Infield: Lee May (1965-82) was the first baseman who missed all the fun with the Big Red Machine. He left the Reds after the 1971 season, traded to Houston as part of the package that brought Joe Morgan (and Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Dennis Menke, a pretty good haul) to Cincinnati, allowed Tony Perez to move from third to first, and set the pieces in place for the great Reds teams of the 1970s. May wasn’t quite as good as Perez, but he was pretty darn good, a big slugger who hit 354 home runs and drove in 1,244 runs. His strikeout-to-walk ratio was poor and he was sort of a slow, lumbering guy, but he was good at what he did. He had 100-RBI seasons for three different teams and also had two seasons of 98 RBI and two more with 99, so if you squint a little bit, it’s kind of like he had seven 100-RBI seasons. Shortstop Lennie Merullo (1941-47) was the exact opposite of Lee May, a wiry guy with a good glove but no stick. Merullo was a particular favorite of legendary Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, who delighted in telling funny stories about Merullo and making him a symbol of the Cubs’ shortcomings – until Merullo wrote Royko a gracious, self-deprecating note about how hard he worked and how proud he was to play for the Cubs. He included the photo you see next to this article, and joked to Royko that this was how he always played - with his eyes closed. Royko was so inspired by the letter that he wrote an article praising Merullo for the time he punched Dixie Walker in the mouth. You’re probably never heard of third baseman Levi Meyerle (1871-84), but he was one hell of a hitter in the prehistoric era – a .356 career batting average, led the National Association in average twice (including a .492 average in 1871). It’s sometimes hard to make sense of the stats from the 1870s, so we don’t really know where he fits on the spectrum between, say, Ken Caminiti and Home Run Baker, but we can say with some confidence that Long Levi was a good hitter. Second baseman Les Mallon (1931-35) batted .283 for the Phillies and Braves at a time when a .283 batting average wasn’t all that impressive.
Outfield: Center fielder Lloyd Moseby (1980-91) was the full package. He hit 15-20 home runs per year, averaged about 30 steals at a high success rate, and at his peak he would bat .280-.310 with a decent number of walks. Combine that with good defense and you’ve got a heck of an outfielder. Unfortunately, he had some injuries in his late 20s and was done in his early 30s. Left fielder Lee Mazzilli (1976-89) came billed as both a star and a matinee idol, a handsome kid from Brooklyn who arrived in New York and was starting for the Mets at age 22, showing flashes of brilliance. Well, he developed back problems and arm problems and, complicating things further, a cocaine problem, and he ended up having a functional career but well short of stardom. (He did play a role in Mets’ championship season of 1986 – the Mets traded him in ’81 for Ron Darling and Walt Terrell, then traded Terrell for Howard Johnson, and Darling and HoJo were key players in 1986.) Right fielder Lee Maye (1959-71) really has nothing in common with Lee May, except of course for their names, their occupations and the basic time frame of their careers. Maye hit for a better average and hit doubles rather than home runs, and while he wasn’t a speedster, he was faster than May (which is sort of like being taller than Freddie Patek). Maye also sang in a fairly successful doo-wop group and toured with Johnny Otis.
Catcher: Lew McCarty (1913-21) was a part-time player who never drove in or scored more than 30 runs in a season, but in his better seasons he wasn’t a bad player.
Rotation: Leroy "Lefty" Matlock was an outstanding pitcher in the Negro Leagues during the 1930s, highlighted by his 17-0 record for the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1935. Lynn McGlothen (1972-82) won 12-16 games five times between 1974-80 and was generally a decent pitcher. Larry McWilliams (1978-90) was a tall, thin lefty swingman who is best known for teaming with reliever Gene Garber in 1978 to end Pete Rose’s 44-game hitting streak (prompting Rose to complain that they were trying too hard to get him out and should have “challenged him” more at the plate). Lew Moren (1903-10) was a pretty average pitcher for some pretty average Phillies teams. Les Mueller (1941-45) was a career minor-leaguer who filled in reasonably well for Detroit during World War II.
Bullpen: Lindy McDaniel (1955-75) was one of the top closers of the 1960s, in the period when the modern closer role was beginning to take shape. He was a full-time reliever by his early 20s, but he pitched early enough in games to post 141 victories in his career to go along with 172 saves. He pitched 21 years for the Musial-Gibson Cardinals, the Santo-Banks Cubs, the Mays-McCovey Giants, the Munson-Nettles Yankees and the Brett-Otis Royals, but somehow managed to avoid ever advancing to postseason play. Lance McCullers (1985-92) had a fine career as a set-up man with occasional runs in the closer role. Lefty Mills (1934-40) got hit pretty hard, but then, you try pitching for the Browns in the 1930s and see what happens. Lew Marone (1969-70) had a very brief major-league career, a slightly longer minor-league career and did not leave a big impression in either. He was the cousin of erratic flamethrower John D’Acquisto, but it appears he was nowhere near as much fun to watch. Les McCrabb (1939-50) and Leo Mangum (1924-35) combined to win 300 games and change in the minors but generally got pummeled in the bigs. (We think their names would make for a great comic detective show on cable TV: "Magnum and McCrabb.") Lou McEvoy (1930-31) pitched briefly for the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees and still had a losing record.
