OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal

Jiggs McGee · 07-13-2021, 01:04 AM

THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL

OCTOBER 15, 1937: Off-Season Edition

START OF A BUSY OFF-SEASON?

For the first time since 1910 there will not be a winter draft. Prior to 1911 there was no amateur draft and this past season it was shifted to June rather than taking place during the off-season. With that in mind there will certainly be less going on this off-season but there may still be a rash of trades as both associations seemed to be heading into a stretch with perhaps a parity level that has never been seen before.

By this reporter's count there are no fewer than 10 teams that, with the right move or a break or two, could easily claim the World Championship Series next October. We already got a taste of that in the Federal Association this past season and with the rapid improvement of the Chicago Cougars the Continental looks like a four horse race in 1938. The Fed is a 6 teams deep and who knows Detroit might even be there too to make it a seven team battle. It could well be whoever makes the biggest splash on the trade front to address needs over the winter will be the favorite. I like Philadelphia’s chances if Rankin Kellogg still has a great season left in him but if Washington gets an ace and a return to form from Bill Anderson, who showed flashes of his 1936 self down the stretch after a terrible start to the year, they will be tough. Pittsburgh and Chicago too. The Miners did it this year with an injury riddled lineup so imagine what they could accomplish if healthy and the Chiefs are just another dominant Rabbit Day season away from playing October baseball for the second time in three years. Boston and St Louis might need to add something but both have shined at times and Detroit was outstanding the last month and a half of the season. The Dynamos are still a couple of years away but if Red Johnson can approach what Sal Pestilli (.306,33,94) did this season the two, combined with veteran Leon Drake (.280,26,107) the Dynamos power will send shivers down the spines of opposing hurlers.

In the Continental the Brooklyn Kings and Cleveland Foresters had been in class by themselves for a few seasons but the always steady Philadelphia Sailors crashed that party a year ago and came within a tie-breaker game loss of their first pennant since winning 3 straight between 1928-30. Cleveland went into a slump down the stretch but with their pitching you have to think the Foresters will bounce back next season and the rapidly improving Chicago Cougars snuck up on everyone this year and are only forecasted to get better. Brooklyn, with the albatross of never having won finally gone, should be playing much more loose than they have in recent years and have their sights set on being the first FABL team since the 1924-25-26 New York Stars to repeat as World Championship Series winners.

The only problem with those 10 or 11 clubs all thinking they are contenders and looking for upgrades there are very few trade partners left, at least not with assets the big boys would covet who are not prime prospects the rebuilding clubs are unlikely to be willing to part with. So while it seems to make sense there are a number of clubs looking for that one missing pieces, and in most cases it is an arm, there just may not be that much on the market to pick up.

DEALING ALREADY UNDERWAY

The ticker tape is barely settled on the parade route down Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn but there has already been plenty of trade talk going on. TWIFB has it on good authority that one of the World Championship Series participants has already agreed to a major trade, details of which will come out in the coming days. Some very good young pitching prospects may be on the move as Baltimore has made it known that either John Edwards(11-19, 4.42) or Rusty Petrick(10-20, 4.46) could be moved for the power bat the young Cannons desperately need and Detroit is said to be willing to move 23 year old Ray McCarthy but surprisingly has put a timetable on getting any potential deal done for the young righthander who struggled with the Dynamos (1-4, 6.21) but looked very good at AAA Newark (9-5, 3.01) last season. The two Baltimore righthanders have drawn a lot of interest. Neither had a great first full season in the big leagues but each is just 21 and have a lot of promise after both spending time in the top ten of the OSA prospect list.

There were a couple of minor deals announced already with both involving the Chicago Cougars. The Cougars added a pair of second round draft picks by shipping pitchers Joe Foote to Boston and Luis Sandoval to Pittsburgh. The 23 year old Foote was originally a 6th round pick of Montreal out of Greensboro High School in 1932 but was moved to the Cougars a couple of years ago. He has yet to make his FABL debut but was 8-12, 2.66 last season which was split between AA and AAA. Foote's future is likely in the back of the Boston rotation. Sandoval, 24, hails from Venezuela and has spent parts of two seasons in the big leagues. He went 1-3, 5.26 in a brief trial with Detroit in 1936 that included a 3-hit shutout of the St Louis Pioneers. Sent to the Cougars last winter in a deal that brought veteran pitcher Hardin Bates to Mo-Town, Sandoval was promoted from AAA midway through the year and was 3-3 with 6 saves out of the Cougars bullpen in the second half. His eventual landing spot might be the bottom of the Miners rotation or at the very least he should provide some depth to the Pittsburgh pitching staff.

