GMS/TEAMS
SEASONS
CAREER STATS
Another installment of the wonderful musings by Everything's better with Bacon Media Group' & freelance writer who has no regard for anyone's personal feelings.
AL:
Gashouse Gorillas
Batting - Jud Wilson has arrived on the scene, with the drafting of Chino and Branch Russell sometime ago Ken Williams is going to drive lots of runs in with those HRs. This season most teams Offenses in the league are above the MLB '25 avg OPS but Gashouse should be top 33%. A-
Pitching -This staff is going to struggle in this hit heavy season the SCL is about to experience. Britt could actually win 20 games & be an AS but beyond that it doesn't look promising. C-
Jersey City Skeeters
Batting - Kevin did a hell of a job retooling the last few seasons. His offense is right near the top of the heap this year. I don't have a clue who is going to lead that team in RBI because about 6 of them could. B+
Pitching - If Nelson Dean can hold up to his real life numbers he most likely will indeed win 20+ games for the Skee Skeets! If Drake loses 18 game in the SCL I'll shave my head. C+/B-
Shamokin Stogies
Batting - Will Dave's team really perform 1000 walks down to 1B this season? I think this team could potentially over perform their projected numbers as they have some good balance up & down. B-
Pitching - Bell & Cockrell are going to single handedly carry this staff to the Playoffs. B
Georgia Pines
Batting - Well Ruth will only play 60% of the season this year so he can't hit 50 HRs, right? Well n/m Hornby slugs 1400 on the season. :) A
Pitching - McCall will probably win over 25 games in Georgia this season. Moore will probably over perform a bit as well, the rest is up in the air. B-
Vegas Vipers
Batting - Great to see George Sisler suiting back up for the Vipers this season! C
Pitching - Pennock is going to be gunning for an AS game appearance this season for sure. Rector could also follow suit for part of the season, they have some other pieces but will not lead the league in ERA. C/C+
Kenmore Miners
Batting - Beckwith is going to have a season where you just say 'Wow!' because you can't put it into words. I have no doubts Mike is going to pull out enough stops to make this team one of the best 3 offenses in the AL. B+/A-
Pitching - Luque, Winters, & Padron, they are easily the straw that stirs the drink, this staff will dominate and win the AL regular season battle. A-
West Side Mets
Batting - Cuyler is going to have a solid AS caliber season, it's a shame even on the west side he won't have much fan fair this year to enjoy his brilliance. C-
Pitching - I was at the 2006 ALDS game 3 when my Tigers beat the yankees, Kenny Rogers pitched a gem that day. One Yankee fan coming up the sectional stairs where we were seated got pelted by a hot dog during the game. Terrible sportsmanship but I couldn't help but laugh at the situation the person found themselves in. Thats how the Mets pitching staff is going to feel all season, being pelted by hotdogs, publicly. C-
Cooperstown Giants
Batting - You guys remember when Branch Russell was on this team? Fournier could very well be an AS representative this season. C-
Pitching - You guys remember when this team leapfrogged the AL in 1924? Well that won't happen in 1925 but hey good on ya George for pulling it off a year previous. D+/C-
AL Standings Projection:
Kenmore Miners
Shamokin Stogies
Georgia Pines
Jersey City Skeeters
Gashouse Gorillas
Vegas Vipers
Cooperstown Giants
West Side Mets
*Notes* The Miners will most likely have some decent breathing room in the AL for the top spot by August. The Skeeters could very well overtake the Pines for that last playoff spot.
