Infield: Second baseman Brandon Phillips (2002- ) was a 30-30 guy in 2007 (30 homers, 32 steals) and a 20-20 guy in a couple of other seasons. Clearly he has talent, but at the same time, he doesn’t walk much, his defense is good but not great, and he has a tendency to talk too much – either about how good he is, or trash talking about opponents. All in all, he’s a very talented mixed bag. Shortstop Bill Pecota (1986-94) was a light-hitting, slick-fielding infielder who spent most of his career with the Royals. The one time he was given something close to a starting job – 125 games, 448 plate appearances in 1991 – he batted .286, walked as often as he struck out and stole 16 bases. But that wasn’t a true indicator of his usual production. Third baseman Bubba Phillips (1955-64) always hit just enough to convince someone to give him another shot at the starting job the following season. He never had a really good season, but he rarely had a truly terrible season either. First baseman Bill Phillips (1879-88) was a big, strapping Canadian who drove in 101 runs for Brooklyn in 1887. He was a solid hitter and a fine fielder, and his mustache was wicked.
Outfield: Boog Powell (1961-77) was a 6-foot-4, 230-pound first baseman who starred for the Baltimore Orioles for a generation. But the B.P. roster has two good first baseman and a great shortage of outfielders – Boog’s 431 games in the outfield is the second-highest career total in history for this set of initials – so we put Powell in left field and hope for the best. We don’t have to worry about him at the plate. He was an immensely strong guy who hit 339 home runs and drove in 1,187 runs. He was a .266 career hitter, but he drew a good number of walks. He won the AL MVP award in 1970 when he went .297-35-114. He is a gregarious guy who, in his playing days, bore a certain resemblance to the Skipper on “Gilligan’s Island,” and he remains a fixture in Baltimore – he owns a popular restaurant that sells barbecue sandwiches at Camden Yards. Center fielder Ben Paschal (1915-29) was the fourth outfielder for the Murderers Row Yankees, backing up Babe Ruth, Earle Combs and Bob Meusel. It was frequently said that he would have started for any other team in the majors at that time, and that might well be true – in 1925, when Ruth missed considerable time with a stomach ache (or a veneral disease or poisoning from tainted bootleg booze, depending on who you believe), Paschal batted 275 times and hit .360 (with a .417 on-base and a .611 slugging). Not to say he would have hit like that as a full-time player year in and year out, but it certainly suggests that folks were right to say that Paschal was more than a fourth outfielder. Right fielder Blondie Purcell (1879-90) also did some pitching and some catching, but he played almost 1,000 games in the outfield – the only man to play more major-league games in the outfield than Boog Powell. (Purcell was 5-9, 159 pounds, which suggests that Boog could have eaten him for lunch along with a side of fries.) Purcell played for eight teams in 12 seasons, as a solid hitter with good speed.
Catcher: Buster Posey (2009- ) has only been around for five years, but he's won Rookie of the Year, an MVP, two World Series rings and a batting title. A broken leg suffered in a violent home plate collision has done nothing to slow him down.
Rotation: Billy Pierce (1945-64) was a lefty who won 211 games, mostly for the White Sox (including 20-win seasons in 1956 and ’57). He led the AL in ERA in 1955 and in strikeouts in 1953. Bob Purkey (1954-66) developed arm trouble in his mid-20s and learned to throw the knuckleball. Though he was never an exclusive knuckleballer, he used the pitch effectively for the rest of his career and won 129 games. Pitching for Cincinnati in 1962 he went 23-5. Brad Penny (2000- ) has generally been a pretty good pitcher when he has been healthy. He won 14 games for the Marlins in 2003 and then beat the Yankees twice in the World Series. He had back-to-back 16-win seasons for the Dodgers. His career record is 119-99 and he’s still starting every fifth day, but time has been catching up with him as he enters his mid-30s. Want to stump your friends? Ask them who had the lowest career ERA in major-league history among Jewish pitchers. When they say Sandy Koufax, you tell them, no, it’s Barney Pelty (1903-12) at 2.63. Pelty, known as The Yiddish Curver (no, really), pitched for some bad St. Louis Browns teams and went 92-117. Bill Phillips (1890-1903) was affectionately known as Silver Bill or “Whoa, Bill!,” and you just know there’s a funny story behind that second one. He won 70 games, mostly for the Cincinnati Redlegs.
Bullpen: The Diamondbacks groomed Brett Prinz (2001-07) to be a closer, and when he got his shot at age 24, filling in for the injured Matt Mantei, he went 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA and nine saves. That was the only time he ever pitched well in the majors. He gave up too many hits, too many walks and too many home runs, and after that strong rookie year, he won one game, saved none, and had a 6.71 ERA. He’ll start out with the closer role here, but his grip on it is not tight. Lefty Bob Patterson (1985-98) worked mainly as a set-up man for the Pirates and other teams, and he had 28 saves in his career. Bob Porterfield (1948-59) was a swingman who spent most of his career with the Senators, leading the American League with 22 wins in 1953. Wild Bill Piercy (1917-26) went 27-43, mostly for the Red Sox. He was suspended after the 1921 season, along with Yankees teammates Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel, for violating an MLB rule prohibiting World Series participants from playing in barnstorming tours. Bill Posedel (1938-46) won 119 games in the minors but was less successful in the majors, winning 41 games with a 4.56 ERA. He served in the U.S. Navy, for which reason he was known as Sailor Bill or Barnacle Bill. Lefty Bill Pleis (1961-66) won four games a year for the Minnesota Twins throughout the early- to mid-1960s. Boots Poffenberger (1937-39), whose real name was Cletus, won 10 games at age 21 and six games at age 22, and then never won another game in the majors. He won 101 games in the minors.
Bench: Negro League catcher Bruce Petway was a fine hitter and an outstanding defensive catcher who made strong throws to second without coming out of his crouch. He reportedly threw Ty Cobb out on three consecutive steal attempts while playing winter ball in Cuba. He had good speed and frequently batted leadoff. (With Posey and Petway at catcher, we are denied the pleasure of seeing Boots Poffenberger pitching to Biff Pocoroba.) Babe Phelps (1931-42) was a great big catcher known as “Blimp.” He was a fine lefty hitter, and along with Petway and Posey he gives us three good hitters behind the plate. Phelps will largely be used as a fearsome lefty pinch-hitter. Infielder Babe Pinelli (1918-27) had a couple of decent years at the plate, but for the most part he was a weak hitter. Outfielder Bob Perry (1963-64) was a minor-league slugger who had a brief career in the majors. He had a decent glove, which will come in handy on this roster. Billy Parker (1971-73) was a weak-hitting infielder.
Manager: Bill Plummer backed up Johnny Bench for the Reds, but he’s really, really got no chance to crack this roster as a catcher. He managed the Mariners in 1992 and went 64-98 despite the presence of Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr., Omar Vizquel, Jay Buhner and Tino Martinez.
Outfield: Boog Powell (1961-77) was a 6-foot-4, 230-pound first baseman who starred for the Baltimore Orioles for a generation. But the B.P. roster has two good first baseman and a great shortage of outfielders – Boog’s 431 games in the outfield is the second-highest career total in history for this set of initials – so we put Powell in left field and hope for the best. We don’t have to worry about him at the plate. He was an immensely strong guy who hit 339 home runs and drove in 1,187 runs. He was a .266 career hitter, but he drew a good number of walks. He won the AL MVP award in 1970 when he went .297-35-114. He is a gregarious guy who, in his playing days, bore a certain resemblance to the Skipper on “Gilligan’s Island,” and he remains a fixture in Baltimore – he owns a popular restaurant that sells barbecue sandwiches at Camden Yards. Center fielder Ben Paschal (1915-29) was the fourth outfielder for the Murderers Row Yankees, backing up Babe Ruth, Earle Combs and Bob Meusel. It was frequently said that he would have started for any other team in the majors at that time, and that might well be true – in 1925, when Ruth missed considerable time with a stomach ache (or a veneral disease or poisoning from tainted bootleg booze, depending on who you believe), Paschal batted 275 times and hit .360 (with a .417 on-base and a .611 slugging). Not to say he would have hit like that as a full-time player year in and year out, but it certainly suggests that folks were right to say that Paschal was more than a fourth outfielder. Right fielder Blondie Purcell (1879-90) also did some pitching and some catching, but he played almost 1,000 games in the outfield – the only man to play more major-league games in the outfield than Boog Powell. (Purcell was 5-9, 159 pounds, which suggests that Boog could have eaten him for lunch along with a side of fries.) Purcell played for eight teams in 12 seasons, as a solid hitter with good speed.
Catcher: Buster Posey (2009- ) has only been around for five years, but he's won Rookie of the Year, an MVP, two World Series rings and a batting title. A broken leg suffered in a violent home plate collision has done nothing to slow him down.
Rotation: Billy Pierce (1945-64) was a lefty who won 211 games, mostly for the White Sox (including 20-win seasons in 1956 and ’57). He led the AL in ERA in 1955 and in strikeouts in 1953. Bob Purkey (1954-66) developed arm trouble in his mid-20s and learned to throw the knuckleball. Though he was never an exclusive knuckleballer, he used the pitch effectively for the rest of his career and won 129 games. Pitching for Cincinnati in 1962 he went 23-5. Brad Penny (2000- ) has generally been a pretty good pitcher when he has been healthy. He won 14 games for the Marlins in 2003 and then beat the Yankees twice in the World Series. He had back-to-back 16-win seasons for the Dodgers. His career record is 119-99 and he’s still starting every fifth day, but time has been catching up with him as he enters his mid-30s. Want to stump your friends? Ask them who had the lowest career ERA in major-league history among Jewish pitchers. When they say Sandy Koufax, you tell them, no, it’s Barney Pelty (1903-12) at 2.63. Pelty, known as The Yiddish Curver (no, really), pitched for some bad St. Louis Browns teams and went 92-117. Bill Phillips (1890-1903) was affectionately known as Silver Bill or “Whoa, Bill!,” and you just know there’s a funny story behind that second one. He won 70 games, mostly for the Cincinnati Redlegs.
Bullpen: The Diamondbacks groomed Brett Prinz (2001-07) to be a closer, and when he got his shot at age 24, filling in for the injured Matt Mantei, he went 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA and nine saves. That was the only time he ever pitched well in the majors. He gave up too many hits, too many walks and too many home runs, and after that strong rookie year, he won one game, saved none, and had a 6.71 ERA. He’ll start out with the closer role here, but his grip on it is not tight. Lefty Bob Patterson (1985-98) worked mainly as a set-up man for the Pirates and other teams, and he had 28 saves in his career. Bob Porterfield (1948-59) was a swingman who spent most of his career with the Senators, leading the American League with 22 wins in 1953. Wild Bill Piercy (1917-26) went 27-43, mostly for the Red Sox. He was suspended after the 1921 season, along with Yankees teammates Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel, for violating an MLB rule prohibiting World Series participants from playing in barnstorming tours. Bill Posedel (1938-46) won 119 games in the minors but was less successful in the majors, winning 41 games with a 4.56 ERA. He served in the U.S. Navy, for which reason he was known as Sailor Bill or Barnacle Bill. Lefty Bill Pleis (1961-66) won four games a year for the Minnesota Twins throughout the early- to mid-1960s. Boots Poffenberger (1937-39), whose real name was Cletus, won 10 games at age 21 and six games at age 22, and then never won another game in the majors. He won 101 games in the minors.
Bench: Negro League catcher Bruce Petway was a fine hitter and an outstanding defensive catcher who made strong throws to second without coming out of his crouch. He reportedly threw Ty Cobb out on three consecutive steal attempts while playing winter ball in Cuba. He had good speed and frequently batted leadoff. (With Posey and Petway at catcher, we are denied the pleasure of seeing Boots Poffenberger pitching to Biff Pocoroba.) Babe Phelps (1931-42) was a great big catcher known as “Blimp.” He was a fine lefty hitter, and along with Petway and Posey he gives us three good hitters behind the plate. Phelps will largely be used as a fearsome lefty pinch-hitter. Infielder Babe Pinelli (1918-27) had a couple of decent years at the plate, but for the most part he was a weak hitter. Outfielder Bob Perry (1963-64) was a minor-league slugger who had a brief career in the majors. He had a decent glove, which will come in handy on this roster. Billy Parker (1971-73) was a weak-hitting infielder.
Manager: Bill Plummer backed up Johnny Bench for the Reds, but he’s really, really got no chance to crack this roster as a catcher. He managed the Mariners in 1992 and went 64-98 despite the presence of Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr., Omar Vizquel, Jay Buhner and Tino Martinez.
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