All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal - Page 18

Jiggs McGee · 01-26-2022, 01:49 PM

OCTOBER 14, 1940

MAJOR PICK-UP FOR MINERS

The Pittsburgh Miners are not resting on their three Federal Association pennants, either that or they are a glutton for punishment as the Miners -fresh off another disaster in the World Championship Series - appear to have taken a major step towards getting back there again next season with news they have acquired three-time Allen Award winning pitcher Tom Barrell from the Brooklyn Kings. The move, certainly the biggest one since the WCS ended last week, comes with a little risk but if the 32 year old Barrell can return even close to the form he showed in his late twenties, the Miners are incredibly well positioned for another Federal Association pennant.

The move, which came as a shock to many FABL observers, sends Barrell to Pittsburgh in exchange for 25 year old minor league outfielder Gene Zavala and the Miners fourth round pick in the 1941 draft. Zavala is a decent prospect, ranked 119th by OSA, but far from being a sure-fire big league regular. He hit .287 with 10 homers at AAA St Paul this past season and was a September call-up by the Miners, going 0-for-2 as a pinch-hitter. There is some concern that Barrell is damaged goods as the member of baseball's first family missed half of the 1939 season with a serious arm injury and was 10-17 with a 5.50 era, the worst totals of his career, this past season. Barrell, who won 3 straight Allen Awards starting in 1934, owns a lifetime record of 137-82. What likely interests the Miners even more is Barrell's postseason mark of 4-2 with a 3.87 era in 7 WCS starts.

JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: I am floored. Best case scenario for Brooklyn is they lost out on a much bigger payday, worst case is this move ends up being in the running for worst deal of all time. While there is some concern Barrell may be nearing the end of the line after that injury in 1939 and a poor showing this past season, I think the Miners made a fantastic deal here. One with little risk or downside. Yes Zavala is a decent prospect, but he will hardly be missed by Pittsburgh. Perhaps the Kings moved Barrell at the right time, maybe he is an diminishing asset on his last legs...er arm, and they figured it best to get something for him. It's just that if they shopped him around the haul would most certainly have been so much better than a 4th round pick and a prospect outside the top 100. So the best Brooklyn can hope for in this deal is Barrell is actually at the end of the line then they don't look quite as bad in not maximizing the return, well one could say not getting anything of real value in return.

Worst case for the Kings: If Barrell returns anywhere close to form of a couple seasons ago it may well be the worst deal of all time. If Barrell just had an off year and pitches well at Fitzpatrick Park next season the Miners are seemingly guaranteed to win another pennant, and likely more than one. What a way to rebound from another terrible showing in the WCS! Miners fans will be through the roof with news of this deal as while they could not steal a series from a CA club they may have just stolen the key piece to another pennant.

As for the Kings, I am not sure even what they plan to do with Zuvala. He is a corner outfielder, but not a particularly strong defender. He appears to have decent contact skills but lacks the power of a prototypical corner outfield bat. If there is a strength of the Kings it is their outfield with Rats McGonigle (.265,13,61) just 21 years old and likely the centerfielder for the next decade. Joe Herman (.317,13,66) is 25 and coming off a breakout year in left field and you have Al Wheeler (.253,20,72) in right. Wheeler is not quite the player he was a couple of seasons ago but still a solid outfield piece. Brooklyn also needs to find a spot for 23 year old Chuck Adams to play. He is a top-ten prospect who was converted from first base to the outfield because the Kings already have Tim Hopkins as a young first baseman. So it appear Brooklyn added a bench outfielder and mid-round draft pick for Barrell - who depending on who you ask is either still a very good #2 or 3 starter or a pitcher on the verge of retirement. The Kings better hope it is the second option on Barrell as right now this move looks like the type that sets a franchise up for half a decade of failures. It should be noted that John Spears, Brooklyn's scouting director, is one of the best in the business so perhaps Spears sees something that this writer is missing. Time will tell.

MINERS ADD PHILLIPS

The Tom Barrell trade, while certainly having the potential to be the biggest, was not the only move that Pittsburgh made in the days following their WCS defeat at the hands of Toronto. Pittsburgh also traded 26 year old 2B-OF Lew Seals (.260,20,65) to the New York Stars in exchange for 29 year old righthander George Phillips (14-14, 3.59). There is talk the cash-strapped Stars will need to get creative with finances in order to take on Seals contract but team officials are confident they can get it done.

JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: Both clubs address a need. Seals gives New York a decent hitter who, while perhaps lacking the ability to defend at second base, seems like a good fit in the Stars outfield and will likely challenge Hub Parks for a starting role. The Stars have some pitching depth with Lou Robertson expected to take a much bigger role next season so they decided they could afford to part with Phillips. Adding Phillips (in a deal made before Barrell was acquired) allowed the Miners to address the concern of fatigue on their pitching staff down the stretch and in the Series. The Miners had consistently gone with a 4-man rotation and many speculated that was the cause of the poor October performances from Lefty Allen and Charlie Stedman. Adding Phillips not only addresses that right away but also he is still young enough that the Miners expect him to be around and a piece of their rotation long after vets like Stedman and Bill Ketterman have retired.

STARS ADD CATCHER

The Stars also made a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Cannons, adding some catching depth by acquiring 26 year old Joe Rainbow. Rainbow spent the entire season in AAA but has played 406 big league games for the Cannons and is a career .245 hitter. Going to Cincinnati are pitching prospects Charlie Griffith and Don Bitters as well as a fifth and a tenth round draft pick. Griffith is a 21 year old former 10th round pick who was 17-7, 4.11 at Class B and is ranked 120th by OSA on it's prospect list. Bitters, a 23 year old lefthander, was the Christian Trophy winner at Hamman University before being selected in the 2nd round by the Stars last January. He went 4-4, 5.65 at Class B.

JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: The Stars have been searching for an answer to their catching troubles after Johnny Hopper (.208,2,34) fell out of favour last year. There is a good chance Rainbow will replace Hopper as the backup to Mike Burkholder and the price was quite reasonable. The Cannons had no room for Rainbow with the acquisition of Jack Flint and Ben Richardson a year ago and felt it best to move him to an organization where he would have a chance to play because they have highly touted 20 year old prospect Rick York (son of former Dynamos star Dick York) knocking on the door of a promotion to AAA. They feel Griffith and Bitters might each have a shot at the back of the rotation in Cincinnati one day.

PRESS RELEASE FROM NEW YORK STARS ORGANIZATION REGARDING THE TWO TRADES

With the acquisition of Lew Seals we hope to give our lineup some pop we sorely missed this past season after the poor judgement of moving Moxy. He will be squeezed into the already crowded outfield, replacing Hub Parks LF while he works on his swing and ball recognition skills. Which may be too little too late as Chubby Hall will be splitting time between AAA and NY this season getting him some experience against FABL pitching before coming on full time. Its expected Seals will go to 1B when old man Trowbridge finally puts up his walking cane for good. And Joe Rainbow coming on board will hopefully give us some catcher depth with the extremely poor offensive performance from Hopper holding us back. Our system is extremely lacking in talent behind the plate.

The lineup is looking good. Just need Car and Angevine to up their game this season and Rainbow to slide into the starting catcher role once he gets settled in. We were not too thrilled to lose Philips, going from 3 solid starters down to 2. Hopefully Chuck Cole has found his pitching groove and this season wasn't just a fluke. And we have Lou Robertson waiting in the wings who started off his FABL career strong before the hitters figured him out and clobbered him in the back half of the season. But some of those Ls were from lack of run support from an anemic offense. Boyd Harper looks to be finally fading as management wants Curry as the full time stopper now. And Harpers terrible finish to the '40 season looks to support this. We have some good bullpen pieces, but they need to get it together after not having a great season last year.

WORLD CHAMPION WOLVES PART WAYS WITH MANAGER LEITZKE

In what is believed to be a precedent setting move the World Championship Series winning Toronto Wolves have decided not to extend the contract of manager Hank Leitzke, so the 63 year old will be seeking employment elsewhere. It is believed this will be the first time a WCS winning manager did not get an opportunity to be in the dugout on Opening Day the following season. Leitzke spent 11 seasons as a big league manager, most recently in Toronto where he piloted the Wolves to their first pennant and WCS win in 29 years but also included stops in Cleveland and with the Chicago Cougars. His career mark is 678-719.

In a brief statement from the Wolves the Toronto Telegram reports that their had been tension between upper management and Leitzke all season but the final straw was a profound philosophical difference on the future direction of the club. Wolves wish Hank success in any future endeavors, and the search for replacement had already begun but the pace will accelerate in the short term. The loss of Pitching Coach Mike Duchene, who elected to retire, was unexpected which complicates the staff situation in Toronto. Rumour was that Duchene may have been in line for the manager's role.

THEOBALD RETIRES AGAIN

After leading the Cincinnati Cannons to an amazing season in which the 6-time last place finishers challenged for the Continental Association pennant until the final week of the season George Theobald has decided he has had enough. Theobald will retire after 4,654 games leading a big league dugout.

"I love this (managing). Seems like it is all I have ever done but I am just getting to old to do it everyday," said baseball's winningest manager of all-time at the press conference announcing his retirement. And before someone asks, yes, this time it is for good," joked the 77 year old. "Plus I have to leave Ossie at least one record."

Theobald was referring to Ossie Julious, who still holds the record for most games managed but sits a distant second behind Theobald's 2,508 career wins and 8 pennants. Theobald's managerial career began with the New York Stars in 1896 before he moved to Boston and led the Minutemen to 5 straight pennants and a pair of World Championships. He would win 2 more pennants and another WCS in Boston before moving to Detroit where he picked up his 4th WCS win in 1919. He left his managerial job with the Dynamos in 1925, retiring to move into the front office but returned as manager in 1938, guiding the Dynamos to a pair of second place finishes before moving to Cincinnati this season after becoming a part-owner of the transplanted Baltimore franchise. Theobald will remain an executive and minority owner of the club.

Cincinnati bench coach Ad Doria is expected to be promoted to the manager's chair. A former catcher in the Dynamos organization when Theobald was the manager, he had been handpicked by the organization as Theobald's eventual successor.

QUICK HITS

Washington is aggressively shopping veteran first baseman Harry Shumate according to Bob Stewart of the Washington Times Herald. Stewart pens "In wake of Sig Stofer's Washington rampage(Seriously, kid looks like a budding superstar, albeit with a limited sample size), Harry Shumate is on the block. Shumate has been a perennial top 10 bat for almost his entire career, consistently getting on base, hitting for average, and generally giving pitchers grief. And though he went through a slump in 1940, there is just cause to believe it was fluke, rather than being indicative of future performance. To focus on the root cause, his 1940 BABIP of .239 is a severe outlier for a hitter who tends to post numbers starting with 3 in that particular stat; a crippling blow for a contact focused hitter like Shumate. And though his walk rate and K rate stayed roughly the same from 1939, Shumate was still reduced to a league average hitter this year. A shortstop with a golden glove and a little bit of offense is at the top of the Eagles wishlist in return.
Montreal is looking for a new home for a number of players but not on the trade block are the two players most teams would be interested in: All-Stars Red Bond and Adam Mullins, both of whom are called untouchable by Saints management.
We wish longtime Pittsburgh Scouting Director George "Mountain Man" Heuer well in his retirement. A key piece of the Miners organization since joining the club in that role in 1927, Heuer also was a FABL player, spending 264 games as a second baseman for Detroit and the Philadelphia Keystones at the turn of the century and then a number of years in the minors but it is his work as scout, and later the SD that he will long be remembered for in Pittsburgh. Among the players he was instrumental in drafting with the Miners were George Cleaves, Lefty Allen and the recently traded Lew Seals.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 10/14/1940

The Royal Air Force made one of it's fiercest attacks of the war on Nazi "invasion ports" on the coast of France, Belgium and Holland, dumping over three tons of high explosives and leaving railway stations and storage buildings ablaze.
The Germans continue to bomb London nightly and the two nations also fought a heavy sea engagement off the Isle of Wright
Germany is said to be sending six troopships to Rumania as Nazi warplanes patrol the Rumanian capital and nearby oil fields as Britain urges all of it's citizens in Bucharest to leave at once.
Russia, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Greece are engaged in urgent negotiations while Russian troops gather on the Rumanian frontier awaiting a move by Germany or Italy or both following the Germans military entry into Rumania.
The United States as called it's envoys in Berlin and Rome back to Washington to report to the State Department on the new alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan. It is unknown at this time if they will return to the European cities.
President Roosevelt pledges 2-Ocean protection, promising a total defense of the Western Hemisphere against a total attack from any segment of the world.
Fighting between Britain and the Axis powers heats up in the Mediterranean as Nazi troops join the Italians in Africa.

Jiggs McGee · 01-27-2022, 10:29 AM

OCTOBER 28, 1940

DYNAMOS ANSWER MINERS MOVE IN A MAJOR WAY

The game of oneupmanship among Federal Association powers took another dramatic step forward as the Detroit Dynamos made a pair of deals, including a blockbuster with Montreal designed to tilt the balance of power in the Fed away from Pittsburgh just days after the Miners made a dramatic deal. It appears that means the onus is now on the Philadelphia Keystones, the third contender for the Federal throne, to match serve by responding with a move of their own.

Detroit began the week by acquiring talented but often injured pitching prodigy Nate Spear from the New York Gothams but that turned out to be merely the appetizer as the main course was French cuisine with the Dynamos and Montreal Saints combining on a massive 7 player, two draft pick deal that was highlighted by the acquisition of a 4-time all-star catcher for a 2-time all-star catcher. The complete particulars see Montreal sending 4-time all-star Adam Mullins along with AAA pitcher Jimmy Mayse and AAA outfielder Maury Millsap to Detroit in exchange for catcher John Wicklund, young pitcher Ed Whetzel, veteran AAA outfielder Wayne Morgan, decent AA infield prospect Joe York and Detroit's first and second round picks in the January portion of the draft.

The key is clearly Mullins (.319,5,69), a 28 year old who has made four straight trips to the all-star game and is, or at least was until today, the best catcher in the Continental Association. He will have some competition for that honour in the Fed but that is precisely the reason why he was in such great demand by the Dynamos and many others. Mullins gives Detroit a catcher that is not that far away from being the equal of or perhaps even better than Pittsburgh's George Cleaves and in Detroit these days everything is measured against the two-time defending champion Miners. Catcher and shortstop were the two weak links in the Detroit lineup a year ago and Mullins more than fills the former. Given the chance it is likely Detroit would take an offensive upgrade at shortstop as well but Gil London (.216,1,35) presently does enough with his glove to warrant being penciled into the lineup every day.

Mayse and Millsap are inexpensive depth pieces of the type that the suddenly cash strapped Dynamos now are seeking. The 24 year old lefthander Mayse, nicknamed 'Preacher Man" in reference to his college choice of East Missouri Seminary School, went 11-6 with a 3.89 ERA at AAA Minneapolis last season. He is on a minor league deal with plenty of option years left and with good size, might have a better chance making the Dynamos winter touring basketball team than their major league rotation but certainly is a solid minor league depth arm, and with some luck might just work his way into the back of a big league rotation one day . Millsap is much the same: an inexpensive, controllable minor league outfielder. The 26 year old hit .312 with 7 homers in Minneapolis and likely will never be more than a AAA depth piece.

Parting with Mullins was something the Saints had repeatedly said would not happen but obviously Detroit caught them at the right time with the right package to convince Montreal it was in the best interests of the franchise long-term to move their star catcher for multiple pieces. Whether that turns out to be the case is certainly open for debate and most definitely will be the subject of much discussion over the winter and the coming seasons. The gem of the deal from Montreal's end is clearly Whetzel, a 22 year old former 5th round pick who went 2-3 with a 2.34 era in a brief stint with Detroit this season. OSA feels Whetzel's future lies at the top of the rotation and when you add him to existing young talent like Wally Doyle, Pat Weakley and George Wynn the future looks very bright for the Saints pitching staff. The other youngster Montreal added is Joe York, oldest son of former Detroit star catcher Dick York, a solid defensive second base prospect. There are question as to whether York will hit enough to play every day: he batted .259 with 2 homers and 53 rbi's in 130 games at AA Akron this season.

Montreal does not have a solid young catcher in their system and perhaps they will use one of their 3 first round picks or two second round picks on one in January but for the foreseeable future John Wicklund takes over the number one job. Wicklund, who hit .231 with 8 homers and 59 rbi's last season in Detroit, has had an up and down career. He was an all-star his first two seasons in New York and was very good in 1936 when the Gothams dealt him to Boston at the trade deadline. He has struggled since then with strikeouts becoming a serious concern but the Saints hope his defense will help nurture their collection of talented young arms but there are concerns his offensive shortcomings will be magnified playing in spacious Parc Cartier. Outfielder Wayne Morgan is the final player moving from the Dynamos organization to Montreal. The 29 year old Michigan native has spent most of his time in AAA but did play a little for Detroit in 1938 and 1939. He is really just a throw-in piece to help make the finances work for the Dynamos.

SPEARS TO DETROIT
The Nate Spear deal falls completely off the radar with the news of the Montreal trade but for Detroit it is a gamble on a very talented young arm as the 24 year old has shown some very nice flashes of what the Pittsburgh Miners saw way back in 1933 when they selected him 8th overall out of high school. Spear grabbed everyone's attention with a 6-0, 2.21 start to the 1939 season with the Gothams until shoulder troubles cut his season short. Injuries have been nearly as common as starts for Spear since the Gothams acquired him in a 1936 deal that sent Mahlon Strong, another frequent victim of the injury bug, to the Steel City. The Dynamos hope the talent is still there despite all the arm troubles but there is some doubt as to whether he will be available when the season begins in April as Spear is recovering from a sore elbow and trainers say to expect that recovery to take another 6 months.

In return the Gothams add 19 year old Marcus Mangum, a 1939 fifth overall pick who split his first full pro season between Class C and B, posting a 3-9 record. He lacks the upside of Spear but quite possibly is showing the same tendency for injury as he missed the tail end of each of the past two seasons. New York also gets 23 year old Harry Frenette, a 1935 5th rounder who pitched well between AA and AAA last season but is not very high on OSA's prospect list and 26 year old longtime minor league second baseman Arnold Allen, who made his FABL debut in September, getting a single in his only plate appearance.

JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: Tommy Wilcox, Rabbit Day, Al Wheeler, Fred McCormick. When each of those star players was dealt what was the common denominator? The whole league knew about it before it happened! Trading any player, but especially a superstar requires careful thought, timing and most importantly maximizing your return and you do that by getting the largest number of teams possible bidding on your guy. Making a move quietly, under the secrecy of night and catching most of the league unaware only benefits the buyer. The less competition the better for the prospective suitor which means the less he will be required to surrender. Brooklyn made a fatal mistake whisking Tom Barrell off to Pittsburgh a week ago and now Montreal repeats it with Adam Mullins.

I had criticized the Saints for not moving one of their late twenties all-star hitters in Mullins or Red Bond at the trade deadline. I felt either of those players could earn a sufficient return to help jumpstart a rebuild that might finally make Montreal relevant again after two decades of being merely a peripheral piece of the Continental Association stranded in the second division. In theory it made perfect sense however that premise was predicated on procuring sufficient big league potential in return. In that regard this deal appears to fail miserably. I love Whetzel and think the youngster has the chance to be a great pitcher but he alone is nowhere near enough of a return for Mullins. The rest of the package Montreal secured is not what you would expect in return for your all-star catcher. Even the picks, while they sound good on paper are 13th in rounds one and two, so yes they might deliver quality talent but are hardly the spot where a sure-fire future star resides. The plan - move Mullins for a boatload of young talent was sound. The execution was not. Could the Saints have received more in return for Mullins? Absolutely and that is not just conjecture on my part as the Boston Minutemen brass was reportedly livid at the news of Mullins change of address, stating unequivocally they for one would have paid more for Mullins, a player they have been after since before the trade deadline. While we will never know just how much the Minutemen might have been willing to include in their package we can guess it would almost assuredly have contained Bill Van Ness and at least one of their good young pitchers to match Whetzel. Plus one needs to consider that the picks Boston could offer were in the middle of the first and second rounds not at the bottom. Would Boston have gone all in on Mullins? Of that I am not 100% certain and unfortunately, due to a failure to shop the player, neither are the Saints. I can feel pretty comfortable stating that shopping Mullins would most certainly have resulted in a lot more attractive return for the Saints than Whetzel and the vial or two of snake oil fancied up to look like a magic elixir by the Dynamos.

As for Detroit, it is clearly a case of the Dynamos needing to make a big move to keep up with the Pittsburgh Miners, who unloaded their own trinket and beads on Brooklyn last week as landing Tom Barrell was the biggest steal in New York since Manhattan was purchased for a similar collection of flashy but ultimately useless bag of trinkets and beads. To that end the Dynamos hit a homerun with the addition of Mullins. This is a great pickup for the Dynamos and solves what has been a weakness for the club. Whetzel appears to be a very good prospect to give up but the others were spare parts and the draft picks are at the bottom of the round so the trade-off will be well worth it for Detroit, and perhaps if Mullins continues on his Hall of Fame trajectory, it might just mean the end of a 3-year run as the Federal Association bridesmaid and finally winning a pennant. The trade for Spear is also a move that, while likely a longshot due to his injury history, might just pay off in a big way and if things break right for the Dynamos he more or less fills the void losing Whetzel leaves in the Detroit pitching depth chart. I am not counting on that happening however as if I was betting I would wager Pittsburgh's pickup of Tom Barrell is far better to turn out to have a happy ending that Detroit's acquisition of Spear, who I can't help but think is much closer to the end of his big league days than he is the beginning despite being a tender 24 years of age.

As for the Gothams, I get it. They are sick of waiting to see if Nate Spear can go a full season without injury and he has not done so, at least so far. Their options to deal him were probably quite limited, at least in terms of what the return might be so taking a trio of longshot prospects in hopes that at least one pans out is probably the best they could have to hoped to receive. Considering how good Spear has been in limited showings I might have been inclined to give him another chance but the Gothams have never been accused of patience and waiting in this case runs the risk of Spear's arm falling off entirely and getting nothing in return.

BOTTOM LINE: John Brinker, my esteemed colleague from the New York Mirror, summed it up best in his recent column which read in part:

FABL HANDS OUT IT'S HARDWARE

There were a couple of tight races in balloting for the two Continental Association player awards with the Whitney Award especially close. Montreal's Red Bond earned the most first place votes but in the end it was 37 year old John Lawson of the Chicago Cougars who claimed the honour as the best hitter in the CA. It is Lawson's third Whitney but his first in 9 years and makes him the oldest player to win the Award since Max Morris claimed his record 8th and final Whitney Award in 1933 at the age of 38. Lawson's .346 batting average placed him second in the CA behind only fellow greybeard Dave Trowbridge, the 42 year old New York Stars first baseman. Lawson tied with Bond for the RBI lead at 111 while hitting 17 homers. Bond (.340,30,111) finished second while Fred McCormick (.335,13,95) of the World Champion Toronto Wolves came in third. McCormick, who won the award in each of the previous two seasons, has his name at the top of 3 of the 16 ballots cast with Trowbridge and Toronto shortstop Charlie Artuso also receiving one first place vote each.

The Continental Allen Award was also a very tight contest with Walt Wells (20-13, 3.10) of the Philadelphia Sailors winning for the first time as 5 different pitchers claimed first place votes. The decisions were much more clear cut in the Federal Association as Pittsburgh's Lefty Allen (22-13, 3.06) garnered 14 of the 16 first place votes to win the second Allen Award of his career. Detroit's 23 year old slugger Red Johnson (.335,28,108) had a similar dominance in Whitney balloting as he, like Allen, topped 14 of the 16 ballots.

Here are the voting results:

KEYSTONES MCKAY NAMED TOP ROOKIE ACCORDING TO CHICAGO SCRIBES

The Philadelphia Keystones had plenty to be proud of this season as their collection of young talent kept the club in contention until the final week of September. One big reason for that success was the play of rookie outfielder Hank McKay, and the 24 year old was rewarded for his tremendous season by being named FABL's top rookie according to the Chicago Sportswriters Guild. McKay, who was acquired from the Montreal Saints last Halloween in exchange for veteran pitched Ed Baker, had a brief introduction to the big leagues with Montreal as a September callup a year ago. That experience seemed to pay off immediately as McKay's Philadelphia debut was a 4-hit effort in a game against Lefty Allen and the Pittsburgh Miners. The Keystones knew they had something special right from that day and McKay went on to hit .269 with 10 homers, 61 rbi's and tied for the FABL lead in triples with 16. Totals good enough as it turned out to earn him the top newcomer award ahead of Washington pitcher Del Burns, a 24 year old who won 17 games for the Eagles.

McKay led the way with 6 first place votes while Burns picked up three and the Keystones Hans Wright along with New York Stars pitcher Lou Robertson garnered one each. Burns was the only one to appear on all 11 ballots cast, one more than McKay. Here are the past winners and voting results of the award that was first presented by the Chicago sportswriters in 1937 and revived this year after a 2 year absence by Percy Sutherland, President of the Windy City Guild and Sports Editor of the Chicago Herald-Examiner.

Code:


CHICAGO SPORTSWRITERS GUILD ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS
YEAR	PLAYER		CLUB
1936   Al Miller 	Chicago Chiefs
1937   Sal Pestilli 	Detroit Dynamos
1938       no winner named
1939       no winner named
1940   Hank McKay	Philadelphia Keystones

WOLVES, FORESTERS REVAMP STAFF

Talk about a pressure situation for your first big league managerial job. The Toronto Wolves have found their replacement for Hank Leitzke, naming former Cleveland bench coach Charlie Reed as their manager. Reed will face the difficult task of trying to duplicate the combative Leitzke's accomplishments because there is no way he can surpass them after Leitzke guided the Wolves to their first Pennant and World Championship Series win in 29 years less than a month ago.

The 60 year old Reed is described as much more 'personable' than Leitzke and should create quite a change in the Toronto clubhouse but it remains to be seen if the confrontational approach from his predecessor was the key reason the Wolves prospered. Reed has had plenty of success in his 8 years as the Foresters bench coach, winning a WCS in 1934 and a pennant again the following year. Prior to that he spent 7 seasons in the Eastern Association within the Cleveland system, claiming a pair of minor league pennants in the process. Well before that he had a brief professional career but never reached the big leagues as a player. The Wolves also announced the hiring of former Pittsburgh pitching coach Art Nichols to assume the same duties in Toronto. Nichols spent two seasons with the Miners but was not active in the professional ranks the past two years, taking the time off after leaving Pittsburgh following the 1938 season to work with a high school team in his native Massachusetts.

The Cleveland Foresters have a number of openings throughout the organization to fill but they started with the job at the top as the club announced it has a new General Manager. The new GM's primary focus will be to sit down with his Scouting Director, who also was freshly hired, and make a decision on who the Foresters will select with the first pick in January's draft. Marv Branson, a 58 year old who spent 5 seasons as the Chicago Cougars scouting director before leaving that post in 1938, is the new head scout in Cleveland. Said to favour ability, Branson had a fair bit of FABL experience as a player, suiting up for 808 games in the outfield for St Louis and the New York Stars before ending his career as an outfielder in the Great Western League.

QUICK HITS

There were a couple of minor league deals announced this week as well. The Chicago Cougars as is the case this time every year where in draft pick gathering mode as they sent AA 1B Bill Dambreville to Boston for the Minutemens fourth rounder and the Wolves also acquired a 6th rounder plus Class B shortstop Johnny Bunce from Pittsburgh for AA outfielder Jasper Wright. Perhaps better than any other team in FABL the Cougars have built a terrific pyramid game of sorts by acquiring plenty of late round picks and moving the pieces that don't develop to their liking 2 or 3 years later for more kicks at the lottery tickets that are later round draftees.
Much of the league is facing a real financial crunch now, or at least the requirement to be much more fiscally responsible. Some are citing the commissioners decision to do a long needed recalculate on league finances but it is clear there are still profits being made and big time dollars being siphoned into owners pockets. Perhaps it is a 'war chest' of sorts as owners prepare for increased taxes on both their personal and business incomes to fund FDR's record breaking national defense budget but some owners are privately worried that if we join Europe's war there is a chance baseball gets shut down for a stretch. It did not happen during the Great War, although schedules were shortened for a period, but the storm waging in the old world is nothing like has ever been seen before and it is almost a certainty it is just a matter of time before those foul winds blow across an ocean - and quite possibly a pair of oceans- and engulf our way of life as well.
There is already a great concern baseball will lose many players as all across the league, stars and scrubs alike, are registering for a much different kind of draft than they previously experienced. It seems almost a certainty many players will spend some time away from the game, perhaps even as early as next season. Some Canadian born players have already discussed the possibility of going off to help Great Britain in it's challenge of eliminating the Nazi threat. Could a stretch of time, maybe even a season or two without games at all, be in our future?

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 10/27/1940

R.A.F. bombers have set a great fire in the heart of Berlin with gas works and communication centers as the primary targets. Hamburg is also said to be ablaze. Meanwhile Nazi planes continue to hammer London and targets all along the British coast.
Taunting Hitler by saying "we are waiting for the promised invasion" Prime Minister Winston Churchill predicted that the British will seize command of the air from Germany next year. "We are on his (Hitler's) track" said Churchill "and so are our friends across the Atlantic Ocean."
According to Berlin, government officials in Paris are close to accepting Nazi terms for France to re-enter the war but fighting on the side of the Axis powers. FDR warned the French that Washington would not accept any change in the status of French possessions in the Western Hemisphere.
Josef Stalin is said to be hoping to arrange a German-Italian-Japanese-Russian conference, probably early next month, in an effort to find common ground with the Axis powers.
An estimated 16,4000,000 American men between the ages of 21 and 35 are registering for the draft with the first lottery calling being held this week in which 800,000 will be selected.
As the November 5th election date fast approaches both candidates heat up their verbal sparring. Republican nominee Wendell Wilkie claims the U.S. faces a dictatorship within 4 years if Roosevelt wins as well as "one of the greatest panics in history" will follow completion of America's defense program unless private domestic economy is stimulated. Meanwhile, President Roosevelt called Wilkie a 'falsifier' for many of his campaign statements that FDR alleges are intentionally misleading. FDR also promises to serve his full term if re-elected rather than resign after the European crisis subsides.
President Roosevelt this week announced the promotion of Col. Benjamin O. Davis to become the first African American general in the army's history.

Jiggs McGee · 01-28-2022, 11:42 AM

NOVEMBER 4, 1940

DYNAMOS- SAINTS DEAL ON THIN ICE?

No one involved has any comment but there is some noise being bandied about that perhaps the big Detroit-Montreal deal of two weeks ago might just be falling apart. Nothing concrete but there are several rumours floating around that the huge 7 player, 2 draft pick deal bringing Adam Mullins to the Dynamos might be rescinded. One story making the rounds is that Mullins failed his physical while another source claims that one of the former Detroit players, likely catcher John Wicklund but possibly young pitcher Ed Whetzel, has refused to go to the Canadian club and is threatening to enlist in the military rather than accept the trade.

TWIFB has reached out to both organizations but neither has issued a reply at this time and while the sources releasing the information are credible, neither has a direct link to either club and each provided conflicting information as to the reason the deal would be nixed so it really is just conjecture at this point. Mullins has been to Detroit, as he was spotted around the city and the club issued a photo of him dressed in a Dynamos uniform shortly after the move was made but he has not been seem in public since.

DETROIT ADDS A CATCHER

The Dynamos did announce they have made a deal for another catcher but this one involved a pair of minor leaguers and is almost assuredly unrelated to any rumours circulating about the Mullins deal. The move brings 24 year old Joe Henry to the Motor City from the St Louis organization with 20 year old catcher Mike Logan heading the other way. The acquisition was likely initiated by the Dynamos after they waived last year's backup Clem Bliss. The 28 year old Bliss, who hit just.187 in 55 games last season, cleared waivers but is expected to be released by Detroit in a cost cutting move partially inspired because of the need to free up money with the acquisition of Adam Mullins.

With only AAA catcher Lou Bennett and Mullins on their secondary roster the move for Henry adds depth and the 24 year old, who split last season between AA and AAA, has a decent upside although there is some question if the former first round pick out of Lane State can be an everyday player. OSA feels he can and raves about his defense but Henry has never been considered anywhere near a top 100 type prospect.

With Heinie Zimmer likely holding down the starting job in St Louis for a number of years the deal for the 20 year old Logan allows the Pioneers to swap Henry out for a much younger catching prospect. Perhaps not the defender Henry is at this stage, Logan may have a higher upside than Henry does in the batters box. OSA feels the Detroit-area native could be a .310 hitter one day. Logan, who was a 4th round pick out of Detroit Catholic Central High School, hitting .330 between Class B and A last season and helped lead Terre Haute (Class A) to a Heartland League title.

PITCHERS AND OUTFIELDERS DOMINATE UPDATED TOP PROSPECT LIST

With all of the pitchers being drafted so highly over the past half dozen years it comes as little surprise that OSA's latest top prospect ranking contains a healthy dose of hurlers. The top 3 prospects on the list and 13 of the top 25 are pitchers led once again by 20 year old Ed Bowman of the New York Gothams organization. Other pitchers in the top ten include Cincinnati's Bill Sohl (#2), Pat Weakley of the Montreal Saints (#3), St Louis Pioneers lefthander Mal Bianco (#6) and Donnie Jones of the Chicago Cougars (#10). Seven of the top 25 are outfielders leaving just 5 infielders but surprisingly no shortstop cracked the top 25. You have to go all the way down to #37 to find a shortstop and only one to sneak into the top 60 overall is Hank Grant, a 24 year old who made his big league debut with the Montreal Saints in late July. There are no catchers in the top 25 but the Cougars Solly Skidmore finished just 2 spots below that at 27th.

HERE IS THE CURRENT LIST OF THE TOP TWENTY FIVE PROSPECTS ACCORDING TO OSA

HANG ON TO THOSE FOURTH AND FIFTH ROUND DRAFT PICKS

As you might expect the vast majority of the top prospects are drafted in the first round with exactly half of the current top fifty going in the the top 16 selections (including 3 players from the brief lottery system). Second round picks accounted for an additional 8 players and 6 more went in the third. What of the remaining 11 players you ask? Well those fourth and fifth round picks do often have some pretty good value as a total of 4 of the current top fifty were selected in each of the fourth and fifth rounds. The four fourth rounders had a pair of pitchers in Duke Bybee (#43) and Les Bradshaw (#48) as well as third baseman Norman Houser (#38) and outfielder Luke Berry (#46). The fifth round gives us two players that presently rank in the top 15 prospects in outfielder Otis Parker of Cincinnati and the Keystones 22 year old lefthander Ernie Espanoza. Two more pitchers in 20th ranked Ed Whetzel and Slick Wesolowski (29th) were also fifth round draft picks.

What is quite interesting is the fact that while not a single player drafted in rounds 6 thru 10 cracked the current top fifty there are two players who were AI draft picks (for anyone not familiar with the league the human GMs draft rounds 1-10 before the game simulates the remaining 15 rounds with draft lists we are able to provide or auto selection) that made the top 50.

Stock up on 14th round picks after reading the news that Danny Hearn and Hank Grant were both selected in that round, going 213th and 214th respectively in their draft year. How did this happen? The human General Managers combined to select 160 players before turning things over to the lists and even then it took three and a half more rounds before Grant and Hern were finally selected.

DANNY HERN
ORGANIZATION PIECE TO MID-ROTATION STARTER

Danny Hern is a 23 year old lefthander who played just 1 season of high school ball in 1935 before being selected by the Chicago Cougars 213th overall. It took over two years of pro ball but he finally cracked the top 100 by being ranked 71st in July of 1938. By October that year he was 55th and good enough for the St Louis Pioneers to ask for him, along with 4 others, in the deal that sent Freddie Jones to the Cougars. Opening Day 1939 he was inside the top 50 and presently sits at 40th, the highest point of his career. Hern pitched well at AAA Oakland this past season (9-4, 3.15) and earned a callup to St Louis. He struggled but so did the entire team, posting a 1-5 mark with a 3.75 era in 10 big league appearances with 6 of them starts. He pitched well enough to deserve to win a couple of his other starts but the run support was not there. However, his first win was a thing of beauty, a 3-2 complete game 6-hitter over the Boston Minutemen in mid-September when he outdueled Dick Higgins, a former second overall selection.

So what made Danny Hern good enough to make the majors ahead of 61 of the 74 pitchers drafted before him in 1935? That 1935 draft was famous for another pitcher, a guy by the name of Deuce Barrell, who went first overall and was one of 7 pitchers taken in the first round. George Garrison and Charlie Wheeler, two others from that round have done okay for themselves and Bud Canfield, the 12th overall pick that year sits just a few spots below Hern on the top prospect list.

But what of the other three. The Pioneers took Dan Rivard in the first round that year and, while not a top 100 prospect, Rivard is in AAA and may get a shot next year but Bill Keith and Luis Tapia are looking more and more like busts as they both languish in the minors. The ensuing rounds are also loaded with guys who's big league chances are slim at best but there is Hern, a 14th round pick made good.

Why? Is it Hearn's work ethic? Nope, that is listed as low and we are told he makes too many excuses for his poor work habits. Is he a leader? No, not at all. He must be smart then, right? Nope. Low intelligence. So despite no outstanding personality characteristic, low work ethic, just average high school stats in only one year at that level Hern has somehow gone from being considered a minor leaguer at best in 1935 to now being called a mid-rotation starter

HANK GRANT

Grant was a 14th round pick in the 1934 draft who went from being considered a below-average shortstop in his draft year to a top 50 prospect. His rise can be seen quite easily in looking at his stats. He was a average to slightly below average hitter his first four seasons in the minors but right from opening day 1939 he seemed to learn, almost overnight, how to hit. He advanced three levels that season and was an above average hitter at each of them. His production dropped a bit when he got to Montreal at the end of July this past season but certainly not far enough for one to think he may have peaked. His defense was also unusual. The Saints seemed to want to play him at second base or in the outfield as he rarely played shortstop prior to 1938, but when he started hitting he worked his way into the lineup and his defense was more than acceptable although, similar to his woes at the plate he struggled in the field once he made the Saints.

Current Brooklyn Kings scouting director John Spears admitted he had Grant as a 8th-10th round talent in the 1934 draft, ranking him 84th among position players on his draft board. "We thought he did everything okay - makes contact, has some speed, acceptable defense, but nothing stood out so we pegged him as maybe an injury replacement guy or more likely a career AAA talent."

OSA thought the same but here we are 6 years later and Grant is not only the lowest selected player from his draft class to make the big leagues so far, but also a top 50 prospect. 1934 was actually a decent draft for shortstops but before we get to that let's look at 5 that were selected in the first 5 rounds but given a re-do, the team selecting them would swap their pick for Grant in a heartbeat:

Code:

Tip Harrison   : 2nd round   24 big league games, now 29 years old
Bill Sorrells  : 2nd round    0 big league games, now 27 years old
Walter Morgan  : 4th round    0 big league games, still only 24 though
Johnnie Wolsey: 4th round   97 big league games, now 27 years old
Bill Smith     : 5th round    0 big league games, now 27 years old

While those five did very little, at least so far in their careers, as mentioned above the 1934 crop of shortstops was a pretty good one. Here is who we have:

Code:


RD PICK   NAME		  FABL G DRAFTING TEAM
 1   4  Charlie Artuso      457    Toronto
 1  15  Jim Hensley	    139    Baltimore
 2  22  Lew McClendon       466    Pittsburgh
 3  47  Ivan Cameron	    292    Cougars
 3  48  Mel Hancock Jr.     401    Cleveland
 5  79  Mule Monier         302    Gothams
 6  90  Leon Blackridge     235    Stars
 6  95  Vince D'Alessandro   63    Gothams
 8 114  Charley McCullough  258    Baltimore
 8 119  Frank Davis	    469    Pittsburgh
 9 142  Terry Cox	     39    Brooklyn
12 182  Jake Hughes	    163    Montreal
14 214  Hank Grant	     46    Montreal

So Grant has a ways to go to catch a lot of other guys in his draft class, but the vast majority of them had an 8-13 round head start on him.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 11/03/1940

British naval forces take over the island of Crete after coming to aid of Greece, which had been invaded by Italy. As the British drove Italian forces from Crete, Greek's little army continues to hold off Axis forces along the northern frontier.
British warplanes struck for the first time at southern Italy, bombing the industrial center of Naples.
The R.A.F. successfully stopped German and Italian raiding squadrons short of London time and again over the past week.
The United States will rule the air, claimed President Roosevelt at a campaign stop in Boston in which he announced plans for the production of 12,000 more bombing airplanes, made thanks to the aid of the automobile industry.
With the Presidential election just days away, Wendell Wilkie takes full advantage of a blunder FDR made in reading a campaign speech as Roosevelt referred to Joseph P Kennedy as "my Ambassador to Great Britain". Wilkie declared "this is what any would naturally say who has in his hands enormous power, who has felt the taste of power, who thinks in terms of himself as the ruler of a people instead of being merely an instrument for carrying out the laws of the land."
The first lottery numbers were selected in the nation's unprecedented peacetime conscription. An estimated 6,175 men holding draft serial number 158 will be the first called up for military service.
Police in New York City arrested a man with a revolver who claims he was offered $5,000 to "knock off Mayor LaGuardia". The man was arrested before he could approach the mayor.

Jiggs McGee · 01-31-2022, 10:20 AM

NOVEMBER 18, 1940

MULLINS NOW A CANNON

Through a rather unusual chain of events 4-time all-star catcher Adam Mullins moved from Detroit to Cincinnati. Mullins had been traded by the Montreal Saints to the Detroit Dynamos in a multi-player deal last month but one of the key pieces in the transaction, catcher John Wicklund, refused to report to the Saints. As a result the deal fell apart and Mullins, who was introduced to the Detroit media a short time ago, found himself packing up his belongings and heading further south after being informed he was instead dealt to the Cincinnati Cannons.

The trade saw the Cannons part with two very highly touted prospects and a pair of first round picks as well as a backup catcher. Heading to Montreal will be Ben Richardson (.251,1,28), who celebrated his 31st birthday earlier this month as well as two players out of the Cannons very deep collection of minor league talent in 21 year old outfielder Otis Parker (ranked #12 by OSA) and 20 year old righthander Jackie James (#26). The Saints also pick up Cincinnati's first round pick 11th overall and the 4th overall selection, acquired earlier in the off-season from the New York Gothams in exchange for pitcher Rusty Petrick.

"It is a lot to give up," admitted Cannons Scouting Director Rufus Barrell, "and as a scout you always hate to lose the opportunity to make those first round picks, but Mullins is one of the best catchers in the league so an opportunity like this does not come up often."

With Mullins in the fold the Cannons then had a logjam behind the plate so 31 year old Jack Flint (.313,5,70) was moved to Boston in exchange for the Minutemens second and fifth round selections. Cincinnati expects to promote veteran minor leaguer Buster Farrar from AAA Indianapolis to serve as Mullins new backup, at least until prize 20 year old prospect Rick York is ready for the major leagues.

As for the Saints, despite the controversy with Wicklund, they certainly ended up with a large haul in return for Mullins and Montreal management hints the dealing may not be done. The Saints now own 4 first round picks (3rd, 4th, 10th and 11th) and Montreal Assistant General Manager Phil Catalfamo says don't rule out the possibility of a move prior to the draft that sees the Saints package one or more of those picks for a solid starting pitcher.

PERCY SUTHERLAND'S TAKE: First of all, to be perfectly frank, I'm of the opinion that once you have a hold of a player of Adam Mullins' capabilities, you don't want to let that player go. Just think--Tom Bird was traded away from Montreal so that Mullins could start. Having said that, one can understand the Montreal-side of the equation here. The Saints are entering their third decade of being for all practical purposes irrelevant. Adam Mullins and Red Bond are the two biggest assets the Saints have. Can they turn Mullins into some hope for the future? Let's look at what they received from Cincinnati.

Picks 4 and 11 in the upcoming draft. Draft picks, particularly first round picks, have some good value. The issue is that, unless you get lucky and stumble across a Sal Pestilli, draft picks are part of the long game. You need to scout and draft well, and then once the youngsters are in your organization, they will need to develop. All of this takes time (and coaching). You won't see the return from this part of the deal in Montreal for a number of years.
21-year-old OF Otis Parker. Parker is a big (6'2") kid who hits the ball very hard. As he fills out, he should develop some nice, big league power. And as Red Bond has now shown you can, in fact, hit home runs in Montreal. Parker is a big-time prospect and there is a good chance that you will see him in Montreal sometime next summer.
20-year-old P Jackie James. James is a 4-pitch pitcher who throws a fastball with a heavy sink. He is more raw as a talent than Parker, but James is someone I see as developing into a nice mid-rotation starter.
31-year-old C Ben Richardson. Montreal needs someone to play catcher. Richardson is a good handler of the pitching staff with a below average bat.

All things considered, Montreal did well in trading the Continental Association's top catcher. Parker and James both have a good chance of being productive big league players, but the full return of the trade will be known only after the players taken with the two draft picks have time to develop.

What of the Cincinnati side of the trade? When you trade good, young prospects, there is always a lingering doubt: what if these players are future hall of famers? Well, there is a big "if" in that question. Potential talent, no matter how good, is still just that: potential. What Cincinnati is getting in return for trading that potential is a known commodity: a 28-year-old catcher who will play in 140 games and hit 30% above league average. Mullins is in the same category as T.R. Goins and Tom Bird. Both Goins and Bird were traded and then went on to help the clubs they were traded to win championships. Cincinnati, who finished just off the pace in 1940, is hoping that Mullins can do likewise.

MORE TRADE NEWS

The Detroit Dynamos acquired shortstop Ernie Brown from the New York Stars in exchange for minor league pitcher Jim Baker and a second round draft pick. Brown, 25, spent most of the season in AAA but did participate in 20 games with the Stars after being called up a couple of times during the season. Baker is a 22 year old who went 10-6, 3.81 at AA last season. He is ranked as the 111th best prospect by OSA.

FREDDIE FARHAT ON THE TRADE: With the Dynamo's trade for SS Brown from NY Stars the club will be bringing competition to spring training to challenge Gil London for his starting job. London (.216,1,35) was terrible last year at the plate. He batted leadoff about half the time (early in the year) but struggled there and was worse in the #8 spot. In looking at leverage situations he didn't excel in any (High, medium or low). Was it just a horrible year at the plate or is he just not a very good hitter despite what the managers, coaches and scouts say? Now he has to earn it to keep his job in '41.

WASHINGTON-BROOKLYN DEAL

The other move saw the Washington Eagles deal 24 year old backup corner infielder Bill Downs (.292,4,42) and an 8th round pick to the Brooklyn Kings in exchange for a pair of decent prospects in Bill Willman and George Zavala. The 24 year old Willman went 10-13 at AAA last season and seemed ready to step up to the big leagues this year. OSA sees him as the #34th best prospect in the game and potentially a top of the rotation arm. Zavala is a 25 year old outfielder the Kings traded away 3-time Allan Award winner Tom Barrell a couple of weeks ago in order to acquire. He hit .287 with 10 homers at AAA St Paul last season.

JIGGS MCGEE ON THE TRADE: I am trying to find a nicer way to say this but I just can't. I have absolutely no idea what Brooklyn's plan is. First they trade Barrell, a possibly damaged arm to be sure but at the very least still a valuable trade chip, without shopping him around and just taking a 4th round pick and a mid level prospect in Zavala, who is an outfielder and the Kings do not need any more outfielders. So they then turn around and send Zavala plus a pretty strong pitching prospect in Willman, who looks big league ready and could have stepped into the spot opened when Barrell was moved. What do they get in return? A back up first baseman when if there is one position they need players even less than they do outfielders it is first base with rising young star Tiny Tim Hopkins already there and prospect Chuck Adams knocking on the door at first or in the outfield. I guess the plan is to try Downs at third base but again I ask why? The Kings have Frank LeMieux who should be playing third everyday or John Langille, who is not the hitter he was a few seasons ago but still likely a better option than Downs at the hot corner. Maybe, some have speculated the plan is to move LeMieux to second base were Walt Layton has a great glove but no offensive skills at all. Again, I ask why? The Kings have Jim Lightbody, a very talented hitter but admittedly below average with his glove. Still, Lightbody could solve their lead-off problems and his offense could possibly make up for more than any negatives on the defensive side of the ball. Bat LeMieux second and then you have are very solid 3-thru-6 in some combination of Hopkins plus outfielders Al Wheeler, Joe Herman and Rats McGonigle. Use Layton as a late innings defensive replacement for Lightbody and you are all set. As it is now the Kings gave away two pitchers in veteran Barrell and prospect Willman for what???? A 4th round pick, an 8th round pick and a backup corner infielder.

QUICK HITS

Pestilli traded for Wheeler. That sure got your attention but no it wasn't Sal for Al, nor was it Alf for Charlie but instead the Pestilli in question is Little Joe, the third eldest of the 4 Pestilli ballplaying brothers and quite likely the least talented. The 24 year old second baseman was dealt from the St Louis Pioneers organization to the Cincinnati Cannons in exchange for fellow 24 year old minor leaguer infielder Bob Wheeler, who is not related to either the Kings Al or the Dynamos Charlie Wheeler. Neither Little Joe or Bob Wheeler is expected to be more than a minor league depth piece.

ALL-TIME HITS LEADERS (BY LETTER)

(Editor's note: This article is a blatant rip-off - but let's call it a tribute instead - to my favourite modern sportswriter Joe Posnanski, a great baseball writer and football and well pretty much anything he pens is a very entertaining read because of the many twists and turns down side streets he takes but always tying back in to his original topic. I try, but fail miserably most times, to capture a little bit of his style in some of Jiggs McGee's materials so let's see how this one goes.)

I was thinking the other day about my favourite FABL player, Doug Lightbody and his pursuit for 2,000 career hits. Due to many, many games lost to injury Lightbody is a very old 36 and will turn 37 in 5 days. He needs 18 more hits to get to 2,000 and so far it appears the Philadelphia Keystones, for whom he now plays after well over a decade in Brooklyn and a 2 month excursion to Cincinnati, are going to give the man affectionately known as The Mississippi Mouth a shot to stick with the club as a pinch-hitter. I was thinking about Lightbody's career and in trying to find a category he would lead I got to wondering if any player in baseball who's name started with the letter 'L' had more career hits than Lightbody. I quickly realized that no he is definitely not the leader even by letter but thought that would make an interesting exercise to see which players actually do lead the way in FABL hits by each letter of the alphabet. So here we go:

A - Jack Arabian 3,391 1896-1915
This was a pretty easy one to figure out well before I looked it up. A second baseman and likely a future Hall of Famer at some point, Arabian is 6th all-time in FABL hits and has more of them than any player not yet enshrined in the soon to be finished construction baseball Hall of Fame in Boone County, Illinois. A long time star for the Cleveland Foresters before finishing out his career in St Louis (like Max Morris would later it seemed the Foresters perhaps had a habit of sending superstars to the banks of the Mississippi) he won 3 Continental Association batting titles. The Foresters were rarely good in that era but Arabian was their star and in 1901 he had the season of his life, hitting .406 with 13 homers and 101 RBIs to lead the club to it's first and only pennant during his tenure. They came up against the powerful Pittsburgh Miners in the Series that year. It was Pittsburgh fourth straight trip to the Fall Classic and believe it not the Miners actually won that one, in a sweep no less. Of course Pittsburgh has been to plenty of WCS since but are still looking for their second trophy. Arabian never got his ring, as it would be his only taste of October baseball but he acquainted himself quite well, batting .308 in the series with 3 rbi's and 4 runs scored.

Number Two on the list of A's is Moses Ammon, a late 1800's second baseman with 2,575 hits on his resume and number three is still active as it is veteran Philadelphia Keystones catcher Carl Ames with 2,021 hits and counting.

B- Zebulon Banks 3,423 1876-1898
Another easy one to guess as 'Hawkeye' is in the Hall of Fame and was the first of two legendary first baseman to spend a lot of years in Philadelphia with the Keystones organization. Rankin Kellogg of course was the other one but it was Banks who was one of the very first great stars of the game.

Following Banks we have Bill Brady, a turn of the century Philadelphia Sailors catcher, who had 2,592 with just recently retired Charlie Barry - the long-time Boston third baseman who went to Cleveland for a spell to get his World Championship Series title before ending his career with the Minutemen. Barry had 2,323 hits. It likely won't be long before Bobby Barrell, the current face of the Keystones pass all of them except for Banks as the 30 year old member of baseball's first family has 1,972 hits so far.

C- Bill Craigen 2,906 1899-1917
This one took a little more thinking but probably shouldn't have as the now 60 year old Craigen has been involved in the game in one form or another for well over 40 years. Most recently known as a manager, Craigen won 4 WCS titles at the helm of the New York Stars between 1920-38 and after spending a year away from the game in 1939 he resurfaced this past season as a base coach in Cleveland. Craigen is 6th all-time with 1,512 wins as a manager and his 4 WCS titles are equaled only by the great George Theobald although Edward Wakeham did win 4 titles as well, but that was in the days before the WCS existed.

Prior to his managerial career Craigen was an outfielder and a pretty good hitter for the New York Stars. He won a batting title, led the CA in triples 7 times, homers 3 times and rbi's on 5 occasions. He also won 3 WCS titles as a player so his total of 7 between his playing and managing days may well be the most all-time.

Long-time New York Gothams shortstop Joe Carney (1891-1908) is second with 2,618 hits including 119 with the New York Imperials of the Peerless League. We count those totals as well as the Border Association and Century League in our numbers but for pure FABL stats the Peerless League is not included so I wonder if Joe Carney ever looked back and said if I only played 1 more game. Carney, you see, is credited with 2,499 career FABL hits.

John Cook, a Boston and Brooklyn infielder who played in the first two decades of this century holds third place with 2,505, all of which came in FABL. Cook may be best known as the long-time record holder for career WCS games with 31. His total was matched by Max Morris and later Pete Layton before being surpassed in 1938 by the recently retired Tom Taylor, who now holds the record for WCS games all to himself with 32 of them. Each of those 'C' hitters overlapped much of their careers and each won 3 WCS titles but they were never teammates on a title team or otherwise.

Number 4 is well known as it is current Pittsburgh Miners infielder Jack Cleaves with 2,072 hits. Cleaves owns a pair of WCS titles from his days with the Philadelphia Sailors and is tied for 14th all-time with 24 WCS games under his belt.

D- John Dibblee 3,913 1906-1931
Another easy one to figure out as the Hall of Famer trails only the legendary Powell Slocum for career hits. With 11,325 of them, Dibblee had more at bats during his FABL career than any other player and he, along with fellow Hall of Famer Ed Ziehl, are the only two men to play in more than 3,000 career big league games.

Number two among the D's is almost 1,700 hits behind Dibblee as George Dunlap is next with 2,219. Dunlap had a long career with the New York Gothams at the turn of the century. The highest active player among the D's - that would be 29 year old Boston outfielder Chick Donnelly with 1,463.

E- Jim Elkins 2,318 1909-1925
Another long-time Gotham, Elkins caught me by surprise on this list as my guess would have been the former Montreal slugger Hal Eason, but Eason had 'just' 2,173 hits over his 17 year career. If you want to talk homeruns or RBI's than Eason would be our man. We may be hearing the Eason name much more in the coming years as his son Hal is a junior outfielder at Huntington State and a probable first round pick in the January draft.

The top active player who's last name starts with E? You have to look a long ways down the list to find Joe Ellicott of the Washington Eagles, proud owner of 156 big league hits.

F- Denny Fuller 2,535 1880-1897
Late 19th century first baseman Denny Fuller began his career in 1880 with Cleveland Cuyahogas and finished it with the Washington Eagles but is best known as a New York Gotham. He won 4 titles including 3 after the WCS began and finished with 109 more hits than Morris Ford. Ford, Chick Futrell and Fred Feiden all topped the 2000 hit mark and each played in both the 1800s and 1900s. Current active leader among the F's is Cleveland's Dan Fowler but he is quite a ways back at 1,378 hits as he prepares for his age 33 season.

G- T.R. Goins 2,622 1923-1938
Goins was instrumental in a pair of mini-dynasty's and won 2 WCS titles and a pair of Whitney Awards, accomplishing one of each in both associations. Take first overall out of Cincinnati High School in 1919 by the Washington Eagles, Goins would help the Eagles win 3 pennants early in his career with the highlight being his .395,24,121 showing in 1926. In 1933 he was moved to Cleveland and while the Eagles would drop to the second division and remain there ever since, Goins played a key role on a rising Foresters club that won a pair of pennants and the first WCS in franchise history in 1934. That '34 Cleveland team relied on recently acquired greybeards with Goins,33 at the time, being the baby of the bunch as he along with Charlie Barry and Max Morris, in a thrilling return to the city it all started for him, combined to carry Cleveland to the crown. Goins participated in four of the first five all-star games and seems a certainty to make it to Boone County one day.

Four other players who's last name starts with G also surpassed the 2,000 hit mark for their careers. They are Amos Gatlin, Conrad Gardner, Wally Grant and George Gardner. Grant, a catcher like Goins, was a bench coach with the Eagles when Goins was drafted by the club and would later go on to spend a decade as a FABL manager in Boston and Brooklyn. The highest active player on the G list is Gail Gifford, as the 28 year old Pioneer outfielder has 1,139 base knocks.

H- Chick Hamm 2,592 1888-1906
A piece of the early Pittsburgh Miners dynasty that won 4 straight pennants and the 1901 WCS, the first baseman was never a superstar but rather just a solid, steady contributor. Veteran Chicago Chiefs outfielder Jim Hampton is 141 hits behind Hamm and while Hampton only had 78 hits this past season there is a chance of increased play this season in Chicago with the trade of Cliff Moss from the Chiefs to the Cougars. Can Hampton's 39 year old legs carry him long enough to get those 141 hits is in question, but I am sure the more pressing target for the veteran outfielder is 49 more to become just the 24th player to reach 2,500.

I- BILL INSCOE 1,222 1909-1920
As one would expect there are very few players who's last name started with 'I' to play major league baseball, just 12 in fact. Inscoe was a regular for 7 years in the Brooklyn Kings outfield and a part of their first pennant winner in 1912 before finishing his career mostly as a backup with the Sailors.

Alex Ingraham, who spent much of the 1930's patrolling right field for the St Louis Pioneers but did not play anywhere this past season, is second on the list with 1,205 hits. He was signed a couple of weeks ago by the Chicago Cougars and maybe will be reunited with his old St Louis buddy Freddie Jones in the Windy City. More likely the 34 year old was brought to the Cougars organization strictly as a minor league depth piece. He was an All-Star in 1934 and Ingraham's big claim to fame likely will center around a sunny June day in 1933 when he became just the 6th player in FABL history to hit 3 homeruns in a single game. Freddie Jones also homered that day and Ingraham's came in the second, third and fifth innings, all off a pitcher named Stan Harrison, who only gave up 2 other homeruns in his entire FABL career.

Harrison is one of those peripheral players you only ever hear about when someone else does something memorable, such as Ingraham in this case. He was a 7th round pick of the Chicago Cougars out of high school in 1922 but was released in camp and enrolled at Mississippi A&M where he actually had a pretty solid 1924 season, posting an 8-4 record with a 2.55 era. Only 3 college pitchers won more games than Harrison that season: Jim Morales, Walt Palmer and Joe Dorsainval. The Foresters took Harrison in the 6th round in 1925 and they kept him, although they never brought him up to the big club. He threw a no-hitter for AAA Cincinnati in 1927 and twice won 18 games in the minors but still never got the call to Cleveland. In December of 1932 he got his break when the Keystones selected him in the Rule 5 draft. He was 29 and after a decade in the minors Stan Harrison was finally a FABL player. It lasted just the one year as he was back in AAA the following season and never did return to the big leagues before retiring in 1937 but he did go 3-2 with a 5.06 era in 28 appearances that season for the Keystones and pitched 2 and a third scoreless innings in Game One of the 1933 WCS. The Keystones lost that game but did win the series so Harrison owns a WCS ring. I should mention that aside from the 3 Ingraham hit, Harrison only gave up 2 other homeruns that year and they were to a pair of talented ballplayers in Frank Vance and Joe Masters, so no shame in that. Ingraham's 3 homeruns in the first 5 innings of that June game are likely something Harrison will long remember, but not just for surrendering those blasts, but for the fact that this particular game was also the one and only big league start Harrison ever made in his career. He didn't get a decision that day but his club did overcome an early 6-0 deficit and won the game 10-9 in 12 innings. Harrison will also remember that game because it was the day of his first big league hit, a first pitch single off of Sam Sheppard.

J- JIM JONES 2,786 1879-1904
If I was taking a guess I would have gone with Bud Jameson, the long-time New York Gotham who recently crossed the 2,000 hit threshold and sits fourth all-time among letter 'J' hitters. Jones's nickname of 'The Big Steam Engine' tells all you need to know about him. He just kept going and going and was a hitting machine, playing a game in 4 different decades although the 1904 contest was really just a publicity stunt, as Jones had last played in the minors two seasons prior but came out of retirement at 46 for one game with Detroit against Boston when the then Mighty Minutemen activated 54 year Lynwood Trease Sr, who was a coach with Boston at the time and the father of Boston's hot shot 24 year old Woody Trease. Woody pitched that game with Lynwood handling the catching in what would be the first and so far only father-son partnership on a FABL diamond. Jones went 0-for-4 vs Woody and did not play again afterwards but Lynwood and Woody would team up one more time that season.

As for Jones, he is 13th all-time in career hits and 21st in games played. This all predates FABL but Jones won 6 Century League batting crowns in the 1880s and 3 league championships with the old Providence Gems of that loop.

Another interesting name on this list is Ossie Julious, who is fifth with 1,923 career hits. Julious is much better known for having managed, and having lost more games as a manager, than any other skipper in FABL history. He did pilot the Toronto Wolves when they won their last WCS (at least prior to a month ago) in 1911.

K- Calvin Kidd 3,169 1890-1909
What an infield you could build with the K's! Let's start with Hall of Famer Rankin Kellogg at first, who had 2,770 hits and was second only to Max Morris with 475 homers, at first base. Across the diamond at the hot corner we could place John Kincaid and his 2,065 hits. Our second baseman would be Davey Kincaid, who had 1,575 hits at the turn of the century for the Chiefs and before we get to our shortstop how about an outfield of Lou Kelly (2,009 hits), Norwegian born centerfielder Charlie Kinney (1,959 hits) and 1890s Baltimore star Lewis Kendrick (1,453 hits) who hails from Youngstown, Ohio and is said to have played a role in shaping the career of a very young Max Morris.

Finding a catcher would be a problem but this is a pretty good starting group of seven especially when we slide Calvin Kidd in at shortstop. The Wizard of Wausau, Wisconsin was just that with the glove and spent 15 glorious seasons playing the most difficult defensive position the game with ease while also hitting well over .300 for all of the meaningful seasons of his career. He debut at 19 and perhaps hung around a little too long, playing his last big league game for the Gothams at the age of 38 but there is little doubt that in his prime he was one of the best all-around shortstops ever to play the game.

Finding an active K player is an arduous task needing to go all the way down to 630 to find Oscar King, and even that requires as asterisk as King, now 30, was released by the Keystones - his 4th big league team- at the conclusion of the season and there is no guarantee he will find big league employment again.

L- JOHN LAWSON 2,722 1927-present
Where my search began with Doug Lightbody, who sits third in his letter group with 1,982 surpassed by the recently retired Pete Layton (2,506 hits), who won 6 World Championships - believed to be the most ever by a player - and is the postseason career leader in runs and hits and one shy of Tom Taylor's record 32 Series games played. Layton was quite simply a winner, playing in 6 WCS and winning each of them, batting .361 in postseason play and each of the six series he played in he averaged at least a hit a game. He won 2 WCS MVP awards and made 4 all-star games but one has to remember Layton was already 33 years old when the All-Star game was first conceived. He also won two batting titles and they came a decade apart with the second one in 1938 at the age of 38 and was immediately followed by his retirement announcement. Batting champ, WCS winner and WCS MVP are not a bad way to go out on top.

Tough act for the still active John Lawson to top but he has 3 Whitney Awards including one this season at the age of 37, 7 All-Star appearances and a WCS title on his resume. Lawson also won 4 batting titles and came within a whisker of a fifth one a month ago but the 37 year old was nosed out by his former teammate on the 1932 WCS winning New York Stars and now 42 year old Dave Trowbridge. Lawson certainly appears to have done enough to make the Hall of Fame one day, as has Pete Layton, but the cherry on top for the Chicago Cougars star would be to join the exclusive 3,000 hit club which presently has just 10 members. Lawson needs 278 more to open that door.

M- Max Morris 3,651 1914-1937
Not much to say here that hasn't been already said about the greatest slugger in baseball history. His 3,651 hits trail only Powell Slocum and John Dibblee. No one comes within shouting distance of his 711 homers or 2,323 rbi's and he could have been a great pitcher too, twice win more than twenty games in a season before becoming a full-time outfielder at age 24.

Bob Martin of the Chicago Chiefs tops active players with 2,297 hits but it will just be a matter of time before 31 year old Wolves star Fred McCormick passes him. McCormick will enter next season with 2,067 hits.

N- Charlie Nabb 2,279 1898-1913
Long time Toronto Wolves third baseman helped the club win 4 pennants and a pair of World Championship Series titles. "Nibs" Nabb is the only player who's last name starts with N to record 2,000 hits. Top active player is Detroit's Elmer Nolde with just 575 hits. Nolde also leads his letter group with 79 homers.

O- Joe Owens 1,324 1933-present
Never much of an Irish influence in the early days of big league ball as the top 3 guys - Owens, Sam orr and Hank Odegaard - are recent and you need to go down to 524 hits to find a O with an apostrophe in Sean O'Bannon. As for Joe Owens, a very talented lead-off man for the pennant winning but Series-challenged Pitttsurgh Miners is the top guy.

P- George Pruitt 2,812 1894-1912
Never really a star George Pruitt was just a steady decent outfielder for a decade in Montreal and then 8 solid seasons with the Chicago Chiefs. The top active player is Moxie Pidgeon with 2,169 hits at the age of 33. Not sure Pidgeon will catch Pruitt and eventually both may be passed by Sal Pestilli but Pidgeon has carved out a very special career despite, and I guess it's how you look at it, either no one wanting him or everyone wanting him.

Pidgeon, who spent last season helping revive the Cannons from the near death of 6 seasons sitting at the bottom of the Continental Association, is second all-time among active players with 271 homers, and after surpassing T.R. Goins with the last of his 21 dingers this past season, is now 5th all-time. Only Hall of Famers Max Morris (711), Rankin Kellogg (475) along with current Brooklyn King Al Wheeler (374) and the recently retired Lou Kelly (274) have hit more longballs than Pidgeon.

Moxie has done something no one else in baseball ever has, and quite possibly ever will. We mentioned how no one, or everyone, wanted him because Pidgeon has played for 5 different FABL teams and has hit at least twenty homers in a season for each of them. Hard to imagine another slugger ever getting bounced around as much as Pidgeon has. He also had great success, winning a WCS title with three of those teams and making 6 all-star teams. Despite all of his talent, Pidgeon only lasted 7 seasons in Cleveland before his travelling journey began with being shipped to the New York Gothams despite hitting 25 homers and batting .325 for the World Championship Series winning 1934 Foresters. Move him to New York, no big deal as Pidgeon hits 28 homers in 1935 and adds two more in the WCS to help the Gothams get their revenge on the Foresters and give him WCS title number two. A half year later despite being on the pace that would allow him to win his first batting title, Pidgeon was dealt to Washington. No WCS with the struggling Eagles but two more twenty plus homer seasons in DC before he was flipped to the New York Stars in 1939. Ho hum, just another 21 homer season with the Stars and his third WCS title helping a 6th place team the year before he arrived rise to the pinnacle of the sport. What happened next? You guessed it. He was traded, this time to Cincinnati to join the transplanted Cannons who had that albatross of 6 consecutive last place finishes from their Baltimore days hanging around their neck. Pidgeon nearly helped the Cannons pull off the unbelievable as they were in first place as late as mid-September before falling just short and settling for third. Pidgeon was in contention for his first Whitney Award and showed he was nothing if not consistent, by hitting 21 homers for the third straight season with 3 different organizations.

Q- Fred Quinn 467 1935-present
Slim pickings here as only 9 players who's last name starts with Q have ever played a major league baseball game. It would have been something if a pitcher, Eddie Quinn -owner of 121 career victories - could have topped the list but Fred Quinn (no relation) is the leader. The 29 year old spent the bulk of this past season in AAA but did add 1 to his big league total of 467 hits, accumulated over 466 career games, all with the Cleveland Foresters.

R- Fred Roby 3,026 1888-1910
Fred Roby was one of those guys I never really looked at. He had a long career, playing 2187 games which ties him for 23rd all-time. He had over 3,000 hits as a big leaguer but only 2,675 of them were considered part of FABL. He won a couple of batting titles and hit .417 one year and well before the Pestilli clan was considered the pride of Rhode Island there was Roby, a Cranston native who came to be known as The Rhode Island Ripper. And rip he did, hitting 19 homers in 1894 and 116 in total at a time when homeruns were extremely rare. And he was a shortstop who put up some pretty good defensive numbers. Certainly a player that warrants a closer look one day.

For the top active R player you need to go down to 1,176 hits were we find current Pittsburgh outfielder Pablo Reyes.

S- Powell Slocum 4,144 1905-1925
We all know about The Ragland Ripper. All-time baseball hit king who won 4 Whitney Awards and 15 batting titles. His .435 batting average in 1913 is the highest ever recorded in a single season and he is also the career leader hitting at a .375 clip. 7 times he hit over .400. Slocum has also had success as a manager, guiding the Brooklyn Kings to a WCS title and 3 pennants. Another Pittsburgh Miner is the top active player in this letter group. That would be Ed Stewart has his 1,450 career hits.

T- Dave Trowbridge 2,443 1923-present
Trowbridge seems to be getting better with age. He won his first batting title this past season when he hit .346 at the age of 41 and looks like a lock for 2,500 career hits after averaging 195 the past two seasons. To bad he didn't debut until the age of 23 and did not become an everyday player until he was traded to the Stars as a 29 year old or who knows what totals he might have reached.

U- Albert Ulmer 1,114 1892-1907
Ulmer, a turn of the century shortstop who played for 4 FABL teams, is one of just 9 players none of whom are active that played in the majors and had a last name starting with U. The most unusual thing I noticed about Ulmer was his stats line from his final season. He was a member of the Baltimore Clippers as a 37 year old in 1907. Ulmer appeared in 55 games for the club that season but almost exclusively as a defensive replacement as he had just 1 at bat and did not score a run all season, so could not have been a pinch-runner. I would highly doubt any other player in FABL history played more games in a season while getting just a single plate appearances. It wasn't the first time he had such an usual batting line as in 1901 with Boston Ulmer played in 43 games but made just 5 trips to the plate.

V- Frank Vance 2,379 1927-present
Took me a minute to think about this one but once I got it Vance seemed like the obvious choice. Now 38 and in his second go round with the Detroit Dynamos after a 4 year excursion to win 3 pennants and his second career WCS with the Kings, Vance is showing no signs of slowing down after batting .307 with a Federal Association leading 111 runs. He has also played in 7 of the 8 all-star games, won a WCS MVP in 1929 with Detroit and claimed the Whitney that same year following a season in which he led the Fed with a .372 average. Vance teamed with Al Wheeler as the first dynamic duo in Detroit and now that he is back he can mentor Sal Pestilli and Red Johnson who appear to be a modern day version of Wheeler/Vance.

No other player who's last name starts with V has 1,500 career hits but Toronto's Larry Vestal, 31 years old and with 1,261 should get there.

{b]W- John Waggoner 3,207 1897-1914[/b]
No other letter of the alphabet has more than 1 player who topped the 3,000 hit plateau in FABL action but W has three of them with Waggoner narrowly finishing ahead of Thomas Watkins and Joe Ward. Waggoner was also third all-time in stolen bases which explains the "Wheels' nickname in part, hailing from Wheeling, West Virginia also rounds it out nicely. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1938 a year ahead of Ward. Watkins has not got the call yet but Big Tom should at some point, perhaps as early as this winter.

The top active W player is the previously mentioned Al Wheeler, now 33 and showing signs of slowing down of late but a 5 time Whitney Award winner who also claimed a triple crown and is third all-time with 374 career homeruns. Wheeler presently has 2,362 hits on his big league resume.

X - No player with a last name starting with X has ever played professional baseball

Y- Jason Young 1,922 1878-1894
Jason 'Cap' Young was a shortstop/pitcher who played nearly his entire career in the days before FABL existed. Only 11 times has a player stole more than 90 bases in a season and Young was one of them, doing it for the New York Gothams in 1889. I should mention here that only twice has a player swiped more than 90 in a season after 1900 and that person will be one we talk about shortly. Back to Jason Young, he is also one of just 4 pitchers to enjoy a 40-win season and was the first of them after going 42-33 for the 1881 Boston Pilgrims of the Century League. And yes before you start to look it up, Young's 77 games started that season remains a professional baseball record. He never approached that win total, or starts again and was actually done pitching at age 24 but still finished with 135 career pitching victories.

Former Dynamos catching great Dick York is number two on the short list of 'Y' players with 1,638 hits. There is only one active big leaguer right now with a name starting with the letter Y and that is Orlin Yates of the Cougars, who has 147 career hits but there are a number of minor leaguers including Dick York's sons Joe and Rick.

Z- Ed Ziehl 3,496 1906-1929
As you might have guessed Ed Ziehl is the answer to the note above, he stole 95 bases in 1911 and added 91 more thefts the following year. Ziehl's 3,496 hits are more than every other player who's last name started with Z amassed as major leaguers if you added them all together. A Hall of Famer who went right from the playing field to the manager's seat with the Gothams, Ziehl is baseball's career leader in stolen bases with 913 of them and games played (3,025). With 13 seasons and 2,002 games managed - all with the Gothams - there is likely no player ever to witness more games from one team while on the playing field than Ed 'The Lion' Ziehl. The active leader among the Z's. That would be 26 year old St Louis catcher Heinie Zimmer with 368 career hits so far.

So there you have it, a quick trip going from A-Z through some of FABL's rich history.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 11/18/1940

President Roosevelt wins 40 states and earns a third term, taking the popular vote 22 million to 18.4 million over Wilkie. FDR says labor peace is his first goal. In conceding Wilkie urged the nation to unite, to "send aid to Britain and insist upon removal of antagonisms in America."
Greece claims to having successfully driven out of it's country all invading Italian troops.
German subs destroy a convoy of 15 merchant ships coming from Canada and the United States. Berlin also refused to guarantee safe passage for American ships leaving Irish ports with US citizens returning from Europe.
British bombs aiming for Munich Hall while Hitler spoke earlier in the night had arrived after the Nazi leader had left the building. In revenge the Germans leveled much of the city of Coventry in a 10 hour long raid.
FDR pledged of the United States plane production would be made available to Britain and Canada with 12,000 aircraft going to the British as soon as a possible.
Sabotage blamed for 3 explosions at a New Jersey arms plant and a fire at a National Guard base in Atlanta that destroyed $1 million worth of arms and equipment. A special squad of FBI agents have started circulating through many plants and navy yards in order to attempt to uncover any future sabotage plots.
Former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who stepped down in the spring, passed away after a brief illness.

Jiggs McGee · 02-01-2022, 11:11 AM

DECEMBER 2, 1940

ARE THE SAINTS POISED TO BECOME THE NEXT GREAT DYNASTY?

Don't look now but the Montreal Saints are stockpiling weapons for future use quicker than Uncle Sam. Already blessed with the best farm system in the game the Saints strengthened their reserve of young talent last week with the addition of a pair of top thirty prospects and added two more first round draft picks courtesy of the deal that sent all-star catcher Adam Mullins to Cincinnati. Yes, Mullins will be missed, and missed greatly this season but if all goes according to plan Montreal may finally be relevant again in the Continental Association, something that has not happened for over a decade and they have not been consistently been a fixture in the CA's first division since their last pennant twenty years ago.

The fall of 1930 was the last time Montreal was even in a pennant race but that club dropped two of their final three games and finished in a second place tie with Baltimore two games behind the Chicago Cougars. In November of that year the Saints future also looked very bright as their minor league system led by Hank Barnett, Vic Crawford and George Thomas was ranked third in the league. The Saints big league club would fall to 6th place in 1931 and has only made one appearance in the first division - a 4th place effort but 21 games out of first in 1935- since. Despite the on-field struggles the Saints, unlike their Canadian neighbours in Toronto - have always had very good fan support and it looks like those fans may just be rewarded for their incredible patience as the future finally looks bright in Montreal again.

Montreal's farm system entered the off-season already considered to possess the deepest collection of top level talent in the game and they only added to that with their off-season moves. The Saints now have 4 players in the top 15 prospects and 9 in the top fifty and that is not counting 22 year old pitcher Wally Doyle, who was considered the number two prospect in 1939 but now has spent too much in the big leagues to quality for OSA's prospect list. Montreal's group in the top fifty include three pitchers in Pat Weakley, a 20 year old year who pitched at Class A last season and ranked #3 overall along with 15th ranked George Wynn, a 22 year old lefthander who was drafted 8th overall last January, and newcomer Jackie James, a 20 year old who came over in the deal that sent Mullins to Cincinnati. Others in the top fifty include 9th ranked Bill Greene, a 23 year old centerfielder who had a 20 game audition in Montreal last season and appears ready to take the step to full-time big league activity. There is also a pair of corner outfielders in Otis Parker, ranked 12th overall and another pickup from Cincinnati and 44th ranked Milt Bennett, a 22 year old likely slated to begin this season in AAA alongside Parker. Then there is Hank Grant, a 24 year old shortstop who has been dominant at the plate the past couple seasons in the minors and made his FABL debut last season, 22 year old third baseman Norman Houser who had a strong year in AA and finally 22 year old second sacker Ed Fiore who was as effective as Houser at the plate in AA but needs work on his defense.

That is just the prospects ranked in the top fifty, there are plenty of others with potential in the Montreal system and then there are those 4 draft picks in the opening round and two more in the second round of the January draft. Saints management has already hinted they won't keep all four picks as they hope to trade at least one for a big league ready starting pitcher, but let's assume they do. If so, what could the future look like in Montreal?

THE WAR?
It seems an unavoidable occurrence that North America will be fully drawn in to Europe's war at some point, and if so baseball players, like any other profession, will not be spared from doing their patriotic duty. Players all across the league registered for the draft last month and it seems likely many young stars and quite possibly many more minor leaguers will hang up their gloves and bats for grenades and bayonets. Most FABL owners are already preparing for the possibility the game gets shut down for a year, perhaps even longer and even if the sport continues as it managed to do during the Great War, it will almost assuredly do so with a greatly depleted talent pool.

With that in mind, and the fact that this draft appears, at least at the moment, to be dominated by high school talent might the Saints take the approach of drafting 18 year old's with all of those early picks with the plan that while they might be gone for a couple of years they could return when the war is over as 22-23 year old's ready to build a power team, unlike college players who stand to be 3-4 years older. TWIFB recently released a mock first round and based on that we could see the Saints, if they keep all of their picks, drafting catcher Mel Franklin, infielder Otto Christian, outfielder Hal Eason and pitcher Bert Cupid. Eason would be the only college player in the group and seems a natural fit for Montreal after his dad Hal starred for many years in the Saints outfield.

Here is a possible 1947 Montreal lineup

Code:


POS  NAME	   AGE  CURRENT TEAM	NOTES
 C  Mel Franklin   24   High School    projected top 5 1941 pick
1B  Red Bond	   33   Montreal       near triple crown season, likely a 1B by age 33
2B  Eric Fiore     28   Class AA       top 50 prospect, former lottery pick in old draft system
SS  Hank Grant     30   Montreal/AAA   36th ranked prospect hit .291 in 46 games with Saints
3B  Otto Christian 24  High School     high school slugger reminds one of fellow Pacific Northwest product Red Johnson
OF  Bill Greene    29   Montreal/AAA   top ten OSA prospect made Montreal debut last season
OF  Otis Parker    27   Class A	       12th ranked prospect that Cannons SD Rufus Barrell calls a potential All-Star
OF  Hal Eason      27   College	       top college player in '41 draft, 35 homer power, dad was former Saints star OF
 P  Wally Doyle	   28   Montreal       just 22 and a former top 5 prospect, went 9-8 this season for Saints
 P  Pat Weakley    26   Class A	       #3 prospect said to have potential to anchor rotation, but recovering from elbow injury
 P  George Wynn    28   Class A	       #15 prospect but the highly touted lefthander dealing with an elbow injury
 P  Jackie James   26   Class C	       #26 prospect, raw but could be a middle of the rotation starter
 P  Bert Cupid	   24   High School   The Buckeye Bullet is pegged as a #2 starter and a likely first round pick in January

We are by no means suggesting the Saints would, or even should hang on to all of these players/draft picks and it is probably smart business to move at least a decent portion of them as the club's needs and fortunes change over the next half dozen seasons. That said it is fun to see what the Saints could look like in the future but in reality trying to project a starting lineup six years out while factoring in the potential impact of a war is not going to be anything more than pure conjecture at best and more likely just mere folly. However at first glance if everything breaks right that could be quite a collection of talent the Saints have assembled.

Before Montreal fans get to giddy and start planning championship parades it is important to remember potential, no matter how great it appears, does not always equate to big league stardom. There are cracks in the plan already as two of the key pitchers in Pat Weakley and George Wynn are dealing with serious injuries at the moment so the odds against this being the actual Montreal lineup to start the 1947 season are astronomical. The point is there is a lot of talent here and with the right mix of trades, shrewd drafting, some development and a nice helping of luck in the health department and the Saints might be on the cusp of having a glory phase similar to the 1915-21 run when they won 4 pennants and 2 WCS titles over a 7 year span. Those were the only titles the club has ever won but wouldn't it be something if Hal Eason, the man who played a large role in that first run, was the father of a player who was a key contributor to the second golden age of Montreal baseball?

QUICK HITS

Fairly quiet on the trade front as teams prepare for the December 12th rule five draft. After a flurry of activity highlighted by big moves from both Montreal and Brooklyn last month just a single trade was done in the past two weeks. That move saw the Pittsburgh Miners unload veteran outfielder Henry Jones to the New York Stars. The 36 year old veteran of 1,646 FABL games is a .303 career hitter but batted just .217 in 75 contests for the Miners last season. It was clear he longer fit into Pittsburgh's plans but the Stars hope he can rediscover some of his past ability as a depth piece in the Big Apple. The cost was very minimal with only 18 year old Bill Peterson, a pitcher selected in the 7th round last season, going the other way.
With newcomers Tom Barrell and George Phillips joining the Pittsburgh Miners pitching staff the Federal Association champs now are also faced with a roster crunch on the mound. Word is Chick Stout, the 1929 second overall pick - one spot behind Tom Barrell - and a Miner since 1932 will likely be moved and Roger Perry, Speed Brown and Gene Stevens are others the Miners would part with if they can get a draft pick or two in return.
Much is made out of the Rule Five draft by big league General Managers but in truth a player selected rarely contributes much. Last year's draft, for example saw 11 players switch organizations (not counting Ockie Holiday, the first pick but was actually ineligible to be selected). Of those 11 only Joe Scott, an outfielder selected by the Philadelphia Sailors from the New York Gothams in the second round, lasted the entire season on the drafting club's big league roster. The 26 year old Scott hit .277 but only had 119 at bats for the Sailors all season. Two others, pitchers Jesse Bowen and Jim Baker, were returned but the dealt back to the drafting team to allow them the ability to send those players to the minor leagues but the remaining 8 were just returned outright. So 1 player to a tune of 119 at bats was the sole extent of the rule five draft's contribution to the 1940 big league season.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/01/1940

Despite being driven from Greece, Benito Mussolini broke his silence with a promise that Italy "will break Greece's back" if it takes a year. He also claims the British lied in reporting destruction of half of Italy's battleships and vows the conflict will go on until England is annihilated.
Despite it's success on the battlefield against Italy, Greece is pleading with free nations to send airplanes to Athens comparing it's situation to that of Finland in their struggle with Russia a year ago.
The head of British military operations in the Mediterranean was captured by Italian forces. Air Vice Marshall Boyd and the crew of his bomber were forced to land in Sicily after being overtaken by Italian fighter planes.
A report from Italy says the Axis powers have abandoned their plans to defeat Great Britain through an actual invasion of the British Isles. Instead the focus will be on crowding out British influence from the continent and isolating Britain from her empire.
Hungary signed a military and economic pact with her totalitarian friends of Germany, Italy and Japan, turning their union into a four-nation axis. Meanwhile, Turkey and Yugoslavia have been warned by Germany they best join the Axis as well.
4 Nazi divisions rush to Rumania as chaos rises in an attempt to restore order after Iron Guard extremists have taken bloody revenge on officials of the ousted regime of former King Carol.
In a message to the American Federation of Labor, President Roosevelt urged a "just and honorable peace" with the now divided labor movement in the United States and suggested labor leaders can find a way towards that end. While admitting it will not be easy FDR said it is possible and essential to have a "great and untied democracy" in "any emergency which might be forced upon us."

Jiggs McGee · 02-02-2022, 12:45 PM

DECEMBER 16, 1940

CHIEFS ADD VETERAN WATSON IN RULE FIVE DRAFT

The trend in the rule five draft has long been to select a minor leaguer, usually in his mid-twenties, that a team hopes is due for a breakout season. The Chicago Chiefs threw conventional thinking out the window in this year's rule five draft, going with a surprising, but quite possible key selection in grabbing 34 year old outfielder Jim Watson from the Montreal Saints. The Saints, in the midst of a youth movement having dealt star catcher Adam Mullins away, likely felt Watson did not fit into their future so they dropped him from their 40-man roster despite Watson's career .307 batting average. He might just be the perfect fit in Chicago where there were perhaps some worries on how the club would replace the traded Cliff Moss's bat in their outfield.

Watson, like Moss when he arrived in the Windy City, is not an unknown commodity to the Chiefs braintrust including manager Joe Ward. Many in Chicago's front office including their skipper have a connection to Quebec, having spent a number of years running the Saints, and over the years there has been a pipeline between the two cities. Moss and now Watson are just two players in a long list that also counts current Chiefs Tom Bird, Hank Barnett, Bill May, George Thomas and Frank Davis as former members of the Saints organization.

Watson is now 34 years old and coming off one of his poorer campaigns, although in his defense he was hurt early in the season and did not play much after his return, logging just 164 at bats. The Chiefs are counting on him perhaps having one or two more .300 plus seasons left in his bat and the move appears a stroke of genius, one that costs nothing yet has quite the upside assuming Watson still can contribute.

SAILORS ADD THREE
Watson was one of just three former first round picks to be taken in the rule five draft this year. The other two both went to the Philadelphia Sailors, who led all teams with 3 selections. The Sailors took 24 year old pitcher Hannibal Davis with their first choice. Davis was 11-9 each of the past two seasons at Class B and has never played above that level so it is difficult to imagine him sticking with the Sailors big league club. If he does not the former 14th round selection will have to be returned to Boston. The first rounders came with the Sailors next two selections and both arrived from the Cleveland organization. One is Charlie Nathan, a 25 year old outfielder who was a lottery selection back in 1937 (during the brief experiment with a different draft format) but has been under utilized at best and often ignored completely by the old management team in Cleveland. OSA sees him having the potential to be a starting outfielder in the big leagues but he has yet to play a game even at the AAA level.

The Sailors also went back to the Foresters for their third selection, taking another outfielder/first baseman in 26 year old Joseph Mills, who spent most of last season in AA but did start a dozen games at the AAA level. Originally drafted 11th overall by the Foresters out of Carolina Poly in 1937, OSA feels he could provide a reliable big league bat.

NUMBER ONE PICK
With the first pick in the draft the Foresters eased the loss of their two outfielders to the Sailors organization as they tabbed former Brooklyn Kings prospect Bob Mullins with the first overall selection. The 25 year old Brooklyn native was a third round pick of the Kings way back in 1934 and did appear in 3 games for his hometown club in 1939 but spent last season primarily at AA Knoxville where he hit .342 with 14 homers in 93 games. OSA feels he can develop into an average power hitter and could be a middle of the road big league player so he seems like a pretty good bet to last the entire season in Cleveland.

Code:

 	1940 RULE FIVE DRAFT RESULTS
		Round 1
 1 - Cleveland Foresters: LF Bob Mullins from the Brooklyn Kings.
 4 - Washington Eagles: CF Bill Morris from the St. Louis Pioneers.
 5 - Montreal Saints: C Charlie Logan from the Philadelphia Keystones.
 7 - Philadelphia Sailors: RP Hannibal Davis from the Boston Minutemen.
 9 - New York Stars: 1B Bud Kirby from the Philadelphia Sailors.
10 - Chicago Chiefs: LF Jim Watson from the Montreal Saints.
12 - Philadelphia Keystones: SP Connie Upchurch from the Cleveland Foresters.
13 - Chicago Cougars: 2B Ossie Grogan from the Philadelphia Sailors.
15 - Detroit Dynamos: 2B Orville Snodgrass from the Montreal Saints.
16 - Pittsburgh Miners: 3B Sonny O'Callaghan from the Cleveland Foresters.
		Round 2
 7 - Philadelphia Sailors: RF Charlie Nathan from the Cleveland Foresters.
 9 - New York Stars: 1B Cuno Myer from the Chicago Cougars.
		Round 3
 7 - Philadelphia Sailors: LF Joseph Mills from the Cleveland Foresters.

CANNONS MAKE A PAIR OF DEALS

The Cincinnati Cannons made a couple of trades that were announced immediately following the Rule Five draft roster freeze period. Cincinnati added some pitching depth with the addition of veteran Roger Perry from the Pittsburgh Miners in exchange for the club's 5th round draft pick but in taking on Perry's salary, as well as that of recent waiver wire pick-up Nick Wallace, the club need to save money elsewhere so 29 year old corner infielder Ken Mayhugh was dispatched to Detroit in exchange for minor league catcher Hughie Fletcher.

JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE:Likely a good move for both players getting an opportunity in a new location. Perry (10-7, 4.36) seemed like the odd man out in Pittsburgh after Tom Barrell and George Phillips were brought in. The 33 year old lefthander has bounced around a bit in recent years but he has proven to be a steady rotation piece at times and with a 110-61 career mark he certainly has a habit of winning ball games. Perry's roster spot in Cincinnati is not assured as he will compete with Donie Scheuermann for the final spot on the staff but his ability to start games if needed certainly gives Perry the edge.

Mayhugh was primarily a financial decision for the cash conscience Cannons but he has been nothing but a disappointment since coming over from Boston prior to the 1938 campaign. Cincinnati decided he wasn't worth the investment in hopes he regains his all-star form from his Federal Association days and the Cannons had clearly moved on from Mahugh with news the picked up Nick Wallace off the waiver wire the previous week. A nice pickup for Detroit as they really lose nothing in a minor league catcher so it is well worth the risk to see if Mayhugh can thrive upon a return to the Fed.

LEAVES CINCINNATI BUT MAY BE THE REASON QUEEN CITY HAS A FABL TEAM

News that Ken Mayhugh is no longer a member of the Cannons organization comes as little surprise to those who watched games at Monarchs Park last season as the 29 year old rarely played and it was clear he did not fit in with the long term plans of the new regime. It is funny because not that long ago Mayhugh was being hailed as perhaps the player that could bring the Cannons organization back to a respectable level. This was back in the Baltimore days of course, that dark decade in Cannons history that saw them finish dead last in the Continental Association six straight years, before John Tice, George Theobald and crew rescued the team by liberating it from Maryland and the CA cellar.

During those bleak Baltimore summers the Cannons were often criticized for drafting and holding on to so many young pitchers will ignoring the offensive side of the game completely. They had opportunities to draft Red Johnson, Billy Woytek or several other high potential bats but continued to take and hold young arms despite season after season of failure. What is that they say about the definition of insanity? In the second half of the thirties it was simply watch the Baltimore Cannons front-office at work.

That was all supposed to change in November of 1937 when the Cannons finally pulled the trigger on a deal to send a pitcher away and add some offense. It seemed like a decent first step at the time as they sent John Edwards, a highly touted but still unproven prospect to Boston in exchange for Mayhugh, prospect Denny Andrews and minor league outfielder Ray White. While Andrews has evolved into a key player in Cincinnati at the time it was Mayhugh who was expected to change Baltimore's fortunes.

At the time TWIFB said "Mayhugh looks like a star already and Andrews seems to have loads of potential but the opportunity to land a pitcher with Edwards potential is too hard (for Boston) to pass up." Mayhugh did indeed seem to be a rising talent as he made his first and so-far only all-star appearance a few months before the deal, batting .299 with 17 homers for the Minutemen as a 25 year old in 1937. That would turn out to be the zenith of his career as Mayhugh's numbers tailed off his two seasons in Baltimore and he batted just .234 while being reduced to a spare part in Cincinnati this year. Now he has hit rock bottom, at least in the Cannons organization's mindset, with news he is being dealt for a washed up 34 year old catcher who was added strictly to fill a roster spot at AAA Indianapolis. Ridding themselves of Mayhugh's nearly $9,000 a year salary was more than return enough for the Cincinnati brass in this case.

So what happened? Mayhugh appeared to be the golden bat Baltimore needed. He was a 2nd round pick of the Brooklyn Kings out of Liberty College in 1932 and dealt to Boston while still a minor leaguer as the Kings added a veteran pitcher in an ill-fated attempt to catch Cleveland for the 1934 pennant. Mayhugh's career blossomed in Boston but was quickly extinguished in Baltimore. Did he simply get dragged down because of all of the losing and mediocrity in the Crab City or was it something else? I lean towards the latter as others who struggled in Baltimore, players like Deuce Barrell, Jim Hensley and Butch Smith prospered in Cincinnati but Mayhugh never did get untracked. Cincinnati was a fresh start for so many Cannons, but why not for Mayhugh? And will he ever recapture the form he showed early in his career?

The scouts still like him so perhaps a return to the Federal Association with Detroit is just what the doctor ordered. There is certainly no risk, outside of another contract to pay, on Detroit's side of ledger. Regardless of the cause of his lack of production after the trade, Ken Mayhugh likely deserves a huge thank you from baseball fans in Cincinnati because if his star had continued to rise he might have put the Baltimore club on the right track and pulled them out of that spiral of decay. Had that happened there quite possibly would not have been a return of major league baseball to the Queen City and we would still be talking about the AAA Steamers as the only game in town. So thank you Ken Mayhugh. You could not save baseball in Baltimore but you made a lot of ball fans in Cincinnati very happy. And for that we wish you well in the Motor City.

FORESTERS ADD PAIR IN TRADE

Cleveland's new management team pulled the trigger on it's first deal, announcing just after the Rule Five draft that they have acquired 21 year old middle infielder Wes Parks and a minor league pitcher from the Chicago Chiefs in exchange for veteran infielder Al Haynes.

Haynes will replace Andy Carter as the prime candidate to open the season at second base for the Chicago Chiefs, according to Chiefs bench boss Joe Ward. Bob Martin has been earmarked for second also, but Martin appeared in only 6 games in 1940--sandwiched between major injuries. He won't be back from his knee injury until June and there is no guarantee that he even remembers how to play second. Haynes is not unfamiliar to Chicago baseball fans as his college days were spent at nearby Whitney College before being a first round pick of the New York Stars in 1931. He made his big league debut with the Stars, playing briefly in 1936 but was traded to Cleveland that winter. After two seasons spent primarily in AAA Cincinnati, although each with a brief stint with the big club, Haynes has been a utility infielder for the Foresters each of the last two years and hit .418 last season, although in just 98 at bats. His career FABL numbers are very impressive slashing .371/.416/.468 but it is a small sample size as he only has 280 career at bats.

The 21 year old Parks is a Texas native selected out of high school as part of the 32 player lottery experiment in the 1937 draft. He made his big league debut last season as a September call-up and his first big league hit was a 3-run homer off the Pioneers Buddy Long. Power won't be his strong suit but OSA sees him as an average hitter with good speed and above average defensive value. So far the defense has not shown at second base, at least not in the minors, but Parks is young and ranked 71st in the latest OSA prospect pipeline.

Cleveland also adds a young arm in Jim Taylor, a 22 year old former 10th round pick who went 8-8, 5.03 at Class B last season. OSA does not predict much of a future for the Oklahoma native but he has had several velocity bumps over the past couple of seasons and now tops out at 90-92 mph.

JIGGS MCGEE's TAKE: Not a major deal by any stretch but a positive move for both clubs. Haynes has never been an everyday player but may get that chance in Chicago and we can all see if he actually is as good a hitter as he has shown to be as a part-time player. Likely not but good to see him get the opportunity. Parks is a nice pickup for the Foresters and perhaps can either apply some pressure on Brooks Meeks to pick his game up after a pair of down years, or perhaps even replace Meeks as the starter at second base. He instantly becomes Cleveland's best infield prospect either way. Taylor is just a throw in with not much upside according to OSA but repeated velocity bumps are an encouraging sign.

QUICK HITS

A total of 13 players were selected in the rule five draft this week, up two from last year's total but well shy of the 22 chosen in the 1938 edition.
From Montreal the Saints organization is wishing good luck to OF Jim Watson being picked by the Chicago Chiefs in the Rule5 draft. Watson wore the Montreal jersey since the 1932 season and request to be traded or released following the last season to help a contending team. The Saints are also welcoming their newcomer from the rule five draft, catcher Charlie Logan. It appears clear now, there will be a battle a spring camp for the catcher position. Ben Richardson has probably secured one of the two available spots. Then 3 players will be battling for the open position: Charlie Logan, Mike Jones and 24 years old Dixie Galloway could pretend to stay in Montreal for the coming season.
The Philadelphia Keystones lost Charlie Logan, who was part of the catching contingent at AAA Louisville, to Montreal in the Rule Five. Logan was fourth on the organizational depth chart behind two at the Major League level (Walt Potter, Carl Ames) and my AAA starter, Charlie Gump. With two catching prospects rising through the organization (Glen Sexton and Chet McCormick), 1941 will be a test of who deserves the next call-up.
Pitcher Connie Upchurch was the only selection for the Keys, although he split time between Class C and Class B last season. His numbers actually improved in Class B after his promotion and at the age of 22, he will be an available arm for the Keystones in the bullpen this season. We are hoping his development can continue at the major league level under the watchful eyes of pitching coach Ike Bell and manager Bill Libby.
The Pittsburgh Miners are cautiously optimistic about their Rule 5 pick, Sonny O'Callaghan. The Dublin native spent time between C and B level ball last year and had 27 starts on the mound (16-8, 3.26 ERA) and 76 starts in the field at 3rd and 1st. He batted .295/.411/.477 with 13 homers. Scouts think he probably doesn't have the power to stick as a corner, but new scout Fred Davis thinks he has mid-rotation capabilities on the mound. He'll get plenty of innings in spring training, and if he shows promise the Miners wouldn't mind stashing him as a 9th or possibly even 10th pitcher for the '41 campaign.
21 year old New York Stars 1937 17th round pick Babe Simmons somehow manages to tear his labrum in the off season and will miss 11 months after reportedly get hurt kicking a locker. Due to his poor judgement the front office gave him his release. When owner Al Mielke was informed of his termination Al replied, "Who?"

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/15/1940

Hitler tells Germany "we will defeat the entire world," painting Germany as the champion of labor and "the have-nots" in a war between "two worlds"; a battle between "the haves" among whom he placed 'rich America" and the "have-nots" between capital and labor.
Britain's longest assault by air - nearly 12 hours - inflicts heavy damage on Duesseldorf industrial areas. Nazi aircraft continued to pound London and the Berlin high command reports the city "blended into one sea of fire" as a result of one German attack in which between 80,000 and 100,000 bombs were showered on the British capital.
Nazi submarines continue to have great success disrupting British commerce, sinking as many as 17 merchant ships in a single day recently.
The war at sea is spreading to the Americas as a British merchant cruiser engaged with a German sea raider disguised as a merchant ship just outside the American safety zone off the coast of Brazil.
President Roosevelt has pledged US aid to Greece "which is defending itself so valiantly" against aggression.
After being pushed out of Greece, Italy's army is now fleeing Egypt after the British claim to have taken more than 20,000 prisoners in the Egyptian desert.
Pope Pius XII asked warring powers to observe a Christmas truce to keep "the clash of arms from drowning out the angel chorus of peace."

Jiggs McGee · 02-03-2022, 09:58 AM

DECEMBER 30, 1940

SLIM PICKINGS AS INDY CLUB TRADING WINDOW CLOSES

The annual trading window that allows FABL teams to make a deal with an independent club for one of their hotshot players may well have worn out it's usefulness as there seems to be a real dearth of quality talent available of late. Now, to be sure that was not always the case. In fact the Indy teams provided a boatload of talent in the the early days but that was almost entirely due to the formation of the fully independent Lone Star Association in 1929. LSA execs, desperate for talent to staff their new clubs, had the bright idea to hold open tryouts in several Caribbean and South American countries where baseball had seemed to catch on. The result was a number of very good young prospects, among them current FABL stars Sergio Gonzales and David Abalo, began pro careers with independent clubs. Those players, once they had the requisite experience, were then scooped up by FABL teams. That pipeline has now gone dry and with it the main source of talent that would be deemed of sufficient quality to warrant a FABL club swooping in and grabbing the player.

Now there were a few other exceptions, guys who were high FABL draft picks but through poor management decisions were cut loose and forced to sign with an Indy club. The old hierarchy of the St Louis Pioneers was notorious for this, allowing Chink Stickels and Ray McCarthy to name two, to get away. For the most part trades with Indy teams have simply yielded either a role player who gets a small taste of the big league life before going back to the bushes or players who quickly prove in FABL training camps why they were Indy players to begin with.

However, the window remains open and every once in a while a gem gets blown through that opening. Case in point Charlie Bingham who was acquired by the Chiefs from independent San Diego for Joe Blansit in 1935 after being selected in the third round of the 1931 draft out of college by Detroit but failed to sign. Instead of a 4th year of college ball he went the Indy route and then became a key piece of a pair of title teams in Chicago and remains part of the Chiefs pitching staff. Another possible example may turn out to be Sig Stofer. A sixth round pick of Montreal's in 1934, the Saints released him 4 years later and after a season with Houston in the Lone Star loop the Philadelphia Keystones acquired him as they needed a replacement at first base for the recently retired Rankin Kellogg. The pressure of following Kellogg might have been too much but The Boardwalk Bopper looked much more at home after a move to Washington at last season's trade deadline.

As for this year's version of baseball's bargain bin, four teams reached their hands into the murky pool of talent that is independent baseball and pulled out what they hope will be the next Charlie Bingham or Sig Stofer. Here is a quick look at each of those transactions:

STLOUIS-SACRAMENTO
The Pioneers swapped shortstops, sending minor leaguer Hod Rivas to to the Great Western loop club in exchange for 26 year old Bill Lehnert, who hit .241 for the AAA Governors last season. A 6th round pick of the Chicago Chiefs in 1936, Lenhert was quickly released after hitting .220 in half a season at Class C. He has played with 3 different indy teams since then and OSA feels his ceiling is a bench role.

Pioneers Assistant General Manager Charlie Kane says Lehnert was not brought in for his bat. "With how poorly (Ivan) Cameron played at SS last year we decided to go defense with the Indy trade. Lehnert posted a 4.3 WAR last year for SAC, mostly due to his defense. He did have 37 errors but he had a 28.6 ZR and 1.100 EFF."

KEYSTONES- SACRAMENTO
The Keystones swapped outfielders with the Governors, adding 29 year old Mickey Cox while sending Tiny Adair, who is also 29, to the west coast. Cox had a solid career at Frankford State and was selected by Detroit in the fourth round of the 1932 draft. He did advance as high as AAA in the Dynamos system, batting just .228 for Newark in 1937, but was sent to the Governors in the 1938 Indy trade phase in exchange for Bob Worley. He now comes full circle, as after 3 seasons in Sacramento, Cox is back with a FABL organization. He put up some pretty good numbers in the GWL, including a .339,13,73 season a year ago. OSA says he could possibly start in FABL but likely not with a team like the Keystones where he looks more like a AAA depth piece.

PITTSBURGH- SAN ANTONIO
The Miners swap pitchers with the Lone Star Gunslingers club. Les Bennett is just 26 and has been in the Miners system for 8 years but clearly does not appear to be big league material so he moves to San Antonio, which has been a power in the LSA over the years. In return the Miners add to their growing collection of greybeard pitchers with the acquisition of Eddie Gray, a 35 year old who pitched four seasons for Cleveland a decade ago and has been in San Antonio since 1934.

GOTHAMS - CHARLESTON
The Gothams acquired Woody Quartey, a 24 year old who was originally a Baltimore 7th round pick in 1934 but has spent most of his career bouncing around with various independent clubs. There are rumblings that the second sacker was only acquired by the Gothams so they could deal him to another team, believed but not confirmed to be Detroit. OSA feels he can be a solid big league infielder someday. If it is indeed Detroit that is Quartey's final decision, perhaps it is ironic that the player going to Charleston is a former Dynamo. Arnold Allen was just recently sent to the Gothams in the trade that moved pitcher Nate Spear to the Motor City. A 19th round pick in 1932, the 26 year old Allen has exactly one game of big league experience to brag to the boys in Charleston about. He made the most of it though, getting a single off of Washington pitcher Ike Keller in a September contest that featured his only big league plate appearance.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs. Today let us focus on the history of the Independent team trading period. Data exists going back to 1930 and while there were a few quality acquisitions in the early years (and that was almost entirely due to the Lone Star Association accepting international players who did not participate in the normal college/high school progression) there has been very little in the way of major acquisitions in recent years. Here is the history for each team with a look at their selections between 1930 and last January's trade period.

BOSTON- Just three times the Minutemen have acquired a player in the Indy phase. They are Danny Rocco, Ernie Herndon and most recently Elias Bradley. Rocco made 27 appearances at Class A in 1932 and 1933 and was released, never to play organized ball again. Bradley was a former 7th round pick of the Keystones and was acquired by Boston in 1938. He did get into 12 games for the Minutemen in 1939 and hit .308 but was released earlier this month and signed by Detroit.

That leaves Herndon, who actually spent five seasons in Boston after joining the club as a 27 year old. He hit .253 in 430 games but was released early in the 1939 season and retired.

BROOKLYN- Like Boston the Kings have added 3 Indy players over the years, picking up infielder Bill Scott in 1930, catcher Joe Clark in 1934 and pitcher Fernando Pedroza in 1936. Scott was by far the most successful, although for only a brief period. He led the CA in homers in 1930 with 33 while batting just .231. He would play just 129 more games with Brooklyn because he could not hit for average and the power turned out to not be enough to offset it. Clark was originally a Brooklyn pick in 1920 (in the 27th round) and the Kings reacquired him in 1934. He played 10 games in Brooklyn which was the extent of his FABL career. Pedroza was one of those international players who joined the game thru open tryouts in the Lone Star Association. He is still active in the Kings system at the age of 28 but has not pitched above AA.

CHIEFS- Just two players, both pitchers in Max Plourde in 1932 and Charlie Bingham in 1935 were ever acquired from Indy trades by the Chiefs. Both had some success in the Windy City as Plourde went 23-20 over parts of six seasons before being released while Bingham has turned into one of the best Indy acquired players of all-time. Detroit selected him out of Opelika State in round three of the 1931 draft, but couldn't sign him so he joined Fort Worth of the Lone Star Association. He spent 4 seasons in the LSA until becoming eligible for trade to the big leagues and the Chiefs grabbed him. He has gone 77-56 for Chicago and been a part of two WCS winners and a pair of all-star games. The price for Bingham was Joe Blansit, who has carved out a pretty good career in the Great Western League but Bingham was clearly a bargain.

COUGARS- One of the more active clubs on the Indy trade scene the Cougars have acquired six players over the years: Jim Crawford, John Banks, Jose Serna, Chink Stickels, Jorge Camargo and Bots Shearer. Crawford was a unique case in he was a guy who bypassed the college/high school scene despite being from Baton Rogue and just appeared on an Indy team in 1926. Never a star, he has carved out a pretty solid FABL career, winning a pair of WCS titles and still being active today at age 35 with Brooklyn. He is 80-64 for his big league career.

Banks was another player who just appeared in the Lone Star Association when it was created. He did not play much for the Cougars but did spend a number of seasons in Montreal, hitting .261 in 443 career games. He was released in 1939 by the Saints and is currently not playing anywhere. Like Banks, Serna was another player who just appeared in the Lone Star Association and he has played 240 major league games but none with the Cougars despite being back in their system now. His claim to fame might be he was dealt for Al Wheeler and Frank Vance (ok, with a bunch of picks and other guys) from Brooklyn to Detroit after the Kings had claimed him in the rule five draft from Detroit. Jorge Camargo is similar to Serna in that he came from the Dominican Republic and just appeared in the Lone Star Association but never made the majors and is now retired. Bots Shearer had played in FABL briefly with Baltimore before being released and then acquired by the Cougars in 1938 from Indy club Portland. He spent 2 seasons in AA but is now retired.

Finally we have Chink Stickels, who is one of those guys a team would like to have back. A 5th round pick by St Louis out of George Fox in 1932, he was ranked #95 on the prospect pipeline before inexplicably being released by the Pioneers. After an exile to the Indy teams the Cougars grabbed him in 1935 before trading him to the Stars a year later. He is an All-Star, a WCS winner and a key piece of the Stars offense today.

CINCINNATI- The Cannons organization never participated in the Indy trade phase in the 1930's but did acquire Juan Sarmiento last January after the move to Cincinnati. He spent just a week as a Cannon before being dealt to Detroit for pitcher Eddie Seguin. Sarmiento is another of those Dominican imports from the Lone Star Association's debut and has the rate distinction (along with Don Attaway and now Mickey Cox) of being involved in an Indy trade twice. The Detroit Dynamos sent him to Hollywood for Bill Ball in 1939 after Sarmiento had played 92 games in a Detroit uniform. Odds are slight but Sarmiento might get some more time in Detroit this season after spending half of last year in AA and the other half out of action with an injury - one that appears likely to sideline him well into the 1941 season.

CLEVELAND- Twice Cleveland added a player, picking up pitcher Jim Thompson in 1930 and Jake Matheson two years later. Thompson was originally a 1922 third round pick of the Chiefs and was in the top 40 prospects and pitched a couple of big league games in 1927. Injuries helped convince the Chiefs to cut him but a couple years later Cleveland acquired him from Portland. He went 6-10 over parts of 3 seasons with the Foresters then was released and spent another half dozen years in AAA with indy club Richmond. Matheson was a 1926 second round pick of St Louis out of Cumberland University. He was released in 1931 and picked up by Cleveland the following year after a seasons in Sacramento. Never lived up to his draft billing, hitting just .221 in 155 big league games with the Foresters.

DETROIT- After ignoring the Indy Leagues for the first half of the decade the Dynamos have added 4 players in recent years including Ray McCarthy, Wayne Morgan, Bob Worley and Bill Ball. McCarthy is now with the Sailors as a 26 year old who has had some injury problems but has been very good at times. He was originally drafted in the first round by St Louis (yes, I am also noticing a trend with the Pioneers) but for some unknown reason released after being ranked the 14th best prospect the following year. He has been traded a fair bit, and for big names with Jack Cleaves and Ed Stewart being the most prominent. Morgan was originally a 7th round pick of Baltimore and has had a brief stint with Detroit in 1938 and 1939 and remains in their system. Worley was a unique case, a veteran player cast aside by Montreal and signed by Detroit but immediately dealt to the Chiefs. He has power and skills in centerfield but is a .237 career hitter and now with Brooklyn. Finally we have Bill Ball, a 1927 first round pick of Baltimore who was released in 1938 because the shortstop's glove skills are not enough to make up for a .240 career batting average. He has been a spare part on the Dynamos bench the past two season.

MONTREAL- Danny Findlay, John Bennett, Don Hallam, Harry Fuller and Ed Greenwood are the five players the Saints have added over the years. Findlay had some minor success as a back infielder in the early thirties, playing in 242 games with Montreal. Bennett was a Saints prospect from the twenties who was reacquired and went 2-7 in his only season in Montreal after his exile to the Indy teams. Fuller also played just one season in Montreal, hitting .278 in 95 games in 1935.

Hallam is still playing, with Cleveland now after originally being a Toronto pick in round five of the 1929 draft. Greenwood was released by Baltimore almost immediately after being acquired as a lottery pick in 1937. He is now 25 and still appearing on the top prospect lists but has been traded twice more since the Saints picked him up from Dallas of the Lone Star Association.

NY STARS- Never acquired a player in the Indy trade phase.

NY GOTHAMS- They added just one and a good one in Sergio Gonzales in 1934. A 5-time all-star and a two-time 20 game winner, Gonzales was dealt from the Gothams to Cleveland for Moxie Pidgeon in 1935 and later moved to Washington for Mel Carrol and finally to Detroit a couple of years ago. Another of the Dominican 'invaders' to the Lone Star Association.

KEYSTONES- The Keystones have been the busiest team in Indy trading adding 9 players over the years. A few worked out nicely but the majority did not contribute a lot. One exception is Al Robinson, originally a 1922 9th round pick of Montreal who won 17 games for the Keystones and 19 two years later. Joe Kerr was a similar player, a pre-human GM draftee who earned some big league time after a stay in the GWL, but Kerr played just 183 big league games for the Keystones and Stars. Catcher Jake Walton played 391 games primarily as a backup after the cross-town Sailors drafted him in the 4th round in 1928 but quickly released him. Don Attaway has carved out a nice career as a relief pitcher and been on both sides of the Indy trade story - going from the Chiefs to Springfield in 1932 and then to the Keystones a year later.

Tiny Adair was originally a Keystones late round pick, released and later acquired from Waco of the Lone Star Association. He is 29 and just left the Keystones organization once again, as he was moved to indy Sacramento in the Mickey Cox trade this week. Steve Summers was a 12th round Baltimore pick who got a shot with the Keystones, hit .261 in 200 games but the shortstop is back in the LSA now. Dave Doolittle was a St Louis third round who was let go right after the draft (yes, that trend again) and has bounced around since but the catcher made his big league debut this season with the Philadelphia Sailors. Then we had Sig Stofer, considered the possible heir at first base to Rankin Kellogg a couple of years ago. Montreal drafted Stofer in the 6th round in 1934 but gave up on him. He hit 6 homers in 73 games over parts of two seasons with the Keystones and was traded to Washington at the deadline where he blasted 11 more in 41 games. Finally we have last year's pick in now 30 year old SS Cal Ruth. A second round pick of Boston, Ruth couldn't hit in the low minors so the Minutemen gave up on him. He did not fare much better in the Lone Star or Great Western Leagues but the Keystones took a shot on him and he rewarded them by batting .198 at AAA St Paul last season after being traded to Pittsburgh for a 7th round pick in May.

SAILORS- Six times the Sailors have made an Indy deal. The best was Jorge Nava who arrived in 1935 after being a Dominican import to the Lone Star Association. He is still with the Sailors but was limited to a dozen big league games because of injury last season but prior to that was a 4 year starter and a 1938 all-star who hit .266 in 562 games with the Sailors. Last seasons pick up, outfielder Ray 'Tadpole' Struble made his big league debut this past season at 25 after a solid year in AAA. He was originally a 24th round pick of Montreal's in 1932 but was released after 3 seasons with the organization. The jury is still out but perhaps he can be a decent depth piece for the Sailors.

The remaining Sailors pick ups did not accomplish much. Bert Small was a pitcher acquired in 1930 who went 0-3 over parts of two seasons with the Sailors. In 1931 there was Ed Grubb, an infielder who played 79 games over his career with the Sailors and Brooklyn. Jesse Rice was a pitcher selected by Boston in the 4th round of the 1931 draft but released two years later. The Sailors picked him up in 1937 but he has not advanced past AA yet. A 1931 10th round pick of Washington, George Rotondi arrived in 1938 and had some decent numbers in the minors, even getting a brief look with the Sailors this season but has been removed from the 40-man roster so likely does not fit in their long-term plans.

PITTSBURGH- The Miners have acquired four of them - Lynn Gray in 1930, Dick Mayer the following year,, Jim Sharrett in 1934 and Miguel Munoz in 1937. Gray was an undrafted high school player who kicked around in semi-pro ball until joining an Indy club in 1929. Perseverance paid off as he made the big leagues, playing 308 games over a half dozen seasons. Mayer was a catcher who was a late round pick of the Keystones, spent time in the GWL and was acquired by the Miners but never made the majors. Sharett is still hanging around with an Indy team in Charleston despite being 39 years old now. He never made the Miners and the relief pitcher's entire big league career consisted of 1 inning for the 1926 Brooklyn Kings. Munoz was a foreign import to the Lone Star Association and is still in AAA with the Miners organization at age 29 but has yet to play a big league game.

ST LOUIS-St Louis has been mentioned for a lot of the wrong reasons (letting potential talent go to the Indy clubs for nothing) but they also added a big time star in David Abalo, acquired in 1933. Another Lone Star free agent signing initially (out of Venezuela instead of the Dominican though) he is 87-58 over his career with the Pioneers. Three other Indy acquisitions by the Pioneers have had moderate success. Angel Padilla is a Dominican Lone Star player who has made 66 relief appearances for St Louis over the past four seasons. Bill Craft was originally drafted by the Pioneers, released in 1932 and reacquired 4 years later but has been released again without ever playing in St Louis. He is back in the LSA with Galveston. Doc Barker was a Baltimore 13th rounder who the Pioneers added in 1939 and made his FABL debut this past season and finally we have Emil Noble who was one of those rare guys who joined the Great Western League with no high school or college experience and acquired by St Louis 4 years later. He spent close to two years as an everyday player, hitting .251 with 16 homers in 246 games before fading from sight.

TORONTO- Toronto, along with the Stars, are the only teams not to acquire a single Indy player since 1930.

WASHINGTON- Only Luis Eieros in 1930 has been an Indy trade pick for the Eagles. Another Dominican player, he was just 17 when he first appeared in the league and has been in the Washington system all this time but, now 28, has yet to make his big league debut.

SON OF BROOKLYN MANAGER ENLISTS

MIDWESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MAY AID DEFENSE PROGRAM

Chicago (AP)- The Midwestern Athletic Conference may launch, within the next few weeks, a history-making drive to emphasize athletics as an aid to the national defense program.

Shortly after the first of the year, the presidents and athletics directors of the MWAC, which includes college baseball power St Blane as well as gridiron giant Central Ohio and AIAA basketball kingpin Indiana A&M, will meet here to determine how the athletic programs of their schools can be stepped up in behalf of national physical preparedness. And this problem will be a major one for delegates to the AIAA convention in New York, Dec. 30-31, according to Harl Kline, long-time Detroit City College coach and now the head of the Midwestern Conference and AIAA general secretary.

"Much of the stress on physical preparedness," said Kline, "has been given impetus by the revelations of our 1917 draft statistics, which showed almost one-half of the men examined were defectives and almost a third were rejected for unlimited service."

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/29/1940

Britain continues to enjoy success in Africa, seizing key forts and pushing the Italians back in Libya. However, Germany is increasing it's number of troops to be deployed alongside the Italians in north Africa.
Prime Minister Churchill calls on the Italian people to oust Mussolini and come to peace with Great Britain before British forces are compelled to come to "much closer grips" with Italy. This after news the British had successfully occupied several Italian islands.
An unprecedented plan to back Britain to the limit without considering the dollar signs on the bill, was approved with FDR stating the best immediate defense of the United States was the success of Great Britain in defending herself. This after London announced it could no longer afford to purchase war supplies from the US.
Italy threatens the war will spread to the Western Hemisphere if the United States attempts to send supply conveys to Britain by way of neutral Ireland.
Germany warns the United States that Britain's Minister of Shipping was "inciting America to commit a warlike act" against the Axis if, as the Minister suggested. the US turned German and Italian ships which are tied up in neutral US harbors over to Britain.
Signs the war is spreading. A sea raider sailing under Japanese colors heavily shelled the small Australian island of Nauru. Why a raider singled out a 5,400 acre atoll near the equator for bombardment was unexplained but British sources suspect it may well have been a German raider but cannot explain why the reports of the Japanese flag be flown.
New York City Mayor LaGuardia warns that the nation "must step up the efficiency of our national economy to match that of the warring powers - in order to survive."

Jiggs McGee · 02-04-2022, 11:57 AM

JANUARY 6, 1941

DRAFT DAY APPROACHES

The annual opening phase of the FABL amateur player draft is almost upon us. It is a day scouting directors of each of the 16 clubs have spent an entire year preparing for, and will culminate with every General Manager saying the exact same thing about how happy they are to get the kid they selected. As has been the case for several years now the FABL draft is split into two phases. In the January phase the first three rounds will take place with teams allowed to select from players entering there senior year of high school or either their junior or senior baseball season. Rounds one and two are wide open but in the third round clubs are restricted to selecting only a 'homegrown' player, born in either the state the team plays in or one that immediately borders the ballclub's home state. The two Canadian clubs have their pick of talent from across Canada in round three as well as states that border their respective provinces. Then after those young men lucky enough to be selected complete their prep or AIAA schedule in June they are free to sign a contract with the club that drafted that. In June we also witness the final 22 rounds of the FABL draft as well.

So this draft is like so many others but also in one very obvious way so very different. The situation in Europe is grave and nearly everyone in the country expects it is just a matter of time before we are fully pulled into the conflict as at some point simply supplying Britain with planes, ships and weapons will not be enough. Most of the college players who will be eligible for the FABL draft have already had to register for one conducted by Uncle Sam and with news last week of James Slocum, a minor leaguer in the Brooklyn Kings organization, leaving baseball to enlist it seems just a matter of time before many other ballplayers heed the call to arms. While this FABL draft, like each before it, is a cause for celebration the world around us gives off a very clear reminder that there is a good chance many of the players selected this week may not step on a pro ball field for a long time, and some possibly never but this time for reasons well outside their abilities to hit, throw or catch a baseball.

UPDATED TOP TEN DRAFT LIST ACCORDING TO OSA REPORTS

Somewhat subjective of course but in only reading the OSA scouting reports here is Jiggs McGee's updated top ten in OSA's mind for the upcoming draft. It will change when the remaining players appear* but right now there is not a lot of movement among the top ten with the biggest drop-off being Otto Christian (and not just me trying to get him to fall to the second round) as OSA feels he is "just" a front-runner for an audition at third base. He fell out of the top ten from 5th when I did this during the WCS. I also dropped Hal Renard out of the top ten after his report, while still very good, says "profiles as an everyday left fielder who can make an impact on a top-tier team" Likely could have been a toss-up between Eason, Alvardo and Renard to be in the top ten.

*the pool currently numbers 341 players so the commissioner will be adding an additional 59, mostly college juniors to the class just prior to draft day.

Code:


TR  LR   NAME		 POS	OSA NOTES
1    1  Hiram Steinberg   P  has the chance to be an ace
2    2  Tom Buchanan     P  should rank among best pitching prospects in any organization
3    3  Gordie Perkins   SS  projected to be an elite starting SS
4    7  Gene Madison      P  flashed potential to be a top of the rotation starter
5    4  Mel Franklin      C  potential to unleash his obvious talent both on the field and at the plate
6    9  Bert Cupid	  P  finesse pitcher has talents to pitch as a #2 starter
7   11  Lorenzo Samuels  1B  talent to flourish as a first baseman
8   10  Hank Eason	 LF  profiles as an above average player
9   15  Jesse Alvardo    LF  above average power hitter can be penciled in for lion's share of starts
10   6  Fred Loney	 SS  considerable ceiling and can be a first division starter

THE HISTORY OF THE FABL DRAFT

With the number of views this dynasty write-up is getting it appears there are a good number of people who are not in our online league (you really should sign up for the waiting list) that are following along. So for their benefit as well as some of our newer GM's who might not have been around since the beginning I thought it would be a good idea to trace the history of our league's draft and explain the how's and why's as to changes over the year's.

1876-1910 NO DRAFT
The early days of the pre-play (before human GM's arrived) had no draft. Our commissioner handled everything behind the scenes first with the various leagues competing for players and the hearts of baseball fans and even after things settled down with the formation of the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues in 1892.

1911-1924 FEEDERS TAKE FLIGHT AND THE BIRTH OF THE DRAFT
The Feeder League system was implemented for the 1910 season and it comprised a 40 team college league as well as a 64 team high school circuit. That league structure would continue unchanged until the conclusion of the 1933 campaign. What did change in the college loop was the names of the schools. Originally popular NCAA schools, that changed in 1928 when all colleges were given fictional names to match Figment Sports idea of fake pro team names and also to prepare for a possible tie-in someday of a Figment College Football or Basketball online league. So instead of the Ohio State Buckeyes or Notre Dame Fighting Irish our world has the Central Ohio Aviators and the St Blane Fighting Saints. It was never set out anywhere but I think it was just assumed that we retroactively used these new names whenever discussing any college team activities that occurred prior to 1928.

As for the draft, back then it was held in December and on December 5, 1911 Mark Robinson became the first ever FABL draft pick. He was a shortstop out of Berkeley (CA) High School who, aside from the honour of being the first pick, had a pretty uneventful career. The Philadelphia Sailors, thanks to an awful 46-108 season in 1911 (which remains the all-time record for losses in a season by a Continental Association club), had that first pick. Robinson was an outstanding defender but only was an everyday player for 4 seasons, finishing with a .269 career batting average in 686 big league games.

1925-1933 HUMAN GENERAL MANAGERS ARRIVE
Following that lengthy pre-play (which originally was supposed to be longer as the initial plan from our commissioner was human GMs would not arrive until roughly 1950) FABL went live as an online league immediately after the conclusion of the 1925 World Championship Series. It was a big moment for the GMs as we really had no idea what our teams would be like since all team assignments were handed out roughly two decades (sim time) prior. Human General Managers, pretty much all of us unfamiliar with playing stats-only and several new to online play entirely, found themselves tossed right into the fire as we had to prepare for the 1925 draft - our first chance to shape our teams.

That 1925 draft would prove to be one for the ages and featured several future superstars and, as it would turn out, we did a decent job as a group drafting those superstars high. Al Wheeler went first. He was a high school player out of Decatur, Illinois with immense power potential back then, but now at the age of 33 has hit 374 homeruns and won 5 Whitney Awards. Bud Jameson, Bill Ashbaugh, Doug Lightbody and Jack Cleaves were all taken in the top ten that year. Of course being stats only there were some bad misses then too such as Pittsburgh selecting Eddie Wilson, who played just 32 career big league games, fifth and ahead of both Lightbody and Cleaves. There were also some late round steals as Moxie Pidgeon was 12th rounder that draft and Hank Jones lasted until the 15th round with each going on to play over 1,200 FABL games. Pitchers too as the 10th round gave the New York Gothams Jim Lonardo, who is still going strong at the age of 36 with 216 wins under his belt. So there were surprises and busts and while the GMs slowly seemed to get better at landing the right guys there were still plenty of moves that eventually proved to be head-scratchers. The draft was unpredictable and fun, which was most important due to multi-levels of minors it needed to be long - 25 rounds to be precise with the human GMs doing the first 10 live and the remainder set to auto or by a list. The great thing is because it was a stats-only league most GMs spent nearly as much attention to deciding on their 10th round pick as they did on their second because the next Jim Lonardo or Moxie Pidgeon was out there - they just knew it.

1934 DEATH OF THE FEEDERS
By around 1930 it became painfully obvious the feeder system, as important as it was to stats-only because it gave us, well...stats, both defensive as well as offensive, but it also gave us something else. A talent overload, especially in the outfield. We used 104 feeder league teams and it became clear that was too many. There was some talk of reducing the number of feeder clubs but the commissioner was very much involved in his still solo but most definitely a part of the FABL/Figment folklore college football and basketball leagues. He wanted more, not less teams, as clearly having only 40 major college programs and 64 high schools across the country is not a realistic number. So the decision to abandon the feeder leagues and go to OOTP game created drafts was implemented. 1933 would be the last of the college and High School feeders but the commissioner diligently worked to ensure all of the top underclassman, including a young HS freshman by the name of Deuce Barrell, were ported over to the game created draft classes so they would still become part of FABL. After all, many of us had already been scouting underclassman all along in preliminary work for future drafts. An interesting note on the depth of the commissioner's involvement in this universe is while the High Schools in FABL are real, our custom schools file also includes over 500 completely fictional college names.

For me personally, it was a disappointment to see them leave as I had grown very attached to the feeders, especially the AIAA and it shows in early writeups on this thread which heavily focused on the college world. This thread was first designed to help out GMs who maybe had less time or inclination to fully scout the feeders as kind of a cheat sheet to give them some information heading into drafts. However, the talent bloat was a real problem so a change was necessary. There was a positive side too, as I agreed having a lot more colleges and high schools represented in the FABL world would be much more realistic.

1934-1936 THE MOCK DRAFT TOOK AWAY OUR FUN
The new draft structure was quickly embraced but nearly as quickly it was noticed there is a big problem. OOTP had expanded it's draft focus which was part of the reason everyone felt comfortable abandoning feeders as we now had multi-years worth of classes to look through and stats (no defensive and many missing advanced stats however) to look at. We also had a mock draft. While old versions of OOTP gave us an email listing the top ten prospects, one that often seemed very wrong in hindsight, the new version provided us with a 5-round mock draft. Great, everyone though as it was one more source of information for GMs would did not dive as deep into scouting reports. In theory yes, but in principle it was a terrible thing for Figment as it was quickly discovered the mock draft was too good - too accurate in that it with very little error gave us a comprehensive list of all the best prospects. The unpredictability we loved about stats-only was splashed in the face by a giant bucket of cold water that gave away too much. Once this was pointed out to the designers they did make changes to the accuracy level of the mock but refused to give us an option to hide it entirely like we could with player stars and ratings. So FABL went and found it's own solution. It took a couple of tries but I think our commissioner really got it right with the second one.

1937-1938 - THE LOTTERY EXPERIMENT
Sal Pestilli was the first choice in 1936, which would be the last of the conventional December drafts. In 1937 it was announced that the draft would shift to June, to better mirror real life and take place right after the high school and college seasons. That was the small change. The big one was we needed a new system because the in game mock draft was robbing FABL drafts of much of their unpredictability and excitement. So the commissioner came up with a new lottery type system in which the top 32 players (two rounds) according to the final mock draft would be placed into groups of 4. Players 1,2,31,32 on the mock draft were pod one, players 3,4,29,30 were pod 2 etc. Each General Manager would then take turns picking, in reverse order of standings, which pod they wanted for their draft picks in round one. It was then repeated for round two until each pod had 4 teams. A random draw would then determine which player each club would end up with out of their pod. Some liked the idea, many did not. It was exciting as the draft reveal was a lot of fun but it also clearly had it's flaws as teams lost a good degree of control over who they could draft.

1939-present - THE TWO-PHASE DRAFT
For the 1939 season a new system was unveiled and by all accounts it is working perfectly. The draft is still set for June in game but we manually draft the first three rounds in January. The idea is the top of the draft is completed well before the mock draft goes live so the mock is once again no longer present in our game (at least for rounds 1-3). This makes for some interesting decisions as players have not yet finished their development in HS/college because their final season has not been played yet. We draft in January but don't see the final results or have the opportunity to sign a player until June.

This has restored some unpredictability to the top of the draft, both because of talent boosts/drops in that final amateur season and the absence of an in-game mock draft to refer to, but also because of signability. When the first three rounds are drafted we do not know how difficult a player will be to sign as that information is not published until much closer to the June phase of the draft. Just last season Washington lost it's second rounder because Johnny Thacker, the player they selected, ended up being impossible to sign and enrolled in a military college (which considering the time frame we are operating in is a great story in itself. Disappointing to the drafting GM, but another challenge we all need to account for and perhaps a small factor in deciding between selecting a college player who traditionally are easier to sign, or a high school guy. There is also a wrinkle added into the third round, inspired by OOTP22's new regional draft feature. In round three teams are only allowed to select a player from their home state or a state that immediately borders it.

The remaining rounds (4-25) take place in June just as the draft had been entirely done previously. The mock draft is a factor then but much less so and this structure has also increased the perceived value of 4th round picks, especially the top 3 or 4 of them. It also frees up Jiggs McGee to provide his mock drafts for the January portion, and before you say 'wait a minute, I thought the whole purpose of all of this was to remove the mock draft from the equation.' Well, yes the game generated mock which is too accurate a predictor was our concern, but Jiggs makes his mock selections based only on OSA scouting reports and stats visible in the game so it is more like it was originally intended to be - simply a guide for GMs with a little less time to invest in scouting, but by no means guaranteed to be accurate.

So in summary the FABL draft process has undergone a number of changes, and who knows it might change again in the future but I believe most in the league agree it's present format keeps some unpredictability, provides some interesting challenges and is unique among online leagues, much like FABL itself.

QUICK HITS

The need for improved shortstop defense should have the St Louis Pioneers turning to Tommy Wilson, according to Percy Sutherland of the Chicago Herald-Examiner. Sutherland pens "I found this interesting about Wilson. He, of course, was the Premier Defender award winner at third. So we all want to run out and find more Tommy Wilsons, right? Not so fast. OOTP doesn't break out defensive and offensive WAR, but one thing you can do is compare defensive runs saved with offensive runs generated. OOTP doesn't have an explicit run saved metric, but ZR can be used as a rough equivalent. Wilson's ZR at third was 15.4--meaning he "saved" his pitching staff approximately 15 runs compared to the average third baseman. This was by far the top number in the game last season. Hank Koblenz was second at 6.7 (and Ray Cochran last with -17.1). Now what about offensive runs generated? That's where things break down--Wilson was by far the worst offensive contributor at third last season with -19.0 batting runs (which means his net was -4.4 runs). The only other two third baseman with negative runs generated were Walt Pack (-9.5) and Jim Beard (-3.5). The top two were Hank Barnett (47.3) and John Lawson (43.0).
A Toronto source jokingly says Pack should try wearing a glove this season. To that Sutherland, our resident defensive guru, adds "A ZR of -4.6 is fine IF you are generating runs at the plate. Pack obviously did not last season, but I still think he has the potential to do so. And note that Wilson having a negative run differential (-4.4) but a positive WAR (1.6) is only one of the reasons that I don't really trust OOTP's WAR calculation.
Speaking of Pack, that Toronto source also indicates the Wolves are rethinking things and may shop Pack instead of prospect Ockie Holliday as there is only room for one at third base and the Wolves have not received much in the way of quality offers for Holliday.
Even with trading away fan favorite Cliff Moss, baseball excitement is building in Chicago--season ticket sales are up nearly 23% over last season for the Chiefs.

reprinted from the January 6,1941 edition of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

WHAT'S PLAYING THERE, ANYWAY? - Strange news, indeed comes out of bomb-belted Europe. The German radio reports that the Nazi heavyweight boxing champ knocked out an Italian champ in eight rounds "and thus became the outstanding challenger for the European heavyweight title." This happened in Munich. Can it be that German ring promoters are still doing business at the old stand in spite of the R.A.F.? Must be.

Stranger yet is the sports news in the English newspapers. They still carry sports sections which include the entries and results of greyhound racing, Lancashire rugby and horse racing at Kenilworth. They still print soccer news while the world is crashing about their battered ears. In one sports section there seems to be quite a whoop-tee-do over the question of whether or not the air raid wardens and the bobbies should resume their soccer league schedule, temporarily interrupted by the heavy bombings of recent weeks.

The writer of the article seems to be in a bit of a pet over the air raid wardens. He argues that big soccer games shouldn't be held up and the customers dispersed over the first air raid sirens. In insists that the first wails of the sirens means that the invaders are still at least 100 miles in the offing and that no bombs will drop. He implies that the players and spectators shouldn't be asked to walk (not run) to the nearest shelters until the first eggs are laid on the field.

"Suppose the game is at a critical point," he writes "when the first siren is heard. It's hardly fair to either side to interrupt the game then when there is still time before real danger is upon us." We'd dislike having this gentleman fading us in a game of Harlem backgammon on a N.Y. Central crossing with the 20th century only 100 yards off and making up time.

As for any attempt to call off the big soccer games, bosh and tosh. In the Manchester Chronicle a Mr. Ivan Sharpe writes:
"Stop association football! It's unthinkable. Of course, no one would complain if the professional clubs, amid all the discouragements and difficulties, were to call it a day. But they mustn't. Association (soccer) is a game the English gave to the world. It it ceases now the world may draw false conclusions. We mustn't quit. The game has definite propaganda value."

On the same page with Mr. Sharpe's story are the agate results of games played throughout the kingdom - Tottenham vs Arsenal, Cardiff vs Southampton, Birmingham vs Stoke City, etc. etc. And between advertisements of Bobrill and Cephus tea is a reminder on the Unity Pool, a soccer gag the equivalent to our football pools of the Autumnal weekends.

Apparently the sports news of embattled nations is the answer to those who frown on the frivolity of play in those embittered days. It seems there must be a hookup between sports and morale. It seems that, not matter how dark the sky with smoke of battle, no matter how red the horizon with fire of war, sports and sports pages survive -and serve.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 1/06/1941

Hitler denounced 'the democracies' and their capitalistic workings in a New Years message and promised his fighting forces that 1941 would see them claim victory against all odds. Hitler made no mention of President Roosevelt's recent speech calling for increased war aid from the United States to Britain.
The Fascist press in Rome described the United States as the enemy of the Axis Powers, predicted a clash with America and called for a united "proletarian" front to destroy the "common enemy." It is suggested it would be Japan that would take the lead against the United States if war came.
London announces that the British Government has decided to make part time civil defense work compulsory for every Briton
German planes and pilots have been sent to Italy "to help in the bitter aero-naval fight now developing in the Mediterranean basin." British forces had been enjoying great success against the Italians, capturing another key Italian military base in Libya this week.

Jiggs McGee · 02-06-2022, 12:37 AM

JANUARY 13, 1941

The 1941 FABL draft is underway with the first two selections being announced and neither comes as a surprise. Although there were some rumours the Cleveland Foresters had briefly considered trade offers for the number one selection in the end they decided to hang on to the pick and take Hiram Steinberg, an 18 year old righthander out of New York City's Washington High School who had been speculated as the possible top pick of the 1941 draft as far back as his outstanding freshman season of 1938 when Steinberg went 12-0 with a 0.65 era. Steinberg has never lost a high school game and is a perfect 35-0 with a 0.55 era and 632 strikeouts in 362 innings of work. He was a High School All-American selection each of the three years and added the Adwell Award, as the National High School player of the year each of the last two.

Steinberg is already third in career high school strikeouts and when his senior season is over he will likely lead in that category as well as career high school victories. His 35-0 mark is 7 less than Donnie Jones accumulated at Minneapolis High School before being selected 6th overall by Toronto in the 1938 draft.

Assuming he signs with the Foresters following his senior year in June, Steinberg should certainly top the Cleveland prospect list and may well immediately debut as a top ten prospect on OSA's league wide list. OSA feels Steinberg has the potential be an ace, and will be heavily counted on to lead the Foresters in their rebuild.

Cleveland had spent 8 straight seasons in the first division, winning the franchise's first WCS title in 1934 and a pennant again the following season, but the club fell on hard times last year finishing with a 53-101 record good for last place overall in FABL. The 53 win total is the second lowest in franchise his and the lowest since the debut season of FABL way back in 1892.

It marks the third straight season Cleveland has taken a pitcher with their first round selection, opting for Richie Hughes 14th overall in the 1940 draft and Bart Schneider, one of the famous Schneider triplets, with the 8th pick in 1939. It also marks the 3rd time Cleveland selected first overall in the modern era and the previous two had quite different results. In 1931 Cleveland selected Harry Barrell, who has gone on to be a 6 time all-star shortstop with Brooklyn, while in 1926 the Foresters drafted Rainier College outfielder Karl Stevens number one and Stevens went on to play just 14 career FABL games.

Code:

CLEVELAND FORESTERS FIRST ROUND PICKS
	MODERN (HUMAN GM) ERA
YEAR  PICK#	NAME		POS	SCHOOL
1925	14   Alex Thompson	1B  San Antonio HS
1926     1   Karl Stevens	OF  Rainier College
	13   Mike Williams	OF  College of San Diego
	16   Woody Armstrong	SS  University of Chicago 
1927     9   Dick Kennon	OF  Pierpont University
1928    12   Leo Clark		OF  Dickson College
1929     8   Amos Leblanc	OF  George Fox Univ.
	16   Ben Bernard	P   Mobile HS
1930     4   Johnny Turner	3B  George Fox Univ.
1931     1   Harry Barrell	SS  Atlanta HS
1932    10   Levi Redding	OF  Central Ohio Univ.
	12   Art Spencer	3B  Rainier College
1933         Traded first round pick  
1934  	     Traded first round pick 
1935    15   Gabe Cain Jr.      2B  Houlton (ME) HS
        16   Eli Harkless	OF  Cambridge (MA) HS
1936    12   Jake Creel		SS  Ferguson College
1937    11   Joseph Mills	OF  Carolina Poly
1938    10   Paul F Smith	OF  Bardney College
1939     9   Bart Schneider     P   Northwestern HS, Detroit, MI
1940    14   Richie Hughes	P   Amboy (IL) HS
1941 	 1   Hiram Steinberg    P   Washington HS, New York City

ST LOUIS PIONEERS TAKE TOM BUCHANAN

As obvious as Steinberg appeared to be as the number one choice many, including TWIFB editor Jiggs McGee, had tabbed Tom Buchanan as nearly as clear cut to go second overall. The St Louis Pioneers followed script by picking the Waterloo, Iowa native immediately after the Foresters revealed their choice.

While most consider Buchanan, a tall (6'2") hard throwing lefthander, to be a step down from Steinberg OSA still believes once he matures the 17 year old should rank among the best starting pitching prospects in any organization. Buchanan took a big leap forward as a junior at Waterloo High last season, going 11-0 with a 0.58 era and 184 strikeouts while walking just 15 in 108 innings of work.

Pitching was a big problem for the Pioneers last season but plenty of help appears to be on the way. Buchanan will certainly need a few years in the minors but former first round St Louis selections Mel Bianco and Carl Roe both appear ready to join the big league club next season and the Pioneers also have 24 year old Danny Hern who spent significant time in St Louis this season. Those three and Buchanan certainly give the Pioneers a solid group of arms to build their future around.

The draft will continue over the next couple of days.

HALL OF FAME BALLOT REVEALED

The following players have been named as candidates for the 1941 Hall of Fame Class. A vote among league executives and selected media members will be conducted this week with the top three vote getters on the ballot will compromise this year's class. In addition one manager will also been enshrined from the list of former skipper's below.

PLAYERS

2B Jack Arabian (1896-1915) - .338 (15th), 3391 hits (6th all-time), 565 2B (3rd), 1362 R (19th), 1343 RBI (14th), 168.3 WAR (5th)
SS George Melvin (1891-1909) - 2716 hits (16th), 1471 R (14th), 686 SB (7th), 167.3 WAR (6th)
OF Thomas Watkins (1888-1904) - 3143 hits (9th), 581 2B (1st), 1641 R (8th), 1378 RBI (10th), 624 SB (13th), 108.8 WAR (14th)
OF Bill Craigen (1899-1917) - 2906 hits (11th), 381 3B (3rd), 1341 R (21st), 1294 RBI (16th), 89.8 WAR; Manager: 4 WCS wins, 1512-1409 record
1B Jim Jones (1879-1904) - 2786 hits (13th), 512 2B (6th), 206 3B (18th), 1608 R (9th), 1354 RBI (13th), 99.1 WAR (18th)
P Bill Temple (1899-1911), 284-230 (14th), 2.31 ERA (128 ERA+), 4819.1 IP (12th), 3131 K (2nd), 112.3 WAR (5th)
P Phil Miller (1909-1924), 288-284 (13th), 3.18 ERA (103 ERA+), 5102 IP, (5th) 1451 K, 102.4 WAR (6th)
P Charlie Wilson (1889-1901), 332-190, (5th) 2.72 ERA, (135 ERA+), 4698 IP (17th), 1927 K (13th), 99.2 WAR (7th)
P Jim Golden (1909-1920), 269-158 (17th), 2.27 ERA (129 ERA+), 3887 IP (31st), 2060 K (12th), 82.3 WAR (20th)
P Charlie Firestone (1912-1919), 210-103 (41st), 2.25 ERA (135 ERA+), 2898 IP (82nd), 1881 K (14th), 78.4 WAR

MANAGERS

Bill Craigen (1920-38): Also on ballot as player. 2921 G, 1512-1409 W-L, 4 WCS titles with NYS
Walter Love (1894-1920): 3911 G (3rd), 2076 wins (3rd) 1835 L, 3 WCS title, 1 add'l pennant
Joe Johnson (1892-1924): .551 Win Percentage, best for all managers with 1000+ games. 966-788 record, 4 pennants, 2 titles

The 1940 class consisted of just one player, pitching great Big George Johnson, as well as early major league manager Edward Wakeham. 9 votes were required for election on the players side a year ago. Here were the 1940 results:

Code:


HOF Voting results. 12 ballots, 9 votes needed for election:
Big George Johnson	9
Jack Arabian		7
Charlie Wilson		7
Jim Golden		6
Bill Temple		3
Thomas Watkins		2
Jim Jones		1
Fred Robey		0
Joe Carney		0

Here is the complete list of Hall of Famers.

A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT TOP PLAYERS

Earlier in this off season we had the announcement of the Whitney Awards for the top batter of each association. What does that mean: top batter? Is there an analytic approach we could take to help us determine who the top batters were in the FABL in 1940?

If you are working in a FABL front office, part of the job is to determine the value of particular players and find areas in which your club can be improved. How? Well, if the run is the currency of the game and the win is the currency of the season, then a club wants to generate as many runs as it can per game--while preventing the other team from generating runs--resulting in the maximum number of wins over the course of 154 games. And so for player value, the equation is simple: value comes from generating runs or preventing runs. Asking the question--who are the top batters?--is the same as asking which batters generated the most runs.

Lucky for us, there is an analytical statistic that attempts to answer just that question: Weighted Runs Created (wRC). And the plus version of that statistic--wRC+--is the park and league adjusted version. With wRC, instead of listing the individual elements of a batter's line individually--(.257/.374/.442, 25 2B, 16 3B, 14 HR)--the individual elements are distilled into a single number in order to say, "Player X was worth 24 runs to his team last year." wRC+ is further useful as it can be used to compare players--not only players who played in different parks with different run scoring environments, but also different seasons with different run scoring environments. A .348 batting average means something different in 1940 than it did in 1910. A wRC+ of 118 means the same thing all of the time.

But if we are used to looking at numbers like a player's slash line (.311/.346/.454), how can we make sense of a number like 118 wRC+? Is that good?

Everyone looks at .300 as the benchmark for a good batter. For the rest of the slash line, I think we can agree that an OPS (OBP plus SLG) of .800 is the mark of an above average player. In 1940 a total of 33 qualified batters reached the .800 OPS threshold. Red Johnson of the Dynamos is at the top of that list with 1.020 and Woody Stone of the Sailors is at the bottom right at .800. Stone's slash line was .311/.346/.454--.800. His wRC+ for the season was 118--18 percent above league average.

And here's Stars third baseman Ray Cochran: .300/.367/.450--.816, 125 wRC+.
Sailors first baseman Dick Walker: .257/.374/.442--.816, 130 wRC+.
Red Johnson? .335/.451/.569--1.020, 183 wRC+.

It's generally thought that a wRC+ of 115 or above denotes an above average player. Woody Stone and his .800 OPS had a wRC+ of 118. So, it passes the first eye test: these 33 batters with an OPS of at least .800 represent a group of above average batters in 1940.

Just for fun: how are the clubs represented among these 33 batters?

By club: BOS (2), CHC (3), CHI (3), CIN (2), CLE (2), DET (2), MON (3), NYS (5), PHI (2), PHS (2), PIT (4), STL (1), TOR (2).
Missing: WAS, NYG, BRK.

It's easy to see why the seasons for the Eagles, Gothams, and Kings were so disappointing.

What about the entire cohort of 89 qualified batters? Recall that wRC+ is calculated such that 100 represents league average. Above 100 is better than average, and below 100 is worse than average. As such, we would expect the wRC+ values to be distributed in a bell curve, with most batters somewhere around average.

Code:


Rating         wRC+      Player Count
Excellent      160        2
Great          140       15
Above Average  115       25
Average        100       23
Below Average   80       19
Poor            75        0
Awful           60        5

What this table means is that a hitter that had an above average season has a wRC+ of between 115 and 140, a great season is between 140 and 160, and an excellent season is above 160. And as we expected, most of the batters (67 of 89 or 75%) are some degree of average.

The two players in the Excellent category? Detroit's Red Johnson (.335/.451/.459, wRC+ 183) and Montreal's Red Bond (.340/.394/.550, wRC+ 164). Johnson won the Whitney in the FA while Bond was the runner-up in the CA.

The winner of the CA Whitney was the Cougars John Lawson (.345/.399/.507, wRC+ 154) who landed in the Great category. Both the Chiefs Hank Barnett (.298/.387/.529, wRC+ 159) and the Wolves Fred McCormick (.335/.430/.509, wRC+ 159) finished just outside of the Excellent group.

It is interesting--at least to me--that while there were no batters in the Poor category (wRC+ between 75 and 80), there were five batters who received enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title and who also finished with an Awful wRC+. That ignoble group:

The Pioneers Tommy Wilson (.223/.300/.300, wRC+ 71) and Ivan Cameron (.251/.313/.308, wRC+ 70), the Kings Fred Barrell (.243/.312/.321, wRC+ 70) and Walt Layton (.224/.265/.342, wRC+ 69), and the Dynamos Gil London (.216/.291/.268, wRC+ 62).

What these 5 players have in common--besides a wRC+ below 75--is that they all play good defense, which is why they have their spots in the starting lineup. There comes a point in time, though, that no matter how many runs you are saving in the field, if you are giving all those runs back at the plate, the improved defense is not worth it.

And I don't mean to single out the Kings, but their offense needs a lot of work. We already pointed out that the Kings were one of three clubs to not have any qualified batters top .800 OPS. And not only do they have two batters in the Awful wRC+ category, they have no batters in the Great or Above Average categories either. Their top batter--Rats McGonigle (.265/.314/.448, wRC+ 110)--had a decidedly average season. And on top of that, McGonigle was the only qualified Kings batter in the Average category.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 1/12/1941

Despite being driven out of Egypt and forced to fall back in both Greece and Libya, Mussolini and the Italian cabinet adopt a resolution "solemnly reaffirming" Italy's fidelity to the alliance with Germany and declared Italy's determination to fight on to victory. Mussolini also expressed confidence in the capabilities of the Italian military.
Britain expects Hitler to attempt to land on English soil in the next few months, if not weeks. They feel Hitler "cannot afford to remain passive much longer while his junior partner in crime is being hammered in Africa and Albania, on the seas and in the air."
The R.A.F. bombed Naples this week in addition to several attacks on German naval ports.
Russia objected heavily that the US is violating international law by sending arms to Britain while holding that Russia could not sell even cereals to Germany without violating the policy of peace. This came as Germany and Russia agree to a new pact, extending trade between the two nations.
President Roosevelt calls for a final budget of $17 billion "for the total defense of our democracy" and will soon ask for an additional reported $3-$10 billion being needed to help supply munitions for Britain.
Secretary of Navy Knox announces the addition of 40,000 more enlisted men to meet FDR's call that every U.S. warship be manned at full wartime strength as soon as possible.
New York City Mayor LaGuardia hints he may leave his post for Washington to act as co-ordinator of the defense program but when FDR was asked about the report he replied it was the first time he had heard of it.

Jiggs McGee · 02-07-2022, 06:18 PM

JANUARY 20, 1941

JIGGS MCGEE WITH ANALYSIS ON THE FIRST ROUND PICKS

As you well know from last week's edition of TWIFB the top two selections were both pitchers and neither came as a surprise. Hiram Steinberg may well be the best high school pitcher of all-time and looks like the perfect young arm for the Cleveland Foresters to try and rebuild around. They were a contender for the better part of the past decade, and won a pair of pennants and a WCS along the way, but age seemed to be starting to creep on the club over the past couple of years. Cleveland did manage to stave off the predicted decline with one last hurrah in 1939 but last season things finally caught up to the Foresters and it is quite possible they will be in full rebuild mode as the 1941 season gets underway. Meaning I would not be surprised to see veterans like Dave Rankin, Rube McCormick, Dan Fowler and who knows maybe even Dean Astle and George Dawson moved between now and the trade deadline, especially if the Foresters get off to another rough start as the club would likely turn it's focus on building up it's minor league system.

St Louis was also a team in need of pitching help as the Pioneers mound staff really struggled last season and was also the victim of an abundance of injuries. The player they selected, just like top pick Steinberg, will not help for at least two or three seasons but high school lefthander Tom Buchanan looks like a top of the rotation arm.

MONTREAL SAINTS - PART ONE
With picks 1 & 2 out of the way and both following script with who they were expected to select that left the Montreal Saints with the first pair of their 4 picks in the opening round. The Saints system is already loaded but with some smart drafting will be just incredible. Montreal already has nine players in the top 52 and 12 of the top 97 prospects according to OSA and they are going to add 5 more out of the first 19 selections in this draft.

Speaking with a few other columnists we all agreed that one of the two choices here would be shortstop Gordie Perkins so it was no surprise when the High School All-American from Trumbauersville, Pennsylvania was posted as the third selection. OSA has very high praise for the 18 year old, projecting him to be an elite hitter and a defensive marvel at shortstop.

The fourth selection did come as a bit of a surprise. With Wally Doyle and Karl Wallace already in Montreal and Pate Weakley, George Wynn and Jackie James all ranked in the OSA top 28 I was not expecting the Saints to take a pitcher here with pick four. Trading all-star catcher Adam Mullins away and lacking an elite catching prospect I had expected two-time All-American Eddie Howard to be selected by the Saints with the 4th pick. Howard is a Louisiana High Schooler that OSA projects to be a well above average hitter. One GM did confide in me his club shied away from Howard out of concern for his work ethic, and yes many say the catcher lacks an edge but as the top catcher and a clear top ten prospect I feel Howard would have been the perfect fit for Montreal with the this pick.

Not that the player the Saints selected is a bad choice at all. Bert Cupid, a high school righthander out of Youngstown is known as the Buckeye Bullet and OSA feels he has the talents to be a #2 starter if he lives up to his potential. I had expected Brooklyn to take the 17 year old 5th, but the Saints clearly were smitten with Cupid.

PICKS 5 & 6 - FOREIGN BORN OUTFIELDERS
As mentioned I had expected the Brooklyn Kings to being set on taking Bert Cupid to help build their pitching depth back up but with him out of the picture they turned to a Puerto Rican outfielder who had been playing in a Caribbean League but will enroll at Miami State this season. Perhaps an eventual replacement for Al Wheeler in the Brooklyn outfield, Orie Martinez will not have the power of the Wonder Wheel but should be an above average hitter with some very good defensive skills and judging by his nickname (The Rincon Rifle) will have more than enough arm to play right field.

The Washington Eagles also went with a foreign born outfielder but Jesse Alvardo is a much more known commodity. His family moved from their native Mexico to Brooklyn when he was a youngster and Alvardo has been an All-American selection each of his first three years at Canarsie High School. He may well be the best power-hitting outfield prospect available in this draft but he is much more than just a power bat as OSA expects him to be an above average contact hitter and an outstanding defensive corner outfielder. When his high school career ends he stands a good chance of being in the top ten all-time (including feeders) for career high school homeruns.

I will admit the Eagles selection caught me off guard as I was almost certain they would have selected one of the 3 or 4 very good shortstops that are on the board. John Black, Bill Bryant, George Darnell and John Fast all come to mind as good fits for Washington but it is hard to argue against taking Alvardo as quite possibly the best available player at this slot.

PICKS 7-9
I had the Sailors taking an outfielder here but expected it to be Orie Martinez (who went 5th to Brooklyn) or Hal Renard. Grout is clearly very highly thought of but with no high school ball under his belt and OSA feeling he has a chance to fashion a major-league career as a bench player despite raving about his power potential and patient approach at the plate I saw him more as a second round selection. Although after the Sailors made their pick several rival scouts immediately talked about how much they liked him.

The Minutemen were one team that publicly admitted Grout would have been their pick but I think in the long run Boston will be very happy with SS Billy Bryan, who they selected 8th out of a North Carolina high school. OSA sees a very high ceiling for Bryant, who has played all four infield positions and has an outstanding work ethic.

I can't say I am surprised the New York Stars made Larry Gregory the fourth pitcher selected in the draft as we all know a lot of pitchers go in the first round. He has just one season of high school ball in Chicago under his belt and OSA sees him as a back of the rotation arm. I think he may turn out to be just that but if the Stars were looking pitcher here perhaps they should have gone with Sid Moulton, who was selected 3 picks later.

MONTREAL PART DEUX
2 more picks in succession for the Saints as they follow up SS Gordie Perkins and P Bert Cupid by finally taking a catcher like I had expected them to do fourth overall. But first we have a great pick for the Montreal fans in outfield Hank Eason, who was born in Montreal while his dad was starring for the Saints a couple of decades ago. Eason is the first player selected with actual college ball experience (Martinez is a college athlete as well but has yet to play at Miami State) and is projected to have outstanding power. How that plays out at cavernous Parc Cartier remains to be seen but it's great to see Hank perhaps one day be a Saint as old-timers in the organization can remember him running wild as a toddler in the Montreal clubhouse on occasion. As for the catcher the Saints did select one with the 11th pick, but not Eddie Howard, who remains on the board, as I had expected they would have taken 4th. Instead they went with 18 year old Mel Franklin out of Moberly, Missouri. OSA feels he has obvious talent both on the field and at the plate but I am betting Howard will prove to be the better big leaguer.

THE REST OF THE FIRST ROUND
Pitcher number 5 of the round went to the Keystones. They had great success last year taking a Pennsylvania kid who had never pitched organized High School ball and by all accounts that pick (Joe Quade) is going to be a great one. So the question is did they duplicate that success with the decision to draft Sid Moulton out of a Cleveland high school. One scout I talked to had Moulton ranked higher than every other pitcher in the draft except for Steinberg and Buchanan but does admit he feels Moulton falls well short of Quade. Moulton does have a great work ethic and no one will ever question is character. He needs to add some weight to his 5'11", 150 lb frame as it would be nice to get his fastball, which presently peaks at 85 mph, over the 90 mark.

I like the pick of Moulton and I can see why the Keystones did not take a third baseman with Hank Koblenz and Davey Robicheaux already in Philly, but in my books the Chicago Cougars landing The Walla Walla Walloper at pick 13 may prove to be the biggest steal of this draft. A three-time High school All-American, Otto Christian was a power hitting machine that reminded many of another Pacific Northwest high school product in Detroit's Red Johnson. Christian has hit more homers in each of his 3 seasons than Johnson ever did in a high school year.

At 14 the Detroit Dynamos land a High School All-American in Maine outfielder Hal Renard. He is a corner outfielder/first baseman who profiles at the play more like a center fielder: great base runner, walks a lot and meticulous mechanics that should translate into a high batting average.

A pair of high school shortstops made up the final two picks. John Fast has yet to play a high school baseball game but the Toronto Wolves love his athleticism. Pittsburgh ended the round with George Darnell, who was an All-American as a sophomore but tailed off last season. OSA sees the Cincinnati born youngster as a tremendous hitter.

Code:

	1941 FABL DRAFT FIRST ROUND RESULTS
PK  TM   POS   PLAYER		AGE     SCHOOL		        HOMETOWN
 1  CLE   P  Hiram Steinberg     18  Washington HS, New York    New York City
 2  STL   P  Tom Buchanan	 17  Waterloo (IA) HS	        Waterloo, IA
 3  MON  SS  Gordie Perkins	 18  Trumbauersville (PA) HS    Trumbauersville, PA
 4  MON   P  Bert Cupid		 17  Wilson HS, Youngstown, OH  Youngstown, OH
 5  BKN  OF  Orie Martinez	 21  Miami State	        Rincon, Puerto Rico
 6  WSH  OF  Jesse Alvardo	 17  Canarsie HS, Brooklyn      Hidalgo, Mexico
 7  PHS  OF  Ernie Grout         17  South Park HS, Buffalo,NY  Rochester, NY 
 8  BOS  SS  Billy Bryant        17  Boone (NC) HS		Candler, NC
 9  NYS   P  Larry Gregory       17  University HS, Chicago     Chicago, IL
10  MON  OF  Hank Eason          21  Huntington State		Montreal, QC
11  MON   C  Mel Franklin        18  Moberly (MO) HS		Moberly, MO
12  PHK   P  Sid Moulton	 17  West HS, Cleveland, OH     Eastlake, OH
13  CHC  3B  Otto Christian      18  Walla Walla (WA) HS        Walla Walla, WA
14  DET  OF  Hal Renard          17  Pittsfield (ME) HS		East Machias, ME
15  TOR  SS  John Fast           17  Mechanicsburg (PA) HS      Mechanicsburg, PA
16  PIT  SS  George Darnell      17 Walnut Hills HS, Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH

Code:

	1941 FABL DRAFT SECOND ROUND RESULTS
PK TM   POS   PLAYER		AGE     SCHOOL		        HOMETOWN
17 CLE  3B  Glenn White		18  Kenwood HS, Baltimore	Baltimore, MD
18 STL  P   Gene Madison	18  Sacred Heart HS, San Fran	San Francisco, CA
19 MON  OF  Gig Taylor		17  Roosevelt HS, Wash DC	Washington, DC
20 CHC  C   Eddie Howard        17  St Joseph (LA) HS		Bastrop, LA
21 BKN  SS  John Black		18  Wallingford (CT) HS		Wallingford, CT
22 WSH  SS  Fred Loney		17  Totowa (NJ) HS		Totowa, NJ
23 PHS  P   Dallas Griffith	18  Monroe (WI) HS		Monroe, WI
24 CIN  CF  Claude Hesser       21  College of Cairo		Columbus,WI
25 NYS  CF  Elijah Bourdeau     21  Ohio Poly			Ft. Wayne, IN
26 DET  C   Jackie Harper	17  Homestead(PA) HS		Johnstown, PA
27 CIN  SS  Win Hamby		18  Morrisonville(IL) HS	Little Rock, AR
28 PHK  CF  Joe Burns		18  Glens Falls(NY) HS		Glens Falls, NY
29 CHC  P   Leo Hayden		18  Benicia (CA) HS		San Jose, CA
30 NYS  CF  Flipper Robinson	18  Lenoir (NC) HS		Lenoir, NC
31 TOR  P   Harry Phillips	18  Ashley (MI) HS		Grand Rapids, MI
32 DET  SS  Bob Montgomery	18  Snyder (TX) HS		Snyder, TX

‘OL Doc coming to you on a cold January afternoon in Boston. While it may be cold outdoors, the front office at Cunningham Field was plenty warm as the Minutemen were hard at work preparing for the first two rounds of the 1941 Amateur Draft. The Minutemen were left with a single pick in the opening round thanks to a deal they pulled off with the Cannons to bring catcher Jack Flint to the “Olde Towne” for their second and fifth round picks. Boston was also without a 4th round as they traded that selection away to the Cougars for 22 year old, 1B Bill Dambreville, who is set to start the season at AAA in ‘41. Left with only picks in the first and third round before round six, it was imperative that Boston Brass get a solid building block for the future. Now ‘Ol Doc was not allowed into the room for any of these discussions but he has more than a few sources willing to trade tales for talls at Mcgreevy’s.

One of the league rumors was that Boston was in the market for a backstop since Van Ness has been less than advertised thus far. However, the club immediately addressed that problem with the trade for Flint. Flint gives the Minutemen a solid catcher and allows time for Van Ness to develop. Would the drafting of a catcher be a bad idea? Not at all, but the prospects available in the next few drafts are as appealing, if not more appealing, than the ones in the current draft. In short, unless this was the second coming of Mullins or Zimmer, Boston felt they could wait a year on spending a high pick on a catcher.

So with catcher off the board where were the Minutemen looking? It would appear it was in the outfield. Boston has had a stable group of outfielders at the top level and more than a few at AAA ready to take their spots. On its face it looks as if the outfield is set for the immediate and near future. That is until you look a bit deeper below the surface. There is one important trait that a few outfielders in this draft have that Boston is really lacking organization wide. The trait is power is game changing power. Power is a valuable commodity in the game right now. There can only be one leadoff hitter, but a power bat plays anywhere. Two players in particular were at the top of the Boston list. The first was Ernie Grout, the athletic LF from Rochester New York. Grout learned his baseball in the sandlot leagues of upper New York. Scouts say he has a plus-plus eye and has raw above average power. Although Grout never played in a traditional high school setting the Minutemen were willing to take the gamble. Scouts feel the power plays which put Grout to the top of the prospect list. The other player that Boston had their eye on was the “Hidalgo Kid” Jesse Alvardo. Alvardo made a name for himself in Veracruz where he was able to compete with 15 year olds as a nine year old. It was clear that Mr. and Mrs. Alvardo had something special in their boy and made the difficult decision to send him to live with family in New York to help him achieve his dream of playing in the FABL. In his 3 years at Canarsie in Brooklyn, Alvardo never hit below .500 and belted 33 homers. Boston felt the power would translate and wanted to select Alvardo if at all possible.

‘OL Doc also learned that there was a contingency plan if both Grout and Alvardo were off the board by the 8th selection. Although outfielders like Renard and Martinez and few others were highly regarded, all of those players were missing the power potential Boston was looking for. So in the absence of Grout or Alvardo, Boston would shift its focus to the heavy shortstop class. Boston scout Johnny Robards loved John Fast from Pennsylvania. Although he had not had the time to fully scout the young man he liked what he saw in the limited time he was with him. The problem however, was until Fast popped up on the radar late, players like Perkins and Bryant had become common names mentioned during draft discussions. There was serious doubt that Perkins would fall to eight, so the conversation really became about a preference over the newcomer in Fast and the former clear cut favorite in Bryant. It should be mentioned that Boston has a real nice SS prospect in Al Gross who was drafted 12th overall in 1937. Gross is set to play AAA next season at 22 years of age. So the preference was to draft one of the outfielders, but if the club had to go in a different direction, it was thought to be better to grab the athletic SS. The fact that Bryant could really play any position on the infield made him a popular choice in the room.
As draft day unfolded Boston watched both the phone and telegraph machine closely.

Pick #1 SP Steinberg to Cleveland (No surprise as Boston never entertained the thought of him falling to two let alone to eight.)
Pick #2 SP Buchanan to St. Louis (Once again. No real surprise.)
Pick #3 SS Perkins to Montreal (Everything is playing out as expected)
Pick #4 SP Cupid to Montreal (A bit of a surprise here. Boston thought maybe a catcher here. Maybe the Saints felt the top catcher on the board in Howard was a tad overrated for the spot)
Pick #5 RF Martinez to Brooklyn (Aces. It was an outfielder but not who Boston was chasing)
Pick #6 LF Alvardo to Washington (I was told there was a bit of cursing after this pick came in. Still, one pick to go with Boston’s top choice still on the board.)
Pick #7 LF Grout to the Sailors (Definitely a bit more swearing was what ‘OL Doc was told. In 2 picks the top two choices on Boston’s board were now gone. After that the choice became simple.)
Pick #8 SS Bryant to Boston.

That is the whole story as was shared with ‘Ol Doc after many a round. In ‘Ol Doc’s eyes he would agree that one of the power bats would have looked real nice in the organization but the addition of Bryant is something to be proud of. “Boots” as they call young Bryant is said to contain a work ethic and drive to improve that other ball players do not possess. In two high school seasons Bryant had only struck out 4 times in 228 plate appearances. Also, Bryant’s on base percentage was never lower than .543 in high school. Some in the OSA world even claim that once the young lad fills out he will be able to hit an average number of balls out of the park. Johnny Guzzo of the Miners led all SS in home runs in 1940 with 14. If Bryant can match that number and still hit .300 and play his position, then Boston would have quite a player on their hands.

QUICK HITS

From Dan Barrell, head scout of the OSA: 11 hitters, 5 pitchers in round 1. That gets a thumbs up. Without going into specifics, this is a good draft for OF, SS, C and to a lesser degree 3B. It's a middling (read below average) class for pitching and thin at 1B and to a lesser degree 2B.
From Johnny Bologna of the Philadelphia Inquisitor: "The Keystones add to their stable of good young pitchers with high school righty Sid Moulton. They can afford to wait on Moulton to bloom with other early-'20s babies, pitchers Roy Montgomery and Charlie Waddell. Joe Quade is only a year older, but he is at another level right now. My inside sources tell me that Moulton was third on his list after the early lead-pipe locks (Hiram Steinberg and Tom Buchanan) went in the draft, only behind SS Billy Bryant and LF Hank Eason."
The New York Stars ended up picking Larry "The Pope of Chicago" Gregory after seeing a lack of pitching prospects and the few that were available going fast. Otherwise, I am told they would have selected SS John Fast to give a bump in the middle infield and a possible 3B arm. Stars Scouting Director James Marcou really liked Hal Renard at #2 overall in the draft, and his club could have had him, but they just couldn't justify yet another outfielder in an already cramped position. The hope is Pope Greggory will bless the Stars organization with winning seasons and they wont have to tithe too much of the payroll budget towards him and the holy order of 2 way players.
The Cincinnati Cannons desperately wanted to draft hometown high school star George Darnell but he went with the final pick of the first round to Pittsburgh. The Cannons had two second round selections (8th and 11th) and offered both of them to Pittsburgh for Darnell, but to no avail. Cincinnati had 2 first rounders a month ago but dealt both to Montreal in the trade that netted all-star catcher Adam Mullins. The Cannons also made the same offer to the Chicago Chiefs in an effort to land slugging infielder Otto Christian.
So far the off-season had been considered a failure in Detroit prior to the draft as the Dynamos have only added one potential piece to the puzzle and the fans are not sure just how important of a piece it was. (neither is the front office) That piece is often-injured pitcher Nate Spear.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 1/19/1941

London newspapers report that the Royal Air Force has machine-gunned German "invasion troops" on the coast of France as a powerful force of British bombers smashed at vital Axis oil facilities in Germany, Italy and Belgium.
Nazi forces continue their assault on London but also turned their attention to the port city of Plymouth in night raids.
More troubles for Italy as the commander of their forces in Albania has quit. An official announcement said he "has been relieved because of his health." It was the third army shakeup for Italy in two months.
Secretary of State Hull urged Congress to approve legislation for unlimited supplies of war materials to Britain warning them to "involve the law of self-defense before it is too late." Hull said if Britain was defeated and lose control of the seas that "Germany could easily cross the Atlantic unless we were ready and able to do what Britain is doing now."
Senator Glass (D.,Va) said if it was up to him the United States would declare war on Germany now, but added the question should be determined primarily by policy experts in the State, War and Navy Departments.
FDR's defense production chief told Congress it would be late 1941 before the US could supply "any great amount" of aid to Britain under the lend-lease bill "unless we take products out of existing facilities."
James Dewy, Federal labor negotiator, announced as a 'defense measure' that 3,500 striking workers are a manufacturing company in Saginaw, Michigan must return to work. "The dispute can be settled after the plants are running again," Dewey said in what was the first time such a drastic step had been taken anywhere in the United States.

Jiggs McGee · 02-08-2022, 12:22 PM

JANUARY 27, 1941

ARABIAN & WILSON RECEIVE CALL TO JOIN HALL

After falling just short a year ago Jack Arabian and Charlie Wilson can now call themselves Hall of Famers. The two turn of the century stars, who were teammates briefly with Cleveland in 1901 each earned enough votes to qualify. Arabian was selected unanimously, appearing on all 12 ballots, while Wilson was recognized by 10 of the voters. Last year each received 7 votes falling two shy of the 75% number required for admission.

Next year bodes well for Thomas Watkins. The outfielder, who had 3,143 hits in his 17 year career finished third in the balloting with 6 votes, up from just two the previous year. There were 3 managers on the ballot this year but none received enough votes to join Ossie Julious, George Theobald and Edward Wakeham as skippers in the Hall. The ballot was doubly tough on long-time New York Stars player and manager Bill Craigen as he was on the ballot as both a player and manager but received just one vote in each case.

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1941 HOF VOTING RESULTS 
(need to appear on 9 of the 12 ballots for election)
	PLAYERS
2B Jack Arabain 	12 - elected
P  Charlie Wilson	10 - elected
OF Thomas Watkins  	 6
P  Bill Temple 		 3
P  Jim Golden 		 2
SS George Melvin	 2
OF Bill Craigen		 1
1B Jim Jones		 0
P  Phil Miller		 0

       MANAGERS
Walter Love		 3
Bill Craigen		 1
Joe Johnson		 1

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE JACK ARABIAN

The Woonsocket, Rhode Island native is one of just six players to record over 3,300 career big league hits. He made his big league debut in 1896 and won 3 Continental Association batting titles with Cleveland including in 1901 when he hit .406 and led the Foresters to their only pennant during his tenure with the organization. He remains the Foresters all-time leader in hits, games played and at bats even though the final six seasons of his career he was a St Louis Pioneer.

In 1910 the Foresters shocked Cleveland fans by sending the then 35 year old Arabian to St Louis in exchange for infielder Jimmy Walker and outfielder Simon Westlund. Walker would last one year in Cleveland before being dealt back to the Pioneers while Westlund was released in spring training and never suited up for Cleveland. So while it would be topped a decade later by the decision to trade another Cleveland legend and future Hall of Famer in Max Morris to the Pioneers it was still a costly move. The Foresters were already a bad team when they moved Arabian but they would hit new lows with 3 straight last place finishes shortly after the deal. Arabian was starting to age at that time but he still managed to play over 500 games with St Louis and hit .319 as a Pioneer. Like Cleveland in the Continental Association, Arabian's final years were also tough times for the St Louis squad in the Fed as they failed to finish above 7th place in any of his seasons with the team. He played his final game at the age of 40 in 1915 and now is finally a Hall of Famer.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE CHARLIE WILSON

Wilson was one of the youngest big league ballplayer of all-time when he made his debut in 1889, weeks before his 17th birthday, with the Boston Brahmins of the old Century League - three years before the birth of FABL. It was an impressive debut for the teen from Mooresville, North Carolina as he posted a 17-13 record playing against men, a good percentage of whom were twice Wilson's age. That was a time of plenty of jumping from team to team for players so Wilson would move to New York the following season and at the age of 18 he really started to earn his nickname as "The Tar Heel Thunderbolt." Wilson led the Century League in wins and strikeouts for each of the next two seasons. A new era came in 1892 when, after years of two and sometimes three rival leagues battling for players, peace was obtained with the formation of FABL. With Wilson leading the way the Gothams would become an early Federal Association power, winning the very first World Championship Series in 1893 and another one two years later with Wilson front and center among the key contributors. In 1895 Wilson won the first of his two pitching 'triple-crowns.' His second one came the following year but it was with a new team in a new league as, after winning 1895 series the Gothams allowed Wilson to move to the Phiadelphia Sailors of the Continental Association. His 1896 campaign in Philadelphia (37-12, 2.14, 188 strikeouts) earned him a second triple crown but the Sailors finished in second place, two games back of the Chicago Cougars.

That changed in 1897 as the Sailors, once again led by Wilson's league leading ERA and strikeout total (but his 32 wins were four shy of Toronto's Harrison Geter) took the pennant. The Sailors made a bit of history in the postseason that year - they won the first World Championship for the Continental Association. The first four matchups had all gone to the Feds with the Gothams winning three times and the Brahmins once. This time, the Sailors won the series with the Washington Eagles four games to two. Charlie Wilson was the big star for Philly, winning all three of his games by 6-0, 11-2, and 5-3 margins - and of the five runs scored by Washington against Wilson, only two were earned giving him a 3-0, 0.67 ERA for the series.

Wilson would pitch two more seasons for the Sailors before he was on the move again, this time back to the Federal Association and the Chicago Chiefs. He lasted just two seasons in the Windy City despite winning 26 games in 1899 and 20 the following season before he was on the move once more with a stop, that would prove to be the final one of his big league career, in Cleveland where he teamed with Jack Arabian for a pennant winning season. Wilson, now 29, was just a spare part on that Foresters club, posting a 6-2 record with all but 3 of his 28 appearances on the year coming in relief. The last of his wins that year was the 332nd of his career, a total still good for fifth most all-time, but he would never pitch in the big leagues again.

There was no injury, at least none diagnosed but he clearly did not have the same thunder in his right arm the final two seasons of his big league career. He spent a few seasons kicking around the minors but by 1906, at the age of 34, like so many other pitching heroes of this era his career was over before his 35th birthday. Wilson led his Association in wins and ERA five times and in strikeouts six seasons.

1941 DRAFT: SAMUELS TOPS REGIONAL ROUND

The most sought after player in the regional round of the 1941 draft might well have been Lorenzo Samuels, an 18 year old first baseman out of West High School in Cleveland. At least two other teams had declared their interest in Samuels but it was the Cleveland Foresters who ended up selecting their hometown product with the first choice in round three. The regional round is the only one in the draft that requires teams to select a player from either their home state or a neighboring state. Samuels is described by OSA as a prototypical home run slugger with the potential to be a second division starter and is one of five players who were selected by their hometown ballclub.

The others were New York born shortstop Glenn Carney and catcher Henry Brown, who went to the Gothams and Stars respectively, as well as shortstop and Cincinnati native Ted Stacy who was tabbed by the Cannons and the Chiefs choice of Chicago born infielder Frank Stephens.

In an twist the two Canadian teams each invaded the other's hometown with the Montreal Saints selecting Toronto born infielder Ed Montague, son of former Wolves second baseman Eddie Montague, while the Wolves nabbed Montreal born Jake LeFleur, a catcher who is now playing college ball at Carolina Poly.

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	1941 FABL DRAFT SECOND ROUND RESULTS
PK TM   POS   PLAYER		AGE     SCHOOL		        HOMETOWN
33 CLE  1B  Lorenzo Samuels	18   West HS, Cleveland		Cleveland, OH
34 STL  P   Dick Long		17   Des Moines (IA) HS		Des Moines, IA
35 MON  2B  Ed Montague		20   St Blane College		Toronto, ON
36 NYG  SS  Glenn Carney	17   Irwin HS, New York City    New York, NY
37 BKN  OF  Bill Sikorski	18   Peckham Tech, Buffalo NY   Buffalo, NY
38 WSH  3B  Gabby Platt		20   Canyon A&M			Danville, VA
39 BOS  P   Charlie Todd	17   Torrington (CT) HS		Torrington, CT
40 PHS  3B  Mule Richmond	20   St Patrick's University    Newark, NJ
41 NYS  C   Henry Brown		17   Prospect Park (NJ) HS	New York, NY
42 CHI  2B  Frank Stephens	18   McKinley HS, Chicago	Chicago, IL
43 CIN  SS  Ted Stacy		18   Hillcrest HS, Cincinnati  	Cincinnati, OH
44 PHK  OF  Billy Kimball	18   Chester (WV) HS		Chester, WV
45 CHC  SS  Jim Dickinson	21   Calumet Catholic College   Springfield, IL
46 DET  P   Bobby Cummins	17   Lima(OH) Central Catholic  Lima, OH
47 TOR  C   Jake LeFleur 	21   Carolina Poly		Montreal, QC
48 PIT  P   Charlie Pierce	18   Roman Catholic HS Philly	Philadelphia, PA

NEW YORK GOTHAMS PROSPECT PROFILE

Courtesy of the New York World Telegram

During the long cold winter let's take a look at a future Gotham or two. Today we'll focus on the recently acquired Marcus Mangum. Mangum joined the organization in October as part of the deal sending Nate Spear to Detroit. Gothams management seemed to have given up on waiting for Spear to string together a couple of healthy months and cashed him in for a couple of pitching prospects and 2B Arnold Allen. Mangum was a first round pick of Detroit in 1939, going 5th overall. As with Spear injuries have been his biggest roadblock to development. He did flash promise when on the mound and struggled when challenged at higher levels. Scouting reports say he shows an above average slider and a decent cutter. There is concern with his control which may slow his movement through the system. Still there are reasons to be optimistic as the most recent OSA prospect rankings have Mangum jumping up to #87, his highest ranking in his short career. Gothams management feel that if he can stay on the mound for a stretch of time the 5-10 lefty could progress through the system and maybe reach the big club by the end of 1943.

QUICK HITS

Johnny Bologna of the Philadelphia Inquisitor is taking Keystones management to task on Rounds 2-3. "In the second round, the Keystones passed over a highly regarded player, Bob Montgomery, at a position - shortstop - where the Keys need to get better within the organization. They continue to hope Tim Humphrey will be the shortstop of the present, as well as the shortstop of the future, but his hold on that moniker is tenuous at best. Instead, Philadelphia opted for "Go-Go Joe" Burns, falling in love with his potentially elite speed. That pick did not age well, as the Keystones were left with another centerfielder in the regional stage, going for West Virginia's Billy Kimball. Kimball strikes me as an ersatz prospect and a lesser version of Burns. Maybe the Keystones brass is hoping one of the two realize their potential. Word is the higher levels of the organization looked at Kimball as the consolation prize, as they were hoping hulking first-sacker Lorenzo Samuels would fall to them, but the Ohio native was snatched smartly by Cleveland."
The Cincinnati Cannons were also disappointed they failed to land Samuels but were happy to select shortstop Ted Stacy, a Cincinnati native who currently attends Hillcrest High School in the city. Stacy will become the third player born in the Queen City to play in the organization joining AA outfielder Frank Lee and Class B pitcher Carl Planner. There are presently just 2 Cincinnati born big leaguers in Chiefs infielder Bob Martin and outfielder Harvey Brown of the Philadelphia Sailors.
Rumor out of Chicago that the Chiefs are looking to replace scouting director Rube Carter. Sources are telling me that a disagreement over scout evaluations have arisen between newly hired general manager Ed Peluso and the 63-year-old Carter.
The New York Stars are excited to welcome our second choice of catcher, local boy "Downtown" Henry Brown, as their regional round selection. He'll be groomed through the system and hopefully hit the bigs in '46

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 1/26/1941

As he began his historic third term President Roosevelt used his inauguration to call to all Americans to perpetuate democracy "in the face of great perils never before encountered." The celebration included a salute to the first third-term President with a military parade and an armada of 235 army and navy airplanes.
More labor problems to slow US military production as 7,000 auto workers walk off the job in Milwaukee halting work on $20 million dollars worth of Government defense orders.
Winthrop Rockefeller, 28 year old son of John D. Rockefeller Jr is now Private Rockefeller after enlisting in the army this week.
Charles Lindbergh told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week that even American entry into the war alongside Great Britain could not bring victory without an internal collapse in Germany. Lindbergh believes the only hope is a negotiated peace.
Hitler and Mussolini say they are in "complete agreement" on all questions after meeting this week to discuss Axis war plans.
Widespread rioting in Rumania with street fighting and bombings as the bitter rivalry between extremists and more conservative elements in Rumania's iron guard increases in tension. Nazi supporters are also said to have participated in a mass murder of Jews in Bucharest.

Jiggs McGee · 02-09-2022, 09:07 AM

FEBRUARY 10, 1941

It is mid- February so it won't be long before Florida and other warm weather havens will be awash with the sounds of baseball as spring training fast approaches. In the coming weeks This Week In Figment Baseball will once again have our fearless predictions for the season ahead but right now let's glance over our collective shoulders and take a look back at the past few months. Who are the big winners and losers of the winter meetings and other off-season activities? Jiggs McGee and our crack staff take a look at each club and assign them a grade for their off-season productivity, or lack thereof.

BOSTON- The Minutemen have made just one move of note this off-season but it was a big one as they solved their concerns behind the plate with the addition of Jack Flint (.313,5,70) from Cincinnati. Flint became available when the Cannons added Adam Mullins and takes the pressure off of Bill Van Ness, a 1935 first round pick with lofty expectations but so far the 24 year old has failed to live up to them. They would likely have wanted to make a bigger splash with an impact bat but this was a productive offseason for Boston. GRADE: B

BROOKLYN- We panned the Kings decision to move Tom Barrell to Pittsburgh for only a 4th round pick and a mid-level outfield prospect. Then two weeks later they sent that prospect - Gene Zavala - plus a pretty solid young arm in Bill Willman, someone who could quite possibly have taken Barrell's spot in the rotation, to Washington. In return the Kings only addition is Bill Downs, a 24 year old corner infielder who is at best a backup to Tiny Hopkins and Frank LeMieux, two players who should be starting in Brooklyn. When the best that you can hope for is the pitcher you dealt to be a complete bust just to break even on a trade than it is nearly impossible to earn a great grade. GRADE: D

CHIEFS- There might be some concern at Whitney Park with the decision to cut ties with 34 year old Cliff Moss (.278,23,69) and that move does make the Chiefs the second biggest losers in terms of lost WAR production from a year ago. However, they did add some much needed youth in return. The only other move to impact the big league roster in any significant way was the addition of 2B Al Haynes from Cleveland, who has looked very good with limited playing time the past few seasons. Haynes will get first crack at trying to solidify the second base position for the Chiefs. Don't sleep on 33 year old Hank Jones, who was signed as a free agent after the Stars parted ways with him and just might make up for the loss of Moss. Chicago also cut veteran troublemaker Andy Carter, which is a positive at least in the clubhouse. GRADE: C

COUGARS- Last year the Cougars added veteran Leon Drake to provide some offense from a corner outfield position. That was a complete disaster and Drake did not last the season in Chicago. This year the next attempt is with Cliff Moss from the cross-town Chiefs and, after the season he had last year it should go much better than the Drake fiasco. Moss might just be the piece to get the Cougars to the top of the Continental Association. GRADE: A

CINCINNATI- Like the Cougars the Cincinnati Cannons have their eyes on a CA pennant. Quite a change from a year ago when the Cannons were hoping just to avoid a 7th straight last place finish. Cincinnati added the marquee player to change teams this off-season in all-star catcher Adam Mullins (.319,5,69) but it came at a hefty price and the catcher they had last year in Jack Flint was pretty good in his own right. However, Mullins is possibly the best catcher in the league and the Cannons hope he can elevate the pitching staff as well as the offense with his bat. Speaking of pitching the only other addition is Roger Perry (10-7, 4.36) who came over from Pittsburgh for a 5th round pick. Perry provides depth and may earn a spot at the back of the rotation. The big story is Mullins and while the farm system is hurt by the move the big league club gets the best grade possible. GRADE: A+

CLEVELAND- A cautious off-season for a new management team in Cleveland and that is likely a prudent decision. I would expect more moves as we approach the trade deadline but for now the Foresters were content to move depth infielder Al Haynes to the Chiefs for a couple of youngsters including 21 year old Wes Parks, who might wrestle the second base job away from veteran Brooks Meeks. GRADE: C-

DETROIT- If there is a team that might still pull off a big move I would say the Dynamos would be the one. They were fairly quiet during the off-season with the only notable addition being high potential but often injured pitcher Nate Spear. If he can stay healthy the 25 year old could play a big role in the pennant race but the safer bet is the return of a healthy Frank Crawford - assuming he can get back to full strength after serious elbow woes at age 32 - will be the big addition to the Detroit pitching staff. GRADE: C but subject to increase if there is another big move coming before the start of camp.

MONTREAL- Looking strictly at the big league roster seeing Ben Richardson replacing Adam Mullins as the everyday catcher is a huge step in the wrong direction. However, the Saints are looking long term (yes we agree, that always seems to be the case) and they landed a boatload of young talent from Cincinnati in the deal. That talent still needs to pan out but for now let's assume it all lives up to it's promise in which case I might even be underestimating the quality of the Saints off-season by not giving them an A+ GRADE: A

NY STARS- The Stars made just one move of note in sending pitcher George Phillips (14-14, 3.59) to Pittsburgh in exchange for OF/2B Lew Seals (.260,20,65). I don't think I like this move as I question whether New York's pitching has the depth to withstand the loss of Phillips. Perhaps 22 year old Jim Baker is ready but he only pitched at AA last year and their other high end pitching prospects are even further away. New York has highly touted Chubby Hall (.326,17,86) at AAA who deserves a shot in the big leagues alongside Bill Barrett and Chink Stickels in the Stars outfield so that means Seals is likely to replace Clark Car as their second baseman. A good pickup for sure but the pitching loss of Phillips causes some worry and keeps their grade from being higher, unless they add another arm. GRADE: C

NY GOTHAMS- A late addition with the acquisition of outfielder Hub Parks from the cross-town Stars should help provide some depth in the outfield. Parks (.296,4,72) did not have a bad debut season as a 26 year old last year but was put in the unenviable position of having to fill Moxie Pidgeon's shoes with the Stars. He should fare much better than the last attempt to improve the wonky outfield as Leon Drake was nearly as much a disaster with the Gothams as he was the first half of last season with the Cougars. They also dealt their first round pick to Cincinnati for the second year in a row, adding pitcher Rusty Petrick this time to join Gus Goulding from a year ago. Petrick (6-7, 4.81) is no Goulding but hopefully he can fill a role in the back end of the New York rotation. The Gothams finally gave up on Nate Spear, having endured just one too many ruined seasons because of injuries so he was sent to Detroit for a nice pitching prospect in Marcus Mangum. New York may still yet make another move as they desperately try to turn the organization around but these are a start. Not a lot they can do short of dealing one of their highly touted prospects so for what they had to work with they get a passing grade. GRADE: C

KEYSTONES- One of several teams to stand pat as the Keystones really made no major external moves at all. In their case that inactivity makes perfect sense. They have a great young team that is rapidly improving and notice we said no 'external' moves but there will be some internal changes. Davey Robicheaux will likely spend the entire season with the big club as long as his continued adjustment to the outfield goes well in camp. A full season of Bud Canfield on the mound will help as will the return of Herman Patterson, who was 8-2 before an elbow injury ended his season. Just for not doing anything rash and dealing away some of their quality young talent in hopes for a quick fix that might not be necessary the Keystones receive aGRADE: C

SAILORS- Like their city rivals the Sailors made no major moves with their big league roster. Traditionally the Sailors have been a pretty conservative organization and it has allowed them for the most part to remain in the middle of the pack in the Continental Association with an occasional pennant chase sprinkled in. Unlike the Keystones I don't see the huge talent of young stars waiting in the wings although third baseman Johnny Zeidman is probably ready for a shot with the Sailors. With Cincinnati and the Cougars adding talent and the Wolves returning a championship cast pretty well intact, many would have preferred to see the Sailors swing for the fences and make a statement move that says they are all in. However, there is something to be said for slow and steady as those other clubs have seen some bad years in the past while Sailors continue to be a .500 or slightly better team nearly every season so there grade reflects that happy with a pass mentality. GRADE: C-

PITTSBURGH- Not content to dominate the Federal Association with 3 pennants in the past four years the Miners went out and addressed what was perhaps the biggest reason they could not win the WCS. Pitching depth. Many have talked about the fact that the Miners rely too heavily on Lefty Allen and primarily a 4-man rotation during the season, to the point that it is felt by the masses those pitchers are simply exhausted when the WCS comes around. So Pittsburgh brass went out and grabbed Tom Barrell and George Phillips. They parted with a depth arm in Roger Perry but there was no room for him with the newcomers in town anyway, and they also sent 2B-OF Lew Seals to the Stars to net Phillips. If Jack Cleaves can stay healthy, which admittedly is a big ask, they should not miss Seals too much although it is likely wise for the Miners to find another veteran outfield bat before they head north in April. But that pitching rotation. It's a thing of beauty with the big three of Allen (23-13, 3.06), Charlie Stedman (21-15, 3.77) and Karl Johnson (15-13, 3.37) plus Phillips (14-14, 3.59) and Barrell (10-17, 5.50).

Barrell is the big question mark. It is a longshot for him to regain the Allen Award winning form he used to show but the Miners are banking last season was just a bad year as he tried to get back on track following a serious injury that derailed his 1939 campaign. We have addressed in these pages before just how bad this deal is for Brooklyn and how good for the Miners. For no significant cost at all there is no down side in Pittsburgh. If this is indeed the beginning of the end for Barrell at age 32 the Miners simply move on, easily absorbing the cost of a moderately talented outfield prospect and a 4th round selection. But if Barrell can be a solid back of the rotation arm for another 4-5 seasons it is a huge win and if Barrell can somehow rediscover the magic that used to shoot out of his right arm with every pitch, well, then this deal will be ranked right up there with the Dutch/Indians 1626 swap of Manhattan as the most one-sided deals of all-time made in the New York metropolitan area. Add one more outfield bat before opening day and it is an A+ but for now the Miners settle for a GRADE: A

ST LOUIS- Another team that made no moves of significance this winter, at least so far. I am not sure the Pioneers front-office has recovered from the shock that last season became. This was a team that had finished either second or fourth 7 straight seasons only to have the bottom fall out last year. Injuries, key players underperforming, really everything that could go wrong did last year. So perhaps the Pioneers are standing pat thinking perhaps all their key players are due for solid, healthy seasons and everything will be right in the world, or at least along the banks of the Mississippi. We are not so confident that will happen as there appears to be a lot of holes in this club but we agree with the decision not to make moves now. Wait until the deadline and if guys like Gail Gifford, Al Tucker, maybe even David Abalo or Heinie Zimmer are healthy and productive perhaps St Louis makes a major trade to restock the system and build for the future. There are some good building blocks in the system, and while we think a major trade or two can bring an influx of talent similar to what Montreal did with Adam Mullins, the best time for such a move may well be at the deadline when they can catch one of the contenders in a desperate mood. Their mark should not be penalized for inactivity in this case so we give the Pioneers a passing grade but just barely. GRADE: D

TORONTO- Are the Wolves still celebrating their WCS win? Perhaps the front-office is off playing hockey or skiing all winter? Either way Toronto seems to have gone into hibernation for the winter with the only change being the managerial shake-up that saw Charlie Reed replace Hank Leitzke. Let's hope Reed saw his shadow last week and the Wolves are ready for spring because this club made no transactions at all over the winter. That's right, no rule five pickup, no Indy player acquisition, no free agent signings and no trades. Some might argue it is hard to improve upon perfection and last season became just that for the Toronto club that won it's first pennant and WCS title since 1911. The Wolves have tried to shop one of their third baseman, either Walt Pack (.239,14,89) or AAA star Ockie Holliday, but so far found nothing to their liking in return. They are a good young team and much like the Philadelphia Keystones have a nice collection of youngsters on the verge of stepping in so you really can't blame them for wanting to keep the band together for a chance to repeat. GRADE: C

WASHINGTON- If the Eagles seem like they have been treading water in the second division for a while that is because they have. 1929 was the last time they finished as high as fourth and they have failed to win 70 games in any of the past three seasons. They did try shopping a few players, most notably Harry Shumate (,245,7,52) but a 30 year old first baseman coming off the worst season of his career does not attract too many suitors. Jack Elder (10-20, 4.92) followed up a 20-win 1939 with the worst season of his career so he represents another 30 year with perhaps diminishing trade value. If Elder can get off to a good start he might be a piece that will draw attention at the trade deadline and Washington's best hope is to continue along it's slow rebuild plan although that was dealt a blow a year ago when they sent their first round pick to the Gothams in exchange for pitcher Jim Birdwell, who ended up pitching more for AAA Kansas City than he did for the big league club last season. Washington did add a nice piece in somehow convincing Brooklyn to part with Bill Willman, who may well make his big league debut this season. Gene Zavala, a mid-level outfield prospect also came over in the deal that sent 1b/3B Bill Downs to the Kings. Not a lot of activity but at the moment the Eagles hands are tied with not a lot of assets they might considering moving holding a great deal of value around the league. So they did well with what they could and earn a GRADE: B

QUICK HITS

New York rivals hooked up on a deal this week. Nothing major but a nice pickup for the Gothams who add 27 year old outfielder Hub Parks (.296,4,72) at the cost of a fourth and a pair of fifth round draft picks - picks the Gothams had secured just a short time earlier from Cincinnati as the Cannons wished to move up in June's fourth round. Parks was likely a backup at best with the Stars but stands a pretty good chance of being an everyday player at Gothams Stadium. He had it tough over at Dyckman Stadium having to replace Moxie Pidgeon and it seems the Stars fans, and management, never forgot the fact a big reason they dealt Pidgeon was to clear room for Parks. Perhaps his replacement in the Stars outfield, expected to be a fine prospect by the name of Chubby Hall if not to start the season at least in the near future, will have an easier time with far less imposing shoes to fill.
Tough blow for the Stars as they learned early today that pitcher Dixie Lee will be leaving the team. The 27 year old righthander got his draft notice and will report to the US Army on March 8th, making him the first FABL player to be drafted into military service after President Roosevelt signed into law the Selective Service Act last fall. It requires all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft. When asked about the notice Lee, who went 4-10 last year and is 41-59 for his FABL career, replied, "I'm just swapping one winning team for another." With tensions rising between the US and the Axis powers it is widely expected that other FABL players will also receive a call to arms.

A PITCHER TALKS- Feet planted far apart, Dave Trowbridge stood chatting to the reporter. It was late. The Baseball Writer's Dinner was just breaking up.

"You never stood that way, Trowbridge," came a derisive voice from down the hall, "When you hit against me!"

Father Time took a quick look, saw it was retired pitching star Ken Carpenter, and laughed. "Those were the days." he said "when I couldn't have hit YOU if I stood on my head. Might just as well have left my bat in the rack."

"As I recall you had some pretty good success against me," said Carpenter, "I only had one plan against you. I'd just throw the ball as slow as I could and keep it around your eyes, and hope you'd get mad, swinging."

"I often did," confessed Trowbridge who if truth be told went 48-for-126 (.381) in his career vs Carpenter," You used to drive me nuts."

By this time the three of them were grouped together. "What do you hear," said the reporter "about Trowbridge?"

"That guy," said Carpenter "could certainly hit."

"I know I am getting old but I'd like it a lot better," said Dave "if you'd make that 'can hit'."

Trowbridge also admitted he often thinks about his days as a Miner back in Pittsburgh, well before he came to New York, adding. "I do think about playing at the Fitz, at least on the rare day they let me on the field. I loved that old ballyard, all those old parks. Nothing like 'em." The other day the broadcast people called Trowbridge unexpectedly and asked if he'd ever considered reporting baseball play-by-play over the air and he had to admit 'No.' But as our conversation changed to talk of what Carpenter is doing in retirement and what life after baseball might be like for Trowbridge when (if ?) he retires perhaps now the 42 year old might just consider it adding with a twinkle "I think I got a few good years left but perhaps it is time to start considering my next job, and radio would allow me to keep involved in this great game."

Of course with the way Trowbridge is hitting the ball - his .346 average won the Continental batting crown last season - talk of retirement and the broadcast booth may just be a long ways off for the 42 year old.

SUPREME THRILL - Just then Lefty Allen dashed out, hustling for his train back to Pittsburgh. He had under his arm the plaque the baseball writers had given him in recognition of his Allan Award winning season. It was his second such win and did prompt the obvious jokes about it making sense that the award is named after the 26 year old star.

'Boy," said Carpenter, "what I wouldn't give to have that kid's outlook."

"You mean," laughed Trowbridge, "his fast ball!"

"You hitters think that you get all the big thrills out of baseball when you smash that ball!" said Carpenter. "Well, no matter what any pitcher tells you about the big thing being getting the side out, even with fly balls, remember this: There's no kick to match a strikeout. To fan a fellow is the supreme thrill."

He paused a minute and then he said," That's why I say Allen has so much to look forward to."

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 2/09/1941

After a week long lull the Germans resumed nightly air attacks on London while the R.A.F. steps up it's focus on Italian targets.
With Germany shifting more and more military assets into Rumania and air aid to Italy it appears the danger of invasion into Britain may be averted. Britain also continues to gain ground in Africa, which is becoming a key battle ground to help divert German attention away from invading Britain.
As the US continues to debate allowing unlimited aid to Britain conflicting opinions arise. Many fear without the aid the British will fall to the Nazis but others echo Charles Lindbergh's warning that full aid is no different than declaring war on Germany and it will be responded to as such.
Hitler vows to sink U.S. Aid convoys bound for Britain, warning they "will be torpedoed" and "Europe will defend itself" should the people of the American continent enter the war.
Henry Ford announces a new riveting process that may soon allow America to bring war planes off the assembly line faster - perhaps as many as 1,000 day Ford predicts.
A German-Jewish refugee from a Nazi concentration camp was one of the recent volunteers at an Army induction center in New York. He was a former farmer hustled off to a camp following the slaying of an embassy clerk in Paris by a Jewish teen in 1938. He was released the following April after obtaining the necessary papers for entering the United States.

Jiggs McGee · 02-09-2022, 09:40 PM

FEBRUARY 24, 1941

UPDATED OSA PLAYER RANKINGS

It is not difficult to see why the Toronto Wolves and Pittsburgh Miners won pennants last season. Just a quick glance at the top of the latest OSA top player reports will set things straight. In George Garrison and Joe Hancock the World Champion Wolves have two of the three best pitchers in the game according to OSA and you can add Bernie Johnson, who sits 10th, to that list. On the offensive side of the game Fred McCormick is second only to Pittsburgh catcher George Cleaves while rising young shortstop talent Charlie Artuso comes in at tenth among hitters. For the Miners the story is much the same as Pablo Reyes (#4) and George's brother Jack Cleaves (#17) crack the hitters list with Lefty Allen settling in between the Toronto pitching duo at #2 among throwers. It is also mild surprise to see newly acquired George Phillips, the ex-New York Star, crack the top twenty pitchers list for Pittsburgh as well.

We all knew Pittsburgh will be in for a battle to continue their reign atop the Federal Association but the rankings reaffirm that as both Detroit and the Philadelphia Keystones count 3 pitchers among the top twenty overall with Detroit also adding first baseman Red Johnson, outfielder Sal Pestilli and veteran third sacker Frank Vance to the list giving the Dynamos a total of 6 players, tops in either association.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs. Here is a quick list of players representing each club on the top twenty pitcher/hitters lists:
BOSTON- 2: John Edwards (P-14), SS Lew McLendon (H-19)
BROOKLYN- 2: Art White (P-8), OF Rats McGonigle (H-20)
CHIEFS- 4: Al Miller (P-6), Rabbit Day (p-17), 3B HanK Barnett (H-6), C Tom Bird (H-8)
COUGARS- 3: Pete Papenfus (P-12), Jim Lonardo (P-20), 3B John Lawson (H-9)
CINCINNATI- 2: C Adam Mullins (H-11), OF Fred Galloway (H-12)
CLEVELAND- 0
DETROIT- 6: Frank Crawford (P-4), Sergio Gonzales (P-5), Charlie Wheeler (p-9), 1B Red Johnson (H-3), OF Sal Pestilli (H-13), 3B Frank Vance (H-14)
MONTREAL- 1: OF Red Bond (H-16)
NY STARS- 3: Billy Riley (P-15), OF Chink Stickels (H-15), OF Bill Barrett (H-18)
NY GOTHAMS- 0
KEYSTONES- 4: Lloyd Stevens (P-7), Herman Patterson (P-16), Jim Whiteley (P-19), 2B Billy Woytek (H-5)
SAILORS- 0
PITTSBURGH- 5: Lefty Allen (P-2), George Phillips (P-18), C George Cleaves (H-1), OF Pablo Reyes (H-4), 2B Jack Cleaves (H-17)
ST LOUIS- 3: David Abalo (P-11), Buddy Long (P-13), C Heinie Zimmer (H-7)
TORONTO- 5: George Garrison (P-1), Joe Hancock (P-3), Bernie Johnson (P-10), 1B Fred McCormick (H-2), SS Charlie Artuso (H-10)
WASHINGTON- 0

1- There are a lot of General Manager's panicking of late after the news that Dixie Lee of the New York Stars has been drafted into military service. When minor leaguer James Slocum became the first pro ballplayer to enlist it caused merely a whisper among the baseball man as he was a longshot prospect to ever play in the bigs. However, seeing Dixie Lee - hardly a star but certainly a decent big league pitcher - taken away from the Stars with barely a month's notice has hit home just how real the loss of big league talent could be should North America be drawn into the European war, and I don't think there is a man alive who does not feel that is going to happen and it is clearly only a question of when and not if.

2- Is there a better young team right now than the Philadelphia Keystones? Pittsburgh and Detroit will be tough to beat but you have to love the Keystones tremendous collection of youth with a veteran like Bobby Barrell to lead them on the field and popular 38 year old catcher Carl Ames to provide guidance in the clubhouse. I would not be surprised at all if the Keystones win their first Federal Association pennant since 1933.

3- Speaking of Barrell's it will be very interesting to watch Tom and Bobby square off for the first time in a big league game. The brothers have never faced each other in an professional game with the exception of the 1934 all-star contest. Records have vanished from that game but if memory serves correct Tom retired Bobby the only time they faced each other in that exhibition. Tom's performance this season may well decide the fate of the Federal Association pennant race but seeing him face Bobby hopefully sometime in the first two weeks of April when the Keystones and Miners play each other 6 times will be fun.

4- Readers of this column know I have long been a fan of Pete Papenfus. It seems OSA is catching on now as well as they have Peter The Heater featured prominently in their latest player rankings. The 22 year old pride of West Plains, Missouri High School is now ranked the 12th best pitcher in the game according OSA's most recent list. He led the CA in strikeouts last season and is 26-26 over 3 years with the Chicago Cougars but walks have always been his kryptonite. If he can learn to harness his control I could see him being an all-star in the future.

5- FABL has not had a 300 game winner since Big George Johnson reached that milestone in 1925 and you also have to go back to 1925 for the last time a pitcher won his 275th game. That was Ike Wetzel, who notched his 275th win with Cleveland in 1925 and finished his career with 277 victories. While 300 is still likely three seasons away it is a pretty solid bet that Rabbit Day gets win #275 at some point this season. The 36 year old three-time Allan Award winner won 15 a year ago for the Chicago Chiefs and enters this season 11 shy of 275 victories. His 264-163 career mark has Day sitting 21st all-time in wins by a pitcher and first among active players. Next on the list for Day to pass will be Jim Cathey and Bob Johnston, each of whom won 267 in their FABL careers.

6- Only Charlie Stedman (218), Jim Lonardo (216) and Dick Lyons (201) are active with at least 200 career pitching wins but they may be joined this season by William Jones (187-137), who has found new life in Cincinnati. The 36 year old did win 20 games for the Sailors in 1937 but won just 14 contests the next two seasons combined. Last year he bounced back with a 15-12 season and is expected to be near the top of the rotation for the Cannons again this season.

7- It is a long shot but Milt Fritz (178-141) could conceivably get to the 200 plateau as well this season. Next year is more likely for the 31 year old but Fritz did lead the CA in ERA last season and won 18 games for the Cougars. He won an Allan Award with Brooklyn as a 21 year old and had 57 career FABL wins prior to his 22nd birthday but after some rough years in Montreal and with the New York Gothams it seemed like 150 wins might be out of the question for 'The Big Cat' but Fritz found new life back in Chicago, where his career started so many years ago. Only this time it is with the CA Cougars not the Fed Chiefs. Pitching for a Chicago based club he is 108-79. For anyone else he is 70-62 and that is including his 23 win season as a King in 1931.

8- Very few people would likely mention Boyd Harper when you ask about the pitchers who have appeared in the most FABL games but the 36 year old New York Stars lefthander is closing in on 700 career FABL appearances. At 657 Harper is a long way from Allan Allen's record 914 and no one will ever confuse the two but Harper presently is 8th all-time in games pitched and closing in on becoming just the 6th pitcher to appear in 700 games. Three of those in Allen, Jack Long and Charlie Sis did it the standard way by starting games and pitching a lot of innings but Harper is part of the other group. He has never started a FABL game. Stan Waters is second all-time in games pitched but like Harper never started a game in his 14 year career with the Keystones, Montreal and Stars. Carl Braggs is third and of his 779 appearances only one was in a starting role. That was as a rookie in 1917 with Boston. Harper is also closing in on Waters save record of 164. Harper had 9 last season to boost his total to 138, and passed Hal Galvan and Bill Mendine late last seaon, both of whom finished with 137.

9- The 2,500 hit club appears poised to welcome at least two new members this season, which would swell it's ranks to 25 players. Jim Hampton of the Chiefs needs 49 more while 42 year old Dave Trowbridge of the Stars is 57 hits shy. We could quite possibly see 4 players join the 2,500 club this season as former long-time teammates Frank Vance and Al Wheeler are also closing in. Vance, who is back with Detroit after leaving for Brooklyn with Wheeler a number of seasons ago, needs 121 more hits while Wheeler is 138 away. Wheeler is also just 26 homeruns shy of joining Max Morris and Rankin Kellogg as the only players to hit 400 big league roundtrippers. The 33 year old Wheeler hit 20 a year ago.

10- Three Philadelphia based players are closing in quickly on 2,000 hits. Doug Lightbody, the long-time Brooklyn King, is the closest at 1,982 entering the season but also has the highest chance of falling short as there is no guarantee he will make the Keystones final roster. Teammate Bobby Barrell is at 1,972 and at just 30 years old stands a decent shot at one day reaching 3,000 while across town 34 year old Dick Walker of the Sailors enters the season needed 24 hits to reach 2,000 for his impressive career.

GOTHAMS ADD ANOTHER OUTFIELDER

The New York Gothams took another step to upgrade their outfield with news that the club has acquired 27 year old Mel Alvarez from the Boston Minutemen in exchange for a couple of prospects and a pair of draft picks. Alvarez made no secret of his desire to get out of Boston after being reduced to a backup role last season. It was still a successful year batting average-wise for the former 5th round pick out of St. John's University of California as Alvarez hit .344 but he only had 40 plate appearances all season. This after he started 133 games and hit .293 in 1939. The Gothams also added Hub Parks from the New York Stars recently so there should be some competition in their outfield.

The prize for Boston in the deal was a 22 year old catcher by the name of Cliff Smith, a 1936 second round who spent last season in AA ball. OSA feels he has the potential to become an above average catcher one day but his path was clearly blocked in New York with Pete Casstevens having that position sewn up for many years to come. In addition to Smith the Minutemen also received minor league third baseman Joe Pelletier and the Gothams 5th and 6th round pick in the June portion of the draft.

JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE- A good move for all involved especially Alvarez as he will get a chance to start in New York, something that clearly would not happen in Boston. A starting role is not guaranteed as the Gothams have upgraded their talent the past couple of weeks. Assuming Bud Jameson can do the job at first base, Walt Messer will be a fixture in left field which leaves Alvarez, recently acquired Hub Parks and holdovers Ernst Glass and Leon Drake to battle it out for the other two spots. Alvarez was out of options and quite likely to be exposed on the waiver wire so the Minutemen get a decent prospect at a position (catcher) they lack depth in the minors. Smith, the catcher, does have talent and was a second round pick five years ago, but he brings a lot of baggage as well, with a terrible work ethic and a questionable attitude.

QUICK HITS

Is there a bigger surprise than St Louis' Buddy Long making OSA's top twenty pitchers list? Not that I don't think Long is a good pitcher, but he went 8-21 a year ago with a 91 ERA+. Perhaps bodes well for the Pioneers that it was just one of those years you can't prepare for and just have to accept as with Long, Abalo and Zimmer there is no shortage of elite talent to headline their roster.
Apparently "Something" was enough for New York Gothams owner Leland Winthrop, who pleaded with his management team late last season to just "Do Something." Recent reports from the New York World Telegram indicate that the ballclub's owner is satisfied with the offseason moves. After slashing the team's budget at the end of the 1940 season in anger at the team's dismal finish a number of moves around the edges seem to have calmed the team's owner. Winthrop has restored the Gothams operating budget to near 1940 levels. Perhaps it was the recent acquisition of Hub Parks from the Stars that made the difference. With Parks playing in town it's possible Winthrop is more aware of his abilities and sees this as a legitimate improvement for the lineup. Other deals to bring in pitchers, Marcus Mangum, Harry Frenette and Roy Lee Williams are see as adding depth to the system. Perhaps the early indications that season ticket sales are on the rise also factored into Winthrop's decision. As usual the Gotham's head man was non-committal with regards to team finances.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 2/23/1941

After spending time in London, former Presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie urged that the United States provide Britain with 5 to 10 destroyers a month. Wilkie was appearing as the administrations 'cleanup witness" before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee finalizes a decision on unlimited aid to Great Britain. The Committee would approve the aid bill days later.
Nazi forces, well over 400,000 are reported to be streaming into Rumania and Bulgaria to reinforce Hitler's Balkan command.
British parachutists have been dropped in southern Italy in Great Britain's first attempt to carry the war to the Italian mainland. South African troops have captured a key base in Italian Somaliland and are poised to drive the Italians out of that country.
Any Americans remain in the Far East are being urgently advised to return home in the interest of their own safety after the Japanese battle fleet masses off Indo China. President Roosevelt told the Japanese Ambassador that "there are developments in the relations between the United States and Japan which cause concern."
Japan claims it is Britain that is kindling the crisis in the east because of how the British have been strengthening their Singapore base with thousands of Australian troops and a great number of bombers and fighting planes. The United States also begins to rush planes to it's Pacific Fleet.
Another statement that the US entering the war is just a matter of time. This one from the Secretary of Commerce who told the House Currency and Banking Committee that the United States is "in the war, or at least nearly in the war," and is "preparing for it."

Jiggs McGee · 02-10-2022, 01:37 PM

MARCH 10, 1941

DRAFT LIKELY TO PROVE BIG PENNANT FACTOR

The military draft is digging deeper into baseball day by day and threatens to become the controlling factor in the Continental Association's pennant race this year if not in the Fed too. Now Dixie Lee, the New York Stars pitcher who was the first to get his notice and reported for induction into the Army two days ago, is hardly the type of chap to decide a pennant but had the Stars known in advance he was leaving they most certainly would not have parted with 14 game winner George Phillips, who might well be a factor in Pittsburgh's bid for a third straight Federal title.

Unless the Stars can do some fancy wrangling their hopes of contending for the Continental crown were dealt a serious blow with the loss of Lee, who despite a subpar 4-10, 5.25 campaign a year ago, seemed to be New York's number five starter this year almost by acclamation. Now the Stars are left scrambling after receiving notice of Lee's departure just a month before spring camps were set to begin.

You can bet before long other teams will be in a similar state and there was even a brief rumour, unsubstantiated of course, that Pittsburgh ace Lefty Allen, around whom all of the Miners championship hopes center, is in line to receive his preliminary draft questionnaire before July 4. A draft board official, while refusing to comment on any specific player, did state he expects a number of players might well be called to the colors before September.

Losing Allen in the heart of the pennant drive would be nothing short of a catastrophe for Pittsburgh, just as it would be for several other clubs if their ace suddenly was taken away. The tough part for FABL managers is there is absolutely nothing they can do but sit and wait. How can you plan for a situation like this? They can't even be sure any player will be summoned because there is no telling how fast the draft board will weed through it's list before a star player happens to show up on the role.

HITS QUICKER THAN EXPECTED
Dixie Lee was a real eye opener. The truth is the draft is striking harder and earlier than expected and all of the clubs are beginning to tremble at the prospect of losing leading players whom they heretofore have considered safe at least for the year.

Who is next? There has been much talk that a number of star players have local order numbers that are low enough they might not last the season before their call comes. Some players do contribute to the support of parents or siblings and might get an exception but even that is questionable depending upon location as draft boards have shown a great difference of opinion concerning what constitutes dependency. And then too there is speculation that several stars including Detroit Dynamos first baseman Red Johnson and all star Boston centerfielder Chick Donnelly are considering enlisting.

Dixie Lee didn't even get to go south with his club. He was helping his folks too, but was classified A-1 by the draft board and was inducted into the Army Saturday. It is only a matter of time before more players get the call, and how that will affect the pennant races this season is anyone's guess.

IT HAPPENED BEFORE- One man's ill luck is another guys gain is a moral that will be verified in major league baseball this season, if the selective draft keeps going the way it has started. It has happened before, and it will occur again, that as young'uns are called to the colors, the old fellows who quietly slipped out of the picture a year or two ago will be returning to the wars in the major leagues.

In other words history will be repeating itself after a pause of almost a quarter of a century. The last time the draft was taking its toll of the pivotal athletes, the aged and spavined performers serving out the their twilight in the minors came back in droves. Names that had been out of big league circulation for as long as three and four years, yes, even longer, came bobbing back as if they'd never been away.

The Great Western, Dixie and Union leagues were riddled by the recall of these spavined ancients. Their knees created and the grating squeal of their pitching elbows was excelled only by the cries of the bleacherites rendered indignant by their feeble antics, but the majors insisted on carrying on business.

Now, and then, the minors are filled with these passe major leaguers. The Lone Star Association for one, has more than you could shake a stick at if you worked overtime and had your old man helping you; and you'll have to take a memory course to remember some of them even by name, let alone by deed.

But as Rube Carter, a wise old baseball head points out, they'll be back, and if you don't like 'em you can lump 'em, for, as the club owners say, the game must go on. It must go on even if to fill in for Art White the dynamic Brooklyn starting pitcher, they have to give you Karl Clasby, who contrary to popular opinion was not around to help William Whitney create FABL.

All I want to do is to be around when some of those grandpapies come back. I've seen a lot, but I've never seen a beard hobbling to first base on a cane; and I don't want to miss it this time.

You can bet your bottom dollar that Daniel Prescott will have his staffers fine comb the bush leagues to bring back old Flatbush standbys if the emergency becomes acute. Before the summer is over we might be sitting in Kings County Ballpark and hear the announcer chat that Clarence Hall is in left, Lou Cox in center and Bud Rogers in right field. Even Danny Goff, although he hung up his glove nearly a decade and a half ago, might be persuaded to return to active duty on the mound. And what a picture it would make if mastodonic Paul Tattersall, who is still one of our most respected citizens, squatted behind the plate to receive old Danny's slants.

In addition it would be a picture to behold if Glenn Mowles was pried away from his management work in Tampa to man third base in a rocking chair. Yes, and maybe even 48 year old Calvin Dybas, who once hit 32 homers in a college season but never played professionally finally got the call, promoted from hitting coach in Springfield to make his big league debut.

As you will recall, some of the ancients were in our midst at the old-timers game in Kings County only last summer. A few of those old boys didn't look so bad in familiar toggery. Of course, they were as stiff as a board in many instances but the way things could go this summer and beyond is it could look like an Oldtimers game every day of the FABL season.

QUICK HITS

Is it just filling holes prepping for spring training at minor league camps or something more? A lot of veteran free agent players with some big league experience were quickly inked to deals, all of the minor league variety, the past couple of weeks. Fallout from the shock of seeing Dixie Lee leave for basic training instead of spring training perhaps causing teams to worry about roster depth? Whatever it was the Cannons, Cougars, Dynamos and Miners all quickly signed a depth guy or two in the days leading up to the start of camp. Cincinnati inked 30 year old Art Blake, who pitched briefly for Toronto last season and is 9-15 in his FABL career, to a minor league deal while the Cougars inked a similar agreement with veteran outfielder Bobby Bond. Neither are likely good enough to crack a big league roster at this time but are probably worthwhile insurance in case a key player gets the call from the draft board. Pittsburgh and Detroit both signed players to minor league deals but each included a major league option so they could leave if not offered a big league spot. Shortstop Oscar King, a 30 year with over 800 big league games under his belt, is going to Miners camp while Detroit signed 29 year old infielder Tony White and 30 year old pitcher Jack Snyder, who had a brief stint in the Dynamos system last year.
No surprise but 42 year old Dave Trowbridge arrived in Stars camp ready to go. All he did last season was lead the Continental Association in hitting and the man they call "Father Time" says he is expecting to have another solid year. Trowbridge is, of course, the oldest player on any team roster, big league or minor and is the only player active in FABL that was born last century. His 1898 birth year makes him 22 months over Cougars pitcher Dick Lyons, the second oldest big leaguer.
Even the independent Lone Star Association, while home to some greybeards, can't match Trowbridge's age (42 years, 221 days as of this writing). But two players come close. Infielder Jack Collins, who played 427 games for Detroit in the late 1920's and is still active with Houston of the LSA, is just under two months younger than Trowbridge. The only other player in organized baseball who's birth year starts with '18' is Karl Clasby, who just celebrated his 42nd birthday last month. Clasby is entering his 9th season with Waco but the righthander did win 20 games in FABL 13 seasons ago and went 60-64 while pitching for four different big league clubs. Both seem like the kind of players who might just get one more kick at the can if enough players leave for military service.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 3/09/1941

After much debate in the Senate the British aid bill passes and President Roosevelt is prepared to speed aid to Britain by turning over $1 billion worth of warships, freighters, airplanes, tanks, guns, ammunition, foot and other supplies immediately after he affixes his signature to the Lease-Lend Bill.
"Many more ships and great numbers of men" to fight the triple German menace of submarines, long-range bombers and surface raiders in the battle of the Atlantic is desperately needed according to Britain's Admiralty Lord.
Hitler says he is prepared to pit "half of Europe" against Great Britain and that unprecedented sea warfare is about to begin with the month of April also bringing "other things" - the nature of which he did not specify - to the enemy.
Germany moves to occupy Bulgaria - the 11th sovereign state she has overrun since 1938- which raises grave concerns for Greece in her war with Italy, and Turkey's future under her alliance with Britain.
The United States decided to restrict the movements of all Italian diplomatic representatives in this country and ordered that the Italian consulates in Newark and Detroit be closed. The action, one of the most drastic diplomatic measures ever taken toward a country with which the United States is at peace, was in response to similar actions taken by the Italians towards the American Embassy in Rome.

Jiggs McGee · 02-11-2022, 10:25 PM

MARCH 24, 1941
BASEBALL IS BACK! SPRING IN FLORIDA BRINGS PENNANT DREAMS

Baseball has returned. While it is just of the Citrus flavor, it is a sure sign that spring is on it's way as once again we have those delicious boxscores to feast upon with our eyes each morning. It never fails, as all of us are guilty of reading too much into the names and numbers dotting boxscores at this time of year. That hot prospect went 3-for-4 or the middling pitcher with 4 shutout innings surely means a breakout season is coming and this, yes this, will finally be the year our heroes break out and win the big one.

For most reality sets in quickly and holes are found by May in that hot prospect's swing, or that pitcher who looked so good in March is back in the bushes by June. Pennant hopes for all but a select few are quickly washed away along with the hopes and dreams of most fans. But for now, for one to four glorious weeks our team and our season is as full of hope, of potential for something great to happen and our pennant dreams as big as the full moon over Florida.

DONOGHUE AND BURKETT TO WEAR HEADGUARDS

Bob Donoghue is sick of getting hit by pitches. The Boston Minutemen slugger has been hit 34 times already in his young career and led or tied for the Federal Association lead in being plunked by pitchers each of the past three seasons. Only 12 active players have been hit by a pitch in their careers more often than Donoghue and every one of the twelve have played at least 1,000 games. Donoghue has only appeared in 544 contests.

Last Monday in Boston's spring opener against the New York Gothams something occurred that may slightly revolutionize the baseball industry. That event was a new fangled headguard for hitters, so cleverly camouflaged that no more than a handful of tipped-off spectators in the stands were aware that Donoghue and Bill Burkett were wearing them.

FITS AROUND CAP
It fitted around the baseball cap, protecting the exposed temple, and can be constructed to fit inside the cap. Because neither gentleman happened to be skulled by a fastball in Boston's 7-4 win over the New York Gothams the effectiveness of the device can only be left to the assurance of its makers that it's good. It should be noted by the end of the week the Minutemen were probably wishing that Donoghue was testing out some sort of knee brace as he injured his leg running the bases and will be sidelined until possibly May.

As for why Donoghue chose to don such headgear since while he has been nicked up a few times from those plunkings, he has been fortunate enough to avoid serious injury and nothing has hit him in the head. However, there have been some close calls. "Usually I get hit down low but last season there were a couple that just missed catching me in the pumpkin. One in particular I can recall where Rabbit Day just missed me - pitch got away from him and came in high and a swear there was a little rosin off the ball on my ear from that one."

The Minutemen are concerned their star slugger has been plunked at a higher rate than any other active player in the Federal Association and their concerns became much more grave after near tragedy involving one of their minor leaguers last August. A 19 year old second year pro outfielder by the name of Truman Brown was seriously injured by a pitch in August. The youngster got his hand up in time to deflect the rising pitch that broke his finger and left him with a huge welt on his forehead. A split-second slower and the pitch likely would have fractured the young outfielders skull.

Donoghue plans on wearing it throughout the spring and there is talk the Minutemen may have them produced for all of their players this season.

It's March and so far the Gothams are not in last place. After a decade with more success than failure the past five seasons have left the faithful doubtful and pessimistic. Still, on the first day of spring training games who can't feel spring in the air and the possibilities a new season brings? So let's look on the bright side of life in Queens.

Pitching - Goulding, Petrick, Carter, Ratcliffe, Sutton. Those are the early favorites to fill the Gothams rotation. Gone is Nate Spear with his dazzling promise and fragile arm. Added is a former first round pick of the Gothams retuning to the fold, Rusty Petrick. Rusty has had his ups and downs in the majors, but at 25 there's a lot to like. Add him to Gus Goulding and his 3.63 ERA along with Ratcliffe and Carter who managed to squeeze in under the 4.00 mark and with helping of optimism there's the makings of a rotation. Charlie Sutton and Bunny Edwards will battle it out for some starts in the 5 spot before manager Ziehl looks at other options. The bullpen is a wide open competition among returnees, and newcomers from Toledo.

Catcher - The team is set here with Pete Casstevens and Joe Green providing some offense and solid defense.

1st base - Most likely a platoon between 36 year old Bud Jameson and still young Walt Messer. The team is expecting Messer to show more power in upcoming seasons. Messer will also take some turns in LF.

2nd-3rd-SS - Set with Roosevelt Brewer, Billy Dalton and Mule Monier. All have shown glimpses at the plate and all are considered breakout candidates. Monier's defense struggles are a concern.

Infield reserves - Multi-posiiton glove Rube Dixon appears a lock for opening day. Remaining spots will be decided between Hank Cook, Bill Freeman, and Jim Jenkins

Outfield - A new look from the beginning of last season. Hub Parks will bring a fantastic glove and plus speed to leftfield with the ability to play across the outfield. If he struggles to hit expect 1B Walt Messer to get some starts. New acquisition Mel Alvarez, happy to be out of Beantown, will get first crack at CF. Not a speedster, Alvarez is a sure glove with the possibility of a solid bat. In rightfield is the enigma known as Leon Drake. Possessing a good glove, a powerful bat and some hitting skills, he has somehow fallen off from his early career slugging ways. Picked up by New York midseason, the fact his .227 avg and .710 OPS were big improvements over his start in Chicago says it all. Still, there's that glimmer of hope that a fresh season could see Leon blasting homers towards the Triborough Bridge.

Outfield reserves - Mostly a collection of mediocrity. John Phillips, Ernst Glass, and Earl West will fight it out for a spot or two.

Apologies if after going through all of this the optimism is wearing thin. However, unless the infield is more like the Million Dollar Infield and less, buddy can ya spare a dime, it seems we're in for another long summer. But it's spring, anything can happen.

Plenty of battles going on for positions as the Montreal Saints complete their first week of Citrus play with a 3-4 record. Red Bond is having no issues at the plate as he focuses on a possible transition to first base. The two-time all-star had 8 hits, including a pair that left the yard, in 20 at bats to start the season. Here is a position-by-position break down on how things look:

Catcher: Ben Richardson is a sure shot at the moment with rule 5 pick Charlie Logan taking the lead for the backup
Rookie Dixie Galloway needs more AB before decision made, and will get his chance this week.
First Base: Red Bond keep going learning his new position in defense. Saints are trying Bill Green as backup
Second base: Battle between Charlie Woodbury and 23 year old prospect Bob Jennings. Jennings will get more AB week #2. Woodbury started strong with 2 HR in week #1, but still low on BA. Gary Carmichael still there as back up with a decent week #1
Shortstop: Jake Hughes and Hank Grant are probably both retaining their spots on the roster. The question is who will start on regular basis. Hughes can play other positions in the infield and was with team the last two seasons.
Third base: Spud Bent is out for one week. That will give more presence for others players. Mark Burns may have a chance to redeem himself from the disastrous sophomore season in 1940 vs impressive rookie season in 1939. With the injury of Bent, prospect Norman Houser will get one more week of FABL training camp
Leftfield: Left field still taken by Bert Lass. Prospect Otis Parker need to raise his play level to show he can stay in the majors, he will be getting more AB week #2. IF not better, he is getting a ticket to AAA.
Right field is alternating between Vic Crawford, who moved from 1B to RF, and Ed Jordan. So far Jordan had the best week of the two, but still early in the camp to decide. Maury Millsap still at camp for now to gain experience.
Centerfield is a good showdown. Heinie Billings is struggling at bat after week #1 but he is the best defender. While Pete Wood is continuing his progression from last year with better offense and can for sure be great for end of game defense sub in the corner field if needed. He may be finding himself a place if he continues on this pace. Then comes prospect Bill Greene who will have more AB in week #2 to show he can play on regular base. Green can also play 1B and 2B, which is a good addition to team.
Pitching: Experiences on the pitching squad will continue in week #2. But expect some cuts in this group at the end of week. Smells like waiver time for few of them. The core group of Ed Baker, Jake DeYoung, Wally Doyle and Howie Snyder is a sure shot to make the club. Leading the second group is Karl Wallace, Eddie Hite, Bill Ross, Bill Stewart. Need to find their skills is the back group of Karl Weiss, Whitey Griffin, Bud Robbins, Lou Ellertson and Billy Stall. The surprise of week #1 was prospect Jimmy Mayse with a shutout 4 innings and that earned the 24 year old a second start this week.

QUICK HITS

Veteran John Lawson on Cannons top prospect Bill Sohl "I don't know what to say, Bill Sohl really had it going today. Not to give the guy a big head, but if he keeps playing like that, he'll write his own ticket. If he puts it all together, he could be something really special. I just hope he's not playing us when it happens." Pretty high praise from a future Hall of Famer.
Another rookie pitcher making a statement early is Mel Bianco of the Pioneers. The 23 year old was a 1939 first round selection out of Maryland State and he pitched at 3 levels of minors last season. If his first two spring starts are any indication Bianco will be heading north next month. He went 4 innings against Detroit allowing just 1 hit (a Gil London solo homerun) and then shutout Boston in 4 1/3 innings in his next start.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs as they get back on the ballfield with Citrus League contests.

BOSTON- Disappointment in Boston to see that Bob Donoghue will miss the first couple of weeks of the regular season after hurting his knee last week. The 27 year old had been injury free the past couple of seasons (and hit 58 homers over that span) but now suffers the third major injury (month or longer) of his career. Good news is young infielder Buddy Schneider went 11-for-21 at the plate to open spring play. With Jack Flint coming over from Cincinnati the Minutemen are looking to move a catcher. The plan is likely 32 year old Bobby Gentry will be moved as he is out of options and unlikely to make the team ahead of Bill Van Ness.

BROOKLYN- 35 year old Gordie Woods pitched 4 perfect innings in his first start of the spring. Woods is out of options and hoping to stick with the Kings, who will need to fill the void left with Tom Barrell's departure. Woods has been in the Kings system since 1929 when they acquired him in the Rule 5 draft but has spent most of his time in the minors. His career FABL record is 5-9.

CHIEFS- The Federal Association was very balanced last week with every team going either 4-3 or 3-4. The Chiefs were one of those on the winning side of ledger including a pair of wins in games that Rabbit Day got the start on the hill.

COUGARS- Pete Papenfus: 8.1 IP, 1 BB, 8 K. Is his control fixed? Cougars staffers have probably scouted the 22 year old 100+ times since his high school days and this is the first time a scout hasn't complained about his control. OSA also has a week old report and doesn't mention poor control either! My hype meter is currently set to 100 as perhaps Papenfus may finally be ready to live up to the high expectations many had for him when he was drafted 6th overall in 1936.

CINCINNATI- 1940 second overall pick Bill Sohl made his debut against FABL hitters last week in a 6-5 loss to Montreal. The 22 year old allowed 4 hits and walked a pair and was on the hook for 3 earned runs but the purpose was just to get his feet wet before heading to Indianapolis. Sohl will get one more start before he reports to the minor league camp. The only concerning performance from the opening week of Citrus play was Larry Brown as the 32 year old got beat up in both of his appearances out of the bullpen.

CLEVELAND- Rough week for the Foresters who won only once, 11-8 over the Stars, in their 7 games last week. And more bad news as Earle Robinson last precisely 1/3 of an inning before getting hurt again. This time it is his back but not considered too serious as the 25 year old is expected to only miss a couple of weeks. A former first round pick who tossed a no-hitter in the minors, Robinson was a top 25 prospect but a series of injuries have derailed his career.

DETROIT- they have several out of options players milling around so it will be a very important camp for some guys. There are some competitions this camp as well at primarily C, SS. There is also some mild competition at 2B. No cause for panic of course but Sal Pestilli and Red Johnson were a combined 2-for-16 with no extra base hits or rbi's last week.

MONTREAL- Red Bond got off to a great start with a pair of homers and a .421 average in the opening week of spring. But outfield prospects Bill Greene and the newly acquired Otis Parker (in the Adam Mullins deal) combined to go 1-for-15.

NY STARS- Newcomer Lew Seals showed some power his first week in a Stars uniform, smacking 3 homers to tie him with Washington's Sig Stofer for the FABL lead.

NY GOTHAMS- A winning week is always cause for celebration for the Gotham. Starting pitcher was for the most part good, and some nice hitting from infielders Roosevelt Brewer, Billy Dalton and Mule Monier. The newcomers in the outfield Hub Parks and Mel Alvarez struggled, but the exciting line - .462/.632/1.077, 2 homers , a triple and 4 RBI in 19 PA belonged to none other than Leon Drake.

KEYSTONES- The Keystones usually have more than 40 in camp with some non-roster invitees, but they are not bringing in any NRIs at the start of camp. Most of the camp battles center around backup roles with the exception of shortstop, where Tim Humphrey and Clyde Duncan will each have a shot at the starter's role.

SAILORS- A pair of very solid starts for veteran lefthander Dutch Sheldon. He allowed just 1 run on 1 hit in 4 innings of a 5-4 win over Brooklyn and then pitched 4 shutout frames in a 5-0 blanking of the Cougars.

PITTSBURGH- Nice start for Tom Barrell in his new home as a Pittsburgh Miner. The 32 year old former Brooklyn ace tossed 4 shutout innings in a win over Detroit. It wasn't pretty as he walked 4 and allowed 3 hits but there were some good moments with none bigger than pitching his way out of a first inning jam after allowing the first 3 batters he faced to reach base. Also impressing Miners brass was Sonny O'Callaghan. The 23 year old rule 5 pickup from Cleveland allowed just 2 hits over 4 scoreless innings of work in his start last week.

ST LOUIS- 22 year old Luke Michaels, who split last season between A and AA, is off to a great start in trying to impress Pioneers management enough so he can replace Ivan Cameron at shortstop. Michaels hit .375 (9-for-24) and started all 7 games as the Pioneers played mostly prospects this week.

TORONTO- The defending champs picked up right where they left off last October as, at 5-2, they own the best record in either association after one week of spring play. Third baseman Walt Pack, on the trade block and being pressed for his starting job by Ockie Holliday after a poor season a year ago, had a quick start, batting .500 (7-for-14).

WASHINGTON-Sig Stofer is one of two players with 3 home runs during the first week of spring. It's a small sample size, but he cut his strikeout rate in half after coming over to Washington from Philadelphia:

Keystones: 163 PA, 14.7 K%
Eagles: 130 PA, 7.7 K%

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 3/23/1941

Britain feels the addition of 'formidable' American aircraft makes the Royal Air Force now greater "absolutely and relatively" to German Luftwaffe strength when the great air battles began last summer. Britain claims to have destroyed 4,250 German and 1,100 Italian planes in 10 months with a loss of less than 1,800 British aircraft.
British troops, as many as 150,000 are in Greece to aid that country if Germany attempts to attack.
With the Lend-Lease deal to aid Britain approved, President Roosevelt received approval from the House appropriations Sub-Committee for his initial request of $7 billion in aid. However, it would take months before the production can reach it's height.
FDR has ordered an investigation by the State Department after a Brooklyn reporter working for the United Press in Berlin is arrested by the Nazis under suspicion of being an American spy.
The US Navy is watching closely after British Prime Minister Churchill declared that German submarines and battle cruisers have crossed to the American side of the Atlantic, perhaps as close as to within 1,500 miles of New York.
Germany reports sinking 33 cargo-laden ships in recent weeks in the Atlantic.
A fire "of considerable magnitude" broke out in Germany's $20 million luxury liner, the 51,731 ton Bremen, said to be caused as part of an R.A.F. air raid.
Top doctors at the Pasteur Institute in Paris fear "Europe is certain to have the worst epidemic in all of it's history." Typhus fever rages in Spain already and the concern is epidemics take root in famine and filth, both of which are of grave concern in much of Europe.
The first sporting casualty of war is AIAA football with some schools already announcing they will not field teams next year due to a lack of players. Brooklyn State is one as the schools dropping football due to the Army taking away too many players.

Jiggs McGee · 02-14-2022, 12:11 PM

MARCH 31, 1941

A LOOK AHEAD: 1941 PREDICTION ISSUE

Once again it is time for Jiggs McGee to forecast how the upcoming baseball season will play out. A year ago Jiggs came up short in calling the winner of each of the Association as in both cases the team he tabbed to win it all finished in second place. In the Continental Association Jiggs felt the Chicago Cougars were the team to beat in 1940 and it was close, but in the end they came up a game short in their chase of the Toronto Wolves. After successfully calling the Pittsburgh Miners victory in 1939 Jiggs felt the Miners would be overtaken by Detroit last season but in the end Pittsburgh once more prevailed, but only by 2 games over the Dynamos who finished second for the third consecutive year.

As a reminder here is how Jiggs called the 1940 season at this time a year ago compared to how it ended up.

Code:


    1940 FEDERAL ASSOCIATION
TEAM		 W  L   JIGGS PICK
Pittsburgh	92 62     2nd
Detroit		90 64     1st
Philadelphia    87 67     8th
Chicago		82 72	  3rd
Boston		80 74     4th
Washington	69 85     7th
New York	59 95     6th
St Louis	57 97     5th

  1940 CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
TEAM		 W  L   JIGGS PICK
Toronto		88 66	  6th
Chicago		87 67	  1st
Cincinnati	84 70	  7th
New York	80 74	  3rd
Philadelphia	80 74	  4th
Brooklyn	73 81	  2nd
Montreal	71 83	  8th
Cleveland 	53 101    5th

JIGGS MCGEE'S FEARLESS FORECAST FOR 1941

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION

The Toronto Wolves certainly rebounded nicely from a terrible 1939 season and I won't underestimate them again this year. Toronto has terrific pitching and in Fred McCormick one of the best pure hitters in the game. The CA race will go down to the wire again this year but just like I predicted last season I am going with the Chicago Cougars, as I expect them to atone for falling just short a year ago.

Pete Papenfus is ready to take a big step forward and if he does it will make the Cougars pitching nearly the equal of Toronto's staff. I feel Chicago has just a little more offensive talent and as long as vets John Lawson, Dick Lyons and Jim Lonardo don't start showing their age the Cougars will claim their first pennant since 1933. Toronto will be a close second and ready to repeat if the Chicago old-timers stumble.

Cincinnati added all-star catcher Adam Mullins to a pretty talented group and it will make the Cannons, who were the surprise of the CA a year ago, a team to be feared but I think they fall just short of the big two once again. The Stars and Sailors will once again battle it out for the final spot in the first division and I am going to give the nod to Philadelphia as the loss of George Phillips to Pittsburgh will hurt New York more than the addition of Lew Seals will help.

Montreal might take a small step backwards this season with the loss of Mullins but I think that will be counteracted by an improved pitching staff which will make them the best of the three remaining clubs. Brooklyn still has talent but the Kings seem to need to find their way and while they might challenge for the first division if all breaks right I believe in the end they will be much closer to last than first place. That leaves Cleveland and the Foresters season depends on their start. A quick start and the band might stay together as they challenge Montreal for 6th place but a slow start likely means a rebuild is triggered by a mass sell-off at the midway point and a second straight last place finish.

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1- CHICAGO COUGARS
2- TORONTO WOLVES
3- CINCINNATI CANNONS
4- PHILADELPHIA SAILORS
5- NEW YORK STARS
6- MONTREAL SAINTS
7- BROOKLYN KINGS
8- CLEVELAND FORESTERS

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION

It would have been hard for me to pick against the Pittsburgh Miners before they made there two big off-season deals. Now it is impossible as George Phillips will be a key piece of the rotation and if Tom Barrell finds his game the Miners will be unstoppable. They really need George Cleaves, Jack Cleaves and Mahlon Strong to stay healthy, although the same can be said about any team and it's big offensive producers, but the Miners pitching rotation is just too deep with Phillips joining Lefty Allen, Charlie Stedman and Karl Johnson. Without Barrell returning to form it will be another tight race but if Tom is terrific again the Miners could have it wrapped up by Labor Day if all goes well.

It seemed like everything went right for the Philadelphia Keystones last year and while there are always chances young players will take a step back I just don't think that is a case in Philadelphia this year. The Keystones have so much young talent I expect at least the vast majority of it will improve and they might cause a few scares for the fans in western Pennsylvania but will ultimately fall short.

Detroit has finished second three years in a row and I am going on record saying it won't happen a 4th time. Unfortunately for Dynamos fans I am thinking they will slip to third but if things fall apart for the Miners it will be quite a race between the Keystones and Dynamos. There is a lot to like about Detroit, any team with Sal Pestilli and Red Johnson is capable of great things, but I worry if Frank Crawford will be at 100% quick enough upon returning for Detroit to keep pace with Pittsburgh.

The addition of Jack Flint behind the plate should help Boston and John Edwards seems poised for a big season but I worry about Dick Higgins bouncing back from an 11-19 campaign and Ed Wood duplicating his 21 win season a year ago. Likewise Art Myers had a career year as a 34 year old so the question is can he duplicate it. It won't matter if Duke Hendricks can finally live up to the hype but he is now 25 and was never overwhelming in AAA. The spring injury to slugger Bob Donoghue also amplifies concerns the Minutemen have not been able to add another big bat.

Tough to put a team with Al Miller and Rabbit Day in the second division but the Federal Association is very strong meaning the Chiefs are the odd team left out of the upper half. They may have sold off 34 year old Cliff Moss at just the right time but I feel his offense will be missed (and be very help for the cross-town Cougars). Tom Bird has caught a lot of games and will be 33 when the season starts so he may start to see his offensive production dip. The Chiefs are a strong team and will step up if anyone ahead of them struggles but their pennant contending days are done without some retooling.

The St Louis Pioneers had terrible luck last season. They are not a great team but certainly not a last place club either. If their pitching can have some better luck I can see them finish 6th as the Gothams, while somewhat improved, and Eagles will not threaten the first division at all again this season.

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
1- PITTSBURGH MINERS
2- PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES
3- DETROIT DYNAMOS
4- BOSTON MINUTEMEN
5- CHICAGO CHIEFS
6- ST LOUIS PIONEERS
7- NEW YORK GOTHAMS
8- WASHINGTON EAGLES

ALL-TIME WINS LEADERS BY LETTER

A few issues back we took a look at the FABL career hits leader starting with each letter of the alphabet. Today we turn our attention to the mound and compile a similar list of pitchers with the most wins.

A: Allan Allen 514 1890-1909
No surprise here as the Hall of Famer is the all-time wins leader regardless of what letter the last name begins with as his 514 victories dwarf Charlie Sis's second place total of 395. The man for whom the top pitcher award is named after pitched for 20 seasons with the Chicago Cougars, Toronto and Cleveland. He also pitched in 4 WCS but was on the winning side only once, in 1898 when he didn't allow an earned run in two starts leading the Provincials (as Toronto was known back then) past the Pittsburgh Miners. Interesting to note even if you include minor league games -although Allen never pitched in the minors himself - his win total is still nearly 100 higher than the number two man on the list. That would be Johnny Ervin, who won 425 games over 21 seasons but all of those victories came in the minors. Ervin's entire big league career consisted of 1/3 of an inning for the 1885 Pittsburgh Quarries of the Border Association. He was tagged with the loss in that appearance leaving the Philadelphia native 0-1 for his major league career.

The active leader in career FABL wins for a pitcher who's last name starts with A? That would be Cleveland's Dean Astle at 121-96 but not for long as Lefty Allen of the Miners is 111-64 and closing fast.

B: GEORGE BURGER 236 1904-1916
A player most have never heard of but they should as Burger won at least 20 games in his first 4 seasons and 8 times overall in his 13 year career. He broke in with Washington in 1904 and won 179 games for the Eagles over 9 seasons before being traded to Brooklyn in a deal that brought Mel Hancock Sr to the Eagles. He only led his Association in strikeouts once but his 2,215 career total is 7th most all-time although Rabbit Day (2,133) could pass him this year.

Ed Baker of Montreal (166-135) is the active leader among the B's with new Pittsburgh Miner Tom Barrell (137-82) next on the list.

C: JIM CATHEY 267 1901-1915
Cathey is one of 4 pitchers who's last name starts with C to win 200 FABL games (Willie Couillard, Don Cannady and Ken Carpenter are the others). He had seven straight twenty-win seasons with Cleveland before finishing his career with the New York Stars. A western New Yorker he was nicknamed 'The Buffalo Bull". The active leader in the C's is Detroit's Frank Crawford (118-79) followed by the Stars Chuck Cole (95-102)

D: RABBIT DAY 264 1927-present
Our first active player to lead the way, Day recently passed Jim Dixon (1890-1905, 257-230) to claim top spot for his letter. No other 'D' reached 200 wins but George Davis (1916-1928) came close at 195-178. Note, if we include the minors and high school ball (Day was only 6-8 as a high schooler in Toledo) Rabbit has 299 career wins. Whether he gets to 300 strictly as a big leaguer remains to be seen but seems a pretty fair bet.

E: ALEXANDER ELLIOTT 366 1886-1906
We have the aforementioned Johnny Ervin as the big gun among the E's if we count minors but among big leaguers Elliott is the runaway winner. A large number of his wins came before the formation of FABL in 1892 but he did lead the Federal Association with 33 victories for the Gothams in 1896. The only other player who's last name starts with E to top 200 wins was Sam Evans, who like Elliott began his career prior to the formation of FABL and finished with 223 big league wins . Evans also played for 8 different FABL teams as well as two other teams in the Border Association and Players League.

The active leader in the E's is Washington's Jack Elder at 75-93 followed by Lou Ellertson of Montreal (63-70).

F: CHARLIE FIRESTONE 210 1912-1919
Firestone had a very short but productive big league career. He was 24 when he broke in with Montreal in 1912 after a number of seasons in the Dixie League. He went 22-18 as a rookie and then followed that up with 31,28,35,35 and 28 win seasons. He led the league in wins 4 times, era twice and strikeouts 3 times while winning the pitching triple crown in 1916. His 1915 and 1916 seasons were two of the best ever seen but he did not win the Whitney Award either time (there was no Allen Award at this point). In 1915 Firestone went 35-7, 1.84 with 317 strikeouts leading the league in wins and era but was 30 k's behind Tom Guarneri of the Cougars that season. Firestone did go 2-0 in the Series that year, beating Boston 2-1 and 2-0 to claim the WCS MVP. In 1916 he claimed his triple crown with 35-7, 1.88 and 291 k's but his Saints lost the Series in 6 to Detroit. Firestone was 3-1 with a 1.29 era in 35 innings of WCS work with 19 k's and 4 walks. Midway through the 1918 season he was dealt to the Keystones and the following year, despite being just 31, his FABL career came to an end and he finished out his pitching days back in the minors.

Lou Felkel (202-208) who retired in 1933 is second among the F's followed by our active leader in Milt Fritz (178-141), who is just 31 and seemingly in his prime still with the Chicago Cougars. Fritz seems to be a sure bet to eventually pass Firestone and 250 wins is not out of the question, maybe even 300 one day.

G: JIM GOLDEN 269 1909-1920
Golden has come close to making the Hall of Fame each of the past two years and should get there some day despite a career that, like Firestone, ended at age 31. Jim and his older brother Rip Golden (148-158) came from Mandeville, Louisiana to the big leagues. Jim was a star almost instantly, winning 23 for the Detroit Dynamos as a 20 year old rookie in 1909 and would win 4 WCS and a pair of Whitney Awards with Detroit. In 1919 he suffered a stomach strain which, at the age of 30 was his first serious injury. Some say he tried to come back from that injury too quickly, altering his windup slightly and they blame that for the career ending back injury he suffered the following season. His 8 career WCS wins remain a FABL post-season record and only the great Woody Trease fanned more than the 49 Golden struck out in WCS play.

Long-time Brooklyn great Danny Goff is second with 252 wins while the top active 'G' is Detroit's Sergio Gonzales at 85-65.

H: MORRIS HARRIS 319 1892-1906
Another player who was done early as Harris did not pitch after turning 33. He had some big years before the turn of the century including a Federal Association leading 35-7 1895 campaign for the Gothams. Much travelled, like the previously mentioned Alexander Elliott, Morris Harris pitched for 8 different FABL teams in his career: Boston, Brooklyn, Chiefs, Cougars, Gothams, Stars, Sailors and Washington and was on 3 WCS winner.

The active leader in H is Joe Hancock (89-61) of Toronto with Red Hampton (83-80) of the Chiefs and the Stars Boyd Harper (83-76 tied for second.

I: MICHAEL IVORY 75 1919-1930
One of just 2 pitchers who's last name starts with I to win a FABL game, Ivory pitcher for Toronto, the Cougars and St Louis with his best season being a 17-4 showing for Chicago in 1922, when he also won a WCS game helping the Cougars past Washington in 5. The other I is Hal Ingram, who went 1-8 for Pittsburgh and the Gothams between 1913-15.

J: BIG GEORGE JOHNSON 311 1907-1926
A recent Hall of Fame inductee and current pitching coach of the Cincinnati Cannons, Johnson was a dominant pitcher for the Boston Minutemen between 1912-1923 but started and ended his career with the Washington Eagles. He is the most recent pitcher to record his 300th win, with Johnson's coming in 1925. The active leader is one of Big George's players in Cincinnati as William Jones (187-137), who pitched primarily for the Sailors, leads the way ahead of Pittsburgh's Karl Johnson (153-142).

K: SAM KING 177 1888-1898
19th century star King won nearly half of his games prior to the creation of FABL but will soon be passed by Bill Ketterman of Pittsburgh, who at 175-154 is the active leader.

L: JACK LONG 339 1902-1919
Long was a star for the Chicago Cougars for well over a decade before finishing his career with the Toronto Wolves. Only Allan Allen (514), Charlie Sis (395) and Aaron Wright (341) won more games in FABL than Long, who along with Wright are the only two out of nine pitchers with 320 or more wins not to be in the Hall of Fame yet. Long led the CA in losses twice but never led in any of the pitching triple crown categories. A pair of current Chicago Cougars are 1-2 among active 'L' pitchers in Jim Lonardo (216-157) and Dick Lyons (201-145).

M: MIKE MARNER 325 1907-1918
The long-time Baltimore Clippers ace, who finished his career with stops in Detroit, Brooklyn and Washington leads the way among the M's. He led the CA in wins as a 19 year old rookie with 34 and topped the loop each of his first six seasons and seven of eight. He played in 4 WCS with Baltimore, going 4-4 and being on the winning side in three of them. Marner was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1938 and is third all-time in K's trailing only Charlie Sis and Bill Temple as well as 6th in career wins. The active leader is Oscar Morse (152-140), who is now 36 and was just released by the Chiefs this week with Mike Murphy of Detroit (138-92) and Boston's Art Myers (132-112) not far behind.

N: DON NOFTALL 282 1891-1903
Leads by a wide margin and is another one of those guys in the late 19th century that bounced around as Noftall suited up for 7 different FABL clubs between the league's creation in 1892 and his retirement 11 years later. He did win a pair of WCS titles for the Cougars in 1899 and 1900 and went 61-30 for the club those two seasons. Number two among the N's is current Philadelphia Sailors veteran pitcher Doc Newell (124-110). Newell also happens to be the only player in FABL history to throw three no-hitters. Only Bill Temple (who leads the T's in wins) and John Blackburn have thrown two.

O: RUDY OSMOND 106 1918-1927
Spent a decade with the New York Stars highlighted by an 18-13 season in 1922 and was part of their record 3 straight WCS titles between 1924-26. If we choose to include minor league stats our all-time leader among the O's is much more impressive as Hartigan O'Carroll went 343-325 in a 20 year career that began way back in 1876 - the first year of professional baseball. Most of his wins came for New Orleans and Memphis in the Dixie League but he did go 103-103 as a major league primarily with the Chicago Chiefs.

The active Major League leader is actually pitching in the Lone Star Association right now. Ken Owens was recently let go by the Eagles, for whom he went 4-8 over parts of 4 seasons before signing with Pueblo in the fall. 25 year old Don Orr is with St Louis but he has just one big league win and is 1-1 over parts of two seasons as a reliever for the Pioneers.

P: JERRY PARIS 264 1884-1898
Not a guy I would have thought of, Paris led the Border Association in wins with Cincinnati in 1884 and 1885 and later pitched in FABL for Detroit, the Cougars, Cleveland, the Gothams and Washington. He won a Border Association title with the Monarchs and then claimed a WCS win as a member of the 1896 Gothams, for whom he went 2-1 that year in the WCS. Surprisingly perhaps, but no other pitcher who's last name starts with P has won even 150 FABL games. The active leader is Roger Perry (110-61), who was recently traded from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati.

Q: EDDIE QUINN 121 1930-present
Shares the distinction with Rabbit Day and Les Zoller as being the only active players to lead in wins by letter. Much maligned through no fault of his own because of that infamous 1925 draft day deal that Toronto traded up to take him second overall, Quinn has carved out a nice career highlighted by a pair of all-star appearances, a WCS win with Cleveland in 1934 and a 20 win season in Washington two years ago. Now 34 and a Chicago Cougar, the club is hoping he can bounce back from a serious arm injury suffered last June. Only two other 'Q' pitchers have at least one FABL victory: they are Jake Quarels, who went 14-5 for three teams between 1895 and 1898, and Elijah Queen, who was just 12-14 for his career despite pitching in 149 FABL games with all but 3 in relief between 1893-1901. We also have Ike Quinn, who made 4 appearances for the 1935 Washington Eagles including 2 starts but went 0-1 and is now retired. Be aware that Philadelphia Keystones prospect Joe Quade will almost certainly expand that list some time in the next few years.

R: WILLIE RHINEHARDT 313 1887-1901
99 of his wins came with Cincinnati in the Border Association prior to the formation of FABL but he did have 8 straight 20-plus win seasons after the creation of FABL but he pitched with six different teams during that stretch. Two other R pitchers won over 200 games in Preston Royal (269-221), a turn of the century pitcher who led his league in wins twice but pitched for 6 different teams over his 13 year career, and Bill Ross, who retired 5 years ago after winning 230 games and 3 WCS titles for the Cougars and Keystones. Our active leader is Cleveland's Dave Rankin (119-164) despite a career record that is clearly slanted to the losing side of the ledger.

S: CHARLIE SIS 395 1903-1921
No doubt the leader here is the Hall of Famer who pitched 3 seasons for St Louis before going on to have a dominant career in Toronto. Sis is second all-time in wins behind only Double Al. With 249 victories Mose Smith is a distant number two while the active leader is Pittsburgh's Charlie Stedman (218-197) followed by Joe Shafner (165-137) of Detroit.

T: WOODY TREASE 325 1901-1912
Another of those legendary pitchers of the first two decades of this century who retired far too early. Trease broke in with Boston in 1901 and played in 5 WCS for the Minutemen before appearing in 3 more after his trade to Detroit. He owns nearly every WCS career record as he has started more games, completed more games and pitched more innings in the Series than any other player. His record in post-season baseball was a very pedestrian 7-8 and he was on the winning side only 3 of the 8 times but one of those was 1903 when he was named the Series MVP. His 325 career wins ties him with fellow Hall of Famer Mike Marner for 6th all-time. He is still active in baseball as a manager at AAA San Francisco and has won 11 minor league pennants as a skipper. A member of one of the most prominent families in the sport, Woody's father Lynwood was a former big league catcher and manager, and came out of retirement to catch Woody in a 1904 game. His uncle Frank Trease also played and managed in FABL while Woody's son Lyn Trease is a minor leaguer in the Brooklyn Kings system currently.

The active leader among the T's is Cleveland's Ben Turner (99-84) with a slight lead on Chicago Chief righthander George Thomas (95-109).

U: HAL UPTON 6 1932-1935
Upton went 5-5 for the Sailors as a reliever in 1934 and pitched parts of two other seasons with the club. He did win 97 more games as a minor leaguer before retiring in 1939. The are no active pitchers with FABL wins among the U's but Keystones 22 year old prospect Connie Upchurch is 29-37 over 4 seasons in the minors. And there are a pair of draft eligible U's that might get selected in June in Bob Umstead of Kit Carson University and Illinois high school senior Earl Ulrich.

V: JAKE VERMILLION 125 1908-1913
Started with Toronto but spent most of his 6 year big league career with the New York Stars. Four times Vermillion was a 20 game winner including a career best 26-14 as a 24 year old in 1909 but after an 18-16 showing as a 28 year old in 1913 he never pitched in the big leagues again, retiring following the 1920 season after bouncing around the minors for half a dozen odd years. He is one of those guys I wish I could find out more about as he seemed like a very solid pitcher but just suddenly was deemed not needed despite posting a 115 ERA+ in his final big league season. Our active leader among the V's is Sam Vaughan of the Chicago Chiefs at 8-4 but Brooklyn's Sergio Vergara (2-9) deserves watching as the 25 year old was once an 11th ranked prospect.

W: AARON WRIGHT 341 1899-1915
In Aaron Wright and Charlie Wilson (332-190) the W's join the A's (Allan Allen and Price Adams) as the only letter with a pair of 300 game winners. Wright is third all-time in wins trailing only Double-A and Charlie Sis but he, unlike Wilson, is not yet in the Hall of Fame. He had durability on his side, pitching at least 300 innings 17 of his 19 seasons and missing by less than 6 innings in the other two years but he never led his Association in any triple crown stat. Bill West, who pitched for Washington from 1904-1917 nearly made it 3 W pitchers with 300+ W's, but fell just short settling for 291.

Our active leader is Ed Wood (130-103) of Boston with Tommy Wilcox, who is now with independent Sacramento, second among active pitchers in the W's with a 91-84 record.

X: no players
No one with X to as the first letter of his last name ever pitched in the minors or FABL.

Y: BOB YOUNG 195 1908-1920
Young split his 13 year career almost equally between St Louis and Detroit and won 3 WCS titles with the Dynamos. He only won 20 games once, in 1919 when he went 20-19 for the Pioneers but led the Fed in losses three times and lost at least twenty six straight years which helps explain his (195-235) losing record overall. He was pretty good in the WCS, going 3-2 but posting a 1.80 era in his 5 starts. No currently active pitcher who's last name starts with 'Y' has won a FABL game but Washington's 20 year old Jackie Yates is 23-27 in Class A/B/C combined. Every pitcher with at least one major league win in his career among the Y's is named Young:

Code:

 NAME		FABL REC   YEARS[/b]
Bob Young	195-235	  1908-1920
Alex Young	107-114	  1888-1895
Henry Young	 75-89	  1883-1890
Sam Young	 28-36    1925-1936
George Young	 23-15    1884-1887
William Young	 11-16    1925-1932
Jake Young	  7-9	  1926-1928
Jim Young	  3-3       1925

Z: Les Zoller 61 1931-current
Zoller has been with the Stars nearly as long as Dave Trowbridge and was on both their 1932 and 1939 World Championship winning teams and made one appearance in relief in each series. He has more big league wins than every other player who's name starts with Z combined: Ike Zuckerman (10-10), Dutch Ziegler (6-3) and Edgar Zanueta (3-8). If we include all levels than the Z leader is Zanueta, who went 3-8 for the 1920 Brooklyn Kings but was 133-131 for his career including 12-13 at Mississippi A&M and a lot of years with the Houston Bulls when they were a AAA club.

Some thoughts at the midway point of Keystones camp: The big news in camp is Davey Robicheaux, who has hit everything and is currently leading the team in hits (14), RBI (10), home runs (3) and runs scored (6) through two weeks of exhibition play. Admittedly, he has gotten more playing time than some of the established players, which explains why he leads in so many categories, but he is definitely ready for the big time. Could Robicheaux's early success be causing Hank Koblenz to grip his bat a little too tight? Hard Boiled Henry is only hitting .194 with two weeks left on the schedule, while George Wright understands the urgency of what might be his last chance to hang on to the big club, going 7-for-17 with two doubles.

This might be the end of the line for Carl Ames, as he has been the third-best catcher in camp behind starter Walt Potter and Charlie Gump. Ames is 1-for-8 with three strikeouts, but sources say he'll have a few extra at-bats this week to make his case for a pinch-hitting role.

I have received a lot of mail about Doug Lightbody, so I will report on what I see and what I know about the Mississippi Mouth. He has the backup first-baseman's job almost locked up, going 4-for-13 so far this Spring, including 4 for his last 7. Austin Moore, a key competitor for the job, is struggling at the plate (2-for-14) and Gene Mathews, as expected, was sent to the minor leagues.

Believe it or not, the challenge for Lightbody's playing time at first might come from Marshall Strickland, who is making his case for cutting into Billy Woytek's time at second base. Woytek, in those cases, would easily slide over to first to spell Hans Wright. But, as far as making the team, Lightbody has an excellent chance. You could say that Ames might face longer odds if Strickland and Lightbody keep it up.

Ed Greenwood's struggles (1-for-17) has allowed Tony Pestilli to stick around for a backup outfield spot. Pestilli, whose highest level is Single A Allentown, brought his brand of defense and hustle to the club, but it is still Greenwood's job to lose.

The pitching has been very good this Spring. Bud Canfield may be the odd man out of the rotation, but Henry Shaffer has not overly impressed the Keystones brass. The relief corps has been extremely good and the cuts may come down to the players with remaining minor league options, which could spell doom for Scotty Thomas and Don Fluharty.

There are many more happy faces in Gothams camp this seasons. They're managing to win more often than lose and at 8-5 for tied for the best spring mark in baseball. The roster is shaping up with the move of a few players to minor league camp and those expected to lead the team are playing like it, for the most part.

The rotation has looked pretty good. Gus Goulding, Rusty Petrick, Harry Carter and Fred Ratcliffe have been reliable, and Bunny Edwards, while still plagues by control issues, has manage to dance through fires of his own making. Charlie Sutton has had his troubles and will work out of the pen while Manager Ed Ziehl takes a look at other options. In the pen, several arms are looking good and will cause some headaches come cutdown day.

On the offensive side the team is nearly set. The younger infielders, sans Walt Messer (.233,2,3), are hitting well. Hub Parks (.310,2,8) had a very good second week and Leon Drake continues to mash balls into the gaps. The only concerns at the moment are Mel Alvarez (.192,0,4) and Bud Jameson (.143,1,3), both vets who should be expected to be ready come opening day. Final roster battles are limited to the middle infield reserve role and outfield bench.

Top hitters this spring - Leon Drake (.458-2-4), Billy Dalton (.424-4-9) and Mule Monier (.367-0-4)

QUICK HITS

Is there a better story this spring than what Sig Stofer has done in two weeks at Eagles camp. The Boardwalk Bopper is living up to his name with a FABL leading 6 homers and 11 rbi's in 27 at bats so far. The 24 year old, who came over from the Keystones last July, is batting .370 and also has walked 7 times. Stofer hit 11 homers in 41 games after the Eagles acquired him so his power output may be more than just a spring phase.
He did not start this week but Tom Barrell had another solid outing in his only appearance for the Pittsburgh Miners this week. Count me as a card-carrying member of the Tom Barrell fan club. I can't see it happening but wouldn't it be great to see Barrell win an Allen Award in the Fed, allowing him to join Rabbit Day as the only pitchers with at least one in each association. Surprisingly, while Day is the only dual-association Allen winner there have been 3 Whitney Award winners to do the trick. Can you name them? Answer at the bottom of quick hits.
The other newcomer on the mound for Pittsburgh is also having a solid start to his spring. George Phillips, who came over from the New York Stars for whom he won 14 games last season, did not allow a run in either of his two outings for the Miners.
23 year old Mal Bianco continues to impress for the St Louis Pioneers. The 1939 first rounder pitched 4 more shutout innings this week and has a 0.73 era in 3 spring starts.
The Cincinnati Cannons sign Andy Carter to a minor league deal with an option. Can't see him making the big club but the Cannons hope is he decides he is happy in AAA and gives them some injury depth. Teams were certainly not beating Carter's door down as his attitude, combined with reduced production the past couple of seasons, left even independent teams unwilling to touch the 35 year old former two-time all-star.
Staying with Cincinnati, last year's second overall pick Bill Sohl had a terrific second spring outing allowing just 2 singles over 4 innings of work. That earned the 22 year old a couple more starts to prove he should begin the season in Cincinnati instead of AAA Indianapolis as the Cannons brass had planned.
Few minor moves made in Toronto camp but the real crunch will come next week, the waiver wire could be active with some tough decisions to be made by the Wolves brass who are expected to return virtually everyone from last October's championship club.
n the Chiefs camp, there are some interesting battles going on for the last few spots on the pitching staff. One player that has opened some eyes is Ralph Kendall (who came over from the Cougars in the Cliff Moss trade). Just before camp, Kendall had upped his fastball to the 96-98 mph range. In camp, he has struck out 25% of the batters he has faced (8 IP, 8 K, 2 BB). He's increased his chances of breaking camp with the big league club. Lou Eaker--who came over in the same trade--also looked impressive this spring, but 23 year old righthander has been reassigned to class AA Memphis.
Si Crocker is having a really nice spring for the Boston Minutemen. The former 4th rounder was a N.R.I and has made the most of his time. For the spring he is 9-19 (.529) with a triple, two homers and 10 RBI's. The young 22 year old has steadily moved up through the system but at 81 games in AAA Columbus last season he only hit .233 with double the strikeouts to walks. While his output this spring has been very encouraging the Minutemen do not plan to carry 6 outfielders going into opening day. So some decision will have to be made. Right now the Minutemen are down to 29 players in camp with 11 of them being pitchers. Currently, the Boston brass is having a really difficult time figuring who should be the 3 arms to go to Columbus. There is a lot of competition going into the last two weeks of camp.
The Minutemen are shopping 26 year old pitcher Joe Foote, who went 1-4 with 4 saves for the club last season. Foote is out of options and likely will not make the final 24 man roster that heads north to Boston.
The Stars are looking to move long-time backup catcher Mike Burkholder as he will be the odd-man out with the addition of Joe Rainbow to challenge Johnny Hopper for the starting job. The 34 year old Burkholder hit .296 last season.
Trivia answer. The Whitney Award winners with at least one in each league are Max Morris, T.R. Goins and Al Wheeler.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 3/30/1941

Britain took the war to the heart of Nazi Germany, dropping 10,000 bombs and explosives on Berlin.
Yugoslavia was forced to accept Axis terms and join with them but did so in a way that split the country due to the threat of a civil war so Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia will all sign separate pacts with Germany.
The plan to avoid civil war failed as the Yugoslav army coup ousted pro-Nazi government officials, prompting the US to pledge aid to the uprisers.
Danger of Germany-Japan pact collapsing as Hitler warns Tokio to formulate a definite Anglo-American policy or run the risk of not receiving Axis support.
British and Greek forces report a major naval victory over the Italians in the biggest sea engagement of the war.
Germany has extended the reach of it's patrols to Iceland in an effort to expand their blockade and prevent American shipments from reaching Britain. Several conveys of undisclosed origin were sunk this week by Nazi patrols.
Britain forecasts the crux of the battle of Britain will occur in the next few months in the North Atlantic and if the British win they "will go into the home stretch."
Violence in Chicago and central Pennsylvania as striking factory workers clashed with police, in yet more job action that threatens the production of military equipment and supplies.

Jiggs McGee · 02-15-2022, 02:32 PM

APRIL 6, 1941

OPENING DAY A WEEK AWAY

We are quickly closing in on the start of the 1941 season which begins one week from today with the traditional opener in the nation's capital as the Washington Eagles welcome the Philadelphia Keystones to Columbia Stadium. The other 14 teams join the party the following day in a season that promises plenty of excitement but also a lot of concern for FABL General Managers. That concern is focused on Europe as the clouds of war grow ominously darker causing clubs to fear not only losing top talent to the military but also the possibility the game itself might be shut down if we are drawn in to the war. That never happened during the Great War, although seasons were shortened, but there is a fear that this one could taken a much greater toll on American and Canadian resources. The league was dealt one more bitter pill of reality this week as the Chicago Cougars learned that 25 year old pitcher Rusty Watts is off to the Army, making him the second player with FABL experience to leave the sport for military service as he joins Dixie Lee of the New York Stars.

While thoughts of war weigh heavily on the minds of players, management and owners alike it is, at least for now, business as usual in Florida as clubs wrap up their Citrus games this week before heading north for the games that really matter, although perhaps just a little bit less this season than in past years because of what is going on in the world.

As we approach the final spring games and pack up the gear for the ride back to chilly New York, the Gothams prospects for 1941 continue to appear brighter than the past few seasons.

Each of the 5 expected starting pitchers, plus minor league invitee Alex Laramie have looked good. Manager Ed Ziehl is expected to go with a rotation of Gus Goulding, Rusty Petrick, Harry Carter, Fred Ratcliffe, and Bunny Edwards. Whether this group can retain their effectiveness when the opponents are using major leaguers every day, remains to be seen. The pen has looked good for the most park with a couple spots still to be locked down in the final week.
Pete Casstevens has looked good behind the plate and is hitting enough not to cause concern.

The main area of concern, surprisingly, is first base where both Bud Jameson and Walt Messer have struggled all spring. It would be a blow to the team if at 37 Jameson was nearing the end before Messer showed his expected skills with the lumber. The remaining infield is set. Billy Dalton is one of the leading hitters in FABL this spring, while Mule Monier and Roosevelt Brewer have been consistent, if not spectacular.

Hub Parks and Leon Drake hope to continue their spring work into the regular season. If the struggling Mel Alvarez can't get it going the team does have other options for CF.

Still a week to go until the games count, but the 1941 Gothams appear ready for the season.

Expectations are sky high in the Queen City as our big league ballclub -never gets old saying that, does it- prepares for it's second season playing at Monarchs Field. A year ago there really were no expectations at all as this was a club that was dying in Baltimore, both at the ticket window and on the diamond where they were worst team in the Continental Association six years running. So with no pressure and no expectations the Cannons captured the hearts of local sports fans by leading the Continental Association for much of the season before eventually finishing in third place, just 4 games out of first.

It was a season that no one saw coming: a tremendous year from vets like Moxie Pidgeon and William Jones, young stars like Deuce Barrell and Fred Galloway and rookies such as Vic Carroll and Denny Andrews. They also cranked up the excitement level a notch higher over the winter with the big acquisition of 4-time all-star catcher Adam Mullins. But now comes the tough part. Expectations are sky high. The Cannons season will not be deemed a success unless they at the very least challenge once again for the pennant and some might argue with the addition of Mullins they should be the team to beat in the Continental Association this season.

This club certainly has the talent to snap a 27 year pennant-less drought if things break right, but the same can be said for at least four other Continental clubs including defending champion Toronto and the powerful looking Chicago Cougars, who like Cincinnati, added an all-star bat in veteran outfielder Cliff Moss.

Perhaps the Cannons will be successful this year but odds are it gets a whole lot tougher this time around as the club now has to deal with not only their CA rivals but also the weight of expectations, a burden they knew nothing about in years past. A year ago they got off to a 31-13 start as other teams were perhaps guilty of looking past the Cannons in the early going. No one will take Cincinnati lightly this time around. Add to that the fact that many teams may take extraordinary measures to win this pennant due to the fact the war in Europe has already had some impact on the sport and it is expected to become a much bigger factor, perhaps even shutting the game down for a period. There simply is no guarantee what the seasons ahead might hold for baseball.

BEST TO GO 'ALL-IN': Under normal circumstances one might urge the Cannons to be patient and let their core, which aside from Jones and Perret, is comprised entirely of players under the age of 30, take time to develop knowing a pennant seems quite possible at some point in the near future. The issue is, as we all know, with the storm brewing in Europe, one that has already claimed two big league players for it's battles and seems a certainty to take so much more if (when?) we are fully drawn into Britain's battle against the Nazis. When that happens all bets are off. Some have speculated as many as half the big league players might get the call to join the army which would throw the pennant races, and perhaps even the sport itself, into complete chaos.

There is no guarantee that does not happen at some point over the summer but the feeling here, and shared by many around the league, is that if your club has a chance to win a pennant this season it might be very wise to sacrifice some of that future potential for a shot at glory now. Who knows, the future might just get shut down for a few years.

THIS AND THAT:

Smarties in sports figure hockey, both the big league variety and the minors, being 95 percent Canadian, will do a full fadeout next fall. That will allow college basketball to take center stage, not just here in southern Ohio where the Central Ohio Aviators and Queen City College rule the winter roost, but also in the big league venues like New York and Chicago where the puck still trumps hoops in the minds of many sports fans. However, some feel a possible pro hockey shutdown might just open the door for professional basketball to step up it's stature. Who knows, maybe Cincinnati might just get itself a big league club in a second sport one day but perhaps a more pressing question is does the expected shut down of hockey also foretell of a similar situation in the tea leaves for baseball?
The next great prep pitching star might be just up the road from Cincinnati in Hamilton, Ohio. 17 year old Howie Harris is entering his junior season at Ross High after going 10-1, 1.41 as a sophomore. It is early but the righthander has the makings of a kid who might one day "anchor a rotation," according to OSA bird dogs. Harris, who will be eligible for the 1942 draft, calls himself a Cannons fan and says his idol is Vic Carroll, the sophomore Cannon hurler who was taken first overall in the 1939 draft.
Speaking of local High School prospects the favourite to win this year's Cincinnati city championship has to be the Walnut Hills Eagles who are led by shortstop George Darnell. The senior was selected in the first round by Pittsburgh in January. Cannons fans might also want to check out Hillcrest High when they get going next month as Titans shortstop Ted Stacy was a third round pick of the local nine in January.

DETROIT WORLD SPORTS EDITIOR FARHAT UNVEILS HIS PREDICTIONS

A full list of predictions from major newspapers around the league will be coming just before Opening Day but here is how Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World sees things playing out.

Farhat sees some pretty tight 3 team races in both leagues. Unfortunately for the home town 9, he sees a 4th straight 2nd place finish as Pittsburgh somehow hangs on to win the FA but will fall in 6 to the Cougars in the World Series.

Code:


FEDERAL ASSOCIATION Predictions
 Pittsburgh    91-63
 Detroit       90-64
 Boston        87-67
 Chiefs        79-75
 Keystones     75-79
 Gothams       70-84
 Washington    64-90
 St. Louis     60-94

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION Predictions
Cougars          92-62
Toronto          89-65
Cincinnati       88-66
Stars            82-72
Sailors          72-82
Cleveland        67-87
Brooklyn         64-90
Montreal         62-92

World Championship Series: Chicago Cougars over Pittsburgh 4-2
FA Allen     P George Phillips    Pittsburgh
FA Whitney  1B Red Johnson    	  Detroit   
CA Allen     P George Garrison    Toronto
CA Whitney  3B Walt Pack          Toronto

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL spring camps with a quick note or two regarding each of the 16 clubs.

BOSTON- There will be a shakeup in the Boston rotation as Duke Hendricks and Ray Dalpman will make the opening day roster and secure rotation spots. Mike Lee is also in the running for one of those rotation spots as well. So there will be some tough decisions made in the last week of spring training in relation to the starting rotation and the entire pitching staff. Also, Si Crocker continues to impress with his bat and will get a final week worth of action in an attempt to earn a spot in the Boston outfield. Although the bat has been nice, it is the glove that may be the deciding factor that sends Crocker to AAA to start the season.

BROOKLYN- Interesting game for Brooklyn vs the Cannons last Tuesday. Kings pitchers Jack Goff and Ed Watson no-hit Cannons thru 7 and a third and led 1-0 on Al Wheeler's 2nd homer of the spring - both vs Cannons pitching. It was still 1-0 entering bottom of 9th when Cannons reeled off 5 singles off of Watson to win 2-1. While the pitching has been very good a number of veteran Brooklyn batsmen have struggled in Citrus play, notably Harry Barrell (.129,1,4), Joe Herman (.184,0,4) and Fred Barrell (.158,0,2)

CHIEFS- Top pitchers in the Chiefs camp by K%

[-]Sam Vaughan, 19%
[-]Ralph Kendall, 19%
[-]Max Plourde, 13%

Top pitchers in Chiefs camp by BB%

[-]Red Hampton, 3%
[-]Max Plourde, 5%
[-]Rabbit Day, 6%

The Chiefs are pretty well set on the following as their Opening Day lineup when they start the season in Detroit on April 15th. (Spring stats are shown)

COUGARS- Cougars get their first casualty of the draft. 25-year-old fireballer Rusty Watts was drafted into the army, and will begin his 12 month tour. The lefty probably wasn't going to make camp anyways, but he was very effective in 31.1 innings last year, working to a 1.72 ERA (229 ERA+) and 1.18 WHIP with 11 walks and 15 strikeouts.

CINCINNATI- A short stay at Cannons camp for Andy Carter as the troublesome but talented infielder went 2-for-2 as a Cannon before suffering a sprained ankle ending his training camp. He will be offered a spot at AAA Indianapolis upon his return to health. 22 year old rookie Bill Sohl had another strong outing and now seems a lock to head north with the team but that will lead to some difficult decisions at the back end of the staff. There are two other battles still going on as Bill Lewis (.375) and Bob Griffith (.324) likely both deserve to come north but there will only be room for one of the outfielders. Veterans Pete Asher (.308) and Nick Wallace (.310) are also fighting it out for the final infield position.

CLEVELAND- The wins have not come during spring play as the Foresters, at 6-14, are last among the 16 FABL clubs in Citrus play. That is not likely a big concern to the new management team as first year skipper Eli Grey tries to get a handle on just what sort of talent he has to work with. Pitching looks to be a big concern judging by some of the spring showings but the good news for Forester fans is there will likely be some arms available on the waiver wire next week that could help solidify the bullpen at least.

DETROIT- Nate Spear did come back with 4 scoreless innings pitched that might have saved him from starting the season in AAA. He will get a turn in 1 of the 4 remaining games to try to nail down that last spot. Frank Gordon has been the stopper most of the spring. 9.2 scoreless IP with 4 saves and a 10.2 k/9. He won't be the stopper the last 4 games but will likely open the season in the role replacing Jack Richardson who will likely hang around in a MR role.

The early estimates are Frank Crawford will be ready to start throwing the first of May and will likely get 3 rehab starts at AAA Newark in the first 2 weeks of May to try and find his form. It may extend into the 3rd week of May, but barring any setbacks he will definitely be up by the holiday weekend in May.

Despite a less than spectacular spring, OF Hal Roberts has been told he will start the season in Detroit as the 4th OF and top pinch runner. SS Gil London looks to have "won" the job to remain the starting SS this season but the leash will likely be short with Rich Conway and Ernie Brown (who will likely start in AAA) just waiting for their shot.

MONTREAL- Montreal staff will proceed with cuts today to get the roster size to opening day roster plus few players for the final 4 games. RF Otis Parker was sent down after a terrible spring camp. He played AA last season and will be playing AAA to start this season. Most of the other prospects who got the invite for camp have been sent down like Scott, Houser, Fiore. 2B Bob Jennings and CF Bill Greene are still there as their last week was much better than the first two so they get another chance to impress. The Saints coaching staff like Greene a lot as backup OF. RF Ed Jordan is making the surprise camp this spring and looking to have the regular spot in the right with veteran Vic Crawford struggling at the plate. 2B Charlie Woodbury is showing power with 4 HRs and trying to get the starting job vs Jennings or Carmichael.

Pitching squad: Ed Baker, Jake DeYoung and Karl Wallace all look ready for the season. Wally Doyle is doing OK to stay on board but the surprise is prospect Jimmy Mayse. One more start for Mayse in the last 4 games before a decision happen. Bullpen still full and cuts to happen today. Whitey Griffin is having a great camp in relief throwing 20+ innings with great performances but Bud Robbins is having a bad camp with his control still the concern. The veteran arms of Eddie Hite and Howie Snyder are a lock to go north but Lou Ellertson may be in trouble although he was a bit better in the last week.

NY STARS- Bad news for an already depleted Stars pitching staff as George Hampton is out for 5 months with a broken elbow. Makes weeding the bullpen a bit easier before opening day I guess. On the positive side many suspect this is the year that Bill Barrett really breaks out. Not that .320,13,99 of a year ago is a bad season, and it most certainly is not, but the 21 year old has 2 and a half years of big league experience coupled with immense potential. This could be the year he goes from being an all-star to being a serious contender for the Whitney Award.

NY GOTHAMS- Gothams fans perhaps are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel of despair the past half dozen seasons have trapped them in. The club will be improved, and the pitching perhaps a little more steady but at the very least the pain of waiting for Nate Spear to put together a healthy season is no longer their problem. Some in Gothams camp are worried about age catching up with Bud Jameson due to a slow spring and the struggles of former two-time National High School player of the year Walt Messer but it says here neither should be a concern. Let Messer play 145 games and Jameson around 120 and they will both sort things out. Even so, I still think it will be next to impossible for the Gothams to crack the first division this season and a more likely scenario is another 7th place finish.

KEYSTONES- Davey Robicheaux might just be the best rookie in the league this season as the Keystones parade of young talent continues to deliver. The 24 year old hit 4 homers in a 10 game trial with the big club last September and if his spring numbers (.353,3,11) are any indication he is poised for a huge year. The only question is where will he play as it is hard to see the Keystones moving Hank Koblenz from third to first as that would force Hans Wright to the bench and if Robicheaux goes to the outfield it will have to be as Hank McKay's replacement and all the 24 year old McKay did last year was lead the Fed in triples.

SAILORS- A blow to the Sailors as veteran pitcher Dutch Sheldon is done for the year following an injury. The 33 year old was 15-14 last season. The Sailors also have a rather unusual injury to deal with at their minor league camp. Apparently outfielder Bob Virgil hurt his elbow while throwing his alarm clock. That is the official story anyway but regardless the 24 year old, who hit .279 at Class B Miami last season, will miss the entire season. No word on injuries, if any, sustained by the clock.

PITTSBURGH- Another strong outing from George Phillips, who has a 0.55 spring era and is looking like every bit the pitcher the Miners hoped they were getting when they sent Lew Seals to the Stars. The other pitching pick-up, 3 time Allan Award winner Tom Barrell, looked good early in the spring but has struggled his last two outings and may start the season in the pen. Barrell and Bill Ketterman likely remain the leading candidates for the fifth starter role.

ST LOUIS- The youngsters are pitching well for the Pioneers. Before spring training Pioneers brass would not have considered bringing Bianco and Moore north but their play may force St Louis manager George Sparkman's hand. Pioneers also have to be thrilled they are 13-7, tied for the best Citrus record in either association, as they attempt to forget about the nightmare that was the 1940 season.

TORONTO- Wolves have made a few more minor moves but have to cut down the roster by another three players before Opening Day. One catcher, probably two pitchers plus probably at least one more hitter have to go before the season starts. Bill Crosby has been put on waivers, Acton, Holiday, Bell, Pomales have become victims of the numbers game being sent to Buffalo due to their option status. Of the final cuts it looks like at least two will have to pass through the waiver wire.

Season ticket sales have more than doubled at Dominion Field with average attendance predicted to be at 25K which would have been an unheard of number a few short seasons ago. Penny pinching owner Bernie Millard is Delighted with the financial picture in Hogtown. Hopefully he will concentrate on counting his shekels thereby staying out of the way of baseball operations.

Wolves are being cautious in their cuts due to multiple rumours circulating about draft eligible players being called to service in the short term.

WASHINGTON- It's only spring but the Eagles can't be happy with six straight losses last week to drop the club to 8-12, tied with the Chiefs and Miners for the worst spring mark in the Fed. Sig Stofer did slow down a bit last week (went 4-for-25) but the 24 year old slugger hit another homerun to give him 7 on the spring. Stofer is tied with the Gothams Billy Dalton for the FABL spring homer lead and is 16 rbi's lead the way, one more than Dalton.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/06/1941

Axis powers demand the release of the crews and 30 Italian and German ships which have been seized by the United States. The US rejected the demand. Mexico also recently seized 4 ships - three Italian oil tankers and a German freighter.
Much of the fighting in the air is now focused on North Africa as the British air force has been turned loose on German armored units coming to reinforce Italian troops.
The new Yugoslav regime was reported to have succeeded in it's efforts to establish unity on the home front in the face of threats from Germany on it's frontiers. As the week came to a close German airplanes twice flew over Zagreb in northern Yugoslavia but were beaten off by anit-aircraft guns. It was the first actual warlike encounter of the crisis and came as Yugoslavia was making an 11th hour attempt to avert war.
The Premier of Hungary died by his own hand, committing suicide rather than yield to the demands of the Nazis.
More strike related violence as 4 men were killed and when union pickets and non-union employees fought outside a Mine in Kentucky while in Detroit scores were injured following pickets and workers fighting with clubs, stones and crowbars at a Ford Plant. Those strikes, just a few days old each, are less worrisome to the President than the Allis-Chalmers which is holding up important work for the Navy. The concern on that is strike is the influence of Communism to derail US Military production. This and other acts have prompted a Senator from Texas to call upon the government to seize and operate all national defense plants "in which production has been delayed either by capital or labor."

Jiggs McGee · 02-16-2022, 11:46 AM

APRIL 13, 1941

DRESS REHEARSAL IS OVER. BRING ON THE SEASON!

Spring training has come to a close for another year and the 16 FABL clubs are taking trains north, nearly all of them finding their luggage cars overloaded with high expectations for the season ahead. Nearly every club has something they can crow about and raise the hopes of fans. Whether it be the defending champions from Toronto and Pittsburgh, both of whom might not be overly excited about their spring showing in the standings but each, like most other clubs, has plenty of reasons to be optimistic. In Pittsburgh for example it is the showing of newcomer George Phillips who, if we only go by spring performance, might just unseat Lefty Allen as the Fed's top hurler. Now we all know that will not happen but news of Phillips accomplishments in the Citrus loop have Pittsburgh fans looking ahead and not back to last October and yet another WCS disappointment. Even teams that had little to cheer about last season can have high hopes at this time of year. Take the St Louis Pioneers, the Fed doormat a year ago, they paced that loop in Florida with 15 wins against just 9 losses and have fans out west dreaming of how much better the rotation might be if Mel Bianco, Danny Hern and Jaspar Moore live up to their lofty spring expectations. Yes, it is a time to be positive but also to realize the past month was just a dress rehearsal and ultimately means nothing. Tomorrow the curtain is raised for real and the 1941 season begins. But first here is a final look back at the spring standings and leaders:

1941 SEASON

We have seen predictions for the year ahead unveiled by TWIFB's Jiggs McGee and by Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World. Today another soothsayer chimes in and he is none other than Dan Barrell, head of the OSA. Barrell, it should be noted, correctly called the winners in both Associations last season so perhaps his prognostications warrant a little extra attention. Do not forget that in tomorrow's special season preview issue we will hear from many more sports editors from across the league.

5. Robicheaux must go... to the outfield that is. Crawfish needs to play and the most obvious spot for him is... LF. Yeah, some guy named Bobby plays there now, but he should slide over to CF and Chuck Hood should become the fourth outfielder. Robicheaux's bat is the final ingredient in a pennant-winning gumbo thanks to... (see below)

4. The Keystones' pitching is the deepest in all of FABL and George M Brooks needs to be in the rotation.

3. Double trouble in New York City. This is the year both Bill Barrett AND Walt Messer arrive for real.

2. The Heat will be on in Chicago because Peter the Heater has finally harnessed his magical right arm and the Cougars are going to ride the lightning... but the Cannons are going to win the pennant.

1. Not only should Buddy Long not be in AAA, but he should be the #1 starter in the Pioneers' rotation. He led FABL in fewest BB/9, led his team in WAR and FIP- and after getting shelled in his first spring appearance tossed five shutout frames. Maybe it's option-related, but he's the best arm the Pioneers have, bar none.

DAN BARRELL'S PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION
1 - Keystones
2 - Miners
3 - Dynamos
4 - Minutemen
5 - Chiefs
6 - Pioneers
7 - Eagles
8 - Gothams

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
1 - Cannons
2 - Wolves
3 - Cougars
4 - Kings
5 - Sailors
6 - Stars
7 - Saints
8 - Foresters

Whitneys: Hank Koblenz of the Keystones in Fed, Cincinnati's Fred Galloway in Conti
Allens: Pittsburgh's Lefty Allen & George Garrison of Toronto

Johnny Bologna's final camp report on final roster decisions and the last six cuts of camp:

Carl Ames got that tap on the shoulder to report to the manager's office. The 38-year-old catcher may have reached the end of the line after a brilliant 16-year career that included 2,021 hits, 1,127 RBI and a lifetime batting mark of .292. He appeared in 1,782 games as a catcher and will leave his mark on the all-time franchise leaderboard, finishing in the top three in Keystones history in games played (3rd, 1,845), doubles (2nd, 405), and home runs (3rd, 138). The two-time champion also hit .274 in three World's Championship Series. Charlie Gump will enter his first season as the official backup.
Doug Lightbody was in an inadvertent competition with Ames for a pinch-hitter spot and Lightbody frankly had a good camp. He will continue his quest for 2,000 hits, sitting 18 away as the season begins. Lightbody will back up Hans Wright and likely be the first off the bench most nights to grab a bat late in games.
While the winner of the Keystones' "Camp Player of the Year" award went to Billy Woytek, who hit a blistering .433 and walked 10 times without striking out, Davey Robicheaux was the darling of the camp. Robicheaux will make the team and split his time between third base, leftfield and rightfield. He will get the Opening Day nod in leftfield with Bobby Barrell moving to centerfield, spelling Chuck Hood, himself a .324 hitter last year. While Robicheaux figures to get the bulk of his starts at leftfield, he'll get a start at third and a couple of starts in right to start the year.
Casualties for Robicheaux's rise are third baseman George Wright and centerfielder Ed Greenwood. For Wright, he must feel the world is passing him by, as Hank Koblenz and Robicheaux have raced past him on the organizational depth chart. Greenwood hung in there through the entire camp, but it was a battle of attrition for the last outfielder spot. Greenwood did not hit particularly well last season in Triple-A, but he will be penciled in the leadoff spot every day.
With Herman Patterson healthy and back atop the rotation, there was a battle between two 1940 rookies: Bud Canfield (2.48 ERA in 1940), last year's Rookie of the Month in August, and Henry Shaffer (3.41 ERA in 1940). Shaffer had the better camp, but did not impress the management. In somewhat of a surprise, both were sent to AAA Louisville to start the season and George Brooks will be given a shot to start. Brooks started for the better part of three seasons before switching to a short-reliever role in 1939. Gene White made this possible, as he allowed 24 baserunners in 23-1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts in the Spring.
The shortstop position will settle into a platoon based on the throwing arm of the pitcher. Clyde Duncan, a left-handed hitter, will get most of the starts against righthanders, while Johnny Wolsey will work primarily against lefties. Prospect Tim Humphrey hit only .154 in exhibition play and will start in Louisville.

The Pioneers will head north with a six man rotation to begin the season. Top prospects Jasper Moore, Mal Bianco, and Cal Roe have earned a chance to start and will be joined by David Abalo, Harry Sharp, and Danny Hern. All six pitchers posted great spring numbers. The move down to a five man rotation will depend on the timing of Abalo's inevitable injury or poor performance. How much rope each pitcher will have depends on the health of Ed Cornett who is on the DL and out of options. The bullpen is stacked with veterans such as Russ Peeples, Jake Smith, and Pioneers' legend Sam Sheppard. They will be joined by Angel Padilla and Del Thomas. Some may be surprised to learn that 26 year old Buddy Long will start the season in AAA after giving up five runs in seven spring innings.

The big surprise in the lineup is RF Hal Sharp who earned his spot over Art Cascone and Al Tucker by hitting .431 in spring competition. Sharp will be joined in the outfield by Les Hendrix in center and veteran Gail Gifford in left. Neither Gifford nor Hendrix played well in the spring. The other surprise in the lineup is rookie Luke Michaels who won the SS job from Ivan Cameron and Ray Russell. Michaels hit .328 in the spring while committing just two errors in the field. Tommy Wilson and his glove are back at third base but he'll have to bring his bat this year if he wants to remain in the lineup. Artie D'Alessandro will man second for the second consecutive season. First base will be a platoon between Jim Vaughn and Zip Sullivan until one of them can outshine the other and take the job out right. All-Star Heinnie Zimmer is the every day catcher while Red Bryant earned the back up job only because he was out of options and John Kennedy was not.

If the youngsters play close to their spring performance, then the Pioneers will surely not finish last in the Fed as predicted by most publications around the country.

QUICK HITS

The Toronto Wolves finish their spring cuts with three players going to the waiver wire, P Bill Bell, C Don Rogers, OF Joe Smith. The team is now set to begin their title defense but the CA will be a tough division in which to repeat, there are at least four clubs that could win the CA.
Tom Barrell is going to begin the year as the Miners' 5th starter, with Bill Ketterman back in the bullpen as the stopper. Barrell, who won 3 Allan Awards in the Continental Association but suffered through an injury plagued 1939 season and struggled last year, hopes to get back on track in Pittsburgh after the Miners acquired him from Brooklyn over the winter.
Bill Sohl had a great spring until his final start. The second overall draft pick in 1940 was shelled in a 14-0 loss to Cleveland and that, coupled with a couple of other players out of options means he will begin the season in AAA. I expect he will be back with the big club in 2 weeks tops but this gives the Cannons the opportunity to see Roger Perry and Donie Scheuermann a couple of more times before we need to make a decision on which to DFA. Nick Wallace had a very good spring for us but he is going on the waiver wire because Pete Asher can play 3 infield positions so he is just a little more valuable than Wallace as our final infielder.

OPENING DAY WEATHER FORECAST

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/13/1941

Britain cuts diplomatic ties with Hungary after that country becomes a base of operations for Germany.
Pope Pius eyes filled with tears upon hearing news the Germans invaded Greece and Yugoslavia. Nazi forces were advancing in Greece and close to victory in Yugoslavia as the week came to an end.
Prime Minister Churchill warns Hitler will step up sea attacks aimed at preventing US aid from reaching Britain. Churchill also warns that Turkey and Russia are likely next on the Germans radar.
With Nazi forces now in north Africa the Axis is making headway in regaining ground the British had previously secured from the Italian army.
Britain boosted income tax to 50 cents on the dollar but assures it's people all difficulties have been eliminated in securing financing from the United States.
The United States pledged to defend Greenland under an agreement with Denmark giving the US the right to establish air bases and other fortifications on the vast island.

percy_sutherland · 02-16-2022, 12:15 PM

As we are preparing to usher in a new baseball season, I asked myself a question: who has the highest single season batting average in major league history? Your son may answer: Mel Carrol's .409 in 1937. You may counter with Max Morris' .418 in 1925. Your father will remind you that Powell Slocum batted .435 in 1913. The correct answer is Slocum, but not in 1913 but rather in 1917 when Powell hit .423. Wait a minute. How can .423 be greater than .435? To answer this question, we'll borrow a page from Professor Einstein's book and take a look at baseball's theory of relativity.

To take the true measure of a batting average, you need to look at it in relation to the league average for the year in question. This leads to the hitter's relative batting average, which is the true measure of his ability to hit safely. And this is the only way that batting averages between different seasons and leagues can be compared. The formula for relative batting average can be expressed as:

When Powell Slocum hit .435 in 1913 he set a new league record, topping Jimmy Massey's mark of .431 from 1897. We can compare those two batting averages as relative averages:

Slocum = .4349/.263 = 1.654
Massey = .4311/.295 = 1.451

You can also shift the decimal places and express the relative averages as a percentage above league average: Slocum was 65% above league average and Massey was 45%. And so, Slocum's 1913 was not just 4 batting points (".004") higher than Massey it was substantially higher: 20% higher when compared to league average.

In the following table, we re-rank the top 20 batting averages in history according to relative average.

This table tells us a number of interesting things. Not only does Powell Slocum have the top two batting average seasons in history, he has three of the top five. John Dibblee and George Cary both move into the top five while Jimmy Massey drops from 2nd to 12th. Notice Max Morris's fall from 9th to 20th. He hit .418 in 1925, but the Federal Association overall hit .300 that season, which is the highest league batting average in history.

The next table ranks the seasons for the past six batting champions from each league.

Mel Carrol's 1937 season was, of course, really good--we had already seen it at 15th on the all-time list. And considered by relative average both of Fred McCormick's recent batting titles (1938 and 1939) would also be ranked in the top 20.

Jiggs McGee · 02-17-2022, 11:01 AM

APRIL 14, 1941

SEASON PREVIEW SPECIAL EDITION

WAR, WORRY, WOE BOW AS BASEBALL RULES AGAIN

from the International news Service Wire

Washington, April 14- With President Roosevelt occupying his customary star-spangled box in Columbia Stadium, the Washington Eagles and the Philadelphia Keystones inaugurate an uncertain baseball season today - a season that has no assurance of lasting until World Championship Series time and one in which many players may wind up shouldering guns instead of bats.

Perhaps as many as 20,000 fans, including members of Congress, high government officials and a sprinkling of diplomats will assemble to watch the President toss out the first ball. The Senate and House nominally are in session but under a gentleman's agreement there will be an absence of quorum bells in both chambers.

Mr. Roosevelt is a veteran at the opening proceedings, having officiated at eight previous inaugural contests. As assistant secretary of the navy, Mr. Roosevelt raised the flag at the old Capital Grounds ballpark on opening day in 1917. He was on hand again in an official capacity in 1933, his first spring in the White House, and has missed only one opening day while President.

In 1918 the late Thomas Brennan, owner of the Washington club at the time, helped save baseball from an enforced shutdown in 1918, and his successor, current Eagles boss William Stockdale is hopeful that FABL will be permitted to continue functioning if the nation is involved in war.

Brennan, almost single-handedly, managed to keep FABL operating throughout the first World War despite an order by the army that they shut up shop for the duration. The white-haired Washington mogul made a personal appeal to President Wilson that professional baseball provides a much-need tonic to the morale of the people during times of national stress. Wilson, who used to watch ballgames at the Capital Grounds from an automobile parked in the outfield, countermanded the war department order and the season continued, although with a reduced number of contests.

At present time the war department is not giving any particular thought to the matter of curtailing professional sports if America goes to war, but the threat is always there. Stockdale, however, won't lose a moment in following in Brennan's footsteps and appeal to his friend the President against any military orders calling for a cessation of diamond hostilities. The President, on the basis of his record, is likely to be sympathetic. He doesn't go to the ball game just to win the baseball vote. Unlike Herbert Hoover and Calvin Coolidge - who slipped away after the first few innings, Mr. Roosevelt always likes to stay on hand until the last man is out.

MAJORITY SEE PITTSBURGH-COUGARS WCS

Major newspapers across the country are almost in complete agreement that the Pittsburgh Miners will win their third straight Federal Association pennant while in the Continental the Chicago Cougars are deemed the team to beat but that choice is far from unanimous.

Each spring TWIFB asks a cross-section of major newspapers as well as national prognosticators Jiggs McGee, Dan Barrell of the OSA and The Baseball News Network to forecast how the upcoming season will play out. A total of 14 weighed in with their selections and 12 of the 14, including our own Jiggs McGee, renowned Chicago Herald-Examiner Sports Editor Percy Sutherland and BNN, feel there will be no stopping the Pittsburgh Miners from a third straight Federal Association crown. Only Bob Stewart of the Washington Times-Herald feels the Detroit Dynamos will finally get over the top and win the pennant after three consecutive second place finishes. The other one who did not take Pittsburgh? That would be a voice well worth listening to as Dan Barrell of the OSA was right in both of his pennant calls last season. This time around Barrell is staking his reputation on the Philadelphia Keystones, an immensely talented group of youngsters, being ready to take the next step. No word on if that fact that one of his brothers, Bobby, as the key veteran leader of the Keystones was a deciding reason.

The Continental crown is much more in question of the prognosticators with the pens are to be believed. Half of the group, including both Sutherland and McGee, have the Chicago Cougars winning their first pennant since 1933. The remaining votes are split between defending champion Toronto (3), the New York Stars (2), Brooklyn (1) and Cincinnati (1). The lone vote for the Cannons comes from Barrell while BNN, along with the New York Mirror, both like the Stars to win their second pennant in three seasons.

BNN PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

The Baseball News Network is calling for a rematch of the 1939 World Championship Series with their preseason predictions as the league news guru feels the Pittsburgh Miners and New York Stars will emerge on top in October following the 154 game struggle in each Association.

Over the past decade the Baseball News Network has had a pretty good track record in identifying the pennant winner correctly with their April forecast nearly half of the time. Here is how BNN's predicted champion fared in both the CA and Fed since 1932.

Code:

YEAR    FEDERAL           CONTINENTAL
1941   Pittsburgh  ?    NY Stars	 ?
1940   Detroit    2nd	NY Stars	4th
1939   Pittsburgh 1st   Cleveland	2nd
1938   Chiefs     1st   Brooklyn	1st
1937   Chiefs     3rd   Brooklyn	1st
1936   St Louis   4th   Brooklyn	1st
1935   St Louis   2nd   Brooklyn	2nd
1934   Gothams    1st   Cleveland	1st
1933   Detroit    2nd   Cougars		1st
1932   Detroit    2nd   Sailors		5th

The Miners are pegged to win by a pretty decent margin with the Boston Minutemen slotted in second place. If that plays out it will be Boston's highest finish since their pennant winning 1915 season. Pushing the Philadelphia Keystones down to 6th place seems like possibly the biggest miscall in the Fed, but perhaps BNN is feeling a sophomore jinx might be ahead for the young Philadelphia squad, very much along the lines of the 1939 dip the Toronto Wolves took after a terrific run in the '38 race in the Continental Association. Of course that turned out just fine for Toronto as the Wolves rebounded to win the WCS last October.

Among the individual stats that jump out is the fact that despite forecast big seasons for both Red Johnson and Sal Pestilli, BNN feels that the Dynamos offense will not be able to keep up with Pittsburgh. Interesting too is the absence of any Detroit pitching on the top performer list.

In the Continental BNN sees the New York Stars offense just dominating the loop, scoring over 100 runs more than any other team in the CA and easily overcoming a perceived lack of pitching depth. Jiggs McGee earlier suggested this might be the season Bill Barrett really breaks out and BNN seems to agree although perhaps the biggest turnaround will belong to Toronto third baseman Walt Pack, who is due for big things according to the news network. Final note is how about Dave Trowbridge? No batting crown repeat for the 42 year old by BNN still sees 'Father Time' as one of the best hitters in the game.

Doc Shaw here to take a look at the yearly predictions offered by BNN, the premier national baseball publication. These predictions arrive annually the day before the new season is set to start and typically set off a firestorm of controversy. First off, predictions in general are set up for failure. They are merely a snapshot in time from a perspective. While everyone may know this it does not stop some GM’s from ruthlessly calling for a full scale invasion of the BNN offices for their lack of knowledge, or for others to justify early season selloffs. Upon close inspection you will also find the GM’s that will publicly criticize BNN but secretly hope the predictions ring true because their club was viewed favorably. So if public perception is against the accuracy of the BNN predictions the question is just how inaccurate are these predictions? Let us take a look back at the 1940 version of the BNN predictions.

Let us start with the FA. We will list what BNN had in the first column and their actual finish in the second with win totals attached:

Code:

Pittsburgh   99 	Pittsburgh    92
Detroit      97		Detroit       90
Boston       76		Philadelphia  87
Chicago      76		Chicago       82
St. Louis    73	        Boston        80
Washington   71		Washington    69
Philadelphia 68		New York      59
New York     59	        St. Louis     57

Well what do we see? Well for starters BNN was pretty accurate in a lot of places when it came to win totals and placement. The obvious outliers here were St. Louis and Philadelphia. Remember predictions are a snapshot in time and could not account for the absolute decimation of the St. Louis rotation. It also couldn’t predict the youth movement in Philadelphia panning out with EVERY SINGLE PROSPECT. (No, Doc isn’t jealous at all!)

Let's now look at the CA. Same idea here. BNN predictions and totals and then actual finishes.

Code:

New York     88	        Toronto      88
Toronto      83		Chicago      87
Chicago      79		Cincinnati   84
Philadelphia 79		New York     80
Montreal     75		Philadelphia 80 
Cleveland    74	        Brooklyn     73
Brooklyn     72	        Montreal     71
Cincinnati   68	        Cleveland    53

Once again. While BNN didn’t correctly pick Toronto, they did figure 88 wins would be enough in the CA. BNN absolutely swung and missed on Cleveland. Injuries may have played a role again but OL’ Doc is having a hard time recollecting everything that happened in that distant city right now. Another miss was on Chicago who won 12 more games than predicted. They were another story a bit similar to Philadelphia in the FA where prospects hit (Peter the Heater comes to mind) and it didn’t hurt that John Lawson sold his soul for directions to the fountain of youth. Then the final, obvious, glaring miss was with Cincinnati. The Cannons were predicted to finish dead last but wound up in 3rd place. While BNN missed on this prediction it should be pointed out the Cannons front office is the same from when Brooklyn was the toast of the CA. These guys do not sit still. Moxie Pidgeon played an enormous impact to go along with the rise of Denny Andrews and Mike T. Taylor.

Doc realizes this was only a single look at one years worth of predictions. Still, in conclusion he has a few theories. First, any team that gets struck down by injuries is going to throw the whole prediction thing out of whack. Secondly, BNN is not very good at predicting talent jumps with prospects. That could also have something to do with clubs or BNN not predicting those prospects as bona fide starters when the predictions are made. What it does seem to do pretty well is put the clubs in the correct half of the standings for the most part and get pretty close to a teams win total in most instances. Does this vindicate BNN? Most likely not. Many of our readers will find holes in Ol’ Doc’s ruminations because bashing predictions, well, that is just part of the fun. Now, on with the show. Time to make BNN a scapegoat. Play Ball!!!!

Here is Johnny Bologna's prediction for order of finish in both leagues:
FEDERAL ASSOCIATION

[1]Pittsburgh - Another year, another pennant for Lefty Allen and the boys, but this time, I'll go a step further and predict they'll finally win the title
[2]Philadelphia - While the Miners will have another year in the sun, that sun is rapidly approaching the horizon while the sun is only just rising in Philadelphia. Davey Robicheaux has a chance to make a different in the pennant race - this year.
[3]Detroit - The top three in the Fed can likely end up in any order and I think there will be a drop-off after the top three. Detroit is led by Red Johnson, as he has taken over for Sal Pestilli as the main man in the Motor City.
[4]Chicago - A formidable team with an aging core, the Chiefs will finish in the first division, but they will eventually need to retool to stay there.
[5]New York - The Gothams will take a step forward, similar to the step forward the Keystones took in 1940. The offseason moves allowed them to move ahead and the time has come in their rebuild to show results. The $50,000 infield of Messer-Brewer-Monier-Dalton will be something to watch, especially Dalton, who may join the ranks of elite third-sackers this year.
[6]Boston - While they drop from two straight .500 seasons, they will not drop that far in an ultra-competitive Fed. They have good pitching and a solid infield of its own with 20-year-old Buddy Schneider adding to the established trio Bob Donoghue, Lew McClendon, and Mack Sutton.
[7]Washington - Is Sig Stofer the real deal? It has been the talk of the spring. There is also hope around the corner with Bill Willman potentially breaking camp with the Eagles and Bill Martino one call away in Kansas City.
[8]St. Louis - Heinie Zimmer is the beacon of light at the major league level, but their young pitchers are on the cusp of making their debuts. Mal Bianco, Cal Roe, and Jasper Moore are still in Pioneers camp and each have ERAs below 1.00 in their first three starts.

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION

[1]Toronto - The defending FABL champs return the exact same team from last year and there is likely improvement from Walt Pack to hit better than .239 and better luck for George Garrison to finish better than 15-15. I think they repeat, but I am picking the Miners to win it all.
[2]New York - One year removed from a championship, their outfield takes a back seat to no one, with Bill Barrett, Chink Stickels, and Lew Seals entrenched in their positions. Plus, Dave Trowbridge, the 42-year-old defending batting champion, is captivating middle-aged men everywhere.
[3]Chicago - Oh, that pitching, the pitching that saw four 14-game winners, which does not even include the talk of Spring Training, Pete Papenfus. My money is on the Cougars running their string of .500 seasons to five straight.
[4]Cincinnati - After a 19-game turnaround last season, they were active in the trade market to try to get even better. Adam Mullins, in the argument for the best catcher in baseball, is a Cannon, along with the potential of young Bill Sohl, are the newest additions to a team that has completely made over their team, unrecognizable from their Baltimore days, just two short years ago.
[5]Brooklyn - Two years removed from a championship, they have fallen further than other recent Continental pennant winners.
[6]Philadelphia - The Keystones cross-town rivals will be without Dutch Sheldon this year with a major elbow injury.
[7]Montreal - Red Bond led the league in home runs, RBI and slugging percentage. He is the man the Saints are building around and reinforcements are coming, with 9 top-100 prospects.
[8]Cleveland - Longtime Forester Jack Arabian is a Hall of Famer and his induction might be the highlight of the season, but it can't be worse than last year's 53-101 season, could it?

With all the uncertainty in the world, why should there be any sure things in baseball? With another new season on the horizon my fellow reporters around the country are posting their promises as to who will win the pennants and who will be sweeping up the cellar. And believe me more are picking your Gothams for the latter rather than the former. But the old Redhead is here to tell you the times are changing. Patience will be rewarded and better days are close at hand. Now I'm not promising champagne and parades come October, but the days of picking up the FA's scraps are done. First, what I see for your Gothams this season, then my fearless prediction.

Pitching - This will be the teams best staff since the days of Day and Lonardo. While no future hall of famers here, it appears to be a solid, healthy group. Gus Goulding will make all his starts and provide steady dependable innings. Rusty Petrick will show himself to be the first rounder originally selected by the Gothams. If Carter and Ratcliffe can be average, it will give Bunny Edwards time in the 5th slot to work on his control. When Bunny gets that, well, under control, watch out.

Catching - Look for Pete Casstevens to hit about .250 with double digit homers. His offense isn't quite there yet but the 22 year old is already one of the better receivers in the game. Joe Green provides adequate support.

1st Base - There are some predicting a breakout year for Walt Messer. This besides a spring of struggles at the plate. There is some concern that spending time working in left field has affected him at the plate. With the new OF acquisitions Ed Ziehl is considering giving Messer a good long run at his regular 1B position. This means that vet Bud Jameson at 37 will be relegated to pinch-hitting and occasional starts. Reportedly Jameson is not pleased and has spurned offers of a contract to keep him in New York for the remainder of his career.

2nd base - The Gothams are looking for continued improvement from Roosevelt Brewer. Something in the .280 range with 20-25 SB would be a smart guess.

3rd base - Billy Dalton's 1940 season was thrown off track by an early injury. After a breakout '39 season he seemed poised to join the top players in the league. Now coming off
a spring hotter than the Florida sun, Dalton is ready to go. I can see him hitting well over .300 with as many as 30 homers. He will be a joy to watch.

Shortstop - For Mule Monier it all begins and ends with the glove. Touted as a superior defender the 25 year old booted more than his fair share of balls last season. Now with an offseason to clear his head a sounder glove to go with a .270 bat and his share of extra base hits should round out the promised "Infield of the Future".

Outfield - While the infield has been together in the Gothams system for years now, the starting outfield were all somewhere else last spring. In leftfield Hub Parks brings his sterling glove, blazing speed and solid bat to Queens. I look for him to hit near .300 with a good number of doubles. In CF Mel Alvarez, another plus defender had a slow start to his spring but came around at the end. Alvarez could also put up a .300 average with gap power. RF brings another good glove with a bat that is the toughest to predict. Leon Drake had struggled the past two seasons after breaking out as a 25 year old. Now at 32 and coming off a solid spring the Gothams are hoping to see the power his batting practice clouts promise. I still wouldn't expect Leon to hit much over .250, but I think he can go part 20 homers with a good number of doubles.

And now for the prediction. I look at the possibilities, the talented youth ready to break out, the solid vets brought in and I think this team could flirt with .500 ball. Still it's a deep and competitive Fed, so the ol' Redhead is going with - 5th place. Let the games begin.

QUICK HITS

Think baseball is getting hit hard with players being called to military service. It is nothing, at least so far, compared to football, where the coach of one professional club recently lamented "Uncle Sam has outbid me on five regulars for next season. Where will it end?" So far only a pair of pitchers in the Stars Dixie Lee and Rusty Watts of the Cougars have been called to military service but many more are expected to follow.
The minor leagues, including the Great Western League, start their seasons later this week and it is interesting to note that both the top ranked player and pitcher, at least according to OSA, in the GWL are recent demotions from the St Louis Pioneers. 26 year old Buddy Long, who suffered through an 8-21 campaign in St Louis last season, is considered the top hurler with 36 year old Earle Charlton, the former Baltimore Cannon, ranked second. On the batting side of the ledger it is shortstop Ivan Cameron sitting on top. This will actually mark the AAA debut for the 24 year old who jumped right from AA to St Louis two years ago. Cameron hit .251 with the Pioneers last season but was one of the worst defensive shortstops in the league.
With Opening Day comes an updated list of OSA's top prospects. Here are the top 10 according to the league scouting service.
Of that group above, three players will be on Opening Day big league rosters: Mal Bianco, Davey Robicheaux and Chuck Adams. Robicheaux and Adams have been up before with the Keystones star making quite an impression in his brief FABL debut last September. The 24 year old hit .344 with 4 homers in 10 games with Philadelphia. Adams hit .250 in a 20 game trial with the Brooklyn Kings.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs. Just whatever catches Jiggs eye:

BOSTON- There are some worries in Boston that the big teams in the Fed are passing them by and perhaps it is time to tear it down and start over. Word is a slow start to the season might prompt the Minutemen to deal away from their core roster for future assets. Players like Chick Donnelly, Pete Day and Art Spencer as well as anyone over 30 may become available for the right price. Boston hasn't won the Fed since 1915 and while there were some close calls the past few years the club has always seemed to be just a piece or two short.

BROOKLYN- While several Brooklyn pitchers put up some decent spring numbers such as George Scruggs, who went 3-0 with a 1.76 era, I am worried about their pitching once the games start to mean something. Add in the fact that Al Wheeler had another rough spring and last year's outfield sensation Joe Herman struggled as well and this might be a long season for Flatbush fans. There are also big concerns about the Brooklyn offense as they need to find a way to get Jim Lightbody's bat in the lineup. Perhaps not at second base, where is glove is an issue, but maybe the outfield might be an option.

CHIEFS- BNN does not list Rabbit Day in it's collection of top pitchers as part of the preseason predictions and Day is no longer included in OSA's top twenty lists either. Al Miller does slot in nicely in the top five but it is the veteran Day who gets the call on the mound when the Chiefs open their season in Detroit tomorrow. There will be two newcomers to the club in the Opening Day lineup as second baseman Al Haynes, who was acquired from Cleveland over the winter, will lead-off while 33 year old Jim Watson takes over for the departed Cliff Moss in left field. Watson, 33, was a rule 5 pickup from Montreal. Certainly not your usual rule five acquisition- a young player - he is a veteran of 1079 FABL games and a .307 career hitter.

COUGARS- Pete Papenfus is slated to be the Cougars opening day starter against Montreal. Chicago fans have to be thrilled with the prediction BNN has for the 22 year old fireballers season ahead. The news service calls for a 23-18 season with a FABL best 259 strikeouts. They also expect big things out of veteran Jim Lonardo this season but despite that the Cougars are only picked to finish third in the CA pennant race.

CINCINNATI- The final rosters made for some tough calls for the Cannons brass. The club was very impressed with Nick Wallace but just had no room for the 34 year old on the roster so he was waived. If he clears the team would welcome him to Indianapolis. There was also a lot of discussion regarding the mound situation as many within the organization felt Jim Anderson should not have been farmed out. The 25 year old Anderson, who was 2-4 with a 2.80 era with Cincinnati last season, still had options left while vets Roger Perry and Donie Scheuermann did not. That proved the difference as new manager Ad Doria wants to see a little more from the two hurlers before he makes a final decision. One will be gone almost assuredly as prize prospect Bill Sohl was sent down but promised he would be back in Cincinnati after a couple AAA starts, assuming all went well.

CLEVELAND- All indications are it will be another long season for the Foresters but there is still some talent on this club. Most notably third baseman Mel Carrol, who despite his lowest batting average since his 1935 rookie season, still managed to hit .332 a year ago. Carrol would command a lot on the trade market, as would Dean Astle, but so far the club has made no indications of plans to shop any of it's older stars. The Foresters will get a good one in June when they get high school pitching phenom Hiram Steinberg under contract, but their farm system is still one of the thinnest in FABL.

DETROIT- The Dynamos added catcher Mike Burkholder from the New York Stars for a 10th round draft pick. The 34 year old will serve as John Wicklund's backup, a role he is quite familiar with spending the past 4 seasons primarily as the number two man behind the plate with the Stars. Detroit tried both Clem Bliss and Cliff Ray in that role last year but both were released over the winter.

MONTREAL- It comes as no surprise that the Saints minor league system remains the best in FABL, and that is before their large haul of 1941 draft picks join the league in June. Bill Greene, 11th overall according to OSA, will start the season with the big club despite hitting just .129 in spring action. Greene did get a brief taste of FABL action last year, batting .217 with a pair of homers in 20 games with the Saints.

NY STARS- While there are plenty of questions about the pitching depth the Stars are hoping their offense can carry the club back to the top of the Continental Association. Tough to find a better outfield trio than Chink Stickels, Bill Barrett and Lew Seals and it will certainly be interesting to see how Dave Trowbridge follows up his batting title win last season. Trowbridge will turn 43 years of age in August.

NY GOTHAMS- Confidence in Gotham land is much higher than it has been in recent years. A lot of that has to do with the praise heaped on young first baseman Walt Messer from OSA head honcho Dan Barrell but also from the fact that the Gothams feel they finally have a pitching staff they can count on, something that has been absent since their WCS winning 1935 season when Rabbit Day and Jim Lonardo toed the rubber for the New Yorkers. They certainly don't have a Day or a Lonardo in this group but Gus Goulding is a solid top of the rotation option.

KEYSTONES- Tough to see a Keystones fixture in Carl Ames get handed his walking papers. The 38 year old has been with the Keystones since 1925 and played in well over 1,800 career games. Hopefully Ames decided to stay in the game and maybe finds a coaching job in the organization.

SAILORS- Very minimal changes for the Sailors, who finished 5th but just 8 games back a year ago. Just one new position player in the opening day lineup against Cincinnati tomorrow. That would be left fielder Joseph Mills, a 26 year old rule 5 pickup from Cleveland who spent most of last season in AA. Mills, originally a Foresters first round pick out of Carolina Poly in 1937, had a dominant spring batting .421 to earn the starting nod. There are three new pitchers led by Lee Marshall, a 26 year old who spent 1939 with the Sailors after being a rule five pickup but was in the minors last year. He will get a shot as the fifth starter while bullpen additions Fritz Bach and Hannibal Davis await their big league debuts. Davis is another rule five pickup, coming over from Boston. Bach has had a long journey to the big leagues. The 27 year old was drafted 8th overall by the Sailors in 1932 and has been in their system ever since, spending each of the past 4 years at AA Providence.

PITTSBURGH- Not sure if it is possible to overshadow the spring that new Pittsburgh pitcher George Phillips enjoyed (allowing just one run in 16 and a third innings) but Miners manager Dan Andrew sure turned some heads with his statement this week. Andrew says he expects Pinky Pierce to lead the club in homers this season and finish top five in FABL. I agree the 27 year old is a talented ballplayer but I am not sure if he is ready to make that big of a jump this season. Pierce has played in 199 career FABL games and did it 14 homers last year in the equivalent of roughly half a season's worth of at bats.

ST LOUIS- The youth movement is in full swing in St Louis as 4 rookies head north with the team including three in key roles. 22 year old shortstop Luke Micheals earned the starting job after a strong spring despite never playing above the AA level before while pitchers Jasper Moore and Mal Bianco are set to make their big league debuts this week. The Pioneers backup catcher, Red Bryant, is also in the big leagues at age 26 for the first time in his career. Plus you have starting first baseman Jim Vaughn and 24 year old lefthander Danny Hern with less than a year of big league experience under their belt.

TORONTO- The Wolves return virtually the exact same club that won the first WCS for the franchise since 1911. There are few weak spots on the team and the pitching trio of Joe Hancock, George Garrison and Bernie Johnson is among the best in the game but with both Chicago and Cincinnati adding all-star hitters to their lineups, one has to wonder if the Wolves should have looked for another big bat as well.

WASHINGTON- It has been several years since there has been as much chatter about baseball in the nation's capital as there has been this spring and that is entirely because of one player. Sig Stofer. The 24 year old slugging first baseman belted 7 homers in the spring after hitting 11 in just 111 at bats last season after coming over from the Keystones in a deadline deal. Stofer did slow down a bit in April after a terrific first couple of weeks in Citrus League play but he has created a buzz in the nation's capital. The question is can the man known as The Boardwalk Bopper live up to the hype?

The Week That Was
Current events from 4/14/1941

British forces forced to retreat in Greece as German advance continues.
Under pressure from Nazi tanks in Libya, British forces were unable to break through the Nazi lines and have began to evacuate from the port city of Tobruk by sea. That is the version being reported from Berlin, while London states a German tank attack on Tobruk was repulsed with "severe losses" to the Nazis and that the "situation has been completely restored."
Berlin also claims the Yugoslav army was almost totally wiped out, adding just a small 'remnant' was retreating into the mountains near the Adriatic coast.
Japan regards their newly signed "neutrality" treaty with Russia as a blow to the United States. They believe it secures Japan's northland defenses, enabling the government to devote more attention elsewhere with many expecting a bolder attitude toward America being the result.
It will be a scorcher in New York for the Stars opener with the Brooklyn tomorrow as the mercury soared to an all-time high of 83 degrees at 2pm. It was also 83 in Washington for the Eagles game with the Keystones today in which President Roosevelt is expected to throw out the first ball.

01-26-2022, 01:49 PM	#341
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	October 1940 - Off-Season begins OCTOBER 14, 1940 MAJOR PICK-UP FOR MINERS The Pittsburgh Miners are not resting on their three Federal Association pennants, either that or they are a glutton for punishment as the Miners -fresh off another disaster in the World Championship Series - appear to have taken a major step towards getting back there again next season with news they have acquired three-time Allen Award winning pitcher Tom Barrell from the Brooklyn Kings. The move, certainly the biggest one since the WCS ended last week, comes with a little risk but if the 32 year old Barrell can return even close to the form he showed in his late twenties, the Miners are incredibly well positioned for another Federal Association pennant. The move, which came as a shock to many FABL observers, sends Barrell to Pittsburgh in exchange for 25 year old minor league outfielder Gene Zavala and the Miners fourth round pick in the 1941 draft. Zavala is a decent prospect, ranked 119th by OSA, but far from being a sure-fire big league regular. He hit .287 with 10 homers at AAA St Paul this past season and was a September call-up by the Miners, going 0-for-2 as a pinch-hitter. There is some concern that Barrell is damaged goods as the member of baseball's first family missed half of the 1939 season with a serious arm injury and was 10-17 with a 5.50 era, the worst totals of his career, this past season. Barrell, who won 3 straight Allen Awards starting in 1934, owns a lifetime record of 137-82. What likely interests the Miners even more is Barrell's postseason mark of 4-2 with a 3.87 era in 7 WCS starts. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: I am floored. Best case scenario for Brooklyn is they lost out on a much bigger payday, worst case is this move ends up being in the running for worst deal of all time. While there is some concern Barrell may be nearing the end of the line after that injury in 1939 and a poor showing this past season, I think the Miners made a fantastic deal here. One with little risk or downside. Yes Zavala is a decent prospect, but he will hardly be missed by Pittsburgh. Perhaps the Kings moved Barrell at the right time, maybe he is an diminishing asset on his last legs...er arm, and they figured it best to get something for him. It's just that if they shopped him around the haul would most certainly have been so much better than a 4th round pick and a prospect outside the top 100. So the best Brooklyn can hope for in this deal is Barrell is actually at the end of the line then they don't look quite as bad in not maximizing the return, well one could say not getting anything of real value in return. Worst case for the Kings: If Barrell returns anywhere close to form of a couple seasons ago it may well be the worst deal of all time. If Barrell just had an off year and pitches well at Fitzpatrick Park next season the Miners are seemingly guaranteed to win another pennant, and likely more than one. What a way to rebound from another terrible showing in the WCS! Miners fans will be through the roof with news of this deal as while they could not steal a series from a CA club they may have just stolen the key piece to another pennant. As for the Kings, I am not sure even what they plan to do with Zuvala. He is a corner outfielder, but not a particularly strong defender. He appears to have decent contact skills but lacks the power of a prototypical corner outfield bat. If there is a strength of the Kings it is their outfield with Rats McGonigle (.265,13,61) just 21 years old and likely the centerfielder for the next decade. Joe Herman (.317,13,66) is 25 and coming off a breakout year in left field and you have Al Wheeler (.253,20,72) in right. Wheeler is not quite the player he was a couple of seasons ago but still a solid outfield piece. Brooklyn also needs to find a spot for 23 year old Chuck Adams to play. He is a top-ten prospect who was converted from first base to the outfield because the Kings already have Tim Hopkins as a young first baseman. So it appear Brooklyn added a bench outfielder and mid-round draft pick for Barrell - who depending on who you ask is either still a very good #2 or 3 starter or a pitcher on the verge of retirement. The Kings better hope it is the second option on Barrell as right now this move looks like the type that sets a franchise up for half a decade of failures. It should be noted that John Spears, Brooklyn's scouting director, is one of the best in the business so perhaps Spears sees something that this writer is missing. Time will tell. MINERS ADD PHILLIPS The Tom Barrell trade, while certainly having the potential to be the biggest, was not the only move that Pittsburgh made in the days following their WCS defeat at the hands of Toronto. Pittsburgh also traded 26 year old 2B-OF Lew Seals (.260,20,65) to the New York Stars in exchange for 29 year old righthander George Phillips (14-14, 3.59). There is talk the cash-strapped Stars will need to get creative with finances in order to take on Seals contract but team officials are confident they can get it done. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: Both clubs address a need. Seals gives New York a decent hitter who, while perhaps lacking the ability to defend at second base, seems like a good fit in the Stars outfield and will likely challenge Hub Parks for a starting role. The Stars have some pitching depth with Lou Robertson expected to take a much bigger role next season so they decided they could afford to part with Phillips. Adding Phillips (in a deal made before Barrell was acquired) allowed the Miners to address the concern of fatigue on their pitching staff down the stretch and in the Series. The Miners had consistently gone with a 4-man rotation and many speculated that was the cause of the poor October performances from Lefty Allen and Charlie Stedman. Adding Phillips not only addresses that right away but also he is still young enough that the Miners expect him to be around and a piece of their rotation long after vets like Stedman and Bill Ketterman have retired. STARS ADD CATCHER The Stars also made a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Cannons, adding some catching depth by acquiring 26 year old Joe Rainbow. Rainbow spent the entire season in AAA but has played 406 big league games for the Cannons and is a career .245 hitter. Going to Cincinnati are pitching prospects Charlie Griffith and Don Bitters as well as a fifth and a tenth round draft pick. Griffith is a 21 year old former 10th round pick who was 17-7, 4.11 at Class B and is ranked 120th by OSA on it's prospect list. Bitters, a 23 year old lefthander, was the Christian Trophy winner at Hamman University before being selected in the 2nd round by the Stars last January. He went 4-4, 5.65 at Class B. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: The Stars have been searching for an answer to their catching troubles after Johnny Hopper (.208,2,34) fell out of favour last year. There is a good chance Rainbow will replace Hopper as the backup to Mike Burkholder and the price was quite reasonable. The Cannons had no room for Rainbow with the acquisition of Jack Flint and Ben Richardson a year ago and felt it best to move him to an organization where he would have a chance to play because they have highly touted 20 year old prospect Rick York (son of former Dynamos star Dick York) knocking on the door of a promotion to AAA. They feel Griffith and Bitters might each have a shot at the back of the rotation in Cincinnati one day. PRESS RELEASE FROM NEW YORK STARS ORGANIZATION REGARDING THE TWO TRADES With the acquisition of Lew Seals we hope to give our lineup some pop we sorely missed this past season after the poor judgement of moving Moxy. He will be squeezed into the already crowded outfield, replacing Hub Parks LF while he works on his swing and ball recognition skills. Which may be too little too late as Chubby Hall will be splitting time between AAA and NY this season getting him some experience against FABL pitching before coming on full time. Its expected Seals will go to 1B when old man Trowbridge finally puts up his walking cane for good. And Joe Rainbow coming on board will hopefully give us some catcher depth with the extremely poor offensive performance from Hopper holding us back. Our system is extremely lacking in talent behind the plate. The lineup is looking good. Just need Car and Angevine to up their game this season and Rainbow to slide into the starting catcher role once he gets settled in. We were not too thrilled to lose Philips, going from 3 solid starters down to 2. Hopefully Chuck Cole has found his pitching groove and this season wasn't just a fluke. And we have Lou Robertson waiting in the wings who started off his FABL career strong before the hitters figured him out and clobbered him in the back half of the season. But some of those Ls were from lack of run support from an anemic offense. Boyd Harper looks to be finally fading as management wants Curry as the full time stopper now. And Harpers terrible finish to the '40 season looks to support this. We have some good bullpen pieces, but they need to get it together after not having a great season last year. WORLD CHAMPION WOLVES PART WAYS WITH MANAGER LEITZKE In what is believed to be a precedent setting move the World Championship Series winning Toronto Wolves have decided not to extend the contract of manager Hank Leitzke, so the 63 year old will be seeking employment elsewhere. It is believed this will be the first time a WCS winning manager did not get an opportunity to be in the dugout on Opening Day the following season. Leitzke spent 11 seasons as a big league manager, most recently in Toronto where he piloted the Wolves to their first pennant and WCS win in 29 years but also included stops in Cleveland and with the Chicago Cougars. His career mark is 678-719. In a brief statement from the Wolves the Toronto Telegram reports that their had been tension between upper management and Leitzke all season but the final straw was a profound philosophical difference on the future direction of the club. Wolves wish Hank success in any future endeavors, and the search for replacement had already begun but the pace will accelerate in the short term. The loss of Pitching Coach Mike Duchene, who elected to retire, was unexpected which complicates the staff situation in Toronto. Rumour was that Duchene may have been in line for the manager's role. THEOBALD RETIRES AGAIN After leading the Cincinnati Cannons to an amazing season in which the 6-time last place finishers challenged for the Continental Association pennant until the final week of the season George Theobald has decided he has had enough. Theobald will retire after 4,654 games leading a big league dugout. "I love this (managing). Seems like it is all I have ever done but I am just getting to old to do it everyday," said baseball's winningest manager of all-time at the press conference announcing his retirement. And before someone asks, yes, this time it is for good," joked the 77 year old. "Plus I have to leave Ossie at least one record." Theobald was referring to Ossie Julious, who still holds the record for most games managed but sits a distant second behind Theobald's 2,508 career wins and 8 pennants. Theobald's managerial career began with the New York Stars in 1896 before he moved to Boston and led the Minutemen to 5 straight pennants and a pair of World Championships. He would win 2 more pennants and another WCS in Boston before moving to Detroit where he picked up his 4th WCS win in 1919. He left his managerial job with the Dynamos in 1925, retiring to move into the front office but returned as manager in 1938, guiding the Dynamos to a pair of second place finishes before moving to Cincinnati this season after becoming a part-owner of the transplanted Baltimore franchise. Theobald will remain an executive and minority owner of the club. Cincinnati bench coach Ad Doria is expected to be promoted to the manager's chair. A former catcher in the Dynamos organization when Theobald was the manager, he had been handpicked by the organization as Theobald's eventual successor. QUICK HITS Washington is aggressively shopping veteran first baseman Harry Shumate according to Bob Stewart of the Washington Times Herald. Stewart pens "In wake of Sig Stofer's Washington rampage(Seriously, kid looks like a budding superstar, albeit with a limited sample size), Harry Shumate is on the block. Shumate has been a perennial top 10 bat for almost his entire career, consistently getting on base, hitting for average, and generally giving pitchers grief. And though he went through a slump in 1940, there is just cause to believe it was fluke, rather than being indicative of future performance. To focus on the root cause, his 1940 BABIP of .239 is a severe outlier for a hitter who tends to post numbers starting with 3 in that particular stat; a crippling blow for a contact focused hitter like Shumate. And though his walk rate and K rate stayed roughly the same from 1939, Shumate was still reduced to a league average hitter this year. A shortstop with a golden glove and a little bit of offense is at the top of the Eagles wishlist in return. Montreal is looking for a new home for a number of players but not on the trade block are the two players most teams would be interested in: All-Stars Red Bond and Adam Mullins, both of whom are called untouchable by Saints management. We wish longtime Pittsburgh Scouting Director George "Mountain Man" Heuer well in his retirement. A key piece of the Miners organization since joining the club in that role in 1927, Heuer also was a FABL player, spending 264 games as a second baseman for Detroit and the Philadelphia Keystones at the turn of the century and then a number of years in the minors but it is his work as scout, and later the SD that he will long be remembered for in Pittsburgh. Among the players he was instrumental in drafting with the Miners were George Cleaves, Lefty Allen and the recently traded Lew Seals. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 10/14/1940 The Royal Air Force made one of it's fiercest attacks of the war on Nazi "invasion ports" on the coast of France, Belgium and Holland, dumping over three tons of high explosives and leaving railway stations and storage buildings ablaze. The Germans continue to bomb London nightly and the two nations also fought a heavy sea engagement off the Isle of Wright Germany is said to be sending six troopships to Rumania as Nazi warplanes patrol the Rumanian capital and nearby oil fields as Britain urges all of it's citizens in Bucharest to leave at once. Russia, Turkey, Yugoslavia and Greece are engaged in urgent negotiations while Russian troops gather on the Rumanian frontier awaiting a move by Germany or Italy or both following the Germans military entry into Rumania. The United States as called it's envoys in Berlin and Rome back to Washington to report to the State Department on the new alliance between Germany, Italy and Japan. It is unknown at this time if they will return to the European cities. President Roosevelt pledges 2-Ocean protection, promising a total defense of the Western Hemisphere against a total attack from any segment of the world. Fighting between Britain and the Axis powers heats up in the Mediterranean as Nazi troops join the Italians in Africa. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

01-27-2022, 10:29 AM	#342
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	October 1940 - Awards announcement OCTOBER 28, 1940 DYNAMOS ANSWER MINERS MOVE IN A MAJOR WAY The game of oneupmanship among Federal Association powers took another dramatic step forward as the Detroit Dynamos made a pair of deals, including a blockbuster with Montreal designed to tilt the balance of power in the Fed away from Pittsburgh just days after the Miners made a dramatic deal. It appears that means the onus is now on the Philadelphia Keystones, the third contender for the Federal throne, to match serve by responding with a move of their own. Detroit began the week by acquiring talented but often injured pitching prodigy Nate Spear from the New York Gothams but that turned out to be merely the appetizer as the main course was French cuisine with the Dynamos and Montreal Saints combining on a massive 7 player, two draft pick deal that was highlighted by the acquisition of a 4-time all-star catcher for a 2-time all-star catcher. The complete particulars see Montreal sending 4-time all-star Adam Mullins along with AAA pitcher Jimmy Mayse and AAA outfielder Maury Millsap to Detroit in exchange for catcher John Wicklund, young pitcher Ed Whetzel, veteran AAA outfielder Wayne Morgan, decent AA infield prospect Joe York and Detroit's first and second round picks in the January portion of the draft. The key is clearly Mullins (.319,5,69), a 28 year old who has made four straight trips to the all-star game and is, or at least was until today, the best catcher in the Continental Association. He will have some competition for that honour in the Fed but that is precisely the reason why he was in such great demand by the Dynamos and many others. Mullins gives Detroit a catcher that is not that far away from being the equal of or perhaps even better than Pittsburgh's George Cleaves and in Detroit these days everything is measured against the two-time defending champion Miners. Catcher and shortstop were the two weak links in the Detroit lineup a year ago and Mullins more than fills the former. Given the chance it is likely Detroit would take an offensive upgrade at shortstop as well but Gil London (.216,1,35) presently does enough with his glove to warrant being penciled into the lineup every day. Mayse and Millsap are inexpensive depth pieces of the type that the suddenly cash strapped Dynamos now are seeking. The 24 year old lefthander Mayse, nicknamed 'Preacher Man" in reference to his college choice of East Missouri Seminary School, went 11-6 with a 3.89 ERA at AAA Minneapolis last season. He is on a minor league deal with plenty of option years left and with good size, might have a better chance making the Dynamos winter touring basketball team than their major league rotation but certainly is a solid minor league depth arm, and with some luck might just work his way into the back of a big league rotation one day . Millsap is much the same: an inexpensive, controllable minor league outfielder. The 26 year old hit .312 with 7 homers in Minneapolis and likely will never be more than a AAA depth piece. Parting with Mullins was something the Saints had repeatedly said would not happen but obviously Detroit caught them at the right time with the right package to convince Montreal it was in the best interests of the franchise long-term to move their star catcher for multiple pieces. Whether that turns out to be the case is certainly open for debate and most definitely will be the subject of much discussion over the winter and the coming seasons. The gem of the deal from Montreal's end is clearly Whetzel, a 22 year old former 5th round pick who went 2-3 with a 2.34 era in a brief stint with Detroit this season. OSA feels Whetzel's future lies at the top of the rotation and when you add him to existing young talent like Wally Doyle, Pat Weakley and George Wynn the future looks very bright for the Saints pitching staff. The other youngster Montreal added is Joe York, oldest son of former Detroit star catcher Dick York, a solid defensive second base prospect. There are question as to whether York will hit enough to play every day: he batted .259 with 2 homers and 53 rbi's in 130 games at AA Akron this season. Montreal does not have a solid young catcher in their system and perhaps they will use one of their 3 first round picks or two second round picks on one in January but for the foreseeable future John Wicklund takes over the number one job. Wicklund, who hit .231 with 8 homers and 59 rbi's last season in Detroit, has had an up and down career. He was an all-star his first two seasons in New York and was very good in 1936 when the Gothams dealt him to Boston at the trade deadline. He has struggled since then with strikeouts becoming a serious concern but the Saints hope his defense will help nurture their collection of talented young arms but there are concerns his offensive shortcomings will be magnified playing in spacious Parc Cartier. Outfielder Wayne Morgan is the final player moving from the Dynamos organization to Montreal. The 29 year old Michigan native has spent most of his time in AAA but did play a little for Detroit in 1938 and 1939. He is really just a throw-in piece to help make the finances work for the Dynamos. SPEARS TO DETROIT The Nate Spear deal falls completely off the radar with the news of the Montreal trade but for Detroit it is a gamble on a very talented young arm as the 24 year old has shown some very nice flashes of what the Pittsburgh Miners saw way back in 1933 when they selected him 8th overall out of high school. Spear grabbed everyone's attention with a 6-0, 2.21 start to the 1939 season with the Gothams until shoulder troubles cut his season short. Injuries have been nearly as common as starts for Spear since the Gothams acquired him in a 1936 deal that sent Mahlon Strong, another frequent victim of the injury bug, to the Steel City. The Dynamos hope the talent is still there despite all the arm troubles but there is some doubt as to whether he will be available when the season begins in April as Spear is recovering from a sore elbow and trainers say to expect that recovery to take another 6 months. In return the Gothams add 19 year old Marcus Mangum, a 1939 fifth overall pick who split his first full pro season between Class C and B, posting a 3-9 record. He lacks the upside of Spear but quite possibly is showing the same tendency for injury as he missed the tail end of each of the past two seasons. New York also gets 23 year old Harry Frenette, a 1935 5th rounder who pitched well between AA and AAA last season but is not very high on OSA's prospect list and 26 year old longtime minor league second baseman Arnold Allen, who made his FABL debut in September, getting a single in his only plate appearance. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE: Tommy Wilcox, Rabbit Day, Al Wheeler, Fred McCormick. When each of those star players was dealt what was the common denominator? The whole league knew about it before it happened! Trading any player, but especially a superstar requires careful thought, timing and most importantly maximizing your return and you do that by getting the largest number of teams possible bidding on your guy. Making a move quietly, under the secrecy of night and catching most of the league unaware only benefits the buyer. The less competition the better for the prospective suitor which means the less he will be required to surrender. Brooklyn made a fatal mistake whisking Tom Barrell off to Pittsburgh a week ago and now Montreal repeats it with Adam Mullins. I had criticized the Saints for not moving one of their late twenties all-star hitters in Mullins or Red Bond at the trade deadline. I felt either of those players could earn a sufficient return to help jumpstart a rebuild that might finally make Montreal relevant again after two decades of being merely a peripheral piece of the Continental Association stranded in the second division. In theory it made perfect sense however that premise was predicated on procuring sufficient big league potential in return. In that regard this deal appears to fail miserably. I love Whetzel and think the youngster has the chance to be a great pitcher but he alone is nowhere near enough of a return for Mullins. The rest of the package Montreal secured is not what you would expect in return for your all-star catcher. Even the picks, while they sound good on paper are 13th in rounds one and two, so yes they might deliver quality talent but are hardly the spot where a sure-fire future star resides. The plan - move Mullins for a boatload of young talent was sound. The execution was not. Could the Saints have received more in return for Mullins? Absolutely and that is not just conjecture on my part as the Boston Minutemen brass was reportedly livid at the news of Mullins change of address, stating unequivocally they for one would have paid more for Mullins, a player they have been after since before the trade deadline. While we will never know just how much the Minutemen might have been willing to include in their package we can guess it would almost assuredly have contained Bill Van Ness and at least one of their good young pitchers to match Whetzel. Plus one needs to consider that the picks Boston could offer were in the middle of the first and second rounds not at the bottom. Would Boston have gone all in on Mullins? Of that I am not 100% certain and unfortunately, due to a failure to shop the player, neither are the Saints. I can feel pretty comfortable stating that shopping Mullins would most certainly have resulted in a lot more attractive return for the Saints than Whetzel and the vial or two of snake oil fancied up to look like a magic elixir by the Dynamos. As for Detroit, it is clearly a case of the Dynamos needing to make a big move to keep up with the Pittsburgh Miners, who unloaded their own trinket and beads on Brooklyn last week as landing Tom Barrell was the biggest steal in New York since Manhattan was purchased for a similar collection of flashy but ultimately useless bag of trinkets and beads. To that end the Dynamos hit a homerun with the addition of Mullins. This is a great pickup for the Dynamos and solves what has been a weakness for the club. Whetzel appears to be a very good prospect to give up but the others were spare parts and the draft picks are at the bottom of the round so the trade-off will be well worth it for Detroit, and perhaps if Mullins continues on his Hall of Fame trajectory, it might just mean the end of a 3-year run as the Federal Association bridesmaid and finally winning a pennant. The trade for Spear is also a move that, while likely a longshot due to his injury history, might just pay off in a big way and if things break right for the Dynamos he more or less fills the void losing Whetzel leaves in the Detroit pitching depth chart. I am not counting on that happening however as if I was betting I would wager Pittsburgh's pickup of Tom Barrell is far better to turn out to have a happy ending that Detroit's acquisition of Spear, who I can't help but think is much closer to the end of his big league days than he is the beginning despite being a tender 24 years of age. As for the Gothams, I get it. They are sick of waiting to see if Nate Spear can go a full season without injury and he has not done so, at least so far. Their options to deal him were probably quite limited, at least in terms of what the return might be so taking a trio of longshot prospects in hopes that at least one pans out is probably the best they could have to hoped to receive. Considering how good Spear has been in limited showings I might have been inclined to give him another chance but the Gothams have never been accused of patience and waiting in this case runs the risk of Spear's arm falling off entirely and getting nothing in return. BOTTOM LINE: John Brinker, my esteemed colleague from the New York Mirror, summed it up best in his recent column which read in part: FABL HANDS OUT IT'S HARDWARE There were a couple of tight races in balloting for the two Continental Association player awards with the Whitney Award especially close. Montreal's Red Bond earned the most first place votes but in the end it was 37 year old John Lawson of the Chicago Cougars who claimed the honour as the best hitter in the CA. It is Lawson's third Whitney but his first in 9 years and makes him the oldest player to win the Award since Max Morris claimed his record 8th and final Whitney Award in 1933 at the age of 38. Lawson's .346 batting average placed him second in the CA behind only fellow greybeard Dave Trowbridge, the 42 year old New York Stars first baseman. Lawson tied with Bond for the RBI lead at 111 while hitting 17 homers. Bond (.340,30,111) finished second while Fred McCormick (.335,13,95) of the World Champion Toronto Wolves came in third. McCormick, who won the award in each of the previous two seasons, has his name at the top of 3 of the 16 ballots cast with Trowbridge and Toronto shortstop Charlie Artuso also receiving one first place vote each. The Continental Allen Award was also a very tight contest with Walt Wells (20-13, 3.10) of the Philadelphia Sailors winning for the first time as 5 different pitchers claimed first place votes. The decisions were much more clear cut in the Federal Association as Pittsburgh's Lefty Allen (22-13, 3.06) garnered 14 of the 16 first place votes to win the second Allen Award of his career. Detroit's 23 year old slugger Red Johnson (.335,28,108) had a similar dominance in Whitney balloting as he, like Allen, topped 14 of the 16 ballots. Here are the voting results: KEYSTONES MCKAY NAMED TOP ROOKIE ACCORDING TO CHICAGO SCRIBES The Philadelphia Keystones had plenty to be proud of this season as their collection of young talent kept the club in contention until the final week of September. One big reason for that success was the play of rookie outfielder Hank McKay, and the 24 year old was rewarded for his tremendous season by being named FABL's top rookie according to the Chicago Sportswriters Guild. McKay, who was acquired from the Montreal Saints last Halloween in exchange for veteran pitched Ed Baker, had a brief introduction to the big leagues with Montreal as a September callup a year ago. That experience seemed to pay off immediately as McKay's Philadelphia debut was a 4-hit effort in a game against Lefty Allen and the Pittsburgh Miners. The Keystones knew they had something special right from that day and McKay went on to hit .269 with 10 homers, 61 rbi's and tied for the FABL lead in triples with 16. Totals good enough as it turned out to earn him the top newcomer award ahead of Washington pitcher Del Burns, a 24 year old who won 17 games for the Eagles. McKay led the way with 6 first place votes while Burns picked up three and the Keystones Hans Wright along with New York Stars pitcher Lou Robertson garnered one each. Burns was the only one to appear on all 11 ballots cast, one more than McKay. Here are the past winners and voting results of the award that was first presented by the Chicago sportswriters in 1937 and revived this year after a 2 year absence by Percy Sutherland, President of the Windy City Guild and Sports Editor of the Chicago Herald-Examiner. Code: CHICAGO SPORTSWRITERS GUILD ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS YEAR PLAYER CLUB 1936 Al Miller Chicago Chiefs 1937 Sal Pestilli Detroit Dynamos 1938 no winner named 1939 no winner named 1940 Hank McKay Philadelphia Keystones WOLVES, FORESTERS REVAMP STAFF Talk about a pressure situation for your first big league managerial job. The Toronto Wolves have found their replacement for Hank Leitzke, naming former Cleveland bench coach Charlie Reed as their manager. Reed will face the difficult task of trying to duplicate the combative Leitzke's accomplishments because there is no way he can surpass them after Leitzke guided the Wolves to their first Pennant and World Championship Series win in 29 years less than a month ago. The 60 year old Reed is described as much more 'personable' than Leitzke and should create quite a change in the Toronto clubhouse but it remains to be seen if the confrontational approach from his predecessor was the key reason the Wolves prospered. Reed has had plenty of success in his 8 years as the Foresters bench coach, winning a WCS in 1934 and a pennant again the following year. Prior to that he spent 7 seasons in the Eastern Association within the Cleveland system, claiming a pair of minor league pennants in the process. Well before that he had a brief professional career but never reached the big leagues as a player. The Wolves also announced the hiring of former Pittsburgh pitching coach Art Nichols to assume the same duties in Toronto. Nichols spent two seasons with the Miners but was not active in the professional ranks the past two years, taking the time off after leaving Pittsburgh following the 1938 season to work with a high school team in his native Massachusetts. The Cleveland Foresters have a number of openings throughout the organization to fill but they started with the job at the top as the club announced it has a new General Manager. The new GM's primary focus will be to sit down with his Scouting Director, who also was freshly hired, and make a decision on who the Foresters will select with the first pick in January's draft. Marv Branson, a 58 year old who spent 5 seasons as the Chicago Cougars scouting director before leaving that post in 1938, is the new head scout in Cleveland. Said to favour ability, Branson had a fair bit of FABL experience as a player, suiting up for 808 games in the outfield for St Louis and the New York Stars before ending his career as an outfielder in the Great Western League. QUICK HITS There were a couple of minor league deals announced this week as well. The Chicago Cougars as is the case this time every year where in draft pick gathering mode as they sent AA 1B Bill Dambreville to Boston for the Minutemens fourth rounder and the Wolves also acquired a 6th rounder plus Class B shortstop Johnny Bunce from Pittsburgh for AA outfielder Jasper Wright. Perhaps better than any other team in FABL the Cougars have built a terrific pyramid game of sorts by acquiring plenty of late round picks and moving the pieces that don't develop to their liking 2 or 3 years later for more kicks at the lottery tickets that are later round draftees. Much of the league is facing a real financial crunch now, or at least the requirement to be much more fiscally responsible. Some are citing the commissioners decision to do a long needed recalculate on league finances but it is clear there are still profits being made and big time dollars being siphoned into owners pockets. Perhaps it is a 'war chest' of sorts as owners prepare for increased taxes on both their personal and business incomes to fund FDR's record breaking national defense budget but some owners are privately worried that if we join Europe's war there is a chance baseball gets shut down for a stretch. It did not happen during the Great War, although schedules were shortened for a period, but the storm waging in the old world is nothing like has ever been seen before and it is almost a certainty it is just a matter of time before those foul winds blow across an ocean - and quite possibly a pair of oceans- and engulf our way of life as well. There is already a great concern baseball will lose many players as all across the league, stars and scrubs alike, are registering for a much different kind of draft than they previously experienced. It seems almost a certainty many players will spend some time away from the game, perhaps even as early as next season. Some Canadian born players have already discussed the possibility of going off to help Great Britain in it's challenge of eliminating the Nazi threat. Could a stretch of time, maybe even a season or two without games at all, be in our future? The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 10/27/1940 R.A.F. bombers have set a great fire in the heart of Berlin with gas works and communication centers as the primary targets. Hamburg is also said to be ablaze. Meanwhile Nazi planes continue to hammer London and targets all along the British coast. Taunting Hitler by saying "we are waiting for the promised invasion" Prime Minister Winston Churchill predicted that the British will seize command of the air from Germany next year. "We are on his (Hitler's) track" said Churchill "and so are our friends across the Atlantic Ocean." According to Berlin, government officials in Paris are close to accepting Nazi terms for France to re-enter the war but fighting on the side of the Axis powers. FDR warned the French that Washington would not accept any change in the status of French possessions in the Western Hemisphere. Josef Stalin is said to be hoping to arrange a German-Italian-Japanese-Russian conference, probably early next month, in an effort to find common ground with the Axis powers. An estimated 16,4000,000 American men between the ages of 21 and 35 are registering for the draft with the first lottery calling being held this week in which 800,000 will be selected. As the November 5th election date fast approaches both candidates heat up their verbal sparring. Republican nominee Wendell Wilkie claims the U.S. faces a dictatorship within 4 years if Roosevelt wins as well as "one of the greatest panics in history" will follow completion of America's defense program unless private domestic economy is stimulated. Meanwhile, President Roosevelt called Wilkie a 'falsifier' for many of his campaign statements that FDR alleges are intentionally misleading. FDR also promises to serve his full term if re-elected rather than resign after the European crisis subsides. President Roosevelt this week announced the promotion of Col. Benjamin O. Davis to become the first African American general in the army's history. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

01-28-2022, 11:42 AM	#343
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1940 - November NOVEMBER 4, 1940 DYNAMOS- SAINTS DEAL ON THIN ICE? No one involved has any comment but there is some noise being bandied about that perhaps the big Detroit-Montreal deal of two weeks ago might just be falling apart. Nothing concrete but there are several rumours floating around that the huge 7 player, 2 draft pick deal bringing Adam Mullins to the Dynamos might be rescinded. One story making the rounds is that Mullins failed his physical while another source claims that one of the former Detroit players, likely catcher John Wicklund but possibly young pitcher Ed Whetzel, has refused to go to the Canadian club and is threatening to enlist in the military rather than accept the trade. TWIFB has reached out to both organizations but neither has issued a reply at this time and while the sources releasing the information are credible, neither has a direct link to either club and each provided conflicting information as to the reason the deal would be nixed so it really is just conjecture at this point. Mullins has been to Detroit, as he was spotted around the city and the club issued a photo of him dressed in a Dynamos uniform shortly after the move was made but he has not been seem in public since. DETROIT ADDS A CATCHER The Dynamos did announce they have made a deal for another catcher but this one involved a pair of minor leaguers and is almost assuredly unrelated to any rumours circulating about the Mullins deal. The move brings 24 year old Joe Henry to the Motor City from the St Louis organization with 20 year old catcher Mike Logan heading the other way. The acquisition was likely initiated by the Dynamos after they waived last year's backup Clem Bliss. The 28 year old Bliss, who hit just.187 in 55 games last season, cleared waivers but is expected to be released by Detroit in a cost cutting move partially inspired because of the need to free up money with the acquisition of Adam Mullins. With only AAA catcher Lou Bennett and Mullins on their secondary roster the move for Henry adds depth and the 24 year old, who split last season between AA and AAA, has a decent upside although there is some question if the former first round pick out of Lane State can be an everyday player. OSA feels he can and raves about his defense but Henry has never been considered anywhere near a top 100 type prospect. With Heinie Zimmer likely holding down the starting job in St Louis for a number of years the deal for the 20 year old Logan allows the Pioneers to swap Henry out for a much younger catching prospect. Perhaps not the defender Henry is at this stage, Logan may have a higher upside than Henry does in the batters box. OSA feels the Detroit-area native could be a .310 hitter one day. Logan, who was a 4th round pick out of Detroit Catholic Central High School, hitting .330 between Class B and A last season and helped lead Terre Haute (Class A) to a Heartland League title. PITCHERS AND OUTFIELDERS DOMINATE UPDATED TOP PROSPECT LIST With all of the pitchers being drafted so highly over the past half dozen years it comes as little surprise that OSA's latest top prospect ranking contains a healthy dose of hurlers. The top 3 prospects on the list and 13 of the top 25 are pitchers led once again by 20 year old Ed Bowman of the New York Gothams organization. Other pitchers in the top ten include Cincinnati's Bill Sohl (#2), Pat Weakley of the Montreal Saints (#3), St Louis Pioneers lefthander Mal Bianco (#6) and Donnie Jones of the Chicago Cougars (#10). Seven of the top 25 are outfielders leaving just 5 infielders but surprisingly no shortstop cracked the top 25. You have to go all the way down to #37 to find a shortstop and only one to sneak into the top 60 overall is Hank Grant, a 24 year old who made his big league debut with the Montreal Saints in late July. There are no catchers in the top 25 but the Cougars Solly Skidmore finished just 2 spots below that at 27th. HERE IS THE CURRENT LIST OF THE TOP TWENTY FIVE PROSPECTS ACCORDING TO OSA HANG ON TO THOSE FOURTH AND FIFTH ROUND DRAFT PICKS As you might expect the vast majority of the top prospects are drafted in the first round with exactly half of the current top fifty going in the the top 16 selections (including 3 players from the brief lottery system). Second round picks accounted for an additional 8 players and 6 more went in the third. What of the remaining 11 players you ask? Well those fourth and fifth round picks do often have some pretty good value as a total of 4 of the current top fifty were selected in each of the fourth and fifth rounds. The four fourth rounders had a pair of pitchers in Duke Bybee (#43) and Les Bradshaw (#48) as well as third baseman Norman Houser (#38) and outfielder Luke Berry (#46). The fifth round gives us two players that presently rank in the top 15 prospects in outfielder Otis Parker of Cincinnati and the Keystones 22 year old lefthander Ernie Espanoza. Two more pitchers in 20th ranked Ed Whetzel and Slick Wesolowski (29th) were also fifth round draft picks. What is quite interesting is the fact that while not a single player drafted in rounds 6 thru 10 cracked the current top fifty there are two players who were AI draft picks (for anyone not familiar with the league the human GMs draft rounds 1-10 before the game simulates the remaining 15 rounds with draft lists we are able to provide or auto selection) that made the top 50. Stock up on 14th round picks after reading the news that Danny Hearn and Hank Grant were both selected in that round, going 213th and 214th respectively in their draft year. How did this happen? The human General Managers combined to select 160 players before turning things over to the lists and even then it took three and a half more rounds before Grant and Hern were finally selected. DANNY HERN ORGANIZATION PIECE TO MID-ROTATION STARTER Danny Hern is a 23 year old lefthander who played just 1 season of high school ball in 1935 before being selected by the Chicago Cougars 213th overall. It took over two years of pro ball but he finally cracked the top 100 by being ranked 71st in July of 1938. By October that year he was 55th and good enough for the St Louis Pioneers to ask for him, along with 4 others, in the deal that sent Freddie Jones to the Cougars. Opening Day 1939 he was inside the top 50 and presently sits at 40th, the highest point of his career. Hern pitched well at AAA Oakland this past season (9-4, 3.15) and earned a callup to St Louis. He struggled but so did the entire team, posting a 1-5 mark with a 3.75 era in 10 big league appearances with 6 of them starts. He pitched well enough to deserve to win a couple of his other starts but the run support was not there. However, his first win was a thing of beauty, a 3-2 complete game 6-hitter over the Boston Minutemen in mid-September when he outdueled Dick Higgins, a former second overall selection. So what made Danny Hern good enough to make the majors ahead of 61 of the 74 pitchers drafted before him in 1935? That 1935 draft was famous for another pitcher, a guy by the name of Deuce Barrell, who went first overall and was one of 7 pitchers taken in the first round. George Garrison and Charlie Wheeler, two others from that round have done okay for themselves and Bud Canfield, the 12th overall pick that year sits just a few spots below Hern on the top prospect list. But what of the other three. The Pioneers took Dan Rivard in the first round that year and, while not a top 100 prospect, Rivard is in AAA and may get a shot next year but Bill Keith and Luis Tapia are looking more and more like busts as they both languish in the minors. The ensuing rounds are also loaded with guys who's big league chances are slim at best but there is Hern, a 14th round pick made good. Why? Is it Hearn's work ethic? Nope, that is listed as low and we are told he makes too many excuses for his poor work habits. Is he a leader? No, not at all. He must be smart then, right? Nope. Low intelligence. So despite no outstanding personality characteristic, low work ethic, just average high school stats in only one year at that level Hern has somehow gone from being considered a minor leaguer at best in 1935 to now being called a mid-rotation starter HANK GRANT Grant was a 14th round pick in the 1934 draft who went from being considered a below-average shortstop in his draft year to a top 50 prospect. His rise can be seen quite easily in looking at his stats. He was a average to slightly below average hitter his first four seasons in the minors but right from opening day 1939 he seemed to learn, almost overnight, how to hit. He advanced three levels that season and was an above average hitter at each of them. His production dropped a bit when he got to Montreal at the end of July this past season but certainly not far enough for one to think he may have peaked. His defense was also unusual. The Saints seemed to want to play him at second base or in the outfield as he rarely played shortstop prior to 1938, but when he started hitting he worked his way into the lineup and his defense was more than acceptable although, similar to his woes at the plate he struggled in the field once he made the Saints. Current Brooklyn Kings scouting director John Spears admitted he had Grant as a 8th-10th round talent in the 1934 draft, ranking him 84th among position players on his draft board. "We thought he did everything okay - makes contact, has some speed, acceptable defense, but nothing stood out so we pegged him as maybe an injury replacement guy or more likely a career AAA talent." OSA thought the same but here we are 6 years later and Grant is not only the lowest selected player from his draft class to make the big leagues so far, but also a top 50 prospect. 1934 was actually a decent draft for shortstops but before we get to that let's look at 5 that were selected in the first 5 rounds but given a re-do, the team selecting them would swap their pick for Grant in a heartbeat: Code: Tip Harrison : 2nd round 24 big league games, now 29 years old Bill Sorrells : 2nd round 0 big league games, now 27 years old Walter Morgan : 4th round 0 big league games, still only 24 though Johnnie Wolsey: 4th round 97 big league games, now 27 years old Bill Smith : 5th round 0 big league games, now 27 years old While those five did very little, at least so far in their careers, as mentioned above the 1934 crop of shortstops was a pretty good one. Here is who we have: Code: RD PICK NAME FABL G DRAFTING TEAM 1 4 Charlie Artuso 457 Toronto 1 15 Jim Hensley 139 Baltimore 2 22 Lew McClendon 466 Pittsburgh 3 47 Ivan Cameron 292 Cougars 3 48 Mel Hancock Jr. 401 Cleveland 5 79 Mule Monier 302 Gothams 6 90 Leon Blackridge 235 Stars 6 95 Vince D'Alessandro 63 Gothams 8 114 Charley McCullough 258 Baltimore 8 119 Frank Davis 469 Pittsburgh 9 142 Terry Cox 39 Brooklyn 12 182 Jake Hughes 163 Montreal 14 214 Hank Grant 46 Montreal So Grant has a ways to go to catch a lot of other guys in his draft class, but the vast majority of them had an 8-13 round head start on him. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 11/03/1940 British naval forces take over the island of Crete after coming to aid of Greece, which had been invaded by Italy. As the British drove Italian forces from Crete, Greek's little army continues to hold off Axis forces along the northern frontier. British warplanes struck for the first time at southern Italy, bombing the industrial center of Naples. The R.A.F. successfully stopped German and Italian raiding squadrons short of London time and again over the past week. The United States will rule the air, claimed President Roosevelt at a campaign stop in Boston in which he announced plans for the production of 12,000 more bombing airplanes, made thanks to the aid of the automobile industry. With the Presidential election just days away, Wendell Wilkie takes full advantage of a blunder FDR made in reading a campaign speech as Roosevelt referred to Joseph P Kennedy as "my Ambassador to Great Britain". Wilkie declared "this is what any would naturally say who has in his hands enormous power, who has felt the taste of power, who thinks in terms of himself as the ruler of a people instead of being merely an instrument for carrying out the laws of the land." The first lottery numbers were selected in the nation's unprecedented peacetime conscription. An estimated 6,175 men holding draft serial number 158 will be the first called up for military service. Police in New York City arrested a man with a revolver who claims he was offered $5,000 to "knock off Mayor LaGuardia". The man was arrested before he could approach the mayor. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

01-31-2022, 10:20 AM	#344
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	November 1940 - offseason NOVEMBER 18, 1940 MULLINS NOW A CANNON Through a rather unusual chain of events 4-time all-star catcher Adam Mullins moved from Detroit to Cincinnati. Mullins had been traded by the Montreal Saints to the Detroit Dynamos in a multi-player deal last month but one of the key pieces in the transaction, catcher John Wicklund, refused to report to the Saints. As a result the deal fell apart and Mullins, who was introduced to the Detroit media a short time ago, found himself packing up his belongings and heading further south after being informed he was instead dealt to the Cincinnati Cannons. The trade saw the Cannons part with two very highly touted prospects and a pair of first round picks as well as a backup catcher. Heading to Montreal will be Ben Richardson (.251,1,28), who celebrated his 31st birthday earlier this month as well as two players out of the Cannons very deep collection of minor league talent in 21 year old outfielder Otis Parker (ranked #12 by OSA) and 20 year old righthander Jackie James (#26). The Saints also pick up Cincinnati's first round pick 11th overall and the 4th overall selection, acquired earlier in the off-season from the New York Gothams in exchange for pitcher Rusty Petrick. "It is a lot to give up," admitted Cannons Scouting Director Rufus Barrell, "and as a scout you always hate to lose the opportunity to make those first round picks, but Mullins is one of the best catchers in the league so an opportunity like this does not come up often." With Mullins in the fold the Cannons then had a logjam behind the plate so 31 year old Jack Flint (.313,5,70) was moved to Boston in exchange for the Minutemens second and fifth round selections. Cincinnati expects to promote veteran minor leaguer Buster Farrar from AAA Indianapolis to serve as Mullins new backup, at least until prize 20 year old prospect Rick York is ready for the major leagues. As for the Saints, despite the controversy with Wicklund, they certainly ended up with a large haul in return for Mullins and Montreal management hints the dealing may not be done. The Saints now own 4 first round picks (3rd, 4th, 10th and 11th) and Montreal Assistant General Manager Phil Catalfamo says don't rule out the possibility of a move prior to the draft that sees the Saints package one or more of those picks for a solid starting pitcher. PERCY SUTHERLAND'S TAKE: First of all, to be perfectly frank, I'm of the opinion that once you have a hold of a player of Adam Mullins' capabilities, you don't want to let that player go. Just think--Tom Bird was traded away from Montreal so that Mullins could start. Having said that, one can understand the Montreal-side of the equation here. The Saints are entering their third decade of being for all practical purposes irrelevant. Adam Mullins and Red Bond are the two biggest assets the Saints have. Can they turn Mullins into some hope for the future? Let's look at what they received from Cincinnati. Picks 4 and 11 in the upcoming draft. Draft picks, particularly first round picks, have some good value. The issue is that, unless you get lucky and stumble across a Sal Pestilli, draft picks are part of the long game. You need to scout and draft well, and then once the youngsters are in your organization, they will need to develop. All of this takes time (and coaching). You won't see the return from this part of the deal in Montreal for a number of years. 21-year-old OF Otis Parker. Parker is a big (6'2") kid who hits the ball very hard. As he fills out, he should develop some nice, big league power. And as Red Bond has now shown you can, in fact, hit home runs in Montreal. Parker is a big-time prospect and there is a good chance that you will see him in Montreal sometime next summer. 20-year-old P Jackie James. James is a 4-pitch pitcher who throws a fastball with a heavy sink. He is more raw as a talent than Parker, but James is someone I see as developing into a nice mid-rotation starter. 31-year-old C Ben Richardson. Montreal needs someone to play catcher. Richardson is a good handler of the pitching staff with a below average bat. All things considered, Montreal did well in trading the Continental Association's top catcher. Parker and James both have a good chance of being productive big league players, but the full return of the trade will be known only after the players taken with the two draft picks have time to develop. What of the Cincinnati side of the trade? When you trade good, young prospects, there is always a lingering doubt: what if these players are future hall of famers? Well, there is a big "if" in that question. Potential talent, no matter how good, is still just that: potential. What Cincinnati is getting in return for trading that potential is a known commodity: a 28-year-old catcher who will play in 140 games and hit 30% above league average. Mullins is in the same category as T.R. Goins and Tom Bird. Both Goins and Bird were traded and then went on to help the clubs they were traded to win championships. Cincinnati, who finished just off the pace in 1940, is hoping that Mullins can do likewise. MORE TRADE NEWS The Detroit Dynamos acquired shortstop Ernie Brown from the New York Stars in exchange for minor league pitcher Jim Baker and a second round draft pick. Brown, 25, spent most of the season in AAA but did participate in 20 games with the Stars after being called up a couple of times during the season. Baker is a 22 year old who went 10-6, 3.81 at AA last season. He is ranked as the 111th best prospect by OSA. FREDDIE FARHAT ON THE TRADE: With the Dynamo's trade for SS Brown from NY Stars the club will be bringing competition to spring training to challenge Gil London for his starting job. London (.216,1,35) was terrible last year at the plate. He batted leadoff about half the time (early in the year) but struggled there and was worse in the #8 spot. In looking at leverage situations he didn't excel in any (High, medium or low). Was it just a horrible year at the plate or is he just not a very good hitter despite what the managers, coaches and scouts say? Now he has to earn it to keep his job in '41. WASHINGTON-BROOKLYN DEAL The other move saw the Washington Eagles deal 24 year old backup corner infielder Bill Downs (.292,4,42) and an 8th round pick to the Brooklyn Kings in exchange for a pair of decent prospects in Bill Willman and George Zavala. The 24 year old Willman went 10-13 at AAA last season and seemed ready to step up to the big leagues this year. OSA sees him as the #34th best prospect in the game and potentially a top of the rotation arm. Zavala is a 25 year old outfielder the Kings traded away 3-time Allan Award winner Tom Barrell a couple of weeks ago in order to acquire. He hit .287 with 10 homers at AAA St Paul last season. JIGGS MCGEE ON THE TRADE: I am trying to find a nicer way to say this but I just can't. I have absolutely no idea what Brooklyn's plan is. First they trade Barrell, a possibly damaged arm to be sure but at the very least still a valuable trade chip, without shopping him around and just taking a 4th round pick and a mid level prospect in Zavala, who is an outfielder and the Kings do not need any more outfielders. So they then turn around and send Zavala plus a pretty strong pitching prospect in Willman, who looks big league ready and could have stepped into the spot opened when Barrell was moved. What do they get in return? A back up first baseman when if there is one position they need players even less than they do outfielders it is first base with rising young star Tiny Tim Hopkins already there and prospect Chuck Adams knocking on the door at first or in the outfield. I guess the plan is to try Downs at third base but again I ask why? The Kings have Frank LeMieux who should be playing third everyday or John Langille, who is not the hitter he was a few seasons ago but still likely a better option than Downs at the hot corner. Maybe, some have speculated the plan is to move LeMieux to second base were Walt Layton has a great glove but no offensive skills at all. Again, I ask why? The Kings have Jim Lightbody, a very talented hitter but admittedly below average with his glove. Still, Lightbody could solve their lead-off problems and his offense could possibly make up for more than any negatives on the defensive side of the ball. Bat LeMieux second and then you have are very solid 3-thru-6 in some combination of Hopkins plus outfielders Al Wheeler, Joe Herman and Rats McGonigle. Use Layton as a late innings defensive replacement for Lightbody and you are all set. As it is now the Kings gave away two pitchers in veteran Barrell and prospect Willman for what???? A 4th round pick, an 8th round pick and a backup corner infielder. QUICK HITS Pestilli traded for Wheeler. That sure got your attention but no it wasn't Sal for Al, nor was it Alf for Charlie but instead the Pestilli in question is Little Joe, the third eldest of the 4 Pestilli ballplaying brothers and quite likely the least talented. The 24 year old second baseman was dealt from the St Louis Pioneers organization to the Cincinnati Cannons in exchange for fellow 24 year old minor leaguer infielder Bob Wheeler, who is not related to either the Kings Al or the Dynamos Charlie Wheeler. Neither Little Joe or Bob Wheeler is expected to be more than a minor league depth piece. ALL-TIME HITS LEADERS (BY LETTER) (Editor's note: This article is a blatant rip-off - but let's call it a tribute instead - to my favourite modern sportswriter Joe Posnanski, a great baseball writer and football and well pretty much anything he pens is a very entertaining read because of the many twists and turns down side streets he takes but always tying back in to his original topic. I try, but fail miserably most times, to capture a little bit of his style in some of Jiggs McGee's materials so let's see how this one goes.) I was thinking the other day about my favourite FABL player, Doug Lightbody and his pursuit for 2,000 career hits. Due to many, many games lost to injury Lightbody is a very old 36 and will turn 37 in 5 days. He needs 18 more hits to get to 2,000 and so far it appears the Philadelphia Keystones, for whom he now plays after well over a decade in Brooklyn and a 2 month excursion to Cincinnati, are going to give the man affectionately known as The Mississippi Mouth a shot to stick with the club as a pinch-hitter. I was thinking about Lightbody's career and in trying to find a category he would lead I got to wondering if any player in baseball who's name started with the letter 'L' had more career hits than Lightbody. I quickly realized that no he is definitely not the leader even by letter but thought that would make an interesting exercise to see which players actually do lead the way in FABL hits by each letter of the alphabet. So here we go: A - Jack Arabian 3,391 1896-1915 This was a pretty easy one to figure out well before I looked it up. A second baseman and likely a future Hall of Famer at some point, Arabian is 6th all-time in FABL hits and has more of them than any player not yet enshrined in the soon to be finished construction baseball Hall of Fame in Boone County, Illinois. A long time star for the Cleveland Foresters before finishing out his career in St Louis (like Max Morris would later it seemed the Foresters perhaps had a habit of sending superstars to the banks of the Mississippi) he won 3 Continental Association batting titles. The Foresters were rarely good in that era but Arabian was their star and in 1901 he had the season of his life, hitting .406 with 13 homers and 101 RBIs to lead the club to it's first and only pennant during his tenure. They came up against the powerful Pittsburgh Miners in the Series that year. It was Pittsburgh fourth straight trip to the Fall Classic and believe it not the Miners actually won that one, in a sweep no less. Of course Pittsburgh has been to plenty of WCS since but are still looking for their second trophy. Arabian never got his ring, as it would be his only taste of October baseball but he acquainted himself quite well, batting .308 in the series with 3 rbi's and 4 runs scored. Number Two on the list of A's is Moses Ammon, a late 1800's second baseman with 2,575 hits on his resume and number three is still active as it is veteran Philadelphia Keystones catcher Carl Ames with 2,021 hits and counting. B- Zebulon Banks 3,423 1876-1898 Another easy one to guess as 'Hawkeye' is in the Hall of Fame and was the first of two legendary first baseman to spend a lot of years in Philadelphia with the Keystones organization. Rankin Kellogg of course was the other one but it was Banks who was one of the very first great stars of the game. Following Banks we have Bill Brady, a turn of the century Philadelphia Sailors catcher, who had 2,592 with just recently retired Charlie Barry - the long-time Boston third baseman who went to Cleveland for a spell to get his World Championship Series title before ending his career with the Minutemen. Barry had 2,323 hits. It likely won't be long before Bobby Barrell, the current face of the Keystones pass all of them except for Banks as the 30 year old member of baseball's first family has 1,972 hits so far. C- Bill Craigen 2,906 1899-1917 This one took a little more thinking but probably shouldn't have as the now 60 year old Craigen has been involved in the game in one form or another for well over 40 years. Most recently known as a manager, Craigen won 4 WCS titles at the helm of the New York Stars between 1920-38 and after spending a year away from the game in 1939 he resurfaced this past season as a base coach in Cleveland. Craigen is 6th all-time with 1,512 wins as a manager and his 4 WCS titles are equaled only by the great George Theobald although Edward Wakeham did win 4 titles as well, but that was in the days before the WCS existed. Prior to his managerial career Craigen was an outfielder and a pretty good hitter for the New York Stars. He won a batting title, led the CA in triples 7 times, homers 3 times and rbi's on 5 occasions. He also won 3 WCS titles as a player so his total of 7 between his playing and managing days may well be the most all-time. Long-time New York Gothams shortstop Joe Carney (1891-1908) is second with 2,618 hits including 119 with the New York Imperials of the Peerless League. We count those totals as well as the Border Association and Century League in our numbers but for pure FABL stats the Peerless League is not included so I wonder if Joe Carney ever looked back and said if I only played 1 more game. Carney, you see, is credited with 2,499 career FABL hits. John Cook, a Boston and Brooklyn infielder who played in the first two decades of this century holds third place with 2,505, all of which came in FABL. Cook may be best known as the long-time record holder for career WCS games with 31. His total was matched by Max Morris and later Pete Layton before being surpassed in 1938 by the recently retired Tom Taylor, who now holds the record for WCS games all to himself with 32 of them. Each of those 'C' hitters overlapped much of their careers and each won 3 WCS titles but they were never teammates on a title team or otherwise. Number 4 is well known as it is current Pittsburgh Miners infielder Jack Cleaves with 2,072 hits. Cleaves owns a pair of WCS titles from his days with the Philadelphia Sailors and is tied for 14th all-time with 24 WCS games under his belt. D- John Dibblee 3,913 1906-1931 Another easy one to figure out as the Hall of Famer trails only the legendary Powell Slocum for career hits. With 11,325 of them, Dibblee had more at bats during his FABL career than any other player and he, along with fellow Hall of Famer Ed Ziehl, are the only two men to play in more than 3,000 career big league games. Number two among the D's is almost 1,700 hits behind Dibblee as George Dunlap is next with 2,219. Dunlap had a long career with the New York Gothams at the turn of the century. The highest active player among the D's - that would be 29 year old Boston outfielder Chick Donnelly with 1,463. E- Jim Elkins 2,318 1909-1925 Another long-time Gotham, Elkins caught me by surprise on this list as my guess would have been the former Montreal slugger Hal Eason, but Eason had 'just' 2,173 hits over his 17 year career. If you want to talk homeruns or RBI's than Eason would be our man. We may be hearing the Eason name much more in the coming years as his son Hal is a junior outfielder at Huntington State and a probable first round pick in the January draft. The top active player who's last name starts with E? You have to look a long ways down the list to find Joe Ellicott of the Washington Eagles, proud owner of 156 big league hits. F- Denny Fuller 2,535 1880-1897 Late 19th century first baseman Denny Fuller began his career in 1880 with Cleveland Cuyahogas and finished it with the Washington Eagles but is best known as a New York Gotham. He won 4 titles including 3 after the WCS began and finished with 109 more hits than Morris Ford. Ford, Chick Futrell and Fred Feiden all topped the 2000 hit mark and each played in both the 1800s and 1900s. Current active leader among the F's is Cleveland's Dan Fowler but he is quite a ways back at 1,378 hits as he prepares for his age 33 season. G- T.R. Goins 2,622 1923-1938 Goins was instrumental in a pair of mini-dynasty's and won 2 WCS titles and a pair of Whitney Awards, accomplishing one of each in both associations. Take first overall out of Cincinnati High School in 1919 by the Washington Eagles, Goins would help the Eagles win 3 pennants early in his career with the highlight being his .395,24,121 showing in 1926. In 1933 he was moved to Cleveland and while the Eagles would drop to the second division and remain there ever since, Goins played a key role on a rising Foresters club that won a pair of pennants and the first WCS in franchise history in 1934. That '34 Cleveland team relied on recently acquired greybeards with Goins,33 at the time, being the baby of the bunch as he along with Charlie Barry and Max Morris, in a thrilling return to the city it all started for him, combined to carry Cleveland to the crown. Goins participated in four of the first five all-star games and seems a certainty to make it to Boone County one day. Four other players who's last name starts with G also surpassed the 2,000 hit mark for their careers. They are Amos Gatlin, Conrad Gardner, Wally Grant and George Gardner. Grant, a catcher like Goins, was a bench coach with the Eagles when Goins was drafted by the club and would later go on to spend a decade as a FABL manager in Boston and Brooklyn. The highest active player on the G list is Gail Gifford, as the 28 year old Pioneer outfielder has 1,139 base knocks. H- Chick Hamm 2,592 1888-1906 A piece of the early Pittsburgh Miners dynasty that won 4 straight pennants and the 1901 WCS, the first baseman was never a superstar but rather just a solid, steady contributor. Veteran Chicago Chiefs outfielder Jim Hampton is 141 hits behind Hamm and while Hampton only had 78 hits this past season there is a chance of increased play this season in Chicago with the trade of Cliff Moss from the Chiefs to the Cougars. Can Hampton's 39 year old legs carry him long enough to get those 141 hits is in question, but I am sure the more pressing target for the veteran outfielder is 49 more to become just the 24th player to reach 2,500. I- BILL INSCOE 1,222 1909-1920 As one would expect there are very few players who's last name started with 'I' to play major league baseball, just 12 in fact. Inscoe was a regular for 7 years in the Brooklyn Kings outfield and a part of their first pennant winner in 1912 before finishing his career mostly as a backup with the Sailors. Alex Ingraham, who spent much of the 1930's patrolling right field for the St Louis Pioneers but did not play anywhere this past season, is second on the list with 1,205 hits. He was signed a couple of weeks ago by the Chicago Cougars and maybe will be reunited with his old St Louis buddy Freddie Jones in the Windy City. More likely the 34 year old was brought to the Cougars organization strictly as a minor league depth piece. He was an All-Star in 1934 and Ingraham's big claim to fame likely will center around a sunny June day in 1933 when he became just the 6th player in FABL history to hit 3 homeruns in a single game. Freddie Jones also homered that day and Ingraham's came in the second, third and fifth innings, all off a pitcher named Stan Harrison, who only gave up 2 other homeruns in his entire FABL career. Harrison is one of those peripheral players you only ever hear about when someone else does something memorable, such as Ingraham in this case. He was a 7th round pick of the Chicago Cougars out of high school in 1922 but was released in camp and enrolled at Mississippi A&M where he actually had a pretty solid 1924 season, posting an 8-4 record with a 2.55 era. Only 3 college pitchers won more games than Harrison that season: Jim Morales, Walt Palmer and Joe Dorsainval. The Foresters took Harrison in the 6th round in 1925 and they kept him, although they never brought him up to the big club. He threw a no-hitter for AAA Cincinnati in 1927 and twice won 18 games in the minors but still never got the call to Cleveland. In December of 1932 he got his break when the Keystones selected him in the Rule 5 draft. He was 29 and after a decade in the minors Stan Harrison was finally a FABL player. It lasted just the one year as he was back in AAA the following season and never did return to the big leagues before retiring in 1937 but he did go 3-2 with a 5.06 era in 28 appearances that season for the Keystones and pitched 2 and a third scoreless innings in Game One of the 1933 WCS. The Keystones lost that game but did win the series so Harrison owns a WCS ring. I should mention that aside from the 3 Ingraham hit, Harrison only gave up 2 other homeruns that year and they were to a pair of talented ballplayers in Frank Vance and Joe Masters, so no shame in that. Ingraham's 3 homeruns in the first 5 innings of that June game are likely something Harrison will long remember, but not just for surrendering those blasts, but for the fact that this particular game was also the one and only big league start Harrison ever made in his career. He didn't get a decision that day but his club did overcome an early 6-0 deficit and won the game 10-9 in 12 innings. Harrison will also remember that game because it was the day of his first big league hit, a first pitch single off of Sam Sheppard. J- JIM JONES 2,786 1879-1904 If I was taking a guess I would have gone with Bud Jameson, the long-time New York Gotham who recently crossed the 2,000 hit threshold and sits fourth all-time among letter 'J' hitters. Jones's nickname of 'The Big Steam Engine' tells all you need to know about him. He just kept going and going and was a hitting machine, playing a game in 4 different decades although the 1904 contest was really just a publicity stunt, as Jones had last played in the minors two seasons prior but came out of retirement at 46 for one game with Detroit against Boston when the then Mighty Minutemen activated 54 year Lynwood Trease Sr, who was a coach with Boston at the time and the father of Boston's hot shot 24 year old Woody Trease. Woody pitched that game with Lynwood handling the catching in what would be the first and so far only father-son partnership on a FABL diamond. Jones went 0-for-4 vs Woody and did not play again afterwards but Lynwood and Woody would team up one more time that season. As for Jones, he is 13th all-time in career hits and 21st in games played. This all predates FABL but Jones won 6 Century League batting crowns in the 1880s and 3 league championships with the old Providence Gems of that loop. Another interesting name on this list is Ossie Julious, who is fifth with 1,923 career hits. Julious is much better known for having managed, and having lost more games as a manager, than any other skipper in FABL history. He did pilot the Toronto Wolves when they won their last WCS (at least prior to a month ago) in 1911. K- Calvin Kidd 3,169 1890-1909 What an infield you could build with the K's! Let's start with Hall of Famer Rankin Kellogg at first, who had 2,770 hits and was second only to Max Morris with 475 homers, at first base. Across the diamond at the hot corner we could place John Kincaid and his 2,065 hits. Our second baseman would be Davey Kincaid, who had 1,575 hits at the turn of the century for the Chiefs and before we get to our shortstop how about an outfield of Lou Kelly (2,009 hits), Norwegian born centerfielder Charlie Kinney (1,959 hits) and 1890s Baltimore star Lewis Kendrick (1,453 hits) who hails from Youngstown, Ohio and is said to have played a role in shaping the career of a very young Max Morris. Finding a catcher would be a problem but this is a pretty good starting group of seven especially when we slide Calvin Kidd in at shortstop. The Wizard of Wausau, Wisconsin was just that with the glove and spent 15 glorious seasons playing the most difficult defensive position the game with ease while also hitting well over .300 for all of the meaningful seasons of his career. He debut at 19 and perhaps hung around a little too long, playing his last big league game for the Gothams at the age of 38 but there is little doubt that in his prime he was one of the best all-around shortstops ever to play the game. Finding an active K player is an arduous task needing to go all the way down to 630 to find Oscar King, and even that requires as asterisk as King, now 30, was released by the Keystones - his 4th big league team- at the conclusion of the season and there is no guarantee he will find big league employment again. L- JOHN LAWSON 2,722 1927-present Where my search began with Doug Lightbody, who sits third in his letter group with 1,982 surpassed by the recently retired Pete Layton (2,506 hits), who won 6 World Championships - believed to be the most ever by a player - and is the postseason career leader in runs and hits and one shy of Tom Taylor's record 32 Series games played. Layton was quite simply a winner, playing in 6 WCS and winning each of them, batting .361 in postseason play and each of the six series he played in he averaged at least a hit a game. He won 2 WCS MVP awards and made 4 all-star games but one has to remember Layton was already 33 years old when the All-Star game was first conceived. He also won two batting titles and they came a decade apart with the second one in 1938 at the age of 38 and was immediately followed by his retirement announcement. Batting champ, WCS winner and WCS MVP are not a bad way to go out on top. Tough act for the still active John Lawson to top but he has 3 Whitney Awards including one this season at the age of 37, 7 All-Star appearances and a WCS title on his resume. Lawson also won 4 batting titles and came within a whisker of a fifth one a month ago but the 37 year old was nosed out by his former teammate on the 1932 WCS winning New York Stars and now 42 year old Dave Trowbridge. Lawson certainly appears to have done enough to make the Hall of Fame one day, as has Pete Layton, but the cherry on top for the Chicago Cougars star would be to join the exclusive 3,000 hit club which presently has just 10 members. Lawson needs 278 more to open that door. M- Max Morris 3,651 1914-1937 Not much to say here that hasn't been already said about the greatest slugger in baseball history. His 3,651 hits trail only Powell Slocum and John Dibblee. No one comes within shouting distance of his 711 homers or 2,323 rbi's and he could have been a great pitcher too, twice win more than twenty games in a season before becoming a full-time outfielder at age 24. Bob Martin of the Chicago Chiefs tops active players with 2,297 hits but it will just be a matter of time before 31 year old Wolves star Fred McCormick passes him. McCormick will enter next season with 2,067 hits. N- Charlie Nabb 2,279 1898-1913 Long time Toronto Wolves third baseman helped the club win 4 pennants and a pair of World Championship Series titles. "Nibs" Nabb is the only player who's last name starts with N to record 2,000 hits. Top active player is Detroit's Elmer Nolde with just 575 hits. Nolde also leads his letter group with 79 homers. O- Joe Owens 1,324 1933-present Never much of an Irish influence in the early days of big league ball as the top 3 guys - Owens, Sam orr and Hank Odegaard - are recent and you need to go down to 524 hits to find a O with an apostrophe in Sean O'Bannon. As for Joe Owens, a very talented lead-off man for the pennant winning but Series-challenged Pitttsurgh Miners is the top guy. P- George Pruitt 2,812 1894-1912 Never really a star George Pruitt was just a steady decent outfielder for a decade in Montreal and then 8 solid seasons with the Chicago Chiefs. The top active player is Moxie Pidgeon with 2,169 hits at the age of 33. Not sure Pidgeon will catch Pruitt and eventually both may be passed by Sal Pestilli but Pidgeon has carved out a very special career despite, and I guess it's how you look at it, either no one wanting him or everyone wanting him. Pidgeon, who spent last season helping revive the Cannons from the near death of 6 seasons sitting at the bottom of the Continental Association, is second all-time among active players with 271 homers, and after surpassing T.R. Goins with the last of his 21 dingers this past season, is now 5th all-time. Only Hall of Famers Max Morris (711), Rankin Kellogg (475) along with current Brooklyn King Al Wheeler (374) and the recently retired Lou Kelly (274) have hit more longballs than Pidgeon. Moxie has done something no one else in baseball ever has, and quite possibly ever will. We mentioned how no one, or everyone, wanted him because Pidgeon has played for 5 different FABL teams and has hit at least twenty homers in a season for each of them. Hard to imagine another slugger ever getting bounced around as much as Pidgeon has. He also had great success, winning a WCS title with three of those teams and making 6 all-star teams. Despite all of his talent, Pidgeon only lasted 7 seasons in Cleveland before his travelling journey began with being shipped to the New York Gothams despite hitting 25 homers and batting .325 for the World Championship Series winning 1934 Foresters. Move him to New York, no big deal as Pidgeon hits 28 homers in 1935 and adds two more in the WCS to help the Gothams get their revenge on the Foresters and give him WCS title number two. A half year later despite being on the pace that would allow him to win his first batting title, Pidgeon was dealt to Washington. No WCS with the struggling Eagles but two more twenty plus homer seasons in DC before he was flipped to the New York Stars in 1939. Ho hum, just another 21 homer season with the Stars and his third WCS title helping a 6th place team the year before he arrived rise to the pinnacle of the sport. What happened next? You guessed it. He was traded, this time to Cincinnati to join the transplanted Cannons who had that albatross of 6 consecutive last place finishes from their Baltimore days hanging around their neck. Pidgeon nearly helped the Cannons pull off the unbelievable as they were in first place as late as mid-September before falling just short and settling for third. Pidgeon was in contention for his first Whitney Award and showed he was nothing if not consistent, by hitting 21 homers for the third straight season with 3 different organizations. Q- Fred Quinn 467 1935-present Slim pickings here as only 9 players who's last name starts with Q have ever played a major league baseball game. It would have been something if a pitcher, Eddie Quinn -owner of 121 career victories - could have topped the list but Fred Quinn (no relation) is the leader. The 29 year old spent the bulk of this past season in AAA but did add 1 to his big league total of 467 hits, accumulated over 466 career games, all with the Cleveland Foresters. R- Fred Roby 3,026 1888-1910 Fred Roby was one of those guys I never really looked at. He had a long career, playing 2187 games which ties him for 23rd all-time. He had over 3,000 hits as a big leaguer but only 2,675 of them were considered part of FABL. He won a couple of batting titles and hit .417 one year and well before the Pestilli clan was considered the pride of Rhode Island there was Roby, a Cranston native who came to be known as The Rhode Island Ripper. And rip he did, hitting 19 homers in 1894 and 116 in total at a time when homeruns were extremely rare. And he was a shortstop who put up some pretty good defensive numbers. Certainly a player that warrants a closer look one day. For the top active R player you need to go down to 1,176 hits were we find current Pittsburgh outfielder Pablo Reyes. S- Powell Slocum 4,144 1905-1925 We all know about The Ragland Ripper. All-time baseball hit king who won 4 Whitney Awards and 15 batting titles. His .435 batting average in 1913 is the highest ever recorded in a single season and he is also the career leader hitting at a .375 clip. 7 times he hit over .400. Slocum has also had success as a manager, guiding the Brooklyn Kings to a WCS title and 3 pennants. Another Pittsburgh Miner is the top active player in this letter group. That would be Ed Stewart has his 1,450 career hits. T- Dave Trowbridge 2,443 1923-present Trowbridge seems to be getting better with age. He won his first batting title this past season when he hit .346 at the age of 41 and looks like a lock for 2,500 career hits after averaging 195 the past two seasons. To bad he didn't debut until the age of 23 and did not become an everyday player until he was traded to the Stars as a 29 year old or who knows what totals he might have reached. U- Albert Ulmer 1,114 1892-1907 Ulmer, a turn of the century shortstop who played for 4 FABL teams, is one of just 9 players none of whom are active that played in the majors and had a last name starting with U. The most unusual thing I noticed about Ulmer was his stats line from his final season. He was a member of the Baltimore Clippers as a 37 year old in 1907. Ulmer appeared in 55 games for the club that season but almost exclusively as a defensive replacement as he had just 1 at bat and did not score a run all season, so could not have been a pinch-runner. I would highly doubt any other player in FABL history played more games in a season while getting just a single plate appearances. It wasn't the first time he had such an usual batting line as in 1901 with Boston Ulmer played in 43 games but made just 5 trips to the plate. V- Frank Vance 2,379 1927-present Took me a minute to think about this one but once I got it Vance seemed like the obvious choice. Now 38 and in his second go round with the Detroit Dynamos after a 4 year excursion to win 3 pennants and his second career WCS with the Kings, Vance is showing no signs of slowing down after batting .307 with a Federal Association leading 111 runs. He has also played in 7 of the 8 all-star games, won a WCS MVP in 1929 with Detroit and claimed the Whitney that same year following a season in which he led the Fed with a .372 average. Vance teamed with Al Wheeler as the first dynamic duo in Detroit and now that he is back he can mentor Sal Pestilli and Red Johnson who appear to be a modern day version of Wheeler/Vance. No other player who's last name starts with V has 1,500 career hits but Toronto's Larry Vestal, 31 years old and with 1,261 should get there. {b]W- John Waggoner 3,207 1897-1914[/b] No other letter of the alphabet has more than 1 player who topped the 3,000 hit plateau in FABL action but W has three of them with Waggoner narrowly finishing ahead of Thomas Watkins and Joe Ward. Waggoner was also third all-time in stolen bases which explains the "Wheels' nickname in part, hailing from Wheeling, West Virginia also rounds it out nicely. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1938 a year ahead of Ward. Watkins has not got the call yet but Big Tom should at some point, perhaps as early as this winter. The top active W player is the previously mentioned Al Wheeler, now 33 and showing signs of slowing down of late but a 5 time Whitney Award winner who also claimed a triple crown and is third all-time with 374 career homeruns. Wheeler presently has 2,362 hits on his big league resume. X - No player with a last name starting with X has ever played professional baseball Y- Jason Young 1,922 1878-1894 Jason 'Cap' Young was a shortstop/pitcher who played nearly his entire career in the days before FABL existed. Only 11 times has a player stole more than 90 bases in a season and Young was one of them, doing it for the New York Gothams in 1889. I should mention here that only twice has a player swiped more than 90 in a season after 1900 and that person will be one we talk about shortly. Back to Jason Young, he is also one of just 4 pitchers to enjoy a 40-win season and was the first of them after going 42-33 for the 1881 Boston Pilgrims of the Century League. And yes before you start to look it up, Young's 77 games started that season remains a professional baseball record. He never approached that win total, or starts again and was actually done pitching at age 24 but still finished with 135 career pitching victories. Former Dynamos catching great Dick York is number two on the short list of 'Y' players with 1,638 hits. There is only one active big leaguer right now with a name starting with the letter Y and that is Orlin Yates of the Cougars, who has 147 career hits but there are a number of minor leaguers including Dick York's sons Joe and Rick. Z- Ed Ziehl 3,496 1906-1929 As you might have guessed Ed Ziehl is the answer to the note above, he stole 95 bases in 1911 and added 91 more thefts the following year. Ziehl's 3,496 hits are more than every other player who's last name started with Z amassed as major leaguers if you added them all together. A Hall of Famer who went right from the playing field to the manager's seat with the Gothams, Ziehl is baseball's career leader in stolen bases with 913 of them and games played (3,025). With 13 seasons and 2,002 games managed - all with the Gothams - there is likely no player ever to witness more games from one team while on the playing field than Ed 'The Lion' Ziehl. The active leader among the Z's. That would be 26 year old St Louis catcher Heinie Zimmer with 368 career hits so far. So there you have it, a quick trip going from A-Z through some of FABL's rich history. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 11/18/1940 President Roosevelt wins 40 states and earns a third term, taking the popular vote 22 million to 18.4 million over Wilkie. FDR says labor peace is his first goal. In conceding Wilkie urged the nation to unite, to "send aid to Britain and insist upon removal of antagonisms in America." Greece claims to having successfully driven out of it's country all invading Italian troops. German subs destroy a convoy of 15 merchant ships coming from Canada and the United States. Berlin also refused to guarantee safe passage for American ships leaving Irish ports with US citizens returning from Europe. British bombs aiming for Munich Hall while Hitler spoke earlier in the night had arrived after the Nazi leader had left the building. In revenge the Germans leveled much of the city of Coventry in a 10 hour long raid. FDR pledged of the United States plane production would be made available to Britain and Canada with 12,000 aircraft going to the British as soon as a possible. Sabotage blamed for 3 explosions at a New Jersey arms plant and a fire at a National Guard base in Atlanta that destroyed $1 million worth of arms and equipment. A special squad of FBI agents have started circulating through many plants and navy yards in order to attempt to uncover any future sabotage plots. Former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who stepped down in the spring, passed away after a brief illness. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-01-2022, 11:11 AM	#345
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1940 Offseason - December DECEMBER 2, 1940 ARE THE SAINTS POISED TO BECOME THE NEXT GREAT DYNASTY? Don't look now but the Montreal Saints are stockpiling weapons for future use quicker than Uncle Sam. Already blessed with the best farm system in the game the Saints strengthened their reserve of young talent last week with the addition of a pair of top thirty prospects and added two more first round draft picks courtesy of the deal that sent all-star catcher Adam Mullins to Cincinnati. Yes, Mullins will be missed, and missed greatly this season but if all goes according to plan Montreal may finally be relevant again in the Continental Association, something that has not happened for over a decade and they have not been consistently been a fixture in the CA's first division since their last pennant twenty years ago. The fall of 1930 was the last time Montreal was even in a pennant race but that club dropped two of their final three games and finished in a second place tie with Baltimore two games behind the Chicago Cougars. In November of that year the Saints future also looked very bright as their minor league system led by Hank Barnett, Vic Crawford and George Thomas was ranked third in the league. The Saints big league club would fall to 6th place in 1931 and has only made one appearance in the first division - a 4th place effort but 21 games out of first in 1935- since. Despite the on-field struggles the Saints, unlike their Canadian neighbours in Toronto - have always had very good fan support and it looks like those fans may just be rewarded for their incredible patience as the future finally looks bright in Montreal again. Montreal's farm system entered the off-season already considered to possess the deepest collection of top level talent in the game and they only added to that with their off-season moves. The Saints now have 4 players in the top 15 prospects and 9 in the top fifty and that is not counting 22 year old pitcher Wally Doyle, who was considered the number two prospect in 1939 but now has spent too much in the big leagues to quality for OSA's prospect list. Montreal's group in the top fifty include three pitchers in Pat Weakley, a 20 year old year who pitched at Class A last season and ranked #3 overall along with 15th ranked George Wynn, a 22 year old lefthander who was drafted 8th overall last January, and newcomer Jackie James, a 20 year old who came over in the deal that sent Mullins to Cincinnati. Others in the top fifty include 9th ranked Bill Greene, a 23 year old centerfielder who had a 20 game audition in Montreal last season and appears ready to take the step to full-time big league activity. There is also a pair of corner outfielders in Otis Parker, ranked 12th overall and another pickup from Cincinnati and 44th ranked Milt Bennett, a 22 year old likely slated to begin this season in AAA alongside Parker. Then there is Hank Grant, a 24 year old shortstop who has been dominant at the plate the past couple seasons in the minors and made his FABL debut last season, 22 year old third baseman Norman Houser who had a strong year in AA and finally 22 year old second sacker Ed Fiore who was as effective as Houser at the plate in AA but needs work on his defense. That is just the prospects ranked in the top fifty, there are plenty of others with potential in the Montreal system and then there are those 4 draft picks in the opening round and two more in the second round of the January draft. Saints management has already hinted they won't keep all four picks as they hope to trade at least one for a big league ready starting pitcher, but let's assume they do. If so, what could the future look like in Montreal? THE WAR? It seems an unavoidable occurrence that North America will be fully drawn in to Europe's war at some point, and if so baseball players, like any other profession, will not be spared from doing their patriotic duty. Players all across the league registered for the draft last month and it seems likely many young stars and quite possibly many more minor leaguers will hang up their gloves and bats for grenades and bayonets. Most FABL owners are already preparing for the possibility the game gets shut down for a year, perhaps even longer and even if the sport continues as it managed to do during the Great War, it will almost assuredly do so with a greatly depleted talent pool. With that in mind, and the fact that this draft appears, at least at the moment, to be dominated by high school talent might the Saints take the approach of drafting 18 year old's with all of those early picks with the plan that while they might be gone for a couple of years they could return when the war is over as 22-23 year old's ready to build a power team, unlike college players who stand to be 3-4 years older. TWIFB recently released a mock first round and based on that we could see the Saints, if they keep all of their picks, drafting catcher Mel Franklin, infielder Otto Christian, outfielder Hal Eason and pitcher Bert Cupid. Eason would be the only college player in the group and seems a natural fit for Montreal after his dad Hal starred for many years in the Saints outfield. Here is a possible 1947 Montreal lineup Code: POS NAME AGE CURRENT TEAM NOTES C Mel Franklin 24 High School projected top 5 1941 pick 1B Red Bond 33 Montreal near triple crown season, likely a 1B by age 33 2B Eric Fiore 28 Class AA top 50 prospect, former lottery pick in old draft system SS Hank Grant 30 Montreal/AAA 36th ranked prospect hit .291 in 46 games with Saints 3B Otto Christian 24 High School high school slugger reminds one of fellow Pacific Northwest product Red Johnson OF Bill Greene 29 Montreal/AAA top ten OSA prospect made Montreal debut last season OF Otis Parker 27 Class A 12th ranked prospect that Cannons SD Rufus Barrell calls a potential All-Star OF Hal Eason 27 College top college player in '41 draft, 35 homer power, dad was former Saints star OF P Wally Doyle 28 Montreal just 22 and a former top 5 prospect, went 9-8 this season for Saints P Pat Weakley 26 Class A #3 prospect said to have potential to anchor rotation, but recovering from elbow injury P George Wynn 28 Class A #15 prospect but the highly touted lefthander dealing with an elbow injury P Jackie James 26 Class C #26 prospect, raw but could be a middle of the rotation starter P Bert Cupid 24 High School The Buckeye Bullet is pegged as a #2 starter and a likely first round pick in January We are by no means suggesting the Saints would, or even should hang on to all of these players/draft picks and it is probably smart business to move at least a decent portion of them as the club's needs and fortunes change over the next half dozen seasons. That said it is fun to see what the Saints could look like in the future but in reality trying to project a starting lineup six years out while factoring in the potential impact of a war is not going to be anything more than pure conjecture at best and more likely just mere folly. However at first glance if everything breaks right that could be quite a collection of talent the Saints have assembled. Before Montreal fans get to giddy and start planning championship parades it is important to remember potential, no matter how great it appears, does not always equate to big league stardom. There are cracks in the plan already as two of the key pitchers in Pat Weakley and George Wynn are dealing with serious injuries at the moment so the odds against this being the actual Montreal lineup to start the 1947 season are astronomical. The point is there is a lot of talent here and with the right mix of trades, shrewd drafting, some development and a nice helping of luck in the health department and the Saints might be on the cusp of having a glory phase similar to the 1915-21 run when they won 4 pennants and 2 WCS titles over a 7 year span. Those were the only titles the club has ever won but wouldn't it be something if Hal Eason, the man who played a large role in that first run, was the father of a player who was a key contributor to the second golden age of Montreal baseball? QUICK HITS Fairly quiet on the trade front as teams prepare for the December 12th rule five draft. After a flurry of activity highlighted by big moves from both Montreal and Brooklyn last month just a single trade was done in the past two weeks. That move saw the Pittsburgh Miners unload veteran outfielder Henry Jones to the New York Stars. The 36 year old veteran of 1,646 FABL games is a .303 career hitter but batted just .217 in 75 contests for the Miners last season. It was clear he longer fit into Pittsburgh's plans but the Stars hope he can rediscover some of his past ability as a depth piece in the Big Apple. The cost was very minimal with only 18 year old Bill Peterson, a pitcher selected in the 7th round last season, going the other way. With newcomers Tom Barrell and George Phillips joining the Pittsburgh Miners pitching staff the Federal Association champs now are also faced with a roster crunch on the mound. Word is Chick Stout, the 1929 second overall pick - one spot behind Tom Barrell - and a Miner since 1932 will likely be moved and Roger Perry, Speed Brown and Gene Stevens are others the Miners would part with if they can get a draft pick or two in return. Much is made out of the Rule Five draft by big league General Managers but in truth a player selected rarely contributes much. Last year's draft, for example saw 11 players switch organizations (not counting Ockie Holiday, the first pick but was actually ineligible to be selected). Of those 11 only Joe Scott, an outfielder selected by the Philadelphia Sailors from the New York Gothams in the second round, lasted the entire season on the drafting club's big league roster. The 26 year old Scott hit .277 but only had 119 at bats for the Sailors all season. Two others, pitchers Jesse Bowen and Jim Baker, were returned but the dealt back to the drafting team to allow them the ability to send those players to the minor leagues but the remaining 8 were just returned outright. So 1 player to a tune of 119 at bats was the sole extent of the rule five draft's contribution to the 1940 big league season. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 12/01/1940 Despite being driven from Greece, Benito Mussolini broke his silence with a promise that Italy "will break Greece's back" if it takes a year. He also claims the British lied in reporting destruction of half of Italy's battleships and vows the conflict will go on until England is annihilated. Despite it's success on the battlefield against Italy, Greece is pleading with free nations to send airplanes to Athens comparing it's situation to that of Finland in their struggle with Russia a year ago. The head of British military operations in the Mediterranean was captured by Italian forces. Air Vice Marshall Boyd and the crew of his bomber were forced to land in Sicily after being overtaken by Italian fighter planes. A report from Italy says the Axis powers have abandoned their plans to defeat Great Britain through an actual invasion of the British Isles. Instead the focus will be on crowding out British influence from the continent and isolating Britain from her empire. Hungary signed a military and economic pact with her totalitarian friends of Germany, Italy and Japan, turning their union into a four-nation axis. Meanwhile, Turkey and Yugoslavia have been warned by Germany they best join the Axis as well. 4 Nazi divisions rush to Rumania as chaos rises in an attempt to restore order after Iron Guard extremists have taken bloody revenge on officials of the ousted regime of former King Carol. In a message to the American Federation of Labor, President Roosevelt urged a "just and honorable peace" with the now divided labor movement in the United States and suggested labor leaders can find a way towards that end. While admitting it will not be easy FDR said it is possible and essential to have a "great and untied democracy" in "any emergency which might be forced upon us." __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 02-01-2022 at 11:40 AM.

02-02-2022, 12:45 PM	#346
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	December 1940 - Rule 5 draft DECEMBER 16, 1940 CHIEFS ADD VETERAN WATSON IN RULE FIVE DRAFT The trend in the rule five draft has long been to select a minor leaguer, usually in his mid-twenties, that a team hopes is due for a breakout season. The Chicago Chiefs threw conventional thinking out the window in this year's rule five draft, going with a surprising, but quite possible key selection in grabbing 34 year old outfielder Jim Watson from the Montreal Saints. The Saints, in the midst of a youth movement having dealt star catcher Adam Mullins away, likely felt Watson did not fit into their future so they dropped him from their 40-man roster despite Watson's career .307 batting average. He might just be the perfect fit in Chicago where there were perhaps some worries on how the club would replace the traded Cliff Moss's bat in their outfield. Watson, like Moss when he arrived in the Windy City, is not an unknown commodity to the Chiefs braintrust including manager Joe Ward. Many in Chicago's front office including their skipper have a connection to Quebec, having spent a number of years running the Saints, and over the years there has been a pipeline between the two cities. Moss and now Watson are just two players in a long list that also counts current Chiefs Tom Bird, Hank Barnett, Bill May, George Thomas and Frank Davis as former members of the Saints organization. Watson is now 34 years old and coming off one of his poorer campaigns, although in his defense he was hurt early in the season and did not play much after his return, logging just 164 at bats. The Chiefs are counting on him perhaps having one or two more .300 plus seasons left in his bat and the move appears a stroke of genius, one that costs nothing yet has quite the upside assuming Watson still can contribute. SAILORS ADD THREE Watson was one of just three former first round picks to be taken in the rule five draft this year. The other two both went to the Philadelphia Sailors, who led all teams with 3 selections. The Sailors took 24 year old pitcher Hannibal Davis with their first choice. Davis was 11-9 each of the past two seasons at Class B and has never played above that level so it is difficult to imagine him sticking with the Sailors big league club. If he does not the former 14th round selection will have to be returned to Boston. The first rounders came with the Sailors next two selections and both arrived from the Cleveland organization. One is Charlie Nathan, a 25 year old outfielder who was a lottery selection back in 1937 (during the brief experiment with a different draft format) but has been under utilized at best and often ignored completely by the old management team in Cleveland. OSA sees him having the potential to be a starting outfielder in the big leagues but he has yet to play a game even at the AAA level. The Sailors also went back to the Foresters for their third selection, taking another outfielder/first baseman in 26 year old Joseph Mills, who spent most of last season in AA but did start a dozen games at the AAA level. Originally drafted 11th overall by the Foresters out of Carolina Poly in 1937, OSA feels he could provide a reliable big league bat. NUMBER ONE PICK With the first pick in the draft the Foresters eased the loss of their two outfielders to the Sailors organization as they tabbed former Brooklyn Kings prospect Bob Mullins with the first overall selection. The 25 year old Brooklyn native was a third round pick of the Kings way back in 1934 and did appear in 3 games for his hometown club in 1939 but spent last season primarily at AA Knoxville where he hit .342 with 14 homers in 93 games. OSA feels he can develop into an average power hitter and could be a middle of the road big league player so he seems like a pretty good bet to last the entire season in Cleveland. Code: 1940 RULE FIVE DRAFT RESULTS Round 1 1 - Cleveland Foresters: LF Bob Mullins from the Brooklyn Kings. 4 - Washington Eagles: CF Bill Morris from the St. Louis Pioneers. 5 - Montreal Saints: C Charlie Logan from the Philadelphia Keystones. 7 - Philadelphia Sailors: RP Hannibal Davis from the Boston Minutemen. 9 - New York Stars: 1B Bud Kirby from the Philadelphia Sailors. 10 - Chicago Chiefs: LF Jim Watson from the Montreal Saints. 12 - Philadelphia Keystones: SP Connie Upchurch from the Cleveland Foresters. 13 - Chicago Cougars: 2B Ossie Grogan from the Philadelphia Sailors. 15 - Detroit Dynamos: 2B Orville Snodgrass from the Montreal Saints. 16 - Pittsburgh Miners: 3B Sonny O'Callaghan from the Cleveland Foresters. Round 2 7 - Philadelphia Sailors: RF Charlie Nathan from the Cleveland Foresters. 9 - New York Stars: 1B Cuno Myer from the Chicago Cougars. Round 3 7 - Philadelphia Sailors: LF Joseph Mills from the Cleveland Foresters. CANNONS MAKE A PAIR OF DEALS The Cincinnati Cannons made a couple of trades that were announced immediately following the Rule Five draft roster freeze period. Cincinnati added some pitching depth with the addition of veteran Roger Perry from the Pittsburgh Miners in exchange for the club's 5th round draft pick but in taking on Perry's salary, as well as that of recent waiver wire pick-up Nick Wallace, the club need to save money elsewhere so 29 year old corner infielder Ken Mayhugh was dispatched to Detroit in exchange for minor league catcher Hughie Fletcher. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE:Likely a good move for both players getting an opportunity in a new location. Perry (10-7, 4.36) seemed like the odd man out in Pittsburgh after Tom Barrell and George Phillips were brought in. The 33 year old lefthander has bounced around a bit in recent years but he has proven to be a steady rotation piece at times and with a 110-61 career mark he certainly has a habit of winning ball games. Perry's roster spot in Cincinnati is not assured as he will compete with Donie Scheuermann for the final spot on the staff but his ability to start games if needed certainly gives Perry the edge. Mayhugh was primarily a financial decision for the cash conscience Cannons but he has been nothing but a disappointment since coming over from Boston prior to the 1938 campaign. Cincinnati decided he wasn't worth the investment in hopes he regains his all-star form from his Federal Association days and the Cannons had clearly moved on from Mahugh with news the picked up Nick Wallace off the waiver wire the previous week. A nice pickup for Detroit as they really lose nothing in a minor league catcher so it is well worth the risk to see if Mayhugh can thrive upon a return to the Fed. LEAVES CINCINNATI BUT MAY BE THE REASON QUEEN CITY HAS A FABL TEAM News that Ken Mayhugh is no longer a member of the Cannons organization comes as little surprise to those who watched games at Monarchs Park last season as the 29 year old rarely played and it was clear he did not fit in with the long term plans of the new regime. It is funny because not that long ago Mayhugh was being hailed as perhaps the player that could bring the Cannons organization back to a respectable level. This was back in the Baltimore days of course, that dark decade in Cannons history that saw them finish dead last in the Continental Association six straight years, before John Tice, George Theobald and crew rescued the team by liberating it from Maryland and the CA cellar. During those bleak Baltimore summers the Cannons were often criticized for drafting and holding on to so many young pitchers will ignoring the offensive side of the game completely. They had opportunities to draft Red Johnson, Billy Woytek or several other high potential bats but continued to take and hold young arms despite season after season of failure. What is that they say about the definition of insanity? In the second half of the thirties it was simply watch the Baltimore Cannons front-office at work. That was all supposed to change in November of 1937 when the Cannons finally pulled the trigger on a deal to send a pitcher away and add some offense. It seemed like a decent first step at the time as they sent John Edwards, a highly touted but still unproven prospect to Boston in exchange for Mayhugh, prospect Denny Andrews and minor league outfielder Ray White. While Andrews has evolved into a key player in Cincinnati at the time it was Mayhugh who was expected to change Baltimore's fortunes. At the time TWIFB said "Mayhugh looks like a star already and Andrews seems to have loads of potential but the opportunity to land a pitcher with Edwards potential is too hard (for Boston) to pass up." Mayhugh did indeed seem to be a rising talent as he made his first and so-far only all-star appearance a few months before the deal, batting .299 with 17 homers for the Minutemen as a 25 year old in 1937. That would turn out to be the zenith of his career as Mayhugh's numbers tailed off his two seasons in Baltimore and he batted just .234 while being reduced to a spare part in Cincinnati this year. Now he has hit rock bottom, at least in the Cannons organization's mindset, with news he is being dealt for a washed up 34 year old catcher who was added strictly to fill a roster spot at AAA Indianapolis. Ridding themselves of Mayhugh's nearly $9,000 a year salary was more than return enough for the Cincinnati brass in this case. So what happened? Mayhugh appeared to be the golden bat Baltimore needed. He was a 2nd round pick of the Brooklyn Kings out of Liberty College in 1932 and dealt to Boston while still a minor leaguer as the Kings added a veteran pitcher in an ill-fated attempt to catch Cleveland for the 1934 pennant. Mayhugh's career blossomed in Boston but was quickly extinguished in Baltimore. Did he simply get dragged down because of all of the losing and mediocrity in the Crab City or was it something else? I lean towards the latter as others who struggled in Baltimore, players like Deuce Barrell, Jim Hensley and Butch Smith prospered in Cincinnati but Mayhugh never did get untracked. Cincinnati was a fresh start for so many Cannons, but why not for Mayhugh? And will he ever recapture the form he showed early in his career? The scouts still like him so perhaps a return to the Federal Association with Detroit is just what the doctor ordered. There is certainly no risk, outside of another contract to pay, on Detroit's side of ledger. Regardless of the cause of his lack of production after the trade, Ken Mayhugh likely deserves a huge thank you from baseball fans in Cincinnati because if his star had continued to rise he might have put the Baltimore club on the right track and pulled them out of that spiral of decay. Had that happened there quite possibly would not have been a return of major league baseball to the Queen City and we would still be talking about the AAA Steamers as the only game in town. So thank you Ken Mayhugh. You could not save baseball in Baltimore but you made a lot of ball fans in Cincinnati very happy. And for that we wish you well in the Motor City. FORESTERS ADD PAIR IN TRADE Cleveland's new management team pulled the trigger on it's first deal, announcing just after the Rule Five draft that they have acquired 21 year old middle infielder Wes Parks and a minor league pitcher from the Chicago Chiefs in exchange for veteran infielder Al Haynes. Haynes will replace Andy Carter as the prime candidate to open the season at second base for the Chicago Chiefs, according to Chiefs bench boss Joe Ward. Bob Martin has been earmarked for second also, but Martin appeared in only 6 games in 1940--sandwiched between major injuries. He won't be back from his knee injury until June and there is no guarantee that he even remembers how to play second. Haynes is not unfamiliar to Chicago baseball fans as his college days were spent at nearby Whitney College before being a first round pick of the New York Stars in 1931. He made his big league debut with the Stars, playing briefly in 1936 but was traded to Cleveland that winter. After two seasons spent primarily in AAA Cincinnati, although each with a brief stint with the big club, Haynes has been a utility infielder for the Foresters each of the last two years and hit .418 last season, although in just 98 at bats. His career FABL numbers are very impressive slashing .371/.416/.468 but it is a small sample size as he only has 280 career at bats. The 21 year old Parks is a Texas native selected out of high school as part of the 32 player lottery experiment in the 1937 draft. He made his big league debut last season as a September call-up and his first big league hit was a 3-run homer off the Pioneers Buddy Long. Power won't be his strong suit but OSA sees him as an average hitter with good speed and above average defensive value. So far the defense has not shown at second base, at least not in the minors, but Parks is young and ranked 71st in the latest OSA prospect pipeline. Cleveland also adds a young arm in Jim Taylor, a 22 year old former 10th round pick who went 8-8, 5.03 at Class B last season. OSA does not predict much of a future for the Oklahoma native but he has had several velocity bumps over the past couple of seasons and now tops out at 90-92 mph. JIGGS MCGEE's TAKE: Not a major deal by any stretch but a positive move for both clubs. Haynes has never been an everyday player but may get that chance in Chicago and we can all see if he actually is as good a hitter as he has shown to be as a part-time player. Likely not but good to see him get the opportunity. Parks is a nice pickup for the Foresters and perhaps can either apply some pressure on Brooks Meeks to pick his game up after a pair of down years, or perhaps even replace Meeks as the starter at second base. He instantly becomes Cleveland's best infield prospect either way. Taylor is just a throw in with not much upside according to OSA but repeated velocity bumps are an encouraging sign. QUICK HITS A total of 13 players were selected in the rule five draft this week, up two from last year's total but well shy of the 22 chosen in the 1938 edition. From Montreal the Saints organization is wishing good luck to OF Jim Watson being picked by the Chicago Chiefs in the Rule5 draft. Watson wore the Montreal jersey since the 1932 season and request to be traded or released following the last season to help a contending team. The Saints are also welcoming their newcomer from the rule five draft, catcher Charlie Logan. It appears clear now, there will be a battle a spring camp for the catcher position. Ben Richardson has probably secured one of the two available spots. Then 3 players will be battling for the open position: Charlie Logan, Mike Jones and 24 years old Dixie Galloway could pretend to stay in Montreal for the coming season. The Philadelphia Keystones lost Charlie Logan, who was part of the catching contingent at AAA Louisville, to Montreal in the Rule Five. Logan was fourth on the organizational depth chart behind two at the Major League level (Walt Potter, Carl Ames) and my AAA starter, Charlie Gump. With two catching prospects rising through the organization (Glen Sexton and Chet McCormick), 1941 will be a test of who deserves the next call-up. Pitcher Connie Upchurch was the only selection for the Keys, although he split time between Class C and Class B last season. His numbers actually improved in Class B after his promotion and at the age of 22, he will be an available arm for the Keystones in the bullpen this season. We are hoping his development can continue at the major league level under the watchful eyes of pitching coach Ike Bell and manager Bill Libby. The Pittsburgh Miners are cautiously optimistic about their Rule 5 pick, Sonny O'Callaghan. The Dublin native spent time between C and B level ball last year and had 27 starts on the mound (16-8, 3.26 ERA) and 76 starts in the field at 3rd and 1st. He batted .295/.411/.477 with 13 homers. Scouts think he probably doesn't have the power to stick as a corner, but new scout Fred Davis thinks he has mid-rotation capabilities on the mound. He'll get plenty of innings in spring training, and if he shows promise the Miners wouldn't mind stashing him as a 9th or possibly even 10th pitcher for the '41 campaign. 21 year old New York Stars 1937 17th round pick Babe Simmons somehow manages to tear his labrum in the off season and will miss 11 months after reportedly get hurt kicking a locker. Due to his poor judgement the front office gave him his release. When owner Al Mielke was informed of his termination Al replied, "Who?" The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 12/15/1940 Hitler tells Germany "we will defeat the entire world," painting Germany as the champion of labor and "the have-nots" in a war between "two worlds"; a battle between "the haves" among whom he placed 'rich America" and the "have-nots" between capital and labor. Britain's longest assault by air - nearly 12 hours - inflicts heavy damage on Duesseldorf industrial areas. Nazi aircraft continued to pound London and the Berlin high command reports the city "blended into one sea of fire" as a result of one German attack in which between 80,000 and 100,000 bombs were showered on the British capital. Nazi submarines continue to have great success disrupting British commerce, sinking as many as 17 merchant ships in a single day recently. The war at sea is spreading to the Americas as a British merchant cruiser engaged with a German sea raider disguised as a merchant ship just outside the American safety zone off the coast of Brazil. President Roosevelt has pledged US aid to Greece "which is defending itself so valiantly" against aggression. After being pushed out of Greece, Italy's army is now fleeing Egypt after the British claim to have taken more than 20,000 prisoners in the Egyptian desert. Pope Pius XII asked warring powers to observe a Christmas truce to keep "the clash of arms from drowning out the angel chorus of peace." __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 02-02-2022 at 01:23 PM.

02-06-2022, 12:37 AM	#349
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1941 January - the draft begins and Hall of Fame ballot revealed JANUARY 13, 1941 The 1941 FABL draft is underway with the first two selections being announced and neither comes as a surprise. Although there were some rumours the Cleveland Foresters had briefly considered trade offers for the number one selection in the end they decided to hang on to the pick and take Hiram Steinberg, an 18 year old righthander out of New York City's Washington High School who had been speculated as the possible top pick of the 1941 draft as far back as his outstanding freshman season of 1938 when Steinberg went 12-0 with a 0.65 era. Steinberg has never lost a high school game and is a perfect 35-0 with a 0.55 era and 632 strikeouts in 362 innings of work. He was a High School All-American selection each of the three years and added the Adwell Award, as the National High School player of the year each of the last two. Steinberg is already third in career high school strikeouts and when his senior season is over he will likely lead in that category as well as career high school victories. His 35-0 mark is 7 less than Donnie Jones accumulated at Minneapolis High School before being selected 6th overall by Toronto in the 1938 draft. Assuming he signs with the Foresters following his senior year in June, Steinberg should certainly top the Cleveland prospect list and may well immediately debut as a top ten prospect on OSA's league wide list. OSA feels Steinberg has the potential be an ace, and will be heavily counted on to lead the Foresters in their rebuild. Cleveland had spent 8 straight seasons in the first division, winning the franchise's first WCS title in 1934 and a pennant again the following season, but the club fell on hard times last year finishing with a 53-101 record good for last place overall in FABL. The 53 win total is the second lowest in franchise his and the lowest since the debut season of FABL way back in 1892. It marks the third straight season Cleveland has taken a pitcher with their first round selection, opting for Richie Hughes 14th overall in the 1940 draft and Bart Schneider, one of the famous Schneider triplets, with the 8th pick in 1939. It also marks the 3rd time Cleveland selected first overall in the modern era and the previous two had quite different results. In 1931 Cleveland selected Harry Barrell, who has gone on to be a 6 time all-star shortstop with Brooklyn, while in 1926 the Foresters drafted Rainier College outfielder Karl Stevens number one and Stevens went on to play just 14 career FABL games. Code: CLEVELAND FORESTERS FIRST ROUND PICKS MODERN (HUMAN GM) ERA YEAR PICK# NAME POS SCHOOL 1925 14 Alex Thompson 1B San Antonio HS 1926 1 Karl Stevens OF Rainier College 13 Mike Williams OF College of San Diego 16 Woody Armstrong SS University of Chicago 1927 9 Dick Kennon OF Pierpont University 1928 12 Leo Clark OF Dickson College 1929 8 Amos Leblanc OF George Fox Univ. 16 Ben Bernard P Mobile HS 1930 4 Johnny Turner 3B George Fox Univ. 1931 1 Harry Barrell SS Atlanta HS 1932 10 Levi Redding OF Central Ohio Univ. 12 Art Spencer 3B Rainier College 1933 Traded first round pick 1934 Traded first round pick 1935 15 Gabe Cain Jr. 2B Houlton (ME) HS 16 Eli Harkless OF Cambridge (MA) HS 1936 12 Jake Creel SS Ferguson College 1937 11 Joseph Mills OF Carolina Poly 1938 10 Paul F Smith OF Bardney College 1939 9 Bart Schneider P Northwestern HS, Detroit, MI 1940 14 Richie Hughes P Amboy (IL) HS 1941 1 Hiram Steinberg P Washington HS, New York City ST LOUIS PIONEERS TAKE TOM BUCHANAN As obvious as Steinberg appeared to be as the number one choice many, including TWIFB editor Jiggs McGee, had tabbed Tom Buchanan as nearly as clear cut to go second overall. The St Louis Pioneers followed script by picking the Waterloo, Iowa native immediately after the Foresters revealed their choice. While most consider Buchanan, a tall (6'2") hard throwing lefthander, to be a step down from Steinberg OSA still believes once he matures the 17 year old should rank among the best starting pitching prospects in any organization. Buchanan took a big leap forward as a junior at Waterloo High last season, going 11-0 with a 0.58 era and 184 strikeouts while walking just 15 in 108 innings of work. Pitching was a big problem for the Pioneers last season but plenty of help appears to be on the way. Buchanan will certainly need a few years in the minors but former first round St Louis selections Mel Bianco and Carl Roe both appear ready to join the big league club next season and the Pioneers also have 24 year old Danny Hern who spent significant time in St Louis this season. Those three and Buchanan certainly give the Pioneers a solid group of arms to build their future around. The draft will continue over the next couple of days. HALL OF FAME BALLOT REVEALED The following players have been named as candidates for the 1941 Hall of Fame Class. A vote among league executives and selected media members will be conducted this week with the top three vote getters on the ballot will compromise this year's class. In addition one manager will also been enshrined from the list of former skipper's below. PLAYERS 2B Jack Arabian (1896-1915) - .338 (15th), 3391 hits (6th all-time), 565 2B (3rd), 1362 R (19th), 1343 RBI (14th), 168.3 WAR (5th) SS George Melvin (1891-1909) - 2716 hits (16th), 1471 R (14th), 686 SB (7th), 167.3 WAR (6th) OF Thomas Watkins (1888-1904) - 3143 hits (9th), 581 2B (1st), 1641 R (8th), 1378 RBI (10th), 624 SB (13th), 108.8 WAR (14th) OF Bill Craigen (1899-1917) - 2906 hits (11th), 381 3B (3rd), 1341 R (21st), 1294 RBI (16th), 89.8 WAR; Manager: 4 WCS wins, 1512-1409 record 1B Jim Jones (1879-1904) - 2786 hits (13th), 512 2B (6th), 206 3B (18th), 1608 R (9th), 1354 RBI (13th), 99.1 WAR (18th) P Bill Temple (1899-1911), 284-230 (14th), 2.31 ERA (128 ERA+), 4819.1 IP (12th), 3131 K (2nd), 112.3 WAR (5th) P Phil Miller (1909-1924), 288-284 (13th), 3.18 ERA (103 ERA+), 5102 IP, (5th) 1451 K, 102.4 WAR (6th) P Charlie Wilson (1889-1901), 332-190, (5th) 2.72 ERA, (135 ERA+), 4698 IP (17th), 1927 K (13th), 99.2 WAR (7th) P Jim Golden (1909-1920), 269-158 (17th), 2.27 ERA (129 ERA+), 3887 IP (31st), 2060 K (12th), 82.3 WAR (20th) P Charlie Firestone (1912-1919), 210-103 (41st), 2.25 ERA (135 ERA+), 2898 IP (82nd), 1881 K (14th), 78.4 WAR MANAGERS Bill Craigen (1920-38): Also on ballot as player. 2921 G, 1512-1409 W-L, 4 WCS titles with NYS Walter Love (1894-1920): 3911 G (3rd), 2076 wins (3rd) 1835 L, 3 WCS title, 1 add'l pennant Joe Johnson (1892-1924): .551 Win Percentage, best for all managers with 1000+ games. 966-788 record, 4 pennants, 2 titles The 1940 class consisted of just one player, pitching great Big George Johnson, as well as early major league manager Edward Wakeham. 9 votes were required for election on the players side a year ago. Here were the 1940 results: Code: HOF Voting results. 12 ballots, 9 votes needed for election: Big George Johnson 9 Jack Arabian 7 Charlie Wilson 7 Jim Golden 6 Bill Temple 3 Thomas Watkins 2 Jim Jones 1 Fred Robey 0 Joe Carney 0 Here is the complete list of Hall of Famers. A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT TOP PLAYERS Earlier in this off season we had the announcement of the Whitney Awards for the top batter of each association. What does that mean: top batter? Is there an analytic approach we could take to help us determine who the top batters were in the FABL in 1940? If you are working in a FABL front office, part of the job is to determine the value of particular players and find areas in which your club can be improved. How? Well, if the run is the currency of the game and the win is the currency of the season, then a club wants to generate as many runs as it can per game--while preventing the other team from generating runs--resulting in the maximum number of wins over the course of 154 games. And so for player value, the equation is simple: value comes from generating runs or preventing runs. Asking the question--who are the top batters?--is the same as asking which batters generated the most runs. Lucky for us, there is an analytical statistic that attempts to answer just that question: Weighted Runs Created (wRC). And the plus version of that statistic--wRC+--is the park and league adjusted version. With wRC, instead of listing the individual elements of a batter's line individually--(.257/.374/.442, 25 2B, 16 3B, 14 HR)--the individual elements are distilled into a single number in order to say, "Player X was worth 24 runs to his team last year." wRC+ is further useful as it can be used to compare players--not only players who played in different parks with different run scoring environments, but also different seasons with different run scoring environments. A .348 batting average means something different in 1940 than it did in 1910. A wRC+ of 118 means the same thing all of the time. But if we are used to looking at numbers like a player's slash line (.311/.346/.454), how can we make sense of a number like 118 wRC+? Is that good? Everyone looks at .300 as the benchmark for a good batter. For the rest of the slash line, I think we can agree that an OPS (OBP plus SLG) of .800 is the mark of an above average player. In 1940 a total of 33 qualified batters reached the .800 OPS threshold. Red Johnson of the Dynamos is at the top of that list with 1.020 and Woody Stone of the Sailors is at the bottom right at .800. Stone's slash line was .311/.346/.454--.800. His wRC+ for the season was 118--18 percent above league average. And here's Stars third baseman Ray Cochran: .300/.367/.450--.816, 125 wRC+. Sailors first baseman Dick Walker: .257/.374/.442--.816, 130 wRC+. Red Johnson? .335/.451/.569--1.020, 183 wRC+. It's generally thought that a wRC+ of 115 or above denotes an above average player. Woody Stone and his .800 OPS had a wRC+ of 118. So, it passes the first eye test: these 33 batters with an OPS of at least .800 represent a group of above average batters in 1940. Just for fun: how are the clubs represented among these 33 batters? By club: BOS (2), CHC (3), CHI (3), CIN (2), CLE (2), DET (2), MON (3), NYS (5), PHI (2), PHS (2), PIT (4), STL (1), TOR (2). Missing: WAS, NYG, BRK. It's easy to see why the seasons for the Eagles, Gothams, and Kings were so disappointing. What about the entire cohort of 89 qualified batters? Recall that wRC+ is calculated such that 100 represents league average. Above 100 is better than average, and below 100 is worse than average. As such, we would expect the wRC+ values to be distributed in a bell curve, with most batters somewhere around average. Code: Rating wRC+ Player Count Excellent 160 2 Great 140 15 Above Average 115 25 Average 100 23 Below Average 80 19 Poor 75 0 Awful 60 5 What this table means is that a hitter that had an above average season has a wRC+ of between 115 and 140, a great season is between 140 and 160, and an excellent season is above 160. And as we expected, most of the batters (67 of 89 or 75%) are some degree of average. The two players in the Excellent category? Detroit's Red Johnson (.335/.451/.459, wRC+ 183) and Montreal's Red Bond (.340/.394/.550, wRC+ 164). Johnson won the Whitney in the FA while Bond was the runner-up in the CA. The winner of the CA Whitney was the Cougars John Lawson (.345/.399/.507, wRC+ 154) who landed in the Great category. Both the Chiefs Hank Barnett (.298/.387/.529, wRC+ 159) and the Wolves Fred McCormick (.335/.430/.509, wRC+ 159) finished just outside of the Excellent group. It is interesting--at least to me--that while there were no batters in the Poor category (wRC+ between 75 and 80), there were five batters who received enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title and who also finished with an Awful wRC+. That ignoble group: The Pioneers Tommy Wilson (.223/.300/.300, wRC+ 71) and Ivan Cameron (.251/.313/.308, wRC+ 70), the Kings Fred Barrell (.243/.312/.321, wRC+ 70) and Walt Layton (.224/.265/.342, wRC+ 69), and the Dynamos Gil London (.216/.291/.268, wRC+ 62). What these 5 players have in common--besides a wRC+ below 75--is that they all play good defense, which is why they have their spots in the starting lineup. There comes a point in time, though, that no matter how many runs you are saving in the field, if you are giving all those runs back at the plate, the improved defense is not worth it. And I don't mean to single out the Kings, but their offense needs a lot of work. We already pointed out that the Kings were one of three clubs to not have any qualified batters top .800 OPS. And not only do they have two batters in the Awful wRC+ category, they have no batters in the Great or Above Average categories either. Their top batter--Rats McGonigle (.265/.314/.448, wRC+ 110)--had a decidedly average season. And on top of that, McGonigle was the only qualified Kings batter in the Average category. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 1/12/1941 Despite being driven out of Egypt and forced to fall back in both Greece and Libya, Mussolini and the Italian cabinet adopt a resolution "solemnly reaffirming" Italy's fidelity to the alliance with Germany and declared Italy's determination to fight on to victory. Mussolini also expressed confidence in the capabilities of the Italian military. Britain expects Hitler to attempt to land on English soil in the next few months, if not weeks. They feel Hitler "cannot afford to remain passive much longer while his junior partner in crime is being hammered in Africa and Albania, on the seas and in the air." The R.A.F. bombed Naples this week in addition to several attacks on German naval ports. Russia objected heavily that the US is violating international law by sending arms to Britain while holding that Russia could not sell even cereals to Germany without violating the policy of peace. This came as Germany and Russia agree to a new pact, extending trade between the two nations. President Roosevelt calls for a final budget of $17 billion "for the total defense of our democracy" and will soon ask for an additional reported $3-$10 billion being needed to help supply munitions for Britain. Secretary of Navy Knox announces the addition of 40,000 more enlisted men to meet FDR's call that every U.S. warship be manned at full wartime strength as soon as possible. New York City Mayor LaGuardia hints he may leave his post for Washington to act as co-ordinator of the defense program but when FDR was asked about the report he replied it was the first time he had heard of it. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 02-06-2022 at 12:40 AM.

02-08-2022, 12:22 PM	#351
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	January 27, 1941 HOF and draft's regional round JANUARY 27, 1941 ARABIAN & WILSON RECEIVE CALL TO JOIN HALL After falling just short a year ago Jack Arabian and Charlie Wilson can now call themselves Hall of Famers. The two turn of the century stars, who were teammates briefly with Cleveland in 1901 each earned enough votes to qualify. Arabian was selected unanimously, appearing on all 12 ballots, while Wilson was recognized by 10 of the voters. Last year each received 7 votes falling two shy of the 75% number required for admission. Next year bodes well for Thomas Watkins. The outfielder, who had 3,143 hits in his 17 year career finished third in the balloting with 6 votes, up from just two the previous year. There were 3 managers on the ballot this year but none received enough votes to join Ossie Julious, George Theobald and Edward Wakeham as skippers in the Hall. The ballot was doubly tough on long-time New York Stars player and manager Bill Craigen as he was on the ballot as both a player and manager but received just one vote in each case. Code: 1941 HOF VOTING RESULTS (need to appear on 9 of the 12 ballots for election) PLAYERS 2B Jack Arabain 12 - elected P Charlie Wilson 10 - elected OF Thomas Watkins 6 P Bill Temple 3 P Jim Golden 2 SS George Melvin 2 OF Bill Craigen 1 1B Jim Jones 0 P Phil Miller 0 MANAGERS Walter Love 3 Bill Craigen 1 Joe Johnson 1 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE JACK ARABIAN The Woonsocket, Rhode Island native is one of just six players to record over 3,300 career big league hits. He made his big league debut in 1896 and won 3 Continental Association batting titles with Cleveland including in 1901 when he hit .406 and led the Foresters to their only pennant during his tenure with the organization. He remains the Foresters all-time leader in hits, games played and at bats even though the final six seasons of his career he was a St Louis Pioneer. In 1910 the Foresters shocked Cleveland fans by sending the then 35 year old Arabian to St Louis in exchange for infielder Jimmy Walker and outfielder Simon Westlund. Walker would last one year in Cleveland before being dealt back to the Pioneers while Westlund was released in spring training and never suited up for Cleveland. So while it would be topped a decade later by the decision to trade another Cleveland legend and future Hall of Famer in Max Morris to the Pioneers it was still a costly move. The Foresters were already a bad team when they moved Arabian but they would hit new lows with 3 straight last place finishes shortly after the deal. Arabian was starting to age at that time but he still managed to play over 500 games with St Louis and hit .319 as a Pioneer. Like Cleveland in the Continental Association, Arabian's final years were also tough times for the St Louis squad in the Fed as they failed to finish above 7th place in any of his seasons with the team. He played his final game at the age of 40 in 1915 and now is finally a Hall of Famer. HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE CHARLIE WILSON Wilson was one of the youngest big league ballplayer of all-time when he made his debut in 1889, weeks before his 17th birthday, with the Boston Brahmins of the old Century League - three years before the birth of FABL. It was an impressive debut for the teen from Mooresville, North Carolina as he posted a 17-13 record playing against men, a good percentage of whom were twice Wilson's age. That was a time of plenty of jumping from team to team for players so Wilson would move to New York the following season and at the age of 18 he really started to earn his nickname as "The Tar Heel Thunderbolt." Wilson led the Century League in wins and strikeouts for each of the next two seasons. A new era came in 1892 when, after years of two and sometimes three rival leagues battling for players, peace was obtained with the formation of FABL. With Wilson leading the way the Gothams would become an early Federal Association power, winning the very first World Championship Series in 1893 and another one two years later with Wilson front and center among the key contributors. In 1895 Wilson won the first of his two pitching 'triple-crowns.' His second one came the following year but it was with a new team in a new league as, after winning 1895 series the Gothams allowed Wilson to move to the Phiadelphia Sailors of the Continental Association. His 1896 campaign in Philadelphia (37-12, 2.14, 188 strikeouts) earned him a second triple crown but the Sailors finished in second place, two games back of the Chicago Cougars. That changed in 1897 as the Sailors, once again led by Wilson's league leading ERA and strikeout total (but his 32 wins were four shy of Toronto's Harrison Geter) took the pennant. The Sailors made a bit of history in the postseason that year - they won the first World Championship for the Continental Association. The first four matchups had all gone to the Feds with the Gothams winning three times and the Brahmins once. This time, the Sailors won the series with the Washington Eagles four games to two. Charlie Wilson was the big star for Philly, winning all three of his games by 6-0, 11-2, and 5-3 margins - and of the five runs scored by Washington against Wilson, only two were earned giving him a 3-0, 0.67 ERA for the series. Wilson would pitch two more seasons for the Sailors before he was on the move again, this time back to the Federal Association and the Chicago Chiefs. He lasted just two seasons in the Windy City despite winning 26 games in 1899 and 20 the following season before he was on the move once more with a stop, that would prove to be the final one of his big league career, in Cleveland where he teamed with Jack Arabian for a pennant winning season. Wilson, now 29, was just a spare part on that Foresters club, posting a 6-2 record with all but 3 of his 28 appearances on the year coming in relief. The last of his wins that year was the 332nd of his career, a total still good for fifth most all-time, but he would never pitch in the big leagues again. There was no injury, at least none diagnosed but he clearly did not have the same thunder in his right arm the final two seasons of his big league career. He spent a few seasons kicking around the minors but by 1906, at the age of 34, like so many other pitching heroes of this era his career was over before his 35th birthday. Wilson led his Association in wins and ERA five times and in strikeouts six seasons. 1941 DRAFT: SAMUELS TOPS REGIONAL ROUND The most sought after player in the regional round of the 1941 draft might well have been Lorenzo Samuels, an 18 year old first baseman out of West High School in Cleveland. At least two other teams had declared their interest in Samuels but it was the Cleveland Foresters who ended up selecting their hometown product with the first choice in round three. The regional round is the only one in the draft that requires teams to select a player from either their home state or a neighboring state. Samuels is described by OSA as a prototypical home run slugger with the potential to be a second division starter and is one of five players who were selected by their hometown ballclub. The others were New York born shortstop Glenn Carney and catcher Henry Brown, who went to the Gothams and Stars respectively, as well as shortstop and Cincinnati native Ted Stacy who was tabbed by the Cannons and the Chiefs choice of Chicago born infielder Frank Stephens. In an twist the two Canadian teams each invaded the other's hometown with the Montreal Saints selecting Toronto born infielder Ed Montague, son of former Wolves second baseman Eddie Montague, while the Wolves nabbed Montreal born Jake LeFleur, a catcher who is now playing college ball at Carolina Poly. Code: 1941 FABL DRAFT SECOND ROUND RESULTS PK TM POS PLAYER AGE SCHOOL HOMETOWN 33 CLE 1B Lorenzo Samuels 18 West HS, Cleveland Cleveland, OH 34 STL P Dick Long 17 Des Moines (IA) HS Des Moines, IA 35 MON 2B Ed Montague 20 St Blane College Toronto, ON 36 NYG SS Glenn Carney 17 Irwin HS, New York City New York, NY 37 BKN OF Bill Sikorski 18 Peckham Tech, Buffalo NY Buffalo, NY 38 WSH 3B Gabby Platt 20 Canyon A&M Danville, VA 39 BOS P Charlie Todd 17 Torrington (CT) HS Torrington, CT 40 PHS 3B Mule Richmond 20 St Patrick's University Newark, NJ 41 NYS C Henry Brown 17 Prospect Park (NJ) HS New York, NY 42 CHI 2B Frank Stephens 18 McKinley HS, Chicago Chicago, IL 43 CIN SS Ted Stacy 18 Hillcrest HS, Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 44 PHK OF Billy Kimball 18 Chester (WV) HS Chester, WV 45 CHC SS Jim Dickinson 21 Calumet Catholic College Springfield, IL 46 DET P Bobby Cummins 17 Lima(OH) Central Catholic Lima, OH 47 TOR C Jake LeFleur 21 Carolina Poly Montreal, QC 48 PIT P Charlie Pierce 18 Roman Catholic HS Philly Philadelphia, PA NEW YORK GOTHAMS PROSPECT PROFILE Courtesy of the New York World Telegram During the long cold winter let's take a look at a future Gotham or two. Today we'll focus on the recently acquired Marcus Mangum. Mangum joined the organization in October as part of the deal sending Nate Spear to Detroit. Gothams management seemed to have given up on waiting for Spear to string together a couple of healthy months and cashed him in for a couple of pitching prospects and 2B Arnold Allen. Mangum was a first round pick of Detroit in 1939, going 5th overall. As with Spear injuries have been his biggest roadblock to development. He did flash promise when on the mound and struggled when challenged at higher levels. Scouting reports say he shows an above average slider and a decent cutter. There is concern with his control which may slow his movement through the system. Still there are reasons to be optimistic as the most recent OSA prospect rankings have Mangum jumping up to #87, his highest ranking in his short career. Gothams management feel that if he can stay on the mound for a stretch of time the 5-10 lefty could progress through the system and maybe reach the big club by the end of 1943. QUICK HITS Johnny Bologna of the Philadelphia Inquisitor is taking Keystones management to task on Rounds 2-3. "In the second round, the Keystones passed over a highly regarded player, Bob Montgomery, at a position - shortstop - where the Keys need to get better within the organization. They continue to hope Tim Humphrey will be the shortstop of the present, as well as the shortstop of the future, but his hold on that moniker is tenuous at best. Instead, Philadelphia opted for "Go-Go Joe" Burns, falling in love with his potentially elite speed. That pick did not age well, as the Keystones were left with another centerfielder in the regional stage, going for West Virginia's Billy Kimball. Kimball strikes me as an ersatz prospect and a lesser version of Burns. Maybe the Keystones brass is hoping one of the two realize their potential. Word is the higher levels of the organization looked at Kimball as the consolation prize, as they were hoping hulking first-sacker Lorenzo Samuels would fall to them, but the Ohio native was snatched smartly by Cleveland." The Cincinnati Cannons were also disappointed they failed to land Samuels but were happy to select shortstop Ted Stacy, a Cincinnati native who currently attends Hillcrest High School in the city. Stacy will become the third player born in the Queen City to play in the organization joining AA outfielder Frank Lee and Class B pitcher Carl Planner. There are presently just 2 Cincinnati born big leaguers in Chiefs infielder Bob Martin and outfielder Harvey Brown of the Philadelphia Sailors. Rumor out of Chicago that the Chiefs are looking to replace scouting director Rube Carter. Sources are telling me that a disagreement over scout evaluations have arisen between newly hired general manager Ed Peluso and the 63-year-old Carter. The New York Stars are excited to welcome our second choice of catcher, local boy "Downtown" Henry Brown, as their regional round selection. He'll be groomed through the system and hopefully hit the bigs in '46 The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 1/26/1941 As he began his historic third term President Roosevelt used his inauguration to call to all Americans to perpetuate democracy "in the face of great perils never before encountered." The celebration included a salute to the first third-term President with a military parade and an armada of 235 army and navy airplanes. More labor problems to slow US military production as 7,000 auto workers walk off the job in Milwaukee halting work on $20 million dollars worth of Government defense orders. Winthrop Rockefeller, 28 year old son of John D. Rockefeller Jr is now Private Rockefeller after enlisting in the army this week. Charles Lindbergh told the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week that even American entry into the war alongside Great Britain could not bring victory without an internal collapse in Germany. Lindbergh believes the only hope is a negotiated peace. Hitler and Mussolini say they are in "complete agreement" on all questions after meeting this week to discuss Axis war plans. Widespread rioting in Rumania with street fighting and bombings as the bitter rivalry between extremists and more conservative elements in Rumania's iron guard increases in tension. Nazi supporters are also said to have participated in a mass murder of Jews in Bucharest. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-09-2022, 09:40 PM	#353
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	February 24, 1941 Top Player Rankings FEBRUARY 24, 1941 UPDATED OSA PLAYER RANKINGS It is not difficult to see why the Toronto Wolves and Pittsburgh Miners won pennants last season. Just a quick glance at the top of the latest OSA top player reports will set things straight. In George Garrison and Joe Hancock the World Champion Wolves have two of the three best pitchers in the game according to OSA and you can add Bernie Johnson, who sits 10th, to that list. On the offensive side of the game Fred McCormick is second only to Pittsburgh catcher George Cleaves while rising young shortstop talent Charlie Artuso comes in at tenth among hitters. For the Miners the story is much the same as Pablo Reyes (#4) and George's brother Jack Cleaves (#17) crack the hitters list with Lefty Allen settling in between the Toronto pitching duo at #2 among throwers. It is also mild surprise to see newly acquired George Phillips, the ex-New York Star, crack the top twenty pitchers list for Pittsburgh as well. We all knew Pittsburgh will be in for a battle to continue their reign atop the Federal Association but the rankings reaffirm that as both Detroit and the Philadelphia Keystones count 3 pitchers among the top twenty overall with Detroit also adding first baseman Red Johnson, outfielder Sal Pestilli and veteran third sacker Frank Vance to the list giving the Dynamos a total of 6 players, tops in either association. AROUND THE LEAGUE Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs. Here is a quick list of players representing each club on the top twenty pitcher/hitters lists: BOSTON- 2: John Edwards (P-14), SS Lew McLendon (H-19) BROOKLYN- 2: Art White (P-8), OF Rats McGonigle (H-20) CHIEFS- 4: Al Miller (P-6), Rabbit Day (p-17), 3B HanK Barnett (H-6), C Tom Bird (H-8) COUGARS- 3: Pete Papenfus (P-12), Jim Lonardo (P-20), 3B John Lawson (H-9) CINCINNATI- 2: C Adam Mullins (H-11), OF Fred Galloway (H-12) CLEVELAND- 0 DETROIT- 6: Frank Crawford (P-4), Sergio Gonzales (P-5), Charlie Wheeler (p-9), 1B Red Johnson (H-3), OF Sal Pestilli (H-13), 3B Frank Vance (H-14) MONTREAL- 1: OF Red Bond (H-16) NY STARS- 3: Billy Riley (P-15), OF Chink Stickels (H-15), OF Bill Barrett (H-18) NY GOTHAMS- 0 KEYSTONES- 4: Lloyd Stevens (P-7), Herman Patterson (P-16), Jim Whiteley (P-19), 2B Billy Woytek (H-5) SAILORS- 0 PITTSBURGH- 5: Lefty Allen (P-2), George Phillips (P-18), C George Cleaves (H-1), OF Pablo Reyes (H-4), 2B Jack Cleaves (H-17) ST LOUIS- 3: David Abalo (P-11), Buddy Long (P-13), C Heinie Zimmer (H-7) TORONTO- 5: George Garrison (P-1), Joe Hancock (P-3), Bernie Johnson (P-10), 1B Fred McCormick (H-2), SS Charlie Artuso (H-10) WASHINGTON- 0 1- There are a lot of General Manager's panicking of late after the news that Dixie Lee of the New York Stars has been drafted into military service. When minor leaguer James Slocum became the first pro ballplayer to enlist it caused merely a whisper among the baseball man as he was a longshot prospect to ever play in the bigs. However, seeing Dixie Lee - hardly a star but certainly a decent big league pitcher - taken away from the Stars with barely a month's notice has hit home just how real the loss of big league talent could be should North America be drawn into the European war, and I don't think there is a man alive who does not feel that is going to happen and it is clearly only a question of when and not if. 2- Is there a better young team right now than the Philadelphia Keystones? Pittsburgh and Detroit will be tough to beat but you have to love the Keystones tremendous collection of youth with a veteran like Bobby Barrell to lead them on the field and popular 38 year old catcher Carl Ames to provide guidance in the clubhouse. I would not be surprised at all if the Keystones win their first Federal Association pennant since 1933. 3- Speaking of Barrell's it will be very interesting to watch Tom and Bobby square off for the first time in a big league game. The brothers have never faced each other in an professional game with the exception of the 1934 all-star contest. Records have vanished from that game but if memory serves correct Tom retired Bobby the only time they faced each other in that exhibition. Tom's performance this season may well decide the fate of the Federal Association pennant race but seeing him face Bobby hopefully sometime in the first two weeks of April when the Keystones and Miners play each other 6 times will be fun. 4- Readers of this column know I have long been a fan of Pete Papenfus. It seems OSA is catching on now as well as they have Peter The Heater featured prominently in their latest player rankings. The 22 year old pride of West Plains, Missouri High School is now ranked the 12th best pitcher in the game according OSA's most recent list. He led the CA in strikeouts last season and is 26-26 over 3 years with the Chicago Cougars but walks have always been his kryptonite. If he can learn to harness his control I could see him being an all-star in the future. 5- FABL has not had a 300 game winner since Big George Johnson reached that milestone in 1925 and you also have to go back to 1925 for the last time a pitcher won his 275th game. That was Ike Wetzel, who notched his 275th win with Cleveland in 1925 and finished his career with 277 victories. While 300 is still likely three seasons away it is a pretty solid bet that Rabbit Day gets win #275 at some point this season. The 36 year old three-time Allan Award winner won 15 a year ago for the Chicago Chiefs and enters this season 11 shy of 275 victories. His 264-163 career mark has Day sitting 21st all-time in wins by a pitcher and first among active players. Next on the list for Day to pass will be Jim Cathey and Bob Johnston, each of whom won 267 in their FABL careers. 6- Only Charlie Stedman (218), Jim Lonardo (216) and Dick Lyons (201) are active with at least 200 career pitching wins but they may be joined this season by William Jones (187-137), who has found new life in Cincinnati. The 36 year old did win 20 games for the Sailors in 1937 but won just 14 contests the next two seasons combined. Last year he bounced back with a 15-12 season and is expected to be near the top of the rotation for the Cannons again this season. 7- It is a long shot but Milt Fritz (178-141) could conceivably get to the 200 plateau as well this season. Next year is more likely for the 31 year old but Fritz did lead the CA in ERA last season and won 18 games for the Cougars. He won an Allan Award with Brooklyn as a 21 year old and had 57 career FABL wins prior to his 22nd birthday but after some rough years in Montreal and with the New York Gothams it seemed like 150 wins might be out of the question for 'The Big Cat' but Fritz found new life back in Chicago, where his career started so many years ago. Only this time it is with the CA Cougars not the Fed Chiefs. Pitching for a Chicago based club he is 108-79. For anyone else he is 70-62 and that is including his 23 win season as a King in 1931. 8- Very few people would likely mention Boyd Harper when you ask about the pitchers who have appeared in the most FABL games but the 36 year old New York Stars lefthander is closing in on 700 career FABL appearances. At 657 Harper is a long way from Allan Allen's record 914 and no one will ever confuse the two but Harper presently is 8th all-time in games pitched and closing in on becoming just the 6th pitcher to appear in 700 games. Three of those in Allen, Jack Long and Charlie Sis did it the standard way by starting games and pitching a lot of innings but Harper is part of the other group. He has never started a FABL game. Stan Waters is second all-time in games pitched but like Harper never started a game in his 14 year career with the Keystones, Montreal and Stars. Carl Braggs is third and of his 779 appearances only one was in a starting role. That was as a rookie in 1917 with Boston. Harper is also closing in on Waters save record of 164. Harper had 9 last season to boost his total to 138, and passed Hal Galvan and Bill Mendine late last seaon, both of whom finished with 137. 9- The 2,500 hit club appears poised to welcome at least two new members this season, which would swell it's ranks to 25 players. Jim Hampton of the Chiefs needs 49 more while 42 year old Dave Trowbridge of the Stars is 57 hits shy. We could quite possibly see 4 players join the 2,500 club this season as former long-time teammates Frank Vance and Al Wheeler are also closing in. Vance, who is back with Detroit after leaving for Brooklyn with Wheeler a number of seasons ago, needs 121 more hits while Wheeler is 138 away. Wheeler is also just 26 homeruns shy of joining Max Morris and Rankin Kellogg as the only players to hit 400 big league roundtrippers. The 33 year old Wheeler hit 20 a year ago. 10- Three Philadelphia based players are closing in quickly on 2,000 hits. Doug Lightbody, the long-time Brooklyn King, is the closest at 1,982 entering the season but also has the highest chance of falling short as there is no guarantee he will make the Keystones final roster. Teammate Bobby Barrell is at 1,972 and at just 30 years old stands a decent shot at one day reaching 3,000 while across town 34 year old Dick Walker of the Sailors enters the season needed 24 hits to reach 2,000 for his impressive career. GOTHAMS ADD ANOTHER OUTFIELDER The New York Gothams took another step to upgrade their outfield with news that the club has acquired 27 year old Mel Alvarez from the Boston Minutemen in exchange for a couple of prospects and a pair of draft picks. Alvarez made no secret of his desire to get out of Boston after being reduced to a backup role last season. It was still a successful year batting average-wise for the former 5th round pick out of St. John's University of California as Alvarez hit .344 but he only had 40 plate appearances all season. This after he started 133 games and hit .293 in 1939. The Gothams also added Hub Parks from the New York Stars recently so there should be some competition in their outfield. The prize for Boston in the deal was a 22 year old catcher by the name of Cliff Smith, a 1936 second round who spent last season in AA ball. OSA feels he has the potential to become an above average catcher one day but his path was clearly blocked in New York with Pete Casstevens having that position sewn up for many years to come. In addition to Smith the Minutemen also received minor league third baseman Joe Pelletier and the Gothams 5th and 6th round pick in the June portion of the draft. JIGGS MCGEE'S TAKE- A good move for all involved especially Alvarez as he will get a chance to start in New York, something that clearly would not happen in Boston. A starting role is not guaranteed as the Gothams have upgraded their talent the past couple of weeks. Assuming Bud Jameson can do the job at first base, Walt Messer will be a fixture in left field which leaves Alvarez, recently acquired Hub Parks and holdovers Ernst Glass and Leon Drake to battle it out for the other two spots. Alvarez was out of options and quite likely to be exposed on the waiver wire so the Minutemen get a decent prospect at a position (catcher) they lack depth in the minors. Smith, the catcher, does have talent and was a second round pick five years ago, but he brings a lot of baggage as well, with a terrible work ethic and a questionable attitude. QUICK HITS Is there a bigger surprise than St Louis' Buddy Long making OSA's top twenty pitchers list? Not that I don't think Long is a good pitcher, but he went 8-21 a year ago with a 91 ERA+. Perhaps bodes well for the Pioneers that it was just one of those years you can't prepare for and just have to accept as with Long, Abalo and Zimmer there is no shortage of elite talent to headline their roster. Apparently "Something" was enough for New York Gothams owner Leland Winthrop, who pleaded with his management team late last season to just "Do Something." Recent reports from the New York World Telegram indicate that the ballclub's owner is satisfied with the offseason moves. After slashing the team's budget at the end of the 1940 season in anger at the team's dismal finish a number of moves around the edges seem to have calmed the team's owner. Winthrop has restored the Gothams operating budget to near 1940 levels. Perhaps it was the recent acquisition of Hub Parks from the Stars that made the difference. With Parks playing in town it's possible Winthrop is more aware of his abilities and sees this as a legitimate improvement for the lineup. Other deals to bring in pitchers, Marcus Mangum, Harry Frenette and Roy Lee Williams are see as adding depth to the system. Perhaps the early indications that season ticket sales are on the rise also factored into Winthrop's decision. As usual the Gotham's head man was non-committal with regards to team finances. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 2/23/1941 After spending time in London, former Presidential candidate Wendell Wilkie urged that the United States provide Britain with 5 to 10 destroyers a month. Wilkie was appearing as the administrations 'cleanup witness" before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee finalizes a decision on unlimited aid to Great Britain. The Committee would approve the aid bill days later. Nazi forces, well over 400,000 are reported to be streaming into Rumania and Bulgaria to reinforce Hitler's Balkan command. British parachutists have been dropped in southern Italy in Great Britain's first attempt to carry the war to the Italian mainland. South African troops have captured a key base in Italian Somaliland and are poised to drive the Italians out of that country. Any Americans remain in the Far East are being urgently advised to return home in the interest of their own safety after the Japanese battle fleet masses off Indo China. President Roosevelt told the Japanese Ambassador that "there are developments in the relations between the United States and Japan which cause concern." Japan claims it is Britain that is kindling the crisis in the east because of how the British have been strengthening their Singapore base with thousands of Australian troops and a great number of bombers and fighting planes. The United States also begins to rush planes to it's Pacific Fleet. Another statement that the US entering the war is just a matter of time. This one from the Secretary of Commerce who told the House Currency and Banking Committee that the United States is "in the war, or at least nearly in the war," and is "preparing for it." __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-10-2022, 01:37 PM	#354
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	March 10, 1941 MARCH 10, 1941 DRAFT LIKELY TO PROVE BIG PENNANT FACTOR The military draft is digging deeper into baseball day by day and threatens to become the controlling factor in the Continental Association's pennant race this year if not in the Fed too. Now Dixie Lee, the New York Stars pitcher who was the first to get his notice and reported for induction into the Army two days ago, is hardly the type of chap to decide a pennant but had the Stars known in advance he was leaving they most certainly would not have parted with 14 game winner George Phillips, who might well be a factor in Pittsburgh's bid for a third straight Federal title. Unless the Stars can do some fancy wrangling their hopes of contending for the Continental crown were dealt a serious blow with the loss of Lee, who despite a subpar 4-10, 5.25 campaign a year ago, seemed to be New York's number five starter this year almost by acclamation. Now the Stars are left scrambling after receiving notice of Lee's departure just a month before spring camps were set to begin. You can bet before long other teams will be in a similar state and there was even a brief rumour, unsubstantiated of course, that Pittsburgh ace Lefty Allen, around whom all of the Miners championship hopes center, is in line to receive his preliminary draft questionnaire before July 4. A draft board official, while refusing to comment on any specific player, did state he expects a number of players might well be called to the colors before September. Losing Allen in the heart of the pennant drive would be nothing short of a catastrophe for Pittsburgh, just as it would be for several other clubs if their ace suddenly was taken away. The tough part for FABL managers is there is absolutely nothing they can do but sit and wait. How can you plan for a situation like this? They can't even be sure any player will be summoned because there is no telling how fast the draft board will weed through it's list before a star player happens to show up on the role. HITS QUICKER THAN EXPECTED Dixie Lee was a real eye opener. The truth is the draft is striking harder and earlier than expected and all of the clubs are beginning to tremble at the prospect of losing leading players whom they heretofore have considered safe at least for the year. Who is next? There has been much talk that a number of star players have local order numbers that are low enough they might not last the season before their call comes. Some players do contribute to the support of parents or siblings and might get an exception but even that is questionable depending upon location as draft boards have shown a great difference of opinion concerning what constitutes dependency. And then too there is speculation that several stars including Detroit Dynamos first baseman Red Johnson and all star Boston centerfielder Chick Donnelly are considering enlisting. Dixie Lee didn't even get to go south with his club. He was helping his folks too, but was classified A-1 by the draft board and was inducted into the Army Saturday. It is only a matter of time before more players get the call, and how that will affect the pennant races this season is anyone's guess. IT HAPPENED BEFORE- One man's ill luck is another guys gain is a moral that will be verified in major league baseball this season, if the selective draft keeps going the way it has started. It has happened before, and it will occur again, that as young'uns are called to the colors, the old fellows who quietly slipped out of the picture a year or two ago will be returning to the wars in the major leagues. In other words history will be repeating itself after a pause of almost a quarter of a century. The last time the draft was taking its toll of the pivotal athletes, the aged and spavined performers serving out the their twilight in the minors came back in droves. Names that had been out of big league circulation for as long as three and four years, yes, even longer, came bobbing back as if they'd never been away. The Great Western, Dixie and Union leagues were riddled by the recall of these spavined ancients. Their knees created and the grating squeal of their pitching elbows was excelled only by the cries of the bleacherites rendered indignant by their feeble antics, but the majors insisted on carrying on business. Now, and then, the minors are filled with these passe major leaguers. The Lone Star Association for one, has more than you could shake a stick at if you worked overtime and had your old man helping you; and you'll have to take a memory course to remember some of them even by name, let alone by deed. But as Rube Carter, a wise old baseball head points out, they'll be back, and if you don't like 'em you can lump 'em, for, as the club owners say, the game must go on. It must go on even if to fill in for Art White the dynamic Brooklyn starting pitcher, they have to give you Karl Clasby, who contrary to popular opinion was not around to help William Whitney create FABL. All I want to do is to be around when some of those grandpapies come back. I've seen a lot, but I've never seen a beard hobbling to first base on a cane; and I don't want to miss it this time. You can bet your bottom dollar that Daniel Prescott will have his staffers fine comb the bush leagues to bring back old Flatbush standbys if the emergency becomes acute. Before the summer is over we might be sitting in Kings County Ballpark and hear the announcer chat that Clarence Hall is in left, Lou Cox in center and Bud Rogers in right field. Even Danny Goff, although he hung up his glove nearly a decade and a half ago, might be persuaded to return to active duty on the mound. And what a picture it would make if mastodonic Paul Tattersall, who is still one of our most respected citizens, squatted behind the plate to receive old Danny's slants. In addition it would be a picture to behold if Glenn Mowles was pried away from his management work in Tampa to man third base in a rocking chair. Yes, and maybe even 48 year old Calvin Dybas, who once hit 32 homers in a college season but never played professionally finally got the call, promoted from hitting coach in Springfield to make his big league debut. As you will recall, some of the ancients were in our midst at the old-timers game in Kings County only last summer. A few of those old boys didn't look so bad in familiar toggery. Of course, they were as stiff as a board in many instances but the way things could go this summer and beyond is it could look like an Oldtimers game every day of the FABL season. QUICK HITS Is it just filling holes prepping for spring training at minor league camps or something more? A lot of veteran free agent players with some big league experience were quickly inked to deals, all of the minor league variety, the past couple of weeks. Fallout from the shock of seeing Dixie Lee leave for basic training instead of spring training perhaps causing teams to worry about roster depth? Whatever it was the Cannons, Cougars, Dynamos and Miners all quickly signed a depth guy or two in the days leading up to the start of camp. Cincinnati inked 30 year old Art Blake, who pitched briefly for Toronto last season and is 9-15 in his FABL career, to a minor league deal while the Cougars inked a similar agreement with veteran outfielder Bobby Bond. Neither are likely good enough to crack a big league roster at this time but are probably worthwhile insurance in case a key player gets the call from the draft board. Pittsburgh and Detroit both signed players to minor league deals but each included a major league option so they could leave if not offered a big league spot. Shortstop Oscar King, a 30 year with over 800 big league games under his belt, is going to Miners camp while Detroit signed 29 year old infielder Tony White and 30 year old pitcher Jack Snyder, who had a brief stint in the Dynamos system last year. No surprise but 42 year old Dave Trowbridge arrived in Stars camp ready to go. All he did last season was lead the Continental Association in hitting and the man they call "Father Time" says he is expecting to have another solid year. Trowbridge is, of course, the oldest player on any team roster, big league or minor and is the only player active in FABL that was born last century. His 1898 birth year makes him 22 months over Cougars pitcher Dick Lyons, the second oldest big leaguer. Even the independent Lone Star Association, while home to some greybeards, can't match Trowbridge's age (42 years, 221 days as of this writing). But two players come close. Infielder Jack Collins, who played 427 games for Detroit in the late 1920's and is still active with Houston of the LSA, is just under two months younger than Trowbridge. The only other player in organized baseball who's birth year starts with '18' is Karl Clasby, who just celebrated his 42nd birthday last month. Clasby is entering his 9th season with Waco but the righthander did win 20 games in FABL 13 seasons ago and went 60-64 while pitching for four different big league clubs. Both seem like the kind of players who might just get one more kick at the can if enough players leave for military service. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 3/09/1941 After much debate in the Senate the British aid bill passes and President Roosevelt is prepared to speed aid to Britain by turning over $1 billion worth of warships, freighters, airplanes, tanks, guns, ammunition, foot and other supplies immediately after he affixes his signature to the Lease-Lend Bill. "Many more ships and great numbers of men" to fight the triple German menace of submarines, long-range bombers and surface raiders in the battle of the Atlantic is desperately needed according to Britain's Admiralty Lord. Hitler says he is prepared to pit "half of Europe" against Great Britain and that unprecedented sea warfare is about to begin with the month of April also bringing "other things" - the nature of which he did not specify - to the enemy. Germany moves to occupy Bulgaria - the 11th sovereign state she has overrun since 1938- which raises grave concerns for Greece in her war with Italy, and Turkey's future under her alliance with Britain. The United States decided to restrict the movements of all Italian diplomatic representatives in this country and ordered that the Italian consulates in Newark and Detroit be closed. The action, one of the most drastic diplomatic measures ever taken toward a country with which the United States is at peace, was in response to similar actions taken by the Italians towards the American Embassy in Rome. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-11-2022, 10:25 PM	#355
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	March 24, 1941 Spring Training begins MARCH 24, 1941 BASEBALL IS BACK! SPRING IN FLORIDA BRINGS PENNANT DREAMS Baseball has returned. While it is just of the Citrus flavor, it is a sure sign that spring is on it's way as once again we have those delicious boxscores to feast upon with our eyes each morning. It never fails, as all of us are guilty of reading too much into the names and numbers dotting boxscores at this time of year. That hot prospect went 3-for-4 or the middling pitcher with 4 shutout innings surely means a breakout season is coming and this, yes this, will finally be the year our heroes break out and win the big one. For most reality sets in quickly and holes are found by May in that hot prospect's swing, or that pitcher who looked so good in March is back in the bushes by June. Pennant hopes for all but a select few are quickly washed away along with the hopes and dreams of most fans. But for now, for one to four glorious weeks our team and our season is as full of hope, of potential for something great to happen and our pennant dreams as big as the full moon over Florida. DONOGHUE AND BURKETT TO WEAR HEADGUARDS Bob Donoghue is sick of getting hit by pitches. The Boston Minutemen slugger has been hit 34 times already in his young career and led or tied for the Federal Association lead in being plunked by pitchers each of the past three seasons. Only 12 active players have been hit by a pitch in their careers more often than Donoghue and every one of the twelve have played at least 1,000 games. Donoghue has only appeared in 544 contests. Last Monday in Boston's spring opener against the New York Gothams something occurred that may slightly revolutionize the baseball industry. That event was a new fangled headguard for hitters, so cleverly camouflaged that no more than a handful of tipped-off spectators in the stands were aware that Donoghue and Bill Burkett were wearing them. FITS AROUND CAP It fitted around the baseball cap, protecting the exposed temple, and can be constructed to fit inside the cap. Because neither gentleman happened to be skulled by a fastball in Boston's 7-4 win over the New York Gothams the effectiveness of the device can only be left to the assurance of its makers that it's good. It should be noted by the end of the week the Minutemen were probably wishing that Donoghue was testing out some sort of knee brace as he injured his leg running the bases and will be sidelined until possibly May. As for why Donoghue chose to don such headgear since while he has been nicked up a few times from those plunkings, he has been fortunate enough to avoid serious injury and nothing has hit him in the head. However, there have been some close calls. "Usually I get hit down low but last season there were a couple that just missed catching me in the pumpkin. One in particular I can recall where Rabbit Day just missed me - pitch got away from him and came in high and a swear there was a little rosin off the ball on my ear from that one." The Minutemen are concerned their star slugger has been plunked at a higher rate than any other active player in the Federal Association and their concerns became much more grave after near tragedy involving one of their minor leaguers last August. A 19 year old second year pro outfielder by the name of Truman Brown was seriously injured by a pitch in August. The youngster got his hand up in time to deflect the rising pitch that broke his finger and left him with a huge welt on his forehead. A split-second slower and the pitch likely would have fractured the young outfielders skull. Donoghue plans on wearing it throughout the spring and there is talk the Minutemen may have them produced for all of their players this season. It's March and so far the Gothams are not in last place. After a decade with more success than failure the past five seasons have left the faithful doubtful and pessimistic. Still, on the first day of spring training games who can't feel spring in the air and the possibilities a new season brings? So let's look on the bright side of life in Queens. Pitching - Goulding, Petrick, Carter, Ratcliffe, Sutton. Those are the early favorites to fill the Gothams rotation. Gone is Nate Spear with his dazzling promise and fragile arm. Added is a former first round pick of the Gothams retuning to the fold, Rusty Petrick. Rusty has had his ups and downs in the majors, but at 25 there's a lot to like. Add him to Gus Goulding and his 3.63 ERA along with Ratcliffe and Carter who managed to squeeze in under the 4.00 mark and with helping of optimism there's the makings of a rotation. Charlie Sutton and Bunny Edwards will battle it out for some starts in the 5 spot before manager Ziehl looks at other options. The bullpen is a wide open competition among returnees, and newcomers from Toledo. Catcher - The team is set here with Pete Casstevens and Joe Green providing some offense and solid defense. 1st base - Most likely a platoon between 36 year old Bud Jameson and still young Walt Messer. The team is expecting Messer to show more power in upcoming seasons. Messer will also take some turns in LF. 2nd-3rd-SS - Set with Roosevelt Brewer, Billy Dalton and Mule Monier. All have shown glimpses at the plate and all are considered breakout candidates. Monier's defense struggles are a concern. Infield reserves - Multi-posiiton glove Rube Dixon appears a lock for opening day. Remaining spots will be decided between Hank Cook, Bill Freeman, and Jim Jenkins Outfield - A new look from the beginning of last season. Hub Parks will bring a fantastic glove and plus speed to leftfield with the ability to play across the outfield. If he struggles to hit expect 1B Walt Messer to get some starts. New acquisition Mel Alvarez, happy to be out of Beantown, will get first crack at CF. Not a speedster, Alvarez is a sure glove with the possibility of a solid bat. In rightfield is the enigma known as Leon Drake. Possessing a good glove, a powerful bat and some hitting skills, he has somehow fallen off from his early career slugging ways. Picked up by New York midseason, the fact his .227 avg and .710 OPS were big improvements over his start in Chicago says it all. Still, there's that glimmer of hope that a fresh season could see Leon blasting homers towards the Triborough Bridge. Outfield reserves - Mostly a collection of mediocrity. John Phillips, Ernst Glass, and Earl West will fight it out for a spot or two. Apologies if after going through all of this the optimism is wearing thin. However, unless the infield is more like the Million Dollar Infield and less, buddy can ya spare a dime, it seems we're in for another long summer. But it's spring, anything can happen. Plenty of battles going on for positions as the Montreal Saints complete their first week of Citrus play with a 3-4 record. Red Bond is having no issues at the plate as he focuses on a possible transition to first base. The two-time all-star had 8 hits, including a pair that left the yard, in 20 at bats to start the season. Here is a position-by-position break down on how things look: Catcher: Ben Richardson is a sure shot at the moment with rule 5 pick Charlie Logan taking the lead for the backup Rookie Dixie Galloway needs more AB before decision made, and will get his chance this week. First Base: Red Bond keep going learning his new position in defense. Saints are trying Bill Green as backup Second base: Battle between Charlie Woodbury and 23 year old prospect Bob Jennings. Jennings will get more AB week #2. Woodbury started strong with 2 HR in week #1, but still low on BA. Gary Carmichael still there as back up with a decent week #1 Shortstop: Jake Hughes and Hank Grant are probably both retaining their spots on the roster. The question is who will start on regular basis. Hughes can play other positions in the infield and was with team the last two seasons. Third base: Spud Bent is out for one week. That will give more presence for others players. Mark Burns may have a chance to redeem himself from the disastrous sophomore season in 1940 vs impressive rookie season in 1939. With the injury of Bent, prospect Norman Houser will get one more week of FABL training camp Leftfield: Left field still taken by Bert Lass. Prospect Otis Parker need to raise his play level to show he can stay in the majors, he will be getting more AB week #2. IF not better, he is getting a ticket to AAA. Right field is alternating between Vic Crawford, who moved from 1B to RF, and Ed Jordan. So far Jordan had the best week of the two, but still early in the camp to decide. Maury Millsap still at camp for now to gain experience. Centerfield is a good showdown. Heinie Billings is struggling at bat after week #1 but he is the best defender. While Pete Wood is continuing his progression from last year with better offense and can for sure be great for end of game defense sub in the corner field if needed. He may be finding himself a place if he continues on this pace. Then comes prospect Bill Greene who will have more AB in week #2 to show he can play on regular base. Green can also play 1B and 2B, which is a good addition to team. Pitching: Experiences on the pitching squad will continue in week #2. But expect some cuts in this group at the end of week. Smells like waiver time for few of them. The core group of Ed Baker, Jake DeYoung, Wally Doyle and Howie Snyder is a sure shot to make the club. Leading the second group is Karl Wallace, Eddie Hite, Bill Ross, Bill Stewart. Need to find their skills is the back group of Karl Weiss, Whitey Griffin, Bud Robbins, Lou Ellertson and Billy Stall. The surprise of week #1 was prospect Jimmy Mayse with a shutout 4 innings and that earned the 24 year old a second start this week. QUICK HITS Veteran John Lawson on Cannons top prospect Bill Sohl "I don't know what to say, Bill Sohl really had it going today. Not to give the guy a big head, but if he keeps playing like that, he'll write his own ticket. If he puts it all together, he could be something really special. I just hope he's not playing us when it happens." Pretty high praise from a future Hall of Famer. Another rookie pitcher making a statement early is Mel Bianco of the Pioneers. The 23 year old was a 1939 first round selection out of Maryland State and he pitched at 3 levels of minors last season. If his first two spring starts are any indication Bianco will be heading north next month. He went 4 innings against Detroit allowing just 1 hit (a Gil London solo homerun) and then shutout Boston in 4 1/3 innings in his next start. AROUND THE LEAGUE Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on each of the 16 clubs as they get back on the ballfield with Citrus League contests. BOSTON- Disappointment in Boston to see that Bob Donoghue will miss the first couple of weeks of the regular season after hurting his knee last week. The 27 year old had been injury free the past couple of seasons (and hit 58 homers over that span) but now suffers the third major injury (month or longer) of his career. Good news is young infielder Buddy Schneider went 11-for-21 at the plate to open spring play. With Jack Flint coming over from Cincinnati the Minutemen are looking to move a catcher. The plan is likely 32 year old Bobby Gentry will be moved as he is out of options and unlikely to make the team ahead of Bill Van Ness. BROOKLYN- 35 year old Gordie Woods pitched 4 perfect innings in his first start of the spring. Woods is out of options and hoping to stick with the Kings, who will need to fill the void left with Tom Barrell's departure. Woods has been in the Kings system since 1929 when they acquired him in the Rule 5 draft but has spent most of his time in the minors. His career FABL record is 5-9. CHIEFS- The Federal Association was very balanced last week with every team going either 4-3 or 3-4. The Chiefs were one of those on the winning side of ledger including a pair of wins in games that Rabbit Day got the start on the hill. COUGARS- Pete Papenfus: 8.1 IP, 1 BB, 8 K. Is his control fixed? Cougars staffers have probably scouted the 22 year old 100+ times since his high school days and this is the first time a scout hasn't complained about his control. OSA also has a week old report and doesn't mention poor control either! My hype meter is currently set to 100 as perhaps Papenfus may finally be ready to live up to the high expectations many had for him when he was drafted 6th overall in 1936. CINCINNATI- 1940 second overall pick Bill Sohl made his debut against FABL hitters last week in a 6-5 loss to Montreal. The 22 year old allowed 4 hits and walked a pair and was on the hook for 3 earned runs but the purpose was just to get his feet wet before heading to Indianapolis. Sohl will get one more start before he reports to the minor league camp. The only concerning performance from the opening week of Citrus play was Larry Brown as the 32 year old got beat up in both of his appearances out of the bullpen. CLEVELAND- Rough week for the Foresters who won only once, 11-8 over the Stars, in their 7 games last week. And more bad news as Earle Robinson last precisely 1/3 of an inning before getting hurt again. This time it is his back but not considered too serious as the 25 year old is expected to only miss a couple of weeks. A former first round pick who tossed a no-hitter in the minors, Robinson was a top 25 prospect but a series of injuries have derailed his career. DETROIT- they have several out of options players milling around so it will be a very important camp for some guys. There are some competitions this camp as well at primarily C, SS. There is also some mild competition at 2B. No cause for panic of course but Sal Pestilli and Red Johnson were a combined 2-for-16 with no extra base hits or rbi's last week. MONTREAL- Red Bond got off to a great start with a pair of homers and a .421 average in the opening week of spring. But outfield prospects Bill Greene and the newly acquired Otis Parker (in the Adam Mullins deal) combined to go 1-for-15. NY STARS- Newcomer Lew Seals showed some power his first week in a Stars uniform, smacking 3 homers to tie him with Washington's Sig Stofer for the FABL lead. NY GOTHAMS- A winning week is always cause for celebration for the Gotham. Starting pitcher was for the most part good, and some nice hitting from infielders Roosevelt Brewer, Billy Dalton and Mule Monier. The newcomers in the outfield Hub Parks and Mel Alvarez struggled, but the exciting line - .462/.632/1.077, 2 homers , a triple and 4 RBI in 19 PA belonged to none other than Leon Drake. KEYSTONES- The Keystones usually have more than 40 in camp with some non-roster invitees, but they are not bringing in any NRIs at the start of camp. Most of the camp battles center around backup roles with the exception of shortstop, where Tim Humphrey and Clyde Duncan will each have a shot at the starter's role. SAILORS- A pair of very solid starts for veteran lefthander Dutch Sheldon. He allowed just 1 run on 1 hit in 4 innings of a 5-4 win over Brooklyn and then pitched 4 shutout frames in a 5-0 blanking of the Cougars. PITTSBURGH- Nice start for Tom Barrell in his new home as a Pittsburgh Miner. The 32 year old former Brooklyn ace tossed 4 shutout innings in a win over Detroit. It wasn't pretty as he walked 4 and allowed 3 hits but there were some good moments with none bigger than pitching his way out of a first inning jam after allowing the first 3 batters he faced to reach base. Also impressing Miners brass was Sonny O'Callaghan. The 23 year old rule 5 pickup from Cleveland allowed just 2 hits over 4 scoreless innings of work in his start last week. ST LOUIS- 22 year old Luke Michaels, who split last season between A and AA, is off to a great start in trying to impress Pioneers management enough so he can replace Ivan Cameron at shortstop. Michaels hit .375 (9-for-24) and started all 7 games as the Pioneers played mostly prospects this week. TORONTO- The defending champs picked up right where they left off last October as, at 5-2, they own the best record in either association after one week of spring play. Third baseman Walt Pack, on the trade block and being pressed for his starting job by Ockie Holliday after a poor season a year ago, had a quick start, batting .500 (7-for-14). WASHINGTON-Sig Stofer is one of two players with 3 home runs during the first week of spring. It's a small sample size, but he cut his strikeout rate in half after coming over to Washington from Philadelphia: Keystones: 163 PA, 14.7 K% Eagles: 130 PA, 7.7 K% The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 3/23/1941 Britain feels the addition of 'formidable' American aircraft makes the Royal Air Force now greater "absolutely and relatively" to German Luftwaffe strength when the great air battles began last summer. Britain claims to have destroyed 4,250 German and 1,100 Italian planes in 10 months with a loss of less than 1,800 British aircraft. British troops, as many as 150,000 are in Greece to aid that country if Germany attempts to attack. With the Lend-Lease deal to aid Britain approved, President Roosevelt received approval from the House appropriations Sub-Committee for his initial request of $7 billion in aid. However, it would take months before the production can reach it's height. FDR has ordered an investigation by the State Department after a Brooklyn reporter working for the United Press in Berlin is arrested by the Nazis under suspicion of being an American spy. The US Navy is watching closely after British Prime Minister Churchill declared that German submarines and battle cruisers have crossed to the American side of the Atlantic, perhaps as close as to within 1,500 miles of New York. Germany reports sinking 33 cargo-laden ships in recent weeks in the Atlantic. A fire "of considerable magnitude" broke out in Germany's $20 million luxury liner, the 51,731 ton Bremen, said to be caused as part of an R.A.F. air raid. Top doctors at the Pasteur Institute in Paris fear "Europe is certain to have the worst epidemic in all of it's history." Typhus fever rages in Spain already and the concern is epidemics take root in famine and filth, both of which are of grave concern in much of Europe. The first sporting casualty of war is AIAA football with some schools already announcing they will not field teams next year due to a lack of players. Brooklyn State is one as the schools dropping football due to the Army taking away too many players. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-16-2022, 11:46 AM	#358
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	April 13, 1941 End of Spring training APRIL 13, 1941 DRESS REHEARSAL IS OVER. BRING ON THE SEASON! Spring training has come to a close for another year and the 16 FABL clubs are taking trains north, nearly all of them finding their luggage cars overloaded with high expectations for the season ahead. Nearly every club has something they can crow about and raise the hopes of fans. Whether it be the defending champions from Toronto and Pittsburgh, both of whom might not be overly excited about their spring showing in the standings but each, like most other clubs, has plenty of reasons to be optimistic. In Pittsburgh for example it is the showing of newcomer George Phillips who, if we only go by spring performance, might just unseat Lefty Allen as the Fed's top hurler. Now we all know that will not happen but news of Phillips accomplishments in the Citrus loop have Pittsburgh fans looking ahead and not back to last October and yet another WCS disappointment. Even teams that had little to cheer about last season can have high hopes at this time of year. Take the St Louis Pioneers, the Fed doormat a year ago, they paced that loop in Florida with 15 wins against just 9 losses and have fans out west dreaming of how much better the rotation might be if Mel Bianco, Danny Hern and Jaspar Moore live up to their lofty spring expectations. Yes, it is a time to be positive but also to realize the past month was just a dress rehearsal and ultimately means nothing. Tomorrow the curtain is raised for real and the 1941 season begins. But first here is a final look back at the spring standings and leaders: 1941 SEASON We have seen predictions for the year ahead unveiled by TWIFB's Jiggs McGee and by Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World. Today another soothsayer chimes in and he is none other than Dan Barrell, head of the OSA. Barrell, it should be noted, correctly called the winners in both Associations last season so perhaps his prognostications warrant a little extra attention. Do not forget that in tomorrow's special season preview issue we will hear from many more sports editors from across the league. 5. Robicheaux must go... to the outfield that is. Crawfish needs to play and the most obvious spot for him is... LF. Yeah, some guy named Bobby plays there now, but he should slide over to CF and Chuck Hood should become the fourth outfielder. Robicheaux's bat is the final ingredient in a pennant-winning gumbo thanks to... (see below) 4. The Keystones' pitching is the deepest in all of FABL and George M Brooks needs to be in the rotation. 3. Double trouble in New York City. This is the year both Bill Barrett AND Walt Messer arrive for real. 2. The Heat will be on in Chicago because Peter the Heater has finally harnessed his magical right arm and the Cougars are going to ride the lightning... but the Cannons are going to win the pennant. 1. Not only should Buddy Long not be in AAA, but he should be the #1 starter in the Pioneers' rotation. He led FABL in fewest BB/9, led his team in WAR and FIP- and after getting shelled in his first spring appearance tossed five shutout frames. Maybe it's option-related, but he's the best arm the Pioneers have, bar none. DAN BARRELL'S PRESEASON PREDICTIONS FEDERAL ASSOCIATION 1 - Keystones 2 - Miners 3 - Dynamos 4 - Minutemen 5 - Chiefs 6 - Pioneers 7 - Eagles 8 - Gothams CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION 1 - Cannons 2 - Wolves 3 - Cougars 4 - Kings 5 - Sailors 6 - Stars 7 - Saints 8 - Foresters Whitneys: Hank Koblenz of the Keystones in Fed, Cincinnati's Fred Galloway in Conti Allens: Pittsburgh's Lefty Allen & George Garrison of Toronto Johnny Bologna's final camp report on final roster decisions and the last six cuts of camp: Carl Ames got that tap on the shoulder to report to the manager's office. The 38-year-old catcher may have reached the end of the line after a brilliant 16-year career that included 2,021 hits, 1,127 RBI and a lifetime batting mark of .292. He appeared in 1,782 games as a catcher and will leave his mark on the all-time franchise leaderboard, finishing in the top three in Keystones history in games played (3rd, 1,845), doubles (2nd, 405), and home runs (3rd, 138). The two-time champion also hit .274 in three World's Championship Series. Charlie Gump will enter his first season as the official backup. Doug Lightbody was in an inadvertent competition with Ames for a pinch-hitter spot and Lightbody frankly had a good camp. He will continue his quest for 2,000 hits, sitting 18 away as the season begins. Lightbody will back up Hans Wright and likely be the first off the bench most nights to grab a bat late in games. While the winner of the Keystones' "Camp Player of the Year" award went to Billy Woytek, who hit a blistering .433 and walked 10 times without striking out, Davey Robicheaux was the darling of the camp. Robicheaux will make the team and split his time between third base, leftfield and rightfield. He will get the Opening Day nod in leftfield with Bobby Barrell moving to centerfield, spelling Chuck Hood, himself a .324 hitter last year. While Robicheaux figures to get the bulk of his starts at leftfield, he'll get a start at third and a couple of starts in right to start the year. Casualties for Robicheaux's rise are third baseman George Wright and centerfielder Ed Greenwood. For Wright, he must feel the world is passing him by, as Hank Koblenz and Robicheaux have raced past him on the organizational depth chart. Greenwood hung in there through the entire camp, but it was a battle of attrition for the last outfielder spot. Greenwood did not hit particularly well last season in Triple-A, but he will be penciled in the leadoff spot every day. With Herman Patterson healthy and back atop the rotation, there was a battle between two 1940 rookies: Bud Canfield (2.48 ERA in 1940), last year's Rookie of the Month in August, and Henry Shaffer (3.41 ERA in 1940). Shaffer had the better camp, but did not impress the management. In somewhat of a surprise, both were sent to AAA Louisville to start the season and George Brooks will be given a shot to start. Brooks started for the better part of three seasons before switching to a short-reliever role in 1939. Gene White made this possible, as he allowed 24 baserunners in 23-1/3 innings with 18 strikeouts in the Spring. The shortstop position will settle into a platoon based on the throwing arm of the pitcher. Clyde Duncan, a left-handed hitter, will get most of the starts against righthanders, while Johnny Wolsey will work primarily against lefties. Prospect Tim Humphrey hit only .154 in exhibition play and will start in Louisville. The Pioneers will head north with a six man rotation to begin the season. Top prospects Jasper Moore, Mal Bianco, and Cal Roe have earned a chance to start and will be joined by David Abalo, Harry Sharp, and Danny Hern. All six pitchers posted great spring numbers. The move down to a five man rotation will depend on the timing of Abalo's inevitable injury or poor performance. How much rope each pitcher will have depends on the health of Ed Cornett who is on the DL and out of options. The bullpen is stacked with veterans such as Russ Peeples, Jake Smith, and Pioneers' legend Sam Sheppard. They will be joined by Angel Padilla and Del Thomas. Some may be surprised to learn that 26 year old Buddy Long will start the season in AAA after giving up five runs in seven spring innings. The big surprise in the lineup is RF Hal Sharp who earned his spot over Art Cascone and Al Tucker by hitting .431 in spring competition. Sharp will be joined in the outfield by Les Hendrix in center and veteran Gail Gifford in left. Neither Gifford nor Hendrix played well in the spring. The other surprise in the lineup is rookie Luke Michaels who won the SS job from Ivan Cameron and Ray Russell. Michaels hit .328 in the spring while committing just two errors in the field. Tommy Wilson and his glove are back at third base but he'll have to bring his bat this year if he wants to remain in the lineup. Artie D'Alessandro will man second for the second consecutive season. First base will be a platoon between Jim Vaughn and Zip Sullivan until one of them can outshine the other and take the job out right. All-Star Heinnie Zimmer is the every day catcher while Red Bryant earned the back up job only because he was out of options and John Kennedy was not. If the youngsters play close to their spring performance, then the Pioneers will surely not finish last in the Fed as predicted by most publications around the country. QUICK HITS The Toronto Wolves finish their spring cuts with three players going to the waiver wire, P Bill Bell, C Don Rogers, OF Joe Smith. The team is now set to begin their title defense but the CA will be a tough division in which to repeat, there are at least four clubs that could win the CA. Tom Barrell is going to begin the year as the Miners' 5th starter, with Bill Ketterman back in the bullpen as the stopper. Barrell, who won 3 Allan Awards in the Continental Association but suffered through an injury plagued 1939 season and struggled last year, hopes to get back on track in Pittsburgh after the Miners acquired him from Brooklyn over the winter. Bill Sohl had a great spring until his final start. The second overall draft pick in 1940 was shelled in a 14-0 loss to Cleveland and that, coupled with a couple of other players out of options means he will begin the season in AAA. I expect he will be back with the big club in 2 weeks tops but this gives the Cannons the opportunity to see Roger Perry and Donie Scheuermann a couple of more times before we need to make a decision on which to DFA. Nick Wallace had a very good spring for us but he is going on the waiver wire because Pete Asher can play 3 infield positions so he is just a little more valuable than Wallace as our final infielder. OPENING DAY WEATHER FORECAST The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 4/13/1941 Britain cuts diplomatic ties with Hungary after that country becomes a base of operations for Germany. Pope Pius eyes filled with tears upon hearing news the Germans invaded Greece and Yugoslavia. Nazi forces were advancing in Greece and close to victory in Yugoslavia as the week came to an end. Prime Minister Churchill warns Hitler will step up sea attacks aimed at preventing US aid from reaching Britain. Churchill also warns that Turkey and Russia are likely next on the Germans radar. With Nazi forces now in north Africa the Axis is making headway in regaining ground the British had previously secured from the Italian army. Britain boosted income tax to 50 cents on the dollar but assures it's people all difficulties have been eliminated in securing financing from the United States. The United States pledged to defend Greenland under an agreement with Denmark giving the US the right to establish air bases and other fortifications on the vast island. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-16-2022, 12:15 PM	#359
percy_sutherland Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 11	April, 1941 As we are preparing to usher in a new baseball season, I asked myself a question: who has the highest single season batting average in major league history? Your son may answer: Mel Carrol's .409 in 1937. You may counter with Max Morris' .418 in 1925. Your father will remind you that Powell Slocum batted .435 in 1913. The correct answer is Slocum, but not in 1913 but rather in 1917 when Powell hit .423. Wait a minute. How can .423 be greater than .435? To answer this question, we'll borrow a page from Professor Einstein's book and take a look at baseball's theory of relativity. To take the true measure of a batting average, you need to look at it in relation to the league average for the year in question. This leads to the hitter's relative batting average, which is the true measure of his ability to hit safely. And this is the only way that batting averages between different seasons and leagues can be compared. The formula for relative batting average can be expressed as: When Powell Slocum hit .435 in 1913 he set a new league record, topping Jimmy Massey's mark of .431 from 1897. We can compare those two batting averages as relative averages: Slocum = .4349/.263 = 1.654 Massey = .4311/.295 = 1.451 You can also shift the decimal places and express the relative averages as a percentage above league average: Slocum was 65% above league average and Massey was 45%. And so, Slocum's 1913 was not just 4 batting points (".004") higher than Massey it was substantially higher: 20% higher when compared to league average. In the following table, we re-rank the top 20 batting averages in history according to relative average. This table tells us a number of interesting things. Not only does Powell Slocum have the top two batting average seasons in history, he has three of the top five. John Dibblee and George Cary both move into the top five while Jimmy Massey drops from 2nd to 12th. Notice Max Morris's fall from 9th to 20th. He hit .418 in 1925, but the Federal Association overall hit .300 that season, which is the highest league batting average in history. The next table ranks the seasons for the past six batting champions from each league. Mel Carrol's 1937 season was, of course, really good--we had already seen it at 15th on the all-time list. And considered by relative average both of Fred McCormick's recent batting titles (1938 and 1939) would also be ranked in the top 20.