Infield: Third baseman Pablo Sandoval (2008- ) got called up to the Giants at midseason in 2008, at age 21, and he batted .345 in 145 at-bats. Of course, everyone knew the kid couldn’t put up that kind of batting average over the course of a full season, and in 2009 he proved it – given a full season at age 22, he only batted .330. With, uh, 45 doubles, 25 homers and, perhaps most impressive, 52 walks (coming from a guy who swung at just about everything as a rookie). He’s 5-foot-11, 245 pounds, he’s known as “Kung Fu Panda,” and he's great fun to watch. First baseman Paul Smith (1953-58) is every bit as exciting as his name suggests – a .270 hitter who walks a bit, bunts well and has no power or speed. You don’t see a lot of 5-foot-8 first basemen. Second baseman Pete “Pecky” Suder (1941-55) spent his whole career with the A’s, mostly in Philly but spending his last year in Kansas City. He was a sure-handed fielder but not much of a hitter – a rather empty .249 career batting average. Shortstop Pop Smith (1880-91) batted .222 with no walks and no power. He stole a lot of bases, but then, he played when you got a stolen base for going from first to third on a single. Not to be confused with Pop-Boy Smith, who was a different, apparently unrelated (though they both had the first name Charles) player from a generation later.
Outfield: Left fielder Pat Seerey (1943-49) was known as “Fat Pat,” but don’t let that fool you. Well, yeah, he was a bit on the large side. But he turned that into power – 86 career homers in 1,815 at-bats, and four home runs in one memorable game against the Philadelphia A’s in 1948. He was a .224 hitter who led the league in strikeouts four times despite never playing 130 games in a single season, but he hit home runs and played a decent defense – sort of an early model of Gorman Thomas or Rob Deer. Right fielder Pat Sheridan (1981-91) was a role player who had five seasons with 100-plus games (and another with 98) but who had only one year in which he qualified for the batting title. A career .253 hitter who worked hard. Center fielder Paul Strand (1913-24) batted 227 times in the majors and hit .224 with four walks. On the other hand, he played in the minors until he was 34, batting .334 with power, so he must have had something going on.
Catcher: Pop Snyder (1873-91) didn’t hit much -- .235, to be precise – but he came up at age 18 and struck around until he was 36.
Rotation: Lefty Paul Splittorff (1970-84) spent his whole career with the Royals, arriving two years after their arrival in the ’68 expansion and retiring one year before their World Series title in ’85. In between he won 166 games (the most in franchise history) and was a fine, durable, consistent pitcher. Pete Schourek (1991-2001), another lefty, went 18-7 for Cincinnati in 1995. Other than that season, his career high was eight victories. Pete Smith (1987-98) pitched for some terrible teams, and as a result he finished his career with 47 victories to go with 71 losses. He came up young, got injured often, but in 1992 managed to start 11 games for Atlanta and go 7-0 with a 2.05 ERA. Pete Schneider (1914-19) won 14, 10 and 20 games in the years between 1915-17, but he lost 19 in each of those seasons. Finished his career 59-86, mostly with the Reds, but left before the championship season of 1919. Phenomenal Smith (1884-91) wasn’t all that phenomenal (54-74 lifetime) and he wasn’t really Smith (born John Gammon), but he played under the name John Francis Smith and got the nickname after striking out 16 in a game in a minor-league game in 1885. He had some good seasons, and he was later Christy Mathewson’s minor-league manager.
Bullpen: Closer Paul Shuey (1994-2007) was a big righty who was a key component in the very good Cleveland pens during the mid- to late-1990s. Never a full-time closer, but filled in occasionally and did well. Paul Spoljaric (1994-2000) was a big lefty who had a couple of good seasons in Toronto and then started getting knocked around. He stuck around past his expiration date, as lefties often do. He pitched for his native Canada in the 2004 Olympics and is still pitching in Canadian independent leagues as he approaches 40. Pete Sivess (1936-38) went 7-11 for the Phillies, which is what tends to happen when you walk twice as many as you strike out. Paul Siebert (1974-78) was a lefty who was out of baseball by age 26 because of injuries, but he, too, walked more than he struck out, so he was never destined to have a long career. Pat Simmons (1928-29) had a fine rookie season as a 19-year-old reliever with the last-place Red Sox, and then he just disappeared – losing record in the minors, and out of organized ball by age 24. Pete Standridge (1911-15) had a couple of 20-win seasons in the Class-D Western Canada League, and another in the Pacific Coast League, but he didn’t do much in the majors (though he was one of the first pitchers to develop a forkball). Paul Schreiber (1922-45) pitched 20 innings, walked 10, struck out five, had no career decisions. And, no, he didn’t pitch 23 seasons. He pitched in parts of two, then was brought back at age 42 to work a couple of innings during World War II. He did win 100 games in the minors.
Bench: Paul Schaal (1964-74) was the Royals third baseman before George Brett. A useful player, actually, a .244 hitter but with a lot of walks. Outfielder Pete Scott (1926-28) had a .303 lifetime average, and in 522 at-bats spread over two seasons with the Cubs and one with the Pirates, he had 41 doubles, 59 walks, 95 runs and 88 RBI. He played in the Pacific Coast League until he was 35, and he was a consistent .320 hitter in more than 1,000 minor-league games. Why he never stuck in the majors is not explained. Outfielder Phil Stephenson (1989-92) spent some time with the Padres and batted .201. Pop Schriver (1886-1901) is another 19th-century catcher, and therefore a fine backup to Pop Snyder. Paul Sentell (1906-07) is a backup outfielder and infielder. He left no thumbprint in the majors, but he hung around the minors until he was almost 40 and collected 1,200 hits.
Manager: Pop Snyder, this team’s player-manager, played that same role for the Cincinnati Red Stockings in the early 1880s, winning the American Association pennant in ’82. It gives sort of a Damon Runyan touch to have a manager named Pop.
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