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reprinted from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of July 7, 1946:


The Cardinals signed veteran lefthander Marius Russo to a contract yesterday, in the hope that he can recapture some of the magic from his pre-war career with the Yankees. Russo is a sinkerballer and had great success as a starter before damaging his arm in 1943. He spent two years in the service (stationed in Hawaii) and has been looking to catch on with a new team this season.

The Cardinals are hoping he can begin a new career as a left-handed relief specialist for them. Russo will report to the AAA Rochester Red Wings, and GM Orcin will be keeping a close eye on his progress. The team released 22-year old outfielder Jesse Bisson to make room for Russo on the roster.

The news on pitcher Red Barrett is not good. The arm injury that Barrett suffered on July 4 was more serious than first thought, and Barrett has been placed on the 60-day disabled list. The Cardinals are hoping to get him back for the September stretch drive.

GM's Status Report: All-Star Break 1946

The Cardinals (47-34) are in first place by 3 games at the theoretical halfway point of the season. Considering the injuries to multiple pitchers, we are very fortunate to be in this position. Rookie manager Eddie Dyer has done a fantastic job of juggling the available pitchers through a lot of double-headers. We are scoring 4.81 runs per game while allowing 4.14 (3.81 ERA). Our offense is the best in the league and the pitching is second.

We had 7 players named to the All-Star team, more than any other franchise. Enos Slaughter and Stan Musial led all voting among NL position players, and Whitey Kurowski made the team as a sub. We also had four pitchers selected to the squad. Howie Pollet was a starter, and Ted Wilks was named as the closer. Pete Center and Everett Fagan were chosen as relievers, primarily based on their AL stats prior to us acquiring them in June.

We were 15-14 in June, including a horrible 4-9 home stand where we lost 6 pitchers to injury within a ten-day span. Two of those pitchers, Brecheen and Dickson, returned only to be hurt again in their next starts. They may have come back too soon but the team doctors swore they were ready.

We made some moves over the past month to bolster the bullpen for the second half. Center has not allowed a run in 10 of 13 (77%) appearances since the trade with a 3.68 ERA. Fagan is 2 of 3 with a 3.86 ERA. It’s too early to declare these successful trades or to assume that the bullpen is fixed. Howie Krist (who was traded for Fagan) has a 2.19 ERA in four appearances for the Athletics, but he wasn’t pitching that well for us.

Going into the second half, the rotation will be Pollet, Dickson, Brecheen, Dobson, and Brazle. Brazle pitched a 3-hit shutout in the last game before the all-star break and we are hoping that he will build on that to have a great second half. The long reliever/double-header starter will be Burkhardt, because Barrett is on the DL until September. Beazley and Lanier will begin the second half in AAA as starters unless one or both is traded.

Wilks will be the closer, of course. Center and Fagan will be the setup men, with Munger and Schmidt as middle relievers. Dyer wants a left-hander in the bullpen, so I am really hoping that Marius Russo catches fire at AAA and we can bring him up soon. Grodzicki is also in the bullpen at AAA, and Barney is doing very well at AA. I don't want to rush Barney up here again unless we run out of arms like we did in June.

The trade deadline is approaching, and I am still after one or two more pitchers. I like Cliff Fannin with the Browns. He is 22-year old right-handed reliever that throws hard with great movement. He has 30 K’s and 18 BB’s in 50 innings, and he is still developing. The Browns seem to want him to become a starter, but I am looking at him as a late-inning guy and eventually a closer if he can cut down on the walks. The Browns are deep in the bullpen, and he might be available even though he is an all-star selection. We'll be talking to the Browns up to the deadline, and we will continue to look for left-handed relief help also.

All of the injuries to the pitchers have us thinking about boosting the offense by acquiring another run producer before the deadline. We have scored 2 runs or less in 26 of 81 games (32%), and it would take some pressure off the pitchers if we could score 4-5 runs per game more consistently.

Sid Gordon is still the guy I really want, but he is expensive at $65,000 per year. He is also going to cost us a premium player from the major-league roster. There is an alternative that fits our salary budget better and won’t cost us a major-league player. You have already heard about this rumor in the papers because the Phillies leaked the story to start a bidding war.

I approached the Phillies about all-star outfielder Ron Northey, and they are willing to move him if they are still out of the race at the deadline. He has a one-year contract, and they are afraid that his asking price will be beyond what they want to pay. They prefer to get something for him now rather than lose him in free agency, and they want Rex Barney, Johnny Beazley, or Lou Klein. Klein is our only 2B besides Schoendienst and trading him would leave us very short on infielders. We have 19 pitchers on the 40-man roster, so trading Beazley or Barney makes more sense than a position player. I hate to part with young pitching, so I am more inclined to move the 28-year old Beazley and his 5-year contract.

If we acquire Northey, we will play him in left field and move Walker to center. Dyer says he would bat Northey (L) sixth between Kurowski (R) and Seminick (R) and he likes the idea of replacing the right-handed Dusak with Northey in the lineup. (What manager doesn’t like adding an all-star power hitter to the lineup?) We will still have Dusak to back up all three outfield spots and Gionfriddo (who can also play center) backing up Walker as a leadoff man.

