Septmeber 10, 1928
A decent 4-2 week for the Kings as a lot of young players are given an opportunity to show what they can do. Gus Powell was named CA player of the week in his first full week in the big leagues. More on him below. On the mound both Buzz Ham (7-4, 2.85) and Bill Dengler (3-3, 2.28) had strong starts although Dengler took the loss in his.
We were officially eliminated from pennant contention but are back to a pair of games over .500. Pitching for the most part was solid and I will stick with the 6 man rotation for the next week at least as I try to get a look at a bunch of guys. The last few weeks of the season will be used to fully evaluate where we stand for next year. We have 2 first round picks and 6 picks in the first 4 rounds of the draft so I have already started working hard on my draft list with new Scouting Director Gary Scott. Together we have identified several candidates I think will be available when the Kings pick: likely 10th and 14th in the opening round.
The Philadelphia Sailors continue to run away with the Continental Association. New York is still alive thanks to an 8-2 start to the month. The Stars do still have 4 games left against the Sailors, but even if they sweep that series they will still need a lot of help to catch Philadelphia.
THE POW(ell) BROTHERS
Brooklyn Kings outfielders Charlie Powell and Gus Powell may not be brothers but they certainly have a lot in common. Both are 23 years old. Both made their FABL debut this season and both can give he baseball quite a ride.
Gus Powell, a 9th round pick of the Kings out of Lincoln College in 1926, has been in Brooklyn since June after hitting 20 homers in 64 combined AA and AAA games to start the season. The Fayetteville, North Carolina native may be batting just .212 in 69 games with Brooklyn but Gus has hit 17 homers and driven in 48 rbi's, numbers that extrapolate to 38 homers and 107 rbi's over a full season.
Charlie Powell is a Canadian born outfielder who came to the Kings in a trade deadline deal with Cleveland. Like Gus, he was selected in the 1926 draft, but went in the 8th round, 28 picks ahead of his teammate. He played his college ball at Boulder State, putting up decent numbers but his power hitting ability really came to light in A ball when he hit 36 homers in 85 games for Reading last year. This season due to the trade he has played for 4 different teams from AA to the major leagues and has hit 54 homers in 143 games so far. Powell spent 45 games at AAA Houston after the trade, helping lead the Bulls to the Century League title. Despite the small game total he finished tied for second in the loop with 16 homers and was the Century League's player of the month for August. He was called up to Brooklyn with the September 1st roster expansion and hit a 2-run homer on a full count in his first big league at bat. In 9 games with the Kings Charlie Powell is batting .385 with 2 homers and 10 rbi's and was named player of the week in the Continental League.
The problem posed for Brooklyn is placing the pair of powerful Powell's on the playing field. With Doug Lightbody back from a minor back injury and speedy centerfielder Ab Thomas, who is hitting .300 and leads the majors with 34 stolen bases, there is only one spot left in the outfield. Both Powell's can also play first base but if that means moving a rising star in Mike Taylor (.346,6,33 in 68 games) from first base to catcher then what becomes of Mickey Dowell (.280,4,71). The Powell's have created a perplexing problem for the Kings.
