FABL - Cleveland Foresters Mediocrity at its worst

[Bub13]

Originally Posted by DD Martin

Foresters Sneak Past Sailors, 4-3 and Clinch CA Title
The Cleveland Foresters scored a tight 4-3 win versus the Philadelphia Sailors at Forester Stadium. Cleveland pitcher Eddie Quinn held his own in the contest. Cleveland is now riding a 6-game win streak.

The club will now go in search of their 1st Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues championship.

No offense to Brooklyn, but ...

WOOT! I told you I wouldn't allow it to not happen, .

[ayaghmour2]

Go Foresters! Do what we failed to do last year and bring home a championship for the Continental Association!

[DD Martin]

We will try our best to give the City of Cleveland a champion.....then Mr. Marshall will likely pull a Modell

[DD Martin]

The Cleveland P-I
Baseball Sports Wrap
Tuesday, October 2nd 1934
By - Ronald William Apter

World Series Preview

The champions of the Federal Association, the New York Gothams (91-63) will take on our own (for now) beloved Cleveland Foresters (98-56) in the 1934 World Series. For the Foresters, who are still searching for their first World Championship, this will just be their 4th trip to the World Series and first since 1920 when they lost to the Max Morris led St. Louis Pioneers in 5 games.

On the other side of the dugout is the New York Gothams who have had much more success in their history as they have been to 6 World Series matchups and won 3 championships. Their 4th organizational title was in 1885 prior to the formation of the FABL. Although Gotham fans will point out they have not won the World Series since 1896 (38 years ago). They had several opportunities since winning as they won the Federal Association 3 times between 1926 and 1931 but fell to the Continental Association Champion each time.

Will history be made for the Foresters? Or will the Gotham's break through once again?

Matchups - Starting Pitching
The assumption by me and other media types is that both teams will employ 3-man rotations that could be shortened depending on timing and where the series stands. Cleveland manager Jim Wilson has been very clear that his rotation will consist of the following players.

Dean Astle 17-7 3.07
Roger Perry 19-9 3.38
Eddie Quinn 17-10 3.15

The assumption is that the Gothams will counter with their own 3 man rotation of

Jim Lonardo 14-12 3.02
Rabbit Day 20-8 3.02
Milt Fritz 13-13 4.42

Of course the Gotham are struggling with the loss of SP Hardin Bates who burst onto the scene this year with a 19-5 record and an impressive 2.35 ERA (especially in the hitter dominated FA). Could Bates injury be a key in this series?

Summary - Going by Allen Awards, Lonardo (3), Day (2), Fritz (1) would seem to give the Gotham's an advantage. But in this series only Jim Lonardo has any playoff game experience (3-0 1.95 ERA 37IP 4GS). How will these players respond to the pressure of the Series? If the Gothams can use Lonardo and Day in 3 games each, then I'd say they have a bit of an advantage in this area.

Bullpens
The Foresters bullpen has been a lot of trouble for the team once again this year, but somehow they finished 4th in the CA in bullpen ERA at 4.22. Hard to believe there are 4 worst bullpens in the CA honestly. On the other hand, the Gothams were 3rd in the FA in bullpen ERA with a 3.71 ERA.

With the game on the line, the Gothams have a significant advantage with primary stopper Chuck Calvert (31) providing a steady presence with an 11-8 record and 14 saves to go with a 2.82 ERA. The Foresters will counter with their young stopper Frank Phillips (27) who has been streaky all year (14-7 12 saves and 3.44 ERA). Phillips has blown 9 saves this season while Calvert has only blown 3.

Sizeable Advantage New York

Catchers

The Foresters have one of the all-time greats behind the dish in TR Goins. The veteran backstop (33) hit 349/422/935 12-87 on the season and has been called the Forester's real MVP for the 1934 season. He also had another fine season behind the plate only committing 1 error, throwing out 45% of the base stealers (27/60) with defensive ratings of RF 4.56, 2.7 ZR and EFF of 1.088

New York C John Wicklund just completed his 1st full season in the big leagues. He hit a very solid 319/388/878 with 12 home runs and 78 RBI's. Defensively he threw out 50% of would be base stealers (30/60) on the season and has high marks in RF 5.31, ZR 3.2, and Eff 1.026

Summary - Neither man has been in the post season, but the nod has to go to the veteran Goins who is likely a Hall of Fame Player some day.

