The Second 25 - A Roster

A brief look back in team form at the first 25 player cards in the 1980 set as if constructing a fantasy league team:

Manager – Pat Corrales

1B – Jeff Newman
2B – Frank White
SS – Kiko Garcia
3B – Bill Madlock
OF – Ben Oglivie
OF – Tony Scott
OF – Rick Miller
C – Carlton Fisk
DH – Rico Carty

Bench:
Rowland Office, Julio Cruz, Bobby Valentine, Bill Fahey, Joe Ferguson, Rusty Torres, Bombo Rivera, Mario Guerrero

This is a loaded lineup, including a Hall of Famer behind the plate (Fisk), a batting champion (Madlock), an All-Star slugger (Oglivie), and a Gold Glove infielder (White). This group can hit and they can field, as attested to by a cumulative 24 All Star appearances and 10 Gold Gloves. The bench is similarly loaded with air-tight defenders and guys with some pop in their bat.

Starting Rotation:
J.R. Richard
Dan Spillner
Bill Bonham
Luis Tiant

Bullpen:
Dennis Lamp, Warren Brusstar, David Palmer

Here is the Achilles heel as there is only seven pitchers overall and two (Richard & Bonham) didn’t even finish 1980. Brusstar had arm trouble most of the year and Tiant is near the end of the line. No matter how well you can hit, you still need someone to get the outs, and it isn’t here, simply because of numbers.

OVERALL: Not as even a distribution as in the first collection of 25 player cards as the pitching staff is left short. However, this team does have a manager unlike the previous team and an awesome lineup from top to bottom. Again, the lack of pitching makes this team’s long-term chances tenuous.

Grade: C