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Jiggs McGee · 11-12-2021, 02:47 PM

SEPTEMBER 11, 1939

EDWARD THOMPSON, OWNER OF THE DYNAMOS, DEAD AT 72

Edward "Big Eddie" Thompson, the longtime owner of FABL's Detroit Dynamos has passed away at the age of 72. The cause of death appears to have been a massive coronary. Thompson had already had several cardiac events in the recent past and his health had been in decline for the past year or more, according to sources close to Mr. Thompson who wished to remain anonymous.

A lifelong native of Detroit, Eddie Thompson was the son of textile merchant William Thompson, known as "Big Bill" and the founder of the Detroit Dynamos who began play in 1890. Like his father, Eddie was an outsized man, both in personality and in physical terms as well. He would grow to be 6'5 and weighed (in his prime) a solid 235 pounds and earn the nickname "Big Eddie" (his future GM DD Martin would call him "Big Money" which Eddie found amusing). It was at this size that he played the position of tackle on the football team at Detroit City College in the late 1880s. His graduation in 1889 coincided with his father's formation of the Dynamos and for the rest of his life, Eddie Thompson was intimately involved with the baseball club. He worked in the front office for a decade before his father named him the Vice President of the Club. He succeeded to the Presidency and majority ownership role when his father passed away in 1904.

Among his many achievements, Thompson began dabbling in real estate and his name is on several buildings in downtown Detroit including the Thompson Hotel and, most famously, Thompson Field, which Eddie opened to much fanfare in 1915. An arena followed a decade-plus later, meaning Eddie Thompson not only owned the city's baseball club, but also owned the venue in which that club, and the city's pro football, basketball and hockey clubs also played.

Thompson was a lifelong bachelor and leaves behind no children. His 52% share of the Dynamos, according to the anonymous source, is to be split among three people; his partner (and Dynamos manager) George Theobald will receive 25% (or nearly half) of Thompson's stock, making him at 51%, the club's new majority owner. A 15% share has been left to Thompson's estranged brother, Powell Thompson of Traverse City, Michigan. Most surprising of all is the recipient of the remaining 12% of stock: Roland Barrell. Barrell, son of OSA President Rufus Barrell (and brother to several FABL players) owns the Detroit Maroons football club, which plays in Thompson Field. Barrell had become something of a protege of Mr. Thompson and the two became close. Mr. Barrell will join the Dynamos Board of Directors as a voting member (10% of the stock in the club entitles the holder to a seat on the board). Barrell was not available to comment, though his secretary did issue a statement on the death of Mr. Thompson, offering condolences to his family (Powell) and noting that the "sports world has lost a true giant, in more ways than one."

George Theobald, the new majority owner, made a brief statement before his club's game with St. Louis at Thompson Field, promising his club would "make Eddie proud and hopefully bring home both the pennant and the championship this season, in Eddie's honor." The club then went out and shellacked the visiting St. Louis Pioneers by a score of 12-0.

DYNAMOS CONTINUE HOT PLAY

That 12-0 win over St Louis the day the club learned of Thompson's death was the 8th win in the last 9 games for Detroit and allowed them to remain 4.5 games up on second place Pittsburgh as Miners fans are left stunned at the fact they could win 5 of 6 games last week and still lose a half game in the standings to Detroit. It is now a two-team race as the Boston Minutemen were swept in Detroit to start the week and finished it with a loss to Philadelphia which leaves the Minutemen 7 and a half of the pace. A dreadful 5-14 record this season head-to-head against Detroit can easily be pointed to as the cause of why Boston's stretch without a Federal Association pennant will now reach 24 years. Only Continental clubs Baltimore and Toronto have gone longer without winning a pennant.

The Fed race is going to be very interesting down the stretch. Detroit has 26 games left while Pittsburgh has 27. The Dynamo’s have played 70 home games, while the Miners have played 70 road games. With only 7 home games left Detroit is going to have to play well on the road to hang onto its 4.5 game lead. Fortunately for the Dynamos they have almost played as well on the road as they have at home (home winning % .629 while the road mark is at .603). Pittsburgh has been lights out at home 39-18 winning almost 70% of their home games .684

A cause of concern down the stretch in Detroit is Sal Pestilli's ailing shoulder. It has affected his hitting. In September he has managed just a 208 average with 1 home run and 3 RBI's allowing Boston slugging 1B Bob Donoghue the opportunity to take over the FABL home run lead with 29, 1 better than Pestilli's 28. A decision will be made on what to do with Pestilli for this week's 8 games in 7 days as it includes two double headers at the front and back of the week. If Detroit's lead was a little bigger it would be an easy decision, but with Pittsburgh still hanging around at just 4.5 games back the decision is a little more difficult. It could be said that sitting Pestilli this week before the 5 games on the road next week versus Boston and Pittsburgh might be the thing to do. Manager and now majority owner George Theobald is being tight lipped about his plans.

Like Detroit in the Fed, Cleveland's lead on the second place New York Stars atop the Continental Association also sits at 4.5 games. The Stars, perhaps spurred on by the return of 19 year old Bill Barrett over the weekend, closed the gap slightly by winning 6 of their 7 games last week including the two Barrett appeared in after missing 6 weeks with a sprained ankle. The young star went 2-for-5 with 3 rbi's over the weekend. The Foresters went 4-2 in their games last week.

IS THE PROPOSED SALE OF THE CANNONS TO CINCINNATI ALL A RUSE?

It was long overdue but Baltimore Cannons owner Oscar Banner finally stepped up and did what should have been done years ago when two weeks ago he announced that "extensive changes (will be) made this winter." My first question is a simple one. What took you so long? The Cannons have been the laughingstock of FABL for years. We are a month away from what almost assuredly will be their 6th straight last place finish in the Continental Association and they have not had a winning record since 1931. Banner has never been one to seek media attention but I do find it very curious he surfaces now to announce he has a mystery buyer in Cincinnati poised to purchase the team from him but provides no other details about this so-called secret suitor. Two weeks later it is still the best kept secret in baseball and all of my sources, in either Baltimore or Cincinnati, still claiming to have no idea who he could be.

Banner's recent press conference just seems so out of character for him. It makes sense to examine Banner's statement on the potential sale to try and discern exactly what the motivation was for making it now rather than at the end of the season or when this "gentleman in Cincinnati" is ready to come forward and make his name known. Why say you have a buyer without giving his name or having a deal in hand? What possible benefit could announcing it now have?

I don't think I am the first to wonder out loud if this entire situation is a ruse, a desperate ploy from a man who has had enough of being the owner of the worst team in baseball and just wants out. But is the problem for Banner, perhaps the fact that just maybe there is no mystery man in Cincinnati...no suitor at all to purchase the club whether he be from Cincinnati, Baltimore, Milwaukee or Timbuktu?

I can think of only one good reason Banner would reveal he has a buyer but not disclose the name of that person. It would only be if the potential purchaser from Cincinnati was a member of the Tice family. James Tice ran the club when it was a charter club in William Whitney's Century League and from what I recall he did not always see eye to eye with Whitney or some of his fellow owners, even helping form a competing league at one point. He died just prior to the merger that led to the creation of FABL. Had he not passed away many speculate Cincinnati would have been one of the 16 original clubs that were left standing and formed FABL. It is possible a Tice family member is the buyer and wants to gauge the response from those in the league towards a move to Cincinnati before the job convincing owners to allow the shift potentially becomes twice as difficult when it is revealed it is the Tice family? I do not expect there is any lingering resentment towards the Tice clan throughout the league as that was a long, long time ago but perhaps the buyer, if he exists and if indeed he is a Tice, wants to tread very lightly and drop one bomb (the move to Cincinnati) before the second one (that it is the Tice family) is revealed.

The only other possibility as I see it is perhaps Banner simply concoct the story in an attempt to stir up interest to force someone in Maryland to step forward and make an offer to purchase this pitiful excuse for a big league ball club? If so, it may have worked to perfection for Mr. Banner. Word is there are several people in Baltimore trying to find the resources to purchase the club and they have even secured the aid of Powell Slocum - the greatest Cannons player of all time - to help in that goal. Now other cities are also said to be getting involved as Milwaukee politicians are certainly talking a big game and groups in Buffalo and New Orleans are also said to have reached out to Banner. I am not saying there is no Cincinnati gentleman involved. I am just saying that IF there isn't then this is perhaps the best move Banner has ever made as owner of the Cannons. Think about it. This team is a mess and maybe if Banner tried to sell it to someone he would have no takers, but he suddenly states he has a buyer lined up in Cincinnati and panic sets in among the Baltimore crowd, suddenly worried they will lose the team forever, a team that has been theirs since 1890. Now the Cannons, that miserable losing bunch, are suddenly more valuable then they were just a moment before because there is a perceived threat the team might leave and once gone getting a big league ballclub back to Baltimore will be a very, very difficult task.

If these groups do materialize it will be interesting to see if the league even allows the club to move. No FABL team has ever relocated and the sale will require approval from a majority of the other 15 owners. In that regard New Orleans is clearly out of the running as they would be as likely as a group from Timbuktu at being able to convince other owners of the value to move the club to their city. Milwaukee is certainly a possibility and perhaps Buffalo as well. Maybe even 'competition' from Cincinnati will emerge to try and snatch the Cannons away from the mystery man. Add in a Baltimore group and Banner may have as many as four different groups bidding for the right to purchase his team, thus greatly enhancing his chances of lining his pocketbook with a lot more greenbacks that a team that has spent half a decade in last place would otherwise be worth.

And just what would the successful suitor get? Well, without a doubt the worst run organization in baseball - a club surprisingly devoid of high end talent despite picking in the top six of the draft for the past seven season and owning either the first or second overall pick each of the last five. Where does the blame for getting the Cannons in to this mess lie? Is it a bad scouting staff and management team drafting poorly, bad minor league coaching not developing the players properly or just bad luck. Probably a combination of all three but over the years a number of Baltimore draft day decisions have been widely criticized. One thing is certain about Banner's recent press conference: a lot of change is coming in the Cannons organization, one way or the other, over the winter.

