EDITOR'S NOTE
Last fast-forward Figment did I found it a real challenge to stay up to date with the players I inherited on the Detroit Dynamos, the FABL club I run. So, as we wait for the 1965 baseball recap as part of our new fast-forward, which should come in the next day or two, I wanted to start a new annual update I plan on posting.
It is an effort to help myself (and hopefully you the reader as well as other GMs in the league) stay more on top of who many of the key players in FABL are when we go back to weekly sim play with GMs. Just for me I am going to keep a running recap going on the progress of the Detroit first round selections between 1962 and our resumption in 1975. And for the league as a whole, I will track the progress of the top ten prospects as each year gets added into the books. Hopefully a few Dynamos will start showing up on that list but what I think it will do is give us all just a little more familiarity with some of the players who turn into the superstars of the game when we complete the fast-forward.
For those who just glance at posts the fast-forward was necessitated because we have switched through so many versions of OOTP (since OOTP19 I believe) that the league talent balance became quite messed up. Our commissioner devised a system to correct that but it meant the ratings for many players had to be adjusted. To be fair to all GM's it was decided a fast-forward a decade would be the best way to deal with it. It is the second fast-forward we have dealt with due to the file troubles but hopefully the last one.
LONG REBUILD BEGINS AT THOMPSON FIELD
With the exit of long time General Manager Harris Dixon and the Detroit Dynamos finishing eighth in the Federal Association for the first time since 1936, the eyes of Detroit baseball fans must turn fully towards the future. The club is now paying the price for winning six pennants and four World Championship Series titles in a seven year stretch last decade. It was a good run but sooner or later stars age and drafting so late in the first round year after year catches up with you and a rebuild is necessary.
At this stage the rebuild does not look like it will happen quickly. Detroit still has some talent on the big-league roster including 34-year-old Jim Norris, who should eventually earn a place in the Boone County baseball hall, as well as Ray Waggoner and rising young star Ed MacNaughton. However, there is little to get overly excited about on the farm.
Barring a miracle pennant push in the coming seasons, the late October edition of this column will focus on the future as we check in with the Dynamos recent first-round draft selections and update their top prospect list. Presently, as mentioned above, the situation is bleak with the Dynamos farm system ranking 19th among the 20 FABL clubs with only the Toronto Wolves having less in their prospect cupboard.
Here is a look at how 1964 went for recent Detroit first round selections.
DETROIT DYNAMOS FIRST ROUNDERS
1962 1st Rounder: SKIPPER ATKINS, HS RHP, 7th overall:
Atkins is not a great prospect according to OSA, ranked 144th at the end of the 1964 season and 7th in a weak Dynamos farm system. OSA projects him to have a future in the back of the rotation. Now 20, he split the '64 season between A and AA, going 10-7, 3.90 at Terre Haute before moving up to Akron where he was 5-1 but with a subpar 83 ERA+. He dropped off as OSA had the Philadelphia native as the #45 prospect on Opening Day 1964.
1963 1st Rounder: SAM MacDONALD, HS RHP, 18th overall
Like Atkins, MacDonald is a righthander drafted out of high school ball in Philadelphia. Born in Baltimore, OSA admits he is very raw but feels he does have a shot at being a top of the rotation arm someday. Ranked 65th in the end of 1964 prospect pipeline and #2 in Detroit's system behind only 1964 second round pitcher Danny Wilson. MacDonald can be a high strikeout pitcher but needs to harness his control which is almost non-existent after a year and a half at class C where he walked 109 in 142 innings.
1964 1st Rounder: DON AYERS, HS OF, 16th overall
Nicknamed Funky, the Cleveland native was another high school first rounder taken by the Dynamos. Detroit has had a lot of busts in drafting corner-OF/1B types (see Tommy Allenby, John Morrison, Dino Sharp, Joe Fulgham or Ralph Capriotti) and early indications are Ayers can be another name to add to that list. Scouting report says Ayers could still be a productive regular on a contender, but the scouting service ranks him at #194 on the prospect pipeline so I am not holding out hope. He did put up some decent numbers in 55 games at Class C after being drafted (.333/.421/.400) so perhaps there is a chance he pans out.
CURRENT (OCT 1964) TOP TEN DETROIT PROSPECTS
OSA TOP TEN OVERALL PROSPECTS
No Dynamos will make this list but let us glance around the league at who just might be the top players to close out the 1960s and beyond. Here is a look at the current top ten prospects as determined by OSA. Only two of them, #1 Bill Dunlop and #7 Tony Nava, were listed in the top ten at this time last year. Of the eight to leave the list three became FABL regulars and five just dropped further down the list this year.
Below are brief bios of the top ten from this season as well as a list of the top 20 from this year and running collection of top ten rankings beginning in the fall of 1963. This list will be updated each year.
1- BILL DUNLOP - 22, RHP Boston Minutemen
Selected 6th overall in 1963 (so final human GM draft) the former Carolina Poly star known as "The Tobacco Twister" is drawing rave reviews from OSA, which believes that Dunlop could someday end up as one of the truly elite arms in the game. He went 8-2 with a 150 ERA+ to dominate Class C as a rookie pro in 1963 after an 11-3, 2.22 draft year for Carolina Poly. That earned him the number one prospect ranking at the conclusion of 1963 and while he briefly dropped to #2 last April his outstanding work at three levels (A, AA, AAA) going 15-3 with a 2.71 era bumped Dunlop back to the top of the list. Only potential concern his he missed a month with an injury, but it was to his hamstring and not his golden arm.
2- KEN McDONOUGH- 19, RHP Kansas City Kings
Tennessee native was drafted 20th overall by the AI GM in 1964, OSA calls McDonough one of the best pitching prospects in any organization. He had a decent first pro season (6-5, 107 ERA+) at Class C Marshalltown and made a solid late season start in Class B. He is a high school arm and they may be prone to bigger talent drops in v26 but McDonough is certainly one to watch as the latest of a good crop of Kansas City pitchers.
3- BERT ALEXANDER- 19, LHP, San Francisco Sailors
A West Coast kid, Alexander played his high school ball in Santa Monica, and despite still being 19 he has already had 3 years in the pros. Drafted 18th overall in 1962, he made a nice jump up the prospect pipeline after debuting at #33 in the fall of 1962 and staying around that number (he was #30 in the spring) before a big climb this season. He spent two and a half seasons in Class C and was given his first taste of A ball this year. Just three starts so not sure we sure worry at all that he really struggled in Class A but OSA is very, very high on him.
4- OSSIE SCHRIEBER- 18, LHP, Minneapolis Millers
OSA calls his talent rare and predicts he will be in more than one Allen Award discussion down the road. Millers pipeline is thin, with just two top 100 prospects although they do have their young outfield duo of John Edwards and Frank Bradshaw already playing with the big club. There are a lot of holes on the Minneapolis mound but the 1964 first overall draft pick will likely be brought along much slower than Edwards and Bradshaw were. To start with he just turned 18 last month after being selected out of a Nebraska high school where he did not lose a game in two years on the mound. Schrieber was pretty solid in his debut, going 7-3 with a 134 ERA+ at class C St Cloud.
5- JOHNNY STILES- 19, RHP, Washington Eagles
The run on pitchers at the top continues. Selected 15th overall back in 1962, the Detroit native has bounced around the top 100 prospect list quite a lot. He was #34 shortly after signing but then fall to 91 at the beginning of the 1963 season before rebounding to 46 last April. OSA thinks he can be a staff ace and if so the Eagles may have quite a rotation in a couple of years with Stiles joining Owen Lantz, Bob Ball and Dick Adams Jr.
6- JOHN McCORMICK- 20, LHP, Boston Minutemen
The Minutemen are the first of two teams to place a pair of players in the top ten and they could be quite imposing by the time the new decade starts if both arms pan out. McCormick, a Tennessee native, was selected in the second round of the 1962 draft and, while OSA admits there is still a lot of room for growth, they project McCormick developing into an elite arm. McCormick is a little behind top prospect Dunlop, but also two years younger, but like The Tobacco Twister he pitched at 3 levels in 1964, topping at Class A where he was extremely impressive 2-1, 1.48, 283 ERA+ in 3 starts.
7- TONY NAVA- 21, 2B, New York Imperials
The first of back to back Imperials prospects in the top ten. The expansion club has the top ranked farm system in the league with 6 players ranked in the top 28 by OSA highlighted by the Cuban born infielder. Nava, was selected first overall in 1963 out of Valley State and is said to have tremendous power potential for a middle infielder. He showed that off in September when he was rewarded with a call-up by the Imperials. Nava hit just .217 in 14 big league games but did go yard twice. Looking at his defensive numbers at AAA Jersey City (.945 eff, -7.4 ZR) raise some flags that he may need to be shifted to first base or the outfield.
8- GEORGE VALIQUETTE- 22, LF, New York Imperials
For the second year in a row the Imperials drafted a college position player, opting for the Angels College (Los Angeles, CA.) outfielder with their top pick (4th overall). Like Nava, OSA sees high power potential and a good batting eye in Valiquette, who dominated the Class B level but struggled in a brief stint at AAA as a first year pro.
9- JIM THURMAN- 21, LF, Los Angeles Suns
With high draft picks in their early years you expect the four expansion clubs to be well represented in the top prospects list and the LA Suns join the mix with 1963 second rounder Thurman. The Denver native played his college ball close to home at Mile High State and has plenty of upside according to OSA. He had a decent showing as a rookie pro in 1963 splitting time between class C and B and did the same mix again this year but with much better results. With the Suns (and other 3 new clubs) adding high level minors this season it is expected Thurman may be pushed to AAA and perhaps end up with the big league club in September.
10-HUB RUSSELL- 18, RHP, Chicago Cougars
It has become pretty common through the years for a young Cougars pitcher to be featured in the top ten prospect list by OSA and the lates is their 1963 first rounder. Selected 11th overall out of a Louisville (KY) high school, Russell spent most of his two pro seasons in Class C. Interesting perhaps to note is he was unsuccessful in a bid to increase his endurance last winter at development camp but even without that bump he jumped from 30th on the previous ranking list to inside the top ten. OSA says he has 3 quality pitches and the potential to anchor a big-league rotation someday.
Next recap should be the 1965 baseball season. Can the St Louis Pioneers win a fourth consecutive WCS? Only the current edition of the Pioneers and the 1924-26 New York Stars have won 3 straight world titles. Will the Pioneers be the first to claim four in a row?