Infielders -
Cleveland Starters
1B Max Morris 320/377/870 26-123
2B Brooks Meeks 310/357/805 3-59
3B Charlie Barry 325/371/835 15-96
SS George Dawson 313/364/743 2-52

New York Starters
1B Bud Jameson 320/392/847 9-60
2B John Turner 254/389/741 4-58
3B Johnny McDowell 304/347/734 0-78
SS Erv Smith 303/363/754 1-63

Summary - The power edge here definitely goes to the Foresters with Morris and Barry at the corners. At 2B, 3B, and SS the edge defensively goes to the Foresters but not by much. At 1B, Max Morris has slowed down a bit and even though Bud Jameson is no wizard at 1B, he has a defensive advantage over Morris.

Advantage - Foresters

Outfield

Cleveland Starters
LF Leon Drake 295/378/888 21-118
CF Dan Fowler 264/375/820 22-91
RF Moxie Pidgeon 325/381/907 25-92

New York Starters
LF Joe Perret 322/355/809 14-88
CF Joe Johnson 304/375/814 3-43
CF John Jones 321/371/793 2-53
RF Mahlon Strong 313/368/946 29-110

Summary - New York tends to platoon Johnson and Jones in CF. Johnson is the better fielder and a switch hitter so he might get the majority of the starts. Former Forester Joe Perret had a strong season for the Gotham's and played the most games in a season (128) since he was traded from Cleveland. Perret is still a below average fielder in LF. Then there is RF Strong who good young hitter and as long as he is not forced into CF he is an average OF, but is one of the games best young hitters.

On the Forester side, they have Drake and Fowler in LF and CF and they are both very good players on that side of the field. Fowler had some error issues this year and had fewer assists than he did a year ago. Drake can play CF as well so there could be a position swap next season in spring training. Moxie Pidgeon can still be a sometimes adventure in RF, but he has improved. His emergence is what prompted the Foresters to trade Joe Perret in the first place as GM Martin didn't want 2 poor fielding corner outfields. With the bats, there isn't much argument that Cleveland has one of the best young OF's in baseball.

Advantage - Cleveland

Managers

New York Gothams Ed Ziehl 567-511 .526 (7 seasons) 3rd playoff appearance record 5-8)

Cleveland Foresters Jim Wilson 180-111 .619 (2nd season) 1st playoff

No question Wilson (31) has been remarkable in his almost 2 seasons at the helm in Cleveland. He took over a 5-12 team in May last season and guided them to a final record of 87-67. Of course his own playing career was cut short by an injury or he would likely still be a player here on the Foresters pitching staff. He has been very successful but does not have any playoff experience.

Ziehl (47) on the other hand had a full and successful big league career and has now guided the Gotham's to FA titles in 7 seasons. Some figured if he didn't win this season, he might be on the hot seat in New York. He proved those critics wrong and while he hasn't had the success he would hope in the playoffs, he has been there.

Advantage - Pains me to say but sometimes experience is a benefit.

Ronald William Apter Series Prediction

This is a very interesting series were the CA team has actually scored more than an FA champion coming into a series. Both pitching staffs are very good but the late season injury to Hardin Bates might prove to be the ultimate difference. With him in the lineup they Gothams would have presumable 3 Allen Award winners (presuming Bates wins the FA Allen this season). That edge in my opinion would have been too much to over come. Without Bates, and with their powerful offense, I believe that gives Cleveland the advantage. The series will make it back to Cleveland, but I don't think there will be a game 7. Foresters in 6!

