June 1, 1976

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 LEAGUE FILE

NEXT SIM: Sat 2/21 (Jun 16) 

UPCOMING SIMS
Thu 2/26 (to Jul 1)
Mon 3/2 (All-Star Game)
Thu 3/5 (to Jul 16)

STANDINGS

 EAST           W  L GB  Last
•Brooklyn      37 20  -   8-7
•Washington    36 21  1  11-4
•Cleveland     31 26  6   9-6
 Manhattan     29 28  8   8-7
 Montréal      28 29  9  5-10
 Boston        26 31 11   6-9
 Detroit       25 32 12   8-7

 WEST           W  L GB  Last
•San Francisco 34 23  -  12-3
 Los Angeles   30 27  4   9-6
 Seattle       29 28  5   8-7
 St. Louis     26 31  8  4-11
 Chicago       25 32  9   9-6
 Atlanta       22 35 12  4-11
 Denver        21 36 13  4-11

ON THE MEND

ATL LF Joe Hague         3 wk
    MR Mike Corkins      3 wk
BOS MR Wayne Twitchell   4 wk
CLE SP Marcelino Lopez   2 wk
DEN SP Dave Goltz        5 mo
    SP Vern Ruhle        2 mo
MAN SP Bill Gogolewski   2 mo
MON SP Ernie McAnally    2 mo
    CF Rich Coggins      4 wk
STL MR Jim Barr          3 mo
    2B Ron Hunt          2 wk
SF  LF Jim Rice          6 wk
    SP Doyle Alexander   2 wk
SEA SP Ron Schueler      2 mo
WAS LF Joe Rudi          2 wk

CAREER HOME RUNS

   Mickey Mantle      634
  *Orlando Cepeda     627 +5

  *active player  + this sim
Dierker Inks Biggest Deal in League History
Picture
$75M Pact Keeps Ace in L.A. to '83
LOS ANGELES (May 20) -- Outlaws ace Larry Dierker signed a seven-year contract extension today that is the biggest contract in league history.  The 29-year-old righthander, winner of back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 1973 and '74, will get $10 million per year guaranteed for five seasons, with two option years totaling an additional $25 million.

Dierker has been one of the league's premier pitchers in recent seasons, winning a strikeout title in 1971, leading the league in ERA, complete games, and shutouts in 1973.  Dierker had 71 wins before his 23rd birthday and has 107 wins, a 2.08 ERA and 1,325 Ks in the 1970s.

Dierker's rise to a top-flight starter largely occurred under the radar.  For years, the Los Angeles native toiled in the shadows of superstar Fritz Peterson, who won 24 games and led the Outlaws to their only World Series appearance in 1968.  Peterson was the face of LA's rotation for years, capturing the limelight while younger Dierker quietly compiled an impressive resume.  A model of consistency, he has won 15 games nine times, but never more than 18, and only became the club's indisputable ace this season.  His Cy Young years (18-11, 2.30 in '73 and 16-11, 2.51) were not excellent by Cy Young standards, and the Outlaws have only made the playoffs once since 1968, crashing out in the Semi Series after capturing their second West Division pennant last year.

Dierker (7-3, 2.43, 104 Ks) celebrated the contract by notching his 2,000th career strikeout in his next start, a 3-2 win at Yankee Stadium on May 23.  He leads all pitchers under 30 in wins, strikeouts, and complete games, and it's not even close (see chart below).  Dierker is one of only seven pitchers with 175 wins, 2,000 Ks, and an ERA under 3.35; the other six are Conley, Pierce, Ford, Podres, Burdette, and Antonelli -- who happen to be the six pitchers in the UL Hall of Fame.

Long story short, it is hard to think of another active player worth $75 million.

ACTIVE PLAYERS UNDER 30

MOST WINS                  MOST STRIKEOUTS             MOST COMPLETE GAMES

Larry Dierker, LA    178   Larry Dierker, LA    2014   Larry Dierker, LA    132
Bob Moose, SF        107   A. Messersmith, WAS  1416   A. Messersmith, WAS   63
A. Messersmith, WAS  104   Bob Moose, SF        1298   Vida Blue, WAS        58
Mike Hedlund, SF      75   Nolan Ryan, STL      1262   Rick Reuschel, CLE    49
Nolan Ryan, STL       74   Bert Blyleven, BOS   1189   J.R. Richard, SEA     45

Buddy J Hurls Back-to-Back Shutouts
Brooklyn's #5 starter Eddie "Buddy J" Solomon, who had just 4 wins in 13 UL starts coming into the season, is 6-1 in his last 8 starts, including successive shutouts against Boston and Denver in his last two outings.

