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Tiger Fan · 01-03-2022, 12:59 PM

July 1, 1940

SURPRISES AS SEASON APPROACHES MIDWAY POINT

As the calendar turns to July and the all-star game, the traditional midpoint of the season, is just a week away it is starting to look like both the Philadelphia Keystones and Cincinnati Cannons are for real. Neither club was given much of a chance by most of the pundits although BNN did place the Keystones third in the Federal Association in it's preseason predictions and a few other publications did feel that Philadelphia could sneak into the first division. Meanwhile, BNN called for another last place finish for the Cannons, which would have been their 6th consecutive season in the Continental Association cellar and none of the major newspapers had Cincinnati pegged to finish higher than 6th. But here we are with over 70 games of the 154 games in the books and the Cannons are perched atop the Continental Association while the Keystones are just a half game back of Pennsylvania rival Pittsburgh for the Federal lead.

The story in Cincinnati has been a combination of newly acquired veterans adding stability and many of the young players starting to live up to their lofty potential. The former includes Moxie Pidgeon (.338,12,56), who has been the clear leader of the newfound Cincinnati offense, along with Jack Flint (.320,1,28) and pitcher William Jones (8-5, 3.32). In the latter category we have the emergence of pitchers Butch Smith (10-4, 2.51) and Deuce Barrell (9-4, 2.92), although to be fair both actually began looking very good last season, as well as young shortstop Jim Hensley (.251,0,21) and outfielder Mike T Taylor (.302,0,24) who was blossomed after initial struggles caused him to be sent to AAA for a spell. The New York Stars have contributed greatly to the Cincinnati turnaround as in addition to Pidgeon and Jones, pitchers Larry Brown (1.66, 9 sv) and Glenn Payne (8-6, 3.62) have also arrived from New York over the past year and a half.

In Philadelphia the youth movement is in full swing with only 29 year old Bobby Barrell (.273,13,49) having spent substantial time in Philadelphia among the regulars. Herman Patterson (8-2, 279) and Gene White (4-3, 3.30) are the 'old men' of the Keystones rotation at the ripe old age of 26 with fellow starters Lloyd Stevens (9-7, 3.46), Pepper Tuttle (6-5, 2.70) and Jim Whitely (3-4, 5.02) all just 24 years of age. Outfielders Hank McKay (.278,5,29) and Chuck Hood (.339,3,38) are both just 24 while first baseman Hans Wright (.255,8,32) is 25. Infielders Hank Koblenz (.281,16,45) and Billy Woytek (.285,8,50) are 23 and 21 respectively so Federal Association foes are likely quite worried about the Keystones going forward.

It might be too much to expect Philadelphia and Cincinnati to hold their positions for the second half of the season but it is clear both organizations are on the upswing and likely won't be overlooked by prognosticators in the future.

TWIFB CASTS ITS ANNUAL ALL STAR BALLOT

With the all-star game fast approaching it is time once again for This Week in Figment Baseball to announce the list of players it deems worthy of starting in Detroit on July 9th for the 8th annual All-Star contest. You might recall the stars of the Continental Association doubled the Federal heroes 6-3 in Cleveland a year ago with Toronto Wolves first baseman Fred McCormick being named the top performer for the second consecutive season. The Federal side still holds bragging rights in the series, with a 4 games to 3 lead but the Continental boys have prevailed each of the past two seasons and three of the last four.

So let's start with the Continental Association, who will act as the visitors for the game.

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION

CATCHER: Jack Flint (.320,1,28) is having a very solid season in Cincinnati as is Clarence Howerton (.289,1,36) with Toronto but the dean of catchers in the Continental Association remains Adam Mullins (.311,2,28) of Montreal. Mullins has been an all-star each of the last three seasons and there is no reason not to make it four straight.

FIRST BASE: It really doesn't matter what veterans Dave Trowbridge (.319,5,22)of the Stars or the Cannons Joe Perret (.331,5,28) are doing, nor does another solid year out of Ray Ford (.286,6,32) matter in Chicago. There is, both now and likely for the next several years, just one right answer to represent the Continental side at first base. Fred McCormick (.325,3,31) might not be off to his best start with Toronto this year but it's plenty good enough to allow him a to play in his 7th all-star contest and try to win his third straight player of the game award.

SECOND BASE: Philadelphia's Bob Smith (.321,2,20) has been two consecutive all star games and will likely make it three straight but he will have to be named as a reserve. The starter spot should belong to Toronto's Tom Frederick (.320,0,25) as the 24 year old is enjoying a breakout season with the Wolves.

THIRD BASE: This was probably the toughest call in the CA. Mel Carrol (.373,8,38) is having his usual outstanding season with the Cleveland Foresters but 37 year old John Lawson (.388,6,50) is having the best season of an exceptional career and putting an exclamation point on his Hall of Fame candidacy at some point in the not too distant future. The Chicago Cougars veteran gets the nod for what will be his 7th all-star selection (he missed only the 1938 game) but Carrol will be on the team as a reserve.

SHORTSTOP: Joe Angevine (.301,1,41), Charlie Artuso (.273,2,29), Jim Hensley (.251,0,21), Frank Davis (.330,3,26), Rip Lee (.305,1,47). There are a lot of very good young shortstops in the CA but as much as we considered Davis of Montreal, our vote goes to Brooklyn's Harry Barrell (.274,0,22) - the best defensive shortstop in the game. Like third baseman Lawson, if selected it will be Barrell's 7th all-star appearance. Hard to believe he has been in the league that long and is still just 26 years of age.

LEFT FIELD: More than anyone else Moxie Pidgeon (.338,12,56) has led the Cannons resurgence in Cincinnati. It will be Pidgeon's 6th all star appearance and come with his fifth different team. Larry Vestal (.295,2,35) of Toronto and the Cougars Leo Mitchell (.298,5,33) deserve consideration for backup spots.

CENTER FIELD: Another Cincinnati Cannon gets the call in center as Fred Galloway (.310,2,42) is the pick despite the fact after a tremendous April and May he has struggled this past month. Still Galloway showed enough to nose out Chink Stickels (.284,8,50) of the Stars and the Sailors Don Homer (.286,3,23).

RIGHT FIELD: One of the more difficult calls but Montreal's Red Bond (.343,14,44) gets the nod despite the fact that like Galloway, he has struggled this past month. Bill Barrett (.325,7,50) is going to start a lot of All-Star games in his career but for this one the young Stars outfielder will have to be content to backup Bond.

PITCHER: Only three starters can go on the actual ballot but there are probably half a dozen who deserve serious consideration to be the starter. You have Bernie Johnson (9-4, 2.77) and Joe Hancock (8-5, 3.29) in Toronto; Deuce Barrell (9-4, 2.92 and a CA leading 69 K's) along with his Cincinnati teammate Butch Smith (10-4, 2.51) and then there is Art White (8-4, 2.92), who was the winning pitcher in last years game, along with Stumpy Beaman (7-4, 2.32) of Brooklyn. You also have Dick Lyons (10-3, 2.85) of the Cougars, who is pitching better at age 40 than he did a decade ago. But if it is up to TWIFB we are giving the game ball to Walt Wells (10-4, 2.75) to start the game in Detroit.

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION

CATCHER: The injury woes that the Chiefs Tom Bird (.311,9,28) has dealt with this season allows George Cleaves (.297,5,26) of Pittsburgh to be the clear choice to appear in his 6th all-star game. Special mention should also go to Heinie Zimmer (.298,3,29), who is quietly one of the few having a good season in St Louis.

