The Squibber

THE BOB DAVIDS CHAPTER E-NEWSLETTER

Spring 2005

This newsletter is produced by the Bob Davids Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), which serves SABR members in Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and parts of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Visit the chapter’s official website at www.sabrdc.org.

This quarterly newsletter is distributed electronically to members. It is posted, along with a wide range of cumulative material on baseball and baseball research in our geographical area, on the chapter website. The deadline for material for the next newsletter is June 20. Keep sending us those squabs, and those ideas for squibs!

Editor Walt Cherniak CherniakJrW@aetna.com

CONTENTS – Spring 2005

1. Out of the Past: Umpiring Could Be Hazardous, by Marty Payne

1. Statman: Is “Streakiness” Real? by Charlie Pavitt

1. From the Sultan’s Shelf: A History of D.C. Ballpark Blast, by David Vincent

1. A Rich Past: Great Moments in D.C./RFK Stadium History, by Phil Hochberg

1. Washington’s Forgotten Feat: Let’s Give Tom Cheney the Credit He Deserves, by Jeff Stuart

1. A Long, Rich History: The Chesapeake Industrial Baseball League, by Bob Schnebly

1. Straight to the Show: Pete Broberg and the ’71 Senators, by Walt Cherniak

1. Theme Team: Non-Senators Playing For Multiple Washington Franchises, by Bruce Brown

1.) OUT OF THE PAST – Umpiring Could Be Hazardous, by Marty Payne

“That the umpire was surrounded by an eager, excited crowd we also admit, and opposition was offered to many of his decisions. That violence was offered or intended, we deny…” (“Cambridge vs. Oxford-Tell the Truth,” Cambridge Chronicle, July 25, 1889.)

One local scribe understated the role of the umpire as the “undesirable position.” It was no more desirable in small town baseball as anywhere else.

During the initial hoopla of the fever season of 1867, celebrity umpires from the Virginia Club or the Philadelphia Athletics were used on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, or prominent and respected men of the community. But competition did away with formalities. It became the responsibility of the home team to provide an umpire. This presented obvious problems.

Facing a home team in front a rowdy home crowd of hundreds, or even thousands, presided over by a hometown umpire could discourage even the staunchest competitor. There were many local umpires known for their fairness; E. Jackson of Salisbury was said to be “severely impartial,” but these were the exceptions. Home crowds were known to turn on their local umpire if he did not adequately support his team. The respected Josiah Kerr of Dorchester County was once run off the field, and he later called a game because the teams and fans had gotten so out of hand. It eventually reached a point where umpires became so associated with the local club that they sat in on team pictures.

A number of solutions were tried. Washington College hired a professional in the late 1880’s but most towns either didn’t want to bare the expense, or lose their edge. For a time in the early 1890’s both team umpires were used, “It would be more satisfactory if the system was adopted by country teams in general.” This merely resulted in one umpire trying to offset the biases of the other. For a time the preferred method was to have the umpire of the visiting team work the games in the host town. Surely, no reasonable man would overstep his bounds in front of a large and unruly home crowd. Well, there was George Percy, the Cambridge umpire working a game against Salisbury. In a hotly contested game he first called a man out, then an “a__hole.” The crowd stormed the field, insisting the call be reversed. Percy bravely called a forfeit instead.

When the Eastern Shore League was formed in 1904, the first use of a professional umpire appeared. Mr. Cox was provided lodging in Hurlock, MD a similar distance from the three members. It was thought the distance between the participants would deter any intimidation, attempted bribery or extortion. He was soon replaced by L. M. Collier, who then gave way to Edmund Scott. It was thought the latter’s “stentorian voice” would maintain order on the field. The league did not finish the season but was considered a success because; “very seldom did objections to umpiring reach a stage where umpire, players and ‘bleachers’ used the force of their wit and invective…” (Cambridge Daily Banner, July 22, 1904)

When the Peninsula League formed in 1915 it was decided that each team would provide a substitute player to umpire. It was one of the calmest umpiring seasons of record. When the league returned the following year, it was with two-man paid umpiring crews. That’s when trouble arose again with a number of incidents. The Cambridge Club objected strenuously to the work of Bill McGowan. He was from Delaware and often rode with the Milford team to save money. It was thought he was a little “too friendly” with that club. Despite the Cambridge objections, McGowan went on to a Hall of Fame career.

