Infield: Second baseman Frank White (1973-90) was a fantastic defenseive second baseman and was a decent enough hitter — .255 career, with 400 doubles and 160 home runs, 886 RBI and 912 runs. Overall a very fine player and a key guy on the Kansas City Royals teams that won consistently for a decade, culminating with the World Series title in 1985. He was the most successful graduate of the Royals’ innovative “Baseball Academy,” which was designed to take undrafted players who were good athletes but limited baseball backgrounds and to develop them into ballplayers. First baseman Fred Whitfield (1962-70) was a first baseman with some pop – he would hit 25 home runs in a good season. Other than that, he didn’t do much, and most of his teams generally found someone better to play first base and push him aside. Third baseman Fred Waterman (1871-75) was a fine player in baseball’s earliest days immediately after the Civil War and before any “major leagues” had emerged. He played just a handful of games in the National Association, generally recognized as the first “major league,” though he did have 101 hits in 303 career at-bats, good for a career average of .333. His photograph at baseballreference.com shows a gentleman in a suitcoat and bow tie who actually bears at least a passing resemblance to John Wilkes Booth. Shortstop Fred Warner (1875-84) played in the same era but wasn’t nearly as good as Waterman.
Outfield: Center fielder Farmer Weaver (1888-94) was a West Virginia boy who most likely did grow up on a farm, though it is unclear whether he also knew how to weave. He was a versatile player with some speed and he played several different positions, but his most common spot was center field. Right fielder Frank Welch (1919-27), nicknamed “Bugger” for some reason, spent most of his career playing for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s during the period when they were making the transition from cash-depleted sad sacks back toward respectability. He hung around long enough to play with Lefty Grove and Mickey Cochrane, but he was done before the Foxx-Grove-Cochrane dynasty took root. Left fielder Frank “Squash” Wilson (1924-28) did little to distinguish himself in his brief major-league career, but his presence in left does give the team an outfield consisting of a Farmer flanked by Squash and Bugger.
Catcher: Fleet Walker (1884), while not well known, is a key figure in baseball history. Playing for Toledo in the American Association, he was the most prominent of a handful of black players who made an inroads into the major leagues in their formative period. A college man, he was a good hitter and a strong catcher with a good reputation for handling pitchers. Some people weren’t comfortable with their presence, and there was an incident in which Cap Anson, the biggest star in the game, threatened to boycott games against Toledo rather than share a ballfield with a black man. This incident is often pointed to as the precise moment when baseball's de facto color line was drawn, and while that analysis is an oversimplification, the fact remains that Moses Fleetwood Walker was the last black player in the majors before Jackie Robinson in 1947. (It has been said that for a half-century, he was the answer to two baseball trivia questions: Who was the first black player in the majors? And who was the last black player in the majors?)
Rotation: Negro League right-hander Frank Wickware had one of the best fastball of the ‘teens. He hailed from the same hometown as Walter Johnson – Coffeyville, Kansas – and the two men had some noteworthy pitchers’ duels in exhibition games. He changed teams frequently, going where the money was, and there was one instance when two different teams vying for a league championship were surprised to learn that Wickware had agreed to pitch for both teams. The game was held up by a protest over which team had the rights to use him. He will be looked to for a heavy workload on this staff, as the rest of the rotation is as thin as tissue. Frank Wills (1983-91), not to be confused with the security guard who rattled the doorknob that led to Watergate and the resignation of Richard Nixon, was a first-round draft pick of the Kasnas City Royals who never developed into an effective pitcher at the major-league level. He spent most of his career in the bullpen but did manage a few dozen starts. Finished with a 22-26 record and a 5.06 ERA. Lefty Fin Wilson (1914-15) pitched briefly for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League. He wasn’t great, but he was better than his 1-9 career record would indicate. He also batted .324 for his career, which counts for something. Frank Woodward (1918-23) had a fine career in the minors but never fully established himself in the majors. He finished with a career record of 9-15, spread out over four teams and five seasons. Frank Watt (1931), nicknamed Kilowatt, had seasons with 28 and 20 wins in the minors but didn’t make it to the majors until he was 28, at which point he went 5-5 as a swingman with a weak Phillies team.
Bullpen: Closer Frank Williams (1984-89) forged a pretty fair major-league career into a life that included a humble beginning and a tragic end. He and his twin brother were abandoned as infants and bounced around the Foster Care system in the Pacific Northwest, going through several dreadful homes before finally landing with a stable and loving family. He made it to the majors with the Giants in 1984 and spent his entire career as a reliever, except for one start as a rookie in which he threw a complete game shutout (OK, it was rain-shortened to five innings, but it still counts as a complete game and a shutout). He pitched 333 games – mostly middle relief, though he did have eight saves – and was still pitching well when he sustained a broken neck and other injuries in a car accident. The injuries ended his career and sent his life into a tailspin. His drinking habit and reckless nature devolved into severe alcoholism, and his marriage fell apart. Upon learning that his birth parents were part of an aboriginal tribe in British Columbia, he moved to Vancouver and worked construction jobs when he could find them, along with his twin brother, who had also been injured in an accident. Williams’ drug and alcohol habits worsened, and he spent time living on the street and in flophouses. Shortly after his brother died in a fire, Williams suffered a heart attack and died at age 50. Floyd Weaver (1962-71) spent a lot more time in the minors than in the majors. He was born in Ben Franklin, Texas, went to high school in Pecan Gap, Texas, and ultimately died in Powderly, Texas, thus cornering the market on small towns with quaint names. Fred Wenz (1968-70) was nicknamed “Fireball,” but that may have referred less to his fastball than to his propensity for tossing gasoline on the fire by giving up home runs. Fred Waters (1955-56) was a lefty who had a pretty decent rookie year for the Pirates, with a 2.82 ERA in 23 games, but he walked twice as many as he struck out. Despite the promising results, he ended up back in the minors and continued to pitch well there for several more years. Fred Woodcock (1892) was a 19th-century lefty with a name that would make Beavis and Butt-Head snicker uncontrollably. Floyd Wooldridge (1955) was a swingman who spent some time with the Cardinals, but when you give up 91 baseunners and strike out just 14 in 58 innings, you don’t stick around long. Fred Winchell (1909), who may or may not have been related to either Walter or Paul, was 0-3 with a 6.28 ERA for the Indians.
Bench: Negro League second baseman Frank Warfield was a 5-foot-7 speedster who was known primarily for his fielding prowess and his baserunning. Backup catcher Frank “Kid” Withrow (1920-22) didn’t hit much. Outfielder Floyd “What Do You Want” Wicker (1968-71) batted .159 for four teams and had almost twice as many strikeouts as hits. Outfielder Frank Whitney (1876) was nicknamed “Jumbo” despite the fact that he was 5-7 and 152 pounds. Infielder Frank Whitman (1946-48) wasn’t good enough to move the aging Luke Appling off of the White Sox shortstop position.
Manager: Fred Waters managed the low minors in the Minnesota Twins system for many years and had a role in the early development of several generations of players, from Rod Carew and Kirby Puckett. Waters will be assisted by Frank Warfield, who was player-manager of the Baltimore Black Sox team that won the Negro American League title in 1929.
Outfield: Center fielder Farmer Weaver (1888-94) was a West Virginia boy who most likely did grow up on a farm, though it is unclear whether he also knew how to weave. He was a versatile player with some speed and he played several different positions, but his most common spot was center field. Right fielder Frank Welch (1919-27), nicknamed “Bugger” for some reason, spent most of his career playing for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s during the period when they were making the transition from cash-depleted sad sacks back toward respectability. He hung around long enough to play with Lefty Grove and Mickey Cochrane, but he was done before the Foxx-Grove-Cochrane dynasty took root. Left fielder Frank “Squash” Wilson (1924-28) did little to distinguish himself in his brief major-league career, but his presence in left does give the team an outfield consisting of a Farmer flanked by Squash and Bugger.
Catcher: Fleet Walker (1884), while not well known, is a key figure in baseball history. Playing for Toledo in the American Association, he was the most prominent of a handful of black players who made an inroads into the major leagues in their formative period. A college man, he was a good hitter and a strong catcher with a good reputation for handling pitchers. Some people weren’t comfortable with their presence, and there was an incident in which Cap Anson, the biggest star in the game, threatened to boycott games against Toledo rather than share a ballfield with a black man. This incident is often pointed to as the precise moment when baseball's de facto color line was drawn, and while that analysis is an oversimplification, the fact remains that Moses Fleetwood Walker was the last black player in the majors before Jackie Robinson in 1947. (It has been said that for a half-century, he was the answer to two baseball trivia questions: Who was the first black player in the majors? And who was the last black player in the majors?)
Rotation: Negro League right-hander Frank Wickware had one of the best fastball of the ‘teens. He hailed from the same hometown as Walter Johnson – Coffeyville, Kansas – and the two men had some noteworthy pitchers’ duels in exhibition games. He changed teams frequently, going where the money was, and there was one instance when two different teams vying for a league championship were surprised to learn that Wickware had agreed to pitch for both teams. The game was held up by a protest over which team had the rights to use him. He will be looked to for a heavy workload on this staff, as the rest of the rotation is as thin as tissue. Frank Wills (1983-91), not to be confused with the security guard who rattled the doorknob that led to Watergate and the resignation of Richard Nixon, was a first-round draft pick of the Kasnas City Royals who never developed into an effective pitcher at the major-league level. He spent most of his career in the bullpen but did manage a few dozen starts. Finished with a 22-26 record and a 5.06 ERA. Lefty Fin Wilson (1914-15) pitched briefly for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League. He wasn’t great, but he was better than his 1-9 career record would indicate. He also batted .324 for his career, which counts for something. Frank Woodward (1918-23) had a fine career in the minors but never fully established himself in the majors. He finished with a career record of 9-15, spread out over four teams and five seasons. Frank Watt (1931), nicknamed Kilowatt, had seasons with 28 and 20 wins in the minors but didn’t make it to the majors until he was 28, at which point he went 5-5 as a swingman with a weak Phillies team.
Bullpen: Closer Frank Williams (1984-89) forged a pretty fair major-league career into a life that included a humble beginning and a tragic end. He and his twin brother were abandoned as infants and bounced around the Foster Care system in the Pacific Northwest, going through several dreadful homes before finally landing with a stable and loving family. He made it to the majors with the Giants in 1984 and spent his entire career as a reliever, except for one start as a rookie in which he threw a complete game shutout (OK, it was rain-shortened to five innings, but it still counts as a complete game and a shutout). He pitched 333 games – mostly middle relief, though he did have eight saves – and was still pitching well when he sustained a broken neck and other injuries in a car accident. The injuries ended his career and sent his life into a tailspin. His drinking habit and reckless nature devolved into severe alcoholism, and his marriage fell apart. Upon learning that his birth parents were part of an aboriginal tribe in British Columbia, he moved to Vancouver and worked construction jobs when he could find them, along with his twin brother, who had also been injured in an accident. Williams’ drug and alcohol habits worsened, and he spent time living on the street and in flophouses. Shortly after his brother died in a fire, Williams suffered a heart attack and died at age 50. Floyd Weaver (1962-71) spent a lot more time in the minors than in the majors. He was born in Ben Franklin, Texas, went to high school in Pecan Gap, Texas, and ultimately died in Powderly, Texas, thus cornering the market on small towns with quaint names. Fred Wenz (1968-70) was nicknamed “Fireball,” but that may have referred less to his fastball than to his propensity for tossing gasoline on the fire by giving up home runs. Fred Waters (1955-56) was a lefty who had a pretty decent rookie year for the Pirates, with a 2.82 ERA in 23 games, but he walked twice as many as he struck out. Despite the promising results, he ended up back in the minors and continued to pitch well there for several more years. Fred Woodcock (1892) was a 19th-century lefty with a name that would make Beavis and Butt-Head snicker uncontrollably. Floyd Wooldridge (1955) was a swingman who spent some time with the Cardinals, but when you give up 91 baseunners and strike out just 14 in 58 innings, you don’t stick around long. Fred Winchell (1909), who may or may not have been related to either Walter or Paul, was 0-3 with a 6.28 ERA for the Indians.
Bench: Negro League second baseman Frank Warfield was a 5-foot-7 speedster who was known primarily for his fielding prowess and his baserunning. Backup catcher Frank “Kid” Withrow (1920-22) didn’t hit much. Outfielder Floyd “What Do You Want” Wicker (1968-71) batted .159 for four teams and had almost twice as many strikeouts as hits. Outfielder Frank Whitney (1876) was nicknamed “Jumbo” despite the fact that he was 5-7 and 152 pounds. Infielder Frank Whitman (1946-48) wasn’t good enough to move the aging Luke Appling off of the White Sox shortstop position.
Manager: Fred Waters managed the low minors in the Minnesota Twins system for many years and had a role in the early development of several generations of players, from Rod Carew and Kirby Puckett. Waters will be assisted by Frank Warfield, who was player-manager of the Baltimore Black Sox team that won the Negro American League title in 1929.
No comments:
Post a Comment