Revisiting my childhood baseball days (1980 Cubs) - PureSim 2007 1.86

[hoopsguy]

NL Cy Young + RPOY (same since this is first year of league) - Mario Soto (Cin) 15-3 1.66 ERA
NL MVP + ROY (same since this is first year of league) - Dale Murphy (Atl) .277 40 HR 88 RBI

NL Gold Glove Winners:
P Joe Niekro (Hou)
C None awarded?
1B Dan Driessen (Cin)
2B Manny Trillo (Phi)
3B Hubie Brooks (NYM)
SS Bill Russell (LA)
LF George Foster (Cin)
CF Omar Moreno (Pit)
RF Claudell Washington (NYM)

NL Pure Slugger Winners:
C Johnny Bench (Cin)
1B Keith Hernandez (StL)
2B Manny Trillo (Phi)
3B Mike Schmidt (Phi)
SS Dave Concepcion (Cin)
LF George Foster (Cin)
CF Andre Dawson (Mon)
RF Dave Winfield (SD)

[hoopsguy]

Team Stats for 1980:
Offense: 508 Runs Scored (23rd)
Defense: 561 Runs Allowed (9th)
Total Salaries: $56,596,430
Available Finances: $117,468,570
Approval Rating: 75/100

Notes:
The 2nd leading RBI man on the team, behind Kingman's 91, is Mike Vail with 46. That is just terrible and has got to change.

We could also use speed and defense. Basically, we can use everything although I feel decent about the top of the rotation and the relief staff for next year.

The draft comes before free agency. If there are major league ready run producers, at any position, we will take them. Ideally, we can identify middle infielders that can fill this role but we won't be too picky.

Free agency - we'll be looking for at least one impact player here, but the goal is to build this team through the draft. I do not want to spend all 100+ million this off-season because I want to have flexibility for years to come. But I will pay huge for a vet for one year if I think we have the other pieces in place to go after the Cardinals' hardware.

[hoopsguy]

Offseason:
GM Score = 1/100. Hmm, not very rewarding as I felt like I did a decent job with what I was handed this year.

Noteworthy Retirements:
Willy McCovey (SF)
Gaylor Perry (Tex) - went 15-6 last year at age 43

Attractive Draft Prospects (wish list for #17):
1B Andre Thornton appears to be represented by Scott Boras, as he is asking for over 5 million per year. The next highest demand by a position player is 850K.

1B Kent Hrbek looks really attractive to us. 21 years old, 95 potential, and skills that would probably have him starting for us next year.

SP Mike Witt is the best looking pitcher to us, although RP Larry Andersen is asking for more money. Dude (Andersen, that is), you are a reliever!

SP Luis DeLeon looks major league ready right now. Ditto Dave Stewart.

There are a host of relievers that we would be happy to take in the 2nd round, if our favorites are flying off the board. That is probably the deepest area in an otherwise shallow draft class.

[hoopsguy]

1st Round:
#1 Baltimore takes Kent Hrbek, dashing our hopes and dreams right away.
#2 San Francisco takes RP Antonio Fitch, who was not even on our draft board. He looks like complete min-sal garbage.
#3 New York Mets take George Bell, who has a ton of potential but needs to work on his batting eye.
#4 Chicago White Sox follow the San Francisco model, taking no-name Richard Stromberg.
#5 Cleveland apparently does not want to win either. RP Stephen Epperson should not make a 35 man roster.
#6 Atlanta continues the "pick the worst guy possible" trend, demonstrating that the draft logic = total fail.
#7 California RP James Jackson is the 5th of 7 picks that does not have a single attribute among Stuff, Control, Velocity, Endurance, and Potential above 10 (out of 100).
#8 Texas, who seems like they want to win baseball games, is elated to select Cal Ripken. Great value at a price tag of $389,968 for the next three years.
#9 Houston selects hot garbage, aka Edward Harrington.
#10 San Diego selects Eric Duhon, who may be worse at baseball than Edward Harrington.
#11 Seattle selects LF Tom Brunansky, who has 100 potential and 67 power. We'll likely see his name again in the future.
#12 Toronto picks 3B Mike Marshall. Too much money (887K) relative to his skill level, but he at least will play in the majors.
#13 Philadelphia picks P Joseph Schutte, who will not make fans forget Steve Carlton. Or Dickie Noles. But Schutte may be working as an usher for the Phillies in another three years.
#14 Minnesota picks Alan Carpenter, whose baseball experience includes singing the national anthem before a game last spring.
#15 Boston adds Chili Davis, an honest-to-goodness prospect. 21 year old does everything OK right now, but has 89 potential that says he will get better quickly.
#16 Montreal picks a player-to-be-named later.
#17 Chicago - the Cub fan in me wants to pick Ryne Sandberg here, a SS who has 75 potential and decent ratings, but there are better players and prospects out there. Just maybe not in the middle infield where we need help. In the end, I'm intrigued by the potential of Jesse Barfield. Barfield is a 22 year old RF who hits for power (69), has potential (67), is serviceable in other areas and could grow into a Gold Glover. He is our first building block, although I may end up kicking myself for passing on SP Mike Witt. Barfield is inked for 5 years at $421,266 per year.
#18 - Milwaukee takes Brook Jacoby, a very high potential 3B.
#19 Pittsburgh gives their pick away, taking some loser.
#20 New York follow suit, although this loser has 18 potential. So he has marginal potential to graduate from loser to overachiever AA grinder.
#21 St. Louis picks Robert Thomas, who someday may be a lead singer but will never be a ballplayer.
#22 Detroit takes Ryne Sandberg. Chicago beat writers are upset that he was not our pick earlier. They certainly have gained ground on the Cardinals today.
#23 Oakland picks a pitcher who won't ever help relieve the burden on the current starters.
#24 Kansas City invests in the future. A future that involves losing.
#25 Los Angeles takes Darryl Motley, a guy who looks like a worse version of Barfield. I'm guessing they wish we had taken Sandberg ...
#26 Cincinnati takes C Jody Davis, a guy that I had hoped might fall to the second round.

Chicago picks:
Round 2: Don't think too hard. Take Mike Witt. 21 year old right hander, lowest rating right now is 67 Velocity. 57 Potential is low, meaning he likely won't grow beyond #2 starter. Price tag is a little high at $1,468,664 for 4 years, but we have 100 million to spend. Done.
Round 3: Mel Hall is ours for $581,188 per year for four years. High potential outfielder (81), this 21 year old already is above 50 in the major hitting categories. Great value, in our minds.
Round 4: Bud Black, a 24 year old left hander, looks like a guy who can be a 10+ year major league player. The hitters left at this point are wretched, so we'll be looking at free agency to try and shore up some of those holes. Three years at $291,896, with an expectation that we'll pay a lot more when this contract is up.
Round 5: Lefty reliever Jesse Orosco is one of those relievers that I had mentioned being a 2nd round option. We'll gladly snap him up here. 3 years at $560,479. Expensive compared to some of our other players, but he should be on the big league roster as well.

Other notes:
- Baltimore added Gary Gaetti to Kent Hrbek, setting up their version of the real-life Twins. Seattle, Toronto, Milwaukee, and Detroit added value players in the 2nd round as well, moving themselves among the draft "winners".
- the White Sox, Indians, Astros, Padres, Twins, Expos, Pirates, Yankees, and Cardinals added another terrible player in the 2nd round. These teams had better hope that they do better in free agency.
- the picking got much, much better by the 3rd round. But the damage was done, to some extent, by that time.
- we dominated this draft in terms of depth. We'll see who the breakout players are from this class, but no one should be able to touch what we did today in terms of overall impact.