MORRIS LEAVING DYNAMOS FOR WASHINGTON?

Perhaps Max Morris' time as a manager will be very brief. Word out of Ohio is Mighty Mo, who retired as a player officially last week but is still listed as the Detroit Dynamos skipper, is considering running for office. The Hall of Famer who ended his career with 711 homers and 3,651 hits announced at a rally in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio that he is throwing his cap into the ring as a possible candidate for the US House Representatives.

There has been no comment from the Dynamos organization but if Morris is indeed stepping away from the game the timing could not be worse for the organization. Detroit is in search of a new bench coach after Ossie Julious announced his work in Detroit was done. The 64 year old spent the past season tutoring Morris but has decided not to return next year. Julious is FABL’s all-time winningest manager (and leader in losses too). Prior to serving last year as bench coach in Detroit to assist rookie manager Morris, Julious spent 31 years as a big league manager with Toronto and Baltimore. His managerial record sits at 2,276-2,418. Julious won 1 World Series 2 CA titles and 1 World Series Championship with the Toronto Wolves.

QUICK HITS

Max Morris was not the only prominent player to retire. It has been known for some time but David Merchant is now officially an ex-ballplayer. The 37 year old finished off his career with 1 at bat for the Philadelphia Sailors. He played all but 16 of his 1782 career games with the Sailors, winning a pair of World Championship Series and twice being named Continental Association Whitney Award winner. The outfielder leaves a legacy that includes 2053 career hits and a .299 lifetime average.
If there is a more interesting story than Jim Kyle's I have yet to hear it. Kyle as you may well know has now won 4 World Championship Titles with 4 different teams and like clockwork he wins one every 3 years. First it was the Philadelphia Sailors in 1928, then it was the Chicago Cougars in 1931 followed by the Cleveland Foresters in 1934 and most recently the 1937 Brooklyn Kings. The great part of this story is he is an otherwise non descript journeyman catcher who has never started more than 61 games in a season and has only 5 career post-season at bats. He has just made a name for himself out of being in the right place at the right time, time and time again. Not bad for a 13th round draft pick out of an Acadamia Alliance school. Only in baseball can something like this happen.
The Philadelphia Sailors continue to have the best record in the modern era (human GMs starting in 1926) with the Brooklyn Kings second. Since 1926 the Sailors and Kings are the only two FABL clubs to win 1,000 games. The Federal Association leading Philadelphia Keystones are close, but presently are 3 shy of that mark. Here are the cumulative standings from 1926-1937.

