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Jiggs McGee · 02-03-2022, 09:58 AM

DECEMBER 30, 1940

SLIM PICKINGS AS INDY CLUB TRADING WINDOW CLOSES

The annual trading window that allows FABL teams to make a deal with an independent club for one of their hotshot players may well have worn out it's usefulness as there seems to be a real dearth of quality talent available of late. Now, to be sure that was not always the case. In fact the Indy teams provided a boatload of talent in the the early days but that was almost entirely due to the formation of the fully independent Lone Star Association in 1929. LSA execs, desperate for talent to staff their new clubs, had the bright idea to hold open tryouts in several Caribbean and South American countries where baseball had seemed to catch on. The result was a number of very good young prospects, among them current FABL stars Sergio Gonzales and David Abalo, began pro careers with independent clubs. Those players, once they had the requisite experience, were then scooped up by FABL teams. That pipeline has now gone dry and with it the main source of talent that would be deemed of sufficient quality to warrant a FABL club swooping in and grabbing the player.

Now there were a few other exceptions, guys who were high FABL draft picks but through poor management decisions were cut loose and forced to sign with an Indy club. The old hierarchy of the St Louis Pioneers was notorious for this, allowing Chink Stickels and Ray McCarthy to name two, to get away. For the most part trades with Indy teams have simply yielded either a role player who gets a small taste of the big league life before going back to the bushes or players who quickly prove in FABL training camps why they were Indy players to begin with.

However, the window remains open and every once in a while a gem gets blown through that opening. Case in point Charlie Bingham who was acquired by the Chiefs from independent San Diego for Joe Blansit in 1935 after being selected in the third round of the 1931 draft out of college by Detroit but failed to sign. Instead of a 4th year of college ball he went the Indy route and then became a key piece of a pair of title teams in Chicago and remains part of the Chiefs pitching staff. Another possible example may turn out to be Sig Stofer. A sixth round pick of Montreal's in 1934, the Saints released him 4 years later and after a season with Houston in the Lone Star loop the Philadelphia Keystones acquired him as they needed a replacement at first base for the recently retired Rankin Kellogg. The pressure of following Kellogg might have been too much but The Boardwalk Bopper looked much more at home after a move to Washington at last season's trade deadline.

As for this year's version of baseball's bargain bin, four teams reached their hands into the murky pool of talent that is independent baseball and pulled out what they hope will be the next Charlie Bingham or Sig Stofer. Here is a quick look at each of those transactions:

STLOUIS-SACRAMENTO
The Pioneers swapped shortstops, sending minor leaguer Hod Rivas to to the Great Western loop club in exchange for 26 year old Bill Lehnert, who hit .241 for the AAA Governors last season. A 6th round pick of the Chicago Chiefs in 1936, Lenhert was quickly released after hitting .220 in half a season at Class C. He has played with 3 different indy teams since then and OSA feels his ceiling is a bench role.

Pioneers Assistant General Manager Charlie Kane says Lehnert was not brought in for his bat. "With how poorly (Ivan) Cameron played at SS last year we decided to go defense with the Indy trade. Lehnert posted a 4.3 WAR last year for SAC, mostly due to his defense. He did have 37 errors but he had a 28.6 ZR and 1.100 EFF."

KEYSTONES- SACRAMENTO
The Keystones swapped outfielders with the Governors, adding 29 year old Mickey Cox while sending Tiny Adair, who is also 29, to the west coast. Cox had a solid career at Frankford State and was selected by Detroit in the fourth round of the 1932 draft. He did advance as high as AAA in the Dynamos system, batting just .228 for Newark in 1937, but was sent to the Governors in the 1938 Indy trade phase in exchange for Bob Worley. He now comes full circle, as after 3 seasons in Sacramento, Cox is back with a FABL organization. He put up some pretty good numbers in the GWL, including a .339,13,73 season a year ago. OSA says he could possibly start in FABL but likely not with a team like the Keystones where he looks more like a AAA depth piece.

PITTSBURGH- SAN ANTONIO
The Miners swap pitchers with the Lone Star Gunslingers club. Les Bennett is just 26 and has been in the Miners system for 8 years but clearly does not appear to be big league material so he moves to San Antonio, which has been a power in the LSA over the years. In return the Miners add to their growing collection of greybeard pitchers with the acquisition of Eddie Gray, a 35 year old who pitched four seasons for Cleveland a decade ago and has been in San Antonio since 1934.

GOTHAMS - CHARLESTON
The Gothams acquired Woody Quartey, a 24 year old who was originally a Baltimore 7th round pick in 1934 but has spent most of his career bouncing around with various independent clubs. There are rumblings that the second sacker was only acquired by the Gothams so they could deal him to another team, believed but not confirmed to be Detroit. OSA feels he can be a solid big league infielder someday. If it is indeed Detroit that is Quartey's final decision, perhaps it is ironic that the player going to Charleston is a former Dynamo. Arnold Allen was just recently sent to the Gothams in the trade that moved pitcher Nate Spear to the Motor City. A 19th round pick in 1932, the 26 year old Allen has exactly one game of big league experience to brag to the boys in Charleston about. He made the most of it though, getting a single off of Washington pitcher Ike Keller in a September contest that featured his only big league plate appearance.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs. Today let us focus on the history of the Independent team trading period. Data exists going back to 1930 and while there were a few quality acquisitions in the early years (and that was almost entirely due to the Lone Star Association accepting international players who did not participate in the normal college/high school progression) there has been very little in the way of major acquisitions in recent years. Here is the history for each team with a look at their selections between 1930 and last January's trade period.