CANNON FODDER

JIGGS MCGEE LOOKS AT WHAT IS AHEAD FOR THE NEXT BALTIMORE GM

Right about this time last year TWIFB lead columnist Jiggs McGee was asked to assess the New York Stars organization following the August news of a front office change. McGee felt there was plenty of young talent in the Stars system but much of it was being misused, allowed to wither at the wrong level or playing the wrong position. A new General Manager came riding in on a white horse from Cleveland and quickly turned the franchise around with some judicious trades and other tinkering. The result was in the matter of just a few months the Stars went from being one of the worst teams in baseball to contending for the Continental Association pennant. We asked Jiggs to take a look at the latest team to clean house and tell us just what sort of work lies ahead for the next man to sit in the General Manager's chair in Baltimore...or wherever the club might be located come next April.

Here is Jiggs' position by position breakdown of the Baltimore organization.

CATCHER

25 year old Joe Rainbow is the current starter. He was acquired in a 1934 deal with the Chicago Cougars that sent Lou Kelly, their best player at the time, away. That was the year the Cannons started their futility run of last place finishes and also the year they dealt everything of quality that wasn't bolted down. Rabbit Day and Ken Carpenter also were moved prior to or during the 1934 season. For those three players they received Rainbow, marginal second baseman John Bernard, Oscar King a defense first shortstop who can't hit if his life depended on it, pitcher Rusty Petrick who is still trying to discover the potential OSA saw in him when he was a top ten prospect and some others who never panned out as well as a first and a second round pick. At least Baltimore softened the blow of those trades slightly by using the picks on Jim Hensley and Fred Galloway, both of whom we will touch on later.

So Rainbow is the catcher and slowly replacing veteran Norm Whitney, a 33 year old who really should be a backup playing once or twice a week. I like Rainbow. He plays decent defense, seems to be improving his arm this season and looks like he can hit .260 or so. By no means an all-star but certainly not the weakest spot in the Cannons lineup.

Beyond him there is not a lot in the system that is major league ready but I do see a couple of interesting prospects playing in Class B right now. One is Rick York, son of former Detroit Dynamos star catcher Dick York, and a 1938 third round pick. York is having a decent season as a 19 year old in B and OSA sets him just outside the top 100. The other catcher I like is Earl Sanders, a 21 year old taken in the 5th round of the 1936 draft. He hit .256 as an everyday player at the B level a year ago but for some reason the Cannons left him at B again this season and as a result he is hardly playing as just a backup to York. Sanders should be in A ball, let him catch 100 games and see what he can do instead of leaving him to stagnate on the bench at Class B Charleston. Any good general manager knows you need to identify your top prospects and make sure they play at a level that will challenge but not overwhelm them. No other catcher in Baltimore's system is anything more than a depth player or minor league filler. Make it a priority to let both Sanders and York play and see if one of them can develop.

FIRST BASE

The current first baseman in Baltimore is 27 year old Ken Mayhugh, who came over from Boston prior to last season in the deal that sent one of the Cannons decent young pitchers in John Edwards to the Minutemen. Mayhugh is a natural third baseman but not a great one with the glove so I can see why he has been shifted to first base. What I would love to know is why can't he hit in Baltimore like he did in Boston? As a 25 year old with the Minutemen he hit 17 homers and batted .299 after a .344, 11 homer season in his first full year as a starter. Baltimore's Banner Field is more homer friendly, especially for righthanded bats like Mayhugh, then Cunningham Field in Boston but Mayhugh's slash line dropped in his first year with the Cannons and has fallen further again this season to the point where at .267/.336/.342 he is a far below average bat for a first baseman. One of the first tasks for the new man in Baltimore is to decide if Mayhugh is just having a down season or if he needs to be moved and the search can begin for a better hitting first baseman.

Baltimore also has 30 year old Bunny Stapleton (.318,5,47), who has outperformed Mayhugh at first base this season and has pretty consistently been a slightly above average contributor for his role as a reserve.

Baltimore does have what looks like a very nice first base prospect in a 22 year old by the name of Don Cress. He was selected in the third round in 1935. He won't be a power guy but might just be someone who can regularly hit over .300. What I don't like is the fact he is still just in 'A' ball. He is hitting just .274 but has a decent OPS+ so in my mind at 22 I want to challenge him a bit. I would really have loved to see Cress spend the second half of the season in AA especially considering the AA Erie team does not have a single natural first baseman on their roster and half the players at on that team are 27 or older and clearly nothing more than filler. Beyond Cress there is little at first base I see of value in the Cannons system.

My gut here says Mayhugh is not the answer but will have to do unless the Cannons either find a veteran with some pop in his bat they acquire cheaply or draft and quickly develop someone with sock in has bat to take over the role.

SECOND BASE

At the keystone in Baltimore presently we have the duo of Charlie Ross and Charlie Willis. Ross is a 24 year old who was one of those lottery players draft signings out of Central Illinois University in 1937. He put up solid numbers in AA last season and after starting this year in AAA was called up in June. He is struggling at the plate right now (.238 average) but it makes sense to let him learn on the job as he is a top thirty prospect with some decent upside. Charlie Willis is 28 and has been in the Cannons system since being selected in the 4th round of the 1933 draft. He did swat .290 in a 60 game trial last season - his first taste of the big leagues - but I don't see him anything more than as a reserve going forward.

In the system there are a pair of players with some potential. The first is Vic Frazier, who just turned 22 and was taken in the 4th round in June out of Kit Carson University. The Cannons started him in Class B and he did struggle, batting only .220 before just promoting him to AA, which I feel is a better spot to test him right now. The other player is the one I see as the Cannons future starting second sacker. Howard Rivers is young, just 19, and was their top lottery pick a year and a half ago. I liked him in the draft and I still do but he has not been utilized properly and is upset at his role in the organization because of it. Rivers was in C ball, perhaps a little too low for him but I can accept it due to his age, but what I can't accept is he started barely half the games. In July he was moved to Class B but left to sit on the bench behind Frazier before finally this past month the organization came to it's senses and made Rivers an everyday starter, pushing him up to Class A. I have said it before in this article and I will repeat it one last time- a big reason for the Cannons lack of success developing prospects is they don't develop sitting on the bench. Identify your top prospects and let them learn by being on the ballfield.

SHORTSTOP

The Cannons shortstop solution is now in AAA and probably should be called up to the big club now that the rosters have expanded for September. Jim Hensley was a first rounder selected 15th overall with a pick that came from the Gothams in the Rabbit Day deal. He has great potential and the close to two full seasons left stagnate at Class B does not seem to have done him any harm, nor did the mostly wasted 1938 campaign that saw him start just 49 games, although perhaps that was due to an overabundance of caution after a minor back injury than because of mismanagement. It matters not now as Hensley was very recently brought up to AAA and should be in Baltimore. He is a plus defender and should develop into a very solid hitter. I see him as a Frank Davis (Montreal) or Billy Hunter (Cougars) type of player, maybe a step or two below the elite guys like George Dawson or Harry Barrell but a solid starting shortstop.

Hensley would also be much better than anything the Cannons currently have. Charley McCullough is still young, just 23, and may have a future but his limitations with the glove likely mean it is better to see if he can battle for the second base job. He is having a pretty good year at the plate, at least against lefty's, and perhaps might be a solid platoon piece at second going forward if he is unable to play that position everyday. Pete Asher, a 32 year old journeyman, was recently claimed off the waiver wire in hopes he could be the other half of the platoon with McCullough and provide steady defense. Not a bad signing at no cost but I would still rather trot Hensley out there every day for the next month and see if he is ready to be a key piece next season.

There is one other intriguing shortstop in the system. 25 year old Charlie Rivera is pretty strong defensively and was hitting .254 in AAA before his recent promotion to Baltimore. He has been up a couple of times before and is off to a good start at the plate this season but his bat is likely going to keep him on the bench. I do see him as a good utility infielder and one worth developing.

THIRD BASE

27 year old Frank Covarrubias might be the closest thing the Cannons have to a star offensive player. He started 106 games as a 25 year old rookie in 1937 but lost his job last season with the acquisition of Mayhugh from Boston until recently regaining it when Mayhugh was shifted to first base.

In the same deal that netted Mayhugh the Cannons also received Denny Andrews from Boston. The 11th overall pick in 1936 out of Maryland State seems like a nice fit in Baltimore. He started the season in AAA and was having a decent season but for some reason was demoted to AA in July. He is, understandably not happy with the move and while it has not affected his production I just don't see the reasoning. I also don't see him as a big league third baseman because 1) his defense is weak but more importantly 2) where do you play Covarrubias. Andrews has some limited outfield experience so I would be trying to see what he can do with that and get him some corner outfield starts. His bat needs to be in the lineup.

OUTFIELD

I think the Cannons are set for years in center field with Fred Galloway, who made the all-star team this season as a 23 year old second year player. Solid defense and looks like a pretty dependable bat. Backup Bob Griffith is also 23 and seems to have some tools but hasn't been given much opportunity behind Galloway. The corners in Baltimore have been patrolled by a pair of average veterans in Calvin Brown and Whit Williams. Both are serviceable but really better suited to backup roles at best.

The good news is the future in right field has arrived. Mike T Taylor is 21, a 1936 first rounder ranked in the top 30 by OSA. He was hitting .329 in his first full season of AA until he was called up to Baltimore last month. He is by no means a Sal Pestilli or Bill Barrett, but should be an above average corner outfielder the Cannons can pencil in for the next decade. If Denny Andrews can provide acceptable skills in left the Cannons outfield suddenly looks pretty good in a year or so. What I would do is give Andrews a full year to play left field in AAA next season and grab a veteran (35+) corner outfielder with a bit of pop left in his bat to get you through next season and perhaps help win a few games. There are a lot of them available and if the Cannons hold out until April they might get one for nothing from the waiver wire but even a trade should not cost them much for the right guy.

You also have Otis Parker, a 20 year old fifth round pick in 1937 that may just be one of those guys who suddenly develops right after the draft. OSA loves the kid but, guess what, he spent the first half of the season only starting half the time in Class C. The Cannons finally came to their senses and have pushed him up to A and are sending him out there everyday. He might well prove to be a better outfield option than either Taylor or Andrews down the road or could be a valuable trade chip to address other needs. Another player worth watching is 22 year old Nat Drake but the 1935 second rounder must have been told to purchase a house in Charleston as he has not moved from that level in 3 years, although to be fair while his scouting report is good his numbers do not back it up.

