****LINEUP**** 1. Lofton CF .349 .412 .536 60 SB 2. O’Neill LF .359 .460 .603 3. Bagwell 1B .368 .451 .750 4. Vaughn DH .310 .408 .576 5. Buhner RF .279 .394 .542 6. Valentin SS .316 .400 .505 7. RAlomar 2B .306 .386 .452 8. Ventura 3B .282 .373 .459 9. Steinbach C +5 throwing
Granted this was only a 5-team league, but this offense was quite formidable. And the defense was quite good also, probably had at least a 42 plus the pitcher. They could steal some bases, and had great arms in the outfield, giving them a good balance offensively.
****ROTATION**** Clemens 15 McDowell 14 ZSmith 12 Appier 12 Gross 11
This was definitely the weak spot for this team, but wasn’t the worst in the league, as Jim didn’t take a starter until round 11.
****BULLPEN**** Jackson 22 XYZ Howe 20 Z Eichhorn 19 Y McElroy 17 XYZ J-0 Ayala 15 XY
This was the team’s strength, as I took the 4 best relievers in the league rounds 4-7, before anyone else took one.
****BENCH****
Offensively on the bench I had CDavis, who had eerily similar stats to MVaughn (.311 .410 .561), and EMartinez (.285 .387 .482) as my top pinch-hitters. Vince Coleman was a highly coveted pinch-run specialist, and Jeff "Fish" Frye could either pinch run or hit. Mondesi was a capable backup/fill-in outfielder, and Karkovice and Bordick were good defensive substitutes.
Looking back, this was a pretty good team, and though we didn’t play the full season, I am pretty confident that I would have at least won the regular season, as we all know that anything can happen in the playoffs. But I think I could have ridden pretty far on that bullpen. The one thing I remember most about that league is playing 40 games vs. Jim on one Sunday, to try and catch up to the rest of the league. That was fun (especially since I won about 30 of them). And while it is disappointing to have not been able to finish that league, I am more than happy to accept the asterisk. The guys who were in the league know my team was good enough to win.