HUMAN GM SCORECARD - PART II: DRAFTING (FEDERAL ASSOCIATION TEAMS)
Here is the second half of my look at how the FABL human GM's did at drafting players in the first round. The Continental Association clubs demonstrated what a mixed bag first round picks can be in a stats only environment. Let's see if the 8 Federal teams fared any better.
BOSTON MINUTEMEN
The Minutemen had the misfortune of falling just outside the top six in the 1925 draft so they had no chance at most of the elite talent that was taken (with the exception of Jack Cleaves who did not go until pick 10) but they still made out very nicely with Chick Dyer. Dyer was a solid college outfielder, hitting .352 his draft year and he has developed into a solid FABL outfielder, batting .315 in 487 career games so far. He has also developed a little bit of power, reaching double digits in homeruns twice so far in his 3 plus seasons. That certainly gives the Minutemen a passing grade with pick #7 of the '25 draft.
In contrast, the Minutemen struggled with their picks in the remaining drafts we are looking at. 1926 pick Rex Kaiser is almost 25 and hit .221 a year ago in his first season of AAA competition.
I have to admit that Bobby Montefusco, the Minutemen's 1927 first rounder had a lot of us fooled, me included. Montefusco went 2nd overall after posting an 11-4 record with some good numbers in 2 seasons at Grafton. It turns out he was just not as good as many, and none more than the Minutemen, had hoped. A finger injury robbed him of a good chunk of his rookie pro year and his development seemed to slow. There may still be hope as he went 3-4, 2.90 out of the Boston pen last year but Frank Lightbody, who went 4th that year, would look very good in the Boston outfield right now.
Barney Meeker, taken 11th overall in 1928, was another guy who looked very good in college ball (.368, 28 HR in 102 career games) but for whatever reason never put it together. Meeker hit 25 homers in 117 games in AA two years ago but last year did not play every day in his first taste of AAA as it appeared the Minutemen had given up on him. It turns out hey did give up on Meeker as he was exposed in the Rule V draft and we will see if he can turn his career around with the Chicago Cougars, who selected him and appear to be set to give him his first taste of big league action very soon.
I am not sure how much you can blame the Minutemen's scouting staff but only Chick Dyer panned out. I'd question the Kaiser pick a little as he was an everyday player just one of his 3 seasons in high school ball but the final verdict on him is still out as he is just 24. Montefusco and Meeker are both guys taken right about expected in their drafts, but for whatever reason just did not develop as most had expected.
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BOSTON MINUTEMEN FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR NAME POS PICK TEAM
1925 Chick Dyer OF 7 Pierpont (AIAA)
1926 Rex Kaiser OF 8 San Francisco HS
1927 Bobby Montefusco P 2 Grafton (AIAA)
1928 Barney Meeker 1B 11 Commonwealth Catholic (AIAA)
1929 Dan Fowler CF 6 Commonwealth Catholic (AIAA)
1930 Buck Waldron CF 9 Lincoln (AIAA)
1931 Jim Taylor P 10 Central Ohio (AIAA)
1932 Roy Price P 11 Bayou State (AIAA)
CHICAGO CHIEFS
The Chiefs scouting staff can take some pride that it appears all four of their 1925-28 first rounders will play in FABL this year. However, they are the only team to have their 4 picks in those years all playing big league ball but with a different organization.
1925 first rounder Fred Nader (13th overall) was exposed in the rule V draft a year ago and taken by the Philadelphia Sailors. He saw limited action but appears like he might stick with the Sailors again this season as a backup infielder. He wasn't a bad pick for that spot as others around him have not done that well either but there were better players available as it turned out, including the Chiefs own third round selection Bob Martin.
I will jump ahead to 1928 next since Vallie Turner, like Nader in 1931, was just lost in the Rule V draft, and is expected to make his big league debut for the Chicago Cougars. He went 15th in a weak draft, and only one second round position player (Joe Taylor Pittsburgh) has played a FABL game to this point, so you can't call the pick a bad one. He came from Mississippi A&M, which has built a reputation for developing quality outfielders (the Lightbody brothers and Jim Renfroe are 3) but he only started one season at the school. The numbers for that year were decent (.300,10,30 in 50 games) but maybe that is a cautionary tale as more than one player who had a limited college or prep career has been a bust. I am not saying Turner is a bust yet, but after hitting just .182 in spring training I am not sure he will last the year with the Cougars.
