THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL
APRIL 26, 1937
DYNAMIC START FOR THE DYNAMOS
The changes in Detroit seem to be paying off, at least by the look of the opening week for the Dynamos. Detroit, which posted a record of 98-210 over the past two seasons, by far the worst in either league during that span, is off to a 4-2 start after the opening week of games this season. The Dynamos opened the season by taking two of three from the New York Gothams - the club they are expected to battle it out with in order to avoid a third straight last place finish - but then also surprised the St Louis Pioneers by winning two of three. Quite a turnaround in what some have taken to call "MoTown" after new player-manager Max Morris as a year ago the Dynamos started the season with an 8 game losing skid and were 1-13 two weeks into the campaign. It took Detroit 19 games a year ago before they registered their fourth win of the season but the standings look much different this season for the Dynamos after one week of play.
While his managerial career is off to a strong start, Morris the player has struggled early, going 1-for-12 to start the season and the all-time homerun king and newly minted Hall of Famer has yet to deliver an extra base hit in a Detroit uniform, and that includes 33 spring plate appearances. Detroit has received some offense from Leon Drake (.250,2,7), who came over with Morris in the off-season trade with Cleveland and third year Dynamo Claude Merrill (.294,2,3) but the biggest bat has belonged to Sal Pestilli (.320,2,5). The first overall draft pick became just the third player in the human GM era (post 1925) to go straight from the college campus to the major leagues, joining Freddie Jones of St Louis and Brooklyn's Doug Lightbody. Pestilli showed the hype was valid right off the get go as he singled off of New York Gothams veteran Jim Lonardo on the first strike he saw as a professional. He ended up getting 2 hits in his debut and helping new Detroit ace and former Gotham Hardin Bates get the win in the first game he ever played against his original big league club. Before the week was over Pestilli had homered twice including a clutch 3-run shot of St Louis Pioneers star David Abalo- a 17 game winner each of the past two seasons - to help carry Detroit to an 8-5 win on Saturday.
GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS IN PITTSBURGH
The Pittsburgh Miners got off to a great start, winning 5 of 7 games vs Washington and Boston to take the lead in the Federal Association but it came at a heavy price. Mahlon Strong, the incredibly talented but often injured 28 year old outfielder the Miners acquired from the New York Gothams over the off-season, is hurt once again. This one could be lengthy as their are conflicting reports on the duration of his injury. Officially it is listed as an unknown return date but there are news reports Strong will be sidelined until June. This one is an oblique strain but he was also bothered in the spring by a sore knee and a wonky hip. Prior to the latest injury Strong had 7 hits in 11 at bats including 2 homers and 7 rbi's.
Strong's injury was not the only woe to befall a Federal Association club as the Washington Eagles contention plans were dealt a serious blow with word that second baseman Andy Carter will miss the season with a knee injury suffered in the season opener. The 31 year old was entering his 8th season and coming off the best year of his career when he hit .359 with 95 rbi's - both career highs.
The Chicago Chiefs also lost a middle infielder as shortstop Bill White is out for three weeks. The 26 year old White hit .272 last season which was his first full year as big league player. Chicago will also miss another regular for a couple of weeks as centerfielder Bennie Griffith, who hit .300 in 123 games as a 23 year old on the Chiefs title team last year, strained a muscle in his right arm.
QUICK HITS
Harold Brown Jr, who the New York Gothams acquired from Boston in the John Wicklund deal, got off to a nice start by hitting .400 with 3 doubles for the week. Speaking of Wicklund, Nick Lake, getting his first shot at being an everyday starter, is doing his best to make Gothams fans forget their all-star catcher. Lake hit .350 with a league leading 11 RBIs. New York picked the 30 year old up from Cleveland over the winter at the price of just a fifth round draft pick. Originally a 7th round pick in 1925, Lake has been in the Foresters system for over a decade and had just 35 games of big league experience entering this season. Staying with the Gothams they have to be happy with Mule Earl who was picked up from Brooklyn last season in the Curly Jones trade. The 24 year old made his ML debut going 8 2/3 allowing 2 ER but taking the loss.