[Tiger Fan]

Great analysis. Just to add to your pitching fears. Milt Fritz has also won an Allen Award but a plus for the Foresters side is Goins does have WCS experience, going to 2 of them while with Washington.

[DD Martin]

Originally Posted by Tiger Fan

Great analysis. Just to add to your pitching fears. Milt Fritz has also won an Allen Award but a plus for the Foresters side is Goins does have WCS experience, going to 2 of them while with Washington.

How could I forget Uncle Milty. I fixed that. And yes Morris and Goins (who I had forgotten went to the Series with Washington earlier) are the only Foresters with any playoff experience.

[DD Martin]

Game 1 1934 World Series

I wish I could say it was a great day for baseball in Cleveland today to start the World Series, but it is Cleveland. While the temperature isn't bad at 59 degrees at game time, it has been raining off and on the last several days and we are likely to see rain and wind (blowing left to right 18 mph) throughout the day. Hopefully the baseball gods will allow this one to get in (unless we are losing then I hope they call it before the 5th). We are expecting a near capacity (31,350 cap) crowd for these first 2 games of the 1934 World Series which is easily the highest attendance at Forester Stadium ever. While some feel that the stadium is an eye sore and a wrecking ball needs to smash through it, the ballpark has a certain charm and old time feel to it.

On the hill today will be Rabbit Day (20-8 3.02) for the Gothams who is very familiar pitching here at Forester Stadium. Prior to the spring trade to the Gothams, Day toiled for the Baltimore Cannons for 7 seasons and he has made many appearances here. For Cleveland it will be young 25 year-old Dean Astle who was 17-7 3.07 in his first full season in the majors.

Thursday October 4th 1934
Forester Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
World Series Game 1
Attendance 31,324



Gothams Get Past Foresters 8-4 to Open WCS
The New York Gothams started the World Championship Series in style today, winning on the road against the Cleveland Foresters at Forester Stadium by a score of 8-4 to take an early 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Gothams second baseman Erv Smith excelled. He went 4 for 5 with a double and 3 singles, while scoring 2 runs.

Who knows how it might've ended, had it not been for Mahlon Strong? The New York right fielder had a 2-run single in the top of the sixth inning to put the Gothams on top, 6-4. For the game, Strong had 1 double and 1 single in 4 at-bats.

"Things broke our way today and that's great," Gothams manager Ed Ziehl said. "It's important, though, to stay focused and not pat yourself on the back too much. We aren't done yet."

Game 2 is set to be played tomorrow at Forester Stadium. The scheduled starters for the game are Jim Lonardo for New York and Roger Perry for Cleveland.

[DD Martin]

Game 2 1934 World Series

Well yesterday's game was definitely a bummer as we jumped out on Rabbit Day early for a 4-0 lead. But 2 runs in the 4th, 5th, and 6th before the rain delay was too much to over come. Whether it was the weather, the first time in a World Series game, or he just didn't have it, Dean Astle struggled. He is scheduled for game 4 in New York so we definitely hope he bounces back.

But today is a new day, so we hope we can make it a better one and even this thing up. We definitely don't want to go to New York down 0-2. Today's pitching matchup should be a good one with Jim Lonardo 14-12 3.02 ERA taking on our Roger Perry 19-9 3.38. While its not necessarily a must win, the team pretty much understands its a must win.

The weather for this one is a little better as the rain seems to have passed us by. The wind though could still be a factor as it is currently blowing in from center field which could impact some fly balls.

Friday October 5th 1934
Forester Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
World Series Game 2 (Gothams lead 1-0)
Attendance 31,338



Gothams Hammered by Morris, Drop Game 2 to Foresters
The Cleveland Foresters relied on the hitting of first baseman Max Morris to get by the New York Gothams, 7-3, in Game 2 of the World Championship Series today. For the game, Morris went 3-4 with a home run and 2 singles. He scored 2 runs and drove in 2. The clubs are now tied, 1-1.

