January 1, 2022
September 19, 2021
1973 Notes
A few notes to keep in mind during the off-season:
-- We will be using hte FULL DH for BOth leagues starting in 1973. Ensure you have enough PA to cover.
-- The RULE 5 Draft will begin 2 weeks from today, on Saturday Oct 2, 2021. All via email of course,
with 3 rounds of drafting. YOUR 27 Man roster is due to Mike See NO LATER than Thursday September 30 at 9pm EST (6pm CST).
Uncarded players do not count against this number. Remember, you do not get any of the player you are cutting back after the draft.
September 19, 2021
1973 Stadium Change carousel
Several franchises have moved into new abodes: Here is the list:
1) East Kenosha Lions (Dave Lauer) moves to the Astrodome, leaving County Stadium
2) Missouri Barons (Mike Boling) moves the KC Royals Stadium, vacating San Diego Stadium
3) Data City Schema Busters (Chris Longo), who wanted KC, settle for County Stadium, leaving the iconic home of his favorite team, Yankee Stadium
4) Ocean Lake Seagulls (Marc Hollingsworth) vacate Metropolitan Stadium for Yankee Stadium.
5) South River Gladiators (Joe Dezarlo) vacate Arlington Stadium for San Diego Stadium.
That leaves Metropolitan Stadium, Arlington Stadium, Oakland Coliseum and Three Rivers Stadium should you wish to relocate.
June 22, 2021
1973 World Series results
So the Angels had to beat my 117 win Hot Rods, 110 win 3 time champion Totems, and John Turnbull’s favored dragons, all who had home
field advantage, to win his first World Series in 12 years. The most difficult road you could take to a title, and he did it. Wow!
Especially after taking over a full rebuild just a few seasons ago!!
Amazing accomplishment Don! You are truly the Jedi Master, taking out all of us young guns….
Congratulations to both Don, Steve on a great series to wrap up our first full season of weekly play. In fact, congratulations to all
of you on a great 1972 season. It was very smooth. Steve, you had a heck of. 3 year run and will certainly be back in 1973, as will
the up and coming Angels, who now will have World Series Rings…..
Remember, universal DH is now upon us in 1973, and I’ll have the draft order and will begin work on the new database when I return from Cabo.
Trading my now commence though….
Thanks for an amazing 1973 season!
May 31, 2021
1973 Lottery results
Here is your lottery results for 1973. (2-5-4). Congrats to Stan Barkun for getting the top pick in 1973! Chris L, at least you still got second.
Mike Boling’s Missouri Barons jump from 4 to 3.
1. Montreal Royals (Stan Barkun) – 54 Wins (3 Chances)
2. Data City Schema Busters (Chris Longo) 46 Wins (4 Chances)
3. Missouri Barons (Mike Boling)– 62 Wins (1 Chance)
4. Portland Beavers (Rich Applegate) – 57 Wins (2 Chances)
The 1973 Draft is a deep one….some great players for all of these teams no matter what…..
May 31, 2021
1972 Award Winners and League Leaders
It was a very fun 1972 Season! Though they missed the playoffs by one game, Marc Hollingsworth’s Oceanlake Seagulls led their division up until the final weeks,
when usage caught up with them. His players dominated the NL leader boards, including MVP. Below are your league leaders for the 1972 season and league MVP’s.
Who will be the playoff surprise with the Wild Card this year? Should be a fun postseason……here are your award winners for the 1972 Regular Season.
May 31, 2021
New manager for 1973 season
Happy to announce that our “Old” friend Mr. Mike Boling will be returning to SPB-2 for the 1973 season. Mike B. will be taking over the former Bay Sox
franchise and renaming them the Missouri Barons. Welcome back Mike!!!
May 31, 2021
1972 end of season Use or Lose
1972 is the first season to have only a use or lose report, since overusage penalties are no longer in play. Click
HERE to view the report.
May 31, 2021
1972 End of season Comparison
Linked
HERE is the annual comparison of actual wins, expected wins and my preseason prognosis. For the entire American League and the NL East things
ended up almost exactly as they should. The AL East had very little deviation between actual and expected wins and therefore fell right into line
and my prognosis was right on. The AL West had some minor differences in actual and expected wins and this caused the Lions and Monarchs to flip
one slot but the forecast was perfect.
In the NL East a significant negative variance between actual and expected wins found the Bishops falling to third when they should have been second
with the same result in the forecast. The Royals and Schema Busters flipped the last two slots due largely to Data City having allowed the most runs
in all of SPBII by quite a margin. However the NL West it was a different story. My preseason writeup had the Beavers forecast as the winners but when
I rechecked my analysis I discovered that I must have been drinking when I wrote it up as the Sparkplugs, per my spreadsheet, were way ahead of everyone
else. The Beavers and Fortress looked to be solid contenders for second with the Seagulls not far behind and the Wild Weasels bringing up the rear.
Due to a complete collapse of their pitching staff, especially a bullpen which on paper looked very strong, the Beavers fell all the way to the cellar.
Per the expected wins formula, the Seagulls, Wild Weasels and Fortress were all bunched together but significant over achievement by the Seagulls vaulted
them to second place where they just barely missed the playoffs as a wild card. On to 1973!
November 4, 2020
New manager for start of 1972
Steve Ehresman has relinquished the Tippecanoe Voyageurs franchise. Taking his place will be
SPB manager Marc Hollingsworth, who will rename the team to the Oceanlake Seals, and will be keeping
Metropolitan Stadium. Welcome aboard Marc!
October 23, 2020
1972 Pre-Season prognosis
Linked is the
1972 Pre-Season prognosis. As quoted by John Ungashick: "This is a bit early but with the Pandemic I
have nothing else to do! With the new rules, trades are allowed until halfway through the season and this report
is based on the current rosters. A few teams have some "holes" that could be filled but it's unlikely they would
acquire a player that would seriously change the dynamic of the various pennant races as three of the divisions
seem a lock with only the NL West competitive. Read em and weep!" Thanks John!
September 8, 2020
1972 Rules Reminder
Remember, there are NO BONUS Players anymore, so if you are planning your usage, please account for this.
ALL players will get a 10% bonus in 1972 (due to the 1972 Players strike wiping out games) so you can go
to 110% on the usage meter (PA’s and Batters Faced), at which point that player will be farmed for the rest
of the season. We will be rolling with 27 Man rosters this year for each series, so you’ll have a little
more flexibility as well.
September 5, 2020
1972 Ballbark Change
Ron Peterson and his Colts have vacated the Astrodome in the middle of the night on Mayflower trucks
for the "friendlier" confines of Comiskey Park.
That leaves the Astrodome, KC Royals Stadium, Oakland Coliseum and Three Rivers Stadium as the
available parks.
July 24, 2020
1972 Rule 5 and Roster reminder
Before we begin, I want to announce that myself, in coordination with the league rules
committee, has made a slight change to the new Rule 5 Format. We will still cut down to 27,
and we will still draft 3 players, but WE WILL NOT have each team drafting 3 players at once.
The Rule 5 draft will ALWAYS now look exactly like the Re-allocation draft did in post-1961
Leagues. 3 Rounds, 1 pick per team per round in reverse order of the standing and playoffs.
Bottom line with this was: With protecting 27 players now, allowing teams to pick 3 at a time
was going to render the end of the Rule 5 nearly worthless, at least in terms of accomplishing
its goal, which is to help team fill holes they might have. So it has been officially changed
for ALL post 1961 leagues from here forward.
The Trade Deadline and deadline for 27 man roster submissions will be Sunday August 2nd at 9pm EST.
All trading will be frozen at that time and until after the completion of the Rule 5 draft.
Cutting down to 27 will be easy for some, and more difficult for others. Some may not even have 27,
and if not, I would encourage you to make a deal to get to that number. I imagine this is going to
generate some interesting trades, and player shifting. That is just fine. Goal here is to balance
the rosters and make sure you have more quality rosters as well, so if you have players that can’t
keep (and remember, once you cut them, THEY DO NOT COME BACK TO YOUR ROSTER AFTER THE DRAFT, even if
they are not taken) and they can help another teams needs, trade away!
ALL TEAMS PROTECT 27, no matter the record.
The Rule 5 draft will then commence via email the week of August 3rd.
July 12, 2020
1972 Stadium Changes
The Fairfax Colts abandon the Astrodome and move into the friendlier confines of Comiskey Park
The Kansas City Barons are blowing up KC Municipal and moving to a new park on the river. They will call it
Riverfront Stadium.
Dave Lauer's East Kenosha Lions have left Comiskey park and will now call
Milwaukee's County Stadium home.
That leaves now what are (4) available parks. KC Municipal (Royals Stadium beginning in 1973), Oakland Coliseum, Astrodome and Three Rivers Stadium.
July 9, 2020
1972 Positional losses
The linked text file contains the
positional losses for the 1972 database.
July 9, 2020
1972 Schedule Notes
SPB-2 Commish Mike See has put together some
schedule notes to outline the dates and guidelines for the upcoming
season, which will be the first with weekly play.
July 7, 2020
1971 Champions....threepeat!
Thanks to Steve and Joe for playing this series so quickly, and much congratulations goes out
the Steve Lehman for his 3rd straight SPB-2 World Championship. First manager to also 3-peat
in two different leagues. Amazing Feat for sure since it has never happened in 28 years prior
(That said, you still need 2 more to match the all time SPB record of 5 straight World Series
titles by yours truly in SPB-60 from 1953-57,
Also, my congrats go out to Joe Dezarlo for putting up a fine battle in this series against a
very formidable team and franchise. I have a feeling Joe’s Gladiators are going to be a force
to be reckoned with for the rest of the 1970’s.
July 3, 2020
1972 Draft Lottery results
Illinois Evening Pick 3 Lottery Numbers were: 2-7-0
Results:
1. NY Mets (Don Rahn) – 57 Wins (3 Chances)
2. Montreal Royals (Stan Barkun) – 51 + 4 Wins (4 Chances)
3. LA Angels (Don Zminda)– 62 Wins - (2 Chances)
4. East Kenosha Lions (Dave Lauer)– 63 Wins (1 Chance)
Congrats to Don Rahn for landing the top pick! Could we see Michael Jack in a Mets Uni? We shall see……
July 2, 2020
1971 End of year reports
As is customary....and for the last time in SPB-2, I present to you the 1971
USE OR LOSE
and OVERUSAGE reports.
June 27, 2019
Upcoming 1972 Changes. Trading freeze and Contraction
If you have read my end of season email, you likely noticed that I put a
freeze on ALL trades until after the completion of the 1971 World Series.
Here is the reason why.
With the new rules we will be implementing for the 1972 season, one of the
most difficult parts of these changes is that we needed to contract (2) of
our existing teams. It’s the great thing about having such a strong league
of managers…..but in this case, made it a bit more difficult for me.
The two teams being Contracted are the Hudson Valley Renegades of Sean Comerford
(manager with the least league seniority) and the Milwaukie Pilots of long time
SPBer Marc Hollingsworth, who after discussing via phone, is voluntarily giving
up his franchise for now.
Both the these managers are of course excellent, and this was a very difficult
thing for me to do, but it is very much in the long term best interests of our
leagues to do this. Both managers leave in great standing and will be #1 and #2
on the wait list for the next available. franchises. My hope is that both will
be back with us soon. Thanks for both Sean and Marc for their time and effort
put into SPB-2.
___________________________________________________
That leaves us in a pace where we have never been. At the conclusion of the 1971
World Series, before we begin ANY trading, we will be holding the first ever
CONTRACTION DRAFT.
This draft will be held in reverse order of the 1971 standings, it will not include
ANY penalties and will be based on standings only. It will be a 2 round, 40 player
email draft, where ANY of the carded players from the Pilots and Renegades being
available) with any remaining players being made available in the Rule 5 (Free Agent)
draft later in the off season. CONTRACTION DRAFT PICKS CAN NOT BE TRADED.
There are some pretty darn good players on these two franchises, so it is going to
have a significant impact on the younger teams in our league.
Also, if order to put each of our leagues on a more balcned schedule so that John and I
can act as league stats for weekly play, we will be moving up the Rookie Draft and season
start dates for SPB-2 by 2 month, The rookie draft will now be in September, and the
Season will start Nov 1 (instead of Draft in November and Jan 1 start).
I will be sending out another announcement about the timing of this email draft at the
completion of the 1971 World Series. Once this draft takes place, trading will begin.
Please email me should you have any questions, and thanks.
May 22, 2020
1971 September stats posted
The stats and power rankings for September 1972 are now posted.
In the NL, their the battle for the wild card slots remained.
In the NL West, with the defending Champion Seattle Totems having long ago
clinched the division, it came down to the Wild Card race. And what looked
like a cake walk into the Wild Card for the Portland Beavers turned fierce
battle with the RED HOT Winter Harbor Seals, who went 8-2 over their final
10 games. Only a extra inning win in the Beavers second to last game of the
season over the KC Barons, prevented the Seals from forcing a 1 game Wild
Card Play-in Game for all the marbles. The Frankfort Clinched the #1 Wild
Card sport, whole Rich Applegate’s Barons slide into the #2 slot.
In the NL East, the Tippecanoe Voyageurs clinched long ago and had a firm grip
on the #2 Divisional playoff slot.
Your National 7 game Playoff matchups will be:
Series 1 – The Seattle Totems #1 (Steve Lehman) VS #4 Portland Beavers (Rich Applegate)
Series 2 – The Tippecanoe Voyageurs #2 (Steve Ehresman) VS Frankfort Fortress #3 (Gary Plunkitt)
Congrats to Steve L, Steve E, Gary and Rich for making the playoffs!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the AL East, the South River Gladiators, who had been behind most of the season, barely
squeaked out the division title by 1 game for the Evanston Elephants. The Elephants still made the
playoffs however as the #2 Wild Card. Congrats to both Joe D and John U!
In the AL West, my Hot Rods had clinched long ago, but the Thud Ridge Wild Weasels used a late
season surge to surpass the Elephants for the top Wild Card Seed.
Your American 7 game Playoff matchups will be:
Series 1 – The Route 66 Hot Rods #1 (Mike See) VS #4 Evanston Elephants (John Ungashick)
Series 2 – The South River Gladiators #2 (Joe Dezarlo) VS Thud Ridge Wild Weasels #3 (Terry Baxter)
Congrats to Me, Joe D, Terry and John U for making the playoffs!
December 28, 2019
December 22, 2019
1971 Last team name change
With his move to a new home, Rick Ryan has also decided to relocate his Mulberry Marauders to their new home as well,
and are now the Speedway Sparkplugs.
October 7, 2019
1971 Stadium Changes
Here are the Stadium changes for the 1971 Season:
The Route 66 Hot Rods have vacated Yankee Stadium and have moved into Veterans Stadium.
The Data City Schema Busters have claimed Yankee Stadium, and have relinquished Fulton County Stadium
Fulton County Stadium and the Oakland Coliseum are the two available parks.
September 23, 2019
1971 - Call for Protected roster
It is that time of year again as we head into 1971. Time for the 1971 Rule V Draft, which means I
need your cutdowns soon. We will begin the draft the week of Sept 30th via email, so I need your
protected list to me no later than Sunday Sept 29th at 6pm PST. So you have about 2 weeks to make
trades. The new data base was sent in the previous email.
Here are the amounts that each team can protect:
21 Players Protected
Los Angeles Angels
Nanoose Bay Sox
Kansas City Barons
Milwaukie Pilots
Montreal Royals
20 Players Protected
Thud Ridge Wild Weasels
Hudson Valley Renegades
Mulberry Marauders
Evanston Elephants
Tippacanoe Voyageurs
Salzburg Bishops
Frankfort Fortress
Data City Schema Busters
East Kenosha Lions
West Warwick Monarchs
Winter Harbor Seals
Fairfax Colts
19 Players Protected
South River Gladiators
Portland Beavers
New York Mets
Route 66 Hot Rods
Seattle Totems
Your protected lists are due soon, and the deadline is Sunday (September 29th at
6pm PST) They should be received by me no later than 6:00P.M. PST. At that time,
ALL ROSTERS WILL BE FROZEN AND NO TRADES MAY BE MADE UNTIL THE RULE V DRAFT IS COMPLETED.
Please send me an MP with your cutdowns, along with a list via email of protected, unprotected and uncarded players
July 15, 2019
1971 - Wild Card official
We will be adding two Wild Card per conference for the 1971 Season.
In addition to switch to Best of 7 format for both main playoff series in each
conference, in the event of a Wild Card Tie, the following would apply:
There would be a best of 3 series to determine the winner, with best H2H record
getting Home field. If that’s tied, better run differential get home field.
In the event of a 3 way tie for a spot, the team with the highest run differential
will be automatically put into the 3 game playoff, with the lower two teams playing
a 1-game play in game, with better H2H record hosting, or best run differential.
In the event of a 4 way tie for a spot, the Highest Run differential will play the
lowest in a one game play in game, and two middle teams would also play a 1 game play
in game to get to the best of 3.
Hopefully that covers almost all the bases. Really looking forward to these changes.
Going to make for some very exciting playoff races!!!!
July 14, 2019
1970 Crowns rereat Champ
Congratulations goes out to the Seattle Totems, the 1970 SPB-2 Champion. Steve
overcame a 3 games to 1 deficit to capture his second straight crown! Complete World
Series boxscores and writeups can be found on the left hand menu. Congrats also to Mike See and
his Hot Rods on a great year!
July 1, 2019
1971 Lottery Results
Number was: 5-9-2
For the second year in a row, the #1 pick in the SPB-2 Rookie Draft for 1971 goes to the
Kansas City Barons and Mr. Mike Boling. Congratulations.
1. Kansas City Barons (Mike Boling)
- 63 Wins - (2 Chances)
2. Los Angeles Angels (Don Zminda)
- 51 Wins (4 Chances)
3. Montreal Royals (Stan Barkun) – 68* Wins (1 Chance)
4. Nanoose Bay Sox (John Measor) – 56* Wins (3 Chances)
The 1971 Draft is light on Hall of Famers (There are none on the draft)…however, it is
deep on good quality hitters and pitchers, so should be interesting to see who the top
4 will be. Should be very interesting : )
July 1, 2019
1970 End of season reports
As is typical at the end of each SPB season, the
USE OR LOSE and
OVERUSAGE
reports are publshed. The rosters will be changed accordingly
June 23, 2019
1970 Post-Season prognotication comparison
John U. pretty much nailed his predictions for 1970. Look
HERE to see
his complete listing of predictions compared to the actual results.
June 23, 2019
1970 Final stats and Power Rankings posted
Thanks to all of you for a smooth season once again. A big thank you to our league Stat
John Ungashick for a job well done as usual.
Congrats to our Four Division winners:
Don Rahn – New York Mets
Mike See - Route 66 Hot Rods
Seattle Totems – Steve Lehman
Portland Beavers - Rick Applegate
Remember that beginning in 1971, we’ll be changing up our divisions…in advance of the DH, which
is coming in 1973 (but we are shifting to the new divisions in 1971), If you are in the American
League, you will be adding a DH in 1973, NL Teams will not, but will still need a DH for interleague
play at AL parks beginning in ’73. In advance of this, please make note that also beginning in
1973, ALL TEAMS will increase there you five protected limits by 1 players to 20-21-22. Just a
little advance notice on this stuff so you are prepared. You are free to begin trading for 1971, but
trades will not be announced until the 1971 World Series is completed. Please send all trades to me.
January 3, 2019
1970 Pre-Season prognosis
What would be the beginning of an SPB season without John Ungashick's
1970 prognostication!
He did not get any forecasting lessons from me :) Thanks for the work John!
July 25, 2018
1970 DH and New Divisional Allignment
With the DH coming in 1973, I had asked each of you to submit a preference for DH or no DH.
Below are the results and what will be our new divisions beginning in the 1971 season. Most
of you got your choice, only the two new owners and two of the expansion teams that had to
be placed in the NL, as there was a slight preference for the DH and league I needed to keep
the expansion teams in separate divisions.
I realize that 1971 is two seasons prior to the DH coming, but it will be good to start with
this new structure a bit early and I’ll likely tweak the schedule next year for more divisional
and league play within your league.
Really think these new divisions will be good….Here they are. If you are in the AL, you will
be adding a DH, if in the NL, no DH except for interleague games, which I’ll have more info on
later, as it will be less interleague games than we currently have.
AMERICAN LEAGUE (DH)
East
Joe Dezarlo
John Ungashick
Ron Peterson
John Measor
Steve Brunner
Don Zminda
West
Mike See
Don Rahn
Marc Hollingsworth
Terry Baxter
Dave Lauer
NATIONAL LEAGUE (NO DH)
East
Steve Lehman
Hugh McElaney
Chris Williams
Chris Longo
Sean Comerford
Stan Barkun
West
Gary Plunkitt
Rick Ryan
Steve Ehresman
Rich Applegate
Mike Boling
That NL west Division is gonna have some fun H2H play!
July 24, 2018
1970 disk positional losses
The players listed below have lost positional rating based on SPB Rules that players with over 400 PA and 4 or less appearences at a position will not be rated or be eligible to play at that position during a season.
Don Wert 2b
Cookie Rojas SS and OF
Don Buford 2b and 3b
Davey Johnson SS
Bob Robertson LF
Lou Piniella 1b
Ron Fairly LF and CF
Coco Laboy 2b
Doug Rader 1b
Willie Stargell 1b
Joe Torre 1b
Dick Allen LF
Gene Alley 3B
Cesar Tovar 3B
Gene Michael 2b and 3b
Felipe Alou 1b
Johnny Bench 3b
Tony Taylor SS
Don Money SS
Deron Johnson 3b
Jerry Kenney 2b
Graig Nettles LF
Ron Santo LF
July 22, 2018
1970 Rookie draft lottery results
Our new system developed my Mr. Turnbull has delivered a bit of a surprise…..
Congratulations to my old friend Mr. Mike Boling, for winning the 1st overall pick of
the 1970 Rookie Draft! If I am correct, I am pretty certain that this might be the
first time EVER that Mike has gotten the top selection!
The top 6 WAR players in in 1971 are ALL great, so gonna be pretty tough to go wrong
with any of them….Sorry Dave, you are just a little snakebit when it comes to getting
the final pick lately in these lotteries : )
All have the final draft order out this weekend. Working on the 1970 Database, once
I get the uncarded players added I’ll send it out to the league…..
1. Mike Boling (KC Barons)
2. Steve Brunner (WW Monarchs)
3. Stan Barkun (Montreal Royals)
4. John Measor (Nanoose Baysox)
5. Don Zminda (LA Angels)
6. Dave Lauer (East Kenosha Lions)
July 22, 2018
Important Announcement prior to start of 1970 season
Before trading gets rolling, I wanted to make you aware of an important decision
that has been made regarding the future of our league.
We have decided to add the Designated Hitter to (1) One league beginning with the
1973 season. Same as in real life.
The rules committee voted 9-1 to adopt this change. Bottom line is that so many
1b/DH types go unused when we don’t have a DH, and so many pitchers that don’t even
hit in real life are getting lots of PA’s, it’s just more realistic to add the DH to
one league. We calculated that over 7,200 PA’s go unused each season, where we don’t
have a DH. It will also give teams more flexibly when they have multiple players who
only play (1) position in a season. Even if you are an NL team, you can use these
player in interleague play.
Here is how it’s going to work
1. Only the AL will have a DH
2. Owners will get to choose what league they want to be in. It will be based on league
seniority, or how long you have had your current team in THIS LEAGUE only (I will be
conducting this soon, so that you can plan accordingly, however, the new league format
will not take affect until the 1973 season. IN FACT, please respond to me privately,
whether you prefer an AL or an NL team……the rules committee already voted, 4 voted to
go DH, 4 No DH and 2 didn’t have a real preference.)
3. With this change, we will attempt to have a bit more unbalanced schedule. We will
still have interleague play, but leagues will play each other more than they do now,
especially within your own division, making these game much more meaningful.
4. During interleague play, the Home team will determine if there is a DH or not.
Anyways. I hope that we all enjoy the welcome change, as this will be the 1st historical
SPB League to install a DH. SO many of us have played through this era already, and this
will make it a little different, and a little more exciting.
July 22, 2018
1969 End of Season reports
With the end of another SPB season, I bring to you the end of season
USE OR LOSE and
OVERUSAGE reports. Enjoy!
July 22, 2018
1969 Champion Crowned!
My heartiest CONGRATULATIONS go out to
Steve Lehman for his 1st EVER SPB-2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP! Not only
upsetting a 119 win team in 5 games, but this team had NEVER even had a winning season prior to 1969!
Amazing the patience he showed while building this franchise….now, look out for them for the next 6-7
years too!
Not hard to see the parallels to the real 1969 World Series, except this time, it was not the Mets….it
was Totems upsetting the Mets in 5 games, with the real World Series hero’s from 1968 (Lolich) and 1969
(Koosman) leading the charge.
Great writeups too…..the turning point in the Series was surely Bobby Tolan’s gunning down at the plate
of Gene Alley in the bottom of the 9th inning to preserve a 8-7 win, which could have easily become a Mets
win tying the series at 2-2.
With every Champion, there is always the other side. Tough loss for Don’s amazing Met squad. This was
the best team Don has ever fielded and one most though would take the series. The was Don’s 2nd heartbreak
as well, having lost as well in 1966 to the season. Good News though for Don….his Mets look great again
in 1970, so he will be right in the think of things once again! Congrats on the great season Don!
With all that said, this wraps up another DECADE in SPB-2. It is now on to 1970! I’ll have the use or
lose and penalties, along with draft order and lottery out this weekend, and trading is now officially open.
Goodbye 1960’s. Hello to the SUPER 70’s!!!!
July 11, 2018
Two new managers on board
As we await the results of the 1969 World Series, I wanted to share some exciting new about the upcoming
1970 season.
We will have (2) new managers effective immediately, and I can not be more excited about both of them.
First, Chris Longo will be taking over the former Wabash Rivers franchise formerly owned by Bill Lanke.
Bill has decided to cut back on his SPB Leagues, and I thank him for all of his years as a manager. Chris
is already a manger in several SPB Leagues, as well as other DMB leagues some of you may be in as well.
Chris will be taking over a pretty loaded team (Aaron, Clemente and Kaline) and already has a great plan
for the franchise. Very excited to see what he does with this team. Chris Has decided to rename the team
the Data City Schema Busters, and will remain in Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium. Welcome Chris!
Next up, Sean Comerford will be taking over the former Steel City Yinzers of Marc Robinson. Sean recently
joined us in SPB-4 as well, and is very excited about joining SPB-2 as well. He also inherits a pretty decent
team, that with the right moves could contend, but also has some possible VERY tempting trade chips should he
wish to go that route (Hondo, Carty, Wynn, etc). Also excited to see what Sean does with this team.
Sean will rename the franchise the Hudson Valley Renegades, and remain in Three Rivers Stadium. Welcome Sean!
This is a very active league from trading, and I think that both of these new managers wont be shy about dipping
their feet pretty quickly into the trade waters.
Please join me in welcoming both to our league. You can read more about both of them on their bio’s on the
SPB website.
July 7, 2018
1969 Comparison of predictions
Thanks as always to John Ungashick for providing his insights into each season then
backing it up with a look back at his predictions compared to actual.
Click HERE
for this seasons version.
June 28, 2018
1969 Final stats posted
The stats and Power Rankings for September 1969 have been posted. Congrats again to the 4 Division Winners (Don Rahn, Terry Baxter, Steve Lehman and Mike See) on
their hard fought titles.
Some notes on your individual champions for 1969
American League
Batting Champ – Frank Robinson (Mets) - .348 (Rod Carew actually batted .400 on the nose with 502 PA’s, but he must of
just miseed the percentage cutoff on DMB)
HR Champ – Reggie Jackson (Hot Rods) - 49
RBI Champ – Frank Robinson (Mets) 155
Stolen Bases – Lou Brock (Fairfax) 45
Wins – Mike Cuellar (Mets) 26 (The Mets had 4 20 game winners, Cuellar, McLain, Perry and Maloney)
ERA- Sam McDowell (Seals) 1.92
Strikeouts – Sam McDowell (Seals) 299
Saves – Tie – Ken Tatum (Hot Rods) and Ron Taylor (Gladiators) 28
National League
Batting Champ – Reggie Smith (Totems) .322
HR Champ – Lee May (Lions) 42
RBI Champ – Sal Bando (Totems) - 128
Stolen Bases – Tommy Harper (Pilots) 57
Wins Jerry Koosman (Totems) 26
ERA- Jerry Koosman (Totems) 1.91
Strikeouts – Ferguson Jenkins (Weasels) 297
Saves – Tie – Hoyt Wilhelm (Rivers) and Ron Perronoski (Bishops) 27
Thanks again to everyone for a very enjoyable 1969 season. Will keep you updated on Divisional Series over the next few weeks. Trading will begin right after the completion of the World Series. Please do not report any trades until then.
October 8, 2017
1969 First round pick thesis- Mike See
SPB-2 Manager Mike See, who held the first overall pick in the 1969 rookie draft, presents this
Masters of SPB
Thesis for his pick of Thurman Munson. Good stuff Mike!
September 6, 2017
Draft date and Protected roster numbers
After tallying the votes, I have determined the SPB-2 Draft date. This was a tough one, because there were managers
who could not make all of the suggested dates. As we always say, the goal is to choose the date that works best for
most managers and the one that the most can attend on in the chatroom. That is what we did here.
That draft date will be Saturday October 7, 2017 at 11am EST (8am PST)
We had 3 managers who could not make the 14th or the 21st, and 1 who could not make the 7th. The 7th was also the most
popular choice of managers as well (though it was close, with many having no preference). Tough choices to make, but
have to go with the date that most can make it.
So now the the draft is set, and with the draft just 5 weeks away, it is time to start getting your rosters in order
for the Rule 5 Draft (formerly the Phase 2 Draft), which per our new rule changes, is now held via email prior to the
Rookie Draft.
Here are the number of players that each team can protect **NOTE: Expansion Teams (Royals, Barons, Bay Sox and Pilots)
players are not eligible to be taken in the Rule 5 in 1969. They will be each selecting 2 players however.
21 Players Protected
East Kenosha Lions
Mulberry Marauders
Evanston Elephants
Seattle Totems
20 Players Protected
Frankfort Fortress
Los Angeles Angels
Wabash Rivers
Portland Beavers
Thud Ridge Wild Weasels
Boise Resolutes
Salzburg Bishops
New York Mets
Fairfax Colts
Winter Harbor Seals
19 Players Protected
South River Gladiators
West Warwick Monarchs
Tippacanoe Voyageurs
Route 66 Hot Rods
Your protected lists are due in ASAP, and the deadline is Thursday (September 14th - So you have 2 weeks to trade). They should be received by me no later than 7:00P.M. EST. At that time, ALL ROSTERS WILL BE FROZEN AND NO TRADES MAY BE MADE UNTIL THE RULE V DRAFT IS COMPLETED.
**IMPORTANT - PLEASE SEND PROTECTED AND UNPROTECTED LISTS IN WRITING, AS WELL AS AN MP FROM THE ATTACHED DATABASE THAT I CAN LOAD THAT HAS YOUR PROTECTED AND UNPROTECTED SET. PLEASE LEAVE UN-CARDED FARMED. THEY ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE DRAFT BUT I LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR TEAMS PROTECTED NUMBER IS CORRECT.
We will start the Rule 5 Draft via email on Saturday September 16.
June 22, 2017
New manager for 1969 Season and two stadium changes
I am pleased to announce that we have filled the league opening created when Mike Cascarano decided to give
up his Boise Resolutes franchise due to other commitments. I thank Mike C. for his time in SPB. I am very happy
to announce that joining SPB-2 will be Veteran SPB Manager Marc Robinson. Marc will be renaming the team The
Steel City Yinzers and moving them into Forbes Field (becoming Three Rivers next season). Please join me in welcoming Marc to SPB-2!
Welcome Marc!!!!!!
The Los Angeles Angels are vacating Oakland Coliseum and moving into Anaheim Stadium leaves the Oakland Coliseum
and San Diego Stadium and your two available parks.
June 22, 2017
1968 Champion Crowned
Congratulations to Mike See and his Route 66 Hot Rods for capturing the 1968 Championship!
What a series the was! Congrats of course the Steve Ehresman on a great series and season. It was hard fought and
played H2H. Could have gone either way.
MVP - Their are Co-MVP's on the 1968 World Series. The first is Jim "Catfish" Hunter, who came up huge twice for
the Hot Rods, winning 2 games, including the critical Game 6, with a microscopic 0.64 ERA.
The other MVP is 3B Ken McMullen. Ken batted .333 for the series, but his HR in Game 2 won the game for the Hot
Rods (and really saved the series), and his double in Game 7 led to him scoring the winning run of the series for
Route 66.
Honorable Mentions - Had the Voyageurs pulled off game 7, no doubt we'd be talking about Bob Gibson as a co-mvp's
(2-0, struck out 9 and didn't give up a run in either of his starts) with Mickey Stanley, who batted .478 in the
series and had like 4 "spectacular catches in CF, likely robbing HR's and extra base hits. Rod Carew led all
hitters with a .480 average and knocked in the game winning RBI in game 7.
That's a wrap on 1968! Onto 1969!!!!
June 13, 2017
1969 League Notes
1) We are now in divisional play. 4 Divisions. This was determined based on the original draw we made 2 years ago.
2) Schedule has been adjusted accordingly to accommodate divisional play and 4 additional teams.
3) The Official DMB 1969 disk had little rhyme or reason for who it gave a rating too for players with 1 appearence
(and those who it didn't) so..........The were about 21 players who were not rated with under 400 PA's, that had an
appearance and putouts/assists. So for those players, I have added rating to them. The only players who are not rated
who played game are players who only played 1 game at a position, and did not make a play. These players were not
rated by the game, and I won't be giving them a rating either.
4) Players with over 400 PA and 4 or less appearances at a position have had that position removed.
If you have any questions about 3 or 4 about player rating, please contact me directly......
5) As something new....if you have a OF who, lets for example only has a rating in RF...but not in LF, but you plan
to use him in LF, please let me know and I will give that player a rating at that other position (the same one). I
will also do it with CF who you want to play LF/RF. I wont do it with LF or RFers to play CF. The game makes
adjustments for doing this as you know, but when playing on the road, the CM wont use a player at a position he's
not rated at, so I will add this for you should you wish.
6) I have updated the Park images to use the Park pics I sent out last season, if you need them again, they are
also attached, just drop them into you "Parks" folder in DMB11 and it will work.
7. I'll be adding the draft module once the WS is completed.
That's all for now. Enjoy and keep those trades coming!
June 11, 2017
1968 Prediction Comparisons
John U. could not have been more spot on with
this year's predictions! Thanks for the recap :)
June 11, 2017
1969 Draft Lottery results!
Number was: 2-3-0
Congrats to Trader Rick Ryan for securing the top overall pick in the 1969 Draft!
Mulberry Marauders (Rick Ryan)
East Kenosha Lions (Dave Lauer)
Evanston Elephants (John Ungashick)
Wabash Rivers (Bill Lanke)
June 11, 2017
1968 Usage Reports
Quicker than you can say "Lottery" we bring to you the end of season 1968
Overusage and
Use or Lose reports!
June 11, 2017
1968 Septemberstats and Power rankings posted
This 1968 Regular Season is now completed. Thanks to all of you for your timely stats turn-in's! This was just a great season in the year of the pitcher. We have some fantastic pennant races and will now move to our final World Series before we head to 1969 when Divisional Play begins and our 4 new expansion managers join us! The final regular season database and WS Ready database is attached.
American League
The Route 66 Hot Rods of Mike See take 4 of 7 tough games playing H2H with Don Zminda's Angels to take their first pennant since 1965, winning by 6 games over Joe Dezarlo's South River Gladiators.
National League
Steve Ehresman's Tippacanoe Voyageurs claim their first SPB-2 Pennant, winning an incredible 111 Games behind their incredible pitching staff! The defending NL Champion West Warwick Monarchs of Steve Brunner finish a tough luck 2nd, despite their 104 victories, 2nd most in the league.
Your 1968 League Batting Leaders
American League
Batting Average - Matty Alou (Mets) .336
Hits - Lou Brock (Colts) 203
Home Runs - Frank Howard (Resolutes) 42
RBI's - Frank Howard (Resolutes) 106
Stolen Bases - Bert Campaneris (Gladiators) 45
National League
Batting Average - Willie McCovery (Tippacanoe) .316
Hits - Billy Williams (Portland) 175
Home Runs - Ron Santo (West Warwick) 42
RBI's - Ron Santo (West Warwick) 123
Stolen Bases - Tommy McCraw (Evanston) 48
Your 1968 League Pitching Leaders
American League
Wins - Catfish Hunter (Thunder)/Earl Wilson (Seals) 23
ERA - Luis Tiant (Gladiators) 1.49
Strikeouts - Sam McDowell (Seals) 291
Saves - Ron Taylor (Gladiators) 33
Games - Phil Regan (Angles) 63
National League
Wins - Juan Marichal (Tippacanoe) 25
ERA - Bob Gibson (Tippacanoe) 1.53
Strikeouts - Fergie Jenkins (Thud Ridge) 270
Saves - Ted Abernathy (West Warwick) 41
Games -Ted Abernathy (West Warwick) 65
So, we now move on to the 1968 World Series. A great match up between myself and Steve Ehresman. Vegas odds makes have made the Voyageurs a -150 favorite to win, likely due to the incredible pitching of Tippacanoe, but the Hot Rods own Home Field Advantage since our new rule changes for home field don't go into affect until next season, so they are hoping a little home cookin' to start will help.
Since there have already been several trades made for 1969, I will go ahead and say welcome to 1969 a little early and open trading season. Our 4 new expansion teams are now official in the league and may trade as well. Keep in mind that while you can send trades to me for confirmation, that I wont be announcing any trades until the completion of the 1968 World Series.
Thanks to everyone for an outstanding 1968 season!!!
December 21, 2016
1968 pre-season prognosis
SPB-2 beat writer John Ungashick brings to us his fames Pre-Season prognosis for the upcoming
1968 campaign, which is loooked forward to by everyone. Great work as always John!
October 15, 2016
1968 team name change
For the records and archives, the Rossville Hornets (Rick Ryan) have changed their name
to the Mulberry Marauders.
October 15, 2016
1968 Draft Roster notes
Click
HERE for notes on the latest roster and draft notes as it pertains to this
year's 1968 rookie draft.
August 22, 2016
1969 Draft date and Phase 2 cutdown numbers
After voting by our managers, it had been decided that our 1968 rookie draft will be held in Saturday October 29 at 11am EST.
Roster cutdowns will be due back to me by 10/15 at 9pm EST.
For cutdown purposes, here are the number of players each team may protect for the Phase 2:
21 Players - Gladiators, Fortress, Hornets, Angels
20 Players- Totems, Bishops, Beavers, Lions, Elephants, Colts, Rivers, Weasels, Voyageurs, Mets
19 Players- Hot Rods, Resolutes, Monarchs, Seals
Trading is open to ALL players until the final deadline for protected rosters is reached, at which time only protected players and draft picks can be traded until after the Phase 1 and 2 drafts.
July 5, 2016
1968 New Managerial Announcment
I have a wonderful announcement to make today as we celebrate our 240th year of Independence.
I am extremely excited to announce that our good friend, and former long time SPB owner
Don Zminda will be returning to SPB-2, taking over the former Pittsburgh Crawfords franchise
for the 1968 season.
Don will be renaming the franchise the
Los Angeles Angels and moving the team from old Forbes
Field to the west coast to the brand new Oakland Coliseum. This leaves Forbes as the only
available park for 1968 (Metropolitan is going to one of the expansion teams in '69, and San
Diego Stadium will become available as well then).
I am just thrilled to have Don back with us. Most of you already know Don from his past season
with SPB, but also for the wonderful work he has done over the years for Stats Inc, writing for
SABR, and many other great contributions to historical baseball. Don has recently retired from
Stats Inc. and is looking forward to getting back into SPB mode!
In Don's own words.....
"And to quote Michael Jordan, “I’m back!” Looking forward to rejoining the league."
Please join me in giving Don a big WELCOME BACK!!!!!!
July 1, 2016
1968 Lottery Results
It's a crazy night of lottery.....
Number was 5-8-0
Congrats to Rich Applegate and his Portland Beavers on landing the #1 pick!
Here is the official lottery order....
1. Portland Beavers (Rich Applegate) - 67 Wins - (2 Chances)
2. Seattle Totems (Steve Lehman) - 69* Adjusted Wins (1 Chance)
3. Frankfort Fortress (Gary Plunkitt) - 63 Wins (4 Chances)
4. Pittsburgh Crawfords (Jim Wheeler) - 64 Wins (3 Chances)
June 27, 2016
1969 Expansion draft results
Over the past week, myself and our (4) new 1969 Expansion Team owners have been conducting via email
the
1969 Expansion Draft. I must say it was one of the most speedy and efficient draft I have ever
been a part of. Very smooth. Great work guys! Our new team owners all made astute selections, forming
solid teams that are all ready for the 1969 season to begin!
June 18, 2016
Words from New SPB-2 Commissioner
Good afternoon all,
First, thank you to Gary Plunkitt for his kind words and for entrusting me moving
forward as your SPB-2 commissioner. I truly love our family of leagues and honored
to be able to serve in this role of both SPB-X and now SPB-2. I am confident that
most of you will not notice a lot of difference in the way Gary runs the show versus
myself. I have learned much from "The Creator" over these past 18 years I have been
in SPB : ) Gary has led our leagues for a very long time and I am very grateful for
all of the hard work he has done and will continue to do for our leagues. Look forward
to many more years of great fun!Good afternoon all,
Second, Congrats to both Hugh McElaney and "Biker" Steve Brunner on capturing their
respective 1967 Pennants. Both well deserved. Good luck to both of you in what should
be a barn burner of a World Series!Good afternoon all,
As we await the results of the World Series, I would like to announce a managerial
change that is effective immediately for the upcoming 1968 season.
I am pleased to announce that original SPB-2 owner and good freind Mike Cascarano will
be returning to SPB-2 after a long vacation : ) Mike will be taking over the former
Bronx Bombers franchise and will be renaming the team the "Boise Resolutes." For now,
he will remain in Yankee Stadium. Very excited to have Mike back in what is now his
2nd SPB league (he is also in SPB-X).Good afternoon all,
Please welcome Mike back to SPB-2. He will be a great addition to a great group of
managers!
June 18, 2016
1967 End of Season Comparisons
SPB-2 beat writer John Ungashick looks back at his predictions that he had made
at the begining of the season and compared them to the actual results. His findings
can be found
HERE. Good Job John!
June 15, 2016
SPB-2 Officer Swap
I have decided that being Commissioner in 3 SPB leagues is just a bit too much for me.
I am happy to announce that I am appointing
Mike See as the new League Commissioner of
SPB II now that the regular 1967 season has ended. Actually, we are swapping roles and
I will be taking over as the SPB II League President replacing Mike there. Mike will be
in charge of setting up the 1967 World Series files, and for conducting the up-coming 1969
expansion team player draft. This exp. draft will take place shortly after the 1967 World
Series is finished, and before the 1968 rookie and P2 drafts occur. So stand-by all fours
new expansion managers for1969 (Stan Barkun, Mike Boling, Marc Hollingsworth John Measor),
to acquire your team players soon. As I explained in an earlier letter announcing these
new managers a little while back, drafting their teams now will give plenty of alerts to
all managers who will be losing these players at the start of 1969. This will give everyone
a whole extra seasons worth of time to prepare to cover their losses, when exapnasion
time comes.
This move gives Mike two leagues where he is Commissioner, since he also has always been
in charge in SPB X (1930). John Turnbull will remain as Commissioner of SPB I and SPB IV,
and I will continue on with SPB III & SPB 60 as Commissioner.
A final note: be sure to report all SPB II trades made to Mike See, and not to me. I have
enjoyed my long run as your SPB II Commissioner. I know that Mike will do a solid job as
my replacement.
June 15, 2016
1967 End of Season reports
As is customary with the end of each SPB season, we bring to you the 1967
Overusage and
Use or Lose reports.
Please contact New Commissioner Mike See if you
have any questions.
June 15, 2016
1967 Final stats and Power Rankings posted
The stats and power rankings for the final month of 1967 are now posted. Thanks to all of you for getting
your week # 4 Sept. '67 stats in. This completes our regular season. Congratulations go out to our
N.L.
Champions, the West Warwick Monarchs (104-58), managed by Steve "The Biker" Brunner, who won handily over
the 2nd place Tippecanoe Voyageurs, Steve Ehresman. The Voyageurs were 8 games out, finishing 96-66.
Also in our closest pennant race of the season, the A.L. was a real dogfight all year among the top four teams. Earning the
A.L. title were the Winter Harbor Seals (106-56), managed by Hugh "Mac" McElaney. They narrowly edged out the Brooklyn Bombers (105-57) , managed by Peter Reoch by a single game. Also gaining honorable mention were the 3rd place Route 66 Hot Rods (102-60) with Mike See in the pilots seat, just 4 games off the pace, and Don Rahn's New York Mets who finished 6 games out at 100-62, in 4th place. The 1967 World Series featuring the Monarchs and Seals will begin in the near future. Congrats to our winning managers once again!
For our N.L. statistical leaders, the Monarchs Harmon Killebrew led all SPB players with a .447 OBA, a
.688 SLG. PCT., 133 RUNS, and an amazing 53 HR! The Monarch's
Tommy Davis took the hitting crown with
a .337 BAT. AVG. The Rivers Hank Aaron led with 193 hits, and 39 DOUBLES. The Voyageurs
Vada Pinson led
with 15 TRIPLES, and 39 STEALS. Finally the Monarch's
Ron Santo led the league with 133 RBI'S.
In the A.L. the leaders were as follows: the Colts
Rusty Staub led all '67 hitters with a fine .353 mark.
He also led all hitters with 53 DOUBLES, and tied the Met's
Orlando Cepeda, for the SPB hits title with 196
apiece. The Mets Frank Robinson led the A.L. with a .414 OBA, and a .641 SLG PCT., while also leading with
117 RBI'S, and tied the Seals Carl Yastrzemski for the league HR crown, as both hit 37 round trippers. Yaz
also led the league with 129 RUNS. The Hot Rods
Paul Blair led with 16 TRIPLES, and the Colts
Lou Brock
pilfered 32 STEALS.
For the pitching leaders, the A.L. winners were as follows. The Hot Rods
Rich Nye, a rookie sensation,
led the all '67 pitchers with a spectacular 1.95 ERA mark. The lowly Gladiators did possess the A.L.
strikeout king in Luis Tiant, who whiffed 235 batters.
Gaylord Perry, of the Mets tied the Bombers
Jim
Kaat for the '67 WINS total with 24 wins each. Perry also tossed an amazing 10 shutouts to lead all pitchers,
and Moe Drabowsky of the Colts saved 33 games in 41 opportunitys to lead the A.L.
N.L. pitching leaders featured the Voyageurs
Dean Chance taking the ERA crown in the Senior Circuit with
a nice 2.06 mark. The Voyageurs Jim Lonborg led all '67 pitchers with 269 whiffs to capture the strikeout
title. Lonborg also tied the Wild Weasels
Fergie Jenkins with 22 wins apiece. Meanwhile the top reliever
in all of SPB this season was the Monarchs
Ted Abernathy who nailed down 35 SAVES in 37 opportunities.
Congratulations to all our leaders and especially the pennant winning managers, Hugh and Steve, this season.
April 21, 2016
SPB-2 Expansion announced.
All SPB II Managers, Since choosing the 4 new expansion managers, we have been busy taking care of details.
I am happy to say all our new managers have chosen team names, chosen their home ballparks, and have been
assigned to their respective divisions. Here is how it all worked out:
Stan Barkun, manager of the
Montreal Royals will play his home games in
Montreal's Jarry Parc, and will be
a member of the American League West Division.
Mike Boling, manager of the
Kansas City Blues will play his home games in
Kansas City's Municipal Stadium
(moves to Royals Stadium in the early 70's), and will be a member of the
National League West Division.
Marc Hollingsworth, manager of the
Milwaukie (yes, spelled correctly) Pilots will play his home games in
Seatle's Sicks Stadium (moves to Milwaukee's County Stadium in 1970), and will be a member of the
National
League East.
John Measor, manager of the
Nanoose Bay Sox will play his home games in
Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium,
and will be a member of the American League East.
And with the park assignments the only open Stadium in 1968 will be the Oakland Coliseum. In 1969, San Diego
Stadium will be added to the open parks.
The expansion managers next active step will be to choose their players in the coming expansion draft, which
will be held one the 1967 season has completely finished all play. They will select all their roster before
1968 begins, which will give all managers plenty of time to adjust, through trading, drafting, etc. well
before 1969 begins play.
All four of our newest managers are looking forward to the expansion player draft, and even more to the
arrival of the 1969 season when they will become active in season play.
April 15, 2016
1969 Expansion Managers chosen
All SPB II - 1967 Managers, I am happy to announce we have the four new expansion managers
for 1969 now in place. In SPB Leagues, we always try to get the expansion managers in well
ahead of the season their teams begin play.
At this time, I want to welcome Stan Barkun, Mike Boling, Marc Hollingsworth, and
John Measor
as the 1969 expansion managers. I hope you will take time to give these guys a shout out while
welcoming them to SPB II. I have added them to the SPB II mailing list, now that they are announced,
even though right now they are just on paper as managers.
Stan, Mike, and Marc are all current SPB managers in other leagues. John Measor is a manager
I have played with and against in other DMB leagues, and I am sure he will be a good manager in SPB II.
I plan on assigning each manager soon to one of each of our four divisions. Then a week or two
after that is done, I will hold a ballpark draft where each manager can choose among the four
real life expansion parks (KC Municipal, Seattles Sicks Stadium, San Diego Stadium, & Montreal's
Jarry Parc) plus the two available ballparks (Minnestota's Metropolitan Stadium & Oakland's Alameda
County Coliseum). The expansion player draft will be held in the off season between 1967 and 1968.
That way all managers will know exactly who they will lose to the expansion teams.
December 30, 2015
1967 Preseason Prognosis
Thanks goes out to SPB-2 scribe John Ungashick for penning the
1967 Pre-Season prognosis.
Great Job John!
November 13, 2015
1967 Post-Draft notes
Thank you to everyone for a smooth draft. The three teams that had to make cuts were the Frankfort Fortress,
Fairfax Colts, and East Kenosha Lions. Here are the players that were cut from these teams to get to the proper
roster limit of 38 players.
Frankfort (3)
P Don Larsen, 2B Chuck Hiller, & C Jimmie Schaeffer
Fairfax (4)
P Arnold Earley, C Ossie Virgil, OF Jim Hicks, & OF Gary Geiger
East Kenosha (4)
P Bob Buhl, P Rich Robertson, P Charlie Vaughan, & OF Walt Bond
All of the cut players were placed back into this year rookie draft for 1967, except for
Hicks, Vaughan, and Virgil who will be available again in future drafts.
October 30, 2015
Team uses 5/10 rule
Terry Baxter has decided to use the rarely used 10/5 rule found in the protected player
section of the SPB Constitution. He has decided to protect C Ellie Howard as his 22nd
player, and forfeit one of his two Phase II picks by invoking this rule on Howard's behalf.
He drafted Howard in the 1955 rookie draft and has had him ever since. His Thud Ridge Wild
Weasels were allowed to protect 21 players, and he will now protect Howard as his 22nd man
through use of this rule, and only make 1 pick in the P2 draft.
The only other time this rule was used was to keep P Bob Gibson several seasons ago by then
SPB manager Don Zminda.
October 30, 2015
Team name change
Manager Rick Ryan has decided to rename his team. The former Western Panthers will now become the
Indianapolis Clowns for the 1947 season.
October 30, 2015
1967 Call for protected rosters
Now is the time to get your protected rosters sent in for your teams ASAP.
Here is a list of how many players each team will be able to protect this season.
19 Protected Players
New York Metropolitans (D. Rahn)
Bronx Bombers (P. Reoch)
Winter Harbor Seals (H. McElaney)
Salzburg Bishops (C. Williams
20 Protected Players
Tippecanoe Voyaguers (S. Ehresman)
Wabash Rivers (B. Lanke)
Frankfort Fortress (G. Plunkitt)
Fairfax Colts (R. Peterson)
East Kenosha Lions (D. Lauer)
West Warwick Monarchs (S. Brunner)
Pittsburgh Crawfords (J. Wheeler)
Evanston Elephants (J. Ungashick)
Rossville Hornets (R. Ryan)
Portland Beavers (R. Applegate)
21 Protected Players
Seattle Totems (S. Lehman)
Thud Ridge Wild Weasels (T. Baxter)
Route 66 Hot Rods (M. See)
South River Gladiators (J. DeZarlo)
Your protected lists are due in ASAP, and the deadline is this Saturday (Oct. 31st).
They should be received by me no later than 4:00P.M. EST. The 1967 Rookie & P2 drafts
will be held on Saturday, November 7th, beginning at 10:00 A.M. EST, just one week later.
August 4, 2015
New Manager on board
It is with regret that I announce that manager Marc Hollingsworth has stepped down from his managerial
post in SPB II, as manager of the Redwood City Giants. All of you know Marc has always been a strong
and reliable manager in SPB for many different seasons in many SPB leagues. He is welcome to return to
SPB II anytime he might be ready again in the future. Thanks Marc for you service in 1966. Marc will
be staying in his other two SPB leagues.
As we are in between seasons, he gave me plenty of notice to find a replacement manager for him, and I
am happy to announce that another veteran SPB manager will be stepping in to take over the Giants franchise.
I hope you will take the time to welcome Steve Ehresman back as an SPB II manager. Steve is also
involved in SPB IV, but has been involved with SPB leagues for a long, long time. Thanks you, Steve
for stepping up to take over this 1967 team.
For your information, Steve Ehresman has decided to rename his team and change his home ballpark. He is
changing the team name from the Redwood City Giants to become the Tippecanoe Voyageurs. Also he is moving
his home park to Minneapolis, taking up residence in Metropolitan Stadium.
This leaves the Kansas City Memorial Stadium and Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium as the open parks in SPB II.
July 4, 2015
SPB-2 Divisional Reallignment
As we are doing with each league, the divisions for SPB-2 have been reshuffled. This also
reflects the upcoming expansion in 1969. The AL and NL divisions will still be combined for 1967
and 1968, but the manager listing will reflect the new divisional realignment that will start in 1969.
July 4, 2015
Bombers beat Mets for '67 crown!
Congratulations to Pete Reoch on his rather dominating win in the 1966 World Series, as
his Bombers turned the score around in most every game on the Amazing Mets, and manager
Don Rahn, who deserves much praise for his pennant winners. The Bombers pitching contained
a powerful Mets offense, and their hitters brought the game back to the Bombers in 3 of the 4 wins.
Both teams were top notch, and should remain as power players. But, the Bronx team wins this
subway series over N.Y.
July 4, 2015
1967 Rookie draft lottery results
This season, the draft order holds serve:
Order stays same as order of finish.
1. Route 66 Hot Rods (Mike See)
2. South River Gladiators (Joe Dezarlo)
3. Wabash Rivers (Bill Lanke)
4. Rossville Hornets (Rick Ryan)
June 26, 2015
1966 End of season reports
As is customary at the end of each season, the
USE OR LOSE and
OVERUSAGE reports are presented
to you so you can plan your rosters accordingly for the upcoming off season. The week by week play
greatly reduced the overusage in the league this season. Great job everyone!
June 20, 2015
1966 Season Wrapup
Now to John Ungashick's
annual comparison of actual wins, expected wins and my pre season prognosis.
In the AL the Mets swept the field despite a seven game deficit from expected wins as they were far and
away the best in all three categories. And except for the Lions who modestly overachieved from expected
wins and the Hot Rods who fell two slots from my prognosis everyone else was pretty much right on the money.
The Hornets did overachieve from expected wins by six games but it didn't change their relative standing by much.
Things were a lot more mixed up in the NL. Despite a big advantage in both actual and expected wins, the Bronx
Bombers were only picked for fifth in the preseason; an overwhelming 60-21 home record certainly helped. The
spectacular record of Sandy Koufax (27-10) helped the Bishops to jump three slots from the pre season forecast
while a league best 12 game advantage in actual and expected wins helped my Elephants to jump by two slots.
The Pittsburgh Crawfords actually underachieved from expected wins by seven games but still jumped two slots
from the pre season. The Rivers were pretty much right on in actual and expected wins but fell by four slots
from the pre season. It looks like my crystal ball wasn't working very well in the NL this year!
June 20, 2015
1966 Final stats and Power rankings posted
The Stats and power rankings for September 1966 are now psoted. Congratulations go out to Don Rahn
for his A.L. championship New York Mets team. There was hardly a doubt as this season unfolded as
to his A.L. championship title this year. Congratulations as well to Peter Reoch for his N.L. championship
Bronx Bombers team. They faced a bit more competition for their flag, but in the end they won just a few
less games than the Mets. This should unfold soon is a battle for the World Series crown for 1966. The N.L.
Bombers will have home field advantage this year. I will have the World Series ready files sent soon, so that
Peter and Don can make their plans to get this World Series in place. I enjoyed the weekly play of September,
and from what I have heard from others, I think all of us did. I know it really impacted the overuse problem,
as you will see when I get the Overuse and Use or Lose reports out within the next few days. Thanks to all of
you for making 1966 season an overwhelming success this year.
December 31, 2014
1966 Pre-Season Prognosis
SPB-2 beat writer John Ungashick has put together a fantastic prequel to the 1966 season
with his
Pre-Season Prognosis. Thanks John!
October 21, 2014
Team name change
Terry Baxter of the Hampton Roads Cruisers is changing his team name. The new name will be
on the next send of 1966 files. I will let Terry tell you the new name, and his reason
for making the change:
The management of the Hampton Roads Crusiers (me!) petition the Creator to change the
Hamptin Roads Cruisers name to the Thud Ridge Wild Weasels in honor of our air servicemen
fighting in Viet Nam.
Thud Ridge was a series of hills just outside of Hanoi whiche helped screen our F-105
(nicknamed The "Thud") fighter-bombers from the Mig airfield north of Hanoi. The Wild
Weasel monicker is related to the later use of the Thud as an electronic warfare plane
that sniffed out SAM sites for the following waves of F-4 phantoms to bomb. Also, the
Wild Weasel patch is pretty cool!
September 30, 2014
1966 Rookie draft date set
I am happy to announce that the 1966 Rookie Draft & Phase II Draft will be held on November 1st, which was overwhelming
the popular choice. There is one slight variation from the norm. This draft will begin at noon EST, rather than the
ususal 11AM time. This will allow Joe DeZarlo to be there in time, and not have to use a list. I believe all managers
will be drafting "live" in the chat room this time, at least for now.
If it turns out anyone needs to use a list between now and the 11/1, those will have to be in my hands by Thursday, 10/30.
Please let me know ASAP if you will have to use a list for these drafts. Thanks everyone for the quick responses on
setting the date.
September 30, 2014
Another manager in place
It is my pleasure to announce that Jim Wheeler, one of SPB's original founders, and the ORIGINAL SPB Commissioner, is
returning to SPB II to take over the reigns of the former Damen Avenue D's, after John Dewan resigned from the league.
Jim has decided to rename his team as the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and will remain appropriately with Forbes Field as the
teams home park. Please welcome Jim back in SPB II. He is very thrilled with his new team, especially since the team
has Roberto Clemente, one of Jim's (and many others) all time favorite players. Thanks Jim for stepping back in.
My thanks goes out to former manager John Dewan as well. He did a fine job managing in SPB for many seasons. He would be
welcome back at anytime. Thanks John!
August 31, 2014
New manager in place
Peter Reoch will be taking over the team (Los Angeles Angels) formerly managed by Don Zminda in SPB II, for the coming
1966 season. Peter is currently involved in SPB I & IV. Please welcome Pete into SPB II. There may be a team name
change and/or ballpark change coming. I will update you once I know. Thanks Peter for taking over the team from Don.
UPDATE: He has decided to change the team name to the Bronx Bombers, and will leave Metropolitan Stadium to take up residence
in Yankee Stadium. This now makes the available parks as K.C.'s Memorial Stadium and Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium as the
available ball parks.
August 24, 2014
Don Zminda leaving SPB
It is with much regret that I must announce that long time manager Don Zminda is leaving SPB II after serving
many years as a very reliable, dependable manager who brought much to the SPB table over the years. At one
time Don played in 4-5 SPB leagues, but has gradually cut back on his gaming the last few seasons. His resignation
letter is so good, that I thought I must share it with all of you. Especially since he refers to you in a positive
upbeat manner. Don has many friends in SPB, and he will be missed. I will begin looking for his team (L.A. Angels)
replacement very soon. Good luck Don.
Here is his letter in it's entirety:
Gary – after much consideration, I have decided to leave SPB and am dropping my remaining team in SPB-II. I have
had a great time in these leagues, but my interest in them has decreased markedly in the last few years, and most
of my game-playing energy these days is focused in other areas (solo historical replays using another game, Action
PC Baseball), and that is where I want to focus my time. You are a great commissioner and have been and continue
to be a good friend, but all things must pass. It’s time for me to leave, and dropping out now will give the new
skipper time to deal and prepare for the draft and the next season. Thanks to you and all the guys in SPB – I’ve
had ups and downs, championships and cellar finishes, and this has been a great experience for a long, long time.
God bless you, Gary, and same to all the other guys in the leagues. It’s a special group, and I’ve been proud to
be a part of it. Take care.
DZ
August 24, 2014
Break up the Route 66 Hot Rods
Anaheim, California - Late in the 1965 season, while the Route 66 Hot Rods were winning
their 5th pennant in the past 6 seasons, the manager of the Evanston Elephants shouted "It
is time to break up the Hot Rods!"
Well, after 5 Pennants and two World Series Titles, the Route Hot Rods have begun to be dismantled.
A move to a new City, near where Route 66 finishes up, in Anaheim, CA, and a general sense
that the team was due for some change after an embarrassing World Series sweep at the hands
of the Wabash Rivers, Owner Mike See felt the time was right to inject some youth into his
aging squad.
"We still had the nucleus in place to compete and possibly win again in 1966," said See, "But
with teams like the Giants, Fortress and Mets closing in, that task would be a lot tougher, and
we just felt like it was time to step back and re-tool a bit with some youngsters and draft picks.
It's time to let some new blood battle it out in SPB-2 for the coveted title for a few seasons."
See added that this was not a complete rebuild, that actually started last season with some pretty
major deals as well, but he did say that he expects to make a few more deals before he is finished.
"We still have some fine players here to build around Hank Aaron, Willie Davis. Chico (Cardenas),
Wes Parker, Don Buford and such, " See said, "But adding a young dynamic OF like Tommie Agee should
be great and even with the departure of all of the great players that will put the Redwood City team
in a great position to win over the next few seasons, we like our young rotation of Catfish,
Carlton, Singer, Merritt and Blass.
It has been reported that the Hot Rods were making CF Tony Gonzalez available for trade, along
with young Catcher Dave Duncan (1967), 2B Jim Lefebvre and late innings relievers Ron Perranoski
and Ted Abernathy.
"We have had a fine run," See said in closing, 'But we just want the Route 66 Fans to know that
we remain committed to putting a winning team on the field for the future, and that this is a
step to insure the long term success to the franchise.
Best of luck to the Giants, Mets, Fortress and all of the other AL teams as they compete for the
1966 title.
August 24, 2014
1966 Team name change
The New Jersey Giants are changing their team name to the Redwood City Giants.
June 22, 2014
1965 Team Comparisons
League beat writer John Ungashick brigs his prose at the end of the season, with his publishing
of the end of season
team comparison report. Thanks John!
June 22, 2014
1965 End of season reports
As is customary with each season, the end of season
OVERUSAGE and
USE OR LOSE reports are now posted.
June 21, 2014
1965 September stats and power rankings posted
The stats and power rankings for the final month of the 1965 season are now posted. Congratulations to Mike See's Route
66 Hot Rods and Bill Lanke's Wabash Rivers who each cruised to their respective pennants. The Salzburg Bishops tried to
make things interesting with a sparkling 20-8 September record but actually lost ground and finished seven games back
despite winning 98 games! The Hot Rods had a record 115 wins and a final 19 game edge over the second place Hornets.
In the American League Hank Aaron of the Hot Rods won two-thirds of the triple crown with a .337 BA and 141 RBI's but
his 40 homers were well behind The Gladiator's Willie Mays who slammed 54. Ken Johnson of the Fortress led with 22
wins while Juan Marichal of the Hot Rods had a 2.05 ERA. In the NL, Leon Wagner of the Rivers had a dazzling .357 BA
to lead in that category while the Beaver's Billy Williams slammed 39 homers and the Elephant's Johnny Callison had
109 RBI's. The incomparable Sandy Koufax had a spectacular 29-8 record and an all-time SPB high of 390 strikeouts.
Joe Sparma, a native of Massillon, Ohio, led with a spectacular 1.90 ERA
March 2, 2014
New manager effective immediately
Due to the sudden and unexpected resignation of Doc Schweitzer as manager of the Jersey City Giants, there has been
an immediate manager change for the coming month of June in SPB II. I am so glad we had an experienced SPB manager
waiting in the wings for an opening in this league. I would like to take a brief moment to welcome Marc Hollingsworth
into the SPB II fold. He will be sending out MP's for the Giants for June play very soon. If you had already received
one from Doc, please discard it immediately, and wait for Marc's. It might be a few days, since he is taking over on
the spur of the moment, but you will have his MP soon. Be sure to resend your June MP's to Marc, if you had already
sent them out to Doc earlier, if you have an away series this month at Jersey City. Marc's email address is:
newellcanyon@comcast.net. John T. will post this change to the SPB II webpage manager section very soon. Very
sorry for this inconvenience, if any of you have any questions, please contact me by phone or email. Please
welcome Marc H. to SPB II.
December 31, 2013
1965 Pre-season prognosis
SPB-2 scribe John Ungashick provides a great insight intot he 1965 season with his
pre-season prognosis for the upcoming year.
Great stuff John!
November 9, 2013
1965 Roster moves
The following teams had to release one player each to get down to the maximum number of 38 roster players before draft day.
East Kenosha Lions (D. Lauer) released 3B/2B Nellie Fox.
New York Metropolitans (D. Rahn) released OF Howie Bedell.
Portland Beavers (R. Applegate) released P Morrie Steevens.
Fox and Steevens have been placed into the rookie draft for this year, and Bedell is deleted as his 1968 stats are not enough to
meet SPB minimums to come back that year.
November 4, 2013
1965 Team name change
A team name change effective for 1965 season. Don Zminda has announced his L.A. Surfers, will be known as the Los Angeles Angels
for the coming years. This will be reflected on the next send of season files.
November 4, 2013
1965 Call for protected rosters
With the drafts less than two weeks away now, I am calling for your protected lists. The due date for these will be this coming Friday, 11/8.
Have them in no later than 9PM Eastern time. Here is the amount of players each team is allowed to protect this year:
18 Players
Route 66 Hot Rods (Mike See)
West Warwick Monarchs (Steve Brunner)
Wabash Rivers (Bill Lanke)
Rossville Rockets (Rick Ryan)
Salzburg Bishops (Chris Williams)
19 Players
Damen Avenue D's (John Dewan)
Fairfax Colts (Ron Peterson)
Frankfort Fortress (Gary Plunkitt)
Portland Beavers (Rich Applegate)
East Kenosha Lions (Dave Lauer)
Winter Harbor Seals (Hugh McElaney)
Evanston Elephants (John Ungashick)
Hampton Roads Cruisers (Terry Baxter)
20 Players
New York Metropolitans (Don Rahn)
L. A. Surfers (Don Zminda)
Seattle Totems (Steve Lehman)
South River Gladiators (Joe DeZarlo)
Jersey City Giants (Al Schweitzer)
The lists need to be in my hands by the end of the day this coming Friday. Thanks to all for taking care of this. I will send out the P2
ready files next weekend. The drafts will take place on 11/16.
July 7, 2013
1965 Draft Lotterys
With the 1964 Season Completed, the four (4) lottery winners for the 1965 Rookie Draft are now decided. The Lottery will be held
Monday evening July 8th and once again, is based on the Evening Pick 3 Number of the Illinois State Lottery.
http://www.illinoislottery.com/
There were a few teams that would have been eligible, but were in last years lottery (Surfers and Totems). Teams can not appear
in the SPB lottery in two consecutive seasons.
SO THAT BEING SAID, THE 4 LOTTERY TEAMS FOR 1965 ARE AS FOLLOWS:
New York Mets (Don Rahn) - 44 Adjusted* Wins (4 Chances)
South River Gladiators (Joe Dezarlo)- 60 Adjusted* Wins (3 Chances)
Jersey City Giants (Al Schweitzer) - 65 Adjusted* Wins (2 Chances)
Fairfax Colts (Ron Peterson) - 72 Adjusted Wins* - (1 Chance)
*Adjusted wins include any overusage penalties a team incurred during the previous season
So, the rules for the lottery are below. Note: If the team with the worst record does not win either the 1st, or second pick (Mets),
they will pick NO LOWER than pick 3. This way the team with the lowest wins is protected from getting the last pick in the lottery.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL!
LOTTERY RULES
The top (4) picks in the lottery will be based on the results of the Evening Ilinois Pick 3 Lottery (07/8/2013). The order of the
lottery will be determined as follows:
Top Overall Pick (Based on the 1st Number) of Illinois pick 3 lottery
Lowest Wins – If number is 1,3,7,9 then team gets 1st pick
Second Lowest Wins – If Number is 2, 4 or 6 then team gets 1st pick
Third Lowest Wins – If Number is 5 or 8 then team gets 1st pick
Forth Lowest Wins- If number is 0 then team gets 1st pick
Second overall pick (Based on the 2nd Number) of Illinois pick 3 lottery
Lowest Wins Remaining – If number is 1,3,5,7,9 team gets 2nd pick
Second Lowest Wins Remaining – If Number is 2, 4, 6 team gets 2nd pick
Third Lowest Wins Remaining – If Number is 0 or 8 team gets 2nd pick
**NOTE:IF THE TEAM WITH THE WORST OVERALL RECORD HAS NOT GOTTEN THE FIRST OR SECOND PICK AFTER THE FIRST TWO PICKS ARE MADE, THEY
WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE AWARDED THE 3RD PICK AND THE OTHER REMAINING TEAM PICK 4.
Third overall pick (Based on the 3rd Number) of Illinois pick 3 lottery
Lowest Wins Remaining – If number is 0,1,3,5,7,9 Gets Third pick
Second Lowest Wins Remaining – If Number is 2,4,6,8 Gets Third pick
Fourth Overall Pick….Whatever team is left.
You can be sure that the winner of this lottery will be getting a call from The Route 66 Hot Rods, with a substantial offer for
our ALL TIME favorite player Jim "Catfish" Hunter... : )
Best of luck to all involved!
July 4, 2013
1964 End of Season reports
As is customary with each league season ending, we bring to you the yearly
Overusage and
Use or Lose reports for the 1964 season. A very good showing this year by all managers!
July 3, 2013
Wabash Rivers take 1964 crown!
Congratulations to Bill Lanke and his Wabash Rivers, who beat out the always tough Mike See and the Rte.66 Hot Rods for the 1964 title, and Bill's
first ever SPB Championship! Complete coverage can be found on the left menu on the playoff link. Congrats Bill!
June 30, 2013
1964 Prediction comparisons
Linked is a comparison of the actual wins, expected wins and my pre-season forecast. The National League was almost dead even all
across the board. The Seals and Elephants swapped one slot from the forecast and the Colts were two slots better. In terms of the
actual and expected wins, the Bishops and Cruisers tied for second but my forecast had them in a dogfight between the top three teams;
otherwise the actual and expected wins were right on. The Surfers "underachieved" by seven games but it didn't change anything. The
other teams were close with my Elephants four games down.
In the American League things were a little more mixed up. The Monarchs were the favorites but it shaped up as three team race which is
pretty much happened until September when the Hornets faded a bit, although they still won 101 games. The Hot Rods overachieved by 11 games,
seven better than anyone else and they needed every one as it took a best of three playoff for them to get in the World Series. The Lions
underachieved by eight games, the worst of anyone but it didn't matter in the final analysis when comparing actual and expected wins and
they exceeded the pre season forecast by two slots. The Totems fell two slots below the forecast but otherwise everyone was pretty much
in line and the differences in the various teams in the forecast (other than the hapless Mets, sorry Don) weren't really that much.
On to 1965 after we play the World Series!
June 30, 2013
Colts' team notes
They didn’t lose 100 for the first time ever! In fact if it wasn’t for a horrible 0-7 September trip to Salzburg, the Colts would
not have even lost 90 as they finished with a 72-90 mark. That is an 18 game improvement from 1963.
Big reasons for the improvement were the development of Lou Brock who became the first Colt to score over 100 runs and the arrival
of Tony Oliva who became the first Colt to drive in over 100.
The Colts need to hire a baserunning coach for Brock as he only stole 26 in 45 attempts.
Tony Oliva was the only player on the team and the first in Colts’ history to appear in 162 games.
The Colts are going to miss Bobby Shantz in 1965 as he surprisingly announced his retirement after giving up only 29 hits in 56
innings in 1964. He’s been a solid performer the past 3 years as one of the original Colt expansion draftees. The team wishes him well.
Known for his fielding Bobby Knoop came up with a strong season at the plate with a .271 average and 10 HR’s.
Starting pitching again was a problem. Veteran Bennie Daniels was the only starting pitcher over .500 with a 12-10 mark.
Al Jackson was once again the team work horse finishing with a 12-15 record after losing 20 in 1963. The other 20 game loser in 1963,
Roger Craig struggled again in 1964 as he finished with a 1-8 record. His future is in the pen in 1965 but he might have a future in
coaching as his career is rapidly approaching an end.
Doug Clemens has a great year as a pinch-hitter and part-time starter with a .323 / .359 / .519 line in 133 AB’s.
June 30, 2013
1964 Final stats posted....World Series combatants determined
The stats and power rankings for September of 1964 are now posted. Congratulations to Mike See and
Bill Lanke who will meet in the World Series. The Hot Rods and West Warwick Monarchs finished the regular season tied with an
impressive 111 wins each but then the Hot Rods won two straight in the best of three playoffs to grab the flag. Good luck to
both teams in the October Classic.
December 31, 2012
1964 Pre-season progniosis
SPB-2 scribe John Ungashick has once again put his Mel Kiper hat on and presents to you his
pre season prognosis
for the upcoming 1964 season. This is always a good read. Thanks John!
November 17, 2012
1964 Draft call for protected rosters
With the draft just 2 weeks away from today, it is now time to ask each of you to submit your protected lists for the
coming season. The deadline for having your list to me is Wednesday, Nov. 21st at 9PM Eastern time. Remember that
now all UNCARDED (future) players are no longer eligible to be drafted in P2, so they remain on your roster automatically,
so that now you never have to list them as protected players. Here is how many protected players each team is
allowed to keep:
20 Players
Fairfax Colts (Ron Peterson)
New York Mets (Don Rahn)
Rossville Hornets (Rick Ryan)
L. A. Surfers (Don Zminda)
East Kenosha Lions (Dave Lauer)
19 Players
South River Gladiators (Joe DeZarlo)
Portland Beavers (Rich Applegate)
Seattle Totems (Steve Lehman)
Hampton Roads Cruisers (Terry Baxter)
Winter Harbor Seals (Hugh McElaney)
Wabash Rivers (Bill Lanke)
Damen Avenue D's (John Dewan)
Frankfort Fortress (Gary Plunkitt)
18 Players
Evanston Elephants (John Ungashick)
West Warwick Monarchs (Steve Brunner)
Jersey City Giants (Al Schweitzer)
Salzburg Bishops (Chris Williams)
Route 66 Hot Rods (Mike See)
Be sure to have your lists in by the deadline time, or the League Commisioner will make the picks for you.
Thank you for taking care of this.
November 2, 2012
1964 Rookie draft date set
The draft date of
December 1st was easily the most popular for our managers. Only one manager indicated he would
not be able to particpate, (Dave Lauer). But he is in good hands as his Godson, Mike See will do the drafting for him. This date was very
popular garnering 5 1st place votes, and only not listed as one of the top 3 by only 3 managers. So plan on being here, or in chat for the
draft. See you then, and thanks to everyone for getting their choices in early.
September 23, 2012
1964 Team Name Change
Manager John Dewan has announced he is changing the team name of his team, from the Lafayette Slims to the
Damon Avenue D's.
July 13, 2012
1963 End of Season reports
With the end of the 63 season come and gone,
I am releasing the standard overusage and use or
lose reports for the end of the season.
July 13, 2012
Ballpark Changes
With the change of home parks for the new
Jersey City Giants, we have an additional claim in for a new ballpark. Manager Don Zminda of the
L. A. Surfers is giving up Yankee Stadium and moving into
Metropolitan Stadium, just vacated by the Giants. So now the two parks available are Yankee Stadium and Chavez Ravine. (L.A. - A.L.). When Yankee Stadium became available, after the change by L.A., it was quickly claimed by manager Joe DeZarlo, manager of the
South River Gladiators. Joe beat a claim by fellow New Jersey manager Doc Schweitzer, who had started this whole rotation of parks by leaving Metropolitan, while thinking his new team would fare better in the legendary N.Y. park. So Joe gives up Connie Mack Stadium, and Al has 2nd thoughts about Candlestick Park, and decides to go to
Connie Mack instead, bring his team back to an East Coast Park that he is familiar with. To sum this up, the
Gladiators are now in Yankee Stadium, the new
N.J. Giants are in Connie Mack Stadium, and the available parks are back to being Candlestick and Chavez Ravine.
July 13, 2012
New manager on Board
I am happy to announce that
Al "Doc" Schweitzer will be taking over the Detroit Metro Stars for the coming 1964 season. Doc will leave the current park Metropolitan Stadium and take on the Great Winds of San Francisco, by moving into
Candlestick Park. The team will henceforth be known as the
Jersey City Giants. This will all be changed on the SPB II webpage soon by our webmaster John Turnbull. This is an immediate change. Please take a sec to welcome Doc to our league.
July 8, 2012
1963 World Series complete....Bishops Champs!
Congratulations to
Chis Williams and his Salzburg Bishops, who bested Mike See's Route 66 Hot Rods in 5 games. Complete coverage including boxscores and writeups can be found on the World Series link on the left. Congrats Chris!
June 24, 2012
1963 Season Summary
Thanks to John Ungashick for putting together this REPORT of the comparison of actual wins, expected wins (based on run differential) and my pre-season prognosis. One interesting note is that the teams who underachieved the most (Gladiators in the AL and Surfers in the NL) didn't actually "hurt" themselves that much as it only cost them one slot in the standings. The Monarchs overachieved by six games but it made no difference at all in the standings and the two teams who overachieved the most (Mets and Colts) were both deeply buried in the cellar in either case. In terms of the pre-season picks, the AL was pretty much right on with the top three teams in the same order and only the Seattle Totems more than one slot (they were two) different that the pre-season. It was a little more wide open in the NL when a three team race was projected between the Bishops, Slims and Rivers but in fact the Bishops cruised to the pennant. The Beavers were three slots worse than preseason while my Elephants surprised by moving up four slots. One caveat, only three games separated second and fifth place. Thanks to everyone for a great season and good luck to the Hot Rods and Bishops in the World Series!
June 24, 2012
1963 Final Stats posted
The stats and power rankings for the end of 1963 are posted. Both divisional races were runaways as the
Route 66 Hot Rods had 106 victories to win the AL by 9 games while the
Salzburg Bishops won 105 to take the NL by 14 games. The big story of the year had to be Hammering
Hank Aaron who was a runaway winner in all three phases of the AL triple crown with one of the most sensational seasons in the history of SPB. He hit .373 with 62 homers and 160 RBI's. He even threw in 32 of 38 in stolen bases just for good measure. In the NL, the Elephants
Johnny Callison (who oddly was traded for Aaron just two seasons ago) almost matched Hank although his numbers were much less gaudy. He won the HR and RBI crowns but was nosed out .327 to .318 in the batting race, ironically to teammate
Dick Groat. Going into the last four games of the season, Callison and Groat were essentially tied at .321 and Callison didn't exactly collapse in those games going 4-17 but he did have 2 homers and 7 RBI's. However someone forgot to tell Groat to lay down and let Johnny win the batting crown as he went a sizzling 9-16 in the last series. Good luck to the Hot Rods and the Bishops in the World Series.
May 2, 2012
New manager on board
My thanks goes out to new SPB II manager
John Dewan for taking this team over in mid stream. He has assumed the reigns of the
Lafayette Slims team for the final two months of this year, and will continue in SPB II for many seasons. As always the team name remains the same for this year to avoid any confusion. John has been involved in SPB for several seasons now, and knows the rules. Please welcome John to the league if you get the chance. He will be sending out MP's in the next few days for the Slims August road games. So be patient, they will be arriving shortly. Please delete any previous MP's that Steve sent out. If your playing the Slims at their home for August games, please resend the MP's to John ASAP.
December 28, 2007
Free Agents claims awarded
FRANKFORT, IN - The following 5 free agents, released by West Warwick mid week, have been claimed, as follows:
Minneapolis (67) claims P Bill Smith.
Southport (68) claims SS Bobby Henrich.
Goshen (69) claims OF Jim Pisoni.
Salzburg (95) claims 3B Don Eaddy.
Southport (68) claims PH Dusty Rhodes.
Frankfort and Rossville lost their claims, and South River withdrew their claim. No one else participated. One free agent PH Ossie Alvarez went unclaimed and has been removed from the SPB II files.
December 20, 2007
Free Agents for the picking, and further
instructions
FRANKFORT, IN - The West Warwick Monarchs today announced they are cutting ties with the following six 1959 players, and releasing them from their roster. So this means if anyone would like to put a claim on any of these players to let me know ASAP. Manager Tim Johnson said he would not be using any of these players and no longer wishes to have them. Here is the list:
Ossie Alvarez, ph
Dusty Rhodes, ph
Don Eaddy, 3b
Bobby Henrich, ss
Bill Smith, p
Jim Pisoni, of
There have been many claims on the six players released yesterday by Monarch. So I will give everyone a more detailed look at what is going on, and how this will be handled.
Since so many teams have put in claims, I will handle this as a mini draft. The team with the lowest record, making a claim, will get his # 1 rated player off the list, then we will move through the draft in the same manner with the next lowest team making a claim getting the 2nd pick, etc. Teams 1958 records will be the determining factor. So, will the claiming managers please list the players in the order you would like to have them. If you have sent a list to me of more than one player, please resend in order you want to claim players.
If you have not yet claimed any players, and wish to, I am moving the deadline for doing so UP to noon Saturday for you to let me know. I had originally said Sunday evening was the deadline, expecting much less interest. This deadline also goes for your listing orders. Both the claims and your list need to reach me by noon tomorrow.
Wow, I never thought these players would be so popular. We have claims on 4 of the six players so far. Pitcher Bill Smith has had 6 teams claim him. OF Jim Pisoni has 4 claims in, SS Bobby Henrich has 3, and 3B Don Eaddy has 2. There are 7 managers so far, making a claim. The only two not claimed so far are Ossie Alvarez, who can make 2 PH AB's in '59. He did record a hit in real life. He also was used 6 times as a pinch runner in real life. Dusty Rhodes, a classic LH pinch batter in the 50's, also has not received a claim. He can come off the bench for 123 Ph appearances in 1959. So if you need someone to PH for your team, though not real effectively, Dusty is looking for one last shot. ;)
October 28, 2007
Six 59 Players Dropped from Rosters due to New
Rule
FRANKFORT, IN - There were six players dropped from the 1959 rosters due to the newest SPB rule allowing only 38 players on a roster heading into the drafts. Five players were dropped by the Saints, and one by the Beavers to get to 38 players. Both managers, Dave Lauer & Rich Applegate, decided to cut ahead of time, rather than risk extra players being taken from their teams during Phase II.
Here are the details on the dropped players:
Herb Moford, a pitcher was dropped by Portland. Bobo Osborne 1B, and Jack Urban P, were dropped by the Saints. These 3 players will go into the 1959 rookie draft.
Darrell Johnson catcher, and Bob Tiefenauer & Mel Wright, pitchers were also dropped by the Saints. Since these players had no 1959 stats they will be in future rookie drafts, when they appear enough (15 G, 15 AB, or 15 IP - the rookie qualifications). Wright will return in 1960, Johnson in 1961, and Tiefenauer in 1962. Tiefenauer will be an expansion eligible player then.
October 24, 2007
Call for Phase 2 rosters
FRANKFORT, IN - Now is the time to submit your protected rosters for preparing for the Phase II drafts. Your roster is due by Sunday, Oct. 28th, (8PM EST). Here is the number of players each team will protect:
18 Players
L. A. Surfers (D. Zminda)
Salzburg Bishops (C. Williams)
South River Gladiators (J. DeZarlo)
Evanston Elephants (J. Ungashick)
19 Players
West Warwick Monarchs (T. Johnson)
Rossville Hornets (R. Ryan)
Route 66 Hot Rods (M. See)
Frankfort Fortress (G. Plunkitt)
Goshen Aces (L. Miller)
Hampton Road Cruisers (T. Baxter)
20 Players
Portland Beavers (R. Applegate)
Minneapolis Lakers (G. Henning)
Dayton Flyers (J. Wheeler)
Southport Saints (D. Lauer)
Any protected rosters not received by the deadline time will be submitted by the
Commish, so be on time. Updated files will then be sent out Sunday evening. Thanks for your prompt attention to this matter.
September 16, 2007
1959 Rookie draft date set
FRANKFORT, IN - The date is now set for our 1959 Rookie & Phase II drafts. These will be held in Frankfort, In., at my place on Saturday November 3rd. Rookie draft will start promptly at 11AM Eastern time. Please let me know ASAP, if you will be attending in person. Also, if it works out you have to use a list for this draft, please have it to the league office no later than Thursday, Nov. 1st. Also let me know if your going to be sending a draft list. I hope to see several of you in attendance.
Thanks to all for getting your votes in on which weekend to hold the draft. Oct. 20th was a close 2nd, there was little support for the other dates.
August 21, 2007
Change to Phase 2 draft procedures
FRANKFORT, IN - There will be a new twist to the Phase II drafts
starting with the SPB II draft in November. When protected rosters
are called for, all teams with over 38 rostered players (including
both protected and unprotected) will have the option of .....MORE
July 19, 2007
1958 End of Season awards announced
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB II Managers, Thanks for getting your votes in for the Award Winners of our recently completed 1958 season! It is my pleasure to announce the following players who have received their due.
Congratulations to our Winners!
In the A.L., slugging thirdsacker Frank Thomas of the South River Gladiators took the MVP award with his monster year. Even at that, he barely outdistanced the Say Hey Kid, as CF Willie Mays his own teammate took a very close 2nd in the voting. Thomas outdistanced Mays by a scant 5 points at 45-40. In the
N.L., the L.A. Surfers brilliant young CF Mickey Mantle easily captured honors in the Senior Circuit.
Back to the A.L., Vern Law captured the Cy Young Award as the top starter. Law dazzled his opposition while throwing his slants for the Southport Saints. In the National, we have Whitey Ford, the brilliant LH of the Hampton Road Cruisers, taking home all the marbles as the top starter.
Other Award winners were the A.L. Don Elston of the West Warwick Monarchs taking home the Fireman of the year. Young slugger Orlando Cepeda of the Route 66 Hot Rods was the top hitting rookie, and Joey Jay, of the Gladiators took the rookie pitching award. Joe DeZarlo, of the top notch Gladiators won the Manager of the year nod.
Other N.L. winners were Tom Morgan, Evanston Elephants taking Fireman honors. Jim Marshall, hard hitting firstsacker of the Minneapolis Lakers took rookie hitting honors when he barely edging the Dayton Flyers CF Curt Flood by a scant 46-42 score. The Elephants young phenom hurler, Ray Semproch captured the rookie pitching title. Don Zminda, our
W.S. winner, easily won the N.L. Manager of the year.
For the total voting breakdown, check the Voting Booth results soon on the SPB
webpage. Every player who received a vote for any award is mentioned in these totals. Enjoy!
July 19, 2007
1958 All-Stars announced
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB II Managers, Again, thanks to all of your for getting your votes in promptly! Here are the 1958 All Star Teams as voted by you, our managers:
NATIONAL League All Stars:
C - Sherm Lollar, Salzburg Bishops
1B - Bill Skowron, Hampton Road Cruisers
2B - Frank Bolling, Hampton Road Cruisers
3B - Eddie Mathews, Salzburg Bishops
SS - Dick Groat, Evanston Elephants
LF - Ted Williams, Salzburg Bishops
CF - Mickey Mantle, L.A. Surfers
RF - Jackie Jensen, Salzburg Bishops
SP - Whitey Ford, Hampton Road Cruisers
RP - Tom Morgan, Evanston Elephants
There were 2 really close races for the N.L. team: Skowron edged the Dayton Flyers Frank Torre by five points winning 42-37, and Bolling got strong competition from the Bishops, Jim "Junior" Gilliam by 10 points at 46-36.
AMERICAN League All Stars:
C - Del Crandall, Rossville Hornets
1B - Orlando Cepeda, Route 66 Hot Rods
2B - Pete Runnels, Southport Saints
3B - Frank Thomas, South River Gladiators
SS - Ernie Banks, Rossville Hornets
LF - Bob Skinner, West Warwick Monarchs
CF- Willie Mays, South River Gladiators
RF - Rocky Colavito, Frankfort Fortress
SP - Vern Law, Southport Saints
RP - Don Elston, West Warwick Monarchs
There was one hotly contested A.L. spot, and that one saw the Monarchs flutterball reliever Elston edge out the Gladiators Dick Hyde by ONE single vote at 54-53.
Congratulations to these players on accomplishing their ratings as # 1 at their positions during the 1958 season. For a total look at the voting; to check on every vote cast be sure to check the SPB Voting Booth results on the main page of the SPB webpage. (Click on Voting Booth, then check on the RH side, and click SPB poll results. ENJOY!
July 17, 2007
1958 End of season recaps
DAYTON, OH - Thanks to SPB-2
beat writer John Ungashick for penning a few more extracurricular
articles. The Standings
Summary, and the Post-Season
Summary are now available for viewing.
Thanks John!
July 9, 2007
Surfers repeat as SPB-2 Champs!
FRANKFORT, IN - My congratulations goes out to Don
Zminda, manager of the Surfers who wins another World Championship with his victory over the tough South River team.
Joe DeZarlo deserves a pat on the back too, for a well fought series!
Complete write-ups and box scores can be found on the left menu.
June 28, 2007
1958 End of year reports
DAYTON, OH - As is the custom
at the end of the year, we now bring to you the overusage,
and 50%
use or lose reports.
June 27, 2007
1958 Final stats posted
DAYTON, OH - The final stats and
power rankings for the 1958 season are now
posted. The Gladiators and the Surfers will meet for a
repeat performance of last seasons' fall classic. Good luck to
both managers!
April 18, 2007
1958 July stats posted
DAYTON, OH - The stats and
power rankings for July 1958 season are now
posted. Thanks to everyone for getting their stats in
early. It makes my job easier too! The July
Newsletter is also available.
March 27, 2007
1958 June newsletter published
DAYTON, OH - SPB-2 beat writer
John Ungashick has come out with his June
newsletter. Thanks John!
February 21, 2007
1958 May stats posted
DAYTON, OH - The stats and
power rankings for May 1958 season are now
posted. Ryne Duren and Dick Hyde repeat their reliever of
the month excellence. You can also read this months newsletter,
by John Ungashick.
January 24, 2007
1958 April newsletter published
DAYTON, OH - SPB-2 beat writer
John Ungashick has come out with his April
newsletter. Thanks John!
December 30, 2006
1958 Pre-season prognosis
DAYTON, OH - The following article
was written by a professional....please do not try this at
home. All seeing south-sayer John Ungashick has put together
once again his pre-season predictions for the upcoming
season. You can view them HERE.
October 17, 2006
Protected roster numbers
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB II 1958 Managers, Now is the time to send me your protected rosters, so that I can ready the files for the 1958 Phase II Draft, which will immediately follow the rookie draft on Saturday, October 28th. Here are the number of players each team can protect:
18 Protected Players
L.A. Surfers (Zminda)
Salzburg Bishops (Williams)
Evanston Elephants (Ungashick)
South River Gladiators (DeZarlo)
19 Protected Players
Minneapolis Lakers (Henning)
West Warwick Monarchs (Johnson)
Frankfort Fortress (Plunkitt)
Dayton Flyers (Wheeler)
Rossville Hornets (Ryan)
Hampton Road Cruisers (Baxter)
20 Protected Players
Route 66 Hot Rods (See)
Southport Saints (Lauer)
Goshen Aces (Miller)
Portland Beavers (Applegate)
Please send these protected lists in ASAP guys! I would like to have all of them in by Saturday October 14th at the latest. I will send out the updated files as soon as all are received. Thanks for being prompt.
September 17, 2006
Park Change
FRANKFORT, IN - Terry Baxter has pulled the Hampton Road Cruisers out of the L.A.
Coliseum, and will make K.C. Memorial Stadium the new home for his team. This leaves the
Coliseum (L.A.) and Milwaukee's County Stadium as the open parks in SPB II.
September 17, 2006
1958 Stats and Extra stats
FRANKFORT, IN - The first 1958
database has been sent. Click HERE
for more info about which players had extra stats added .
August 27, 2006
Stadium Change
FRANKFORT, IN - The Goshen Aces are leaving County Stadium for the cozier confines of Seals Stadium in S.F. So now the available parks in SPB II are County Stadium (Milwaukee) and
K.C. Municipal Stadium (Kansas City).
August 22, 2006
1958 Draft date announced
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB II 1958 Managers, All managers have voted on their preferences for the 1958 rookie and Phase II drafts. It will be held on Saturday October 28th, starting at 11AM EST.
The voting went as follows for the most preferred weekend
Oct. 28th - 8 votes
Nov. 4th - 1 vote
Nov. 11th 4 votes
1 vote for any (no difference at all)
August 13, 2006
Voting results announced
FRANKFORT, IN - It is my privilege
to announce that Stan Musial, hard hitting first baseman of the South River Gladiators, and LH dazzler,
Warren Spahn, also of South River have captured the top two Awards in the American League for 1957. In the N.L. hitting king
Ted Williams, the leftfielder for the Salzburg Bishops, and
Jim Bunning, erstwhile ace of the L.A. Surfers captured the prizes in the N.L.
To see the total voting breakdown for these awards, and also the Fireman, top rookies, and Managers of the year, be sure to check out the voting results from the SPB II webpage! See where your players placed. My thanks to Lynn Miller and John Turnbull for all the hard work they put out on creating the ballots and tallying the votes, and getting them on the webpage. For total list of voting, check out the results in the Voting Booth.
Also, be sure to check out the A.L. and N.L. All Stars for 1957. Some mighty close voting on several of these positions!
August 1, 2006
Ballpark Change
FRANKFORT, IN - Manager Joe DeZarlo has decided to have the South River Gladiators vacate his park in S.F. (this was the former Polo Grounds in 1957). He is giving up the 1958 S.F. park and moving into
Philly's Connie Mack Stadium. (This was the former Shibe Park NL). This leaves Seals Stadium (SF) and
K.C. Municipal Stadium (formerly Shibe AL) as the vacant parks for 1958.
July 20, 2006
1957 Overusage report
DAYTON, OH - The Overusage
report....son of use or lose. You can view the report by clicking
here.
July 20, 2006
1957 Use or Lose report
DAYTON, OH - With the end of
each season comes the annual use'em or lose'em report. You
can view the report by clicking
here.
July 20, 2006
1957 Final season wrapup by John Ungashick
DAYTON, OH - This
article by SPB-2 beat writer John Ungashick, puts a
lid on the 1957 season. A good read indeed!
June 19, 2006
1957 Final stats posted
DAYTON, OH - The final set of stats and power rankings for
1957 have been posted. Congratulations to the South River
Gladiators and the LA Surfers for winning their respective
pennants. The playoff page will be posted shortly.
April 22, 2006
1957 July highlights, by beat writer John Ungashick
SCHAUMBURG, IL - Both pennant races heated up considerably in July, the first month of
intra-league play. We still have the unusual situation in that the fifth place team in the National League, the Hampton Road Cruisers, would be leading the American....
Continued.
December 30, 2005
1957 Season about to unwind
DAYTON, OH - With a new year
comes a new season for SPB-2. And to help spice up the
beginning of the season, John Ungashick has once again graced us
with his pre-season prognosis for the upcoming season.
Thanks John for your work on this! Click HERE
to see what John has written about your team.
December 11, 2005
New manager in the fold
FRANKFORT, IN - Veteran manager Greg Henning will step right in as the new manager for the SPB II former Mackinac Bridge team for the coming 1957 season. He will be renaming the team the
Minneapolis Lakers, and they will remain in Sportsmans Park. Thanks Greg for stepping right up for this team! Welcome to SPB II.
November 7, 2005
Phase 2 protected players called for
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB II 1957 Managers, I am now asking that you submit your protected rosters for the coming Phase II draft. Here are the number of players each team may protect:
20 Players
Goshen Aces - Lynn Miller
Portland Beavers - Rich Applegate
Frankfort Fortress - Gary Plunkitt
Hampton Roads Cruisers - Terry Baxter
19 Players
Rossville Hornets - Rick Ryan
Dayton Flyers - Jim Wheeler
Route 66 Hot Rods - Mike See
L. A. Surfers - Don Zminda
Mackinac Bridge - Greg Stillwagon
Evanston Elephants - John Ungashick
18 Players
South River Gladiators - Joe DeZarlo
Southport Saints - Dave Lauer
Salzburg Bishops - Chris Williams
West Warwick Monarchs - Tim Johnson
Please have these into me no later than Wednesday, November 9th by 8:00 PM EST. If you cannot meet this deadline for any reason, let me know right away.
October 26, 2005
New manager joins the ranks
FRANKFORT, IN - Just a few short lines to announce that
Mike See has been appointed as an SPB II manager immediately. He will be taking over the former Lafayette Colts team. He has renamed the team as the
Route 66 Hot Rods. He will be leaving Shibe Park and taking up residence in
Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. Welcome to SPB II Mike!
October 15, 2005
1957 Draft date set
FRANKFORT, IN - As always, I have managed to come up with a draft date thanks to the
input from all of you guys! The 1957 rookie and Phase II drafts will be held at the home of Rick Ryan on Saturday, November 19th. Given the choice of 3 weekends, this one turned out to be the one where the most managers would be willing to attend and all others except for one could be in the
chat room for draft day.
August 31, 2005
1957 Team name Changes
DAYTON, OH - Greg Stillwagon
has changed his team name from the North Michigan Comets to the
Mackinac Bridge. Now that the 1956 Season is over, Dave
Lauer has renamed the Brooklyn Bridge (allowing Greg to take the
Bridge nickname) to the Southport Saints.
July 11, 2005
1957 Divisional realignment
FRANKFORT, IN - Due to the fact that for the 2nd year in a row, one league had almost all teams with a record over .500 and the other league was almost totally under .500, there has been another realignment scheduled for the coming 1957 season. I want to thank John Ungashick for his input as stat on getting this new setup in place. Here is how the teams will stack up for 1957:
American League
South River Gladiators (J. DeZarlo)
Southport Saints (D. Lauer)
Lafayette Colts (S. Ehresman)
Frankfort Fortress (G. Plunkitt)
West Warwick Monarchs (T. Johnson)
Rossville Hornets (R. Ryan)
Goshen Aces (L. Miller)
National League
Salzburg Bishops (C. Williams)
North Michigan Comets (G. Stillwagon)
Evanston Elephants (J. Ungashick)
L.A. Surfers (D. Zminda)
Dayton Flyers (J. Wheeler)
Portland Beavers (R. Applegate)
Hampton Road Cruisers (T. Baxter)
This should make our SPB II Leagues a bit more competive. (Hopefully!)
June 26, 2005
1957 Draft order announced
DAYTON, OH - The draft order
for 1957 is now posted. Thanks goes out to Jim Wheeler for
having them figured out so quickly! The draft order
also contains all traded draft picks.
June 24, 2005
1956 Comparisons in review
EVANSTON, IL - Enclosed is a comparison of the actual wins & expected wins according to the runs created formula and then comparing those numbers one through seven for each division with the preseason forecasts of both me and Tim Johnson.
The Bishops should have won the American division in a tight three way race with the Monarchs and Bridge, which in fact happened but with the Monarchs coming out on top, albeit by only one game over the Bishops and two over the Bridge. Tim picked the Monarchs to win & I picked the Bishops although I must say my write up did say that any of six teams had a chance to win. The rest of the division was pretty cut and dried in all the categories.
In the National, my Elephants significantly underachieved according the expected wins formula and should have had a much easier time. The actual, runs created and my own forecast all agreed on who was number one while Tim picked me for third. The position of the teams one through seven was almost identical in the actual and runs created columns. The pre-season forecast were both way off on the Dayton Flyers and Tim was a little off on the Cruisers final finish while I was too high on the Aces. Otherwise all the columns were pretty much in line.
Congratulations once again to Tim and the Monarchs for a thrilling World series win.
June 23, 2005
Monarchs come back to capture 56 crown
DAYTON, OH - Congratulations
to Tim Johnson's West Warwick Monarchs for winning a
thrilling 7 game series from the Evanston
Elephants.
June 16, 2005
1956 Overusage report
FRANKFORT, IN - My hats of to each of you as we have had hardly any players overused during the just completed 1956 season!! Only 4 teams with any overuse at all.
A truly great job guys!! HERE
is the list:
June 16, 2005
1956 50% Use or lose report
FRANKFORT, IN - HERE
is a total list of all players who did not make 50% of their required SPB playing time during the 1956 season. A great job on this, as no significant players are involved!!
June 16, 2005
1956 Season Complete
EVANSTON, IL - Both pennant races were close and congratulations to the West Warwick Monarchs and whomever is the Manger of the Evanston Elephants! To my knowledge this is Tim Johnson's first pennant in SPB II (accept my apologies if this is incorrect) and the first pennant for me since way back in 1946 (ten years ago for those of you who are mathematically challenged). The only guy still on my roster from 1946 is swing man Steve
Gromek.
The Elephants would have finished fourth in the American League but that's the way it goes. All the teams in the American League finished over .500 as opposed to only two in the National.
I'd like to once again thank all the managers for being so prompt in getting in your stats, not only this month but all year long. You have made my job very easy.
June 12, 2005
1956 Pennant Race update-2
EVANSTON, IL - Still have a few teams to report but the pennant races are coming down to the wire, at least in the American League. In the National my Elephants need only to win one of the seven home games I have left with the Hornets to eliminate the Flyers and give the pennant to the "good guys".
In The American the Monarchs are done with their season and have 93 wins. The Brooklyn Bridge have 90 wins and an away series with the Bishops. If Brooklyn wins four of the seven games they will win the pennant outright; three will give them a tie and less will send them home empty. Technically the Bishops are still alive but need to win 16 of their last 19 which includes 7 at home versus the Bridge and another 7 with the Aces and 7 away versus the Gladiators. It seems as if the Bridge/Bishops series is the key. If the Bridge win four that will eliminate both the Monarchs and Bishops and if the Bishops do very well (6 or 7 wins) the Bridge are out and the Bishops still technically alive.
Stay tuned for late developments.
June 3, 2005
1956 Pennant Race update
EVANSTON, IL - I will be on vacation from June 6th through the 12th and pretty much out of the loop when it comes to email, etc, so I am giving everyone an update on the 1956 pennant races.
Several teams (Monarchs, Flyers, Fortress, Beavers & Cruisers) have finished their seasons. In the American League the Monarchs currently have a half game lead over the Bridge but cannot improve as they have played all their games. If the Bridge go 12-9 in their last three series they will be able to grab the pennant but they have a bruising schedule and this will be no mean feat. The Bishops can win if they go 21-5 in their remaining games but one series is against the Bridge and I suspect one or the other teams will knock the other out or at least make it much more difficult for the other. Technically the Surfers and Gladiators are still alive but each needs to sweep all remaining games which is very unlikely to occur.
In the National League my Elephants are in good shape as I have 78 wins with a seven-game series remaining against the Hornets. The Flyers finished the season with 78 wins so one more victory by the Pachyderms will send them home empty. The Hornets have 19 games remaining and they need to go at least 13-6 to reach 79 wins but that will be very difficult unless they win six or seven against the Elephants and any fewer victories means they will need to do that much better against everyone else.
Good luck to everyone in their remaining games.
May 21, 2005
Mantle 8 RBI off Triple-crown pace
DAYTON,
OH - Mickey Mantle is still going strong, and making a hard push
for the triple crown. He leads by .005 over Ted Williams for
the batting title, has a comfortable 9-HR lead over Eddie Mathews,
but is third in RBI behind Eddie Mathews' 111 and Jackie Jensen's
110. His teammates will have to get on base to give him a
chance.
April 30, 2005
New Manager on board
FRANKFORT, IN - Just a quick note to let you know that we will have a new manager in SPB II taking over the Brooklyn Bridge for play of the month of August for the 1956 season.
Welcome to Dave Lauer, an established SPB manager who will step right in with this team. He will be taking over and sending out the MP's this month. My thanks goes out to former manager Peter Reoch for the many years he was the manager of this franchise.
*Edited 31 Aug 05: Dave has renamed his team the Southport
Saints.
January 19, 2005
1956 Win Share Predictions
DAYTON, OH - Thanks to Tim
Johnson, you can click HERE
for the 1956 Win-Share predictions for the 1956 season to see
where your team stacks up against the competition. Don't
know who to play your weaker starters/lineups against? This may
help some!
December 28, 2004
1956 Free Agents claimed
FRANKFORT, IN - The deadline has been reached and six of the 15 free agents have been claimed. In order they were taken as follows:
Dick Marlowe, p by Goshen Aces
Lino Donoso, p by Lafayette Colts
Tom Alston, 1b by Salzburg Bishops
Chick King, of by Goshen Aces
Pete Wojey, p by Salzburg Bishops
Jim Mangan, c by Goshen Aces
The other free agents went unclaimed and have been released from the 1956 files. They were:
Cal Abrams
Joe Astroth
Matt Batts
Gil Coan
George Freese (61)
Owen Friend
Frank Smith
Bill Tremel
Wally Westlake
Thanks for your participation in getting your claims in promptly.
December 27, 2004
1956 Pre-Season Prognosis
DAYTON, OH - Thanks as always
goes out to John Ungashick for his keen insight into the 1956
season. Read what John has to say about your team by
clicking HERE.
December 27, 2004
1956 Free Agents
FRANKFORT, IN - Thanks for getting your lists in well ahead of time for the players who were marked for release. There were at least 4 additional players added that were not on my original list. The following players are now free agents and can be drafted by any manager who makes a claim on them:
Cal Abrams, of
Tom Alston, 1b
Joe Astroth, c
Matt Batts, ph
Gil Coan, ph
Lino Donoso, p
Owen Friend, ph
Chick King, of
Jim Mangan, c
Dick Marlowe, p
Frank Smith, p
Bill Tremel, p
Wally Westlake, ph
Pete Wojey, p
If you would like to put a claim on any of these players, please let me know ASAP. Deadline to claim player is by tomorrow (Tuesday) by noon. No need to drag this out any longer than that. In case of dual claims for a player, he will be awarded to team with least wins during 1955 season. All players not claimed will be released from 1956 files. Pickings are very slim, so be sure you need players you claim. George Freese, 3b (1961) was also released but since he is a future player only he cannot be claimed.
Thanks,
Gary
December 27, 2004
1956 Players approved for release
FRANKFORT, IN - Click HERE
for a listing of players that are approved for deletion from the
1956 player database.
December 1, 2004
1956 Trading deadline set
FRANKFORT, IN - The final trading deadline is now set for Sunday, December 26th. On that date at 8 P.M., CST trading will come to an abrupt halt for the 1956 season. so be sure your team is set for the season in at bats for each position, complete with 154 starts and a fair number of
relief appearances from your pitchers. You certainly do not want to neglect any shortages that may cause you team
over usage problems.
I will then send out a list of players approved for release at that time. Then I will send out the official 1956 files ASAP, once the released players (free agents) are either claimed or released from the league.
October 25, 2004
1956 Protected roster allowances
FRANKFORT, IN - Just for your knowledge, here is the number of players each team will be able to protect prior to the 1956 drafts on November 13th.
20 Players
Hampton Road Cruisers (Baxter)
West Warwick Monarchs (Johnson)
Goshen Aces (Miller)
Rossville Hornets (Ryan)
19 Players
Dayton Flyers (Wheeler)
Evanston Elephants (Ungashick)
Portland Beavers (Applegate)
North Michigan Comets (Stillwagon)
Frankfort Fortress (Plunkitt)
Brooklyn Bridge (Reoch)
18 Players
South River Gladiators (DeZarlo)
Los Angeles Surfers (Zminda)
Salzburg Bishops (Williams)
Lafayette Colts (Ehresman)
Deadline for protected rosters due to league office will be Wednesday, November 3rd. Have your lists to me by the announced time.
October 3, 2004
1956 Draft date set
FRANKFORT, IN - It is now official, the weekend of Nov. 12-14 will be our drafts this year. I know some of you requested the 1st weekend, but there was close to a 2-1
preference for the 2nd weekend. Again, this draft will be held at my place and I
urge each of you to give serious thoughts of attending and making this a real fun time. So far, those who say they will attend are Rick Ryan, Steve Ehresman, Terry Baxter, first timer Greg Stillwagon. Indicating an interest in attending is Don Zminda, but it all depends on his schedule. I would like to see all of you give it a serious shot, and make this our final BIG
get together of 2004. Hope to see you in Nov!
August 23, 2004
1955 Voting booth deadline set
FRANKFORT, IN - The voting booth is loaded and ready to vote for the Award winners and for the All Stars from the recently completed 1955 season. Please log onto the SPB webpage and click on the Voting Booth to cast your ballots. Remember you have to log in twice (once for Awards & then a 2nd time for the All Stars) to finish your votes. Please read the directions and don't forget your name and team name when casting your votes.
Deadline for voting is September 3rd. PLEASE KEEP THIS IS MIND AND TAKE CARE OF THIS ON TIME. Thanks to all of you for helping to make SPB a solid experience!
July 1, 2004
1955 Standings comparison
EVANSTON, IL - Enclosed is a comparison of the actual 1955 results, the expected wins results and the pre season predictions from myself
(JU) using a semi-scientific formula and Tim Johnson (TJ) who used Bill James Win Share method.
In the American League the difference between actual and expected wins wasn't that great in terms of the final finish but the Surfers suffered from the worst negative expected wins by far and should have run away with the pennant. The Gladiators (eventual winners by one game) exceeded the expected wins by a considerable margin and the Bishops (finished two games out) slightly less. However the pre season predictions completely ignored the Surfers and had them pegged for the second division which was way off the mark. The Colts were a consensus pick for the pennant but finished a disappointing 4th. For some reason the Monarchs were picked third in the Win Share formula but at or close to the cellar in all other areas.
In the National League the Elephants were also a consensus pre season pick but didn't have what it took when the real shooting started. The Fortress were reasonably close in both pre season polls but finished first in both real life and expected wins. The Beavers were the NL equivalent of the Surfers; no respect in the preseason but finished the season only three games out. The Hornets were another underachiever when compared to the preseason while the other teams were generally in line.
Like they always say, you have to play the game no matter what it looks like on paper! Good luck in all future seasons.
You can view the Comparisons HERE.
June 25, 2004
1955 Use or lose players
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB II Managers, Thanks to everyone for getting their final months stats in on time! Now that I have these I have figured out all the players that will be lost due to not being used 50%. Not to many surprises here as you will see. Here is the total list of players who did not make their 50%. If player has an asterik, it means he does not play in any future seasons and would have been dropped from teams anyway. Other player listed have years left that they play in parenthesis. All players are listed by team.
BROOKLYN BRIDGE (P. REOCH)
BILL MILLER - P*
DAYTON FLYERS (J. WHEELER)
DON LEPPERT - 2B *
BILLY COX - 3B*
TONY ROIG - INF (1956)
SONNY DIXON - P (1956)
EVANSTON ELEPHANTS (J. UNGASHICK)
JIM FANNING - C (1956 - 57)
MILT BOLLING - SS (1956 - 58)
EDDIE JOOST - SS*
SAM MELE - OF (1956)
BOB HOOPER - P*
GOSHEN ACES (L. MILLER)
JIM BOLGER - OF (1957-59)
TOM SAFFELL - OF*
PEANUTS LOWREY - OF*
HAMPTON ROAD CRUISERS (T. BAXTER)
MICKEY GRASSO - C*
JOHN MACKINSON - P*
LAFAYETTE COLTS (S. EHRESMAN)
JUAN DELIS - INF*
JACK LITTRELL - SS (1957)
BOBBY STEPHENSON - SS*
BOB BORKOWSKI - OF*
STAN PALYS - OF (1956)
JERRY SCHOONMAKER (1957)
GORDON JONES - P (1956-65)
JOE COLEMAN - P*
L.A. SURFERS (D. ZMINDA)
ED MCGHEE - OF*
JOHN GRAY - P (1957-58)
MIKE KUME - P*
JERRY LANE - P*
JOHNNY SAIN - P*
BUNKY STEWART - P (1956)
N. MICHIGAN COMETS (G. STILLWAGON)
CLYDE MCCULLOUGH - C*
JACK DITTMER - 2B (1956-57)
HANK MAJESKI - INF*
PORTLAND BEAVERS (R. APPLEGATE)
GUS NIARHOS - C*
CURT ROBERTS - 2B (1956)
ROSSVILLE HORNETS (R. RYAN)
JIM PYBURN - 3B (1956-57)
SOUTH RIVER GLADIATORS (J. DEZARLO)
JOE ASTROTH - C (1956)
DICK RAND - C (1957)
MILT SMITH - 3B*
ROBERTO VARGAS - P*
WEST WARWICK MONARCHS (T. JOHNSON)
CORKY VALENTINE - P*
Every one else was used their 50% and will be retained. The players above will reappear in the rookie drafts of the first season listed.
I will have the overused list out soon, so stay tuned!
June 21, 2004
1955 Final stats posted in Version 9 format
DAYTON, OH - The final stats for the
1955 season are now posted. Cnngratulations to Joe DeZarlo
and Gary Plunkitt for winning their respective divisions.
Joe will get a chance to defend his crown against a grizzled SPB
Veteran!
January 4, 2004
1955 Preseason prognosis
DAYTON, OH - Thanks goes out to
John Ungashick for putting this together. You can read
John's written article HERE.
Tim Johnson has added his WINSHARES
predictions. Click the bolded word for his predictions.
December 31, 2003
1955 Players claimed
FRANKFORT, IN - The following players have been claimed off the waiver list of recently released players. The claimed players and the teams that signed them are as follows:
Phil Cavarretta, 1b Bridges (Reoch)
Fred Baczewski, p Bishops (Williams)
Floyd Baker, 3b Bishops (Williams)
Jim Robertson, c Fortress (Plunkitt)
Tom Gastall, c Cruisers (Baxter)
Bruce Edwards, c Beavers (Applegate)
Lee Wheat, p Beavers (Applegate)
Dave Koslo, p Beavers (Applegate)
The following players went unclaimed and have been released from SPB 1955 files:
Jake Thies, p
Jim Pearce, p
Tom Wright, of
Bob Greenwood, p
Steve Souchock, of
I will be sending out the officials SPB 1955 files this evening to everyone.
December 29, 2003
1955 Players release list
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB II Managers, The following players were released by their 1955 teams:
Fred Baczewski*, RP (2 games)
Floyd Baker *, 3B (58 at bats)
Phil Cavarretta *, 1B (54 at bats)
Bruce Edwards, C (107 at bats)
Tom Gastall, C (77 at bats)
Bob Greenwood, RP (2 games)
Dave Koslo*, RP (2 games)
Jim Pearce, SP (4 games, 2 starts)
Jim Robertson, C (8 at bats)
Steve Souchock, PH (1 at bat)
Jake Thies, SP (2 starts)
Lee Wheat, RP (6 games)
Tom Wright, PH (57 at bats)
These players are listed with their maximum number of allowable appearances in 1955 SPB. As always, these players are pretty awful. The only ones who play again are Wright, who has 51 at bats possible in 1956, as a PH, Edwards who has 55 at bats in 56 as a catcher, and Gastall who has 106 at bats in '56 as a catcher. Everyone else is at the end of his career in '55.
If you wish to put a waiver claim on them, please notify me within 24 hours, and list them in the order your would need them. Tuesday morning at 9:00A.M. (24 hours) will be the deadline to claim these free agents. In cases of multiple claims on the same players,they will be awarded to the lower W-L record attained by the claiming teams during 1954 SPB play.
A new twist will allow one team to make only one player pick per position. This eliminates one team getting all the players at a certain position, or all SP or RP, which has happened in the past. So be sure to list them in the order you want them, by position. Doing it this way, will prevent one team from wiping out all players at a certain position and will allow the "talent" to be spread around a bit.
Thanks,
Gary
December 28, 2003
1955 Players approved for release
FRANKFORT, IN - Now that the trading deadline has passed with no last minute trades taking place, it is time to ask for you to review the following players approved for release. As you know, you can release any players or pitchers that you do not need or want on your team. Every year I go through and find players that have little or no value at all, and with no futures, most of whom have just a few games, or stats. But remember you are not limited to releasing JUST these players. If your knee deep in at bats, starts, or relief appearances, and have players on your roster you know you will not use, you can release them. Here is the list I have come up with as "players approved for release in 1955":
Bill Miller, p Brooklyn Bridegrooms
Jake Thies, p Dayton Flyers
Fred Baczewski, p Dayton Flyers
Floyd Baker, 3b Evanston Elephants
Jim Pearce, p Frankfort Fortress
Jim Fridley (58), of Goshen Aces
Vern Morgan, 3b Goshen Aces
Tom Wright, ph Goshen Aces
Bob Greenwood, p Goshen Aces
Mickey Grasso, c Hampton Road Cruisers
Steve Souchock, ph Lafayette Colts
Danny Schell, ph L. A. Surfers
Gus Niarhos, c Portland Beavers
Dick Smith, ss Portland Beavers
Phil Cavarretta, 1b Rossville Hornets
Ozzie Van Brabant, p Salzburg Bishops
Dave Koslo, p South River Gladiators
Lee Wheat, p South River Gladiators
Tom Alston, 1b West Warwick Monarchs
Pete Wojey (56), p West Warwick Monarchs
That is my list. If you have a player listed here, please respond by Monday, Dec. 28th at 8 P. M. (actually, the sooner the better) as to whether you want to keep these players or release them. Also send any other players that you will not use in 1955, that have no futures to speak of, that can be released as well.
I will then publish the full list of released players, and allow a couple of days for claims to be made if another manager wants to sign them. All released players not resigned will be dropped from SPB II. Thanks for you attention to this matter. Please be prompt with your
replies.
November 9, 2003
1955 Draft completed
FRANKFORT, IN - A hearty thanks
for everyone on a great draft! The trading season is now
open. I will announce a deadline shortly.
October 24, 2003
Call for protected lists
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB II Managers, At this time I would like to request that you begin sending your protected rosters to me. As soon as possible would be a nice figure to shoot for. But I will set a deadline date of
Thursday, October 30th for these lists.
The following teams can protect 20 players:
West Warwick Monarchs (T. Johnson)
L. A. Surfers (D. Zminda)
Hampton Roads Cruisers (T. Baxter)
Portland Beavers (R. Applegate)
The following teams can protect 19 players:
Dayton Flyers (J. Wheeler)
N. Michigan Comets (G. Stillwagon)
Goshen Aces (L. Miller)
Evanston Elephants (J. Ungashick)
Lafayette Colts (S. Ehresman)
Salzburg Bishops (C. Williams)
The following teams can protect 18 players:
South River Gladiators (J. DeZarlo)
Rossville Hornets (R. Ryan)
Brooklyn Bridge (P. Reoch)
Frankfort Fortress (G. Plunkitt)
Please have your lists to me ASAP, and no later than Thursday, October 30th.
October 6, 2003
SPB-2 1955 Draft date set
FRANKFORT, IN - The 1955 rookie draft will be held on Saturday, November 8th. It will take place at the home of Rick Ryan who lives just 10 miles north of my place in a purely rural setting.
Those indicating they will be here at that time are: Gary
Plunkitt, Rick Ryan, Steve Ehresman, Rich Applegate, Terry Baxter, and Lynn Miller. In addition, others who might attend are Jim Wheeler and Chris Williams. An outside shot of John Ungashick attending is also in the works. Hopefully we will see all of you in just about 5 weeks or so.
Those managers not attending are Greg Stillwagon, Joe DeZarlo, Tim Johnson, Peter
Reoch, and Don Zminda. They will participate either in the
chat room or with a list.
August 16, 2003
SPB-2 Realignment
FRANKFORT, IN - As was done in SPB IV, and will continue to be done in each SPB league as they start their next season, there has been a random realignment of the teams. All names were assigned a random number and distributed in the manner much like that used in figuring the random rounds of our rookie drafts. Then the numbers were printed into the SPB II N.L. & A.L. Leagues.
This breaks up the continuity a bit, and allows for more play against others. We had not changed the setup in SPB II for several seasons. Here is how the new leagues for SPB II will be split:
American League
Northern Michigan Comets (Greg Stillwagon)
Brooklyn Bridge (Peter Reoch)
South River Gladiators (Joe DeZarlo)
L. A. Surfers (Don Zminda)
Chicago Whales (Steve Ehresman)
Salzburg Bishops (Chris Williams)
West Warwick Monarchs (Tim Johnson)
National League
Rossville Hornets (Rick Ryan)
Frankfort Fortress (Gary Plunkitt)
Dayton Flyers (Jim Wheeler)
Goshen Aces (Lynn Miller)
Hampton Roads Cruisers (Terry Baxter)
Evanston Elephants (John Ungashick)
Portland Beavers (Rich Applegate)
This new alignment will go into effect with the 1955 season.
August 14, 2003
1954 All-Star game posted
DAYTON, OH - Using the voting
results, Greg Stillwagon played the 1954 All-Star game. The
home team AL cruised to an 11-2 victory. Ray Boone was named
game MVP. You can see the boxscore and scoresheet on the
left under SPB-2 links.
July 19, 2003
New President crowned in SPB-2
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB 1955 Managers, We are now making a change by my appointing long time SPB - II manager Tim Johnson to the office of President of SPB - II. Tim is a long time manager, having been aboard since the 1945 season. Thanks Tim for accepting this appointment.
Former League President Rick Ryan is stepping down from the position at his own request, to concentrate more fully on managing his SPB teams, and of course to allow a little more time to make those trades. :)
Congratulations to Rick on a job well done during his many years as the SPB - II Prez's spot. And at the same time congrats to Tim on his new position!
June 18, 2003
1954 World Series Matchups
FAIRBORN, OH - Using the SCORE
program, I have come up with the season matchups between the
Bridge and the Gladiators. Click HERE
to see the data.
January 19, 2003
New Manager for Chicago Whales
FRANKFORT, IN - Steve Ehresman will be taking over as manager for the Chicago Whales replacing long time SPB manager Tom Falduto, who passed away suddenly on Friday night. Thanks to Steve for speaking up promptly and taking over this team.
Be sure to send all May manager profiles for the Whales to Steve at: sdehresman@aol.com. Be sure to make this change for May's play.
January 4, 2003
1954 Win Shares Prognosis
FAIRBORN, OH - Thanks to Tim
Johnson for compiling this interesting spreadsheet, with winshare
predictions for the upcoming season. Click HERE
for the information.
December 29, 2002
1954 Pre-Season Prognosis
TUCSON, AZ - Thanks to John
Ungashick for making the 1954 Pre-season prognosis. The
article can be accessed HERE,
and his spreadsheet can be accessed HERE.
Thanks again John!
December 21, 2002
1954 Team name change
FRANKFORT, IN - Manager Joe
DeZarlo has decided to change his team name from the South River
Rams to the South River Gladiators. This is effective
immediately.
November 17, 2002
1954 Free Agent signings
FRANKFORT, IN - Free agent catcher Gus Niarhos proved to be a popular man and was claimed by 4 clubs. The Hornets (70 W), Aces (68 W), Bishops (66 W) and Beavers (64 W) had claims in for the veteran backstop. He has been awarded to the Portland Beavers who had the worst record during the 1953 season.
Also,pitcher Ken Raffensberger was claimed and awarded to the Salzburg Bishops.
All other agents have been given the pink slip from SPB - II. The following players have been unconditionally released: former catcher Ralph Houk, former infielders Sibby Sisti, Pete Castiglione, Connie Ryan, former firstbasemen Ben Taylor, Luke Easter, former outfielders George Wilson, Bud Stewart, and former hurlers Bob Cain, Carl Scheib, Vern Bickford, and Joe Dobson. All except outfielder Wilson announced they will retire from pro baseball. Wilson signed with the triple AAA Minneapolis Millers to try and work his way back to SPB in the future.
November 11, 2002
1954 Players elegible for release
FRANKFORT, IN - Now is the time to call for a release of several players on rosters, since both our drafts for '54 are now history, and who are just cluttering your rosters up. Let's set a deadline for Nov. 15th for this.
I suggest you review your rosters, with these particular players in mind, and notify me ASAP if you want to release them. Of course, you can release any other players on your team that you will not need. But be sure of their future play before doing so.
Keep in mind, we will be using the 50% use 'em or loose 'em rule this season for the first time in SPB - II. This can certainly be used to influence your decision on players you consider for release as well.
The following players have little or no value, hardly any usage, and in general no reason to hang around. Here is the recomended list of players to release:
Sibby Sisti, pr Flyers
Carl Scheib, p Elephants
Ralph Houk, ph Fortress
Bob Cain, pr Fortress
Luke Easter, ph Cruisers
Vern Bickford, p Cruisers
Ben Taylor, 1b Comets
Pete Castiglione, 3b Bishops
Johnny Lindell, ph Bishops
Hal White, p Bishops
Gus Niarhos, c Rams
Joe Dobson, p Rams
Neil Berry, ss Monarchs
Johnny Lipon, ph Bridge
Bill Miller, p Bridge
Dick Rozek, p Bridge
Connie Ryan, pr Whales
Ken Raffensberger, p Whales
So send me your decisions on these players and ANY others you decide to dispose of. As always a list will be published, and if for some strange reason you wish to sign any released player, contracts will be awarded to the team with the worst record in 1953.
October 31, 2002
1954 Protected roster numbers
FRANKFORT, IN - All SPB 1954 Managers, Since we are only slightly more than a week away from the 1954 rookie draft, I think it is time to call for the protected rosters for your teams. The receipt of all these protected lists will allow us to have a few days to see what players will be available in the Phase II draft which starts immediately following the rookie draft on Saturday, the 9th.
The deadline date for you to have these protected lists to me will be Wednesday Nov. 6th at 9:00 P.M. EST.
Here are how many players each team can protect:
Comets, Bridge, Surfers, and Fortress - 18 Players
Rams, Cruisers, Flyers, Hornets, Aces, and Whales - 19 Players
Monarchs, Beavers, Bishops, and Elephants - 20 Players
October 31, 2002
1954 Protected rosters
TUCSON, AZ - Thanks to Jim
Wheeler, click HERE
for a listing of those players whose last year was
1954.
October 22, 2002
1954 Actual lineups
FRANKFORT, IN - I am forwarding this to all as a favor to Jim Wheeler. My thanks to him and
to Lynn Miller for making theses great contributions for all of us to use.
Best, Gary
SPB Managers,
I have recently completed my research on the actual starting lineups and
transactions for the 1954 season. My source is the baseball bible of the
era, THE SPORTING NEWS.
With editing help from Lynn Miller, I have compiled a CSV file that lists
the starting lineups for each AL and NL game. These files can be found at
Lynn's web site: www.lemiller.com
Please feel free to download this file along with the 1953 and 1965 season
lineups and pass the link onto anyone else who may want to use the
information. Let me know if you have any questions.
Jim
September 7, 2002
1954 Draft date announced
FRANKFORT, IN - All
SPB II Managers, In a rather close vote, the draft day for
the 1954 rookie draft will happen on Saturday, November 9th.
The official starting tiime will be 11:00 A.M. Votes were received
from 12 managers and the 9th edged out the 16th by a 7-5 margin.
August 19, 2002
Stadium change
FRANKFORT, IN - Manager Greg Stillwagon of the North Michigan Comets has decided to move on to a new park. He is giving up Baltimore's Memorial Stadium and moving into Sportsmans Park (NL version). So the available parks in 1954 are now War Memorial in Baltimore and Phllys Shibe Park (NL).
July 31, 2002
53 World Series MVP announced
FRANKFORT, IN - Mickey McDermott who authored 2 beautifully pitched CG's in the 1953
W.S. has been announced as the MVP of the Series. In the first game of the Series, McDermott stifled the Comets with a nice 7 hitter, while beating the Comets by a handy 5-2
margin to score an important first game win for the Tigers, while on the road. He came back even stronger in the 5th contest in Frankfort, while scoring a shutout over Northern Michigan, on a fine 3 hitter. All 3 hits were singles. His fastball and curve were working well, and the Comets did not muster their first hit untill 2 were out in the 5th inning.
This gave the Fortress a 3-2 edge, and Frankfort nailed down an upset win over the Comets in the 6 game set.
Overall McDermott put up the following stats: only 10 hits in 18 innings allowing just 2 runs for a fantastic ERA of 1.00. He walked 7 and struck out 7 during his mastery over the mighty Comet hitters.
There were several others in contention for this award including, Sid Gordon, Jackie Jensen, and Ed Yost of the Fortress, along with the Comets Ralph Kiner who led all sluggers with 3
W.S. homers. But in the final balloting McDermott nailed down the prize!