BOSTON- Just three times the Minutemen have acquired a player in the Indy phase. They are Danny Rocco, Ernie Herndon and most recently Elias Bradley. Rocco made 27 appearances at Class A in 1932 and 1933 and was released, never to play organized ball again. Bradley was a former 7th round pick of the Keystones and was acquired by Boston in 1938. He did get into 12 games for the Minutemen in 1939 and hit .308 but was released earlier this month and signed by Detroit.

That leaves Herndon, who actually spent five seasons in Boston after joining the club as a 27 year old. He hit .253 in 430 games but was released early in the 1939 season and retired.

BROOKLYN- Like Boston the Kings have added 3 Indy players over the years, picking up infielder Bill Scott in 1930, catcher Joe Clark in 1934 and pitcher Fernando Pedroza in 1936. Scott was by far the most successful, although for only a brief period. He led the CA in homers in 1930 with 33 while batting just .231. He would play just 129 more games with Brooklyn because he could not hit for average and the power turned out to not be enough to offset it. Clark was originally a Brooklyn pick in 1920 (in the 27th round) and the Kings reacquired him in 1934. He played 10 games in Brooklyn which was the extent of his FABL career. Pedroza was one of those international players who joined the game thru open tryouts in the Lone Star Association. He is still active in the Kings system at the age of 28 but has not pitched above AA.

CHIEFS- Just two players, both pitchers in Max Plourde in 1932 and Charlie Bingham in 1935 were ever acquired from Indy trades by the Chiefs. Both had some success in the Windy City as Plourde went 23-20 over parts of six seasons before being released while Bingham has turned into one of the best Indy acquired players of all-time. Detroit selected him out of Opelika State in round three of the 1931 draft, but couldn't sign him so he joined Fort Worth of the Lone Star Association. He spent 4 seasons in the LSA until becoming eligible for trade to the big leagues and the Chiefs grabbed him. He has gone 77-56 for Chicago and been a part of two WCS winners and a pair of all-star games. The price for Bingham was Joe Blansit, who has carved out a pretty good career in the Great Western League but Bingham was clearly a bargain.

COUGARS- One of the more active clubs on the Indy trade scene the Cougars have acquired six players over the years: Jim Crawford, John Banks, Jose Serna, Chink Stickels, Jorge Camargo and Bots Shearer. Crawford was a unique case in he was a guy who bypassed the college/high school scene despite being from Baton Rogue and just appeared on an Indy team in 1926. Never a star, he has carved out a pretty solid FABL career, winning a pair of WCS titles and still being active today at age 35 with Brooklyn. He is 80-64 for his big league career.

Banks was another player who just appeared in the Lone Star Association when it was created. He did not play much for the Cougars but did spend a number of seasons in Montreal, hitting .261 in 443 career games. He was released in 1939 by the Saints and is currently not playing anywhere. Like Banks, Serna was another player who just appeared in the Lone Star Association and he has played 240 major league games but none with the Cougars despite being back in their system now. His claim to fame might be he was dealt for Al Wheeler and Frank Vance (ok, with a bunch of picks and other guys) from Brooklyn to Detroit after the Kings had claimed him in the rule five draft from Detroit. Jorge Camargo is similar to Serna in that he came from the Dominican Republic and just appeared in the Lone Star Association but never made the majors and is now retired. Bots Shearer had played in FABL briefly with Baltimore before being released and then acquired by the Cougars in 1938 from Indy club Portland. He spent 2 seasons in AA but is now retired.

Finally we have Chink Stickels, who is one of those guys a team would like to have back. A 5th round pick by St Louis out of George Fox in 1932, he was ranked #95 on the prospect pipeline before inexplicably being released by the Pioneers. After an exile to the Indy teams the Cougars grabbed him in 1935 before trading him to the Stars a year later. He is an All-Star, a WCS winner and a key piece of the Stars offense today.

CINCINNATI- The Cannons organization never participated in the Indy trade phase in the 1930's but did acquire Juan Sarmiento last January after the move to Cincinnati. He spent just a week as a Cannon before being dealt to Detroit for pitcher Eddie Seguin. Sarmiento is another of those Dominican imports from the Lone Star Association's debut and has the rate distinction (along with Don Attaway and now Mickey Cox) of being involved in an Indy trade twice. The Detroit Dynamos sent him to Hollywood for Bill Ball in 1939 after Sarmiento had played 92 games in a Detroit uniform. Odds are slight but Sarmiento might get some more time in Detroit this season after spending half of last year in AA and the other half out of action with an injury - one that appears likely to sideline him well into the 1941 season.

