy's 1969 League, but well ahead of some really awful teams: Baltimore and KC both finished 62-100, the Cubs were 57-105, and the Dodgers were 46-116. Still not as bad as this year's White Sox. The problem, as it usually is, is that we didn't have the offense to match our pitching. I stupidly left Johnny Callison on the bench for a good chunk of the season, which didn't help, and I completely failed as a GM to fill the roster's eleven empty slots before the trading deadline with waiver picks, which didn't help.
Anyway, the key to our offense was Richie Scheinblum (9-54-2, .294), who was our leadoff man and scored 94 of our 583 runs. Cookie Rojas (2-44-2, .248) might not have been the best choice as #2 hitter, but I had hoped his A-1B hit & run ability would make up for his piddly .285 OBP. Del Unser (1-40-1, .271) was our usual #3 man, and in fact he hit better than IRL. The cleanup hitter was Mike "Superjew" Epstein (32-99-1, .258) who like Unser hit better in RFK than he historically did in Oakland.
After that, Rick Reichardt (2-28-0, .191) was a disappointment despite being platooned against LHP in place of John Lowenstein (7-23-0, .208) and Johnny Callison (3-14-0, .290) who if my mind had been right would have been our everyday RF against righties. Ed Herrmann (13-43-0, .273) was surprisingly good at the plate if not behind it (7 passed balls, allowed 11 SB); we could not say the same about Andy Etchebarren (0-14-0, .219) and Randy Hundley (0-18-0, 215), who were much better at handling pitchers than they were as hitters. Frank Howard (10-36-1, .282) started most of our games against LHP in right field, and exceeded expectations, hitting just as well as he did IRL despite playing fewer games. Ken McMullen (8-67-0, .261) started every game at third base and actually drove in more runs than he did IRL despite hitting fewer dingers.
Joe Lovitto (0-10-4, .237) mostly filled in for Unser against lefties and occasionally did some pinch-running; he didn't steal nearly as many bases for us as he did for the Rangers. Ed Brinkman (4-37-0, .170) we traded for because of his defense, but he did surprise us with the homers, some of which came at opportune times.
On the mound, Joe Coleman (17-20, 3.33) led the team in starts (39), complete games (14) and innings (276); he lost most of those 20 games due to poor run support. Reggie Cleveland (12-13, 3.65) was right behind with 222 innings, and our token lefty Jim Kaat (11-9, 3.39) was the third best starter even though he could only pitch 170 innings. The man who should have been our #4 pitcher, Pat Dobson (8-17-3, 2.52) had a run of unusually bad starts which saw him exiled to the bullpen to replace Ed Farmer (4-6-7/4, 4.19) and Vicente Romo (4-5-7/5, 3.18) who ran out of innings and luck respectively as our closers. Carl Morton (6-7, 3.38) replaced him in the rotation, while Eddie Fisher (3-4-2/3, 4.65), Don Stanhouse (1-5-4/1, 6.75), Chuck Taylor (0-4-3, 4.50), Jim Panther (0-2-0, 5.27) and Steve Lawson (1-3-1, 5.92) eating some innings in the bullpen.
The main holes we need to fill will be at third base, since Ken McMullen's only going to be around for 42 games and Bill Madlock for another 26, and first, where Mike Epstein turns into a pumpkin and Frank Howard becomes useless against RHP. Del Unser may become our leadoff man since Richie Scheinblum's glove disappears and he's only around for 106 games anyway. Then there's the bullpen. I may have a trade in the works with the Dodgers to fill the closer spot, unless something better shows up in the draft, but I guess we'll see.
Anyway, the key to our offense was Richie Scheinblum (9-54-2, .294), who was our leadoff man and scored 94 of our 583 runs. Cookie Rojas (2-44-2, .248) might not have been the best choice as #2 hitter, but I had hoped his A-1B hit & run ability would make up for his piddly .285 OBP. Del Unser (1-40-1, .271) was our usual #3 man, and in fact he hit better than IRL. The cleanup hitter was Mike "Superjew" Epstein (32-99-1, .258) who like Unser hit better in RFK than he historically did in Oakland.
After that, Rick Reichardt (2-28-0, .191) was a disappointment despite being platooned against LHP in place of John Lowenstein (7-23-0, .208) and Johnny Callison (3-14-0, .290) who if my mind had been right would have been our everyday RF against righties. Ed Herrmann (13-43-0, .273) was surprisingly good at the plate if not behind it (7 passed balls, allowed 11 SB); we could not say the same about Andy Etchebarren (0-14-0, .219) and Randy Hundley (0-18-0, 215), who were much better at handling pitchers than they were as hitters. Frank Howard (10-36-1, .282) started most of our games against LHP in right field, and exceeded expectations, hitting just as well as he did IRL despite playing fewer games. Ken McMullen (8-67-0, .261) started every game at third base and actually drove in more runs than he did IRL despite hitting fewer dingers.
Joe Lovitto (0-10-4, .237) mostly filled in for Unser against lefties and occasionally did some pinch-running; he didn't steal nearly as many bases for us as he did for the Rangers. Ed Brinkman (4-37-0, .170) we traded for because of his defense, but he did surprise us with the homers, some of which came at opportune times.
On the mound, Joe Coleman (17-20, 3.33) led the team in starts (39), complete games (14) and innings (276); he lost most of those 20 games due to poor run support. Reggie Cleveland (12-13, 3.65) was right behind with 222 innings, and our token lefty Jim Kaat (11-9, 3.39) was the third best starter even though he could only pitch 170 innings. The man who should have been our #4 pitcher, Pat Dobson (8-17-3, 2.52) had a run of unusually bad starts which saw him exiled to the bullpen to replace Ed Farmer (4-6-7/4, 4.19) and Vicente Romo (4-5-7/5, 3.18) who ran out of innings and luck respectively as our closers. Carl Morton (6-7, 3.38) replaced him in the rotation, while Eddie Fisher (3-4-2/3, 4.65), Don Stanhouse (1-5-4/1, 6.75), Chuck Taylor (0-4-3, 4.50), Jim Panther (0-2-0, 5.27) and Steve Lawson (1-3-1, 5.92) eating some innings in the bullpen.
The main holes we need to fill will be at third base, since Ken McMullen's only going to be around for 42 games and Bill Madlock for another 26, and first, where Mike Epstein turns into a pumpkin and Frank Howard becomes useless against RHP. Del Unser may become our leadoff man since Richie Scheinblum's glove disappears and he's only around for 106 games anyway. Then there's the bullpen. I may have a trade in the works with the Dodgers to fill the closer spot, unless something better shows up in the draft, but I guess we'll see.
