It's interesting to see how the Continental Association has stratified into well demarcated first and second divisions. Baltimore currently "leads" the second division, with Montreal ten games back. If there was a third division, the Saints would be in it.
The highlight of the past couple of weeks was Hal Eason's 250th career home run. It came at Parc Cartier, in the 9th inning of 9-7 loss to Philadelphia. There were 9,162 spectators in attendance. Even though the Saints have been drifting in and out of last place all season, attendance is up 5% over 1925.
Now that all the outfielders are healthy, it's a challenge for Asbury to find everyone playing time. Rodgerson and Eason are fixtures in center and right, while Sandman and Broome are essentially splitting time in left.
Prospect Update
As we are well into the second half of what is turning out to be a lost season, I thought I would take some time to look at the Saints top ten prospects, as indicated by the FABL's central scouting office. (With the FABL's top 200 prospect ranking in parenthesis.)
Overall the Saints farm system is ranked 8th out of 16th by the FABL. In the Continental, Baltimore, Toronto, and Philadelphia have higher ranked systems.
1. Charlie Stedman (16th) Stedman was acquired (along with catcher Ed Pinkham, who will appear later on this list) over the winter from the Chicago Chiefs for center fielder Bert Hartman. Hartman is doing his usual stellar job in Chicago (.322/.414/.403), but given that Stedman is the only pitcher on this list, I'm happy to have made the trade. Stedman is currently on the Montreal active roster. He began the season at class AA Nashville where he went 10-4 with a 2.03 ERA. He then started 4 games for class AAA Minneapolis (2-0, 2.73). He has had some difficulty making the jump to the majors (0-2, 4.64 in 3 starts), but there is no reason not to keep running him out there this season.
2. Jim Broome (36th) A 23-year-old outfielder, Broome is the 2nd player of 3 on this list who are currently on the active roster. Broome made it clear with his minor league performance (.353/.427/.582, 18, 76 at Nashville and Minneapolis combined) that he was ready to play. He has performed well since his call-up (.290/.339/.426, 4, 18) and has even started taking at bats away from Phil Sandman now that the entire outfield is healthy.
3. Joe Fix (42nd) The 22-year-old center fielder is currently at class AAA Minneapolis. He started well at class AA Nashville (.299/.349/.437, 5, 39) before missing 6 weeks rehabbing a sprained elbow. He is struggling a bit at class AAA (.185/.241/.556, 1, 2), but he's only been playing in Minneapolis for about a week.
4. Tony Henderson (45th) A 23-year-old center fielder also currently on the Minneapolis roster (hitting .271/.349/.458, 6, 27). He is out until early September with a sprained ankle (which is why Fix was promoted from Nashville to Minneapolis).
5. Charlie Rector (70th) The 22-year-old short stop was just acquired in June (along with Victor Rodding) from Brooklyn in exchange for Del Plummer and Fred Welsch. Rector has been at class A Evansville since, where he has hit .294/.324/.413 with superb defense. He has just been promoted to class AA Nashville.
6. Jimmy Endler A 24-year-old outfielder currently at Minneapolis where he is hitting .362/.405/.618 with 17 home runs, 74 runs batted in, and 28 stolen bases. He spent some time in Montreal when both Sandman and Rodgerson were injured, but Endler struggled at the plate (.194/.268/.389) in making the transition.
7. Jack Brown (80th) Brown is a 19-year-old second baseman drafted out of high school in the 3rd round of the 1925 draft. He has spent the season at class B Mobile, where he is hitting .249/.307/.305 with 15 stolen bases. Brown has elite speed and at 6'1", 175 lbs, he has some power potential as he fills out his frame.
8. Ed Pinkham (87th) A 23-year-old catcher, Pinkham was part of the deal that brought Charlie Stedman to Montreal. Currently at class AA Nashville, Pinkham is hitting .278/.340/.376 with 2 home runs and 11 doubles in 74 games. Montreal scouts say he is the best defensive catcher in the Dixie League.
9. Bob Clements (90th) The 24-year-old third baseman is on the active roster. He was given the third base job after Fred Welsch was dealt to Brooklyn. Clements has a unique skill set at third base, where he doesn't show a lot of power but he has plus speed. Clements has 12 stolen bases in 41 games for Montreal after swiping 39 bags for Minneapolis.
10. Jake Allen (108th) Here's an example where the league scouting office is perhaps higher on a player than I am. Allen was signed as a minor league free agent just this past June. Originally, Allen was drafted out of high school by the New York Stars in the first round of the 1922 draft. He has also spent time in the Washington and Cleveland organizations. The 23-year-old infielder is currently playing for class A Evansville, where he is hitting .267/.310/.422 with 8 home runs, 20 doubles, and 59 runs batted in.