Editor's note- Figment is on a one week pause after the completion of the 1945 World Championship Series as our commissioner is unavailable for the week due to work commitments. So we will have a daily update or two as news arrives while we wait.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 12, 1945
CHANGES COMING
Like every aspect of our society, baseball was greatly impacted over the past four years due to the world war. The war is over and now close to 1,500 professional ballplayers are returning home and like millions of other soldiers and sailors looking to return to work. The issue that many will find is the sport only has a finite number of jobs. Roughly 135 openings in the minor league system of each organization plus 24 on the big league roster. Nearly all of those positions were filled -although many with over the hill veterans or youngsters clearly not up to the snuff of pre-war baseball- and now the trickle that began a year ago with some players returning to the sport has become a gushing hose that will leave most organizations forced to cut roughly 50 players each, and that is just to get to manageable numbers for spring camp. Once the season starts there could be another 300-400 players across the league suddenly out of work.
There is never much of an off-season for the front office braintrust of each FABL club, and never has that applied more than this year. The Cincinnati Cannons say they cut 43 players in the two days after their season came to an end with a World Championship Series loss to the Philadelphia Keystones. Most were raw minor leaguers few have ever heard of but there were some big league names in the group including veteran pitchers Larry Brown and Fred Hall as well as aging slugger Dan Fowler.
"We wanted to give these men as much time as possible to find employment elsewhere should they wish to continue their pro careers," explained Cincinnati Assistant General Manager Red Franklin. "They were all quality people but we are going to be in a position where there will not be positions in our organization so we felt we owed it to them to make that perfectly clear right away."
Many other organizations were doing much the same as baseball enters what surely will be its busiest off-season since the war began, and quite possibly busiest ever. Percy Sutherland of the Chicago Herald-Examiner notes it will be toughest for those guys who were on the bubble--5th and 6th outfielders, utility infielders--who have been replaced by other (younger) guys on the bubble. They are the ones who will need the Mexican league.
There has been talk that of a new league forming, possibly in Mexico, to meet the demand for more baseball -both from fans eager for a return to normalcy and many talented players who will be looking for work, but so far nothing concrete has been announced about a new summer league or the possible winter loop being discussed for Cuba.
Change is coming and in many cases has already started. Here is a look around the league at early news from many of the 16 organizations:
CHIEFS- Big names leaving the Chiefs organization so far are Les Zoller (1941 - 1945, 128 games started, 1056 IP, 55 wins, 62 losses, 3.85 ERA) and Jim Watson, was plucked out of the Rule 5 draft in December of 1940 and spent the war years (1941 - 1945) as the Chiefs primary left fielder. In 643 games, he hit .294/.349/.440 with 42 home runs and 272 RBI. A WAR of 12.7 and a wRC+ of 128. Watson, as it would turn out, became one of the best Rule 5 selections ever made. Sutherland adds that "Some of this feels harsh: You've served your country for the last four years, thank you for your service, here's your release."
COUGARS- Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News says the Cougars are busy prepping for next season and the organization is very excited to be at full strength again. They are returning a lot of really talented players:
Last Full Season
Leo Mitchell (1944, 150 WRC+)
Hank Barnett (1944, 137 WRC+)
Clark Car (1943, 134 WRC+)
Billy Hunter (1944, 132 WRC+)
Ray Ford (1942, 130 WRC+)
Carlos Montes (1942, 119 WRC+)
Pete Papenfus (1941, 140 ERA+)
Donnie Jones (1942, 133 ERA+)
Joe Brown (1943, 130 ERA+)
Johnnie Jones (1943, 111 ERA+)
CINCINNATI- Cannons parted ways with a number of veterans including the previously mentioned Fred Hall, Larry Brown and Dan Fowler who all spent some time with the big club this year. Other cuts with big league experience in their past include John Langille, Billy Winfrey, Harry Pickering and Levi Redding.
DETROIT- Freddie Farhat of The Detroit World reports the Dynamos have already done some cutting with a few veterans including the disgruntled Bill Ball cut loose. Farhat adds that Detroit will have quite a youth movement on their hands next season. While they have collected a crew of veterans the belief is that the Dynamos will be making a lot of changes. If they both return though P Jim Lonardo and now 1B Frank Vance will be welcomed back and pursuing their milestones. Lonardo needs 8 wins for 300 and Vance needs 30 hits for 3000.
Expect the following rookies to be on the opening day roster: 2B Del Johnson, SS Stan Kleminski, IF Win Hamby. CF Edwin Hackberry, P Wally Hunter, OF Dick Estes and perhaps a few more.
MONTREAL- Marc McNeil of the Montreal Star reports that 40yo veteran Ernie Baker been released by the Saints after getting his 201st win this season. Finished the season with 7 losses in a row. 18 year veteran played for the Sailors and Montreal, 3x All-star and 1 WCS chamions with Philly... Baker did not confirm his retirement yet but said he will consider all options!
NY STARS- The Stars have the '46 roster pretty well set, according to Artie Mortimer of the New York Herald-Tribue. Some tough cuts for sure. Lew Seals may be up for grabs on the block. We have a lot of OF talent ready for the Figs and he may be the odd man out.
KEYSTONES- No rest for the new World Champs. The Keystones will need to figure out a few things says Johnny Bologna of the Philadelphia Inquisitor. Including:
- 1B: Hans Wright returns, how much gas does Harry Shumate have left?, did Leo Costello impress enough to stick?, is it time for Nate Power?
- 3B: Hank Koblenz returns, Davey Robicheaux might take a few starts, what to make of Frank Covarrubias's time with the Keystones?
- LF: Robicheaux returns, will that move Bobby Barrell back to RF?
- CF: Bob Griffiths returns and will be in the mix for the Keystones, will Charlie Enslow get more playing time?, will Chuck Hood be a spare OF or be traded?
- RF: If Barrell slides over to RF, will Hank McKay be a spare OF or be traded?
- Pitching staff: Lloyd Stevens, Pepper Tuttle, and Abe Abingdon return, who stays in the rotation (Ross, Brooks, Whiteley, Grimes, Brown). Who slides to the bullpen and what does that mean for Gene White, Herman Patterson, and Tim Walters? Will prospects Sid Moulton or even Joe Quade make a dent in '46?
PITTSBURGH- Denton Fox of the Pittsburgh Press reports that the Miners are hoping George Cleaves and Pablo Reyes still have gas in the tank. That’s potentially 10-15 WAR coming back if they both didn’t lose a step.
TORONTO- Brett Bing of the Toronto Mail & Empire reports the Wolves have cleared their goal of slashing $50,000 off the payroll, and expects there will be more to come. Toronto continues its off-season roster rationalization. After going through the the military list for Toronto and Buffalo one think is become very clear. Of 31 players evaluated so far in three categories Keep (14), Maybe (8), Cut (9) this is going to be wild. The fallout down the chain will be a big boost to the indy leagues. More thoughts from Brett Bing in his column below.
TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN
Wolves Off-season Outlook- As the FABL enters another winter teams are as usual making plans for the future. This winter is markedly different as with the end of the hostilities worldwide all teams have a number of difficult decisions to make with their rosters. Baseball is just a microcosm of the world as the every facet of life changes from war footing to a peace time economy. Businesses are like baseball on a larger scale, adjusting their facilities to meet the demands of a new world. Toronto either has or will have a total of 86 players to make determinations on over the next few months as they are released from the service.
The fallout has already begun as there are unconfirmed reports that seven players from the 1945 Buffalo squad have been given their unconditional releases. Jim Dirks, Wally Starr, Red Barrett, Joe Bradbury, Tommy Newman, Steve Clarke, Frank Kirby are the ones rumoured to have already been told they will not be returning to the Nickels next season. Brett has been told that Kirby, Clarke have or will be offered coaching positions if they want to remain in the game in that capacity. Insiders have also told Brett that the GM's office has a list of all 86 returnees classified into three categories Keep, Maybe, No Future. This is a list that has been in existence within the scouting department since the war began in Europe in 1939. The list has been kept updated as conditions changed, players aged over the conflict. Brett was secretly given the approximate number in each category, Keep (24), Maybe (25), No Future (37). It may seem the ultimate insult that at least 37 players who served their country during a time of great need will not be returning their chosen pre-war job although that also mirrors society as a whole in this time of change.
There will also be life changing events for the a given number of the players in that group of 49. If the Mail & Empire calculations are correct there is only room for 11 of the 49 on a rosters in the Toronto system. That means that 37 either returning from the war or currently in the organization will not be with the Wolves in 1946. For round numbers Brett estimates 50, if that is expanded to the total FABL it would mean about 800 baseball players will be seeking jobs by the time teams report for Spring Training. Does this open the door for another high level league in the USA or Latin America? Will we return to the uncertainty for both teams, players we saw before the FABL was created over 50 years ago?
