Bill Melton 88, Luis Salazar 87

            Bill Melton built an early 23-8 lead on 1980s journeyman Luis Salazar based on a big advantage in power, and held on for a one-point victory over the Venezuelan in the first play-in game of the Brooks Robinson Invitational Tournament.   Melton enters the tournament as the 16 seed in the St. Louis Regional, where he will play Gary Gaetti on September 21.

            Salazar was small and fast, quite strong, and an impressive athlete.   He played all over the field, including 121 games at shortstop, 114 in center field, and 2 as a pitcher.   Stealing 32 bases in 1982, he was really too fast to be a classic Brooks Robinson-style third baseman, although he matches most of the criteria of the group pretty well.  He was, however, a wild swinger who could pretty much be counted on to get himself out at least once a game, and because of that he never came close to driving in 100 runs in a season, with a career high of 62.    

            Melton had 23-8 and 23-2 advantages over Salazar in power and plate discipline, but Salazar hit for a better average (.261-.253), played better defense, and played for more teams that had more success, pulling him within one point of the slugging Melton:

            Salazar joined the Padres as a rookie in mid-August, 1980, and played at a tremendous level the rest of that season, getting 57 hits in 44 games good for a .337 average.   He had 7 triples and 11 stolen bases in his first six weeks in the majors, drawing comparisons to Roberto Clemente.   He hit .300 again in 1981, but hit around .250 the rest of his career.   His best seasons were 1981 and 1983 with San Diego, and 1988 with Detroit, where he played mostly in left field.   An estimated 69% of Salazar’s value was as a hitter, with 31% of his value coming in the field. 

Tom Brookens 86, Ed Sprague 82

            Tom Brookens, trailing badly through the considerations of Power, Plate Discipline and Career Length, beat Ed Sprague 30-4 in the “Defense” scoring, and pulled out a hard-won victory over the bigger and stronger player.    Brookens enters the Los Angeles regional as the #16 seed, and will be matched against his contemporary and division rival Buddy Bell, the #1 seed in the Los Angeles region.   Those two will meet on September 20.

            Sprague, the son of a relief pitcher of the same name, came to the majors with the Blue Jays in 1991, and inherited the regular third base job in 1993 when Kelly Gruber—also a Brooks Robinson-type third baseman, although he didn’t make the tournament—was traded to the Angels.   Sprague hit 36 homers in 1996, driving in 101 runs, but was never able to repeat those power numbers, and faded from regular status during the 2000 campaign.   Sprague was painfully slow—at one point the Blue Jays tried to convert him to catcher—and had a career batting average of just .247, although that was enough to give him a one-point edge over Brookens.

            Even when he hit 36 homers in 1996, Sprague was really only a .500 player, with an individual won-lost contribution of 16-16.  That was his best season.  Sprague’s supporters vigorously protested the 30-4 scoring of the defense, pointing out that Sprague’s career fielding percentage at third was only one point lower than Sprague’s (.943 to .942).   “The refs just gave him the game,” said Sprague supporter Homer Sprocket.    Brookens, however, had 220 more assists at third base than Sprague, while playing 800 fewer innings.    Per 1400 innings at third base (1400 innings being one season), Sprague averaged 259 assists; Brookens averaged 324.   The 30-4 edge in defense gave Brookens a one-point lead with one category, Team Success, yet to be scored.   Sprague’s Team Success Percentage was a respectable .547, but Brookens, at .583, grabbed an 8-5 advantage in that category, and sealed the victory.

            With a career on-base percentage of .318, Sprague had a career won-lost record, as a hitter, of 75-106 (.413)—actually almost the same offensive won-lost record as Luis Salazar.   He was just one game below .500 as a fielder, but that’s very low by the standards of this group of players, who are almost all in positive territory as fielders.   An estimated 74% of Sprague’s career value was in his bat, with 26% in his fielding.  Sprague played for four teams that had highly successful seasons—the 1992, 1993 and 1998 Blue Jays and the 2001 Seattle Mariners, but played very minor roles on two of those teams.

            In tomorrows’ matchups, Brooks Robinson is expected to destroy 16^th-seeded Steve Buechele in the Baltimore region, while #2 seed Ron Santo faces #15 seed Jim Davenport, a contemporary from the same league, in Cleveland.   Number 3 seed Todd Zeile faced #14 seed Ken Reitz in St. Louis, and #4 seed Carney Lansford battles #13 seed Ray Boone—the grandfather of Aaron and Bret Boone—in Los Angeles.

            On Thursday, #2 seed Jimmy Dykes will face hometown favorite Tony Batista in Baltimore, three seed Sal Bando will face fourteenth-seeded Brook Jacoby in Cleveland, #4 Ken Boyer will face 13^th-seeded David Bell in St. Louis, while #12 seed Ken McMullen will tackle #5 seed Vinny Castilla in Los Angeles.     Your thoughts on who should win these contests are most welcome.