PITCHING

With all of the early draft picks and guys ranked very high over the past few years by OSA you would think the Cannons should have the best young pitching staff in the game, but it just hasn't turned out that way. Deuce Barrell was supposed to be the second coming of Double Al the way he was talked about coming out of high school. You might recall I urged the Cannons to seriously consider trading down with Detroit to grab slugger Red Johnson with the second pick and likely land a bunch of talent from the Dynamos. I could have envisioned Detroit buying in on a draft and trade deal that would have netted Baltimore the Dynamos 1936 first rounder who turned out to be Sal Pestilli. Imagine if Pestilli and Johnson were Cannons instead of in Detroit? That is old news now but I want to add I suggested the move at the time not because I did not like Barrell, quite the contrary I was enamoured with his high school showing as much as anyone, but I recognized the Cannons needed young offense and the relative safety of an offensive prospect instead of the risk that comes with taking all these high school arms.

Flash forward a few years and Deuce is 22 years old and maybe now starting to show some of his potential. He is 11-8 this season but still just an average pitcher if you are a believer of the newfangled stats like ERA+ and FIP-. There is room for growth but with his struggles, and those of Gus Goulding, Rusty Petrick and even John Edwards who is now in Boston you have to wonder if something is broken in how the Cannons treat and develop young pitchers coming up through their system. All of these guys looked like can't miss stars but none, at least not yet, have overwhelmed us with their talent. There is of course still hope for Barrell and Goulding, who is 26. Petrick seems lost at 23 having been banished to the bullpen for a stretch and Edwards is not living up to expectations in Boston.

So it really leaves the Cannons in a mess. What should have been an extraordinary strength of the club is instead far less than even ordinary at this moment. A big chore for whoever steps in to the General Manager role in Baltimore next is to decide just which of these arms are worth keeping. As it seems to always be the case the past decade there are more highly ranked by OSA arms in the Baltimore system as well. 1939 first rounder Vic Carroll is ranked as a top 10 prospect by OSA and the 21 year old looked okay in his debut at Class A, so much so he has been pushed to AA where he appears overmatched at the moment but is likely gaining valuable experience to start next season at that level. The Cannons, as they always seemed to do, bypassed a number of solid hitting prospects to snag another pitcher in the second round in January. Jackie James is a high schooler who will likely need several years of seasoning but OSA calls him a top 100 guy as well. But getting top 100 pitching prospects has never been Baltimore's problem. Developing them in to solid major leaguers on the other hand, well that has been a tough task for the organization.

SUMMARY

I have outlined a few things the GM needs to look at such as deciding which pitchers he wants to focus on and which could possibly be trade bait, as well as adding some veteran bats to a team that ranks dead last in nearly every key stats category (although it's worth noting their pitching is at the bottom as well and just to be consistent so is there defense).

I would start by going through the minor league staff and don't be afraid to make a number of changes, especially the pitching coaches. Something has to be broken in the way the Cannons develop talent and fixing whatever it is has to be the priority although just getting prospects at the appropriate level and playing regularly is a huge first step. It also seems like there is a lot of infighting going on in the minors and morale is shot. Losing is a factor of course, and 3 of the Cannons farm teams sit in last place and only Class A Camden is better than 7th in it's league, but there may be more to it and fixing personality clashes amongst the coaching staff is much easier when it appears few of the staff members in the system are actually worth keeping.

Get a new manager at the big league level asap as well but that should go without saying. John Lawrence was a bad choice three years ago, clearly in over his head when the long-time high school manager spent just 3 sasons in Class C only to suddenly be thrust into a cancerous situation with a bad Baltimore team. A strong presence in the manager's office is a must.

Find some veterans who can help you win a few games while you wait for your plan to develop. Perhaps a bigger trade like the New York Stars, who were in a somewhat similar situation last season, pulled off to land Moxie Pidgeon from Washington but it does not need to be that dramatic. Diligent attention to the waiver wire will help as will contacting other teams about players they have who might be out of minor league options and could be added very inexpensively. The waiver signing last month of 35 year old Walter Murphy is a good example. Murphy is 2-1 with a 3.86 era in 4 starts with the Cannons. He is not the long term solution by any stretch but is a stopgap who can win you a few games and winning a few games has to happen and soon in Baltimore.

The goal for 1940 for the new GM should simply be "Don't finish last." Then try to build from there. One step at a time. It will be a long process but there are some building blocks, and perhaps some trade chips not to mention another top two draft pick likely coming in January.

1940 DRAFT PREVIEW

To complete our preliminary look at some of the top prospects available when the 1940 draft begins in January we will focus on the top high school senior position players. It is early and scouting reports will change but right now OSA feels there are a number of talented catchers available but for teams looking for a middle infielder this might not be the draft to provide much high end high school talent in that area.

1- JIMMY J. WALKER OF Linwood (PA) High School: Walker has just one season of high school ball under his belt but what a year it was as he was named an All-American and TWIFB dubbed Walker "Mr Baseball" for the state of Pennsylvania last year. He hit .512 with 19 stolen bases for Linwood High last season. Only 4 homers but OSA feels his power will improve to match would should be a solid batting average and a plus-plus eye. If Walker fulfills his potential, OSA sees multiple All-Star games in his future. Walker is certain to become the second player drafted out of Linwood High, following infielder Vern Sanders who was selected by the New York Stars in round 17 of the 1936 draft.

2- DICK BLASZAK OF Morris High School, Bronx, NY: He did not play as a freshman but is a two-time All-American with a .520 career high school average and 23 homers in 46 games. Nicknamed "The Polish Hammer" his outstanding power potential is Blaszak's greatest attribute. Great size at 6'2" and 185 lbs despite the fact he won't even turn 18 until November. OSA feels he will develop into an elite big league corner outfielder. Morris High School has produced a pair of talented players already in the post feeder era. Charley McCullough was an 8th round pick of Baltimore in 1934 and has already played 116 games for the Cannons while Joe Boyd was a third round pick of Detroit's from the school in 1935. Unfortunately injuries forced Boyd to retire at 21 after a promising 20 year old season in which he went 10-4 at Class B.

3- BILL BARNETT 1B Brunswick (OH) High School: Not to be confused with New York Stars budding superstar Bill Barrett, with whom Barnett shared a spot on the High School All-American team as sophomore in 1938. Barnett was selected to the All-American squad again last season as a junior after tying Dick Blaszak for second in the nation in homers with 11 in 21 games. His 26 homers over 3 seasons are the fifth most all-time among high school players post-feeder leagues and he still has a year left to pass them. Only Walt Messer (38), Si Crocker (32), Pete Casstevens (31) and Rich York (28) hit more. Two previous Brunswick, Ohio natives were drafted (Bob Stout 1928 24th rd and Carlos Villa 1912 10th rd) but neither ever made it to the big leagues.

4- JOHN MOSS CF Lexington (KY) High School: Moss is a cousin of veteran Chicago Chiefs outfielder Cliff Moss. Both were center fielders entering the draft but unlike Cliff, who quickly shifted to a corner, scouts project John to be an impact defender in centerfield. Good speed and very selective at the plate so might be a solid choice as a future lead-off hitter. He hit .474 with 45 walks and just 8 strikeouts in 51 career high school games during his first two seasons at Lexington High.

5- JOE RUTHERFORD OF Chillicothe (OH) High School: Three straight seasons batting over .500 including a career best .515 last year earned the 16 year old (turns 17 in October) Rutherford honourable mention status on the All-American team. Not really a power guy but Rutherford does possess blazing speed and above average contact potential. Rutherford was born in Middletown, Ohio home of Monroe Johnson who briefly played for the Cougars and Sailors in 1896. The New York Stars drafted a Middletown native each of the past two years, taking pitcher Charlie Griffith in the 10th round in 1937 and second baseman Lee Nelson with their 25th and final pick this past June.

6- LOU BAYER C Hatboro (PA) High School: The first of several very highly thought of catchers, the 17 year old Bayer is a Philadelphia native who earned honourable mention on last season's High School All-American squad. He started two years at Hatboro High and is a .447 hitter with a bit of pop, smacking 9 homers in 49 games. OSA sees him as a reliable hitter, maybe even someone who can bat .330 in his prime. Was a teammate of Tony Onofre, a third baseman the Gothams selected with their 21st round pick in June.

7- BILL GROVE 3B Swedesboro (NJ) High School: The 16 year old third baseman joins 1B Bill Barnett as the only infielders to crack the top ten. He is young (turns 17 later this month) and inexperienced (just one season of high school ball) but OSA likes his defense at the hot corner. Grove's glove, combined with a quick bat that has a knack for making hard contact should allow him to develop into a solid starting third baseman.

8- BILL PAYNE OF Noblesville (IN) High School: Born in Brooklyn but grew up in Indiana so he is a New Yorker for determining regional round eligibility. Started all 3 seasons so far, batting .503 with 8 homers in 68 games. Has plus contact ability and a good eye so he could be a second division starter according to OSA. The knock on Payne is there are questions surrounding the amount of effort he consistently puts in.

9- FRANCOIS LAURENT C Suffern (NY) High School: Canadian born catcher's bat and hustle should make him a frontrunner for an audition in the majors one day. Hit .495 as a sophomore in his first season at Suffern High but dipped to .436 a year ago. Originally from London, Ontario Laurent moved to the United States to pursue his pro dreams. He is one of a surprisingly long list of London born players to play in the pros including 6 who made the big leagues led by former Miners and Chiefs catcher John Condon, who mentored Laurent as a youth.

10- JOHNNY THACKER Portsmouth (OH) High School: West Virginia born Thacker gets the nod for the final spot just ahead of a pair of other catchers in George P Taylor and Friedrich Werner. Scouts love the intangibles about this guy: intelligent and well respected by teammates, looks like the type of player who seems certain to have a managerial career after he retires. Played just one season so far but hit .451 and scouts feel his best asset is his above average contact potential. Hails from the same hometown (Charleston, WV) as Chicago Cougars pitcher Pug Bryan.

That completes the preliminary look at OSA's top prospects. Next time we will attempt provide a preliminary mock first round ranking of the talent.

