Westward Ho - Kings on the move to KC (FABL)

[DD Martin]

This will be the story of the formerly Brooklyn Kings as they make a bold move to the Mid-West for the 1952 FABL baseball season. We have just completely the 1951 regular season and it was the last for the Kings in Brooklyn. This diary will chronicle the move out west as New York loses one of its 3 FABL teams.

The FABL is a fictional baseball league set in the fictional Figment sports universe that includes a baseball league, basketball league, and a hockey league that are currently in the 1951 seasons in their respective sports. If you read the This Week in Figment Sports (link to latest issue provided below), you will see a glimpse of the entire Figment sports universe. The football is being run right now but is not an online league yet, but we hope will be so for the 1952 season.

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...&postcount=985

Another FABL dynasty thread is The Ballad of the Barrell Brothers (link below to page 1). This dynasty thread gives a great history of the Figment universe and the sporting family that has been the main storyline in the universe, the Barrell's

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...91&postcount=1

The 3rd ongoing diary here in the FABL is that of the King's division rivals the Chicago Cougars. (Link below)

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...postcount=1478

All of these links are excellent reads of where the FABL what the figment sports universe is all about.

The baseball league is a 16-team league stats only league. We currently have 2 openings in the baseball league as the league play hits the World Series. One of the open teams is the Philadelphia Sailors who won the CA pennant and will be facing the St. Louis Pioneers (new GM this last year). The other open team is also in the CA and won the last 2 CA pennants along with last seasons world series, the Cleveland Foresters. The Foresters are loaded with young talent that just missed out on a 3rd straight CA crown and look to be back next season.

Now with stats only there is a learning curve and there are not a lot of stats online leagues online that I have seen. We have a good group of core GM's who are very willing to help a new GM learn the ropes. In fact in the FA race where I mentioned St Louis won the pennant in a 1-game playoff, the new GM mentioned to the group thanks to the Dynamo's GM for helping him so much this season. The Dynamos last the 1 game playoff and finished 2nd.

The league has lots of history as the creator of the league started simming and building the baseball universe in 1880. The live GM era started in 1926 and yes I am one of the orginals which I would say there are about 8 of us. The other key to the stats online league is the creator of the league does not run a team (since he would have knowledge of the ratings etc). If you have interest in the baseball league feel free to reach out to me or any of the authors of the 3 links above.

Finally for those interested in Stats only OOTP baseball I will explain what that means. Simply the ratings are off and no stars are shown. You will rely on the stats that are generated in game and scouting reports from the OSA and your Head Scout. This is a much more immerse and challenging style of play for you than a typical online league. But if you really want to have a fun challenge, you should take a look. The league is in its World Series this week and we will begin a weekly off-season that will give a new GM plenty of time to analyze their team and organization. The FABL has no free agency as while we are fictional, we are historically based. There is the January Amateur Draft (first 10 live rounds) and the Rule 5 draft along with a select Cuban development league for young talent that you can follow along with. Now is the time to join to get to know your team prior to spring training and the 1952 regular season.

[DD Martin]

The Kings story starts and their prospective move starts here.....

The Kings are Sold to an Outside New York New Owner

Brooklyn Eagle
By Percy Pringle Sr.
January 22nd, 1951

The FABL owners have announced the sale of the Brooklyn Kings according to the office of FABL President Dan Barrell. The press release indicates that long-time owner Daniel Prescott has decided to end his involvement with professional sports. Prescott also owned the Brooklyn Red Caps of the Federal Basketball League before folding the team prior to the current season.

Prescott's main business is the Prescott Bottling Company and the company released a statement on the heels of Barrell's missive, in which it was explained that the "bottling business is, and always has been, Mr. Prescott's primary interest. While he has enjoyed his time in professional sports, it was decided that this was the appropriate time to sever that relationship and concentrate on the Prescott Bottling Company."

The new owner is insurace magnate Chester Coleman of Kansas City, MO. Coleman is the CEO of the Heartland Mutual Insurance Company, based in his hometown. While no announcement was made, the news sparked speculation that the Kings may be moving. Kings County Stadium is old and in need of repair and the City of New York has already stated that it has no plans to upgrade or renovate the ballpark, but is willing to allow the Brooklyn Kings Baseball Club to do so at its own expense.

Kings fans can take heart that Kansas City does not have a FABL-qualified ballpark with Packer Stadium being both aged and too small to meet FABL guidelines. For now, there is no news on that front, though Coleman is expected to make a statement about his purchase of the club in the near future.

[DD Martin]

Figment Sports Leagues Weekly
By "Fabulous" Freddie Farhat
National Correspondent for the Figment Sports League
January 24th, 1951

Several days ago news broke that the Brooklyn Kings had been sold to a Kansas City businessman named Chester Coleman (45). In the article it mentioned that the Kansas City market did not have an FABL approved or ready baseball stadium, which probably gave Brooklyn fans a sense of hope. Well while they might not have a baseball stadium, Kansas City is in the middle of constructing a stadium for its Kansas City Cowboys of the American Football Association (AFA). That stadium which will be known as Prairie Park is being built for the Cowboys but several insiders have said that the stadium was being built as a multi-purpose facility.

Meaning that if a baseball team became available, a new age stadium is capable of hosting that team in time for the 1952 season. The stadium is scheduled to open this fall. While the football Cowboys will played their pre-season football games down the road at the college stadium, Prairie Park is scheduled to open sometime in October. The Cowboys will play their first 4 games of the season away from home.

So what does this mean for Brooklyn and their baseball Kings?

[DD Martin]

With the Kings Sold, will the City Budge on the Stadium Issue

Brooklyn Eagle
By Percy Pringle Sr.
January 29th, 1951

It has long been a deep source of frustration for former Kings owner Daniel Prescott that he could not get the City to commit to a new baseball facility for the Kings. Both the New York City based Gothams and Stars had seen new stadiums built over the last 20 years, but Kings County Park has started to fall on hard times. The original ballpark was built in 1883 and then in 1913 a reconstructed ballpark with concrete and steel was built by the city of Brooklyn. Since that time, very little has gone into the upkeep of Kings County Park in the last 37 years. Many people felt that Prescott’s final straw before selling the club was that he couldn’t get a new ballpark built. Many feel that is what led him to sell the club to Chester Coleman last week.

