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

[Hammercraft]

Quite a fictional universe you've got going there. Don't you wish there was one over-arching multisport sim?

[DD Martin]

Originally Posted by Hammercraft

Quite a fictional universe you've got going there. Don't you wish there was one over-arching multisport sim?

I believe that is the eventual hope

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by Hammercraft

Quite a fictional universe you've got going there. Don't you wish there was one over-arching multisport sim?

Yes, if you are talking about 1 game that would link all the major sports together with some cross-over players that would be amazing. As DD Martin mentioned above I believe doing that artificially with multiple games and having each sport be an online league within the universe is the long-term goal for Figment.

There is a rare opening in this baseball league right now. If interested PM me and I will pass it on to our commissioner legendsport (or PM him yourself)

[Tiger Fan]

DICK YORK

A gifted athlete, Dick York was an accomplished golfer as a youth growing up in Georgia before getting the baseball bug. It turned out to be a wise decision as he would go on to become one of the greatest catchers in FABL history. Still active as of this writing but approaching his 39th birthday and clearly nearing the end of his road, York has spent his entire career with the Detroit Dynamos. Only six catchers in FABL history had more hits that York and only one of them, T.R. Goins, played his career primarily since the turn of the century.

MOST CAREER FABL HITS BY A CATCHER
NAME			HITS    YEARS    	TEAM
T.R. Goins#		2076   1923-?	   Washington, Cleveland
Daniel Gladney		1765   1885-1899   Washington, Boston
Marish Perry		1739   1880-1897   Cle Cuyahogas, Gothams, NY Imperials, Sailors
Michael Fuller		1734   1888-1903   Cougars, Stars
Wally Grant		1730   1888-1903   Keystones, Baltimore, Cleveland
Harvey Reese		1699   1884-1904   Brooklyn, Providence, Washington, Cleveland
Dick York#		1614   1919-?      Detroit

York was born in Glendoa, California but grew up in Georgia after his father, who made a small fortune in the railroad industry, earned a contract to build streetcar lines in Atlanta. Despite being sought by scouts as a high schooler, the family placed great importance on education so Dick spent three seasons at Georgia Baptist University. The Gators were not particularily strong during his tenure with them from 1915-17 but Dick excelled, hitting .362 as a freshman and .336 for his college career with 23 homers in 134 career games. The only player on Georgia Baptist during that time besides York to make it to the big leagues was York's best friend on the team Win Marshall. Both were drafted by Detroit in the December 1917 FABL draft with York going 8th overall and the outfielder Marshall in the 17th round. York and Marshall would reunite in Detroit 4 years later as Marshall played 8 games for the Dynamos, which as it would turn out would be the full extent of his major league career.

York, on the other hand, spent one season in the minors where he hit .326 in Class A and by Opening Day 1919 he was a big leaguer. 1919 was the tail end of a magical run for the Dynamos that saw them win 3 World Championship Series in a 4 year span. The last of those three titles came in 1919 and York, while still an understudy to starting catcher Ed Shaw, did contribute by playing in 75 games. He hit just .201 that year as he was still finding his way against big league pitching, but he went 1-for-2 as a pinch-hitter in the Series as the Dynamos knocked off Montreal in six games.

1920 would be the now 37 year old Shaw's final season as an everyday player as young York hit .344 in 66 games but his Dynamos finished second to St Louis. York's 1920 performance had won him the job and he was the starting catcher in Detroit for the next 8 years. His greatest season came in 1923 when he led the Federal Association with a .390 batting average, which still remains a Detroit club record. He finished second to St Louis slugger Max Morris in the Whitney Award voting that season. It would be the only year he was in the running as he would be overshadowed by Washington's T.R. Goins as the top catcher for much of his career. By 1928 the toll catching takes on a body had begun to affect York's offense and his average slipped to .251 that season. He would move to a platoon role with Dave Armstrong for 1929 and the Dynamos, after finishing second each of the two previous seasons, won another pennant that season. The 1929 Series went the distance but Detroit prevailed and York, who started 3 games and went 5-for-12 (.417) with 4 runs scored, had earned his second World Championship ring.

York has served as a caddy to Armstrong since then but remains a key piece of the Dyanoms roster because of his work ethic, his great leadership ability and his popularity with Detroit fans. The Dynamos have only ever retired one player's jersey - the #12 worn by pitching star Jim Golden, but it seems a safe bet that when York takes off his #27 jersey for the final time, perhaps as early as the end of spring training this season, it will eventually find it's way alongside Golden's.

While the final chapter is not quite yet complete, we know that York will leave quite a legacy on the field. He ranks fourth all-time in career games as a Dynamo and only Phil Thompson has more hits in a Detroit uniform that the 1,614 York has amassed.

York also made his mark on the next generation of great catchers. It is often said how great players can influence the next generation of young men to become ballplayers and in this case that fact is well documented in that Dick was directly responsible for at least one future all-star. Fred Barrell, the talented young catcher of the Brooklyn Kings, idolized York growing up and was lucky enough to recieve many tips from the veteran York as they were brothers-in-law. Dick's sister Francine, herself an accomplished athlete in the sport of golf, married in to baseball's first family as he husband is Fred Barrell's brother Rollie, the former professional golfer and football executive.

Barrell followed in York's footsteps to Georgia Baptist and became just the second Gator to ever be drafted in the first round. Since then two other players have joined them but York's influence certainly helped Fred Barrell to become an all-star and might have had some impact on another Barrell brother who attend Georgia Baptist in pitcher Tom. The all-star game is a new thing and Fred and Tom have each played in one but if it had been around during York's prime he surely would have participated in a few of them as well.

  GEORGIA BAPTIST FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS
1917   Dick York        Catcher	 8th  Detroit
1926   Fred Barrell     Catcher	 3rd  Cougars
1929   Tom Barrell      Pitcher	 1st  Cougars
1934   George M Brooks  Pitcher  9th  Keystones

I will leave you with one more interesting fact on Dick York. He was the first player in FABL history to have two different regular season games in which he drove in at least 8 runs. He did it a game in 1922 and again two years later. That accomplishment has since been duplicated by Lou Kelly, who like York, played his college ball at Georgia Baptist. Kelly was a Gator from 1921-23 before being selected in the fourth round of the 1923 draft by the Chicago Cougars.

[Tiger Fan]

BILL CRAIGEN

It is hard to imagine that anyone could have a greater impact in multiple ways on a franchise than the contributions Bill Craigen made to the New York Stars. First as a player where Craigen spent the first 14 of his storied 19 year career where he won 3 World Championships and is second to the great John Waggoner in most team offensive categories and later as a the manager, a role he still holds and has piloted the Stars to 4 more World Championships including a record 3 straight from 1924-26. His 7 World Championship rings in total are believed to be the most anyone has ever achieved in FABL history.

The outfielder fraom Wahoo, Nebraska adapted to the big city very quickly and was a terrific player right from day one when he debuted with the Stars as a 19 year old. He would play all 140 games that season and made an immediate impact. Wahoo Willie's combination of power and speed allowed him to set a FABL record that year with 42 triples, smashing the previous highwater mark of 34 set two years earlier by Willie Winder of St Louis. His record stood until 1912 when Joe Ward hit 44 triples and to this day Craigen, Ward and John Dibblee are the only players to hit at least 40 triples in a season. Craigen also became the first player to hit for the cycle twice as a rookie. Only 14 other players have ever hit for two cycles in their career, let alone in one season and as a teenage rookie.

While he would never top 40 three-baggers again, Craigen would led the Continental Association in triples each of his first five seasons in the league and seven times in total. He also led the CA in homers three times, rbi's five times and batting average once, when he hit .340 in 1906.

As Craigen's career hit it's peak so did many of his Stars teammates and they would become a powerhouse, winning 4 CA pennants and 3 World Championship Series between 1902 and 1906. Craigen was a clutch playoff performer, hitting .398 with 37 hits including 10 triples in 22 World Championship Series games. Max Morris just recently tied Craigen for third all-time in Series hits while Craigen's 11 triples are 6 more than any other player in the history of the sport has ever hit in postseason play. He is also the all-time post-season leader in doubles with 9 and total bases with 68 (3 more than Morris, who is second) and tied for 16th in World Championship Series games played with 22.

When the Stars started to fade as the second decade of the twentieth century began he was traded to the Philadelphia Keystones prior to the 1913 season. He would spend his final five years on some very bad Keystone clubs before playing his final big league game at the age of 37 in 1917. His playing days would end with two seasons for Louisville of the AAA Union League - the only minor league contests he would ever play.

In all, Bill Craigen appeared in 2,405 FABL games (12th most all time) and today sits third on the career triples leaderboard with 381, 11th in hits with 2,906 and 13th in rbi's with 1,294. He was also named Most Valuable Player of the 1902 World Championship Series. What also often gets forgotten is Craigen was a terrific defensive corner outfielder. He spent some time at first base and even in center field when needed, but is work in left and right field was always outstanding. He recorded at least 10 outfield assists in a season eight times including 23 in his first season with the Keystones in 1913.

Following his playing days he embarked on the second stage of his legendary baseball career as Wahoo Willie was immediately brought back to New York and was named the Stars manager in 1920. The Stars had finished dead last in the Continental Association 3 of the previous 4 years before Craigen arrived and it was slow going early as a skipper for Craigen as he began with back to back seventh place finishes but then the tide turned. In 1922 the team won 80 games, their highest total since 1911 when Craigen was still a player, and two years after that they were champions - winning the first of 3 straight CA pennants and World Championship Series. He would guide them to a fourth title in 1932 and in his 15 years running the team he has a 1244-1061 career record.

Craigen presently ranks 10th all-time in manager wins and second among active skippers behind only Oscar Julious of Baltimore, but Julious has been a manager 14 years longer the Craigen. Craigen and the now retired Boston and Detroit legendary manager George Theobald are the only men to manage a team to 4 World Championship Series. At 54 years of age Craigen appears to have plenty of time left to take over sole possession of top spot in that category and perhaps even challenge Theobald's career record for wins by a manager with 2,237.

[Jiggs McGee]

WHERE DO THE 1934 DRAFT PICKS FIT IN ON THE JANUARY 1935 OSA PROSPECT RANKINGS?

Pretty much all of the 1934 draft picks have signed contracts and as a result they are now visible in the OSA top prospect rankings. Let's take a look and see how the first round of the draft should have gone if the OSA prospect rankings are to be trusted. A total of 26 players selected in the 1924 FABL draft now grace the top 100 prospect list for the league. Here is a look at those players and where they were actually drafted.

1934 DRAFTEES POSITION ON THE OSA TOP 100 PROSPECTS LIST (JAN 1935)
RK   NAME		POS	TEAM		DRAFT SLOT
1- Adam Mullins		C    Montreal 		Round 1 Pick  6
2- Bennie Griffith      CF Chicago Chiefs 	Round 1 Pick  5
3- Bobo White 	        P  Washington		Round 1 Pick  1
4- Woody Stone 		C Philadelphia Sailors	Round 1 Pick  8
5- Gus Goulding 	P Baltimore		Round 1	Pick  2
6- Charlie Artuso 	SS Toronto		Round 1 Pick  4
7- Jim Hensley 		SS Baltimore		Round 1 Pick 15
8- Lew Seals 		CF Pittsburgh		Round 1 Pick  7
9- George M Brooks 	P Phil. Keystones       Round 1 Pick  9
10- Dan Rogers 		RF Brooklyn		Round 1 Pick 14
11- Lou Barker 		P New York Stars	Round 1 Pick 10
12- Cal Knight 		P Pittsburgh		Round 2 Pick 23
13- Phil Gregg 		P Washington 		Round 4 Pick 49
14- Fred Galloway 	CF Baltimore		Round 2 Pick 31
15- Joe Nichols 	2B Boston		Round 1 Pick 16
16- Tip Harrison 	SS Brooklyn		Round 2 Pick 29
17- Lloyd Stevens 	3B Phil. Keystones	Round 3 Pick 41
18- Jack Goff 		P Toronto		Round 2 Pick 20
19- Lou Johnson 	P Washington		Round 2 Pick 17
20- Howard Brown Jr.  	CF Boston		Round 3 Pick 43
21- Jack Wood 		P Brooklyn		Round 3 Pick 37
22- Bob Donoghue 	LF Boston		Round 1 Pick 11
23- Heinie Billings 	CF Montreal		Round 4 Pick 54
24- Carlos Montes 	CF Chicago Cougars	Round 1 Pick 12
25- Dick C Bell 	P Phil. Keystones	Round 2 Pick 25
26- Ace Harman 		P Philadelphia Sailors	Round 2 Pick 24

Looking at the list above the Washington Eagles and Montreal Saints look like the biggest winners in the draft with Baltimore and the Philadelphia Keystones also making out quite nicely. The Eagles pitching prospect cupboard is well stocked now with first overall pick Bobo White coming in at third overall and as the top pitcher among the newcomers while second rounder Lou Johnson also cracked the top 100. The big surprise for the Eagles is seeing 4th round pick (49th overall) Phil Gregg, another pitcher, also land pretty high on the list. As for the Saints, they not only took the top spot with 6th overall draft pick Adam Mullins but also played their fourth rounder - 54th overall - Henie Billings in the top 100 prospects. Billings was the lowest drafted player to crack the list.

Here is a look from the other angle. A list of first round picks and where they slot overall in the first ranking of OSA top 100 prospects. The OSA rank in this list is the player's position overall among all prospects and not just within his draft class.

      1934 POST-DRAFT PROSPECT RANKINGS
PICK TEAM OSA RK  NAME		  POS   SCHOOL		
 1   WSH    18    BOBO WHITE      RHP  St Blane College
 2   BAL    27    GUS GOULDING    RHP  St Blane College
 3   DET   272    DEL BURNS	  RHP  Houston HS TX
 4   TOR    37    CHARLIE ARTUSO  SS   Lebanon HS TN
 5   CHIEFS  8    BENNIE GRIFFITH CF   All Hallows College
 6   MON     5    ADAM MULLINS	  C    Eastern Oklahoma Univ
 7   PIT    42    LEW SEALS       CF   Bluegrass State
 8   PHS    24    WOODY STONE	  C    Dunlap HS TN
 9   PHK    48    GEORGE M BROOKS RHP  Georgia Baptist
10   NYS    51    LOU BARKER      LHP  Lubbock State
11   BOS    85    BOB DONOGHUE    LF   Iowa A&M
12   COUG   88    CARLOS MONTES   CF   Citronelle HS AL
13   STL   108    ART CASCONE     LF   Bigsby College
14   BKN    49    DAN ROGERS	  RF   Canton South HS OH
15   BAL    41    JIM HENSLEY     SS   Walton HS Bronx NY
16   BOS    63    JOE NICHOLS     2B   Golden Gate University

What stands out the most on this list is Del Burns, the third overall pick from Detroit. Burns was a High School All-American Burns after posting an 11-0 record with a 0.81 era in 16 starts this season for Houston High School. His 0.75 WHIP was the lowest among all high school seniors but for some reason he has fallen out of favour with OSA scouts. Perhaps he is just a one season wonder as he, as a legacy player also has feeder league stats for us to peruse. In 1933 as a junior he was a much more pedestrian 3-3 with a 5.09 era and a 1.58 WHIP. His era+ that year was a decent but not spectacular 118 so what remains to be seen going forward is did Detroit get the Del Burns of 1934 or the 1933 version with their pick?

[Jiggs McGee]

WAVE OF YOUNG PITCHING TALENT WASHES OVER FABL

Are we about to enter an era dominated by elite pitching? It might be hard to believe that will happen, especially after batting averages were up and ERA's soared last season in both leagues over the previous year. However, it is hard to argue that we are not at the beginning of a golden era of elite pitching talent.

Let's start with a look at the young pitching stars that are here now. Tom Barrell, Dean Astle, Ed Wood, Bill Anderson, Bernie Johnson, Milt Fritz and George Thomas were all 26 or younger last season and all won at least 12 games. Brooklyn's Barrell had a breakout year as a 26 year old, winning his first Allen Award and posting a jaw-dropping 29-3 record. Cleveland's Astle won 17 games as 24 year old and looks like he also may earn an Allen Award or two before his ballplaying days are done. Ed Wood is a former Forester who had a breakout season as a 25 year old with the Boston Minutemen, posting a 16-11 record. In Canada there are a pair of new General Manager's and high hopes for the future of both clubs in no small part to some young arms. George Thomas just turned 25 but has already pitched parts of 4 seasons for the Montreal Saints, including a 12-11 campaign a year ago and in Toronto the Wolves have a pair of young studs in former first round draft picks Bill Anderson and Bernie Johnson, each of whom won 14 big league games a year ago. And one must not forget that the much travelled Milt Fritz is still just 25 years old and has already won 100 career FABL games. Fritz won an Allen Award as a 21 year old but that was 3 years and 3 teams ago as he has since been moved in blockbuster deals to Montreal and more recently the New York Gothams after beginning his major league career as a teenager with the Chicago Chiefs before being acquired by Brooklyn for a kings ransom.

Next we have the prospects, some of whom like Curly Jones, Dick Higgins, Joe Hancock and Dixie Lee look ready to make their FABL debuts this season while others like Lefty Allen, Al Miller, Bobo White and Gus Goulding are still a couple of years away. Just look at the riches of pitching talent the first round of the last few drafts have given us. 15 pitchers drafted in the first round of the last 4 drafts rank in the top 50 overall prospects.

				     PROSPECT
YR   PICK    TEAM        NAME        RANKING
1931  9   *St Louis   Dixie Lee		17
1932  1   Gothams     Curly Jones	 4
1932  4   Pittsburgh  Lefty Allen	 1
1932 11   Boston      Roy Price		40
1932 15   Keystones   Gene White	26
1933  1   Toronto     Joe Hancock       11
1933  2   Boston      Dick Higgins	 6
1933  3   Baltimore   John Edwards	13
1933  4   Chiefs      Al Miller	         9
1933  5   Brooklyn    Earle Robinson    46
1933  7   Brooklyn    Bob Cummings      41
1933 10   *Baltimore  Rusty Petrick	19
1934  1   Washington  Bobo White	21
1934  2   Baltimore   Gus Goulding      32
1934  9   Keystones   George M Brooks   47
  *originally drafted by a different organization

It is not only the first round that has provided some great pitching potential as these three later round picks look to be steals as each has cracked the top 50 prospect list.

				     PROSPECT
YR   PICK    TEAM        NAME        RANKING
1932  60   Cougars     Cy Sullivan	31
1932  98   Toronto     Buddy Long	33
1932 111   Keystones   Herman Patterson 34

And if the OSA scouting reports are to be believed the pool of elite pitching prospects will only get deeper over the next few seasons. Here are some names to watch as they all stand a good chance of being first round picks and eventually top fifty prospects.

      POTENTIAL FUTURE FIRST ROUND PICKS : HIGH SCHOOL PITCHERS
NAME		    SCHOOL		HOMETOWN	CLASS	DRAFT YEAR
Rufus Barrell II    Macon (GA) HS         Egypt, GA		SR  1935
George Garrison	    Cathage (IL) HS       Piggott, AR	        SR  1935
Bill Keith	    St Benedict(IL)HS     Milwaukee, WI		SR  1935
Leon Cavasos	    St Edmund Prep (NY)	  Newark, NJ	        SR  1935
Manny Franco	    Old Westbury (NY) HS  Atlanta, GA		JR  1936
Johnnie Jones	    St. Paul (MN) HS	  Albert Lea, MN	JR  1936
Pete Papenfus	    West Plains (MO) HS   Willow Springs, MO    JR  1936
Al Duster	    Council Bluffs(IA)HS  Bellevue, NE	 	SO  1937
Dave Volpe	    Ochards (WA) HS	  Portland, OR		SO  1937

      POTENTIAL FUTURE FIRST ROUND PICKS : COLLEGE PITCHERS
NAME		    SCHOOL		HOMETOWN	CLASS	DRAFT YEAR
Bill Seabolt	    Central Ohio Univ.    Brooklyn, NY		JR  1935
Frank Baker	    Sadler College	  Yarmouth, MA		JR  1935
Jack Clements       Northern Mississippi  Dayton, OH		SO  1936
Bunny Edwards	    Red River State       Kansas City, MO	SO  1936
Frank Beckman	    Whitney College	  Tonawanda, NY		SO  1936
Lou Robertson	    Oklahoma City State   New Castle, PA	SO  1936
Preacher Pietsch    Brooklyn Catholic     Raleigh, NC		FR  1937

There is no guarantee all of the above will still be as highly regarded when their draft begins and some, like Peter 'The Heater" Papenfus, have already seen their stock drop in the eyes of OSA evaluators but there will likely be others emerge. Either way I think you can expect the trend of pitchers dominating the top half dozen or so picks to continue.

[Tiger Fan]

MILT FRITZ

How about this for a trade? Dave Rankin, Tom Aiello, Ron Rattigan, Rod Barney, Taylor Hamilton and a first round pick (which turned out to be Bolivar Jim Smtih) in exchange for John Langille, Bill May, Chuck Murphy and a first round pick (which turned out to be Earle Robinson). Those were the two groups of players a former 12th round pick was dealt for 3 years apart. The player was Milt Frtiz, certainly not your average 12th round pick. In fact I think you would be hard pressed to find a better late round pick in the human GM era that Milt Fritz.

CAREER WINS PITCHERS DRAFTED 10TH ROUND OR LATER
NAME		AGE	W-L	DRAFT YR   DRAFT RD
Jim Lonardo	30    119-82     1925      10
Milt Fritz	25    100-72     1927      12
Marv Forster	31     53-61	 1922	   10
Jack Reed	38     41-48	 1919	   11
Marco Ramirez	35     40-36     1920 	   18
Marcel Besson	30     35-31     1925      10
Red Hampton	28     32-37	 1927	   13
Dick Miner	28     31-25     1923      13
Ray Benson	28     23-29	 1925 	   14
Cotton Taylor	32     23-35     1923	   11

There have been position players drafted late that enjoyed great success such as Jim Hampton, Carl Ames and Moxie Pidgeon but with the possible exception of Jim Lonardo, no pitcher ever drafted after the 10th round is anywhere close to being compared to Milt Fritz - and Fritz is still just 25 years old.

His career has been full of twists and turns but to win 100 career games by age 25 is a special accomplishment. Unfortunately there is no way in OOTP we can compare Fritz with everyone else to see how many pitchers had won their 100th game in their age 25 season or earlier, but here is sample of the career wins leaderboard to compare those pitchers with Fritz. This is all eleven 300 game winners in FABL history and those with at least 200 wins who pitched somewhat close to Fritz' era.

CAREER WINS LEADER   CAREER WINS        WINS BY END OF AGE 25 SEASON
Al Allen		514	1890-1909	 79
Charlie Sis		395    	1903-1921	104
Aaron Wright		341 	1899-1915	 77
Jack Long		339	1902-1919	 92
Charlie Wilson		332	1889-1901	250
Mike Marner		325	1907-1918	220
Woody Trease		325	1901-1912	166
Morris Harris		319	1892-1906	193
Alexander Elliott	317	1886-1906	135
George Johnson		311	1904-1917	 36
Price Adams		302	1886-1903	141

NOW SOME PLAYERS CLOSER TO FRITZ' ERA WITH AT LEAST 200 CAREER WINS
Danny Goff		252	1911-1927	 13
Denny Wren		250	1915-1920	 17
Mose Smith		249	1915-1929	 78
Bill Ross		227	1920-active	 36
Willie Couillard	224	1914-1931	 66
Don Cannaday		216	1916-1931	 58
Ken Carpenter		204	1921-active	 25
Luke Smith		204	1916-1929	 63

So from the chart above you can see Fritz had more wins by the time he finished his age 25 season then all-time wins leader Al Allen. And number two all-time in wins Charlie Sis, had only won 4 more games than Milt Fritz did by the end of his age 25 season. Now I am certainly not saying Milt Fritz will post Al Allen or Charlie Sis like win totals by the time his career ends but my goodness what Fritz has done so far is just an incredible accomplishment when you compare him with the list of names above. Looking at that list if he can stay healthy Fritz might just be a candidate to become the 12th member of the 300-win club. So how did a player who has been this good and even won an Allen Award, get traded 3 times before his 25th birthday? And how on earth did he suddenly become so good as a professional after a decidedly mediocre high school career.

Born in Jeffersonville, Kentucky in 1909 Fritz travelled west to Omaha to play his high school ball. His record in 3 seasons with the Plainsmen was a dismal 3-13 but his era was a respectable 3.92 and his ERA+ was 122 so he was nowhere near as bad as his record indicated. Omaha HS was a poor club in the years Fritz spent there but in addition to Fritz they also sent two of his teammates to the big leagues in outfielder Larry Vestal - a 1927 4th round pick who has hit .295 through his first 3 seasons in Washington - and Baltimore Cannons first baseman Jim Alexander, who was a teammate of Fritz in Omaha for just one year before being selected in the 10th round of the 1925 draft. He has played 478 games for the Cannons through 1934 and is batting .278. So there was a bit of talent on those Omaha teams despite the fact the club went just 47-73 during Fritz' time at the school.

It was really just a lucky break for Chicago when Chiefs selected Fritz with their 12th round pick in 1927. It was actually a pretty good draft for the Chiefs although surprisingly it is their late round picks who proved to be their best players. The Chiefs nabbed Jim Watson in the opening round- 12th overall -and traded him to Montreal before his big league debut in 1932 with the Saints. Watson has hit .326 in 351 games with the Saints over the past two and half years. Fifth round pick Ron Coles has proven to be a solid bullpen piece with the Chiefs but it is the picks immediately after the draft switched to auto selection that really made the Chiefs class. (In Figment human GM's pick for the first 10 round while the remainder of the 25 round draft is done by AI auto selection) How is this for an 11-14 round collection of players in a draft.

CHICAGO CHIEFS 11-14TH ROUND PICKS 1927 DRAFT

ROUND 11 3B Len Jones
A .305 hitter in 294 FABL games with Chiefs including batting .317 with 6 homers and 85 rbi's in 141 games as a 24 year old last season.

ROUND 12 P Milt Fritz
the subject of this article has already won 100 big league games. It is amazing to think that the 16 FABL General Manager's combined to feel 160 other players were better in that draft class than Milt Fritz, and the AI preferred another 27 players over Fritz.

ROUND 13 P Red Hampton
The lefthander from Liberty College is 28 years old now and has been a regular in the Chiefs rotation each of the past two seasons after going up and down between Chicago and AAA Fort Wayne for two years. He had a breakout season last year posting a 17-10 record despite a 5.64 era. Hampton is 32-37 for his career and as listed in a table above is 7th all-time in career wins by a pitcher selected in the 10th round or later.

ROUND 14 OF Leon Drake
A great decision drafting the high school outfielder in the 14th round was ruined by somehow allowing him to leave via the Rule V draft in just his second season as a pro. No idea how he was eligible for it but Cleveland snapped him up and he was a key piece of their World Championship team last season as well as a participant in the all-star game. The now 26 year old Drake is a lifetime .253 hitter with 38 homers in 407 career games with Cleveland.


So even without Fritz the cpu pick portion of the 1927 draft was incredibly good to the Chiefs. Fritz pitched just one season of minor league ball, going 13-13, 3.61 at Class A and 1-1 in AA as an 18 year old. Even with his solid season Fritz was overlooked again, as he was not ranked in the OSA top 100 prospects yet somehow suddenly in 1929, despite being just 19 years old, he was in the rotation of the defending Federal Association champions to start the season. Fritz went 18-8 with a Federal Association leading 3.22 era as a rookie in 1929. It was the year after the Chiefs had won the Federal Association pennant and they battled Detroit down to the wire before eventually settling for second place, two games back of the Dynamos. In addition to leading the league in ERA, Fritz' 18 wins were the fifth most in the Fed that season and he was just 2 strikeouts shy of league leader Roy Calfee of Detroit. He missed a couple of weeks early in the season with back tightness in 1930 but still went 16-9 with a 3.63 era in his second season with the Chiefs but Chicago dropped to 5th in the standings with a 70-84 record.

Meanwhile Brooklyn had been struggling to find quality pitching and had shaken things up 2 years prior with a blockbuster deal with Washington to nab the first overall draft pick which they used on can't miss college prospect Tommy Wilcox. Dreaming of a pair of elite arms that could front the rotation for years, Brooklyn made another huge deal for a pitcher, acquiring Fritz from Chicago just after the conclusion of the 1930 World Championship Series. Amazingly the pair would be teammates for just a year and a half.

It looked like the perfect deal for Brooklyn when Fritz went 23-15, 3.08 and won the Continental Association's Allen Award in 1931 while Wilcox, in his second full season, went 22-16. Despite the pair the Kings finished in 4th place that year and after a terrible start the following season the experiment ended with the trade of Wilcox to the Chicago Cougars in a package that brought another highly touted arm in Tom Barrell to Brooklyn. Fritz lasted the season with the Kings, posting a 16-12 mark but by the next year when Brooklyn was off to another terrible start and Fritz struggling with a 1-5 record and a 4.23 era he was dispatched to Montreal in the second blockbuster deal of his career despite being just 23 years old.

Montreal also looked like a perfect fit for Fritz as he went 13-10, 2.94 after the trade in 1933 but the Saints, who acquired him in hopes of a pennant push, faded from the race. With his earned run average at a career worst 4.74 and Fritz' record 6-5 in June 1934 the Saints, finding themselves in a rebuild instead of contending, decided to pull the trigger and send Fritz packing yet again. This time the destination was back to the Federal Association with the New York Gothams. He went just 7-8, 4.42 the rest of the season in New York but did help the Gothams win the pennant. Fritz got a win in the Series but also was tagged with a loss and had a terrible 8.18 post-season era as New York fell in 7 games to Cleveland. Fritz lasted just 3 innings in the pivotal game six after he was roughed up for 6 runs in the opening inning allowing the Foresters to stay alive in the series with an 8-3 win and take it to a 7th game which Cleveland also prevailed in.

So Milt Fritz' career may be at a crossroads at age 25. He came pretty well out of nowhere to burst on to the scene as a 19 year old, won an Allen Award and 23 games as a 21 year old after being traded but has been traded two more times since and his numbers have shown a decline from his early years. If he can get back on track in his new home with the New York Gothams there is certainly a chance Milt Fritz could be a 300 game winner. But perhaps there is also a small chance he might continue the downward trend he should in stretches with Brooklyn and Montreal. His rise to becoming an elite pitcher was one for the ages, but it will be very interesting to see where Milt Fritz goes from here. Fritz has surprised the experts throughout his career so who knows what he has in store for us going forward.

[Jiggs McGee]

WHAT FABL COULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE WITHOUT TRADES

When the era of the human General Manager began following the 1925 season in FABL, it marked a drastic change from the approach of teams in the pre-play days when the AI controlled all drafting and transactions. In those days the AI made few trades, and not a lot of blockbuster deals. It could also be argued that for the most part, the AI was also much poorer then our human GM's at drafting. So what would FABL look like had each of the human GMs decided never to make a trade and instead rely only on their drafting skills? What team would be the best?

Without the benefit of actual games, determining the best team is very subjective so for simplicity I decided to take the top 15 drafted players by each team (5 pitchers, 8 starting position players and 2 subs) and rank each team by last year's WAR total accumulated by the 15 players. I made some minor changes to positions in order to field the highest possible WAR team for each club but everyone was listed only at a position they are actually rated for.

Had human General Managers restricted themselves to only drafting and not trading we would have quite possibly had the first All-Chicago World Championship in League history. Here are how the teams stack up based on WAR totals last season from players drafted by each club:

      1934 STANDINGS BASED ON WAR OF DRAFTED PLAYERS
Federal Association		Continental Association
Chiefs		50.5		Cougars		46.5
Detroit		41.0		Cleveland	44.4
Keystones	39.3		Toronto		44.0
Gothams		39.0		Baltimore	41.5
Boston		34.6		Montreal	38.7
Washington	32.9		Brooklyn	38.0
Pittsburgh	32.3		Sailors		34.4
St Louis	29.7		Stars		28.2

Now before you go and gloat about how well or complain about how poorly you might have drafted remember there is flip side to this. The Chicago Chiefs, for example, had the highest WAR total among drafted players but aside from Bob Martin, all of their top producers had been traded away. So trading wisely and knowing which of your draft picks to move and which to hang on to is nearly as important as drafting the right guys to begin with. We have only had 10 human drafts so there are a number of players on the chart below who were not drafted by a human GM (like Max Morris for example). This is also only factoring in what current FABL player did last season so top draft picks over the past couple of years that have yet to make the big leagues do not factor in this at all.

The complete roster chart is at the bottom of this post. Here are a couple of quick observations:


1- The first thing that jumped out at me is how well Cleveland has done in drafting shortstops. How about this group: Harry Barrell, George Dawson, Woody Armstrong and John Wood. The 21 year old Barrell was a no brainer, a first overall selection in 1931 who has already made two all-star teams and seems destined for a lot more of them. George Dawson was taken in the second round of the 1929 draft and was the primary reason the Foresters felt they could part with Barrell. Dawson hit .313 last season while playing outstanding defense and is just 23 years old. Then you have John Wood, a 5th round pick in 1932 who was traded to Boston in a 1933 deal to bring Dan Fowler to Cleveland. The 23 year old former Wisconsin State star hit .275 in 151 games as a rookie this past season in Boston. He does not have the defensive skills of Barrell or Dawson but should still prove to be pretty good with the glove. You also have Woody Armstrong, a 1926 first rounder out of Chicago Poly. He was traded to Montreal in his first pro season and spent a number of years as the Saints starting shortstop before being moved to the Chicago Cougars last season.

2- It certainly has worked for them but the Chicago Cougars don't seem to be a team that has ever met a trade opportunity they didn't like. Aside from original human GM draft pick Bill Ashbaugh and a pair of AI draft holdovers in pitcher Dick Lyons, a 1921 second rounder, and shortstop Slim Bloom, taken 13th round of the 1923 draft, all of the other 12 Cougar picks were traded away. Now they got a lot of talent in return but how about a pitching staff that featured Tom Barrell, Dean Astle and Mike Murphy throwing to catcher Fred Barrell?

3- Toronto did surprisingly well. I always felt like the Wolves draft classes were below average but they scored pretty well on this report. Their numbers I believe were inflated somewhat because of solid AI drafting as Toronto had Tom Roberts (4.2 WAR), Cy Bryant (3.2), Dick Walker (3.0), Bill Eastep (2.5), Freddie Malley (2.3) and Don Summers (1.3) all make their Draft WAR team.

Here is a look at what each team would have looked like had they held on to all of their draftees.

[Tiger Fan]

FABL Bio of the Day

DANIEL PRESCOTT - OWNER BROOKLYN KINGS

Daniel Prescott, owner of a successful bottling and canning business, assumed ownership of the Brooklyn Kings baseball club in 1929 after it was sold off by the Presley family following the death of patriarch Malcolm Presley. Malcom or his brother Reginald Presley had been the owners of the Kings ballclub since 1898.

Daniel Karl Prescott was the third of four children born to bottling and brewery owner Wilfred Prescott and his wife Marta Krueger Prescott. His older brother Frederick would succeed their father as the president of Prescott Bottling and Brewery upon the senior Prescott's passing in 1918 just as Wilfred had followed his own father in heading the family business which had been formed in the 1850s. Daniel's maternal grandfather Wilhelm Krueger had been the chief brewmeister for the business and that is what brought his parents together and eventually Daniel's younger brother Elmer would become a world class brewmeister himself. The fourth child was a sister named Anna, who was 2 years younger than Frederick and just over a year older than Daniel and 4 years Elmer's senior.

Daniel had a great mind for business but his true love was athletics. It did not matter the sport, if it was competition Daniel wanted to participate. While not blessed with great natural talent, Daniel was not lacking for enthusiasm on the sporting field, so much so that rather than follow his brother and attend prestigious Henry Hudson University, Prescott pleaded with his father to allow Daniel to study at All Hallows, a smaller school in New Rochelle, for the primary reason that he would have a much better opportunity to play varsity sports for the Saints then he would for a powerful team like Henry Hudson University. His father finally relented allowing Daniel to enroll at All Hallows in the fall of 1899. Daniel would make school baseball team as a reserve outfielder. He would later describe himself "as a weak hitting, poor fielding player with a lack of speed" and the few that might have observed All Hallows play a game would certainly not dispute that assessment. Prescott was on the squad for three seasons but played in just a handful of games. Although it was not an official sport at the time, Prescott did have a little more success on the hardwood and participated in several exhibition games for the Saints Basket Ball, as it was known then, team.

When his college days came to a conclusion and with a degree in business, Prescott set out to make his mark in the family industry. While Reginald was focusing on the brewery side of the business, Daniel saw a great opportunity in the bottling end of the operation and was very successful expanding it to supply bottles and cans for many different beverage and food manufacturers in and around New York City. Daniel also never lost his passion for sports and his first foray into professional ownership was with the Brooklyn Prescott Brewers, a what would generously be called 'Semi-Professional" basketball team in the Atlantic League, a short-lived collection of basketball teams comprised mostly of former college players from the area, that existed between 1911 and 1924. Prescott even suited up for a couple of games himself in the first few years, filling in whenever the team was short on players.

When prohibition hit, Daniel's foresight to develop the bottling side of the industry would prove to be pivotal to the survival of the family business and it actually prospered at a time that many other manufacturers of beer and spirits were forced to shunt operations or face bankruptcy. It was during the Prohibition years that Daniel, with backing secured from his bottling wing of Prescott Breweries, that he purchased the Brooklyn Kings. While no financial details of the transaction were officially released, many insiders claim Prescott negotiated himself an incredible bargain on the purchase price as the Presley Trust was eager to unload the club after Malcolm Presley's death and the lack of business acumen displayed by his successor and nephew Eugene Weston.

Around the same time Prescott assumed control of the Kings he and his bottling company were perfecting designs on a pressurized tin can with a special coating that would prevent fizzy beer from chemically reacting with the tin container. It would be an invention that by the mid 1930s made Prescott a fortune. The purchase of cans, unlike bottles, did not require the consumer to pay a deposit. Cans were also easier to stack, more durable and took less time to chill. Prescott Brewery would be his first customer but by the end of 1935 he had produced and delivered well over a million cans as nearly every major brewery in the Northeast became a customer. The popularity of cans, and the patent that Prescott held, would greatly dwarf the profits of the brewery side of the business and would make the renamed Prescott Kings Canning Company worth a fortune.

[Tiger Fan]

FABL Bio of the Day

WASHINGTON ADAMS

The bio of the day delivers a minor league edition this time around as we focus on a player with one of the most creative nicknames in FABL history. Washington Adams, dubbed "Two Prez" by teammates early in his career, pitched in 850 games in a career that stretched from 1899-1916. However, only 3 of the those games for a total of 6 and a third innings were in the big leagues. That brief stint came in 1902 for the New York Gothams as Adams fanned four and walked one while allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits. He did not earn a major league decision.

Adams career certainly took the scenic route as the Frederick, Maryland native did not debut in organized American minor league ball until he was 24 years old. I say 'American' minor league ball because the pitcher somehow found his way into a professional league in the Dominican Republic before the old Scranton Sailors of the AA Eastern League signed him to a contract prior to the 1899 campaign. His stay in Scranton lasted all of a month before they cut him loose without ever seeing him pitch. He did get picked up by the Washington Eagles but they too cut him loose before spring training got underway and Adams ended up catching on with the Nashville Chieftains of the AA Dixie League.

He would spend 4 seasons in Nashville, pitching entirely in relief. Adams would appear in 51 games over those 4 seasons and be a member of the Chieftains 1899 Dixie League championship club. It would be the only title team Adams would ever be a part of. In 1902 he would catch the attention of the New York Gothams, who purchased his contract and would eventually give him those 3 precious games that made up the entirety of his big league career. In 1903 the Gothams elected not to renew his contract and he was signed by the Washington Eagles once again. He spent the entire 1903 season on the taxi squad - in those days teams carried a few extra players in case of injury rather than the modern minor league affiliate system we say today - and did not appear in a single game either for the Eagles or the Detroit Dynamos, who signed him in July after Washington cut him loose. Adams also spent some time in a similar fashion the next season with the Brooklyn Kings but after not playing at all in mid-July he was dispatched to the Wichita Rustlers, then of the Heartland League.

That would begin a journey that would take Adams to minor league outposts in Evansville, Fort Wayne, Memphis and Cedar Rapids. In all he would appear in 850 games, with all but one of his appearances in relief. His only start came in 1906, in his final game with Wichita and it did not go well. He allowed 9 runs on 13 innings and did not survive the 5th inning. He actually did not survive Wichita that night as the Rustlers released him and he did not pitch again until the next season in Evansville.

A relief specialist before that really became a thing, Adams is one of only 10 players in the entire history of professional baseball - major or minor league - to appear in at least 850 games but start no more than 1 of them. Number one on that list is still an active player. Carl Briggs is presently with the independent Tulsa Roughnecks of the Lone Star Association, but before that spent 13 seasons in FABL with the Boston Minutemen and Philadelphia Keystones. Briggs has pitched in 1,320 contests including 779 in the major leagues but his lone starting assignment came for the Minutemen in a 1917 game. Many on that select list of 10 players are much like Adams, career minor leaguers who spent a couple decades in the game but rarely got to the top of the hill. At least he has a great nickname though.

[Tiger Fan]

FABL PLAYER BIO OF THE DAY

JOHN COOK

Home run king Max Morris owns a slew of records as he winds down his amazing career. With Morris' Cleveland Foresters winning the 1934 World Championship Series the legendary slugger moved into a first place tie for another pair of records - most World Championship Series games played and runs scored. I imagine very few would be able to name the man who shares that mark with Morris, and still holds several other post-season career records. That player is a second baseman by the of John Cook.

Born in Troy, Michigan in 1881 Cook's big league debut at the age of 20 timed perfectly with the rise of the Boston Minutemen dynasty to begin the 20th century. Cook's first five years in the big leagues each saw him join his Minutmen teammates in the World Championship Series and he would play in a sixth series for Boston in 1912. Along the way he played in a record 31 Series games, more than any other player in history and scored more runs (22) until Morris equalled him on both counts this year. Cook's 130 Series at bats are still a record, 19 more than Bob Sykes (1894-1907) and 20 more than Morris. Cook is also tied with Calvin Kidd and Powell Slocum for the most singles in World Championship Series history with 30.

CAREER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES PLAYED LEADERS
	NAME	       GAMES     YEARS
1	John Cook	31	1902-1919	 
1	Max Morris#	31	1914-1934	 
3	Bill Barnes	28	1902-1918	 
4	Bob Sykes	27	1894-1907	 
5	Charlie Coller	26	1899-1912	 
5	Danny James	26	1908-1926	 
5	Bill McCaskey	26	1907-1922	 
5	Sam Sanderson	26	1912-1926	 
5	Charlie Venema	26	1907-1919	 
10	Powell Slocum	25	1905-1925	 
10	Tom Taylor#	25	1928-1934

#active players

Cook was never the best player in the league, in fact he was never the best player on his own team but he had a knack for being a steady conistent hitter and a possessed above average defensive skills, which earned him the nickame "Scoops". A gifted athlete, he was convinved by towering Minutemen teammate James Fisher to play basketball in the off-season despite just taking up the sport a few years earlier. Cook spent some time with the Boston and Rochester entries in the old semi-pro Atlantic Basketball League, excelling as a guard. His stay in that league was short-lived as he preferred to focus on baseball where he made much more of a mark. Cook hit .300 in his 31 Series games and was a fixture at second base for the Minutemen for over a decade before finishing out his career with 5 seasons in Brooklyn. His 2,505 career hits presently puts him with the 19th most of all-time and only 13 players have appeared in more than the 2,325 FABL regular season games Cook played in.

[DD Martin]

A record for Morris that I was not aware of. Will have to see if we can get back and see if Morris can get into sole possession of them as well.

[ayaghmour2]

I'd love to see Tom Taylor break that record!

[Tiger Fan]

FABL BIO OF THE DAY

JOHN LANGILLE

At age 23 and having completed just one FABL season, Brooklyn Kings third baseman John Langille seems far too young to warrant inclusion in the Bio of the Day. However, as good as Langille was as a rookie and all of the attention he received over the season after challenging for the Continental Association batting title there was one accomplishment of Langille's that received less recognition then it should have.

On September 16th in a 15-1 pounding of the Chicago Cougars in the Windy City, Langille set a Continental Association record for RBI's in a game and equalled a FABL mark that had been done just twice before by driving in 9 runs in the contest. No other Continental Association batter had ever driven in more than 8 in a single game. Langille's 9 rbi's that came on 3 homers and a double, equalled the FABL mark set by Ed Watley of Detroit in 1894 and matched by another Dynamo hitter by the name of Cy Lynch in 1924. Langille's 3 homers in the game also equalled a FABL record, a feat that has been accomplished 11 times but surprisingly never by homerun king Max Morris. Interestingly enough, Langille was the 4th player this season to have a 3 homer game, following Rankin Kellogg, Mahlon Strong and Lou Kelly.

       FABL SINGLE GAME RBI LEADERS
1  Ed Watley	 Detroit    9   09/29/1896
   Cy Lynch	 Detroit    9   04/16/1924
   John Langille Brooklyn   9   09/16/1934
4  Calvin Kidd   Cougars    8   07/14/1899
   Matt Younger  Detroit    8   05/12/1921
   Dick York     Detroit    8   08/30/1922
   Dick York	 Detroit    8   09/07/1924
   Bob Marceaux  St Louis   8   05/11/1925
   Lou Kelly     Baltimore  8   06/24/1929
   Jack Cleaves  Sailors    8   04/14/1931
   Dick Waller   Sailors    8   09/07/1931
   Bobby Barrell Keystones  8   07/02/1934
   Lou Kelly     Cougars    8   08/29/1934

Detroit seems to enjoy a lot of high scoring games and former Dynamos star Dick York is one of just two players to have more than one 8-rbi game. He was joined by Lou Kelly this season as Kelly became the only player to have an 8 rbi game with two different teams.

As for Langille the 3 homer, 9 rbi game is likely an abberation. He is not expected to develop into a power hitter - he hit just 10 all season but did swat 28 in 152 games of college ball with Commonwealth Catholic. The strength of the Canadian born third baseman is his ability to get on base, hit the ball in the gap and play defense. Despite being limited to 121 games this season because of injury, Langille still led the CA in doubles with 49 and topped the league in slugging percentage (.545) and OPS (.948) while finishing second to teammate Doug Lightbody in the batting race with a .359 average.

After playing high school ball in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta - a locale certainly much better known for producing hockey players than ballplayers - Langille took the long journey to the east coast to play his college ball at Commonwealth Catholic. The Knights have done a tremendous job in recent years developing pro ball players as Langille was preceeded by the likes of Vic Crawford, Dan Fowler and Barney Meeker - all former first round draft picks.

Langille hit .366 in his 3 seasons in Cambridge, and his .417 average as a junior in 1932 was the fifth highest in the entire AIAA that year. He earned second team All-American honours that year after being named to the first team as a sophomore in 1931. He failed to have his name called in the opening round of the 1932 FABL draft but was selected with the fourth pick of the second round by Montreal - the same team that had drafted former Knight Vic Crawford in the first round the year before Langille arrived at Commonwealth Catholic. He seemed a perfect fit in Quebec, a Canadian player with an opportunity to shine on one of the two Canadian FABL clubs and he debut #51 on the OSA top prospects list in April of 1933. However, his time as a Saint was limited to 16 games of minor league ball before he was dealt to the Brooklyn Kings in a blockbuster deal that brought Milt Fritz north. The deal was intended to aide the Saints in a pennant run but Fritz faltered and the team struggled down the stretch before parting with Fritz just over a year later.

As for Langille, he progressed through the Kings minor league system during the summer of 1933, leapfrogging fellow 1932 second round draft pick Ken Mayhew - the player who beat Langille out for first team All-American status in their junior seasons - and was in Brooklyn as a September call-up. Langille showed great promise for the Kings right away, batting .315 with a homerun in 25 games and cemented his status as their everyday third baseman for the 1934 campaign.

The challenge for Langille will be to avoid the sophomore jinx after a season that saw him finish 4th in the Continental Association's Whitney Award voting and help lead the Kings to within a game of the winning just the fourth CA pennant in team history.

[Tiger Fan]

FABL BIO OF THE DAY

It's a doubleheader today as we look at a pair of players who achieved the rarest of accomplishments - pitching a perfect game.

JOHN BLACKBURN

THE FIRST FABL PERFECT GAME

No-hitters have been relatively rare over the history of Figment baseball, especially in the human GM era which began in 1926, where we have only seen four of them. We had one no-hitter that initial season when Brooklyn's Topsy Moran threw one but did not get a second one until journeyman Frank Howk of Toronto found one night of magic and turned the trick in 1931. This past season was by comparison a bonanza of no-hitters when we actually had two of them, from Les Zoller of the New York Stats in May and less than a month later Doc Newell of the Philadelphia Sailors threw one. That was the first season since 1916 when Charlie Firestone and Jim Golden each tossed a no-no that we had a pair in the same season. In all there have been 32 no-hitters thrown since major league baseball began in 1876.

Only two players in FABL history have thrown more than one major league no-hitter. They are Bill Temple, who did it for two different teams- as a New York Star in 1900 and while with Detroit in 1904 - and former Boston Minutemen righthander John Blackburn who threw the first perfect game in FABL history in 1904 and a second no-hitter two years later. Those two are linked in history but had decidedly different careers.

Temple was one of the most talented pitchers ever to appear in the league and recorded 284 victories over a career that spanned three teams but ended far too early do to a variety of self-induced ailments primarily involving his enjoyment of spirits. But it is the other one - Blackburn, who we will focus on here. He pitched for four different teams in his FABL career and with a perfect game and a second no-hitter you would think he had to be star along the lines of Temple. But in truth John Blackburn made just 91 appearances in his big league career, posting a 40-32 career record.

Blackburn joined the Boston Minutemen in 1904, which was right in the middle of their period dominating the Federal Association. The Minutemen won 5 straight pennants from 1902 thru 1906. Blackburn was 28 years old when he made his pro debut in Boston. That was back in the era when players could still be signed off of semi-pro or factory teams and go right to the major leagues which is what Blackburn did coming from Dubuque, Iowa to the pinnacle of baseball with the game's best team. In May of 1904, in one of the first professional games of his career Blackburn made history, throwing the first perfect game FABL had ever seen. To this date only one other player has thrown a perfect game. That was Jack Small of Toronto, who tossed his gem just over a year after Blackburn's masterpiece.

Blackburn would go 16-10 with a 2.09 era for the Minutemen that season and while he was on their roster and earned a ring he did not pitch in the World Championship Series, which Boston won over a Toronto Wolves team that included a 27 year old pitcher by the name of Jack Small. As for Blackburn he would go 7-0 for the Minutemen the following season but appear in just 9 games. Boston did use him in the World Championship Series where he made two starts, winning one and losing one as the Minutemen fell to the New York Stars.

In 1906 Blackburn would start a career high 35 games for Boston and post a 17-18 record as they won yet another pennant. Like 1905, their opponent in the Series would be the New York Stars and once again Boston came out on the short end as Blackburn again went 1-1 in his two starts. However, Blackburn again made history as he would throw his second career no-hitter in September against the Chicago Chiefs.

Early the next season Boston cut him after Blackburn started the season 0-2 in 3 starts. He would spend the rest of the season in the minors and really much of the remainder of his career there save for a couple of brief big league assignments with the Chicago Cougars, Cleveland and the New York Stars over the next couple of years. His final FABL record was 40-32 and he was 87-103 in the minors, pitching until his retirement at age 40.

Really an insignificant career were it not for two special moments that put him in incredibly exclusive company alongside the great but ultimately tragic figure that was Bill Temple for throwing a pair of no-hitters and with Jack Small, who won 192 games over 12 seasons, as the only two men to throw a perfect game.

RUDY BELSHE

6 MINOR LEAGUE NO-HITTERS
In researching Blackburn, who threw the first perfect game in FABL history and is one of only two men to throw a pair of FABL no-hitters I came across the accomplishments of Rudy Belshe. Blackburn, or anyone else for that matter, pales in comparison to the two seasons Rudy Belshe had in 1905 and 1907 while playing in the Century League.

Belshe went 26-7 for the St Paul Disciples in 1905 with a 2.18 era and an almost unfathomable 700 strikeouts in 301 innings of work. Clearly something was off in the Century League settings that year but even with the inflated K's there were only 4 no-hitters tossed that season and 3 of them were by Belshe including a pair a week apart in July. The records are lost as to whether they were in back to back starts but we do know he threw a no hitter against Indianapolis on July 10th and followed that up with perfect game on July 17th. Three no-hitters seems like quite the accomplishment for a career but Belske did not stop there. Moved to Minneapolis of the same league in 1907 he would throw 3 more no-hitters that season for the Lumberjacks including a second perfect game and no-hitters a week apart by tossing one on August 25 against Kansas City and another on September 2 vs New Orleans.

So in a span of three seasons Belshe threw 6 no-hitters including 2 perfect games. Not bad for a player who's only major league experience consisted of one season with the Philadelphia Keystones for whom he went 8-14 with a 3.28 era in 1902. He never got a no-hitter in the big leagues but did toss a 4-hit shutout of St Louis that season. I think we will hard pressed to ever see another pitcher in Figment baseball throw 6 no-hitters in his career, at any level.

[Jiggs McGee]

TEN THINGS I THINK

by Jiggs McGee

A quick tour around the world of Figment Baseball. It has been a while since I did a 10 random thoughts column so I figure it is overdue. No surprise with all the recent activity out of Detroit this one will be Dynamo-centric.


1- It didn't take ex-Cleveland GM DD Martin long to make his mark in the Motor City. It started with the blockbuster deal that sent his two best players in Al Wheeler and Frank Vance along with a former Allen Award winning pitcher in Jack Beach to Brooklyn in the largest deal in league history as the Kings sent 8 draft picks and 5 prospects in return. But Martin was just getting warmed up. He also moved veteran pitcher Roy Calfee for a prospect and a 4th round pick followed by another veteran pitcher in Wayne Robinson, who went to the Cougars for Chick Meehan and AA infielder Homer Ray. So in a matter of days the Dynamos dealt away players who owned 3 Allen Awards, 3 Whitney Awards and 6 World Championship rings along with 429 career wins, 3115 hits and 357 career homers. The purge is not done yet as we can expect Henry Jones, and perhaps several others to be out the door before the July 31st trade deadline. It had to be done. Detroit was an aging team with some talent but also a lot of holes and it's minor league development and scouting system was in a shambles. It will be a long rebuild but in just a matter of days the foundation has certainly been put in place. It will make this draft exceptionally important to the Dynamos and they have done very poorly of late in that regard.

2- Want an example of Detroit's draft struggles. How about this: Harry Meek, Fred Keller, Donnie Scheuermann, Bill Moore, Doc Leach and Del Burns. Those are the Dynamos first round picks since 1927. Only Scheuermann has spent any time at all in the big leagues. It wasn't always that way in Detroit. Al Wheeler was a first round pick. Frank Vance and Roy Calfee second rounders and Henry Jones was taken in the third round but the past few drafts have seen the Dynamos draft class grade out pretty weak and as a result, before Martin's arrival the Detroit system was the worst in the league lacking even a single top 100 prospect.

3- I just hope Dick York does not get shown the door in Detroit. The grand old man of the Dynamos best days are certainly behind him but for more than two decades he has been a part of the Detroit organization and I would suggest you would be hard pressed to find a better leader or a person who sets a better example of what been a pro ballplayer should look like. York deserves to retire as a Dynamo and then should immediately be offered a minor league managerial job somewhere in the organization. Yes, Wheeler, Vance, Jones, Calfee and so on were the keys to Detroit's 1929 championship team but York was just as valuable off the field.

4- Did long suffering Brooklyn fans just see their team assemble a World Championship club for the first time ever. The consensus around the league is the Kings are assured of winning the pennant with the incredible collection of offensive talent they have assembled but don't count out the Philadelphia Sailors yet. The Sailors offense can't compete with Brooklyn but they play half their games in the most pitcher friendly park in the CA and have a terrific starting four in William Jones (6-1, 3.43), Doc Newell (5-1, 2.12), Russ Reel (3-3, 3.19) and Herb Flynn (1-2, 3.46). A couple of well thought out deals and the Sailors could stay in the race. The Cougars might have been there too if not for the Tommy Wilcox injury. The cats offense is very good and could rival Brooklyn's if Joe Masters and Mike Taylor can get untracked.

5- Is there a more surprising team this season then the Toronto Wolves. I am barred from their clubhouse so I won't say much more, but aside from that crazy decision, their new GM has certainly been on point this season.

6- Is there room for another Barrell in the Big Apple? I am not speaking of Brooklyn of course as there is no chance the pride of Macon High School Rufus Barrell II will join 4 of his uncles in the Kings organization, but the way it looks right now the grandson of scouting guru Rufus Barrell will find himself as a New York Star come December. That would really add some sizzle to the longstanding Brooklyn Kings - NY Stars rivalry.

7- Speaking of New York is everyone else just as excited as this reporter to see Curly Jones finally make his first start for the Gothams. Jones has been the most talked about prospect in recent memory, although much of it for the wrong reason after his decision to temporarily retire from the game before throwing his first pro pitch. Whether it was a legitimate desire to further his schooling or merely a negotiating ploy Jones did eventually come to his senses and sign with the Gothams. To catch everyone up on the Curly Jones saga. He was drafted first overall out of Henry Hudson University in December of 1932 but announced his retirement from the game just over a month later. Reportedly Rufus Barrell, a family friend and fellow Georgia native, talked Jones out of retiring and he did indeed sign with the Gothams. He went 16-7 over three levels as a rookie pro in 1933 and moved up to AAA midway through the 1934 season, but it was cut short by an elbow injury that shelved him for four months. He struggled at spring training this season and reinjured his elbow, delaying his big league debut but after three strong AAA outings he was promoted to New York last week and faced one batter in his debut May 15th. Ironically it was Rufus' son Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones and he induced an inning-ending fly ball before being replaced for a pinch-hitter. With Rabbit Day and Jim Lonardo both struggling Gothams Manager Ed Ziehl has stated that Jones will get his first big league start this week.

8- How fun is the Federal Association right now? A three way tie for first place with a fourth team just a half game back and two others within 2 games. Even last place Detroit is only 4 games out so anything can happen. Well maybe not anything as the Dynamos are expected to sink to the bottom but each of the other 7 teams, at least at this point in the season, look like contenders.

9- Is this just a brief slump or are we witnessing the beginning of the end for Mighty Max. The legendary slugger is now 40 years old and Morris has just 3 homers in 31 games so far this season. He sits at 669 for his career so are hopes of seeing Morris reach the 700 plateau perhaps starting to extinguish? He has gone 15 games without a homer but if I recall correctly he endured a similar slump a year ago and still managed to hit 26 dingers. His batting average and slugging percentage are also down a fair bit from last season's final total so perhaps this is the end of the line. Former Dynamo Danny James, who is 8th all-time at least for the moment with 212 career homeruns, hit 25 homers after his 40th birthday but that appears to be perhaps the most anyone has ever hit after turning 40. Of course, Morris is in a total separate class then every other player to ever play the game so it is hard to compare him to anyone.

10- Speaking of the homerun record let's check in on Rankin Kellogg. The Keystones superstar first baseman just celebrated his 32nd birthday May 2nd with an off day but homered the next day and presently has 6 on the season. Kellogg has led the Federal Association in homers each of the past four years and averaged just over 39 homers a season during that time. He has 368 for his career so if he can play until he is 40 and hit an average of even 30 homers a season that would put him at 658, or still 11 shy of where Morris is right now. There is a chance for Kellogg to catch Morris but it would take nearly a decade of consistency and good health for Kellogg to even come close.

[Jiggs McGee]

1935 DRAFT PREVIEW

OVER A BARRELL?

By Jiggs McGee

It is still only May and the full draft class and 1935 High School/College stats have yet to be released (they will come some time next week) but don't be surprised if the top three picks in the draft are Rufus Barrell II, George Garrison and Leon Cavasos. Now Barrell going first overall seems like it has been a foregone conclusion since his debut in the feeder leagues a couple of seasons ago but someone must have forgot to tell that to George Garrison as he may just be able to overtake Rufus for top spot. It will take a big season at Carthage High School in Illinois for Garrison to surpass the grandson of OSA scouting guru Rufus Barrell but from the scouting reports below and the stats each put up as a junior Garrison just might have a chance.

Here are the 1934 stats for Barrell, Garrison and Leon Cavasos and a pair of OSA scouting reports on each of them. The first is from the winter and the second one was just released this week. The first official OSA Mock Draft is expected to drop in just over two weeks so it will be interesting to see where the 3 fit in.



Let's take a closer look at each of them.

A member of the first family of sports, Rufus II is the grandson of scouting legend Rufus Barrell and the nephew of 5 FABL players in Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones and Dan, Fred, Harry and Tom Barrell who all play for the Brooklyn Kings. Only Tom is a pitcher so Rufus has been drawing comparisons to his Allen Award winning uncle for a couple of years although Rufus, unlike Tom, is a lefthander. Tom was selected 1st overall in 1929 and Harry also went first overall two years later. Fred was a third overall pick and Bobby was taken 4th overall in his draft year while the eldest Dan did not get selected until the 16th round but the fact that he was playing football, and not baseball, at the time for gridiron power Chicago Poly was likely a factor.

As for Rufus, or 'Deuce' as he is known, he was a High School All-American his junior season with a perfect 12-0 record after going 6-3 as a sophomore in the final season of the feeder leagues. He led all high school pitchers in his draft class in pretty much every category a year ago but George Garrison was right behind him in most of them.

Garrison was an honorable mention on the High School All-American team a year ago and scouts love his 6 pitch repertoire and outstanding control. He was born in Arkansas but now lives and attends school in Carthage, Illinois. He presently does not have the velocity of Barrell (Rufus tops out at 94 MPH while Garrison peaks at 90) but like Barrell, Garrison has a good frame and should increase his velocity as he matures - and actually has reportedly already added a bit to his fastball over the winter. It will take a big high school season for Garrison to overtake Barrell, but I wonder if it wasn't for his last name would the choice between the two of them be almost even?

Leon Cavasos is another pitcher with huge upside but he is clearly number 3 at this point. The 17 year old plays for St Edmund Prep in Brooklyn after growing up in Newark, New Jersey. Diminutive, at just 5'10" and 145 pounds, Cavasos relies much more on his off-speed stuff and his ability to induce ground balls. Like Barrell he is a lefthander but he started just 9 games last season. The upside potential is certainly there and he is expected to be a very durable pitcher without the stress throwing a 90+ mph fastball might put on the arms of Barrell and Garrison.

There is still a full season of college/High School ball to come and another 140-odd draft eligible players to be added into the pool but those are three names you want to remember as each could enjoy a very productive FABL career. I would not be surprised if Barrell, Garrison and Cavasos go 1-2-3 in December.

[Tiger Fan]

FABL Bio of the Day

JIM WEBB

Today's featured player is the answer to a pair of trivia questions regarding homeruns. Who is the player, active or retired, who has hit the most careers homers at all levels but has never play a major league game? Who is the career leader in homeruns at the Class B level? The answer to both questions is Jim Webb.

No one has hit more homeruns at the Class B level in their career than the 106 Jim Webb belted in three seasons with the Berkeley (now Bakersfield) Bears. Webb also hit 93 at the Class A level. In 1929 Webb smashed 59 homers for the Berkeley Bears. It was one shy of the C0W (California-Oregon-Washington) League record but did catch the attention of Jiggs McGee, who wrote this about Webb at the time:

Jiggs McGee
JIM WEBB of the Keystones organization led everyone with 59 homers but he played in the homer happy COW League and was a little old for that level at age 23 so I would not consider him a top prospect. OSA agrees as Webb is not even listed as one of the Keystones top 30 prospects. Webb is a natural 1B but can play 3B as well, which is good because no one is replacing Rankin Kellogg at 1B for the Stones for many years. A 9th round pick out of Opelika State, Webb repeated the year at Berkeley which certainly didn't hurt his big numbers. If he can post similar numbers at AA or AAA next year I might be convinced, but until that happens I don't see Jim Webb having an impact at the major league level.

As it turned out Webb did not make the major leagues, at least not yet. He is still active and still in the Philadelphia Keystones system but is being promoted at a snail's pace. Now 29, Webb finally made his AA debut with the New Orleans Showboats of the Dixie League this season after spending 5 years in A ball which came after his first three pro seasons were spent in Class B.

He still has some power and with 223 career all-level homeruns he has more longballs than any other player who has never played in the majors. Odds are Webb never will suit up for the Keystones so that record total will increase but he has quietly gone about his business every year and likely stuck around the Keystones system because he is a great leader with a tremendous work ethic, sort of a Crash Davis of FABL.

Jim Webb is the kind of player who deserves at least a chance to prove what he can do in the major leagues.

Here is a list of the top 20 homerun leaders at all levels and how many FABL homers and games played they accumulated.

ALL- TIME HOME RUN LEADERS (ALL LEVELS)
     NAME		HR   FABL HR  FABL GAMES
 1- Max Morris*		722 	669	2660
 2- Monroe Johnson	443	  2	  78       
 3- Rankin Kellogg*	437	368	1570
 4- Tom Elliot		430	  6	 109
 5- Johnny Sutton	426	 30	 216	
 6- Henry Mason		399	 15	 405
 7- Al Lane		381	 15	 186
 8- Victor Muller	376	  0        6
 9- Al Barber		352	  9 	 285
10- Al Hill		344	  0  	   6
11- Jim Showalter	338	  0 	   2
12- Noble Smith		335	  1       25
13- Bob Goss		330       1       67
14- Joe Masters*	319	257	1960
15- Walt Prevatt	318	  7	 284
16- John Martin		316       5   	 165
17- Roger Landry*	307	167	1386
18- Frank Mannarino	298	 16	 224
19- Hi Ramsay		288	  2	 130
20 -T.R. Goins*		284	221	1575

60- Jim Webb*		223	  0	   0
* indicates still active

[Jiggs McGee]

SCOUTING THE 1936 AND 1937 DRAFT CLASS

By Jiggs McGee June 3, 1935

We are just days away from the complete 1935 draft class reveal and the full high school and college stats for all draft eligible players coming out. Once that happens the focus will start to turn up on the prospects eligible for selection this December but before that happens lets shine a light on the players who, at least right now, look like the premier talents available in 1936 and 1937. Here is The Figment Sporting Journal's very early 1936 and 1937 mock drafts.

		1936  MOCK TOP TEN
 #    NAME		POS    SCHOOL			HOMETOWN
 1- JOHNNIE JONES	RHP St Paul(MN) HS		Albert Lea, MN
 2- SAL PESTILLI        CF   Narragansett College       Narragansett, RI
 3- WALT MESSER		1B   McKinley Tech (DC)		Eldersburg, MD
 4- WALLY DOYLE		LHP  Waco (TX) HS		Waco, TX
 5- BOB ARTESAN		C    Midvale (UT) HS		Salt Lake City, UT
 6- CARL ROE		RHP  Valley State College	Riverside, CA
 7- PETE PAPENFUS	RHP  West Plains (MO) HS	Willow Springs, MO
 8- LUKE BERRY		LF   Cressona (PA) HS		Kingston, PA
 9- TED GOLDSBY		SS   Cumberland University	Chicago, IL
10- BOB EDGIN		LF   Opelika State		Columbus, GA

Sal Pestilli and Walt Messer had dominant seasons a year ago. Messer was named the National High School Player of the Year and drew some comparisons to Max Morris at the plate after hitting 15 homers in 25 games while batting .613 for McKinley Tech in Washington DC. Meanwhile Pestilli, who's older brother Alf was a fourth round pick of Toronto this past December, dominated the college ranks as a freshman, earning All-American status and claiming the College Player of the Year award.

However, with the current trend of grabbing pitchers high in the first round we will place Johnnie Jones at the top of the heap, based primarily on a glowing assessment from OSA. Jones, a diminutive lefthander who relies on his off-speed stuff and pinpoint control to keep hitters off balance, is the only pitcher in his class that OSA currently feels has the potential to develop into a front-of-the-rotation ace. The 16 year old (he will turn 17 later this month) nicknamed "The Patron Saint of Groundballs", went 8-2 with a 1.33 era for St Paul High School in Minnesota. It really is a thin crop for pitchers in 1936 right now as only Wally Doyle, a high school lefthander from Waco, Texas and Cal Roe, a college pitcher for Valley State in Arizona are considered to be middle of the rotation talents. Beyond that, at least at this stage, OSA feels there are slim pickings for pitchers.

That will change as more players move to the forefront but right now I would say you should still keep an eye on Pete Papenfus, a flamethrowing righthander from West Plains (MO) High School. As a sophomore last year Papenfus put up better numbers than 1935 draft darling Rufus Barrell II but for some reason his stock has really dropped in the eyes of OSA's scouting staff. Papenfus, who along with Waco's Doyle, were named to the High School All-American team last year, is a player that could easily shoot to the top of the draft class if he can approach the numbers he put up last season in his next two years of high school ball.



The 1937 class is still very small (less than half filled at the moment)and only has a handful of college players but there are a pair of high school pitchers who stand out as potential number one overall picks along with a couple of third baseman who also look very good. It is far too early for a mock top-ten but here are 8 players to keep an eye on for the 1937 draft.

		1937 TOP HIGH SCHOOL PROSPECTS
   NAME			POS    SCHOOL			HOMETOWN
 1 DAVE VOLPE		LHP  Orchards (WA) HS		Portland, OR
 2 AL DUSTER		RHP  Council Bluffs (IA) HS     Bellevue, NE
 3 MARV LEAGUE		C    Newman HS (New Orleans)	New Orleans, LA
 4 ALEX BOYD		3B   Woodland (CA) HS		Woodland, CA
 5 BOB PREWITT		LF   Erin (TN) HS		Louisville, KY
 6 LUKE MICHAELS	SS   Santa Barbara (CA) HS	Santa Barbara, CA
 7 GEORGE MCDONALD	3B   Passaic (NJ) HS		New York, NY
 8 BABE HERSHBERGER     RHP  Moorestown (NJ) HS		New York, NY
 9 ROOSEVELT BREWER	2B   Washington HS (Chicago)    Chicago, IL
10 BILL MURNANE		CF   Stone Mountain (GA) HS     Anderson, SC

I could see a real debate developing for the number one pick between Volpe and Duster. Duster boasts the slightly better freshman stats but at this point there is not a lot to separate the two of them. There could be a college player step up and supplant the two of them or if a pitcher does not go first overall it might be because catcher Marv League continued to develop. The 16 year old New Orleans native has huge potential, both with his bat and behind the plate, plus he is a natural leader. No one would question League's work ethic but there are some concerns about his baseball IQ.

Brewer and Murnane are interesting. Both saw their stock drop over the winter but each was named a High School All-American as a freshman last season, while Michaels - who is 6th on this mock - was an honorable mention and all three but up big offensive numbers. It will be interesting to track how each progresses over the next 3 high school seasons.


I will have much more on the 1937 class after the college freshman class is revealed next week.