[Jiggs McGee]

With the 1929 Figment draft under way I thought it would be a good time to take a look back 10 years ago to see how the first round picks panned out.

Maybe this article can be taken as a cautionary tale on the risk associated with prep players. 13 of the 16 first round draft picks in 1919 were high schoolers and only 3 of them had would I would consider to be a solid career led by number one overall TR Goins with Washington. Carlos Cano of the Gothams and longtime Brooklyn King catcher Mickey Dowell were the other two. The two college pitchers selected did very little but the lone college hitter, 8th overall pick Sandy Lovelle, is still going strong in the middle of a productive career.

1- T.R. Goins Washington - The Eagles hit a homerun with this pick as Goins has been arguably the best catcher in the game for the past half dozen or so seasons. Taken as an 18 year old out of Cincinnati HS, Goins made his big league debut in 1923 and won a World Championship Series with Washington that season. He was also on a pennant winner in 1925 and earned the 1926 Whitney Award as the Federal Association's Most Valuable Player.

2- Al Swain- NY Stars - The high school outfielder made it as high as #18 on the prospect rankings but never really panned out. He spent a couple of seasons as a reserve with the Stars before being waived and claimed by Montreal. He is still active at age 29 but playing AAA in the Saints organization.

3- John Rudd Cleveland - Another high schooler, Rudd was a complete bust. He played just 31 FABL games before the Foresters released him in 1928. He spent last season with independent Oklahoma City (a Class A loop) and hit .373 with 13 homers.

4- Carlos Cano - NY Gothams - The run of high school players continues with the Cuban born Cano who was selected as an outfielder from Mobile HS. It took him a while to get to the big leagues, not debuting until 1925 as a 25 year old but Cano has looked very good the past two seasons, including this year when he hit .310 in 134 games. He has a 26 game hitting streak for the Gothams in 1928.

5- Ray Bell - Pittsburgh - The third baseman from Knoxville High School only played 24 career FABL games. He bounced around with several organizations and at 29 is still active with AA Dayton in the St Louis Pioneers organization, but he was certainly a wasted pick for the Miners.

6- Mickey Dowell- Brooklyn - The second high school catcher from this draft to enjoy a solid big league career. Taken out of Philadelphia HS by the Kings, Dowell made his big league debut at 23 in 1924 and was the Kings everyday catcher until being forced into a back-up role this season. He hit .303 in 40 games this year and is a career .308 hitter in 673 games. Dowell led the Continental Association in rbi's in 1926.

7- Lenny Ayres - Phi Sailors - Ayres has the distinction of being both the first college player and first pitcher selected in the 1919 draft but he did little of note in his brief career. He gave plenty of indications of future stardom while at Detroit City College, compiling a 23-6 record and a 2.18 era, and was named the #8 prospect in the game prior to his rookie pro year. He pitched a shutout in AA very early that season and was promoted to AAA late in the year despite being still just 21 years old. He went 8-11, 4.31 as a 22 year old at AAA San Francisco in 1921 but was released at the end of the season and immediately retired from the game.

8- Sandy Lovelle - Baltimore - Cannons landed a gem in the Wisconsin State outfielder who won a Whitney Award in 1926 and has played almost 1000 career FABL games and is still going strong at age 31, coming off a .308 season in 112 games for Baltimore.

9- Mike Pierce - Boston - High School shortstop played for Memphis before being drafted by the Minutemen. He had a couple of pennant winning seasons in the minors at Springfield (Class A) but was released in spring training 1923. The Chicago Chiefs signed him and assigned him to his old high school town, where he hit .309 for AA Memphis and earned a brief call up to the big leagues that season. By 1925 he was up for good and has been a steady hitter for a SS since then, averaging .322 and playing 472 career games. A late bloomer that Boston gave up on too early.

10- Steamboat Rude - Toronto - College pitcher out of Northern Mississippi was traded once and released 6 times in a brief career that ended with his retirement in 1925. Rude did save 15 games for Detroit as a rookie in 1924 and was 12-9 with 19 saves in 103 career FABL appearances, all in relief.

11- Whitey Rioux - Chi Chiefs - San Antonio High School shortstop lasted just one season in the Chiefs organization before they released him after he hit .198 at Class A. The Washington Eagles signed him and he moved his way up their system, making his FABL debut in 1925. He was only an everyday player for one season but did spend parts of 4 years with the Eagles, hitting .316 in 235 career games. His defense is a little below average and he lost his roster spot in Washington this year, spending almost the entire season in AAA Kansas City.

12- Roy Myers - Phi Keystones - Brooklyn High School outfielder won a prep championship and was MVP his senior year but never panned out in big leagues. Keystones dealt him to Boston in 1923 and he did make his FABL debut with the Minutemen that season. A classic 4-A player, he has been solid at AAA including a 21 homer season in 1927 but is not good enough for the big leagues, hitting .262 with 0 homers in 168 games over parts of 5 seasons.

13- Willie Fumes - St Louis - Pioneers selected the 3B out of Los Angeles High School as an 18 year old and he has been in their system ever since. Fumes peaked as the #16 prospect in 1921 and has been on the St Louis roster since 1924, but mostly as a backup. He has played 398 FABL games and is a .302 career hitter.

14- Billy Blank -Detroit - The Dynamos ended up firing blanks with this selection out of Liberty College. A lefthanded pitcher, Blanks was originally drafted by the PhiladelphiaSailors out of high school in 1917 but was quickly released and went to college. He never advanced past AAA and retired in 1924.

15- Cal Blackshear - Chi Cougars - Asheville High School shortstop was released by the Cougars after his first pro season and signed as a free agent with the New York Gothams. He finally made his big league debut last season at the age of 28 and played in 103 games this year for the Gothams, batting .263.

16- Hugh Wright - Montreal - Wichita High School first baseman bounced around the minors for a number of years but was never a serious candidate for promotion to the bigs. He retired following the 1927 season playing just 10 games as high as the AAA level.


Clearly a bad first round to the 1919 draft. In hindsight, it was a pretty weak draft but there were a couple of gems taken in later rounds led by Wayne Robinson, who played a key role in Detroit's World Championship Series win this past week. Robinson was taken with the last pick of the fourth round by Montreal in the 1919 draft.