NOVEMBER 27, 1939
CINCINNATI CANNONS REPLACE ENTIRE FRONT OFFICE
The Cincinnati Cannons may not have a lot of superstars between the white lines when they take the field next April but you will be hard pressed to find a more star studded front office and coaching staff than what the Cannons have amassed. The latest addition's are Rufus Barrell, founder of OSA, as the club's Scouting Director along with Big George Johnson and George McDermott as the pitching and hitting coaches respectively.
It began of course with the announcement that the game's all-time winningest manager, Hall of Famer George Theobald, would take the reigns of the club and also be co-owner following the purchase and relocation of the former Baltimore baseball club. At that time the Cannons other principle co-owner John Tice, hinted wholesale changes would be coming.
While none doubted that meant a complete front-office housecleaning for the decaying organization which has spent the last six season at the bottom of the Continental Association, few expected the shock wave of news that followed over the next week. The first piece put in place was the General Manager as just days after the sale was made official Theobald introduced Tiger Fan as his club's new GM. A 14 year FABL veteran, Tiger Fan had previously spent his entire big league career building the Brooklyn Kings into a 4-time pennant winner and oversaw a club that had a CA record 5 consecutive 90+ victory seasons.
"We've taken our time in finding what we hope is an excellent, far-seeing general manager. I don't think you'll have to worry about Tiger Fan suffering from myopia. He presented a clear, concise, and realistic assessment of our club in every interview we held, and just seemed to grasp what we're looking for," noted Theobald. He also mentioned that the assessment was "brutally honest and matched my own conclusions as to the sorry state of affairs at this club."
"The turnaround starts now," Theobald stated on the day his new GM was announced, adding that there will be other "big names" joining the organization in the coming days. While that phrase might sound like hyperbole, it turned out if anything Theobald undersold things in calling his next three hires simply "big names." Here are the newswire accounts of the two major announcements made by the Cannons earlier this month.
GOTHAMS SHIP BIRDWELL TO WASHINGTON
There were several trades made in advance of next month's Winter Meetings but the most surprising was likely the New York Gothams deal with the Washington Eagles that saw the Gothams send 24 year old righthander Jim Birdwell to the nation's capital in exchange for Washington's first round pick, 5th overall, in the upcoming rookie draft. Reaction around the league was mixed, with one rival Federal Association GM calling it a huge coup for the Gothams while another executive in the league felt Washington won the trade by a wide margin and felt it was a knee-jerk reaction by the Gothams brass to give up on Birdwell so quickly following an admittedly very poor rookie season in which he went 3-11 with a 5.97 era. OSA, the league scouting agency, feels Birdwell has good raw stuff, but his inexperience hurt him last season and they still believe he is projected to be a mid-rotation piece.
JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: My reaction is mixed on this deal. Yes, Birdwell had a bad year but my sources and my gut feeling is he is going to turn into a very good pitcher. A top five pick is nothing to sneeze at so you can't really say the Gothams lost this deal, but their weakness is clearly pitching and giving up on Birdwell for a pick really seems like a step backwards for the organization. On one hand they say they need pitching, and they certainly do, but then they turn around and start shopping Oscar Morse, who was a solid innings eater last season and a decent middle of the road pitching option. Now they follow it up by giving up on the 24 year old Birdwell after just one season so they can draft another player - admittedly likely a very talented one - but one who is 2 or 3 years away from contributing to the big league club at best. They have also opened the hole in their pitching staff even deeper. While I can't say the Gothams 'lost' this trade I feel I can say that the long suffering Gothams fans, who have been waiting for the tear down that began in 1936 to show signs of success while watching Detroit and, even worse the cross-town New York Stars, rebound much quicker...well, I would say those who pay good money to sit in that new cathedral in Queens and watch the Gothams play - they are the losers of this deal as it did nothing to enhance New York's chances of ending a 4 year stay in the second division next season. The only way I see this deal helping New York is if it is just a precursor to major move in which they move both of their first round picks (their #1 and the #5 from the Eagles) for an elite arm.
On Washington's side this, to me, is exactly the type of deal the Gothams should have made. New York has a 'Million Dollar Infield" in place and plenty of young offensive talent. They should have been the ones dealing their first round pick for a pitcher that can help them now. The Eagles deserve full marks for doing just that. Washington, which has been awful for a decade, and it's second year management team is showing it is not afraid to make a move. The Eagles saw a pitcher they liked, and stepped up and pulled the trigger on a deal. Will it pay off? That depends on whether or not the 1939 season of Jim Birdwell was just a case of a top young rookie struggling in his first year in the big leagues on his way to success or was what we saw last year what we are going to get in the future from Birdwell?
