[Jiggs McGee]

THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL

September 27, 1937

HANG ON! WILD FINISH AHEAD IN BOTH ASSOCIATIONS

Whatever happens the final week of the season the 1937 campaign will certainly be long remembered. You had Max Morris winding up his playing career and starting a new chapter as a manager by mentoring two of the game's next superstars in Sal Pestilli and Red Johnson in Detroit. Pestilli became just the third player to go straight from college to the major leagues and did so in dominating fashion. You also had a breakout season from 25 year old Washington Eagles infielder Mel Carrol, who is days away from becoming the first player to hit .400 in a season since Max Morris did it 12 years ago. But all of that pales when placed alongside the drama of the two pennant races this season - especially in the Federal Association where 6 teams are still in the running, mathematically at least, with only 7 days left in the season. For Boston, St Louis and a hard-charging Washington club it is all but impossible to see them winning it, but each could play a key spoiler roll as the 3 real contenders for the Fed crown are narrowed down to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Chicago.

What a story it would be for any of the three to win it all. The Miners finished second a year ago but were 8 games back and have not seriously contended since their 1924 pennant winning season. To perhaps win it this year, in a season in which the club has been decimated by injuries, would be a very special achievement. The Philadelphia Keystones got off to a slow start but picked it up after a 13-4 run in early June while the defending World Champion Chicago Chiefs looked down and out after an awful stretch in late July-early August.

To try and correctly call any sort of outcome in the Fed seems like a fool's wager as it has been so unpredictable all season. As late as September 9th, Boston had a 4-game lead in the Fed. Chicago took over first on 9/15 and held it until Pittsburgh took the lead on 9/19. The Keystones and Miners were briefly tied on 9/20, as were the Miners and Chiefs from 9/23 - 9/25. Pittsburgh reclaimed sole possession of first yesterday, 9/26. And here we are--the final stretch. Note that 9/20 was the only day this season that the Keystones had at least a share of the lead. Of the pennant contenders (Pittsburgh, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston), the Keystones are the only club to not have spent any time alone in first place and quite conceivably could have sole possession of first place only on the day they win the pennant.

In the Continental Association the Philadelphia Sailors have a half-game lead on a surging Brooklyn Kings club that appeared to be all but out of the race less than a month ago. Cleveland has collapsed in September but the Foresters took two of three from the Sailors last week and with 3 more games against Philadelphia to finish the season this weekend could play a pivotal role in who wins the pennant.

Lost in all the excitement of the pennant races is we could see for the first time ever an All-Philadelphia World Championship Series. It is surprising the Keystones and Sailors have never met, especially considering how close they came to doing so multiple times. There was a 7-year period (1927-33) where a Philadelphia team was in the Series six times (all but 1931), but they have never faced off in a "Liberty" Series.

THE WEEK AHEAD

It is rare we get two great pennant races to close a season but there have been some years recently that delivered down to the wire excitement in both the Fed and the CA. Just two years ago each race was decided by less than two games as Cleveland, despite losing their season finale against Philadelphia, held off Brooklyn by a single game for the CA crown when the Kings lost their final 2 of the year to the New York Stars. It was the second year in a row the Kings had lost the pennant to Cleveland by a single game. The Fed saw St Louis mount a strong finish in 1935 but ran out of time and had to settle for second place in the Fed, two games back of the New York Gothams.

To find a year with two races that went down to the last day of the season you have to look at 1927, which might end up being the only season to surpass what we could witness this time around. The Federal Association was a three team battle that year in which Philadelphia and Detroit tied for top spot with the Chicago Chiefs 2 games back. The Keystones would win a 1-game playoff - the last time we have needed an extra game to decide a pennant winner. Meanwhile, the CA was a battle all year with the Brooklyn Kings holding off the Philadelphia Sailors and Toronto Wolves by a single game and Cleveland was just 2 back. The official league historical records sum up that CA race as follows:

While the Fed race was close, and required a one-game playoff, the Continental Association's race was one for the ages. The defending champ New York Stars were in first on May 1st. A month later it was Cleveland sitting in the catbird's seat (they were still there on July 1st too). But August saw the Philadelphia Sailors atop the standings, giving Philly fans dream of an all-Brotherly Love series (it wasn't to be...). September 1st? Toronto was on top. If you're sensing a trend, it was that there wasn't one - no fewer than five teams were in the mix in the season's final month and it was a team I haven't mentioned who ended up winning the flag: the Brooklyn Kings.

