FABL - Detroit Dynamo's - Rise from the Ashes

DD Martin · 02-10-2021, 07:07 PM

The Detroit World
Tuesday May 7th, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat

Dynamo's hire World Series Winning GM

Today the owner of the Detroit Dynamo's Eddie Thompson announced the hiring of a new General Manager for the struggling franchise. Thompson "Today we are very proud to announce the hiring of DD Martin and welcome him to our club. DD's reputation and success in Cleveland are well known and his process of rebuilding the Foresters saw them win it all last year. That is something that we too want to do once again. Under DD's leadership, the ownership group here in Detroit and legendary player and former manager George Theobald here agrees, that we have found the right man for the job.

So Martin comes to Detroit after a stunning announcement of his resignation on Monday in Cleveland. Martin stated at the announcement of his hiring that "He is grateful for the opportunity to lead this great franchise. While it might not happen this year or even next, he is committed with this great ownership team of once again seeing the Dynamo's rule the Federal Association and win the World Series once again"

Martin did urge caution though as it will take some time to rebuild the minor league system as the team has very few rated prospects and the team is definitely aging on the field. He did state that it will likely get worse before it turns around and gets better and that he hopes the fans will have patience with him and know that he has a plan.

Quote:

So we continue on with our Figment Baseball League - FABL career with a move to Detroit. The challenge of rebuilding this once proud franchise will be a real big chore. The minor league system is without any real top notch prospects (the highest rated one is 1B Bill Moore who just cracked the top 100 checking in at #98. After taht there is only 1 other top 200 rated player and only a total of 9 that are rated in the top 300 prospects. The cupboard is really pretty bare.

The team does have a few really good ballplayers in OF Art Wheeler who is just 27. And while he is a great hitter, his bat doesn't really play all that well here at Thompson Field as it heavily favors right handed hitters. So while we decide what to with Wheeler there are some other pieces we will be looking at as well.

Below is the recent history in Detroit and it doesn't look that bad but the roof is definitely on fire. The team would not compete this year and while they are only 3.5 games out right now, that deficit will only increase as the weeks and games go on.

Below a look at Thompson Field and the Dynamo's History

DD Martin · 02-10-2021, 07:49 PM

The First Order of Business

Meeting with Mr. Thompson and Mr. Theobald

We exchanged pleasantries and that got straight to business as I presented my initial thoughts on the team.

After taking a quick overview of the team I have found that our scouting is way behind the rest of the league. Our scout will be working overtime to try and catch up. He will begin in our own system starting at AAA and any top prospects in the system and then moving on to AA and the lower leagues. My hope is that by the end of May we will have a much better handle on what we have and the roles they might play.

Also speaking of the minor leagues I see that a staff was just assembled at AAA Newark. I am not sure what the thinking was and I know it was not money with you guys, but the days of the players being their own managers and coaches is over. We will be hiring a staff at each level and we will be looking for coaches that have strong development skills. The key to success in any baseball organization is its minor league farm system.

On the minor league player front we will begin looking to find out if there are any players that we could sign to improve our system. While there are very likely no diamonds sitting around there maybe a few rough diamonds that just need some polishing. We will continue with our assessment as the season goes along.

I will be meeting with Manager Tom Bray later but I want you to know that I plan on no changes to the current coaching staff during the season. We will ride out with what we have since most of the them just got here. I believe Tom, while I don't know him well, is a good baseball man that was given a very tough hand. We will sit down and discuss what my plans are and see if he is willing to go along with a total rebuild from the ground up. If he feels he can stomach the rough road ahead, then he will likely stay our manager into the future. And Mr. Theobald I want to thank you personally for the background on Tom and what your experiences with him have been like. This is his 3rd season at the helm and he has a winning record 163-145 prior to the start of this season.

That leads me to the thoughts on the current team and the plan. Besides the players aging the team is not well built for this ballpark. With the short porch in left field and the death valley in right we should be loading up on more right handed hitters. Not everyone but if we are looking for power we should definitely be looking for right-handed bats since we play half our games here. I also want to emphasize pitching and defense especially up the middle. I will be looking to do something that I failed at in Cleveland and that is to add an element of speed in some key positions.

To accomplish all of this we will be very active in the waiver wire process and bring in new talent and see if there is anything there that can help us. In the off-season we will prepare for the amateur draft, Rule 5 draft, and Indy League draft like you have never seen before. Expect a lot of players coming to town next year via a rule 5 process. This organization needs talent and if it takes us struggling for the next few seasons, the goal is winning a championship and that is what I intend to bring to this organization.

We will be reviewing the 5-7 players that might have some value to others and we will begin shopping them. Yes this includes Art Wheeler and 3B Frank Vance. With the shambles that our pitching staff is we need to look for immediate upgrades there and honestly all over. This team is built to do something (win now) that it can not seriously do. My plan is to tear it down. There will be concern from the fans but we will continue to broadcast a positive message about our building for the future. It took me 9 years in Cleveland to get to the World Series, my goal here is to more than cut that in half. If we are not approaching that area by the 1938 season, then I am not worth the salary you are paying me.

(As I presented everything the owners asked about a lot of questions and I prepared them for the realistic expectation that we would be the worst team in the league most likely this year and next. They seemed to be ok with it as long as we had a plan. I got the feeling Mr. Thompson was going to have Mr. Theobald watching and assisting me along the way which is fine. It's a lot better than having Elmer Marshall and his crime syndicate around.)

(Below are the pictures of Mr. Thompson and Mr. Theobald as well as me)

Also here is our minor league system prospect rankings. More detail to come on these players as we go.

DD Martin · 02-11-2021, 01:34 PM

There is so much to do here but the first thing I wanted to do was start finding some managers and coaches for our minor league system. Thankfully George Theobald had assembled a staff at AAA Newark Aces prior to my arrival and he had a list of names he gave me. I started reviewing that list with my own and came up with offers to the following coaches. Most of the guys hired are inexperience and we offered 1 and 2 year deals (most 1 year deals). By the end of the week all the offers were accepted and we had a full minor league staff. We will evaluate everyone and then decided who will continue on and who will be back on the market in the off-season.

I will be honest I have my eye on a future guy that is currently a player but his playing career is likely winding down. He's smart and likely could be a very capable manager someday.

This was going to be a very busy week but here is who we have in the minor leagues coaching staffs now.

AA Akron Wheels -
We hired Billy McIlrath (54) was given a 2-year deal. He managed last season in the Lone Star Association with Galveston and had a 70-70 record. PC Bill George (54) was brought in to Akron and has had a 10 year career coaching in the minor leagues. He most recently was at Oklahoma City in teh Western Baseball League. We gave a younger guy the HC job and hired HC Dick Hand (39). This will be his first coaching job.

A Terre Haute Brewers -
We went in a very different direction here with the hiring of manager Jon Gruber (57). He was a high school manager for 17 years at Austin HS. His career record at Austin was 309-331. The PC at Terre Haute is former college manager Ford Burton (55) who was at St. Mathews College (31-33 seasons) where he compiled a 67-78 record with his 33 team going 33-17. For HC we gave Chet Krall (48) his first minor league coaching opportunity.

B Chattanooga Dynamos
Our new manager here is a rookie skipper in Nestor Roman (50). He is really an offensive minded skipper who likes power and more power. PC is John Cane (60) who isn't highly thought of. He is likely a 1 year stop gap sort but we will see maybe he will surprise. HC is also a first year guy in HC Art Murphy. This is a really inexperienced coaching staff but some staff is probably better than no staff.

C Biloxi Billies
Our rookie league teams will be led by 3 first year rookie coaches. Manager Tony Ross (51), PC Chris Brown (35) and HC Fred Barnes (42) have all reported.

Team Trainer
So with the coaching staff offers being sent out I sat down with our team trainer Vince McCarty. Vince was not someone who really wanted to spend a lot of time with the team and was really more interested in his practice. I can't blame him but I also wanted someone who was committed to us. So McCarty and I agreed he would stay until a replacement was found. Fortunately I spent the week and found a guy had a lot of experience and was an upgrade. He was an old gentleman but a 4 year deal (if he stays through it) will at least get us through the next couple of seasons. So we hired former St. Louis and Montreal Team Doctor Hal Skinner.

Asst GM
Might be the most under appreciated (or respected) position in baseball (in the ootp world anyway). Bert Manning had been on the job since 1930 and had a year remaining on his deal. We got along fine so I agreed that we would see how it went and talk later in the summer about next year. Little did I know we would have a very busy and interesting week as it unfolded.

Manager
I then sat down with Manager Tom Bray who had been sort of a jack of all trades the past few seasons. I let Tom know that my goal was that he could just focus on managing and not have to handle all the other tasks by himself anymore. I asked him to evaluate his fairly new staff and after the All-Star Break we would sit down and discuss the future of the staff. Tom is signed through the 1937 season (3 years) and I told him that while his duties will just be managing, it might be a tough road. As I laid out my plan to build a winner he looked a little uneasy. I stressed to him that he need not worry and would not be a scape goat for any losing. I just needed him to manage and develop these guys as best he can. I told him that I had no desire to bring in any managers so he would be the guy in charge and when we got into the 1936 off-season we would sit down and seriously take about the future. He seemed to agreeable to the situation and thanked me for the help he was now getting.

Waiver Claims
There were 7 players on the waiver wire and we cast a pretty wide net trying to claim 6 of them. We ended up with 4 and passed on the opportunity to bring in former Cleveland farmhand C Eddie Smith. I was once really high on Eddie as a guy that could be a future big leaguer and maybe replace Goins, but then Eddie grew up and the smart ass kid become a 21-year-old disruptive pain in the ass. Not what we need in this organization right now and his performance among the scouts and talent evaluators had slipped as well. The players we did claim were

RP George Johnson (Brooklyn) age 30
RP Alex Harold (Cleveland) age 24
SP Spike Manifold (Cleveland) age 28
SS George Drake (Phily Sailors) age 28

We will assign them at the end of the week.

Free agents signed
2B Bob Baker
2B Jack Brown
CL Dutch Boland
SP Joe Hunt
SP Joe Healey
2B Rocky Doty
SP Red Gillam

I don't expect to get any stars here but most of these guys are good quality depth to fill some holes. Who know maybe we will catch lightening in a bottle with one of the pitchers. These guys will all report at the end of the week and we will assign them then.

Next - The First Week Results in Detroit and some trades that Rocked the City.

DD Martin · 02-11-2021, 06:31 PM

The Detroit World
Monday 13th, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat

What a week! But Wait for the Ending!

There were a lot of changes this week in the Dynamo's camp and the team really looked like they put all the offensive pieces together. The Dynamo's ending their winning 5-2 week with a resounding thumping of the Washington Eagles by a 17-2 count. With that win the Dynamo's have a 13-13 record and are just 1.5 games out of first place. That was the good news.....

And Now the Bad News.....

New GM DD Martin is wasting no time putting his stamp on the franchise. Less than a week into his reign he set out on what some are calling "his master plan" but a lot of the fans are now shouting "Go Back to Cleveland". In 2 moves that are sure to set back the Dynamo's fortunes for years.

Martin Ships out Wheeler and Vance to Kings

What is being called the largest trade in at least modern FABL history, the Dynamo's traded 3B Frank Vance, OF Art Wheeler and SP Jack Beach to the Brooklyn Kings. In return the Dynamo's receive the Kings first 8 picks in next years draft and 5 prospects. When reached for comment Martin proclaimed "This trade will start the progress of rebuilding the Dynamo's and making them a contender down the road."

While the belief among many is that the Dynamo's window closed several years ago. The thought that the team is aging and is likely to be in the battle for the #2 pick in next year's draft is a strong one. But the fact that these trades of some of the most popular and productive players comes when the team is just 1.5 out of 1st. The deal sent shockwaves through the fans and tonight's game against Washington there might be some kind of demonstration.

Not to be outdone, the GM then traded SP Roy Calfee to Pittsburgh for a 4th round draft pick and minor league SS Frank Davis.

Rumors are already circulating that OF Henry Jones might be next and the returning SP Wayne Robinson who is back from injury might be showcasing what he has left.

Players acquired -

RHSP Earle Robinson (age 19 - Prospect Rank #37) - A former 1st round pick of the Kings is from LA Presa, California. At his peak his repertoire should include an above average sinker, an average curve and change. While his secondary pitches aren't "great" he somehow manages to throw them all for strikes on almost any count and his pinpoint command and control. Robinson could rise to the level of a solid #2 or #3 starter. Robinson will start in the Class B League with Chattanooga.

LHSP Jack Wood (age 23 - prospect Rank #75) Wood is an intimidating 6'4 SP from NY who was drafted in the 3rd round of this past draft from Henry Hudson University. He leans heavily on his plus slider which is the best of his 5 pitches. His pitches have plenty of movement that should help to keep the ball in the park. At his peak Wood can expect to occupy a mid-rotation SP slot. Due to the lack of pitching depth, Wood has been assigned to the Newark Aces (AAA) and the hope is that he might be ready for the big leagues as early as next year.

SS Tip Harrison (age 23 - Prospect Rank #53) Drafted in the 2nd round in the 1934 draft out of Bluegrass State. His glove is outstanding and his has top of the scale speed. He has great strike zone recognition. The feeling is he will be an above average, everyday big league player. He has been assigned to the Class A Heartland League Terre Haute Brewers.

CF Jose "Roach" Serna (Age 22) Who's name might be familiar to some Dynamo fans, was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Indy League Houston Bulls in May 1929. After the season he was then signed by another Indy League team the Springfield Hustlers before again signing with Houston in 1932. The Chicago Cougars drafted Serna from the Houston team in 1933 but traded to Detroit in the ill-fated Doc Love trade. At the end of the 33 season he was not promoted to the 40-man roster so was left unprotected by the Dynamo's and taken as a rule 5 draft pick. Now he is back in town coming back in a trade from Brooklyn. Serna did show some promise hitting 295 in Brooklyn in 132 AB's. He was hitting 340 in AAA before the trade. He has plus-plus speed with advanced instincts on the base paths. He looks to be a solid defensive CF and can chase down a lot of balls with his plus range. He is figured to be an average solid option for a team as a CF. In 1933 he was the #11 rated prospect in the FABL before he wasn't protected by Dynamo's. Serna will start in AAA Newark.

LF Jay Buckingham (age 24) He was originally drafted in the 6th round out of high school in 1929. He has the potential to be a 330 hitter and has plus speed that will put pressure on defenses. Buckingham should be a frontrunner for an audition as a RF. Buckingham will start in AA Akron but is figured to be moving up to AAA Newark hopefully by the end of June.

SS Frank Davis (age 18) Was drafted in the 8th round of the 1934 draft. While he won't compete for batting titles he projects to be a 310 hitter someday with quality defensive abilities. Speed is not his game though as he is very slow on the base paths. His future looks bright though and he will be starting his Dynamo journey at Class C Biloxi.

GM Martin stated his goal was to start rebuilding the broken farm system with an eye on getting as many players into the system as possible the next several years. These deals will accomplish that goal and the team is busy reviewing the free agents market as well for any players that might be a factor.

Whether or not the fans will have the patience for this time of building of a team will be interesting to be seen. Right now fan "interest" is at an all time low.

Next week 2 in Detroit - Any more moves?

Jay_Bourne · 02-12-2021, 12:16 AM

I was in shock too when I saw the 17-2 win against the Eagles. After analysis, it was a defensive errors freak show by the Washington players with 5 errors and 1 passed ball. Detroit scored 17 runs but pitcher ERA got hit for only 6 runs. Since then, coach Chamberlain has made intensive fielding practices. Three of error came from 2B Piper replacing Carter... we can only move forward after this!

DD Martin · 02-20-2021, 07:01 PM

Quote:

My reports have been few the last week as the team is going through the season from hell on the field. Not much good to write about and I was busy with some stuff last week outside of the Figment baseball world. We will get back on track this week, but it is a sad state of affairs in Detroit this year. But if I didn't make the changes I made, it still wouldn't have been a good year.

Well we have been in Detroit for a little over a month now. The team has recorded a record of 8-33 since the 13-13 start for an overall mark of 21-46. Yes it is what I expected as I came in here with the mind to (borrow from the Seattle Mariners phrase) re-image the team (we hope to have better success than the Mariners). The fans are frustrated as they have seen LF Art Wheeler, 3B Frank Vance, SP Jack Beach, SP Wayne Robinson, SP Ray Calfee and SS Bob Barringer all depart via trade. We will examine those trades below especially the pitching ones. We have also said goodbye to 1B Glenn Sparks, 2B Frank Chandler, 2B Joe Guin, 3B Jim Lanier.

We have been active on the waiver wire front but have not found any real lightening in a bottle there so far. Most of the pitchers we tried to pick up (via waivers) have failed honestly. Which leads us to the what is ailing this team the most. When we got here the early start had the offense as the #1 offense in the FA and I agree they were in the upper division. But with the trades of 3B Vance and LF Wheeler, the offense is not as potent as it used to be. We still have OF Henry Jones who will get some at-bats at 1B down the stretch. Some national folks say he would be a perfect fit in several ballparks that are not Detroit because of the death valley in RF that we have. While Jones isn't a great defensive player the thought is that if he can get out of here (and not go to Montreal) he would put up 30 homers a year. He did it here several years ago but the ballpark does limit what he can do. And now with no real protection in the lineup, he isn't seeing a lot of good pitches to hit currently. If we don't trade Jones he will continue on with us. He isn't old by any stretch of the imagination at 30 so we will see what happens. The thought might be that we would give him away but that was quickly shut down.

The real issue with this team was its pitching staff. Old, ineffective and decrepit. Yes we traded SP Jack Beach who once won an FA Allen Award (in 1932 so not that long ago). He was included in the deal with Vance and Wheeler to Brooklyn. That trade saw us acquire 8 draft picks and 5 pretty good prospects (3 in the top 100). While Wheeler is tearing up the CA with a 407 14-50 line since the trade, and Vance is heating up as well with a 349 2-29 state line and playing 1B. But where is Jack Beach? He is struggling at AAA with a 3-2 record and an ERA around 5.25.

