Another Saturday night drinking at the Barleymoe

Tonight Elijah Craig is joined by Jim Beam, Johnny Walker  and Jack Daniels

Elijah: Fellas I think we haven't talked about defense in a long time. Tonight I thought I might like to pick your brains on the subject. We aren't that far from starting season 58 and the worst thing for a  franchise is if their fielding coach retires or won't resign. Let's start there in our discussion.

Johnny: Last year the average fielding coach made just over 1 million dollars. eleven guys made $750,000, 10 made $500,000, 2 made a salary between those numbers and one guy squeezed a team for a little more than $750,000. That leaves use with 9 fielding coaches making more than a million dollars.

Jack: None of those nine came close to the Mac Daniels contract signed in season 33 for 8.3 million dollars although one guy got 7.1 million.

Jim: Well that was Acosta. He always get paid big money. In the last 10 seasons he's been paid 23.7475 million dollars.

Elijah: Is there any correlation of money to results?

Jack: Acosta took a below average fielding team in season 56 and had them ranked 6th in season 57.

Johnny: Looking at the stats for the season I was  most surprised by Boise having 124 more plus plays than minus plays. Only 5 teams had over 100 plus plays and the Rogue One led all teams with 137 plus  plays.

Jim: I like to give a shout out for the Blue Hens who also had over a 100 plus plays and led the league with just 5 minus plays for the season.

Jim: The average runs scored last season was 4.78 runs per game. The most unearned runs given up by one team last year was 105. That almost 22 games  worth of runs.

Jack: Don't be stupid 105 runs isn't 22 games worth of runs; it's .65 runs a game.

Johnny: Either way it shows the importance of defense and why in the not so distance future managers are going to be bidding money that could go to prospects or free agents on guys that once the season starts are forgotten.

Meet Your Hall of Famers: Kris Watanabe

 

Bio:   Kris Watanabe was born in Monroe, MI (Pop. 20,733 located 40 miles south of Detroit). Watanabe made that 40-minute trip north to attend Clarenceville High School (Trojans) in Livonia, MI, a suburb of Detroit.  There he lead the Trojans to back-to-back Division 2 final appearances, coming up short in both chances.  He was selected to the Detroit All Metro team in his Junior and Senior seasons.  He also led the high school football team to a state finals appearance as the starting QB.  

Draft: Was the 1st pick in Season 34 by Albuquerque (danxmcgraw).   

Scout Paul McKnight- “A true 5 tool player, above average in all 5 areas.  Hits for good contact but does not sacrifice power.  Has above average speed and can steal some bases.   His defense is very good and could develop into a Major League SS with good range and a quality arm.”

Career Earnings: $160,609,000

Career: Kris Watanabe was the 1^st pick Season 34 by Albuquerque and made his MLB debut in Season 37. He played the first 11 years of his career in the Albuquerque/Wichita organization before finishing the final 9 years in New York.  During his career, he was a 7-time All-Star with 5 Silver Sluggers (41, 42, 43, 44, 46) and 1 Gold Glove (52). Season 44 was his best season when he hit .301 AVG, 45 HR and drove in 166 runs.  He added 143 R, 202 H, 35 2B, 5 3B, 73 BB, 31 SB and .939 OPS that season. Over his career he accumulated .282 AVG, .853 OPS, 1695 R, 2766 H, 516 2B, 84 3B, 482 HR, 1625 RBI, 1052 BB and 438 SB. He holds single season records for Albuquerque/Wichita (currently Colorado Springs) in Runs 143 (44), and RBI 166 (44).

Speech Highlight- “I have always tried to live up to the city of Detroit.  Hardworking and earning everything I accomplished.” 

Meet Your Hall of Famers: Jeimer Ortega

 

Bio:   Jeimer Ortega was born in Monte Cristi, DO (Pop. 42,657 located northwest region of the country in the coastal lowlands near the border with Haiti.) Ortega was found by scouts after he hit 8 homeruns playing in the World Baseball Classic for the Dominican Republic (8 games). 

International Signing: Signed for 19.1 million in Season 36 (2^nd highest that year) by Toronto (Seventy_77)

Scout Paul McKnight- “Is a true power hitter.  The ball sounds different when he squares it up.  He has above average contact and a good eye to go along with his power.  Fielding is below average but the bat overshadows it.”

Manager (Seventy_77): “Best player for our franchise ever.  Unbelievably consistent.  Kind of funny, but back when I made that blockbuster trade with Las Vegas to acquire the stud pitcher De Los Santos and dealt 2 of my top 3 prospects.  In less than a week later I was gifted Ortega in IFA.  He did get to play his entire career in Toronto.  Got lucky the year he went into free agency that it was same year as Rey Jung was also a free agent and was a few years younger and everyone was bidding on him and Ortega just happened to sign early and I got him cheaper than I thought I would.  And Ortega and Jung seemed to battle it out for MVP’s in the NL until Jung went to the AL.”

Career Earnings: $109,887,000

Career: Jeimer Ortega was an International Free Agent in Season 36 by Toronto and made his MLB debut in Season 39. He played his entire 21-year career in the Toronto organization.  During his career, he won 6 Most Valuable Player Awards (41, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50), and was a 9-time All-Star. He also won Rookie of the Year in Season 39 and 10 Silver Sluggers (40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50). He was also part of the World Series Campion team in Season 45. His third MVP award in Season 45 was his best season.  In that season he hit .311 AVG with a 1.065 OPS, and added 135 R, 28 2B, 3 3B, 49 HR, 118 RBI, and 15 SB. That lead him to amass career numbers of .300 AVG, .957 OPS, 1760 R, 2688 H, 403 2B, 31 3B, 652 HR, 1570 RBI, 1256 BB and 288 SB. He holds single season records for Toronto in Hits 217 (50), and 171.86 RC (50). He also has Career records for HR 652, R 1760, RC 1996.55, and BB 1256 for Toronto.

Speech Highlight- “I lived the baseball dream, from my youth leagues in the Dominican to playing in the World Baseball Classic to the tops of the Major Leagues.  I have been able to accomplish it all and now to top it off with being inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

TEAM OPS, TOP 15 ALL-TIME HIGHEST RANKINGS:

 

1.  0.982 - S4 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) *

2.  0.940 - S2 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) *

3.  0.933 - S5 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) **

4.  0.931 - S1 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) ***

5.  0.917 - S3 Colorado (Mr_Stickball)

5.  0.917 - S6 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) ****

7.  0.916 - S7 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) **

8.  0.908 - S39 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) *

9.  0.907 - S10 Tuscon (BillHowell75)

10.  0.903 - S12 Tuscon (BillHowell75)

11.  0.891 - S13 Tuscon (A Dawg) ***

11.  0.891 - S40 Colorado (Mr_Stickball)

13.  0.890 - S8 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) *

14.  0.884 - S57 Colorado (Mr_Stickball) (INC - Current Season)

15.  0.883 – S4 Hartford (Sved)

 

* Division Title

** DCS Winner

*** LCS Winner

**** WS Winner