To find another season with 2 races that compare to this season you likely need to go back to 1894. They only played 140 games back then and Boston, known as the Brahmins at the time, finished 1 game up on both Washington and Philadelphia with the Gothams just 4 games back. Meanwhile the CA race that season had 81-59 Philadelphia nip the New York Stars by 2 games and Brooklyn by 4.

ONE GAME PLAYOFF?

There have only been two such tiebreaker games ever required but we could possibly see two more of them this year. The first one in FABL history occurred in 1917 when Cleveland beat Montreal in a 1-0 thriller ending the Saints string of two straight pennants. Records are spotty but it is likely a good guess that 22 year old Max Morris (his name comes up so often doesn't it) played a key role. Still pitching as well as playing the outfield at that time, Mighty Mo was 21-17 on the hill and led the league with 13 homers. The other tie-breaker game was a rout, as the Philadelphia Keystones blasted the Detroit Dynamos 7-0 to claim the 1927 Federal Association pennant before going on to beat Brooklyn in the Series.

So is there a pattern? A tiebreaker was needed in 1917 and again in 1927. 1937? I guess we find out in a week.

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION PENNANT RACE

Just looking at the image above it is safe to say almost anything can happen. The Pittsburgh Miners have the inside track but have 8 games remaining: a doubleheader in Boston today, followed by one more vs the Minutemen Tuesday before they head to Philadelphia for a pair with the Keystones and then finish things off at home with games Friday-Sunday vs Washington. The Keystones have 7 to play starting with a pair in Washington before returning home for the two with Pittsburgh and then 3 against Boston to end the season. Chicago has just 6 to play with the first four being at home: today vs St Louis before Detroit comes to Whitney Park for three games. The Chiefs end the season in St Louis with games Saturday and Sunday.

Boston, St Louis and Washington are all pretty much out of it but each has the chance to make life very difficult for one of the top three. The Eagles may play the most pivotal role. They start with 3 against Philadelphia, a team they have dominated with a 16-4 record head to head this season. They finish with 2 vs Pittsburgh, who at 8-11 against are the team that has given them the most trouble this year and the Eagles just lost back to back games at home to the Miners.

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION PENNANT RACE

In comparison the Continental Association race is pretty straightforward. Philadelphia has a half game lead on Brooklyn but they are tied in the loss column.

The Sailors play the tougher opponent in that they have 3 games against third place Cleveland to end the season but all 6 of their games are at Sailors Memorial Park with Toronto providing the opposition for the first three. Brooklyn, on the other hand has 4 round games - 2 each in New York at Baltimore before ending the season at Kings County Ballpark with 3 against Montreal. Brooklyn has been in this same situation twice in the past three seasons as the Kings came up a game short in both 1934 and 1935 before finally winning the pennant in 1936 as they held off a hard charging Philadelphia team by 3 games.

