Murray/Schmidt OR Gehrig/Riggs?

[Moodymets]

A wierd question... here's my current lineup VS. RIGHTIES (vs. lefties I'm happy either way) in Yankee 27 (80 mil):

LINEUP A

1. Gehringer, Charlie (L) 2B
2. Valentine, Ellis (R) RF
3. Gehrig, Lou (L) 1B
4. McCovey, Willie (L) LF
5. Mays, Willie (R) CF
6. Riggs, Lew (L) 3B
7. Sawatski, Carl (L) C
8. Crosetti, Frankie (R) SS
9. Pitcher P

So, do I want an imposing top half or consistency throughout, and is Schmidt really worth the $? In this park he may actually come close to justifying his price tag, but it's a risk. This would otherwise be the lineup:

LINEUP B

1. Gehringer, Charlie (L) 2B
2. Schmidt, Mike (R) 3B
3. McCovey, Willie (L) LF
4. Mays, Willie (R) CF
5. Murray, Eddie (S) 1B
6. Valentine, Ellis (R) RF
7. Sawatski, Carl (L) C
8. Crosetti, Frankie (R) SS
9. Pitcher P

Lineup B has a notably better defense at the corners to boot.

Any quick thoughts? (Please ignore my black hole at SS - there are no better options :? )

[MATTSCHMIDT]

Even though I've used Gehrig/Riggs many times with great results, in this case I'm going to say Schmidt/Murray. The improved corner defense combined with low singles at Yankee will really give your pitchers a boost. Plus I only like using Gehrig when I've got only 1 or 2 other lefty bats in the lineup. I don't think you get full value for Gehrig if he has to face a lot of lefties.

PS - Don't worry about Crosetti. Take his .207 BA and run with it.

[Hack Wilson]

McCovey ahead of Mays? Willie should bat third or fourth, McCovey fourth or fifth, AFTER your best hitter -- Valentine is a more balanced hitter for clean-up, too. I like severely unbalanced lefties like McCovey in the fifth hole.

[Hack Wilson]

Assuming the Murray/Schmidt scenario, here's my suggestion:

against rhp:

1. Gehringer, Charlie (L) 2B
2. Valentine, Ellis (R) RF....(high OBP vs. rhp)
3. Mays, Willie (R) CF
4. McCovey, Willie (L) LF
5. Murray, Eddie (S) 1B
6. Schmidt, Mike (R) 3B
7. Sawatski, Carl (L) C (is this guy really worth a few HRs? A +2 arm, low BA)
8. Crosetti, Frankie (R) SS

[The Last Druid]

Avoid Schmidt like the plague.

[Moodymets]

I'm surprised to hear both of you for Schmidt/Murray, but that's why I asked! :lol: Thanks!

Hack, good feedback on the lineup... my normal position for Valentine is the two hole vs. righties, but my suspicion is he'll be better at driving in the runs than Schmidt while Schmidt's OBP should be roughly similar... my hope would be that his walks will do me more good in front of the bashers while Valentine can fend for himself on either end. Somewhat the same logic for McCovey, but to a lesser degree - Mays IS a monster in cleanup.

Interesting thing about Sawatski... I tried him on a lark a few leagues ago and he was great for me. I've used him with success since - very similar numbers to May, just without the same defense of course. What I didn't mention is that I also have Del Rice on this team vs. lefties. They both get injured a LOT, but going on the premise I won't lose both at the same time, they both can bash from either side while the other one's down. I'm wondering if for 4+ mil I can get some impressive numbers from the C position. This is a combination I've been dying to try for a while and this park is a good one to try it with... just looking to have some fun :D

Thanks for the great feedback guys - I appreciate it!

[Moodymets]

OOOooo... Petrosian, I didn't get your advice til after I posted... have you had/seen [b:3eb92f8102]any[/b:3eb92f8102] success with Schmidt at all in a homer friendly park? I went back to threads on the old boards and saw nothing but slams of him with a few positives sprinkled in.

[MATTSCHMIDT]

This is the last time I used Schmidt in Huntington. Team won 101 games:

Schmidt, M. R 3B 1e21 601 137 16 56 123 94 1 25 .260 .586 .375

[joeoc]

Schmidt is very good against left handed pitching, if there is a balance of lefty/righty in the league you'll be satisfied, if it's a right handed slanted league Schmidt will more than likely under perform. Using him against lefties only is the ideal situation but for that salary you have to have more.

[Moodymets]

My division is VERY righty heavy... I think I'll stick with Gehrig. Was just looking at perhaps Brett and a lesser 1b, but Gehrig should put up great numbers and Riggs is always solid in a platoon. Thanks!