Infield: Tony Lazzeri (1926-39) was a slugging second baseman on the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees teams. Part of the great Murderers Row lineup, he was good for 15-20 home runs and he drove in 100 runs seven times. (He was actually the first player in organized ball to hit 60 home runs - he went .355-60-222 for Salt Lake City in the Pacific Coast League in 1925.) Lazzeri was epileptic and died in his early 40s when he fell down a flight of stairs during a seizure. First baseman Travis Lee (1998-2006) was the second pick in the 1996 draft, and he went on to hit 115 home runs. He had a little pop and a good glove, but he was never as good as people expected him to be, and he was done in his early 30s. Third baseman Ted Lepcio (1952-61) couldn't hold down a full-time job but lasted a decade as a part-time infielder. He could occasionally have decent seasons (Boston 1956, Detroit 1959), but he was nothing more than a spar part. Tony LaRussa (1963-73) was a terrible hitter, but we need at shortstop. One more hit in his career and he would have nudged above .200, but alas ... He is a smart, intense guy who attended law school during his playing career, earned a law degree and passed the bar exam but then decided he would rather stay in baseball. He went on to become the third-winningest manager in the game's history.
Outfield: Center fielder Tommy Leach (1898-1918) scored 1,300 runs. He had the first hit, and subsequently scored the first run, in World Series history. He had 2,143 hits and 1,355 runs in his career, most of them for the Pirates, and he was fast enough to put up 361 steals and 172 triples. Left fielder Terrence Long (1995-2006) had enough pop to put up 35 doubles and 15 homers per year in his prime, but he never developed into a top-level player. Right fielder Tito Landrum (1980-88) was a functional role player on some of Whitey Herzog's fine Cardinals teams, including the 1982 World Series champions. He also batted .347 with power in 19 postseason games, including an extra-inning home run for the Orioles in the 1983 ALCS.
Catcher: Tim Laudner (1981-89) reached double-digits in home runs four times, but he batted .225 and struck out too much. In college, he used a wooden bat while everyone else used aluminum because he liked to hear the crack of the bat instead of the ding. There's something to be said for that.
Rotation: Ted Lyons (1923-46) won 260 games as a durable, consistent starting pitcher who spent his entire career with the White Sox. He lasted into his 40s by inventing the role of "Sunday pitcher" - an older veteran who can't take a regular turn in the rotation but can pitch once a week, in the Sunday doubleheader, to keep the rest of the rotation on schedule - and he was remarkable in that role. He led the American League in ERA at age 41, when he made 20 starts and pitched 180 innings. Go ahead. Do the math. That's right. Twenty starts, twenty complete games, at age 41. In fact, the last 28 starts of his career were complete games. After leading the league in ERA that year, he enlisted in the Marines and served during World War II for three years, and then came back in his mid-40s to put up a 2.32 ERA in five starts in 1946. He eventually was elected to the Hall of Fame. He was teammates with Thornton Lee (1933-48), who always sounds like an author, because his name is a combination of Thornton Wilder and Harper Lee. He was actually a lefty who won 117 games, most of them for the White Sox. He led the AL in ERA in 1941, one year before Lyons would lead the league in that same category. Tim Lincecum (2007- ) has already won two Cy Young Awards, and he's just now hitting his prime. A baby-face, 165-pound righty with shoulder-length hair and a high leg kick, he is lots of fun to watch, and he's led the NL in strikeouts for the past three seasons. There is every reason to believe that he will one day be the ace of this staff, but let's wait until he actually gets there before we put him ahead of the Hall of Famer. Lefty Ted Lilly (1999- ) has more than 100 wins for six teams, and he's still going strong in his mid-30s. He is named after president Theodore Roosevelt, which is pretty cool. Tom Lovett (1885-94) went 30-11 in 1890 and led the league in winning percentage. He finished his career with 88 victories.
Bullpen: Closer Turk Lown (1951-62) was a durable righty for the Cubs and the White Sox. He led the AL in saves in 1959 (retroactively figured); he led the league once in appearances and three times in games finished. His real name was Omar, but he was reportedly given the nickname Turk because in the minors, he saved money by eating just one large meal per day, usually choosing turkey. Terry Leach (1981-93) did good work in middle relief for the Mets and a couple of other teams - a solid reliever who didn't hurt himself with walks or the long ball. Tim Lollar (1981-86) did OK as a lefty pitcher, but he was best known for hitting eight home runs in 231 career at-bats (including homers against Hall of Famers Tom Seaver and Phil Niekro) People always assumed he was related to the old catcher Sherm Lollar, but he apparently was not. Tim Leary (1981-94) was a promising young pitcher who turned out to be alright but not nearly as good as anticipated. (Insert "Tune in, turn on, drop out" joke here.) Leary and Lollar were primarily starters, but they will work as long men in the bullpen here. Ted Lewis (1896-1901) was a Welshman who was nicknamed "Parson" because he would rather pray than get drunk. Pitching alongside Kid Nichols, he had a 94-64 record for the Boston Beaneaters and, for good measure, earned a Master's degree during his playing career. He later ran for political office and lost but settled for becoming a college president. Terry Larkin (1876-80) was another good 19th-century starter - 89-80 for four teams - but the rotation is crowded. It will be a wide-open competition for spots in the rotation, and the bullpen will be well-stocked for long relief. Tim Layana (1990-93) wasn't very good, but he can pitch mop-up.
Bench: Tim Laker (1992-2006) is the backup catcher. Infielder Tom Lawless (1982-90) is the guy the Reds gave to the Expos in order to get an aging Pete Rose back. Tony Lupien (1940-48) was a passable first baseman for a couple of years, during World War II, when a lot of the better players were unavailable. Outfielder Tom Long (1911-17) hit alright for a few years. Tom Leahy 1897-1905) was a utility man who could catch, play infield or outfield.
Manager: Tommy Lasorda gets the nod over LaRussa, not because he was a better manager, but because the team needs LaRussa at shortstop more than it needs Lasorda in the bullpen. He spent 21 years managing the Dodgers, winning 1,599 games, four pennants and two World Series titles. In those 21 years, Lasorda managed an astonishing nine Rookie of the Year winners, which suggests that the Dodgers had a strong farm system (and very good international scouting) and that Lasorda was pretty good with young ballplayers. One of his defining characteristics was his willingness to stretch (and sometimes break) his defense to get a good bat in the lineup - he played Pedro Guerrro at third base long after it became obvious that it wasn't working out, and he kept running Jose Offerman out to shortstop for years. In 1988, he asked the Dodgers - as a favor - to draft a friend's son. They did so in the 62nd round and ended up getting the best hitting catcher in the history of the game, Mike Piazza. Lasorda is an intense, confrontational guy with a nasty temper, but in dealing with the L.A. media he assumed the persona of an enthusiastic father figure who "bleeds Dodger blue" and hangs out with Hollywood types and eats at Italian restaurants.
No comments:
Post a Comment