Spanning the entire history of the World Championship Series, which began in 1893, 18 years after the dawn of professional baseball, the club with the most pennants is the Chicago Cougars with 9, followed by the New York Stars, New York Gothams and Boston Minutemen with 8 each. At the other end of the scale we have the St Louis Pioneers, who only won 2 pennants so far: in 1920 when they also won the World Championship Series and again in 1921. Those two years just happened to be Max Morris' first two years on the shores of the Mississippi after a famous trade from Cleveland.
With the Kings finally getting their first last month every team in FABL has at least one World Championship to crow about but four teams have only the one. They are Brooklyn (1937), Cleveland (1935), St Louis (1920) and Pittsburgh (1901)
every current team has won at least one FABL title in the 20th century. Current WCS droughts going back to the pre-play era: Washington (1923), Montreal (1921), St. Louis (1920), Baltimore (1914), Boston (1912), Toronto (1911) and Pittsburgh (1901).
With the Brooklyn win all five of the baseball playing Barrell brothers have a World Championship ring. Fred was first to the party as the 32 year old catcher won one with the Chicago Cougars in 1931 when he was named Series MVP. Next came Bobby who also was named Series MVP when his Philadelphia Keystones claimed the crown in 1933. Tom, Dan and Harry each won their first last week with Brooklyn while Fred earned his second title on the same team. Family patriarch Rufus of course never got a chance to play in the big leagues because of a serious injury so that just leaves his grandson Rufus II or 'Deuce' as he is better known as next in line to add to the family legacy. Deuce, the 1935 first overall selection of the Baltimore Cannons, went 11-12 with a 3.89 era over 3 levels of minors this season and the #6 overall prospect is projected to have a 1939 arrival in the big leagues.
Other brother acts to get in on the Brooklyn party include the Lightbody boys. Doug, a 1925 first round pick of the Kings who is the longest serving member of the team, is just a role player now but he did go 1-for-2 in a pinch-hitting role this series and earned his first ring in three trips to the WCS with the Kings. His younger brother Frank spent most of his career in Pittsburgh before joining his brother in Brooklyn prior to the start of the 1936 season. Frank still has many friends in the Miners organization but now has bragging rights over them. A younger cousin, Jim Lightbody, is a second baseman in the Kings system and recently celebrated a Class B Southeastern League title with the Tampa Cigar Kings.
Then you have the Pestilli boys. While Sal got all of the attention this season, and rightly so after jumping straight from college to the big leagues and then proceeding to lead the majors in homeruns as a rookie, it was big brother Alf who claimed the hardware. Alf spent 60 games in Brooklyn, batting .258 with 9 homers, and after helping Rochester win it's fourth consecutive Union League crown at the AAA level he rejoined the Kings for the stretch run and the Series. Alf had just 2 plate appearances in the Series but did draw a walk and scored a run in Brooklyn's 8-4 triumph in the second game. There are actually two other Pestilli boys, both of whom turned pro this June. Joe spent the year at Class B Charlotte in the St Louis Pioneers system while the youngest, Tony, joined the Philadelphia Keystones and spent the year in Class C Beaumont of the Gulf States League.
Sal Pestilli's rookie season won't be enough to win him a Whitney Award but he should finish in the top five. Not bad for a player who had no experience above the college level when the season began in April. Sal was just the third player in the modern era to go straight from the campus to the major leagues. His numbers compared very nicely to other two : Freddie Jones and Doug Lightbody. Here is a look at what each of the three did as rookie pro's and perhaps what might be in store for Detroit's Pestilli next season. Note- Lightbody missed half of his rookie year with an injury.
The Brooklyn Kings have announced a 3% increase in ticket prices as the average seat at Kings County to watch the defending champions play next year will go for $1.26. The Chicago Chiefs, who led the league in attendance and nearly smashed the all-time record are planning on a similar amount with average being $1.25. Detroit had cut prices in 19366 to just $0.90 after a disastrous 1935 campaign before raising them 2 cents last year. No word on if there will be another hike at Thompson Field. The Keystones stayed flat in 1937 at $1.10 and were 10th in attendance (902,577) but 5th in gate revenue ($574,976), so their prices were higher than average. But, the Keystones do have some star power and had 11 winning seasons in their last 13.

