Official 9th Baseball ATD Thread (Picks Only)

[Tecumseh]

With our final pick, 408th overall in the twenty-sixth round, the Albuquerque Dukes select MGR Dick Williams.

Richard Hirschfield “Dick†Williams had a nice career on the field for a variety of Major League ball clubs, at a number of spots all across the diamond during his 13 year playing career. However it was in the dugout, using his mind as a baseball manager, that he would earn his spot among baseball’s immortals.

Dick Williams proved to be one of baseball’s best managers at turning a team’s fortunes around. It all started when he inherited the Boston Red Sox in 1967, a team that had finished next to last the previous season. Not much was expected of the Sox, but Williams surprised the baseball world and led them to an “impossible dreamâ€-- coming within one win of a World Series championship. "We didn't know how to study the game," explained Red Sox first baseman George Scott, "Dick Showed us how to do it. He pressed the right buttons for everyone on that team".

Williams took over the Oakland Athletics after their second place finish in 1970 and led them to the American League pennant. He followed that up with two straight World Series championships, which prompted eccentric A’s owner Charlie Finley to proclaim “Dick Williams is the best manager I've ever had. I ought to know. I've fired enough of themâ€.

Finley wasn’t the only owner enamored with Williams. Yankee owner George Steinbrenner thought so much of Williams, he tried to hire him twice, unsuccessfully—once after he had a falling out with Charlie Finley and Finley wouldn’t let him out of his contract, and once again after the tragic death of Billy Martin in 1989, at which point Williams declared himself “too old to manage againâ€.

Dick Williams had a captious personality that didn’t sit well with everyone, “I don’t want to mellow,†Williams explained, “I’d rather be known as a winner and a poor loser.†As time went on however, he did seem to mellow. In his final season as skipper of the Seattle Mariners, outfielder Mike Kingery explained “He's been great to me and other players. Very positive. When we do something well, he tells us. And when we do something wrong, he encourages us".

Upon his retirement from the game it took Williams 20 years to earn election to the Hall of Fame, an honor that fellow Class of 2008 inductee Goose Gossage felt was long overdue “I was elated to see Dick got in, he deserved it. He's one of the best managers of all-time, in my opinion, and he's the best manager I've ever played for. And that's taking in some great managers."

"He got rid of all the individuality, made us into a team, gave us an incentive and made us want to win." -Carl Yastrzemski

21 year career

1,571-1,451
1967 AL Pennant
1984 NL Pennant
1972, 1973 World Champion
Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008 by way of the Veteran's Committee

​

 

[Winger for Hire]

The Marlboro Man, Mgr Jim Leyland

 

[NJDevs26]

Pick #404 - HOF member and original Negro League C Louis Santop

Though he started his career before the formation of the Negro Leagues, Santop in 2006 became one of only three NNL catchers to date (Josh Gibson, Biz Mackey) that didn't play MLB who was inducted into the HOF. A well-built catcher at 6'4 and 240 pounds - Santop was known for having an unusually powerful left-handed bat in the deadball era, yet still athletic enough from time to time to play outfield, though his cannon arm served him well at catcher, and entertained fans and players alike:

From his HOF bio:

Santop was an outgoing player and an exuberant drawing card, earning as much as $500 per month in the ‘teens and twenties. There are stories of him calling his home run shots, and he often gave pregame throwing exhibitions, throwing a ball over the centerfield fence while standing at the catcher’s position, and then crouching and firing repeatedly to each infielder, amazing onlookers with his powerful arm.

He served in the Navy in 1918 and ’19.

In exhibitions against white major leaguers, Santop is remembered for having outhit Babe Ruth in a 1920 post-season series, notching three hits against Carl Mays of the Yankees while the Babe recorded none. In a 1917 series, Santop recorded six hits in three games against Chief Bender and Joe Bush.

http://coe.k-state.edu/annex/nlbemuseum/history/players/santop.html

One of the earliest superstars and a crowd favorite, Santop was a solid, strong armed catcher who excelled at blocking the plate, but was better known as a power hitter. He could stand at home plate and throw a ball over the centerfield fence, but could hit a ball even farther. The big Texan used a big, heavy bat and was noted for his tape-measure home runs during baseball's deadball era, which earned him the nickname "Big Bertha" after the Germans' World War I long-range artillery piece. A left-handed hitter, he especially liked pitches out over the plate where he could get good arm extension in his swing, and is credited with one gargantuan drive that traveled more than 500 feet.

Also credited with being a lifetime .406 hitter, Santop starred with several great teams during his career, spending most of his playing time before World War I with New York-based teams, including the Lincoln Giants, the Lincoln Stars, and the Brooklyn Royal Giants. Playing against all levels of competition with the McMahon brothers' newly formed New York Lincoln Giants (1911-1914), the big slugger registered batting averages of .470, .422, .429, and .455 while catching the era's two hardest throwers, Smokey Joe Williams and XXX

 

[Gootie]

Chicago Whales select RP Bobby Thigpen

 

[Voight]

Atlanta Braves will select RP Brian "Got Heem" Wilson!

9 Seasons
172 SV
3.30 ERA
9.6 K/9
407 SO

Playoffs
2-0
6 SV
0.00 ERA
12.5 K/9

 

[ryan callahan]

The San Francisco Giants select Manager Joe Maddon

 

[td_ice]

with their last pick in this years ATD draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates are happy to select, RP, Tony Watson.



Working as a 8th inning setup man for the Pirates, the lefty reliever has complied in an 8.6 WAR in 6 seasons.



148 ERA+


2.56 ERA


WHIP 1.035

 

[Voight]

The Atlanta Braves will select RP Rick Honeycutt!

Honeycutt was a left-handed pitcher for 6 different teams over 21 years from 1977 to 1997. He pitched in 30 post-season games, including 20 league championship series games and 7 World Series games, and never lost a game, going 3-0. Honeycutt gave up zero runs in the 1988 and 1990 post-seasons, and was a member of the Oakland Athletics 1989 World Series championship team.

109-143
3.72 ERA
38 SV


2× All-Star (1980, 1983)
World Series champion (1989)
AL ERA leader (1983)

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

2B - Luis Castillo

 

[DisgruntledHawkFan]

MGR - Terry Francona

 

[le_sean]

Montreal Royals select MGR Cornelius McGillicuddy AKA "Connie Mack"

 

[darko]

405 - New York Yankees select - Tom Burgmeier, RP

119 career ERA+
102 career saves

Gives me a 2nd lefty out of the pen.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

With Los Angeles final pick, we need a player who can be put in for late game situations on the base paths and get us a run, being that we are a National League team having a diverse bench is important to have, so we will select the 1962 NL MVP, Short Stop Maury Wills

 

[bluesfan94]

Kelvin herrera.

 

[Voight]

MGR - Terry Francona

385. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - Terry Francona - MGR

I would suggest doing a search before you pick next time, especially this late in the draft.

 

[Voight]

Braves drop SP CC Sabathia for C Russell Martin

 

[td_ice]

Montreal selects Johnny Mize, 1B

wrong thread Pep