Plenty of personality on the outfield of today's Birthday Team.

C: Mike Lieberthal
1B: Charlie Eden
2B: Eddie Moore
3B: Pinky May
SS/Manager: Chuck Cottier
LF: Brady Anderson
CF: Curt Flood
RF: Len Koenecke

SP: Scott McGregor
SP: Carl Morton
SP: Wandy Rodriguez
SP: Michael Pineda
SP: Bill Sampen
RP: Mike Fornieles

Owner: Danny Kaye
Umpire: Satch Davidson
Gunning for Pinky May's job: Brett Lawrie
Could be the name of a cartoon cow: Frank Heifer

Birthday League update:

January 5           65  44  .596 ----  
January 14          64  46  .582  1.5 
January 28          61  44  .581  2.0  
January 23          62  45  .579  2.0         
January 17          61  46  .570  3.0

News and notes:
* Johnny Mize (January 7) leads the league in AVG (.351), OBP (.434), SLG (.603), and RC/27 (9.9).
* Weird RBI leaderboard: Chili Davis (January 17) 90, Jason Giambi (January 8) 80, Ivan DeJesus (January 9) 75, Sam Mele (January 21) 75, Magglio Ordonez (January 28) 75.
* Otis Nixon (January 9) leads the league in hits (137) and stolen bases (94). He's second in runs scored (77).
* The other dominant base stealer, Max Carey (January 11), has stolen 90 bases.
* The top three players on the SLG, OBP, and RC/27 leaderboards are all the same guys: Mize, Giambi, and Hank Greenberg (January 1).
* January 9 has the league leader in wins (Ralph Terry - 15) and the top two pitchers in losses (Ken Cloude - 14 and Harley Payne - 12).
* Bill Doak (January 28) has taken over the ERA lead, at 2.25.
* Hot over the past ten days: Norm Charlton (January 6) 2 GS, 18 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 19 K, 2 Wins. Greg Swindell (January 2) 2 GS, 17 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 2 Wins. Mark Trumbo (January 16) 14-for-26, 2 HR.
* Cold over the past ten days: Frank "Not Home Run" Baker (January 11) 2-for-24. Chauncey Fisher (January 8) 2 GS, 11 IP, 24 H, 17 ER, 7 BB, 2 Losses.
* January 10 has lost 9 of 10.

Stats, standings, leaders, and box scores here.

As a little kid, I had Mike Fornieles cards from several different years. Since he was an AL guy and never pitched in the WS, I never heard his name pronounced. My mental pronunciation was FOR-neil-lee-ez. I'm guessing it was FOR-nee-ell-les -- does anyone know?

Facebook suggested I add Chet Lemon as a friend today. Yep, I'm a pretty big deal.

I mainly know about Pinky May thanks to the Bill James Classic Baseball game, but he was an interesting player - bounced around the minors for seven years, stuck in the Yankees system behind Red Rolfe; the Phillies grabbed him in the 1938 Rule 5 draft after he hit .331 at Newark. Apparently very slow, hit for OK average and power with a 2:1 BB:K ratio, but apparently a darn good fielder: top-two FPct every year he was a starter, led the league in range in three of those five years. Called "Pinky," as I recall, because he had "the red ass" - he was a hot-tempered guy.
After his big-league career, was briefly a player-manager (hit .332 with Albany at 36 years old), then managed various low-minors teams until his early 60s. And, of course, Milt May was his kid.

Dan- how long is the birthday league season? and how many teams make the next round?

Each league will be four weeks long - exactly as many days as there are teams in the league. This one ends on January 28, the next one begins on January 29.

Not sure how many teams move on. Haven't thought that far ahead.

Excuse me. I meant "How many games in a season?"

New Years Division Report (Jan. 1-10)

The January 5 X-Rays continue their march to glory. They have led the first division at every integral and have now expanded their lead to 10 1/2 games. They've also reclaimed the overall lead in the January League and, barring an epic collapse, should be in great shape to advance. And yet the X-Rays don't look like a dominant team on paper. Although they don't excel in any one facet of the game, they're above average in everything. The X-Rays offense ranks 11th with 500 runs scored and their pitching and defense ranks 6th with 445 runs allowed. They have 3 pitchers with an ERA below 3, including one starter (Jim Kramer). Danny Jackson (3.14), Charlie Hough (3.77) and Bob Caruthers (4.00) round out the rotation.

The rest of the division is mostly treading water. The January 1 Newyears, the January 3 Papal Bulls and the January 6 Gilloolies are currently tied for second place. That may sound like good news but they're also tied with respective .500 records. The Newyears have stayed competitive despite one of the worst pitching staffs in the league and a run differential of -37. They've given 65 of 106 starts to pitchers with an ERA of 3.99 or worse. However, their scrappy offense- led all year by Hank Greenberg (2nd in slugging percentage and 3rd in on-base) and Earl Torgeson (top ten in walks)- has kept them afloat.

The Papal Bulls have one of the best pitching staffs in league (their 430 runs against is 5th) but they also one of the most anemic offenses (their 410 runs scored is second worst). Mike Crudale and Gary Lavelle lead the bullpen. Lavelle is the closer with a 2.56 ERA and 13 saves while Crudale has been lights out in a set-up role with a 1.47 ERA and 5 saves. Bart Johnson and AJ Burnett have anchored the rotation with nearly identical ERAs of 3.16 and 3.18. Although there aren't a lot of nice things one can say about the offense, Darren Daulton is at least providing a lot of pop as a catcher (20 home runs and 59 RBI).

The Giloolies are a team on the rise. They're 8-1 since the last interval, jumping to 2nd from 6th. Norm Charlton has led the way. Although he's known more as a reliever, he's having a stellar season as a starter. His 11-3 record has him tied for 5th in winning percentage and his 2.81 ERA is just outside of the top ten. Don Gullett (2.81) and Early Wynn (2.94) also have ERAs below 3, adding up to one of the best staffs in the league. Indeed, the Giloolies have allowed the second fewest runs of any team at 398. However, their offense isn't much better than the Papal Bulls (417 runs scored).

Sorry, Chris. Misunderstood.

154.

Baltimore Sun reporting that Earl Weaver has died. RIP to the Earl of Baltimore. You were the best.

Sad to hear of Weaver's death. A brilliant manager and a great baseball personality.

i was looking around here for some mention of that. ditto vcar, a true baseball icon. now he's pushing up tomato plants.

Obligatory. RIP, Earl.

RIP, Earl. I hope your next gig includes a lot of pitching, defense and 3-run homers.

MLB tweeted out that Stan Musial has died.