07-13-2021, 01:04 AM	#204
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	This Week in Figment Baseball: Off-Season edition THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL OCTOBER 15, 1937: Off-Season Edition START OF A BUSY OFF-SEASON? For the first time since 1910 there will not be a winter draft. Prior to 1911 there was no amateur draft and this past season it was shifted to June rather than taking place during the off-season. With that in mind there will certainly be less going on this off-season but there may still be a rash of trades as both associations seemed to be heading into a stretch with perhaps a parity level that has never been seen before. By this reporter's count there are no fewer than 10 teams that, with the right move or a break or two, could easily claim the World Championship Series next October. We already got a taste of that in the Federal Association this past season and with the rapid improvement of the Chicago Cougars the Continental looks like a four horse race in 1938. The Fed is a 6 teams deep and who knows Detroit might even be there too to make it a seven team battle. It could well be whoever makes the biggest splash on the trade front to address needs over the winter will be the favorite. I like Philadelphia’s chances if Rankin Kellogg still has a great season left in him but if Washington gets an ace and a return to form from Bill Anderson, who showed flashes of his 1936 self down the stretch after a terrible start to the year, they will be tough. Pittsburgh and Chicago too. The Miners did it this year with an injury riddled lineup so imagine what they could accomplish if healthy and the Chiefs are just another dominant Rabbit Day season away from playing October baseball for the second time in three years. Boston and St Louis might need to add something but both have shined at times and Detroit was outstanding the last month and a half of the season. The Dynamos are still a couple of years away but if Red Johnson can approach what Sal Pestilli (.306,33,94) did this season the two, combined with veteran Leon Drake (.280,26,107) the Dynamos power will send shivers down the spines of opposing hurlers. In the Continental the Brooklyn Kings and Cleveland Foresters had been in class by themselves for a few seasons but the always steady Philadelphia Sailors crashed that party a year ago and came within a tie-breaker game loss of their first pennant since winning 3 straight between 1928-30. Cleveland went into a slump down the stretch but with their pitching you have to think the Foresters will bounce back next season and the rapidly improving Chicago Cougars snuck up on everyone this year and are only forecasted to get better. Brooklyn, with the albatross of never having won finally gone, should be playing much more loose than they have in recent years and have their sights set on being the first FABL team since the 1924-25-26 New York Stars to repeat as World Championship Series winners. The only problem with those 10 or 11 clubs all thinking they are contenders and looking for upgrades there are very few trade partners left, at least not with assets the big boys would covet who are not prime prospects the rebuilding clubs are unlikely to be willing to part with. So while it seems to make sense there are a number of clubs looking for that one missing pieces, and in most cases it is an arm, there just may not be that much on the market to pick up. DEALING ALREADY UNDERWAY The ticker tape is barely settled on the parade route down Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn but there has already been plenty of trade talk going on. TWIFB has it on good authority that one of the World Championship Series participants has already agreed to a major trade, details of which will come out in the coming days. Some very good young pitching prospects may be on the move as Baltimore has made it known that either John Edwards(11-19, 4.42) or Rusty Petrick(10-20, 4.46) could be moved for the power bat the young Cannons desperately need and Detroit is said to be willing to move 23 year old Ray McCarthy but surprisingly has put a timetable on getting any potential deal done for the young righthander who struggled with the Dynamos (1-4, 6.21) but looked very good at AAA Newark (9-5, 3.01) last season. The two Baltimore righthanders have drawn a lot of interest. Neither had a great first full season in the big leagues but each is just 21 and have a lot of promise after both spending time in the top ten of the OSA prospect list. There were a couple of minor deals announced already with both involving the Chicago Cougars. The Cougars added a pair of second round draft picks by shipping pitchers Joe Foote to Boston and Luis Sandoval to Pittsburgh. The 23 year old Foote was originally a 6th round pick of Montreal out of Greensboro High School in 1932 but was moved to the Cougars a couple of years ago. He has yet to make his FABL debut but was 8-12, 2.66 last season which was split between AA and AAA. Foote's future is likely in the back of the Boston rotation. Sandoval, 24, hails from Venezuela and has spent parts of two seasons in the big leagues. He went 1-3, 5.26 in a brief trial with Detroit in 1936 that included a 3-hit shutout of the St Louis Pioneers. Sent to the Cougars last winter in a deal that brought veteran pitcher Hardin Bates to Mo-Town, Sandoval was promoted from AAA midway through the year and was 3-3 with 6 saves out of the Cougars bullpen in the second half. His eventual landing spot might be the bottom of the Miners rotation or at the very least he should provide some depth to the Pittsburgh pitching staff. MORRIS LEAVING DYNAMOS FOR WASHINGTON? Perhaps Max Morris' time as a manager will be very brief. Word out of Ohio is Mighty Mo, who retired as a player officially last week but is still listed as the Detroit Dynamos skipper, is considering running for office. The Hall of Famer who ended his career with 711 homers and 3,651 hits announced at a rally in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio that he is throwing his cap into the ring as a possible candidate for the US House Representatives. There has been no comment from the Dynamos organization but if Morris is indeed stepping away from the game the timing could not be worse for the organization. Detroit is in search of a new bench coach after Ossie Julious announced his work in Detroit was done. The 64 year old spent the past season tutoring Morris but has decided not to return next year. Julious is FABL’s all-time winningest manager (and leader in losses too). Prior to serving last year as bench coach in Detroit to assist rookie manager Morris, Julious spent 31 years as a big league manager with Toronto and Baltimore. His