QUICK HITS

• Parity is here. The Fed will have 6 teams finish at .500 or better and the CA will be without a 95 game winner for the first time since the Chicago Cougars won the pennant with 91 victories in 1931. Four of the last five seasons the second place team in the CA also won at least 95 games.
• Washington's Mel Carroll(.405,24,119) is hitting .405 with a week to play in his quest to be the 25th .400 hitter in FABL history and first since Max Morris hit .418 in 1925. If he plays in every game, he could get roughly 30 at-bats. He'll need 9 hits in that scenario to stay at .400. It's interesting that FABL has had 24 (hopefully about to be 25) .400 hitters. MLB has had 28, and obviously none since Ted Williams in '41, and only one in the 30s with Bill Terry's .401 in 1930. The big difference is that no MLB player did it more than 3 times while FABL's Powell Slocum did it 6 times.
• Chicago has Rabbit Day(18-12, 3.34) setup to pitch on 3 days rest next Sunday. If the Chiefs get into a playoff they will likely have to give the ball to Jack Beach(15-11, 3.71) with Al Miller(18-11, 3.37) going Saturday and Day in the season finale. The Chiefs gave Charlie Bingham(12-13, 4.90) a chance to right himself last week, but he gave up a touchdown in the 14-12 loss to Washington.
• Charlie Stedman (18-15, 3.54) and Lefty Allen (19-13, 3.29) will be going the final two games of the season against Washington as the Miners are hopefully look to clinch. If the Miners make it, the Guzzo/Simpson/Clayton/Edwards group manning 2B/SS is going to have to be the weakest middle infield in a World Series as both Sandy Grabow and Les Tucker will miss the series with injury.
• Pittsburgh is also worried about catcher George Cleaves, who has been very average since coming back from injury. His OPS is down to .810 and his walk rate has halved from last year. Even his scouting report says he has an average eye now. That intercostal strain really does some damage to your eye and patience. Hopefully just an off year for young King George.
• Keystones skipper Tom Vance is said to be debating some tough choices as he decides how their rotation shakes out for the final 7 games. Vets Ed Baker (15-9, 3.75) and Art Myers (18-7,3.70 are pitching really well, Frank Crawford (9-13, 3.81) is hit-or-miss, and youngsters George M Brooks (15-13, 3.65) and Jim Whiteley (10-11, 4.14) are struggling lately. 23 year old Gene White (4-2, 4.97) is on the staff, but he's a back-bencher right now, just taking notes. The schedule is tough with two in the Nation's Capital, home for two against the Miners in the penultimate series of the regular season, before a potentially fateful series against Boston. No room for passengers this week.
• Brooklyn has to be happy that Tom Barrell (11-6, 3.55) got back on track with a pair of wins this week. Joe Shaffner also got another win to improve his record to 19-3 on the year. Shaffner and Barrell are expected to each start two of the Kings final 7 games of the season. Will Jim Kyle be the secret weapon for Brooklyn? The journeyman backup catcher won World Championship titles with 3 different teams in 1928, 1931 and 1934. It's 1937 so TWIFB is just saying....
• More changes to come in Boston? The Minutemen did just switch their manager mid-season as Bill Boshart took over despite no previous big league playing or managing experience. Boshart had the team riding high and led them to first place for a stretch but after a 6-18 September you have to wonder if he will still have a job when spring training rolls around.
• Boston had a 4-game lead on 9/9. On the 10th, the Minutemen lost to the Keystones 7-5. That was a start of a 9-game losing streak--and they have lost 13 of their past 15 with the only two wins coming against the lowly New York Gothams.
• No homers for Mighty Mo over the weekend in Detroit to celebrate the end of his great career but he did get a couple more RBIs and his Dynamos swept New York but it was Sal Pestilli who stole center stage. Going 6-for-11 with a pair of homers (#30 and #31) to lead Detroit. Morris showed some spirit in September hitting 306/375/750. He had only 1 home run but drove in 13 RBI’s and scored 11 times in 72 at-bats. He has decided that Red Johnson will start the last 5 games as he will likely hang up his glove and just pinch hit if necessary in the last 5 games
• With a 5-2 week and a home series finale sweep of the Gotham’s for Max Morris Weekend Detroit has clinched to not finish last and gives themselves a shot to get to 60 wins on the season by winning 2 or more of their last 5. At the end of July the Dynamos had just 28 wins in the first 3 1/2 months of the season. The last 2 games of the season are against the Gothams but the opportunity to play spoiler in Chicago during that 3-game series is there. It has been a strong finish for Detroit who since August 1st are 30-22 and since the after the first week of August are 29-18. This winning streak to end the season might have saved the GM's job with the ailing club owner Mr. Thompson.
• SP Ray McCarthy will be recalled for the final week of the season by Detroit. After starting the year in the big leagues McCarthy struggled badly going 0-4 with a 7.49 ERA walking 29 in 33.2 IP. He went to Newark in May to try and straighten out his control and went 9-5 with a 3.05 ERA walking just 38 in 134.2 IP. He will get the start on Tuesday @ Chicago and will pitch the season finale in New York. Chuck Murphy(14-16, 3.88) and Roger Perry (6-2, 4.05), Detroit's two best pitchers will go in the other 2 Detroit games vs the Chiefs. Detroit manager Max Morris says "If the Chiefs beat us they will have to do it against our 2 best SP’s and our top pitching prospect."
• A record breaking performance by a Pestilli, but it was not Dynamos slugger Sal nor was it a good record. Alf Pestilli, who is back up with Brooklyn after helping AAA Rochester to a Union League title struck out 5 times in the Kings 4-2 win over Toronto last Wednesday. That ties a CA regular season 9 inning game record that has been accomplished (although not sure I would call it an accomplishment) 15 teams, most recently by Toronto's Sam Orr earlier this season. If you take extra-inning games into consideration the CA mark is 6 which has only been done once when Bill McGreevy of the 1907 Toronto Wolves struck out 6 times in a game. McGreevy played just 553 FABL games but also had a pair of 5 strikeout games to go along with his 6-k outing.
