[Jiggs McGee]

OCTOBER 9, 1939

MINERS AND STARS SURVIVE TIGHT PENNANT RACES

It went right down to the final out but the Pittsburgh Miners won their second Federal Association pennant in the past three years as they held off the Detroit Dynamos by a single game. While Detroit was completing a 3-game sweep of the New York Gothams in their season ending series including a 4-2 win in Sunday's finale, the Miners were trying desperately to hold on to beat the Washington Eagles and preserve their 1 game lead. It looked like Sunday's game would be spent celebrating the impending pennant after Pittsburgh struck for 4 runs in the bottom of the first inning and by the end of seven enjoyed a 6-0 lead on the Eagles. However, Washington decided to create some very tense moments for Miners fans as the Eagles plated 4 in the 8th inning and then quickly added one more in the top of the ninth with just one out. A throwing error by catcher George Cleaves on a Jim Hanshaw stolen base attempt allowed the Washington outfielder, who represented the tying run, to move to third base with just one away but Pittsburgh starter Charlie Stedman, who went the distance, settled down and induced a pop out and a ground out to end the season and with it Detroit's hopes for a 1-game playoff to become necessary.

Detroit could have had the playoff game, which would have been the second in team history, had they not stumbled in Chicago earlier in the week. The Dynamos dropped a pair of 1-run games to the Chiefs which left them 2 back of Pittsburgh entering the final weekend series. Rookie Sam Vaughan was outstanding for Chicago in a 3-2 victory that required 11 innings in the series opener and Tom Bird's 7th inning rbi single was the difference in a 4-3 Chicago win the next day. One can't help but wonder how different Detroit's fortunes might have been had Sal Pestilli been healthy and available for those two games. Pestilli, who has been slowed by a sore shoulder for over a month, did get a clean bill of health heading into the final weekend against the Gothams but even a Detroit sweep was not quite enough to catch the Miners and for the second year in a row the Dynamos win over 90 games but have to settle for second place.

STARS CLAIM PENNANT TO CAP OFF MIRACLE SEASON

The New York Stars won 5 of their final 6 games to end the season while the Cleveland Foresters collapsed, dropping their last four and six of their final seven games, capping a surprsing season that saw the Stars rise to the top of the Continental Association after finishing a distant 6th a year ago. Many are still wondering how the Stars did it. They were only third in run differential and well behind the Chicago Cougars, who ended the season in third place, and the second place Foresters. New York was 5th in the CA in both runs scored and runs against. There defense wasn't very good. They were 5th in batting average and just 4th in on base percentage yet at the end of the year there they were - atop the Continental Association with an 87-67 record, a 16 game improvement on last season and two games better than the Foresters. Perhaps their 26-12 record in 1-run games and 9-3 in extra innings was what tilted the balance in their favour.

Cleveland clearly shot itself in the foot or maybe more succinctly suffered a fractured foot...the one belonging to shortstop George Dawson with a week and a half remaining in the season. The morning before the game in which Dawson went down the Foresters had a 4.5 game lead on the second place Stars but it disappeared quickly. New York walked into Forester Stadium and spanked the hometown boys three straight games to cut the deficit to just 1.5 games. Cleveland recovered by taking 3 out of 4 from Philadelphia last weekend but the Stars did the same against Brooklyn. On Monday, an off-day for the Foresters the Stars dropped to 2 games back when Art White tossed a 3-hit shutout to give Brooklyn a 1-0 win over the Stars and perhaps a small measure of revenge for the times in recent years the Stars had spoiled the Kings pennant hopes.

As it turned out the Stars pennant celebration was not derailed at all. New York would win 4 straight at home, two each over Baltimore and Montreal while Cleveland collapsed dropping 2 of 3 to Toronto and then the opener of their 3 game season ending series in Philadelphia which meant the New York Stars were now up 1 game with 2 remaining in the season.

The Cleveland collapse continued on Saturday as Rube McCormick, who had pitched a whale of game up to that point, issued a walk-off bases loaded walk to Wilbur Hodges in the bottom of the ninth to hand the Philadelphia Sailors a 3-2 victory. At the same time the Stars were blasting Brooklyn 10-2 at Kings County and clinching their first pennant since 1932 but 9th in team history equaling the Chicago Cougars for the most all-time.

You could blame the Cleveland collapse on the absence of Dawson as his replacement Don Sprague went 2-for-20 the final week but it really was much more than that. It was almost like the Foresters were not meant to win and this season, and the story it will write, belonged to the New York Stars. A team with a first year General Manager, who came from Cleveland of all places, to lead his charges out of the depths of several awful seasons back to the pinnacle of success. Everyone kept waiting for the Stars to fade. 'They just weren't good enough to sustain this' they cried. 'Their luck has to run out,' they decreed. Well, it hasn't yet and who knows maybe they have enough luck remaining in their magical season to pull out 4 more victories despite being huge underdogs to beat the Pittsburgh Miners.

MINERS HEAVY FAVOURITES TO WIN SERIES BUT STARS WOULDN'T WANT IT ANY OTHER WAY

The Pittsburgh Miners do not have the greatest track record in World Championship Series play. In fact, it is downright awful as they are 1-7 all-time in series against the Continental Association champ. It traces back to 1898 when they won the Fed crown four straight years but lost the first 3 WCS they appeared in - falling to Toronto that first season and the Chicago Cougars the next two before finally sweeping the Cleveland Foresters in 1901 for their first, and so far only, WCS title. They were back in 1907 but lost to Baltimore in 6 games that year as the Clippers (The Cannons were known as the Clippers back then) won their first of back to back titles. It would be 1924 before the Miners got back to the Series and their opponent, like it will be this season, was the New York Stars. The Stars were a budding dynasty at the time and beat Pittsburgh easily in 5 games to win the first of what would be three consecutive WCS titles for New York. Pittsburgh fans then had to wait patiently until 1937 - two years ago when the Miners won the opener of their series with Brooklyn and seemed to be coasting to a game two victory before the wheels fell off and the Kings prevailed in 5 games.

So here we are again as Pittsburgh prepares once more to try and win it's second World Championship Series. The New York Stars are clear underdogs this season against the heavily favoured Miners but the Stars not only have a dream-like season on the go, they also have history on their side. New York has now won 9 pennants, tied with the Chicago Cougars for the most all-time, and they also have great success in the post-season. The Stars own 7 WCS titles from their previous 8 appearances with the lone lose coming in 1903 to Boston, a year after New York had beaten the Minutemen for their first title. They would top the Minutemen again in both 1906 and 1907 and then win three straight starting in 1924, when they beat Pittsburgh. Washington would be the Stars 1925 victim with the New York Gothams succumbing in 1926. The most recent win for the Stars came in 1932 when they downed the Philadelphia Keystones in 4 straight games. All time in Series games the Stars have a 28-14 record. Pittsburgh is 10-20. But none of that matters to any of the players on the field or it seems to most members of the media who all in unison declare Pittsburgh to be the certain winner of the series.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES PREDICTIONS

Here is a sampling from some of the papers around the league:
Jiggs McGee: This Week in Figment Baseball: MINERS IN 5
Everything in my head tells me the Miners should win this thing easily. Their offense is dominant, especially against righthanders and that's really all New York can throw against them. Yes the Stars have Dave Trowbridge (.351,18,113) playing like he is ten years younger and Moxie Pidgeon (.296,21,99) who delivered another Moxie-like season. Maybe Bill Barrett (.289,14,66) will have his coming out party on the big stage of the Series. But even if all 3 have huge series how do you compete with the Miners group of George Cleaves (.344,18,126), Joe Owens (.339,11,57), Mahlon Strong (.339,19,106), Lew Seals (.260,18,92), Pablo Reyes (.307,6,93) and Les Tucker (.265,8,71). And that is without Jack Cleaves who will miss the Series with an injury. Then New York has to deal with Lefty Allen (24-8), Karl Johnson (23-10) and hard-luck Charlie Stedman (13-20) who is much better than his record indicates. This should be a rout but then my gut tells me the Stars are a team of destiny. They had no business winning the CA pennant and they clearly have no business winning the World Championship Series, but I would not be completely surprised if they somehow did. Yet, if I have to put my hard earned greenbacks on the line I would still have to say Pittsburgh in five.

PITTSBURGH PRESS: MINERS IN SIX
The Stars may be a team of destiny but you have to like our Miners chances especially with all the righties on the New York pitching staff.

NEW YORK MIRROR: MINERS IN SIX
Lefty Allen and Charlie Stedman are going to kill the Stars. Even looking at the 'worst' player in the Miners starting lineup has New York pitchers sweating. How did they not win 110 games this season with that team? Pittsburgh is at least twice as talented as NY. My guess is all the Miners have to do is hit the ball to the left side of the field and we'll be helpless as Cochran and Moxy cant catch a cold.

Kind of eye opening going through the players but hopefully the Stars can step up and play like fire. Or maybe Otto Schmidt, the first year Stats manager knows some secrets about his old club. Schmidt was the Miners bench coach the previous two seasons including 1937 when they reached the Series but lost to Brooklyn.

FREDDIE FARHAT: Detroit World : MINERS IN FIVE
I've always felt whoever came out of the rough and tumble Fed would dominate the Series. No reason to change now so I am going with Miners in 5 and would not be shocked at a sweep. It just feels like the Miners, who had overall very good health this season are on a mission with some of their veteran players. They just missed a couple of years ago, now’s the time.

PERCY SUTHERLAND : Chicago Herald-Examiner: MINERS IN FIVE

RUFUS BARRELL: Retired Director of OSA: MINERS IN FIVE
Miners should win this. But you know the saying about anything being possible.... Still, if I were betting, I'd say Miners in 5, maybe 6.

WILLIAM 'DOC' SHAW Boston Globe: MINERS IN SIX
Ol’ Doc was looking at the series matchup this morning and feels that it is a bit premature to be sending the trophy to Pittsburgh just yet. According to my numbers many people are discounting what the Stars can do that the Miners cannot. The Stars are .532 on the road this season, .750 in extra inning ball games, .684 in one-run games and .550 against left handed pitchers. All of these numbers are much better than what Pittsburgh has to offer. Unfortunately for the Stars however, is that the Miners murder right handed pitching and the Stars rotation is loaded with right handed arms. In Ol’ Doc’s opinion that will be the difference as he predicts that the series will be won by the Miners in six games but expects the games to be tightly contested.

WASHINGTON TIMES HERALD : STARS IN SEVEN

BASEBALL NEWS NETWORK: MINERS WIN SERIES BIG
BNN simulated a 1000 game series using a dice and board game and it was a resounding victory for the Miners by a 609-392 score. It expects Dave Trowbridge to have a good Series for NY and Mahlon Strong & George Cleaves to lead the Miners. No real surprises there, I guess. Old Man Trowbridge still has it apparently. As a side not imagine the time needed to sim out 1000 games with dice. Maybe one day a device can be invented to automatically do it quickly.

OSA PRESIDENT RUFUS BARRELL RETIRES

Rufus Barrell, the legendary scouting "guru" who co-founded and has headed up the Omni Scouting Association for over 25 years, has announced his retirement. "Time for this old bird dog to hang up his binoculars and go home to the farm," Barrell told assembled reporters at the OSA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

Rufus Barrell was born in the small town of Egypt, Georgia on June 11, 1873. From an early age he was a devout disciple of baseball and by his teenage years had become a fearsome pitcher in northeastern Georgia. Packing up a cardboard suitcase with his meager belongings, Barrell left the family farm at the age of 16 to try his hand as a professional ballplayer. He spent two seasons with Savannah in the independent leagues, one of which was outstanding, before being signed by the Brooklyn Kings in 1891. A hard-hit line drive off the bat of the Gothams' George Blankenship in a late March exhibition before what would have been Barrell's rookie season in 1892 fractured the pitcher's skull and ended his career before it truly began.

