I drafted for plenty of the teams during its inaugural draft before deciding to take the Motors' GM job sometime before the 1946 season. I did know that the Detroit franchise took more chances in the inaugural 1945 draft, drafting on future potential instead of drafting for 'win now'...
So I did know that they would probably be on the losing side of the league, but didn't realize how bad that they would be that first season.
Before I took over, Detroit made one big move by acquiring SS/3B Scott Cicio from the Chicago Legends along with prospect 3B Francisco Sarenana, in exchange for SP Butch Alba & prospect CF John Lang. I was quite aware of Cicio, he was the 5th overall pick during the inaugural draft, and his scouting report was terrific... while I also know that at the time, Alba was one of Detroit's only quality arms, while Lang (drafted 5th overall in the 1945 first-year player draft) appeared at the time to have a great future ahead of him.
As time moved on since, Detroit won that deal in a major way, Lang didn't do anything for the first couple years, while finally (somewhat) breaking out in 1947 for the Legends, playing his first full season (.274 BA, 13 HR, 67 RBI, 11 SB, 11 triples, 178 hits & .724 OPS). Alba played great in half-of-a-season (1945 2nd half) for Chicago, before moving on to the Louisville Sluggers, in which his career is already falling apart at age 32, after leading the N.L. with 25 losses (6-25 record, 5.65 ERA).
Cicio has become everything he was predicted to be, his numbers don't completely shout superstar, but he's only getting better as he just turned 27, here is a list of his accomplishments below...
- Back-to-back seasons with .275 or better batting average.
- Career .350 On-Base Percentage, while he had a career high with 91 BB's (1947).
- His career OPS is gradually getting better from season-to-season, which improved from .742 to .766, while he had a career high in OBP (.368) and SLG (.398) during his 1947 campaign... which may not jump off the pages, but he does everything consistently, while having solid OOTP ratings.
- 1947: .275 BA, 15 HR, 73 RBI, 173 hits & 92 runs in 157 games.
- 1946 A.L. All-Star Selection
- Won the Most Valuable Player for both the 1947 American League Championship Series and the 1947 World Series. He batted .391 (27-for-61) with 2 HR, 8 BB & 7 steals (only 9 SB during regular season), while he posted an outstanding .443 On-Base Percentage, .580 slugging percentage & 1.023 OPS!
- 1947 World Championship ring.
Back to the inaugural season (1945), the Motors remained parked the entire season, their 69 wins that season seemed to be generous considering that it felt much worse than the wins give it credit for. The team was always able to hit, during their three seasons the team has put out a .265 batting average per season. The team's pitching was the primary problem in 1945 (4.91 ERA) in both the rotation and bullpen, we simply needed arms.
The 1946 Season
We simply needed arms...
That was the approach I took prior to the 1946 Sandlot Season, we needed a front-line starter to this weak rotation. Our first big move came in signing Kevin Gaylor to a 3-year deal worth $149,700 ($49,900 per season), he was one of the best starting pitchers on the market, his ratings & scouting report were solid, while coming off a season in which he sported a 11-15, 3.89 ERA (1.36 WHIP) & 5.2 WAR in 242.2 innings for a struggling Boston Shamrocks franchise.... he was definitely better than what we currently had as well.
One of the other moves we made that season was signing an everyday second baseman, which was a weak area for us, Cicio and Steve Offredi were capable of filling in those spots, but they were much stronger at third and short. We decided to go with Ronald Conway, who came off a decent season with the Baltimore Terrapins, hitting .255, 15 HR & 75 RBI... once again it was better than we had at the moment. Conway's scouting report in many ways pointed to that fact that he was still a player that was improving (who was 26 at the time of the signing), by the end of the 1946 season though, he was not a complete fit, while my owner Rich Davis definitely wanted him out. We also signed an outfielder named Sawyer Ponitz to a two-year deal worth $35,500 for outfield depth, he did nothing but struggle for us in 1946, and only got playing time due to LF Dane Reeves struggling at the plate that season.
We acquired Jose Villa, who would become a pivotal place in the championship rotation from the Pittsburgh Arsenal in exchange for 2B prospect Alex Martinez.