War thunder, rumbling over embattled Europe, has started to destroy sports. This, of course, is unimportant, perhaps unworthy of mention. What's sport to death and devastation around Warsaw, a torpedoed Athenia at midnight with a cargo of women and children, 200 miles off Ireland in the gray Atlantic. True, what is sport against a game in which the winner often drops an arm, leg, eyesight or reason and the loser seldom hears the cheers, no matter how courageous his stand?

Nevertheless, sport has staggered under it's first crash from the thunder and lightning of war. The Ryder Cup matches have been wiped out. Progress on the Olympic program has been suspended with the threat of complete cancellation hanging over Finland's millions, already spent. All sport has been ordered out in the warring countries and our big league hockey will certainly be scratched off the Winter program if Canada goes in? And if so, what of FABL's Continental Association? Will games continue in Toronto and Montreal over the final month of schedule or even next year?

If the war thunder rolls over into the new year the Davis Cup, for which 30 nations have clashed will go and so will the Wightman Cup, the Walker Cup, the international polo trophy and lesser baubles. Prolonged war would mean the end of Wimbledon, the British Open and Amateur gold championships, the famous English and French horse races, the European auto classics. There would be no regatta on the Thames, no international soccer with it's crowds of 150,000. Even our impending national tennis tournament, due this weekend, has already felt the effect of the present European carnage. The invaders will not be with us.

But worst of all is the slow recovery that can be expected from a drawn-out war, the comeback from the toll in human wreckage. When Mars lets loose his sinister call to war he picks the best of athletes. Even those that survive sometimes return without the physical equipment to take up where they left off or the loss of appetite for sport.

However, sports' loss is unimportant. What's there to victory or defeat in any game when women and kids and old men cringe in dark streets while sirens screech against the ominous drone of death overhead.

QUICK HITS

Plenty of talk coming out of Brooklyn linking Powell Slocum to a return to the Cannons. It all hinges of course on the team remaining in Baltimore, possibly with Slocum getting a small a piece as part of the new ownership group. Cannons skipper John Lawrence, with a record of 171-258 over his nearly three seasons at the helm, is a lame duck and certain to be one of the changes Baltimore owner Oscar Banner promises are coming but if Banner retains ownership it is doubtful Slocum would return. They did not part on the best of terms although it was more Davey Kincaid, the Baltimore manager at the time, that Slocum did not get along with prompting his request to be traded to Brooklyn. Slocum coming back to manage the Cannons would be a big coup for a new ownership group in it's efforts to win back the fan base. They would also get a pretty good manager as Slocum, with 13 years experience, has a .522 winning percentage, three pennants and a World Championship to his credit. The problem will be convincing Kings owner Daniel Prescott to let Slocum out of his contract with Brooklyn, which runs through the 191 season.
Sad news out of Detroit with Eddie Thompson's passing but the news certainly motivated the club to win one for "Big Eddie" as they blasted St Louis 12-0.
Rufus Barrell piling on the Baltimore mess in complimenting the job done in Detroit? Barrell was quoted as saying "if Baltimore is an example of how not to do a teardown & rebuild, the Dynamos are a good example of how to do it correctly. Sitting on all your prospects isn't a good idea...not to mention drafting pitchers almost exclusively... but being willing to move young guys for in-their-prime players who can help now was obviously the right thing to do."
A funny story during this sad time in Detroit. The Dynamos GM always thought Thompson's nickname was "Big Money" not "Big Eddie" GM Martin does not know exactly why he thought that but concedes it likely has something to do with frustrations early in tenure at Detroit with the small budget Thompson gave him to work with. Martin laughed and said "I swear I thought it was Big Money. Glad I never called him that to his face....although the old man might have loved that nickname."
We have another Barrell involved in FABL as Rollie, Jiggs son and the brother of 5 current or former big leaguers, is set to inherit a piece of the Dynamos club from Thompson. Most of Eddie's shares go to his longtime associate George Theobald who is also the manager of the Dynamos club. Makes the pennant race just a little more interesting as Theobald's grandson Jack and George Cleaves are key players on the Pittsburgh Miners and will be trying to prevent Gramps from a World Championship Series berth and the extra ticket revenue that comes with Series games.
Has to be tough to be a Pittsburgh Miners player this week. You feel pretty good about a 5-1 showing over the past 7 days until you realize you lost ground to Detroit, which went 6-1 over the same stretch.
Boston is the Fed team in the most despair right now. A winning record against everyone in the Fed except Detroit. The Minutemen dropped 6 games to the Dynamos the past couple of weeks and are now just 5-11 vs Detroit with last week's 3-game sweep effectively ending Boston's playoff hopes.
1915. That was the latest Minutemen pennant. Longest drought in the Fed but you think they have to be close to finally breaking through. 1B Bob Donoghue (.315,29,101) with a huge year and the same for CF Chick Donnelly (.344,11,48). Hopefully for Boston fans young 3B Mack Sutton (.214,16,60) and C Bill Van Ness (.229,3,49) break out as well next season. Pitching still fairly young. If John Edwards (5-7, 5.18) can ever live up to potential that might be the difference to get Boston over the top next season. Detroit will still be tough but Pittsburgh is getting older and might fade a little. The Gothams pitching isn’t there yet nor is St Louis quite a pennant contender either. I do think the Chiefs will be better but not as good as Boston and Detroit next season.
The Million Dollar Infield did not stay on the field long in New York. For the second year in a row Gothams shortstop Mule Monier's season ends early due to injury. This is also the 4th time this season Monier will miss games because of injury, a concern that likely contributed the team's decision to shut him down. The Gothams' SS had a solid, if not spectacluar sophomore season hitting .273/.367/.404 with 5 homers and 54 RBI.
In other Gothams rookie news, Walt Messer continues to mash his way through FABL pitchers. The 21 year old first sacker hit .375 with a homer and 3 RBI and is now .365/.396/.506 with the big club. Across the infield the Gothams proudly show the most advanced of their kid infielders. 3B Billy Dalton, a grizzled vet of 25 years has pushed his way into discussion among the top players in the FA. Dalton, though still vulnerable to LHP boats a season total of .305 with 19 homers and 75 RBI.
Not a lot of moves have panned out better than Cleveland acquiring Mel Carrol from Washington a year ago. Carrol, who hit .409 for Washington two season ago, is having another big year in Cleveland, batting .365 with 15 homers and 87 rbi's. He was a nice pickup by the old Cleveland GM, but not sure the boss still feels that way as he moved on to run the Stars and Carrol is a big reason why his new club is left chasing his old one.
Staying with Cleveland 31 year old Dan Fowler is still driving in runs - he has 20 homers and 93 rbi's on the year - but Fowler's batting average has dropped steadily the past four seasons and at .230 this year he is on pace for the lowest average of his 8 year career.
From the "How did this even happen" department. Brooklyn's Curly Jones tossed a complete game 1-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Sailors the other day but he did so while walking 11 batters. The Sailors also had 6 hits and "Wild Willie" managed to just fan 4 but he was aided by 3 Brooklyn double plays.
It's feast or famine for Keystones rookie third sacker Hank Koblenz. 3 more homers last week to give him 6 in 19 games since his promotion from AAA but Koblenz is batting just .240 with 17 Ks. "Hard Boiled Henry" was just 5-for-29 last week but with 4 extra base hits. Keystones brass had delayed calling up the 23 year old because they expected this might happen after witnessing Koblenz fan 90 times in 407 AAA at bats.
New York Stars reliever Boyd Harper picked up another win last week to set a new personal career high at 12-1 on the season. Used exclusively out of the pen his entire career the 34 year old also has 4 saves this year and 126 for his career. He is tops among active pitchers in saves and only 5 players have saved more in their career led by Stan Waters, who notched 164 for 3 teams including the Stars in a career that stretched from 1914-1927.
Doesn't look like the schedule maker did the Stars any favours to aid in their pursuit of Cleveland. This may be a rough end to the month with New York playing 17 away games then back home for 9 (including back to back double headers vs Brooklyn), then away for 2 more. On the other hand finishing with 7 games against slumping Brooklyn might just be what the Stars need to lift them over the top.
The New York Stars might break their franchise single season attendance record set back in 1932 of 1,342,362. They are drawing around 20,000 per game right now with 9 home games left. 1,289,456 is the current total.
Taking 2 of three from Cleveland last week kept Montreal's faint hopes of a pennant push alive. The Saints are 7 games back but 5 wins ahead of their preseason goal to finish .500 this year. objective was to play over 500 for the first time in the last decade and sounds like an achievable goal this far in the season.
Toronto's first round pick OF Hank Giordano proves promotion to Class A may not have been a big enough of a move as the 18 year old slashed .361/.410/.500 9 RBI first week in Davenport. "Gasser" Giordano was selected 13th overall in last January's phase one of the draft and was hitting .431 after 47 games at Class B prior to his promotion.
While Leon Blackridge has cooled off since the midsummer highs of June, his cousin, also in Washington uniform, has raked. Karl O'Reilly entered the season as an odd man out in Washington's system, being seen as a not particularly great prospect by baseball talking heads. Batting .320 with 10 stolen bases over roughly a hundred and a half at bats, he initially seemed to be borderline for a major league role, but was taken up as a pinch hitter for an offense light Washington squad.
After showing some promise in that role, he was given a shot as the starting 2nd baseman, and, as Washington fans know, he's raked, hitting .367 with 11 extra base hits for 1.4 WAR.
Karl is emblematic of a new generation of Washington players. Lean, young, and athletic, he possess all 5 tools in equal measure, and is a likely superstar of the 1940s.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 09/10/1939

The war intensifies as France opens land, air and sea operations against Germany, penetrating the Nazis western border in an effort to relieve German pressure on Poland.
A second British ship, this one a cargo ship, was sunk by a torpedo from a German sub near Scotland and a day leader Britain foils a Nazi attempted air raid of London after a ferocious dogfight in the sky over English soil
President Roosevelt formally signed a proclamation of American neutrality in the European war.
As the week progresses German forces close in on Warsaw but the French are said to be making some progress on the Nazi western front, having advanced some 9 miles in to German territory.
After reports of German submarines off the coast of Boston President Roosevelt declared a limited "national emergency" to safeguard United States neutrality and to strengthen national defense.
Over the weekend the Poles say they are holding strong in Warsaw but Field Marshall Goering claims the Poles will be beaten in one week and once that happens Germany will be fully focused on the French forces to the west.
The British Government announced it would base its policy on the assumption that the war would last at least three years.