It was then that Kings' owner Malcolm Presley performed an act of kindness that ended up shaping the future of FABL scouting when he hired the former pitcher as a scout for the Kings. Barrell spent a decade beating the bushes for Brooklyn and his humble, friendly nature and keen eye made him both a popular fellow with virtually everyone in baseball as well as one of the sport's best scouts. Eventually Barrell was approached by Thomas Potentas, the Polish emigre who had a vision for a centralized scouting bureau to serve all of FABL. OSA was born, and Barrell has guided it through its first 25-plus years.
Barrell is also the father of several current FABL players (Fred, Harry and Tom Barrell of the Kings and Bobby Barrell of the Keystones) as well as former King Dan Barrell, and former minor leaguer (and professional hockey star) Jack Barrell and the grandfather of young Cannons pitcher Deuce Barrell (whose legal name is Rufus Barrell II).

Barrell also announced that his son, the aforementioned former King first baseman Dan Barrell, will replace him as President of the OSA, managing the scouting side while Thomas Potentas retains his role as the business head of the bureau.

FABL PRESIDENT WEIGHS IN ON POTENTIAL CANNON MOVE

AP- FABL President Sam Benton, on hand to make remarks about the retirement of OSA President Rufus Barrell was asked by famed sports columnist Jiggs McGee about the rumored sale of the Baltimore Cannons.
"There has been no paperwork submitted by any party concerning the sale of the Cannons, or any other FABL club, for that matter," Benton said.

McGee pressed him on the topic and Benton said he was "well aware of the rumors" but added that "at this time, Oscar Banner remains the owner and there has been no move made that indicates any imminent change in that regard."
McGee's next question was phrased as a hypothetical, asking if a buyer in Cincinnati, Milwaukee or Buffalo were to come along, would the move be approved.

Benton frowned, and said that while he doesn't "deal in hypotheticals," any proposed purchase that would include a move of a FABL club, would "according to our bylaws, require approval from the league office."
"And that would mean you, right?" McGee asked.

"Yes, that would mean me," Benton admitted. Forestalling the inevitable follow-up question, Benton explained that he "would look at the situation and evaluate it. None of the... hypothetical locations mentioned has a suitable ballpark, so something would need to be done about that. I would also talk with the owners of the other Continental Association clubs to get their opinions. But in the end the decision would be mine. And at this time, I can not in good faith give a definitive answer on something that may or may not happen."

Noting that the press conference was supposed to be about "Rufus Barrell's long and esteemed career," Benton asked that no more questions be raised regarding the Cannons.

MCCORMICK COMES OH SO CLOSE

One hit. One lousy hit. That is all that prevented Toronto's Fred McCormick from finishing the season with a .400 batting average. The first baseman, who celebrated his 30th birthday last week with a 5-for-5 day against the Cleveland Foresters finished the season with 227 hits in 569 at bats for a batting average of .39895. One more at bat with a hit and he would have been at exactly .400 joining Mel Carrol as the only players to hit .400 this decade.

Instead the honour is Carrol's alone after McCormick, who entered the final game of the season with a .400 average, went 1-for-4 against Jim Lonardo and the Chicago Cougars on Sunday. Don't feel bad for him as McCormick still claimed the triple crown, leading the Continental Association in batting average (.399), homeruns (29) and rbi's (123) and seems a lock to win his second consecutive Whitney Award. Only Al Wheeler, in 1935, won a CA triple crown prior to McCormick this season.

The Federal Association batting title went to Pittsburgh catcher George Cleaves (.344,18,126), who edged out teammates Joe Owens (.339,11,57) and Mahlon Strong (.339,19,106) for the top spot.

A LOOK BACK AT THE 1929 DRAFT

It is time for our annual look back at how the draft from a decade ago played out as we make a stop in 1929. 1929 was the year the Detroit Dynamos won their first World Championship Series title in a decade after beating the Philadelphia Sailors in a series that went the full seven games. It was also a big year for college pitchers with most of the talk centered around Tom Barrell and Chick Stout although Chicago Poly's Tom Blalock made his presence felt as well. Stout, who went 11-1 for Rainier College that season, actually beat out Georgia Baptist's Barrell (11-2) for first team All-American honours that season but the Frank Christian Trophy went to Commonwealth Catholic outfielder Vic Crawford. Here were the 1939 AIAA All-Americans

 1929 FIRST TEAM
POS  NAME 	      SCHOOL
C  Jack Flint      Lubbock State
1B Bill Tucker     Indiana A&M
2B Freddie Jones   Central Ohio
SS Joe Foy         Opelika State
3B Johnny McDowell Georgia Baptist
OF Elmer Nodle     Coastal California
OF Vic Crawford    Commonwealth Catholic
OF Bobby Many      Whitney College
P  Chick Stout     Rainier College

    1929 SECOND TEAM
POS  NAME 	     SCHOOL 
C  Wilbur Hodges    St Patrick's
1B Jake Johnson     Lubbock State
2B Jake Shadoan     Liberty
SS Larry Colaianni  Brooklyn State
3B George Anderson  Lubbock State
OF Amos Leblanc     George Fox
OF Johnny McCann    St Blaine
OF Rip Curry        George Fox
P  Tom Barrell      Georgia Baptist

FIRST ROUND PICKS

Prior to the 1929 draft the class was summed up this way by TWIFB's Jiggs McGee. "The draft class looks very strong at the top with plenty of pitching and power hitting outfielders available." Jiggs had this as his projected first round following the completion of the 1929 amateur seasons.

