FABL - Detroit Dynamo's - Rise from the Ashes

[DD Martin]

Hanging on by a Thread - End of September 1939

So the Dynamos went 3-2 in their big series against Boston and Pittsburgh and now just have to finish the deal. First Detroit will head to Washington to take on the 6th place Eagles, then head home for a 3 game series against the last place Gothams. To keep the pressure on Pittsburgh, Detroit really needs to win at least 4 out of 6 of these games.

9/26: Detroit Dynamos @ Washington Eagles - Loss, 2-4.
Eagles Prevail, 4-2, Over Detroit
W: J. Elder (19-18) L: M. Murphy (11-14) .
HR - WAS: H. Shumate (18)

Washington Eagles starter Jack Elder hurled his team past the Detroit Dynamos, 4-2. With the win, Washington goes to 65-79, while the Dynamos fall to 87-57. With Pittsburgh winning their game today Detroit's lead in the Federal Association shrinks once again to just 1/2 game.

Johnnie Sundberg (A player that the Dynamos went after prior to the trade deadline), the Washington shortstop, contributed a run-scoring single in the bottom of the seventh inning to make the score 3-2, Eagles. For the game, Sundberg went 1-3.

Sundberg told a Washington Daily News reporter that he was "satisfied" with the win.

The Dynamos pounded out 9 hits but the only extra base hit was Elmer Nolde's double. Manager George Theobald stated "We just didn't get a timely hit today against Elder. Despite our record, that lack of timely hitting has been our bugaboo all season. You have to drive in runs to win in this league."

9/27: Detroit Dynamos @ Washington Eagles - Loss, 0-6.
Anderson Throws 6-0 Shutout
W: B. Anderson (8-11) L: S. Gonzales (13-10) .
HR - None

Washington Eagles pitcher Bill Anderson did his job to perfection today, blanking the Detroit Dynamos at Columbia Stadium. He scattered 5 hits while striking out 3 in the 6-0 shutout.

"All I did was not allow any runs," he joked after the game. "I mean, technically, that's what they pay me to do, right?"

For the year Anderson has a 8-11 record with a 4.23 ERA in 20 starts. Anderson has bounced back to pitch a much more respectable season this year. Last year he was just 6-13 with an unsightly 5.69 ERA.

For the Dynamo's with the loss and Pittsburgh's 2nd straight win against New York, the Miners have taken over 1st place by 1/2 game.

9/28: Detroit Dynamos @ Washington Eagles - Win, 10-3.
Dynamos Mow Down Eagles, 10-3
W: F. Crawford (24-6) L: D. Everett (3-5) .
HR - DET: F. Crawford (2)

With Pittsburgh winning again against the lowly Gothams, Detroit really needed to wake up in this last game in Washington. Detroit pitcher Frank Crawford did his part in helping his team beat the Washington Eagles, 10-3. The left-hander kept opposing batters in check throughout the game. In 9 innings, Crawford surrendered 7 hits, while striking out 3 and walking 1. He allowed 3 runs. The win elevated the Dynamos to 88-58 but remain 1/2 game behind Pittsburgh.

Crawford besides winning his 24th game on the season also hit his 2nd home run on the season to help his cause.

John Wicklund, the two-time All-Star , had a direct impact on the outcome. Wicklund contributed a run-scoring walk in the top of the first inning to put Detroit up, 3-0. Wicklund called the triumph "a good team win and one we very much needed."

9/29: New York Gothams @ Detroit Dynamos - Win, 2-3.
Dynamos Clip Gothams, 3-2
W: J. Shaffner (12-13) L: M. Earl (3-2) .
HR - DET: R. Johnson (25), E. Nolde (10)

The Gotham's continue to play a big role in who will eventually win the Federal Association as they lose again to one of the top two teams.

The Detroit Dynamos picked up a win at Thompson Field, knocking off the New York Gothams, 3-2. On the mound for Detroit was left-hander Joe Shaffner, who played a pivotal role in the win. The Gothams have now dropped 5 straight.

Elmer Nolde was the walk-off hero for Detroit. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dynamos pinch hitter hit a dramatic solo home run to send the teams home.

"Our guys are never satisfied," said Detroit manager George Theobald. With Pittsburgh again winning their game, their 4th straight win, the remain 1/2 game ahead of the Dynamos with just over a week to play.

9/30: New York Gothams @ Detroit Dynamos - Win, 8-10.
Messer Heroics Not Enough as Dynamos Prevail 10-8
W: D. Attaway (6-0) L: E. Wise (4-5) .
HR - NYG: W. Messer 2 (5) DET: J. Wicklund (14), D. Robbins (3)

New York first baseman Walt Messer had a good game in a losing cause. His team fell, 10-8, to Detroit at Thompson Field. Messer belted 2 home runs. Detroit reliever Don Attaway picked up the win, upping his record to 4-0. Ernie Wise shouldered the loss. With the victory, the Dynamos upped their record to 90-58.

Leon Drake went 1-3 with a walk, while scoring 2 times for Detroit. The 30-year old right fielder had a key at-bat in the bottom of the seventh. With one out and a runner on 3rd, he broke a 8-8 tie with a run-scoring sacrifice fly off Sammy Alger. It was his 53rd RBI of the season.

"We're in a funk and we need to shake ourselves out of it," said New York manager Ed Ziehl.

With Detroit's win and Pittsburgh finally losing a game again after 4 straight wins, the Dynamos regain 1st place in the Federal Association by 1/2 game over the Miners.

Manager George Theobald stated, "We are down to the wire. Whoever plays the best mistake free baseball is going to come out on top. While it might be great for the fans, I really hope we don't have to play an extra game, unless we are the team that falls short without it."

[DD Martin]

This is it! - October 1939

The Dynamo's enter the final stretch with the slimmest of margins possible, a 1/2 game lead over the Pittsburgh Miners. They wrap up their home season with a game against the New York Gotham's who are reeling before heading to Chicago for 2 games and then finally back to New York for the final 3. Anything short of 4-2 will likely mean at best a 1-game playoff or more likely at heartbreaking end of the season.

The final home game will also see the Dynamo's break the 1.9 million mark in home attendance for the season, breaking their previous FABL record set last year of 1,854,614.

10/1: New York Gothams @ Detroit Dynamos - Loss, 2-1.
Gothams Bridle Dynamos, 2-1
W: C. Sutton (3-3) L: S. Gonzales (13-11) .
HR - None

28.012 fans poured into Thompson Field as the Dynamo's are the first FABL team to break the 1.9 million in home attendance with a final tally of 1,910,358. Sadly for those in attendance, the Dynamo's couldn't solve New York's SP Charlie Sutton (3-3) in just his 6th big league start of the season (and 9th in his big league career).

For the Dynamo's it was a loss that they could ill afford as Pittsburgh again defeated Boston and took over first place by 1/2 game. The Miners will have 6 more games while the Dynamo's will have just 5.

Summary - So really a crushing loss for the Dynamo's and one that might cost them the pennant. SP Sergio Gonzales pitched a 6-hitter in match Sutton but the Gothams were able to scratch out 1 more run in support of Sutton.

Sal Pestilli is still struggling with his ailing shoulder and there are reports of GM DD Martin lambasting Dr Booth for his handling of Pestilli's injury. In consulting with Manager George Theobald, the good doctor and the player, the decision was made with Monday's and Thursday's off-days to sit Pestilli for the 2 game series in Chicago. Reports out of Chicago screamed how the Dynamo's were "dis-respecting" the Chief's by sitting the star player, but with the injury the star player was not performing like a star, despite his best efforts. Will the decision to bench Sal be the Dynamo's undoing? Perhaps

10/3: Detroit Dynamos @ Chicago Chiefs - Loss, 2-3.
Chiefs Trip Dynamos, 3-2, in Extra Innings
W: S. Reichmann (5-3) L: M. Murphy (11-15) .
HR - DET: F. Vance (11), E. Stewart (7)

The Chicago Chiefs defeated the Detroit Dynamos, 3-2, in Federal Association action at Whitney Park. Chicago pitcher Sam Vaughan had a standout performance. The win belongs to Stan Reichmann in relief. His record improves to 5-3. Mike Murphy took the loss for Detroit. The 5th-place Chiefs lifted their record to 72-78.

The Chiefs procured the win, in large part because of pinch hitter Tony White. In the bottom of the 11th, he produced the game-winning run-scoring single. "We put it together today and came out with the win," White said in postgame remarks. "That's the main thing."

Manager George Theobald stated "Once again our offense let us down, but tip your cap to that Vaughn who pitched for Chicago today. He went 10 innings and while giving up 2 solo home runs, he pitched great. He looks like a future star."

With Pittsburgh's 12-2 thrashing of Washington today, the Miners suddenly have a 1 1/2 game lead.


10/4: Detroit Dynamos @ Chicago Chiefs - Loss, 3-4.
Dynamos Lose By a Run at Chicago, 4-3
W: A. Miller (10-12) L: J. Shaffner (12-14) .
HR - None

Starting pitcher Al Miller pitched well enough to help the Chicago Chiefs beat the Detroit Dynamos, 4-3. Miller went 9 innings to notch the win. He scattered 8 hits, walked 6, and struck out 5. His record improves to 10-12. The Chiefs, at 73-78, sit in 5th place in the Federal Association.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Tom Bird had a game-changing hit. The Chiefs catcher slammed a run-scoring single off Joe Shaffner, making the score 4-3, Chicago.

"You get some opportunities, you better take advantage of them," said Detroit manager George Theobald. Fortunately the Miners lost in Washington today so the lead remains 1 1/2 games for Pittsburgh.

Summary - So we go to Chicago and face our arch-rivals who unexpectedly had struggled all season and lose 2 1-run games. The Chiefs played the spoiler very well and have backed the Dynamo's who are now on a 3-game losing streak.

