Also 100 years ago, the Giants sign Jim Thorpe, Fayetteville (NC) claims it holds Thorpe's rights, Beaumont (TX) claims it holds Thorpe's rights, and Cleveland pitcher Roy Walker signs his contract while in prison.

Not a lot of star power on today's Birthday Team.

C: Billy Sullivan
1B: Lew Brown
2B: Hector Luna
3B: Tim Naehring
SS: Danny Thompson
LF: Joe Connolly
CF: Paul Blair
RF: Carl Reynolds

SP: Kent Mercker
SP: Brett Anderson
SP: Joe Harris
SP: Pete Wood
SP: Tom McGuire
RP: Ernie Camacho
RP: Cecilio Guante

Not that one: Jim Kelly

By the way, I should mention that the Birthday League will be up and running today. It's taken longer than I expected to build the rosters.

Just perused Dan's Fish ZiPS - it's Stanton and the tall dwarves over there. #2 projected WAR on the team? Justin Ruggiano. ERA+ of the the pitcher with the most WAR (Nolasco)? 90.

I like the No.1 comp list

Giancarlo Stanton - Mark McGwire
Justin Ruggiano - Leroy Stanton
Rob Brantly - Matt Walbeck
Christian Yelich - Mel Hall
Logan Morrison - Benny Distefano
Adeiny Hechevarria - Ronny Cedeno
Jacob Realmuto - Koyie Hill

That's right, after Stanton, the only guy that the average fan may have heard of, the other possible ray of sunshine, is a future Benny Distefano. They have two catchers in the top 7, that sounds good ... they project as two career backups notorious for bad hitting.

Eventually you get down to a couple prospects whose No.1 comps are Adam Jones and Dave Henderson, if they ever make it to the majors.

What was up with Ruggiano's 2012?

Was he a good player before that, but no one noticed?

Was he a good player before that, but no one noticed?

A good player, but a guy with good (but not spectacular) BAs and lots of Ks. Sickels has liked him for years, but always felt he'd (a) require an adjustment period due to the Ks, and (b) would be a low-BA kinda guy with decent OBP and SLG. He's as good as he's going to be (actually, 2012 probably was a "peak" season for him), but he's probably been about this good for several years.

EDIT: Says the man who had him as a Prospect in a keeper league for a while...oof!

I touted Ruggiano for years as a usable spare part, gave up on him just before he turned the corner.

I didn't realize that pro baseball had another Arquimedes among its ranks. That is tremendous.

There are a number of prominent right-handed relief pitchers still unsigned, guys who have been making millions and who pitched a full season last year.

Ramon Ramirez
Brandon Lyon
K-Rod
Jose Valverde
Jon Rauch
Clay Hensley (never as highly regarded as the others)
Brian Wilson's got the injury, but he kind of fits

Am I missing anyone?

Minor league deals:

Angels sign P/Hot Dog Eating Champ Hiroyuki Kobayashi
Red Six sign 1B Lyle Overbay
Rockies sign 1B Ryan Garko and OF Greg Golson
Brewers sign P Alfredo Figaro
Red Sox sign knuckleballer Charlie Haeger
Indians sign P Matt Capps
Orioles sign OF Adam Greenburg

Am I missing anyone?

Kameron Loe is also still out there. 4.61 ERA last year in 70 appearances, made $2 mill last year.]

Francisco Cordero is also still out there, although I guess he didn't pitch a full season last year.

That's right, after Stanton, the only guy that the average fan may have heard of, the other possible ray of sunshine, is a future Benny Distefano. They have two catchers in the top 7, that sounds good ... they project as two career backups notorious for bad hitting.

I remember Mel Hall because he came up with the Cubs back when I watched a lot of their games on WGN. He was traded to the Indians and was a starting outfielder in Cleveland for several years. Hall was actually a decent enough hitter, he had a 107 OPS+ for his career and hit 134 home runs. If I'm not mistaken he got in serious legal trouble after he retired, something to do with sex with a minor perhaps.

For what it's worth, Ronnie Cedeno and Koyie Hill are both ex-Cubs as well.