Here is the projected first round from TWIFB

1-  TOM BARRELL	  	RHP-1B-OF  Georgia Baptist
2-  CHICK STOUT   	RHP	   Rainer College 
3-  VIC CRAWFORD  	OF	   Commonwealth Catholic
4-  JAKE SHADDOAN  	2B	   Liberty College
5-  BEN BERARD		RHP	   Mobile HS
6-  TOM BLALOCK		RHP	   Chicago Poly
7-  AMOS LEBLANC	OF	   George Fox
8-  FRED O'DELL		RHP	   Portland HS
9-  SAM ORR		2B 	   Henry Hudson 
10- RAY BYRD		RHP	   Omaha HS
11- ELMER NODLE		OF         Coastal California
12- BOBBY MANY		OF         Whitney College
13- PHIL NEWCOM 	RHP	   Central Ohio
14- OWEN MILLER		RHP	   Dickson College
15- JAKE JOHNSON	1B	   Lubbock State
16- AL COUCH		OF   	   Lubbock State

Jiggs had some hits but also some big misses as did the General Managers who did the actual drafting. Here is how the real first round went:

1- CHICAGO COUGARS: TOM BARRELL P Georgia Baptist

While around the league there may have been a lot of debate between Barrell and Chick Stout, looking at the archives of the Chicago Daily News there appeared to have been no uncertainty at all in the Cougars camp, which quotes a club source as saying it was an easy choice.

"We went with what we felt was the obvious choice in P/1B Tom Barrell out of Georgia Baptist," the Cougars statement read. "Somewhat of a legend in the Figment realm, the younger brother of current Cougar C Fred Barrell was a rare four year college player who holds numerous records for counting stats both at Georgia Baptist and in the entire AIAA. On the mound, he finished 34-8 with a 2.54 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 489 strikeouts in 425 innings. He also owned a solid batting line (especially his senior season) and is a potential two-way superstar."

As it turned out Barrell certainly did become a star although not in Chicago. The Cougars dealt him three years later, just after his big league debut in a blockbuster trade with Brooklyn. Barrell is now 31 and has a 127-65 career record to go with 3 Allen Awards, a World Championship and helped the Kings win 3 pennants. Hard to argue against him being the best player to come out of the 1929 draft class.

2- PITTSBURGH MINERS: CHICK STOUT P Rainier College

You can't fault the Miners for trading up in order to select Stout as most had him high on their lists although at the time there were some concerns about his intangibles. Still, he outpitched Barrell in his draft year and even TWIFB toyed with the notion of ranking Stout ahead of Tom Barrell on draft day. Stout is still in Pittsburgh a decade and has carved out a decent career as a relief pitcher but it is certainly not the player the Miners were hoping they would have received with this pick.

3- MONTREAL SAINTS: VIC CRAWFORD OF-1B Commonwealth Catholic

Crawford was everything you could want in a first round pick. A first team All-American 3 straight years, 67 career college homers (2nd most all-time) and would later be named #2 on the AIAA Feeder League All-Time Team. (Tom Barrell was 6th and Chick Stout 14th by the way). The Saints had their eyes on him all along but were slotted 9th in the draft. It took some work and a number of deals were made as teams jockeyed to land one of the two big pitchers but eventually the Saints found a trade partner to get the third pick which they immediately used on Crawford. Saints GM Francis Asberry was quoted at the time as saying he was confident the squad could get a good hitter had they stayed at the #9 pick but "with all the clamor around Barrell and Stout, there was another player who I felt could have easily been the first or second pick--outfielder Vic Crawford from Commonwealth College. Crawford is simply an elite hitter." In 153 career games for Commonwealth, Crawford hit .366 with 53 doubles, 67 home runs, and 187 runs batted in.

So the Saints got there man and even though Asberry is long gone from Montreal, Crawford is still there and still an elite hitter. Through 9 seasons the 31 year old has led the CA in doubles 5 times and has played over 1100 big league games for Montreal.

4- ST LOUIS PIONEERS: TOM BLALOCK P Chicago Poly

Tom Blalock had a great college career. In fact he was listed as #22 on the All-Time Feeder League AIAA team. The problem for the St Louis Pioneers was that he peaked in college and never made the major leagues. He is now in the Chicago Cougars system, playing A ball with little hope of ever getting to the majors. It was clearly a case of a team reaching for a pitcher when they should have taken a position player and there were several good ones that went just after Blalock but in their defense St Louis was not the only ones who erred badly on their assessment of Blalock. Jiggs McGee had this to say about him in the draft preview that year. "Overshadowed by Stout and Barrell but whoever picks him will be getting a great prospect." And who knows had St Louis taken a position player it likely would have been one of the second baseman (Sam Orr or Jake Shadoan) which means they may not have drafted Freddie Jones second overall two years later.

5- TORONTO WOLVES: SAM ORR 2B Henry Hudson University

Orr and Jake Shadoan of Liberty College were the two big middle infielders available at the top of the draft. Each would go on to have a pretty solid career but Orr's proved to be perhaps just a little bit better. He spent a decade in Toronto, hitting .276 in 1116 career games with the Wolves before being released just a couple of months ago. The Chicago Cougars picked him up so the 31 year old is still in the big leagues, but has not played much in Chicago.

6- BOSTON MINUTEMEN: DAN FOWLER OF Commonwealth Catholic

It is a mild surprise that Commonwealth Catholic, with both Vic Crawford and Dan Fowler at the heart of their lineup, did not reach the AIAA World Series in 1929. They did when Crawford and Fowler were freshman but in 1928 and 1929 they were overshadowed by Liberty College, led by Jake Shadoan. Between them the Knights duo combined for 51 homers and 140 rbi's in 50 games their draft year and were arguably the most feared power hitting duo in AIAA history. Surprisingly Fowler was overlooked for the All-American team but did finish 12th on the AIAA top 25 all-time players list.

Boston fans were delighted to see the Minutemen grab the local college star but his stay in New England was brief. After making the Boston roster in 1932 he was dealt to Cleveland at the trade deadline the following season. He would go on to win a World Championship Series with the Foresters and remains a key piece as they attempt to claim another pennant this year. Fowler recently hit his 200th career FABL homerun, making him just the 18th player to reach that milestone.

7- BROOKLYN KINGS: JAKE SHADOAN 2B Liberty College

The Kings were thrilled to land Shadoan at pick 7. Former Brooklyn scouting director Rube Carter, now with the Chicago Chiefs, had his top five on the draft board as follows: 1- Tom Barrell, 2- Vic Crawford, 3- Tom Blalock, 4-Sam Orr, 5-Jake Shadoan. Shadoan led Liberty College to the AIAA World Series finals twice but his club came up short both times. Shadoan was another member of the All-Time AIAA team, ranking #16 on that list led primarily by a draft year that was one of the best seasons on all-time as he hit .473 with a .532 on base percentage but lost the Northeast Conference batting title by .001 to Rip Curry.

A very talented hitter Shadoan won a CA batting crown in 1933 and for a 4 year stretch was one of the best hitters in the game. He stumbled in 1935 as a 27 year old and lost his starting job the following season. By 1937 Brooklyn had traded him to Detroit and he never took advantage of his opportunity there either prompting the Dynamos to release him earlier this year. Brooklyn picked him up and assigned him to a minor league affiliate with the plan of one day seeing him become a hitting coach in the organization. He is just 31 so may still get back to the big leagues someday, although it is unlikely. If not Shadoan finishes with 1223 career hits and a .328 lifetime batting average in 1051 big league games.

8- CLEVELAND FORESTERS: AMOS LEBLANC OF George Fox University

A number of trades were made in the moments leading up to the draft, one of which saw the Cleveland Foresters trade down from 3 to the 8th selection. Vic Crawford went third to Montreal while the Foresters targeted another Academia Alliance conference outfielder in Amos LeBlanc. LeBlanc was a second team All-American that season with a breakout draft year after a pair of ordinary seasons prior to that. It turned out the draft year was an anomaly and LeBlanc never amounted to much. He played just 29 career games for the Foresters and 20 more with the Chicago Cougars, finishing with a .200 batting average for his all too brief career. Now 31, he is still active but playing for Independent Sacramento of the Great Western League.

The Foresters clearly had bad luck with drafting outfielders in this era. Karl Stevens - the worst number one pick of all-time- has often been discussed but after taking Stevens in 1926 Cleveland followed with Dick Kennon 9th overall in 1927 and Leo Clark 12th overall in 1928 before the choice of LeBlanc in '29. All four were college outfielders and all four were busts. To make matters worse the Foresters had another first round pick in 1929 and while they did not select an outfielder with it, they did manage to land another bust.

9- NEW YORK GOTHAMS: PHIL NEWCOM P Central Ohio University

Newcom was 7th amongst pitchers on Jiggs McGee's mock draft that year so teams were certainly looking at him after a solid draft year at Central Ohio. He was clearly considered a step below the big three of Barrell, Stout and Blalock but still considered a solid prospect. The Gothams had made a few moves that draft including dealing down from 3rd to 9th in the first round after a swap with Montreal that netted Al Allen Jr. for the New Yorkers. In hindsight they would have been much happier to have not made that deal and used the pick on Crawford but in all liklihood had they not traded down they would have probably went with Blalock so in that regard adding Allen was a step forward.

Newcom looked pretty solid his first minor league season but just never seemed to progress. He would pitch in just 7 games for the Gothams before being moved in a deal with Washington that sent several players who never amounted to anything back and forth but in the transaction the Gothams did get a 1934 third round pick that turned out to be Earl West, who is still just 23 and has played a handful of games in the New York outfield.

As for Newcom he did pitch regularly for a couple of seasons on some pretty bad Eagles teams, posting a 14-21 mark with a 5.97 era in Washington but is presently looking for work after Washington released him earlier this season.

10- WASHINGTON EAGLES: BILL KIRBY OF-1B St Louis High School

By now I am sure you were wondering where all of the high school picks were. It really was a banner year for the AIAA, maybe the greatest collection of college talent in feeder league history. Bill Kirby broke that streak of college players as the Eagles grabbed the teen despite the fact he played just 48 career high school games and hit only 2 home runs. To say he was a reach is an understatement. Prior to the 1929 draft Jiggs McGee profiled the top outfielders eligible for selection and Kirby was ranked 13th among them. Scout Rube Carter thought much less of Kirby and did not have him in his list of top 100 players.

Washington must have thought they saw something in the then 17 year old but as it turned out they were wrong, of course letting him start just 33 games in his first two years of pro ball did little to help Kirby's development. He never advanced past AA and was eventually released. Kirby is still in baseball, and having a decent season with Tulsa of the Class A independent Lone Star Association. Picks like Kirby are the type that cost GM's and SD's jobs and Washington has been through more than their share of both over the years.

11- BALTIMORE CANNONS: RAY BARNES 2B Boulder State

Ah, the good old days when the Cannons were an average team and did not pick in the top two of the draft every year. Barnes was a second baseman back them, but overshadowed by Sam Orr and Jake Shadoan, and as it would turn out by a couple of others as well as Jiggs McGee had Barnes 5th among second baseman on his mock draft. Barnes did have a decent college career with the Grizzlies and eventually became a FABL regular for a couple of seasons on some really bad Baltimore clubs but he is now proudly displaying his skills in the Lone Star Association. His big league career consisted of 343 games over 4 seasons in Baltimore and a .283 lifetime batting average.

12- PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES: BOBBY MANY OF Whitney College

Bobby Many has probably the worst personality of any first round pick ever selected. His leader ability, loyalty, work ethic and intelligence are all low and his greed is high. His personality blurb basically calls him an A-hole. But he was also a very good baseball player. He was a first team All-American selection in the outfield alongside Vic Crawford and Elmer Nolde that year and smacked 17 homers while batting .410 in 50 games.

It took a while but Many is finally an everyday player in Philadelphia, starting the past two and a half seasons although his .242 average with 3 homers this season means it might not last much longer. Overall, Many is hitting .286 with 22 dingers in 409 games and likely still among the most despised players in the league.

13- NEW YORK STARS: NELLIE DAWSON OF Wisconsin State

Prior to the draft Jiggs McGee had the top 15 outfielders ranked this way:

 1- Vic Crawford Commonwealth Catholic
 2- Amos LeBlanc   George Fox Univ
 3- Elmer Nolde    Coastal California
 4- Bobby Many     Whitney College
 5- Al Couch	   Lubbock State
 6- Nellie Dawson  Wisconsin State
 7- Dan Fowler     Commonwealth Catholic
 8- Andy Dye       Omaha High School
 9- Johnny McCain  St Blane
10- Joe Jones	   Liberty College
11- John Collins   Liberty College
12- Joe Johnson    Central Ohio
13- Bill Kirby     St Louis High School
14- Gail Gifford   Portland High School
15- Steve Studer   Frankford State

So clearly Jiggs had it wrong on a number of guys and Dawson was one of them. He is still kicking around in AAA with the Montreal Saints organization and played 45 games for the big club in 1936 but at 31 it is quite obvious Nellie Dawson will never be much of a big league player. He was highly thought of at one point, spending several seasons in the top 100 prospect list topping out at #56 in 1930. There are no records of how he got from the Stars to Montreal but I believe he was a rule 5 pick in 1936 which is how he spent a season in the big leagues.

14- CHICAGO CHIEFS: JOE FOY SS Opelika State

Was the first shortstop selected in the draft going ahead of George Dawson, who was a second round pick of Cleveland's. Foy had a great college career and won a pair of National Titles with the Wildcats. Prior to the 1929 college season he was the top shortstop on Jiggs' list but George Dawson's tremendous draft season as a senior in High School bumped him ahead of Foy in the final mock draft rankings, although neither made Jiggs' first round. I am sure the Chiefs would have wished they also moved Dawson ahead of Foy, who claims he is still an active player despite not suiting up for anyone since being released by Chicago after spring training a year and a half ago. Foy did play nearly 500 FABL games and hit .315. He was actually pretty good with the bat for a couple of years but the acquisition of Pete Layton likely was what ended Foy's days at Whitney Park.

15- PHILADELPHIA SAILORS: LOU WILLIAMS OF Detroit City College

Compared to the other outfielders on the list a couple of players up, Lou Williams did not have a great college career. He was decent but certainly overshadowed by a number of others. Despite that the Philadelphia Sailors unearthed a very nice draft pick in deciding to take Williams. Now 31 his future with the Sailors might be as a 4th outfielder but he was an everyday player for half a dozen seasons and a pretty consistent one at that, batting .297 in 931 games while playing above average defense in left field. Williams even made the CA all-star team in 1936.

16- CLEVELAND FORESTERS: BEN BERNARD P Mobile High School

Five pitchers went in the first round with two of them (Blalock and Bernard) never making it to the big leagues. Entering his draft year Bernard had a lot of hype as the top high school arm available. In his early draft preview before the 1929 season began Jiggs McGee had Bernard second among all players behind only Tom Barrell. As the draft approach Jiggs tempered his enthusiasm somewhat even though Bernard was a High School playoff MVP that June, but still ranked the righthander 5th on the final mock draft. Jiggs did offer these words of caution: "Stands a good chance of going third overall but being a high school arm may come with a little more risk than Stout or Barrell."

As it turned out caution would have been wise. Bernard missed 6 weeks his rookie pro year and several months a couple of seasons later with injuries. Whether that was a factor or not, or whether Bernard was simply not that good to begin with we will never know but the bottom line is he never advanced past AA. Now 28 he has split this season between Class A and B in the Foresters system and clearly will never be a big league pitcher.

A thought on the Foresters of this era. How did they ever build a team that won back to back pennants in 1934 and 1935 and a World Championship Series with first round picks like Bernard and and Amos LeBlanc this draft and others that were previously mentioned in the recap of LeBlanc's career? Good thing the Foresters were savy traders and in their defense they did have some solid later round picks like George Dawson in round two of this draft.

SUMMARY

The top half of the 1929 draft was outstanding and when you add in later selections like George Dawson (rd 2 Cleveland), Gail Gifford (rd 2 St Louis), Nick Wallace (rd 3 Brooklyn), Mel Carrol (rd 4 Washington), Joe Owens (rd 2 Pittsburgh) and Chick Donnelly (rd 11 Boston) there was a lot of offensive talent.

Surprisingly despite all the hype about the elite pitchers only Tom Barrell has had what one would consider a successful big league career. Sure Chick Stout has had some longevity in Pittsburgh and George Phillips (12th rd Stars) is having a big year but overall the crop of pitchers is incredibly thin this draft.

THE WINTER HUNT FOR PITCHING BEGINS

As the season ends a number of teams are already active in trying to upgrade for next year and as usual the number one need on the winter shopping list is pitching. Everyone wants a good established pitcher and even untested prospects are commanding a kings ransom. Dan Barrell, son of Rufus and new head of the OSA, points out there are plenty of talented arms in the minors, guys just waiting for a shot. He knows a thing or two about that as he spent an awful long time in the bushes before finally get a shot in Brooklyn.

To illustrate his point Barrell gave the following hypothetical example at a round-table of media types and scouts.
[quote]
Let me give you guys an example. Two pitchers have the following projected numbers:
Pitcher A: .243 OVAG, 2.63 ERA, 3.23 FIP and 5.7 WAR
Pitcher B: .247 OVAG, 2.64 ERA, 3.05 FIP and 6.4 WAR

One of them is a perennial Allen contender and the other has been traded three times, has never had a winning record at the FABL level and spends a lot of time in AAA. But which is which? My point is that one guy would net a prince's ransom and the other guy has already been traded three times (and not in any blockbusters by any means) and probably could be had right now. It's all perception based on usage and the team around & behind the pitcher.

The misconception is that there is a shortage of pitching. There is not. So guys who have had the luck of having good teams behind them (or get lucky rolls in RNG inside OOTP) get overvalued when a much cheaper replacement is sitting there - but he's a hidden gem. This is why I try to encourage people to TRY some of these AAA guys. Too many good players are festering in the minors while everyone is slavishly trying to trade for "established" pitching.
[quote]

That prompted one eager young bird dog to respond his club has tried that and failed time and again: "It isn't like I haven't tried to find the hidden gems languishing in the minors. I was able to work out a deal with the Cougars for Joe Foote a few years back. He had put up nice numbers in AA that year and wasn't bad in a limited AAA stop either. Cougs weren't asking a ransom so it was an easy deal to make. Foote has been brutal for me. I bring him up every spring training and he gets shelled and his AAA stats are abysmal in 2 years for me. So it probably won't work.

Which I'm not upset about as I was happy to be able to make a small deal like this. However, my point is that deals like this are hard to make. When you ask about a guy in AAA or AA that isn't a ranked prospect all of a sudden it seems that GM is treating him like their favorite player and want a lot for them. Well if they were so great why are they not even in AAA or your FABL bullpen for that matter? I'm not crying about anything here just pointing out that it is still tough to make even minor deals at times. I even tried a few guys back up AAA 2B's last season and guys are coming back with high draft pick returns. You aren't even using the guy but you want a high pick for him. I just laugh and move on."

A Stars scout added that "Pitchers that are great are hard to come by. Even if a guy is rated the same behind the curtain, you'll trade 3 of them for 1 known performer any day. The 3 guys never get a shot for various reasons; they had a down year, they're struggling to get started, they're just 'ok'."

"And I think that's part of the charm," he continued. "How many highly rated prospects have flamed out because they struggled or just never got a chance to play full time? But now saying that makes me think we're part of the problem. We all want guys to perform and perform now. A couple down years or struggles will get you cut or traded regardless of what is under the hood. There are success stories of 'late bloomers'. How many of those guys are out there and never got to blossom because they never got a shot? But again, we want guys that hit and pitch now. Late bloomers seems like accidents."

The joys of stats-only make this league so much more interesting, and unpredictable for sure.

QUICK HITS

• I expect by now there are very few of them left but you really have to feel for long suffering baseball fans in Baltimore. Oscar Banner has really done a number on the team and the city. They just finished last in the CA for the 6th year in a row and have not had a winning season since 1931 and only Toronto has gone longer than the 25 years without a pennant for the Cannons. Now he has the few remaining fans worrying they will lose their team. Clearly the only reason Banner chose to make his talks with soap magnate John Tice public was to try and wring a few more greenbacks out of Tice, or a competitor in Milwaukee, Buffalo or perhaps even someone committed to keeping the club in Baltimore. All he has successfully done is further alienate fans in Baltimore...if that is even possible the way the Cannons, and their owner have treated them the past decade.
• If I am John Tice right now I am thinking if this deal does not go through maybe I pull a page out of my grandfather's book and try and start my own league. Clearly there are more cities wanting major league baseball then there are FABL teams to go around. Cincinnati has already been used as a pawn twice before, by Cleveland and Montreal, just so their owners can get a better deal from local politic-types, who fearful a loss of their team would cost them elections, eventually cave to the moguls demands. If it happens a third time you have to wonder if someone might step up and try and form a rebel league. Tice might just be that man as he certainly has the means, and the family background as well.
• It would take some work but perhaps a circuit based primarily in the midwest might work. You have to think Milwaukee would be on board to consider joining with Cincinnati if neither lands the Cannons and possibly Minneapolis, Kansas City, Indianapolis and even Buffalo, should they also fail to land the Cannons. Who knows St Louis is likely big enough to support a second team and maybe even a third for Chicago if any new loop is prepared to take FABL head-on. Of course without an east coast presence could such a league ever be considered major league? I am certainly getting ahead of myself but if anyone was liable to try I would say a descendant of James Tice is a good place to start.
• Congratulations to the St Louis Pioneers for winning 5 of their last 6 games and finishing over .500 (78-76) for the 8th year in a row.
• Not as good a news out of Montreal where the Saints limped home with 6 straight losses to finish 75-79 and below the break even point for the 9th consecutive season. There 5th place finish puts them in the second division for the 4 year in a row with three of those years ending up just outside the upper group with a 5th place showing.
• It bit him in the butt but you have to give Fred McCormick and the Toronto Wolves credit for not sitting the star first baseman down for the final couple of games after his average was at .401 following Friday's contest and .400 on Saturday. Wolves skipper Hank Leitzke said McCormick did not want to back into a .400 season by hiding on the bench Sunday and he was true to his word. .399 is too bad, but McCormick is a class act and did it the right way.
• Count Rufus Barrell as among those who didn't expect the Stars to have the season they did. Barrell was recently quoted as saying "I have to give some props to the Stars for winning the CA. I was... let's say skeptical about some of the trades made, but in the end it all worked. Not quite worst-to-first (the Cannons, you know...) but still very impressive."
• Speaking of Rufus. Count Jiggs McGee as one of those stubbing for Old Man Barrell to be given a spot in the Hall of Fame. His work to revolutionize the scouting business deserves to be recognized.
• A major turning point for the Miners this year was moving Lew Seals to 2B (where he had the skill if not the experience) and putting veteran Henry Jones in right. Seals has been an on base machine against right handed pitchers while the old timer Jones has been awesome at the plate the last two months, compiling a season line of .336/.407/.556 in 235 AB's.
• The acquisition of Roger Perry from the Gothams was big too, it turned Pittsburgh's rotation into 4 lefties and moved Ketterman to the pen. Perry was 9-0 with a 4.01 ERA in 13 starts. He'll be in the bullpen for the WCS.
• Mahlon Strong finally got enough at bats and snuck in at the very end of the season to be the FA's leader in SLG% with .549. f Strong hadn't of crossed the at bat threshold the last week of the season, George Cleaves would have led the FA in AVG, OBP and SLG. You still have to think Cleaves is a lock for the Whitney Award while the Allan Award will come down to Lefty Allen and Detroit's Frank Crawford.
• And Toronto could be a team that wins both CA Whitney and Allen Awards. McCormick is a shoe-in but the Allen is pretty wide open. If Toronto’s guys did pull it off, it has to be a first if both win on a sub .500 team.
• Interestingly, in the Fed there are 5 batters with a wRC+ of at least 150: 2 catchers (Cleaves and Bird) and 3 first basemen (Red Johnson, Harry Shumate, and Mahlon Strong). In the CA, there are 3 such batters: 2 first basemen (McCormick and Trowbridge) and 1 left fielder (Joe Watson).
• Percy Sutherland weighs in with his thoughts on the pitching awards. For the Allens, I would say that Frank Crawford and Lefty Allen are neck and neck in the Fed, while in the CA, things are completely wide open. I would expect Joe Hancock, Art White, Dean Astle, and Billy Riley to get most of the votes at the top of the ballots. Maybe add Dave Rankin to that mix.
• Stars are toying with going with a 5-man rotation in the Series which I believe would be unheard of Series play. Pitching strategy for the Stars could be a factor. Maybe a 4-man is the answer - that way, if they can win one of the first two or three games, they would have a more rested guy going in game four than the Miners. There are a lot of mileage on the Pittsburgh pitchers with all three over 300 innings. Fatigue could be an issue there. I keep expecting Lefty Allen's arm to fall off to be honest.
• There were 5 Fed pitchers with more than 300 innings this season, 3 of them on the Miners staff. (Jack Elder and Dick Higgins are the other two). George Phillips of the Stars was the only CA pitcher to throw over 300 (309).
• it's probably a lock that Eddie Quinn would have made it 6 Fed pitchers over 300 IP this year. I wonder if his workload contributed to the injury. I have no idea if that plays a part in how the game decides to hurt a pitcher. But I guess, even if it doesn't directly take it into account, more time on the mound equals more chances to get hurt.
• Wow--how did Charlie Stedman lose 20 games. Crazy. We should be talking about a 20-13 season, not a 13-20 season. July and August he was a combined 1-10 with an ERA around 3.74. And he made the all star team when Lefty didn't but the Pittsburgh offense scored just under 4 runs/game for him. Tough year, in fact it has been a tough career for "Hard Luck Chuck" Stedman will win his 200th game next season (has 197) but because of poor luck he could also lose his 200th game if he has another similar season (career losses at 182). With any run support at all in his career he should be approaching 250 wins.
• Winning on the road in Pittsburgh is no easy feat with a .701 home winning percentage.
• And another Gothams season ends with a whimper. What will owner Leland Winthrop do? He has a shiny new ballpark and a last place team. So many promises resulting in the worst record in all of FABL. Over the quiet in the team's offices one could hear what sounded like GM Tom Ward from behind closed doors shouting - "Pitchers! Find me some DAMN pitchers!". Pitchers indeed. A franchise whose winning ways were supported by a series of Allen winners now runs out a passel of inefficient cannon fodder. One would expect there to be some changes within the organization.
• The Gothams are desperate for a quality starting pitcher but seem to be unwilling to part with any of their talented young prospects. Which means it's highly unlikely they find a suitable trade partner until they realize they are going to have to give up some of that young offensive talent to get the pitcher they need.
• The Stars also set a new attendance record this season with just over 1.5 million fans attending games at Dyckman Stadium. They outdrew the Gothams and their shiny new park by over 150,000 customers. Detroit also smashed the attendance mark they set a year ago with 1,910,358 visiting Thompson Field.
• Speaking of the Dynamos there wasn't a dry eye in the clubhouse after they found out the Miners had won Sunday and clinched the pennant. The entire team was united as one trying to win the pennant for long-time Owner Eddie Thompson who passed away during the season.
• Sal Pestilli's 3 week day-to-day injury turned into 5 weeks and a sub .200 average over that span. Did skipper George Theobald bungle his recovery and cost Detroit the pennant by having Pestilli play in those games against Boston and Pittsburgh mid-month. The two losses by a single run to the hated rivals in Chicago is a bitter way for the Dynamos to lose the pennant.
• Jack Elder took the loss for Washington on the last game of the season to finish with a round 20-20 record. Pittsburgh's Charlie Stedman ended up with 20 losses as well. 20 losses on a 94 win, pennant winning ballclub. No wonder his nickname is 'Hard Luck'.
• Dynamos win 94 games in 1938 and 93 in 1939. One less win than the previous season but with the strong pitching and defense this years club felt like the better team. Too many games this season where the offense failed to hold up its end of the bargain (looking back on William Jones 2-10 record with a 3.55 ERA). Somehow they end up 2nd in runs scored in the FA after being in the bottom 2-3 for most of the first half. 1B Red Johnson and C John Wicklund were a big part of the 2nd offensive turn around. Detroit will be a team to be feared next season. Mirroring the Brooklyn Kings perhaps? A pair of near misses with over 90 wins each season proceeded 3 straight pennants. Could this be Detroit's future?
• No team was worse in one run games then the Cougars (16-21), and it really came back to bite us. We scored the most runs in the CA, allowed the second fewest, but were never really close to the top of the standings. The Stars took advantage of close games, with a league best 26-12, making up for ranking fifth in runs scored and allowed.

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

• Adolf Hitler visited Warsaw in triumph, inspecting Nazi forces which effected the city's surrender. He next turned his attention on Belgium, warning Brussels he would withdraw their neutrality guarantee unless Belgium proved able to prevent British and French planes from flying over her frontier.
• Hints from Berlin that Hitler would like President Roosevelt to mediate peace talks but FDR refuses to do so unless asked by the Allies. However, both London and Paris issued a joint statement that "no peace proposals are likely to be found acceptable which do not effectively free Europe from the menace of aggression."
• British Prime Minister Chamberlain defies Nazi-Russia threat of a joint attack against the allies, telling a widely cheering House of Commons, Britain and France will not yield to what he termed "a scarcely veiled threat" of Soviet-German collaboration.
• Signs of cracks in the Russia-Nazi alliance? The Soviets have arranged to rent Norwegian cargo ships to carry on wartime trade with Great Britain.
• The United States refused to recognize the disappearance of Poland which Secretary of State Hull termed "the victim of force used as an instrument of national policy," adding that "mere seizure of territory does not extinguish the legal existence of a government."