[Jiggs McGee]

THIS WEEK IN FIGMENT BASEBALL

JUNE 26, 1938

BIG CHANGES COMING IN NEXT FABL DRAFT

After a two year experiment with giving the top 32 draft prospects a choice, although somewhat limited, in where they would like to begin their professional careers the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues has decided once again to revamp how it's amateur player draft will progress. The original change was implemented as a potential solution to the OOTP mock draft which it is felt 'gives away' too much information in a stats only environment such as FABL exists. However, there was concern from big league GM's that the modified system took away their opportunity to build an identity for their respective organizations as they lost control of who they could select in the opening two rounds. After two years that system has now been scrapped and a new plan which calls for the draft to be split into 2 sections has been unveiled by FABL administrators.

Here is the text of the official league release outlining the sweeping changes:

Below is a breakdown of the draft changes that will be implemented at the end of this season.

1) We will have a two-round draft in January. Note that since this will occur before the player stats are updated in May, you will be essentially drafting based on the previous year's stats and your scouts current assessment of players. The mock draft will also not be available, removing any "inside information" that the mock might provide. This will be considered the first two rounds of the draft and will be done in StatsLab during January, and the players themselves will not go to your teams until after the June draft is completed.
2) The third round of the draft will also occur in January but will be regional in nature. This means that each team will have an available player pool based on their geographic location. The teams will have priority access to players in their own state and secondary access to players in adjacent states as listed below:

Gothams, Kings, Stars: New York (priority), New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania

Minutemen: Massachusetts (priority), Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont

Keystones, Miners, Sailors: Pennsylvania (priority), New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio

Foresters: Ohio (priority), Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana

Cannons: Maryland (priority), Pennsylvania, West Virginia, DC, Virginia, Delaware

Eagles: DC & Virginia (priority), Maryland

Dynamos: Michigan (priority), Ontario, Ohio, Indiana

Chiefs & Cougars: Illinois (priority), Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa

Pioneers: Missouri (priority), Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky

Saints: Canada (priority), Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York

Wolves: Canada (priority), New York, Michigan, Minnesota

Eligibility is based on birthplace, not school. Within any region with multiple teams, priority is based on draft position.
Regional draft picks are NOT tradeable until after the players join their teams. You must have the player selected under contract before you can deal him. You may still trade round 1 & 2 (January phase) picks or rounds 4-25 picks (June phase) but not the regional picks. Once all the picks have been determined, the players will be entered into StatsLab as the round 3 picks.
3) The June phase of the draft, covering rounds 4 through 25 will continue to work the way it has been working. We will do 10 rounds in StatsLab (rounds 4 thru 13 inclusive) and the remainder will be done in-game.

Reaction among the team's was generally quite positive about both the introduction of a 2 round draft in January as well as the regional round three phase that will also be held just after the New Year. The expectation is 4th round picks may become very valuable as there are bound to be several surprise newcomers or breakout players that suddenly rise to prominence in their draft season and would be the prize picks of round four.

In addition a new system was also introduced that has made it possible for a General Manager to lose his job if his club underperforms for an extended period. The series of events that would trigger such action seem like they would make it a rare instance but it certainly forces every team in the league to focus on being a successful franchise and avoid prolonged seasons where the focus is more on securing draft talent than putting a winner on the big league field.

The commissioner's office released a statement saying "there were three instances in the now 14 season history of Figment where a GM would have been fired under this system and with this system in place I suspect we may have had none, or maybe one because the GM would know he was on the verge and take measures to be competitive. That's the goal: push GMs to be more proactive about getting better because it's been too easy to just accept that your team is bad, keep good prospects in the minors and take that high pick year after year."

HANCOCK ON THE WAY OUT AS EAGLES PITCHING WOES INTENSIFY

The writing seems to be on the wall in Washington as the Eagles pitching staff continues to cause fits for, and likely will cost the job of manager Mel Hancock. Washington papers are rife with rumours that after dropping 12 of their last 13 games Hancock will be relieved of his duties and there is a good chance pitching coach Charlie Hartstein could soon join him on the unemployment line.

The 53 year old Hancock, who spent over a decade as a big league shortstop including 9 seasons with Washington, took over as the club's skipper last season after spending three years managing Eagles minor league affiliates in Trenton and Kansas City. If this is indeed his final day in Washington, Hancock leaves with a 106-115 record including 25-42 this season. His son Mel Jr. is a third year shortstop with the Cleveland Foresters. Hartstein joined the club at the same time after previously serving as a pitching coach with Detroit and Pittsburgh.

It is pitching that has been the undoing in Washington as the Eagles offense is one of the best in the Federal Association. The pitching staff, particularly the rotation, has been a different story altogether. Certainly the bulk of the blame lies with Bill Anderson (3-7, 6.95) who looked like the ace the Eagles had longed for in 1936 when, in his first season since being acquired from Toronto for Larry Vestal, he went 22-14. Last year was a complete turn around and Anderson lost his spot in the rotation after a 5-13 start. As suddenly as his skills abandoned him they came back last September and he was outstanding down the stretch winning his last 5 starts as Washington was one of the hottest teams of the final couple of months so expectations were once again high entering this season. It turned out to be a false hope and it was dashed quickly as Anderson started 3-7 this season with a 6.95 era and the rest of the staff was not much better. Eddie Quinn (1-9, 6.04) is doing his best Bill Anderson impression as well by following up an 18 win a season ago with just awful pitching.

Now the Eagles find themselves in last place in the Fed, mired in a 7 game losing streak and seemingly out of options on how to improve the pitching. While the manager and pitching coach have to shoulder some of the blame one can also point to the front office and the club's inability or unwillingness to make moves to improve over the winter while most of their competition in the Association did take steps forward. Perhaps the Eagles were happy with what they saw in September and were blindsided by the regression of Anderson, Quinn and Karl Johnson (6-9, 4.04) but you have to wonder how interested the Eagles brass was in chasing a pitcher like Jim Lonardo (9-4, 2.41 for Chicago) or Frank Crawford (10-3, 3.20) over the winter.

Eagles assistant General Manager Ike Luttrell admitted the moves of Lonardo and Crawford caught the team off guard as they both came up quickly while Washington was focusing on other things. However Luttrell says the club had a lot more faith in it's pitching after the strong finish last year. "We were not expecting Quinn to be that bad following a 18 win seasons and Anderson had a strong finish last year. Good news is Bobo White (5-7, 5.06) getting some confidence, (Mike) Knight (3-2, 4.58) sounds he could become somebody and they were some hopes for George Gilliard to finally be healthy.. which turn out into a disaster of some sort."

Gillard went down with yet another injury, this one possibly career threatening for the 1932 5th overall draft pick who has been plagued by injuries and has pitched just 48 career big league innings in his 3 seasons in Washington.

Luttrell says there is plenty to be optimistic about in the nation's capital. "Overall the offense still strong in DC, the defense is OK, but the pitching is awful. If it continues that way, some prospects will get a shot in September."

While they do not have a lot of high end pitching prospects beyond AA pitcher Phil Gregg that are close to be ready, the Eagles do have plenty of offensive talent between the big club and Kansas City so perhaps a deal for pitching that they so desperately need can be made. The Cougars have made no secret that vets Dave Rankin (5-9, 3.58) and Oscar Morse (5-6, 3.89) are available and Montreal has hinted they might be willing to part with George Thomas (6-7, 4.40). Any one of those three would likely be an upgrade in Washington. As for Anderson, it is looking more and more like the 29 year old just happened to catch lightning in a bottle in 1936 - his only full season with an ERA+ better than average. He has proven to be very streaky and despite his work ethic, which is considered extremely good, it appears he is simply just not a quality big league starter. Unfortunately Anderson's trade value likely can't be any lower than it is right now so the Eagles best bet is to hold on to him and hope he has another September rejuvenation, and if he does, move him quickly over the winter.

JIGGS MCGEE'S ALL STAR BALLOT

The sixth annual all-star game is fast approaching with the contest set for July 6th at New York's Bigsby Street Oval. It will be the second game held in New York as Riverside Stadium hosted the 1934 contest. The Federal Association leads the series 4 games to one including last year's thrilling 19 inning 4-2 victory in Toronto. Here is the ballot Jiggs McGee would submit if the media voted on the participants:

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION

CATCHER: T.R. Goins (.253,0,54) is always the sentimental choice and young Adam Mullins(.288,0,61), who made his first appearance last year also deserves consideration again this time around. However, I cannot overlook the job another youngster has been doing. 22 year old Woody Stone (.347,1,28) has started less games than Mullins (43 compared to 50) but Stone has been terrific and he gets my vote.

FIRST BASE: No contest here as the easy choice is Toronto's newest superstar in ex-Pioneer Fred McCormick (.387,8,40). He has already suited up 4 times for the Feds so McCormick will make his debut with CA boys in New York.