Ft. Wayne, Indiana-born Charlie Barry came through in the clutch. In the bottom of the eighth, with the bases loaded and the Foresters trailing 3-2, he hit a bases-clearing double to left-center to put Cleveland on top. Barry called the win the result of "everyone being in sync."

Game 3 is set to be played Sunday. The scheduled starters for the game are Eddie Quinn for Cleveland and Milt Fritz for New York.

[DD Martin]

Game 3 1934 World Series

Well after the split at home we head to New York to the infamous Bigsby Oval. The park is short down the lines (304 each way) and tends to be a pitchers park that is tough on RHB bats. The stadium can hold over 52,000 fans for baseball.

On the mound for this all important game 3 is maybe the hottest pitcher on either team in September as Eddie Quinn (who was 5-0 1.60 ERA in September but didn't pitcher of the month because Tommy Barrell was 8-0 although is ERA was over 2.50) taking on "The Traveling Man" Milt Fritz. Fritz was 13-13 on the season and 7-8 with the Gothams with a 4.17 ERA after coming over from Montreal. Down the stretch Fritz was only 4-7 with a 4.60 ERA in August/September so we should be feeling pretty good about that matchup.

Today's weather for the 1:35pm first pitch is 58 degrees under partly cloudy skies. So there shouldn't be the rain like we saw in Cleveland. The wind will be blowing from LF in around 12mph.


Sunday October 7th 1934
Bigsby Oval - New York
World Series Game 3 (Series Tied 1-1)
Attendance 52,223



Foresters Hammered by Johnson, Drop Game 3 to Gotham's 11-5
Riding the 3-hit performance of center fielder Joe Johnson, the New York Gothams stopped the visiting Cleveland Foresters, 11-5, in Game 3 of the World Championship Series today. Johnson was 3-5 with a home run and 2 singles, while scoring 2 times and driving in 3 for the Gothams, who now lead the best-of-7 series, 2 games to 1.

With two out in the bottom of the fifth, Bud Jameson barreled up a cutter from Eddie Quinn. The result was a 3-run home run, putting the Gothams in front, 5-0. "We'll put this win in our pocket and go after the next one," said Johnson.

The next game is scheduled for tomorrow at Bigsby Oval III in New York. The scheduled starters for the game are Dean Astle 0-1 9.00 for the Cleveland Foresters and Rabbit Day 1-0 6.00 for the the New York Gothams.

Comments - So "Caveman" Eddie Quinn reverted back to his August for and was lit up by the Gotham's. Will Quinn get a shot at coming back once again to the mound in Game 6 even if the Foresters are fortunate enough to bring the series back to Cleveland? Only manager Jim Wilson can answer that question.

When asked why his team that had the best pitching numbers in the CA this year, was struggling here in the Series. Wilson simply stated "Winners make pitches, get timely hits and make plays. We are doing little of that so far."

Our former SS Erv Smith who was dealt for 2B Ralph Joiner and SP Walter Murray has been great so far this series. He went 3-4 today with 3 doubles and is hitting 615 with 4 doubles and 4 RBI's so far in this series. Smith has rebounded nicely from the injury prior to the 1933 season where he miss the whole year. He has hit 303 during the regular season with 63 RBI's playing both 2B and SS for the New Yorkers. He was someone I really didn't want to trade but with the emergence of SS George Dawson I couldn't give him the starting SS job back. His role in New York was the same one that I envisioned for him if he had stayed with us as the platoon 2B and playing some games at SS as well.

[DD Martin]

1934 World Series Game 4

Today's game will return to the game 1 matchups of Cleveland SP Dean Astle looking to rebound from his game 1 performance going against NY SP Rabbit Day. The Forester's jumped on Day early for 4 runs in the first 2 innings but then he settled down to go 6 strong for the Gotham's. Astle started out well but with the rain delay and just seeming to run out of gas gave up 6 runs in 6 innings of work. If the Forester's are to win this game, they will need the Dean Astle that won 19 games this season with a 3.07 ERA.

Again another partly cloudy New York October afternoon day with 58 degrees and a wind blowing left to right at a steady 11 mph.


