Infield: First baseman Alex McKinnon (1884-87) was a .300 hitter in the early years of the National League who slashed out a lot of doubles and triples. His career was cut short when he contracted typhoid fever and died at age 30. Second baseman Al Myers (1884-91) was a solid middle infielder who played for four teams in the 1880s. He was your basic .250 contact hitter with a decent glove. Third baseman Alex McCarthy (1910-17) was a light-hitting utility infielder from Notre Dame who backed up (and sometimes played alongside) Honus Wagner with the Pirates for a few seasons. Shortstop Al Moran (1963-64) played for the New York Mets during their hapless post-expansion years. He batted .195 with just eight extra-base hits in almost 400 times to the plate, and he stole just three bases in 10 attempts. He wasn’t very good in the field either.
Outfield: Center fielder Andrew McCutchen (2009- ) won the NL MVP award in 2013 and finished in the top five in the voting every year from 2012-15. He's a five-tool player, with power and speed and a good glove. His production fell way off in 2016, leading to speculation about nagging injuries. We're still waiting to see if he can get back on track in his 30s. Left fielder Austin McHenry (1918-22) was a fine player w ith the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1921, at age 25, he batted .350 with 37 doubles, 17 home runs and 102 RBI. Midway through the next season he was having another good year when he began to misjudge fly balls. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died at age 27. Right fielder Al Martin (1992-2003) was a solid player. He batted .276 for his career, with 132 home runs and 173 steals. He seemed to court controversy, however. He used to talk about his days playing football at Southern Cal, and he once compared an outfield collision to the sensation he had while tackling an All-American runner from Michigan State. Problem is, he never played football at USC. In fact, he never attended USC. He offered no explanation for why he thought he did. Later, he was accused of domestic violence and the police realized that he actually had two wives. He did have an explanation for that one - he said he didn't realize that the second ceremony was a real, legally binding wedding ceremony. That went over real well with the missus.
Outfield: Center fielder Andrew McCutchen (2009- ) won the NL MVP award in 2013 and finished in the top five in the voting every year from 2012-15. He's a five-tool player, with power and speed and a good glove. His production fell way off in 2016, leading to speculation about nagging injuries. We're still waiting to see if he can get back on track in his 30s. Left fielder Austin McHenry (1918-22) was a fine player w ith the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1921, at age 25, he batted .350 with 37 doubles, 17 home runs and 102 RBI. Midway through the next season he was having another good year when he began to misjudge fly balls. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor and died at age 27. Right fielder Al Martin (1992-2003) was a solid player. He batted .276 for his career, with 132 home runs and 173 steals. He seemed to court controversy, however. He used to talk about his days playing football at Southern Cal, and he once compared an outfield collision to the sensation he had while tackling an All-American runner from Michigan State. Problem is, he never played football at USC. In fact, he never attended USC. He offered no explanation for why he thought he did. Later, he was accused of domestic violence and the police realized that he actually had two wives. He did have an explanation for that one - he said he didn't realize that the second ceremony was a real, legally binding wedding ceremony. That went over real well with the missus.
Catcher: Adam Melhuse (2000-08) batted .230 with a little bit of power but poor command of the strike zone. It was enough to keep him around as a backup and a part-time player for several seasons.