We now had Gaylor, Villa, and Ernesto Parra in our top three pitching slots of the rotations, which they were all 3 stars-to-3.5 stars in overall rating. Parra, was a bit of a surprise & one of the team's biggest surprises during the 1945 season, as he went 17-8 with a 3.01 ERA, 125 K & 1.24 WHIP in 266.1 innings that season. Parra is currently the Motors' all-time wins (38) and strikeouts (386) leader... not bad for being a 9th Round pick (203rd overall) in the inaugural draft.
Josh Kirby was supposed to be the future ace of the franchise, while being drafted in the 2nd Round of the Inaugural Draft (38th overall), while ranking as the Sandlot League's #10 Top Prospect... he was drafted at the young age of 19 & had tons of potential. Kirby never lived up to the hype, the Motors traded him midway through the 1947 season, while he posted a 15-24 record, 5.69 ERA & 1.83 WHIP over 50 starts in his disappointing career in Detroit. Kirby has posted only one start with the Washington Capitols since the trade, while at age 23, his career seems to have more question marks than answers at the moment.
Luis Sanchez, was the team's #4 starter (while Kirby was the #5 starter), he posted a much-better season in 1946 (11-10, 3.81 ERA & 1.42 WHIP) than in 1945 (5.05 ERA).
It was this combination of the starting rotation along with the much-improved bullpen in closer Steve 'Stone Cold' Austein, Frank Chavez, and Edgar Chartier that made us considerably better in 1946.
The early glimpses of 1947 would appear in the first three months of the 1946 season. In later June 46', at one point, the Detroit Motors held onto the A.L. Wildcard slot (despite projecting to only win 73 games), but then came July and all of the injuries to follow. We would end up limping to the finish line with only 70 wins... my team improved by only one lousy win.
Attendance, Payroll and Balance
Before we move on to the 1947 Off-Season and the eventual 1947 World Championship drive, here are some numbers reflecting the teams' first three-years and its transition from the bottom to the top.
The Detroit Motors' three-year rise in the following categories...
Attendance:
[To be continued....]
The 1946 Season
We simply needed arms...
That was the approach I took prior to the 1946 Sandlot Season, we needed a front-line starter to this weak rotation. Our first big move came in signing Kevin Gaylor to a 3-year deal worth $149,700 ($49,900 per season), he was one of the best starting pitchers on the market, his ratings & scouting report were solid, while coming off a season in which he sported a 11-15, 3.89 ERA (1.36 WHIP) & 5.2 WAR in 242.2 innings for a struggling Boston Shamrocks franchise.... he was definitely better than what we currently had as well.
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| The Detroit Motors' home jerseys. |
We acquired Jose Villa, who would become a pivotal place in the championship rotation from the Pittsburgh Arsenal in exchange for 2B prospect Alex Martinez.
We now had Gaylor, Villa, and Ernesto Parra in our top three pitching slots of the rotations, which they were all 3 stars-to-3.5 stars in overall rating. Parra, was a bit of a surprise & one of the team's biggest surprises during the 1945 season, as he went 17-8 with a 3.01 ERA, 125 K & 1.24 WHIP in 266.1 innings that season. Parra is currently the Motors' all-time wins (38) and strikeouts (386) leader... not bad for being a 9th Round pick (203rd overall) in the inaugural draft.
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| Detroit's alternate home uniforms. |
Luis Sanchez, was the team's #4 starter (while Kirby was the #5 starter), he posted a much-better season in 1946 (11-10, 3.81 ERA & 1.42 WHIP) than in 1945 (5.05 ERA).
It was this combination of the starting rotation along with the much-improved bullpen in closer Steve 'Stone Cold' Austein, Frank Chavez, and Edgar Chartier that made us considerably better in 1946.
The early glimpses of 1947 would appear in the first three months of the 1946 season. In later June 46', at one point, the Detroit Motors held onto the A.L. Wildcard slot (despite projecting to only win 73 games), but then came July and all of the injuries to follow. We would end up limping to the finish line with only 70 wins... my team improved by only one lousy win.
Attendance, Payroll and Balance
Before we move on to the 1947 Off-Season and the eventual 1947 World Championship drive, here are some numbers reflecting the teams' first three-years and its transition from the bottom to the top.
The Detroit Motors' three-year rise in the following categories...