The defense will be weaker, but Northey is a decent outfielder and we have Dusak as a late-inning defensive replacement. Anyway, we should score more runs than we give up on defense since Dusak is hitting .265 with 4 HR and 27 RBI as the starter in center field while Northey is hitting .310 with 13 HR and 52 RBI.

We would have an extra outfielder after this trade and Terry Moore could be moved for a pitcher (Fannin?). I would love to see Moore retire as a Cardinal, but we may not have that luxury. We need to sign Northey to a contract extension and I think we can get that done within the budget if we move Moore’s salary. If I trade Moore to the Browns, it might lessen the public relations impact since he will still be playing half his games in Sportsman's Park. I think I can sell the Browns on the idea that Moore will put more people in the stands and they can benefit from being the good guys in town. I prefer to win.


(P.S. In real life, Ron Northey was traded to the Cardinals in May of 1947 for Harry Walker and Freddy Schmidt. In December 1949, the Cardinals traded Northey and Lou Klein to the Reds to get Walker back. I want Northey for the reason that the Cardinals really had him as much as the baseball reasons explained above. By the way, Shaun's AI GM has this to say about trading Walker & Schmidt for Northey: "We would be thrilled with this trade. Let's do it!" But why should I do that when the AI is willing to accept less?)

GM's Status Report - Trade Deadline 1946:

We made three deals just a few days before the deadline. We picked up three all-star players, and did not sacrifice anyone from our lineup or pitching rotation. We should be stronger and deeper for the stretch drive while still building for the future.

In the first of these deals, we traded pitching prospect Rex Barney to the Phillies for all-star outfielder Ron Northey. This trade had been rumored for a while. Since the Phillies are out of the race, they have started looking to get younger. They didn't have much interest in the starting pitcher that I wanted to move, Johnny Beazley (age 28), but they were very excited about Barney (age 22). Barney had performed well (1.92 ERA) since being converetd to a starter at AA Houston. I hated to part with Barney, but Northey makes our offense significantly better and Barney wasn't going to help us this year.

Northey is 26 and we were able to sign him to a three-year extension at "bench player" dollars. Northey will play left field and Walker will move to center. Gionfriddo will back up Walker and Dusak can backup all three outfield spots, with Northey also able to play right field. We now have four of the top five RBI men in the league (Slaughter, Musial, Kurowski, Northey) batting 3-4-5-6. It's a true "murderer's row" lineup.

Since Beazley was not attractive to the Phillies and expendable for us, I shopped him elsewhere. Cleveland offered Eddie Robinson (age 26), a left-hand hitting first baseman with a high on-base percentage and good power but with an expiring contract. Robinson is an outstanding prospect hitting .347 with 15 HR at AAA, but he was caught in a numbers game at Cleveland because they had five 1B on their roster. I think they unloaded the best one on us. He will back up Musial at first and will also be the primary backup for Northey and Slaughter in the lineup (Musial playing left field). He should see lots of playing time and be our primary pinch-hitter for years to come. I was also able to sign Robinson to a three-year extension at bench player money.

The real jewel was our trade with the Browns. I took advantage of the Browns' weak financial position to complete this deal. We received Cliff Fannin, a 22-year old hard-throwing relief pitcher, and versatile infielder Mark Christman in return for our two best bench players, 1B Dick Sisler (son of former Browns star, George Sisler) and local hero Terry Moore. Sisler and Moore were expendable after the acquisitions of Robinson and Northey. However, the Browns considered them as attractive names to boost their fading ticket sales, especially since they have lost 9 of their last 10 games and fallen out of the pennant race due to a slumping offense.

All-star setup man Fannin (3-2, 1.85 ERA) is the key to the deal, and I am convinced he has a very bright future in the setup/closer role. We will put him in the setup role for us right away, which moves our other guys back one slot and significantly strengthens our bullpen. The Browns demanded that the deal include both Sisler and Moore, and would not take only one of these players for Fannin. However, I balked at a 2-for-1 trade and they agreed to add Christman to the deal.

Christman (age 33) is a third baseman that can also play short and second. He is a great defensive player and hits for average, but has very little power limiting his value as a corner infielder. The Browns wanted to play rookie Bob Dillinger at third and were shopping Christman. I had already talked to them about him and was hoping to steal him for a low value player.

I realized why the Browns wanted to deal Christman so badly when he refused all of my offers for a contract extension. So he is effectively a "rent-a-player" since his deal expires at the end of the year. I am fine with that because he will be a much better backup infielder down the stretch than either Cross or Klein, and I plan to work on infield depth in the off-season anyway. I would prefer to find a young third baseman with power to groom as Kurowski's successor.

The Browns are getting a lot of favorable attention in the press over this deal because of the names involved, but I really like Fannin. I think he was their most valuable property next to Sam Zoldak. Other teams have Fannin rated 6th on our roster, which is about where Sisler and Moore were. I may have overpaid for Fannin, but two months of Christman evens up the deal.


<warning: real-life out of character comments to follow>

Some notes about these deals that further explain my interest in them:

Cliff Fannin was from Louisa, a small coal mining town in eastern Kentucky. My wife's father, coincidentally also named Cliff, was from Louisa, Kentucky and was only 3 years younger than Fannin. I am sure they would have known each other growing up together in this small town, but unfortunately our Cliff is no longer around to ask. But the karma associated with this coincidence was too much for me and I just had to have this player.

