"Fans, Please Welcome Your 1977 Lionville Tiiiiiger-Cats"

With the retirements in the off-season of Willie Davis and Jim Wynn, my Tiger-Cats' biggest needs coming into the 1977 season were an outfielder and DH. The best OF prospects in the draft pool were George Hendrick, Andre Dawson, and Jeff Burroughs. However, I didn't expect any of those players to be available by the time the 10th pick rolled around.

To my surprise both Hendrick and Dawson were available. I decided to go with Dawson, the younger player. I believe we're set for years to come with him patrolling CF.

Because we had a need at 1B, due to the release of Joe Torre, I expected to address that need in the 2nd round. With Gene Tenace gone to Honey Brook, the best 1B option appeared to be Davey Johnson and he was available when my turn came. But I had another dilemma. OF Tony Scott was the best player on the board. Taking the slick fielding Scott would allow me to use Greg Luzinski as designated hitter.

The temptation was too much to pass up. I took Scott and hoped Johnson, with his limited available usage, would still be there at the end of the 3rd round. Lo and behold Johnson was still on the board so I grabbed him. He'll platoon at 1B with Ed Kranepool. Now and again I'll cross my fingers and start Jerry Martin at 1B to give the aged Davey and Ed some extra rest.

I figured Martin, when not playing 1B, could platoon with Scott in LF. But come the end of round 4, Gene Clines was still available. He'll make an even better platoon pairing with Scott.

In round 5 I was pleased to be able to get Fred Holdsworth to help alleviate the vacuum left in the bullpen with the retirement of Ken Sanders and release of Al Downing. In the 12th round I picked 40-year old Vic Davalillo and will use him as a left-handed pitch-hitting specialist. Maybe Vic will provide some of that "secret sauce" that gave us .390 pinch-hitting in our pennant run last season.

So, here is the group I'm going with:

1977 Lionville Tiger-Cats   Black=on active roster  Blue=minor leaguers
 
Batters            CODES YEAR TEAM BAL  AB DO TR HR BAVG  BB K'S RBI  OB%  SL%
Joe Morgan (L)     1   0 1977  CIN  1L 521 21  6 22 .288 117  58  78 .417 .478
Greg Luzinski (R)  2   0 1977  PHN  3R 554 35  3 39 .309  80 140 130 .394 .594
Ted Simmons (S)    3   0 1977  SLN  1R 516 25  3 21 .318  79  37  95 .408 .500
Jerry Morales (R)  4   0 1977  CHN  4L 490 34  5 11 .290  43  75  69 .348 .447
Ken Reitz (R)      5   0 1977  SLN   E 587 36  1 17 .261  19  74  79 .291 .412
Ed Kranepool (L)   6   0 1977  NYN  8R 281 17  0 10 .281  23  20  40 .330 .448
Chris Speier (R)   7   0 1977  MON  4R 548 31  6  5 .234  67  81  38 .317 .339
Ed Ott (L)         8   0 1977  PIN  2R 311 14  3  7 .264  32  41  38 .334 .395
Jerry Martin (R)   9   0 1977  PHN  1L 215 16  3  6 .260  18  42  28 .328 .447
Andre Dawson (R)  10   0 1977  MON  2L 525 26  9 19 .282  34  93  65 .326 .474
Tony Scott (S)    11   0 1977  SLN  2L 292 16  3  3 .291  33  48  41 .368 .397
Davey Johnson (R) 12   0 1977  PHN  4L 156  9  1  8 .321  23  20  36 .408 .545
Gene Clines (R)   13   0 1977  CHN  1L 239 12  2  3 .293  25  25  41 .358 .397
F. Gonzalez (R)   14   0 1977  PIN  2L 181 10  0  4 .276  13  21  27 .320 .398
Ray Knight (R)    15   0 1977  CIN  2R  92  5  1  1 .261   9  16  13 .324 .370
Dane Iorg  (L)    16   0 1977  SLN  6R  62  2  0  0 .242   6   7   6 .304 .274
Bob Davis (R)     17   0 1977  SDN  3L  94  2  0  1 .181   5  24  10 .235 .234
Vic Davalillo (L) 18   0 1977  LAN  4R  48  2  0  0 .313   0   6   4 .313 .354

Pitchers           LEFT% BAL WON LOST  ERA  IP HITS WALKS K'S HR GS SV
Randy Jones (L)     21    6R   6  12  4.58 147  173   36   44 12 25  0
Burt Hooton (R)     41    4R  12   7  2.62 223  184   60  153 14 31  1
Steve Carlton (L)   17    1R  23  10  2.64 283  229   89  198 25 36  0
Ron Reed (R)        39    4R   7   5  2.75 124  101   37   84  9  3 15
Bruce Kison (R)     43    7R   9  10  4.90 193  209   55  122 25 32  0
Joe Sambito (L)     28    4L   5   5  2.33  89   77   24   67  6  1  7
Craig Swan (R)      42    1R   9  10  4.23 147  153   56   71 10 24  0
Max Leon (R)        44    1L   4   4  3.97  82   89   25   44  9  9  1
Fred Holdsworth (R) 51    9L   3   3  3.19  42   35   18   21  6  6  0
Dan Schatzeder (L)  29    5L   2   1  2.49  22   16   13   14  0  3  0
Terry Cornutt (R)   35    9R   1   2  3.86  44   38   22   23  4  1  0
Don Collins (L)     33    5L   3   9  5.09  71   82   41   27  8  6  2
 

My guess is the road to a pennant won't be nearly as smooth this season. Our starting pitching will not be nearly as reliable. Furthermore, I expect a falloff in Morgan's performance. How could he possibly duplicate what he did last season? On the plus side we have more power and speed with the addition of Dawson. I'm expecting an uptick in the power numbers of Simba and Reitz. As good as Bull was last year, he could be even better this season, assuming he takes a liking to his new role as DH.

Triple-digit wins is within sight - and 100 should be enough for us to repeat.

1977 NCVL Draft and Pre-Season Transactions

Retired or Released Between the 1976 and 1977 Seasons

Chester Springs Two-Fivers

• Rich Chiles retired
• Dave May retired
• Al Javier retired
• Bob Moose retired
• Roger Moret retired
• Fred Andrews was released
• Mike Jorgensen was released

Devault Dynamiters

• Richie Zisk retired
• Ted Kubiak retired
• Craig Reynolds retired
• Doug Clarey retired
• Dan Warthen was released
• Don Werner was released

Eagle Eagles

• Dick Allen retired
• Manny Sanguillen retired
• Earl Williams retired
• Billy Baldwin retired
• Rodney Scott retired
• Chip Lang retired
• Rick Sutcliffe retired
• Terry Harmon retired
• Ramon Hernandez was released
• Mike Marshall was released
• Jerry White was released

Elverson Squires

• Ken Henderson retired
• Fred Kendall retired
• Hector Torres retired
• Ron Schueler retired
• Jerry Davanon was released

"Fans, Please Welcome Your 1976 Lionville Tiiiiiger-Cats"

My Lionville Tiger-Cats are lookin' good! Damn good! Here are RL batting and pitching real-life stats for my players, followed by my thoughts on the just-completed draft.

 
1976 Lionville Tiger-Cats   Black=on active roster  Blue=minor leaguers
 
                   CODES YEAR TEAM BAL  AB DO TR HR BAVG  BB K'S RBI  OB%  SL%
Joe Morgan         1   0 1976  CIN  5R 472 30  5 27 .320 114  41 111 .453 .576
Greg Luzinski      3   0 1976  PHN  1R 533 28  1 21 .304  50 107  95 .375 .478
Ted Simmons        4   0 1976  SLN  1L 546 35  3  5 .291  73  35  75 .375 .394
Jerry Morales      7   0 1976  CHN   E 537 17  0 16 .274  41  49  67 .325 .395
Willie Davis       9   0 1976  SDN   E 493 18 10  5 .268  19  34  46 .298 .375
Ken Reitz         10   0 1976  SFN  3L 577 21  1  5 .267  24  48  66 .297 .333
Ed Kranepool      11   0 1976  NYN  2R 415 17  1 10 .292  35  38  49 .347 .410
Chris Speier      12   0 1976  SFN   E 495 18  4  3 .226  60  52  40 .315 .297
Joe Torre         15   0 1976  NYN  1L 310 10  3  5 .306  21  35  31 .360 .406
Jim Wynn          17   0 1976  ATN  1L 449 19  1 17 .207 127 111  66 .382 .367
Leon Roberts      19   0 1976  HON   E 235 11  2  7 .289  19  43  33 .350 .443
Tommy Helms       21   0 1976  PIN  8L  87  5  1  1 .276  10   5  13 .357 .391
Ed Ott            23   0 1976  pin  1L  39  2  0  0 .308   3   5   5 .349 .359
Rob Sperring      25   0 1976  CHN  2L  93  3  0  0 .258   9  25   7 .324 .290
Ken Boswell       26   0 1976  HON  3R 126  8  1  0 .262   8   8  18 .306 .341
Jerry Martin      28   0 1976  PHN  7L 121  7  0  2 .248   7  28  15 .289 .355
Larry Milbourne   30   0 1976  HON  4L 145  4  0  0 .248  14  10   7 .319 .276
Hozay Morales     13   0 1976  MON  2R 158 11  0  4 .316   3  20  37 .337 .462
 