Was the decision to sit Sal Pestilli, the wrong one? Well maybe, but he has hitting below 200 with the injury since it occurred at the end of August. The treatments were not seemingly getting him over the hump. The good news is that he is now fully fit (finally) and is rejoining the team in New York for the 3 game set.

The Dynamo's have backed themselves into a terrible hole as the Miners won again to stretch the lead to a full 2 games. Detroit's only chance is to sweep New York in the final 3 games and hope that somehow Philadelphia and Washington can win at least 2 games against Pittsburgh (not likely).

10/6: Detroit Dynamos @ New York Gothams - Win, 5-4.
Dynamos Sneak Past Gothams, 5-4
W: S. Gonzales (14-11) L: E. Wise (4-6) S: J. Richardson (13).
HR - DET: E. Stewart (8), R. Johnson (26)

The game between Detroit and New York is in the books, despite a little rain.

The timely hitting of Red Johnson helped the Detroit Dynamos down the New York Gothams, 5-4. Johnson went 2 for 4 with a home run, a double, and a walk. He scored 2 runs for the Dynamos. The winning pitcher was Sergio Gonzales. He's now 14-11. He went 8.2 innings, allowing 4 runs on 11 hits for the Dynamos.

A defensive lapse proved costly in the contest. In the top of the eighth, with the game tied, Doc Love was at the plate when Detroit scored 1 on an error. The miscue enabled the Dynamos to go in front, 5-4.

"We can always improve and get better, but we're feeling confident after that win," said Johnson.

The triumph puts Detroit at 91-61 for the season, but with Pittsburgh's win Detroit's tragic number is now at 1.

10/7: Detroit Dynamos @ New York Gothams - Win, 5-2.
Detroit Beats New York, 5-2
W: F. Crawford (25-6) L: C. Sutton (3-4) .
HR - DET: S. Pestilli (29), R. Johnson (27)

The Detroit Dynamos picked up a win at Gotham Stadium, knocking off the New York Gothams, 5-2. On the mound for Detroit was left-hander Frank Crawford, who played a pivotal role in the win. The last-place Gothams have lost 4 consecutive games.

It could have been a different outcome for Detroit, had it not been for John Wicklund, the fan favorite . Wicklund contributed a 2-run single in the top of the sixth inning to put Detroit up, 3-2.

"Throwing strikes was the main thing," Crawford said. With the win and the Pittsburgh loss the Miner's lead is at 1 game with 1 to play.

Summary - Can the Dynamo's somehow manage to force at tie?

[DD Martin]

Final Day of the Regular Season, or is it?

As the Dynamos enter play today they are sitting 1 game behind the Pittsburgh Miners. Pittsburgh is at home against Washington while the Dynamos finish out there season in New York. Both games start at the same time on the East Coast and should finish at close to the same time.

10/8: Detroit Dynamos @ New York Gothams - Win, 4-2.
Gothams Lose to Dynamos, 4-2
W: J. Shaffner (13-14) L: O. Morse (11-18) .
HR - None

The Detroit Dynamos beat the New York Gothams, 4-2. Detroit pitcher and New York, native Joe Shaffner led the way. In 9 innings, Shaffner surrendered 9 hits, while striking out 3 and walking 0. He allowed 2 runs. New York now has a 5-game losing streak.

Frank Vance, the six-time All-Star , had a direct impact on the outcome. Vance contributed a 2-run single in the top of the sixth inning to put Detroit up, 4-1. "This level of focus will win us a lot of ballgames," Vance said after the game.

GM DD Martin who was receiving phone calls updating the Pittsburgh game was not looking too happy. Pittsburgh leads 6-0 heading into the top of the 8th.

The Eagles stormed back with 4 in the 8th to make it 6-4 heading into the 9th. A glimmer of hope was at hand. It opened up well with C Paul Wilkerson lacing a double to get things started for Washington. A ground out by "future hall of fame" SS Jack "not stick" Bush moved Wilkerson up to 3rd with 1 out. CF Jim Hanshaw worked the count full and ended up fouling off 4 foul balls before hitting a single to left field to score Wilkerson.

1 out, Hanshaw on 1st and 3B Leon Blackridge up. First pitch is a ball and Hanshaw takes off for 2nd base. Throw from All-Star C Jack Cleaves sails into the outfield and Hanshaw is now on 3rd with 1 out. 1-0 pitch to Hanshaw (hitting 271) is popped up for an easy 2nd out. It all comes down to "Ironfist" Don Miller (hitting 282 on the season). It looks like Pittsburgh is sticking with SP Charlie Stedman as its his game to win or lose. First pitch from Stedman is.......hit weakly to 2nd base and is an easy 4-3 out to end the game and the Dynamo's season.

Summary - Close but once again no cigar. Heading into the weekend we were 24-17 in 1-run games but losing 3 straight to New York (at home) and then Chicago (2 on the road) did us in. We end up 24-20 in 1-run games, but it wasn't the bullpen that couldn't hold the lead, it was the bats that while rising to 2nd in the league in offense continued to find ways to take games off.

Over in the CA the New York Stars capped a furious comeback and won the CA by 2 games. So it will be the heavily favored Pittsburgh Miners of the FA against the New York Stars of the CA in the World Series.

[DD Martin]

The 1939 Season - So Close and Yet so Far

Reflections on the season by the GM Martin

Never easy to lose a race as close as this one was. You look back at a lot of games, a lot of decisions and the injuries that we said would decide the race at the beginning of the year. Of course when that was said I felt very strongly that it would not be our injuries but that it would be the injury plagued (in prior seasons) Miners or the older veteran crew in Chicago. It ended up being our injuries of SP Charlie Wheeler and then the 3-6 week injuries that kept out LF Alf Pestilli for 3 weeks and the 6 week injury that hampered CF Sal Pestilli and sapped his power for the last part of the season. It's a lot easier to finish 2nd and be 8 games out than it is to lose by just 1 single game.

We will take several days to reflect on the season and then begin the process of moving forward. Below are the final season stats, the P&L and the season info that we dominated in the FA.

We have finished 2nd 2 straight seasons now with 94 wins and 93 wins. While we won 1 less game than last year, the Federal Association was a lot stronger this year than it was last year. Despite the struggles of the New York Gothams at the bottom of the standings, the league was much stronger. Chicago is still a very good team and they finished with a very surprising below 500 record. Boston improved greatly and appears to be poised to make moves to improve that team. Pittsburgh is getting older in their starting pitching and a few key position and yet they are likely going to be in it again next year.

What do we do to get better? We traded a lot of talent this year during the season to try and get the team over the hump. While it worked to a degree taking us from a lackluster 36-31 in early July to 32 games over 500, we didn't get the job done. What can we do to improve? Many feel that this should be a quiet off-season for the Dynamo's. They feel that the club is there and it will take off anytime. In talking with the Brooklyn GM he feels the Dynamos are in a similar position as his Kings were and how they were frustrated by the Cleveland Foresters (my old team) in 1934 and 1935 before winning 3 straight CA titles.

Note - Little did I know that the off-season would start off right away with several things that rocked the foundation of the franchise and made me question where I fit or if I fit going forward.

[DD Martin]

Moving to the World Series.....without us

Most pundits around the FABL felt it would be a sweep or a near sweep and they were partially right. The World Series ended up a sweep but it was the team that the experts thought would be run over doing the winning. The New York Stars did a 1 season transformation from under performing and head scratching management to World Champions. While not quite a worst to first scenario, its about as close as you can get. Congrats to the New York Stars winning the championship.

Maybe we will hold it next year. Where is C Jim Kyle when I need him?

Here comes the off-season news. Wonder if anything will shake things up or surprise us?

Detroit World
Sports Section
October 23, 1939
By Fred Farhat

Motor City Mayhem - Judge's Ruling Shakes up Dynamo's Ownership and Front Office

A discrepancy in the most recently filed last will and testament of Edward Thompson caused a judge in Detroit to rule that the former Detroit Dynamos owner's previous will, filed in 1935, is the one that is legally binding. Under the now-voided will, 12% of the stock in the Dynamos was left to pro football owner Roland Barrell and 25% to George Theobald (who already owned 26% of the club). The previous testament, now held as legally binding, left no shares to Barrell and only 20% to Theobald, giving the remainder to Powell Thompson, the younger half-brother of Edward Thompson. The result is that Powell Thompson and not George Theobald is now the majority owner of the Dynamos. The unexpected change in ownership caused shockwaves through the organization and also across the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues, where Theobald is held in very high esteem and Powell Thompson is an unknown factor.

As soon as the ruling had been handed down - and before it had been made public, Theobald abruptly "retired" as manager of the Dynamos. The 76-year-old Theobald holds the FABL record for most managerial victories and it was rumored he planned on managing at least another four years. Reportedly he and Powell Thompson "do not see eye-to-eye" and this is assumed to be the reason Theobald retired. There are also rumors that Theobald will sell his 36% share of the club, though a buyer has not been mentioned.

Summary - As I sat in my office the reaction to the news I heard was WTF!!!!! George Theobald and me and worked together since I arrived in May 1935. He was often my sounding board when I was having difficult discussions with Ed Thompson. Now because of some black-sheep half brother that no one has ever heard of, the ownership is in a complete state of flux and George is "stepping down" as our manager. The fact was that George was going to review the season and take some time to decide what he was going to do. I felt that he might give it a go one more season and why not he was 187-121 with 2 2nd place finishes since coming out of retirement.

As George was cleaning out his office we spoke. He was always a kind man but he minced no words about his feeling regarding Powell Thompson. This surely didn't make me feel very good and I would sit down and talk with the "new" owner later in the week.

Detroit World
Sports Section
October 27, 1939
By Fred Farhat

Baltimore Owner Sells Team to Cincinnati Businessman Tice and Former Detroit Manager/Owner Theobald

Benton stated that he had agreed to the sale only after George Theobald joined the ownership group.

