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Jiggs McGee · 08-04-2021, 01:54 PM

THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL

March 28, 1938 - Spring Training

BASEBALL IS BACK!

After what seemed like an exceptionally long winter all is right in the world again (well, unless you look to Europe or the Far East) as spring training is underway. There is plenty of excitement in the air as all 16 teams, well perhaps not the woeful New York Gothams, eye the possibilities the year ahead might bring. For most of them those hopes will be dashed, and for some as early as mid-May, but for others this might finally be "the year" as it was last season for the Brooklyn Kings who claimed their first World Championship title in team history.

Speaking of the Kings, it was a rough first week for the champs. Not in the standings where Brooklyn won 5 of 7 games but it came at a cost as WCS Most Valuable Player John Langille was injured in the second game of the season. Minor league pitcher Herb White also suffered a back injury in the same game and it will sideline the recent pickup from the Pittsburgh organization for two months but all the talk afterwards in the Brooklyn clubhouse surrounded Langille, who will miss a month with a broken finger after being plunked by a pitch from Cleveland farmhand Eddie Amoroso in the 9th inning.

Brooklyn manager Powell Slocum was livid afterwards and it is clear the rivalry with Cleveland is still very much alive despite the Foresters struggles the past two Septembers. "He is barely a triple-A pitcher," shouted Slocum afterwards. "For cripes sake, the bum hit 26 batters last year in the minors. I get Cleveland is not the team they used to be but they have to be better than that. Trotting out some bush leaguer who couldn't hit the plate if he was sittin' at the dinner table."

The Kings and Foresters have had quite a rivalry going as they battled for several pennants in recent years but it turned bitter last season when the Kings took exception to a rolling slide from Charlie Berry that knocked shortstop Harry Barrell out for two weeks last July.

Langille's injury was just one of several that cropped up last week. Pitchers Jim Taylor (12-10, 4.60) of the Boston Minutemen St Louis Pioneers George DeForest (3-0, 4.24) are both out with shoulder troubles. Taylor should be back in a couple of weeks but DeForest will be sidelined for most of the season. Shoulder troubles will also keep New York Stars reliever Tom Fitzgerald (5-3, 2.66) out of the lineup until May.

AROUND THE CAMPS

Here is a quick note or two on some of the spring happenings:

Chicago Chiefs catcher Tom Bird had a breakout season last year with a career best 24 homers, doubling his previous season's output. It looks like the 29 year old might have found yet another gear this season as he smacked 4 round-trippers in his first 5 spring games this time around. Bird shares the early spring homer lead with veteran Cleveland outfielder Dan Fowler.
John Herrick is doing his best to show the Toronto Wolves they made a mistake dealing for all-star first baseman Fred McCormick. Herrick a 29 year old who hit 38 homers in 117 games with AAA Buffalo last season, has hit 3 this spring already including a pair of homers in a 5-0 win over Brooklyn yesterday. Herrick has 5 career homers in 302 regular season big league appearances. As for McCormick, the ex-St Louis Pioneer saw limited action in the opening week, but went 2-for-6 with a homer of his own for the Wolves.
24 year old Art Cascone had a nice start as he tries to stick in St Louis full-time. The outfielder, who was a first round pick in 1934, went 8-for-12 in the opening week to lead all FABL hitters in spring batting. He spent all of 1936 in the St Louis outfield but split last season between the Pioneers, for whom hit hit .262, and AAA Oakland.
Tough opening spring day start for new Detroit pitcher Ron Coles who gave up 10 earned runs on 6 hits, 5 walks in 1.2 innings. Fortunately for Dynamo fans he looked much sharper in his 2nd start throwing 4 shut out innings. On the brighter side Frank Crawford and Roger Perry threw 4 inning shutouts in their first spring starts. This week Coles will take a seat (and go to the bullpen) so we will see Jack Wood and Ben Watkins get a start as both looked good in relief outings in the first week.
Its early but shortstop Gil London is trying to show Detroit management that he is ready now for the big leagues. The 23 year old started all 7 games and went 8-17 including 3 walks with a triple, home run 3 RBI's and 4 runs scored. The Dynamos acquired London from the Philadelphia Sailors in exchange for pitcher Chuck Murphy. London struggled at the dish in AAA San Francisco last season, batting just .214 but his defense was outstanding.
It was a rough spring debut for Peter the Heater as he was shelled for 7 runs, although just 2 earned his debut. But he came back nicely with 4 scoreless innings allowing just 1 hit with 4 k’s over his next 2 appearances. Pete Papenfus, the Chicago Cougars 19 year old phenom is now considered the number one prospect by OSA.
The decision by the Kings to sign veteran infielder John Kincaid looks even smarter now that John Langille is sidelined. The Kings plan on giving the 33 year old third baseman a shot at second base until Langille returns. Kincaid has played 1542 FABL games but nearly all of them have been at the hot corner. He was signed as insurance in case Brooklyn needed to move Frank Vance from third to first to replace the retired Dan Barrell.
Joe Perrot and Doug Lightbody, the two Brooklyn outfielders vying for the vacant first base job, each had a slow start at the plate. Perrot was hitting just .143 with Lightbody not faring much better at .154. The expectation does remain that one of the two, likely Perrot, will be at first base when the Kings open their season April 19th against the New York Stars.
The key pieces in the big Boston-Baltimore trade over the winter each got off to slow starts. 22 year old John Edwards, who was 11-19 for the Cannons a year ago, gave up 6 earned runs in 8 innings of work over his first two starts with the Minutemen. Ken Mayhew (.299,17,82), a 26 year old third baseman, went just 3-for-20 in his first week with the Cannons.
Nice week for Mahlon Strong, who is being transitioned from the outfield to first base by the Pittsburgh Miners. The often injured 28 year old went 4-for-10 with 3 homers in the opening week of spring action. Strong's talent has never come in to question, but durability has always been a concern. He was limited to just 29 games a year ago because of several injuries.

JAPANESE LEAGUE JOINS FABL UNIVERSE

Something new for baseball fans this season as a major league has been formed in Japan. The 6-team loop is perhaps a grooming ground for future FABL General Manager's but beyond that it will have no ties to North American baseball. With Japan's clashes with China and Russia and growing tension with Britain and America there will not be any North American players permitted in the league. In fact the league is entirely composed of Japanese born players with one notable exception. Ivan Rustoff is a 21 year old catcher for the Osaka Sailors and was born in Vladivostok, Russia but he grew up in Japan as his family did move across the Sea of Okhotsk to Sapporo, Japan when he was a child.

The Kobe Bulls are favoured in the league which will play a split season schedule. Other teams are the Kyoto Bears, Nagoya Owls, Osaka Sailors, Tokyo Cannons and Yokohama Kingfishers.

The Week That Was
Current events for the week ending 02/28/1938

[LIST][*]British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain says his government "emphatically" disapproves of Germany's invasion of Austria but that "nothing could have prevented this action by Germany unless we and others with us had been prepared to use force to prevent it."[*]Chamberlain made an important foreign policy speech in the British House of Commons, saying Britain would fight for France and Belgium if they were attacked but making no such guarantee for Czechoslovakia. [*]The Japanese government passed the National Mobilization Bill, giving the state dictatorial powers over the economy.[*]1200 die in rebel air raids in Barcelona. It was the most deadly bombing to date in the Spanish War.[*]President Roosevelt has formed a committee focused on loans to industry, particularly small business in an effort to stimulate the American economy.

