JUNE 1, 1920
A WHALE OF A START IN CHICAGO
The Chicago Whales are the surprise team of the Federal League. After underachieving with a number of ex-MLBers the past few seasons the Whales lost almost all of their star power but they have suddenly started winning ball games.
As May comes to an end the Whales find themselves is second place in the 10 team Federal League, trailing only the powerhouse Brooklyn Tip-Tops. Despite a lineup comprised mainly of castoffs from other teams and includes only two starting position players from last year - 2B Fred Lear (.268,5,29) and catcher Cy Perkins (.238,2,15)- the Whales are off to their best start in team history.
Chicago made another cost cutting move in mid May as they dealt pitcher Bud Moe (6-2, 2.89), a 15 game winner a year ago, to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for 32 year old Ballplayer Gharity, who was 1-for-4 this season with the American League club. Gharity immediately stepped into rightfield and after 15 games was batting .319 for the Whales.
The big surprise offensively has been Fred Lear. The 26 year old second baseman already has the same number of homeruns in 48 games this season (5) that he hit over the previous 3 seasons combined- a span of 385 games. I could not find much out about the real Fred Lear, other than he played at Villanova before appearing in 75 major league games with 3 teams over 4 seasons between 1915-20. He did serve in the navy during WWI, which is likely why he did not show any stats for the 1917 season and I did see that he was a scout for the Pirates and White Sox after his playing days.
On the mound the Whales have seen Andy Briswalter (9-3, 3.15) get off to a strong start in his second season with the club. The 32 year old spend a decade pitching for Omaha of the Western Association before joining the Whales prior to the 1919 campaign. In real life Briswalter had a decent start to his career with the Los Angeles Angels but died of tuberculosis in 1912 at the age of 22.
The Brooklyn Tip-Tops, as usual, lead the way in the Federal League. George H Burns (.349,1,33), Oscar Charleston (.302,4,28) and Jack Hannibal (.353,1,25) give them plenty of offense even without Ken Williams while the pitching of Bullet Joe Bush (7-4, 1.86) and Jeff Tesreau (9-3, 2.09), a 32 year old who was acquired from the Boston Braves in the off-season, has been very strong.