AUGUST 30, 1943
1944 DRAFT PREVIEW: MOCK FIRST ROUND WITH RUBE CARTER
To conclude our summer look at the 1944 draft class, TWIFB calls on long-time scout and former FABL outfielder Rube Carter to give us his "draft board" for the first round. Carter, who retired last fall after twenty years as the Scouting Director for Brooklyn, the Chicago Chiefs and St Louis, was instrumental in drafting a number of the players that played important roles on the Brooklyn Kings dynasty team after he had moved on to Chicago, where he was a staff member for two World Championship winning Chiefs ballclubs.
"The first thing to remember," said the 64 year old Carter, "is the draft board can be fluid especially this early in the process. There are still a lot of fluctuations as our scouts come in with reports, and then there are that final crop of 'discoveries' - players who have not played AIAA or high school ball but burst on to the scene for their draft year. There are usually a few gems like that every year that go in the opening round and bump everyone else down a peg or two. In addition, some teams look at need more than others with their first round selection. Others maybe value college players with a little more certainty to them or high schoolers with perhaps more growth potential so every team has things fairly different, especially after the first two or three guys. That being said, here is how I have my first round right now."
RUBE CARTER'S 1944 MOCK FIRST ROUND
1- ROY SCHAUB - 17 yr old RHP - School: St Joseph's HS, Philadelphia. Hometown: Camden, NJ
It seems clear the Detroit Dynamos will be picking first overall, either with their own pick or the one they acquired from the Gothams. Either way, I see no possibility that the Dynamos choose anyone other than Schaub, who had a record-setting performance this past season that rivals, and in some ways surpasses, anything super high schooler Hiram Steinberg accomplished before Cleveland selected him number one three years ago.
2- JOE ROBINSON 17 yr old Catcher - School: Warren (PA) HS. Hometown: Warren, PA.
The Foresters or Stars are likely picking second. Either way, they both need their catcher of the future and Robinson appears to project to be a very good one. This would be a nice fit for Cleveland, especially, as the Foresters have some great young pitchers and last January selected their shortstop of the next decade in Jim Adams Jr., so "Big Joe", a 6'3" catcher, would fit in perfectly.
3- RICK DIXON - 17 yr old RHP- School: Honey Brook (PA)HS. Hometown: Philadelphia, PA.
Detroit likely picks third as well and I see them potentially looking for a big bat, perhaps one of those late additions who typically show up, but if there is not one to be found I would not be surprised for them to keep the run of Pennsylvania high school stars rolling with the choice of Dixon. He is not quite Roy Schaub but should be a very solid pitching prospect and Detroit would likely be drooling at the prospects of a rotation a few years down the road with Schaub and Dixon leading the way.
4- BEN THOMPSON- 17 yr old RF - School: Yazoo City (MS) HS. Hometown: Yazoo City, MS.
Thompson was the Adwell Award winner as the best high school player in the nation two years ago and a first team All-American selection last season. He looks like a hitting machine, both for power and average.
5-EDDIE LOGAN - 20 yr old 2B - School: Gates University. Hometown: San Francisco, CA.
Logan, who's dad Sherry Logan played college ball at Brunswick University, reminds me a little of Sam Orr. Both are a little on the smallish side but play solid defense and can hit.
6-GARY BURGESS- 17 yr old SS - School: Downey (CA) HS. Hometown: French Valley, CA.
I could see Burgess going ahead of Logan. Both are California born infielders with loads of upside and perhaps Burgess has just a little more upside than Logan, but also is likely a little more risk to taking him as well.
7- DAVE McCRAW - 17 year old SS- School: Xavier HS, New York City. Hometown: New York, NY
Remember last January when shortstop Homer Mills dropped to St Louis at 6th. I can see that happening with McCraw as well as teams may look to a pitcher before he gets selected. It was clear last year that Jim Adams Jr. was #1 and Mills #2 among shortstops but this year it is a little less cut and dried as I could see some teams liking McCraw over Burgess as the top shortstop available. Regardless, both should be gone before the first round gets too far past it's midway point.
8- BERT ROGERS -17 yr old LHP- School: Wenona (IL) HS. Hometown: Chicago, IL
There are always talented Chicago kids in the draft and Rogers is no exception this year. The lefthander has put together two very good high school seasons and FABL clubs love to take pitchers early so expect Rogers likely to be gone in the first half of the opening round.
9- JACK ENTRINGER - 17 yr old RHP - School: Bay City (MI) HS. Hometown: Bay City, MI.
See above for the comment on FABL clubs and their infatuation with pitchers. Entringer looks like he could be a very solid middle of the rotation option so expect him not to last the first round, although there are likely some position players that deserve a look ahead of him.
10: RED RODGERS - 17 yr old C - School: Lewiston (NY) HS. Hometown: Buffalo, NY
If I am picking 10th and Rodgers, a 6'3" 190 lb teen who looks like a prototypical catcher, is still available I am grabbing him instantly.
11: JIM FLOWERS - 17 yr old 1B - School: New Eagle (PA) HS. Hometown: New Eagle, PA
May well be the fourth Pennsylvania high school selected in the first round. I know first baseman get downgraded a lot but I would be tempted to look at Flowers even within the top 10. Great size, at 6'4", 210 lbs, so the worry that the power does not seem to be there should go away as he matures. I see him as a Ron Rattigan type player.
12: CAL YEAGER - 17 yr old C - School: Lodi (OH) HS. Hometown: Lodi, OH
Showed a bit of power in his lone season of high school ball and OSA thinks he can be an above average contact hitter. I don't think he will be a George Cleaves/Tom Bird type but has a great chance to slot into the group just below the elite catchers in the league.
13: FRED TROY - 21 yr old CF - School: Maryland State. Hometown: New York, NY
A key member of the AIAA champion Maryland State Bengals he looks to be an above average big league centerfielder. Perhaps not quite an all-star but a very solid player.
14: LOU McCRIGHT- 17 yr old 3B - school: Clark HS, New Orleans. Hometown: Greenwell Springs, LA
I am hesitant to put McCright in my first round as there are concerns about just how badly he wants to be a big league ballplayer. The talent is there for him to be a very good hitter, maybe even better than .300 if you ask OSA, but I feel he is a risky selection and it all comes down to how hard he is willing to work to ensure his success.
15: EDDIE HALEY - 17 yr old SS - school: Hamburg (IA) HS. Hometown: Omaha, NE
I debated long and hard about putting Haley or Baton Rogue State SS Bill Doucette in this spot. All things being equal I normally lean towards the college guy over a high schooler but Haley performed very well in his one season of high school ball and I feel that may be a springboard for him while Doucette just felt like he underperformed last year.
16: LEE AHLSTROM - 17 yr old RHP- School: Harmony (MN) HS. Hometown: Barnesville, MN.
I can't shake the feeling he is another Donnie or Johnnie Jones, the dominant Minnesota born high school stars now in the Cougars organization. He entered last season as future ace in OSA's mind and then proceeded to put up some strong numbers during the season only to see OSA's opinion on him drop drastically. I am not sure he is a number one like OSA thought a year ago, but I have a hunch he could develop into a middle of the rotation option.
Next week our draft preview coverages looks ahead to 1945, with a way-too-early list of the top prospects eligible a year and a half from now.
Dave Trowbridge got his start in professional baseball like many players these days. The war had cut into the supply of ballplayers sufficiently skilled to hit, catch and throw a baseball which made it perhaps just a little easier for an 18 year old kid fresh out of high school ball to stick with the Evansville outfit of the Heartland League. The only difference between Trowbridge and the many youth that were given opportunities because of Selective Service is that for Trowbridge it happened over 25 years ago and the player shortage was caused by the first World War, not the current situation.
"It's hard to believe how different things were back then," mused Trowbridge over the weekend, "yet in many ways nothing has changed." He paused reflectively and then added, "It has for me though. I'm over the hill. There's always someone younger coming up behind you and in my case there aren't really any people older so it's time to get out."
Three weeks past his 45th birthday, but still a productive regular on a now struggling New York Stars nine, Trowbridge says he will not return next season. With 2895 career hits, 212 homeruns and nearly 2400 games played, the man known as "Father Time" will end his career among the FABL leaders in many key categories including doubles where his 597 tops anyone to ever play the game at it's highest level. His next stop is almost assuredly Boone County and enshrinement in the baseball Hall of Fame. In fact a recent straw poll of scribes saw virtual unanimous support for his candidacy.
John Brinker of the New York Mirror summed up Trowbridge this way: " I think his insane longevity is a part of why I think he IS a HOF though too. He got a late start because he never really got a chance in Pittsburgh and was a key component on some very good (New York Stars) teams in the early 30s before the GM change when he became the best - and in some years, the only good - player on some bad teams. When the Stars again changed hands and soared back into contention, he was again a key cog. I think all that plays into this - his longevity and the fact that he was the best, or one of the best, players on some very, very good teams."
Trowbridge played in 4 World Championship Series, winning two of them with the Stars while hitting an amazing .500 (32-for-64) in WCS play - second highest all-time. He was also selected 4 times for the FABL all-star game. What he has accomplished with his career is even more amazing when you consider he did not become an everyday player until a trade from Pittsburgh to the Stars 3 months before his 30th birthday. What would his numbers have been like with 5 more seasons as an everyday player? Not only was he dealt for a second round pick in 1928 by the Pittsburgh Miners but Trowbridge was also released once - in 1922 by the Montreal Saints.
By the way, the player the Miners drafted with that second round pick they received from Trowbridge just prior to him breaking out with the Stars was a former Whitney College first baseman by the name of Rocky Crawford. Crawford spent a decade in the minors, peaking at AA, before retiring. Think the Miners might want a do-over on that deal?
PIONEERS WIN NINE STRAIGHT
The St Louis Pioneers are suddenly the hottest team in baseball, with 9 straight victories and 21 wins in their last 30 outings. The Pioneers still trail the front-running Boston Minutemen by 5.5 games for the Federal Association lead but they are now in second place and making September relevant to their fans for first time since 1937. Each of their next 6 games and 9 of their next 13 are against either Detroit or New York -owners of the two worst records in the Fed- so if the Pioneers can stay hot they may just make a 3-game series in Boston in the final week of the season very important.
The clock struck midnight on Washington after the trade deadline as the Eagles, enjoying their best campaign in well over a decade, have stumbled to a 9-17 record in August and, unless things turn around very quickly, appear to have been rudely awakened from what was shaping up to be a dream season. Chicago has also struggled despite stocking up on veteran talent in July, and a five-game losing streak a little over week ago derailed the Keystones. That is not to say one -or more- of those three can't get hot and get back into the race but if so it better happen soon.
*** CANNONS EXTEND CONTINENTAL LEAD ***
A 5-2 week allowed the Cincinnati Cannons to add to their lead on second place Toronto atop the Continental Association. It now sits at 5.5 games with the slumping Chicago Cougars clinging desperately to a glimmer of hope as they sit 7.5 off the pace. The Continental race might well be decided during a stretch from September 10-19 when the Cannons and Wolves play 8 game against each other. Both clubs will be well rested as neither plays anyone else during that 10 day period.
8/24/43: 7-6 Loss
With the historically bad loss from the day before behind them, Dynamo starting pitcher Mule Earl was set to put his team back on the right track. For seven innings Mule frustrated the Boston hitters and kept them off the scoreboard while his offense built him a 4-0 lead. Then, as it has happened on a few occasions during this road trip, the Boston offense would wake up and hang a crooked number on the board. The Minutemen hit not one but two three run shots in the eight inning courtesy of Harry Barrell and Joe Watson to chase Earl from the game. Boston starter Walt Wells now looked good for the win as skipper Billy Boshart would hand the ball off to Johnny Harry to pitch the game's final two innings. Harry would promptly blow the save by allowing a single to Don Hersey, a triple to Aart MacDonald and a single to Bill Ball. Interestingly enough Boshart decided to leave Harry into the game for the ninth inning where Harry would surrender another triple, this time to Sid Williams setting up a game winning hit by Frank Vance to win it for Detroit. It was a great moment for Vance who is probably feeling pretty lonely as the team's elder statesmen and the one guy Detroit couldn’t figure a way to ship off at the deadline.
8/25/43: 3-1 Win
It was the Ed Wood show in the series finale as he went eight innings allowing an earned run on seven hits. Johnny Harry, the heel in yesterday's game, was once again asked to close out the game for a save. This time Harry was able to get the job done and pick up save #16 on the year. For Wood it was his 19th victory which puts him into a serious discussion to be this year's Allen Award winner in the FA. Offensively it was Bob Donoghue’s two run homer in the sixth that put Boston ahead for good. The win secured a series split for the Minutemen. Not the best possible outcome but road splits tend to not hurt teams too badly in the standings over the long haul.
Now the road trip will get a few days off and head into the “City of Brotherly Love” to finish the road trip. Ol’ Doc thinks it would be mighty “brotherly” of the Keystones if they would lay down and give the club a four game sweep. However, Ol’ Doc is pretty sure that Keystone skipper Bill Libby will have his boys ready to play and will look to spoil the end of the Boston road trip.
8/28/43: 6-2 (13) Win
The first game of the four game set featured a pair of solid pitching performances from Duke Hendricks of Boston and Jim Whiteley of Philadelphia. Both starters were able to weave their way out of major damage and end their days with 2 earned runs each. Whitely was a bit more effective as he was able to give the Keystones 9.2 innings of work while his counterpart left after seven. The game was tied a two when the bullpens took over and the game stretched to the 13th inning. Once again the Boston offense found a way to strike for a big multi-run inning, this time for four runs, which was enough to secure the victory. Offensively for the Minutemen Pete Day led the club with three hits and Barrell led the club with two RBI’s.
8/29/43: 3-0 Loss
Just over 13,000 fans made it out for Sunday’s game on a beautiful 74 degree day at Broad Street Park. For those fans in attendance they must have left thoroughly impressed with the hometown hurler Red Ross. Ross, the two-time all-star, was fantastic in pitching a five hit shutout. It was the first time that the vaunted Boston offense had been shut out on this entire road trip. Boston starter Paul Richardson was fine in his own regard, as he also pitched a complete game, but he just simply did not have enough to match Red Ross on this day.
Boston has two more games in Philadelphia and then this road trip will be in the books. Currently the Minutemen are 11-7 on the trip so it could easily be called a successful venture. Next for the minutemen is a nine game home stand starting with Pittsburgh for three as the calendar flips over to September.
There is currently a brand new team chasing the Minutemen in the standings and it would be the red hot St. Louis Pioneers who have gone 9-1 in their last ten games. While the Pioneers are still 5.5 games back in the standings they have done some fine work to put themselves in the discussion. At the All-Star game the Pioneers owned a 40-40 record and were eight games out of first. Of course the Minutemen were three games out themselves and in 3rd place. At the deadline the Minutemen found themselves in first by a half a game and St. Louis was languishing in 4th place with a 48-48 record. Then along came August where the Pioneers peeled off a 19-9 compared to Boston’s 14-11 mark. St. Louis has jumped both the Chiefs and Eagles and have the Minutemen firmly in their sights. Odds makers still give Boston about a 90% chance of winning the FA but stranger things have happened. Time is certainly against St. Louis. Even if Boston finished 14-15 in their last 29 games, St. Louis would have to go 20-10 in their last 30 just to pull even at the end of the season and force a playoff. Ol’ Doc understands that you definitely do not want a club to back into a division crown, but he does want to point out that the Minutemen simply have to play even baseball the rest of the way to secure said title.
- Big leaguers in the service will be back. That promise was proclaimed by Fred McCormick after the Ohio native and former Toronto Wolves star spoke following an appearance at Forester Park in Cleveland as part of a military camp exhibition prior to the Wolves-Foresters game on Friday. The 33 year old, who last played professional baseball in May of 1941, says he is confident most former big leaguers will be back when the war is over. McCormick was the first of the front line stars to wear a khaki uniform.
- The talk on Trowbridge's Hall of Fame potential got tongues wagging among scribes in various press boxes around the league. The conversation naturally went to Charlie Stedman, the former Miners hurler and current Marine instructor who won 250 games over his long career. Percy Sutherland of the Chicago Herald-Examiner thinks "Stedman is still just on the outside (even though sentimentally, I would love to see him get it). There are 15 batters with at least 2800 hits. There are 29 pitchers with at least 250 wins (which is Stedman's total). If you up that to 285, now you have 16 players (but without Stedman). Of those 16 pitchers, 6 are in the HOF. I suspect, as a group, we are bit tougher on pitchers than we are on hitters.
- John Brinker of the New York Daily Mirror agreed: "Yes, I don't think Stedman makes it - maybe Veteran's Committee material down the road. I agree on the pitchers. Aside from Trowbridge, my list would be John Lawson, Fred McCormick, Frank Vance, Harry Barrell, Al Wheeler, Bob Martin & Bobby Barrell on the hitters side and Rabbit Day, Jim Lonardo and Lefty Allen (he's 9 years in, so I'm cheating there) on the pitching side (I really like Ed Wood, but I don't know that he has enough seasons left in his career). There are likely more - Tom Bird has a good shot but is outside for me at the moment - this was kind of an off the top of my head kind of thing. Ah, forgot Mel Carrol - he's one too."
- Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News shared his thoughts on the topic as well. "I agree on most of these. Martin is a bit surprising but he was crazy consistent pre injury. But I cant pick him over Hank Barnett. I'd also argue Dick Walker over Martin. Barnett and Walker probably have more left in the tank too. Pitchers I still think Stedman deserves it. Dick Lyons is doing his best to sneak in, but he's running out of time. And he doesn't win enough games so that'll hurt him. If he wasn't a Cougar I likely wouldn't vote for him. Wood is a tough one; I'm a big fan of his but it's close now. I think if he gets 250 wins he deserves it. Insane inning eater with a lot of consistency. But right now he's on the outside looking in."
- Denton Fox of the Pittsburgh Press immediately brought up catcher George Cleaves as a clear candidate.
- As for myself, well when news broke that Trowbridge was retiring my immediate thought was "Next stop, Boone County" Day and Lonardo are locks for me, as are Harry Barrell, Bobby Barrell, Wheeler, Lawson and Vance. Lefty Allen could be but this is a down season for him. Is it just one of those things or is it the start of a downward trend? An arm worn out from pitching so many innings? Denton Fox mentioned it but to me George Cleaves is in as well.
- Changing topics, it has been such a strange season in Chicago. The Chiefs have now had 3 of the 4 Players of the Week in August but have a 13-15 record to show for it.
ARMY BAN IS DRIVING ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS OUT OF FOOTBALL
It was only 10 days ago that Secretary of War Stimson reiterated that Army trainees could not participate in college athletics. Since then schools have fluttered from the football bandwagon with all the grace of nickels spilling from a broken slot machine. Six weeks ago the Associated Press reported that 189 colleges had given up the sport since December 7, 1941. But since the beginning of August 47 more have made their decisions, approximately half of them in the past week.
The Great South Conference was the latest to drop nearly all eligibility rules in an effort to help the members of that circuit along by making any available service man a team prospect. Nearly every other conferences had done the same earlier and most independents planned to follow along, but that move has not been enough to stem the exodus of teams from the sport.
The sections of the country that have benefited and promise to field strong teams are in the Southwestern Alliance and schools in the midwest. Each with a large contingent of Naval and Marine trainees. The sport will go on, of course, but it will be with a greatly reduced field this year and likely for the duration.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 8/29/1943
- Allied planes continue to rain a hurricane of bombs, day and night, on Italian targets. Forces also continue to hit Germany nightly, with Hamburg, Nuremberg and Berlin each the target of large raids. Some reports put the death toll in the Berlin raid at 12,000.
- In their haste to evacuate Kiska with a large U.S. armada on it's way, the last of the Japanese forces razed houses on the island to help build barges in order to attempt to traverse the 70 miles of sea and travel to Buldir Island, where they made rendezvous with small ships.
- Prime Minister Churchill will meet with President Roosevelt in Washington next week as Churchill concludes his visit to Canada.
- Finland has reached out to Britain in helps of brokering a peace agreement with the Russians.
- King Boris III of Bulgaria died of a mysterious ailment, plunging the invasion menaced Balkans into the most severe crisis since the Nazi sweep through Yugoslavia and Greece two years ago. Six year old Prince Simeon immediately ascended the throne with control of the number one Axis satellite country placed in the hands of a council of ministers.