"The Days of Wine and Rojas" The Newsletter of ADML'50 and '66 Confessions of a Fan Welcome to our second issue. This one will be an abbreviated version as the next issue will be quite voluminous. In this issue there are four new manager profiles, trade notes on the 1966 ADML off-season trades, a new quote featuring one of Phil Rizzuto's memories of Casey Stengel and a new trivia question. The next two issues will be special issues featuring previews of the upcoming ADML 50 and ADML 66 seasons. Regarding the manager profiles, for those of you who haven't sent one to Jeff or me, please do so. Regarding the 50 preseason previews, each manager should send in to me his or her predictions on the order of finish for both of the ADML 50 divisions. You should also include your predictions as to the the World Series champion. The ADML 66 predictions have already been tabulated. Both of our previews will include a summary of the managers' predictions as well as commentaries on each team's prospects by our crack team of reporters: David Vinson (ADML 66 McGraw Division), Bob Courter (ADML 66 Hutchinson Division), Peter Shibley (ADML 66 Young Division), Vern Easley (ADML 66 Matthewson Division), Peter Reoch (ADML 50 McGraw Division) and John Laburda (ADML 50 Mack Division). So that we can get the previews out before the opening of the season please send in your predictions as soon as possible. Finally, I would like to thank Peter Reoch for the information he provided me on the Abe Stark sign at Ebbets Field. Pat Lucas, Editor Commissioner's Forum Both the '50 Dispersal Draft and the '66 Rookie Draft are complete. I'd like to thank all managers for helping make both drafts a success. Almost two-thirds of the '50 Dispersal Draft was done via IRC. I think this was a big step forward for all of the ADML leagues as I believe those of you who were not familiar with IRC were surprised at how easy it was. There were a few technical glitches but considering that most '50 managers were new to IRC, I was very pleased with how smoothly things went. While IRC is a great tool, I also like the conference call for rookie drafts as it gives everyone a chance to "meet" everyone else. Eventually I'd like to setup a weekly IRC meeting, similar to what we did while practicing for the '50 draft. This would give everyone a chance to talk about "real" baseball, when the players played because it was still a game to them. I learned long ago never to be surprised during a rookie draft and '66 was no different. I had charted out the 1st round down to my pick, and while hoping that George Scott would slip through (I knew I wouldn't have a shot at the bigger names), I never thought it would happen. I was almost equally as surprised when the player I was going to take if "Boomer" wasn't there, Bill Hands, lasted as long as he did. Like the old saying goes, "It's a difference of opinion that makes horse races". I'd like to wrap up with some comments on the upcoming '50 and '66 seasons. First and foremost, Please Be On Time....................... If you need extra time due to a PC problem, family matter, etc. please let me know. Remember, if your PC is down, the telephone is still an option :-) When you send profiles and series results to your opponents, copy (cc:) me in on them. It only takes a few extra seconds and will help tremendously if there's a dispute about the correct profile being used. If you haven't received a profile from your opponent(s) by the 1st of the month please send me a note. If I have the profile I'll send it to you. If I don't have the profile that means that your opponent is late and you can go ahead and auto-generate a profile for their team and play the series if you wish. If you haven't received series results from your opponent by the 20th of the month please let me know that also. Good Luck to everyone this season and, PLAY BALL ! Jeff TRADE NOTES David Vinson and Pat Lucas The "George Allen" Approach Several trades were made by teams looking to be in the hunt for the pennant this year and willing to trade their futures for that immediate push that might gain them a pennant. Here is a look at those trades: REDBIRDS ACQUIRE PETERS- In an effort to stay on top in their division and to drive toward another championship, the St. Louis Redbirds acquired lefthand starter Gary Peters from the Chicago Red Dogs in exchange for the Redbirds #1 1967 draft pick. Although Peters has two spectacular years back to back he fades after that. Overall Peters" stats over the foreseeable future don't match some of those of pitchers drafted in 1966 in the second round or below and are on par with a couple of others drafted in round two. But given the Redbirds expectations the trade cannot be viewed as loss. They most likely will draft late in next years first round and Peters may be just what they need to remain on top. For the Red Dogs the trade makes a world of sense, they won't be competitive this year and need help in the future to be competitive. RATE IT- RED DOGS A WIN, REDBIRDS A PUSH. MOONSHINERS ACQUIRE WOODESCHICK- David Vinson, Moonshiners' manager, demonstrates that he is the lead proponent of "the future is now" approach. The Moonshiners traded their second and fifth round picks to the Amazins for Hal Woodeschick. True, Woodeschick has a sterling year in 1966 but follows that only with career ending abysmal 1967. Given that the Moonshiners already had quality depth in the bullpen (Face, Locker and Regan) and that a second round pick could yield numerous relief pitchers with more than one quality year, this trade is hard to understand. Only if the Moonshiners make it to the League Championship could this trade be viewed as a marginal win. The Amazins made up for a poor draft and some questionable other trades with a pure win: a one year relief pitcher for a second round pick in a very deep draft. RATE IT-AMAZINS A WIN, MOONSHINERS A LOSS. MOONSHINERS ACQUIRE KRAUSSE, DRABOWSKY- A phenomenal improvement over the Woodeschick deal for the Moonshiners as they trade Sammy Ellis and their first round 1967 pick for Lew Krausse and Moe Drabowsky of the Constables. The Moonshiners should be drafting late in the first round next year. Therefore trading for a reliever who likely would go early in the second (Drabowsky) and a pitcher (Krausse) with quality years ahead as both starter and reliever in exchange for such a first round pick and a starter of questionable remaining value (Ellis) has to be viewed as a win. The Constables also have to be viewed as a winner since their competitive years in the tough Young Division are ahead. They acquired a first round pick in next year's deep draft which can only help their future aspirations. RATE IT- A MOONSHINERS WIN, A CONSTABLES WIN. PILGRIMS ACQUIRE REICHARDT- The Dayton Constables have to be feeling good right now. With a wealth of talent in the outfield but a talented but immature pitching staff to go up against division powerhouses Montreal Juice and Dixie Dynamo, the Constables built upon their already promising future dealing Rick Reichardt to the Plymouth Pilgrims for a second round pick in next year's rich draft. The Pilgrims needed punch in their outfield but Reichardt is not the kind of player to provide more than a patchwork solution. RATE IT- A CONSTABLES WIN, A PILGRIMS PUSH. "Who's On First" The Sodbusters, Moonshiners, Juice, Amazins and Mudhens were all involved in a series of predraft trades which substantially changed the makeup of each team. Because the trades are interelated each team rather than each trade is analyzed separately: SODBUSTERS: The Sodfbusters go from experience to youth and from power to speed and defense as a result of their trades. Gone are Bob Allison, Elroy Face, Bill Mazeroski, Steve Barber, Jerry Grote, Al Kaline, Zoilo Versailles, Bob Bailey, Larry Jaster, Ron Hunt and probable #1 pick Ferguson Jenkins. In are Darold Knowles, Stan Bahnsen, Eddie Watt, Duane Josephson, Don Buford, Roberto Clemente, Bob Veale, Tommy Helms, Hal Lanier and Roy McMillan. the Sodbusters ended up with at least 8 players who will make vital contributions over at least a 3 to 4 year period at some point of their careers. The Sodbusters get some bullpen longevity in Darold Knowles who lasts 14 more good years. Eddie Watt was an underrated reliever and Ron Taylor provides quality from 1967 through 1969. Buford from '68-71 helped fuel the Orioles play-off run with his consistent .280/15HR/20SB seasons. Clemente was--well, Clemente and can play RF in Yellowstone so the Dome will be a piece of cake. Helms was a good 2B who had only 1 sub .250 season in his 9full-time seasons. Veale would be a Pirate workhorse from '66 to '70 and Bahnsen would put together quality years from '68 to '74. Both Bahnsen and Veale will form a great 2-3 punch (to add to Denny McLain) when '68 rolls around. For the most part the Sodbusters gave up quality but aging veterans whose good years have mostly passed them by. RATE IT- A SODBUSTERS WIN. MARLBORO MUDHENS: The Mudhens began their part in the "Who's On First" screenplay by acquiring Bobby Knoop