CLEVELAND- Twice Cleveland added a player, picking up pitcher Jim Thompson in 1930 and Jake Matheson two years later. Thompson was originally a 1922 third round pick of the Chiefs and was in the top 40 prospects and pitched a couple of big league games in 1927. Injuries helped convince the Chiefs to cut him but a couple years later Cleveland acquired him from Portland. He went 6-10 over parts of 3 seasons with the Foresters then was released and spent another half dozen years in AAA with indy club Richmond. Matheson was a 1926 second round pick of St Louis out of Cumberland University. He was released in 1931 and picked up by Cleveland the following year after a seasons in Sacramento. Never lived up to his draft billing, hitting just .221 in 155 big league games with the Foresters.

DETROIT- After ignoring the Indy Leagues for the first half of the decade the Dynamos have added 4 players in recent years including Ray McCarthy, Wayne Morgan, Bob Worley and Bill Ball. McCarthy is now with the Sailors as a 26 year old who has had some injury problems but has been very good at times. He was originally drafted in the first round by St Louis (yes, I am also noticing a trend with the Pioneers) but for some unknown reason released after being ranked the 14th best prospect the following year. He has been traded a fair bit, and for big names with Jack Cleaves and Ed Stewart being the most prominent. Morgan was originally a 7th round pick of Baltimore and has had a brief stint with Detroit in 1938 and 1939 and remains in their system. Worley was a unique case, a veteran player cast aside by Montreal and signed by Detroit but immediately dealt to the Chiefs. He has power and skills in centerfield but is a .237 career hitter and now with Brooklyn. Finally we have Bill Ball, a 1927 first round pick of Baltimore who was released in 1938 because the shortstop's glove skills are not enough to make up for a .240 career batting average. He has been a spare part on the Dynamos bench the past two season.

MONTREAL- Danny Findlay, John Bennett, Don Hallam, Harry Fuller and Ed Greenwood are the five players the Saints have added over the years. Findlay had some minor success as a back infielder in the early thirties, playing in 242 games with Montreal. Bennett was a Saints prospect from the twenties who was reacquired and went 2-7 in his only season in Montreal after his exile to the Indy teams. Fuller also played just one season in Montreal, hitting .278 in 95 games in 1935.

Hallam is still playing, with Cleveland now after originally being a Toronto pick in round five of the 1929 draft. Greenwood was released by Baltimore almost immediately after being acquired as a lottery pick in 1937. He is now 25 and still appearing on the top prospect lists but has been traded twice more since the Saints picked him up from Dallas of the Lone Star Association.

NY STARS- Never acquired a player in the Indy trade phase.

NY GOTHAMS- They added just one and a good one in Sergio Gonzales in 1934. A 5-time all-star and a two-time 20 game winner, Gonzales was dealt from the Gothams to Cleveland for Moxie Pidgeon in 1935 and later moved to Washington for Mel Carrol and finally to Detroit a couple of years ago. Another of the Dominican 'invaders' to the Lone Star Association.

KEYSTONES- The Keystones have been the busiest team in Indy trading adding 9 players over the years. A few worked out nicely but the majority did not contribute a lot. One exception is Al Robinson, originally a 1922 9th round pick of Montreal who won 17 games for the Keystones and 19 two years later. Joe Kerr was a similar player, a pre-human GM draftee who earned some big league time after a stay in the GWL, but Kerr played just 183 big league games for the Keystones and Stars. Catcher Jake Walton played 391 games primarily as a backup after the cross-town Sailors drafted him in the 4th round in 1928 but quickly released him. Don Attaway has carved out a nice career as a relief pitcher and been on both sides of the Indy trade story - going from the Chiefs to Springfield in 1932 and then to the Keystones a year later.

Tiny Adair was originally a Keystones late round pick, released and later acquired from Waco of the Lone Star Association. He is 29 and just left the Keystones organization once again, as he was moved to indy Sacramento in the Mickey Cox trade this week. Steve Summers was a 12th round Baltimore pick who got a shot with the Keystones, hit .261 in 200 games but the shortstop is back in the LSA now. Dave Doolittle was a St Louis third round who was let go right after the draft (yes, that trend again) and has bounced around since but the catcher made his big league debut this season with the Philadelphia Sailors. Then we had Sig Stofer, considered the possible heir at first base to Rankin Kellogg a couple of years ago. Montreal drafted Stofer in the 6th round in 1934 but gave up on him. He hit 6 homers in 73 games over parts of two seasons with the Keystones and was traded to Washington at the deadline where he blasted 11 more in 41 games. Finally we have last year's pick in now 30 year old SS Cal Ruth. A second round pick of Boston, Ruth couldn't hit in the low minors so the Minutemen gave up on him. He did not fare much better in the Lone Star or Great Western Leagues but the Keystones took a shot on him and he rewarded them by batting .198 at AAA St Paul last season after being traded to Pittsburgh for a 7th round pick in May.

SAILORS- Six times the Sailors have made an Indy deal. The best was Jorge Nava who arrived in 1935 after being a Dominican import to the Lone Star Association. He is still with the Sailors but was limited to a dozen big league games because of injury last season but prior to that was a 4 year starter and a 1938 all-star who hit .266 in 562 games with the Sailors. Last seasons pick up, outfielder Ray 'Tadpole' Struble made his big league debut this past season at 25 after a solid year in AAA. He was originally a 24th round pick of Montreal's in 1932 but was released after 3 seasons with the organization. The jury is still out but perhaps he can be a decent depth piece for the Sailors.