FIRST BASE: With apologies to Boston's Bob Donoghue (.247,12,33), the Red Johnson (.315,17,55) era is here as Detroit's 22 year old is a clear number one choice. I would love to see veteran Bud Jameson (.312,6,23) make the all-star team. The heart of the New York Gothams has only started half of his teams games this season but it seems a shame that such a talented player has never played in a Midsummer Classic.

SECOND BASE: We favour the veteran here in taking Hank Barnett (.272,16,42) of the Chiefs over the Keystones rising young star in Blue Collar Billy Woytek (.285,8,50). There was a lot of back and forth on this choice and both deserve to be on the team.

THIRD BASE: The young guys are coming here with Mack Sutton (.276,13,33) and Hank Koblenz (.281,16,45) both enjoying strong seasons and Billy Dalton (.257,6,21) will be in a number of all star games before his career is done but not this one as the Gothams youngster has been hampered by injury this year. The choice is the old man of the group as Detroit's Frank Vance (.310,11,35) gets the nod after missing last year's all-star game - the first time he was not selected.

SHORTSTOP: Hard to see any of the names on the ballot as all-stars this season, especially when you compare them to the crop of Continental Association shortstops but we have to pick one so it will be 24 year old Mule Monier (.256,3,23) of the Gothams making his all-star debut.

LEFT FIELD: He has definitely slowed down over the past couple of seasons but after a two year absence Bobby Barrell (.273,13,49) gets our vote. The 29 year old face of the Philadelphia Keystones edges Boston's Pete Day (.306,1,18), Joe Owens (.318,4,31) of Pittsburgh and Washington's Dilly Ward (.284,1,31) on our ballot.

CENTER FIELD: We don't care what Pablo Reyes (.329,6,41) in Pittsburgh or the Chiefs Bill May (.319,6,38) are doing. Nor can we make the call to take the feel good story of the season in the Keystones Chuck Hood (.339,3,38) over Sal Pestilli (.270,19,54) of Detroit. Just pencil Pestilli in as your starting center fielder for the Fed side for the next decade and be done with it, although we do hope that each of the other three mentioned get selected as backups.

RIGHT FIELD: We would love to be able to shift one of those center fielders over to right on our ballot but since we have to take a right fielder lets go with Cliff Moss (.306,7,25) of the Chiefs. He has had a rough June, struggling at the plate and bothered by a hamstring injury but he gets our vote over Boston's Bill Burkett (.267,3,28) and Philadelphia rookie Hank McKay (.278,5,29).

PITCHER: Unlike the CA, it was very easy to pick the starting pitcher for the Federal side. Sergio Gonzales (12-4, 2.55) leads FABL in wins and has really stepped up with the injury to Detroit teammate Frank Crawford. Gonzales is the clear choice for starter but that is not to say there are not plenty of other outstanding pitchers in the Fed. Lefty Allen (11-5, 3.17) of Pittsburgh, Washington's Del Burns (10-3, 3.71), the Boston duo of Ed Wood (11-4, 2.83) and Art Myers (9-5, 2.22), Herman Patterson (8-2, 2.79) of Philadelphia and Rabbit Day of the Chiefs (8-5, 3.06) all warrant inclusion on the final roster.

Eddie Wilson knew the questions would be coming. "It seems every time something happens with one of them, you guys (the media) seek me out," said the 36 year old when contacted in Dallas the other day.

The 'them' that Wilson speaks of are the players who compromised the top of the 1925 draft class, widely considered one of the best of all-time. Few remember it but Wilson was one of them. A slick hitting outfielder at Grafton College back then, Wilson finished the 1925 season in the top ten in the AIAA in all three triple crown categories as he helped the Scholars come to within a game of a National Championship, before falling to Bayou State in a best of seven College World Championship Series Final that went the distance.

Flash forward to the FABL draft day that year and the names of future FABL stars, even potential Hall of Famers, started rolling off the tongues of eager General Managers, each making their first big decision as the modern (human GM) era kicked off that very month. Detroit took Al Wheeler. The Wolves followed with pitcher Eddie Quinn, certainly a controversial pick at the time but the Caveman sure turned out all right eventually. Then came Bud Jameson, Bill Ashbaugh, Eddie Wilson and Doug Lightbody to round out the top six with Jack Cleaves shortly after. Wait a minute! Hold up, who was the player taken after Ashbaugh and ahead of Lightbody?

Eddie Wilson still hears the occasional catcalls about his draft position as he steps to the plate in one of the rundown ballparks of the Lone Star Association, a loop full of has-beens and never-were's that couldn't cut the mustard with the big boys back east. Wilson though, is very happy where his baseball life has taken him. He has been a member of the Dallas Centurions for 8 seasons, married a local girl and bought a ranch just outside of his adopted home. He has done well on the diamond too - his 1,090 hits are 6th most in Lone Star history and he is the Centurions career leader in virtually every offensive category. Still it is not quite how Wilson envisioned things going when he was drafted a decade and a half ago.

He doesn't think about the past much he claims, but when a news item like the expected retirement of Doug Lightbody hits the wires, he can't help but think back to what might have been. Wilson was born in Lock Haven, a city in the middle of Pennsylvania about 175 miles away from Pittsburgh. It seems a lifetime away now for Wilson, but he was on top of the world in December of 1925 after hearing the Pittsburgh Miners had selected him fifth overall in the FABL draft.

Unfortunately that moment would turn out to be the highlight of his FABL career. He spent three years in the Miners minors, logging time in exotic locales like Birmingham, St Paul and Gary. Acquainted himself quite well at each stop and in September 1928 he got an opportunity with the big club. It wasn't much, just a small taste as he appeared in 8 games for Pittsburgh but went just 3-for-20 so the next spring it was back to AAA St. Paul. Wilson tore the cover off the ball in 97 games with the Disciples, hitting .364 with 11 homeruns in just 90 games. He would get 15 more games with Pittsburgh that season but again failed to take full advantage of the opportunity, batting just .243 but he did hit a pair of doubles. The story was the same in 1930 - decent numbers in St Paul but only a brief chance to show what he could do in a crowded Pittsburgh outfield that featured Jim Renfroe and a young Frank Lightbody, drafted 4th overall two years after Wilson by the Miners perhaps in hopes of correcting the mistake they made in bypassing his big brother. Wilson appeared in 9 games and had his best big league showing, batting .304 in 26 plate appearances, but it would also be his last trip to the majors. He was now 27 and by then had gained the reputation as a solid AAA player but not a FABL regular so he spent the next two seasons in St Paul and was bypassed for promotion to Pittsburgh in each of them. At the conclusion of spring training 1933 the Miners informed Wilson his services were no longer required and he was released, his FABL dreams gone for good.

Dallas came calling as the Centurions were the only club to offer him a contract. It was about as far off the baseball path that Wilson could get, a struggling team (they finished 6th in 1932) in a fledgling farmland league that was about to embark on it's 5th season as a professional loop. With no other options, Wilson packed his bags and headed to Texas.

He started slow, going hitless in his first two games as perhaps the shock of where his career had landed took some time to sink in. However, in Wilson's third game with the Centurions he broke out big time, going 5-for-5 and never looked back. He hit .318 that first season and quickly became one of the Centurions fans favourite players. In 1934 he helped lead Dallas to it's first, and so far only, Lone Star pennant and to this day remains a key piece of the Dallas club.

