Washington Grays
 Gaelan Murphy   3 years   275-211, 1 Division, 1 World Series

  Manager Record Post-Season G O+S HR RBI IP Wins Saves ERA (min 81 IP)
1994 Springfield Homers John Hong 84-78, 1st lost CC Fryman  162 Justice .931 Justice 27 Fryman  75 Drabek  236 Drabek  17 L.Andersen  27 Drabek 2.28
1995 Springfield Homers John Hong 77-85, 3rd   Lankford 162 Lankford .801 K.Abbott  31 K.Abbott  91 Pavlik  211 Pavlik  15 Brantley  39 Br.Williams 3.14
1996 Springfield Homers John Hong 73-89, 2nd   Lankford  155 M.Ramirez .982 M.Ramirez  31 M.Ramirez  112 Reynolds  226 Gooden/ Cormier  12 Brantley  24 Hutton  3.59
1997 Springfield Homers John Hong 73-89, 3rd   McGriff  161 Lankford  1.013 Lankford  34 Lankford  109 Watson  185 Mlicki  12 Benitez  25 Je. Gonzalez 4.40
1998 Springfield Homers John Hong 89-73, 3rd lost DC Offerman  162 M.Ramirez .993 M.Ramirez  49 M.Ramirez  134 Rogers  246 Rogers  19 Simas  22 Rogers  2.34
1999 Springfield Homers John Hong 81-81, 3rd   Surhoff 162 M.Ramirez  1.016 M.Ramirez 43 Surhoff 133 Hermanson 220 Hermanson 16 Mathews,TJ 20 Hermanson 4.14
2000 Springfield Homers John Hong 57-105, 6th   P.Wilson  162 P.Wilson  .925 P.Wilson  40 P.Wilson  113 Wolf  150 Wolf/Blair  8 Kim  16 Reichart  4.26
2001 Springfield Homers John Hong 60-102, 7th   Rollins 162 I.Rodriguez .919 I.Rodriguez 36 I.Rodriguez 104 Wolf  172 Oswalt  14 Kim/Santiago/ Christianson  5 Oswalt 3.45
2002 Springfield Homers John Hong 79-83, t 3rd   Castillo/ Rollins 156 I.Rodriguez .852 Wilson, P. 29 Wilson, P. 86 Wolf 214 Wolf 15 Kim  24 Politte 2.38
2003 Springfield Homers John Hong 79-83, 5th   Rollins  159 Sanders  .860 P.Wilson  35 P.Wilson  104 Lawrence  219 Kim  12 Timlin  29 Oswalt  3.28
2004 Washington Grays Gaelan Murphy 82-80, 5th   Berkman  162 Berkman  .989 Berkman  39 Berkman  117 J.Johnson  223 J.Johnson  12 Tucker  25 Halladay  3.88
2005 Washington Grays Gaelan Murphy 86-76, 3rd   Rollins  162 Berkman  .862 Jenkins  22 Jenkins  84 Towers  213 Towers  14 Hancock/ Hasegawa 10 Halladay  2.68
2006 Washington Grays Gaelan Murphy 107-55, 1st Won World Series Bay/Hill 162 McCann 1.002 Beltran 49 Beltran 127 Beckett 228 Beckett/Lackey 19 Shields 25 Carrasco 3.10

  2005 Signings 2006 Signings 2007 Signings
1b Morneau Morneau Berkman
2b Hudson Hill, A. Hill, A.
3b Branyan, Cuddyer   Ensberg
ss Rollins Rollins Reyes
lf Berkman Berkman Bay
cf Kearns Kearns Beltran
rf Swisher Jenkins Kearns
c Schneider McCann McCann
ut      
sp Halladay, Wolf, Bush Halladay, Hensley, Jo.Johnson, Bush Halladay, Bush, Beckett, Lackey
cl      
rp   Wainwright  

Personnel History

The Homers under John Hong through their last 10 years were a competitive bunch, but only one division title in 1995 and one wild card appearance in 1998 is all they've had to show for their efforts. The Homers were strong in locating young talent, but they also spent too many picks and protection spaces on late-drafted  projects like Brandon Larson and J.R.House.  

The mainstays of the team have been Manny Ramirez and Pudge Rodriguez, and Manny was traded in a 2000 trade that brought in 4 solid players (Roy Halladay, Randy Wolf, Jarrod Washburn, and Jimmy Rollins). Alas, Halladay wasn't retained, and the rest of the bunch became good enough to be competitive rather than really really good.

Under new management in 2004, Gaelan Murphy drafted for youth in Morneau and Swisher, and added Lance Berkman, Orlando Hudson, and  Brian Schneider in trades. Halladay came back rather cheaply. More importantly, the drafting has been excellent. 2005 brought Brian McCann, Josh Johnson, and Aaron Hill; 2006 brought Fausto Carmona, Troy Tulowitzki, and Chris Sampson. The Grays have been able to leverage these talents well to win the series in 2006 and be a strong contender for a repeat in 2007.

2006

Easy when you read the manual. Assemble and sign 12 solid players, fill a bullpen, and get a couple of high ceiling rookies to trade for whatever you might be lacking. Of course it helps to be lucky. Josh Johnson and turned out good enough to reel in Jason Bay, and Clay Hensley and Adam Wainwright brought in one of Beckett and Lackey (assuming Morneau was good enough to get the other). The #1 pick and 2nd round pick was enough to get Carlos Beltran. Then, midseason, draftees Tulowitzki and Montero were good enough to upgrade Rollins to Reyes. The results weren't really in doubt. The Grays won 107 games in the regular season and ran off 10 straight playoff wins, largely on the back of superb starting pitching, before running into a few speedbumps in the World Series. Up 2-0, Seoul won 2 one run games to even the series, and the Grays were being no-hit in game six when Beltran hit a 2RHR in the 9th to win game 5 2-0. Game 6 was a one run affair that the Grays won, earning them the first lag in the team's history.

2005

The 2005 version of the Grays got hot at the end of the season and finished a few gaimes over .500, gaining the #1 pick in the following year's draft. The offense was middle of the pack despite an off year from Lance Berkman. Guys like Austin Kearns, Mike Cuddyer, and Olmedo Saenz all added their modest contributions. The pitching was on the better side of average, with a team ERA of 3.75 and only 11 blown saves, again without a 15 game winner or a 12 save reliever. Playoffs were never an issue here. 

2004

The team was hanging around the .500 mark in mid-May when they ran into a soft patch in the schedule and ran off 13 straight wins. Three losses later they won another 8 of 9 and stood at 39-25 at the middle of June. Management wasn't really fooled, even though they were only a couple games out of a playoff spot. The team hung gamely through July, but a bad August and September took them back to 82-80. Beyond Lance Berkman (.300/39/117) and rookie Justin Morneau (when available) there wasn't too much offense. The pitching staff was unremarkable as well. Jason Johnson turned in a sub-4 ERA performance with 12 wins. T.J. Tucker surprised everyone with 25 saves, but he slumped late in the season to balloon his ERA to 4.78. In short, a team with some strengths and weaknesses. A .500 team, just like the two previous years.

2003

The team failed to reach the .500 mark for the fourth year running, though a 79-83 record in the league's toughest division spoke to the Homers' strengths. A 19-7 run in late July allowed the Homers to poke over the .500 mark, and they steadily improved to a high water mark of 72-66 at Labor Day. Alas, September was a disaster. By and large, it was a balanced offense, with all the starters sporting an O+S of .700 or higher, while the pitching was spotty. Damian Moss was forced into too much action, and he duly lost 20 games.

2002

The offense was about the same as in 2001, with some better performances by Luis Castillo (.334/11/45) and Bobby Kielty (.343/17/56). Pudge was only able to catch 116 games, and his HR production tailed from 36 to 24.  The pitching staff was relatively durable, and 6 starters combined on 159 of the 162 starts. Only Randy Wolf, though, had a winning record. The bullpen was fairly solid, although closer Byung-Hyun Kim lost 9 games. LaTroy Hawkins, Brandon Villafuerte, and Cliff Politte were solid in middle relief.