SECOND BASE: This was the toughest decision to make in the CA. You have Clark Car (.306,1,15), John Langille (.204,1,27) of Brooklyn, Cleveland's Brooks Meeks (.272,1,28) with his tremendous defense and the Sailors Bob Smith (.296,6,29). Any of the four would be solid choices and I was also have tempted to choice Johnny McDowell (.304,0,23) who moved over to the Cougars from the Gothams in the off-season as it would be a real treat for fans at the Bigsby Oval to watch their former third baseman in action one more time. It's tight but Meeks is going to win out because of his glove.

SHORTSTOP: Brooklyn's 24 year old star Harry Barrell missed his first all-star game last year after a tough season at the plate. He makes a number of errors but also gets to some balls most shortstops can only dream of reaching and with the bat back this season (.306,2,43) he is an easy choice. The Cougars young star Billy Hunter (.29,6,37) may challenge Barrell going forward. George Dawson (.243,5,23) is normally in the conversation but like many Foresters he is having a slow start to this season, although his defense has certainly not suffered.

THIRD BASE: Quite a choice here. You have Ken Mayhugh (.311,5,30) fresh over to Baltimore from the Minutemen and rising star Nick Wallace (.389,4,47) challenging for the batting lead in Toronto. Don't forget veteran John Lawson (.302,7,41) who is having another great year but I have to go with 36 year old Frank Vance (.335,9,41) who has never missed an all-star game. The Brooklyn third baseman gets the start in my books but any of the four are worthy.

LEFT FIELD: Roy Bradley (.313,4,34) is one of the Cleveland Foresters who is not struggling at the plate and is the choice in a relatively weak crop of left fielders on the ballot. Montreal's Bert Lass (.314,2,26) is an exciting young rookie who deserves the backup spot.

CENTER FIELD: Pablo Reyes (.312,5,50) of Montreal and Brooklyn's Bill May (.296,1,34) started in the Saints system together and Reyes came close to becoming a King instead of May in the ill-fated Milt Fritz deal several years back between the two clubs. They have been compared ever since and both are probably deserving of the selection this time around but I am going to give Reyes the edge this time with Chink Stickels (.312,1,16) of the New York Stars getting an honourable mention.

RIGHT FIELD: Hank Jones (.347,3,46) is having a career year for the Stars and 25 year old Jorge Nava (.317,4,35) is playing very well in Philadelphia. Al Wheeler (.2875,9,45) is off to a very slow start in Brooklyn, at least by his lofty standards, but there is no one I would rather have at the plate when a big hit is needed that the 5-time Whitney Award winner so the Wonder Wheel gets my vote.

PITCHING: This is always tough as we can only choice 3 starters and I refuse to vote for relief pitchers. Toronto's Joe Hancock (14-1, 2.95) is clearly one and should be starting the game. Joe Shaffner (10-4, 2.41) has almost seemed to replace Tom Barrell as the Brooklyn Kings ace so he gets the nod as my second choice. There were plenty of other worthy candidates but the third one in my books is the Sailors Doc Newell (10-5, 3.23)

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION

CATCHER: As good as Claude Ramsey (.305,1,30) and George Cleaves (.291,0,36) have been this one is simple. Write in the name Tom Bird (.350,9,49) of the Chiefs and move on. A no-brainer.

FIRST BASE: If Pittsburgh's Mahlon Strong (.348,4,26) could ever stay healthy he would be an easy choice but asking for that is like asking for the Cannons to finish in the first division. It just won't happen. Rankin Kellogg (.294,5,43) used to own this spot but the Keystones 35 year old slugger is showing signs of age although his numbers this season are pretty good. The choice really comes down to Ron Rattigan (.318,3,40) of the Chiefs and Detroit rookie Red Johnson (.307,7,26). The 20 year old Johnson is going to start a lot of these games so we might as well begin the streak now. He gets my vote. Gothams long-time star Bud Jameson (.308,5,36) is having a good season so I sure hope he gets the chance to be a reserve and appear in the game in his hometown park.

SECOND BASE: Ed Stewart (.267,18,53) is having a special season since his move to Detroit but so is Hank Barnett (.324,17,60) in Chicago. The two of them make you almost forget about Freddie Jones (.300,1,36) who has been healthy (knock on wood) and is playing well. Imagine what Detroit's offense would have looked like if they hung on to Barnett as well after acquiring him from Montreal over the winter and then flipping him to the Chiefs? Barnett gets the spot but I sure wish I could include Stewart as well.

SHORTSTOP: Just like at catcher choose the Chicago Chief and move on. 38 year old Pete Layton (.394,8,35) is playing like he is a decade younger and won his only batting title in 1928. It would be something if he can win another one 10 years later. Not sure that is something anyone else has accomplished - going 10 years between batting crowns.

