TEN RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM JIGGS MCGEE
April 15, 1929 - Opening Day edition
In honor of opening day, which is just around the corner here are ten random thoughts to start your regular season.
1- The Brooklyn Kings made another deal today, sending veterans away for promising prospects and draft picks. The story being spun by the Kings brass is that after years of struggling on the mound they are looking to build a dominant rotation around young phenom Tommy Wilcox but methinks there is more to this. Word just got out that 88 year old club owner Malcolm Presley is very ill. I am hearing that he has been ill for many months and the Kings management team had been instructed as far back as last summer, to cut payroll in the expectation that the team will have to be sold by the Presley family. Presley's grandson Eugene Weston is a possible option to take over upon the elder Presley's demise but it is not a secret that Malcolm is not impressed with the 32 year old Weston's playboy ways and questions his maturity.
2- If you were going to try and pick a breakout star for 1929 similar to the outstanding debut of the Sailors Tom Taylor a year ago, you could do a lot worse in your choice than Moxie Pidgeon. I believe the 22 year old Cleveland Foresters outfielder is going to be a big star, and very soon. Despite being a 12th round pick in the 1925 draft, Pidgeon is throwing his hat in the already crowded ring as a name to debate when discussing the best players of what may well go down as the best draft class in history. Pidgeon had a breakout 1928 season in the minors, including a stop at AAA in Cincinnati, where he played his high school ball. In 107 games with the Steamers, Pidgeon hit .355 with 21 homers and earned a late season promotion to Cleveland where he hit 3 more homers in 12 games. He is also coming off a big spring, batting .356 with 5 homers in 59 at bats. Look for him to be a big reason why Cleveland challenges for, if not wins their first pennant since 1920.
3- Despite my high praise for the Foresters and Pidgeon, the trade with Brooklyn immediately made the Baltimore Cannons a serious threat to take the Continental Crown. Buzz Ham will fit very nicely in their rotation and John Wilder at 3B and Lou Garman at first provide some offensive depth behind stars Joe Welch and Lou Kelly. If prize prospect Ken Curry has a breakout year that comes anywhere close to approach what Tom Taylor brought the Sailors a year ago, Baltimore will be very dangerous.
4- It is great to see 42 year old Ed Ziehl is still going strong. The Gothams legend hit .300 in 18 spring appearances and looks like he might have a shot at joining Powell Slocum and another veteran still hanging around in the Cougars John Dibblee as the only players to record 3500 career hits. Ziehl is 45 shy of that mark.
5- On the topic of aging veterans, 37 year old catcher Paul Tattersall quietly had a nice camp for the Keystones. In 28 at bats, Tattersall hit .286 with 5 extra base hits including a pair of homers. He hit 7 a year ago in 32 games for Philadelphia to run his career home run total to 243, which is third all-time behind only Max Morris and the retired Hal Eason.
6- The Pittsburgh Miners seem to have received more than their share of bad luck. They are already without talented young outfielder Jim Renfroe, who is still recovering from a knee injury sustained last season. Now word out of Miners camp is 28 year old workhorse Bill Morrill will miss the season with arm troubles. Morrill, a winner of 13 games each of the past two seasons, will be badly missed. Pittsburgh is hoping the off-season acquisition of Luke Smith and an expected improvement from 23 year old former first round pick Walt Palmer can help fill the void.
7- Staying with the Miners. How concerned are they now with the poor spring Jim Smith had? Smith was 17-9 a year ago, led the Fed in ERA and finished second in Allen Award voting behind Detroit's Roy Calfee. However, he went 0-4 with a 13.17 era in 4 spring starts while allowing 29 hits in 13 and 2/3 innings.
8- Will Tom Barrell prove to be the greatest two way prospect ever? The bar is set incredibly high by the legendary Max Morris but Barrell has been nothing short of amazing for Georgia Baptist. He is already the AIAA career wins leader with 3/4 of a season still remaining in his college career- one in which he has gone 32-8 with a 2.66 era. Not only can he pitch - and he had a 21 strikeout game earlier in the season, but he can also hit. Barrell, who plays 1B on days he is not pitching, is batting .387 with 6 homers in 17 games this season. Personally, I think reaching Morris-like status is out of everyone's reach, not just Barrell's, but he is certainly a very interesting prospect and may turn out to be the best yet in a family full of top prospects.
9- Do spring training results mean much? The Washington Eagles certainly hope so. After finishing last a year ago the Eagles tied for the Federal Association lead in spring play with a 14-10 record. At the other end of the spectrum is defending FA champ Chicago. The Chiefs limped to a 9-15 mark, a futility record only surpassed by their Windy City brethren Cougars who were a dismal 6-18.
10- Opening day is almost here. In my predictions I call for the Keystones and Foresters to meet in October. I will go on record now as saying the Keystones and their incredible offense led by Rankin Kellogg will be hoisting the hardware come October.