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BotY ALEXANDER MOVES FROM BROOKLYN TO PHILADELPHIA
2x .400 HITTER JOINS QUAKER STATE; KINGS CO. HAS TOP BATTING PROSPECT READY AT 1B

PHILADELPHIA (Dec. 25, 1867) – The Quaker State Baseball Club has pulled off a Christmas miracle, announcing via telegram that the present Santa Claus left for them under the Christmas Tree was 2x New York League Batsman of the Year & .400 hitter Cormack Alexander.

Rumors will abound about how much money in brown paper bags may have changed hands in order to convince Alexander to move from his lofty perch in Brooklyn to play for the smaller of Philadelphia’s two clubs, but in any event Alexander will be a massive upgrade over 2.5-star Raymond Masters (.294, 41 RBI, 19 SB, 0.3 WAR), who was the team’s primary first baseman this season.

Alexander’s move is a risk in two different ways. First, he has left a traditional Brooklyn powerhouse for the less successful of the two Philadelphian clubs – Quaker St. has only finished in the top three of the Coastal Championship twice – and he has traded the most batsman-friendly park for lefties in the NBBO for a new home park, the Philadelphia Cricket Grounds, that is only somewhat advantageous for left-handed batsmen.

Alexander had the following record over his four seasons as Kings County’s most important batsman:

He was an All-Star every season, won NYL Batsman of the Year twice, and was in the NYL Team of the Year three times.
As for why Kings County would let such an extraordinarily talented batsman leave their squad just as they have become Brooklyn Championship contenders once again, the answer appears to come from their reserve squad.

In the Kings County reserve squad, there is a first baseman who will be 23 at the start of next season named Garfield Koonce, a five-star talent considered the best pure hitting prospect in the NBBO, and the fourth-best prospect among all reserve squad batsmen. The Writers Pool file on Koonce:

GARFIELD KOONCE – 22 y/o, 5’7”, 155 lbs. from Peabody, Mass. – 1B, B/T: L/L – 2.5/5.0 

• BATTING: Contact 9/10+ (BABIP 7/9, Avoid K 10/10+), Gap 7/9, Eye 5/7
• DEFENSE (INF): Range 6, Error 6, Arm 5, Turn DP 2
• POSITIONS: 1B 6
• OTHER: Speed 4, Stealing 3.5 (Agg. 4, Ability 3), Baserunning 5, Bunting 3.5 (Sac. 6, Hit 1)
• PERSONALITY: High Work Ethic & Intelligence

Koonce is slightly below-average as runner and slightly above-average defensively, but if he can live up to his potential with the bat then Koonce, who hits left-handed like Alexander, will be a stalwart member of the Kings County lineup.