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

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

 I added a few things to the HoF spreadsheet:  Pick Drafted, IFA year, signing bonus, total salary earned throughout their career and total earnings with signing bonus.  I know I am missing any signing bonus when added to a free agent contract.  This is just for Hall of Famers!!!

Stickball Hall of Fame Spreadsheet

Most Money Earned (Signing bonus and Salary)

                                             Total Earned

1.  Willie Gonzalez               $349.976 mil

2.  Antonio Charleston          $253.332 mil

3. Juan Hernandez                 $242.274 mil

4. RJ Santana                         $203.953 mil

5. Tom Moore                        $203.157 mil

Most by Positional Players

1. RJ Santana                        $203.953 mil

2. Angel Chavez                   $189.704 mil

3. James Kwon                     $189.295 mil

4. Placido Pelaez                  $188.462 mil

5. Yeico Johnson                  $178.307 mil

Most by Pitchers

1. Willie Gonzalez                $349.976 mil

2. Antonio Charleston           $253.332 mil

3. Juan Hernandez                 $242.274 mil

4. Tom Moore                        $203.157 mil

5. Rigo Delgado                    $193.098 mil

Lowest Total Salary for a Hall of Famer

1. Jesus Duran                     $51.149 mil

2. Carl Lee                          $57.035 mil

3. Bruce Sandberg              $60.983 mil

4. Fautino Saenz                 $61.183 mil

5. Dan Porter                       $64.328 mil

Lowest Draft Pick to be a Hall of Famer

1. Carl Lee        Pick 40

2. Bruce Sandberg    36

3. Sean Woodson      31

4. Pete Pryor             24

5. Geoff Reuschel     22

Lowest IFA Signing Bonus to be a Hall of Famer

1. Fautino Saenz               $6.5 mil

2. Albert Franco                $10.6 mil

3. Emmanuel Belliard       $11 mil

4. Yunesky De Los Santos $11 mil

5. Emilio Tavarez               $12.7 mil

Meet Your Hall of Famers: Clarence Paul

 

Bio:   Clarence Paul was born in Waseca, MN (Pop. 9,410 located 70 miles south of Minneapolis, MN).  From his Waseca home, he traveled 25 miles east to Mankato East Senior High School (Nickname: Cougars). Paul helped lead Mankato East to back-to-back AAA State Titles (AAA is the second biggest classification in Minnesota).  His Senior year broke the state strike out record recording 101 in just 45 innings.  He was also an All-State Hockey player his Senior year.

Draft: Was the 2nd pick in Season 33 by Washington DC (Saffron). 

Scout Paul McKnight- “Has a live arm with a deceptive delivery.  A very high priority coming from a left-hander.  A few minor adjustments to mechanics could lead to great control.  An all-star in the waiting.”

Career: Clarence Paul was drafted in Season 33 by Washington DC and made his MLB debut in Season 36. He played 18 of his 23-year career in Washington DC, finishing the final 5 years in Vancouver.  During his career, he won 3 Cy Young Awards (39, 40, 47), and was a 9-time All-Star. He threw a no-hitter in Season 40 and won a World Series Championship with Washington DC in Season 43. His first Cy Young award in Season 39 was his best season.  In that season he had 20 wins to just 4 losses and threw 232.2 innings.  He had a career high 232 k’s, a .192 OAV, 0.89 WHIP and 1.97 ERA. Over his Career he accumulated 277 Wins over 3779 Innings in which he posted 3541 k’s, .224 OAV, 1.11 WHIP and 2.72 ERA. He holds single season records for Washington DC in OAV .192 (39), ERA 1.79 (36), Strikeouts 232 (39), WHIP 0.89 (39), and Wins 21 (40).  He also has Career records for OAV .219, ERA 2.57, Strikeouts 3049, WHIP 1.07, and Wins 240 for Washington DC.

Speech Highlight- “I have been blessed to accomplish all most everything in baseball.  A lot of people have helped me along the way.  I owe a great deal to all my coaches and teammates.”

                Another night drinking with the scouts at the Barleymoe

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

Elijah: Tonight is the 57th rule 5 draft for our league. I asked you guys to look through the history of the draft and give me some insight as to what will happen tonight.

Jack: Elijah, in last ten years half the drafts went 5 rounds. Only one went 10 rounds and the shortest was season 54, which only went 3 rounds.

Jim: No player selected in the rule 5 draft has made the Hall of Fame yet, maybe tonight-who knows.

Johnny: A couple players  have made 4 All star games; Phil Combs and Alton Howard. Combs was drafted in season 9 and Howard in season 14.

Jack: One interesting guy was Steve Beer. He was picked in season 27 in the fifth round  and played 15 years in the big leagues.

Johnny: We never had a guy named Steve Beer, what are you talking about?

Jim: You now how he gets when he drinking. I bet he is thinking of Esteban Cerveza.

Jack: Yes that is the guy. He had 766 pitching appearances in his career.

Elijah: Anything else you guys noticed about the rule 5 draft?

Jim: It seems like a good place to acquire gold glovers, Billy Ray Goulet had 7 gold gloves after he was drafted in season 34 by Milton in the third round.

Johnny: I noticed that Milton really works the rule 5 draft. Takes a lot of players and keeps them around for several seasons.

Elijah: Well boys what do you see happening tonight?

Jack: Typical rule 5. A couple of special guys and a whole bunch of role players. The uber is here Elijah it time for to go.

                                      Season 56 Annual Awards

McBain Award: Awarded to the franchise that breaks the single season record for wins 135.  Not awarded. Hartford Blue Frogs won more games last season than any  other franchise --114.

Dean Award     : Given to a player who overcomes injury and has a really good season.  The winner  is Miguel Fernandez of the Los Angeles Galaxy.  Miguel had 2, 60 day stints on the Disable List in season 55. In season 56 he played in 139 games, had 42 homers and drove in12.87%of the Galaxy's runs.

Kobelesky Award: Given to the franchise that wins the most games throughout all six playing levels.The winner is Boise Rogue One. They won 582 games;  a .607 winning percentage.