SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE
JIGGS MCGEE WEEKLY UPDATE
After a long cold winter I am thrilled to be in Florida and once again watching baseball. The big boys don't get at it until tomorrow but many of the recent draft picks and other young talent have been on display the past couple of weeks as minor league spring training has begun. In addition, the AIAA college league started it's regular season yesterday so the 1929 season is here my friends. Old Jiggs is very excited, to say the least, about the upcoming season. As I will do all year, I am here to provide you with some observations on the week that was.
Before I get to the on-field action there was a trade just announced. Cleveland had been looking to upgrade at first base and Pittsburgh had been shopping George Simpson around so it just seemed a matter of time before those two clubs found a fit. They did so today with the news that the 27 year old Simpson, who slashed .316/.377/.432 for the Miners last season will head to Cleveland in exchange for shortstop prospect Pete Asher and a 6th round draft pick.
Asher is a highly touted 22 year old who was originally a 9th round pick of Washington out of high school in 1924. Cleveland took him with the first pick in the 1926 Rule V draft and, although he clearly wasn't ready yet for the big leagues, kept the then 20 year old on the big league roster all season to avoid losing him, but only played him in 30 games. He looked very good in AAA a year ago, hitting .332 for Cincinnati while providing plus defense. The Miners have plans to start him in AAA but a strong spring may have them re-evaluate things. 29 year old Doc Nowack is the returning starter but he had a down year both at the plate and in the field compared to his past seasons.
The Foresters made no secret all winter they felt they need to upgrade at first base, where another Rule V pickup in 24 year old Ron McDougle played last year. McDougle hit .313 but lacks the power the Foresters would like to see at the position. Simpson played two seasons in Pittsburgh, hitting .316 with 6 homers in 124 games last season. While he hasn't shown it in the big leagues so far, Simpson has displayed power in the minors including hitting 23 homers in Class A as a 22 year old. He will also be a big upgrade defensively over the lumbering McDougle.
Neither of those clubs may be done dealing yet as Cleveland is still looking at an upgrade behind the plate and there were some rumour's T.R. Goins of Washington was on their radar. Meanwhile, the Miners want to try and add another piece to their already pretty good pitching staff.
ON THE FIELD
Let's start in the Lone Star League, which is the new independent AA loop of Texas teams that made the jump from semi-pro status to officially join FABL's minor league system. As news of their roster signings came in over the winter I was thinking that the San Antonio Gunslingers would be the team to beat but after they got off to an 18-0 start in spring games I think we might as well just crown them champs today. While most of that teams in the league signed primarily 19-22 year old undrafted former high school and college players, the Gunslingers stocked their roster with former FABL players and veteran minor leaguers.
While everyone in the league is on a minor league contract I am sure San Antonio owner John Douglas offered something to sweeten the pot and land all of these guys. Which begs the question "What is his end game?" Is Douglas simply looking to dominate the loop and win titles, or does he have greater ambitions? There is some talk he is trying to move his team up to AAA and gain admittance in the Great Western League or perhaps even push FABL clubs to expand. One source connected with FABL even hinted there were fears Douglas might be involved in trying to form a third major league, something the sport has not seen since it's near financial ruin that led to the creation of the FABL in 1892. The third league seems nothing more than a rumour at this point and I can't see San Antonio in the Great Western League or FABL for several reasons, the most obvious one being due to the travel required, especially after the Century League abandoned Houston and New Orleans primarily for that reason, but stranger things have happened.
How about the Gulfport Sailors! A 16-2 start to spring has many wondering if Tom Taylor and Johnny Davis are suiting up for spring action with the baby Sailors. Like the big club, the Sailors young pitchers have been outstanding. The Sailors have a knack for finding pitchers and how about 18 year old Tommy Shepherd. Undrafted out of high school, he was signed in December and in 3 spring starts is 3-0 with just 1 earned run allowed in 12 innings of work. It's very early to get too excited but late draft picks Alex French (16th round), Tom Gray(20th rd) and George Parsons (22nd rd) have also looked very good. And so you don't think the Sailors scouting staff only knows pitching, first round pick 2B Ed Scott from Indiana A&M is hitting .489 in 18 spring games. Those 18 games representing 3 times the number he managed to play in his college career. The Sailors must have saw something from private workouts with the kid although he did hit 2 homers and batted .381 in his 6 career college appearances.
While Brooklyn elected to not send first overall pick Tommy Wilcox to the Class C camp (Wilcox will start the season at Class A Omaha of the Western Baseball League) some teams did including the New York Gothams who assigned 19 year old pitcher Phil Hicks to Rock Island's camp. Hicks, the fifth selection in the draft, was tagged with 3 losses (the Steamboats are 4-14 so far) but did have an acceptable 3.75 era. Gothams second rounder Pat Albright has been quite impressive with a 1.80 era and 14 k's vs just 1 walk in 20 innings of work. Albright, unlike Hicks, is a college draftee.
Bobby Barrell, the 6th overall pick, did not play yet and will likely be assigned to Class B Berkeley when the season starts but the Philadelphia Keystones must be pleased to see the 18 year old has been given a clean bill of health after missing nearly a full year with a knee injury.
Hattiesburg Top Hats (Boston) 2B Andy Bethel is off to a great start. I was a big fan of the All-American who won a batting title last season while leading Lubbock State to a National Championship. A second round pick of the Minutemen in the December draft, Bethel is hitting .432 with 14 rbi's in 18 spring games.
Has Brooklyn found a gem in undrafted free agent Jim Ferro? The 20 year old did not play organized high school or college ball, instead being found by independent Hollywood of the Great Western League on the semi-pro circuit. He got into a few games for the Heroes but performed poorly and was released. Over the winter Ferro attended an open amateur tryout the Kings held indoors in Marshalltown (site of their new Class C team) and earned an invite to minor league spring training. He is making the most of it so far with 55 strikeouts and just 7 walks in 30 and 2/3 innings of work.
The AIAA season got underway yesterday and Clay Jackson, a righthander from Detroit City College that made my first round 1930 mock draft, had a great debut. The 20 year old pitched 9 innings of shutout ball allowing just 3 hits and no walks while fanning 14 in a 2-0 win over Wisconsin State. While Jackson had the pitching line of the day how about the numbers put up by St Blane Fighting Saints senior outfielder Johnny McCann. In a season opening 15-7 win over Lincoln, McCann went 4-for-6 with 2 doubles, a homer, 4 runs scored and 6 rbi's. Get's him off to a good start after a down season a year ago, although he hit .411 in his freshman year.
The college races should be very exciting this year as the AIAA has adapted a new schedule format that will see the teams play their 50 game schedule entirely within their own division. It should enhance a lot of big rivalries, especially some that might carry over from the gridiron or basketball court.
That's all for today. Enjoy the spring training action.