The many newspaper accounts suggest that umpiring “country ball” could be a stressful, if not hazardous occupation. But, somehow, they always managed to fill the “undesirable position.”

2.) STATMAN – Is “Streakiness” Real? by Charlie Pavitt

Charlie Pavitt (Rockville) knows about as much as anyone about published statistical studies of baseball, and has collected nearly the entire literature on his basement shelves. He explains one classic piece and one recent essay in this issue.

This Squibber’s Classic Statistical Essay: S. Christian 1Albright, “A Statistical Analysis of Hitting Streaks in Baseball,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, Volume 88 Number 424, December 1993, pages 1175-1183; with comments by Jim Albert (pages 1184-1188) and by Hal S. Stern and Carl N. Morris (pages 1189-1194) and a rejoinder by Albright (pages 1194-1196).

This is the most important substantive study of whether batting streaks and slumps are “real” or merely random deviations from average performance, analogous to flipping a coin and getting five heads in a row. Albright studied the streakiness of batters getting on base using Project Scoresheet data from 1997 to 1990 and including the 501 500-at-bat seasons that occurred during that interim.

Using three types of statistical procedures, he found only very slight tendencies for streakiness based on results of two of these procedures and very slight tendencies for stability (absence of streakiness) based on the third. Albright concluded that there was no conclusive evidence for either streakiness or stability.

Both Albert and Stern/Morris proposed alternative statistical models and performed their own analyses, none of which resulted in evidence contradicting Albright=s conclusion. Several other studies have resulted in analogous findings. Although, for technical reasons, we can never say that we have “proven” that streaks and slumps are merely the product of random variation, all the evidence points in that direction.

This Squibber’s Recent Statistical Essay: Scott M. Berry, “Hired to be Fired,” Chance, Volume 17 Number 2, Spring 2004, pages 55-59.

I am happy to note that Scott M. Berry continues his “A Statistician Reads the Sports Pages” column in most of the quarterly issues of Chance. This time, he has studied the factors that best predict the odds of a head coach/managerial firing in each of MBL, NBA, NFL, and NHL, based on teams that were in existence through the 25-year stretch from 1979 to 2003.

Some of his more interesting findings: Overall, firings are less likely in the NFL (19 percent in a given year) than in the others (28 percent in MLB, 29 percent in NBA, 38 percent in NHL). The odds of a first-year MLB manager with a .500 record being fired are 21 percent (NHL, 29, NBA, 12, NFL, only 4).

In all the sports, the probability of being fired with a .500 record after a given year goes up from the first year, reaching its maximum during the third year in MBL, fourth year in NFL and NHL, and fifth year in NBA, and then drops thereafter; in other words, new hirings are given a grace period of, depending upon the sport, two to four years. Every 100 percentage points of won-loss changes the risk of firing by 10 percent in MLB and 7 percent in the others.

For a little fun, Berry listed the most extreme probabilities for each sport. For baseball, the most likely firing among managers in his data was Chuck Tanner (75.5 percent) after 1988, his third year with the Braves, with the team at 54-106, 15 games worse than his previous year and 12 games worse than the previous manager’s last season. The most unlikely was Lou Piniella (1.6 percent) after 2001, his seventh season with the Mariners, with the team’s historic 116-46.

3.) FROM THE SULTAN’S SHELF: A History of D.C. Ballpark Blasts, by David Vincent

[Our favorite Sultan of Swat Stats (Centreville, VA) breaks down home run totals for home and visiting players at Griffith Stadium and RFK Stadium. With the Washington Nationals returning to RFK this year, it’s time for some new history to be written. Who will hit the first RFK homer since 1971?]

Home Runs at Griffith Stadium (Washington, D.C.)

