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09-08-2021, 07:51 PM
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#241 |
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This Week in Figment Baseball: September 12, 1938
 September 12, 1938 DYNAMOS MAGIC RUN NEARS END The Detroit Dynamos have had an incredible season highlighted by spending most of the summer atop the Federal Association standings a year after they were considered one of the worst teams in baseball. However, Labor Day, the traditional end to summertime also seems to have signified the end of the road for a gutsy Detroit club that now trails the mighty Chicago Chiefs by 6 games with just 3 weeks remaining in the season. Detroit went into Chicago last Monday on an emotional high, celebrating on the train ride from St Louis after overcoming a 5-0 deficit to beat the hometown Pioneers 6-5. The high ride continued in the opener of their quick holiday twin bill with the Chiefs when the powerful Detroit lineup - which leads all of FABL in homers - belted 3 of them, courtesy of Ed Stewart (.270,28,100), Red Johnson (.292,14,68) and Ben Richardson (.252,5,39), to power the club to a 7-2 win over Al Miller (13-12, 4.05) and the Chiefs in the opener. Game two saw a pair of veterans enjoying exceptional seasons take the hill in ex-Dynamo Jack Beach (19-7, 3.55) and current Detroit ace Frank Crawford (19-7, 3.17). Neither would be around for the decision as the game went into extra innings thanks to an Ed Stewart sacrifice fly to tie the contest at 4 in the top of the ninth. It appeared just maybe the Dynamos did have a little magic left in them especially when Detroit loaded the bases in with just one out in the 14th inning. Chicago's Charlie Bingham, who got himself into the jam, finessed his way out of it by inducing a ground ball by pinch-hitter Packy Peck, who's knees must have been knocking as he made his big league debut in perhaps the most pressure packed situation possible. Peck's roller was fielded by Chicago first baseman Ron Rattigan who quickly threw a perfect strike to catcher Tom Aiello for the force play at home. Frank LeMieux then hit a lazy fly ball to end the threat. The Dynamos got another chance an inning later as they again loaded the bases but with 2 out this time only to see Ben Richardson end the threat with a fly out. Two batters earlier Leon Drake had a chance to push the winning run home but he also flew out, and not deep enough to allow Red Johnson to tag and score from third. You could feel the momentum shift in the game and finally in the bottom of the 16th as veteran Tom Taylor was the hero. The 33 year old led off the frame with a single off Hank Spencer and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. On the first pitch to Hank Barnett (.317,27,106), Taylor surprised nearly everyone by breaking for third. He still has great speed even after the many injuries but the thought of sending him with the powerful bat of Barnett at the dish and just one out seemed to be a move out of left field....and that was where the ball went as the most shocked man in Whitney Park might have been Ben Richardson, the Detroit catcher. Richardson's rushed throw sailed wide of Detroit third baseman Frank LeMieux and towards the left field wall. Before it could be tracked down Taylor gleefully galloped home and was mobbed by his Chicago teammates. The Chiefs won 5-4 and restored their lead to 6 games while a downtrodden Detroit nine slowly walked off the field knowing that was likely the end of their pennant hopes for this year. While Richardson will be remembered as the goat of the game and some media types in Detroit are already calling for him to be gone next season it is tough to place the blame solely with Richardson, who is a bit over his head as the primary catcher. The catching situation in Detroit is why many were surprised that the Dynamos were not linked with Mike Taylor at the deadline when the Chicago Cougars were shopping the veteran. Detroit would go on to win 4 of their next 6 games to finish the week but the Chiefs did the same and the margin remains at 6 games in Chicago's favour.   QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 09/11/1938
__________________
Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 09-09-2021 at 12:43 AM. |
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09-09-2021, 09:21 PM
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#242 |
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All Star Reserve
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This Week in Figment Baseball: September 19, 1938
September 19, 1938 WOLVES GET A PAW UP IN CONTINENTAL RACE The Toronto Wolves have slowed down from a torrid August pace but the club's 10-7 record in September is good enough to keep them one game ahead of the Brooklyn Kings as the two teams duke it out for supremacy in the Continental Association. They were locked in a first place tie heading into the final two meetings between the two teams (assuming no end of season tiebreaker is needed) on Friday and Saturday in Brooklyn. The Wolves, as they have been doing since the all-star break, made a loud statement in the series opener, blasting Brooklyn 10-1 and sending Kings starter Tom Barrell to the showers early. With Toronto ace Joe Hancock on the mound for the series finale the Wolves had to be feeling pretty confident but Brooklyn regained a share of the lead with a 1-0 victory in a pitchers duel that saw Art White toss a 3-hit gem to hand Hancock just his 7th defeat against 21 wins on the season. Toronto regained a 1-game lead by mauling Montreal 10-2 yesterday while the Kings fell to Chicago 5-4 in 11 innings. With two weeks left in the season the outcome remains in doubt but the Pennant Chase report is decidedly in the Wolves corner.  Detroit is on a 6 game winning streak and the Dynamos have won 9 of their last 10 but it appears all for naught as the Chicago Chiefs lead is five and a half games thanks to victories in 10 of their last 12 contests. The Dynamos remain alive technically and do have 3 more games to play against Chicago but clearly the odds are against them capping what has already been a tremendously successful season with a Federal Association crown.  QUICK HITS
MILESTONE WATCH A number of players are approaching milestones. A lot of these will not be reached until next season but here are the players to keep an eye on.
MINOR LEAGUES Some pretty good races going on as the various minor leagues hit the final week of their season. At the AAA level the big race is in the Century League where the Milwaukee Blues and St Paul Disciples are tied for top spot with 7 games remaining. The Blues are a Chicago Cougars affiliate while the Disciples are the AAA farm club of the Pittsburgh Miners. In the Union League, history is about to be made on several fronts. First this is the first season in a long time that Rochester will not be winning the Union League crown. The Rooks had won 4 in a row matching Cincinnati's run in the late 20's. This year it appears with only 7 games remaining that the Newark Aces (Detroit's AAA team) is closing in on the crown. With a 4 game lead over Cincinnati and Louisville heading into the final week. The Aces play neither of those teams as the season comes to a close on Sunday. This would be just the 3rd Union League crown for Newark and first since 1923. One league where the race has long been decided is out west with the San Francisco Hawks preparing the celebrate their fifth Great Western Association title in the past 7 years. The Hawks have long since clinched the title with a 25 game lead on second place Portland but with 7 games left they need just one more win to tie the 1930 San Diego Conquistadors for the most wins in a season. At 99-34 the Hawks seem a lock to be the first GWL ever to surpass 100 victories in the 35 year history of the league. They are the top farm team of the Philadelphia Sailors, an organization that regularly produces winning teams at the minor league level. There are 8 games remaining in the season for the independent AA level Lone Star League and a big Texas showdown looms between San Antonio Gunslingers and the Fort Worth Cattlemen. The Gunslingers, who won the first 4 Lone Star Pennants but have come up empty each of the past five seasons, have a 3 game lead on Fort Worth but will play each other 4 times next week. The Cattlemen have only finished as high as second place once in the 9 year history of the loop. The Class B Southeastern League will have perhaps the wildest finish with 4 teams separated by just 2 games with 6 to play. The Tampa Cigar Kings (Brooklyn Kings) are in first at 76-58 with the Miami Sailors and Charleston Seagulls tied 1 game back and the Mobile Monarchs 2 off the pace. The Kings took over top spot yesterday with a win over Miami but the two clubs still have 3 more games head to head. Mobile (Montreal Saints) will also play 3 games over the weekend vs the Miami side so perhaps that opens the door for Charleston to sneak past as they finish exclusively against teams in the second division. Charleston is a Baltimore Cannons affiliate and has never won the league title. Mobile has also never claimed victory with the Tampa squad being the defending champion (their first pennant). Miami, another Philadelphia Sailors farm club, has been the dominant team in the league with 9 titles in SEL's 13 year history. Brooklyn's Class C affiliate also has been week ahead as the Marshalltown Maples are tied with the La Crosse Lions (Chicago Cougars) for first place in the Upper Mississippi Valley Association. Each has 8 games remaining but none are head to head. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 09/18/1938
__________________
Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports |
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09-11-2021, 02:54 AM
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#243 |
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All Star Reserve
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This Week in Figment Baseball: September 26, 1938
September 26, 1938 CHIEFS CLINCH CROWN Last winter it was reported on these pages that the Chicago Chiefs won the Federal Association Pennant the day they acquired Jim Lonardo from the New York Gothams. The Chiefs simply made it official yesterday when the Detroit Dynamos lost in New York allowing Chicago to clinch the pennant. The outcome was very much in doubt the first half of the season as the Dynamos looked like a team of destiny making an incredible bid to rise from the depths of the Federal Association to it's penthouse. Detroit stumbled, but ever so slightly with a brief rough spell in August and that tiny opening was more than enough for the Chiefs. After a July 1st loss at home to Detroit that left the Chiefs six and a half games back of the first place Dynamos, Chicago went on to post an amazing 58-19 record the rest of the way. With 98 wins so far and still 7 games remaining the Chiefs have a very good shot to equal or surpass the franchise victory mark of 101 established two seasons ago. Chicago's 1936 club set the franchise standard for second half excellence as they fashioned a 50-18 record after the break thanks to key addtions Pete Layton and another ex-Gotham pitcher in Rabbit Day. Layton (.369,24,94) and Day (26-7, 3.05) played key roles once again this time around as did the aforementioned Lonardo (24-7, 2.73), who more than made up for a down season from third year starter Al Miller (15-12, 3.67). In Miller's case it more accurately should be described as a down half season as he finished the year 8-2 after a very slow start, at least when compared to the previous two big league seasons on his resume. The trio of moundsmen also had plenty of assistance from a supporting cast that included veteran righthander Jack Beach (20-8, 3.46), who gave the Chiefs three twenty game winners after the 36 year old reached that mark for the second time in his career. The first time Beach won twenty was in 1932 with Detroit when he also earned the first and only Allan Award of his career. There will be now Allen Trophy this season for Beach but it could very well go to either Day or Lonardo, each of whom already own three of them. Layton is leading the Federal Association in batting and is close to winning his second career batting title, and if successful they would come a decade apart as his first crown was the 1928 CA title while he was still a New York Star. Layton's next base hit will be the 2,500 of his wonderful career and a few weeks from now, if Chicago can dispose of whoever comes out of the Continental Association, the 38 year old may be celebrating his 6th career World Championship Series victory. Retirement talk is likely well off after the season Layton has enjoyed but Chicago media is already speculating on his chances of making it to the Hall of Fame. Lonardo was not the only big move made by Chicago brass this season as, just like in 1936 when they added an infield bat in Layton to go along with the powerful pitcher in Day, this year's incarnation of the Chiefs added Hank Barnett (.315,31,120) to the mix. He spent a few weeks over the winter in Detroit after the Dynamos acquired him from Montreal where he use to toil for the current Chiefs boss back in his Saints days. Barnett always had loads of talent but also an uppercut swing that, while it did not play well at times in Montreal's cavernous Parc Cartier seemed ideally suited for the more hitter friendly Whitney Park. The result was a career high in just about every offensive category for the 29 year old nine year veteran. The other big season from a Chiefs hitter belonged to catcher Tom Bird (.358,21,103) as the 30 year old - another ex Montreal Saint- challenged for and may yet win the batting title if he can catch Layton in the final week. Bird and Layton are both drawing plenty of Whitney Award discussion, along with Detroit's sensational sophomore outfielder Sal Pestilli (.308,43,124) but there is a possibility they may split the Chicago vote and allow the 22 year to claim the prize. One has to give the Detroit Dynamos plenty of credit for hanging with Chicago as long as they did but the Chiefs proved to be simply too powerful a ballclub. This will make it the third time in franchise history Chicago will go to the World Championship Series and their second trip in 3 seasons after beating Brooklyn in the 1936 October classic.  It seems entirely unlikely that Brooklyn will overcome the deficit with a week to play but the Kings have made a habit of doing unlikely things - albeit for nearly all of them Brooklyn was on the wrong end of the situation - so perhaps Brooklyn will surprise everyone once again, but for a positive result this time. Kings manager Powell Slocum certainly hopes that is the case as word out of a meeting with the GM and also owner Daniel Prescott, that got heated at times, suggests Slocum will be fired if the Kings do not overtake Toronto.  ANOTHER NO-HITTER FOR NEWELL There have only been 7 no-hitters thrown in FABL since the human GM era began in 1926 and amazingly three of them have come from the same man as Doc Newell of the Philadelphia Sailors turned the trick once again against Brooklyn last week. The 30 year old, who has been a 3-time all-star selection but never won an Allan Award threw his first no-hitter against Cleveland in 1934 and a year later tossed a perfect game - just third perfect game ever and first since 1905 - against Brooklyn. He didn't get the perfect game this time around as he walked one and had to contend with a pair of errors from his defense, but Newell did not allow a hit while fanning 4 in a 7-0 Sailors victory Tuesday over the slumping Kings. No other pitcher in FABL history has thrown three no-hitters. Newell had previously shared the mark of two with Bill Temple and John Blackburn. Temple won 284 games in his career from 1899-1911 while Blackburn, who like Newell also had a perfect game, won just 40 in his 4 seasons with Boston before making very brief stops with the Cougars, Cleveland and Stars. Newell joined the Sailors organization as a 19 year old in 1927 and made his big league debut 4 years later. He is 105-88 over his career and, at 19-11 this season, is on the cusp of a second straight 20 victory season. He also has a new nickname as teammates have taken to calling him "No-hit" Newell in the Philadelphia clubhouse.  QUICK HITS
  There is plenty of talk going through the borough of Brooklyn on just how bad this collapse has been, and make no mistake it is awful to watch the team throw away a 10 game lead in the final five weeks of the season, but before one starts to clamor for major changes like a blockbuster deal or the ousting of the GM and and his manager, one should pause for a moment and think just what this club has accomplished the past half decade - and how little they accomplished in the multiple decades before this one.  I was looking a little more closely at RBI. I find this interesting; maybe I'm the only one. Pestilli has 124 RBI, and Bird has 103. Is Pestilli a 20% better hitter than Bird? I don't think anyone would say that. So let's dig a little deeper. Pestilli has been up with 144 runners in scoring position. The 124 RBI includes driving himself in with 43 home runs. So we can remove the home runs and say that Pestilli drove in (124 - 43) / 144 = 0.563 = 56.3% of the runners in scoring position. Bird has come to the plate with 137 runners in scoring position. Bird's 103 RBI includes 21 home runs. So removing the home runs, Bird drove in (103 - 21) / 137 = 0.599 = 59.9% of his runners in scoring position. So they are pretty close, but Bird is slightly better this season, which is pretty much what wRC+ is also telling us--Bird is slightly better. And really Bird is performing slightly better than everyone else in the Fed this season.  The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 09/25/1938
__________________
Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 09-11-2021 at 02:35 PM. |
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09-13-2021, 10:20 PM
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#244 |
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All Star Reserve
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This Week in Figment Baseball: October 3, 1938
