April 10, 1939
CURLY JONES DEALT TO DETROIT
Former first overall draft pick Curly Jones may be down to his last chance to carve a successful big league career after the Brooklyn Kings decided they had no room for the controversial soon to be 28 year old and dealt him to the Detroit Dynamos in exchange for a fringe minor league prospect. It was not that Jones pitched that poorly in Brooklyn, he did post a 12-8 record in 1937, but he just never came close to the stratospheric expectations that were thrust upon him when the New York Gotham made him the first selection of the 1932 draft following an outstanding collegiate career at Henry Hudson University. To his own detriment Jones did himself no favours right from the beginning when he threatened to retire prior to his first pro season because he did not want to apprentice in the minors as the Gothams had decided was best for the then 21 year old. Apparently fellow Georgia native Rufus Barrell talked Jones out of such a foolhardy decision but the tarnish on his reputation never did wear off.
Jones was pretty good when he made his big league debut as a 24 year old with the Gothams in 1935, posting a 12-6 record and helping the Gothams beat Cleveland to win the World Championship Series. He pitched just 1 inning in the series that season and it would be the only playoff appearance of his career as, despite being on the Kings roster each of the past three seasons, he was not trusted to take the ball in a Series matchup.
An elbow injury sidelined him for several weeks that rookie season and some say he was never the same pitcher afterwards. His control, which had never been his strong suit to begin with, certainly seemed worse and it was struggles with walks that played a big factor in the Gothams decision to send Jones to Brooklyn as part of their "Great Purge" of 1936. He had some moments with the Kings where he gave glimpses of what could have been a decent middle of the rotation big league arm, but those moments were few and were scattered between stints of extreme wildness forcing the Kings to remove him from the rotation early last year. He did pitch out of the pen for Brooklyn most of last season, going 4-3 with a 5.07 era in 33 appearances but his 5.6 BB/9 was fourth highest in the big leagues among pitchers with at least 90 innings thrown.
With young arms on the way up and Jones getting beat up in spring play, allowing 10 earned runs and walking 8 in 5 2/3 innings of work, the Kings decided they would no longer hold out hope Jones might someday approach the great promise he once had shown. He was out of minor league options and as a result, out of time in Brooklyn, so the Kings shopped him around the league. Several teams showed mild interest - all likely figuring they would take a flier on the chance that perhaps that potential the Kings had unsuccessfully tried to mine was still buried deep within his right arm - but none were willing to offer much in return, citing the odds of a payoff as far too low.
Detroit, which has another reclamation project already on their roster in Ron Coles who was one of the few pitchers to walk more batters per 9 innings than Jones did a year ago, figured it was worth the risk to send a 20 year old minor league third baseman by the name of Wally Tafur to the Kings organization in exchange for Jones. Tafur was originally an 8th round pick o Boston in the 1937 draft but has already been traded twice before - going to Cleveland and then Detroit - before now moving on to the Kings. He hit .312 splitting last season between Class B and C but is not considered a top prospect.
JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE - How the mighty have fallen. Jones was supposed to be a can't miss superstar, albeit one with a terrible attitude when the Gothams drafted him but control issues on the mound and wok ethic concerns off of it have dogged him his entire career. I can't fault Detroit for taking a chance in trying to mine that talent but it seems pretty obvious that Jones is nothing more than 'Fool's Gold.' Still at basically no cost at all it is a gamble very much worth taking for the Dynamos. They do have several pitchers who, like Jones, will be out of options so it will be interesting to see if his trial in Detroit makes it to opening day. On Brooklyn's end they did not get much in return but Tafur is a young talent others look up to and might make a good leader in the minors so adding him seems much better than losing Jones for nothing when he would have to be exposed on the waiver wire in two weeks.
STEVENS IMPRESSES IN PHILADELPHIA
Lloyd Stevens has been the star of camp for the Philadelphia Keystones. The #4 prospect in the league allowed one earned run over three starts (12.1 IP) for a 0.73 ERA. Manager Bill Libby was quoted as saying: "The time might be now for Stevens. He is already a big presence with the guys in the locker room. And, Lloyd is no shrinking violet." Stevens is a self-described "merry prankster", always joking and giving as good as he receives.
There are 8 pitchers vying for 5 starting pitching slots. Jim Whiteley and Gene White have the worst numbers, but they are close to locks for the rotation. White has as much upside as any Keystones pitcher, including Stevens, and Whiteley is Manager Bill Libby's preferred ace. Libby has a 6-man rotation, with Ed Baker working out of the bullpen in middle relief and Herman Patterson acting as the stopper. The stopper role is an open competition, as Don Attaway has had significant struggles at times over the past two seasons and has allowed 5 ER in 4 IP this Spring. Patterson, Baker, and Frank Parsons have the best numbers, but Paul Celis and John Perkins have some upside and are hanging on in the competition.
In other Keystones news Walt Potter continues to hit, leading to a three-horse race at catcher between incumbents Carl Ames and Jake Walton, who are also playing well. Potter is hitting .433 (13-for-30) with an OPS of 1.035, 4 doubles, and 8 RBI.
Among the multitude of first base candidates, no one is hitting. Stevens is hitting .250 (4-for-16), but has not appeared at first base yet. He has played one game at third and the rest as a pitcher. Sig Stofer (.227, 5-for-22), Don Ward (.214, 3-for-14), and John Turner (.077, 1-for-13) have contributed very little so far. The competition is still wide open and Austin Moore will join the ST roster as a late dark-horse entry.
