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1939 Offseason News
The Phillies moved out of the hitter-friendly Baker Bowl and will know share a home with the Athletics - Shibe Park. This stadium seems to favor hitters somewhat, but not to the degree that the Baker Bowl did. This should undoubtedly help the Phillies pitching staff, who had a terrible season last year.
Chip Houk has been hired as the new manager of the Red Sox, who have grown impatient with their lack of progress. Houk was a former major league shortstop with the Senators and Braves, who remained in Boston after retiring. After just one season - one horribly disappointing season - the Phillies parted ways with Dummy Netsky, who had local fans calling for his head after the team set a franchise record for losses. Taking over will be Bop Vacha, a Hall of Fame caliber third baseman who played for the Red Sox and Reds. In a surprising announcement, Cardinals manager Leonard Walsh decided to end his tenure as manager and move into the team's front office. After 25 years as skipper, Walsh made the move only after hearing that Hall of Fame pitcher Tim "Presto" Lopresto was interested in a shot at managing. Lopresto and Walsh have a great respect for one another, so the move was made.
When this year's Hall of Fame votes were counted, we were shocked to discover that no players earned the 75% of votes needed for election. The closest player to that level was former Giants centerfielder Campbell Ditty, who narrowly missed the cutoff with 73%.
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