HOLIDAY WISHES FOR EACH OF THE 16 FABL TEAMS
With the regular season about to begin and the real life holiday season upon us here are 16 Christmas wishes - one for each of the Figment clubs. As you can read below, by far the biggest request for Santa to deliver this year is quality pitching. Here is the gift Jiggs McGee would give to each team this season.
BALTIMORE CANNONS - A quick start. The Cannons rebounded nicely over the summer a year ago but their pennant hopes were gone by the end of April after just an awful beginning to the 1928 season. A strong start this year coupled with contributions from some nice additions via trade may put Baltimore in contention for it's first pennant since 1914.
BOSTON MINUTEMEN - A bigger bulletin board. The Minutemen feel they have been wronged by virtually every prognosticator: picked 7th in the FA by BNN, Rufus Barrell and Jiggs McGee, and 8th by Percy Sutherland. Minutemen brass say it will be motivation for them all year. Unfortunately, by the looks of things they will need all the help they can get this year to prove the so-called experts wrong.
BROOKLYN KNIGS - For college pitching phenom Tommy Wilcox to become a legitimate number one starter in the FABL, something the Kings have sorely lacked since they traded away Danny Goff to the New York Gothams way back in the summer of 1916. Also, for ailing 88 year old owner Malcolm Presley to recover from his illness and live long enough to see the Kings rebuilding plans come to fruition. Presley is, by all accounts, one of the nicest men in baseball.
CHICAGO CHIEFS - For Joe Masters' incredible 1928 season not to be a one year wonder. Masters went from .293/15/77 in 1927 as a 27 year old to .388/56/195 in his record breaking season last year. The same is wished for 26 year old Jim Hampton who led the Federal Association in hitting with a .397 average after batting just .291 the year before.
CHICAGO COUGARS - For the 40 year old face of the franchise John Diblee (.324,1,33) to be fully recovered from the shoulder injury the cost him 3 months of the season a year ago. The Cougars are a team with some good young prospects, players who could learn to play the game the right way by observing the face of the Cougars franchise in action. Diblee has played 2,717 career games - all with the Cougars. Only 2 players have played more FABL games.
CLEVELAND FORESTERS - For Moxie Pidgeon to be this year's Tom Taylor. Taylor had a huge rookie year as a 23 year old outfielder, helping the Philadelphia Sailors and their great pitching staff win a pennant. Cleveland's is also blessed with stellar pitching and perhaps, if 22 year old outfielder Pidgeon has the year many expect of him, could lead Cleveland to their first pennant since 1920. Pidgeon looked great in spring action, batting .356 with 5 homers.
DETROIT DYNAOMOS - To no longer be the bridesmaid. With 2 straight second place finishes in the Federal Association, including a heartbreaking loss in a playoff tiebreaker 2 years ago, the Detroit Dynamos wish for nothing less than a pennant this time around. They are favoured by BNN and Rufus Barrell and picked to finish second by both Percy Sutherland and Jiggs McGee.
MONTREAL SAINTS - For Junior to even modestly approach his dad's career numbers. Al Allan Jr. showed brief flashes of the form his famous father displayed in winning 514 games over two decades, but Junior, after starting the season 4-0 with a 2.87 era, was done for the year in April with back troubles. The Saints resurgence hinges on Allen and 26 year old lefhander Charlie Stedman anchoring the Montreal pitching staff for the next decade and that resurgence starts with Allen proving the injury was just a one time thing and not a trend.
NEW YORK GOTHAMS - Pitching. Like most of the Federal Association the Gothams have some offensive talent but a shortage of pitching. The Gothams finished 6th each of the past two seasons because their hitting is not quite good enough, like some of the other teams in the Fed, to make up for the lack of arms. There is, fortunately, some real talent in the pipeline although the best of the bunch is not a pitcher, but rather outfielder Mahlon Strong. Strong is rated the number one prospect in the game but is very young - he just turned 20 two weeks ago - and likely won't be ready for a couple of years. The same can be said for the two top arms in the Gothams system, 19 year old Hank Spencer and 21 year old Jack Richardson. Perhaps 25 year old Chuck Calvert, a rule V pickup that Washington let get away, can be a key piece this season in New York. Calvert was 21-9, 2.45 in AA/AAA a year ago.
NEW YORK STARS - For their pitching to hold up. The Stars are not very far removed from the team that won 3 straight World Championship Series (1924-26) and certainly have the offense to challenge for another pennant this year. Heck, they won 93 games a year ago but had to settle for second place because of the Sailors. Their offense is possibly good enough win the Continental this season but they will need a pitcher or two to step up. Perhaps 33 year old Del Plummer, who came over from Brooklyn at the deadline last year, will step up.
PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES - Someone from their collection of good young pitching prospects to step up this year. The Keystones offense is among, if not the best in the game but their pitching can be dreadful at times. Maybe Dick Miner or Ed Baker, both of whom saw action with the Keystones a year ago, can have a big season and perhaps ace Bill Ross rebounds from a poor, by his standards, 1928 campaign. Even with all of the pitching questions the Keystones offense is so good that they are predicted to finish first by Jiggs McGee and Percy Sutherland, second by Rufus Barrell and third by BNN.
PHILADELPHIA SAILORS - Nothing. What else could you get for the team that has everything? The best pitching staff in the game? Check. The best young arm in baseball? Yup, they have that already in Johnny Davis (24-8, 2.73). How about some top flight hitters including one of the best young batters in the game? Nope, they have that already in the breakout season 24 year old Canadian import Tom Taylor (.342,44,126) gave them a year ago.
PITTSBURGH MINERS - Some respect from BNN, the league newspaper. BNN feels that Pittsburgh is going to be the worst team in the Fed this season despite the club owning the loop's top pitching staff. Yes the injury to Bill Morrill (13-16, 3.13 a year ago) will hurt as will playing the first couple of months without centerfielder Jim Renfroe, but this is not a last place team.
ST LOUIS PIONEERS - A healthy Max Morris for the entire year. That is actually a gift for the entire league because, despite there being a number of rising young stars in the game today, there is only one Max Morris and he makes the Pioneers a much different team when he is in the lineup.
TORONTO WOLVES - A rebuild. To reverse the losing trend that saw the franchise, which hasn't won a pennant since 1911, go from 88 wins (a mark since that 1911 pennant) in 1926, to 82 in 1927 before bottoming out at 60 a year ago the Wolves need to do a lot of work. A full scale rebuild is likely needed with their most marketable veteran asset likely being 35 year old Don Cannaday (15-19, 4.21). The farm system is thin right now as well so it might take a few years for things to be looking up in Toronto.
WASHINGTON EAGLES - For new ownership to get the club back on track. The Eagles have some talent, but have also done a poor job in the past with recognizing which assets should be protected and developed. New management made some key first steps in adding talent with a solid draft but there is still a lot of work to be done to return the Eagles to their glory days at the start of the decade.
Merry Chistmas everyone!