SPRING STANDINGS
QUICK HITS
- The Toronto Wolves lead the way with a 9-4 record after two weeks of spring play as the club seems on a mission to prove last year's pennant near-miss was not a fluke. The roster pare down has begun for the Wolves but they still need to move seven more players, probably will be 2 pitchers, 5 batters. There may be some surprises with personnel beginning the season in Buffalo. Coming down to a numbers game on which players have options left, two players have already been waived and DFA'd due to having no options.
- A dark horse shortstop candidate has emerged for the Chiefs in their quest to replace the retired Pete Layton. Len Jones is having a really good spring. Chiefs manager Joe Ward has always liked Jones, but he lost his third base job when Martin moved over from first, and then he lost the second base job when Layton was acquired. He doesn't have much experience at short (113 FABL innings and 129 minor league innings), but he'll be given a chance over the next couple of weeks.
Other than short stop, there are not many positions in question for the Chiefs. The 5th starter role is so far a neck and neck competition between Charlie Bingham and Augie Bertrand (I would prefer to keep Bingham in the stopper role where he had some good success last season). Red Hampton and Gene Jones have the inside track on the other two bullpen spots.
- Coming into camp the only battle in Brooklyn was expected to be for the centerfield position but Vergara seems to have disrupted the pitching plans pleasantly. Vergara and fellow Hank Mittan are both making a strong impression and each deserves to head north based on what they have shown so far. Vergara is Brooklyn's top prospect and after allowing just 1 run in 8 innings work it will be hard to keep the 23 year old out of the rotation if his next two starts are like his first pair of outings. Keeping Vergara makes for a crowded rotation with at least 5 other capable starters in the mix. A big thing in his favour is he is righthanded on a lefty dominated team.
Lefthander Hank Mittan is the other rookie bidding for a spot but he has his work cut out for him with a plethora of southpaws in the pen already and several pitchers who would need to get waived if they are the casualty instead of the 24 year old Mittan.
As for center, 2 weeks have camp have not seen anyone emerge as the leader. Alf Pestilli has had a great camp but ideally he is the leftfielder and Al Wheeler has 4 homers and 14 rbi's so hopefully ready for another huge season in right field. In center it appears the edge goes to ex-Gotham Howard Brown Jr, who is batting .250 but his defense is a question mark. Bob Worley has no such questions about his glove but he is just 1-for-17 at the plate this spring. The third option is for Pestilli to shift to center if Frank Lightbody shows he is ready to play everyday again after missing much of last season, but Frank is batting just .208. A long-shot is rookie Jim Alarie who is not having a bad spring but will likely need to show a lot more over the next two weeks to claim the final roster spot. It is looking more and more like the Kings are waiting for Rats McGonigle to complete his obligations to Bronx Tech before going straight to the big league club in June.
- A lot is riding on how strong Johnny Guzzo plays for the Miners. The scouts all seem to think he's a legit option now at SS after numerous years in the abyss with some really offensive batting lines. His defense has been far more than stellar his whole career except for it was quite pedestrian last year in the FABL, thanks to an uptick in errors.
He OPS'ed .873 in 138 FABL at bats to finish up the season last year and has some real pop in his bat. If he can play the defense he's capable of and hit .270 with 40 XBH, the Miners will have a heck of a player.
- The Gothams still have a lot of cuts to make but as expected three of their very talented young prospects in Roosevelt Brewer, Walt Messer and Pete Casstevens have been sent over to minor league camp.
- The Saints had a bad second week of spring, going 1-5 after a 4-3 start but it was a week of experimentation on many aspects. Cuts to be made before week 3 to focus on potential roster. 30 year old 2B John Banks (11-for-19) is still on fire at the plate while catcher Adam Mullins had strong week and is hitting .423 so far.
- Old man Dave Trowbridge is letting his bat do the talking this spring after some suggested the 40 year old should have retired following an injury filled 1938 campaign. The veteran first baseman has been on fire the past couple of weeks, slashing .562/.625/.895 with a 1.520 OPS and a pair of homeruns in 24 spring at bats. Another player who looks rejuvenated this spring is Jim Mason as the 30 year outfielder is fighting to prove hes been looked over for years in Baltimore. Mason's slash line is an almost unbelievable .750/.765/1.000 after being cast aside by Baltimore. Mason hit .313 in 4 seasons with the Cannons and as alternated a very good year and a bad season. If the trend continues expect a strong 1939 from Mason. With Howie Smith also making a run for an outfield spot and Trowbridge seemingly unwilling to relinquish first base the Stars may have made one trade too many this off-season in adding Moxie Pidgeon. Of course there will be a spot in the lineup for a hitter of Pidgeon's stature which might not bode well for Mason or Smith.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 04/09/1939
- Italy invades Albania taking control of the capital and forcing the Queen of Albania to flee to Greece. British Prime Minister Chamberlain cuts short a holiday to return to London to discuss Britain's response.
- Reports out of Germany indicate the Reich will put strong pressure on Nationalist Spain to join the Totalitarian Anti-Communist Alliance as a counter-thrust against Great Britain's program for "encirclement" of the Reich.
- Former US Secretary of State Henry Stimson urged Congress and the nation to throw isolation overboard and give FDR greater powers to discriminate between aggressors and victims in war. Stimson stated he "believe(s) our present civilization is threatened with the greatest danger with which it has been confronted for four centuries."
- As the week comes to a close high ranking US Military officials believe Hitler will strike at Poland within a week. Britain has finalized an agreement to defend Poland if they are attacked while Germany has given Warsaw a week to back out of the agreement with Britain.
- Jack Benny is the latest Hollywood star found guilty of smuggling gems from Europe to the United States. He was assessed a $12,000 fine and a year in jail but the jail term was suspended. Fellow comedian George Burns had earlier pled guilty to the same charge.