George Johnson was the third of 5 pitchers taken in the first round of the 1926 draft. He was the #29 rated prospect in 1928 when the Chiefs dealt him to Brooklyn in exchange for a veteran arm to help with a successful pennant run, so they certainly got value for him. He has not, so far lived up to expectations with the Kings but then neither have Walt Palmer (7-18 for Pittsburgh, pick #2) or Larry Brown (4-6 for Brooklyn after being pick 4 by Detroit).
1927 first rounder Jim Watson may yet become a decent outfielder in Montreal. The Saints grabbed him in the minor league phase of the rule V draft prior to the 1932 season and he hit .278 with 6 homers in limited action with the big club. He was an outstanding hitter at Ellery in college and has hit at every level he played at. It could be he is a late developer or more likely perhaps, he was simply not moved ahead as quickly as he would have liked while in the Chiefs system. At 26, he is getting old to be a prospect but he might just be ready for a big year in Montreal.
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CHICAGO CHIEFS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR NAME POS PICK TEAM
1925 Fred Nader 3B 13 Cambridge HS
1926 George Johnson P 6 Birmingham HS
1927 Jim Watson OF 12 Ellery (AIAA)
1928 Vallie Turner OF 15 Mississippi A&M (AIAA)
1929 Joe Foy 3B 14 Opelika State (AIAA)
1930 Bolivar Jim Smith SS 6 Cumberland (AIAA)
Tom Eggleton 3B 7 New Orleans HS
1931 Joe Hunt P 8 Detroit HS
1932 Bob Walls P 9 Chicago Poly (AIAA)
DETROIT DYNAMOS
In the early years the Dynamos grabbed some high school talent in the first round. While other teams in the 1925 draft got near instant returns with Doug Lightbody, Jack Cleaves, Bud Jameson and Bill Ashbaugh the Dynamos took a much more methodical pace with high school slugger Al Wheeler. The first overall pick in the 1925 draft did not debut for Detroit until 3 years later but he was more than worth the wait. A couple of Whitney Awards, a world championship series title, and 151 homers to go with a .335 batting average after 766 big league games and you can clearly state the Dynamos made no mistake with this pick. It should be noted that Max Morris only had 47 homers in his career by the end of his age 24 season, although Morris also pitched at that time and played in a much different era but I think Wheeler looks like a guy with a good shot at 500 homers if he stays healthy.
I touched on Larry Brown's 1926 draft briefly in the Chiefs notes as he was one of 5 pitchers taken in the first round. A high school arm, Brown was 20-11 in Class B in 1928 when he was dealt to Brooklyn for catcher Dave Armstrong, who has put together a decent career in Detroit. Brown is still trying to find his way in Brooklyn and is still considered a top 100 prospect but at age 24 the clock is ticking.
1927 first round pick Harry Meek was coming off three very solid seasons of college ball at Pierpont. No idea what the Dynamos were thinking as they released him just 2 months into his pro career and the Boston Minutemen signed him. He has not advanced past AA since and Boston actually lost him in the rule V draft one year to Brooklyn but the Kings returned him to the Minutemen. Turned out to not be a great prospect but was a decent pick looking at him through the college lens although the Dynamos decision to release him so soon really is a head scratcher. Interestingly, none of the pitchers drafted around him (3 went ahead of him in round 1 and 7 more went in round 2) have done much as of yet with only 3 of them (#1 Bobby Montefusco, #13 Bill Anderson and round 2 pick 9 Ed Wood) have played a big league game.
1928 was a weak draft at the top for hitters, aside from Bobby Barrell and Wally Flowers, so you can't say the selection of Fred Keller at pick 15 was much worse then others taken but right from the beginning there should have been question marks about Keller. Let's start with the fact he only played a season and a half of high school ball. There were no injuries. He just did not play at all in his 16 year old season and only got into half the games as a 17 year old in his draft year. He was a corner outfielder with 2 homeruns, a .283 batting average and 0 stolen bases in his 64 high school games. Nothing about his stats suggested first round pick. He is now 22 years old and coming off his 4th season of Class C ball, where he played in just 32 games and started only 3 all year. He is still young but I think it is safe to call him a bust.
