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Jiggs McGee · 08-07-2021, 11:52 AM

THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL

APRIL 11, 1938 : Spring Training

HAS THE PETE PAPENFUS ERA BEGAN?

COUGARS HURLER HEADLINES BUMPER CROP OF YOUNG ARMS

Pete Papenfus will not celebrate his 20th birthday until a week after the season starts but the teenage pitching phenom seems to have all but assured himself a ticket on the train north when the Chicago Cougars depart Florida for their season opener in Cleveland a week from tomorrow. The Cougars knew they had a great one when Papenfus slipped to them at pick 6 of the 1936 FABL draft but I expect even their management team is surprised with the showing from the righthander so far this spring.

Papenfus seemed to have a few jitters as he struggled in the spring opener against the Philadelphia Sailors but after starting that game he has found a home in the Chicago bullpen where his blazing fastball has overwhelmed many a big league hitter already. Papenfus leads all pitchers with 24 spring strikeouts and a whopping 10.1 K/9 ratio. His spring era is down to 2.11 and his ERA+ (one of those newfangled stats of the future) is a very impressive 190. He is turning heads and reminds many of another teenager who took Chicago by storm a decade ago. That is Milt Fritz, who broke in with the cross-town Chiefs but is now a teammate and mentor to 'Peter the Heater' with the Cougars.

Papenfus has stolen the thunder from another former high school phenom and has overshadowed Rufus Barrell II, despite the fact young 'Deuce' is also making a bid to head north next week. Barrell is a year older than Papenfus, selected first overall in the 1935 draft after winning the Adwell Award as the top high school player in the nation. Deuce has looked good so far in a spring trial with Baltimore after posting a 2-1 record with a 3.00 era but the Cannons have so far not revealed their plans as to where Barrell will begin the campaign.

Those two are not the only promising young hurlers expected to have an impact on the sport going forward as two others are also ranked by OSA as among the ten best prospects in the game. One is George Garrison, who was selected by Toronto two picks after Barrell in 1935. Garrison pitched 4 shutout innings in his only spring appearance, is also just 20 years old but it appears the Wolves are going to take it slow with the Piggott, Arkansas native and have him return to AA Chattanooga, for whom he was 18-12 a year ago. Lloyd Stevens, a 22 year old Philadelphia Keystones prospect who did not pitch with the big club in spring action and appears ticketed for AA New Orleans after spending most of last season in A ball. Rounding out pitchers in the top ten prospects is Bunny Edwards, who the New York Gothams selected immediately following Papenfus in the 1936 draft. Edwards, the lone college player in the group, split his first pro season since leaving Red River State between 3 levels of minors and it appears the 22 year old will begin the 1938 season where he finished 1937 - pitching for the AA Jersey City Uniforms.

QUICK HITS

Here is a quick note or two on some of the spring happenings:[LIST][*]The Rankin Kellogg watch continues in Spring Training - His average has inched up to .265, but the bigger concern is only 2 of his 13 hits this Spring have gone for extra bases. We appear to be witnessing the long, slow decline of a great player...still, he'll never have to pay for a drink in his life in Philadelphia[*]Brooklyn management is starting to become concerned that catcher Fred Barrell is heading down the same path as Kellogg. Barrell got another hit this week, but just 1. The freefall continues for the 2-time all-star catcher. Hit .310 with an OPS+ of 111 in 1936 and then dropped to .211 with a 49 OPS+ last season. This spring he is 2-for-39 for a .051 batting average. Fred is not my worst hitting catcher this spring though as Jim Kyle is 1-for-22 (.045)[*]Speaking of Kyle, baseball's good luck charm, he will likely be placed on waivers by the Kings next week as the final spring cuts are made. Kyle has had an incredible run, despite never been more than a journeyman backup catcher. He has played for 4 WCS winners - taking the crown with a CA club every 3rd year. First it was the Philadelphia Sailors in 1928, followed by the Chicago Cougars in 1931, Cleveland Foresters in 1934 and Brooklyn last October.[*]Newcomers Bob Worley and Hank Barnett both were crushing the ball as the Chicago Chiefs got back on track, posting a 4-3 week after starting the spring with 10 losses in their first 13 contests.[*]Things continue to look up for the Detroit Dynamos as spring training week 3 in the books going 4-3. Sal Pestilli hits a couple of more home runs and the club is now 11-9 this spring.