OCTOBER 3, 1938 KINGS RETAIN CROWN AS WOLVES LUCK RUNS OUT In a most unusual way the Brooklyn Kings claimed their third straight Continental Association title after entering the final week of the season trailing the surprising Toronto Wolves by 2.5 games. While Toronto, which had greatly defied expectations with a tremendous August run, stumbled down the stretch in dropping 8 of their last 9 games the Brooklyn Kings won 5 of their last 6 to secure their third straight pennant and fifth consecutive season of at least 90 victories. The Kings also saved the job of popular Manager Powell Slocum who had reportedly been given an ultimatum last Monday morning to win the pennant or he was out of a job. Slocum's charges, who had squandered what was a 10 game lead as late as August 18th thanks to an 11-24 stretch that left them looking up at Toronto and seemingly on the verge of what would have been one of the biggest, if not the worst collapse in league history. Instead it becomes merely a footnote in what has been a crazy season for the Kings who had the league's best record prior to the all-star game but even with the fabulous final week finished a game below .500 after the mid-summer classic. The Kings now turn their attention to Federal Association powerhouse Chicago, which won a franchise record 102 games and finished 8 up on the other surprise team of the 1938 season: the Detroit Dynamos. The Chiefs, who swept Brooklyn in the World Championship Series two years ago, look even stronger this time around with Jim Lonardo (25-7, 2.68) joining ace Rabbit Day (26-7, 3.06) as co-favourites for the Federal Association Allan Award. Add in Jack Beach (21-8, 3.35), who had a dreadful experience briefly as a Brooklyn King, or Al Miller (15-12, 3.72) who, despite a rough start to his third big league season, finished the year very strongly and Chicago's pitching is every bit as good and perhaps better than Brooklyn's quartet of Tom Barrell (13-14, 4.33), Mike Murphy 915-7, 2.83), Art White (14-6, 3.00) and Joe Shaffner (16-14, 3.68). While the Chiefs will miss the table setting job ex-King Bill May does in the lead-off spot there is plenty of talent to replace the injured centerfielder. Pete Layton (.365,25,99) led the Fed in hitting at the age of 38 and he, along with catcher Tom Bird (.346,21,104) are both candidates for the Whitney Award. Throw in Hank Barnett (.312,31,124), Cliff Moss (.283,21,87) and Ron Rattigan (.299,14,92) and the Chicago lineup looks imposing. The Kings have plenty of talent as well led by Al Wheeler (.267,29,110), Frank Vance (.295,20,83), Harry Barrell (.284,5,78) and Alf Pestilli (.269,16,63) but one has to think the Chiefs, who were the underdogs 2 years ago when they swept Brooklyn, have to be the favourites this time around.  WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREVIEW The World Championship Series will be a rematch of the battle two years ago, although calling it a battle is overselling things as it was a rout with the Chiefs sweeping the series in 4 games behind a pair of impressive victories for Rabbit Day. As expected with two successful ballclubs much the same cast that participated two years ago returns for each team but in looking at the numbers it is Chicago, who was an underdog that last time, that appears to be the clear favourite this time around.  CATCHER: TOM BIRD (.346,21,104) vs FRED BARRELL (.230,3,52) FIRST BASE: RON RATTIGAN (.299,14,92) vs JOE PERRET (.252,7,33) or DOUG LIGHTBODY (.298,1,42) Another big edge for the Chiefs as the 29 year old Rattigan, a former Brooklyn farmhand, has evolved into one of the better first baseman in the game. Lightbody and Perret are both aging converted outfielders who are merely filling in for the retired Dan Barrell until prospect Chuck Adams, a former Chief pick, is ready for the role. EDGE CHICAGO SECOND BASE: HANK BARNETT (.312,31,124) vs JOHN LANGILLE (.268,3,60) The 29 year old Barnett enjoyed the best season of his career after a move from Montreal to Chicago and he had no ill effects in the field shifting from third base back to second base. Langille has had some much better seasons than this one in his career and is a steady defender in the field but about the equal of Barnett with the glove. Another big EDGE CHICAGOSHORTSTOP: PETE LAYTON (.365,25,99) vs HARRY BARRELL (.284,5,78) This one is just as intriguing as the matchup behind the plate. The 38 year old Layton just won his second batting title and is a 4-time all-star who has also won 5 World Championships in his career. As good as he is at the plate his defense is not suited to play shortstop but clearly the offensive contribution has outweighed the defensive liability. 24 year old Harry Barrell, the youngest of the ballplaying brothers, is already a 5-time all-star and, despite the fact he is prone at times to bouts of errors, is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. He has had some big offensive seasons early in his career but has seen a decline in production at the plate the last couple of years. We will give Brooklyn the benefit of the doubt here simply because of the defensive advantage the Kings have at shortstop so we will call this EVEN THIRD BASE: BOB MARTIN (.286,6,68) vs FRANK VANCE (.295,20,83) The 36 year old Vance had a nice solid season for the Kings and made his 6th all-star appearance. Martin, 31, had a career year in '36 to help the Chiefs win that pennant, but his numbers have dipped since then. He is a fair bit better defensive third baseman than Vance but we will give the nod to the veteran King in this one. EDGE BROOKLYNLEFT FIELD: JIM HAMPTON (.289,7,70) vs ALF PESTILLI (.269,16,63) Pestilli, who is overshadowed by his younger brother Sal of Detroit, put up some nice numbers in his first full season as a big leaguer but lost his starting job for much of September due to a slump. The 37 year old Hampton is another veteran Chief but with a difference - he has spent his entire career in the Windy City- and while he appears to be on the downside of that career he is still a very solid contributor. This one is close but because of Hampton's veteran experience and Pestilli's recent slump we call it an EDGE CHICAGOCENTER FIELD: BENNIE GRIFFITH (.205,2,10) vs BOB WORLEY (.221,12,54 but .283,8,25 in 49 games after trade to Brooklyn) This one is interesting. At the deadline the Kings dealt young star Bill May to the Chiefs for a package of young prospects and as a throw-in were given Bob Worley, who would have been out of a job in Chicago due to May's arrival. Worley hit just .188 for the Chiefs in a return to the major leagues after a dominant minor league season that saw him swat 57 homers. His defense has always been very good and he got his bat going in Brooklyn. Meanwhile May had settled in very nicely as the lead-off man in Chicago until he wrecked his ankle a month ago prompting the Chiefs to have to give the job back to Griffith, who was their starting centerfielder in 1936. No guarantees Worley will hit like he has in Brooklyn and not like he did in Chicago but if so the Kings get the edge. EDGE BROOKLYN RIGHT FIELD: CLIFF MOSS (.283,21,87) vs AL WHEELER (.267,29,110) Wheeler, a 5-time Whitney Award winner, had a slow start to the season but has picked things up of late. Moss had a strong year with the most homers and rbi's for him in a season since 1930 when he was with Montreal. His defense, while not exceptional, is also better than Wheeler's but Brooklyn fan's hope the Wonder Wheel is on a mission to atone for some rough October's past. Wheeler is batting just .179 with 2 homers in 16 previous WCS games. For Brooklyn to win the series he needs to come up big. Wheeler's pedigree gives him the edge but Moss is talented, and often overlooked in the deep Chicago lineup. EDGE BROOKLYNPITCHING STAFF: RABBIT DAY (26-7, 3.06), JIM LONARDO (25-7, 2.68), JACK BEACH (21-8, 3.35) and AL MILLER (15-12, 3.72) vs TOM BARRELL (13-14, 4.33), MIKE MURPHY (15-7, 2.83), JOE SHAFFNER (16-14, 3.68) and ART WHITE (14-6, 3.00) Chicago has 7 Allan Awards (3 each for Day and Lonardo plus 1 for Beach) compared to 4 in Brooklyn (3 Barrell and 1 Shaffner) with the Chiefs quite likely adding an 8th this year but debate as to whether it goes to Day or Lonardo. On paper it looks like there is no way Brooklyn can contend with Chicago's starting rotation but there is a decided advantage if the Kings can get to the Chicago starters as the Chicago bullpen does not instill fear in opponents like their starters do. Brooklyn also has Del Lyons in the pen. Lyons has been inconsistent at times this year but did set a new FABL record with 29 saves this season. Still you can not bet against Day and Lonardo the way their season's have gone. EDGE CHICAGO SUMMARY: The clear edge lies with the Chiefs but the Kings have a lot to prove. Making up for the sweep they suffered two years ago for starters and proving that the first half of their season, when they were the best team in baseball, was the real Brooklyn club and not the second half, when they finished under .500. Brooklyn is entering the Series on a high with that dramatic comeback to edge out surprising Toronto but they are facing a Chiefs team that has played at a .725 clip (58-22) since the break. The Chiefs did all of that against a group of Fed teams that, from top to bottom, is widely considered to be quite superior to their counterparts in the Continental Association. Brooklyn might be poised for an upset just like the Chiefs pulled off two seasons ago and the Kings proved just last week you can never underestimate this team. However, the smart money is on the Chiefs to win the series in 5 games. QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 10/02/1938
__________________
Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 09-13-2021 at 10:25 PM. |
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09-14-2021, 11:54 AM
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#245 |
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This Week in Figment Baseball: World Championship Series Games 1 and 2
OCTOBER 7, 1938 SERIES SHIFTS WEST KNOTTED AT ONE The Chicago Chiefs accomplished what they needed to do by earning a split of the first two games of the World Championship Series on the road while for the hometown Brooklyn Kings the win in the opener helped erase the bad memories from two years ago when the same two clubs met in a series that the Chiefs dominated, winning in a sweep. The Series now moves to Whitney Park in Chicago and while it is a little more homer-friendly than Brooklyn's Kings County Park the expectation is we will continue to see quality pitching. BARRELL FANS 11 IN GAME ONE The Series opener certainly provided the kind of pitching we would expect with a combined 6 Allen Awards on the mound as Brooklyn's Tom Barrell and Chicago's Rabbit Day squared off in a Series game for the second time. The initial meeting between the two in Game One of the 1936 campaign was a one-sided affair with the Chiefs roughing up the Brooklyn ace for 8 runs in the first three innings of a rout. The story was different this time around as Barrell fanned 11 in tossing a 4 hit gem to lead the Kings to a 4-1 victory. It marked just the third time in World Championship Series history a pitcher had fanned as many as 11 hitters in a game. Day was nearly as impressive, going the distance for Chicago but suffering just the second series loss of his career. (He has won 6 games in WCS play). An announced crowd of just 39 below Kings County Park's capacity of 32,000 had cause for concern early as after a 1-2-3 opening inning Chicago's lead-off man in the second, Hank Barnett, singled and moved to third on Cliff Moss' double. He would score on a Bob Martin groundout but Barrell would escape with no further damage striking out Rabbit Day for his first K of the day. Brooklyn evened the contest in the bottom of the second in much the same fashion as Al Wheeler and Fred Barrell singled with a ground out by former Chief Bob Worley plating Wheeler with the equalizer. Tom Barrell would settle down with 3 strikeouts in the third inning allowing only a single by Day in the fifth and and one by Tom Bird in the sixth with no Chicago players getting into scoring position the rest of the way. Day was nearly as efficient but allowed a lead-off double to Fred Barrell in the fifth and he would eventually score on a sacrifice fly from his brother Tom making the score 2-1. That would be enough for the Barrell battery to work with but Alf Pestilli added some insurance with a 2-run homer in the 8th inning to complete the scoring.  Tom Barrell's 11-strikeout game is the most ever by a Kings pitcher, smashing the old mark of 6 he set in that 1936 Series opener against the Chiefs. He also becomes just the third pitcher in history to fan at least 11 in a WCS game. The other two are Hall of Famer Woody Trease, who also K'd 11 in a 1906 game for Boston and the little known Jimmy Redpath, who fanned 14 in an 11 inning game for Baltimore against Pittsburgh in 1907. JIMMY REDPATH Redpath is one of those unusual stories the sport is so full of. 14 k's is impressive but it also is the only season Redpath played professional baseball. Signed by Baltimore prior to the 1897 season as a 19 year old, Redpath came out of nowhere (well, Millcreek Utah to be precise) and went 25-7 with a 1.63 ERA while leading the league in K's with 286 as Baltimore made a Detroit Dynamos type turnaround by improving by 32 wins and going from 6th to first in the CA. They were known as the Clippers back then and among their many young stars was also Powell Slocum, then a 19 year old himself along with another sensational teen that season by the name of Mike Marner, who won 34 games as a rookie. Marner went 0-1 in the Series against Pittsburgh that year but the youthful Clippers took the title in 6 in no small part due to the effort of Redpath, who won both his starts including a 14 strikeout extra-inning effort. While Marner and Slocum continued on to both have outstanding careers and Slocum to be the Kings manager in Barrell's 11 k effort, the third member of the teenage trio never pitched again. The Clippers released Redpath following that World Championship victory for some reason and his entire pro career consisted of that single magical season. So after his 14 K effort on October 10th Redpath would pitch just one more professional game - winning it as well as the Clippers claimed the Series in six games. What is also puzzling is if you look up Jimmy Redpath he is listed as a catcher but never caught a pro game, making 34 appearances that year plus the 2 Series starts but all were on the mound. Also unknown is why he never played again. No mention of any sort of injury. He simply was released by the Clippers, sat in limbo for a year and then retired. Speculation on why ranges wide: Did he do something so heinous behind closed doors he was blackballed by all owners or could it have been as simple as he was homesick and returned to Utah, only playing sandlot ball after that magical series? The true answer may lie somewhere in between but it is lost in history now. EARLY START GIVES CHIEFS GAME TWO WIN The Chiefs swept Brooklyn in 1936 easily by getting off to quick starts and actually never trailed in that series. They scored first in game one this time around as well and did the same thing here in the second game. It was a 4-run first inning that proved to be the difference in Chicago's 4-3 victory. Brooklyn pitcher Mike Murphy allowed 3 hits in the first inning and the Chiefs were aided by two Brooklyn errors in the opening frame. Murphy settled down nicely after that but the damage was done with perhaps the biggest moment in the game coming very early in the contest. Ron Rattigan popped out to lead-off the game but then Pete Layton doubled. That brought up Chicago catcher Tom Bird who worked the count to 3-2 and then fouls off 4 pitches before hitting a triple to the gap in right-center. Layton scored on the play and than Hank Barnett lifted a deep sacrifice fly to score Bird with the second run. Bird is not the fleetest of creatures, he hit just 4 triples this season and only 14 in his career. The Chiefs would add two more runs and send 8 men to the plate, leading 4-0 before Jim Lonardo had to throw a single pitch. The veteran Lonardo was not at his best on this day but did just enough to preserve a 4-3 victory. Al Wheeler, who has had some rough postseasons in the past, had a 2 hit game for the Kings and Alf Pestilli homered for the third game in a row. Pestilli, who hit a 2-run shot in the win yesterday and a 10th inning homer to beat the New York Stars in the regular season finale, continues to display some of the power that his younger brother Sal is becoming famous for in Detroit. Bob Martin had a pair of doubles for the Chiefs in the win.  The Week That Was Current events from 10/07/1938
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09-15-2021, 01:56 PM
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This Week in Figment Baseball: World Championship Series Games 3 and 4
OCTOBER 10, 1938 KINGS ONE WIN AWAY FROM SERIES REPEAT The Brooklyn Kings won a pair of dramatic games, both by 2-1 scores, and suddenly have a commanding 3 games to one lead in their World Championship Series with the Chicago Chiefs. The pitching for both clubs has been outstanding all series and with a combined total of 11 Allen Awards between the two staffs it is hardly unexpected. Brooklyn has scored 12 runs in the 4 games while batting .267 in the series while the Chiefs are hitting just .215 as a unit and have plated just 6 runs. Despite the 3-1 deficit the Chiefs find themselves in, with a couple of breaks, the series could have easily been 3 games to one in Chicago's favour. Overall, the offense for both clubs has sputtered but not Chicago's top hitters Pete Layton and Tom Bird. Both have had decent series so far with Layton going 5-for-16 with bird is 4-for-15. Hank Barnett and Jim Hampton lead the Chicago attack with 2 rbi's each but are a combined 4-for-28 in the four games and Ron Rattigan and Bob Martin have been even less productive. Brooklyn batters have not fared much better with the possible exception of Joe Perret, who is leading both clubs with 6 hits while driving in 2 runs, both coming in the game four victory. Brooklyn shortstop Harry Barrell is just 1-for-16 in the series as it is big brother Tom who seems to be carrying the Kings. Not only did he win both of his starts but Tom is also 3-for-4 at the plate in the series. GAME THREE TURNS QUICKLY IN THE FIFTH INNING Al Miller deserved a much better fate than to be tagged with a 2-1 loss. Miller was superb, allowing just 6 Brooklyn hits in the contest and tossing a no-hitter through 4 innings. However, the Kings bunched three hits together to start the fifth inning and that was the difference in the game. The Brooklyn rally came after the Chiefs had taken a 1-0 lead on Kings starter Art White thanks to three singles of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning. It marked the third straight game the Chiefs got on the scoresheet first. The Brooklyn rally in the fifth inning was started by lead-off man John Langille slashing a double and then he trotted home as Kings catcher Fred Barrell followed up with a rare (for him) triple. Barrell had hit just a pair of three-baggers over the past two years. Bob Worley, the former Chief who was dealt to Brooklyn at the trade deadline, broke the tie with a single to score Worley and that was all the offense White would require for the 2-1 victory. White went the distance scattering 8 hits for the win in his first career post-season start. He has been overshadowed over the years in the Brooklyn rotation but finished 14-6 with a 3.00 era this season while missing over a month with hamstring troubles. It marked the third consecutive year the 27 year old won 14 games for Brooklyn. Despite taking the loss Miller had nothing to be ashamed of with his efforts and he continues to pitch well following a rough start to the season. Just that one little patch of 3 hits in the fifth inning made all the difference in the world to cost Miller the win.  FOURTH GAME NEARLY A CARBON COPY OF GAME THREE A rematch of the series opener between Brooklyn's Tom Barrell and Chicago's Rabbit Day and once again it was the Chiefs who struck first. Brooklyn had an opportunity to open the scoring for the first time in the series with runners on first and second and just one out in the second inning but Day impressively fanned Fred Barrell on 3 pitchers before also striking out Bob Worley to end the inning. Chicago's run in the bottom of the third was scored by an unlikely source in Paddy Smith. The 25 year old outfielder, who spent much of the season in AAA and played just 48 games during the season, worked Tom Barrell to a full-count before lashing a lead-off double. Knowing runs are at a premium in this series, Day sacrificed Smith to third and he then came home on a Ron Rattigan sacrifice fly. Like in Game Three the Kings answered in the fifth inning but this time everything happened after Day had retired the first two Brooklyn batters. It was Bob Worley, who is proving to be a thorn in his old club's side, getting things started by drawing a walk -one of just 3 Day would surrender on the day - and then Tom Barrell, with his second hit off Day in the Series, came through with a single to move Worley to third. Joe Perret would also single to score Worley with the tying run before Day induced an inning-ending grounder out of Harry Barrell. Two innings later it was once again Tom Barrell and Perret providing offense for the Kings with two out. Barrell doubled and then scored what would prove to be the winning run on Perret's second rbi single of the game. Meanwhile on the mound Tom Barrell and Del Lyons, who came on to get the final 4 outs for his first playoff save after earning a record 29 during the season, did not allow a Chicago base runner beyond first after the Chiefs opening run in the third inning. In all it was a combined 6 hitter for the winning duo while Day went the distance allowing just 8 hits.  It will now be up to Jim Lonardo to repeat his winning performance from Game Two in order to keep the Chiefs alive and give them the opportunity to return to Brooklyn and extend the series. Brooklyn will counter with lefthander Mike Murphy, who had a rough first inning in the second game before settling down but still fell by a 4-3 score. Murphy, like Tom Barrell, started his big league career in Chicago but both were with the cross-town Cougars rather than the Chiefs. The two came to Brooklyn in a famous 1932 deadline deal that saw Tommy Wilcox go the other way. Since the trade the two have posted very comparable records in Brooklyn. Barrell is 118-59 with the Kings while Murphy is 112-62. Like the Kings duo, the Chiefs top two starters have similar backgrounds as both came over from the New York Gothams and each, just like Barrell, owns 3 Allen Awards. Lonardo led the Fed in ERA this season at 2.68 and won a career high 25 games after a down year last season with the Gothams. He stands a pretty good chance at winning a record fourth Allen Award this season but for now his focus will be solely on prolonging what has been an extremely competitive series so far. The Week That Was Current events from 10/09/1938