The remaining Sailors pick ups did not accomplish much. Bert Small was a pitcher acquired in 1930 who went 0-3 over parts of two seasons with the Sailors. In 1931 there was Ed Grubb, an infielder who played 79 games over his career with the Sailors and Brooklyn. Jesse Rice was a pitcher selected by Boston in the 4th round of the 1931 draft but released two years later. The Sailors picked him up in 1937 but he has not advanced past AA yet. A 1931 10th round pick of Washington, George Rotondi arrived in 1938 and had some decent numbers in the minors, even getting a brief look with the Sailors this season but has been removed from the 40-man roster so likely does not fit in their long-term plans.

PITTSBURGH- The Miners have acquired four of them - Lynn Gray in 1930, Dick Mayer the following year,, Jim Sharrett in 1934 and Miguel Munoz in 1937. Gray was an undrafted high school player who kicked around in semi-pro ball until joining an Indy club in 1929. Perseverance paid off as he made the big leagues, playing 308 games over a half dozen seasons. Mayer was a catcher who was a late round pick of the Keystones, spent time in the GWL and was acquired by the Miners but never made the majors. Sharett is still hanging around with an Indy team in Charleston despite being 39 years old now. He never made the Miners and the relief pitcher's entire big league career consisted of 1 inning for the 1926 Brooklyn Kings. Munoz was a foreign import to the Lone Star Association and is still in AAA with the Miners organization at age 29 but has yet to play a big league game.

ST LOUIS-St Louis has been mentioned for a lot of the wrong reasons (letting potential talent go to the Indy clubs for nothing) but they also added a big time star in David Abalo, acquired in 1933. Another Lone Star free agent signing initially (out of Venezuela instead of the Dominican though) he is 87-58 over his career with the Pioneers. Three other Indy acquisitions by the Pioneers have had moderate success. Angel Padilla is a Dominican Lone Star player who has made 66 relief appearances for St Louis over the past four seasons. Bill Craft was originally drafted by the Pioneers, released in 1932 and reacquired 4 years later but has been released again without ever playing in St Louis. He is back in the LSA with Galveston. Doc Barker was a Baltimore 13th rounder who the Pioneers added in 1939 and made his FABL debut this past season and finally we have Emil Noble who was one of those rare guys who joined the Great Western League with no high school or college experience and acquired by St Louis 4 years later. He spent close to two years as an everyday player, hitting .251 with 16 homers in 246 games before fading from sight.

TORONTO- Toronto, along with the Stars, are the only teams not to acquire a single Indy player since 1930.

WASHINGTON- Only Luis Eieros in 1930 has been an Indy trade pick for the Eagles. Another Dominican player, he was just 17 when he first appeared in the league and has been in the Washington system all this time but, now 28, has yet to make his big league debut.

SON OF BROOKLYN MANAGER ENLISTS

MIDWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MAY AID DEFENSE PROGRAM

Chicago (AP)- The Midwestern Athletic Conference may launch, within the next few weeks, a history-making drive to emphasize athletics as an aid to the national defense program.

Shortly after the first of the year, the presidents and athletics directors of the MWAC, which includes college baseball power St Blane as well as gridiron giant Central Ohio and AIAA basketball kingpin Indiana A&M, will meet here to determine how the athletic programs of their schools can be stepped up in behalf of national physical preparedness. And this problem will be a major one for delegates to the AIAA convention in New York, Dec. 30-31, according to Harl Kline, long-time Detroit City College coach and now the head of the Midwestern Conference and AIAA general secretary.

"Much of the stress on physical preparedness," said Kline, "has been given impetus by the revelations of our 1917 draft statistics, which showed almost one-half of the men examined were defectives and almost a third were rejected for unlimited service."

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/29/1940

Britain continues to enjoy success in Africa, seizing key forts and pushing the Italians back in Libya. However, Germany is increasing it's number of troops to be deployed alongside the Italians in north Africa.
Prime Minister Churchill calls on the Italian people to oust Mussolini and come to peace with Great Britain before British forces are compelled to come to "much closer grips" with Italy. This after news the British had successfully occupied several Italian islands.
An unprecedented plan to back Britain to the limit without considering the dollar signs on the bill, was approved with FDR stating the best immediate defense of the United States was the success of Great Britain in defending herself. This after London announced it could no longer afford to purchase war supplies from the US.
Italy threatens the war will spread to the Western Hemisphere if the United States attempts to send supply conveys to Britain by way of neutral Ireland.
Germany warns the United States that Britain's Minister of Shipping was "inciting America to commit a warlike act" against the Axis if, as the Minister suggested. the US turned German and Italian ships which are tied up in neutral US harbors over to Britain.
Signs the war is spreading. A sea raider sailing under Japanese colors heavily shelled the small Australian island of Nauru. Why a raider singled out a 5,400 acre atoll near the equator for bombardment was unexplained but British sources suspect it may well have been a German raider but cannot explain why the reports of the Japanese flag be flown.
New York City Mayor LaGuardia warns that the nation "must step up the efficiency of our national economy to match that of the warring powers - in order to survive."

