The February 19 team isn't looking any better than the Feb. 17 squad. Only three All-Star Game players, with one time each. Only six guys got in ten major league seasons, and only 15 had at least five. Tumbleweeds here.
Lineup:
1 Dick Siebert, LF
2 John Morrill, 2B
3 Gail Hopkins, 1B
4 Josh Reddick, RF
5 Alvaro Espinosa, SS
6 Russ Nixon, C
7 Chuck Aleno, 3B
8 Don Taussig, CF
Bench: Chris Stewart, C; Larry Chappell, OF; Stan Sperry, IF.
Rotation:
1 Dave Stewart
2 Miguel Batista
3 Weldon Wyckoff
4 Bob Sadowski
Bullpen: Tim Burke, Keith Atherton, Bill Kelso, Chris Zachary.
Wow, this may be the worst birthday team yet. A couple of decent pitchers, but almost nothing in the lineup. This team would have trouble competing in a triple-A league. Dave Stewart was a fine pitcher for several years, but he's the best guy on this club. posted by Shawn Weaver at 4:14 PM
The February 18 birthday team will be better than the previous day: we've got one Hall of Famer and 20 guys with 10 years of big league experience. It already shapes up as pretty good.
Lineup:
1 John Valentin, SS
2 Manny Mota, LF
3 Joe Gordon, 2B
4 John Mayberry, 1B
5 Alex Rios, CF
6 Jerry Morales, RF
7 Jamey Carroll, 3B
8 Frank House, C
Bench: Rafael Ramirez, SS; Dal Maxvill, IF; Frank Fennelly, IF; Marc Hill, C; Chad Moeller, C; Brian Bogusevic, OF.
Rotation:
1 Kevin Tapani
2 George Mogridge
3 Sherry Smith
4 Bruce Kison
Bullpen: Bob Miller, Luis Arroyo, Huck Betts, Herm Wehmeier, Shawn Estes.
Not much outfield depth, but pretty decent otherwise. Lots of good on-base guys, and a power guy in Mayberry to drive them in. I don't know that Valentin got much leadoff time, but he always had strong on-base numbers. Pitching is a bit thin. posted by Shawn Weaver at 3:56 PM
Time to get back to this long-neglected series. We get back into it with the birthday boys of February 17, which may be the worst team we have yet compiled. Only one All-Star appearance in the group, just one guy that reached 15 years, 9 with ten, 21 total with five years in the majors. Not promising.
Lineup:
1 Alan Wiggins, 2B
2 Nemo Liebold, CF
3 Wally Pipp, 1B
4 Josh Willingham, LF
5 Willie Kirkland, RF
6 Dave Roberts, C
7 Cody Ransom, SS
8 Joe Miller, 3B
Bench: Ike Boone, OF-1B; Steve Evans, OF-1B; Eddie Phillips, C;
Rotation:
1 Ed Brandt
2 Stump Weidman
3 Dick Bosman
4 Roger Craig
Bullpen: Scott Williamson, Jaime Easterly, Danny Patterson, Brian Bruney, Jim Umbarger.
Definitely not impressive. It's hard to tell where the strength of this team would be. They'd be a decent AAA team. posted by Shawn Weaver at 3:46 PM