Front Office Football Central - (OOTP) First In War, First In Peace, First in the AL?

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(OOTP) First In War, First In Peace, First in the AL?

Dateline: Washington D.C.
October 25th, 1960

Well, sports fans, say good bye to the staid ol'American League as the 8 team league, adding two new teams, the Los Angeles Angels, and the newly reformed Washington Senators. The two teams officially debuted this week selecting 35 players in the first expansion draft. Young Senators GM David Donovan said that while he was pleased with his team's selections, "The good people of Washington DC want a winner, and with ownership's blessing, I have been given a goodly amount of money to spend in the Free Agent Market, and we will be making a splash."

Drafted 1B B. Skinner in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 1, Pick 2, 2nd overall Pick).
Drafted 2B W. Shannon in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 2, Pick 1, 3rd overall Pick).
Drafted MR A. Earley in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 3, Pick 2, 6th overall Pick).
Drafted 1B G. Kolb in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 4, Pick 1, 7th overall Pick).
Drafted SP R. Necciai in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 5, Pick 2, 10th overall Pick).
Drafted SP E. Wilson in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 6, Pick 1, 11th overall Pick).
Drafted CF W. Tasby in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 7, Pick 2, 14th overall Pick).
Drafted SP B. Muffett in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 8, Pick 1, 15th overall Pick).
Drafted C B. Hall in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 9, Pick 2, 18th overall Pick).
Drafted RF J. Reed in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 10, Pick 1, 19th overall Pick).
Drafted SP D. Skaugstad in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 11, Pick 2, 22nd overall Pick).
Drafted SS J. Amalfitano in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 12, Pick 1, 23rd overall Pick).
Drafted 3B J. Finigan in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 13, Pick 2, 26th overall Pick).
Drafted SP B. Cain in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 14, Pick 1, 27th overall Pick).
Drafted LF J. Christopher in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 15, Pick 2, 30th overall Pick).
Drafted MR A. Schroll in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 16, Pick 1, 31st overall Pick).
Drafted MR A. Downing in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 17, Pick 2, 34th overall Pick).
Drafted CL W. Wood in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 18, Pick 1, 35th overall Pick).
Drafted C J. Schaffer in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 19, Pick 2, 38th overall Pick).
Drafted MR G. Arrigo in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 20, Pick 1, 39th overall Pick).
Drafted SP E. Grba in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 21, Pick 2, 42nd overall Pick).
Drafted LF B. Cerv in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 22, Pick 1, 43rd overall Pick).
Drafted 2B F. Mantilla in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 23, Pick 2, 46th overall Pick).
Drafted 2B B. Moran in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 24, Pick 1, 47th overall Pick).
Drafted 1B B. Zipfel in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 25, Pick 2, 50th overall Pick).
Drafted RF B. Morton in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 26, Pick 1, 51st overall Pick).
Drafted LF D. Taussig in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 27, Pick 2, 54th overall Pick).
Drafted MR C. Osteen in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 28, Pick 1, 55th overall Pick).
Drafted 2B K. Aspromonte in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 29, Pick 2, 58th overall Pick).
Drafted SS J. Logan in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 30, Pick 1, 59th overall Pick).
Drafted 1B B. Hale in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 31, Pick 2, 62nd overall Pick).
Drafted CF D. Dobbek in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 32, Pick 1, 63rd overall Pick).
Drafted 3B J. McKnight in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 33, Pick 2, 66th overall Pick).
Drafted C S. Taylor in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 34, Pick 1, 67th overall Pick).
Drafted MR J. Tsitouris in the 1960 expansion draft (Round 35, Pick 2, 70th overall Pick).

Dateline: Washington, D.C.
December 29th, 1960

Just weeks before John F. Kennedy takes the oath of office, the Washington Senators threaten to push JFK right off the front page, as they have signed two of the biggest names in Free Agency, pitcher Karl Spooner, and megastar outfielder Mickey Mantle.