Eddie Robinson was from Paris, Texas, and has a big ranch in the hill country. I live in Houston, Texas. Robinson went on to have a great career as a baseball GM, and got his start under Paul Richards with the Houston Astros. Again, these connections made me really want Robinson on my team, plus he was a player that I always liked in previous simulation games.

As I mentioned in another post, the Cardinals had Northey in their lineup in 1947-48 along with the other three members of my "murderer's row". They finished 2nd both years, so I am hoping I have done enough other improvements to put them over the top and build a dynasty.

With trade deadline having passed and the Cardinals in first place, it's an excellent time to look back at the spring roster compared to now and see what has changed.
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We have replaced 10 of the 40 players that I inherited when I took the GM job last winter. The overall payroll has risen by 5%, but almost every key player is locked in for 3-4 years. Here is a summary of all of the deals, not focusing on who was traded for whom but rather on how the roster was transformed by the aggregate moves.
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We traded our starting catcher (Rice, age 24) for Philadelphia's starting catcher (Seminick, age 26). Rice is hitting .257 with 1 HR, 24 RBI. Seminick is hitting .282 with 4 HR, 26 RBI. Neither catcher has made an error. Rice has thrown out 9 baserunners and Seminick has thrown out 11. I view this trade as a clear win for us so far.
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We effectively swapped starting outfielders in Terry Moore for Ron Northey. Moore is 34 and Northey is 26. Moore is hitting .270 with 1 HR, 16 RBI. Northey is hitting .305 with 15 HR, 65 RBI. Northey has made 10 errors and Moore is clearly the better defensive player. However, I think we will score far more runs than we give up with this move, and I see it as a significant upgrade now and a great move for the future.
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On our bench, we traded an excess catcher (O'Dea, age 33) for an infielder (Christman, also age 33) that can play all three spots (3B, SS, 2B). Christman is a valuable pinch-hitter (hitting .309) and his versatility allows us to carry three catchers, one of whom (Klutz hitting .365 in 63 AB) is also a valuable pinch-hitter.
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We traded an excess outfielder (Adams, age 31) for an outfield prospect with speed (Gionfriddo, age 24). Gionfriddo is a big upgrade over Adams in terms of a leadoff hitter to back up Walker and he has played well in limited action so far (.297 in 64 AB).
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We also swapped backup first-basemen and left-handed pinch hitters in Sisler for Robinson. They are both 26 and the jury is still out on this one. I am confident that we will like this trade a few years from now, and someday we may move Musial to left field to play Robinson on a full-time basis. If Robinson doesn't pan out, we still have Nippy Jones at AAA hitting .321 and waiting for his chance.
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We made some significant changes to the pitching staff to address what I perceived as a shortage of talented bullpen specialists.
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We gave up starter Johnny Beazley, long reliever Howie Krist, and a journeyman outfielder. In return, from various American League teams, we got Pete Center (all-star short reliever), Everett Fagan (all-star short reliever), and Cliff Fannin (all-star short reliever).
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We also traded long reliever Fred Martin (2-3 3.00) for starter Joe Dobson (5-7 3.84) to upgrade the rotation. It is a good thing we did this because all the injuries to our starting pitchers would have left us short-handed without Dobson.
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I am pretty happy with this bundle of player moves, again considering they only increased our payroll by 5% (a $65,000 increase with $45,000 of that going for Dobson).
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We have a seven game lead with 60 games left. If we go 35-25 (same .583 pace as all season), the Cubs or Reds will have to play .700 ball to catch us. I don't want to jinx us but I do want to be prepared, so we are already scouting the American League leaders. It looks like we can focus on the Yankees but we are also watching Boston and Cleveland, tied for second at 6 games back.
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<more out-of-character game-related observations to follow>
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That’s a lot of trades, but none of the players that I acquired so far was a Hall-of-Famer. The only real star players acquired were Seminick, Dobson, and Robinson, and I gave up some star players in Rice, Moore, and Sisler. So I am satisfied that I have not "gamed" the system yet. In other words, there are no "scrub-for-Dimaggio" trades here.
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I have the third highest in payroll, still within my self-imposed spending limits, and I have the third-youngest roster in the association. Most of these players are signed for 3-4 years, so I should have&nbsp;room to sign&nbsp;draft picks and free agents with the inflation money. However, I don't need much for the next 2-3 years so I can focus on taking the "best player available" for the future.
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I will have eight open roster spots this off-season, seven from expiring contracts for fringe players/scrubs and one scrub that will be released from the final year of his inherited two-year deal. I plan to look for young inexpensive&nbsp;talent to develop. I need infield and outfield depth and, of course, starting pitchers. You can never have too many starting pitchers in this game, especially with injuries turned on. It is a Cardinal tradition, started by Branch Rickey himself, to stockpile assets in the farm system for trades, and young pitchers with high potential are always in demand.
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With the detail you write your reports, I am (almost) getting inspired to spend more time writing about my team than just having a league summary. Your reports are always an interesting read. Do you keep side notes to be able to recall all of the detail that you include?

ORIGINAL: Wrathchild

Your reports are always an interesting read. Do you keep side notes to be able to recall all of the detail that you include?

