Another great APBA Saturday with a Selection Saturday for the Wisconsin Winter Tournament hosted by the gracious Kurt Bergland!
This was a tough one for me. Had I drafted 1st or 2nd I would have taken the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers or the 1957 Milwaukee Braves. However, I drafted 4th and I was left with either a strong Giants or Yankees team, or stay true to the Twins and take a Senators team. I can't stand the Yankees and I have no connection to the Giants other than Jon Miller as my favorite play-by-play person. Thus, the 1955 Senators are my choice.
They are not the best Senators team in the 1950s if you look at team record. The 1952 Senators had 78 wins and the 1955 team only had 53. Yes, I selected a 101 loss team for an APBA tourney.
Let's take a look at the line-up.
1. Eddie Yost (F) 3B4 .407 OBP
2. Squirrel Sievers LF 1 .489 SLG
3. Carl Paula RF 1 .447 SLG
4. Mickey Vernon 1B 4 .452 SLG .301 AVG
5. Johnny Groth CF 2
6. Scrap Iron Courtney C7 .298 AVG
7. Pepe Valdivielso SS7
8. Pete Runnels 2B7 .284 AVG
9. Pitcher *
* O'Shea hits 5th or higher and may pinch hit a bit. "Grab a bat Francis."
Rotation:
1. Bear Tracks Schmitz Cz
2. Mickey McDermott Cyw
3. Spec O'Shea D
Pen:
Pete Ramos C*z
Bench:
Killebrew (S) 3B3
Ernie Oravetz Pinch Runner (F)
Jerry Snyder Pinch Runner (F)
There is a bit of speed off the bench if needed and Killer as a young player can hit one out. I can't really help the fielding but I have adequate reserves if an injury hits this team.
Let's talk defense, or not.
Defense is 34 total, with massive adjustments to get to 36.
It should be fun handing the 1953 Dodgers, '57 Braves, and the like a few losses.
Home Field is the massive confines of Griffith Stadium: 388/421/320