With a vast baseball knowledge and the smarts one would expect from an Academia Alliance alum Wilson looks and acts like the type of player who may one day make it back to the big leagues as a coach or manager but for now he is very content with the turns his baseball life has taken him. Comparisons to Doug Lightbody? About the only one Eddie will admit to is they were both college outfielders. They were also part of one of the greatest draft classes in FABL history, even though Wilson is a mere footnote or perhaps even worse than that - just a bad memory of a terrible decision - for Pittsburgh fans.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

In honour of the Eddie Wilson selection by Pittsburgh ahead of Doug Lightbody in the 1925 draft, this time in AROUND THE LEAGUE we take a look at the worst first round selections of the human era by each of the 16 FABL clubs:

BOSTON- Barney Meeker. Taken 11th overall in 1928 out of Commonwealth Catholic three years after he was drafted in the 8th round and failed to sign with St Louis. Meeker was a first team All-American his draft year and had some good years in the minors, hitting 25 homers at AA as a 24 year old in 1931 for example. He spent over 3 seasons in AAA but never got the call to the big leagues and retired in 1937. To be fair to Boston, 1928 was one of the weaker draft classes.

BROOKLYN- Brooklyn has actually had pretty good luck with their first round picks but while the jury is still out, 24 year old Dan Rogers is looking like their worst blunder. Selected 14th overall in 1934 after just one season of high school ball, the outfielder has played just 5 big league games and is nothing like the power hitter the Kings were hoping they would get when they chose him. Word is the Kings were hoping to land Bob Donoghue that year but Boston grabbed him 3 picks ahead of Brooklyn. Looking for a power bat they would have been much wiser to take a middle infielder instead as Jim Hensley and Joe Nichols were the next two players selected.

CHIEFS- The Chiefs have had more than their share of first round busts so it's hard to pick just one. Candidates include Fred Nader in 1925, Vallie Turner in 1927, Bolivar Jim Smith and Tom Eggleton both were 1930 first rounders, a pitcher by the name Joe Hunt in 1931. Of those five only Nader and Eggleton ever made it to FABL and that was just for a combined total of 31 games. Fortunately the Chiefs have drafted much better since then with Bob Walls, Al Miller, Bennie Griffith and Billy Dalton being among their more recent first rounders.

COUGARS- The Cougars have enjoyed some great success in the opening round of the draft through the years with names like Bill Ashbaugh, Fred Barrell, Mike Murphy, Tom Barrell, Billy Hunter and Pete Papenfus being among the highlights perhaps that makes up for the decision to take Harry Humphrey out of nearby Whitney College third overall in 1927. Humphrey peaked at AA while the player selected immediately after him was also a college outfielder, someone by the name Frank Lightbody.

CINCINNATI- The Cannons have picked so high most of the past decade it is almost impossible to get a dud but they made more than their share of mistakes in the 1920s. It started with the 1925 draft which had players like Jack Cleaves available when they chose a pitcher (wow that trend did start early for the Cannons) by the name of Earle Charlton 8th overall. Charlton was 8-16 over parts of 6 FABL seasons before the Los Angeles native found a home on the west coast with AAA indy Sacramento. Other Baltimore picks in the late 1920s made the majors and played a little but as it turned out in nearly every case there were several far better options available.

CLEVELAND- I hate to beat a dead horse as it has been addressed often before but quite likely the worst first overall selection of all-time is Karl Stevens. The top pick of the 1926 draft ended up with exactly 42 days of FABL experience for his career and makes fellow Foresters first rounders Dick Kennon, Leo Clark, Amos Leblanc and Johnny Turner look like draft day steals in contrast. Needless to say after looking at those names it is clear that the first round was not very kind to the Foresters for a number of years.

DETROIT- Harry Meek was taken 14th overall by the Dynamos in 1927 after a college career at Pierpont. The good thing is Meek was healthy, never spent a day of his baseball life hurt. The bad thing, he was not a very good pitcher and never advanced past AA before retiring in 1925. We also could have suggested 1928 first round Fred Keller but that might have been more a case of the organization ruined him by sitting the former high school first base on the bench in class C for six years, during which he started a grand total of 62 games.

MONTREAL- The Saints selected an infielder by the name of George X Johnson with their very first human GM pick in 1925. He lasted 49 games and was probably the least successful of the many George Johnsons to appear in FABL over the years. Most of their other first rounders, with the exception of 1926 choice Lee Griffin, panned out fairly nicely.

NY STARS- The Stars did get FABL service out of all of their first rounders, but there were far better options than the choices of George Williams (15th overall, 1926), one of the many Billy Smiths (7th overall, 1927), Nellie Dawson (13th overall, 1929). Art Haynes (11th overall, 1931) or Lou Barker (10th overall, 1934). None were completely terrible picks but none were especially impressive either.

NY GOTHAMS- 1927 6th overall selection Huck Moore who was coming off an 11-0 season when he helped lead Commonwealth Catholic to the AIAA title back in the feeder league era. Moore had an outstanding college career, going 29-6 for his 3 seasons as a Knight. The 29 wins was at the time an AIAA record equaling the mark set by Ralph Ohler in 1919-21 and equaled by Walt Palmer (1924-26). Perhaps it was foreshadowing of what was to come from Moore as Ohler never played a big league game and Palmer who just 7 games for Pittsburgh in his career after being the second overall pick a year ahead of Moore. As for Moore he pitched in just 1 FABL game and has for the past 5 seasons resided in the Lone Star Association. No major injuries, it appears Moore was just an excellent college pitcher but simply not a good professional one.

KEYSTONES- The Keystones have drafted very well of late landing among others Gene White, Jim Whitely. Billy Woytek and Davey Robicheaux in the first round. They also had some big picks in the early days including Frank Crawford, Bobby Barrell and Rip Curry but one they missed on was Roland Kumm. Not a terrible miss as Kumm was just the 16th overall pick in 1927 but aside from a few brief stints in AAA never came close to being considered a big leaguer. He is still in the Keystones system, playing AA at the age of 33.

SAILORS- For a little while there it looked like the Sailors were focused on filling out Lone Star Association rosters with their first round picks. 1926 we had Ed Juergens taken 9th overall. 1927 it was Jack Bates as the 11th pick. Next it was Ed Scott taken 16th in 1928. None of the three ever made the big leagues but all spent substantial time in the Texas loop. Floyd Spencer (16th in 1930) is still active but another Sailors first round selection unlikely to ever make it to the majors. To pick one I guess Juergens would be considered the worst choice since Frank Crawford and Frank Huddleston were the next two picks immediately after him.

PITTSBURGH- We picked on the Miners enough with the decision to take Eddie Wilson over Doug Lightbody in 1925.

ST LOUIS- Give the Pioneers credit. It likely took a lot of effort to find a first round pick in the 1925 draft who never made it to FABL but selecting third baseman Brad Crawford 9th overall certainly filled the order. Crawford spent most of his career in the Great Western League, first with the Pioneers AAA club in Oakland and later with independent Seattle before retiring following the 1938 campaign. Crawford and Leo Gorski, taken 15th overall by Washington, were the only 1926 first rounders never to play a big league game. Oh, and Jack Cleaves was taken immediately after Crawford. The early days of drafting were not kind to the Pioneers organization. Other first round gems included 3B Jack Rogers (14th overall 1926, 105 FABL games), OF Bert Harrison (8th overall 1927, 58 FABL games), OF Frank Shropshire (3rd overall 1928, 4 FABL games) and AIAA pitching phenom Tom Blalock (4th overall 1929, 0 FABL games).