Attendance:
- 1945: 488,717 fans
- 1946: 732,086 fans
- 1947: 949,871 fans
Payroll:
- 1945: $405,949
- 1946: $476,306
- 1947: $546,369
Balance:
- 1945: $24,061
- 1946: $88,584
- 1947: $497,017
As you can see the fans attendance has doubled since its inaugural season, while the team's balance has quadrupled (and more than quadrupled) from season-to-season, my team balance during 1947 is nearly 5 times the amount than the 1945 & 1946 seasons are combined.
The average season ticket for the Motors was $1.05 during the inaugural season, I knocked it down to a dollar prior to 1946 (due to the prior lousy season) & that helped a lot. I brought it back up to a $1.05 entering the 1947 season, I knew we had a better team entering 47', a respectable team that could at least sniff around wildcard competition, but my team came out of the gates swinging and by the All-Star Break, I definitely knew I had a championship contender on my hands. So at a $1.05 a ticket, those fans packed the house & the numbers certainly show (949,871 attendance in 1947).
After looking around the league, I realized I needed to get closer to the league's average season ticket prices that the minimums were floating around $1.25 to $1.30. I decided to make this season's average ticket prices to go for $1.30 a ticket (+23.8% change from last season).
The Times They Are A-Changin'
We left off with the 1946 season starting off promising, while it ended up finishing as a dud. Two of my bigger 1946 signings in Kevin Gaylor (12-16, 3.63 ERA) and Ronald Conway, both messaged my office (the day after the season ended) and wanted out.
While the owner, Mr. Davis and I could not agree more on Conway, I was a tad bit hesitant on trading Gaylor... We have finally put together a much improved rotation that watched the team's pitching improve from a 4.91 ERA to 3.88 ERA, improving by a point. At the same time, I didn't want someone there that did not want to be there, plus he could fill in some holes as well.
We shopped Gaylor around, in which basically every team came back with offers. I found a suitor in the Oil City Oilers (Dallas) who was offering an older, but strong 3.5 star starting pitcher in Josh Phillips, who came off a season in which he led the American League in wins (22) and Innings (327), while he posted a 2.78 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. I believe they were offering a 4th Round pick, which I upgraded to a 3rd Round pick... in which they would think about the offer.
Meanwhile, I was on the phone with the Philadelphia Veterans, I could not believe who they were offering for my second baseman Conway. The Vets offered Nate Patten, who won both the A.L. Pitcher of the Year & Most Valuable Player Award in 1945; Patten led the league in wins (23), ERA (2.38), Innings (317.2) & Games Started (37).
I didn't hesitate on Patten, while the Oilers approved the deal on Gaylor, a couple days later.
So my rotation now looked like this for the upcoming 1947 season: Nate Patten, Josh Phillips, Jose Villa, Ernesto Parra & Josh Kirby.
I wanted to move David Springfield off the field, keeping his big bat, due to his deteriorating glove at first... so I moved him to the Designated Hitter slot (the entire Sandlot League plays under the DH rule). I spotted Wallace Pease in the free agent market for a relative cheap price ($8,500) for a much-better glove (Rating 55 compared to Springfield's 40) at first... Pease also brought a little pop as well.
We signed some catcher depth in Blake Vigneault, signing him to a two-year deal worth $24,000, to help Francisco Lazaro.
To fill the void of Conway at second, we already had Alex Pellot, but I wanted to get him some help, plus I wanted Pellot to platoon, while backing up 3B & SS. We ended up acquiring Bobby Vidal from Denver in exchange for disappointing CF Sawyer Ponitz. Vidal has an excellent glove at second (70 out of 80), while Pellot may have the edge with the bat (both very similar hitters).
The 1947 World Championship Season
LF Dane Reeves would have a much-needed bounce-back at the plate for us during the season, batting .283 with 12 HR & 83 RBI (.823 OPS) compared to .243, 6 HR & 62 RBI (.690) in 1946. Reeves was also elected to his first All-Star Game.
We signed Paul Duquette prior to the season to a three-year deal worth $53,000 to help closer Steve Austein and Edgar Chartier in the bullpen. We didn't tender a contract to the fragile, declining Frank Chavez. Duquette's ratings were really impressive, while he automatically jumped in as our 8th Inning Setup man, moving Chartier down to 7th Inning duty. We also acquired reliever Dana Evans from the Oil City Oilers just prior to opening day in exchange for prospect reliever Jared Barbosa.
The team would explode out of the gates, during the first two months, we had a winning percentage around .690. Both us and the Milwaukee Braves kept trading 1st-2nd in the early month, while we started getting some breathing room with a 5-game lead in late May. The Chicago Union was a distant third, those first couple months.
Late June, we started seeing our A.L. Central Division lead shrink, and at one point we lost 7 of 10, while both Milwaukee and Chicago played really well in that stretch... Chicago was suddenly in the A.L. Wild Card hunt.
During July, all three of us idled for the most part, but with a couple weeks left until the Trade Deadline, I felt I had to make some crucial moves to give us that extra push.
The trouble areas that I noticed was CF, 1B & C.
My center field situation was the most noticeable -- Danny Serrano's glove has diminished (45/80) over the last year, and his lack of bat was not helping the situation. Serrano had a combined 5.3 WAR over his first two seasons with us, he was currently in the negative area for his 1947 WAR.
We would acquire OF Ryan Digby from division rivals Chicago Union, in exchange for young starting pitcher Nate Wilson. We loved Wilson & acquired him (from the Toronto Maple Leafs) just prior to the season for 3B prospect Francisco Sarenana, but we had to upgrade at center. Wilson would go on to have a solid second-half with Chicago, sporting a 2.14 ERA over 20 games (5 starts).
Wilson became expendable, when we made a deal just prior to the Digby deal in acquiring SP Edgar Gonzales from the Washington Capitols (along with a 2nd Round Draft Pick) in exchange for solid starting pitcher prospect Ben Sisk and SP Josh Kirby (the former rising star with a sliver of a chance to fulfill his big league potential).
I hated seeing Sisk go, he was among the league's top prospects, with plenty of promise, I expect to see him paying off for Washington.
I wanted another outfielder & acquired solid glove and no-bat speedster Justin Moyer from the Baltimore Terrapins -- trading CF prospect Jeff Kellerman, a 3rd Round Draft Pick & $2,000 in cash for his services.
Wallace Pease was playing well for us at first, but he has had a history of being a bit injury-prone, him playing full-time at first may jeopardize his strong bat. I decided to acquire some help in stronger bat Corey Molina, although he was not playing well for the Kansas City Athletics (.202, 5 HR, 31 RBI)... Due to his weaker glove, Molina will mostly back-up for Pease, while occasionally platoon at first. Molina was basically an insurance policy, in case Pease got hurt.
Detroit traded prospect LF Jared Walden to K.C. to acquire Molina, while we also landed a 2nd Round Draft Pick in the trade.
Bobby Sims was playing really well for us during the first-half of the season, platooning at first, over-achieving for the most part, but we ended up adding him to a deal (which included a 2nd Round Draft Pick) to the Denver Miners in exchange for catcher Chris Cobian. Cobian won the 1945 A.L. Gold Glove (while playing for the Los Angeles Knights in 1945), while he also brought a well-disciplined bat to the plate (a career .290 hitter).
All of these deals brought on a lot more salary, but it was all worth it, if it brought a championship to Detroit... which it eventually did.
We still had our challenges and road blocks, but to explain the pennant chase & the post-season results in depth, that will have to be explained in another upcoming post.
While the owner, Mr. Davis and I could not agree more on Conway, I was a tad bit hesitant on trading Gaylor... We have finally put together a much improved rotation that watched the team's pitching improve from a 4.91 ERA to 3.88 ERA, improving by a point. At the same time, I didn't want someone there that did not want to be there, plus he could fill in some holes as well.
We shopped Gaylor around, in which basically every team came back with offers. I found a suitor in the Oil City Oilers (Dallas) who was offering an older, but strong 3.5 star starting pitcher in Josh Phillips, who came off a season in which he led the American League in wins (22) and Innings (327), while he posted a 2.78 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. I believe they were offering a 4th Round pick, which I upgraded to a 3rd Round pick... in which they would think about the offer.
Meanwhile, I was on the phone with the Philadelphia Veterans, I could not believe who they were offering for my second baseman Conway. The Vets offered Nate Patten, who won both the A.L. Pitcher of the Year & Most Valuable Player Award in 1945; Patten led the league in wins (23), ERA (2.38), Innings (317.2) & Games Started (37).
I didn't hesitate on Patten, while the Oilers approved the deal on Gaylor, a couple days later.
So my rotation now looked like this for the upcoming 1947 season: Nate Patten, Josh Phillips, Jose Villa, Ernesto Parra & Josh Kirby.
