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Detroit has not made the playoffs in four years and has not won the President's Trophy in seven, but slugging 1B Fred McGriff is leading the Griffins back to the promised land. McGriff was Batter of the Month in August with a .337-11-26, 1.115 OPS performance, has moved to the head of the class in both home runs (41) and RBIs (112), and is poised to be the first HR and RBI champion since Bob Horner. The 27-year-old from Tampa, Flo. has been a top first sacker for a couple years, as attested by his back-to-back .300-30-100 seasons. But the Crime Dog's 1992 campaign is raising the bar to new levels. His .327 average is 38 points better than his career average and he is only pace for 49 HR and 133 RBI. Only Horner has hit more than 43 homers in a Detroit uniform, and only Horner and Dick Allen have achieved that many RBIs.

Detroit's 18-9 record in August was tied for best in the league, and they put more distance between them and the rest of the East Division. In terms of the pennant race, the only remaining question is whether Detroit can hold off St. Louis and secure their fourth President's Trophy for best overall record. The Flyin' Lions lead the Maroons by three games heading into the final month.

McGriff notwithstanding, Detroit's biggest strength this year has been its pitching staff. The Griffins rank third in runs allowed, which has happened only one other time in the last three decades. 24-year-old Andy Benes has been lights-out, going 18-3 with a 2.93 ERA, and closer Mark Wohlers is just three shy of the single-season save record (45 by Terry Forster in 1978) with a full month to play. At the tender age of 22, Wohlers, the 12th overall pick in 1991, is having one of the best seasons for a relief pitcher in UL history. In addition to his 42 saves, he owns a 1.56 ERA, 9.9. K/9, and 1.7 WAR.

Elsewhere in the East, the four-time defending division champs Toronto have fallen out of the playoff zone. With major injuries to multiple Cy Young winner Dwight Gooden, slugger Ellis Burks, and pitching workhorse Scott Sanderson, the Polar Bears have struggled to keep pace with Manhattan and Washington, who both posted 15-12 marks in August. With 25 games to play, the P-Bears are three back of Washington for the final playoff spot. However, Toronto's run at the all-time team home run record is on track. Through August, the Sailors of the Floe have clobbered 255 dingers—a 302-homer pace  that would shatter Manhattan's 1977 record of 288. Toronto has 10 players with double-digit homers and four on pace for 40+, which must be some kind of record, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The Monuments have the second-best pitching staff in the league, with the dual aces Bret Saberhagen and Teddy Higuera both with ERAs under 3.00. Catcher Rich Gedman (.286-18-97) is having an almost-career year. He is on pace for 115 RBIs, which would be a career best, and is on his way to his second highest WAR. Speaking of catchers and WAR, Gedman's 48.3 career WAR places him third among active players behind Darrell Porter and Gary Carter.

Los Angeles was 37-41 on June 23, tied for 6th in the West and five games off playoff pace. Since then, the defending champs have gone 37-20, won the resurrected Founder's Cup, and overtaken San Francisco, Denver, and Havana for the third and final playoff spot in the division. L.A. was 18-9 in August and trimmed Chicago's margin from nine to three games, making a second place finish a distinct possibility.

As always, the Outlaws lead with their arms. L.A.'s 3.7 runs allowed ranks first in the league and on pace for their ninth team pitching title in 11 years. Of all of L.A.'s great hurler, none has been more instrumental in their turnaround than righty ace Floyd Youmans. the 28-year-old struggled early, going just 6-7, 2.88 through June 23. But since then, Floyd is 8-3, 2.21, including 4-1, 1.06 in six starts in August, which won him Pitcher of the Month honors. Also of note, Todd Frohwirth—the 28-year-old righthander from Milwaukee who has a 3.69 career ERA and never had an ERA below 3.00 in five seasons with Detroit and Denver—is suddenly Terry Forster on steroids, posting a 2.02 ERA and 0.94 WHIP with 32 saves.

St. Louis and Chicago both stumbled a bit in August, going 12-15. The Maroons still hold a comfortable eight-game lead over the Colts, despite losing their last seven contests.. Closer Steve Howe, pitching his third full season in St. Louis, has clinched his 12th season with at least 20 saves, tying Joe Sambito and Terry Forster, the only names above Howe's on the all-time save list. In fact, as of Sept. 1, Howe is tied Lee Smith and Ray Narleski with 371 saves, tied for third all-time. Smith has 61 saves since joining Montreal last year, while Narleski is the only relief pitcher in the UL Hall of Fame.

All-Time Save Leaders
394 - Joe Sambito
374 - Terry Forster
371 - Steve Howe
371 - Ray Narleski
371 - Lee Smith

Chicago's rookie southpaw Steve Cooke, the 16th overall pick this spring, took August's POM award after a 5-1, 2.33 month. Cooke is 12-4, 3.25 with 143 Ks overall. He is tied with San Francisco's Frank Castillo first most rookie wins, with 12, and is second in ERA and WAR behind Pedro Martinez. Another Colt of note is 3B Gary Sheffield, who is 5th in the league with 6.5 WAR and also 5th in infield defense with with 8.7 ZR.

Come along now, GMs of cities from far and wide in this North American League!  Here’s the story of a GM out of Brooklyn who, while at UL HQ for winter meetings, was befuddled by noises wafting out of the room next to his (UL HQ, remember, not only has massive conference space, but also 300+ luxury hotel rooms – and that’s just Building One!).  Let us now have Turbo TimBRO regale us with his extremely interesting experience he had late one night (no, it’s not that – dirty mind) and empathize as to what thoughts run through a GM’s head as the trade deadline approaches.   

Widholm Hears a Woot

There was hustle and bustle and noises abound
as GMs of the League all came to D-town.
Some came for the deals; with steals their intent.
I arrived for some rest as I was well spent.

As I walked to my room
and passed Conference Room A,
I saw Grieve and his gang.
And he just had to say.

“TurboTim! We see you out there!
Don’t keep walking on by!
The party here is jumping!
With Destiny, Jade and my new best friend Sky!”

As much fun as that would have been,
my tiredness began to tell.
I’d been on the road for 14 hours.
The flight to Denver was hell!

After a relaxing dinner
and a shower because I was smelly,
I laid down on my bed
to watch some soccer on the telly.

I was awoken by a voice
that sounded alert and astute.
A deal had apparently been reached!
And then I heard “Woot! Woot!”.

I’m thinking I must be crazy.
Where have I heard that before?
Then I heard rumblings in the hall
and a knock on my door

“TurboTim, it’s Glen Reed!
You may have just overheard!
I have reached a deal with Peter Vays,
and it didn’t cost me a third!”

Reed said, “let’s go to the party to celebrate with Grieve!
There’ll be hookers and blow and GMs to boot.
With alcohol flowing copiously
there’s a great chance to hear me again say ‘Woot! Woot!’”.

“I’m sorry, I said.
I awoke with quite a fright,
and my plane ride was awful.
I’d prefer to sleep through this night.”

Reed said, “No worries, mate.
There’s still time for a quick deal.
I’ll just take a moment if you don’t mind
to describe my ideal players for real.

A shortstop with glove and high contact, too;
a masher or basher with awesome OBP;
a starter with great stuff;
or how about a high-movement RP?

I’m sorry to say.
I’m sad to report.
I really don’t have any guys I’d trade
of that type or that sort.

Not an SS with glove,
nor a basher with force.
I do have Ken Griffey,
but trading him I do not endorse!

“No problem!”  Glen said.
“Trading Griffey would take balls!
Hey, look!  Who’s that leaving his room?”
And he ran off after Charlie Qualls.

I closed my door quietly
and laid back down upon my bed
with visions of picks and players for Griffey
dancing around in my head

Oh, no! I began thinking.
With my initial rejection was all hope now lost?
Would he read my DMs?
Or were all future deals tossed?

But then I remembered with Glen
initial rejections are moot.
His deals are not consummated
until you hear the phrase “Woot! Woot!”. 

With that assurance I laid down my weary head.
In Griffey I had a player who was a beaut.
If Glen has enough to offer
Maybe I’ll still get the chance to hear him say “Woot! Woot!”. 

The 1981 Washington Monuments were the worst in franchise history and among the worst teams in UL history. In Mark Waller's second full year as GM, the teardown was in full effect. The Monuments went 47-105 that year, finishing not only 45 games out of first place, but 18 games behind any other team.

In his first two drafts, Waller had selected Harold Baines, Rich Gedman, Ken Phelps, Chili Davis, Jesse Barfield, Gary Gaetti, and Brad Havens—many of which would become keys to success as the league's first dynasty return to relevance with six playoff seasons in eight seasons from 1984-1991, including the 1987 UL title.

But in 1981, only Baines showed a glimpse of his future greatness. The rest of the roster was littered with untested and overmatched youngsters. A weak offense combined with a pitchers' park to produce the lowest run output in UL history, just 3.0 runs per game. Mike Hargrove's 44 RBI ranked second on the team.

All of which makes Washington's triumph in the 1981 Retry Replay tournament unlikely and impressive. For the uninitiated, the Retro Replay tournament is a second-level fake baseball universe using Payoff Pitch Baseball, in which UL rosters were recreated using player cards from the 1981 MLB season. Because the Retro Replay rosters were based on "real-world" MLB statistics, the quality of players could vary wildly from their UL counterparts who had gone throught the ringer of the OOTP development engine.

To take some of the most obvious examples:
• Craig Robinson (.339-44-117, 1.008) won his sixth and final UL MVP in 1981. The MLB Craig Robinson hit 0 career home runs and retired in 1977 with a .219 career batting average.
• The UL Larry Dierker () was named to his sixth all-UL team in 1981. The MLB Larry Dierker also pitched his last game in 1977 after breaking his leg in spring training.
• The 1981 AL MVP was Rollie Fingers, who would go on to notch 341 saves. The UL Rollie Fingers appeared in 50 games, had seven saves, and was done by 1975.
• The 1981 NL MVP was Mike Schmidt (.316, 1.080 OPS). The UL Mike Schmidt batted .239, .783 OPS for the Brooklyn Superbas.

Using the Payoff Pitch cards-and-dice game, the Retro Replay Washington Monuments rolled to a 7-0 record in the divisional round, including a three-game sweep of Detroit to advance to the World Series, where they faced the Chicago Colts. Now the 1981 UL Colts were a decent team. At 91-61, the Colts just missed the playoffs by a single game and are the last team to win at least 91 games and miss the playoffs. The Retro Replay Colts were a rare case of the UL roster and their MLB alternate-universe counterparts both having good years. Bob Knepper was the ace, and the lineup featured Tim Raines, Cecil Cooper, Andre Dawson, Rich Gedman, and Robin Yount—who all had good 1981 MLB seasons.

After splitting the first four games, the Retro Replay Monuments won the series with a Mike Norris one-hit shutout in Game 5 and a 6-5, 12-inning win in Game 6. The series-clinching hit was delivered by none other than Harold Baines, who was the leading hitter on sad-sack 1981 UL Monuments.

For more on the Retro Replay, visit the Circuit Clouts Ko-fi page.  I have no immient plans for another Retro Replay tournament, but the next one would likely be 1954 , 1964, or 1972.

My current Payoff Pitch projects include the 1933 MLB season, which is down to the final four teams, a replay of the 1994 strike-shortened season, which is in the early stages, and a 1964 "Regions" tournament of eight teams split into regional rosters.