Now with the news that the Kansas City area is building a new 50,000 seat stadium and it could very easily be a multi-purpose stadium, the pressure is back on the Brooklyn City Government. Coleman is scheduled to meet with city officials tomorrow to discuss a new ballpark and the potential future of the Kings in Brooklyn. Kings fans are hoping that the City powers that be finally see what a huge civic loss it would be for the Kings to just leave.

Most outsiders feel that with the pressure being put on that the City will cave and give the King's ownership what they want to keep the team in Brooklyn.

[DD Martin]

Bye Bye Brooklyn, Kings to move prior to 52 Season

Brooklyn Eagle
By Percy Pringle Sr.
January 29th, 1951

In what has to be one of the quickest changes in the history or pro sports, the answer has come in from the top. "No ballpark, no ballclub," according to new Brooklyn Kings owner Chester Coleman at a press conference held, ironically, in the rotunda of Kings County Stadium. The grand old edifice on Flatbush Avenue is nearly seventy years old, and hasn't been refurbished since 1912. Truth be told, the Kings do need a new home. Thanks to a combination of factors, that home is going to be in Kansas City, Missouri.

Coleman purchased the club in the midst of negotiations between the City of New York and former owner Daniel Prescott. Robert Moses, the powerful head of the city's Parks Department, adamantly refused to finance a new city-owned ballpark in the borough of Brooklyn, saying Kings ownership would have to finance a new park themselves. To this Prescott balked, and ultimately sold the club. From Coleman the answer was a flat, "No Chance."

Meanwhile, in Kansas City (which just so happens to be Coleman's hometown), the Kansas City Cowboys Football Club of the AFA had been in negotiations with the city earlier this year and struck a deal to build a mostly publicly-financed stadium. Since the announced purchase of the Kings, Coleman has negotiated and partnered with Cowboys owner Martin Weghmannon a joint-usage stadium proposal with a financing deal with both the city of Kansas City and Jackson County. The Cowboys and Kings will each contribute 12.5% of the cost. The remaining 75% will be furnished in a 50/50 split between the city and county.

The financing may be complicated, but the bottom line is not: the new 50,000-seat stadium will open in October, instead of the originally proposed September time frame and the Cowboys will play there this fall. In the spring of 1952, the Kansas City Kings will join them.

The understanding is that Coleman is supporting the development of the new office building next to Prairie Park. It will be a 3-story office building with the Kings on one side and the Cowboys on the other. In the center will be on the 1st floor a general reception area and conference room. The 2nd floor will have a shared lunch room and some additional smaller meeting rooms and on the 3rd floor will be a huge massive "war room" where the clubs will use for their draft headquarters during their respective drafts. The office building should open in the late fall of 1951 and the Kings might be the first to use it for their Rule 5 and Amateur Drafts in December 51 and January 52.

[DD Martin]

A so-so start to the last season in Brooklyn

The last season in Brooklyn didn’t get off to the kind of start we had hoped for. While the Kings were 82-72 the previous season and finished 3rd just 4 games back of the Cleveland Foresters, the feeling going into the season was that the club was lacking an upper end starting pitcher. Without shoring up the rotation it felt like the Kings would again be between 500 and and just over.

Coming out of the spring the Kings management targeted two veteran starting pitchers, Al Duster (just turned 32 at the start of the regular season) of the Philadelphia Sailors and George Garrison (33) of the Toronto Wolves. Neither team was expected to be in the upper division of the CA so they were logical choices to perhaps make a move with. The Kings appeared to have a deal in place with the Sailors for Duster at the end of spring training but a paperwork snafu caused a delay with the league office. Then things heated up with the Garrison talks and the Kings GM put off the Duster trade another week. That turned out to be a mistake, at least for the 1951 season. The Sailors got off to a highly surprising start and took an early lead in the CA and by the 3rd week in the season were in first place with a 13-6 record. That caused their GM to pull back the deal, and while the Wolves were off to a 7-10 (last) start, the club got cold feet about trading Garrison and the talks never moved forward. At that point the Kings were 10-12 but with their two top targets for now seemingly off the board, they decided to take a wait and see approach.

By the 3nd of May, the Sailors were 30-11 while the Kings were 20-23 but the gap of 11 ½ games before the calendar flipped to June was likely more than they could make up. The club was scoring well 5.1 rpg but the pitching staff had gotten off to a disastrous start. Last years rookie pitcher of the year Ron Berry (He lost out on rookie of the year to the Foresters C Larry McClure) and also was 2nd in the Allen Award (top pitcher in the CA). Berry was 20-11 with a 3.12 ERA in the previous season but was just 3-3 with a 4.72 ERA at the end of May (and was about to really struggle starting in June). P Leo Hayden who won the rookie of the year during the 1946 season was really scuffling with a 1-6 record and an unsightly 8.27 ERA. He ended up demoted to the bullpen after his last start on May 20th after refusing an option to AAA to figure out his issues.

The season wore on and the Kings kept flirting with 500 and on June 30th were 37-36 but a whopping 15 ½ games behind the still charging Sailors. At that point new Kings Owner Chester Coleman started making some visits to the office. He hadn’t discussed any contract extension for the coaching staff who several were out of contract at the end of the season, as well as the GM who was also out of contract. After going on a road trip in early July to Canada he then went to New York, Cincinnati and then even the FA’s Boston Minutemen. He was meeting with various owners although some speculated the trip to Boston might have been more to meet with the owners daughter Ruthie.

When he came back to the Brooklyn offices which he rarely visited after the announcement of the club moving, he finally sat down and talked about his vision for the Kings once they move to Kansas City. He was keeping the nickname although several thought it would be good PR to have a fan contest to rename the club. Once he laid out the vision he then discussed extending the contract of the GM and then discussed the rest of the staff both on the field and in the office. It was here that he mentioned he was going to bring in one of “his” guys as my new assistant GM. That would happen towards the middle of July and the outgoing AGM would be kept on contract and made a consultant.