First HR: Eddie Collins, Phil. May 6, 1911

Last HR: Billy Bryan, K.C. Sept. 17, 1961

Total hit in park: 2,126

Most by Visitors

1. Babe Rut 34

2. Joe DiMaggio 30

3. Mickey Mantle 29

4. Jimmie Foxx 27

5. Rocky Colavito 24

Most by Home Team Players

1. Jim Lemon 88

2. Roy Sievers 80

3. Harmon Killebrew 39

4. Mickey Vernon 32

5. Goose Goslin 31

Most Total

1. Roy Sievers 91

2. Jim Lemon 88

3. Harmon Killebrew 41

4. Goose Goslin 38

5. Mickey Vernon 34

6. Babe Ruth 34

Home Runs at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium (Washington, D.C.)

First HR: Bob Johnson, Wash. April 9, 1962

Last HR: Frank Howard, Wash. Sept. 30, 1971

Total hit in park: 1,331

Most by Visitors

1. Harmon Killebrew 25

2. Boog Powell 22

3. Willie Horton 14

4. Bob Allison 13

Leon Wagner 13

Norm Cash 13

Jim Northrup 13

Most by Home Team Players

1. Frank Howard 116

2. Don Lock 51

3. Ken McMullen 46

4. Mike Epstein 35

5. Jim King 32

Most Total

1. Frank Howard 116

2. Don Lock 51

3. Ken McMullen 47

4. Mike Epstein 35

5. Jim King 32

4.) A RICH PAST -- Great Moments in D.C./RFK Stadium History, by Phil Hochberg

[Phil Hochberg was the Senators' stadium announcer from 1962 through 1968, and for all the exhibition and Old Timers games played since at RFK Memorial Stadium. He is a member of the Bob Davids Chapter of SABR.]

I find that just the possibility of baseball returning to Washington brings back memories about the wonders of baseball -- and about the most memorable games played at D.C. Stadium/Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.

Here, in chronological order, is my Top 10 list:

(1) April 9, 1962. D.C. Stadium opens, and the Senators beat the Tigers, 4-1, as Bennie Daniels puts the Senators in the American League lead. Infielder Bob Johnson hits the stadium's first home run as President John F. Kennedy looks on. The Senators later lose 13 in a row and finish last in the American League.

(2) July 10, 1962. Baseball celebrates the opening of its newest major league stadium by holding the first of the two 1962 All-Star Games in Washington. Jim Bunning, later a Republican senator from Kentucky, starts for the American League, but his side loses, 3-1. D.C. native Maury Wills of the Dodgers is named the most valuable player.

(3) Aug. 1, 1962. The Senators lose a doubleheader to the Yankees, 4-2 and 6-5 (in 11 innings), before a record Washington baseball crowd of 48,147. This should be contrasted with another doubleheader (on Sept. 26, 1966) when the Senators and Red Sox attract -- if that is the right word -- just 485 paying customers.

(4) April 11, 1963. Fewer than 5,000 fans see the greatest combined pitching and hitting feats in the history of the stadium. Senators pitcher Tom Cheney allows only one hit and one walk, striking out 10, and Senators catcher Don Leppert hits three home runs as the Senators beat the Red Sox, 8-0. Cheney ends his career with 19 victories, and Leppert ends his with 15 home runs.

(5) Sept. 24, 1966. Despite losing to Chicago, 6-2, the Senators make major league history by having the first female stadium announcer. Joy Hawkins McCabe replaces the regular stadium announcer (me), who is in basic training at Fort Knox, KY.

(6) June 12, 1967. Just one game, but more than 6½ hours of baseball. The Senators beat the White Sox 6-5 when catcher Paul Casanova -- who has caught the entire game -- hits a run-scoring single up the middle in the 22^nd inning. The game ends at 2:43 A.M., causing the American League to institute a rule that no inning may start after 1:00 A.M.

(7) July 23, 1969. The centennial of baseball is celebrated in the 1969 All-Star Game before 45,259 after a torrential rain wipes out the game the night before. Frank Howard thrills the crowd with a second-inning homer, but Willie McCovey hits two homers for the National League, which wins its third straight All-Star Game in Washington (1956, 1962 and 1969), 9-3.

(8) Oct. 1, 1969. The Senators, under first-year manager Ted Williams (the American League manager of the year), beat the Red Sox, 3-2, in the last game of the season. The team ends up 86-76, only the second time since 1945 that it finishes above .500. Mike Epstein hits his 30th home run of the season, a record for Senator lefties -- only nobody knows it because the Washington newspapers are on strike.

