Chicagoland Tournament: My turn with the 1966 Orioles lineup

The Chicagoland APBA World Series Tournament is less than a month away! I’m quite excited.  Co-organizer Doug Schuyler tells me that 18 people have committed to coming and I look forward to meeting and playing them.

[By the way, if you’re on Facebook, tell us you’re coming at the Chicagoland APBA World Series Tournament Event Page!  Even if you’re not able to make it, tell us you’re not coming so you can follow the discussion.]

A couple weeks back, I asked my California friend Dan Velderrain if he would give me some advice on how to put my lineup together for my team, the 1966 Baltimore Orioles. Now, I’m perfectly able to make my own lineups of course. But it’s always interesting to see how other APBA players read the cards and formulate lineups. Dan happily did this and came up with a great lineup with some fantastic commentary.  Today, you’ll get the chance to see the ’66 Orioles from my perspective and who is going to bat where (maybe).

Like Dan, I’m going to evaluate each starter in order of positions, then reveal my potential lineup. I will say that I didn’t have a lineup in mind as I started writing this. This was a work in progress and I was changing my mind constantly throughout the process.

Here is the scouting report of the starting players

Andy Etchebarren ~ Catcher 7

1966 Orioles Manager Hank Bauer batted him: 8th

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 9th

Andy Etchebarren is probably the only player that Hank Bauer, Dan and I all agree on. He bats last in all of our lineups.

Dan calls him “kind of a light hitter” but he’s being too kind. Compared to the rest of the O’s is just a step above a Terrible Card Tuesday nominee.  Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh.  With four 8s, ‘Etch’ will be more useful against any C pitchers we might happen to see.  He’ll be somewhat serviceable with his three 0s but other than that, he doesn’t have much else.

As Dan implicated, it would be nice for a World Series champion to have something better than a C-7. I remember Etchebarren’s bubble gum card as a kid so I do have a soft spot for him, though. Maybe he’ll come through with a big hit.

Boog Powell ~ Firstbaseman 3

Hank Bauer batted him: 5th

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 4th

Boog Powell is a lead-footed, mediocre-fielding firstbaseman but boy, can he hit! He’s known for being a slugger (1-1-6) but his .287 average gives him a 44-7 as well. Boog comes with four 14s so he’s able to take a pitch too.

An interesting side note: Powell batted fifth for 86 games for the Orioles in 1966 but for one reason or another, Hank Bauer saw fit to bat him second in the lineup in 34 games during the season. I haven’t investigated why exactly. Perhaps it was to shake the lineup up or maybe get Powell more at-bats. I’m sure it wasn’t because of his speed or bat control that much I can say.

Davey Johnson ~ Secondbaseman 8

Hank Bauer batted him: 6th

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 7th

Not much power with this version of Davey Johnson (he’ll have to wait seven years before his double ones with Atlanta). Johnson has just two 0s with eight 1s in the second column.

That said, Johnson is a rare 44-7 card for a player that batted less than .260. Davey even has two walks to go along with that too. This card has only three 13s and no 24s so it has some of the intangibles that we sometimes miss when evaluating cards. He may not get the big hit but won’t make the big mistakes either. The 2B-8 is a nice bonus, too.

Davey Johnson might provide some interesting judgment calls with base coaching. He has three 7s, three 8s and of course, two 9s. There may be times that I may “let it ride” especially with a slow runner on second against a B pitcher.

Brooks Robinson ~ Thirdbaseman 6

Hank Bauer batted him: 4th

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 5th

Sgt. Dan calls the guy the “Captain” of my 1966 Orioles and I’m not going to disagree with him. The first thing most any baseball fan thinks of when it comes to with B-Robbie is his defense. This guy practically invented the 3B-6.

Bauer batted Brooks (1-6-6-7-7) in the cleanup spot for 153 games of the 1966 season. No disrespect to B-Robbie or to Mr Bauer but I’m thinking along the same lines of Sgt Dan. The two 24s aren’t helping his cause any.

Luis Aparicio ~ Shortstop 9

Hank Bauer batted him: 1st

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 8th

Here we have quite a difference. Bauer and Sgt Dan put Aparicio at almost opposite ends of the lineup.

Now, I’ve had my questions about Aparicio in the past which I’ve expressed at my league weekends. Like a smart-aleck who “obviously” didn’t see him play, I’ve quoted stats (lifetime OBP .311, never scored 100 runs in a season). I’ve just been told that “well, you weren’t there”. I’ll just defer judgment to my elders.

More to the point of where to bat Aparicio (0-6-7-7-11-10 with two 14s), he has eight on base chances against the best pitcher. That’s ok but not great, certainly not World Series caliber. Regardless, Hank Bauer led him off for 141 games in 1966. Right now, I’m leading towards Dan’s suggestion. We’ll see.

It’s also worth noting that Luis has three 31s, the only starter on the team with more than two.

Paul Blair ~ Outfielder 3

Hank Bauer batted him: 7th

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 2nd

Here’s another disparity between Dan and Hank and I think I see why. Blair is one of those players who you have a preconceived notion about and that clouds your judgment. I love Motor Mouth’s gap power (0-0-0-0-7, two 14s), but it’s hard to get past the fact that he has even less on base chances than Aparicio. That’s reflected in his real life OBP of .309.

Again, Blair has the intangibles that will help in the small ways. He’s Fast, he’s an OF-3, has no 24s and just two 13s. The more I evaluate his card, the more conflicted I am about where he will bat.

One possible solution: Blair does have four 8s. IF I encounter any C starters (that’s a big if), he could bat 2nd. If not, he could bat lower per Bauer’s “suggestion”.

Frank Robinson ~ Outfielder 2

Hank Bauer batted him: 3rd

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 3rd

Frank Robinson may be the other player in this lineup where Bauer, Dan and I might all agree. Bauer batted F-Robbie cleanup in one game in 1966 and for every other game, he batted third. There’s good reason for that. MVP and Triple Crown winner Frank Robinson (1-1-0-0-0-7 with four 14s) makes this team score runs.

His only drawback is his three 24s.

Russ Snyder ~ Outfielder 2

Hank Bauer batted him: 2nd

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 1st

Like Dan, Russ Snyder is the one Oriole I was least familiar with. He was the Orioles fourth outfielder in 1966 playing all three spots and managed to accumulate 417 plate appearances. I was going to put him in the DH slot until I noticed he was rated higher in the OF than Curtis Blefary. It was simple math. Blefary then becomes the DH and the slightly better fielder Snyder plays left.

Snyder made the most of his role in 1966. He batted .306 and for that he gets numbers 0-0-0-7-7-7 with three 14s.

Dan wants to lead off Snyder.  I’ll be honest, that idea doesn’t thrill me.  It violates my “7s rule”. I don’t like to have a player with too many 7s batting leadoff because those 7s move runners along so well. All things equal, I rather have my leadoff man get on base with walks if possible. Then again, it’s slim pickings on this team for good on-`base guys so I may not have a choice.

Curtis Blefary ~ Designated Hitter

Hank Bauer batted him: 6th

Sgt. Dan suggests I bat him: 6th

Truth be told, Hank Bauer batter Blefary all over the place in 1966. He batted him in the sixth spot in 60 games, second in 34 games and fifth in 21 games. One thing that needs to happen when Blefary (1-5-5-7) is at the plate: with his two 5s (not to mention his 22), a runner needs to be on base.  And speaking of 14s, Blefary leads my team in them with five.  Alas, he’s not exactly what I

As noted before, Blefary is an OF-1 and he won’t see the grass. He’ll be my Designated Hitter.

Making my lineup

I’ll say at the outset that this team is not an easy team to make a lineup for. I almost feel bad for asking Dan Velderrain perform such a hard task. As good as the players are, they just don’t fit well into an easy lineup.  This team is full of paradoxes and anomalies that make it difficult.

A while ago, I posted an article that outlines the procedure I go through when I come up with a lineup. To put it simply, I start by counting up the on-base chances for each card and put them in order. After that, I discount the obvious players who can’t lead off (power hitters, slow guys etc.) and perhaps give the edge to fast players and those with speed numbers. Players with a combination of average and power bat 3rd and 4th. As mentioned before, I like to make sure those with 7s bat 3rd or lower. It’s not productive for them to bat with no one on.

To get me started, here are the starters ranked by automatic on-base chances (results 1-7, 10-11, 14 and 42):

• F. Robinson 10
• Snyder 9
• Blefary 9
• Powell 9
• Aparicio 8
• B. Robinson 8
• Johnson 7
• Blair 7
• Etchebarren 5

Again, this isn’t going to determine my lineup but it’s a good place to start.  As you can see, the biggest issue with the 1966 Orioles is the lack of a really good leadoff hitter. Looking at the list above, Frank Robinson is out as a leadoff hitter (seeing as he’s my big bopper), Blefary and Powell are also not options (both are slow, slugger types and Blefary has two 5s). That leaves either Snyder (Dan’s choice) or possibly Aparicio (Hank Bauer’s choice) which would get me some speed up top.  I really think Snyder would make a good #2 hitter so I’m going with Aparicio.

Overall, one thing that got me bothered is the speed of Powell and Blefary. At the Tournament, we’ll be playing under the older rules of APBA so with a runner on first, I would have to coach a slow runner if I’m facing a C or D pitcher (again, not likely in this tournament). I’m throwing caution to the wind here and I won’t adjust their lineup spot due to their speed. If I have to coach them, I will.  Hank Bauer would be proud.

Here is my proposed and very tentative lineup for the Chicagoland APBA World Series Tournament:

1. SS Luis Aparicio

2. LF Russ Snyder

3. RF Frank Robinson

4. 1B Boog Powell

5. 3B Brooks Robinson

6. DH Curtis Blefary

7. CF Paul Blair

8. 2B Davey Johnson

9.   C Andy Etchebarren

Yes, Aparicio gets the nod for the leadoff spot for now.  Keep in mind that I’m not the kind of person who sticks with one lineup for a series or tournament. I may take Dan’s advice and move Blair up in the 2nd or 3rd spot if things aren’t working. If I really wanted to shake things up and play a little small ball, I could even try Davey Johnson in the two hole. The more I look at his card the more I like it especially for a .257 hitter.

A secondary lineup might look like this:

1. LF Russ Snyder

2. CF Paul Blair

3. RF Frank Robinson

4. 1B Boog Powell

5. 3B Brooks Robinson

6. DH Curtis Blefary

7. 2B Davey Johnson

8. SS Luis Aparicio

9.   C Andy Etchebarren

After composing this secondary lineup, it began to look familiar.  Then it dawned on me.  It was the exact lineup that Sgt. Dan put together for me.  Maybe I should rethink this and make it my primary one after all!!

One last note, both of these proposed lineups breaks another rule of mine. I don’t like to stagger slow guys and medium or fast guys. I guess I prefer to bunch up the slow runners if at all possible (or more specifically, isolate them). Is B-Robbie good enough to bat 4th or too good to bat 7th? If I had my choice between those two, I’d bat him 7th but for now, his 44-7 is too valuable to bat that low.

This may just be one of those teams that you do your best and just let them hit. Don’t overthink it. What did manager Earl Weaver who took over the reins of the Orioles in 196 say about the key to winning?  “Pitching, defense and roll lots of 66s”?

Something like that.

Thanks again to Dan for taking part in this project! Too bad you can’t be there, buddy!