• Bob Martin reached the 2000 hit plateau with a 3 for 5 day against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. The 30 year old Chicago Chief infielder is having a bit of a down year by his standards, batting just .293 after hitting .355 a year ago, but he becomes just the 61st player in FABL history to reach the 2000 hit mark.
• Reports out of Montreal state that Hank Barnett (.275,19,94) is unhappy about being forced to play shortstop, where he struggles, and not third base, a position he has had much more success at and was an All-Star in 1934. The Saints will likely get several enquiries about Barnett as he could be a great fit for half the teams in the league.
• From the desk of the St Louis Pioneers, who have had another trying season. "if you ever wanted to know...it takes at least 17 hits for your team to win a game in which it commits six errors." That's the line the Pioneers put up in an 8-7 10 inning victory over Boston.
• Rochester Rooks manager Alex De Jesus has decided to retire after nearly 30 years in the game. He was best known as the longtime head of the Boulder State AIAA program before moving to the Kings organization in 1929. In 9 years in Brooklyn's system he won 3 league titles including a pair at Class C Marshalltown before the win in AAA Rochester this season. At all levels the 67 year old was 1119-1043 as a manager.
• The Rochester Rooks won their fourth straight Union League title and were one of 3 Brooklyn affiliates to claim pennants with Class B Tampa and Class C Marshalltown also coming out on top. Tampa needed a 1-game playoff to beat the Miami Sailors with 24 year old Bill Mendez, a 1935 12th round pick out of Freemont State, being the pitching hero. Mendez (10-17, 4.24), allowed just 1 run in going the distance in a 3-1 Tampa win. It was the first playoff tiebreaker ever needed in the Southeastern League, which began play in 1926, and ended a 3-year title run for Miami. The Sailors had won the SEL pennant 7 of the previous 8 seasons.
• The Philadelphia Keystones also had 3 pennant winning affiliates. The Baby 'Stones won titles at AA, A and the C level. New Orleans (86-54, 5 GA) won the Dixie League, Allentown (97-43, 14 GA) took the Middle Atlantic League, and Bakersfield (90-50, 5 GA) bested all challengers in the C-O-W League. Dick Smith (.344-53-151) had a "partial" Triple Crown in the MAL, tying Reading's Gary Ostrowski in homers, but easily led the field in average and RBI. Smith was the organization's "Minor League Player of the Year". Louisville (AAA) finished at 69-71, the only sub-.500 finish at any level for the Keystones.
• Sailors farmhand Ed Strong certainly lived up to his last name. The 23 year old finished a historic season with 75 homeruns at AA Providence. Strong is hitting an absurd .369/.471/1.057 (267 OPS+) with 168 RBI's in 429 trips to the plate. He only has 130 hits on the season, with almost 60% of his total hits leaving the yard. This is a guy who had only 369 minor league plate appearances and 29 homers in the previous five seasons. The Sailors have one of if not the deepest system in the league, and the prospect people think Strong is the 60th best of the bunch. Despite the big numbers it is no where near the Eastern Association record. The marks for homers in a season is 97 set by Elijah Moxley of Jersey City in 1907. Moxley was 31 at the time and near the end of a career that included 394 FABL games for the Gothams, Cougars and Washington. The RBI mark was established in 1902 by Jim Showalter who drove in 201 to snap his own record of 177 established a year earlier. Showalter's big league career would consist of 2 games (and no rbi's) for St Louis in 1905.
• Congrats to Detroit's AA farm team the Akron Wheels who won their 1st Eastern Association title (87-53) since 1912. The Dynamo's system overall did fairly well as AAA Newark, while fading in the last couple of weeks with the loss of players finished 2nd in the Union League 73-67. Class A Terre Haute finished 3rd in the hotly contested Heartland Association just 2 games out of the title with a 77-63 record. Class C Biloxi had a very good season going 83-57 but finished a distant 3rd behind the white-hot Hattiesburg Top Hats who went 102-38 in the Gulf States League.
  The only Dynamo affiliate that didn't finish above 500 and in the upper division of the league was the Chattanooga Dynamos who lost Red Johnson, 3B Hank Koblenz and CF Ollie Williams to promotions. Overall Detroit's minor league teams were a combined 56 games over 500 at 378-322 .540 winning percentage.
• The LA Knights (NY Stars AAA affiliate) won their last 4 games of the season but fell just short of knocking off Indy Portland for the Great Western League crown. The Green Sox lost Monday to make it close but avoided the tiebreaker with a win over Hollywood in 13 innings on Tuesday. Ironically it was a former Stars draft pick in 26 year old Ray Faircloth who delivered a walk-off rbi double to clinch the title for Portland.
• Houston won it's 3rd title in the Independent Lone Star Association but needed a playoff tiebreaker win over Dallas to do so. The Bulls prevailed 5-3 thanks in no small part to a 2-run homer from 35 year old catcher Sherman Carrico. Carrico, who also won an AIAA title with Northern California University many years ago, had a cup of coffee with Washington to the tune of 6 games in 1932. He has been with Houston since 1934. It was a brutal collapse for Dallas as the Centurions had a 5 game lead on September 10th before losing 11 of their last 13 including the tiebreaker.
• The Toledo Tornados, AAA farm team of the New York Gothams, won their first Century League pennant this season. Toledo joined the CA in 1929 after winning 4 titles in the previous 8 years at the AA level in the Eastern Association.

