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1947 Season Recap
The work began preparing for the draft. The Kings had 3 picks in the first round with the #3, #10 and #16 picks. The GM had to strike gold with these picks in order to justify (to some) the trades of Hopkins and McGonigle. The draft didn’t really offer much in surprises prior to the King’s pick. Martin had the young man that he wanted.
With the 4th pick in the 1947 (January) draft, the Brooklyn Kings select 3B Ken Newman. The 18-year-old high schooler was just what the Kings were looking for, a hitting machine. The key line in the scouting report for Martin was that Newman could develop the talent to be a premier franchise cornerstone player. In his senior year in high school, the kid looked just as advertised hitting 556/663/1649 with 6 home runs and 31 RBI’s.
As the draft continued, GM Martin couldn’t believe what was happening. He had 2 players targeted and with just 1 more pick ahead of his #10 pick, the player he wanted was still on the board. But unfortunately for the Kings GM, the Philadelphia Sailors scuttled those plans and selected 2B Al Farmer. Farmer was a college kid who Martin highly coveted and felt he would be taken right after Newman. The Kings had come so close to grabbing a much-needed 2nd piece to their puzzle as 2B was another target position the GM desperately wanted to address for the future. With Farmer off the board, the Kings looked to see if there was another middle infielder they wanted. In talking with Scout John Spears there was a kid that could be that guy but the Kings elected to draft CF Charlie Rogers. While not a position of need, with the bevy of OF talent the club had in the minors, Rogers was a quality player and a potential lead-off hitter as evidenced by his scouting report. Charlie Rogers, 18 has an above average hitting profile with a stroke that works inside the ball. He has PLUS-PLUS speed with advanced instincts on the basepaths. Rogers is projected to be an elite starting CF.
With the first two picks done, the Kings were looking forward to their pick from the Washington Eagles in the McGonigle trade. When the cross-town rival NY Stars selected SS Paul Watson, the Kings decided to address another big need on their list. The Kings selected C Dan “Yankee Dan” Smith. A 21-year-old college C who was a hard worker and a top flight defensive catcher. Scouting report states that “Smith has a strong arm and that pitchers love throwing with him behind the plate. He has good discipline and has the talent to flourish as a catcher.
While some were surprised that the GM didn’t grab a pitcher in the first round with 3 picks, the King’s front office was extremely excited about the position players they had nabbed. Martin stated to the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper “They had a great 1st round today drafting 3 players who will be key components of our clubs in the very near future!”
With the draft behind them the Kings took 1B/corner OF Ralph Bailey in the Rule 5 draft. Bailey was a leader and a quality prospect who they felt could be a key piece for them down the line. With spring training looming, Martin began to work on what was a glaring need for the Kings, pitching. While it has been stated many times around FABL circles that the league and Martin in general often over values pitching, the GM knew he was right that he could not send the same staff out and hope to make significant improvements for the 1947 season.
With the surplus in OF talent, the GM traded RF Orlie Martinez to Cleveland for veteran SP Johnny Slaney. Martin had been familiar with Slaney as when he was in Cleveland he traded for Slaney in a deal when the now 31-year-old was a prospect. Slaney didn’t pitch for the Foresters big league club in 1946, he was buried at AAA where he went 10-11 with a 2.75 ERA. Martin had a piece that he felt would fit in with his 1946 rookie of the year SP Leo Hayden, but he wanted more.
The Kings GM struck again plucky another veteran SP and another one that he had long been after while he was in Detroit. Martin traded 2 prospects not in the top 100 to the St. Louis Pioneers for SP Buddy Long (32). Now this was a move that Martin was extremely happy about. Long was a workhorse who had plowed through some really bad Pioneer clubs. Last season Long was 16-16 with a 2.89 ERA and was quickly viewed as the #2 starter behind Hayden.
The GM continued to make moves through the spring and brought in veteran 3B Hank Barnett. The 37 year old hitter was not the power bat that he used to be, but Martin hoped to get several serviceable seasons out of Barnett while he waited for his prize 3B prospect Ken Newman to arrive an develop.
This new lineup of Kings was felt to be a solid upgrade over the 1946 club that didn’t hit the GM’s goals. No matter Martin felt that this club could be one that would perhaps improve 10-12 games and get into the mid-70’s for wins and put his rebuilt program back on track. Little did he know that the club would exceed all his expectations.
The Kings won a shocking 82 games going 82-72 and improving 19 games over last years 63-91 club. They finished in 3rd place in the CA when most everyone picked them to finish 6th or 7th in the spring. Several star players emerged and one could argue the King’s had the best OF in baseball with LF Juan Pomales (spring training acquisition as a 2-way player but was quickly dropped from the rotation), CF John Moss and RF Ralph Johnson. Most felt Johnson would win the rookie of the year award and become the 2nd straight Kings player to do so, and he did. What wasn’t expected is that Johnson would also win the Whitney Award for the best hitter in the CA. Many felt that honor would go to Toronto veteran 1B Frank McCormack or NY Stars 3B Mack Sutton.
The Kings had won 82 games, but Martin felt that while they just missed winning the CA by 4 games, that the club had overachieved to some degree. He went into the 1947 off-season not believing his Kings were ready to win the CA. Not yet anyway.
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