NL:
Wheaton Warbirds
Batting - Cannady looks like he is well primed for an excellent season! The rest of the lineup is a solid mix of part time shovels. Very nice job Adam! B+/A-
Pitching - Rogan is going to most likely run away with POY in the NL. Walter Johnson is back at it again as well. B+
Peoria Caterpillars
Batting - Tris Speaker though limited in playing time is still a large factor when he's on the field. Johnson will have to hit consistently to provide the power this team will desperately. need. B
Pitching - W. Foster, you really disgust me, not near as much as stupid Pete Alexander, can' you trip on a curb and hurt your elbow? Also Rats Henderson is not qualified to pitch in this league, I'm pretty sure he has a visa problem. B-
Arklatex Robins
Batting - I am not sure if you could get a better L/R combo of Stearnes & Redus, literally their statistics almost mirror each other. How many runs can Rice score this season hitting in front of those 2? B-
Pitching - Cooper should be a successful pitcher, he could definitely challenge for POY. The overall staff though is not going to slow down most of these offenses. C-/C
Baltimore Terrapins
Batting - Jimmy has a nice merry-go-round setup offense, its just oddly enough in the season we are in, he lacks a bit of the power to consistently bring them home. Its odd saying that, we are in 1925 right?. B-
Pitching - If Reuben Curry goes 24-2, Jimmy will finally wax his back. There is a very large gap with Gray/Curry to the other parts of the staff. C-
Heartland Milkmen
Batting - The holdover still has 1 Meusel & he'll be near the best player on an undersized team in 1925. C
Pitching - You guys know that joke about it taking a long time to get to England in a row boat? C-
Custers Crimson Tide
Batting - Kevin's favorite player Ty Cobb makes a large comeback to prominence this season. The other part of the conversation is that Oscar's shadow completely shades Mr. Cobb out. A
Pitching - Teddy Blankenship, in you we trust our Autumn Season, if you let us down you'll die a slow death in Jimmy's basement, I'm just saying. B-
Sunderland Storm
Batting - THeilman is going to have to use his skill set to spray the ball around the park. There is not a lot of power aside from him on the roster, B
Pitching - McDonald & Vance, yeesh, McClure, Harney, I don't need to continue, hands down the best. A
Dyersville Dreamers
Batting - Bottomley & Suttles are going to provide a very nice combo, when Rice is playing this team will be very competitive. C+/B-
Pitching - Hopefully not all these high innings arms need 50% playing time. Tyler will decidedly not keep that ERA above 4, Donohue & Sherdell, maybe the dreamers could be the 1925 Cinderella. C
NL Standings Projection:
Sunderland Storm
Wheaton Warbirds
Custers Crimson Tide
Peoria Caterpillars
Dyersville Dreamers
Arklatex Robins
Baltimore Terrapins
Hearthland Milkmen
*Notes* The Storm just have too good of a pitching staff to worry about not being #1 after 154 games.The Warbirds are a well built team also and should have a bit of room at the #2 spot.
Kevin’s 1925 Predictions
In this trying time of Covid I wanted to lighten things up with a Dad Joke, to take your mind off the troubles of today. ENJOY!!
A man opens the front door to his house to collect his morning newspaper. While picking up the paper he notices a very large snail looking up at him. The man bends over, picks up the snail and throws it across the street.
Two months later the man hears a knock on his front door. When he opens the door he looks down to see that same snail sitting on his porch. The snail says, “ Hey....whatdja do that for?!”
Once again I gaze into my navel to come up with my fearless, may I say perfect predictions for the upcoming SCL season.
Thank you Dan for sending in your seasonal predictions as well. When it comes to his choices, Dan is a man of science, numbers, and quantum analytics. He pulls out his abacus and slaps those beads around like a catholic nun disciplining a 3rd grader. His pocket protector bulges with pens, pencils, a slide rule, and a protractor. What he does with a protractor to make his predictions is beyond anyone’s comprehension. He is the Steven Hawking of baseball.
Me, I go with my gut, I roll the dice and scream “snake eyes”. I walk down the aisle at the local grocery store, and scream “snake eyes”. When I’m at the library…..”snake eyes”. It gets people’s attention, and gets me escorted out of a lot of public places. I don’t need sabermetrics, I have my gut. I am the homeless guy living in a cardboard box of baseball.
American League:
SKEETERS: GM- Kevin Graham
I was thrown out of the Boy Scouts when I was 11. I stabbed a fellow scout in the neck with my scout badge. We were roasting marshmallows at the time, and he laughed at me when my marshmallow caught on fire. I mean, what’d they expect?
The Skeeters have the best outfield in the League. Cool Papa Bell, Rap Dixon, Al Simmons and Chaney White will combine to hit .360 with 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases. Tank Carr will dominate as well. This offense scares me, and I don’t scare easily. Unless you startle me, or I see a spider.
Nelson Dean, Larry Benton, Bill Drake and Slim Harriss rank as one the best starting 4 in the league. Combine that with 5 very nice true relievers and you got yourself a party.
GORILLAS: GM-Ryan Buckley
Ryan got stuck at a crosswalk recently. Evidently the LED hand was stuck on DON’T WALK. Ryan kept pushing that useless button on the pole for 5 days before the men in the white coats came and got him. Get well soon Ryan.
Jud Wilson, Ken Williams, and Branch Russell bring the big sticks, and Martin Dihigo will show everybody why he’s Martin Dihigo. He’ll pitch and hit with authority.
I am not overwhelmed by this pitching staff.
PINES: GM- Joe Clarke
Joe can be a tough guy to live with. He recently had his houseplant, a ficus, hang itself with a rope made from its own leaves.
Ruth has a down year, Hornsby has MVP potential, and Lou Gehrig is not quite Lou Gehrig yet. Gehrig and Wesley are both full time 1st basemen, so some of their potential will be wasted.