TORONTO- The decision to trade up and select pitcher Eddie Quinn in 1925 was widely panned but Quinn certainly proved his worth in later years, although it was well after he had moved on from Toronto. In truth, the Wolves did pretty well with their first rounders back in the day: Frank Huddleston, Bill Anderson, Chuck Cole, Sam Orr and Bennie Johnson were all players who ended up providing decent value. One major exception is Jim Harris, a pitcher out of Northern California that was selected second overall in 1930. Perhaps a 1933 forearm injury that dragged on a bit impacted his career but aside from a brief stint at AAA Buffalo in 1936 Harris never got past AA and retired following the '36 season at the age of 27. A number of high 1930 picks failed to amount to much but the gaffe was especially costly to the Wolves as they had traded away their 2nd-thru-5th round picks that year.

WASHINGTON- The Eagles did draft Andy Carter, Wally Flowers and Jim Beard with first round picks but there have been a lot of missteps through the years starting with Leo Gorski in 1925 and Bill Whiting the following year and continuing with names like Gorver Carson, Bill Kirby, George Gilliard, Bobo White and Tommy Trott. Injuries likely played a role in the failures (at least so far) of Gilliard, White and Trott so I am not sure how much of the blame lies with the Eagles staff on the decision to select White over his St Blane teammate Gus Goulding first overall in 1934. Missing on first overall picks can certainly set a franchise back but since Goulding is just finding his form now perhaps there is still hope for White to turn it around although his list of injuries is much greater than Goulding's.

QUICK HITS

Congratulations to Pittsburgh infielder Jack Cleaves, who notched his 2,000 career hit - a double off of the Keystones Lloyd Stevens in a 9-4 Miners win yesterday. Unfortunately injuries are becoming almost as common for Cleaves as base hits and he pulled a muscle legging out the two-bagger. The Miners say it is nothing serious but expect Cleaves to miss a few games this week just to be sure. It is the third 'minor' injury the 33 year old Cleaves has suffered this season after spending most of the winter recovering from a broken kneecap suffered last September.
The Chicago Chiefs finished the month strong, going 9-3 over the last two weeks of June to salvage a .500 record for the month and remain 2.5 games behind Pittsburgh.
Detroit owner Powell Thompson is said to be on a rampage despite the fact the Dynamos are 39-33 and just 3.5 games out of first place. Word from Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World is there are about to be some big changes coming to Detroit. Thompson is quoted as saying this inconsistent half season so far is completely unacceptable. According to Thompson "Maybe it's an over-react but who cares management has been extremely patient and that is about to change."
Among the changes announced quickly by Detroit is the call to put veteran pitcher Oscar Morse (5-3, 6.19) on waivers. His last chance with the club was last week and the result was an 11-3 loss to Philadelphia. Morse is also said to be the type of player who will not be missed in the Detroit locker room. Veteran infielder Nick Wallace is also on his way out as the 32 year old was hitting just .161 this season. Slumping shortstop Gil London (.215,1,20) is still with Detroit but said to be on thin ice.
Mixed results for the much anticipated debut of last year's first overall draft pick. After going 7-2 in AAA Vic Carroll got the call from the Cannons and faced the Chicago Cougars last week in his big league debut. The game came a day before Carroll's 22nd birthday and he celebrated with a 12-6 victory, pitching 8 and a third but surrendering 5 earned runs on 10 hits. Carroll also helped his own cause with a double and he scored three times in the contest.
Not everyone is happy to be in Cincinnati. The wife of Cannons infielder Bunny Stapleton criticized the Queen City this week, calling it "A one-horse town with nothing to do and no good shops." She added that she would love to see her husband traded to another club where he would be the face of the franchise in a "nice" city. Stapleton, who has not played much this season and been primarily used as a pinch-hitter, looked dismayed when told of his wife's comments but quickly added he loves the city and has no desire to leave.
The surprising Cannons got back on track finishing off a long road trip by taking 5 of 6 games last week. The roadie started very badly for Cincinnati with the club dropping 6 of 9 but the strong finish allows them to open a little breathing room on second place Toronto atop the CA.
Speaking of Toronto, how much longer before the Wolves bring up Ockie Holliday from Buffalo. Holliday won Union League player of the month and is hitting .346 with 9 homers and 60 rbi's in 69 games for the Nickels. His batting average and rbi totals each lead the loop. Holliday also has a 25 game hit streak going. We are told that Ockie is short for Octavius - and it is this, not his surname, that gave him the nickname 'Roman'.
With 11 wins in their last 13 games the New York Stars are starting to remind us of the team they were a year ago. However one of those losses was a doozy as Montreal hammered the Stars 21-1 Saturday. Good news in New York to help their struggling pitching as Lou Robertson is 4-0 through June since making his debut, winning the CA rookie of the month.
No pitcher has had it rougher recently than Cougars hurler Pug Bryan. After a great start to the season the 27 year old reliever saw his 0.90 ERA explode to 8.22 in just 3 outings. He was charged with a loss in each of the three games. In those he went 5.1 innings with 15 hits, 6 walks, and 15 runs (13 earned), which caused his WHIP to jump to 2.02 in 15.1 innings pitched. In his first 7 outings, he allowed just a single earned run, 7 hits, and 3 walks
Doug Lightbody is not the only veteran who's FABL days may be behind him. Pittsburgh has put Andy Carter on the waiver wire despite his .348 batting average in very limited playing time this year. In Carter's case his personality characteristics likely play a role. Carter had some big seasons in Washington early in the decade.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/30/1940

France signs an armistice with Germany and Italy ending a conflict which the Italian Government entered only two weeks ago.
The government of the new French Premier charges that Great Britain's war effort was "insufficient" and full of "errors and mistakes."
Prime Minister Winston Churchill claims that France violated it's pledge to Britain in agreeing to surrender her fleet as terms of the truce with Germany.
British landing parties stabbed into the Continental coastline front behind which Germany is preparing for the Battle of Britain. The preemptive strike inflicted damage on German troops and also gathered key military intel, which points to a massive Nazi invasion of the British Isles.
In a bloodless takeover, Soviet Russia acquired a huge expanse of Rumanian territory to which Hitler called a British trick to make Germany fight on a new warfront in the Balkans. The takeover may not remain bloodless long as despite King Carol's decision to reluctantly accept Russian terms, Rumanian military leaders moved to mobilize troops to face the Russian occupiers.
Axis forces immediately pledge to help Rumania stop Russia if Soviet troops attempt to advance beyond the areas ceded by King Carol.
Air Marshall Italo Balbo, Governor General of Libya and founder of Fascism, died after his plane was shot down during an air battle in North Africa.
President Roosevelt refused to comment on movements of the United States Navy, giving weight to speculation that a sizeable part of the fleet might be on the way to the Atlantic. Roosevelt also officially signed into law a $4.7 billion dollar tax bill to pay for the huge national defense appropriations of the recent Congressional session.
At it's convention in Philadelphia the Republican party hitched it's 1940 hopes to a ticket of Wendell Wilkie for President and Charles McNary for Vice President.

01-03-2022, 12:59 PM	#321
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,838	July 1, 1940 July 1, 1940 SURPRISES AS SEASON APPROACHES MIDWAY POINT As the calendar turns to July and the all-star game, the traditional midpoint of the season, is just a week away it is starting to look like both the Philadelphia Keystones and Cincinnati Cannons are for real. Neither club was given much of a chance by most of the pundits although BNN did place the Keystones third in the Federal Association in it's preseason predictions and a few other publications did feel that Philadelphia could sneak into the first division. Meanwhile, BNN called for another last place finish for the Cannons, which would have been their 6th consecutive season in the Continental Association cellar and none of the major newspapers had Cincinnati pegged to finish higher than 6th. But here we are with over 70 games of the 154 games in the books and the Cannons are perched atop the Continental Association while the Keystones are just a half game back of Pennsylvania rival Pittsburgh for the Federal lead. The story in Cincinnati has been a combination of newly acquired veterans adding stability and many of the young players starting to live up to their lofty potential. The former includes Moxie Pidgeon (.338,12,56), who has been the clear leader of the newfound Cincinnati offense, along with Jack Flint (.320,1,28) and pitcher William Jones (8-5, 3.32). In the latter category we have the emergence of pitchers Butch Smith (10-4, 2.51) and Deuce Barrell (9-4, 2.92), although to be fair both actually began looking very good last season, as well as young shortstop Jim Hensley (.251,0,21) and outfielder Mike T Taylor (.302,0,24) who was blossomed after initial struggles caused him to be sent to AAA for a spell. The New York Stars have contributed greatly to the Cincinnati turnaround as in addition to Pidgeon and Jones, pitchers Larry Brown (1.66, 9 sv) and Glenn Payne (8-6, 3.62) have also arrived from New York over the past year and a half. In Philadelphia the youth movement is in full swing with only 29 year old Bobby Barrell (.273,13,49) having spent substantial time in Philadelphia among the regulars. Herman Patterson (8-2, 279) and Gene White (4-3, 3.30) are the 'old men' of the Keystones rotation at the ripe old age of 26 with fellow starters Lloyd Stevens (9-7, 3.46), Pepper Tuttle (6-5, 2.70) and Jim Whitely (3-4, 5.02) all just 24 years of age. Outfielders Hank McKay (.278,5,29) and Chuck Hood (.339,3,38) are both just 24 while first baseman Hans Wright (.255,8,32) is 25. Infielders Hank Koblenz (.281,16,45) and Billy Woytek (.285,8,50) are 23 and 21 respectively so Federal Association foes are likely quite worried about the Keystones going forward. It might be too much to expect Philadelphia and Cincinnati to hold their positions for the second half of the season but it is clear both organizations are on the upswing and likely won't be overlooked by prognosticators in the future. TWIFB CASTS ITS ANNUAL ALL STAR BALLOT With the all-star game fast approaching it is time once again for This Week in Figment Baseball to announce the list of players it deems worthy of starting in Detroit on July 9th for the 8th annual All-Star contest. You might recall the stars of the Continental Association doubled the Federal heroes 6-3 in Cleveland a year ago with Toronto Wolves first baseman Fred McCormick being named the top performer for the second consecutive season. The Federal side still holds bragging rights in the series, with a 4 games to 3 lead but the Continental boys have prevailed each of the past two seasons and three of the last four. So let's start with the Continental Association, who will act as the visitors for the game. CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION CATCHER: Jack Flint (.320,1,28) is having a very solid season in Cincinnati as is Clarence Howerton (.289,1,36) with Toronto but the dean of catchers in the Continental Association remains Adam Mullins (.311,2,28) of Montreal. Mullins has been an all-star each of the last three seasons and there is no reason not to make it four straight. FIRST BASE: It really doesn't matter what veterans Dave Trowbridge (.319,5,22)of the Stars or the Cannons Joe Perret (.331,5,28) are doing, nor does another solid year out of Ray Ford (.286,6,32) matter in Chicago. There is, both now and likely for the next several years, just one right answer to represent the Continental side at first base. Fred McCormick (.325,3,31) might not be off to his best start with Toronto this year but it's plenty good enough to allow him a to play in his 7th all-star contest and try to win his third straight player of the game award. SECOND BASE: Philadelphia's Bob Smith (.321,2,20) has been two consecutive all star games and will likely make it three straight but he will have to be named as a reserve. The starter spot should belong to Toronto's Tom Frederick (.320,0,25) as the 24 year old is enjoying a breakout season with the Wolves. THIRD BASE: This was probably the toughest call in the CA. Mel Carrol (.373,8,38) is having his usual outstanding season with the Cleveland Foresters but 37 year old John Lawson (.388,6,50) is having the best season of an exceptional career and putting an exclamation point on his Hall of Fame candidacy at some point in the not too distant future. The Chicago Cougars veteran gets the nod for what will be his 7th all-star selection (he missed only the 1938 game) but Carrol will be on the team as a reserve. SHORTSTOP: Joe Angevine (.301,1,41), Charlie Artuso (.273,2,29), Jim Hensley (.251,0,21), Frank Davis (.330,3,26), Rip Lee (.305,1,47). There are a lot of very good young shortstops in the CA but as much as we considered Davis of Montreal, our vote goes to Brooklyn's Harry Barrell (.274,0,22) - the best defensive shortstop in the game. Like third baseman Lawson, if selected it will be Barrell's 7th all-star appearance. Hard to believe he has been in the league that long and is still just 26 years of age. LEFT FIELD: More than anyone else Moxie Pidgeon (.338,12,56) has led the Cannons resurgence in Cincinnati. It will be Pidgeon's 6th all star appearance and come with his fifth different team. Larry Vestal (.295,2,35) of Toronto and the Cougars Leo Mitchell (.298,5,33) deserve consideration for backup spots. CENTER FIELD: Another Cincinnati Cannon gets the call in center as Fred Galloway (.310,2,42) is the pick despite the fact after a tremendous April and May he has struggled this past month. Still Galloway showed enough to nose out Chink Stickels (.284,8,50) of the Stars and the Sailors Don Homer (.286,3,23). RIGHT FIELD: One of the more difficult calls but Montreal's Red Bond (.343,14,44) gets the nod despite the fact that like Galloway, he has struggled this past month. Bill Barrett (.325,7,50) is going to start a lot of All-Star games in his career but for this one the young Stars outfielder will have to be content to backup Bond. PITCHER: Only three starters can go on the actual ballot but there are probably half a dozen who deserve serious consideration to be the starter. You have Bernie Johnson (9-4, 2.77) and Joe Hancock (8-5, 3.29) in Toronto; Deuce Barrell (9-4, 2.92 and a CA leading 69 K's) along with his Cincinnati teammate Butch Smith (10-4, 2.51) and then there is Art White (8-4, 2.92), who was the winning pitcher in last years game, along with Stumpy Beaman (7-4, 2.32) of Brooklyn. You also have Dick Lyons (10-3, 2.85) of the Cougars, who is pitching better at age 40 than he did a decade ago. But if it is up to TWIFB we are giving the game ball to Walt Wells (10-4, 2.75) to start the game in Detroit. FEDERAL ASSOCIATION CATCHER: The injury woes that the Chiefs Tom Bird (.311,9,28) has dealt with this season allows George Cleaves (.297,5,26) of Pittsburgh to be the clear choice to appear in his 6th all-star game. Special mention should also go to Heinie Zimmer (.298,3,29), who is quietly one of the few having a good season in St Louis. FIRST BASE: With apologies to Boston's Bob Donoghue (.247,12,33), the Red Johnson (.315,17,55) era is here as Detroit's 22 year old is a clear number one choice. I would love to see veteran Bud Jameson (.312,6,23) make the all-star