CIRCUIT CLOUTS      Home of the United League · 25th Season

April 1, 1975


LEAGUE FILE (9/19)  CONTRACTS  RULES  OWNERS  HISTORY  ARCHIVES  ·  1972  1973  1974  ·  11/1  3/1  4/1
 OPENING DAY: Wed 9/21 (to Apr 16)  ·  NEXT SIMS: Sun 9/25 (to May 1)  ·  Thu 9/29 (to May 16)

OPENING DAY MATCHUPS

MON

*Jim Rooker

16-8

3.51

BOS

Bert Blyleven

12-10

3.75

CLE

Rick Reuschel

7-1

1.50

BRO

Ernie McAnally

5-5

3.93

LA

Larry Dierker

16-11

2.51

WAS

Don Wilson

14-9

2.79

DEN

Bill Bonham

4-2

3.40

ATL

Ron Reed

17-6

3.19

SF

Fergie Jenkins

16-9

2.95

CHI

Bill Singer

17-11

2.56

MAN

Steve Rogers

16-9

3.32

STL

Nolan Ryan

9-10

4.32

DET

Bruce Kison

6-9

3.20

DAL

Ron Schueler

minors
BOS *left-handed
 		    
HIGHEST PAID PLAYERS
'75 '74 

Player

Salary
1 2

Joe Torre, ATL

14,810
2 1

Dick McAuliffe, WAS

14,444
3t 10

Orlando Cepeda, BOS

10,350
3t 4

Boog Powell, STL

10,350
5 5t

Vada Pinson, CLE

9,200
6 11

Lou Brock, MAN

8,580
7 --

Reggie Jackson, DET

7,470
8 18

Rico Petrocelli, BOS

7,100
9 12

Sal Bando, ATL

6,870
10t 13t

Larry Dierker, LA

6,500
10t 13t

Bill Freehan, ATL

6,500
12 17

Ron Hunt, CLE

6,340
13 --

Steve Garvey, MAN

6,000
14t 13t

Willie Crawford, DAL

5,850
14t 13t

Mike Epstein, LA

5,850
16 21

Fritz Peterson, LA

5,759
17 --

Bob Moose, SF

5,619
18 --

Don Wilson, WAS

5,314
19 --

Rod Carew, DAL

5,303
20 --

Ron Reed, ATL

5,219
21 23t

Fergie Jenkins, SF

5,200
22 25

Bill Singer, CHI

5,181
23t --

Tug McGraw, SF

5,000
23t 19t

Wilbur Wood, CHI

5,000
25 --

Phil Niekro, LA

4,861
COST PER WIN
'74 '73

Player

$K/win
1 --

Montréal

450
2 --

Denver

561
3 10

San Francisco

654
4 5

Manhattan

667
5 4

Brooklyn

698
6 2

Atlanta

746
7 1

Los Angeles

753
8 6

Chicago

771
9 7

Cleveland

854
10 11

Boston

862
11 9

Washington

866
12 3

Detroit

871
13 8

St. Louis

877
14 12

Dallas

948

Commissioner's Top Songs:
• K.C. and the Sunshine Band -
That's the Way (I Like It) 
• Doobie Brothers - Jesus Is Just Alright
• War - Low Rider
• Average White Band - Pick Up the Pieces
• Earth Wind & Fire - Shining Star

Top 5 Grossing Movies:
Jaws, Rocky Horror Picture Show,
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
Dog Day Afternoon, Shampoo
Best Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 
Best Actor: Walter Matthau
Best Actress: Ann-Margret

Say goodbye to: Ivo Andric, Chiang Kai-shek, Rod Serling, Nellie Fox, Lefty Grove, Casey Stengel
Say hello to: Angelina Jolie, Drew Barrymore, Eva Longoria, Charlize Theron, Jack Johnson, David Beckham, Tiger Woods, Alex Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero, David Ortiz, Scott Rolen, Torii Hunter
 

 

 
1975 PREVIEW ISSUE
The San Francisco Spiders try to defend their first UL title in 15 years and the Manhattan Gray Sox add an MVP to their East Division title defense, while Chicago, L.A., and Washington try to claw their way back into the postseason.
 
 Everything AND the Girl
 1975 Year In Preview
by Charlie Qualls
Even as the world continues to grow and change, 1975 will make way for those enigmatic creatures known as “women.” After receiving an anonymous tip that women may, in fact, be people too, the U.N. will determine that every woman deserves a period and proclaim 1975 to be “International Women’s Year.” If your first thought is, “Can’t wait to see the calendar,” then this educational year may be for you. After all, the world is going to hell in a hand basket, and no one is better at weaving hand baskets than women. As the definition of “human” gets more broad, let’s look at some chicks who will try to push along a new pecking order.
 
Y.I.P.’s Eye On Women (formerly “Peepin’ Skirts”)
• Military Institutions like West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy will open their doors to women once they discover that women can be tricked into service just as easily as men.
• After 99 years, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy will take one step forward by admitting its first women students and two giant leaps forward by setting the first three months aside for “mouth-to-mouth” training.
• Taylor v Louisiana will make it illegal to exclude women from juries, citing, “Maybe those 12 men wouldn’t be so angry if they had some squaws in the box.”
• Angola will grant women the right to vote on the same basis as men: misinformed.
• A couple fine pieces of Assassin will take their newfound empowerment to lofty heights, attempting to end Gerald Ford’s term the old-fashioned way: with pistols. Ford will successfully dodge both attempts, but hopefully the next time a president is shot at, it will be FOR a woman, not by one.

Knews And Know Its
• The U.S. Department of the Interior will designate the grizzly bear a threatened species, claiming, “Hey! They threatened us first. Did you see how many of them there were when we got here?” The DOI will also designate badgers as “defensive a-holes,” while monkeys will be designated “hilarious.”
• The First Annual Comedy Awards will premiere, proving the theory that comedians don’t have a sense of humor about themselves.
• The US Female Figure Skating Championship will be won by America's sweetheart, Dorothy Hamill. A gentleman’s side bet will be lost by Pete Rose, who will be forced to wear his hair like Miss Hamill’s.
• Linda McCartney will be charged with possession of marijuana. Paul will make a mental note that his next wife will need to be better at stash management, perhaps a bigger purse or hollow leg. . .
• The Tony Awards will be dominated by two shows: Equus” and “The Wiz.” The two will later be combined into the supershow “Giant Horse Pee Spectacular!”
• Rock vocalist Neil Young will undergo throat surgery. It will later be discovered that the surgery was completely elective and that Mr. Young paid big money to sound like “Mickey Mouse with a head cold.”
• Leaders of Iran and Iraq will set the table of peace by settling decades old border disputes. This should be the start of a lasting peace between these two deserving nations, unless someone is stupid enough to supply this region with weapons.
• President Ford will require states to provide free education for the handicapped, something his parents never had access to.

Genocide Scoutwatch
Pol Pot - Cambodia Khmer Rouge
Summary: Grades out as an above average mass murderer, if he stays under the radar and only slaughters his own people, he could reduce his country’s population by 25-30% in a few short seasons.
Movement: He’s a master of scaring people into one place, thereby making it easier to kill them all at once. He will save you lots of time and ammo down the road.
Stuff: Not afraid to invoke “Population Control” while the rest of the world is on a baby making spree-for-all.
Control: This kid has the sort of control that could give him a long career. He should contend for many awards that he makes up for himself.
Personality/Make-up: A real motivator, especially with teens.
 
Ted Bundy – Burlington Babe Magnets
Summary: This guy looks like a specialized serial killer, if you need more than that you should be scouring the wires for an upgrade.
 Eye: Can spot a gorgeous girl from about a hundred yards.
Power: Tends to only pick on women, which gives him a leg up, but limits his options.
Control: Prone to murdering women in Florida, which is looking to get the death penalty back. This could severely shorten his career.
Personality/Make-up: Handsome and charismatic, with a winning smile.
  

The Rule of Five
or Why the West is No Longer Best
 by Glen Reed
When trying to build a winning team, it helps to have a template, or guidelines to follow. I have looked at alot of different teams in my time, and found that the template that's easiest to follow is that presented by the 1956 Washington Monuments—five studs, mostly at premium positions, supported by reasonably cheap, effective players at the remaining positions. Better that the studs should play premium positions, too, because it's easier to find a good platoon or cheapish productive guy at LF/RF/1B, as opposed to say, an equivalent offensive player at CF or C, for example. Of course, in the Mons' case, it helped that the five guys were Mays, McDougald and Thompson (perhaps the best double-play combo in league history), Joe Ginsberg--an OBP hound at catcher--and the mighty Adcock. But again, the point is not that you need Mays to win, it's that there's a critical mass of guys you need to win.

This led me to a conclusion I am calling “the rule of five”: you need five guys better-than-league average in your lineup to win the title. “Better-than-league average” I define simply as being in the top half of the player positional rankings that you see in the game. It’s a crude measure and simplistic to be sure, but after analyzing the last dozen or so championship teams using this methodology, I found it more or less works. For example, want a framework for understanding why SF won the title last year? In 1974, they added two studs (George Foster’s first full year and Jim Rice’s rookie season) to their only three above-average position players from 1973—Tugboat, Zisk, and Evans. Of course, it’s not a foolproof system--1973 Colts won the WS with Taylor (an OBP hound at catcher), Amis Otis, Maris, May, and some other solid but unspectacular guys (Mazeroski and Toby Harrah in the middle IF are good examples). But it’s prolly also worth pointing out that the team Chicago defeated in 1973 was a Cleveland Barons side itself with only a handful of above-average position players (Coop, Hunt, Maddox in center, but after that you have to go to guys like a young Jorge Orta or old Vada Pinson—good players, but hard to see that they could be called above average at such offense-oriented positions as RF and LF, at least at that stage in their careers). The astute reader will also note that in every one of these examples, the winning team had strength at premium positions, including both an above-average CF and C.

So let’s see how today’s UL sides stack up in order of number of above-average position players:
Gray Sox: remarkably, all 8 regulars rank in the top half of the league at their respective positions, with the five guys on the IF ranking fourth or better, including my favorite for league MVP, Craig Robinson, at 2B.
Spiders: 6 of 8 above the half-way line--Belanger is the surprise entry in the top half of shortstops. Again, look at contrast from 1973 to '74, when Belanger went from .620 to .680 OPS. 
Outlaws: 5 with Roberts, Bando, and Henderson all #1 at their respective positions.
Toppers: 5 with Torre and Parker, while Freehan, Foster, and Trillo all barely finish ahead of the mid-way line at their positions. Will need real contributions from these guys to compensate for loss of Bando.  
Monuments: 5 (Three 1s and a 2 among their big five) 
Montreal: 5 (the five guys around the IF) 
Cleveland: 4; three other guys rank eighth or ninth (Gonna find out if incredible starters and team defense combine to defy the rule of five).
Brooks: 4 Crucially, all four play premium positions, including Stearns at C and Lynn in CF.
Boston: 4 (Cepeda, Petrocelli, Lopes, and Solaita—one of these is not like the others! * Petrocelli listed at 3B when in reality he played last year at SS.) 
Dallas: 4 (Carew is next best 2B after Craig-Rob; Chambliss, Crawford, Concepcion rank 5 or 7 at their respective positions)
Detroit: 4 (Don Money #4 2B; Reggie Jackson #5 RF; Brian Downing #6 C; Dick Allen #6 at 3B) 
Chicago: 2 Colts an interesting case with only Allen and Otis making the cut after Yount demoted to the bench/platoon duty; four guys rank eighth or ninth at their positions. 
St. Louis: 2 (Fregosi and Milner; Hargrove just outside of the top 7) 
Denver: 0 (Grieve was lone representative, but traded for Griffey and Ontiveros, both of whom I would submit are likely to improve to better than average before the season is out)