02-03-2022, 09:58 AM	#347
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	December 1940 - Indy team trading phase DECEMBER 30, 1940 SLIM PICKINGS AS INDY CLUB TRADING WINDOW CLOSES The annual trading window that allows FABL teams to make a deal with an independent club for one of their hotshot players may well have worn out it's usefulness as there seems to be a real dearth of quality talent available of late. Now, to be sure that was not always the case. In fact the Indy teams provided a boatload of talent in the the early days but that was almost entirely due to the formation of the fully independent Lone Star Association in 1929. LSA execs, desperate for talent to staff their new clubs, had the bright idea to hold open tryouts in several Caribbean and South American countries where baseball had seemed to catch on. The result was a number of very good young prospects, among them current FABL stars Sergio Gonzales and David Abalo, began pro careers with independent clubs. Those players, once they had the requisite experience, were then scooped up by FABL teams. That pipeline has now gone dry and with it the main source of talent that would be deemed of sufficient quality to warrant a FABL club swooping in and grabbing the player. Now there were a few other exceptions, guys who were high FABL draft picks but through poor management decisions were cut loose and forced to sign with an Indy club. The old hierarchy of the St Louis Pioneers was notorious for this, allowing Chink Stickels and Ray McCarthy to name two, to get away. For the most part trades with Indy teams have simply yielded either a role player who gets a small taste of the big league life before going back to the bushes or players who quickly prove in FABL training camps why they were Indy players to begin with. However, the window remains open and every once in a while a gem gets blown through that opening. Case in point Charlie Bingham who was acquired by the Chiefs from independent San Diego for Joe Blansit in 1935 after being selected in the third round of the 1931 draft out of college by Detroit but failed to sign. Instead of a 4th year of college ball he went the Indy route and then became a key piece of a pair of title teams in Chicago and remains part of the Chiefs pitching staff. Another possible example may turn out to be Sig Stofer. A sixth round pick of Montreal's in 1934, the Saints released him 4 years later and after a season with Houston in the Lone Star loop the Philadelphia Keystones acquired him as they needed a replacement at first base for the recently retired Rankin Kellogg. The pressure of following Kellogg might have been too much but The Boardwalk Bopper looked much more at home after a move to Washington at last season's trade deadline. As for this year's version of baseball's bargain bin, four teams reached their hands into the murky pool of talent that is independent baseball and pulled out what they hope will be the next Charlie Bingham or Sig Stofer. Here is a quick look at each of those transactions: STLOUIS-SACRAMENTO The Pioneers swapped shortstops, sending minor leaguer Hod Rivas to to the Great Western loop club in exchange for 26 year old Bill Lehnert, who hit .241 for the AAA Governors last season. A 6th round pick of the Chicago Chiefs in 1936, Lenhert was quickly released after hitting .220 in half a season at Class C. He has played with 3 different indy teams since then and OSA feels his ceiling is a bench role. Pioneers Assistant General Manager Charlie Kane says Lehnert was not brought in for his bat. "With how poorly (Ivan) Cameron played at SS last year we decided to go defense with the Indy trade. Lehnert posted a 4.3 WAR last year for SAC, mostly due to his defense. He did have 37 errors but he had a 28.6 ZR and 1.100 EFF." KEYSTONES- SACRAMENTO The Keystones swapped outfielders with the Governors, adding 29 year old Mickey Cox while sending Tiny Adair, who is also 29, to the west coast. Cox had a solid career at Frankford State and was selected by Detroit in the fourth round of the 1932 draft. He did advance as high as AAA in the Dynamos system, batting just .228 for Newark in 1937, but was sent to the Governors in the 1938 Indy trade phase in exchange for Bob Worley. He now comes full circle, as after 3 seasons in Sacramento, Cox is back with a FABL organization. He put up some pretty good numbers in the GWL, including a .339,13,73 season a year ago. OSA says he could possibly start in FABL but likely not with a team like the Keystones where he looks more like a AAA depth piece. PITTSBURGH- SAN ANTONIO The Miners swap pitchers with the Lone Star Gunslingers club. Les Bennett is just 26 and has been in the Miners system for 8 years but clearly does not appear to be big league material so he moves to San Antonio, which has been a power in the LSA over the years. In return the Miners add to their growing collection of greybeard pitchers with the acquisition of Eddie Gray, a 35 year old who pitched four seasons for Cleveland a decade ago and has been in San Antonio since 1934. GOTHAMS - CHARLESTON The Gothams acquired Woody Quartey, a 24 year old who was originally a Baltimore 7th round pick in 1934 but has spent most of his career bouncing around with various independent clubs. There are rumblings that the second sacker was only acquired by the Gothams so they could deal him to another team, believed but not confirmed to be Detroit. OSA feels he can be a solid big league infielder someday. If it is indeed Detroit that is Quartey's final decision, perhaps it is ironic that the player going to Charleston is a former Dynamo. Arnold Allen was just recently sent to the Gothams in the trade that moved pitcher Nate Spear to the Motor City. A 19th round pick in 1932, the 26 year old Allen has exactly one game of big league experience to brag to the boys in Charleston about. He made the most of it though, getting a single off of Washington pitcher Ike Keller in a September contest that featured his