JUNE 30, 1941
STEVENS REJECTED BY ARMY
Uncle Sam lost a rookie doughboy today and the Philadelphia Keystones regained a solid pitcher when Lloyd Stevens was rejected by Army physicians at an induction center in Philadelphia. The Army medics found the pitcher was suffering from a chronic perforation of the right ear, an ailment, they declared making him unfit for military service.
An examining physician in Newport News, Virginia made the same report last winter, after examining Stevens at the request of his local draft board. Later, he was re-examined when the Keystones returned to Philadelphia from their Spring training trip, and was declared fit for Army service and put in Class 1-A.
Prior to the pronouncement of Army physicians, Stevens announced that his marriage to Miss Dorothy Meachum, daughter of Keystones owner Edward Meachum, was "indefinitely postponed." They had planned to be married in the Fall. Following his rejection he said their wedding plans would be carried out as scheduled, and he said he would probably rejoin the Keystones immediately.
Stevens at no time sought deferment on physical grounds, although he asked for an induction delay upon advice from Washington. The request later was withdrawn and he had left Wednesday after pitching seven and two-thirds innings against the Pioneers in a game his mates won as a "farewell present." However, after the army quickly rejected him, Stevens didn't even miss a start as he was back on the mound yesterday and beat Washington 6-4 with a complete game.
BIG WEEK AHEAD FOR BOTH LEADERS
As we enter the final week of play before the All-Star break the pennant talk might just heat up with both the Continental and Federal Associations providing a first vs second matchup in the next few days.
Let's start with the Continental Association where the Chicago Cougars put their 1 game lead on the line at home as the face the second place New York Stars in a 3-game series beginning today. The Cougars and Stars have already met 10 times this season and those games did nothing to prove who was the superior club with each team claiming 5 wins. The Cougars are 20-7 so far in the month of June while the Stars are 18-9 but on a 9-3 run. The Cougars had been red hot, with a 10 game winning streak, but that changed over the weekend in Brooklyn as the Kings tamed the Cougars in back to back games.
It is hard to distinguish between the two clubs. New York is first in the CA in runs scored and has allowed the second fewest while Chicago has allowed the fewest runs in the loop and scored the second most. Each club has a long-time veteran guiding the offense with John Lawson (.343,11,59) of the Cougars and the Stars Dave Trowbridge (.335,4,43) continuing to cheat time. The Stars have Bill Barrett (.405,20,74) who is making a case to be considered the best player in the game while the Cougars have Pete Papenfus (12-4, 2.93) who is on the verge of consideration for best pitcher in the sport. A highlight of the series should come when Papenfus and Barrett square off, possibly on Wednesday. So far the 21 year old slugger has lived up to his nickname "William the Conqueror" when he faces "Peter the Heater". Barrett is 10-for-25 with 2 homers against Papenfus for his career. This season Barrett is 3-for-7 vs Papenfus with his only extra-base hit being a double. Papenfus is 1-2 on the year against the Stars but his last meeting was a 9-0 shutout in which he threw a complete game 1-hitter.
The Boston Minutemen continue to be the surprise leader of the Federal Association and have extended their lead to 7.5 games after beating Pittsburgh 5-2 in a rare 1-game series yesterday. Ed Wood (10-3, 3.12) continued his terrific season on the mound, going the distance for the win. That Boston win snapped a 5 game winning streak for Pittsburgh. The Miners and Minutemen will meet again starting Thursday with a 3-game series over two days (Friday doubleheader) at Fitzpatrick Park. A sweep for Boston would go quite a ways towards helping long suffering Minutemen fans feel a little better about their second half chances. Boston has been in contention before at the all-star break, although not recently with a lead like this, but always seemed to fade in August and September. Will this year be different?
TWIFB ALL STAR BALLOT
The ninth annual All-Star Game goes a week from tomorrow at Kings County Stadium in Brooklyn which means it is once again time for This Week in Figment Baseball to name the 18 players deserving of starting the mid-summer classic.
Let's start with the Federal Association
CATCHER - It is usually a tough battle in the Fed between Tom Bird (.263,3,30) of the Chiefs and and Pittsburgh's George Cleaves (.318,2,36). Heinie Zimmer (.281,4,24) of St Louis is having another strong year as well but with Bird struggling - at least by his standards - our vote goes to
GEORGE CLEAVES
FIRST BASE -An awful lot of competition here. You have Red Johnson (.280,14,35) in Detroit, Ron Rattigan (.314,8,38) in Chicago and Mahlon Strong (.359,8,41) of Pittsburgh as the regular candidates. Then we have to consider Art Spencer's (.359,4,31) incredible showing in Boston and the breakout year Sig Stofer (.278,14,48) is having in Washington. Finally there is also Walt Messer (.299,11,49) who, at 23, is starting to show signs of putting things together. A case can be made for all as deserving but we have to go with
MAHLON STRONG
SECOND BASE -Roosevelt Brewer (.320,1,20) is looking good in New York while 31 year old Al Haynes (.306,0,20) has been a nice surprise in Chicago but it is no contest as the clear winner here is Boston's
BUDDY SCHNEIDER (.331,0,24).
THIRD BASE -Hank Barnett (.246,5,31) is having a down year in Chicago so this vote tightens up a lot. Frank Vance (.305,8,27) is 39 and still going strong in Detroit but he missed over a month with an injury so we will go with New York's
BILLY DALTON (.281,7,31) as the choice here.
SHORTSTOP - Boston's 23 year old shortstop
LEW McCLENDON (.281,6,44) although Frank Davis (.268,2,39) of Chicago made us really think about because Davis is so good defensively.
LEFT FIELD - Jim Watson (.316,6,31) is having a great season considering he was pulled off the scrap heap in Montreal and given new life in Chicago but we have to give the edge to Washington's
SAM BROWN (.321,9,42) as the 30 year old is off to his best start since 1935 when he was also an all-star.
CENTER FIELD -There is just so much center field talent in the Fed.
SAL PESTILLI (.297,16,54) of Detroit is the best of the group and gets our vote but Philadelphia's Bobby Barrell (.304,18,64), Bill Burkett (..316,11,44) of Boston and Pittsburgh's Pablo Reyes (.311,2,31) all deserve to be all-stars this year.
RIGHT FIELD -We would love to shift any of the centerfielders over here and pick them but you can't do that so, even though we don't want to pick any of these guys, we will go with Chicago's
HANK JONES (.307,5,31) but also give a special mention to Leon Drake (.269,7,45) for his resurgence in New York this season.
PITCHER -There have been some very good pitchers this season and some past stars struggling but a pair of Boston Minutemen take center stage. Rookie
RAY DALPMAN (11-0, 2.25) is our clear choice to be the starter with teammate Ed Wood (10-3, 3.12) also garnering plenty of attention. Three starters have to go on the official ballot and there are some tough decisions to be made but Pittsburgh veteran Charlie Stedman (7-3, 2.79) makes the list in our book.
CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
CATCHER -Usually you just pencil in the name of Adam Mullins (.409,1,16) and just walk away but the ex-Montreal and current Cincinnati Cannons catcher missed most of the first half with an injury. He has been great now that he is back in the line-up but because of the limited sample we will not select Mullins and instead reward
WOODY STONE (.305,,40) of the Philadelphia Sailors. Ben Richardson (.312,4,25), who was part of the package the Saints received from Cincinnati for Mullins, also deserves consideration.
FIRST BASE -Fred McCormick is missed here but Father Time
DAVE TROWBRIDGE (.335,4,43) of the New York Stars deserves to be an all-star for the third time in his career. There were some other solid options like the Sailors Marion Boismenu (.354,1,22), Montreal's Red Bond (.322,9,52) and Dick Walker (.263,8,32) of the Cougars.
SECOND BASE -This one is not even close as Cincinnati's
CHARLEY McCULLOUGH (.324,1,43) is having a breakout season at age 25.
THIRD BASE -A lot of third baseman in the CA are having pretty good years. Frank LeMieux (.327,3,32) in Brooklyn, Frank Covarrubias (.316,3,46) for Cincinnati, Mark Burns (..312,3,33) in Montreal, New York's Ray Cochran (.301,1,41) and Walt Pack (.297,11,32) of Toronto. Cleveland's Mel Carrol (.301,10,38) is having a down year only when you measure it by his high standards. They all pale in comparison to 38 year old
JOHN LAWSON (/343,11,59) of the Chicago Cougars. The reigning Whitney Award winner should be a lock for his 8th all-star game, having only missed out on the 1938 edition.
SHORTSTOP -Always a tough battle in the CA with plenty of talented shortstops. Youngsters Skipper Schneider (.300,2,34) of Chicago, Cincinnati's Jim Hensley (.278,2,25), Jake Hughes (.349,0,41) of Montreal and New York's Joe Angevine (.288,1,28) are the new challengers. The Sailors Rip Lee (.287,2,48) is always a solid option and Toronto's Charlie Artuso (.245,2,25) is a premier defender but he has struggled at the plate this season. Brooklyn's
HARRY BARRELL (.272,1,28) was overlooked last year but he gets our vote this time around and should play in his 7th all-star game to the delight of the Kings County faithful.
LEFT FIELD -A battle between the two Canadian clubs as Toronto's Larry Vestal (.318,3,37) and Montreal's Bert Lass (.366,3,41) have been the best of a pretty decent group that also includes Cincinnati's Moxie Pidgeon (.261,9,44) and Leo Mitchell (.341,6,44) of the Cougars. It's close but we are taking
BERT LASS to appear in his first all-star game.
CENTER FIELD -The CA lacks the star power in center that the Fed possesses. While Cleveland's Dan Fowler (.276,9,30) is back on track after a couple of down years we have to place him second behind Cincinnati's
FRED GALLOWAY (.293,3,33).
RIGHT FIELD -We likely can just write the name
BILL BARRETT in the right field slot for the next decade and be done with it. It is scary that Barrett (.405,20,74) is just 21 years old and is putting up numbers like he has for the New York Stars this season. Barrett is a look to become a three-time all-star before his 22nd birthday, joining Brooklyn's Harry Barrell as the only players to accomplish that feat. It must be tough being Brooklyn's Joe Herman (.340,5,41) or Philadelphia's Joe Watson (.336,5,41) having to compete with Barrett for the starting spot, although both deserve to be on the team as reserves.
PITCHER - With all due respect to Chicago's Harry Parker (10-5, 3.16) our three starters are fairly easy to select. 31 year old Chuck Cole (10-4, 2.73) of the New York Stars is looking like he did half a dozen years ago in Toronto and is a big part of the Stars success this year. Deuce Barrell (10-3, 4.23) overcame a slow start with Cincinnati but has won his last 9 decisions. Both pale in comparison to Pete Papenfus (12-4, 2.93) and his FABL leading 117 strikeouts. The Chicago Cougars young ace is just 23 years old but
PETE PAPENFUS is quickly becoming the best pitcher in baseball and is our all-star game starter.
MINUTEMEN DEAL PROSPECT
The Boston Minutemen dealt the third ranked shortstop prospect, according to OSA, to the Washington Eagles in exchange for the Eagles first and fourth round draft picks in next year's draft. The player Washington picks up is 22 year old Al Gross, who was Boston's first round pick in 1937. Gross grades out as a decent hitter according to OSA but there are concerns about occasional lapses in the field and his defensive stats over the past few seasons of minor league ball seem to confirm the glove may be a concern.
JIGGS MCGEE's TAKE - I don't weigh in on minor league deals a lot but this one really caught my eye. I get the Eagles are desperate for an upgrade at SS as Jack Bush couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat. I expect Gross can be a decent offensive producer but his defense at short will possibly be the worst in the league once he gets to Washington. I could see Gross being a serviceable second baseman, perhaps third but no way can I see him prosper as a big league shortstop. The bat, while good for a shortstop, is less impressive for a second or third sacker. Never mind the questions about Gross' defense (he has an .887 EFF this season), but how could Washington consider parting with their first round pick - which seems almost assured to be top five and quite possibly the first overall selection - let alone add their fourth rounder? Fourths are incredibly valuable now because they are the first round in the June phase of the draft and usually there are a couple of breakout prospects that emerge.
I guess one could say there was precedence for this type of transaction as Montreal dealt Frank Davis to the Chicago Chiefs for a first and a fourth a year ago. While on the surface they seem similar, a highly touted young shortstop going for a first and a fourth round pick, the differences are staggering. First of all Davis was already an all-star at that point and a proven quality defender at short while Gross has never played in the majors and only has 47 games of AAA experience with subpar defense all the way up his minor league journey. Then throw in the positioning of the draft picks involved. Everyone knew by last July when the Montreal move was made that the Chiefs picks were going to be nowhere near first overall, falling more in the middle of the draft.(They ended up being 10th). Those are major differences.
The Eagles have not finished in the first division since 1929 and moves like this do nothing to change that trend. If the Eagles finish last and it is the first overall pick there is a good chance this is remembered as one of the worst deals in Eagles history.
JONES LEAVING CHIEFS
It looks as if the Chiefs will lose the services of reserve outfielder Bill Jones in the near future as the 29 year old made the trip to Plainview, Illinois for a re=examination by his raft board and was placed in Class 1-A. He expects to report with the next bunch of draftee selections July 22. Previously Jones had been deferred because of a dental deficiency but he had his teeth fixed since that time.
Meanwhile Tony Pestilli became the second professional baseball player this week to be declared physically unfit for military service. The AA second baseman was deferred because of bad eyesight by Draft Board 18 in New Orleans and the report will be mailed to his Draft Board in Rhode Island where Pestilli and his more famous brothers Sal and Alf are registered. Pestilli is one of the few professional baseball players to wear glasses on the field.
QUICK HITS
- Congratulations to a long-time TWIFB favourite as Doug Lightbody of the Philadelphia Keystones notched his 2,000 career hit. The 37 year old is just a spare part now and no where near the hitter he was back in the days he claimed a Whitney Award and a pair of batting titles, but Lightbody still delivers every so often and may be a starter again the way the draft might start taking big league ballplayers away.
- No matter how hard they try the New York Gothams just can't seem to get out of the second division for any length of time. Just over a month ago they were flying high, tied for first place and one of the big surprises of the early going. Since then they have gone 9-20 and now are back in their familiar haunts of the second division.
- Is Hank Barnett hiding an injury? He has hit 1 double and 1 home run in June for a batting line of .234/.311/.271. This after leading the Fed in homers with 36 a year ago. He is never going to wow you with a high average, but the power is completely sapped. If it wasn't for Jim Watson (.316,6,31) and Hank Jones (.307,5,31), the Chiefs offense would be looking pretty bleak.
- The Miners starting rotation and their W-L records:
Code:
Lefty Allen, 7-6
Karl Johnson, 7-6
Charlie Stedman, 7-3
Tom Barrell, 5-4
George Philips, 3-11
Phillips especially has been a terrible disappointment but really a lot more than this was expected out Allen and Johnson this season as well. It is easy to see why they are 7.5 games back of Boston.
- Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News asks "Is Peter the Heater the best pitcher in the FABL? The 23-year-old fireballer has now thrown seven consecutive complete game wins, including a 1-hit and 6-hit shutout, with pitch counts ranging from 114 to 168. In that seven start span, he has a 2.14 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with 25 walks and 55 strikeouts. For the season he is 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA (134 ERA+), 1.28 WHIP, 65 walks, and 117 strikeouts, while leading all of baseball in wins, complete games (13), strikeouts, and K/9 (7.6) while recording one less out then the innings leader Jake DeYoung. In the CA he also leads in WAR, rWAR, and opponents average (.225), while ranking third in ERA. Best pitcher or not, one thing for sure, is the Cougars are really going to miss him when he inevitably enlists."
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/29/1941
- With plans to make quick work of Russia and bleed the Reds of wheat and oil, Nazi panzer divisions smashed deep into heavily fortified zones across the Russian frontier.
- Acting US Secretary of State Sumner Welles speaking on behalf of FDR says the Americans may provide some help to Russia in her resistance against Germany. Welles said that while all forms of dictatorship are inimical to the American way of life, the immediate issue is to stop "Hitlerism."
- Britain and Soviet Russia are agreed on mutual aid to fight nazi Germany to a finish. Both are also expecting aid from the United States to help them complete the task.
- Finland also declared war on Russia this week as the Finns were goaded by incessant air attacks on Helsinki and other large cities from the Russians. Sweden has agreed to allow German troops to cross Swedish territory from Norway to Finland to aid in the attack on Russia. Hungary follows suit, also declaring war on Russia, citing past attacks.
- Nazi bombers briefly turn their focus from Britain to Russia as they attack Leningrad much of the week.
- Japan is in a tough spot, weighing the options between honouring their recently signed treaty with Russia or remaining loyal to the Axis powers.