WHAT LOCAL MEDIA IS SAYING

Here are some excerpts from local newspapers on happenings with the teams they cover.

PHILADELPHIA INQUISITOR

With long-time backstop Carl Ames out until late May, Jake Walton will have the first opportunity to shoulder the catching load. The jury is still out on who the second catcher will be, as Cliff Ray and Charlie Logan are still battling it out. All three catchers have hit below .200 this Spring, so Ames will not have the luxury of being nursed back to health. Walt Potter will be still be ticketed for Louisville, as expected, but a hot start there might garner some consideration for the big club as well.
The most impressive arms in camp have been the youngsters John Perkins and Paul Celis. The most disappointing member of the bullpen has been stalwart Don Attaway. Maybe Attaway is just getting into playing shape, but maybe he might be unseated at the back end of games as the go-to short reliever.
Rule 5 pick RF Bobby McHenry has hit for power in the Spring, with his three round-trippers second on the team to Bobby Barrell's four. He has only hit .262, but slugged .548 with a single strikeout in 42 Spring at-bats. The only drama left in the outfield is figuring out the last man, which is currently among three players: Gary Lucas, Grover Lee, and Tiny Adair.

ST LOUIS GLOBE

Heading into the last four games of spring the Pioneers are still carrying 30 players. Rule V pick up P Donie "one N" Sheuermann has been returned to Detroit despite a decent spring showing. That still leaves the team with 13 pitchers and at least four of those have to go. On the other side three more hitters need to move off the active roster. Due to options issues there will likely be some guys that make the team that were out played in spring camp and some guys that deserve to head north will not.

If spring training is any indication, the trade of Frank McCormick will work out for both clubs. The four players that came over from Toronto have all had outstanding spring showings including the two youngsters OF Les Hendrix(.364 BA) and SP Buddy Long(1.17 ERA)

BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE

Some tough cuts coming up for Kings pitchers. Jack Goff has had a nice camp but the 21 year old is a victim of numbers and having options left so he was farmed out to AAA Rochester. The Kings will likely carry 9 pitchers to start before one gets moved when John Langille returns from the DL. Brooklyn has narrowed down the 14 position players who will make the club as 3b Lee Shapiro, who has not played above AA, gets sent to Rochester next week while Jim Kyle will go on the waiver wire.

That leaves 3 pitchers to be farmed out but it will be a very tough decision. Tom Barrell, Joe Shaffner, Mike Murphy, Art White, Bob Cummings and Del Lyons are assured spots but that leaves Curly Jones, Sonny Coleman, Jim Crawford, Garry Harris, Bert Henggeler and Hank Mittan fighting it out for the final 3 slots. All 5 have looked pretty sharp with Jones perhaps being the least impressive, but he is out of options making the decision on him very difficult. Brooklyn did ease the crunch a little by sending a mid-round draft pick to Pittsburgh in order to have the Rule 5 status dropped from Mittan. As a result the club is free to send the 23 year old lefthander, a New York City native, to Rochester. Mittan has looked very impressive in camp and probably deserves a better fate than a ticket to Rochester but he is a victim of circumstance due to the number of pitchers they Kings have who are out of options.

Ab Thomas looks like he won himself a job in Brooklyn with a .439/.465/.683 camp so far. Thomas was Brooklyn's starting CF from 1927-34 before his defense in the middle OF position dipped and Bill May replaced him. He has spent most of his time since then as a corner OF in Rochester and had hit very well with plenty of stolen bases. The spring showing gets the 33 year old back to the big club in a depth OF/PH/PR role.

DETROIT WORLD

Detroit is still carrying 34 players heading into the final 4 games of the spring. The main reason is that Manager George Theobald has seen what he feels is his starting position players enough and they will be golfing and appearing mainly as pinch hitters this week. There are 13 pitchers and questions remain in what the bullpen will look like. SP Hank Spencer again will start the year in the pen most likely so that means either 2 or 3 spots are left up for grabs. A decision has not been made on Rule 5 P David Rivas yet so that will likely come down to the wire.

Manager George Theobald has said recent waiver claim OF Jose Serna will not be activated for the last 4 games of the week but will be taking extra batting practice and working in some simulated situations. He roster spot decision is not do for another week so the club is approaching it with patience (although the feeling is he will be on the 23-man Opening Day roster).

Looking at the lineup for Monday's game, it looks like rookie SS Gil London has made the team and will open the year as the starting SS. What that means for veteran SS Erv Smith remains to be seen. London has hit over 400 all spring.

WASHINGTON HERALD

The injury to Johnnie Sundberg has put an end, at least for now, to trade rumours surrounding veteran second baseman Andy Carter. Carter, who missed all but one game last season due to an injury, has had his bat start to come around and with Sundberg out until mid-May, the 32 year old Carter will have a chance to reclaim the starting second base job, a position he held from 1930-36.

Corner infielder Bill Ashby is hitting an impressive .386 and looks like he might secure a spot as one of the Eagles bench players. Center Fielder Wally Flowers may also end up on the bench as he is being pressured by 23 year old Don Miller. Miller replaced Flowers in center for much of last season and hit .318 after the 30 year old Flowers suffered an ankle injury that cost him half a season. It will be hard to imagine Flower, who hit .339 last year and is a .312 career hitter not in the starting lineup but perhaps not at center, where his defense was suspect prior to the injury.

The battle for the bullpen slots continues but veteran Jack Elder will not be part of it. The 27 year old, who was 3-9 for the Eagles last season, has been demoted to AAA.

PITTSBURGH PRESS

Mahlon Strong is still getting plenty of reps at 1st base as he learns a new position but for the Miners it is a fine-line as they are worried the fragile slugger doesn't play too much and get hurt. Strong's bat seems to be just fine as he has gone 10 for 22, 5 HR, 13 RBI's in spring play.
Chick Stout is back and throwing the ball well after missing the entire season to injury last year. Looks like he’ll slot back into the bullpen for opening day.
Johnny Guzzo is confusing the hell out of Miners skipper Dan Andrew. He's always been horrible with the bat, but nearly Harry Barrell level with the glove. Guzzo was just horrendous last year in the minor leagues hitting the ball but because of the rash of injuries he was called up to Pittsburgh last year and ended up starting 11 games in September and he goes out and hits .375/.371/.594. Then even hits a homer in the world series (his only hit of the series, but still!)
Les Tucker is the presumptive starter at SS, but Guzzo is giving the Miners something to think about with his 7 for 14 spring performance. Even if he just managed to hit .250, his glove is so good he'd make a capable SS especially in a lineup that hopefully can cover up his weak bat.

NEW YORK WORLD TELEGRAM

The Gothams are naturally choosing between mediocre options to round out their 23 man roster. Once again they will try young pitchers in the rotation and see what shakes out. The pen looks solid with Rule 5 pick up Sammy Alger looking solid. With the injury to Charlie DeMars, Ernesto Perez's good spring will get him a roster spot. The most pleasant breakout is 2B Jim Jenkins who has won a starting job with a .378/.405/.676 spring with 3D, 1T and 2HR.

The Week That Was
Current events for the week ending 04/10/1938

President Roosevelt asks Congress for emergency legislation to save railroads from serious financial and operating difficulties.
Roosevelt is reeling at least temporarily as his new deal bill was defeated as 108 Democrats revolted and joined Republicans to bury the measure.
The United State accepted Germany's absorption of Austria and called upon Germany to pay Austria's debt to the US.
Thousands of women joined Spanish government forces in frantic attempt to build new fortifications around Barcelona before the final insurgent offensive begins.
Soviet-Japanese relationship in deeper crisis after Tokyo issued a statement reiterating charges that Russia is aiding China by sending arms, planes and some troops since the beginning of the Chinese-Japanese War.

08-07-2021, 11:52 AM	#216
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	This Week in Figment Baseball: April 11, 1938 THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL APRIL 11, 1938 : Spring Training HAS THE PETE PAPENFUS ERA BEGAN? COUGARS HURLER HEADLINES BUMPER CROP OF YOUNG ARMS Pete Papenfus will not celebrate his 20th birthday until a week after the season starts but the teenage pitching phenom seems to have all but assured himself a ticket on the train north when the Chicago Cougars depart Florida for their season opener in Cleveland a week from tomorrow. The Cougars knew they had a great one when Papenfus slipped to them at pick 6 of the 1936 FABL draft but I expect even their management team is surprised with the showing from the righthander so far this spring. Papenfus seemed to have a few jitters as he struggled in the spring opener against the Philadelphia Sailors but after starting that game he has found a home in the Chicago bullpen where his blazing fastball has overwhelmed many a big league hitter already. Papenfus leads all pitchers with 24 spring strikeouts and a whopping 10.1 K/9 ratio. His spring era is down to 2.11 and his ERA+ (one of those newfangled stats of the future) is a very impressive 190. He is turning heads and reminds many of another teenager who took Chicago by storm a decade ago. That is Milt Fritz, who broke in with the cross-town Chiefs but is now a teammate and mentor to 'Peter the Heater' with the Cougars. Papenfus has stolen the thunder from another former high school phenom and has overshadowed Rufus Barrell II, despite the fact young 'Deuce' is also making a bid to head north next week. Barrell is a year older than Papenfus, selected first overall in the 1935 draft after winning the Adwell Award as the top high school player in the nation. Deuce has looked good so far in a spring trial with Baltimore after posting a 2-1 record with a 3.00 era but the Cannons have so far not revealed their plans as to where Barrell will begin the campaign. Those two are not the only promising young hurlers expected to have an impact on the sport going forward as two others are also ranked by OSA as among the ten best prospects in the game. One is George Garrison, who was selected by Toronto two picks after Barrell in 1935. Garrison pitched 4 shutout innings in his only spring appearance, is also just 20 years old but it appears the Wolves are going to take it slow with the Piggott, Arkansas native and have him return to AA Chattanooga, for whom he was 18-12 a year ago. Lloyd Stevens, a 22 year old Philadelphia Keystones prospect who did not pitch with the big club in spring action and appears ticketed for AA New Orleans after spending most of last season in A ball. Rounding out pitchers in the top ten prospects is Bunny Edwards, who the New York Gothams selected immediately following Papenfus in the 1936 draft. Edwards, the lone college player in the group, split his first pro season since leaving Red River State between 3 levels of minors and it appears the 22 year old will begin the 1938 season where he finished 1937 - pitching for the AA Jersey City Uniforms. QUICK HITS Here is a quick note or two on some of the spring happenings:[LIST][]The Rankin Kellogg watch continues in Spring Training - His average has inched up to .265, but the bigger concern is only 2 of his 13 hits this Spring have gone for extra bases. We appear to be witnessing the long, slow decline of a great player...still, he'll never have to pay for a drink in his life in Philadelphia[]Brooklyn management is starting to become concerned that catcher Fred Barrell is heading down the same path as Kellogg. Barrell got another hit this week, but just 1. The freefall continues for the 2-time all-star catcher. Hit .310 with an OPS+ of 111 in 1936 and then dropped to .211 with a 49 OPS+ last season. This spring he is 2-for-39 for a .051 batting average. Fred is not my worst hitting catcher this spring though as Jim Kyle is 1-for-22 (.045)[]Speaking of Kyle, baseball's good luck charm, he will likely be placed on waivers by the Kings next week as the final spring cuts are made. Kyle has had an incredible run, despite never been more than a journeyman backup catcher. He has played for 4 WCS winners - taking the crown with a CA club every 3rd year. First it was the Philadelphia Sailors in 1928, followed by the Chicago Cougars in 1931, Cleveland Foresters in 1934 and Brooklyn last October.[]Newcomers Bob Worley and Hank Barnett both were crushing the ball as the Chicago Chiefs got back on track, posting a 4-3 week after starting the spring with 10 losses in their first 13 contests.