It was at that point that he told me that he wanted to make a “splash” when we arrived in Kansas City. He wanted to fetch a big name to generate even more interest in the club. He also was clear that he agreed with the assessment of the club and that we needed to address our pitching situation. He said in the right deal you have my blessing to move “anyone”. So before the trade deadline, that is what we set out to do.

Currently the FABL World Series is going on so there is not much to talk about. So I will fill in how the last season went briefly and next will be the big trade that will reshape the future of the club. While it could be said a big splash was made, it was not in the name value of the prospects we picked up, but of who we dealt to get them.

[DD Martin]

In a move that sent shockwaves through the entire FABL, the Brooklyn Kings and Detroit Dynamos completed a blockbuster deal. The Kings sent 3-Time Whitney Award winning RF Ralph Johnson, All-Star C Dan Smith and SP Bob Arman to Detroit for a plethora of prospects.

What is interesting is these 2 teams and GM’s hooked up on a blockbuster of a deal early in the 1935 season when Detroit sent RF Al Wheeler, 3B Frank Vance and SP Jack Beach to Brooklyn for a boatload of draft picks and prospects. In hindsight with the now Hall of Famer Wheeler and the very productive Vance, the Kings easily won that deal. What is also interesting is while the clubs and GM’s involved where involved in the '35 deal, the GM’s have switched teams back in the 45 off-season. But in both cases Martin traded the current major league players for the draft picks or prospects.

So why did the 42-45 Kings make this move? It’s been noted that new Kings owner Chester Coleman, 45 was on the road with the Kings and held meetings with GM Martin and also met with Cincinnati owner John Tice. What was said in those meetings has only been speculation but the meetings with Tice were in regard to how he managed to move the Cannons from Baltimore to Cincinnati so successfully.

During the press conference of today’s deal, GM Martin stated that he and Coleman spoke very opening and honestly about the future of the club and its prospects for being a profitable and successful club in the coming years in Kansas City. With the Kings at .500 and 13 games out of first in the Continental Association, the reality of the season was setting in. There was a lot of hopes for this season at the beginning of the year, but a middling start of the season saw the Kings at 26-34 and in 7th place only ahead of the woeful Toronto Wolves. While the club has gone 15-7 over the weeks heading into the All-Star game in Toronto, they have only made up 2 games on the surprisingly front-running Philadelphia Sailors.

But Martin stated it wasn’t just the Sailors lead that led to this deal. “All season we have felt that we were perhaps lacking an arm that could help us be in serious contention. With our season numbers that, to me, has proven to be true. We have been in talks with several teams in regard to proven veteran starting pitchers, but as the season bore on and progress wasn’t made, we’ve decided that our future isn’t now. We had to address our needs and put this club in the best position possible to bring this organization a pennant. Despite our best efforts that will likely not be this season in Brooklyn and for that I apologize to the many fans who have supported us all these years.”

I was able to speak with team owner Chester Coleman about his thoughts on the season and the deal that was announced. “I know some people in baseball will be outraged, some fans will be hurt and many will question why we have made this move," explained Coleman. "The answer is simple. I asked my GM if we could contend as is with the Cleveland Foresters, who I believe to be the best team in baseball. He said while he had hoped so at the beginning of the season, he did not feel the club as is would get past the Foresters in the near future. That’s why today we did this deal.”

When I asked Mr. Coleman about his meetings in Cincinnati and Boston with the respective owners of those clubs, he stated it was just merely him picking the minds of some great organizations. Learning how the FABL works and how those clubs are successful organizations.

Finally I asked the owner about the status of his front office and field staff since most are out of contract at the end of the season. Coleman stated “ Anytime a new owner steps into a business there is often a period of evaluation, planning and making sure you have the right people in the right seats in your organization. If this were a bus, you want to have the right driver for that bus if you want to get to the destination you set out to. I have met with our GM and I believe he knows where I want this organization to go. I wanted to ensure that the seat was filled with the right person, that will be comfortable with my club vision. I feel that me and DD are in that same direction now and I have given him a contract extension to stay with us as we move to Kansas City. We will now together go through and quickly determine that we have the right people, in the right seats to succeed in our organization's mission. Today we made a huge step in securing a profitable future for this organization.”

So according to Coleman and Martin the Kings future is bright and set, just not the future of the Brooklyn Kings final season in Brooklyn. It will be interesting to see how the attendance goes the rest of the season. My guess is there will be less than 6,000 at the games next week.

Not all are happy with the Brooklyn Kings deal. One unnamed baseball observer had this to say about Brooklyn GM Martin: "The man has won 1 World Series in 25 seasons, but he has traded the following players, Harry Barrell, Al Wheeler, Frank Vance, Sal Pestilli, Red Johnson, Hank Koblenz, Ralph Johnson. How many more Hall of Fame players will this GM send packing? Take a look at that list of stars, and he is the right man for the job Mr. Coleman? Time will tell but so far the track record on these deals is not in his favor.!"

Another baseball scribe out of the Midwest sarcastically stated something similar. “He has traded so many talented players when he was in Detroit. How many titles did Detroit win with him in charge after all those moves? Oh right, none!!!!”

The posts added at the bottom originally appeared in the All Things Figment - From the Pages of the Figment Sporting Journal Diary. The main article was also from theAll Things Figment - From the Pages of the Figment Sporting Journal but was modified slightly. You can check out the Figment Sports Weekly with the link in the first post. Thank you to Jiggs McGee for allowing me to use things from his fantastic story.
The trade was somewhat controversial as many figured the pieces added would give Detroit what they needed to win its first pennant since the 1929 season.

[DD Martin]

The Kings dabbled in further trade talks as the deadline approached and were even discussing trading their top starting pitcher from this year Joe Potts (27). While there were several inquiries and most notably with the New York Gothams who were in the thick of a wild FA race but with an aging pitching staff. We did not get the deal done as the Gothams decided to stand pat. Whether that was the right decision or a mistake can be debated by Gotham fans. The price for Potts was set high because he is a top 10 pitcher in this league and very seldom is there one of those with the combination of being under 30 by several years.