I wanted to move David Springfield off the field, keeping his big bat, due to his deteriorating glove at first... so I moved him to the Designated Hitter slot (the entire Sandlot League plays under the DH rule). I spotted Wallace Pease in the free agent market for a relative cheap price ($8,500) for a much-better glove (Rating 55 compared to Springfield's 40) at first... Pease also brought a little pop as well.
We signed some catcher depth in Blake Vigneault, signing him to a two-year deal worth $24,000, to help Francisco Lazaro.
To fill the void of Conway at second, we already had Alex Pellot, but I wanted to get him some help, plus I wanted Pellot to platoon, while backing up 3B & SS. We ended up acquiring Bobby Vidal from Denver in exchange for disappointing CF Sawyer Ponitz. Vidal has an excellent glove at second (70 out of 80), while Pellot may have the edge with the bat (both very similar hitters).
The 1947 World Championship Season
LF Dane Reeves would have a much-needed bounce-back at the plate for us during the season, batting .283 with 12 HR & 83 RBI (.823 OPS) compared to .243, 6 HR & 62 RBI (.690) in 1946. Reeves was also elected to his first All-Star Game.
The team would explode out of the gates, during the first two months, we had a winning percentage around .690. Both us and the Milwaukee Braves kept trading 1st-2nd in the early month, while we started getting some breathing room with a 5-game lead in late May. The Chicago Union was a distant third, those first couple months.
Late June, we started seeing our A.L. Central Division lead shrink, and at one point we lost 7 of 10, while both Milwaukee and Chicago played really well in that stretch... Chicago was suddenly in the A.L. Wild Card hunt.
During July, all three of us idled for the most part, but with a couple weeks left until the Trade Deadline, I felt I had to make some crucial moves to give us that extra push.
The trouble areas that I noticed was CF, 1B & C.
My center field situation was the most noticeable -- Danny Serrano's glove has diminished (45/80) over the last year, and his lack of bat was not helping the situation. Serrano had a combined 5.3 WAR over his first two seasons with us, he was currently in the negative area for his 1947 WAR.
We would acquire OF Ryan Digby from division rivals Chicago Union, in exchange for young starting pitcher Nate Wilson. We loved Wilson & acquired him (from the Toronto Maple Leafs) just prior to the season for 3B prospect Francisco Sarenana, but we had to upgrade at center. Wilson would go on to have a solid second-half with Chicago, sporting a 2.14 ERA over 20 games (5 starts).
Wilson became expendable, when we made a deal just prior to the Digby deal in acquiring SP Edgar Gonzales from the Washington Capitols (along with a 2nd Round Draft Pick) in exchange for solid starting pitcher prospect Ben Sisk and SP Josh Kirby (the former rising star with a sliver of a chance to fulfill his big league potential).
I hated seeing Sisk go, he was among the league's top prospects, with plenty of promise, I expect to see him paying off for Washington.
I wanted another outfielder & acquired solid glove and no-bat speedster Justin Moyer from the Baltimore Terrapins -- trading CF prospect Jeff Kellerman, a 3rd Round Draft Pick & $2,000 in cash for his services.
Wallace Pease was playing well for us at first, but he has had a history of being a bit injury-prone, him playing full-time at first may jeopardize his strong bat. I decided to acquire some help in stronger bat Corey Molina, although he was not playing well for the Kansas City Athletics (.202, 5 HR, 31 RBI)... Due to his weaker glove, Molina will mostly back-up for Pease, while occasionally platoon at first. Molina was basically an insurance policy, in case Pease got hurt.
Detroit traded prospect LF Jared Walden to K.C. to acquire Molina, while we also landed a 2nd Round Draft Pick in the trade.
Bobby Sims was playing really well for us during the first-half of the season, platooning at first, over-achieving for the most part, but we ended up adding him to a deal (which included a 2nd Round Draft Pick) to the Denver Miners in exchange for catcher Chris Cobian. Cobian won the 1945 A.L. Gold Glove (while playing for the Los Angeles Knights in 1945), while he also brought a well-disciplined bat to the plate (a career .290 hitter).
All of these deals brought on a lot more salary, but it was all worth it, if it brought a championship to Detroit... which it eventually did.
We still had our challenges and road blocks, but to explain the pennant chase & the post-season results in depth, that will have to be explained in another upcoming post.
[To be continued....]