QUICK HITS
- The Gothams were busy on the trade front as, in addition to the deal that sent Birdwell to Washington, they made a pair of deals with the New York Stars. The first deal saw the Gothams send a 5th rounder and two 6th round picks to the Stars for minor league pitchers Harry Carter and John Douglass. Both are in their late twenties and likely offer bullpen help at best although Carter has started 116 games for the Stars over the past 5 seasons. Later the Gothams moved their second round pick to the Stars for Hal Roberts, a 25 year old outfielder who hit .269 with 31 homers at AAA Los Angeles last season.
- Montreal also made a pair of moves with the bigger one being the addition of 34 year old pitcher Ed Baker from the Philadelphia Keystones. Baker was 14-12 with a 3.46 era last season and made the all-star team for the third time in his career. Top fifty prospect Hank McKay, a 23 year old outfielder who was a September call-up by Montreal, heads to the Keystones in return along with a 6th round draft pick. Montreal's other move was to send minor league outfielder Ed Greenwood to Detroit in exchange for a 9th round draft pick.
- Late word out of Detroit is that the Dynamos are negotiating a potential trade of 2B Ed Stewart after Stewart struggled with the bat in the 39 season. In 1938 Stewart socked 31 home runs but his average and power fell off dramatically this season. Some clubs feel that Stewart might be done, but the Dynamos and several other consider 39 to just be a down season. Word leaking out of the Dynamo’s front office by an unnamed source says the club is now thinking it might hang onto Stewart. No word on which team the Dynamos are discussing the deal with. Right now the source claims the deal is likely 40/60 to get done.
- The Cincinnati Cannons have received several calls about a number of their pitchers with Gus Goulding and Rusty Petrick drawing the most interest. While the Cannons new brass says it wants to take things slowly and evaluate the entire organization there does seem to be some consideration about moving Goulding, but if so the price would be high.
- The new look Cannons made their first player acquisition in picking up veteran pitcher Donie Scheurermann off waivers from Detroit. Cannons manager George Theobald is quite familiar with the 30 year old lefthander from his days in the Dynamos organization and there is a feeling he can be a solid bullpen piece for Baltimore.
- While on the topic of Cincinnati, the Cannons failed in their bid to lure Dick York away from Detroit to join the club as bench coach with York, who's son Rick is a minor league catcher in the Cannons system, opting to move up to the AA level and stay in Detroit's organization. Cincinnati was also reported to have approached Woody Trease but the long-time San Francisco manager declined, saying he was happy on the west coast.
- In a close decision, the Detroit Dynamos have selected a new Manager. Patrick Lictenegger, 46 who has been with their AA affiliate in Akron for the past 3 1/2 years. During his time in Akron he compiled 308-200 record winning the Eastern Association in 1937 and co-champs in 1939. The runner up for the manager spot was former Detroit catcher and Class A manager Dick York. York, 43 has spent the last 4 seasons since he retired as the class A manager at Terre Haute and has compiled a record of 300-260 winning the Heartland title this past season. He has been promoted to the class AA job in Akron and signed a new 3-year contract extension and, as mentioned above, elected to pass on an opportunity to be the bench coach in Cincinnati.
- The Pittsburgh Miners have extended 61 year old Dan Andrew for 5 years. He's been at the helm the last 5 years, which have been pretty darn successful. All seasons over .500, and two FA pennants. Even if his WCS record is less than stellar.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 11/27/1939
- Germany continues a blitz in the North Sea, sinking 14 more vessels in the past nine days including a Japanese passenger liner. German newspapers alleged that 58 British and French merchant ships are armed and therefore subject to being sunk without warning.
- In response to what Prime Minister Chamberlain calls "unrestricted war at sea" by the Nazi's use of floating mines Britain has vowed to seize any German exports on the high seas.
- While the battle wages heavily at sea, rain and snow has bogged down the war front in the air and slowed fighting on the ground.
- Red Army troops are poised to invade Finland if the Finns fail to comply with Soviet demands for withdrawal of troops from the frontier.
- This is the costliest war ever, says Britain which estimates officially it is costing her nearly $24 million dollars a day.
- In the United States there is support brewing for an increase to income tax to help cover costs of a record-breaking defense program. Meanwhile, the Secretary of Navy Charles Edison feels the Navy must build more shops as quickly as possible as the "threatening international situation" makes these steps advisable.