After that the remainder of the trade deadline came and went. No more deals were made by the Kings, but one deal was agreed too prior to the deadline. It was too late though and the paperwork didn't get through, but it would go through on the first day of the off-season.

The Kings were 42-45 when the traded 3-time Whitney Award Winner RF Ralph Johnson (25), C Dan Smith (25) and SP Bob Arman (30). The club managed to go 33-34 the rest of the way so even with all that top end talent leaving the club, they didn't fare no worse.

The World Series finished up this morning and to the surprise of most in the league, the AI upstart Philaelphia Sailors beat the St. Louis Pioneers in 5 games. Remember if you are interested both the Cleveland Foresters (2nd in the CA and in the prior two World Series) and the current season champion Sailors are available. Cleveland is loaded I might add and was a fluke to not win this year in most people's minds.

[DD Martin]

The End is in Sight
Tuesday September 25th 1951

The Kings came home for their final 5 games in Brooklyn with a record of 74-75. There really wasn't much to play for from a standings point of view, other than lottery ping pong balls (the league uses a lottery system based on improvement as opposed to standings). If they won enough games they could get an extra chance in the lottery.

It certainly was expected to be many fans in the stands. The club had their worst attendance since the war and was down from over 1.8 million fans last year to what appears to be around 670,000 if they get a nostalgia draw this week.

In game #150 on the season, the Kings sent out rookie SP Walt Staton who had been acquired from the Dynamos in the big July deal. Staton was one of the top 100 prospects in baseball and somehow had been stolen by the Dynamos in the Rule 5 draft of all things from the New York Stars. While he pitched exclusively in relief for the front running Dynamos (20 IP 0.90 ERA) he was starting in games for the Kings. He took care of the Chicago Cougars who once again fell short of their expectations to return to the top of the CA, by a final score of 3-1. Staton who had started his 12th and final game (17 total appearances) of the season for the Kings went the distance scathering 7 hits and walking 3. He raised his record to 7-4 with the Kings with a 2.30 ERA. He appeared to be one of the King's top 3 starters returning for next season.

With the win the Kings were 75-75 and were hoping for at least a 500 season. Could they pull that off in their last 4 games? They would face the Cougars (76-73) two more times and then take on the Montreal Saints (80-71).

[DD Martin]

Almost the End of the Line

The Kings entered the last 4 games of the season with a 75-75 record. They had just beaten the Chicago Cougars in game 1 of the 3-game series by a 3-1 count. Unfortunately for the Kings, the offense didn't get the memo that there were 4 more games left on the schedule. They lost the next two games against the Cougars 2-0 and 7-2 and dropping their record to 75-77. The best they could do now was finish 500, but they were still besides pride to play for but also lottery position.

The Saints then came to Brooklyn for the final time. The 2-game series didn't have much on the line. The Saints seemed to be entrenched in 3rd place in the CA holding off the Chicago Cougars. The Kings were in 6th place and trying to tie or catch the Cincinnati Cannons.

A crowd of 9,000 came out on a 66 degree Saturday afternoon in late September. At least 1/3 of them appeared to be Saints and those fans wouldn't be disappointed. The Kings offense continued its final week sputtering job and were crushed 8-0 at home. Manager Tom Barrell stated after the game "The wear and tear on these guys has just seemed to take a toll on us. We had been playing pretty well and taking a look at some of the young pitchers. But these last 3 games, there just doesn't seem to be any gas left in the tank. Hopefully we will come out tomorrow with some fire and treat these fans who loved this club for over 7 decades a grand farewell."

So the Kings head into the final game of the season, the final game in the history of Brooklyn pro baseball with a 75-78 record. A win and they will likely get 2 ping pong balls in the lottery. The final game is tomorrow.

[DD Martin]

Sunday just 8,660 fans showed up to watch a baseball game and say good-bye. The Kings lost the meaningless game 5-1 to the Montreal Saints as SP George Oddo, who seemed to be an odd choice to start the final game in Brooklyn, but then again it has been an odd season. After the news broke last winter that former owner Daniel Prescott had sold the team to Chester Coleman and then Coleman's announcement less than a month later that the club would be relocating at the end of the season, seemed to take all the steam out of the club. Then you throw in the July trade of RF Ralph Johnson, who won 3 Whitney Awards in 5 seasons, along with SP Bob Arman and C Dan Smith and things just didn't right. While the clubs play didn't suffer with that deal, they were 42-45 when the trade occurred and went 33-34 after, the fans just didn't have any interest in the club except for the die-hards that had hoped for a last second miracle.

One other interesting note in this game, the CA batting title was awarded. Despite going 0-4 in the game, Kings LF Freddy Miller edge out his teammate CF Charlie Rogers for the batting title 345 to 344. Rogers for his part tried to make it interesting, entering the game .007 behind Miller, Rogers went 3-4, hit his 53rd double of the season and scored the Kings only run of the night and ever in Brooklyn. For the 2nd year in a row Rogers lead the entire FABL in hits collecting 230 compared to the 213 of a year ago. He also led the FABL in doubles and finished second in triples with 19 to Pittsburgh's Irv Crawford. Both Rogers and Miller should be in the serious discussion for the CA Whitney Award.

I spoke with several fans while the dreary game played out. One fan Seymour Griggs, stated that despite the club moving, he will still be a King's fan because he wouldn't be caught dead rooting for either of the Stars or the even more hated Gothams. Another said good riddance to that whole organization, "Nothing but a bunch of non-Brooklynites that likely have been trying the run the club out of town for years." Finally another fan, Cary Mahoney said "I can't blame the club for leaving. Look at this stadium, that speaks volumes. You have that idiot on the city parks council who drove this club out of town, and for what, a children's park? Kids of all ages should have been able to enjoy and watch Kings baseball with their families for decades more. We have hundreds of spots for playgrounds. We should have built a new ballpark and none of this would have ever happened."