THIRD BASE: A new position and a new league for Jack Cleaves (.353,2,31) who is having the best year of his career teamed up with his brother in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for Jack he has to compete with Mel Carrol (.371,5,53) who only hit .409 and led the Fed in rbi's with 130 a year ago and has not suffered much of a drop off for the Washington Eagles in the first half of the this season. Carrol gets my vote but Cleaves should make the team as well.

LEFT FIELD: Elmer Nolde (.314,7,35) is certainly benefiting from being a part of the powerful Detroit offense but he deserves a spot as an All-Star starter after spending so many years as an understudy in Brooklyn. Ernesto Perez (.314,1,18) of the Gothams, Pittsburgh's Joe Owens (.313,6,25), Jim Hampton (.304,4,28) of Chicago, Boston's Dave Henry (.278,5,27), Art Cascone (.297,4,35) and finally Rip Curry (.314,4,40) of Philadelphia all are not that far behind Nolde.

CENTER FIELD: It used to be you just penciled in the name Bobby Barrell (.272,6,40) and were done with it but that is now a thing of the past as just like Red Johnson at first base the Dynamos Sal Pestilli (.302,18,48) will be a fixture on the Federal Association all-star team for years to come. I just hope Bobby Barrell makes it as a reserve as he has played in each of the previous 5 mid-summer classics and it would be nice to keep the streak alive.

RIGHT FIELD: It really is a toss up. We have Cliff Moss (.301,9,37) in Chicago, Al Tucker (.351,5,40) of St Louis, Leon Drake (.308,6,34) of the Dynamos and the Gothams Dave Haight (.332,1,36) who is enjoying a splendid rookie campaign. It is close and I was tempted to go with an all-Detroit outfield but the 25 year old Tucker deserves the recognition and gets my vote.

PITCHER: A lot of options here but the three I am going with are rookie Buddy Long (12-3, 3.68) of St Louis, Chicago's Rabbit Day (11-4, 3.12) and veteran Frank Crawford (10-3, 3.20) of Detroit. It pains me not to be able to add Lefty Allen (11-7, 3.54) of Pittsburgh, David Abalo (7-3, 2.08) of the Pioneers, the Chiefs Jim Lonardo (9-4, 2.41) or Detroit's rising young star Charlie Wheeler (8-2, 2.83) to this list.

GOTHAMS SEE A DYNAMO LIKE FUTURE FOR THEMSELVES

Courtesy of the New York World Telegram

The Detroit Dynamos are rightfully receiving praise for their first place standing in the FA, their return from the wilderness of the depths of the FA. While a team should never be criticized for winning, let's take a look at the Dynamos long term prospects against those of the often maligned New York Gothams. The Dynamos last finished first in 1929. They then had a four year run of 3rd and 2nd place finishes. After a 90 win second place finish (in 1933) just 6 games behind the champs, Detroit management decided to go into a multi year rebuild. Four year of 7th and 8th place finishes, with a team record 111 losses in 1935 led to a number of top draft picks, including consecutive top picks in Sal Pestilli and Pete Casstevens. Detroit used their high draft picks and other prospects in a series of shrewd deals to build a contender.
However a look at the Dynamos roster shows a relatively veteran roster, with only six players younger than 26. The AAA and AA rosters also show a dearth of youth. The Dynamos minor league system is currently ranked 10th in FABL. A positive is that much of their higher ranked talent are pitchers. Still, there are no players ranked in the top 20, with their top prospects at 25, 42 and 50.(Bill Willman, Gil London and Ed Whetzel)

All teams have their own reasons for the moves they make. Detroit is now drawing crowds and look to be making money. This push to the top has been beneficial. It will be interesting to see how long the run can last.

Now on to the oft criticized Gothams. Coming off consecutive first place finishes in 1934 and 1935 a poor start in '36 led management to determine that a teardown was preferable to a series of midlevel finishes. With the individual talents available to trade the Gothams were able to create a deep and talented farm system. They accumulated draft picks that have turned them into the #1 rated minor league system with 3 top 10 prospects and 5 in the top 20. The change was so sudden than the league changed the draft process. The Gothams did benefit in the first pool draft, as did Detroit, but never got the chance with its last place finishes to obtain a Pestilli type immediate impact player, watching Bill Barrett go elsewhere.

Still, a look at the Gothams roster in their second year of rebuild shows a team of primarily under 26 (year old) players. The same can be said at AAA with most of the top prospect on the AA roster. This is a team that may still be a couple of years away. Similar to the Dynamos timeline, but with what is likely to be a younger team built for an extended run. Gothams fans seem to be on board with the process. The team remains in the top half of FABL in attendance and second in season tickets. They have a new ballpark on the way and a promising future on the field.