[]Things continue to look up for the Detroit Dynamos as spring training week 3 in the books going 4-3. Sal Pestilli hits a couple of more home runs and the club is now 11-9 this spring. WHAT LOCAL MEDIA IS SAYING* Here are some excerpts from local newspapers on happenings with the teams they cover. PHILADELPHIA INQUISITOR With long-time backstop Carl Ames out until late May, Jake Walton will have the first opportunity to shoulder the catching load. The jury is still out on who the second catcher will be, as Cliff Ray and Charlie Logan are still battling it out. All three catchers have hit below .200 this Spring, so Ames will not have the luxury of being nursed back to health. Walt Potter will be still be ticketed for Louisville, as expected, but a hot start there might garner some consideration for the big club as well. The most impressive arms in camp have been the youngsters John Perkins and Paul Celis. The most disappointing member of the bullpen has been stalwart Don Attaway. Maybe Attaway is just getting into playing shape, but maybe he might be unseated at the back end of games as the go-to short reliever. Rule 5 pick RF Bobby McHenry has hit for power in the Spring, with his three round-trippers second on the team to Bobby Barrell's four. He has only hit .262, but slugged .548 with a single strikeout in 42 Spring at-bats. The only drama left in the outfield is figuring out the last man, which is currently among three players: Gary Lucas, Grover Lee, and Tiny Adair. ST LOUIS GLOBE Heading into the last four games of spring the Pioneers are still carrying 30 players. Rule V pick up P Donie "one N" Sheuermann has been returned to Detroit despite a decent spring showing. That still leaves the team with 13 pitchers and at least four of those have to go. On the other side three more hitters need to move off the active roster. Due to options issues there will likely be some guys that make the team that were out played in spring camp and some guys that deserve to head north will not. If spring training is any indication, the trade of Frank McCormick will work out for both clubs. The four players that came over from Toronto have all had outstanding spring showings including the two youngsters OF Les Hendrix(.364 BA) and SP Buddy Long(1.17 ERA) BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE Some tough cuts coming up for Kings pitchers. Jack Goff has had a nice camp but the 21 year old is a victim of numbers and having options left so he was farmed out to AAA Rochester. The Kings will likely carry 9 pitchers to start before one gets moved when John Langille returns from the DL. Brooklyn has narrowed down the 14 position players who will make the club as 3b Lee Shapiro, who has not played above AA, gets sent to Rochester next week while Jim Kyle will go on the waiver wire. That leaves 3 pitchers to be farmed out but it will be a very tough decision. Tom Barrell, Joe Shaffner, Mike Murphy, Art White, Bob Cummings and Del Lyons are assured spots but that leaves Curly Jones, Sonny Coleman, Jim Crawford, Garry Harris, Bert Henggeler and Hank Mittan fighting it out for the final 3 slots. All 5 have looked pretty sharp with Jones perhaps being the least impressive, but he is out of options making the decision on him very difficult. Brooklyn did ease the crunch a little by sending a mid-round draft pick to Pittsburgh in order to have the Rule 5 status dropped from Mittan. As a result the club is free to send the 23 year old lefthander, a New York City native, to Rochester. Mittan has looked very impressive in camp and probably deserves a better fate than a ticket to Rochester but he is a victim of circumstance due to the number of pitchers they Kings have who are out of options. Ab Thomas looks like he won himself a job in Brooklyn with a .439/.465/.683 camp so far. Thomas was Brooklyn's starting CF from 1927-34 before his defense in the middle OF position dipped and Bill May replaced him. He has spent most of his time since then as a corner OF in Rochester and had hit very well with plenty of stolen bases. The spring showing gets the 33 year old back to the big club in a depth OF/PH/PR role. DETROIT WORLD Detroit is still carrying 34 players heading into the final 4 games of the spring. The main reason is that Manager George Theobald has seen what he feels is his starting position players enough and they will be golfing and appearing mainly as pinch hitters this week. There are 13 pitchers and questions remain in what the bullpen will look like. SP Hank