JANUARY 20, 1941
JIGGS MCGEE WITH ANALYSIS ON THE FIRST ROUND PICKS
As you well know from last week's edition of TWIFB the top two selections were both pitchers and neither came as a surprise. Hiram Steinberg may well be the best high school pitcher of all-time and looks like the perfect young arm for the Cleveland Foresters to try and rebuild around. They were a contender for the better part of the past decade, and won a pair of pennants and a WCS along the way, but age seemed to be starting to creep on the club over the past couple of years. Cleveland did manage to stave off the predicted decline with one last hurrah in 1939 but last season things finally caught up to the Foresters and it is quite possible they will be in full rebuild mode as the 1941 season gets underway. Meaning I would not be surprised to see veterans like Dave Rankin, Rube McCormick, Dan Fowler and who knows maybe even Dean Astle and George Dawson moved between now and the trade deadline, especially if the Foresters get off to another rough start as the club would likely turn it's focus on building up it's minor league system.
St Louis was also a team in need of pitching help as the Pioneers mound staff really struggled last season and was also the victim of an abundance of injuries. The player they selected, just like top pick Steinberg, will not help for at least two or three seasons but high school lefthander Tom Buchanan looks like a top of the rotation arm.
MONTREAL SAINTS - PART ONE
With picks 1 & 2 out of the way and both following script with who they were expected to select that left the Montreal Saints with the first pair of their 4 picks in the opening round. The Saints system is already loaded but with some smart drafting will be just incredible. Montreal already has nine players in the top 52 and 12 of the top 97 prospects according to OSA and they are going to add 5 more out of the first 19 selections in this draft.
Speaking with a few other columnists we all agreed that one of the two choices here would be shortstop Gordie Perkins so it was no surprise when the High School All-American from Trumbauersville, Pennsylvania was posted as the third selection. OSA has very high praise for the 18 year old, projecting him to be an elite hitter and a defensive marvel at shortstop.
The fourth selection did come as a bit of a surprise. With Wally Doyle and Karl Wallace already in Montreal and Pate Weakley, George Wynn and Jackie James all ranked in the OSA top 28 I was not expecting the Saints to take a pitcher here with pick four. Trading all-star catcher Adam Mullins away and lacking an elite catching prospect I had expected two-time All-American Eddie Howard to be selected by the Saints with the 4th pick. Howard is a Louisiana High Schooler that OSA projects to be a well above average hitter. One GM did confide in me his club shied away from Howard out of concern for his work ethic, and yes many say the catcher lacks an edge but as the top catcher and a clear top ten prospect I feel Howard would have been the perfect fit for Montreal with the this pick.
Not that the player the Saints selected is a bad choice at all. Bert Cupid, a high school righthander out of Youngstown is known as the Buckeye Bullet and OSA feels he has the talents to be a #2 starter if he lives up to his potential. I had expected Brooklyn to take the 17 year old 5th, but the Saints clearly were smitten with Cupid.
PICKS 5 & 6 - FOREIGN BORN OUTFIELDERS
As mentioned I had expected the Brooklyn Kings to being set on taking Bert Cupid to help build their pitching depth back up but with him out of the picture they turned to a Puerto Rican outfielder who had been playing in a Caribbean League but will enroll at Miami State this season. Perhaps an eventual replacement for Al Wheeler in the Brooklyn outfield, Orie Martinez will not have the power of the Wonder Wheel but should be an above average hitter with some very good defensive skills and judging by his nickname (The Rincon Rifle) will have more than enough arm to play right field.
The Washington Eagles also went with a foreign born outfielder but Jesse Alvardo is a much more known commodity. His family moved from their native Mexico to Brooklyn when he was a youngster and Alvardo has been an All-American selection each of his first three years at Canarsie High School. He may well be the best power-hitting outfield prospect available in this draft but he is much more than just a power bat as OSA expects him to be an above average contact hitter and an outstanding defensive corner outfielder. When his high school career ends he stands a good chance of being in the top ten all-time (including feeders) for career high school homeruns.
