TEN THINGS I THINK : JIGGS MCGEE
1- Let's start this edition with some recognition for Philadelphia Keystones first baseman Rankin Kellogg, who recently hit his 400th career homerun. Not bad for a guy who couldn't start on his high school team. Kellogg was penciled into the starting lineup only 39 times over 4 seasons at Memphis High., appearing in 87 games total and hitting .338 with 11 homers in 195 at bats. Despite the small sample he was still taken first overall by the Keystones in 1922. There are no fielding stats for that era of the high school feeder league but piecing together the roster it looks like the starting first basemen ahead of him his first two seasons with the Pharoahs was George James. James played for Memphis from 1917-20 and started every game in his junior and senior seasons. In 115 career games he hit .329 with 18 homers but went undrafted in 1920 and never played beyond high school. It is tougher to figure out who got the nod ahead of him in his junior and senior seasons but one can be pretty sure that player did not go far in the sport.
2- Kellogg will end up with slightly over 400 homers at the conclusion of his age 32 season. At the same point in his career the legendary Max Morris, who is done for the season after an injury and is now 40 years old with 691 career dingers, had hit 394 homers. Judging by that one might surmise Kellogg has a great chance to pass Morris one day. However, it is important to remember Morris has enjoyed 4 seasons with at least 40 homers after turning 33 including 50 in 1929 and 48 the following season.
3- How about Brooklyn's Al Wheeler, who is just 27 and likely the next guy to surpass the 400 dinger plateau. Wheeler is finishing up his age 27 season and has 232 homers at the moment. After his age 27 year Morris had hit just 185 and Kellogg had swatted 208. However, Morris hit 60 as a 28 year old and 57 as a 30 year old in addition to his 4 seasons of 40-plus after age 32. My guess is Wheeler. with a park in Brooklyn that is much more suited to his lefthanded swing then Detroit's was, might have a slightly better chance than Kellogg of catching Morris but he will need some big years over the next half dozen seasons. My bet is Kellogg and Wheeler may each surpass the 600 mark before they are done but approaching 700 and Morris territory is in a completely different, and very exclusive neighborhood.
4- Is there a better run minor league organization than that of the Philadelphia Sailors? According to OSA the Sailors are the number 3 ranked system for prospects but hard to not place them number one in my books when you look at which each of their minor league affiliates have accomplished in recent years. The Sailors 5 affiliates have combined for 9 league titles in the last four years and if the minor league season ended today each of their 5 farm clubs would win a pennant this year. AAA San Francisco and AA Providence are both still in tight battles for their respective league crowns with 2 weeks remaining in the season. The AAA Hawks have a three game lead on both Portland and Seattle while the AA Providence Sailors margin is just a game and a half ahead of Boston's AA entry in Worcester.
The three lower levels have been completely dominated by Philadelphia's farm clubs. In the Class A Heartland League the Peoria Pastimers have already clinched their first pennant since 1930 while Class C Gulfport has done the same to win their second Gulf States League title in three years. The crown jewel of the Sailors system has long been Class B Miami as they have clinched their 7th league title in the 11 year history of the Southeastern League. With 12 games remaining Miami had a 24 and a half game lead on second place Savannah and at 93-35, have already tied the league record for victories which was originally set by Chattanooga in 1928 and equaled by the Sailors club last season.
5- It is rare we get two great races in the big leagues but this season we actually have three. The Federal Association remains a battle between New York and St Louis with the defending pennant winning Gothams presently enjoying a 2 game lead while in the Continental things are even tighter as the Cleveland Foresters beat Brooklyn 2-1 in 11 innings yesterday to take a half game lead on the Kings. Those two clubs are establishing a pretty good rivalry as just a single game separated them last year when the Foresters eventually went on to win their first World Championship in franchise history.
The third race is also in the Continental where the Baltimore Cannons right now have a 2 and a half game lead on both Chicago and Toronto with the New York Stars just 3 off the pace in what can be dubbed the "Barrell Cup." The last place team in the CA will get the first pick in the December draft and it seems to be clear that Rufus Barrell II will be the guy after going 23-0 with a 0.60 era in his last two seasons at Macon High School in Georgia.
6- There are some league observers feeling moving the first pick might be the better move in the long run for the Cannons should they win the Barrell Cup. Baltimore's top three prospects are all highly touted pitchers and they could likely land quite a haul by dealing the first pick as there would be no shortage of suitors. An ideal situation for the Cannons, who could use offensive help, is to trade down either with Detroit, who will pick second, or the CA club that finishes seventh. This would allow them to select second or third as any trade would certainly include getting a first rounder back. This would allow Baltimore to select first baseman Red Johnson or third sacker Mack Sutton, with both being positions of need and each player is considered to have the potential to become a star player.
7- He won't go first overall as whoever picks first will take Barrell but I really like Red Johnson. The slugger from Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon has hit 21 homers in 41 college games and was a High School All-American as a Junior, followed by earning honorable mention status this year. Barrell has the makings of being a generational talent but so does Johnson, who has drawn some comparisons to Max Morris. We have seen injury derail the path of many talented young arms over the years and for a rebuilding team like Baltimore Johnson looks like a safe bet, and when you add in the haul dropping down in the draft would bring it may be more beneficial to the club in the long run.
8- A sore elbow has done nothing to slow down Freddie Jones as the St Louis Pioneers all-star second baseman continues his pursuit of a .400 batting average. Jones went 14-for-27 last week and since he hurt his elbow on August 21st he has been hitting .429 (27-for-63), raising his season average to .395. The last player to hit .400 in a season was also a Pioneer, as Max Morris hit .418 in 1925 while playing for St Louis. What is even more impressive about Jones' feat is he is on pace to set a new FABL record for on base percentage. With 18 games remaining Jones, who leads both leagues with 135 walks, has a .519 OBP. The old mark has stood set 1899 when former Toronto and current Baltimore manager Ossie Julious had a .513 OBP.
Jones' walk total, while not a record, is astounding. He is on pace for 153, which would still be 12 shy of Alvin Turner's 1892 record, but no other player since the turn of the century has walked more than 129 times in a single season.
9- Julious has enjoyed quite a life in baseball. First he was one of the sports early stars winning 4 World Championship Series with the New York Gothams before moving on to Toronto where he won another title as manager of the Wolves in 1911. He was fired in Toronto following the 1928 season but quickly caught on as the Baltimore skipper. Julious has managed the most games in FABL history and is just 22 victories shy of tying George Theobald for the most wins all-time by a manager.
10- Finally for today I will leave you with this. If there is one kid I most want to see succeed out of this draft class it has to be Eddie Ziehl. Ziehl's dad Ed is one of the greatest players in FABL history and the current manager of the New York Gothams, the team he starred for. As a player he is third all-time with 3,496 career hits and won 7 Federal Association batting titles. Nicknamed the Lion for the amount of heart he put into the game every minute he was on the field, he was also one of the most popular players in league history. His son Eddie, a third baseman from Mt. St. Michael Academy in New York, had a decent season as a high school senior and is projected as a fifth round pick. Whoever drafts Eddie may have competition for his services as his heart appears set on attending Long Island Maritime College but it would nice to see another Ziehl in the batters box, perhaps even at the Bigsby Oval playing for his old man one day.