All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal

[Jiggs McGee]

A LOOK BACK AT THE MAX MORRIS TRADE

With rumours flying that the Brooklyn Kings and an unnamed Federal Association team are on the verge of a major trade that my source claims could rival the Max Morris deal I thought it would be worthwhile to look back at that 1919 deal between Cleveland and St Louis.

Max Morris was just 24 years old in the late fall of 1919 but he was already a legend. Morris had helped the Foresters win a pennant in 1917 - their first since 1901- and had just taken up hitting full-time. He was 83-72 as a pitcher including a pair of twenty-win seasons but had also slugged 13 homers and hit .342 playing primarily in the outfield in 1919 and won his second consecutive Whitney Award as Continental Association MVP.

After the deal the string of Whitney Awards and the legend would continue to grow. He would win 5 more MVP awards, three triple crowns and completely rewrite the record book with his homerun displays. Morris doubled his homerun output to 26 in his first season with St. Louis but that was just the beginning as he would sock 53 round-trippers in 1921, 59 in 1922 and then an amazing 60 in 1923. Still going strong at age 35 Morris hit at least 50 homers in a season five times and has 521 for his career. His most satisfying moment likely came in the 1920 series when he hit .350 but was held homerless as the Pioneers beat his old club Cleveland to win their only Series (so far anyways) with Morris.

But what about the four players (and $10,000 cash) the Foresters acquired from St Louis in the deal. How did their careers fare?


P MILT SEXTON - A second round pick out of Henry Hudson in 1917, Sexton threw a no-hitter in college. At the time of the trade he was a promising 23 year old lefthander coming off a breakout second season in the majors, compiling a 15-8 record with a 2.86 era and a Federal Association best .43 k/9. Big things were expected of him in Cleveland but that 1918 season would be the zenith of Sexton's career as he won just 4 games in a Cleveland uniform and spent most of the 1920's pitching in AAA. The Foresters released him in 1926 and he signed with San Diego of the Great Western League where he remains at age 34. Sexton did post a 66-23 record for the Conquistadors and helped them win two GWL titles.


OF JOHN HILL - was a 25 year old outfielder taken in the 10th round by St Louis out of Travis College in 1914. He made the big leagues in 1918 and played 111 games in the season before the trade, slashing .291/.317/.392. Hill would spend 4 seasons as a backup outfielder with the Foresters, appearing in 395 career games and slashing .308/.351/.448 before being released in 1926 after spending two years in the minors. He retired at that point.


SS JAMES GERHARDT - Bayou State product was taken in the third round of the 1917 draft by the Pioneers. OSA named him the 27th best prospect in the year proceeding the deal, a season he spent hitting .337 with 10 homers in Class A. He spent a couple of more seasons in the minors after the trade, finally making his Cleveland debut in 1922 at the age of 26. He never progressed beyond a utility infield spot in Cleveland, hitting .286 with 4 homers in 219 career games before being released prior to the 1927 season. Since then he has played for a pair of independent teams including this season with Houston of the Lone State Association.



3B JIM CATOR - Along with Sexton, the prize piece in the deal was Cator. Drafted 2nd overall out of Central Ohio University by the Pioneers in 1915. He was rated as high as the 10th best prospect in the game (1918) and was 11th heading into the 1919 season. He was 24 and played most of the season at AA Dayton, hitting .326 and helping his team win a league title. He did not play in St Louis in 1919 but did get a total of 14 FABL games under his belt from brief call-ups the previous two years.

In Cleveland, Cator immediately was handed the starting 3B job and had a great rookie season, slashing .339/.410/.485 in 129 games and finishing second in CA Whitney Award voting. Cator also enjoyed an outstanding Series, going 9-for-18 in the loss to the Pioneers. He looked to be the solid hitting third baseman the Foresters had really lacked since Bill Fitzgerald manned the hot corner at the turn of the century and helped Cleveland win it's first pennant in 1901.

Cator was solid in 1921- his 27 year old season - but just a little less productive than he was as a rookie. From there it was all downhill as he struggled at the plate and with nagging injuries in 1922 and was relegated to a back up role until 1926, when he regained the starting spot at 3B. Cator would hit .289 in '26 and .282 with a career best 12 homers in 1927 but by 1928 he was in AAA much of the season and released at the end of the year. At age 35, Cator just finished his second season with Hollywood of the Great Western League and unlikely to ever be back in FABL. His big league career consisted of 832 games, a .297 batting average and 37 homers.

SUMMARY

Just looking at the individual numbers it is clear that St Louis won the deal very handily. There is no doubt Morris put bodies in seats at Pioneers Field to make back the $10,000 St Louis ownership included in the trade many, many times over. However, aside from the first year after the trade - when they both made the Series and the Pioneers prevaled in 5 games neither organization has done much.

The Pioneers won a second pennant with Morris in 1921 but have finished as high as second only once since and 6 times in the past nine years ended up in the second division so despite all of his individual accomplishments Morris has been unable to bring a consistent winner to St Louis.

It has been much the same in Cleveland in the 11 years since the deal. A pennant in 1920 followed by finishing just 1 game out of first in an incredible 1921 Continental Association race that saw Montreal beat Brooklyn in a 1 game playoff with Cleveland a game back, Philadelphia 2 back, Baltimore 3 off the pace and Chicago 4 games back. In other words we could have very easily see a Cleveland-St Louis rematch in '21. The Foresters also had very close calls in 1923, 1925 and 1927, finishing within 6 games of first place each time so one could easily say the Foresters fared better than St Louis since the deal. Saying that, however, is clearly ignoring that fact the Cleveland would likely have celebrated several more pennants during that time frame had they hung on to Morris - he was worth an average of about 8 WAR a season from 1921 to 1927.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and yes Morris wanted out of Cleveland, but it is clear dealing Morris cost the Foresters at least one pennant and perhaps more. Morris did get himself a World Series ring in St Louis, but might have had a handful had he elected to remain a Forester.

[DD Martin]

As the Current GM of the Foresters I hated this trade (happened before human GM’s took over). Morris would still look good at 1B in Forester Green today. I got rid of most of the players that were acquired shortly after taking over. The only player that really survived a few season was 3B Jim Cator. The rest of the deal in looking at things was a total bust and even with Cator it was one of the worst trades ever. Maybe on 2nd only to the Mariners heist of Jay Buhner from the Yankees

[Jiggs McGee]

1930 MOCK FIRST ROUND

Here is Jiggs McGeee's annual ranking of the top 16 players available for the Figment draft. Note this is not a true mock draft, in that I am not identifying who the 16 teams will pick in each slot, but rather who they should pick if they are just looking at best available player and not factoring in positions of need for their respective clubs.

1-JAKE FLINT C LUBBOCK STATE HAWKS

I was debating whether Flint or George Fox third baseman Johnny Turner should go first overall until I started comparing what Flint accomplished compared to every other catcher to ever play college ball. Here is what I found.

There has never been a catcher who posted the kind of college numbers that Jack Flint put up during 3 All-American seasons at Lubbock State. The closest is probably Dick York, the long-time Detroit catcher who played for Georgia Baptist from 1915-17. Flint is the career leader among catchers in virtually every AIAA offensive category and the single-season record holder among catchers in OBP, hits and runs scored.

Here is a comparison of Flint's career college stats to 4 prominent FABL catchers who also played college ball. (Note TR Goins and Joe Welch are excluded as they did not play college ball)

TEAM    NAME                SLASH       OPS+   WAR
?	JACK FLINT 	.356/.449/.546	159	8.3
DET	Dick York	.336/.417/.547	150	4.3
CHC	Fred Barrell	.331/.427/.462	141	4.0
PIT	Jim Pool	.301/.410/.486	139	5.6
BKN     Mike Taylor     .299/.381/.520  126     4.3

Now, I am not saying Flint is going to have a better career then Dick York, but it certainly looks like he is a much better prospect then York and far better than even Fred Barrell, who the Chicago Cougars drafted third overall in 1926.

2- JOHNNY TURNER 3B GEORGE FOX COLLEGE REDS
Turner is one of two George Fox players who should be selected in the first round. Turner hit .367 for his college career and played every game in each of the past three seasons for the Reds and was a first team All-American this season.

3- LEE PORTER SS NASHVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
There are several very good high school shortstops available in this draft and that might cause Porter to slide a bit as a team may gamble on one being available in the second round. That might be a mistake as Porter is not only an above average defender, but his offense has improved each of his three seasons in Nashville.

4- JIM WRIGHT 1B-C CHICAGO POLY PANTHERS
May end up as a catcher in the pros, a position he played a lot in college and was an All-American his freshman year.

5- MEL ENNIS LHP SAN ANTONIO HIGH SCHOOL
After his freshman year the question seemed to be how many Allen Awards would this kid win. He did not pitch much as a sophomore but rebounded with a decent draft year, but still no where near his freshman season. Teams are desperate for quality pitching so someone will take a chance on Ennis, and likely very early. He could evolve in to a very good pitcher, but he could just as easily be a huge bust.

6- RIP CURRY OF-RHP GEORGE FOX COLLEGE REDS
Curry went 19-8 over 3 seasons as a pitcher at George Fox, but his .414 career batting average suggests his future his in the outfield.

7- IKE JOYAL RHP WILKES-BARRE HIGH SCHOOL
Put together three very good seasons including a sensational sophomore year. High School arms are always unpredictable but I would suggest he might even have a higher upside then Mel Ennis but he has something Ennis does not - a history of short-term arm injuries. Are they nothing to worry about or the sign of future problems to come?

8- DOC LITTLEFIELD 2B TRAVIS COLLEGE BUCKS
Might not compare to the premier college middle infielders in last year's class but it looks like he will play in the majors, based on his defense alone. Can hit a bit as well, slashed .320/.368/.463 in his draft year.

9- OTTO DEAL SS MERIDIAN HIGH SCHOOL
Off the charts defense from this high school shortstop. Question is will his bat develop enough for him to be able to be more than just a defensive replacement in FABL.

10- AL HORTON OF COLLEGE OF SAN DIEGO FRIARS
A two year starter, Horton hit .378 in his college career and had plus defense in left field. He is rated at CF but never played there. If he has the ability to play center that will only enhance his value. Was among the top five in draft eligible outfielders in WAR, slugging percentage, ops+ and stolen bases with 26 in his 100 game career.

11- DONIE SCHEUERMANN LHP NORTH CAROLINA TECH
The safest bet among the top pitchers in this draft. Scheuermann should be good enough to pitch in the major leagues but I am not sure that he will be any more than a bottom of the rotation guy. He was consistent for most of his college career, but like so many others was just a little less productive in his draft year.

12- BUTCH WALDRON OF LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL
I was very high on Waldron two years ago and again last season but he had a disappointing senior year of HS, setting career lows in homers and all 3 slash categories. Looking at his full high school body of work he is a solid prospect, but looking at his senior season alone there are a lot of question marks - but the same can be said for most of the players in this draft.

13- JOE NELSON SS GEORGE FOX COLLEGE REDS
The top college shortstop has had two very strong defensive seasons. His offense dipped a bit this year but he is a .284 career hitter in college and stole 43 bases in 150 games. If he gets selected it means that George Fox had 3 players drafted in the first round.


14- GLENN THOMPSON 1B OPELIKA STATE WILDCATS
My darkhorse for a breakout position player. For some reason Thompson did not start much as a junior for the Wildcats, despite hitting .438 in 100 plate appearances this season. Did start last year and slashed .321/.382/.560 in 44 games. He also played a bit of center field, although not very well. This pool is so weak I am inclined to think he might just have first round potential.

15- CHARLIE REED SS BERKELEY HIGH SCHOOL
Made great strides to improve his defense this season but it is still only about average. He was pretty consistent at the plate in his 3 years at Berkely High School, slashing .302/.424/.450 with some speed (29 SB) and a little bit of power (10 HR in 120 games).

16- MILT STORY SS BUFFALO HIGH SCHOOL
Elite offense his first two seasons at Buffalo HS but, like so many others, he slumped in his draft year. Still finished with a .338/.366/.503 high school slash line. Defense needs work though. Perhaps 2B might be his final destination.

[Jiggs McGee]

October 9, 1930 - QUITE A DAY IN FIGMENT BASEBALL

You will be hard pressed to find a better day to be a fan of Figment baseball then today. We not only had perhaps the most dramatic Game Seven in Figment history but also word broke of a huge deal that was pulled off and, the cherry on top, is there is now rampant speculation that the greatest home run hitter to ever play the sport may be traded in the near future.

So where do I begin. Let's start with the on-field action. The entire World Championship Series between the Philadelphia Sailors and New York Gothams was just a thrill to watch but the ending topped everything else we saw in the previous six games.

After losing Game Five at home the New York Gothams traveled to Philadelphia needing a victory in Game Six to keep there hopes of winning their first World Series since 1896 alive. After a thirty year drought the Gothams had returned to the World Championship Series only tun run into a dynasty in the cross-town New York Stars. The Stars would beat the Gothams in 5 games for their third straight World Championship. Now, just 4 years later the Gothams were back in the World Series, for just the second time since 1896, but they once again had to face a Continental Association powerhouse. In this case it was the Philadelphia Sailors, winners of three straight CA pennants and looking for a second World Championship banner in that span.

After the Sailors took the fifth game in New York by an 8-7 score to go up 3 games to two, there was a celebratory mode throughout Sailors Memorial Stadium as the sixth game got underway. The intensity of the crowd only grew as the Sailors plated two runs in the second inning to take an early lead but from there until the end of the game Jim Lorando - the Gothams 26 year old who had a breakout 21 victory season this year- imposed his will on the Philadelphia batters while the Gothams offense battled back with six runs to force a game seven with a 6-2 victory.

