BASEBALL MONTHLY
June 1888
Whites Fading Fast, Hope in Draft
The Chicago White Stockings are used to being in the pennant race of the National League in every season. This year however their fortunes have faded as the team had yet another losing month at 10-16 and have fallen a full 10.5 game behind the league leading St. Louis Browns. Fans and owners alike would like answers to why the team has underperformed.
Age is one of the biggest factors. The team saw Adonis Terry go down again to injury with shoulder pain and inflamation. The pitcher will be lost for the season and many wonder if indeed he has thrown his final pitch in Chicago. With the pitching staff underperforming again, the club is expected to overhaul their pitching staff.
Other players like Otto Schomberg (.243) and George Wood (.236) have had trouble getting on base. It seems as if the needed jolt of energy in the dog days of summer has been missing. The team looked to the amatuer draft to bring in some faces to deepen the team. The top picks for Chicago were:
Round 1: Dave Anderson SP - Although many scouts dont like this pick. The 19 year old left hander from Pennsylvania is a smart kid who the team hopes can become a legitimate starter. Anderson will get chance to learn on the job as he will get some starts after the Terry injury.
Round 2: Billy Earle C - The "little globetrotter" as they call him has all of the scouts raving at his skill. Earle has a great arm and a strong potential at the plate, he is quite mature for his age and the team loves his work ethic. Earle is expected to get the call at catcher while King Kelly is moved to a less demanding outfield spot.
Round 3: Tom Gettinger OF - Gettinger helps in a position where the team is quite thin. The 19 year old from Maryland is a humble kid that could play all the outfield spots, his bat is expected to come around as his hysicla skills round off.
For the rest of their draft the team took George Bausewine P and Art MCcoy 2B.
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Geggus Career Up In the Air
The Washington Nationals are in their first pennant race in club history and have most of their city on a razors edge. The team however got the worse possible news this month when Buck Geggus suffered a serious injury and will be on the shelf for a long time. Geggus tore his UCL and will definately be out for 14 months, the question remains will be be able to recover and ever take the mound again.
Geggus has created a cult legend around himself for his six years of domminance in the league. The two time pitcher of the year has a lifetime ERA of 1.45 and has struck out 1348 men. Many wonder is his akward delivery attributed to his injury and played such a strong factor in his success.
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League NotesJack Stivetts was the top pick in the baseball amatuer draft. Stivetts was the best arm in the eye of many scouts and has a chance to get right into the action with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. In his first four starts the right hander is 2-2.
Tim Keefe of the Brooklyn Bridgegrooms is the third pitcher in the history of the game to earn 200 victorys. Keefe pulled the trick against the White Stockings and at 31 years of age has a chance of making a run at 300. Keefe is having a great season with 16 wins already.