"The fans want the big names, and they do not want to wait patiently while we build them a winner" stated GM David Donovan.

The 29 year old Spooner, who won the 1960 Cy Young Award, going 21-5, with a 2.16 ERA for the Kansas City Athletics received an unheard of SEVEN Year contract, at nearly $715,000 a year, but he's not even going to be the biggest paid star on the Senators, as Mickey Mantle will be the first player in Baseball history to be paid over a million dollars in one season, as he will earn a shade more then $1,100,000. (2nd place is Duke Snider at $985,000)

"Hopefully, the fans will come out and see the Mick slam that ball over the fence often" stated Donovan.

Well, the Senators will draw #'s, but I fear their first season will be a long one, as here's the breakdown

Starting Rotation
L Karl Spooner (21-5, 2.90)
R Billy Muffet (4-0, 2.47 in Pittsburgh's AAA team)
R Ron Kline (out of baseball Last year)
R Earl Wilson (10-18, 2.63 in Saint Louis's AAA Team)
R Eli Grba (9-8, 2.78 in Milwaukee's AAA Team)

Can the neverweres in the rotation step up? If not, then Spooner's going to have to pitch very often for them to win.

Starting Fielders:

*C Bill Hall (.250, 8, 58)
*1B Bob Skinner (.221, 8, 32)
2B Billy Moran (.247, 3, 37)
3B Joey Amalfitano (.253, 5, 26)
SS Yo-Yo Davalillo (.254, 3, 22)
LF Lenny Green (.248, 4, 44)
**CF Mickey Mantle (.252, 30, 66)
*RF Gary Kolb (.253 in the Minors)

*=Lefty, **=Switch

The Senators are an expansion team, and they will be so for some time to come, but will the fans come out to see Spooner and Mantle?

Well, it's 10 games into the year, and we're 6-4, just a half game out of first (thanks to a three way tie at 7-3 :P). Not a bad start. I thought this team might lose 120 games (and they still might, it's early :)

We weren't helped when our LF Bob Cerv got another player's glove across his face on opening day, and had blurred vision for three weeks. :P

Mantle's off to a slow start, .167, 1, 3, Spooner is 1-1, 3.94 ERA

From the Radio, 4/25/61

And now.. it's talkin' baseball, with Dizzy Dean!

Sit down my friends, and let the ol'Dizzster pour ya a nice cold Schlitz beer, one of the finest beers it's been my pleasure to drink.. Schlitz beer, the official sponsor of Talkin Baseball With Dizzy Dean!

Well, Dizzsters, and Dizzettes, I've seen many things in all my years travelin around the majors, but this new Washington Senators team? Boy Howdy, I wouldn't believe it unless I saw it with my own two eyes, and even now I'm still havin trouble with it.

This team of has-beens, coulda-beens, and neverweres had a bit of steel in em when they signed The Mick and the Spoon to them, but if you told me before the season that the Senators would win 8 out of their first 12 games, I woulda had them men from the funny farm a huntin you! They've done it on the road too, winning 5 of 6 on the road so far, including yesterday's 15-2 shellackin of the high-faultin Boston Red Sox, at Fenway Park!

How are they doin it? I dunno, but it's not because of no million dollar players right now, it's because some players are havin weeks they'll remember as long as they live. Mickey Mantle, The Mick himself, is just above 200, but he might be a warmin up, I don't see how he couldn't get a mite bit warm with the rest of the team hot as a Georgia farm at high noon!

How about that Bubba Morton! That young man made the major leagues for the first time at age 30, and he gosh darn likes it playin in front of the people he grew up with, as he was the player of the week last week, hittin at a .591 pace with 3 homers to boot! He's only making $16,500, but he's sure playin like a millionaire! I hope that he can continue!

Their pitchin ain't a-nuthin home around, their ERA is up at 4.79 for the year, and if the Dizzster ever had that high an era, you bet the ol'skipper would have a somethin to say about that. But they're patient at the plate, most walks in the league so far, and hittin a cool as a spring mornin .291 at the plate!

