THIS WEEK IN FABL BASEBALL
DRAFT DAY!
This has traditionally been the most exciting day in Figment Baseball but the draft as we know will be changing going forward. To start with this will be the final off-season draft as FABL has decided to move it's annual player selection day to the middle of June, which fits better with the college and high school seasons finishing up right about that time. To accommodate this the lowest minor league level which is usually heavily stocked with the most recent draft picks, will delay the start of it's season until shortly after the draft is completed. The other big news is a major change to the format necessitated by the Mock Draft in the game. It has been determined and is clear to see in any solo testing that the mock draft is far too accurately predicting who has the best potential. That might work fine in a league with full ratings visible but it is a death knell to the enjoyment playing stats only brings the league members. As a result it has been determined a lottery system will determine the future destination of players ranked in the first two rounds of the mock draft and normal drafting will resume with round three. Ideally, the OOTP development team listens to our request to make the mock draft an option you could toggle on or off, similar to scouting or storylines.
So big changes ahead for the draft starting in June but let's not overlook all the excitement as the 1936 draft begins. The opening pick was well known as, despite some late wavering by some of their scouts, the Detroit Dynamos had long ago decided that Sal Pestilli would go number one. Pestilli, who's older brother Alf was a fourth round pick in 1934, won a pair of Christian Trophy's as the college baseball player of the year. That is a honour that has only been accomplished once before as Bill Moore was the player of the year in both 1931 and 1932. Moore will not become a teammate of Pestilli's however, as he was recently traded from Detroit to Cleveland in the deal that brought Max Morris and Leon Drake to the Dynamos.
Pestilli becomes the second player ever selected first overall by Detroit and like 1925 first overall pick Al Wheeler, he is an outfielder. Seven times in total an outfielder has gone first overall, but Pestilli is the first since Montreal took Cliff Moss in 1927.
As for Sal, Pestilli's .3801 is the highest career college batting average in history (including feeders). Pestilli also rankes 7th alltime in career hits by a college player with 260. The leader is Walt Mullen, who had 281 for Sadler between 1930-33. Pestilli's RBI total of 171 also puts him comfortably in the top ten. Here are the top 10 in career batting average, hits and rbi's.
There was not a flurry of draft day trades but some deals were made with the biggest one being the New York Gothams sending the fifth and 13th picks to Baltimore for the second overall selection. It had been long speculated that the Cannons were set to draft Maryland native Walt Messer with the pick but the rebuilding Cannons decided two later first round selections were preferable to the 2 time Adwell Trophy Award winner who grew up not far from Baltimore's Banner Field and attended many Cannons games as a child.
"It was a little disappointing," admitted Messer after hearing about the trade, "but it will be a thrill to try and one day play for such a successful franchise as the Gothams."
The move reportedly backfired slightly on the Cannons as they are said to have had their sights firmly set on California high school second baseman Billy Woytek but the Philadelphia Keystones snapped him up at #3 leaving the Cannons with a pair of outfielders for their two picks in Gates University centerfielder Al Jennings, who was ranked 4th in the mock draft, and Mike T. Taylor, a high school corner outfielder from University Military Academy in Mobile, Alabama.
Unlike each of the previous four years, when pitchers went number one, the first hurler of the 1936 draft did not hear his name called until the fourth selection when the New York Stars selected highly touted St Paul, Minnesota high school lefthander Johnnie Jones. In all, six pitchers were selected in the first round, along with 5 outfielders and five infielders. The biggest surprise of the opening round was Toronto's decision to draft third baseman Joe Kleinman out of Coastal New Jersey College with the 10th pick. Kleinman is an exceptional defender but there are concerns about whether he can hit enough as a pro to play regularly, which caused him to not appear in the mock draft.
Like the Gothams and Cannons, the Toronto Wolves had a pair of first round picks with their second one coming from a draft day trade with the Brooklyn Kings. The deal sent 20 year old minor league pitcher Jack Goff, who was 13-7 at Class A this season and ranked #80 on the top prospect lists to Brooklyn for the 16th and final pick of the opening round. The Kings had been after Goff ever since Toronto selected him in the second round of the 1934 draft. Goff is the son of former Kings pitcher and current bench coach Danny Goff. With the pick Toronto selected pitcher Jim Morrison, a 21 year old who was 8-4 for Indiana A&M this season. Morrison, who relies primarily on a sharp curve ball, has the makings of a future ace according to OSA.
Here is the first round of the 1936 draft.
OTHER NOTES
While the primary focus was squarely on the draft there is some non-draft news out of Detroit. The winningest manager in FABL history has landed a new job after his contract was not renewed by Baltimore. Ossie Julious, who has managed in more FABL games than anyone in history has found new employment sitting next to Dynamo player/manager Max Morris as the Dynamo’s new bench coach. Detroit World columnist Fast Freddie Farhat broke the news stating "the feeling was that Morris would benefit from the veteran Julious sitting next to him."
I can't imagine a better spot for the game's greatest power hitter to fine tune his managerial skills. Not only will he have Julious to lean on for advice, but also George Theobald. Theobald has won 8 pennants as a manager, more than anyone else in the game, and is second to Julious in both wins and total games managed. Theobald is not on the bench in Detroit, but is with the organization as a special advisor to the club and you can be sure that Morris will be bending his ear for some pointers.