What was this about offense being down? The Chiefs gave up 45 runs over the first 6 games. It seems the pitchers would have preferred to remain in Florida. Al Miller, last year's rookie sensation for the Whitney Gang, got rocked by St Louis in his debut, giving up 8 runs on 13 hits and failed to survive the fourth inning. It is clearly very early but the Chiefs WHIPs look a lot like ERAs after the first week: Rabbit Day 1.92, Ron Coles 3.00, Al Miller 2.59 and Charlie Bingham 2.13. It is never good when Jack Beach is your most dependable starter, no matter what time of the season it is.
Washington's Mel Carroll was named Fed player of the week after slashing .577/.593/.846 while 38 year old Charlie Barry took the CA honours. The Cleveland third baseman just keeps on rolling as he went 13 for 26 and is now 4 hits shy of 2000 for his career. The Foresters are 5-1 and lead Brooklyn by a game atop the Continental Association standings. Barry's success prompted former Cleveland and current Detroit GM DD Martin to think back upon the deal to bring Barry to the Foresters.
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So I made the deal for 3B Charlie Barry at the trade deadline in 1934 to shore up the third base position (sounds like a familiar problem). I gave up a 1st round pick for a 35 year old that I figured would be a solid "rental" player to help get us to the World Series. He did that but has kept on going even now as a 38 year old. The first round pick we gave up to Boston turned out to be 2B Joe Nichols who is in the big leagues now at 24 with Boston. Nichols is a decent enough player but the way Barry has played I'd probably make that deal again every time.
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The always crowded Brooklyn outfield looks like it has a re battle brewing for the starting job in left field. Veteran Doug Lightbody seems back from his latest bout with injuries and hit .385 with a rare homerun this week as he is trying to reclaim the starting spot Elmer Nolde took away from him when he was hurt last year. Nolde is not going quietly as he went 3-for-8 with a pair of homers to start the season. Meanwhile the big bat of Al Wheeler is silent in the opening week as Wheeler is one of several Kings struggling at the plate. The two-time reigning CA Whitney Award winner hit just .190 (4-for-21) last week.
Gus Goulding’s 8 game winning streak comes to an end. After starting his big league career 8-0 with Baltimore last season, the 23 year old second overall pick of the 1934 draft is 0-2 with a 6.46 era after two starts this season. Meanwhile Bobo White, who was the player selected ahead of Goulding and was also his teammate at St Blane, had a strong FABL debuting, going the distance in a 6-2 Eagles win over Philadelphia. And Eddie Quinn’s Washington debut was as impressive, topping the Keystones 8-1
DETROIT NOTES COURTESY OF FAST FREDDIE FARHAT AND THE DETROIT WORLD
Detroit gave up the fewest runs in the FA during the first week with 34 on the fewest hits (50) and is 2nd in ERA at 4.08. The downside is the staff led the FA in walks allowed at 40 with the fewest strikeout at 14. That part of the equation doesn’t bode well. While off to a nice 4-2 start their run differential is -1 only scoring 33 (7th). Still the 5.6 rpg is a lot better than the 4.4 they scored last season.
It looks like pitcher Chuck Calvert will lose his spot in the rotation after a rough spring and a terrible effort in New York. Chuck Murphy will take over his place in the rotation but likely sit in the number 6 spot for now meaning very few starts will come his way. Detroit also signed a pair of former Cleveland 3B men in giving minor league deals to Don Ward and Jake Moore. The insurance policy moves are in case Buck Sargent doesn’t work out at the hot corner. Sargent was 6-23 hitting 261 with 3 walks, a home run, 2 RBI’s and 3 runs scored.
63000+ fans came through the gates as Detroit hosted St Louis for their home opening series on the weekend. 28000+ for Opening night and then 17,000+ and 18,000+ the next 2 nights. A nice attendance turn around after the 35 season with sub 4500 crowds. Maybe the off-season estimate of 15000 per game has some legs after all. It appears that there is some excitement again in Detroit for baseball.
PROSPECT TRACKING
We know how first overall pick Sal Pestilli did in his pro debut but let's check out the other top picks from December who each began their professional careers last weekend but, unlike Pestilli, did so far away from the bright lights of big league cities.