The lights at Kings County Park turned out for the last time. Later this week the club's offices will be moved and the lights there will also be turned out. It's a sad ending to a once proud club that this city loved to support, win or lose and there has been plenty of losing over the years. The King's leave Brooklyn with an all-time record of 4395-4561 with 1 World Series title that was won in 1937. They will head off to Kansas City for a fresh start, with a new stadium and a new fanbase. But as I sat next to one elderly man in the bottom of the 9th, he just openly wept. As I was slowly walking out of the stadium a final fan Gus O'Malley said this: "Ferdinand Hawkins got his revenge tonight." I pondered what he meant by this and sat down and talked to the man further......

[DD Martin]

Pringle Sits Down with a Talk with Kings GM DD Martin
Monday October 1st, 1951

People are busily rush around the Kings front office on the day after the Kings season concluded. Boxes are everywhere along with moving vans out front.

Pringle - Thank you for agreeing to take some time with me today on this very busy and sad day around the office here.

GM Martin - Yes is is truly very busy and very sad for all of us here. While a good portion of the staff will make the journey to Kansas City with the club, many have decided to stay here. So many friendships that some of our staff have made with each other over the years. Its just a sad day for the folks here and the many fans of baseball in Brooklyn.

Pringle - What are your thoughts on the just concluded season?

GM Martin - I wish we could have been in a serious pennant run this year, like last season. To have won the CA this year, wow what a way that would have been to go out. The Sailors and Foresters thought didn't allow that to happen as they just ran away from the rest of us from around Mid-May on to the end. Even with our huge trade we made in July, I still felt that we would be fighting for the top half of the CA and with a 500+ record. I am extremely disappointed with the way we finished losing our last 4 games at home and being outscored 22-3. I wish we could have played better but the mood around the city was pretty bleak at that point and I feel that it affected the guys some.

Pringle - Hard to blame the fans....

GM Martin - There is no blame to the fans at all. They are the victims in what has turned into a business and political fight. There were some on the city council that didn't feel that a new ballpark for a baseball team was a good use of city funds. Despite the jobs and tax dollars that would have been created in building the new stadium. The excitement and civic pride of being able to spend time with family and friends at a new ballpark. I think the civic leaders missed the boat and I believe they will, if they haven't already, come to regret their decision.

Pringle - What things do you see for the future of the Kings and what needs are you going to persue?

GM Martin - I am going to leave most of that discussion for another day. I think the fans here got to see a very good young core that we have come together. With LF Freddy Miller and CF Charlie Rogers, both of whom I think deserve serious consideration for the Whitney Award this season. Both of those guys along with 3B Ken Newman. That core right there is 24, 22 and 22 and you pare it with 1B Chuck Collins 26 and 2B Chuck Lewis 25. That is a very young and talented group of position players. Then the young pitchers we have coming along, I am really excited for them to all arrive and be big league ready.

What we are going to do is sit down and try to figure out if we can find some right handed hitting that will help balance out our offense. Maybe in RF and maybe behind the dish. That is what I think the biggest needs of our club our and then just strengthen our depth.

Pringle - Any final thoughts?

GM Martin - Having been in baseball for some many years now, you just never know when you are going to be traded or in my case fired. But there is nothing that I can really say about this City which is so fun and full of life in losing their baseball team. It's a truly sad day and I wish it wasn't happening for these good fans here.

Pringle - Thank you DD for taking the time under some very difficult circumstances.

GM Martin - Thank you Percy and I look forward to discussing baseball with you again in the future. I feel that our paths will soon cross again.

[DD Martin]

GM Notes - The Travel Party to KC

Our group gathered for the train ride to St. Louis and then onward to Kansas City. We would be stopping in St. Louis for the first 2 games of the World Series. Our travel party consisted of the following

Team Owner Chester Coleman
Asst GM Bob Gould
Manager Tom Barrell
Bench Coach Jim Dudkiewicz
Pitching Coach Karl Johnson
Hitting Coach Milo Kimble
1B Coach Elmer De Gray
3B Coach Frank Todd
Scouting Director John Spears
Team Trainier David Hay
Minor League Manager Don Fox
My Executive Assistant Shelby Daniels
and of course myself GM DD Martin

One member of the travel party that was with us wasn't a part of the big league crew and that was class B Manager Don Fox. There were several reasons why I wanted Don on this trip. First was that I was promoting him to be our new manager at Class A Springfield. While his career record managing at Class C and B was just 162-164, Don had a lot of the things you look for in a manager. While I am glad our bench coach Jim Dudkiewicz decided to make the move with us to Kansas City, Don was my backup plan to replace Jim if he didn't decide to sign an extension. I had Don meet with Tom Barrell and the rest of the big league staff to share ideas but for my intent, it them to get to know Don better.

I spent a lot of time early on meeting directly with Mr. Coleman. He was probably the happiest man on the train as he was bringing big league baseball to his hometown. He wanted to for us to get the fans excited about the team. He told me that if there was a big name out there to spare no expense trying to bring that person in to our club. One name popped into my head immediately and I had heard he might be available. I made a note to make a call to New York when we arrived in St. Louis.

GM List of things to do
1.) Find a right handed power bat
2.) Improve our catching situation preferably either a right hand or switch hitter.
3.) Improve the depth of the ballclub
4.) Do items 1-3 without trading any of our top 4 position players and prospect SP Elmer "Bananas" Sullivan
5.) With Don's (Fox) promotion to Springfield I had to hire an all new staff for Class B Tampa Bay. We were going to promote our hitting coach Will Mann to Class A with Don. We let the pitching coach go.

As the train sped on and on, I continued working on possible trades who we might be able to bring to Kansas City. The first name on the list was 4 time FA Whitney Award (best hitter) winning 1B of the New York Gothams, "Big Timber" Red Johnson. It might cost us SP Joe Potts or one of the young arms like Elmer Sullivan. While I wanted to keep Sullivan, I wanted Big Timber more despite him being 34. The fans loved him and he could hit the baseball a mile.

