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

[Jiggs McGee]

ALL THINGS FIGMENT - FROM THE PAGES OF THE FIGMENT SPORTING JOURNAL

Hello all. My name is Jiggs McGee and I am the lead columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal, which has been called the bible of Figment baseball. On the following pages myself and others will regale you with all of the key happenings throughout the Figment world. The universe is dominated, of course, by the great game of baseball that is played at the highest level by the stars of the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues but we will also talk about the future stars who ply their trade in the minors or the amateur ranks with a focus on the Collegiate and Prep school ranks.

The Figment Universe will also one day soon include other sports besides baseball so we may delve into discussion of those activities as well.

As a background for anyone who is new to Figment you likely want to start by visiting here where you can read about the sports that make up the universe or delve right into the Figment Baseball reports page


Figment is an online league with a fairly unique concept and a very active group of contributors. The league is fictional and based in the late 1920's-early 1930s. It is also stats-only so with no visible ratings the team General Manager's must rely on scouting reports and stats to build their organization in to a dynasty. There are several minor leagues featuring both affiliated and unaffiliated teams as well as Figment College universe and high school league league to act as feeder clubs. There are several league and team dedicated dynasty reports available for fans of individual clubs to follow as well as an ongoing story about the first family of Figment sports, the Barrell brothers.


The history of the league as told by it's creator legendsport is a must read for baseball historians or fans of the game.

The story of Rufus Barrell and his family weaves a tale through the history of sports

AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF TEAM DYNASTY PAGES

Boston Minutemen
Brooklyn Kings
Montreal Saints
Pittsburgh Miners


The above links are the best source for information about the league while this thread will be a collection of articles or discussion about the various athletic pursuits within the Figment Universe. Myself, as a draft guru will focus primarily on the future stars of the game but anything Figment related is open game for discussion.

Enjoy, and feel free to contribute with questions, comments or your own analysis of the happenings within the Figment World.

[Jiggs McGee]

A VERY EARLY 1929 MOCK DRAFT


The dust has barely settled on the 1928 draft and I will have some analysis of that in the days ahead but old Jiggs is always looking to the future.

You may still be celebrating all the great young talent your favorite FABL team acquired in this weekend's draft but for Scouting Director's of the 16 teams it simply means work has just started once again. In this installment I will share with you some names that are on the tip of your club's scouting director's tongue. You may not know them yet but you soon will as these are some of the players the scouts are drooling over when thinking about the next years draft.

Most feel it is a foregone conclusion that, after skipping the draft this season to complete his degree at Georgia Baptist, Tom Barrell will be the first pitcher to hear his name called next December at the draft. Young Tommy may have some company in the form of Mobile High School righthander Ben Bernard. The 17 year old is 11-3 in 2 seasons with a 1.09 era and a 0.83 WHIP. High school arms are always risky but Bernard seems to show poise beyond his years.

Here is my way to early mock draft for the first round next December.

1- TOM BARRELL RHP - Georgia Baptist: So much is already known about Barrell who has been under a microscope because of his famous last name throughout his career. He will end up being a rare 4-season college player which positions him well to set many AIAA career records. He is already 28-6 for his career with a 2.69 era and 340 strikeouts in 318 innings of work. A second team All-American last year, Barrell has been touted as a first round pick ever since he joined his older brother Fred with the Gators. The problem with that is some general managers have the tendency to over analyze Barrell because they know him so well. They start to look at his flaws, which every draft pick has, rather than focus on all of the things he does so well. My expectation is Barrell has a great season and reaffirms he is the best amateur pitcher in the nation.

2-BEN BERNARD RHP - Mobile HS: If there is a pitcher that can replace Barrell at the top of the draft it is the 17 year old from Warren, Pennsylvania. In 132 college innings he is 11-3 with a 1.09 era and an almost unbelievable 480 ERA+. His career WHIP is 0.83. The upside appears limitless for Bernard. However, he is a high school arm and certainly much less refined then Barrell. Bernard is nicknamed the Warden because he always seems to be in control of the situation but if there is a knock on him it's that he knows how good is and sometimes becomes complacent. Mobile was a sub .500 team last season and will be starting 3 or 4 rookies on a team that already lacked offense. If Bernard can lift them into contention it will certainly help prove his dominance.

3-JOHN COLLINS OF - Liberty College: After Tommy Wilcox went first overall this year, his former teammate John Collins may follow in his footsteps. The 20 year old already has 37 career home runs and a slash line of .386/.481/.757 in 100 AIAA games. While the college record of 68 set by Calvin Dybas of Grafton (1912-15) is likely out of his reach, Collins needs just 10 more homers to have the second most in AIAA history. Collins hits for average as well as distance, and has struck out just 44 times in 468 plate appearances. He was a first team All-America selection last season.

4-VIC CRAWFORD OF - Commonwealth Catholic: The 20 year old has been compared to Collins for two years now and is one behind his Northeast Collegiate Division rival with 36 homers. Crawford is sporting a career .369/.467/.747 slash line which makes him almost a carbon copy of Collins. Both were first team All-Americans as juniors. Crawford is a right-handed bat, unlike the lefty Collins and is comfortable in all 3 outfield positions. Crawford is also one of the few baseball players to hail from Hawaii.

5-TOM BLALOCK RHP - Chicago Poly: After a decent rookie season, Blalock broke out as a junior, posting a 9-0 record with a 1.37 era for the Panthers - numbers that allowed him to tie Barrell for a spot on the All-American second team. Blalock is 17-4 with an 8.1 WAR in just under 200 innings of work and seems destined to go early in the draft.

6-SAM ORR 2B - Henry Hudson University: After finishing second in the Northeast in batting as a rookie, Orr's production dropped slightly last season but he still hit .358 with 12 homers. In two seasons with the Explorers, Orr is slashing .393/.452/.704 with 31 homeruns and 17 stolen bases while also playing decent defense. He is the best middle infield prospect available.

7- STEVE STUDER OF - Frankford State: Studer looks like a terrific centerfielder with just 3 errors in 101 games to go along with a very good zone rating and 13 outfield assists. However, his offensive skills may be even better. 45 stolen bases in two seasons and a .353/.457/.688 slash line for his career. In those 101 games he had 63 extra base hits including 32 homeruns.

8- DAN FOWLER OF - Commonwealth Catholic: It should be quite a power hitting display on the Knights campus in Boston this year with both Crawford and Fowler. Fowler has 33 homers in 2 seasons and has slashed .325/.420/.618 in his college career. To go with that power he also has speed as Fowler stole 25 bases last year and has 53 in 102 career games. The Knights are loaded on offense - although pitching is a concern - and a long run in the College World Championship Series will only aid the draft stock of both of the star outfielders.

9- CLAY JACKSON RHP - Detroit City College: Jackson had a very good rookie AIAA season but just exploded last year with a 10-2, 1.40 era campaign that saw him post a 4.7 WAR, second only to Tommy Wilcox. Homeruns were a bit of a concern as a rookie but he cut those down a bit and improved his strikeout to walk ratio as well. If he shows more improvement on already great numbers this season, he might challenge for first overall.

10- HERMAN SMITH RHP - Frankford State: Only 35 times in the history of the AIAA has a pitcher won 10 games in a season. Tom Barrell did it last year and so did Clay Jackson. Another guy who turned the trick was Smith, who went 10-2 with a 1.84 era for the Owls. The one thing that might scare teams away from using a first round pick on the diminutive righthander is his propensity for giving up the longball but his WHIP, strikeout to walk ratio and WAR numbers make him a solid contender for a team short on quality starting pitching - and that is just about every team except the Philadelphia Sailors in the FABL.

11- STAN MERENDINO LHP - Rainier College: Good lefthanders are harder to find than a homerun hitter on the Toronto Wolves and the 20 year old Merendino had himself a whale of a season a year ago. He went 6-1 for the Majestics with a AIAA leading 0.81 era and a WHIP of 0.64. Those numbers were quite an improvement over his rookie season so his stock could fluctuate very wildly over the course of next season but if he comes close to duplicating his junior year he will garner a lot of attention.

12- JAKE JOHNSON 1B - Lubbock State: A native of Lubbock he helped lead his hometown school to the college national championship last July. In 23 playoff games he hit .355 with 6 homers numbers that compare very nicely with his career totals. Johnson has 23 homers, although he slumped from 19 to just 4 last season but maintained an average very close to his career .381 total. At 6'2", 215 pounds he should have the frame to hit a lot more homeruns than he did a year ago. If he does that he will be a high pick. If not, well, good hitting but limited power first baseman are not really in style any more.

13- BILLY SMITH OF - Greensboro HS: Smith led the high school ranks in batting with a .417 average last season and is a .377 career hitter. He is a solid left fielder defensively and has a little bit of power with 13 homers in two seasons. With a career on base percentage of .466 he would make an ideal lead-off man but needs to be smarter on the base paths as he was caught on 7 of his 15 stolen base attempts last season playing against high school catchers.

14- JIM BRIGHT OF - Syracuse HS: A lot hinges on his 1929 season matching or besting his 1928 numbers but if you are looking for a power hitting outfielder the 17 year old Syracuse Star might be the answer. He hit .335 with limited power (.513 slugging 5 hr) as a rookie but began to fill out and hit 14 homers with a .746 slugging percentage while batting .402 this past season. He has a decent size at 6'0" tall but needs to add some more muscle to his frame. I am looking at him as a breakout star in the high school ranks in 1929.

15- OTIS ADAMS OF - Cleveland HS: As a 16 year old rookie the Kansas City native was dominant, batting .447 with 18 homers, 52 rbi's and a .447 slugging percentage in 40 games. However, hamstring problems limited Adams to just 17 games a year ago. He hit .304 with 4 homers in 17 games so a big year is a must for him to show his 1927 season was no fluke.

16-DON HALLAM 3B - Somerville HS: You will be hard pressed to find a better pure hitter than the soon to be 18 year old from Los Angeles. Hallam burst on to the high school scene by hitting .446 with 19 homers as a 16 year old rookie. He finished second behind recently drafted Monte Jordan in the nation that year. Hallman also enjoyed a 28 game hitting streak while appearing in all 40 games. Last season his numbers tailed off, especially power which dropped to just 6 homeruns, but he still hit .365 as batting averages were down substantially across the league. His chances of going in the first round likely hinge on posting close to twenty homers like he did as a rookie.


SUMMARY - The draft class looks very strong at the top with plenty of pitching and power hitting outfielders available. Of course we are talking about college and high school players so a lot can change over the course of a year but the players listed above should all hear their names called relatively early on draft day.

[Jiggs McGee]

THE COLLEGE LEAGUE EXPLAINED

Since I am going to focus a lot on the college league I thought I should pass on a little information about the league structure.

Anyone who looks at the history of the AIAA will see some very familiar school names in the first 15 or so years but that changed recently. The league commissioner, Legendsport, originally set up things with real university names but with plans recently underway to add Figment college football and basketball leagues in the future it was decided that, just like the FABL, the college ranks are better with fictional school names. I believe the commissioner said it best when he explained that fictional school names eliminate preconceived notions of what teams should be like, just as our baseball league does.

So the school names were changed but if you are still looking for a AIAA college baseball team to follow from your own region here is a list of the 40 schools that make up the AIAA baseball league. Note, you might want to read the football history to learn a bit more about some of the schools. All the owners in the league contributed a few school names but the commissioner has gone much further, preparing for the onset of college football and hoops by creating about 300 schools with names, mascots and hometowns.

AIAA BASEBALL

The college league is divided into two conferences: the Northeast Conference and the Continental Conference. There are 5 divisions of 8 teams each and beginning in 1929 they will exclusively play their 50 game schedule within their own conference. The season runs from April until late May and is followed by a College World Championship Series.

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
The two divisions are the Academia Alliance and the NE Collegiate Division. For the Academia you can think Ivy League while the NE is a mixture of schools from along the northeastern seaboard.

ACADEMIA ALLIANCE
Brunswick Knights from South Brunswick, New Jersey
Dickson Maroons based in Watkins Glen, New York
Ellery Bruins from Cranston, Rhode Island
George Fox Reds are a Philadelphia school
Grafton Scholars based in Hartford
Henry Hudson Explorers from New York City
Pierpont Purple from Bridgeport, CT.
Sadler Bluecoats are in Charlestown, Massachusetts

NORTHEAST DIVISION
Brooklyn State Bears from Brooklyn, NY
Commonwealth Catholic Knights are a Boston school
Frankford State Owls from Frankford, Pennsylvania
Garden State Redbirds are based in Newark, NJ
Liberty College Bells from Philadelphia
St Matthews College Senators are located in Washington DC
St Pancras Lions hail from Albany, New York
St Patrick's Shamrocks are a large Boston school

CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE
The Continental Conference is made up of 24 teams divided into 3 divisions. They are Midwestern Division, Southern Collegiate Division and the Western Collegiate Division. Here are the teams of the Continental Conference.

MIDWESTERN DIVISION
Central Ohio Aviators from Columbus, Ohio
Chicago Poly Panthers from Chicago, Illinois
Detroit City College Knights in Detroit. Michigan
Indiana A&M Reapers are based in Terre Haute, Indiana
Lincoln College Presidents from Springfield, Illinois
St Blane Fighting Saints are a school in Tyrone, Pennsylvania
Whitney College Engineers from Gary, Indiana
Wisconsin State Brewers from Milwaukee

SOUTHERN DIVISION
Bayou State Cougars from Baton Rouge, La.
Cumberland Explorers from Knoxville, Tennessee
Georgia Baptist Gators in Athens, Georgia
Maryland State Bengals based in Baltimore
Mississippi A&M Generals from Jackson, Mississippi
North Carolina Tech Techsters in Raleigh, North Carolina
Northern Mississippi Mavericks are from Oxford, Mississippi
Opelika State Wildcats hail from Opelika, Alabama

WESTERN DIVISION
Boulder State Grizzlies are from Boulder, Colorado
Coastal California Dolphins from Los Angeles
College of San Diego Friars from San Diego
Golden Gate Grizzlies are a San Francisco school
Lubbock State Hawks of Lubbock, Texas
Northern California Miners from Sacramento
Rainier College Majestics are based in Puyallup, Washington
Travis College Bucks are from San Antonio, Texas





Here is a bit more background on the AIAA

THE HISTORY OF AIAA BASEBALL

It's roots certainly trace back much further but what can be referred to as the 'Modern Era' of College Baseball began in 1910. That was the year of the first National College playoff was organized by the American Intercollegiate Athletic Association, or AIAA, which was the governing body of university sports but more importantly it was the time that the professional Federally Aligned Baseball League's decided to institute an amateur draft. Prior to the draft the college squads would often see players bolt in mid-season to join a professional club but some stability came to the sport when FABL agreed to not allow any player who enrolls in college to be drafted prior to his 21st birthday. This gave the AIAA schools some roster stability and certainly increased the quality of play.

While college football had a larger following, baseball has certainly grown in popularity over the past two decades and the 40 AIAA baseball clubs have become the largest source of talent for the FABL draft. While the high school ranks still hold a lead in first overall draft picks, the pendulum has been swinging the other way of late as the last three first round selections have all come from college ranks.

                   FIRST OVERALL DRAFT PICKS
YEAR  NAME		POS    SCHOOL	 	FABL TEAM
1911  Mark Robinson	SS  Berkeley HS		Philadelphia Sailors
1912  Eddie Andrews	2B  Nashville HS	Philadelphia Keystones
1913  Max Morris      P-OF  Cleveland HS	CLeveland Foresters
1914  Jim Shelton       OF  St Patrick's Coll	Chicago Chiefs
1915  Dan Waldman	P   Nashville HS        Philadelphia Sailors
1916  Roger Landry      3B  Detroit HS		St Louis Pioneers
1917  Elmer Lambert     3B  George Fox Univ.	Philadelphia Keystones
1918  Dick Dover        P   Dickson College     Brooklyn Kings
1919  T.R. Goins        C   Cincinnati HS	Washington Eagles
1920  David Merchant    OF  Chicago Poly        Philadelphia Sailors
1921  Howie Shifflett	2B  Houston HS		Philadelphia Keystones
1922  Rankin Kellogg    1B  Memphis HS		Philadelphia Keystones
1923  Lee Smith	        OF  Garden State Univ   Philadelphia Keystones
1924  Walker Moore      P   Mobile HS		Philadelphia Keystones
1925  Al Wheeler	OF  Decatur HS		Detroit Dynamos
1926  Karl Stevens	OF  Rainier College     Cleveland Foresters
1927  Cliff Moss	OF  Pierpont College    Montreal Saints
1928  Tommy Wilcox      p   Liberty College	Brooklyn Kings

Another thing the college game has had in it's favor is competitiveness. In the 19 year history of the College World Championship Series a total of 15 different teams have emerged as champion.

 	COLLEGE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
YEAR    WINNER			FINALIST
1910  Maryland State		Frankford State
1911  Lincoln College		Brunswick Univ    
1912  George Fox		Indiana A&M
1913  Golden Gate		Pierpont		
1914  College of San Diego	George Fox	
1915  Indiana A&M		Dickson		
1916  Dickson			Wisconson State
1917  Indiana A&M       	Ellery
1918  Dickson			Wisconsin State
1919  Liberty College   	Detroit City College
1920  Liberty College   	Detroit City College
1921  Northern Cal      	Frankford State
1922  Lubbock State		Pierpont
1923  Garden State		Coastal California
1924  Brunswick			Bayou State
1925  Bayou State		Grafton
1926  Commonwealth Catholic 	Chicago Poly
1927  Opelika State		Commonwealth Catholic
1928  Lubbock State		Liberty College

[percy_sutherland]

THE SWEET SCIENCE

Baseball sure seems to be changing, doesn't it? I mean, sure--we have all marveled at Max Morris's feats. But what do we make now of the Federal Association's Whitney winner, Joe Masters? He is the first batter not named "Max Morris" to hit 50 home runs. And 195 runs batted in? I never thought I'd see that. Is 200 just around the corner? And that 195 mark is a new league record, too, eclipsing the 174 that Dolly Jones had for the Gothams in 1895. You know, Dolly also scored 173 runs that season; a bit more than the 134 runs that Masters scored.

And what of 22-year-old wunderkind Tom Taylor? The Philadelphia newcomer took the Continental by storm, easily winning that circuit's Whitney Award.

But do you know what I like? Defense--I like defense. The fine art and sweet science of catching the ball. We don't give enough notice to the men who are as sharp with the glove as they are the bat. I want to give this a closer look--discern who at each spot on the diamond has the most valuable glove.

Of course, it's only the opinion of this baseball fan, but it is my column.

We start with the catcher. How do you judge a catcher? You can be an adroit handler of a pitching staff, like Alex Diaz. Or an expert at blocking errant throws, like Joe Richards. Or have a throwing arm that makes runners think twice about attempting to swipe a bag, like Josh Fry. But for my money, the overall catcher most valuable for his defense is the Chief's Hank Odegaard. I would, however, keep an eye on young Mike Taylor of the Kings. We only saw him behind the dish for 74 games last summer, but I was impressed with what I saw.

Can I ask a question? Where are the Sailors finding all of these good, young players? Not only do they have Tom Taylor, but they also introduced us to Dick Walker, who gets my nod for the best defensive first baseman.

I have a soft spot for second basemen. As a fresh-faced youth, dreaming of being a ballplayer, I fancied myself a second baseman. But if you want to see a professional skillfully ply his craft, buy yourself a ticket to a Gothams's game and watch Chris Odle. Though I would also check out Cleveland's John Mallory. He only started 60 games for the Foresters, but they were 60 beautiful games.

And you know what? For all the fuss made about his home runs, Joe Masters is a damn fine third baseman. Now, I may be old fashioned, but if someone can hit 50 home runs and play that kind of defense, I'll take him.

Ah, the shortstop. The premier defensive position. The captain of the infield. I'd wager that if a club doesn't have a strong defender at short, the fellows on the pitching staff will be none too happy. So who do I like? I like that kid up in Montreal, Woody Armstrong.

There are plenty of good outfielders in the game, but in left field, I cannot get enough of watching that fellow for the Sailors, Earl Lambert.

And the center fielder may be to the outfield what the shortstop is to the infield. There are some good ones out there, but for me, it's the sure-handed Gordie Loftus of the Stars. Though keep an eye on the kid in Toronto, Freddie Malley.

They say you can hide a good hitter with a weak glove in right field. Try telling Tom Taylor that. The Whitney winner was as brilliant in the field as he was with the bat.

Figment Sporting Journal's All Defense Team

C - Hank Odegaard, Chiefs
1B - Dick Walker, Sailors
2B - Chris Odle, Gothams
3B - Joe Masters, Chiefs
SS - Woody Armstrong, Saints
LF - Earl Lambert, Sailors
CF - Gordie Loftus, Stars
RF - Tom Taylor, Sailors

[Tiger Fan]

A contribution to The Figment Sporting Journal from Brooklyn.

TOM AIELLO IS FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS

The memories aren't very vivid but Tom Aiello has an old photo of himself as a 2 year old, clad in a tiny Brooklyn Kings jersey and ballcap, perched on the dugout steps at Kings County Ballpark. He looks at that photo every day and longs for the opportunity to re-enact that image while dressed in an official Kings uniform. The man standing behind Aiello in the photo is his father John, who played 195 career games in the Brooklyn outfield including 43 in the year the picture was taken. The younger Aiello is now just one step away from making his childhood dreams, like those of his father, come true.

Tom is a 22 year old catcher who the Kings selected out of high school in the 4th round of the 1925 amateur draft. In the past three seasons he has worked his way up through the Kings system and was promoted to AAA Houston last May. He is expected to start this season in AAA but at Rochester instead of Houston, as the Kings have moved their primary affiliate to the New York city. In 85 games with the Bulls last year, Aiello hit .291 and provided very steady defense behind the plate. That is an impressive stat when you consider last season only 5 catchers age 22 or younger played in either a AAA or FABL game. They include rising Baltimore Cannons star Joe Welch, Philadelphia Sailors rookie Jim Kyle, Pittsburgh Miners 21 year old prospect Charlie Ward who played 7 games at AAA and Brooklyn Kings rookie phenom Mike Taylor. It is the last name on that list that might make Aiello's dream of playing for the Kings very difficult as Taylor is considered by many to be a future star and may block Aiello's path to the big leagues.

"I can't control that," stated Aiello recently. "Mike's a great player and is making the most of his opportunity. I have to do the same and focus on my game. If I play like I know I can and continue to be a great teammate, the chance will come."

Aiello knows a little better than most what it takes to get to the Federally Aligned Leagues, and how hard it is to stay there. Tom was born in in El Paso, Texas in 1906 to his parents John and Mary. John was playing semi-pro ball for El Paso's entry in the Lonestar League that season when a scout for the Brooklyn Kings spotted the 26 year old outfielder. The following season John was in Brooklyn, playing for the Kings and earning a decent wage from baseball. The elder Aiello played 144 games for the Kings that season and batted .250. That would be the high point of his professional career as, after hitting .241 in 43 games in 1908, John was dispatched to the minors. He would play for all the same Brooklyn minor league clubs his young son would nearly two decades later with stops in Omaha, Knoxville and at AAA Houston. John would become a career minor leaguer but he did get 8 more games in the big leagues, 4 each in 1914 and 1915 and would get just 1 more major league hit, giving him 168 for his career. John's advice to his son - savor every moment of it.

"As much as I loved playing in El Paso, the difference of being in the Aligned Leagues and playing in Brooklyn was just unbelievable," explained John. "I thought it would last forever too, but all I got was a little over a year. It was by far the best time of my pro career. The other stops were nice. I got to see a lot of things and make a lot of friends in Houston, Omaha and Knoxville but nothing compared to playing in a big league park in front of all those fans."

To see his son now be on the cusp of that experience is as much of a thrill for the elder Aiello as his son. "It was amazing that Brooklyn, of all teams, selected him and has been a thrill for me revisiting all these places I used to play at when Mary and I make the trip from our home in Connecticut. It will be a lot nicer easier now that the Kings moved their AAA team to Rochester for us to see Tom next season." John broke into a smile and added, "but we would love to make a trek to Brooklyn to watch him play one day soon."

Tom is not the only Aiello child with major league dreams. His younger brother Jim, who was born in Mary's childhood hometown of Winsted, Connecticut six years after Tom was born, is playing high school ball in Birmingham, Alabama. Jim, a third baseman, may be the best hitter in the family after batting .298 with 7 homers and 31 rbi's in 40 games as a rookie with the Bulldogs.

So how did a Connecticut kid end up in Birmingham playing prep ball. The baseball world is a small and close knit family and a friend of a friend, former Philadelphia Keystone and Toronto Wolves third baseman Hugh Hayes got wind of the younger Aiello and convinced the family to send him to Birmingham, where Hayes is the manager.

"I'd love to see both my boys make it," summarized their father. "Obviously Jimmy has a long ways to go but Tommy is so close now. And he is ten times the player I ever was."

[Jiggs McGee]

HOW THE SAILORS BUILT THE FOUNDATION FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP IN 3 WEEKS

The Rule V draft comes around each December about a week after the amateur draft takes place. While there is plenty of excitement leading up to the amateur draft, the rule V draft goes by largely unnoticed. It lacks any of the fanfare and certainly the star power top college and high school seniors bring to the rookie draft. However, a smart rule V pick can set your team up for a championship.

Don't believe me? Just ask the Philadelphia Sailors. The Sailors had the best pitching rotation in FABL this year and the result was a World Championship. The number two starter on that title team was 26 year old righthander Rollie Beal. Beal might have struggled in his only postseason start but had he not gone 16-7 during the season the Sailors might not have won the Continental Association title.

Three years ago Beal was acquired by the Sailors as a rule V draft pick, plucked out of A ball with very little experience above that level. It was one of a series of decisions around pitching made by then rookie GM Alan Abel to set the Sailors up possibly for years.

More on the other moves in a moment but let's start with Beal as it was more than just Washington, the team that left him exposed in the rule V draft, that failed to see his potential. After a decent (12-9, 2.51) 3 year career at Liberty College, Beal was selected by the Montreal Saints in the 9th round of the 1924 draft. It was still in the era of computer GM's and as team's seemed to have the habit of doing, the Saints gave up on Beal early by releasing him in spring training. He caught on with Brooklyn and went 18-8 at AA Knoxville in 1924. He was 7-2 between 3 levels of minors with the Kings in May of 1925 when they inexplicably released him as well. Washington picked him up and assigned Beal to Class A Trenton of the Mid-Atlantic League where he went 17-1 in 19 starts with a 2.32 era. He was 24-3 combined with 4 minor league teams that season but when the human GM's took over Washington failed to protect the then 23 year old.

The Sailors finished in the middle of the pack in 1925 so 8 or so teams had a shot at Beal before them but it was only the Sailors who saw the potential in young righthander. To be historically accurate, the Sailors passed on Beal twice as well since he was not selected by them until the 3rd round, 41st overall in the 1925 Rule V draft. He went 16-9 as a rookie for the Sailors in 1926 and has not slowed down posting seasons of 17-12 and 16-7 the past two years. Meanwhile, 15 other FABL GM's are shaking their heads trying to figure out how they failed to see the potential Beal the day of that rule V draft.

Beal was just one of three smart or lucky (or a combination of both) moves made by Abel. Three weeks before the rule V draft in what was one of his first transactions as the Sailors GM, Abel signed minor league free agent Johnny Davis who had recently been released by the cpu GM in Boston. Davis, a former first round draft pick and College World Series winner who went 21-4 in 3 seasons with Garden State, spent two years in the minors with the Sailors organization before bursting on to the big stage this year. He led the Aligned Leagues with 24 wins, earned an Allen Award as Continental Association MVP and dominated the powerful Chicago Chiefs in the World Championship Series.

As if those two weren't enough, the Sailors completed the Fall 1925 trifecta by drafting William Jones in the third round out of Whitney College. Jones, like Davis, made his FABL debut this season and went 13-5 with a 2.88 era. 1925 was an exceptionally deep draft for hitters and the Sailors got one of the best by selecting 2B Jack Cleaves 10th overall out of Louisville High School. Cleaves made his FABL debut in 1927 and hit .289 as the Sailors everyday second baseman. 1925 has, so far, not proven to be as good a draft for pitchers. A total of 8 pitchers were selected ahead of Jones but only two, Brooklyn's Bill Dengler and Al Allen Jr. of Montreal, have made their big league debuts. Neither has been as effective yet as Jones has.

So in a matter of less than a month the Sailors acquired 3 young pitchers, at zero cost, who could form the backbone of their pitching staff for the next decade and they added a premier second baseman as well. Not bad for the first month on the job for their new GM.

[Jiggs McGee]

RULE V DRAFT RECENT HISTORY

I had started a column last night about the Rule V draft with plans to finish it this morning. My expectation was, with 6 players being selected in each of the past two drafts, it would be a fairly pedestrian event with a similar number of selections.

Instead, I received a cable this morning that floored me. A whopping 22 players were selected including 6 by the Chicago Cougars and 4 by the New York Stars. The Cougars I can understand. They have done it in large numbers before, taking 5 and keeping 3 on their 23 man roster two seasons ago. But the Stars? New York is a top notch club, a playoff contender just two years removed from a dynasty really when they won 4 straight World Championship Series. How will they find room to carry four rule V pickups on their 23 man roster and still be competitive?

That will take an article in itself which will be coming soon but for now here is a look back at the last two rule V drafts and how the picks have panned out so far.


Rule V selections can be split into two groups. The vast majority are young guys that just can't fit into the 40-man roster on their existing club and the selecting club feels it might be worth the risk to burn a roster spot all year in order to have that asset longer term. The remaining few are older career minor league guys that perhaps can fill a specific need for a team.

In both 1926 and 1927 a total of 6 players were selected each year and on both occasions 2 of them were returned to their original team before opening day. Here is a look at last year's Rule V draft picks and how they fared.

                 1927 RULE V SELECTIONS
PICK#   DRAFTED BY    POS NAME       DRAFTED FROM     
1 Montreal         OF Jack Fisher    Washington   RETURNED 
3 Pittsburgh        P Dick Reynolds  Boston   
8 NY Stars         OF Mike Mason     Detroit  
10 Cleveland       1B Ron McDougle   Keystones 
13 Brooklyn        1B Ed Farella     Baltimore    RETURNED
2-10 Cleveland     SS Russ Combs     St Louis

OF JACK FISHER - Montreal liked his 20 homer, .388 season at Class A Trenton in 1926 and 13 homers in 80 games also at Trenton the following season so they took a flyer on the then 24 year old but decided quickly in spring training he could not make the jump to the majors so Fisher was returned to the Washington Eagles. The Eagles moved him up to AA Atlanta last season where he hit .304 with 8 homers. He will turn 26 next season and is unlikely to ever make much of a contribution in the majors.


P DICK REYNOLDS - Reynolds stuck with Pittsburgh the entire year posting a 5-4 record with a 5.22 era in a season in which he was bothered by various injuries. He was taken from the Boston Minutemen organization on the strength of a monster 17-2, 2.56 season in AA as a 24 year old. The jury is still out on whether he can be anything more than bullpen filler.


OF MIKE MASON - A second round pick of Detroit in 1922, Mason split the 1927 season between A and AA, posting some decent offensive numbers including 29 homeruns. New York used a roster spot on him all year and despite skipping AAA, Mason made out okay. He hit .268 with 2 homers in 111 games(68 starts) for the Stars. He might spend the upcoming season in AAA but does seem to have some pretty good potential so a very good pickup by the Stars.



1B RON MCDOUGLE and SS RUSS COMBS - Cleveland selected the pair of 24 year old's and both secured starting roles and posted decent numbers for the Foresters. Combs hit .293 with 16 homers, although his defense at shortstop was suspect at times, as he made the step up from AAA where he hit .360 the previous year. The power was a pleasant surprise as he had shown no signs of having much power in his high school or minor league days. That McDougle stuck, and actually became an everyday player, was a huge surprise. The 5th round pick out of high school in 1923 was not really on anyone's radar even after hitting .356 in 223 plate appearances in Class A in 1927. Cleveland saw something in him and he was selected and earned the first base job in spring training. McDougle did not disappoint with a .313 average in 140 games for the Foresters. He lacks the power (just 1 homer) of a prototypical first baseman so he may not have a long shelf life and his defense is suspect so he can't play anywhere else but he was a decent solution for the Foresters in 1928.


1B ED FARELLA - Brooklyn loved the 35 homers and .320 batting average the 30 year old career minor leaguer put up in AAA Indianapolis in 1927 so they took him and gave him a shot at earning a roster spot as primarily a pinch-hitter. He didn't make the cut in spring training and was returned to Baltimore. The Cannons had younger prospects ticketed for 1B in AAA so Farella was released and retired a couple of weeks later.

              1926 RULE V SELECTIONS
PICK#   DRAFTED BY    POS NAME       DRAFTED FROM     
1       Cleveland  SS Pete Asher     Keystones 
3       Cougars     P Cotton Taylor  Cleveland  
2-3     Cougars     P Ray Powell     Washington  
3-3     Coguars     P Bruno Mack     Toronto    RETURNED
4-3     Cougars     C Tony Stewart   Detroit   
5-3     Cougars     C Red Rapp       Boston     RETURNED

The 1926 draft might be better known as the Chicago Cougars roster party. Cleveland selected SS Pete Asher from the Philadelphia Keystones with the first pick. Everyone else passed except for the Cougars who ended up drafting 5 players and kept three of them all season.

How did those players fare? Asher was just 20 years old and had only a handful of AA games under his belt so he was over-matched but did stick with Cleveland although he spent most of the season on the bench, getting just 53 at bats and hitting .264. Last year they sent him to AAA where he had an outstanding year as a 21 year old, batting .332 and playing very good defense. He looks like a solid prospect well worth burning the roster spot for a year in order to acquire.

As for the Cougars players, the three that made the team were pitchers Cotton Taylor and Ray Powell along with catcher Tony Stewart. Taylor was 24 at the time, a late round draft pick of Cleveland who went 11-3 the previous season at AA Toledo. He made 18 starts for the Cougars, going 8-9 with a 4.69 era in the season after being selected in the rule V draft. Last year he was 6-13 with a 4.10 era so he appears to be a slightly below-average starting pitcher at this point.

Ray 'Cowboy' Powell was a year older than Taylor and he spent the 1927 season in the Cougars pen, going 5-8 with 2 saves and a 5.17 era. Taylor, who originally was a 2nd round pick of Washington's out of Sadler College in 1922, was a little better last year, posting a 6-3 record with 4 saves and a 3.59 era in 43 appearances for the Cougars, all but 3 in relief.

The catcher, Tony Stewart, was a 6th round pick out of high school in 1921 and bounced around the minors with several organizations, including the Cougars, before Chicago took him from Detroit in the rule V draft. He played AAA the previous season so the jump to Chicago was not quite as big as that of some other rule V pickups, and he did fairly well, batting .288 in 90 games. He lost his roster spot in Chicago last year and was sent down to AAA where he had a good year (.341,6,57) but with rising star Fred Barrell working his way up the system and Barney Green already in Chicago it is unlikely the 26 year old figures prominently in the Cougars long-term plans at catcher.

[Jiggs McGee]

COUGARS LEAD THE WAY WITH 6 PICKS IN AN EXTREMELY BUSY RULE V DRAFT

Like my wife when she spies a sale leading up to Christmas, the Chicago Cougars and New York Stars just could not help themselves snapping up perceived bargains when it came time to make Rule V draft picks. It was a very busy year as a total of 22 players - 10 more than the last two seasons combined - were selected including an almost unbelievable 6 by the Cougars and 4 from the Stars. While those two clubs scurried around the tree opening presents it was the Washington Eagles that played the role of Santa, losing a league high 3 players in the draft. Several clubs including Cleveland, Boston, Detroit, the New York Stars, Chicago Chiefs, Philadelphia Keystones and St Louis lost two each.

Here are the draft results:

             1928 RULE V SELECTIONS
PICK#   DRAFTED BY    POS NAME       DRAFTED FROM     
1      Cougars	     CF Joe Davis     Cleveland
4      Montreal      SP Leo Hall      Detroit
6      Keystones     SP Earl Farrar   Washington 
7      NY Gothams    SP Chuck Calvert  Washington
9      Brooklyn      SP Jim Langley    NY Stars
12     Detroit       C Hack Bailey     Brooklyn  
13     Cleveland     CF Leon Drake     Chiefs
14     NY Stars      SP Boyd Harper    Cleveland  
16     Sailors       SP Bill Knapp     St. Louis  
2-1    Cougars       CF Mike Smith     Chiefs 
2-4    Montreal      SP Gus Cain       Cougars 
2-6    Keystones     SS Turkey Powell  Toronto
2-9    Brooklyn      RP Harry Meek     Boston 
2-13   Cleveland     2B Bob Baker      Washington  
2-14   NY Stars      LF Lum Baker      Keystones
3-1    Cougars       3B Harry Simmons  Detroit 
3-13   Cleveland     SS Marty Smith    Keystones  
3-14   NY Stars      RP Red Wozniak    Pittsburgh   
4-1    Cougars       SP Ace McSherry   Baltimore 
4-14   NY Stars      LF Ken Adams      St. Louis  
5-1    Cougars       SS Tom Rogers     NY Stars 
6-1    Cougars       CF Bobby Navieras Boston

Now for a quick break down on each selection.


CHICAGO COUGARS
I am going to put the 6 Chicago Cougars picks together as I can't see how all these guys are going to stick. Chicago selected 3 center fielders in the draft, a third baseman, a shortstop and a pitcher. Their outfield was weak a year ago so it makes sense to grab a bunch of outfielders if you have room on the 40-man roster and let them fight it out to try and earn a job in the spring. Those that don't impress can easily be sent back to their original team with no cost other than a bit of money going back with them.

Joe Davis was taken first overall. I am surprised they did not elect for a pitcher here but Davis seems to have a pretty good shot at sticking. He is 24 years old and split last season between AA and AAA in the Foresters organization. He hit .300 at AAA Cincinnati with a bit of power and slightly above average defense. Mike Smith is a year younger than Davis and also a center fielder that the Cougars selected from the cross-town Chiefs in the second round. Davis spent most of the year in AA, batting .339 with 10 homers. They took a third outfielder in 27 year old Bobby Navieras from Boston in round six. Navieras hit .294 with limited power at AA a year ago. My expectation is Navieras will be returned to Boston while one or both of Smith and Davis stick with the Cougars next season.

The third baseman, 24 year old Harry Simmons, had a good season at AA in Detroit's system. Simmons hit .319 and will be given every opportunity to win a spot on the Cougars roster as will shortstop Tom Rogers, a soon to be 27 year old that was taken in the fourth round. Rogers hit .258 at Los Angeles and looks to be pretty good with the glove. The other Cougars selection was 25 year old lefthander Ace McSherry, who went 4-11 with a 4.34 era for AAA Indianapolis a year ago.

NEW YORK STARS
The Stars grabbed a pair of pitchers and a pair of corner outfielders. Body Harper, a 24 year old lefthander, and 20 year old righthander Red Woziniak are the pitchers. Harper had a decent year for AA Toledo, going 12-7, 3.15 and might be ready to slide into the Stars bullpen but I have no idea how New York thinks it can use a roster spot on the 23 man for Woziniak. He is just 20 years old and had a brief but unsuccessful stint in AA in 1927 before spending last year in Class B- where he was adequate but certainly not dominant. He will likely be sent back to the Miners organization.

The outfielders are 24 year old Ken Adams and 23 year old Lum Baker. Adams hit .342 in AA but was a 4th outfielder a year ago while Baker put up some solid numbers (.329,11,75) but did so playing A ball. Perhaps the Stars keep one of the two but if both make their active roster I find it hard to believe New York will be a pennant contender.

CLEVELAND FORESTERS
It was a busy day for Cleveland as the Foresters added 3 players but lost a pair of prospects. The Foresters had great success a year ago in adding infielders Ron McDougle and Russ Combs in the rule V draft and are trying to duplicate the magic this time around with 3 position players led by outfielder Leon Drake. Drake, who won't turn 20 until next week, spent much of last season in AAA where he hit 8 homers and 19 triples in 70 games. His average was a little low at .247 and he strikes out a lot but if the Foresters can use him sparingly and be able to keep him in the big leagues for a year they have found a real winner a couple of years down the road.

Middle infielders Bob Baker and Marty Smith were the Foresters other two picks. Baker is 24 and has bounced between AA and AAA the past two seasons. He just might be this year's version of Russ Combs, a shortstop the Foresters drafted in last seasons rule V draft and had a big year. Smith seems to have some potential as he hit .320 with 11 homers in 70 games in Class B a year ago and looks to have a solid glove, but his lack of experience above that level puts his ability to transition to the major leagues in doubt.

MONTREAL SAINTS
The Saints added a pair of decent young arms in 25 year old's Leo Hall and Gus Cain. Hall was 13-14, 3.19 in AA in the Dynamos organization while the lefthanded Cain went 8-4 2.65 also in AA in the Chicago Cougars system. Expect both to be given every opportunity to stick in Montreal.

PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES
The Keystones added a veteran minor leaguer with a few games of FABL experience in 28 year old righthander Earl Farrar. He spent last season in AAA Los Angeles and looked very good posting a 14-4, 2.73 mark. Farrar has had some pretty good minor league seasons through the years but has never been given a real shot to pitch in the majors. If he can duplicate his minor league success he will be a very nice pickup for the Keystones, who need pitching badly. Shortstop Turkey Powell is in the same boat. The 28 year old has had some decent minor league seasons including .329.6.61 at AAA Buffalo a year ago but never given a major league shot. He might challenge incumbent Cliff Herman for the starting shortstop job. Looks like a pair of nice pickups for the Keystones with no downside should they not succeed.

BROOKLYN KINGS
The Kings selected a pair of pitchers but after signing a veteran free agent in Bob Schmid they immediately returned 20 year old second round pick Harry Meek to Boston. Their other pick was 23 year old Jim Langley, a lefthander who went 13-15, 3.02 at AA a year ago. Brooklyn seems to be in an endless cycle of searching for quality pitching so Langley will have an opportunity in spring training to earn a roster spot.

The NEW YORK GOTHAMS, DETROIT DYNAMOS and PHILADELPHIA SAILORS each made one selection on the day. The Gothams added pitcher Chuck Calvert, a 25 year old who was 19-9 at AA Atlanta and also made a couple of AAA starts last year. He should stick and perhaps slide into the bottom of the rotation. Detroit opted for catcher Hack Bailey from Brooklyn. He may have some upside but it will hard to believe Bailey is ready for the major leagues next season after playing just 9 career minor league games - all at Class B. Finally we have the Sailors grabbing soon to be 23 year old pitcher Bill Knapp from the St Louis system. The Sailors seem to find pitching gems and Knapp had good numbers last year(16-16, 2.76) but they were in Class A. There is question as to whether the defending champs want to burn a 23-man roster slot on a pitcher who may be over-matched next season but they do have spring training to evaluate him.


So there you have it. A pretty busy draft. It will be interesting to see who lasts the season in the big leagues and who, if any, become impact players.

[percy_sutherland]

TOP OF THE GAME

The Montreal Saints signed pitcher Dave Paynter a couple of weeks ago--bringing the veteran hurler back to the Federal Leagues after a 3-year purgatory in the Century League, where he was the New Orleans Showboats's ace pitcher. He was made available because New Orleans ended their 21-year run as an independent Century League club (during which time they won 5 pennants) and are returning to their roots in the Dixie League, where they've signed an agreement with the Keystones to be Philadelphia's affiliate in the class AA league.

But this column isn't about New Orleans. Nor is it about Dave Paynter. Though Paynter is who got me thinking--he threw a perfect game against Fort Worth in July of 1927. We haven't seen a perfect game in the Federal Leagues since Jack Small turned the trick for Toronto against Philadelphia in 1906. Hell, we haven't seen a no-hitter since Brooklyn's Topsy Moran held the Foresters hit-less in June of 1926. We have had 2 perfect games in the Federal Leagues. Boston's John Blackburn had one against the other Philadelphia club in May of 1904.

So I thought--on the cusp of 1929--who had the best performances of 1928?

For pitchers, look no further than Cleveland's Bob Lawrence, who threw 10 innings of shutout baseball to beat the Saints 1-0 on May 5th. I was fortunate enough to attend that Saturday contest. The score was knotted up at 0 after 9 innings. Lawrence had given up 3 hits with 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. His opponent that afternoon was the unlikeliest of Saints--Cat Spanos. Spanos had just been summoned from Minneapolis to replace the ailing Al Allen on the Montreal roster. Allen had started the season pitching a lot like his father, and so I was in Cleveland to take a look at the Saints and maybe see Allen take the mound. But here was Spanos, making his first Federal League start, and holding the Foresters to 0 runs on 2 hits through 9 innings.

Lawrence came out in the top of the 10th and put the Saints down in order (which wasn't particularly difficult to do to Montreal in 1928). And then Spanos took the mound for the bottom of the 10th. The first batter he was to face was shortstop Russ Combs. After starting Combs with a ball off of the plate, Spanos threw a fastball in the strike zone and Combs deposited it in the bleachers in left. Spanos had now given up 3 hits (like Lawrence), but the third was deadly. 1-0, Cleveland.

I should also mention the game in which the Stars's Dick Richards gave up just 1 hit against Montreal (you don't say?). Saturday, August 11th, in Montreal, and New York won that game 1-0 on a run in the 10th inning also.

Hal Eason--who announced his retirement back in October--is 2nd on the all-time list in home runs to Max Morris. Eason was the first--and until this season, only--player to hit 3 home runs in a game. Eason did it in 1922 to Washington when he was playing for the Keystones. In 1928, the 3 home run feat was accomplished twice. By the same player. Four days apart. Who? Why, Tom Taylor, of course. On Thursday, August 2nd, Taylor went 3 for 5 with 3 home runs against the Stars in New York. Four days later, on Monday, August 6th, against the Kings in Brooklyn, Taylor went 4 for 5 with 3 home runs.

[percy_sutherland]

DID THE KINGS DRAW A ROYAL FLUSH?

Now that the dust has settled on the 1928 draft, I wanted to call attention to something that caught my eye. On the eve of the draft, the Brooklyn Kings surprised everyone by trading up to acquire the number one draft pick and the right to select Liberty College hurler Tommy Wilcox. There is a consensus building among the Federal scouts--Wilcox has a golden arm and the ceiling on his abilities is quite high.

The current Kings front office took over in October of 1925. The Kings had won a (surprising) pennant in 1923, but were coming off of back-to-back last place finishes. The Kings held the second selection in the 1925 draft and announced that the pick was for sale.

The Toronto Wolves took the bait. The Wolves held the 6th pick, but they wanted to move up to the 2nd. So they sent the Kings pitchers Cal Williams and Topsy Moran, the 6th pick and their 2nd round selection in exchange for the 2nd pick and a minor league outfielder named Howie Davidson. Toronto then used the 2nd overall pick on 18-year-old high school pitcher Eddie Quinn. Quinn had a decent season in 1927 pitching out of the bullpen for class A Des Moines (7-19, 6.45 with 122 strikeouts in 105 innings). But the 22-year-old struggled at class AAA Buffalo last season (4-3, 5.24, 19 strikeouts in 57 innings).

For Brooklyn the deal was a huge windfall. First they acquired 28-year-old Cal Williams, coming off a 10-13 season for the Wolves. Williams posted a record of 16-9 in 1926 followed by a career best 21-10 in the pennant winning season of 1927. Brooklyn also received a 25-year-old former 2nd round pick in Topsy Moran--who had just put up a 19-6, 3.38 season for class AAA Buffalo. Moran would debut with a 12-10 record in 1926 and--while he missed much of the 1927 season with an injury--he remains a key piece of the Kings roster.

And to rub salt into Toronto's wound, the Kings also selected pitcher Harvey Rodgers from them in the Rule 5 draft. The Kings had originally wanted Rodgers included in the deal, but Toronto refused. Rodgers was 24-years-old at the time and was coming off a 20-7 season at Buffalo. In 1927, Rodgers posted a 13-6, 3.08 record for the Kings and, like Moran, remains a key piece of the Brooklyn rotation.

In the Toronto deal, Brooklyn also received two picks in that 1925 draft--the 6th and 22nd overall selections. With the 6th, they landed what may turn out to be the top prize of a good draft class--outfielder Doug Lightbody. Lightbody, as any Federal League fan is well aware, bypassed the minors and went straight to Brooklyn, where he was hitting .356 before an arm injury ended his season in July. He came back with a vengeance in 1927, leading Brooklyn to a pennant and leading the Continental with a .384 batting average and 113 runs scored, winning the Whitney Award in the process.

So why am I bringing all of this up now? With the other pick Brooklyn received from Toronto--the 22nd overall selection--the Kings choose high school third baseman Dave Bristol. In 1928, for class B Tampa, the 21-year-old Bristol hit .328 with 49 doubles. Washington--who held the 1st overall selection in the 1928 draft--wanted Bristol as part of a package for that pick. The Kings ended up sending Bristol, along with the 10th and 14th overall picks, to Washington in exchange for the 1st pick.

So that December of 1925 deal that a new Kings front office struck with Toronto? As a direct, or indirect, result of that deal, the Kings are in possession of: Topsy Moran, Harvey Rodgers, Doug Lightbody, and Tommy Wilcox. That looks like a winning hand to me.

[Jiggs McGee]

A new regular features will be 10 random thoughts when we will have a quick comment on various happenings throughout the Figment World. But this is a special occasion with a new season almost here. So to mark the beginning of the 1929 season here is a super-sized 20 instead of 10 random thoughts on all things FABL.

1-Not sure if it the start of a trend or just a one off situation but there were 23 drafted players that failed to sign minor league contracts and will return to school. Last year there were just two: Cleveland's 6th round pick Jim Harris and Detroit's second rounder Bill Schindler, who went back to Northern Mississippi for a 4th year and was selected and signed by the Stars this draft. Starting a trend likely concerns Detroit as for the second year in a row they failed to ink their second round pick to a contract. This time it was Cambridge HS catcher Eddie Wells, who will ply his trade at Indiana A&M for the next three years instead. As for the 23 not signing this year, that is not such much an anomaly as just 2 players refusing to sign a year ago was. In fact, the 23 is closer to the norm. For example following the 1926 draft their were 18 unsigned players.

2- Speaking of the Dynamos, Detroit certainly seems to be in win-now mode. The Dynamos dealt a good chunk of their future away over the past few days in dealing 3 quality minor league arms and a second round draft pick but they brought in a pair of 26 year old players with loads of talent in second baseman Paul McLain from Boston and ex-Brooklyn catcher Dave Armstrong. Dynamos management feels these two might be the pieces that will put them over the top.

3- The Chicago Chiefs have unfinished business after being Johnny Davis'd in the World Championship Series. The Chiefs will likely be favored in the Fed again this year because they have Joe Masters and Jim Hampton along with pitcher Ruben Reyes. All 3 had huge production increases so the question is was it just a fluke or are all three of them that good. I think Reyes, who went 19-11 as a 30 year old after winning just 2 games in his FABL career prior to last season, is the most likely of the three to disappoint Chiefs fans this year.

4- Did you know that the Federal Association has not had a repeat pennant winner since the Washington Eagles in 1922-23. In fact it has had 5 different teams win the pennant in the past five years. So those of you banking on a Chiefs repeat may be as disappointed as any of us (yours truly included) who thought the Keystones were a lock to repeat a year ago after they added even more offense in the deal with Montreal.

5- What happened in Philadelphia last year and can the Keystones fix the problems? Yes, Masters and Hampton made Chicago nearly impossible to stop a year ago but how did the 'Stones sink like a rock and finish 8 games below .500? The answer was Pitching. Despite scoring the second most runs in either league (the Chiefs of course were first) the Keystones allowed 871 runs against. Everyone, even the sad-sack Eagles allowed less with Washington the next closest but allowing 56 fewer.

6-The Keystones had the best slugging percentage in baseball, even better than the Chiefs. So good in fact that their .444 mark was the the fourth highest in FABL history. Number one was .477 by St Louis, led by Max Morris in 1925.

7- Nice to see Mighty Mo healthy again in St Louis. The 7 time Whitney Award winner and owner of 423 career homeruns recently turned 34 years of age, so there is question as to how much longer he will be launching homeruns so enjoy him while you can Pioneer fans. Morris hit 29 homers in 90 games after missing over a year recovering from a ruptured achilles. He is said to be in great shape and ready to reclaim his homer crown from Joe Masters and the BNN rankings seem to agree as the veteran St Louis slugger is once again perched atop the top twenty player rankings. Masters, by the way, sits 8th.

8- Unlike the Fed, the Continental Association has had a repeat winner in recent years as the New York Stars won 3 straight pennants (and World Championship Series) starting in 1924 and they were book-ended by pair of Brooklyn Kings pennants. Last year, the New York area was no longer the center of the baseball world (at least as far as fans of the CA are concerned) with the Philadelphia Sailors snapping a 31 year pennant drought.

9- Is Bill Knapp the latest pitching phenom added by the Sailors, who seem to have great success in discovering or developing (maybe both) young arms. The 23 year old was a Rule V pickup from St Louis after going 16-16 with a 2.76 era in Class A a year ago. Seems like to big a jump from A ball to fitting in on the best pitching staff in baseball but the Sailors have a knack for getting the most out of their arms. Yes, the pitcher friendly ballpark helps but Philadelphia plays half their games away from the Sailors Memorial, where homeruns go to die - unless they are hit by Tom Taylor.

10- While on the subject of Taylor, what do he and Johnny Davis do for an encore. Taylor hit 44 homers and drove in 126 runs despite the fact he missed the first month of the season as the rookie was terrorizing the Great West League last April. Meanwhile, fellow rookie Davis went 24-8 and almost single-handedly ruined the Chicago Chiefs October. Do the pair of them repeat as Allen and Whitney Award winners?

11- The Sailors do have some questions, just maybe a few less than most other teams. One of the big ones in Sailorland is how much does Denny Wren have left in the tank. The 38 year old was pitching like he was a decade younger early in 1928, going 12-6 with a 3.90 era before shoulder troubles ended his season in July. Wren is a legend, with 247 career victories but after his arm troubles and the fact he will turn 39 before opening day there is cause for concern he may not have too many more wins remaining in that right arm of his.

12- It's like a barrel of monkeys. Every time you turn around there is another one climbing the baseball ladder. I am speaking of famed scout Rufus Barrell's spawn. The latest preparing to make his mark on baseball is Harry, a 15 year old rookie shortstop at Atlanta High School. Atlanta HS is the same school that his brother Bobby just graduated from. Bobby, and outfielder, was selected 3rd overall by the Keystones and might have gone higher had he hot missed half his senior season with a knee injury that he is still recovering from.

13- Bobby debuted at #4 on the Top 100 prospects, putting him well ahead of Fred - the catcher in the family. Fred, also a 3rd overall pick - in 1926 by the Chicago Cougars - is currently #28 on the list after hitting .321 for AA Mobile in the Dixie League last season. He is likely ticketed for AAA this year.

14- The pitching Barrell, Tom, may be the first overall selection in next year's draft after he decided to spend a 4th season at Georgia Baptist and earn his degree. Tom has already won 28 games for the Gators and will likely graduate as the winningest pitcher in college baseball history.

15- While Rufus' pitching career came to a tragic end when he was hit in the head with a batted ball in an exhibition game just prior to his scheduled FABL debut, the Barrell's will soon have plenty of representation in the big leagues. The oldest baseball playing son, outfielder Dan, actually got there this September when Brooklyn, the club that had signed his father, called him up in September. He didn't show a lot, going 2-for-16, but he did get there ahead of his younger, and more talented brothers. Dan, 24, is considered a borderline prospect.

16- Speaking of family connections did you notice the numbers Frank Lightbody put up in a brief September trial with Pittsburgh. The former Mississippi A&M star and younger brother to Brooklyn's Doug, debuted as a 22 year old and hit .366 with a homer in 16 games. The 1927 fourth overall pick (has family bragging rights as Doug went 6th in 1925) looks like a carbon copy of his brother at the plate but unlike Doug -a left handed rightfielder, Frank plays centerfield and throws right. I am not sure he will live up to his older brother's growing reputation but Frank should be a pretty darn good ballplayer.

17- It is way to early to be thinking 1931 draft prospects but if I had to pick a pitcher to top that class it will be San Antonio High Schooler Mel Ennis. As a 15 year old the lefthander went 8-0 with a 0.59 era, a 0.76 WHIP and a startling 714 ERA+.

18- Defending National Champion Lubbock State was the college team hit hardest by graduation. The Hawks lost 7 players and all 7 were drafted including a pair of second rounders. They include 2B Andy Bethel (2nd rd Boston), SS Bobby Suire (2nd rd Washington), P George Allen (9th rd Washington), OF Doug Richardson (9th rd Boston), OF Dan Hawkins (11th rd Detroit), P Jim Crocker (19th rd St Louis) and P Tom Perrodin (21st rd St Louis).

19- The top Minor League system belongs to the Baltimore Cannons. It was already good with pitchers Johnny Jacob and Pinky Conlon leading the way but it received a huge boost from 8th overall pick Ken Curry. The centerfielder's is ranked 2nd on the top 100 list after hitting .308 with 61 stolen bases in 120 games at Denver High School. The Cannons selected him with the 8th pick of the draft.

20- Despite a rough year in Class B, 19 year old New York Gothams outfield prospect Mahlon Strong is ranked #1 in the BNN prospect top 100. Strong hit just .229 with 7 homers in 95 games at Fresno of the COW League. It is this writer's opinion that BNN has greatly over-estimated the youngster.

[Jiggs McGee]

NOTE- In this column, like all of my draft and minor league prospect assessments I will only be using stats and league player ranking pages to assess players. I am completely ignoring the scouting reports created in game.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 1930 DRAFT CLASS

A short time ago I took an early look at the 1929 draft class and presented a mock first round. Now let's gaze even further into the future and take a look at the high school and college juniors who could be the main attractions in the draft that follows the 1930 season. It is far too early for me to even consider a mock draft as almost all of these players have just one year of stats so far but here are some players to keep an eye on.


PITCHING
Let's start with pitching because at this point I feel there will be a lot of it. For me a pair of high school pitchers really standout. They are Mel Ennis and Frank Kelly and the two have a lot in common. Both high school pitchers were born on July 29, 1912 and both were born in Arizona (Mel in Tuscon and Frank in Phoenix). Both were also dominant in their freshman high school season. Ennis went 8-0 with a 0.59 era to help San Antonio to a National High School championship. He had a WHIP of 0.75 and struck out 12.4 batters per 9 innings while walking just 1.9. Ennis also pitched 76 regular seasonn innings plus an additional 49 in the post-season without yielding a single home run. Kelly compiled an 8-2 record with a 1.41 era for Knoxville HS. He led the nation with 141 strikeouts in 89 innings while walking just 15.

Ennis was dominant as a 16 year old, allowing just 5 earned runs and 0 homers against in 76 innings of work. Only one high schooler has ever posted a lower era for a season. That was Tim Walters who did it in his third season with Worcester High School back in 1922. Walters was drafted in the 5th round by the Chicago Cougars that season but failed to sign with them and went back to high school for another year. Montreal would draft him the following season in the 6th round but he was released and although still active at age 24, Walters has yet to play a major league game. That should not happen with Ennis as based on his high school debut he looks to be a future star in the Federally Aligned Leagues.

Kelly set a new high school mark with 141 strikeouts besting the total of 126 set by current Keystones prospect Frank Crawford while a senior at Cleveland High School. The Keystones would take Crawford 10th overall in 1926 following his record setting year. Kelly seems well on his way to joining Crawford as a first round draft pick.

The 1930 class looks rich with high school arms as others to consider include Asheville's George Jacobs, who went 9-2 with a 2.95 era, along with Herb Egbert of Decatur HS (5-1, 1.30) and New York high schooler Earl Killebrew (7-1, 2.18). There are also some college guys who should draw a lot of attention as well including:

DAN PUMPHREY - TRAVIS COLLEGE: The 19 year old righthander went 4-4 with a 2.01 era in 13 starts for the Bucks as a rookie. He fanned 122 batters while walking just 27 in 98 innings of work.

JIM HARRIS -NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Harris has already been through the draft process once as, after going 13-4 with a 2.92 era in 3 seasons at Mobile High School, he was selected in the 6th round of the 1927 draft by Cleveland. He opted for college ball instead and was 3-2 with a 3.02 era in 9 starts for the Miners last season.

EARL SCOTT and SAM BRATTEN- GEORGIA BAPTIST: The Gators are loaded with pitching prospects. Tom Barrell is a potential first overall pick in 1929 and the rotation also has Scott and Bratten, both potential high picks in 1930. Scott went 5-3 with a 1.49 era as a freshman while Bratten was 5-2, 1.87. Right now I would say Scott is the better prospect of the two but both are good.

JOE BASS - COASTAL CALIFORNIA: The 19 year sidearmer has 5 pitches and is said to be a groundball specialist. He was 7-5 with a 2.38 era and likely would have had better numbers if he had a different pair of middle infielders playing behind him.


CATCHER
Jim Wright was a second team All-American selection as a rookie after hitting .314 with 9 homers for Chicago Poly but word is the Panthers plan to shift the 19 year old to first base this year. I really like Jack Flint (.326, 22 doubles) from National Champion Lubbock State as well. A high schooler worth keeping an eye on is Clem Bass from Syracuse. It was a limited viewing last year as Bass only started 21 games behind the plate but he slashed .359/.425/.609. Bass needs to improve his defense as he only threw out one of ten base stealers.

FIRST BASE
Teams looking for a big bat at first need look no further than Grafton College 19 year old Ike Briggs. Briggs had 24 extra base hits including 11 homers while batting .333 for the Scholars. Beyond Briggs and converted catcher Jim Wright the crop looks pretty thin at this point.

SECOND BASE
Frank Jones (.337,7,33) from Nashville High School is the best hitting high school middle infielder but his defense at second base last season was poor. Tom Dobson (.284,3,23) was not as strong at the plate but looked very comfortable in the field at second base. Among college players, Doc Littlefield (.317,0,22) of Travis College could hit a bit and played solid defense.

SHORTSTOP
There are 5 high school shortstops worth looking at. Hal Warner (.292/.375/.534) from Elmira, Buffalo's Milt Story (.349,.371/.580), Meridian's Otto Deal (.350/.408/.494), Nashville's Lee Porter (.28/.378/.376) and Mobile's Tom Handy (.319/.382/.446). Porter and Deal are probably the best options defensively at this point. The college crop seems very thin with only Joe Nelson (.293/.366/.390) from George Fox University and Cumberland's Jim Smith (.287/.351/.342) worth mentioning.

THIRD BASE
Emil Biggs from Coastal California seems to be the class of the college third baseman. Biggs .335 with 6 homers and was pretty good with the leather as well. Among high school players, Elias Bradley (.345/.397/.636) of High Point and Jack White (.300/.354/.556) of Nashville should drat attention. Two-way player Red Eggleton of New Orleans high school is an interesting prospect. He went 3-2, 4.98 on the mound but his future might be at third base as he hit .417 with 5 homers in just 82 plate appearances. His defense in 14 games at the hot corner was also sound.

OUTFIELD
I real like Buck Waldron of Lincoln College. A centerfielder with speed and power, Waldron hit 13 homers and stole 12 bases in 50 games for the Presidents. He also hit .328 and had 5 assists. Waldron may not cover as much ground as you would like so perhaps a corner outfield spot will be his final destination. Joe Goodwin is a 16 year old from Memphis High School who hit .315 with 11 homers in 40 games.

A dark horse is Ellery Bruins outfielder Harry Buckley. He led his draft class with 15 homers but he also had 77 whiffs while batting just .232. His power is intriguing but the question is can cut down on the strikeouts.

SUMMARY
Right now this draft is loaded with pitching but seems like a very suspect class at other positions. That can certainly change as players have two more seasons in the feeder league's to accumulate stats. We had 5 pitchers go in the first round (in the top 7 picks) this past season. I would suggest the 1930 draft has the potential to be the first draft where at least half of the first round picks are pitchers.

[Jiggs McGee]

SPRING TRAINING IS FINALLY HERE

JIGGS MCGEE WEEKLY UPDATE

After a long cold winter I am thrilled to be in Florida and once again watching baseball. The big boys don't get at it until tomorrow but many of the recent draft picks and other young talent have been on display the past couple of weeks as minor league spring training has begun. In addition, the AIAA college league started it's regular season yesterday so the 1929 season is here my friends. Old Jiggs is very excited, to say the least, about the upcoming season. As I will do all year, I am here to provide you with some observations on the week that was.

Before I get to the on-field action there was a trade just announced. Cleveland had been looking to upgrade at first base and Pittsburgh had been shopping George Simpson around so it just seemed a matter of time before those two clubs found a fit. They did so today with the news that the 27 year old Simpson, who slashed .316/.377/.432 for the Miners last season will head to Cleveland in exchange for shortstop prospect Pete Asher and a 6th round draft pick.

Asher is a highly touted 22 year old who was originally a 9th round pick of Washington out of high school in 1924. Cleveland took him with the first pick in the 1926 Rule V draft and, although he clearly wasn't ready yet for the big leagues, kept the then 20 year old on the big league roster all season to avoid losing him, but only played him in 30 games. He looked very good in AAA a year ago, hitting .332 for Cincinnati while providing plus defense. The Miners have plans to start him in AAA but a strong spring may have them re-evaluate things. 29 year old Doc Nowack is the returning starter but he had a down year both at the plate and in the field compared to his past seasons.

The Foresters made no secret all winter they felt they need to upgrade at first base, where another Rule V pickup in 24 year old Ron McDougle played last year. McDougle hit .313 but lacks the power the Foresters would like to see at the position. Simpson played two seasons in Pittsburgh, hitting .316 with 6 homers in 124 games last season. While he hasn't shown it in the big leagues so far, Simpson has displayed power in the minors including hitting 23 homers in Class A as a 22 year old. He will also be a big upgrade defensively over the lumbering McDougle.

Neither of those clubs may be done dealing yet as Cleveland is still looking at an upgrade behind the plate and there were some rumour's T.R. Goins of Washington was on their radar. Meanwhile, the Miners want to try and add another piece to their already pretty good pitching staff.

ON THE FIELD

Let's start in the Lone Star League, which is the new independent AA loop of Texas teams that made the jump from semi-pro status to officially join FABL's minor league system. As news of their roster signings came in over the winter I was thinking that the San Antonio Gunslingers would be the team to beat but after they got off to an 18-0 start in spring games I think we might as well just crown them champs today. While most of that teams in the league signed primarily 19-22 year old undrafted former high school and college players, the Gunslingers stocked their roster with former FABL players and veteran minor leaguers.

While everyone in the league is on a minor league contract I am sure San Antonio owner John Douglas offered something to sweeten the pot and land all of these guys. Which begs the question "What is his end game?" Is Douglas simply looking to dominate the loop and win titles, or does he have greater ambitions? There is some talk he is trying to move his team up to AAA and gain admittance in the Great Western League or perhaps even push FABL clubs to expand. One source connected with FABL even hinted there were fears Douglas might be involved in trying to form a third major league, something the sport has not seen since it's near financial ruin that led to the creation of the FABL in 1892. The third league seems nothing more than a rumour at this point and I can't see San Antonio in the Great Western League or FABL for several reasons, the most obvious one being due to the travel required, especially after the Century League abandoned Houston and New Orleans primarily for that reason, but stranger things have happened.

How about the Gulfport Sailors! A 16-2 start to spring has many wondering if Tom Taylor and Johnny Davis are suiting up for spring action with the baby Sailors. Like the big club, the Sailors young pitchers have been outstanding. The Sailors have a knack for finding pitchers and how about 18 year old Tommy Shepherd. Undrafted out of high school, he was signed in December and in 3 spring starts is 3-0 with just 1 earned run allowed in 12 innings of work. It's very early to get too excited but late draft picks Alex French (16th round), Tom Gray(20th rd) and George Parsons (22nd rd) have also looked very good. And so you don't think the Sailors scouting staff only knows pitching, first round pick 2B Ed Scott from Indiana A&M is hitting .489 in 18 spring games. Those 18 games representing 3 times the number he managed to play in his college career. The Sailors must have saw something from private workouts with the kid although he did hit 2 homers and batted .381 in his 6 career college appearances.

While Brooklyn elected to not send first overall pick Tommy Wilcox to the Class C camp (Wilcox will start the season at Class A Omaha of the Western Baseball League) some teams did including the New York Gothams who assigned 19 year old pitcher Phil Hicks to Rock Island's camp. Hicks, the fifth selection in the draft, was tagged with 3 losses (the Steamboats are 4-14 so far) but did have an acceptable 3.75 era. Gothams second rounder Pat Albright has been quite impressive with a 1.80 era and 14 k's vs just 1 walk in 20 innings of work. Albright, unlike Hicks, is a college draftee.

Bobby Barrell, the 6th overall pick, did not play yet and will likely be assigned to Class B Berkeley when the season starts but the Philadelphia Keystones must be pleased to see the 18 year old has been given a clean bill of health after missing nearly a full year with a knee injury.

Hattiesburg Top Hats (Boston) 2B Andy Bethel is off to a great start. I was a big fan of the All-American who won a batting title last season while leading Lubbock State to a National Championship. A second round pick of the Minutemen in the December draft, Bethel is hitting .432 with 14 rbi's in 18 spring games.

Has Brooklyn found a gem in undrafted free agent Jim Ferro? The 20 year old did not play organized high school or college ball, instead being found by independent Hollywood of the Great Western League on the semi-pro circuit. He got into a few games for the Heroes but performed poorly and was released. Over the winter Ferro attended an open amateur tryout the Kings held indoors in Marshalltown (site of their new Class C team) and earned an invite to minor league spring training. He is making the most of it so far with 55 strikeouts and just 7 walks in 30 and 2/3 innings of work.

The AIAA season got underway yesterday and Clay Jackson, a righthander from Detroit City College that made my first round 1930 mock draft, had a great debut. The 20 year old pitched 9 innings of shutout ball allowing just 3 hits and no walks while fanning 14 in a 2-0 win over Wisconsin State. While Jackson had the pitching line of the day how about the numbers put up by St Blane Fighting Saints senior outfielder Johnny McCann. In a season opening 15-7 win over Lincoln, McCann went 4-for-6 with 2 doubles, a homer, 4 runs scored and 6 rbi's. Get's him off to a good start after a down season a year ago, although he hit .411 in his freshman year.

The college races should be very exciting this year as the AIAA has adapted a new schedule format that will see the teams play their 50 game schedule entirely within their own division. It should enhance a lot of big rivalries, especially some that might carry over from the gridiron or basketball court.

That's all for today. Enjoy the spring training action.

[Jiggs McGee]

CAN THE WASHINGTON EAGLES TAKE FLIGHT AGAIN?

For much of this decade the Washington Eagles were the class of the Federal Association. Washington won 3 pennants in a 4 year span beginning in 1922 and it would have been four straight had they not finished a game back of Pittsburgh in 1924. However, since then the Eagles have been on a three year spiral that hit rock bottom this past season when they finished last in the Fed with a 61-93 record and their worst winning percentage in 46 years.

Now this is not the first time the Eagles followed up a strong run with some dreadful baseball. A decade earlier starting in 1910, Washington won 3 pennants in a 5 year span but by 1916 they started a string of 5 years in the second division before they took off again in the early 1920s. The Eagles management team is tasked with trying to duplicate that resurgence and they have made one move towards that goal and are looking to do more.

Before we talk about the changes let's take a look at how the Eagles got into this predicament. When you look at the roster of their 1925 pennant winning club, one would have thought Washington was well positioned to contend throughout the remainder of the decade.

They had a brilliant young catcher in 24 year old T.R. Goins, who was coming off a .360, 18 homer season and five other position players who seemed to be right in their prime: 26 year old 1B George Clark (.366,8,131), 25 year old SS Freddy Rush (.318,7,87), 25 year old 3B Glenn Morrison (.352,5,93), 25 year old CF Art Simmons (.352,3,81) and 28 year old LF Paul Bailey (.349,12,116). The other two everyday players, RF Harry Jones (.263,1,63) and 2B Jim Carreon (.271,2,86), were both 28 and at least average FABL talents. The pitching staff was older with 38 year old George Johnson (22-5, 4.33) and 31 year old Mel Wenz (20-16, 4.04) leading the way but Dick Dennis (15-10, 4.76) and Harry Horn (13-11, 4.60) were both 28 while Cap McDonald (12-14, 4.61) was still just 26 years old.

So what happened to a team that won 93 games and was second in the league in both most runs scored and fewest runs allowed? They still won 88 games in 1926, but finished third and then finished just 2 games over .500 in 1928 before everything collapsed last year.

Let's look at the Eagles position by position four years ago in 1925 and also where they stand now:

CATCHER: Goins is still the catcher (although we are not sure for how much longer as he is rumoured to be on the trading block) and his 1926 season was even better then the 1925 pennant winning year. He led the Fed in batting by hitting .395 and won a Whitney Award in '26. His numbers dipped each of the past two seasons but he still hit .321 a year ago, although he also led the league in strikeouts with a huge jump over previous season totals. The 1928 Goins at 27 years old was not quite as productive as the 1925 version but he still is an upper echelon catcher.

FIRST BASE: George Clark had the best year to date of his career as a 26 year old in 1925 when he hit .366. Clark is still an elite defensive 1B and a decent hitter with back to back .298 seasons but perhaps the Eagles did not recognize the position has changed. Clark hits a lot of doubles but hit only 2 homers a year ago and the lack of power production from the 1B is a big reason why the Eagles finished last in runs scored this past season. None of the other 7 starting 1B in the Federal Association hit less than 6 homers and Clark's .414 slugging percentage topped just Bob Scholer in Boston and the Pioneers Bill Ellis. Both of those teams had power elsewhere in their lineup.

SECOND BASE: Jim Carreon is still the Eagles starting second baseman and still pretty good with the glove. Now 32 years old he had the worst season of his career at the plate, batting just .240 with a .288 on base percentage. He was over .300 in batting in 1926 and 1927 but just a .271 hitter in the final pennant winning season.

SHORTSTOP: Our first change as Freddy Rush is no longer the starter but still with the club. In 1925 Rush had the best year of his career at age 25, batting .318 with a league leading 40 stolen bases. Jim Moore is the same age as Rush now (29) but became an every day player for the first time last season. Moore had a pretty good year at the plate, hitting .303 and while not providing the same speed on the basepaths as Rush, Moore did commit fewer errors in the field last year than Rush did in the pennant winning season.

THIRD BASE: The position was a mess for the Eagles a year ago. Glenn Morrison, who was so good as a 25 year old in 1925, started 58 games last season and hit .326, but then went down with a hamstring injury that cost him 7 weeks. Inexplicably he was released at the end of August and signed with Portland of the Great West League. The Eagles used three other players at third base including SS Rush, Bill Conner and John Wright. Conner is a 26 year old who hit .256 in 46 games while Wright, also 26, is a rookie who batted .247 in 40 games. Both seem to provide average defense but either looks to be a huge drop off from Morrison with the bat. Not sure the reasoning behind releasing Morrison (perhaps 40 man roster limit concerns) but it will likely haunt the Eagles for a while or cost them a good trading piece to find a suitable replacement as Conner or Wright do not look like the solution.

LEFT FIELD: Paul Bailey was 28 years old in 1925 and was the World Championship Series MVP that year. He also had the best average of his career (.349) and led the Fed in triples with 32 that season. Now 31, he may be showing signs of age as his average (.267) dipped below .300 for the first time since his rookie year and his slugging percentage was a career low.

CENTER FIELD: Art Simmons was 25 in 1925 and had a career best .352 average. Simmons missed some time in 1927 with an injury and played just 69 games last year, batting .274 as Billy Tam, a year younger than Simmons, received the majority of the starts in center. Tamm, who was in AA when the Eagles won in 1925, slashed .289/.338/.387 with 13 stolen bases in 104 games last season. He had 10 outfield assists but also made 19 errors.

RIGHT FIELD: Harry Jones was the starter in 1925 but hit just .263 with a .365 slugging percentage that season. He is still in the Eagles system but spent most of the past 3 years in the minors. Jones was not particularily good as a right field option but the Eagles have not found a suitable replacement. First they tried 30 year old Oscar Bering for a couple of seasons and he was a bit of an improvement, even hit 11 homers in 1927 but for some reason he lost his starting job in 1928 to a 35 year old named Ray Buckner, who has been in the Eagles system since 1914 and a starter for a number of years but not since 1923. In fact, Buckner had been in the minors since 1925 until he was given the starting job last year. Buckner responded by hitting .225 with a .275 slugging percentage in 101 games in right field.

PITCHING: Johnson's 22 win season at age 38 was the last hurrah in a great career that saw him win 311 career games. He would go 8-6 in 1926 and then retire. The other 20 game winner that season was Mel Wenz. Sadly, that would also appear to be Wenz's last hurrah in the majors. He blew out his elbow in spring training the following year and missed all of the 1926 campaign. He was 16-9 at AA in 1927 and split last season between AA and AAA so he probably deserves another shot in Washington but does not appear to be the pitcher he was before the injury. The other three members of the 1925 rotation are still with the Eagles organization but #3 starter in 1925 Dick Dennis has been in AAA the last couple of seasons. Harry Horn was 13-11, 4.60 as the 4th starter in 1925 and posted similar numbers this past season 12-15, 4.12 but he suffered a pretty severe shoulder injury in September. Cap McDonald won 12 games as 26 year old in 1925 and had a huge 21-9, 3.85 season the following year but he too succumbed to the injury bug, cutting short his 1927 campaign. He struggled, to say the least, last year as a 29 year old, going 8-22 with a 5.53 era.

The newcomers to the rotation since 1925 are Tommy Russell, a 26 year old former first round pick who went 19-13, 4.25 in his second season with the big club and looks like a good one. 34 year old Ralph Smith was a bullpen arm on the 1925 winner and he had a decent year last season in the rotation with a 4.28 era to go with an 8-18 record while Bob Gould, at 35 years old and a former rotation piece early in the decade but lately a longtime fixture in AAA, only was able to prove his best days are long gone after a 4-14, 6.61 season with the Eagles last year. There does not seem to be much pitching help in sight as their only viable pitching prospect is just 20 years old and pitched in Class A a year ago after both Chuck Calvert and Earl Farrar were lost in the rule V draft.

VERDICT

So what happened? Well, bad luck certainly played a role in the demise of the Washington pitching staff. One can only wonder how different things might be for the Eagles had Mel Wenz and Cap McDonald remained healthy and continued to pitch like they did prior to the injuries.

However, the position players are a different story. Washington caught a huge break in 1925 with career years out of younger guys to win a third pennant with a roster that had a lot of changes from the previous two titles. The Eagles elected to make very few moves and the ones they did make, such as releasing Morrison, seemed ill conceived. The Federal Association has been a hitters league for some time now and power hitting is in, but the Eagles kept a small ball lineup - and not a very good one at that - while the top teams in the Association all learned from the impact a slugger like Max Morris in St Louis could have on the game, and reacted accordingly.

THE FUTURE

The immediate future seems very bleak. Goins is the only Washington player on the top 20 hitters or pitchers list and the league positional ranking story is very bad for the Eagles. Their starting pitching ranks worst in the entire FABL and most other positions are in the bottom quarter. Only Goins, who is ranked second among catchers, and recently acquired 24 year old 3B Hank Bullock, at 8, are in the top of half of the league.

There is some cause for optimism in the long term as the Eagles had a very good draft this year, adding OF Wally Flowers and SS Ollie Page to the league top 100 prospect list, and their farm system is ranked 5th in FABL. The Eagles dealt one of their two viable trade chips, in trading down from the first overall draft pick and turned it into three quality prospects including Flowers. However they have only one chip of value left (outside of a likely very high first round pick again next year) in T.R. Goins and still have a real shortage of pitching prospects. The Eagles have made it known that Goins is available but so far, on the eve of spring training, he remains a Washington Eagle.

Washington ended the last decade with some poor showings but laid the foundation for pennants in 1922,1923 and 1925 during those lean years from 1916-20. Perhaps they can duplicate things next decade with a strong start to the 1930's from talent built over the past year and the next couple of drafts.

[Jiggs McGee]

THIS WEEK IN FABL

MONTREAL ADDS HARVEY RODGERS FROM BROOKLYN FOR TWO PICKS

In a bit of a surprise the Brooklyn Kings dealt arguably their number 2 starter to Montreal in exchange for a pair of draft picks. For the Saints Harvey Rodgers likely fits in as their 3rd starter behind Charlies Steadman (15-14, 3.78) and Al Allen Jr. (4-0, 2.87). Rodgers also provides insurance in case Double Al the second shows any lingering effects from the back injury that ended his season in late April last year.

The Kings stated the move was to clear some roster space and get some sort of a return in doing so. It is true that Brooklyn, and several other teams will face a real roster crunch at the end of the season with potential Rule V exposed players and the Kings will also have an issue prior to opening day due to several pitchers being out of minor league options. However, many speculate the move was to help clear the way to fast track #1 overall pick Tommy Wilcox to the majors, perhaps as early as May 1st. Brooklyn sources deny that is the case and even though they were very impressed with Wilcox's showing in spring games for Class A Omaha so far, the organization still plans to have Wilcox spend the entire season in the minors. Plans do have a way of changing though.

OPTIONS
It is nice to have options but when you don't it can be a really bad thing, especially if you are trying to hold on to players who may not have room with the big league squad. A number of teams will be faced with tough decisions next month as the 23-man rosters are set for opening day. Most teams have one or two good young ballplayers who are out of minor league options, but perhaps not quite good enough to make the active roster. With no options, those players will have to clear waivers in order to go down to the minors, which means teams run the risk of losing them.

Here are the players that have to go through waivers if they do not make major league roster for opening day:
BALTIMORE: P John Barrie, P Bob Miller, P Leo Reynolds, C Mike Lewis, SS Johnny Farmer, OF Jose Paredes
BOSTON: 3B Joe Cash, 3B Jim Eley, OF Junior Marrero
BROOKLYN: P Joe Blansit, P Art Carlson, P Art Harvey, P Jack Gunderson, OF Al Stanton
CHI CHIEFS: P Claude Alexander, 3B Rip Anthony, OF Marcos Gamboa
CHI COUGARS: P Andy Chastain, P Charley O'Hare, OF Hi Lawson
CLEVELAND: P Ben Thompson, P Dick Dover, OF Bob Smith, OF Bill Grunwald
DETROIT: P Reeve Kirby, C Ad Doria, 1B Jay Hogan
MONTREAL: P Clyde Lincoln, P Joe McCoy, P Cat Spanos, C Lew Stiles
NY STARS: 2B Danny Bottorf
NY GOTHAMS: 2B Les Henning, 2B Chris Odle, SS Cal Blackshear, OF Del Dunn
PHI KEYSTONES: P John Tucker, P Gil Kern, OF Pete Peters, OF Al Thornton
PHI SAILORS: P John Mahoney, P Buck Blood
PITTSBURGH: 1B Joe Watson, 2B Jack Shelton,SS Les Krentz
ST.LOUIS: 1B Ben Mayberry, 1B Duane Smith, SS Rufus Sanders, OF Howard Crocker
TORONTO: C Harry Kros, C Rick Riddle, 1B Spencer Leonard, 2B Paul Taylor, 3B Dick Vantrease, 3B George Garnes, 3B Bernie Losee
WASHINGTON: P Archie Dickey, C Bill Robinson, 1B Alex Henderson, 1B Billy Lorquet, 3B Johnny Bastian,OF Remy Saunders, OF Harry Jones, OF Bob Parker

In addition to the above-listed players, most GM's will also have to contend with players on each team who have the right to refuse a minor league assignment. That means check the waiver wire closely between now and opening day as there might be some decent talent teams will try and slip through.

ON THE FIELD
The big boys got playing this week as FABL exhibition games are underway. The Toronto Wolves were the hottest team in the first week, going 5-1 while Baltimore brought up the rear at 1-5. Of course the results mean very little as it is all about the individual performances right now as teams look to make roster decisions for the 23-man.

Here is a quick hit or two from each of the 16 camps:

BALTIMORE CANNONS: Not a good week in Cannons camp. The big club started 1-5 in spring play while in the Class C Minor League complex highly touted Baltimore draft pick Ken Curry is getting off to a slow start in minor league games. The 8th overall draft pick out of high school and ranked the #3 prospect in the game by BNN went just 2-for-24 in 7 Class C games last week. In 24 spring games the 19 year old outfielder is batting just .203.

BOSTON MINUTEMEN: Rookie second baseman Chuck Carr had a nice spring debut, going 4-for-9 with 3 extra base hits. Ranked the #7 prospect by BNN, the 23 year old former 3rd overall pick is looking to make the jump to Boston after hitting .283 a year ago in AAA. On the negative side, 28 year old shortstop Carl Milam (.291,0,50 a year ago) will miss a week or two with back stiffness.

BROOKLYN KINGS: 35 year old Bob Schmid, a waiver pick-up in the running for a rotation spot had a nice debut, allowing 1 run over 4 strong innings in a win over Baltimore. However, most of the attention is focused on Omaha, where the Class A Western League is playing spring games, and #1 overall pick Tommy Wilcox is showing what he can do. The 21 year old is 3-1 with a 2.25 era and 23 strikeouts in 20 innings of work. Wilcox might be overshadowed right now by 20 year old free agent invitee Jim Ferro, who has fanned 59 batters in 35 innings of work and 23 year old catcher Bill Cairns, who leads the Western League with 6 homers

CHICAGO CHIEFS: Jim Hampton is continuing right where he left off for the 3-3 Chiefs. The reigning Federal Association batting champ hit .444 (7-for-16) to start the spring. 1928 7th round draft pick, 1B Leon Gill out of nearby Whitney College, is off to a good start in the minor league camp. The 22 year old is hitting .359 with 5 homers and 19 rbi's for Class C Waterloo.

CHICAGO COUGARS: 11th round draft pick Jim Dyer is turning heads in minor league camp at LaCrosse. The 21 year old former Liberty College righthander has pitched in 11 spring games, allowing just 1 earned run in 22 innings and has saved 6 contests. At the big league camp, the Cougars pitching got hit pretty hard last week with only Cotton Taylor (5-13 last year) and Dick Lyons (9-18) getting away only marginally scathed.

CLEVELAND FORESTERS: Prize rookie outfielder Moxie Pidgeon had a good start to spring training. The 22 year old outfielder, rated the #5 prospect in the game, went 6-for-14 with a double and a homer in 6 games last week. Pidgeon made his major league debut for the Foresters late last year and hit .286 in 12 games. Newcomer George Simpson, just acquired from Pittsburgh, was 4-for-11 to start his career as a Forester.

DETROIT DYNAMOS: Al Wheeler hit a pair of homers and drove in 7 runs while hitting .375 this week. The first overall pick in 1925 has taken longer to develop then fellow first rounders from that deep draft class that included Bud Jameson, Bill Ashbaugh. Doug Lightboyd and Jack Cleeves but the 21 year old outfielder had a great rookie season with Detroit (.306,18,101). He was overshadowed by fellow Dynaomos rookie Frank Vance (.388,24,114) but Wheeler is almost 6 years younger and I believe destined for great things.

MONTREAL SAINTS: Montreal manager Joe Ward was quoted in local papers as saying he was pleased with the way the club is "getting at it," but added it was still very early. The Saints went 4-2 last week and had to be pleased Al Allen showed no ill effects from the back injury that ruined his rookie year. Allen allowed 1 run on 2 hits in 4 innings work starting a 7-3 victory over the New York Stars.

NEW YORK STARS: The Stars brass has to be impressed with the spring 3rd round pick Red Bledsoe is enjoying. The 21 year old former Northern Mississippi Maverick is 4-1 with a 1.25 era in 9 spring starts at the minor league camp. Bledsoe has fanned 38 while walking 8 in 26 innings of work. At the big league camp, veteran Del Plummer, a mid-season pickup, had an impressive spring debut, pitching 4 scoreless innings of 2 hit ball and fanning 5 in a 5-3 win over Baltimore.

NEW YORK GOTHAMS: The Gothams are counting the days until young first baseman Bud Jameson is cleared to return to action. The 25 year old injured his knee last summer after hitting .350 in the first half of the season. Jameson, the third overall pick in the 1925 draft, is said to still be close to a month away from returning.

PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES: It's early so no cause for alarm but 25 year old shortstop Rankin Kellogg is off to a slow start. Kellogg (.387,42,164) went just 2-for-11 in the first week of spring training. Rule V pickup Earl Farrar also had a rough start, lasting less than 3 innings before being pulled after surrendering 7 earned runs on 5 hits and 7 walks in a game the Keystones actually came back and won 9-8 over Detroit.

PHILADELPHIA SAILORS: Maybe Johnny Davis is human after all and not a machine. In his spring debut the Allan Award winner and World Championship Series hero gave up 4 runs in 4 innings to the Cleveland Foresters, but he still got the victory as the Sailors won 6-4

PITTSBURGH MINERS: Mixed results for the Miners top two prospects in main camp: pitcher Spencer Gause and outfielder Frank Lightbody. Gause, a 25 year old righthander who went 1-3 with a 5.35 era in a brief stint in the Steel City a year ago, allowed 3 runs on 3 hits while walking 4 in 4 innings of work against the Chicago Chiefs. 23 year old Lightbody, the 4th pick of the 1927 draft, showed well in a brief stint in Pittsburgh last year and picked up right where he left off, going 5-for-12 with 3 extra base hits in his first 5 spring games. 22 year old shortstop Pete Asher, just acquired from Cleveland in the George Simpson deal, had 4 hits in his first 9 at bats as a Miner.

ST LOUIS PIONEERS: Tom Perrodin is a college pitcher I thought should have gone much higher than the 21st round when the former Lubbock State Hawk was selected by the Pioneers. He has struggled with giving up homers in the early going at minor league camp with Moline, allowing 5 in 21 innings of work, bu Perrodin has also shown a propensity for the strikeout, fanning 27 hitters in 21 innings.

TORONTO WOLVES: The injury bug hit the Wolves camp with starting centerfielder Freddie Malley (.245,1,47) and backup middle infielder Jim Adams, who spent most of last year in AAA, both going down. Meanwhile, 22 year old second year 3B Don Summers had a big week, going 7-for-12 in 5 games.

WASHINGTON EAGLES: 21 year old outfielder Wally Flowers, the 10th overall pick in the December draft, went 2-for-2 in his pro debut, hitting a pair of singles in an 11-2 win over Detroit.


QUICK HITS
Is this the end of the line for Mike Vonderheide's FABL career? Yesterday, Montreal released the 35 year old who has a career record of 120-132 over 13 seasons, primarily with the Saints but he also pitched for Boston and Brooklyn.

Did you know the tallest player in FABL history is Steve Montgomery, a 6'7" reliever who was 10-17 for the Cougars from 1915-1918. Montgomery may lose that distinction this year as there are 2 prospects in major league camps this season that stand 6'8" tall. They are both pitchers: Jack Thompson of Pittsburgh and Bill Evans of the Gothams. Both lefthanders, the 27 year old Thompson was 11-6, 3.80 at AAA St Paul a year ago while Evans, 26, went 17-10, 2.44 at AA Jersey City. A third pitcher, 27 year old righthander Guy Johnston, is also measured at 6'8". He was 10-7 for independent Hollywood of the Great Western League a year ago and is expected to return to the Heroes rotation again this season.

The highest paid player in the league this seaosn will be T.R. Goins at $12,000. Goins inked a 3 year deal with Washington 2 seasons ago while most of the players exist on one year contracts. Keystones Rankin Kellogg and Max Morris of St Louis are tied for second highest contract at $10,937. Chiefs 3B Joe Masters, who hit 56 homers and a record 195 rbi's last year, needs to get a new agent. His salary for 1929 will be just $8,010, which puts him 6th overall, on his own team, (Note to GMs - all contracts automatically renew so no need to panic. I just thought it was interesting Masters was no where to be found on the list of top 25 highest paid players in the league.)

[Ol' Possum]

Hey y'all! Ol' Possum here. I think this here journal is finer than a frog hair split four ways! So I just might show up around these parts from time to time to give my down home spin on the happenin's in FABL.

Y'all probably know me as Rufus Barrell's sidekick. It's true that I'm closer to ol' Rufus than Ol' Blue is to his favorite bone. It's also true that I am a scout for the OSA. So I might... mind you, I said might... give you some inside dirt on the fellas I've seen on the diamond. I'm from deep in the south where sushi is still called bait, so I will give it to you straight

Hopefully Jiggsy & Percy whatchamacallit won't mind me popping off. And shoot, I'll do it even if they do mind!

I will git out of yer hair now but I will leave y'all with one final thing - Ol' Possum's thought for the day: If you cain't run with the big dogs, don't get off the porch!

[Jiggs McGee]

1929 AIAA COLLEGE BASEBALL UPDATE
March 25, 1929

The college baseball season is in full swing and it did not take long for Georgia Baptist righthander Tom Barrell to show why he is the projected first overall pick in next year's FABL draft. The 21 year old had just an average debut, going 6 and a third and taking the loss 5-2 in the Gators season opener against Opelika State but in his second start Barrell was practically unhittable. He tossed 8 2/3 innings of shutout ball allowing just one hit while fanning 21. Barrell, who does double-duty as a first baseman for the Gators when not on the mound, also hit a 3-run homer in the game.

The 21 strikeouts he notched would have tied an AIAA single game record had not a fresh-faced 18 year old rookie for the George Fox Reds by the name of Johnny Biggs not struck out 22 Pierpont batters in his college debut 2 days earlier. It looks like strikeouts are going to be the story in the college ranks this year as through the opening week a pitcher had fanned at least 15 hitters 27 times already this season. Last year that only happened 9 times and 5 of them were by Tommy Wilcox, who was recently selected first overall by the Brooklyn Kings in the FABL draft.

A number of pitchers have had fast starts but none better than Rainier College righthander Chuck Stout. Stout won both of his starts by 3-0 scores and allowed just 1 hit in each although he 'only' went 8 2/3 in the first start before going the distance in his second outing. Stout also fashioned to of the above mentioned high strikeout games, fanning 18 Golden Gate batters in the opener and 17 Northern California Miners in his second start. He is draft eligible this year and appears intent on making a case that he, and not Barrell, is worthy of the number one selection.

Stout's Rainier College Majestics are one of just 4 teams to start the season 4-0. All 4 are in the Continental Conference with the others being College of San Diego, Opelika State and Whitney College. The Liberty College Bells, feeling the absence of Tommy Wilcox are one of three teams that have yet to win a game as Indiana A&M and Golden Gate are also off to an 0-4 start.

Pitchers have certainly been ahead of the hitters in the early going but there still have been some players get off to a good start at the dish. Vic Crawford, a senior outfielder from Commonwealth Catholic who was high on the mock drafts, has hit 4 homers in his first 4 games while fellow senior outfielder Joe Johnson, from Central Ohio, is batting .643 on the season with 9 hits in 14 at bats. Boulder College junior centerfielder Jim Dorsey was batting .588 with an AIAA leading 9 rbi's but he suffered a sprained knee on the weekend and will miss two weeks. Coastal California senior second baseman Bob Crocker was dealt a much more serious blow as he is done for the year after a shoulder injury. Crocker was 9-for-16 with 3 doubles and a homer at the time of his injury. He should still get drafted but the injury will certainly lower his stock.

For the second consecutive year I will be providing my top 10 college rankings. Here is the first installment

TOP TEN RANKINGS
1- Opelika State Wildcats (4-0)
2- Rainier College Majestics (4-0)
3- College of San Diego Friars (4-0)
4- Whitney College Engineers (4-0)
5- George Fox Reds (3-1)
6- St Pancras Lions (3-1)
7- Central Ohio Aviators (3-1)
8- St Patrick's Shamrocks (3-1)
9- Cumberland Explorers (3-1)
10-St Matthew's College Senators (3-1)

I will also keep a running list of the top five performing draft eligible college pitchers and hitters. This is not a mock draft list or even where I feel they rank as it will just be performance based so most likely the hitting portion will be dominated by outfielders.

Here are the top performing draft eligible pitchers min 2 starts
1- Chuck Stout Rainier College:  2-0 in 2 starts, 0.00 ERA, 35 k's 4 walks in 17 and 2/3
2- Babe Williams Garden State:   2-0 in 2 starts, 1.42 ERA  26 k's 4 walks in 12 and 2/3
3- Tom Barrell Georgia Baptist:  1-1 in 2 starts, 1.80 ERA  30 k's 7 walks in 15 innings
4- Herman Smith Frankford State: 1-1 in 2 starts, 2.19 ERA  11 k's 3 walks in 12 1/3 innings
5- Mickey Reeves Northern Cal:   1-0 in 2 starts, 2.63 ERA  20 k's 7 walks in 12 2/3 innings

Here are the top performing offensive draft eligible players min 13 plate appearances
1- Joe Johnson OF Central Ohio:   .643/.647/.929  1 HR 7 RBI 1 SB
2- Chuck Williams 1B Golden Gate: .500/.600/1.000 1 HR 3 RBI
3- Johnny McCann OF St Blane:     .444/.474/.889  2 HR 8 RBI
4- Babe Walsh 1B Coastal Cal:     .438/.500/1.000 3 HR 4 RBI 7 Runs scored
5- Al Couch OF Lubbock State:     .588/.632/.882  1 HR 6 RBI 5 runs scored

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by Ol' Possum

Hey y'all! Ol' Possum here. I think this here journal is finer than a frog hair split four ways! So I just might show up around these parts from time to time to give my down home spin on the happenin's in FABL.

Looking forward to hearing some down home wisdom from Possum

[Jiggs McGee]

Just a quick college update from Jiggs today.

April 1, 1929 AIAA UPDATE

The Opelika State Wildcats are off to an 8-1 start and lead the way in College Baseball action. The Wildcats went 32-18 each of the past two seasons, numbers good enough to win them a National Title 2 years ago but left them on the outside looking in come playoff time last year. This season the club seems to be on a mission with 8 straight victories to start the campaign before dropping the finale of a 3-game weekend set with Cumberland yesterday. The Wildcats are being led by senior shortstop Joe Foy, a potential high draft pick next December, who is presently 3rd in the AIAA with a .475 batting average but the big surprise in Opelika has been the play of a pair of freshmen. Pitcher Charlie Bingham is 3-0 with a 2.25 era while outfielder Roy Zingale is hitting .429 with 5 homers and 13 rbi's in his first 9 college games.

TOP TEN RANKINGS		REC	LW
1- Opelika State Wildcats 	8-1	 1
2- Henry Hudson Explorers	7-2	NR
3- College of San Diego Friars  6-3	 3
4- Georgia Baptist Gators	6-3     NR
5- Brunswick College Knights	6-3     NR
6- Cumberland Explorers 	6-3      9
7- Rainier College Majestics 	6-3	 2
8- Commonwealth Cath. Knights   6-3     NR
9- Chicago Poly Panthers        6-3     NR
10-St Patrick's Shamrocks 	6-3	 8

DROPPING OUT OF TOP 10
Whitney College Engineers 	5-4	 4
George Fox Reds 		5-4	 5
St Pancras Lions 		5-4	 6
Central Ohio Aviators 		5-4      7

[Jiggs McGee]

AIAA COLLEGE BASEBALL UPDATE
April 8, 1929

It may be hard to believe but the college season is already a quarter of the way done as teams have played 13 of their scheduled 50 games. At this point things are pretty balanced as no one has a better than 9-4 record, which is the mark held by the leading school in each division.

Here is a division by division break down:

ACADEMIA ALLIANCE: The Brunswick Knights have won 7 of their last 8 and, at 9-4, enjoy a 1 game lead on both Sadler and Ellery atop the division. It is a big turnaround for Brunswick, which finished 7th in the division a year ago with a 15-35 record. Brunswick has a big 2 game series with Sadler in Charlestown against the Bluecoats starting tomorrow.

NORTHEAST COLLEGIATE: Led by the top offense in the Northeast Conference and featuring a pair of likely high draft picks in outfielders Dan Fowler (.375,7,20) and Vic Crawford (.358,7,23), Commonwealth Catholic tops the Northeast Division at 9-4, one game up on fellow Boston rival St. Patrick's College. While much of the preseason draft hype was on the two Commonwealth Catholic outfielders, Liberty's Joe Jones is making a case for himself to be a first round draft pick. Jones, who turns 21 next week, is hitting .382 with an AIAA leading 9 homers and 21 rbi's through 13 games.

SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE: Opelika State remains in first but it was a rough week for the Wildcats as they dropped 3 of 4 games and fell out of the National #1 ranking, a spot they had held for the first two polls. The 9-4 Wildcats are being chased by Maryland State, which improved to 8-5 on the year after a very strong week in which the Bengals took a pair from Opelika State on the road and then split two with Georgia Baptist, also 8-5, at home.

MIDWESTERN COLLEGIATE: The tightest division in the AIAA right now with just 4 wins separating first place Wisconsin State (9-4) from three teams tied for last at 5-9. The Brewers dropped 2 of 3 to arch rival Chicago Poly and lead the Panthers by a single game. Whitney College (7-6) has the top two in the AIAA in terms of batting average with senior outfielder Bobby Many (.490,6,28) leading the way followed by 18 year old second baseman Al Haynes (.483,0,7). Many, who hit .326 a year ago, also leads the AIAA in rbi's and is 3 off the homerun lead which is co-held by Indiana A&M's Bill Tucker. Tucker(.264,9,17) played sparingly last season but the first baseman is starting to draw some attention from FABL scouts and may hear his name called in the first few rounds of the draft. The knock on him is he is sort of a one-trick pony as he strikes out a lot, has trouble getting on base and is barely an average 1B in the field...but he sure can give the ball a ride although there is some concern the Reapers field, which is very friendly to lefthanded power hitters, might be a factor.

WESTERN COLLEGIATE: The first place Rainier College Majestics are 9-4 because of the best pitching staff in the AIAA. The Majestics have allowed just 36 runs in 13 games - 15 less than the next closest team (Opelika State). Senior righthander Chick Stout's draft stock continues to sar as the 20 year old is 3-0 with a 0.82 ERA for the Majestics while freshman Walt Smith, an 18 year old lefthander, has been nearly as good at 2-0 ,0.50, however last year's ace Stan Merendino, has been awful for the Majestics. At the other end of the spectrum is the division doormat Boulder State Grizzlies (4-9). The Grizzlies actually lead the AIAA in runs scored but their pitching has been terrible.

Here are the updated top 10 rankings:

TOP TEN RANKINGS		REC	LW
1- Brunswick College Knights	9-4      5
2- Rainier College Majestics 	9-4	 7
3- Opelika State Wildcats 	9-4	 1
4- Commonwealth Cath. Knights   9-4      8
5- Wisconsin State Brewers	9-4     NR
6- Chicago Poly Panthers        8-5      9
7- Maryland State Bengals	8-5     NR
8- Georgia Baptist Gators	8-5      4
9- College of San Diego Friars  8-5	 3
10-St Patrick's Shamrocks 	8-5	10
[b]
DROPPING OUT OF TOP 10
Henry Hudson Explorers		7-6	2
Cumberland Explorers 		7-6     6

Now that we have hit the quarter pole of the college season and the high schooler's have played a week's worth of games let's take a look at how the players I put in my preseason mock draft have performed. I will likely do a new mock draft in a couple of weeks but here is an update on the original list.

1- TOM BARRELL RHP - Georgia Baptist: As expected Barrell, who entered the season with 28 career wins, became the AIAA all-time victory leader last week. He now has 31 after going 3-1 with a 1.41 era for the Gators to start the season. Included in his efforts was a 21 strikeout performance in a win over Bayou State. As if that is not enough, Barrell is playing 1B when he doesn't pitch and is hitting .405 with 4 homers and 16 rbi's so, if anything he has enhanced his value as the first overall pick. The question might be is does he stay a pitcher or perhaps one day become the next Max Morris and switch to an everyday role. Or perhaps he does both?

2-BEN BERNARD RHP - Mobile HS: The high school righthander does not have a decision yet this season but started two games, throwing 6 shutout innings each time. He has allowed 6 hits and struck 19 while walking 7 in 12 innings of work after going 6-1, 0.78 a year ago.

3-JOHN COLLINS OF - Liberty College: Collins has been overshadowed by Bells outfield teammate Joe Jones (.382,9,21) but has still had a decent start to the season, hitting .306,2,12. At this point he is likely dropping perhaps even out of the first round but in his defense the 1927 All-American he has been hobbled by a sore ankle.


4-VIC CRAWFORD OF - Commonwealth Catholic: Unlike Collins, who Crawford has been often compared with, the Knights outfielder has continued at the hot pace that he set his first two seasons of college ball and earned him a first team All-American nod last year. Crawford is batting .358 with 7 homers and 23 rbi's though 13 games and has his team at the top of their division.

5-TOM BLALOCK RHP - Chicago Poly: No let down from the righthander, who is now 13-0 going back to the start of the 1927 season. A second team All-America selection as a junior, Blalock is 3-0 with a 0.91 era in 4 starts (also 2 relief appearances) for the Panthers this season. His walks are up a bit this year but overall his WHIP is right on track with last season.

6-SAM ORR 2B - Henry Hudson University: Hasn't duplicated his freshman season when he hit .425 but numbers are very consistent with what he put up last year. Presently .345,5,13 while playing strong defense. Also has speed with 5 stolen bases in 13 games.

7- STEVE STUDER OF - Frankford State: The Owls have been awful this season but you can't blame Studer (.280,5,15). There is some concern as his batting average is down and, after stealing 26 bases a year ago, he has just 1 theft so far this season. Performance of others and slight drop in his production has likely removed him from the first round at this point.

8- DAN FOWLER OF - Commonwealth Catholic: Like his teammate Crawford, Fowler has had a very strong start to the season (.275,7,20). Between the two Knights players and Liberty's Joe Jones (who did not make the mock draft first round) the NE Collegiate division is loaded with outfield talent.

9- CLAY JACKSON RHP - Detroit City College: The first guy on my mock list you can say has definitely dropped a long ways based on the start to his draft year. Jackson was 10-2 1.40 last year but fell to the 5th starter on Detroit City College and spent most of his time in the pen where he has been bad. 1-3 with a 6.60 era and 7 homers allowed in 30 innings of work. His WHIP, 0.74 a year ago, is now just a shade under 2.

10- HERMAN SMITH RHP - Frankford State: Assessing young pitchers is a tough business and Smith was just as good as Jackson a year ago but just as bad this season. He is 1-1 with an 8.53 era and has already allowed 7 homers in 19 innings, the same number he surrendered in 83 innings a year ago when he went 10-2, 1.84. Like Jackson, if the trend does not reverse he will likely not hear his name called before the 10th round, and perhaps not at all. A big drop off for both of them considering each won 10 games a year ago, something that has only been done in the AIAA 35 times.

11- STAN MERENDINO LHP - Rainier College: I am sensing a trend as another college arm who looked great last year (6-1, 0.81) but has been just awful (2-1, 7.84) so far this season. Despite Merendino's numbers the Majestics pitching has been great with fellow senior Chick Stout pitching his way into first round consideration as Merendino has pitched his way out of it.

12- JAKE JOHNSON 1B - Lubbock State: On pace to be very comparable with last year's numbers when he won a National Championship. Johnson is hitting .385 with a homer and 6 rbi's through 13 games but it had been hoped he would show more power this season than last (4 homers), and be more in line with his freshman year (.386,19,66). Likely not done enough to remain in the first round.

13- BILLY SMITH OF - Greensboro HS: Smith made the list on the strength of a .417 season a year ago. It is still early in the high school season but he has started slowly with a .259/.344/.444 slash line through 7 games. Needs to step it up as there is plenty of other outfield talent in ths draft.

14- JIM BRIGHT OF - Syracuse HS: Bright hit 14 homers and batted .402 a year ago but like Smith, is off to a very slow start with just 1 homer and a .235 average through 7 games.

15- OTIS ADAMS OF - Cleveland HS: Injuries derailed his 17 year old season after a dominant rookie campaign that saw Bright hit .447 with 18 homers as a 16 year old. I put him here based on the expectation he would regain his form once healthy. Adams is healthy but so far he is homerless with a .333 batting average.

16-DON HALLAM 3B - Somerville HS: Hallam also had a huge rookie year with a .446 and 19 HR performance but dipped to .365, 6 homers a year ago. He is dipping again with a .259 average while homerless through 7 games.

SUMMARY:

So as you can tell there will be some big changes at the bottom half of my first round mock draft (as it said in the title of the original piece it was a WAY-TOO EARLY MOCK DRAFT. I will have an updated list in a couple of weeks and perhaps there is hope that some of the high school players struggling early will get back on track.