An all-time great center fielder, a solid (and deep) pitching staff, and a couple good complimentary position players make this Birthday Team a contender.

C: Russell Martin
1B: Don Kelly
2B: Rick Auerbach
3B: Ron Cey
SS: Marlins Sea Bass Alex Gonzalez
LF: Hal Lee
CF: Billy Hamilton
RF: Dee Miles

SP: George Earnshaw
SP: Jimmy Ring
SP: Johnny Cueto
SP: Melido Perez
SP: Joe Hesketh
RP: Ugueth Urbina

Manager: Cub Stricker
Shortest career in MLB history: Larry Yount
Pitching machine inventor: Lorenzo Ponza
Could be a cartoon character's name: Carlton Molesworth

Miguel Cairo is retiring. He is the last active original Devil Ray. One original Diamondback played in the big leagues last year. Can you name him?

Miguel Batista?

Craig Counsell?

Jeff Suppan? did he play in 2012?

Baseball history item notes it's 5,000 days since Bobby Valentine's fake mustache

Dag, I'm about 100 pages into your book, reading the Connie Mack entry, and I'm wondering if you considered pitching staff GB/FB tendencies when you figured managerial effects on double plays.

The Tom Kelly-era Twins, for instance, may not have been bad at turning double plays because they were unconcerned with turning them, but instead because they intentionally built a pitching staff full of flyballers in order to counteract the effect of artificial turf on ground balls.

It's an excellent read, by the way. Very enlightening.

Dan - that hadn't occurred to me.

I did a think to estimate FB/GB ratios - A/(PO-K) - but didn't align that w/ DPs. Tom Kelly does score as extremely flyball-orientated. Not as extreme as Alvin Dark, but close. Connie Mack is moderately FB, but only moderately.

need roto advice: should I pull the trigger and acquire King Felix and give up Hanley Ramirez in a keeper league that uses TB and OBP instead of HR and AVG? My other keepers are position players.

Whoa, I didn't know Jeff Suppan was on the Diamondbacks. He appears to be the answer. Not my guess of David Dellucci.

I knew Suppan was a DBack, but had no idea he was active. The game "2012 Padre or retired-for-3-years" would be almost impossible.

Some highlights of the 2012 Padres roster:

John Baker
Chris Denorfia
Orlando Hudson
Jason Bartlett
Jeremy Hermida
Mark Kotsay
Ross Ohlendorf
Kip Wells
Jason Marquis
Micah Owings
Jeff Suppan

I was like the last commenter in yesterday's dugout so I'm not sure if anyone saw it, but I think it's noteworthy that Mike Trout reported to camp at 240 lbs, up from 210 last year.

Padres prospect Rymer Liriano (TJ) and Florida Gators former first round pick Karsten Whitson (shoulder surgery) will each miss the season.

Karsten Whitson (shoulder surgery) will...miss the season.

"...and that's why you always take the multimillion dollar contract offer when you're a first-round high school pitcher."

/J. Walter Weatherman

Whoa, I didn't know Jeff Suppan was on the Diamondbacks. He appears to be the answer.

Yay! I feel so accomplished.

I had no idea Kip Wells still played baseball.

I had no idea Kip Wells still played baseball.

His player page is interesting. He's got 4 pieces of black ink on his record, all negative: 2 losses, 1 walks, 1 WP.

Carlton Molesworth

Bill James, in the Historical Baseball Abstract, has a great little blurb suggesting that he'd have been perfect as a Britisher's manservant: "Molesworth, draw my bath." "As you wish, sir."

-- MWE

He's got 4 pieces of black ink on his record, all negative: 2 losses, 1 walks, 1 WP.

You have to be a good pitcher to lead the league in walks, wild pitches, and losses twice.

I had no idea Kip Wells still played baseball.

I saw him playing in an Indy League a couple of years ago. Wily Mo Pena turned around one of his fastballs and a hit home run that I think is scheduled to land sometime in 2015 but otherwise he was pretty effective. I was nonetheless stunned when I saw he had made it back to the big leagues.