[DD Martin]

As the Train Stopped in Chicago

I grabbed the phone to dial up the Gothams. The Gothams had finished 3rd in the FA just 4 games back. We had talked about a deal regarding SP Joe Potts at the deadline as they were feeling their aging veteran starters were starting to show some age. My price was steep for trading a soon to be 27 year old SP who was a top 10 caliber arm in the FABL. I was asking for their 3B/1B Prospect Hank Estill who was in the top #25 at the time and SP prospect Jorge Arellano who was around #35. The Gothams offered them and RF Flipper Robinson a 28 year old OF who batted left handed. The problem was we were a very lefty hitting team already and I really didn't see the long term fit with Robinson even though he isn't a bad player. It was finding another piece that held up this deal at least on my end at that time. At the end of the day the Gothams decided to hold tight with what they had. They stayed basically in the same positoin between 2-5 games out and when veteran SP Lefty Allen was injured in August, that was probably the end of the Gothams chances.

But that was history, now I was calling about the rumors that 1B Red Johnson was potentially on the market. Many say the 1B position in the FABL is overloaded and that there wouldn't be a big market for Johnson. Red is a 4X Whitney Award winner who has 447 career home runs. He is 34 years-old but realistically the way he hits and seems to avoid injuries, he easily could play well for 5 more seasons. Besides that Johnson has amazing popularity and would be the "Big" Splash that owner Chester Coleman wanted. I was prepared to offer a lot for Johnson and maybe even send Joe Potts to New York in a deal, but when I talked to the GM he said he had already made a deal and Johnson was going to another team. We weren't even in the trading period yet. I had just heard about the Johnson rumor before we boarded a train. I took the first chance I had to make the call and just like that he was gone.

To say disappointment came over me is an understatement. Not to say I had planned on landing Johnson, but to not even get a chance to offer. I would ask what the deal was and was even more shocked. I wasn't a real big fan of the package for Johnson, I felt if given the opportunity we could have done better than that. But I got back on the train and told Mr. Coleman that Johnson was a no-go, that he was packing his bags for another location.

I began thinking up ways to shore up our team and made a list. Yes the #1 entry on that list was off the board, but there were others. We were headed to St. Louis and while they were in the World Series I had been told that in the off-season if Potts were available that I should talk with the Pioneers.

Real life I was traveling the day that Johnson came onto the market and quickly was traded. The deal wouldn't be announced until after the world series. What I didn;t know at the time was that the Gothams owner would eventually kill the deal, but that was a decision made in the future.

[DD Martin]

As we were watching the first two games of the World Series in St Louis between the Philadelphia Sailors and Pioneers, I was also working a lot of phone calls in when I could. But one meeting was a direct meeting after game two. I sat down with the St. Louis GM and he asked me about if I was serious in listening to offers for SP Joe Potts. I said I was but it would take a hell of a package for me to move him, but also said that I would have moved him to New York if me and the Gothams had found a deal at the deadline. We carried on with a few discussions on Potts and the framework of a potential deal. I asked about Jim Adams Jr. as maybe being a piece of the deal. Again I was looking for a splash and for whatever reason Adams Jr. is amazingly popular in the baseball world. I was quickly told that Adams was too important to the Pioneers so we moved on from that. We agreed to keep talking and I wish his ballclub good luck in Philadelphia.

As our group gathered for the drive to Kansas City from St. Louis, I noticed that Manager Tom Barrell seemed to be distracted and just not himself. When we got to the new stadium Prarie Park, he looked like he was deep in thought. Maybe he was looking at how the ballpark would play for pitchers, it definitely looks a little more hitter friendly that the Kings County Park. I am not sure, but I know Tom and when he is ready to talk to me about it, he will.

Anyway the new ballpark was basically completed but there were workers putting in seats still as we were a little over 2 weeks away from the Kansas City Cowboys (football) making their debut at the stadium. I hadn't had a football team around before tearing up the baseball park before, but I need to remember that this is one of those new multipurpose facilities. I must say it looks beautiful and so does the city. Mr. Coleman took the crew out for a steak dinner at the best steakhouse in Kansas City.

Below is a picture of an artist rendering of our new home stadium.

[DD Martin]

Next Up the Off-Season

The World Series is over, the surprising Philadlephia Sailors won the 1951 Fall Classic in 5 games and is almost as shocking a series win as the Chicago Chiefs pulled off in 1949. Neither of those teams were thought to be first division clubs, let alone win the whole thing. Just goes to show you that you never know what will happen.

If you want to manage a World Series winner or the16-1 CA runner up, both clubs are available to be have new GM's in place as we hit the off-season.

So the Series is over and all the hoopola over our move to Kansas City is in the rearview mirror, it is time to get serious about addressing needs for this team. Last season we were 6th in the FA in pitching with a staff led by All-Star Joe Potts (16-11 3.34 ERA), Roy Schaub (12-10 3.78) and Rule 5 and trade rookie Walt Staton (7-4 2.30). Several of our regular starting pitchers had down years, led by last years runner up to the Allen Award and runner up in the Rookie of the Year voting Ron Berry (7-9 5.30) and the 1947 Rookie of the Year Leo Hayden (6-7 4.82). Paul Byler had his best season in a swing role going 5-9 4 saves and a 3.83 ERA. We also received youngster Fred Washington who came over in the big summer trade who started 4 games in September for us and went 1-2 4.22. Joining him for that late callup was 19-year-old Beau McClellan who started 5 games and was 3-1 with a 4.62 ERA. We are excited to have both of those guys.

The offense was solid last year scoring the 3rd most runs in the CA and while it dropped some with the departure of RF Ralph Johnson and C Dan Smith, the Kings held their own offensively. In large part to 2/3 of the remaining outfield. Both players should receive votes in the upcoming Whitney Award balloting. I am talking about corner OF Fred Miller (24) and CF Charlie Rogers (22). They are joined by 22 year old 3B Ken Newman. I will go in depth on these 3 guys over the upcoming days but needless to say they form the core of our great young nucleaus.

[DD Martin]

Working the Phone Lines.....A Lot

My first call was to get back with the St Louis GM and discuss a framework for a potential deal for SP Joe Potts. Now I know everyone will say you are a pitching starved team and you made that big deal mid-season, why would you trade your best SP? Honestly that is a very good and fair question. While we all were very high on the pieces we picked up with Walt Staton, Freddie Washington, and Beau McClellan. Despite his terrible sophomore season we are still very high on Ron Berry and Paul Byler had a nice campaign this past year with his walks being much better than in previous season (albeit still high). We have prospect Elmer "Bananas" Sullivan also working his way up, although he will be several years down the road before he dons the KC Kings uniform.

So we haven't committed to trading Potts I relay to the Pioneers GM, but he quickly made a very interesting and intriguing proposal. Here are the players he proposed.

#29 Prospect RF King Brucker age 20 B-L
#48 Prospect 2B Les Sasson age 19 B-R
#75 Prospect OF Red Hinton age 25 B-L
#126 Prospect SP Ed Wingerter age 20 T-R
#235 Prospect SP Ed Owens age 26 T-R

Honestly this was a very intriguing package as I really liked all of the top 3 guys. Brucker who is very similar to our own 19 year old prospect #20 Hank Williams, but still he is a stud hitter. Scouting "He has elite raw power and can send a fastball a mile. He projects to hit for a 310 batting average because of his above average contact potential. Brucker has a high ceiling and projects well in the field and at the plate."

2B Les Sasson plays a position that we didn't have much top prospect talent in. If only he could play SS defensively and play it well, but the consensus is he is a 2B. Scouting "He has above average contact skills with a smooth swing, quick hands and good pitch recognition. He could hit 310 along with an intriguing power potential for 20-25 home runs a season. He has good strike zone judgment and has the potential to develop into a big league regular for the bulk of his career."

Some would say why are you so happy with a 25 year old OF prospect. I see Red Hinton moving right to our big league club and could take over the corner spot that was vacated when Ralph Johnson was traded. He was blocked in St. Louis is a very talented and young OF so he is a perfect fit here while we have some high end prospects developing over the course of the next few seasons. Finding someone who could take over that role or worse case be our top OF bat off the bench capable of covering all 3 OF spots, just was a very nice fit.

SP Ed Wingerter looks like he has development potential for the bottom half of the rotation and Owens while 26 looks like he could be some help as a swing man but my guess is would probably be in the bullpen for us.

I told St. Louis that I would look at it but the package looked promising. My only hesitation was that we had #20 prospect RF Hank Williams (B-L age 18) and #18 OF Ralph Capriotti (age 18 B-R) who draws raves from OSA and the head of the agency Dan Barrell. I really liked Sasson as a future 2B for us and again Hinton filled a need that we had right away. But still I wonder if we can tinker with it a bit and grab the SS prospect that the Pioneers had.

While I was thinking about that deal, out of the blue Boston's GM called and said what would it take to get in on the Potts deal. The Gothams GM was still interested as well, but with all they had going on with the rumored 1B Red Johnson deal, they didn't have a chance to talk much.

So looking at a deal with Boston, who I had called earlier about aging veteran 3B Billy Dalton (37). Boston said they would include the veteran along with the following

CF #22 prospect Earl Leckie
1B #83 Sam Hannah or #78 prospect CF Ray Rogan
RF #98 prospect Paul Caissie (who was already up with the parent club)
SS #103 prospect Ed Wise
C #114 prospect Joe Clark

The only catch with the Boston deal was that they wanted another SP from the group of Leo Hayden, Ron Berry, Clarence Barton, Paul Byler, or George Oddo. So it would take Potts and one of the other SP's.

Now I really liked 1B Hannah but he would have had to have been a PTBNL (separate deal), along with SS Ed Wise and C Joe Clark. We were lacking in any real top end prospects at either of those positions. Leckie could probably fill in the role that St. Louis prospect Red Hinton proposed and was also close to ready.

These two deals gave us a lot to think about. I think I have my mind made up, but then another call came in.

[DD Martin]

No, Maybe, No, Yes
We can't seem to pull the trigger until.....

First we told Boston that we were leaning St. Louis' way in the deal and then we told both clubs no. At that point I started looking to land a big right handed bat that would play this season. Little did I know at that time the big rumored deal with Red Johnson leaving New York was unraveling. So I made some calls checking in on 1B/3B Hank Koblenz (35) who was once one of my draft picks in Detroit. He can still hit a ton of home runs, and the fans do love him. The only issue is his batting average has fallen and falled and at 5'6 (while he has played 200 games at 1B in his career), he would be one of the shortest 1B ever in the modern era.

Then we checked in again on Billy Dalton in Boston but I wasn't really fired up to trade a pitcher for the 37 year old. I made a call to Washington to check in on OF Jesse Alvardo (28) who was a lefty slugger, but didn't want to part with the draft capital when we had so much potential in the OF just a year or two away.

I did check with the New York Gothams about 37 year old C George Cleaves who is still considered the best C in the FABL and isn't slowing. He probably should start splitting more time at 1B and that could be a fit here with 1B Chuck Collins being a lefty. But something was going on in New York and the whole sale changes that were once reported had now seemingly come to a halt.

Then I checked in with the other New York team, the NY Stars. They had a 29-year-old RH 1B by the name of Bill Barnett who slugged 63 home runs over the last two season. He just turned 29 so he would not turn 30 until the very end of the 1952 season. That was intriguing to me. So I started to craft a deal to package a deal for Barnett. The Stars wanted a mid-level prospect pitcher, 2B John Smith, CF Enos Bell and perhaps RF Hank Williams. Now both Smith and Williams were players I really liked with their potential, but I decided I could move Smith. Williams on the other hand had just been drafted so he couldn't be moved. We could do him as a PTBNL but the league office frowned on that type of deal and I really didn't want to trade Williams anyway.

Then the light hit me, what if I make the St. Louis deal with Potts. Pioneers RF Prospect King Brucker is very similar to Williams and they are close in the rankings (#20 vs #31) and both are lefty sluggers of the future who should be ready by 1954. If I pulled the trigger on the St. Louis deal, then I could also trade 2B John Smith (Prospect #95) to New York but would get 2B Les Sasson (prospect #48) from St. Louis to basically replace (upgrade) that prospect position. I was also getting SP prospect Ed Wingerter which meant I could ship him to New York in the package for Barnett and not include Elmer Sullivan (wasn't going to happen), but give them someone better than our prospect SP Larry Rush.

So I called New York back and said what about if I could send you St. Louis prospects RF King Brucker and SP Ed Wingerter, along with Kings prospects 2B John Smith and CF Enos Bell (#90). Would that deal work?

Below is the actual Prairie Park look that we are moving into for the 1952 season. It will seat 48,000 for baseball.

[DD Martin]

Welcome Kings Fans to Kansas City
Club Makes Huge 3-Team Deal
By Percy Pringle Sr
October 11, 1951

Welcome to Kansas City and welcome to Kings baseball! What a huge surprise the Kings gave the fans of Kansas City. The club worked over the last week putting a 3-team trade together that involved the St. Louis Pioneers and the New York Stars. So here is the deal.

The St Louis Pioneers receive All-Star SP Joe Potts (27) from the Kansas City Kings. They traded RF King Brucker and SP Ed Wingerter to the New Stars (via Kansas City), and traded 2B Les Sasson, OF Red Hinton and P Ed Owens to the Kings.

The New York Stars traded right hand slugging 2 time All-Star 1B Bill Barnett (29) to the Kansas City Kings for the above mentioned RF Brucker and SP Wingerter, plus from the Kings 2B John Smith and CF Enos Bell.

When the dust settled, the Kings had the slugging right handed bat they were looking for while also retaining prospects Charlie Ham (#12), OF Ralph Capriotti (#18), RF Hank Williams (#20), 1B/OF John Morrison (#46) and SP Elmer Sullivan (#62). They did give up 2B John Smith (#95) and CF Enos Bell (#90), but with the addition of 2B Les Sasson (#48) and the major league ready OF Red Hinton (#75), the Kings front office feels good about the deals.

The big loss is #1 SP Joe Potts (16-11 3.34) and joins a formidable Pioneer rotation that includes Hal Hackney, Hiram Hackney, Danny Hern and Tom Buchanan. The loss of Potts is a big one for the Kings, but as the Kings continue to build up their youthful club, they are very high on SP’s Walt Staton, Fred Washington, Beau McClellan, who are joined by an improving Paul Byler, along with 1950 runner up to the Allen and Kellogg rookie award Ron Berry and finally Leo Hayden. With SP Elmer Sullivan in the minors likely a few years away.

The key arrival is 1B Bill Barnett who has a career slash line of 271/373/847 143HR 459 RBI, 443 Runs, 131 2B and a career OPS+ of 133. Barnett has led the CA in home runs the last two seasons with 33 and 30 respectively.

With the acquisition of 1B Barnett, it is believed that the club will move Chuck Collins to LF. His bat finally came around the way the club felt he could and he played 11 games in LF as a potential test to see how he would do. Now the biggest issue is behind the plate for the Kings.

As for me, I will be the Kansas City Times new baseball writer. I have been covering the Kings for the last 6 seasons in Brooklyn and with the club moving and my former local paper not needing a beat reporter. I checked into the situation with the Times and it seemed like a good fit for both sides. I am very excited to be here and cover everything Kings Baseball for you fans.

The league file still has the Brooklyn name so that Brooklyn gets credit in the almanac and history books as the team being there.
That is why the baseball card below still has the Brooklyn Kings

[DD Martin]

Kings Trade P Schaub for Hot Catching Prospect Bob Burge
October 12, 1952
By Percy Pringle Sr.

The Kings made a second move after the big 3 team trade, as they sent SP Roy Schaub (12-10 3.78 ERA) off to the FA’s Pittsburgh Miners. In return the Kings pick up the #46 prospect as rated by OSA, catcher Bob Burge who made his debut with the Miners late in the season.

The Kings are clearly banking on the trio of pitching prospects they received in the July Brooklyn trade, but Paul Byler and either or both Leo Hayden and Ron Berry to bounce back. Schaub, who was only 25, had likely his best big league season setting a career high in wins and ERA. It's been a remarkably well traveled career for the former #1 overall pick in the 1944 draft by Detroit. He was traded from Detroit to New York Stars who then one year later was traded back to Detroit. He appeared with the Dynamos in the 1950 season going 7-10 with a 3.81 ERA and has a career record of 19-20 with a 3.79 ERA. This will mark the 4th trade for Schaub in his career which is very unusual in the FABL. He likely has found a home in Pittsburgh which has been lacking any real quality pitching talent in many seasons. The belief is that Schaub will slot straight into the #1 slot.

What the Kings get back is a major league ready C who is again a right handed power hitter. It's very clear the King's wish to balance out their attack and the addition of Barnett and the unproven but talent Burge (24) has set them up nicely in that regard. The scouting reports on Burge are as follows

“He has the potential to be a 310 hitter. He has decent power now and has the chance to have above average power in the future. Burge has good potential and a very promising future. With his ceiling he can be a solid first division starting catcher in the big leagues.”

Burge hit 297/336/738 in 418 at bats with Pittsburgh’s AAA club, hitting 8 home runs and driving in 37 RBI’s. In 12 games with the Miners (5 starts) he hit 387/387/806 with a double while driving in 1 run in 31 at bats. The Kings organization stated that Burge will be working with bench coach Jim Dudkiewicz, who is considered a very good defensive catching instructor.

In a minor move the Kings did finish the paperwork to send SP Jackson Scott to Washington for minor league 3B prospect Earl Avery.

In talking with Kings GM DD Martin, he has indicated that most likely the majority of the big off-season moves are completed. But he did state that he would never say never if a major opportunity were to present itself. The King’s have been linked in rumors to Toronto RHSP George Garrison (34) and potentially a veteran pitcher with the New York Gothams. A Garrison deal would most likely cost the King’s their top pitching prospect Elmer “Bananas” Sullivan #60 overall or 2B prospect Les Sasson, but so far the Kings have given no indication that they would move either Sullivan or Sasson.