The details of the sale were explained at length by Benton and then expounded upon by Tice, and are as follows:

1) The city of Cincinnati sold the ballpark to John Tice, who immediately began drawing up plans to temporarily expand the seating capacity from 17,500 to 28,000 by bleacher seating across the outfield, and also by extending the currently small second deck down both base lines. Tice promised these additions will be completed by opening day of 1940.

2) A new ballpark will be built across the street from Monarchs Field. Tice Park, as it will be known, will seat "at least 40,000" according to Tice himself.

3) George Theobald will be a full 50% owner of the club and will serve as club President, the role typically held by the majority owner. Tice will own the other 50%. Tice and Theobald also have a legal agreement that Theobald's shares will devolve to Tice upon either Theobald's retirement or death. In either case, Tice will pay Theobald or his estate for the shares.

4) Theobald will come out of retirement (again) to manage the Cannons. Tice also promised that the Cannons' staff would "be the envy of FABL."

5) Powell Thompson purchased Theobald's shares in the Detroit Dynamos. League bylaws prevent any individual from owning, even partially, more than one club. The details of the sale, according to Benton "are private."

5) The Cannons nickname will remain. Tice admitted he wanted the team to be called the "Monarchs" after his grandfather's team. Benton, possibly under pressure from Brooklyn owner Daniel Prescott, deemed "Monarchs" too similar to Prescott's team's "Kings" moniker and denied the name request. Tice noted: "Cincinnati Cannons works for me."

6) The Cincinnati Steamers, the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Foresters, will be relocated, according to Benton. That location "will be announced at a future date."

Not present at the media event was George Theobald. The septuagenarian was "busy working on building a staff" according to Tice. Tice admitted that as the Chief Executive Officer of one of the nation's largest corporations, he had his hands full and Theobald is "the very definition of a 'baseball man'" and Tice is happy to have Theobald handle the club. Tice also confirmed that none of the Baltimore staff is likely to be retained, and admitted that one of Theobald's first duties is to find a new GM for the club, "one who will give us not only a fresh start, but a successful one."

Banner made few comments, but did admit that he regretted that "the fine city of Baltimore will no longer be home to a FABL baseball club" and that he hoped someday another team would call Baltimore home.

Summary - I was in the middle of my interviews when this news came in. I still haven't had my first meeting with Powell Thompson but my understanding is that he makes Ebenezer Scrooge look generous. As I heard the news I was on the phone with my former Cleveland Forester Manager Jim Wilson and we were chatting about the Managerial job here in Detroit. Jim had become disillusioned with baseball and several factors in Cleveland even though he still had the team winning games through the 1938 season. But then he abruptly retired during the off-season as my replacement (The GM who took my place in Cleveland left for the New York Stars opening) in Cleveland left for New York. Wilson then saw another GM come in and didn't last more than a month. He then "retired" suddenly before his 4th GM signed on to take over the suddenly volatile Cleveland post.

Jim was working in Southern California having gone back home to Anaheim after leaving Cleveland. He was always gifted as an artist and had started working for a animation studio (Wisney) since returning. He was assisting at one of the smaller colleges working with pitchers and seemed perfectly happy. Still I thought he was leaning towards at least coming out to Detroit and see what was going on. Then he heard me erupt with the news about Theobald leaving, going the new team that is moving from Baltimore to Cincinnati and sighed "these are some of the reasons I got out. No I'm sorry DD, but I am not coming back to any FABL team anytime soon."

So great my leading candidate to take over the team as the new manager is not going to even take a trip to Detroit and now I hear that the new Owner wishes to see me.

Things couldn't get much worse and I was considering all my options, even including leave Detroit and sitting out the 1940 season. I heard that Tacoma was looking for a new GM out West.

[DD Martin]

Crawford wins FA Allen Award

Detroit World
Sports Section
October 28th 1939
By Fred Farhat

Detroit's SP Frank Crawford Wins FA Allen Award for Top Pitcher

Dynamos ace Frank Crawford, 31 is the latest Federal Association Allen Award trophy winner. The Detroit star shined on the diamond time and again this year and finished with an outstanding 25-6 record.

In 36 starts he tossed 285.2 innings, posted 139 strikeouts and sported a 2.58 ERA. Opposing batters hit .245 when Crawford was pitching.

He received 11 first place votes out of a possible 16. Lefty Allen of the Pittsburgh Miners finished second in voting with 5 first place votes, while Eddie Quinn of the Washington Eagles finished third.

Player - Team - First Place - Total Points
Frank Crawford - Detroit Dynamos - 11 - 97
Lefty Allen - Pittsburgh Miners - 5 - 78
Eddie Quinn - Washington Eagles - 0 - 23
Buddy Long - St. Louis Pioneers - 0 - 20
Charlie Stedman - Pittsburgh Miners - 0 - 17
Karl Johnson - Pittsburgh Miners - 0 - 16
Jack Elder - Washington Eagles - 0 - 5
Sergio Gonzales - Detroit Dynamos - 0 - 3
Charlie Wheeler - Detroit Dynamos - 0 - 2
Ed Wood - Boston Minutemen - 0 - 2

[DD Martin]

Meeting with the new Owner Powell Thompson

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived in the office on Friday. It was the day I would meet and discuss the team with Big Money’s little brother. Remembering that Ed was 6’5 and built like a Mack truck when I first met him, I was shocked when I saw his brother. Powell Thompson appeared to be about the height of my wife (she’s 5’7 he’s 5’8) and had a slight build to him. If he played any football like his brother (which I highly doubt) it would have Ben as a punter. As I walked in the younger Thompson greeted me coldly.

Powell Thompson - Welcome Mr Martin, please have a seat and I’ll be with you in a minute.

The chair I sat in felt like I was sitting on the floor. Clearly the height issue is a big one to this chap. My wife who teaches psychology at the high school has referred to this as the Napoleon Complex. I will have to talk to her more about how to work with this type. After about 5 minutes of sitting and patiently waiting, he spoke again.

Powell Thompson - Mr. Martin, I like to keep things pretty formal in business. I do not attach myself to employees, but I do expect their loyalty to me and to the business. With that said, let’s get down to the business of this baseball club.

Me - Certainly Mr. Thompson.

Mr. Thompson - I have read your personnel file. It appears you and my brother were not always on the same page with each other.

Me - We had our professional differences but I believe…

Mr. Thompson - I will ask that you do not interrupt me until I’m finished Mr Martin (as he jots something down on a piece of paper in my file). As I was saying, you were not always on the same page, but it appears you were able to work together fairly well. (Looks to me to reply)

Me - Yes sir, your brother and I both wanted the same thing. To see this club win.

Mr. Thompson - We haven’t been very successful then have we. You came here in the 1935 season (May 1935 - 3 weeks into the season). Your teams here have won a total of (43-111, 55-99, 63-91, 94-60 and 93-61) 348 games while losing 422. That’s just a 45% winning percentage. I will tell you clearly so their is no confusion, I expect better from someone with your salary.

Me - The team was quite the mess when I arrived. I….

Mr. Thompson - Yes I know of the sloppy shop that was kept here prior to your arrival. That type of thing will not happen here under my guidance.

Me - I appreciate that sir. As far as the progress we have made after the 3 seasons of rebuilding. The club is 187-121 over the last 2 seasons.

Mr. Thompson - But I don’t see any Federal Association pennants in those 2 seasons.

Me - No we finished 2nd both years.

Mr. Thompson - I have no interest in being a runner up. You are a winner when you finish first. Anything other than first is a losing season,

Me - Our goal is to bring a World Series back here to Detroit.

Mr. Thompson - And win the Series of course. You have 2 years left on your contract. I’ll be honest after the issues with Theobald that I had I wasn’t going to keep you. You seem extremely loyal to him and I’m wondering if that is going to be a problem for us? But in talking to the league President, he feels that with how things went down with the ownership transition and the negative image it casts that it would be in the best interests of the league and franchise that I keep you on. Let me be clear here, I’m not interested in making friends. I’m interested in winning and winning sooner than later. Do you think you can work with that?

Me - My goal is to win Mr. Thompson. Your family situation with your brothers will and Mr. Theobald are honestly none of my business. Did I get along with Mr. Theobald, yes I did. He clearly is no longer here so as long as I’m under contract my loyalty is to the Detroit Dynamos.

Mr. Thompson - Good, you win that World Series and not only will I renew your contract, I’ll give you a substantial raise. I believe in rewarding success but I react harshly to failure. Now let’s talk about the club finances. I see the team has broken the FABL attendance record the last two seasons.

Me - Yes we have been very successful drawing fans and making money. We have made 1.91 million in profit the last two seasons.

Mr. Thompson - And yet profit declined approximately 4% from 38 to 39. The franchise had the leagues highest payroll last season and yet didn’t win the Federal. I am not one for wasting my money like my brother. He never had to work for anything in his life as our Father handed him everything. He didn’t learn the lesson of fiscal responsibility. I on the other hand was not handed everything. I had to make a go of it in the making fabric for car seats business. While it’s not glamorous I turned that business into the most profitable of the family businesses outside of the sporting businesses. I do not like wasting money Mr. Martin. I have reviewed the payroll for the 1939 season, take for example this AAA catcher Ben Richardson. He used to be the starter here in Detroit, but you rightly got rid of him because of performance. Why is he still around and why are we paying him $13,000 a season?

Me - He is a quality depth option for us, so we decided to keep him. He had a very good year at Newark.

Mr. Thompson - Cut him.

Me - What?

Mr. Thompson - Release him immediately. I am not paying that type of money for a hack that is just around for convenience. While your at it here is a list of names that I want released or designated. I don’t mind spending money but I want something for that money. I won’t interfere with your money allocation to players and running the team, but I want results. I also want a payroll closer to $400,000 than the over $450,000 this club is at. There is a lot of dead weight so let’s clean it up. You trim that bloated excess baggage and this club makes up that 4% like that (snaps his fingers).

Me - I will review the list and if I feel there is anyone worth keeping I will let you know.

Mr. Thompson - Good so one last thing. Since Theobald left, you are looking for a new manager. Who is on the list for your consideration?

I went through the list of internal candidates and some of the other ones from outside the organization. I got to a guy I liked that was in the Indy Leagues.

Mr. Thompson - He wants how much?

Me - He wants a 5 year $17,500 per season deal.

Mr. Thompson - (about chokes on his coffee) He’s never managed a game in the big leagues, let alone minors. Why would someone like that be on your radar?

Me - He was recommended by a contact I have. I’ve spoken to him and he would love to be on a big league staff. He doesn’t have to be the manager.

Mr. Thompson - Fine you can hire him but the salary cap for an unproven commodity is $4,000 per season and not as the manager. I’d prefer someone with big league manager experience who is a winner.

Me - I talked to Walt Bailey, he won some minor league championships and had some 90+ wins seasons in Brooklyn.

Mr. Thompson - Fine what’s he want to come here?

Me - Nothing…..he refused to discuss the job because of how he felt George was treated. But let’s not get into that, let’s just say I’ve interviewed 15 candidates and I believe our AA Pat Lictenegger is the top candidate. He is under contract for 2 more seasons so that sort of works with your timeline to win as well.

Mr. Thompson - Bring him in next week, I want to meet him.

Me - You got it.

Mr. Thompson - I know you probably feel that I am being a bit hard Mr Martin, but that was the way I had to fight to get what’s mine. Winning, producing get you ahead in life, while settling for 2nd gets you nothing. In talking to you today I feel you are the man for the job to get this done.

Me - Thank you Mr. Thompson.

Mr. Thompson - To show you I am not all business and no fun I want to let you know I am increasing the teams budget to $800,000, up from $750,000. I’m also giving you a good faith $5,000 bonus for a solid job turning this franchise around. There is more to come if you finish the job and I believe you can Mr. Martin. Finally, I am going to talk with the league President and see if we can increase capacity here to 35,000-36,000. I’m willing to invest if it means we can make more.

Me - Thank you Mr. Thompson.

I get up to leave and go out past Rose (age -35), the long time secretary who smiles and wishes me a good afternoon. She then goes into Thompson’s office.

Rose - You we’re awfully tough on him Powell. He is a good man and I know he is trying desperately to bring a winner here.

Powell - I know darling, but you have to break colts like him down. He was too tied down to George Theobald. I’m sure he will be fine, but you have to be firm when doing business. Now nobody knew about our relationship prior correct?

Rose - Not that I believe. They knew I was dating someone but these guys are all happily married so they never pursued asking about who it was. I just said that he preferred our personal life private.

Powell - Good, we’ll now that my dear overbearing older brother is gone, there is no need to keep it a secret anymore.

[DD Martin]

Dynamo Off-Season News Starts Now

Detroit World News
October-November 1939
By Fred Farhat
News Tidbits[

Dynamo's Announce Dr. Ted Booth Dismissal and the Hiring of Dr. Bill Leonard

Maybe it was because of the nagging injuries to both Alf and Sal Pestilli that took too long to heal, or maybe the club just needed a scapegoat. Either way the Dynamo's announced that Dr. Booth had been let go and that a new Team Physician/Trainer would be hired.

After just a few short weeks, the Dynamo's announced that they had hired Dr. Bill Leonard, 50 to a 4 year deal. Dr. Leonard was the team trainer for the rival Pittsburgh Miners from 1929-1937 and left after that squad made the World Series that year and lost to the Brooklyn Kings. The Miner's surprised everyone because of the rash of injuries they suffered that season and still managed to win a Federal Association that nobody seemed to want to take charge in. Dr. Leonard brings a more balanced approach to the club that the team hopes will be better served to treat injuries faster and better than his predecessor.

Dynamo's Make a Minor Off-Season Deal

The Dynamo's sent a 9th round draft pick to the Montreal Saints for OF Ed Greenwood (23). Greenwood was an Indy League draft pick of the Saints last season and was fairly highly sought after. He spent most of the season at AA and AAA but only appeared in 54 games there before a likely ill-advised promotion to the parent club. He never really found his bat last season despite his #93 prospect ranking so was cast aside by the Saints organization.

Dynamo GM DD Martin stated that Greenwood would be playing everyday most likely at AA Akron or AAA Newark and that the goal was for him to get 600 plate appearances to see what he can really do. He will be given an opportunity in spring training but Martin doesn't feel it is likely he will take over for a starter in the existing OF and that Greenwood's development would be better served playing everyday in the high minors.

Dynamo's make some Roster Cuts

Word out of the Dynamo's office is these cuts were done to give the players a better opportunity to go to organizations that they would have a better chance of playing in the big leagues. The rumor mill is that new team owner Powell Thompson ordered the payroll to be cut and that dead weight be eliminated.

Players being released include C Ben Richardson, OF Herb Loflin, P Randy Johnson, 3B Claude Merrill and P Jack Stemm. RP Donie Scheuermann was DFA and recently claimed by the new Cincinnati Cannons.

Dynamo's name new Manager

After the whole saga with former Manager/Owner George Theobald, the Dynamo's have finally tabbed a new manager. Today new team owner Powell Thompson and GM DD Martin announced that former AA Manager Patrick Lictenegger was being promoted from AA Akron to be the new man to lead what many hope to be is a Federal Association Championship Club next season. Lictenegger 46, has won 308 games in his almost 4 seasons at the helm in Akron (308-200) with 2 Eastern Association titles.

The club also announced that Class A Terre Haute manager and former Dynamo C Dick York was promoted to take Lictenegger's place in Akron and that Terre Haute PC Max Wilder would be the new manager in Terre Haute.

The club also announced that 3B John Michaels would not be returning for the 1940 season and that a new 3B coach should be named prior to the Rule 5 draft.

[DD Martin]

Winter Meetings 1939

A lot of times the meetings are just a pleasant sunny vacation to Florida, and some years like in 1938 it was an endless series of meetings negotiating deals. This year looked to be pretty quiet for the Dynamo’s but then I have trouble standing pat.

Trade #1
A minor deal between us and the Toronto Wolves, who were working on a much bigger deal. We sent 3rd string C Packy Peck 25, who spent most of the year at AA Akron where he hit 316. He was an Indy league draft pick back in 1937 but honestly wasn’t going to make the opening day roster barring an injury. In return for Peck we received veteran 1B John Herrick a 31 year old switch hitter who hit 275 last year.

So one might wonder why do this deal. Peck had an option left that could have been used, but we feel pretty good that we can find another option to replace Peck later this off-season. Herrick gives us a nice bench bat that can hit from either side fairly equally. Plus if we want to experiment a little in the OF with Red Johnson, Herrick could be a solid 1B.

Not a huge deal but right now we are looking for depth and quality pinch hitters.

Trade #2
Detroit makes a deal with the New York Gothams for SP Oscar Morse

We trade a 6th round pick for a veteran 36 year old starting pitcher that both my scout and OSA say can be a #2 guy. Morse is winding down his career and was stuck on some terrible Gotham teams. What he gives us is a veteran depth SP in case of injury. If everyone stays healthy I see us using a 6 man rotation but with most being used in the bullpen as well. I’m sure our new manager will go with starting the highest rested to get Crawford, Gonzales out there as often as possible. It gives us the flexibility to not overwork Charlie Wheeler coming back from a torn labrum. It also gives us 3 righty starters and 3 lefty starters so we can play the matchup game in a series like we did stacking lefties against Pittsburgh last year. He will like be a “rental” a year at worst and 2 at most, but we are in the “win it all now” mode, so it’s a solid option to add depth.

Finally the bigger trade at least in who we gave up.

Trade #3
Chicago Cougars and Dynamo’s hook up in a surprising trade.

The Dynamos trade starting OF Leon Drake 30, to the Cougars for a 4th round draft choice, SP Cy Sullivan 25, and minor league OF Tony Mullis a 21 year old OF who is the #82 prospect.

Drake had a good season hitting 279/351/761 with 6 home runs and 53 RBI’s. Since becoming a full time player in 1933 it was his worst season as a pro. He also missed 6 weeks this season with a groin injury. In his career Drake has hit 275/348/823 with 170 doubles, 125 triples, 139 home runs, 707 RBI’s and 642 runs scored. He is the only player in FABL history to twice hit 20X3 (20+ doubles, triples and homers in a season). He is also noted as a top flight OF who can play all positions at a high level in his career.

SP Cy Sullivan is 18-12 it’s a 4.65 ERA in his young career. Going 13-5 lat year, he struggled some with an ERA of 5.00 on a cougar team that under performed most of the year until a strong finish. The scouting report on Sullivan shows that the 6’6 hurler he throws a 4-pitch mix with good command and control. His upside is he could end up as high as a #2 starter but will probably settle in the 3-4 area. With the acquisition of Oscar Morse, Sullivan won’t have to face a high profile starter usage in 1940. He will either work out of the pen or start the season at AAA to finish his development.

OF Tony Mullis 21, is a right handed line drive hitter who should someday fit in well with the Dynamos and their power bats. He’s a solid defender that has some good range but shouldn’t be counted on to patrol CF. He has well above average speed which should allow him to leg out some infield hits and stretch some singles to doubles. He is projected to get the lions share of opportunities in the futur and should be n above average OF. If he starts the season at AA, expect a promotion by early June. The Dynamos have some overcrowding issues in the upper minors, but the club will find him time for at-bats at any level he plays.


Summary - Bringing in some veteran depth (Morse and Herrick) and a few younger players (Sullivan and Mullis) to balance things out. The loss of Drake could be big if he returns to his 38 form, but the club was willing to deal the soon to be 31 year old.

There could be some more deals coming as the club has been talking to several teams about 2B/3B Ed Stewart 31. With the trade of Leon Drake some question whether the Dynamos would trade another hitter.