(9) Sept. 30, 1971. The Senators lead the Yankees, 7-5, with two out in the ninth, before 14,460 restless fans, in the last game before moving to Arlington, TX. Suddenly, thousands of fans pour onto the field to express their anger about Bob Short moving the team. The umpires are forced to forfeit the game. Statistics--including a Frank Howard homer and the Senators scoring more runs than the Yankees--count, but the final official score is Yankees, 9, Senators, 0.

(10) July 19, 1982. Seventy-five-year-old Hall of Fame shortstop Luke Appling, playing in the initial Cracker Jack Old Timers Game, hits a first-inning home run off fellow Hall of Famer Warren Spahn as the American League wins, 5-2. Appling, a better hitter than runner at 75, barely makes it around the bases.

Now, if only we can get the Redskins back too.

5.) WASHINGTON’S FORGOTTEN FEAT – Let’s Give Tom Cheney the Credit he Deserves, by Jeff Stuart

A note to the Nationals promotion department:

The Nats have an off day on Monday, September 12th. But that would have been a good day to commemorate one of the great uncelebrated feats in baseball history.

On that date in 1962, Tom Cheney, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, struck out 21 batters in a 16-inning game. He threw 228 pitches. He struck out the last Oriole batter he faced, Dick Williams.

No he is NOT in the Hall of Fame. He was not Feller, Koufax, Drysdale, Clemens, Maddux or Randy Johnson. Certainly not a Walter Johnson. And, in terms of the Senators, not even a Camilo Pascual.

But he was on that night. Yes, it took him 16 innings. Many of the classic pitchers of previous eras pitched that many innings on occasion: Spahn, Roberts, Buhl.

But no one in the history of baseball ever struck out more batters. No one.

Let that sink in. It is as certain as saying that no one in baseball history hit more homers than Henry Aaron. Hank had far more at-bats than Ruth, by the way. But the record is still the record. This record will probably stand for quite some time, maybe longer than Aaron's. It has already stood for 42 years.

This feat has been largely ignored. Perhaps it is because Cheney's career was not long or particularly distinguished. If a Clemens or Johnson or a Maddux had done it, I personally think it would have been a bigger deal.

But it is a great record; a major record. Not DiMaggio's streak, perhaps, or a .400 batting average. But a big deal. A big deal, however, has never been made out of it. A big deal should be made out of it.

With a new team back in town, this injustice should be quickly corrected.

Mr. Cheney passed away last year, so he won't be there to see it. But it is a celebration that should happen any way--and in Washington.

6.) A LONG, RICH HISTORY – The Chesapeake Independent Baseball League, By Bob Schnebly

From Pickles to Ox, One Muscle to White Cake, the nicknames flow throughout this community better known as Southern Maryland, Semi-Pro Baseball. Towns such as Mitchellville, Wicomico, Drury, Davidsonville, Benedict, Galesville all became members of the Tri-State or Chesapeake League at one time or another. Teams with names such as Washington Black Sox (est. 1928) and the Pomonkey Braves all share threads of the same vision: winning the league title.

The Chesapeake Independent Baseball League was formed in 1976, but that's not where this story begins. This Chesapeake League had its real beginning 110 years earlier in some of these same towns. In 1866, the Chesapeake Independent Baseball League was born.

In that time, both black and white players played together on the same sandlots and continued to do so until 1894 or 1895; history isn't clear on which year. At that point, the Chesapeake League became a whites-only baseball league. Several Negro Leagues sprang up as various alternatives to this white league.

In 1901, the Industrial League of Washington, D.C. entered the mix as another whites-only league. As an alternative to this, one of the leagues to organize was the Mid-Atlantic Negro League. This league existed in various forms from the late 1890s to the early 1960s (1963 to be exact).

Both the Industrial and the Mid-Atlantic Negro Leagues played together and barnstormed together up and down the East Coast, as various teams in each league would pick up games versus other teams in other leagues. On several occasions, teams mixed rosters (long before Jackie Robinson "broke the color barrier" in 1947), to be able to have the needed nine players to play the "pickup games" while barnstorming up and down the coast.

