TEN RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM JIGGS MCGEE
April 22, 1929
The new season is underway, everybody has won at least one game, although in Pittsburgh that is all they have won so far, and the season is still full of promise and excitement for every team in the Federally Aligned Leagues. Here are ten takeaways from the opening week.
1- My preseason favourite Moxie Pidgeon is certainly off to a great start for the 4-2 Foresters. The 22 year old rookie outfielder homered in his first at bat of the season and after 6 games is hitting .545 with 8 rbi's and is one of the reasons Cleveland is tied for first place (starting the season with a series against Toronto also helps.)
2- A pair of teams tabbed for the second division of their respective leagues - the Gothams and the Kings - are tearing it up at the dish. New York leads either league with 47 runs scored in 6 games, 1 ahead of what Brooklyn accomplished in 7 games. Each team started the opening week with 3 wins, but in both cases while the bats seem to be working early, the pitching is a big concern. But that is also par for the course for both of these clubs.
3- All of sudden OSA considers the Washington Eagles to have the best minor league system in the game. I said it before but the Eagles had a real strong draft led by outfielder Wally Flowers (1st round) and SS Ollie Page (5th round), both of whom are ranked in the top 40 prospects. The gem of the Washington system is 23 year old second baseman Andy Carter, who was ranked 17th a year ago just after being taken in the first round out of St. Blane College. Carter hit .316 in 80 games of A ball and has shot up the list to presently sit at #3. At this point the Eagles still have him assigned to their Class A affiliate Trenton of the Middle Atlantic League but I would not be surprised to see him in AAA, if not the big leagues, by September.
4- It's certainly too early to push the panic button but you have to think there are some nervous hands in Pittsburgh after the Miners stumbled to a 1-5 start, dropping two of 3 in Washington and then being swept on the weekend in Philadelphia. Injuries have taken their toll on the club with Bill Morrill and Jim Renfroe out. Morrill's absence was felt this week as the starting pitching was awful, especially newcomer Luke Smith who got chased very early in his Federal Association debut after 13 years and 198 wins in the Continental with the New York Stars.
5- While the road was hard on Pittsburgh, the Boston Minutemen didn't seem to mind it. After dropping the season opener, Boston reeled off 5 straight wins in Philadelphia and Washington. Rookie 2B Carl Carr is showing Minutemen brass they were right to put their faith in him and trade away incumbent second sacker Paul McClain to Detroit. Carr had a pair of hits in his big league debut and finished the week going 11-for-28 (.393). His defense was pretty good as well. Although, it should be added McLain had a pretty good week for himself with the Dynamos, batting .429.
6- Everyone knew that Brooklyn Kings 1B-OF Gus Powell had plenty of power in his bat. The knock on Powell, who hit 21 homers in 87 games as a rookie last year, was he couldn't make enough contact to be effective. He made some adjustments in spring training and while it is very earlier, they are paying off so far. Powell leads the majors with 11 rbi's and is tied for the homerun lead with 3 after 7 games but the Kings are more impressed with his .310 average to start the season.
7- The Keystones chances at getting back to the series hinge on getting at least average pitching out of their rotation. Blessed with possibly the best offense in either league, Philadelphia hitters don't need a lot of help from their pitchers but results in the first week are very mixed. Bill Ross is 2-0 and had a pair of decent starts while Dick Miller and Red Adwell provided solid outings as well, but youngster Ed Baker and the usually dependable Rube Frazier were just awful. Baker, who has been a highly touted prospect ever since he was drafted in the second round out of high school in 1923, looked overmatched in a stint with the 'Stones a year ago and was even worse in his debut this season, allowing 7 earned runs on 11 hits over 6 innings of an 8-6 loss to Boston. The 29 year old Frazier won't be mistook as a top prospect, but he has been a dependable bottom of the rotation guy for Philadelphia the last 4 seasons. His opening start to this season was a struggle to say the least. The offense staked him to a 6-1 lead after two innings against Pittsburgh but he was pulled in the 6th trailing 8-6. The Keystones mighty offense did comeback and win the game 12-11 but you can't expect even the Keystones to post double-digit run totals every game.
8- Still with the Keystones, how about the start for reliever Marcel Besson. Besson appeared in 3 games last week and earned the save in each of them, allowing just 1 earned run. The 24 year old pitched almost exclusively out of the pen last season and spent most of the year in Philadelphia with a brief stint in AAA. Perhaps if the Keystones rotation problems persist, they should consider starting the 1925 10th round draft pick as Besson was 16-14 4.14 in AA as a 22 year old two years ago.
9- Panic in Chicago yet? Joe Masters had one of the biggest one year improvements ever seen when he dominated the Federal Association last season and set a new RBI record. Through six games this season the 29 year old third baseman is hitting just .167 with 1 rbi and no homers. Meanwhile, teammate Jim Hampton, who had a nearly as impressive increase in his numbers and hit .397 to win the batting title, does not seem to have slowed. The 27 year old Hampton hit .407 with a homer and 4 rbi's in the opening week. Overall, the Chiefs offense, so dangerous a year ago, seems to have overslept their wake-up call to start the season.
10- Do you think Buzz Ham had a little extra motivation in his season debut for the Baltimore Cannons. Traded away from Brooklyn just before the season began, Ham drew his old club in his debut for his new team. The result was a masterful 2-hit shutout victory over the Kings. He did not have the same emotion in his second start however, as Ham gave up 8 earned runs and 15 hits in a 7-1 loss to Montreal.