Thank you!

I do keep a spreadsheet on my players with some data, mostly to budget the payroll. That's how I know how much I increased the payroll, and it helps me track the trades. The rest of it I dig up using the in-game tools.

[font="Verdana"]Standings
Thursday, August 15, 1946[/font]





We continue to play .600 baseball. There are still four other teams with a shot, and they take turns making a run at us.

The really interesting race is the American League. Detroit has won 23 of 25 since the All-Star break, and has come all the way from from fifth place to first.

In case you are wondering, the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics went 36-117 so the White Sox will beat that and avoid being the worst team in history.

Rex Barney has been starting for the Phillies since the Northey trade. He is 2-1 with a 3.90 ERA. Not bad.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 26, 1946


The Cardinals swept a double-header from the Brooklyn Dodgers at Sportsman's Park yesterday, but one of the victories came at a high price.

Murry Dickson, the Cardinals #2 starting pitcher, suffered a serious elbow injury and is out for the remainder of the season. Dickson was 13-4 with a 3.27 ERA in 23 starts. He is not expected back in time for post-season play should the Cardinals go on to win the pennant.

Dickson was placed on the disabled list and replaced on the roster by pitcher Red Barrett. Barrett was just activated from his own stint on the 60-day DL. Dickson's spot in the rotation will be filled by Ken Burkhardt, who has started 17 games for the team this season.

The Cardinals have won 8 straight games to open their lead over the Giants to 10 games with 30 to play.

[font="Verdana"]Standings
Wednesday, September 11, 1946[/font]






The Cardinals clinch the pennant! Bring on the... Yankees?






Yes, we will play the Yankees in the 1946 World Series.

Due to the injury to Dickson, we plan to go with a three-man rotation of Pollet, Brecheen, and Dobson. We like the two lefthanders against the tough lefthanded hitters of the Yankees (Keller, Henrich, Robinson), Etten). Brazle will be available in the bullpen, and could start a game if needed.

Here's a recap of the exciting World Series win (I managed each game.)

Game 1 @STL: NYY 4 STL 2
Charlie Keller hits two home runs.

Game 2 @STL: STL 5 NYY 1
Harry Brecheen pitches a complete game and goes 2-2 with 2 RBI.

Game 3 @NYY: STL 5 NYY 3
Home runs by Whitey Kurowski and Red Schoendienst lead a balanced attack.

Game 4 @NYY: STL 7 NYY 4
Enos Slaughter goes 3-5 with 3 RBI, and Ted Wilks gets his second save.

Game 5 @NYY: STL 3 NYY 0
Harry Brecheen pitches a 3-hit shutout on 3 days rest.


Harry Brecheen is named MVP of the World Series.

Musial certainly deserved his MVP award... take a look at this leaderboard.





Red Schoendienst won a Gold Glove and Pure Slugger award at second. Whitey Kurowski and Enos Slaughter also won Pure Slugger awards.

Ted Williams (.322, 31 HR, 121 RBI) was the American League MVP, and Mickey Harris (16-7 3.36), also on the Red Sox, won the A.L. best pitcher award. (You would think the Red Sox would have finished higher than fifth. They were 78-76.)

Good job winning the World Series, though I hate to see it at the expense of the Yankees.

Off-season analysis: 1946-47

I am really happy that the Cardinals won the 1946 World Series in my association. Of course I enjoyed watching it happen, but also it was consistent with reality and it set me up for the real project that I started. In 1946, I did exactly what I should have done... I won with a team that should have won. Now the fun begins. The Cardinals failed to win another pennant for the next 18 years. I intend to beat that and then some.

The 1947 off-season should be an interesting one, in part because of the introduction of black players. Brooklyn will have a very early pick in the amateur draft, and I really hope that they draft Jackie Robinson. It won't be realistic to me if he ends up elsewhere. Larry Doby should be picked by Cleveland. Many of the early black players will not arrive in my association until later because I have "early debut" turned off.

Since I have a world champion club, I don't have a lot of areas of need. My starting lineup, starting rotation, and closer are set in stone. My bench and bullpen are almost filled going into spring training, but 1 or 2 spots are open. I could use a left-handed reliever and I need an infield super-sub to allow me the luxury of keeping three catchers. I hope to re-sign Mark Christman in the free agent period to fill the infield sub role, because he can play all three spots very well and is an excellent pinch-hitter. The relief pitcher may have to be obtained via trade.

So the major league roster will look much the same going into next season. However, when I examine my minor-league system I find almost nothing of value. This alarming lack of young talent is a critical need for the coming offseason. I must use the draft and free agent period to re-stock the minor leagues. There are three players that I plan to draft who were rookies on the 1947 Cardinals: Jim Hearn (SP), Jerry Staley (RP), and Chuck Diering (CF). This leaves me 2 "wild-card" draft picks, and 1 or 2 free agent signings to use on young talent. I must choose carefully.

There is always a danger in standing pat with a club that just won. However, this is a very young team and I don't think their performance will decline. The real 1947 Cardinals finished second, five games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers seem to be more of a mess in my association, having finished 1946 in last place instead of second. The other top real-life teams were the Braves and Giants, who finished second and third in my association but faded down the stretch. It will be interesting to see if the improved AI GM makes them better in the offseason.

I was excited to see my first offseason with this association. I am running the version of the game that includes the new AI GM updates, so I was expecting a competent draft by the AI GM and an active free agent period as well. However, I really don't see much change in the AI behavior compared to previous versions. I was expecting the AI teams to at least draft their own HOF players, and I was hoping for some bidding between teams for those quality free agents. Unfortunately, there were several quality players left undrafted and unsigned, while fictional players were in high demand. I will make some manual adjustments to fix the glaring oversights, but I will also continue (within my self-imposed budget rules) to build my golden age dynasty with impunity.

1947 Amateur Draft

St. Louis is drafting last due to having the best record in 1946. My first three picks will follow the "player affinity" rule, choosing players that played significant chunks of their careers with the Cardinals starting in 1947. My round 4 pick will come after every other team has four chances at the pool, and I figure that everybody on the board is fair game at that point. In preparation, I put together a list of dream picks, including some personal favorites, some all-star players, and a couple of HOF'ers. I was very surprised to see almost all of my "favorites" still available for rounds 4 and 5.

Round 1: St. Louis selects Jim Hearn, age 26, right-handed starting pitcher. Hearn is a candidate to go into the rotation right away. He will be given every opportunity to win the fifth starter spot in spring training. (His actual 1947 stats were 12-7, 3.22 ERA, 21 starts, 162 IP. He pitched 13 seasons in the majors, 4 with STL, with a lifetime record of 109-89 3.81 ERA.)

Round 2: St. Louis selects Jerry Staley, age 27, right-handed relief pitcher. Staley will probably start the season at AAA Rochester, but we will keep an eye on him in the spring. (Staley appeared in 18 games with 29 IP for STL in 1947, spending most of the season in AAA. He had a 15-year major league career, 8 with STL, with a lifetime record of 134-111, 3.70 ERA, 61 saves.)

Round 3: St. Louis selects Chuck Diering, age 24, center-fielder, bats right. Diering will start the year in AAA so we can evaluate his bat. (Diering was a backup outfielder/defensive replacement in his 9-year career, 5 with STL, with a lifetime .249 AVG. He was a very good centerfielder with a lifetime .984 fielding percentage.)

With round 3 in the books, we now leave our regularly scheduled program for this brief interlude...

Incredibly, other than my three selections, the only players among my "favorites" that were off the board for my fourth-round pick (64th player taken) were Larry Doby (round 1 to Cleveland) and Jackie Robinson (round 4 to Brooklyn). Jackie Robinson in round 4? Well, I guess that is understandable considering Brooklyn's picks in the first three rounds. [8|]

Brooklyn round 1 = Clyde King (23 year old P), 7 year career, lifetime record of 32-25 with 4.14 ERA
Brooklyn round 2 = Erv Palica (19 year old P), 9 year career, lifetime record of 41-55 with 4.22 ERA, 10 saves
Brooklyn round 3 = Jack Banta (22 year old P), 4 year career, lifetime record of 14-12 with 3.78 ERA., 5 saves

The best thing that I can say about these picks is that the players spent most or all of their careers with the Dodgers. So player affinity works and these players were chosen over fictional players. However, still on the board at this point, and NOT drafted by the Dodgers, are Duke Snider and Gil Hodges!!!! Brooklyn takes Robinson in round 4, and then...

Brooklyn round 5 = Spider Jorgensen (28 year old 3B), 6 year career, lifetime .266 avg with 9 HR

I don't care how you spin it, the Brooklyn draft is a dismal failure. Robinson is an obvious pick, but how you can take the other four players over Snider and Hodges? Snider had a HOF career of 18 seasons, almost all with the Dodgers, with a lifetime .295 avg and 407 HR. Hodges had a "should be HOF" career of 18 seasons, almost all with the Dodgers, with a lifetime .273 avg and 370 HR. Brooklyn should have taken Snider, Robinson, Hodges in that order and been off and running to a great team with Reese and Furillo already on the roster. It's not that they couldn't afford them. Brooklyn's payroll is 13th of 16 teams, and they have only spent 40% of their available budget.

Even more incredible than Brooklyn passing on these players, is the fact that EVERY other team passed on these players for five rounds too! Well, every AI team that is. Returning to the St. Louis draft...

Round 4: St. Louis selects Curt Simmons, age 18, left-handed starting pitcher. Simmons is a developmental pick who will start the season at class A Columbus. (Simmons spent the prime of his career with the Phillies, coming to the Cardinals via trade in 1960 and giving them 6 good seasons in his late 30's. He had a lifetime record of 193-183 on some bad teams with a 3.54 ERA.) Philadelphia took two short-career "affinity" players and two fictional players ahead of this pick, so they had their chance.

Round 5: With the 80th and final pick of the 1947 amateur draft, St. Louis selects 21-year old centerfielder Duke Snider! Snider is a five-tool prospect, and will start the season in AA.

My intent was to use the round 5 pick on Al Rosen, a potential successor to Whitey Kurowski at third, if he were still available. He was because Cleveland incredibly took TWO fictional third-basemen, a fictional outfielder, and a fictional catcher after Doby while passing on their future all-star third baseman with great ratings (65 potential and developing). However, with both Snider and Hodges still out there, I decided Brooklyn needed to be punished for their failure to draft wisely and Rosen could wait until the free agent period.