After the war years had come and gone, the Mid-Atlantic Negro League found itself in the same situation as all other Negro Leagues. They too were losing players to the white professional leagues because of the allure of potential major league baseball. In the late 1950s, many of the Mid-Atlantic Negro League teams such as the Mitchellville Tigers and Washington Black Sox started playing in the Tri-State League, as well as the Mid-Atlantic Negro League, which was soon to fold (1963), as did all other Negro Leagues at this point.

When this occurred, the concept of the true town team changed forever. Prior to this, town teams truly had players from their towns. Once the Negro Semipro and former professional Negro League teams came on board, recruiting the best players was the name of the game.

At this point, the Chesapeake Independent Baseball League was born. Really, it just came back from a long slumber, this time as a "local town league" with mostly black players, which was the racial makeup of most of the small towns that played Sunday baseball in that part of Southern Maryland.

The Chesapeake Independent Baseball League operates each year, from April to October. It’s just a few minutes off the Beltway in miles, but it's a lifetime away by feel. These fields are all "fields of dreams” on private property. You can be 17 years old or 37 years old, any age really. Age doesn't matter in this semi-pro league, as long as you are good enough to pound the leather, smack the ball, or throw the little white pill past a batter half your age, but still your equal on the rough diamond. A Chesapeake League game may attract 300 paying customers, but on rare occasions 3,000-plus have crossed through the gates at $3 per head.

When you covet the championship, you will do what you must to win the title. The all-time leading winner as an owner of local town teams in this league, a man who would leave no stone unturned to find a good ballplayer, black or white, was Charlie Brown, Sr., who still to this day owns and operates the Charles County Raiders out of Pomonkey, Md. in the Chesapeake Independent Baseball League.

One of the reasons Charlie's teams have been so successful over the last 16 years is the fact that they have had a great pitcher, Brian Toronto, on their staff for much of this time, other than a few stints in professional baseball.

Brian has completely redefined the league in terms of wins and losses. From 1988 through 2004, he has won more than 125 games without a single loss! “White Cake,” as he is known among his peers, or "King of the Negro Leagues," as he is known to the owners and team management around the league, is a sure bet to put up a "W" every time he takes the hill. Other teams would just as soon toss in the towel as play a game they know, without a doubt, they have no chance to win! No pitcher has ever been this dominant in any other semi-pro league on record.

The Chesapeake Independent Baseball League owes a great debt to the Tri-State League and the Mid-Atlantic Negro League. The flavor, feel and sense of things past come to the forefront every time you visit the ballpark on a sunny May afternoon. Come visit a game at Drury, Wicomico, Pomonkey or any other yard. Games always start at 8:00 P.M.

One warning though: You may never want to go home again.

7.) STRAIGHT TO THE SHOW – Pete Broberg and the ’71 Senators, by Walt Cherniak

The story of David Clyde stands as the textbook warning against rushing young pitchers to the major leagues before they're ready. Just two months after his 18th birthday, and only days after the Texas Rangers made him the No. 1 pick in the 1973 amateur draft, Clyde defeated the Minnesota Twins in his big-league debut, allowing only one hit and two runs in five innings, while walking seven and fanning eight.

It was a short-lived success for cash-strapped Rangers owner Bob Short. The Rangers were a last-place team who would lose 105 games that season, while drawing 8,470 fans per game. Clyde, a Texas high school star, attracted 35,698 fans to Arlington Stadium that day.

But Clyde soon demonstrated that he was not physically or emotionally ready for the big leagues, and finished the 1973 season at 4-8, with a 5.01 ERA in 93 1/3 innings. He would last just five years in the majors, pitching inconsistently (18-33, with a 4.63 ERA) and developing well-documented off-the-field problems. At age 24, he was done.

Few people remember, however, that it was not the first time Short had tried to jump-start interest in his floundering team by rushing a highly touted pitching prospect to the majors. Two years earlier, when the Rangers were known as the Washington Senators and called RFK Stadium their home, he did exactly the same thing with a hard-throwing righthander named Pete Broberg.