                LEFT% BAL WON LOST  ERA  IP HITS WALKS K'S HR GS SV
Jones            20    2L  22  14  2.74 315  274   50   93 15 40  0
Hooton           45    1R  11  15  3.25 227  203   60  116 16 33  0
Carlton          18    1L  20   7  3.13 253  224   72  195 19 35  0
Reed             37    6R   8   7  2.46 128   88   32   96  8  4 14
Kison            46    8R  14   9  3.08 193  180   52   98 10 29  1
Sambito          28    1L   3   2  3.54  53   45   14   26  4  4  1
Sanders          40    1R   1   2  2.87  47   39   12   16  4  0  1
Swan             43    7R   6   9  3.55 132  129   44   89 11 22  0
Downing          25    2L   1   2  3.83  47   43   18   30  3  3  0
Taylor           46    2R   2   3  4.50  40   38   13   14  4  0  0
Walker           34    2R   1   2  4.12  20   22    3   11  2  0  3
Leon             37    1R   2   4  2.75  36   32   15   16  2  0  3

Really, had I not drawn the #1 slot in the draft lottery, I was planning to take a starting pitcher in the first round. But with that #1 overall pick I just had to go for the RL MVP Joe Morgan, he of the astronomical 1.020 OPS. He'll be on base all the time! Then I watched in amazement as the other 9 managers all took hitters. That enabled me to pick up the RL Cy Young winner Randy Jones in round 2. The MVP and the Cy Young winner -- who would have thought?

 As that round and the next two following progressed, I continued to be surprised how infrequently the other managers went for starting pitchers. A lot of the good hitters were getting snapped up, but still I was happy to get Greg Luzinski in round 3 and Ted Simmons in round 4.

Then it was time to go for another starter. The selection was still great, and I had a hard time deciding between Burt Hooton and Don Sutton. It's hard to pass up a 20-game winner, but I went for Hooton, thinking his upside in this year and the next couple to be a little greater.

Sutton went later in round 5 as did the first reliever, Rawley Eastwick. I was thinking another hitter for round 6, but, incredibly, Steve Carlton was still on the board. I couldn't pass him up.

I had hoped to get Ron Reed as my closer, with his sub-1.00 WHIP. After relievers Eastwick, Ken Forsch, Skip Lockwood, Bruce Sutter, and Charlie Hough got taken, I decided that the time was right to snag Reed as my #8 pick.

1976 NCVL Draft - Filling Empty Vessels

Here's the whole enchilada! As in my Strat football project, my team got lucky in the draft "lottery" and wound up with the #1 pick in each round. For the football project I used playing cards for the lottery; for this project I used a 20-sided die with the lowest roll getting the #1 pick. I rolled for my team, Lionville. I rolled a 2. My son rolled for the other 9 teams. More on the draft in an upcoming post.

Round 1

Lionville drafts J.Morgan
Guthriesville drafts C.Cedeno
Elverson drafts M.Schmidt
Eagle drafts G.Foster
Chester Springs drafts R.Monday
Kimberton drafts B.Madlock
Devault drafts G.Maddox
Honey Brook drafts C.Geronimo
Glenmoore drafts D.Concepcion
Marshallton drafts K.Griffey
Round 2
Lionville drafts R.Jones
Guthriesville drafts L.Brock
Elverson drafts S.Garvey
Eagle drafts P.Rose
Chester Springs drafts D.Winfield
Kimberton drafts J.Cruz
Devault drafts D.Kingman
Honey Brook drafts J.Johnstone
Glenmoore drafts J.Bench
Marshallton drafts R.Cey
Round 3
Lionville drafts G.Luzinski
Guthriesville drafts B.Murcer
Elverson drafts A.Oliver
Eagle drafts D.Parker
Chester Springs drafts T.Seaver
Kimberton drafts B.Watson
Devault drafts B.Robinson
Honey Brook drafts J.Koosman
Glenmoore drafts W.Montanez
Marshallton drafts J.Richard

1976 Season to Start Soon

The Northern Chesco Villages League will have its first draft soon. Jon Brams will manage the Lionville Tiger-Cats.