I will admit the Eagles selection caught me off guard as I was almost certain they would have selected one of the 3 or 4 very good shortstops that are on the board. John Black, Bill Bryant, George Darnell and John Fast all come to mind as good fits for Washington but it is hard to argue against taking Alvardo as quite possibly the best available player at this slot.
PICKS 7-9
I had the Sailors taking an outfielder here but expected it to be Orie Martinez (who went 5th to Brooklyn) or Hal Renard. Grout is clearly very highly thought of but with no high school ball under his belt and OSA feeling he has a chance to fashion a major-league career as a bench player despite raving about his power potential and patient approach at the plate I saw him more as a second round selection. Although after the Sailors made their pick several rival scouts immediately talked about how much they liked him.
The Minutemen were one team that publicly admitted Grout would have been their pick but I think in the long run Boston will be very happy with SS Billy Bryan, who they selected 8th out of a North Carolina high school. OSA sees a very high ceiling for Bryant, who has played all four infield positions and has an outstanding work ethic.
I can't say I am surprised the New York Stars made Larry Gregory the fourth pitcher selected in the draft as we all know a lot of pitchers go in the first round. He has just one season of high school ball in Chicago under his belt and OSA sees him as a back of the rotation arm. I think he may turn out to be just that but if the Stars were looking pitcher here perhaps they should have gone with Sid Moulton, who was selected 3 picks later.
MONTREAL PART DEUX
2 more picks in succession for the Saints as they follow up SS Gordie Perkins and P Bert Cupid by finally taking a catcher like I had expected them to do fourth overall. But first we have a great pick for the Montreal fans in outfield Hank Eason, who was born in Montreal while his dad was starring for the Saints a couple of decades ago. Eason is the first player selected with actual college ball experience (Martinez is a college athlete as well but has yet to play at Miami State) and is projected to have outstanding power. How that plays out at cavernous Parc Cartier remains to be seen but it's great to see Hank perhaps one day be a Saint as old-timers in the organization can remember him running wild as a toddler in the Montreal clubhouse on occasion. As for the catcher the Saints did select one with the 11th pick, but not Eddie Howard, who remains on the board, as I had expected they would have taken 4th. Instead they went with 18 year old Mel Franklin out of Moberly, Missouri. OSA feels he has obvious talent both on the field and at the plate but I am betting Howard will prove to be the better big leaguer.
THE REST OF THE FIRST ROUND
Pitcher number 5 of the round went to the Keystones. They had great success last year taking a Pennsylvania kid who had never pitched organized High School ball and by all accounts that pick (Joe Quade) is going to be a great one. So the question is did they duplicate that success with the decision to draft Sid Moulton out of a Cleveland high school. One scout I talked to had Moulton ranked higher than every other pitcher in the draft except for Steinberg and Buchanan but does admit he feels Moulton falls well short of Quade. Moulton does have a great work ethic and no one will ever question is character. He needs to add some weight to his 5'11", 150 lb frame as it would be nice to get his fastball, which presently peaks at 85 mph, over the 90 mark.
I like the pick of Moulton and I can see why the Keystones did not take a third baseman with Hank Koblenz and Davey Robicheaux already in Philly, but in my books the Chicago Cougars landing The Walla Walla Walloper at pick 13 may prove to be the biggest steal of this draft. A three-time High school All-American, Otto Christian was a power hitting machine that reminded many of another Pacific Northwest high school product in Detroit's Red Johnson. Christian has hit more homers in each of his 3 seasons than Johnson ever did in a high school year.
At 14 the Detroit Dynamos land a High School All-American in Maine outfielder Hal Renard. He is a corner outfielder/first baseman who profiles at the play more like a center fielder: great base runner, walks a lot and meticulous mechanics that should translate into a high batting average.
A pair of high school shortstops made up the final two picks. John Fast has yet to play a high school baseball game but the Toronto Wolves love his athleticism. Pittsburgh ended the round with George Darnell, who was an All-American as a sophomore but tailed off last season. OSA sees the Cincinnati born youngster as a tremendous hitter.