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DETROIT DYNAMOS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR NAME POS PICK TEAM
1925 Al Wheeler OF 1 Decatur HS
1926 Larry Brown P 4 Oakland HS
1927 Harry Meek P 14 Pierpont (AIAA)
1928 Fred Keller OF 13 Chicago HS
1929 No pick Traded it away
1930 Donie Scheuermann P 11 North Carolina Tech (AIAA)
1931 No pick Traded it away
1932 Bill Moore 1B 13 Lubbock State (AIAA)
NEW YORK GOTHAMS
Looking at their draft history it is clear the Gothams have put a priority on pitching but you also have to give them credit for veering away from that strategy in 1925. Plenty has been said about that class already and Bud Jameson was one of the half dozen elite hitters available so the Gothams get full marks for recognizing that and grabbing one of them.
They traded away their 1926 first rounder to help them win the Federal Association pennant that season - the club's first since 1896 but in both 1927 and 1928 they went for pitching.
1927 saw them select Huck Moore 6th overall. It was a weak draft and most of the pitchers drafted early have not done anything at all. Moore did something last year but it was not good...he lost 18 games at AAA going 1-18 with a 9.05 era in 30 starts. I guess you have to admire the Gothams for the decision to stick with the kid and give him every opportunity but it is clear his 29 career college wins - tied for second most all-time behind Tom Barrell - were the pinnacle of his pitching career. Hard not to draft a pitcher who went 29-6, 1.66 with tremendous consistency in 3 years of school ball.
In 1928 the Gothams went for Phil Hicks at pick five in a draft that saw 5 of the top 7 picks end up being pitchers. Hicks was the second of three high school arms taken (Chuck Cole before him and George Thomas after). The other two remain highly touted prospects but Hicks, well not so much. He split last season between A and AA but will likely get a chance in New York this season as he is out of minor league options so the Gothams would risk losing him if they try and send him down. He is still just 23 years old so there may be some hope but it is fading quickly. I wonder if George Thomas was on the Gothams radar that draft as I am sure they are wishing they called his name instead of Hicks that day.
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NEW YORK GOTHAMS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR NAME POS PICK TEAM
1925 Bud Jameson 1B 3 St Patrick's (AIAA)
1926 No pick Traded it away
1927 Huck Moore P 6 Commonwealth Catholic (AIAA)
1928 Phil Hicks P 5 Somerville HS
1929 Phil Newcom P 9 Central Ohio (AIAA)
1930 Jim Mason OF 15 Ellery (AIAA)
1931 Don Filipski P 16 Indiana A&M (AIAA)
1932 Curly Jones P 1 Henry Hudson (AIAA)
PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES
The Keystones seem to love high school players, having drafted five of them with first round picks in the last 8 years. They also, perhaps more than any other team, are clearly looking best available player regardless of position based on their decision to draft outfielders in the first round 5 consecutive seasons.
Let's start with 1925 and pitcher Art Myers. By the time the Keystones pick came up at #11 all of the marquee hitters were gone so they opted for a high school lefthander. Myers pitched 4 seasons of college ball and was very good in each of them. Perhaps Lou Martino, an equally impressive high school pitcher who went 16th that year, would have been a better choice but it's hard to quibble with the decision to take Myers. He is now 26 and looks like a classic 4A pitcher bouncing between Philly and AAA Louisville. He had a real issue with surrendering homers his rookie season but seems to have curtailed that nicely. He is 13-11 with a 4.20 career era but likely would have spent more time in the big leagues if he was on a weaker team.
Picking tenth the following season, the Keystones again went for a high school lefthander in Frank Crawford. He developed nicely and worked his way up the system before getting a full-time rotation spot last year. Crawford made the most of it, going 18-8 with a 4.41 era and looks to be a very solid middle of the rotation pitcher for years to come.
After winning the World Championship Series in 1927 the Keystones picked 16th in 1927 and with that final pick of the first round they took a college outfielder by the name of Ronald Kumm. Kumm had 3 decent seasons at Maryland State and showed some signs of power potential which he has carried over to pro ball, hitting 27 homers in A ball in 1930 and 31 between AA and AAA a year ago. He has had trouble hitting for average at some of his stops and, approaching age 27, his days as a prospect are done. Looks to be just a solid minor league slugger. I have mentioned him before but St Louis' second round pick Alex Ingraham turned out to be a much better choice if you wanted an outfielder at the bottom of round one.