Monday October 8th 1934
Bigsby Oval - New York
World Series Game 4 (Gothams lead 2-1)
Attendance 52,358



Almost There: New York On Cusp of WCS Triumph After 5-2 Win
The New York Gothams moved to within one game of the Round 2 today, downing the visiting Cleveland Foresters at Bigsby Oval III by a score of 5-2. Gothams right-hander Rabbit Day had a strong outing in which he threw 8 innings allowing 2 runs. The win gives the Gothams a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-7 World Championship Series.

The tension was thick in the top of the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and Cleveland trailing 5-1, Rabbit Day had to get a big out. On a 1-1 fastball, he retired Charlie Barry, who flied out.

Game 5 is scheduled for tomorrow. Slated to start are Roger Perry for the Cleveland Foresters and Jim Lonardo for the the New York Gothams.

Comments - We had our opportunities but Rabbit Day really put out the comeback fire there in the 6th. Day who was always double tough when he was with Baltimore is really sticking it to us this series as he is now 2-0. If we get to game 7, and that is a big IF right now. We know who we will see on the hill against us.

We seriously tried to trade for Day as well and he would have been a great addition, but we were not able to part with part of the package that was needed to land him and the Baltimore GM really wanted to trade him out of the CA so he wouldn't have to face him during the regular season.

But the trade of Day and Erv Smith to the Gothams is not why we are trailing in this series. We have simply not pitched well at all this post-season. Other than tomorrow's SP Roger Perry, we have not been our usual sharp selves. The defense has surprisingly played well but the offense that led so many comebacks late in the season has not been there this series. Could it be the Forester's who went 15-1 down the stretch of a very tight and stress filled CA season and exhausted? Or have they just ran into a better that while maybe a little more rested is just out pitching and out playing them. That is probably the simple answer.

Mr. Marshall who is enjoying watching the playoff money come in is really hoping that we can bring the series back to Cleveland for a game 6. I think deep down inside somewhere he would like to win it all, but he is so resentful to the Cleveland City Council that he doesn't want anything to get in the way of easily being able to move the team. Despite the FABL's top number in attendance this season (Marshall - It was top 10 all-time in the FABL), and capacity crowds for the World Series, Marshall is hell bent on moving the team out of town.

[DD Martin]

1934 World Series Game 5

So the mood in the clubhouse yesterday after the crushing loss was not very good. SP Dean Astle was just utterly sick as he had allowed his team to fail to a huge 3-1 deficit in the series. Astle pitched better in this game, but still wasn't throwing his A game stuff and his World Series era stood at 6.43 in 14 innings of work. Everyone went to the hotel that evening and things didn't look up in the early morning on the day of game 5.

Looking around the room after having a few words with his coaching staff, Jim Wilson stood in the center of the clubhouse and demanded everyone's attention. He blasted the club for feeling sorry for themselves and reminded everyone that it take 4 wins in a series to take the crown and New York only had 3, Cleveland just needed 3. He told the team that the pressure is now on New York to avoid going back to Cleveland and that they had the monkey on their shoulders of having been to recent World Series and not coming through. He asked his gang, a mix of veterans and youngsters what they wanted this season to be remembered for? "Do you want it to be remember for a fantastic finish and then a colossal collapse? Or did they want to be remember as the team that won the CA title by winning 15 of their last 16 games and then delivering the city its first and perhaps only World Championship. Well I choose the latter!" He then also asked them how many times they had won 3 games in a row (or more) this season. "If we did it during the regular season, then why not now. We take it one at a time with this first one today. Roger will go out and throw a tremendous game for us today. Batters you just need to do your part and give him a little run support. Now go do it!"

Game 5 would feature the starters from game 2 where we would throw Roger Perry 0-0 3.86 against New York's Jim Lonardo 0-1 7.36. Game 2 was the only game we had won so far. Perry had fire in his eyes and he began to do some stretching before heading out to try and save the season.