At 6-3 and 205 pounds, Peter Sven Broberg was no starry-eyed Texas schoolboy. He was 21, and had just completed his junior year at Dartmouth College when the Senators made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 1971 amateur draft. Broberg’s velocity and tenacity impressed Manager Ted Williams. His gate potential impressed Short, who would move the Senators to Texas following that season.

Like Clyde's Rangers, the Senators were both playing and drawing poorly in 1971. They finished 63-96 that year, ahead of only Cleveland in the American League East. They drew only 655,156 to RFK, an average of 8,088 fans per game.

But there were 19,884 fans in the ballpark on Sunday, June 20, as Broberg took the mound against the Boston Red Sox. Hope was in the air, and Broberg didn't disappoint. He retired the Red Sox in order in the first inning, punching out Joe Lahoud for his first career strikeout.

In the second inning, Broberg demonstrated the classic ups and downs of a wild power pitcher. He sandwiched strikeouts of Carl Yastrzemski and George Scott around a walk to Rico Petrocelli, then walked Doug Griffin, and balked both runners up a base. He escaped the jam by striking out Bob Montgomery.

He didn't allow a hit until Griffin singled in the fourth, and Yastrzemski added Boston's second hit an inning later. Through six innings, Broberg was dominant, allowing only two hits and four walks, while striking out seven Red Sox batters. Boston starter Gary Peters was equally effective, blanking the Nats over the first five innings.

But that changed in the bottom of the sixth, when Frank Howard crushed a three-run homer with Dave Nelson and Toby Harrah aboard to give Washington a 3-0 lead. Broberg seemed well-positioned to gain his first big-league victory as he took the mound in the seventh inning.

It was not to be. Broberg hit Scott with a pitch to open the inning. After fanning Griffin, he allowed a single to Montgomery. With Peters, an excellent hitting pitcher, due to bat, Williams replaced Broberg with lefthander Paul Lindblad. Boston Manager Eddie Kasko countered with pinch-hitter Billy Conigliaro, who ripped a two-run double to narrow the deficit to one run.

Lindblad retired John Kennedy on a fly ball to center fielder Elliott Maddox, and Kasko called on another pinch-hitter, Phil Gagliano, to bat for Lahoud. His single tied the score, and he took second on Maddox' throw home. Reggie Smith followed with another single, but Maddox fired to catcher Paul Casanova to nail Gagliano at the plate.

The Red Sox would eventually win 4-3, reaching reliever Horacio Pina for an unearned run in the top of the ninth. And Broberg, despite pitching well, would receive a no-decision.

Like Clyde, Broberg would not live up to the promise of his debut. He went 5-9 with a 3.47 ERA for the Senators, who were in their final Washington season, striking out 89 and walking 53 in 124 2/3 innings. He beat Cleveland 9-4 on July 4 for his first victory, a six-hit complete game.

Broberg pitched his finest game of the season, and one of the best of his career, on Aug. 7, when he blanked the Indians 7-0 on a five-hit shutout. In that game, he struck out nine batters without issuing a walk. Only 5,202 Washington fans showed up to witness the feat.

Wildness and inconsistency plagued Broberg throughout his eight-year big league career. He twice led the American League in hit batsmen, and was frequently among the league leaders in wild pitches and walks allowed.

After the one season with Washington and three more in Texas (he was a teammate of David Clyde), Broberg was traded to Milwaukee for veteran lefthander Clyde Wright. At age 25, he enjoyed his finest major league season with the Brewers in 1975, going 14-16 in 220 1/3 innings, posting a 4.13 ERA.

Injuries limited him to just 92 1/3 innings and a 1-7 record in 1976, and the Seattle Mariners selected him in the expansion draft that November. Seattle traded him to the Chicago Cubs in April for a player to be named later.

After 22 relief appearances and just 36 innings for Chicago, he was on the move again. In spring training 1978, he was traded to Oakland for infielder Rodney Scott. Broberg made 26 starts for the A's, going 10-12 with a 4.62 ERA. His final victory came on Sept. 10, when he threw a complete-game four-hitter to win, 2-1. Fittingly, the opponent was the Texas Rangers, the franchise with whom his up-and-down career began in such promising fashion.

Broberg made just one more start and two relief appearances that season. He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent, but was released April 4. His big-league career was over.