only big league plate appearance. AROUND THE LEAGUE Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs. Today let us focus on the history of the Independent team trading period. Data exists going back to 1930 and while there were a few quality acquisitions in the early years (and that was almost entirely due to the Lone Star Association accepting international players who did not participate in the normal college/high school progression) there has been very little in the way of major acquisitions in recent years. Here is the history for each team with a look at their selections between 1930 and last January's trade period. BOSTON- Just three times the Minutemen have acquired a player in the Indy phase. They are Danny Rocco, Ernie Herndon and most recently Elias Bradley. Rocco made 27 appearances at Class A in 1932 and 1933 and was released, never to play organized ball again. Bradley was a former 7th round pick of the Keystones and was acquired by Boston in 1938. He did get into 12 games for the Minutemen in 1939 and hit .308 but was released earlier this month and signed by Detroit. That leaves Herndon, who actually spent five seasons in Boston after joining the club as a 27 year old. He hit .253 in 430 games but was released early in the 1939 season and retired. BROOKLYN- Like Boston the Kings have added 3 Indy players over the years, picking up infielder Bill Scott in 1930, catcher Joe Clark in 1934 and pitcher Fernando Pedroza in 1936. Scott was by far the most successful, although for only a brief period. He led the CA in homers in 1930 with 33 while batting just .231. He would play just 129 more games with Brooklyn because he could not hit for average and the power turned out to not be enough to offset it. Clark was originally a Brooklyn pick in 1920 (in the 27th round) and the Kings reacquired him in 1934. He played 10 games in Brooklyn which was the extent of his FABL career. Pedroza was one of those international players who joined the game thru open tryouts in the Lone Star Association. He is still active in the Kings system at the age of 28 but has not pitched above AA. CHIEFS- Just two players, both pitchers in Max Plourde in 1932 and Charlie Bingham in 1935 were ever acquired from Indy trades by the Chiefs. Both had some success in the Windy City as Plourde went 23-20 over parts of six seasons before being released while Bingham has turned into one of the best Indy acquired players of all-time. Detroit selected him out of Opelika State in round three of the 1931 draft, but couldn't sign him so he joined Fort Worth of the Lone Star Association. He spent 4 seasons in the LSA until becoming eligible for trade to the big leagues and the Chiefs grabbed him. He has gone 77-56 for Chicago and been a part of two WCS winners and a pair of all-star games. The price for Bingham was Joe Blansit, who has carved out a pretty good career in the Great Western League but Bingham was clearly a bargain. COUGARS- One of the more active clubs on the Indy trade scene the Cougars have acquired six players over the years: Jim Crawford, John Banks, Jose Serna, Chink Stickels, Jorge Camargo and Bots Shearer. Crawford was a unique case in he was a guy who bypassed the college/high school scene despite being from Baton Rogue and just appeared on an Indy team in 1926. Never a star, he has carved out a pretty solid FABL career, winning a pair of WCS titles and still being active today at age 35 with Brooklyn. He is 80-64 for his big league career. Banks was another player who just appeared in the Lone Star Association when it was created. He did not play much for the Cougars but did spend a number of seasons in Montreal, hitting .261 in 443 career games. He was released in 1939 by the Saints and is currently not playing anywhere. Like Banks, Serna was another player who just appeared in the Lone Star Association and he has played 240 major league games but none with the Cougars despite being back in their system now. His claim to fame might be he was dealt for Al Wheeler and Frank Vance (ok, with a bunch of picks and other guys) from Brooklyn to Detroit after the Kings had claimed him in the rule five draft from Detroit. Jorge Camargo is similar to Serna in that he came from the Dominican Republic and just appeared in the Lone Star Association but never made the majors and is now retired. Bots Shearer had played in FABL briefly with Baltimore before being released and then acquired by the Cougars in 1938 from Indy club Portland. He spent 2 seasons in AA but is now retired. Finally we have Chink Stickels, who is one of those guys a team would like to have back. A 5th round pick by St Louis out of George Fox in 1932, he was ranked #95 on the prospect pipeline before inexplicably being released by the Pioneers. After an exile to the Indy teams the Cougars grabbed him in 1935 before trading him to the Stars a year later. He is an All-Star, a WCS winner and a key piece of the Stars offense today. CINCINNATI- The Cannons organization never participated in the Indy trade phase in the 1930's but did acquire Juan Sarmiento last January after the move to Cincinnati. He spent just a week as a Cannon before being dealt to Detroit for pitcher Eddie Seguin. Sarmiento is another of those Dominican imports from the Lone Star Association's debut and has the rate distinction (along with Don Attaway and now Mickey Cox) of being involved in an Indy trade twice. The Detroit Dynamos sent him to Hollywood for Bill Ball in 1939 after Sarmiento had played 92 games in a Detroit uniform. Odds are slight but Sarmiento might get some more time in Detroit this season after spending half of last year in AA and the other half out of action with an injury - one that appears likely to sideline him well into the 1941 season. CLEVELAND- Twice Cleveland added a player, picking up pitcher Jim Thompson in 1930 and Jake Matheson two years later. Thompson was originally a 1922 third round pick of the Chiefs and was in the top 40 prospects and pitched a couple