Infield: Pat Burrell (2000- ) came up as a first baseman, and in all honesty, he probably should have stayed there. He’s never been pretty to watch in the outfield. Our PB outfield is pretty solid, so he’ll get to stay at first base. And, oh yeah, he’ll hit. He’s never really gotten the credit he deserves, because he hits .250 and strikes out a lot, but that ignores the fact that he walks a lot and hits the ball a long way and has been a consistent run producer. He's pushing 300 career home runs as we write this. OK, so when he came out of the University of Miami as the top pick in the 1998 draft he came billed as the reincarnation of Jimmie Foxx and he never quite got there. But he’s been plenty good. And he shares the infield with a Pug, a Paddy and a Pee Wee. Go figure. Second baseman Pug Bennett (1906-07), who must have been one handsome devil, played a full season or the Cardinals in 1906 and didn’t do half bad, but his major-league career was still pretty short. Third baseman Paddy Baumann (1911-17) spent more seasons in the majors but was never a regular. He actually hit fairly well when given the chance. Negro League shortstop Pee Wee Butts was a spray hitter and an outstanding glove man, especially on the double play. (Junior Gilliam gave Butts much of the credit for his development as a young player.)
Outfield: Center fielder Paul Blair (1964-80) was one of the best defensive outfielders of his era. He was grace personified. He won eight Gold Gloves and, along with Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger, he anchored those great Orioles defenses. He played in six World Series – four with the Orioles, two with the Yankees – and won four of them. Left fielder Pete Browning (1882-94) was a sensational hitter and a truly dreadful fielder. A better hitter than Pat Burrell, and a worse fielder. A scribe once observed that the Louisville team would do better to place a cigar store Indian in the outfielder rather than Browning, on the logic that occasionally the ball might bounce off the statue and back to the infield. But the dude could hit - .341 lifetime with a ton of doubles and triples and lots of stolen bases. Left fielder Phil Bradley (1983-90) was a star quarterback at Missouri, where he at one point held the conference record for career yards of total offense. He was also a great outfielder, and that’s where his professional future lay. He was a very fine hitter, batting between .280-.300 with lots of doubles, a few home runs and 20 steals per year, plus a good enough batting eye to push his career on-base percentage to .369.
Catcher: Pat Borders (1988-2005) wasn’t a great player, but he wasn’t bad either. He hit 10-15 home runs a couple of times, and he was a good enough defender to catch 1,000 games in the majors. He won two World Series titles with Toronto and was named MVP of the ’93 Series.
Rotation: Paul Byrd (1995-2009) very quietly won 109 games in his career. He was never a great pitcher, but almost always a good one. He came up with the Mets, which means he did his time with the local Norfolk Tides, and he was straight up one of the nicest guys in all of baseball. That said, he’s best cast as a third or fourth starter, and on this team he’s got to be the ace of the staff. Pete Burnside (1955-63) had a career record of 19-36 and had trouble keeping the ball in the park. Pete Broberg (1971-78) is a guy from the Ivy League who had a career record of 41-71 and he twice led the American League in hit batsmen. He is the only major leaguer in history whose middle name is Sven. Petie Behan (1921-23) was a converted catcher who made it to the majors at age 33 and had a career record of 7-15. Paul Brown (1961-68) had a career record of 0-6. If you’re counting, that means that after Paul Byrd, the pitching rotation has a collective record of 67-133. That ain’t good.
Bullpen: The closer is Pedro Borbon Sr. (1969-79), who was one of the key pitchers in the bullpen-by-committee for The Big Red Machine. He was a good pitcher, and if you’re familiar with the cliché of the “hot-blooded Dominican,” Borbon might have been the hottest. You know how baseball fights usually consist of a bunch of guys hugging each other real tight? Well, when fights would break out, Borbon would come running out of the bullpen truly looking for someone to hurt. He once bit an opposing player during a fight, and when someone told him that guy got a tetanus shot, Borbon suggested that he should have gotten a rabies shot. Yowza. He was into voodoo, and he is probably the only player in the history whose baseball card (Topps 1970) included the notation that “his hobbies include cockfighting.” The primary setup man is his son, Pedro Borbon Jr. (1992-2003), who wasn’t quite as good as his dad but seemed to have been a calmer fellow. Paul Boris (1982) was a pretty decent minor-league pitcher who got a brief shot in the bigs, 23 games for the Twins in 1982, and pitched pretty well there, too. Pedro Beato (2011- ) is a Mets rookie who has already shown enough to make him a prime player in this thin bullpen. Phil Bedgood (1922-23) put up records of 9-14 and 8-18 in the minors, which of course, convinced the Cleveland Indians to give him a shot. He had a career record of 1-2. Pat Bohen (1913-14) pitched in one game for the A’s in 1913 and one game for the Pirates in 1914. That was his big-league career.
Bench: Outfielder Ping Bodie (1911-21) was born Francesco Stephano Pezzolo, and he was among the first players in the long tradition of Italian immigrant ballplayers from the San Francisco area. There are any number of stories as to how he became “Ping” and how he became “Bodie.” He was a colorful character and pretty fair hitter with good speed, and he roomed with Babe Ruth when the Yankees went on the road in the early 1920s, which must have been quite interesting. Pat Bourque (1971-74) was a pretty decent minor-league first baseman who batted .215 in the majors while bouncing around three teams in four years. Pidge Browne (1962) was a slugging first baseman and outfielder who had a lot of good seasons in the minors and finally got called up to the majors at age 33 to play a few games with the expansion Colt .45s. He didn’t do anything memorable, but it was nice that he got his shot after a long, productive minor-league career. Peter Bergeron (1999-2004) was supposed to be a really good player for the Expos, a .300 hitter with lots of speed. That’s how he was billed, but it never quite worked out. Phil Baker (1883-86), a catcher who also played first and outfield, was a very ordinary player in various prehistoric leagues. Paul Bako (1998-2009) spent more than a decade as a backup catcher in the majors, staying busy with 150-200 at-bats per year.
