FABL - Washington Eagles – Bring the franchise back to the glory days

[Jay_Bourne]

FABL is a strongly active OOTP online league where most of owners will add some posts on the OOTP forums and on the slack channels. Been with the group for 2 seasons now and one of the best league I have been able to join. One big factor is the fact this is a stats only league versus player ratings. When reading on the OOTP forums, I have find out that most of the other teams of the leagues were filling a Dynasty report and feel like I had to do the same eventually. Here is the story of the dynasty of the "Washington Eagles 1933 and beyond"

I arrived in Washington in the offseason between 1932 and 1933 season. Amateur draft was gone and I jumped in just few days before spring training. I told myself the first season was more and observing one more than anything else, as it was kind of too late in the spring to move coaching staff. Learning the different minors teams and leagues and making the cuts for the season to come. The Washington Eagles had success before 1930 by participating in 7 World Series before 1930 and being Champions 3 times. I felt I was getting a decent franchise.

[Jay_Bourne]

Quickly in the season, I realized the previous managing crew was already in building mode by having highly rated prospects in AA and A minor levels (3B Mel Carroll, 1B Babe Walsh, SS Ollie Page, SS Jim Beard, RF Sam Brown) On the MLB roster, I knew I can count on 2B Andy Carter and CF Wally Flowers to build the franchise. Catcher T.R Goings was still at his prime and was representing a good trade value to upgrade pitching rotation which was by far the biggest challenge. The pitching rotation was anchored by two over 36 years old pals (Dick Dennis and Harry Horn) and very minimal pitching talent depth in the AAA or AA teams.

One of the key item of the 1933 season was the trade of all-star caliber catcher T.R Goings to Cleveland for LHP Karl Johnsson, C Ben Richardson and a first round draft pick. Goins was part of the Washington Eagles legacy when they won championship in 1923 and the managing team felt it would be honorable to give him the chance to win again in another organisation and making the franchise turning the page toward the future.

Despite all things, Washington record was 70-84 in 1933 and finished in 6th place. At the end of season, many roster moves made to give space for the new talent and the franchise officially annonced the move into "rebuilding mode". It start by replacing coaching staff at multiples minor league levels. Manager Jim Cathey was kept in place based on his reputation and experience.

[Jay_Bourne]

Eagles having the 6th and 13th first round picks. The crew came at the draft, with the mindset to use it's 6th overall pick to get a future franchise leading ace pitcher. The draft turns strangely as the 5 previous picks made were on pitchers, leaving the Eagles into a position to draft the best fielder available at #6. With this pick, Eagles drafted SS Johnnie Sundberg. With their second pick of the first round (#13 overall), from the Goings trade, the Eagles selected SP Tommy Trott.

SS Johnnie Sundberg
Born in Louisville MS, Sundberg came from Coastal California Dolphins college organisation
His first season in professional baseball been with Pensacola (C) where he played 124 games and held a BA of 0.269 with 19 HRs, 90 RBIs and a 5.4 WAR. He shown excellent defense during all season and was promoted to B level to finish the season to help Everett Eagles.
Prospect rating in 1934 was #67 and as 1935 season starts he has move up to #43. He should be playing for Trenton (A level) in 1935 to start the season.

SP Tommy Trott
From Portervill CA, this high school senior from Houston HS was a surprising pick in the first round. His first season in Pensacola (C) was decent with a 8-5 record in 20 GS maintaining a 145 ERA+. Due to injuries in Everett (B) he was promoted during the season. It was more challenging for him at that level, where he should be pitching in the 1935 season. He climbs up into the prospect rating list from #88 to #71 during the 1934 season.

One year later, few other players selected in the 1933 draft by the Eagles worth to be mentionned:

Round 2 - RP Ike Heller (B) 11-2 record, 14 saves,
Round 3 – C Harry Rainey (C) show promising talent in hitting and defense
Round 4 – LF Ed Morgan (C) hit 33 HRs and 0.325 BA in Pensacola
Round 7 – 2B Walt Mullen (C) hit 14 HRs and stealing 35 bases during the season
Round 11 – SP Art Cramer (A) start the season at B level where he set a 8-4 record in 16 starts. He was promoted to Trenton (A) where he set a 5-1 record, 3.72 ERA and 121 ERA+ rating
Round 13 – 1B Fred Richardson (C) completed the season with 18 HRs and a 0.301 BAvg, will be playing in (A) next season
Round 19 – SP Farmer Hamilton (A) Starting the season in Pensacola, he was quickly promoted to Everett and then to Trenton where he played most of the season. His combined record through the 1934 season was 18-8 record in 32 game starts and a 4.0 WAR.

[Jay_Bourne]

Couple of minor trades later, spring training starts with the objective to give all prospects in the organisation the opportunity to shine and show their full potential. On the batter side, three rookies were able to get a roster spot OF Sam Brown, OF Johnny McCann and 1B Babe Walsh. On the pitching side there was many open spots, and few of them were able to get a roster spots, probably due to the lack of talent in the organisation as many trials were unsuccessful.

Few other prospects came really close but need to have another year of growth in the minors: 3B Mel Carroll prospect #6
SS Ollie Page prospect #34
SS Jim Beard prospect #23
1B Hal Schumate prospect #39
C Ben Richardson

When season started, Washington Eagles were having the best rated farm system of the FABL with 4 prospects in the top 30, but none of them being a pitcher.

[Jay_Bourne]

The expectations were not high for the Eagles entering the 1934 season. This was the year to start the turn around on the rebuilding process. The roster on opening day was composed of

C Mel Goldenberg / Ed Pinkham
1B Bert Barth / Babe Walsh*
2B Andy Carter
3B Larry Vestal / Hank Bullock
SS Grover Carson / Frank Piper
LF Sam Brown* / Johnny McCann*
CF Wally Flowers
RF Bill Fero
SP Karl Johnson, Bob Sanders, Harry Smith*, Phil Newcom, Mike Knight*
RP Archie Dickey, George Allen, Jim Sears*, Robert Curry
Manager : Jim Cathey
Rookies are identified with *

Early in the season, Eagles lean toward a losing record as their starting rotation was going to multiple promotions/demotions and injuries. In June, SS Grove Carson lost his starting role due to his poor defense playing and not so convincing batting skills and was replaced by SS Frank Piper in the starting role. Knowing the potential at shortstop position in the farming system, Piper was identify as a temporary solution to end the season and keep the highly ratedprospects growing in the organization.

Injuries on the starting rotation gave the opportunity to make trial on few other pitching prospects Frank Staples and Chuck Taylor. The most interesting performance came from SP Chuck Taylor, which was a late season promotion and surprise everyone with 1-2 record, 5 GS, 3.89 ERA and 113 ERA+ during a September stint. The other rookie that worth mentionning was SP Mike Knight who has a limited number of outings missing 10 weeks in June and July for an injury.

During the season, the Eagles continue the cleaning of the minor league teams by releasing older players and giving a chance to younger potentials players to be promoted within the organisation scheme. Packed with potential, A team Trenton Eagles won the championship in the MAL.

At the end of season 1934, Eagles finished with 55-99 record giving them the last place in the Federal Association, but securing the first overall pick in the 1934 amateur draft

Recent years drafted players shown progression and the Eagles are going in the right direction

Below is the prospect ranking at the end of 1934 season from Washington drafted player in 1932 and 1933
Draft year Player Team Ranking
1933 SS Johnnie Sunderg B Everett 43
1932 RF Roy Bradley AAA Kansas City 62
1932 2B Jack Ray AA Atlanta 54
1932 CF Don Miller C Pensacole 79
1932 SP Leron Conover AA Atlanta 65
1932 SP Georges Gilliard A Trenton 100
1933 SP Tommy Trott B Everett 71

When season ends, the Eagles clean the house in their managing crew and let go their manager Jim Cathey and replaced him by AAA Kansas City Jake Chamberlain. The hitting and pitching coaches were also released. Cathey was a good manager but not at the right time for the organisation. Eagles needs a manager who can develop young players and bring them to the next level. Few other promotions were made into the minor league management teams.

[Jay_Bourne]

In preparation for 1934 draft, scouting director James Marcou drove around the country to look at scouting combine sessions and decide who will be the next #1 overall pick in the draft. The franchise, who definitely need to upgrade at pitching, selected 5 pitchers with the first 8 picks.

On the day of the draft, Washington traded one of their top prospect SS Ollie Page (AAA) to Chicago Cougars for C Claude Ramsey (MLB), SP Ike Quinn (AA) and 4th round draft pick. According to many, SS Page would have been on the MLB roster in 1935, but the performance of AA SS Jim Beard may have forced that move to improve the catcher position and opening the door to Beard for the next coming season.

Most of the drafted players signed with the organisation except SP Preacher Pietsch who decided to pursue through college. He will be eligible to draft again in 1937 after college.

[DD Martin]

Glad to see Washington join in on the fun. Good luck in the FA this season.

[Tiger Fan]

Nice job. Look forward to reading about the Eagles and their quest to return to the top of the Federal Association

[Jay_Bourne]

Spring training is only one week long that few battles are going on at the Eagles training camp.

Catcher
Ramsey acquired from trade on draft day should be getting the starting spot but everything is open for the backup position between Goldenberg, Pickham and Richardson. Prospect Richardson has a strong first week but one thing is guarantee so far, at least one of the two veterans will be going to AAA.

First Base
Hal Shumate is given the opportunity to show his potentail and had a very good first week. With second year Babe Walsh as backup, that maybe sound like a demotion to come for veteran Bert Barth if the two youngster continue this way to training camp

Second Base
Andy Carter is strongly in place for second base, but propsect Jack Ray is given some innings and expected to get the starting role in AAA this season. But in the first week he maintained .400 avg and good defense play to raise question marks... can he force a move of Carter toward shortstop and keep his spot on the roster?

Shortstop
Battle is wide open at this position between Piper, Carson and prospect Beard. Beard was kept in the organisation instead of Page, traded on draft day. Beard did not have a good first week, but still more game time before opening day. Carson had the best batting stats on the first week, but everybody know his trouble in defense. Piper would normally stay as backup.

Third base
The secret is known by everybody in town, were Mel Carroll should get the starting job at 3rd base. Only reason why he would not get it will be injury or very bad training camp. Bullock and Creasy are in training camp to train only, Bullock may get a shot as backup as he can also play shortstop in defense, but he will competing with Piper for this position of backup infielder.

Outfield:
The three starter positions should be filled by the trio of LF Vestal, CF Flowers and RF Brown.
The battle there is at backup position between McCann, Fero and the two rookies Bradley and Sweeney. So far Bradley and Fero had the best first week of the camp and would be ahead if season starts tomorrow.

Let's give another week before going to the pitcher training roster,
The question now is : How many rookie will be on the opening roster for the Washington Eagles in 1935? it could be up to 7 if we had 2 or 3 from the pitching squadron.

[Jay_Bourne]

1935 Spring Training – week 3

Surprisingly, Eagles got a 12-7 record before the last week of training camp. Still a lot of battles in process and decisions on which final cut to make. Few cuts been made just before the last week already and others battles still happening for the last week.

Catcher
Leading the race are Ramsey and Pinkham. Goldenberg and Richardson had a correct spring training, but nothing outstanding that worth keeping them. Eagles were expecting better performance from Richardson (trade for all-star Goings in 1933). Sounds like both will be heading in KC to start the season. However, if injuries happen, both can be promoted at any time for replacement. AAA Jim Kennedy woudl probably be released when both players get demoted from training camp.

First Base:
Second year Babe Walsh and prospect Hal Shumate will stay with the Eagles when season start in five days. Veteran Bert Barth already been demoted to KC and already training with the AAA players.

Second base:
Andy Carter is a pillar at this position but not having a great spring training at bat. Positive side, he got 9BB and no strikeout yet in spring trianing. Hits will come as he played everyday. Prospect Jack Ray still at training camp, but after a high performance week #1, he slowed down in the last 2 weeks and everybody doubt he will stay with the team.

Shortstop:
Highly ranked Jim Beard start slowly but now been back on track, mainly on the stolen bases aspect. The backup position battle is between Carson and Piper. Carson had great outings at camp, but he is terrible on defense. Piper batting performance were well under expectations, but he can also play second base to help his case and he brings speed to the team.

Third base:
Prospect Carroll has got the starting role at third as expected. Hancock still at camp to eat some innings but he should be heading to KC by the end of the week. He was terrible on the batting side during exhibition games.

Outfield:
The three starters for the Eagles will be LF Vestal, CF Flowers and RF Brown. The surprise at camp was sophomore Brown with .472, 3HR and 15 RBIs. Vestal can also play 3B to rest Carroll if needed. Bill Fero was injured during the camp and will surely head to KC for rehab when season start. The battle is between backup outfielder between McCann, Gifford and Bradley. McCann will be staying in DC with great performance during camp 0.412, 3 HR, 9 RBIs and 10 runs scored. Just need a strong final week to seal the deal. Gifford his leading over Bradley, but Bradley is younger so that maybe the reason why they keep him. With an eventual return of Bill Fero in a near future, Bradley may get a trial longer than training camp to proove himself, very important final week for him.

Pitching rotation
Johnson, Knight and Sanders been confirmed already to stay in DC. Ike Quinn is showing potential has 4th or 5th starter which is a susprise coming from the Ollie Page trade. Chuck Taylor didnot pursue on the same note than September and veteran Reynolds still in the battle. All three will get a start in the last week of camp to make final decision

Bullpen
Curry, Sears and Morales earn a spot to DC. Rule5 draftee Gene Thompson will stay with the club with his 100mph fastball and high strikeout rate. Battle for final spot is between Dennis, Dickey and Taylor who may stay if not making the starting rotation. Allen and Fisher already been demoted and Newcom put on waivers to make space on the roster.

At this point the opening day roster should be looking at:
C Pinkham / Ramsey
1B Shumate* / Walsh
2B Carter
3B Carroll*
SS Beard* / Carson or Piper
LF Vestal / McCann
CF Flowers
RF Brown / Gifford or Bradley*
Note: RF Fero will start season on injury list or rehab
SP Johnson / Sanders / Knight / Reynolds / Quinn* or Taylor*
RP Curry / Sears / Thompson* / Morales / Dickey or Dennis
--- Rookies are marked with * ----

Interesting final week with ongoing battles and looking ahead to turn the page from last season. Can Eagles start the season with 6 rookies in lineup?

[Jay_Bourne]

Final day of Spring Training 1935

Final cuts have been made and one trade completed to get our final roster for opening day. Last 5 games of spring training brought a lot of emotions between players battling for positions on the final roster. Interesting fact, Eagles finish with 16-8 record in the sping league, equal with NY Gothams for the best team record in both association.

Today, we also traded C Mel Goldenberg to the Chicago Cougars for AA SP Pete Carey. Goldenberg had a decent spring outing, but need to be cut in favor of Ramsey. Cougars were looking for a backup catcher and we add some depth to our pitching future squad.

Piper and McCann had both a great final week to secure a spot. Carson is having a really hot bat all spring and force to keep him on the final roster in favor of Hancock. Carson will be backup at 3B/SS for now. But ha has to maintain his batting performance to the same level to stay in DC as we have other alternatives for this position of backup infielder in AAA.

In the outfield, Gifford did not made the final cut in favor of the rookie Bradley. But with the expected return of Bill Fero from the injury list it may be a extended trial for him. But DC need some speed and if there is two things Bradley can do is stealing bases and play good defense.

Morales had a terrible final week and was cut from final roster. The injury from last year may still in in his head, so going down may help him regain trust in himself. Both rookies pitcher Quinn and Taylor were left behind for now. Quinn had a great training camp, but jumping directly from A level to MLB was maybe a too big jump on the long run. We can only say, continue the same level of performance at AAA and you will be back shortly.

Opening day roster will be:
C Pinkham / Ramsey
1B Shumate* / Walsh
2B Carter / Piper
3B Carroll*
SS Beard* / Carson
LF Vestal / McCann
CF Flowers
RF Brown / Bradley*
Note: RF Fero will start season on injury list
SP Johnson / Sanders / Knight / Dennis
RP Curry / Sears / Thompson* / Reynolds / Dickey
--- Rookies are marked with * ----

As the team will be traveling from training camp facilities to play their first game. Development trainer will be evaluating all the minor level players and find them a spot on our different teams or release them.

We wish to all our fans a good 1935, season predictions were not so good with the Eagles. But showing an improvement in the number of wins by about 15 more wins vs last year. This year we are investing in our future again for player development, The best still to come. Eagles are showing the 2nd best farming system.

Top prospect list in the Eagles squad are:
3B Mel Carroll prospect #2
SS Jim Beard prospect #20
1B Hal Schumate prospect #24
SP Bobo White #28 - 1st pick in last draft - will start season in AA Atlanta
RF Roy Bradley #51 - will be starting the season in DC following a great training camp

[Jay_Bourne]

Season 1935 in underway since the last 4 weeks and the Eagles are showing a 11-14 record after 25 games. Eagles have set this record by playing 19 of the 25 games on the road and coming in the next two weeks is a long home games stretch that I hope will trend our record toward .500. The positive side of the story is the fact that the FA is a very tight race at the moment as there is only a 3 games difference between the 1st to the 8th place. The next month will be determining to see if few teams taking a larger margin toward the top of the standings.

Batter's notes:
RF Sam Brown (0.320, 5HR, 21 RBIs) is having a great sophomore year. At the moment he ranks tie 2nd for most HR in FA.

Prospect #2 rated 3B Mel Carroll is keeping the pace for a great rookie season. 0.314 BA – 2HR – 16 RBIs in 22 games.

LF Larry Vestal is showing he can play the leadoff hitter position with good contact hitting showing a 0.333 BA with 2 2B, 7 3B and 2HR. Leading the FA with an OPS of 1.054.

C Ramsey, now getting the chance to play in a starting role everyday since the trade with Chicago is prooving to management he can fulfill the expectations with a batting average of 0.400 for the first month placing him 2nd as best BA in the FA.

2B Andy Carter, one of our best player, did not play for the last 2 weeks due to injury. Frank Piper came to the rescue by playing everyday since maintaining a decent average but committing few errors costing the Eagles 1 or 2 wins on the way.

Other rookies like 1B Schumate and SS Bernard are playing as expected but improving every week.

Pitcher's notes:

The pitching rotation still with many questions marks.
LHP Karl Johnson (0-3, 5.45 ERA – 18 BB – 11 K) is throwing below expectations, but perform better in his last start before bullpen blown save after he left.
RHP Bob Sanders is giving too much run with a 7.41 ERA and need to find his groove back from 1933 season, his rookie year.
RHP Dennis is surprising with a 3-1 record to claim for real the 4th starter role.
The 5th starter position still pending as there was some alternance between both veterans LHP Reynolds and RHP Dickey. One of them will need to find their groove as AAA SP Quinn and SP Carey are keeping the pace in KC to be promote shortly.

The bullpen is doing a decent effort with RP Curry having a great first month. RP Dickey need to question himself as he is on the edge to be demoted because of his lack of control getting a K/BB ratio to an outrageous level. AAA LHP Allen is playing very well in KC to get a promoted if needed.

Moves:
Rookie RF Bradley got injured in week #1 and he is still on the injury list. Will surely be demoted when coming back as the first week stats were down following a very promising training camp.
RF Bill Fero was called back from rehab assignment to replace him but didn't play that much as other 3 outfielders are playing very well at the moment.
SS Grover Carson quickly came back to normal with defense errors and inconsistent batting comparing to the spring training and was sent down to AAA.
Veteran 3B/SS Hancock was called back from AAA to support the two rookies playing both positions after a great season start in KC.

What's next?
With Detroit Dynamo annoucing the rebuilding mode and trading most of their establish players and the return of injured player 2B Carter, Eagles could expect a better next month as they are playing 6 times against Detroit in the next two weeks. Theys till have to find answers on the pitcher side and provide enough runs support to them to add more wins to their actual losing record.

[Jay_Bourne]

Approching end of June in this 1935 season and we can see the improvement with the team as the Eagles are only 4 games under .500 with a 31-35 record (7th position). But the FA is a very tight league and if the Eagles can strech a series of wins, they would easily climb into the standings. At the moment, Eagles are in a middle of a long road trip of 23 games away which will bring them back home just before the All-Star game.

To improve their position the young Eagles have to keep batting like they are but start winning against LHP, find some pitching skills and look for speed to stole bases on a regular bases.

Moves
Few moves mades during that stretch.
Veteran LHP Reynolds and RF Fero were sent down to AAA in favor of SP Ike Quinn and RHP Bill Morrill (claimed on waivers from Pittsburgh). Quinn who had a surprising training camp and good season start in AAA was bring up to help the pitching squad but the experience was not that successful and Eagles return him to KC after 3 outings only. In return the Eagles called back to DC RP Chuck Taylor who left with a very good impression last September.

Batter's notes:
RF Sam Brown (0.361, 11HR, 46 RBIs) is continuing to be the leader of this team as he already pass number of HRs from last rookie season in June. Nobody in DC would be surprised if he get invited to the All-Star game next month.

The hot corners 3B Mel Carroll and 1B Hal Schumate are keepign the pace in their rookie season by combining together 10 HRs and 67 RBIs.

2B Andy Carter, was back from a 2 weeks injury. He was able to maintain his usul batting average, his number of RBIs went down. However, since he is hitting with more regularity, he was brought to the top of lineup recently.

Pitcher's notes:
The starting rotation is stabilizing but have place for improvements on many ways. LHP Johnson did better then early in the season but still showing only a 4-7 record with 5.80 ERA. The surprising arm is 38 years old RHP Dennis with a 6-4 record and 3.92 ERA. RHP Knight is showing more confidence with a 6-5 record and 4.31 ERA. In the bullpen RP Curry and RP Sears are holding the fort in most of the games.

Prospect's notes:
We are keeping a close eye on the multipel prospects in our minor leagues teams and during the last stretch, we made some promotions to few players.
Below are the players we are watching closely

AAA CF Joe Ellicott 0.340 BA, 12 HR, 41 RBI
AAA RF Roy Bradley 0.325, 12 RBI, 10 SB in just 23 games coming back from an injury
AAA RP Ike Zuckermann already promoted from AA earlier this season, can be promoted to DC shortly… sounds like a September call up
AA SP Bobo White, first selection of the 1934 draft, he is pulling very good numbers to start his professional debut with a 7-3 record, 4.10 ERA, 16 BB and 44 Ks.
AA C Ernie Killiam still progressing from last year numbers and could be the eventual answer as C Richardson is not playing as expected in AAA
AA SS Johnny Sundberg, recently promoted from A team, the first DC selection from 1933 draft is climbing up into the team depth chart

What's next
Depending on the team perform until All-Star break will determine how we approach the rest of season. If the Eagles keep the record to the 0.500 and still battling everyday, we would keep the challenge of developping our young players to be better for many seasons to come. We have to keep looking for pitching staff and the high quantity of top prospects in the organization may open opportunities for trade as we approach the trade deadline.

[Jay_Bourne]

End of Season 1935
Season 1935 is in the books and as mentioned we can only do better than last year. We added 16 wins to our previous record finishing with 71-83 (.461). Eagles got this improvement with 4 rookies playing everyday and got key players with long injuries through the season. Until All-Star game we were not too far behind and then it all fell apart when veteran SP Dick Dennis got a long term injury. At the time of injury he was our #1 pitcher leading the crew with a 10-5 record and 3.68 ERA. Eagles try to keep the pace by claiming SP Bill Morrill on waivers from Pittsburgh which turn out into a disaster. Then in mid-August, CF Wally Flowers got injured for the balance of the season, allowing OF Roy Bradley a real trial in MLB following a slow start early in the season.

When analyzing rankings in different categories, the Eagles offense performs as expected by being in the top half of FA in almost every measured parameters. However, they finished close from bottom in any pitching or defense measured parameters. Clearly identifying the direction in which management needs to make moves.

Eagles players bulletin by position

Catcher
Starter - C Claude Ramsey
Coming from a trade on 1934 draft day, he was given the opportunity to be a starter in FABL. He answer with a .301 BA. 6 HR and 84 RBIs. In defense he shown solid skills with 0.974 PCT and over 30% CS ratio.

Back up - C Ed Pinkham and C Ben Richardson
Veteran Pinkham claims a trade during the season after losing the starting job to Ramsey. Expect him to be trade or release before next season. On the other side, Richardson got the expanded roster call up and did what he needs to prove he could play in the FABL (0.367 BA, 8RBIs and 60% CS ratio in 7 games)

Infielders
1B Harry Shumate
He started 84 games in his rookie season, but you can expect him to be everyday starter next year with the offense he shown this season. Slammed 11 HRs combined with 58 BB and only 9 K to prove his golden eye for the strike zone. Great defense with only 5 errors at the corner position.

2B Andy Carter
Played like the young leader that was expected. Got injured for few weeks early in the season but came back and complete the season with a 4.6 WAR and his second All-Star nomination. He could improve his defense skills for next season.
SS Jim Beard
Rookie Beard finally showing why he was picked 3rd overall pick in the 1930 draft. Alternating play time during the first half, he did answer all challenges in the second half by playing everyday. You can expect a great sophomore season if he continues on the same pace.

3B Mel Carroll
Another rookie that fills the long term needs at 3B for the team getting a .299 BA, 15 HR and 89 RBIs in his first season in the FABL. He was identified prospect #2 when season starts.

Bench
1B Babe Walsh
Lost the starting role to Shumate, you can expect him to be moved during the offseason

2B Frank Piper
He jumps in at multiple positions. You can expect him to return for 2B/1B backup next season except surprise happen at training camp.

3B Hank Bullock
Veteran was great support to rookies Carroll and Beard all season long. Hard to say for next year as the Eagles may want to give space to few prospects. Bullock has been very bad in the last two training camp, so next year he needs to be ready when season starts

Outfielders
CF Wally Flowers
Missing the last 6 weeks of the season, he was a stud until then. Finish the season leading the FA with 26 triples despite the long term injury. He will still be a key asset next season for the Eagles.

LF Larry Vestal
Vestal is an everyday player who was shift to CF following the injury to Flowers. I think this will be the time to trade him as the value for him is probably at the highest. Only 26 years old and still need to improve his defense.

RF Sam Brown
Sophomore year for Brown who was able to establish as the RF for the Eagles. He puts some stats on the line with 0.322 BA, 17 HR and 82 RBIs. He was the leader in most of the offensive categories for the Eagles. He was also much more comfortable playing RF and complete the season with a defensive efficiency of 1.007.

LF Roy Bradley
Starting the season in DC following the injury of Fero, he had a very bad start in the FABL and was sent down earlier in the season. He was called back during the season and his play time have increased after Flowers injury where his number went up to a decent level. He is bringing speed on bases for the Eagles who greatly needs this tool from him.

LF Johnny McCann
He made the team as fourth OF and was replacing when a starter needs a rest day. This is the role where he did pretty well hitting 7 HR and a 0.305 BA. His defense need improvement to keep this role for next year.

On the next report – evaluating the Pitching Squad before the next season and preparing for the amateur draft