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3x All Star, 6x Silver Slugger
During his prime, Espinosa spent the majority of his 13 season career playing SS. Toward the end of his career he was moved to 3B and to CF. When he was making his living at SS though (Seasons 2-8), he was the best hitting shortstop in the SPL. He had seven full time seasons at SS. Six of those seasons he won Silver Slugger Awards. He was also named to the SPL News All Decade I: First Team. Espinosa had 10 excellent seasons. In 9 of those first 10 seasons he hit 25+ home runs and 35+ doubles and at least 30 steals. He also had 9 20/20 seasons. He might be the best mix of speed and power that the league has seen, with over 300 career steal and over 300 career home runs. He is one of only two players to ever eclipse both 300 career steals and 300 career home runs. He had 5 consecutive seasons of 100+ RBI. Jorge Espinosa was the very definition of a five-tool player... hit for average, hit for power, speed, fielding, and a good arm.
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6x All Star, 2x World Series Champion
Desi Gongora had a very good 12 season SPL career. He only played for three teams, all in the AL: the St. Louis Redbirds, the Baltimore Revolution and the Scottsdale Camels. He won two World Series rings. One was with the Redbirds in Season 4 and the other was with the Revolution in Season 10. Gongora was named to 6 All Star games and was also named to the Satchel Paige News All Decade I: Second Team. He was never the best pitcher on his team, but was always the perfect #2. He was very consistent and highly durable. In every one of his first nine big league seasons, he made at least 30 starts and hurled 188 innings. He never won 20 games during a season, but he did win at least 14 games in 8 of his first 9 seasons. He also had back-to-back 19 win seasons for the Redbirds in Seasons 5 and 6. For his career, he racked up nearly 2,000 strikeouts (1,957), 176 wins (against only 102 losses) and an ERA of 4.10.
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5x All Star, 3x Silver Slugger
Billy Ray Magee was one of the best offensive catchers in the early years of the SPL. He was named to 5 All Star teams in his 10 full time seasons and won 3 Silver Slugger Awards as well. He was also named to the Satchel Paige League News All Decade I: Second Team. In the first 8 seasons of his career, he hit less than 30 home runs only once, and drove in less than 100 runs only once. He was a very disciplined hitter as well, drawing 639 walks in his career. He had a career batting average of .298, a career OBP of .382 with 419 career home runs. His best year (and, arguably the best single season in league history) was in Season 1. He scored 154 runs, hit 26 doubles, 78 home runs, drove in 226 runs, drew 87 walks and only struck out 66 times… while playing in Petco Park! The 226 RBI he had that season is still an all time, single season record.
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5x All Star, 2x MVP, 2x Gold Glove, 2x Silver Slugger
Roger 'Mighty Mouse' Malone was an incredible player. In addition to his closet-load of hardware, Malone's career is the answer to many trivia questions. Who is one of only two players to have 300+ career steals and 300+ career home runs? Malone. Who is the only player to win an MVP award who didn't play 1B/LF/RF/DH? Malone. Who is the only player ever to have won multiple All Stars, MVPs, Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers? Malone. He was the complete package, capable of doing it all. He played a premier defensive position, and was one of the best at it. When he was on the base paths, he was a nightmare for the opposition. Not only was he fast, but he was very smart. When he was at the plate, he was disciplined and could draw walks while hitting for power and average. His numbers at the plate speak for themselves. He had 2056 hits, 1222 RBI, 715 walks, 412 doubles, 328 home runs, 398 steals and career marks of .316 AVG, .396 OBP, .548 SLG and a .944 OBP.... while at a defensive position. And as good as he was during the regular season, he was even better in the playoffs. He played in 64 playoff games, and hit 14 home runs with a .358 AVG and an OPS of 1.019! At the time of his retirement, he ranked 4th all time in runs scored at 1402. He was named to the SPL All Decade I Team: First Team and named the #7 on the SPL New's Top Ten All Time Position Players list in Season 12.
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4x All Star, 1x Gold Glove, 1x Cy Young
Mateo Manzanillo proved during the course of his career, he was one of the most versatile pitchers in baseball. He appeared in 383 games… starting 192 of them and coming out of the pen for the other 191. He won a Cy Young Award in Season 2, won a Gold Glove Award in Season 4 and was named to 4 All Star teams. He was also named to the Satchel Paige League News All Decade I: Second Team. He has a career record of 104-55, with 16 saves, 1140 strikeouts and a career ERA of 3.59. His best season (and his Cy Young season) was Season 2. He went 25-6 with a 2.13 ERA and 233 strikeouts. He was on his way to another great year in Season 3, before he needed major elbow surgery, ending his season. He recovered though, and was named to 2 of his 4 All Star games after his surgery. He earned a reputation as a great big game pitcher as well. In 37 postseason games (12 starts, 25 relief appearances) he pitched 124 innings. His record was 10-2 with 3 saves and an ERA of 2.82.
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7x All Star, 3x Silver Slugger
Newman was a professional, line drive hitter, who is capable of driving the ball to all fields. He has a well deserved reputation for being especially tough on left handed pitching. He was named to 7 All Star games, more than any other 2B, and won 3 Silver Slugger Awards. He was also named #8 on the Satchel Paige League News Top Ten Position Players list. At the time of his retirement, his 426 doubles ranks 5th all time. He has very similar offensive numbers to his positional counter part Chin-Hui Martin, although he wasn't quite as fast and was a weaker defensive player. Still, his offensive numbers are pretty impressive. He had 7 seasons with 190+ hits, 7 seasons with 30+ home runs, 8 seasons with 100+ RBI and 9 seasons with 30+ doubles. His Season 1 total of 65 doubles is still tied for the 3rd highest single season mark in SPL history. During his career, Newman totalled a batting average of .324, with an OBP .395, 340 home runs, 1292 RBI, 2036 hits and the aforementioned 426 doubles. Newman has been one of the best 2B in the early history of the SPL.
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5x All Star, 2x Silver Slugger, 1x MVP
Takada's career was 13 seasons long. Eleven of those season were spent with Monterrey, before spending one season with Boston and one with Chicago as a part time player. Kazuhiro Takada has built a well deserved reputation as having the best batter’s eye in the league. He has been named to 5 All Star games, won 2 Silver Slugger Awards and an MVP Award. He was also ranked #5 on the Satchel Paige League News Top Ten Position Players list. That great batter’s eye has made him very difficult to strike out; he has never struck out more than 87 times in a season and only whiffed more than 70 times in four seasons. He has drawn more walks (1174) than any other player in SPL history. His 1373 runs ranks 5th all time. His career OBP of .435 and OPS of 1.037 both rank 4th all time. He has had 7 seasons with 30+ home runs; and in 6 of those seasons he had at least 40 round trippers. He also has 7 seasons with at least 100 RBI. Takada's career numbers are certainly HOF worthy. His career batting average of .325, OBP of .435 and SLG of .599 are amongst the highest in league history. He has 2045 hits, 450 home runs and 1397 RBI.