11-12-2021, 02:47 PM	#285
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	September 1939 SEPTEMBER 11, 1939 EDWARD THOMPSON, OWNER OF THE DYNAMOS, DEAD AT 72 Edward "Big Eddie" Thompson, the longtime owner of FABL's Detroit Dynamos has passed away at the age of 72. The cause of death appears to have been a massive coronary. Thompson had already had several cardiac events in the recent past and his health had been in decline for the past year or more, according to sources close to Mr. Thompson who wished to remain anonymous. A lifelong native of Detroit, Eddie Thompson was the son of textile merchant William Thompson, known as "Big Bill" and the founder of the Detroit Dynamos who began play in 1890. Like his father, Eddie was an outsized man, both in personality and in physical terms as well. He would grow to be 6'5 and weighed (in his prime) a solid 235 pounds and earn the nickname "Big Eddie" (his future GM DD Martin would call him "Big Money" which Eddie found amusing). It was at this size that he played the position of tackle on the football team at Detroit City College in the late 1880s. His graduation in 1889 coincided with his father's formation of the Dynamos and for the rest of his life, Eddie Thompson was intimately involved with the baseball club. He worked in the front office for a decade before his father named him the Vice President of the Club. He succeeded to the Presidency and majority ownership role when his father passed away in 1904. Among his many achievements, Thompson began dabbling in real estate and his name is on several buildings in downtown Detroit including the Thompson Hotel and, most famously, Thompson Field, which Eddie opened to much fanfare in 1915. An arena followed a decade-plus later, meaning Eddie Thompson not only owned the city's baseball club, but also owned the venue in which that club, and the city's pro football, basketball and hockey clubs also played. Thompson was a lifelong bachelor and leaves behind no children. His 52% share of the Dynamos, according to the anonymous source, is to be split among three people; his partner (and Dynamos manager) George Theobald will receive 25% (or nearly half) of Thompson's stock, making him at 51%, the club's new majority owner. A 15% share has been left to Thompson's estranged brother, Powell Thompson of Traverse City, Michigan. Most surprising of all is the recipient of the remaining 12% of stock: Roland Barrell. Barrell, son of OSA President Rufus Barrell (and brother to several FABL players) owns the Detroit Maroons football club, which plays in Thompson Field. Barrell had become something of a protege of Mr. Thompson and the two became close. Mr. Barrell will join the Dynamos Board of Directors as a voting member (10% of the stock in the club entitles the holder to a seat on the board). Barrell was not available to comment, though his secretary did issue a statement on the death of Mr. Thompson, offering condolences to his family (Powell) and noting that the "sports world has lost a true giant, in more ways than one." George Theobald, the new majority owner, made a brief statement before his club's game with St. Louis at Thompson Field, promising his club would "make Eddie proud and hopefully bring home both the pennant and the championship this season, in Eddie's honor." The club then went out and shellacked the visiting St. Louis Pioneers by a score of 12-0. DYNAMOS CONTINUE HOT PLAY That 12-0 win over St Louis the day the club learned of Thompson's death was the 8th win in the last 9 games for Detroit and allowed them to remain 4.5 games up on second place Pittsburgh as Miners fans are left stunned at the fact they could win 5 of 6 games last week and still lose a half game in the standings to Detroit. It is now a two-team race as the Boston Minutemen were swept in Detroit to start the week and finished it with a loss to Philadelphia which leaves the Minutemen 7 and a half of the pace. A dreadful 5-14 record this season head-to-head against Detroit can easily be pointed to as the cause of why Boston's stretch without a Federal Association pennant will now reach 24 years. Only Continental clubs Baltimore and Toronto have gone longer without winning a pennant. The Fed race is going to be very interesting down the stretch. Detroit has 26 games left while Pittsburgh has 27. The Dynamo’s have played 70 home games, while the Miners have played 70 road games. With only 7 home games left Detroit is going to have to play well on the road to hang onto its 4.5 game lead. Fortunately for the Dynamos they have almost played as well on the road as they have at home (home winning % .629 while the road mark is at .603). Pittsburgh has been lights out at home 39-18 winning almost 70% of their home games .684 A cause of concern down the stretch in Detroit is Sal Pestilli's ailing shoulder. It has affected his hitting. In September he has managed just a 208 average with 1 home run and 3 RBI's allowing Boston slugging 1B Bob Donoghue the opportunity to take over the FABL home run lead with 29, 1 better than Pestilli's 28. A decision will be made on what to do with Pestilli for this week's 8 games in 7 days as it includes two double headers at the front and back of the week. If Detroit's lead was a little bigger it would be an easy decision, but with Pittsburgh still hanging around at just 4.5 games back the decision is a little more difficult. It could be said that sitting Pestilli this week before the 5 games on the road next week versus Boston and Pittsburgh might be the thing to do. Manager and now majority owner George Theobald is being tight lipped about his plans. Like Detroit in the Fed, Cleveland's lead on the second place New York Stars atop the Continental Association also sits at 4.5 games. The Stars, perhaps spurred on by the return of 19 year old Bill Barrett over the weekend, closed the gap slightly by winning 6 of their 7 games last week including the two Barrett appeared in after missing 6 weeks with a sprained ankle. The young star went 2-for-5 with 3 rbi's over the weekend. The Foresters went 4-2 in their games last week. IS THE PROPOSED SALE OF THE CANNONS TO CINCINNATI ALL A RUSE? It was long overdue but Baltimore Cannons owner Oscar Banner finally stepped up and did what should have been done years ago when two weeks ago he announced that "extensive changes (will be) made this winter." My first question is a simple one. What took you so long? The Cannons have been the laughingstock of FABL for years. We are a month away from what almost assuredly will be their 6th straight last place finish in the Continental Association and they have not had a winning record since 1931. Banner has never been one to seek media attention but I do find it very curious he surfaces now to announce he has a mystery buyer in Cincinnati poised to purchase the team from him but provides no other details about this so-called secret suitor. Two weeks later it is still the best kept secret in baseball and all of my sources, in either Baltimore or Cincinnati, still claiming to have no idea who he could be. Banner's recent press conference just seems so out of character for him. It makes sense to examine Banner's statement on the potential sale to try and discern exactly what the motivation was for making it now rather than at the end of the season or when this "gentleman in Cincinnati" is ready to come forward and make his name known. Why say you have a buyer without giving his name or having a deal in hand? What possible benefit could announcing it now have? I don't think I am the first to wonder out loud if this entire situation is a ruse, a desperate ploy from a man who has had enough of being the owner of the worst team in baseball and just wants out. But is the problem for Banner, perhaps the fact that just maybe there is no mystery man in Cincinnati...no suitor at all to purchase the club whether he be from Cincinnati, Baltimore, Milwaukee or Timbuktu? I can think of only one good reason Banner would reveal he has a buyer but not disclose the name of that person. It would only be if the potential purchaser from Cincinnati was a member of the Tice family. James Tice ran the club when it was a charter club in William Whitney's Century League and from what I recall he did not always see eye to eye with Whitney or some of his fellow owners, even helping form a competing league at one point. He died just prior to the merger that led to the creation of FABL. Had he not passed away many speculate Cincinnati would have been one of the 16 original clubs that were left standing and formed FABL. It is possible a Tice family member is the buyer and wants to gauge the response from those in the league towards a move to Cincinnati before the job convincing owners to allow the shift potentially becomes twice as difficult when it is revealed it is the Tice family? I do not expect there is any lingering resentment towards the Tice clan throughout the league as that was a long, long time ago but perhaps the buyer, if he exists and if indeed he is a Tice, wants to tread very lightly and drop one bomb (the move to Cincinnati) before the second one (that it is the Tice family) is revealed. The only other possibility as I see it is perhaps Banner simply concoct the story in an attempt to stir up interest to force someone in Maryland to step forward and make an offer to purchase this pitiful excuse for a big league ball club? If so, it may have worked to perfection for Mr. Banner. Word is there are several people in Baltimore trying to find the resources to purchase the club and they have even secured the aid of Powell Slocum - the greatest Cannons player of all time - to help in that goal. Now other cities are also said to be getting involved as Milwaukee politicians are certainly talking a big game and groups in Buffalo and New Orleans are also said to have reached out to Banner. I am not saying there is no Cincinnati gentleman involved. I am just saying that IF there isn't then this is perhaps the best move Banner has ever made as owner of the Cannons. Think about it. This team is a mess and maybe if Banner tried to sell it to someone he would have no takers, but he suddenly states he has a buyer lined up in Cincinnati and panic sets in among the Baltimore crowd, suddenly worried they will lose the team forever, a team that has been theirs since 1890. Now the Cannons, that miserable losing bunch, are suddenly more valuable then they were just a moment before because there is a perceived threat the team might leave and once gone getting a big league ballclub back to Baltimore will be a very, very difficult task. If these groups do materialize it will be interesting to see if the league even allows the club to move. No FABL team has ever relocated and the sale will require approval from a majority of the other 15 owners. In that regard New Orleans is clearly out of the running as they would be as likely as a group from Timbuktu at being able to convince other owners of the value to move the club to their city. Milwaukee is certainly a possibility and perhaps Buffalo as well. Maybe even 'competition' from Cincinnati will emerge to try and snatch the Cannons away from the mystery man. Add in a Baltimore group and Banner may have as many as four different groups bidding for the right to purchase his team, thus greatly enhancing his chances of lining his pocketbook with a lot more greenbacks that a team that has spent half a decade in last place would otherwise be worth. And just what would the successful suitor get? Well, without a doubt the worst run organization in baseball - a club surprisingly devoid of high end talent despite picking in the top six of the draft for the past seven season and owning either the first or second overall pick each of the last five. Where does the blame for getting the Cannons in to this mess lie? Is it a bad scouting staff and management team drafting poorly, bad minor league coaching not developing the players properly or just bad luck. Probably a combination of all three but over the years a number of Baltimore draft day decisions have been widely criticized. One thing is certain about Banner's recent press conference: a lot of change is coming in the Cannons organization, one way or the other, over the winter. CANNON FODDER JIGGS MCGEE LOOKS AT WHAT IS AHEAD FOR THE NEXT BALTIMORE GM Right about this time last year TWIFB lead columnist Jiggs McGee was asked to assess the New York Stars organization following the August news of a front office change. McGee felt there was plenty of young talent in the Stars system but much of it was being misused, allowed to wither at the wrong level or playing the wrong position. A new General Manager came riding in on a white horse from Cleveland and quickly turned the franchise around with some judicious trades and other tinkering. The result was in the matter of just a few months the Stars went from being one of the worst teams in baseball to contending for the Continental Association pennant. We asked Jiggs to take a look at the latest team to clean house and tell us just what sort of work lies ahead for the next man to sit in the General Manager's chair in Baltimore...or wherever the club might be located come next April. Here is Jiggs' position by position breakdown of the Baltimore organization. CATCHER 25 year old Joe Rainbow is the current starter. He was acquired in a 1934 deal with the Chicago Cougars that sent Lou Kelly, their best player at the time, away. That was the year the Cannons started their futility run of last place finishes and also the year they dealt everything of quality that wasn't bolted down. Rabbit Day and Ken Carpenter also were moved prior to or during the 1934 season. For those three players they received Rainbow, marginal second baseman John Bernard, Oscar King a defense first shortstop who can't hit if his life depended on it, pitcher Rusty Petrick who is still trying to discover the potential OSA saw in him when he was a top ten prospect and some others who never panned out as well as a first and a second round pick. At least Baltimore softened the blow of those trades slightly by using the picks on Jim Hensley and Fred Galloway, both of whom we will touch on later. So Rainbow is the catcher and slowly replacing veteran Norm Whitney, a 33 year old who really should be a backup playing once or twice a week. I like Rainbow. He plays decent defense, seems to be improving his arm this season and looks like he can hit .260 or so. By no means an all-star but certainly not the weakest spot in the Cannons lineup. Beyond him there is not a lot in the system that is major league ready but I do see a couple of interesting prospects playing in Class B right now. One is Rick York, son of former Detroit Dynamos star catcher Dick York, and a 1938 third round pick. York is having a decent season as a 19 year old in B and OSA sets him just outside the top 100. The other catcher I like is Earl Sanders, a 21 year old taken in the 5th round of the 1936 draft. He hit .256 as an everyday player at the B level a year ago but for some reason the Cannons left him at B again this season and as a result he is hardly playing as just a backup to York. Sanders should be in A ball, let him catch 100 games and see what he can do instead of leaving him to stagnate on the bench at Class B Charleston. Any good general manager knows you need to identify your top prospects and make sure they play at a level that will challenge but not overwhelm them. No other catcher in Baltimore's system is anything more than a depth player or minor league filler. Make it a priority to let both Sanders and York play and see if one of them can develop. FIRST BASE The current first baseman in Baltimore is 27 year old Ken Mayhugh, who came over from Boston prior to last season in the deal that sent one of the Cannons decent young pitchers in John Edwards to the Minutemen. Mayhugh is a natural third baseman but not a great one with the glove so I can see why he has been shifted to first base. What I would love to know is why can't he hit in Baltimore like he did in Boston? As a 25 year old with the Minutemen he hit 17 homers and batted .299 after a .344, 11 homer season in his first full year as a starter. Baltimore's Banner Field is more homer friendly, especially for righthanded bats like Mayhugh, then Cunningham Field in Boston but Mayhugh's slash line dropped in his first year with the Cannons and has fallen further again this season to the point where at .267/.336/.342 he is a far below average bat for a first baseman. One of the first tasks for the new man in Baltimore is to decide if Mayhugh is just having a down season or if he needs to be moved and the search can begin for a better hitting first baseman. Baltimore also has 30 year old Bunny Stapleton (.318,5,47), who has outperformed Mayhugh at first base this season and has pretty consistently been a slightly above average contributor for his role as a reserve. Baltimore does have what looks like a very nice first base prospect in a 22 year old by the name of Don Cress. He was selected in the third round in 1935. He won't be a power guy but might just be someone who can regularly hit over .300. What I don't like is the fact he is still just in 'A' ball. He is hitting just .274 but has a decent OPS+ so in my mind at 22 I want to challenge him a bit. I would really have loved to see Cress spend the second half of the season in AA especially considering the AA Erie team does not have a single natural first baseman on their roster and half the players at on that team are 27 or older and clearly nothing more than filler. Beyond Cress there is little at first base I see of value in the Cannons system. My gut here says Mayhugh is not the answer but will have to do unless the Cannons either find a veteran with some pop in his bat they acquire cheaply or draft and quickly develop someone with sock in has bat to take over the role. SECOND BASE At the keystone in Baltimore presently we have the duo of Charlie Ross and Charlie Willis. Ross is a 24 year old who was one of those lottery players draft signings out of Central Illinois University in 1937. He put up solid numbers in AA last season and after starting this year in AAA was called up in June. He is struggling at the plate right now (.238 average) but it makes sense to let him learn on the job as he is a top thirty prospect with some decent upside. Charlie Willis is 28 and has been in the Cannons system since being selected in the 4th round of the 1933 draft. He did swat .290 in a 60 game trial last season - his first taste of the big leagues - but I don't see him anything more than as a reserve going forward. In the system there are a pair of players with some potential. The first is Vic Frazier, who just turned 22 and was taken in the 4th round in June out of Kit Carson University. The Cannons started him in Class B and he did struggle, batting only .220 before just promoting him to AA, which I feel is a better spot to test him right now. The other player is the one I see as the Cannons future starting second sacker. Howard Rivers is young, just 19, and was their top lottery pick a year and a half ago. I liked him in the draft and I still do but he has not been utilized properly and is upset at his role in the organization because of it. Rivers was in C ball, perhaps a little too low for him but I can accept it due to his age, but what I can't accept is he started barely half the games. In July he was moved to Class B but left to sit on the bench behind Frazier before finally this past month the organization came to it's senses and made Rivers an everyday starter, pushing him up to Class A. I have said it before in this article and I will repeat it one last time- a big reason for the Cannons lack of success developing prospects is they don't develop sitting on the bench. Identify your top prospects and let them learn by being on the ballfield. SHORTSTOP The Cannons shortstop solution is now in AAA and probably should be called up to the big club now that the rosters have expanded for September. Jim Hensley was a first rounder selected 15th overall with a pick that came from the Gothams in the Rabbit Day deal. He has great potential and the close to two full seasons left stagnate at Class B does not seem to have done him any harm, nor did the mostly wasted 1938 campaign that saw him start just 49 games, although perhaps that was due to an overabundance of caution after a minor back injury than because of mismanagement. It matters not now as Hensley was very recently brought up to AAA and should be in Baltimore. He is a plus defender and should develop into a very solid hitter. I see him as a Frank Davis (Montreal) or Billy Hunter (Cougars) type of player, maybe a step or two below the elite guys like George Dawson or Harry Barrell but a solid starting shortstop. Hensley would also be much better than anything the Cannons currently have. Charley McCullough is still young, just 23, and may have a future but his limitations with the glove likely mean it is better to see if he can battle for the second base job. He is having a pretty good year at the plate, at least against lefty's, and perhaps might be a solid platoon piece at second going forward if he is unable to play that position everyday. Pete Asher, a 32 year old journeyman, was recently claimed off the waiver wire in hopes he could be the other half of the platoon with McCullough and provide steady defense. Not a bad signing at no cost but I would still rather trot Hensley out there every day for the next month and see if he is ready to be a key piece next season. There is one other intriguing shortstop in the system. 25 year old Charlie Rivera is pretty strong defensively and was hitting .254 in AAA before his recent promotion to Baltimore. He has been up a couple of times before and is off to a good start at the plate this season but his bat is likely going to keep him on the bench. I do see him as a good utility infielder and one worth developing. THIRD BASE 27 year old Frank Covarrubias might be the closest thing the Cannons have to a star offensive player. He started 106 games as a 25 year old rookie in 1937 but lost his job last season with the acquisition of Mayhugh from Boston until recently regaining it when Mayhugh was shifted to first base. In the same deal that netted Mayhugh the Cannons also received Denny Andrews from Boston. The 11th overall pick in 1936 out of Maryland State seems like a nice fit in Baltimore. He started the season in AAA and was having a decent season but for some reason was demoted to AA in July. He is, understandably not happy with the move and while it has not affected his production I just don't see the reasoning. I also don't see him as a big league third baseman because 1) his defense is weak but more importantly 2) where do you play Covarrubias. Andrews has some limited outfield experience so I would be trying to see what he can do with that and get him some corner outfield starts. His bat needs to be in the lineup. OUTFIELD I think the Cannons are set for years in center field with Fred Galloway, who made the all-star team this season as a 23 year old second year player. Solid defense and looks like a pretty dependable bat. Backup Bob Griffith is also 23 and seems to have some tools but hasn't been given much opportunity behind Galloway. The corners in Baltimore have been patrolled by a pair of average veterans in Calvin Brown and Whit Williams. Both are serviceable but really better suited to backup roles at best. The good news is the future in right field has arrived. Mike T Taylor is 21, a 1936 first rounder ranked in the top 30 by OSA. He was hitting .329 in his first full season of AA until he was called up to Baltimore last month. He is by no means a Sal Pestilli or Bill Barrett, but should be an above average corner outfielder the Cannons can pencil in for the next decade. If Denny Andrews can provide acceptable skills in left the Cannons outfield suddenly looks pretty good in a year or so. What I would do is give Andrews a full year to play left field in AAA next season and grab a veteran (35+) corner outfielder with a bit of pop left in his bat to get you through next season and perhaps help win a few games. There are a lot of them available and if the Cannons hold out until April they might get one for nothing from the waiver wire but even a trade should not cost them much for the right guy. You also have Otis Parker, a 20 year old fifth round pick in 1937 that may just be one of those guys who suddenly develops right after the draft. OSA loves the kid but, guess what, he spent the first half of the season only starting half the time in Class C. The Cannons finally came to their senses and have pushed him up to A and are sending him out there everyday. He might well prove to be a better outfield option than either Taylor or Andrews down