We begin today's game under clear skies and 59 degrees with a slight wind blowing out to CF

Tuesday October 9th 1934
Bigsby Oval - New York
World Series Game 5 (Gothams lead 3-1)
Attendance 52,117



Home Loss Shrinks Gothams' Series Lead to 3-2
Already down in the World Championship Series, the Cleveland Foresters put on their best show, beating the New York Gothams by a final score of 4-0 today. Roger Perry was special. He threw 7 innings of shutout ball. Cleveland now trails New York 3-2 in the best-of-7 affair.

Perry delivered a quality start for Cleveland. The 6' 1" left-hander allowed no earned runs on 1 hit over 7 innings of work. "The key at this level is throwing strike one," said Perry. "Successful pitchers do it."

Game 6 is set to be played Thursday, October 11th, 1934. The scheduled starters for the game are Milt Fritz for New York and a starter has not been announced for Cleveland as of yet, but according to the schedule it would be Eddie Quinn.

Comments - Perry had done it, he had gone out and threw a gem of a game and send the series back home. He threw a 2 hit shutout at a time when the team needed it the most. Morris and Barry provided all the offense the team needed on this day.

[DD Martin]

Game 6 1934 World Series

After traveling back home after Game 5 we had an off-day before the start of Game 6. I was down on the field with manager Jim Wilson talking to him about this next game and what magic he had up his sleeve for this one. Jim had mixed up the lineup a little bit against all the right handed pitchers New York had thrown into the game. He started 2B Ralph Joiner (L) at 2B instead of Brooks Meeks. Joiner had been the starting 2B against RHP for most of the season and while his batting average hovered around 300 for most of the first half, he had faded down the stretch and lost the job to Brooks Meeks who was playing everyday against lefties and about 33% of the time against righties. The combination of the 2 produced a battling line of 286/356/401 with 5 homers and 95 RBI's between them. Joiner made up for his batting average with his penchant for drawing walks.

The other change Wilson made was moving aging veteran slugger Max Morris out to RF and inserted LHB Al Wilson at 1B. Wilson had struggled most of the season even at AAA but was added for his left handed bat for this series. Wilson had made 2 pinch hitting appearances and drawn 2 walks so far this series. Taking a seat on the bench, was regular RF Moxie Pidgeon who had struggled so far in the series hitting 231.

Whether the moves worked or not remains to be seen as Wilson was 1-4 and Joiner was 0-3 with a walk. For this once again win or go home game, Wilson was keeping Joiner in the lineup but opted to have Morris return to 1B and have Pidgeon start in RF in game 6.

He then explained to me that he didn't like what he saw with Eddie Quinn in game 3 and our pitching coach Jackie Austin felt that his confidence wasn't there. When I asked Wilson who he intended to throw in Quinn's place I expected the answer to be Walter Murphy who was a #4 guy all year long. But when Wilson stated that he wanted to go with a RHP in this game as we had been throwing a lot of lefties out there, he said he intended to start SP Ben Turner who had gone 8-6 on the year with a 4.41 ERA. Wilson had a confident look on his face when he said the name Ben Turner that I didn't argue with him. Jimmy had been right a lot so far in his short managerial career and he was winning far more than he was losing.

The weather for the game was partly cloudy (which was an improvement over the conditions of games 1 & 2) with a cross wind blowing out left to right at 13 mph.


Thursday October 11th 1934
Forester Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
World Series Game 6 (Gothams lead 3-2)
Attendance 31,060



Gothams Hammered by Goins, Drop Game 6 to Foresters
The Cleveland Foresters and the New York Gothams will take the World Championship Series to a decisive 7th game. In a must-win situation today, the Foresters beat the Gothams 8-3 at Forester Stadium to force the series into what will essentially be a one-game playoff. Cleveland catcher T.R. Goins was 3 for 5 with a home run and 2 singles. He scored 2 times and drove in 3.

Leon Drake dealt the Gothams a blow in the bottom of the first. Batting with the bases loaded and Cleveland leading 2-0, Drake, who finished 5th in the CA in home runs with 21 in 1934, hit a 0-1 curveball for a 2-run single.

"Win or lose, we pick each other up in this clubhouse," Goins told the Cleveland P-I.

The next game is set to be played tomorrow in Cleveland. Slated to start are Rabbit Day for the New York Gothams and Dean Astle for the the Cleveland Foresters.

Comments - Hard to believe (not really) but Jim Wilson was right on the decision to start Ben Turner. Turner went the distance and allowed 7 hits and 3 runs in outpitching Milt Fritz to even up the series at 3 games apiece.

Gotham's RP Gary Harris was diagnosed with a sore shoulder after game 6 and was listed as day-to-day for about a month. With only one more game in the season, my bet was Harris was done for the year.

Tomorrow is the game for all the marbles. We had won 2 elimination games and just like winding down the end of the regular season we seemed to once again be playing well with our backs to the wall.

Next - Could we finish off the improbable comeback?

[DD Martin]

Game 7 1934 World Series

So here we are. We made it back to force a game 7 after things were not looking so good after game 4. It will be an all-hands on deck day as there is no tomorrow. The Gotham's will throw SP Rabbit Day who won both games 1 and 4 with a 3.77 ERA. While he was definitely not dominating in game 1, he was much more his usual cool, calm, collected ace in game 4 giving up just 2 runs. So we definitely had our work cut out for us in this one.

Everyone assumed that Dean Astle would be the game 7 starting pitcher. It was his turn and he was considered at least the "co-ace" of this staff with Roger Perry. When I talked to Jim Wilson after game 6 he told me he had made a decision but was going to sleep on it. Early in the morning both of us were at the ballpark. We got together and when I asked if he was ready tell me who he had decided to start, he indicated that he was.

Jim Wilson- I have made a tough decision and will be talking with Dean later this morning. I'm going to give the start in today's deciding game 7 to Roger (Perry). I know he just threw in game 5 and it will be on short rest, but when talking with our pitching coach he indicated that Roger was rested and ready to go in whatever role we needed him in. I am sure Roger probably felt that would be out of the bullpen to either spell Dean if he struggled or close out the game.

When I asked why Perry over Astle, Jim replied.....

Jim Wilson - Simple, Roger has been sharp in his 2 appearances against these guys and Dean hasn't. Remember this is Dean's first time throwing over 150 innings in his career. He is approaching almost 300 with these two World Series games. I am not sure he has the gas left in the tank or the confidence right now. But I am going to have him ready to close out the game if we need him.

I shocked Jim's hand and told him good luck today. Then I went to my office to sit back and think about a memory that I had.....(from right after I met with Joe Johnson following the disastrous 29 season (post in detail right below via link).

https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...09&postcount=9

It was just after we had concluded. We had just finished going from 86 wins in 1928 to suffering through a season to forget in 1929 falling to 64 wins. I was meeting with our then manager Joe Johnson (who would be in attendance for today's game 7). He was in the office with me to talk about the season and gave me his decision that he was likely going to retire. He didn't feel at his age he wanted to go through a rebuilding process and felt that there was others better suited to lead the team through that process. He said unless he got an offer he couldn't refuse (he was offered the Detroit Dynamos job after they didn't resign their manager after winning the 1929 world series) he was going to retire.

As he got up to leave he asked me for a favor. The favor involved recently injured player Jimmy (as Joe called him) Wilson. Wilson was in our rotation and was the #3 SP to start the 29 season. Once the rails fell off and we traded our top 2 SP's, he was the #1 guy. But it was not to be as he suffered a career ending injury shortly after those trades. He told me about Wilson who he had taken a liking too and related how it was tough on him, recently married with a kid on the way losing his source of income. He felt that Jimmy had the makeup to be a great pitching coach and could relate to the players of this generation. He felt in time he could even be a great manager. Johnson asked me to talk to Wilson and offer him the Class C pitching coach job.