QUICK HITS

• Quite a week for Brooklyn outfielder Al Wheeler (.275,9,45), who is finally showing signs of breaking out of his early season slump. Wheeler hit 2 homers and drove in 7 runs last week to earn the CA Player of the Week award while also reaching the 2,000 career hit plateau. The milestone came as part of a 3-hit effort for the 30 year old outfielder in an 8-1 win over Philadelphia on Thursday. Number 2000 was a lead-off single in the 7th inning off of Sailors reliever Dick Strunk and came after he doubled in the first and homered in the fifth. Wheeler becomes the 63rd player to get 2000 hits and with 315 homers, he is just 1 of three players with 300 homers and 2000 hits, joining Hall of Famer Max Morris and the Philadelphia Keystones Rankin Kellogg.
• Al Tucker (.351,5,40) of St Louis was the top performer in the Fed last week. The 25 year old outfielder went 13-for-24 last week. The second year player also won a player of the week award last September and is a key reason why the Pioneers have won 9 of their last 12 games.
• We have 9 games before the all-star break, and those games loom large for the Chiefs. They start with 4 games in St. Louis--with whom they are tied at 5 games back--next week. Then Detroit comes into Chicago for 3 games, followed by St. Louis for a July 4th double-header in Chicago.
• This may be the end of the line for Cleveland's Lee Drouillard (8-5, 4.03) who suffered a serious arm injury just before his 38th birthday. Word is he will miss three months but many are not sure he'll come back from this. Drouillard is 77-70 for his career which began in the bullpen in Baltimore in 1926. He did not become a starter until he moved to Cleveland a decade later and has gone 50-42 as a member of the Foresters.
  The call in Cleveland now is do they make the decision/risk to move 22 year old Earle Robinson into that starter slot and risk injury to his fragile arm when he's been good out of the pen. Or slide Lyman Weigel (2-4, 3.64) or Ben Turner (1-1, 3.48) into the spot. Each has had some success in the Cleveland rotation in the past. The more likely option is veteran Rube McCormick gets another shot. The 33 year old is 6-3 with AA Cincinnati this season.
• Staying with Cleveland, Foresters skipper Jim Wilson has limited options at third base and is not sure what is worse? Charlie Barry hitting just .242, or Hank Stratton finally cracking .100 for one brief glorious second before falling again.
• Interesting observation from out friends at the Chicago Herald Examiner. Detroit's Sal Pestilli is on pace to start 143 games, which gives this reporter pause with the question, why isn't he starting every game? For comparison, Chiefs catcher Tom Bird is on pace to start 140 games. If Bird can squat dozens of times a game for 140 games, you would think Pestilli's young legs could handle 154 games in the outfield.
• You have to think Detroit, Toronto and perhaps Washington should be ringing the phone of the Chicago Cougars off the hook right now. The Cougars have a pair of veteran pitchers they say they are willing to move and either would be a good fit in any of those three cities. The Dynamos could use another starter in case anyone cracks as the pennant race heats up. The Wolves tried rookie Jim Morrison (2-6, 6.41) in the rotation but it is looking more and more like the 23 year old is not quite ready and they will need another arm if their challenge of Brooklyn for the CA crown is a serious one. The Eagles have been discussed earlier and really need anyone with a pulse who can throw at the big league level.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 06/25/1938

• A special US Federal Grand Jury has indicted 18 people, most of them residents of Germany and 2 are Nazi commanders, accused of plotting to gain American defense plans.
• US Ambassador to Britain Joseph P Kennedy returned home to report to FDR a gloomy outlook for England's financial future. Kennedy also added he does not see "any possibility" of a general war in Europe this year.
• Stung by eyewitness reports of violence in American and other foreign newspapers, the German press finally breaks it's silence on the nation's anti-Semitic drive that seems aimed at 'cleansing' Berlin of it's 140,000 Jews. A scornful editorial in the Nazi newspaper sought to justify the drive as an "act of self-defense by the people against Jews who are swamping Berlin, especially from Austria."
• Europe was plunged into a new war scare last night as the Spanish government made threats of bombing reprisals against Italy and a quick reply from Rome that Italy would meet such reprisals by wiping Spanish Government cities off the map.
• Meanwhile Spanish insurgents continue to bomb British cargo ships in the ports of Valencia and Alicante.
• Britain and France warn the Japanese to stay off Hainan Island, off the South China coast, and will act to support each other in the case Tokyo fails to comply.