Bench: Lloyd McClendon (1987-94) was never a great player, but he was very functional – an OK hitter who could play outfield and even catch in a pinch. Outfielder Lastings Milledge (2006- ) is a terrific athlete and is young, so we’ll have to wait and see what kind of player he develops into. He pissed off a lot of veterans in 2006 when he hit his first major-league home run and had the temerity to high-five some fans near the dugout. (Their reaction points out a huge distinction between baseball and football, since in the NFL it is routine for players to run around the field waving their arms and gesturing to the crowd after making routine plays.) Larry Milbourne (1974-84) and Lou Merloni (1998-2006) were very ordinary middle infielders. Outfielder and second baseman Lee Magee (1911-19) was a pretty fair player, a .276 hitter with some speed, who was run out of the game because of his commiseration with Hal Chase in the attempted fixing of ballgames in the run-up to the Black Sox scandal. It is worth noting that (a.) he was no relation to Hall of Famer Sherry Magee, and (b.) his real name was Leopold Hoernschemeyer.
Manager: Les Moss was a long-time coach who had brief tenures as manager of the White Sox and the Tigers.
Outfield: Center fielder Lloyd Moseby (1980-91) was the full package. He hit 15-20 home runs per year, averaged about 30 steals at a high success rate, and at his peak he would bat .280-.310 with a decent number of walks. Combine that with good defense and you’ve got a heck of an outfielder. Unfortunately, he had some injuries in his late 20s and was done in his early 30s. Left fielder Lee Mazzilli (1976-89) came billed as both a star and a matinee idol, a handsome kid from Brooklyn who arrived in New York and was starting for the Mets at age 22, showing flashes of brilliance. Well, he developed back problems and arm problems and, complicating things further, a cocaine problem, and he ended up having a functional career but well short of stardom. (He did play a role in Mets’ championship season of 1986 – the Mets traded him in ’81 for Ron Darling and Walt Terrell, then traded Terrell for Howard Johnson, and Darling and HoJo were key players in 1986.) Right fielder Lee Maye (1959-71) really has nothing in common with Lee May, except of course for their names, their occupations and the basic time frame of their careers. Maye hit for a better average and hit doubles rather than home runs, and while he wasn’t a speedster, he was faster than May (which is sort of like being taller than Freddie Patek). Maye also sang in a fairly successful doo-wop group and toured with Johnny Otis.
Catcher: Lew McCarty (1913-21) was a part-time player who never drove in or scored more than 30 runs in a season, but in his better seasons he wasn’t a bad player.
Rotation: Leroy "Lefty" Matlock was an outstanding pitcher in the Negro Leagues during the 1930s, highlighted by his 17-0 record for the Pittsburgh Crawfords in 1935. Lynn McGlothen (1972-82) won 12-16 games five times between 1974-80 and was generally a decent pitcher. Larry McWilliams (1978-90) was a tall, thin lefty swingman who is best known for teaming with reliever Gene Garber in 1978 to end Pete Rose’s 44-game hitting streak (prompting Rose to complain that they were trying too hard to get him out and should have “challenged him” more at the plate). Lew Moren (1903-10) was a pretty average pitcher for some pretty average Phillies teams. Les Mueller (1941-45) was a career minor-leaguer who filled in reasonably well for Detroit during World War II.
Bullpen: Lindy McDaniel (1955-75) was one of the top closers of the 1960s, in the period when the modern closer role was beginning to take shape. He was a full-time reliever by his early 20s, but he pitched early enough in games to post 141 victories in his career to go along with 172 saves. He pitched 21 years for the Musial-Gibson Cardinals, the Santo-Banks Cubs, the Mays-McCovey Giants, the Munson-Nettles Yankees and the Brett-Otis Royals, but somehow managed to avoid ever advancing to postseason play. Lance McCullers (1985-92) had a fine career as a set-up man with occasional runs in the closer role. Lefty Mills (1934-40) got hit pretty hard, but then, you try pitching for the Browns in the 1930s and see what happens. Lew Marone (1969-70) had a very brief major-league career, a slightly longer minor-league career and did not leave a big impression in either. He was the cousin of erratic flamethrower John D’Acquisto, but it appears he was nowhere near as much fun to watch. Les McCrabb (1939-50) and Leo Mangum (1924-35) combined to win 300 games and change in the minors but generally got pummeled in the bigs. (We think their names would make for a great comic detective show on cable TV: "Magnum and McCrabb.") Lou McEvoy (1930-31) pitched briefly for the Ruth-Gehrig Yankees and still had a losing record.
Bench: Lloyd McClendon (1987-94) was never a great player, but he was very functional – an OK hitter who could play outfield and even catch in a pinch. Outfielder Lastings Milledge (2006- ) is a terrific athlete and is young, so we’ll have to wait and see what kind of player he develops into. He pissed off a lot of veterans in 2006 when he hit his first major-league home run and had the temerity to high-five some fans near the dugout. (Their reaction points out a huge distinction between baseball and football, since in the NFL it is routine for players to run around the field waving their arms and gesturing to the crowd after making routine plays.) Larry Milbourne (1974-84) and Lou Merloni (1998-2006) were very ordinary middle infielders. Outfielder and second baseman Lee Magee (1911-19) was a pretty fair player, a .276 hitter with some speed, who was run out of the game because of his commiseration with Hal Chase in the attempted fixing of ballgames in the run-up to the Black Sox scandal. It is worth noting that (a.) he was no relation to Hall of Famer Sherry Magee, and (b.) his real name was Leopold Hoernschemeyer.
Manager: Les Moss was a long-time coach who had brief tenures as manager of the White Sox and the Tigers.
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