DYNAMOS LOOK TO NEXT YEAR WITH PITCHING QUESTION MARKS

The question on the mind of Detroit fans is what is the matter with SP Jack Wood. Early in the season Wood was 4-8 with an almost 6.00 ERA. He had struggled with his control so he was sent down to AAA Newark. At Newark he went 4-1 in 11 starts with a 3.27 ERA and an okay 3.84 bb/9. He only tossed 63.1 innings in those 11 starts. His triumphant September return has been well, a nightmare. In 3 September starts totaling 18 IP he is 1-1 with a 9.50 ERA. Even more startling is his bb/9 ratio of 10.00 (20 walks in 18IP). So what is wrong with the 24-year-old lefty? He was as high as the #41st overall prospect. Was it pushing him after the Brooklyn trade too fast (AAA after the deal)? Just growing pains? Or does he just not believe in his stuff?

Pitching coach Jack Johncox will be tasked with figuring out what’s wrong with Wood and getting him straightened out in spring training. Management has felt Wood could be a very solid #3 type SP, but the lack of going deep into games at AAA and the complete wildness this September have made them question that assessment.

Right now Detroit’s starting rotation for next season is looking to consist of Chuck Murphy, Roger Perry, and perhaps Hank Spencer. They are counting on Ray McCarthy to be ready next spring and then either/both Karl Wallace and Stumpy Beaman to be at the bottom of the rotation. Wood’s titanic struggles are giving the GM tremendous pause in potentially trading Chuck Murphy.

SCOUTING THE 1938 DRAFT CLASS
PART FOUR: OUTFIELDERS

Unlike the catching and infield situation, the top outfield prospects for the 1938 draft that OSA has it's eyes are almost exclusively college lads.

