OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal

Jiggs McGee · 01-12-2022, 01:36 PM

AUGUST 19, 1940

KEYSTONES, CHIEFS FADING FROM FED RACE

The Federal Association seems to be slowly weeding out the pretenders as both the Philadelphia Keystones and Chicago Chiefs are in danger of falling out of the race after each endured a prolonged losing streak. The Chiefs lost 5 straight before righting things on the weekend with a pair of wins over the hard-luck New York Gothams, but the damage was severe as Chicago, which won pennants in 1936 and 1938, dropped 8.5 games behind front running Pittsburgh following the skid. Things are even worse in Philadelphia where the young Keystones ran into a pair of brick walls named Boston and Pittsburgh. The Keystones have lost 7 in a row starting last Sunday when they fell at home to Pittsburgh and continuing with 3 losses at Broad Street Park to the Minutemen before heading to Pittsburgh and getting swept by the Miners over the weekend. The result is the Keystones now find themselves facing a real uphill battle, trailing the Miners by 6.5 games with Detroit and Boston also sitting between them and first place.

While the Fed was separating itself a bit, the Continental Association race got even tighter as the Toronto Wolves stumbled slightly, going 3-4 on the week. Cincinnati, back at home after a long road trip, went 5-2 and actually passed the Wolves for top spot on Saturday before falling back to second with a loss yesterday. The Chicago Cougars, winners of 5 straight and destroyers of Brooklyn's title hopes with 5 wins in 6 games against the Kings over the past week and a half, are just a game and a half back with the New York Stars and Philadelphia Sailors also both still very much in the mix.

1941 DRAFT PREVIEW

HIRAM STEINBERG HIGHLIGHTS STRONG GROUP OF HIGH SCHOOL HURLERS

For more than two years FABL scouting directors have been counting the days until Hiram Steinberg is finally eligible for the FABL draft. That day will come in January and it seems almost a foregone conclusion that the 6 foot tall New York City 17 year old will be the first name called when the draft begins. It is pretty difficult to match the hype generated prior to Deuce Barrell being selected first overall in 1935 but Steinberg, who already owns 2 Adwell Awards as National High School player of the year and stands a good chance to claim a third one next season, might just surpass the excitement level for Barrell, who can boast of only one Adwell Award in his trophy case.

While Steinberg is the prize jewel in a pretty solid group of top end pitchers there are plenty of others OSA is very high on. The present feeling from the scouting service is as many as six or seven from this crop of high schoolers could be at the very worst middle of the rotation starters.

Here are the top ten compiled by This Week in Figment Baseball based on the OSA scouting reports and 1940 stats.

1: HIRAM STEINBERG: Washington High School, New York City

Steinberg is a 3-time High School All-American from New York City's Washington High School and appears likely to join fellow New Yorker and 1939 second overall pick Wally Fuller as the only 4-time selections. 'The Undertaker', as he is know, has not lost a game in 3 seasons of high school ball, going 35-0 with a 0.69 era and 632 strikeouts while walking just 52. He seems a lock to set the new National High School record for career pitching wins and strikeouts. Only 6 pitchers, including the aforementioned Deuce Barrell, have won 12 games in a high school season and Steinberg is the only one to do it twice. He also has a pair of 200-strikeout seasons under his belt, something Minnesota senior Donnie Jones, now in the Chicago Cougars organization, is the only other player to do even once. Perhaps underselling his talents, OSA simply says the righthander "has a chance to be an ace." Steinberg is certain to be the third Washington High School student to be drafted joining Bill Buff, a first baseman selected in the 20th round this past June by Brooklyn, and outfielder Ralph Lane, who was the Gothams 22nd round pick in 1935 and is presently playing in the Pittsburgh Miners system.

2: TOM BUCHANAN: Waterloo (IA) High School

A tall lefthander who keeps the ball down and has good movement on his 4-pitch arsenal. OSA feels he possesses front of the rotation potential after an 11-0, 0.58 season as a junior. 26-2 with a 0.96 era and 400 strikeouts with only 42 walks in 282 high school innings the past three seasons. Worth noting is Buchanan has yet to allow a high school hitter to homer off of him. He is well respected by teammates and looks to have the ability to develop into a clubhouse leader. Buchanan's catcher at Waterloo High, Randy Woodworth, hit .390 last season as a sophomore and is expected to be drafted in 1942.

3: BERT CUPID: Wilson High School, Youngstown, Ohio

At 12-0 Cupid was the only high school pitcher to win more games than Steinberg did this season as he compiled just the 8th 12-0 record in High School history (including feeders) but despite that only received honourable mention status for the High School All-American team. He is 22-1 for his two seasons (Cupid did not pitch as a freshman) after striking out 194 while walking just 16 this year to go with a sparkling 0.79 era. Nicknamed "The Buckeye Bullet" he already tops 88 mph with his fastball and should improve on that once he fills out his lanky 6'0" frame. OSA lauds his ability to locate his pitches and feels Cupid is a future #2 starter. Cupid hails from Youngstown, Ohio who's representative in Congress right now is a former player by the name of Max Morris. While Morris is the only Hall of Famer to call Youngstown home there are a couple of other players hailing from the city who had very productive big league careers. They are catcher Harvey Reese, who played nearly 2,200 FABL games for Washington, Cleveland and Brooklyn at the turn of the century, and 1890s outfielder Lewis Kendrick who spent most of his decade long career with Baltimore.

4: GENE MADISON: Sacred Heart High School, San Francisco, CA

Another groundball pitcher with imposing size, the 6'3" righthander known as "Mean Gene" features a plus slider as the best of his three pitches. A real worm killer who lives on the corners, OSA feels he has shown flashes of the potential to be a top of the rotation arm. He was 9-0 with an 0.86 era last season and is 19-1, 1.07 with 308 strikeouts and 33 walks in 210 innings over his two seasons of high school ball.

