AUGUST 21, 1939
STARS BACK ON TRACK AND IN CA PENNANT HUNT
After a rough start to the month the New York Stars got back on track last week with 5 wins in 6 games. That showing allowed New York to gain a little ground back on the first place Cleveland Foresters who went 4-2 this week and lead New York by 2.5 games atop the Continental Association. Taking two of three at home from Brooklyn and sweeping Montreal was a key week for the Stars, allowing them to get back on the right path after a 3-11 start to the month dropped them out of the top spot.
The wins did come at a price however as New York lost veteran pitcher William Jones for the rest of the season with an injury suffered Saturday in Montreal. Jones had a very short stay in the New York rotation, making just 7 starts and posting a 1-3 record since coming over from Detroit in late July. The Jones injury likely means Chuck Cole (3-6, 5.67), another former Dynamo, goes back into the rotation as the #4 starter behind Billy Riley (13-10, 3.64), George Phillips (12-9, 4.49) and Vern Hubbard (11-11, 4.65). Although there is also a chance that someone like John Douglas (15-5, 2.90 in AAA) gets the call from Los Angeles.
New York is still waiting for the boost it hopes Bill Barrett (.285,10,48) can provide once he is recovered from his ankle injury. The 19 year old outfielder has been on the shelf for a month already and is not expected back until mid-September.
It is hard to call the Continental just a two-team race especially after the incredible charge the Toronto Wolves made around this time last year. However, it is starting to look like the rest of the pack is falling off the pace. The third place Philadelphia Sailors are now 6 games back after they limped through a 1-4 week with stops in Toronto and Chicago. The Sailors do have an opportunity to gain a little ground this week as their road trip continues with a 2-game set in Cleveland. Defending CA champ Brooklyn and Montreal both seem done as they each sit 8 games off the pace after both went 2-4 last week and each struggled against the Stars.
The Federal Association is clearly still a 3-team race with the Detroit Dynamos offense, led by a strong second half from second year man Red Johnson, seeming to be back on track. The Dynamos lead on Boston is 3 games and 3.5 on the third place Pittsburgh Miners. Since July 1st the 21 year old Johnson has slashed .386/.502/.632 with 10 doubles, 10 home runs 43 RBI's with 38 walks and only 8 K's while scoring 38 runs. On the season Johnson is now hitting .309/.422/.903 with 17 home runs 16 doubles and 66 RBI's with 65 runs score. His walk to strikeout ratio is 78/24. Note quite as good as last season's 120/22 BB/K ratio but still impressive for such a young hitter.
1940 DRAFT PREVIEW
In this installment of TWIFB's draft preview we take a look at some of the pitchers that OSA currently considers to be potential January draft picks. Rounds 1 and 2, plus the regional round three, will take place in January prior to the High School and College seasons with the remainder of the draft to occur in June. Here are ten of the top high school senior pitchers:
1- MEL HAYNES RHP Princeton (NJ) High School There is no pitcher in this class that OSA calls a future ace, at least not at this point in the scouting cycle, but the 6'2" 17 year old from New Jersey comes close. OSA feels Haynes, a groundball pitcher with 4 solid offerings, has a good chance to end up near the top of any big league rotation. His best season was his freshman year when he posted an 11-0 record with a 1.35 era and a career best 138 strikeouts. He went 8-1 as a sophomore and last year he was 7-2 with the best era of his career at 1.19. He also fanned 136 while walking just 22 in 90 innings of work.
New Jersey has produced more than it's share of quality FABL pitchers over the years including Cleveland's Dave Rankin and Chicago Cougars righthander Harry Parker. In all 6 New Jersey natives have won over 150 FABL games led by Wayne Robinson's 194. The Garden State has also produced more than it's share of first round picks over the years, although the vast majority were position players. A total of 12 have been taken in round one through the years including current Pittsburgh Miners Jack and George Cleaves as well as rising New York Stars talent Bill Barrett.
2- BOB CROWLEY LHP Fort Lee (NJ) High School Another New Jersey born youngster that OSA is quite high on. Crowley is said to have an outstanding work ethic but is also described as someone who won't force it so perhaps there are some mixed signals in that regard. OSA calls his stuff subpar but feels his pinpoint control and ability to keep the ball down in the zone will more than compensate for it. OSA sees him as a mid-rotation piece. One knock is the relatively small sample size with which to judge him fairly. Crowley did not play as a freshman and split his time between the rotation and pen in his two seasons so he only has 127 innings of high school ball. He is 9-0 with a 1.28 era and a 10.8 K/9 over that time so expect a team likely grab him in the first round. Two years ago another Fort Lee pitcher was selected as the Baltimore Cannons picked Tom Guy in the 18th round. Now 19, Guy is 5-7 for Class C Burlington so far this season.
