Infield: First baseman Rick Leach (1981-90) started at quarterback for four years at Michigan, and his senior year he won the Rose Bowl and finished third in the Heisman voting. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos but, undersized for an NLF quarterback, he opted for a career in baseball. As a native of Flint and an All-American from Ann Arbor, he was a natural with the Detroit Tigers. It would be a great story if he was a .300 hitter and played in all-star games and such, but that never quite materialized. The Tigers gave him some chances, and then the Blue Jays did, and he bounced around a bit, usually hitting a little but never quite enough. Third baseman Rube Lutzke (1923-27) batted .266 in a few year for the Indians but didn’t have much to offer. Second baseman Ralph LaPointe (1947-48) is probably a legend in his hometown of Winooski, Vermont, but he didn’t do anything in the majors to make anyone else remember him. Shortstop Rafael Landestoy (1977-84) was a .237 slap hitter.
Outfield: Ron LeFlore (1974-82) took an unorthodox route to the majors. That’s putting it charitably. He was a junkie, criminal and street thug who ended up in the Jackson State Penitentiary in Michigan, where he stopped using drugs and started playing pickup baseball. He was spotted by another inmate who was one of Billy Martin’s lowlife friends, and the friend convinced Martin to get a look at this speedy young man. Martin, who was managing the Detroit Tigers, was impressed and pulled a few strings to get LeFlore released for one day so that he could visit Tiger Stadium for a tryout. The team signed him on the spot, and the fact that he had a reputable job helped him meet the conditions of his parole. He was a quick learner, batting .288 with a decent batting eye, scoring 100-plus runs three times. He stole 455 bases, including 97 in one season for the Expos. And he had his life story turned into a made-for-TV movie starring Levar Burton. LeFlore spent much of his career in center field because of his speed, but he sometimes struggled with judging fly balls, and we’re going to put him in left. Ray Lankford (1990-2004) will play center. He had 238 home runs, 258 steals and scored almost 1,000 runs. He struck out a lot, but he also walked a lot and did plenty of other things right. A very fine player for a long time. Right fielder Ryan Ludwick (2002- ) took a while before he got a chance to start in the majors, but when he got there he made the most of it. Career slugging percentage near .500.
Catcher: Ray Lamanno (1941-48) hung around Cincinnati for a few years and somehow got picked for the 1946 all-star game while batting .243 in 85 games. Go figure.
Rotation: Red Lucas (1923-38) won 157 games, mostly for the Reds and the Pirates. He was known as The Nashville Narcissus, though it’s not clear if he was actually narcissistic or if the pundits of the 1920s just thought the alliteration sounded cool. He was a career .281 hitter who was a good enough athlete that he was occasionally called upon to fill in at various infield positions. Rick Langford (1976-86) was best known as one of Billy Martin’s workhorse starters on the 1980 A’s, completing 28 starts and working 290 innings. (Note: Second reference on this roster to Billy Martin’s idiosyncratic managerial style.) Langford won 73 games in his career. Rodrigo Lopez (2000- ) has a good run for the Orioles, but his career appears to be running out of steam. Randy Lerch (1975-86) was a 6-foot-5 lefty who had a couple of decent years for Philadelphia and then hung around. Radhames Liz (2007- ) beats out Radhames Dykhoff for the distinction of being the best major-leaguer ever with the first name Radhames. (If middle names count, Bill Castro’s got him beat.)
Bullpen: Red Lynn (1939-44) was a mediocre pitcher in a short career (almost half of his 184 career innings came when he was brought back by the Cubs to fill in for a year during World War II. But he’s the best we’ve got, so he’s the nominal closer. Richie Lewis (1992-98) led the National League in wild pitches in 1994 despite pitching just 54 innings. That took some doing. Ray Lamb (1969-73) had a decent career for the Dodgers and Indians. Rick Lysander (1980-85) pitched in 61 games for the 1983 Twins and put up a 3.38 ERA. His record was 5-12. Tough luck, dude. He was a useful pitcher for a few years. Roxie Lawson (1930-40) won 18 games for Detroit in 1937 despite a 5.26 ERA. Sort of the opposite of Rick Lysander in ’83. Royce Lint (1954) was a lefty who pitched one season for the Cardinals at age 33. Most interesting thing about his major-league career? He had one hit in 10 at-bats, but that hit was a double and he drew six walks. (No, he wasn’t a dwarf.) Lefty Ron Locke (1964) put up a 3.48 ERA for the miserable 1964 Mets at age 22, then for some reason spent the next seven years in the minors and never made it back up.
Bench: Rudy Law (1978-86) was a very fast slap hitter who had one of the weakest outfield arms that anyone has ever seen. (When slow-as-molasses Willie Aikens hit his first career triple, Bill James was quick to point out that it was no surprise the ball had been hit to Rudy Law.) Ricky Ledee (1998-2007) was a lefty stick with some pop who won a couple of World Series rings with the Yankees. Outfielder Ryan Langerhans (2002- ) has a really cool name, but he has yet to establish himself as anything more than a role player. Backup catcher Roy Luebbe (1925) was 0-for-15 with two walks and one sacrifice. But he had three career RBI. Now that’s clutch. Rimp Lanier (1971) was a minor league outfielder and third baseman who got four at-bats (and no hits) for the Pirates team that went on to win the 1971 World Series. No explanation for his nickname, but since he was 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, it might have been a variation of “Shrimp.”
Manager: Rene Lacheman managed the Mariners, Brewers, Marlins and Cubs for all or parts of 10 seasons. He never once had a winning record.
Outfield: Ron LeFlore (1974-82) took an unorthodox route to the majors. That’s putting it charitably. He was a junkie, criminal and street thug who ended up in the Jackson State Penitentiary in Michigan, where he stopped using drugs and started playing pickup baseball. He was spotted by another inmate who was one of Billy Martin’s lowlife friends, and the friend convinced Martin to get a look at this speedy young man. Martin, who was managing the Detroit Tigers, was impressed and pulled a few strings to get LeFlore released for one day so that he could visit Tiger Stadium for a tryout. The team signed him on the spot, and the fact that he had a reputable job helped him meet the conditions of his parole. He was a quick learner, batting .288 with a decent batting eye, scoring 100-plus runs three times. He stole 455 bases, including 97 in one season for the Expos. And he had his life story turned into a made-for-TV movie starring Levar Burton. LeFlore spent much of his career in center field because of his speed, but he sometimes struggled with judging fly balls, and we’re going to put him in left. Ray Lankford (1990-2004) will play center. He had 238 home runs, 258 steals and scored almost 1,000 runs. He struck out a lot, but he also walked a lot and did plenty of other things right. A very fine player for a long time. Right fielder Ryan Ludwick (2002- ) took a while before he got a chance to start in the majors, but when he got there he made the most of it. Career slugging percentage near .500.
Catcher: Ray Lamanno (1941-48) hung around Cincinnati for a few years and somehow got picked for the 1946 all-star game while batting .243 in 85 games. Go figure.
Rotation: Red Lucas (1923-38) won 157 games, mostly for the Reds and the Pirates. He was known as The Nashville Narcissus, though it’s not clear if he was actually narcissistic or if the pundits of the 1920s just thought the alliteration sounded cool. He was a career .281 hitter who was a good enough athlete that he was occasionally called upon to fill in at various infield positions. Rick Langford (1976-86) was best known as one of Billy Martin’s workhorse starters on the 1980 A’s, completing 28 starts and working 290 innings. (Note: Second reference on this roster to Billy Martin’s idiosyncratic managerial style.) Langford won 73 games in his career. Rodrigo Lopez (2000- ) has a good run for the Orioles, but his career appears to be running out of steam. Randy Lerch (1975-86) was a 6-foot-5 lefty who had a couple of decent years for Philadelphia and then hung around. Radhames Liz (2007- ) beats out Radhames Dykhoff for the distinction of being the best major-leaguer ever with the first name Radhames. (If middle names count, Bill Castro’s got him beat.)
Bullpen: Red Lynn (1939-44) was a mediocre pitcher in a short career (almost half of his 184 career innings came when he was brought back by the Cubs to fill in for a year during World War II. But he’s the best we’ve got, so he’s the nominal closer. Richie Lewis (1992-98) led the National League in wild pitches in 1994 despite pitching just 54 innings. That took some doing. Ray Lamb (1969-73) had a decent career for the Dodgers and Indians. Rick Lysander (1980-85) pitched in 61 games for the 1983 Twins and put up a 3.38 ERA. His record was 5-12. Tough luck, dude. He was a useful pitcher for a few years. Roxie Lawson (1930-40) won 18 games for Detroit in 1937 despite a 5.26 ERA. Sort of the opposite of Rick Lysander in ’83. Royce Lint (1954) was a lefty who pitched one season for the Cardinals at age 33. Most interesting thing about his major-league career? He had one hit in 10 at-bats, but that hit was a double and he drew six walks. (No, he wasn’t a dwarf.) Lefty Ron Locke (1964) put up a 3.48 ERA for the miserable 1964 Mets at age 22, then for some reason spent the next seven years in the minors and never made it back up.
Bench: Rudy Law (1978-86) was a very fast slap hitter who had one of the weakest outfield arms that anyone has ever seen. (When slow-as-molasses Willie Aikens hit his first career triple, Bill James was quick to point out that it was no surprise the ball had been hit to Rudy Law.) Ricky Ledee (1998-2007) was a lefty stick with some pop who won a couple of World Series rings with the Yankees. Outfielder Ryan Langerhans (2002- ) has a really cool name, but he has yet to establish himself as anything more than a role player. Backup catcher Roy Luebbe (1925) was 0-for-15 with two walks and one sacrifice. But he had three career RBI. Now that’s clutch. Rimp Lanier (1971) was a minor league outfielder and third baseman who got four at-bats (and no hits) for the Pirates team that went on to win the 1971 World Series. No explanation for his nickname, but since he was 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, it might have been a variation of “Shrimp.”
Manager: Rene Lacheman managed the Mariners, Brewers, Marlins and Cubs for all or parts of 10 seasons. He never once had a winning record.
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