the road or could be a valuable trade chip to address other needs. Another player worth watching is 22 year old Nat Drake but the 1935 second rounder must have been told to purchase a house in Charleston as he has not moved from that level in 3 years, although to be fair while his scouting report is good his numbers do not back it up. PITCHING With all of the early draft picks and guys ranked very high over the past few years by OSA you would think the Cannons should have the best young pitching staff in the game, but it just hasn't turned out that way. Deuce Barrell was supposed to be the second coming of Double Al the way he was talked about coming out of high school. You might recall I urged the Cannons to seriously consider trading down with Detroit to grab slugger Red Johnson with the second pick and likely land a bunch of talent from the Dynamos. I could have envisioned Detroit buying in on a draft and trade deal that would have netted Baltimore the Dynamos 1936 first rounder who turned out to be Sal Pestilli. Imagine if Pestilli and Johnson were Cannons instead of in Detroit? That is old news now but I want to add I suggested the move at the time not because I did not like Barrell, quite the contrary I was enamoured with his high school showing as much as anyone, but I recognized the Cannons needed young offense and the relative safety of an offensive prospect instead of the risk that comes with taking all these high school arms. Flash forward a few years and Deuce is 22 years old and maybe now starting to show some of his potential. He is 11-8 this season but still just an average pitcher if you are a believer of the newfangled stats like ERA+ and FIP-. There is room for growth but with his struggles, and those of Gus Goulding, Rusty Petrick and even John Edwards who is now in Boston you have to wonder if something is broken in how the Cannons treat and develop young pitchers coming up through their system. All of these guys looked like can't miss stars but none, at least not yet, have overwhelmed us with their talent. There is of course still hope for Barrell and Goulding, who is 26. Petrick seems lost at 23 having been banished to the bullpen for a stretch and Edwards is not living up to expectations in Boston. So it really leaves the Cannons in a mess. What should have been an extraordinary strength of the club is instead far less than even ordinary at this moment. A big chore for whoever steps in to the General Manager role in Baltimore next is to decide just which of these arms are worth keeping. As it seems to always be the case the past decade there are more highly ranked by OSA arms in the Baltimore system as well. 1939 first rounder Vic Carroll is ranked as a top 10 prospect by OSA and the 21 year old looked okay in his debut at Class A, so much so he has been pushed to AA where he appears overmatched at the moment but is likely gaining valuable experience to start next season at that level. The Cannons, as they always seemed to do, bypassed a number of solid hitting prospects to snag another pitcher in the second round in January. Jackie James is a high schooler who will likely need several years of seasoning but OSA calls him a top 100 guy as well. But getting top 100 pitching prospects has never been Baltimore's problem. Developing them in to solid major leaguers on the other hand, well that has been a tough task for the organization. SUMMARY I have outlined a few things the GM needs to look at such as deciding which pitchers he wants to focus on and which could possibly be trade bait, as well as adding some veteran bats to a team that ranks dead last in nearly every key stats category (although it's worth noting their pitching is at the bottom as well and just to be consistent so is there defense). I would start by going through the minor league staff and don't be afraid to make a number of changes, especially the pitching coaches. Something has to be broken in the way the Cannons develop talent and fixing whatever it is has to be the priority although just getting prospects at the appropriate level and playing regularly is a huge first step. It also seems like there is a lot of infighting going on in the minors and morale is shot. Losing is a factor of course, and 3 of the Cannons farm teams sit in last place and only Class A Camden is better than 7th in it's league, but there may be more to it and fixing personality clashes amongst the coaching staff is much easier when it appears few of the staff members in the system are actually worth keeping. Get a new manager at the big league level asap as well but that should go without saying. John Lawrence was a bad choice three years ago, clearly in over his head when the long-time high school manager spent just 3 sasons in Class C only to suddenly be thrust into a cancerous situation with a bad Baltimore team. A strong presence in the manager's office is a must. Find some veterans who can help you win a few games while you wait for your plan to develop. Perhaps a bigger trade like the New York Stars, who were in a somewhat similar situation last season, pulled off to land Moxie Pidgeon from Washington but it does not need to be that dramatic. Diligent attention to the waiver wire will help as will contacting other teams about players they have who might be out of minor league options and could be added very inexpensively. The waiver signing last month of 35 year old Walter Murphy is a good example. Murphy is 2-1 with a 3.86 era in 4 starts with the Cannons. He is not the long term solution by any stretch but is a stopgap who can win you a few games and winning a few games has to happen and soon in Baltimore. The goal for 1940 for the new GM should simply be "Don't finish last." Then try to build from there. One step at a time. It will be a long process but there are some building blocks, and perhaps some trade chips not to mention another top two draft pick likely coming in January. 1940 DRAFT PREVIEW To complete our preliminary look at some of the top prospects available when the 1940 draft begins in January we will focus on the top high school senior position players. It is early and scouting reports will change but right now OSA feels there are a number of talented catchers available but for teams looking for a middle infielder this might not be the draft to provide much high end high school talent in that area. 1- JIMMY J. WALKER OF Linwood (PA) High School: Walker has just one season of high school ball under his belt but what a year it was as he was named an All-American and TWIFB dubbed Walker "Mr Baseball" for the state of Pennsylvania last year. He hit .512 with 19 stolen bases for Linwood High last season. Only 4 homers but OSA feels his power will improve to match would should be a solid batting average and a plus-plus eye. If Walker fulfills his potential, OSA sees multiple All-Star games in his future. Walker is certain to become the second player drafted out of Linwood High, following infielder Vern Sanders who was selected by the New York Stars in round 17 of the 1936 draft. 2- DICK BLASZAK OF Morris High School, Bronx, NY: He did not play as a freshman but is a two-time All-American with a .520 career high school average and 23 homers in 46 games. Nicknamed "The Polish Hammer" his outstanding power potential is Blaszak's greatest attribute. Great size at 6'2" and 185 lbs despite the fact he won't even turn 18 until November. OSA feels he will develop into an elite big league corner outfielder. Morris High School has produced a pair of talented players already in the post feeder era. Charley McCullough was an 8th round pick of Baltimore in 1934 and has already played 116 games for the Cannons while Joe Boyd was a third round pick of Detroit's from the school in 1935. Unfortunately injuries forced Boyd to retire at 21 after a promising 20 year old season in which he went 10-4 at Class B. 3- BILL BARNETT 1B Brunswick (OH) High School: Not to be confused with New York Stars budding superstar Bill Barrett, with whom Barnett shared a spot on the High School All-American team as sophomore in 1938. Barnett was selected to the All-American squad again last season as a junior after tying Dick Blaszak for second in the nation in homers with 11 in 21 games. His 26 homers over 3 seasons are the fifth most all-time among high school players post-feeder leagues and he still has a year left to pass them. Only Walt Messer (38), Si Crocker (32), Pete Casstevens (31) and Rich York (28) hit more. Two previous Brunswick, Ohio natives were drafted (Bob Stout 1928 24th rd and Carlos Villa 1912 10th rd) but neither ever made it to the big leagues. 4- JOHN MOSS CF Lexington (KY) High School: Moss is a cousin of veteran Chicago Chiefs outfielder Cliff Moss. Both were center fielders entering the draft but unlike Cliff, who quickly shifted to a corner, scouts project John to be an impact defender in centerfield. Good speed and very selective at the plate so might be a solid choice as a future lead-off hitter. He hit .474 with 45 walks and just 8 strikeouts in 51 career high school games during his first two seasons at Lexington High. 5- JOE RUTHERFORD OF Chillicothe (OH) High School: Three straight seasons batting over .500 including a career best .515 last year earned the 16 year old (turns 17 in October) Rutherford honourable mention status on the All-American team. Not really a power guy but Rutherford does possess blazing speed and above average contact potential. Rutherford was born in Middletown, Ohio home of Monroe Johnson who briefly played for the Cougars and Sailors in 1896. The New York Stars drafted a Middletown native each of the past two years, taking pitcher Charlie Griffith in the 10th round in 1937 and second baseman Lee Nelson with their 25th and final pick this past June. 6- LOU BAYER C Hatboro (PA) High School: The first of several very highly thought of catchers, the 17 year old Bayer is a Philadelphia native who earned honourable mention on last season's High School All-American squad. He started two years at Hatboro High and is a .447 hitter with a bit of pop, smacking 9 homers in 49 games. OSA sees him as a reliable hitter, maybe even someone who can bat .330 in his prime. Was a teammate of Tony Onofre, a third baseman the Gothams selected with their 21st round pick in June. 7- BILL GROVE 3B Swedesboro (NJ) High School: The 16 year old third baseman joins 1B Bill Barnett as the only infielders to crack the top ten. He is young (turns 17 later this month) and inexperienced (just one season of high school ball) but OSA likes his defense at the hot corner. Grove's glove, combined with a quick bat that has a knack for making hard contact should allow him to develop into a solid starting third baseman. 8- BILL PAYNE OF Noblesville (IN) High School: Born in Brooklyn but grew up in Indiana so he is a New Yorker for determining regional round eligibility. Started all 3 seasons so far, batting .503 with 8 homers in 68 games. Has plus contact ability and a good eye so he could be a second division starter according to OSA. The knock on Payne is there are questions surrounding the amount of effort he consistently puts in. 9- FRANCOIS LAURENT C Suffern (NY) High School: Canadian born catcher's bat and hustle should make him a frontrunner for an audition in the majors one day. Hit .495 as a sophomore in his first season at Suffern High but dipped to .436 a year ago. Originally from London, Ontario Laurent moved to the United States to pursue his pro dreams. He is one of a surprisingly long list of London born players to play in the pros including 6 who made the big leagues led by former Miners and Chiefs catcher John Condon, who mentored Laurent as a youth. 