THE REST OF THE DRAFT
ROUND FIVE
I did not need another catcher but my Head Scout had Bill Smith from Dartmouth as number 11 on his list. I figured I better take him with the 66th pick, so I get a catcher in both rounds 4 and 5. Smith hit .272 at Dartmouth this season with 9 homers in 48 games. Scout Carter says he has a good eye, good power and solid defense. Overall grades him out as an above average everyday big leaguer when he matures.
By this point people in our slack room are talking how they are often on auto draft by this point as they are all a mix of 1.5 and 2 star players left but with stats only everyone still has some names that rank fairly high on their draft boards still available. My Kings are no exception. I know I want more pitching but that is a crapshoot (thanks again Scout Rube Carter) but there are also nearly 60 guys I had in my top 100 hitters still available. My strategy is to grab a couple of pitchers over the next two rounds and then focus on whatever hitters remain in my top 100 regardless of position.
ROUND SIX
I start looking much more closely at pitchers for this pick but it appears others have a similar strategy as 4 pitchers go before I get to choose another player including a Dartmouth righthander by the name of Leo Proctor that was the top pitcher on my list for the 6th round pick. I did have two others besides Proctor I was looking closely at with this pick so it worked out all right when both the other two were still available. I decided on 21 year old Rube McCormick, a lefthander from Holy Cross. McCormick was 4-1 with a 1.11 era in 16 games for the Crusaders. He is an extreme ground ball pitcher which is something I have tried to focus on. Being lefthanded was the deciding factor as I have very few southpaws in my organization. I had Proctor one spot ahead of McCormick on my list so it will be interesting to look back in a few years and see how they compared. Proctor went to the Pittsburgh Miners of the Federal Association.
ROUND SEVEN
I went with another college arm, selecting 21 year old Lyman Weigel out of Boston College. Weigel spent most of the season in the pen for the Eagles, making 21 appearances but only 6 starts. He was 5-2 with 5 saves and a 1.53 era to bring his final college record to 22-10. He struck out 72 while walking 16 in 64 innings this season. In the playoffs he got 4 starts and had a 2.60 era with 24 k's in 27 innings.
My scout says he has three pitches but below average stuff and needs to improve his control and Weigel's future is that of a spot starter - but then he seems to think that of every pitcher I like. I figure if I have a good number of guys with decent college stats maybe one of them will pan out.
ROUND EIGHT
I was going to take another college pitcher here but I have been short-listing a couple of position players the last few rounds and did not pull the trigger on them, until now. I really don't need outfielders but I really like Roy Meagher, an 18 year old who played for Wilkes-Barre High School, where he hit .362 with 20 homers in 80 games over two seasons. He is a baseball rat and eats and sleeps the game. My scout Rube Carter likes him ever since he witnessed Meagher hit three homers in a game against Reading earlier in the season. Carter feels Meagher has significant power potential, a steady glove, is quick on the base paths and has a high baseball IQ. I am likely going to assign him to my new Class B affiliate in the spring with the hopes he dominates at that level.
ROUND NINE
The last of my three high school picks from the draft was second baseman Ray Hays. I wanted to get some middle infielders earlier it just didn't work out that way when guys like Lynn Randall, Bill Smith and Ray Meagher dropped into my lap. Taking 14 college players and just 3 high school guys was also not by design. I do think I like college pitchers better than high school but had no preference on the position players going in...it was just something that happened to work out this way.
While he did not make Carter's top 32, the scout did really like Hays figuring he can hit .330 and provide above average defense when he matures. I liked his numbers in Memphis - three years with a batting average of .335 and a little bit of pop in his bat. He needs to cut down on strikeouts but Carter his confident he will.
ROUND TEN
I stay with the middle infielders by taking Willie Razzano out of LSU. Carter loves this kid and had him ranked at 14 on his short list. He is a baseball rat, Carter says he should be an good hitter with a bit of power and above average defense. So why did I wait so long to take him? Well, he is 23 years old, played for 3 colleges and was drafted and released twice by the New York Stars. They took him in the 24th round in 1923 but cut him and after Montreal signed and cut him he enrolled at Ohio State. The Stars drafted him again in 1924, this time in the 18th round but once again released him so midway through last year he signed at LSU and helped win a National Championship. His college numbers are decent and he hit over .300 in 17 playoff games but to be cut 3 times made me very wary. However, by round ten when I am looking for middle infielders I think it is certainly worth the risk. This is a player I will watch closely and is the kind of pick that will help determine whether or not Rube Carter gets another contract.
ROUND ELEVEN
I was all set to take first baseman Jim Alexander here but Baltimore grabbed him about eight picks earlier so I went with another need - speed at center field. California Golden Bears speedster Bill Chadwell fits that bill perfectly. He stole 16 bases in 50 games while hitting .353 at Cal this season. Carter thinks he can be a great hitter but needs a fair bit of seasoning.
ROUND TWELVE AND THIRTEEN
I decided to focus on some more pitching for these two rounds and I was all set to take a kid I had on my shortlist for several rounds. 18 year old lefthander Bob Bergeson went 10-3 for Toledo High School this season and 22-9 overall, and I was poised to grab him but the Chicago Chiefs took him late in round 11, so I waited just a little too long on him just as I did on Alexander the previous round.
I had Ben Andersen, a 21 year old from USC on my short-list so I selected him. Another groundball pitcher with a good attitude, few homers against (just 1 in 3 years with the Trojans) and a good strikeout to walk ratio so he was my pick. He has 4 pitches but Scout Rube Carter says only the sinker is average or better. Carter thinks best projection on Andersen is an emergency starter role. I have learned Carter does not like any pitchers.
I have very few lefty's in my system (although 6th rounder Rube McCormick is lefthanded) so I decided to select Penn State's Tom Goldsborough with my 13th round pick. A quiet kid, Goldsborough has 4 decent pitches but needs to work on his control according to Carter. Carter must love him as he thinks the 21 year could one day be a spot starter or bullpen piece - which is high praise on pitchers coming from Rube. Numbers aren't great at Penn State, went 3-4 with a 3.08 era in 13 starts but I like the fact he fanned 101 in 84 innings of work while walking 29.
ROUND 14
I had planned on drafting a first baseman but both Gus Place and Terry Miller went in the previous round and Miller would have been my pick. Instead I went with best available which was a toss-up between outfielders Bernie Carter and Sam Tyree. Tyree was higher on my list but the high schooler was liked less by Rube Carter so I took Bernie Carter (don't think he is related to old Rube.)
Bernie Carter is a 21 year old left fielder from USC that Rube Carter thinks can become an above average hitter in the big leagues. Maybe they are related as young Bernie did not show me a lot at USC, hitting .287 with 9 homers in 105 career games but it's the 14th round and I am throwing old Rube a bone. Let's see if he finds me gem.
ROUND 15
Still haven't found my first baseman in the draft but maybe I can convert catcher Dick Fleetwood. The Ohio State Buckeye is my final selection as he had been sitting near the bottom of my short list ever since I drafted fellow catcher Bill Smith in the fifth round. He has a very smooth glove according to Rube Carter and good bat speed. Despite being just 21 he has already been drafted and released - by the Philadelphia Sailors who took him out of Richmond High School in the 11th round of the 1922 draft. Fleetwood played a few games in the minors but didn't hit and got cut. He went to Ohio State this year and hit .279 in 46 games.
Here is my complete draft list with where I had them ranked and where scout Rube Carter ranked them. Not my rankings were split between hitters (1-200) and pitchers (1-150) and Carter only provides a list of 32 players so many are not on his list.
Code:
BROOKLYN KINGS DRAFT PICKS
RD PICK POS NAME AGE SCHOOL RANK CARTER MYSELF
1 6 OF Doug Lightbody 21 Ole Miss 4 2
2 18 P Bill Dengler 21 Maryland 16 1P
2 22 3B Dave Bristol 18 San Antonio HS 15 15
3 34 OF Lynn Randall 21 LSU 5 6
4 50 C Tom Aiello 18 Queens HS 8 9
4 54 P Milt Nelson 21 LSU NR 6P
5 66 C Bill Smith 21 Dartmouth 11 11
6 82 P Rube McCormick 21 Holy Cross NR 23P
7 98 P Lyman Weigel 21 Boston College NR 46P
8 114 OF Roy Meagher 18 Wilkes-Barre HS NR 21
9 130 2B Ray Hays 18 Memphis HS NR 34
10 146 SS Willie Razzano 23 LSU 14 112
11 162 CF Bill Chadwell 21 Cal NR 25
12 178 P Ben Andersen 21 USC NR 101P
13 194 P Tom Goldsborough 21 Penn State NR 133P
14 200 OF Bernie Carter 21 USC NR 38
15 216 C Dick Fleetwood 21 Ohio State NR 57
Overall, 10 of my 11 hitters were ranked 57th or better in my final list and 7 of my picks were considered to be in the top 32 overall by Rube Carter. The one exception to my hitters was Willie Razzano, that Carter ranked 14th but I dropped him to 112 for reasons mentioned above. Pitching was much different as Carter gave me little to go on aside from Dengler and I found myself re-ording my pitcher rankings as the draft progressed.
(Just a note. Yes, I did rank 200 hitters but only the first 100 were really serious rankings. 100-200 were just guys I liked but not quite enough to put them on my first page of 100. For pitchers, Carter was useless so I just very roughly ranked them looking primarily for groundball guys with a good attitude and decent strikeout to walk ratios.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON DRAFT DAY
Of course everyone loves their picks on draft day but if my scout is worth his salt I think we had a fantastic draft. My hope is Lightbody becomes an above average player; three of Dengler, Bristol, Randall, Aiello and Nelson pan out and perhaps I get a surprise from the bottom 10 rounds. The fun part will be looking back in 5 years to see how well (or poorly) I drafted.