I am waiting on one more pick - not sure if it goes through.
But on the whole I am very happy with the selections and very nearly have exactly the team I would have wanted.
My first two players were meant to stabilize things up the middle, Yount and Sandberg, to be able to field, though neither was Ozzie Smith, they are both good, to hit with power and average and have at least good OBP and little speed. I got the 3B I wanted, Nettles, whom I like for his fielding and left-handed power. And EXACTLY the three starting OFs I asked for first: Buford (OBP), Bobby Bonds (more than a little of everything, a highly under-rated player for obvious reasons), and Curt Flood one of the best fielding CFs ever who could hit for average. Dick Stuart and George Scott give me an embarrassment of riches with 1B power. My one error, a typo in which I asked for Larry instead of Lance Parrish did create some concern as I have two starting 3Bs (good platoon though) and had no catcher for a while. But Yogi Berra, who played on the 1961 Yankees (three catchers with 20 or more home runs trivia buffs) can platoon with Bob Tillman and Rick Dempsey fills in in the late innings with an A+ arm. Mark Belanger's brilliant defense off the bench and Woodie Held who you play almost anywhere on the field and hits for power, back up the IF and Tony Conigliaro and Walt Bond give me power from both sides of the plate off the bench to back up the OF.
Tommy John, Dave Stewart, Mel Stotllemyre, Ken Holtzman and Clay Kirby will force me to decide on a four man rotation and someone of those five will either be long relief or a Setup man able to pitch VERY often when the starters falter. Sparky Lyle, Clay Carrol and Lindy McDaniel are a heck of a bullpen. Waiting on getting one more pitcher and we will be set to play in the Kingdome.
Stottlemyre and John's sinkerballs will help keep things from getting too out of hand there, but the main strategy is keep the team in the game, outscore opponents and field well (pitching, defense and three run homers as Earl Weaver put it).
This team, in short reflects my baseball philosophy: a mix of speed and power and average/OBP are good, but stolen bases are meant to keep the other team guessing and off-balance, they are at best a necessary evil. More steals than that show lack of character. Triples are a vice and should actually be banned - you should have to go all the way to home once you get to 3B on your own hit or be declared out. All rotations other than a four-pitcher rotation are an act against the laws of god and man. Pitchers' parks are for the neurotic. Relief pitchers should average more than one IP/G or be fined.