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Jiggs McGee · 09-01-2021, 12:50 PM

THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL

August 8, 1938

KINGS STRETCH OUT CA LEAD

After the Toronto Wolves took the opener of a 3 game set with the Kings in Brooklyn on Tuesday it looked like the Wolves might just make it a race in the Continental Association. That victory, Toronto's 6th in it's last seven games, moved the Wolves to within 5 games of the slumping Kings, who had dropped 4 in a row and 10 of their last 14. When the Wolves, behind the solid pitching of former King draft pick Chuck Wirtz (11-8, 3.91), took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning the next day, you could feel the tension in the air at Kings County Stadium where fans were sensing the start of perhaps another late season swoon from their club. Despite the fact that Brooklyn excised it's World Championship Series demons a year ago the team still has a history this decade of going into prolonged slumps at seemingly the worst time possible. The Wolves were 5 outs away from moving to within 4 games of first place when the mighty bats of the Kings turned the tables in a course of just 4 pitches.

With one out in the 8th, Harry Barrell (.289,3,62) hit a groundball that found a hole for a single. Joe Perret (.251,6,24), who has struggled much of the season, came to the plate to pinch-hit for Doug Lightbody (.308,0,28). After fouling the first pitch off, Perret then lifted a deep fly ball into the leftfield stands for his first homerun in nearly a month and the Kings suddenly led 3-2. Before Wirtz had time to shake off the blow, he surrendered another round-tripper as Frank Vance (.315,17,61) jumped all over Wirtz' first offering for his CA leading 17th homerun of the season and just like that the crisis was averted with a 4-2 victory stretching the Kings lead to 6 games on the young Wolves.

Brooklyn would go on to take the rubber match of the series 8-5 and then swept a three game weekend set from Cleveland. The Wolves, meanwhile limped over to Dyckman Stadium after the two losses to Brooklyn and proceeded to drop 2 of 3 to the lowly New York Stars, increasing the margin of Brooklyn's lead once again to 9 games - exactly where it stood before the Kings 2 week slump. While a 9 game lead is certainly not insurmountable it appears the Kings have things well in hand as they bid for a third straight Continental Association pennant. Prior to last season Brooklyn had never won two pennants in a row.

The Federal Association race is the one that will draw the most scrutiny, at least for the time being as the surprising Detroit Dynamos continue to hold off the veteran laden Chicago Chiefs. Detroit has led the Federal Association for the last 79 days and it remains unchanged from last week at a game and a half over Chicago after both clubs won 5 of 6 games this week.

That the Dynamo's have been in first place all alone since May 21st would have seemed unfathomable a year ago. Yes, they had a great stretch run but they finished 24 games off the pace in 7th place a year ago, and that was a dramatic improvement on the two previous seasons when they finished 8th both times and were 98-210 over that stretch. Whether Detroit manages to hold off the Chiefs remains to be seen but there is little doubt that George Theobald, even at the age of 75 is reiterating his case as clearly the best manager in FABL history.

The next two weeks will a tough test for Theobald's charges as they have a steady diet of games with Chicago and third place St Louis. The Chiefs will be bringing their best at home next weekend as Chicago skipper Joe Ward has already confirmed that his starters for the 3 games with Detroit will be Rabbit Day (17-7, 3.47), Jim Lonardo (16-6, 2.21) and Al Miller (10-10, 4.03). Theobald has not commented on his plans but if all goes according to the current schedule he will counter with Roger Perry (10-4, 3.66), Frank Crawford (16-4, 3.03) and newest Dynamo William Jones (5-8, 2.96). Jones, who came over in a deadline deal with the Philadelphia Sailors, had a rough debut in Detroit as he failed to survive the 5th inning of an 8-5 loss to Boston but rebounded with a complete game 6-4 win over Philadelphia on Saturday. The Chiefs have a new piece as well in lead-off man Bill May (.317,2,56), who hit .393 for the week and helped the already impressive Chicago offense average over 7 runs a game last week.

QUICK HITS

Stumpy Beaman had previously been discussed as a candidate for the stopper role in the Detroit pen but with the acquisition of P Chuck Cole, Manager George Theobald wants to give Cole a try in that spot. Beaman will become the emergency/5th starter for awhile and will also be a middle reliever for now. The odd man out for at least a few weeks on the Detroit mound is Ron Coles. At the start of the season he was thought to be the "ace" but his return from injury has not gone as well as we had hoped. Coles control this season is at his professional worst so he will be bumped down to AAA Newark where he will get a month of starts to try and right the ship for the stretch run.
The other move and one that has been rumored for a bit is in the OF. Grover Lee was brought in to be the right handed platoon partner for LF Elmer Nolde and the plan was working well early in the season. But Lee has struggled to the tune of 14-83 in June and July and is 1-20 as a pinch hitter. The hope was Lee would be a power bench bat option when he wasn't starting, but it has been a huge disappointment. With Lee being DFA August 1st, the Dynamo's promoted OF Wayne Morgan who was hitting .331/.409/.947 with 7 home runs and 53 RBI's with AAA Newark. Morgan picked up his first career big league hit Friday, going 1-for-3 against Philadelphia with a rbi single that proved to be the difference in a 3-2 Dynamos victory.
Detroit cast-off Jim Hawkins has looked like a good pick-up for the Foresters so far. He had a win and a loss over the week but pitched a pair of solid games. Hawkins (5-8, 4.78) was erratic at times in a relief role with Detroit.
Both Bill May and Bob Worley adjusted very nicely to their new surroundings after the big Brooklyn-Chicago trade last week. Worley hit .438 with a pair of homers while May hit .393 and stole a couple bases as Chiefs new lead off man.
In game matching up a pair of potential future multiple Allen Award winners Pete Papenfus proved he is human after all. Finally takes his first loss and fails to fan at least 5 for first time as a Cougar. Deuce Barrell was his opponent and gets his first win in Baltimore. Deuce went 8 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned), walking none, and striking out 7. Papenfus gave up 7 runs in 6 innings, but only 2 earned runs. The Cougars had 5 errors in that game. The 5 errors forced Papenfus to throw 122 pitches in those 6 innings. Barrell was also 2 for 3 at the plate with 2 runs scored in that game.
Mel Carrol is pretty consistent. Hit .370 with Washington before the deal to Cleveland. Batting average through 19 games as a Forester? Also .370.
Brooklyn ended Fred McCormick’s hitting streak at 23 games with an 0-for-5 but he promptly started a new one at 4 games and counting. Hitting .412 so we might get a second straight season with a .400 hitter. Last time that happened was 1921-22. Slocum hit .400 both season while Morris joined him at that plateau in ‘21. Mel Carrol, recently traded from Washington to Cleveland hit .409 a year ago for the Eagles.
Two more homers last week for Sal Pestilli and the 22 year old Dynamos star now has 31 on the season, just 2 shy of his league leading 33 a year ago as a rookie. He has an outside shot at 50 this season and one has to think Pestilli stands a chance of one day joining Max Morris as the only FABL players to hit 60 in a season.
A quick check in on the rest of the Pestilli clan shows some success as well. Oldest brother Alf (.289,12,51) looks like he has earned himself a full-time spot in the crowded Brooklyn outfield. Joe, a 21 year old infielder in the Pioneers system is having a decent season in the minors after an early promotion to Class A. In 65 games Little Joe is batting .278 with a homerun and 36 rbi's. Finally there is 19 year old Tony who was recently promoted to Class B in the Keystones organization. Tony is an outfielder just like the two oldest siblings.
Next home game should put Kings over the 1 million attendance mark for the 4th consecutive season. On pace for over 1.4 this year, easily breaking franchise record set 2 seasons ago of 1.247 million.
Percy Sutherland had this to say about the Dynamos today: "You know, I was thinking they were over their heads and would come back down to earth, but now, in August, I have to admit that is a good pitching staff up in Detroit. Really only Stumpy Beaman is surviving on luck, and that's only a little bit (if he just walked a few fewer batters, he'd be fine). They were perhaps lacking an ace, but Jones should help with that (even if his first Detroit start didn't go as planned).
The New York Gothams won 2 of three in their showdown with Philadelphia for 6th place and at 41-61 on the season are now 2 games up on the Keystones with the Washington Eagles, having a far more dreadful season that most expected, sit in the cellar. So signs are pointing to us not seeing the 2 New York City teams both finish last for the first time in history. The Continental Association Stars are not having the same luck as it looks more and more everyday like they will finish last in the Ca for the first time in 20 years.
A special day coming up in New York as the Bigsby Oval winds down it's time as a big league stadium. On August 20th the Gothams will celebrate the career of Ed Ziehl. Prior to the game against the St. Louis Pioneers the team will celebrate their current manager and greatest player's selection for the new Baseball Hall of Fame. Many former Gothams will join Ziehl on the field as the team announces that no one after Ed will wear a #5 Gothams uniform.

1939 DRAFT PREVIEW
NAMES YOU NEED TO KNOW (PART II)

A new format means the 1939 draft will arrive much quicker than originally expected as the opening three rounds of the draft, including the newly devised regional selection only third round, will be held in January prior to the top prospects starting their high school senior or college junior campaign. The decision takes the controversial OOTP generated Mock Draft out of the equation, at least for these early rounds, and will likely lead to some surprise picks, similar to what was seen in the second half of the previous decade before the Mock was introduced into the game.

To help get baseball fans up to speed TWIFB will regularly publish features on the draft over the coming months. A couple of issues ago we took a look at a dozen position players that might hear their names called in January instead of after the amateur seasons wrap in June, which is when rounds 4-25 will be completed. Now let's turn our attention to the mound and six pitchers that will likely get drafted in January.

VIC CARROLL RHP School: Richmond State University Born: New York, NY
1938: 8-4, 2.54 ERA 113 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9
CAREER: 16-6, 2.38 ERA 208 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 8.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9
The lone college arm on the list, the 20 year old has had two solid seasons at the Virginia school. OSA feels he has the potential to be a top of the rotation pitcher with plenty of movement on his pitches. The best of which is an excellent splitter.

JIM KENNY LHP School: Holland (MI) High School Born: Holland, MI
1938: 6-3, 1.55 ERA 93 IP, 0.94 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 1.6 BB/9
A small sample to be sure as Kenny's junior season was his first year of organized ball. Not the best stuff according to OSA, but they love his pinpoint command which allows he to keep the ball down in the strike zone. Projected to be a mid-rotation option.

MARCUS MANGUM LHP School: Louisa (KY) High School Born: Louisa, KY
1938: 9-2, 1.08 ERA, 117 IP, 0.78 WHIP, 12.7 K/9, 0.9 BB/9
Career: 27-4, 1.53 ERA, 323 IP, 0.93 WHIP, 11.4 K/9, 1.7 BB/9
The 17 year old has shown consistent improvement over his 3 seasons of high school ball and has added 4 miles to his fastball during that time. Possess four solid pitches, each with good movement and has the potential to be a mid-rotation starter. Mangum could become the first pitcher born in the state of Kentucky to ever be selected in the first round of the draft. Only two hitters from Kentucky, Cliff Moss (1927) and Blackie Mefford (1913), were ever first round picks.

BART SCHNEIDER RHP School: Rochester (NY) High School Born: Rochester, NY
1938: 7-1, 1.26 ERA, 85 IP, 0.89 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 1.7 BB/9
Career: 24-4, 1.10 ERA, 286 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 1.7 BB/9
Looks like a potential mid-rotation starter. Not the best stuff but he can paint the black with any of his three pitches which include a plus changeup and sharp curve. Just 5'10" 150 pounds so there is hope it will develop as he bulks up but right now his fringe fastball tops out at 86 MPH.

PETE THOMPSON RHP School: Uniontown (PA) High School Born: Wilkinsburg, PA
1938: 10-0, 0.79 ERA, 102 IP, 0.77 WHIP, 15.7 K/9, 1.9 BB/9
Career: 19-1, 1.31 ERA, 205 IP, 0.88 WHIP, 12.9 k/9, 1.8 BB/9
Thompson led the nation in K/9 last season and was the only junior pitcher named to the High School All-American team in 1938. While his numbers make him look like a sure-fire first round pick, OSA is not convinced saying flat out they are "not sold" on his elite stuff. In fact OSA has it's doubts about whether he can ever be a starting pitcher in FABL. He is a player possibly worth taking a gamble on with a regional pick so the Miners, Sailors and Keystones will be watching the Pennsylvania native closely.

BILLY TURNER RHP School: Redmond (WA) High School Born: Seattle, WA
1938:8-2, 1.14 ERA, 94 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 1.6 BB/9
Career: 17-3, 1.28 ERA, 189 IP, 0.90 WHIP, 10.5 K/9, 1.9 BB/9
A towering presence on the mound at 6'5" and that height likely helps the angle of his best pitch, a great sinker. His other pitches need work but Turner does have excellent command. Not a true ace but OSA sees Turner fitting comfortably into the middle of a big league rotation some day.

Only 4 pitchers have ever been drafted in the first round out of the state of Washington and just two of them made the major leagues. The most successful of the 4 was Bernie Johnson of the Toronto Wolves (36-57 so far in his career), who was taken 3rd overall in 1931. Gene White is a 24 year old that the Keystones drafted 15th in 1932 and he is 11-13 over parts of two seasons, including this year, with Philadelphia. The other two are Ted Howe, was taken second overall in 1911 by St Louis but never advanced past AA and Billy Blank - Montreal's first rounder, 14th overall in 1919 who only made it as far as AAA. That is it, no other Washington state born pitcher has ever been selected in the first round. Of course the most famous Washington State baseball player was also a first round selection. The Chicago Cougars selected Olympia, Washington native Bill Ashbaugh 4th overall in 1925 and the second baseman is still with the organization.

And before you go thinking that 4 pitchers seems low for Washington State to produce, keep in mind Oregon - while it has had 6 position players go in the first round including Pete Layton and Red Johnson - has never produced a pitcher to be selected in the opening round of any draft. California, on the other hand, has had 27 of them including current Federal Association hurlers Rabbit Day, Dick Higgins, Al Miller, Charlie Wheeler and Chuck Cole.

Code:

 STATES WITH THE MOST PITCHERS SELECTED IN THE 
              FIRST ROUND OF A DRAFT
---------------------------------------------------------------
STATE		#	NOTABLES 
California	27	Rabbit Day, Dick Higgins, Al Miller
Massachusetts	10	George Davis, Stu Pick, Joe Hancock
New York	10	Tom Barrell, Mose Smith, Walker Moore
Texas		10	Del Plummer, Lou Martino, Chuck Murphy
Illinois	 7	Oscar Morse, Ernie Henderson, Bob Cummings
Georgia	 	 6	Deuce Barrell, Curly Jones, Chick Meehan
Michigan	 6	Don Cannady, Charlie Stedman
Connecticut	 5	Art Myers, Lefty Allen, Bobo White
Pennsylvania	 5	George Thomas, John Edwards, Bill Willman
Minnesota	 5	Mel Strom, Jim Morrison, Donnie Jones
Florida	 	 4	Mike Murphy, Ernie Newman
North Carolina	 4	Max Wilder, Preacher Pietsch
Washington	 4	Bernie Johnson, Gene White
Alabama		 3	Jimmy Clinch, Dan Waldman, Tom Blalock
Arkansas	 3	Dixie Lee, Charley O'Hare, George Garrison
Indiana		 3	Delos Dunn, Gus Goulding, Bob Walls
Missouri	 3	Pete Papenfus, Bunny Edwards

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 08/07/1938

Fighting between Russian and Japan on the Siberian frontier reaches a scale which made it plain that a general war between two of the most powerful armies in the world might be imminent.
Meanwhile Tokyo's war with China shows no signs of slowing down.
Rebel forces shell Madrid in the heaviest fighting in the Spanish city in months.
Rome announces that all foreign Jews will be barred from Italian schools beginning with the fall semester.
While FDR remains silent on the matter, the publicity director of the Democratic party says "circumstances may arise which would make it impossible for the President to refuse a third term nomination."
Railroads and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen fail to agree on a proposed 15 percent wage cut and will submit their case to a Federal mediator.
Thousands crowd Broadway to cheer wrong-way flier Douglas Corrigan, who recently flew solo without instruments from New York to Ireland after filing a flight plan to Los Angeles.

09-01-2021, 12:50 PM	#235
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	This Week in Figment Baseball: August 8, 1938 THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL August 8, 1938 KINGS STRETCH OUT CA LEAD After the Toronto Wolves took the opener of a 3 game set with the Kings in Brooklyn on Tuesday it looked like the Wolves might just make it a race in the Continental Association. That victory, Toronto's 6th in it's last seven games, moved the Wolves to within 5 games of the slumping Kings, who had dropped 4 in a row and 10 of their last 14. When the Wolves, behind the solid pitching of former King draft pick Chuck Wirtz (11-8, 3.91), took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th inning the next day, you could feel the tension in the air at Kings County Stadium where fans were sensing the start of perhaps another late season swoon from their club. Despite the fact that Brooklyn excised it's World Championship Series demons a year ago the team still has a history this decade of going into prolonged slumps at seemingly the worst time possible. The Wolves were 5 outs away from moving to within 4 games of first place when the mighty bats of the Kings turned the tables in a course of just 4 pitches. With one out in the 8th, Harry Barrell (.289,3,62) hit a groundball that found a hole for a single. Joe Perret (.251,6,24), who has struggled much of the season, came to the plate to pinch-hit for Doug Lightbody (.308,0,28). After fouling the first pitch off, Perret then lifted a deep fly ball into the leftfield stands for his first homerun in nearly a month and the Kings suddenly led 3-2. Before Wirtz had time to shake off the blow, he surrendered another round-tripper as Frank Vance (.315,17,61) jumped all over Wirtz' first offering for his CA leading 17th homerun of the season and just like that the crisis was averted with a 4-2 victory stretching the Kings lead to 6 games on the young Wolves. Brooklyn would go on to take the rubber match of the series 8-5 and then swept a three game weekend set from Cleveland. The Wolves, meanwhile limped over to Dyckman Stadium after the two losses to Brooklyn and proceeded to drop 2 of 3 to the lowly New York Stars, increasing the margin of Brooklyn's lead once again to 9 games - exactly where it stood before the Kings 2 week slump. While a 9 game lead is certainly not insurmountable it appears the Kings have things well in hand as they bid for a third straight Continental Association pennant. Prior to last season Brooklyn had never won two pennants in a row. The Federal Association race is the one that will draw the most scrutiny, at least for the time being as the surprising Detroit Dynamos continue to hold off the veteran laden Chicago Chiefs. Detroit has led the Federal Association for the last 79 days and it remains unchanged from last week at a game and a half over Chicago after both clubs won 5 of 6 games this week. That the Dynamo's have been in first place all alone since May 21st would have seemed unfathomable a year ago. Yes, they had a great stretch run but they finished 24 games off the pace in 7th place a year ago, and that was a dramatic improvement on the two previous seasons when they finished 8th both times and were 98-210 over that stretch. Whether Detroit manages to hold off the Chiefs remains to be seen but there is little doubt that George Theobald, even at the age of 75 is reiterating his case as clearly the best manager in FABL history. The next two weeks will a tough test for Theobald's charges as they have a steady diet of games with Chicago and third place St Louis. The Chiefs will be bringing their best at home next weekend as Chicago skipper Joe Ward has already confirmed that his starters for the 3 games with Detroit will be Rabbit Day (17-7, 3.47), Jim Lonardo (16-6, 2.21) and Al Miller (10-10, 4.03). Theobald has not commented on his plans but if all goes according to the current schedule he will counter with Roger Perry (10-4, 3.66), Frank Crawford (16-4, 3.03) and newest Dynamo William Jones (5-8, 2.96). Jones, who came over in a deadline deal with the Philadelphia Sailors, had a rough debut in Detroit as he failed to survive the 5th inning of an 8-5 loss to Boston but rebounded with a complete game 6-4 win over Philadelphia on Saturday. The Chiefs have a new piece as well in lead-off man Bill May (.317,2,56), who hit .393 for the week and helped the already impressive Chicago offense average over 7 runs a game last week. QUICK HITS Stumpy Beaman had previously been discussed as a candidate for the stopper role in the Detroit pen but with the acquisition of P Chuck Cole, Manager George Theobald wants to give Cole a try in that spot. Beaman will become the emergency/5th starter for awhile and will also be a middle reliever for now. The odd man out for at least a few weeks on the Detroit mound is Ron Coles. At the start of the season he was thought to be the "ace" but his return from injury has not gone as well as we had hoped. Coles control this season is at his professional worst so he will be bumped down to AAA Newark where he will get a month of starts to try and right the ship for the stretch run. The other move and one that has been rumored for a bit is in the OF. Grover Lee was brought in to be the right handed platoon partner for LF Elmer Nolde and the plan was working well early in the season. But Lee has struggled to the tune of 14-83 in June and July and is 1-20 as a pinch hitter. The hope was Lee would be a power bench bat option when he wasn't starting, but it has been a huge disappointment. With Lee being DFA August 1st, the Dynamo's promoted OF Wayne Morgan who was hitting .331/.409/.947 with 7 home runs and 53 RBI's with AAA Newark. Morgan picked up his first career big league hit Friday, going 1-for-3 against Philadelphia with a rbi single that proved to be the difference in a 3-2 Dynamos victory. Detroit cast-off Jim Hawkins has looked like a good pick-up for the Foresters so far. He had a win and a loss over the week but pitched a pair of solid games. Hawkins (5-8, 4.78) was erratic at times in a relief role with Detroit. Both Bill May and Bob Worley adjusted very nicely to their new surroundings after the big Brooklyn-Chicago trade last week. Worley hit .438 with a pair of homers while May hit .393 and stole a couple bases as Chiefs new lead off man. In game matching up a pair of potential future multiple Allen Award winners Pete Papenfus proved he is human after all. Finally takes his first loss and fails to fan at least 5 for first time as a Cougar. Deuce Barrell was his opponent and gets his first win in Baltimore. Deuce went 8 innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned), walking none, and striking out 7. Papenfus gave up 7 runs in 6 innings, but only 2 earned runs. The Cougars had 5 errors in that game. The 5 errors forced Papenfus to throw 122 pitches in those 6 innings. Barrell was also 2 for 3 at the plate with 2 runs scored in that game. Mel Carrol is pretty consistent. Hit .370 with Washington before the deal to Cleveland. Batting average through 19 games as a Forester? Also .370. Brooklyn ended Fred McCormick’s hitting streak at 23 games with an 0-for-5 but he promptly started a new one at 4 games and counting. Hitting .412 so we might get a second straight season with a .400 hitter. Last time that happened was 1921-22. Slocum hit .400 both season while Morris joined him at that plateau in ‘21. Mel Carrol, recently traded from Washington to Cleveland hit .409 a year ago for the Eagles. Two more homers last week for Sal Pestilli and the 22 year old Dynamos star now has 31 on the season, just 2 shy of his league leading 33 a year ago as a rookie. He has an outside shot at 50 this season and one has to think Pestilli stands a chance of one day joining Max Morris as the only FABL players to hit 60 in a season. A quick check in on the rest of the Pestilli clan shows some success as well. Oldest brother Alf (.289,12,51) looks like he has earned himself a full-time spot in the crowded Brooklyn outfield. Joe, a 21 year old infielder in the Pioneers system is having a decent season in the minors after an early promotion to Class A. In 65 games Little Joe is batting .278 with a homerun and 36 rbi's. Finally there is 19 year old Tony who was recently promoted to Class B in the Keystones organization. Tony is an outfielder just like the two oldest siblings. Next home game should put Kings over the 1 million attendance mark for the 4th consecutive season. On pace for over 1.4 this year, easily breaking franchise record set 2 seasons ago of 1.247 million. Percy Sutherland had this to say about the Dynamos today: "You know, I was thinking they were over their heads and would come back down to earth, but now, in August, I have to admit that is a good pitching staff up in Detroit. Really only Stumpy Beaman is surviving on luck, and that's only a little bit (if he just walked a few fewer batters, he'd be fine). They were perhaps lacking an ace, but Jones should help with that (even if his first Detroit start didn't go as planned). The New York Gothams won 2 of three in their showdown with Philadelphia for 6th place and at 41-61 on the season are now 2 games up on the Keystones with the Washington Eagles, having a far more dreadful season that most expected, sit in the cellar. So signs are pointing to us not seeing the 2 New York City teams both finish last for the first time in history. The Continental Association Stars are not having the same luck as it looks more and more everyday like they will finish last in the Ca for the first time in 20 years. A special day coming up in New York as the Bigsby Oval winds down it's time as a big league stadium. On August 20th the Gothams will celebrate the career of Ed Ziehl. Prior to the game against the St. Louis Pioneers the team will celebrate their current manager and greatest player's selection for the new Baseball Hall of Fame. Many former Gothams will join Ziehl on the field as the team announces that no one after Ed will wear a #5 Gothams uniform. 1939 DRAFT PREVIEW NAMES YOU NEED TO KNOW (PART II) A new format means the 1939 draft will arrive much quicker than originally expected as the opening three rounds of the draft, including the newly devised regional selection only third round, will be held in January prior to the top prospects starting their high school senior or college junior campaign. The decision takes the controversial OOTP generated Mock Draft out of the equation, at least for these early rounds, and will likely lead to some surprise picks, similar to what was seen in the second half of the previous decade before the Mock was introduced into the game. To help get baseball fans up to speed TWIFB will regularly publish features on the draft over the coming months. A couple of issues ago we took a look at a dozen position players that might hear their names called in January instead of after the amateur seasons wrap in June, which is when rounds 4-25 will be completed. Now let's turn our attention to the mound and six pitchers that will likely get drafted in January. VIC CARROLL RHP School: Richmond State University Born: New York, NY 1938: 8-4, 2.54 ERA 113 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 CAREER: 16-6, 2.38 ERA 208 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 8.3 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 The lone college arm on the list, the 20 year old has had two solid seasons at the Virginia school. OSA feels he has the potential to be a top of the rotation pitcher with plenty of movement on his pitches. The best of which is an excellent splitter. JIM KENNY LHP School: Holland (MI) High School Born: Holland, MI 1938: 6-3, 1.55 ERA 93 IP, 0.94 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 A small sample to be sure as Kenny's junior season was his first year of organized ball. Not the best stuff according to OSA, but they love his pinpoint command which allows he to keep the ball down in the strike zone. Projected to be a mid-rotation option. MARCUS MANGUM LHP School: Louisa (KY) High School Born: Louisa, KY 1938: 9-2, 1.08 ERA, 117 IP, 0.78 WHIP, 12.7 K/9, 0.9 BB/9 Career: 27-4, 1.53 ERA, 323 IP, 0.93 WHIP, 11.4 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 The 17 year old has shown consistent improvement over his 3 seasons of high school ball and has added 4 miles to his fastball during that time. Possess four solid pitches, each with good movement and has the potential to be a mid-rotation starter. Mangum could become the first pitcher born in the state of Kentucky to ever be selected in the first round of the draft. Only two hitters from Kentucky, Cliff Moss (1927) and Blackie Mefford (1913), were ever first round picks. BART SCHNEIDER RHP School: Rochester (NY) High School Born: Rochester, NY 1938: 7-1, 1.26 ERA, 85 IP, 0.89 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 Career: 24-4, 1.10 ERA, 286 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 1.7 BB/9 Looks like a potential mid-rotation starter. Not the best stuff but he can paint the black with any of his three pitches which include a plus changeup and sharp curve. Just 5'10" 150 pounds so there is hope it will develop as he bulks up but right now his fringe fastball tops out at 86 MPH. PETE THOMPSON RHP School: Uniontown (PA) High School Born: Wilkinsburg, PA 1938: 10-0, 0.79 ERA, 102 IP, 0.77 WHIP, 15.7 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 Career: 19-1, 1.31 ERA, 205 IP, 0.88 WHIP, 12.9 k/9, 1.8 BB/9 Thompson led the nation in K/9 last season and was the only junior pitcher named to the High School All-American team in 1938. While his numbers make him look like a sure-fire first round pick, OSA is not convinced saying flat out they are "not sold" on his elite stuff. In fact OSA has it's doubts about whether he can ever be a starting pitcher in FABL. He is a player possibly worth taking a gamble on with a regional pick so the Miners, Sailors and Keystones will be watching the Pennsylvania native closely. BILLY TURNER RHP School: Redmond (WA) High School Born: Seattle, WA 1938:8-2, 1.14 ERA, 94 IP, 0.86 WHIP, 10.4 K/9, 1.6 BB/9 Career: 17-3, 1.28 ERA, 189 IP, 0.90 WHIP, 10.5 K/9, 1.9 BB/9 A towering presence on the mound at 6'5" and that height likely helps the angle of his best pitch, a great sinker. His other pitches need work but Turner does have excellent command. Not a true ace but OSA sees Turner fitting comfortably into the middle of a big league rotation some day. Only 4 pitchers have ever been drafted in the first round out of the state of Washington and just two of them made the major leagues. The most successful of the 4 was Bernie Johnson of the Toronto Wolves (36-57 so far in his career), who was taken 3rd overall in 1931. Gene White is a 24 year old that the Keystones drafted 15th in 1932 and he is 11-13 over parts of two seasons, including this year, with Philadelphia. The other two are Ted Howe, was taken second overall in 1911 by St Louis but never advanced past AA and Billy Blank - Montreal's first rounder, 14th overall in 1919 who only made it as far as AAA. That is it, no other Washington state born pitcher has ever been selected in the first round. Of course the most famous Washington State baseball player was also a first round selection. The Chicago Cougars selected Olympia, Washington native Bill Ashbaugh 4th overall in 1925 and the second baseman is still with the organization. And before you go thinking that 4 pitchers seems low for Washington State to produce, keep in mind Oregon - while it has had 6 position players go in the first round including Pete Layton and Red Johnson - has never produced a pitcher to be selected in the opening round of any draft. California, on the other hand, has had 27 of them including current Federal Association hurlers Rabbit Day, Dick Higgins, Al Miller, Charlie Wheeler and Chuck Cole. Code: STATES WITH THE MOST PITCHERS SELECTED IN THE FIRST ROUND OF A DRAFT --------------------------------------------------------------- STATE # NOTABLES California 27 Rabbit Day, Dick Higgins, Al Miller Massachusetts 10 George Davis, Stu Pick, Joe Hancock New York 10 Tom Barrell, Mose Smith, Walker Moore Texas 10 Del Plummer, Lou Martino, Chuck Murphy Illinois 7 Oscar Morse, Ernie Henderson, Bob Cummings Georgia 6 Deuce Barrell, Curly Jones, Chick Meehan Michigan 6 Don Cannady, Charlie Stedman Connecticut 5 Art Myers, Lefty Allen, Bobo White Pennsylvania 5 George Thomas, John Edwards, Bill Willman Minnesota 5 Mel Strom, Jim Morrison, Donnie Jones Florida 4 Mike Murphy, Ernie Newman North Carolina 4 Max Wilder, Preacher Pietsch Washington 4 Bernie Johnson, Gene White Alabama 3 Jimmy Clinch, Dan Waldman, Tom Blalock Arkansas 3 Dixie Lee, Charley O'Hare, George Garrison Indiana 3 Delos Dunn, Gus Goulding, Bob Walls Missouri 3 Pete Papenfus, Bunny Edwards The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 08/07/1938 Fighting between Russian and Japan on the Siberian frontier reaches a scale which made it plain that a general war between two of the most powerful armies in the world might be imminent. Meanwhile Tokyo's war with China shows no signs of slowing down. Rebel forces shell Madrid in the heaviest fighting in the Spanish city in months. Rome announces that all foreign Jews will be barred from Italian schools beginning with the fall semester. While FDR remains silent on the matter, the publicity director of the Democratic party says "circumstances may arise which would make it impossible for the President to refuse a third term nomination." Railroads and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen fail to agree on a proposed 15 percent wage cut and will submit their case to a Federal mediator. Thousands crowd Broadway to cheer wrong-way flier Douglas Corrigan, who recently flew solo without instruments from New York to Ireland after filing a flight plan to Los Angeles. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 09-01-2021 at 01:21 PM.