Dear SPB V Managers,

 

As we await the completion of the 1988 World Series between the Qs and Leopards, it is time to move on with preparation for the 1989 season. Trading season, as has been abundantly announced, is open and thriving. In this email I will address overusage in the 1988 season. In following emails I will raise the issue of underusage/release of players, and the draft order. The first two slots of Round 2 will not be determined until Steve and John have finished their series, but we can do everything else.

 

In deciding how to assess usage penalties, I was urged to apply the new standards adopted this summer by the league. However, we had already put a couple months of 1988 under our belt at that time, and lacking the means to adjust usage issues that were the result of poor roster planning, I think it best and fairest that we apply the usage penalties formerly in place. And, as I discuss below, applying the new standards would affect certain teams especially severely, so I will feel more comfortable as commissioner letting them go with a very sharp slap on the wrist and the promise to reform. ....

In addition, looking over the season, as I remember it being played out, there seemed to be a few oddball and uncharacteristic cases of starting pitcher abuse, cases that may have had to do with failure to follow instructions on the road, when the visiting pitcher was abused. At least a couple of these cases look this way, and I don't recall it having been as much of a problem as it was this season. We have changed the penalty from one to two games for each pitching start over limit. I think this is correct and justified. Your starting pitchers are one feature that you can always control. But, although doubling the penalty would not affect the draft order in most cases for 1988, in one case it would move a team into the perma-penalty frost. Given the doubts as to why this occurred this year, with managers who usually never make this sort of mistake, I feel justified in applying the old rule here, too--for the last time before the new rule takes effect.

 

I also cannot stress enough that as hosting managers you must load the starting pitchers manually, not let the computer select them. Nor should you as a visiting manager allow the computer to do this work. That is where the abuses arise.

 

Now with no further drum-roll, here are the overusage cases for 1988 season

 

Louisville Colonels (now the Orlando Renegades) had their copious overusages forgiven because of their change in management. There is a long-standing tradition of forgiving usage violations in the case of management change in draft leagues, but in the SPB that tradition is further justified by the fact that our rosters are set before the start of the season, and there is no way to redress a usage crisis if it should arise, unprepared for, in the middle of the season. In this particular case, the Colonels had 3 different managers (if you count the league office, which did not do a particularly careful job of managing the team itself, while all visiting instructions were scrupulously followed), and none of those guys is Mike See, the new manager. 

 

In addition, we should be proud that there was no overusage for the following teams:  Carolina Lighthouse (Steve Brunner), Frankfort Hot Dogs (Gary Plunkitt), Houston Colt 45's (Dave Lauer), Lafayette Leopards (Steve Ehresman), Pocono Red Stixx (Jim Wheeler), Quigley Q's (John Dewan), and Wabash Rivers (Bill Lanke).

 

Considering that two of those teams are in the World Series, there is much to be pleased with there.

 

The following teams had overuse (but no permanent penalty):

 

Baltimore Redbirds (Greg Henning) 1 Game [Mike Jackson 1 game rel (1)]

 

Beard Black Cats (Rick Ryan) 1 Game [Ed Vandeberg 1 game rel (1)]

 

Cleveland Buckeyes (Jim Bendik) 1 Game [Darren Daulton 7 AB (1)]

 

Red Bluff Rough Riders (Marc Hollingsworth) 1 Game [Tom Browning 1 game rel (1)]

 

Brooklyn Bridegrooms (Rich Applegate) 1 Games [Rick Honeycutt 1 start (1); truly bizarre; he had none     in real life].

 

Jupiter Bucks (Vin Onstott) 1 Game [Odell Jones 1 start (1); he had 2 in real life; his extra came on the     road, all in the same month.

 

Alma Chiefs (Bill Linn) 4 Games [Mark McGwire 5 AB (1); Kevin McReynolds 8 AB (1); Mike Parrett 2     games rel (2)]

 

Lake Superior Whitecaps (Greg Stillwagon) 5 Games [Ed Hearn 26 AB (5)]

 

Black Swamp Salamanders (Chris Williams) 7 Games [Donnie Hill 15 AB (3), Carney Lansford 5 AB (1),     Jody Reed 5 AB (1), Dick Schofield 10 AB (2)]

 

Kitsilano Hedgehogs (John Saunders)  7 GAMES [Tracy Woodson 20 AB (4), Mark Birkbeck 2 Starts             (2), Mark Langston 1 Start (1)]

Coney Island Cyclones (Peter Reoch) 12 GAMES * [Fred Manrique 25 AB (5), Thad Bosley 7 AB (1),

    Kirby Puckett 31 AB (6)]

 

Kansas Storm (Craig Korol) 15 GAMES * [Bo Diaz 5 AB (1), Barbero Garbey 6 AB (1), Mike Schmidt 10 AB (2), Joel Youngblood 23 AB (4), Dave Hengel 13 AB (2), Norm Charlton 1 game rel (1), Danny Cox 1 game rel (1), Kent Tekulve 2 games rel (2), Todd Worrell 1 game rel (1)]

 

Colorado Grizzlies (Scott Felt) 19 GAMES * [Juan Samuel 5 AB (1), Brook Jacoby 45 AB (9), Dickie Thon 39 AB (7), Jose Canseco 14 AB (2)]

 

Louisiana Grays (Larry Schilling) 19 GAMES * [Mike Sharperson 10 AB (2), Steve Buechele 34 AB (6),

Ken Gerhart 5 AB (1), Mike Bielecki 1 Start (1), Sherm Corbett 1 game rel (1), Jeff Heathcock 1 Start, 1 game rel (2), Mike Trujillo 6 games rel (6)]

 

Kenesaw Mountains (Marc Robinson) 21 GAMES * [Chris Brown 19 AB (3), Ken Oberkfell 25 AB (5), Gerald Young 13 AB (2), Roger Clemens 2 Starts, 1 game rel (3), Neil Allen 1 game rel (1), Doug Bair 4 games rel (4), Jack Lazorko 2 games rel (2), Mike Morgan 1 Start (1)]

 

Nashville Funkadelic (Steve Osborne) 28 GAMES * [Steve Balboni 19 AB (3), Dave Magadon 7 AB (1),

Glenn Hubbard 6 AB (1), Chris Speier 54 AB (10), Craig Worthington 8 AB (1), Kevin Elster 16 AB (3),

Gary Pettis 33 AB (6), Greg Minton 3 games rel (3)