2005 All Star Game Tribute – Las Vegas
All Star Game '05: Las Vegas Renegades Review
The first and perhaps most important thing to know about the Las Vegas franchise is this. In EWB's inaugurral season of 1970, Las Vegas went 94-68, winning the Mountain West Division by a huge 18 game margin and finished tied for the best record in the entire AL. They swept their way through the AL playoffs, and then lost a heartbreaking World Series to Austin 4-3.
After that 1970 season, Las Vegas did not win another Mountain West pennant until 1999, a full 29 years later -- and when they did win in '99, it was with a pathetic 80-82 record. So that's a long period of frustration (although admittedly, they did manage a Wild Card appearance in 1982). But at the same time, their franchise winning percentage of .493 is very respectable. Consider: division rival Los Angeles' franchise winning percentage is worse at .490, but the Gargoyles have managed 13 playoff appearances, compared to Las Vegas' 4, 9 pennants, to Las Vegas' 3, and 1 World Series title, to Las Vegas' 0. Or compare Dallas: their .494 franchise winning percentage almost the same as Las Vegas, but Dallas has managed 9 playoff appearances and 2 World Series titles. Here's what this shows. Las Vegas has often been decent, but just a little under the dominant Mountain West team at a given time -- often Washington, sometimes Los Angeles.
So for instance, in 1978 they went a solid 92-71 but finished third in the division, an astonishing 21.5 games behind juggernaut Washington -- the 1978 Admirals have an argument for being the greatest EWB team of all time, going 113-49. In 1981 Las Vegas finished 89-73, but again finished 3rd, 16 games behind 105-57 Washington. In 1982, their Wild Card year, they finished 92-70, 13 games behind 105-57 L.A. In 1987 they finished 85-77, tied for the division lead with Washington, but lost the play-in game versus the Admirals. In 1991 they finished 92-70, 8 games behind division winner L.A. but tied for the Wild Card, but they lost the play off game to Portland, thus finishing 3rd in the division. In 1997 they finished 88-74, but just missed both the division title and the wild card. Finally, in their division title season of 2001, they took Boston to Game 7 of the ALCS, but lost there, falling short of making their first World Series since 1970.
So overall, you're talking about a team with a ton of near misses. I don't know if they're quite the EWB equivalent of the Boston Red Sox, but it's sort of in that direction.
Here's another point along those lines. In EWB history, 12 pitchers have won 230 games or more, and out of those 12, 9 are in the Hall of Fame, while 3 are not. The top pitcher who isn't is Renegade legend Jesse Quick, who pitched for the team from 1974-1991, and then again from 1994-1995, finally retiring at age 43. Winning 273 games, Quick thought he had a solid case for the Hall, but just missed out on the vote -- a near miss, in standard Renegade fashion. Another one of the 3 who didn't make the Hall is longtime Renegade Alfredo Santo, who pitched for the team from 1970-1998, finally retiring at age 45 with 230 wins. So basically, if you win 230 games you're in the Hall -- unless you're a Las Vegas Renegade.
This post is already kind of long, so I'll continue with more Renegade info in another e-mail.
More Las Vegas Renegade Info
The Renegades have a fair number of historically important players.
It starts with 2B Ronald Ramsey, EWB's all time hits leader with 3,358, a Hall of Famer and starter on the EWB All Time Team, who was a Renegade from 1980-1993, the prime of his career. The Renegades actually had a winning record over that period, but made only 1 playoff appearance.
Another hall of famer is Allen Fowler, who played for the team from 1976-1981. Fowler is most notable as perhaps the least worthy Hall of Famer of all time. His lifetime BA of .307 is nothing special, his 2,468 hits are okay but not Hall-worthy, his 170 HRs are mediocre, and so on. Fowler had the foresight to retire at the end of 1989, however, meaning he was able to sneak through on a pure computer vote, prior to human takeover. Human voters almost certainly would've denied him.
Another hall of famer, Mike Robinson, played briefly for the team at the end of his career.
Only 16 players in EWB history have hit 50 HRs or more in a season, and 2 of them have been Renegades. The first was CF Mike Smith, who in 1984 hit .282/50/150. At the time, that was both the 2nd most HRs and the 2nd most RBIs in a season: a great season. The second was 1B Tom Travis, who hit .357/52/139 in 1996. Now with New York, the 33-year-old Travis is sitting on 441 HRs, giving him a good chance of cracking 500 and becoming yet another Hall of Famer. If he goes in, he should go as a Renegade, where he spent the prime of his career.
Then there is 1B Manolo Reyes, a player who started his career with Dallas but now has won 2 AL MVPs with Las Vegas, and looks destined for the Hall. Again, when he does go in, it seems plausible he should go in a Las Vegas uniform. By the way, Reyes' 2 MVPs are the only 2 in franchise history.
So overall, that's quite a few Hall of Famers for a franchise, especially a non-elite franchise. Moving beyond Hall of Famers, the Renegades' all time leader in ERA, Games Pitches, and Saves, is Dale "Ole Nick" Erwin. Remember that fucking guy? He pitched for the Renegades from 1975-1990, primairly as a closer, before being traded to the Washington Admirals in 1990, in a fairly disastrous move for the Admirals. Ole Nick still ranks 11th in EWB history in saves.
The Renegades have had exactly one Bob Gibson Award winner in franchise history, Brian Finley, who captured the honor as a 2nd year player in 2000, going 20-7 with a 3.19 ERA. Finley is still with the team, and is a very good pitcher, rated as the 15th best in EWB today.
Do you remember Michael Cobb? He was a big prospect who came up with the Renegades in the early 90s: he was ranekd the #6 prospect in 1994, and #2 in 1995. He had several good seasons in the mid to late 1990s, and was a .305 career hitter. His best year was perhaps 1999, when he hit .305/9/97 with 49 2Bs, leading the league. The next year, 2000, he ruptured his MCL, knocking him out for 7 months: the remainder of the season. At the end of the year he became a free agent, and for reasons mysterious, no team gave him a call. He still had the same 4-2-3 ratings he always had, but no one was interested, and so Cobb retired without playing another game. That would never happen during a human era. One of us would have given him a minimum deal, and gotten a tremendous bargain in the process. Just 33, Cobb might well still be in the league if the humans had not walked away.
Tom Shatel
(AP) Las Vegas - The 2005 All Star Game is one of the most anticipated in recent memory. Las Vegas provides one of the most enticing get aways. The dreariness of a Cleveland summer is long past in 2004 and it's time to revel in rooftop pools, glitzy casino VIP tables, champagne rooms of skanky strip clubs and of course on the field of Bellagio Stadium. Some Day before the game tidbits:
- Everyone has for the most part arrived, the press, players, executives, and the commissioner. The attendance for this All Star game has skyrocketed. Notable exceptions include two of the young quartet of GM's, MikeG and JoeM. Both are taking the break and using it for personal family time with JoeM somewhere in Colorado and MikeG in Detroit. However, JTT and RobM have already been seen in Vegas having dinner with down and out GM Egghead of Dallas.
- The HR contest was earlier today. Participants in the AL were Dominic Doyle MIN, Alex Davis BOS, Ed Moran MIN, Semi Horton, WAS and Manolo Reyes LV. NL Participants were Phillip Bennett SF, Gustavo Chapa DET, Robert Bryant HOU, Ramon Moran STL, and Lee Dalton CIN. It came down to Doyle and Davis with Doyle playing to the crowd and winning it with a stunning display of 13 HR in the Final Round. Forest Thomas was the pitcher to Semi Horton.
- Free time outings:
*Benedict Vanlandingham tried to organize a scramble at one of his father's country clubs, unfortunately the disliked SP was only able to cajole teammate CL Erik Webb to come along.
* Many of the players are spending their time in the Casinos gambling. It's been said that RobM and his two players, Billy Miller and Vince Dorsey, are spending a lot of time at the High Stakes Poker Tables. Poker is a mainstay on team road trips and RobM's only complaint about the move to the NL was the loss of Vegas on the schedule.
* Cory Cotton got a little out of hand at a $20 blackjack table when he started berating a dealer. Cotton who is a notorious beer drinker often is rumoured to be a hellraiser. Austin Horton pulled him away before the Admiral team could be shamed again by another alcohol related incident. Hopefully the abrasive Cotton will be able to sleep it off before the game.
* What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas unless you have the inside scoop that I do. Omaha GM MikeG is a notorious afficionado of strip clubs and allegedly gave his All Star Players a list of clubs to hit up. Allegedly Christian Kennedy got a handjob from a tranny in one of the clubs. Once again this was allegedly. Kennedy had no response but a mumble after I addressed these allegations with him.
* Gerald Chambers hit a hole in one in his golf outing. The stars continue to favour him.