3- ANDY HOWELL RHP Hamilton High School, Brooklyn NY Went 10-1 last season and is 26-2 with a 1.45 era for his three seasons of High School ball. OSA likes his four-pitch mix and feels his movement will keep the ball in the park. He will generate a lot of ground balls and OSA sees Howell as a solid #3 starter, perhaps even better. Howell is one of two current Hamilton High Eagles in the draft pool as pitcher Dave Low may also draw some interest but likely not until June. Three other Hamilton High alumni were drafted with the highest being outfielder Jack Hill, who was a 6th round pick of the Brooklyn Kings in 1934.
4- JOE LUND RHP Bennington (VT) High School The east coast trend continues with Lund, who was a High School All American selection this past season after going 11-0 with a 0.70 ERA - lowest in the nation. He also ranked second in strikeouts with 205 and his 15.9 K/9 was tops in the country. His two year record (Lund did not play as a freshman) is 20-0 with a 0.82 era and 357 strikeouts compared to just 45 walks in 207 innings of work. Despite all of that OSA is not as high on Lund as it is on those above him. The Scouting Bureau worries about Lund's stamina feeling he may not be able to go more than 5 innings. He has 5 pitches and is projected to have better than average stuff once he is finished developing. As an added bonus, Lund's work ethic is listed as high. He is also bidding to become the first native of Vermont ever selected in the first round of the FABL draft. There have been some pretty good pitchers come out of Vermont over the years led by Phil Miller, who won 288 games in his career, and Ken Carpenter who was a 210 game winner.
5- FRANK SEARS RHP Burlington (WI) High School The talent, in OSA eyes at least, drops off here with Sears being considered a back of the rotation piece. He is tall, at 6'3" and hopefully will develop more velocity to improve his fastball which tops out at 84-86 mph. Sears went 10-2, 1.40 last season and is 17-5 in 2 years at his Wisconsin high school. Sears won't be the first high profile pitcher to come out of Burlington High School as Billy Crane was a fifth round pick of Baltimore's in 1935. Crane had some upside but has been hit with a pair of serious injuries. Ray Patillo, an outfielder taken by Cleveland in round 21 in 1938 is also a former member of the Burlington High Demons.
6- RICHIE HUGHES LHP Amboy (IL) High School Born in Chicago but grew up west of the city in Amboy he is said to be a diehard Chicago Chiefs fan. Hughes was an All-American this past season and TWIFB called him the best High School ballplayer in Illinois last season. A three year starter he is 26-5 with a 1.72 era and averaging 12.1 K/9. Nice to see is his numbers have trended upward each of his three seasons and he is still just 16 years old as of this writing. OSA sees him as possibly a 5th starter or swingman but some FABL scouting directors probably see more in him as they point to his velocity, which has already touched 90 mph despite his young age.
Hughes' former teammate Clem Strom was selected in the 15th round by Toronto last year and catcher Drummond Nolfi was a 19th round pick of Baltimore's in 1938 but he has since been released and is now with AAA Portland of the Great Western League.
7- HAL HACKNEY RHP Fulton (MO) High School Hackeny was an All American this past season after posting the second lowest ERA in the nation and the fourth highest strikeout total. He did not play as a freshman but is 20-0 with a 0.81 era and 15.3 K/9 over his two seasons yet OSA sees him as a relatively ineffective contributor. Hackney won't be the first Fulton High player drafted as Toronto selected infielder Bud House from the school in the tenth round of the 1937 draft.
8- RALPH MILLSAP LHP Trinity High School Louisville KY Born in Cincinnati so he could potentially be a Cleveland Foresters regional selection should he survive the first two rounds. A three year starter who has an impressive 21-4 career mark with a 1.31 era and an 11.3 K/9 ratio. His curveball is the best of his three pitches but OSA does worry that his average fastball and presently below average change-up will not be enough to allow him to start regularly in the big leagues.
A pair of players from Louisville Trinity have previously been drafted with both being selected in 1937. Second baseman Lou Ludden was an 8th round pick of Pittsburgh while Boston selected Jesus Livngstone in the 20th round. Both are currently still playing in Class C.
9- AL WINN RHP Centerville (TN) High School His numbers fell off his junior season after a very impressive freshman campaign and a decent second season. Winn is 29-4 with a 1.45 era over his 3 years but his best season by far was the 10-0, 0.95 he logged as a 14 year old. OSA says he should end up with two very good pitches but a rudimentary change-up might hinder his ability to start regularly in the major leagues.
Winn will be the second Centerville High product to get drafted. Outfielder Dick Lewis was a 19th round pick of Detroit in 1934 and the 23 year old is still in the Dynamos system, currently playing at Class A Terre Haute where he is putting up some big numbers. In addition junior first baseman Luke Oster is a 1941 draft prospect.
10- RED HAMPTON LHP Corning (NY) High School OSA is not very high on Hampton but scouts will certainly remember his dominant freshman season in which Hampton was an honourable mention All-American when he went 11-0 with a 1.08 era. Hampton was less effective his sophomore season but did bounce back a bit last year as a junior. OSA worries about his inability to throw strikes (he had 101 walks in 3 seasons but nearly half of them came in his troubling sophomore campaign) and OSA does not see him become much of a major leaguer. His best hopes for January selection might rest on someone taking a chance on him in the regional round. Hampton is a childhood friend of Herb Dorsey, an 18 year old shortstop the Philadelphia Sailors drafted in June.
IT WAS A MEMORABLE DAY FOR THE GOTHAMS MILLION DOLLAR INFIELD
Yes it was memorable. However, not for all the right reasons. Offensively, something to dream on. On the mound, not so much.
Almost 16,000 of the Gothams faithful wandered into the big ballpark in Queens to see the future arrive. Before the offensive fun could start rookie Sam Hodge gave them a day to forget on the mound. In his FABL debut Hodge was treated rudely by the visiting Chicago Chiefs, giving up three runs in the first, then six in the second without recording an out. Hodge and his 81.00 ERA left the premises and all attention could turn to the shiny new infield.
Walt Messer made his debut and recorded his first hit, a single in the 3rd. Messer went 1-3 on the day, to join Billy Dalton, 1-3, Mule Monier, 2-4 and Roosevelt Brewer, 3-5 in a celebration on what may be. Messer had a good first week going 5-12 .417 with his first homer and 3 RBI. Hodge also was rocked in his second start giving up 10 runs, 5 earned in less than 3 innings.
EDDIE QUINN AND THE TRADE THAT TARNISHED HIS CAREER
Veteran Washington Eagles starter Eddie Quinn tossed another shutout this week, giving the 32 year old a career best 4 goose eggs on the season and improving his record to 18-6 with a 2.55 era, second only to Detroit's Frank Crawford among Federal Association pitchers. Quite a turnaround from the 4-13, 5.15 debacle he went through last season. At the time there was some speculation that Quinn, who made his big league debut with Toronto in 1930, might have reached the end of the line but he was also just a year removed from an 18 win 1937 campaign and had one of the worst defenses in FABL standing behind him. Now, in the midst of the best season of his career, which comes immediately after the worst, one has to wonder if the real Eddie Quinn is the 1938 version or what we are seeing in 1939.
The answer likely lies somewhere in between as Quinn, as his career 117-118 indicates, has always seemed to be about a league average pitcher. He had some rough seasons in Toronto and some good years in Cleveland with a mix of both thrown in once he joined the Eagles. Through absolutely no fault of his own, Quinn has always had a bit of a black mark attached to his name simply because of the trade that proceeded his professional career.
It was at the 1925 draft, the first of the modern (human GM) era and one that as it would turn out had an incredibly talented group of hitters at the top of it. They included Al Wheeler, Bud Jameson, Bill Ashbaugh, Doug Lightbody and Jack Cleaves. Few one thought it at the time but there were some outstanding pitchers in that draft as well. 4-time Allen Award winner Jim Lonardo would be a 10th round pick. William Jones likely won't ever win an Allan Award but the current New York Star has won 172 big league games and he went in the third round to the Philadelphia Sailors. What was quite clear to nearly everyone was that hitters ruled the top of the draft and the Toronto Wolves, who owned the 6th pick, traded up to get the #2, sending a pair of decent pitchers and several later round picks to the Brooklyn Kings for the swap from 6 to 2. Everyone assumed the Wolves had their eyes on one of those hitters but instead they selected Quinn despite the fact he went just 2-0 as a senior with only 41 innings of work in 9 appearances for his high school team. And, most damaging to the Wolves future, every team but Toronto seemed to know Quinn would have still be available when the Wolves were originally slated to pick 6th and quite possibly would have lasted until their second round pick as well. Toronto dug itself a hole that day, a hole that certainly helped set the stage for the awful decade the club has endured in the 1930s and, while unfairly, much of the blame for that was placed squarely on Quinn's shoulders.
Rufus Barrell recently said this when asked about the pitcher. "Every time I think about Quinn I can't help but think about that trade. Possibly the worst draft-day trade in league history and it happened in our very first draft. How do you trade up from #6 to #2, then pass up Jack Cleaves, Bud Jameson, Doug Lightbody and Bill Ashbaugh to draft a guy you could easily have gotten by staying at #6? And he wasn't even the best pitcher in the pool. Now granted, this was the first draft and no one had any real idea how good these guys were, but that trade was terrible. And I guess it still colors how I look at Quinn who has become a serviceable starter who is having a great season but really, he's been kind of a journeyman for most of his career."
A pair of former Cleveland GM's, each of whom employed Quinn for a spell, speak a bit more favourably of the righthander.
"I always liked Quinn as he struggled with bad teams in Toronto before coming to Cleveland in a trade," said the current Detroit boss and former Cleveland GM. "I gave up Levi Redding who has been a solid young CF and a 2nd round pick for him. That worked out well for our '34 World Series team where Quinn went 17-10 with a 3.10 ERA. He didn't have success in the playoffs either season in Cleveland in 34 or 35. Still he was a key acquisition that went overlooked on the Forester's World Series winning club. I'm not sure we would have gotten over the hump if it wasn't for his contributions. He is not a superstar but in the right situation's he has been a solid #3 guy."
The current Stars GM also had Quinn for a spell in Cleveland before dealing him to Washington. "My experience with Quinn was he was either on or off," was his assessment of Quinn. "No real middle."
That explanation really does sum up Quinn's days in Washington, being alternately very good and very bad. Quinn is benefiting from an improved infield defense behind him with the Eagles this year so perhaps he will string together a few solid seasons and who knows, Quinn might well win an Allen Award this year and maybe that gives a small bit of satisfaction to those who ran the Wolves so many years ago. But no matter what he has accomplished so far in his career, and what he might still do, it is clear that his name will be forever linked to arguably the worst trade in modern FABL history.
"It doesn't matter if it was the first draft--it was still clearly a horrible trade for Toronto," surmised one Federal Association insider.
Rufus Barrell summed up Quinn's career this way: "He eventually fashioned a career for himself. He's not an ace, for sure, but I would say you're right - a good mid-rotation guy. This year he's playing way over his head. Is it luck? Depends on who you ask, I guess."
If you ask the Washington Eagles their manager Jack Dittrich will tell it like this. "I think the main difference is that he's gone from the worst defensive infield in the league to the best. For a guy who's bread and butter is the groundball, that's the main difference I've seen between him in previous years and this year."
So perhaps Eddie Quinn will get the last laugh and one day be remembered for something more than just the key piece in one of the worst trades of all time.
QUICK HITS
- Detroit's attendance a year after breaking the FABL attendance record is down about 290 fans per game this season but with the recent stretch of play since July 1st the club has been averaging well over 25,000 per game. Over 92,000 fans crammed into Thompson Field (capacity 31,500) to watch the Dynamos and Chiefs battle in a three-game series. Even when the Chiefs are having a down year they still draw in Detroit. The Dynamos feel with a pennant race this season that they could break the record they set last season.
- Boston is hanging around in the Fed race and the Minutemen made up a half game in the standings last week despite dropping two of three at home to Pittsburgh. 3 games back feels like 13 right now to Minutemen fans but in truth they have a lot of time and a number of games remaining with their two rivals in the pennant chase, although maybe that’s not a good thing in Detroit’s case. 5-11 for Boston vs Dynamos this season but 9-4 against Miners.
- Blunt assessment of the Stars from their manager Otto Schmidt. "I truly believe defense is costing us a lot of games, but I'm not sure how to quantify that exactly. Our ZR is an abysmal -26.9 (somehow only 2nd worst), terrible DEF of .669 and a whopping 147 errors. Between Ray Cochran, Joe Angevine and Moxie Pidgeon, anything batted to that side of the field is about guaranteed to be a hit. 2B Clark Car is finally playing well, Dave Trowbridge is acceptable at first. Chink Stickels in CF is still sub par and Bill Barrett is not so great in RF. Hank Jones when he is in RF isn't much better. Johnny Hopper is at least a good backstop. In other words, we suck.
- Bad news for the New York Stars as recently acquired veteran righthander William Jones is done for the season after hurting his shoulder Saturday in Montreal. It has been a rough season all around for the 35 year old who went 3-10 in Detroit despite a solid 3.56 era. A July trade brought him to the Big Apple but in 7 starts with the Stars, who counted on him to be a key piece of their pennant run down the stretch, Jones was 1-3 with a 5.36 era.
- Injury also affected a pair of young centerfielders. The Cougars Carlos Montes (.247,11,48) blew out his knee ending his season. Meanwhile Montreal learned that Dilly Ward's (.292,3,22) July shoulder injury is worse than feared and he will need surgery. There had been some slight hope the 25 year old would return late in the season but this news ends that thought for the Saints.
- The Chicago Chiefs have been on the road for the first 20 days of August--with the corresponding 7-11 (.389) record. Chicago is an inexplicable 22-36 (.379) on the road this season.
- Quick--name the two Chiefs starters with the lowest WHIP. Luis Sandoval and George Thomas. No one saw that when they looked at the Chiefs on Opening Day. One hopes this is not the beginning of the end for Rabbit Day. His WHIP of 1.64 just barely falls short of Red Hampton's 1.66 as the highest on the club. Day has had a particularly brutal August (2-2 with a 7.88 ERA). That he won 2 games is a testament to the Chicago offense.
- Hank Barnett (.299,14,72) was a big piece of that offense last week as the 30 year old Chicago second baseman won Player of the Week in the Fed. The CA winner was Dave Trowbridge (.337,12,72) who continues to amaze this season at the age of 41. Not bad for the oldest active player in FABL.
- Judging by this list it appears Chicago is the retirement community of FABL as five of the 10 oldest players in the league at the moment are either Chiefs or Cougars.
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OLDEST PLAYERS IN FABL
41 yrs 13 days Dave Trowbridge 1B Stars .337,12,72 in 102 games
40 yrs 201 days Charlie Barry 3B Boston .327,5,28 in 56 games
39 yrs 66 days Dick Lyons P Cougars 8-11, 3.42 in 24 starts
37 yrs 359 days Jim Hampton OF Chiefs .285,0,20 in 90 games
37 yrs 232 days Charlie Rich SS Chiefs .261,0,2 in 36 games
37 yrs 204 days Lou Kelly 1B Cougars .229,4,10 in 32 games
37 yrs 150 days Jack Beach P Chiefs 1-5, 8,.21 in 23 appearances
37 yrs 105 days Charlie Stedman P Pittsburgh 9-14, 3.02 in 27 starts
37 yrs 83 days Frank Vance 3B Detroit .289,7,45 in 94 games
37 yrs 34 days Joe Perret OF Brooklyn .338,2,18 in 46 games
- Toronto continues their climb to respectability, .500. Three winning sims in succession going 11-6 in the stretch gets the Wolves to 49-57 on the year. Still in 7th in the CA but climbing up in the power rankings. George Garrison's supposed short stint in Buffalo to regain his confidence & composure is not at all going to plan: his AAA numbers are worse than MLB.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 08/20/1939
- Prof. Carl Bruckhardt, the League of Nations Commissioner for Danzig denied reports out of Berlin that he had plan for a peaceful settlement of the dispute between Germany and Poland over the Free City. According to German sources the plan, which calls for the reunion of Danzig with the Reich, was to be presented this week to the British Foreign Minister but Bruckhardt says, while he did meet with Hitler, no such plan exists.
- Later in the week Nazi quarters contended that settlement of the Danzig problem is a question of days. Diplomatic activity in several locations continues but Warsaw is reporting increasing tension along a 150-mile stretch of frontier in which both Poland and Germany closed to transit or individuals.
- The German army tightened it's 'protective grip' on Slovakia with measures described by a Bratislava radio announcement as "military possession."
- Former British Prime Minister David Lloyd George insists "Hitler is not bluffing" citing the fact that the Nazis have gone too far now to back down on Danzig without striking a blow if their demands are not met.
- Growing apprehension over increased tension in Europe has caused considerable nervous selling in the stock market the past several days.
- Mixed reactions to President Roosevelt's decision to move Thanksgiving from November 30th to November 23rd this year and to have it be on the fourth Thursday of November going forward instead of the last Thursday of the month. Retail groups praised the decision, feeling it would extend the Christmas shopping season but some states, with Maine and Vermont among the most vocal, were vehemently opposed to the change. It also means changes to college football games that had been scheduled for the 30th.