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09-16-2021, 11:10 AM
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This Week in Figment Baseball: World Championship Series Games 5 and 6
OCTOBER 13, 1938 CHIEFS EXTEND SERIES TO SEVEN It only seems fitting a tight series between the Brooklyn Kings and Chicago Chiefs should go the distance and the Chiefs ensured that would happen with wins in Games Five and Six. Pitching has been the story of the series and it was once again with only the sixth game being one you could consider lob-sided in it's result. The finale will feature Tom Barrell and Rabbit Day, each 3 time Allen Award winners, meeting up for the third time in the series. Barrell and his Brooklyn Kings got the best of baseball's winningest active pitcher twice so far in the series and will have 32,000 cheering fans at Kings County Park to cheer the defending champs on. MOSS IS GAME FIVE HERO The fifth game gave us a very good pitching duel between Jim Lonardo and Mike Murphy but it was Chicago outfielder Cliff Moss that stole the show, belting two homeruns and driving in all of Chicago's runs in a 3-1 Chiefs victory. Jim Lonardo, who like Day and Barrell owns 3 Allen Awards, allowed just 6 Brooklyn hits in beating Murphy for the second time in the Series. Murphy, who hurt himself by allowing 4 Chicago runs in the opening inning of game two, had a much better start this time around but he still allowed Chicago to plate the opening run for the fifth consecutive game. That run came off the bat of Moss as the 32 year old outfielder homered for the first time since September 20th as he led off the second inning. Brooklyn would quickly tie the contest in the top of the third with 3 straight singles including an rbi knock from Al Wheeler but the Kings squandered what could have been a huge opportunity to blow the game open when Alf Pestilli flew out to end the inning with the bases loaded. As it turned out that would be one of just 2 opportunities the Kings had with runners in scoring position. The other came in the 6th inning when Wheeler, who had 3 of the 6 Brooklyn hits in the contest, led off with a double but could only make it as far as third base. Prior to that Moss gave Lonardo more than enough to work with when he smacked his second homerun of the game. This one came in the fourth inning with Bob Martin on base and ultimately proved the margin of victory in the 3-1 Chiefs win. Moss hit 21 homers during the regular season but you have to go back to July 27th for his last 2-homer game. That one came in a 7-0 whitewashing of Boston. This one, with the Chiefs season on the line, obviously was of a much larger magnitude.  MILLER PITCHES CHIEFS TO GAME SIX WIN Perhaps it is ironic that in the only game Brooklyn scored first the Kings suffered the most one-sided defeat of the series. Al Miller overcame some first inning jitters in which he allowed a pair of Brooklyn runs on 2 hits with the big blow being a 2-run double off the bat of Alf Pestilli. Miller would concede just 4 more hits in the game while the Chiefs bats exploded for a series high 6 runs and 11 hits in a 6-2 Chicago victory forcing the series to go the distance. Art White, who looked outstanding in a 4-hit victory in Game Three, started this one much the same but ran into trouble in the third inning when the Chiefs put runners on the corners with 2 out. Facing Pete Layton with an 0-1 count White missed badly with his next offering and it also eluded catcher Fred Barrell for a wild path that plated the game's first run. Layton would stroke a run scoring single on the next pitch to tie the game at 2. Chicago nearly took the lead in the third inning when Game Five hero Cliff Moss doubled with Bob Martin on first base but a terrific relay from Al Wheeler to John Langille nailed Martin at the plate as Fred Barrell hung on to the ball and withstood the collision with Martin. Brooklyn would not be so lucky in the fifth inning as Chicago added two more runs with a Pete Layton rbi double and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Tom Bird. Now up 4-2 the Chiefs added another run in the 6th inning when Jim Hampton doubled in Cliff Moss but the damage could have been much worse had Hampton not been overly greedy as he was gunned down trying for third. The Chiefs would get a 6th and final run on an RBI single from Bob Martin to score Layton in the 7th inning and Brooklyn's last chance for series clinching comeback on this day was extinguished when with runners on first and second in the bottom of the 7th pinch-hitter Ab Thomas hit into an inning ending double-play.  YOKOHAMA CROWNED WINNERS IN JAPAN Despite winning both halves of the split season format in the Japanese League the Osaka Sailors were left with a disappointing result in the first ever Japanese World Series. Yokohama, which finished second to Osaka in each half despite posting a 9-7 regular season record vs the Sailors, continued it's mastery of their opponents with a 4 games to 2 victory in the title series. Yokohama was the only club in Japan to post a winning record against the Sailors. Osaka had led the series two games to one before the Kingfishers won 3 tight contests to pull out the victory. Osaka outscored Yokohama 15-11 in the series but Yokohama won all the close games including 3 of their four victories coming by just a single run. That made their 3-1 victory in the deciding game seem like a rout in comparison. Pitcher Shojiro Tasaka of Yokohama was named the Series MVP after winning all 3 of his starts and posting a 1.12 era in the series. Tasaka (19-6, 2.11) led the league in wins and strikeouts during the regular season. The Week That Was Current events from 10/12/1938
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09-17-2021, 01:28 PM
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This Week in Figment Baseball: World Championship Series Game 7
OCTOBER 14, 1938 CHIEFS COMPLETE COMEBACK WITH WILD WIN The fact that the Chicago Chiefs overcame a 3 games to one deficit to beat the Brooklyn Kings in the World Championship Series is not a total surprise, as both teams were very good and there was little to separate the two sides after a week and a half of outstanding October baseball. The Chiefs won Game Seven by an 11-10 score in a wild contest that went back and forth. However, the fact that with Rabbit Day and Tom Barrell opposing each other on the mound, the two clubs would combine for 21 runs after only scoring a total of 30 in the first six games combined was a huge shock and completely unexpected. Neither Day, who had lost Games 1 and 4, nor Barrell, who was the winner in both of those games, were around to factor in the decision as Day's day was over after allowing 5 runs and 8 hits over 3 innings while Barrell did not fare much better, getting pulled in the 4th after surrendering 6 runs albeit on just 4 Chicago hits at the time. The fact that a pair of them were homers proved Barrell's undoing. It was Jack Beach, the former Detroit star who was booed out of Kings County in his brief stint with the Brooklyn side three years ago, who ended up being the winning pitcher although after allowing 5 runs (4 earned) of his own in just over 2 innings of work he certainly did not feel like celebrating at the time. The goat as it would turn out was Brooklyn's all-star reliever Del Lyons who let the game get away in the fifth inning when he gave up 4 Chicago runs and instead of putting out the Chicago fire he poured kerosene on it. Many second guessed Brooklyn manager Powell Slocum's decision to go to Lyons so early in the game with the club trailing 6-5 at the time. Lyons set a FABL save record with 29 this season but had almost exclusively be used in the seventh inning or later. Slocum had plenty of options in his bullpen including fully rested starters Joe Shaffner, Bob Cummings and Mike Murphy as well as veteran Gary Harris who had exceled this season in middle inning situations just like the one Slocum's was dealing with at the time. It is of course easy for the 32,000 managers in the stands to question the decision after the fact and had Lyons done a bang up job we would instead be talking about the great move Slocum made to go to his star reliever so early. But that is the life of a manager and the much maligned Slocum knows it better than most. After the game he simply tipped his cap to the Chiefs and said he "would make the decision again today if I needed to. I felt Del was the right answer at the time and I still do. Sometimes things just don't go as planned..." he added as his voice trailed off. Not going as planned certainly summed up Game Seven for both sides. With scores of 4-1 and 2-1, both in Brooklyn's favour, the first two times Day and Barrell met the expectation was for much the same this time around. The first inning and a half seemed to reaffirm that line of thinking as Day and Barrell combined to set down 9 straight including 3 strikeouts from the Brooklyn ace. That all changed in the bottom of the second inning when Al Wheeler led off with a solo homerun - his first of the Series- and the floodgates opened. Brooklyn would score 3 times in the second and send 8 men to the plate including pitcher Tom Barrell who continued his outstanding series at the plate with his fourth hit in 5 at bats. Unfortunately Tom's troubles on the mound on this day precluded him from getting another chance to hit in the series. Fans of the Kings know by now the club never does anything easy and that included squandering an early 3-0 lead as the Chiefs quickly tied the contest on a 3-run homer from Pete Layton in the top of the third. Walks proved the undoing of Tom Barrell as he missed with a pair of full count offerings and after retiring the next two batters left a 2-1 pitch over the plate and the veteran Layton, who soon would collect his 6th World Championship ring and second Series MVP award, made Barrell pay. Day would run into more problems in the third as he allowed 2 more Brooklyn runs including another homer. This one was also a lead-off shot and came off the bat of Frank Vance, who had a terrific season for the Kings but struggled in the Series. Day would be removed for a pinch hitter in the top of the fourth and that might have been the move that gave Chicago the title as Len Jones, who replaced Day, hit a 2-run triple to put Chicago ahead 6-5 and end Tom Barrell's afternoon. Barrell, like Day, had allowed a lead-off homerun to Hank Barnett just a few batters earlier. Jack Beach took the mound for the Chicago fourth as a cascade of jeers reigned down on him from Kings fans who all too well remember him as the goat of Brooklyn 1935 pennant loss to Cleveland. This Jack Beach was a 21 game winner for the Chiefs but he looked like his 1935 self on the Kings County bump, quickly allowing Brooklyn to retake the lead 7-6 after 3 hits in the fourth inning. However, the topsy-turvy game continued to surprise as Del Lyons had one of those blowups he does every so often and gave up 4 Chicago runs in the fifth to make the score 10-7 Chiefs. The big blow of the inning was a 2-run triple off the bat of Bob Martin. Brooklyn looked poised for a big rally in response in the bottom of the fifth when Ab Thomas led off with a double. Thomas would move to third on sacrifice but then he tried to score on a Joe Perret sac fly that, as it turned out, was not quite deep enough to successfully challenge the arm of Bennie Griffith, who fired a bullet to catcher Tom Bird and nailed Thomas. It would be the second time the Kings had a player thrown out at home as Fred Barrell was caught to end the fourth inning. No lead seemed safe the way this one was going but the Chiefs had to feel a little more comfortable after extending their lead to 4 with a run in the sixth inning on a Cliff Moss sacrifice fly. It proved to be essential as the Kings were right back at it in the bottom of the sixth, scoring 3 times to cut the Chiefs lead to 11-10. Surprisingly the last three innings were scoreless although the Chiefs took a turn in having a runner gunned down at the plate when Jim Hampton was thrown out in the top of the ninth. Brooklyn's dying breath in the series came when pinch-hitter Stan Ware singled and moved to second on a 2-out walk to John Langille in the bottom of the ninth but Red Hampton, who did a very solid job over the final 3 innings for Chicago, retired Frank Vance on a lazy fly ball to seal the series victory.  CHIEFS/KINGS TIE GAME SEVEN RUNS RECORD Only one other time has a team rebounded from a 3 games to one deficit to win the Series. That was in 1915 when it was the Montreal Saints who rallied to beat the Boston Minutemen with game seven being the famous Johnston & Johnson pitching duel in which the Saints Bob Johnston topped Boston's George Johnson 1-0. Those three comebacks pale in comparison to the 1911 Toronto Wolves, who dropped the first 3 games of their Series with Detroit before winning four straight: Game four 3-1 in 11 innings, game five 3-2 in 10 innings before only needing nine to even the Series with a 4-3 win in the sixth game setting up a relatively easy 5-0 win to complete the improbable comeback. The 1918 Series between Detroit and the Chicago Cougars also nearly had a comeback from 3-0 as the Dynamos won the first 3 games before the Cougars roared back to win 3 straight. Chicago's comeback would fall short as Detroit recovered to take game seven. Here is the complete list of 7 game series Code:
1938 Chiefs over Brooklyn 1934 Cleveland overcame 3-1 deficit to beat Gothams Game 7 score 18-3 1933 Keystones over Cougars 1930 Sailors over Gothams 1929 Detroit over Sailors 1921 Montreal over St Louis 1918 Detroit over Cougars Detroit led 3-0 but lost 3 straight before winning game 7 1915 Montreal overcame 3-1 deficit to beat Boston 1914 Baltimore over Washington 1911 Toronto over Detroit Toronto down 3-0 but won 4 straight, 3-1 in 11, 3-2 in 10, 4-3, 5-0 1908 Baltimore over Detroit 1896 Gothams over Cougars RECORD SETTING SERIES FOR LAYTON Pete Layton continued his impressive streak of 6 World Championship Series without a loss and is believed to be the only player ever to play on 6 WCS winners. There are a handful of players with 5 including his former New York Stars teammate Pete Scanlon and current Chicago Chiefs teammate Tom Taylor but it is believed no one else has won six of them. Last year much was made of the amazing accomplishment of Jim Kyle, winning 4 WCS titles with 4 separate CA teams and each win coming three years apart but Kyle was never more than a spare part and has only 5 plate appearances over the 4 series combined. Even Scanlon and Taylor were not instrumental in some of their 5 titles as Scanlon did not pitch in the post-season for his first two wins as a Detroit Dynamo while Taylor was reduced to a back-up this season after playing a major role in his previous titles which came with 4 different clubs: 2 with the Philadelphia Sailors and one each with the Chicago Cougars, New York Gothams and now the Chicago Chiefs. At this point in his career Layton, despite being poised to celebrate his 39th birthday in two months, may still get another chance to add to his amazing WCS totals (and 2 Series MVP awards) but even if he doesn't Layton is now the all-time leader in World Championship Series hits and runs scored. His 9 hits in the just completed series with Brooklyn gives him 43 for his career and allowed him to break the record of 42 established by Powell Slocum, who had a front row seat to his successor's efforts while sitting in the Brooklyn dugout as the Kings manager. Layton's key 3-run homer in game seven off of Tom Barrell allowed him to tie Slocum and his sixth inning single off of Del Lyons that would lead to him scoring what proved to be the deciding run broke the mark. Layton's 2 runs scored in the deciding game and 5 in the Series also allowed him to establish a mark in that category as well with his total of 25 career runs scored. The old record of 22 was shared by turn of the century Boston Minutemen star John Cook and Hall of Famer Max Morris. Layton is also tied with those two at 31 Series games played but they are one shy of the 32 games that Tom Taylor has played in. Layton is also second all-time with 22 RBI's, trailing only current Forester and former Eagle T.R. Goins, who has driven in 25 runs in his 23 career WCS games. SERIES NOTES
The Week That Was Current events from 10/14/1938
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09-19-2021, 11:01 PM
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition
OCTOBER 20, 1938 PIONEERS PART WITH JONES For the second year in a row the St Louis Pioneers dealt away one of their veteran leaders in a move designed to improve their pitching depth and add youth. A year ago it was Fred McCormick going to Toronto and all the 29 year old did was win the Continental Association batting title, lead the Wolves on a near successful pennant push after finishing 6th the previous season and be considered the favourite to claim the CA Whitney Award when it is announced next week. This time around it was another star Pioneer being dealt following his age 28 season as 4-time all-star and 1935 Whitney Award winner Freddie Jones has been traded to the Chicago Cougars. Jones, who has been the face of the franchise pretty much ever since he stepped off the campus of Central Ohio University and right into the starting second base role in 1932, ends a 7 year run with the Pioneers by playing a full season for the first time in 3 years. Jones saw his production dip a little this season (.284,7,75) and well below his back to back Federal Association batting title seasons of 1934-35 but after a pair of injury plagued campaigns he appeared in all 154 games for the first time in his career. The risk to Chicago is Jones runs into continued health issues, as various nagging injuries have played havoc with him much of his career, but the upside is huge if he can stay healthy and produce anywhere close to what he did just a few seasons ago. Jones is now a Chicago Cougar as that club, which had been linked to just about every premier second baseman to be moved in the past few seasons, finally acquires a player they have been interested in for years. The hope in Chicago is Jones can return to the form he showed in his big years but even if he just performs at the same level he did last season he will potentially be a top of the order bat and the Cougars now have stability at second base something they have lacked the last three seasons. Johnny McDowell (.270,1,40), who came over from the New York Gothams, and Ollie Page (.233,3,25), who was displaced at shortstop by Billy Hunter, shared the job at second base at North Side Park a year ago. The price to add Jones was 5 prospects including a pair of top 100 guys in pitcher Danny Hern and shortstop Tommy Wilson. It is a cost the Cougars can easily absorb as, while they are no longer considered one of the top systems in the league, there is still plenty of young talent both on the big league club and still in the system. The other 3 prospects coming to St Louis are pitcher Preacher Pietsch, shortstop Ivan Cameron and outfielder Henry Cox. One has to think Hern was the big drawing card for the Pioneers who appeared to have plenty of pitching depth a year ago until injuries to ace David Abalo and rookie sensation Buddy Long decimated the staff. The ideal situation for St Louis is Hern develops into next season's version of Long, as the then 23 year old was part of the McCormick trade and was off to a great 14-7, 3.99 start in his first pro season before an injury ended it in early August. The likelihood of that happening next spring is very slim though as Hern is just 21 and likely two years away from his St Louis debut. A 14th round pick out of high school in 1935, he split last season between Class A and B, going 11-9 with a 3.56 era and is ranked the 55th best prospect according to OSA. What might be more realistic as far as an appearance on the mound in St Louis next season is concerned, would be another prospect acquired in the deal making his St Louis debut. Preacher Pietsch is 23 and was the 5th overall pick out of Brooklyn Catholic in 1937. He is ranked #129th by OSA and posted a 12-9 record with a 2.95 era at A and AA this season. There is a good chance he appears in St Louis this season. Far from an ace, most experts see him as more of a dependable back half of the rotation arm. Tommy Wilson is a natural shortstop but he played a lot of second base in AAA last season and there is a chance he may be the replacement for Jones in St Louis although he will have to compete with Artie D'Alessandro for the spot. D'Alessandro had a very strong year in AAA, batting .341 in Oakland and is considered a top 50 prospect. His development is likely a key reason why the Pioneers felt ready to move on from Jones. 22 year old Ivan Cameron is a very interesting prospect. A third round pick out of high school in 1934, he took a little time to develop but had a breakout season at AA this past season, hitting .301 and playing very solid defense at shortstop. He projects to be just an average hitter but his defense may greatly add to his value if he continues to develop like he did last season. Henry Cox is also 22 and spent last season in AAA where he tied for the Century League lead with 33 homers while hitting .278. He has shown plus power at every stop as he progressed through the Cougars system after being selected in the 5th round of the 1934 draft but despite the offensive production, OSA is not high on him, calling Cox a "below average right fielder."  JIGGS MCGREE'S TAKE ON THE JONES TRADE My initial reaction is it is going to be very tough picturing Freddie Jones in a uniform other than that of the Pioneers. Other than missing a fair bit of time three of the last five seasons Jones has been a fixture at second base in St Louis and one of the franchise's most popular players. The fans in St Louis are certainly not going to like this one. The deal has some risk to Chicago as it remains to be seen if Jones, who did appear in all 154 games for the first time in his career this past season, is able to stay healthy. If he does he is certainly an upgrade at the position for the Cougars and if he somehow can return to being close to the player he was in his dominant 1934-35 seasons it will be a huge steal. While there is some risk I do not believe it will really hurt the Cougars system at all making this move. They gave up a couple of middle infielders in Tommy Wilson and Ivan Cameron but neither really had a spot in Chicago anyway with Billy Hunter and Ducky Jordan already there (and now Freddie Jones). The two pitchers could be solid arms but neither look like top of the rotation guys and will not be missed by a Chicago staff that has plenty of young talent. The 5th prospect, perhaps just a throw-in in the deal, is the one who intrigues me most. OSA thinks very little of outfielder Henry Cox but he has put up some very strong power numbers in the minors and just might be the power bat that St Louis lacks, although their park is not well suited to the long ball. On the St Louis side I am not sure I like this deal a lot. I am not overly enamored with any of the prospects but injuries in the past and a less than Jones-like 1938 season diminished their potential return. St Louis does have a nice player in D'Alesandro ready to take over at second base but this trade feels like the Pioneers pennant window - which was closing anyway and rapidly so after the dealing of McCormick - has now slammed shut and it is clear statement the Pioneers have conceded the Fed crown to the likes of the Chiefs and Dynamos for the next couple of seasons as St Louis is now in full rebuild mode. The Week That Was Current events from week of 10/20/1938
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09-22-2021, 10:41 AM
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition
OCTOBER 30, 1938 KEYSTONES LEGEND KELLOGG FORCED TO RETIRE SAID TO BE FIGHTING "BATTLE OF (HIS) LIFE" Ranking Kellogg, the star first sacker of the Philadelphia Keystones stunned the baseball world by announcing he would retire from the game "immediately" due to a medical condition. Kellogg has long been considered one of the game's best hitters and arguably the best first baseman to ever play. A former #1 overall pick in 1922, Kellogg burst onto the scene in 1925 when, at age 22, he hit .328 with 35 home runs and 133 RBIs. That began a streak that saw him hit at .326 and as high as .390 (in 1933) for 11 straight seasons before his average dropped to .311 in 1936. All along he demonstrated power that rivaled that of the legendary Max Morris, topping 30 circuit clouts every season but one (1926, when he had "only" 29) between his debut season of 1925 and 1936. His 1936 season will not live as his swansong - he hit .311 with 36 homers and 137 RBIs. A suprisingly quick degradation in his play began to show itself late in '36 and manifested fully during the '37 campaign. Kellogg finished with rather pedestrian (by his standards) totals of just 19 home runs and 80 RBIs with a mere .252 average. The 1938 season was also a disappointment as he hit .255 with 13 home runs and 83 RBIs, totals far shy of his heyday. The 35-year-old Kellogg declined to discuss his diagnosis, saying only that he had, at the request of his wife, visited the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "I am now leaving the baseball field to fight the battle of my life," he said in a brief statement at the train station in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.  FABL HANDS OUT HARDWARE In what was expected to be very tight races for at least three of the four categories FABL has named it's award winners for 1938. Surprisingly the races were not quite as tight as forecast. The Federal Association named Sal Pestilli as it's Whitney Award winner. It will likely be the first of many for the 23 year old Detroit Dynamos outfielder, who hit .307 while leading FABL in homers (46) and rbi's (132). The ballot was dominated by Dynamos and Chicago with a trio of Chiefs finishing second thru fourth in Tom Bird, Hank Barnett and Pete Layton while Detroit's Leon Drake and Red Johnson placed 5th and 6th respectively. There was much speculation on whether Pestilli or Bird would take the award but with 10 of a possible 16 first place votes it ended up being a fairly clear decision in Pestilli's favour. Pestilli becomes the second player to win both a Frank Christian Trophy as the AIAA's most valuable player and a Whitney, joining Freddie Jones who was recently traded from St Louis to the Chicago Cougars. Pestilli, who won a pair of Christian Trophy's becomes the fourth Detroit player to win a Whitney. Pitcher Jim Golden won 2 of them with the Dynamos back before the Allen Award was created for hurlers. Other Detroit winners included Cliff Everett in 1918 and Al Wheeler in 1932 and 1934. It took switching Associations but Fred McCormick finally won his first Whitney Award after the Toronto Wolves first baseman was named the top player in the Continental Association. McCormick, who finished second twice and third once in the balloting while he was playing for the St Louis Pioneers, was the key piece in a Toronto resurgence that saw the Wolves nearly steal the Continental pennant. The 29 year old led the CA in batting with a .367 average and was named to the All-Star team for the fifth time in his career. Mel Carrol, who won the Federal Association Whitney a year ago when he hit .409 for Washington, was a surprising second in the voting despite playing just half a season with Cleveland after being traded from the Eagles in mid-July. Carrol received 4 first place votes, 5 less than McCormick. Brooklyn's Frank Vance, another player who had several strong seasons in the Federal Association before switching leagues, finished third and received the final two first place votes. While McCormick claimed the Whitney, his Toronto teammate Joe Hancock, who led the CA in wins, came up short in voting for the Allan Award. Dick Lyons of the Chicago Cougars became the oldest player to win an Allan Award and oldest first time winner of any FABL award when the 38 year old topped the vote among Continental pitchers. Lyons had a terrific season, leading all of FABL with a 2.59 era while posting a 20-6 record. The lefthander received 9 of the 16 first place votes with Hancock (22-8, 3.02) earning 5. The two remaining first place votes went to Cleveland's Dean Astle, who has now finished in the top 3 of voting three different times but the 29 year old has yet to win an Allan. Jim Lonardo made history in winning his record 4th Whitney Award. The 34 year old Chicago Chiefs righthander broke a 3-way tie with teammate Rabbit Day, who finished second this time around, and Brooklyn's Tom Barrell as each had 3 Allan Award wins. Lonardo, who came over to the Chiefs in an off-season trade with the New York Gothams, was 25-7 with a 2.68 era this season. He garnered 8 first place votes while Day and last year's winner Lefty Allen of Pittsburgh each received 4 votes. Lonardo's win marked the second time in three seasons a Chief pitcher who had recently been acquired from the Gothams was the winner, joining Day who earned the nod in 1936.  RECORD BREAKING ATTENDANCE FOR FABL For the fourth year in a row the 16 FABL clubs established a new highwater mark for league attendance with a total of well over 16 million fans entering the ballparks this season. The final tally for regular season contests was 16,704,147 which is nearly 800,000 more than the previous record established last season. Topping the league in attendance was the revitalized Detroit Dynamos squad which drew a FABL record 1,854,614 paying customers. Nine of the 16 teams drew at least a million fans, which is the first time more than half the league has topped that mark so as a league, FABL has never been more healthy. While Detroit's resurgence is great for the league to see it is not unexpected as the Dynamos drew very well early in the decade when they fielding strong clubs. What is a pleasant surprise is the emergence of Toronto with the Wolves nearly doubling their attendance from last season and setting a new franchise record with 860,776 fans this year. However, despite the many positives that can be thrown about when discussing attendance there are some clubs that cause the league worry. Boston is one, as league executives privately wonder why the Minutemen, with such a rich history, cannot draw better in what is the 9th most populous city in America. A much bigger concern is the lack of interest being seen by fans in Baltimore and Washington, which rank 7th and 11th respectively in population according to the most recent census. Both clubs have not done their fan base any favours with their subpar play of late but perhaps the quick turnaround by the Wolves, both on the field and at the ticket window, gives hope to both Washington and Baltimore. The Eagles, while they did have a modest increase over 1937, were the only FABL club to draw less than half a million fans this season. Fan apathy has long been the story in the nation's capital as the club has never topped even the 600,000 mark in attendance. Here are last season's attendance numbers.  The 1930s has seen some ups and downs in league-wide attendance as the effects of the depression were felt with a down period from 1932-35 but the league has been growth every year since then and overall the league has been very profitable. Despite contending with the depression four clubs - the Cougars, Gothams, Chiefs and Stars- have averaged over 1 million fans a year during the past decade. At the other end of the spectrum you have Toronto and Washington but as previously mentioned the Toronto ballclub appears to be on track again after a number of seasons when it looked like the franchise might have to be moved. Here are the average attendance figures for each of the clubs over the 1930s.  DYNAMOS ADD VETERAN CATCHER The Detroit Dynamos had been looking for a veteran catcher since well before last season's trade deadline and one of the players on their short list was John Wicklund of the Boston Minutemen. It took a while by the Dynamos finally landed their man as they acquired the 29 year old in exchange for a promising minor league pitcher and a pair of draft picks. The 29 year old Wicklund had worn out his welcome in New England - partly due to the development of youngster Bill Van Ness but also in part because of Wicklund's propensity to strikeout: he led the Fed in K's this season with 120 after fanning 127 times a year ago. With the increase in strikeouts, Wicklund has also suffered a drastic decrease in his batting average the past two seasons. Originally a 15th round pick by the New York Gothams out of high school, Wicklund made his big league debut in the Big Apple late in the 1933 season as a 23 year old. He would have an outstanding first two full seasons in New York, hitting .324 over that period and being named to the Federal Association all-star team twice. He was a member of a pair of Gothams pennant winners and helped them win the 1935 World Championship Series. When the Gotham purge began midway through the 1936 season Wicklund was one of the first to go, joining the Minutemen for whom he hit .338 in the second half of the 1936 campaign. His numbers the last two years dropped off substantially to the point where he hit just .215 this past season. Detroit hopes he can regain his touch at the plate with little pressure on him to produce in what is a loaded Dynamos offense.  QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from week of 10/30/1938
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09-23-2021, 01:17 PM
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition
November 14, 1938 LAYTON LEAVES PLAYING FIELD FOR BROADCAST BOOTH Chicago Chiefs shortstop Pete Layton says he has decided to retire from playing baseball in order to begin a career in the broadcast booth. Coaches and teammates have always considered Layton to be highly intelligent and articulate. "He's a smart guy and he knows a lot about the game," said Chiefs bench coach Dolph Geis. "He should do very well as a broadcaster." Team officials have confirmed that Layton will be invited to sit in as color commentator during local broadcasts next season. If all goes well, they said, he may eventually be elevated to the position full-time. The 39 year capped his terrific playing career by winning his 6th career World Championship Series and being named the Series MVP for the second time. Despite his age most had expected another big season out of Layton in 1939 after he led the Federal Association in batting with a .365 average and finished fourth in Whitney Award voting. The Whitney Award is the one major honour that eluded the Oregon native although he finishing second twice and third four times in his career. In addition to his pair of Series MVP awards Layton won two batting titles and was a 4-time all-star to go with his 6 World Championship Series rings. He was never on the losing side in the Series and his 6 titles are believed to be a record. A star at College of San Diego, Layton was drafted fourth overall by the New York Stars in 1921 and would go on to play 13 and a half seasons in New York, helping the Stars win 4 titles before moving to Chicago late in his career. His acquisition by the Chiefs midway through the 1936 season was a key reason Chicago won the pennant before sweeping Brooklyn in the Series that year and two years later he would once again play a key role in another Chicago win over the Kings. Layton, who seems to be a lock to make the Hall of Fame sometime in the near future, retires with a host of post-season honours to his credit including most career WCS hits and runs scored and his 31 Series games are 1 shy of the record in that category. He had 2,506 hits during the regular season which is good for 21st all-time in that category and he ends his career just 7 games shy of the 2,000 mark.  MAYO CLINIC RELEASES KELLOGG DIAGNOSIS For several weeks, there has been a public clamor for the release of the medical diagnosis of former Philadelphia Keystones first baseman Rankin Kellogg. The player himself has not been seen since his brief statement on October 24th in which he announced he was retiring due to a medical condition. His retirement papers were quietly submitted a week later. Kellogg's visit to the Mayo Clinic, located in Rochester, Minnesota was a surprise to everyone who knew him, aside from his wife Lucille, who reportedly (according to team mate and friend Bobby Barrell) was the one to urge Kellogg to seek a diagnosis. The Clinic initially refused to comment, noting that Kellogg himself would have to give permission before they would speak on the subject. Today, the Clinic announced that Mr. Kellogg had given that permission and released their findings. Kellogg is suffering from a relatively newly diagnosed illness known as Steinert Disease, also known as Myotonic Dystrophy. The symptoms, which led Kellogg to seek medical advice, include progressive weakness in the so-called voluntary muscles such as the arms and legs. The progression of the disease, believed to be inherited and not the result of an infection, led to a rapid decline in Kellogg's baseball skills. This progression will continue to worsen and it will not be possible for Kellogg to continue his baseball career. The condition is incurable and potentially fatal as it can cause abnormal function and weakening of the heart. Kellogg, always a hale and hearty individual with a thick, muscular body will likely need a wheelchair in the not-too-distant future. PHILADELPHIA'S TRIBUTE TO RANKIN KELLOGG The sudden retirement of Rankin Kellogg due to a life threatening medical condition sent a shock wave through the baseball world but nowhere did it have more of an impact then in the City of Brotherly Love. The Philadelphia Keystones and it's fans were devastated and the club immediately announced that Kellogg's #30 jersey would never be worn again. Kellogg is a certain Hall of Famer prompting The Philadelphia Inquisitor to publish what they felt should be written on Kellogg's plaque once the slugger is inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. "The finest power hitter in Philadelphia Keystones history, the "Memphis Mauler" went from top pick in the 1922 draft to making his debut on Opening Day in 1925, never relinquishing his hold on first base for the Keystones. His 475 home runs and 1,841 runs batted in rank second all-time in FABL history at the time of his retirement. A 3-time Triple Crown winner in 1927, '31, and '33, winning the Whitney Award in the FA in each of those seasons. Led the Keystones to their first World's Championship Series victories in team history in 1927 and added another title in 1933. His career-best season was in 1933 when he led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs, runs batted in, hits, runs scored, and WAR, with his 244 hits, 139 runs scored, .390 average, and 11.7 WAR marking career highs. Franchise record-holder in home runs, runs batted in, total bases, triples, walks, strikeouts, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Owns single-season franchise records with 165 RBI in 1935 and a .704 slugging percentage in 1928."
NEW EAGLES GM MAKES A COUPLE QUICK MOVES The chair was barely warm but the new General Manager of the Washington Eagles wasted no time putting his office telephone to work as the Eagles announced a trade with the Philadelphia Sailors they day after the new man took over. Washington will send 26 year old shortstop Jim Beard to the Sailors in exchange for a pair of veteran AAA players in shortstop Jack Bush and pitcher Brad Magnuson. Beard and the 25 year old Bush could not be more different as shortstops. Beard is a very good hitter for a middle infielder and a two-time all-star although he fell well short of duplicating his outstanding season from 1937 in the campaign just completed. However, in the field he is a terrible liability and was one of the worst defensive shortstops in the Federal Association last season. Bush, on the other hand, has not had a lot of success at the plate in the minors although he did hit a respectable .262 in 139 games for AAA San Francisco last year. However, scouts rave about his work in the field and he will be well appreciated by Washington pitchers for his glovework next season. The 31 year old Magnuson is a righthanded pitcher who did win 48 games over parts of seven seasons in St Louis before being released by the Pioneers and signed to a minor league contract with the Sailors. He had a very impressive season in AAA, going 13-2 with a 2.01 era for a San Francisco Hawks club that completely dominated the Great Western League. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: Just getting rid of Jim Beard's glove should be an improvement to Washington's defense even if all Bush can do at the big league level is be average in the field. The expectation is Bush will be much better than average with his glove but he certainly won't hit as well as Beard. The deal makes sense for the Eagles because Washington always seems to find offense and upgrading the defense is key to helping out a woeful pitching staff. If Magnuson can somehow regain the form he showed early in his St Louis days or pitch in Washington like he did in San Francisco last year the deal will be a very good one for the Eagles. On Philadelphia's end I am not sure what the Sailors are thinking with regard to where Beard will play. I get wanting to add his bat but I just can't see it making sense to move on from Rip Lee at shortstop even though his second big league season was not as good as his rookie campaign. Perhaps the thought is Beard might be shifted to third base where his defensive shortcomings might be a little less of a concern. EAGLES CHANGE MANAGERS AGAIN The Washington Eagles also made news with the announcement that once again they are changing managers. Jake McGuire is the latest one and he will be the third Washington field general in 4 months as the now unemployed Jack Everhart had just assumed the role in July. McGuire, nicknamed 'Lemonhead' for some unknown reason, had spent the past two seasons as manager of the Eagles AAA affiliate in Kansas City, posting a 118-162 record. A former pitcher, McGuire spent most of his days in the minors but did go 1-1 in the big leagues with brief stings for Pittsburgh and the New York Stars. He replaces Everhart who spent just half a season as the Eagles skipper. The 49 year old had a number of years as a minor league manager but had never been the head man in the dugout with a big league club until Washington tabbed him to replace Mel Hancock - ironically just days before the Eagles acquired Hancock's son Mel Jr. from Cleveland. Everhart guided the Eagles to a 25-52 record during his time with the club. Hancock had spent just a season and a half as the Washington manager. KEYSTONES SIGN LIBBY TO RECORD CONTRACT Former Brooklyn Kings pitching coach Bill Libby has been named the new manager of the Philadelphia Keystones, the club announced this week. It is believed the five year deal which pays Libby $22,000 a season is the richest contract ever awarded to a manager. Libby replaces Tom Vance, who was let go after just two seasons with the club. Vance had a strong debut in leading the Keystones to a second place finish with an 85-69 record in 1937 but the club stumbled through a 62-92 season last year. Libby had spent the past five seasons as the Kings pitching coaching with club winning at least 90 games each of those 5 years and three pennants. He was instrumental in the development of several young Kings pitchers and also helped Tom Barrell and Joe Shaffner combine to win 4 straight Allen Awards. Kings lefthander Mike Murphy has often credited Libby for his success as a pitcher and manager Powell Slocum, while very happy for Libby, echoed the entire organization's thoughts when he said was extremely disappointed to see Libby move on. Libby will be faced with a difficult challenge as the Keystones usher in a new era, one without Rankin Kellogg and with plenty of questions marks throughout the organization. While he is new to the Keystones organization, the 52 year old is very familiar with the city of Philadelphia as he spent two seasons as the bench coach for the Sailors prior to joining the Kings. Libby, who had a long minor league pitching career but was 9-18 for Montreal in his only taste of the big league's as a player, began his coaching career with the Detroit Dynamos and helped them win a World Championship Series as their pitching coach in 1929. CRAIGEN DROPPED BY STARS For the first time in 19 years Bill Craigen will not be manager of the New York Stars when camp opens in the spring. The 58 year old, who had run the club since 1920 and led the team to 4 World Championships, did not have his contract renewed when the new General Manager took over. Craigen, who leaves the Stars with a 1512-1409 record, did not rule out taking another job in the future but admits not being a Stars uniform "will take some getting used to." Prior to stepping into the manager's seat Craigen spent 19 seasons in the big leagues with the first 14 of them being with the Stars before finishing out his playing days with the Philadelphia Keystones. Craigen's dismissal was part of a wholesale change by the organization as the club also elected to replace it's bench and pitching coaches. In addition the Stars scouting director Bill Homer left the club to take on a role as Assistant General Manager with the Chicago Cougars. The Stars are still looking to fill the vacancy atop the scouting department but they did announce that the Hessian from Hessen, Otto Schmidt, would be the new Manager of the Stars. The 59 year old German born Schmidt has a long resume of being a high school baseball guru in Brooklyn before taking his first pro job with AAA St Paul in 1935. He spent the past two seasons with the Pittsburgh Miners as a base and bench coach. A former minor league first baseman, Schmidt's only big league playing experience came in 5 games with the 1923 Brooklyn Kings. QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from week ending 11/13/1938
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09-24-2021, 09:13 AM
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#252 |
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition
November 28, 1938 PIDGEON FLYS TO NEW YORK The New York Stars landed 4-time All-Star Moxie Pidgeon as the centerpiece of a six player deal with the Washington Eagles. The move, the second deal in recent weeks by the new Washington staff, also sends veteran reliever Robert Curry and infielder Mel Hancock Jr. to New York. In exchange the Eagles acquire three minor league pitchers headlined by highly touted top 100 prospects Johnnie Jones and Jim Douglass. Bill Robison, a 23 year old who pitched in C ball last season also moves to the Eagles organization. In the short term, this move is really going to hurt Washington as the much travelled Pidgeon was one of the Eagles best hitters and their only legitimate power bat. Hancock is traded for the second time in 4 months as the 25 year old tries to find a place he can play regularly. He is reunited in New York with his old General Manager, who had traded the third baseman from Cleveland to the Eagles in the summer before leaving himself for the Stars GM job. Long term however, this is a great move for the Eagles and perhaps finally gives them the ace pitcher they have always seemed to be lacking. That would be Jones, the 21 year old who was drafted 4th overall in 1936 but had struggled as a pro due in no small part to misuse by the old New York regime. He is considered to be a top of the rotation pitcher but is at least a year, maybe two, away from his big league debut. Douglass was taken in the third round out of Eastern State last June and pitched well in Class B but the 21 year old looked overmatched in A ball last summer. His projection is more for the bottom of the rotation. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: This is really a statement move by both clubs. The Stars, in being willing to part with their two best pitching prospects in Jones and Douglass, prove that the new management team in New York is looking to make this team a contender immediately. I am not sure the players added in this deal will do enough to allow the Stars to compete with the big boys in the Continental Association but it is certainly a bold step in that direction. A New York outfield consisting of Pidgeon, Chink Stickels and teenage phenom Bill Barrett will certainly be one to be feared and a crucial step towards getting the organization, which has fallen on hard times of late with 4 straight season's playing under .500 ball, back on track. However, there is a good chance Pidgeon ends up at first base for the Stars as they have a gaping hole for a power bat at that position and it would allow the club to promote Hub Parks to join Barrett and Stickels in the outfield. The Washington club that it's new GM inherited was a mess and has not been in the first division since 1928. Their defense was terrible and starting pitching was even worse. They took a step to address the defense last week with the trading of shortstop Jim Beard to the Sailors for Jack Bush. This move will not pay off next season, in fact without Beard, Pidgeon and Hancock the club quite possibly will be a last place team once again, but there now is something to look forward to as the move to add Jones and Douglass will certainly enhance what was a very barren minor league system. It is a bit of a risk by New York giving up two very talented young arms but this looks like a deal that could very well help both club's out. New York needs a strong season out of it's newcomers while Washington has to hope that Jones and Douglass live up to their billing. MINERS ADD VETERARN ARM The Pittsburgh Miners added veteran lefthander Karl Johnson in yet another deal involving the Washington Eagles. The 31 year old had a rough season last year, losing a Federal Association high 19 games while winning just 13 and posting a 4.63 ERA for the struggling Eagles. Prior to that he was fairly steady with a 115-119 career record including a twenty-win season two years ago. In exchange for Johnson the Miners sent minor league third baseman Bill Downs and a second round pick to the Eagles. The 22 year old Downs, a 1934 fifth round pick, split last season between A and AA while posting a .312 batting average. He was ranked 112th by OSA in it's most recent tally of prospects. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: This deal reminds me an awful lot of the one that brought Jim Lonardo to the Chiefs a year ago. A solid pitcher coming off a down year with a struggling team and Johnson, while not quite up to Lonardo's abilities, seems like the type of player that might boost the Miners back to the top of the heap in the Federal Association. The defending champion Chiefs have, as of this moment, regressed a bit with the retirement of Pete Layton while the Dynamos have addressed their catching needs with the acquisition of John Wicklund so we could be looking at another exciting race in the Fed in 1939. There is still a lot of time left before the season begins so there may well be plenty more movement but right now the Fed is clearly broken into 3 groups: At the top you have the three previously mentioned pennant contenders. The middle group is Boston and a retooling St Louis squad that appears to have fallen from that elite class at least for the short term and then you have New York, Philadelphia and Washington fighting it out for sixth place. I like the moves the Washington club has made including this deal as a change of scenery will likely do Johnson good and allows the Eagles to accumulate a couple more assets as they try to get untracked but expect this to be another long season in the nation's capital as the club unveils it's new stadium. PIONEERS MOVE ANOTHER VETERAN BAT In another sign that the rebuild is in full swing in St Louis the Pioneers dealt outfielder Calvin Brown to the Baltimore Cannons for a highly touted pitching prospect. The 29 year old Brown, who follows second baseman Freddie Jones out the door, hit .350 last season but played in just 92 games last season so his absence from the Pioneers lineup will not be felt anywhere nearly as much as Jones'. In fact this looks like a great deal for St Louis as the player they received in return looks like he can be a solid big league pitcher. That player is Jasper Moore, a 21 year old who finished the season in AA but went 16-12 with a 4.24 era at three levels last year. He is now a top 100 prospect after being a 13th round draft pick out of a Mississippi high school in 1935. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: A great deal for the Pioneers who have plenty of outfield coverage and add to their growing collection of young pitching talent. Following the announcement of the trade the New York Gothams publicly expressed some surprise as they were hoping to make a deal with the Cannons and to be honest, ol' Jiggs is surprised Baltimore did not get more for a prospect of Moore's stature. Corner outfielders seem to be a dime a dozen and while Brown had decent numbers in 1935 he did not perform well in 1936 and spent the 1937 season in the minors before coming back up as a reserve last year. Yes, Brown did hit .350 last season but that was as a part-time player and his short big league career to date has been very spotty with a couple of nice seasons but also a pair of duds. He will be 30 years old before the season starts and is not the power bat the Cannons could have used in a corner outfielder. He may well have some decent years ahead of him playing everyday in Baltimore but I can't help but think the Cannons could have picked up a younger, better outfielder in exchange for Moore. Like I said the move could pan out nicely for Baltimore but to this writer the dealing of Moore appears to be a missed opportunity to receive a little better return on a good young asset. The Week That Was Current events from week ending 11/27/1938
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09-24-2021, 11:12 PM
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#253 |
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition
December 5, 1938 STARS CONTINUE TO WHEEL AND DEAL The two most active teams on the trade front this winter have been the New York Stars and the Washington Eagles. Although both teams struggled last season and each has a new General Manager, their short-term objectives couldn't be any more different at the moment. The Eagles recognize a tear down needs to take place in order to restock their system and have made several trades with that goal in mind including the recent deal to send slugger Moxie Pidgeon to the Big Apple. The Stars, after several years sinking to the bottom half of the Continental Association appear ready to resurface in the first division as they have stocked up on some big league talent led by Pidgeon with the latest move bringing in veteran third baseman Ray Cochran in a deal with Pittsburgh. The 32 year old is a versatile defender but not overly skilled at third base. He appeared in a 131 games with the Miners last season and started at five different positions. Third base is were he will likely end up with the Stars but perhaps might be a better fit at first base. Either way, New York will welcome his bat into the lineup as Cochran is a .299 career hitter and coming off a pair of very good seasons at the dish. in return New York sent promising shortstop prospect Leon Blackridge to the Miners. The 22 year old's path to the big leagues is blocked by Joe Angevine in New York but he was the third prospect ranked in the league top 60 the Stars have moved in recent days, joining pitchers Johnnie Jones and Jim Douglass who were dispatched to Washington in the trade for Pidgeon. No sooner was the ink dry on that deal then the Stars announced a second move for a third baseman. This trade saw them send away two more pitching prospects in Tom Henderson and Jim Birdwell to the New York Gothams in exchange for minor leaguer Constantine Peters. The Gothams have been on the hunt for young arms to match the quality of position player prospects they have on the way up and Henderson, who is another top 100 prospect leaving the Stars organization, certainly fits that bill. Henderson does not project to be an ace but the 21 year old has the upside of a mid-rotation piece. Originally selected in the third round of the 1935 draft out of a Georgia High School, he has had mixed results in his 3 years in the Stars system although under their old management his innings were drastically limited. Birdwell is a little further down the rankings, slotting it at 160th on the current OSA list. Also a third round pick, the 23 year old was drafted out of Sumpter College a year after the Stars selected Henderson. Birdwell did look effective after a mid-season promotion to AA, finishing the year 9-3 with a 3.35 era at that level. To add those two arms the Gothams did pay a fairly hefty price in sending Peters, a 1937 lottery round pickup out of Springfield State to their cross-town rivals. Peters jumped all the way from A ball to finish this past season at AAA and may be ready to join the Stars this season. He would certainly be an upgrade on Cochran in the field but is not expected to approach the veteran's offensive production, at least not at this stage of his career. The Gothams were able to move the 22 year old Peters because they seem fully committed to 24 year old Billy Dalton as their long-term solution at third base. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: A pair of nice trades that seem to help all involved. The Stars did give up more prospect capital but they seem fully committed on contending in the near future and these moves will help in that regard. Cochran is a solid veteran bat who can easily shift to first base or the outfield when young Constantine Peters is ready for full-time duty. The Gothams and Miners both benefit from the deals as well by adding more youth without sacrificing much of their present at all. In Pittsburgh's case Cochran really did not have an everyday position and the Gothams need quality young pitching so moving Peters makes sense with Dalton already entrenched at the hot corner. GOTHAMS ADD VETERAN CATCHER FLINT The Gothams had been in the habit recently of adding young pitchers but they bucked that trend with their move to send Del Thomas to St Louis in exchange for veteran catcher Jack Flint. The 29 year old Flint has been an outstanding hitter the past three seasons but the two time All-Star lost the starting job with the Pioneers to Heinie Zimmer last season. It is not known how long he will be the number one guy in New York as the Gothams have highly touted 19 year old Pete Casstevens on his way up the system and 24 year old Joe Green, who hit .247 as a rookie starter last season, also shows some promise. Del Thomas becomes the latest pitcher to join the Pioneers, who like the Gothams, have been stockpiling young arms of late. The 24 year old Thomas came to New York after his rookie pro season as he was originally drafted by the Cougars out of Amarillo Methodist in the 11th round of the 1937 draft. He put up some solid numbers progressing from Class B to AA last season but he will be 25 when spring training gets underway so his time to show what he can do in the big leagues might be starting to run out. OSA has him just outside the top 100 prospect list. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: Nice move for the Gothams to get a former all-star who can certainly hit and should help to mentor the many young pitchers in New York. With the arms they have added recently the Gothams could easily afford to part with Thomas. It was clear with the youth movement in St Louis that Jack Flint was not going to play regularly so the Pioneers decided to gamble on Thomas developing into a decent pitching prospect. QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from week ending 12/04/1938
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Hall of Fame Preview edition
 December 5, 1938 HALL OF FAME PREPARES TO WELCOME NEW MEMBERS This year the new inductees into the baseball Hall of Fame will be voted in by members of the baseball media unlike the previous two years when a special committee headed by Rufus Barrell announced who would compromise the class of inductees. Before we begin to speculate on just who the 1939 inductees might be let's look at the list of those already admitted to the Hall, which is under construction in Boone County, Illinois: the hometown of FABL founder William Whitney. The building is slated to open in 1941. 1937 CLASS: ALLAN ALLEN (1890-1909: Cougars, Toronto, Cleveland) -Double Al is the greatest pitcher of all-time, so good that the trophy awarded to the top pitcher in each circuit every season is named after him. Had the award been around when he was a player Allen may well have won over a dozen of them. He won a record 514 games in his career and is the all-time leader in a number of categories including games and innings pitched. MAX MORRIS (1914-1937: Cleveland, St Louis, Gothams, Detroit) - Mighty Mo revolutionized the game with his astounding power and is one of only 3 players to surpass the 3,500 hit plateau while hitting a FABL record 711 homers and delivering 2,257 rbi's. He also won a record 8 Whitney Awards and as if that was not enough Morris, who began his big league career as a pitcher, won 82 games. CHARLIE SIS (1903-1921: St Louis, Toronto) - Only Double Al won more than the 395 victories Sis posted over his stellar career. He is the all-time leader in career strikeouts and one of just 2 pitchers to top the 3,000 mark. Sis' 94 shutouts are also a FABL record. POWELL SLOCUM (1905-1925: Baltimore, Brooklyn) -The career batting average and hits leader won 15 batting titles and 4 Whitney Awards in his career. His .435 average in 1913 is the highest single season total in FABL history and he has more career singles (3194) than all but 7 players have hits in their career. He is presently the manager in Brooklyn and has led the Kings to three straight Continental Association pennants. JOHN WAGGONER (1897-1914: Stars, Gothams) -His 194.4 is the highest career WAR in FABL history and Waggoner is 7th all-time with 3,207 hits. He never won a batting title or led his association in a triple crown category but he led in doubles 4 times, stolen bases twice and triples once and was a key member of 3 World Championship New York Stars teams in the first decade of this century. 1938 CLASS JOHN DIBBLEE (1906-1932: Cougars) -Dibblee had 3,913 career hits, all with the Chicago Cougars and helped them win 3 World Championships. Only fellow hall of famer Powell Slocum had more hits over his career than Dibblee, who won a pair of Continental Association batting titles and was named the winner of the Whitney Award in 1911. That 1911 season saw Dibblee hit .422 which is the third highest single season total since the turn of the century. Dibblee is FABL's all-time leader in at bats and ranks in the top five in virtually every career offensive category. MIKE MARNER (1907-1918: Baltimore, Detroit, Brooklyn, Washington) -Marner won 325 games over an 11 year career primarily with Baltimore but also included stops in Brooklyn, Detroit and Washington. The 325 victories, which is tied with fellow inductee Woody Trease, for 6th most all-time are even more impressive when one considers the fact his career ended at the age of 31. Marner burst on to the scene with Baltimore as a 19 year old in 1907 when he led the CA in wins and ERA. He would lead the CA in wins seven more times in the next 8 years, surpassing the 30-victory mark six times but by the age of 29 his career was basically over. Arm troubles, possibly caused by the strain of throwing over 400 innings in six of his first 9 seasons led to Baltimore releasing him in 1917. He bounced around for the next 3 years including a final season in the minors before retiring following the 1919 campaign. Marner was a member of 3 World Championship winners in Baltimore. WOODY TREASE (1901-1912: Boston, Detroit) - Trease and Marner are not only tied in career victories but also linked by the relative brevity of their careers. Like Marner, Trease was out of baseball at the age of 31 due to arm troubles. He led the Federal Association in wins 5 times and was a key member of a pair of World Championship clubs with Boston. He would win a third title after being dealt to Detroit, pitching in 8 World Championship Series over his career. He is the all-time WCS leader in career games pitched, innings thrown and strikeouts. Trease also holds the rare distinction of being the only FABL player ever to have his father catch a major league game with him on the mound. His dad was Lynwood Trease, a turn of the century star who also managed the Boston club to the 1904 WCS, with Woody as his star pitcher. Like his dad, Woody would go on to have a long minor league managerial career and remains in charge of the San Francisco Hawks, the Great Western League affiliate of the Philadelphia Sailors. He has led the Hawks to 5 GWL titles in the past seven years. His son Lyn Trease is an 18 year old rookie pro with the Brooklyn Kings after being selected in the 4th round of last summer's draft. ED ZIEHL (1906-1929: Gothams) -Ziehl was and still remains the face of the New York Gothams. He has been with the organization for over 30 years, first as a player where he appeared in 3025 FABL games and had 3,496 hits to go with a .322 career average and then since 1928 he has been the club's manager. Ziehl won 4 Whitney Awards as a player and led the Federal Association in batting average on 7 occasions. He never played in a World Championship Series but since taking over as skipper he has led the Gothams to four of them including 1935 when the club won it's first WCS since 1896. Ziehl's son Eddie is a minor league infielder in the Gothams system. GEORGE THEOBALD (1883-1898: Washington, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cougars, Stars, Boston) -He played over 1400 FABL games but George Theobald is in the Hall because of what he did after his playing career. He has spent 30 years in a big league dugout as manager first with Boston and later Detroit while guiding his clubs to 4 WCS titles which ties him with current New York Stars skipper Bill Craigen for the most WCS wins. Theobald's record 2331-2015 as a manager places him first all-time after he came out of retirement by the Detroit Dynamos - a club he is a minority owner of - and back into the dugout following the abrupt retirement of Max Morris last winter and he nearly pulled off a miracle leading the Dynamos from 7th the previous season to challenging for the pennant before ultimately settling for second place this past summer. WILLIAM WHITNEY -Whitney becomes the first non-player to be enshrined. He truly is the founding father of not only FABL but really deserves credit for creating the sport of professional baseball as it was his efforts that were instrumental in the formation of the Century League back in 1876. To further recognize Whitney's impact on the game it was announced last year that the building housing the Hall of Fame will be constructed in Whitney's hometown of Boone County, Illinois. The building is slated to open in 1941.  1939 POTENTIAL CANDIDATES We still have very few details of how the voting process will work beyond the fact that it has been announced that members of the baseball media will be submitting their selections. It is not known if they will be required to select players from a pre-determined list or if the choice is wide open, nor have any rules yet been released on the minimum votes required for a player to gain admittance. Nevertheless, that will not stop TWIFB from taking a look at some of the greats of the game we feel are worthy of consideration to be included in the Hall of Fame Class of 1939. There are certainly plenty of others but here are 10 we feel deserve serious thought. They are listed in alphabetical order: JACK ARABIAN (1896-1915: Cleveland, St Louis) -Well before Max Morris there was another famous player who left Cleveland for the St Louis Pioneers as Arabian, after winning 3 Continental Association batting titles, was dealt to the Pioneers in 1910 where he finished out his career. He is 6th all-time in career hits with 3,391 and of the five men ahead of him only Zebulon Banks is not already in the Hall. Arabian is also third all-time in doubles trailing only Thomas Watkins and Hall of Famer John Waggoner. ZEBULON BANKS (1876-1898: Keystones, Brooklyn) -One of the first great stars of the game, Banks retired with 3,423 career hits and would have have many more had the early years of his career not seen a much shorter schedule. He was a member of 4 championship clubs in Philadelphia but all were before the advent of the World Championship Series and all but the last prior to the formation of FABL. He is fifth all-time in career hits and 9th in games played. JIM GOLDEN (1909-1920: Detroit) -Golden is the only pitcher ever to win a Whitney Award (he won two of them) and he would have had an handful of Allan Awards if they were around when he pitched. Despite having only 11 healthy seasons he won 269 games for the Dynamos while losing just 158. His 35 win campaign in 1916 is tied with Hall of Famer Mike Marner for the most in a single season after the turn of the century and he topped the 30 win mark three times in his career. He won 4 WCS rings with Detroit and is 8-2 all-time in the Series, which gives him more career playoff wins than any other player in history. Golden is also one of just a handful of pitchers to throw a no-hitter, doing so against Washington in 1915. A back injury ended his career at the age of 31. GEORGE JOHNSON (1907-1926: Washington, Boston) - There have been a number of players named George Johnson through out FABL history but only one earned the moniker "Big George". This George Johnson was a dominant pitcher primarily with Boston but started and finished his big league career with the Washington Eagles. He counted 8 twenty-win season including a 31 win 1916 among his 311 career victories. That number is special because no one else since Johnson won his 300th in 1925 has approached that magic number for his career although some speculate Rabbit Day may one day do it. Johnson tossed a no-hitter in 1914 and won a World Championship Series with the Minutemen in 1912. OSSIE JULIOUS (1891-1906: NY Imperials, Gothams, Toronto) -Julious played 1572 major league games as a third baseman posting a career .326 average while winning 4 World Championship Series rings and was MVP of the 1898 series when he hit .600 for Toronto in a 5 game win over Pittsburgh but he is on this list for what he did after his playing career. "Oysters" spent 30 seasons as a major league manager leading Toronto to the 1911 World Championship before moving on to Baltimore. Only Hall of Famer George Theobald won more games as a manager than the 2276 Julious' did and his 4,694 games in the dugout are more than any other skipper in FABL history. His career record is below .500 but it is tainted by some bad teams in his final seasons with both the Wolves and Cannons. RANKIN KELLOGG (1925-1938: Keystones) -Not much more to say about Kellogg that has not already been said in recent weeks following his life threatening illness diagnosis. Only Max Morris hit more than the 475 homers Kellogg belted for the Philadelphia Keystones and prior to his illness he was a great example of durability, missing just 4 games in the first 12 years of his career and 14 in total. Three triple crowns, three Whitney Awards, 4 all-star selections and a pair of World Championship Series wins are other highlights of Kellogg's career. We are not sure yet if there will be a waiting period before a retired player is eligible but if there is one implemented, the suggestion here is it should be waived for Kellogg. CALVIN KIDD (1890-1909: Cougars, Baltimore, Gothams) - Another member of the 3,000 hit club Kidd stroked 3,169 of them during his 17 year big league career. He led his league in batting once and finished with a .311 career batting average but as good as he was at the plate it was Kidd's defense that awed fans and players alike. Nicknamed 'The Wizard of Wausau' for his magic with the glove at shortstop, the Wisconsin native was one of the best defenders of his generation. THOMAS WATKINS (1888-1904: Washington, Baltimore, Toronto, Gothams) - Won 5 batting titles including a pair of season when he hit over .400, the outfielder notched 3,143 career hits - good for 9th most all-time. He is baseball's all-time leader in doubles with 581 despite only leading his league in that category 3 times in his career. JOE WARD (1908-1927: Montreal, Chiefs) -Ward is one of just 10 players to record over 3,000 career hits and while he never won a batting title he was a triples machine. Playing in Parc Cartier certainly aided him in that regard but 8 of the top 11 seasons for most triples belong to Ward and his 574 three baggers are most in that category - 30 ahead of Hall of Famer John Dibblee and nearly 200 more than any other player in the history of the game. He is also 13th all-time in runs scored and only 6 players appeared in more FABL games than the 2,534 Ward took the field for. He won back to back Whitney Awards in 1915-16 and led the Saints to a pair of World Championship Series wins. Following his playing days he moved to the Manager's chair first with Montreal and most recently the Chicago Chiefs, whom he has led to 2 World titles in the past three seasons. CHARLIE WILSON (1889-1901: Boston, Gothams, Sailors, Chiefs) -Wilson is one of several turn of the century pitchers who could be considered and may one day be enshrined. Others include Aaron Wright, Jack Long, Morris Harris and Alexander Elliott. All are likely longshots on this ballot but we chose to highlight Wilson because of what his career could have been as much as for what it was. Nicknamed "The Tar Heel Thunderbolt", the Carolina native had a stretch in the 1890s when he was one of the most dominant pitchers of all-time. He led his Association in strikeouts 6 times, wins 5 times and had the lowest ERA in 5 straight years while pitching for 3 clubs during that time frame. He threw a lot of innings, over 400 each of his final 8 full seasons, and by 1901 at the age of 29 his arm was out of bullets and Wilson never pitched in the majors after turning 30. Despite that his 332 career wins place him 5th all-time and his 1,927 strikeouts are 12th most in that category.  Those are 10 names that will likely be on the short-list of most voters when information on the Hall is released, likely in the next few weeks. Hall of Fame induction announcement in the past two years have been made in early January. Another good possibility to consider is not a player, or at least not a big league player. Rufus Barrell suffered a career ending injury in a pre-season game before his FABL playing days ever got started but he has gone on to become one of the most knowledgeable and respected men in the sport and a co-founder of the league's scouting service, OSA. Whenever another non-player gains induction to join William Whitney in the executive category you have to think it will be Rufus Barrell who's name is added.
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition
December 12, 1938 STARS ADD COLE IN DEAL WITH DETROIT The new management team in New York continued it's brisk makeover of the New York Stars making a deal with Detroit to bring veteran pitcher Chuck Cole back to the Continental Association. The 28 year old righthander spent the first 5 and a half years of his big league career with the Toronto Wolves, crafting a 68-78 record with the Wolves including a CA leading 21 victories in 1936. The Wolves traded him at the deadline last July to Detroit and he pitched out of the Dynamos pen down the stretch finishing the season with a 15-13 record and a 4.13 era between the two clubs. The price for the Stars was heavy, perhaps too heavy if many around the league are to be believed, with New York parting with it's top two picks in the January draft including the 6th overall selection. It does seem a steep price for a pitcher with a losing record in his FABL career and considered to have a ceiling of a middle to bottom of the order arm. Cole might slot slightly higher on the Stars, but certainly below Billy Riley (15-8, 3.23) and George Phillips (13-8, 2.94) but quite possibly above Glenn Payne (4-10, 3.08), Chris Clarke (4-9, 4.40) and Les Zoller (4-11, 5.45). It has certainly been a busy off-season for the Stars who upgraded their offense with the additions of Moxie Pidgeon, Mel Hancock Jr. and Ray Cochran. That came at a price of some very good young pitchers but the Stars are hoping the addition of Cole can boost them into the first division.  I had praised the Stars earlier for the offensive upgrades they made and their lineup will be one to watch this season with Pidgeon and Cochran joining an impressive group led by young phenom Bill Barrett...it impresses me so much I would go as far as compare the Stars upgrades to the Detroit Dynamos turnaround of a year ago. While the addition of Cole will only help in the short-term I feel it was a move made certainly in haste and perhaps in panic by New York as the Stars might have decided to do just a little too much reaching in one off-season. I would have much preferred the Stars use those two draft picks to help restock their collection of young arms after the dealing away of several high end prospects already this winter but it is clear the New York brass felt an urgency to upgrade it's rotation. I don't argue with that need to upgrade the pitching in New York but one has to wonder if the Stars had just employed some patience and held out until near the end of spring training whether they could have picked up a depth rotation arm or two either off the waiver wire for free or very inexpensively in a deal with another club facing a crunch on pitchers out of options. I don't argue with Cole being a decent addition to New York and I am fairly certain they will be a much improved team this summer, but I have to take exception with the price that was paid to acquire Cole. The Week That Was Current events from week ending 12/11/1938
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition
December 13, 1938 MAJOR DEAL FOR MINERS The Pittsburgh Miners took another big step towards reclaiming the Federal Association Pennant they surrendered to the Chicago Chiefs in October by acquiring arguably the best center fielder in the game. The deal which brings 27 year old Pablo Reyes from Montreal was a costly one for the Miners as they were forced to surrender pitchers Bud Robbins and Lou Ellertson along with highly touted infield prospect Spud Bent and their first and fifth round draft picks to the Saints. The Miners were said to be in a bidding war for Reyes' services with Brooklyn before the Kings pulled out at the last minute when they felt the cost became too great. Reyes, nicknamed "The Cuban Comet' has been a fixture in center field for Montreal the past 5 seasons and hit a career best .300 with 9 homers and 86 rbi's last year. The two-time all-star is very fast on the base paths and should combine with current Miners outfielder Joe Owens as a terrific 1-2 combo at the top of the Pittsburgh batting order. As talented as he is with the bat it is Reyes work in the field that draws him the most praise and made him a perfect fit for Montreal's Parc Cartier. Fitzpatrick Park in Pittsburgh has similar dimensions and will suit Reyes perfectly, allowing him to add plenty of extra base hits while at the plate and take away a number while patrolling the Pittsburgh outfield. This trade combined with the one to bring veteran pitcher Karl Johnson over from Washington may elevate the Miners to favourite status in the Federal Association especially with Pete Layton's retirement announcement recently in Chicago. The Miners won the pennant in 1937 but finished a distant third behind Chicago and Detroit this past season. As for the Saints, fans in Quebec will be sad to see the popular Reyes leave but the rebuilding club did add some solid pieces in the move. Bud Robbins is a 24 year old lefthander who made his big league debut briefly last season and was 15-11 with a 3.98 era at AAA. He has a projected ceiling as a middle of the rotation arm who is likely ready to join the Saints rotation this season. Spud Bent is a 22 year old third baseman who was one of the lottery players in 1937 after an All-American career at Maryland State. He spent most of last season in AAA and might be ready to man the hot corner for Montreal on Opening Day. Ellertson is a veteran pitcher who will help steady the Montreal bullpen and the expectation is the first round pick, 12th overall, should yield a solid prospect as well. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: The Miners paid a hefty price but one they were willing to absorb as club insiders feel their window to win another pennant with this core group is shrinking. Starting pitchers Charlie Stedman and Bill Ketterman will both be 36 years old on Opening Day so the worry is just how many more seasons of peak contribution do those two have? With Les Tucker being just 24 years old and firmly entrenched at third base it was decided that Bent could be moved. I like this deal from Pittsburgh's point of view for this season but going forward don't be surprised if they regret giving up so much for Reyes, who admittedly is an outstanding center fielder, but decent outfielders are still plentiful throughout FABL. For Montreal it will be tough seeing Reyes leave but the Saints have not finished with 17 games of first place since 1930 and after a dreadful 63 win season last season that culminated with a change in their General Manager it is clear that the club needs a lot more than a superstar centerfielder to be competitive so this deal is a nice first step in the right direction. WILSON WALKS AWAY FROM FORESTERS Shock is the reaction in Cleveland with the news that manager Jim Wilson has decided to retire at the age of 36. Wilson, who became one of the youngest managers in FABL history in 1933 when he assumed the reigns in Cleveland, posted a 531-376 record in his 6 seasons at the helm while winning two pennants and guiding the Foresters to their first ever World Championship Series title in 1934. The club was over .500 in each of his seasons in the manager's seat including back to back 82-72 campaigns the past two years. Wilson had survived a pair of GM changes and there is some speculation that he might eventually come out of retirement and rejoin the GM who gave him his start in Cleveland by taking the Detroit Dynamos job whenever 76 year old George Thoebald decides to step down. At present there is no announcement of a new manager for the Foresters. Cleveland also received some bad news about the recovery of Lyman Weigel. The 34 year old pitcher who suffered an elbow injury in September has had a bit of a setback in his recovery but the club is optimistic he will be healthy for spring camp in March. Weigel went 5-4 in 1938 for the Foresters and is 86-78 in his 9 year big league career that also included stops in Brooklyn and Montreal. WASHINGTON IS BUSY IN THE RULE FIVE DRAFT Very rarely does a player selected in the Rule Five draft pan out and become an decent big leaguer but the Washington Eagles decided to maximize their odds of landing that 'needle in a haystack' by selecting what is believed to be a record 8 players in this year's selection draft. It does not come as a surprise since the club had stated before the draft it would be busy but what is surprising is the Eagles did not take a single pitcher among their 8 selections. Washington will almost assuredly be returning some players to their original clubs as there is no way they can keep all eight on the active roster. The Eagles selected 5 outfielders, a pair of first baseman and a catcher. The first player taken in the draft was 26 year old centerfielder Red Looney, whom the Eagles drafted out of the Cougars organization with the second pick after Baltimore passed on the opening selection. Speaking of the Cannons, the Continental Association doormats lost 5 players on the day thru the draft - the most of any team. Here are the RULE FIVE SELECTIONS Code:
Round 1 Round 1, Pick 2 - Washington Eagles: CF Red Looney from the Chicago Cougars. Round 1, Pick 5 - Montreal Saints: SP Clay Jackson from the Baltimore Cannons. Round 1, Pick 6 - New York Stars: SP Phil Gregg from the Washington Eagles. Round 1, Pick 7 - Boston Minutemen: SP Bill Stewart from the Montreal Saints. Round 1, Pick 8 - Chicago Cougars: RF Tommy Sandstrom from the Philadelphia Keystones. Round 1, Pick 9 - St. Louis Pioneers: C Dave Wade from the Montreal Saints. Round 1, Pick 10 - Cleveland Foresters: SP Gordon Ross from the St. Louis Pioneers. Round 1, Pick 11 - Philadelphia Sailors: SP Lee Marshall from the Baltimore Cannons. Round 1, Pick 12 - Pittsburgh Miners: C Johnson Starks from the Philadelphia Sailors. Round 2 Round 2, Pick 2 - Washington Eagles: 1B Bud Berry from the Boston Minutemen. Round 2, Pick 6 - New York Stars: LF Howie Smith from the Washington Eagles. Round 2, Pick 11 - Philadelphia Sailors: 3B Joe Haggard from the Pittsburgh Miners. Round 3 Round 3, Pick 2 - Washington Eagles: RF George Bond from the Philadelphia Sailors. Round 3, Pick 6 - New York Stars: 1B Ralph Conner from the Detroit Dynamos. Round 3, Pick 11 - Philadelphia Sailors: SP Tom Cipolla from the Montreal Saints. Round 4 Round 4, Pick 2 - Washington Eagles: CF Herb Loflin from the Detroit Dynamos. Round 4, Pick 6 - New York Stars: 1B Gene Harp from the Pittsburgh Miners. Round 5 Round 5, Pick 2 - Washington Eagles: 1B Nick Shed from the Baltimore Cannons. Round 5, Pick 6 - New York Stars: LF Jim Mason from the Baltimore Cannons. Round 6 Round 6, Pick 2 - Washington Eagles: RF Len Calvert from the Montreal Saints. Round 7 Round 7, Pick 2 - Washington Eagles: LF Ed Duggins from the St. Louis Pioneers. Round 8 Round 8, Pick 2 - Washington Eagles: C A.J. Warren from the Baltimore Cannons. QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from 12/12/1938
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This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition
January 2, 1939 DYNAMOS ADD PITCHER GONZALES FROM WASHINGTON It may have a couple less teams considered serious pennant contenders than last winter but it is clear the Federal Association arms race we witnessed a year ago is once again in full swing this off-season. The Detroit Dynamos- last year's surprise challenger in the Fed - made a bold move this week in an attempt to match the star-powered rotations of the Pittsburgh Miners and Chicago Chiefs by adding 26 year old Sergio Gonzales (12-19, 4.48) to a group that already includes Charlie Wheeler (17-8, 2.82), Frank Crawford (20-10, 3.31), William Jones (10-11, 3.03) and Roger Perry (16-5, 3.70). The hope in Detroit is for those plitchers to allow the Dynamos to keep pace with the defending champion Chiefs and the 1937 pennant winning Miners. The Chiefs, at least so far, have stood pat with a rotation that includes a total of 8 Allen Awards from Rabbit Day (26-7, 3.06), Jim Lonardo (25-7, 2.68) and Jack Beach (21-8, 3.35)along with rising young star Al Miller (15-12, 3,72). Pittsburgh has an Allen Award winner of it's own in Lefty Allen (24-17, 3.58) along with vets Charlie Stedman (14-17, 3.28) and Bill Ketterman (25-13, 3.78) who were recently joined by 31 year old lefthander Karl Johnson (13-19, 4.63). Johnson, like Detroit's newcomer Gonzales, toiled for the Washington Eagles last season and was a 20 game winner for that club 2 years ago. With Gonzales and Johnson gone, as well as much of the Eagles offensive firepower, the question in Washington is not will they have a 20 game winner this season but perhaps more along the lines of will the inexperienced Eagles even win 20 games as a team? Washington, with a new management team in place, a nearly non-existent fanbase, and coming off a 94 loss season is clearly focusing on the future and the Eagles have added a number of very solid pieces for that purpose including three players and a first round pick in the deal that sent Gonzales to the Dynamos. However, there is grave concern about the quality of the product the Eagles will put on the field this season. It seems very possible that all three players Washington picked up from Detroit will find themselves in the big leagues for the 1939 season. Those three are pitchers Art Brandon and Jack Henderson along with 27 year old outfielder Henry Reid, who did spend 1937 with Detroit but was in AAA last year. Brandon is a 22 year old righthander who split last season between AA and AAA, posting an 11-5 record with a 4.69 era. He was originally a 1934 6th round pick of the Chicago Chiefs but was moved to Detroit the following season. According to OSA, which ranks him the 131st best prospect, he projects to be a back of the rotation arm. Henderson is 25 and a former 10th round pick out of Red River State. He posted solid numbers last season (16-6, 3.24) but was at the Class A level early in the year before moving up to AA. OSA loves his five pitch repertoire and despite not ranking him in the top 250 prospects sees him as a possible top of the rotation arm but age is starting to become a factor. Reid hit just .246 when he spent all of 1937 in Detroit but was much better last summer when he slashed .371/.414/.514 for AAA Newark. 1937 was the big league debut year for the 1932 third round pick out of George Fox University as he was a Rule Five selection of Detroit from the Toronto Wolves. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: Some out of Detroit might have worried they gave too much in this deal but I have to disagree. This was a very nice pickup for the Dynamos, assuming Sergio Gonzales can pitch like he did in Cleveland in 1936 and 1937 and wash off the cloud of mediocrity that seems to surround Washington pitching of late and certainly affected Gonzales after the deal from the Foresters last July. If Gonzales regains his form it will be a huge pickup for the Dynamos who managed to add the 26 year old without having to sacrifice any of their top four pitching prospects. The move does get Washington another first round pick and Brandon looks like a dependable depth rotation guy who just might be forced to be the #2 starter for the Eagles this season. I am not sold on Henderson being much of a pitcher but OSA still thinks he can be a late bloomer so it is probably worth the gamble for the Eagles. If I was Washington I would have wanted a little more for Gonzales but they were hardly dealing from strength after the poor second half the pitcher suffered through following the trade from Cleveland. KINGS LAND CENTERFIELDER THEY COVETED AND A TOP PICK The Brooklyn Kings and New York Gothams hooked up on a large deal involving primarily draft picks and prospects. The trade saw Brooklyn send three top-100 youngsters and a 4th round pick to the Gothams in exchange for New York centerfielder Howard Brown Jr. and the Gothams first and second round selections in next week's January portion of the draft. The picks, including the 4th overall selection, mean Brooklyn will pick in the top five for just the second time since the human GM-era began. The club traded up with Washington in 1928 to take Tommy Wilcox first overall. The next highest selection Brooklyn ever had in the modern era was in that first season of 1925 when they originally were slated to choose second but traded down to sixth and grabbed Doug Lightbody. The Gothams sacrifice a couple of picks and a decent outfielder but they add three more top level prospects to what is already the deepest minor league system in FABL. Those players are led by Alex LaComb, a 22 year old outfielder who won the Christian Trophy as AIAA player of the year in 1937 while at Cuyahoga University and is ranked 75th on the OSA prospect list after being a 1937 second round pick of the Kings. Bobby Boone, a 19 year old centerfielder who made his pro debut at Class C this season after the Kings took him in the third round last June, is ranked 90th by OSA. The third player is 19 year old pitcher Ed Funkhouser, who sits at #100 on the current OSA prospect list. Funkhouser was Brooklyn's third round selection in 1937. While the draft picks, especially the chance to select 4th overall, were the main drawing card for the Kings the deal also solves a need the club had been trying to fill. Brooklyn had been targeting a centerfielder out of concern if Bob Worley could hit enough to hold down the role full-time for the three-time Continental Association defending champs. They were in the running for Pablo Reyes but ultimately pulled out after the Pittsburgh Miners made a substantial offer and there have been rumours linking the Kings to Gail Gifford, who was being shopped by the retooling St Louis Pioneers, but nothing ever seem to come of it. While Brown is not at the level of either of those two the 26 year old has looked good at the plate, hitting .306 over his 2-plus season in the big leagues. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE - The Gothams made it clear they wanted to move those two picks and the Kings stepped in with a decent offer to try to land their first high draft pick in a decade. Brown Jr. may not be the long-term answer in centerfield but he allows the Kings to take the pressure off of Worley, either platooning them or using Worley as a late inning defensive replacement. Any time you can add a top four draft pick without sacrificing your best prospects or a key roster piece the move makes sense. The Kings also feel they have great depth in young outfielders so those two would not be missed. There is now pressure on Brooklyn to make these picks count. As for the Gothams, they had a scheduling conflict that would prevent their full attention to the draft so the chance to add 3 quality prospects and get an early pick in the June portion seems like a very good fit. COUGARS MAKE A PAIR OF DEALS With the deep Chicago Cougars farm system starting to create some real logjams at the upper minor league levels and with the big league team, the Cougars took a couple of steps to reduce the congestion. Chicago moved a pair of players in exchange for lower level prospects and picks. First up was a deal that sent 26 year old pitcher John Hartz to the New York Gothams for 23 year old Ray Wilcox and a 6th round pick. Hartz made his big league debut in August, appearing in 4 games for the Cougars after spending the rest of the season between AA and AAA. Wilcox, a 12th round selection in 1936, split his year between A and AA. The second Chicago move saw outfielder Roy Moore got to the Pittsburgh Miners for a pair of Class B players in outfielder Jasper Wright and righthander Ron Sexton along with a 7th round pick. Moore while turn 26 later this month and has a .290 batting average in 179 games with the Cougars over parts of four seasons. Neither the 21 year old Wright or 18 year old Sexton are considered high end prospects. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE - A couple of minor deals, really just a case of the Cougars needing to clean up their 40-man roster and get something back in return for two players who really were blocked in having much of a chance to be more than simply injury replacement pieces in the Windy City. Hartz gives the Gothams another arm to try out in their new park as they search to round out their rotation while Moore simply adds depth to the Miners outfield. FORESTERS PROMOTE PORTLAND SKIPPER D"ARCY TO BIG CLUB Following the surprise retirement of Forester's most successful manager, Jim Wilson, Cleveland have announced that 60-yr-old Simon D’Arcy will be promoted to skipper the big league club. D’Arcy has been the manager of the Forester's Eastern Association (AA) affiliate, the Portland Pipers, since 1935. Last year he led the Pipers to a 93-47 record and their third ever AA championship. D'Arcy also won a pennant in 1933 when he was running the Foresters Southeastern League Class B team in Savannah. He has been managing in the Foresters system since 1931 and boasts an impressive 716-563 career record in 9 seasons as a minor league manager. Cleveland does have a history of promoting from within as both Wilson and the man who proceeded him in the Cleveland dugout, Hank Leitzke, came from within the system. Leitzke, by the way, is the current manager of the Toronto Wolves. That brings the total of new managers set to debut in 1939 to four and none of them have ever managed a team at the major league level before. Code:
FABL MANAGERS BY TENURE WITH CURRENT CLUB NAME TEAM HIRED FABL REC PEN WSC SALARY Ed Ziehl NYG 1928 843-851 4 1 $9,384 George Sparkman STL 1930 663-641 0 0 $10,990 John Heydon PHS 1933 463-380 0 0 $8,999 Dick Pozza MON 1934 984-861 3 2 $17,745 Dan Andrew PIT 1935 939-847 2 0 $9,356 Hank Leitzke TOR 1935 519-570 0 0 $9,500 Joe Ward CHI 1936 634-623 2 2 $2,012 (5 year extension signed at $16,955) Walt Bailey CHC 1936 518-424 0 0 $8,214 Powell Slocum BKN 1936 710-639 3 1 $7,552 Bill Boshart BOS 1937 118-124 0 0 $5,345 John Lawrence BAL 1937 121-187 0 0 $6,954 George Theobald DET 1938 2331-2015 8 4 $11,045 Simon D'Arcy CLE 1939 0-0 0 0 $1,775 Bill Libby PHI 1939 0-0 0 0 $22,000 Jake McGuire WSH 1939 0-0 0 0 $1,345 Otto Schmidt NYS 1939 0-0 0 0 $15,460 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 01/1/1939
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10-05-2021, 11:33 PM
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#258 |
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This Week in Figment Baseball - Offseason Edition
January 9, 1939 KEYSTONES LOOK TO INDY LEAGUES FOR KELLOGG'S REPLACEMENT After the initial shock of Rankin Kellogg's sudden retirement due to life threatening health issues the Philadelphia Keystones have begun the process of trying to fill Kellogg's sizeable shoes at first base. One possible candidate will be a 22 year old slugger by the name of Sig Stofer. The Keystones made the Stofer the first player selected in the Independent Team player acquisition draft. Stofer has loads of power and hit 28 homers in 1937 playing Class A ball in the Saints organization but there is concern about his ability to make sufficient contact to warrant his name being penciled in the lineup every day. Nicknamed 'The Boardwalk Bopper' one could easily see the graduate of nearby Atlantic City High School becoming a fan favourite in Philadelphia. He was originally a 6th round selection of the Montreal Saints in 1934 and Keystones Assistant General Manager George Mitchell admitted the club considered drafting him at the time. "I remember Stofer in the draft and that was at about the time we started to think (the Keystones) need to make plans for after Kellogg. The fact that he is from A.C. was not lost on (us) either." Instead Stofer ended up in the Montreal organization but was surprisingly released early last season after two pretty solid years with the organization. He caught on with Houston of the Lone Star Association and hit .265 with 4 homers in 109 games for the AA Bulls. Stofer will get an opportunity to challenge for Kellogg's old spot but he will have competition. The Keystones have the following candidates in mind:
As for the rest of the Indy team draft there was not a lot of action with only 4 teams electing to select a player.  St Louis continued it's recent trend of adding young arms with the decision to select 24 year old Doc Barker from Waco of the Lone Star Association. A relief specialist, Baker has averaged over 50 appearances a season in that league the past 3 years. He was originally a Baltimore selection in the 13th round of the 1932 draft. Finally the Detroit Dynamos kept the pattern of selecting Baltimore cast-offs going with the decision to pick 29 year old infielder Bill Ball. Ball was originally drafted 5th overall by the Cannons in 1927 and played 521 big league games for the club, hitting just .244. Unlike the other three selections which were focused on trying to find a late blooming prospect, the Dynamos choice was clearly to add some middle infield defensive talent to the team. The defensive skills are there for Ball, but he was cut loose by the Cannons last summer after hitting just .109 in 35 games. He went to Hollywood of the AAA Great Western League and batted .381 in 12 games for the Heroes but his chances of playing regularly in Detroit are likely very slim. DYNAMOS SEND PERRY PACKING The Detroit Dynamos, now faced with a pitching logjam after the deal last week to acquire Sergio Gonzales, cleared some space by sending Roger Perry to the New York Gothams in exchange for minor league shortstop Vince D'Alessandro. D'Alessandro is a solid prospect, ranked 76th by OSA but only 7th in a very deep Gothams system. A 6th round pick in 1934 out of high school in Springfield, Illinois he may be better suited defensively to move to either second or third base but should be a reliable big league hitter according to the league scouting service. The 31 year old Perry was 16-5 with a 3.70 era in a very strong season for the Dynamos last year after coming over from Cleveland. He has a lifetime big league mark of 90-46 and should challenge for the top spot in the Gothams rotation. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE - While I get Detroit has a logjam on the mound and plans to go with a 4-man rotation while also trying to find room to keep youngsters Stumpy Beamon and Jack Wood on the big league roster I do worry the decision to move Perry might have been made a little early. He has pitched very well throughout his career, especially for the current Dynamos GM in both Cleveland and Detroit, and it would be nice to have him in your back pocket in case an injury hit or one of the veteran arms (William Jones, Frank Crawford or Gonzales) struggled. D'Alessandro is a nice pickup but not essential to the Dynamos future. Perry, on the other hand, could be essential to a Dynamos pennant hunt if something happens with one of the 4 starters they plan to run with. As for New York it is a nice add. Perry will provide veteran experience on the mound and stands a good chance of displacing Oscar Morse as the Opening Day starter at the Gothams brand new park. WINTER DRAFT COVERAGE The FABL draft is back to taking place in the winter, well at least partly, like it did from it's beginnings in 1911 until the mid-1930s when it switched to a June date to better align with the high school and college schedules. A new format introduced this season has the first three rounds of players being selected in January including an all-new regional round three where teams are only allowed to selecting players from their home state or neighbouring states with the remaining 22 rounds staying as a June selection date. Players selected in January will remain with their college or high school club until after the June draft at which time they may sign with the organization that selected them. Gone also is the player's lottery format which was an effort to avoid the negative effect the in-game Mock Draft has on stats-only leagues and this new 3 round format is designed to counteract the mock while also giving the individual teams more freedom in their draft strategy. The Baltimore Cannons started the draft off by selecting, as they usually do with their top pick, a pitcher. This time it was 20 year old Vic Carroll who went 8-4 last season for Richmond State and is 16-6 over two years with the Colonials. The New York City product is expected to be a very good pitcher, perhaps even an ace one day but many were still surprised that the Cannons opted for Carroll over another New Yorker in Collegiate High School third baseman Wally Fuller. Count the Cannons rivals, well geographically at least as they haven't met in the World Championship Series since back to back years in 1913 and 1914, the Washington Eagles as among those surprised to see Fuller still on the board when they selected immediately after Baltimore. Eagles brass sees Fuller in a couple of seasons being the guy to fill the role at third vacated by the trading of Whitney Award winner Mel Carrol to Cleveland over the summer. New Washington Assistant General Manager joe Dittrich summed up Washington's selection this way. "Wally Fuller was an obvious #1 pick that somehow dropped to us, he looks to be the best pure hitter of the draft, getting on base a New York state record 64% of the time. He did this primarily by hitting singles, though anyone watching his games would know he frequently forced pitchers to pitch to him, often pulling them into hitters counts, or else working a pitchers count full." It really should come as little surprise the Cannons, who have finished last in the Continental Association the past five seasons, went with a pitcher at the top of the first round. Excluding the past two years when the old players lottery format was in place the Cannons have selected in the top five of the draft 8 times and on all but one of those occasions selected a pitcher. Code:
BALTIMORE CANNONS TOP FIVE DRAFT PICKS 1939 Vic Carroll P 1st 1936 Al Jennings CF 5th 1935 Rufus Barrell II P 1st 1934 Gus Goulding P 2nd 1933 John Edwards P 3rd 1923 Rabbit Day P 5th 1922 Bob Miller P 5th 1918 Delos Dunn P 4th Incidentally the last time the Cannons took a New York City High School pitcher in the first round it worked out pretty well. That was way back in 1916 when they drafted Max Wilder 10th overall out of New York High School in the old feeder era days. Wilder retired following the 1935 season with a 157-137 career record although he spent just the first five and a half of his 14 big league seasons with Baltimore. One would expect Baltimore would be quite happy to see Carroll have a career that mirrors Wilder's. Here is the complete list of 1939 first round selections: Code:
1939 FIRST ROUND RESULTS PICK TEAM POS PLAYER AGE SCHOOL BIRTHPLACE 1 Baltimore Cannons SP Vic Carroll 20 Richmond State New York, NY 2 Washington Eagles 3B Wally Fuller 17 Collegiate HS, NYC New York, NY 3 Montreal Saints CF Bill Greene 21 Brooklyn Catholic Providence, RI 4 Brooklyn Kings CF Rats McGonigle 20 Bronx Tech Stringer, MS 5 Detroit Dynamos SP Marcus Mangum 18 Louisa (KY) HS Louisa, KY 6 Phil. Keystones 3B Davey Robicheaux 21 Bay State Bayou La Batre, AL 7 Chicago Cougars SS Skipper Schneider 18 Northwestern HS, Detroit Detroit, MI 8 Boston Minutemen 2B Buddy Schneider 18 Northwestern HS, Detroit Detroit, MI 9 Cleveland Foresters SP Bart Schneider 18 Northwestern HS, Detroit Detroit, MI 10 St. Louis Pioneers SP Mal Bianco 21 Maryland State Brooklyn, NY 11 Phil. Sailors SS Johnny Zeidman 21 McNair University Little Rock, AR 12 Montreal Saints SP Ace Adams 21 CCLA San Gabriel, CA 13 Toronto Wolves OF Hank Giordano 18 Crisfield (MD) HS Crisfield, MD 14 Washington Eagles 2B Bob Mark 21 Central Kentucky Akron, OH 15 Brooklyn Kings 3B Whitey Dorsch 17 Moline (IL) HS Moline, IL 16 Chicago Chiefs CF John McNichols 17 Passaic (NJ) HS Passaic, NJ SCHNEIDER BOYS MAKE HISTORY FABL has had it's share of brother acts including the Barrell's, the Cleaves boys, the Pestilli clan and the Lightbody's to name just four, but never before have a pair of siblings been selected in the same draft. That changed this year and in a big way as the Schneider triplets made history with all 3 of them being selected in succession midway through the first round of this year's draft. First up was William "Billy" Schneider, better known as Skipper. A shortstop at Detroit's Northwestern High School the eldest, by mere minutes of course, of the Schneider boys was taken 7th overall by the Chicago Cougars. Immediately after hearing Skipper had been selected the Schneider family received a telegram from Boston letting them know that Robert "Buddy" Schneider was drafted 8th by the Boston Minutemen. Buddy and Skipper are considered to almost be identical players on the ballfield, both capable of playing a number of positions but Buddy settled in at second base for Northwestern High alongside his brother Skipper at shortstop. The duo also both bat lefthanded, having been taught by their grandfather who just happens to be a former long-time pitching coach of the Philadelphia Sailors. Billy Schneider was a catcher by trade but appeared in just 3 games at the big league level in the late 1800s. He made his real mark on the game primarily as a pitching coach, spending 20 years at the role with the Sailors but was also a coach in Boston and Toronto after spending one season as the manager of the Washington Eagles. While Skipper was named after his grandfather it was the third Schneider youngster who most benefited from Grandpa's coaching skills as Bart Schneider is the ace of Northwestern High's pitching staff posting a 24-4 record to go along with a 1.10 era over his three seasons as a starter at the school. It is only fitting that the trio, who have always played baseball together growing up, were drafted in succession with the Cleveland Forester completing the task by taking Bart with the 9th pick of the opening round. Soon the boys will be scattered across the minor league landscape as they report to different organization's but before that happens in June they will have one final season together starring for Detroit's Northwestern High School Colts. QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 01/08/1939
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10-07-2021, 10:57 PM
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Hall of Fame Edition
January 16, 1939 FIVE ADDED TO HALL OF FAME Baseball's Hall of Fame saw it's ranks swell by five members as for the first time members of the media were polled to determine some of the entrants for this year. The Hall of Fame Committee, chaired by Scouting legend Rufus Barrell, had determined that recently retired Philadelphia Keystones great Rankin Kellogg and long-time player and manager Ossie Julious would be automatic appointments this winter but left the decision on the names of the remaining three inductees up to members of the baseball media. Balloting was close but the scribes chose to elect Zebulon Banks, Calvin Kidd and current Chicago Chiefs manager Joe Ward to round out the class.  Here is a closer look at the careers of each of the newcomers.  To say Kellogg was the face of the Philadelphia Keystones franchise would also be a gross understatement. When the Keystones drafted Kellogg first overall out of Memphis High School in 1922 the team was the laughing stock of the Federal Association, in the midst of five straight last place finishes and a club that had finished in the upper division just twice in the previous 22 years. Kellogg would make his big league debut in 1925 and two years later won a triple crown in leading the Keystones to their first title since 1892. Kellogg smacked two homers as the Keystones won the 1927 Series and would hit 2 more while batting .407 as they won another World Championship in 1933. He would also help them win a pennant in 1932 and was named to the Federal Association all-star team for each of the first four Midseason Classics. A recent article in the Philadelphia Inquisitor summed up Kellogg's career this way: Quote:
Nevertheless, this outstanding performer has rightly earned his place among baseball's immortals. His induction into the Hall of Fame, which took place yesterday, surprised nobody, coming on the heels of his abrupt retirement due to a life-threatening illness. Kellogg was only 35 when he retired from baseball just a couple months ago. In 2143 career games he compiled a .335 batting average with 2770 hits, 475 home runs, 1841 RBIs and 1679 runs scored.  Julious, like Theobald, was a player who became first a player-manager and then solely a manager. And he stuck around for a very long time indeed. He was named the manager of the Toronto Wolves in 1906 while still active as a player. He'd remain the manager for 23 seasons before leaving for Baltimore, where he managed for an additional eight years. He finished his dugout career as the bench coach assisting first-year player-manager Max Morris in Detroit in 1937. As a manager, Julious posted a won-loss record of 2276 wins and 2418 losses, a sub .500 mark, but also won two pennants and a World Championship (while with Toronto). At the time of his retirement, he was the FABL leader in manager wins, since surpassed by George Theobald, and remains the leader in total games managed and losses. Prior to his managerial days Julious played 1572 major league games as a third baseman posting a career .326 average while winning 4 World Championship Series rings and was MVP of the 1898 series when he hit .600 for Toronto in a 5 game win over Pittsburgh but he is much better known for what he did after his playing career. "Oysters" spent 30 seasons as a major league manager leading Toronto to the 1911 World Championship before moving on to Baltimore. Only fellow Hall of Famer George Theobald won more games as a manager than the 2276 Julious' did and his 4,694 games in the dugout are more than any other skipper in FABL history. His career record is below .500 but it is tainted by some bad teams in his final seasons with both the Wolves and Cannons.  But while he was class act on the field, it was off the field where Banks shined the most. He was most active in the Philadelphia Keystones community, selflessly donating his time and money to various causes. The press was largely unaware of his charity and Banks: never made a fuss about it. All but the final 104 of Banks 2501 big league games came with Philadelphia and it was an unfortunate end to his career as he reportedly did not leave the Keystones on good terms. As described in the league history archives of the 1898 season: Quote:
"My dad played a child's game for many years and this game brought him fame and fortune," Julius explained during the ceremony. "For some people it's enough, but my grandmother raised him to realize that money doesn't make a person great. Being good at a game doesn't make a person great. Helping those in need and giving of yourself selflessly is what makes a person great. And that's what he tried to be his entire life: great, both on the field and off of the field."  However, he was quick to single out the man who he said was the most important influence on his career and helped him become the player he was, his father. "Pops never gave up on me," Kidd said, "no matter how often I felt like giving up on myself. Kidd was far more than just a defense whiz as he was also an outstanding hitter. In his 2577-game career played primarily with the Chicago Cougars, Kidd hit .311 with 3169 hits, 65 home runs, 1714 runs scored and 1374 RBIs. Only 7 players in the history of the sport have had more big league hits than Kidd, who wrapped up his career at the age of 39 and retired, hanging up his cleats in 1909.  "There is so much to love about this game," the newest honoree said during his induction speech at the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues Baseball Hall of Fame. "I couldn't imagine anything greater than my first major league game. Then I hit my first home run. Then the other landmarks came. But nothing tops today... to think that I made it to the Hall of Fame." The legendary third baseman put up some impressive numbers. Ward played in 2534 games, compiled a .319 batting average, hit 28 home runs, drove in 1207 runs and scored 1473 times during his career. The five new inductees swell the ranks of the Hall, which was established in 1937, to 16 members. QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 01/15/1939
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10-08-2021, 10:41 PM
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1939 Spring Training Set to Begin
March 27, 1939 1939 PRESEASON PREVIEW Spring training is just around the corner as the tune-up games get underway this week. As a result it is time for Jiggs McGee to unveil his preseason predictions. A year ago Jiggs correctly called a rematch of the 1936 Series with the Chicago Chiefs and Brooklyn Kings taking their respective pennants. Jiggs had figured the Chiefs would walk away with the Fed after adding Allan Award winner Jim Lonardo to an already talented roster and they did thanks to a strong finish but not before the surprising Detroit Dynamos made it very interesting throughout the summer. Jiggs forecast a much tighter race in the Continental Association and we did get one but the team to challenge the Brooklyn Kings was a surprise as the Toronto Wolves improved by 16 victories and nearly denied the Kings a third straight pennant. Here is what Jiggs sees happening in 1939: JIGGS MCGEE'S PRESEASON PREDICTIONS FEDERAL ASSOCIATION The Federal Association treated us to an incredible run from the Detroit Dynamos in 1938 only to see the veteran laden Chicago Chiefs put Detroit, and the rest of the Fed clubs, in their place late in the year. I see the Chiefs being just as strong this year as they were a year ago and the Dynamos will be right there with them but I expect that the 1939 Federal Association champions will be the Pittsburgh Miners. The Miners are much improved with the addition of one of the best center fielders in the game in Pablo Reyes and they have further solidified a solid veteran pitching staff with the addition of Karl Johnson from Washington. Johnson will no longer have to deal with the stress of being a number one or the pitfalls of having the Washington Eagles play defense behind him so I expect a return to the form that saw the 31 year old post a 38-25 record over the two seasons prior to last year. The Miners have Lefty Allen as their ace and as long as Charlie Stedman, who turns 37 this year, and Bill Ketterman, who is 35, can approach their numbers of last season Pittsburgh will be hard to stop. The offense could be the best in the Fed if, and it is a big if, Mahlon Strong can remain healthy. Pittsburgh won the pennant two years ago dethroning the Chicago Chiefs in the process. The bet here is that act is repeated in 1939. The Chiefs pitching is hard to beat and they still have a very good offense, even with the retirement of batting champ Pete Layton. In fact, since Layton was such a liability in the field at shortstop, they may even be a better ballclub this year with improved infield defense. Detroit will also be improved as their pitching is certainly deeper with the addition of William Jones last season and Sergio Gonzales over the winter. You can't say anything bad about the Detroit offense either. Sal Pestilli is now 23 and already owns a Whitney Award and he may take yet another step forward as one would also expect from 21 year old first baseman Red Johnson. It will be a battle between the three and may go right down to the final week. Injuries could certainly tilt things in one direction or another but I am taking the Chiefs second behind Pittsburgh with Detroit a close third. From there it is a big drop-off in the Fed. Boston is a good team but certainly not in the class of the big three so I see the Minutemen sneaking into the bottom of the first division as St Louis, which appears to rebuilding after trading another star over the winter - this time second baseman Freddie Jones to the Chicago Cougars- will take a step back and finish fifth while the Philadelphia Keystones, reeling from the sudden forced retirement of Rankin Kellogg, try to hold off a New York Gothams team that has the excitement of a new building and more new young faces to play for. I would not be surprised if the Gothams ended up ahead of the Keystones this year but one thing is certain it will be another very long year in Washington. The Eagles, with new management across the board, are starting over and have added some talented young assets but this will be a long season and one wonders how many fans come to see the Eagles play this season even with their new ballpark. Code:
PREDICTED FINISH FEDERAL ASSOCIATION 1- Pittsburgh Miners 2- Chicago Chiefs 3- Detroit Dynamos 4- Boston Minutemen 5- St Louis Pioneers 6- New York Gothams 7- Philadelphia Keystones 8- Washington Eagles CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION The Brooklyn Kings have won at least 90 games for five consecutive seasons, claiming the last three Continental Association Pennants in the process. No CA team has ever won 4 straight titles but it says here the Kings will become the first to do so and just might hit the 90 win mark and extend their record for that accomplish to a sixth consecutive season. Little has changed from the roster that the Kings fielded a year ago and while they do always make things exciting with some terrible slumps at the most inopportune times, there is just too much talent for manager Powell Slocum to work with for Brooklyn not to claim the title again this time around. We have said for several years the Chicago Cougars are coming and they are getting much closer as their large collection of minor league talent is maturing. It will be interesting to see if Dick Lyons can approach his majestic Allen Award winning season of a year ago now that he will turn 39 years of age mid-season. One might expect a bit of a drop-off from Lyons but the many young arms including a still very young although immensely talented Pete Papenfus should pick up the slack. The addition of Whitney Award winning second baseman Freddie Jones from St Louis will also give the Cougars charge into contention a boost and who knows the Cougars might just be this years version of the Toronto Wolves. However the expectation here is 1940 is more likely the year the Cougars can lay claim to a serious pennant push. Speaking of the Wolves one has to wonder how the team responds to such an incredible run last September only to collapse and fall just short in the final week. Joe Hancock is a clear ace and Jim Morrison and George Garrison are improving but for Toronto to contend in 1939 they need Bob Walls to be the pitcher he was after the trade deadline when he went 8-1 down the stretch and keyed the Wolves rally. Walls is a solid pitcher but not as good as he happened to be for 3 months last year. Toronto may catch lightning in a bottle again but the odds are better they slip to the middle of the CA. The Philadelphia Sailors are for my money the team that could give Brooklyn the biggest challenge in the Kings quest for a fourth pennant. The Sailors always find pitchers and generally have a pretty solid offense as well. Dealing veteran pitcher William Jones to Detroit at the deadline last year might be perceived as a step back but they still have two very good starters in No-hit Newell and Walt Wells, each of whom won 19 games a year ago, and they have a knack of finding pitchers who come up with big seasons. The Sailors don't have a lot of superstars, but they have a good deep roster and can never be counted out. The Cleveland Foresters have their third GM in 4 years and while there is still lots of talent, this club is aging and appears in need of a makeover. They last missed the first division in 1931 when they finished dead last. I expect if Toronto struggles the Foresters will keep that streak intact but don't rule out a fifth place finish for the crew from Cleveland. The New York Stars have a new boss as well and they made a number of bold moves this off-season, moves that certainly improved the team in the short-term but some are worried they traded just a little too much of their future. The Stars offense will be something to see with newcomer Moxie Pidgeon looking ready to play the Leon Drake role to Bill Barrett's Sal Pestilli impression. If things break right they could sneak into the bottom of the first division but a more realistic goal would be to battle Cleveland for fifth place. That leaves Montreal and Baltimore. The Saints dealt their best player away in Pablo Reyes and while the prospects coming back should help in the long-term it is going to make them even worse this year. Bad enough to wrestle away last place from the sad-sack Baltimore Cannons? I am not sure I would go that far as the Cannons have squatters rights on 8th place, having lived there for five years running. Sooner or later you have to think all of that high end pitching the Cannons have drafted through the years will pan out, right? So far that has not been the case and with little in the way of off-season action geared towards an immediate improvement the Cannons appear destined for at best a 7th place finish. The only good thing you can say about Baltimore is they might be better than their neighbours in Washington after the Eagles sell-off over the winter. If only we could combine the two into one team....the Baltimore Eagles or Washington Cannons. Whatever you call them just put them together and you might have a team that can challenge for middle of the pack in either the Fed or CA. Code:
PREDICTED FINISH CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION 1- Brooklyn Kings 2- Chicago Cougars 3- Philadelphia Sailors 4- Toronto Wolves 5- Cleveland Foresters 6- New York Stars 7- Montreal Saints 8- Baltimore Cannons QUICK HITS
The Week That Was Current events from the past month ending 03/26/1939
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Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal
The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 10-08-2021 at 11:12 PM. |
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