Rainers Teammates Top Pinch Hitters
Seattle's John Ellis and Duke Sims have 11 pinch hits apiece, tied for the league lead.  Seattle's starting rotation has the 4th best ERA in the league, led by Ron Schueler's 2.47 and John Montefusco's 2.62. Schueler will miss three months, however, with a torn labrum.
"Huevo" Shutout Streak Hits 21 Games
Vicente "Huevo" Romo has pitched 21 games without allowing a run.  The 33-year-old reliever is 8-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 30 games.  Fellow setup man Terry Forster has a 1.96 ERA and closer Don Hood has 12 saves and a 2.04 ERA.

May Lifts Spiders
1B Lee May won Player of the Week honors May 31 with a .450-4-11 batting line.  The Spiders are 11-2 since May 1, including 7-1 in one-run games.  16 of San Francisco's 34 wins were one-run affairs.

EAST DIVISION

May studs: Fred Lynn (.368-4-19) and Greg Luzinski (.352-6-24) combined for 76 hits and 43 RBIs as the Bas went 19-10 in May.
 

May studs: #1-2 hitters Ollie Brown and Craig Robinson each scored 22 runs, fueling the least's most productive offense.
 
May stud: Gary Nolan was the lone bright spot in a lackluster rotation, with a 1.51 ERA and 6 quality starts in 6 starts.
May stud: Vida Blue was Pitcher of the Month with a 5-0 record and 1.76 ERA in 6 starts, including two shutouts and two starts allowing one run.

May stud: Rick Burleson led the league with 11 hits (.393-2-7) in close/late situations.  Bill Castro had a 1.02 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in 16 appearances, challenging the struggling Bill Greif (1-4, 9.00, 2 SV in May) for the closer job.
May stud: Cepeda hit 11 HRs in May and is on pace to break the all-time record before the All-Star Break and is on pace to equal his career high 56 in 1972.

May stud: Bert Blyleven led the league with 53 strikeouts and posted a 5-1 mark and 2.17 ERA in 6 starts.

WEST DIVISION

May stud: Mike Hedlund (3-2, 2.77) stepped up to lead the staff in wins in ERA, helping the Spiders go 18-11 in a month that saw Moose and Jenkins both slump.

May stud: John Matlack pitched 45.2 innings without giving up a home run and led STL starters with a 2.96 ERA.

May stud: Willie Randolph led all batters with a .415 clip in May, and might be the 'Teeners only bright spot in a season full of injuries and defeats.
May stud: Dennis Leonard and Fritz Peterson combined for 10 quality starts out of 12, but only won 4 games as the Outlaws scored 3 or fewer runs in 15 of 29 games.

May stud: Kent Tekulve earned 6 saves and didn't allow a run in 10 games, extending his 0.00 ERA to 19 games and 23.1 innings.
May stud: Rod Carew got back on track, batting .364 in May after a horrid .202 average in April.

May stud: Butch Hobson led the league with 29 RBIs and won Rookie of the Month honors, batting .340-10-29


BATTING LEADERS

 BATTING AVERAGE

 Craig Robinson, MAN  .385
 Greg Luzinski, BRO   .373
 Ron Blomberg, WAS    .353
*Willie Randolph, DEN .343
*Fred Lynn, BRO       .332
*Al Oliver, WAS       .328
 Bake McBride, BOS    .320
 Ken Singleton, LA    .319
 Richie Zisk, SF      .316
 Joe Torre, ATL       .312

 HOME RUNS

 Otto Velez, DET        21
 Orlando Cepeda, CLE    20
 Ron Blomberg, WAS      17
 Tom Grieve, MAN        16
 Dave Kingman, CLE      16
 Dick Allen, DET        15
 Greg Luzinski, BRO     15
 Craig Robinson, MAN    15
 Gene Tenace, LA        14
*Johnny Bench, DEN      13
*Gorman Thomas, MAN     13

 RUNS BATTED IN

 Ron Blomberg, WAS      55
 Greg Luzinski, BRO     51
 Steve Garvey, MAN      46
 Dave Kingman, CLE      46
*Orlando Cepeda, CLE    44
*Al Oliver, WAS         44
 Otto Velez, DET        44
*George Foster, SF      41
 Tom Grieve, MAN        41
 Fred Lynn, BRO         39
*Craig Robinson, MAN    39

 VORP

 Craig Robinson, MAN    40.6
 Ron Blomberg, WAS      39.6
 Greg Luzinski, BRO     29.7
 Ken Singleton, LA      26.8
 Orlando Cepeda, CLE    26.6
 Al Oliver, WAS         25.6
*Fred Lynn, BRO         22.7
 Otto Velez, DE         21.2
 Gene Tenace, LA        18.6 
*Dave Kingman, CLE      17.2

PITCHING LEADERS

 EARNED RUN AVERAGE

 Rick Reuschel, CLE     1.98
 Tom Seaver, BRO        2.27
 Bert Blyleven, BOS     2.33
*Larry Dierker, LA      2.43
 Gary Nolan, DET        2.44
 Ron Schueler, SEA      2.47
 Rick Wise, BRO         2.54
 John Montefusco, SEA   2.62
*Eddie Solomon, BRO     2.64
*Bob Moose, SF          2.70

 WINS

 Bert Blyleven, BOS      9
*Vida Blue, WAS          8
*Vincente Romo, SF       8
*Larry Dierker, LA       7
*Chuck Dobson, MAN       7
*Rick Reuschel, CLE      7
 Tom Seaver, BRO         7
*Eddie Solomon, BRO      7
 Mike Torrez, WAS        7
*Don Wilson, WAS         7
 Rick Wise, BRO          7

 STRIKEOUTS

 Larry Dierker, LA    104
 Rick Reuschel, CLE    98
 Bert Blyleven, BOS    88
 Fergie Jenkins, SF    88
 Don Wilson, WAS       88
 J.R. Richard, SEA     86
 Tom Seaver, BRO       86
 Rick Wise, BRO        80
 Jon Matlack, STL      79
*Wayne Simpson, SEA    78

 VORP

 Rick Reuschel, CLE   32.2
 Larry Dierker, LA    27.2
 Bert Blyleven, BOS   25.9
 Tom Seaver, BRO      25.6
 Rick Wise, BRO       23.8
*Eddie Solomon, BRO   20.9
*Vida Blue, WAS       20.7
*Gary Nolan, DET      20.3
 J. Montefusco, SEA   19.7
 Dennis Leonard, LA   19.1

AWARDS

MILESTONES

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

4/12 Ollie Brown, MAN
4/19 Johnny Bench, DEN
4/26 Tony Soltaita, BOS
5/3  Roy Smalley, LA
5/10 Fred Lynn, BRO
5/17 Mike Hargrove, STL
5/24 Butch Hobson, ATL
5/31 Lee May, SF
6/7
6/14
6/21
6/28
7/12
7/19
7/26
8/2
8/9
8/16
8/23
8/30
9/6
9/13
9/20
9/27

  BATTER OF THE MONTH

APR Ron Blomberg, WAS
MAY Orlando Cepeda, CLE
JUN  
JUL  
AUG  
SEP 


PITCHER OF THE MONTH

APR Tom Seaver, BRO
MAY Vida Blue, WAS
JUN  
JUL  
AUG  
SEP 


ROOKIE OF THE MONTH

APR Garry Templeton, DEN
MAY Butch Hobson, ATL
JUN  
JUL  
AUG  
SEP  

Larry Dierker, LA
2,000 strikeouts (5/23)
#14 all-time

Orlando Cepeda, CLE
3,000 hits (5/8)
#2 all-time

Bernie Allen, WAS
1,000 career runs (4/27)

FIELDING LEADERS

         ZONE RATING
(as of May 16)

  C Bill Freehan, ATL    7.0
 SS Tim Foli, BOS        5.6
  C Carl Taylor, CHI     5.2
 CF Mickey Rivers, DEN   5.1
 3B Buddy Bell, MAN      4.9
 CF Amos Otis, CHI       4.8
 CF Larry Herndon, ATL   4.0
 RF Bobby Murcer, SEA    3.9
 LF Dave Winfield, LA    3.7
 CF Jerry Mumphrey, DET  3.5
 RF Bake McBride, BOS    3.4
 3B Eric Soderholm, WAS  3.4
 3B Ron Cey, BOS         3.3
 3B Darrell Evans, SF    2.9
 LF Sixto Lezcano, BOS   2.7

TRADES

February 1 (358)
BOSTON gets
MR Mike Stanton
SP Jerry Koosman
CF Rick Manning
1976 SF 4th rd pick
SAN FRANCISCO gets
P Jack Aker

February 1 (359)
BOSTON gets
SS Tim Foli
SP Randy Lerch
1977 CLE 2nd rd pick
CLEVELAND gets
SP Frank Reberger
MR Dick Selma
2B Davey Lopes
LF Mike Lum

February 1 (360)
MANHATTAN gets
3B Roy Howell
MONTREAL gets
3B George Brett

April 1 (361)
DENVER gets
C Johnny Bench
RF Steve Hovley
1977 SEA 3rd rd pick
SEATTLE gets
C Duke Sims
3B Aurelio Rodriguez
CF Darrel Thomas

May 16 (362)
BOSTON gets
LF Ruppert Jones
MONTREAL gets
1977 MAN 2nd rd pick