1932 Amateur Draft
Not a banner year for talent but here are the first round picks:
Cincinnati pick: P Tex Carleton
Washington pick: P Ray Starr
Chicago (A) pick: P Monte Pearson
Detroit pick: SS Arky Vaughan
St Louis(A) pick: C Bill Delancey
Pittsburgh pick: P Bill Swift
Brooklyn pick: P Rip Sewell
St. Louis (N) pick: P Johnny Allen
Boston (N) pick: LF Joe Medwick
Chicago (N) pick: RF Frank Demaree
Cleveland pick: P Tony Freitas
New York pick: P Charlie Devens
New York (N) pick: 2B Andy Spognardi
Philadelphia (A) pick: 3B Stan Hack
Philadelphia (N) pick: P Joe Bowman
Boston (A) pick: P Sugar Cain
1932 FREE AGENT MOVEMENT
The biggest news in the offseason was homerun king Babe Ruth leaving Cleveland to sign with the New York Yankees. Ruth, who has never played in a postseason game, hopes to get his first World Series ring in New York. Cleveland replaced Ruth in the outfield by signing Lloyd Waner away from the White Sox. The Indians also added second baseman Charlie Gehringer as a free agent signing and acquired former 20 game winner John Bogart in trade with Brooklyn.
Another preseason deal saw Pittsburgh sign ex-Yankee outfielder Heinie Mueller but then immediately send him to the Braves for second baseman Johnny Hodapp.
1932 HOB2 RECAP
TRIBE FINALLY WINS A PENNANT - WITHOUT RUTH
The Cleveland Indians won the American League pennant in 1921 but a World Series loss to the Cubs convinced the Tribe to shell out big money for prize free agent Babe Ruth. Ruth was supposed to hit tons of homers and lead Cleveland to multiple pennants. He did the former, socking 493 homers in a Cleveland uniform, but the Tribe never won an American League pennant during the Babe's tenure.
In 1932, Ruth bolted for bigger money in a bigger market and signed with the Yankees. Cleveland replaced Ruth with batting champ Lloyd Waner and smartly added Charlie Gehringer and John Bogart to the mix. The result - Cleveland's first pennant since the year before Ruth arrived, 1921.
You can't blame the Tribe's lack of success on Ruth as it was usually shaky pitching that did the Indians in. That's what made the acquisition of John Bogart so important. Bogart (20-12, 3.73) gave Cleveland a legitimate number 1 starter and with the pressure off of Freddie Fitzsimmons (20-8,3.32) to be the stopper he responded with a career year. Rookie Tony Freitas (12-13, 4.73) was a pleasant surprise making the majors in his draft year but it was more out of necessity. 38 year old Cliff Markle (9-6, 4.22) broke down in midseason and the Tribe had no other consistant starter to speak of. Offensive has never been a problem for the Indians and even without Ruth that did not change. Lloyd Waner did not miss a beat with the move to Cleveland, winning his fourth batting crown. Joe Hauser (.297,29,131) and Bob Meusel (.289,23,113), brought in a few years ago to complement Ruth, flourished in the Babe's absence. Add in Kiki Cuyler, Luke Appling, Charlie Gehringer, Sammy Hale and Pat Collins and you have one of the best offenses ever assembled.
The lack of pitching depth nearly cost the Indians the pennant, as the Philadelphia Athletics mounted a late charge but fell 2 games short. Clint Brown,a midseason pickup from the White Sox, stunned the league by going 14-5 down the stretch for his new club. Brown, who was just 9-13 in his first full season last year, finished 21-14 to win the Markle Award. Frank Shellenback (19-11) had another strong year as did Hack Wilson (.317,26,112). Wilson, like Brown, was picked up midseason in a deal that sent Wally Berger to the Cardinals.
As usual Babe Ruth (.287,51,127) won the MVP Award. It was the 12th of his career. Ruth did not get a lot of offensive support in New York so the Yankees could finish no better than third despite the pitching of Carl Hubbell (20-11), Tim McCabe (20-13) and Pat Caraway (18-17).
Fouth place was a big accomplishment in St Louis as the Browns finished at .500 for only the second time since 1906. Arky Vaughn of Detroit was named the league's top newcomer. The 20 year old shortstop batted .358 after stealing the starting job from John Kerr.
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