December 5, 1938
HALL OF FAME PREPARES TO WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
This year the new inductees into the baseball Hall of Fame will be voted in by members of the baseball media unlike the previous two years when a special committee headed by Rufus Barrell announced who would compromise the class of inductees. Before we begin to speculate on just who the 1939 inductees might be let's look at the list of those already admitted to the Hall, which is under construction in Boone County, Illinois: the hometown of FABL founder William Whitney. The building is slated to open in 1941.
1937 CLASS:
ALLAN ALLEN (1890-1909: Cougars, Toronto, Cleveland) -Double Al is the greatest pitcher of all-time, so good that the trophy awarded to the top pitcher in each circuit every season is named after him. Had the award been around when he was a player Allen may well have won over a dozen of them. He won a record 514 games in his career and is the all-time leader in a number of categories including games and innings pitched.
MAX MORRIS (1914-1937: Cleveland, St Louis, Gothams, Detroit) - Mighty Mo revolutionized the game with his astounding power and is one of only 3 players to surpass the 3,500 hit plateau while hitting a FABL record 711 homers and delivering 2,257 rbi's. He also won a record 8 Whitney Awards and as if that was not enough Morris, who began his big league career as a pitcher, won 82 games.
CHARLIE SIS (1903-1921: St Louis, Toronto) - Only Double Al won more than the 395 victories Sis posted over his stellar career. He is the all-time leader in career strikeouts and one of just 2 pitchers to top the 3,000 mark. Sis' 94 shutouts are also a FABL record.
POWELL SLOCUM (1905-1925: Baltimore, Brooklyn) -The career batting average and hits leader won 15 batting titles and 4 Whitney Awards in his career. His .435 average in 1913 is the highest single season total in FABL history and he has more career singles (3194) than all but 7 players have hits in their career. He is presently the manager in Brooklyn and has led the Kings to three straight Continental Association pennants.
JOHN WAGGONER (1897-1914: Stars, Gothams) -His 194.4 is the highest career WAR in FABL history and Waggoner is 7th all-time with 3,207 hits. He never won a batting title or led his association in a triple crown category but he led in doubles 4 times, stolen bases twice and triples once and was a key member of 3 World Championship New York Stars teams in the first decade of this century.
1938 CLASS
JOHN DIBBLEE (1906-1932: Cougars) -Dibblee had 3,913 career hits, all with the Chicago Cougars and helped them win 3 World Championships. Only fellow hall of famer Powell Slocum had more hits over his career than Dibblee, who won a pair of Continental Association batting titles and was named the winner of the Whitney Award in 1911. That 1911 season saw Dibblee hit .422 which is the third highest single season total since the turn of the century. Dibblee is FABL's all-time leader in at bats and ranks in the top five in virtually every career offensive category.
MIKE MARNER (1907-1918: Baltimore, Detroit, Brooklyn, Washington) -Marner won 325 games over an 11 year career primarily with Baltimore but also included stops in Brooklyn, Detroit and Washington. The 325 victories, which is tied with fellow inductee Woody Trease, for 6th most all-time are even more impressive when one considers the fact his career ended at the age of 31. Marner burst on to the scene with Baltimore as a 19 year old in 1907 when he led the CA in wins and ERA. He would lead the CA in wins seven more times in the next 8 years, surpassing the 30-victory mark six times but by the age of 29 his career was basically over. Arm troubles, possibly caused by the strain of throwing over 400 innings in six of his first 9 seasons led to Baltimore releasing him in 1917. He bounced around for the next 3 years including a final season in the minors before retiring following the 1919 campaign. Marner was a member of 3 World Championship winners in Baltimore.
WOODY TREASE (1901-1912: Boston, Detroit) - Trease and Marner are not only tied in career victories but also linked by the relative brevity of their careers. Like Marner, Trease was out of baseball at the age of 31 due to arm troubles. He led the Federal Association in wins 5 times and was a key member of a pair of World Championship clubs with Boston. He would win a third title after being dealt to Detroit, pitching in 8 World Championship Series over his career. He is the all-time WCS leader in career games pitched, innings thrown and strikeouts. Trease also holds the rare distinction of being the only FABL player ever to have his father catch a major league game with him on the mound. His dad was Lynwood Trease, a turn of the century star who also managed the Boston club to the 1904 WCS, with Woody as his star pitcher. Like his dad, Woody would go on to have a long minor league managerial career and remains in charge of the San Francisco Hawks, the Great Western League affiliate of the Philadelphia Sailors. He has led the Hawks to 5 GWL titles in the past seven years. His son Lyn Trease is an 18 year old rookie pro with the Brooklyn Kings after being selected in the 4th round of last summer's draft.
ED ZIEHL (1906-1929: Gothams) -Ziehl was and still remains the face of the New York Gothams. He has been with the organization for over 30 years, first as a player where he appeared in 3025 FABL games and had 3,496 hits to go with a .322 career average and then since 1928 he has been the club's manager. Ziehl won 4 Whitney Awards as a player and led the Federal Association in batting average on 7 occasions. He never played in a World Championship Series but since taking over as skipper he has led the Gothams to four of them including 1935 when the club won it's first WCS since 1896. Ziehl's son Eddie is a minor league infielder in the Gothams system.
GEORGE THEOBALD (1883-1898: Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cougars, Stars, Boston) -He played over 1400 FABL games but George Theobald is in the Hall because of what he did after his playing career. He has spent 30 years in a big league dugout as manager first with Boston and later Detroit while guiding his clubs to 4 WCS titles which ties him with current New York Stars skipper Bill Craigen for the most WCS wins. Theobald's record 2331-2015 as a manager places him first all-time after he came out of retirement by the Detroit Dynamos - a club he is a minority owner of - and back into the dugout following the abrupt retirement of Max Morris last winter and he nearly pulled off a miracle leading the Dynamos from 7th the previous season to challenging for the pennant before ultimately settling for second place this past summer.
WILLIAM WHITNEY -Whitney becomes the first non-player to be enshrined. He truly is the founding father of not only FABL but really deserves credit for creating the sport of professional baseball as it was his efforts that were instrumental in the formation of the Century League back in 1876. To further recognize Whitney's impact on the game it was announced last year that the building housing the Hall of Fame will be constructed in Whitney's hometown of Boone County, Illinois. The building is slated to open in 1941.
1939 POTENTIAL CANDIDATES
We still have very few details of how the voting process will work beyond the fact that it has been announced that members of the baseball media will be submitting their selections. It is not known if they will be required to select players from a pre-determined list or if the choice is wide open, nor have any rules yet been released on the minimum votes required for a player to gain admittance. Nevertheless, that will not stop TWIFB from taking a look at some of the greats of the game we feel are worthy of consideration to be included in the Hall of Fame Class of 1939. There are certainly plenty of others but here are 10 we feel deserve serious thought. They are listed in alphabetical order:
JACK ARABIAN (1896-1915: Cleveland, St Louis) -Well before Max Morris there was another famous player who left Cleveland for the St Louis Pioneers as Arabian, after winning 3 Continental Association batting titles, was dealt to the Pioneers in 1910 where he finished out his career. He is 6th all-time in career hits with 3,391 and of the five men ahead of him only Zebulon Banks is not already in the Hall. Arabian is also third all-time in doubles trailing only Thomas Watkins and Hall of Famer John Waggoner.
ZEBULON BANKS (1876-1898: Keystones, Brooklyn) -One of the first great stars of the game, Banks retired with 3,423 career hits and would have have many more had the early years of his career not seen a much shorter schedule. He was a member of 4 championship clubs in Philadelphia but all were before the advent of the World Championship Series and all but the last prior to the formation of FABL. He is fifth all-time in career hits and 9th in games played.
JIM GOLDEN (1909-1920: Detroit) -Golden is the only pitcher ever to win a Whitney Award (he won two of them) and he would have had an handful of Allan Awards if they were around when he pitched. Despite having only 11 healthy seasons he won 269 games for the Dynamos while losing just 158. His 35 win campaign in 1916 is tied with Hall of Famer Mike Marner for the most in a single season after the turn of the century and he topped the 30 win mark three times in his career. He won 4 WCS rings with Detroit and is 8-2 all-time in the Series, which gives him more career playoff wins than any other player in history. Golden is also one of just a handful of pitchers to throw a no-hitter, doing so against Washington in 1915. A back injury ended his career at the age of 31.
GEORGE JOHNSON (1907-1926: Washington, Boston) - There have been a number of players named George Johnson through out FABL history but only one earned the moniker "Big George". This George Johnson was a dominant pitcher primarily with Boston but started and finished his big league career with the Washington Eagles. He counted 8 twenty-win season including a 31 win 1916 among his 311 career victories. That number is special because no one else since Johnson won his 300th in 1925 has approached that magic number for his career although some speculate Rabbit Day may one day do it. Johnson tossed a no-hitter in 1914 and won a World Championship Series with the Minutemen in 1912.
OSSIE JULIOUS (1891-1906: NY Imperials, Gothams, Toronto) -Julious played 1572 major league games as a third baseman posting a career .326 average while winning 4 World Championship Series rings and was MVP of the 1898 series when he hit .600 for Toronto in a 5 game win over Pittsburgh but he is on this list for what he did after his playing career. "Oysters" spent 30 seasons as a major league manager leading Toronto to the 1911 World Championship before moving on to Baltimore. Only Hall of Famer George Theobald won more games as a manager than the 2276 Julious' did and his 4,694 games in the dugout are more than any other skipper in FABL history. His career record is below .500 but it is tainted by some bad teams in his final seasons with both the Wolves and Cannons.
RANKIN KELLOGG (1925-1938: Keystones) -Not much more to say about Kellogg that has not already been said in recent weeks following his life threatening illness diagnosis. Only Max Morris hit more than the 475 homers Kellogg belted for the Philadelphia Keystones and prior to his illness he was a great example of durability, missing just 4 games in the first 12 years of his career and 14 in total. Three triple crowns, three Whitney Awards, 4 all-star selections and a pair of World Championship Series wins are other highlights of Kellogg's career. We are not sure yet if there will be a waiting period before a retired player is eligible but if there is one implemented, the suggestion here is it should be waived for Kellogg.
CALVIN KIDD (1890-1909: Cougars, Baltimore, Gothams) - Another member of the 3,000 hit club Kidd stroked 3,169 of them during his 17 year big league career. He led his league in batting once and finished with a .311 career batting average but as good as he was at the plate it was Kidd's defense that awed fans and players alike. Nicknamed 'The Wizard of Wausau' for his magic with the glove at shortstop, the Wisconsin native was one of the best defenders of his generation.
THOMAS WATKINS (1888-1904: Washington, Baltimore, Toronto, Gothams) - Won 5 batting titles including a pair of season when he hit over .400, the outfielder notched 3,143 career hits - good for 9th most all-time. He is baseball's all-time leader in doubles with 581 despite only leading his league in that category 3 times in his career.
JOE WARD (1908-1927: Montreal, Chiefs) -Ward is one of just 10 players to record over 3,000 career hits and while he never won a batting title he was a triples machine. Playing in Parc Cartier certainly aided him in that regard but 8 of the top 11 seasons for most triples belong to Ward and his 574 three baggers are most in that category - 30 ahead of Hall of Famer John Dibblee and nearly 200 more than any other player in the history of the game. He is also 13th all-time in runs scored and only 6 players appeared in more FABL games than the 2,534 Ward took the field for. He won back to back Whitney Awards in 1915-16 and led the Saints to a pair of World Championship Series wins. Following his playing days he moved to the Manager's chair first with Montreal and most recently the Chicago Chiefs, whom he has led to 2 World titles in the past three seasons.
CHARLIE WILSON (1889-1901: Boston, Gothams, Sailors, Chiefs) -Wilson is one of several turn of the century pitchers who could be considered and may one day be enshrined. Others include Aaron Wright, Jack Long, Morris Harris and Alexander Elliott. All are likely longshots on this ballot but we chose to highlight Wilson because of what his career could have been as much as for what it was. Nicknamed "The Tar Heel Thunderbolt", the Carolina native had a stretch in the 1890s when he was one of the most dominant pitchers of all-time. He led his Association in strikeouts 6 times, wins 5 times and had the lowest ERA in 5 straight years while pitching for 3 clubs during that time frame. He threw a lot of innings, over 400 each of his final 8 full seasons, and by 1901 at the age of 29 his arm was out of bullets and Wilson never pitched in the majors after turning 30. Despite that his 332 career wins place him 5th all-time and his 1,927 strikeouts are 12th most in that category.
Those are 10 names that will likely be on the short-list of most voters when information on the Hall is released, likely in the next few weeks. Hall of Fame induction announcement in the past two years have been made in early January. Another good possibility to consider is not a player, or at least not a big league player. Rufus Barrell suffered a career ending injury in a pre-season game before his FABL playing days ever got started but he has gone on to become one of the most knowledgeable and respected men in the sport and a co-founder of the league's scouting service, OSA. Whenever another non-player gains induction to join William Whitney in the executive category you have to think it will be Rufus Barrell who's name is added.