The Pitching Staff
The 1951 Chicago Chiefs pitching staff saw a whole lot of phenom John Stallings, a little bit of veteran Charlie Bingham, and not much more.
On a better all-around squad, the 26-year-old Stallings would have walked away with the Fed Allen. He led the entire FABL with a 2.57 ERA
while also leading the FED in strikeouts with 134. Despite issuing 111 walks he still managed a respectable, fourth in the FED, 1.27 WHiP.
He started 33 games but only managed 15 victories to go with 10 losses and 8 no decisions. Nine times in 1951 he gave up two runs or fewer
and didn't get the win. 41-year-old Charlie Bingham won 17 games and was the only Chiefs pitcher not named Stallings to keep his ERA under
four at 3.90. Combined the two were responsible for 32 of the team's 73 wins. Al Miller(11-13) and Ernie Esanosa(11-11) saw the majority of
the rest of starts for the Chiefs but they are both, just like Bingham, on the wrong side of thirty. 24 year old Bill Kline showed some promise in
taking the hill for 11 starts at the end of the season for Chicago going 4-5 with a 4.73 ERA. He walked a ton of guys but he's working on that
in the Cuban League as well as the in the development lab this offseason.
The team will once again lean heavily on Stallings. It's unknown how much Bingham will have left in his tank after tossing 244+ innings and
turning 42 at the end of April. Miller, Espanoza, and Kline will all get a shot at the rotation but it won't be handed to any of them. From the
40-man roster expect 30-year-old Frank Sears and 24-year-old Freddie Snyder to get looks in the spring. Sears posted a 3.34 ERA at AAA
while Snyder put up a 2.75 ERA in A ball. Those not currently on the 40-man roster who may get a look are 24-year-old Hersh Williams(2.72/A),
29-year-old Clay Strother(3.15/AAA), 30-year-old Rule V pickup Bob Hobbs(3.09/AAA) and 27-year-old Joe Hollis(3.41/AA).
Position Player Locks
With the FABL using only eight pitchers, nine at the most, we will need to fill 15 roster spots with position players. There are
10 guys that although they may still be competing for a starting spot, they're pretty much guaranteed a place on the opening day roster.
Five of the ten players are under 30 years old so there is a pretty good mix of veterans and youth. Here are those 10 guys in alphabetical order:
Bloom is an on-base machine leading the FABL with 150 walks, more than 30 more than the next guy, as a 23-year-old.
He also played pretty good defense at third base. He'll lead off for this team so the big bats should almost always have
someone on base for them when they come up.
I don't know of any player in the FABL who had a worse season than Casstevens. He stopped 80 points on his
batting average, 20 home runs, and more than 60 RBI from 1950 to 1951. If he can make up half those numbers
in 1952 I think the Chiefs would be happy. He'll get the first opportunity to be the main guy behind the plate but
there are a couple of other alternatives if he just can't find his stroke, again!
D'Alessandro is a statue on defense but he can still get on base with the best of them, even at 35 years old.
Even if he doesn't win the second base job he'll keep a roster spot for his ability to get on base as a pinch hitter.
Cunningham is a Rule V pickup who was brought in for his glove at short. He's only 25 so he'll be sticking
around the majors even if he stumbles out of the gate. The SS job is his to lose but he's hit well in the minors
so there really is no worries for him. The team already forced Charlie Artuso to make a choice between sitting
the bench or being a free agent and he quickly headed out of town.
Hopkins is second in Chiefs history in career homers behind the great Joe Masters. He's still the team's biggest
power threat at 33 years old clubbing 31 homers last season despite his sub .250 batting average. He knocked
in 94 runs last year but he should have plenty of opportunities do do even better this year with runners always on
base in front of him.
Like Cunningham, Leckie is another Rule V draftee so he has to stay on the major league roster or be returned to
Boston. His potential is too good no matter how he performs this season. He'll battle veteran John Moss for the
centerfield position which he can already play defense better than most in the league. If he can hit at all then he'll
win the job.
We just mentioned Moss and his hopes for playing time depend as much on how Leckie performs during spring
training as it does how he performs. If he doesn't win the starting job then he'll be a veteran bench off the bat that
can play all three outfield positions and pinch hit effectively. He'll likely be a late inning defensive replacement for
Rutherford.
Rutherford plays in the same mold as D'Alessandro. He can hit but he's a statue in the field. Whoever wins the
centerfield job will have to cover a lot of ground in left as well. That's why Leckie has the leg up going into spring
training. Rutherford walked 100 times and scored 94 runs from the leadoff spot last year but he will be dropping
in the order to start 1952 as Bloom moves into the leadoff position. How far he will fall is uncertain right now.
It could be to second or it could be all the way down to sixth. I can see a situation where Bloom and Rutherford
hit one, two to get the big bats up with runners on base.
Rod Shearer just turned 23 and he's coming off his first FABL season in which he knocked in 104 runs and
slugged 66 extra-base hits. It should only get better for him as he sees even more opportunities with runners
on base in 1952. He doesn't take walks like the majority of this Chiefs team does but he doesn't miss many
RBI chances. He'll bat in the middle of the lineup, anywhere from third ~ fifth.
Smith did enough in his first year to earn a spot on the roster. He hit .315 in a pinch-hit role and that is what
he's looking at again this year unless Hopkins gets hurt. The 24-year-old slammed 12 extra-base hits while
scoring 14 runs and knocking in 14 in only 120 plate appearances.