Earl Weaver Baseball League

Miscellaneous Notes

September 7th, 2008 by Banditos GM

-  At some point in 1992 Ricky Powell of NO was replaced as the closer by Steffen Larsen.  Larsen, 26, was acquired in a trade with the Diplomats over the offseason.  The Dukes now have 2 "name" relievers in their middle relief with Powell and Ludo Orlandi.  The difference is that Orlandi, like most former closers, is angry about his role, whereas, Powell's morale is great.  Could this be correlated to his 10 Leadership Ability? 7 Loyaltly? 6 Desire for a Winning Team?  My guess would be Leadership ability perhaps keeps up the morale.  Also, Mitchell Reece's decision to replace Powell as closer is highly questionable.  Consider Powell's past history, and his age, then compare that to Larsen.  Larsen, if better, is not by much.

-  Sticking with New Orleans, 2B Francisco Neri might be the Ozzie Smith of the EWB.  He may lay claim to the best defensive infielder ever.  First lets start with his ratings, in the following he rates a 10/10:  IF Range, IF Error, Turn Double Play, Rating at 1B, Rating at 2B, Rating at 3B.  The only defensive ranking he does not have a 10 in is IF Arm where he rates a respectable 7.  Now, in addition he has 5 Gold Gloves.  The catch is that 4 are at 3B and 1 at 2B.  Gold Gloves at multiple positions is an acclaimed feat. 

- Frank Robinson, World Series manager of the 1990 Dallas Brahmas, has returned to his roots.  He is currently managing the AAA Syracuse Chimpanzees of the International League.  Robinson started his career as manager of the Chimpanzees from 1970-72.

- Miami SS Michael Quint is from Wasilla, Alaska.  In the news quite a bit lately as the town that Sarah Palin was the mayor of or from.

- This looks to be a boring September for the NL.  Unless something drastic happens, all 3 division leaders look to have things wrapped up.  Even Boston has a solid 3 game lead in the Wildcard race over Indianapolis.  Contrast this to the AL, where all divisions are in play and virtually no team is eliminated.

-  Justin Johnston is black, Tiehen is white.  Is there any relation to Sherwood Johnston? Looking at the pictures there is a huge resemblance.  Justin would have been born when Sherwood was 23.  Miami's Anthony Pryor is from York, NE and is having a career year for the Banditos this season.

-  In answer to Miguel Torres question.  Are we happy?  Of course not, but we would have never made the deal if Dong min Kim played OF.  The idea was to clear salary room and open IF spots for young players we thought were ready.  In addition we needed to  acquire a solid, productive everyday OF.  Torres is giving us some much needed power but overall is performing negatively.  We've stuck with him and will continue to hope he turns a corner.  By the way, he has been sub .200 almost all season, it's only been in the last sim or two that he has cracked .200.  Baby steps.

- With regards to Rafael Valentin.  We have no comment.  We are currently in discussions with several players regarding their contract extensions.  We would hate to see any speculation disrupt these negotiations.

- Miami injuries.  Everybody is aware of the Admiral injury situation, the media and ESPN continually harp on it.  However, the Banditos may have had a much more devastating set of injuries.  The Banditos lost their opening day starters at C, 1B, 2B, and SS.  Sure you can minimized the Delzoppo and Young injuries since Hinkle and Pryor/Yamada/Quint have filled in quite well.  But there is no way to take out players like Bryant and Hamilton, the 1990 team MVP and 1991 Team MVP and not be severely affected.  It's weird to think that I will get Bryant back soon, because he's never been part of this team this year.  Miami is desperate for his return.

-  The Montreal Knights are flush with former human players.  First take a look at the pitching.  In the rotation is Dave Harris, former Bandito, currently at 5-2, 1.94 ERA.  Harris was traded for Jose Rodriguez who is currently a FA.  In the bullpen Ernesto "Meltdown" Perez (Wash), Carlos Crus (Omaha), CL Leon Rosario (Omaha).  In AAA bullpen Arturo Duran (Omaha).  In the lineup Frank Patterson (Omaha), Javier Martinon (Omaha), William Cook (Miami, a Rule 5 pick playing Utility IF for Montreal), and in AAA Chris Kilvington (Omaha).  It should be noted that the humans like to interact with Montreal a lot.  It should also be noted that several of these players are high calibre.  Obviously Patterson is a 5 star, so is Martinon, and Kilvington is in that elite neighborhood.  Actually, Kilvington may have to beat out either Patterson at 1B or Martinon at 3B or else linger in AAA.

-  Whatever happened to Miguel Gonzalez of Omaha?  At one point he was the reason for being able to trade away Martinon.  He was also part of a trade talk with Washington.  He was the next high flying Wolverine prospect.  Currently he is playing Utility IF, not hitting well and seems to have lost a lot of lustre, not just around the league but also with Omaha management.  Mike?  What up with him?

-  AL Coaches on the hot seat.  Tom Kelly has to be worried.  Chicago is a big market team that should be contending year in and out.  Last year's playoff loss and this year's horrible 1st half spell trouble for the Tom Kelly.  Pete Rose also shouldn't be resting too easy.  Rose has made improvements to a very weak franchise, but a lot is expected of him and not a lot of patience is afforded to him.  Joe Torre.  Yes, Torre in his 1st half of the season is on the hot seat.  Torre took over a team considered a sure shot, they were considered the dynamite offense of EWB.  Omaha has failed to reach expectations, furthermore they are managed by the whimsical GM Gilmore.  It's known throughout the league that as manager of the Wolverines position is a perpetual hot seat.

- Mike Robinson hits .77 better at home than on the road.  .319 to .242.  Although he hits equally for power 6 HR at each home and on the road.  Does he just pick up the ball better at Da Vista Ga or is it something else?  Trouble sleeping on the road?  Too much partying on the road?  As Robinson goes, so do the Admirals when post season rolls around.  So they better lock up homefield advantage.

Miguel Torres

September 7th, 2008 by Admirals GM

Of Miami is awfully Rob Deer-like.  He's .201/17/51, after being acquired for Dong-min Kim.  Is Miami satisfied with this trade, even assuming there's no further development by Torres?

Justin is Awesome

September 7th, 2008 by Admirals GM

Justin Johnston, AAA prospect for Boston, is kicking ass.  He has stats of .318/25/79 at the break.  Similar: his first name is Justin.  Dissimilar: his last name is Johnston, not T.  Similar: His birthday is in November.  Dissimilar: his birthdate is the 13th, noth the 12th (still super close!!!).  Similar: He's from Nebraska.  Dissimilar: he's from Columbus, not Ralston.  Depsite the minor dissimilarities, this guy is remarkably like me, JTT.  He's a Justin from Nebraska who's birthday is on 11/13, rather than 11/12.  That's super-close.  Right now, his ratings are 4-5, contact power.  That's not potential, that's *actual*.  Upshot: there's no way Boston re-signs Rafael Valentin.  Justin Johnston is guaranteed to be a star.  Let me add to the rumors: Valentin will be a Miami Bandito before long, given that Boston already has Johnston.

Human Rookies

September 6th, 2008 by Banditos GM

Here is a list of human rookies that have or may make a splash in 1992.  Some are possible award candidates.  They are listed in order of my estimation of highest impact to negligible.

MIAMI
Ryan Hinkle- Legitimate Angel Rosa Candidate.
Ray Stapylton
Coy Rollins
Michael Quint
Steve Halter
Dave Johnson
Lou "Franchise" Bennett

OMAHA
Clayton Jones
Antonio Ayala
Ben Lindsay

WASHINGTON
Artie Bicknell
Dale Reinert
Jeff Blanchard
Russie Ramsey
Francisco Perez
Kendrick
Tinker

Newest 3 Star Admiral: Brad Robertson

September 6th, 2008 by Admirals GM

On Saturday, the 4th of July, prior to our home game vs. the Las Vegas Renegades, the Washington Admirals will be inducting the newest 3 Star Admiral: former starting pitcher Brad Robertson.  There will be a hot dog-eating contest for fans and players' families before the game, ceremonial coins celebrating Robertson's career (and especially his 1978 and 1980 seasons), and a fireworks ceremony after the game, in which Brad presses the button that gets things started.  Below are some of the highlights of Robertson's biography.

 

1. Robertson is one of the few Admiral greats to be originally drafted by the team.  The draft involved some controversy though.  In 1972, the Admirals selected Robertson with their 10th round pick.  Half an hour later, at the beginning of the 11th round, the San Antonio Aztecas announced Robertson as their 11th round selection, not realizing he was already off the board.  (This story is not made up.  Check out Robertson's personal page.)  This (a) helped establish San Antonio's reputation for managerial incompetence, (b) added to the Admirals' myth of edging out other teams, given Robertson's later success, and (c) helped sour relations between Washington and San Antonio.  Azteca fans are convinced that the Admirals consistently screw them over.

 

2. Robertson made his big league debut late in 1975, and pitched well as the Admirals coasted to the division title.  Despite the 21-year-old's inexperience, the Admirals counted on him in a big way in the playoffs, and Robertson responded with a 2-1 record in 4 starts.  It was enough to help the Admirals win the 1975 World title, the Admirals' second straight.  Robertson also was a big playoff contributor during the 1977 and 1978 World Championship runs, going 3-0 in 3 starts each year.  Like just about every Admiral, Robertson seemed to have a knack for playing well during crunch time.  He won 3 World Championships over his career.

 

3. Robertson was at his peak in 1978, when he went 23-6 and 3.39, and also in 1980, when he went 20-7 and 2.59.  Both years, he was edged out by teammate Gizmo Delgado in Bob Gibson Award voting.  (The 1980 vote was especially controversial.  Some Admiral officials acknowledge that Delgado won that award on reputation, and that Robertson was more deserving.  This complaint doesn't get aired a lot though, for obvious political reasons.)

 

4. At his peak, Robertson was an 11 point pitcher with 6 different pitches and solid strikeout ability.  He led the league in K's once and in K's/9 on another occasion.  According to my system, an 11 point pitcher is a solid ace or an exceptional #2 pitcher.  What was remarkable about the 1970s Admirals was that Robertson was their *third* starter, after ace Gizmo Delgado and #2 Forest Thomas.  As good as Sherwood Johnston was on offense, the strength of the team, hands-down, was their starting pitching.  That's a tradition the team has tried to keep to this day: the team strength of the 1992 Admirals is also their starting pitching, and their AL leading starters' ERA.

 

5. Like Forest Thomas, Robertson made exactly 2 All Star games in his life: 1978 and 1980.  Unlike Thomas, the lack of adulation never really bothered him much.  Robertson was well known for his no-nonsense, workman like approach to his job.  He thinks that the spectacle Forest Thomas makes of himself is something of an embarrassment.

 

6. Gizmo Delgado and Forest Thomas are both especially known for their longevity.  Robertson is not.  After that excellent season which he posted as a 26-year-old in 1980, Robertson started to lose a step just about each year.  Throughout the 1980s, he would win about 15 games a year for the Admirals, and post an ERA in the high 3.00s or low 4.00s.  Not horrible, too be sure, but a far cry from competing for the Gibson award, as he had done earlier in his career.  Robertson is one of those players whose career trajectory starts great in their early to mid 20s, is okay but not great in their late 20s and early 30s, and then is bad in their mid 30s.

 

7. The Admirals signed Robertson to a big 4 year, $14M contract after the 1986 season.  Immediately, this loooked like a mistake, as Robertson struggled through the worst year of his career so far in 1987, going 10-18 and 4.92.  In an effort to dump his salary, the Admirals traded him after the year to Omaha, in exchange for outfielder Roberto Elias (presently with Carolina) and pitching prospect Wayne Gary (making his major league debut with Memphis this year).

 

8. Robertson did not enjoy his time in Omaha.  Not one bit.  He struggled through a 7-13, and 5.32 year in 1988, then got demoted to the bullpen in 1989 where he posted a 4.32 ERA.  His worst year, though, was 1990, when he went 3-8 with a 6.33 ERA while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen.  Even worse, Robertson quarreled with the new Wolverines' management.  He thought they were a Mickey Mouse organization, and didn't hesitate to say as much.  He thought the team was too enamored with youth and with trying to start things from scratch, which led them to undervalue their veterans.  Even during a rebuilding period, Robertson would say, veterans have an important role to play.  Rather than dealing with a disgruntled Robertson for another year, Omaha released him prior to 1991, eating the last year of that big salary the Admirals had signed him to.

 

9. After being released, Roberton harbored some hopes of catching on with another team -- maybe even the Admirals -- but it was not to be.  Just getting used to retirement at this point, Robertson rarely travels or makes any baseball appearances.  Instead, he spends much of his time in his brother's upholstery store back in his hometown of West Little River, Florida, and at his modest home.  Most customers at that store have no idea they're dealing with a Washington Admirals' legend.  Robertson prefers it that way.