Figment League Baseball - A Fictional History of Baseball - Page 5

legendsport · 12-02-2019, 10:49 AM

NOTE: Since I failed to post more regular updates in-season, I am splitting my year-end recap into three parts: a Fed report, a Continental report and a World Championship report. This is the first of those three...

Max Morris had, quite literally, hammered home the concept of the home run as a primary weapon long before the 1928 season dawned. But that philosophy also ran against a long-entrenched trend in the game favoring "inside baseball" which sneered at the homer in favor of bunts, hit-and-runs and stolen bases. The 1928 season marked a turning point in this philosophical battle as the players themselves began to embrace the power game.

The clearest example of this shift came in Chicago. The Chicago Chiefs boasted a particularly friendly park for power hitters. The problem had always been that the Chiefs' roster didn't feature anyone particularly fond of trying to hit the ball over the fence. That too changed in 1928.

Joe Masters, the Chiefs incumbent third baseman had been a fairly average player in his first six seasons in the Windy City. He hit close to .300 every year and had shown some middling power,reaching double-figures in all but one year (he had 9 that year) but topping out at 15 (which he did twice, including in 1927). Masters focused on improving his swing over the winter of 1927-28 and came to camp with an improved stroke aimed at putting the ball into the air. And it worked - big time.

3B Joe Masters, CHC

Masters stroked 56 home runs, drove in 195 runs (a new record) and hit .388 - numbers that would likely win a Triple Crown most years, but not in the Federal Association in 1928. The batting crown went to Masters' team mate LF Jim Hampton who was over .400 most of the season before settling for a .397 mark and the batting title.

With Masters & Hampton leading the way, the Chiefs were out in front most of the season, won 95 games and took the pennant by a nice round 10-game margin over the second-place Detroit Dynamos. Chicago was not one-dimensional, with a pair of 20-game winners - and a pair of 19-game winners as well, giving them the league's second stingiest staff to go along with their league-leading offense.

Second-place Detroit won 85 games and the '28 season saw the Dynamos finally bring up 1926 #1 overall pick Al Wheeler. The 20-year-old right fielder hit .306 with 18 homers and 101 RBIs but was second fiddle to breakout star Frank Vance, a third baseman who flirted with .400 most of the season before fading a bit and finishing tied for second with a .388 average.

3B Frank Vance, DET

Third-place went to the Boston Minutemen in a bit of a surprise. The Minutemen thrived on their fielding ability, which was outstanding and helped them overcome the league's 6th-best (or 3rd worst, depending on your viewpoint) offense to post a solid 80-74 mark. Boston's star was 29-year-old 3B Charlie Barry who hit .359 with 15 homers and 95 RBIs.

The Pittsburgh Miners finished fourth with a tidy 77-77 mark to put them right at .500 on the year. The Miners were in the thick of the race for a good portion of the summer before fading down the stretch and their rebuilding project looks to be in good shape and paying early dividends. The Miners' strength lies in their pitching where they feature three solid starters that are the envy of several other teams, led by Jim Smith who went 17-9 with a league-best 2.99 ERA.

P Jim Smith, PIT

Where are the Philadelphia Keystones you ask? The defending World Champs took a big tumble in 1928 finishing in a fifth-place tie with the Gothams at 73-81. The problem was pitching - the Stones' staff was flat out terrible in 1928, with a league-worst 871 runs allowed. The offense, led by 1B Rankin Kellogg (.387-42-164) remained potent and fans who loved seeing runs scored definitely got their money's worth at Keystone games.

The Gothams too had a disappointing season with their fifth-place tie with Philadelphia being a letdown from what was considered a promising season by many prognosticators. The blame could be laid on several factors, but one which certainly played a role was injury. Franchise cornerstone 1B Bud Jameson was lost to a knee injury in June, short-circuiting the offense, though LF Carlos Cano was a revelation with a .342-26-85 campaign for player-manager Ed Ziehl's squad. "Mr. Gotham" himself also had injury issues, twice missing games in what might end up being his final season as an active player. If this is indeed Ziehl's swansong, the legendary 2B goes out with a resume that includes 3465 hits and a .323 lifetime average in a career stretching back to 1906.

2B/MGR Ed Ziehl, NYG

St. Louis was one game behind both NY and Philly, in seventh place with a 72-82 record. The big story in the Gateway to the West was - as usual - Max Morris. The game's biggest name was absent for the first half of the season as he recovered from an injury suffered in the middle of the 1927 season. When he returned, he came back in a big way, hitting 29 homers with 92 RBIs in 90 games. One of those homers pushed his career mark over 400, and every home run Morris hits represents a new career mark. Unfortunately for Morris and Pioneer fans, the club didn't perform well without Morris and wasn't that much better with him.

Last place Washington had a lost season. The Eagles feature the game's best catcher - there's a guy in the other league who may challenge that title in the near future, but for now T.R. Goins is the best in the business behind the dish. Goins had his usual stellar season: .321-16-83 but the rest of the team was a big disappointment and Washington scored the fewest runs in the loop with just 646. When you also allow the 7th most runs (815) that adds up to a terrible season and the Eagles' 61-93 record reflects that. The only positive on the '28 season in the capital is that they will have the top pick in the upcoming amateur draft.

C T.R. Goins, WAS

NEXT: The Continental Association recap

legendsport · 12-03-2019, 10:56 AM

The sea change in the Fed was not missed in the Continental in 1928 both in terms of the long ball and also in terms of a new club rising to the top of the heap and simply overpowering the competition in winning the pennant for the first time in a long while.

The team in question was the Philadelphia Sailors and like Fed champion Chicago (who hadn't won a pennant since 1917), the Sailors seized the flag for the first time since 1897 and did it with style, winning 102 games and finishing nine games ahead of second-place New York.

In keeping with the theme of similarity (which only goes so far and we'll get to that in a moment), the Sailors, like the Chiefs, had a breakout slugger of their own: RF Tom Taylor. The switch-hitting 23-year-old was a rookie and started the season in AAA after playing in both A and AA in 1927 where he showed moderate power. Things were different in '28 though - he hit 10 home runs in 118 at-bats with San Francisco before getting the call to the big club where he was even better. Taylor slugged 44 homers, drove in 126 runs and scored 124 - all tops in the CA. He also hit .342, which was good for sixth.

RF Tom Taylor, PHS

With 2B Jack Cleaves (.289-8-99) and C Alex Diaz (.324-8-69) joining Taylor in the heart of the order for the Sailors, Philly topped the CA in runs scored with 815. And the pitching was also outstanding, topping even the vaunted New York Stars staff for #1 in runs allowed with just 558 opponents crossing the dish in '28. The stellar staff was led by Johnny Davis, a 25-year-old Texan who jumped up from AA Providence (where he had been primarily a reliever) and went 24-8 with a 2.73 ERA and became a near-lock for the CA's 1928 Al Allen Award honors.

Second-place New York bounced back from a disappointing fifth-place finish in 1927 to get back in the thick of things, winning 93 games (which was more than their pennant-winning clubs of 1924 and '25 had won). The Stars were excellent on both sides with the 2nd-best run-scoring output (794) and 2nd-best pitching effort (628 runs allowed). Losing ace Dick Richards (13-4, 3.28) for two stretches during the season hurt their chances but the staff overall was as solid as ever. And the offense... well, it was outstanding: 2B Pete Layton won the batting crown with a .370 average and posted 27 homers and 108 RBIs hitting in front of the stellar tandem of 3B John Lawson (.344-22-106) and 1B Dave Trowbridge (.354-16-87), who came over in an early May trade from Pittsburgh and led the league in doubles.

2B Pete Layton, NYS

Cleveland finished third, 16 back of Philly, but with a solid 86-68 campaign. The Foresters found themselves a star in LF Joe Perret, a rookie from Sacramento who impressed in brief stint in '27 after jumping up from AA Toledo, but really broke out in 1928 to the tune of a .347 average with 30 doubles, 18 triples, 24 homers and 117 runs batted in. Though a bit old for a rookie at 26, Perret looks like the franchise cornerstone the Foresters have lacked since trading Max Morris to St. Louis back in 1919. Cleveland also boasts an ace in righty Wayne Robinson, acquired from the Saints in 1927, who went 20-9 with a 3.04 ERA - Allen-worthy numbers in any league that didn't feature a Johnny Davis.

P Wayne Robinson, CLE

Defending CA champion Brooklyn had a disappointing season. Though their offense remained extremely potent, the pitching was a sore spot and Kings' management made a mid-season decision to cast away any hope of a pennant repeat by rolling the dice on a retooling for 1929 and the near future. A series of trades sent away such franchise landmarks as LF Bud Rogers (sent to rival NY) and SS Lloyd Carter (to Cleveland) and several pitchers were sent packing as well. Coming on board were both younger players and draft picks, giving Brooklyn some promising pieces for the future. Sticking around was star RF Doug Lightbody, who fell off from his outstanding sophomore campaign, but still was third in the league in batting with a .356 average and young catcher Mike Taylor (.325-7-39) looks like a star in the making. So despite a .500 finish in '28, things are not at all gloomy in Brooklyn.

Baltimore got off to a historically poor start, posting a 2-16 mark in April to bury their season almost before it began. The Cannons righted the ship and went 72-66 after that terrible start, not good enough to get them into the pennant race, but good enough to get them to fifth-place. Catcher Joe Welch (.355-25-93) looks like he might give T.R. Goins a run for his money as the game's top backstop (that rookie in Brooklyn is sure to be in the mix too) and 1B Lou Kelly (.330-31-104) had a great season as well and the club finished with 90 home runs, good for 2nd in the CA. The pitching was up-and-down: Oscar Jefferson (8-15, 5.03) was bad but Rabbit Day (15-14, 3.20) was good. The club has a pair of promising 19-year-old pitchers in Johnny Jacob and Lou Forbes who could make a difference in the not-too-distant future, although Forbes suffered a severe shoulder injury, clouding his future development.

C Joe Welch, BAL

Montreal topped a trio of rebuilding clubs at the bottom of the pile. The Saints are improving, slowly but surely, and 1928 was another stepping stone in the right direction. Rookie CF (and #1 pick) Cliff Moss forced his way onto the big club and produced to the tune of .309-10-57 in 116 big league games. The Saints offense let them down in a big way with a collective .255 batting average (7th) and 572 runs scored (8th) but the pitching might have turned the corner. 26-year-old Charlie Stedman (15-14, 3.78) and 24-year-old Al Allen (yeah - that guy's son) give the rotation a possible 1-2 punch to envy. Allen posted a 4-0 mark with a 2.87 ERA in April before going down with a season-ending back injury. AA pitcher Walker Moore, acquired in the Phil Sandman trade with the Keystones before the season, is a 22-year-old lefty who might be the third arm the Saints need in their rotation. The Saints lineup is young but Moss looks like a cornerstone piece and though LF Jim Broome (.262-7-68) had a down year, if they develop and the pitching comes together, things will look much more sunny in Montreal.

The other Canadian club, Toronto, finished seventh with a 60-94 record and only the poor performance of the Chicago Cougars kept the Wolves out of the basement. The Wolves can run - they led the CA with 104 steals, but they didn't hit particularly well (8th in batting average, 7th in runs scored) nor did they pitch all that well (7th in runs allowed). Still, the right-left tandem of Birdie Smith (14-19, 3.75) and Don Cannaday (15-19, 4.54) both had down years but are proven arms, rookie LF Jimmy Faulhaber looked competent despite a jump from AA to the big leagues and there are some good looking farm hands in the system. So the rebuild needs to continue and the front office still has its work cut out for it - good drafting and a trade or two could put Toronto back in the mix.

P Birdie Smith, TOR

Last-place Chicago, at 59-95, had the worst record in either league in 1928. The Cougars' fall can be attributed to several factors. For one thing, they lost pitcher Johnny Douglas early - he was 4-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 10 starts before an arm injury ended his season in June. They had Benny Walker, a capable pitcher, sit on the injured list all season with shoulder trouble and aside from a stalwart season from lefty Dick Lyons (9-18, 3.88) and a midseason boost from 35-year-old Babe Wilder (6-7, 3.58 in 14 starts), the Cougars pitching was the league's worst. Getting Walker and Douglas back to team with Lyons should improve things in '29. The club still has the ever dependable John Dibblee (he had injury issues as well) and his .324 average and 2B Bill Ashbaugh (.287-25-101) is a star-in-the-making at age 24. With 3B Mack Deal (.310 with 28 doubles and 21 triples across AA, AAA and the CA) and C Fred Barrell (.321-3-102 at AA Mobile), a bumper crop from the farm may be the medicine the ailing Cougars need for 1929.

C Fred Barrell, AA Mobile

legendsport · 12-08-2019, 09:24 AM

The 1928 edition of the FABL World Championship Series featured an interesting matchup.

Representing the Federal Association were the Chicago Chiefs - the original professional club with a history stretching back to the very beginnings in 1876, the Chiefs had enjoyed surprisingly little success since those very early days, winning two titles in 1877 and '81 and then going into a dry spell that lasted until a 1917 pennant and WCS victory. They followed that up with another drought which they ended in spectacular fashion in 1928 to reach just their second WCS.
And on the Continental side, there was the Philadelphia Sailors. They got a later start than the Chiefs, joining the rival Border Association in 1889 (largely to spite the Keystones) and won the BA title in 1890. After the FABL consolidation, the Sailors again enjoyed a few years of success with pennants in 1893, '94 and '97 and a single WCS win in the latter year. Alas, that 1897 title was followed by a thirty-year drought that only ended with the club's 1928 pennant win.

The 1928 WCS began on a seasonably warm autumn afternoon at Sailors Memorial Stadium in South Philadelphia. The pitching matchup featured Sailors breakout ace Johnny Davis (24-8, 2.73) and another pitcher who had a breakthrough in 1928: 30-year-old Chiefs lefty Ruben Reyes (19-11, 3.99). A crowd of 39,646 extremely partisan Sailor fans filled the stands for what turned out to be a very exciting game.

The visiting Chiefs and their potent offense drew first blood in the third when 1B Johnny Rasberry doubed to lead off and later came around to score on a single by Reyes. The Chiefs added two more in the fourth when Jim Hampton led off with a single, was erased on a fielder's choice off the bat of star 3B Joe Masters who went first-to-third on a single by Hank Odegaard. Masters then scored on a sac fly by Jim Shelton before Rasberry - the hitting star on this day for Chicago - lined another double, this one into the right-field corner to score Odegaard.

With the score 3-0, and the crowd getting nervous, the Sailors bounced back in the home fourth to tie it up. Reyes had control issues, handing out three walks around a pair of singles by David Merchant and Jack Cleaves (who drove in a pair with his hit) and Tom Taylor (one of the walks) scored the tying run on a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning. Gene Aldrich hit into a double-play to end the inning without further damage.

A single run in the fifth by the Chiefs made it 4-3, but the Sailors tied it again in the seventh. Things remained knotted until the bottom of the ninth when Reyes again had control issues. WIth two outs, he issued back-to-back walsk to Aldrich and Forrest Sylvester, bringing his opposing number, Johnny Davis, to the plate. Davis won the game for himself with a clutch lined single to center, scoring Aldrich to give the Sailors a walk-off 5-4 victory.

Davis was the hero, going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs at the plate (he had driven in the run in the 7th as well) and went the distance on the hill, allowing four runs (all earned) on eight hits with a single walk and strikeout. Reyes took the loss, with five runs (all earned) on six hits and five costly walks against a lone strikeout.

Game two was a different story entirely. The Chiefs sent 35-year-old veteran righty Lou Felkel (20-8, 4.31) to face Sailors righty Rollie Beal, a 26-year-old who had been extremely solid since joining the club in 1926, posting 16, 17 and 16 wins over those three seasons with ERAs in the low threes (3.10, 3.05 and 3.25). Beal did not have his good stuff on this day however as the Chiefs' potent lineup tore him apart early and sent him to the showers in the fourth.

Five Sailors had multiple hits and only C Odegaard and SS Mike Pierce failed to join Chicago's 13-hit parade. Johnny Rasberry rapped his third double of the series and added a pair of RBIs in his 2-for-4 effort; star Joe Masters went 2-for-4 as well, with a pair of doubles, driving in two and scoring twice as well; the Jims (Hampton & Shelton) had two hits apiece with Hampton scoring twice and Shelton driving in two (and scoring once); but the biggest contributor was 2B Moe Davis who went 3-for-4, scored three times and hit the first home run of the series. That in itself was a surprise when the series featured the home run champions of both leagues in Masters (56) and Philly's Tom Taylor (44).

The Chiefs led 8-2 in the fourth when Beal's day ended and rode out a determined Sailors comeback attempt to hold on for the 9-6 victory to even up the series. Felkel went the distance despite allowing six runs on 14 hits and walking four batters - an incredible 18 baserunners allowed and he got the victory anyway. Beal was touched up for eight runs in three-plus frames with seven hits allowed and four free passes handed out. Walter Pelfrey (14-8, 3.71 in the regular season) came on in relief and tossed four scoreless frames, allowing the Sailors to get back into the game, though ultimately in vain.

With the series knotted at a game apiece, the scene shifted to Chicago's Whitney Field, a hitter-friendly bandbox that Hampton, Masters and their friends had used to full advantage during the Chiefs' pennant-winning campaign. After both lineups had unlimbered in game two, fireworks were expected in this third contest - but it turned out that pitching had the upper hand as the teams ended up combining for just thirteen hits.

Sailors skipper Jim Cathey, a former pitcher who had racked up 267 victories for the Foresters and Stars over a career spanning 15 years, surprised everyone by running ace Johnny Davis back out there after just two days of rest. And Davis delivered in a big way, quieting the raucous crowd at Whitney Park with a six-hit gem in which only one Chief crossed the plate.

On the other side, 35-year-old Al Wood (19-13, 4.44) took the hill for the Chiefs and pitched well in a complete-game effort of his own. Unfortunately for him, a Moe Davis error in the third proved costly, extending an inning that saw the Sailors plate three with run-scoring singles by Dick Walker, Tom Taylor and Jack Cleaves.

The score remained 3-0 until the home seventh when the Sailors finally dented Davis when Shelton led off with a double and later came around on a single off the bat of SS Mike Pierce. That ended up being Chicago's only tally with the Sailors adding a run in the eighth on Tom Taylor's first WCS home run, and then another in the ninth on a Gene Aldrich single after Earl Lambert had led off with a single and stolen second base. The 5-1 victory gave the Sailors the upper hand in the series.

Game Four was back at Whitney the next day, a blustery 49 degree afternoon in the Windy City that saw the Sailors take charge of the series with an 8-7 victory that wasn't as close as it seemed. With 31-year-old Norm Austin (20-7, 4.33) on the hill, the Chiefs needed the win in a game where the dominating Davis was not throwing for the Sailors. Philly trotted out 32-year-old Dan Waldman, a journeyman who spent half the year with AAA San Francisco before going
8-5 with a 2.74 ERA for the Sailors down the stretch.

The Sailors jumped on Austin early with three first-inning singles adding up to a single run and then getting a three-run homer off the bat of Dick Walker in the 2nd. Walker's homer traveled just 330 feet - and would have been a loud out in Sailors Memorial, but was a round-tripper in the cozy confines of Whitney Park. Cleaves doubled home Merchant in the fifth to make it 5-0 and with Waldman cruising, things looked bleak for the Chiefs.

That 5-0 lead held up until the eighth when Chicago's one-two punch finally landed. After Bert Hartman and Moe Davis both struck out, batting champ Jim Hampton delivered a single on a 3-2 fastball. This brought Masters to the plate and the slugger finally broke through, crushing a blazing 100 mph fastball to left for his first postseason homer to cut the lead to 5-2.

In the top of the ninth, the Sailors added three runs of cushion. Dick Walker led off with a single, which chased Austin from the game. Against Si Day, Merchant sacrificed Walker to second. After Day whiffed Taylor on a breaking ball, Cleaves delivered a run-scoring single. Catcher Alex Diaz then came to the plate and hit a 2-run shot to left off Day to cap off the Sailors' day. The visitors took a seemingly commanding 8-2 lead into the home ninth.

Shelton led off with a single to bring the red-hot Johnny Rasberry to the dish. The first sacker worked a full-count and then drilled a single through the hole between short and third, with the fleet-footed Shelton going to third. At this point it was becoming obvious that Waldman had lost it, but Cathey stuck with him, with disastrous results. Mike Pierce doubled on the first pitch, scoring Shelton and sending Rasberry to third. Bernie Rutledge came on to pinch-hit for Day and he also doubled, scoring both Rasberry and Pierce.

Cathey was now forced to make a move, calling on Maurice Demby to put out the fire in a suddenly close 8-5 game. Demby got Bert Hartman to ground out with Rutledge moving to third. Then the Chiefs got their third double of the frame, off the bat of Moe Davis, to make it 8-6. Now things were truly precarious for Philly: one out, Davis on second, and the killer tandem of Hampton & Masters up next. Hampton hit a sharp grounder that bounced off third baseman Gene Aldrich, caroming to shortstop Forrest Sylvester, whose throw to first was beaten by Hampton. Davis moved to third on the throw and Masters came to the dish with two on, one out and an 8-6 score. Masters lined a 1-1 pitch into right-center field that was caught by centerfielder Merchant. Davis trotted home without a throw and it was 8-7. But now there were two out and Demby only needed to worry about the man at the plate: pinch-hitter Dan Brady, hitting for Hank Odegaard. Brady hit a 2-2 pitch to left-center, where Merchant squeezed it - ending the game 8-7 and giving the Sailors a commanding three-one lead in the series.

October 8th was game five - a must-win for the Chiefs.Chicago sent game one loser Ruben Reyes back to the hill while the Sailors had everyone in Chicago on tenterhooks wondering if Chief-killer Johnny Davis would go again on short rest. He did not. Cathey sent 24-year-old 13-game winner Willie Jones to the mound, keeping Davis in reserve for a fully-rested game six start if the series shifted back to Philly.

Jones (13-5, 2.88) was sharp early. Reyes was too - until the third. After Aldrich struck out, Sylvester singled on the first pitch he saw and went to second on a sac bunt by Jones. With the top of the order now up, leadoff man Earl Lambert delivered a single to center to score Sylvester, advancing to second on the throw home. Merchant also swung on the first pitch, grounding it between first and second into right to score Lambert. With the very dangerous Tom Taylor now at the plate, Reyes needed to work carefully, but he made a mistake on a 1-1 pitch, laying it over the heart of the plate where Taylor ripped it to deep right center for a double, scoring Merchant and making it 3-0. Reyes was able to get the dangerous Jack Cleaves on a groundout to third to end the inning, but the damage had been done.

It remained 3-0 until the top of the seventh when the Sailors got an insurance run with three singles against Reyes, the last of which was a run-scoring effort by Taylor to score pitcher Jones to make it 4-0.

Down to just nine outs, the Chiefs showed a lot of fight in the home seventh, finally breaking through against Jones. Moe Davis had a one-out single to start the rally and went to second on a walk by Hampton. With Masters at the plate, the Whitney Park crowd was on the edge of their seats waiting for a heroic blast from their star hitter. Masters did deliver, but it was with a lined single over third to score Davis with the Chiefs' first run of the game. Desperate to force the action, Chiefs skipper Dan Andrew gave Hampton the green light to steal third.The ploy worked as Hampton slid in safely and came around to score when Diaz's throw sailed into the outfield. Hank Odegaard followed with a groundout to second that scored Masters (who went to third on the the throwing error) and suddenly it was 4-3. Unfortunately for Chicago, Jim Shelton was unable to keep the inning alive, flying out to center the end the frame.

Reyes and Jones each worked a scoreless eighth and Reyes a 1-2-3 ninth. Cathey had pinch-hit for Jones in the top of the ninth, so Maurice Demby came out to try to give the Sailors their first world championship in 31 years. Demby got Hartman to pop up to first base for the first out. He then got Rutledge to pop up as well, this time to third, for the second out. The brought up Hampton, who attacked the first pitch and drove a single through the shortstop-third base hole to keep hope alive. Now it was interesting: Joe Masters at the dish, tying run on base, two outs, bottom of the ninth with the World Championship on the line. Demby was the better man on this occasion however: he poured in a called first strike, got Masters to chase on the second pitch for an 0-2 count and then repeated the feat to get Masters swinging to end the game and the Series. The Sailors were champions.

Sailors catcher Alex Diaz was named the Series MVP after recording a .444 average (9-for-18) with three doubles and a home run, scoring seven runs and driving in six.

The 1928 FABL season came to an official end shortly thereafter with the awarding of the Allen and Whitney Awards.

The Federal Association Allen Award went to Detroit Dynamos righty Roy Calfee. Calfee went 19-13 with 2 saves, posting a 3.34 ERA. He narrowly outpointed Pittsburgh's Jim Smith (17-9, 2.99) in the voting to earn his first Allen Award.

The Continental's Allen winner was not much of a surprise. After displaying his talent on the game's biggest stage, Johnny Davis of the Sailors took home the game's most prestigious pitching honors as well. Davis posted a 24-8 mark with a 2.73 ERA and was a unanimous winner. Finishing second in the voting was Cleveland's Wayne Robinson (20-9, 3.04) who had a great season of his own.

The Fed's Whitney Award as Most Valuable Player was also not much of a surprise. Chicago's stellar third baseman Joe Masters earned the hardware after a breakout season for the ages. The 29-year-old hit .388 with 56 home runs and a record 195 runs batted in. He was also a unanimous choice far outpointing runner-up Rankin Kellogg (.387-42-164) of Philadelphia. Detroit's Frank Vance (.388-24-114), another breakout star, was third.

It wasn't unanimous, but Philadelphia Sailors RF Tom Taylor, like Masters a breakout star in 1928, copped the Continental's Whitney Award after a campaign in which he hit .342 with a league-leading 44 home runs and 126 RBIs. Taylor garnered 13 of the 16 first-place votes, with the other three going to New York Stars 2B Pete Layton who hit .370 with 27 homers and 108 RBIs for the CA runners-up.

ukhotstove · 12-08-2019, 01:08 PM

Lemoyne, Pennsylvania isn't a big town, it's a small town and that would be pushing it. One store, one saloon, one newspaper just a few hundred people who pretty much know each other if not by name but by sight.

I worked for the Lemoyne News, to be honest I was the Lemoyne News. Mr Harper whose family had founded the paper had no children to hand the paper to, so being the only reporter working at the paper it fell to me to continue printing the news when he retired.

The door swung open and Charlie Ferguson burst in.

"He's retiring, he's calling it a day"

Now Charlie is the town blacksmith and was voted in as town sheriff, 6'6" and biceps the thickness of most women's waists. If Charlie told you to go to jail or go home because you had one to many at the saloon, you did what he told you. He may have been a gentle giant to those who knew him but he was as hard as the nails he forged. So imagine my surprise when I looked at Charlie's face and his eyes were full of water, so much so that tears were forming.

Who's retiring I asked him.

"Hal, Hal's retiring. Calling it a day, this is his last season."

If Charlie had said Bert, Harry or Fred you may have had to ask him who he was talking about. However Hal needed no surname, since he was 14 the day he played centre field for the Lemoyne Mining Company he had needed no surname.

20 minutes later and I'd rang Mr Harper to ask if he'd hold the fort while I was gone. Soon as I put the phone down I was on my way to Philadelphia, the next day Minneapolis were playing the third of a four game series against Fort Worth before going to New Orleans. I figured the fastest way to get there was by train from Philadelphia although I needed to get to Philadelphia and fast. The fastest thing on wheels was Moose Hendricks automobile, Moose was the local moonshine runner. He did the trick as not long after I was on the train to Minneapolis, minus my nerves and lunch. We rolled into the station under a heavy downpour, the game was cancelled and a doubleheader would be played the next day.

When he ran out for the first game of the doubleheader he had a spring in his step, when he left after that second game the spring had diminished. They say never meet your heroes, you could add another that being never watch your heroes at the end of their career. I'd broken that rule and was going to break the meeting rule. I'm glad I broke both of those rules.

I'd arranged to meet Hal at the end of the second game, by the time I'd got to the locker room all the players had gone. Jim Hudson the equipment guy let me in, he pointed over to the corner were Hal Eason sat.

"Don't keep him too long, he needs to get the train for New Orleans".

Hal had changed, his shirt unbuttoned. He was looking at his hands when I approached, he glanced at me.

"It's Hank, isn't it? I knew your Dad, bit older than me. Played first base, had a good glove if memory serves me right".

I was just about to say yes when he smiled and pointed to the empty chair near him for me to sit down.

"You know I can remember my first ever game, it was for the Lemoyne Mining Company against a textile company. We won 5-1, I got 3 hits ending up knocking 4 of the runs in. Mr Jefferson the owner of the mine only wanted to give me a half share due to my age but Herb Jenkins the captain of the team said I played like a man so was getting a full share. Turns out Herb had told Jefferson the team would quit if I didn't get a full share, I never knew that until 2 months after the season had finished. It was at Herbs funeral, he'd died in a mining accident along with 5 other players from that team. It was his widow who told me about the ultimatum Herb had given Jefferson, they'd have been burying me as well if it weren't for my mother. The one condition she had given her blessing I played for the mining company was that I never worked underground.

The majors was different though, you only had to worry about baseball. I got spotted playing in the mining leagues in Pennsylvania, I'd heard at one point St Louis were interested in me but nothing ever happened. Instead I signed with the Montreal Ball Club in 1911, I got put in a boarding house with a guy called Joe Ward. Joe not only became my best friend but the best damn ball player I ever played with or ever saw, I always classed myself as a good solid player, Joe on the other hand was above anything I saw. He won a couple of Whitney Awards in 1915 & 1916, think he got a second and a few thirds plus he got robbed a couple of times in 1912 & 1913. He didn't hit for power but he could flat out hit and there was non quicker, Joe quit at the end of last season (1927) personally I think he quit at the start of the season.

You see we used to go to the Laurier Palace Theatre, watch the shows and the movies. I was a sucker for Mary Pickford and Harold Lloyd, Joe on the other hand was a big Chaplin fan. We'd spent Christmas and the New Year with our families, I'd got the train from Philadelphia to New York to meet Joe. I'll never forget his face when he approached me, white as a brand new sheet in one of those fancy hotels, when he handed me the paper. The headline read "Theatre Claims Many" turns out the Laurier had caught fire and claimed 78 lives mostly children, we'd have known most maybe not by name but by sight as they'd often have a baseball to sign so they could go sell it for double what the ball had cost when the show had finished. There was a funeral for 39 of the victims, me and Joe went but Joe was never the same. I don't think any of the team was".

Hal had become quiet and I had no idea what to say, you could tell that it still hurt him. It probably would for many years, maybe it would never go away. Joe was with you on the championship teams? It's all I could think of but seemed to bring him back to happier memories.

"Yeah 1915 & 1921, we had a good enough team to win more. For certain we should have beat Detroit in 1916, they were the better team in 1919 but weren't in 1916. I didn't help the team much, I'll be honest I was useless in the championship games I let everyone down. No idea why, wasn't nervous just couldn't swing the bat".

Hal went quiet again, I felt the doubleheader had taken it out of him. The first game he had got 2 hits, the second was clearly too much for him as he went hitless. I left Hal to finish changing, I needed to get back to Lemoyne and get this in the paper. I got the feeling Hal wanted more from that doubleheader intact more from his career, not for himself but to help his team, his teammates the fans. We spoke for a few minutes mostly about Lemoyne catching up on the gossip, see Hal had been a regular visitor but his visits had become rare after his mother had passed away.

All I could think of when I left that locker room was Charlie Ferguson, I bet if I looked in a mirror I'd see watery eyes as well.

*A few days later Hal Eason would play his final game, a 4-1 defeat at New Orleans. A AAA game, hardly a great way to say goodbye to a player who gave his all for the game, however he did get a hit of his only at bat. Good enough for a fan but I doubt it was good enough for Hal Eason.

Hal never returned to Lemoyne, instead staying in Montreal with his wife Karen who was born in Montreal. They run a store just a couple blocks from the Montreal Saints ballpark, they have four kids, three girls and a boy. By all accounts the sons got a decent fastball, maybe we haven't heard the last of the Eason name in the majors.

ukhotstove · 12-10-2019, 06:22 PM

I sat looking out of the window daydreaming of what the weekend had in store for me, baseball was high on the list followed by going to Jacobs orchard and grabbing some apples without Mr Jacobs catching us.

"Thomas Skaggs, seeing that's the second time I've said your name without reply I take it my lesson is boring you".

Yes Miss, sorry no Miss Mackenzie.

"So you'll know what homework I've just given you for the weekend then?"

Homework! To a 12 year old kid the word homework was like being hit with a cannonball.

"For the benefit of Mr Skaggs, your homework for the weekend is a story of a hero or family member if you don't have any heroes".

I had heroes they all played for the Miners ball club but seeing that there were 14 other boys in my class who all had the same heroes, I was thinking there'd be overload on the same stories. At break time I asked around and yeah the other boys were writing about the Miners, my grades had taken a bit of an hit since the start of the baseball season so I needed something to stand out from the crowd to give them a boost.

The rest of the school day went by in a blur, all the time I was thinking who to write about. On the way home, I kept thinking, no heroes, family members? My mother looked after the family, had a part time job at the local store. My father worked at the mine but in an office, they were hardly edge of the seat stories. Only other family member who lived in Pittsburgh was Grandpa Skaggs, I think he was about 100, he was old at least. We usually saw him at birthdays, holidays and the like. My father rarely spoke of him, to be honest he hardly spoke to him whenever they met.

As I approached our home you could smell baking, my mother was known as the best cook in the neighborhood. Women would walk by, smell the aroma and be envious. Men would walk by and think how lucky my father was.

I'd hardly opened the door.

"So how was school?"

It was okay I guess.

"Homework?"

Yeah.

"Thomas Skaggs, it is yes not yeah."

Most of our family worked in the mills or mines, my father had the best job but my mother always wanted me to do better, I didn't fancy her chances.

"So write a story about an hero or family member, so who is it to be?"

No idea.

"Well you will have all day tomorrow to think of someone."

All day?

"Yes, father is working and I've been asked to work, so you will have to go to Grandpa's for the day. He's expecting you along with some sandwiches for lunch and stew for dinner."

Great there went the baseball and apples.

In all my 12 years I had hardly stepped foot in my Grandpa's house, when we gathered as a family it was at our house. Only times I'd visited was if my mom had made him something to eat and I'd come with her to take it.

Grandpa Skaggs was on the porch of his house when I arrived.

"So that my payment for looking after you for the day?"

Yes Sir, sandwiches and stew.

"Well go put the stew in the kitchen leave the sandwiches here."

By the time I returned the radio had crackled into life, the Keystones from Philadelphia were in town the Miners bitter rivals. Pitcher of homemade lemonade, pile of sandwiches and baseball equals heaven. The homework could wait, less than 2 hours later the Miners had won 7-1, sandwiches had been reduced to crumbs and just a drop or two of lemonade remained.

Good game for the Miners Grandpa?

"Keystones aren't good, Miners aren't good both will be lucky to have a winning season. Philadelphia don't hold a key to the Centennials I played for and Pittsburgh aren't the team I coached."

Played for? Coached?

Grandpa must have noticed the puzzled look that washed across my face.

"Guess your Dad never told you."

I shook my head, my father had hardly ever mentioned Grandpa Skaggs let alone he had played baseball.

"I don't blame him, I was never around much and besides we moved about a bit".

You played baseball then?

"I played baseball for the Philadelphia Centennials, Cleveland Cuyahogas, Philadelphia Keystones and the New York Gotham ball clubs".

Centennials? Cuyahogas?

"Yeah the Keystones used to be called the Centennials, the Cuyahogas used to be a ball club in the 1800s." You know the tall cupboard in the parlour there's a black tin on top go get it, if you can't reach get a chair and don't kill yourself or your mom would never cook so much as a cookie for me."

The tin was where he said, it was about a foot square but wasn't heavy. Strangely when I tilted it to get it down something rattled inside. I was just about to go outside when he shouted he was in the kitchen, he was sat at the table with another pitcher of lemonade to hand. I put the tin box down and Grandpa opened it, inside were ballcaps and photos, however I couldn't see what had made the rattling sound. The first cap was easy to recognise, black with a golden letter P on the front it was a Pittsburgh Miners cap that Grandpa must have bought.

"I always kept one cap from every team I played for or coached, I have two of these though, I was bench coach for five years and pitching coach for four. First time I was with Pittsburgh was in 1892, held that job till the end of 1896, that was a poor team though, no pitching that was the problem, hitting wasn't much better. We had Ben Edwards and Chick Hamm but nothing to build around them".

Ben Edwards and Chick Hamm, The Pittsburgh Steel Wall. Any Pittsburgh fan worth their salt knew second baseman Ben Edwards and his teammate first baseman Chick Hamm they were Miners greats, surely my Grandpa never coached them.

"Here".

He passed me a photo from the tin box, I recognised Edwards and Hamm but not the man between them, all three were wearing Pittsburgh Miners uniforms. Then it clicked, I rushed to the parlour. On the wall was a picture of Grandpa and Grandma taken years ago, it was the same man with Edwards and Hamm.

"I'm taking it you believe me now".

Yes Sir, my Grandpa was or had been a Pittsburgh Miner. We talked all afternoon and into the evening about his playing days in Philadelphia for the Centennials and also later when they had changed there name to Keystones, he also talked about Cleveland and New York. His 13 years as a manager in St Louis, Knoxville, Chicago (Chiefs) and New York. He showed me the ballcaps he wore, photos of him and famous old ballplayers like outfielder Jack Easton of the St Louis Pioneers, Tom Darr pitcher with the Chicago Chiefs and many others. There was only one thing left in the box, the cause of the noise.

"Go on get it, read it if you want".

At first I thought it was a coin but it had an old tatty ribbon tied to it, it was a medal. I read oneside, Philadelphia Centennials 1876 Federal Association Winners, I turned it over it read Sylvester Thomas Skaggs.

"Take it, it's yours, I didn't really earn it, I don't think I did enough. When I go to your Grandma don't forget the box, I'll be leaving that to you".

My mother came round not long after to take me home, she wasn't too happy the stew hadn't been eaten but said it was ok for Grandpa to have for his Sunday dinner. She did mellow a bit about the stew when on the way home I told her that Grandpa and me had talked all day, totally forgetting the stew. I spent all Sunday writing my story, on Monday I stood in front of my class and read my story My Grandpa, My Hero proudly wearing his medal as far as I'm concerned he earned it. Did my grades improve, what do you think?

John C · 12-11-2019, 07:48 PM

This is exactly what I tried to do with my American Baseball League, back in 2004 (with OOTP4-5), and have done with my offline Baseball Association since. This is phenomenal. I've been away from OOTP online leagues, but wow, this would make me get back in. Of course, having been in legendsport leagues before, I should expect this. But this exceeds even that threshold.