team. The heart of the New York Gothams has only started half of his teams games this season but it seems a shame that such a talented player has never played in a Midsummer Classic. SECOND BASE: We favour the veteran here in taking Hank Barnett (.272,16,42) of the Chiefs over the Keystones rising young star in Blue Collar Billy Woytek (.285,8,50). There was a lot of back and forth on this choice and both deserve to be on the team. THIRD BASE: The young guys are coming here with Mack Sutton (.276,13,33) and Hank Koblenz (.281,16,45) both enjoying strong seasons and Billy Dalton (.257,6,21) will be in a number of all star games before his career is done but not this one as the Gothams youngster has been hampered by injury this year. The choice is the old man of the group as Detroit's Frank Vance (.310,11,35) gets the nod after missing last year's all-star game - the first time he was not selected. SHORTSTOP: Hard to see any of the names on the ballot as all-stars this season, especially when you compare them to the crop of Continental Association shortstops but we have to pick one so it will be 24 year old Mule Monier (.256,3,23) of the Gothams making his all-star debut. LEFT FIELD: He has definitely slowed down over the past couple of seasons but after a two year absence Bobby Barrell (.273,13,49) gets our vote. The 29 year old face of the Philadelphia Keystones edges Boston's Pete Day (.306,1,18), Joe Owens (.318,4,31) of Pittsburgh and Washington's Dilly Ward (.284,1,31) on our ballot. CENTER FIELD: We don't care what Pablo Reyes (.329,6,41) in Pittsburgh or the Chiefs Bill May (.319,6,38) are doing. Nor can we make the call to take the feel good story of the season in the Keystones Chuck Hood (.339,3,38) over Sal Pestilli (.270,19,54) of Detroit. Just pencil Pestilli in as your starting center fielder for the Fed side for the next decade and be done with it, although we do hope that each of the other three mentioned get selected as backups. RIGHT FIELD: We would love to be able to shift one of those center fielders over to right on our ballot but since we have to take a right fielder lets go with Cliff Moss (.306,7,25) of the Chiefs. He has had a rough June, struggling at the plate and bothered by a hamstring injury but he gets our vote over Boston's Bill Burkett (.267,3,28) and Philadelphia rookie Hank McKay (.278,5,29). PITCHER: Unlike the CA, it was very easy to pick the starting pitcher for the Federal side. Sergio Gonzales (12-4, 2.55) leads FABL in wins and has really stepped up with the injury to Detroit teammate Frank Crawford. Gonzales is the clear choice for starter but that is not to say there are not plenty of other outstanding pitchers in the Fed. Lefty Allen (11-5, 3.17) of Pittsburgh, Washington's Del Burns (10-3, 3.71), the Boston duo of Ed Wood (11-4, 2.83) and Art Myers (9-5, 2.22), Herman Patterson (8-2, 2.79) of Philadelphia and Rabbit Day of the Chiefs (8-5, 3.06) all warrant inclusion on the final roster. Eddie Wilson knew the questions would be coming. "It seems every time something happens with one of them, you guys (the media) seek me out," said the 36 year old when contacted in Dallas the other day. The 'them' that Wilson speaks of are the players who compromised the top of the 1925 draft class, widely considered one of the best of all-time. Few remember it but Wilson was one of them. A slick hitting outfielder at Grafton College back then, Wilson finished the 1925 season in the top ten in the AIAA in all three triple crown categories as he helped the Scholars come to within a game of a National Championship, before falling to Bayou State in a best of seven College World Championship Series Final that went the distance. Flash forward to the FABL draft day that year and the names of future FABL stars, even potential Hall of Famers, started rolling off the tongues of eager General Managers, each making their first big decision as the modern (human GM) era kicked off that very month. Detroit took Al Wheeler. The Wolves followed with pitcher Eddie Quinn, certainly a controversial pick at the time but the Caveman sure turned out all right eventually. Then came Bud Jameson, Bill Ashbaugh, Eddie Wilson and Doug Lightbody to round out the top six with Jack Cleaves shortly after. Wait a minute! Hold up, who was the player taken after Ashbaugh and ahead of Lightbody? Eddie Wilson still hears the occasional catcalls about his draft position as he steps to the plate in one of the rundown ballparks of the Lone Star Association, a loop full of has-beens and never-were's that couldn't cut the mustard with the big boys back east. Wilson though, is very happy where his baseball life has taken him. He has been a member of the Dallas Centurions for 8 seasons, married a local girl and bought a ranch just outside of his adopted home. He has done well on the diamond too - his 1,090 hits are 6th most in Lone Star history and he is the Centurions career leader in virtually every offensive category. Still it is not quite how Wilson envisioned things going when he was drafted a decade and a half ago. He doesn't think about the past much he claims, but when a news item like the expected retirement of Doug Lightbody hits the wires, he can't help but think back to what might have been. Wilson was born in Lock Haven, a city in the middle of Pennsylvania about 175 miles away from Pittsburgh. It seems a lifetime away now for Wilson, but he was on top of the world in December of 1925 after hearing the Pittsburgh Miners had selected him fifth overall in the FABL draft. Unfortunately that moment would turn out to be the highlight of his FABL career. He spent three years in the Miners minors, logging time in exotic locales like Birmingham, St Paul and Gary. Acquainted himself quite well at each stop and in September 1928 he got an opportunity with the big club. It wasn't much, just a small taste as he appeared in 8 games for Pittsburgh but went just 3-for-20 so the next spring it was back to AAA St. Paul. Wilson tore the cover off the ball in 97 games with the Disciples, hitting .364 with 11 homeruns in just 90 games. He would get 15 more games with Pittsburgh that season but again failed to take full advantage of the opportunity, batting just .243 but he did hit a pair of doubles. The story was the same in 1930 - decent numbers in St Paul but only a brief chance to show what he could do in a crowded Pittsburgh outfield that featured Jim Renfroe and a young Frank Lightbody, drafted 4th overall two years after Wilson by the Miners perhaps in hopes of correcting the mistake they made in bypassing his big brother. Wilson appeared in 9 games and had his best big league showing, batting .304 in 26 plate appearances, but it would also be his last trip to the majors. He was now 27 and by then had gained the reputation as a solid AAA player but not a FABL regular so he spent the next two seasons in St Paul and was bypassed for promotion to Pittsburgh in each of them. At the conclusion of spring training 1933 the Miners informed Wilson his services were no longer required and he was released, his FABL dreams gone for good. Dallas came calling as the Centurions were the only club to offer him a contract. It was about as far off the baseball path that Wilson could get, a struggling team (they finished 6th in 1932) in a fledgling farmland league that was about to embark on it's 5th season as a professional loop. With no other options, Wilson packed his bags and headed to Texas. He started slow, going hitless in his first two games as perhaps the shock of where his career had landed took some time to sink in. However, in Wilson's third game with the Centurions he broke out big time, going 5-for-5 and never looked back. He hit .318 that first season and quickly became one of the Centurions fans favourite players. In 1934 he helped lead Dallas to it's first, and so far only, Lone Star pennant and to this day remains a key piece of the Dallas club. With a vast baseball knowledge and the smarts one would expect from an Academia Alliance alum Wilson looks and acts like the type of player who may one day make it back to the big leagues as a coach or manager but for now he is very content with the turns his baseball life has taken him. Comparisons to Doug Lightbody? About the only one Eddie will admit to is they were both college outfielders. They were also part of one of the greatest draft classes in FABL history, even though Wilson is a mere footnote or perhaps even worse than that - just a bad memory of a terrible decision - for Pittsburgh fans. AROUND THE LEAGUE In honour of the Eddie Wilson selection by Pittsburgh ahead of Doug Lightbody in the 1925 draft, this time in AROUND THE LEAGUE we take a look at the worst first round selections of the human era by each of the 16 FABL clubs: BOSTON- Barney Meeker. Taken 11th overall in 1928 out of Commonwealth Catholic three years after he was drafted in the 8th round and failed to sign with St Louis. Meeker was a first team All-American his draft year and had some good years in the minors, hitting 25 homers at AA as a 24 year old in 1931 for example. He spent over 3 seasons in AAA but never got the call to the big leagues and retired in 1937. To be fair to Boston, 1928 was one of the weaker draft classes. BROOKLYN- Brooklyn has actually had pretty good luck with their first round picks but while the jury is still out, 24 year old Dan Rogers is looking like their worst blunder. Selected 14th overall in 1934 after just one season of high school ball, the outfielder has played just 5 big league games and is nothing like the power hitter the Kings were hoping they would get when they chose him. Word is the Kings were hoping to land Bob Donoghue that year but Boston grabbed him 3 picks ahead of Brooklyn. Looking for a power bat they would have been much wiser to take a middle infielder instead as Jim Hensley and Joe Nichols were the next two players selected. CHIEFS- The Chiefs have had more than their share of first round busts so it's hard to pick just one. Candidates include Fred Nader in 1925, Vallie Turner in 1927, Bolivar Jim Smith and Tom Eggleton both were 1930 first rounders, a pitcher by the name Joe Hunt in 1931. Of those five only Nader and Eggleton ever made it to FABL and that was just for a combined total of 31 games. Fortunately the Chiefs have drafted much better since then with Bob Walls, Al Miller, Bennie Griffith and Billy Dalton being among their more recent first rounders. COUGARS- The Cougars have enjoyed some great success in the opening round of the draft through the years with names like Bill Ashbaugh, Fred Barrell, Mike Murphy, Tom Barrell, Billy Hunter and Pete Papenfus being among the highlights perhaps that makes up for the decision to take Harry Humphrey out of nearby Whitney College third overall in 1927. Humphrey peaked at AA while the player selected immediately after him was also a college outfielder, someone by the name Frank Lightbody. CINCINNATI- The Cannons have picked so high most of the past decade it is almost impossible to get a dud but they made more than their share of mistakes in the 1920s. It started with the 1925 draft which had players like Jack Cleaves available when they chose a pitcher (wow that trend did start early for the Cannons) by the name of Earle Charlton 8th overall. Charlton was 8-16 over parts of 6 FABL seasons before the Los Angeles native found a home on the west coast with AAA indy Sacramento. Other Baltimore picks in the late 1920s made the majors and played a little but as it turned out in nearly every case there were several far better options available. CLEVELAND- I hate to beat a dead horse as it has been addressed often before but quite likely the worst first overall selection of all-time is Karl Stevens. The top pick of the 1926 draft ended up with exactly 42 days of FABL experience for his career and makes fellow Foresters first rounders Dick Kennon, Leo Clark, Amos Leblanc and Johnny Turner look like draft day steals in contrast. Needless to say after looking at those names it is clear that the first round was not very kind to the Foresters for a number of years. DETROIT- Harry Meek was taken 14th overall by the Dynamos in 1927 after a college career at Pierpont. The good thing is Meek was healthy, never spent a day of his baseball life hurt. The bad thing, he was not a very good pitcher and never advanced past AA before retiring in 1925. We also could have suggested 1928 first round Fred Keller but that might have been more a case of the organization ruined him by sitting the former high school first base on the bench in class C for six years, during which he started a grand total of 62 games. MONTREAL- The Saints selected an infielder by the name of George X Johnson with their very first human GM pick in 1925. He lasted 49 games and was probably the least successful of the many George Johnsons to appear in FABL over the years. Most of their other first rounders, with the exception of 1926 choice Lee Griffin, panned out fairly nicely. NY STARS- The Stars did get FABL service out of all of their first rounders, but there were far better options than the choices of George Williams (15th overall, 1926), one of the many Billy Smiths (7th overall, 1927), Nellie Dawson (13th overall, 1929). Art Haynes (11th overall, 1931) or Lou Barker (10th overall, 1934). None were completely terrible picks but none were especially impressive either. NY GOTHAMS- 1927 6th overall selection Huck Moore who was coming off an 11-0 season when he helped lead Commonwealth Catholic to the AIAA title back in the feeder league era. Moore had an outstanding college career, going 29-6 for his 3 seasons as a Knight. The 29 wins was at the time an AIAA record equaling the mark set by Ralph Ohler in 1919-21 and equaled by Walt Palmer (1924-26). Perhaps it was foreshadowing of what was to come from Moore as Ohler never played a big league game and Palmer who just 7 games for Pittsburgh in his career after being the second overall pick a year ahead of Moore. As for Moore he pitched in just 1 FABL game and has for the past 5 seasons resided in the Lone Star Association. No major injuries, it appears Moore was just an excellent college pitcher but simply not a good professional one. KEYSTONES- The Keystones have drafted very well of late landing among others Gene White, Jim Whitely. Billy Woytek and Davey Robicheaux in the first round. They also had some big picks in the early days including Frank Crawford, Bobby Barrell and Rip Curry but one they missed on was Roland Kumm. Not a terrible miss as Kumm was just the 16th overall pick in 1927 but aside from a few brief stints in AAA never came close to being considered a big leaguer. He is still in the Keystones system, playing AA at the age of 33. SAILORS- For a little while there it looked like the Sailors were focused on filling out Lone Star Association rosters with their first round picks. 1926 we had Ed Juergens taken 9th overall. 1927 it was Jack Bates as the 11th pick. Next it was Ed Scott taken 16th in 1928. None of the three ever made the big leagues but all spent substantial time in the Texas loop. Floyd Spencer (16th in 1930) is still active but another Sailors first round selection unlikely to ever make it to the majors. To pick one I guess Juergens would be considered the worst choice since Frank Crawford and Frank Huddleston were the next two picks immediately after him. PITTSBURGH- We picked on the Miners enough with the decision to take Eddie Wilson over Doug Lightbody in 1925. ST LOUIS- Give the Pioneers credit. It likely took a lot of effort to find a first round pick in the 1925 draft who never made it to FABL but selecting third baseman Brad Crawford 9th overall certainly filled the order. Crawford spent most of his career in the Great Western League, first with the Pioneers AAA club in Oakland and later with independent Seattle before retiring following the 1938 campaign. Crawford and Leo Gorski, taken 15th overall by Washington, were the only 1926 first rounders never to play a big league game. Oh, and Jack Cleaves was taken immediately after Crawford. The early days of drafting were not kind to the Pioneers organization. Other first round gems included 3B Jack Rogers (14th overall 1926, 105 FABL games), OF Bert Harrison (8th overall 1927, 58 FABL games), OF Frank Shropshire (3rd overall 1928, 4 FABL games) and AIAA pitching phenom Tom Blalock (4th overall 1929, 0 FABL games). TORONTO- The