Second overall selection Walt Messer went just 1-for-6 in 2 games with Class C Rock Island but the one hit was a big fly as the two-time Adwell Award winner as the nation's top high school player, hit a 2-run homer. If the future New York Gotham becomes the power hitter in the big leagues some think he can than this may become a trivia question down the road but Messer's first pro homerun came off of Chicago Cougars prospect Grover Donahue, who was a 1935 second round pick out of Indiana A&M.
Number three Billy Woytek, a high school second baseman chosen by the Philadelphia Keystones had a 4-for-9 debut in Class A with the Allentown Cokers. Most of the pitchers taken in the first round fared well in their first pro appearance. Johnnie Jones, who went 4th overall to the New York Stars, pitched well in relief at Class C, earning the victory in his debut. Sixth overall selection Pete Papenfus debuted in Class A for the Cougars. No decision for Peter the Hearer but he did fan 6 and allow just 1 run on 4 hits over 6 innings of work. The Gothams second first rounder, former college pitcher Bunny Edwards posted similar numbers to Papenfus in Class B. The 21 year old righthander went 6 and a third innings, fanning 6 and getting the win while allowing 1 run on 4 hits, but he did walk 5. 8th overall pick Wally Doyle, taken by Montreal, had a compete game 4-hit victory in a 3-2 win at Class C. The 'Waco Kid' fanned 11 in the contest while walking just 2. The one exception to the successful debuts was Carl Roe, taken 9th overall by St Louis. The 22 year old allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and a walk before having to leave with a sore elbow in the first inning of his start for Class B Charlotte of the Southeastern League. Fortunately the injury is not considered serious and he should be ready for his next start.
MILESTONE WATCH
A pair of all-star hitters will each join the 2500 hit club in the near future. 33 year old Rankin Kellogg of the Philadelphia Keystones entered the season needing 29 more hits while Cleveland catcher T.R. Goins is 68 hits away from the mark. Kellogg added 7 to his total the opening week of the season while Goins moved to within 61 his of the plateau. The 2,500 hit club presently has 19 members include one active player in Detroit player/manager Max Morris.
Kellogg is also just 7 round trippers shy of becoming just the second player to hit 450 career homers. Morris is, of course, the first with 702 homers so far in his Hall of Fame career. Another interesting note on Kellogg is his durability. In his 12 year career entering this season Kellogg has missed just 4 games and has played every game for the Keystones in 9 of those 12 years.
Rabbit Day needs 9 wins to become the 46th pitcher to record 200 victories in his career. Day made two starts in the opening week of the season but did not factor in the decision either time. The 32 year old Chicago Chiefs ace and 3 time Allen Award winner tops all active players presently playing in FABL. I say presently playing in FABL because Wayne Robinson, who won 194 games with 4 teams between 1921 and last season, is still technically active as he just signed on with the independent El Paso Missions after being cut by the Chicago Cougars during the spring. Day is coming off a 25 win season and perhaps is the best bet to become the just the 12th pitcher to win 300 major league games and the first since George Johnson notched his 300th with Washington in 1925. Day is also the active career strikeouts leader with 1639, which places him 25th all-time. The leader is Hall of Famer Charlie Sis, who fanned 3462 batters between 1903 and 1921 with St Louis and Toronto.
SCOUTING REPORT
PLAYERS TO WATCH IN THE 1939 DRAFT CROP
We are getting a ways ahead of ourselves here but that doesn't stop The Figment Sporting Journal from trying to project the top players eligible for the 1939 FABL draft. The college players have not been added yet and there will be still more high school players to emerge but right now the top candidate in the 1939 draft class looks to be Bart Schneider, a righthander out of Rochester New York who went 9-2 with a 1.03 era as a freshman. Schneider appears, at the moment at least, to be the only premier pitcher in the class.
Others worth following are catcher Cal Morgan from Alexandria (IN) and third baseman Wally Fuller from New York City's Collegiate HS. Both were named to the High School All-American team as freshmen. Reading (PA) high school's Leon Mosher and Del West, who plays for Charlottesville (VA) are two outfielders getting very good early reviews from OSA as is Chester (PA) first baseman Clem Coyle.