MAY 21, 1928
KINGS SWEEP CLEVELAND TO END ROAD TRIP
The week started poorly for the Brooklyn Kings as they dropped 3 games in Philadelphia but they more than made up for it with a 3-game sweep of Cleveland to finish their 18 game road trip and then put a cherry on top with a 5-4 victory over the New York Stars in a return to Kings County Park yesterday. The win over New York was especially sweet as it snapped a 6 game winning streak for the Stars, who had taken over top spot in the Continental Association from the Foresters.
Brooklyn went 10-8 on it's road swing, which was bookended by a pair of home victories over the New York Stars. The Kings are now 1.5 games out of first place.
The Philadelphia series to open the week started with a crushing 6-5 loss in 11 innings. Brooklyn rallied with a pair of runs in the 7th to tie the game and took the lead in the top of the 11th on a pinch-hit homerun from Lou Garman but Jack Gunderson couldn't hold the lead and Philadelphia won 6-5. Topsy Moran got beat up the next night losing 7-0 in his second straight bad outing and while Mose Smith pitched well in the series finale, he received little support from the offense in a 3-1 defeat.
The bats got going in Cleveland the next day as Cal Williams, making his first start since being moved from the pen to the rotation, got much more run support than he needed in a 9-1 victory. Friday's game saw the Kings go to extra innings for the second time this week but this one had a much better outcome for Brooklyn. Trailing 4-1 in the ninth the Kings rallied to tie the game and then won it in the 12th when Ab Thomas drove in what would prove to be the game winner. Gunderson made up for earlier in the week by getting his first career FABL win with 2 scoreless innings. Saturday was a laugher as Brooklyn won 14-4 behind 5 hits and 5 rbi's from 2B Willie Jackson and a solid effort from Harvey Rodgers on the mound.
Sunday's game with New York was a wild one in front of 15,008 fans at Kings County Park. Brooklyn looked to have given the game away when New York scored 3 times in the top of the ninth to go up 4-2 but the Kings rallied with 3 of their own in the bottom half including Doug Lightbody's game winning single to plate the winner.
ROSTER MOVES - I am going to move Lynn Randall back to a reserve role after 2 weeks of starting at first base. The 23 year old rookie had a decent week to raise his average to .230 but Lou Garman (.287,1,20) clearly belongs in the starting lineup.
The Eddie Andrews experiment is over. The 34 year old middle infielder, who was acquired from Pittsburgh for a late round pick this spring, is now 0-for-12 on the season so he is going to Houston where he will play his first minor league game since 1916, a span during which he played 1179 career FABL games. Rookie shortstop Arnold Bower gets the promotion and will make his major league debut. I would have pulled the trigger earlier as Bower is considered the future at shortstop in Brooklyn, but the 24 year old New York native struggled early in the season with the Bulls so I wanted him to be successful there before I promoted him. He hit .381 with 5 rbi's last week to raise his season average to .262 so Bower gets the call.
I don't know how much longer I can wait before promoting Mike Taylor to the 40-man and active rosters. Taylor had 2 more homers last week and hit .440 to win Century League player of the week. The now 22 year old catcher (his birthday was last week and he celebrated with a 2-for-4 game with an rbi in a 3-0 win) is leading the Century League in batting average (.401) and homers (10) while second in rbi's (34). I just don't have a spot to play him as Mickey Dowell (.344,1,33) is not giving up the catcher duties so if he comes up it will be almost exclusively to pinch-hit. I have considered offering him up for trade but my scout believes he has the potential to be a superstar in the league. So as a solution I have made the difficult decision to try Taylor at first base. I hate to take him out of a key skill position like catcher but if he can learn first base in Houston I can bring him up and get him some at bats.
That decision also allows me to redistribute my glut of catching prospects. Tom Aiello, the 21 year old who was hitting .317 in AA Knoxville, will come up to Houston and be the starter which allows 24 year old Bill Smith (.270,3,17), who was splitting the time with Aiello, to play everyday in Knoxville. I did move Dick Fleetwood, a 23 year old who was ripping the ball in Omaha (.353,1,19) to come up to Knoxville and spell Smith a bit. That move frees up playing time for 22 year old Brooklyn native Bill Caines in Omaha. Caines hit .331 with 8 homers in 73 games at Class B Tampa in his first pro season a year ago, but I had no where to put him until now. 20 year old Jim Schaffer, who is batting .365, will remain the starting catcher in Tampa but I will need to sign a minor league free agent to be his backup.