A few bits of miscellanea to report on. The original blog post with links to player pages can be found
HERE.
1904 Rookie Draft
The annual Rookie Draft was conducted tonight, and once again position players were all the rage, with just the single pitcher taken in the first round. After due consideration, the format from this point on with be Serpentine to help more evenly distribute the new talent.
Here are the Round 1 picks:
1 Boston Americans: CF Johnny Bates, 21
2 St Louis Browns: C Babe Phelps, 21
3 Cleveland Naps: SS Billy Shindle, 23
4 New York Giants: 1B Ed Cartwright, 28
5 Cincinnati Reds: LF Ray Blades, 23
6 Chicago Cubs: SS Tom Tresh, 20
7 Boston Beaneaters: SP Jim O’Toole, 19
8 Philadelphia Phillies: LF Mike Easler, 20
9 New York Highlanders: 2B Johnny Ray, 22
10 Philadelphia Athletics: C Stan Lopata, 20
11 Pittsburgh Pirates: 2B Jim Lefebvre, 21
12 Brooklyn Superbas: 2B Jeff Frye, 23
13 St Louis Cardinals: 3B Bobby Estalella, 22
14 Chicago White Sox: C Mike Ivie, 21
15 Detroit Tigers: CF Don Demeter, 18
16 Washington Senators, CF Terry Moore, 21
The full Draft Log can be accessed
HERE
I’ll report back with how the clubs are progressing with signing these rookies a bit down the track.
(And, just to complicate matters for you Footnoters, third baseman Mike J “Dude” McCormick was drafted by Brooklyn with their 5th round pick, joining Highlanders pitcher Mike F McCormick and St Louis CF Mike W McCormick, not to mention Moose, Jerry and Barry McCormick. Reminds me a bit of that scene from Spaceballs – “how many A**holes we got on this ship anyhow? Yo!”)
Stat of the Month: K/BB
Strikeouts per base on balls (1904 season to date).
Spotlight players – an update
Just a quick run through of where our Spotlight players are at this early stage of season 1904:
- Despite posting his best season so far in 1903 (19-13 / 3.11 / 5.8 WAR), Ed Head finds himself at the A’s PSL Shreveport Gassers.
- Curt Roberts is still withering on the vine at Wichita Falls, where he has had just 2 PA so far this season.
- Otto Hess has so far this season split time between the Cards and their PSL Houston farm team, where he has gone a solid 6-0 with an ERA of just 1.47.
- Arnold Hauser is still playing with Curt Roberts at Wichita Falls, although he is seeing a lot more game time than his teammate. So far in 1904 he has hit .247 with 1 HR and 17 RBI in 194 AB.
- After waiting in vain the entire 1903 season for a call that never came, Ray Starr took the hint and hung up his cleats.
- Even though he hit .444 for the Cubs last season in limited opportunities, Rawmeat Bill Rodgers is biding his time at PSL Reading. Sadly, life there doesn’t seem to be agreeing with him as he has hit just .150 to this point. Perhaps the town’s butchers aren’t up to snuff...
- Dave Rozema is another who can perhaps feel he has been harshly treated. After a 1903 campaign that saw him go a respectable 15-7 / 3.86 for Detroit, he has spent 1904 at Fort Worth. Perhaps with the Tigers losing so many members of their pitching staff to long-term injuries, we may see Dave back up in the FL before too long.
- Dickey Kerr is having another solid year for the hapless Naps, going 4-6 / 3.59 so far.
- Cy Seymour has, of course, retired.
- And the newest member of the Spotlight Club, Harry Lumley, has made a huge impact since getting called up by the White Sox, winning last month’s AL Rookie Award for his excellent start to his FL career.
More updates throughout the course of the year.