The Official St Louis Browns Thread

[Nykav]

Browns appoint a new GM
Cornelis Versteeg back in business
St. Louis Post - Herbert Honeylicker

St. Louis Browns owner Donald L. Barnes appointed a new GM to lead the Brown's to hopefully a successfull era. As the league decided to re-deploy all players, Versteeg will face an immediate challenge in constructing a team that can win now and still has some future. Versteeg:
"I'm glad Mr Barnes gave me another opportunity to manage, I know my Cubs period wasn't the most successful in my life. I'm still young though, and I learned a lot from my mistakes"

During the pre-season meeting in Havana, there were a lot of rumours on the Browns leaving town, possibly to Baltimore. One of the owners really opposed to this is Yankee owner Pappy Tsocanos. He seems to fear the increased competition the Browns will probably give them. A big part of the reasoning is that Pappy is apparantly not very fond of his son's GM capabilities. He was quoted saying:
"He is less dangerous at the club than at home, where he can destroy all my acient greek paintings"

[Nykav]

Does Versteeg destroy another club?
Terrible start for Browns
St. Louis Post - Herbert Honeylicker

Few good things could happen when we learned that Cornelius Versteeg was back in business. Team owner Barnes really made one of the most questionable decisions in the history of baseball. The problems started with Versteeg insulting several other owners in a pre-season press conference and now continues with a miserable start of the team: 4-12, good for the last place in the American League West Division.

The pitching staff is without doubt one of the most problematic areas of the team. Ace Mort Cooper (2-1, 6.30) started awful just like Red Munger (0-1, 11.10) and Paul Derringer (0-2, 7.83). Hi Bithorn (1-2, 4.97) and Johnny Sain (1-1, 3.91) started not too bad. Manager Luke Sewell decided to correct things quickly and demoted both Munger and Derringer to the bullpen. Sewell: "The first week was already not a good one for both of them, the second only confirmed my thoughts: bullpen material. I believe Randy (Gumpert) and Ed (Head) will do a better job. They were confirmed starters last year"

Catcher Ray Mueller, who came over from the Giants, also started the season really bad, he's hitting .236, well below his .300 career mark. Sewell gave 40 year old Don Hurst a last chance to prove he's still a good hitter. So far he doesn't really dissapoint, .265 with 3 HR. 35 year old 2B Boze Berger started the season quite good, he's hitting .382 so far. At SS we find Phil Rizzuto, hitting .229 so far, wel below his potential. Probably the team's best player, Ken Keltner is doing exactly what people expect from him, he's batting .414 with 7 HR so far. Outfielders Dusak (.317, 3 HR), Chartak (.273, 1 HR) and Reiser (.319, 3 HR) are performing quite well.

Sewell: "I'm pretty sure we will improve quickly, when the staff will find it's groove and Rizzuto starts seeing the ball better, we will be back in the race soon"

Cornelius Versteeg was unavailable for comments.

[Nykav]

It's still raining in St. Louis
St. Louis Post - Herbert Honeylicker

Things didn't look good for the Browns last week. The team was swept by Cleveland and won only one of three against Kansas City. Pitching was very bad again, only Johnny Sain (1-1, 4.05) reached an acceptable level.

The middle of the order, 3B Keltner and 1B Hurst, also had a mediocre week, which didn't help the Brown's cause. Phil Rizzuto is .209 so far and must improve quickly in order not to lose his spot. Overall the batting isn't that bad, with Chartak, Berger, Keltner and Reiser all having good season stats.

Team stats:

Batting avg.: .278 (12th)
Homeruns: 23 (T-13th)
Walks: 27 (15th)
Runs Scored: 112 (12th)

Pitching ERA: 6.49 (15th)
Opponents Avg.: .300 (14th)
HR's Allowed: 44 (16th)
Walks Allowed: 88 (14th)
Runs Allowed: 158 (15th)

Versteeg: "It's clear that we have issues with our pitching. We have plenty of options, but we need to give everybody a fair chance. We must see this year as a construction year, despite our pre-season goals"

[Nykav]

Improvement in St. Louis
St. Louis Post - Herbert Honeylicker

Luke Sewell finally got things started with his team. The Browns improved to 33-47, still 18 games out of first place though. Sewell: "We are in a place now where we have a chance of winning every game, at the start of the season we were often blown away"

Last week the Browns lost some tough games against Boston, leading to a 1-3 series loss. A 2-1 series win over Cleveland gave the fans something to cheer about again.

GM Versteeg seems to have realised that his initial approach to managing this team didn't bring a lot of success. He angered many GM's with a terrible interview at the start of the season and was way too laid back in his GM duties. Most fans completely understand the problems Versteeg had in managing the Cubs a few years ago. Lately though, he is seen more and more at the club and his attitude changed big time. Versteeg: "We have realised this will be an off year for us. Our only goal is to prepare our team for the (near) future. We will use this year to analyse our resources in order to construct a winning franchise"

At C Ray Mueller (.282, 6 HR, 41 RBI) does a decent job. He is already 34 years old but he should be able to fill the job until a long term replacement is found. 1B Don Hurst (.237, 9 HR, 36 RBI) is currently injured, 40 years old and didn't start very well. He will most likely retire, so finding a player to replace him will be crucial. Mickey Rocco and Tommy O'Brien are decent players, but probably too light to fill this position. Boze Berger (.335, 8 HR, 36 RBI) is having a terrific season so far, but he is also thinking about retiring at the age of 36. At SS Phil Rizzuto (.283, 5 HR, 40 RBI) is playing better after a tough start. He is part of the future of this club. The big star so far is 3B Ken Keltner (.354, 24 HR, 80 RBI), he will be the core of the club for hopefully many years.