5: HARRY PHILLIPS: Ashley (MI) High School, born in Grand Rapids, MI

Lacks the numbers of some of the players ranked ahead of him with a 28-5, 1.45 showing over three seasons. 399 strikeouts and 49 walks in 347 innings of work. OSA likes his control and expects it to get even better as he matures. Called a 'useful arm' the scouting service says while he won't be someone pitching in a big game, if his is the worst arm in the staff it means you have a very good rotation. The best known player to come from Grand Rapids is Nat Spruce, an infielder who played over 1,500 games for the Miners between 1907 and 1917. While he never made it to FABL, pitcher Bobby Love was a second round pick of the Chicago Cougars 1927 but injuries derailed his career.

6: JOE BECKSTROM: Lowell High School, San Francisco, CA

He has had some epic duels with Gene Madison in the San Francisco high school loop and while a step down from his rival, OSA sees Beckstrom as a solid piece of a big league rotation. His stuff and movement are seen as just average but his solid control and ability to induce ground balls are his ticket to the big leagues. Very consistent numbers over his two seasons of play in which he posted an 18-4 record with a 1.35 era, while fanning 308 and walking 41 in 234 innings of work. As a freshman Beckwith was a teammate of Hank Artrip at Lowell High. Artrip was a 12th round pick of the Washington Eagles and is in his second season at Class B Everett of the COW League.

7: LARRY GREGORY: University High School, Chicago IL

Called 'The Pope of Chicago' the 17 year old righthander is on the smallish side (5'11", 155 lbs) but gets by on off-speed stuff that is highlighted by a plus sinker that induces a lot of groundballs. He has limited exposure to scouts, pitching just the one season in which he went 8-1 with a 1.39 era while fanning 112 and walking 20 in 90 innings of work but OSA sees Gregory as a solid back end of the rotation starter. Always a hot bed of baseball talent, Gregory is bidding to become the 10th player born in Chicago to be a first round draft pick. The others are Dick Mannheim and Eddie Gasser (both 1915), Dwight Becker (1916), Oscar Morse (1924), Bill Kirby (1929), Levi Redding (1932), Bob Cummings (1933), Bud Canfield (1935) and Richie Hughes (1940).

8: CHARLIE TODD: Torrington (CT) High School

Another of a good number of ground ball pitchers, the 18 year old Connecticut native lives on his off-speed stuff with a curveball being his money pitch but also a solid sinker. He won't overwhelm you but OSA feels Todd projects to be a solid starter at the back end of the rotation. Teams might be wary of using a January selection on Todd as he has very limited high school experience, starting just 8 games as a junior and not playing prior to that. He was 4-1 with a 1.76 era and 64 strikeouts in 61 innings of work. Todd will become the second Torrington High grad to be drafted, joining outfielder Eddie Chamness, who was 25th round pick of the Chicago Cougars in 1938 and is presently playing in the Washington Eagles system.

9: ANDY LYON: Redondo Beach (CA) High School, born in Los Angeles

Another of the west coast arms that have impressed OSA. Lyon has pitched all 3 seasons at his school and is a perfect 16-0 with a 1.32 era. He also has fanned 262 batters while walking 41 in 205 innings pitched. His solid command and advanced control should limit the free passes he offers and Lyon projects as a fifth starter. A couple of former feeder league players from the college ranks grew up in Redondo Beach and would have played their high school ball at the school. Billy Nash was an 18th round pick of Boston out of St Pancras but never advanced past AA while pitcher Johnny Cox attended Mississippi A&M before also being selected by the Minutemen, in round 8 of the 1932 draft. Cox is now in AAA in the Chiefs system and made two appearances with the big league club in 1938.

10: BOB DAVIS: Eagle Lake (TX) High School, born in Galveston, Tx[/b]

Like Lyon, Davis did start a lot of games despite lettering all three seasons at his high school. He had 42 appearances over that time but just 18 starts, posting an 11-1 record with a 1.21 era. He fans better than 1 an inning (216k's in 170 IP) while walking 36. He has not allowed a homerun so far in his high school pitching career. He has 4 pitches and OSA likes his command enough to feel he should avoid giving up longballs at the pro level but because his stuff is solidly below-average Davis projects to have a ceiling of a fifth starter. No pitcher born in Galveston has ever played professional baseball but this draft will have two Galveston natives as George Fitzgerald, who went 9-2 last season for Liberty (TX) High School also was born in Galveston. Outfielder Tom Miller, who was Cleveland's 1937 4th round pick out of Portland Tech is the highest drafted player born in Galveston.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

A quick look around the league from Jiggs McGee, focusing on whatever might catch his eye about each FABL club this week.

BOSTON- It was a perfect time for a 5-game winning streak as the Minutemen stayed in the hunt in the Fed race by sweeping the Keystones in Philadelphia before returning home to take 2 of three from Washington. Boston faces a big test starting today with a 3-game set against Detroit at Cunningham Field. The Minutemen will have their work cut out for them as they are just 4-12 against the Dynamos this season. Pittsburgh has also given Boston fits, with the Miners winning 9 of their 13 meetings so far.

BROOKLYN- The Kings are about done with 8 losses in 9 games as the Cougars beat them up pretty good the past week and a half. Brooklyn is now 9 games off the pace and 2 games under .500. There July charge and August fade is very reminiscent of last year when they went 17-9 in July but finished the season with just 19 wins in their final 58 games. Brooklyn is 4-10 so far in August this year. Tom Barrell's (7-13, 5.15) nightmare of a season continued to fall off the rails last week when he lasted just 6 innings and allowed 6 earned runs on 11 hits in an 8-2 loss to the Cougars. That came after his best start of the season when he beat the Cougars 2-1 the week before. This will likely be the third straight season the 3-time Allan Award winner has finished with an ERA+ below 100.

CHIEFS- Big series for the Chiefs starting today against Pittsburgh. A sweep here seems to be almost essential if Chicago is going to get back into the mix for the Fed pennant. The Chiefs are 10-6 against the Miners this season, the only team they have had more success with this year was the Gothams, against whom Chicago is 12-6. On the flip side we have the Boston Minutemen, who are 12-5 vs Chicago.