The Keystones got a gift in 1928 as somehow Bobby Barrell fell right into their laps at pick #6. How did Barrell tumble that far after hitting .398 with 21 homers in 40 high school games his junior season. Well, he broke his kneecap early in his draft year, limiting him to 18 games in which he hit just (I say 'just' only in comparison to the previous year).315 with 2 homers. It is clear that the injury scared some teams off of him. The second reason he fell was pitching. That was the draft that had Tommy Wilcox, Mike Murphy, Chuck Cole and Phil Hicks taken in the first five picks ahead of Barrell. We have not got to them yet but St Louis seems to be the team that really messed up here, taking Frank Shropshire third overall and letting Bobby Barrell slide. The move reminds one now, of what happened two years prior when another Barrell brother, catcher Fred, was bypassed by Cleveland to take the Steve Chilcott of the FABL world in Karl Stevens.
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PHIADELPHIA KEYSTONES FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR NAME POS PICK TEAM
1925 Art Myers P 11 Richmond HS
1926 Frank Crawford P 10 Cleveland HS
1927 Ronald Kumm OF 16 Maryland State (AIAA)
1928 Bobby Barrell OF 6 Atlanta HS
1929 Bobby Many OF 12 Whitney College (AIAA)
1930 Rip Curry OF 13 George Fox (AIAA)
1931 Bob Land CF 14 Little Rock HS
1932 Gene White P 15 Reading HS
PITTSBURGH MINERS
When you have picked as high as the Miners have every year you would expect to have a pretty decent haul. They came up big with Frank Lightbody in 1927 and 1931 pick George Cleaves looks the real deal but imagine if the Miners had taken these players as well: Doug Lightbody, Fred Barrell and Wally Flowers. Those were the players selected in the pick immediately following the Miners choices in 1925, 1926 and 1928. Instead they chose Eddie Wilson, a 29 year old who has hit .237 in 32 career FABL games; Walt Palmer, a 27 year old who bounces between Pittsburgh and AAA and is 7-18 with a 5.10 career era; along with Johnny Guzzo, a 22 year old shortstop who hit .237 last year in A ball as a 21 year old. Guzzo may still pan out but it is clear the Miners would take a do over on all 3 of those first round picks.
They did get a win when the wisely did not pass on a Lightbody the second time around, taking Frank fourth overall in 1927.
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PITTSBURGH MINERS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR NAME POS PICK TEAM
1925 Eddie Wilson OF 5 Grafton (AIAA)
1926 Walt Palmer P 2 Bayou State (AIAA)
1927 Frank Lightbody OF 4 Mississippi A&M (AIAA)
1928 Johnny Guzzo SS 9 Toledo HS
1929 Chick Stout P 2 Rainier College (AIAA)
1930 Joe Schnell P 5 College of San Diego (AIAA)
1931 George Cleaves C 4 Elmira HS
1932 Lefty Allen P 4 Hartford HS
ST LOUIS PIONEERS
St Louis fans cringe when we bring up their drafts in the second half of the 1920's. Let's see. We have Brad Crawford who was taken 9th overall in 1925 but has yet to play a FABL game. Would Jack Cleaves, who went tenth that year, look good in the St Louis lineup? How about 1926 when they took SS Jack Rogers at pick 14. Rogers hit .227 in 105 games and has been waived twice in his career. Two picks later Cleveland drafted Woody Armstrong who turned out to be a much better shortstop option. High schooler Bert Harrison was taken 8th in 1927 and is still young enough that he may contribute after hitting .256 in AAA last year and we do have to give the Pioneers credit for a solid second round pick that year in Alex Ingraham.
Which brings us to 1928. Oh no, says any Pioneer fan. Frank Shropshire over Bobby Barrell??? If not Barrell, how about high school arm Chuck Cole after college pitchers went 1-2 in that draft. Shropshire had some impressive high school numbers including a .378 career average and 34 homers in 122 games but if you were not taking a pitcher did you not have to gamble on Barrell's knee and hope it would fully recover?
I can just hear the debate going on in the St Louis warroom. Bobby Barrell, also a high school outfielder, hit .353 with 28 homers in 98 career high school games but he had that broken kneecap. But look at the family lineage? You had to think Barrell was a sure thing. But, a broken kneecap might be bad for an outfielder and look what Shropshire did. He led the high School ranks in homers and rbi's. Hey, didn't Roger Landry do the same thing twice back in the day, and look what Landry gave us. Okay, Shropshire it is.