Hodges slid through the free agent period without getting a contract and is still sitting there unsigned at the start of spring training. I plan to remedy this abysmal draft performance for hapless Brooklyn by signing Hodges for them and trading Snider to them. I want the Dodgers to have their full complement of stars so I can beat them mercilessly throughout the decade of the 50's without excuses. The trade for Snider will cost them a short term price though, and it will rectify another famous Branch Rickey incident.

"Pistol Pete" Reiser grew up in St. Louis and was a Cardinal fan as a child. He was scouted by the Cardinals at a tryout camp at age 15, and was very disappointed to be sent home almost immediately. However, a Cardinal scout showed up the next day and explained that Pete was sent home to keep other scouts from seeing him. The Cardinals signed him and paid him $50 per month under the table until he was old enough (age 17) to join their class D team. This off-roster stockpiling of players was against baseball rules at the time, and Reiser was one of 100 Cardinal players to be declared free agents by Commissioner Landis in the spring of 1938.

Rickey was not easily defeated, however. He concocted a deal with Dodgers' GM Larry MacPhail whereby the Dodgers would sign Reiser, keep him for a few years, and then trade him back to the Cardinals. Presumably, there was a quid pro quo for the Cardinals to hide an unknown Dodger prospect. But Leo Durocher, the Dodgers' player-manager, foiled the plot when he got a look at Reiser at spring training in 1939 and demanded he be put on the fast track to Brooklyn.

The Cardinals should have played by the rules and signed Reiser fair and square. Therefore, I will "fix" this and trade Snider to the Dodgers in return for Reiser, putting things right for both teams. Reiser, the original "Charlie Hustle", was the victim of many self-inflicted injuries, mostly due to running full speed into concrete walls to catch fly balls. (He was once given last rites on the field.) However, he was a helluva player for a few years and I am hoping that he has a longer career in my alternate reality. If not, c'est la vie. At least I will have the benefit of his services as long as he lasts, and he represents a significant upgrade over Harry Walker. If I use Walker to give him lots of time off, maybe I can prolong his career. The Dodgers have nothing to complain about because they wouldn't have either Snider or Hodges if I didn't step in, and the two of them definitely make up for losing Reiser for the year that he played prior to Snider taking over in center field.

1947 Free Agency:

The AI signed one player among all teams combined. Washington stepped up and signed Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones to a contract. Jones played 11 quality seasons as a starting 3B for the Phillies. But the Phillies did not draft him, choosing two journeymen and three fictional players instead.

I did not let the AI's inability to scout and sign talent keep me from my appointed task. I signed three prospects, and could have signed more except that I ran out of money and roster room. We signed free agents Al Rosen (23 year old 3B), Ted Kluszewski (23 year old 1B), and Mel Parnell (25 year old lefthanded starting pitcher). None of these players were HOF'ers, but they were all significant stars who should develop into solid contributers in a year or two.

I did not bid on any of these players until week 4, and no other team had bid on them up to then. I felt comfortable waiting on these players because I had made an offer to re-sign Mark Christman as my infield super-sub. Christman accepted my offer in week 4, so I made immediate offers on the other propects rather than see the free agent period end due to inactivity. They all accepted my offers within a week or two, and the free agent period closed. I am confident that they would not have been signed by any other team, at least until after the season started.

The following significant players were left undrafted and unsigned, and I will be manually sign them to free agent contracts with their proper teams: Gil Hodges (Dodgers), Ferris Fain (Athletics), and Earl Torgeson (Braves). I will leave the rest to form an interesting free agent pool for the upcoming season, and we'll see where they end up.

My goal for the offseason was to upgrade my minor league talent, and I certainly did that between the draft and the free agents. I plan to develop Simmons and Rosen for my own team. I will probably use Kluszewski and Parnell as trade bait in the next year or two, but I will let them develop first. Hearn, Staley, and the Snider-for-Reiser trade will push major league players back to AAA and further strengthen my depth.

I am left with 42 players, so I will need to trim 2 players from my roster before the start of the season. In addition, after the Reiser trade is completed, I will need to cut my payroll by almost $100,000! These preseason roster moves will be the subject of my next post.

Sorry for the long-winded report, but I had a lot to say about it. Most of you have probably fallen asleep by now anyway. [:D]

Long winded nothing! You could make longer post and it would be fine with me. I want you to know, I read every word and can't wait for each time you post. I love the post in the Locker. I try to read every thing posted in this form.&nbsp; Thank you for a great read.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 15, 1947

The Cardinals open the defense of their World Series title today at Cincinnati, and the team will be just a little different due to two offseason trades.

Pete Reiser will be the new leadoff man and center fielder. Reiser was obtained from the Brooklyn Dodgers in return for outfield prospects Duke Snider and Bill Endicott. The Cardinals are hoping that Reiser will be able to stay healthy because he is one of the best offensive players in baseball when in the lineup.

Rookie sensation Jim Hearn will open the season as the fifth starter. To make room for Hearn in the rotation, the Cardinals traded star pitcher Murry Dickson and outfield prospect Joseph Frasure to the Red Sox for left-handed relief pitcher Earl Johnson. Dickson was coming off a season-ending elbow injury, but insiders say that this move was really about Dickson's large salary. Johnson was among the best relievers in the American League last year and will fill the setup role for closer Ted Wilks.

<end of article>


The paper is right of course. Dickson made the 15th largest salary in the association. Brecheen is 13th and Pollet is 23rd. I could not afford three starters at that salary level. Trading Dickson gave me enough room to add Reiser and Johnson, and still be $100,000 under budget. The AI agreed to Snider for Reiser and Dickson for Johnson as 1-for-1 trades, but I made them take the extra player in each case rather than be forced to release those players and eat 75% of their contracts to get to the roster limit.

I now have lots of salary room to add players at the trade deaadline, and prospects to entice other teams to hand them over. I hope I don't need to make any moves, but it is better to have flexibility. What I really hope is that Hearn pitches well, and we avoid that rash of pitcher injuries, and Johnson finally gives me that reliable "lights-out" setup man that I have been seeking. If Hearn fails or we have injuries, I have three veteran starters in AAA plus money to pursue a trade if necessary.

ORIGINAL: DonBraswell

Long winded nothing! You could make longer post and it would be fine with me. I want you to know, I read every word and can't wait for each time you post. I love the post in the Locker. I try to read every thing posted in this form.  Thank you for a great read.

Thanks for the kind words and the encouragement, Don. It's great to know someone is interested and still enjoying this. I am having almost as much fun writing these posts as I am playing the game (almost).

I think keeping this "journal" about my league has enhanced my enjoyment of the game, and I encourage other new players to give it a try. It doesn't have to be fancy. Just posting results is interesting, documenting the thought process is even more interesting, and making it personal gives you some passion about it.

One of the things we "simmers" all need is someone to tell when something exciting or interesting happens in our league. I know my wife is tired of hearing about who I drafted, and the people at work look at me kind of funny. But you guys listen to me patiently, and I appreciate the camaraderie here.

I'm enjoying it, as well. It's encouraging to try to add a little more commentary to my reports instead of just listing information. Maybe I'll have to make some adjustments for the 1908 season.

GM Report - May 19, 1947

We are 33 games into the season (21%) and the Cardinals are off to a very good start. We are in second place at 19-14, trailing the Cubs by one game and a game ahead of New York and Brooklyn. There are seven teams within four games of first place, so it is difficult to know who the real competition will be. It could be at least a four-team race with the only Phillies stumbling out of the gate.

Brooklyn is much improved. They have a rookie first-baseman named Jackie Robinson... you may have heard about him. All the uproar over integration is a distraction from the fact that he looks to be a great player. He is hitting .311 with 13 stolen bases already. There is a rumor that they might try shifting him to second base so they can play another rookie, Gil Hodges, at first. Brooklyn is already starting rookie center fielder Duke Snider, who we thought needed more seasoning. Another rookie, draft pick Spider Jorgensen, is playing well at third. They have a couple of rookies in the bullpen that are pitching well also.

New York has power hitting and solid pitching. Johnny Mize has 10 HR already, and Willard Marshall is hitting .348. Rookie Larry Jansen is 4-2 with a 3.60 ERA. Chicago finally made room for Andy Pafko in the lineup, and the move is paying dividends. He is hitting .348 and ranks fourth in RBI. I don't think the Cubs have the lineup or pitching to stay with the New York teams and us, but we have to respect them as contenders. I am also wary of the Braves, who could be tough if their pitching comes around.

It will be interesting to see if the Dodgers can contend through the summer with all of these kids in the lineup. One thing is certain... they will be a force in the future and we must continue to spend and stockpile talent to keep up. In this regard, and before we leave the subject of Jackie Robinson and integration, I want to say that I am glad to have the full support of ownership to pursue black players. Our scouts are already assembling reports on Negro League players and other prospects. We don't want to be left behind in the talent race, and perhaps we can gain an advantage by being pro-active. Brooklyn and Cleveland have a small head start, but it is not too late for us to be on the leading edge of this movement.

Looking more closely at our own club, I can find a lot to like and a few things that disturb me. The strength of the team continues to be the offense. We are scoring 5.5 runs per game, first in the league. We lead the league in batting average and on-base percentage. We are second in the league in HR and third in SB, so we have a nice combination of power and speed.

Individually, Whitey Kurowski is on a MVP pace at .368 (2nd in the league) with 6 HR (tied for fourth) and 29 RBI (leading the league). Ron Northey is right behind him (they are batting 4-5 now), hitting .375 with 5 HR and 28 RBI. Pete Reiser has been great in the leadoff spot with a .405 on-base percentage and 12 SB. Musial and Slaughter are both hitting over .300, and C Andy Seminick is a real pleasant surprise, hitting .341 with 5 HR and 22 RBI. Schoendienst has started slowly but is looking better in the past week or so. Marion is hitting .227 but we don't pay him to hit. Walker and Dusak are both hitting over .300 as pinch-hitters and part-time players.

Pitching is another matter. We have a team ERA of 3.97, which ranks ahead of only Boston and lowly Philadelphia in our league. I have done some analysis on the pitching staff to pinpoint the problem. The starters have a decent 3.45 ERA, 8 complete games, and they average 7 2/3 innings per start. However, the bullpen has a 5.48 ERA with only 3 holds. Clearly, we still have issues in the bullpen despite numerous attempts to upgrade it.

The only problems among the starters are inconsistent performance by Brazle (4-2, 5.02 ERA) and too many injuries. We have already been forced to use a substitute starter in five games. In addition, there is extra stress on our bullpen to manage the remainder of those games in which the starter was hurt early. (Doesn't the injury always seem to occur in the first inning?) Burkhardt, our sixth starter by the original plan, started for an injured pitcher and went out of the game after two batters with his own injury. This forced us to use Munger in long relief one game and as a starter in two more, and Lanier was called up from AAA to start two games.

Rookie Jim Hearn has been a real bright spot, pitching 3 excellent games (3-0, 1.37 ERA), but he missed three starts due to injury. Brecheen was just injured two days ago and will probably miss two starts. Dobson just came back after missing two starts. If we can keep everybody healthy, I think we will be fine with our rotation. We just brought Ken Burkhardt back up from AAA to take the next couple of turns in Brecheen's spot. We don't want to disable Brecheen and have him miss three starts, so we are carrying the sixth starter/long reliever leaving us a little short in the already weak bullpen.

I do get very tired of the Post-Dispatch constantly reporting that Murry Dickson is off to a hot start with Boston (4-1, 3.16 ERA). Yes, we would probably rather have him than Brazle. He is gone though, so they should just get over it already. It hasn't helped that the guy we got for Dickson has blown a couple of games for us.

Regarding the bullpen, let's start with the good... Ted Wilks has been nearly perfect with 5 saves in 5 appearances. However, he has only appeared in five games out of 33. This is because we are always either way ahead (due to our offense) or way behind because a reliever other than Wilks has already blown the game. We must find a couple of reliable relievers to get us through the 7th and 8th innings. It is driving me crazy, but Dyer seems pretty patient about it and points out that our relievers are effective 67% of the time (about the league norm). I am stressed out about the other third.

Earl Johnson, acquired in the offseason for Dickson, was supposed to solve this problem but he has been a major disappointment. He is 1-2 with a 8.78 ERA and 2.33 WHIP in 9 appearances. On April 22, he came into a game with Pittsburgh in the eighth, leading 2-0 after 7 shutout innings by Pollet. He allowed four runs, didn't get out of the inning, and we lost 4-2. A week later, April 29, he entered a game with New York in the seventh, trailing 3-0 (still in it with our offense). He allowed 5 runs in two innings, and we lost 8-0. However, he has a 3.27 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in his other seven appearances, so maybe he just had a bad week.

Cliff Fannin, acquired in last year's big trade for Terry Moore and Dick Sisler, has also been disappointing so far. He is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA in 12 appearances. He started the season with 6 straight strong outings, but has allowed runs in each of his last 6 appearances. Dyer says that he thinks Fannin is a little over-worked and wants to move him to the back of the bullpen for a while to get his second wind.

Red Munger has been pretty good in relief, and we plan to stop using him as a spot starter and try him in the "workhorse reliever" role. We need to get a good look at him now because his contract expires after this season and his agent wants a big raise for an extension.

We need to find a setup man though. Freddy Schmidt has a decent 3.48 ERA in 6 appearances but opposing batters are hitting .295 against him. Everett Fagan has been less than spectacular so far, and was sent down to AAA to make room for Burkhardt. Pete Center and rookie Jerry Staley are both off to good starts at AAA, with ERA's below 2.00. Center is 35 and has an expiring contract, so he is on the bubble for next season. He might be the best choice now, and we might come back to him in a month. But Dyer and I agree that the better move for the future is to gamble on Staley.

Other clubs have thrown rookies into the fire this year with great success, and we have done the same with Hearn, so we hope it will work with Staley too. We need to be patient if he fails a few times, because he has the potential to solve the problem for the long-term. We have a lot of money invested in him, and we need to see a return. I don't like to hold young players back while I watch veterans struggle. I would rather see the high-potential players fail in the short-term and hopefully develop more quickly because of the exposure. He can't be any worse than the pitchers we have put in that role so far... I hope.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 8, 1947
&nbsp;
The Cardinals made another attempt to bolster their sagging bullpen today. The team acquired reliever Gordon Maltzberger from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for reliever Freddy Schmidt. Maltzberger, an all-star selection last year, was 1-0 for the White Sox with a 0.90 ERA in 20 appearances. Schmidt was 0-0 with 3.48 ERA in only 6 appearances, having spent most of the season at AAA.&nbsp;Maltzberger will join the Cardinals in time for today's doubleheader with the&nbsp;Giants, and will assume the setup role according to manager Eddie Dyer.
&nbsp;
<end of article>
&nbsp;
Maltzberger is 35 and his rather large contract will expire at the end of the season. This is a gamble on a rent-a-player to get through the season. I'll worry about whether to re-sign him later. The trade for Dickson allowed me the payroll room to make this move, and I didn't have to sacrifice a valued prospect.
&nbsp;
This would be a cost-cutting move for the White Sox, if the AI cares about such a thing. Otherwise, I assume that the AI preferred the younger Schmidt who pitched longer than Maltzberger.