of big league games in 1927. Injuries helped convince the Chiefs to cut him but a couple years later Cleveland acquired him from Portland. He went 6-10 over parts of 3 seasons with the Foresters then was released and spent another half dozen years in AAA with indy club Richmond. Matheson was a 1926 second round pick of St Louis out of Cumberland University. He was released in 1931 and picked up by Cleveland the following year after a seasons in Sacramento. Never lived up to his draft billing, hitting just .221 in 155 big league games with the Foresters. DETROIT- After ignoring the Indy Leagues for the first half of the decade the Dynamos have added 4 players in recent years including Ray McCarthy, Wayne Morgan, Bob Worley and Bill Ball. McCarthy is now with the Sailors as a 26 year old who has had some injury problems but has been very good at times. He was originally drafted in the first round by St Louis (yes, I am also noticing a trend with the Pioneers) but for some unknown reason released after being ranked the 14th best prospect the following year. He has been traded a fair bit, and for big names with Jack Cleaves and Ed Stewart being the most prominent. Morgan was originally a 7th round pick of Baltimore and has had a brief stint with Detroit in 1938 and 1939 and remains in their system. Worley was a unique case, a veteran player cast aside by Montreal and signed by Detroit but immediately dealt to the Chiefs. He has power and skills in centerfield but is a .237 career hitter and now with Brooklyn. Finally we have Bill Ball, a 1927 first round pick of Baltimore who was released in 1938 because the shortstop's glove skills are not enough to make up for a .240 career batting average. He has been a spare part on the Dynamos bench the past two season. MONTREAL- Danny Findlay, John Bennett, Don Hallam, Harry Fuller and Ed Greenwood are the five players the Saints have added over the years. Findlay had some minor success as a back infielder in the early thirties, playing in 242 games with Montreal. Bennett was a Saints prospect from the twenties who was reacquired and went 2-7 in his only season in Montreal after his exile to the Indy teams. Fuller also played just one season in Montreal, hitting .278 in 95 games in 1935. Hallam is still playing, with Cleveland now after originally being a Toronto pick in round five of the 1929 draft. Greenwood was released by Baltimore almost immediately after being acquired as a lottery pick in 1937. He is now 25 and still appearing on the top prospect lists but has been traded twice more since the Saints picked him up from Dallas of the Lone Star Association. NY STARS- Never acquired a player in the Indy trade phase. NY GOTHAMS- They added just one and a good one in Sergio Gonzales in 1934. A 5-time all-star and a two-time 20 game winner, Gonzales was dealt from the Gothams to Cleveland for Moxie Pidgeon in 1935 and later moved to Washington for Mel Carrol and finally to Detroit a couple of years ago. Another of the Dominican 'invaders' to the Lone Star Association. KEYSTONES- The Keystones have been the busiest team in Indy trading adding 9 players over the years. A few worked out nicely but the majority did not contribute a lot. One exception is Al Robinson, originally a 1922 9th round pick of Montreal who won 17 games for the Keystones and 19 two years later. Joe Kerr was a similar player, a pre-human GM draftee who earned some big league time after a stay in the GWL, but Kerr played just 183 big league games for the Keystones and Stars. Catcher Jake Walton played 391 games primarily as a backup after the cross-town Sailors drafted him in the 4th round in 1928 but quickly released him. Don Attaway has carved out a nice career as a relief pitcher and been on both sides of the Indy trade story - going from the Chiefs to Springfield in 1932 and then to the Keystones a year later. Tiny Adair was originally a Keystones late round pick, released and later acquired from Waco of the Lone Star Association. He is 29 and just left the Keystones organization once again, as he was moved to indy Sacramento in the Mickey Cox trade this week. Steve Summers was a 12th round Baltimore pick who got a shot with the Keystones, hit .261 in 200 games but the shortstop is back in the LSA now. Dave Doolittle was a St Louis third round who was let go right after the draft (yes, that trend again) and has bounced around since but the catcher made his big league debut this season with the Philadelphia Sailors. Then we had Sig Stofer, considered the possible heir at first base to Rankin Kellogg a couple of years ago. Montreal drafted Stofer in the 6th round in 1934 but gave up on him. He hit 6 homers in 73 games over parts of two seasons with the Keystones and was traded to Washington at the deadline where he blasted 11 more in 41 games. Finally we have last year's pick in now 30 year old SS Cal Ruth. A second round pick of Boston, Ruth couldn't hit in the low minors so the Minutemen gave up on him. He did not fare much better in the Lone Star or Great Western Leagues but the Keystones took a shot on him and he rewarded them by batting .198 at AAA St Paul last season after being traded to Pittsburgh for a 7th round pick in May. SAILORS- Six times the Sailors have made an Indy deal. The best was Jorge Nava who arrived in 1935 after being a Dominican import to the Lone Star Association. He is still with the Sailors but was limited to a dozen big league games because of injury last season but prior to that was a 4 year starter and a 1938 all-star who hit .266 in 562 games with the Sailors. Last seasons pick up, outfielder Ray 'Tadpole' Struble made his big league debut this past season at 25 after a solid year in AAA. He was originally a 24th round pick of Montreal's in 1932 but was released after 3 seasons with the organization. The jury is still out but perhaps he can be a decent depth piece for the Sailors. The remaining Sailors pick ups did not accomplish much. Bert Small was a pitcher