[hoopsguy]

I'll pick up with Free Agency tomorrow, but here is a sneak peek at what is out there.

SS Dave Concepcion would be an upgrade, but not all that big an upgrade. I'm not willing to pay a ton to bring him in. Certainly not his initial 5 million asking price.

SS Gary Templeton is a big upgrade. The 25 year old still has 86 potential. He'll steal 70 bases and should grow into a good contact hitter with Gold Glove potential. I want him badly. His initial asking price is around 3 million but I'll pay much more than that to win him.

LF Jim Rice (28) is asking for 13.5 million. If his price comes way down I would love to add a guy like him to the mix. But if he has suitors at that price tag then I'll probably let our young guys compete for starting jobs next year.

2B Kent Oberkfell could be an option. Good contact hitter, some speed, decent glove. He is asking for 1.15 million.

SP Bill Gullickson, a 22 year old phenom, is the #1 guy to add if I want to go after a title next year. Him, Richard, and Reuschel would be just a filthy 1-2-3. He is seeking 8.6 million dollars. Floyd Bannister and Mike Norris are also good young pitchers on the market, but both are asking for 13+ million. I'll take the younger, better guy who is asking for less money if I can pull it off.

[hoopsguy]

Actually, I'm a little worried about the game crapping out if I dump it during FA so I'll push ahead with this now.

There are sixteen stages of FA.
Stage 1:
I put out initial offers for Gullickson, Templeton, and Oberkfell. All are 3-4 years and 10-20% more than they are asking for, with hopes of picking up an early signing or two. No such luck.
- Dave Righetti (undrafted FA with some potential) to Dodgers for 4 years/308K
- Al Woods leaves Toronto for Baltimore, 2 years/5.17 million
- Andy McGaffigan (undrafted FA MR with real talent) to Boston for 5 years/1.1 million
- Tom Neidenfuer (undrafted FA MR with real talent) to Kansas City for 3 years/850K
- Larry Andersen (undrafted FA MR with real talent) to Chicago White Sox for 4 years/1.65 million
- Sixto Lescano leaves Milwaukee for San Francisco. 4 years/4.66 million

Stage 2:
We are told that we lead for all three guys we offered. So far no offer for Rice.
- Gary Templeton signs on to be our shortstop. 4 years/3.87 million
- San Francisco signs Otto Velez away from Toronto. 1 year/6.4 million
- Los Angeles signs Dave Concepcion, taking away their rival's SS. 3 years/7.8 million in a signing that they will regret if they have any money shortage whatsoever
- Los Angeles signs our very own Cliff Johnson, who platooned with Buckner in the 2nd half, for 1 year/15.5 million!!!! I guess it is just one year, but really?
- Kansas City signs Tom Paciorek, formerly of Seattle, for 1 year/7.7 million. He was a productive player last season but is long in the tooth.

Stage 3:
We still lead on both of our targets.
- Ken Oberkfell signs up, leaving a hole for the Cardinals to fill, for 3 years/1.3 million
- Bill Gullickson will win a bunch of games for us. 3 years/9.9 million
- California adds Mike Hargrove for 1 year/1.8 million

Stage 4:
Rice still does not have any offers. He is really the last guy that I'm looking at grabbing, but only if the price is right. I think we have improved a ton from the end of the year already and I'm eager to see how the pieces fit together. If Rice lowers his asking price below 9 million I'll take a shot
- I can't find any Stage 4 signings when searching through the list. The interface for this is very clunky, as all the signings seem to merge together.

Stage 5:
No new news. Ben Ogilve is looking like an attractive option to Rice, however. He is 32 years old, with a lot of power and defensive skills. And he only wants 3.7 million per year. I'll tender him an offer and see where it goes.
- Ogilve signs for 2 years/3.95 million. That brings our roster up to 35 players, which is the max. Hopefully the parts all fit together reasonably well.
- Further review of the interface seems to show that it caps on a certain number of players. So I won't be able to include any other updates. I'll try to catch player movement in the in-season write-ups next year or see if there is some other summary screen that provides a good recap of the free agency period.

I skip the remaining ten stages of free agency.

[hoopsguy]

The 1981 season-opening report shows some of the FA moves.
- 32 year old Steve Rodgers left Montreal to go to California. All it took to get him was 5 years at 20 million per. Rodgers was 12-10 last year with a 3.38 ERA
- The Yankees signed Mike Norris to a one year, 20.7 million dollar deal
- Similar arrangement for the Rangers with Floyd Honeycutt. One year, 20.5 million
- The Cardinals add Jim Bibby from Pittsburgh for 1 year and 4 million. Bibby is 37 and heading downhill, but he probably helps them for this year.
- The Cardinals also pick up Chet Lemon from the White Sox. 2 years, 14 million for each year is a lot of money to pay.


We are projected as the #9 overall team in the power rankings. The only team in the division listed ahead of us is Houston, who checks in at #3. I find this pretty laughable at first blush. Los Angeles is the #1 team, followed by Baltimore. St. Louis is listed at #14.

Most feared hitters, and projected stats:
Mike Schmidt (Phi) - .288 BA 42 homers
Bobby Grich (Cal) - .291 30
Eddie Murray (Bal) - .280 30
Richie Zisk (Tex) - .299 24
George Brett (KC) - .353 15
Johnny Bench (Cin) - .293 25
Bob Horner (Atl) - .268 32
George Foster (Cin) - .277 27

[Qwikshot]

I'm reading, I was wondering if Sandberg was still on the Phillies till I read your draft.

[hoopsguy]

I'll naturally be keeping an eye on guys that played a role for the Cubs in real life. Beyond that, I'm happy to provide updates on anyone else that is of interest for those reading along.

[hoopsguy]

1981 is shaping up to be a much better year for the team so I'll give the guys a bit more press before starting the season.

Starting Lineup:
We had all kinds of issues last year, from top to bottom. I'm amazed that we were only 23rd out of 26 teams in scoring runs. I expect better things this year and feel good that we have some future help on the way.

1. Gary Templeton (SS) - he brings an element of speed that we did not have last season, as he accumulated 40 steals in 44 attempts. But a .302 OBP has to improve; his potential suggests it will. I like the speed and defensive range while hoping that I will grow to love his offensive game over the lifetime of his contract. But right now he is better than DeJesus is every way except drawing walks.

2. Bill Buckner (1B) - Buckner ended up last year as a .257 hitter and we think there is modest room for improvement even though he is 32. His ratings are up a bit from last season although his batting eye is still subpar. This is not a long-term fit; I'll move him by mid-year if necessary.

3.) Dave Kingman (LF) - we hope Kingman will be better by virtue of having better players around him. At 33 his skills have not eroded just yet, but he isn't going to suddenly turn into a .280 hitter either. We are expecting 100 RBI's from him this year; he should definitely do this if he bumps his batting average up 10 points.

4.) Ben Ogilve (RF) - his power is down from last year (when he hit .260/23/71) but hopefully he can still be a presence in the middle of the lineup. Potential decline is why he only got a two year deal. If he is not going to give us 75 RBI's then there is a good chance he will be replaced by the end of the year.