LEO BARNHART: 21 Midwestern University, Hometown Wellesley, MA

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A terrific defensive center fielder that according to OSA will make flyball pitchers look better, Barnhart is going to be the first player from Midwestern to turn pro. His .313 batting average a year ago in his college debut season as a sophomore was 16th highest in the AIAA.

ED LANG: 21 New Castle State, Hometown New York, NY

Like Barnhart, Lang will be the first player ever drafted from his college. Lang's .367 batting average was surpassed only by National College player of the year Alex LaComb and freshman sensation Danny Goff Jr. last season but he failed to make the AIAA All-American teams due in large part to the lower level of competition he faced at the Delaware school. The New York City native is expected to make solid contact but is primarily a ground ball hitter.

RAY PATILLO: 17 Burlington (WI) High School

It looks like a very weak class of high school outfielders if Patillo is the only one that OSA sees much potential in at this point. He is very athletic and with great speed, maybe a little too much so for a corner outfield position as, although he has seen some time in center, was used primarily as a right fielder at Burlington High School in Wisconsin. One of the many Chicago born players from recent seasons, Patillo's numbers through two seasons of high school ball are not overly impressive - a .429/.515/.793 slash line. OSA feels he has the potential to be a second division starter. 1935 Baltimore Cannons 5th round pick, pitcher Billy Crane, also went to the same high school as Patillo.

LES RICH: 20 Charleston State, Hometown Baltimore, MD

Rich hit .307 and showed a bit of power with 8 homers in 45 games last season as a sophomore. He stole 33 bases and has elite speed with OSA projecting him to be roughly an average big league centerfielder. He hails from the West Virginia Charleston State school, not to be confused with the school of the same name in Illinois or Charleston College, which is also in Illinois and was the alma mater of Keystones 1936 third round pick Hans Wright. Just to complicate matters further for those that don't follow the AIAA closely there is aslo a baseball powerhouse in Charleston, South Carolina called Charleston Tech.

LEN WERNER: 22 Maryland State, Hometown Elmira, NY

As one of the original AIAA schools from the feeder league days Maryland State has a rich tradition of developing quality talent including longtime New York Stars outfielder Gordie Loftus as well as current Boston prospect and 1936 first rounder Denny Andrews plus last year player lottery pick Spud Bent, who signed with Pittsburgh. Werner is one of the few college seniors in the draft as he was selected by Toronto in the 13th round last season but failed to agree on a contract with the Wolves. It might be an indication of how week this draft class is when you consider OSA now feels Werner is a front-runner for an audition at centerfield. TWIFB staffers feel it is a real longshot for him to be included in the top 32 prospects especially after a very pedestrian .271/.269/.394 slash line for the Bengals last year.


To be honest we have no idea why Happy Ellison is not higher on OSA's radar. The 17 year old from Sycamore High School in Cincinnati was a two time All-American (freshman and junior seasons) and earned honourable mention status his sophomore year. Ellison has a .541 career high school batting average entering his senior season and was fifth in the nation in batting average last season. Mike Towsley is another high school player to watch closely. He was an All-American as a sophomore two years ago but the Honey Brook, Pennsylvania High Schooler slumped a bit last season. On the college side keep an eye on Oakland product Lou Clark, who was a second team All-American last season as a sophomore at Coastal California. He has above average defensive skills and finished fourth in the nation in hitting last year but a lack of power is the knock against him. Clark does have good size so perhaps the power will come.

Next we will finish off our very early 1938 draft preview with a look at the top pitchers.

The Week That Was
Current events for the week ending 9/12/1937

• US Embassy staff flees Peking in face of Japanese air attacks designed to lay waste to Chinese capital
• US Secretary of State Cordell Hull says unless readjustments are made within the next two years Europe faces an economic or military catastrophe but adds he is confident the United States would not join the war.
• Italy says it would be willing to stop sending troops to aid nationalists in the Spanish Civil War if France agrees to close it's Spanish border.
• The US appears to be heading into a recession as the New York Stock Exchange plunges to a new low for the year, with steel and automotive stocks leading the decline due in no small part to recent strikes.