Manager: Paul Blair will serve as player-manager, drawing on his experience as head coach at Fordham and Coppin State after his playing career.
Outfield: Center fielder Paul Blair (1964-80) was one of the best defensive outfielders of his era. He was grace personified. He won eight Gold Gloves and, along with Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger, he anchored those great Orioles defenses. He played in six World Series – four with the Orioles, two with the Yankees – and won four of them. Left fielder Pete Browning (1882-94) was a sensational hitter and a truly dreadful fielder. A better hitter than Pat Burrell, and a worse fielder. A scribe once observed that the Louisville team would do better to place a cigar store Indian in the outfielder rather than Browning, on the logic that occasionally the ball might bounce off the statue and back to the infield. But the dude could hit - .341 lifetime with a ton of doubles and triples and lots of stolen bases. Left fielder Phil Bradley (1983-90) was a star quarterback at Missouri, where he at one point held the conference record for career yards of total offense. He was also a great outfielder, and that’s where his professional future lay. He was a very fine hitter, batting between .280-.300 with lots of doubles, a few home runs and 20 steals per year, plus a good enough batting eye to push his career on-base percentage to .369.
Catcher: Pat Borders (1988-2005) wasn’t a great player, but he wasn’t bad either. He hit 10-15 home runs a couple of times, and he was a good enough defender to catch 1,000 games in the majors. He won two World Series titles with Toronto and was named MVP of the ’93 Series.
Rotation: Paul Byrd (1995-2009) very quietly won 109 games in his career. He was never a great pitcher, but almost always a good one. He came up with the Mets, which means he did his time with the local Norfolk Tides, and he was straight up one of the nicest guys in all of baseball. That said, he’s best cast as a third or fourth starter, and on this team he’s got to be the ace of the staff. Pete Burnside (1955-63) had a career record of 19-36 and had trouble keeping the ball in the park. Pete Broberg (1971-78) is a guy from the Ivy League who had a career record of 41-71 and he twice led the American League in hit batsmen. He is the only major leaguer in history whose middle name is Sven. Petie Behan (1921-23) was a converted catcher who made it to the majors at age 33 and had a career record of 7-15. Paul Brown (1961-68) had a career record of 0-6. If you’re counting, that means that after Paul Byrd, the pitching rotation has a collective record of 67-133. That ain’t good.
Bullpen: The closer is Pedro Borbon Sr. (1969-79), who was one of the key pitchers in the bullpen-by-committee for The Big Red Machine. He was a good pitcher, and if you’re familiar with the cliché of the “hot-blooded Dominican,” Borbon might have been the hottest. You know how baseball fights usually consist of a bunch of guys hugging each other real tight? Well, when fights would break out, Borbon would come running out of the bullpen truly looking for someone to hurt. He once bit an opposing player during a fight, and when someone told him that guy got a tetanus shot, Borbon suggested that he should have gotten a rabies shot. Yowza. He was into voodoo, and he is probably the only player in the history whose baseball card (Topps 1970) included the notation that “his hobbies include cockfighting.” The primary setup man is his son, Pedro Borbon Jr. (1992-2003), who wasn’t quite as good as his dad but seemed to have been a calmer fellow. Paul Boris (1982) was a pretty decent minor-league pitcher who got a brief shot in the bigs, 23 games for the Twins in 1982, and pitched pretty well there, too. Pedro Beato (2011- ) is a Mets rookie who has already shown enough to make him a prime player in this thin bullpen. Phil Bedgood (1922-23) put up records of 9-14 and 8-18 in the minors, which of course, convinced the Cleveland Indians to give him a shot. He had a career record of 1-2. Pat Bohen (1913-14) pitched in one game for the A’s in 1913 and one game for the Pirates in 1914. That was his big-league career.
Bench: Outfielder Ping Bodie (1911-21) was born Francesco Stephano Pezzolo, and he was among the first players in the long tradition of Italian immigrant ballplayers from the San Francisco area. There are any number of stories as to how he became “Ping” and how he became “Bodie.” He was a colorful character and pretty fair hitter with good speed, and he roomed with Babe Ruth when the Yankees went on the road in the early 1920s, which must have been quite interesting. Pat Bourque (1971-74) was a pretty decent minor-league first baseman who batted .215 in the majors while bouncing around three teams in four years. Pidge Browne (1962) was a slugging first baseman and outfielder who had a lot of good seasons in the minors and finally got called up to the majors at age 33 to play a few games with the expansion Colt .45s. He didn’t do anything memorable, but it was nice that he got his shot after a long, productive minor-league career. Peter Bergeron (1999-2004) was supposed to be a really good player for the Expos, a .300 hitter with lots of speed. That’s how he was billed, but it never quite worked out. Phil Baker (1883-86), a catcher who also played first and outfield, was a very ordinary player in various prehistoric leagues. Paul Bako (1998-2009) spent more than a decade as a backup catcher in the majors, staying busy with 150-200 at-bats per year.
Manager: Paul Blair will serve as player-manager, drawing on his experience as head coach at Fordham and Coppin State after his playing career.
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