5. Jerry Martin (CF) - I'm modestly surprised that he is still in the lineup, as I hoped our younger players would be ready to push him aside. Hall isn't that far away but Barfield still has work to do if he wants to displace this vet. I doubt we renew his expiring deal; if Ogilve is working out we might move him midseason.

6. Barry Foote (C) - he only hit .206 last year. If he is not heading towards a quick bounce back season then he should start looking over his shoulder. I'm going to be a lot more aggressive this season trying to put the Cubs into the playoffs than I was last year when I knew deep down that we were not close to good enough.

7. Bob Boone (3B) - he only hit .210, so whatever I said about Foote applies equally to Boone. I see him as a bench player for the next two years after this one, but really hope that he can stick as a starter this season.

8. Ken Oberkfell (2B) - hit .292 last season for the Cards and looks like exactly the same guy today. That isn't 100% positive with a 25 year old, but it looks like he maxed out early. He is hitting 2nd in the lineup against right-handers.

The same eight guys are in the starting lineup against righties.

Bench:
Ivan DeJesus (SS) - another .200 hitter last year, we really set back baseball offensively. But he works for me (for now) as a utility player who can provide very good defense at SS/2B/3B and play anything but catcher.

Steve Dillard (3B) - I do not want him on my team next year. 3B has moved to the top of my "replace" list for 1982.

Mick Kelleher (2B) - dude hit .275 last year and had modest off-season improvement at age 34. But he still sucks and won't be offered back when his contract expires at the end of the year.

Steve Ontiveros (3B) - I can live with him on my bench, but he would be better suited to AAA Iowa as an emergency call-up in case of injuries.

Mike Vail (RF/CF) - this is a solid backup outfielder, probably our #1 pinch hitter. If we have injuries I could live with him getting playing time but I hope that our prospects (Barfield and Hall) would be able to beat him out.

All in all, I think we are maybe a middle of the pack offensive team this year. We should have more guys on base than last year and now have two RBI guys (Kingman + Ogilve) in the lineup. But to move up to a good offensive team we are going to need one more off-season or some major mid-season moves.

[hoopsguy]

Pitching Staff:
#1 Bill Gullickson - 22 year old with 80+ across all three pitching categories as well as potential. Still, I'm mildly surprised to see him as #1 starter considering he went 10-16 last year.

#2 Rick Reuschel - 32 year old is still same effective control pitcher he was last year. Does not have the pure stuff of Gullickson or Richard.

#3 Mike Witt - wow, I expected the rookie to make the starting rotation but not to be this high.

#4 J.R. Richard - both his velocity and stuff are down 10 points from last year. Which means he still is an overpowering pitcher but I don't foresee sub-2.00 ERA's this year.

#5 Dennis Martinez - no noticeable improvement from last year, but I'll take a 3.00 ERA from my fifth starter and expect that we give him some more wins this year.

Relievers:
CL Lee Smith - lost some velocity as well, but control is improved. Still, wanted to see some more growth from our 24 year old closer.

#1 Dennis Lamp - will be the long man for this team after leading 1980 Cubs in wins. It is a good sign for our future that Martinez passed him on the depth chart.

#2 Jesse Orosco - again, a good sign to see a younger player supplanting some still talented vets.

#3 Dick Tidrow - velocity is down from last year. Hmm, maybe it is time for me to talk with our pitching coach about this trend.

#4 Bill Caudill - on paper, looks better than Tidrow. But that was not the case on the field last year when Caudill was good but Tidrow was better. Great #4 reliever, imho.

#5 Doug Capilla - I'm happy to see him de-emphasized. I do not plan on bringing him back when his contract expires at the end of the year.

#6 Willie Hernandez - hmm, I think he is clearly better than Capilla and expect this 27 year old to keep getting better. Without a doubt the best #6 reliever in baseball, with potential closer stuff. He should have a bigger role.

[hoopsguy]

Minors:
Mel Hall
Jesse Barfield
Bud Black

These guys should all make it to the big leagues by September at the latest. Rincon and Scot Thompson are both serviceable major league guys, if needed. This is night-and-day better than the Iowa team last year. We will be far better equipped to handle injuries than we were a year ago.

[hoopsguy]

The 1981 season starts with Philadelphia visiting Cincinnati. Two Cy Young winners - the aging Steve Carlton and current holder Mario Soto - will take the bump. Score one for the old men as the Phillies pick up a 3-2 victory.

The Cubs have the 8th highest payroll in baseball at $78,778,605. Both the Dodgers and Yankees are over the 100 million mark. St. Louis, Houston, and Cincinnati are in the 85 million range.

The Cubs start the season off hosting the Mets. Bill Gullickson wins in his first start as a Cub, allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings as part of an 8-2 win. Ken Oberkfell was 3-4 in his debut with a pair of doubles and three runs scored. Barry Foote had a grand slam.

The bats fall asleep for Reuschel in the second game, but the Cubs pound out 17 hits (no homers) in Mike Witt's big league debut, an 8-1 victory to give us a series win to start the year.

Off to Montreal, where despite an off day before the start of the series, we can't muster any offense in the opener. Richard is on the wrong end of a 7-0 shutout. Martinez only gets one run the next night (what else is new) and Gullickson loses 1-0 to his old team to send us to 2-4.

[hoopsguy]

Highest Paid Hitters in the Game:
Cliff Johnson (LA) - 15,494,870 (what the heck?)
Bobby Grich (Cal) - 14,260,000
Chet Lemon (StL) - 14,163,032
Eddie Murray (Bal) - 13,707,489 (first name that belongs here)
George Brett (KC) - 13,475,700
The next highest hitter salary is below 10 million. No Cubs appear in the top 20.

[RealDeal]

You said Houston was in your division? My memory was that the Astros were in the NL West and the Cubs in the NL East.

[hoopsguy]

RealDeal, you are correct. I'm getting my current baseball stuff mixed up with this league every once in awhile as I'm putting this together. Had the same issue with Milwaukee earlier, and they were in a completely separate league back in 1980.

[hoopsguy]

Next up is a trip to Philadelphia, who is off to a 5-1 start. Needless to say, I do not want a repeat of the Montreal trip. Nino Espinoza and Ed Glynn combine to hold us to one hit. 3-0 loss. Ugh, this is getting ridiculous.

Next day, we get a run but Witt loses 2-1. This is just insane. The series ends with a 2-0 loss and J.R. Richard heading to the DL with a biceps injury that will have him out for a month. Bud Black is heading up to the majors and it is time to start making some moves before the season is lost in the first month.

[hoopsguy]

Jim Rice never did sign with anyone, as he held out for big dollars. He will come on for a one year deal at just over ten million, with multi-year deals lowering the price tag. Three years, 9.5 million. Nothing like throwing money at a problem.

Ben Ogilve is fighting through a minor hamstring injury, so he is sent to the DL for now. We'll settle the roster spots when he gets back.

[hoopsguy]

The losing streak hits seven in St. Louis but Gullickson finally breaks it with a win against Fulgam. Dave Kingman hits his first homer of the year, in game 11, in the 7-3 win. But the bats fail again in the third game of the set, as we lose yet another 1-0 game. We've now been shut out six times in twelve games.

The brutal nine game road trip ends with a 2-7 mark. The Phillies hold a 7.5 game lead on us when they come to Chicago on April 24th.