10- JOHNNY THACKER Portsmouth (OH) High School: West Virginia born Thacker gets the nod for the final spot just ahead of a pair of other catchers in George P Taylor and Friedrich Werner. Scouts love the intangibles about this guy: intelligent and well respected by teammates, looks like the type of player who seems certain to have a managerial career after he retires. Played just one season so far but hit .451 and scouts feel his best asset is his above average contact potential. Hails from the same hometown (Charleston, WV) as Chicago Cougars pitcher Pug Bryan. That completes the preliminary look at OSA's top prospects. Next time we will attempt provide a preliminary mock first round ranking of the talent. War thunder, rumbling over embattled Europe, has started to destroy sports. This, of course, is unimportant, perhaps unworthy of mention. What's sport to death and devastation around Warsaw, a torpedoed Athenia at midnight with a cargo of women and children, 200 miles off Ireland in the gray Atlantic. True, what is sport against a game in which the winner often drops an arm, leg, eyesight or reason and the loser seldom hears the cheers, no matter how courageous his stand? Nevertheless, sport has staggered under it's first crash from the thunder and lightning of war. The Ryder Cup matches have been wiped out. Progress on the Olympic program has been suspended with the threat of complete cancellation hanging over Finland's millions, already spent. All sport has been ordered out in the warring countries and our big league hockey will certainly be scratched off the Winter program if Canada goes in? And if so, what of FABL's Continental Association? Will games continue in Toronto and Montreal over the final month of schedule or even next year? If the war thunder rolls over into the new year the Davis Cup, for which 30 nations have clashed will go and so will the Wightman Cup, the Walker Cup, the international polo trophy and lesser baubles. Prolonged war would mean the end of Wimbledon, the British Open and Amateur gold championships, the famous English and French horse races, the European auto classics. There would be no regatta on the Thames, no international soccer with it's crowds of 150,000. Even our impending national tennis tournament, due this weekend, has already felt the effect of the present European carnage. The invaders will not be with us. But worst of all is the slow recovery that can be expected from a drawn-out war, the comeback from the toll in human wreckage. When Mars lets loose his sinister call to war he picks the best of athletes. Even those that survive sometimes return without the physical equipment to take up where they left off or the loss of appetite for sport. However, sports' loss is unimportant. What's there to victory or defeat in any game when women and kids and old men cringe in dark streets while sirens screech against the ominous drone of death overhead. QUICK HITS Plenty of talk coming out of Brooklyn linking Powell Slocum to a return to the Cannons. It all hinges of course on the team remaining in Baltimore, possibly with Slocum getting a small a piece as part of the new ownership group. Cannons skipper John Lawrence, with a record of 171-258 over his nearly three seasons at the helm, is a lame duck and certain to be one of the changes Baltimore owner Oscar Banner promises are coming but if Banner retains ownership it is doubtful Slocum would return. They did not part on the best of terms although it was more Davey Kincaid, the Baltimore manager at the time, that Slocum did not get along with prompting his request to be traded to Brooklyn. Slocum coming back to manage the Cannons would be a big coup for a new ownership group in it's efforts to win back the fan base. They would also get a pretty good manager as Slocum, with 13 years experience, has a .522 winning percentage, three pennants and a World Championship to his credit. The problem will be convincing Kings owner Daniel Prescott to let Slocum out of his contract with Brooklyn, which runs through the 191 season. Sad news out of Detroit with Eddie Thompson's passing but the news certainly motivated the club to win one for "Big Eddie" as they blasted St Louis 12-0. Rufus Barrell piling on the Baltimore mess in complimenting the job done in Detroit? Barrell was quoted as saying "if Baltimore is an example of how not to do a teardown & rebuild, the Dynamos are a good example of how to do it correctly. Sitting on all your prospects isn't a good idea...not to mention drafting pitchers almost exclusively... but being willing to move young guys for in-their-prime players who can help now was obviously the right thing to do." A funny story during this sad time in Detroit. The Dynamos GM always thought Thompson's nickname was "Big Money" not "Big Eddie" GM Martin does not know exactly why he thought that but concedes it likely has something to do with frustrations early in tenure at Detroit with the small budget Thompson gave him to work with. Martin laughed and said "I swear I thought it was Big Money. Glad I never called him that to his face....although the old man might have loved that nickname." We have another Barrell involved in FABL as Rollie, Jiggs son and the brother of 5 current or former big leaguers, is set to inherit a piece of the Dynamos club from Thompson. Most of Eddie's shares go to his longtime associate George Theobald who is also the manager of the Dynamos club. Makes the pennant race just a little more interesting as Theobald's grandson Jack and George Cleaves are key players on the Pittsburgh Miners and will be trying to prevent Gramps from a World Championship Series berth and the extra ticket revenue that comes with Series games. Has to be tough to be a Pittsburgh Miners player this week. You feel pretty good about a 5-1 showing over the past 7 days until you realize you lost ground to Detroit, which went 6-1 over the same stretch. Boston is the Fed team in the most despair right now. A winning record against everyone in the Fed except Detroit. The Minutemen dropped 6 games to the Dynamos the past couple of weeks and are now just 5-11 vs Detroit with last week's 3-game sweep effectively ending Boston's playoff hopes. 1915. That was the latest Minutemen pennant. Longest drought in the Fed but you think they have to be close to finally breaking through. 1B Bob Donoghue (.315,29,101) with a huge year and the same for CF Chick Donnelly (.344,11,48). Hopefully for Boston fans young 3B Mack Sutton (.214,16,60) and C Bill Van Ness (.229,3,49) break out as well next season. Pitching still fairly young. If John Edwards (5-7, 5.18) can ever live up to potential that might be the difference to get Boston over the top next season. Detroit will still be tough but Pittsburgh is getting older and might fade a little. The Gothams pitching isn’t there yet nor is St Louis quite a pennant contender either. I do think the Chiefs will be better but not as good as Boston and Detroit next season. The Million Dollar Infield did not stay on the field long in New York. For the second year in a row Gothams shortstop Mule Monier's season ends early due to injury. This is also the 4th time this season Monier will miss games because of injury, a concern that likely contributed the team's decision to shut him down. The Gothams' SS had a solid, if not spectacluar sophomore season hitting .273/.367/.404 with 5 homers and 54 RBI. In other Gothams rookie news, Walt Messer continues to mash his way through FABL pitchers. The 21 year old first sacker hit .375 with a homer and 3 RBI and is now .365/.396/.506 with the big club. Across the infield the Gothams proudly show the most advanced of their kid infielders. 3B Billy Dalton, a grizzled vet of 25 years has pushed his way into discussion among the top players in the FA. Dalton, though still vulnerable to LHP boats a season total of .305 with 19 homers and 75 RBI. Not a lot of moves have panned out better than Cleveland acquiring Mel Carrol from Washington a year ago. Carrol, who hit .409 for Washington two season ago, is having another big year in Cleveland, batting .365 with 15 homers and 87 rbi's. He was a nice pickup by the old Cleveland GM, but not sure the boss still feels that way as he moved on to run the Stars and Carrol is a big reason why his new club is left chasing his old one. Staying with Cleveland 31 year old Dan Fowler is still driving in runs - he has 20 homers and 93 rbi's on the year - but Fowler's batting average has dropped steadily the past four seasons and at .230 this year he is on pace for the lowest average of his 8 year career. From the "How did this even happen" department. Brooklyn's Curly Jones tossed a complete game 1-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Sailors the other day but he did so while walking 11 batters. The Sailors also had 6 hits and "Wild Willie" managed to just fan 4 but he was aided by 3 Brooklyn double plays. It's feast or famine for Keystones rookie third sacker Hank Koblenz. 3 more homers last week to give him 6 in 19 games since his promotion from AAA but Koblenz is batting just .240 with 17 Ks. "Hard Boiled Henry" was just 5-for-29 last week but with 4 extra base hits. Keystones brass had delayed calling up the 23 year old because they expected this might happen after witnessing Koblenz fan 90 times in 407 AAA at bats. New York Stars reliever Boyd Harper picked up another win last week to set a new personal career high at 12-1 on the season. Used exclusively out of the pen his entire career the 34 year old also has 4 saves this year and 126 for his career. He is tops among active pitchers in saves and only 5 players have saved more in their career led by Stan Waters, who notched 164 for 3 teams including the Stars in a career that stretched from 1914-1927. Doesn't look like the schedule maker did the Stars any favours to aid in their pursuit of Cleveland. This may be a rough end to the month with New York playing 17 away games then back home for 9 (including back to back double headers vs Brooklyn), then away for 2 more. On the other hand finishing with 7 games against slumping Brooklyn might just be what the Stars need to lift them over the top. The New York Stars might break their franchise single season attendance record set back in 1932 of 1,342,362. They are drawing around 20,000 per game right now with 9 home games left. 1,289,456 is the current total. Taking 2 of three from Cleveland last week kept Montreal's faint hopes of a pennant push alive. The Saints are 7 games back but 5 wins ahead of their preseason goal to finish .500 this year. objective was to play over 500 for the first time in the last decade and sounds like an achievable goal this far in the season. Toronto's first round pick OF Hank Giordano proves promotion to Class A may not have been a big enough of a move as the 18 year old slashed .361/.410/.500 9 RBI first week in Davenport. "Gasser" Giordano was selected 13th overall in last January's phase one of the draft and was hitting .431 after 47 games at Class B prior to his promotion. While Leon Blackridge has cooled off since the midsummer highs of June, his cousin, also in Washington uniform, has raked. Karl O'Reilly entered the season as an odd man out in Washington's system, being seen as a not particularly great prospect by baseball talking heads. Batting .320 with 10 stolen bases over roughly a hundred and a half at bats, he initially seemed to be borderline for a major league role, but was taken up as a pinch hitter for an offense light Washington squad. After showing some promise in that role, he was given a shot as the starting 2nd baseman, and, as Washington fans know, he's raked, hitting .367 with 11 extra base hits for 1.4 WAR. Karl is emblematic of a new generation of Washington players. Lean, young, and athletic, he possess all 5 tools in equal measure, and is a likely superstar of the 1940s. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 09/10/1939 The war intensifies as France opens land, air and sea operations against Germany, penetrating the Nazis western border in an effort to relieve German pressure on Poland. A second British ship, this one a cargo ship, was sunk by a torpedo from a German sub near Scotland and a day leader Britain foils a Nazi attempted air raid of London after a ferocious dogfight in the sky over English soil President Roosevelt formally signed a proclamation of American neutrality in the European war. As the week progresses German forces close in on Warsaw but the French are said to be making some progress on the Nazi western front, having advanced some 9 miles in to German territory. After reports of German submarines off the coast of Boston President Roosevelt declared a limited "national emergency" to safeguard United States neutrality and to strengthen national defense. Over the weekend the Poles say they are holding strong in Warsaw but Field Marshall Goering claims the Poles will be beaten in one week and once that happens Germany will be fully focused on the French forces to the west. The British Government announced it would base its policy on the assumption that the war would last at least three years. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports