EDITOR'S NOTE - The reason for the lack of updates is FABL is on a 1 week shutdown while our league commissioner is on vacation. We are paused at a point just a few days before the 1941 trade deadline and the season will resume next Monday. However, since we are at the deadline some General Managers have been busy so here is a special update on moves made over the weekend.
There is no questioning the desire of Boston Minutemen brass to end the longest pennant drought in the Federal Association as the club made it's second major deal in advance of this week's trade deadline. This one sees the Boston nine add a pair of veterans from the Philadelphia Sailors in exchange for a prospect and a bevy of draft picks. Coming to Beantown are two-time all-star outfielder Joe Watson (.322,6,49) and 1940 Allen Award winning pitcher Walt Wells (11-6, 3.56). In return the suddenly rebuilding Sailors add 22 year old righthander Junius Davies and 4 draft picks: Boston's 2nd, 4th, 5th and 10th round selections.
The two now ex-Sailors will join 31 year old pitcher Dean Astle and 30 year old first baseman Bill Moore, both acquired yesterday from Cleveland, as newcomers in the Boston lineup. The 32 year old Watson is a premier FABL hitter, boasting a lifetime .301 batting average for his career. He spent his first four seasons in Baltimore before moving to the Sailors as a waiver pickup in 1937 and was an all-star game selection in 1939 and again this season. Wells, 33, enjoyed the best season of his career last year when he won 20 games and the Allen Award as the top hurler in the Continental Association. A two-time all-star selection he owns a 93-60 career FABL record.
Junius 'Junebug' Davies was Boston's 6th round pick in last month's FABL draft after posting a 12-2 season for Talmadge State. The 21 year old has looked very solid in 3 starts at Class C Hattiesburg, posting a 1-1 record and a 0.73 era. OSA feels he is projected to be a mid-rotation piece.
JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE :I love the aggressiveness of the Minutemen, who are more than overdue for a pennant and have come up short down the stretch a number of times in recent years. With the mound additions of Wells and Astle, plus the bats of Moore and Watson there is no questioning Boston's depth. The only question I have is where are these four going to fit in an already deep lineup and pitching rotation but that is the type of problem Boston bench boss Bill Boshart, or any other big league manager for that matter, would love to deal with. I also have to commend the Minutemen front office for acquiring those 4 players without surrendering their lone top 100 prospect in teenage shortstop Billy Bryan or the potentially very high first round pick they acquired from the Washington Eagles earlier in the month for minor league shortstop Al Gross.
Davies looks like a bargain as a 6th round pick based on his quick start and the Sailors organization has done wonders with developing pitchers over the years so I fully expect him to prosper in the Philadelphia organization. The Sailors traded another veteran in first baseman Dick Walker a month ago and with this latest move it appears management has recognized the need to reset things. While the club has finished below .500 only once since their last of three straight pennants in 1930, they have slid slowly down the standings the past few seasons. It seems almost assured the Sailors will finish below .500 for just the second time since 1923 but the club has always possessed a prosperous minor league system and one has to expect their stay in the second division will be a brief one.
FORESTERS MAKE TWO MORE MOVES
The long anticipated rebuild in Cleveland is in full swing as the Foresters made two more trades today and have moved 4 veterans in the past two days. First it was pitcher Dean Astle and first baseman Bill Moore going to Boston while today the news was George Dawson and Mel Carrol (.325,11,50) were both leaving town. Dawson was dealt to Detroit for a mid-level prospect and a 6th round pick while Carrol was dispatched along with a second round pick to the Washington Eagles in exchange for Leon Blackridge and three prospects.
The Carrol deal sees the 29 year old third baseman return to the club he began his FABL career with and became a star for in 1937 when he hit .409, becoming the first player to top the magical .400 mark since the legendary Max Morris hit .418 in 1925. Carrol won the Whitney Award that year and made the first of four consecutive all-star appearances. It was a shock to many when the Eagles sent him to Cleveland at the 1938 deadline and while Washington is not in contention this deal feels like it rights a wrong the Eagles made three years ago. The price was stiff as Leon Blackridge (.278,1,35) is a highly touted but often injured third baseman and 22 year old Bill Martino -one of the three prospects Cleveland receives - is a very good pitching prospect who was originally drafted out of high school in the third round in 1937. Martino, who is 7-12, 3.96 on the year at AAA Kansas City, is presently listed as #28 on the OSA prospect list. The Eagles also surrendered a pair of Class A players who are ranked just outside the top 150 prospects by OSA in 20 year old third baseman Wally Fuller and 21 year old first baseman Walt Knight.
JIGGS MCGEE's TAKE :While neither move was unexpected the destination for Carrol caught many by surprise. Most had expected if, well more a case of when, the Foresters dealt Carrol it would be to one of the big 4 teams in the Fed but Washington really is the ideal destination for Carrol. He was an extremely popular player in D.C. and will be welcomed back by a fan base, that while still very fickle about the Eagles, is growing in attendance this year and may approach 800,000 for the first time since 1827. The cost was expensive as I think Blackridge, if he can stay healthy, is going to be a very good infielder and Martino has high potential. I also have always liked the 20 year old prospect Wally Fuller so Cleveland adds some nice pieces.
DAWSON TO DETROIT
In Dawson the Detroit Dynamos land a 30 year old who was once considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the Continental Association but had lost his starting job in Cleveland this season after struggles both at the plate and in the field. A .298 career hitter, Dawson batted .308 as recently as 1939 but slumped to .247 a year ago and was hitting just .233 as a spare part this season. His defense has also tailed off substantially this year but whether that is a case of declining skills or just rust because of seeing such limited action remains to be seen. In Detroit he will have an opportunity to wrestle the Dynamos starting shortstop job away from the light hitting but defensively gifted Gil London and the move reunites Dawson with his old GM from his glory days in Cleveland.
In return Cleveland picks up Detroit's 6th round pick and 20 year old Class B second baseman Jackie Potts. A 1939 third round pick, Potts is hitting .284 this season at Chattanooga and is no way considered a sure-fire big league prospect.
JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE :Cleveland was not dealing in a position of strength with the veteran middle infielder so the Foresters got what they could for Dawson and likely had no other offers worth considering beyond Detroit. It is a low risk gamble for the Dynamos to see if Dawson can regain his form. There is still a little time left but after the moves Boston made, Detroit fans have to be left wondering "is this all we are going to do" in an effort to get over the hump and win a pennant after three straight second place finishes.
BLUEGRASS STATE WINS 1941 AIAA NATIONAL TITLE
Highlighted by Christian Trophy winning pitcher Bob Arman (11-1, 1.75) and fellow sophomore and second team All-American selection Ernie McCoy (.311,7,46) the Bluegrass State Mustangs went 47-15 to win the AIAA title. Joining McCoy, who like Arman is expected to be a 1942 first round pick, in the Bluegrass State outfield were juniors Gussie Almond (.317,3,33), a 5th round pick of Pittsburgh last month and Washington's 23rd round pick Don Phillips (.272,5,29).
They have two other future draft eligible players freshman 2B Walt Conner (.304,1,36) and sophomore first baseman Stan Mish (.277,7,48). Conner is a highly touted prospect for the 1943 draft. Joining Arman, who is projected to go #1 overall next January in the Mustangs rotation this past season were a pair of drafted players in Bruce Anderson (7-6, 3.57) and Orville Fowler (4-7,4.57). Anderson was taken in the 6th round by Toronto while Fowler was a 12th round selection by the Chicago Chiefs.
Miami State finished second with Opelika State, Huntington State and Maryland State rounding out the top 5. The first three were well represented on the All-American team as freshman first baseman Bucky Scheffer and junior outfielder Orie Martinez represented the second rank Gulls on the first team. Fourth place finishers Huntington State placed junior Hank Eason, a first round pick of Montreal's, and freshman Gordon Klein on the first team while the third place school, Opelika State was led by sophomore outfielder Dick Chamberlain, a second team selection.
EDITOR'S NOTE - We are not using feeders anymore but TWIFB has come up with a ranking system based on the stats of draft prospect players to create a W-L record for each of the roughly 90 AIAA schools deemed to be playing at the 'Great' competition level. As a result TWIFB will annually present the season ending top ten in the AIAA.
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Here are the top 10 for 1941
1-Bluegrass State 47-15
2-Miami State 44-18
3-Opelika State 43-19
4-Huntington State 41-21
5-Maryland State 41-21
6-Eastern Oklahoma 40-22
7-Grange College 39-23
8-Columbia Military Academy 39-23
9-Carolina Poly 38-24
10-St. Blane College 37-25
And here are the AIAA national champions going back to it's debut in 1910
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AIAA NATIONAL CHAMPION HISTORY
1910 Maryland State
1911 Lincoln
1912 George Fox
1913 Golden Gate
1914 College of San Diego
1915 Indiana A&M
1916 Dickson
1917 Indiana A&M
1918 Dickson
1919 Liberty College
1920 Liberty College
1921 Northern Cal
1922 Lubbock State
1923 Garden State
1924 Brunswick
1925 Bayou State
1926 Commonwealth Catholic
1927 Opelika State
1928 Lubbock State
1929 Opelika State
1930 Garden State
1931 Henry Hudson
1932 Henry Hudson
1933 Garden State
1934 Grange College
1935 North Carolina Tech
1936 Eastern State
1937 Eastern State
1938 Eastern State
1939 Maryland State
1940 Maryland State
1941 Bluegrass State
USO GETS $53,000 FROM ALL-STAR GAME
Washington, July 28 (INS)- The All-Star major league baseball game in Brooklyn July 8 resulted in a net profit of $53,226.27 which has been donated to the United Service Organizations, the office of FABL President Sam Belton announced today.
Attendance at the game was 32,000 and gross receipts totaled $63,267.08. Expenses incident to putting on the game were $10,040.81 (including $950 for "rain insurance").
NEWS OF THE DAY
Current events from Monday 07/28/1941
- U.S. national sales levy now looms along with a cut in tax exemptions as the House considers a new revenue bill to help fund defense spending. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee warned that the new bill will be offered soon and predicted it may include a general sales tax and lowering of exemptions to create millions of new direct taxpayers.
- Russia claims to have routed a Nazi Division in a 13 day battle on the Finnish front while Berlin is reporting the Nazis are close to victory in a battle near Smolensk.
- Panic is setting in on the Tokio Stock Exchange after prices toppled, forcing the government to order funds be advanced to halt the market collapse.
- At least 57 are dead across the east and midwest following a torrid heat wave but relief is on the way at least for the east coast in the form of expected rainfall.
- Screen star Judy Garland and 31 year old composer and orchestra leader Dave Rose were married in Las Vegas after an airplane elopement from Hollywood.