managerial record sits at 2,276-2,418. Julious won 1 World Series 2 CA titles and 1 World Series Championship with the Toronto Wolves. QUICK HITS Max Morris was not the only prominent player to retire. It has been known for some time but David Merchant is now officially an ex-ballplayer. The 37 year old finished off his career with 1 at bat for the Philadelphia Sailors. He played all but 16 of his 1782 career games with the Sailors, winning a pair of World Championship Series and twice being named Continental Association Whitney Award winner. The outfielder leaves a legacy that includes 2053 career hits and a .299 lifetime average. If there is a more interesting story than Jim Kyle's I have yet to hear it. Kyle as you may well know has now won 4 World Championship Titles with 4 different teams and like clockwork he wins one every 3 years. First it was the Philadelphia Sailors in 1928, then it was the Chicago Cougars in 1931 followed by the Cleveland Foresters in 1934 and most recently the 1937 Brooklyn Kings. The great part of this story is he is an otherwise non descript journeyman catcher who has never started more than 61 games in a season and has only 5 career post-season at bats. He has just made a name for himself out of being in the right place at the right time, time and time again. Not bad for a 13th round draft pick out of an Acadamia Alliance school. Only in baseball can something like this happen. The Philadelphia Sailors continue to have the best record in the modern era (human GMs starting in 1926) with the Brooklyn Kings second. Since 1926 the Sailors and Kings are the only two FABL clubs to win 1,000 games. The Federal Association leading Philadelphia Keystones are close, but presently are 3 shy of that mark. Here are the cumulative standings from 1926-1937. Spanning the entire history of the World Championship Series, which began in 1893, 18 years after the dawn of professional baseball, the club with the most pennants is the Chicago Cougars with 9, followed by the New York Stars, New York Gothams and Boston Minutemen with 8 each. At the other end of the scale we have the St Louis Pioneers, who only won 2 pennants so far: in 1920 when they also won the World Championship Series and again in 1921. Those two years just happened to be Max Morris' first two years on the shores of the Mississippi after a famous trade from Cleveland. With the Kings finally getting their first last month every team in FABL has at least one World Championship to crow about but four teams have only the one. They are Brooklyn (1937), Cleveland (1935), St Louis (1920) and Pittsburgh (1901) every current team has won at least one FABL title in the 20th century. Current WCS droughts going back to the pre-play era: Washington (1923), Montreal (1921), St. Louis (1920), Baltimore (1914), Boston (1912), Toronto (1911) and Pittsburgh (1901). With the Brooklyn win all five of the baseball playing Barrell brothers have a World Championship ring. Fred was first to the party as the 32 year old catcher won one with the Chicago Cougars in 1931 when he was named Series MVP. Next came Bobby who also was named Series MVP when his Philadelphia Keystones claimed the crown in 1933. Tom, Dan and Harry each won their first last week with Brooklyn while Fred earned his second title on the same team. Family patriarch Rufus of course never got a chance to play in the big leagues because of a serious injury so that just leaves his grandson Rufus II or 'Deuce' as he is better known as next in line to add to the family legacy. Deuce, the 1935 first overall selection of the Baltimore Cannons, went 11-12 with a 3.89 era over 3 levels of minors this season and the #6 overall prospect is projected to have a 1939 arrival in the big leagues. Other brother acts to get in on the Brooklyn party include the Lightbody boys. Doug, a 1925 first round pick of the Kings who is the longest serving member of the team, is just a role player now but he did go 1-for-2 in a pinch-hitting role this series and earned his first ring in three trips to the WCS with the Kings. His younger brother Frank spent most of his career in Pittsburgh before joining his brother in Brooklyn prior to the start of the 1936 season. Frank still has many friends in the Miners organization but now has bragging rights over them. A younger cousin, Jim Lightbody, is a second baseman in the Kings system and recently celebrated a Class B Southeastern League title with the Tampa Cigar Kings. Then you have the Pestilli boys. While Sal got all of the attention this season, and rightly so after jumping straight from college to the big leagues and then proceeding to lead the majors in homeruns as a rookie, it was big brother Alf who claimed the hardware. Alf spent 60 games in Brooklyn, batting .258 with 9 homers, and after helping Rochester win it's fourth consecutive Union League crown at the AAA level he rejoined the Kings for the stretch run and the Series. Alf had just 2 plate appearances in the Series but did draw a walk and scored a run in Brooklyn's 8-4 triumph in the second game. There are actually two other Pestilli boys, both of whom turned pro this June. Joe spent the year at Class B Charlotte in the St Louis Pioneers system while the youngest, Tony, joined the Philadelphia Keystones and spent the year in Class C Beaumont of the Gulf States League. Sal Pestilli's rookie season won't be enough to win him a Whitney Award but he should finish in the top five. Not bad for a player who had no experience above the college level when the season began in April. Sal was just the third player in the modern era to go straight from the campus to the major leagues. His numbers compared very nicely to other two : Freddie Jones and Doug Lightbody. Here is a look at what each of the three did as rookie pro's and perhaps what might be in store for Detroit's Pestilli next season. Note- Lightbody missed half of his rookie year with an injury. The Brooklyn Kings have announced a 3% increase in ticket prices as the average seat at Kings County to watch the defending champions play next year will go for $1.26. The Chicago Chiefs, who led the league in attendance and nearly smashed the all-time record are planning on a similar amount with average being $1.25. Detroit had cut prices in 19366 to just $0.90 after a disastrous 1935 campaign before raising them 2 cents last year. No word on if there will be another hike at Thompson Field. The Keystones stayed flat in 1937 at $1.10 and were 10th in attendance (902,577) but 5th in gate revenue ($574,976), so their prices were higher than average. But, the Keystones do have some star power and had 11 winning seasons in their last 13. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports