Infield: Shortstop Stephen Drew (2006- ) is still in his 20s and he has yet to play in an all-star game, but he is the best player in this admittedly mundane infield. The brother of J.D. is a .270 hitter with gap power and and a serviceable glove. Third baseman Sam Dente (1947-55) was actually a shortstop, but he moves to his secondary position on this team. He was a .252 hitter who struggled to get both his on-base and slugging percentages up over .300, but he must have had some good genes to pass along, because his grandson Rick Porcello looks like he’s got something going on. Second baseman Steve Dillard (1975-82) wasn’t a very good hitter, and his defense wasn’t good enough to carry his stick. First baseman Shelley Duncan (2007- ) is a minor-league slugger who has yet to get a foothold in the majors, and since he’s in his 30s, you’ve got to think time is running out. He’s the son of Dave Duncan and the brother of Chris Duncan. When we first composed and posted the Stella Dallases, we noted that Shelley had hit 170 minor-league homers and eight in the majors, and we laid odds that he would hit his 200th in the minors before he hits his 20th in the majors. We were wrong. The Indians gave him some playing time in 2010 and he hit 11 home runs, and he hit career homer No. 20 early in the 2011 season. He's back in the minors now, chasing 200 again.
Outfield: Shawon Dunston (1985-2002) was a shortstop with a cannon arm, and in his 30s he extended his career by becoming an outfielder and utility type. He’ll play left on this team, since Stephen Drew is a better hitter than any of the backup outfielders. Dunston was a No. 1 draft pick but never developed into a star, primarily because he had the worst stikeout-to-walk rate in history (1,000 strikeouts, 159 unintentional walks, how you like them apples?). His batting eye didn’t improve as he got older, either. When he was 34 years old, he went to the plate 511 times and drew eight walks (not a good sign when you play a full season and you ground into more double plays than your walk total). On the other hand, he hit 150 homers, stole 212 bases and had that great throwing arm. He wasn’t a terrible player, but he would have been better if (a.) he had learned to take, say, 50 walks in a season and (b.) he had moved off of shortstop earlier, since he was overmatched by the position. Center fielder Solly Drake (1956-59) was a speedster who had some injury problems and spent more time in the minors (842 games) than in the majors (141 games). Right fielder Sam Dungan (1892-1901) was a .300 hitter at the turn of the century.
Catcher: Spud Davis (1928-45) had a .308 batting average in a 16-year career, plus he had some gap power. He played for four teams and was a member of the Gas House Gang Cardinals of 1934, going 2-for-2 in the World Series.
Rotation: Storm Davis (1982-94) had a strange career. He broke into the rotation of a very good Baltimore team at age 20 and had a few good years. In 1989 he won a career-high 19 games for Oakland, but he honestly didn’t pitch very well – a lot of baserunners, a lot of home runs – and the 19-7 record was sort of a fluke, mostly attributable to the powerful offense supporting him. The Royals believed the won-lost record and not the rest of his stats and signed him to a free-agent deal that didn’t turn out so well. After those 19 wins in ’89, he went 21-34 the rest of his career. Steve Dunning (1970-77) was a mediocre swingman for the Indians. Sean Douglass (2001-05) was one of the kids on the 1960s sitcom “My Three Sons,” right? No, wait, he was a 6-foot-6 righty who went 7-13 for three teams. Steve Dreyer (1993-94) went 4-4 for the Rangers. Canadian lefty Scott Diamond (2011- ) was signed by the Braves out of a small college in New York as an undrafted free agent. He made quick progress through the minors, was claimed by the Twins in the Rule V draft and joined the Minnesota rotation by his mid-20s.
Bullpen: Scott Downs (2000- ) is a lefty who has spent most of his career north of the border and has emerged in recent years as a pretty decent pitcher. He has established himself as a lefty specialist, but he has 16 saves in his career and will start out as the team’s closer. Scott Dohmann (2005-08) gives up a lot of home runs, so perhaps it’s fitting that his last name begins with Homer Simpson’s famous groan (“D’oh!”). Sonny Dixon (1953-56) bounced around the American League for a few years and went 11-18 but actually wasn’t too bad. Sean Depaula (1999-2002) averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings, but also 10 hits, 5 walks and 1½ home runs. Steve Davis (1985-89) had a career 6.44 ERA. He’s the lefty setup man. Sam Dailey (1929) was a career minor-leaguer who got kicked around for 20 games with the Phillies. Steve Delabar (2011- ) stalled out after several seasons in the minors and was basically out of baseall for a few years. He did some substitute teaching but apparently kept working out. Signed by the Mariners in the spring of 2011 and was in the major-league bullpen late that season.
Bench: Infielder Sammy Drake (1960-62), brother of outfielder Solly, batted .153 for his career, which coincidentally is the same as his slugging percentage. Steve Decker (1990-99) was a promising catcher with a little pop and a decent batting eye who never developed into a productive major-league hitter (though he batted .300 with 100 home runs in the minors). Steve Demeter (1959-60) batted .290 in the minors and hit almost 300 home runs, but he was a third baseman in the Baltimore system in the 1960s so he had nowhere to go. He batted .087 in 23 big-league at-bats. She Donahue (1904) was a middle infielder who batted .219. Sun Daly (1892) batted .250 as a reserve outfielder on a bad team.
Manager: Spud Davis is the player-manager. He spent many years as a coach and scout in the majors, and when manager Frankie Frisch left the Pirates near the end of a dreadful 1946 season, it was Davis who took over for the final three games.
Outfield: Shawon Dunston (1985-2002) was a shortstop with a cannon arm, and in his 30s he extended his career by becoming an outfielder and utility type. He’ll play left on this team, since Stephen Drew is a better hitter than any of the backup outfielders. Dunston was a No. 1 draft pick but never developed into a star, primarily because he had the worst stikeout-to-walk rate in history (1,000 strikeouts, 159 unintentional walks, how you like them apples?). His batting eye didn’t improve as he got older, either. When he was 34 years old, he went to the plate 511 times and drew eight walks (not a good sign when you play a full season and you ground into more double plays than your walk total). On the other hand, he hit 150 homers, stole 212 bases and had that great throwing arm. He wasn’t a terrible player, but he would have been better if (a.) he had learned to take, say, 50 walks in a season and (b.) he had moved off of shortstop earlier, since he was overmatched by the position. Center fielder Solly Drake (1956-59) was a speedster who had some injury problems and spent more time in the minors (842 games) than in the majors (141 games). Right fielder Sam Dungan (1892-1901) was a .300 hitter at the turn of the century.
Catcher: Spud Davis (1928-45) had a .308 batting average in a 16-year career, plus he had some gap power. He played for four teams and was a member of the Gas House Gang Cardinals of 1934, going 2-for-2 in the World Series.
Rotation: Storm Davis (1982-94) had a strange career. He broke into the rotation of a very good Baltimore team at age 20 and had a few good years. In 1989 he won a career-high 19 games for Oakland, but he honestly didn’t pitch very well – a lot of baserunners, a lot of home runs – and the 19-7 record was sort of a fluke, mostly attributable to the powerful offense supporting him. The Royals believed the won-lost record and not the rest of his stats and signed him to a free-agent deal that didn’t turn out so well. After those 19 wins in ’89, he went 21-34 the rest of his career. Steve Dunning (1970-77) was a mediocre swingman for the Indians. Sean Douglass (2001-05) was one of the kids on the 1960s sitcom “My Three Sons,” right? No, wait, he was a 6-foot-6 righty who went 7-13 for three teams. Steve Dreyer (1993-94) went 4-4 for the Rangers. Canadian lefty Scott Diamond (2011- ) was signed by the Braves out of a small college in New York as an undrafted free agent. He made quick progress through the minors, was claimed by the Twins in the Rule V draft and joined the Minnesota rotation by his mid-20s.
Bullpen: Scott Downs (2000- ) is a lefty who has spent most of his career north of the border and has emerged in recent years as a pretty decent pitcher. He has established himself as a lefty specialist, but he has 16 saves in his career and will start out as the team’s closer. Scott Dohmann (2005-08) gives up a lot of home runs, so perhaps it’s fitting that his last name begins with Homer Simpson’s famous groan (“D’oh!”). Sonny Dixon (1953-56) bounced around the American League for a few years and went 11-18 but actually wasn’t too bad. Sean Depaula (1999-2002) averaged 11 strikeouts per nine innings, but also 10 hits, 5 walks and 1½ home runs. Steve Davis (1985-89) had a career 6.44 ERA. He’s the lefty setup man. Sam Dailey (1929) was a career minor-leaguer who got kicked around for 20 games with the Phillies. Steve Delabar (2011- ) stalled out after several seasons in the minors and was basically out of baseall for a few years. He did some substitute teaching but apparently kept working out. Signed by the Mariners in the spring of 2011 and was in the major-league bullpen late that season.
Bench: Infielder Sammy Drake (1960-62), brother of outfielder Solly, batted .153 for his career, which coincidentally is the same as his slugging percentage. Steve Decker (1990-99) was a promising catcher with a little pop and a decent batting eye who never developed into a productive major-league hitter (though he batted .300 with 100 home runs in the minors). Steve Demeter (1959-60) batted .290 in the minors and hit almost 300 home runs, but he was a third baseman in the Baltimore system in the 1960s so he had nowhere to go. He batted .087 in 23 big-league at-bats. She Donahue (1904) was a middle infielder who batted .219. Sun Daly (1892) batted .250 as a reserve outfielder on a bad team.
Manager: Spud Davis is the player-manager. He spent many years as a coach and scout in the majors, and when manager Frankie Frisch left the Pirates near the end of a dreadful 1946 season, it was Davis who took over for the final three games.
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