I'm sure everybody's hopin that the Senators can keep it up, wouldn't it be a hoot to have some new team of folks you never heard of come in and win it all? But there's a bunch of mighty fine teams in the league this year, but I'm sure that the boys in the Capitol are livin the good life while they can.

Anyway, I need to wet my whistle with another delicious Schlitz Beer. This is Dizzy Dean, and we'll talk some more baseball again real soon!

Just a reminder, you can hear "Talkin Baseball" with Dizzy Dean every day on this fine radio station, sponsored by Schlitz Beer! Cold, Refreshing, who could want anything more from a beer? Make your next one a Schlitz!

http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mortobu01.shtml

Here's the player Dizzy was referring to :)

Ouch, a few days later, Bob Skinner, the first ever Washington Senator, at least in this aincarnation (our first expansion pick) tears a muscle in his back, and is out for the rest of the year.

26 games into the year...

Code:

Major League 1901 05-08-1961

Standings Report        

American Standings

Team        W        L        PCT        GB        Pyt.Rec        Diff        Home        Away        XInn        1Run        M#        Streak        Last10

Washington Senators        18        8        .692        -        16-10        2        11-4        7-4        2-0        5-2        135        W2        8-2

Chicago White Sox        15        10        .600        2.5        17-8        -2        9-3        6-7        0-0        4-3                L1        5-5

Kansas City Athletics        12        10        .545        4.0        12-10        0        8-5        4-5        0-0        2-2                L1        6-4

Boston Red Sox        12        11        .522        4.5        12-11        0        7-2        5-9        0-0        0-3                L1        5-5

Detroit Tigers        13        12        .520        4.5        13-12        0        10-6        3-6        1-2        2-4                W1        3-7

Baltimore Orioles        13        13        .500        5.0        12-14        1        9-6        4-7        1-3        4-2                W1        4-6

New York Yankees        13        14        .481        5.5        12-15        1        9-2        4-12        3-0        3-5                L3        3-7

Cleveland Indians        10        14        .417        7.0        14-10        -4        4-6        6-8        0-1        1-2                L2        4-6

Los Angeles Angels        9        15        .375        8.0        8-16        1        7-4        2-11        1-3        4-2                W3        7-3

Minnesota Twins        8        16        .333        9.0        8-16        0        4-7        4-9        1-0        3-3                W1        4-6

National Standings

Team        W        L        PCT        GB        Pyt.Rec        Diff        Home        Away        XInn        1Run        M#        Streak        Last10

Philadelphia Phillies        15        10        .600        -        14-11        1        6-4        9-6        2-1        3-1        137        L2        5-5

Chicago Cubs        15        11        .577        .5        15-11        0        7-6        8-5        2-0        4-2                L1        6-4

Cincinnati Reds        13        11        .542        1.5        11-13        2        5-4        8-7        2-1        4-3                L1        5-5

San Francisco Giants        12        11        .522        2.0        13-10        -1        7-5        5-6        1-1        2-4                W2        5-5

Pittsburgh Pirates        11        11        .500        2.5        11-11        0        6-5        5-6        0-2        3-1                W1        4-6

St. Louis Cardinals        10        13        .435        4.0        12-11        -2        6-8        4-5        0-0        1-4                W1        5-5

Milwaukee Braves        9        13        .409        4.5        9-13        0        6-5        3-8        1-2        4-3                W1        5-5

Los Angeles Dodgers        10        15        .400        5.0        11-14        -1        5-10        5-5        0-1        3-6                L1        5-5

We finally do fall back to 33-31 at June 15th, in 5th in the AL, 6.5 back of the White Sox. Then it's draft time..

I couldn't resist making a trade to pick up someone who I missed in the 1961 draft...

Traded 21-year old minor league reliever Doug Gallagher and 22-year old first baseman Bud Zipfel to the Pittsburgh Pirates, getting 22-year old starting pitcher Jim Bouton in return.

At the All-Star Break, we're above .500 at 45-44, and Mick is our only all star (he's now hitting .320 with 18 homers)

The AL Wins the 1961 All-Star Game, 5-1 over the NL. Little Known Gary Geiger is the MVP

Close to the trade deadline, we ship out Spooner and minor leaguer Gary Kolb to the Cubs for LF Norm Siebler (.334, 21, 84 through 100 games) and reliever Jack Spring. This saves us some money, and with Bouton and Bennett in our rotation, we didn't need Spooner as muchg

We somehow finish 87-75, Tied for fourth in the AL, 12 games back of the winner, and eventual World Champion Detroit Tigers. Not bad for an expansion team :)

Code:

Name        G        AB        R        H        2B        3B        HR        RBI        TB        BB        K        SB        CS        AVG        OBP        SLG        OPS

Bill Hall C        144        590        85        168        22        5        19        82        257        45        71        2        0        .285        .336        .436        .772

Bubba Morton RF        148        560        98        162        37        4        11        76        240        62        102        11        7        .289        .359        .429        .788

Mickey Mantle CF        141        497        108        136        13        3        34        95        257        144        110        25        6        .274        .436        .517        .953

Yo-Yo Davalillo SS        131        479        76        134        20        1        15        78        201        46        37        1        2        .280        .342        .420        .761

Billy Moran 2B        139        410        59        109        19        1        11        66        163        32        58        6        0        .266        .320        .398        .717

Lenny Green LF        134        408        64        95        14        8        2        41        131        57        45        15        6        .233        .333        .321        .654

Joey Amalfitano SS        119        294        35        80        13        2        1        34        100        22        32        6        3        .272        .320        .340        .660

Ken Aspromonte 2B        121        285        33        71        7        0        0        26        78        30        25        0        2        .249        .324        .274        .598

Jim Finigan 3B        98        238        26        63        9        2        5        24        91        22        30        1        1        .265        .324        .382        .707

Norm Siebern LF        60        230        37        68        7        1        11        44        110        38        34        1        0        .296        .391        .478        .869

Joe Garagiola C        55        192        26        64        11        1        10        33        107        23        31        0        0        .333        .406        .557        .963

Jack Reed RF        79        190        27        47        9        4        4        19        76        22        35        10        5        .247        .321        .400        .721

Bernie Allen 2B        59        177        25        41        5        0        6        29        64        28        26        0        0        .232        .333        .362        .695

Bud Zipfel 1B        42        136        17        34        7        2        6        18        63        19        32        1        1        .250        .342        .463        .805

Sammy Taylor C        53        118        17        29        7        0        3        18        45        8        16        0        1        .246        .297        .381        .678

Bob Cerv LF        59        114        17        30        4        1        3        17        45        19        14        1        0        .263        .360        .395        .755

Gil McDougald 3B        43        98        20        29        4        1        5        21        50        14        7        0        1        .296        .386        .510        .896

Billy Muffett SP        34        83        4        9        1        0        0        4        10        5        18        0        0        .108        .169        .120        .289

Bob Skinner 1B        18        78        10        22        3        0        2        14        31        6        15        0        1        .282        .333        .397        .731

Willie Tasby CF        30        62        7        19        3        1        2        13        30        4        15        0        0        .306        .343        .484        .827

Ron Kline SP        31        59        7        13        1        0        3        7        23        1        15        0        0        .220        .246        .390        .636

Jim Bouton SP        21        48        5        7        1        1        1        1        13        3        8        0        0        .146        .196        .271        .467

Karl Spooner SP        23        39        7        13        2        0        0        7        15        4        7        0        0        .333        .378        .385        .762

Dennis Bennett SP        17        36        4        9        1        0        2        7        16        1        10        0        0        .250        .289        .444        .734

Eli Grba MR        32        36        1        5        1        0        0        1        6        1        11        0        0        .139        .162        .167        .329

Earl Wilson SP        23        30        5        6        3        0        1        3        12        4        11        1        0        .200        .294        .400        .694

Joe Christopher LF        16        25        4        9        1        2        0        5        14        3        3        2        0        .360        .414        .560        .974

Leo Cristante MR        34        17        1        1        0        0        0        0        1        0        8        0        0        .059        .059        .059        .118

Claude Osteen MR        66        17        2        3        1        0        0        0        4        2        4        0        0        .176        .263        .235        .498

Raul Sanchez MR        26        11        2        3        1        0        0        0        4        0        4        0        0        .273        .273        .364        .636

John Tsitouris MR        47        11        0        0        0        0        0        1        0        0        1        0        0        .000        .000        .000        .000

Arnold Earley MR        31        10        1        2        0        0        0        0        2        0        2        0        0        .200        .200        .200        .400

Jack Spring MR        19        7        0        1        1        0        0        2        2        0        2        0        0        .143        .143        .286        .429

Cecil Butler MR        13        6        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        3        0        0        .000        .000        .000        .000

Dick Radatz CL        27        4        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        .000        .000        .000        .000

Al Schroll MR        2        2        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        .000        .000        .000        .000

Don Taussig LF        3        2        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        2        1        0        0        .000        .500        .000        .500

Gary Kolb 1B        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        0        .000        .000        .000        .000

Code:

Name        W        L        SV        ERA        G        GS        IP        HA        R        ER        HR        BB        K        WHIP        OAVG        BABIP

Dick Radatz CL        1        3        15        2.20        27        1        32.2        26        8        8        1        9        40        1.07        .215        .313

Cecil Butler MR        4        1        3        2.35        13        0        23.0        22        8        6        1        6        25        1.22        .247        .333

Al Schroll MR        0        0        0        2.35        2        0        7.2        11        5        2        0        1        2        1.57        .355        .379

Earl Wilson SP        6        3        1        3.00        23        15        120.0        97        49        40        6        58        73        1.29        .222        .255

Karl Spooner SP        7        7        0        3.34        23        23        129.1        104        55        48        8        59        124        1.26        .219        .280

Raul Sanchez MR        5        1        1        3.48        26        0        41.1        46        25        16        1        24        19        1.69        .286        .319

Jim Bouton SP        11        4        0        3.58        21        21        151.0        141        74        60        9        70        97        1.40        .246        .283

Dennis Bennett SP        9        4        0        3.63        17        17        119.0        101        50        48        15        34        108        1.13        .227        .268

Billy Muffett SP        14        16        0        4.01        34        34        258.0        271        134        115        30        102        132        1.45        .270        .286

John Tsitouris MR        4        3        1        4.37        47        0        57.2        53        33        28        2        28        39        1.40        .243        .288

Arnold Earley MR        3        3        6        4.75        31        0        41.2        36        25        22        2        30        39        1.58        .234        .301

Leo Cristante MR        2        1        0        5.26        34        0        53.0        59        32        31        6        25        22        1.58        .281        .291

Jack Spring MR        4        0        0        5.40        19        0        28.1        28        20        17        5        14        14        1.48        .246        .242

Eli Grba MR        8        8        1        5.44        32        20        129.0        145        89        78        18        71        66        1.67        .292        .308

Claude Osteen MR        4        8        6        5.50        66        0        93.1        119        68        57        17        39        44        1.69        .316        .324

Ron Kline SP        5        13        0        5.72        31        31        176.1        214        126        112        35        83        95        1.68        .297        .303

During the offseason, we get a legend looking for one last season, hopefully, trading 2B Aspromonte to the Pirates, for a RF, you might now, Stan "the Man" Musial? :D

The good news is that he's just 52 hits from 3000, hopefully he'll stay with us long enough to get it in a Senators uniform