KINGS STRUGGLES AND SHAKE-UPS CONTINUE
As June comes to an end the 1933 season remains a bitter disappointment for my Brooklyn Kings. Our pitching continues to be terrible as Tom Barrell (4-10, 3.75) continues to be up and down while prize youngster Johnny Jacob (8-7, 3.85) has cooled after a strong start. The offense has been acceptable, well except when Barrell is on the mound as Tom's run support is practically non-existent.
The Kings presently sport a 31-39 record, 14.5 games back of the Chicago Cougars who are led by ex-King Tommy Wilcox (10-5, 2.52) and Brooklyn's big trade last season to acquire Tom Barrell and his brother Fred looks worse and worse every day. Unlike last season when the Kings caught fire following the trade after a similar awful start, there seems to be no end to the suffering for the long-suffering fans of the Brooklyn Kings ballclub. This season is a milestone one - the 50th anniversary of the franchise - and was supposed to be a year of celebration when the Kings, riding high after being the hottest team in baseball down the stretch a year ago, were to challenge for the pennant and perhaps cap a dream season with the franchise's first ever Wold Championship Series victory. Instead, the dream has for the second straight year, started off as a nightmare as the Kings bumble through another season with poor pitching and dreadful defense.
The latest scapegoat is bench coach Hugh Luckey as the long-time King was relieved of his duties this week. It has been no secret that Luckey, a former infielder, never interacted much with the pitchers on the roster and was rumoured to have butted heads a few times with young pitcher Tom Barrell. With the pitching staff, and Barrell in particular, struggling to find consistency it was decided that AA Knoxville manager Danny Goff, a former King pitching ace and a selection on the franchise's 50th anniversary all-time team, would swap jobs with Luckey. However, the cantankerous infielder, who had been with the Kings first as a player and later as a coach since he was drafted in 1914, apparently wanted no part of minor league life again even if it meant a promotion to manager. Luckey refused to go to Knoxville so he was dismissed and Goff promoted. No official word on who will take over as the AA skipper but rumblings are that another former Kings pitcher in the recently retired Harvey Rodgers, will get the job. As for Goff joining the Kings staff, he built a rapport with pitchers Tom Barrell and Mike Murphy in spring training and was instrumental in the development of Johnny Jacob so he seemed to be an ideal fit for the promotion, and even more so when you consider the Kings are grooming him to eventually be their manager.
UNCHARTED TERRITORY FOR LIGHTBODY
Doug Lightbody is going somewhere he has never been. The minors. The struggling outfielder will do a stint in Rochester after a terrible month of June that saw his average plummet to .277 on the season. The 29 year old who went straight from the campus of Mississippi A&M to the big leagues after being drafted 6th overall in 1925, hit a career low .299 last season and continues to trend in the wrong direction. He has played 900 career FABL games and owns a .356 batting average during that time as well as a Whitney Award he won in 1927.
Brooklyn has called up 22 year old Buck Waldrop to replace Lightbody in right field. Waldrop, a former 4th round pick out of Hartford HS, was acquired from the Cougars last year in exchange for 3 mid-level draft picks. He has split his season between AA and AAA, batting .283 with 8 homers and 40 rbi's in 54 games. A natural centerfielder he will be a big upgrade defensively on the lumbering Lightbody, who's mobility has been greatly hampered by numerous injuries through the years. It is hoped that Lightbody's stay in AAA will be brief with the focus on him getting his hitting stroke back quickly and then returning to Brooklyn.
Meanwhile 20 year old centerfielder Bill May, recently acquired from Montreal in the controversial Milt Fritz trade, has been promoted to AAA Rochester after hitting .323 with 5 stolen bases in his month at AA Knoxville. He joins 3B John Langille and P Chuck Murphy, the other two players involved in that deal, in Rochester. Langille, a second round pick out of Commonwealth Catholic this past December, is batting .289 in his 20 games with the Rooks after being promoted from Knoxville. Murphy was just recently returned to Rochester after a brief stint in Brooklyn. He was sent down, ironically, to make room for another ex-Saint - waiver wire pickup Tony Martinez who is expected to join the struggling Kings today as their series in Montreal resumes.