acquired in 1930 who went 0-3 over parts of two seasons with the Sailors. In 1931 there was Ed Grubb, an infielder who played 79 games over his career with the Sailors and Brooklyn. Jesse Rice was a pitcher selected by Boston in the 4th round of the 1931 draft but released two years later. The Sailors picked him up in 1937 but he has not advanced past AA yet. A 1931 10th round pick of Washington, George Rotondi arrived in 1938 and had some decent numbers in the minors, even getting a brief look with the Sailors this season but has been removed from the 40-man roster so likely does not fit in their long-term plans. PITTSBURGH- The Miners have acquired four of them - Lynn Gray in 1930, Dick Mayer the following year,, Jim Sharrett in 1934 and Miguel Munoz in 1937. Gray was an undrafted high school player who kicked around in semi-pro ball until joining an Indy club in 1929. Perseverance paid off as he made the big leagues, playing 308 games over a half dozen seasons. Mayer was a catcher who was a late round pick of the Keystones, spent time in the GWL and was acquired by the Miners but never made the majors. Sharett is still hanging around with an Indy team in Charleston despite being 39 years old now. He never made the Miners and the relief pitcher's entire big league career consisted of 1 inning for the 1926 Brooklyn Kings. Munoz was a foreign import to the Lone Star Association and is still in AAA with the Miners organization at age 29 but has yet to play a big league game. ST LOUIS-St Louis has been mentioned for a lot of the wrong reasons (letting potential talent go to the Indy clubs for nothing) but they also added a big time star in David Abalo, acquired in 1933. Another Lone Star free agent signing initially (out of Venezuela instead of the Dominican though) he is 87-58 over his career with the Pioneers. Three other Indy acquisitions by the Pioneers have had moderate success. Angel Padilla is a Dominican Lone Star player who has made 66 relief appearances for St Louis over the past four seasons. Bill Craft was originally drafted by the Pioneers, released in 1932 and reacquired 4 years later but has been released again without ever playing in St Louis. He is back in the LSA with Galveston. Doc Barker was a Baltimore 13th rounder who the Pioneers added in 1939 and made his FABL debut this past season and finally we have Emil Noble who was one of those rare guys who joined the Great Western League with no high school or college experience and acquired by St Louis 4 years later. He spent close to two years as an everyday player, hitting .251 with 16 homers in 246 games before fading from sight. TORONTO- Toronto, along with the Stars, are the only teams not to acquire a single Indy player since 1930. WASHINGTON- Only Luis Eieros in 1930 has been an Indy trade pick for the Eagles. Another Dominican player, he was just 17 when he first appeared in the league and has been in the Washington system all this time but, now 28, has yet to make his big league debut. SON OF BROOKLYN MANAGER ENLISTS MIDWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MAY AID DEFENSE PROGRAM Chicago (AP)- The Midwestern Athletic Conference may launch, within the next few weeks, a history-making drive to emphasize athletics as an aid to the national defense program. Shortly after the first of the year, the presidents and athletics directors of the MWAC, which includes college baseball power St Blane as well as gridiron giant Central Ohio and AIAA basketball kingpin Indiana A&M, will meet here to determine how the athletic programs of their schools can be stepped up in behalf of national physical preparedness. And this problem will be a major one for delegates to the AIAA convention in New York, Dec. 30-31, according to Harl Kline, long-time Detroit City College coach and now the head of the Midwestern Conference and AIAA general secretary. "Much of the stress on physical preparedness," said Kline, "has been given impetus by the revelations of our 1917 draft statistics, which showed almost one-half of the men examined were defectives and almost a third were rejected for unlimited service." The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 12/29/1940 Britain continues to enjoy success in Africa, seizing key forts and pushing the Italians back in Libya. However, Germany is increasing it's number of troops to be deployed alongside the Italians in north Africa. Prime Minister Churchill calls on the Italian people to oust Mussolini and come to peace with Great Britain before British forces are compelled to come to "much closer grips" with Italy. This after news the British had successfully occupied several Italian islands. An unprecedented plan to back Britain to the limit without considering the dollar signs on the bill, was approved with FDR stating the best immediate defense of the United States was the success of Great Britain in defending herself. This after London announced it could no longer afford to purchase war supplies from the US. Italy threatens the war will spread to the Western Hemisphere if the United States attempts to send supply conveys to Britain by way of neutral Ireland. Germany warns the United States that Britain's Minister of Shipping was "inciting America to commit a warlike act" against the Axis if, as the Minister suggested. the US turned German and Italian ships which are tied up in neutral US harbors over to Britain. Signs the war is spreading. A sea raider sailing under Japanese colors heavily shelled the small Australian island of Nauru. Why a raider singled out a 5,400 acre atoll near the equator for bombardment was unexplained but British sources suspect it may well have been a German raider but cannot explain why the reports of the Japanese flag be flown. New York City Mayor LaGuardia warns that the nation "must step up the efficiency of our national economy to match that of the warring powers - in order to survive." __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 02-03-2022 at 10:27 AM.