The crowd was much more pensive as the seventh game - just the 9th game seven in World Championship history - prepared to start. It was also the second straight year with a game seven and the nerves were understandable on the part of the Sailors faithful after their heroes suffered a game seven defeat in Detroit a year ago. Things got quiet when the Gothams pushed a run across in the top of the first thanks to an rbi single off the bat of young star Bud Jameson that plated Carlos Cano, who had hit a 1-out double.

Gothams veteran starter Steve Castellini held the Sailors bats in check, allowing just 2 hits over the first four innings but an error opened the door in the bottom of the fifth. Philadelphia pitcher Herm Lowman, who had singled in the third inning, hit an rbi double to tie the game in the fifth and would come home to score on a Dick Walker single. Sailors legend David Merchant doubled in Walker and when the dust settled the Sailors had a 3-1 lead.

It was New York's turn to respond and the Gothams would scratch back with a run in the top of the seventh and then tied the game on a 2-out double in the eighth inning from Dick Dickey to score Cano. The Sailors had a chance to regain the lead in the home half of the 8th but Castellini got out of a no one out, runners of first and second jam without any damage being done.

The Gothams went quietly in the ninth as 28 year old rookie Herm Lowman continued to pitch well for the Sailors. We go to the bottom of the ninth and New York gives the ball to Chuck Calvert in relief of Castellini. Former Montreal Saint Bob Clements greets Calvert with a sharp single and moves into scoring position representing the winning run after a sacrifice bunt. After Forrest Sylvester flies out to short center field it brings up the pitcher's spot. Herm Lowman already has 2 hits, an rbi and a run scored in the game and had pitched 9 innings, surrendering 7 hits and 3 runs. But his day is done as he will surely be lifted for a pinch-hitter right? No!

Rather than going to a pinch-hitter the Sailors elect to let Lowman, a 28 year old rookie, stay in the game and hit for himself. The move turns out to be pure genius as Lowman ends the game with a sharp single to score Clements and give Philadelphia a thrilling 4-3 walk-off victory.

HERM LOWMAN
Probably the most unlikely offensive hero in Series history is Lowman. He hit just .151 in 73 at bats during the season so even with him having 2 hits already in the game, leaving him in seemed like a terrible decision. And what about his work on the mound. Yes, he went 14-10 with a 3.58 era in his first season of major league ball but he was given the ball for game seven after having not pitched since September 24th - 15 days prior. But he delivered. Both with his left arm and his bat and the Sailors won their second World Championship in 3 years.

Lowman went from being a fourth round pick in 1923 out of College of San Diego to World Series hero but his path was certainly not a straight line as he spent 6 seasons in the minor leagues before getting his shot this year in Philadelphia. Somehow the Sailors just keep coming up with quality pitchers.


THE TRADE
There were rumours that the proposed deal involving the Brooklyn Kings would rival the Max Morris trade from Cleveland to St Louis a decade ago and it certainly has the possibility to do that. The Kings are perhaps an instant contender with the addition of one of the greatest young arms in the game in Milt Fritz and thoughts of a 21 year old Fritz and a 23 year old Tommy Wilcox spending the next decade together has to cause some sleepless nights for opposing Continental Association managers. Very few pitchers are more highly thought of then Wilcox, the 1928 first overall draft pick who went 17-15 as a rookie this year for Brooklyn, but one of them is Fritz, who was 16-9 as a 21 year old after bursting onto the scene a year ago with an 18-8 campaign and leading the Federal Association in era.

The cost potentially could be huge though as Brooklyn dealt away 5 good prospects including top 100's Ron Rattigan and Dave Rankin, plus the fifth overall pick in the December draft. I echo my colleague Rufus Barrell who said Brooklyn won the deal short-term but this could be a huge haul for the Chiefs. (I will have more on this trade in a future column)

THE RUMOUR
No sooner had the dust settled on the big Brooklyn-Chiefs deal then new rumours began cropping up that perhaps Max Morris wanted out of St Louis. So far their is no comment from the Pioneers but none other than the aforementioned Rufus Barrell suggested Morris would be the perfect piece for the Gothams, Minutemen, Chiefs or perhaps one of the growing list of Continental Association contenders.

Mighty Mo is now 35 and has had some injuries in recent years but he led the majors with 48 homers this season and has 521 for his illustrious career. He has not played a post-season game since 1921 and with the Pioneers finishing dead last this year and successive 7th place finishes it seems highly unlikely he will get into another Series as a Pioneer. Age makes him a declining asset, but he is certainly still a highly sought after target now so Rufus is right. Trading Morris might be the best thing for the Pioneers organization - assuming their front-office can withstand the expected protests from St Louis fans should such a move occur.

Yes, it was a busy few days in Figment baseball.

[mjj55409]

Exciting times indeed.

[Jiggs McGee]

MAX MORRIS TRADED!

After months of rumours and speculation the St Louis Pioneers have done what once was considered unthinkable: trading baseball icon Max Morris. Morris is off to the bright lights of Broadway as the defending Federal Association champion New York Gothams added the greatest home run hitter in baseball history to a pennant-winning lineup. As heartbreaking as the trade is for Pioneers fans- at least the few that still show up at Pioneer Field, the news of the trade probably felt like a dagger to the heart for fans of the Keystones and Dynamos, two clubs who had hopes of dethroning the defending Federal Association champs.

That job got an awful lot tougher for anyone in the Fed as the soon to be 36 year old Morris adds to an already imposing New York offense. Age might be a bit of a concern and Morris has suffered lengthy injuries in 3 of the last 4 seasons but he still managed to hit 157 of his 521 career homers over that period. Last season he was healthy until a muscle strain ended his season in mid-September, but not until after he hit .360 with a league best 48 homers and .709 slugging percentage. If he stays healthy it will be tough to find a more intimidating heart of the order than Carlos Cano (.315,23,113), Bud Jameson (.381,32,114), Morris (.360,48,132) and Mose Christopher (.281,25,103). The deal does mean that 26 year old star first baseman Bud Jameson likely shifts to right field which relegates Dick Dickey (.306,11,72) to the bench.

Fan reaction will likely be an issue for the Pioneers but the club was already last in attendance with Morris in the lineup so from that stand point this is probably the best time to trade their star. Move Morris while he is still at his peak and get young assets in return and the Pioneers certainly accomplished that landing 5 prospects from the Gothams headlined by first baseman Fred McCormick. St Louis also netted outfielder Calvin Brown and pitchers Jack Richardson, Ray Benson and Ben Curtin in the trade.

McCormick is the number 6 ranked prospect in the sport and split last season between AA and AAA, where he hit a combined .301 with 11 homers in 137 games. He has just turned 21 but will likely be given every chance in the spring to win the now vacant first base job for this season. St Louis does have another very good young prospect already in their system in 23 year old Johnnie Morse so the opening day job for McCormick is not yet a lock.

Jack Richardson is right handed and will turn 23 by opening day. He is a top 100 prospect who pitched at AA last season, going 9-8 with a 4.11 era and is projected to be a middle of the rotation arm. Ray Benson is a 24 year old lefthander who will likely be in the Pioneers rotation on opening day. He was 7-9 with a 3.77 era for AAA Toledo last season and while his upside may not be as high as Richardson's, Benson does look like a solid starting pitcher. Benson is also known for a tremendous work ethic. The Pioneers pitching staff was worst in the Federal Association last year and they already had some help on the way in a couple of seasons with highly touted prospects Dutch Sheldon, 21, and 20 year old George Kyle. If those two live up to their top of the rotation billing and the new acquisitions pan out the Pioneers could have quite a pitching staff in a couple of years.

St Louis also added 25 year old reliever Ben Curtin, who split last season between the Gothams and Toledo and 21 year old outfielder Calvin Brown, who hit .312 with 11 homers and 13 stolen bases in A ball.


JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE FOR NEW YORK - A great deal for the Gothams who are in win-now mode trying to get their first World Championship Series trophy since 1896. The Gothams were the best team in the Fed last year but couldn't quite overcome the Philadelphia Sailors last October. Morris is, if healthy, certainly the type of player that can put them over the top. They gave up a great 1B prospect in McCormick but Bud Jameson can easily shift back to that position after Morris retires. Richardson and Benson are both pitchers with high upsides but the Gothams got the deal done without having to part with their top pitching prospect in Hank Spencer or their top prospect overall in Mahlon Strong. They also received a nice asset back in a recent trade that sent veteran arm Steve Castellini (19-7, 2.67) to the Cougars so the farm did not take that drastic a hit. Castellini might be missed but I expect the hope in New York is 23 year old Lou Ellertson is ready to step into the number two starting spot behind ace Jim Lonardo.

THOUGHTS ON THE MOVE FOR THE PIONEERS- Max Morris is without question the greatest power hitter in the game and maybe the best player to have ever played baseball. You are not going to win a deal in the eye of the fans moving a player of his caliber. However, it had to be done. The Pioneers have endured 4 straight losing seasons and gotten worse each year. Their attendance hit a low water mark that hadn't been seen since Morris joined the club a decade ago. Morris will be 36 years old by opening day and he has had some injuries but he hit more homers last season then the entire Toronto Wolves team. He is a player that can make a difference on a contender so he has value. If Morris stayed a Pioneer there is likely little chance they would become a contender before his career came to an end so the move was necessary both for Morris and the club.

The Pioneers are very early in a rebuild and the assets they got in return for Morris could jump start things. The key is those prospects have to pan out but then the key for the Gothams is Morris has to stay healthy. There is an element of risk on both sides, like in any trade, but this might be a deal we look back on in 5 years and say it really helped both teams. The Gothams hopefully getting their World Championship ring, Morris gets to end his career sometime in the next few years with more playoff games under his belt and the Pioneers become a contender led by a maturing McCormick, Richardson and Benson. The league as a whole wins as well because there will be plenty of hype in New York with Max Morris in town. I love this deal on so many levels: for both teams and the league as a whole.

[Jiggs McGee]

TEN THINGS I THINK WITH JIGGS MCGEE

1- The New York Gothams are clearly the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of this universe (Jiggs must have the ability to see about 90 years into the future). They got their Brady in Max Morris. Staying with the Tampa analogy, the addition of Joe Perret from Cleveland gives the Gothams a dependable sidekick to Morris along the lines of Gronk. Perret and Sprague will get on base and set the table for the big three power guys. If this top half of batting order doesn't scare Federal Association pitchers then I am not sure what would:

    POSSIBLE GOTHAM BATTING ORDER 1-5
1 CF Bobby Sprague    .339/.393/.444   4 HR  64 RBI
2 LF Joe Perret       .356/.403/.564  14 HR  64 RBI
3 RF Bud Jameson      .381/.446/.668  32 HR 114 RBI
4 1B Max Morris	      .360/.432/.709  48 HR 132 RBI
5 2B Mose Christopher .281/.344/.452  25 HR 103 RBI

Jameson, Morris and Christopher combined for 105 homeruns last season. Other than the St Louis Pioneers, who are now in a complete rebuild without Morris and the Gothams themselves, no other Federal Association team hit more then 99 homers. That is team - as in the entire ballclub, not just 3 guys.

Now New York's Bigsby Oval is not the power hitter's paradise that Pioneers Field has been all these years for Morris, so the thinking is his production might drop a bit in New York. On the other hand it will be tough for team's to pitch around Morris unlike in previous seasons (No one has been intentionally walked more over the past two seasons than Morris). Either way there will be plenty of excitement this season at the Bigsby Oval for fans who love the long ball.

2- I am not sure that this trade just guarantees the Gothams a second straight pennant. Were we not saying the same thing about the Keystones a couple of years back when they brought in Phil Sandman and Jimmy Endler to join Rankin Kellogg and his crew to try and win a second straight title in 1928. They club nose-dived to 5th and Stones fans in Philly are still waiting for that pennant to follow up the 1927 championship.

3- The Gothams added a lot of offense but did they give a way a key insurance piece in the decision to move on from 31 year old Carlos Cano? Cano had a tremendous year and while he is 31, an age where a lot of players seem to tail off, I am not certain this was the best move for a team with it's sights set on another title and relying on a 36 year old Max Morris to help get them there. If he stays healthy, the Gothams likely won't miss Cano's bat. But what if Mighty Mo, who has already dealt with 2 serious injuries in the past three seasons, breaks down. If I am the Gothams I would have felt a lot better having Cano ready to step in to the lineup. I am also worried more than a bit about the Gothams pitching.

4- I think the Montreal Saints got great value in the deal to acquire Cano without sacrificing a top 100 prospect. Cano is a doubles hitting machine - his 52 last season is the 6th highest total of all-time and he should thrive at hitting them into the huge left field at Parc Cartier.

5- The Philadelphia Sailors have won 3 straight Continental Association titles and 2 World Championships in that span. However, last season they finished just two games up on both Baltimore and Montreal and 4 ahead of the Chicago Cougars. The Sailors have not changed much but the other 3 teams have all upgraded: Cano to Montreal, 25 year old outfielder Joe Snider who hit .300 last year to the Cannons while the Cougars went all in by acquiring 36 year old ace Steve Castellini, who was 19-7 a year ago with the Gothams. And perhaps the Brooklyn Kings, with two of the best young arms in baseball in Tommy Wilcox and newly acquired Milt Fritz, might also be in the mix. The CA is going to be fun this year.

6- It was quite an off-season for Montreal. The big news was the recent deal to acquire Cano but the Saints also have to be very excited with the news that their first round pick, pitcher Chuck Murphy, debuted at #17 on the top prospects list. The 21 year old righthander, who was 14-13 over his career at Ellery College, was selected 12th overall.

7- The highest ranked position player prospect from the draft is Art McMahon, who was taken 8th overall by the New York Stars and sits at #30 on his initial appearance on the prospect list. McMahon actually sat last season out rather than enrolling in college so he could be eligible for the draft again this year, after failing to sign with the New York Gothams a year ago when they took him in the 11th round.

8- Harry Barrell, the latest in baseball's first family, headlines the 1931 draft crop which just has to be stronger then this years group. The youngest Barrell brother is a terrific shortstop for Atlanta High School and he hit .371 in 40 games last season, before batting .519 in 7 playoff contests. The first overall pick next year might be Barrell but it could also be Central Ohio second baseman Freddie Jones, who followed up an outstanding .486 batting average his freshman year by hitting .418 last season. Jones looks to be a plus defender at second and has a little pop in his bat with 6 homers each of the past two seasons.

9- Looking two years down the road, one should keep an eye on Memphis High School catcher Harry Mead. In his 15 year old season last summer, Mead hit .443 with 7 homers while also throwing out 46% of would be base stealers. George Fox outfielders Chink Stickles and Henry Reid are another pair to watch for in the 1932 draft. Centerfielder Stickles hit .405 with 7 homers in 50 games while leftfielder batted .404 with 5 round-trippers as freshmen.

10- Speaking of the draft. It was an unusual draft class this past December, to say the least. Old Jiggs nailed the first overall pick, correctly guessing on catcher Jack Flint going to St Louis but only got 5 other first rounders correct. McGee got the round right on Johnny Turner, Bitch Waldron, Donnie Scheuermann, Rip Curry and Al Horton. In comparison, Jiggs had 10 of 16 correct in the 1929 draft, which was far more heavily weighted with talented collegiate players.

[Tiger Fan]

AN ODE TO JOHNNY DAVIS

It's hard to believe the baseball career of Johnny Davis is over at age 29, and it is not because of injury. Baseball fans will always remember the way Davis burst on to the baseball scene in 1929, and seemingly out of nowhere emerge to win an Allen Award, only to find himself out of the big leagues just a couple of years later.

Davis will always be known as a Philadelphia Sailor for bringing the Sailors their first pennant in 32 years, but few will remember he pitched his final games not in the City of Brotherly Love but instead in Brooklyn. The Kings tried to give Davis a shot at a comeback after the Sailors released him in 1931 but it fell well short of success as Davis was 0-2 with a 6.82 era in 8 appearances for the Kings. Hard to believe he was 24-8 and won the Allen Award in 1928 and followed that up by going 2-0 in 2 starts to help Sailors win the Series but won just 18 career FABL games after that. Davis went 16-14 in 1929 to follow up his incredible age 24 season and that would be it for his success.

He spent most of 1930 in AAA San Francisco, going 10-11 with a 3.52 era and by 1931 the Sailors had parted ways with him. Beyond that he just had that brief stint in Brooklyn in '31 and then split 1932 between a pair of Great Western League independant teams, gong just 2-3 with a 3.78 era in 17 appearances, all in relief. And that was it as we get word at age 29 Davis has said he has had enough and retired from the game.

He did pack a lot into his all too brief career. A college phenom, Davis is still the all-time leader at Garden State(formerly Rutgers) in wins (21) and shutouts (4). He posted a 1.54 career ERA for the Redbirds including an 8-1, 1.49 season in 1923 when he helped them win the College World Championship Series. In his final season at Garden State in 1924 he fanned 17 batters in a game, which tied an AIAA record at that time but has since been broken on many occasions. 11 days after that 17 strikeout performance his college career came to an end with a torn labrum but despite the injury the Chicago Cougars selected him 17th overall in the 1924 draft (the last of the AI era).

He signed with the Cougars but his stay with the organization was short-lived. After starting 3 games at Class A Lincoln, going 1-0 with a 127 ERA+, Davis was surpringsly cut by the organization. The Boston Minutemen signed him just over two months later and he finished out his rookie pro season of 1925 by going 7-4, 3.15 at their Class A affiliate in Springfield. Included in those efforts was his first career professional shutout but all that performance got him was being cut for the second time in his career. The Minutemen let him go in August of 1925 and shortly afterwards the human GM's stepped in and he was smartly signed by the Philadelphia Sailors organization.

He must have been impressive that first camp in Philadelphia as the Sailors assigned him to AAA San Francisco for the 1926 season where he was 7-6 with 11 saves in 67 appearances, all in relief and even got a 1 game taste of the big leagues. In 1927 he was back in the pen, but this time at AA Providence where he finished second in the league in saves with 27 while appearing in 76 games, again all in relief. He likely would have led the league had his season not ended in early September when he was diagnosed with tendinitis.

He broke camp with the Sailors in 1928 and had his memorable award winning season, leading the CA in wins as a rookie, winning the Allen Award and helping the Sailors to their first pennant and World Championship Series win since 1897. It would set the Sailors on the path with the first of their three straight pennants but Davis would only be around for two of them. He was 16-14 with a 4.46 era in 33 starts in 1929 but he did not play in the post-season (the Sailors lost to Detroit in 7 games that year) and would never start another game in Philadelphia after that.

Davis remained with the Sailors in 1930, going 2-1 with a 4.03 era in 9 relief appearances but spent the bulk of his time back in AAA, posting a 10-11 mark for San Francisco. He still showed flashes of his old form, such as a 17 strikeout performance against Oakland in June of that year and a shutout of league champion San Diego in July. Davis was credited with being on the Sailors second World Championship winner that October but like the year before he did not appear in a post-season game.

Likely because Davis was out of minor league options the Sailors exposed Davis to waivers after he made just 1 appearance for Philadelphia in 1931 and he was claimed by Brooklyn. The experiment with the Kings did not go well and Davis was released that August. He was out of FABL for good that August, being cut by the Kings but catching on with Richmond, an independant AAA club. He also had stops in Portland and Hollywood of the Great Western League in 1932 but missed much of the season with tendinits in his arm again. After Hollywood cut him this past September Davis decided he had seen enough baseball for his life and called it a career.

His final pro appearance would come on September 12th when he pitched an inning of relief for the Hollywood Stars in a 5-1 win over San Diego before 6,101 fans watching as the Stars were still embroiled in a pennant race, from which they would fall short losing to Davis' old team in San Francisco. It would hardly be a clean inning for the hurler as Davis somehow survived that 9th inning unscathed despite walking 3 batters in the frame. He was not charged with an earned run but did allow the one runner he inherited to score because of those free passes. In all, Davis would throw 23 pitches in that final outing but just 8 for strikes and, as it would turn out, would never step on a professional baseball mound again. A career that was announced with such a bang at the age of 24 just 4 years earlier, ended with just the quietest of whimpers.

Davis will always be remembered for that one incredible summer in 1928 but his fall was at least as meteoric as his amazing, but short-lived, rise to the pinnacle of baseball success.

[Jiggs McGee]

1933 AIAA SEASON PREVIEW

Here is a quick look at players to watch and the preseason rankings for the 1933 AIAA college baseball season. First of all here is some background on what the game considers to be the top five position players in college baseball.

1- JOHNNIE SUNDBERG: SS- Coastal California: (draft eligible 1933)- The 20 year old hit .361 in his second season and played every game for the Dolphins. Sundberg displayed some power as a sophomore, hitting 10 homers and is decent, but not outstanding with the glove. OSA considers Sundberg able to fill a key role in the big leagues.

2- JOE NICHOLS: 2B- Golden Gate: (draft eligible 1933) - Missed 8 games last year with a foot injury but still hit .363 in 42 games after batting .311 and playing all 50 as a freshman for the Grizzlies. Has great confidence in his abilities.

3- LARRY RYDER: OF- George Fox: (draft eligible 1935) - Big things are expected of this 18 year old from Dublin, Ohio who has yet to step on a college ball field. A competitor, Ryder is tabbed as a future elite big league outfielder but a lot can change as it is a long ways out from his draft year.

4- HAL CARTER: SS- Cumberland: (draft eligible 1933)- Looks like next year's draft might be a banner one for elite middle infield prospects. Carter hit .335 last season for the Explorers and improved in all 3 slash categories over his freshman year numbers. Defense might be a shade below average at this stage and the knock on Carter is he is not exactly the smartest ballplayer.

5- DON SPRAGUE: 2B- Boulder State: (draft eligible 1933)- Sprague is now a senior after the Augusta, Georgia native went undrafted in December. He played sparingly as a sophomore but had a solid draft year, batting .344. The scuttlebutt from the pro scouts is perhaps Sprague is a much better college player than he will ever be a pro prospect.

Here are the top five college pitchers according to the in game scouting.

1- FRANK BARKER: RHP- Sadler- (draft eligible 1935)- High praise that the 18 year old Yarmouth, Massachusetts native is considered the best pitcher in the AIAA this season as a freshman. The OSA is projecting him right now as a back-end of the rotation starter.

2- CAL KNIGHT: LHP- Pierpont- (draft eligible 1933)- Won't turn 20 until after the season has started but already has two years of college ball under his belt including an outstanding 7-1, 1.63 campaign as a sophomore. There is already talk the Poughkeepsie, New York native is a potential first overall draft pick next December.

3- DICK HIGGINS: RHP- Dickson- (draft eligible 1933)- Higgins had a much better freshman campaign (6-4, 1.65) then he did last season (1-5, 3.27) but is blessed with outstanding work ethic and if he regains his form of two years ago he just might be a first round draft pick.

4- BOBO WHITE: RHP- St Blane- (draft eligible 1934)- Finally we go outside the Academia Alliance for a pitching prospect and White is a doozy. He went 10-0 with 1.23 era in a dominant freshman season for the Fighting Saints. Watch him closely as he appears to be a candidate to be selected first overall in the 1934 draft.

5- PUG BRYAN: RHP- Lincoln College- (draft eligible 1933)- Went 11-2, 2.28 as a freshman and while the wins were not there last season he was still 4-1, 2.50 in 15 starts each year for the Presidents. Bryan did not go anywhere near as deep in games last season as he did as a freshman but did not seem to have any injuries or arm tiredness. The Presidents do have an elite reliever in Junior Jim Hardy, who pitched in 32 games last season, so that may be a reason why they went to the pen quicker with Bryan than the previous season. Bryan will be counted on heavily to lead the Presidents to a third straight playoff appearance, something the school has never accomplished.

Here is the college preseason top ten. Hardly scientific but what I did was tally up the positional rankings for each team with a slight adjustment to factor starting pitching in a little heavier and here, according to those numbers are the ten best teams for 1933.

  PRESEASON TOP 10 RANKING
  1- Lincoln
  2- Maryland State
  3- College of San Diego
  4- Cumberland
  5- Sadler
  6- Golden Gate
  7- Henry Hudson
  8- Travis College
  9- Georgia Baptist
10- Brunswick

As a reminder, last season Henry Hudson won the National Title for the second year in a row, something that had only happened once before (Liberty College 1919-1920). The Explorers are on quite a run with 4 trips to the College World Series playoffs in the past five years. A return trip might be tough as division rivals Sadler and Brunswick also crack the preseason top ten.

[Jiggs McGee]

SAILORS CLASS OF MODERN ERA

As we prepare for the 1933 season it is worth mentioning that Professional baseball will celebrate it's 50th anniversary in two years time. Over the past 47 years teams, and even leagues, have come and gone. Which franchise has been the most successful in that time? Well, that depends upon how you judge success. If we take the ultimate measuring stick in professional sports - championships - then it is pretty cut and dry that the New York Stars are the best team of all-time. The Stars have won a record 7 championships in their history including 3 straight from 1924-26 and the most recent season just completed.

Here is how the teams rank in FABL World Championship Series victories.

TEAM     	TOTAL   
NY STARS	 7
DETROIT	  	 5
PHI KEYSTONES    5
CHI COUGARS	 5
NY GOTHAMS       4
BOSTON	  	 4
WASHINGTON	 3
BALTIMORE	 3
CHI CHIEFS	 3
PHI SAILORS	 3
ST LOUIS	 3
MONTREAL	 2
TORONTO		 2
PITTSBURGH	 1
CLEVELAND	 0
BROOKLYN	 0

If you want to instead judge it by wins and losses the leaderboard does not change drastically. Here are the 16 active franchises sorted by winning percentage.

TEAM		PCT
CHI COUGARS	.540
NY GOTHAMS	.524
NY STARS	.524
BOSTON		.520
BALTIMORE	.519
CHI CHIEFS	.518
DETROIT		.507
WASHINGTON	.506
PHI SAILORS	.495
PHI KEYSTONES   .491
PITTSBURGH	.488
TORONTO		.488
CLEVELAND	.486
BROOKLYN	.481
MONTREAL	.467

The winning percentage information above covers the entire 47 year history of baseball, all the way back to the early days of baseball when the Century League was first formed by William Whitney. Let's instead look at some more recent data. Perhaps we should call it the "Modern Era" of baseball. For argument sake, let's start this so-called Modern Era seven years ago, beginning with the 1926 season. Why 1926? Well, that was certainly a watershed moment in FABL history as that was the year the AI, after building up a rich history full of many wonderful backstories, stepped aside and gave way to human intervention as each of the 16 clubs became the domain of human General Managers. Since then there has been some turnover with several clubs, but the majority of the teams are still run by the same person who assumed the reigns more than 7 seasons ago.

So how did these human GM's do so far? Here is a look at the cumulative standings for both the Continental and Federal Associations from 1926 until the end of the 1932 campaign. It is important to keep in mind the GM's were certainly not on an even playing field when they assumed their positions, as some FABL teams were left by the AI much better prepared for success than others. With that caveat it is clear to see that no matter how you slice it the Philadelphia Sailors are, at least so far, the class of the "Modern Era" of FABL baseball. The Sailors lead the big leagues in Wins, Pennants won and, along with the New York Stars, are the only teams to win two World Championship Series in that timeframe.

1926-32 Cumulative Standings for the Continental Association and Federal Association ballclubs.

The New York Stars are certainly nipping right at the Sailors heels and may well pass them this year. The Sailors are paying the price of 3 straight pennants and the lower drafting position that comes with it as they have seen their record fall each of the past 4 seasons to the point where last year they finished with a 76-78 record. It was the first time the Sailors were under .500 in the Modern Era. The Stars, meanwhile, had a run of three straight pennants from 1924-26 and are coming off a title this past season. New York is trending the opposite way of the Sailors as the Stars win totals the past 3 seasons have gone from 78 to 84 to 99 last year.

In the Federal Association it is perhaps fitting the Philadelphia Keystones and Detroit Dynamos are so close in the standings. Those two teams hold the distinction of playing the only tiebreaker in the Modern Era after both finished with identical 90-63 records in 1927. The Dynamos would win that game and then go on to beat the other Philadelphia team, the CA's Sailors, in the World Championship Series denying us the first all-Philadelphia series in FABL history. I should note there also has never been a championship series between the two Chicago teams and only once have the two New York squads met in October. That matchup is courtesy of the Modern Era and the human GM's as it occurred in the first season of that era - 1926. The Stars prevailed in 5 games for their third straight World Championship Series victory - becoming the only team ever to win 3 straight World Championships.

The New York Gothams came up short in that 1926 series against their cross-city rivals but the Gothams, despite going 0-for-3 in World Series in the modern era, do lead the Federal Association in pennants during that time. There seems to be little middle ground for the Gothams of late. They are either really good with pennant wins in 1926, 1930 and 1931 or really bad with last place finishes in 1929 and 1932. The other two seasons (1927 and 1928) they finished in 6th place so if the Gothams are in the race expect them to win it, but if they aren't it will be lean times for the Bigsby family's club.

So what does the future hold for our FABL franchises? Will the Brooklyn Kings or Cleveland Foresters ever win a World Championship Series? Will the two Canadian clubs ever get back on track and challenge for a pennant? Will the Sailors and Stars continue their domination of the Continental Association? And what of the Fed? It has a much tighter cumulative record after 7 years then it's counterparts in the CA but there is still a clear divide between the 4 upper division squads and the lower quartet? Washington has new management? Will the nation's capital get to celebrate it's fourth title some day soon? For St Louis is there life after Max Morris? Will long suffering Boston, once the class of the baseball universe with 5 straight pennants at the turn of the century but now a city that has not had cause for celebration since 1915, finally earn another title? The first seven years of FABL were a wild ride full of great stories, dramatic wins and crushing losses and only time will tell what the next seven years, and beyond, have in store for baseball fans.

[Jiggs McGee]

AIAA OPENING WEEK

Jiggs McGee is back with a regular look around the world of college baseball, the top source of talent for the 16 FABL teams. I will try and touch on how the different schools are performing and do a weekly top ten but the main focus will be on the players - particularly those that are draft eligible this year- are doing.

How many FABL scouts went racing back to their notebooks this week to see what they missed about Chet McKenzie. The 18 year old outfielder was a three year starter for Baltimore High School but did not post overly impressive numbers: .261 with 23 homers in 124 games. He was undrafted in this past season's draft but caught on with the Central Ohio Aviators. The kid had a huge first week of college ball, batting .563 with 4 homers in his first four games and earned the Continental Region's player of the week award. I am sure he has a few teams wondering why their scouting director didn't use a 20th round pick or so on this kid. Let's see if it is just a hot week or if McKenzie has really figured things out.

Lincoln College's Pug Bryan had a nice start to his season. Tabbed as one of the top draft eligible pitchers, the soon to be 20 year old is 2-0 after a pair of impressive outings. He went 7 and a third in each of his starts blanking Indiana A&M 4-0 on 5 hits while fanning 14. He fanned 10 the next start in a 7-3 win over Chicago Poly. The 14 strikeout game is pretty impressive considering not a single AIAA pitcher fanned 15 in a game a year ago. Lincoln is one of the preseason favourites this year and is off to a 3-1 start.

Dave Smith of Travis College also had a 14 k game this week and he only went 6 and two-thirds in it. A 1931 St Louis Pioneers 7th round pick who chose college over the minors, Smith won't be draft eligible again until 1934. He had an impressive freshman campaign with the Bucks, posting a 7-0 record and a 2.24 era. The 14 strikeouts equal his personal career best, set back in his days at Somerville High School.

A guy overlooked by the scouts last year was Coastal California's Dick Martin. The 22 year old senior first baseman had a down year in his draft season, hitting .260 with 8 homers after his average was a hundred points higher as a sophomore so he is back with the Dolphins for his senior year. If the first week is any indication Martin seems bent on proving 16 FABL teams wrong, hitting .389 with 3 homers and 12 rbi's in his first 4 games and is a big reason why the Dolphins lead the AIAA in runs scored.

A week into the season and we are already down to just two unbeaten teams in Ellery and Rainier College. The Bruins had plenty of offense as they swept two game sets from Pierpont and Henry Hudson. Hudson was one of the preseason favourites and they started well with a pair of wins at Brunswick, another preseason top ten club, before dropping two at home to Ellery on the weekend. The Bruins got a pair of strong outings from 20 sophomore Jim Buckles, who went 2-0 with just 1 earned run in 11 innings of work. He is another player who seems to be a late bloomer. Undrafted after pitching just 1 season at Syracuse High School, he joined Ellery a year ago and made 15 starts, going 5-5 with a 4.60 era. This season he is being counted on as the schools number one pitcher.

The other undefeated team is Rainier College which boasts a promising freshman and 2 pitchers with something to prove to the scouts. Freshman Charlie Wheeler had a big start to his college career for the Majestics, fanning 13 while allowing just 2 hits over 8 and a third innings as they blanked Lubbock 3-0. Undrafted senior Ed Perry and freshman Jim Kitchens also had impressive starts to open the season. Kitchens did not get drafted out of high school, where he was used primarily in relief the last two seasons after blowing out his elbow in his first season of prep ball.

Here is the first top ten poll of the season. Last week's rankings in this case refer to where they stood in the preseason poll.

TOP TEN RANKINGS
#  SCHOOL 		REC   LW
 1 Lincoln		3-1    1
 2 Golden Gate	 	3-1    6
 3 Ellery		4-0    nr
 4 Rainier College      4-0    nr
 5 Brooklyn State       3-1    nr
 6 Central Ohio		3-1    nr
 7 Bayou State          3-1    nr
 8 Maryland State       2-2    2
 9 Coastal California   3-1    nr
10 St Matthew's         3-1    nr

[Jiggs McGee]

A historic moment will come very early in the FABL season when the legendary Max Morris hits his 600th career homer. The Cleveland Forester slugger, who began his career in Cleveland before being shipped to St Louis for many years and then a brief stop in New York with the Gothams before returning home, ended last season with 599 homers. How dominant a slugger has Morris been? Number two on the career homerun list is Rankin Kellogg of the Philadelphia Keystones and Kellogg is still 18 homers shy of 300.

So when will the famous blast come and who will it be against? The Foresters open the season with 3 games at home against the Chicago Cougars so there is a good chance number 600 will come that weekend. Not sure he will make the Cougars roster out of camp but if he does perhaps it might be a good bet to wager that Morris will hit number 600 off of veteran pitcher Hap Goodwin.

Morris has victimized Goodwin for 6 long balls previously in his career, the most he has hit against any current Cougar. Morris spent the vast majority of his career in the Federal Association and Goodwin was a long-time Pittsburgh Miner before being released last season and playing in the minors last year in the Cougars organization so Goodwin has never pitched for the Cougars, let alone faced Morris as a Cougar and all 6 homers came while Goodwin was with Pittsburgh.

Perhaps a better bet is Dick Luedtke, who has given up 4 Morris homers in the 21 at bats he had against him. Luedtke pitched a couple of seasons for the New York Gothams so has seen Morris more than most other Cougars and will quite likely start one of the 3 games against the Foresters on the opening weekend.

The only other current Cougars that Morris homered off are Tommy Wilcox, which he did twice in 10 at bats last season and Elmer Wood, who faced Morris twice and surrendered one homerun. The Cougar with the most success against Morris, at least in preventing homers, was Len Moore. Moore, who also spent time in the Federal Association with Morris, has not surrendered a homerun in 23 at bats. However, Morris is hitting .435 off of Moore.

Looking at the league as a whole the pitcher who has been victimized most by Morris is Harry Horn of the Washington Eagles. Morris has 136 at bats against the long-time Washington Eagle ace and is batting .426 with 22 homers off of him. Next on the list are the now retired Red Adwell who allowed 17 Morris homers and Lou Felkel of the Chicago Chiefs who also gave up 17 Morris round-trippers but faced him 171 times.

At the other end of the scale how about Phil Miller and Rube Smith. Miller, now retired but a long-time Brooklyn King and Baltimore Cannon, did not allow a single Morris homerun in 71 at bats. Smith is the active player who has faced Morris the most without allowing a homer. Smith is now 39 and finishing out his career in the minors but Morris had 49 at bats against him when Max was a Cleveland Forester the first time and Smith was pitching for the Philadelphia Stars and never hit a homerun off of Rube.

[ayaghmour2]

Originally Posted by Jiggs McGee

So when will the famous blast come and who will it be against? The Foresters open the season with 3 games at home against the Chicago Cougars so there is a good chance number 600 will come that weekend. Not sure he will make the Cougars roster out of camp but if he does perhaps it might be a good bet to wager that Morris will hit number 600 off of veteran pitcher Hap Goodwin.

Morris has victimized Goodwin for 6 long balls previously in his career, the most he has hit against any current Cougar. Morris spent the vast majority of his career in the Federal Association and Goodwin was a long-time Pittsburgh Miner before being released last season and playing in the minors last year in the Cougars organization so Goodwin has never pitched for the Cougars, let alone faced Morris as a Cougar and all 6 homers came while Goodwin was with Pittsburgh.

Perhaps a better bet is Dick Luedtke, who has given up 4 Morris homers in the 21 at bats he had against him. Luedtke pitched a couple of seasons for the New York Gothams so has seen Morris more than most other Cougars and will quite likely start one of the 3 games against the Foresters on the opening weekend.

The only other current Cougars that Morris homered off are Tommy Wilcox, which he did twice in 10 at bats last season and Elmer Wood, who faced Morris twice and surrendered one homerun. The Cougar with the most success against Morris, at least in preventing homers, was Len Moore. Moore, who also spent time in the Federal Association with Morris, has not surrendered a homerun in 23 at bats. However, Morris is hitting .435 off of Moore.

I'm about 100% positive it won't be Goodwin as I'm pretty certain I just sent him down to AAA in my export tonight. I'd wager big money on it coming game two of the season off Tommy Wilcox. The ideal situation is Morris hits one 600 feet of him in the first inning off him and then he wakes up and dominates the rest of the season lol

[Jiggs McGee]

FABL OPENING DAY AND AN AIAA UPPDATE

Opening Day has arrived and the curtain is about to be lifted on the 1933 season. The great thing about Opening Day is all 16 teams feel perhaps they will discover some magic and this is the year it all comes together. It only takes a month or so for that feeling to wear off for half a dozen teams and by mid-season we are usually down to just 2 or 3 in each league with a shot but on this day all 16 teams have a cause for optimism.

Looking at the spring standings the Chicago Chiefs, Baltimore Cannons and Philadelphia Sailors have plenty to celebrate and perhaps more to look forward to then the rest of the league. The defending World Champion New York Stars had the worst record of any team this spring but according to the in game preseason predictions the Stars are expected to win the Continental Association again, with the Chicago Cougars once more a close second. In the Fed it is the Detroit Dynamos that draw the preseason praise with New York's other team, the Gothams, predicted to finish second. I am sure if you ask them now, each of the 16 FABL General Manager's can give you a list of reasons why their team will be either a) greatly improved this season, b) a pennant contender or c) both. Enjoy this moment while it lasts as for all but a small handful of clubs it will pass all too quickly.

MAX MORRIS WATCH

All eyes will be on Cleveland early as everyone waits for Max Morris to hit his 600th career homerun. The 38 year old slugger split last season between the Gothams and Foresters and showed no signs of slowing down with a major league leading 44 round-trippers. His return to the club it all started with as a 19 year old in 1914 was met with much fanfare and Morris did not disappoint, giving the Foresters 24 homers and hitting at a .324 clip in his 73 games with Cleveland. The result is he ended the season just one homer shy of the 600 mark.

Morris should reach another milestone this season as well as he enters 1933 with 2,935 career hits. Only 9 players have had 3,000 hits in their careers and none of those nine reached even the 100 homer plateau.

Speaking of milestones, the man who is a distant #2 behind Morris on the career homerun list has a good shot to get to 300 this season. Rankin Kellogg of the Philadelphia Keystones has averaged 36 homers a season over the past 6 years and the soon to be 30 year old is 18 short of the 300 mark as the season is set to begin.

ALL-STAR GAME

A new event being met with great anticipation is the introduction of an exhibition encounter featuring the greatest players in each league. The first of what is expected to become an annual All-Star game with the stars of the Federal and Continental Association's squaring off against each other for league bragging rights will be held in Chicago's Whitney Park on July 6th. Proceeds from the game will benefit needy former FABL players and coaches.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Must have been a tough decision to release family but Chicago Chiefs look poised to part ways with a connection to the great William Whitney. Whitney's grand-nephew, and current Chiefs owner Washington Whitney's nephew, Norm Whitney has been placed on waivers. The 26 year old catcher who was originally drafted by the New York Stars but has spent the past 7 years in the Chiefs organization was waived this past week. If not selected by another club he could remain with one of the Chiefs minor league teams. The younger Whitney spent most of his career in A-ball but did appear in 5 games with the Chiefs in 1931, and fared pretty well going 5-for-14.

Speaking of waivers, Pittsburgh has placed Eddie Wilson on the waiver wire. The 29 year old outfielder has played in just 32 career games for the Miners and has a .237 batting average but what makes him worth mentioning is Wilson is part of that incredible group of first round selections in the 1925 draft. Wilson is most famous for being drafted ahead of Doug Lightbody (6th), Chick Dyer (7th) and Jack Cleaves (10th) in that first round that also included the likes of Al Wheeler, Bud Jameson and Bill Ashbaugh.

The top prospect in baseball right now is catcher George Cleaves (the younger brother of the previously mentioned Jack Cleaves). George is a 19 year old who was selected 4th overall out of Elmira High School in 1931. He had a little trouble adjusting to pro ball last season when he hit just .224 for Pittsburgh's Class C affiliate but his defensive skills are outstanding and he is expected to be a terrific hitter as he gains experience. Cleaves is slated to move up to Class A this season. He and his brother Jack (Philadelphia Sailors) also have quite a lineage as they are the grandsons of George Theobold, a veteran catcher of over 1400 big league games who spent several seasons himself in Pittsburgh with the Miners.

AIAA ROUND-UP

Something must be in the water on campus across the nation this season. Either that or the balls are juiced but whatever the reason offense is incredibly inflated this spring. It has slowed down a little this week but we are seeing a lot of scores that would have been mistaken for college football game results instead of baseball and through the first 3 weeks AIAA teams are averaging close to a 7.70 era and .285 batting average. A year ago the average era in the league was just over 5 while batting averages were closer to the .260 mark.

Either way it has made for some pretty impressive offensive production as we are just 13 games into the season but 2 players, Dutch Dillon of Northern Mississippi and Bill Gaither of the College of San Diego, have each already hit 10 homers and there are a host of players with 9 round trippers. Could this be the year someone finally surpasses Calvin Dybas single season mark of 32 set in the AIAA's infancy in 1913. You may recall current Montreal Saint Vic Crawford came within one homer of the record in his final season at Commonwealth Catholic in 1929.

Crawford set the single season RBI mark of 85 that same season but it might get shattered this year if the offensive pace continues. A number of players are well ahead of Crawford's pace led by Ellery Bruin sophomore first baseman Harry Hunter who has 34 rbi's and at that rate would drive in 131 if he played all 50 games.

WEEKLY TOP TEN

The Academia Alliance's Ellery Bruins have won 5 straight games and at 11-2 on the season have jumped to number one in the weekly College Baseball rankings. The Bruins have received some solid pitching but their real strength in the early going has been their offense led by sophomore Harry Hunter (.527,8,34) and 4 undrafted seniors in catcher Charlie Cincotta (.421,6,23), second baseman Doc Leach (.322,2,12), and outfielders Vic Lane (.424,4,14) and Bobby Glass (.320,3,12). (is it just me or does it seem like a lot of undrafted seniors are making a statement this year in the AIAA)

The Lincoln Presidents, who were the preseason number one and also the top ranked school each of the past two weeks, have fallen to 8th in the rankings after dropping 3 of 4 games this week against Whitney College and Central Ohio. Highly touted draft eligible junior Pug Bryan got the Presidents their only win this week when he improved to 4-0 on the year with a complete game 2 hit shutout of the Engineers.

#  SCHOOL 		REC   LW
 1 Ellery		11-2    3		
 2 Golden Gate	 	10-3    2		
 3 St Matthew's         10-3    8		
 4 Northern Mississippi 10-3    10		
 5 St Blane	        10-3    NR
 6 Rainier College       9-4    4		 
 7 Dickson		 9-4    NR
 8 Lincoln		 8-5    1		
 9 Garden State		 8-5    6	 
10 Coastal California    8-5    7

[Jiggs McGee]

HUMAN GM SCORECARD - PART II: DRAFTING (CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION TEAMS)

A short time ago I took a look at how the 16 FABL franchises have performed since the 1925 off-season, which is when FABL switched to online and human GM's took over controlling the fate of the league. The Philadelphia Sailors had both the best winning percentage and most pennants during that spree but let's take a look at how they, and the other clubs did at the draft table. We are entering 1933 so players from our first draft class, 1925, are well into their careers. I will look at them as well as the 1926 thru 1928 first round picks for each team as anything more recent than that is probably much too early in the player's careers. I am only going to look at first round picks in this analysis, perhaps later round steals (and there certainly have been some good ones) is material for a future topic.

Let's look at the 8 Continental Association teams in this recap.

BALTIMORE CANNONS

The Cannons missed on their very first pick by selecting Earle Charlton, a pitcher out of Lincoln College 8th overall. It was a draft that was top heavy with quality hitters and in the Cannons defense most of them were gone by their pick but the Baltimore brass passed on Jack Cleaves, who went two picks later to the Sailors, in order to select Charlton, who was 12-11 with 3.21 era over 3 seasons of college ball. It is easy to see why they went with him as the league appeared to be very pitching thin at that point but Charlton was not the answer. He spent parts of 5 and a half seasons with Baltimore before being claimed on waivers by Montreal midway through last season. The Saints have since waived him and Charlton, now 28 is trying to catch on with the Sacramento Governors of the AAA Great Western League. His FABL mark stands at 8-16 with a career 6.02 era.

In hindsight the 1926 draft was a very weak class for first rounders, aside from #3 pick Fred Barrell and #16 Woody Armstrong. The Cannons took infielder Art Hart on the strength of an outstanding career at Opelika State, where he started 150 games and hit .351, showing some power with 16 homers in his draft year. The 3B has shown some power at the AAA level but has had difficulty hitting for average and now 28 years old, Hart has played just 26 major league games and is a .208 career hitter.

In 1927 the Cannons dipped into the high school pool and took Bill Ball from New Orleans. The SS made his FABL debut at 23 last season, batting .247 in 109 games so he may still prove to be a solid pick but right now two other first round shortstops look like the better choice as Andy Carter is carving out a very good career in Washington while the other high school shortstop first rounder, Rabbit Mudd, is on the verge of doing the same in Brooklyn although he has been shifted to second base.

1928 was a pitcher heavy first round but the Cannons went for a high school outfielder by the name of Ken Curry with the 8th pick. Curry was just the third position player selected that draft and while his path to the majors has been much slower then fellow outfielders Bobby Barrell (6th pick) and Wally Flowers (10th pick) he is still just 23 years old and ranked the 11th best prospect in the game. That does seem to contrast with what the stats say, as Curry hit just .167 at AA last year. The verdict is still out but he is looking like he might just be a bust.

Here is the complete list of Baltimore first rounders:

BALTIMORE CANNONS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925- Earle Charlton     P    8    Lincoln (AIAA)    
1926- Art Hart           3B   7    Opelika State (AIAA)
1927- Bill Ball          SS   5    New Orleans HS
1928- Ken Curry          CF   8    Denver HS
1929- Ray Barnes	 2B  11    Boulder State (AIAA)
1930- Al Horton	         LF  14    Coll of San Diego (AIAA)
1931- Ben Watkins        P   13    St Patrick's (AIAA)
1932- Whit Williams	 CF   6    Henry Hudson (AIAA)

BROOKLYN KINGS

The Kings have been one of, if not the most active team on the trade front and draft picks always seem to figure prominently in their dealings. In 1925 the Kings had a huge win with their first round pick. Brooklyn traded down from 2 to 6 and added a pair of veteran arms while still coming out with an outstanding prospect. Since being drafted Doug Lightbody has won a CA batting title and a Whitney Award while compiling a lifetime .362 average. There were half a dozen elite players available in this draft and the Kings got one of them.

In 1926 Brooklyn dealt it's first round pick to Cleveland to acquire veteran pitcher Mose Smith in a pennant run that ultimately fell short, although Smith would be a key piece in the Kings pennant winning season the following year.

Rabbit Mudd is looking like an outstanding selection at pick 15 of the 1927 draft. The high school shortstop moved to second base in Brooklyn and provides outstanding defense while hitting .278 in his year and a half in the big leagues.

The Kings made a huge trade in 1928 to acquire the number one pick which they used on Tommy Wilcox. Clearly the class of his draft, at least among pitchers, Wilcox is already 57-48 as a big leaguer but was dealt to the Chicago Cougars last summer in a blockbuster deal involving a pair of number one over draft picks and two other top five selections.

Here is a complete list of Brooklyn first rounders

BROOKLYN KINGS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Doug Lightbody    RF    6    Mississippi A&M (AIAA)
1926  traded pick no first rounder
1927  Rabbit Mudd       SS   15    Milwaukee HS
1928  Tommy Wilcox	P     1    Liberty College (AIAA)
1929  Jake Shadoan      2B    7    Liberty College (AIAA)
1930  traded pick no first rounder
1931  Dixie Lee	 	P     9    Little Rock HS

CHICAGO COUGARS

A huge win with 1925 first round Bill Ashbaugh. A second baseman in college Ashbaugh has found a home at first for the Cougars and is hitting .320 for his six year career with 103 homers. As mentioned before there were several elite hitters available in this draft and the Cougars grabbed one of them with the 4th pick.

Another win for the Cougars in 1926 as Fred Barrell, although now traded to Brooklyn along with fellow first rounders his brother Tom and Mike Murphy, is looking like the premier player in the 1926 draft class.

The Cougars surely want a do-over for 1927 pick Harry Humphrey, who never advanced past AA and now at 27, after being traded to independent Houston and then released by them, his career seems to be at it's end. Perhaps the Cougars might look to Pittsburgh longingly as the Miners took an outfielder right after Humphrey. A kid with good genes in Frank Lightbody who, while not quite as good as his brother Doug yet, is certainly an above average big league outfielder.

Another high pick for the Cougars in 1928 and this one, like the first two years, paid dividends. Mike Murphy had an outstanding draft year at Brooklyn State and was being considered for the first overall selection. The Cougars maybe should have kept that Barrell thing going and drafted outfielder Bobby (who went 6th to the Keystones) but Murphy became a key piece in their big trade with Brooklyn a year ago and was outstanding in his big league debut so it is hard to question this pick.

CHICAGO COUGARS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Bill Ashbaugh     2B    4    Rainier College(AIAA)
1926  Fred Barrell      C     3    Georgia Baptist (AIAA)
1927  Harry Humphrey    LF    3    Whitney College (AIAA)
1928  Mike Murphy       P     2    Brooklyn State (AIAA)
1929  Tom Barrell       P     1    Georiga Baptist (AIAA)
1930  James Demastus    C    10    Nashville HS
1931  Ed Reyes		LF   15    Atlanta HS
1932  Billy Hunter      SS   14    Cincinnati HS

CLEVELAND FORESTERS

The Foresters have been accumulating more then their share of first rounders through the years. Unfortunately most have been later picks and so far very few have panned out.

In 1925 all of the marquee names were gone by the time the Foresters pick at 14 came up. They took a high school first baseman by the name of Alex Thompson, who had hit .317 and showed a little power in his draft year. He worked his way up the Cleveland system and made his debut last year before being included in the package sent to the Gothams to bring Max Morris back to Cleveland. Now almost 26, the jury is still out on Thompson but he was very impressive in a half season of big league ball split between Cleveland and New York last season, batting .340. All in all a decent pick for that point in the round.

Oh, 1926. The Foresters must have nightmares about this draft. Three first round picks including #1 overall. They could have taken Fred Barrell, who went third, but they decided on Karl Stevens. Stevens had an outstanding career at Rainier College but as it turned out that was where he peaked. He hit .184 in 14 games in Cleveland but did fare better in AAA. He ran out of options and was claimed on waivers by Brooklyn but does not look like he will ever live up to the hype of being a first overall pick. Fortunately the Foresters did much better with their other two picks that round. Mike Williams has yet to establish himself as an everyday big league outfielder but has shown a little power for the Foresters while 16th pick Woody Armstrong has proven to be a decent shortstop, particularly with the glove. Unfortunately he is doing it in Montreal as the Foresters traded him while still a minor leaguer for Wayne Robinson. Robinson pitched well in his time in Cleveland and was dealt to Detroit for more picks so it worked out okay but from purely a draft perspective Armstrong was a great pick.

1927 saw the Foresters take outfielder Dick Kennon 9th. A better choice would have been shortstop Andy Carter (10th to Washington) or if they wanted an outfielder St Louis got a pretty good one in the middle of the second round by the name of Alex Ingraham. As for Kennon, he is 26 and coming off his second season of AA ball, where he hit .271 in 89 games.

Another outfielder was taken with their 1928 first round pick. This might have been the year 26 year old Leo Clark makes his big league debut but it won't happen after he blew out his knee in spring training. Clark has been injury prone but this season ender is by far the worst he has endured which is sad because it comes after a 43 homer season at AAA. Hopefully he can make a full recovery and go on to be a decent outfielder in the big leagues.

CLEVELAND FORESTERS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Alex Thompson	1B   14    San Antonio HS
1926  Karl Stevens      OF    1    Rainier College (AIAA)
      Mike Williams     OF   13    College of San Diego (AIAA)
      Woody Armstrong   SS   16    Chicago Poly (AIAA)
1927  Dick Kennon       OF    9    Pierpont (AIAA)
1928  Leo Clark         OF   12    Dickson (AIAA)
1929  Amos Leblanc      OF    8    George Fox (AIAA)
      Ben Bernard       P    16    Mobile HS
1930  Johnny Turner     3B    4    George Fox (AIAA)
1931  Harry Barrell     SS    1    Atlanta HS
1932  Levi Redding      OF   10    Central Ohio (AIAA)
      Art Spencer       3B   12    Rainier College (AIAA)

MONTREAL SAINTS

The Saints are one of three CA teams that still have every one of their human GM first round picks in their organization.

With the elite guys gone by the time their pick came up in 1925, the Saints went with high school first baseman George X Johnson. He made his FABL debut a year ago, going hitless in 6 at bats and at 25 it seems Johnson may be just a career minor leaguer. There were a lot of players with similar careers picked right around Johnson so you can't say the Saints did badly with this pick but certainly a player like Abel Man (taken by Baltimore midway through round two) would have been a much better choice. Ah, hindsight...isn't it great.

1926 first round Lee Giffin has been a bench player with the Saints off and on for 5 years and that is likely all his career will hold. Now 28, he has played 233 FABL games and is a .223 career hitter. His speed, especially patrolling center in that big Parc Cartier outfield is likely what has kept him employed. Woody Armstrong, at 16, would have been a much better choice but Armstrong, originally drafted by Cleveland, ended up in Montreal through trade anyway.

The Saints looked to the outfield with the top pick of the 1927 draft and got a pretty good one in Cliff Moss. It wasn't the greatest first round pick (the class was a little weaker perhaps then others at the top of the draft) but Moss has hit .304 in 729 games with the Saints. Perhaps one could argue 4th pick Frank Lightbody was the better choice but you can't hold that against the Saints as Moss was clearly the better player judging by their final year of college.

1928 was the year of the pitcher as far as the draft is concerned with 5 of the first seven picks being hurlers. George Thomas went 7th overall to the Saints as the last of those five arms. Tommy Wilcox has proven to be the head of that class and #2 Mike Murphy is looking like the real deal. Three and four on that list are Chuck Cole and Phil Hicks, both high school players like Thomas but the difference is Thomas has already pitched in the big leagues. Like Cole, Thomas is a highly touted prospect but he struggled in Montreal a year ago, going 6-12 with a 4.24 era. The 1933 season may go a long ways to determining just how valuable a draft pick he was but right now it looks like Montreal will get decent value from the pick with a chance, if Thomas develops like the scouts say, for him to be a huge win. Not on the Tommy Wilcox level but certainly just a step below.

MONTREAL SAINTS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  George Johnson     1B   12   Knoxville HS
1926  Lee Giffin	 CF    5   Grafton (AIAA)
1927  Cliff Moss         OF    1   Pierpont (AIAA)
1928  George Thomas	 P     7   Niagara Falls HS
1929  Vic Crawford       OF    3   Commonwealth Catholic (AIAA)
1930  Chuck Murphy       P    12   Ellery (AIAA)
1931  Bill May           OF    5   Greensboro HS
1932  Pablo Reyes        CF    3   Bayou State (AIAA)

NEW YORK STARS

Two things immediately jump out when you look at the Stars collection of first round picks. One, they are a very successful team considering how late they always seem to pick and two, they seem to love going for high school players in the opening round.

You can't complain about 1925 first rounder Lou Martino at pick 16. He was the fourth pitcher taken but has greatly outperformed the three selected ahead of him and, at age 26, he seems to be just hitting his prime. Martino is 32-12 with a World Championship Series ring to show for his last two seasons of work and 50-24 overall with the Stars.

While a lot of the pitchers taken just before or after George Williams in 1927 have made their big league debut only Frank Crawford (taken 10th by the Keystones) has really stood out. The 24 year old Williams has been brought along slowly by the Stars, finally reaching AAA last season and posting a 7-11, 4.94 season. He does not appear to have the skills to be a quality starting pitcher but may be a serviceable bullpen piece.

The hope in New York is 1927 first rounder Billy Smith will develop into more then the following trivia question: Name one Atlanta High School SS besides Harry Barrell to be a first round pick? It wasn't a great draft class but as mentioned earlier in the Baltimore recap there were a couple of better options at shortstop still available when the Stars took Smith 7th: Andy Carter or Rabbit Mudd. Now 23, Smith hit .232 splitting last season between A and AA. He was exposed in the rule V draft and selected by the Sailors, but returned to the Stars prior to the season.

The Stars did not have a 1928 first rounder.

NEW YORK STARS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Lou Martino        P    16   Birmingham HS
1926  George Williams    P    15   Berkely HS
1927  Billy Smith        SS    7   Atlanta HS
1928  traded pick no first rounder
1929  Nellie Dawson      OF   13   Wisconsin State (AIAA)
1930  Art McMahon        OF    8   Waco HS
1931  Al Haynes		 2B   11   Whitney College (AIAA)
1932  Johnny Hopper      C    16   Spartanburg HS

PHILADELPHIA SAILORS

Like the Montreal Saints, all of the team's first round pick's remain in the organization and like the New York Stars, the Sailors success at the major league level has forced them to pick late in most drafts.

In hindsight it is easy to say (and I have above) that 1925 first rounder Jack Cleaves was overlooked by several teams as part of the elite players at the top of the draft. But as I knock other scouting staffs for not taking him perhaps it is better to credit the Sailors front office for actually taking him that high. A high school middle infielder, the then 18 year old Cleaves did not start his junior year and batted only .263 with 4 homers as a senior. He was immediately rated the #5 prospect in the spring after his draft year so others quickly saw what the Sailors did. Regardless, the grandson of former FABL player George Theobald quickly proved he belonged as he was in the majors the following season and has never looked back, winning a pair of World Championship Series with the Sailors.

It looks like the Sailors missed their boat in 1926 with the selection of Everett Jurgens at #9. I have mentioned previously that the draft was not the strongest but Jurgens has greatly underperformed as a college player who has spent six years in A ball and only hit .215 at that level. The Sailors did atone for that pick with their second rounder, another college player named Irv Brady who has hit .270 in 4 years with the big club.

For the second year in a row the Sailors went with a centerfielder in 1927's first round and for the second year in a row they did not have much success. This time they took high schooler Jack Bates with the 11th pick and Bates, like Jurgens, remains buried in the low minors. Unlike Jurgens, he has had some success at the plate (batting .310 in Class B) and is still 23 years old so perhaps their might be a chance he gets a taste of the big leagues someday. I have mentioned him before but a better pick for an outfielder would have been St Louis' second rounder Alex Ingraham. 1927 was a weak class (or perhaps late developing), as has been touched on before, with to date only 8 position players have amassed as many as 200 FABL games led by top pick Cliff Moss and 4th pick Frank Lightbody, neither of whom were around when the Sailors got their first chance to take a player. The steal of the draft, as it would turn out, was catcher Mike Taylor, taken in the 8th round and he falls right in between Moss and Lightbody for big league games played. Pitching-wise the class of the draft was Chiefs 12th round pick Milt Fritz, who has already won an Allen Award and 73 big league games. Number two on the list of major league wins by a pitcher in this draft is Toronto's 5th round pick Buddy Adams, who is 20-19 for his career.

The Sailors had the final pick of the first round in 1928 and selected second baseman Ed Scott. The Sailors are well known to not rush prospects but like the previous two picks Scott, now 25, has yet to play above AA and even that was only for a handful of games. Scott was a curious pick, to say the least, at the time - he only played 6 games of college ball in his 3 years at Indiana A&M and none since his freshman year. They were admittedly six pretty good games as hit slashed .381/.435/.952 in them but it was still only 6 games. I guess when you are picking 16th nothing is a guarantee and maybe the Sailors scouting staff knew something the rest of the league didn't (and they have found some later round gems) but this pick both at the time and in hindsight looks like just an incredible reach. But they have 3 pennants and a pair of World Championship Series titles in the past 8 years so who am I to question.

PHILADELPHIA SAILORS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Jack Cleaves	2B    10   Louisville HS
1926  Everett Jurgens   CF     9   Sadler (AIAA)
1927  Jack Bates	CF    11   Meridian HS
1928  Ed Scott		2B    16   Indiana A&M (AIAA)
1929  Lou Williams      CF    15   Detroit City College (AIAA)
1930  Floyd Spencer     3B    16   Frankford State (AIAA)
1931  Marion Boismenu   3B     7   Pittsburgh HS  
1932  Fritz Bach	P      8   Cambridge HS

TORONTO WOLVES

The Wolves are another team that has retained each of their first round picks as all remain with the organization at the time of this article. Interesting to note Toronto's focus, more so than other teams in the CA, on grabbing starting pitchers with their first round pick and in the early days of the league they relied on high school arms, the best of whom is still working his way up the system in 1928 pick Chuck Cole.

More on Cole in a minute but let's start with Eddie Quinn, the 1925 first rounder. With a half dozen very good to great hitters available at the top of this draft the Wolves took a pitcher, and dealt two arms and additional picks away to move up from 6 to 2 in order to grab him. Ignoring the fact that Quinn would likely have still been available at 6 (ah, hindsight once again) and the fact that it is clear now the Wolves should have taken Doug Lightbody, Bud Jameson, Bill Ashbaugh or Jack Cleaves here (Al Wheeler was already gone at #1) you do have to admire the Wolves strategy to get what they felt was the best pitcher. The league had a real shortage of quality young arms at the time. If Quinn had panned out or if the Wolves had announced the name Jim Lorando (10th round), Lou Martino (1st rd pick 16) or William Jones (3rd round) we would look at the move in a much different light but unfortunately Quinn did not, or at least so far, has not panned out. There is still time, however, as Quinn is pitching in the big leagues for the Wolves and has done so for the past 3 seasons. He is still just 26 years old and is coming off his first season as a starter, but went 6-18 with a 4.43 era. I think before his career is over Quinn will have turned out to be a solid 3-4 starter for a few years in this league and if the Wolves had stood pat and drafted him 6th that year it would have been a pretty decent pick as there were certainly some first round busts in the 1925 draft. Once again though, I have the benefit of hindsight.

1926 pick Frank Huddleston (11th) was a pretty solid pick by the Wolves. Perhaps right now you can argue that Woody Armstrong at 16 was a better shortstop selection but Huddleston is just 24, 3 and a half years younger than Armstrong, so much remains to be written for Huddleston and Armstrong to be fairly compared.

Picking 13th (their lowest selection) in 1927 the Wolves continued to look to the high school ranks and took another pitcher in Bill Anderson. The 24 year old worked his way through the Wolves system and made his big league debut last season, going 1-1 with 3 saves and a 4.60 era in 25 relief appearances. The bullpen or maybe a fifth starter is probably his ceiling but there were not a lot of quality pitchers taken in the picks right around Anderson. The Wolves got Buddy Adams in the third round, who is 27 and probably what Anderson can aspire to be. Scouting pitching, especially high school arms, is such an inexact science a lot of teams just take the strategy of throw as many darts at the board as you can and hope some of them stick. The high school arms that appear to have 'stuck' in this class are Milt Fritz (Chiefs round 10), Johnny Jacob ( Baltimore round 4) so you can't fault the Wolves for gambling on Anderson here although his prep numbers certainly paled in comparison to Jacob, but - and nothing illustrates the unpredictability of high school arms then this stat - Fritz was just 3-13 with a 3.92 era in his high school career.

1928 could be remembered for it's incredible group of pitchers at the top of the draft much like 1925 was for it's hitters. The only thing is, while there is great potential in this class, only #1 pick Tommy Wilcox has lived up to it so far. It looks like 5th overall pick Phil Hicks is going to be a bust but #2 Mike Murphy is, at least in the short-term looking like the real deal and #7 George Thomas and the this Wolves pick, #4 Chuck Cole, are adored by scouts but have not done much yet. If Cole does become a top of the rotation guy this pick will be considered a very good one. If he doesn't, all fans in Toronto can think is this is 1925 all over again. We could have had a great hitter as Bobby Barrell went 6th to the Philadelphia Keystones and is tearing up the Federal Association. Cole is 23 and honed his craft in the lower minors for 3 years before advancing to AA partway through last season. He looked like a future ace there, going 4-0 with a 1.75 era and appears set to start the year in AAA so perhaps we will find out just how good he can be against big league hitters later this summer. Right now, you have to love this pick as Cole has plenty of promise.

TORONTO WOLVES FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Eddie Quinn	P      2   Greensboro HS
1926  Frank Huddleston  SS    11   Wichita HS
1927  Bill Anderson     P     13   Elmira HS
1928  Chuck Cole        P      4   Louisville HS
1929  Sam Orr           2B     5   Henry Hudson (AIAA)
1930  Jim Harris        P      2   Northern Cal (AIAA)
1931  Bernie Johnson    P      3   Northern Cal (AIAA)
1932  Pete Hunt		1B     2   Wisconsin State (AIAA)

So there you have it. A look at how the 8 Continental Association teams did with their first round picks. It is far too early to fully judge many of them and it is also important to note that many of the teams who were panned in this article for a pick or two made in the opening round, came up big in later rounds by unearthing some gems. What I take from this is don't screw up if you have a top five pick, but beyond that it is likely okay to swing for the fences, knowing there will be the occasional whiff, as long as you land a few gems in the later rounds.

[DD Martin]

It’s no wonder why Cleveland is stuck in mediocrity. This really proves why.

[ayaghmour2]

I was all ready to take Bobby Barrell over Humphrey and then I saw Barrell's serious injury (think it was broken kneecap). I then went with the Chicago kid instead. The only plus is that if I took Bobby I probably would have traded him or never would have went after Tom Taylor in our World Series year and he definitely made the difference.

[Jiggs McGee]

HUMAN GM SCORECARD - PART II: DRAFTING (FEDERAL ASSOCIATION TEAMS)

Here is the second half of my look at how the FABL human GM's did at drafting players in the first round. The Continental Association clubs demonstrated what a mixed bag first round picks can be in a stats only environment. Let's see if the 8 Federal teams fared any better.

BOSTON MINUTEMEN

The Minutemen had the misfortune of falling just outside the top six in the 1925 draft so they had no chance at most of the elite talent that was taken (with the exception of Jack Cleaves who did not go until pick 10) but they still made out very nicely with Chick Dyer. Dyer was a solid college outfielder, hitting .352 his draft year and he has developed into a solid FABL outfielder, batting .315 in 487 career games so far. He has also developed a little bit of power, reaching double digits in homeruns twice so far in his 3 plus seasons. That certainly gives the Minutemen a passing grade with pick #7 of the '25 draft.

In contrast, the Minutemen struggled with their picks in the remaining drafts we are looking at. 1926 pick Rex Kaiser is almost 25 and hit .221 a year ago in his first season of AAA competition.

I have to admit that Bobby Montefusco, the Minutemen's 1927 first rounder had a lot of us fooled, me included. Montefusco went 2nd overall after posting an 11-4 record with some good numbers in 2 seasons at Grafton. It turns out he was just not as good as many, and none more than the Minutemen, had hoped. A finger injury robbed him of a good chunk of his rookie pro year and his development seemed to slow. There may still be hope as he went 3-4, 2.90 out of the Boston pen last year but Frank Lightbody, who went 4th that year, would look very good in the Boston outfield right now.

Barney Meeker, taken 11th overall in 1928, was another guy who looked very good in college ball (.368, 28 HR in 102 career games) but for whatever reason never put it together. Meeker hit 25 homers in 117 games in AA two years ago but last year did not play every day in his first taste of AAA as it appeared the Minutemen had given up on him. It turns out hey did give up on Meeker as he was exposed in the Rule V draft and we will see if he can turn his career around with the Chicago Cougars, who selected him and appear to be set to give him his first taste of big league action very soon.

I am not sure how much you can blame the Minutemen's scouting staff but only Chick Dyer panned out. I'd question the Kaiser pick a little as he was an everyday player just one of his 3 seasons in high school ball but the final verdict on him is still out as he is just 24. Montefusco and Meeker are both guys taken right about expected in their drafts, but for whatever reason just did not develop as most had expected.

BOSTON MINUTEMEN FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Chick Dyer	 OF    7   Pierpont (AIAA)
1926  Rex Kaiser         OF    8   San Francisco HS
1927  Bobby Montefusco   P     2   Grafton (AIAA)
1928  Barney Meeker      1B   11   Commonwealth Catholic (AIAA)
1929  Dan Fowler         CF    6   Commonwealth Catholic (AIAA)
1930  Buck Waldron       CF    9   Lincoln (AIAA)
1931  Jim Taylor         P    10   Central Ohio (AIAA)
1932  Roy Price          P    11   Bayou State (AIAA)

CHICAGO CHIEFS

The Chiefs scouting staff can take some pride that it appears all four of their 1925-28 first rounders will play in FABL this year. However, they are the only team to have their 4 picks in those years all playing big league ball but with a different organization.

1925 first rounder Fred Nader (13th overall) was exposed in the rule V draft a year ago and taken by the Philadelphia Sailors. He saw limited action but appears like he might stick with the Sailors again this season as a backup infielder. He wasn't a bad pick for that spot as others around him have not done that well either but there were better players available as it turned out, including the Chiefs own third round selection Bob Martin.

I will jump ahead to 1928 next since Vallie Turner, like Nader in 1931, was just lost in the Rule V draft, and is expected to make his big league debut for the Chicago Cougars. He went 15th in a weak draft, and only one second round position player (Joe Taylor Pittsburgh) has played a FABL game to this point, so you can't call the pick a bad one. He came from Mississippi A&M, which has built a reputation for developing quality outfielders (the Lightbody brothers and Jim Renfroe are 3) but he only started one season at the school. The numbers for that year were decent (.300,10,30 in 50 games) but maybe that is a cautionary tale as more than one player who had a limited college or prep career has been a bust. I am not saying Turner is a bust yet, but after hitting just .182 in spring training I am not sure he will last the year with the Cougars.

George Johnson was the third of 5 pitchers taken in the first round of the 1926 draft. He was the #29 rated prospect in 1928 when the Chiefs dealt him to Brooklyn in exchange for a veteran arm to help with a successful pennant run, so they certainly got value for him. He has not, so far lived up to expectations with the Kings but then neither have Walt Palmer (7-18 for Pittsburgh, pick #2) or Larry Brown (4-6 for Brooklyn after being pick 4 by Detroit).

1927 first rounder Jim Watson may yet become a decent outfielder in Montreal. The Saints grabbed him in the minor league phase of the rule V draft prior to the 1932 season and he hit .278 with 6 homers in limited action with the big club. He was an outstanding hitter at Ellery in college and has hit at every level he played at. It could be he is a late developer or more likely perhaps, he was simply not moved ahead as quickly as he would have liked while in the Chiefs system. At 26, he is getting old to be a prospect but he might just be ready for a big year in Montreal.

CHICAGO CHIEFS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Fred Nader	3B    13   Cambridge HS
1926  George Johnson    P      6   Birmingham HS
1927  Jim Watson        OF    12   Ellery (AIAA)
1928  Vallie Turner     OF    15   Mississippi A&M (AIAA)
1929  Joe Foy           3B    14   Opelika State (AIAA)
1930  Bolivar Jim Smith SS     6   Cumberland (AIAA)
      Tom Eggleton      3B     7   New Orleans HS
1931  Joe Hunt		P      8   Detroit HS
1932  Bob Walls	        P      9   Chicago Poly (AIAA)

DETROIT DYNAMOS

In the early years the Dynamos grabbed some high school talent in the first round. While other teams in the 1925 draft got near instant returns with Doug Lightbody, Jack Cleaves, Bud Jameson and Bill Ashbaugh the Dynamos took a much more methodical pace with high school slugger Al Wheeler. The first overall pick in the 1925 draft did not debut for Detroit until 3 years later but he was more than worth the wait. A couple of Whitney Awards, a world championship series title, and 151 homers to go with a .335 batting average after 766 big league games and you can clearly state the Dynamos made no mistake with this pick. It should be noted that Max Morris only had 47 homers in his career by the end of his age 24 season, although Morris also pitched at that time and played in a much different era but I think Wheeler looks like a guy with a good shot at 500 homers if he stays healthy.

I touched on Larry Brown's 1926 draft briefly in the Chiefs notes as he was one of 5 pitchers taken in the first round. A high school arm, Brown was 20-11 in Class B in 1928 when he was dealt to Brooklyn for catcher Dave Armstrong, who has put together a decent career in Detroit. Brown is still trying to find his way in Brooklyn and is still considered a top 100 prospect but at age 24 the clock is ticking.

1927 first round pick Harry Meek was coming off three very solid seasons of college ball at Pierpont. No idea what the Dynamos were thinking as they released him just 2 months into his pro career and the Boston Minutemen signed him. He has not advanced past AA since and Boston actually lost him in the rule V draft one year to Brooklyn but the Kings returned him to the Minutemen. Turned out to not be a great prospect but was a decent pick looking at him through the college lens although the Dynamos decision to release him so soon really is a head scratcher. Interestingly, none of the pitchers drafted around him (3 went ahead of him in round 1 and 7 more went in round 2) have done much as of yet with only 3 of them (#1 Bobby Montefusco, #13 Bill Anderson and round 2 pick 9 Ed Wood) have played a big league game.

1928 was a weak draft at the top for hitters, aside from Bobby Barrell and Wally Flowers, so you can't say the selection of Fred Keller at pick 15 was much worse then others taken but right from the beginning there should have been question marks about Keller. Let's start with the fact he only played a season and a half of high school ball. There were no injuries. He just did not play at all in his 16 year old season and only got into half the games as a 17 year old in his draft year. He was a corner outfielder with 2 homeruns, a .283 batting average and 0 stolen bases in his 64 high school games. Nothing about his stats suggested first round pick. He is now 22 years old and coming off his 4th season of Class C ball, where he played in just 32 games and started only 3 all year. He is still young but I think it is safe to call him a bust.

DETROIT DYNAMOS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Al Wheeler         OF     1  Decatur HS
1926  Larry Brown        P      4  Oakland HS
1927  Harry Meek         P     14  Pierpont (AIAA)
1928  Fred Keller        OF    13  Chicago HS
1929    No pick   Traded it away
1930  Donie Scheuermann  P     11  North Carolina Tech (AIAA)
1931    No pick   Traded it away
1932  Bill Moore         1B    13  Lubbock State (AIAA)

NEW YORK GOTHAMS

Looking at their draft history it is clear the Gothams have put a priority on pitching but you also have to give them credit for veering away from that strategy in 1925. Plenty has been said about that class already and Bud Jameson was one of the half dozen elite hitters available so the Gothams get full marks for recognizing that and grabbing one of them.

They traded away their 1926 first rounder to help them win the Federal Association pennant that season - the club's first since 1896 but in both 1927 and 1928 they went for pitching.

1927 saw them select Huck Moore 6th overall. It was a weak draft and most of the pitchers drafted early have not done anything at all. Moore did something last year but it was not good...he lost 18 games at AAA going 1-18 with a 9.05 era in 30 starts. I guess you have to admire the Gothams for the decision to stick with the kid and give him every opportunity but it is clear his 29 career college wins - tied for second most all-time behind Tom Barrell - were the pinnacle of his pitching career. Hard not to draft a pitcher who went 29-6, 1.66 with tremendous consistency in 3 years of school ball.

In 1928 the Gothams went for Phil Hicks at pick five in a draft that saw 5 of the top 7 picks end up being pitchers. Hicks was the second of three high school arms taken (Chuck Cole before him and George Thomas after). The other two remain highly touted prospects but Hicks, well not so much. He split last season between A and AA but will likely get a chance in New York this season as he is out of minor league options so the Gothams would risk losing him if they try and send him down. He is still just 23 years old so there may be some hope but it is fading quickly. I wonder if George Thomas was on the Gothams radar that draft as I am sure they are wishing they called his name instead of Hicks that day.

NEW YORK GOTHAMS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Bud Jameson        1B     3  St Patrick's (AIAA)
1926    No pick   Traded it away
1927  Huck Moore         P      6  Commonwealth Catholic (AIAA)
1928  Phil Hicks	 P      5  Somerville HS
1929  Phil Newcom        P      9  Central Ohio (AIAA)
1930  Jim Mason		 OF    15  Ellery (AIAA)
1931  Don Filipski       P     16  Indiana A&M (AIAA)
1932  Curly Jones        P      1  Henry Hudson (AIAA)

PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES

The Keystones seem to love high school players, having drafted five of them with first round picks in the last 8 years. They also, perhaps more than any other team, are clearly looking best available player regardless of position based on their decision to draft outfielders in the first round 5 consecutive seasons.

Let's start with 1925 and pitcher Art Myers. By the time the Keystones pick came up at #11 all of the marquee hitters were gone so they opted for a high school lefthander. Myers pitched 4 seasons of college ball and was very good in each of them. Perhaps Lou Martino, an equally impressive high school pitcher who went 16th that year, would have been a better choice but it's hard to quibble with the decision to take Myers. He is now 26 and looks like a classic 4A pitcher bouncing between Philly and AAA Louisville. He had a real issue with surrendering homers his rookie season but seems to have curtailed that nicely. He is 13-11 with a 4.20 career era but likely would have spent more time in the big leagues if he was on a weaker team.

Picking tenth the following season, the Keystones again went for a high school lefthander in Frank Crawford. He developed nicely and worked his way up the system before getting a full-time rotation spot last year. Crawford made the most of it, going 18-8 with a 4.41 era and looks to be a very solid middle of the rotation pitcher for years to come.

After winning the World Championship Series in 1927 the Keystones picked 16th in 1927 and with that final pick of the first round they took a college outfielder by the name of Ronald Kumm. Kumm had 3 decent seasons at Maryland State and showed some signs of power potential which he has carried over to pro ball, hitting 27 homers in A ball in 1930 and 31 between AA and AAA a year ago. He has had trouble hitting for average at some of his stops and, approaching age 27, his days as a prospect are done. Looks to be just a solid minor league slugger. I have mentioned him before but St Louis' second round pick Alex Ingraham turned out to be a much better choice if you wanted an outfielder at the bottom of round one.

The Keystones got a gift in 1928 as somehow Bobby Barrell fell right into their laps at pick #6. How did Barrell tumble that far after hitting .398 with 21 homers in 40 high school games his junior season. Well, he broke his kneecap early in his draft year, limiting him to 18 games in which he hit just (I say 'just' only in comparison to the previous year).315 with 2 homers. It is clear that the injury scared some teams off of him. The second reason he fell was pitching. That was the draft that had Tommy Wilcox, Mike Murphy, Chuck Cole and Phil Hicks taken in the first five picks ahead of Barrell. We have not got to them yet but St Louis seems to be the team that really messed up here, taking Frank Shropshire third overall and letting Bobby Barrell slide. The move reminds one now, of what happened two years prior when another Barrell brother, catcher Fred, was bypassed by Cleveland to take the Steve Chilcott of the FABL world in Karl Stevens.

PHIADELPHIA KEYSTONES FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Art Myers		 P     11  Richmond HS
1926  Frank Crawford     P     10  Cleveland HS
1927  Ronald Kumm        OF    16  Maryland State (AIAA)
1928  Bobby Barrell	 OF     6  Atlanta HS
1929  Bobby Many  	 OF    12  Whitney College (AIAA)
1930  Rip Curry          OF    13  George Fox (AIAA)
1931  Bob Land 	         CF    14  Little Rock HS
1932  Gene White	 P     15  Reading HS

PITTSBURGH MINERS

When you have picked as high as the Miners have every year you would expect to have a pretty decent haul. They came up big with Frank Lightbody in 1927 and 1931 pick George Cleaves looks the real deal but imagine if the Miners had taken these players as well: Doug Lightbody, Fred Barrell and Wally Flowers. Those were the players selected in the pick immediately following the Miners choices in 1925, 1926 and 1928. Instead they chose Eddie Wilson, a 29 year old who has hit .237 in 32 career FABL games; Walt Palmer, a 27 year old who bounces between Pittsburgh and AAA and is 7-18 with a 5.10 career era; along with Johnny Guzzo, a 22 year old shortstop who hit .237 last year in A ball as a 21 year old. Guzzo may still pan out but it is clear the Miners would take a do over on all 3 of those first round picks.

They did get a win when the wisely did not pass on a Lightbody the second time around, taking Frank fourth overall in 1927.

PITTSBURGH MINERS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Eddie Wilson 	 OF    5   Grafton (AIAA)
1926  Walt Palmer        P     2   Bayou State (AIAA)
1927  Frank Lightbody    OF    4   Mississippi A&M (AIAA)
1928  Johnny Guzzo       SS    9   Toledo HS
1929  Chick Stout        P     2   Rainier College (AIAA)
1930  Joe Schnell	 P     5   College of San Diego (AIAA)
1931  George Cleaves     C     4   Elmira HS
1932  Lefty Allen        P     4   Hartford HS

ST LOUIS PIONEERS

St Louis fans cringe when we bring up their drafts in the second half of the 1920's. Let's see. We have Brad Crawford who was taken 9th overall in 1925 but has yet to play a FABL game. Would Jack Cleaves, who went tenth that year, look good in the St Louis lineup? How about 1926 when they took SS Jack Rogers at pick 14. Rogers hit .227 in 105 games and has been waived twice in his career. Two picks later Cleveland drafted Woody Armstrong who turned out to be a much better shortstop option. High schooler Bert Harrison was taken 8th in 1927 and is still young enough that he may contribute after hitting .256 in AAA last year and we do have to give the Pioneers credit for a solid second round pick that year in Alex Ingraham.

Which brings us to 1928. Oh no, says any Pioneer fan. Frank Shropshire over Bobby Barrell??? If not Barrell, how about high school arm Chuck Cole after college pitchers went 1-2 in that draft. Shropshire had some impressive high school numbers including a .378 career average and 34 homers in 122 games but if you were not taking a pitcher did you not have to gamble on Barrell's knee and hope it would fully recover?

I can just hear the debate going on in the St Louis warroom. Bobby Barrell, also a high school outfielder, hit .353 with 28 homers in 98 career high school games but he had that broken kneecap. But look at the family lineage? You had to think Barrell was a sure thing. But, a broken kneecap might be bad for an outfielder and look what Shropshire did. He led the high School ranks in homers and rbi's. Hey, didn't Roger Landry do the same thing twice back in the day, and look what Landry gave us. Okay, Shropshire it is.

A dark time indeed for St Louis baseball. Fortunately, with recent picks Jack Flint and Freddie Jones looking like the real thing, the Pioneers fortunes should change but Bobby Barrell should would be nice to have.

PITTSBURGH MINERS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925 Brad Crawford	 OF    9    Elmira HS
1926 Jack Rogers	 SS   14    College of San Diego (AIAA)
1927 Bert Harrison	 OF    8    Memphis HS
1928 Frank Shropshire    OF    3    Sacramento HS
1929 Tom Blalock         P     4    Chicago Poly (AIAA)
1930 Jack Flint	 	 C     1    Lubbock State (AIAA)
1931 Freddie Jones	 2B    2    Central Ohio (AIAA)
1932 Ray McCarthy	 P     7    Chicago HS

WASHINGTON EAGLES

Washington seems to love their shortstops, as they have taken 4 of them in the first round over the past 8 years. That started in 1925, which gives us the curious case of Leo Gorski. 1925 was a bad draft for the Eagles to begin with as none of their first 5 picks have played a single game in the big leagues. The Eagles picked 15th in 1925 so all those big names we have talked about were long gone but what possessed them to take Leo Gorski?

Gorski was a 23 year old who had been draft eligible twice before and did not play organized ball anywhere in 1925. He began his journey playing high school ball for Omaha, and helped them win a National title in 1918, although he missed most of that season with an ankle injury. He hit .320 in his draft year but no one selected him so he went to tryouts with a pair of Independent Great Western League teams but failed to catch on. We can only assume he played semi-pro ball somewhere for the next 3 years as he disappeared from organized ball only to resurface in 1924 with Sadler of the AIAA. He had a pretty good year for Sadler, batting .323 and despite having only played 1 season of college ball after a three year absence the Cleveland Foresters decide to use a 10th round pick on Gorski. Amazingly, the signing bonus offer does not impress the kid so Gorski turns it down and decides to go back to semi-pro ball, or whatever it is he did after his high school days. He must have the best agent in the world because somehow the Washington Eagles were convinced to use a first round pick on him and give him a cool $2,500 as a signing bonus. So Washington drafted a kid in the first round that sat out a year after being a 10th round pick who had only played 1 season of college ball and nothing the previous 3 years. I wonder how this is going to turn out?

Actually a not quite as bad as you might think. Gorski is certainly not a prospect anymore at age 31 but he is still in the Eagles system and even spent a little time in AAA. Maybe they will call him up this year and he can finally complete his journey to the big leagues.

Also interesting to note is that two years later the Eagles took another shortstop who, like Gorski, played his high school ball at Omaha but this pick worked our very nicely as Andy Carter is a solid big league middle infielder.

Before taking Carter in 1927 the Eagles had another miss in 1926 as Bill Whiting has played in just 3 career FABL games after being taken 12th overall. It was a weak draft but of the 15 position players the Eagles selected that year only Whiting (3 games), Jack Burke (5ht round, 24 games) and Frank Piper (6th round, 184 games) ever played a big league game.

In 1928 the Eagles made a blockbuster deal with Brooklyn sending the first overall pick (who turned out to be Tommy Wilcox) and receiving several prospects and a pair of first rounders back. Those picks were used on Wally Flowers, who has turned out to be a solid outfielder and shortstop Grover Carson, who is now the Eagles every day shortstop. In hindsight, having Tommy Wilcox would certainly have been the better option but the Eagles do deserve credit for choosing wisely with the two picks they ended up with.

WASHUNGTON EAGLES FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR     NAME		POS  PICK  TEAM
1925  Leo Gorski         SS    15  did not play in draft year 
1926  Bill Whiting 	 OF    12  Brooklyn State (AIAA)
1927  Andy Carter	 SS    10  Omaha HS
1928  Wally Flowers      OF    10  Northern Cal (AIAA)
      Grover Carson      SS    14  Northern Mississippi (AIAA)
1929  Bill Kirby         1B    10  St Louis HS
1930  Jim Beard          SS     3  Lynn HS
1931     No pick   Traded away
1932  George Gillard     P      5  Henry Hudson (AIAA)

That completes a look at the early first round picks from each team once human GM's took over. At some point I may take a look at some of the very good late round picks, and each team certainly has their share, so quite often what is perceived by me here as a poor first round in reality becomes a very good overall draft for a team.

[Jiggs McGee]

Just a quick college update today

AIAA UPDATE: APRIL 17, 1933

The Ellery Bruins stay at the top of the college baseball rankings was a short one as the Bruins lost 3 of 5 games this week. Ellery, which spent one week atop the rankings, is still leading the Academia Alliance conference thanks in no small part to the offensive prowess of Harry Hunter (.500,12,48), has dropped behind another northeastern school in St Matthew's. The Senators have won 8 of their last 10 games behind the pitching of sophomore Jack Riley (5-0,2.70), who is having a dominant year despite the sudden shift of the league to offense this season.

Two schools on the rise are the Northern Mississippi Mavericks and the Wisconsin State Brewers. The Mavericks have won 8 of their last nine and own the best record on the Continental side. The Brewers started slow, with just 3 wins in their first 7 games, but have won 9 of ten since the calendar flipped to April including their last five in a row.

The Lincoln Presidents, who were the preseason favourite before stumbling two weeks ago, righted the ship with 4 wins at home this week, a pair each over Indiana A&M and St Blane, which dropped the 12-5 Fighting Saints from 5th to 10th.

#  SCHOOL 		REC   LW
 1 St Matthew's         13-4    3			 
 2 Ellery		13-5    1
 3 Northern Mississippi 13-4    4			 
 4 Wisconsin State	12-5   nr    
 5 Rainier College      12-5    6	 	 
 6 Lincoln		12-5    8   	
 7 Golden Gate	 	10-3    2
 8 Coastal California   12-5   10			 
 9 Dickson		12-5    7		 			
10 St Blane		12-5   5

[percy_sutherland]

Who are these All Stars?

This summer--in celebration of Chicago's 1933 World's Fair--baseball is trying something unique. On Thursday, July 6th, both the Federal Association and the Continental Association will pause their normal games and play a so-called "All Star" game between teams that represent the best (the "stars") of the two leagues. This will attempt to answer the unanswerable: which league is better?

Which players should make up these "All Star" teams? The following is but one baseball writer's opinion.

Federal Association

C -- T.R. Goins (Washington), .319, 4 HR
Philadelphia's Carl Ames, Pittsburgh's Jim Pool, and young Bobby Gentry in Boston are all having fine seasons, but for my money I'm going with the player who has been the class of the league for a while.

1B -- Rankin Kellog (Philadelphia), .381, 9 HR
Is there even an argument? By July 6th, Rankin could very well have hit his 300th FABL home run.

2B -- Freddie Jones (St. Louis), .349, 3 HR
The dynamic youngster who will lead the Pioneers out of the darkness.

3B -- Frank Vance (Detroit), .305, 5 HR, 2 SB
You could probably flip a coin to decide between Vance and Pittsburgh's Ed Stewart, so I'll go with the veteran Vance.

SS -- Pete Asher (Pittsburgh), .366, 10 2B
Here's where a Miner finally gets the nod. Asher is having a fabulous breakout season.

LF -- Jim Hampton (Chicago), .312, 7 HR, 7 SB
Detroit's Henry Jones is leading the FA with 10 home runs, but I'd go with Hampton's power/speed combination.

CF -- Dan Fowler (Boston), .266, 7 HR, 10 SB
Although Pittsburgh's Tony Henderson is having his best season at age 30.

RF -- Bobby Barrell (Philadelphia), .426, 3 HR, 3 SB
It's a tough blow for Frank Lightbody (Pittsburgh)--who is having a fine season--but Barrell's is simply playing at another level.

SP -- Bill Ketterman (Pittsburgh), 7-1, 1.84 ERA
SP -- Jim Lonardo (New York), 7-2, 3.68 ERA
SP -- Ed Baker (Philadelphia), 7-2, 3.48 ERA

Here you are missing Roy Calfee who has won 6 games for Detroit, and Ernie Newman, who has won 6 for Chicago.

Continental Association

C -- Mickey Dowell (Montreal), .326, 1 HR
The 32-year-old is leading an offensive awakening in Montreal.

1B -- Max Morris (Cleveland), .245, 8 HR
I cannot not cast my vote for the player who just hit his 600th career home run. And he is currently leading the CA in home runs.

2B -- Hank Barnett (Montreal), .284, 6 HR, 2 SB
Pete Layton (New York) and Jack Cleaves (Philadelphia) are both worthy of consideration. Barnett is having a breakout season and is currently 2nd in home runs to Morris.

3B -- John Lawson (New York), .382, 5 HR
A great third baseman who appears on his way to his finest season yet.

SS -- Woody Armstrong (Montreal), .314, 3 HR
19-year-old Harry Barrell is certainly demonstrating that he isn't fazed by playing in the FABL. The only thing keeping him from getting my vote is that he has played only 26 games. Armstrong has been one of the better defensive shortstops in the CA for a while, and this season he has upped his offensive game to match.

LF -- Art Summers (Brooklyn), .359, 6 HR, 2 SB
You also couldn't go wrong with one of the Bobbys: either Bobby Allen (Cleveland) or Bobby Sprague (Chicago). Or the rookie in Baltimore--Joe Watson.

CF -- Bob Worley (Montreal), 4 HR, 2 SB
Not to slight Ab Thomas (Brooklyn) or Gordie Loftus (New York), but I went with the kid who flashes a great glove in center. Another of the youngsters leading a renaissance in Montreal.

RF -- Moxie Pidgeon (Cleveland), .344, 5 HR
In other years this is perhaps Doug Lightbody (Brooklyn) or Lou Kelly (Baltimore) or Tom Taylor (Chicago), but Pidgeon is proving he belongs in that company.

SP -- Johnny Jacob (Brooklyn), 7-3, 2.76 ERA
SP -- Dick Luedtke (Chicago), 7-1, 2.56 ERA
SP -- Tommy Wilcox (Chicago), 8-2, 2.70 ERA

A lot of deserving pitchers in the CA, but Luedtke and Wilcox are the cream of that great Cougars staff.