Infield: First baseman Fred McGriff (1986-2004) has never been fully appreciated for how good he was. He played in an era when slugging first basemen were plentiful, and he was in his 30s before the offensive boom of the 1990s really hit full stride. He played for a half-dozen teams, and his nickname (“The Crime Dog”) was a play on a cartoon dog, not a commentary on his prodigious power. But if McGriff was just one of many power hitters in his era, he was one of the best – he hit for average, drew walks and was a consistently productive hitter for almost two decades. McGriff finished with 493 home runs, 1,500 RBI and 1,349 runs. He spent several years with the powerhouse Braves of the 1990s, and in 50 postseason games he batted .303 with 10 home runs. Should McGriff be in the Hall of Fame? That’s for you to decide, but it’s safe to say that he was probably a better player than half of the first basemen who are already in Cooperstown. Third baseman Frank Malzone (1955-66) was cut in the classic Brooks Robinson mold – a slow right-hander with a little bit of power and a great glove (when they first started giving out Gold Gloves, he won the first three at third base). He hit for a decent average, didn’t strike out or walk much, and was good for 15-20 home runs per year for the Red Sox. A popular and respected guy in Boston, he has stayed with the Red Sox in a scouting and player development role for several decades. Second baseman Felix Millan (1966-77) was a slap hitter who choked up on the bat almost to the barrel. He basically never struck out, and he somehow hit 22 home runs in his career, which is hard to imagine, but it’s right there in his statistical record. Millan played for the Braves and the Mets, and his major-league career ended after a shoulder injury sustained during an on-field brawl in 1977. Ed Ott, the Pirates’ burly catcher, slid hard into Millan to break up a double play. Millan took offense and took a swing at him, prompting Ott to lift Millan into the air and slam him down on his shoulder. Millan never played in the majors again, though he did play a few years in Japan. Felix Mantilla (1956-66) played just before Millan and had almost the same name. Mantilla was a Puerto Rican second baseman, too. Mantilla was known as El Gato (“The Cat”), and Millan was called El Gatito (“The Little Cat”). Mantilla will move to shortstop on this team because we’d really get confused if Felix Millan and Felix Mantilla were sharing the second base job. Mantilla was a better hitter than Millan, with a little bit of power (89 career home runs, a third of them coming in 1964 for the Red Sox). Mantilla is perhaps best known as the guy who broke up Harvey Haddix’s legendary would-be perfect game, reaching base by error in the 13th inning and eventually scoring the winning run on Joe Adcock’s non-homer.
Outfield: Center fielder Fritz Maisel (1913-18) stole 74 bases for the Yankees in 1914, leading the American League. He was primarily an infielder, but he was occasionally moved to center to take advantage of his speed, and the FM team needs him more in the outfield than the infield. He was only a major-league regular for three years, but he had a long minor-league career in which he had more than 2,000 hits. No minor-league stolen base totals are listed in his bio, but he stole almost 200 bases in the majors in just 592 games, so we’re guessing he stole quite a few in the minors as well. Felix Mackiewicz (1941-47) was also a center fielder, but spent most of his career as a backup. He’ll play right field on this team. He was a nondescript player who really had just two years in the majors – 198 games for the Indians in 1945-46, and 25 games spread around parts of five other seasons. Fred Merkle (1907-26) was a first baseman who will move to left field on this team (he played 46 games in the outfield). Merkle was a good hitter (1,580 hits, 720 runs, 733 RBI for his career), stole 272 bases in his career and played in five World Series. But the poor jerk is known for just one moment, which led to his famous nickname “Bonehead.” As a rookie in 1908, he made a baserunning error in the heat of the pennant race that cost the New York Giants the National League title. The short version: He was on first base with two out in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, and the batter hit a clean shot into the outfield. Merkle saw the runner from third scamper home with the winning run (or so he thought), and he veered toward the dugout without bothering to touch second base, which was apparently common practice at the time. As Giants fans streamed onto the field to celebrate, Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers tracked down the ball (well, it was a ball, but no one is quite sure if it was actually the official ball amid the chaos on the field) and tagged second base. Umpire Hank O’Day called Merkle out, since he had never touched second base, thus nullifying the run because the third out was a force play. The league upheld the call and ruled that the game was a tied that had to be replayed in its entirety. The Giants lost the replay, and the Cubs ended up beating the Giants by one game for the NL pennant.
Catcher: Fergus Malone (1871-84) was a 5-foot-8 Irishman and former cricket player. He was a lefty, but there were no “unwritten rules” against lefties playing catcher in those days. His career was actually just six years, but he came back at age 39 to play one game while managing the Philadelphia Keystones in 1884.
Rotation: Frank “Bullet” Miller (1913-23) had a career record of 52-66 with the White Sox, Pirates and Braves, in addition to his 120 victories in the minors. He was a solid pitcher, twice finished among the top 10 in the National League in ERA. Lefty Fred Mitchell (1901-10) went 31-50 for four teams between 1901-05, and then later returned to the majors as a catcher in 1910. Frank Meinke (1884-85) did double duty as a pitcher and a shortstop, winning eight games and losing 23 for Detroit in 1884 at age 20. He played a few games the following season and then called it quits. Frank “Climb Every” Mountain (1880-86) won 58 games while knocking around the National League and the American Association. Pitching for Columbus in 1883, he led the American Association in losses (33), hits allowed (546), earned runs (201) and walks (123). That doesn’t sound real promising, but he was actually a respectable pitcher. Frank MacCormack (1976-77) went 0-5 for Detroit at age 21 and then landed on the expansion Mariners. At age 22, he made three starts and had a 3.86 ERA – but pitched just seven innings. The reason? Well, the fact that he had four strikeouts and walked 12 batters in those seven innings might provide a hint. He also hit three batters, so even though he gave up just four hits, he put 19 runners on base in seven innings. (To the credit of his bullpen, only three of those runners scored.) He went back to the minors and pitched for a few more years. Improved his control a bit, to the point where it was only bad instead of ghastly, but he was out of baseball before he turned 25.
Bullpen: Closer Firpo Marberry (1923-36) was used as a closer before the role had actually been defined. Pitching for the Senators, he led the American League six times in games pitched, five times in games finished and (retroactively) four times in saves. He had 101 saves in his career – he and Johnny Murphy were the two pitchers who saved 100 games in the era when the closer role was just starting to take shape. He was an outstanding pitcher who also won 148 games. He was nicknamed “Firpo” because someone had decided that he looked like the Argentine boxer Luis Firpo (“The Wild Bull of the Pampas”), who once knocked Jack Dempsey out of the ring, only to have Dempsey climb back through the ropes and knock him out. Marberry reportedly hated the nickname, but his given name was Fred, so he qualifies for the FM roster either way. Lefty Franklin Morales (2007- ) is a solid reliever who is just getting started. Fred Martin (1946-50) spent a long time in the minors, served in World War II, made his major-league debut at 31 and then got banned for two years for jumping to the Mexican League. He came back and pitched two more years in the majors and several more years in the minors. He won 12 games in the majors, 169 in the minors, but his lasting legacy is that he worked as a minor-league instructor with the Cubs and is credited with teaching Bruce Sutter to throw the split-fingered fastball, indirectly revolutionizing the game. Forrest More (1909) went 1-5 for the Cardinals, was claimed at midseason by the Boston Doves, and then went 1-5 for his new team. Career record: 2-10. Frank Makosky (1937) went 5-2 in his only season in the majors, but then again, he was pitching for the Yankees, and it was pretty hard to have a losing record for the 1937 Yankees. Frank Mack (1922-25) was nicknamed “Stubby” despite being 6-1, 180 pounds. He won two games for the White Sox in 1922. Lefty Fred "Speedy" Miller (1910) struck out two batters and walked 13 in his 21 major-league innings.
Bench: First baseman Frank McCormick (1934-48) was an very good hitter for the Reds, but he’s not going to supplant the Crime Dog from first base and he only played one game in the outfield, so it’s kind of hard to give him a starting job in the pasture. Until we add a DH, he’s stuck in a pinch-hitting role, where he will excel. McCormick led the NL in hits three straight years (1938-40), pounding out 40-plus doubles each year and driving in 361 runs. He was a .300 hitter who walked twice as often as he struck out and had gap power. Infielders Fred Marsh (1949-56) and Fred Manrique (1981-91) were light-hitting journeymen. (They get the backup infield jobs ahead of Fred McMullin because they never played a role in fixing a World Series.) Freddie Maguire (1922-31), another infielder, hit even less than Manrique and Marsh but he held onto a regular job for a few seasons. Catcher Frank Mancuso (1944-47) was not nearly as good as his brother Gus, but he was a decent contact hitter and he’ll serve well in a backup role.
Manager: Fred Mitchell will serve as player-manager. He managed over 1,000 games in the majors, had a losing record and had two 100-loss seasons with the Boston Braves. But – and this is a big enough “but” to satisfy Sir Mix-a-Lot – he took the Cubs to the World Series in 1918. He also coached at Harvard for several years. Mitchell will be assisted by Freddie Maguire, who managed three full seasons in the minors and finished in first place each season, though he never won an actual league championship.
Outfield: Center fielder Fritz Maisel (1913-18) stole 74 bases for the Yankees in 1914, leading the American League. He was primarily an infielder, but he was occasionally moved to center to take advantage of his speed, and the FM team needs him more in the outfield than the infield. He was only a major-league regular for three years, but he had a long minor-league career in which he had more than 2,000 hits. No minor-league stolen base totals are listed in his bio, but he stole almost 200 bases in the majors in just 592 games, so we’re guessing he stole quite a few in the minors as well. Felix Mackiewicz (1941-47) was also a center fielder, but spent most of his career as a backup. He’ll play right field on this team. He was a nondescript player who really had just two years in the majors – 198 games for the Indians in 1945-46, and 25 games spread around parts of five other seasons. Fred Merkle (1907-26) was a first baseman who will move to left field on this team (he played 46 games in the outfield). Merkle was a good hitter (1,580 hits, 720 runs, 733 RBI for his career), stole 272 bases in his career and played in five World Series. But the poor jerk is known for just one moment, which led to his famous nickname “Bonehead.” As a rookie in 1908, he made a baserunning error in the heat of the pennant race that cost the New York Giants the National League title. The short version: He was on first base with two out in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, and the batter hit a clean shot into the outfield. Merkle saw the runner from third scamper home with the winning run (or so he thought), and he veered toward the dugout without bothering to touch second base, which was apparently common practice at the time. As Giants fans streamed onto the field to celebrate, Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers tracked down the ball (well, it was a ball, but no one is quite sure if it was actually the official ball amid the chaos on the field) and tagged second base. Umpire Hank O’Day called Merkle out, since he had never touched second base, thus nullifying the run because the third out was a force play. The league upheld the call and ruled that the game was a tied that had to be replayed in its entirety. The Giants lost the replay, and the Cubs ended up beating the Giants by one game for the NL pennant.
Catcher: Fergus Malone (1871-84) was a 5-foot-8 Irishman and former cricket player. He was a lefty, but there were no “unwritten rules” against lefties playing catcher in those days. His career was actually just six years, but he came back at age 39 to play one game while managing the Philadelphia Keystones in 1884.
Rotation: Frank “Bullet” Miller (1913-23) had a career record of 52-66 with the White Sox, Pirates and Braves, in addition to his 120 victories in the minors. He was a solid pitcher, twice finished among the top 10 in the National League in ERA. Lefty Fred Mitchell (1901-10) went 31-50 for four teams between 1901-05, and then later returned to the majors as a catcher in 1910. Frank Meinke (1884-85) did double duty as a pitcher and a shortstop, winning eight games and losing 23 for Detroit in 1884 at age 20. He played a few games the following season and then called it quits. Frank “Climb Every” Mountain (1880-86) won 58 games while knocking around the National League and the American Association. Pitching for Columbus in 1883, he led the American Association in losses (33), hits allowed (546), earned runs (201) and walks (123). That doesn’t sound real promising, but he was actually a respectable pitcher. Frank MacCormack (1976-77) went 0-5 for Detroit at age 21 and then landed on the expansion Mariners. At age 22, he made three starts and had a 3.86 ERA – but pitched just seven innings. The reason? Well, the fact that he had four strikeouts and walked 12 batters in those seven innings might provide a hint. He also hit three batters, so even though he gave up just four hits, he put 19 runners on base in seven innings. (To the credit of his bullpen, only three of those runners scored.) He went back to the minors and pitched for a few more years. Improved his control a bit, to the point where it was only bad instead of ghastly, but he was out of baseball before he turned 25.
Bullpen: Closer Firpo Marberry (1923-36) was used as a closer before the role had actually been defined. Pitching for the Senators, he led the American League six times in games pitched, five times in games finished and (retroactively) four times in saves. He had 101 saves in his career – he and Johnny Murphy were the two pitchers who saved 100 games in the era when the closer role was just starting to take shape. He was an outstanding pitcher who also won 148 games. He was nicknamed “Firpo” because someone had decided that he looked like the Argentine boxer Luis Firpo (“The Wild Bull of the Pampas”), who once knocked Jack Dempsey out of the ring, only to have Dempsey climb back through the ropes and knock him out. Marberry reportedly hated the nickname, but his given name was Fred, so he qualifies for the FM roster either way. Lefty Franklin Morales (2007- ) is a solid reliever who is just getting started. Fred Martin (1946-50) spent a long time in the minors, served in World War II, made his major-league debut at 31 and then got banned for two years for jumping to the Mexican League. He came back and pitched two more years in the majors and several more years in the minors. He won 12 games in the majors, 169 in the minors, but his lasting legacy is that he worked as a minor-league instructor with the Cubs and is credited with teaching Bruce Sutter to throw the split-fingered fastball, indirectly revolutionizing the game. Forrest More (1909) went 1-5 for the Cardinals, was claimed at midseason by the Boston Doves, and then went 1-5 for his new team. Career record: 2-10. Frank Makosky (1937) went 5-2 in his only season in the majors, but then again, he was pitching for the Yankees, and it was pretty hard to have a losing record for the 1937 Yankees. Frank Mack (1922-25) was nicknamed “Stubby” despite being 6-1, 180 pounds. He won two games for the White Sox in 1922. Lefty Fred "Speedy" Miller (1910) struck out two batters and walked 13 in his 21 major-league innings.
Bench: First baseman Frank McCormick (1934-48) was an very good hitter for the Reds, but he’s not going to supplant the Crime Dog from first base and he only played one game in the outfield, so it’s kind of hard to give him a starting job in the pasture. Until we add a DH, he’s stuck in a pinch-hitting role, where he will excel. McCormick led the NL in hits three straight years (1938-40), pounding out 40-plus doubles each year and driving in 361 runs. He was a .300 hitter who walked twice as often as he struck out and had gap power. Infielders Fred Marsh (1949-56) and Fred Manrique (1981-91) were light-hitting journeymen. (They get the backup infield jobs ahead of Fred McMullin because they never played a role in fixing a World Series.) Freddie Maguire (1922-31), another infielder, hit even less than Manrique and Marsh but he held onto a regular job for a few seasons. Catcher Frank Mancuso (1944-47) was not nearly as good as his brother Gus, but he was a decent contact hitter and he’ll serve well in a backup role.
Manager: Fred Mitchell will serve as player-manager. He managed over 1,000 games in the majors, had a losing record and had two 100-loss seasons with the Boston Braves. But – and this is a big enough “but” to satisfy Sir Mix-a-Lot – he took the Cubs to the World Series in 1918. He also coached at Harvard for several years. Mitchell will be assisted by Freddie Maguire, who managed three full seasons in the minors and finished in first place each season, though he never won an actual league championship.
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