COUGARS-It's high time we follow up on the Schneider boys. The 19 year old triplets drafted with 3 consecutive first round picks in 1938 are all doing quite well. Shortstop Skipper is now a fixture in the Chicago Cougars lineup, batting .307 with a homer and 34 rbi's in 79 games while providing more than adequate defense. Buddy is also playing a lot in Boston where the second sacker is hitting .281 with 3 homers and 33 rbi's in 71 games. Bart, the pitcher in the group, might have been considered a bit of a reach when the Cleveland Foresters grabbed him with the 9th pick right after his brothers were taken, has moved up to Class A and is 8-5 with a 4.28 era in 18 starts at that level.

CINCINNATI- The Cannons with a big 5-2 week, as they are getting the job done at home. Cincinnati was in first place again following Saturday's game but a Sunday loss dropped them a half game back of Toronto once again. The last time the Cannons were in first place after the All-Star break was actually before there even was an all-star game. They were in first on September 7,1931 before dropping their next two games to fall out of top spot. They have never led the CA after mid-July since then, until two days ago. Rookie Jim Anderson is impressing Cincinnati management. The 24 year old is 2-1, 1.29 after a complete game shutout of Cleveland in his start this week. Bad news is first overall pick Dick Blaszak is struggling at Class C now after his demotion from Class B. Batting .111 in 13 games at that level after hitting just .103 in 19 games at Class B. The only small positive is 3 of Blszak's 9 pro hits have been homeruns.

CLEVELAND- Looks like Foresters have all but clinched the Hiram Steinberg sweepstakes. Although Otto Christian might have something to say about who should go #1 in the 1941 draft. The Foresters are 36-78 on the year and on pace for just 49 victories. Cleveland has never won less than 50 in a season with the low water mark of 54 being established in 1913. Cleveland is all but assured of finishing in the second division for the first time since 1931, when they were also last in the CA with a 60-94 record. That was prior to them selecting Harry Barrell first overall, ahead of Freddie Jones, Bernie Johnson, George Cleaves and Bill May. A pretty solid top five in that draft class.

DETROIT- Joe Shaffner (15-8, 3.69) is quietly having a very good season in his first full year in Detroit. Often overshadowed in Brooklyn by Tom Barrell and Mike Murphy, he twice won twenty games for the Kings and did capture the Allan Award in 1937 when he helped Brooklyn to the second of three straight pennants. With Sergio Gonzales (16-8, 2.83) and Charlie Wheeler (10-4, 2.25) getting most of the attention in Detroit, Shaffner once again quietly goes about his business. Shaffner has won his last 8 starts for the Dynamos and is a big part of the club's recent strong play.

MONTREAL- Things may not be going well in Montreal but the Saints AAA affiliate is having a fantastic season. The Minneapolis Lumberjacks are 77-36, leading the Century League 10.5 games with a lineup comprised primarily of young prospects. The Lumberjacks seem well on their way to winning their first pennant since 1933. The Saints are also thrilled with the start to his pro career for first round pick George Wynn. The 21 year old from Willamette Valley College is 3-1 with a 3.05 era in 6 starts at Class B Mobile. With 3B Spud Bent sidelined for 3 weeks on injury, AAA 1B/3B Dunk Scott been promoted to share play as a backup to 1B Vic Crawford and 3B Mark Burns. Also a chance to prove he can play at the higher level.

NY STARS- The Stars have feasted on the weak sisters of the CA this season, going 13-2 against last place Cleveland and 12-6 vs Montreal. The team New York has had the most trouble with? That would be the Toronto Wolves who won 11 of their 17 meetings so far. The Stars have a crucial series against the front-running Wolves in Toronto, 3 games beginning Thursday.

NY GOTHAMS- I can't imagine Leland Winthrop is too happy right about now. Are Ed Ziehl’s days with Gothams coming to an end? The Gothams only winning month this season was an 8-7 showing in April. They were 11-19 in May, improved slightly to 12-16 in July but after a dismal 9-17 July during which Winthrop demanded the club "Do Something" they have further collapsed with a 5-12 record to start August. Yes they have had worse luck that most with pitchers going down, but the club has been awful since management blew it up in 1936, just months after winning a World Championship Series. It has been said before but there is no way the Gothams would be in such a sorry state had they hung on to the likes of Rabbit Day, Jim Lonardo, Mahlon Strong and Moxie Pidgeon.

KEYSTONES- Joe Quade is certainly getting a lot of work. The 18 year old, selected third overall in this year's draft, is 6-1 with a 2.88 era in 9 starts at Class A. Looks like there are no worries about pushing him as Quade, fresh off 10 2/3 innings in Scranton last Monday came back Friday to pitch a 14 inning complete game 3-hitter in a 2-1 win over Springfield. Not all was rosy as he tied a Middle Atlantic League record for walks in an extra innings game with 13 free passes. Quade has walked 48 batters while fanning just 4 in 81 innings.

SAILORS- The Sailors started slow this season but really turned things around with an 18-12 May and then rebounded from a losing June with a 16-9 mark in July. Now we are in the middle of August and, while they are just 8-8 on the month, you can't help but feel the Sailors are very much in the CA pennant race and are just waiting to get hot again. With 10 of their final 23 games of the season against either Cleveland or Montreal you have to think the schedule might just be setting things up for a big pennant push in the final weeks from Philadelphia.

PITTSBURGH- The Ed Stewart gamble appears to not have paid off for the Miners. They brought back Stewart, who enjoyed the best seasons of his career in Pittsburgh, in July when they sent a second round pick to Detroit for the slumping 32 year old. Stewart was hitting just .209 with the Dynamos at the time of the deal. He has not played much in Pittsburgh, just 40 plate appearances, but he has given manager Dan Andrew no reason to count on him as Stewart is batting just .114 since the deal. His one bright moment was hitting a 3-run homer in the 9th inning of a July 30th game with the Chiefs, providing insurance in a contest the Miners would win 9-7.

