Some Strat replay reflections

I'm playing the Yankees day-to-day in the 1964 season...using the "as played" option, so I use the lineup players and starting pitchers from each day. One thing I've done is rearrange the batting order...when Kubek was healthy (which isn't all-that-frequent as his neck/back problems were starting to become serious), he was the leadoff batter....with an OBP of .275. Usually, Bobby Richardson would follow in the 2 hole, with his .294 OBP.

Ugh.

What I normally do is bat Tom Tresh leadoff with his .342 OBP, and bat Phil Linz second against lefties and Richardson against righties. if a Hector Lopez or Pedro Gonzalez is in the lineup, I'll move them to second. Usually I'll bat Maris/Mantle/Howard/Pepitone 3 through 6, then put Boyer and Kubek 7th and 8th. Hard to believe, the Yanks won 99 games getting subpar offense from three-fourths of their infield...they could field though.

The starting pitching has been fine with Whitey Ford and Jim Bouton...Al Downing only has 2 wins thus far, and I'm at the point in the season where Rollie Sheldon has replaced Ralph Terry as the fourth starter (even though Terry is actually pitching well in the replay). The bullpen has been solid with Steve Hamilton as a swing man, and Hal Reniff and Pete Mikkelsen closing. Mel Stottlemyre is still about 6 weeks away and Pedro Ramos doesn't join the team until September.

I'll try to get some stats up tonight.