Spencer again will start the year in the pen most likely so that means either 2 or 3 spots are left up for grabs. A decision has not been made on Rule 5 P David Rivas yet so that will likely come down to the wire. Manager George Theobald has said recent waiver claim OF Jose Serna will not be activated for the last 4 games of the week but will be taking extra batting practice and working in some simulated situations. He roster spot decision is not do for another week so the club is approaching it with patience (although the feeling is he will be on the 23-man Opening Day roster). Looking at the lineup for Monday's game, it looks like rookie SS Gil London has made the team and will open the year as the starting SS. What that means for veteran SS Erv Smith remains to be seen. London has hit over 400 all spring. WASHINGTON HERALD The injury to Johnnie Sundberg has put an end, at least for now, to trade rumours surrounding veteran second baseman Andy Carter. Carter, who missed all but one game last season due to an injury, has had his bat start to come around and with Sundberg out until mid-May, the 32 year old Carter will have a chance to reclaim the starting second base job, a position he held from 1930-36. Corner infielder Bill Ashby is hitting an impressive .386 and looks like he might secure a spot as one of the Eagles bench players. Center Fielder Wally Flowers may also end up on the bench as he is being pressured by 23 year old Don Miller. Miller replaced Flowers in center for much of last season and hit .318 after the 30 year old Flowers suffered an ankle injury that cost him half a season. It will be hard to imagine Flower, who hit .339 last year and is a .312 career hitter not in the starting lineup but perhaps not at center, where his defense was suspect prior to the injury. The battle for the bullpen slots continues but veteran Jack Elder will not be part of it. The 27 year old, who was 3-9 for the Eagles last season, has been demoted to AAA. PITTSBURGH PRESS Mahlon Strong is still getting plenty of reps at 1st base as he learns a new position but for the Miners it is a fine-line as they are worried the fragile slugger doesn't play too much and get hurt. Strong's bat seems to be just fine as he has gone 10 for 22, 5 HR, 13 RBI's in spring play. Chick Stout is back and throwing the ball well after missing the entire season to injury last year. Looks like he’ll slot back into the bullpen for opening day. Johnny Guzzo is confusing the hell out of Miners skipper Dan Andrew. He's always been horrible with the bat, but nearly Harry Barrell level with the glove. Guzzo was just horrendous last year in the minor leagues hitting the ball but because of the rash of injuries he was called up to Pittsburgh last year and ended up starting 11 games in September and he goes out and hits .375/.371/.594. Then even hits a homer in the world series (his only hit of the series, but still!) Les Tucker is the presumptive starter at SS, but Guzzo is giving the Miners something to think about with his 7 for 14 spring performance. Even if he just managed to hit .250, his glove is so good he'd make a capable SS especially in a lineup that hopefully can cover up his weak bat. NEW YORK WORLD TELEGRAM The Gothams are naturally choosing between mediocre options to round out their 23 man roster. Once again they will try young pitchers in the rotation and see what shakes out. The pen looks solid with Rule 5 pick up Sammy Alger looking solid. With the injury to Charlie DeMars, Ernesto Perez's good spring will get him a roster spot. The most pleasant breakout is 2B Jim Jenkins who has won a starting job with a .378/.405/.676 spring with 3D, 1T and 2HR. The Week That Was Current events for the week ending 04/10/1938 President Roosevelt asks Congress for emergency legislation to save railroads from serious financial and operating difficulties. Roosevelt is reeling at least temporarily as his new deal bill was defeated as 108 Democrats revolted and joined Republicans to bury the measure. The United State accepted Germany's absorption of Austria and called upon Germany to pay Austria's debt to the US. Thousands of women joined Spanish government forces in frantic attempt to build new fortifications around Barcelona before the final insurgent offensive begins. Soviet-Japanese relationship in deeper crisis after Tokyo issued a statement reiterating charges that Russia is aiding China by sending arms, planes and some troops since the beginning of the Chinese-Japanese War. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 08-07-2021 at 11:56 AM.