SP Wayne Robinson was injured early and only got 2 starts here in Detroit. When he came back we shipped him off to the Chicago Cougars. At least he is in the big leagues but he is not exactly setting the world on fire with his 3-4 record and 5.70 ERA.

Then there is SP Roy Calfee who at 38 was the oldest of the bunch. He has gone to Pittsburgh and so far the results are not pretty as he is 2-4 with an ERA near 6.50 since the deal.

These 3 guys (Calfee (38), Robinson (36) and Beach (33) were our top 3 starting pitchers. So while the replacements we have put in are not pitching well, my argument to those that felt we would have contender is simply the 3 guys we traded wouldn't have made much difference this season.

So what did we add so far? Well our prospects rankings have gone from dead last to 13th (+3 spots). While I don't put much stock into those rankings, it does show some improvement. But what I put much more emphasis in is our top 15 prospects list. Since arriving we have added the following:

1.) SP Earle Robinson (19) #26 overall
2.) SS Tip Harrison (23) #51 overall
3.) SP Jack Wood (22) # 65 overall
5.) 2B Homer Ray (22) #111 overall
6.) SS Frank Davis (18) #144 overall
9.) SP Art Brandon (18) #221 overall
11) SP Harvey Gaines (19) #259 overall

Plus not listed young players CF Jose Serna (22), LF Jay Buckingham.

When we draft next season we will be bringing in at least 35 new players and we will be very active in the Rule 5 and Indy draft as well. I expect that close to half the organization will be changed out and we will have some real solid young talent if we do our jobs correctly next winter.

So we will limp along this season. We will take our lumps and the fans will be upset. But hopefully they will see what we are trying to do. Ownership has given me a green light to go full speed ahead with this plan. They have accepted the 1 step back 2 steps forward train of thought and they are pleased we started it now instead of after the season when the team likely would have been in 5th or 6th with nothing to show for it but a lot of aging players who couldn't get it done anymore. Harsh words I know, but sometimes you have to face your reality. The Detroit Dynamo reality was this was not a team that would win the FA title and they are years away from competing. We might be "years away" still but we are moving in the right direction.

Next will be the end of June report

DD Martin · 02-22-2021, 09:42 PM

End of June 1935

The stress of a tough season can weigh on people differently. As the Dynamo's suffered through a 4-23 June (which is likely one of the worst marks in FABL history), that surfaced on Saturday night after a league worst 9th shutout in a losing 11-0 effort against the Chicago Chiefs. Manager Tom Bray was answering questions in the locker room with a group of reporters when a particular question set him off. Bray began shouting at the reporter (One Conrad Thompson of Flint Times) and abruptly threw a chair putting a huge dent into the locker room wall and stormed off.

Yes the team is 22-50 so far and not a lot is going right. The pitching is horrible and with that we say goodbye to P Wally Larkin who had a 12.10 ERA in 9 brutal innings. We also released Bob Faust (26) from class C. More bad news was out top prospect P Earle Robinson (19) left his last start with an issue with his back. Turns out he has a herniated disc (not good for any athlete) and will miss the rest of the season. He was 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA at our Class B Chattanooga team and he was looking to get promoted to Class A Terre Haute next month.

The 2 kids we picked up in the Chicago Chief deal for SS Bob Barringer, were promoted from Class C to Class B. Those 2 kids SP Art Brandon and SP Harvey Gaines.

Finally we are bringing CF Jose Serna (22) who was one of the five players we picked up from Brooklyn. He was hitting 311 at the class AAA clubs this year. So he will get inserted into the starting lineup at the top of the order to see if he can light a fire to what is now the FA's worst offense.

As we head towards the All-Star game I am not sure exactly who will be the Dynamo's representative. The best player is likely is probably OF Henry Jones.

To replace P Wally Larkin, we decided to bring up 39 year old Andy Holton who was 5-3 with a 2.80 ERA at AAA Newark. Holton who is not a long term answer and is likely to hang up his cleats in the very near future, we don't want to rush up any younger players who are likely not ready (or ever will be ready).

Below are the team stats (pitching, batting and other info.)

Next - We are so looking forward to the off-season and the draft to bring some talent into this organization.

DD Martin · 02-23-2021, 09:40 PM

The Detroit World
Tuesday July 7th, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat

News Item - Veteran Catcher Dick York Announces his Retirement at the End of the Season.

York was drafted by the Dynamos in the 1917 draft in the first round as the 8th overall choice out of Georgia Tech. After spending parts of 2 seasons in the Dynamo's minor league system he made his debut during the 1919 season at the age of 23 years old. The highly durable catcher never was placed on the FABL DL (only made one brief appearance on the Disabled List during the his 1918 minor league season). He will finish out his career on one of the worst baseball teams in FABL history but that shouldn't diminish his career achievements.

York has appeared in 1518 games hitting 307/375/756 with 32 home runs and 728 RBI's. He won 2 World Series Championships with the Dynamo's on their 1919 (his rookie season) and 1929 clubs. Insiders have speculated that he will continue his baseball career as a manager. Some feel that he might have already agreed to start that career next year somewhere in the Dynamo's minor league season.

All-Star Game Lineups Announced

The FABL will hold its 3rd All-Star which is becoming an annual event here right after the Independence Day holiday here in the US. This season the FA's Philadelphia Keystones will host the annual event at their Broad Street Park.

While no Dynamo's were selected for the game (rightfully so), it should still be a very exciting contest. There are several players who started the season here in Detroit that did make the teams. Here are the announced starting lineups for the game.

Here are the talented stars on the Federal Association roster:

SP Hardin Bates (NYG) - 7-7, 2.84 ERA, 123.2 IP, 1.23 WHIP, 2.8 K/9, 1.8 WAR
SP Al Carrol (BOS) - 7-6, 3.18 ERA, 127.1 IP, 1.32 WHIP, 2.5 K/9, 2.6 WAR
SP Rabbit Day (NYG) - 8-4, 3.61 ERA, 129.2 IP, 1.29 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, 3.3 WAR
SP Gil Knight (PIT)* - 4-2, 3.13 ERA, 60.1 IP, 1.28 WHIP, 2.8 K/9, 0.0 WAR
SP Walter Murphy (PIT)* - 9-6, 3.08 ERA, 134.1 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 3.6 K/9, 2.3 WAR
SP Art Myers (PHI) - 9-5, 3.42 ERA, 105.1 IP, 1.38 WHIP, 3.8 K/9, 1.8 WAR
SP Sam Sheppard (STL) - 14-4, 2.78 ERA, 162.0 IP, 1.25 WHIP, 3.7 K/9, 3.0 WAR
RP Don Attaway (PHI) - 2-4, 10 SV, 2.29 ERA, 35.1 IP, 1.47 WHIP, 4.6 K/9, 0.6 WAR
RP Robert Curry (WAS) - 3-1, 10 SV, 2.48 ERA, 40.0 IP, 1.32 WHIP, 2.3 K/9, 0.1 WAR
C George Cleaves (PIT) - .345/.397/.488, 281 AB, 7 HR, 141 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
C John Wicklund (NYG)* - .338/.405/.595, 222 AB, 13 HR, 1 SB, 167 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
1B Rankin Kellogg (PHI)* - .312/.387/.603, 295 AB, 20 HR, 153 wRC+, 2.8 WAR
1B Fred McCormick (STL) - .340/.455/.596, 285 AB, 16 HR, 178 wRC+, 3.2 WAR
2B Andy Carter (WAS) - .325/.407/.467, 212 AB, 2 HR, 1 SB, 132 wRC+, 2.2 WAR
2B Freddie Jones (STL)* - .368/.491/.477, 304 AB, 4 HR, 4 SB, 166 wRC+, 4.4 WAR
3B Len Jones (CHI)* - .365/.391/.498, 301 AB, 5 HR, 2 SB, 135 wRC+, 3.2 WAR
SS Bob Barringer (CHI)* - .316/.360/.418, 282 AB, 1 HR, 12 SB, 111 wRC+, 2.2 WAR
SS Earl Michael (STL) - .345/.432/.443, 287 AB, 3 HR, 2 SB, 139 wRC+, 3.3 WAR
LF Rip Curry (PHI) - .364/.411/.475, 316 AB, 6 HR, 142 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
LF Jim Hampton (CHI)* - .331/.377/.491, 293 AB, 6 HR, 4 SB, 133 wRC+, 2.4 WAR (Injured)
CF Chick Donnelly (BOS)* - .361/.399/.496, 335 AB, 7 HR, 6 SB, 143 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
RF Bobby Barrell (PHI)* - .331/.370/.552, 326 AB, 15 HR, 5 SB, 143 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
RF Sam Brown (WAS) - .354/.404/.556, 297 AB, 11 HR, 1 SB, 159 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
RF Mahlon Strong (NYG) - .322/.380/.572, 276 AB, 14 HR, 3 SB, 150 wRC+, 2.5 WAR

And these are the gifted players for the Continental Association:

SP Tom Barrell (BRK)* - 12-8, 3.19 ERA, 177.2 IP, 1.22 WHIP, 5.0 K/9, 5.0 WAR
SP Chuck Cole (TOR) - 10-3, 3.30 ERA, 136.1 IP, 1.47 WHIP, 3.4 K/9, 2.1 WAR
SP Herb Flynn (PHS) - 7-2, 2.84 ERA, 120.1 IP, 1.36 WHIP, 3.2 K/9, 2.2 WAR
SP Bert Henggeler (BRK) - 1-0, 2.10 ERA, 25.2 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 3.2 K/9, 0.5 WAR
SP William Jones (PHS) - 10-6, 3.89 ERA, 136.1 IP, 1.34 WHIP, 2.9 K/9, 2.6 WAR
SP Mike Murphy (BRK) - 13-3, 3.84 ERA, 150.0 IP, 1.33 WHIP, 3.0 K/9, 2.4 WAR
SP Doc Newell (PHS) - 8-7, 3.48 ERA, 124.0 IP, 1.35 WHIP, 3.3 K/9, 3.0 WAR
SP Joe Shaffner (BRK) - 11-6, 3.30 ERA, 152.2 IP, 1.35 WHIP, 3.0 K/9, 2.9 WAR
RP Bill Beier (MON) - 2-6, 4 SV, 3.21 ERA, 33.2 IP, 1.43 WHIP, 2.7 K/9, 0.1 WAR
RP Jim Cavender(CLE)* - 2-0, 2.13 ERA, 25.1 IP, 1.46 WHIP, 2.8 K/9, 0.1 WAR
RP Sergio Gonzales (CLE) - 2-4, 4 SV, 4.13 ERA, 32.2 IP, 1.50 WHIP, 4.4 K/9, 0.5 WAR
C Tom Bird (MON)* - .325/.422/.483, 209 AB, 5 HR, 144 wRC+, 2.0 WAR (Injured)
C T.R. Goins (CLE) - .283/.382/.461, 269 AB, 10 HR, 126 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
1B Vic Crawford (MON) - .331/.393/.512, 281 AB, 6 HR, 1 SB, 148 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
1B Max Morris (CLE)* - .311/.373/.476, 296 AB, 11 HR, 1 SB, 126 wRC+, 0.8 WAR
1B Frank Vance (BRK)* - .344/.424/.500, 282 AB, 7 HR, 1 SB, 153 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
2B Bill Ashbaugh (CHC)* - .332/.390/.541, 205 AB, 5 HR, 3 SB, 140 wRC+, 1.7 WAR
3B John Lawson (NYS) - .372/.417/.550, 231 AB, 5 HR, 154 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
SS Harry Barrell (BRK)* - .375/.428/.483, 323 AB, 1 HR, 2 SB, 142 wRC+, 5.7 WAR
SS Larry Colaianni (NYS) - .376/.430/.488, 295 AB, 4 HR, 1 SB, 150 wRC+, 1.6 WAR
SS George Dawson (CLE) - .339/.388/.447, 313 AB, 7 HR, 7 SB, 126 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
CF Mike Mason (NYS)* - .357/.432/.467, 210 AB, 1 HR, 5 SB, 142 wRC+, 1.4 WAR
RF Lou Kelly (CHC)* - .375/.427/.586, 307 AB, 11 HR, 166 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
RF Al Wheeler (BRK)* - .358/.448/.692, 299 AB, 26 HR, 2 SB, 190 wRC+, 5.3 WAR

July 4th, 1935 - Dynamo's earn first shutout

The Dynamo's finally got a shutout after having been shutout themselves 9 times so far. SP Ernie Miller (5-9 4.63) pitched 8 innings giving up just 4 hits along with 5 walks as the Dynamo's beat the New York Gothams 5-0. Long reliever Spike Manifold used just 11 pitches to preserve the shutout getting the Gotham's 1-2-3 in the 9th.

In a season where the team is struggling mightily, sometimes its the little victories that can spark a team.

(Note the Dynamo's would lose their last 3 games before the All-Star Break losing to New York 10-5 in 11 innings, then going to Chicago to lose 6-5 and then get blasted on Sunday 8-1 by the Chiefs. So much for the spark!)

DD Martin · 02-24-2021, 06:41 PM

The Detroit World
Wednesday July 10th, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat

1935 FABL All-Star Game

For 6 innings the CA All-Stars were controlling this pitchers duel at Philadelphia's Broad Street Park 2-0. But the 7th inning rolled around and well, that is when the fireworks began. Brooklyn RP Bert Henggeler and Cleveland RP Jim Cavender who had been team mates the last few years showed why Cleveland's bullpen was always in disarray. The FA stars exploded for 5 runs against the two relievers who gave up 4 hits and 3 walks between them. The big blow came as St. Louis Frank McCormack hit a bases-clearing 3 run double to give the FA the lead.

Home town SP Art Myers of the Keystones got the win and Henggeler was tagged with the loss. Only 3 extra base hits in the game combined by the two teams (all doubles) as pitching took center stage (for the most part).

The game MVP went to St. Louis 2B Freddie Jones who was 1-2 with 3 walks, a run scored and an RBI. Personally I would have given it to McCormack who only had 1 at-bat but it was the one that counted the most.

A capacity crowd of 31,500 crammed into the Broad Street Park. Former Dynamo's who were in the game didn't do a lot of damage this year. Frank Vance was 0-3, LF Art Wheeler was 1-4 and SS Bob Barringer was also hitless in 3 at-bats.

The Dynamo's return to action on Wednesday here in Philadelphia for 3 games and then head off to Boston to see if they can heal the ailing Minutemen. Normally this season when Detroit comes calling, the other team seems to start hitting and pitching well again.

DD Martin · 02-26-2021, 06:40 PM

The Detroit World
Sunday July 21st, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat

Dynamo's Struggles Continue

After the All-Star Game the Dynamo's took to the field and picked up where they left off. The Detroit 9 went 2-10 to drop their season record to 26-65 which is 12.5 games worse than any other team in either the FA or CA in FABL. The sad news is they will not even earn the #1 spot in next winters draft as that will go to the worst team in the CA this year. Most likely with that #1 pick will go high school phenom Rufus Barrell II or a hefty heist of another organizations prospect and picks to move up. When we asked Detroit GM Martin if he would consider moving up from the #2 spot recently, he stated that all cards were on the table including even trading down out of the #2 spot if the price were right.

The Dynamo's need help everywhere as they are last in the FABL in pitching ERA and last in most categories on offense in the FA. While there was hope in spring training that the team might compete before the trades of Vance and Wheeler among several others, the pre-season predictions that the Dynamo's were destined for last were likely true even if those trades didn't happen. They would be better, but not nearly enough better. Martin was quoted as saying "it pays to know when you are not good enough to compete for the title. When you realize that early enough you can make adjustments for the future. But on the other hand it also pays to know when to make that extra move whether it gets you to the promised land this year or next, I see too many people not make the moves when they are close. Hoping that their treasures of draft prospects all pan out to be the next Max Morris or Tom Barrell. That's fantasy, but it is the reality for some."

So while the team continues to struggle the revolving door continues to whirl with players coming and going.

Waiver Wire Active is Detroit

The Dynamo's in their continued pursuit for upgrades to help assemble at least a major league team say the team acquire both 2B Slim Ford from Cleveland, who GM Martin picked up earlier this spring before coming to Detroit. There must be something in Ford that Martin sees that others don't. To make room for him recent waiver claim LF Addie Adkins who has hit 235 in 80 PA's since being acquired was DFA. The Dynamo's intend to keep Adkins if he passes through waivers.

Also being picked up this week was RP Don Grossman (for the 2nd time) from the Chicago Cougars. The Dynamo's had claimed him several weeks ago but the Cougars pulled him back. This time he was free to bring his 1-4 4 save record with an ERA over 8 to Detroit where they hope he can develop into a late inning option. He did show promise in Chicago last year posting an ERA of 2.37 in 60 innings of work with the Cougars. So will we see the 1934 version with the 2 ERA or the 1935 version with the 8+ ERA? To make room for Grossman the Dynamo's option P Chuck Mathews to the minors.

Dynamo's make a trade for Moss

Detroit traded minor league 3B Harry Peterson (19) to the Chicago Cougars for AAA OF Howard Moss (29). Moss was hitting 430 at AAA Milwaukee but was hopeless blocked to making it up to the Cougars despite there recent trade of corner OF Lou Kelly to Pittsburgh. Moss will immediately join the big league club in Detroit this week and try to add something to the woeful offense.

Dynamo's GM Says Expect More Moves as we go Forward

Detroit GM Martin has stated that the fans should expect to see more moves as we go forward. He and his front office team are actively scouting players both in the big leagues and in the upper minor leagues to find options for the future and maybe even the present. Martin was quoted as saying that "While the moves before this deadline might not be big moves, we will be active and try to upgrade the team and performance on the field. But our ultimate goal is to begin building for the future so we will not make any trades that jeopardize that by trading any player or picks that we see value in."

There was conversation that the Dynamo's were looking at Brooklyn Kings SP George DeForest in trade but added that the 2 sides could not agree on a deal. While it appears those talks are dead the trade deadline is fast approaching and with the Pittsburgh acquisition of Kelly shows, there might be plenty of moves to be made. The FA race is still pretty wide open 5 teams legitimately still having an opportunity to catch the young, untested St. Louis Pioneers. While the Pioneers are young and untested, they have some great talent and it is what the Dynamo's hope to look like in the future.