McCall and Ryan are good, and Square Moore will get some wins, but the bullpen is full of starters, and that could lead to some late inning misery.
STOGIES: GM- David Nemec
Dave once ate entire cat whole. (I guess he could really stretch his jaws.) He started choking on all that fur, but luckily Henry Heimlich was his next door neighbor. The cat survived, we’re not so sure about Dave.
The defending champs are looking at a down year for Cristobal Torriente, but Mitchell Murray, Willie Bobo, Bob Meusel and Esteban Montalvo will pick up the slack.
Bell, Cockrell, and Kremer will get their wins, and they have a couple of nice relievers, but I don’t know if they have the depth. Plus, almost every player on the team is named Smith. What’s up with that? Is it some kind of cult? Are the Mason’s somehow involved?
METS: Justin Papon
Justin’s hobby is maniacal laughing. He practices every chance he gets. He doesn’t have any friends and the neighbors have 911 on speed dial.
This team scored more runs than they should have last year, and I see more of the same this season. Kiki Culer, Baby Doll Jacobson, Bill Terry and Sandy Thompson will be driving in those runs.
The Mets pitching staff can best be described as a bunch of guys trying to throw a ball.
VIPERS: Doug Slothower
Doug had a near death experience. He was following the light when he realized he had forgotten his porn collection and came back. Doug’s gain was heaven’s loss.
George Sisler, Gabby Hartnett and Zack Wheat will hit the ball. Willie Wells will shine at shortstop. It looks like Harnett will probably lead this team in home runs. Their overall power numbers could hurt them.
Pennock, Rector, Ehmke, and Gardner are a nice rotation. They could put up some nice numbers.
MINERS: Mike Murphy
Mike and his wife have a unique way of getting rid of unwanted guests. They feign death until they leave. One time it took 4 days. That is dedication!
Beckwith will shine, but like a candle in the wind, he will burnout sometime during the season, and have a song written about him. The Miners are set up to keep their GM busy. He’ll be shuffling players in and out all season, just the way he likes it.
Luque, Padron, Winters and Rommell will do the bulk of the pitching and that’s a good thing. Nobody on this staff is a pushover.
GIANTS: George Glavas
We’ve all heard of Johnny Appleseed. George’s Great-Great-Great grandfather was Josiah Ragweed. That’s a tough legacy to live with.
They surprised everyone last season, and almost took down the Pines in the Wild Card series. They have a core of 7 players on offense that can be plugged in and left alone. Fournier, Dreke, Combs, Goslin, Williams, Traynor and Stock will take all the ABs at their positions.
Pitching will be this team’s Achilles heel. Morrison, Zachary, Scott and Marberry will not be enough.
NATIONAL LEAGUE:
ROBINS: GM-V
V served in Viet Nam. He could never understand why his flat feet didn’t exempt him. I mean they were attached to his neck. What more did he need?!
Turkey Stearnes and Nelson Redus are the hammers in this offense. The rest of the team will need to get on base so these guys can do their thing. Not much power in the rest of the team.
Cooper, Meadows, Wingfield and Walberg are a nice 4 man rotation. The rest of the staff is a problem. The lack of true relief help could be a concern.
CRIMSON TIDE: GM-Dan Bacon
Dan was having some mental issues a while back. Not sleeping, talking to himself, irritability, eating bugs. We’ve all been there. He went to a psychiatrist and was diagnosed as “Just plain nuts”
Oscar Charleston and Ty Cobb will wreak havoc with SCL pitching. The rest of the offense just needs to play to their numbers for this offense to shine.
Plug in a 5-man rotation of Blankenship, Dauss, Aldridge, Strong, and Hoyt and just sit back and relax, until the late innings. Starting pitchers make lousy relievers (Have I mentioned this before).
TERRAPINS: GM- Jimmy Keenan
Jimmy once asked for argyle socks for Xmas. His Mother thought he said gargoyle socks. I give her credit for hunting down those suckers, but the pain was excruciating. Jimmy didn’t want his Mom to feel bad so he wore them for 5 years before killing them and burying them in the back yard.
Joe Sewell strikes out just 4 times in 608 Abs. It will be interesting to watch this unfold in the SCL. Biz Mackey and Clarence Smith are primed to have good seasons. For a team named after a turtle, they have some speed with 5 guys that could steal over 35 bases this season. They will need to run every chance they get, the power numbers are below average for this team.
Willie Gray, Dutch Reuther, and Reuben Curry will have to carry the entire pitching staff on their backs. The rest of them are mostly dead weight. Like trying to remove a dead body from the trunk of your car, dead weight. I mean, have you ever tried to remove a dead body from a trunk? It aint easy……..at least that’s what I’ve heard.