In RF Pete Reiser (.309, 6 HR, 30 RBI) is playing good baseball and he seems to have secured his job for next year already. In CF young Erv Dusak (.314, 11 HR, 36 RBI) is having an even better season so far. LF Mike Chartak (.262, 9 HR, 39 RBI) is playing his first full season and will be ready soon.

The rotation was a much bigger problem this year. At least 8 pitchers already had the opportunity to grab the starters position so far, but many failed. Currently the rotation looks like this, with the note that Mort Cooper (6-7, 5.80 ERA):

Hi Bithorn: 10-4, 3.63 ERA
Johnny Sain: 5-8, 5.04 ERA
Randy Gumpert: 3-10, 5.67 ERA
Russ Christopher: 5-0, 3.53 ERA
Red Munger: 0-2, 6.49 ERA

Versteeg released veteran pitcher Bob Weiland who pitched terribly. He pitched 14.2 innings in relief and had a terrible 9.20 ERA.

[Nykav]

Quiet Offseason for Browns
St. Louis Post

Despite a terrible first season for the arrogant Cornelis Versteeg, he seems to have much confidence in a better 1947. The team didn't make a lot of move, basically only acquiring a catcher (Tebbets) in a deal with Washington.

Versteeg: "We are sure that we can compete better this year. We started awful last year, but later on we didn't lose that much ground on the other teams. We have drafted some interesting players who should be ready somewhere next year"

C - Birdie Tebbets (34) - .267, 4 HR, 24 RBI, .717 OPS
Birdie isn't the best catcher around, but he should be an upgrade over Mueller. His defense is average. He will be a stop-gap until the moment recently drafted Yogi Berra is ready.

1B - Mickey Rocco (31) - .319, 10 HR, 46 RBI, .853 OPS
Mickey was seen as a backup last year, but really didn't do a bad job when he had the chance to start. Versteeg is hoping that he will hit somewhere around .300 again and be able to hold the spot until the Browns find a real impact player here.

2B - Boze Berger (36) - .308, 15 HR, 70 RBI, .801 OPS
Berger's defense is excellent and his bat did a good job last year too. His age concerns some of the Browns' staff, so expect Versteeg to look for a replacement soon. Stan Sperry did an excellent job from the bench, but he is not considered as a starter yet.

SS - Phil Rizzuto (29) - .337, 13 HR, 98 RBI, .901 OPS
Rizzuto started very slowly last year, but is now firmly locked in as the team's leadoff hitter and cornerstones. Phil could be a free agent next year, so expect management to do a lot to try to keep him.

3B - Ken Keltner (30) - .359, 40 HR, 144 RBI, 1.068 OPS
The big star of the team, but also in his last year of his contract. Keltner combines an excellent bat with great defense at 3B. A priority for Versteeg to resign.

LF - Mike Chartak (30) - .251, 19 HR, 71 RBI, .772 OPS
Chartak had a difficult season last year, but team management is confident that he can turn things around.

CF - Erv Dusak (26) - .278, 18 HR, 71 RBI, .748 OPS
Dusak is still very young and should be able to post an OPS above .800 next year. His defense at CF is very good.

RF: Pete Reiser (27) - .315, 17 HR, 67 RBI, .861 OPS
Reiser is a great contact hitter with the potential to grow into an even better player. The scouts love his contact and gap power skills.

Starting Pitching

Hi Bithorn: 19-9, 3.82 ERA, 1.26 WHIP
Johnny Sain: 10-13, 4.88 ERA, 1.35 WHIP
Mort Cooper: 10-11, 4.95 ERA, 1.41 WHIP
Russ Christopher: 10-8, 4.33 ERA, 1.50 WHIP

[Nykav]

Browns in last place again !
St. Louis Post

The Browns started the season reasonably well, but find themselves in last place again after a terrible 1-9 run in their last 10 games. Hi Bithorn, Dusak and Berger are among the players who dissapointed the cranks durin this last games.

Pitching is the team's main concern, the rotation of Bithorn, Sain, Cooper and Christopher isn't bad, but a 10th place overall in avoiding runs, isn't exactly good too. Manager Luke Sewell is said to have arranged a meeting with Christopher to discuss his future in the 4th spot in the rotation. Porter Vaughan and Red Munger are the front runners in a possible substitution.

The Browns are hitting fairly well, but a lack of walks and stolen bases make this team the 7th best in scoring runs instead of for example a 4th place. Ken Keltner, the team's biggest star, didn't help the team's cause when he suffered a sore back. He will be out for about a week. Phil Rizzuto, the other star, will need to take even more responsability on his shoulders to prevent a further downfall.

GM Versteeg's main task will be to improve his pitching staff, if he can't, don't expect the Browns near the top soon.