The rest as they say is history......

Later in the day around 11 am, Ricky Marshall (my best friend and owners son) came in and said to watch out for his dad. I guess Mr. Marshall had a row with League President Samuel Belton last night regarding leaving Cleveland. It is clear that Belton doesn't want the team to move (and honestly neither did Ricky or me) and threatened Mr. Marshall with legal action.

Shortly after Mr. Marshall came into my office surprisingly with a smile on his face. In the time I had known Harold Marshall's (former owner) only son he sure had changed. But now after Rick's warning his dad comes in all relaxed and calm. Smiling and talking about what a great day it was. He said he would be in his office and then would go to his seats to enjoy the game. I don't know what it is but he is up to something....

Rain would not be a factor in this deciding game as the baseball gods smiled favor upon us pushing a forecasted storm into the end of the weekend. Today it was clear skies and 61 degrees with a light breeze blowing.



Friday October 12th 1934
Forester Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
World Series Game 7 (Series is tied 3-3)
Attendance 31,324

Forester's Leave No Doubt, Win City's First (and only?) World Championship!! 18-3

The Gotham's scored first with a run in the 1st inning, but the Forester's then scored 13 straight runs (starting with 5 in the 3rd and 4 in the 4th) to take a commanding 13-1 lead.

SP Roger Perry went 6 strong innings giving up just 1 run, 6 hits and 1 walk with 10 strikeouts tying a season and career high for him. It was an amazing performance. Eddie Quinn pitched the last 3 innings giving up a couple of meaningless runs for the save and celebrating the Forester's first World Championship.

The offensive stars in this game were many, and were lead by C TR Goins going 5-6 with a double, 5 runs scored and 4 RBI's. Goins set CA playoff game records for runs and hits in a game. Goins hit 412 for the series with 1 homer and 10 RBI's. Max Morris homered for the 3rd time in the series and drove in 7 runs while hitting 419. 3B Charlie Barry tripled and drove in 3 more runs giving him a whopping 13 in the series. Any one of those guys probably deserve the World Series MVP but Max Morris maybe on his sentimental returning home story and bring the first World Championship to the city won the honors as announced by the FABL.

The Cleveland P-I writer Ronald William Apter gave the nod to SP Roger Perry who went 2-0 in 3 starts with a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings of work. Apter felt that if it was not for Perry's heroic's on the mound, the team would not have won game 5 and would not have won the title today in game 7 (hard to argue).

[DD Martin]

The Championship Comes to Cleveland!!

1934 World Series Champions
Cleveland Foresters

[Sevsdast]

Well, batman couldn't save this Gotham from the lethal forest.

[Sizeman21]

Hey DD,

Excellent season for the Foresters! Great series. I very much enjoyed your write ups. 🙂

What is next for the Foresters?

[mjj55409]

I see the Foresters as being in the thick of the CA pennant race for the next couple of seasons. And of course, there is Max Morris's pursuit of 700 home runs.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by mjj55409

I see the Foresters as being in the thick of the CA pennant race for the next couple of seasons. And of course, there is Max Morris's pursuit of 700 home runs.

I agree completely and even though every Morris homer likely hurts my Brooklyn Kings I am cheering for him to get to 700.

[DD Martin]

Originally Posted by Sizeman21

Hey DD,

Excellent season for the Foresters! Great series. I very much enjoyed your write ups. ��

What is next for the Foresters?

Hmm good question. Probably rolling with the current group another year. I’d love to improve our bullpen. Not much I can do in the draft this year since I’ve traded key picks for this upcoming draft. I do have to start rebuilding FABL’s worst minor league system as far as prospects go. We once were #2 in prospects but we sold the farm to win a championship.

Oh and we will be packing the moving vans in the middle of the night to move the team

[DD Martin]

Originally Posted by Sevsdast

Well, batman couldn't save this Gotham from the lethal forest.

Nope and neither could my incompetent GM skills. Don’t worry the Foresters will likely be doormats again soon enough