CATERPILLARS: GM-John Momberg
John was at a Dude ranch last summer, and he was singing the Rolling Stones song, “Wild Horses”
You know the lyrics: “Wild, wild horses couldn’t drag me away. “ Some of the horses took offense and dragged him away. They found him 3 miles away draped over a cactus.
Tris Speaker and Judy Johnson are All Stars. Shortstop Glenn Wright could lead the team in HRs. That concerns me. It would concern me more, if this was my team, but it still concerns me. There is not a lot of pop on this team. You need some pop, we all need some pop, and some more than others, the Caterpillars have no pop.
Pitching on the other hand is not as much of a concern. Foster, Coveleski, Alexander, Cooney and Henderson are rocks. The rest of the staff are not. If the Caterpillars could figure out a way to just have these guys pitch every inning things would be fine. I think it could be done, with grit, determination and 3 wishes from a genie.
WARBIRDS: GM-Adam Graham
Remember when you were a kid and you used to suck all the air out of a soda bottle so that your lips would get pulled in? Adam did this when he was 5 years old and managed to suck his whole head into a bottle of Coke. He’s really never been normal since then, but his name appears in a bunch of medical case files. Which is kind of awesome!
Walter Cannady is your best hitter? Where did he come from? Bullet Rogan better have a statue somewhere. Make it 2 statues, he’s too good for just one. Offensively these guys are all good, the lack of Abs for many of them will require some line-up shuffling.
Rogan, Johnson, Faber, Lyons are a top notch starting 4. Their lack of true relief help could be a problem. (Who just told me to “Shut up about the whole reliever thing…jeez!” Was that you Buckley?)
STORM: GM-Tim Deale
Tim was born in Australia, and when he was a child his parents told him to throw away an old boomerang that was just lying around. Unbeknownst to young Timothy was the unusual flight pattern of a thrown boomerang. He managed to hit himself over a dozen times in the head before knocking himself out. He too, has his name in a bunch of medical case files.
The Storm have won back-to-back NL Pennants. Can they make it 3?
They may struggle to score runs. Their lack of home run power could be troubling. Irvin Brooks could lead the team but he’s only good for about 350 Abs. Eddie Collins will miss some games, while Harry Heilmann is their best hitter, but he can’t do it alone. They could finish last in HR and triples this season.
If only they had some pitching.
Rixey, McClure, Vance, McDonald and Harney are top notch. I promised myself I wouldn’t bring this up again, but starting pitchers make for terrible relievers in DMB……..sorry……I couldn’t help myself.
DREAMERS: David Kuehn
Dave loves to cook. His specialty is Louisiana frog legs. He serves them with little shoes on their little web feet. Dave is an outside the box kind of guy, but he freaks a lot of people out.
The Dreamers have 2 of the biggest studs in the league in Bottomley and Suttles, unfortunately they only play 1st base. That hurts…a lot.
Donohue, Sherdel, Shocker, and Tyler will pitch effectively, but will rue the former coaches of Mule Suttles for not playing him at 3rd base.
MILKMEN: Jim Copeland
Years ago Jim got hit in the head by an apple, thrown by his wife. (I’ve met Jim’s wife, he’s lucky it wasn’t a bowling ball.) And like Newton, he had a revelation. The Bowie Knife sells in the millions every year. “I’ll build the Bowie Spork!” Bankruptcy, misery and defeat soon followed.
These guys will get their hits, but like the Storm, home runs and triples will be at a premium. Irish Meusel and Clint Thomas will hit a few dingers, and Curt Walker will supply the only triples. If you add that up it spells SOS.
Castoffs Virgil Barnes, Art Nehf and Emil Yde(pronounced Edy) will lead a patchwork pitching staff. Add that up and it spells FUBAR. (Pronounced @#%@%#)
Final Standings:
American League
1. Miners
2. Skeeters
3. Stogies
4. Pines
5. Vipers
6. Giants
7. Gorillas
8. Mets
In the tough American League, I just don’t see the 5-8 teams with any chance.
The Skeeters will unseat the Stogies, and then beat the Miners to win the AL Pennant. (The button will always go against the Miners)
National League:
1. Crimson Tide
2. Warbirds
3. Storm
4. Robins
5. Caterpillars
6. Terrapins
7. Dreamers
8. Milkmen
The Crimson Tide, Warbirds and Storm should meet in the Playoffs for the 3rd season in a row. The Robins could surprise, and the Caterpillars will lurk, as usual.
The Warbirds will beat the Storm, and the Tide will beat the Warbirds.
I think the Tide’s offense (AKA Charleston and Cobb) will wash over the Skeeter’s pitching to win the World Series.
Dan and Kevin’s Fearless Forecast-1925