Rotation: Andy Messersmith (1968-79) was an outstanding pitcher – durable, a two-time 20-game winner, regularly among the league leaders in ERA – but he is best known as baseball’s first free agent. Pitching for the Dodgers in 1975, and still bound to the team in perpetuity under the guidelines of the reserve agreement in the basic contact, he tried to negotiate a no-trade clause and things got ugly. One thing led to another, and he filed a challenge to the reserve clause, and he succeeded where others had failed before. An arbiter ruled that players could “play out their option” and become free agents. Messersmith signed a three-year deal with Atlanta for a total of $1 million, plus a $400,000 signing bonus. (Ted Turner, the Braves’ maverick owner, wanted to replace Messersmith’s name on the back of his jersey with “CHANNEL 17” as an advertisement for his fledgling cable TV network WTBS, but MLB said no.) Moving from a good team to a bad one, trying to live up to the hype surrounding the contract, Messersmith struggled and then got hurt. He went 11-11 in his first year with the Braves and won just seven games after that. He finished with a career record of 130-99 with an ERA of 2.86. Al Mamaux (1913-24) had a couple of 21-win seasons with the Pirates in his early 20s but mostly struggled after that. His record through age 22 was 47-25; for the rest of his career it was 29-42. He also won 150 games in the minors, all in the International League. Art Mahaffey (1960-66) lost 19 for the Phillies in 1961 and then turned around and won 19 for them in 1962. He wasn’t an overpowering pitcher, but he once struck out 17 in a game. Happy Al Milnar (1936-46) was a lefty who won 57 games, all but two of them for the Indians. He earned his place in baseball history by giving up the final hit in Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. Lefty Angel Miranda (1993-97) went 17-21 as a swingman for the Brewers.
Bullpen: Closer Al McBean (1961-70) was, with all due respect to Horace Clarke, probably the best player ever born in the Virgin Islands. He won 67 games, saved 63 and had a career ERA of 3.13. He threw a hard sinker and came from a lot of different angles and arm slots to keep hitters off balance. Andrew Miller (2006- ) will get some saves but mostly will be used in the role that's been developed for him in his 30s - a hard-throwing ace who can come into the game at any time to rescue his team from a predicament. A 6-foot-7 lefty, he took a while to find himself at the big-league level, but when he did figure it out in his mid-20s, he began dominating hitters. In 2016 he had a 1.50 ERA with 123 strikeouts and nine walks; he was one of the key players who took Cleveland to the verge of a World Series title. Alan Mills (1990-2001) was an effective pitcher for a decade, mostly for the Orioles, winning 39 games in middle relief. Andy McGaffigan (1981-91) had a good run as a journeyman swingman, putting up a 3.38 career ERA. He was never a star, but he was always effective. Lefty Archie McKain (1937-43), nicknamed “Happy” just like Al Milnar, had a few good years for the Red Sox and the Tigers. Alvin Morman (1996-99) pitched for four teams in four years and was generally alright but never actually good. Aurelio Monteagudo (1963-73) had a long career in the minors, winning 100 games, but his major-league career was limited to a few relatively short callups that added up to 72 games.
Bench: Outfielder Andres Mora (1976-80) came to the Orioles as a highly touted prospect but he never really developed. The power was there, but he struck out too much, didn’t get on base and couldn’t crack Earl Weaver’s lineup. Gone before he turned 30. Infielder Aaron Miles (2003- ) is a good defensive player and a passable hitter who makes good contact. Outfielder Alex Metzler (1925-30) was a lefty hitter with a bit of speed and a good line drive stroke that produced a lot of doubles and triples. Infielder Amby McConnell (1908-11) – one of the few guys named Ambrose who would choose to shorten it to “Amby” – was a decent hitter with a bit of speed. He had the distinction of hitting into the first undisputed unassisted triple play in baseball history. Backup catcher Al Montgomery (1941) was a promsing young player – he batted just .192 for the Boston Braves, but he had a good track record in the minors – when he died at age 21 in a car crash heading north from spring training in 1942. He makes at least three members of this team who died tragically young.
Manager: No A.M. has ever managed in the majors, but Amby McConnell had a long career in the minors as a coach, manager and even a team owner. We’ll hand him the reins for now.
Rotation: Andy Messersmith (1968-79) was an outstanding pitcher – durable, a two-time 20-game winner, regularly among the league leaders in ERA – but he is best known as baseball’s first free agent. Pitching for the Dodgers in 1975, and still bound to the team in perpetuity under the guidelines of the reserve agreement in the basic contact, he tried to negotiate a no-trade clause and things got ugly. One thing led to another, and he filed a challenge to the reserve clause, and he succeeded where others had failed before. An arbiter ruled that players could “play out their option” and become free agents. Messersmith signed a three-year deal with Atlanta for a total of $1 million, plus a $400,000 signing bonus. (Ted Turner, the Braves’ maverick owner, wanted to replace Messersmith’s name on the back of his jersey with “CHANNEL 17” as an advertisement for his fledgling cable TV network WTBS, but MLB said no.) Moving from a good team to a bad one, trying to live up to the hype surrounding the contract, Messersmith struggled and then got hurt. He went 11-11 in his first year with the Braves and won just seven games after that. He finished with a career record of 130-99 with an ERA of 2.86. Al Mamaux (1913-24) had a couple of 21-win seasons with the Pirates in his early 20s but mostly struggled after that. His record through age 22 was 47-25; for the rest of his career it was 29-42. He also won 150 games in the minors, all in the International League. Art Mahaffey (1960-66) lost 19 for the Phillies in 1961 and then turned around and won 19 for them in 1962. He wasn’t an overpowering pitcher, but he once struck out 17 in a game. Happy Al Milnar (1936-46) was a lefty who won 57 games, all but two of them for the Indians. He earned his place in baseball history by giving up the final hit in Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. Lefty Angel Miranda (1993-97) went 17-21 as a swingman for the Brewers.
Bullpen: Closer Al McBean (1961-70) was, with all due respect to Horace Clarke, probably the best player ever born in the Virgin Islands. He won 67 games, saved 63 and had a career ERA of 3.13. He threw a hard sinker and came from a lot of different angles and arm slots to keep hitters off balance. Andrew Miller (2006- ) will get some saves but mostly will be used in the role that's been developed for him in his 30s - a hard-throwing ace who can come into the game at any time to rescue his team from a predicament. A 6-foot-7 lefty, he took a while to find himself at the big-league level, but when he did figure it out in his mid-20s, he began dominating hitters. In 2016 he had a 1.50 ERA with 123 strikeouts and nine walks; he was one of the key players who took Cleveland to the verge of a World Series title. Alan Mills (1990-2001) was an effective pitcher for a decade, mostly for the Orioles, winning 39 games in middle relief. Andy McGaffigan (1981-91) had a good run as a journeyman swingman, putting up a 3.38 career ERA. He was never a star, but he was always effective. Lefty Archie McKain (1937-43), nicknamed “Happy” just like Al Milnar, had a few good years for the Red Sox and the Tigers. Alvin Morman (1996-99) pitched for four teams in four years and was generally alright but never actually good. Aurelio Monteagudo (1963-73) had a long career in the minors, winning 100 games, but his major-league career was limited to a few relatively short callups that added up to 72 games.
Bench: Outfielder Andres Mora (1976-80) came to the Orioles as a highly touted prospect but he never really developed. The power was there, but he struck out too much, didn’t get on base and couldn’t crack Earl Weaver’s lineup. Gone before he turned 30. Infielder Aaron Miles (2003- ) is a good defensive player and a passable hitter who makes good contact. Outfielder Alex Metzler (1925-30) was a lefty hitter with a bit of speed and a good line drive stroke that produced a lot of doubles and triples. Infielder Amby McConnell (1908-11) – one of the few guys named Ambrose who would choose to shorten it to “Amby” – was a decent hitter with a bit of speed. He had the distinction of hitting into the first undisputed unassisted triple play in baseball history. Backup catcher Al Montgomery (1941) was a promsing young player – he batted just .192 for the Boston Braves, but he had a good track record in the minors – when he died at age 21 in a car crash heading north from spring training in 1942. He makes at least three members of this team who died tragically young.
Manager: No A.M. has ever managed in the majors, but Amby McConnell had a long career in the minors as a coach, manager and even a team owner. We’ll hand him the reins for now.
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