A dark time indeed for St Louis baseball. Fortunately, with recent picks Jack Flint and Freddie Jones looking like the real thing, the Pioneers fortunes should change but Bobby Barrell should would be nice to have.
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PITTSBURGH MINERS FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR NAME POS PICK TEAM
1925 Brad Crawford OF 9 Elmira HS
1926 Jack Rogers SS 14 College of San Diego (AIAA)
1927 Bert Harrison OF 8 Memphis HS
1928 Frank Shropshire OF 3 Sacramento HS
1929 Tom Blalock P 4 Chicago Poly (AIAA)
1930 Jack Flint C 1 Lubbock State (AIAA)
1931 Freddie Jones 2B 2 Central Ohio (AIAA)
1932 Ray McCarthy P 7 Chicago HS
WASHINGTON EAGLES
Washington seems to love their shortstops, as they have taken 4 of them in the first round over the past 8 years. That started in 1925, which gives us the curious case of Leo Gorski. 1925 was a bad draft for the Eagles to begin with as none of their first 5 picks have played a single game in the big leagues. The Eagles picked 15th in 1925 so all those big names we have talked about were long gone but what possessed them to take Leo Gorski?
Gorski was a 23 year old who had been draft eligible twice before and did not play organized ball anywhere in 1925. He began his journey playing high school ball for Omaha, and helped them win a National title in 1918, although he missed most of that season with an ankle injury. He hit .320 in his draft year but no one selected him so he went to tryouts with a pair of Independent Great Western League teams but failed to catch on. We can only assume he played semi-pro ball somewhere for the next 3 years as he disappeared from organized ball only to resurface in 1924 with Sadler of the AIAA. He had a pretty good year for Sadler, batting .323 and despite having only played 1 season of college ball after a three year absence the Cleveland Foresters decide to use a 10th round pick on Gorski. Amazingly, the signing bonus offer does not impress the kid so Gorski turns it down and decides to go back to semi-pro ball, or whatever it is he did after his high school days. He must have the best agent in the world because somehow the Washington Eagles were convinced to use a first round pick on him and give him a cool $2,500 as a signing bonus. So Washington drafted a kid in the first round that sat out a year after being a 10th round pick who had only played 1 season of college ball and nothing the previous 3 years. I wonder how this is going to turn out?
Actually a not quite as bad as you might think. Gorski is certainly not a prospect anymore at age 31 but he is still in the Eagles system and even spent a little time in AAA. Maybe they will call him up this year and he can finally complete his journey to the big leagues.
Also interesting to note is that two years later the Eagles took another shortstop who, like Gorski, played his high school ball at Omaha but this pick worked our very nicely as Andy Carter is a solid big league middle infielder.
Before taking Carter in 1927 the Eagles had another miss in 1926 as Bill Whiting has played in just 3 career FABL games after being taken 12th overall. It was a weak draft but of the 15 position players the Eagles selected that year only Whiting (3 games), Jack Burke (5ht round, 24 games) and Frank Piper (6th round, 184 games) ever played a big league game.
In 1928 the Eagles made a blockbuster deal with Brooklyn sending the first overall pick (who turned out to be Tommy Wilcox) and receiving several prospects and a pair of first rounders back. Those picks were used on Wally Flowers, who has turned out to be a solid outfielder and shortstop Grover Carson, who is now the Eagles every day shortstop. In hindsight, having Tommy Wilcox would certainly have been the better option but the Eagles do deserve credit for choosing wisely with the two picks they ended up with.
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WASHUNGTON EAGLES FIRST ROUND PICKS
YR NAME POS PICK TEAM
1925 Leo Gorski SS 15 did not play in draft year
1926 Bill Whiting OF 12 Brooklyn State (AIAA)
1927 Andy Carter SS 10 Omaha HS
1928 Wally Flowers OF 10 Northern Cal (AIAA)
Grover Carson SS 14 Northern Mississippi (AIAA)
1929 Bill Kirby 1B 10 St Louis HS
1930 Jim Beard SS 3 Lynn HS
1931 No pick Traded away
1932 George Gillard P 5 Henry Hudson (AIAA)
That completes a look at the early first round picks from each team once human GM's took over. At some point I may take a look at some of the very good late round picks, and each team certainly has their share, so quite often what is perceived by me here as a poor first round in reality becomes a very good overall draft for a team.