He was traded to the Indians and was a starting outfielder in Cleveland for several years. Hall was actually a decent enough hitter, he had a 107 OPS+ for his career and hit 134 home runs. If I'm not mistaken he got in serious legal trouble after he retired, something to do with sex with a minor perhaps.

Yep.

I remember him for two things: He always had a pair of batting gloves in his back pocket as he was hitting/baserunning in order to "wave to the other team" as he trotted the bases after hitting a home run, and he was also the guy who taped "Mr. Zero" to the top of Bernie Williams's locker to signify that Williams was completely insignificant.

I didn't realize that pro baseball had another Arquimedes among its ranks. That is tremendous.

Arquimedes Nieto, the Panamanian pitcher? I didn't know if he was still playing, can't find any record for him in 2012.

Arquimedes Caminero, I presume. Hard thrower, got some Rule 5 talk a year or two back.

Our left fielder while running for it collided with a calf that had broken its tether and had strayed on the field.

I once saw a hog break out of its pen and eat a ball that had been batted down the line. It went for an inside-the-pork home run.

There's a guy for Western Oklahoma State JC (low level juco power) named Sicnarf Loopstok. (h/t John Manuel)

Angels sign P Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Probably won't amount to much - he's 34, and spent all of 2012 pitching for Hanshin's minor-league team, after spending 12 years pitching for Lotte and Hanshin. Tried to move to MLB in 2010, but found no takers, so this is a last-gasp effort. Interesting career - came up as a reliever, switched to starting, and in his six seasons as a full-time starter, made three all-star teams and was selected to Japans's team in the 2006 WBC. Then spent one year as a closer for Lotte, wracking up 29 saves in 2010 (those 29 saves that season are his career total - he's never had another one before or since), and signed with Hanshin, who put him in the set-up role in 2011, and sent him to the minors for 2012. Has had some elbow problems the past few years. Career totals, 75-74, 3.53.

There's a guy for Western Oklahoma State JC (low level juco power) named Sicnarf Loopstok. (h/t John Manuel)

Apparently his dad took it serious when someone said, "Lighten up, Francis." Either that or he's chums with Ramon Garciaparra.

Angels sign P/Hot Dog Eating Champ Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Wasn't he once traded for Kyle Kendrick?

Birthday League is finally underway.

January 29-February 25 Birthday League Rosters

Standings Through April 17:

February 4          11   5  .688 ----     
January 31          11   5  .688 ----        
February 5          11   5  .688 ----    
February 17         11   5  .688 ----   
February 8          11   6  .647   .5        
February 7          11   6  .647   .5

News and Notes:
* Home Run Leaderboard: Babe Ruth (February 6) 7, Hank Aaron (February 5) 6
* Honus Wagner (February 24) leads the league in hits (24) and stolen bases (14).
* Ruth leads the league in home runs (7), slugging (.889), OBP (.500), RC/27 (18.5), total bases (48), pitching wins (3), and complete games (2).
* Nolan Ryan (January 31) leads the league in walks allowed (15) and strikeouts (28).

Stats, standings, box scores, and leaderboards here.

* Home Run Leaderboard: Babe Ruth (February 6) 7, Hank Aaron (February 5) 6
* Honus Wagner (February 24) leads the league in hits (24) and stolen bases (14).

That's some stiff competition! I did some of the February rosters and I somehow had the impression it was a pretty weak month!

In a game played when in St. Paul, a visiting batsman hit a ball into left field.

We just don't use the term, "visiting batsman" enough these days.

So, I was looking at the birthday roster link ... Those are the translated stats, yes? What does the year signify? Why is josh collmenter only listed with 11 innings? 2012 isn't included, I presume. Some of the other innings or PA figures are surprising - why does Todd Pratt have more PA than John Kruk?

2012 isn't included, correct. I'm not sure if Strat has even released their 2012 season disk yet.

Re: AB, it's a straight 32 AB per season played for position players, whether a guy plays in one game or 162 games. Pitchers are much less straightforward. It's around 14 IP for each season as a starter and 6 IP for each season as a reliever, but olde-tymey pitchers often get many more innings per season and pitchers who only appear in a handful of games may not get full credit for a season.

There are some flaws with their system - Ken Griffey Jr. is way, way worse than he probably should be, for instance - but I don't really intend for this to be a serious research exercise.