Legends of Cooperstown News-January 23, 2002

The only man to play in a regular season perfect game and a post season perfect game is Jim 'Junior' Gilliam. He was with the Dodgers for Yankee Don Larson's perfect World Series game on October 8, 1956 and for Sandy Koufax's regular season win over the Cubs on September 9, 1965. Junior will become a member of someone's LOC franchise next winter, when the league uses 1954 as it's past season set.

In the first Winter Legends of Cooperstown League trade involving Hall of Fame players, the Scranton White Elephants and Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers have pulled off a six player swap that will take effect for set 4. Scranton acquired Hall of Fame shortstop/outfielder Robin Yount along with outfielder Tony Oliva and pitcher Bob Priddy from Brooklyn for Hall of Fame pitcher Kid Nichols, and outfielders Mack Jones and Jim Landis.
Yount was hitting .272 for Brooklyn with 3 HR and 23 RBI, but had shared time with fellow Hall of Famer Joe Tinker. Nichols was 2-0 with 1 save for Scranton, but had only appeared in 13 games as a reliever. Yount looks to get playing time in the White Elephants' outfield, since they have Dave Bancroft and his fine defense already at shortstop. His bat, along with Oliva's, will surely upgrade an offense that ranks near the bottom in most offensive categories. Nichols will get his chance to prove himself as a starter for the Dodgers, possibly taking over for Buleigh Grimes, who up to now has posted a 2-8 record with a 5.14 ERA.

The Kansas City Monarchs, behind team speed, pitching and defense, have moved back atop the LOC National League by 3 games over the Scranton White Elephants. KC ranks near or at the top in a most offensive and pitching categories, including a league leading 75 stolen bases (Cool Papa Bell's 25 leads the league) and a NL second best 3.79 team ERA. The insertion of Richie 'Dick' Allen into the starting lineup (.347, 9 HR, 26 RBI) and the hot bat of Paul Waner (.361, 3rd in the NL) have also been major contributors over the past 18 games.
Set 2's frontrunner Brooklyn, has slumped lately, going 3-10 over their last 13 games including 2-6 vs KC, but Rogers Hornsby continues his run at a Triple Crown (.361, 19 HR, 53 RBI). The Rajah is 2nd in all 3 categories, trailing St. Louis' Tris Speaker (.378) in batting average, Kentucky's Jimmie Foxx (20) and Mike Schmidt (20) of Mountaintop in Home Runs, and the Perfecto's Ernie Banks (63) in RBI.
Scranton has moved into 2nd place in the division largely due to a stingy pitching staff. The White Elephants lead the entire LOC in team ERA at 3.12 and only 1 pitcher on the entire staff had an ERA over 3.56. Kentucky's Webster McDonald leads the NL in Saves with 12, while New York Giant starting pitcher Pete Alexander has also sparkled. He is tied for 1st in the league in wins (8) with 3 other pitchers and tied for 2nd in the LOC NL in ERA (2.63) with Kentucky's Chris Short.

The pennant races are tight and it's been a fun and interesting season so far this year. I'm sorry to see Jim Taglia have to leave the league and I wish him well. I'd like to say welcome and best of luck yet again to John Bonno, who will be taking over for Jim as the owner of St. Louis. The team will remain the Perfectos for this season and it will be up to John whether to keep or change the name after that.

The Summer LOC is close to complete. One franchise opening remains, so if you're interested, please e-mail either myself at [email protected] or Josh Raup at [email protected]. The league will be almost identical to the Winter LOC, but will have a unique flavor to it as well. While a different past season is one of the differences, it will also feature a handful of Japanese players along with the Negro League players that are in the Winter LOC, and it will also include new Hall of Famers Bill Mazeroski, Dave Winfield and Ozzie Smith.

Set 4 will also be played by the Visiting team versus the Home team's computer manager and it features 24 important league games only and no inter-league games, which are sure to have an impact on the pennant races. Any trades made now will take effect for set 5. The league setting has been changed to Primary Lineups only, but you should always select the numbered lineup that your opponent has either set up or specified to be sure you're using the correct players.

Keep up the great work and keep having fun!

Phil

Missouri has widened it's lead in the Legends of Cooperstown American League to 3 games, but the rest of the field remains tightly bunched. Virtually every other team in the division has at some point closed the gap on John Wolfmeyer's team, but a balanced offense led by AL leading hitter Ty Cobb (.361 batting average, 9 triples, 19 stolen bases) and a solid pitching staff led by Jim Merritt (8-2, 2.61 ERA, 3 shutouts) has separated the Riverbats from the rest of the pack.
   Nick Flory's Rochester Live Oaks have been playing well of late and have moved into a tie for second with Josh Raup's Cleveland Spiders. The pitching trio of Juan Marichal, Tim Keefe and Carl Hubbell are a combined 21-8 out of the team's 32-30 record. The Spiders have slumped lately, going just 5-9 in their last 14 games, but they've continued to remain near the top, thanks in part to a staff ERA of 3.79 that leads the American League.
   Chicago's Eddie Mathews continues his tremendous start, and he leads the league with 20 home runs and 55 RBI. Washington remains in the fight behind the strong arms of AL Saves leader Rollie Fingers (14) and AL ERA leader Don Drysdale (2.10 ERA). Newark's Dizzy Dean also has 14 saves and Sandy Koufax leads in strikeouts with 89, just ahead of a pair of Boston hurlers Rube Waddell and Dazzy Vance.
   Check out Tim Daniel's excellent recaps of his set 3 series for his Boston Americans and Josh Raup's Cleveland Spiders News and Notes.

The St. Louis Perfectos have been the hottest team in the league over the last 6 weeks of the season. After a 6-15 month of April, they have gone 27-12 including an 8 game winning streak, which has seen them move into a tie for 3rd in the LOC National League. Unfortunately, team owner and founder Jim Taglia had to retire from his franchise. We all wish him well in his endeavors. The LOC would like to welcome John Bonno, who comes to us with quite a lot of experience in the 20th Century Baseball Review League. I'm sure his enthusiasm and background will be a welcome addition to the league. John will also form his own franchise in the new Legends of Cooperstown Summer League, which will be finalizing their past season selection and begin their draft in the next few weeks.