Great job, Joe, and everyone associated with this.

ukhotstove · 12-12-2019, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John C

This is exactly what I tried to do with my American Baseball League, back in 2004 (with OOTP4-5), and have done with my offline Baseball Association since. This is phenomenal. I've been away from OOTP online leagues, but wow, this would make me get back in. Of course, having been in legendsport leagues before, I should expect this. But this exceeds even that threshold.

Great job, Joe, and everyone associated with this.

There used to be a league years back on these lines, too many years have passed to remember the name of it but it was based in Canada around the 1920s if memory serves me right. Stacked with writers, sure it folded but no idea why.

legendsport · 12-23-2019, 01:05 PM

1929 Federal Association Preview
By Rufus Barrell, OSA Director

Projected 1929 Finish (1928 results):
#1 Detroit Dynamos (85-69 - 2nd, 1928)
The Detroit Dynamos are one decade removed from their most recent pennant in 1919. It's time for them to complete the rebuild that began in earnest in 1925 and rise to the top of the Fed standings once again. With a stellar lineup that features a slew of rising stars headed up by former #1 overall pick 21-year-old RF Al Wheeler (.306-18-101), 26 y/o 3B Frank Vance (.388-24-114) and 24 y/o LF Henry Jones (.277-19-69) that has now been bolstered by the offseason acquisitions of 26 y/o catcher Dave Armstong (via trade from Brooklyn) and 27 y/o 2B Paul McLain (via trade from Boston), the Dynamos offense will be (forgive the pun) dynamic in 1929. The question - as it was last year - will be pitching. And the pitching turned out to be respectable a year ago. The club's new management did not add any pitching, apparently banking on the expectations that the efforts of a year ago were not a fluke. The quartet of Roy Calfee (19-13, 3.34), Mel Strom (17-16, 4.71), Bob Ames (15-10, 3.89) and Ernie Miller (11-12, 4.23) will likely be good enough to carry Detroit to the pennant. That's barring injury, of course, which is true of all teams, but particularly the Dynamos in this case as there is not much depth to be found beyond their top quartet.

#2 Philadelphia Keystones (73-81 - 5th)
To say the Keystones' 1928 season was a disaster would be an understatement. Coming off a brilliant 1927 season that was capped by a World Championship, the 5th-place finish of a year ago was a monumental disappointment to the club and its fans. The good news is that the pitching disaster that was the 1928 Keystones staff is unlikely to be repeated and the offense remains as potent as ever. Any team anchored on the superlative 25 y/o 1B Rankin Kellogg (.387-42-164) is likely to be a contender and Kellogg is just the capper on a deadly lineup that featured five .300 hitters, none of whom was older than 26 years. They're all back and with another year of seasoning could conceivably - and scarily for opposing pitching staffs - be even better in '29. The pitching? Well, that's the crux of the problem in Philadelphia. Ace Bill Ross, now 32, is still a top-level talent. He had an off-year in '28, going 14-13, 4.08 and was by far the most effective pitcher on the staff. Philly is banking on bounce-back years from not only Ross, but also the complimentary arms that served them well in the 1927 campaign: Rube Frazier (11-10, 4.78), Red Adwell (8-11, 6.47) and Dick Miner (15-10, 5.06). The unknown factor on whom much may ride is 23 year-old rookie lefty Ed Baker. He was 14-12, 4.02 for Louisville a year ago and looks like he's ready for the bright lights of the Federal Association. If that's true, then the Keystones will have a leg (or arm in this case) up in their quest to recapture the Fed flag.

#3 Chicago Chiefs (95-59 - 1st)
The Chiefs caught lightning in a bottle in 1928. They rose from respectability to dominate the Fed with a one-two punch the likes of which had never before been seen. The tandem of 3B Joe Masters (.388-56-195) and LF Jim Hampton (.397-18-117) powered the Chiefs offense to rarefied heights. The pitching was good too: Ruben Reyes put it all together at age 30 to win 19 games; 35-year-old Al Wood put a 21-loss season in '26 in his rearview and also won 19; and then there were the pair of 20-game winners: Norm Austin (20-7, 4.33) and Lou Felkel (20-8, 4.31). So why would anyone project this team to finish anywhere other than first? Well, the feeling here is that the majority of these performances were outliers. All the pitchers are on the wrong side of 30. Masters' season was historic and completely out of character for him, so a fallback towards his previous performance level can be expected. Hampton is in a similar situation (his average of .397 was over 100 points higher than his 1927 mark). The Chiefs will be good in '29, but the level of performance is likely to fall off and with the talent in Detroit and Philadelphia, the Chiefs have little room for error.

#4 St. Louis Pioneers (72-82 - 5th)
He's ba-aack! Max Morris returned from missing essentially an entire season spread over the second half of '27 and the first of '28 and looked as good as ever in his limited time on the active roster. The game's most prolific home run hitter clubbed 29 circuit clouts in 346 at-bats. He hit .370 and nearly had 100 RBIs, finishing with 90 in 90 games played. He's still the King - Joe Masters, Rankin Kellogg and Tom Taylor not withstanding. A full year of Morris equals a lot of runs scored. One thing that could derail a competitive season for the Pioneers is shortstop Roger Landry. Rip had a bad year in '28, with a career-worst .243 average. He did hit 19 homers, and that power makes him dangerous. At age 32, he's likely on the slide, but if he can recapture a bit of his 1927 form (.297-24-90) he will be the perfect compliment to Morris. On the pitching side, the Pioneers have four-time 20-game-winner Jimmy Clinch who also had a down year in '28 and is also on the wrong side of 30 (he's 31). Still, his track record would lead you to believe he still has it in him to be a true ace. With former 24-game-winner Rolla Puckett and young Eddie Hite (5-2, 3.33 with 5 saves as a reliver in '28) also on hand, there are the makings of a respectable rotation in the Gateway.

#5 Washington Eagles (61-93 - 8th)
The Eagles are the Federal's enigma. In a league that is increasingly focused on power, Washington remains very much a proponent of "inside baseball." That approach might still work, but much depends on management here - previous administrations have been relatively hands-off with predictably poor results. If the new leadership is active, the Eagles could be respectable in 1928. The club is now four years removed from its last pennant, and the pitching could be a strength as the team tries to return to contention. Ralph E Smith, at age 35, had a poor record (8-18) but respectable ERA (4.28) a year ago. He's the incumbent ace. Harry Horn (12-15, 4.12) and lefty Tommy Russel (19-13, 4.25) give the Eagles a trio that *could* be good. The lineup still features catcher T.R. Goins, one of the game's best players, who owns a .348 career batting average and is a solid receiver as well. Rumors of Goins being traded turned out to be just that - rumors - and though he begins the campaign on the injured list, he will be back in plenty of time to help the Eagles compete.

#6 Pittsburgh Miners (77-77 - 4th)
The Miners' 1928 season saw them compete for stretches of the season before ultimately faltering and finishing at .500 on the year. With solid, active management, Pittsburgh is definitely on the right track. Some will be surprised to see them picked to finish sixth here. The reason is partially injury-related. Pitcher Bill Morrill (13-16, 3.13) is out for the majority of the season with elbow woes and rising star CF Jim Renfroe will miss the first two months of the season. The Miners lineup is young and largely unproven: is catcher Jim Pool for real? - maybe, but then again maybe not. The organization's best hitter might be the one who's starting the season in St. Paul: Frank Lightbody, the younger brother of Brooklyn star Doug Lightbody. He appears ready, and it is expected he will push his way into the Miners outfield sooner rather than later. This is likely a transitional season for the Miners - they will be contending, and soon, but probably not this year.

#7 Boston Minutemen (80-74 - 3rd)
In a league that didn't feature some extremely potent offenses, the Minutemen would probably be strong contenders. But the Federal is loaded - and I mean loaded - with offensive talent. And unfortunately for Boston, most of it resides elsewhere. Trading away 2B Paul McLain was, from the Minutemen's standpoint, a move for the future, as it certainly did not strengthen the current roster. In a similar vein was the deal that sent P Ernie Henderson to Pittsburgh. Yes, Henderson is old (34), but he was also a proven innings-eater and he will be missed in a league that is called home by guys named Kellogg, Masters, Wheeler, etc. McLain's spot will be taken by 24-year-old Carl Carr, who looks good, but is unproven. 3B Charlie Barry (.359-15-95) broke out in a big way at age 29, but will he duplicate that level of production? And Homer Krajewski regressed a bit in 1928 and is now 29 years old. Boston certainly improved their future outlook, but they just seem to be a bit underpowered to truly compete in the power-happy Fed this year.

#8 New York Gothams (73-81 - 6th)
The 1926 pennant winners now have had back-to-back sixth-place finishes. And they seem to be trending in the wrong direction, pitching-wise. They do have an outstanding young player in LF Carlos Cano (.342-26-85) and a return from injury by equally young and talented 1B Bud Jameson (.350-8-64 in half-a-season) could go a long way. The offense is good, but not at the level of Detroit, Philadelphia or Chicago. And the pitching has some question marks beyond lefty John Reay (14-10,3.48). Can Bill Ketterman (4-12, 4.36) or the oft-injured (and 34 year old) Steve Castellini (12-6, 4.48) give the team a proven second arm? Or even better a second and third? If the answer to that final question is yes, the Gothams won't finish last. But that's a big question.

1929 Continental Association Preview
By Rufus Barrell, OSA Director

Projected 1929 Finish (1928 results):
#1 Philadelphia Sailors (102-52 - 1st CHAMPS, 1928)
This is the best team in either league and it's really not that close. The lineup is packed with top-notch hitters and the pitching is talented and deep. Barring a rash of catatrosphic injuries, the Sailors should cruise (yep, another pun) to a repeat pennant. Where to start? Well, leadoff man CF David Merchant is a double and triple machine with two Whitney Awards already sitting on his mantle. RF Tom Taylor burst onto the scene with 44 homers and 126 RBIs as a 23-year-old rookie - so he might be even better this season. 2B Jack Cleaves is just 21 years old, can flash the leather and is likely to be a .330-.350 type with good extra-base power as well. The rest of the lineup has .300 potential throughout. And then there's the pitching. Johnny Davis? 25 years old, coming off an Allen Award season in which he went 24-8 with a 2.73 ERA. Then there's Rollie Beal (16-7, 3.25), Dan Waldman (8-5, 2.74), William Jones (13-5, 2.88) and ageless wonder Danny Wren (12-6, 3.90 at age 38). This is a powerhouse team that is young and we could be looking at the sport's next dynasty.

#2 Baltimore Cannons (74-80 - 5th)
Give the Cannons credit: they're not waving the white flag at their nearby competition up in Philly. The Cannons went out and improved a team that got off to a historically terrible start last spring and then recovered nicely to finish on a high note. Joining the team this offseason were a trio of ex-Brooklyn Kings who could be difference makers. 1B Lou Garman might not be the protypical first sacker, but he's a proven veteran who has topped the .300 mark in all four of his FABL seasons. 3B John Wilder is a work-in-progress afield, but should be a solid hitter. And pitcher Buzz Ham has led the CA in ERA the past two seasons. They join a team that has P Rabbit Day (15-14, 3.20) a young (25) and talented pitcher who's on the verge of stardom; RF Abel Man another youngster (24) who could be a breakout star; and the jewel in the crown of talented youth in Baltimore: catcher Joe Welch (.355-25-93), a 23-year-old who has "Whitney Award winner" written all over him.

#3 New York Stars (93-61 - 2nd)
You can really never count out this team. From management on down, the Stars are talented. Most years, a 93-win season would win a pennant - but not in a league with the Sailors. Still, the Stars have a string of five straight winning seasons going (with three titles in there for good measure) and that's likely to continue. The pitching might not be as overpowered as in years past, but the offense has picked up the slack. In 2B Pete Layton (.370-27-108), 3B John Lawson (.344-22-106) and 1B Dave Trowbridge (.362-14-82) the Stars have an infield that is the envy of every other FABL club. Add in an outfield of former King Bud Rogers, Mack Zimmerman and Gordie Loftus and catcher Speed Davis and the Stars might have the best lineup in the Continental. That will keep them in games even if the pitching comes back to the pack a bit, which seems likely.

#4 Cleveland Foresters (86-68 - 3rd
The Foresters have some seriously good pitching. And the lineup is also shaping up nicely. But in a vein similar to that of Pittsburgh in the Fed, the Foresters are a team trending in the right direction that just isn't *quite* there yet. That pitching though - whew! Headed up by Wayne Robinson, last year's Whitney runner-up, the Foresters can roll out six - yes, six - quality arms in their rotation with lefties Bob Lawrence and Jim Wilson joining righties Robinson, Max Wilder, Max Dowless (returning from injury) and Harvey Tulley (eventually returning from injury). As if that wasn't enough, Ernie Davey and Jack Mast are also serviceable pitchers, giving the Foresters unparalleled ability to handle injury or swing a deal for a difference-maker down the stretch. The offense has already found its star in LF Joe Perret whose rookie season saw him hit .347 with 24 homers, 30 doubles and 18 triples. He's the perfect third place hitter and he may have the perfect guy to hit behind him in rookie Moxie Pidgeon. Bird-based jokes aside, the 22 y/o RF is a legit breakout candidate this year. He's got power and can hit for average too. Fielding? That's a work in progress, but his bat will keep him in the lineup for years to come. Another breakout star could be someone who's not on the radar of many: SS Russ Combs. He could be a .350 hitter and post double-figures in all three extra-base hit categories. He's definitely someone to watch.

#5 Montreal Saints (65-89 - 6th)
Is this the year the Saints finally top 70 wins again? It's been a while (1925) but, yes, the Montreal Saints are going to win 70 games this year. The Saints are loaded with young talent. It's not fully mature yet, but the talent is there. The pitching, which had been a glaring weakness, is now a strength - as long as they stay healthy. Charlie Steadman (15-14, 3.78) is the presumptive ace but the 26 y/o isn't even the most talented pitcher on the staff. That distinction belongs to the guy with the famous dad: Al Allen. At 24, Allen is ready to be a breakout star. Injury derailed his 1928 campaign, but Allen has excelled at every stop along the way and was 4-0 with a 2.87 ERA last year before his season was cut short. Free agent signing Dave Paytner looks like a solid number three in his return to FABL after four years in the minors with Jack Barnet and former King Harvey Rodgers rounding out the staff. The lineup features young star CF Charlie Moss, the #1 overall pick a year ago, who forced his way into the Saints lineup and hit .309 as a rookie. Moss is the lone dependable player in the Saints lineup - and that's what will limit their ceiling this season. Maturity takes time and eventually the Saints should have the hitting to complement their talent on the bump - but that day's not here yet.

#6 Brooklyn Kings (77-77 - 4th)
The roster makeover that began in earnest last season continued unabated throughout the winter and the Kings roster bears little resemblance to the 1926 CA championship group. Management has a plan, and is enacting it with ruthless efficiency, stockpiling young assets and draft picks in a bid to reload the organization with potential stars to join the team's franchise cornerstones RF Doug Lightbody (.356-3-78) and catcher-1B Mike Taylor (.325-7-39 in half a season). Not much remains from the contenders of years past, but dependable CF Ab Thomas is joined by a pair of power-hitting outfield prospects Charlie Powell and Gus Powell. The feeling here is that Charlie will turn out to be a solid player but Gus might have too many holes in his swing to be a lasting contributor. There are some question marks surrounding Mickey Dowell's ability to transition to third base; Herb Smiddy's potential in left; and most of all, just how will the pitching hold up? 24 y/o Bill Dengler looks good, but he's young and unproven, which is something of a trend amongst the Brooklyn pitching staff where only Topsy Moran and waiver-wire pickup Bob Schmid (35 y/o) have proven track records. One to watch might be lefty Jim Langley, picked up in Rule 5 from the Stars. He could end up in the rotation as he's a hard-worker with good talent and should impress if given the opportunity.

#7 Toronto Wolves (60-94 - 7th)
The Wolves have been let down a bit by management with their win total dropping from 88 in 1926, to 82 and then 60 a year ago. They likely reached rock-bottom in 1928 and now have almost nowhere to go but up. There are a lot of holes in this roster. Former star pitcher Don Cannaday, now 35, is unlikely to last long enough to see a rebound but he's still probably the best pitcher on the team. 28 y/o Birdie Smith (14-19, 3.75) is a dependable arm who won 21 games back in 1925. 27 y/o Bert Flores (9-17, 4.01) is probably better than his record indicated a year ago and is probably the presumptive heir to Cannaday as the team's ace. Toronto fans will need to wait for prospects Bill Anderson (20-12, 4.29 in Class B) or this year's #4 overall pick Chuck Cole to reach the big leagues to see a truly difference-making pitcher in a Wolves uniform unless some trades are made. The lineup had only one .300 hitter a year ago - RF Jack Mack (.301) and nothing much has changed so runs will be at a premium for this club. For Toronto, the rebuild needs to begin now, or last year could prove to the first of a long run of poor finishes.

#8 Chicago Cougars (59-95 - 8th)
Despite a worse finish (by one game) than the Toronto Wolves a year ago, the Chicago Cougars' organization appears much more healthy than the Wolves going into 1929. Yes, they're likely to finish last again, but the Cougars have some talent on the cusp of readiness which should start turning their fortunes in a positive direction, possibly as soon as this summer. The cornerstone player is in place in 25 y/o second sacker Bill Ashbaugh. Ashbaugh hit 25 homers a year ago and though his average wasn't great (.287) it wasn't bad either and should improve dramatically with experience. Franchise legend LF John Dibblee played about a third of the season (57 games) and hit .324, raising his lifetime total to 3574, second only to the legendary Powell Slocum's 4144. Dibblee will be shifting to 1B this season but should remain a dependable bat when he's in the lineup. How much longer before catcher Fred Barrell joins the team? Barrell will start in Milwaukee but it's likely he'll join the Cougars sometime this season - he's too talented and already likely ready for the big show. Pitching was the biggest problem for the Cougars a year ago, and that's likely to remain the case in the short-term. Vince DaCosta went from 22-game winner in 1927 to 22-game loser in 1928. At age 35, he's likely on the way out. 28 y/o lefty Dick Lyons is likely the team's ace - he posted a 9-18, 3.88 ledger a year ago. The rest of the staff is likely to be filled with either veterans looking for one last shot (Babe Wilder) or younger guys with something to prove (Cotton Taylor). The club has a very promising arm in the minors in Ben Turner, a 21 y/o 9th round pick who might surprise some people this season. And then there's 3B Mack Deal, a versatile 22 y/o who will be given a chance to shine in Chicago this season.

legendsport · 02-04-2020, 10:41 AM

The 1929 Figment season featured one good race for the pennant (and one not so good), saw the return to form of one of the game's all-time greats and brought the curtain down on another of the game's legends, while another seemed to just keep on ticking along.

The Continental Association was the circuit that did not have much of a pennant race. The defending champion Philadelphia Sailors came out fast and kept it up throughout the season. They really turned it on in June - on the first their lead was 3.5 games over the rising Montreal Saints, and by the end of the month their lead had ballooned to double-digits. Led by their 24-year-old superstar RF Tom Taylor (.351-38-138), the Sailors' offense was tops in the CA, scoring 900 runs despite being 5th in homers. The pitching was equally superb allowing just 631 runs, placing three players in the top 7 for ERA, including the ERA champ in Russ Reel who went 18-8 with a 2.93 ERA.

RF Tom Taylor, Philadelphia Sailors

Other top performers in the CA included Baltimore ace Ken Carpenter who was one of two pitchers to top 20 victories as he went 23-13, 3.26 for the Cannons. Montreal's Charlie Stedman posted a 21-10 mark and was second in ERA as well with a 2.99 (the only other starter to post a sub-three mark in the league). The Cannons' young catcher Joe Welch hit .375 to win the batting crown while the aforementioned Tom Taylor led in both homers and RBIs (Welch was second in both with 36 and 128, respectively).

C Joe Welch, Baltimore Cannons

The New York Stars finished a distant second, 17 games back of the Sailors whose 103-51 record was the best in FABL by a large margin. Baltimore was third at 83-71 and Montreal was the only other .500 or better team in the CA, finishing with an even 77-77 ledger. Brooklyn finished fifth (72-82) followed by Toronto (69-85), Cleveland (64-90) and Chicago (62-92).

The Fed featured a much better race, as the Detroit Dynamos and Chicago Chiefs battled it out into the final weekend of the season before the Dynamos captured their first league title since 1919. Detroit's 91-63 mark was two games better than the Chiefs' 89-65. Detroit featured the league's batting champ in 3B Frank Vance (.372) and Vance might have won a Triple Crown were it not for a certain legendary slugger (more on him in a bit), as Vance belted 41 homers and drove in 143 runs - both second-best in the Fed. Roy Calfee was the ace of the Dynamos, leading the league as he went 26-8 with a 3.53 ERA. With RF Al Wheeler (.340-37-125) and LF Henry Jones (.330-40-131) joining Vance, the Dynamos top three were pure murder on opposing pitching and it was no surprise Detroit posted a league-best 926 runs scored.

3B Frank Vance, Detroit Dynamos

Other top performers in the Fed included Doug Lightbody's brother Frank, who hit .364 for Pittsburgh to finish second in the batting race; the ever-dangerous T.R. Goins of Washington, who was third with a .363 average and that guy.... the one in St. Louis who had revolutionized the game. Yep, Mighty Max was back in a big way in 1929. Max Morris led the league with 50 home runs and 145 RBIs (his average was .326 - a bit of a down year for the lifetime .353 hitter). Morris pushed his career total (and league record) to 473 home runs, putting him within sight of becoming the game's first 500-homer man.

RF Max Morris, St. Louis Pioneers

On the pitching side, Chicago's Milt Fritz posted a 18-8 record on a league-best 3.22 ERA, beating out team mate Lou Felkel whose 22-14, 3.33 marks placed him second in wins and ERA. The Gothams, in an otherwise thoroughly disappointing year, might have found themselves a new ace in Jim Lonardo, the 25-year-old second-year righty who went 16-11 with a 3.37 ERA (third-best in the FA). The Keystones got a 20-win campaign from Bill Ross (20-6, 3.55) - the first-time the 32-year-old had won 20 since he did it in back-to-back seasons as a youngster with the Chiefs.

P Lou Felkel, Chicago Chiefs

Speaking of the Chiefs (89-65), they fell back a bit offensively with the two-headed monster of 3B Joe Masters (.329-24-113) and LF Jim Hampton (.328-19-115) falling back off their incredible 1928 marks, but they found yet another offensive sparkplug in 22-year-old 1B Bob Martin whose debut saw him hit .356 with 7 homers and 77 RBIs. Ultimately the Chiefs were done in by their pitching which beyond the aforementioned Lou Felkel and second-starter Milt Fritz (18-8, 3.22) was terrible.

Third-place Philadelphia (81-73) had a great offense (again) with the incomparable 1B Rankin Kellogg (.355-34-141) powering the Fed's second-best run-scoring outfit. But like the Chiefs, Philly's pitching was shallow with the rotation a mess behind clear ace Bill Ross. The Eagles were a bit of a surprise with their fourth-place finish (77-77), somehow finishing middle of the pack despite a putrid offense, thanks to a surprising second-best pitching performance (which was even more surprising given the lack of a single standout individual season by a hurler).

P Bill Ross, Philadelphia Keystones

The bottom half of the standings was headed up by fifth-place Pittsburgh (73-81), a rising club with some good young talent. Boston got off to a red-hot start, sitting at 27-19 and in first place on June 4th before fading badly and dropping to sixth with a 45-63 mark the rest of the way to finish 72-82. The Pioneers were essentially one-man show in St. Louis and finished seventh at 71-83 while the Gothams (62-92) finished in the cellar for the first time in club history.

New York also said goodbye to Ed Ziehl - at least as a player - as the player-manager hung up his bat at age 42 with a final season that saw him hit just .256, far below his career average. Ziehl finishes his stellar career with a lifetime .322 average as the career leader in games played (3025), stolen bases (913), walks (1639) and caught stealing (650). He sits in third-place with 3496 hits (behind Powell Slocum and John Dibblee), ninth in doubles (429), sixth in triples, seventh in RBIs (1366), and fifth in runs scored (1679). Ziehl's status as Gothams manager may be in question, but there is no doubt at all about his legacy as the game's greatest second baseman.

2B/Mgr Ed Ziehl, New York Gothams

Another legend, Chicago Cougars star John Dibblee, kept right on going in 1929. Despite a career that has seen "The Top Cat" suffer multiple injuries, particularly over the last five seasons, Dibblee hit .346 (which equals his career average) at the ripe old age of 41, and his 167 hits pushed his second-best total to 3741. Though that leaves him over 400 shy of Powell Slocum's record of 4144, Dibblee has said nothing about retirement and it would surprise no one to see him out there in 1930, continuing a career that began way back in 1906, showing his young Cougars team mates how it's done.

LF John Dibblee, Chicago Cougars

legendsport · 02-11-2020, 02:38 PM

On paper, the 1929 FABL World's Championship Series looked like it could be a mismatch. The Continental Association (and defending Series champion) Philadelphia Sailors had made a mockery of the pennant race and came into the series with a sterling 103-51 record, 17 games better than the runner-up New York Stars. The Sailors had a young superstar in 24-year-old RF Tom Taylor, who led the loop in homers (38) and RBIs (138) while placing fourth in batting average (.351). They also had three of the top 7 pitchers in the CA in terms of ERA, including the leader (Russ Reel, 2.92). They scored a nice tidy 900 runs as a club (best in the CA) and allowed 631, also the best mark in their league.

The Federal Association, on the other hand, did have a pennant race - and it was a good one. The Chicago Chiefs, who won the pennant in 1928, were back in the fight in '29 and the club that had finished second in both '27 and '28 was battling for the flag again. That club was the Detroit Dynamos. Detroit had finished dead-last in 1925 - earning the #1 overall pick in the draft in the process (a pick they used on a high school outfielder named Al Wheeler). They improved to 7th in 1926 before making the big move to contention. In 1929, they were ready to grab their first pennant since 1919. The hard-fought fight with Chicago came down to the final weekend but the Dynamos' 91-53 mark was good enough for a two-game cushion over the Chiefs. Detroit, like the Sailors, featured a dynamic star (3B Frank Vance). Vance won the batting title with a .372 average, and finished second to Max Morris in homers (41) and RBIs (143). Al Wheeler seemingly reached maturity as well with a .340-37-125 season that when added to LF Henry Jones' .330-40-131 line gave the Dynamos arguably the sport's most dangerous lineup. Detroit scored 926 runs - better even than the Sailors - abd though their pitching was good for only third-best in the Federal, they did have a true ace in Roy Calfee. The 32-year-old veteran righty fashioned a 26-8 mark with a 3.53 ERA.

The series started in Detroit on October 9th and the Dynamos served notice that they would not fall to their knees before the Sailors' juggernaut, clawing their way to a 3-2 victory behind Calfee and a clutch performance from veteran backstop Dick York. The Dynamos showed a lot of fight in game two as well, a contest that was knotted 4-4 after nine innings and which took a full 14 innings to decide. In the decisive 14th, Philly keystone star Jack Cleaves drove home the go-ahead run in what turned out to be a 7-4 win for the Sailors.

The scene shifted to the City of Brotherly Love for games three, four and five. Before the game, newly-minted FABL President Henry Salmon announced to the crowd that the FABL Championship Trophy would henceforth be known as the Jefferson Edgerton Trophy, honoring the man who had owned the crosstown Keystones since pro baseball debuted back in 1876. The notoriously fickle Philadelphia crowd cheered for Edgerton, a man universally respected even if he did (to Sailors fans) represent "that other team."

Once the players took the field, game three evolved into the Henry Jones show. The 25-year-old outfielder put the Dynamos back in the driver's seat with a clutch performance: 4-for-5 with a pair of homers and a pair of singles, driving in three runs (and scoring three as well) in a 7-3 win for Detroit. With both Wheeler and Vance having been underwhelming thus far, it was Detroit's third star (and their maligned pitching) that had the club two wins away from the aforementioned Edgerton Trophy.

For game four, Dynamos manager Joe Johnson sent Reeve Kirby to the hill. Kirby (16-10, 4.88) had been an up-and-down performer during the regular season and on the game's biggest stage delivered a downer for the Dynamos. The Sailors jumped all over Kirby in the first, hitting three home runs and plating six runs in all to seize the initiative and though Kirby settled down, and the Dynamos fought hard, the Sailors won a 10-4 decision to tie the series at two apiece.

Game five was a linchpin game - the winner would be just a single victory from the title. It was also the last home game for the Sailors and the crowd at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial was in full throat throughout a tightly played affair that sat at 4-4 into the bottom of the ninth. Roy Calfee, after allowing a single run in each of the first four frames, had settled down and was looking every inch the ace he is when the Sailors broke the deadlock in the home half of the ninth. Johnny Rabago, pinch-hitting for Sailors pitcher Bob Clements with none on and one out, rocketed the first pitch he saw over Henry Jones' head in left and went into second with a standup double. The next hitter, 1B Dick Walker, worked a 2-1 count before flicking a Calfee curveball into centerfield. Rabago steamed around third and Buddy Groom's throw to the plate was too late, giving the Sailors a walkoff 5-4 victory and a 3-2 edge in the series.

Detroit could take consolation in the fact that they were heading home for game six - and seven if it turned out to be needed. The Dynamos would be turning to Wayne Robinson, a 31-year-old right hander who had been acquired from the Cleveland Foresters. A 20-game-winner in 1928, Robinson had struggled mightily in 1929, going 3-6 with a 4.53 ERA in 15 games for the Foresters before being dealt to Detroit. He was arguably even worse for the Dynamos, posting a 5-8 mark with a 5.52 ERA. Still, he was the best skipper Joe Johnson had with Calfee being tabbed for game seven - assuming Robinson got them there. And Robinson stepped up in a big way, looking like the man who had won 20 games the year before as he outdueled Russ Reel in a 4-3 Dynamos victory. Granted, the Dynamos got some help from a pair of defensive miscues by the Sailors - particularly one in the eighth by Philly CF David Merchant that let the go-ahead run score, but Detroit fans will likely only remember the gutsy performance of Robinson, who went the distance, allowing three runs on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts in the biggest game of his life. The victory knotted the series again and set up a winner-take-all game seven at Thompson Field the next day.

The day of game seven was a blustery October Sunday in Detroit. The temperature was 53 degrees, but the 19 MPH wind would be a factor. The Dynamos turned to ace Roy Calfee - winner of game one and loser of game five, pitching on just two days' rest. The Sailors countered with 19-game-winner Rollie Beal, a solid pitcher whose surname had caused one excited Sailors fan to hold up a sign at game three saying "Reel and Beal will seal the deal!"

Unfortunately for Beal, it would be the Dynamos who would seal the deal in game seven. Detroit scored in the first and then after the Sailors had tied things at 1-1 in the second, scored two more in the bottom of the second before adding four in the sixth to put the game away en route to an 8-3 win and their fifth championship - and first since 1919.

Series MVP honors went to Frank Vance, the superstar third baseman of Detroit who hit .344 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the series, but many fans tipped their hats to Wayne Robinson for his game six performance, and to Roy Calfee for gutting it out in game seven on short rest. What everyone could agree on though was that it was a heckuva series and that the Detroit victory was very much a team effort.

legendsport · 02-26-2020, 11:27 AM

1930 Continental Association Preview
By Rufus Barrell, OSA Executive Director

Will 1930 mark the third straight year that the Philadelphia Sailors cruise to a Continental Association pennant? Or will someone else rise from the crowd to take them down? The Sailors, winners of 102 games in '28 and 103 last year in '29, bring back essentially the same cast of characters. In looking into the crystal ball, the belief here is that the Sailors will not, in fact, make it three in a row. And here's why:

1) Baltimore Cannons (1929 record: 83-71, 3rd): The Baltimore Cannons have both the firepower - and the pitching - to go toe-to-toe with the Philadelphia juggernaut. The lineup features 1B Lou Kelly (.330-34-112) and catcher Joe Welch (.375-36-128) and the team should get full seasons out of promising LF and leadoff man Abel Man and 3B Ed Roberts. The pitching staff is led by the inimitable Rabbit Day (17-12, 3.71) who the reading here says is on the verge of becoming a breakout star and Allen Award candidate. The other three starters (Dutch Leverett, Ken Carpenter and Bob Miller) are all legitimate pitchers who could be aces on another staff. The Cannons are going to be very, very good - good enough to eke out a surprise pennant over the Sailors.

2) Philadelphia Sailors (103-51, 1st, lost in WCS): The Sailors are arguably the most talented club in the last decade of FABL baseball. Back-to-back 100+ win seasons, two pennants and a World Championship are on their resume and they're as loaded as ever. But they're due to come back to earth a bit - everyone's a bit older and a bit more jaded. Yes, RF Tom Taylor (.351-38-138) is probably the best player in the CA, and he's got great support from 2B Jack Cleaves (.343-17-111), CF David Merchant (.333-7-84) and others. And the pitching is outstanding as well. Rollie Beal (19-8, 3.57), Russ Reel (18-8, 2.92) and William Jones (16-8, 3.33) are proven winners and Oscar Morse (14-4, 3.38) and Herm Lowman (13-7, 3.37 in AAA) look good too. The Sailors will almost certainly top the 90-win plateau - but this time, that might not be enough to claim the flag.

3) New York Stars (86-68, 2nd): The Stars are a bit of a head-scratcher. The infield is tremendously talented: 1B Dave Trowbridge (.357-23-114), 2B Pete Layton (.337-18-100) and 3B John Lawson (.368-14-107) hit 2-3-4 in the lineup and team with SS Bill Rich (.283-4-61) to give the Stars a solid infield defense too. The other guys are solid too, if not quite as elite, and the pitching... well, that's always been the name of the game at Riverside Stadium. Lefty Dick Richards (17-8, 3.20) is the defacto ace, but young Lou Martino (11-5, 2.75) is ready to assume that mantle with a breakout season. Newly acquired Moxie Nelson is 34, but he's talented and will give the Stars a reliable #3 guy behind their two stars. The rest of the staff is serviceable but not at the same level as the crews in Philly or Baltimore, and that's what'll keep New York from taking the pennant this time around.

4) Brooklyn Kings (72-82, 7th): The Kings have a load of young talent - a great thing in the long run, but less so in the short term. Right now, they're just not ready. But enough of that youth is ready to make the Kings a factor in the Continental for the first time in three years. Everything revolves around Brooklyn's pair of stars: RF Doug Lightbody (.363-3-60) and catcher Mike Taylor (.334-16-102). The rest of the lineup is a young (as are Lightbody and Taylor) with none of the projected starters older than 26. Consistency may be a problem for anyone not named Lightbody or Taylor. The pitching will be improved - young Tommy Wilcox shot through the minors last season after being the #1 overall pick in the draft and was solid (3-2, 2.95) in five starts with the Kings. He's a legitimate ace. Behind him the Kings have cobbled together a competent group that will almost certainly keep the team in games and win more than they lose. They're not ready to compete with Philly or Baltimore yet, but the Kings are on track.

5) Chicago Cougars (62-92, 8th): The Cats - like Brooklyn - are a young team on the rise. While the club has not finished higher than 7th since 1924 (5th) and is a world away from the world champs of 1922, they are ready to start making some noise. They have their franchise cornerstone in 26-year-old 2B Bill Ashbaugh (.346-23-101), a pair of rising stars in C Fred Barrell and RF Vince York, an ageless legend in LF John Dibblee (.346-3-76) and a slew of quality supporting players. The prediction here is that the Cougars will roll out eight .300 hitters on a regular basis this season. The pitching is a bit of a mishmash - and this is where the eventual arrival of Jim Crawford and Tom Barrell will make a world of difference (in a year or two, maybe three). Ace lefty Dick Lyons (16-13, 4.06) is good - he's legit, but there are question marks behind him. Max Wilder (14-14, 3.97 with Cleveland) should be a quality #2. Will Ace McSherry - a reliever a year ago - make the transition into the rotation? And if he does, will it work? It might - he's got talent, but there are no guarantees there. Four and five will likely be Tommy Russel (acquired from Washington) and Dick Kadlec neither of whom inspire a ton of confidence.

6) Montreal Saints (77-77, 4th): The Saints hit the .500 mark for the first time since 1925 and the only reason they're not projected higher than 6th this season is that the clubs below them (Brooklyn & Chicago) look to have the youthful talent needed to make the next step. The Saints have the 1929 Allen Award winner in Charlie Stedman (21-10, 2.99) a 27-year-old lefty who should be tremendous again this season. With the oft-injured Al Allen dispatched to the New York Gothams, Dave Paynter (13-14, 3.73) is the only proven arm behind Stedman. He's reliable but there are questions about the trio of lefties John Barrie and Walker Moore and righty Sam Young who form the likely backend of the Saints rotation. The lineup has RF Cliff Moss (.296-24-92) the diminutive (he's 5'6) former #1 overall pick who plays a lot bigger than his size, but the rest of the lineup fits more into the serviceable category than "wow" - which is not the case with top pick Vic Crawford, who while probably not ready this season, should serve up plenty of fireworks in years to come. He, 2B Hank Barnett and P George Thomas give the Saints a trio of top-notch prospects who will push this club into the top of the CA in years to come. Just not right now.

7) Cleveland Foresters (64-90, 7th): The Foresters were a surprising disappointment in 1929 and they probably won't be much better in 1930. The middle of the lineup - particularly LF Joe Perret (.346-21-93) and RF Moxie Pidgeon (.349-26-125) - is excellent (Pidgeon is the best player to wear the green since Max Morris left town a decade ago), but the top & bottom of the lineup needs upgrading for the Foresters to truly compete. The pitching? It's pretty ugly - and that's where Cleveland will really struggle. 24-year-old Eddie Gray is unproven, but looks like he could be the ace the club so sorely needs. Behind him is a mixed bag of "cross your fingers and hope for the best." As is the case with Montreal, help is on the way - both Ed Wood and Karl Johnson should be excellent pitchers down the road. But it'll be a bumpy trip to get there.

8) Toronto Wolves (69-85, 6th): The Wolves... where to begin? They have a new owner and he pledges to improve the club. Will he? Maybe. Right now, the club is something of a mess. The lineup is bereft of a true star with RF Bill Eastep (.314-8-91) probably coming closest. The pitching isn't a complete wasteland, but again, there are no standouts with the possible exception of Bert Flores (17-17, 3.26) and he's out for the first two months of the season. Toronto is in a holding pattern - and while there are a trio of pitching prospects (Chuck Cole, Bill Anderson & Buddy Adams) who could become a good rotation, the cupboard is bare when it comes to hitting prospects.

Award Predictions:
Whitney: C Joe Welch, Baltimore
Allen: RHP Lou Martino, New York

legendsport · 02-26-2020, 03:15 PM

1930 Federal Association Preview
By Rufus Barrell, OSA Executive Director

Unlike the Continental, which seems to be churning out a new dynasty every few years (the NY Stars before the current Philly Sailors with a brief Brooklyn interlude thrown in), the Federal hasn't seen a repeat pennant winner since the Eagles doubled up back in 1922-23. With six different pennant winners over the six years since then, will the Detroit Dynamos be the club to break the pattern? Both the Philadelphia Keystones (1927 champs) and Chicago Chiefs ('28) came into the next season as favorites and both faltered. The thought here is that once again the Fed will be crowning a new champ come fall.

1) New York Gothams (62-92, 8th): Gasp! Someone check ol' Rufus - he just picked the last-place club of '29 to win it in '30? Yep, he sure did. 1929 was the rock bottom for the Gothams - the first time this proud club had ever fallen into the basement in its nearly fifty year history. This is a team with an owner who doesn't accept failure, a GM who is willing to make bold moves and a manager who can now concentrate solely on managing. Ed Ziehl, the franchise's all-time greatest player, is a player no longer, but does remain the skipper of this much-improved edition of the Gotham Baseball Club. The Gothams have a well-rounded club that while not eye-popping in any one area, is very, very capable in all areas. The lineup boasts the ever-dangerous tandem of LF Carlos Cano (.310-15-68 in a disappointing year - that won't happen again) and 1B Bud Jameson (.355-16-86, ditto). Ziehl's spot at the keystone has been taken by 25-year-old Mose Christopher who should provide some good pop and a reliable glove. Where the Gothams are vastly improved - and this is all-important in the slugger-laden Fed - is in its mound corps. 25-year-old Jim Lonardo is a dynamite pitcher. He's going to be in the mix for the Allen this season - he's that good. And speaking of Allen, the son of *that* guy, Al Allen Jr, is now wearing the red, white & blue duds of the Gothams after coming over from Montreal this offseason. If Junior can stay healthy (a big if), he's a star and the Gothams will ride that Lonardo-Allen tandem into October baseball. Even if Allen falls to injury again, the Gothams go five deep in quality starting arms. That's the difference maker right there.

2) Philadelphia Keystones (81-73, 3rd): The Keystones are the fashionable favorite for 1930 - and they are absolutely capable of bringing home a pennant. The offense remains a juggernaut. 1B Rankin Kellogg (.355-34-141) is still supremely dangerous in the three spot and he's got a strong supporting cast that includes C Carl Ames (.292-14-92), RF Jimmy Endler (.324-9-73) and LF Phil Sandman (.325-8-82). The pitching - once the team's Achilles heel - seems improved, and that's the cause for the high expectations for the 'Stones this season. Former Chicago Chief Bill Ross (20-6, 3.55) regained the form he had shown in the Windy City last season (his third with the Keystones) and at 33, remains very much the ace of this club. But he's got some support: Al Robinson, added from the AAA San Diego club, is good and will be a fine second banana to Ross. Ray Rinehart (13-7, 4.42) and the young tandem of lefty Ed Baker (24 y/o) and right hander Marcel Besson (25) will be the key elements in determining how high the Keystones rise in 1930.

3) Detroit Dynamos (91-63, 1st, World Champs): The defending champs have their work cut out for them in 1930. Not only do they have to deal with the improved Gothams and the powerful Keystones, but they've lost their best player in 3B (and Whitney winner) Frank Vance (.372-41-143). Opponents won't feel much pity because this team is still loaded. RF Al Wheeler (.340-37-125) and LF Henry Jones (.330-40-131) provide plenty of firepower and while players like Vance don't grow on trees, this club is still going to score a lot of runs. The pitching was a bit of a question mark last season and while it came through in the end, the questions have not been completely answered. Roy Calfee (26-8, 3.53) is a workhorse at the top of the rotation - a proven winner and a guy you can roll out there and rely upon to give an effective outing. Bob Lawrence, who came over in midseason from Cleveland, is the #2 and he was somewhat unreliable last season. Fellow former-Forester Wayne Robinson was not very good and both Ernie Miller and Jack Beach are unproven. Ultimately, the Dynamos are more than capable of a repeat - but it'll require everything falling into place with their pitching plus some stumbles from both the Keystones and Gothams for it to happen.

4) St. Louis Pioneers (71-83, 7th): The Pioneers have been a maddening club for its fans to follow. A 90-win club as recently as 1926, the Pioneers have been mediocre to bad the last three seasons, not cracking the 80-win plateau. The good news is that RF Max Morris is still around. Morris (.326-50-145) is the game's biggest slugger, and a guy fans in all FABL cities pay to see, hoping he'll hit one of his towering moonshot home runs. Which he still does often enough, even at 35 years of age. His partner-in-crime, SS Roger Landry (.298-30-111) still has plenty of pop too, even if he's slowing down a bit as he ages (he's 33). The youth movement is underway in the form of a pair of 23-year-olds. LF Alex Ingraham, who will hit between Morris and Landry in the cleanup spot. He's an intriguing player - good power, but good extra-base power as well. He could turn into a 40 double, 10 triple, 25 homerun kind of guy. The other youngster, 1B Johnnie Morse, was in A-ball last year, but new management loves his work ethic and his spring numbers seem to indicate he's ready for the Fed. He doesn't have the power (yet) of the guys hitting ahead of him, but is a gap-shooter capable of 40 doubles and double-digit triples. The offense is just fine in St. Louis. The pitching however is a work in progress. The ace (by default) is Marv Forster, a 27-year-old from New Orleans, who gives up too many hits to be overly successful, but eats innings and gives maximum effort. Ideally he'd be this team's second or third starter, but the pitching is thin in St. Louis. There's a promising youngster named Dutch Sheldon on the farm who could be the ace of the future, but he's not ready yet.

5) Chicago Chiefs (89-65, 2nd): The 1928 Fed champs were right in the thick of it last season before falling just short in the season's final week. So why are we looking at a fifth-place finish? Well, 3B Joe Masters, whose magical 1928 season vaulted this club to the pennant, has not been the same player since. Masters (.329-24-113) is still a very good player, but his otherworldly season seems to have been a fortuitous fluke. LF Jim Hampton (.328-19-115) is not a fluke and is the star of this club. The Chiefs have a good lineup, even if it is in a bit of flux, and the hitting is not this team's main issue. So if it's not the hitting, it must be the pitching - and the pitching is a good-news/bad-news kind of deal. There's 20-year-old Milt Fritz, who came up last season and went 18-8 with a 3.22 ERA after making just two appearances above A-ball in his career. A 12th-round pick, Fritz was lightning in a bottle for the Chiefs in '29 - and the good news is, that doesn't look like it was a fluke (he's been tremendous in spring training this year). Former ace Lou Felkel is 36, and that's bad news - he's still a reliable pitcher (he went 22-14, 3.33 a year ago) but he's on the decline. Norm Austin has experience, but his numbers haven't been good. The other guys are unproven. If the pitching is better than it looks, the Chiefs could be a contender - and at least finish in the top three. If things unfold as they appear they will, they're looking at a fifth-place finish.

6) Boston Minutemen (72-82, 6th): Boston had a red-hot start to 1929 but faded badly down the stretch. Which was a true representation of this club's talent? Probably somewhere in the middle. The Minutemen will be relying on a youth movement this season to turn the tide and as with all youth movements it'll all boil down to just how ready the kids are to make a difference at the game's highest level. 3B Charlie Barry (.338-14-97) - at age 31 - is the team's "old man" and just so happens to be its best player too. The rest of the infield is young and aside from 2B Carl Carr (.289-4-73) is unproven. Carr is 25, new shortstop Earl Michael is 23 and has never played above AA while 1B Bob Waller is also 23, and showed nice pop (25 homers) at AAA last season. It's a similar scene in the outfield where CF Dick Copeland (.274-8-76) is the old man at 30 years old and is flanked by a pair of 25-year-olds with thin (in the case of LF Chick Dyer) or non-existent (in the case of RF Ron Davis) FABL credentials. So a lot is riding on the new blood. Pitching-wise, 27-year-old Al Carroll (17-11, 3.41) is the ace and only 29-year-old Dick Alexander (13-12, 3.44) is a returning member of the rotation. The other spots will be filled by young guys with little to no FABL experience. Like the hitters, the fortunes of Boston ride on the shoulders of these unproven hurlers. This makes Boston hard to project: the assessment is that they'll be competitive, but not in the upper tier of the Fed race.

7) Pittsburgh Miners (73-81, 5th): Honestly, it was tough to pick the Miners to finish this far down the table. The Miners have a good lineup - catcher Jim Pool (.325-28-100) is a budding star (and he's just 25) as is 24-year-old RF Frank Lightbody (.364-6-76). The issue is youth - these Miners are young and it takes time for that youth to mature. Like Montreal in the CA, the Miners talent just isn't quite ripe yet. On the pitching side, the team has a trio of quality innings-eaters in Jack Reed (13-10, 3.88), Jim Smith (12-13, 4.04) and Hap Goodwin (12-14, 4.13) - guys who will keep the team in games. If the young hitters not named Lightbody or Pool produce, the Miners will rise into the first division. That just seems (for 1930 at least) to be a longshot.

8) Washington Eagles (77-77, 4th): The Eagles still have T.R. Goins (.363-24-94), their ultra-talented catcher who has been the face of the franchise since his debut back in 1925. But he's 29 now and the club needs to make some moves to get him some support before his window closes. Therefore it's no surprise that a serious youth movement is taking place in the nation's capital. Part of that support might be on hand in 24-year-old SS Andy Carter. Carter, the 10th pick of the 1927 draft, spent 1929 between Class-A Trenton and AA Atlanta and flat out raked at both levels. If he holds up to FABL pitching, the Eagles have a cornerstone player at a premier position. Another very promising youngster is CF Wally Flowers, a 22-year-old who was also the 10th pick of the draft (in his case it was in 1928). "Pretty Boy" Flowers doesn't possess much power, but he drives the ball into the gaps and is hard-nosed enough to turn doubles into triples when he does. Still, the jump from Class B to the Fed is a big one - so time will tell. The rest of the lineup is full of similarly fresh, young faces. The pitching took a dent when Harry Horn went down for the season in spring training - at age 33, he may not be able to recover and return to form. 28-year-old Archie Dickey is the presumptive ace - he went 12-16 with a 3.91 ERA last season. Ivy Newsom (19-14, 4.18) slots in behind him but beyond that, it's a murky picture.

Award Predictions:
Whitney: Max Morris, St. Louis
Allen: Jim Lonardo, New York

legendsport · 09-16-2020, 09:26 AM

NOTE: Going to try to catch this up with recaps of the '30, '31 and '32 seasons

The 1930 season will go down in history as one of the most competitive in Continental Association history. The Philadelphia Sailors, two-time defending pennant winners (and 1928 World Champs) won a third-straight pennant in '30. But they did it in an all-out dogfight that saw three teams finish within four games of the top spot, five teams finish over .500 and only one team (the dismal Toronto Wolves) being completely out of contention.

The Sailors' (88-66) recent dominance of the CA apparently was nearing its end. The Baltimore Cannons (86-68) were a rising force, as were the Chicago Cougars (84-70). And in a surprise, the Montreal Saints (86-68) finished tied with the Cannons for second-place, just two games back.

The Sailors won on the strength of their pitching, which was fully one run better than average and good enough (barely) to offset the league's 7th-best offense (only the Wolves were worse).The Sailors' pitching was good and deep as five hurlers topped 200 innings while notching dougle-digit victories, but none topped twenty wins. Oscar Morse (17-8, 3.27) led the staff and also led the league in ERA. Rollie Beal (16-10, 4.08) threw the most innings (245) with Herm Lowman (14-10, 3.58), Russ Real (12-11, 4/.45) and William Jones (13-11, 3.95) rounding out the rotation. Philly's offense was below-average, but did have solid contributors in 1B Dick Walker (26 triples, .327 average), LF Irv Brady (19 HRs) and veteran CF Dick Merchant (.298-8-64). Young 2B Jack Cleaves led the team with 110 RBIs while posting double-figures in doubles (26), triples (19) and homers (15). RF Tom Taylor had a down year with a .261 average and 15 homers, well off the pace of his back-to-back Allen Award-winning seasons in '28 and '29.

Second-place was a tie between Baltimore and Montreal. The Cannons were expected to be in the thick of the race - the Saints were not. Baltimore was a well-rounded club that finished second in both runs allowed and runs scored. The Cannons had a pair of superstars in 1B Lou Kelly (.363-33-159) and C Lou Welch (.350-33-123) and an ace in Rabbit Day (22-10, 3.93) who captured the CA Allen Award.

Montreal on the other hand, was coming off a 77-77 campaign that saw them finish a distant 26 games back of the Sailors '29 juggernaut. Their nine-game improvement was a bit of a surprise powered in large measure by the big stride forward taken by the 1929 #1 overall pick, CF Cliff Moss (.345-26-101). Still, the Saints were middle-of-the-pack in runs scored with an above-average runs allowed performance from a pitching staff devoid of "name" pitchers outside of top hurler Charlie Stedman (17-12, 4.08).

The fourth-place spot went to the rising Chicago Cougars. who made a whopping 22-game improvement over their last-place 1929 performance to jump into the thick of the pennant chase. The Cougars led the league in runs scored at 6.3 per game despite a noticeable lack of power (their 68 homers were second-fewest in the CA). This was due to a slew of good young hitters who all topped .300 easily. Led by 24-year-old RF Vince York (.368-15-115) and 26-year-old 2B Harry Simmons (.369, 91 runs) along with 1B Bill Ashbaugh (.321-16-131 with 24 triples), SS Russ Combs (.342), 3B John Kincaid (.340) and C Fred Barrell (.324) none of whom were over 26 years old, the Cougars' youth movement served them extremely well. The lone standout? Old warhorse LF John Dibblee, still cranking out a .359 average at the ripe old age of 41. Pitching was Chicago's bugaboo as the team posted a collective 4.65 ERA and no individual hurler posted a breakout season.

The New York Stars (78-76) tumbled into fifth place after consecutive runner-up finishes. They did boast the league's batting champ in 28-year-old 3B John Lawson who racked up 247 hits and flirted with .400 before finishing at .392 on the year. He also earned the nod for the 1930 CA Whitney Award after his dominant performance.

Brooklyn finished sixth with a 75-79 season, a three-game improvement over the 1929 season. RF Doug Lightbody had another outstanding season, hitting .387 to finish second to Lawson in the batting race. Brooklyn continued to struggle with pitching as they allowed the most runs in the league (even more than the dismal Toronto club) whle scoring the third-most.

Seventh-placed Cleveland (69-85) was in the midst of a rebuild, with budding star RF Moxie Pidgeon (.355-27-107) a bright spot offensively, joining established star LF Joe Perret (.356-14-64). As was the case in Brooklyn, Cleveland's woes were largely caused by a lack of quality pitching as the team posted a 5.21 ERA, third-worst in the CA.

Last-place Toronto was a mess. Their 50-104 mark put them 19 games out of seventh-place. There were no real bright spots for this club, although 24-year-old CF Cy Bryant did hit .353 in limited action (201 ABs).Frank Howk (9-15, 4.62 ERA) was the best of a bad bunch of hurlers, and at age 25, there was some hope he could emerge as a much-needed reliable arm.

Over in the Federal, the story was the rise of the New York Gothams. The Gothams (98-56) made a 36-game improvement over 1929's last-place finish to capture the pennant. Led by star 1B Bud Jameson who posted a strong .381-32-114 stat line to finish tied for the batting crown, the Gothams finished second in runs scored to the juggernaut offense in Philadelphia. The pitching was the difference for this club as 25-year-old Jim Lonardo emerged as a true ace with a 21-11, 3.06 campaign that led to the Allen Award. The Gothams also got an excellent season from 35-year-old veteran Steve Castellini (19-7, 2.67) and a promising effort from 25-year-old Walter Murphy (13-7, 3.13).

The Philadelphia Keystones (93-61) had the best offense in baseball, scoring 999 runs and posting a .319 team average. With the dependably stellar 1B Rankin Kellogg (.338-36-136) again anchoring the offense and strong contributions up and down the order, the Stones scored often - which was good because in terms of run prevention, they were only slightly better than average despite finishing third overall (the average being heavily skewed by the Gothams' dominant numbers).

Detroit (85-69), the defending FABL champions, dropped to third despite an absolute monster season from RF Al Wheeler. At just 22-years-old Wheeler established himself as a bona-fide star by winning the Whitney Award on the back of a .372-36-122 season that included 129 runs, 29 doubles, 19 triples and an OPS of 1.117 that added up to a 9.2 WAR. 1B Frank Shafer (.317-13-102) and LF Henry Jones (.297-30-120) rounded out the heart of the order, but the Dynamos' remaining hitters were not as productive as they had been in 1929. On the pitching side, Roy Calfee (20-14, 3.42) was as good as anyone outside of Jim Lonardo, but the Gothams & Keystones were just better clubs in 1930.

The Boston Minutemen finished fourth with a flat .500 mark of 77-77, improving by five wins over 1929. Their offense was anemic, scoring the fewest runs in the Fed as the only club to average under five runs per game. The pitching was better, but still average overall. 3B Charlie Berry (.363-13-92) continued to be the club's star but a pair of 25-year-olds in LF Chick Dyer (.331-11-104) and RF Ron Davis (.337-11-79) looked promising. P Joe Hogue (14-13, 4.07) was the best of a middling bunch and at just 25 himself gave some hope for emergence as a much-needed reliable arm.

The Chicago Chiefs, who had won the pennant in 1928, finished fifth with a sub-.500 mark of 70-84. They did have LF Jim Hampton, who tied Bud Jameson for the batting crown with a .381 average (he also chipped in 19 homers and 111 RBIs) as he continued to be Chicago's Mr. Reliable. 3B Joe Masters also turned in a solid season with a .311 average, 33 homers and a league-best 167 RBIs. But the production fell off a cliff after those two and the pitching was mediocre at best with the exception of breakout 20-year-old right-hander Milt Fritz who posted a 16-7 mark and 3.63 ERA for a club whose overall ERA was 5.10.

Pittsburgh was the best of a trio of Fed clubs whose victory totals were in the sixties. The Miners (67-87) continued to be in building mode and did showcase a pair of young talents in C Jim Pool (.294-27-105) and RF Frank Lightbody (.338-5-91, 102 runs). LF Tom Hopkins (.331-16-91) was also productive, but there wasn't a whole lot beyond those three. Right-hander Bill Morrill (15-9, 4.52) was the best of a middling bunch but 23-year-old Ollie Denton was impressive in a half-season of work with a 10-5 mark and 3.71 ERA providing some hope for the future.

The Washington Eagles (64-90) were seventh and finished near the bottom of the pack in both runs scored and allowed. Superstar catcher T.R. Goins (.334-28-106) continued to toil in futility with a lack of quality team mates aside from 24-year-old SS Andy Carter (.317, 28 triples, 94 RBIs). The pitching was subpar as well, though not terrible. Ivy Newsom (11-19, 4.25) and Dick Dennis (11-14, 4.31) being the best of the bunch.

Last-place went to the St. Louis Pioneers (62-92). The Pioneers, in full rebuild mode, still had the game's top name in RF Max Morris. In what would turn out to be his swan song in St. Louis, Morris posted another outstanding season with 48 homers and 132 RBIs to go along with a .360 batting average. Morris would be dealt to the Gothams in the offseason, bringing five much-needed young players in return. The Pioneers did have a promising youngster in 24-year-old LF Alex Ingraham (.324-24-118) but the state of the pitching staff was simply atrocious, allowing 1027 runs (an area hopefully addressed at least partially by the Morris deal).

The World Championship Series would pit the Gothams against the vaunted Sailors. Both teams brought excellent pitching into the series and the matchup turned out to be a great one. Philadelphia ultimately prevailed in a thrilling seven-game series, giving the Sailors their second title in three years. For the Gothams, their rise from the ashes fell just short of the mountaintop, but the talent for a reprise was there even before they added a certain slugger to the roster in a trade right after their heartbreaking defeat.

legendsport · 09-16-2020, 01:11 PM

For the New York Gothams, 1931 represented an "all-in" opportunity to win the franchise's first championship since 1896. They certainly had the firepower to make it happen, having acquired the game's pre-eminent slugger in a big offseason trade following a disappointing finish to the 1930 World Championship Series, a seven-game loss to the Philadelphia Sailors. Max Morris was brought on board to push the Gothams over the hump. And he did his part with a .331 average, 34 homers and 105 RBIs, all of which led the team. The pitching was there too - Jim Lonardo offered up an encore to his 1929 Allen Award season with another Allen Award, going 20-9 with a 3.18 ERA and cementing himself as the Fed's best pitcher. Walter Murphy (14-13, 3.86) was a nice lefty complement to Lonardo as well. The problem turned out to be health. Big contributors such as Bud Jameson, Al Allen and the newly-acquired Joe Perret all missed significant time, which weakened the club, albeit not by enough to cost them the pennant. The Gothams did win the flag, posting a 93-61 mark to beat out their rivals from Philadelphia by three games.

Speaking of those Philadelphia Keystones, they had another "almost-but-not-quite" year behind the Fed's most potent lineup and a middle-of-the-road pitching staff. 1B Rankin Kellogg (.367-36-139) was phenomenal as always and a new star burst onto the scene in 20-year-old phenom Bobby Barrell. The eighth-son of OSA co-founder Rufus Barrell was a revelation in his rookie campaign, with 202 hits, 34 doubles, 12 triples and 19 home runs, finishing with a .325 average, 112 runs scored and 97 RBIs while providing excellent defense in right field. With three other .300-plus hitters in the lineup, Philly as usual had no problem scoring in bunches. Stopping the opposition was still something of a problem - though not as much as it had been. Bill Ross (16-9, 3.28) was dependable and 23-year-old lefty Frank Crawford (8-3, 3.15) was tantalizing in his 11 starts, but overall the pitching was average, and with the Gothams' star-studded roster, it wasn't quite good enough to catch the New Yorkers.

Detroit rounded out a top-three that mirrored exactly the 1929 order of finish. With an 87-67 mark, they were six games off the pace but their offense suffered a down season from star RF Al Wheeler (.310-22-97), though they did get good production from 3B Frank Vance (.321-16-104) and LF Henry Jones (.303-21-102). Veteran Roy Calfee (19-12, 2.97) was great as usual and Mel Strom (18-8, 3.49) played the second banana role to the hilt. But against the two heavyweights at the top of the loop, the Dynamos were a bit out of their weight class in '31.

Boston (79-75) rounded out the first division thanks in large part to good pitching. Lefty Al Carroll (18-10, 2.79) was outstanding at the top of the rotation and Joe Hogue (16-12, 3.34) was dependable. Joe Dorsainvil (10-13, 4.37) pitched better than his numbers would indicate. The offense is where the Minutemen were let down. 3B Charlie Barry (.350-10-104) and 1B Carl Carr (.344-6-85) starred but the other pieces were subpar and the club finished just +31 in run differential despite being the third-stingiest in terms of runs allowed in the Federal.

Chicago (73-81) and Washington (73-81) tied for fifth and did so in nearly identical fashion with top-half offenses (the Eagles scored 798 runs, third-best and the Chiefs 797, fourth-best) and bottom half runs allowed (828 for Washington, 6th and 859 for Chicago, 7th). Catcher T.R. Goins (.340-27-119) had his typical strong season with 2B Andy Carter(.350, 115 runs, 91 RBIs) again being the only other top performer on the Eagles roster. 34-year-old Dick Dennis (18-13, 4.20) was easily the best of a subpar group of pitchers in the nation's capital. Similarly, the Chiefs got their usual production from LF Jim Hampton (.330-15-113) though his homers were down a bit and 1B Bob Martin hit .345 while 3B Joe Masters suffered a down year (.291-17-94). Lefty Sam Reichmann was the most promising of a rather uninspiring group of Chief hurlers. The 28-year-old posted a 12-8 mark and 3.51 ERA in 24 starts. Ace Ernie Newman led the team with 32 starts and 260.1 innings, but finished 12-18 with a 4.84 ERA.

Pittsburgh finished seventh for a second-straight season thanks in large part to the Fed's worst offense (702 runs). The good news is that pitching was average, which is a good sign as the general consensus is that its easier to find good hitting than pitching these days. The club's two best hitters: C Jim Pool (.259-14-85) and RF Frank Lightbody (.309-3-68) had off years while LF Jim Renfroe suffered through another injury plagued campaign playing in just 92 games leaving 22-year-old 2B Ed Stewart (.299-17-82) as the club's top contributor at the dish. P Ollie Denton followed up a solid 1930 season with a 12-13, 3.56 effort in '31, leading his teams in innings and ERA. Bill Morrill (14-11, 4.34) and Jim Smith (11-19, 4.32) along with Marco Ramirez (10-11, 3.58) rounded out the Miners' rotation.

Last-place again was held down by the St. Louis Pioneers, who having dealt away Max Morris were now in full-on rebuild mode. Their 53-101 record was FABL's worst. They allowed the most runs (a whopping 957) while avoiding last-place in runs scored by plating just seven more runs than Pittsburgh. The Pioneers had a lot of young faces in the lineup, with 25-year old 3B Fred Miller (.350, 22 triples), 21-year-old 1B Fred McCormick (acquired from NY as part of the Morris deal) hitting .350 with 45 doubles and 19 triples and 22-year-old SS Ray Russell (.304) being prominent. The pitching was a bit of a shambles. Lefty Joe Shaffner was the "ace" and pitched fairly well with a 3.94 ERA, but posted a 7-18 won-loss record. Lefty Rick Walther made 16 starts, posting a 5-5 mark and 3.41 ERA but outside of those two, the remaining pitchers' stats lines were u-g-l-y. The Pioneers did pick up some good prospects in the Morris deal and nabbed promising young 2B Freddie Jones with the #2 pick in the draft, so fresh talent is coming in. The Pioneers need only look to the team that won the 1931 title for inspiration as that club rose from some terrible seasons on a wave of youth to conquer FABL.

Code:

Team			W	L	WPct	GB	R	RA
New York Gothams	93	61	.604	-	840	680
Philadelphia Keystones	90	64	.584	3	874	767
Detroit Dynamos		87	67	.565	6	789	669
Boston Minutemen	79	75	.513	14	754	723
Chicago Chiefs		73	81	.474	20	797	859
Washington Eagles	73	81	.474	20	798	828
Pittsburgh Miners	68	86	.442	25	702	780
St. Louis Pioneers	53	101	.344	40	709	957

Whitney Award: Rankin Kellogg, PHI: .367/.451/.645, 603 AB, 36 HR, 121 R, 139 RBI, 8.6 WAR
Allen Award: Jim Lonardo, NYG: 20-9. 3.18 ERA, 277.1 IP, 1.10 WHIP, 4.1 K/9m 5.9 WAR

That aforementioned club was the Chicago Cougars. Chicago, starting in 1925, finished 7th three straight years, then 8th the next two, before youth and some key trades paid dividends with a rise to fourth-place in 1930 that set the stage for the club to win it's first pennant in a decade with a 91-63 mark in 1931.

The Cougars were good, and young. While many key components were home-grown talent acquired via the draft, there was one new face brought in that paid huge dividends in the pennant-winning campaign: RF Tom Taylor. The former Sailors star was dealt by the defending champs to the Cougars just before the start of spring training for a trio of prospects. Taylor had suffered through a subpar 1929 campaign but bounced back nicely in Chicago where he posted a .290 average with 29 homers and 107 RBIs. Leading a slew of players 27-and-under (he himself was just 26) Taylor gave the Cougars some needed pop as only Vince York (.348-11-104) and Bill Ashbaugh (.326-11-95) managed to reach double-figures in homers. Five regulars hit .300 or better and the club scored 809 runs, second only to the NY Stars. The pitching was good, not great, finishing fifth in the CA in runs allowed (712), but the top three of Jim Crawford (18-11, 3.15), Max Wilder (16-13, 3.68) and Dick Lyons (17-7, 3.68) was very solid. Dick Luedtke (15-11, 4.10) and Steve Castellini, who was acquired from the Gothams and went 10-14, 4.71, gave the Cougars a thoroughly reliable staff behind their good offense.

Baltimore had a third-straight solid finish with an 85-69 record, good for a second straight runner-up finish after ending up third in 1929. LF Lou Kelly continued to be the straw that stirred the drink in Baltimore, with a .309-30-111 effort leading the league in homers and finishing third in RBIs. But he didn't get much support from his team mates, and the Cannons scored 728 runs, good for just fifth-best. The pitching was good, finishing third behind the stellar staffs of Philly and New York in runs allowed with 699. The Cannons relied on their double-barrel ace tandem of Rabbit Day (19-15, 3.56) and Ken Carpenter (22-15, 3.85) with Bob Miller (15-16, 4.04) and Dutch Leverett (17.15, 4.71) rounding out the rotation.

In New York, the Stars returned to relevance after an uncharacteristically poor 5th-place finish in 1930. The Stars went 84-70 to finish third, seven games off the pace. 3B John Lawson copped a second-straight Whitney Award after hitting .359 with 43 doubles, 13 homers and 117 RBIs. 2B Pete Layton (.353-13-81) and 1B Dave Trowbridge (.332-16-125) gave the Stars a pun-intended "stellar" infield - adding in SS Bill Rich, the top four performers in terms of WAR on the Stars were their infielders. The pitching, as has been traditional around Riverside Park, was terrific. Old warhorse Dick Richards (17-10, 2.83) did his usual thing, but got some help from the next generation with 24-year-old Lou Martino (17-7, 3.77) and 25-year-old Gene Stevens (11-16, 3.46) key contributors and old friend Mutt Pharr returning to form with a 14-9, 3.70 mark.

Across the East River in Brooklyn you can always say one thing: the Kings are never boring. Brooklyn may have finished in the second division in 1928 and '29, but they showed some signs of progress in 1931. With a "never sit still" attitude, the willingness to wheel & deal the Kings' brass has displayed paid some serious dividends in pushing the club to a fourth-place finish at 82-72. The first key was the trade-day acquisition of Tommy Wilcox back in 1928. A big, strong right-hander, Wilcox emerged as a true quality workhorse in '31, going 22-16 with a 3.94 ERA in 39 starts, racking up 320 innings to lead all of FABL. And joining him in the Kings rotation was 21-year-old phenom Milt Fritz. Acquired from the Chicago Chiefsfor a bundle of four players and a 1st-round draft pick, Fritz copped the Allen Award with a 23-15, 3.08 effort (and he finished with 318.1 innings in 39 starts of his own). With two young and talented hurlers leading the way, the Kings took a big step forward in the area in which they most needed to step it up. The hitting, as usual, was good, this time finishing third in the Continental in runs scored. Catcher Mike Taylor (.330-14-80), 1B Jake Shadoan (.337-5-90) and CF Ab Thomas (.331-4-56, 94 runs scored) all 26 or younger, teamed up with franchise star Doug Lightbody (.358-6-85) to keep the Kings lineup humming along. You'd need to look hard to find someone over 30 on this team and the future certainly looked bright in Brooklyn.

Three straight pennants may have spoiled the faithful in Philadelphia and the Sailors' tumble to fifth-place caused some serious consternation around Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Stadium. The Sailors pulled into port with an 80-74 record - not bad by most measures, but something of a disappointment after three straight pennants and two titles. Tom Taylor was gone, but the rest of the lineup was intact and 1B Dick Walker (.300, 30 doubles, 13 triples, 10 homers, 115 walks) remained a force, but the team managed just a fourth-best 743 runs scored. The pitching too was still potent and allowed a league-low 636 runs. Some of the team's fifth-place finish was due to simple bad luck - a look at the Pythagorean records would have placed them second to the Stars - and ahead of the pennant-winning Cougars. With a staff consisting of William Jones (19-12, 2.38), Oscar Morse (18-16, 3.17) and Rollie Beal (18-12, 2.72), the Sailors underachieved, but remained eminently dangerous in an increasingly tough Continental Association.

The Saints took a step back in '31. Montreal had climbed into serious contention in 1930 so many in Quebec thought the club's long drought was at an end. Alas, it was not to be as the Saints delivered one of the most anemic offensive performances in recent memory, scoring just 642 runs, the worst in the league, en route to a 68-86 record and sixth-place finish. Cliff Moss, who had established himself as a potential star, delivered a decent .295-18-79 season but the fact that those 79 RBIs led the team says a lot about the club's lack of punch. A midseason deal of ace Charlie Steadman to the Stars didn't help in the short-term but did bring in a trio of players who it was hoped would be contributors down the road. With Steadman gone, the mantle of ace fell upon lefty Walker Moore, a 24-year-old who posted a 15-15, 4.54 mark. With a pair of 34-year-olds (Dave Paynter & Rich Fisher) holding down two of the rotation spots, the hope in Montreal is that the Saints can find some dependable young arms to support Moore.

The Toronto Wolves have looked more like lambs in recent seasons, and that continued in 1931 with another second-division finish. Toronto's 66-88 record and 7th-place finish marked their fourth straight season with 69 or fewer victories. Still, it was 16 games better than their dismal 1930 campaign, so that represented some measure of progress. Toronto lacks a true offensive star: 23-year-old 2B Sam Orr, who hit .319 with 34 doubles, 10 triples while scoring 92 runs is the closest thing the Wolves have, and no one hit more than five homers. And the pitching situation is only slightly more promising. 26-year-old Frank Howk (12-17, 3.74) is the closest thing to an ace on the Wolves. 27-year-old lefty Barry Wood (11-13, 3.85) and 30-year-old Birdie Smith (10-18, 5.05, 262 innings) at least showed the ability to log innings, but this group needs improvement if the Wolves are to ever howl again.

The Cleveland Foresters posted their third-straight season with fewer than 70 wins and their 60-94 record dropped them into last place after two straight 7th-place finishes. The team is young, with no player 30 or over on the roster. But there are also no clear-cut stars in the making. LF Moxie Pidgeon, at 24, might be the closest thing. He turned in a .269-23-92 season and both 3B Jake Moore (28 y/o, .293-9-88) and CF Bobby Allen (26 y/o, .276-16-69) are serviceable but the farm system needs to bear fruit for the Foresters to start contending. The cupboard was pretty bare on the pitching side as well, evidenced by 13 different players getting a starting nod in 1931. The only pitcher to top 200 innings was lefty Karl Johnson, whose 9-16, 4.47 record indicates how pitching-starved this club was.

The World Championship Series saw the New York Gothams return for a second-straight year, this time against the new flag-bearers of the Continental: the Chicago Cougars. Chicago held Max Morris, who was making his return to the game's biggest stage after last appearing in 1921, to a .273 average with no home runs. With both Bud Jameson and Joe Perret out, the Cougars defeated the injury-depleted Gothams four games to two with Jim Lonardo winning both games for New York. Chicago catcher Fred Barrell copped the MVP for the Series, going 14-for-24 for a .609 average, scoring five runs and driving home four.

Code:

Team			W	L	WPct	GB	R	RA
Chicago Cougars		91	63	.591	-	809	712
Baltimore Cannons	85	69	.552	6	728	699
New York Stars		84	70	.545	7	828	686
Brooklyn Kings		82	72	.532	9	769	705
Philadelphia Sailors	80	74	.519	11	743	636
Montreal Saints		68	86	.442	23	642	773
Toronto Wolves		66	88	.429	25	678	813
Cleveland Foresters	60	94	.390	31	671	844

Whitney Award: John Lawson, NYS: .359/.406/.502, 643 AB, 13 HR, 2 SB, 117 RBI, 7.0 WAR
Allen Award: Milt Fritz, BRK: 23-15, 3.08 ERA, 318.1 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 3.7 K/9, 6.5 WAR

legendsport · 09-16-2020, 09:21 PM

1932 featured some intriguing stories as things evolved in surprising ways. There were big trades, some seriously poor luck, some tremendous individual (and team) performances (and some really poor ones too) and plenty of drama as well. Coming out of the 1931 season you would have been laughed out of the room if you suggested the New York Gothams would be a non-factor in the Federal League pennant race. And you would have raised eyebrows by suggesting that the Chicago Cougars would tamper with a pennant-winning recipe. But both those things happened in 1932.

Among the big trades was an Independence Day deal that sent Max Morris from the Gothams back to where it all began: the Cleveland Foresters. That made plenty of headlines, but one that certainly changed the trajectory of both parties came three weeks later in the form of a blockbuster deal between the Chicago Cougars and Brooklyn Kings.

We'll get to that Kings/Cougars deal in a moment. But we'll start with the New York Gothams and the strange scenario that brought about the deal with the Foresters. New York was riding high after two straight pennants and it seems likely that they might have actually won it all in the '31 Series if they hadn't been without the potent bats of Joe Perret and Bud Jameson. We'll never know, but the hangover of that bitter defeat seemed to infect the 1932 edition of the Gothams. They finished last after a season that could easily be described as a disaster. And for most of it, before the team gave up the ghost, the Gothams were scoring runs in bunches and losing close games at a clip far greater than they should have, statistically-speaking. Ultimately they posted a 69-85 mark, 17 games out and in the basement. Ace Jim Lonardo stumbled to a 14-15 mark with a 4.07 ERA following two straight Allen Awards. Joe Perret had another injury-riddled season, only playing about half the season. Though Bud Jameson was back and productive (.350-20-105), GM Tom Ward pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Max Morris (hitting .344 with 20 HRs through 72 games at the time) to Cleveland for a quartet of prospects, only one of whom (1B Alex Thompson) appeared for the Gothams in 1932. The consolation prize for the Gothams was the top pick in the 1932 draft, which they'd spend on one of the most promising arms in a generation in right-hander Curly Jones who had pitched in the team's backyard for Henry Hudson College. If Lonardo returns to form, he and Jones could form a lethal one-two punch in New York.

P Jim Lonardo, New York Gothams

Switching gears to "that other big trade" - the one between the Cougars & Kings. Brooklyn was making a concerted effort to shake things up with quality young players. The Cougars were looking for a proven commodity to help them catch the surging New York Stars who were 62-36, three games better than Chicago's 58-38 at the time of the deal. Brooklyn, it should be noted was 42-57 and in 7th-place at the time of the trade. The details, when they were released to the press were astounding. Heading to Chicago were former #1 overall pick and workhorse ace Tommy Wilcox and star catcher Mike Taylor. The return to Brooklyn was jaw-dropping as well: another former #1 overall pick in pitching prospect Tom Barrell, along with his brother, established catcher Fred Barrell and a pair of young pitchers in Mike Murphy and George DeForest.

C Mike Taylor, Chicago Cougars

The fallout of the trade was interesting to say the least. At the time of the deal Wilcox was 9-9 with a 3.19 ERA for the Kings and Taylor was hitting .285 with 15 homers. Tom Barrell had made a few starts for the Cougars, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA over three starts, while Fred Barrell was hitting .311 and neither Murphy nor DeForest had appeared in the big leagues. After the trade, Wilcox fell apart, apparently struggling to adjust to playing in Chicago - his 6-6, 6.70 ERA performance down the stretch arguably cost the Cougars the pennant (they'd finish two behind the Stars), though Mike Taylor was excellent: .343-10-44 in 54 games for the Cougars. But the biggest difference was in the play of the Brooklyn Kings, who finished 80-74, good for a third-place tie with Cleveland. After the deal the Kings went 38-17 and looked like a legitimate contender. Tom Barrell was great early and finished well with a 10-3, 2.58 mark for the Kings. Murphy joined the rotation and went 7-2 with a 2.53 ERA. And Fred Barrell was consistent, if not as spectacular as Taylor had been, hitting .291 but more importantly providing stellar play behind the dish and gunning down 51.7% of would-be base stealers. Oh... and the Kings also promoted another Barrell: longtime farmhand 1B Dan Barrell, who turned in a team-best .340 batting average. And to continue the trend of accumulating players with the surname Barrell, the Kings swung a deal with Cleveland, sending a first and third round pick to the Foresters for minor league SS Harry Barrell, the youngest of Rufus Barrell's sons.

P Tom Barrell, Brooklyn

It's far too early to determine the "winner" of the trade, and ultimately all of the players involved are likely going to be well-worth having on the roster. We'll need to wait until 1933 and beyond for the final judgement on both big trades.

As mentioned above, the New York Stars won the CA pennant with 99 wins, two games ahead of the defending champion Cougars. Charlie Steadman, acquired the year before from Montreal, went 14-5 with a 3.14 ERA, joining with incumbent ace Dick Richards (17-7, 3.40) to give the Stars the league's stingiest pitching. The offense was the league's second-best, scoring 876 runs with their infield of 1B Dave Trowbridge (.355-15-110), 2B Pete Layton (.343-20-91) and 3B John Lawson (.377-19-150) leading the way once again. For Lawson it might have added up to another Whitney Award, if not for a certain guy in Baltimore. Regardless, the Stars were back in a big way.

3B John Lawson, New York Stars

The Continental was a two-horse race. Brooklyn's late surge notwithstanding they still finished 19 games out, tied with Cleveland at 80-74. The Philadelphia Sailors (76-78), Baltimore Cannons (71-83), Montreal Saints (64-90) and dismal Toronto Wolves (49-105) rounded out the Continental table.

The Federal League pennant went to the Philadelphia Keystones (86-68) who held off the Detroit Dynamos (82-72) for the pennant with the Boston Minutemen (79-75), Chicago Chiefs (78-76) and St. Louis Pioneers (78-76) also finishing over .500 in a well-balanced Federal circuit. The Washington Eagles (73-81), Pittsburgh Miners (71-83) and New York Gothams (69-85) rounded out the Federal standings.

The Keystones were led as usual by Rankin Kellogg who hit .332 while tying Detroit's Al Wheeler for the home run crown (38) and finishing third to Wheeler in RBIs with 128. The aforementioned Al Wheeler, the 1926 first overall pick and still just 25 years old, finished with a .348-38-146 line and a second Whitney Award after previously winning in 1930. Other top Fed performers on the offensive side included New York's Bud Jameson, who was second in batting at .350, batting champion Bob Martin of the Chiefs who hit .351 and showed increased clout with 16 homers and 121 RBIs. Philadelphia's Bobby Barrell hit .306 with 31 homers (3rd best) as he continued to emerge as a superstar in his own right. And the Pioneers? The former cellar dwellers flashed a couple of standout performers of their own with 1931 #1 overall pick Freddie Jones hitting .349 to finish third in the batting race and RF Alex Ingraham posting a ridiculous season that saw him hit 26 doubles, 34 triples and 25 homers while driving in 130 runs.

RF Al Wheeler, Detroit

On the pitching side, the Federal's Allen Award went to Jack Beach of the Dynamos who led the league in wins (20) and ERA (3.51), giving Detroit a sweep of the Federal awards for 1932. 35-year-old Dick Dennis won 20 for the Eagles with a 3.84 ERA and 24-year-old team mate Bob Sanders finished third in the league in ERA with a 3.68 mark. Philly's Ed Baker was second in ERA at 3.64 while going 16-8 for the pennant winners.

P Jack Beach, Detroit

The Continental's Whitney Award winner was Baltimore's Lou Kelly, who had played bridesmaid to John Lawson for two years before finally earning the nod at age 30 thanks to a season in which he hit .355 with a league-best 40 homers and also led the league in slugging (.637), OPS (1.060) and WAR (8.3). Unfortunately for Kelly, his team stumbled to a sixth-place finish. Other top performances included batting champ Lawson (.377) and his team mate Trowbridge (.355, 2nd). The Taylor boys in Chicago: Tom (30) and Mike (25) were 2-3 in homers and Tom's 139 RBIs were 2nd to Lawson's league-best 150.

RF Lou Kelly, Baltimore

A trio of hurlers won 19 games to tie for the league-lead in that category: Baltimore's Rabbit Day (who also won the Allen - his 2nd time winning the award), Philly's William Jones and Chicago's Dick Luedtke. Day's 191 strikeouts were far ahead of anyone else in either league. Luedtke claimed the ERA title at 2.79, with Jones (2.99) and the Stars' Steadman (3.14) finishing 2nd & 3rd respectively.

P Rabbit Day, Baltimore

One guy who straddled both leagues was Max Morris. The big slugger's total numbers would have been worthy of consideration for a Whitney Award (which would have been his eighth overall) had he not split his time almost evenly between the Fed's Gothams and the Continental's Foresters. Overall he finished with a .334 average, 44 homers (tops in FABL) and 142 RBIs with a 7.8 WAR (which would have led the Fed and was third in the Continental behind Kelly & Lawson). And Mighty Mo accomplished this at the age of 37. Those 44 homers also pushed his career total to 599.

Max Morris, Cleveland

The World Championship Series was a wipeout as the Stars were just too much to handle for the Keystones and swept the Fed League champs. They took game one 8-2 behind Dick Richards' solid pitching and a 3-for-4 performance from CF Mike Mason. Game two was a comeback win by a score of 7-5 as Philly's bullpen wasted a strong effort from Ed Baker in a five-run eighth by New York. Game three was a lopsided 6-1 win for the Stars with Pete Layton (2-for-4) and Dave Trowbridge (2-for-3) leading the way. Game four was likely the wildest game anyone could remember. The Keystones thrilled the hometown fans with an eight-run second only to see the Stars roar back with eight runs of their own in the third, and then proceeding to tack on seven more over the next two innings and holding on for a crazy 15-10 win. Pete Layton was named the MVP of the Championship series thanks to his stellar 9-for-18 series that included two doubles, a triple and a homer, and a whopping seven RBIs over the four game series.

2B Pete Layton, New York Stars

Code:

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION
Team			W	L	WPct	GB	R	RA
Philadelphia Keystones	86	68	.558	-	862	755
Detroit Dynamos		82	72	.532	4	779	707
Boston Minutemen	79	75	.513	7	780	789
Chicago Chiefs		78	76	.506	8	842	836
St. Louis Pioneers	78	76	.506	8	834	853
Washington Eagles	73	81	.474	13	723	800
Pittsburgh Miners	71	83	.461	15	694	774
New York Gothams	69	85	.448	17	813	813

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
Team			W	L	WPct	GB	R	RA
New York Stars		99	55	.643	-	876	674
Chicago Cougars		97	57	.630	2	903	730
Brooklyn Kings		80	74	.519	19	744	746
Cleveland Foresters	80	74	.519	19	855	804
Philadelphia Sailors	76	78	.494	23	717	718
Baltimore Cannons	71	83	.461	28	712	834
Montreal Saints		64	90	.416	35	668	755
Toronto Wolves		49	105	.318	50	606	820

legendsport · 10-15-2020, 08:03 AM

With the Great Depression gripping the world, the powers that be in the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues' offices in Washington, DC approved a plan suggested by W. Washington Whitney, owner of the Federal Association's Chicago Chiefs to hold a so-called "All-Star Charity Game" at Whitney Park, home of the aforementioned Chiefs.

The game, played on July 6, 1933 was conceived as a benefit event, with proceeds going to help destitute former FABL players and coaches. Fans were asked to vote for their choices for a starting lineup for the Federal Association and Continental Association stars.

The results of that balloting were:
Federal:
P - Ed Baker, Philadelphia
C - T.R. Goins, Washington
1B - Rankin Kellogg, Philadelphia
2B - Freddie Jones, St. Louis
3B - Frank Vance, Detroit
SS - Pete Asher, Pittsburgh
LF - Jim Hampton, Chicago
CF - Grover Lee, Philadelphia
RF - Bobby Barrell, Philadelphia

Continental:
P - Tommy Wilcox, Chicago
C - Mike Taylor, Chicago
1B - Max Morris, Cleveland
2B - Pete Layton, New York
3B - John Lawson, New York
SS - Woody Armstrong, Montreal
LF - Art Summers, Brooklyn
CF - Bob Worley, Montreal
RF - Moxie Pidgeon, Cleveland

Armstrong, the fans choice at shortstop, was injured and unable to play and Brooklyn Kings rookie Harry Barrell was appointed in his place (Barrell was second in the voting).

Coaches and players' choices rounded out the 23-man rosters for each side. 15 of the 16 FABL teams had at least one representative with only Toronto being shut out. Rumors that a rule may be enacted to ensure one representative from all clubs is being considered.

The statement above indicates that this will be more than a one-time thing. Plans are already underway for a second charity game, likely to be played at a Continental Association site in the summer of 1934.

As for the game itself, it was a resounding success. The Federal stars defeated the Continentals by a final of 8-5. The first home run was hit by Cleveland's Moxie Pidgeon (probably not the Forester most would have expected - that being Max Morris, who did start the game at first base). Pidgeon's blast, a two-run shot off Federal (and Keystones) starter Ed Baker, put the Continentals ahead early. But the Federal stars scored in each of the first three frames, leading 5-2 after three innings. The Continentals would close the gap to 5-4 in the sixth, but a three-run seventh saw the Federals go up 8-4 and hold on for the 8-5 victory.

Pittsburgh shortstop Pete Asher was player of the game after going 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs. Pioneer pitcher Ben Curtin earned the win, while Les Zoller of the New York Stars was the losing pitcher.

Boxscore available here

legendsport · 12-09-2020, 04:01 PM

They called him the Memphis Mauler and though the Tennessee native was far from home, he certainly lived up to the "Mauler" portion of his moniker in posting one of the most impressive seasons in FABL history in 1933. The Mauler, of course, was Rankin Kellogg, the star first sacker of the Philadelphia Keystones. By '33 Kellogg was already a household name of long-standing but the 30-year-old upped the ante in a big way by batting .390 with 45 homers and 151 runs batted in. These were Triple Crown numbers, not only for the Federal Association, but for FABL as a whole. And riding on his coat-tails the Philadelphia Keystones copped a second-straight Fed pennant and a berth in the World Championship Series. An honorable mention must be given to his young team mate Bobby Barrell who posted an outstanding season of his own (.367-12-137).

Rankin Kellogg, 1B Philadelphia (FA)

Kellogg's heroics were just a part of what was a historic season for FABL. For the first time in history, the best of the best would earn a showcase in the middle of the season as FABL unveiled the "All-Star Benefit for Retirees and Widows' - which would soon become known as simply "the All-Star game." Devised as a way to put some money in the pockets of destitute ex-players and their families during what was the depths of the Great Depression, the game's inaugural affair was held at Chicago's Whitney Field on July 6th and was a tremendous success (with the Federal stars outdueling their Continental counterparts by a final of 8-5), with FABL President Robert Owings announcing a week later that it would become an annual event, with the host site alternating by league with an aim to eventually bringing it to every FABL ballpark.

Fittingly, that first ever 1933 All-Star game featured Max Morris, the game's biggest star with the aging, but still dangerous, slugger entering the record books (again) with the first hit in All-Star game history. He also scored the game's first run, crossing the plate on Forester team mate Moxie Pidgeon's homer (also a first) to get the game off to a fast start. Morris, Pidgeon and the rest of the Foresters spent much of the season looking like a dangerous club before fading down the stretch in the face of a very strong Chicago Cougars club.

Moxie Pidgeon, RF Cleveland

Those Cougars were something else too. One newspaperman may have hit the nail on the head when he described the Cougars as "more mechanically efficient than any assembly line in the nation." The Cougars were ruthlessly efficient - they pitched well, they fielded (extremely) well and they hit well. It was hard to find a flaw in their collective efforts and they ended up winning the Continental pennant with a 97-57 record, ten games up on the aforementioned Cleveland Foresters. With five All-Stars on the roster, headed up by the three-headed monster of ace pitchers Dick Lyons, Tommy Wilcox and Dick Luedtke, the Cougs allowed a full half-run less than any other CA team (3.4) and were nearly a full-run better than the league average of 4.2. The offense, headed up by C Mike Taylor (.282-21-76), OF Tom Taylor (.292-17-87) and 1B Bill Ashbaugh (.291-11-75) lacked a superstar of the caliber of a Max Morris or Rankin Kellogg, but was deep and dangerous throughout. And the defense, particularly in the outfield, was rock solid.

Tommy Wilcox, P Chicago (CA)

Cleveland, with Morris bashing a league-best 41 homers at age 38, was the only CA club to top 100 homers (they hit 109 as a team) with the aforementioned Pidgeon (17) and CF Dan Fowler (12) also reaching double-figures. Perhaps most impressive for Clevelanders was the emergence of a legitimate pitching staff, something of obvious necessity in the Continental Association. Roger Perry turned in an ace-like performance (17-9, 3.45 ERA) at age 25 and fellow 25 year-olds Ben Turner (14-14, 3.70) and Karl Johnson (11-8, 3.52) showed a lot of promise (though Johnson ended up being dealt for veteran catcher TR Goins). But the biggest reason for optimism on the banks of the Cuyahoga was 23-year-old Dean Astle who went 7-3 with a 2.57 ERA in 12 starts for the Foresters after coming up from AAA. Third-place went to the defending champion New York Stars who went 79-75 as the third (and last) CA team to top the .500 mark in 1933. The Philadelphia Sailors finished fourth with a flat .500 record at 77-77.

Brooklyn, finishing fifth, continued to madden fans with another sluggish start and torrid finish, posting an enticing, but disappointing 76-78 mark. Montreal, which finished sixth at 75-79, rounded out the middling group of CA clubs that showed flashes of promise. The Baltimore Cannons finished seventh at 65-89 despite another stellar season for Rabbit Day (21-11, 2.77). The Cannons would embark on a true "tear it all down and rebuild" process in the offseason. Last place again went to Toronto who were again living up to what wag termed a reputation as the team that is usually "top of the map, but bottom of the standings."

Brooklyn's Jake Shadoan won the batting title with a .364 average. Morris led in homers (41) and RBIs (120). Chicago's Wilcox copped the ERA title at 2.58, and tied with Rabbit Day for the most wins (21). Day again led the league in strikeouts with 177.

Jake Shadoan, 3B Brooklyn

The Whitney Award went to Max Morris of Cleveland, his record eighth time winning the award; Tommy Wilcox brought the Allen Award home to Chicago - his first time earning the nod as the league's top pitcher.

The Federal League, like the Continental, ended up not having much of a pennant race down the stretch as the Keystones simply had too much for the rest of the Fed to handle. Philly went 96-58 and though Detroit's 90-64 mark was deceptively close, there really wasn't much of a chance of anyone else winning the flag in 1933. The Stones put up 871 runs, good for 5.7 a game, more than half-a-run better than runner-up St,. Louis. And the pitching, though not overwhelming, was good enough, finishing third in runs allowed at 4.6 a game. As previously mentioned, the one-two punch of Kellogg & Barrell gave the Keystones a lot of firepower with the pair finishing 1-2 in average and slugging percentage as well as RBIs (and several other categories as well). The pitching was headed up by Ed Baker (19-5, 3.78) with veteran Bill Ross (14-9, 4.08), Art Myers (13-7, 3.86), Ray Rinehart (12-98. 4.81) and Al Robinson (11-13, 4.20) rounding out the rotation.

Bobby Barrell, RF Philadelphia (FA)

Second-place Detroit was led by RF Al Wheeler (.300-26-121) and LF Henry Jones (.300-19-96) giving the Dynamos the Fed's third-best offense. Detroit's league-best pitching was led by 36-year-old veteran Roy Calfee (18-12, 3.00), 34-year-old Wayne Robinson (17-11, 3.12) and 35-year-old Mel Strom (15-15, 4.11) - the biggest problem in Motown was the mileage on those arms. The New York Gothams and surprising St. Louis Pioneers finished tied for third with identical 81-73 marks. The Gothams suffered through another injury-riddled season with star 1B Bud Jameson (.314-9-61) again limited to barely 100 games (101 to be precise) and LF Joe Perrett (.307-12-77) also missing significant time. But NY did still have the Fed's best pitcher in Jim Lonardo. Lonardo (21-10, 2.87) copped his third Allen Award as the Fed's top arm, giving him three of the last four Allen trophies. With 20-somethings Hardin Bates, Jack Elder (only 22), Walter Murphy and Al Allen (the son of the guy the award was named for) on hand, the Gothams had pitching to spare in backing up the stellar Lonardo.

Jim Lonardo, P New York (FA)

The Pioneers, who were supposed to still be rebuilding, served notice that they might be ahead of schedule in 1933. They had a bona-fide star on their hands in 23-year-old 2B Freddie Jones (.355-4-89, 112 runs) who proved his outstanding debut in '32 was no fluke. They had a legitimate slugger in 27-year-old LF Alex Ingraham (.274-22-111) and a solid second-fiddle to Jones in 1B Fred McCormick (.347-7-69) who came over in the Max Morris trade of 1930, a deal that was paying great dividends for St. Louis. 25-year-old Rule 5 pickup Sam Sheppard (17-14, 3.50) looked like he might prove to be that rare ace plucked off the scrap heap and Joe Shaffner (15-17, 4.12) and Brad Magnuson (18-12, 4.03) showed they could provide quality innings. The Pioneers' future looked very bright at the conclusion of the '33 campaign, a far cry from the depths of their 53-101 last-place record of just two years earlier (the finish that gave them the pick they used to get Freddie Jones).

Sam Sheppard, P St. Louis

The bottom half of the Federal standings was headed by Pittsburgh at 73-81. Like St. Louis, the Miners were in a rebuild and did have some nice young players around which they were building. 27-year-old Frank Lightbody (.307, 19 triples) was emerging as something more than "Doug's kid brother", 24-year-old 3B Ed Stewart (.292-21-88) and 28-year-old C Jim Pool (.274-15-69). The biggest promise lay in the minors, where catcher George Cleaves waited in the wings for his shot at the big time. With Pool and Curt Squillante (.322 in 64 games) already in Pittsburgh, finding at-bats for Cleaves presented a bit of a challenge, but it was expected that management would take care of that in the offseason.

George Cleaves, C Pittsburgh

Speaking of management, the Washington Eagles had a new boss and he wasn't going to stand pat. Among several moves made was one really, big one: dealing long-time franchise cornerstone catcher T.R. Goins. Goins was sent to Cleveland with the Eagles receiving promising pitcher Karl Johnson, catcher Ben Richardson and a first round draft pick that the team used on HS pitcher Tommy Trott. The jury's out on that one, but it seemed like a move in the right direction. The Eagles' cupboard was fairly bare, but the team did get promising seasons from 25-year-old CF Wally Flowers (.312-10-88) and 24-year-old pitcher Bob Sanders (7-11, 3.63).

Karl Johnson, P Washington

The two other rebuilding projects in the Fed, in Chicago (65-89) and Boston (60-94) were similar stories. The Chiefs had a promising 25-year-old pitcher in Jim Simmons (14-14, 3.45) and a couple of younger hitters (1B Bob Martin and SS Joe Foy) to support the franchise's two star players: 33 year-old 3B Joe Masters (.269-18-102) and 31-year-old LF Jim Hampton (.316-19-87). The Minutemen had an aging star of their own in 34-year-old Charlie Barry (.341-6-72) with a promising young catcher in 24-year-old Bobby Gentry (.338-4-41 in 84 games) and also had, but dealt, 25-year-old CF Dan Fowler (.285-14-58 with Boston, .298-26-94 overall with Boston & Cleveland) and a pitcher they hoped would evolve into a potential ace in 24-year-old Ed Wood, who came over from Cleveland in the Fowler trade and went 3-5 with a 3.49 ERA in 11 games after joining Boston. The Minutemen also received young SS John Wood, CF Pete Day and 3B Art Spencer in that Fowler deal, a good haul of youth possessing that all-important attribute: potential.

Ed Wood, P Boston

The World Championship Series which pit the opposing styles of the Chicago Cougars (outstanding pitching & defense with solid offense) versus the Philadelphia Keystones (outstanding offense with solid pitching & defense) was much anticipated following a stretch run that was as ho-hum as any in recent memory. In game one, the Cougars drew first blood with a three-run third and went on to a 7-3 victory in a battle of aces (Chicago's Wilcox vs Philly's Baker). Game two, again in Philadelphia, saw the visitors again win, this time the Cougars scratched out a 3-2 win behind Dick Luedtke. In their two road wins, Chicago had successfully "danced between the raindrops" preventing too much damage despite Kellogg (4-for-8) and Barrell (4-for-9) each having some individual success at the plate.

With games three, four and five set for North Side Grounds, the Cougars were likely feeling pretty good about themselves as they headed to Chicago. But the Keystones kept the visiting team streak alive thanks in large part to their big slugger as Rankin Kellogg went 4-for-5 with a double and homer to power a 9-5 win to get Philly back into the Series. The trend continued in game four as the Keystones won by a 4-1 margin to make it four straight wins by the road team. Kellogg again provided some fireworks with a two-run homer and Barrell pitched in with a three-hit effort for the Keystones.

The pivotal game five saw an interesting decision as Philly elected to not send Ed Baker out to start against Tommy Wilcox, instead going with game two starter Al Robinson. Both Wilcox and Robinson were a bit shaky in the early going and the game was knotted at 3-3 through the first three innings of play. Each team added a run in the sixth, making it 4-4 with two-thirds of the game in the books - and it remained that way into the 10th inning when, with Wilcox still on the mound, the Keystones get a three-run homer from CF Grover Lee and end up taking a 7-4 victory and 3-1 series lead back to Philadelphia. But again... would Philly feel secure in going home in a series in which the home team had yet to win a game?

If they did, it would have been a poor decision as once again the road team pulled out the win in game six. Now tapping Baker to return to the hill for the first time since his game one loss, the Keystones hoped to snap the streak against Chicago's Dick Luedtke. And it looked good in the early going as the Keystones jumped out 4-1 after two innings. But the Cougars cut it to 4-3 in the fifth and after Philly scored to make it 5-3, the Cougars came back again and tie it in the sixth. In the 8th, the Cougars score again, and make it hold up, eking out a 6-5 victory to keep the road win streak going and push themselves to the brink of a second title in three seasons.

Game seven - a dream scenario for baseball fans. This one would feature the Cougars ace, and eventual Allen Award-winner, Tommy Wilcox, going on short rest after his game five effort, facing off with former Cougar Bill Ross. In the third, the Cougars draw first blood thanks to an error and a double, to go up 1-0. The lead wouldn't be held though as the Keystones battle back to plate a pair of tallies in the home fourth to lead 2-1. Chicago answers right back, knotting the game at 2-2, That would hold into the bottom of the sixth when Cy Cox singles to bring up Bobby Barrell who belts a two-run homer to give Philly a 4-2 lead. That would prove to be the game's final score as Bill Ross mowed through the Cougars over the last three frames to give the title to Philadelphia.

Barrell earns the nod as Series MVP for his 14-for-29 efforts that included a pair of homers, six runs scored and six more driven in.

legendsport · 01-16-2021, 12:32 PM

If there was a theme for the 1934 FABL season it could be summed up in two simple words: All In.

With both circuits featuring multiple contenders, the 1934 season saw a significant uptick in trade activity, much of it driven by contenders attempting to "one up" each other in a back and forth arms race the likes of which had never before been seen.

In the Federal Association, the defending champion Philadelphia Keystones saw no fewer than three serious contenders for replacing them atop the standings table: the Boston Minutemen, New York Gothams and St. Louis Pioneers all mounted a challenge and several of those clubs swung deals with an eye to gaining an edge in the chase for the pennant.

The Continental Association's pennant fever was arguably even more serious. With perennial powerhouse Chicago coming out of the gate slowly (and suffering a significant injury as well), there was no shortage of clubs attempting to climb into the Cougars' catbird seat.Though it ultimately boiled down to a two-way streetfight between the Brooklyn Kings and Cleveland Foresters, several other clubs were in the fight early and many trades were made along the way, right up to the trade deadline.

What made the races so interesting was the fact that the Keystones and Cougars each fell off their perches atop their respective leagues at the same time, with the result being a more wide open feel to the pennant races than had been true in the last several campaigns.

Some of the credit (or blame depending on whose viewpoint you take) can be laid at the feet of the Baltimore Cannons. The former contenders featured a pair of star players who were dealt on the same day, just prior to the opening of the season, which changed the dynamics of both circuits and set off a chain reaction of deals that would last right up to the final day of the trading season.

Those two deals were blockbusters. On March 26, the Cannons dealt Rabbit Day, arguably the best pitcher in FABL,. to the New York Gothams for a slew of minor leaguers and draft picks. The move, adding Day to a staff that already featured multiple Allen Award winner Jim Lonardo, made the Gothams the early favorite in the Fed race. But the Cannons weren't done, sending star right fielder Lou Kelly to the Chicago Cougars, picking up three more young players in return. The move set off groans around the Continental Association as it appeared to be a case of the rich getting richer.

Not willing to stand pat while the circuit's best club got even better, the Cleveland Foresters were the first to respond, swinging a pair of deals on April 16th that brought in two solid starting pitchers. Walter Murphy came over from the pitching-rich Gothams and Eddie Quinn was acquired from the not-so-pitching-rich Toronto Wolves. The moves gave the Foresters a solid rotation that was designed to compete with the star-studded staff in Chicago.

A month later the Brooklyn Kings got into the act, sending a pair of prospects to the Cannons for 36-year-old veteran lefty Ken Carpenter. The move, seen as a bit of a risk at the time, was to be the spark that would later vault the Kings into true contention. Other deals in May included one that saw the Cougars, who were struggling with their middle infield play at the time, adding shortstop Clyde Hinzman from Toronto.

June saw the Boston Minutemen, surprising contenders at the time, jump into the fray with a deal to acquire 32-year-old star pitcher Charlie Stedman from the New York Stars and a second trade to add another pitcher, 36-year-old Max Wilder from the Cougars. While Stedman posted solid numbers in Beantown (10-7, 2.48 ERA in 19 games), Wilder was a disappointment and would be moved to the Kings in a later trade.

The Cougars added Woody Armstrong from the Saints as they continued to seek an answer in the infield, and the Gothams added another arm to their stable of Allen Award winners, adding Milt Fritz from the Saints as Montreal shed some of its more valuable pieces in an effort to add some youth (and in Armstrong's case, a needed outfielder in Bobby Sprague).

The Cougars continued to make noise in July, acquiring veteran slugger Joe Masters from their cross-town rival Chiefs. The 35-year-old third baseman moved to the North Side after enjoying a very strong first half that saw him hit .349 with 11 homers in 69 games for the Chiefs. Alas, he was not as productive for the Cougars, hitting .287 with 7 homers in 79 games on the North Side. The big trade also brought in pitcher Dave Rankin while sending an amazing eight mostly very young players to the Chiefs.

Meanwhile, the Minutemen had fallen off the pace in the Fed, causing them to be willing to move longtime franchise cornerstone 3B Charlie Barry, who was dealt to the Cleveland Foresters on July 16th for a 1st round pick and 18 year old pitcher Bob Ginger. Barry solidified arguably the lone weak spot in the Cleveland lineup and proved key to their ultimately successful pennant push.

Not to be left out, the Kings added another pitcher, this time picking up 30-year-old Joe Shaffner from the Pioneers (who were themselves in the thick of the race in the Federal, trailing the front-running Gothams by just a handful of games). Two weeks later, the Kings made their final deal of the season, adding the aforementioned Max Wilder from Boston. Wilder would be a disappointment in Brooklyn, but the Kings management can not be faulted for going "all in" in their effort to catch the Foresters.

The final deal of the 1934 season, which came on deadline day July 31st, was between the Montreal Saints and St. Louis Pioneers. Montreal dealt a pair of youngsters to the Pioneers for highly regaded backstop Tom Bird and a couple of minor leaguers. Bird, at 26, was considered a highly talented catcher who had frustrated managers with his inability to put it all together. With the Saints looking for a long-term solution at catcher, the acquisition's ultimate payoff remains to be seen.

With the dealing done, it now came down to the games. Both races seemed to be somewhat in hand on July 31. The Gothams enjoyed a seven-game edge on the Pioneers in the Fed, while the Foresters held a six-game edge on the Kings in the Continental. A month later, the margin remained the same in the Federal race, but the Continental had seen a wild month change the landscape of the race.

The Brooklyn Kings went 20-7 in August while Cleveland struggled to a 13-15 mark. Brooklyn's surge was powered by their potent offense led by eventual batting champ OF Doug Lightbody (.371-7-85) and a pair of emerging stars: 3B John Langille (.359-10-100) and SS Harry Barrell (.344-3-81) who were part of arguably baseball's best infield (2B Jake Shadoan, .340-14-81 and 1B Dan Barrell .329-11-97 were no slouches either). But arguably more important than the bats was the outstanding pitching of SP Mike Murphy, who was 7-0 with a 1.77 ERA in August, outpacing team mate and eventual lock for the Allen Award, Tom Barrell (who was 4-1, 3.72 in August).

Meanwhile, the Foresters were struggling, their seemingly safe lead gone as they entered the final month of the season 1.5 games behind the streaking Kings and two of their three best pitchers (Walter Murphy and Roger Perry) sporting ERAs north of 6.00. But the Foresters showed a never say die attitude in September, going 19-8 for the month and 15-1 over their last sixteen games of the season to finish one game ahead of the Kings.

The Foresters finished first in runs allowed (660) while scoring 874 (2nd in the Continental) with a roster laden with veteran talent that included 1B Max Morris (.320-26-123), C T.R. Goins (.349-12-87), 3B Charlie Barry (.325-15-96) and younger stars like RF Moxie Pidgeon (.325-25-92), CF Dan Fowler (.264-22-91) and LF Leon Drake (.295-21-118), becoming the first team in history with four 20-HR players. The pitching was led by 25-year-old Dean Astle (.17-7, 3.07) and veterans Walter Murphy (15-8., 3.96), Roger Perry (19-8, 3.38) and Eddie Quinn (17-10, 3.15).

Brooklyn's outstanding season including a pitching performance for the ages from Tom Barrell, whose 29-3 was the best for a pitcher in about 20 years. With Murphy finishing 21-7, 2.84 and Carpenter 19-8, 3.64, alongside an offense that scored 900 runs (most in baseball) and a roster chock full of young talent, the Kings' runner-up finish might just be the set up for even bigger things down the road.

With 98 and 97 win clubs topping the chart, there weren't a lot of victories to go around for the other six Continental clubs in '34. New York, Philadelphia and Chicago all finished with 78-76 records while sixth-place Montreal went 70-84. Perennial cellar-dweller Toronto finished seventh (63-91) thanks to a torn-down Cannons club that managed a dismal 54-100 record to finish last.

Lightbody led the league in batting, while Chicago's Tom Taylor's 31 homers was best in the CA. Morris' 123 RBIs topped the Continental. Tom Barrell led in wins (29) and strikeouts (189) while the Sailors' William Jones posted a 2.53 mark to take the ERA title.

The Federal race was relatively close but did not feature the dramatic back-and-forth streakiness of the Foresters-Kings battle in the Continental. The rebuild Gothams won the pennant, with a 91-63 mark that was five games better than the Pioneers.

New York featured a rotation that included three Allen Award winners. The list was headed by Jim Lonardo, the club's resident ace and winner of three Allen Awards. Lonardo posted a solid 3.02 ERA but a lack of run support saw him post the worst record of the quartet at 14-12.New pickup Rabbit Day led the team with 20 wins, going 20-8 with a 3.02 ERA. Surprise star Hardin Bates was 19-5 with a league-best 2.35 ERA when he was hurt on September 20th, missing the Championship Series although he is likely to give the Gothams a fourth Allen Award winner for his performance. Fourth starter Milt Fritz, who won the Allen in '31 while in Brooklyn was on his fourth club despite being just 25 years old. He had a middling season going 6-5, 4.74 in Montreal before joining the Gothams where he went 7-8, 4.17.

The Gothams offense scored 881 runs, 2nd best to the Keystones' potent lineup. Solid up and down, New York was led by RF Mahlon Strong and his .313-29-110 stat line. Oft-injured 1B Bud Jameson posted a .320-9-60 line while catcher John Wicklund (.319-12-76) headed up the remainder of a lineup that boasted seven .300 hitters with only 2B John Turner (.254-4-58) failing to top the .300 mark.

The runners-up in St. Louis (86-68) served notice that their long rebuild might be nearing completion. In the race all season long, the Pioneers featured a potent 3-4 combo in LF Alex Ingraham (.304-31-117) and 1B Frank McCormick (.349-22-138) as well as the league's batting champ in young keystone star Freddie Jones, who flirted with .400 most of the year before fading a bit to finish with a FABL-best .384 average. Jones also showed the best batting eye in the league as he drew 107 walks and finished with a flat .500 on-base percentage. He missed over 30 games due to injury, making his walk total even more amazing.

Third-place Boston (82-72) likewise seem to be emerging from an extended period of non-contention with a club centered around a superstar in the making in CF Chick Donnelly (.364-6-107) a top-notch defender who proved he could hit too. With LF Pete Day (.344-12-94) and 1B Carl Carr (.340-16-84) as well, the future is bright in Boston, even with the departure of long-time star Charlie Barry. If the pitching comes around, the Minutemen will be a very dangerous club indeed.

The defending champion Keystones (81-73) got off to a slow start and never really recovered, finishing fourth (their worst showing since a 5th-place finish in 1928). The offense remains the class of the Fed, racking up 888 runs with the dynamic duo of RF Bobby Barrell (.367-34-144) and 1B Rankin Kellogg (.340-35-138) again dominating opposing pitchers. The pitching left a lot to be desired. Ed Baker (18-6, 4.09) remains a dependable ace, but the club finished fifth in starters ERA and the offense is not so much better than that of its competition to be able to survive a middling effort from the mound.

The Chicago Chiefs and Pittsburgh Miners finished with identical 74-80 marks, tying for fifth-place. The Chiefs were active on the trade front in '34, particularly with their fellow Windy City citizens on the North Side, adding some needed youth to an aging club that last competed for a pennant in 1929. By dealing star 3B Joe Masters, management has shown it is ready to move on from the 1928 pennant winning club with LF Jim Hampton (.319-12-101) the last remaining star from that team. "Mr. Automatic" 1B Bob Martin (.369-11-84), who was a callow rookie on that '28 team, is now the team's star, racking up his sixth-straight season of 200+ hits with a league-best 247 safeties. Like the Keystones, the Chiefs real need is pitching. Top prospect Al Martin, just 19 years old, can't mature fast enough for fans of the Chiefs.

The Miners struggled offensively in '34, finishing dead last in the Fed with 739 runs scored. 20-year-old catcher George Cleaves was handed the keys to the club in '34 and turned in a solid rookie effort with a .311 average. The grandson of former Miner catcher George Theobald (and brother of Sailors star 2B Jack Cleaves), young George carries the weight of the franchise's hopes on his back until top prospects like pitchers Lefty Allen and Nate Spear are ready.to join him, LF Joe Owens (.329-1-44),. RF Frank Lightbody (.327-6-81) and 3B Ed Stewart (.289-25-109).

The Detroit Dynamos, who finished second to the Keystones in both 1932 and '33, dropped all the way to seventh-place in 1934 with a disappointing 73-81 mark. Detroit's "Big Three" of 3B Frank Vance (.344-24-109), LF Henry Jones (.308-24-124) and RF Al Wheeler (.309-22-90) were productive, but especially in Wheeler's case, not to the extent that Dynamos fans had been accustomed to seeing. And the pitching was flat out bad, finishing sixth in runs allowed (872).

Last-place Washington was deep in the throes of a rebuild. With long-time cornerstone T.R. Goins now in Cleveland, the Eagles belonged to 28-year-old 2B Andy Carter (.298-4-79) and the team's hoped-for-star of the future in 23-year-old LF Sam Brown (.312-10-67 in his rookie season). The club finished 55-99 and will draft first in the upcoming draft, hoping to add another top-notch talent to a system that already boasts the #3 prospect in 3B Mel Carrol, a 22-year-old who hit .411 in AAA in 1934 and is expected to be in Washington for Opening Day 1935.

Freddie Jones (.384) as mentioned earlier won the Fed batting crown. Philly team mates Rankin Kellogg and Bobby Barrell won the home run (35) and RBI crowns (144) respectively. Hardin Bates' 2.35 ERA topped the league (ahead of his two teammates Lonardo and Day's identical 3.02 marks). Day's 20 wins was best and he also led the league with 159 strikeouts (his seventh straight time leading his league in punchouts).

legendsport · 04-05-2021, 12:56 PM

Both leagues featured good pennant races once again - and for the second straight year, the contenders were identical as well. As were, ultimately the pennant winners, though the World Championship Series' results were flipped this time around.

In the Federal Association, the New York Gothams and St. Louis Pioneers were the class of the circuit and the Gothams eked out the pennant by a two-game margin (after winning the '34 flag by five games over the same Pioneer club).

The perception around the Gothams has been that they have the best rotation in the Fed (if not FABL as a whole) with multiple Allen-Award-winning arms in the rotation. Rabbit Day, Jim Lonardo, Hardin Bates being the aforementioned men with the hardware joined by (for a limited engagement, another Allen winner in Milt Fritz - he was ultimately traded to the Chicago Cougars), highly touted prospect Curly Jones and Jack Elder. The rotation produced, as expected, and the Gothams allowed the fewest runs in the FA.

The Gothams got strong seasons from perhaps the most underrated receiver in baseball, John Wicklund (.329-23-101) as well as outfielders Moxie Pidgeon (.306-28-120) and Mahlon Strong (.343-24-116) as well as 3B Johnny McDowell (.338-2-67). That added up to the third-best run scoring lineup in the FA.

The #1 team on that list was the St. Louis Pioneers. With former Gotham farmhand 1B Fred McCormick (.369-27-161) and batting champ/Whitney Award winning 2B Freddie Jones (.389-8-89, 145 runs) leading the way, the Pioneers plated 959 runs, the most in either league. And the pitching was good too - with an Allen-Award-winning performance from Sam Sheppard (28-7, 3.13 over 41 starts and 336 innings) and a solid season from David Abalo (17-12, 3.92), the Pioneers were mid-pack in run prevention which meshed nicely with their outstanding lineup to power them to 91 wins, just two shy of the 93-win Gothams.

The Philadelphia Keystones were third, 83-71 and 10 games off the pace. LF Rip Curry (.370) was second in the batting race, 1B Rankin Kellogg (.338-45-165) and RF Bobby Barrell (.317-33-132) were their usual outstanding selves, helping Philly score 888 runs, 2nd to the Pioneers. The pitching was a somewhat weak spot, finishing fifth overall.

Fourth-place went to the Pittsburgh Miners, who had a somewhat surprising season with an 82-72 mark despite only outscoring their opponents by three runs 747-744 on the year. Those runs allowed were third behind the 731 allowed by both the Gothams and Boston Minutemen. The future looks bright for the Miners with catcher George Cleaves (.333-12-94) continuing his development and top pitching prospect Lefty Allen making a September appearance (1-2, 3.60 ERA in three games) that may presage a full-scale debut in '37.

The Chicago Chiefs (78-76) were fifth, and like Pittsburgh, seemed to be on an upward trajectory towards contention. Already in place is 1B Bob Martin (.361-9-83), one of the top batters in the league, 3B Len Jones (.338-11-101) and a solid RF platoon of Cliff Moss (.331-19-60) and Ron Rattigan (.314-8-38). The pitching remained a work in progress, but Ron Coles (14-16, 4.18) was solid in his first stint as a full-time starting pitcher and Charlie Bingham (15-9, 3.94) looked like a reliable anchor while the team awaits the arrival of Al Miller, who could be the ace the team needs.

The Boston Minutemen, like the Chiefs and Miners, are a work-in-progress. They finished sixth with a 75-79 mark, but any disappointment there has to be offset by the club's flashing of the single-most difficult asset to find: quality pitching. Boston tied the Gothams for the fewest runs allowed, thanks to a staff that may lack household names, but proved itself adept at run prevention. With 22-year-old Dick Higgins showing he was ready with a 15-15, 3.43 ERA campaign, the Minutemen's staff seems to be legit. There's good young talent in the OF led by Chick Donnelly (.338-13-81, 105 runs), Pete Day (.292-3-65, 92 runs) and Dave Henry (.300-11-66 in 84 games).

The makeover in Washington is ongoing and the team's seventh-place finish at 71-83 could be reasonably assessed as promising. The Eagles have an established, if underrated, star in 29-year-old 2B Andy Carter (.321-4-64, 15 triples) and a good young RF in Sam Brown (.332-17-82) with similarly young and promising pieces spread around the field. What let the Eagles down was the pitching, to the tune of 881 runs allowed, ahead of only the completely torn-down Detroit Dynamos. Still, the farm system is rife with promising arms and things certainly look bright in the nation's capital.

The same can't be said for Detroit. The Dynamos began a complete teardown and rebuild process before the '36 season, dealing away a slew of valuable players that included the Continental's Triple Crown-and-Whitney Award winner in Al Wheeler. The cupboard was left as bare in Detroit as anyone could remember anywhere and the results - a 43-111 mark - bore that out. The pain level is high, but the return on all those trades should hopefully bear fruit in the not-too-distant future. For now, Dynamos fans must simply play the waiting game and hope the front office hits on the draft picks and prospects acquired for Wheeler, Frank Vance, Roy Calfee, Jack Beach and the other established stars dealt away.

The Continental Association race, like the Fed's had a familiar look. Once again the primary combatants were the Cleveland Foresters and Brooklyn Kings and once again, the Foresters eked out the pennant win by a single game over the hard luck Kings.

We'll start with the runners-up here - the Brooklyn Kings made big moves to improve the club and win that elusive title. That it eluded them despite the acquisition of Al Wheeler (.362-34.130, Triple Crown and Whitney Award) and Frank Vance (.354-7-91) from Detroit boils down a key injury to the worst possible player in Tom Barrell. The Kings' workhorse ace was coming off a stellar '34 season that saw him win 29 games and the Allen Award. In '35 he was well on his way again, and ended up 22-11 with a 2.86 ERA (and a second straight Allen Award), but he missed several weeks with an abdominal injury, likely costing the club several wins, any one of which would have at least secured Brooklyn a first-place tie.

In Cleveland, the name etched on the Front Office glass had changed, but the performance on the field did not. With a new GM overseeing things, the Foresters' well-oiled machine chugged right along in '35, capturing its second straight pennant. Four Foresters (Leon Drake, Dan Fowler, Max Morris and T.R.Goins) clubbed 20 or more home runs, the pitching staff allowed the fewest runs in either league and the team, in general, was just as good as ever. Even with living legend Max Morris missing the stretch run, the Foresters were clutch and won whenever they needed a victory, much as they had done the previous year.

Third-place belonged to the Philadelphia Sailors. The Sailors posted a 78-76 mark, barely over .500 and 18 games behind the Foresters. With both Cleveland and Brooklyn sporting juggernaut clubs, there wasn't much left for the rest of the bunch in the CA. The Sailors actually allowed more runs (764) than they scored (754) so they could be considered lucky to some extent. Still they did get good performances from 1B Dick Walker (.299-10-80) and they have a trio of solid pitchers in William Jones (16-11, 3.58), Doc Newell (18-12, 3.62) and Herb Flynn (14-8, 3.48). Unfortunately for them, the staffs in Cleveland and Brooklyn are both star-studded and extremely talented too.

Montreal, also under new management, posted a 75-79 mark, good for fourth-best, held back by inconsistency more than anything else. There is some talent in 1B Vic Crawford (.337-14-103), 3B Hank Barnett (.289-18-85) and promising defensive whiz Pablo Reyes in CF. There's a potential ace in 25-year-old George Thomas (18-12, 4.01) but the Saints still have some growing to do in the top-heavy Continental if they're to contend.

The New York Stars were caught-in-between in 1935. The glories of championship seasons were not too far in the past for this group, but they were getting long in the tooth and that showed on the field. 3B John Lawson was the best of the bunch at the plate with a .343-12-77 stat line in 125 games (94 starts) that showed he still has it. But he turned 32 this season, and fellow infielders 1B Dave Trowbridge (36), 2B Pete Layton (35) and SS Bill Rich (33) are all on the wrong side of 30. The once-top-notch pitching fell off as well and the team allowed 881 runs, third-worst in the league.

Another former champion laid low in '35 was the Chicago Cougars. The Cougars aggressive management doesn't sit pat and changes were made during the season, so the clubs 68-86 mark, while disappointing, doesn't mean this isn't a group with a bright future: the Cougs' farm is bursting with potential, some of which made an appearance to rave reviews in 1935. One of those youngsters was RF Rich Langton who hit .344 with 11 homers and 45 RBIs in a mere 65 games. With all the dealing and shuffling going on, only three players (LF Doc Love, .340-22-105), C Mike Taylor (.260-11-62) and IF Bill Ashbaugh (.282-11-78) played in more than 100 games. The pitching was uneven and in flux as well althoughformer ace Tommy Wilcox (3-1, 4.72 in eight games) returned. A big chunk of the team's future fortunes ride on whether Wilcox can recover a significant portion of his vast talent before arm injuries laid him low.

The Toronto Wolves finished seventh, another season in a growing string of disappointing finishes for a club that has finished as high as sixth only once since 1927's third-place finish, and averaging 36.25 games out of first in those eight seasons. Still, new management is in place, there's a hotshot pitching prospect (Joe Hancock) getting ever close to debuting out of a minor league system that is improving. And there is 25-year-old Chuck Cole. The right-hander posted an 18-10 mark and 3.06 ERA for a team that won a total of 67 games. So there is light at the end of the tunnel, even if the tunnel still seems like it's going to go on for a bit.

The Baltimore Cannons, like the Detroit Dynamos in the Fed, are in the midst of a tear-it-down-to-the-studs type of rebuild. The Cannons were 65-89 and did flash a somewhat effective (and relatively young) lineup headlined by a trio of solid, mid-twenty-somethings in 1B Bunny Stapleton (.352-13-65), CF Whit Williams (.324-8-59) and LF Jim Mason (.343-11-67). The pitching was, to put it bluntly, bad. But there are a couple of top-notch arms on the farm in first round picks John Edwards and Rusty Petrick and the club's last-place finish earned them the honor of adding prized pitching prospect Rufus Barrell II to their organization. So pitching is on the way. Hopefully the good hitters the team has haven't aged out by the time it arrives in Baltimore.

As mentioned above, the Allen Awards were won by Brooklyn's Tom Barrell in the CA (his second straight win) and St. Louis' Sam Sheppard in the Federal. The Whitney Award in the Continental went - unsurprisingly - to Triple Crown winning outfielder Al Wheeler of Brooklyn (a feat made more impressive by his having spent the first month of the season in the other league). The Fed's winner was Freddie Jones of the Pioneers, who has emerged as the best pure hitter in the game, as well as an on-base machine with the game's best eye at the plate: Jones had 234 hits, 148 walks and just 22 strikeouts on the season.

The postseason featured a rematch of the 1934 World Championship Series as the New York Gothams and Cleveland Foresters squared off again. The Foresters were without Max Morris, who went done with a back injury on the last day of August. Whether that made a real difference is debatable as the Gothams had a tremendous series, winning impressively in five games to gain revenge on their loss in 1934. The Series win was the first for New York since 1896 ending nearly 40 years of misery.

12-02-2019, 10:49 AM	#81
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1928 Federal Association Recap: Powering Up NOTE: Since I failed to post more regular updates in-season, I am splitting my year-end recap into three parts: a Fed report, a Continental report and a World Championship report. This is the first of those three... Max Morris had, quite literally, hammered home the concept of the home run as a primary weapon long before the 1928 season dawned. But that philosophy also ran against a long-entrenched trend in the game favoring "inside baseball" which sneered at the homer in favor of bunts, hit-and-runs and stolen bases. The 1928 season marked a turning point in this philosophical battle as the players themselves began to embrace the power game. The clearest example of this shift came in Chicago. The Chicago Chiefs boasted a particularly friendly park for power hitters. The problem had always been that the Chiefs' roster didn't feature anyone particularly fond of trying to hit the ball over the fence. That too changed in 1928. Joe Masters, the Chiefs incumbent third baseman had been a fairly average player in his first six seasons in the Windy City. He hit close to .300 every year and had shown some middling power,reaching double-figures in all but one year (he had 9 that year) but topping out at 15 (which he did twice, including in 1927). Masters focused on improving his swing over the winter of 1927-28 and came to camp with an improved stroke aimed at putting the ball into the air. And it worked - big time. 3B Joe Masters, CHC Masters stroked 56 home runs, drove in 195 runs (a new record) and hit .388 - numbers that would likely win a Triple Crown most years, but not in the Federal Association in 1928. The batting crown went to Masters' team mate LF Jim Hampton who was over .400 most of the season before settling for a .397 mark and the batting title. With Masters & Hampton leading the way, the Chiefs were out in front most of the season, won 95 games and took the pennant by a nice round 10-game margin over the second-place Detroit Dynamos. Chicago was not one-dimensional, with a pair of 20-game winners - and a pair of 19-game winners as well, giving them the league's second stingiest staff to go along with their league-leading offense. Second-place Detroit won 85 games and the '28 season saw the Dynamos finally bring up 1926 #1 overall pick Al Wheeler. The 20-year-old right fielder hit .306 with 18 homers and 101 RBIs but was second fiddle to breakout star Frank Vance, a third baseman who flirted with .400 most of the season before fading a bit and finishing tied for second with a .388 average. 3B Frank Vance, DET Third-place went to the Boston Minutemen in a bit of a surprise. The Minutemen thrived on their fielding ability, which was outstanding and helped them overcome the league's 6th-best (or 3rd worst, depending on your viewpoint) offense to post a solid 80-74 mark. Boston's star was 29-year-old 3B Charlie Barry who hit .359 with 15 homers and 95 RBIs. The Pittsburgh Miners finished fourth with a tidy 77-77 mark to put them right at .500 on the year. The Miners were in the thick of the race for a good portion of the summer before fading down the stretch and their rebuilding project looks to be in good shape and paying early dividends. The Miners' strength lies in their pitching where they feature three solid starters that are the envy of several other teams, led by Jim Smith who went 17-9 with a league-best 2.99 ERA. P Jim Smith, PIT Where are the Philadelphia Keystones you ask? The defending World Champs took a big tumble in 1928 finishing in a fifth-place tie with the Gothams at 73-81. The problem was pitching - the Stones' staff was flat out terrible in 1928, with a league-worst 871 runs allowed. The offense, led by 1B Rankin Kellogg (.387-42-164) remained potent and fans who loved seeing runs scored definitely got their money's worth at Keystone games. The Gothams too had a disappointing season with their fifth-place tie with Philadelphia being a letdown from what was considered a promising season by many prognosticators. The blame could be laid on several factors, but one which certainly played a role was injury. Franchise cornerstone 1B Bud Jameson was lost to a knee injury in June, short-circuiting the offense, though LF Carlos Cano was a revelation with a .342-26-85 campaign for player-manager Ed Ziehl's squad. "Mr. Gotham" himself also had injury issues, twice missing games in what might end up being his final season as an active player. If this is indeed Ziehl's swansong, the legendary 2B goes out with a resume that includes 3465 hits and a .323 lifetime average in a career stretching back to 1906. 2B/MGR Ed Ziehl, NYG St. Louis was one game behind both NY and Philly, in seventh place with a 72-82 record. The big story in the Gateway to the West was - as usual - Max Morris. The game's biggest name was absent for the first half of the season as he recovered from an injury suffered in the middle of the 1927 season. When he returned, he came back in a big way, hitting 29 homers with 92 RBIs in 90 games. One of those homers pushed his career mark over 400, and every home run Morris hits represents a new career mark. Unfortunately for Morris and Pioneer fans, the club didn't perform well without Morris and wasn't that much better with him. Last place Washington had a lost season. The Eagles feature the game's best catcher - there's a guy in the other league who may challenge that title in the near future, but for now T.R. Goins is the best in the business behind the dish. Goins had his usual stellar season: .321-16-83 but the rest of the team was a big disappointment and Washington scored the fewest runs in the loop with just 646. When you also allow the 7th most runs (815) that adds up to a terrible season and the Eagles' 61-93 record reflects that. The only positive on the '28 season in the capital is that they will have the top pick in the upcoming amateur draft. C T.R. Goins, WAS NEXT: The Continental Association recap __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

12-03-2019, 10:56 AM	#82
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1928 Continental Association Recap: Pennant Ahoy! The sea change in the Fed was not missed in the Continental in 1928 both in terms of the long ball and also in terms of a new club rising to the top of the heap and simply overpowering the competition in winning the pennant for the first time in a long while. The team in question was the Philadelphia Sailors and like Fed champion Chicago (who hadn't won a pennant since 1917), the Sailors seized the flag for the first time since 1897 and did it with style, winning 102 games and finishing nine games ahead of second-place New York. In keeping with the theme of similarity (which only goes so far and we'll get to that in a moment), the Sailors, like the Chiefs, had a breakout slugger of their own: RF Tom Taylor. The switch-hitting 23-year-old was a rookie and started the season in AAA after playing in both A and AA in 1927 where he showed moderate power. Things were different in '28 though - he hit 10 home runs in 118 at-bats with San Francisco before getting the call to the big club where he was even better. Taylor slugged 44 homers, drove in 126 runs and scored 124 - all tops in the CA. He also hit .342, which was good for sixth. RF Tom Taylor, PHS With 2B Jack Cleaves (.289-8-99) and C Alex Diaz (.324-8-69) joining Taylor in the heart of the order for the Sailors, Philly topped the CA in runs scored with 815. And the pitching was also outstanding, topping even the vaunted New York Stars staff for #1 in runs allowed with just 558 opponents crossing the dish in '28. The stellar staff was led by Johnny Davis, a 25-year-old Texan who jumped up from AA Providence (where he had been primarily a reliever) and went 24-8 with a 2.73 ERA and became a near-lock for the CA's 1928 Al Allen Award honors. Second-place New York bounced back from a disappointing fifth-place finish in 1927 to get back in the thick of things, winning 93 games (which was more than their pennant-winning clubs of 1924 and '25 had won). The Stars were excellent on both sides with the 2nd-best run-scoring output (794) and 2nd-best pitching effort (628 runs allowed). Losing ace Dick Richards (13-4, 3.28) for two stretches during the season hurt their chances but the staff overall was as solid as ever. And the offense... well, it was outstanding: 2B Pete Layton won the batting crown with a .370 average and posted 27 homers and 108 RBIs hitting in front of the stellar tandem of 3B John Lawson (.344-22-106) and 1B Dave Trowbridge (.354-16-87), who came over in an early May trade from Pittsburgh and led the league in doubles. 2B Pete Layton, NYS Cleveland finished third, 16 back of Philly, but with a solid 86-68 campaign. The Foresters found themselves a star in LF Joe Perret, a rookie from Sacramento who impressed in brief stint in '27 after jumping up from AA Toledo, but really broke out in 1928 to the tune of a .347 average with 30 doubles, 18 triples, 24 homers and 117 runs batted in. Though a bit old for a rookie at 26, Perret looks like the franchise cornerstone the Foresters have lacked since trading Max Morris to St. Louis back in 1919. Cleveland also boasts an ace in righty Wayne Robinson, acquired from the Saints in 1927, who went 20-9 with a 3.04 ERA - Allen-worthy numbers in any league that didn't feature a Johnny Davis. P Wayne Robinson, CLE Defending CA champion Brooklyn had a disappointing season. Though their offense remained extremely potent, the pitching was a sore spot and Kings' management made a mid-season decision to cast away any hope of a pennant repeat by rolling the dice on a retooling for 1929 and the near future. A series of trades sent away such franchise landmarks as LF Bud Rogers (sent to rival NY) and SS Lloyd Carter (to Cleveland) and several pitchers were sent packing as well. Coming on board were both younger players and draft picks, giving Brooklyn some promising pieces for the future. Sticking around was star RF Doug Lightbody, who fell off from his outstanding sophomore campaign, but still was third in the league in batting with a .356 average and young catcher Mike Taylor (.325-7-39) looks like a star in the making. So despite a .500 finish in '28, things are not at all gloomy in Brooklyn. Baltimore got off to a historically poor start, posting a 2-16 mark in April to bury their season almost before it began. The Cannons righted the ship and went 72-66 after that terrible start, not good enough to get them into the pennant race, but good enough to get them to fifth-place. Catcher Joe Welch (.355-25-93) looks like he might give T.R. Goins a run for his money as the game's top backstop (that rookie in Brooklyn is sure to be in the mix too) and 1B Lou Kelly (.330-31-104) had a great season as well and the club finished with 90 home runs, good for 2nd in the CA. The pitching was up-and-down: Oscar Jefferson (8-15, 5.03) was bad but Rabbit Day (15-14, 3.20) was good. The club has a pair of promising 19-year-old pitchers in Johnny Jacob and Lou Forbes who could make a difference in the not-too-distant future, although Forbes suffered a severe shoulder injury, clouding his future development. C Joe Welch, BAL Montreal topped a trio of rebuilding clubs at the bottom of the pile. The Saints are improving, slowly but surely, and 1928 was another stepping stone in the right direction. Rookie CF (and #1 pick) Cliff Moss forced his way onto the big club and produced to the tune of .309-10-57 in 116 big league games. The Saints offense let them down in a big way with a collective .255 batting average (7th) and 572 runs scored (8th) but the pitching might have turned the corner. 26-year-old Charlie Stedman (15-14, 3.78) and 24-year-old Al Allen (yeah - that guy's son) give the rotation a possible 1-2 punch to envy. Allen posted a 4-0 mark with a 2.87 ERA in April before going down with a season-ending back injury. AA pitcher Walker Moore, acquired in the Phil Sandman trade with the Keystones before the season, is a 22-year-old lefty who might be the third arm the Saints need in their rotation. The Saints lineup is young but Moss looks like a cornerstone piece and though LF Jim Broome (.262-7-68) had a down year, if they develop and the pitching comes together, things will look much more sunny in Montreal. The other Canadian club, Toronto, finished seventh with a 60-94 record and only the poor performance of the Chicago Cougars kept the Wolves out of the basement. The Wolves can run - they led the CA with 104 steals, but they didn't hit particularly well (8th in batting average, 7th in runs scored) nor did they pitch all that well (7th in runs allowed). Still, the right-left tandem of Birdie Smith (14-19, 3.75) and Don Cannaday (15-19, 4.54) both had down years but are proven arms, rookie LF Jimmy Faulhaber looked competent despite a jump from AA to the big leagues and there are some good looking farm hands in the system. So the rebuild needs to continue and the front office still has its work cut out for it - good drafting and a trade or two could put Toronto back in the mix. P Birdie Smith, TOR Last-place Chicago, at 59-95, had the worst record in either league in 1928. The Cougars' fall can be attributed to several factors. For one thing, they lost pitcher Johnny Douglas early - he was 4-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 10 starts before an arm injury ended his season in June. They had Benny Walker, a capable pitcher, sit on the injured list all season with shoulder trouble and aside from a stalwart season from lefty Dick Lyons (9-18, 3.88) and a midseason boost from 35-year-old Babe Wilder (6-7, 3.58 in 14 starts), the Cougars pitching was the league's worst. Getting Walker and Douglas back to team with Lyons should improve things in '29. The club still has the ever dependable John Dibblee (he had injury issues as well) and his .324 average and 2B Bill Ashbaugh (.287-25-101) is a star-in-the-making at age 24. With 3B Mack Deal (.310 with 28 doubles and 21 triples across AA, AAA and the CA) and C Fred Barrell (.321-3-102 at AA Mobile), a bumper crop from the farm may be the medicine the ailing Cougars need for 1929. C Fred Barrell, AA Mobile __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

12-08-2019, 09:24 AM	#83
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1928 World Series Recap The 1928 edition of the FABL World Championship Series featured an interesting matchup. Representing the Federal Association were the Chicago Chiefs - the original professional club with a history stretching back to the very beginnings in 1876, the Chiefs had enjoyed surprisingly little success since those very early days, winning two titles in 1877 and '81 and then going into a dry spell that lasted until a 1917 pennant and WCS victory. They followed that up with another drought which they ended in spectacular fashion in 1928 to reach just their second WCS. And on the Continental side, there was the Philadelphia Sailors. They got a later start than the Chiefs, joining the rival Border Association in 1889 (largely to spite the Keystones) and won the BA title in 1890. After the FABL consolidation, the Sailors again enjoyed a few years of success with pennants in 1893, '94 and '97 and a single WCS win in the latter year. Alas, that 1897 title was followed by a thirty-year drought that only ended with the club's 1928 pennant win. The 1928 WCS began on a seasonably warm autumn afternoon at Sailors Memorial Stadium in South Philadelphia. The pitching matchup featured Sailors breakout ace Johnny Davis (24-8, 2.73) and another pitcher who had a breakthrough in 1928: 30-year-old Chiefs lefty Ruben Reyes (19-11, 3.99). A crowd of 39,646 extremely partisan Sailor fans filled the stands for what turned out to be a very exciting game. The visiting Chiefs and their potent offense drew first blood in the third when 1B Johnny Rasberry doubed to lead off and later came around to score on a single by Reyes. The Chiefs added two more in the fourth when Jim Hampton led off with a single, was erased on a fielder's choice off the bat of star 3B Joe Masters who went first-to-third on a single by Hank Odegaard. Masters then scored on a sac fly by Jim Shelton before Rasberry - the hitting star on this day for Chicago - lined another double, this one into the right-field corner to score Odegaard. With the score 3-0, and the crowd getting nervous, the Sailors bounced back in the home fourth to tie it up. Reyes had control issues, handing out three walks around a pair of singles by David Merchant and Jack Cleaves (who drove in a pair with his hit) and Tom Taylor (one of the walks) scored the tying run on a fielder's choice for the first out of the inning. Gene Aldrich hit into a double-play to end the inning without further damage. A single run in the fifth by the Chiefs made it 4-3, but the Sailors tied it again in the seventh. Things remained knotted until the bottom of the ninth when Reyes again had control issues. WIth two outs, he issued back-to-back walsk to Aldrich and Forrest Sylvester, bringing his opposing number, Johnny Davis, to the plate. Davis won the game for himself with a clutch lined single to center, scoring Aldrich to give the Sailors a walk-off 5-4 victory. Davis was the hero, going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs at the plate (he had driven in the run in the 7th as well) and went the distance on the hill, allowing four runs (all earned) on eight hits with a single walk and strikeout. Reyes took the loss, with five runs (all earned) on six hits and five costly walks against a lone strikeout. Game two was a different story entirely. The Chiefs sent 35-year-old veteran righty Lou Felkel (20-8, 4.31) to face Sailors righty Rollie Beal, a 26-year-old who had been extremely solid since joining the club in 1926, posting 16, 17 and 16 wins over those three seasons with ERAs in the low threes (3.10, 3.05 and 3.25). Beal did not have his good stuff on this day however as the Chiefs' potent lineup tore him apart early and sent him to the showers in the fourth. Five Sailors had multiple hits and only C Odegaard and SS Mike Pierce failed to join Chicago's 13-hit parade. Johnny Rasberry rapped his third double of the series and added a pair of RBIs in his 2-for-4 effort; star Joe Masters went 2-for-4 as well, with a pair of doubles, driving in two and scoring twice as well; the Jims (Hampton & Shelton) had two hits apiece with Hampton scoring twice and Shelton driving in two (and scoring once); but the biggest contributor was 2B Moe Davis who went 3-for-4, scored three times and hit the first home run of the series. That in itself was a surprise when the series featured the home run champions of both leagues in Masters (56) and Philly's Tom Taylor (44). The Chiefs led 8-2 in the fourth when Beal's day ended and rode out a determined Sailors comeback attempt to hold on for the 9-6 victory to even up the series. Felkel went the distance despite allowing six runs on 14 hits and walking four batters - an incredible 18 baserunners allowed and he got the victory anyway. Beal was touched up for eight runs in three-plus frames with seven hits allowed and four free passes handed out. Walter Pelfrey (14-8, 3.71 in the regular season) came on in relief and tossed four scoreless frames, allowing the Sailors to get back into the game, though ultimately in vain. With the series knotted at a game apiece, the scene shifted to Chicago's Whitney Field, a hitter-friendly bandbox that Hampton, Masters and their friends had used to full advantage during the Chiefs' pennant-winning campaign. After both lineups had unlimbered in game two, fireworks were expected in this third contest - but it turned out that pitching had the upper hand as the teams ended up combining for just thirteen hits. Sailors skipper Jim Cathey, a former pitcher who had racked up 267 victories for the Foresters and Stars over a career spanning 15 years, surprised everyone by running ace Johnny Davis back out there after just two days of rest. And Davis delivered in a big way, quieting the raucous crowd at Whitney Park with a six-hit gem in which only one Chief crossed the plate. On the other side, 35-year-old Al Wood (19-13, 4.44) took the hill for the Chiefs and pitched well in a complete-game effort of his own. Unfortunately for him, a Moe Davis error in the third proved costly, extending an inning that saw the Sailors plate three with run-scoring singles by Dick Walker, Tom Taylor and Jack Cleaves. The score remained 3-0 until the home seventh when the Sailors finally dented Davis when Shelton led off with a double and later came around on a single off the bat of SS Mike Pierce. That ended up being Chicago's only tally with the Sailors adding a run in the eighth on Tom Taylor's first WCS home run, and then another in the ninth on a Gene Aldrich single after Earl Lambert had led off with a single and stolen second base. The 5-1 victory gave the Sailors the upper hand in the series. Game Four was back at Whitney the next day, a blustery 49 degree afternoon in the Windy City that saw the Sailors take charge of the series with an 8-7 victory that wasn't as close as it seemed. With 31-year-old Norm Austin (20-7, 4.33) on the hill, the Chiefs needed the win in a game where the dominating Davis was not throwing for the Sailors. Philly trotted out 32-year-old Dan Waldman, a journeyman who spent half the year with AAA San Francisco before going 8-5 with a 2.74 ERA for the Sailors down the stretch. The Sailors jumped on Austin early with three first-inning singles adding up to a single run and then getting a three-run homer off the bat of Dick Walker in the 2nd. Walker's homer traveled just 330 feet - and would have been a loud out in Sailors Memorial, but was a round-tripper in the cozy confines of Whitney Park. Cleaves doubled home Merchant in the fifth to make it 5-0 and with Waldman cruising, things looked bleak for the Chiefs. That 5-0 lead held up until the eighth when Chicago's one-two punch finally landed. After Bert Hartman and Moe Davis both struck out, batting champ Jim Hampton delivered a single on a 3-2 fastball. This brought Masters to the plate and the slugger finally broke through, crushing a blazing 100 mph fastball to left for his first postseason homer to cut the lead to 5-2. In the top of the ninth, the Sailors added three runs of cushion. Dick Walker led off with a single, which chased Austin from the game. Against Si Day, Merchant sacrificed Walker to second. After Day whiffed Taylor on a breaking ball, Cleaves delivered a run-scoring single. Catcher Alex Diaz then came to the plate and hit a 2-run shot to left off Day to cap off the Sailors' day. The visitors took a seemingly commanding 8-2 lead into the home ninth. Shelton led off with a single to bring the red-hot Johnny Rasberry to the dish. The first sacker worked a full-count and then drilled a single through the hole between short and third, with the fleet-footed Shelton going to third. At this point it was becoming obvious that Waldman had lost it, but Cathey stuck with him, with disastrous results. Mike Pierce doubled on the first pitch, scoring Shelton and sending Rasberry to third. Bernie Rutledge came on to pinch-hit for Day and he also doubled, scoring both Rasberry and Pierce. Cathey was now forced to make a move, calling on Maurice Demby to put out the fire in a suddenly close 8-5 game. Demby got Bert Hartman to ground out with Rutledge moving to third. Then the Chiefs got their third double of the frame, off the bat of Moe Davis, to make it 8-6. Now things were truly precarious for Philly: one out, Davis on second, and the killer tandem of Hampton & Masters up next. Hampton hit a sharp grounder that bounced off third baseman Gene Aldrich, caroming to shortstop Forrest Sylvester, whose throw to first was beaten by Hampton. Davis moved to third on the throw and Masters came to the dish with two on, one out and an 8-6 score. Masters lined a 1-1 pitch into right-center field that was caught by centerfielder Merchant. Davis trotted home without a throw and it was 8-7. But now there were two out and Demby only needed to worry about the man at the plate: pinch-hitter Dan Brady, hitting for Hank Odegaard. Brady hit a 2-2 pitch to left-center, where Merchant squeezed it - ending the game 8-7 and giving the Sailors a commanding three-one lead in the series. October 8th was game five - a must-win for the Chiefs.Chicago sent game one loser Ruben Reyes back to the hill while the Sailors had everyone in Chicago on tenterhooks wondering if Chief-killer Johnny Davis would go again on short rest. He did not. Cathey sent 24-year-old 13-game winner Willie Jones to the mound, keeping Davis in reserve for a fully-rested game six start if the series shifted back to Philly. Jones (13-5, 2.88) was sharp early. Reyes was too - until the third. After Aldrich struck out, Sylvester singled on the first pitch he saw and went to second on a sac bunt by Jones. With the top of the order now up, leadoff man Earl Lambert delivered a single to center to score Sylvester, advancing to second on the throw home. Merchant also swung on the first pitch, grounding it between first and second into right to score Lambert. With the very dangerous Tom Taylor now at the plate, Reyes needed to work carefully, but he made a mistake on a 1-1 pitch, laying it over the heart of the plate where Taylor ripped it to deep right center for a double, scoring Merchant and making it 3-0. Reyes was able to get the dangerous Jack Cleaves on a groundout to third to end the inning, but the damage had been done. It remained 3-0 until the top of the seventh when the Sailors got an insurance run with three singles against Reyes, the last of which was a run-scoring effort by Taylor to score pitcher Jones to make it 4-0. Down to just nine outs, the Chiefs showed a lot of fight in the home seventh, finally breaking through against Jones. Moe Davis had a one-out single to start the rally and went to second on a walk by Hampton. With Masters at the plate, the Whitney Park crowd was on the edge of their seats waiting for a heroic blast from their star hitter. Masters did deliver, but it was with a lined single over third to score Davis with the Chiefs' first run of the game. Desperate to force the action, Chiefs skipper Dan Andrew gave Hampton the green light to steal third.The ploy worked as Hampton slid in safely and came around to score when Diaz's throw sailed into the outfield. Hank Odegaard followed with a groundout to second that scored Masters (who went to third on the the throwing error) and suddenly it was 4-3. Unfortunately for Chicago, Jim Shelton was unable to keep the inning alive, flying out to center the end the frame. Reyes and Jones each worked a scoreless eighth and Reyes a 1-2-3 ninth. Cathey had pinch-hit for Jones in the top of the ninth, so Maurice Demby came out to try to give the Sailors their first world championship in 31 years. Demby got Hartman to pop up to first base for the first out. He then got Rutledge to pop up as well, this time to third, for the second out. The brought up Hampton, who attacked the first pitch and drove a single through the shortstop-third base hole to keep hope alive. Now it was interesting: Joe Masters at the dish, tying run on base, two outs, bottom of the ninth with the World Championship on the line. Demby was the better man on this occasion however: he poured in a called first strike, got Masters to chase on the second pitch for an 0-2 count and then repeated the feat to get Masters swinging to end the game and the Series. The Sailors were champions. Sailors catcher Alex Diaz was named the Series MVP after recording a .444 average (9-for-18) with three doubles and a home run, scoring seven runs and driving in six. The 1928 FABL season came to an official end shortly thereafter with the awarding of the Allen and Whitney Awards. The Federal Association Allen Award went to Detroit Dynamos righty Roy Calfee. Calfee went 19-13 with 2 saves, posting a 3.34 ERA. He narrowly outpointed Pittsburgh's Jim Smith (17-9, 2.99) in the voting to earn his first Allen Award. The Continental's Allen winner was not much of a surprise. After displaying his talent on the game's biggest stage, Johnny Davis of the Sailors took home the game's most prestigious pitching honors as well. Davis posted a 24-8 mark with a 2.73 ERA and was a unanimous winner. Finishing second in the voting was Cleveland's Wayne Robinson (20-9, 3.04) who had a great season of his own. The Fed's Whitney Award as Most Valuable Player was also not much of a surprise. Chicago's stellar third baseman Joe Masters earned the hardware after a breakout season for the ages. The 29-year-old hit .388 with 56 home runs and a record 195 runs batted in. He was also a unanimous choice far outpointing runner-up Rankin Kellogg (.387-42-164) of Philadelphia. Detroit's Frank Vance (.388-24-114), another breakout star, was third. It wasn't unanimous, but Philadelphia Sailors RF Tom Taylor, like Masters a breakout star in 1928, copped the Continental's Whitney Award after a campaign in which he hit .342 with a league-leading 44 home runs and 126 RBIs. Taylor garnered 13 of the 16 first-place votes, with the other three going to New York Stars 2B Pete Layton who hit .370 with 27 homers and 108 RBIs for the CA runners-up. __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

12-08-2019, 01:08 PM	#84
ukhotstove Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: North of England Gods Country Posts: 7,175	Lemoyne News. Lemoyne, Pennsylvania isn't a big town, it's a small town and that would be pushing it. One store, one saloon, one newspaper just a few hundred people who pretty much know each other if not by name but by sight. I worked for the Lemoyne News, to be honest I was the Lemoyne News. Mr Harper whose family had founded the paper had no children to hand the paper to, so being the only reporter working at the paper it fell to me to continue printing the news when he retired. The door swung open and Charlie Ferguson burst in. "He's retiring, he's calling it a day" Now Charlie is the town blacksmith and was voted in as town sheriff, 6'6" and biceps the thickness of most women's waists. If Charlie told you to go to jail or go home because you had one to many at the saloon, you did what he told you. He may have been a gentle giant to those who knew him but he was as hard as the nails he forged. So imagine my surprise when I looked at Charlie's face and his eyes were full of water, so much so that tears were forming. Who's retiring I asked him. "Hal, Hal's retiring. Calling it a day, this is his last season." If Charlie had said Bert, Harry or Fred you may have had to ask him who he was talking about. However Hal needed no surname, since he was 14 the day he played centre field for the Lemoyne Mining Company he had needed no surname. 20 minutes later and I'd rang Mr Harper to ask if he'd hold the fort while I was gone. Soon as I put the phone down I was on my way to Philadelphia, the next day Minneapolis were playing the third of a four game series against Fort Worth before going to New Orleans. I figured the fastest way to get there was by train from Philadelphia although I needed to get to Philadelphia and fast. The fastest thing on wheels was Moose Hendricks automobile, Moose was the local moonshine runner. He did the trick as not long after I was on the train to Minneapolis, minus my nerves and lunch. We rolled into the station under a heavy downpour, the game was cancelled and a doubleheader would be played the next day. When he ran out for the first game of the doubleheader he had a spring in his step, when he left after that second game the spring had diminished. They say never meet your heroes, you could add another that being never watch your heroes at the end of their career. I'd broken that rule and was going to break the meeting rule. I'm glad I broke both of those rules. I'd arranged to meet Hal at the end of the second game, by the time I'd got to the locker room all the players had gone. Jim Hudson the equipment guy let me in, he pointed over to the corner were Hal Eason sat. "Don't keep him too long, he needs to get the train for New Orleans". Hal had changed, his shirt unbuttoned. He was looking at his hands when I approached, he glanced at me. "It's Hank, isn't it? I knew your Dad, bit older than me. Played first base, had a good glove if memory serves me right". I was just about to say yes when he smiled and pointed to the empty chair near him for me to sit down. "You know I can remember my first ever game, it was for the Lemoyne Mining Company against a textile company. We won 5-1, I got 3 hits ending up knocking 4 of the runs in. Mr Jefferson the owner of the mine only wanted to give me a half share due to my age but Herb Jenkins the captain of the team said I played like a man so was getting a full share. Turns out Herb had told Jefferson the team would quit if I didn't get a full share, I never knew that until 2 months after the season had finished. It was at Herbs funeral, he'd died in a mining accident along with 5 other players from that team. It was his widow who told me about the ultimatum Herb had given Jefferson, they'd have been burying me as well if it weren't for my mother. The one condition she had given her blessing I played for the mining company was that I never worked underground. The majors was different though, you only had to worry about baseball. I got spotted playing in the mining leagues in Pennsylvania, I'd heard at one point St Louis were interested in me but nothing ever happened. Instead I signed with the Montreal Ball Club in 1911, I got put in a boarding house with a guy called Joe Ward. Joe not only became my best friend but the best damn ball player I ever played with or ever saw, I always classed myself as a good solid player, Joe on the other hand was above anything I saw. He won a couple of Whitney Awards in 1915 & 1916, think he got a second and a few thirds plus he got robbed a couple of times in 1912 & 1913. He didn't hit for power but he could flat out hit and there was non quicker, Joe quit at the end of last season (1927) personally I think he quit at the start of the season. You see we used to go to the Laurier Palace Theatre, watch the shows and the movies. I was a sucker for Mary Pickford and Harold Lloyd, Joe on the other hand was a big Chaplin fan. We'd spent Christmas and the New Year with our families, I'd got the train from Philadelphia to New York to meet Joe. I'll never forget his face when he approached me, white as a brand new sheet in one of those fancy hotels, when he handed me the paper. The headline read "Theatre Claims Many" turns out the Laurier had caught fire and claimed 78 lives mostly children, we'd have known most maybe not by name but by sight as they'd often have a baseball to sign so they could go sell it for double what the ball had cost when the show had finished. There was a funeral for 39 of the victims, me and Joe went but Joe was never the same. I don't think any of the team was". Hal had become quiet and I had no idea what to say, you could tell that it still hurt him. It probably would for many years, maybe it would never go away. Joe was with you on the championship teams? It's all I could think of but seemed to bring him back to happier memories. "Yeah 1915 & 1921, we had a good enough team to win more. For certain we should have beat Detroit in 1916, they were the better team in 1919 but weren't in 1916. I didn't help the team much, I'll be honest I was useless in the championship games I let everyone down. No idea why, wasn't nervous just couldn't swing the bat". Hal went quiet again, I felt the doubleheader had taken it out of him. The first game he had got 2 hits, the second was clearly too much for him as he went hitless. I left Hal to finish changing, I needed to get back to Lemoyne and get this in the paper. I got the feeling Hal wanted more from that doubleheader intact more from his career, not for himself but to help his team, his teammates the fans. We spoke for a few minutes mostly about Lemoyne catching up on the gossip, see Hal had been a regular visitor but his visits had become rare after his mother had passed away. All I could think of when I left that locker room was Charlie Ferguson, I bet if I looked in a mirror I'd see watery eyes as well. *A few days later Hal Eason would play his final game, a 4-1 defeat at New Orleans. A AAA game, hardly a great way to say goodbye to a player who gave his all for the game, however he did get a hit of his only at bat. Good enough for a fan but I doubt it was good enough for Hal Eason. Hal never returned to Lemoyne, instead staying in Montreal with his wife Karen who was born in Montreal. They run a store just a couple blocks from the Montreal Saints ballpark, they have four kids, three girls and a boy. By all accounts the sons got a decent fastball, maybe we haven't heard the last of the Eason name in the majors. __________________ Detroit Diesel Dynasty San Antonio Calzones of Laredo Dynasty

12-10-2019, 06:22 PM	#85
ukhotstove Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: North of England Gods Country Posts: 7,175	Homework. I sat looking out of the window daydreaming of what the weekend had in store for me, baseball was high on the list followed by going to Jacobs orchard and grabbing some apples without Mr Jacobs catching us. "Thomas Skaggs, seeing that's the second time I've said your name without reply I take it my lesson is boring you". Yes Miss, sorry no Miss Mackenzie. "So you'll know what homework I've just given you for the weekend then?" Homework! To a 12 year old kid the word homework was like being hit with a cannonball. "For the benefit of Mr Skaggs, your homework for the weekend is a story of a hero or family member if you don't have any heroes". I had heroes they all played for the Miners ball club but seeing that there were 14 other boys in my class who all had the same heroes, I was thinking there'd be overload on the same stories. At break time I asked around and yeah the other boys were writing about the Miners, my grades had taken a bit of an hit since the start of the baseball season so I needed something to stand out from the crowd to give them a boost. The rest of the school day went by in a blur, all the time I was thinking who to write about. On the way home, I kept thinking, no heroes, family members? My mother looked after the family, had a part time job at the local store. My father worked at the mine but in an office, they were hardly edge of the seat stories. Only other family member who lived in Pittsburgh was Grandpa Skaggs, I think he was about 100, he was old at least. We usually saw him at birthdays, holidays and the like. My father rarely spoke of him, to be honest he hardly spoke to him whenever they met. As I approached our home you could smell baking, my mother was known as the best cook in the neighborhood. Women would walk by, smell the aroma and be envious. Men would walk by and think how lucky my father was. I'd hardly opened the door. "So how was school?" It was okay I guess. "Homework?" Yeah. "Thomas Skaggs, it is yes not yeah." Most of our family worked in the mills or mines, my father had the best job but my mother always wanted me to do better, I didn't fancy her chances. "So write a story about an hero or family member, so who is it to be?" No idea. "Well you will have all day tomorrow to think of someone." All day? "Yes, father is working and I've been asked to work, so you will have to go to Grandpa's for the day. He's expecting you along with some sandwiches for lunch and stew for dinner." Great there went the baseball and apples. In all my 12 years I had hardly stepped foot in my Grandpa's house, when we gathered as a family it was at our house. Only times I'd visited was if my mom had made him something to eat and I'd come with her to take it. Grandpa Skaggs was on the porch of his house when I arrived. "So that my payment for looking after you for the day?" Yes Sir, sandwiches and stew. "Well go put the stew in the kitchen leave the sandwiches here." By the time I returned the radio had crackled into life, the Keystones from Philadelphia were in town the Miners bitter rivals. Pitcher of homemade lemonade, pile of sandwiches and baseball equals heaven. The homework could wait, less than 2 hours later the Miners had won 7-1, sandwiches had been reduced to crumbs and just a drop or two of lemonade remained. Good game for the Miners Grandpa? "Keystones aren't good, Miners aren't good both will be lucky to have a winning season. Philadelphia don't hold a key to the Centennials I played for and Pittsburgh aren't the team I coached." Played for? Coached? Grandpa must have noticed the puzzled look that washed across my face. "Guess your Dad never told you." I shook my head, my father had hardly ever mentioned Grandpa Skaggs let alone he had played baseball. "I don't blame him, I was never around much and besides we moved about a bit". You played baseball then? "I played baseball for the Philadelphia Centennials, Cleveland Cuyahogas, Philadelphia Keystones and the New York Gotham ball clubs". Centennials? Cuyahogas? "Yeah the Keystones used to be called the Centennials, the Cuyahogas used to be a ball club in the 1800s." You know the tall cupboard in the parlour there's a black tin on top go get it, if you can't reach get a chair and don't kill yourself or your mom would never cook so much as a cookie for me." The tin was where he said, it was about a foot square but wasn't heavy. Strangely when I tilted it to get it down something rattled inside. I was just about to go outside when he shouted he was in the kitchen, he was sat at the table with another pitcher of lemonade to hand. I put the tin box down and Grandpa opened it, inside were ballcaps and photos, however I couldn't see what had made the rattling sound. The first cap was easy to recognise, black with a golden letter P on the front it was a Pittsburgh Miners cap that Grandpa must have bought. "I always kept one cap from every team I played for or coached, I have two of these though, I was bench coach for five years and pitching coach for four. First time I was with Pittsburgh was in 1892, held that job till the end of 1896, that was a poor team though, no pitching that was the problem, hitting wasn't much better. We had Ben Edwards and Chick Hamm but nothing to build around them". Ben Edwards and Chick Hamm, The Pittsburgh Steel Wall. Any Pittsburgh fan worth their salt knew second baseman Ben Edwards and his teammate first baseman Chick Hamm they were Miners greats, surely my Grandpa never coached them. "Here". He passed me a photo from the tin box, I recognised Edwards and Hamm but not the man between them, all three were wearing Pittsburgh Miners uniforms. Then it clicked, I rushed to the parlour. On the wall was a picture of Grandpa and Grandma taken years ago, it was the same man with Edwards and Hamm. "I'm taking it you believe me now". Yes Sir, my Grandpa was or had been a Pittsburgh Miner. We talked all afternoon and into the evening about his playing days in Philadelphia for the Centennials and also later when they had changed there name to Keystones, he also talked about Cleveland and New York. His 13 years as a manager in St Louis, Knoxville, Chicago (Chiefs) and New York. He showed me the ballcaps he wore, photos of him and famous old ballplayers like outfielder Jack Easton of the St Louis Pioneers, Tom Darr pitcher with the Chicago Chiefs and many others. There was only one thing left in the box, the cause of the noise. "Go on get it, read it if you want". At first I thought it was a coin but it had an old tatty ribbon tied to it, it was a medal. I read oneside, Philadelphia Centennials 1876 Federal Association Winners, I turned it over it read Sylvester Thomas Skaggs. "Take it, it's yours, I didn't really earn it, I don't think I did enough. When I go to your Grandma don't forget the box, I'll be leaving that to you". My mother came round not long after to take me home, she wasn't too happy the stew hadn't been eaten but said it was ok for Grandpa to have for his Sunday dinner. She did mellow a bit about the stew when on the way home I told her that Grandpa and me had talked all day, totally forgetting the stew. I spent all Sunday writing my story, on Monday I stood in front of my class and read my story My Grandpa, My Hero proudly wearing his medal as far as I'm concerned he earned it. Did my grades improve, what do you think? __________________ Detroit Diesel Dynasty San Antonio Calzones of Laredo Dynasty

12-11-2019, 07:48 PM	#86
John C Hall Of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Albion, RI Posts: 2,260 Infractions: 1/0 (0)	This is exactly what I tried to do with my American Baseball League, back in 2004 (with OOTP4-5), and have done with my offline Baseball Association since. This is phenomenal. I've been away from OOTP online leagues, but wow, this would make me get back in. Of course, having been in legendsport leagues before, I should expect this. But this exceeds even that threshold. Great job, Joe, and everyone associated with this. __________________ Facebook \| My Videos

02-04-2020, 10:41 AM	#89
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1929 Regular Season Recap The 1929 Figment season featured one good race for the pennant (and one not so good), saw the return to form of one of the game's all-time greats and brought the curtain down on another of the game's legends, while another seemed to just keep on ticking along. The Continental Association was the circuit that did not have much of a pennant race. The defending champion Philadelphia Sailors came out fast and kept it up throughout the season. They really turned it on in June - on the first their lead was 3.5 games over the rising Montreal Saints, and by the end of the month their lead had ballooned to double-digits. Led by their 24-year-old superstar RF Tom Taylor (.351-38-138), the Sailors' offense was tops in the CA, scoring 900 runs despite being 5th in homers. The pitching was equally superb allowing just 631 runs, placing three players in the top 7 for ERA, including the ERA champ in Russ Reel who went 18-8 with a 2.93 ERA. RF Tom Taylor, Philadelphia Sailors Other top performers in the CA included Baltimore ace Ken Carpenter who was one of two pitchers to top 20 victories as he went 23-13, 3.26 for the Cannons. Montreal's Charlie Stedman posted a 21-10 mark and was second in ERA as well with a 2.99 (the only other starter to post a sub-three mark in the league). The Cannons' young catcher Joe Welch hit .375 to win the batting crown while the aforementioned Tom Taylor led in both homers and RBIs (Welch was second in both with 36 and 128, respectively). C Joe Welch, Baltimore Cannons The New York Stars finished a distant second, 17 games back of the Sailors whose 103-51 record was the best in FABL by a large margin. Baltimore was third at 83-71 and Montreal was the only other .500 or better team in the CA, finishing with an even 77-77 ledger. Brooklyn finished fifth (72-82) followed by Toronto (69-85), Cleveland (64-90) and Chicago (62-92). The Fed featured a much better race, as the Detroit Dynamos and Chicago Chiefs battled it out into the final weekend of the season before the Dynamos captured their first league title since 1919. Detroit's 91-63 mark was two games better than the Chiefs' 89-65. Detroit featured the league's batting champ in 3B Frank Vance (.372) and Vance might have won a Triple Crown were it not for a certain legendary slugger (more on him in a bit), as Vance belted 41 homers and drove in 143 runs - both second-best in the Fed. Roy Calfee was the ace of the Dynamos, leading the league as he went 26-8 with a 3.53 ERA. With RF Al Wheeler (.340-37-125) and LF Henry Jones (.330-40-131) joining Vance, the Dynamos top three were pure murder on opposing pitching and it was no surprise Detroit posted a league-best 926 runs scored. 3B Frank Vance, Detroit Dynamos Other top performers in the Fed included Doug Lightbody's brother Frank, who hit .364 for Pittsburgh to finish second in the batting race; the ever-dangerous T.R. Goins of Washington, who was third with a .363 average and that guy.... the one in St. Louis who had revolutionized the game. Yep, Mighty Max was back in a big way in 1929. Max Morris led the league with 50 home runs and 145 RBIs (his average was .326 - a bit of a down year for the lifetime .353 hitter). Morris pushed his career total (and league record) to 473 home runs, putting him within sight of becoming the game's first 500-homer man. RF Max Morris, St. Louis Pioneers On the pitching side, Chicago's Milt Fritz posted a 18-8 record on a league-best 3.22 ERA, beating out team mate Lou Felkel whose 22-14, 3.33 marks placed him second in wins and ERA. The Gothams, in an otherwise thoroughly disappointing year, might have found themselves a new ace in Jim Lonardo, the 25-year-old second-year righty who went 16-11 with a 3.37 ERA (third-best in the FA). The Keystones got a 20-win campaign from Bill Ross (20-6, 3.55) - the first-time the 32-year-old had won 20 since he did it in back-to-back seasons as a youngster with the Chiefs. P Lou Felkel, Chicago Chiefs Speaking of the Chiefs (89-65), they fell back a bit offensively with the two-headed monster of 3B Joe Masters (.329-24-113) and LF Jim Hampton (.328-19-115) falling back off their incredible 1928 marks, but they found yet another offensive sparkplug in 22-year-old 1B Bob Martin whose debut saw him hit .356 with 7 homers and 77 RBIs. Ultimately the Chiefs were done in by their pitching which beyond the aforementioned Lou Felkel and second-starter Milt Fritz (18-8, 3.22) was terrible. Third-place Philadelphia (81-73) had a great offense (again) with the incomparable 1B Rankin Kellogg (.355-34-141) powering the Fed's second-best run-scoring outfit. But like the Chiefs, Philly's pitching was shallow with the rotation a mess behind clear ace Bill Ross. The Eagles were a bit of a surprise with their fourth-place finish (77-77), somehow finishing middle of the pack despite a putrid offense, thanks to a surprising second-best pitching performance (which was even more surprising given the lack of a single standout individual season by a hurler). P Bill Ross, Philadelphia Keystones The bottom half of the standings was headed up by fifth-place Pittsburgh (73-81), a rising club with some good young talent. Boston got off to a red-hot start, sitting at 27-19 and in first place on June 4th before fading badly and dropping to sixth with a 45-63 mark the rest of the way to finish 72-82. The Pioneers were essentially one-man show in St. Louis and finished seventh at 71-83 while the Gothams (62-92) finished in the cellar for the first time in club history. New York also said goodbye to Ed Ziehl - at least as a player - as the player-manager hung up his bat at age 42 with a final season that saw him hit just .256, far below his career average. Ziehl finishes his stellar career with a lifetime .322 average as the career leader in games played (3025), stolen bases (913), walks (1639) and caught stealing (650). He sits in third-place with 3496 hits (behind Powell Slocum and John Dibblee), ninth in doubles (429), sixth in triples, seventh in RBIs (1366), and fifth in runs scored (1679). Ziehl's status as Gothams manager may be in question, but there is no doubt at all about his legacy as the game's greatest second baseman. 2B/Mgr Ed Ziehl, New York Gothams Another legend, Chicago Cougars star John Dibblee, kept right on going in 1929. Despite a career that has seen "The Top Cat" suffer multiple injuries, particularly over the last five seasons, Dibblee hit .346 (which equals his career average) at the ripe old age of 41, and his 167 hits pushed his second-best total to 3741. Though that leaves him over 400 shy of Powell Slocum's record of 4144, Dibblee has said nothing about retirement and it would surprise no one to see him out there in 1930, continuing a career that began way back in 1906, showing his young Cougars team mates how it's done. LF John Dibblee, Chicago Cougars __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

02-11-2020, 02:38 PM	#90
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1929 World's Championship Series Recap On paper, the 1929 FABL World's Championship Series looked like it could be a mismatch. The Continental Association (and defending Series champion) Philadelphia Sailors had made a mockery of the pennant race and came into the series with a sterling 103-51 record, 17 games better than the runner-up New York Stars. The Sailors had a young superstar in 24-year-old RF Tom Taylor, who led the loop in homers (38) and RBIs (138) while placing fourth in batting average (.351). They also had three of the top 7 pitchers in the CA in terms of ERA, including the leader (Russ Reel, 2.92). They scored a nice tidy 900 runs as a club (best in the CA) and allowed 631, also the best mark in their league. The Federal Association, on the other hand, did have a pennant race - and it was a good one. The Chicago Chiefs, who won the pennant in 1928, were back in the fight in '29 and the club that had finished second in both '27 and '28 was battling for the flag again. That club was the Detroit Dynamos. Detroit had finished dead-last in 1925 - earning the #1 overall pick in the draft in the process (a pick they used on a high school outfielder named Al Wheeler). They improved to 7th in 1926 before making the big move to contention. In 1929, they were ready to grab their first pennant since 1919. The hard-fought fight with Chicago came down to the final weekend but the Dynamos' 91-53 mark was good enough for a two-game cushion over the Chiefs. Detroit, like the Sailors, featured a dynamic star (3B Frank Vance). Vance won the batting title with a .372 average, and finished second to Max Morris in homers (41) and RBIs (143). Al Wheeler seemingly reached maturity as well with a .340-37-125 season that when added to LF Henry Jones' .330-40-131 line gave the Dynamos arguably the sport's most dangerous lineup. Detroit scored 926 runs - better even than the Sailors - abd though their pitching was good for only third-best in the Federal, they did have a true ace in Roy Calfee. The 32-year-old veteran righty fashioned a 26-8 mark with a 3.53 ERA. The series started in Detroit on October 9th and the Dynamos served notice that they would not fall to their knees before the Sailors' juggernaut, clawing their way to a 3-2 victory behind Calfee and a clutch performance from veteran backstop Dick York. The Dynamos showed a lot of fight in game two as well, a contest that was knotted 4-4 after nine innings and which took a full 14 innings to decide. In the decisive 14th, Philly keystone star Jack Cleaves drove home the go-ahead run in what turned out to be a 7-4 win for the Sailors. The scene shifted to the City of Brotherly Love for games three, four and five. Before the game, newly-minted FABL President Henry Salmon announced to the crowd that the FABL Championship Trophy would henceforth be known as the Jefferson Edgerton Trophy, honoring the man who had owned the crosstown Keystones since pro baseball debuted back in 1876. The notoriously fickle Philadelphia crowd cheered for Edgerton, a man universally respected even if he did (to Sailors fans) represent "that other team." Once the players took the field, game three evolved into the Henry Jones show. The 25-year-old outfielder put the Dynamos back in the driver's seat with a clutch performance: 4-for-5 with a pair of homers and a pair of singles, driving in three runs (and scoring three as well) in a 7-3 win for Detroit. With both Wheeler and Vance having been underwhelming thus far, it was Detroit's third star (and their maligned pitching) that had the club two wins away from the aforementioned Edgerton Trophy. For game four, Dynamos manager Joe Johnson sent Reeve Kirby to the hill. Kirby (16-10, 4.88) had been an up-and-down performer during the regular season and on the game's biggest stage delivered a downer for the Dynamos. The Sailors jumped all over Kirby in the first, hitting three home runs and plating six runs in all to seize the initiative and though Kirby settled down, and the Dynamos fought hard, the Sailors won a 10-4 decision to tie the series at two apiece. Game five was a linchpin game - the winner would be just a single victory from the title. It was also the last home game for the Sailors and the crowd at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial was in full throat throughout a tightly played affair that sat at 4-4 into the bottom of the ninth. Roy Calfee, after allowing a single run in each of the first four frames, had settled down and was looking every inch the ace he is when the Sailors broke the deadlock in the home half of the ninth. Johnny Rabago, pinch-hitting for Sailors pitcher Bob Clements with none on and one out, rocketed the first pitch he saw over Henry Jones' head in left and went into second with a standup double. The next hitter, 1B Dick Walker, worked a 2-1 count before flicking a Calfee curveball into centerfield. Rabago steamed around third and Buddy Groom's throw to the plate was too late, giving the Sailors a walkoff 5-4 victory and a 3-2 edge in the series. Detroit could take consolation in the fact that they were heading home for game six - and seven if it turned out to be needed. The Dynamos would be turning to Wayne Robinson, a 31-year-old right hander who had been acquired from the Cleveland Foresters. A 20-game-winner in 1928, Robinson had struggled mightily in 1929, going 3-6 with a 4.53 ERA in 15 games for the Foresters before being dealt to Detroit. He was arguably even worse for the Dynamos, posting a 5-8 mark with a 5.52 ERA. Still, he was the best skipper Joe Johnson had with Calfee being tabbed for game seven - assuming Robinson got them there. And Robinson stepped up in a big way, looking like the man who had won 20 games the year before as he outdueled Russ Reel in a 4-3 Dynamos victory. Granted, the Dynamos got some help from a pair of defensive miscues by the Sailors - particularly one in the eighth by Philly CF David Merchant that let the go-ahead run score, but Detroit fans will likely only remember the gutsy performance of Robinson, who went the distance, allowing three runs on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts in the biggest game of his life. The victory knotted the series again and set up a winner-take-all game seven at Thompson Field the next day. The day of game seven was a blustery October Sunday in Detroit. The temperature was 53 degrees, but the 19 MPH wind would be a factor. The Dynamos turned to ace Roy Calfee - winner of game one and loser of game five, pitching on just two days' rest. The Sailors countered with 19-game-winner Rollie Beal, a solid pitcher whose surname had caused one excited Sailors fan to hold up a sign at game three saying "Reel and Beal will seal the deal!" Unfortunately for Beal, it would be the Dynamos who would seal the deal in game seven. Detroit scored in the first and then after the Sailors had tied things at 1-1 in the second, scored two more in the bottom of the second before adding four in the sixth to put the game away en route to an 8-3 win and their fifth championship - and first since 1919. Series MVP honors went to Frank Vance, the superstar third baseman of Detroit who hit .344 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the series, but many fans tipped their hats to Wayne Robinson for his game six performance, and to Roy Calfee for gutting it out in game seven on short rest. What everyone could agree on though was that it was a heckuva series and that the Detroit victory was very much a team effort. __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

02-26-2020, 11:27 AM	#91
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1930 Season Preview: Continental Association 1930 Continental Association Preview By Rufus Barrell, OSA Executive Director Will 1930 mark the third straight year that the Philadelphia Sailors cruise to a Continental Association pennant? Or will someone else rise from the crowd to take them down? The Sailors, winners of 102 games in '28 and 103 last year in '29, bring back essentially the same cast of characters. In looking into the crystal ball, the belief here is that the Sailors will not, in fact, make it three in a row. And here's why: 1) Baltimore Cannons (1929 record: 83-71, 3rd): The Baltimore Cannons have both the firepower - and the pitching - to go toe-to-toe with the Philadelphia juggernaut. The lineup features 1B Lou Kelly (.330-34-112) and catcher Joe Welch (.375-36-128) and the team should get full seasons out of promising LF and leadoff man Abel Man and 3B Ed Roberts. The pitching staff is led by the inimitable Rabbit Day (17-12, 3.71) who the reading here says is on the verge of becoming a breakout star and Allen Award candidate. The other three starters (Dutch Leverett, Ken Carpenter and Bob Miller) are all legitimate pitchers who could be aces on another staff. The Cannons are going to be very, very good - good enough to eke out a surprise pennant over the Sailors. 2) Philadelphia Sailors (103-51, 1st, lost in WCS): The Sailors are arguably the most talented club in the last decade of FABL baseball. Back-to-back 100+ win seasons, two pennants and a World Championship are on their resume and they're as loaded as ever. But they're due to come back to earth a bit - everyone's a bit older and a bit more jaded. Yes, RF Tom Taylor (.351-38-138) is probably the best player in the CA, and he's got great support from 2B Jack Cleaves (.343-17-111), CF David Merchant (.333-7-84) and others. And the pitching is outstanding as well. Rollie Beal (19-8, 3.57), Russ Reel (18-8, 2.92) and William Jones (16-8, 3.33) are proven winners and Oscar Morse (14-4, 3.38) and Herm Lowman (13-7, 3.37 in AAA) look good too. The Sailors will almost certainly top the 90-win plateau - but this time, that might not be enough to claim the flag. 3) New York Stars (86-68, 2nd): The Stars are a bit of a head-scratcher. The infield is tremendously talented: 1B Dave Trowbridge (.357-23-114), 2B Pete Layton (.337-18-100) and 3B John Lawson (.368-14-107) hit 2-3-4 in the lineup and team with SS Bill Rich (.283-4-61) to give the Stars a solid infield defense too. The other guys are solid too, if not quite as elite, and the pitching... well, that's always been the name of the game at Riverside Stadium. Lefty Dick Richards (17-8, 3.20) is the defacto ace, but young Lou Martino (11-5, 2.75) is ready to assume that mantle with a breakout season. Newly acquired Moxie Nelson is 34, but he's talented and will give the Stars a reliable #3 guy behind their two stars. The rest of the staff is serviceable but not at the same level as the crews in Philly or Baltimore, and that's what'll keep New York from taking the pennant this time around. 4) Brooklyn Kings (72-82, 7th): The Kings have a load of young talent - a great thing in the long run, but less so in the short term. Right now, they're just not ready. But enough of that youth is ready to make the Kings a factor in the Continental for the first time in three years. Everything revolves around Brooklyn's pair of stars: RF Doug Lightbody (.363-3-60) and catcher Mike Taylor (.334-16-102). The rest of the lineup is a young (as are Lightbody and Taylor) with none of the projected starters older than 26. Consistency may be a problem for anyone not named Lightbody or Taylor. The pitching will be improved - young Tommy Wilcox shot through the minors last season after being the #1 overall pick in the draft and was solid (3-2, 2.95) in five starts with the Kings. He's a legitimate ace. Behind him the Kings have cobbled together a competent group that will almost certainly keep the team in games and win more than they lose. They're not ready to compete with Philly or Baltimore yet, but the Kings are on track. 5) Chicago Cougars (62-92, 8th): The Cats - like Brooklyn - are a young team on the rise. While the club has not finished higher than 7th since 1924 (5th) and is a world away from the world champs of 1922, they are ready to start making some noise. They have their franchise cornerstone in 26-year-old 2B Bill Ashbaugh (.346-23-101), a pair of rising stars in C Fred Barrell and RF Vince York, an ageless legend in LF John Dibblee (.346-3-76) and a slew of quality supporting players. The prediction here is that the Cougars will roll out eight .300 hitters on a regular basis this season. The pitching is a bit of a mishmash - and this is where the eventual arrival of Jim Crawford and Tom Barrell will make a world of difference (in a year or two, maybe three). Ace lefty Dick Lyons (16-13, 4.06) is good - he's legit, but there are question marks behind him. Max Wilder (14-14, 3.97 with Cleveland) should be a quality #2. Will Ace McSherry - a reliever a year ago - make the transition into the rotation? And if he does, will it work? It might - he's got talent, but there are no guarantees there. Four and five will likely be Tommy Russel (acquired from Washington) and Dick Kadlec neither of whom inspire a ton of confidence. 6) Montreal Saints (77-77, 4th): The Saints hit the .500 mark for the first time since 1925 and the only reason they're not projected higher than 6th this season is that the clubs below them (Brooklyn & Chicago) look to have the youthful talent needed to make the next step. The Saints have the 1929 Allen Award winner in Charlie Stedman (21-10, 2.99) a 27-year-old lefty who should be tremendous again this season. With the oft-injured Al Allen dispatched to the New York Gothams, Dave Paynter (13-14, 3.73) is the only proven arm behind Stedman. He's reliable but there are questions about the trio of lefties John Barrie and Walker Moore and righty Sam Young who form the likely backend of the Saints rotation. The lineup has RF Cliff Moss (.296-24-92) the diminutive (he's 5'6) former #1 overall pick who plays a lot bigger than his size, but the rest of the lineup fits more into the serviceable category than "wow" - which is not the case with top pick Vic Crawford, who while probably not ready this season, should serve up plenty of fireworks in years to come. He, 2B Hank Barnett and P George Thomas give the Saints a trio of top-notch prospects who will push this club into the top of the CA in years to come. Just not right now. 7) Cleveland Foresters (64-90, 7th): The Foresters were a surprising disappointment in 1929 and they probably won't be much better in 1930. The middle of the lineup - particularly LF Joe Perret (.346-21-93) and RF Moxie Pidgeon (.349-26-125) - is excellent (Pidgeon is the best player to wear the green since Max Morris left town a decade ago), but the top & bottom of the lineup needs upgrading for the Foresters to truly compete. The pitching? It's pretty ugly - and that's where Cleveland will really struggle. 24-year-old Eddie Gray is unproven, but looks like he could be the ace the club so sorely needs. Behind him is a mixed bag of "cross your fingers and hope for the best." As is the case with Montreal, help is on the way - both Ed Wood and Karl Johnson should be excellent pitchers down the road. But it'll be a bumpy trip to get there. 8) Toronto Wolves (69-85, 6th): The Wolves... where to begin? They have a new owner and he pledges to improve the club. Will he? Maybe. Right now, the club is something of a mess. The lineup is bereft of a true star with RF Bill Eastep (.314-8-91) probably coming closest. The pitching isn't a complete wasteland, but again, there are no standouts with the possible exception of Bert Flores (17-17, 3.26) and he's out for the first two months of the season. Toronto is in a holding pattern - and while there are a trio of pitching prospects (Chuck Cole, Bill Anderson & Buddy Adams) who could become a good rotation, the cupboard is bare when it comes to hitting prospects. Award Predictions: Whitney: C Joe Welch, Baltimore Allen: RHP Lou Martino, New York __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

02-26-2020, 03:15 PM	#92
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1930 Federal Association Preview By Rufus Barrell, OSA Executive Director Unlike the Continental, which seems to be churning out a new dynasty every few years (the NY Stars before the current Philly Sailors with a brief Brooklyn interlude thrown in), the Federal hasn't seen a repeat pennant winner since the Eagles doubled up back in 1922-23. With six different pennant winners over the six years since then, will the Detroit Dynamos be the club to break the pattern? Both the Philadelphia Keystones (1927 champs) and Chicago Chiefs ('28) came into the next season as favorites and both faltered. The thought here is that once again the Fed will be crowning a new champ come fall. 1) New York Gothams (62-92, 8th): Gasp! Someone check ol' Rufus - he just picked the last-place club of '29 to win it in '30? Yep, he sure did. 1929 was the rock bottom for the Gothams - the first time this proud club had ever fallen into the basement in its nearly fifty year history. This is a team with an owner who doesn't accept failure, a GM who is willing to make bold moves and a manager who can now concentrate solely on managing. Ed Ziehl, the franchise's all-time greatest player, is a player no longer, but does remain the skipper of this much-improved edition of the Gotham Baseball Club. The Gothams have a well-rounded club that while not eye-popping in any one area, is very, very capable in all areas. The lineup boasts the ever-dangerous tandem of LF Carlos Cano (.310-15-68 in a disappointing year - that won't happen again) and 1B Bud Jameson (.355-16-86, ditto). Ziehl's spot at the keystone has been taken by 25-year-old Mose Christopher who should provide some good pop and a reliable glove. Where the Gothams are vastly improved - and this is all-important in the slugger-laden Fed - is in its mound corps. 25-year-old Jim Lonardo is a dynamite pitcher. He's going to be in the mix for the Allen this season - he's that good. And speaking of Allen, the son of that guy, Al Allen Jr, is now wearing the red, white & blue duds of the Gothams after coming over from Montreal this offseason. If Junior can stay healthy (a big if), he's a star and the Gothams will ride that Lonardo-Allen tandem into October baseball. Even if Allen falls to injury again, the Gothams go five deep in quality starting arms. That's the difference maker right there. 2) Philadelphia Keystones (81-73, 3rd): The Keystones are the fashionable favorite for 1930 - and they are absolutely capable of bringing home a pennant. The offense remains a juggernaut. 1B Rankin Kellogg (.355-34-141) is still supremely dangerous in the three spot and he's got a strong supporting cast that includes C Carl Ames (.292-14-92), RF Jimmy Endler (.324-9-73) and LF Phil Sandman (.325-8-82). The pitching - once the team's Achilles heel - seems improved, and that's the cause for the high expectations for the 'Stones this season. Former Chicago Chief Bill Ross (20-6, 3.55) regained the form he had shown in the Windy City last season (his third with the Keystones) and at 33, remains very much the ace of this club. But he's got some support: Al Robinson, added from the AAA San Diego club, is good and will be a fine second banana to Ross. Ray Rinehart (13-7, 4.42) and the young tandem of lefty Ed Baker (24 y/o) and right hander Marcel Besson (25) will be the key elements in determining how high the Keystones rise in 1930. 3) Detroit Dynamos (91-63, 1st, World Champs): The defending champs have their work cut out for them in 1930. Not only do they have to deal with the improved Gothams and the powerful Keystones, but they've lost their best player in 3B (and Whitney winner) Frank Vance (.372-41-143). Opponents won't feel much pity because this team is still loaded. RF Al Wheeler (.340-37-125) and LF Henry Jones (.330-40-131) provide plenty of firepower and while players like Vance don't grow on trees, this club is still going to score a lot of runs. The pitching was a bit of a question mark last season and while it came through in the end, the questions have not been completely answered. Roy Calfee (26-8, 3.53) is a workhorse at the top of the rotation - a proven winner and a guy you can roll out there and rely upon to give an effective outing. Bob Lawrence, who came over in midseason from Cleveland, is the #2 and he was somewhat unreliable last season. Fellow former-Forester Wayne Robinson was not very good and both Ernie Miller and Jack Beach are unproven. Ultimately, the Dynamos are more than capable of a repeat - but it'll require everything falling into place with their pitching plus some stumbles from both the Keystones and Gothams for it to happen. 4) St. Louis Pioneers (71-83, 7th): The Pioneers have been a maddening club for its fans to follow. A 90-win club as recently as 1926, the Pioneers have been mediocre to bad the last three seasons, not cracking the 80-win plateau. The good news is that RF Max Morris is still around. Morris (.326-50-145) is the game's biggest slugger, and a guy fans in all FABL cities pay to see, hoping he'll hit one of his towering moonshot home runs. Which he still does often enough, even at 35 years of age. His partner-in-crime, SS Roger Landry (.298-30-111) still has plenty of pop too, even if he's slowing down a bit as he ages (he's 33). The youth movement is underway in the form of a pair of 23-year-olds. LF Alex Ingraham, who will hit between Morris and Landry in the cleanup spot. He's an intriguing player - good power, but good extra-base power as well. He could turn into a 40 double, 10 triple, 25 homerun kind of guy. The other youngster, 1B Johnnie Morse, was in A-ball last year, but new management loves his work ethic and his spring numbers seem to indicate he's ready for the Fed. He doesn't have the power (yet) of the guys hitting ahead of him, but is a gap-shooter capable of 40 doubles and double-digit triples. The offense is just fine in St. Louis. The pitching however is a work in progress. The ace (by default) is Marv Forster, a 27-year-old from New Orleans, who gives up too many hits to be overly successful, but eats innings and gives maximum effort. Ideally he'd be this team's second or third starter, but the pitching is thin in St. Louis. There's a promising youngster named Dutch Sheldon on the farm who could be the ace of the future, but he's not ready yet. 5) Chicago Chiefs (89-65, 2nd): The 1928 Fed champs were right in the thick of it last season before falling just short in the season's final week. So why are we looking at a fifth-place finish? Well, 3B Joe Masters, whose magical 1928 season vaulted this club to the pennant, has not been the same player since. Masters (.329-24-113) is still a very good player, but his otherworldly season seems to have been a fortuitous fluke. LF Jim Hampton (.328-19-115) is not a fluke and is the star of this club. The Chiefs have a good lineup, even if it is in a bit of flux, and the hitting is not this team's main issue. So if it's not the hitting, it must be the pitching - and the pitching is a good-news/bad-news kind of deal. There's 20-year-old Milt Fritz, who came up last season and went 18-8 with a 3.22 ERA after making just two appearances above A-ball in his career. A 12th-round pick, Fritz was lightning in a bottle for the Chiefs in '29 - and the good news is, that doesn't look like it was a fluke (he's been tremendous in spring training this year). Former ace Lou Felkel is 36, and that's bad news - he's still a reliable pitcher (he went 22-14, 3.33 a year ago) but he's on the decline. Norm Austin has experience, but his numbers haven't been good. The other guys are unproven. If the pitching is better than it looks, the Chiefs could be a contender - and at least finish in the top three. If things unfold as they appear they will, they're looking at a fifth-place finish. 6) Boston Minutemen (72-82, 6th): Boston had a red-hot start to 1929 but faded badly down the stretch. Which was a true representation of this club's talent? Probably somewhere in the middle. The Minutemen will be relying on a youth movement this season to turn the tide and as with all youth movements it'll all boil down to just how ready the kids are to make a difference at the game's highest level. 3B Charlie Barry (.338-14-97) - at age 31 - is the team's "old man" and just so happens to be its best player too. The rest of the infield is young and aside from 2B Carl Carr (.289-4-73) is unproven. Carr is 25, new shortstop Earl Michael is 23 and has never played above AA while 1B Bob Waller is also 23, and showed nice pop (25 homers) at AAA last season. It's a similar scene in the outfield where CF Dick Copeland (.274-8-76) is the old man at 30 years old and is flanked by a pair of 25-year-olds with thin (in the case of LF Chick Dyer) or non-existent (in the case of RF Ron Davis) FABL credentials. So a lot is riding on the new blood. Pitching-wise, 27-year-old Al Carroll (17-11, 3.41) is the ace and only 29-year-old Dick Alexander (13-12, 3.44) is a returning member of the rotation. The other spots will be filled by young guys with little to no FABL experience. Like the hitters, the fortunes of Boston ride on the shoulders of these unproven hurlers. This makes Boston hard to project: the assessment is that they'll be competitive, but not in the upper tier of the Fed race. 7) Pittsburgh Miners (73-81, 5th): Honestly, it was tough to pick the Miners to finish this far down the table. The Miners have a good lineup - catcher Jim Pool (.325-28-100) is a budding star (and he's just 25) as is 24-year-old RF Frank Lightbody (.364-6-76). The issue is youth - these Miners are young and it takes time for that youth to mature. Like Montreal in the CA, the Miners talent just isn't quite ripe yet. On the pitching side, the team has a trio of quality innings-eaters in Jack Reed (13-10, 3.88), Jim Smith (12-13, 4.04) and Hap Goodwin (12-14, 4.13) - guys who will keep the team in games. If the young hitters not named Lightbody or Pool produce, the Miners will rise into the first division. That just seems (for 1930 at least) to be a longshot. 8) Washington Eagles (77-77, 4th): The Eagles still have T.R. Goins (.363-24-94), their ultra-talented catcher who has been the face of the franchise since his debut back in 1925. But he's 29 now and the club needs to make some moves to get him some support before his window closes. Therefore it's no surprise that a serious youth movement is taking place in the nation's capital. Part of that support might be on hand in 24-year-old SS Andy Carter. Carter, the 10th pick of the 1927 draft, spent 1929 between Class-A Trenton and AA Atlanta and flat out raked at both levels. If he holds up to FABL pitching, the Eagles have a cornerstone player at a premier position. Another very promising youngster is CF Wally Flowers, a 22-year-old who was also the 10th pick of the draft (in his case it was in 1928). "Pretty Boy" Flowers doesn't possess much power, but he drives the ball into the gaps and is hard-nosed enough to turn doubles into triples when he does. Still, the jump from Class B to the Fed is a big one - so time will tell. The rest of the lineup is full of similarly fresh, young faces. The pitching took a dent when Harry Horn went down for the season in spring training - at age 33, he may not be able to recover and return to form. 28-year-old Archie Dickey is the presumptive ace - he went 12-16 with a 3.91 ERA last season. Ivy Newsom (19-14, 4.18) slots in behind him but beyond that, it's a murky picture. Award Predictions: Whitney: Max Morris, St. Louis Allen: Jim Lonardo, New York __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At! Last edited by legendsport; 02-26-2020 at 03:25 PM.

09-16-2020, 09:26 AM	#93
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1930 Season Recap *NOTE: Going to try to catch this up with recaps of the '30, '31 and '32 seasons* The 1930 season will go down in history as one of the most competitive in Continental Association history. The Philadelphia Sailors, two-time defending pennant winners (and 1928 World Champs) won a third-straight pennant in '30. But they did it in an all-out dogfight that saw three teams finish within four games of the top spot, five teams finish over .500 and only one team (the dismal Toronto Wolves) being completely out of contention. The Sailors' (88-66) recent dominance of the CA apparently was nearing its end. The Baltimore Cannons (86-68) were a rising force, as were the Chicago Cougars (84-70). And in a surprise, the Montreal Saints (86-68) finished tied with the Cannons for second-place, just two games back. The Sailors won on the strength of their pitching, which was fully one run better than average and good enough (barely) to offset the league's 7th-best offense (only the Wolves were worse).The Sailors' pitching was good and deep as five hurlers topped 200 innings while notching dougle-digit victories, but none topped twenty wins. Oscar Morse (17-8, 3.27) led the staff and also led the league in ERA. Rollie Beal (16-10, 4.08) threw the most innings (245) with Herm Lowman (14-10, 3.58), Russ Real (12-11, 4/.45) and William Jones (13-11, 3.95) rounding out the rotation. Philly's offense was below-average, but did have solid contributors in 1B Dick Walker (26 triples, .327 average), LF Irv Brady (19 HRs) and veteran CF Dick Merchant (.298-8-64). Young 2B Jack Cleaves led the team with 110 RBIs while posting double-figures in doubles (26), triples (19) and homers (15). RF Tom Taylor had a down year with a .261 average and 15 homers, well off the pace of his back-to-back Allen Award-winning seasons in '28 and '29. Second-place was a tie between Baltimore and Montreal. The Cannons were expected to be in the thick of the race - the Saints were not. Baltimore was a well-rounded club that finished second in both runs allowed and runs scored. The Cannons had a pair of superstars in 1B Lou Kelly (.363-33-159) and C Lou Welch (.350-33-123) and an ace in Rabbit Day (22-10, 3.93) who captured the CA Allen Award. Montreal on the other hand, was coming off a 77-77 campaign that saw them finish a distant 26 games back of the Sailors '29 juggernaut. Their nine-game improvement was a bit of a surprise powered in large measure by the big stride forward taken by the 1929 #1 overall pick, CF Cliff Moss (.345-26-101). Still, the Saints were middle-of-the-pack in runs scored with an above-average runs allowed performance from a pitching staff devoid of "name" pitchers outside of top hurler Charlie Stedman (17-12, 4.08). The fourth-place spot went to the rising Chicago Cougars. who made a whopping 22-game improvement over their last-place 1929 performance to jump into the thick of the pennant chase. The Cougars led the league in runs scored at 6.3 per game despite a noticeable lack of power (their 68 homers were second-fewest in the CA). This was due to a slew of good young hitters who all topped .300 easily. Led by 24-year-old RF Vince York (.368-15-115) and 26-year-old 2B Harry Simmons (.369, 91 runs) along with 1B Bill Ashbaugh (.321-16-131 with 24 triples), SS Russ Combs (.342), 3B John Kincaid (.340) and C Fred Barrell (.324) none of whom were over 26 years old, the Cougars' youth movement served them extremely well. The lone standout? Old warhorse LF John Dibblee, still cranking out a .359 average at the ripe old age of 41. Pitching was Chicago's bugaboo as the team posted a collective 4.65 ERA and no individual hurler posted a breakout season. The New York Stars (78-76) tumbled into fifth place after consecutive runner-up finishes. They did boast the league's batting champ in 28-year-old 3B John Lawson who racked up 247 hits and flirted with .400 before finishing at .392 on the year. He also earned the nod for the 1930 CA Whitney Award after his dominant performance. Brooklyn finished sixth with a 75-79 season, a three-game improvement over the 1929 season. RF Doug Lightbody had another outstanding season, hitting .387 to finish second to Lawson in the batting race. Brooklyn continued to struggle with pitching as they allowed the most runs in the league (even more than the dismal Toronto club) whle scoring the third-most. Seventh-placed Cleveland (69-85) was in the midst of a rebuild, with budding star RF Moxie Pidgeon (.355-27-107) a bright spot offensively, joining established star LF Joe Perret (.356-14-64). As was the case in Brooklyn, Cleveland's woes were largely caused by a lack of quality pitching as the team posted a 5.21 ERA, third-worst in the CA. Last-place Toronto was a mess. Their 50-104 mark put them 19 games out of seventh-place. There were no real bright spots for this club, although 24-year-old CF Cy Bryant did hit .353 in limited action (201 ABs).Frank Howk (9-15, 4.62 ERA) was the best of a bad bunch of hurlers, and at age 25, there was some hope he could emerge as a much-needed reliable arm. Over in the Federal, the story was the rise of the New York Gothams. The Gothams (98-56) made a 36-game improvement over 1929's last-place finish to capture the pennant. Led by star 1B Bud Jameson who posted a strong .381-32-114 stat line to finish tied for the batting crown, the Gothams finished second in runs scored to the juggernaut offense in Philadelphia. The pitching was the difference for this club as 25-year-old Jim Lonardo emerged as a true ace with a 21-11, 3.06 campaign that led to the Allen Award. The Gothams also got an excellent season from 35-year-old veteran Steve Castellini (19-7, 2.67) and a promising effort from 25-year-old Walter Murphy (13-7, 3.13). The Philadelphia Keystones (93-61) had the best offense in baseball, scoring 999 runs and posting a .319 team average. With the dependably stellar 1B Rankin Kellogg (.338-36-136) again anchoring the offense and strong contributions up and down the order, the Stones scored often - which was good because in terms of run prevention, they were only slightly better than average despite finishing third overall (the average being heavily skewed by the Gothams' dominant numbers). Detroit (85-69), the defending FABL champions, dropped to third despite an absolute monster season from RF Al Wheeler. At just 22-years-old Wheeler established himself as a bona-fide star by winning the Whitney Award on the back of a .372-36-122 season that included 129 runs, 29 doubles, 19 triples and an OPS of 1.117 that added up to a 9.2 WAR. 1B Frank Shafer (.317-13-102) and LF Henry Jones (.297-30-120) rounded out the heart of the order, but the Dynamos' remaining hitters were not as productive as they had been in 1929. On the pitching side, Roy Calfee (20-14, 3.42) was as good as anyone outside of Jim Lonardo, but the Gothams & Keystones were just better clubs in 1930. The Boston Minutemen finished fourth with a flat .500 mark of 77-77, improving by five wins over 1929. Their offense was anemic, scoring the fewest runs in the Fed as the only club to average under five runs per game. The pitching was better, but still average overall. 3B Charlie Berry (.363-13-92) continued to be the club's star but a pair of 25-year-olds in LF Chick Dyer (.331-11-104) and RF Ron Davis (.337-11-79) looked promising. P Joe Hogue (14-13, 4.07) was the best of a middling bunch and at just 25 himself gave some hope for emergence as a much-needed reliable arm. The Chicago Chiefs, who had won the pennant in 1928, finished fifth with a sub-.500 mark of 70-84. They did have LF Jim Hampton, who tied Bud Jameson for the batting crown with a .381 average (he also chipped in 19 homers and 111 RBIs) as he continued to be Chicago's Mr. Reliable. 3B Joe Masters also turned in a solid season with a .311 average, 33 homers and a league-best 167 RBIs. But the production fell off a cliff after those two and the pitching was mediocre at best with the exception of breakout 20-year-old right-hander Milt Fritz who posted a 16-7 mark and 3.63 ERA for a club whose overall ERA was 5.10. Pittsburgh was the best of a trio of Fed clubs whose victory totals were in the sixties. The Miners (67-87) continued to be in building mode and did showcase a pair of young talents in C Jim Pool (.294-27-105) and RF Frank Lightbody (.338-5-91, 102 runs). LF Tom Hopkins (.331-16-91) was also productive, but there wasn't a whole lot beyond those three. Right-hander Bill Morrill (15-9, 4.52) was the best of a middling bunch but 23-year-old Ollie Denton was impressive in a half-season of work with a 10-5 mark and 3.71 ERA providing some hope for the future. The Washington Eagles (64-90) were seventh and finished near the bottom of the pack in both runs scored and allowed. Superstar catcher T.R. Goins (.334-28-106) continued to toil in futility with a lack of quality team mates aside from 24-year-old SS Andy Carter (.317, 28 triples, 94 RBIs). The pitching was subpar as well, though not terrible. Ivy Newsom (11-19, 4.25) and Dick Dennis (11-14, 4.31) being the best of the bunch. Last-place went to the St. Louis Pioneers (62-92). The Pioneers, in full rebuild mode, still had the game's top name in RF Max Morris. In what would turn out to be his swan song in St. Louis, Morris posted another outstanding season with 48 homers and 132 RBIs to go along with a .360 batting average. Morris would be dealt to the Gothams in the offseason, bringing five much-needed young players in return. The Pioneers did have a promising youngster in 24-year-old LF Alex Ingraham (.324-24-118) but the state of the pitching staff was simply atrocious, allowing 1027 runs (an area hopefully addressed at least partially by the Morris deal). The World Championship Series would pit the Gothams against the vaunted Sailors. Both teams brought excellent pitching into the series and the matchup turned out to be a great one. Philadelphia ultimately prevailed in a thrilling seven-game series, giving the Sailors their second title in three years. For the Gothams, their rise from the ashes fell just short of the mountaintop, but the talent for a reprise was there even before they added a certain slugger to the roster in a trade right after their heartbreaking defeat. __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

09-16-2020, 01:11 PM	#94
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1931 Recap For the New York Gothams, 1931 represented an "all-in" opportunity to win the franchise's first championship since 1896. They certainly had the firepower to make it happen, having acquired the game's pre-eminent slugger in a big offseason trade following a disappointing finish to the 1930 World Championship Series, a seven-game loss to the Philadelphia Sailors. Max Morris was brought on board to push the Gothams over the hump. And he did his part with a .331 average, 34 homers and 105 RBIs, all of which led the team. The pitching was there too - Jim Lonardo offered up an encore to his 1929 Allen Award season with another Allen Award, going 20-9 with a 3.18 ERA and cementing himself as the Fed's best pitcher. Walter Murphy (14-13, 3.86) was a nice lefty complement to Lonardo as well. The problem turned out to be health. Big contributors such as Bud Jameson, Al Allen and the newly-acquired Joe Perret all missed significant time, which weakened the club, albeit not by enough to cost them the pennant. The Gothams did win the flag, posting a 93-61 mark to beat out their rivals from Philadelphia by three games. Speaking of those Philadelphia Keystones, they had another "almost-but-not-quite" year behind the Fed's most potent lineup and a middle-of-the-road pitching staff. 1B Rankin Kellogg (.367-36-139) was phenomenal as always and a new star burst onto the scene in 20-year-old phenom Bobby Barrell. The eighth-son of OSA co-founder Rufus Barrell was a revelation in his rookie campaign, with 202 hits, 34 doubles, 12 triples and 19 home runs, finishing with a .325 average, 112 runs scored and 97 RBIs while providing excellent defense in right field. With three other .300-plus hitters in the lineup, Philly as usual had no problem scoring in bunches. Stopping the opposition was still something of a problem - though not as much as it had been. Bill Ross (16-9, 3.28) was dependable and 23-year-old lefty Frank Crawford (8-3, 3.15) was tantalizing in his 11 starts, but overall the pitching was average, and with the Gothams' star-studded roster, it wasn't quite good enough to catch the New Yorkers. Detroit rounded out a top-three that mirrored exactly the 1929 order of finish. With an 87-67 mark, they were six games off the pace but their offense suffered a down season from star RF Al Wheeler (.310-22-97), though they did get good production from 3B Frank Vance (.321-16-104) and LF Henry Jones (.303-21-102). Veteran Roy Calfee (19-12, 2.97) was great as usual and Mel Strom (18-8, 3.49) played the second banana role to the hilt. But against the two heavyweights at the top of the loop, the Dynamos were a bit out of their weight class in '31. Boston (79-75) rounded out the first division thanks in large part to good pitching. Lefty Al Carroll (18-10, 2.79) was outstanding at the top of the rotation and Joe Hogue (16-12, 3.34) was dependable. Joe Dorsainvil (10-13, 4.37) pitched better than his numbers would indicate. The offense is where the Minutemen were let down. 3B Charlie Barry (.350-10-104) and 1B Carl Carr (.344-6-85) starred but the other pieces were subpar and the club finished just +31 in run differential despite being the third-stingiest in terms of runs allowed in the Federal. Chicago (73-81) and Washington (73-81) tied for fifth and did so in nearly identical fashion with top-half offenses (the Eagles scored 798 runs, third-best and the Chiefs 797, fourth-best) and bottom half runs allowed (828 for Washington, 6th and 859 for Chicago, 7th). Catcher T.R. Goins (.340-27-119) had his typical strong season with 2B Andy Carter(.350, 115 runs, 91 RBIs) again being the only other top performer on the Eagles roster. 34-year-old Dick Dennis (18-13, 4.20) was easily the best of a subpar group of pitchers in the nation's capital. Similarly, the Chiefs got their usual production from LF Jim Hampton (.330-15-113) though his homers were down a bit and 1B Bob Martin hit .345 while 3B Joe Masters suffered a down year (.291-17-94). Lefty Sam Reichmann was the most promising of a rather uninspiring group of Chief hurlers. The 28-year-old posted a 12-8 mark and 3.51 ERA in 24 starts. Ace Ernie Newman led the team with 32 starts and 260.1 innings, but finished 12-18 with a 4.84 ERA. Pittsburgh finished seventh for a second-straight season thanks in large part to the Fed's worst offense (702 runs). The good news is that pitching was average, which is a good sign as the general consensus is that its easier to find good hitting than pitching these days. The club's two best hitters: C Jim Pool (.259-14-85) and RF Frank Lightbody (.309-3-68) had off years while LF Jim Renfroe suffered through another injury plagued campaign playing in just 92 games leaving 22-year-old 2B Ed Stewart (.299-17-82) as the club's top contributor at the dish. P Ollie Denton followed up a solid 1930 season with a 12-13, 3.56 effort in '31, leading his teams in innings and ERA. Bill Morrill (14-11, 4.34) and Jim Smith (11-19, 4.32) along with Marco Ramirez (10-11, 3.58) rounded out the Miners' rotation. Last-place again was held down by the St. Louis Pioneers, who having dealt away Max Morris were now in full-on rebuild mode. Their 53-101 record was FABL's worst. They allowed the most runs (a whopping 957) while avoiding last-place in runs scored by plating just seven more runs than Pittsburgh. The Pioneers had a lot of young faces in the lineup, with 25-year old 3B Fred Miller (.350, 22 triples), 21-year-old 1B Fred McCormick (acquired from NY as part of the Morris deal) hitting .350 with 45 doubles and 19 triples and 22-year-old SS Ray Russell (.304) being prominent. The pitching was a bit of a shambles. Lefty Joe Shaffner was the "ace" and pitched fairly well with a 3.94 ERA, but posted a 7-18 won-loss record. Lefty Rick Walther made 16 starts, posting a 5-5 mark and 3.41 ERA but outside of those two, the remaining pitchers' stats lines were u-g-l-y. The Pioneers did pick up some good prospects in the Morris deal and nabbed promising young 2B Freddie Jones with the #2 pick in the draft, so fresh talent is coming in. The Pioneers need only look to the team that won the 1931 title for inspiration as that club rose from some terrible seasons on a wave of youth to conquer FABL. Code: Team W L WPct GB R RA New York Gothams 93 61 .604 - 840 680 Philadelphia Keystones 90 64 .584 3 874 767 Detroit Dynamos 87 67 .565 6 789 669 Boston Minutemen 79 75 .513 14 754 723 Chicago Chiefs 73 81 .474 20 797 859 Washington Eagles 73 81 .474 20 798 828 Pittsburgh Miners 68 86 .442 25 702 780 St. Louis Pioneers 53 101 .344 40 709 957 Whitney Award: Rankin Kellogg, PHI: .367/.451/.645, 603 AB, 36 HR, 121 R, 139 RBI, 8.6 WAR Allen Award: Jim Lonardo, NYG: 20-9. 3.18 ERA, 277.1 IP, 1.10 WHIP, 4.1 K/9m 5.9 WAR That aforementioned club was the Chicago Cougars. Chicago, starting in 1925, finished 7th three straight years, then 8th the next two, before youth and some key trades paid dividends with a rise to fourth-place in 1930 that set the stage for the club to win it's first pennant in a decade with a 91-63 mark in 1931. The Cougars were good, and young. While many key components were home-grown talent acquired via the draft, there was one new face brought in that paid huge dividends in the pennant-winning campaign: RF Tom Taylor. The former Sailors star was dealt by the defending champs to the Cougars just before the start of spring training for a trio of prospects. Taylor had suffered through a subpar 1929 campaign but bounced back nicely in Chicago where he posted a .290 average with 29 homers and 107 RBIs. Leading a slew of players 27-and-under (he himself was just 26) Taylor gave the Cougars some needed pop as only Vince York (.348-11-104) and Bill Ashbaugh (.326-11-95) managed to reach double-figures in homers. Five regulars hit .300 or better and the club scored 809 runs, second only to the NY Stars. The pitching was good, not great, finishing fifth in the CA in runs allowed (712), but the top three of Jim Crawford (18-11, 3.15), Max Wilder (16-13, 3.68) and Dick Lyons (17-7, 3.68) was very solid. Dick Luedtke (15-11, 4.10) and Steve Castellini, who was acquired from the Gothams and went 10-14, 4.71, gave the Cougars a thoroughly reliable staff behind their good offense. Baltimore had a third-straight solid finish with an 85-69 record, good for a second straight runner-up finish after ending up third in 1929. LF Lou Kelly continued to be the straw that stirred the drink in Baltimore, with a .309-30-111 effort leading the league in homers and finishing third in RBIs. But he didn't get much support from his team mates, and the Cannons scored 728 runs, good for just fifth-best. The pitching was good, finishing third behind the stellar staffs of Philly and New York in runs allowed with 699. The Cannons relied on their double-barrel ace tandem of Rabbit Day (19-15, 3.56) and Ken Carpenter (22-15, 3.85) with Bob Miller (15-16, 4.04) and Dutch Leverett (17.15, 4.71) rounding out the rotation. In New York, the Stars returned to relevance after an uncharacteristically poor 5th-place finish in 1930. The Stars went 84-70 to finish third, seven games off the pace. 3B John Lawson copped a second-straight Whitney Award after hitting .359 with 43 doubles, 13 homers and 117 RBIs. 2B Pete Layton (.353-13-81) and 1B Dave Trowbridge (.332-16-125) gave the Stars a pun-intended "stellar" infield - adding in SS Bill Rich, the top four performers in terms of WAR on the Stars were their infielders. The pitching, as has been traditional around Riverside Park, was terrific. Old warhorse Dick Richards (17-10, 2.83) did his usual thing, but got some help from the next generation with 24-year-old Lou Martino (17-7, 3.77) and 25-year-old Gene Stevens (11-16, 3.46) key contributors and old friend Mutt Pharr returning to form with a 14-9, 3.70 mark. Across the East River in Brooklyn you can always say one thing: the Kings are never boring. Brooklyn may have finished in the second division in 1928 and '29, but they showed some signs of progress in 1931. With a "never sit still" attitude, the willingness to wheel & deal the Kings' brass has displayed paid some serious dividends in pushing the club to a fourth-place finish at 82-72. The first key was the trade-day acquisition of Tommy Wilcox back in 1928. A big, strong right-hander, Wilcox emerged as a true quality workhorse in '31, going 22-16 with a 3.94 ERA in 39 starts, racking up 320 innings to lead all of FABL. And joining him in the Kings rotation was 21-year-old phenom Milt Fritz. Acquired from the Chicago Chiefsfor a bundle of four players and a 1st-round draft pick, Fritz copped the Allen Award with a 23-15, 3.08 effort (and he finished with 318.1 innings in 39 starts of his own). With two young and talented hurlers leading the way, the Kings took a big step forward in the area in which they most needed to step it up. The hitting, as usual, was good, this time finishing third in the Continental in runs scored. Catcher Mike Taylor (.330-14-80), 1B Jake Shadoan (.337-5-90) and CF Ab Thomas (.331-4-56, 94 runs scored) all 26 or younger, teamed up with franchise star Doug Lightbody (.358-6-85) to keep the Kings lineup humming along. You'd need to look hard to find someone over 30 on this team and the future certainly looked bright in Brooklyn. Three straight pennants may have spoiled the faithful in Philadelphia and the Sailors' tumble to fifth-place caused some serious consternation around Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Stadium. The Sailors pulled into port with an 80-74 record - not bad by most measures, but something of a disappointment after three straight pennants and two titles. Tom Taylor was gone, but the rest of the lineup was intact and 1B Dick Walker (.300, 30 doubles, 13 triples, 10 homers, 115 walks) remained a force, but the team managed just a fourth-best 743 runs scored. The pitching too was still potent and allowed a league-low 636 runs. Some of the team's fifth-place finish was due to simple bad luck - a look at the Pythagorean records would have placed them second to the Stars - and ahead of the pennant-winning Cougars. With a staff consisting of William Jones (19-12, 2.38), Oscar Morse (18-16, 3.17) and Rollie Beal (18-12, 2.72), the Sailors underachieved, but remained eminently dangerous in an increasingly tough Continental Association. The Saints took a step back in '31. Montreal had climbed into serious contention in 1930 so many in Quebec thought the club's long drought was at an end. Alas, it was not to be as the Saints delivered one of the most anemic offensive performances in recent memory, scoring just 642 runs, the worst in the league, en route to a 68-86 record and sixth-place finish. Cliff Moss, who had established himself as a potential star, delivered a decent .295-18-79 season but the fact that those 79 RBIs led the team says a lot about the club's lack of punch. A midseason deal of ace Charlie Steadman to the Stars didn't help in the short-term but did bring in a trio of players who it was hoped would be contributors down the road. With Steadman gone, the mantle of ace fell upon lefty Walker Moore, a 24-year-old who posted a 15-15, 4.54 mark. With a pair of 34-year-olds (Dave Paynter & Rich Fisher) holding down two of the rotation spots, the hope in Montreal is that the Saints can find some dependable young arms to support Moore. The Toronto Wolves have looked more like lambs in recent seasons, and that continued in 1931 with another second-division finish. Toronto's 66-88 record and 7th-place finish marked their fourth straight season with 69 or fewer victories. Still, it was 16 games better than their dismal 1930 campaign, so that represented some measure of progress. Toronto lacks a true offensive star: 23-year-old 2B Sam Orr, who hit .319 with 34 doubles, 10 triples while scoring 92 runs is the closest thing the Wolves have, and no one hit more than five homers. And the pitching situation is only slightly more promising. 26-year-old Frank Howk (12-17, 3.74) is the closest thing to an ace on the Wolves. 27-year-old lefty Barry Wood (11-13, 3.85) and 30-year-old Birdie Smith (10-18, 5.05, 262 innings) at least showed the ability to log innings, but this group needs improvement if the Wolves are to ever howl again. The Cleveland Foresters posted their third-straight season with fewer than 70 wins and their 60-94 record dropped them into last place after two straight 7th-place finishes. The team is young, with no player 30 or over on the roster. But there are also no clear-cut stars in the making. LF Moxie Pidgeon, at 24, might be the closest thing. He turned in a .269-23-92 season and both 3B Jake Moore (28 y/o, .293-9-88) and CF Bobby Allen (26 y/o, .276-16-69) are serviceable but the farm system needs to bear fruit for the Foresters to start contending. The cupboard was pretty bare on the pitching side as well, evidenced by 13 different players getting a starting nod in 1931. The only pitcher to top 200 innings was lefty Karl Johnson, whose 9-16, 4.47 record indicates how pitching-starved this club was. The World Championship Series saw the New York Gothams return for a second-straight year, this time against the new flag-bearers of the Continental: the Chicago Cougars. Chicago held Max Morris, who was making his return to the game's biggest stage after last appearing in 1921, to a .273 average with no home runs. With both Bud Jameson and Joe Perret out, the Cougars defeated the injury-depleted Gothams four games to two with Jim Lonardo winning both games for New York. Chicago catcher Fred Barrell copped the MVP for the Series, going 14-for-24 for a .609 average, scoring five runs and driving home four. Code: Team W L WPct GB R RA Chicago Cougars 91 63 .591 - 809 712 Baltimore Cannons 85 69 .552 6 728 699 New York Stars 84 70 .545 7 828 686 Brooklyn Kings 82 72 .532 9 769 705 Philadelphia Sailors 80 74 .519 11 743 636 Montreal Saints 68 86 .442 23 642 773 Toronto Wolves 66 88 .429 25 678 813 Cleveland Foresters 60 94 .390 31 671 844 Whitney Award: John Lawson, NYS: .359/.406/.502, 643 AB, 13 HR, 2 SB, 117 RBI, 7.0 WAR Allen Award: Milt Fritz, BRK: 23-15, 3.08 ERA, 318.1 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 3.7 K/9, 6.5 WAR __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At! Last edited by legendsport; 09-16-2020 at 01:19 PM.

09-16-2020, 09:21 PM	#95
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1932 Season Recap 1932 featured some intriguing stories as things evolved in surprising ways. There were big trades, some seriously poor luck, some tremendous individual (and team) performances (and some really poor ones too) and plenty of drama as well. Coming out of the 1931 season you would have been laughed out of the room if you suggested the New York Gothams would be a non-factor in the Federal League pennant race. And you would have raised eyebrows by suggesting that the Chicago Cougars would tamper with a pennant-winning recipe. But both those things happened in 1932. Among the big trades was an Independence Day deal that sent Max Morris from the Gothams back to where it all began: the Cleveland Foresters. That made plenty of headlines, but one that certainly changed the trajectory of both parties came three weeks later in the form of a blockbuster deal between the Chicago Cougars and Brooklyn Kings. We'll get to that Kings/Cougars deal in a moment. But we'll start with the New York Gothams and the strange scenario that brought about the deal with the Foresters. New York was riding high after two straight pennants and it seems likely that they might have actually won it all in the '31 Series if they hadn't been without the potent bats of Joe Perret and Bud Jameson. We'll never know, but the hangover of that bitter defeat seemed to infect the 1932 edition of the Gothams. They finished last after a season that could easily be described as a disaster. And for most of it, before the team gave up the ghost, the Gothams were scoring runs in bunches and losing close games at a clip far greater than they should have, statistically-speaking. Ultimately they posted a 69-85 mark, 17 games out and in the basement. Ace Jim Lonardo stumbled to a 14-15 mark with a 4.07 ERA following two straight Allen Awards. Joe Perret had another injury-riddled season, only playing about half the season. Though Bud Jameson was back and productive (.350-20-105), GM Tom Ward pulled the trigger on a deal that sent Max Morris (hitting .344 with 20 HRs through 72 games at the time) to Cleveland for a quartet of prospects, only one of whom (1B Alex Thompson) appeared for the Gothams in 1932. The consolation prize for the Gothams was the top pick in the 1932 draft, which they'd spend on one of the most promising arms in a generation in right-hander Curly Jones who had pitched in the team's backyard for Henry Hudson College. If Lonardo returns to form, he and Jones could form a lethal one-two punch in New York. P Jim Lonardo, New York Gothams Switching gears to "that other big trade" - the one between the Cougars & Kings. Brooklyn was making a concerted effort to shake things up with quality young players. The Cougars were looking for a proven commodity to help them catch the surging New York Stars who were 62-36, three games better than Chicago's 58-38 at the time of the deal. Brooklyn, it should be noted was 42-57 and in 7th-place at the time of the trade. The details, when they were released to the press were astounding. Heading to Chicago were former #1 overall pick and workhorse ace Tommy Wilcox and star catcher Mike Taylor. The return to Brooklyn was jaw-dropping as well: another former #1 overall pick in pitching prospect Tom Barrell, along with his brother, established catcher Fred Barrell and a pair of young pitchers in Mike Murphy and George DeForest. C Mike Taylor, Chicago Cougars The fallout of the trade was interesting to say the least. At the time of the deal Wilcox was 9-9 with a 3.19 ERA for the Kings and Taylor was hitting .285 with 15 homers. Tom Barrell had made a few starts for the Cougars, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA over three starts, while Fred Barrell was hitting .311 and neither Murphy nor DeForest had appeared in the big leagues. After the trade, Wilcox fell apart, apparently struggling to adjust to playing in Chicago - his 6-6, 6.70 ERA performance down the stretch arguably cost the Cougars the pennant (they'd finish two behind the Stars), though Mike Taylor was excellent: .343-10-44 in 54 games for the Cougars. But the biggest difference was in the play of the Brooklyn Kings, who finished 80-74, good for a third-place tie with Cleveland. After the deal the Kings went 38-17 and looked like a legitimate contender. Tom Barrell was great early and finished well with a 10-3, 2.58 mark for the Kings. Murphy joined the rotation and went 7-2 with a 2.53 ERA. And Fred Barrell was consistent, if not as spectacular as Taylor had been, hitting .291 but more importantly providing stellar play behind the dish and gunning down 51.7% of would-be base stealers. Oh... and the Kings also promoted another Barrell: longtime farmhand 1B Dan Barrell, who turned in a team-best .340 batting average. And to continue the trend of accumulating players with the surname Barrell, the Kings swung a deal with Cleveland, sending a first and third round pick to the Foresters for minor league SS Harry Barrell, the youngest of Rufus Barrell's sons. P Tom Barrell, Brooklyn It's far too early to determine the "winner" of the trade, and ultimately all of the players involved are likely going to be well-worth having on the roster. We'll need to wait until 1933 and beyond for the final judgement on both big trades. As mentioned above, the New York Stars won the CA pennant with 99 wins, two games ahead of the defending champion Cougars. Charlie Steadman, acquired the year before from Montreal, went 14-5 with a 3.14 ERA, joining with incumbent ace Dick Richards (17-7, 3.40) to give the Stars the league's stingiest pitching. The offense was the league's second-best, scoring 876 runs with their infield of 1B Dave Trowbridge (.355-15-110), 2B Pete Layton (.343-20-91) and 3B John Lawson (.377-19-150) leading the way once again. For Lawson it might have added up to another Whitney Award, if not for a certain guy in Baltimore. Regardless, the Stars were back in a big way. 3B John Lawson, New York Stars The Continental was a two-horse race. Brooklyn's late surge notwithstanding they still finished 19 games out, tied with Cleveland at 80-74. The Philadelphia Sailors (76-78), Baltimore Cannons (71-83), Montreal Saints (64-90) and dismal Toronto Wolves (49-105) rounded out the Continental table. The Federal League pennant went to the Philadelphia Keystones (86-68) who held off the Detroit Dynamos (82-72) for the pennant with the Boston Minutemen (79-75), Chicago Chiefs (78-76) and St. Louis Pioneers (78-76) also finishing over .500 in a well-balanced Federal circuit. The Washington Eagles (73-81), Pittsburgh Miners (71-83) and New York Gothams (69-85) rounded out the Federal standings. The Keystones were led as usual by Rankin Kellogg who hit .332 while tying Detroit's Al Wheeler for the home run crown (38) and finishing third to Wheeler in RBIs with 128. The aforementioned Al Wheeler, the 1926 first overall pick and still just 25 years old, finished with a .348-38-146 line and a second Whitney Award after previously winning in 1930. Other top Fed performers on the offensive side included New York's Bud Jameson, who was second in batting at .350, batting champion Bob Martin of the Chiefs who hit .351 and showed increased clout with 16 homers and 121 RBIs. Philadelphia's Bobby Barrell hit .306 with 31 homers (3rd best) as he continued to emerge as a superstar in his own right. And the Pioneers? The former cellar dwellers flashed a couple of standout performers of their own with 1931 #1 overall pick Freddie Jones hitting .349 to finish third in the batting race and RF Alex Ingraham posting a ridiculous season that saw him hit 26 doubles, 34 triples and 25 homers while driving in 130 runs. RF Al Wheeler, Detroit On the pitching side, the Federal's Allen Award went to Jack Beach of the Dynamos who led the league in wins (20) and ERA (3.51), giving Detroit a sweep of the Federal awards for 1932. 35-year-old Dick Dennis won 20 for the Eagles with a 3.84 ERA and 24-year-old team mate Bob Sanders finished third in the league in ERA with a 3.68 mark. Philly's Ed Baker was second in ERA at 3.64 while going 16-8 for the pennant winners. P Jack Beach, Detroit The Continental's Whitney Award winner was Baltimore's Lou Kelly, who had played bridesmaid to John Lawson for two years before finally earning the nod at age 30 thanks to a season in which he hit .355 with a league-best 40 homers and also led the league in slugging (.637), OPS (1.060) and WAR (8.3). Unfortunately for Kelly, his team stumbled to a sixth-place finish. Other top performances included batting champ Lawson (.377) and his team mate Trowbridge (.355, 2nd). The Taylor boys in Chicago: Tom (30) and Mike (25) were 2-3 in homers and Tom's 139 RBIs were 2nd to Lawson's league-best 150. RF Lou Kelly, Baltimore A trio of hurlers won 19 games to tie for the league-lead in that category: Baltimore's Rabbit Day (who also won the Allen - his 2nd time winning the award), Philly's William Jones and Chicago's Dick Luedtke. Day's 191 strikeouts were far ahead of anyone else in either league. Luedtke claimed the ERA title at 2.79, with Jones (2.99) and the Stars' Steadman (3.14) finishing 2nd & 3rd respectively. P Rabbit Day, Baltimore One guy who straddled both leagues was Max Morris. The big slugger's total numbers would have been worthy of consideration for a Whitney Award (which would have been his eighth overall) had he not split his time almost evenly between the Fed's Gothams and the Continental's Foresters. Overall he finished with a .334 average, 44 homers (tops in FABL) and 142 RBIs with a 7.8 WAR (which would have led the Fed and was third in the Continental behind Kelly & Lawson). And Mighty Mo accomplished this at the age of 37. Those 44 homers also pushed his career total to 599. Max Morris, Cleveland The World Championship Series was a wipeout as the Stars were just too much to handle for the Keystones and swept the Fed League champs. They took game one 8-2 behind Dick Richards' solid pitching and a 3-for-4 performance from CF Mike Mason. Game two was a comeback win by a score of 7-5 as Philly's bullpen wasted a strong effort from Ed Baker in a five-run eighth by New York. Game three was a lopsided 6-1 win for the Stars with Pete Layton (2-for-4) and Dave Trowbridge (2-for-3) leading the way. Game four was likely the wildest game anyone could remember. The Keystones thrilled the hometown fans with an eight-run second only to see the Stars roar back with eight runs of their own in the third, and then proceeding to tack on seven more over the next two innings and holding on for a crazy 15-10 win. Pete Layton was named the MVP of the Championship series thanks to his stellar 9-for-18 series that included two doubles, a triple and a homer, and a whopping seven RBIs over the four game series. 2B Pete Layton, New York Stars Code: FEDERAL ASSOCIATION Team W L WPct GB R RA Philadelphia Keystones 86 68 .558 - 862 755 Detroit Dynamos 82 72 .532 4 779 707 Boston Minutemen 79 75 .513 7 780 789 Chicago Chiefs 78 76 .506 8 842 836 St. Louis Pioneers 78 76 .506 8 834 853 Washington Eagles 73 81 .474 13 723 800 Pittsburgh Miners 71 83 .461 15 694 774 New York Gothams 69 85 .448 17 813 813 CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION Team W L WPct GB R RA New York Stars 99 55 .643 - 876 674 Chicago Cougars 97 57 .630 2 903 730 Brooklyn Kings 80 74 .519 19 744 746 Cleveland Foresters 80 74 .519 19 855 804 Philadelphia Sailors 76 78 .494 23 717 718 Baltimore Cannons 71 83 .461 28 712 834 Montreal Saints 64 90 .416 35 668 755 Toronto Wolves 49 105 .318 50 606 820 __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

10-15-2020, 08:03 AM	#96
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1933 - The All-Star Game Debuts With the Great Depression gripping the world, the powers that be in the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues' offices in Washington, DC approved a plan suggested by W. Washington Whitney, owner of the Federal Association's Chicago Chiefs to hold a so-called "All-Star Charity Game" at Whitney Park, home of the aforementioned Chiefs. The game, played on July 6, 1933 was conceived as a benefit event, with proceeds going to help destitute former FABL players and coaches. Fans were asked to vote for their choices for a starting lineup for the Federal Association and Continental Association stars. The results of that balloting were: Federal: P - Ed Baker, Philadelphia C - T.R. Goins, Washington 1B - Rankin Kellogg, Philadelphia 2B - Freddie Jones, St. Louis 3B - Frank Vance, Detroit SS - Pete Asher, Pittsburgh LF - Jim Hampton, Chicago CF - Grover Lee, Philadelphia RF - Bobby Barrell, Philadelphia Continental: P - Tommy Wilcox, Chicago C - Mike Taylor, Chicago 1B - Max Morris, Cleveland 2B - Pete Layton, New York 3B - John Lawson, New York SS - Woody Armstrong, Montreal LF - Art Summers, Brooklyn CF - Bob Worley, Montreal RF - Moxie Pidgeon, Cleveland Armstrong, the fans choice at shortstop, was injured and unable to play and Brooklyn Kings rookie Harry Barrell was appointed in his place (Barrell was second in the voting). Coaches and players' choices rounded out the 23-man rosters for each side. 15 of the 16 FABL teams had at least one representative with only Toronto being shut out. Rumors that a rule may be enacted to ensure one representative from all clubs is being considered. The statement above indicates that this will be more than a one-time thing. Plans are already underway for a second charity game, likely to be played at a Continental Association site in the summer of 1934. As for the game itself, it was a resounding success. The Federal stars defeated the Continentals by a final of 8-5. The first home run was hit by Cleveland's Moxie Pidgeon (probably not the Forester most would have expected - that being Max Morris, who did start the game at first base). Pidgeon's blast, a two-run shot off Federal (and Keystones) starter Ed Baker, put the Continentals ahead early. But the Federal stars scored in each of the first three frames, leading 5-2 after three innings. The Continentals would close the gap to 5-4 in the sixth, but a three-run seventh saw the Federals go up 8-4 and hold on for the 8-5 victory. Pittsburgh shortstop Pete Asher was player of the game after going 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs. Pioneer pitcher Ben Curtin earned the win, while Les Zoller of the New York Stars was the losing pitcher. Boxscore available here __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

12-09-2020, 04:01 PM	#97
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1933 Recap: The Memphis Mauler They called him the Memphis Mauler and though the Tennessee native was far from home, he certainly lived up to the "Mauler" portion of his moniker in posting one of the most impressive seasons in FABL history in 1933. The Mauler, of course, was Rankin Kellogg, the star first sacker of the Philadelphia Keystones. By '33 Kellogg was already a household name of long-standing but the 30-year-old upped the ante in a big way by batting .390 with 45 homers and 151 runs batted in. These were Triple Crown numbers, not only for the Federal Association, but for FABL as a whole. And riding on his coat-tails the Philadelphia Keystones copped a second-straight Fed pennant and a berth in the World Championship Series. An honorable mention must be given to his young team mate Bobby Barrell who posted an outstanding season of his own (.367-12-137). Rankin Kellogg, 1B Philadelphia (FA) Kellogg's heroics were just a part of what was a historic season for FABL. For the first time in history, the best of the best would earn a showcase in the middle of the season as FABL unveiled the "All-Star Benefit for Retirees and Widows' - which would soon become known as simply "the All-Star game." Devised as a way to put some money in the pockets of destitute ex-players and their families during what was the depths of the Great Depression, the game's inaugural affair was held at Chicago's Whitney Field on July 6th and was a tremendous success (with the Federal stars outdueling their Continental counterparts by a final of 8-5), with FABL President Robert Owings announcing a week later that it would become an annual event, with the host site alternating by league with an aim to eventually bringing it to every FABL ballpark. Fittingly, that first ever 1933 All-Star game featured Max Morris, the game's biggest star with the aging, but still dangerous, slugger entering the record books (again) with the first hit in All-Star game history. He also scored the game's first run, crossing the plate on Forester team mate Moxie Pidgeon's homer (also a first) to get the game off to a fast start. Morris, Pidgeon and the rest of the Foresters spent much of the season looking like a dangerous club before fading down the stretch in the face of a very strong Chicago Cougars club. Moxie Pidgeon, RF Cleveland Those Cougars were something else too. One newspaperman may have hit the nail on the head when he described the Cougars as "more mechanically efficient than any assembly line in the nation." The Cougars were ruthlessly efficient - they pitched well, they fielded (extremely) well and they hit well. It was hard to find a flaw in their collective efforts and they ended up winning the Continental pennant with a 97-57 record, ten games up on the aforementioned Cleveland Foresters. With five All-Stars on the roster, headed up by the three-headed monster of ace pitchers Dick Lyons, Tommy Wilcox and Dick Luedtke, the Cougs allowed a full half-run less than any other CA team (3.4) and were nearly a full-run better than the league average of 4.2. The offense, headed up by C Mike Taylor (.282-21-76), OF Tom Taylor (.292-17-87) and 1B Bill Ashbaugh (.291-11-75) lacked a superstar of the caliber of a Max Morris or Rankin Kellogg, but was deep and dangerous throughout. And the defense, particularly in the outfield, was rock solid. Tommy Wilcox, P Chicago (CA) Cleveland, with Morris bashing a league-best 41 homers at age 38, was the only CA club to top 100 homers (they hit 109 as a team) with the aforementioned Pidgeon (17) and CF Dan Fowler (12) also reaching double-figures. Perhaps most impressive for Clevelanders was the emergence of a legitimate pitching staff, something of obvious necessity in the Continental Association. Roger Perry turned in an ace-like performance (17-9, 3.45 ERA) at age 25 and fellow 25 year-olds Ben Turner (14-14, 3.70) and Karl Johnson (11-8, 3.52) showed a lot of promise (though Johnson ended up being dealt for veteran catcher TR Goins). But the biggest reason for optimism on the banks of the Cuyahoga was 23-year-old Dean Astle who went 7-3 with a 2.57 ERA in 12 starts for the Foresters after coming up from AAA. Third-place went to the defending champion New York Stars who went 79-75 as the third (and last) CA team to top the .500 mark in 1933. The Philadelphia Sailors finished fourth with a flat .500 record at 77-77. Brooklyn, finishing fifth, continued to madden fans with another sluggish start and torrid finish, posting an enticing, but disappointing 76-78 mark. Montreal, which finished sixth at 75-79, rounded out the middling group of CA clubs that showed flashes of promise. The Baltimore Cannons finished seventh at 65-89 despite another stellar season for Rabbit Day (21-11, 2.77). The Cannons would embark on a true "tear it all down and rebuild" process in the offseason. Last place again went to Toronto who were again living up to what wag termed a reputation as the team that is usually "top of the map, but bottom of the standings." Brooklyn's Jake Shadoan won the batting title with a .364 average. Morris led in homers (41) and RBIs (120). Chicago's Wilcox copped the ERA title at 2.58, and tied with Rabbit Day for the most wins (21). Day again led the league in strikeouts with 177. Jake Shadoan, 3B Brooklyn The Whitney Award went to Max Morris of Cleveland, his record eighth time winning the award; Tommy Wilcox brought the Allen Award home to Chicago - his first time earning the nod as the league's top pitcher. The Federal League, like the Continental, ended up not having much of a pennant race down the stretch as the Keystones simply had too much for the rest of the Fed to handle. Philly went 96-58 and though Detroit's 90-64 mark was deceptively close, there really wasn't much of a chance of anyone else winning the flag in 1933. The Stones put up 871 runs, good for 5.7 a game, more than half-a-run better than runner-up St,. Louis. And the pitching, though not overwhelming, was good enough, finishing third in runs allowed at 4.6 a game. As previously mentioned, the one-two punch of Kellogg & Barrell gave the Keystones a lot of firepower with the pair finishing 1-2 in average and slugging percentage as well as RBIs (and several other categories as well). The pitching was headed up by Ed Baker (19-5, 3.78) with veteran Bill Ross (14-9, 4.08), Art Myers (13-7, 3.86), Ray Rinehart (12-98. 4.81) and Al Robinson (11-13, 4.20) rounding out the rotation. Bobby Barrell, RF Philadelphia (FA) Second-place Detroit was led by RF Al Wheeler (.300-26-121) and LF Henry Jones (.300-19-96) giving the Dynamos the Fed's third-best offense. Detroit's league-best pitching was led by 36-year-old veteran Roy Calfee (18-12, 3.00), 34-year-old Wayne Robinson (17-11, 3.12) and 35-year-old Mel Strom (15-15, 4.11) - the biggest problem in Motown was the mileage on those arms. The New York Gothams and surprising St. Louis Pioneers finished tied for third with identical 81-73 marks. The Gothams suffered through another injury-riddled season with star 1B Bud Jameson (.314-9-61) again limited to barely 100 games (101 to be precise) and LF Joe Perrett (.307-12-77) also missing significant time. But NY did still have the Fed's best pitcher in Jim Lonardo. Lonardo (21-10, 2.87) copped his third Allen Award as the Fed's top arm, giving him three of the last four Allen trophies. With 20-somethings Hardin Bates, Jack Elder (only 22), Walter Murphy and Al Allen (the son of the guy the award was named for) on hand, the Gothams had pitching to spare in backing up the stellar Lonardo. Jim Lonardo, P New York (FA) The Pioneers, who were supposed to still be rebuilding, served notice that they might be ahead of schedule in 1933. They had a bona-fide star on their hands in 23-year-old 2B Freddie Jones (.355-4-89, 112 runs) who proved his outstanding debut in '32 was no fluke. They had a legitimate slugger in 27-year-old LF Alex Ingraham (.274-22-111) and a solid second-fiddle to Jones in 1B Fred McCormick (.347-7-69) who came over in the Max Morris trade of 1930, a deal that was paying great dividends for St. Louis. 25-year-old Rule 5 pickup Sam Sheppard (17-14, 3.50) looked like he might prove to be that rare ace plucked off the scrap heap and Joe Shaffner (15-17, 4.12) and Brad Magnuson (18-12, 4.03) showed they could provide quality innings. The Pioneers' future looked very bright at the conclusion of the '33 campaign, a far cry from the depths of their 53-101 last-place record of just two years earlier (the finish that gave them the pick they used to get Freddie Jones). Sam Sheppard, P St. Louis The bottom half of the Federal standings was headed by Pittsburgh at 73-81. Like St. Louis, the Miners were in a rebuild and did have some nice young players around which they were building. 27-year-old Frank Lightbody (.307, 19 triples) was emerging as something more than "Doug's kid brother", 24-year-old 3B Ed Stewart (.292-21-88) and 28-year-old C Jim Pool (.274-15-69). The biggest promise lay in the minors, where catcher George Cleaves waited in the wings for his shot at the big time. With Pool and Curt Squillante (.322 in 64 games) already in Pittsburgh, finding at-bats for Cleaves presented a bit of a challenge, but it was expected that management would take care of that in the offseason. George Cleaves, C Pittsburgh Speaking of management, the Washington Eagles had a new boss and he wasn't going to stand pat. Among several moves made was one really, big one: dealing long-time franchise cornerstone catcher T.R. Goins. Goins was sent to Cleveland with the Eagles receiving promising pitcher Karl Johnson, catcher Ben Richardson and a first round draft pick that the team used on HS pitcher Tommy Trott. The jury's out on that one, but it seemed like a move in the right direction. The Eagles' cupboard was fairly bare, but the team did get promising seasons from 25-year-old CF Wally Flowers (.312-10-88) and 24-year-old pitcher Bob Sanders (7-11, 3.63). Karl Johnson, P Washington The two other rebuilding projects in the Fed, in Chicago (65-89) and Boston (60-94) were similar stories. The Chiefs had a promising 25-year-old pitcher in Jim Simmons (14-14, 3.45) and a couple of younger hitters (1B Bob Martin and SS Joe Foy) to support the franchise's two star players: 33 year-old 3B Joe Masters (.269-18-102) and 31-year-old LF Jim Hampton (.316-19-87). The Minutemen had an aging star of their own in 34-year-old Charlie Barry (.341-6-72) with a promising young catcher in 24-year-old Bobby Gentry (.338-4-41 in 84 games) and also had, but dealt, 25-year-old CF Dan Fowler (.285-14-58 with Boston, .298-26-94 overall with Boston & Cleveland) and a pitcher they hoped would evolve into a potential ace in 24-year-old Ed Wood, who came over from Cleveland in the Fowler trade and went 3-5 with a 3.49 ERA in 11 games after joining Boston. The Minutemen also received young SS John Wood, CF Pete Day and 3B Art Spencer in that Fowler deal, a good haul of youth possessing that all-important attribute: potential. Ed Wood, P Boston The World Championship Series which pit the opposing styles of the Chicago Cougars (outstanding pitching & defense with solid offense) versus the Philadelphia Keystones (outstanding offense with solid pitching & defense) was much anticipated following a stretch run that was as ho-hum as any in recent memory. In game one, the Cougars drew first blood with a three-run third and went on to a 7-3 victory in a battle of aces (Chicago's Wilcox vs Philly's Baker). Game two, again in Philadelphia, saw the visitors again win, this time the Cougars scratched out a 3-2 win behind Dick Luedtke. In their two road wins, Chicago had successfully "danced between the raindrops" preventing too much damage despite Kellogg (4-for-8) and Barrell (4-for-9) each having some individual success at the plate. With games three, four and five set for North Side Grounds, the Cougars were likely feeling pretty good about themselves as they headed to Chicago. But the Keystones kept the visiting team streak alive thanks in large part to their big slugger as Rankin Kellogg went 4-for-5 with a double and homer to power a 9-5 win to get Philly back into the Series. The trend continued in game four as the Keystones won by a 4-1 margin to make it four straight wins by the road team. Kellogg again provided some fireworks with a two-run homer and Barrell pitched in with a three-hit effort for the Keystones. The pivotal game five saw an interesting decision as Philly elected to not send Ed Baker out to start against Tommy Wilcox, instead going with game two starter Al Robinson. Both Wilcox and Robinson were a bit shaky in the early going and the game was knotted at 3-3 through the first three innings of play. Each team added a run in the sixth, making it 4-4 with two-thirds of the game in the books - and it remained that way into the 10th inning when, with Wilcox still on the mound, the Keystones get a three-run homer from CF Grover Lee and end up taking a 7-4 victory and 3-1 series lead back to Philadelphia. But again... would Philly feel secure in going home in a series in which the home team had yet to win a game? If they did, it would have been a poor decision as once again the road team pulled out the win in game six. Now tapping Baker to return to the hill for the first time since his game one loss, the Keystones hoped to snap the streak against Chicago's Dick Luedtke. And it looked good in the early going as the Keystones jumped out 4-1 after two innings. But the Cougars cut it to 4-3 in the fifth and after Philly scored to make it 5-3, the Cougars came back again and tie it in the sixth. In the 8th, the Cougars score again, and make it hold up, eking out a 6-5 victory to keep the road win streak going and push themselves to the brink of a second title in three seasons. Game seven - a dream scenario for baseball fans. This one would feature the Cougars ace, and eventual Allen Award-winner, Tommy Wilcox, going on short rest after his game five effort, facing off with former Cougar Bill Ross. In the third, the Cougars draw first blood thanks to an error and a double, to go up 1-0. The lead wouldn't be held though as the Keystones battle back to plate a pair of tallies in the home fourth to lead 2-1. Chicago answers right back, knotting the game at 2-2, That would hold into the bottom of the sixth when Cy Cox singles to bring up Bobby Barrell who belts a two-run homer to give Philly a 4-2 lead. That would prove to be the game's final score as Bill Ross mowed through the Cougars over the last three frames to give the title to Philadelphia. Barrell earns the nod as Series MVP for his 14-for-29 efforts that included a pair of homers, six runs scored and six more driven in. __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At! Last edited by legendsport; 12-12-2020 at 07:49 PM.

01-16-2021, 12:32 PM	#98
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1934 Recap: All In If there was a theme for the 1934 FABL season it could be summed up in two simple words: All In. With both circuits featuring multiple contenders, the 1934 season saw a significant uptick in trade activity, much of it driven by contenders attempting to "one up" each other in a back and forth arms race the likes of which had never before been seen. In the Federal Association, the defending champion Philadelphia Keystones saw no fewer than three serious contenders for replacing them atop the standings table: the Boston Minutemen, New York Gothams and St. Louis Pioneers all mounted a challenge and several of those clubs swung deals with an eye to gaining an edge in the chase for the pennant. The Continental Association's pennant fever was arguably even more serious. With perennial powerhouse Chicago coming out of the gate slowly (and suffering a significant injury as well), there was no shortage of clubs attempting to climb into the Cougars' catbird seat.Though it ultimately boiled down to a two-way streetfight between the Brooklyn Kings and Cleveland Foresters, several other clubs were in the fight early and many trades were made along the way, right up to the trade deadline. What made the races so interesting was the fact that the Keystones and Cougars each fell off their perches atop their respective leagues at the same time, with the result being a more wide open feel to the pennant races than had been true in the last several campaigns. Some of the credit (or blame depending on whose viewpoint you take) can be laid at the feet of the Baltimore Cannons. The former contenders featured a pair of star players who were dealt on the same day, just prior to the opening of the season, which changed the dynamics of both circuits and set off a chain reaction of deals that would last right up to the final day of the trading season. Those two deals were blockbusters. On March 26, the Cannons dealt Rabbit Day, arguably the best pitcher in FABL,. to the New York Gothams for a slew of minor leaguers and draft picks. The move, adding Day to a staff that already featured multiple Allen Award winner Jim Lonardo, made the Gothams the early favorite in the Fed race. But the Cannons weren't done, sending star right fielder Lou Kelly to the Chicago Cougars, picking up three more young players in return. The move set off groans around the Continental Association as it appeared to be a case of the rich getting richer. Not willing to stand pat while the circuit's best club got even better, the Cleveland Foresters were the first to respond, swinging a pair of deals on April 16th that brought in two solid starting pitchers. Walter Murphy came over from the pitching-rich Gothams and Eddie Quinn was acquired from the not-so-pitching-rich Toronto Wolves. The moves gave the Foresters a solid rotation that was designed to compete with the star-studded staff in Chicago. A month later the Brooklyn Kings got into the act, sending a pair of prospects to the Cannons for 36-year-old veteran lefty Ken Carpenter. The move, seen as a bit of a risk at the time, was to be the spark that would later vault the Kings into true contention. Other deals in May included one that saw the Cougars, who were struggling with their middle infield play at the time, adding shortstop Clyde Hinzman from Toronto. June saw the Boston Minutemen, surprising contenders at the time, jump into the fray with a deal to acquire 32-year-old star pitcher Charlie Stedman from the New York Stars and a second trade to add another pitcher, 36-year-old Max Wilder from the Cougars. While Stedman posted solid numbers in Beantown (10-7, 2.48 ERA in 19 games), Wilder was a disappointment and would be moved to the Kings in a later trade. The Cougars added Woody Armstrong from the Saints as they continued to seek an answer in the infield, and the Gothams added another arm to their stable of Allen Award winners, adding Milt Fritz from the Saints as Montreal shed some of its more valuable pieces in an effort to add some youth (and in Armstrong's case, a needed outfielder in Bobby Sprague). The Cougars continued to make noise in July, acquiring veteran slugger Joe Masters from their cross-town rival Chiefs. The 35-year-old third baseman moved to the North Side after enjoying a very strong first half that saw him hit .349 with 11 homers in 69 games for the Chiefs. Alas, he was not as productive for the Cougars, hitting .287 with 7 homers in 79 games on the North Side. The big trade also brought in pitcher Dave Rankin while sending an amazing eight mostly very young players to the Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Minutemen had fallen off the pace in the Fed, causing them to be willing to move longtime franchise cornerstone 3B Charlie Barry, who was dealt to the Cleveland Foresters on July 16th for a 1st round pick and 18 year old pitcher Bob Ginger. Barry solidified arguably the lone weak spot in the Cleveland lineup and proved key to their ultimately successful pennant push. Not to be left out, the Kings added another pitcher, this time picking up 30-year-old Joe Shaffner from the Pioneers (who were themselves in the thick of the race in the Federal, trailing the front-running Gothams by just a handful of games). Two weeks later, the Kings made their final deal of the season, adding the aforementioned Max Wilder from Boston. Wilder would be a disappointment in Brooklyn, but the Kings management can not be faulted for going "all in" in their effort to catch the Foresters. The final deal of the 1934 season, which came on deadline day July 31st, was between the Montreal Saints and St. Louis Pioneers. Montreal dealt a pair of youngsters to the Pioneers for highly regaded backstop Tom Bird and a couple of minor leaguers. Bird, at 26, was considered a highly talented catcher who had frustrated managers with his inability to put it all together. With the Saints looking for a long-term solution at catcher, the acquisition's ultimate payoff remains to be seen. With the dealing done, it now came down to the games. Both races seemed to be somewhat in hand on July 31. The Gothams enjoyed a seven-game edge on the Pioneers in the Fed, while the Foresters held a six-game edge on the Kings in the Continental. A month later, the margin remained the same in the Federal race, but the Continental had seen a wild month change the landscape of the race. The Brooklyn Kings went 20-7 in August while Cleveland struggled to a 13-15 mark. Brooklyn's surge was powered by their potent offense led by eventual batting champ OF Doug Lightbody (.371-7-85) and a pair of emerging stars: 3B John Langille (.359-10-100) and SS Harry Barrell (.344-3-81) who were part of arguably baseball's best infield (2B Jake Shadoan, .340-14-81 and 1B Dan Barrell .329-11-97 were no slouches either). But arguably more important than the bats was the outstanding pitching of SP Mike Murphy, who was 7-0 with a 1.77 ERA in August, outpacing team mate and eventual lock for the Allen Award, Tom Barrell (who was 4-1, 3.72 in August). Meanwhile, the Foresters were struggling, their seemingly safe lead gone as they entered the final month of the season 1.5 games behind the streaking Kings and two of their three best pitchers (Walter Murphy and Roger Perry) sporting ERAs north of 6.00. But the Foresters showed a never say die attitude in September, going 19-8 for the month and 15-1 over their last sixteen games of the season to finish one game ahead of the Kings. The Foresters finished first in runs allowed (660) while scoring 874 (2nd in the Continental) with a roster laden with veteran talent that included 1B Max Morris (.320-26-123), C T.R. Goins (.349-12-87), 3B Charlie Barry (.325-15-96) and younger stars like RF Moxie Pidgeon (.325-25-92), CF Dan Fowler (.264-22-91) and LF Leon Drake (.295-21-118), becoming the first team in history with four 20-HR players. The pitching was led by 25-year-old Dean Astle (.17-7, 3.07) and veterans Walter Murphy (15-8., 3.96), Roger Perry (19-8, 3.38) and Eddie Quinn (17-10, 3.15). Brooklyn's outstanding season including a pitching performance for the ages from Tom Barrell, whose 29-3 was the best for a pitcher in about 20 years. With Murphy finishing 21-7, 2.84 and Carpenter 19-8, 3.64, alongside an offense that scored 900 runs (most in baseball) and a roster chock full of young talent, the Kings' runner-up finish might just be the set up for even bigger things down the road. With 98 and 97 win clubs topping the chart, there weren't a lot of victories to go around for the other six Continental clubs in '34. New York, Philadelphia and Chicago all finished with 78-76 records while sixth-place Montreal went 70-84. Perennial cellar-dweller Toronto finished seventh (63-91) thanks to a torn-down Cannons club that managed a dismal 54-100 record to finish last. Lightbody led the league in batting, while Chicago's Tom Taylor's 31 homers was best in the CA. Morris' 123 RBIs topped the Continental. Tom Barrell led in wins (29) and strikeouts (189) while the Sailors' William Jones posted a 2.53 mark to take the ERA title. The Federal race was relatively close but did not feature the dramatic back-and-forth streakiness of the Foresters-Kings battle in the Continental. The rebuild Gothams won the pennant, with a 91-63 mark that was five games better than the Pioneers. New York featured a rotation that included three Allen Award winners. The list was headed by Jim Lonardo, the club's resident ace and winner of three Allen Awards. Lonardo posted a solid 3.02 ERA but a lack of run support saw him post the worst record of the quartet at 14-12.New pickup Rabbit Day led the team with 20 wins, going 20-8 with a 3.02 ERA. Surprise star Hardin Bates was 19-5 with a league-best 2.35 ERA when he was hurt on September 20th, missing the Championship Series although he is likely to give the Gothams a fourth Allen Award winner for his performance. Fourth starter Milt Fritz, who won the Allen in '31 while in Brooklyn was on his fourth club despite being just 25 years old. He had a middling season going 6-5, 4.74 in Montreal before joining the Gothams where he went 7-8, 4.17. The Gothams offense scored 881 runs, 2nd best to the Keystones' potent lineup. Solid up and down, New York was led by RF Mahlon Strong and his .313-29-110 stat line. Oft-injured 1B Bud Jameson posted a .320-9-60 line while catcher John Wicklund (.319-12-76) headed up the remainder of a lineup that boasted seven .300 hitters with only 2B John Turner (.254-4-58) failing to top the .300 mark. The runners-up in St. Louis (86-68) served notice that their long rebuild might be nearing completion. In the race all season long, the Pioneers featured a potent 3-4 combo in LF Alex Ingraham (.304-31-117) and 1B Frank McCormick (.349-22-138) as well as the league's batting champ in young keystone star Freddie Jones, who flirted with .400 most of the year before fading a bit to finish with a FABL-best .384 average. Jones also showed the best batting eye in the league as he drew 107 walks and finished with a flat .500 on-base percentage. He missed over 30 games due to injury, making his walk total even more amazing. Third-place Boston (82-72) likewise seem to be emerging from an extended period of non-contention with a club centered around a superstar in the making in CF Chick Donnelly (.364-6-107) a top-notch defender who proved he could hit too. With LF Pete Day (.344-12-94) and 1B Carl Carr (.340-16-84) as well, the future is bright in Boston, even with the departure of long-time star Charlie Barry. If the pitching comes around, the Minutemen will be a very dangerous club indeed. The defending champion Keystones (81-73) got off to a slow start and never really recovered, finishing fourth (their worst showing since a 5th-place finish in 1928). The offense remains the class of the Fed, racking up 888 runs with the dynamic duo of RF Bobby Barrell (.367-34-144) and 1B Rankin Kellogg (.340-35-138) again dominating opposing pitchers. The pitching left a lot to be desired. Ed Baker (18-6, 4.09) remains a dependable ace, but the club finished fifth in starters ERA and the offense is not so much better than that of its competition to be able to survive a middling effort from the mound. The Chicago Chiefs and Pittsburgh Miners finished with identical 74-80 marks, tying for fifth-place. The Chiefs were active on the trade front in '34, particularly with their fellow Windy City citizens on the North Side, adding some needed youth to an aging club that last competed for a pennant in 1929. By dealing star 3B Joe Masters, management has shown it is ready to move on from the 1928 pennant winning club with LF Jim Hampton (.319-12-101) the last remaining star from that team. "Mr. Automatic" 1B Bob Martin (.369-11-84), who was a callow rookie on that '28 team, is now the team's star, racking up his sixth-straight season of 200+ hits with a league-best 247 safeties. Like the Keystones, the Chiefs real need is pitching. Top prospect Al Martin, just 19 years old, can't mature fast enough for fans of the Chiefs. The Miners struggled offensively in '34, finishing dead last in the Fed with 739 runs scored. 20-year-old catcher George Cleaves was handed the keys to the club in '34 and turned in a solid rookie effort with a .311 average. The grandson of former Miner catcher George Theobald (and brother of Sailors star 2B Jack Cleaves), young George carries the weight of the franchise's hopes on his back until top prospects like pitchers Lefty Allen and Nate Spear are ready.to join him, LF Joe Owens (.329-1-44),. RF Frank Lightbody (.327-6-81) and 3B Ed Stewart (.289-25-109). The Detroit Dynamos, who finished second to the Keystones in both 1932 and '33, dropped all the way to seventh-place in 1934 with a disappointing 73-81 mark. Detroit's "Big Three" of 3B Frank Vance (.344-24-109), LF Henry Jones (.308-24-124) and RF Al Wheeler (.309-22-90) were productive, but especially in Wheeler's case, not to the extent that Dynamos fans had been accustomed to seeing. And the pitching was flat out bad, finishing sixth in runs allowed (872). Last-place Washington was deep in the throes of a rebuild. With long-time cornerstone T.R. Goins now in Cleveland, the Eagles belonged to 28-year-old 2B Andy Carter (.298-4-79) and the team's hoped-for-star of the future in 23-year-old LF Sam Brown (.312-10-67 in his rookie season). The club finished 55-99 and will draft first in the upcoming draft, hoping to add another top-notch talent to a system that already boasts the #3 prospect in 3B Mel Carrol, a 22-year-old who hit .411 in AAA in 1934 and is expected to be in Washington for Opening Day 1935. Freddie Jones (.384) as mentioned earlier won the Fed batting crown. Philly team mates Rankin Kellogg and Bobby Barrell won the home run (35) and RBI crowns (144) respectively. Hardin Bates' 2.35 ERA topped the league (ahead of his two teammates Lonardo and Day's identical 3.02 marks). Day's 20 wins was best and he also led the league with 159 strikeouts (his seventh straight time leading his league in punchouts). __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!

04-05-2021, 12:56 PM	#99
legendsport Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Behind The Lens Posts: 2,867	1935 Recap - Deja Vu? Both leagues featured good pennant races once again - and for the second straight year, the contenders were identical as well. As were, ultimately the pennant winners, though the World Championship Series' results were flipped this time around. In the Federal Association, the New York Gothams and St. Louis Pioneers were the class of the circuit and the Gothams eked out the pennant by a two-game margin (after winning the '34 flag by five games over the same Pioneer club). The perception around the Gothams has been that they have the best rotation in the Fed (if not FABL as a whole) with multiple Allen-Award-winning arms in the rotation. Rabbit Day, Jim Lonardo, Hardin Bates being the aforementioned men with the hardware joined by (for a limited engagement, another Allen winner in Milt Fritz - he was ultimately traded to the Chicago Cougars), highly touted prospect Curly Jones and Jack Elder. The rotation produced, as expected, and the Gothams allowed the fewest runs in the FA. The Gothams got strong seasons from perhaps the most underrated receiver in baseball, John Wicklund (.329-23-101) as well as outfielders Moxie Pidgeon (.306-28-120) and Mahlon Strong (.343-24-116) as well as 3B Johnny McDowell (.338-2-67). That added up to the third-best run scoring lineup in the FA. The #1 team on that list was the St. Louis Pioneers. With former Gotham farmhand 1B Fred McCormick (.369-27-161) and batting champ/Whitney Award winning 2B Freddie Jones (.389-8-89, 145 runs) leading the way, the Pioneers plated 959 runs, the most in either league. And the pitching was good too - with an Allen-Award-winning performance from Sam Sheppard (28-7, 3.13 over 41 starts and 336 innings) and a solid season from David Abalo (17-12, 3.92), the Pioneers were mid-pack in run prevention which meshed nicely with their outstanding lineup to power them to 91 wins, just two shy of the 93-win Gothams. The Philadelphia Keystones were third, 83-71 and 10 games off the pace. LF Rip Curry (.370) was second in the batting race, 1B Rankin Kellogg (.338-45-165) and RF Bobby Barrell (.317-33-132) were their usual outstanding selves, helping Philly score 888 runs, 2nd to the Pioneers. The pitching was a somewhat weak spot, finishing fifth overall. Fourth-place went to the Pittsburgh Miners, who had a somewhat surprising season with an 82-72 mark despite only outscoring their opponents by three runs 747-744 on the year. Those runs allowed were third behind the 731 allowed by both the Gothams and Boston Minutemen. The future looks bright for the Miners with catcher George Cleaves (.333-12-94) continuing his development and top pitching prospect Lefty Allen making a September appearance (1-2, 3.60 ERA in three games) that may presage a full-scale debut in '37. The Chicago Chiefs (78-76) were fifth, and like Pittsburgh, seemed to be on an upward trajectory towards contention. Already in place is 1B Bob Martin (.361-9-83), one of the top batters in the league, 3B Len Jones (.338-11-101) and a solid RF platoon of Cliff Moss (.331-19-60) and Ron Rattigan (.314-8-38). The pitching remained a work in progress, but Ron Coles (14-16, 4.18) was solid in his first stint as a full-time starting pitcher and Charlie Bingham (15-9, 3.94) looked like a reliable anchor while the team awaits the arrival of Al Miller, who could be the ace the team needs. The Boston Minutemen, like the Chiefs and Miners, are a work-in-progress. They finished sixth with a 75-79 mark, but any disappointment there has to be offset by the club's flashing of the single-most difficult asset to find: quality pitching. Boston tied the Gothams for the fewest runs allowed, thanks to a staff that may lack household names, but proved itself adept at run prevention. With 22-year-old Dick Higgins showing he was ready with a 15-15, 3.43 ERA campaign, the Minutemen's staff seems to be legit. There's good young talent in the OF led by Chick Donnelly (.338-13-81, 105 runs), Pete Day (.292-3-65, 92 runs) and Dave Henry (.300-11-66 in 84 games). The makeover in Washington is ongoing and the team's seventh-place finish at 71-83 could be reasonably assessed as promising. The Eagles have an established, if underrated, star in 29-year-old 2B Andy Carter (.321-4-64, 15 triples) and a good young RF in Sam Brown (.332-17-82) with similarly young and promising pieces spread around the field. What let the Eagles down was the pitching, to the tune of 881 runs allowed, ahead of only the completely torn-down Detroit Dynamos. Still, the farm system is rife with promising arms and things certainly look bright in the nation's capital. The same can't be said for Detroit. The Dynamos began a complete teardown and rebuild process before the '36 season, dealing away a slew of valuable players that included the Continental's Triple Crown-and-Whitney Award winner in Al Wheeler. The cupboard was left as bare in Detroit as anyone could remember anywhere and the results - a 43-111 mark - bore that out. The pain level is high, but the return on all those trades should hopefully bear fruit in the not-too-distant future. For now, Dynamos fans must simply play the waiting game and hope the front office hits on the draft picks and prospects acquired for Wheeler, Frank Vance, Roy Calfee, Jack Beach and the other established stars dealt away. The Continental Association race, like the Fed's had a familiar look. Once again the primary combatants were the Cleveland Foresters and Brooklyn Kings and once again, the Foresters eked out the pennant win by a single game over the hard luck Kings. We'll start with the runners-up here - the Brooklyn Kings made big moves to improve the club and win that elusive title. That it eluded them despite the acquisition of Al Wheeler (.362-34.130, Triple Crown and Whitney Award) and Frank Vance (.354-7-91) from Detroit boils down a key injury to the worst possible player in Tom Barrell. The Kings' workhorse ace was coming off a stellar '34 season that saw him win 29 games and the Allen Award. In '35 he was well on his way again, and ended up 22-11 with a 2.86 ERA (and a second straight Allen Award), but he missed several weeks with an abdominal injury, likely costing the club several wins, any one of which would have at least secured Brooklyn a first-place tie. In Cleveland, the name etched on the Front Office glass had changed, but the performance on the field did not. With a new GM overseeing things, the Foresters' well-oiled machine chugged right along in '35, capturing its second straight pennant. Four Foresters (Leon Drake, Dan Fowler, Max Morris and T.R.Goins) clubbed 20 or more home runs, the pitching staff allowed the fewest runs in either league and the team, in general, was just as good as ever. Even with living legend Max Morris missing the stretch run, the Foresters were clutch and won whenever they needed a victory, much as they had done the previous year. Third-place belonged to the Philadelphia Sailors. The Sailors posted a 78-76 mark, barely over .500 and 18 games behind the Foresters. With both Cleveland and Brooklyn sporting juggernaut clubs, there wasn't much left for the rest of the bunch in the CA. The Sailors actually allowed more runs (764) than they scored (754) so they could be considered lucky to some extent. Still they did get good performances from 1B Dick Walker (.299-10-80) and they have a trio of solid pitchers in William Jones (16-11, 3.58), Doc Newell (18-12, 3.62) and Herb Flynn (14-8, 3.48). Unfortunately for them, the staffs in Cleveland and Brooklyn are both star-studded and extremely talented too. Montreal, also under new management, posted a 75-79 mark, good for fourth-best, held back by inconsistency more than anything else. There is some talent in 1B Vic Crawford (.337-14-103), 3B Hank Barnett (.289-18-85) and promising defensive whiz Pablo Reyes in CF. There's a potential ace in 25-year-old George Thomas (18-12, 4.01) but the Saints still have some growing to do in the top-heavy Continental if they're to contend. The New York Stars were caught-in-between in 1935. The glories of championship seasons were not too far in the past for this group, but they were getting long in the tooth and that showed on the field. 3B John Lawson was the best of the bunch at the plate with a .343-12-77 stat line in 125 games (94 starts) that showed he still has it. But he turned 32 this season, and fellow infielders 1B Dave Trowbridge (36), 2B Pete Layton (35) and SS Bill Rich (33) are all on the wrong side of 30. The once-top-notch pitching fell off as well and the team allowed 881 runs, third-worst in the league. Another former champion laid low in '35 was the Chicago Cougars. The Cougars aggressive management doesn't sit pat and changes were made during the season, so the clubs 68-86 mark, while disappointing, doesn't mean this isn't a group with a bright future: the Cougs' farm is bursting with potential, some of which made an appearance to rave reviews in 1935. One of those youngsters was RF Rich Langton who hit .344 with 11 homers and 45 RBIs in a mere 65 games. With all the dealing and shuffling going on, only three players (LF Doc Love, .340-22-105), C Mike Taylor (.260-11-62) and IF Bill Ashbaugh (.282-11-78) played in more than 100 games. The pitching was uneven and in flux as well althoughformer ace Tommy Wilcox (3-1, 4.72 in eight games) returned. A big chunk of the team's future fortunes ride on whether Wilcox can recover a significant portion of his vast talent before arm injuries laid him low. The Toronto Wolves finished seventh, another season in a growing string of disappointing finishes for a club that has finished as high as sixth only once since 1927's third-place finish, and averaging 36.25 games out of first in those eight seasons. Still, new management is in place, there's a hotshot pitching prospect (Joe Hancock) getting ever close to debuting out of a minor league system that is improving. And there is 25-year-old Chuck Cole. The right-hander posted an 18-10 mark and 3.06 ERA for a team that won a total of 67 games. So there is light at the end of the tunnel, even if the tunnel still seems like it's going to go on for a bit. The Baltimore Cannons, like the Detroit Dynamos in the Fed, are in the midst of a tear-it-down-to-the-studs type of rebuild. The Cannons were 65-89 and did flash a somewhat effective (and relatively young) lineup headlined by a trio of solid, mid-twenty-somethings in 1B Bunny Stapleton (.352-13-65), CF Whit Williams (.324-8-59) and LF Jim Mason (.343-11-67). The pitching was, to put it bluntly, bad. But there are a couple of top-notch arms on the farm in first round picks John Edwards and Rusty Petrick and the club's last-place finish earned them the honor of adding prized pitching prospect Rufus Barrell II to their organization. So pitching is on the way. Hopefully the good hitters the team has haven't aged out by the time it arrives in Baltimore. As mentioned above, the Allen Awards were won by Brooklyn's Tom Barrell in the CA (his second straight win) and St. Louis' Sam Sheppard in the Federal. The Whitney Award in the Continental went - unsurprisingly - to Triple Crown winning outfielder Al Wheeler of Brooklyn (a feat made more impressive by his having spent the first month of the season in the other league). The Fed's winner was Freddie Jones of the Pioneers, who has emerged as the best pure hitter in the game, as well as an on-base machine with the game's best eye at the plate: Jones had 234 hits, 148 walks and just 22 strikeouts on the season. The postseason featured a rematch of the 1934 World Championship Series as the New York Gothams and Cleveland Foresters squared off again. The Foresters were without Max Morris, who went done with a back injury on the last day of August. Whether that made a real difference is debatable as the Gothams had a tremendous series, winning impressively in five games to gain revenge on their loss in 1934. The Series win was the first for New York since 1896 ending nearly 40 years of misery. __________________ Hexed & Countered on YouTube Figment League - A fictional history of baseball - Want to join in the fun? Shoot me a PM! Read the story of the Barrell Family - A Figment Baseball tale The Figment Sports Universe - More Fake Sports Than You Can Shake a Stick At!