Next season (1934) will mark the 25th season of the two FABL feeder leagues: the high school loop and AIAA college baseball. To celebrate the anniversary let's count down what Jiggs McGee feels are the 25 greatest college ball players of the last quarter century.
#25 CLINT CASSTEVENS - DICKSON COLLEGE 1915-1917 OF .377, 32, 133 7.2 WAR
Casstevens won a college batting title as a freshman, a National Championship as a junior and hit for the cycle a record 3 times including twice in 4 days in 1916. His .460 batting average in 1915 is the 7th highest single season mark ever recorded. Casstevens was selected 13th overall by Montreal in the 1917 draft and won a World Championship Series with the Saints, making him one of the few players with both a College World Series ring and A FABL World Championship Series title. Traded to Pittsburgh in 1922 he would go on to win a Whitney Award with the Miners in 1924. Still active in the minors as a 36 year old now, Casstevens played 1,259 FABL games and is lifetime .309 hitter.
#24 PUG BRYAN - Lincoln 1931-1934 P 26-4, 2.23 12.1 WAR
Bryan is one of two active players from the 1933 season to make this list and the only one on it who still has another year to go before he is draft eligible. A late birthday gives him 4 college seasons and in the 3 he has played so far Bryan has done more than enough to make the list. A year from now I am sure he will be much higher as he has a chance to equal or surpass Tom Barrell's career wins mark of 34. Bryan went 10-1 this season for the Presidents and is 25-4 with a 2.22 career era. He is already 7th all-time in career pitchers WAR and, if he stays healthy next season, stands a great chance of being number one all-time. He was a second team All-American this season.
#23 JAKE JOHNSON - Lubbock State 1927-1929 1B .394, 37, 156 8.4 WAR
Won a National Title in 1928 with Lubbock State when he hit .376, which was actually the lowest total of his career. The first baseman started 150 games for the Hawks batting .394 with 37 homers and 156 rbi's. His 249 college hits rank 14th all-time. He is also 14th all-time in rbi's and 22nd in hitters WAR. A model of consistency Johnson led his conference in homers once and runs scored once while finishing 2nd in batting and those happened in 3 different seasons. Only 16 players have ever had 6 hits in a college game. Johnson is not only one of them but also the only one to ever do it twice. He was a first team All-American in 1929 and a third round pick of Cleveland in that year's draft. Johnson is now 25 and appears stuck in Class A ball but he has hit very well, in very limited action at that level.
#22 TOM BLALOCK - Chicago Poly 1927-1929 P 25-6, 2.20 11.6 WAR
Had an amazing 1928 season as a sophomore, going 9-0 with a 1.37 era and a 297 era+. He is tied for 10th all-time in wins and his 363 career college strikeouts are more than every other pitcher except Tommy Wilcox, Tom Barrell and Huck Moore. He was a second team All-American in 1928 but was slightly overshadowed by Tom Barrell and Chick Stout. In his draft year of 1929 Blalock went 4th overall, behind Barrell, Stout and Vic Crawford, to St Louis. Now approaching his 25th birthday, Blalock has spent the last two seasons in AA and his best bet to make the big leagues might be out of the bullpen.
#21 PABLO REYES - Bayou State 1930-1932 CF .352, 33, 185 9.7 WAR
The Cuban Comet was taken 3rd overall by Montreal last December after an outstanding college career. He is 10th all-time in career WAR in the AIAA and has fast-tracked through the Montreal system to the point where he may make his big league debut this season. Very consistent in college, hitting .367, .319 and .369 in his three seasons with the Cougars. In a 1930 game Reyes became just the 30th (at the time) player to hit 3 homers in a single college game. He was named a first team All-American in 1932.
#20 NELLIE DAWSON - Wisconsin State 1927-1929 OF .399, 38, 142 9.4 WAR
Led his conference in hits and was third in batting average in his draft year of 1929. His 95 hits that season is still tied for the 6th highest single season total in AIAA history. His 243 career hits rank 21st all-time and his career WAR is 12th among hitters. He was a first team All-American in 1927 and a second team selection the following year. Dawson was picked 13th overall by the New York Stars in the 1929 draft. He struggled a bit in AA a year ago and now, at age 25 finds himself back in A ball.