Based on this analysis, it's not unreasonable to conclude that the west is no longer best—the deepest overall team is in Manhattan; the teams with five above-average players are evenly divided between east and west; and the positional quality of eastern teams overall far surpasses that of the three bottom-dwelling west sides, at least on this measure. If you were going to try to use this as a predictive tool, you would argue that Cleveland and Atlanta are most at risk of last year’s playoff teams. You could prolly also safely pencil in SF for the west playoffs on this stat alone, and you would likely also give the nod to LA over ATL because of greater positional quality, particularly at premium positions. Then consider the fact that SF and LA are also easily the two best pitching teams in the division. The east is a much trickier proposition, however, because after Manhattan--whom I consider a stone-cold lock for the playoffs—it looks wide open. Washington has undeniable quality to draw on in their attempt to return to the playoffs for the fourth time in six years. Brooklyn has a number of highly rated players at premium positions, including a first full season with Lynn in CF. Coupled with the return of McAnnally to the rotation and greater maturity from a young, talented bullpen, all the ingredients seem to be in place for this to be the surprise package of 1975. Cleveland once again enters the race a little undermanned in terms of positional strength, but they compensate for that with truly the greatest team defense I have ever seen in OOTP terms and starters as good as any in the league. Boston has a remarkable young staff, including the very best bullpen on the circuit, but prolly don’t have the positional quality to climb over the other contenders in the division. Montreal have the opposite problem--a sweet young lineup, but realistically are probably too handicapped in pitching terms to be considered legit contenders. Even Detroit, on which GM Douglas Kohn recently called time and initiated rebuilding proceedings, looks much stronger than the teams making up the numbers in the other division.
Top Fives by Position

Catchers
1. DW Roberts, LA
2. John Stearns, BRO
3. Carlton Fisk, MAN
4. Gary Carter, MON
5. Thurmon Munson, SF

Second Basemen
1. Craig Robinson, MAN
2. Rod Carew, DAL
3. Bobby Grich, MON 
4. Don Money, DET 
5. Rennie Stennett, CLE 
 

Shortstop
1. Dick McAuliffe, WAS
2. Jim Fregosi, STL
3. B. Grabarkewitz, MAN
4. Rick Burleson, MON
5. Dave Concepcion, DAL
 

Center Fielders
1. Al Oliver, WAS
2. Fred Lynn, BRO
3. Ron LeFlore, SF
4. Elliott Maddux, CLE
5. Amos Otis, CHI
 

Starting Pitchers
1. Rick Reuschel, CLE
2. Larry Dierker, LA
3. Fergie Jenkins, SF
4. Ron Reed, ATL
5. Bill Gogolewski, BRO
 

First Basemen
1. Joe Torre, ATL
2. Ron Blomberg, WAS
3. Steve Garvey, MAN
4. Andre Thornton, MON
5. Tony Solaita, BOS
 

Third Basemen
1. Sal Bando, LA
2. Mike Schmidt, BRO
3. Darrell Evans, SF
4. Bill Melton, MAN
5. Eric Soderholm, WAS
 

Left Fielders
1. Bernie Carbo, WAS
2. Orlando Cepeda, BOS
3. Jim Rice, SF
4. John Milner, STL
5. Ken Singleton, LA
 

Right Fielders
1. Ken Henderson, LA
2. Dave Parker, ATL
3. Jorge Orta, CLE
4. Tom Grieve, MAN
5. Reggie Jackson, DET
 

Closers
1. Wayne Twitchell, BOS
2. Gene Garber, CHI 
3. Ken Tatum, MAN
4. Goose Gossage, BRO
5. Mark Littell, ATL
 
 Predicted Finishes
Consensus picks of UL Season Preview chat discussion.

 
Playoff picks: MAN over ATL, LA over CLE.  WS winner: MAN 4, LA 2, ATL 1
 
East Division Preview
Boston Federals
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 81 81 3/7 749 712 4-6

1973

 74 88 5/10 660 737 5-10

1974

 78 78 4t/8t 658 644 9-6
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

2B

R

Davey Lopes

.267

11

50

.723

   

RF

L

Johnny Callison

.173

1

10

.470

  

LF

R

Orlando Cepeda

.327

39

87

1.040

   

1B

L

Tony Soltaita

.289

4

16

.819

  

3B

R

Ron Cey

.236

6

24

.674

   

SS

R

Rico Petrocelli

.261

24

78

.798

   

CF

L

Bobby Tolan

.251

3

26

.601

   

C

R

M. Sanguillen

.287

6

33

.685

  

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Bert Blyleven

 12 10 3.75 1.41  

SP

L

Marcelino Lopez

 14 14 3.56 1.41  

SP

R

Tom Seaver

 11 13 3.58 1.32  

SP

L

Rick Waits

 minors  

SP

R

Frank Reberger

 6 6 4.33 1.31  

CL

R

Wayne Twitchell

 8 6 2.10 17 SV  

CL

L

Al Hrabosky

 6 10 3.08 16 SV  
               


IN: RF Johnny Callison, MR Rich Folkers
 OUT: SS Bernie Allen, 1B Frank Robinson, RF Jose Cardenal, C Tom Haller
Lineup: Heavy reliance on unseasoned batters in the heart of the order.  Petrocelli in midst of worrying four-year decline in average and RBIs.

Rotation: Blyleven, Lopez, and Seaver all improved last year, but Blyleven is still underreaching his potential.

Bullpen: League's #1 bullpen, with 2.70 ERA last year.  Twitchell's career 1.74 ERA is lowest among pitchers with 200 innings.

Outlook: With no one to step into the shoes of Bernie Allen and Frank Robinson, the offense is unlikely to recover from last year's dip in run production.  But solid seasons from the top three starters could nudge the Feds over .500 for first time since '71.
  

Brooklyn Superbas
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 61 101 6/12 648 857 10-12

1973

 70 92 6/11 665 710 4-9

1974

 70 86 6t/10t 683 700 5-8
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

RF

R

Gene Clines

.274

1

34

.699

  

2B

R

Dave Rosello

.279

6

52

.759

   

CF

L

Fred Lynn

.270

15

74

.768

  

3B

R

Mike Schmidt

.258

35

106

.837

  

1B

L

Keith Hernandez

.312

3

37

.747

  

LF

L

Mike Jorgensen

.291

16

54

.849

  

C

R

John Stearns

.347

3

37

.834

  

SS

R

Freddie Patek

minors

  

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Ernie McAnally

 5 5 3.93 1.46  

SP

L

Vida Blue

 12 17 3.73 1.31  

SP

R

Bill Hands

 11 11 3.57 1.38  

SP

R

Bill Gogolewski

 10 9 2.77 1.17  

SP

R

Dick Ruthven

 minors

CL

R

Goose Gossage

 4 9 3.17 20 SV
               

 
IN: *SP Dick Ruthven, SP Charlie Hough, *SP Catfish Hunter, *LF Greg Luzinski, *MR Aurelio Lopez, *SS Freddie Patek,
OUT: SP Elias Sosa, RF Ollie Brown, C Milt May, RF Bake McBride, 1B Willie Montanez, SS Tim Foli
Lineup: Productive offense is fueled by 2-5 hitters hitters all under 25.  Lynn and Schmidt could evolve into a leading 3-4 tandem.  Stearns and Patek are coming off stellar rookie campaigns.

Rotation: Blue, Hands, and Gogolewski are established veterans, but McAnally gets ace job with just 31 career starts.  Charlie Hough could work his way into rotation.

Bullpen: Gossage, with 20 saves and a 3.17 ERA, had a solid rookie year and Tomlin is solid set-up man.  Rest of pen are mostly frustrated starters waiting for a crack at the rotation.

Outlook: Youth movement continues to build steam and there is decent pitching depth.  As youngsters continue to develop, Bas could break into top half in both hitting and pitching and have a shot at their first winning record this decade.

  
Cleveland Barons
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 79 83 4t/8t 568 596 12-2

1973

 89 73 1/3t 637 565 8-2

1974

 86 70 2/4 623 538 11-2
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

CF

R

Elliott Maddux

.269

3

30

.724

  

LF

L

Vada Pinson

.244

8

48

.710

  

RF

L

Jorge Orta

.319

15

65

.849

   

1B

L

Cecil Cooper

.271

17

67

.754

   

3B

R

Ron Hunt

.242

7

54

.668

  

2B

R

Rennie Stennett

.246

13

59

.685

  

C

L

Milt May

.247

6

39

.649

  

SS

R

Tim Foli

.312

4

38

.747

   

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Rick Reuschel

 7 1 1.50 0.81

SP

R

J.R. Richard

 16 11 2.66 1.20

SP

R

Burt Hooton

 11 6 2.38 1.11

SP

R

Jim Palmer

 16 10 3.44 1.29

SP

R

Alan Foster

 8 13 3.44 1.14

CL

R

Frank Lizy

 2 3 2.70 12 SV

CL

R

Al Fitzmorris

 3 6 3.40 13 SV
               


IN: C Milt May, SS Tim Foli, RF Bake McBride, 2B Mike de la Hoz
 OUT: x
Lineup: Either Cooper slumped or '73 was a fluke, either way don't expect high scoring games at Municipal Stadium.  But the Barons flash the circuit's best leather, perhaps in league history.

Rotation: Reuschel had just nine starts, but pitched just as well after a four month injury as before.  Palmer is on a slow, but detectable, four-year slide, but you know you are in good shape when your biggest worry is a 16-game winner.

Bullpen: Lefty Steve Mingori had one of the worst seasons in the history of closers.  He is replaced by a pair of righties, including 34-year-old Linzy, who had 14 saves.

Outlook: With their pitching and defense, the Barons really only need to score 600 runs to contend.  If Pinson and Cooper return to form, the B's could be in the hunt for the President's Trophy.
 
Detroit Griffins
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 84 78 2/5 759 718 3-7

1973

 82 80 3/6 732 695 2-8

1974

 70 86 6t/10t 710 771 4-12
               

 

 

 

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

   

CF

R

Jimmy Wynn

.233

13

37

.751

   

2B

R

Don Money

.299

10

59

.774

   

3B

R

Dick Allen

.255

26

73

.790

   

C

R

Brian Downing

.282

12

43

.755

   

RF

L

Reggie Jackson

.278

38

112

.912

   

LF

R

Otto Velez

.243

19

61

.759

   

1B

L

Willie Stargell

.231

16

49

.756

   

SS

R

Denis Menke

.241

8

54

.680

  

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Bruce Kison

 6 9 3.20 1.20  

SP

L

Ken Holtzman

 11 11 3.58 1.28  

SP

L

Jerry Reuss

 11 13 4.11 1.25  

SP

R

Jesse Jeffferson

 minors

SP

L

Ross Grimsley

 9 12 4.79 1.40  

CL

R

Bob Locker

 2 5 3.91 22 SV  
               


IN: 2B Don Money, 3B Ron Santo, *SP Jesse Jefferson, *SP Larry Demery
OUT: 2B Bobby Grich, SP Dock Ellis, 3B Tony Perez
Lineup: Money, Allen, Downing are solid hitters, but rest of lineup hit .241 or below.  Reggie Jackson (38 HR, 112 RBI) finds himself on the bench, displaced by sophomore "Otto the Swatto" Velez. 

Rotation: Holtzman and Grimsley are workhorses, but Kison is good but untested, Reuss has been erratic, and rookie Jefferson looks unready.

Bullpen: Rookie Dave Hamilton and Larry Demery should shore up the league's worst bullpen.  Locker, 37, is among most erratic closers in the game, often in the same season.

Outlook: Definite rebuilding year, but first priority should be starting pitching, which Griffins have yet to seriously address.
 
Manhattan Gray Sox
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 79 83 4t/8t 691 774 6-10

1973

 78 84 4/7 644 692 7-7

1974

 89 67 1/2 720 642 3-5
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

LF

R

Curt Flood

.328

6

54

.850

   

SS

L

Craig Robinson

.333

9

73

.866

   

1B

R

Steve Garvey

.320

23

124

.857

  

RF

L

Tom Grieve

.307

50

139

.976

   

3B

R

Bill Melton

.286

26

102

.833

   

C

R

Carlton Fisk

.304

19

75

.806

  

CF

R

Gorman Thomas

.238

20

68

.778

  

SS

R

Billy Grabarkewitz

.244

13

61

.735

  

         

W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Steve Rogers

 16 9 3.32 1.32  

SP

L

Ken Brett

 17 7 3.33 1.25

SP

R

Don Sutton

 15 15 3.49 1.21  

SP

R

Doug Rau

 5 2 3.82 1.15  

SP

L

Steve Carlton

 10 6 4.89 1.47  

CL

R

Ken Tatum

 3 5 2.80 35 SV  
               


IN: RF Tom Grieve, SP Steve Carlton, LF Curt Flood, SP Doug Rau, 1B Frank Robinson, *LF Bruce Bochte, MR Ed Farmer, SS Zoilo Versalles
OUT: RF Ken Griffey, *3B Steve Ontiveros, MR Al Santorini, 1B Lou Brock
Lineup: With addition of MVP Grieve, the Sox boast the only trio of 100-RBI men in the league.  Look for Melton, Garvey, and Fisk to all improve on last year's home run totals.

Rotation: Carlton was a useful pick-up, but Doug Swan injury limits depth for the first two months and puts pressure on the youngster Rau, who struggled in 9 starts last year after trade from L.A.

Bullpen: Tatum, Campbell, and Giusti all had sub-3.00 ERAs, and Farmer and Capra could join them this year.

Outlook: Holthaus is doubling down with playoff glory in his sights; he better win after offloading some top prospects.  Probably the team to beat in the East if the bottom of the rotation holds.
 
Montréal Voyageurs
  W L Place R OR Rank
             
             
1974 78 78 4t/8t 663 702 8-9
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

CF

L

Rich Coggins

.266

4

25

.679

   

RF

L

Greg Gross

.333

3

26

.854

   

3B

R

Bill Madlock

.315

13

78

.828

   

LF

L

Ben Oglivie

.273

20

92

.786

   

2B

R

Bobby Grich

.273

28

86

.856

   

C

R

Gary Carter

.259

12

60

.747

   

SS

R

Rick Burleson

.326

1

43

.787

   

         

W L ERA WHIP  

SP

L

 Jim Rooker 16 8 3.51 1.30  

SP

R

 Elias Sosa 2 10 5.65 1.61  

SP

R

 Dock Ellis 13 12 3.81 1.49  

SP

R

 Pete Broberg 3 6 6.42 1.91  

SP

R

 Mike Nagy 11 20 4.16 1.42  

CL

R

Max Leon

 4 3 1.31 22 SV  
               


IN: 2B Bobby Grich, SP Elias Sosa, SP Dock Ellis, SP Luke Walker
 OUT: 2B Don Money, MR Ed Farmer
Lineup: Offense should get a boost from the acquisition of Bobby Grich and a full season of Greg Gross.  Oglivie and Coggins poised for breakout years.

Rotation: Rooker's 16-win season smells flukey, but Sosa should bounce back after off-year.  Bottom of rotation is a major weakness.

Bullpen: Leon notched 22 saves as a rookie and joined Bill Castro with a sub-2.00 ERA, but the bullpen depth starts and ends there.

Outlook: The V's overperformed to finish .500 in their first season.  Expect some retrenchment even as the offense starts to gel. 
 
Washington Monuments
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 89 73 1/3 720 642 5-4

1973

 85 77 2/5 646 602 6-4

1974

 81 75 3/7 682 646 6-7
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

RF

L

Al Bumbry

.288

6

58

.755

   

C

R

Ray Fosse

.259

11

62

.678

   

1B

L

Ron Blomberg

.317

18

73

.868

  

LF

L

Bernie Carbo

.314

33

92

1.027

   

CF

L

Al Oliver

.297

10

24

.964

   

2B

L

Dick McAuliffe

.277

20

82

.879

  

3B

R

Eric Soderholm

.251

19

75

.741

  

SS

R

Gene Alley

.240

4

23

.598

   

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Don Wilson

 14 9 2.79 1.10  

SP

R

Mike Torrez

 9 7 3.11 1.19

SP

R

A.Messersmith

 9 10 4.26 1.39  

SP

R

Rick Wise

 8 4 4.22 1.19  

SP

R

Clay Kirby

 1 4 6.50 1.66  

CL

R

Milt Wilcox

 2 3 4.88 6 SV  
               


IN: MR Dick Kelley
OUT: x
Lineup: Expect more runs this year from a powerful offense anchored by Carbo. Blomberg and Oliver had big years and the timeless McAuliffe refuses to age.  Fosse and Alley are only real weaknesses.

Rotation: Wise returns to rotation after lackluster year of relief work.  Messersmith should improve after coming off his worst year.  Will Torrez do as well as a starter as he did last year mostly in the pen?

Bullpen: Pressure on Wilcox after disappointing '74, but Strohmayer and Hoerner are ready to step into closer role.

Outlook: The offense is there, but can the starters compete with the big boys?  Big years from Torrez, Wise, and Kirby should see the Mons back in the postseason.
 


MVP Takes Manhattan

NEW YORK (March 1) -- Flashbulbs were popping and there was a buzz in the crowd as the New York press corps hurredly assembled at Yankee Stadium this afternoon, anxiously waiting for the first glimpse  of league MVP Tom Grieve in the hometown uniform.

General Manager Eric Holthaus addressed the crowd: "It's not every day you have the opportunity to acquire the league MVP. We had to pay a hefty price by giving away a bit of our future, but let there be no mistake... the Gray Sox are going to win it all this year!"

Grieve also joined in, beaming, though his comments were reserved. "I'm excited to play with a good group of guys this season and look forward to trying to win some ballgames."

Pundits quickly agreed that the addition of RF Grieve and his hefty bat will play to Yankee Stadium's forgiving dimensions from the hitter's point of view, and give Manhattan an extremely fearsome 3-4-5 combination at home.

For his part, Denver GM Timothy J. Smith noted that Grieve was "a decent ballplayer" and deflected criticism of the trade by arguing that Grieve was coming off a career year and was traded at his peak value.  "The opportunity to pick up Ken Griffey and Steve Ontiveros was too good to pass up."  Those two players figure to be cornerstones of the 14ers franchise, and Smith even lauded the pickup of Lou Brock, widely seen as nothing more than a salary dump.  "Lou still has a couple good years left in him.  His glove ain't what it used to be, but we'll figure out a way to get him in the lineup and get some at-bats."  Denver also picked up lefty starter Kevin Kobel and righthanded reliever Al Santorini in the deal.
 

West Division Preview
Atlanta Hilltoppers
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 87 75 3/4 859 740 1-9

1973

 89 73 3/3t 777 737 1-10

1974

 93 63 1/1 826 702 1-9
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

SS

R

Bill Russell

.264

3

42

.629

  

CF

L

Juan Beniquez

.278

13

64

.767

   

3B

R

Joe Torre

.336

30

94

.967

  

RF

L

Dave Parker

.351

28

91

1.004

   

LF

R

Roy Foster

.302

23

91

.882

  

C

R

Bill Freehan

.293

20

74

.839

   

1B

L

Terry Crowley

.203

6

38

.587

   

2B

R

Kurt Bevacqua

.243

7

47

.683

   

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Ron Reed

 17 6 3.19 1.27  

SP

L

Dave Roberts

 15 7 2.92 1.20  

SP

R

Tom Bradley

 11 9 3.84 1.41  

SP

R

Nelson Briles

 12 10 3.86 1.30  

SP

R

Tom Timmermann

 10 4 3.47 1.50  

CL

R

Randy Moffitt

 3 8 2.73 34 SV  
               


IN: SP Dave Roberts
OUT: 3B Sal Bando, SP Steve Carlton
Lineup: The offense might not notice departure of Bando with the quick emergence of Parker and the development of Foster and Beniquez.  The #1 offense for last three years should defend its scoring title.

Rotation: Trade for Roberts address club's main weakness and gives the Toppers one of the best 1-5 rotations in the league. 

Bullpen: Moffitt, 25, has emerged as premier closer and his 34 saves tied a club record, but rest of bullpen is a weakness.

Outlook: Toppers won President's Trophy with 9th best pitching, which speaks to the power of their prolific offense.  If anything, Atlanta is improved on both sides of the ball.
  
Chicago Colts
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 94 68 1/1 664 584 9-1

1973

 95 67 1/1 630 545 9-1

1974

 84 72 3/5 615 566 13-4
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

C

R

Carl Taylor

.242

3

47

.712

   

LF

R

Merv Rettenmund

.265

15

61

.797

   

CF

R

Amos Otis

.262

15

72

.737

   

3B

L

Bernie Allen

.237

29

72

.777

  

RF

R

Ollie Brown

.259

9

45

.742

   

SS

R

Robin Yount

.256

9

58

.654

  

1B

L

Willie Montanez

.250

2

14

.635

  

2B

R

Toby Harrah

.246

8

40

.688

   

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Bill Singer

 17 11 2.56 0.99  

SP

R

Dave Boswell

 11 11 3.39 1.25

SP

L

Wilbur Wood

 11 8 3.22 1.23  

SP

R

Ed Figueroa

 rookie  

SP

R

Bill Parsons

 13 12 3.88 1.24  

CL

R

Gene Garber

 9 1 2.77 2 SV  

CL

R

Harry Parker

 5 7 3.10 21 SV  
               


IN: SS Bernie Allen, RF Ollie Brown, *SP Ed Figueroa, 1B Willie Montanez
 OUT: 3B Al Gallagher
Lineup: Allen and Brown should shore up the league's second-worst offense and Yount should improve, but the lineup remains a key weakness.

Rotation: Overall one of the best staffs in the circuit, but all eyes will be on the rookie 4th man Figueroa.  One could make a case for Singer as the Pitcher of the '70s so far.

Bullpen: Pen is both young and good.  Parker notched 21 saves and Kilkenny (2.05) and Tekulve (2.96) had outstanding rookie years.

Outlook: Lackluster offense should improve marginally, but not enough to vault the Colts from the middle of the pack, despite one of the top pitching staffs in the league.
 
Dallas Texans
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 67 95 6/11 684 821 7-11

1973

 67 95 6/12 617 771 11-12

1974

 67 89 5/12 634 716 10-11
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

SS

R

Dave Concepcion

.277

6

43

.691

  

1B

L

Chris Chambliss

.279

14

71

.772

   

2B

L

Rod Carew

.314

10

75

.816

   

3B

R

Dave Kingman

.215

16

57

.669

  

LF

R

Bob Bailey

.255

17

63

.776

   

RF

L

Willie Crawford

.265

12

60

.744

   

C

R

Bob Boone

.230

2

9

.585

   

CF

R

Al Cowens

rookie

   

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Ron Schueler

 minors

SP

R

Wayne Simpson

 11 10 4.09 1.30

SP

R

Steve Stone

 8 8 4.03 1.30

SP

L

John Montefusco

 rookie

SP

L

Randy Jones

 8 12 4.41 1.45  

CL

R

Reggie Cleveland

 2 7 3.70 20 SV  

CL

L

Sparky Lyle

 4 2 3.14 0 SV  

 

 

 

          


IN: *SP John Montefusco, *CF Al Cowens
 OUT: 2B Mike de la Hoz
Lineup: Chambliss, Bailey, Crawford, and Boone all underperformed and should bounce back, but Concepcion doesn't walk enough, Kingman is a one-trick pony, and outfield defense is weak.

Rotation: Simpson continues to improve but is only established starter.  Other 4 combined have just 33 career wins.  Huge pressure on newbies Montefusco and Schueler, who is thrust into the ace role despite career 3-12 record.

Bullpen: Cleveland faltered and Tidrow and Willoughby underperformed. 

Outlook: Texans seem doomed to another dismal season and there is not much help on the farm.  Time for Clemons to commence a total rebuild?
 

Denver 14ers
  W L Place R OR Rank
             
             
1974 60 96 7/14 748 957 2-14
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

CF

L

Mickey Rivers

.318

3

9

.823

   

3B

S

Steve Ontiveros

rookie

   

RF

L

Ken Griffey

.309

5

42

.761

  

LF

S

Lou Brock

.277

15

73

.754

   

2B

R

Art Howe

.244

4

30

.656

   

C

L

Duke Sims

.221

10

48

.732

  

LF

S

Roy White

.247

3

23

.704

  

SS

R

Rick Auerbach

.261

2

32

.658

   

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Bill Bonham

 4 2 3.40 1.15  

SP

R

Dave Goltz

 8 6 5.07 1.57  

SP

R

Ray Burris

 4 7 6.04 1.49  

SP

R

Wayne Garland

 rookie  

SP

R

Steve Kline

 8 16 5.90 1.67

CL

R

Ray Lamb

 2 3 3.99 10 SV  

CL

L

Larry Gura

 1 0 5.53 3 SV  
               


IN: RF Ken Griffey, *3B Steve Ontiveros, 1B Lou Brock, *SP Wayne Garland, RF Jose Cardenal, MR Al Santorini, 3B Al Gallagher
OUT: MR Tom Grieve, LF Curt Flood, SP Luke Walker
Lineup:  Griffey, Ontiveros, and Randolph form a solid core for the future, but offense is still weak overall and overly reliant on platoons.

Rotation: In complete flux, with about a half dozen equally mediocre pitchers with decent potential.  Burris is only starter to return from last opening day's rotation, and Bonham is made staff ace after 7 major league starts.

Bullpen: Lamb finally bounced back from two horrible seasons, but Hartenstein and Gura were disappointments.  Premium will be on inning eaters.

Outlook: 14ers should again contend for 14th.  Offense slowly taking shape but club did precious little to improve pitching, so any improvement must come from development of prospects, the most promising of which are parked in Triple-A.
 
 
Los Angeles Outlaws
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 78 84 5/10 668 649 8-5

1973

 92 70 2/2 713 577 3-3

1974

 83 73 4/6 613 536 14-1
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

1B

L

Gary Thomasson

.224

20

59

.730

   

3B

R

Sal Bando

.299

27

104

.917

   

CF

S

Ken Henderson

.270

36

96

.887

   

RF

S

Ken Singleton

.254

8

49

.754

   

LF

R

Dave Winfield

.286

4

19

.727

   

C

L

Dave W. Roberts

.292

24

94

.840

  

2B

R

Chuck Schilling

.232

1

35

.636

   

SS

R

Chris Speier

.222

11

57

.631

   

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Larry Dierker

 16 11 2.51 1.01  

SP

L

Fritz Peterson

 12 13 2.74 1.08  

SP

R

Phil Niekro

 14 10 2.64 1.06  

SP

L

Brent Strom

 7 1 2.26 1.13

SP

R

Dennis Leonard

 rookie  

CL

R

Pedro Borbon

 3 11 4.22 37 SV  
               


IN: 3B Sal Bando,  C Tom Haller,  MR Ramon Hernandez, *MR Larry Andersen, 3B Tony Perez
OUT: SP Doug Rau, 3B Ron Santo
Lineup: Thomasson and Singleton should bounce back after bad years and Bando brings some added pop.  Roberts builds on 94-RBI breakout year.

Rotation: Top 3 starters all had 200+ innings for five straight years.  Pressure on youngsters Strom and Leonard to hold up bottom of rotation.

Bullpen: Borbon was last year's save leader, but Ramon Hernandez had horrible year and the rest of the bunch is untested.

Outlook: Even with collective slump to 14th in batting last year, L.A. only fell three games short of the playoffs.  With only a moderate bounce the Outlaws are easily in the playoffs and could contend for 1st place overall.
 
St. Louis Maroons
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 90 72 2/2 794 718 2-7

1973

 76 86 4/8 596 636 12-5

1974

 66 90 6/13 664 798 7-13
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

SS

R

Jim Fregosi

.275

18

62

.763

   

1B

L

John Milner

.284

21

56

.840

   

3B

L

Graig Nettles

.235

21

69

.691

   

RF

L

Joe Hague

.249

14

71

.703

  

LF

L

Boog Powell

.275

27

88

.819

  

CF

S

Reggie Smith

.232

24

81

.770

   
SS

R

Bucky Dent

.284

1

16

.696

   

C

L

Darrell Porter

.224

18

65

.720

   

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Nolan Ryan

 9 10 4.32 1.53  

SP

R

Joe Niekro

 6 12 5.32 1.47  

SP

R

John Denny

 4 6 4.44 1.45

SP

R

Doc Medich

 4 11 4.20 1.47  

SP

R

Dick Drago

 6 6 4.60 1.61  

CL

R

Dave LaRoche

 1 4 5.05 4 SV  
               


IN: *MR Jim Kern, *MR John Curtis
OUT: x
Lineup: Nettles slumped by nearly 150 OPS points, but Powell and Smith regained some lost power and Milner had a breakout year.  If Porter and Hague develop, the Maroons could crack the top five in runs.

Rotation: Simultaneous slumps by Ryan, Niekro, Medich, and Drago dragged staff to worst season in club history.  Law of averages suggest most should have rebound years.

Bullpen: LaRoche's 41-save season seems like ancient history, and he is still only 25.  The two Jims, Kerr and Barr, are quality righthanders ready to step into closer role.

Outlook: The good news is all the pieces are in place for a good year.  The bad news is the same was true the last two seasons, when the Maroons finished a combined 34 games under .500.  Key players to watch are Nettles and Medich.
 
San Francisco Spiders
  W L Place R OR Rank

1972

 83 79 4/6 648 641 10-3

1973

 75 87 5/9 618 668 10-6

1974

 87 69 2/3 622 543 12-3
               
     

Avg

HR

RBI

OPS

  

C

R

Thurmon Munson

.300

9

54

.730

   

RF

R

Richie Zisk

.280

19

53

.811

   

3B

L

Darrell Evans

.258

24

67

.809

  

LF

R

Jim Rice

.316

22

92

.865

  

CF

R

George Foster

.236

28

98

.727

  

1B

L

John Mayberry

.241

10

47

.678

   

SS

R

Mark Belanger

.273

3

37

.680

  

2B

S

Pete Rose

.216

3

42

.564

  

         
      W L ERA WHIP  

SP

R

Fergie Jenkins

 16 9 2.95 1.09  

SP

R

Doyle Alexander

 4 3 2.31 0.96  

SP

R

Mike Hedlund

 13 13 3.19 1.21

SP

L

Vic Albury

 13 8 2.75 1.26  

SP

R

Lynn McGlothlen

 10 14 4.14 1.26  

CL

L

Terry Forster

 4 6 2.76 29 SV  

CL

L

Tug McGraw

 2 2 3.12 7 SV  
               


IN: none
OUT: x

 Lineup: Plenty of power, but not enough men on base.  Only 3 regulars had OBPs over .330, and beyond Zisk, Evans, and Rice the offense was well below average.

Rotation: Even missing Bob Moose for half the season the staff ranked 3rd, but can sophomores Alexander and Albury perform for a full season?  And will McGlothlen, in his third year, finally find his form?

Bullpen: Perhaps the only club with two legit lefty closers.  Romo and Hood were outstanding also, though Romo likely overperformed.

Outlook: Spiders proved again that you don't have to score a ton to win, which is good because the offense isn't getting any better.  Much depends on performance of Foster, Mayberry, and the young starters, but a return to postseason is more likely than not.
 


Peter Vays: The TSN Interview
TSN: Last year the Outlaws were the favorite not only to win the West but to finish first overall, yet the club finished a distant fourth and missed the playoffs.  What went wrong and what moves have you made to get back in the playoff picture in 1975?
PV: Last was a disaster and I think the team has owned up to that fact.  I hate to pin it on only part of the team but fact is the pitching staff had the league's best ERA so it is not rocket science to figure out that the offense was the problem.  This was a surprise as the offense the year before was pretty good and most of the lineup returned.  Anyway, to address the issue the main move was to bring in Sal Bando.  We dealt from a position of strength, our rotation, and went out and got a top tier hitter.  We also used our first pick to get Roy Smalley who could be ready to step in by mid season at SS and be an instant upgrade.  In FA we also brought in more middle infield help as that was the main problem last year.

 TSN: What players are you looking to rebound this year?  Which do you think are poised for breakout years?
PV:  In terms of rebound, I can't imagine that Mike Epstein who went from a .807 OPS player to the worst 1B in the league at a .669 OPS.  In terms of breakout years I am thinking it is going to be Dave Winfield.  He is now 22 and looks fully developed.  He is a great combination of contact/power/eye/speed. The kid can do virtually anything and even with him hitting the majors a bit early last year he held his own so this could be his year.
TSN: Who will be your toughest competition in the West Division?  How do you rate your own playoff chances?
PV: The team to beat in the West is Atlanta.  They were the best team last year and returned the core of the team plus they finally got a true ace in Roberts.  They didn't have much of a draft or sign any big free agents so I am thinking I am poised to catch them.  I think I have a great shot of making the playoffs.  I want to think that after a bad season we are still the favorites to win the West.