DD Martin · 02-27-2021, 10:27 PM

Something Strange Happened on the Way to Last Place

Surprisingly the Dyanmo's woke up out of their collective slumber offensive and put up some runs this week and along with it a few wins. We managed to scrap together enough offense to score 55 runs in our 7 games this week for a 7.9 rpg average. Everyone in the FA is scoring more than 5 runs a game besides us and Pittsburgh (4.9), with our outburst this week we managed to get up to 4.6 rpg. With this offensive outburst we managed to split our series against the Washington Eagles (2-2) including a crazy 11 inning game on Thursday that saw Washington score 6 in the first, but saw us whittle our way back to take a 12-7 after 6 innings. Of course our bullpen blew up 9th as George Johnson was asked to go 4 innings and that was 1 inning too many. Perhaps if we had used newly acquired stopper Don Grossman we wouldn't have had to go extra's. At the end of the day we scored 4 in the top of the 11th to take a 16-12 lead and then watch as Marty Devorce narrowly hung on to make a winner of Grossman in his Dyanmo's debut 16-14.

The strange part of the week was that 2 wins was not all we would get. We came home to face one of the leaders in the CA and the defending champion New York Gotham's who are in a race and have plenty to play for. It was not a happy weekend for the Gotham's as we swept, let me repeat swept the Gotham's out of Detroit in 3 straight games. Of course they are hanging around until Monday so maybe they will make us pay for those wins on then. But it was costly for the Gotham's prior to their crucial series with St. Louis this week as they are now in 3rd place 5 games out.

The heros for us this week were some of our new arrivals and also a few holdovers. Recent acquisition OF Howard Moss made the most of his first week in Detroit as he hit 11-29 .379 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI's for his new team bringing a huge boost of offense. He is expected to pair with OF Henry Jones who was held out all week due to some nasty virus that he had. But Jones is good to go next week and that will bump this week's FA Player of the Week OF Mickey Tompkins out of the lineup. Tompkins was 15-33 .455 with 4 doubles, 6 runs scored and 9 RBI's and edged out Moss for the honors. Recent waiver acquisition SS Slim Bloom was 9-18 with 6 walks, 6 runs scored and 4 RBI's had a nice week as well.

Newly installed stopper Don Grossman was 2-0 in 2 games pitched giving up just 1 hit in 3 innings of work with a 0.00 ERA.

So with the 5-2 week improve their record to 31-66 but are still on pace to lose 100 games and 14 games behind the Eagles who are in 7th.

More Talent Acquisitions Announced this week

The Dynamo's are keeping busy and while most of their attention is focused on the upcoming draft, they have been continuing to pick up players here and there. The Dynamo's picked up a couple of SP's in getting Al Allen from the New York Gothams and also picking up SP Max Wilder from the Brooklyn Kings. But veterans will be immediately placed in the starting rotation.

Now before you get too excited neither pitcher was doing particularly well in AAA this year and both are old with Allen being 31 and Wilder 37. In fact Wilder has even announced his retirement at the seasons end. So why did the Dynamo's sign Wilder? Well there was sentiment around the league to let him finish up his career in the major leagues and so Detroit not being in contention for anything was a nice landing spot. But Dynamo's GM DD Martin had other things on his mind and part of the appeal for Wilder to accept the trade besides pitching in the majors was the talk that Detroit would like to make him a pitching coach next year in their system. Wilder seemed to like this idea so you will probably be seeing him somewhere in the Detroit organization joining his new fellow teammate Dick York who intends to become a manager at seasons end following his retirement.

The team was also busy once again on the waiver wire front and selected several players to add to the team.

CF Joe Snider and P Phil Hicks were both claimed from the Chicago Cougars, while RP Chuck Calvert was claimed from the Gothams. All 3 players report to Detroit and will be on the 23-man roster next week. Making room for the 3 were the following player moves. RP George Johnson after blowing the Washington game was DFA. While the team likes the power of 2B Claude Merrill (13 home runs in 47 games) they are a little concerned about his low average 216. So he is going down to work on a few things and maybe learn a few other positions since Detroit has a number of 2B in its system (maybe LF and 1B?).

The last roster move was optioning RP Marty Devorce just because he had an option already used this year. Devorce will be back at least by September 1st for roster expansion and would likely be the first P recalled in case of injury before that.

Next Week - We continue to try and play spoiler and the trade deadline passes this weekend.

DD Martin · 03-03-2021, 03:07 PM

So How Does a Team Follow Up Their Best Week since Early May?

The answer is reality comes back and you go 0-7 the next week. So the season record falls to 31-74 and we move full steam ahead into our continued organization review and preparation for the draft. The trade deadline passed this past week and we made a couple of moves that while not earth shattering, will give us some options to put out there. Will these guys change the course of this season, no but they will add to an organization that is completely lacking in talent in many spots.

First Trade - we added someone who I was very familiar with in C Jim Kyle from Cleveland. I had originally brought Kyle in to take over as the starting C with the Foresters and he was ok but didn't live up to the promise I thought he had. Of course he became the backup in Cleveland when we acquired TR Goins from Washington. Kyle will come in as the eventual replacement for the retiring Dick York at C. He will come to spring training to compete for the regular job with Dave Armstrong (or anyone else we bring in as I am not a big Armstrong fan). Right now I'd say Kyle (29) has the inside track to start as Armstrong (32) is the 16th (out of 16) rank catcher in the FABL. We sent minor league RP Mike Phillips to Cleveland. Phillips is 21 and was highly thought of in the organization. Cleveland was motivated to move Kyle because they wanted to bring up C Jeff Rose who has some promise to be in the mix to someday replace Goins when the certain Hall of Famer (when we start a HOF) decides to hang up the tools of ignorance. Another interesting fact about Kyle is that he has won 3 World Series Championships with 3 different teams (Cleveland 1934, Chicago Cougars 1931, and Philadelphia Sailors 1928). The pattern is every 3 years so does that give us good luck to win it all in 1937? That would certainly be a miracle if that does happen.

Trade #2 - Then we brought in someone who I had felt had a good solid career in front of him when he was with the Chicago Cougars. SP Jim Crawford (29) was trade from the Cougars to cross town rival Chiefs at the trade deadline last year. Since he arrived with the Chiefs he hasn't been what he had been in the 1932-33 seasons with the Cougars. While he was only 7-8 this season with a 5.62 ERA, we are hoping that we can help him regain his form and he can be a serviceable SP for us next season. We traded the 7th round pick that we acquired from Brooklyn earlier this year in the mega-deal to give Crawford the chance.

We demoted 2B Claude Merrill who had socked 13 home runs in just 156 at-bats in 47 games. One might ask why we would do that and its a good question. We have a glut of 2B in the organization and while Merrill has a very good power bat and gets on-base at a solid clip with walks, his average was just 205/342/804 13-35 at Detroit. But that was really not the reason. I wanted to give him some time yes to find his batting average stroke in AAA but more importantly I wanted to let him experiment with a few other positions besides 2B. If he was a great defender at 2B I wouldn't bother but the truth is he is not. So we are going to have him play multiple positions (1B, 3B and LF) while in Newark to see if we can find his powerful bat a new home on the field. He will be back up in September to get regular big league at bats every day at another position.

The draft preparation is in full gear as it appears we will have the #2 overall pick. We will probably clinch that "honor" by the end of August.

DD Martin · 03-03-2021, 04:40 PM

Mid-August and the Continued Chase

Things are slowing down now a bit with the trade deadline passed. Seems that the waiver wire is also slowing a bit as there is nothing new to report there. The team is playing about as expected but we did manage to go 5-8 the last 2 weeks to bring our season to date record to 36-81. By winning percentage right now this is the worst Dynamo's team in the proud history of the organization as we are playing 308 baseball. The worst prior to this year was the 1898 Dynamo's that finished with a 47-93 record .336. No Dynamo's team has ever lost 100 games which unless we play 500 baseball the last 5+ weeks of the season we seem destined to break.

We most likely won't be good (or even average) next year, but I never want to lose 100 games in a season again. We will do everything we can to ensure that doesn't happen in 1936.

How bad is this team? By the numbers they look historically bad. Last in most offensive categories, last in almost all pitching categories and even last in the FA in fielding (see below chart). But is this the worst team in FABL history? That honor or distinction belongs to the 1890 Pittsburgh Miners who only won a paltry 28 games during the entire season. And before anyone says yeah but how many games did they play back then. Well this team also lost more games than any team in baseball history with 112. While mathematically we have a chance to eclipse that mark we seem to be winning enough games here and there not to match that historically bad mark (something to be proud of). The most losses in what I would call modern times belong to the 1930 and 1932 Toronto Wolves who lost 104 and 105 games respectively (CA) and the St. Louis Pioneers who lost 101 games in 1931 (and look at them leading the league now). Sadly all 3 of those marks are likely in our wheelhouse this season.

So where is the bright news you ask? When we traded for RF Howard Moss (29) we weren't sure what we were getting. Well Howard has surprised us with a slash line of 315/415/1044 6-26 in 25 games. He is rated the 6th best RF in baseball (out of 16). So that is something promising for us.

While not much history on our side with this next one I will throw out that in SP Al Allen's 4 starts and SP Jim Crawford's 3 starts that there is some improvement in the rotation. Allen is 2-1 with a 5.60 ERA and Crawford is 1-1 with a 2.88.

We also like P Donie Scheuermann who we inserted in the rotation mid-season. He is a 26 year-old lefty who is considered an extreme groundball pitcher. Being a lefty SP in our park, extreme ground ball pitching is a pretty good asset to be. As a SP in 10 games with us he is 4-5 with a 4.85 ERA in 78 innings. For this team those are high marks. Before this season he had never started a major league game. He will definitely get a shot to continue pitching in our rotation next season.

In the minor leagues here is a report I received on Claude Merrill. On the season he is hitting 368 at AAA with 15 home runs and 45 RBI's in 33 games. He is hitting 353 in the games since he was sent down at the end of July. Now the fielding report which is what we were really looking forward to hearing about.....

Merrill played in 4 games and 34 innings in LF. He had 5 total chances and made 1 PO. He had 4 errors for a .200 fielding % and his efficiency was .510 with neutral range factors. Needless to say we have ended the experiment with him in the OF.

He has played in 4 games as a 3B and has had a little more success. He has 3 PO and 4 assists in 8 chances with only 1 error. He needs to get some more time here so we will ask the AAA manager to give him a few more starts there in the next 2 weeks.

He has really shown well at the 1B position though. In 9 games he hasn't made any errors with 104 total chances he has 9 assists and been involved in 6 DP's. He has an RF of +11.37 and a ZR of +1.8 and Eff of 1.129. He looks like he could be a very solid first baseman. But I really want to see him play more at 3B for some reasons that will be further explained in the off-season. But a position switch looks somewhat promising.

Quote:

So I was out of town for a bit but now that I am back in town we will catch up with the league and do 2 weeks today. Looking forward to the off-season as that is when we will really take off on things and get this party started.

DD Martin · 03-04-2021, 04:07 PM

5 Weeks and Counting.....

Dynamo's go 1-6 this week and now are 50 games under 500 at 37-87.

Weekly Results -
Monday August 19th vs Washington 4-8 Loss
Tuesday August 20th vs Washington 5-6 Loss (11)
Wednesday August 21st vs Pittsburgh 11-18 Loss
Thursday August 22nd vs Pittsburgh 3-7 Loss
Friday August 23rd vs Pittsburgh 3-6 Loss
Saturday August 24th vs Pittsburgh 3-2 Win (11)
Sunday August 25th vs Boston 2-5 Loss

Notable Players of the Week -
OF Mickey Tompkins 9-18 4DB HR 3RBI 3R 500/550/1439
RF Howard Moss -25 DB 2TB 4RBI 4R 360/370/930
SS Slim Bloom 10-28 4DB 1TP 7RBI 3R 357/419/991
SP Max Wilder 2G 0-11 4.30 ERA

Minor League Performance of the Week AA Akron Wheels CF Roger Grant hits for the cycle in 5-5 effort against Harrisburg. Grant hit singles in the 1st and 2nd innings, then followed that up with double in the 4th, a 3-run home run in the 5th and completed the hardest part with a 7th inning triple as Akron beat Harrisburg 10-5. On the season the 26 year-old has fought off several injuries and is hitting 251/319/702 8-45. The former 3rd round pick in 1930 is likely seeing his opportunities and dreams of playing in the big leagues come to an end, at least with Detroit at seasons end.

Draft Prep
As we move towards the end of the season our Director of Scouting Fred Davis is very busy. As I review the work Fred is doing it is clear that the budget he has been given to work with is woefully inadequate. That will be something that will be addressed in the off-season.

There are really 4 prospects that are catching my eye the most at present. They are:

1B Red Johnson (17 year old high schooler) Hometown Portland, Oregon
The right-hand hitting power hitter for Central Catholic hit 500/636/1798 with 10 home runs, 9 doubles, a triple and 32 RBI's while walking 23 times and striking out only once. Scout marvel at his elite power potential and even as a youngster he projects to have an impressive command of the strike zone. He has the potential to hit 380 and some are saying that he could be the next Rankin Kellogg. Johnson has committed to Stratton University and figures to be a very hard sign for us looking at a $17,000 signing bonus.

SP Rufus Barrell II (18 year old high schooler) Hometown Egypt, Georgia
Yes the left handed starting pitcher is yes of the famous Barrell family and is an impressive 23-0 in 2 high school seasons with an ERA of around 0.60. Most GM's are drooling over the kid and many have him pegged as a sure fire 300 game winner in the big leagues. Currently scouts say he throws a 4-pitch mix that includes a plus slider, a good splitter, a good fastball and a change up that he is working on. He is about as far along as a high school prospect could be and he should have truly elite stuff. Barrell has the makings of a future ace and maybe will be the best of the Barrell clan when all is said and done. He has committed to Noble Jones College and again would be a very hard signee for Detroit with bonus demands upwards of $20,000.

3B Mack Sutton (18 year old high schooler) Hometown - Murfreesboro, Arkansas
The top of the draft appears to be dominated by high school kids in this draft once again. Nicknamed "The Arkansas Artilleryman" hit a jaw dropping 448/547/1547 14-38 with 16 doubles. Scouts love his power potential and state that he has the potential of a prototypical clean-up hitter. He is patient at the plate and will wait for a pitch he wants to drive. With his talents the light of Sutton's star could be blinding. Sutton is committed to Lawrence State University and is another hard to sign player for Detroit with a demand of $16,000.

The sleeper in this draft is likely 17-year-old SP George Garrison who is a lefty. He was 8-1 with a 1.24 ERA in 13 starts at his Carthage High School and his hometown is Piggott, Arkansas. Garrison throws a forkball, fastball, curveball, cutter, knuckle curve and a change. His pitches have plenty of movement that should help to keep the ball in the ballpark. Garrison's talent is that of a future multiple-time Allen Award winner. Right now one of the mock drafts has him slipping to the top of the 2nd round but say codswallop to that notion. He will be easily at top 10 pick and likely top 5. For a team that needs pitching, one could certainly argue that Garrison would be a good 2nd choice behind Rufus Barrell II.

Rumor is that the #1 overall pick in the draft going to most likely either the Baltimore Cannons or New York Stars will be Barrell. That means that Detroit will be on the clock to take either 1B Johnson (who most think would be lights out in Detroit with its shallow LF fence), 3B Sutton who could be another Frank Vance in Detroit or SP Garrison. It is a pick for Detroit that has to be the right one to turn this franchise around.

Jiggs McGee · 03-04-2021, 06:11 PM

FROM THE PAGES OF THE FIGMENT SPORTING JOURNAL

By JIGGS MCGEE -August 26, 1935

PRESSURE ON DYNAMOS TO MAKE THE RIGHT SELECTION

The Detroit Dynamos appear to have narrowed their choice at second overall down to one of three players. Well four actually but it seems a foregone conclusion that Georgia high school pitching phenom Rufus Barrell II will go number one to whoever proves to be the worst team in the Continental Association. The CA picks first in odd years while the Federal Association cellar dweller gets top spot in even years.

The Detroit brass readily admits this choice is a crucial step in trying to turn around a franchise that has very quickly and recently imploded due in a big part to poor drafting. The three choices Detroit is mulling over this December are all high school players in first baseman Red Johnson out of Portland, Oregon, Arkansas third baseman Mack Sutton and lefthanded pitcher George Garrison, another Arkansas born player but is now playing his high school ball in Carthage, Illinois.

Not to talk the Dynamos out of Red Johnson but it is interesting to point out the current GM of the Dynamos was burned badly last time he went to the Pacific Northwest for a highly touted prospect. That was in the 1926 draft when the current Detroit GM was heading up things in Cleveland and his Foresters selected Karl Stevens out of Rainier College first overall. Stevens, who was released three times already including once by a Lone Star League team is still just 29 years old but unlikely to add to his resume which includes just 14 major league games. Of course Martin made up for it the next time he had the number one pick by selecting a Barrell brother in high school shortstop Harry in 1931. (We won't discuss the subsequent decision to trade him here).

Two other occasions saw Martin's Cleveland club with a top four pick. He selected 3B Johnny Turner fourth overall out of George Fox University in 1930. The jury is still out on the 25 year old who has spent parts of two seasons with the Foresters but has been in AAA Cincinnati all of 1935. In 1929 the Foresters finished 7th in the CA and were set to pick third but they traded down and ended up with 2 first round picks instead, getting another George Fox product in Amos LeBlanc 8th overall and high school pitcher Ben Bernard 16th. Neither has done much in the five years since with LeBlanc playing a handful of games in Cleveland while Bernard appears stalled at AA.

As for the Dynamos their success in the draft when it comes to high round picks has been a mixed bag, much like the results their various GM's have achieved over the past decade. The Dynamos actually had the first overall pick in the initial human run draft of FABL and scored a huge win in taking high school outfielder Al Wheeler, who was recently dealt to Brooklyn and is one player Red Johnson has been compared to. The 1925 draft had a lot of talent at the top so it would have been hard to wrong but Wheeler was a fantastic selection and the decision to move him in May also gives the Dynamos the jump start they needed to get their rebuild underway.

Detroit would pick 4th overall the following season after a 7th place finish in 1926 but it would be their final stint in the second division until the collapse began last season. However, while the big league club enjoyed some success including a World Championship in 1929, a series of questionable draft classes has led to the dire situation the Dynamos are now in. The first of those misses came in '26 when they selected pitcher Larry Brown out of Oakland High School. Most had Brown high on their radar so it is not necessarily a bad pick at the time and the Dynamos did eventually trade him for a decent catcher in Dave Armstrong but he is just 16-11 for his big league career. Brown does seem to have finally found a home at the bottom of the Chicago Chiefs rotation as a 27 year old.

Between 1927 and 1933 the big league club was very successful but their first round picks were Harry Meek (14th, 1927: now 29 years old with 0 FABL games), Fred Keller (13th, 1928 still in Class C), Donnie Scheuermann (11th, 1930: 16-11, 4.47 era in 102 career games all but 11 in relief), Bill Moore (13th, 1932: just 23 and now in AAA so may still pan out) and Doc Leach (14th, 1933: in AA now at age 24 considered a possible bench player by OSA). The Dynamos traded away their first (as well as second and third round picks) in both 1929 and 1931.

As for last season - well that was a headscratcher. The Dynamos went off the board by taking a high school pitcher out of Houston by the name of Del Burns third overall. Burns put up some very good numbers as a senior but was not named on the final OSA 5-round mock draft so he was certainly considered to be a reach at third overall. He is presently 1-11 with a 4.46 era at Classes C and B this season and ranked the 220th best prospect currently by OSA.

So Detroit has had some draft issues, but perhaps so has their new General Manager. However, he and the Dynamos made some shrewd deals during the season so they are in a position to turn things around quickly but it will require some very solid drafting. Detroit has a boatload of picks this year and have made great strides trying to rebuild from the ground up with the addition of some quality minor league prospects but it is hard to imagine any move in Detroit this season being more important than what they do with the second overall pick.

DD Martin · 03-04-2021, 11:38 PM

Very well stayed Mr. McGee. Unlike some cities you are always welcome in Detroit

DD Martin · 03-05-2021, 03:09 PM

The Detroit World
Sunday September 1st, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat
Tidbits from Around the FABL

The month of August closed and so did the likely playoff hopes of the Pittsburgh Miners as they have fallen 9 games off the pace. The New York Gotham's who have won the FA 3 out of the last 5 seasons are looking to make it 4 out of 6. The Gotham's rode a 23-4 August to take over the top spot in the FA from the St. Louis Pioneers who had led the Association for most of the season. While it is not strange that New York's has risen to the top, it is a little bit strange how or more exactly who the key performer is. Most would say one of the stud pitchers like Rabbit Day or Jim Lonardo, some might say new acquisition LF Moxie Pidgeon or RF Marlon Strong. But those inside the organization point to OF Ray Ball. Now most might not know Ray Ball at all and even the most feverish of baseball fanatics probably still don't know him. What has Ball done on the field? Precious little would be the answer as he has appeared in only 5 games since his promotion with 1 hit in 3 official plate appearances. But Ball is a man created with creating the locker room spirit that was apparently lacking in New York. Players love the 26-year-olds leadership and are glad he is on the team. Bad news for St. Louis and Pittsburgh, but Ray Ball might be the FA's MVP for 1935 and he is now New York's favorite son.

Freddie "Fredrick the Great" Jones is closing in on another batting title.

The St. Louis 2B leads the FABL in hitting with a 389 average and had his best month of the season hitting 427. Could Jones hit 400 on the year? well he was 44-103 in August, but using those numbers as a basis, he would have to hit around 460 in the shortened month of August to achieve the goal. St. Louis has 25 games left so for Jones to pull it off he would have to around 46 out of 100 to hit the magical mark. His task might be harder to do since he has been struggling with a sore elbow for the last 10 days. His return to full health is unknown but team officials say it is not effecting his hitting at all (Just throwing which might be important for a 2nd baseman).

CA Leader Changes

After taking 2 out of 3 in a key series in Brooklyn last week, the Cleveland Foresters forced ahead in what looks like another Cleveland-Brooklyn race to the finish. Many will not forget the remarkable Forester charge last season that saw them go 15-1 down the stretch to win the CA pennant over Brooklyn and then ultimately the World Series. This year the Forester's got off to a horrible start, lost their "over-rated" GM who now sits in the office in Detroit, and people were wondering if veteran 1B Max Morris was finished. Since starting the year with a huge Championship Hangover and a 10-15 record, Manager Jim Wilson's crew has gone 69-34 and now lead the CA by a single game. It wasn't just the series win in Brooklyn that got the Forester's over the edge. No it was following that series where Brooklyn went to Montreal and dropped 2 games and then last place Baltimore and dropped the first 2 games of a 4-game set there. On Labor Day Monday, the Kings better right the ship as they play the Cannons in a double-header. With the news that SP Tom Barrell won't be back for the all-important 4 game set in Cleveland in a weeks time, the Kings can't afford anymore lack luster efforts.

The Race is on.....to the Bottom and Rufus the II

This year our own Detroit Dynamo's get screwed out of the #1 overall pick by having one of the worst records in FABL history. Why you ask? Well the FABL because it has 2 separate Associations that don't cross over and play one another have deemed it "fair" that the top pick in the draft rotates from the FA to the CA from year to year. Last year the Washington Eagles had the top pick from the CA so despite the woeful showing of the Dynamo's they will only earn the #2 overall pick.

But what a race we have developing in the CA for that honor. Baltimore who has seen their share of losing seasons has finally overtaken an under achieving New York Stars team for last place by 2 games. Joining the Stars at 2 games back are the equally historically bad CA team, the Toronto Wolves. The Wolves and Cannons are been the bottom feeders in the CA for many of the more recent seasons, but the Wolves showed signs of life this at least early. But a 10-17 August has them on the cusp of perhaps being on the clock first.

Lastly the Chicago Cougars are just 3 1/2 games off the snails pace for the top pick. The Cougars who were in the World Series as recently as 1932 and won it in 1931 saw its pitching staff that helped carry it to those titles get old in several key contributors. Also the injuries to ace SP Tommy Wilcox haven't helped. They have a lot minor league system and have several of those players up and with roster expansion you will soon see a lot more "kids" most likely getting their 1st taste of the big leagues.

The prize these 4 are fighting over, is most likely near unanimous #1 player, high school phenom Rufus Barrell II.

Max Morris and his pursuit of 700 Home Runs

The legendary 40-year slugging 1B stood at 666 home runs to start the season. While many considered it a long shot that he'd reach 700 this season, Morris was making it interesting. But history will have to wait and hope as Morris has had his season prematurely end on August 31st with something us old folks often get, recurring bask spasms. Morris will miss the rest of the season after winning August's CA Player of the Month award, which is the 54th time he has won such honors. On the season Morris hit a still respectable 326 with 25 home runs and 95 RBI's with 98 runs scored. For our math challenged friends that means Morris is sitting on 691 career home runs. Will "Mighty Mo" Max Morris come back for 1 last hurrah and break the 700 mark? Stay tuned.

And finally....the Dynamo's

Detroit completed a dreadful August by going 1-4 in the last week of the month to finish the month with a 7-21 record .333 ball. While that mark is horrendous by any normal standards for winning baseball, it is actually better than the team's over all 38-91 .295 winning mark for the season. Well done guys, well done!

DD Martin · 03-05-2021, 08:45 PM

The Detroit World
Monday September 2nd, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat

FABL Manager Hot Seat

It is once again time to look at and get an early start on the Manager Hot Seat List. This is where we take an unbiased look at the performance of the most talked about 16 jobs in pro sports, FABL Managers.

While most manager's that are in their 3rd season in control of a team and go from 90 wins in year 1 to 90+ (and it will be 100+) losses by year 3 would be in dire jeopardy of being fired. But that is not and will not be the case of Dynamo Manager Tom Bray. When DD Martin came to town he talked to his manager, let him know what he was going to do and why and told Bray not to worry. Bray has a contract through the 1937 season and Martin has indicated that Bray will be the team's manager when that season starts. So no job security issues here, but let's take a look at where there might be some issues.

The Hot Seat

Who's seat is the hottest in baseball right now? Well one has to figure that name would have been Toronto's Bob Warren who amassed a record of 396-608 mark through early July. Warren has been mentioned as one of the worst managers in the history of the game with that run. Well Bob Warren was relieved of his duties while the team was 39-41. While his replacement former Cleveland Forester and Chicago Cougar skipper Hank Leitzke has only gone 18-31 since taking over. Still many feel and I known in speaking to DD Martin that he thinks Leitzke is a great fit for Toronto and hopes that Hank finally gets a fair shake to manage an FABL club.

Pittsburgh's Mike Radigan was likely on this list as well, but in the off-season he was basically fired as the Manager and retained on the staff as new Skipper Dan Andrew's bench coach. His contract is ended at the conclusion of the season and the guess is he will not be back in Pittsburgh next season.

Honestly unless there is something completely unforeseen happening at the end of the season there might not be much change in team managers. But there are two cases that appear to be highly questionable (and we will look at a 3rd if they don't win) and therefore they make The Hot Seat!

We turn our attention to the Boston Minutemen who are managed by Phil Catalfamo (56). His reputation around the league is fair and he did manage the team to a 82 wins in the 1934 season which is the Minutemen's best season since they won 84 in 1916. Unfortunately for Catalfamo, who is in his 4th season at the helm, the team has not built on the improvement of last year and is disappointingly on 64-65. Not a horrible mark, but team officials were hoping that the corner had been turned and right now that question is still looking very unsure. What is in the manager's favor is that he signed a 5-year extension last season at about $4800 per year. That extension was probably largely given on the success of the 34 season and while he has 4 more years after this one the question is how patient is Boston management and team owner Jesse Barton. Barton's rep is that he is "unmerciful and controlling". Will Catalfamo fall victim to his displeasure of another season without an FA title? Hot Seat Rating - 4 (Flames can be seen on the outer edges of the seat).

Next in line is a particularly perplexing case as it involves the manager that is closing in on the record for most wins in career. Of course we are speaking of Baltimore Cannons Skipper Ossie "Oysters" Julious (62). While Julious is sitting on 2211 wins as of this writing and he is only 27 wins from breaking the record of Dynamo part-owner and respected former manager George Theobald. Julious' tenure in Baltimore been "shaky" at best. Julious while considered a grouchy sort, he is still considered a "good" manager. After years in Toronto he left after the 1928 season and was quickly grabbed up by the Cannons to become their manager for the 1929 season. The first 3 seasons while not producing at pennant, did produce winning clubs finishing 2nd twice and 3rd once and winning no fewer than 83 games in a season. Since the 1931 season the times have changed in Baltimore and the team dropped to 71 wins in 32, to 65 the next season and just 54 last year. This years team record stands at 55-74, so there has been improvement, but is it enough? Will Julious be given another year so that he can break Theobald's all time record for manager wins, or will he become a victim of the poor team record the last 4 years running. My guess is that he will be allowed to come back, break the record but after that all bets are off. Hot Seat Rating 3.5 and would be higher if not for the all-time win record were not in the background.

Now we go to Chicago, and the home of the Chiefs. Many would not figure a manager who was 97-94 in just over 1 and a half seasons would necessarily be on the hot seat. But James Gentry and his GM have already had a past relationship that saw the GM fire Gentry after only 58 games in Montreal in 1934. The Chicago GM is new though in the Windy City and may feel Gentry was given a bad deal the prior year. For a guy who is 124-125 in little over 2 seasons and has a great reputation, his name sure comes up a lot. My guess is that he will be allowed to stick around as the Chiefs are 63-66 currently unless the wheels come completely off in the last month of the season. But expectations are running high in Chicago and the desire to once again ascend to the FA throne are very much in play as the Chiefs have only won the FA pennant once (1928) in the last 18 seasons. Hot Seat Rating 3 but next year could be a raging fire if the Chiefs do not move into the upper division of the FA.

Finally, by most accounts Brooklyn manager Walt Bailey is an excellent manager who is very easy going and friendly with his players. He is in his 4th season in Brooklyn and has a mark of 318-241 .567 in those seasons. His Brooklyn team is in the thick of another exciting race with the Cleveland Foresters for the CA title. Things should be fine, right? In examining the Kings as of this Labor Day maybe not all is as rosy as one might think. GM TigerGM pulled off one of, if not the biggest trade in FABL history when he acquired from Detroit, OF Al Wheeler, 1B/3B Frank Vance and former Allen Award winning SP Jack Beach. Everyone in the FABL said that the pre-season favorite had just locked up the teams first World Series win ever in May. And the Kings are an excellent team and Wheeler and Vance have preformed very well. So why aren't the Kings running away with things in the CA? The King's offense is on pace to score 915 runs this season. They are on pace to win 94 games. So the big block buster deal will net them 15 more runs and potentially they will lose 4 more games? If the King's don't win the CA this season, the year has to be considered a major disappointment and while he has been given all the tools by the GM, the fact will be that Bailey didn't deliver with a dream team lineup. If they win then he's safe and all bets are off, but if they don't pull it out. You might very well see Walt Bailey working in the King's owner Dan Prescott's bottling plant. Hot Seat Rating if they win the CA 1. Hot Seat Rating if they do not win the CA 4.5

And that is the 1935 Manager Hot Seat Review.

DD Martin · 03-08-2021, 05:17 PM

The Detroit World
Monday September 9th, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat

Are Dynamo's showing any signs of Hope for the Future?

With this season quickly and thankfully approaching the end of the line. The question has to be, is there hope for the future? The Detroit 9 suffered through another tough week going just 2-5 this week to inch closer to that Un-Magical 100 losses in a season mark. That is a mark that this once proud franchise has never crossed, but it is about too and probably as early as this coming week. The past team record for loses in a season were 93, set by the 1898 team. With 96 already in the books this team has become the worst in team history, and it is not done as it is closing in on several other dubious marks as well.

The other frightening aspect of the 1898 team that lost 93 games? They didn't get back to being 500 or better for 7 seasons and they were 10 seasons away from winning the Federal Association title. Not sure that length of time will work in this now era of fast moving changes.

But let's get back to the dubious records this team might set this year. The worst ERA in team history was the 1925 squad that went 65-89 and had an ERA of 5.21. This team is already likely well past that as with 18 games remaining the 1935 squad has a team ERA of 5.97. If this holds the Dynamo's will set the all-time futility record for team pitching breaking the record of the 1930 St. Louis Pioneers who set the mark of 5.87

Going along with the pitching mark, it makes sense that this Dynamo's team is also closing in on the most runs given up in a season. A quick check of the record book shows that the 1890 Pittsburgh Miners gave up 1,040 runs that season. The Dynamo's are on pace to give up 1,077.

While the team offensively is the worst the Federal, it is not the worst in baseball this year nor nearing any of the marks of all time futility. The Dynamo's have scored 653 runs so far this year while the Continental Association's Toronto Wolves have only scored 605. The all-time worst runs in a season scored goes all the way back to the 1878 Chicago Chiefs in the dead ball era scoring just 259 runs. The problem is that Chicago team played just 61 games. So if you extrapolate that out to 154 games, the 1878 Chiefs would have scored 653 runs that season. Remember that was an time and era where the ball didn't sail out of the ballpark like it does today.

Roughly 351,000 fans will attend Dynamo games this season, but just a few short years ago in 1929 during the World Series winning season, Detroit attracted the 3rd most fans in a season for an FA club with over 1.3 million. In just 6 short years the team has almost a million fewer fans coming to the ballpark.

But the question of this article was were there any bright spots on the horizon for the team in the near future. So let's take a quick look.

Newly minted 1B Claude Merrill (26) has made a successful move from 2B and has hit 14 home runs and driven in 43 RBI's in just 50 big league games (roughly 1/3 of a season). While his batting average is just 223, he does earn quite a few walks which raise his OBP to 353. If he could get to 270 for a batting average you would be looking at a player that could have a 270/400 slash line with 30+ home run power and 100+ RBI's. He just needs some more quality offensive players around him in the lineup.

C Jim Kyle (29) has provided a nice spark since his arrival as TR Goins backup in Cleveland. He is playing pretty much everyday here in Detroit and he has responded with a 310/333/854 slash line with 5 home runs and 12 RBI's in 23 games.

CF Jose Serna (22) who came over in the massive Brooklyn deal in May, had his season interrupted by an injury but is now getting to play everyday in CF down the stretch. So far Serna has looked promising hitting 287/322/771 with 2 homer runs and 16 RBI's in just 31 games.

RF Howard Moss (29) Has been a true find since his exile from being blocked in Chicago (Cougars). In 42 games he has hit 303/394/999 with 9 home runs and 41 RBI's in 42 games.

So there are some encouraging building blocks on the offensive side of the ball. Unfortunately at the big league level there has not been a lot of positives this season.

Of the pitchers this season that have been brought in, only SP Jim Crawford (29) is having any sort of success, if you stretch the definition a bit. Since his trade from the Chicago Chiefs who gave up on him, Crawford has tossed 55.2 innings with the Dynamo's. The fact that his 4.85 ERA is the best on the team for any starter is a concern. But Crawford who is 2-4, has had some success. He might not be resembling the pitcher who was 28-19 with an ERA around 4.00 in the 32-33 seasons, but he is an upgrade for the Dyno's.

For the further pitching hope you have to look in the minors league system.

LHSP Jack Wood (22) who was also acquired in that Brooklyn deal this year is just in his 1st pro season out of college. He is currently pitching at AAA Newark although he most likely would have been better served at AA this year. The results haven't been terrible, but it is a big leap for a young pitcher to go from college ball to AAA. Wood is 4-6 with an ERA of 5.32. It was likely either an oversight or the team is just trying to get more capable starters up to Detroit quicker than they should because of the dire situation at the big league level. Wood is one to watch for the future.

RHSP Art Brandon (19) has been a nice surprise since coming over in trade with the Chicago Chiefs for SS Bob Barringer. While only 19 he has pitched very well at class B Chattanooga going 7-2 2.34 ERA. Expect a promotion next spring to Class A Terre Haute.

Prized RHSP prospect Earle Robinson (19) had his season cut short due to a back injury. He was 5-2 at class B Chattanooga before being shut down for the rest of the year with a herniated disc. The team has to be holding its breathe hoping that the #24 prospect in baseball can overcome that injury. The concern is that the same injury sidelined him last season around the same time of the year. Still the Dynamo's are expecting him to recover and be a part of the future of the big league team in several seasons.

Last year's much mocked #3 overall pick in the draft SP Del Burns (19) has started to show signs of improvement at Class B Chattanooga and is slowly climbing up the prospect ranks. He is 2-5 with a reasonable 3.32 ERA at Chattanooga so maybe he could help even though he is still considered to have been a huge reach and likely would have been around in the 4th or 5th round in the draft.

The team will be hoping to add to this group in the upcoming off-season and you Dynamo's fans should be rubbing your rosary beads every night and hope that whoever has that 1st pick in the draft falls in love with one of the power hitting high school kids so that SP Rufus Barrell II can land in Detroit. Or maybe the Dynamo's will have to over pay to move up from the #2 pick in the draft to the #1 pick. What that would cost I'm not sure anyone knows yet, but it would be something for this pitching starved team to consider.

DD Martin · 03-08-2021, 09:20 PM

The Detroit World
Tuesday September 10th, 1935
Sports News
From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat

Baseball Excitement, how about 2 Great Pennant Races

While the Dynamo's continue to churn their way to one of the most epic terrible seasons in history, we have decided to delve into two very exciting finishes expected in the Federal and Continental Associations this season. Both leagues are down to two teams with a shot and those "experts" at the OSA have provided this somewhat limited listing citing who they believe will win.

The Federal Association

The race that the Dynamo's want to be in the discussion with in the near future has two teams right now battling it out for a shot at the World Series title. The veteran New York Gotham's 82-54 have a 2 game lead over the young-starts from St. Louis Pioneer's 80-56 with 18 games left in the regular season. As shown below both teams are going to have to do their work mainly on the road. In one of those strange scheduling quirks of our time, the Pioneer's have difficult task of making up the 2 games and not playing any of their final 18 games at home. That's right all 18 games will be contested in enemy territory where the Pioneer's are 35-24 this season. The New York Gotham's situation is only slightly better as they will play 16 of their last 18 on the road as well. The Gotham's road record this season is 32-29 (while they are 50-25 at home) showing that New York is definitely a better home team than a road team.

The 2 games the Gotham's play at home are likely to be the most pivotal games of the season and this race, although they will all be big. The Gotham's will host the Pioneers for a short 2 game series on Saturday September 21st and Sunday September 22nd. The two teams have so far played 20 games against each other and it has been the Gotham's owing their existing lead in that series 12-8 that gives them their current 2 game cushion. After those games are played that weekend (sim after next), there will only be 5 games left in the season. Right now, OSA feels that veteran Gotham's have an 81% chance to hold off the Pioneers. And for the Pioneers, they know that the road to the FA pennant runs straight through that huge 2 game series in New York.

The Continental Association

In a repeat of the drama we saw last season, the Cleveland Foresters 83-52 and the Brooklyn Kings 82-52 are battling to once again see who will represent the CA. Last year the Foresters prevailed by 1 single game and this year with lead is even smaller sitting at 1/2 game. The good news for Brooklyn is that SP Tom Barrell is back and he pitched a solid game in his return over the weekend beating Philadelphia 5-4. With that win the Kings actually took over the lead in the CA by 1/2.

But unlike the FA where we have to wait a week for the big showdown between the Pioneers and Gothams, the Kings and Foresters started their showdown in a 4-game series in Cleveland on Sunday night. In game 1 of this showdown, it went 11 innings and in the end the home standing Foresters eked out a victory when last years CA Whitney Award winner, Cleveland C TR Goins hit a run scoring single in the bottom of the 11th inning scoring SS George Dawson for the 2-1 win. These two teams have met 19 times this season with Cleveland leading the season series after the Sunday win by an 11-8 count. With the remaining schedule slanted towards Cleveland based on the Foresters playing 16 of their final 19 at home, while the Kings will play away from Brooklyn in 15 of their last 20.

Getting Barrell back for the stretch run and pitching 4-6 games over the last 3 weeks is huge, but will he regain his Allen Award winning form? Last season Barrell ran away from the field with a 29-3 record 2.96 ERA. This year his ERA is better standing at 2.73 but the luck or fortune has not been as strong as his record is (only) 18-10. Right now OSA gives the Foresters the edge of winning the CA 71%, but it really might come down to this last 3 games of a series that started on Sunday. If one teams could somehow sweep those 3 games, it will certainly tilt the balance of power to that teams favor.

There is nothing like Pennant Baseball in the last weeks of a season and for us Detroit fans, we sure hope that the Dynamo's can be a part of those discussions again in the very near future.

Next - We will start looking at the CA teams that are "battling" for the #1 overall pick starting with the Baltimore Cannons

03-04-2021, 06:11 PM	#15
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	Jiggs McGee and The Figment Sporting Journal look at the Dynamos FROM THE PAGES OF THE FIGMENT SPORTING JOURNAL By JIGGS MCGEE -August 26, 1935 PRESSURE ON DYNAMOS TO MAKE THE RIGHT SELECTION The Detroit Dynamos appear to have narrowed their choice at second overall down to one of three players. Well four actually but it seems a foregone conclusion that Georgia high school pitching phenom Rufus Barrell II will go number one to whoever proves to be the worst team in the Continental Association. The CA picks first in odd years while the Federal Association cellar dweller gets top spot in even years. The Detroit brass readily admits this choice is a crucial step in trying to turn around a franchise that has very quickly and recently imploded due in a big part to poor drafting. The three choices Detroit is mulling over this December are all high school players in first baseman Red Johnson out of Portland, Oregon, Arkansas third baseman Mack Sutton and lefthanded pitcher George Garrison, another Arkansas born player but is now playing his high school ball in Carthage, Illinois. Not to talk the Dynamos out of Red Johnson but it is interesting to point out the current GM of the Dynamos was burned badly last time he went to the Pacific Northwest for a highly touted prospect. That was in the 1926 draft when the current Detroit GM was heading up things in Cleveland and his Foresters selected Karl Stevens out of Rainier College first overall. Stevens, who was released three times already including once by a Lone Star League team is still just 29 years old but unlikely to add to his resume which includes just 14 major league games. Of course Martin made up for it the next time he had the number one pick by selecting a Barrell brother in high school shortstop Harry in 1931. (We won't discuss the subsequent decision to trade him here). Two other occasions saw Martin's Cleveland club with a top four pick. He selected 3B Johnny Turner fourth overall out of George Fox University in 1930. The jury is still out on the 25 year old who has spent parts of two seasons with the Foresters but has been in AAA Cincinnati all of 1935. In 1929 the Foresters finished 7th in the CA and were set to pick third but they traded down and ended up with 2 first round picks instead, getting another George Fox product in Amos LeBlanc 8th overall and high school pitcher Ben Bernard 16th. Neither has done much in the five years since with LeBlanc playing a handful of games in Cleveland while Bernard appears stalled at AA. As for the Dynamos their success in the draft when it comes to high round picks has been a mixed bag, much like the results their various GM's have achieved over the past decade. The Dynamos actually had the first overall pick in the initial human run draft of FABL and scored a huge win in taking high school outfielder Al Wheeler, who was recently dealt to Brooklyn and is one player Red Johnson has been compared to. The 1925 draft had a lot of talent at the top so it would have been hard to wrong but Wheeler was a fantastic selection and the decision to move him in May also gives the Dynamos the jump start they needed to get their rebuild underway. Detroit would pick 4th overall the following season after a 7th place finish in 1926 but it would be their final stint in the second division until the collapse began last season. However, while the big league club enjoyed some success including a World Championship in 1929, a series of questionable draft classes has led to the dire situation the Dynamos are now in. The first of those misses came in '26 when they selected pitcher Larry Brown out of Oakland High School. Most had Brown high on their radar so it is not necessarily a bad pick at the time and the Dynamos did eventually trade him for a decent catcher in Dave Armstrong but he is just 16-11 for his big league career. Brown does seem to have finally found a home at the bottom of the Chicago Chiefs rotation as a 27 year old. Between 1927 and 1933 the big league club was very successful but their first round picks were Harry Meek (14th, 1927: now 29 years old with 0 FABL games), Fred Keller (13th, 1928 still in Class C), Donnie Scheuermann (11th, 1930: 16-11, 4.47 era in 102 career games all but 11 in relief), Bill Moore (13th, 1932: just 23 and now in AAA so may still pan out) and Doc Leach (14th, 1933: in AA now at age 24 considered a possible bench player by OSA). The Dynamos traded away their first (as well as second and third round picks) in both 1929 and 1931. As for last season - well that was a headscratcher. The Dynamos went off the board by taking a high school pitcher out of Houston by the name of Del Burns third overall. Burns put up some very good numbers as a senior but was not named on the final OSA 5-round mock draft so he was certainly considered to be a reach at third overall. He is presently 1-11 with a 4.46 era at Classes C and B this season and ranked the 220th best prospect currently by OSA. So Detroit has had some draft issues, but perhaps so has their new General Manager. However, he and the Dynamos made some shrewd deals during the season so they are in a position to turn things around quickly but it will require some very solid drafting. Detroit has a boatload of picks this year and have made great strides trying to rebuild from the ground up with the addition of some quality minor league prospects but it is hard to imagine any move in Detroit this season being more important than what they do with the second overall pick. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 03-04-2021 at 06:13 PM.

03-05-2021, 03:09 PM	#17
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The Detroit World Sunday September 1st, 1935 Sports News From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat Tidbits from Around the FABL The month of August closed and so did the likely playoff hopes of the Pittsburgh Miners as they have fallen 9 games off the pace. The New York Gotham's who have won the FA 3 out of the last 5 seasons are looking to make it 4 out of 6. The Gotham's rode a 23-4 August to take over the top spot in the FA from the St. Louis Pioneers who had led the Association for most of the season. While it is not strange that New York's has risen to the top, it is a little bit strange how or more exactly who the key performer is. Most would say one of the stud pitchers like Rabbit Day or Jim Lonardo, some might say new acquisition LF Moxie Pidgeon or RF Marlon Strong. But those inside the organization point to OF Ray Ball. Now most might not know Ray Ball at all and even the most feverish of baseball fanatics probably still don't know him. What has Ball done on the field? Precious little would be the answer as he has appeared in only 5 games since his promotion with 1 hit in 3 official plate appearances. But Ball is a man created with creating the locker room spirit that was apparently lacking in New York. Players love the 26-year-olds leadership and are glad he is on the team. Bad news for St. Louis and Pittsburgh, but Ray Ball might be the FA's MVP for 1935 and he is now New York's favorite son. Freddie "Fredrick the Great" Jones is closing in on another batting title. The St. Louis 2B leads the FABL in hitting with a 389 average and had his best month of the season hitting 427. Could Jones hit 400 on the year? well he was 44-103 in August, but using those numbers as a basis, he would have to hit around 460 in the shortened month of August to achieve the goal. St. Louis has 25 games left so for Jones to pull it off he would have to around 46 out of 100 to hit the magical mark. His task might be harder to do since he has been struggling with a sore elbow for the last 10 days. His return to full health is unknown but team officials say it is not effecting his hitting at all (Just throwing which might be important for a 2nd baseman). CA Leader Changes After taking 2 out of 3 in a key series in Brooklyn last week, the Cleveland Foresters forced ahead in what looks like another Cleveland-Brooklyn race to the finish. Many will not forget the remarkable Forester charge last season that saw them go 15-1 down the stretch to win the CA pennant over Brooklyn and then ultimately the World Series. This year the Forester's got off to a horrible start, lost their "over-rated" GM who now sits in the office in Detroit, and people were wondering if veteran 1B Max Morris was finished. Since starting the year with a huge Championship Hangover and a 10-15 record, Manager Jim Wilson's crew has gone 69-34 and now lead the CA by a single game. It wasn't just the series win in Brooklyn that got the Forester's over the edge. No it was following that series where Brooklyn went to Montreal and dropped 2 games and then last place Baltimore and dropped the first 2 games of a 4-game set there. On Labor Day Monday, the Kings better right the ship as they play the Cannons in a double-header. With the news that SP Tom Barrell won't be back for the all-important 4 game set in Cleveland in a weeks time, the Kings can't afford anymore lack luster efforts. The Race is on.....to the Bottom and Rufus the II This year our own Detroit Dynamo's get screwed out of the #1 overall pick by having one of the worst records in FABL history. Why you ask? Well the FABL because it has 2 separate Associations that don't cross over and play one another have deemed it "fair" that the top pick in the draft rotates from the FA to the CA from year to year. Last year the Washington Eagles had the top pick from the CA so despite the woeful showing of the Dynamo's they will only earn the #2 overall pick. But what a race we have developing in the CA for that honor. Baltimore who has seen their share of losing seasons has finally overtaken an under achieving New York Stars team for last place by 2 games. Joining the Stars at 2 games back are the equally historically bad CA team, the Toronto Wolves. The Wolves and Cannons are been the bottom feeders in the CA for many of the more recent seasons, but the Wolves showed signs of life this at least early. But a 10-17 August has them on the cusp of perhaps being on the clock first. Lastly the Chicago Cougars are just 3 1/2 games off the snails pace for the top pick. The Cougars who were in the World Series as recently as 1932 and won it in 1931 saw its pitching staff that helped carry it to those titles get old in several key contributors. Also the injuries to ace SP Tommy Wilcox haven't helped. They have a lot minor league system and have several of those players up and with roster expansion you will soon see a lot more "kids" most likely getting their 1st taste of the big leagues. The prize these 4 are fighting over, is most likely near unanimous #1 player, high school phenom Rufus Barrell II. Max Morris and his pursuit of 700 Home Runs The legendary 40-year slugging 1B stood at 666 home runs to start the season. While many considered it a long shot that he'd reach 700 this season, Morris was making it interesting. But history will have to wait and hope as Morris has had his season prematurely end on August 31st with something us old folks often get, recurring bask spasms. Morris will miss the rest of the season after winning August's CA Player of the Month award, which is the 54th time he has won such honors. On the season Morris hit a still respectable 326 with 25 home runs and 95 RBI's with 98 runs scored. For our math challenged friends that means Morris is sitting on 691 career home runs. Will "Mighty Mo" Max Morris come back for 1 last hurrah and break the 700 mark? Stay tuned. And finally....the Dynamo's Detroit completed a dreadful August by going 1-4 in the last week of the month to finish the month with a 7-21 record .333 ball. While that mark is horrendous by any normal standards for winning baseball, it is actually better than the team's over all 38-91 .295 winning mark for the season. Well done guys, well done! Attached Images

03-08-2021, 09:20 PM	#20
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The Detroit World Tuesday September 10th, 1935 Sports News From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat Baseball Excitement, how about 2 Great Pennant Races While the Dynamo's continue to churn their way to one of the most epic terrible seasons in history, we have decided to delve into two very exciting finishes expected in the Federal and Continental Associations this season. Both leagues are down to two teams with a shot and those "experts" at the OSA have provided this somewhat limited listing citing who they believe will win. The Federal Association The race that the Dynamo's want to be in the discussion with in the near future has two teams right now battling it out for a shot at the World Series title. The veteran New York Gotham's 82-54 have a 2 game lead over the young-starts from St. Louis Pioneer's 80-56 with 18 games left in the regular season. As shown below both teams are going to have to do their work mainly on the road. In one of those strange scheduling quirks of our time, the Pioneer's have difficult task of making up the 2 games and not playing any of their final 18 games at home. That's right all 18 games will be contested in enemy territory where the Pioneer's are 35-24 this season. The New York Gotham's situation is only slightly better as they will play 16 of their last 18 on the road as well. The Gotham's road record this season is 32-29 (while they are 50-25 at home) showing that New York is definitely a better home team than a road team. The 2 games the Gotham's play at home are likely to be the most pivotal games of the season and this race, although they will all be big. The Gotham's will host the Pioneers for a short 2 game series on Saturday September 21st and Sunday September 22nd. The two teams have so far played 20 games against each other and it has been the Gotham's owing their existing lead in that series 12-8 that gives them their current 2 game cushion. After those games are played that weekend (sim after next), there will only be 5 games left in the season. Right now, OSA feels that veteran Gotham's have an 81% chance to hold off the Pioneers. And for the Pioneers, they know that the road to the FA pennant runs straight through that huge 2 game series in New York. The Continental Association In a repeat of the drama we saw last season, the Cleveland Foresters 83-52 and the Brooklyn Kings 82-52 are battling to once again see who will represent the CA. Last year the Foresters prevailed by 1 single game and this year with lead is even smaller sitting at 1/2 game. The good news for Brooklyn is that SP Tom Barrell is back and he pitched a solid game in his return over the weekend beating Philadelphia 5-4. With that win the Kings actually took over the lead in the CA by 1/2. But unlike the FA where we have to wait a week for the big showdown between the Pioneers and Gothams, the Kings and Foresters started their showdown in a 4-game series in Cleveland on Sunday night. In game 1 of this showdown, it went 11 innings and in the end the home standing Foresters eked out a victory when last years CA Whitney Award winner, Cleveland C TR Goins hit a run scoring single in the bottom of the 11th inning scoring SS George Dawson for the 2-1 win. These two teams have met 19 times this season with Cleveland leading the season series after the Sunday win by an 11-8 count. With the remaining schedule slanted towards Cleveland based on the Foresters playing 16 of their final 19 at home, while the Kings will play away from Brooklyn in 15 of their last 20. Getting Barrell back for the stretch run and pitching 4-6 games over the last 3 weeks is huge, but will he regain his Allen Award winning form? Last season Barrell ran away from the field with a 29-3 record 2.96 ERA. This year his ERA is better standing at 2.73 but the luck or fortune has not been as strong as his record is (only) 18-10. Right now OSA gives the Foresters the edge of winning the CA 71%, but it really might come down to this last 3 games of a series that started on Sunday. If one teams could somehow sweep those 3 games, it will certainly tilt the balance of power to that teams favor. There is nothing like Pennant Baseball in the last weeks of a season and for us Detroit fans, we sure hope that the Dynamo's can be a part of those discussions again in the very near future. Next - We will start looking at the CA teams that are "battling" for the #1 overall pick starting with the Baltimore Cannons Attached Images Last edited by DD Martin; 03-08-2021 at 09:30 PM.

02-10-2021, 07:49 PM	#2
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The First Order of Business Meeting with Mr. Thompson and Mr. Theobald We exchanged pleasantries and that got straight to business as I presented my initial thoughts on the team. After taking a quick overview of the team I have found that our scouting is way behind the rest of the league. Our scout will be working overtime to try and catch up. He will begin in our own system starting at AAA and any top prospects in the system and then moving on to AA and the lower leagues. My hope is that by the end of May we will have a much better handle on what we have and the roles they might play. Also speaking of the minor leagues I see that a staff was just assembled at AAA Newark. I am not sure what the thinking was and I know it was not money with you guys, but the days of the players being their own managers and coaches is over. We will be hiring a staff at each level and we will be looking for coaches that have strong development skills. The key to success in any baseball organization is its minor league farm system. On the minor league player front we will begin looking to find out if there are any players that we could sign to improve our system. While there are very likely no diamonds sitting around there maybe a few rough diamonds that just need some polishing. We will continue with our assessment as the season goes along. I will be meeting with Manager Tom Bray later but I want you to know that I plan on no changes to the current coaching staff during the season. We will ride out with what we have since most of the them just got here. I believe Tom, while I don't know him well, is a good baseball man that was given a very tough hand. We will sit down and discuss what my plans are and see if he is willing to go along with a total rebuild from the ground up. If he feels he can stomach the rough road ahead, then he will likely stay our manager into the future. And Mr. Theobald I want to thank you personally for the background on Tom and what your experiences with him have been like. This is his 3rd season at the helm and he has a winning record 163-145 prior to the start of this season. That leads me to the thoughts on the current team and the plan. Besides the players aging the team is not well built for this ballpark. With the short porch in left field and the death valley in right we should be loading up on more right handed hitters. Not everyone but if we are looking for power we should definitely be looking for right-handed bats since we play half our games here. I also want to emphasize pitching and defense especially up the middle. I will be looking to do something that I failed at in Cleveland and that is to add an element of speed in some key positions. To accomplish all of this we will be very active in the waiver wire process and bring in new talent and see if there is anything there that can help us. In the off-season we will prepare for the amateur draft, Rule 5 draft, and Indy League draft like you have never seen before. Expect a lot of players coming to town next year via a rule 5 process. This organization needs talent and if it takes us struggling for the next few seasons, the goal is winning a championship and that is what I intend to bring to this organization. We will be reviewing the 5-7 players that might have some value to others and we will begin shopping them. Yes this includes Art Wheeler and 3B Frank Vance. With the shambles that our pitching staff is we need to look for immediate upgrades there and honestly all over. This team is built to do something (win now) that it can not seriously do. My plan is to tear it down. There will be concern from the fans but we will continue to broadcast a positive message about our building for the future. It took me 9 years in Cleveland to get to the World Series, my goal here is to more than cut that in half. If we are not approaching that area by the 1938 season, then I am not worth the salary you are paying me. (As I presented everything the owners asked about a lot of questions and I prepared them for the realistic expectation that we would be the worst team in the league most likely this year and next. They seemed to be ok with it as long as we had a plan. I got the feeling Mr. Thompson was going to have Mr. Theobald watching and assisting me along the way which is fine. It's a lot better than having Elmer Marshall and his crime syndicate around.) (Below are the pictures of Mr. Thompson and Mr. Theobald as well as me) Also here is our minor league system prospect rankings. More detail to come on these players as we go. Attached Images

02-11-2021, 01:34 PM	#3
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	There is so much to do here but the first thing I wanted to do was start finding some managers and coaches for our minor league system. Thankfully George Theobald had assembled a staff at AAA Newark Aces prior to my arrival and he had a list of names he gave me. I started reviewing that list with my own and came up with offers to the following coaches. Most of the guys hired are inexperience and we offered 1 and 2 year deals (most 1 year deals). By the end of the week all the offers were accepted and we had a full minor league staff. We will evaluate everyone and then decided who will continue on and who will be back on the market in the off-season. I will be honest I have my eye on a future guy that is currently a player but his playing career is likely winding down. He's smart and likely could be a very capable manager someday. This was going to be a very busy week but here is who we have in the minor leagues coaching staffs now. AA Akron Wheels - We hired Billy McIlrath (54) was given a 2-year deal. He managed last season in the Lone Star Association with Galveston and had a 70-70 record. PC Bill George (54) was brought in to Akron and has had a 10 year career coaching in the minor leagues. He most recently was at Oklahoma City in teh Western Baseball League. We gave a younger guy the HC job and hired HC Dick Hand (39). This will be his first coaching job. A Terre Haute Brewers - We went in a very different direction here with the hiring of manager Jon Gruber (57). He was a high school manager for 17 years at Austin HS. His career record at Austin was 309-331. The PC at Terre Haute is former college manager Ford Burton (55) who was at St. Mathews College (31-33 seasons) where he compiled a 67-78 record with his 33 team going 33-17. For HC we gave Chet Krall (48) his first minor league coaching opportunity. B Chattanooga Dynamos Our new manager here is a rookie skipper in Nestor Roman (50). He is really an offensive minded skipper who likes power and more power. PC is John Cane (60) who isn't highly thought of. He is likely a 1 year stop gap sort but we will see maybe he will surprise. HC is also a first year guy in HC Art Murphy. This is a really inexperienced coaching staff but some staff is probably better than no staff. C Biloxi Billies Our rookie league teams will be led by 3 first year rookie coaches. Manager Tony Ross (51), PC Chris Brown (35) and HC Fred Barnes (42) have all reported. Team Trainer So with the coaching staff offers being sent out I sat down with our team trainer Vince McCarty. Vince was not someone who really wanted to spend a lot of time with the team and was really more interested in his practice. I can't blame him but I also wanted someone who was committed to us. So McCarty and I agreed he would stay until a replacement was found. Fortunately I spent the week and found a guy had a lot of experience and was an upgrade. He was an old gentleman but a 4 year deal (if he stays through it) will at least get us through the next couple of seasons. So we hired former St. Louis and Montreal Team Doctor Hal Skinner. Asst GM Might be the most under appreciated (or respected) position in baseball (in the ootp world anyway). Bert Manning had been on the job since 1930 and had a year remaining on his deal. We got along fine so I agreed that we would see how it went and talk later in the summer about next year. Little did I know we would have a very busy and interesting week as it unfolded. Manager I then sat down with Manager Tom Bray who had been sort of a jack of all trades the past few seasons. I let Tom know that my goal was that he could just focus on managing and not have to handle all the other tasks by himself anymore. I asked him to evaluate his fairly new staff and after the All-Star Break we would sit down and discuss the future of the staff. Tom is signed through the 1937 season (3 years) and I told him that while his duties will just be managing, it might be a tough road. As I laid out my plan to build a winner he looked a little uneasy. I stressed to him that he need not worry and would not be a scape goat for any losing. I just needed him to manage and develop these guys as best he can. I told him that I had no desire to bring in any managers so he would be the guy in charge and when we got into the 1936 off-season we would sit down and seriously take about the future. He seemed to agreeable to the situation and thanked me for the help he was now getting. Waiver Claims There were 7 players on the waiver wire and we cast a pretty wide net trying to claim 6 of them. We ended up with 4 and passed on the opportunity to bring in former Cleveland farmhand C Eddie Smith. I was once really high on Eddie as a guy that could be a future big leaguer and maybe replace Goins, but then Eddie grew up and the smart ass kid become a 21-year-old disruptive pain in the ass. Not what we need in this organization right now and his performance among the scouts and talent evaluators had slipped as well. The players we did claim were RP George Johnson (Brooklyn) age 30 RP Alex Harold (Cleveland) age 24 SP Spike Manifold (Cleveland) age 28 SS George Drake (Phily Sailors) age 28 We will assign them at the end of the week. Free agents signed 2B Bob Baker 2B Jack Brown CL Dutch Boland SP Joe Hunt SP Joe Healey 2B Rocky Doty SP Red Gillam I don't expect to get any stars here but most of these guys are good quality depth to fill some holes. Who know maybe we will catch lightening in a bottle with one of the pitchers. These guys will all report at the end of the week and we will assign them then. Next - The First Week Results in Detroit and some trades that Rocked the City.

02-11-2021, 06:31 PM	#4
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The Detroit World Monday 13th, 1935 Sports News From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat What a week! But Wait for the Ending! There were a lot of changes this week in the Dynamo's camp and the team really looked like they put all the offensive pieces together. The Dynamo's ending their winning 5-2 week with a resounding thumping of the Washington Eagles by a 17-2 count. With that win the Dynamo's have a 13-13 record and are just 1.5 games out of first place. That was the good news..... And Now the Bad News..... New GM DD Martin is wasting no time putting his stamp on the franchise. Less than a week into his reign he set out on what some are calling "his master plan" but a lot of the fans are now shouting "Go Back to Cleveland". In 2 moves that are sure to set back the Dynamo's fortunes for years. Martin Ships out Wheeler and Vance to Kings What is being called the largest trade in at least modern FABL history, the Dynamo's traded 3B Frank Vance, OF Art Wheeler and SP Jack Beach to the Brooklyn Kings. In return the Dynamo's receive the Kings first 8 picks in next years draft and 5 prospects. When reached for comment Martin proclaimed "This trade will start the progress of rebuilding the Dynamo's and making them a contender down the road." While the belief among many is that the Dynamo's window closed several years ago. The thought that the team is aging and is likely to be in the battle for the #2 pick in next year's draft is a strong one. But the fact that these trades of some of the most popular and productive players comes when the team is just 1.5 out of 1st. The deal sent shockwaves through the fans and tonight's game against Washington there might be some kind of demonstration. Not to be outdone, the GM then traded SP Roy Calfee to Pittsburgh for a 4th round draft pick and minor league SS Frank Davis. Rumors are already circulating that OF Henry Jones might be next and the returning SP Wayne Robinson who is back from injury might be showcasing what he has left. Players acquired - RHSP Earle Robinson (age 19 - Prospect Rank #37) - A former 1st round pick of the Kings is from LA Presa, California. At his peak his repertoire should include an above average sinker, an average curve and change. While his secondary pitches aren't "great" he somehow manages to throw them all for strikes on almost any count and his pinpoint command and control. Robinson could rise to the level of a solid #2 or #3 starter. Robinson will start in the Class B League with Chattanooga. LHSP Jack Wood (age 23 - prospect Rank #75) Wood is an intimidating 6'4 SP from NY who was drafted in the 3rd round of this past draft from Henry Hudson University. He leans heavily on his plus slider which is the best of his 5 pitches. His pitches have plenty of movement that should help to keep the ball in the park. At his peak Wood can expect to occupy a mid-rotation SP slot. Due to the lack of pitching depth, Wood has been assigned to the Newark Aces (AAA) and the hope is that he might be ready for the big leagues as early as next year. SS Tip Harrison (age 23 - Prospect Rank #53) Drafted in the 2nd round in the 1934 draft out of Bluegrass State. His glove is outstanding and his has top of the scale speed. He has great strike zone recognition. The feeling is he will be an above average, everyday big league player. He has been assigned to the Class A Heartland League Terre Haute Brewers. CF Jose "Roach" Serna (Age 22) Who's name might be familiar to some Dynamo fans, was originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Indy League Houston Bulls in May 1929. After the season he was then signed by another Indy League team the Springfield Hustlers before again signing with Houston in 1932. The Chicago Cougars drafted Serna from the Houston team in 1933 but traded to Detroit in the ill-fated Doc Love trade. At the end of the 33 season he was not promoted to the 40-man roster so was left unprotected by the Dynamo's and taken as a rule 5 draft pick. Now he is back in town coming back in a trade from Brooklyn. Serna did show some promise hitting 295 in Brooklyn in 132 AB's. He was hitting 340 in AAA before the trade. He has plus-plus speed with advanced instincts on the base paths. He looks to be a solid defensive CF and can chase down a lot of balls with his plus range. He is figured to be an average solid option for a team as a CF. In 1933 he was the #11 rated prospect in the FABL before he wasn't protected by Dynamo's. Serna will start in AAA Newark. LF Jay Buckingham (age 24) He was originally drafted in the 6th round out of high school in 1929. He has the potential to be a 330 hitter and has plus speed that will put pressure on defenses. Buckingham should be a frontrunner for an audition as a RF. Buckingham will start in AA Akron but is figured to be moving up to AAA Newark hopefully by the end of June. SS Frank Davis (age 18) Was drafted in the 8th round of the 1934 draft. While he won't compete for batting titles he projects to be a 310 hitter someday with quality defensive abilities. Speed is not his game though as he is very slow on the base paths. His future looks bright though and he will be starting his Dynamo journey at Class C Biloxi. GM Martin stated his goal was to start rebuilding the broken farm system with an eye on getting as many players into the system as possible the next several years. These deals will accomplish that goal and the team is busy reviewing the free agents market as well for any players that might be a factor. Whether or not the fans will have the patience for this time of building of a team will be interesting to be seen. Right now fan "interest" is at an all time low. Next week 2 in Detroit - Any more moves?

02-12-2021, 12:16 AM	#5
Jay_Bourne Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: Jay Peak Vermont Posts: 32	I was in shock too when I saw the 17-2 win against the Eagles. After analysis, it was a defensive errors freak show by the Washington players with 5 errors and 1 passed ball. Detroit scored 17 runs but pitcher ERA got hit for only 6 runs. Since then, coach Chamberlain has made intensive fielding practices. Three of error came from 2B Piper replacing Carter... we can only move forward after this! __________________ Jay Bourne OOTP gamer since 2017 ______________________________ https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com/...d.php?t=324056

02-22-2021, 09:42 PM	#7
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	End of June 1935 The stress of a tough season can weigh on people differently. As the Dynamo's suffered through a 4-23 June (which is likely one of the worst marks in FABL history), that surfaced on Saturday night after a league worst 9th shutout in a losing 11-0 effort against the Chicago Chiefs. Manager Tom Bray was answering questions in the locker room with a group of reporters when a particular question set him off. Bray began shouting at the reporter (One Conrad Thompson of Flint Times) and abruptly threw a chair putting a huge dent into the locker room wall and stormed off. Yes the team is 22-50 so far and not a lot is going right. The pitching is horrible and with that we say goodbye to P Wally Larkin who had a 12.10 ERA in 9 brutal innings. We also released Bob Faust (26) from class C. More bad news was out top prospect P Earle Robinson (19) left his last start with an issue with his back. Turns out he has a herniated disc (not good for any athlete) and will miss the rest of the season. He was 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA at our Class B Chattanooga team and he was looking to get promoted to Class A Terre Haute next month. The 2 kids we picked up in the Chicago Chief deal for SS Bob Barringer, were promoted from Class C to Class B. Those 2 kids SP Art Brandon and SP Harvey Gaines. Finally we are bringing CF Jose Serna (22) who was one of the five players we picked up from Brooklyn. He was hitting 311 at the class AAA clubs this year. So he will get inserted into the starting lineup at the top of the order to see if he can light a fire to what is now the FA's worst offense. As we head towards the All-Star game I am not sure exactly who will be the Dynamo's representative. The best player is likely is probably OF Henry Jones. To replace P Wally Larkin, we decided to bring up 39 year old Andy Holton who was 5-3 with a 2.80 ERA at AAA Newark. Holton who is not a long term answer and is likely to hang up his cleats in the very near future, we don't want to rush up any younger players who are likely not ready (or ever will be ready). Below are the team stats (pitching, batting and other info.) Next - We are so looking forward to the off-season and the draft to bring some talent into this organization. Attached Images

02-23-2021, 09:40 PM	#8
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The Detroit World Tuesday July 7th, 1935 Sports News From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat News Item - Veteran Catcher Dick York Announces his Retirement at the End of the Season. York was drafted by the Dynamos in the 1917 draft in the first round as the 8th overall choice out of Georgia Tech. After spending parts of 2 seasons in the Dynamo's minor league system he made his debut during the 1919 season at the age of 23 years old. The highly durable catcher never was placed on the FABL DL (only made one brief appearance on the Disabled List during the his 1918 minor league season). He will finish out his career on one of the worst baseball teams in FABL history but that shouldn't diminish his career achievements. York has appeared in 1518 games hitting 307/375/756 with 32 home runs and 728 RBI's. He won 2 World Series Championships with the Dynamo's on their 1919 (his rookie season) and 1929 clubs. Insiders have speculated that he will continue his baseball career as a manager. Some feel that he might have already agreed to start that career next year somewhere in the Dynamo's minor league season. All-Star Game Lineups Announced The FABL will hold its 3rd All-Star which is becoming an annual event here right after the Independence Day holiday here in the US. This season the FA's Philadelphia Keystones will host the annual event at their Broad Street Park. While no Dynamo's were selected for the game (rightfully so), it should still be a very exciting contest. There are several players who started the season here in Detroit that did make the teams. Here are the announced starting lineups for the game. Here are the talented stars on the Federal Association roster: SP Hardin Bates (NYG) - 7-7, 2.84 ERA, 123.2 IP, 1.23 WHIP, 2.8 K/9, 1.8 WAR SP Al Carrol (BOS) - 7-6, 3.18 ERA, 127.1 IP, 1.32 WHIP, 2.5 K/9, 2.6 WAR SP Rabbit Day (NYG) - 8-4, 3.61 ERA, 129.2 IP, 1.29 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, 3.3 WAR SP Gil Knight (PIT)* - 4-2, 3.13 ERA, 60.1 IP, 1.28 WHIP, 2.8 K/9, 0.0 WAR SP Walter Murphy (PIT)* - 9-6, 3.08 ERA, 134.1 IP, 1.27 WHIP, 3.6 K/9, 2.3 WAR SP Art Myers (PHI) - 9-5, 3.42 ERA, 105.1 IP, 1.38 WHIP, 3.8 K/9, 1.8 WAR SP Sam Sheppard (STL) - 14-4, 2.78 ERA, 162.0 IP, 1.25 WHIP, 3.7 K/9, 3.0 WAR RP Don Attaway (PHI) - 2-4, 10 SV, 2.29 ERA, 35.1 IP, 1.47 WHIP, 4.6 K/9, 0.6 WAR RP Robert Curry (WAS) - 3-1, 10 SV, 2.48 ERA, 40.0 IP, 1.32 WHIP, 2.3 K/9, 0.1 WAR C George Cleaves (PIT) - .345/.397/.488, 281 AB, 7 HR, 141 wRC+, 3.1 WAR C John Wicklund (NYG)* - .338/.405/.595, 222 AB, 13 HR, 1 SB, 167 wRC+, 2.9 WAR 1B Rankin Kellogg (PHI)* - .312/.387/.603, 295 AB, 20 HR, 153 wRC+, 2.8 WAR 1B Fred McCormick (STL) - .340/.455/.596, 285 AB, 16 HR, 178 wRC+, 3.2 WAR 2B Andy Carter (WAS) - .325/.407/.467, 212 AB, 2 HR, 1 SB, 132 wRC+, 2.2 WAR 2B Freddie Jones (STL)* - .368/.491/.477, 304 AB, 4 HR, 4 SB, 166 wRC+, 4.4 WAR 3B Len Jones (CHI)* - .365/.391/.498, 301 AB, 5 HR, 2 SB, 135 wRC+, 3.2 WAR SS Bob Barringer (CHI)* - .316/.360/.418, 282 AB, 1 HR, 12 SB, 111 wRC+, 2.2 WAR SS Earl Michael (STL) - .345/.432/.443, 287 AB, 3 HR, 2 SB, 139 wRC+, 3.3 WAR LF Rip Curry (PHI) - .364/.411/.475, 316 AB, 6 HR, 142 wRC+, 2.5 WAR LF Jim Hampton (CHI)* - .331/.377/.491, 293 AB, 6 HR, 4 SB, 133 wRC+, 2.4 WAR (Injured) CF Chick Donnelly (BOS)* - .361/.399/.496, 335 AB, 7 HR, 6 SB, 143 wRC+, 3.4 WAR RF Bobby Barrell (PHI)* - .331/.370/.552, 326 AB, 15 HR, 5 SB, 143 wRC+, 3.4 WAR RF Sam Brown (WAS) - .354/.404/.556, 297 AB, 11 HR, 1 SB, 159 wRC+, 3.4 WAR RF Mahlon Strong (NYG) - .322/.380/.572, 276 AB, 14 HR, 3 SB, 150 wRC+, 2.5 WAR And these are the gifted players for the Continental Association: SP Tom Barrell (BRK)* - 12-8, 3.19 ERA, 177.2 IP, 1.22 WHIP, 5.0 K/9, 5.0 WAR SP Chuck Cole (TOR) - 10-3, 3.30 ERA, 136.1 IP, 1.47 WHIP, 3.4 K/9, 2.1 WAR SP Herb Flynn (PHS) - 7-2, 2.84 ERA, 120.1 IP, 1.36 WHIP, 3.2 K/9, 2.2 WAR SP Bert Henggeler (BRK) - 1-0, 2.10 ERA, 25.2 IP, 1.13 WHIP, 3.2 K/9, 0.5 WAR SP William Jones (PHS) - 10-6, 3.89 ERA, 136.1 IP, 1.34 WHIP, 2.9 K/9, 2.6 WAR SP Mike Murphy (BRK) - 13-3, 3.84 ERA, 150.0 IP, 1.33 WHIP, 3.0 K/9, 2.4 WAR SP Doc Newell (PHS) - 8-7, 3.48 ERA, 124.0 IP, 1.35 WHIP, 3.3 K/9, 3.0 WAR SP Joe Shaffner (BRK) - 11-6, 3.30 ERA, 152.2 IP, 1.35 WHIP, 3.0 K/9, 2.9 WAR RP Bill Beier (MON) - 2-6, 4 SV, 3.21 ERA, 33.2 IP, 1.43 WHIP, 2.7 K/9, 0.1 WAR RP Jim Cavender(CLE)* - 2-0, 2.13 ERA, 25.1 IP, 1.46 WHIP, 2.8 K/9, 0.1 WAR RP Sergio Gonzales (CLE) - 2-4, 4 SV, 4.13 ERA, 32.2 IP, 1.50 WHIP, 4.4 K/9, 0.5 WAR C Tom Bird (MON)* - .325/.422/.483, 209 AB, 5 HR, 144 wRC+, 2.0 WAR (Injured) C T.R. Goins (CLE) - .283/.382/.461, 269 AB, 10 HR, 126 wRC+, 2.3 WAR 1B Vic Crawford (MON) - .331/.393/.512, 281 AB, 6 HR, 1 SB, 148 wRC+, 2.5 WAR 1B Max Morris (CLE)* - .311/.373/.476, 296 AB, 11 HR, 1 SB, 126 wRC+, 0.8 WAR 1B Frank Vance (BRK)* - .344/.424/.500, 282 AB, 7 HR, 1 SB, 153 wRC+, 3.0 WAR 2B Bill Ashbaugh (CHC)* - .332/.390/.541, 205 AB, 5 HR, 3 SB, 140 wRC+, 1.7 WAR 3B John Lawson (NYS) - .372/.417/.550, 231 AB, 5 HR, 154 wRC+, 2.9 WAR SS Harry Barrell (BRK)* - .375/.428/.483, 323 AB, 1 HR, 2 SB, 142 wRC+, 5.7 WAR SS Larry Colaianni (NYS) - .376/.430/.488, 295 AB, 4 HR, 1 SB, 150 wRC+, 1.6 WAR SS George Dawson (CLE) - .339/.388/.447, 313 AB, 7 HR, 7 SB, 126 wRC+, 3.7 WAR CF Mike Mason (NYS)* - .357/.432/.467, 210 AB, 1 HR, 5 SB, 142 wRC+, 1.4 WAR RF Lou Kelly (CHC)* - .375/.427/.586, 307 AB, 11 HR, 166 wRC+, 3.4 WAR RF Al Wheeler (BRK)* - .358/.448/.692, 299 AB, 26 HR, 2 SB, 190 wRC+, 5.3 WAR July 4th, 1935 - Dynamo's earn first shutout The Dynamo's finally got a shutout after having been shutout themselves 9 times so far. SP Ernie Miller (5-9 4.63) pitched 8 innings giving up just 4 hits along with 5 walks as the Dynamo's beat the New York Gothams 5-0. Long reliever Spike Manifold used just 11 pitches to preserve the shutout getting the Gotham's 1-2-3 in the 9th. In a season where the team is struggling mightily, sometimes its the little victories that can spark a team. (Note the Dynamo's would lose their last 3 games before the All-Star Break losing to New York 10-5 in 11 innings, then going to Chicago to lose 6-5 and then get blasted on Sunday 8-1 by the Chiefs. So much for the spark!)

02-24-2021, 06:41 PM	#9
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The Detroit World Wednesday July 10th, 1935 Sports News From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat 1935 FABL All-Star Game For 6 innings the CA All-Stars were controlling this pitchers duel at Philadelphia's Broad Street Park 2-0. But the 7th inning rolled around and well, that is when the fireworks began. Brooklyn RP Bert Henggeler and Cleveland RP Jim Cavender who had been team mates the last few years showed why Cleveland's bullpen was always in disarray. The FA stars exploded for 5 runs against the two relievers who gave up 4 hits and 3 walks between them. The big blow came as St. Louis Frank McCormack hit a bases-clearing 3 run double to give the FA the lead. Home town SP Art Myers of the Keystones got the win and Henggeler was tagged with the loss. Only 3 extra base hits in the game combined by the two teams (all doubles) as pitching took center stage (for the most part). The game MVP went to St. Louis 2B Freddie Jones who was 1-2 with 3 walks, a run scored and an RBI. Personally I would have given it to McCormack who only had 1 at-bat but it was the one that counted the most. A capacity crowd of 31,500 crammed into the Broad Street Park. Former Dynamo's who were in the game didn't do a lot of damage this year. Frank Vance was 0-3, LF Art Wheeler was 1-4 and SS Bob Barringer was also hitless in 3 at-bats. The Dynamo's return to action on Wednesday here in Philadelphia for 3 games and then head off to Boston to see if they can heal the ailing Minutemen. Normally this season when Detroit comes calling, the other team seems to start hitting and pitching well again.

02-26-2021, 06:40 PM	#10
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The Detroit World Sunday July 21st, 1935 Sports News From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat Dynamo's Struggles Continue After the All-Star Game the Dynamo's took to the field and picked up where they left off. The Detroit 9 went 2-10 to drop their season record to 26-65 which is 12.5 games worse than any other team in either the FA or CA in FABL. The sad news is they will not even earn the #1 spot in next winters draft as that will go to the worst team in the CA this year. Most likely with that #1 pick will go high school phenom Rufus Barrell II or a hefty heist of another organizations prospect and picks to move up. When we asked Detroit GM Martin if he would consider moving up from the #2 spot recently, he stated that all cards were on the table including even trading down out of the #2 spot if the price were right. The Dynamo's need help everywhere as they are last in the FABL in pitching ERA and last in most categories on offense in the FA. While there was hope in spring training that the team might compete before the trades of Vance and Wheeler among several others, the pre-season predictions that the Dynamo's were destined for last were likely true even if those trades didn't happen. They would be better, but not nearly enough better. Martin was quoted as saying "it pays to know when you are not good enough to compete for the title. When you realize that early enough you can make adjustments for the future. But on the other hand it also pays to know when to make that extra move whether it gets you to the promised land this year or next, I see too many people not make the moves when they are close. Hoping that their treasures of draft prospects all pan out to be the next Max Morris or Tom Barrell. That's fantasy, but it is the reality for some." So while the team continues to struggle the revolving door continues to whirl with players coming and going. Waiver Wire Active is Detroit The Dynamo's in their continued pursuit for upgrades to help assemble at least a major league team say the team acquire both 2B Slim Ford from Cleveland, who GM Martin picked up earlier this spring before coming to Detroit. There must be something in Ford that Martin sees that others don't. To make room for him recent waiver claim LF Addie Adkins who has hit 235 in 80 PA's since being acquired was DFA. The Dynamo's intend to keep Adkins if he passes through waivers. Also being picked up this week was RP Don Grossman (for the 2nd time) from the Chicago Cougars. The Dynamo's had claimed him several weeks ago but the Cougars pulled him back. This time he was free to bring his 1-4 4 save record with an ERA over 8 to Detroit where they hope he can develop into a late inning option. He did show promise in Chicago last year posting an ERA of 2.37 in 60 innings of work with the Cougars. So will we see the 1934 version with the 2 ERA or the 1935 version with the 8+ ERA? To make room for Grossman the Dynamo's option P Chuck Mathews to the minors. Dynamo's make a trade for Moss Detroit traded minor league 3B Harry Peterson (19) to the Chicago Cougars for AAA OF Howard Moss (29). Moss was hitting 430 at AAA Milwaukee but was hopeless blocked to making it up to the Cougars despite there recent trade of corner OF Lou Kelly to Pittsburgh. Moss will immediately join the big league club in Detroit this week and try to add something to the woeful offense. Dynamo's GM Says Expect More Moves as we go Forward Detroit GM Martin has stated that the fans should expect to see more moves as we go forward. He and his front office team are actively scouting players both in the big leagues and in the upper minor leagues to find options for the future and maybe even the present. Martin was quoted as saying that "While the moves before this deadline might not be big moves, we will be active and try to upgrade the team and performance on the field. But our ultimate goal is to begin building for the future so we will not make any trades that jeopardize that by trading any player or picks that we see value in." There was conversation that the Dynamo's were looking at Brooklyn Kings SP George DeForest in trade but added that the 2 sides could not agree on a deal. While it appears those talks are dead the trade deadline is fast approaching and with the Pittsburgh acquisition of Kelly shows, there might be plenty of moves to be made. The FA race is still pretty wide open 5 teams legitimately still having an opportunity to catch the young, untested St. Louis Pioneers. While the Pioneers are young and untested, they have some great talent and it is what the Dynamo's hope to look like in the future.

02-27-2021, 10:27 PM	#11
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	Something Strange Happened on the Way to Last Place Surprisingly the Dyanmo's woke up out of their collective slumber offensive and put up some runs this week and along with it a few wins. We managed to scrap together enough offense to score 55 runs in our 7 games this week for a 7.9 rpg average. Everyone in the FA is scoring more than 5 runs a game besides us and Pittsburgh (4.9), with our outburst this week we managed to get up to 4.6 rpg. With this offensive outburst we managed to split our series against the Washington Eagles (2-2) including a crazy 11 inning game on Thursday that saw Washington score 6 in the first, but saw us whittle our way back to take a 12-7 after 6 innings. Of course our bullpen blew up 9th as George Johnson was asked to go 4 innings and that was 1 inning too many. Perhaps if we had used newly acquired stopper Don Grossman we wouldn't have had to go extra's. At the end of the day we scored 4 in the top of the 11th to take a 16-12 lead and then watch as Marty Devorce narrowly hung on to make a winner of Grossman in his Dyanmo's debut 16-14. The strange part of the week was that 2 wins was not all we would get. We came home to face one of the leaders in the CA and the defending champion New York Gotham's who are in a race and have plenty to play for. It was not a happy weekend for the Gotham's as we swept, let me repeat swept the Gotham's out of Detroit in 3 straight games. Of course they are hanging around until Monday so maybe they will make us pay for those wins on then. But it was costly for the Gotham's prior to their crucial series with St. Louis this week as they are now in 3rd place 5 games out. The heros for us this week were some of our new arrivals and also a few holdovers. Recent acquisition OF Howard Moss made the most of his first week in Detroit as he hit 11-29 .379 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI's for his new team bringing a huge boost of offense. He is expected to pair with OF Henry Jones who was held out all week due to some nasty virus that he had. But Jones is good to go next week and that will bump this week's FA Player of the Week OF Mickey Tompkins out of the lineup. Tompkins was 15-33 .455 with 4 doubles, 6 runs scored and 9 RBI's and edged out Moss for the honors. Recent waiver acquisition SS Slim Bloom was 9-18 with 6 walks, 6 runs scored and 4 RBI's had a nice week as well. Newly installed stopper Don Grossman was 2-0 in 2 games pitched giving up just 1 hit in 3 innings of work with a 0.00 ERA. So with the 5-2 week improve their record to 31-66 but are still on pace to lose 100 games and 14 games behind the Eagles who are in 7th. More Talent Acquisitions Announced this week The Dynamo's are keeping busy and while most of their attention is focused on the upcoming draft, they have been continuing to pick up players here and there. The Dynamo's picked up a couple of SP's in getting Al Allen from the New York Gothams and also picking up SP Max Wilder from the Brooklyn Kings. But veterans will be immediately placed in the starting rotation. Now before you get too excited neither pitcher was doing particularly well in AAA this year and both are old with Allen being 31 and Wilder 37. In fact Wilder has even announced his retirement at the seasons end. So why did the Dynamo's sign Wilder? Well there was sentiment around the league to let him finish up his career in the major leagues and so Detroit not being in contention for anything was a nice landing spot. But Dynamo's GM DD Martin had other things on his mind and part of the appeal for Wilder to accept the trade besides pitching in the majors was the talk that Detroit would like to make him a pitching coach next year in their system. Wilder seemed to like this idea so you will probably be seeing him somewhere in the Detroit organization joining his new fellow teammate Dick York who intends to become a manager at seasons end following his retirement. The team was also busy once again on the waiver wire front and selected several players to add to the team. CF Joe Snider and P Phil Hicks were both claimed from the Chicago Cougars, while RP Chuck Calvert was claimed from the Gothams. All 3 players report to Detroit and will be on the 23-man roster next week. Making room for the 3 were the following player moves. RP George Johnson after blowing the Washington game was DFA. While the team likes the power of 2B Claude Merrill (13 home runs in 47 games) they are a little concerned about his low average 216. So he is going down to work on a few things and maybe learn a few other positions since Detroit has a number of 2B in its system (maybe LF and 1B?). The last roster move was optioning RP Marty Devorce just because he had an option already used this year. Devorce will be back at least by September 1st for roster expansion and would likely be the first P recalled in case of injury before that. Next Week - We continue to try and play spoiler and the trade deadline passes this weekend.

03-03-2021, 03:07 PM	#12
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	So How Does a Team Follow Up Their Best Week since Early May? The answer is reality comes back and you go 0-7 the next week. So the season record falls to 31-74 and we move full steam ahead into our continued organization review and preparation for the draft. The trade deadline passed this past week and we made a couple of moves that while not earth shattering, will give us some options to put out there. Will these guys change the course of this season, no but they will add to an organization that is completely lacking in talent in many spots. First Trade - we added someone who I was very familiar with in C Jim Kyle from Cleveland. I had originally brought Kyle in to take over as the starting C with the Foresters and he was ok but didn't live up to the promise I thought he had. Of course he became the backup in Cleveland when we acquired TR Goins from Washington. Kyle will come in as the eventual replacement for the retiring Dick York at C. He will come to spring training to compete for the regular job with Dave Armstrong (or anyone else we bring in as I am not a big Armstrong fan). Right now I'd say Kyle (29) has the inside track to start as Armstrong (32) is the 16th (out of 16) rank catcher in the FABL. We sent minor league RP Mike Phillips to Cleveland. Phillips is 21 and was highly thought of in the organization. Cleveland was motivated to move Kyle because they wanted to bring up C Jeff Rose who has some promise to be in the mix to someday replace Goins when the certain Hall of Famer (when we start a HOF) decides to hang up the tools of ignorance. Another interesting fact about Kyle is that he has won 3 World Series Championships with 3 different teams (Cleveland 1934, Chicago Cougars 1931, and Philadelphia Sailors 1928). The pattern is every 3 years so does that give us good luck to win it all in 1937? That would certainly be a miracle if that does happen. Trade #2 - Then we brought in someone who I had felt had a good solid career in front of him when he was with the Chicago Cougars. SP Jim Crawford (29) was trade from the Cougars to cross town rival Chiefs at the trade deadline last year. Since he arrived with the Chiefs he hasn't been what he had been in the 1932-33 seasons with the Cougars. While he was only 7-8 this season with a 5.62 ERA, we are hoping that we can help him regain his form and he can be a serviceable SP for us next season. We traded the 7th round pick that we acquired from Brooklyn earlier this year in the mega-deal to give Crawford the chance. We demoted 2B Claude Merrill who had socked 13 home runs in just 156 at-bats in 47 games. One might ask why we would do that and its a good question. We have a glut of 2B in the organization and while Merrill has a very good power bat and gets on-base at a solid clip with walks, his average was just 205/342/804 13-35 at Detroit. But that was really not the reason. I wanted to give him some time yes to find his batting average stroke in AAA but more importantly I wanted to let him experiment with a few other positions besides 2B. If he was a great defender at 2B I wouldn't bother but the truth is he is not. So we are going to have him play multiple positions (1B, 3B and LF) while in Newark to see if we can find his powerful bat a new home on the field. He will be back up in September to get regular big league at bats every day at another position. The draft preparation is in full gear as it appears we will have the #2 overall pick. We will probably clinch that "honor" by the end of August.

03-04-2021, 04:07 PM	#14
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	5 Weeks and Counting..... Dynamo's go 1-6 this week and now are 50 games under 500 at 37-87. Weekly Results - Monday August 19th vs Washington 4-8 Loss Tuesday August 20th vs Washington 5-6 Loss (11) Wednesday August 21st vs Pittsburgh 11-18 Loss Thursday August 22nd vs Pittsburgh 3-7 Loss Friday August 23rd vs Pittsburgh 3-6 Loss Saturday August 24th vs Pittsburgh 3-2 Win (11) Sunday August 25th vs Boston 2-5 Loss Notable Players of the Week - OF Mickey Tompkins 9-18 4DB HR 3RBI 3R 500/550/1439 RF Howard Moss -25 DB 2TB 4RBI 4R 360/370/930 SS Slim Bloom 10-28 4DB 1TP 7RBI 3R 357/419/991 SP Max Wilder 2G 0-11 4.30 ERA Minor League Performance of the Week AA Akron Wheels CF Roger Grant hits for the cycle in 5-5 effort against Harrisburg. Grant hit singles in the 1st and 2nd innings, then followed that up with double in the 4th, a 3-run home run in the 5th and completed the hardest part with a 7th inning triple as Akron beat Harrisburg 10-5. On the season the 26 year-old has fought off several injuries and is hitting 251/319/702 8-45. The former 3rd round pick in 1930 is likely seeing his opportunities and dreams of playing in the big leagues come to an end, at least with Detroit at seasons end. Draft Prep As we move towards the end of the season our Director of Scouting Fred Davis is very busy. As I review the work Fred is doing it is clear that the budget he has been given to work with is woefully inadequate. That will be something that will be addressed in the off-season. There are really 4 prospects that are catching my eye the most at present. They are: 1B Red Johnson (17 year old high schooler) Hometown Portland, Oregon The right-hand hitting power hitter for Central Catholic hit 500/636/1798 with 10 home runs, 9 doubles, a triple and 32 RBI's while walking 23 times and striking out only once. Scout marvel at his elite power potential and even as a youngster he projects to have an impressive command of the strike zone. He has the potential to hit 380 and some are saying that he could be the next Rankin Kellogg. Johnson has committed to Stratton University and figures to be a very hard sign for us looking at a $17,000 signing bonus. SP Rufus Barrell II (18 year old high schooler) Hometown Egypt, Georgia Yes the left handed starting pitcher is yes of the famous Barrell family and is an impressive 23-0 in 2 high school seasons with an ERA of around 0.60. Most GM's are drooling over the kid and many have him pegged as a sure fire 300 game winner in the big leagues. Currently scouts say he throws a 4-pitch mix that includes a plus slider, a good splitter, a good fastball and a change up that he is working on. He is about as far along as a high school prospect could be and he should have truly elite stuff. Barrell has the makings of a future ace and maybe will be the best of the Barrell clan when all is said and done. He has committed to Noble Jones College and again would be a very hard signee for Detroit with bonus demands upwards of $20,000. 3B Mack Sutton (18 year old high schooler) Hometown - Murfreesboro, Arkansas The top of the draft appears to be dominated by high school kids in this draft once again. Nicknamed "The Arkansas Artilleryman" hit a jaw dropping 448/547/1547 14-38 with 16 doubles. Scouts love his power potential and state that he has the potential of a prototypical clean-up hitter. He is patient at the plate and will wait for a pitch he wants to drive. With his talents the light of Sutton's star could be blinding. Sutton is committed to Lawrence State University and is another hard to sign player for Detroit with a demand of $16,000. The sleeper in this draft is likely 17-year-old SP George Garrison who is a lefty. He was 8-1 with a 1.24 ERA in 13 starts at his Carthage High School and his hometown is Piggott, Arkansas. Garrison throws a forkball, fastball, curveball, cutter, knuckle curve and a change. His pitches have plenty of movement that should help to keep the ball in the ballpark. Garrison's talent is that of a future multiple-time Allen Award winner. Right now one of the mock drafts has him slipping to the top of the 2nd round but say codswallop to that notion. He will be easily at top 10 pick and likely top 5. For a team that needs pitching, one could certainly argue that Garrison would be a good 2nd choice behind Rufus Barrell II. Rumor is that the #1 overall pick in the draft going to most likely either the Baltimore Cannons or New York Stars will be Barrell. That means that Detroit will be on the clock to take either 1B Johnson (who most think would be lights out in Detroit with its shallow LF fence), 3B Sutton who could be another Frank Vance in Detroit or SP Garrison. It is a pick for Detroit that has to be the right one to turn this franchise around.

03-04-2021, 11:38 PM	#16
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	Very well stayed Mr. McGee. Unlike some cities you are always welcome in Detroit

03-05-2021, 08:45 PM	#18
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The Detroit World Monday September 2nd, 1935 Sports News From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat FABL Manager Hot Seat It is once again time to look at and get an early start on the Manager Hot Seat List. This is where we take an unbiased look at the performance of the most talked about 16 jobs in pro sports, FABL Managers. While most manager's that are in their 3rd season in control of a team and go from 90 wins in year 1 to 90+ (and it will be 100+) losses by year 3 would be in dire jeopardy of being fired. But that is not and will not be the case of Dynamo Manager Tom Bray. When DD Martin came to town he talked to his manager, let him know what he was going to do and why and told Bray not to worry. Bray has a contract through the 1937 season and Martin has indicated that Bray will be the team's manager when that season starts. So no job security issues here, but let's take a look at where there might be some issues. The Hot Seat Who's seat is the hottest in baseball right now? Well one has to figure that name would have been Toronto's Bob Warren who amassed a record of 396-608 mark through early July. Warren has been mentioned as one of the worst managers in the history of the game with that run. Well Bob Warren was relieved of his duties while the team was 39-41. While his replacement former Cleveland Forester and Chicago Cougar skipper Hank Leitzke has only gone 18-31 since taking over. Still many feel and I known in speaking to DD Martin that he thinks Leitzke is a great fit for Toronto and hopes that Hank finally gets a fair shake to manage an FABL club. Pittsburgh's Mike Radigan was likely on this list as well, but in the off-season he was basically fired as the Manager and retained on the staff as new Skipper Dan Andrew's bench coach. His contract is ended at the conclusion of the season and the guess is he will not be back in Pittsburgh next season. Honestly unless there is something completely unforeseen happening at the end of the season there might not be much change in team managers. But there are two cases that appear to be highly questionable (and we will look at a 3rd if they don't win) and therefore they make The Hot Seat! We turn our attention to the Boston Minutemen who are managed by Phil Catalfamo (56). His reputation around the league is fair and he did manage the team to a 82 wins in the 1934 season which is the Minutemen's best season since they won 84 in 1916. Unfortunately for Catalfamo, who is in his 4th season at the helm, the team has not built on the improvement of last year and is disappointingly on 64-65. Not a horrible mark, but team officials were hoping that the corner had been turned and right now that question is still looking very unsure. What is in the manager's favor is that he signed a 5-year extension last season at about $4800 per year. That extension was probably largely given on the success of the 34 season and while he has 4 more years after this one the question is how patient is Boston management and team owner Jesse Barton. Barton's rep is that he is "unmerciful and controlling". Will Catalfamo fall victim to his displeasure of another season without an FA title? Hot Seat Rating - 4 (Flames can be seen on the outer edges of the seat). Next in line is a particularly perplexing case as it involves the manager that is closing in on the record for most wins in career. Of course we are speaking of Baltimore Cannons Skipper Ossie "Oysters" Julious (62). While Julious is sitting on 2211 wins as of this writing and he is only 27 wins from breaking the record of Dynamo part-owner and respected former manager George Theobald. Julious' tenure in Baltimore been "shaky" at best. Julious while considered a grouchy sort, he is still considered a "good" manager. After years in Toronto he left after the 1928 season and was quickly grabbed up by the Cannons to become their manager for the 1929 season. The first 3 seasons while not producing at pennant, did produce winning clubs finishing 2nd twice and 3rd once and winning no fewer than 83 games in a season. Since the 1931 season the times have changed in Baltimore and the team dropped to 71 wins in 32, to 65 the next season and just 54 last year. This years team record stands at 55-74, so there has been improvement, but is it enough? Will Julious be given another year so that he can break Theobald's all time record for manager wins, or will he become a victim of the poor team record the last 4 years running. My guess is that he will be allowed to come back, break the record but after that all bets are off. Hot Seat Rating 3.5 and would be higher if not for the all-time win record were not in the background. Now we go to Chicago, and the home of the Chiefs. Many would not figure a manager who was 97-94 in just over 1 and a half seasons would necessarily be on the hot seat. But James Gentry and his GM have already had a past relationship that saw the GM fire Gentry after only 58 games in Montreal in 1934. The Chicago GM is new though in the Windy City and may feel Gentry was given a bad deal the prior year. For a guy who is 124-125 in little over 2 seasons and has a great reputation, his name sure comes up a lot. My guess is that he will be allowed to stick around as the Chiefs are 63-66 currently unless the wheels come completely off in the last month of the season. But expectations are running high in Chicago and the desire to once again ascend to the FA throne are very much in play as the Chiefs have only won the FA pennant once (1928) in the last 18 seasons. Hot Seat Rating 3 but next year could be a raging fire if the Chiefs do not move into the upper division of the FA. Finally, by most accounts Brooklyn manager Walt Bailey is an excellent manager who is very easy going and friendly with his players. He is in his 4th season in Brooklyn and has a mark of 318-241 .567 in those seasons. His Brooklyn team is in the thick of another exciting race with the Cleveland Foresters for the CA title. Things should be fine, right? In examining the Kings as of this Labor Day maybe not all is as rosy as one might think. GM TigerGM pulled off one of, if not the biggest trade in FABL history when he acquired from Detroit, OF Al Wheeler, 1B/3B Frank Vance and former Allen Award winning SP Jack Beach. Everyone in the FABL said that the pre-season favorite had just locked up the teams first World Series win ever in May. And the Kings are an excellent team and Wheeler and Vance have preformed very well. So why aren't the Kings running away with things in the CA? The King's offense is on pace to score 915 runs this season. They are on pace to win 94 games. So the big block buster deal will net them 15 more runs and potentially they will lose 4 more games? If the King's don't win the CA this season, the year has to be considered a major disappointment and while he has been given all the tools by the GM, the fact will be that Bailey didn't deliver with a dream team lineup. If they win then he's safe and all bets are off, but if they don't pull it out. You might very well see Walt Bailey working in the King's owner Dan Prescott's bottling plant. Hot Seat Rating if they win the CA 1. Hot Seat Rating if they do not win the CA 4.5 And that is the 1935 Manager Hot Seat Review.

03-08-2021, 05:17 PM	#19
DD Martin All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 1,010	The Detroit World Monday September 9th, 1935 Sports News From the Desk of "Fast" Freddie Farhat Are Dynamo's showing any signs of Hope for the Future? With this season quickly and thankfully approaching the end of the line. The question has to be, is there hope for the future? The Detroit 9 suffered through another tough week going just 2-5 this week to inch closer to that Un-Magical 100 losses in a season mark. That is a mark that this once proud franchise has never crossed, but it is about too and probably as early as this coming week. The past team record for loses in a season were 93, set by the 1898 team. With 96 already in the books this team has become the worst in team history, and it is not done as it is closing in on several other dubious marks as well. The other frightening aspect of the 1898 team that lost 93 games? They didn't get back to being 500 or better for 7 seasons and they were 10 seasons away from winning the Federal Association title. Not sure that length of time will work in this now era of fast moving changes. But let's get back to the dubious records this team might set this year. The worst ERA in team history was the 1925 squad that went 65-89 and had an ERA of 5.21. This team is already likely well past that as with 18 games remaining the 1935 squad has a team ERA of 5.97. If this holds the Dynamo's will set the all-time futility record for team pitching breaking the record of the 1930 St. Louis Pioneers who set the mark of 5.87 Going along with the pitching mark, it makes sense that this Dynamo's team is also closing in on the most runs given up in a season. A quick check of the record book shows that the 1890 Pittsburgh Miners gave up 1,040 runs that season. The Dynamo's are on pace to give up 1,077. While the team offensively is the worst the Federal, it is not the worst in baseball this year nor nearing any of the marks of all time futility. The Dynamo's have scored 653 runs so far this year while the Continental Association's Toronto Wolves have only scored 605. The all-time worst runs in a season scored goes all the way back to the 1878 Chicago Chiefs in the dead ball era scoring just 259 runs. The problem is that Chicago team played just 61 games. So if you extrapolate that out to 154 games, the 1878 Chiefs would have scored 653 runs that season. Remember that was an time and era where the ball didn't sail out of the ballpark like it does today. Roughly 351,000 fans will attend Dynamo games this season, but just a few short years ago in 1929 during the World Series winning season, Detroit attracted the 3rd most fans in a season for an FA club with over 1.3 million. In just 6 short years the team has almost a million fewer fans coming to the ballpark. But the question of this article was were there any bright spots on the horizon for the team in the near future. So let's take a quick look. Newly minted 1B Claude Merrill (26) has made a successful move from 2B and has hit 14 home runs and driven in 43 RBI's in just 50 big league games (roughly 1/3 of a season). While his batting average is just 223, he does earn quite a few walks which raise his OBP to 353. If he could get to 270 for a batting average you would be looking at a player that could have a 270/400 slash line with 30+ home run power and 100+ RBI's. He just needs some more quality offensive players around him in the lineup. C Jim Kyle (29) has provided a nice spark since his arrival as TR Goins backup in Cleveland. He is playing pretty much everyday here in Detroit and he has responded with a 310/333/854 slash line with 5 home runs and 12 RBI's in 23 games. CF Jose Serna (22) who came over in the massive Brooklyn deal in May, had his season interrupted by an injury but is now getting to play everyday in CF down the stretch. So far Serna has looked promising hitting 287/322/771 with 2 homer runs and 16 RBI's in just 31 games. RF Howard Moss (29) Has been a true find since his exile from being blocked in Chicago (Cougars). In 42 games he has hit 303/394/999 with 9 home runs and 41 RBI's in 42 games. So there are some encouraging building blocks on the offensive side of the ball. Unfortunately at the big league level there has not been a lot of positives this season. Of the pitchers this season that have been brought in, only SP Jim Crawford (29) is having any sort of success, if you stretch the definition a bit. Since his trade from the Chicago Chiefs who gave up on him, Crawford has tossed 55.2 innings with the Dynamo's. The fact that his 4.85 ERA is the best on the team for any starter is a concern. But Crawford who is 2-4, has had some success. He might not be resembling the pitcher who was 28-19 with an ERA around 4.00 in the 32-33 seasons, but he is an upgrade for the Dyno's. For the further pitching hope you have to look in the minors league system. LHSP Jack Wood (22) who was also acquired in that Brooklyn deal this year is just in his 1st pro season out of college. He is currently pitching at AAA Newark although he most likely would have been better served at AA this year. The results haven't been terrible, but it is a big leap for a young pitcher to go from college ball to AAA. Wood is 4-6 with an ERA of 5.32. It was likely either an oversight or the team is just trying to get more capable starters up to Detroit quicker than they should because of the dire situation at the big league level. Wood is one to watch for the future. RHSP Art Brandon (19) has been a nice surprise since coming over in trade with the Chicago Chiefs for SS Bob Barringer. While only 19 he has pitched very well at class B Chattanooga going 7-2 2.34 ERA. Expect a promotion next spring to Class A Terre Haute. Prized RHSP prospect Earle Robinson (19) had his season cut short due to a back injury. He was 5-2 at class B Chattanooga before being shut down for the rest of the year with a herniated disc. The team has to be holding its breathe hoping that the #24 prospect in baseball can overcome that injury. The concern is that the same injury sidelined him last season around the same time of the year. Still the Dynamo's are expecting him to recover and be a part of the future of the big league team in several seasons. Last year's much mocked #3 overall pick in the draft SP Del Burns (19) has started to show signs of improvement at Class B Chattanooga and is slowly climbing up the prospect ranks. He is 2-5 with a reasonable 3.32 ERA at Chattanooga so maybe he could help even though he is still considered to have been a huge reach and likely would have been around in the 4th or 5th round in the draft. The team will be hoping to add to this group in the upcoming off-season and you Dynamo's fans should be rubbing your rosary beads every night and hope that whoever has that 1st pick in the draft falls in love with one of the power hitting high school kids so that SP Rufus Barrell II can land in Detroit. Or maybe the Dynamo's will have to over pay to move up from the #2 pick in the draft to the #1 pick. What that would cost I'm not sure anyone knows yet, but it would be something for this pitching starved team to consider.