Code:
1941 FABL DRAFT FIRST ROUND RESULTS
PK TM POS PLAYER AGE SCHOOL HOMETOWN
1 CLE P Hiram Steinberg 18 Washington HS, New York New York City
2 STL P Tom Buchanan 17 Waterloo (IA) HS Waterloo, IA
3 MON SS Gordie Perkins 18 Trumbauersville (PA) HS Trumbauersville, PA
4 MON P Bert Cupid 17 Wilson HS, Youngstown, OH Youngstown, OH
5 BKN OF Orie Martinez 21 Miami State Rincon, Puerto Rico
6 WSH OF Jesse Alvardo 17 Canarsie HS, Brooklyn Hidalgo, Mexico
7 PHS OF Ernie Grout 17 South Park HS, Buffalo,NY Rochester, NY
8 BOS SS Billy Bryant 17 Boone (NC) HS Candler, NC
9 NYS P Larry Gregory 17 University HS, Chicago Chicago, IL
10 MON OF Hank Eason 21 Huntington State Montreal, QC
11 MON C Mel Franklin 18 Moberly (MO) HS Moberly, MO
12 PHK P Sid Moulton 17 West HS, Cleveland, OH Eastlake, OH
13 CHC 3B Otto Christian 18 Walla Walla (WA) HS Walla Walla, WA
14 DET OF Hal Renard 17 Pittsfield (ME) HS East Machias, ME
15 TOR SS John Fast 17 Mechanicsburg (PA) HS Mechanicsburg, PA
16 PIT SS George Darnell 17 Walnut Hills HS, Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH
Code:
1941 FABL DRAFT SECOND ROUND RESULTS
PK TM POS PLAYER AGE SCHOOL HOMETOWN
17 CLE 3B Glenn White 18 Kenwood HS, Baltimore Baltimore, MD
18 STL P Gene Madison 18 Sacred Heart HS, San Fran San Francisco, CA
19 MON OF Gig Taylor 17 Roosevelt HS, Wash DC Washington, DC
20 CHC C Eddie Howard 17 St Joseph (LA) HS Bastrop, LA
21 BKN SS John Black 18 Wallingford (CT) HS Wallingford, CT
22 WSH SS Fred Loney 17 Totowa (NJ) HS Totowa, NJ
23 PHS P Dallas Griffith 18 Monroe (WI) HS Monroe, WI
24 CIN CF Claude Hesser 21 College of Cairo Columbus,WI
25 NYS CF Elijah Bourdeau 21 Ohio Poly Ft. Wayne, IN
26 DET C Jackie Harper 17 Homestead(PA) HS Johnstown, PA
27 CIN SS Win Hamby 18 Morrisonville(IL) HS Little Rock, AR
28 PHK CF Joe Burns 18 Glens Falls(NY) HS Glens Falls, NY
29 CHC P Leo Hayden 18 Benicia (CA) HS San Jose, CA
30 NYS CF Flipper Robinson 18 Lenoir (NC) HS Lenoir, NC
31 TOR P Harry Phillips 18 Ashley (MI) HS Grand Rapids, MI
32 DET SS Bob Montgomery 18 Snyder (TX) HS Snyder, TX
‘OL Doc coming to you on a cold January afternoon in Boston. While it may be cold outdoors, the front office at Cunningham Field was plenty warm as the Minutemen were hard at work preparing for the first two rounds of the 1941 Amateur Draft. The Minutemen were left with a single pick in the opening round thanks to a deal they pulled off with the Cannons to bring catcher Jack Flint to the “Olde Towne” for their second and fifth round picks. Boston was also without a 4th round as they traded that selection away to the Cougars for 22 year old, 1B Bill Dambreville, who is set to start the season at AAA in ‘41. Left with only picks in the first and third round before round six, it was imperative that Boston Brass get a solid building block for the future. Now ‘Ol Doc was not allowed into the room for any of these discussions but he has more than a few sources willing to trade tales for talls at Mcgreevy’s.
One of the league rumors was that Boston was in the market for a backstop since Van Ness has been less than advertised thus far. However, the club immediately addressed that problem with the trade for Flint. Flint gives the Minutemen a solid catcher and allows time for Van Ness to develop. Would the drafting of a catcher be a bad idea? Not at all, but the prospects available in the next few drafts are as appealing, if not more appealing, than the ones in the current draft. In short, unless this was the second coming of Mullins or Zimmer, Boston felt they could wait a year on spending a high pick on a catcher.
So with catcher off the board where were the Minutemen looking? It would appear it was in the outfield. Boston has had a stable group of outfielders at the top level and more than a few at AAA ready to take their spots. On its face it looks as if the outfield is set for the immediate and near future. That is until you look a bit deeper below the surface. There is one important trait that a few outfielders in this draft have that Boston is really lacking organization wide. The trait is power is game changing power. Power is a valuable commodity in the game right now. There can only be one leadoff hitter, but a power bat plays anywhere. Two players in particular were at the top of the Boston list. The first was Ernie Grout, the athletic LF from Rochester New York. Grout learned his baseball in the sandlot leagues of upper New York. Scouts say he has a plus-plus eye and has raw above average power. Although Grout never played in a traditional high school setting the Minutemen were willing to take the gamble. Scouts feel the power plays which put Grout to the top of the prospect list. The other player that Boston had their eye on was the “Hidalgo Kid” Jesse Alvardo. Alvardo made a name for himself in Veracruz where he was able to compete with 15 year olds as a nine year old. It was clear that Mr. and Mrs. Alvardo had something special in their boy and made the difficult decision to send him to live with family in New York to help him achieve his dream of playing in the FABL. In his 3 years at Canarsie in Brooklyn, Alvardo never hit below .500 and belted 33 homers. Boston felt the power would translate and wanted to select Alvardo if at all possible.
‘OL Doc also learned that there was a contingency plan if both Grout and Alvardo were off the board by the 8th selection. Although outfielders like Renard and Martinez and few others were highly regarded, all of those players were missing the power potential Boston was looking for. So in the absence of Grout or Alvardo, Boston would shift its focus to the heavy shortstop class. Boston scout Johnny Robards loved John Fast from Pennsylvania. Although he had not had the time to fully scout the young man he liked what he saw in the limited time he was with him. The problem however, was until Fast popped up on the radar late, players like Perkins and Bryant had become common names mentioned during draft discussions. There was serious doubt that Perkins would fall to eight, so the conversation really became about a preference over the newcomer in Fast and the former clear cut favorite in Bryant. It should be mentioned that Boston has a real nice SS prospect in Al Gross who was drafted 12th overall in 1937. Gross is set to play AAA next season at 22 years of age. So the preference was to draft one of the outfielders, but if the club had to go in a different direction, it was thought to be better to grab the athletic SS. The fact that Bryant could really play any position on the infield made him a popular choice in the room.
As draft day unfolded Boston watched both the phone and telegraph machine closely.
- Pick #1 SP Steinberg to Cleveland (No surprise as Boston never entertained the thought of him falling to two let alone to eight.)
- Pick #2 SP Buchanan to St. Louis (Once again. No real surprise.)
- Pick #3 SS Perkins to Montreal (Everything is playing out as expected)
- Pick #4 SP Cupid to Montreal (A bit of a surprise here. Boston thought maybe a catcher here. Maybe the Saints felt the top catcher on the board in Howard was a tad overrated for the spot)
- Pick #5 RF Martinez to Brooklyn (Aces. It was an outfielder but not who Boston was chasing)
- Pick #6 LF Alvardo to Washington (I was told there was a bit of cursing after this pick came in. Still, one pick to go with Boston’s top choice still on the board.)
- Pick #7 LF Grout to the Sailors (Definitely a bit more swearing was what ‘OL Doc was told. In 2 picks the top two choices on Boston’s board were now gone. After that the choice became simple.)
- Pick #8 SS Bryant to Boston.
That is the whole story as was shared with ‘Ol Doc after many a round. In ‘Ol Doc’s eyes he would agree that one of the power bats would have looked real nice in the organization but the addition of Bryant is something to be proud of. “Boots” as they call young Bryant is said to contain a work ethic and drive to improve that other ball players do not possess. In two high school seasons Bryant had only struck out 4 times in 228 plate appearances. Also, Bryant’s on base percentage was never lower than .543 in high school. Some in the OSA world even claim that once the young lad fills out he will be able to hit an average number of balls out of the park. Johnny Guzzo of the Miners led all SS in home runs in 1940 with 14. If Bryant can match that number and still hit .300 and play his position, then Boston would have quite a player on their hands.
QUICK HITS
- From Dan Barrell, head scout of the OSA: 11 hitters, 5 pitchers in round 1. That gets a thumbs up. Without going into specifics, this is a good draft for OF, SS, C and to a lesser degree 3B. It's a middling (read below average) class for pitching and thin at 1B and to a lesser degree 2B.
- From Johnny Bologna of the Philadelphia Inquisitor: "The Keystones add to their stable of good young pitchers with high school righty Sid Moulton. They can afford to wait on Moulton to bloom with other early-'20s babies, pitchers Roy Montgomery and Charlie Waddell. Joe Quade is only a year older, but he is at another level right now. My inside sources tell me that Moulton was third on his list after the early lead-pipe locks (Hiram Steinberg and Tom Buchanan) went in the draft, only behind SS Billy Bryant and LF Hank Eason."
- The New York Stars ended up picking Larry "The Pope of Chicago" Gregory after seeing a lack of pitching prospects and the few that were available going fast. Otherwise, I am told they would have selected SS John Fast to give a bump in the middle infield and a possible 3B arm. Stars Scouting Director James Marcou really liked Hal Renard at #2 overall in the draft, and his club could have had him, but they just couldn't justify yet another outfielder in an already cramped position. The hope is Pope Greggory will bless the Stars organization with winning seasons and they wont have to tithe too much of the payroll budget towards him and the holy order of 2 way players.
- The Cincinnati Cannons desperately wanted to draft hometown high school star George Darnell but he went with the final pick of the first round to Pittsburgh. The Cannons had two second round selections (8th and 11th) and offered both of them to Pittsburgh for Darnell, but to no avail. Cincinnati had 2 first rounders a month ago but dealt both to Montreal in the trade that netted all-star catcher Adam Mullins. The Cannons also made the same offer to the Chicago Chiefs in an effort to land slugging infielder Otto Christian.
- So far the off-season had been considered a failure in Detroit prior to the draft as the Dynamos have only added one potential piece to the puzzle and the fans are not sure just how important of a piece it was. (neither is the front office) That piece is often-injured pitcher Nate Spear.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 1/19/1941
- London newspapers report that the Royal Air Force has machine-gunned German "invasion troops" on the coast of France as a powerful force of British bombers smashed at vital Axis oil facilities in Germany, Italy and Belgium.
- Nazi forces continue their assault on London but also turned their attention to the port city of Plymouth in night raids.
- More troubles for Italy as the commander of their forces in Albania has quit. An official announcement said he "has been relieved because of his health." It was the third army shakeup for Italy in two months.
- Secretary of State Hull urged Congress to approve legislation for unlimited supplies of war materials to Britain warning them to "involve the law of self-defense before it is too late." Hull said if Britain was defeated and lose control of the seas that "Germany could easily cross the Atlantic unless we were ready and able to do what Britain is doing now."
- Senator Glass (D.,Va) said if it was up to him the United States would declare war on Germany now, but added the question should be determined primarily by policy experts in the State, War and Navy Departments.
- FDR's defense production chief told Congress it would be late 1941 before the US could supply "any great amount" of aid to Britain under the lend-lease bill "unless we take products out of existing facilities."
- James Dewy, Federal labor negotiator, announced as a 'defense measure' that 3,500 striking workers are a manufacturing company in Saginaw, Michigan must return to work. "The dispute can be settled after the plants are running again," Dewey said in what was the first time such a drastic step had been taken anywhere in the United States.