08-04-2021, 01:54 PM	#214
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	This Week in Figment Baseball: March 28, 1938 THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL March 28, 1938 - Spring Training BASEBALL IS BACK! After what seemed like an exceptionally long winter all is right in the world again (well, unless you look to Europe or the Far East) as spring training is underway. There is plenty of excitement in the air as all 16 teams, well perhaps not the woeful New York Gothams, eye the possibilities the year ahead might bring. For most of them those hopes will be dashed, and for some as early as mid-May, but for others this might finally be "the year" as it was last season for the Brooklyn Kings who claimed their first World Championship title in team history. Speaking of the Kings, it was a rough first week for the champs. Not in the standings where Brooklyn won 5 of 7 games but it came at a cost as WCS Most Valuable Player John Langille was injured in the second game of the season. Minor league pitcher Herb White also suffered a back injury in the same game and it will sideline the recent pickup from the Pittsburgh organization for two months but all the talk afterwards in the Brooklyn clubhouse surrounded Langille, who will miss a month with a broken finger after being plunked by a pitch from Cleveland farmhand Eddie Amoroso in the 9th inning. Brooklyn manager Powell Slocum was livid afterwards and it is clear the rivalry with Cleveland is still very much alive despite the Foresters struggles the past two Septembers. "He is barely a triple-A pitcher," shouted Slocum afterwards. "For cripes sake, the bum hit 26 batters last year in the minors. I get Cleveland is not the team they used to be but they have to be better than that. Trotting out some bush leaguer who couldn't hit the plate if he was sittin' at the dinner table." The Kings and Foresters have had quite a rivalry going as they battled for several pennants in recent years but it turned bitter last season when the Kings took exception to a rolling slide from Charlie Berry that knocked shortstop Harry Barrell out for two weeks last July. Langille's injury was just one of several that cropped up last week. Pitchers Jim Taylor (12-10, 4.60) of the Boston Minutemen St Louis Pioneers George DeForest (3-0, 4.24) are both out with shoulder troubles. Taylor should be back in a couple of weeks but DeForest will be sidelined for most of the season. Shoulder troubles will also keep New York Stars reliever Tom Fitzgerald (5-3, 2.66) out of the lineup until May. AROUND THE CAMPS Here is a quick note or two on some of the spring happenings: Chicago Chiefs catcher Tom Bird had a breakout season last year with a career best 24 homers, doubling his previous season's output. It looks like the 29 year old might have found yet another gear this season as he smacked 4 round-trippers in his first 5 spring games this time around. Bird shares the early spring homer lead with veteran Cleveland outfielder Dan Fowler. John Herrick is doing his best to show the Toronto Wolves they made a mistake dealing for all-star first baseman Fred McCormick. Herrick a 29 year old who hit 38 homers in 117 games with AAA Buffalo last season, has hit 3 this spring already including a pair of homers in a 5-0 win over Brooklyn yesterday. Herrick has 5 career homers in 302 regular season big league appearances. As for McCormick, the ex-St Louis Pioneer saw limited action in the opening week, but went 2-for-6 with a homer of his own for the Wolves. 24 year old Art Cascone had a nice start as he tries to stick in St Louis full-time. The outfielder, who was a first round pick in 1934, went 8-for-12 in the opening week to lead all FABL hitters in spring batting. He spent all of 1936 in the St Louis outfield but split last season between the Pioneers, for whom hit hit .262, and AAA Oakland. Tough opening spring day start for new Detroit pitcher Ron Coles who gave up 10 earned runs on 6 hits, 5 walks in 1.2 innings. Fortunately for Dynamo fans he looked much sharper in his 2nd start throwing 4 shut out innings. On the brighter side Frank Crawford and Roger Perry threw 4 inning shutouts in their first spring starts. This week Coles will take a seat (and go to the bullpen) so we will see Jack Wood and Ben Watkins get a start as both looked good in relief outings in the first week. Its early but shortstop Gil London is trying to show Detroit management that he is ready now for the big leagues. The 23 year old started all 7 games and went 8-17 including 3 walks with a triple, home run 3 RBI's and 4 runs scored. The Dynamos acquired London from the Philadelphia Sailors in exchange for pitcher Chuck Murphy. London struggled at the dish in AAA San Francisco last season, batting just .214 but his defense was outstanding. It was a rough spring debut for Peter the Heater as he was shelled for 7 runs, although just 2 earned his debut. But he came back nicely with 4 scoreless innings allowing just 1 hit with 4 k’s over his next 2 appearances. Pete Papenfus, the Chicago Cougars 19 year old phenom is now considered the number one prospect by OSA. The decision by the Kings to sign veteran infielder John Kincaid looks even smarter now that John Langille is sidelined. The Kings plan on giving the 33 year old third baseman a shot at second base until Langille returns. Kincaid has played 1542 FABL games but nearly all of them have been at the hot corner. He was signed as insurance in case Brooklyn needed to move Frank Vance from third to first to replace the retired Dan Barrell. Joe Perrot and Doug Lightbody, the two Brooklyn outfielders vying for the vacant first base job, each had a slow start at the plate. Perrot was hitting just .143 with Lightbody not faring much better at .154. The expectation does remain that one of the two, likely Perrot, will be at first base when the Kings open their season April 19th against the New York Stars. The key pieces in the big Boston-Baltimore trade over the winter each got off to slow starts. 22 year old John Edwards, who was 11-19 for the Cannons a year ago, gave up 6 earned runs in 8 innings of work over his first two starts with the Minutemen. Ken Mayhew (.299,17,82), a 26 year old third baseman, went just 3-for-20 in his first week with the Cannons. Nice week for Mahlon Strong, who is being transitioned from the outfield to first base by the Pittsburgh Miners. The often injured 28 year old went 4-for-10 with 3 homers in the opening week of spring action. Strong's talent has never come in to question, but durability has always been a concern. He was limited to just 29 games a year ago because of several injuries. JAPANESE LEAGUE JOINS FABL UNIVERSE Something new for baseball fans this season as a major league has been formed in Japan. The 6-team loop is perhaps a grooming ground for future FABL General Manager's but beyond that it will have no ties to North American baseball. With Japan's clashes with China and Russia and growing tension with Britain and America there will not be any North American players permitted in the league. In fact the league is entirely composed of Japanese born players with one notable exception. Ivan Rustoff is a 21 year old catcher for the Osaka Sailors and was born in Vladivostok, Russia but he grew up in Japan as his family did move across the Sea of Okhotsk to Sapporo, Japan when he was a child. The Kobe Bulls are favoured in the league which will play a split season schedule. Other teams are the Kyoto Bears, Nagoya Owls, Osaka Sailors, Tokyo Cannons and Yokohama Kingfishers. The Week That Was Current events for the week ending 02/28/1938 [LIST][]British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain says his government "emphatically" disapproves of Germany's invasion of Austria but that "nothing could have prevented this action by Germany unless we and others with us had been prepared to use force to prevent it."[]Chamberlain made an important foreign policy speech in the British House of Commons, saying Britain would fight for France and Belgium if they were attacked but making no such guarantee for Czechoslovakia. []The Japanese government passed the National Mobilization Bill, giving the state dictatorial powers over the economy.[]1200 die in rebel air raids in Barcelona. It was the most deadly bombing to date in the Spanish War.[]President Roosevelt has formed a committee focused on loans to industry, particularly small business in an effort to stimulate the American economy. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal* The Scripture of Sports