 |
View Old Forum Thread
Old Forum Index » Baseball League Forums » Dynasty Leagues » Larry Doby League » Team updates, May 1951
msstrawn
Offensively, the Lynx have made several deals early in the season to shore up what was a mostly inexperienced roster of young players. With so much age and skill in their pitching, the ownership decided to trade away some of their prospects for mature hitters in key positions, rather than put all of their hopes for the season on the shoulders of Bob Rush and co. while rebuilding the rest of their team. Leading the charge at the plate in the early going is Will Allen, acquired from the Washington Strategos in a multiplayer deal. Bill Maddux has been hot too as he tries to learn center field - he has been in there for his glove as the Lynx have very little defense in the outfield, but his bat has been the story until now. Earl Manrique has hit well since he came over from Cleveland, and Louie Blackaby has been great in a pinch hit and backup role against right-handed pitching. Behind the plate, the Lynx have a dilemma, with veteran Art Blair far and away their best arm and bat in the catcher position, but they've been trying to get playing time for youngsters Homer Everitt and Red Mahaffey, both with alot of work to become mature and competitive players, although Everitt has been on a tear with his bat in the early part of the season. Holding their infield together are young shortstop Arky Vaughn, a solid defensive player with great speed and a fair bat, and Myril Burr, who at just 22 is holding his own in the field and at the plate.
After 44 games, the Lynx hold a narrow 1-game lead in the NL pennant race, with the Fancy Mice and Yellow Jackets nipping at their heels, and some in Pittsburgh are starting to believe that this early season run may not be a fluke, with their pitching and versatility at the plate. By securing the best pitchers they could find in the expansion draft, and trading up for some pretty respectable veteran hitting, the management has sent a signal that they are ready to contend in the NL this year.
Team updates, May 1951
December 03, 2003 at 07:45PM View BBCode
The Pittsburgh Lynx, one of three teams in the Larry Doby League who have changed ownership this year, have been quite a surprise in the early going. Much of their success can be attributed to their core of veteran hurlers, thus far the best overall pitching staff in the league. Starter Bob Rush leads the way, dominating NL teams in most of his starts and allowing only 1 walk or hit per inning pitched with a 2.95 ERA, very good in the LDL. Marc Miller has been pretty good, but youngster Robbie Reeve, with one of the hardest fastballs in the league and improved control, has been good in only a couple of starts. The Lynx have run several different pitchers in the 4th and 5th slot, with Bob Callaway having a good season and lefty Johnny Vandermeer, usually a reliever, performing great in his few starts, so far making up for Reeve's rough beginning to the season and rounding out their rotation nicely. But they are short of starters, and this could hurt them later as their veterans age and good-hitting NL teams start to take advantage of their weakness in the 4th and 5th spot. In the bullpen, Don Elston is having a good spring in the setup role, with Ian Young and Johnny Klippstein also pitching well in various late-inning roles, but they have had question marks at closer. They usually use Jeffery McCague in this role, but he has been less effective than they'd like thus far. The staff is pretty old overall, with only a couple of youngsters and minor league prospects that they are excited about, but many in Pittsburgh are more excited about this season than they are worried about the future... at least right now.Offensively, the Lynx have made several deals early in the season to shore up what was a mostly inexperienced roster of young players. With so much age and skill in their pitching, the ownership decided to trade away some of their prospects for mature hitters in key positions, rather than put all of their hopes for the season on the shoulders of Bob Rush and co. while rebuilding the rest of their team. Leading the charge at the plate in the early going is Will Allen, acquired from the Washington Strategos in a multiplayer deal. Bill Maddux has been hot too as he tries to learn center field - he has been in there for his glove as the Lynx have very little defense in the outfield, but his bat has been the story until now. Earl Manrique has hit well since he came over from Cleveland, and Louie Blackaby has been great in a pinch hit and backup role against right-handed pitching. Behind the plate, the Lynx have a dilemma, with veteran Art Blair far and away their best arm and bat in the catcher position, but they've been trying to get playing time for youngsters Homer Everitt and Red Mahaffey, both with alot of work to become mature and competitive players, although Everitt has been on a tear with his bat in the early part of the season. Holding their infield together are young shortstop Arky Vaughn, a solid defensive player with great speed and a fair bat, and Myril Burr, who at just 22 is holding his own in the field and at the plate.
After 44 games, the Lynx hold a narrow 1-game lead in the NL pennant race, with the Fancy Mice and Yellow Jackets nipping at their heels, and some in Pittsburgh are starting to believe that this early season run may not be a fluke, with their pitching and versatility at the plate. By securing the best pitchers they could find in the expansion draft, and trading up for some pretty respectable veteran hitting, the management has sent a signal that they are ready to contend in the NL this year.
ANT1234
the goal of the washington was to upgrade a weak pitching corp that was exposed the world series last season by the fancy mice of new york. wes sullivan heads the rotation and he's been solid after a rough first two outings. behind him is fergie jenkins, aquired by the lynx in the deal for will allen. jenkins has been a solid, consistent hurler, something the strategos had been lacking behind sullivan. maybe the heart of the staff has been alabaster altenburg. after pitching a shutout in his first start, the 34 y/o went on the DL for the rest of month. since returning, he's bumped fellow veteran bob keppel from the staff, who had been lit up. in the process he's posted a 1.88 ERA. but most importantly, he's been there to steady the middle of the rotation. since his return ed demontriville and todd stoudemire have both pitched extremely well out of the #4 and #5 spots.
the bullpen has been up and down. tully sparks has been brilliant in long and middle relief. and joey amalfitano has been almost automatic in the closer's role which he took over from ad kent towards the end of last season. as the primary setup man, kent has struggled. so has youngster al lee who posts a 10.00 ERA so far. wayne guzman has struggled as well in middle relief.
on the offensive side of things, washington continues to hit. the season started by trading washington fan favorite will allen to pittsburgh. but his bat has replaced by mason smith who finally cracked the everyday lineup after hitting 17 homers last year in a utility role. the team also traded backstop dave bruett to baltimore in teurn for tom wilson who has struggled at times at the bat but has been stellar behind the plate. the rest of the lineup holds steady from last season with reigning AL MVP chad rainwater,billy sassaman and dave bancroft leading the charge. defending batting champ tomas sheffield continues to set the table for those guys. one guy who has struggled is 2B kid gleason. he's been slow w/the bat so far.
what has been great is the stratego bench, especially OF herschel judd and IF robbie wilcox. these two would be capable starters anywhere else, but have been valuable cogs in the stratego offense. and julio richter continues to a great back-up behind the plate. solid w/the glove and suprisingly capable w/the bat.
washington strategos
December 04, 2003 at 12:12AM View BBCode
the defending american league champions started the season off slowly but have since rode an 8-game winning streak back to first place.the goal of the washington was to upgrade a weak pitching corp that was exposed the world series last season by the fancy mice of new york. wes sullivan heads the rotation and he's been solid after a rough first two outings. behind him is fergie jenkins, aquired by the lynx in the deal for will allen. jenkins has been a solid, consistent hurler, something the strategos had been lacking behind sullivan. maybe the heart of the staff has been alabaster altenburg. after pitching a shutout in his first start, the 34 y/o went on the DL for the rest of month. since returning, he's bumped fellow veteran bob keppel from the staff, who had been lit up. in the process he's posted a 1.88 ERA. but most importantly, he's been there to steady the middle of the rotation. since his return ed demontriville and todd stoudemire have both pitched extremely well out of the #4 and #5 spots.
the bullpen has been up and down. tully sparks has been brilliant in long and middle relief. and joey amalfitano has been almost automatic in the closer's role which he took over from ad kent towards the end of last season. as the primary setup man, kent has struggled. so has youngster al lee who posts a 10.00 ERA so far. wayne guzman has struggled as well in middle relief.
on the offensive side of things, washington continues to hit. the season started by trading washington fan favorite will allen to pittsburgh. but his bat has replaced by mason smith who finally cracked the everyday lineup after hitting 17 homers last year in a utility role. the team also traded backstop dave bruett to baltimore in teurn for tom wilson who has struggled at times at the bat but has been stellar behind the plate. the rest of the lineup holds steady from last season with reigning AL MVP chad rainwater,billy sassaman and dave bancroft leading the charge. defending batting champ tomas sheffield continues to set the table for those guys. one guy who has struggled is 2B kid gleason. he's been slow w/the bat so far.
what has been great is the stratego bench, especially OF herschel judd and IF robbie wilcox. these two would be capable starters anywhere else, but have been valuable cogs in the stratego offense. and julio richter continues to a great back-up behind the plate. solid w/the glove and suprisingly capable w/the bat.
Pages: 1