Howie Koplitz? Fine, Thank You!

Howie Koplitz not only had a great name, but had a great AA season for himself in 1961, going 23-3 for Birmingham in Detroit's system, He continued winning pitching in a late season callup with the Tigers, going 2-0 with a complete game. That made him 25-3 on the season!

He didn't stick around in the bigs, though, a 3-0 record in 1962 was accompanied by an-over-5 ERA. So he was available for a Rule 5 pickup by the Senators in 1963 as noted on his Baseball-Reference page.

He finished his career with the Senators and their minors, but I always wondered about a small detour he took in 1964, where he was bounced to the minors and to Tacoma in the Giants' system. No mention about the transaction on his B-R page, so I went on the search. I found this from the Kane (PA) Republican of May 14, 1964:

“WASHINGTON Sold pitcher Howie Koplitz to Toronto of the International League and optioned catcher Ken Retzer to the same club on 24 - hour recall.”

Toronto had shared affiliation between the Senators and Braves...but this was a straight out sell to the team, not an option.

This was re-affirmed by the deal that sent Koplitz way out west.  From the Post-Crescent of Appleton WI of Aug. 12,1964:

"The Leafs also sold pitcher Howie Koplitz to Tacoma of the PCL, and placed pitcher Marshall Bridges on the 30-day disabled list."

So Toronto, who held the rights to Koplitz, sold him to the Giants' minors. Koplitz was back in the Senators system the next season, belonging to Hawaii. I cannot find the deal that sent him there, but I did find the deal that brought Koplitz back to the majors. From the Corpus Christi Caller Times of May 23, 1965:

 "The Senators purchased right hander Howie Koplitz from Hawaii of the Pacific Coast League and lefthander Barry Moore from York of the Eastern League They also optioned catcher Joe McCabe to Hawaii.."

Not a recall on option, a sale. So Koplitz was; sold to Toronto outright by Washington; sold to Tacoma by Toronto; went from Tacoma to Hawaii in an UNKNOWN TRANSACTION; and then sold to Washington from Hawaii.

If someone can fill in that Tacoma-Hawaii gap, let me know!

Koplitz lifted from comc.com.

 

Gene Leek for Bob Roselli

The last several posts we've been heading back to the twenties to forties to add a few transactions to the historical record...this time we run back forward to the sixties.

Bob Roselli was a third-string catcher for the Braves and White Sox in the fifties and early sixties. He came up behind Del Crandall with Milwaukee, and behind Sherm Lollar with the White Sox, so despite being an o.k. hitter and decent fielder, there was no playing time to be had there.

Gene Leek was an infielder, mostly at third base, with Cleveland in the fifties and the original Angels in the early 1960's. Never much of a hitter, his bat kept him from a lot of major league action.

Roselli was on the White Sox in 1962, and Leek on the Angels the same year. The NEXT season, Leek shows up at Indianapolis, a White Sox affiliate, and Roselli finishes his career in Hawaii, the Angels' PCL club. No explanation for the moves is given on either player's Baseball-Reference page.

Well, Roselli had been outrighted to Indianapolis, according to the Oct. 16, 1962 Cuero (TX) Record:

“The Chicago White Sox today announced the outright sale of three players to Indianapolis of the American Association to cut the roster to 38 and make room for minor league players to protect them from the draft.

Sold to Indianapolis were catcher Bob Roselli, infielder Bob Sadowski and pitcher Verle Tiefenthaler.”

Roselli didn't ever play for Indy, and was traded even-up for Leek. From the Indianapolis Star of March 30, 1963:

"Gene Leek, 25-year-old infielder who received a $100,000 bonus in 1959 to join the Cleveland baseball organization, will report tomorrow to the Indianapolis Indians' training camp here. Leek was acquired yesterday from the Los Angeles Angels of the American League in a deal that sent Tribe catcher Bob Roselli to Hawaii, the Angels' Pacific Coast League farm outlet."

That explains that!

Roselli didn't hit well in Hawaii and his career ended in 1963. Leek continued to not hit well and  went down to AA during the season. He would pop around on and off in the minors until 1969, never quite getting his bat to come around.

 

 Roselle form Amazon and Leek from Pinterest.

Roy Foster and Marcelino Lopez Cruise to Hawaii and Mexico; Plus, Mike Jackson!

Sometimes jut randomly looking up a player can come up with a blog topic.

I was looking into the stats of former Indians outfielder Roy Foster, who had just a couple big league seasons, but they were productive ones. I had noticed on his Baseball Reference page that he had an unexplained trip to Hawaii in 1973.

I found this from the Eugene Register-Guard for June 11, 1973...in an article describing Hawaii's player shortage in the midst of a roster upheaval:

"....the Islanders are low in personnel. Two more players, pitcher Marcelino Lopez and outfielder Roy Foster, will soon arrive from Oklahoma City, however."

Both Lopez and Foster were in AAA Oklahoma City as Indians property. Apparently this was a loan rather than a trade, because this shows up in the Panama City News-Herald of Dec. 6, 1973:

"Cleveland Indians Wednesday sent lefthander Mike Jackson to the Milwaukee Brewers for righthander Lloyd Gladden in a trade of minor league players. Jackson, 27. was 4-5 at Oklahoma City last year and was sent to Evansville of the American Association. Gladden, 27. was 7-7 at Evansville last season and was assigned to San Antonio of the Texas League. The Indians also sold the contracts of two Oklahoma City players, lefthander Marcelino Lopez and outfielder Roy Foster, to Vera Cruz in the Mexican League. Lopez, 30, was 0-4 and Foster, 28, hit .266 last year."

Foster and Lopez were still Indians property after the 1973 season, obviously, and they were both sold to and played for Veracruz in 1974. Lopez came back to the Pirates organization in 1974, and I will try to look that up.

BTW, the Jackson-Gladden trade isn't mentioned on Jackson's Baseball Reference page, and Gladden never made the majors.

S

Foster and Lopez pics from

www.tradingcarddb.com

Jackson taken from www.kcroyalshistory.com