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.

 

Bob Wiesler Walked Back to the Yankees

Bob Wiesler was a pitcher in the fifties for the Yankees and Senators, best known for being a roommate of Mickey Mantle and for his ability to walk opposing batters.

For his 6-season major league career and over 241 innings, the lefty walked 218 batters while striking out just 113. In 1956 alone his stats would make any SABRmetrician cry: over 123 innings, he walked 112, striking out 49, and giving up 141 hits for a shocking 2.057 WHIP, a 3-12 record and an ERA of  6.44. Even for a bad, bad Senator team, that was bad.

Wiesler's Baseball-Reference page lists a single multi-player trade for his transactions after his initial signing by the Yankees, which sent him from the Yanks to Washington.

However, Wiesler's career continued until the 1961 season, and saw him go from the Senators to the Yankees system again, followed by the Twins and Angels in 1961.

He goes from the Senators to Richmond (Yankees system) in both 1957 and 1958, and I cannot find these deals anywhere. But he is certainly Yankees property again by 1959, as he is in spring training with the big club, sent to Richmond in an article from the News-Herald from Franklin, PA of April 2, 1959:

 “The New York Yankees today returned first - baseman Frank Leja, shortstop Rod Kanehl and pitcher Bob Wiesler to their Richmond farm club in the International League.”

Wiesler stayed with Richmond until just before the 1961 season, when he headed back to the former original Senators, now the Twins, and their Syracuse AAA club. From the Progress-Index from Petersburg, Va of April 11, 1961:

“The Vees did some cutting yesterday, and among those sent away was veteran lefthander Bob Wiesler, who was sold to Syracuse. He has been with the Vees since 1957.”

"Vees" was short for Virginians, the Richmond team nickname.

Wiesler's return to the Senators/Twins system was short-lived, one two-inning, 3-walk, 5-hit, 4-earned-run performance. From the Syracuse Post-Standard of April 25, 1961:

 “The Syracuse Chiefs began "Operation Shakeup'' yesterday by releasing Pitcher Bob Wiesler.”

Weisler finished the season at Dallas-Fort Worth, an Angels minor league team, but I could not find the signing date.

If anyone can fill in the blanks for Wiesler's moves between Richmond and Washington, let me know!

Wiesler photo stolen from http://www.tradingcarddb.com

Tony Roig, an Unknown Draftee?

Tony Roig had an extremely long career as a professional baseball player. Starting with Troy and Lafayette at age 20 in 1948, he played until 1968, his last year of six in Japan.

His major league career consisted of just three partial seasons with the Washington Senators. After the 1957 season at Chattanooga, the Senators' AA team, he was drafted by the Dodgers and stashed at Spokane for three years.

His Baseball Reference entry ends his transaction history there, but he went to the White Sox organization for a couple years before heading to Japan. We were able to track that transaction down, in two parts...

From the Spokane Daily Chronicle of Nov. 29, 1960..

“Yesterday, at the major league draft meeting in Louisville, Spokane lost five players, two of them 1960 regulars, to major league clubs. Infielder Tony Roig was drafted by the White Sox and pitcher Ray Semproch to the new Washington club in the American League.”

 

Okay. Both Baseball Reference and Retrosheet have the Semproch drafting, but not the Roig one. How did he get to San Diego?

The Spokane Daily Chronicle of April 6, 1961:

“...the Chicago White Sox, who drafted Roig from Spokane last winter, announced Wednesday he has been sold to the San Diego Padres, White Sox farm club in that loop.”

Roig transferred to the Indianapolis ChiSox farm team in 1962, then to Japan the next season.

I wonder why his being drafted by Chicago wasn't listed?

Tony Roig 1967 Japanese baseball card picture lifted from Bob Lemke's blog at boblemke.blogspot.com .

You should go there and read it all.

Jerry Snyder Goes South

Jerry Snyder was an infielder for the Washington Senators in the fifties, until 1958. He'd hit below .200 in 1957, and started just 1-for-10 in 1958.

His Baseball Reference major league page ends things there, though his minor league page has his career continuing in Miami for a couple of years before going to the Dodgers system. How he got to Miami is covered with a short line in an article in the May 15, 1958 Gazette and Daily from York, PA:

"Senators Sold infielder Jerry Snyder to Miami"

Right to the point! This was part of a larger group of cutdowns mentioned in the article. Miami was a Phillies affiliate at that point, and transferred to Baltimore in 1959.

Snyder goes to the Dodgers chain in 1960, but I have not been able to find how that occured.