[ayaghmour2]

3B Hank Stratton (73rd Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 5th Round, 78th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Chicago HS Wildcats

"Third base is wide open right now, but Hank Stratton will have to fend off the middle infielders in the organization as well if he wants to be the Cougars third basemen of the future. He put together a strong season in Lincoln, batting .333/.366/.515 (109 OPS+) with 11 homers and 115 RBI's. "Jitters" also got some time at first when Phil McKenna was there with him, but he has looked okay so far at third. The most impressive part, however, were the 64 doubles! It was close to one every other game and he does an excellent job spraying the ball around the field. He hits well to all fields and continuously hits line drives in stead of flyballs. His spray charts are truly beautiful, and I think he's going to be a really excellent big league hitter."

"Excellent" hitter may be a stretch, but Hank Stratton has put together a pretty solid career for the Foresters. The Foresters have been really bad the past couple of seasons, but Stratton has been a mainstay on the roster, appearing in 125 or more games in each season since 125, and he owns a productive .287/.315/.392 (103 OPS+) triple slash in 797 games with the Foresters. He had himself a breakout in 1942, hitting a very good .313/.338/.432 (132 OPS+) with 2 homers and 60 RBIs while worth a personal best 4.1 WAR. He doesn't have much home run power, but "Jitters" led the CA with 54 doubles in '42, and again in '44 with 47. After a decline in production during the 1943 season, he's put together back-to-back above average seasons in a lineup that has little-to-no support. He had a 117 WRC+ this year for Cleveland which ranked second for players who appeared in more then 70 games for the Foresters. Now 31, he's one of the only lineup members who should have a spot guaranteed for them next season, as he consistently puts the ball in play and provides solid defense at both corners. Stratton never debuted for us, as we sent him to Cleveland for Dan Everett and a 2nd Round Pick the offseason before his debut. We got great value for the former 5th Rounder that was part of the loaded 1932 draft class, and while no All-Stars, he's a dependable every day starter.

RHP Stumpy Beaman (95th Overall)
Acquired: Via Trade with the Sailors (1935)
Drafted: 7th Round, 104th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Austin HS Senators

"The big pull in the John Kincaid trade, Stumpy Beaman spent his time with the Sailors in C ball, but I brought him up to San Jose for 8 starts to end the season. He looked excellent, working to a 3.18 ERA (143 ERA+) and 1.18 WHIP with 17 walks and 23 strikeouts in 56.2 innings pitched. He'll turn 22 at the end of April, so I might be moving him up to Lincoln to start next season. He is a "stumpy" little guy, but the ball is always on the ground and he comfortably sits in the upper 80s with his fastball and sinker. I love his command, and if he can polish his slider out as an out pitch he should be able to keep up his strong strikeout numbers. I think he's loaded with potential and should be one of the more reliable big league arms in the league."

Originally a 7th Round selection by the Sailors in 1932, he was acquired in the 1935 selloff with Bill Dickens for longtime third basemen John Kincaid. Stumpy spent just one full season in the Cougars organization, as he was quickly used in a second big deal. Him and fellow top 100 prospect Karl Wallace were sent to the Dynamos to acquire Juan Pomales and Del Burns. He debuted later that season, making three starts and relief appearances for Detroit. It didn't go great, but he won a rotation spot next spring, and put together a very solid rookie season. Stumpy went 7-10 with 3 saves, a 4.15 ERA (102 ERA+), 1.55 WHIP, 101 walks, and 59 strikeouts in 190.2 innings pitched. An improving Dynamos team then pushed him to AAA Newark the following season, and they used him to land two All-Stars in Joe Shaffner and Frank Vance. Stumpy was joined in Brooklyn by Frank LeMieux and Ike O'Donnell, and of which are still with the club today.

Stumpy spent the rest of the season in the Kings rotation, where he had a spot for the next four years. The now 31-year-old made 83 starts and 8 relief outings, going 36-42 with a 3.99 ERA (94 ERA+) and 3.80 FIP (100 FIP-). He hasn't pitched since the '42 season, which was the worst of his career so far. He went 8-16 with a 3.97 ERA (83 ERA+) before enlisting in the Air Force. For his career, Beaman has gone 44-54 with a 4.07 ERA (96 ERA+), 1.51 WHIP, 391 walks, and 224 strikeouts in 829.2 innings between the Kings and Dynamos. That slider never quite developed, so the strikeouts (2.4 K/9) were low, but Beaman has been a basically leave average pitcher (101 FIP-) despite it. No one would mistake him for one of the more reliable arms in the league, but he offers dull consistency and will get a shot to rejoin the Kings rotation that won't have many other established pitchers.

LF Bobby Mills (99th Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 6th Round, 90th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: San Antonio HS Warriors

"I feel like I spend more time trying to trade Mills then mentioning how good he is, but Mills has always hit. After a quick trip in San Jose, he spent 62 games with Lincoln and 52 with Mobile. With Lincoln he hit .380/.416/.616 (145 OPS+) with 14 homers and 64 RBI's in 279 trips to the plate. He didn't quite keep that up with Mobile, but still hit .342/.366/.462 (114 OPS+) with 2 homers and 38 RBI's. I was sad to see the power drop, but 14 in 62 games is really impressive. I'm not sure if the power is going to stay, I still see him as a Vince York type player not Doc Love, but for now there's no room for Mills on our big league roster. I think I'll give him a run back for AA next season."

Can't believe Bobby Mills was a top 100 prospect! I always remember him as a strictly depth bat, but turns out at one point he was one of the more highly touted prospects in the FABL. A 6th Round selection in 1932, Mills hasn't appeared in the big leagues since 1941, and he spent the the last two seasons in the Navy. Mills appeared in 97 games split between five consecutive seasons, but made just 160 trips to the plate. He hit pretty well, .279/.321/.456 (112 OPS+) with 6 homers and 27 RBIs. A regular on the Blues, however, Mills slashed an elite .329/.405/.495 (150 OPS+) with 133 doubles, 50 homers, and 334 RBIs in over 2,000 plate appearances. I'm not sure he'll get many, if any, more big league at bats, but he's a great clubhouse guy who will likely stick around for depth. I'm curious to think if he was still around, if he could have competed for a bench job as he was always able to hit.

RHP Frank Gordon (121st Overall)
Acquired: Via Draft: 18th Round, 287th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Trenton HS Titans

"I can thank my scout and development team for Frank Gordon. I didn't even think about of picking him, but to be fair, he wasn't that good when we got him. Since the draft, Gordon's fastball velocity has gone from 84-86 to 91-93 and he's developed excellent groundball tendencies already. He started the season in San Jose, got a demotion for a few starts to get back on track, and then finished back with the Cougars. He made 17 starts, going 6-4 with a 5.42 ERA (84 ERA+), 1.51 WHIP, 35 walks, and 38 strikeouts. He'll return to San Jose next season as he continues to polish his skills. He did have a little bit of a statistical setback, but he continues to see his speed climb and my scout likes him more and more with each report."

Gordon is one of the most experienced war vets, having served in the Army since the 1941 offseason. Gordon was coming off a season where he led the Fed with 16 saves as the Dynamos stopper. The 27-year-old had a nice 3.21 ERA (125 ERA+) in 73 innings pitched and missed out on either starting some games for a pitching needy team or continuing as an effective stopper. Both are positive outcomes for a pitcher selected in the 18th Round as part of a very loaded 1932 Cougars class. Like Chink Stickels, Gordon was part of the John Lawson package, and debuted for the Stars in 1938. He didn't pitch in the majors next season, and was then part of a seven piece trade that brought William Jones and Lou Robertson to the Stars. Tom Weinstock thinks Gordon could still fill the back-end of a rotation, but my guess would be the Dynamos re-install him as their stopper.

RHP Joe Foote (122nd Overall)
Acquired: Via Trade with Montreal (1934)
Draft: 6th Round, 84th Overall (1932)
Alma Mater: Greensboro HS Giants

"Acquired in the Bobby Sprague deal with Woody Armstrong, the 21-year-old Foote spent the entire season in Lincoln. He made 24 starts and was 9-7 with a 4.95 ERA (111 ERA+), 1.43 WHIP, 31 walks, and 44 strikeouts in 134.2 innings pitched. Foote is a three pitch pitcher, with a really nice mid 90s sinker, a nice slider, and a decent curveball. He can throw them all for strikes in any count and he does an excellent job keeping the ball on the ground. He's pretty developed for someone his age, and I could potentially see him joining our staff sooner then expected. My scout is a huge fan and I think he's going to be an excellent big league starter."

I'll be honest, I really thought Joe Foote would have been much better then he ended up. After pitching parts of three seasons with the Minutemen from 1939-1941, he was cut the following May, and has spent the last four seasons with the Dallas Centurions. He's been a mainstay in their rotation, going 45-36 with a 3.42 ERA and 318 strikeouts in 701 innings pitched. Originally drafted by the Saints, Foote came with Woody Armstrong in the Bobby Sprague trade, and he pitched really well in our system post-trade. He never debuted for us (although he was a September callup in 1927) as we sent Foote to the Minutemen for their 2nd Round Pick (technically a 4th due to the lottery) in the 1938 Draft. Foote threw just 136 innings with the Minutemen, almost exclusively out of the pen, and worked to a 4.10 ERA (95 ERA+) and 1.48 WHIP. He may be stuck in Dallas the rest of his career, and with a -1.0 WAR, he's one of the least valuable FABL players ever. He's a good "what could have happen" pitcher that never quite lived up to his potential, and one of the few major swings and misses from this group.