and the Saints/Moonshiners 2nd round pick (later Darrell Brandon) in exchange for the Mudhens 2nd round pick (later Darold Knowles). Some may question the trading for a higher pick for a lower (e.g. Knowles for Brandon) but the Mudhens got the ammo (i.e. Knoop) to go after the real prize they sought in Ferguson Jenkins, a sorely need workhorse starter. Mudhens acquired Russ Nixon, Zoillo Versalles, and the Sodbusters 1st round pick (Fergie Jenkins) in exchange for Bud Harrelson, Bobby Knoop, Ed Kranepool, the Mudhens 1st round pick (Randy Hundley), the Mudhens 3rd round pick (this pick later traded for Bob Bailey), and the Mudhens 4th round pick (Dooley Womack). The Mudhens ended up with one of the all-time greats who can meet the challenge of having to pitch in Wrigley half of the time. Did the Mudhens give up too much. Probably not, they filled a significant whole in their starting rotation of the future with the best. They gave up Ed Kranepool, who would ride the pine behind Deron Johnson. True, they did give up Buddy Harrelson, Bobby Knoop, a pick that would likely be Randy Hundley, a pick that would later be Duane Josephson and a pick that would later be Dooley Womack. This left them with some wholes at catcher, second and short. But they acquired Versailles as a stop gap for a few years at short and Nixon for some interim help at catcher. Also with their likely high trading position in the future these wholes should fill over the next couple of years. And they still have their very deep outfield and a Jenkins pairing with Wilbur Wood to look forward to. RATE IT- A CLOSE MUDHENS WIN. ABSECON AMAZINS: To paraphrase Casey Stengel"s comments regarding the Amazins namesakes, the New York Mets, this club is "amazin, amazin, amazin, amazin." The Amazins went from a club with a wonderful present and promising future, to a team with a mediocre present and future, to a team with a mediocre present but possibly wonderful future. Although this note covers the Amazins only up to the draft, one must read the other notes herein, for without doing so, you must conclude that the Amazins predraft dealings were rather unsatisfactory. Before this offseason began, the Amazins lineup for the upcoming season looked as follows: Don Buford (lf), Mack Jones (cf), Roberto Clemente (rf), Bill White (1b), Tommy Helms (2b), Roy McMillan (ss), Ken McMullen (3b) and Johny Roseboro (c). The rotation looked to be: Jim Kaat, Claude Osteen, Bob Veale and Mike Cuellar. With a bullpen containing Al McBean, Hal Woodeschick, Jack Aker and Dick Hall, this club could have won the division with only minor tweaking, e.g. a pick of Sonny Jackson late in the first round to replace McMillan and a quality fifth starter in round 2. But when Jed Latkin took over the team it began the aforementioned rollcoaster ride. With the Amazins' first predraft deal (i.e. with the Sodbusters) they appeared to get the minor tweaking done and at the same time add additional value to the club. Zoilo Versailles was acquired apparently to replace McMillan at least for a couple of years and at the same time Larry Jaster was acquired to fill the fifth spot in the rotation. Veale was out of the rotation but his spot would be more than filled by the likely drafting of Ferguson Jenkins (i.e. the #1 pick of the Sodbusters). Clemente and Helms were gone also but satisfactorily replaced by Ron Hunt and Al Kaline. Neither is up to the standards of the players they replaced but the acquisition of Jenkins makes the deal worthwhile. Even the loss of Buford would not sour the deal because the Amazins also got two additional draft picks. The souring came with the next trade and the ill-judicial use of those picks. The Amazins then concocted a potion that seemed to have little medicinal value and a distinctly sour taste. The promising rotation of the future containing Jenkins, Cuellar, Osteen and Kaat would soon be gone as the #1 pick in the draft was sent to the Mudhens. Further, the present whole at short reappeared as Versailles also was shipped to the Mudhens. What did the Amazins get in return? Bud Harrelson, Bobby Knoop, Ed Kranepool and three draft picks. Harrelson in 67 will take over at shortstop and will do so admirably for some time. Hunt moves to short for 66 only and Knoop fills the void at second and then becomes expendable. Kranepool will be a backup first basemen to Bill White. So absent the draft picks the Amazins got a backup first and second basemen and Harrelson for Jenkins. Not very attractive so far. To compound the problem Randy Hundley was picked in the spot acquired in the Jenkins deal and relegated Roseboro to a backup situation. The pick made no sense when the open spot in the rotation could have been filled with Bill Hands or the speed at the top of the order left by the departure of Buford could have been filled by Caesar Tovar or Tommie Agee. The open spot in the rotation was filled with the acquisition during the draft of Mike McCormick in a trade with the Dynamo. The Amazins, however, seemed to continue their useless duplication by drafting Jack Fischer, a mediocre starter, with the second round pick acquired from the Sodbusters. Some small measure of redemption was gained with the acquisition of Bob Bailey--a guy that had 5 good power years averaging about 20 HR's per year from '70-74-- and Dooley Womack, a quality reliever with the Mudhens 4th round pick. But Bailey would have to be played outside his regular position for Ken McMullen already occupied third base, again wasted duplication. Up through the draft, this offseason has to be RATED AN AMAZINS LOSS. But as another Met manager once said "it aint over til its over." MONTREAL JUICE: The Juice sent their 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th round picks to the Sodbusters in exchange for Steve Barber, Jerry Grote and the Sodbusters higher picks in the 1st and 3rd round. Because of the draft picks received in exchange the trade is best analyzed as an exchange of the Juice's 2nd round pick for Grote and their 4th round pick for Barber. In 1966 Barber had an outstanding year, albeit his last one. This acquisition may help the Juice stave off the Dynamo in the tough Young Division. As a result the acquisition of Barber seems well worth the exchange of a late 4th round pick. As for Grote, besides being a solid backstop, he will have big seasons in '68--which is a rarity--and in '75. Grote was a National League Allstar twice, albeit as a backup to Johny Bench. The Juice gave up the 15th pick in the second round. The next catcher drafted after Randy Hundley, Andy Etchebarren, never made the All Star team, and he went as the 8th pick in the second round. Given this, one has to RATE IT A JUICE WIN. SOUTHPORT SAINTS/MIDDLE GEORGIA MOONSHINERS: Even before David Vinson took over this club, its philosophy was " the future is now." Its only predraft trade demonstrated it. The Saints sent Bobby Knoop, Ron Taylor and their 1st and 2nd round picks in 66 to the Sodbusters for Bob Allison, Elroy Face and Bill Mazeroski. The picks were later to become Woody Fryman and Darrell Brandon but could have been much more. The Saints significantly improved their offensive production at second for the 66-68 period, moderately improved their bullpen for the same period and added some extra power to their lineup in 67-68. But was it worth a first and second round pick? If the Saints/Moonshiners win in any of those years-yes- if not-no. Therefore, RATE IT A MOONSHINERS PUSH. "Amazin, Amazin, Amazin: Part II" The Amazins tried to recover through a subpar predraft trading season and a dismal draft with three postdraft deals that accomplished mixed results: RED DOGS SHIP CLEON JONES TO AMAZINS- The Chicago Red Dogs have suffered some dreadful seasons, but with the Gary Peters deal and two trades with the Amazins that shipped out Cleon Jones, the Red Dogs may turn the tables for Rick Michal much quicker than he could have dreamed possible. Next years draft is now shaded red, Red Dog red. The Red Dogs picked up additional second and third round draft picks in next year's very deep draft to go along with the additional first round pick they got for Peters. They also, in the two deals with the Amazins, picked up a short term replacement for Jones (i.e. Rocky Colavito), a two to three year replacement for Peters (i.e. Jack Fisher) and a quality third basemen (Ken McMullen) for the next five to six years. The Amazins acquired a left fielder (Jones) with some quality years interspersed over the next eight to ten years, including a phenomenal 1969 and dumped some excess in their rotation (Fisher) and at third base (McMullen), where Jed Latkin may now use Bob Bailey to his fullest potential during his most productive years (1969 to 1974). But he did it at an extraordinary cost (McMullen and a 2nd and a 3rd in 67). Fortunately, the "Woodeschick deal" with the Moonshiners and another deal with the Lightning made up for the loss. RATE IT A RED DOG WIN, AN AMAZINS PUSH. AMAZINS ACQUIRE LIGHTNING FIRST- The Amazins in an effort to rebound from their draft troubles and a possible overpayment for Cleon Jones scrapped all pretense to winning now and acquired the Lightning's first round pick next year. In the deal the Amazins shipped Larry Jaster, Mack Jones, John Roseboro, Bill White and Mack Jones to the Louisville Lightning for Tony Cloninger, Ron Swoboda, the Lightning's first and fifth round picks in next year's draft. Admittedly, the Lightning improved significantly this year in the deal but was it enough to compensate for a loss of a first round pick in next year's very deep draft. We don't think so. It doesn't appear that the deal will put the Lightning over the top this year. Plus the Roseboro acquisition does little for the Lightning who were already very deep at catcher. The Amazins gave up some power in the Jones for Swoboda swap but cleared some space for Ed Kranepool and Randy Hundley and gained a first round pick next year. RATE IT AN AMAZINS WIN, A LIGHTNING LOSS. Trivia Congratulations to Peter Reoch and Bob Courter who answered last month's trivia question of which beers sponsored the New York baseball teams in the 1950's-Ballantine(Yankees), Schaefer (Dodgers) and Rheingold (Giants). Mel Allen, the Yankee's announcer, often dubbed Yankee home runs a "Ballantine Blast," and the Schaefer beer sign above the right centerfield scoreboard at Ebbets Field had an interesting feature: The sign notified fans of the official scorer's decision, the E lit up in Schaefer when a play was called an error and the H lit up when there was a hit. There were other product oddities associated with Yankee and Dodger games. At the base of the right-field scoreboard in Ebbets Field was the Abe Stark sign that said "Hit Sign, Win Suit." This was an ad for Abe Stark's clothing store that was located on Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn. It is questionable whether the outfield sign cost Stark many suits because you had to hit it directly with a line drive. With Carl Furillo playing Right Field almost no balls got through him on a line. Also the sign was tucked away at the base of the right-field scoreboard almost making it an impossibility to hit it directly with a line drive. Most left handed batters wanted to try and hit it over the scoreboard since it was a relatively short distance from home plate. Speaking of home runs, when one was hit at Ebbets Field a carton of the cigarettes produced by one of the Dodgers' radio sponsors would tumble down the protective netting behind home plate as a gift to the slugger and greet him as he crossed home plate. Red Barber, like Mel Allen with the "Ballantine Blast," had a nickname for a homerun using the name of the cigarette sponsor. Not to be outdone, Mr. Allen, in addition to his ale inspired "Ballantine Blast," had a second nickname for homeruns. This nickname used the name of the cigars which sponsored the Yankees radio broadcasts. What were the tobacco related product calls for homeruns used by Allen and Barber? Quotable Quote Stengelese was a brand of double talk which often led the listener into some form of mental paralysis. But Casey Stengel would often carry Stengelese into action as Phil Rizzuto once remembered: "I'll never forget September 6, 1950. I got a letter threatening me, Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra and Johnny Mize. It said if I showed up in uniform against the Red Sox I'd be shot. I turned the letter over to the FBI, and told my manager Casey Stengel about it. You know what Casey did? He gave me a different uniform and gave mine to Billy Martin. Can you imagine that? Guess Casey thought it'd be better if Billy got shot." Manager Profiles Pierre Pigeon, editor, children books writer (in French), former journalist and our French Canadian Casey Stengel, is the father of two grown up girls. Pierre manages five sim baseball teams, including three in ADML leagues: Chicago Whales ('97), Montreal Juice ('66), Montreal Barrel ('50). Pierre has been quoted as saying "Jeff Nicholson is definitively the one guy I had to know on the Net!". The Montreal VTBBC (Very Tight Budget Baseball Club -- aka Alphabet Soup) and La Flaque de Saint-Rien (Nothingville Plash) are the two other sim baseball teams he's involved in as a manager. Pierre is also a member of three sim hockey leagues, in which he coaches the Montreal Spirit, the Montreal UFOs and La Horde de Gengis Gandhi. Pierre states that his favorite TV shows are: Windows 95, DMB 6.5 and the Montreal Expos Mailing list. His favorite current baseball teams are the Montreal Expos and Cleveland Indians before they were successful. His favorite past teams are the Saint-Louis Browns, Washington "Charlie Brown" Senators and 1962 New Browns Mets. Pierre reads anything related to baseball, beginning with stat reports and therefore he can't find enough time to eat. Theron Skyles, age 27 and a resident of Elk Grove, California, is the office manager of an insurance agency and a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (1991). Theron, whose favorite team is the Oakland A's, will more likely than not be a newlywed by press time. His wedding at the end of July will expand his family by two, his bride, Amy, and her son Adam, who will be nine in September. Theron has been the coach of Adam's little league team for the last two years. Theron's favorite sports experience actually involves football, his attendance at the Fiesta Bowl when Notre Dame beat West Virginia to become the college football "champions" of '88 during his sophomore year at Notre Dame. His most memorable baseball experience was seeing Dave Kingman hit a homerun in extra innings to win a game for the A's in '86. It wasn't a very important game, but it's memorable because Theron was so excited that he sped his mom's car all the way home with his friends and ended up slamming the car into a lamp post. Theron's most disappointing baseball experience was when he had tickets to games 6 and 7 of the 1990 World Series in Cincinnati and the series ended in four games. Peter Reoch is our resident follower of the capital of baseball, New York in the 1950s. Peter was born in the 1940's in Brooklyn and grew up a baseball fan following the Brooklyn Dodgers closely. Peter enjoyed their World's Championship in 1955 and lived through all the other disappointments. When the Dodgers and Giants moved away in 1958, my interest in baseball declined. But the creation of board games renewed his interest in baseball, as it allowed him to relive some fond childhood memories. As these games improved and produced the old time players and leagues, his interest grew even more. Now that Diamond Mind has given us the opportunity to go back into history, Peter's interest in baseball is as great as ever. Peter is involved in education as a teacher, administrator, and former coach. Peter has been married for thirty-three years, has a grown daughter, and appreciates the many blessings of a good home life for all these years. Paul Faits, 48 year old salesman, married, father of two girls, age 10 and 8, has been doing replays since 1964, starting with ABPA board game. He played Computer Baseball on the Apple II in the 80's, Earl Weaver on the Amiga in late 80's, and has been playing PTP/Diamond Mind since about 1990. Peter gives us the following collage of his best and worst baseball memories: " I was in the bleachers for 7th game of 1975 World Series and had a $400 bet on the Reds to win the series, but I didn't care, I was rooting for the Red Sox. I was at the 4th and final game of the 1976 World Series in New York. My worst memory: Bucky Dent in 78. I had season tickets for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983 and 1984. In late September, 1983, I said to my girlfriend (now wife), let's go, we'll be late to the game. She said, hey, we've been to more games this year than I wanted, and the Cards are out of the race, so let's stay home. That night, Bob Forsch threw a no hitter. Fast forward to 1997, I was reading the paper last Sunday, article on collectibles in the paper, and it said if you have ticket stubs from Bob Forsch's no hitter in 1983, they are worth between 50-$100 each, depending on condition. Well, I have 4 mint condition, not even torn tickets. I saved them in my desk all these years. I married the girl anyway Steve Fisher, a native of Spokane, Washington, is a Diamond Mind and ADML rookie. Steve's favorite teams are the Mariners and the Giants. His favorite player is Edgar Martinez. His most memorable moment: April 20, 1990 "LIVE" Oakland/Alameda Stadium Seattle vs. Oakland. Brian Holman retires the first 26 Oakland players in order and comes within one out of tossing the 15th perfect game in major league history before Ken Phelps homers in a 6-1 M's win. Steve has been a baseball fan all his life and remembers listening to the very first Mariner game with his dad on the radio. Steve moved to the Bay area for about 5 years. Although Oakland had a good team, he hated them since they were in the M's division. So Steve became a Giants fan also. He still follows the Giants but his favorite team remains the Seattle Mariners.