JUNE 12, 1944
BASEBALL HAS SOME TOUGH DECISIONS AHEAD
Now that the invasion of Europe is underway and hopes are for a hasty end to Hitler and the Nazis it is perhaps not to early to wonder how baseball's manpower situation will shape up when the fighting is done. Now, that could still be quite some time as the Germans do not seem to be going quietly and there is still the matter in the Pacific to sort out but now there is hope that the end is in sight for this whole tragic situation and peace will once again reign.
But what of baseball? There could be more than 1,200 players coming back to the sport they once played professionally. Baseball's Post-War Committee is hard at work formulating suggestions on how to deal with the status of players when the war is over. Brett Bing of the Toronto Mail & Empire outlined in a column last week just how difficult a challenge clubs might face and speculated on the need to perhaps adjust or make exceptions for war vets to the rule five draft and secondary roster limits. Now, I am not sure FABL President Sam Belton wants to open that can of worms, as it would be a nightmare administratively for the league. And do you treat all war returnees the same regardless if they missed just one season or as many as four or five years? It is this writer's opinion that the league should stand pat on the rules as all 16 clubs will be dealing with the same kettle of fish and there are bound to be a lot of players displaced.
It is of the players themselves that I feel the most focus most be applied. Clubs have been playing in many cases with bare bones rosters in the minors but even so, when you add 1,200 returnees at some point in the future, it only stands that 800-1000 players will be out of work. The breakdown is unknown of course at this time, but one has to be pretty confident that in that number will be a large contingent of men who gave up their careers and put their lives on the line for their country. Is it fair they no longer have a job to return to? That would not wash, and the Federal Government has made it known that it will not be accepted in regular society. But baseball is a different animal. It has always been survival of the fittest, only the best available get the jobs and that applies from the big leagues right down to Class C.
Sports seems to be ready for a boom. You hear it in football with talks of expansion for the AFA and a rival league in the works. Basketball too is starting to talk about a major pro league being formed taking the best of the best from the many regional leagues around the east and midwest. Should baseball also hitch itself to the growth wagon. With all of the talent coming back is this perhaps the time for FABL to consider growing beyond it's current 16 team setup? Aviation enhancements makes the thought of west coast teams no longer just a dream. Los Angeles and San Francisco are both after AFA clubs and the Pacific Northwest is rumoured to be part of the new as of yet unnamed pro football leagues plans. The Hollywood Heroes owner even hinted that the Great Western loop should form it's own 'major' league if FABL was not planning on putting a team (or teams) in California. At the very least there is likely a demand for more minor league clubs, both by eager fans, and by the vast number of players that could soon be looking for work.
Yes, Sam Belton and his FABL magnates have some tough decisions to make and I would expect the urgency for this discussion -while always there- ramped up a bit when news of the landing at Normandy made the headlines.
MINERS FINALLY HALT SLIDE
The Pittsburgh Miners ended a 9-game losing streak by finally picking up their first win of the month yesterday. It came by a 4-1 count over the lowly Washington Eagles in the second game of a twin bill and followed up 3 straight losses by the Pittsburgh side to the Eagles. What a difference a couple of weeks makes for the Miners, who led the Federal Association by a game over the Philadelphia Keystones at the end of May, but now sit 4 games back of their Pennsylvania rivals and in third place.
The Keystones had a strong week, slowing Boston's momentum by winning four out of five games between the two at Minutemen Stadium. Bobby Barrell, who recently notched both his 2,500th career hit and 350th homer, had a huge week with 2 homers and a 7-for-19 showing against the New Englanders. On the year Barrell is batting .326 with a FABL leading 13 homers and 43 rbi's. Boston had entered the series on a high with 6 wins in their previous 8 games to finally climb over the .500 mark after a rough start to the season.
Philadelphia leads second place Chicago by a game and a half atop the Federal Association table. In the Continental Association the Toronto Wolves must be getting frustrated. They won 3 of 4 games last week but still lost ground to a dominant Chicago Cougars club, that won 5 of 6 and extended it's lead atop the loop to 7 games.
GRANGE COLLEGE RUNAWAY WINNER AS AIAA NATIONAL CHAMPION
The Grange College Mustangs dominated the college baseball scene this year, posting a modern era (post-feeders) record for wins with a 54-8 season enroute to winning the second National Collegiate Baseball Championship in school history. The Mustangs, who won their only other AIAA title in 1934, were led by a pair of sophomores in outfielder Bob Riggins and pitcher Otis Porter. Riggins, a Detroit native who was an All-American a year ago as a freshman and one of the favourites for the Frank Christian Trophy this year, hit .333 with 10 homers and 49 rbi's while playing in all 62 games this season. His batting average was 4th highest in the AIAA and number one among players at major schools. The 20 year old is considered a likely first round pick in the FABL draft next January. Porter, is one of 5 Grange College pitchers expected to be drafted at some point and was also named as a finalist for the Christian Trophy.. Porter missed a couple of starts this season but still went 8-2 with a dominating 11.4 K/9 -the 4th highest mark in that category recorded in the post-feeder era.
Code:
COLLEGE SINGLE SEASON K/9 LEADERS
PLAYER K/9 SCHOOL YEAR
Bob Arman 11.9 Bluegrass State 1941
Hoppy Johnson 11.8 Charleston Tech 1943
Al Jones 11.5 Central Ohio 1935
Otis Porter 11.4 Grange College 1944
Harry Sharp 11.2 Red River State 1939
George Wynn 11.2 Willamette Valley 1940
Hoppy Johnson 11.2 Charleston Tech 1942
Bob Arman 10.8 Bluegrass State 1942
Porter, a 20 year old righthander who calls Augusta, Ga. home, was second in the AIAA in earned run average and tied for third with 121 strikeouts despite pitching less than 100 innings this season. With 8 players likely to get drafted by FABL clubs at some point, and all of them either freshman or sophomores, the Mustangs have to be the early favourite to win another AIAA title against next season. Miami State at 45-17, finished second in the nation with College of Waco, Bluegrass State and Mississippi A&M rounding out the top five.
PAIR OF GRANGE COLLEGE PLAYERS HIGHLIGHT CHRISTIAN TROPHY NOMINEES
A pair of sophomore players from National Champion Grange College head the list of nominees for the Frank Christian Trophy -awarded annually to the top college player in the nation. Surprisingly the list of six finalists contains no players who were drafted by FABL clubs in January nor will it have any selected in the second half of the pro draft later this month. That is because only college juniors or seniors are eligible for the draft and the nominees this year include four sophomores and a pair of freshmen. It is believed that has never happened before as the Christian Trophy finalists have always included at least one draft eligible player.
In alphabetical order the six finalists are:
BILLY FORBES: freshman OF Miami State .314/.394/.552 with 11 HR and 59 RBI. Led nation with 17 doubles and was 4th in slugging percentage.
JOHNNY PETERS: sophomore OF Liberty College .322/.438/.556 with 9 HR and 38 RBI. Stole 31 bases. Was 6th in nation with 53 wRC and tied for second behind fellow nominee Bob Riggins in batter war with 2.5
OTIS PORTER: sophomore P Grange College 8-2, 2.45 121 K, 39 BB in 95 innings work. Pitched less than some of the others but still finished with third most K's and the 4th highest K/9 (11.4) ever recorded in the AIAA post feeders. Second only to fellow nominee John Stallings in ERA and FIP but Porter faced top competition in playing for the National Champion Mustangs.
NATE POWER: sophomore 1B Daniel Boone College .308/.401/.576 13 HR and 45 RBI. Led nation in slugging percentage and tied for first in HR.
BOB RIGGINS: sophomore OF Grange College .333/.453/.562 with 10 HR and 49 rbi for national champion Grange College. Led the nation with a 68 wRC and tops in WAR at 3.2. 4th in batting average but highest among those with Great competition. combination of power and speed in CF with 10 HR and 32 stolen bases. Also led nation with 1.015 OPS.
JOHN STALLINGS: freshman P Piedmont University 11-1, 1.69 121 K, 29 BB in 112 innings. Led nation in wins, era, FIP, and pitcher WAR. Only knock was Piedmont played against Good competition while the others all faced great.
In the 17 year history of the Christian Trophy only 4 winners have been sophomores and only twice has a freshman claimed the honour. The sophomore winners were pitcher Bob Arman of Bluegrass State in 1941, St Magnus outfielder Bob Coon in 1938 and a pair of infielders in 1930 and 1931 in Central Ohio's Freddie Jones and Bill Moore of Lubbock State. Sam Orr of Henry Hudson was not only the first freshman winner, but he was also the first ever winner of the award in 1927 with Sal Pestilli's first of two Christian Trophy's coming following his 1934 freshman campaign at Narragansett. Pestilli, who also won the Christian two years later, and Moore -the only back-to-back winner claiming the 1931 and 1932 trophy- are the only two-time Christian Award winners.
The winner, along with the AIAA All-American team, will be announced next week.
DYNAMOS FIRST OVERALL PICK SCHAUB CAPS STELLAR HIGH SCHOOL CAREER
Roy Schaub, the 17 year old high school senior out of Philadelphia that the Detroit Dynamos selected with the first overall pick in January, did nothing to make the Dynamos doubt their decision. The young righthander went 12-0 with a 0.88 era to make the High School All-American team for the second consecutive year. Schaub ends his high school days with a 43-5 record, a 1.17 era and 723 strikeouts in just 491 innings of work. The victories and strikeout totals rank him second all-time, including the feeder era, behind only 3-time Adwell Award winner and former Cleveland first overall draft pick Hiram Steinberg. Steinberg went 47-0 with 855 strikeouts for Washington High School in New York City. He is presently serving in the Navy. Steinberg won the Adwell in 1939, 1940 and 1941 while Schaub, last year's winner, is expected to be a finalist again this season and looks to join for Washington DC high schooler Walt Messer as the only other multiple-time winners besides Steinberg.
Judging solely by the All-American team it was quite a draft for the Detroit Dynamos. The Dynamos were loaded for picks after making several big deals including the one that sent Red Johnson to the New York Gothams. But it might pay off in the long-term as 4 Detroit first rounders were named to the All-America team. Along with first overall selection Schaub, outfielder Edwin Hackberry (pick 3), shortstop Stan Kleminski (pick 7) and pitcher Carl Potter (pick 9) were Dynamos draftees to make the All-American team.
Here is the 1944 HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN TEAM
Code:
POS NAME/CL SCHOOL FABL DRAFT STATUS
C Ike Perry – Jr (2) Navosta (TX) HS eligible 1945
C Cal Yeagar – Sr Lodi (OH) HS rd 1 pick 14 Toronto
1b-3b Jim Flowers – Sr New Eagle (PA) HS rd 1 pick 5 Pittsburgh
1b-3b Tony Balinger – So Eastern HS, Louisville, KY eligible 1946
1b-3b Fred Williams – Jr Aurelia (IA) HS eligible 1945
2b-SS Nick Remillard – Sr Hillsboro HS, Nashville, TN rd 1 pick 6 Brooklyn
2b-SS Earle Haley – Sr Hamburg (IA) HS rd 2 pick 18 Cleveland
2b-SS Stan Kleminski – Sr Mercer (PA) HS rd 1 pick 7 Detroit
OF Yank Taylor – So Pullman HS, Chicago IL eligible 1946
OF Edwin Hackberry- Sr San Diego (CA) HS rd 1 pick 3 Detroit
OF George Rutter – Sr Curtis HS, Staten Island, NY rd 1 pick 10 Sailors
OF George Richardson – Fr Higganum (CT) HS eligible 1947
OF Don Berry – So Ahoskie (NC) HS eligible 1946
P Roy Schaub- Sr (2) St Joseph’s HS (Philadelphia) rd 1 pick 1 Detroit
P Dutch Yoak-Jr (2) La Porte (TX) HS eligible 1945
P Danny Cecil – So Perrysburg (OH) HS eligible 1946
P Cyrus Goodman – So Clarendon (AR) HS eligible 1946
P Carl Potter – SR Bettsville (OH) HS rd 1 pick 9 Detroit
HONOURABLE MENTION
POS NAME/CL SCHOOL FABL DRAFT STATUS
P Eddie Bohannon – So Forest City (AR) HS eligible 1946
P Dick Rutledge – So Green Cove Springs (FL) HS eligible 1946
P Paul Anderson – Fr Milligan HS, Elizabethton TN eligible 1947
C Bob Russo – Jr Hatboro (PA) HS eligible 1945
INF Pat Todd – Jr University HS, San Francsico eligible 1945
INF John Morrison – Fr Clinton Hs, Bronx NY eligible 1947
INF Bill Wise – So Ramsen (IA) HS eligible 1946
OF Frank Reece – So Villisca (IA) HS eligible 1946
OF Ed Duncan – Sr Troy (KS) HS rd 1 pick 15 Brooklyn
- FABL is taking some heat this week as more than a few observers were shocked to see Sam Belton not cancel the loops games on June 6 when word of the invasion broke. Racing shut down at nearly every track in the country but baseball carried on. The fact that it was a light schedule with no day games and just a pair of night contests -both in the Continental Association- was the deciding factor in the decision to play them both as scheduled.
- Excellent start to the season for Art White of the Chicago Cougars, who has now won his first 10 decisions of the season, with the first 9 all via the complete game. Those ten wins are two higher then any other FABL pitcher while White's 2.05 ERA (167 ERA+) is tied for second in the CA, a mere point behind teammate Harry Parker for the lead. His 1.08 is second outright, this time two points behind Parker, and while his 1.1 WAR isn't very impressive, his 3.7 rWAR is best in the CA, this time half a win better then his stopper Ben Curtin
- Word is there are some problems in the Sailors clubhouse. Appears to be a lot of in-fighting and veteran infielder Ed B White says they need to address it. "The season isn't a lost cause," explained White, "but internally we have to start clicking better if we want everything to flow on the field." The Sailors are third in the CA and had a strong start to the season, but have dropped 9 of their last 14 contests.
- A sign of something similar happening in baseball? With some talk of the Great Western League considering declaring itself a 'Major' League comes this news from football. A new professional football league -based entirely on the west coast- is set to hold it's initial meeting later this month. The 8 team circuit says it will have two clubs in Los Angeles and one each in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Oakland, Hollywood and San Diego. No word on a timeline as to when this league might begin operation but you can bet owners of the 5 independent baseball teams in the GWL will be watching closely.
- We get our first no-hitter of the season. Well, actually two of them. Randy Burks, a 22 year old in the Keystones system tossed one in a 3-0 win for New Orleans of the Dixie League over Atlanta on Thursday and two days later Harry Pullen of the Eastern Association's Akron Wheels no-hit Dayton, also in a 3-0 win. Pullen is a 1936 8th round pick of the Detroit Dynamos. For Burks, it was the first no-hitter tossed in the Dixie loop since Mutt Pharr threw a perfect-game more than 7 years ago.
- I have to say I was a little underwhelmed by the numbers put up by Eli Panneton this season at Aberdeen College after all of the hype surrounding the Winnipeg born righthander at the draft. Panneton was 10-2 with a 2.79 era and 99 strikeouts in 113 innings work. Not bad numbers by any stretch but considering he was suiting up against just fair competition you have to wonder if the 22 year old will be ready to step right into the New York Stars -who selected him 4th overall in January- rotation as has been speculated.
- Speaking of college pitchers, Dan Atwater of Wisconsin State finished with a 26-11 record over his three seasons with the Brewers. That is the fifth highest total all time for a non-feeder college pitcher (6th if you count Pug Bryan's 32 wins, which came split between both the feeder and post-feeder era). Jim Carter of Ellery College leads the way with 31 victories among the new era players but the overall leader including feeders remains Georgia Baptist star Tom Barrell, who went 34-8 during his four seasons with the Gators. Atwater does still have a year of eligibility left but it seems a given that the 21 year will sign with the New York Stars, who selected him in the second round in January.
- You have to love the numbers Tom Taylor's kid put up as a sophomore at Pullman High School in Chicago. Yank Taylor, the son of the 2-time Whitney Award winner, slashed .530/.586/1.080 with 13 homers and 44 rbi's. Only one sophomore in the modern era- Gothams star Walt Messer- has ever hit more homeruns as a high school sophomore than Taylor did this season. Only 7 players have had a higher single season slugging percentage than Taylor's numbers this season. They are Bill Barrett, Luke Berry, Walt Messer, Red Johnson, Chuck Adams, Bill Barnett and Dick Blaszak. Some pretty select company for the 16 year old who was named to the High School All-American team this week.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/11/1944
- Invading Allied armies have linked up a solid 42-mile beachhead line on the Norman coast and American forces, in a powerful two-pronged drive through the Cotentin Peninsula, threatened to take the first class modern port of Cherbourg.
- A month into the main invasion in Italy the Germans have suffered a catastrophe in Italy and are now facing complete destruction.
Italy
- A new induction system under which men no longer will be earmarked for either the Army or Navy after their preinduction examinations, but will be placed in a common draft pool, will go into effect on July 1. The move is due to a sizeable backlog waiting Navy induction while the Army has almost exhausted it's pool of recruits.