More pressing in Toronto is the protected 40-man roster for 1946. If all speculation is true the Wolves at best will have 15 spots to fill on that roster if anticipated retirements become fact. Every big league club will face the same numbers crunch which brings us to the Rule 5 draft. This draft will be a nightmare for every GM, who do you protect? The youngster with promise or the proven veteran? Overall the FABL along with baseball as a whole will present a better brand of the game in 1946 after many hours of discussion, followed by anguishing keep or cut moves made by all clubs.
In closing Brett would like to comment on the calls, mail received on his article on post season grade he gave all 16 FABL clubs. Wolves D grade gave a great many offence if the mail received in mail room is to believed to be opinion of all fans. Some people who Brett has had relationships with in the Wolves office for years were taken aback by the grade. They seem to getting over their anger with the passage of time. One person told Brett that his grade was nothing like Owner Millard's tirade during team meetings held while the World Series. Brett was given this quote "After begging to be given the latitude to acquire a difference maker to bring the CA title to Toronto Ed Hamor was the best you could do? If that is your best maybe I have the wrong people in jobs of responsibility for the Wolves!"
REQUIEM FOR A CHAMP
Raise a glass. One last toast to bid adieu to the 3 year long wild party that has played out before us on the big stage of Tice Memorial Stadium. One that came to a crashing close with a thud a week earlier than it was supposed to courtesy of a Philadelphia Keystones club that acted like a boorish, uninvited guest. This was supposed to be a much different column. One that we all expected and felt there was no way it would not happen. The best collection of offensive talent in the league would surely prevail over the Keystones and equal history with its third straight World Championship season.
It didn't happen as someone forgot to explain to Bobby Barrell and company just what their role was supposed to be in this play. Even when they trailed 3 games to none, a few still believed this collection of Cannons was destined to blast its way into the history books. Give Ad Doria's boys credit for battling gamely with a pair of victories at home before finally succumbing on the east coast. It certainly gives all of us a new found appreciation of just what a special and incredible achievement the 3 straight WCS wins of the 1924-26 New York Stars were.
*** Is This Truly The End ***
The Cannons run may continue. There quite possibly could be a fourth straight season of October baseball for the Queen City. But the odds are greatly against it. To win a pennant -just one, never mind 3 or 4 in a row- takes an awful lot of luck and quite a few breaks along the way. To repeat is so much harder as you go through the season with a target on your back. Cannons management made all the right moves along the way it seemed. Tom Barrell, Al Wheeler, Rabbit Day, Tom Bird, Sam Brown, Sam Sheppard, Gail Gifford, Billy Dalton, Jack Cleaves. All of them big name acquisitions and most at a big price tag in terms of young potential sacrificed. But each prospered and played a role in at least one of those pennants. However, there comes a time when the piper comes calling and the price must be paid for all of the future discarded to create success in the present. And now might just be that time.
The Cannons will still be a good team. The mess we stole away from Baltimore in 1940 has never finished worst than 10 games above the breakeven mark and given the state of much of the Continental Association a first division finish certainly seems possible for at least the next few years. But the days of October baseball may be gone for a while. Age is catching up to the veterans rapidly, as the rash of post-season injuries indicated. Retirements may come as early as next week with Jack Cleaves and possibly Tom Barrell as a pair of likely candidates. There is plenty of talent coming back from the war. No doubt the Cannons will be better with Charley McCullough, Adam Mullins, Bill Sohl and Vic Carroll back in the lineup but that is the problem. Every team will be better.
*** The Competition Will be Much Improved ***
Certainly the Chicago Cougars with more arms than an octopus capable of mowing down big league hitters. The Toronto Wolves will likely be better as well. The Sailors and Saints appear to be on the rise and the New York Stars will be frighteningly good. As the Cannons age and their chief rivals get an influx of talent from both the veterans returning and deep farm systems the Queen City gang might well fall behind.
With the goal of equaling the great 1924-26 New York Stars with 3 straight WCS wins gone, do the Cannons sink back to the middle of the pack? Or do the vets band together for one more magical season in pursuit of a new goal? No Continental Association nine has ever won 4 straight flags. An no one in the Fed has done it since the Boston Minutemen ended their string of 5 in a row in 1906. Perhaps that is some new bulletin board material for Cannons skipper Ad Doria to keep the club motivated.
- Ad Doria made some decisions a few might question in the WCS, with his calls to pinch-hit for Chuck Adams twice being front and center on that list. But the Cincinnati skipper must be doing something right. Among managers with at least 500 big league games under their belt only three have a better winning percentage than Doria's .575. They are George McFadden, who had two different stints with the Cougars between 1890-1903 and is at .618. Jim Wilson, who was .585 over 6 seasons in Cleveland before abruptly retiring and Otto Schmidt -first year manager of the Keystones who just won a WCS with his second organization after earning one with the Stars. Schmidt is 447-323 for his career, good for a .581 clip.
- Given that this was a rebuilding season for the Chicago Chiefs, one of the organization's primary goals was to get some younger players some playing time. In that regard, AGM Slim Bloom says he wasn't playing close attention to the individual results during the season. Now digging deeper today, some things are jumping out (like Elmer Hutchins's great season). 24-year-old pitcher Bill Yelverton pitched 155 innings, allowing 163 hits, 59 walks, and picking up 70 strikeouts. Not bad. But then you notice that he also gave up 31 home runs. Oops.
- Staying with the Chiefs, here are a pair of interesting images. The first is the Chiefs top 6 hitters by BatR. Five old men and Dave Krieger. The second shows the largest impact of the returning war vets for the Chiefs will be on the pitching side.
Small sample sizes, but both Solly Skidmore and Dick Blaszak struck out in less than 10% of their at bats.
- A Chiefs prospect who had some kind of bump last season is right fielder Charles Yates. Yates was drafted in the 17th round in 1941. Last season at class B he hit 16 home runs in 91 games (193 wRC+). Now that Dick Blaszak and Billy Brown have graduated to Chicago, Yates is the Chiefs highest ranked outfield prospect (OSA has him at 102nd overall). The Chiefs scouts actually see him as the right fielder with the highest ceiling (ahead of Brown). He'll start 1946 at class AA, and we'll see if the 1945 performance was just the result of the watered-down minor leagues of the war years.
CARMICHAEL IN RIFT OVER FIGHT GRAVY
British heavyweight challenger Leo Carmichael and his advisors charged angrily this week that Promoter Chester Conley was trying to deny them their share of television receipts in the proposed February title fight with Hector Sawyer. Carmichael and his manager Darwin Middleton had agreed in principle to the terms of the February 8 fight to be staged at Detroit's Thompson Arena but upon examination of the contract they claim it failed to guarantee them 20 percent of the television receipts as they had understand would be the case. Instead, Middleton claims the contract gives Conley the power to decide on the renumeration from that source.
It was learned that the broad outline of the contract called for Carmichael to receive 20 percent of all receipts -gate, radio and movies as well as television. But Carmichael and his advisors asserted there was a loophole in the television clause. Despite the new hitch it is believed that the Carmichael camp would do an about-face and sign for the rich match, perhaps as early as today.
ROME STATE RATED 27-POINT EDGE OVER DETROIT CITY IN GRID TOPLINER
Unbeatens Rome State and Detroit City College are slated to clash in New York at Bigsby Oval tomorrow in the top college football game of the day and the smart-money boys have established the Centurions from Georgia as 27-point favourites. A sold out crowd, well over 50,000, is anticipated to push their way into the old ballyard to get their first look at the 1945 army trainees, who have piled up 72 points while conceeding only 9 in their first two games of the season. It is the Centurions first visit to the big town since they blasted St Blane 54-7 last November on their way to a perfect season and the National Championship.
Always a power in the Great Lakes Alliance and usually at their best when they come east, Detroit City College is expected to provide the first real opposition this season for the Nation's number one ranking eleven. The Knights are 4-0 this season with each of their wins being very convincing starting with a 30-3 drubbing of Great Lakes Navy and continuing with shutouts of Indiana A&M and St Ignatius before dowing St. Magnus 27-7 last Saturday.
The big question is will the Knights have an answer for the Rome State running game led by Chet Donelson and Gus Thompson, who were each named All-Americans as sophomores a year ago and seem charted on the same course this time around.
The Week That Was
Current events from 10/12/1945
- A move to give 12 million low income individuals a tax cut without taking them off the rolls entirely was developing in the Senate today in connection with the $5.3 billion revenue-reducing bill the House passed yesterday 343-10.
- Strong support is developing in Congress for new anti-strike legislation.
- President Truman condemned the policy of the Daughters of the American Revolution barring Negro artists from Constitution Hall, recalling that racial discrimination against artists and musicians was one of the first steps taken by the Nazis when they came to power.