#19 ELMER LAMBERT - George Fox 1915-1917 3B .405, 18, 122 8.7 WAR
It was a different time to be sure but Lambert's amazing freshman campaign of 1915 included a mark that will likely never be broken when he hit .531 that season. Lambert also had a .606 on base percentage that year and while that mark was also expected to stand for quite some time it was surpassed by Freddie Jones in 1929. Lambert came back to earth his other two seasons with the Reds, batting .348 as a sophomore and .335 in his draft year but he still finished with a career batting average over .400. He was selected first overall in the 1917 draft by he Philadelphia Keystones but would only play in 170 FABL games, batting .280. At 36 he is still active in the Keystones system but has not been with the big league club since 1923. He has spent the past three years at AA New Orleans.
#18 JOE ELLICOTT - Indiana A&M 1930-1932 OF .379, 32, 114 10.3 WAR
Ellicott finished second in his conference in batting as a sophomore when he hit a career best .405. A second round pick of Washington last December, Ellicott has split his rookie pro season between Class C and B this year. His 10.3 college WAR is the 8th highest mark of all-time. He was a first team All-American in 1931 and a second team selection the following year.
#17 DELOS DUNN - Liberty College 1916-1918 P 16-12, 1.67 11.9 WAR
The first of 5 Liberty College players to make this list (the most of any school), Dunn ranks 8th all-time in pitcher WAR. He was the 4th overall pick of Baltimore in the 1918 draft but achieved his best FABL seasons after a trade to the New York Gothams including a 20 win season in 1923. In all he was 94-94 as a big league pitcher, retiring in 1932.
#16 JAKE SHADOAN - Liberty College 1927-1929 2B .389, 38, 134 10.7 WAR
Shadoan's draft year was one of the best seasons on all-time as he hit .473 with a .532 on base percentage but lost the Northeast Conference batting title by .001 to Rip Curry. His Liberty College team made the College World Series finals in his final two seasons at Liberty but they came up short both times. His 250 career hits are 13th most all-time and he ranks 7th in career WAR among hitters. He was twice named a Second team All-American. Shadoan was drafted 7th overall by Brooklyn 1929 and is in his 4th big league season with a .328 career average.
#15 JOE HANCOCK - Henry Hudson 1931-1933 P 22-8, 2.51 13.2 WAR
Joins Pug Bryan as the only active in 1933 players on the list. Hancock is eligible to return for his senior season but will likely be a high draft pick in the upcoming December draft. His 13.2 career WAR is the 6th best total among pitchers. Hancock went 10-0 this season after going 9-2 and leading Henry Hudson to the National Championship a year ago. Hancock was named a first team All-American this season.
#14 CHICK STOUT - Rainier College 1927-1929 P 23-5, 1.82 11.0 WAR
Chick Stout's claim to fame might be he beat out Tom Barrell for first team All-American status in 1929. Stout had an incredible, actually a pair of incredible seasons with Rainier College. As a freshman he went 8-1 with a 2.01 era. His record dipped to 4-3 and his era increased slightly as a sophomore but his junior season, going head to head against Barrell for the opportunity to be selected first overall, was nothing short of amazing. Stout went 11-1 with a 1.30 era, a 350 era+ and what was then a record 6.2 WAR. At the draft there were some concerns about his lack of leadership and just how committed to baseball he really was. Barrell ended up going #1 in the 1929 draft but Pittsburgh quickly grabbed Stout with the second pick. Unfortunately he has not yet lived up to his immense talent shown in the college game. Now 25 years old, Stout has spent the past two seasons in the Miners bullpen and at this writing is 8-4 with a 4.89 career era.
Colby posted a 1.01 era to go with a 7-0 record in his draft year. As of the end of the 1933 season only 3 pitchers have had a lower single season era then that mark
Code:
AIAA SINGLE SEASON ERA LEADERS
1 Tommy Homick Golden Gate 1914 0.71
2 Stan Merendino Rainier College 1928 0.81
3 Connie Kesler N Carolina Tech 1922 0.90
4 Al Colby Liberty College 1914 1.01
Colby also posted a 431 era+ that season and was selected 9th overall by Detroit in the 1914 FABL draft. He was traded to St Louis a year later and spent a dozen seasons in the majors with the Pioneers and Brooklyn. Colby became one of the great relievers in the game, notching 128 saves which ranks him 4th all time in FABL.
#12 DAN FOWLER - Commonwealth Catholic 1927-1929 OF .326, 53, 139 10.1 WAR
Despite being born in Texas, Fowler likely has a New England accent by now as he spent 3 seasons at Commonwealth Catholic before being drafted 6th overall by the Boston Minutemen in 1929. He led the Federal Association in walks last season as a rookie while also socking 26 homers. Fowler never made All-American status, partially because of the quality outfielders in the AIAA at the time but also because he was overshadowed by Commonwealth teammate Vic Crawford. The two led their school to the College World Series finals as freshmen in 1927 and Fowler was the model of consistency in his 3 years in the AIAA batting .337,.313 and .328 with 18, 15 and 20 homerun seasons.
#11 HAP GOODWIN - Rainier College 1916-1918 P 22-16, 2.61 13.2 WAR
The west coast kid from California never quite equaled his amazing freshman season at Rainier when he went 10-4 with a 1.37 era and a 5.5 WAR but only 4 pitchers (Tom Barrell, Tommy Wilcox, Huck Moore and Curly Jones) had a higher career college WAR than Goodwin. Imagine what he could have done on a better team as his Majestics squad went 23-27 each of his 3 seasons at the school (In fact Rainier had 6 straight years of going 23-27 from 1916 to 1921..no idea of the odds on a team posting the exact same record 6 years in a row).
Goodwin was drafted second overall by Pittsburgh in 1918 and went 107-147 in 11 seasons. He is still active at age 36, pitching in the minors in the Chicago Cougars organization.
#10 SAM ORR - Henry Hudson 1927-1929 2B .381, 49, 163 12.3 WAR
An All-American as a freshman, Orr narrowly missed a batting title while hitting a career best .425 that season. His 246 career college hits place him 16th all-time in that category and he is often compared to Liberty's Jake Shadoan as the two played the exact same 3 seasons and were second baseman selected high in the 1929 FABL draft. Orr went two spots ahead of Shadoan at #5 to Toronto that season and with a .306 career average in 353 FABL games is one of the few bright spots on the Wolves roster. Orr's 163 career rbi's place him 7th in AIAA history.
#9 JOHN COLLINS - Liberty College 1927-1929 OF .372, 56, 166 11.4 WAR
Another of the great outfielders to play in the final few years of the 1920s, Collins is third all-time in the AIAA behind Calvin Dybas and Vic Crawford with 56 career homeruns and 6th in career rbi's. He was a first team All-American selection twice and helped Liberty College reach the College World Series finals twice. Collins was a second round pick of Montreal in the 1929 draft but was traded to Pittsburgh over the winter. Now 24 years old he has been limited to just 33 big league games but at this writing is batting .403 in his 67 career at bats.
*note on Calvin Dybas. He came close but fell just short of making this list.
#8 DAVE HENRY - Bayou State 1930-1932 OF .420, 43, 182 11.9 WAR
Henry had quite a career at Bayou State. He was a 3 time first team All-American selection. He is 4th all-time in career RBI's, 14th in hits and 17th in homeruns. His .452 batting average in his draft year is the 8th highest single season total of all time but he never won a conference batting title, finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th in his 3 seasons. Boston selected the 22 year old in the second round of last year's draft and he quickly advanced through the minors being moved up to AA recently.
#7 CURLY JONES - Henry Hudson College 1930-1932 P 20-8, 2.72 13.5 WAR
It only seems like Jones has done it all despite the fact that he is just 22 years old. He pitched Henry Hudson to back to back College World Series Titles, winning the CWS MVP in one of them. He finished his college career fourth all-time in pitcher WAR and fifth in career strikeouts. Jones was drafted first overall by the New York Gothams in December and then he shocked the baseball world by retiring. He was quickly talked out of it and reported to spring training with the Gothams and is presently 6-4 with a 3.81 era in 10 starts split between Class B and A. Everyone expects Jones to be a dominant pitcher in FABL, just as he was in college ball.
#6 TOM BARRELL - GEORGIA BAPTIST 1926-1929 P 34-8, 2.54 15.8 WAR
Barrell is college baseball's all-time leader in wins although he did have the advantage of a fourth season before being draft eligible due to his birthdate. Before we get into his pitching accomplishments it should be noted he made himself into an outstanding hitter, playing the outfield when he wasn't pitching and batting .335 with 11 homers and 50 rbi's as a senior. But that paled compared to his accomplishments on the mound. He is the all-time leader in WAR and innings pitched and second only to Tommy Wilcox in strikeouts. Surprisingly he was never a first team All-American selection as Huck Moore, Wilcox and Chick Stout nosed him out in the three seasons from 1927-29. There was no team named prior to 1927 and only a first team that year but Barrell did earn second team nods in both 1928 and 1929. The Chicago Cougars selected him first overall in the 1929 draft and he was recently traded to Brooklyn in a mega deal that also involved Tommy Wilcox.
11-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his draft year after back to back 9-3 seasons with an even lower ERA in each of them tells all that is needed to be known about Moore's college career. He won a College World Series and was a first team All-American in 1927, which was the first year that designation was given out or he could have won a couple of more. Only Tommy Wilcox has a higher k\9. Only Wilcox and Tom Barrell have more career college strikeouts and a higher career WAR than Moore. His 29 college wins for his career are only surpassed by Barrell, who pitched one more season than Moore. His career 1.66 era is the lowest total based on sufficient innings pitched of all time.
So what happened? Moore was selected 6th overall by the New York Gothams in the 1927 draft but at age 27 has yet to pitch in a big league game. He endured a brutal 1-18, 9.05 campaign in AAA a year ago and is 6-29 with a 6.85 era for his AAA career. The Gothams are making a last ditched effort to try him as a reliever to see if he can contribute in that role.
#4 FREDDIE JONES - Central Ohio 1929-1931 2B .425, 16, 102 12.5 WAR
Jones could flat out hit in college and he has continued to do so in the big leagues, going straight from the campus of Central Ohio University to the St Louis Pioneers without skipping a beat. Drafted second overall in 1931, Jones hit .349 as a rookie last year and is putting up similar numbers this season. A two-time All-American he twice led his conference in batting including a .486 freshman season that remains the second highest single season batting average ever posted in a college season. His on base percentage that year was an AIAA record .625 and he also holds the fifth highest single season on base percentage when he was .541 the following season. Jones 12.5 batter WAR for his career is the highest in AIAA history and his 1929 mark of 5.74 was a record until Harry Smith of Grafton broke it this year.
#3 TOMMY WILCOX - Liberty College 1926-1928 P 20-12, 2.24 14.3 WAR
Before Curly Jones there was Tommy Wilcox. A first team All-American in his draft year when he helped Liberty reach the College World Series Finals, Wilcox was selected first overall by Brooklyn in 1928. Since traded to the Chicago Cougars he is still just 26 years old but already has 67 FABL wins. He is the all-time AIAA career leader in a number of categories including strikeouts and his 14.3 WAR is only surpassed by Tom Barrell but Barrell played 4 seasons of college ball compared to 3 for Wilcox. His incredible mix of pitches confounded college hitters and Wilcox holds the single season strikeout mark of 196 set in 1928, a year after fanning 165 hitters which remains the third most in a season. His career 12.5 K/9 is nearly 2.0 higher than any other college pitcher.
#2 VIC CRAWFORD - Commonwealth Catholic 197-1929 OF .366, 67, 187 12.0 WAR
When I started working on this list I expected Crawford to be number one. He was a first team All-American each of his 3 seasons, led his conference in homers twice including 1929 when he hit 31, one shy of the single season record established by Calvin Dybas in 1913. His 67 career homers are also one shy of Dybas' record. He is the single season RBI leader and one shy of Bill Moore for the career RBI lead. He also owns the single season total base record and is second to Moore in career total bases. Crawford did not win a College World Series championship but did help his team reach the finals in his freshman season. In short, he accomplished almost everything he could in the college game and after being selected 3rd overall by Montreal in 1929 he appears, after a position change to first base, to be in the big leagues to stay following a strong start this season.
#1 BILL MOORE - Lubbock State 1930-1932 1B .439, 54, 188 11.9 WAR
The greatest college baseball player of the past 25 years was a three time first team All-American and his worst season of college ball saw him hit .406 with 13 homers. He led the entire AIAA in batting in two of his three seasons highlighted by a draft year that saw him bat .477 with 22 homers and 72 rbi's. In his draft year Bill Moore won the triple crown, not just for his conference but for the entire AIAA, although his 22 homers only tied him for top spot in that category. Moore is the career leader in total bases and rbi's and fourth all-time in homers while also ranking in the top ten for hits and doubles. Moore was selected 13th overall by Detroit in last December's draft and is batting .335 after half a season at Class B.
There were certainly many others worthy of inclusion on this list so perhaps there will be room for them in another 25 years if a top 50 is ever published.