THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL
MAY 3, 1937
CHAMPS ON A ROLL
The defending World Champion Chicago Chiefs may have started slow, getting swept in St Louis to open the season, but since then it has been business as usual for the club that won a franchise record 101 games a year ago. The Chiefs are riding a 7 game winning streak and are 9-1 since losing the three contests in St Louis to start the season. The Chiefs face a big test this week as they will entertain Pittsburgh at Whitney Park for a three game set starting Tuesday. The Miners finished second to Chicago last season and presently sit just a half game back of the defending champs.
Al Wheeler had a slow first week of the season but the Brooklyn Kings outfielder made up for it last week with a performance that earned him player of the week accolades in the Continental Association. Wheeler hit .407 with 2 homers and 7 rbi's with the highlight of his week being a cycle in a 12-2 win over Montreal on Wednesday. Wheeler actually went 5-for-5 that game with a pair of homers while driving in 6 runs. It is the third time in his career Wheeler has hit for the cycle with the first two coming while he was with the Detroit Dynamos in 1929 and 1931. The 29 year old 4-time Whitney Award winner becomes just the fourth Brooklyn King to hit for the cycle joining Dan Barrell, who did it last year, along with Doug Lightbody and Dick Hand.
The top player in the Federal Association this week was Pittsburgh catcher George Cleaves. The 23 year old went 15 foe 25 with 3 homers and 14 rbi's. It is the 6th time Cleaves has been player of the week. A three time all-star, he finished second in Federal Association Whitney Award voting last year.
From the "if they didn't have bad luck" department there are more injury troubles for the Boston Minutemen. Already without their young star pitcher Dick Higgins, now first baseman Bob Donoghue's knee is acting up again. Donoghue, who was the Minutemen's first round pick out of Iowa A&M in 1934 has spent time on the injured list every season. He missed three weeks with knee troubles in his rookie pro year, tore up his ankle last April and missed the rest of the season after a very impressive opening couple of weeks. He then fractured a thumb in spring action this season but returned last week, hitting .381 in 6 games but now his knee has slowed him again. The club doctor insists it's not serious but with Donoghue's history there has to be even more cause for concern. Meanwhile, Boston also announced that pitcher Joe Dorsainvil is done for the year. It is the second straight season the 32 will miss most of the year with arm troubles. Dorsainvil made just 4 starts last season before arm troubles shut him down and he only made it to 3 this time around before his season was pronounced finished. Dorsainvil has a lifetime record of 64-87 in his 8 seasons with Boston.
Charlie Barry became the 59th player in FABL history to collect 2000 hits for his career. The 38 year old Cleveland Forester third baseman reached the milestone on Wednesday in a 2-0 loss to the Chicago Cougars. Barry's 2000th was a single to lead off the second inning off of Cougars starter Oscar Morse. He spent the first 10 and a half seasons of his career in Boston before joining the Foresters in a deadline deal in 1934. The 3-time all-star helped Cleveland win the franchise's first World Championship Series in '34 and is a lifetime .345 hitter who only seems to be getting better with age as Barry won his first Association batting title last season.
TAYLOR MOVED TWICE
Tom Taylor has accomplished a lot in his baseball career, but one can't help but feel that career is nearing it's end after Taylor was claimed on waivers by Brooklyn and then promptly traded to the Chicago Chiefs. The Kings thought they had an agreement with Taylor to report to their AAA club in Rochester and, if he performed well, he would get a ticket to Brooklyn, but the 32 year old had second thoughts and refused the minor league assignment so the Kings dealt him to the Chiefs for a 7th round draft pick. Taylor will be given the opportunity to platoon with Cliff Moss in right field for Chicago.
One has to get the impression that this might be Taylor's last opportunity in the big leagues. It is quite a fall for a player who burst on to the Continental Association scene as a 23 year old rookie in 1928. He led the CA in homers and rbi's each of his first two seasons and won the Whitney Award both years. He also led the Sailors to back to back pennants and a 1928 World Championship. Philadelphia would win it all again in 1930 but Taylor missed the Series that year after hurting his elbow in the final week of the season.
The Sailors shocked the baseball world by dealing him to the Chicago Cougars the following spring, getting infielder Mack Deal and a pair of what would turn out to be fringe players in return. Taylor's production dipped drastically in 1930 but he rebounded with some decent seasons in Chicago and won a third World Championship with that club in 1931. With the Cougars on a downslide Taylor was dealt to the New York Gothams in the middle of the 1935 season and would earn his fourth World Championship ring that year. The Gothams did not play him much and ended up releasing him as part of the great purge of their championship club last summer.
A Chicago writer opined that the move to New York perhaps accelerated Taylor's decline. "As a 29 or 30 year old player, the worst thing that can happen in your career is to be traded to the Gothams. After hitting double-digit home runs for each season in his career, Tom Taylor found himself in a rough slump last season in New York. Not only did he lose his starting job, but he was unceremoniously released in July. There is no quarter for older players in New York."
The Philadelphia Sailors, the club Taylor had so much early success with, claimed him of waivers last July and he played in 16 games for the Sailors down the stretch, hitting .291 with 3 homers bringing his career round-tripper total to 227, which is the 9th most all-time. After hitting just .211 in the spring the Sailors asked Taylor to go back to the minors, where he had spent some time last season. He refused and was released by the club leading to the Brooklyn waiver claim and subsequent trade to the Chiefs.
No matter what happens going forward the outfielder from western Canada nicknamed the "Canadian Club" certainly left his mark on the game but it would be nice to see him get back on track in the Windy City. The move really has no downside for the Chiefs to see if Taylor can recapture some of the glory of his past as it comes at a very inexpensive cost.
CROSS-SECTION OF PREDICTIONS
Here is a look at what some local newspapers and the Baseball News Network see for the year ahead. The following predictions come courtesy of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Chicago Daily News and the Detroit World and are the predicted order of standings from each paper's sports department. The four, including BNN, are unanimous on Brooklyn repeating as the champ in the Continental Association while the Chicago Chiefs are also favoured to repeat by three of the four in the Federal Association. The lone exception comes from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle which feels that St Louis will end it's 15 year pennant drought.
Speaking of the Pioneers going without a pennant since 1921, it is no where near the longest pennant drought in FABL. That distinction belongs to the Toronto Wolves who own four Continental Association pennants but none since 1911 - a span of 25 years. Here are the five teams to go the longest since their last title.
PUTTING WOOD ON THE BALL (Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Press)
The Pittsburgh Press took a look at which pitchers in FABL have been the most successful at providing some offensive production for their respective clubs and on the flip side who has struggled. Here is what the paper discovered:
Top 5 hitting pitchers (with at least 200 career plate appearances, ranked by OPS+)
1. Ed Wood - Boston - .256/.374/.448. 115 OPS+ 17 career homers. A good eye, real power, Wood's bat would play at just about any position, let alone pitcher.
2. Rollie Beal - New York Stars - .291/.360/.415. 103 OPS+. 15 career homers, another guy with an actual above average bat.
Big drop off to 3rd:
3. Joe Newsom - Baltimore - .283/.298/.328. 69 OPS+, 0 career homers. Good for a single every once in a while.
4. Mike Murphy - Brooklyn - .243/.281/.349 68 OPS+, 5 career homers. Packs a bit more punch than your usual pitcher.
5. Bill Ketterman - Pittsburgh - .251/.297/.298, 1 career homer. Has quite a few more at bats than the other guys (besides Beal), but has a career of not embarrassing himself at the plate.
Bottom of the barrel:
1. George Kyle - St. Louis - .092/.101/.141, 1 career homer.
2. Dean Astle - Cleveland - .107/.114/.143, 2 career homers
3. David Abalo - St Louis - .118/.154/.127, 0 career homers
4. Dave Rankin - Chicago Cougars - .126/.164/.142, 1 career homer.
5.Jack Elder - Washington - .134/.147/.176, 0 career homers (edited)
Further to this I thought I would see how Wood ranks all-time among pitchers who have enjoyed some offensive success. Now the gold standard of course would be Max Morris, who actually debuted as a pitcher before making the move to the outfield but let's keep Mighty Mo out of the discussion because of his unique skillset. As you can see from the chart below Wood compares very nicely and presently is the ninth best pitcher all-time based on career OPS+. I used a minimum of 400 career plate appearances to qualify Here are the top ten hitting pitcher. As one might expect the list was dominated by 19th century players which makes Wood's accomplishments at the plate even more special.
ON THE FARM
DYNAMOS WORRIED ABOUT FIRST ROUNDER KOBLENZ
It maybe much ado about nothing but there is quiet concern in Detroit over the struggles of 3B Hank Koblenz who fell from Top 10 to #21 on the prospects ranking (and today was listed at #39). Some in the organization felt the 20 year old was not ready for Class B but he was promoted along with fellow 1935 first round pick Red Johnson, but both have struggled in the early going at Chattanooga. Johnson, who was the second overall selection in the 1935 draft, is still rated the #3 prospect in the game and does have a pair of homers to go with his .206 batting average in 10 games at Class B but Koblenz is just 3-for-30 with 10 strikeouts and looks completely out of his element at that level. It seems far too early to label the former #5 overall pick a flop but some in Detroit are worried if he doesn't start to turn it around soon he just might be one.
Baltimore brass may also be getting worried about the number one pick of the '35 draft. Deuce Barrell is 0-2 with a 7.30 era and a 47 era+ plus in 2 starts at class C. Start #3 at that level last year ended his season so he is behind a bit but are there worries in Baltimore his injury might have had long term effects? The good news is Barrell must still be throwing smoke as he fanned 20 in 12 innings of work and his second outing, which came this week, was much better than his first. Baltimore may also be concerned about Gus Goulding. After going 8-0 last summer and taking the league by storm the 1934 second overall pick has lost each of his four starts this time around and his era is 5.04. The Cannons should not be worried about Goulding, at least not yet, as the overall body of work in 12 big league starts for Goulding is 8-4 with a 3.56 era.
How is this for a quick adjustment. After starting his pro career 1-for-6 at Class C Rock Island, last December's second overall pick is on fire. 18 year old Walt Messer hit 6 homers in 7 games for the Gothams entry level farm team and is batting .333 and would be the talk of the Upper Mississippi Valley Association if it were not for Tiny Tim Hopkins. Hopkins, the 19 year old behemoth first baseman Brooklyn selected in the second round of the 1935 draft, is tearing up the UMVA with the league lead in average, homers, rbi's and several other offensive categories after starting .486 with 9 homers and 13 rbi's. One would think both Hopkins and Messer should be bound for Class B very soon.
He is a little older than Messer and Hopkins but equally as impressive is the start of Art Powell in the other Class C League. Powell, a 21 year old third baseman who plays for the Philadelphia Keystones affiliate in Beaumont of the Gulf States League, has 22 rbi's in 9 games while also homering 8 times and leading the loop with a .436 average. It is Powell's third season at that level as he was selected in the 10th round of the 1934 draft out of high school but he has already hit 2 grand slams this season.