It's impossible to say whether being rushed to the major leagues had the same effect on Broberg's career as it did on Clyde's. Broberg had a spotty major-league career, but not appreciably better or worse than dozens of other promising fireballers. He had to learn to refine his pitches and sharpen his control in the big leagues, rather than the minors, and never made the leap from potential to consistent excellence.

But as Washington welcomes baseball back to the nation's capital, it's interesting to reflect on a Sunday afternoon more than 30 years ago, when Pete Broberg was throwing smoke, and all things seemed possible.

(Afterward:: Players rarely come directly to the majors from the amateur draft today, but it was a relatively common practice in the early 1970s. In 1970, Steve Dunning debuted with Cleveland shortly after being drafted No. 2 overall. In 1972, third baseman Dave Roberts went directly to San Diego after being drafted first overall. Eddie Bane made his pitching debut for Minnesota after being picked 11^th overall in 1973. None of these players developed into big-league stars. But there is one notable exception. Dave Winfield, picked fourth overall by San Diego in 1973 as a pitcher-outfielder out of the University of Minnesota, never played a day in the minors en route to a Hall of Fame career. Thanks to David Smith and the invaluable resources of Retrosheet.)

8.) THEME TEAM: All-Time Team of Non-Senators Who Played for Multiple Washington, D.C. Franchises, by Bruce Brown

These all played for two or more major-league franchises based in Washington, D.C., before the name Senators was used.

1b - Walter Prince (Nationals AA and Nationals UA 1884)

2b - Frank Olin (Nationals AA and Nationals UA 1884)

3b - Warren White (Olympics 1871, Nationals 1872, Blue Legs 1873, Nationals UA 1884)

SS - Bob Reach (Olympics 1872, Blue Legs 1873)

C - Fred Waterman (Olympics 1871-72, Blue Legs 1873)

LF - John Glenn (Olympics 1871-72, Nationals 1872, Blue Legs 1873)

CF - Paul Hines (Nationals NA 1872, Nationals NL 1886-87)

RF - Tommy Beals (Olympics 1871-72, Blue Legs 1873)

PH - Ed Yewell (Nationals AA and Nationals UA 1884)

Pitching

RH - Bill Stearns (Olympics 1871, Nationals NA 1872, ‘75, Blue Legs 1873)

Mgr - Holly Hollingshead (Nationals NA 1872, ‘75, Blue Legs 1873)

9.) Research Request: Wartime Nats

I've been working on a project that I thought would be of real interest to baseball fans in the DC area now that the game has finally returned!

I have been in contact with Dick Heller and have sent information to Tom Boswell of the Washington Post and sent information to the new ball club although I have no personal contact - does anyone? If so, please let me know.

Dick Heller has been lobbying for Walter Johnson's daughter, Carolyn Thomas, to throw out the first ball at the season opener in DC - not certain where that stands - I do know that Mickey Vernon is going to throw out the first ball at the second Phillies-Nats game in Philadelphia.

Also, SABR member Rich Westcott is about to publish a book on Mickey Vernon and I've met with him several times to provide him with some insight on Mickey from a 50+ year personal relationship with the Case family.

I'm looking for someone to contact, either in D.C., or with the new ball club, or with your organization. I have the ability to capture images from my dad's 8-millimeter home movies in COLOR and publish a FIRST-EVER book of COLOR photographs and background stories on major league baseball during the WWII era, mostly in D.C. with Griffith Stadium, the players, spring training, pre-game promotions, FDR throwing out the first ball, etc.

I also thought an exhibit tying in SABR and Washington baseball (with my background and knowledge of the history of the team (they were known as the Nats) when my dad played, would be of real interest to Washington baseball fans - could be something similar to what we did back in 2001 with the "Legacy of Griffith Stadium."

I'm open to hearing from anyone interested in helping.

George Case

gegrje1@netzero.net

(215) 493 6407

10.) Research Request: Contributors Wanted

There are certain themes that we would like covered, but have no contributors. Those areas would be 19th century, Western Maryland, and statistical – preferably regarding the Bob Davids Chapter region. If anyone’s interested, please contact me.

Marty Payne