ST LOUIS- A season the Pioneers would rather forget is mercifully approaching it's final month. I am not sure if there is anything the club can take as a positive out of this year. The offense is awful. The pitching ravaged by injuries and career worst seasons. One has to wonder how much the defense, particularly an exceptionally bad season in the field from rookie shortstop Ivan Cameron has negatively affected the pitching. OSA still has plenty of confidence in Cameron's glove at short, but the Pioneers have a lot of big decisions this off-season, perhaps none bigger than deciding whether or not they feel Cameron can handle the duties at shortstop.

TORONTO- You have to wonder if the Wolves are starting to feel the pressure. The club has gone the longest of any FABL team without a pennant (since 1911) and they came oh so close two years ago, before a final week collapse caused them to drop to second behind Brooklyn. Last year was a write-off, as they got off to a slow start and never recovered but here were again with the Wolves nursing a lead as the season approaches it's final month. In 1938 Toronto won just 13 of it's final 30 games to let things get away from them. They have 36 games remaining in their season and 4 teams hot on their tail. Will the experience gained two years ago be the difference and allow Toronto to finally end the pennant drought?

WASHINGTON- The Eagles have not had a winning month since going 16-13 in June of last year but they are 8-8 so far in August and with 5 of their final 13 games this month against either New York or St Louis perhaps they can end that streak. It does look like their streak of second division finishes is destined to continue. Last time the Eagles finished in the top half of the Federal Association standings was 11 years ago when they went 77-77 to come in fourth.

QUICK HITS

In response to my column on Fred McCormick and the quest for 3,000 hits Chicago Daily News columnist Archie Irwin made a case for John Lawson getting to that number before his career is over. Irwin thinks Lawson can reach 3,000. He needs just two more 200 hit seasons and he can do it before 40. Lawson, who will turn 38 in October, presently sits at 2,671 hits and is having a very fine season this year. In hindsight, I agree I should likely have mentioned my thoughts on Lawson in the article. I agree Lawson certainly has a chance and has been very effective the last few seasons (just as he has his entire career) but approaching 38 I thought he might retire before he gets there. Pete Layton had an outstanding age 38 season but retired right after it for example. Although perhaps Dave Trowbridge has set the bar for other vets to follow, especially if a lot of the younger guys are off to Europe should we enter the war over there. Whether he gets to 3,000 or not, Lawson certainly has to be a Hall of Famer.
Don't blame Hank Barnett for the Chiefs drop in the Fed pennant race. The 31 year old third baseman won the first two Player of the Week awards in August. His line for the month: .507/.568/.855 with 7 HR, 25 RBI, 20 R.
Staying with the Chiefs could Alf Pestilli be waking from his season long slumber? With a .407 week, his numbers for August are: .312/.366/.469 with 3 HR, 17 RBI. Pestilli had a great half season in Brooklyn and wasn't bad in Detroit after the trade from the Kings, but he had an awful start this year, slashing just .213/.274/.366 before being dealt to the Chiefs in July.
Barnett's August combined with Alf Pestilli's re-awakening means that the Chiefs with 110 home runs have a slight lead over Pittsburgh (109) and Detroit (109).
If Joe Owens can hit one more homer and Jack Cleaves can hit two, it would give the Miners 8 guys in double figures for homers. Not sure that has ever been done before.
Of all the players in the FABL with more than 100 PA's this season, only one has at least a .700 SLG..... You guessed it. Johnny Guzzo of the Pittsburgh Miners who is at .705 thanks in no small part to 11 homers in just 132 at bats. Red Johnson of Detroit, for comparison, is at .602 as the top player with qualifying at bat totals, following by the Chiefs Hank Barnett (.575). Montreal's Red Bond (.549) leads the CA.
Sources out of Montreal say expect a good chunk of their AAA coaching staff to be promoted to the big club at the end of the season. Something needs to change with the Saints and perhaps the success at the AAA level in Minneapolis can follow the coaches to Quebec.
The Stars are considering calling up Chubby Hall to split time in LF. We need another hitter with pop in the lineup, and he's destroying AAA, hitting .358 in 53 games since joining Los Angeles. Prior to that Hall swatted a dozen homers and was batting .319 in Kansas City before a June deal brought him to the Stars organization from Washington.
Leon Drake enjoyed his first week in New York. Starting with two strong games in Detroit, then a 0-3 in his Queens debut, Drake went 5-11 the rest of homestand. But that was about all the good news as that last game was a 19-1 beatdown that featured two position players, reserve 1B Chuck Johnson and usual starting 2B Roosevelt Brewer on the mound, and doing better than the pitchers who preceded them. One has to wonder how management felt about their promising second sacker out there tossing BP to major league hitters. The injury bug is running through the pitching staff again. One year begins to look much like the preceding ones for Gothams fans.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 8/18/1940

Royal Air Force sources claim the British successfully turned back all but 55 of an estimated 200 German planes before they could reach land.
However that was just the beginning of a week long all out attack as Germany launched the full fury of her air force on Britain with swarms of swift flying planes and bombers let loose towards England. As the week closed the Nazis bombed London in a raid that saw upwards of 2,500 German planes in the air. Throughout the week both sides report shooting down large numbers of enemy aircraft. Britain responds with a bombing attack of it's own, targeting several major German cities.
British bombers also inflicted heavy damage on two of Italy's main aircraft plants located in Milan and Turin.
Having claimed victory in British Somaliland, the Italian High Command turned it's sights on pro-British Greece, warning that she must now recognize Italian demands "or suffer the consequences."
Debate continues in the US Senate over the military conscription bill. Senator George Norris (Ind, NEB), the only senator still serving who voted against the United States entry into the World War, charges that the bill would tear the United States from it's democratic moorings "and lead us into the realm of dictatorship." Meanwhile, Secretary Knox urged it's approval, warning if England should be defeated "we will be left without a friend in the world."
President Roosevelt, in a momentous meeting with Prime Minister Mackenzie King on Western Hemisphere defense, renewed his pledge that the United State will defend Canada against aggression from beyond the seas.
Addressing a crowd in his old hometown in Indiana, Wendell Wilkie opened his Republican Presidential campaign with a proposal that President Roosevelt meet him in joint debates.

01-12-2022, 01:36 PM	#330
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	August 19, 1940 AUGUST 19, 1940 KEYSTONES, CHIEFS FADING FROM FED RACE The Federal Association seems to be slowly weeding out the pretenders as both the Philadelphia Keystones and Chicago Chiefs are in danger of falling out of the race after each endured a prolonged losing streak. The Chiefs lost 5 straight before righting things on the weekend with a pair of wins over the hard-luck New York Gothams, but the damage was severe as Chicago, which won pennants in 1936 and 1938, dropped 8.5 games behind front running Pittsburgh following the skid. Things are even worse in Philadelphia where the young Keystones ran into a pair of brick walls named Boston and Pittsburgh. The Keystones have lost 7 in a row starting last Sunday when they fell at home to Pittsburgh and continuing with 3 losses at Broad Street Park to the Minutemen before heading to Pittsburgh and getting swept by the Miners over the weekend. The result is the Keystones now find themselves facing a real uphill battle, trailing the Miners by 6.5 games with Detroit and Boston also sitting between them and first place. While the Fed was separating itself a bit, the Continental Association race got even tighter as the Toronto Wolves stumbled slightly, going 3-4 on the week. Cincinnati, back at home after a long road trip, went 5-2 and actually passed the Wolves for top spot on Saturday before falling back to second with a loss yesterday. The Chicago Cougars, winners of 5 straight and destroyers of Brooklyn's title hopes with 5 wins in 6 games against the Kings over the past week and a half, are just a game and a half back with the New York Stars and Philadelphia Sailors also both still very much in the mix. 1941 DRAFT PREVIEW HIRAM STEINBERG HIGHLIGHTS STRONG GROUP OF HIGH SCHOOL HURLERS For more than two years FABL scouting directors have been counting the days until Hiram Steinberg is finally eligible for the FABL draft. That day will come in January and it seems almost a foregone conclusion that the 6 foot tall New York City 17 year old will be the first name called when the draft begins. It is pretty difficult to match the hype generated prior to Deuce Barrell being selected first overall in 1935 but Steinberg, who already owns 2 Adwell Awards as National High School player of the year and stands a good chance to claim a third one next season, might just surpass the excitement level for Barrell, who can boast of only one Adwell Award in his trophy case. While Steinberg is the prize jewel in a pretty solid group of top end pitchers there are plenty of others OSA is very high on. The present feeling from the scouting service is as many as six or seven from this crop of high schoolers could be at the very worst middle of the rotation starters. Here are the top ten compiled by This Week in Figment Baseball based on the OSA scouting reports and 1940 stats. 1: HIRAM STEINBERG: Washington High School, New York City Steinberg is a 3-time High School All-American from New York City's Washington High School and appears likely to join fellow New Yorker and 1939 second overall pick Wally Fuller as the only 4-time selections. 'The Undertaker', as he is know, has not lost a game in 3 seasons of high school ball, going 35-0 with a 0.69 era and 632 strikeouts while walking just 52. He seems a lock to set the new National High School record for career pitching wins and strikeouts. Only 6 pitchers, including the aforementioned Deuce Barrell, have won 12 games in a high school season and Steinberg is the only one to do it twice. He also has a pair of 200-strikeout seasons under his belt, something Minnesota senior Donnie Jones, now in the Chicago Cougars organization, is the only other player to do even once. Perhaps underselling his talents, OSA simply says the righthander "has a chance to be an ace." Steinberg is certain to be the third Washington High School student to be drafted joining Bill Buff, a first baseman selected in the 20th round this past June by Brooklyn, and outfielder Ralph Lane, who was the Gothams 22nd round pick in 1935 and is presently playing in the Pittsburgh Miners system. 2: TOM BUCHANAN: Waterloo (IA) High School A tall lefthander who keeps the ball down and has good movement on his 4-pitch arsenal. OSA feels he possesses front of the rotation potential after an 11-0, 0.58 season as a junior. 26-2 with a 0.96 era and 400 strikeouts with only 42 walks in 282 high school innings the past three seasons. Worth noting is Buchanan has yet to allow a high school hitter to homer off of him. He is well respected by teammates and looks to have the ability to develop into a clubhouse leader. Buchanan's catcher at Waterloo High, Randy Woodworth, hit .390 last season as a sophomore and is expected to be drafted in 1942. 3: BERT CUPID: Wilson High School, Youngstown, Ohio At 12-0 Cupid was the only high school pitcher to win more games than Steinberg did this season as he compiled just the 8th 12-0 record in High School history (including feeders) but despite that only received honourable mention status for the High School All-American team. He is 22-1 for his two seasons (Cupid did not pitch as a freshman) after striking out 194 while walking just 16 this year to go with a sparkling 0.79 era. Nicknamed "The Buckeye Bullet" he already tops 88 mph with his fastball and should improve on that once he fills out his lanky 6'0" frame. OSA lauds his ability to locate his pitches and feels Cupid is a future #2 starter. Cupid hails from Youngstown, Ohio who's representative in Congress right now is a former player by the name of Max Morris. While Morris is the only Hall of Famer to call Youngstown home there are a couple of other players hailing from the city who had very productive big league careers. They are catcher Harvey Reese, who played nearly 2,200 FABL games for Washington, Cleveland and Brooklyn at the turn of the century, and 1890s outfielder Lewis Kendrick who spent most of his decade long career with Baltimore. 4: GENE MADISON: Sacred Heart High School, San Francisco, CA Another groundball pitcher with imposing size, the 6'3" righthander known as "Mean Gene" features a plus slider as the best of his three pitches. A real worm killer who lives on the corners, OSA feels he has shown flashes of the potential to be a top of the rotation arm. He was 9-0 with an 0.86 era last season and is 19-1, 1.07 with 308 strikeouts and 33 walks in 210 innings over his two seasons of high school ball. 5: HARRY PHILLIPS: Ashley (MI) High School, born in Grand Rapids, MI Lacks the numbers of some of the players ranked ahead of him with a 28-5, 1.45 showing over three seasons. 399 strikeouts and 49 walks in 347 innings of work. OSA likes his control and expects it to get even better as he matures. Called a 'useful arm' the scouting service says while he won't be someone pitching in a big game, if his is the worst arm in the staff it means you have a very good rotation. The best known player to come from Grand Rapids is Nat Spruce, an infielder who played over 1,500 games for the Miners between 1907 and 1917. While he never made it to FABL, pitcher Bobby Love was a second round pick of the Chicago Cougars 1927 but injuries derailed his career. 6: JOE BECKSTROM: Lowell High School, San Francisco, CA He has had some epic duels with Gene Madison in the San Francisco high school loop and while a step down from his rival, OSA sees Beckstrom as a solid piece of a big league rotation. His stuff and movement are seen as just average but his solid control and ability to induce ground balls are his ticket to the big leagues. Very consistent numbers over his two seasons of play in which he posted an 18-4 record with a 1.35 era, while fanning 308 and walking 41 in 234 innings of work. As a freshman Beckwith was a teammate of Hank Artrip at Lowell High. Artrip was a 12th round pick of the Washington Eagles and is in his second season at Class B Everett of the COW League. 7: LARRY GREGORY: University High School, Chicago IL Called 'The Pope of Chicago' the 17 year old righthander is on the smallish side (5'11", 155 lbs) but gets by on off-speed stuff that is highlighted by a plus sinker that induces a lot of groundballs. He has limited exposure to scouts, pitching just the one season in which he went 8-1 with a 1.39 era while fanning 112 and walking 20 in 90 innings of work but OSA sees Gregory as a solid back end of the rotation starter. Always a hot bed of baseball talent, Gregory is bidding to become the 10th player born in Chicago to be a first round draft pick. The others are Dick Mannheim and Eddie Gasser (both 1915), Dwight Becker (1916), Oscar Morse (1924), Bill Kirby (1929), Levi Redding (1932), Bob Cummings (1933), Bud Canfield (1935) and Richie Hughes (1940). 8: CHARLIE TODD: Torrington (CT) High School Another of a good number of ground ball pitchers, the 18 year old Connecticut native lives on his off-speed stuff with a curveball being his money pitch but also a solid sinker. He won't overwhelm you but OSA feels Todd projects to be a solid starter at the back end of the rotation. Teams might be wary of using a January selection on Todd as he has very limited high school experience, starting just 8 games as a junior and not playing prior to that. He was 4-1 with a 1.76 era and 64 strikeouts in 61 innings of work. Todd will become the second Torrington High grad to be drafted, joining outfielder Eddie Chamness, who was 25th round pick of the Chicago Cougars in 1938 and is presently playing in the Washington Eagles system. 9: ANDY LYON: Redondo Beach (CA) High School, born in Los Angeles Another of the west coast arms that have impressed OSA. Lyon has pitched all 3 seasons at his school and is a perfect 16-0 with a 1.32 era. He also has fanned 262 batters while walking 41 in 205 innings pitched. His solid command and advanced control should limit the free passes he offers and Lyon projects as a fifth starter. A couple of former feeder league players from the college ranks grew up in Redondo Beach and would have played their high school ball at the school. Billy Nash was an 18th round pick of Boston out of St Pancras but never advanced past AA while pitcher Johnny Cox attended Mississippi A&M before also being selected by the Minutemen, in round 8 of the 1932 draft. Cox is now in AAA in the Chiefs system and made two appearances with the big league club in 1938. 10: BOB DAVIS: Eagle Lake (TX) High School, born in Galveston, Tx[/b] Like Lyon, Davis did start a lot of games despite lettering all three seasons at his high school. He had 42 appearances over that time but just 18 starts, posting an 11-1 record with a 1.21 era. He fans better than 1 an inning (216k's in 170 IP) while walking 36. He has not allowed a homerun so far in his high school pitching career. He has 4 pitches and OSA likes his command enough to feel he should avoid giving up longballs at the pro level but because his stuff is solidly below-average Davis projects to have a ceiling of a fifth starter. No pitcher born in Galveston has ever played professional baseball but this draft will have two Galveston natives as George Fitzgerald, who went 9-2 last season for Liberty (TX) High School also was born in Galveston. Outfielder Tom Miller, who was Cleveland's 1937 4th round pick out of Portland Tech is the highest drafted player born in Galveston. AROUND THE LEAGUE A quick look around the league from Jiggs McGee, focusing on whatever might catch his eye about each FABL club this week. BOSTON- It was a perfect time for a 5-game winning streak as the Minutemen stayed in the hunt in the Fed race by sweeping the Keystones in Philadelphia before returning home to take 2 of three from Washington. Boston faces a big test starting today with a 3-game set against Detroit at Cunningham Field. The Minutemen will have their work cut out for them as they are just 4-12 against the Dynamos this season. Pittsburgh has also given Boston fits, with the Miners winning 9 of their 13 meetings so far. BROOKLYN- The Kings are about done with 8 losses in 9 games as the Cougars beat them up pretty good the past week and a half. Brooklyn is now 9 games off the pace and 2 games under .500. There July charge and August fade is very reminiscent of last year when they went 17-9 in July but finished the season with just 19 wins in their final 58 games. Brooklyn is 4-10 so far in August this year. Tom Barrell's (7-13, 5.15) nightmare of a season continued to fall off the rails last week when he lasted just 6 innings and allowed 6 earned runs on 11 hits in an 8-2 loss to the Cougars. That came after his best start of the season when he beat the Cougars 2-1 the week before. This will likely be the third straight season the 3-time Allan Award winner has finished with an ERA+ below 100. CHIEFS- Big series for the Chiefs starting today against Pittsburgh. A sweep here seems to be almost essential if Chicago is going to get back into the mix for the Fed pennant. The Chiefs are 10-6 against the Miners this season, the only team they have had more success with this year was the Gothams, against whom Chicago is 12-6. On the flip side we have the Boston Minutemen, who are 12-5 vs Chicago. COUGARS-It's high time we follow up on the Schneider boys. The 19 year old triplets drafted with 3 consecutive first round picks in 1938 are all doing quite well. Shortstop Skipper is now a fixture in the Chicago Cougars lineup, batting .307 with a homer and 34 rbi's in 79 games while providing more than adequate defense. Buddy is also playing a lot in Boston where the second sacker is hitting .281 with 3 homers and 33 rbi's in 71 games. Bart, the pitcher in the group, might have been considered a bit of a reach when the Cleveland Foresters grabbed him with the 9th pick right after his brothers were taken, has moved up to Class A and is 8-5 with a 4.28 era in 18 starts at that level. CINCINNATI- The Cannons with a big 5-2 week, as they are getting the job done at home. Cincinnati was in first place again following Saturday's game but a Sunday loss dropped them a half game back of Toronto once again. The last time the Cannons were in first place after the All-Star break was actually before there even was an all-star game. They were in first on September 7,1931 before dropping their next two games to fall out of top spot. They have never led the CA after mid-July since then, until two days ago. Rookie Jim Anderson is impressing Cincinnati management. The 24 year old is 2-1, 1.29 after a complete game shutout of Cleveland in his start this week. Bad news is first overall pick Dick Blaszak is struggling at Class C now after his demotion from Class B. Batting .111 in 13 games at that level after hitting just .103 in 19 games at Class B. The only small positive is 3 of Blszak's 9 pro hits have been homeruns. CLEVELAND- Looks like Foresters have all but clinched the Hiram Steinberg sweepstakes. Although Otto Christian might have something to say about who should go #1 in the 1941 draft. The Foresters are 36-78 on the year and on pace for just 49 victories. Cleveland has never won less than 50 in a season with the low water mark of 54 being established in 1913. Cleveland is all but assured of finishing in the second division for the first time since 1931, when they were also last in the CA with a 60-94 record. That was prior to them selecting Harry Barrell first overall, ahead of Freddie Jones, Bernie Johnson, George Cleaves and Bill May. A pretty solid top five in that draft class. DETROIT- Joe Shaffner (15-8, 3.69) is quietly having a very good season in his first full year in Detroit. Often overshadowed in Brooklyn by Tom Barrell and Mike Murphy, he twice won twenty games for the Kings and did capture the Allan Award in 1937 when he helped Brooklyn to the second of three straight pennants. With Sergio Gonzales (16-8, 2.83) and Charlie Wheeler (10-4, 2.25) getting most of the attention in Detroit, Shaffner once again quietly goes about his business. Shaffner has won his last 8 starts for the Dynamos and is a big part of the club's recent strong play. MONTREAL- Things may not be going well in Montreal but the Saints AAA affiliate is having a fantastic season. The Minneapolis Lumberjacks are 77-36, leading the Century League 10.5 games with a lineup comprised primarily of young prospects. The Lumberjacks seem well on their way to winning their first pennant since 1933. The Saints are also thrilled with the start to his pro career for first round pick George Wynn. The 21 year old from Willamette Valley College is 3-1 with a 3.05 era in 6 starts at Class B Mobile. With 3B Spud Bent sidelined for 3 weeks on injury, AAA 1B/3B Dunk Scott been promoted to share play as a backup to 1B Vic Crawford and 3B Mark Burns. Also a chance to prove he can play at the higher level. NY STARS- The Stars have feasted on the weak sisters of the CA this season, going 13-2 against last place Cleveland and 12-6 vs Montreal. The team New York has had the most trouble with? That would be the Toronto Wolves who won 11 of their 17 meetings so far. The Stars have a crucial series against the front-running Wolves in Toronto, 3 games beginning Thursday. NY GOTHAMS- I can't imagine Leland Winthrop is too happy right about now. Are Ed Ziehl’s days with Gothams coming to an end? The Gothams only winning month this season was an 8-7 showing in April. They were 11-19 in May, improved slightly to 12-16 in July but after a dismal 9-17 July during which Winthrop demanded the club "Do Something" they have further collapsed with a 5-12 record to start August. Yes they have had worse luck that most with pitchers going down, but the club has been awful since management blew it up in 1936, just months after winning a World Championship Series. It has been said before but there is no way the Gothams would be in such a sorry state had they hung on to the likes of Rabbit Day, Jim Lonardo, Mahlon Strong and Moxie Pidgeon. KEYSTONES- Joe Quade is certainly getting a lot of work. The 18 year old, selected third overall in this year's draft, is 6-1 with a 2.88 era in 9 starts at Class A. Looks like there are no worries about pushing him as Quade, fresh off 10 2/3 innings in Scranton last Monday came back Friday to pitch a 14 inning complete game 3-hitter in a 2-1 win over Springfield. Not all was rosy as he tied a Middle Atlantic League record for walks in an extra innings game with 13 free passes. Quade has walked 48 batters while fanning just 4 in 81 innings. SAILORS- The Sailors started slow this season but really turned things around with an 18-12 May and then rebounded from a losing June with a 16-9 mark in July. Now we are in the middle of August and, while they are just 8-8 on the month, you can't help but feel the Sailors are very much in the CA pennant race and are just waiting to get hot again. With 10 of their final 23 games of the season against either Cleveland or Montreal you have to think the schedule might just be setting things up for a big pennant push in the final weeks from Philadelphia. PITTSBURGH- The Ed Stewart gamble appears to not have paid off for the Miners. They brought back Stewart, who enjoyed the best seasons of his career in Pittsburgh, in July when they sent a second round pick to Detroit for the slumping 32 year old. Stewart was hitting just .209 with the Dynamos at the time of the deal. He has not played much in Pittsburgh, just 40 plate appearances, but he has given manager Dan Andrew no reason to count on him as Stewart is batting just .114 since the deal. His one bright moment was hitting a 3-run homer in the 9th inning of a July 30th game with the Chiefs, providing insurance in a contest the Miners would win 9-7. ST LOUIS- A season the Pioneers would rather forget is mercifully approaching it's final month. I am not sure if there is anything the club can take as a positive out of this year. The offense is awful. The pitching ravaged by injuries and career worst seasons. One has to wonder how much the defense, particularly an exceptionally bad season in the field from rookie shortstop Ivan Cameron has negatively affected the pitching. OSA still has plenty of confidence in Cameron's glove at short, but the Pioneers have a lot of big decisions this off-season, perhaps none bigger than deciding whether or not they feel Cameron can handle the duties at shortstop. TORONTO- You have to wonder if the Wolves are starting to feel the pressure. The club has gone the longest of any FABL team without a pennant (since 1911) and they came oh so close two years ago, before a final week collapse caused them to drop to second behind Brooklyn. Last year was a write-off, as they got off to a slow start and never recovered but here were again with the Wolves nursing a lead as the season approaches it's final month. In 1938 Toronto won just 13 of it's final 30 games to let things get away from them. They have 36 games remaining in their season and 4 teams hot on their tail. Will the experience gained two years ago be the difference and allow Toronto to finally end the pennant drought? WASHINGTON- The Eagles have not had a winning month since going 16-13 in June of last year but they are 8-8 so far in August and with 5 of their final 13 games this month against either New York or St Louis perhaps they can end that streak. It does look like their streak of second division finishes is destined to continue. Last time the Eagles finished in the top half of the Federal Association standings was 11 years ago when they went 77-77 to come in fourth. QUICK HITS In response to my column on Fred McCormick and the quest for 3,000 hits Chicago Daily News columnist Archie Irwin made a case for John Lawson getting to that number before his career is over. Irwin thinks Lawson can reach 3,000. He needs just two more 200 hit seasons and he can do it before 40. Lawson, who will turn 38 in October, presently sits at 2,671 hits and is having a very fine season this year. In hindsight, I agree I should likely have mentioned my thoughts on Lawson in the article. I agree Lawson certainly has a chance and has been very effective the last few seasons (just as he has his entire career) but approaching 38 I thought he might retire before he gets there. Pete Layton had an outstanding age 38 season but retired right after it for example. Although perhaps Dave Trowbridge has set the bar for other vets to follow, especially if a lot of the younger guys are off to Europe should we enter the war over there. Whether he gets to 3,000 or not, Lawson certainly has to be a Hall of Famer. Don't blame Hank Barnett for the Chiefs drop in the Fed pennant race. The 31 year old third baseman won the first two Player of the Week awards in August. His line for the month: .507/.568/.855 with 7 HR, 25 RBI, 20 R. Staying with the Chiefs could Alf Pestilli be waking from his season long slumber? With a .407 week, his numbers for August are: .312/.366/.469 with 3 HR, 17 RBI. Pestilli had a great half season in Brooklyn and wasn't bad in Detroit after the trade from the Kings, but he had an awful start this year, slashing just .213/.274/.366 before being dealt to the Chiefs in July. Barnett's August combined with Alf Pestilli's re-awakening means that the Chiefs with 110 home runs have a slight lead over Pittsburgh (109) and Detroit (109). If Joe Owens can hit one more homer and Jack Cleaves can hit two, it would give the Miners 8 guys in double figures for homers. Not sure that has ever been done before. Of all the players in the FABL with more than 100 PA's this season, only one has at least a .700 SLG..... You guessed it. Johnny Guzzo of the Pittsburgh Miners who is at .705 thanks in no small part to 11 homers in just 132 at bats. Red Johnson of Detroit, for comparison, is at .602 as the top player with qualifying at bat totals, following by the Chiefs Hank Barnett (.575). Montreal's Red Bond (.549) leads the CA. Sources out of Montreal say expect a good chunk of their AAA coaching staff to be promoted to the big club at the end of the season. Something needs to change with the Saints and perhaps the success at the AAA level in Minneapolis can follow the coaches to Quebec. The Stars are considering calling up Chubby Hall to split time in LF. We need another hitter with pop in the lineup, and he's destroying AAA, hitting .358 in 53 games since joining Los Angeles. Prior to that Hall swatted a dozen homers and was batting .319 in Kansas City before a June deal brought him to the Stars organization from Washington. Leon Drake enjoyed his first week in New York. Starting with two strong games in Detroit, then a 0-3 in his Queens debut, Drake went 5-11 the rest of homestand. But that was about all the good news as that last game was a 19-1 beatdown that featured two position players, reserve 1B Chuck Johnson and usual starting 2B Roosevelt Brewer on the mound, and doing better than the pitchers who preceded them. One has to wonder how management felt about their promising second sacker out there tossing BP to major league hitters. The injury bug is running through the pitching staff again. One year begins to look much like the preceding ones for Gothams fans. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 8/18/1940 Royal Air Force sources claim the British successfully turned back all but 55 of an estimated 200 German planes before they could reach land. However that was just the beginning of a week long all out attack as Germany launched the full fury of her air force on Britain with swarms of swift flying planes and bombers let loose towards England. As the week closed the Nazis bombed London in a raid that saw upwards of 2,500 German planes in the air. Throughout the week both sides report shooting down large numbers of enemy aircraft. Britain responds with a bombing attack of it's own, targeting several major German cities. British bombers also inflicted heavy damage on two of Italy's main aircraft plants located in Milan and Turin. Having claimed victory in British Somaliland, the Italian High Command turned it's sights on pro-British Greece, warning that she must now recognize Italian demands "or suffer the consequences." Debate continues in the US Senate over the military conscription bill. Senator George Norris (Ind, NEB), the only senator still serving who voted against the United States entry into the World War, charges that the bill would tear the United States from it's democratic moorings "and lead us into the realm of dictatorship." Meanwhile, Secretary Knox urged it's approval, warning if England should be defeated "we will be left without a friend in the world." President Roosevelt, in a momentous meeting with Prime Minister Mackenzie King on Western Hemisphere defense, renewed his pledge that the United State will defend Canada against aggression from beyond the seas. Addressing a crowd in his old hometown in Indiana, Wendell Wilkie opened his Republican Presidential campaign with a proposal that President Roosevelt meet him in joint debates. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports