AUGUST 7, 1939
NEW MONTH, NEW MINERS
Happy to get a dreadful July behind them the Pittsburgh Miners started August with a bang, as the bats were booming to the tune of 36 runs in 6 games and 5 victories for the Miners. Pittsburgh limped through the tail end of July, dropping 9 of their final 12 but last Tuesday it was a completely different story as Lefty Allen out-dueled new Detroit starter Mike Murphy in a 3-0 Pittsburgh victory to get August off to a good start for the Pennsylvania gang. The next day Detroit did return the favour with Frank Crawford winning his league leading 18th game in a 3-0 shutout of hard-luck Charlie Stedman and the Miners but instead of a prolonged losing streak the Miners responded with 4 straight victories: one over Detroit to take the series and then a 3-game sweep of the struggling New York Gothams.
The result is with the 5-1 week the Miners are back to within 2 games of the Federal Association lead which is jointly held by Detroit with the Boston Minutemen just a half game back of the Dynamos.
In the Continental Association things are also heating up as the Brooklyn Kings, the hottest team since the all-star break with 13 wins in 19 games, are suddenly just 3 games out of first place. The Kings and Philadelphia Sailors share third spot with the Cleveland Foresters and New York Stars tied for the lead. The Montreal Saints are still in the mix as well, at just 3.5 off the leaders pace.
BARRY RETURNS HOME IN DEADLINE BEATING DEAL
With all of the excitement in the weeks leading up to the July 31st deadline last Monday it comes as little surprise that deadline day itself was very quiet on the trade front. Not only was the day itself a rare dark day as all 16 clubs were off but it also saw just one big league deal made. On the surface it looked like a fairly minor trade as the Cleveland Foresters sent aging third baseman Charlie Barry back to the team he began his career, moving Barry to the Boston Minutemen in exchange for
24 year old minor league outfielder Cal Howe and a 6th round draft pick. However, if one dives deeper that move could, under certain circumstances end up having quite an impact on the two pennant races.
Barry is 40 years old and clearly nearing the end of an outstanding career that began with the Minutemen in 1924 before sending him to Cleveland just over 5 years ago. Along the way he has collected nearly 2300 hits, won a batting title, a World Championship and made 3 all-star teams. The player Cleveland receives is a 24 year old outfielder who was sitting on the bench in AAA Columbus. Cal Howe was a third round pick out of North Carolina Tech in 1936 who did play 19 games for the Minutemen a year ago, batting .235. This season he was hitting .310 in Columbus but deemed only good enough to start 5 games. OSA has felt he has some offensive potential but had not been given the opportunity in Boston. Perhaps a change in scenery will allow that potential to bloom.
JIGGS MCGEE's TAKE: Before you think this was purely a sentimental move to bring a fan favourite back to Boston for a few pinch-hit appearances as the Minutemen try to win their first pennant since 1915 one should look closer at Barry. Yes he is 40 years old but he is hitting .340 while almost exclusively facing lefthanders and was platooning at first base for the Foresters with Bill Moore. Boston probably would have preferred it if Barry was a lefthanded hitter as he would have been an ideal third base pairing with fellow RHB Mack Sutton (.217,13,46), who has tremendous power but as of yet the 22 year old has been unable to get on base consistently. I would think Barry will get some starts when Sutton is struggling as he was the week before the deadline when he went just 4-for-21. If nothing else Barry gives the Minutemen a dangerous bat off the bench and some added insurance were something to happen to often injured first baseman Bob Donoghue (.341,18,74), who is having a breakout season at 26.
The deal makes great sense from Boston's end at a fairly low cost. I am confounded though in trying to figure out why Cleveland felt the need to unload Barry at time when they seem to be in the thick of a pennant chase. The Foresters had a tough week heading into the deadline as a 3-game sweep suffered at the hands of New York left them 3.5 games back of the first place Stars but the race in the CA is wide open and the Foresters have to still think they are part of it. So why deal Barry, who has looked very good in a platoon with Bill Moore at first base, and receive nothing that will help them in their pennant pursuit this year? Barry was a valuable piece in Cleveland, maybe not beyond this season but certainly for the next two months and this move can't help but be looked at by Foresters players and opponents alike as the team's management has little confidence in it's ability to challenge for the CA crown this year. One has to think that the club happiest to see this move made might just be the New York Stars.
COUGARS ADD JOHNNIE JONES IN MINOR LEAGUE DEAL
Just last week it was discussed how much different the fates of several organizations might have turned out had the Detroit Dynamos selected Johnnie Jones instead of Sal Pestilli with the first pick in the 1936 draft. Well Jones is back in the news this week as the Washington Eagles dealt the 21 year old lefthander to the Chicago Cougars in exchange for minor leaguers Chubby Hall and Les Scott. Jones was 8-11 with a 5.21 era at AA this season while the 22 year old Hall, an outfielder selected in the third round in 1935, was hitting .372 with 16 homers after splitting the season between A and AA. Scott is a 21 year old infielder who was selected in the fourth round in 1936 and is batting .271 at the Class B level.
JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE:This one shocks me. I get the Eagles wanted some offense - which in itself seems like a strange thing to say about a team that traditionally had loads of offense but little pitching - but I really have to wonder why they gave up on Jones so quickly. The Stars organization messed Jones up, playing him sparingly and pitching him out of the pen when they did, and yes he has struggled with his control and avoiding bats with his pitches at AA but this trade just doesn't seem well thought out by the Eagles.
Over the winter they traded a fair bit of their offense in moving Moxie Pidgeon (along with Mel Hancock Jr. and a decent depth pitcher in Robert Curry) for three pitching prospects with Jones being the best of the three. Now 6 months later they send Jones for an outfielder they hope one day might compare to Pidgeon.
Hall certainly is a talented outfielder and OSA has the two ranked nearly dead even on the prospect pipeline but in truth pitchers ranked in the top 25 are a heck of a lot more valuable than corner outfielders. I am also not sure what the urgency was on the Eagles part to get this deal done as the clock struck midnight on the trade deadline. Perhaps if they wanted to move him Washington would have been wiser to wait until the season was over and see what the open market might have brought in return. I have a hunch it could have been a lot more than just a comparably ranked outfield prospect.
Based on his performance the past couple of season Jones does not come without risk but outfielders like Hall are much easier to find than pitching prospects with Jones' pedigree. A risk well worth taking on Chicago's part and the Cougars staff could certainly be something if Jones pans out. In Jones and Pete Papenfus they have a pair of potentially great 21 year old arms who were selected 2 picks apart in the '36 draft.
ANOTHER LOST SEASON IN NEW YORK
Courtesy of The New York World Telegram
Over in Manhattan the Stars are shocking the CA sitting in first place as we move through the dog days of August. Down in Brooklyn the Kings have fought off a slow start and find themselves three games back. And here in Queens the Gothams sit in their shiny new ballpark in 7th place again. A shiny new park that has more empty seats by the week. Fan interest is waning. One must wonder, what's next for the Gothams?
Sure the offense is decent for a FA ballclub. Youngsters Billy Dallton and Mule Monier are having solid seasons. Aging vet Bud Jameson has found the fountain of youth, the outfield is producing. So what went wrong? Maybe it was Rufus Barrell, maybe someone else who once said, 'Baseball is 90% pitching'. If that is true it certainly explains the Gothams ongoing troubles. Basically, there is no pitching. Sure, veteran Oscar Morse gives you a mediocre start every few days. And a few days of grumbling and self-serving comments in between. Sure, young Nate Spear has been pretty much untouchable when he can drag his body to the mound. Sure it's exciting to dream about the possibilities of Bunny Edwards, when he's not getting batted around the big new stadium. However, most certainly, there is nothing at all behind them. A parade of less than competent young men trudging to the mound, then heading to the showers several innings later. You've seen them, Killebrew, Birdwell, Gentry, Wise, etc.
Where has it gone wrong? Apparently ownership is not blaming manager Ed Ziehl who was recently handed a 3 year extension and a raise. There's only one person who can have the finger of fate pointing towards him. GM Tom Ward is on the hottest of hot seats. For three years we've heard about the young talent on the way to New York. The #1 farm system, the endless stream of prospects on the way. We've been impressed by Monier and Dalton, much less so by Brewer and Edwards. Something better happen soon. One wonders of Ward gets another season. Owner Leland Winthrop is getting impatient. Gothams fans are getting impatient. And maybe a little jealous of their crosstown rivals. Something must give. Soon.
LIGHT, HEAT AND POWER
Courtesy of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Night baseball, to coin a phrase, is here to stay. Seriously, none of us ever doubted that after Kings owner Daniel Prescott put on his first performance at Kings County Ballpark last year, following the lead of the Marshall clan in Cleveland. Few, however, have realized just how smashing a success has been scored by baseball under the bulbs.
The Associated Press batted out a flock of figures yesterday which indicate that the 41 night games around the league this year will draw close to 800,000 paying fans. With all of the additional turnstile tremors it is easy to see that there will only be more evening encounters going forward.
Cleveland owner Ricky Marshall and the Kings' Prescott certainly deserves the bulk of the credit and plenty of gratitude from their fellow ballclub barons. Night baseball was strictly sticks stuff, good enough to save the minors from the fate of the American Buffalo, but was hardly considered in keeping with the dignity of major league ball. That is until Ricky Marshall came along and got it started in Cleveland with Prescott quickly following in Brooklyn.
Later this season Prescott, always a man to try something new, will put on the first televised major league games in the contest between the Cleveland Foresters and the Kings slated for Saturday September 2nd. Television, of course, has not reached the point where the major league magnates are forced to ponder another problem, but the experiment probably will result in priceless publicity for the Brooklyn club.
The magnates can thank Prescott for night ball, but they probably do not listen ear-to-ear with him on radio. Washington, the Boston club and the two new York clubs are rumoured considering dropping the bars on broadcasting next year. The magnates, however, cannot blame Prescott for that situation. He did not introduce the microphone to baseball.
Prescott probably will tell you that radio is helping Kings County. That remains to be seen. This department believes the most important factors in Brooklyn's bumper attendance the past have decade are the improved ballclub, regularly a title contender, and in the introduction of night ball. It will be interesting to see what sort of impact television may one day have on the game.
QUICK HITS
- The Brooklyn Kings are back in the pennant race after they won 17 of their last 23 games, thanks in no small part to spending much of that time at home where they are 33-20. On the road it is a different story as the Kings are a less than stellar 17-25 away from Kings County. So a big test of whether or not they are going to make a run at a record fourth consecutive CA pennant comes this week as Brooklyn visits Philadelphia and Cleveland for 7 games.
- Are the New York Stars a victim of TWIFB cover jinx? Stars got top billing in last week's issue only to have a tough 1-6 sim in meetings with Cleveland and the Philadelphia Sailors this week.
- Stars skipper Otto Schmidt scoffs at the notion of a jinx. "Well we were due for a bad week," admitted the rookie manager. "And things were picking up at the end of the week losing then winning 1 run contests. Rough patches happen. And to be fair, we barely beat Cleveland in 2 of the games last week through sheer good luck."
- A big part of the Stars problem last week is that veterans Dave Trowbridge and Ray Cochran have gone ice cold. They were New York's top hitters and having them both not produce at the same time is an issue.
- Bright future for Montreal? For the third month in a row the rookie of the month award goes to a Saints player. After 3B Mark Burns won the award in May and June, this time SP Bill Stewart is getting the honor. Stewart, a 23 year old, started the season in Minneapolis and was called back to Montreal in June. Since then he has been fantastic showing a FABL record of 6-0, 3.95 ERA, 110ERA+ with a 5.2 K/9 in 12 games.
- The Pittsburgh Miners’ bats got cooking again this past week. But poor, hard luck Charlie Stedman. 9-11 with a 2.79 era. Miners were shut out by Detroit in Stedman's start last week. That makes 13 of his 24 starts that Pittsburgh has scored 3 runs or less. In comparison the Miners have only scored 3 times or less in 6 of Bill Ketterman's 21 starts, 7 of Lefty Allen's 26 starts and 8 of Karl Johnson's 23.
- Taking 2 of three from both the Keystones and Boston this week got the St Louis Pioneers back to .500. Since the all star break they have won five of six series losing 2/3 at home vs Boston being the only blemish but as mentioned above St Louis made up for it by winning two of three in Boston this past week. However, it was a rough week for the two newest Pioneer rookies. Hometown boy Harry Sharp (0-3, 7.71) was sent down to Oakland and another rookie, Cal Roe, will take his place. Artie D'Alessandro hit .050 for the week but he will keep his spot for now despite the fact the 22 year old second baseman is hitting just .211 18 games into his big league career.
- The Pioneers have a chance to push their record over .500 against Washington. The Eagles owned the Pioneers early in the season taking 5 of the first 6 between the teams, but Pioneers battled back to win 5 of the last 7.
- The Eagles have decided to sit down second baseman Johnnie Sundberg (.227,5,52). Rookie Karl O'Reilly, who is batting .364 in 13 games since being called up from Kansas City, will take over as the starting second baseman. The Eagles also recalled 25 year old outfielder Jim Hanshaw, who is hitting .299 in 37 big league games spread over the past two seasons. Washington had a nice June, going 16-13 but since then are 14-19 including a FABL worst 6-12 since the all-star break.
- Looks like the Chicago Chiefs finally answered their wake-up call. Since July 1st the Chiefs are 21-13 but it is likely too late to be a factor in this year's Federal Association race.
- Are things looking up for Baltimore fans? The Cannons are 9-7 since the break. A far cry from Brooklyn's 13-6 or the 12-6 mark St Louis and the Chiefs share but much better than the Keystones and Wolves (6-11) or Washington (6-12) but I can't remember the last time I noticed Baltimore over .500 in anything I looked at.
- The success of night games was addressed by Brooklyn Eagle columnist Jimmy Woods. It is not just the Kings that have been playing night games. Cleveland, Pittsburgh, the Chicago Chiefs, the New York Stars, Toronto and Washington all have lights in their stadiums and it is just a matter of time before more teams join them.
- Another sign of why Toronto is struggling so much this season. 21 year old George Garrison, who showed some promise last year, was being counted on to have a big season but the youngster is on his way back to Buffalo for what is hoped to be a confidence boost after a 5-10, 4.42 start to the season with the Wolves.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 08/06/1939
- Croats invite Hitler to enter Yugoslavia. That message came from the Croatian leader Vladko Machek who vowed that Croatia would secede from Yugoslavia unless it's autonomy demands were met.
- Danzig continues to see unrest and is in conflict with Polish customs guard over exports but so far little is being said about the situation from Germany.
- British Parliament adjourned for a two-month vacation this week after hearing Prime Minister Chamberlain warn Japan that Great Britain may find it necessary "in certain circumstances" to send a fleet to the Far East. Chamberlain adds "I do not say this as a threat but only as a warning."
- In a new book entitled "The Fate of Man" noted author H.G. Wells predicts World woe and says humanity is doomed if it doesn't reform. Wells calls Hitler "an unqualified horror", Chamberlain "essentially ignorant, narrow-minded and subconsciously timid" and Japan's rulers "Nazis without a Hitler."
- In the latest strike related violence in the United States, heavily armed National Guard troops to put down an "insurrection" involving 400 striking workers and nearly as many vigilantes at the site of the Federal Government's dam and tunnel project in Colorado's Blue River Canyon.