The rule 5 draft is coming up next so the club will be evaluating players and you could see some cuts. This trade also addresses some of new owner Powell Thompson’s desire to see the payroll come in closer to $400,000. Last season the Dynamos had a payroll of $455,000

[DD Martin]

Detroit World News
February 28th, 1940
By Fred Farhat
News Tidbits[

The Dynamos have completed one of their more quiet off-season’s by GM DD Martin standards in recent memory. While the club made some deals at the winter meetings, they were without a 1st round pick in the January portion of the 1940 amateur draft. They did have a 2nd round pick, the 13th in the round and 29th overall. They used that pick to take 21 year old college 3B Eddie Barkley.

In the Regional 3rd round they selected college C Herm Hartman (21). If the Hartman name sounds familiar he was a 16th round pick by Dynamos in the 1937 draft but failed to sign with the club. The Dynamo’s had several names on their list ahead of Hartman but those players were taken prior to Detroit’s 13th selection in the round. While Hartman will likely be signed this time around, the feeling around the Detroit front office was that the pickings in their region were very slim for this season.

Thompson Field Expansion Project

The club has announced plans to expand the stadium for the 1940 and a majority of the work has been completed. The remaining work will take place while the club is in Florida for spring training. While GM Martin had petitioned hi new boss, team owner Powell Thompson for a 5,000 seat increase, the owner opted for a smaller scale addition of 3,000. Capacity for the 1940 will be 34,350. Will this stadium capacity increase help the team become the first FABL team to top 2,000,000 in attendance?

Dynamo’s to Open Spring Training in March

The Dynamo’s will report to spring training March 1st in Lakeland, Florida. Their first game will be Tuesday March 19th and they will commence on their 24 game spring schedule to prepare for Opening Day in Chicago on April 16th.

Expectations are running very high after the club has won 187 games (94 in 1938 and 93 last season) and finishing 2nd in the Federal Association both years. Last season shortfall of just 1 game to the Pittsburgh Miners was particularly tough to swallow. But it’s a new decade with a completely new situation in the owners box and on the field with a new manager. Most of the team will return from last year with the biggest departing piece being RF Leon Drake.

[DD Martin]

Detroit World
Sports
By - Fred Farhat
Sunday April 14th, 1940

Dynamo’s Spring Training Review

The Dynamo’s came into spring training with only a few questions.

1.). Could veteran P Oscar Morse (36) be their 3rd RHSP to work with Detroit’s collection of 3 LHSP’s

2.) Who would take over the starting RF job left by the surprising departure of Leon Drake in the off-season?

3.) Is the end of season injury that occurred last year to all everything CF Sal Pestilli clearly behind him?

4.) 2B Ed Stewart had the worst offensive season of his career (although he played very good defensively). Can he bounce back to something closer to his career norms or will one of the young 2B the club acquired in the recent past (Dale Robbins or Chick Wilhelm) take over sooner than expected?

5.) With former minority Owner/Manager George Theobald off to Cincinnati with the ownership shake up with Big Ed Thompson passing last year. An rookie manager Patrick Licteneggar handle the high pressure situation he has been thrust into? Detroit GM Martin has made this type of bold move before when in 1933 he fired Cleveland Manager Hank Lietzke after a disappointing 5-17 start to that season. He hired unheralded rookie manager Jim Wilson who quickly righted the ship in the 33 season as Cleveland went 82-50 to finish 2nd that season. The next two seasons saw the Foresters win the CA twice and the 1934 World Series. An FA Pennant and Series win is what the Dynamos are looking for in the 1940 season.

Those are the questions that Detroit came to camp with. Here is perhaps some of the answers.

SP Oscar Morse has been a mixed bag to start the spring. He’s looked very good at times and he’s looked average at best several times. He finished the spring 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in 7 games with 3 starts. He was rocked for 3 runs in his last appearance which was just an inning. You take out that 1 bad inning and he ends the spring with a much more respectable 4.42 ERA. He isn’t he to be the ace starter for the Dynamo’s but to provide stability and the extra rotation arm in case the club needs it.

What the club didn’t count on was another injury to star SP Charlie Wheeler. Wheeler looked sharp in his lone outing of 3 innings but then left the game with a strain in the same shoulder that caused him to miss the last half of the 39 season. While Wheeler is expected back around early May a 302nd injury to that shoulder was something they hoped to avoid. This makes the Morse signing even more important as well as the acquisition of young SP Cy Sullivan.

The answer to who will take over in RF for Leon Drake took an injury turn as well. RF Sid Williams was the front runner to receive the most time with some occasional platoon help from Elmer Nolde. Williams looked solid in the first week of spring hitting 333 and drawing 6 walks. Then he went down with a strain groin that will keep him sidelined through the first week of the season. He will likely spend a week at Newark before likely getting the call up around May 1st. In his place to open the season will be Elmer Nolde and perhaps judging by the spring experiment with 1B Red Johnson in the OF, we might see Red out in either LF (preferred) or RF occasionally this season.

There is also some chatter that the club might be looking for a veteran OF to plug the gap.

While there is not a huge amount of concern about CF Sal Pestilli coming back to form this season. There might be a fe raise eyebrows this spring 250 spring batting average. Sal started out the spring ice cold but slowly warmed up with some extra BP with hitting coach Jim Webb. Pestilli ended up at 250 with a late spring home run and drove in 11 RBI’s. At the end of spring training GM Martin stated that fans shouldn’t worry about Sal, he will be just fine and once again be among the leaders in Home Runs, RBI’s and runs scored.

2B Ed Stewart last season had a brutal year with the bat. After hitting 267 with 33 home runs in 1938, he fell off dramatically last season hitting 233 with 8-47. Stewart is likely beyond his 300 batting days, but a return of power and RBI’s is what the club is hoping. Stewart hit 292/407/844 this spring with a couple of home runs and 6 RBI’s. He has held off the challenge it’s the youngsters but the Dynamo’s did claim former Chicago Chief IF Len Jones to be a quality veteran option in case Stewart falters.

Finally, how did rookie skipper Patrick Licteneggar do this spring? Well he handled the club not hitting well in the first week. Instead of showing any signs of panic with the position bats hitting 188 that first week and a 2-4 record. The rookie skip just told everyone that we will work in the batting cage and he was sure the rust would wear off fairly quickly. And it did as the club went 3-3 the next week in spring and then went 10-2 over the last two weeks. While pennants aren’t won in Florida during these meaningless exhibition games, respect can be won. It is clear that while Licteneggar is looking for his first big league managerial win as the season opens, and he trails the former man in his seat by 2,424 wins. It is clear he has the clubhouse with the players support after going 15-9 in the spring.

The real test though comes April 16th when the Dynamo’s open the season against the hated rivals the Chicago Chiefs at Whitney Park for a 3-game series.

[DD Martin]

Dynamo's 24-Man
Opening Day Roster
April 16, 1940
Pitching Staff

Starting Pitchers

Frank Crawford (LH) Age -31
Last Season 25-6 2.58 ERA (Won Fed Allen Award) Career 115-79 3.88
Acquired via trade from Philadelphia Keystones March 21, 1938
Crawford was 1-1 in the spring with a 1.29 ERA
Crawford will once again be the #1 SP and will start Opening Day opposite Chicago's Rabbit Day. The club is relying on Crawford to continue with his great form from last season although a repeat of his Allen winning performance might be a lot to ask. Still he is one of the best 4 SP in baseball.

Sergio Gonzales (RH) Age - 28
Last Season 14-11 3.76 ERA Career 65-54 3.84 ERA
Acquired via trade from Washington January 9th 1939
Gonzales was 0-2 with a 6.46 ERA in the spring
Not a great spring for the Dynamo's #2 SP who will draw the home Opening Day assignment (game 4 of the season) against New York. Gonzales has been a bit of a mystery over his career where he has shown flashes of brilliant and then periods of frustration. While he was solid last year the club is expecting more out of the #5 overall SP in the FABL.

Joe Shaffner (LH) Age - 36
Last Season with Detroit 8-5 3.18 ERA Career 142-127 3.71 ERA
Acquired via trade from Brooklyn July 17, 1939
Spring Record 0-0 2.53 ERA
After sputtering a bit with Brooklyn early last season, Shaffner came on strong during the last 2 months when the Dynamo's last SP Charlie Wheeler to injury. He is a key man in Detroit when the Dynamo's want to load up their rotation with lefties against the likes of Pittsburgh.

Mike Murphy (LH) Age - 32
Last Season with Detroit 8-8 4.19 ERA Career 123-77 3.60 ERA
Acquired via trade with Brooklyn July 3rd, 1939
Spring Record 1-1 2.25 ERA
Murphy was the first pitcher acquired last July from Brooklyn as the club looked for ways to compensate for the pending trade of William Jones. Murphy was targeted because of his left handed pitching and again was used much like Shaffner who was acquired 2 weeks later giving them a solid 1-2-3 left handed punch in the rotation.

Oscar Morse (RH) Age - 36
Last Season with NY Gothams 11-18 4.42 ERA Career 144-136 3.91
Acquired for an 8th round draft pick December 5th 1939
Spring record 2-1 5.71 ERA
The veteran innings eater was acquired to add a 3rd RHSP to the Dynamo's arsenal and provide quality depth in case of injury. That has proved to be needed with the early season injury to Charlie Wheeler who will be out in mid-May most likely. The hope is that Morse can be that occasional starter and provide stability to the back end of the rotation as needed.

Injured Starting Pitcher

Charlie Wheeler (RH) Age - 25
Last Season 11-7 3.06 ERA Career 35-25 3.29
Acquired via trade from New York Gothams November 22, 1937
Spring record 0-0 0.00 (3IP injury)
While the club will not come out and say it publically, there is some concern among the Dynamo brass that Wheeler suffered another shoulder injury so closely to the one that cost him the last half of last season. Wheeler is still rated as the 10th best overall SP in the FABL giving the Dynamo's 3 of the top 10 starters in the game. The hope is that he will get cleared at the end of April and then have a week or two of games in AAA Newark to make up for his missing spring training. He is solidly the clubs #3 overall SP and would allow the club to not have to rely so much on 36-year-old Oscar Morse.

The Bullpen

Jack Richardson (RH) Age - 32 "Stopper"
Last Season 4-6 13 Saves 3.92 ERA Career 24-31 33 saves 5.13 ERA
Acquired - Claimed off waivers from St. Louis 12/25/1937
Spring Record - 0-1 3 saves 2.70 ERA
Richardson has been something of a great Christmas present since coming over from St. Louis. He has been solid in the Dynamo's bullpen last 2 seasons saving 15 games and even filled in as a SP for a few games last year. He is solidly locked into the Dynamo's Stopper role for the 1940 season.

Don Attaway (RH) Age - 31
Last Season with Detroit 4-0 4 saves 0.49 ERA Career 43-33 85 Saves 3.63
Acquired - Waiver trade with Philadelphia Keystones 7/24/1939
Spring Record 1-0 3.79 ERA
The multi-time All-Star RP had fallen on hard times and out of favor in Philadelphia last year as the Keystones rebuilt. He immediately paid dividends for the Dynamo's taking over as the stopper when Richardson went into the rotation and then filled the top middle reliever role. It is that role that he is locked into again this season.

Frank Gordon (RH) Age - 25
Last Season with AAA Newark 4-5 4.74 ERA FABL Career 1-2 10.98 ERA
Acquired via trade with the NY Stars July 24, 1939
Spring record 1-0 2.79
Gordon is pitcher who came over and is a solid fit in the swingman role for this club. He has the capabilities to be a back of the rotation starter in the big leagues, but on this club with its depth in the starting rotation he will be counted on as a middle RP. With his being out of options the Dynamo's decided to bring him north with the club, but there could be an impending roster crunch coming up when Charlie Wheeler returns.

Ben Curtin (RH) Age - 34
Last season 5-1 3.32 ERA Career 55-39 74 saves 4.37 ERA
Acquired - claimed off waivers from St. Louis May 16, 1937
Spring record 1-1 1 save 0.47 ERA
The veteran Curtin has continued to defy the odds and once again remains on the bullpen staff in Detroit. In 3 seasons now with the Dynamo's Curtin is 10-6 with a 3.04 ERA in 69 appearances while providing solid team leadership. The numbers game might catch up to him if any of the deals the Dynamo's are working on come to fruition.

Red Ross (RH) Age - 28
Last Season with Detroit 1-1 1 save 3.90 ERA Career 19-24 11 saves 5.05 ERA
Acquired - claimed on waivers from St. Louis June 11th 1939
Spring record - 2-1 1 save 3.68 ERA
Ross who would like to be a starting pitcher has primarily been a RP most of his career. He struggled mightily with St. Louis before being released but seems to have righted the ship to be a solid contributor and leader in the Dynamo's clubhouse. He is another who could be on the bubble when Charlie Wheeler comes back or any 1 of the trades being discussed comes to fruition.

Summary - Last season the Dynamo's led the Federal Association with a strong starting pitching staff and a top 1-2 bullpen. As long as Wheeler comes back healthy in May that shouldn't change. While the starting rotation does have 4 pitchers age 31 and older the only real concern is Oscar Morse at 36. If things work out the way it is planned though Morse will be used as the 6th SP if needed and work primarily out of the bullpen.

The relief corps with Richardson the last few years has been put together mainly by waiver claims (primarily from St. Louis). While not a conventional way to do things it has been an effective way for the Dynamo's to cobble together a bullpen that has been quite strong the last several years.

None of the Dynamo's profiled on this review are home grown talents. All have been acquired either off waivers, waiver trades or straight trades. Not that the club hasn't developed any pitching talent, they have hit on some but many of those players were used as trade pawns in GM DD Martin's rebuild of the club. Even the next P up from AAA Newark who would be Cy Sullivan was acquired via a trade with the Chicago Cougars last off-season.

[DD Martin]

Dynamo's 24-Man
Opening Day Roster
April 16, 1940
Position Players

Catchers

John Wicklund (B-R) Age -30***
Last Season 267/368/817 14-87 3.8 WAR Career 280/364/820 95-505
Spring Training Stats 297/426/777 0-4
Acquired - Via trade with Boston October 24th 1938
Wicklund a 2-time All Star and returned to that form in 1939. Last season he worked well with the pitching staff and played solid defense throwing out 48.5% of the baserunners he faced.

Clem Bliss (B-S) Age - 28
Last Season 238/325/630 0-16 0.2 WAR Career 237/344/661 6-62
Spring Training Stats - 219/405/936 3-7
Acquired Via trade with Pittsburgh Miners October 6th, 1936
Bliss was originally brought in due to his OBP abilities as the club was looking for a starting catcher. He hasn't quite put it all together and now it appears his ceiling is that of a backup and switch hitting pinch hitter. He has improved his defense tremendously over the last few years and last season caught 53.8% of all base-stealers. Bliss had a very strong spring finishing 2nd in the team with 3 home runs.

Infield

1B Red Johnson (B-R) Age - 22***
Last Season - 312/420/923 27-96 5.9 WAR Career 310/424/913 50-195
Spring Training Stats - 222/338/783 4-13
Acquired via 1935 Draft First Round Pick #2
Red Johnson when he was drafted was called a future anchor for the Dynamo's for the next 15 years. He quickly moved through the minor league system and by the end of his 2nd pro season was called up in September as a 19 year old. He has hit 50 home runs in his brief career and some feel that he has the potential to hit 400 in his career and potentially 500. Red will be the 1B in Detroit for a very, very long time.

2B/3B Ed Stewart (B-R) Age - 31***
Last Season - 233/300/621 8-47 1.0 WAR Career 281/332/768 196-816
Spring Training Stats 292/407/844 2-6
Acquired via trade with Pittsburgh November 11th, 1937
Last year was one that Ed Stewart would like to forget, at least with his bat. He hit a career low 233 with a career low 8 home runs, the fewest he has hit since the 1935 season where he hit 15. The club and Stewart are looking for the streaky veteran to get back to more career norms.

SS Gil London (B-R) Age - 25***
Last Season 303/361/754 3-57 3.4 WAR Career 281/338/701 6-92
Acquired via trade from Philadelphia Sailors November 22nd, 1937
Spring Stats 289/385/874 1-7
Last season was London's coming out party in his 2nd FABL season with the Dynamo's. While he struggled over the long season in 1938 with the bat, he was a solid hitting lead-off man for the Dynamo's last year. He is primarily known for his glove and he is among a 2nd tier of defenders in the league behind the likes of Harry Barrell and George Dawson.

3B Frank Vance (B-R) Age -37***
Last Season with Detroit 307/393/836 7-32 Career 327/394/896 222-1083
Spring Training Stats - 360/441/921 1-7
Acquired via trade returning to Detroit July 17, 1939
Vance returned to the team that drafted him originally in 1921 as a 2nd round pick. Some might have been thinking he was done after struggling (for him) in Brooklyn with a 273 average prior to the trade. Once back at Thompson Field (he was traded in GM Martin's first major deal in May 1935) if went right back to work and started hitting just like he always has. The Dynamo's are hoping that he can continue to play solid defense and bat high in the clubs order for at least another season. He will turn 38 on May 30th (which also happens to be the GM's birthday).

Infield Bench
1B John Harrick (B-S) Age - 31
Last Season with Toronto 275/377/762 3-11 Career 264/391/755 15-58
Acquired via Trade December 5th, 1939
Spring Training 333/524/1057 1-5
Harrick was brought in primarily to be a quality pinch hitter against lefties. With his switch hitting ability he could play a key role with the club as the Dynamo's did experiment in the spring with starting 1B Red Johnson in the corner OF while Harrick manned 1B.

2B/3B Len Jones (B-R) Age - 30
Last season with Chicago Chiefs 282/312/675 1-22 Career 301/336/736 28-363
Acquired via waivers from Chicago March 24th, 1940
Spring Training 280/369/669 1-5
Jones was a player that GM Martin had coveted for several seasons back when the club was rebuilding. He could never quite pry Jones away from the Chiefs, but when the DFA in the spring, the Dynamo's finally had their guy. He will be in more of a support depth role now than what he might have been brought in originally. He can play all infield positions but is definitely better at 2B & 3B

SS Bill Ball (B-L) Age - 30
Last Season 120/185/345 0-0 -0.2 WAR
Acquired via Indy league draft from Hollywood January 2nd, 1939
Spring Training Stats 194/250/556 1-4
Ball is a solid fielding but struggles to hit his weight with the bat. He is here primarily because he is the team's captain which he excelled at last season. If the club finds an acceptable SS to backup London (and Len Jones might be that guy), then he could not be long for the club. Many feel that former captain Juan Sarmiento who was brought back this off-season could likely reclaim his role.

Outfielders

LF/RF Alf Pestilli (B-L) Age - 28 ***
Last Season with Detroit 298/364/849 10-32 Career 280/343/832 49-167
Acquired via trade with Brooklyn July 3rd, 1939
Spring Training Stats - 241/311/719 2-5
Alf is the older brother of All-Star and Whitney Award winning CF Sal Pestilli. Alf in his own right is a tremendous power hitter and is capable of hitting 30 home runs in a season. The Dynamo's are looking forward to a full season of Alf and Sal combining in the Detroit OF.

CF Sal Pestilli (B-R) Age - 24 ***
Last Season 258/306/803 29-116 5.1 WAR Career 290/340/907 110-346
Acquired via 1936 Draft 1st round #1 overall
Spring Training - 250/305/670 1-11

Pestilli has come out quickly in his career as he is entering his 4th full season after coming straight out of school to join the Dynamo's Opening Day roster in 1937. He is a 3 time All-Star and won the 1938 Whitney Award for best hitter in the FA. Last season he was leading the league in home runs and RBI's again before a difficult nagging shoulder injury sapped his power. The Dynamo's mishandling of the injury and not resting Pestilli probably cost the club the 1939 pennant. While his spring stats were not great, he was feeling much more comfortable down the last 2 weeks of spring.

LF/RF Elmer Nolde (B-L) Age - 32***
Last Season 254/333/761 10-43 Career 277/375/829 63-305
Acquired via trade with Brooklyn July 12th, 1937
Spring Training Stats 265/366/719 1-7
Elmer came out and had a fantastic break out season in 1938 with a 289/394/875 18-79 stat line that had him ranked in the top 2 LF's in the FABL. Then he came out of the blocks incredibly cold last season and ended up losing his starting job to Alf Pestilli after the Dynamo's acquired him. The question is, what version is the real Elmer Nolde, the 1938 All-Star version or the 1939 bench player version. The Dynamo's have to be hoping the 1938 version shows up especially with the trade of former RF Leon Drake.

OF Bert Wilson (B-R) Age -28
Last Season 364/432/887 0-2 37PA's with Detroit Career 285/341/713 5-66
Acquired via trade with Chicago Cougars February 28th, 1938
Spring Training Stats 318/375/920 1-7
Wilson was acquired to be a backup OF when he was brought in as nobody was knocking Sal Pestilli out of his CF spot. Wilson is a solid hitter and average fielder, but the club wishes he had a little more speed than he has shown. Still he is the club's only pinch runner worth note on the club.


OF Bobby Bond (B-L) Age - 32
Last Season with AAA SF 333/394/844 2-24 FABL Career 294/360/772 53-577
Acquired via Waiver Claim November 12th, 1938
Spring Training Stats 154/214/407 0-1
Bond was brought in to be a LH pinch hitter and to add another team captain to what they hope is a championship squad. Bond's lack of hitting in the spring certainly puts his job and career in jeopardy.

*** - denotes starter

Summary -

No changes in the catching core for the Dynamo's as last years starter John Wicklund and his backup Clem Bliss return for another season. Wicklund returned to form after an off-year in 1938 in Boston. The Dynamo's don't have another C on the 40-man roster but have several options if they need one with either young Lou Bennett or veterans Joe Welch or Tommy Williams in the minors.

The infield will again be led by 1B Red Johnson, SS Gil London and the ageless wonder 3B Frank Vance. The position everyone will be watching is 2B Ed Stewart who went from 33 home runs in 1938 to 8 home runs and a 233 batting average in 1939. Long time Chiefs backup IF Len Jones (2B/3B) joins the club off waivers after Detroit had long wanted to add him to the team. 1B John Harrick was obtained in a deal from Toronto in the off-season as a switch hitting bench bat and team captain SS Bill Ball returns to backup London and be the leadership pro on the team.

Summary up the OF in 1 word, that word would be Pestilli. The Dynamo's are desperately hoping that CF Sal Pestilli can return from a troublesome shoulder injury that derailed his season (and the clubs pennant hopes) down the stretch last year. In one of the corner spots will be Sal big brother Alf who has power a plenty and adds the dimension of a left handed bat to a predominantly right-handed hitting lineup. With Sid Williams injury delaying his start of the season the club will most likely turn to OF Elmer Nolde who after a strong 38 season plummeted in 1939 and lost his starting job in LF. There is speculation that Detroit is looking to bring in an OF to possibly start full time or have a least some platooning with Nolde. Veteran leader Bobby Bond joins the club in a support role and OF Bret Wilson is still trying to secure his position on the team.

This is a club that has a very strong chance of breaking the franchise record for wins of 97 set in 1908. Hopes are high that the 3rd time is the charm.

[DD Martin]

The Detroit World
April 17th, 1940
Sports
By Fred Farhat

Dynamo's make 3 trades on the Eve of the start of the Season

The Dynamo's were busy prior to the Opening Day start of the season. While none of the acquired players will be with the club for the 1st week of the season as the players move from their respective former cities, the club is excited to bring them in.

Deal #1 - Detroit and New York Gothams Swing a Deal
Detroit trades minor league CF Stan Chrzanowski (traded because of difficultly with spelling his name) for SP Mule Earl.

Basically the Gothams had DFA Earl after he failed to make their Opening Day roster. The out of options SP was available and Detroit sensing that they would not get him on waivers swung the low level deal with the Gotham's. For the G-men they at least get a warm body for a player they had no more use of. Earl will likely slot into the bullpen to start the season once he arrives and also could be used as an emergency SP if necessary.

Deal #2 - Detroit and Toronto revived talks for a player they have both discussed in the past.

The Dynamo's traded SP Ron Coles and a 7th round draft pick to the Wolves for veteran 3B Nick Wallace. While Wallace isn't expected to come in here and take Frank Vance's job at 3B he does provide a solid bat and depth for a team Detroit hopes will win the Fed this season.

Losing Ron Coles is the admittance that the deal with the Chicago Chiefs that saw SP's Bob Walls and Ron Coles come to Detroit for 2B Hank Barnett was an epic failure. While Walls was spun off in the 1938 season after having not been able to stay in AAA Newark's starting rotation, he has performed well for the Wolves in his season and half north of the border. Coles who came back from a serious injury after the 1937 season just never was able to regain his form that made him such a coveted player by GM DD Martin. While Coles was 6-0 with a 3.72 ERA mostly in relief last season, he was deemed expendable.

Martin chimed in stating this was a deal that provided both clubs with depth while shipping out players they had decided no longer fit their needs.

Deal #3 - Dynamo's and Keystones burn the Midnight Oil Before Announcing Deal

Detroit acquired LF Rip Curry (30) from the Keystones for minor league SP Abe Abingdon (19) and AAA CF Ed Greenwood (24). While Greenwood is the #89 prospect in baseball and Abingdon is #137, the Dynamo's decided they needed to add a little more insurance to their OF to make up for the departing Leon Drake. Curry who has been labeled "Sleepy" by his former team do to a sense of lack of motivation appears to be a solid replacement for Drake. Curry is a career 325/382/801 hitter with 49 home runs and 404 RBI's in 828 career games with the Keystones.

Some have raised their eyebrows at the Dynamo's shipping two prospects for Curry, but with CF locked down for 15+ seasons with Sal Pestilli, the club saw the opportunity to flip Greenwood after picking him up on waivers trade after he was DFA.

All 3 players will join the Dynamo's on the 2nd week of the season. Announcements have not been made yet who will be making room for the incoming players on the clubs 24 and 40 man rosters. Speculation is that veteran RP's Ben Curtin and Red Ross could be DFA next week.

[DD Martin]

The Detroit World
April 1940
Sports
By Fred Farhat

FABL Predictions for 1940

While spring training has been completed and Opening Day is right around the corner. It is time once again to gaze into our crystal ball to predict the 1940 baseball season. Last year I picked the Dynamo's to win the Federal Association and they fell 1 game short. What do the cards and the stars have aligned this season for our hometown 9?

Before we turn our attention to the main event that is the Federal Association, we will look at the poor sister league, The Continental Association first.

1.) Chicago Cougars
Last Season 82-72 3rd Place 1940 Predicted Finish 92-62
Can the Cougars finally get back to the CA title once again.
Many felt the club under achieved last season. Will the acquisition
of OF Leon Drake be enough this season? Yes it should.

2.) New York Stars
Last Season 87-67 1st Place Won World Series 1940 Prediction 88-66
Last year this group of Stars under a new front office wheeled and
deal its way to the top. Much to the surprise of most. Some felt too
much young talent was dealt, but the Stars showed everyone that they
just needed a steady hand at the helm. Can they do it again? We feel
the Cougars are just a notch better, but it should be close.

3.) Toronto Wolves
Last Season 71*83 6th 1940 Prediction 85-69
After the 1938 season where the Wolves won 88 games and took
Brooklyn to the final day before coming up short. Last year's team
was the biggest disappointment in the FABL. Can they bounce back?
With multi-time Whitney Award winner 1B Fred McCormick and Allen
Award winning SP Joe Hancock on board the answer is yes if they
can get any help at all from the supporting cast. A slow start could
cost manager Hank Leitzke his job by the end of May.

4.) Brooklyn Kings
Last Season 70-84 7th place 1940 Prediction 76-78
This prediction was made prior to the most recent shake up in
Brooklyn. The Kings still have a lot of talent, but it is aging and
the recent turmoil in the front office might see their sudden fall
from grace last season was no fluke.

5.) Cleveland Foresters
Last Season 85-69 2nd 1940 Predicted Finish 75-79
Last year the Foresters were in the top 2 of the CA
for most of the season only to implode in the last week.
It was a tough way for the club to lose and was very reminiscent
of the 1925 club that lost the last 6 games of the season. We
think that near miss in 25 that saw the Cleveland club fall on
hard times will repeat itself in 1940.

6.) Montreal Saints
Last Season 75-79 5th 1940 Prediction 71-83
The Saints have had a winning season since 1930 when they
finished 3rd in the CA with a record of 86-68. Since then they
have won 75 games in 4 separate seasons as their best effort.
Look for more of the same this season.

7.) Cincinnati Cannons
Last Season 65-89 8th 1940 Prediction 65-89
The team was sold, moved and has a whole new regime, can
things get better? The answer is yes, but it is going to take some
time. With the former Brooklyn GM taking over during the off-season
teaming with Hall of Fame Manager and partial team owner the
legendary George Theobald. They are going to get there, but it is
going to take time.

8.) Philadelphia Sailors
Last Season 81-73 4th 1940 Prediction 64-90
The Sailors have been in the upper division for most of the decade
and just 2 seasons ago almost won the CA. But things are changing
and the Sailors are starting to look to bring in some of their young
talent. It might be a rough season for the club, but they have been
predicted to struggle before and generally find themselves in the
running.

The Federal Association

1.) Detroit Dynamos
Last Season 93-61 2nd 1940 Prediction 98-56
Now the time! After 2 seasons of 2nd place finishes, the Dynamo's
need to cross the finish line and get the job DONE! The belief around
the league is split between the Miners and the hometown 9. With the
starting pitching return pretty much intact and the league leading
power hitting time. It's time for the Dynamo's to cash in.

2.) Boston Minutemen
Last Season 84-70 3rd 1940 Prediction 92-62
Most figure the Fed will be a 3-horse race, but most have the
Minutemen at the bottom of that group. This team has a lot of young
talent that is looking to take the next steps. With Bill Van Ness at C
and Mack Sutton at 3B joining returning stars 1B Bob Donoghue and
CF Chink Donnelly, the future looks bright.

3.) Pittsburgh Miners
Last Season 94-60 1st 1940 Prediction 90-64
Pittsburgh has the most prolific offense in the FABL and should once
again lead the league offensively, if they stay healthy. With 1B Marlon
Strong and 3B Jack Cleaves that is never a sure thing. Cleaves
missed most of the spring recovering from last season ankle injury.
The biggest question marks are with the starting pitching, which is
very good but also is aging with Bill Ketterman (37) and Charlie
Stedman (38).

4.) Chicago Chiefs
Last Season 74-80 5th 1940 Prediction 76-78
The Chiefs have been the dominate team in the FA for the last half
of the 30's winning 2 World Series in 1936 and 1938. Last season's
drop-off was not expected but could be signs that a rebuilding or
re-tooling of the club is coming. They do boast the one that was given
away in 2B Hank Barnett. A trade the Dynamo's front office will likely
never live down.

5.) Philadelphia Keystones
Last Season 63-91 8th 1940 Prediction 70-84
The youth movement in Phily is about to pay off. With 2B Billy
Woytek, 3B Hank Koblenz and 1B Sig Stofer joining CF Bobby
Barrell, the offense looks to be exciting. While they have traded off
several pitchers, they have a very good crop of good young hurlers
that are ready to make an impact. Next year they should break into
the upper division of the FA.

6.) St. Louis Pioneers
Last Season 78-76 4th 1940 Prediction 66-88
The fall of the Pioneers who haven't won the FA since 1921 has been
predicted for several seasons. Many thought that last year would be
the start but the club hung around and ended up in the top division
once again with a winning record. They have a great young SP in
Buddy Long, but it has been the pitching that has held them back for
years. Maybe they will surprise again

T-7.) Washington Eagles
Last Season 69-85 6th 1940 Prediction 62-92
The long suffering Eagles are now without their neighbors in Baltimore
but many thought they'd be the ones that would move. Will
the Eagles finally figure out how to pitch in their home park?
Many were surprised with SP Eddie Quinn's sudden return to
prominence last season, man more were stunned when he
was traded this off-season.

T-7.) New York Gothams
Last Season 61-93 1940 Prediction 62-92
One game is not the type of improvement that the Gotham's
management or fans are looking for. While the self-proclaimed
Million Dollar infield is growing up and should improve, it will be
the pitching and much needed improvement there that will take
the Gotham's to greater heights. Gus Goulding is one to watch after
he labored in Baltimore (some would say rotted in Baltimore). If he
can be the pitcher that so many felt he would be, then the Gotham's
should be well on their way to making significant leaps up the ladder.

1940 World Series

Detroit Dynamo's over Chicago Cougars in 6 games 4-2

[DD Martin]

Reserved for the 1940 Season Review (but here is a brief summary of another near miss)

[DD Martin]

Reserved Final Notes for 1940 Season, Attendance, Financial and of course an owners meeting.

[DD Martin]

Reserved 1940 Off-Season
One hell of a Cluster.....

[DD Martin]

1940 Spring Training

The Dynamo's entered spring training on the heels of a 3rd straight 2nd place finish in the Federal Association. The club has won 277 games while losing just 184, but has come up just short. The 1938 season wasn't as close as Chicago really did run away with things winning 102 games. The last two pennant races losing by 1 and 2 games to the Pittsburgh Miners has been a bitter pill to swallow.

We felt that maybe we were 1 or two moves away in the off-season of really solidifying our pennant hopes, but the disaster of the C Adam Mullins (That story will get posted in the Off-season notes soon) will leave a lasting impression in our minds.

So we enter camp with 2 things on our mind. Sorting out some bench roles as we have a number of players that are out of options and staying healthy while getting the team ready. For once in my tenure when I have a competitive team I am not concerned with the spring training record. The order to our coaching staff is get players the work they need, look at some young talent and do everything you can to keep this team healthy.

We invited 45 players to camp giving several young SP's some innings early including P Charlie Ashmore (20) and Paul Grell (23). Both will likely start in the minors but they will get a taste of a big league camp. I have real high hopes some day for Ashmore who is moving up the prospect lists nicely.

With the players that are out of options, we might end up not seeing a few players who might have made the team simply because they have options. Among those will be young future "ace" type SP Ed Whetzel who ended up being #19 on the prospect list in the off-season. He reached the minimum number of innings pitched or service time to fall off the list, but he is someone we are really high on. Our scout things he could use a little more seasoning so barring a major injury he might start the year at AAA. Another player who we are really high on is 24-year-old 3B/U Constantine "Don't call me Christian" Peters. He can really play in a large number of positions including 2B, and all OF spots, but with the ageless wonder 3B Frank Vance playing at least 1 more season, I want Peters to be playing everyday.

We have brought in competition at the SS and C position to try and shore up things. Scouts love SS Gil London who is fielding SS but in 3 seasons his bat has been poor in 2 (38 and last season). He is only 26 and we have not given up on him, but I really need him to be the player that many feel he can become. Reserve Rich Conway, along with deadline acquisition Floyd Briscoe and off-season acquisition Ernie "The Handyman" Brown (Prospect #40 overall) are in to push London.

With C we tried a lot of things in the off-season. We jettisoned former backup Clem Bliss and brought in Joe Henry in a deal and promoted to the 40-man roster C Lou Bennett (24). It will be an outright competition with John "Don't trade me to Canada" Wicklund. We will keep our eyes open if we feel something comes up during the spring, but it is likely that our 2 catchers will come from these 3 guys.

What will happen in the spring? We again hopefully no injuries and we can sort out our team.

Detroit ended up going 13-11 in the spring tied for 2nd place. A last week push of 3-1 put us over 500.

[DD Martin]

Detroit World
Sports Section
Baseball is Ready for Opening Day
April 13th, 1941
By - Fred Farhat

Spring Training is in the rear view mirror and I have to admit I hate leaving the warm Florida sunshine, but a new season is a foot. Will the Dynamo's be able to climb out of the 2nd place blues (3 consecutive 2nd place finished in the Fed) and finally win it all? Well stay tuned below.

The club made several roster moves at the end of spring training. The club DFA out of options P Mule Earl, and also P Bill Anderson who reported refused to go back to AAA Newark to start the season. Also not making the cut was recently claimed OF Fred Quinn from Cleveland who landed back on the waiver wire. The club is also looking at the waiver wire fairly closely and I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more people come and go. Whether any of these waiver cuts or acquisitions will get the team over the hurdle, I am skeptical , but GM Martin is always looking to make even the slightest upgrade to the roster in hopes of finally unlocking the Fed Pennant.

The club did announce a trade to pick up a veteran C from the NY Stars. Detroit sent a 10th round pick in the June draft for 34-year-old veteran Mike Burkholder. Last season in 84 games (72 starts) Burkholder hit 296/315/764 driving in 33 RBI's. He threw out 42.1% of would be base stealers last season (52.9% in 1939) and is an average defensive catcher. He is a switch hitter just like former backup Clem Bliss is and doesn't strike out quite as often as returning starter (Up and Down) John Wicklund. The thought is that Burkholder will likely see a similar number of starts as he did last season getting around 70 games in.

Detroit also send back Rule 5 pick Orville Snodgrass who was just outside the top 100 prospects at the time. Despite him falling down the charts dramatically this spring the Dynamo's opted to trade back for him sending a 9th Round pick to Montreal. This also Detroit to keep Snodgrass and play him regularly in the minors so that he can maybe re-develop some of those skills that just 6 months ago seemed to good to be true (Guess they were).

Is Detroit done? Probably not. There is speculation that they are targeting a pitcher or two on the waiver wire. In fact sources claim they are discussing a deal with the Washington Eagles who have surprisingly DFA SP Bobo White who was once the #1 overall pick in the 1934 draft. It has been a roller coaster for White (career record 40-54 4.99 ERA in 119 GS). Is the 27-year old just over-rated or is he a victim of whatever is in the water in DC that makes pitchers struggle so often (See Sergio Gonzales for example among others.) White was 9-10 with his best season ERA of 4.06 in 1940 and the hope is that he will find himself again with some coaching from the Dynamo's staff. He is definitely a depth option for the team and will likely start at AAA Newark to regain his form if this trade comes down (It did).

1940 Pre-Season Predictions

Sorry fans but the recent luck or just that Pittsburgh is just slightly better doesn't seem to end for our hometown 9. I have gone on record the last 2 seasons predicting 1st so this year in the hopes of reversing that fortune I'll say they finish 2nd again, just 2 games back.

Federal Association Predictions

Pittsburgh Miners 91-63
Detroit Dynamos 90-64
Boston Minutemen 87-67
Chicago Chiefs 79-75
Philadelphia Keystones 75-79
New York Gothams 70-84
Washington Eagles 64-90
St. Louis Pioneers 60-94

Continental Association Predictions
Chicago Cougars 92-62
Toronto Wolves 89-65
Cincinnati Cannons 88-66
New York Stars 82-72
Philadelphia Sailors 72-82
Cleveland Foresters 67-87
Brooklyn Kings 64-90
Montreal Saints 62-92

World Series Chicago Cougars over Pittsburgh 4-2

The 3rd time will not be the charm for Pittsburgh as they will continue their historic ways of bottling the World Series (1 win in 9 tries)


Post-Season Award Predictions
FA Allen P George Phillips
FA Whitney 1B Red Johnson
CA Allen P George Garrison
CA Whitney 3B Walt Pack

New blood dominates the Awards in my opinion except here as 1B Red Johnson will win his 2nd straight Whitney Award at the age of 23 (24 at seasons end).