decision to trade up and select pitcher Eddie Quinn in 1925 was widely panned but Quinn certainly proved his worth in later years, although it was well after he had moved on from Toronto. In truth, the Wolves did pretty well with their first rounders back in the day: Frank Huddleston, Bill Anderson, Chuck Cole, Sam Orr and Bennie Johnson were all players who ended up providing decent value. One major exception is Jim Harris, a pitcher out of Northern California that was selected second overall in 1930. Perhaps a 1933 forearm injury that dragged on a bit impacted his career but aside from a brief stint at AAA Buffalo in 1936 Harris never got past AA and retired following the '36 season at the age of 27. A number of high 1930 picks failed to amount to much but the gaffe was especially costly to the Wolves as they had traded away their 2nd-thru-5th round picks that year. WASHINGTON- The Eagles did draft Andy Carter, Wally Flowers and Jim Beard with first round picks but there have been a lot of missteps through the years starting with Leo Gorski in 1925 and Bill Whiting the following year and continuing with names like Gorver Carson, Bill Kirby, George Gilliard, Bobo White and Tommy Trott. Injuries likely played a role in the failures (at least so far) of Gilliard, White and Trott so I am not sure how much of the blame lies with the Eagles staff on the decision to select White over his St Blane teammate Gus Goulding first overall in 1934. Missing on first overall picks can certainly set a franchise back but since Goulding is just finding his form now perhaps there is still hope for White to turn it around although his list of injuries is much greater than Goulding's. QUICK HITS Congratulations to Pittsburgh infielder Jack Cleaves, who notched his 2,000 career hit - a double off of the Keystones Lloyd Stevens in a 9-4 Miners win yesterday. Unfortunately injuries are becoming almost as common for Cleaves as base hits and he pulled a muscle legging out the two-bagger. The Miners say it is nothing serious but expect Cleaves to miss a few games this week just to be sure. It is the third 'minor' injury the 33 year old Cleaves has suffered this season after spending most of the winter recovering from a broken kneecap suffered last September. The Chicago Chiefs finished the month strong, going 9-3 over the last two weeks of June to salvage a .500 record for the month and remain 2.5 games behind Pittsburgh. Detroit owner Powell Thompson is said to be on a rampage despite the fact the Dynamos are 39-33 and just 3.5 games out of first place. Word from Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World is there are about to be some big changes coming to Detroit. Thompson is quoted as saying this inconsistent half season so far is completely unacceptable. According to Thompson "Maybe it's an over-react but who cares management has been extremely patient and that is about to change." Among the changes announced quickly by Detroit is the call to put veteran pitcher Oscar Morse (5-3, 6.19) on waivers. His last chance with the club was last week and the result was an 11-3 loss to Philadelphia. Morse is also said to be the type of player who will not be missed in the Detroit locker room. Veteran infielder Nick Wallace is also on his way out as the 32 year old was hitting just .161 this season. Slumping shortstop Gil London (.215,1,20) is still with Detroit but said to be on thin ice. Mixed results for the much anticipated debut of last year's first overall draft pick. After going 7-2 in AAA Vic Carroll got the call from the Cannons and faced the Chicago Cougars last week in his big league debut. The game came a day before Carroll's 22nd birthday and he celebrated with a 12-6 victory, pitching 8 and a third but surrendering 5 earned runs on 10 hits. Carroll also helped his own cause with a double and he scored three times in the contest. Not everyone is happy to be in Cincinnati. The wife of Cannons infielder Bunny Stapleton criticized the Queen City this week, calling it "A one-horse town with nothing to do and no good shops." She added that she would love to see her husband traded to another club where he would be the face of the franchise in a "nice" city. Stapleton, who has not played much this season and been primarily used as a pinch-hitter, looked dismayed when told of his wife's comments but quickly added he loves the city and has no desire to leave. The surprising Cannons got back on track finishing off a long road trip by taking 5 of 6 games last week. The roadie started very badly for Cincinnati with the club dropping 6 of 9 but the strong finish allows them to open a little breathing room on second place Toronto atop the CA. Speaking of Toronto, how much longer before the Wolves bring up Ockie Holliday from Buffalo. Holliday won Union League player of the month and is hitting .346 with 9 homers and 60 rbi's in 69 games for the Nickels. His batting average and rbi totals each lead the loop. Holliday also has a 25 game hit streak going. We are told that Ockie is short for Octavius - and it is this, not his surname, that gave him the nickname 'Roman'. With 11 wins in their last 13 games the New York Stars are starting to remind us of the team they were a year ago. However one of those losses was a doozy as Montreal hammered the Stars 21-1 Saturday. Good news in New York to help their struggling pitching as Lou Robertson is 4-0 through June since making his debut, winning the CA rookie of the month. No pitcher has had it rougher recently than Cougars hurler Pug Bryan. After a great start to the season the 27 year old reliever saw his 0.90 ERA explode to 8.22 in just 3 outings. He was charged with a loss in each of the three games. In those he went 5.1 innings with 15 hits, 6 walks, and 15 runs (13 earned), which caused his WHIP to jump to 2.02 in 15.1 innings pitched. In his first 7 outings, he allowed just a single earned run, 7 hits, and 3 walks Doug Lightbody is not the only veteran who's FABL days may be behind him. Pittsburgh has put Andy Carter on the waiver wire despite his .348 batting average in very limited playing time this year. In Carter's case his personality characteristics likely play a role. Carter had some big seasons in Washington early in the decade. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 6/30/1940 France signs an armistice with Germany and Italy ending a conflict which the Italian Government entered only two weeks ago. The government of the new French Premier charges that Great Britain's war effort was "insufficient" and full of "errors and mistakes." Prime Minister Winston Churchill claims that France violated it's pledge to Britain in agreeing to surrender her fleet as terms of the truce with Germany. British landing parties stabbed into the Continental coastline front behind which Germany is preparing for the Battle of Britain. The preemptive strike inflicted damage on German troops and also gathered key military intel, which points to a massive Nazi invasion of the British Isles. In a bloodless takeover, Soviet Russia acquired a huge expanse of Rumanian territory to which Hitler called a British trick to make Germany fight on a new warfront in the Balkans. The takeover may not remain bloodless long as despite King Carol's decision to reluctantly accept Russian terms, Rumanian military leaders moved to mobilize troops to face the Russian occupiers. Axis forces immediately pledge to help Rumania stop Russia if Soviet troops attempt to advance beyond the areas ceded by King Carol. Air Marshall Italo Balbo, Governor General of Libya and founder of Fascism, died after his plane was shot down during an air battle in North Africa. President Roosevelt refused to comment on movements of the United States Navy, giving weight to speculation that a sizeable part of the fleet might be on the way to the Atlantic. Roosevelt also officially signed into law a $4.7 billion dollar tax bill to pay for the huge national defense appropriations of the recent Congressional session. At it's convention in Philadelphia the Republican party hitched it's 1940 hopes to a ticket of Wendell Wilkie for President and Charles McNary for Vice President. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles