PREVIEWING THE 1929 DRAFT
PART 3 - FIRST BASEMEN
An unusual collection of first basement this year. There are some very interesting college sluggers who perhaps will strikeout too much to make the big leagues, and most of those guys have a very limited sample of college games in which to judge them. Bill Tucker being the best example of these. There are also several high school first baseman who hit for a very high average but have questions surrounding their ability to generate power. The one exception is the top ranked first baseman as Jake Johnson seems to be able to do it all, and has a history of playoff success. Here are the top ten first basemen.
1- JAKE JOHNSON: Lubbock State - Johnson enjoyed three very productive seasons at Lubbock State, slashing .422/.506/.701 in his draft year with 14 homers. Hit 19 round trippers as a freshman and while his average was fine, he dipped to just 4 homers his sophomore year before rebounding with 14 this season. Played a lot of playoff games over his career and seems to be a clutch hitter, winning 3 different playoff series MVP's and went 7 for 12 in 3 games this postseason.
2- BILL TUCKER: Indiana A&M - Came out of nowhere to hit the second most homeruns in the AIAA this season. Tucker slashed .287/.367/.846 with 30 homers after only seeing limited pinch-hitting duties as a sophomore. Needs to cut down on his strikeouts but looks to have makings of a power-hitting first baseman many FABL teams lack.
3-WILL BRYANT : Central Ohio- Like Tucker, Bryant has a very limited playing history but hit 15 homers and slashed .401/.460/.665 this season, his only year as an everyday player.
4-JOHN RIVERS : North Carolina Tech - Seeing a real trend here with first basemen having a breakout year. Add Rivers (.268/.420/.780) to the list. First season as a starter and he hit 27 homers. Seems like a Bill Tucker duplicate, with perhaps a slightly larger concern about strikeouts as he fanned more often than any other draft eligible player.
5-GEORGE GUTT: Mississippi A&M - Started 2 and a half seasons for the Genernals and had a breakout year in 1929 (.376/.426/.590). Not quite as much power as some of the other prospects but still hit 12 homers on the year and 22 in 125 career games.
6-BILL EPPLER: Northern Mississippi - Started every game in his 3 years with the Mavericks and showed steady improvement each season, capping it off with a 13 homer .365/.451/.640 performance this year.
7-ROSS HUGHES: Cambridge HS -None of the high school first basemen displayed much power and Hughes failed to hit a home run, but his .371/.432/.535 line deserves consideration. He hit 11 homers over his first two high school seasons so perhaps there is some power in his future. He actually played shortstop in his first year but let's just say it was an adventure for him.
8-JIM HATFIELD: Buffalo HS - Another high school kid with limited power but at 6'1" perhaps it will come. Slashed .374/.428/.589 in his draft year and did hit 7 homers a year ago.
9-JAKE SHOEMAKER : Garden State - Shoemaker had 3 very solid seasons with the Redbirds, slashing .349/.414/.612 and hitting 38 homers in 146 career games including 16 this season.
10-BILL BRADLEY : Niagara Falls HS - .376/.428/.522 for the 5'11" Bradley in his draft year. He hit 8 homers in his first high school season but dipped to 4 a year ago and just 1 this season. Only struck out 44 times in 550 career plate appearances.