Game #1 - Mike Witt outduels Steve Carlton in a 4-1 win. Kingman hits his 2nd homer of the year, which gives him the team lead.

Game #2 - A Barry Foote double breaks a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 8th. Lee Smith picks up a save and we are closing the gap. It would be great to sweep the Phillies and pay them back in kind for the beating they gave us two weeks ago.

Game #3 - No such luck, as both Dennis Lamp and Jesse Orosco surrender three runs apiece to the Phillies. I am not sure our team is capable of winning a game where they need to score 7 runs.

[hoopsguy]

Gullickson moves to 3-1 with a 10-0 shutout win at home against the Cardinals. He now has three of our six wins. Jerry Martin was 3-5 on the day with a pair of runs and RBIs. Although the team hitting has been putrid this year, there are some guys who are pulling their weight.
- Martin .289
- Oberkfell .295
- Buckner .271
However, Martin only has four RBI's, a total that Gullickson has matched in his starts alone.

Here are the standings at the end of April:
Philadelphia 13-5
St. Louis 11-5
Montreal 11-7
New York 6-11
Chicago 6-11
Pittsburgh 5-12

So we have our work cut out for us. The Phillies and Cardinals have the two best winning percentages in all of baseball.

[hoopsguy]

Early stats of note:
- Philadelphia C Keith Moreland is hitting .442, has an on-base percentage of .500, but somehow has only 3 RBIs.
- The league leader in RBI's is Minnesota SS Roy Smalley, with 17.
- George Foster, who was white hot in the 2nd half last year, slugged .690 in April.
- our 6-11 team has three of the top 18 ERAs in the majors. Gullickson is 8th (1.20), Lamp is 13th (1.45), and Witt is 18th (1.80)
- Philadelphia's Kevin Saucier has 10 saves already and looks like he is headed toward Tom Hume numbers from last year.
- our anemic offense has provided 20 runs for Gullickson, which is good for 6th in the majors. 10 of them were in one game, and he has had the benefit of an extra start compared to some guys, but this is still an odd stat. By comparison, the Cubs have only scored 31 runs for the other starters.
- Gary Templeton has been a complete bust so far, hitting .171 in the leadoff spot and has already booted four balls in the field. He has one steal and has been caught three times. I would think about giving some time to DeJesus, but he is batting .143.

[hoopsguy]

May 1st - Jim Rice hits his first homer as a Cub in a 4-2 (10 inning) loss at home to the Braves. The Braves turned six double plays in that game. Templeton was 0-3, dropping to .164.

The club bounces back to take the next two from the Braves before welcoming Houston to town. Gullickson extends the winning streak to three games with a victory and Ben Ogilve is eligible to come off the disabled list. We're up to 9-12 at this point, having closed the division gap to 5.5 games. Are things finally starting to look up?

So I've now got three slugging outfielders in Ogilve, Rice, and Kingman. But none of them really look like CFs and the guy playing there now (Martin) is hitting .323. So I'm going to see if there is a market to move Ogilve for a third baseman, catcher, or prospect. I could see moving either him or Kingman. The answer, for both players, is that there is no market. Hmm. Looks like we'll slide Rice to CF, as he seems like he could make the transition. And we'll see if this middle of the order can generate some numbers.

[hoopsguy]

5/5 - Ogilve homers in his first day back, but we fall to Houston 5-3. Reuschel has not won a game yet this year and, along with Templeton, has been the most disappointing player on the team where there are quite a few candidates for that honor.

5/6 - Witt outduels Nolan Ryan to move to 3-1 on the season. Witt gave up 2 hits over 8 innings and Ogilve drove in 2 runs in the 8th to help the rookie earn his win. Lee Smith worked a scoreless 9th to get his 4th save and preserve his 0.00 ERA.

5/7 - Dennis Martinez keeps the Astros bats cold, allowing no runs through 7 innings as the Cubs complete a successful homestand (8-3). Still 6.5 back of the 17-6 Cardinals, who have taken over the lead with a 5 game win streak.

Off to Hotlanta - after winning 2-1 in the opener the Cubs score 15 runs in Gullickson's next start. Good thing, as we gave up 9 that day. 19 hits on the day, but only Mike Vail left the "Launching Pad" known as Fulton County Stadium. Reuschel helps us complete a road sweep, while extending our winning streak to five games, as we are up to 14-13 and just 3.5 games back.

[hoopsguy]

Back to .500 on 5/12, courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront. Meanwhile, Jim Bibby of the Cardinals throws a one-hitter at the Astrodome to move to 6-0 on the year. We'll see him in the All Star game. Hopefully at least one player this year will be joining him there.

Martinez moves to 3-1 with a 2-1 win at Cincinnati. So far this year he seems to be winning one run games instead of giving them away. Foote hits his 4th homer of the year, taking the team lead. Templeton is stuck at .161.

We lose the third game of that set, getting shut out. Well, it had been awhile since that happened. I guess.

In injury news, Philadelphia's Mike Schmidt is out for 7 weeks after sustaining serious damage to his thigh. That is a game changer.

[hoopsguy]

The news is better in Houston, as Bill Gullickson moves to 6-1 with a 1.57 ERA. Eight innings, 2 runs, 9 K's. Jim Rice socks a three run shot to power us to a 3-2 win. Lee Smith adds his 9th save and keeps the ERA locked and loaded at 0.00.

Big Daddy outduels Nolan Ryan 2-1. Ryan is now 3-3 with an ERA below 1.00. Ben Ogilve has both RBI's, including his 2nd homer.

Witt completes the sweep as we move to 18-15. Road sweeps - this was just not happening last year. It really feels like we have been clicking since grabbing Jim Rice. But even after a 7-2 road trip we remain 3.5 behind the Cardinals.

Ogilve is now hitting .391 and has been a force since coming off the DL. Gullickson has a 45:8 K/BB ratio. Although no one has more than 15 RBI's (Foote) we do have seven players in double figures. If we could just get Templeton to stop sucking so very, very, very hard ...

[hoopsguy]

Back home to Wrigley to welcome the Reds, who handed us our only two losses on the recent trip. We beat them in back-to-back games and learn that J.R. Richard is ready to come off the disabled list. Gary Templeton was a combined 5-8 with 3 runs in those two wins. Up to .188 with a bullet!

We sweep the Reds, in a matchup between Tom Seaver and Gullickson. 2-1 final, with the bullpen giving us 4 2/3 scoreless innings. Foote ended it with a line shot to the left field bleachers.

Montreal is next up, and we have not forgotten the beating they gave us back in April. Reushcel wins the opener and we have enjoy a laugher in the 2nd game. Rice, Kingman, Foote, and Mike Witt (dude rakes!) all leave the yard in the 11-6 win to bring our win streak to 8.

It comes to an end with an 8-0 shutout where J.R. Richard gets blown up. He is now 0-3 and I'm getting a little concerned about him. We are not on the hook long term with him, but I had been planning on a big year from him.

[hoopsguy]

Another win for Gullickson, who has been spectacular. He outduels John Candelaria, who was among the best in the league last season, in a 3-2 victory. Two more RBI's for Foote, and save #13 for Smith. Smith's ERA is still even with Blutarsky's GPA.

Reuschel has been on fire since I called him out earlier this month. He moves to 4-3 on the year, with four straight wins, after beating the Pirates 3-1 and giving us yet another series win at home. Jim Rice knocked in all three runs with a pair of homers. Perfect 9th for Smith.

Boston's Dwight Evans is out two months with a hip injury. Oakland saw one of their starters break down as Steve McCatty will miss 6 1/2 weeks with elbow pain.

The Phillies have struggled without Schmidt, but don't blame Greg Luzinski. He has 13 homers and 36 RBI's on the year, with both of those marks leading the National League.

[hoopsguy]

One more win against the Pirates brings the homestand to a close. 5-2, up to 26-17 on the year, and trailing St. Louis by 2 games.

Looking at division races, there has not been much separation just yet. We have the 2nd best record in baseball, which tells you that there are a lot of teams right around .500.

AL East - Baltimore has a 1/2 game lead over Boston. The Tigers, losers of three in a row, sit one game over .500 and two off the lead.

AL West - Oakland is 27-21 and enjoys a one game lead over Texas. Minnesota sits 1.5 back and the Royals are 2 behind.

NL West - San Diego, at 25-20, is a 1/2 game ahead of LA and Cincinnati. The much-hyped Astros are 20-25 at this point.

Our pitchers have allowed 128 runs, the fewest in the bigs (two better than the Cards). The offensive output of 154 runs is nothing to be proud of, but we are ahead of six other teams.

[hoopsguy]

J.R. Richard picks up his first win of the year in New York. Getting six runs in the first two innings always helps, and we rolled to a 6-3 victory. Gullickson also wins in New York, giving us 2 of 3 for the series. Eight more shutout innings and another scoreless 9th for Smith (16 saves).

That brings us to June 1, and we are 28-16. One game back of St. Louis, 2.5 in front of Montreal. Wow, a 22-5 month! That is, without a doubt, the best baseball that we have played under my watch.

Kingman is up to .252 with 5 homers and 24 RBI's. Those are hardly monster numbers, but he has been a steady presence over the last month. Ogilve is at .330/3/13 - not the power numbers I expected, but he did miss some time. Rice is .266/6/18. The 3-5 slots in our lineup are no joke.

We do have four starters that have yet to hit a home run - Templeton, Buckner, Boone, and Oberkfell. Buckner is the only one of them above .250. So we still have too many easy outs in our lineup.

Our starters, excluding Richard, have all pitched well over the last month. Five of the seven relievers, including Smith, have ERA's below 3 and none of them give me an 'oh crap' feeling when they go in the game. Gullickson has been a legitimate stopper. There is just a ton to like about our pitching staff. Heck, Dennis Lamp has been a really good swing starter when called upon.

In the minors, we see Barfield and Hall both have 19 RBIs and have nearly identical batting averages (.275, .281). Bud Black is biding his time, but his service in the majors was just messy (15 ERA) so we certainly are not going to rush him.

[hoopsguy]

Welcome to June. Reuschel throws 7 2/3 shutout innings and Rice hits his 6th homer in a 7-0 victory at Three Rivers over the Pirates. Rice had four hits and four RBI's on the day, bringing his average up to .288 in a hurry. Gary Templeton went 1-5 to raise his average to .181.

The Pirates are shut down quietly again the next night by Mike Witt. 2-0 final, with Buckner hitting his first homer of the year.

Man, three straight games with no runs for the Pirates! J.R. Richard over Bert Blyleven. The Pirates are now 19-28, despite Blyleven's 5-2 mark. Buckner went 4-5 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBIs. 24 RBI's out of the 2 hole is pretty solid. So is a 5-1 road trip.

[hoopsguy]

We come home to face the Dodgers on 6/5 and learn that we are now in 1st place, one half game ahead of St. Louis and four up on Montreal.

After Martinez wins the opener, we are disappointed when a Gullickson start does not end up in a victory. A showdown with Fernando Valenzuela goes to the bullpens and the Cubs score three late to force extra innings. But Jesse Orosco has a poor 10th inning and our winning streak ends at five games. Dave Kingman homered in each of the games against LA.

The next day features another extra inning loss to the Dodgers, this one in 15 innings. Templeton has been hitless in each of the extra inning games and is now hitting .173. I'm pretty sure any other manager would have done something about this by now. We'll see what options are available at the trade deadline.

While thinking about our shortstop woes, this seems like a good time to check up on Ryne Sandberg. He has made the big league club in Detroit despite a lackluster showing in AAA. So far, in limited action, he has batted .283 with a pair of RBIs and 3 steals in 3 attempts.

The Cardinals swept the Padres at Busch and are back atop the division by 1.5 games.

[hoopsguy]

A woeful San Francisco team looks like just the tonic to cure our extra inning woes. Bob Knepper, an All-Star last year, is 0-6 this season. Make that 0-7 after losing 3-2 to Mike Witt and company. Smith moved to 18/18 on saves and Buckner hit his 2nd homer of the year. Otto Velez, their FA 1B pickup, hit his 13th homer of the year and has 36 RBIs.

Matt Keough of Oakland is the first to win 10 games this year. Witt and Gullickson are two among a large group trailing him with 8 victories.

After a loss in the middle game of the series, Martinez throws a gem, shutting out the Giants 4-0. A review of the box score shows that Foote has joined Templeton below the Mendoza line. Foote gets clutch hits, but not many of them.

The Cardinal lead remains 1.5 games as they run their home winning streak to 6 with a sweep of the Dodgers.

[hoopsguy]

Another Cubs shutout, although it took multiple pitchers to blank the Padres at Wrigley. Gullickson gets his 9th win and Ogilve hit a homer while driving in three. But we cannot muster much of anything against Randy Jones. Jones, who was injured earlier in the year, moved to 3-0 with a 4-1 victory. His ERA is a tiny 0.87. Foote's BA is down to .186 and it is time to start looking at options at catcher, where I might be able to put out some different players (unlike SS).

The finale against the Padres is a tense pitches duel that we win in 12 innings by a 1-0 score. Ken Oberkfell, who has bumped his average up to .259, drove in the winning run. The Padres only mustered one hit over the 12 innings. Mike Witt pitched eight no hit innings before being pulled for a pinch hitter in the 9th. He had only thrown 84 pitches. Tough, tough no decision.

[hoopsguy]

Off to LA to see if we can avoid extra inning games with them. Mission accomplished as we take two straight. One guy who has really fallen off for them is Dave Goltz, who is 0-6 with a 4.64 ERA after leading the league in ERA for most of last season before waking up in September and remembering that he is Dave Goltz. Steve Ontiveros, who is now in the starting lineup at 3B in a move to push Foote to the bench, added a bases-clearing double in the second win.

Gullickson is not able to keep our short winning streak alive, taking his 2nd loss of the year in a 4-2 loss to the Giants and Vida Blue. Jack Clark slugged a grand slam in the 5th inning that was the difference in this one.

The next day the wind was swirling out at Candlestick. Mike Vail (!) and Dave Kingman each hit two homers and we got 22 hits in a 13-8 win. Bob Knepper continues to hate 1981, as he falls to 0-9. Vail had 7 RBIs, which is certainly a career high. Even Templeton got two hits in this one, elevating his average to .185.

A series at San Diego ends in a Cubs sweep. A very successful west coast swing, as we put together a 6-1 mark and move the overall record to 42-23. The Cardinals are one game back but Montreal has fallen eight off the pace and this looks like a two team race.

A look around at other divisions shows that the Houston Astros have caught fire, winning nine of their last ten and pushing their record up to 40-27. Holy crap, they are on a 20-2 run! That is good enough to put them 0.5 games in front of Cincinnati in another division that is more or less down to two teams.

In the AL East Baltimore and Detroit are tied atop the division, both teams 10 over .500. The Milwaukee Brewers have won six in a row but still trail by 5.5 games.

The AL West has KC 3 games up on a trio of teams with a 37-28 mark. The White Sox, at 25-39, have the worst record in the American League.

The Dodgers, whose season has slipped away from them, will be without their 3B for the next two months. Ron Cey has a broken hand.

The Yankees and Mariners make a deal, with Bucky Dent heading west and Jim Anderson heading east. The Yankees would seem to be coming out ahead on this swap of shortstops, getting younger and trading Dent while he is battling a leg injury (10 days). But I must be missing something, as that front office never does anything right.

The Phillies are a mess. Keith Moreland is hitting .361 with 4 homers and 15 RBIs at catcher, but was just sent down to the minors in order to activate Ozzie Virgil. In better news for them, Mike Schmidt is about a week away from returning.

Pat Putnam of the Rangers is putting up impressive power numbers, with 13 homers and 37 RBIs.

[hoopsguy]

We host the Phillies next and Gullickson picks up his 10th win, beating Steve Carlton. But Reuschel goes down with a minor injury the following night and we see our five game losing streak come to an end. He'll go onto the 15 day disabled list. And we lose the third game of the series as well. Hmm, maybe the return of Ozzie Virgil has inspired these guys? Jim Rice had his ten game hitting streak snapped in the last loss.

Here are the top two in the AL in total bases:
#1 George Brett (KC) - 143
#2 Mitchell Page (Oak) - 135

Mitchell Page? Who? That was my reaction as well. He is a 30 year old LF who is hitting .290 with 15 homers and 54 (!) RBIs. That is just 12 RBI's less than he had in 436 at bats last season.

George Bell of the Mets looks like the early leader for NL Rookie of the Year. He is hitting .291 with 12 homers and 31 RBIs. He also has 12 steals. The 22 year old has a ton of potential, which should ensure that he meets or exceeds these numbers for the next 10-15 years.

Reggie Jackson is out for 2.5 months with a very major thigh injury. No further details are forthcoming. Joe Charboneau will miss about half of that time with a leg injury. Tough times in Cleveland, as that is a lot of offense to lose at one time.

[hoopsguy]

Steve Ontiveros had a homer and 3 RBI's in a 4-3 win at Montreal. Smith picked up his 20th save and still is allergic to earned runs. I certainly hope he is voted an All-Star this year. The next night features a come-from-behind win against our former pitcher Al Olmsted, who is in Expos bullpen. #21 for Smith. We finish off the sweep with a 5-3 win where Gullickson wins his 11th, Smith saves his 22nd, and Gary Templeton leaves the yard for the first time as a Cub. Up to .198!

Reuschel, who refused to be placed on the DL, pitches through some pain and gets his 7th win of the year in New York. Dennis Lamp has a dreadful outing in the second game of the series and we lose 4-2. Templeton goes 1-4 to bring his average up to .200. He stays there for exactly one day, as we lose 2-1 in 11 the next day, wasting 10 K's by Richard. The Mets stick us with one more loss, 4-2, on getaway day. I hope that the bats wake up for the home series against St. Louis. We trail them by 1.5 games at this point with the All-Star break looming.

[hoopsguy]

Gary Gray wants me to take back all the mean things I said about him last year. Dude is hitting .265 with 18 homers and 50 RBIs in the middle of the Yankees batting order. Reggie who?

Giants 1B Otto Velez had a pair of two homer games last week and now has 19 homers and 49 RBIs on the year. That man is earning his new contract.

Upon further review, the All Star break is still ten days out. We have a five game series with St. Louis right now that is getting a lot of national coverage since our clubs have the two best records in baseball. The national media is all over the Cardinals, given that they are the defending champs and are playing good ball while we have lost three straight.

Bill Gullickson quiets some of that talk with a strong performance in the opener. The 3-1 win included Rice's 9th homer of the year and Smith running his mark to 23 straight.

For the second straight year we have a 4th of July double-header. The Cards take the opener thanks to 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief by their pen in a 5-2 win. Mike Witt wins his 10th game in the nightcap, defeating John Fulgam. Fulgam, at 4-4, will not be an All Star this year. #24 for Smith.

The fourth game is, on paper, the best pitching matchup yet with Vukovich vs Richard. But Richard lays an egg and the Cards win 9-1. Kingman had a solo shot for our only run. We get to face Bibby in the finale that will decide who takes the series, but St. Louis will definitely be departing in first place.

And they will be in first by 2.5 games as Bibby outduels Martinez in a 2-1 ballgame. Not a lot of hitters stats in this series; it felt an awful lot like playoff baseball with tight games and a lot of action for middle relievers due to the close ball games forcing managers to be creative with their roster.

[hoopsguy]

The All Stars have been announced:

AL Starters (in order of votes):
3B George Brett (KC) - .321, 12 homers, 51 RBI
LF Mitchell Page (Oak) - .286/16/59
2B Dave Stapleton (Bos) - .297/9/35
1B Ron Jackson (Min) - .307/10/36
RF Oscar Gamble (NY) - .273/13/42
SS Alan Trammell (Det) - .333/4/39. This is the first guy on the roster, besides Brett, who has the look of a consistent All Star.
C Lance Parrish (Det) - .250/5/31

AL Reserves
LF Richie Zisk (Tex) - .290/12/35
1B Rusty Staub (Tex) - .315/7/34
1B Pat Putnam (Tex) - .289/15/45. Three straight Ranger selections, look like they are putting up runs.
LF Kirk Gibson (Det) - .280/13/44. Not a ton of potential left (51), but this 24 year old is already a very good player
SS Robin Yount (Mil) - .293/8/27 Should be swapping All Star starts with Trammell for years if they both stay put with current teams
CF Fred Lynn (Bos) - .277/8/27
2B Rich Dauer (Bal) - .305/5/24

AL Pitchers
Starter Matt Keough (Oak) 13-3 2.71 ERA, 7 CG, 1 SO, 80:51 K/BB, .206 BAA, 1.12 WHIP
Starter Dennis Leonard (KC) - 11-3 2.50 ERA, 6 CG, 78:30 K/BB, .239 BAA, 1.14 WHIP
Closer Doug Corbett (Min) - 0-0 0.64 ERA, 28 saves, 1 blown, 18:11 K/BB, .175 BAA, 1.02 WHIP
Starter Geoff Zahn (Min) - 11-2 2.66 ERA, 4 CG, 55:27 K/BB, .217 BAA, 1.03 WHIP
Starter Mike Flanagan (Bal) - 11-5 2.62 ERA, 5 CG, 1 SO, 81:27 K/BB, .262 BAA, 1.24 WHIP
Starter Mike Norris (Oak) - 10-7 2.60 ERA, 14 CG, 2 SO, 73/56 K/BB, .221 BAA, 1.21 WHIP
Reliever Dave Tobik (Det) - 4-3 1.74 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 30:20 K/BB, .202 BAA, 1.09 WHIP
Reliever John Verhoeven (Min) - 5-1 1.66 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 23:8 K/BB, .240 BAA, 1.11 WHIP
Reliever Jerry Garvin (Tor) - 4-1 1.63 ERA, 2 saves, 1 blown, 22:21 K/BB, .232 BAA, 1.40 WHIP
Reliever Sammy Stewart (Tor) - 6-3 1.80 ERA, 1 save, 1 blown, 31:25 K/BB, .192 BAA, 1.18 WHIP

Norris just will not leave games. 17 starts, 14 complete games??? And I hope that Jerry Garvin enjoys his All Star appearance because I'll be stunned if he is ever back.

[hoopsguy]

NL Starters (in order of votes):
LF Greg Luzinski (Phi) .310/18/53
3B Bob Horner (Atl) .285/17/43 - repeat pick
RF Dave Winfield (SD) .298/15/45
1B Dan Driessen (Cin) .286/13/37 - determined to show me up for questioning his ability
CF Jim Rice (Chi) .275/9/31 - his arrival keyed our resurgence
C Ted Simmons (StL) .278/9/36
2B Ron Oester (Cin) .286/6/24 w/17 steals

NL Reserves
RF Leon Durham (StL) .306/7/50 - has emerged as best player on Cardinals, 24 year old looks like a future superstar
LF George Hendricks (StL) .293/10/52 - 2nd year as All-Star reserve
1B Otto Velez (SF) .263/19/50 - reserve All-Star for both leagues now
LF George Foster (Cin) .264/13/46 - 2nd straight appearance
1B Chris Chambliss (Atl) .306/6/40
C Larry Parrish (Mon) .272/11/37
3B Hubie Brooks (NY) .304/0/30 - 25 year old with lots of room for growth

NL Pitchers
Starter Bill Gullickson (Chi) 12-2 1.85 ERA, 1 CG, 1 SO, 84:19 K/BB, .236 BAA, 1.09 WHIP
Starter Mike Witt (Chi) 10-3 2.47 ERA 58:31 K/BB, .211 BAA, 1.07 WHIP - good money bet for Rookie Pitcher of Year
Starter Bert Blyleven (Pit) 8-2 2.18 ERA, 1 CG, 102:36 K/BB, .181 BAA, 0.96 WHIP
Starter Nolan Ryan (Hou) 7-5 1.69 ERA, 1 CG, 87:43 K/BB, .174 BAA, 1.02 WHIP
Closer George Frazier (StL) 0-1 2.15 ERA, 28 saves, 2 blown, 23:9 K/BB, .248 BAA, 1.30 WHIP
Starter Steve Carlton (Phi) 10-5 3.09 ERA, 83:33 K/BB, .247 BAA, 1.25 WHIP
Reliever (?) Mario Soto (Cin) 7-4 2.08 ERA, 3 CG, 3 SO, 99:30 K/BB, .197 BAA, 0.98 WHIP
Reliever Dennis Lamp (Chi) 0-4 2.22 ERA, 4 saves, 36:27 K/BB, .262 BAA, 1.33 WHIP
Bob Shirley (SD) 6-5 2.76 ERA, 1 CG, 58:24 K/BB, .215 BAA, 1.04 WHIP
Bryn Smith (Mon) 2-0 2.06 ERA, 34:12 K/BB, .225 BAA, 1.15 WHIP

It is an absolute joke that Lee Smith is not on the team. Dennis Lamp really has no business being there, even if he has been a fine member of our rotation as a long reliever/spot starter.

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Hitting:
BA:
AL - .333 Alan Trammell (Det)
NL - .310 Greg Luzinski (Phi)
Top Cub - .283 Bill Buckner (tied 36th)

HR:
AL - 18 Gary Gray (NYY)
NL - 19 Otto Velez (SF)
Top Cub - 11 Dave Kingman (tied 20th)

RBI:
AL - 59 Mitchell Page (Oak)
NL - 53 Greg Luzinski (Phi)
Top Cub - 26 Dave Kingman (tied 25th)

Runs:
AL - 53 Kirk Gibson (Det)
NL - 49 Omar Moreno (Pit)
Top Cub - 32 Jim Rice + Dave Kingman (tied 62nd)

Hits:
AL - 102 Alan Trammell (Det)
NL - 92 Dave Winfield (SD)
Top Cub - 78 Bill Buckner (tied 33rd)

Stolen Bases:
AL - 35 Rickey Henderson (Oak)
NL - 42 Mookie Wilson (NY)
Top Cub - 17 Gary Templeton (tied 31st)

On Base %:
AL - .388 Alan Trammell (Det)
NL - .379 Greg Luzinski (Phi)
Top Cub - .353 Jim Rice (tied 24th)

OPS:
AL - .904 George Brett (KC)
NL - .990 Greg Luzinski (Phi)
Top Cub - .814 Jim Rice (tied 20th)

[hoopsguy]

League Leaders - Pitching:
ERA:
AL - 2.15 Ron Guidry (NYY)
NL - 1.69 Nolas Ryan (Hou)
Top Cub - 1.85 Bill Gullickson (3rd)

Wins:
AL - 13 Matt Keough (Oak)
NL - 12 Jim Bibby (StL) and Bill Gullickson (Chi)
Top Cub - Gullickson (tied 2nd)

Saves:
AL - 28 Doug Corbett (Min)
NL - 28 George Frazier (StL)
Top Cub - 24 Lee Smith (tied 6th)

Innings Pitched:
AL - 150 Rick Langford (Oak)
NL - 124 Vida Blue (SF)
Top Cub - 111.2 Bill Gullickson (46th)

Complete Games:
AL - 14 Mike Norris (NYY)
NL - 3 Mario Soto (Cin)
Top Cub - 1 (multiple players)

Shutouts:
AL - 2 (multiple players)
NL - 3 Mario Soto (Cin)
Top Cub - 1 Bill Gullickson and Dennis Martinez (tied 5th)

Strikeouts:
AL - 115 Len Barker (Cle)
NL - 102 Bert Blyleven (Pit)
Top Cub - 84 Bill Gullickson (tied 10th)

Walks:
AL - 56 Mike Norris (NYY)
NL - 68 Eric Show (Pit)
Top Cub - 31 Mike Witt (tied 83rd)

Run Support:
AL - 96 Matt Keough (Oak)
NL - 63 Ken Forsch (Hou)
Top Cub - 61 Mike Witt (22nd)

[hoopsguy]

The Yankees are once again making deals, this time with the cross-town Mets.
Yankees get: Claudell Washington (.255/6/41)
Mets get: Joe Lefebvre (.291/10/33)

Washington is a great fielder. At 27, he already has one Gold Glove in his possession and should add to that collection. He won't ever be a .300 hitter, but you throw in a little speed and this is a guy that is a definite contributor for a good team.

Lefebvre is a younger player (25) with a little more potential. He is putting up big numbers this year but I'm not sure if he will sustain these for his career. I'll cal this deal a push, with the Mets taking on more risk.

So I'm wondering what in the world happened to last year NL MVP, Dale Murphy? Well, he is putting up decent numbers (.279/12/28 with 20 steals) but the power numbers just have not matched what he delivered last year. At the age of 25 he is far from a finished product. I won't call 1980 a career year, but for now his production this year is more in line with what I would expect from this type of player.

[hoopsguy]

Lee Smith does not take his All-Star snub well. First game back, he gives up a 1-0 lead in the 9th at Montreal. Solo shot by Chris Spier, then another by PH Andre Dawson. 2-1 loss. Ouch. That felt like Kevin Gregg.

The loss streak hits 4 before Witt bails us out with a 2-1 win. Wake up, bats! Hopefully we pack them when heading over to Pittsburgh. Nope, 6-0 shutout at the hands of Don Robinson. He has been tough all year, sporting a 1.69 ERA. But this has got to stop or St. Louis is going to build too big a lead. They are not losing much at all, and are now six games on top.

Another day, another shutout loss. Is this April all over again? Martinez throws six shutout innings, then watches Jesse Orosco wet the bed, giving up three in the 7th without retiring a batter. The next day brings a double-header with our #1/#2 starters. Four combined runs = split. I'm disgusted with our hitters. The Cards have won 8 straight and we are now 7 games back. It is going to be really, really uphill to make the playoffs, even with the 2nd best record in baseball.

[hoopsguy]

We're back home on 7/16 to face the Braves and get better results - a 6-0 shutout win featuring a homer and 4 RBIs from Jim Rice. Witt picked up his 11th win in the process. Still, only six hits - not sure we have broken out just yet.

We do the following day, in a wild 9-8 win. JR Richard gave back a 6-1 lead, but the top of the order caused Atlanta problems all day. Ken Oberkfell went 4-5 with a homer, 3 runs and 3 RBIs. Bill Buckner had a pair of hits, including a homer, and 4 RBIs. Ogilve and Boone hit solo shots, and we survived four Atlanta homers.

The sweep is complete thanks to an 8-6 win. Gary Templeton has a pair of hits (.199) and SIX RBI's to key the victory. Smith adds his 27th save.

Houston comes to town, scheduled to send All Star Nolan Ryan to the bump. Instead, old friend Lynn McGlothlen gets the start. We are pleased with that turn of events and celebrate with an 8-1 win. In fairness, it was the Astros "relief" that was the problem, surrendering 6 runs over the last three innings. Mike Vail and Rice each had a homer with 3 RBIs and Gullickson fanned 11.

The win streak hits six, with Reuschel providing a 1-0 victory. Nice homestand. The deficit is back to five games. Time to see if we can do better on the road.

[hoopsguy]

We get the win streak up to seven before losing another Richard start. This one was not his fault, as it was a 2-1 defeat in 11 innings. In fact, J.R. only surrendered one hit in 6 innings of work. Toss in a 1-0 loss the next day - in a serious hitters park - and I'm once again hating our lineup. It is trade deadline time, so maybe it is time to actually do something about it.

The problem is that we have not collected many assets just yet. I would love to move Kingman, but his value is as low now as it was months ago. Barry Foote actually will bring back more so that is who I'm exploring now. Interesting, but still not team-changing? Maybe J.R. Richard, who is in his walk year and not pitching all that well?

Hmm, now we are getting into interesting territory. Robin Yount looks like one heck of an upgrade from my favorite whipping boy. Sold - time for our All Star Dennis Lamp to move back to the rotation. Yount is signed for four years at 5 million per, which is about half of what of what he was looking for last year. I haven't checked with extending our guys just yet, but should do that soon. For now, welcome to the newest Cub!

[hoopsguy]

I'm not ready to stop just yet, as I now have three SS on the roster. Templeton or DeJesus have to go and I'm not taking no for an answer. DeJesus actually has more value on the market, so he'll be the one getting moved.

The Cardinals are willing to trade 14-2 Jim Bibby straight up for him - that is too broken for me to even consider. I want to beat the Cardinals, but that is just a ridiculous trade. Seriously, for Ivan DeJesus??? I have some kind of moral compass; that just cannot be permitted even if the game engine is more than happy to do the deal.

I can deal him for Von Hayes of San Francisco, however. That was the best young talent that I could locate. We're starting to load up on outfielders in the minors, but DeJesus had no role so this lines up as a very good deal for us.

Bud Black will be making his way back to the bigs, taking a mop-up role while he figures out how to deal with major league hitters.

[hoopsguy]

Gullickson makes the Robin Yount debut a success, although he probably does not feel that way after going 0-4. Still, a 2-0 road win against Cincinnati is very welcome at the moment.

Witt keeps the scoreless streak going, with a 3-0 win over Tom Seaver and the Reds. Bob Boone hit a two run shot, Rice hit his 14th homer, and Yount at least got on base (walk).

Yount busted out, to the tune of two homers, in his 3rd game. 6-1 win and a road sweep. Now that is what we have been looking for over the past month. Gary Templeton added a pinch-hit triple, bringing his average up to .202.

[hoopsguy]

On to Houston, where Martinez beats down All Star Nolan Ryan 7-0. Kingman and Yount both go deep. Lamp wins his first post-trade start, bringing the winning streak to 5.

The Giants call, wanting to acquire Robin Yount. Beat it - I have no interest in reacquiring DeJesus or anything else that they have to offer.

Toronto wants Jim Rice but only lists a pair of minor league players as straight-up options. Clearly we are not going to make a deal.

Back to baseball, and the first loss of the Robin Yount era. 2-0, Gullickson gets a hard luck loss.

In other trading news, the Mets and Rangers swing a deal.
NY get Buddy Bell (.295/6/32)
Rangers get Hubie Brooks (.301/0/38)

Bell is a very good player now, but Brooks is five years younger and will be even better than he is now. The Mets are not going anywhere this season, so I'm not sure why they are dealing their best young players to take on more money and a similar length contract (3 years).

Harold Baines of the White Sox has his second 10+ game hitting streak of the year (13).

Injury update - Lance Parrish of the Tigers is out for 3 weeks with a thigh injury. Guess there have been a rash of them this year.

[hoopsguy]

7/31 - last chance to swing a deal. We are four back of the Cardinals. At this point I'm willing to take my best shot with the team I have right now. We'll have a bunch of games left with the Cardinals and I honestly think we have a better team than them at this point.

The team elects not to reward my faith, falling 3-1 to the Reds in 17 innings. 1 run in 17 innings. They brought in Soto to pitch the 15th and 16th - what the heck is going on in Cincinnati???

After Reuschel's 11th win we are on the wrong end of a 1-0 loss in 13 innings to close out the Cincinnati series. Argh, are we ever going to win an extra inning game? We remain 4 back of the Cards, but we aren't going to catch them if we cannot start putting runs on the board a little more consistently.

[hoopsguy]

Ugh - lost a long post.

We head to Philly, winning two out of three with Gullickson and Witt posting victories. That is the good news. The bad news is that we head to St. Louis with the back of our rotation set to go against the top of their rotation.

We manage to win one of three in St. Louis. In Game #1 Keith Hernandez had 5 RBIs to beat us. The second game featured Martinez throwing an 84 pitch shutout to beat Bibby, but the final game of the series was a heartbreaker. Dennis Lamp hit a three run homer, left the game up 3-1, only to see Willy Hernandez give up 3 in the bottom of the 8th and we lose 4-3 to fall five back in the division race.

Steve Ontiveros had back-to-back three hit games and has been doing a nice job at 3rd base over the past couple of months. He is doing this while playing through a nagging hamstring injury.

The middle of our batting order has really struggled over the past month. We need them to get out of their combined funk if we are going to catch the Cardinals.