All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal - Page 7

Jiggs McGee · 02-18-2021, 04:40 AM

HIGH SCHOOL AWARD TO BE NAMED AFTER BIRMINGHAM LEGEND ADWELL

The Figment Sporting Journal's National High School Player of the Year Trophy now officially has a name after it was announced it will be known as the Adwell Award. The award, first presented a year ago following the 1934 school season, will be named after Red Adwell. Adwell was the winningest pitcher in high school history under the old feeder league system, pitching for Birmingham High School from 1910 thru 1913 before going on to spend a decade in FABL with the Pittsburgh Miners, Chicago Chiefs and Philadelphia Keystones.

"Red Adwell was one of the greatest high school players of all-time and displayed both the skill and character that is the embodiment of what this award stands for," explained Figment Sporting Journal publisher Charles C. Clay in a media release.

Adwell led Birmingham High to a National High School title as a sophomore in 1911 and his 30 career regular season wins are the most ever recorded by pitcher. That record set during the feeder league era will likely be surpassed at some point in the future with the new high school rules but no other high school pitcher won more than 26 career games in the feeder environment, although Rufus Barrell II recently completed his high school career with 29* wins. However, only Barrell's first season was during the feeder league system. Adwell, who also spent two seasons in the minor leagues pitching in Birmingham, was a charter member of that city's Sports Hall of Fame established in 1931.

Following his school days Adwell was selected 8th overall by the Pittsburgh Miners in the 1913 FABL draft. Turning down numerous college offers, Adwell turned pro and would make his major league debut at the age of 25 with the Miners. Traded to the Chicago Chiefs midway through his rookie FABL season, the best days of Adwell's decade long big league career came in Chicago highlighted by a 21 win season in 1924. Ironically his best season in the Windy City would also be his last as Adwell was dealt to the Philadelphia Keystones just prior to opening day 1925 and he would finish out his career with the Keystones including a 15-12 1927 campaign that saw his club win the World Championship Series, although Adwell did not pitch in the Series.

Demoted to the minors in 1930 at the age 35, Adwell would retire at the end of that season. He finished with a lifetime FABL record of 134-128 and has recently embarked on the second phase of his baseball career joining the Keystones organization in a coaching capacity as the pitching instructor for their Class C affiliate Beaumont Buffaloes.

The 1935 winner of the Adwell Award will be announced later this week. The inaugural winner last season was sophomore first baseman Walt Messer of McKinley Tech in Washington DC.

*- Note- 1932 feeder league stats are lost to history for many players. It is quite likely Barrell won games that season which would have allowed him to surpass Adwell, although the vast majority of Barrell's wins came after the feeder system was disbanded.

BARRELL, MESSER HIGHLIGHT 1935 PREP ALL-AMERICAN TEAM

Seven repeat selections including 1934 National High School Player of the Year Walt Messer headline the 1935 Figment Sporting Journal High School All-American Team. Messer, who just completed his junior season at Washington DC's McKinley Tech, failed to win the high school triple crown as he did a year ago but he did lead the nation once again in batting, hitting at a .604 clip with 10 homers and 39 rbi's in 21 games. Messer is joined on the team by Rufus Barrell II, a lefthander from Macon, Georgia who has compiled a 29-3 record over 3 seasons of high school ball including 11-0 this year - his second straight season without a loss. Barrell is tabbed as a potential first overall selection in the December FABL draft.

Other players making their second straight appearance on this the second annual High School All-American list include Suffolk, Virginia catcher Bill Van Ness (.516,3,28), infielders Chuck Adams (.571,12,50) of Memphis High School and Jim Lightbody(.517,1,28) from Alexandria, Louisiana, outfielder Si Crocker (.456,10,36) from East High School in Buffalo, New York and pitcher Wally Doyle (11-0, 0.98), a junior out of Waco, Texas.

Here is the complete list of the 1935 All-American team.

Tiger Fan · 02-18-2021, 10:16 AM

FABL BIO OF THE DAY

THE GOLDEN ARMS OF MANDEVILLE, LOUISIANA

Tiny Mandeville, Louisiana was best known as being a resort hangout for the New Orleans middle class since it's creation in the mid 1800s. While today Mandeville boasts a population of over 12,000 in 1900 there were barely 1,000 residents but two of them would go on to become pretty good FABL pitchers.

Jim (1909-20) and Rip (1913-22) Golden combined for 417 FABL victories, 5 World Championship rings and 2 Whitney Awards of the course of their careers. Each began playing semi-pro ball for local teams in nearby Hammond, Louisiana before being discovered by FABL scouts. The call came for Jim first, despite the fact he was 4 years younger than Rip, as the Detroit Dynamos signed him after witnessing him pitching for Hammond against a New Orleans club in 1908. He would go directly from the semi-pro circuit to the big leagues and did so with a bang. Rip, meanwhile, had been nursing a broken leg suffered that spring while working on the steamships that ferryed back and forth across Lake Pontchartrain between New Orleans and Mandeville, so he did not catch the attention of Detroit scouts. In fact it would not be until 1912 when Rip was finally signed by the Chicago Chiefs as a 26 year old and his big league debut would come the following season. In Rip's final year with Hammond ballclub he showed some of the skills that would later lead him to becoming a pitching coach as he mentored a then 16 year old Johnny Taylor before Taylor went on to pitch for St Blane University and spend 5 years in the big leagues himself.

By 1913 when Rip was preparing for his big league debut in Chicago, younger brother Jim was already a FABL veteran. Jim took the Federal Association by storm in 1909 when as a mere 20 year old he would win 23 games and then add two more victories in the World Championship Series to lead Detroit past Toronto for it's first of 5 FABL titles for the franchise. Jim was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1909 series and would play a key role for 4 more pennant winning Detroit squads, finishied with an 8-3 career postseason record to go with a 1.97 era and 4 World Championship rings. He would follow up his rookie season with two more twenty win campaigns including a league best 29-13 in 1911 but he was just getting started. 1913, the year Rip debuted in Chicago, Jim was named the Whitney Award winner as Most Valuable Player of the Federal Association after posting a league best 31 victories. Jim would win a second Whitney Award in 1916, when he went 35-9 and led Detroit to the first of three World Championships in a four year span. Only Mike Marner, with 36 for Baltimore in 1908, won more games in a single season since the turn of the century than Jim Golden's total that year.

Jim Golden remains to this day the all-time leader in career World Championship games won and only Woody Trease has pitched in more than the 100 World Championship Series innings that Golden has tossed.

Code:


 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES WON
 1 Jim Golden		8   1909-19  Detroit
 2 Woody Trease	        7   1902-11  Boston/Detroit
 2 Charlie Wilson       7  1893-1901 Gothams/Sailors/Cleveland
 4 Morris Harris	6  1893-1902 Gothams/Cougars/Stars
 5 Bill Ross#	        5   1922-33  Cougars/Keystones
 6 Allan Allen		4  1895-1904 Cougars/Toronto
 6 John Bigness		4  1899-1906 Cougars/Boston
 6 Mike Marner		4   1907-14  Baltimore
 6 Bill McDaniel	4   1902-05  Boston
 6 Joe Myres		4   1919-21  Montreal
 6 Dick Richards#       4   1924-32  Stars
 6 Luke Smith	        4   1924-25  Stars

# still active

As mentioned Jim led Detroit to 3 World Championships in a 4 year span starting in 1916. The one season the Dynamos did not win, 1917, the title went to the Chicago Chiefs, who had finished second to Detroit the previous season. Pitching for the Chiefs in that period was, of course, Jim's big brother Rip. In 1917 Rip was the number four starter for the Chiefs but he did win 13 games that year. Rip had an equally impressive debut as his brother - although he was 27 at the time - going 25-15 with a league leading 2.03 era in 1913. It would prove to be the best season of his career as he never again won twenty but did post a 148-158 record over 10 seasons with the Chiefs and Pittsburgh before retiring as a player at the age of 38 after spending a year in the minor leagues.

Jim, on the other hand, was a legend in Detroit, where he won 269 games and spent his entire career, one that had a tragic early end when at the age of 31 in 1920 he suffered a back injury that he would not return from. Both brothers remain active in the game after their playing days. Jim Golden has been the assistant General Manager of the Brooklyn Kings for the past seven years while Rip briefly managed an independent team in the Great West League before joining the St Louis Pioneers organization as a pitching coach for their AAA affiliate in Hartford.

It is believed the pair are the most successful pitching brother act in FABL and perhaps surpassed as a baseball family only by the legendary Barrell's, although Jim has witnessed first hand the rise of another pair of ball playing brothers from a small town in Louisiana as outfielders Doug and Frank Lightbody may one day surpass the Golden's as the premier baseball family of Louisiana.

Jiggs McGee · 02-19-2021, 09:29 PM

BARRELL WINS ADWELL AWARD

When you are a part of baseball's first family it is not very often that you are able to accomplish something that no other Barrell had achieved previously however Rufus "Deuce" Barrell II has claimed a distinction none of his famous uncles can lay claim to by winning the Adwell Award as the nation's top high school baseball player. Now the fact that the award has only been around for two years is obviously a factor although even then there are doubts that either Bobby or Harry Barrell would have laid claim to one. Both were dominant ballplayers in high school and have developed into FABL stars but only young Rufus can be called an Adwell Award winner.

Rufus capped a terrific career at Macon High School in Georgia with an 11-0 season that saw him fan a record 199 batters in just 117 innings breaking the mark established last year by Pete Papenfus of 189. Barrell also established a new mark for ERA in a season with a 0.38. This followed a 12-0 junior season in which Barrell posted an 0.81 era and fanned 185.

Barrell's career mark including his sophomore season under the feeder leagues is 35-6 with a record 553 strikeouts. His career strikeout total obliterated the old feeder league mark of 387 set by John White, who pitched for Wilkes-Barre High School from 1913-16 before going on spend 7 years in FABL with the Philadelphia Sailors and Brooklyn Kings. Next up for Rufus is the December draft where he currently is projected to be selected 4th according to the OSA mock draft but most experts assume he will be the likely first overall pick, which is nothing new for the Barrell clan as both Harry, who played at Atlanta High School, and Tom, drafted out of Georgia Baptist University, each were selected first overall.

Code:

[b]
	BARRELL DRAFT PICK  HISTORY
1923 16th round     Dan Barrell       OF Washington DC HS['b]
1926 3rd overall    Fred Barrell      C  Georgia Baptist
1928 6th overall    Bobby Barrell     RF Atlanta HS
1929 1st overall    Tom Barrell       P  Georgia Baptist
1931 1st overall    Harry Barrell     SS Atlanta HS
1935   ?            Rufus Barrell II  P  Macon HS

Code:


	ADWELL AWARD WINNERS
1934   Walt Messer	 1B   McKinley Tech     Washington DC
1935   Rufus Barrell II  LHP  Macon High School  Macon, Georgia

Note - Rufus' missing 1932 High School stats as a freshman under the old feeder league system were uncovered recently so his career totals mentioned above are updated.

Jiggs McGee · 02-19-2021, 10:22 PM

JUNE 18, 1935

COLLEGE ALL-AMERICAN TEAM REVEALED

Pitcher Al Jones of Central Ohio highlights the 1935 Figment Sporting Journal College Baseball All-American team selections. Jones becomes the second member of his family to be named to the All-American team as his older brother Freddie, who also played at Central Ohio and is now a star second baseman for the St Louis Pioneers, was selected twice: in 1929 and 1930. The 21 year old Jones was 9-3 with a 2.93 era and an AIAA leading 141 strikeouts in 16 starts for the Aviators. Jones is also favoured to win the first annual Frank Christian Trophy, to be awarded to the player judged to be the best in college baseball. While previously unnamed, the college player of the year has been awarded annually since 1927 and Freddie Jones was the winner in 1930 so little brother Al is looking to follow in his footsteps in that area as well.

The only player to repeat as a member of the All-American team was outfielder Sal Pestilli, a sophomore from Narragansett College. The Rhode Island native won the college triple crown a year ago while hitting over .400 and was named the National Player of the Year. His numbers dipped this season but he still hit .353, second only to Alex Lacomb of Cuyahoga University, and Pestilli did enough to warrant a return to the All-American team.

The draft eligible first team All-Americans include a pair of Topeka State Braves in catcher Charlie Gagnon and second baseman Mickey Fulton. The duo were the only teammates to be selected. Other draft eligible juniors named to the first team are Hal Wood, a shortstop from Smithfield College, Ohio Poly third baseman Mike Roberson, Northern California outfielder Ollie Williams and Central Ohio's Jones.

The OSA mock draft tabs Smithfield College's Wood as the top college player eligible and they slot him in as 6th pick in their initial mock draft. Wood, a 21 year old from Houston is hailed for his outstanding defense and projected to be a solid major league shortstop.

Code:


1935 FIGMENT SPORTING JOURNAL'S COLLEGE ALL-AMERICAN TEAM

	        FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
POS  NAME		 CL     SCHOOL		HOMETOWN
C  Charlie Gagnon	 FR  Topeka State        Milwaukee, WI
1B Jim Hammond 		 FR  Redwood Univ	 Salt Lake City, UT
2B Mickey Fulton 	 JR  Topeka State        Wichita Falls, TX
SS Hal Wood 		 JR  Smithfield College  Houston, TX
3B Mike Roberson 	 JR  Ohio Poly		 Bridgeport, CT
OF Joe Zielinski 	 SO  Ceasr Rodney	 Buffalo, NY
OF Sal Pestilli 	 SO  Narragansett	 Westerly, RI
OF Ollie Williams 	 JR  Northern Cal	 Georgetown, TX
P  Al Jones 		 JR  Central Ohio        Nashville, TN

	      SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
POS  NAME		 CL    SCHOOL		 HOMETOWN
C  Bob Higginbottom 	 JR  Opelika St		 Memphis, TN
1B Max Smith 		 SO  Texas Panhandle     Dallas, TX
2B Austin Moore 	 JR  Garden State	 Soledad, CA
SS John Bonner 		 FR  Maryland St	 Pampa, TX
3B Billy Dalton 	 JR  Perry State	 St Louis, MO
OF Luis Herrero 	 SO  Coll of Binghamton  New Rochelle, NY
OF Alex Lacombe 	 FR  Cuyahoga Univ.      Cleveland, OH
OF Charlie Nathan 	 FR  South Valley State  Brownwood, TX
P Bunny Edwards 	 SO  Red River State     New Castle, PA

Jiggs McGee · 02-19-2021, 10:53 PM

THE FRANK CHRISTIAN TROPHY

The Figment Sporting Journal has selected a player deemed to be the best in college baseball every year since 1927. That award will now have a name after it was announced recently that the Frank Christian Trophy has been created and will be presented annually to college baseball's top player beginning with the 1935 season.

Christian was a legendary coach at Lubbock State who guided the Hawks from 1910 when the AIAA baseball originally began until his retirement following the 1933 season. He led the Hawks to a pair of National Titles in 1922 and 1928 and his team qualified for the AIAA playoffs on 4 other occasions. His lifetime managerial record of 620-582 places him second only to Hal Quinn in college wins and games managed. Among the many players he developed for the next level is Bill Moore, who was recently named the greatest player in the first 25 years of AIAA baseball and was the only two-time winner of the College Player of the Year award. Coaching ran in the Christian family as Frank's brother John Christian was a long-time football and basketball coach, first at Noble Jones in Atlanta and later for Red River State.

CENTRAL OHIO'S JONES WINS INITIAL CHRISTIAN TROPHY

As was widely expected Central Ohio University pitcher Al Jones was named the first recipient of the Frank Christian Trophy as college baseball's top player for 1935. The 21 year old Nashville, Tennessee native is following in his older brothers footsteps as Freddie Jones was a standout second baseman for the Aviators before joining the St Louis Pioneers. Freddie was the first Central Ohio player to be named the College Baseball Player of the Year, having won the award in 1930.

While expected to be selected in the December draft, it is very unlikely the younger Jones will be a first round pick like his brother. OSA scouts see him as a back end of the rotation type pitcher once he matures, but do rave about his dominant curve ball and his ability to get strikeouts. That was on full display this season as Jones led the AIAA in K's by a wide margin, fanning 141 batters in 110 innings of work while posting a 9-3 record.

Here is the complete list of college player of the year winners.

Code:


	FRANK CHRISTIAN TROPHY* WINNERS 			
YEAR	NAME		POS	CLASS	 SCHOOL
1927	Sam Orr		2B	FR	Henry Hudson
1928	Tommy Wilcox	P 	JR	Liberty College
1929	Vic Crawford	OF	JR	Commonwealth Catholic
1930	Freddie Jones	2B	SO	Central Ohio
1931	Bill Moore	1B	SO	Lubbock State
1932	Bill Moore	1B	JR	Lubbock State
1933	Joe Hancock	P	JR	Henry Hudson
1934	Sal Pestilli	OF	FR	Narrangansett
1935	Al Jones	P	JR	Central Ohio

* Award was not dubbed the Frank Christian Trophy until 1935

Jiggs McGee · 02-22-2021, 07:25 PM

JULY 1, 1935
TEN THINGS I THINK: DRAFT POOL EDITION
By Jiggs McGee

I am back with another edition of "Ten Things I Think" and today's focus will be on this December's draft. So with no more delay let's get right into with a fearless prediction.

1- If Rabbit Day does not get there first then Rufus Barrell II will be FABL's next 300 game winner. Remember you read that here. Even if the 31 year old Day does get the 144 more victories he needs before his playing days are done I still expect Deuce Barrell to be a 300 game winner as long as he stays healthy. I would also not be surprised if by the time his playing days are over Barrell will be baseball's all-time strike out king. I think the kid is major league ready now at age 18. How else can you explain a high school pitcher with 199 strikeouts and just 4 walks in his draft year. The mock draft has Rufus currently slotted 4th but I can not see any way Rufus is not selected first overall and he may be what I believe would be the first high school pitcher to go straight to the majors without at least a season in the minors.

2- According to OSA this is the year of the first baseman with four of them presently projected to go in the opening round including first overall Red Johnson. Johnson, who hails from Portland, Oregon, hit 21 homers the past two seasons for Central Catholic High School in his hometown and is said to have elite raw power. OSA calls him a future all-star and he may be a great consolation prize after Barrell for the Detroit Dynamos, who's Thompson Park seems perfectly designed for the righthanded Johnson. The Dynamos are likely thinking pitcher - perhaps George Garrison - with the second overall pick which they are sure to have as the basement dweller of the Federal Association but Johnson might be the perfect replacement for Al Wheeler.

3- There must be something about small Rhode Island colleges. Hal Wood, from Smithfield College in Smithfield, Rhode Island, is the best of the college crop of draft eligible players. Last year we had Alf Pestilli from Narragansett selected in the fourth round and next year each school has a potential first round pick in Smithfield second baseman Yank Buxton and Narragansett's Sal Pestilli, who was the National College Player of the Year as a freshman and an All-American last year as a sophomore. He is the younger brother of Alf.

4- Who will be the first teammates selected in the draft this time around? Last year it was obvious that St Blane University pitching mates Bobo White and Gus Goulding would go high and they did with White going first overall to Washington and Goulding taken next by Baltimore. The year before it was a pair of Hartford High School pitchers who both celebrated early with John Edwards being selected 3rd overall by Baltimore and Al Miller going fourth to the Chicago Chiefs. In 1932 we had Curly Jones going first to the New York Gothams and his Henry Hudson University teammate George Gilliard being taken 5th by Washington. 1931 gave us a pair of Central Ohio Aviators with second baseman Freddie Jones being taken second by St Louis and Boston grabbing pitcher Jim Taylor 10th. Central Ohio actually went one better that year with 3 players taken in the first round as Detroit selected P Joe Stevens 12th overall.

There are no sure bets like White/Goudling last year or Jones/Gilliard a couple of years prior but if I was to make an educated guess I would say it will be a pair of Central Ohio Aviators celebrating first once again as pitchers Al Jones and Bill Seabolt should likely both go by the end of the second round.

5- Speaking of Al Jones he is the younger brother of St Louis Pioneers star second baseman Freddie Jones. Al, a pitcher, followed in his brother's footsteps to Central Ohio and like Freddie won a Frank Christian Award as college player of the year. Now he hopes to duplicate Freddie in the draft and go in the first round.

6- The Jones' are not the college brother act as Henry Hudson University has the Gilliard's. Ed is draft eligible this year after the outfielder hit .271 with 7 homers for the Explorers last season. George also went to Hudson before being selected 5th overall by Washington in 1932. He is currently pitching in AA. Another brother of a pro ball player in this year's draft class is Roy Oldham. Roy was born in Nashville just like the Jones boys but he is younger so he likely did not play with Al Jones at any point in his career. Roy is an 18 year old third baseman from Nashville Bible School who OSA feels may have big league potential. The big leagues are something that so far have eluded 30 year old Ray Oldham, who is also a third baseman and played his high school ball at the old Nashville High School of the feeder leagues. Roy spent some time in the Kings and Foresters organization but is presently playing for San Antonio in the independent Lone Star League.

7- Staying with the family connections there are a number of sons of former big leaguers in the draft with the most famous being Ed Ziehl's son Eddie. The elder Ziehl was one of the greatest hitters in FABL history and it appears Eddie may have inherited a bit of that talent. A third baseman, Eddie hit .448 for Mount St Michael Academy High School in New York City this past season. Perhaps playing on his dad's nickname (The Lion), OSA says Eddie could be penciled in for a lions share of the starts at his position once he matures.

8- Other father/son draft duos are Jack Blanton, a high school shortstop who's father Bill played a handful of minor league games in 1907. Gabe Cain Jr, a high school infielder from Houlton, Maine who's father played 41 FABL games for 3 teams in the early 1900s. Cain is projected to be a second round pick.

Bayou State outfielder Jimmy Jarvis' dad Adam spent nearly two decades in the minors pitching in over 100 games at AAA but never got the call to the big leagues. Billy Jordan was a former pitcher for Washington and the Chicago Cougars who won 19 big league games. His son Billy Jr. was born in Chicago but grew up in California and has committed to North Carolina Tech if he does not get drafted. An outfielder, he is said to be a reserve player at best.

Finally, we have Gainesville(GA) high school 3B Cletus Van Horn who has already committed to Carolina Poly. His dad Clyde spent a year with St. Patrick's University as a backup catcher and had a very small cup of coffee - just 1 game- in the minors.

9- We have some great nicknames in this draft class. Here are just a few: Hard Boiled Henry Koblenz, Jack "The El Dorado Kid" Hale and Bob 'Zip' Zizza but the best has to be Mack Sutton, the Arkansas Artilleryman. Sutton an 18 year old third baseman from Arkadelphia, Arkansas was a High School All-American this season and his said to have elite skills. He is listed second in the OSA Mock Draft.

10- Finally I will take a stab at picking the Mr. Irrelevant in this year's draft - the last of the 400 players selected. I am going to go with a high school second baseman by the name of Gene Ham. Ham, who played his high school ball for Wallkill (NY) HS, had the lowest average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage of any draft eligible high school player this season. OSA says he is well below average across the board. Ham has committed to Brooklyn Catholic University so an education is likely a very good choice for the young man.

Tiger Fan · 03-07-2021, 10:19 PM

FABL BIO OF THE DAY

It's been a while since I have posted a FABL player biography so I thought I would make up for it by looking at 9 people in today's write-up. The recent Ballad of the Brothers Barrell episode is tracking the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris so I figured this would be a good time to catch up on the 9 players who started for the American squad in their 4 inning exhibition (a 5-0 victory) with a team of French players.

The nine starters for the victorious American side that day were not professional's at the time of course, but rather were college ballplayers. The lineup, which was selected by legendary college coach Frank Christian, was certainly not a college all-star team but did have some players who would enjoy decent pro careers. Here are the players who took the field for the American team that day in Paris.

Code:


	1924 US OLYMPIC BASEBALL CLUB
POS	NAME		HOMETOWN	    SCHOOL
 P  Jim Morales		Durham, NC	    Brunswick
 C  Frank Haab		Grand Forks, ND	    Wisconsin State
 1B Dick Horner		Wonder Lake, IL	    St. Matthew's College
 2B Whitey Robinson	Milwaukee, WI	    Northern Mississippi
 SS Don Ward		Marcellus, NY	    Bayou State
 3B Neal Mesker		Minneapolis, MN     Northern Mississippi
 LF Jim Renfroe		Shawnee, KS	    Mississippi A&M
 CF Al Brewer		Vancouver, BC       Brunswick
 RF Les Woodward	Scottsdale, AZ      Lubbock State

Christian has been talked about before on these pages. He was a legendary college coach at Lubbock State after whom the College Player of the Year Trophy is now named. Christian's brother John was also a long-time coach, in both football and baseball, at Noble Jones College and later for Red River State. The team Christian assembled had a decidedly southern twang to it as 5 of the players came from schools in the Deep South including Les Woodward, an outfielder on Christian's Lubbock State Hawks. Because it was an exhibition sport nationality did not matter much as the team actually included a Canadian born player and a pitcher who was from Cuba but grew up in Durham, North Carolina. It is also interesting to note how injuries played a role in diminishing the major league career's of several of the team members.

The most successful of the group would have to be Jim Renfroe so let's start with a look at his career:

JIM RENFROE

It's too bad Jim Renfroe had so many health issues during his career, otherwise he quite possibly would be in the discussion for All-Star candidates every year. He was the star of the US team in 1924, homering in the game and appeared destined to enjoy an outstanding big league career.

Renfroe was from Mississippi A&M and a big part of the reason, along with the Lightbody boys, Bud Rogers and Clarence Hall among others that the Generals earned the nickname Outfield U. Originally taken 10th overall in 1923 by Montreal I guess the signs of what was to come were evident very quickly when he suffered an off field shoulder injury a week after the draft that sidelined him for a month. He refused to sign with the Saints and went back to A&M for another year and, as it turned out, an opportunity to compete in the Olympics before being taken 2nd overall by the Brooklyn Kings in the 1924 draft. In July of 1927 while still working his way up through the minors as Brooklyn was in a pennant race they would ultimately win, the Kings sent him to Pittsburgh with another top prospect in Jim Pool in exchange for veteran reliever Leon Thompson and a minor league third baseman John Wilder plus a 4th round draft pick that would turn out to be Loren Morgan -another Mississippi A&M outfielder, but he never made the big leagues.

Thompson and Wilder did their job to help Brooklyn win it's pennant. Thompson pitched in 12 games for the Kings, going 1-1 with a 3.83 era, while Wilder had the best stretch of his fairly uneventful career, batting .336 with 6 homers down the stretch. Thompson would win 12 games the following season as a starter but the Brooklyn native would accomplish little else and is now playing in the Lone Star League while Wilder lasted just one more season with the Kings before being moved on to Baltimore in a deal that would land the Kings top prospects Johnny Jacob (who like Renfroe has seen a promising career derailed by injuries) and Ron Rattigan, who would be a big piece in the later deal that brought Milt Fritz to Brooklyn and ultimately seems to have finally solved the Kings third base issues with the subsequent departure of Fritz to Montreal for John Langille.

As for Renfroe, if there is a body part that can get injured he has probably had it hurt. Knees, groin, thumb, quads, hip, calf, ankle, finger, blurred vision and back stiffness highlight as ailments Renfroe has dealt with but the big one was a knee injury in 1931 that cost him a full year and likely robbed him of what little mobility he had left. He was a gifted defensive outfielder in his early days and even after the injuries piled up was still pretty good. The 121 games he played in 1928 at the age of 25 was the high water mark for his career, one which saw him play in just 624 big league games over 8 seasons, but in 1928 he hit .276 and led the Federal Association in triples with 17 despite missing over a month of the season. One can't help but think his career could have been so much more had he been blessed with good health. Renfroe is still active and presently playing AAA ball in the Cleveland Foresters system but clearly his best days are well behind him.

DON WARD

Of the 1924 Olympians it is Don Ward who has played the most big league games. The now 32 year old shortstop is presently back with the Cleveland Foresters, the club that originally drafted him out of Bayou State, and is a veteran of 814 FABL games and counting. Ward is batting .348 so far this season and is a lifetime .307 hitter.

He spent four years as the everyday shortstop at Bayou State and helped the Cougars reach the finals of the College World Series as a senior before Cleveland selected him 5th overall in the 1924 FABL draft, 3 slots after Renfroe went to Brooklyn. Like Renfroe it was the second time Ward was drafted as the Chicago Cougars selected him 16th overall in 1923 but he elected not to sign and returned to Bayou State to complete his education. Ward would make his big league debut three years after being selected by Cleveland, hitting .301 with 9 homers in 141 games for the 1927 Foresters while playing outstanding defense at short. Shifted to third base for 1928 due to another rising young shortstop in the Foresters system at the time by the name of Russ Combs, Ward got off to a great start with a .361 average thru the first 17 games in '28 and it looked like he was on the cusp of stardom until, like Renfroe, injury hit. For Ward it was a broken kneecap and it ended his 1928 season. He would return in 1929 and play the full year with Cleveland but his average dipped to .277. At that point the Foresters decided they liked another former college first round pick in Jake Moore more than Ward and they dispatched the former Olympian to the New York Gothams in exchange for a 6th round draft pick that would turn out to be career minor league catcher Dick Miller.

Ward rebounded quickly in his new surroundings, hitting .317 in 1930 and .322 the following season while providing well above average defense for the Gothams. However, he struggled a bit at the plate in 1932 and by 1933 was relegated to a backup role with Johnny McDowall taking over the regular third base duties at Dyckman Stadium. Prior to the 1934 season the Gothams sent him to independent Portland of the Great Western League for a promising young pitcher by the name of Sergio Gonzales, who would eventually join Ward back in Cleveland a year later. Ward made the most of his year in exile in the minors - the first time he had been out of the big leagues since 1926 - and after hitting .304 for the Green Sox his contract was purchased by the Foresters last winter, bringing him back to where his pro career began.

LES WOODWARD

Woodward was the only one of Frank Christian's players on the Lubbock State Hawks to join his coach in Paris for the 1924 Games. Like Ward and Renfroe he has played in over 600 FABL games so far in his career but unlike them he has been relatively injury free during that time with just one injury lasting over a week. Woodward was a freshman on Lubbock State's 1922 National Championship team and hit .317 with 23 homers in 117 career college games before being selected in the second round of the 1924 draft by the Chicago Chiefs.

Woodward has been a Chief ever since although currently, at age 31, he is playing for their AAA farm team in Fort Wayne. He had been a starter in the Chicago outfield on and off during his career and has spent sometime on the big league roster every year since 1928 but has played just 16 games for the Chiefs this season. He owns a lifetime .312 average with 43 homers in 646 games with Chicago.

FRANK HAAB

Catcher Frank Haab was the only other member of the '24 Paris team to play any meaningful time in the major leagues. Like Renfore and Ward, he was a college senior in 1924 and elected to return to Wisconsin State and have a chance to play in the Olympics instead of signing with the Chicago Cougars, who had drafted him in the second round in 1923. It was likely tough for a Wisconsin State player to turn down the opportunity to join a Chicago team but Haab's patience paid off as he was selected 18th overall by the New York Stars a year later.

Haab would never suit up for the Stars though as he was traded twice while still a minor leaguer and eventually made his big league debut with the Montreal Saints in 1927. The Saints had long been searching for a solid catcher - a search that raged on until likely finally being solved in 1935 with the trade for top prospect Tom Bird and the drafting of college sensation Adam Mullins - and in 1927 the hope was Haab would be the answer especially after he hit .319 in 65 games as a 25 year old. That would prove to be the high water mark of Haab's career as he spent several seasons as a backup in Montreal but hit just .269 and seemed to get worse at the plate every year. Montreal dealt him to Pittsburgh along with a 2nd round pick in exchange for another catcher by the name of Curt Sequillante during spring training last year and Haab hi .221 in 30 games as the Miners backup in 1934. He was waived over the winter and the New York Stars signed him and placed him with AAA Los Angeles but he was recently released after hitting .235 in 36 games for the AAA Knights. Now a free agent it appears this might be the end of the line for the 33 year old.

JIM MORALES

The only other member of the 1924 Olympic team to play at least one major league game was the pitcher. Jim Morales was just a freshman in 1924 and coming off what would prove to be the best year of his career following a 10-1, 2.87 season that saw him lead his Brunswick College club to a College World Series title. After his four shutout innings in France, Morales would return to Brunswick for two more seasons but won just 9 games combined before being selected by Washington in the second round of the 1926 draft.

He spent 5 seasons in the minors before his break came in 1931 when the Cleveland Foresters selected him in the Rule V draft. Morales had a 1.17 era in 4 relief appearances for Cleveland to start the season before the "24 Olympic Jinx" hit and he blew out his elbow in May and was sidelined over a year. Cleveland released him after yet another series injury in 1932 and he went back to Washington, playing his other 2 FABL games in 1933 - going 1-1 with a 5.17 era in 2 starts. He has split time between AAA and AA since then and is still just 30 years old so perhaps he will get another chance someday soon with the Eagles.

Morales posted some pretty good numbers in college and looked like a pretty solid prospect but it appears an injury at the wrong time robbed him of his chance to be a solid big leaguer. But he always has Paris to look back upon now.

DICK HORNER

I am really starting to think there just might be some sort of injury jinx associated with the 1924 Paris team. We have already discussed Jim Renfroe's chronic injuries, Don Ward and Jim Morales hit with them at seemingly the worst time possible and now I present for you the case of Dick Horner. Now I am not saying Horner was going to be a solid major league player but it appears the now 32 year old might have missed his opportunity to get some FABL playing time because of blowing out his knee in AAA on opening day 1932.

Let's back up first to where his career starts. He spent 4 seasons of high school ball playing a key role for Waco (TX) and led the team to the playoffs in the old Feeder League system as a sophomore while finishing among the nation leaders in homers as a junior with 14 in 39 games. The Brooklyn Kings selected Horner in the fourth round of the 1921 FABL draft but he elected to attend St. Matthew's College instead. Horner focused on his studies initially and did not play ball until his junior season. He hit .343 with 8 homers that year and obviously caught the attention of Olympic Coach Frank Christian but also of the St Louis Pioneers, who selected him in the second round. The Pioneers already had the game's greatest slugger in Max Morris patrolling their outfield and probably thought Horner could be a great piece to hit either in front of or behind Morris.

But for some reason Horner was overlooked in his early days in the Pioneers system, appearing in just 14 Class A games as a rookie pro in 1925 and starting just 59 between Class B and A the following year. He showed some offensive flashes such as hitting.374 in 68 games at B in 1926 and .331 in 1928 when he finally got a chance to play every day in Class A. But by then he was 25 years old and the Pioneers had other shiny young prospects to focus their attention on so Horner was cut loose just before opening day 1930. He quickly caught on with independent AAA Richmond and after hitting .328 in limited action he was moved to another AAA Indy club or the 1931 season. It was with Syracuse at age 28 that Horner finally got another chance to play regularly, hitting .304 with 18 homers in 122 games. He returned to Syracuse for the 1932 season and might have caught the attention of FABL scouts had he not suffered a season ending injury on opening day that year. Once healthy, Horner picked up right where he left of before the injury with a strong start to the 1933 season until once again his body gave out and he missed the final two months of the season. He had one last hurrah this year with a Class A Indy league team but was recently released and it appears his career is over.

So it might be a stretch to say the injury cost Horner a shot at the big leagues but it might have played a factor as perhaps he would have had his contract purchased by a FABL club if his 1931 season had been as successful as his '32 campaign was before the second injury. Although most of the anger, if there is any that Horner might feel about never getting to the big leagues should be directed at the Pioneers organization for never giving him a real shot to develop in the minors early in his pro career.

AL BREWER

Since it was just an exhibition sport it appears no one had any worries about Canadian Al Brewer suiting up for the US Team in the 1924 Paris Games. A teammate and the best friend of Brunswick pitcher Jim Morales, it seems easy to believe Brewer was only on the US team at Morales' insistence and Brewer's pedestrian college stats certainly appear to confirm that. He was a sophomore at Brunswick that season and hit just .210 but he would improve the following season, batting .270 before missing the end of his draft year season with a fractured thumb. Brewer did apparently show the Philadelphia Keystones enough that they decided to select him in the third round of the 1925 FABL draft despite a college career slash line of just .227/.323/.298.

That Brewer has remained in the Keystones system ever since is probably a testament to his outstanding work ethic and old fashioned values and he has spent the past two seasons in AAA but at age thirty his opportunity to make an appearance in a big league game seems to have passed him by. He too suffered a serious injury with a broken elbow coming in 1933 when he was in the midst of an outstanding start to the season at AA New Orleans, but no one would ever make the case that injury is why Brewer did not, at least as of yet, making the big leagues.

WHITEY ROBINSON

Second baseman Whitey Robinson never played a game for a major league affiliate but has enjoyed a 10 year and counting career with three different independent teams in the Great Western League. He began his baseball journey as a teen spending four season with Pittsburgh High School in the old feeder league system before being selected by the hometown Pittsburgh Miners in the 6th round of the 1922 draft. They failed to agree on a contract suitable enough to keep Robinson from going to college so he enrolled at Northern Mississippi, where after sitting out the 1923 season as a freshman he played alongside his Olympic teammate Neal Mesker. Brooklyn selected Robinson in the 8th round of the 1924 draft but released him after spring training and he would sit out all of the 1925 and most of the 1926 season before catching on in the Great Western League, where he has spent most of the past decade as a reserve middle infielder.

NEAL MESKER

Like his college teammate Whitey Robinson, Neal Mesker was pretty healthy for his entire career but also like Robinson, he was just not that good of a ballplayer - at least when discussing FABL quality talent. Mesker and Robinson were teammates on a very bad Northern Mississippi team in 1924 but he displayed enough that the Baltimore Cannon selected him in the fourth round of the draft. Mesker would spend 10 seasons in the Cannons organization peaking with 14 games at AAA in 1927. He spent the vast majority of his time at AA Erie for whom he hit .268 and is the AA Cannons all-time franchise leader in games played with 566 as well as topping the club in several other career offensive categories. He retired at the conclusion of the 1934 season.

SUMMARY

So as you can see few of the 1924 Olympians really ended up accomplishing much in pro baseball although injuries certainly played a role in part of that for several of them. Perhaps it was a difficult assignment convincing some players to give up their entire summer as there were certainly a number of top players available that did not join Christian on the trek to Paris. I think of names like Woody Armstrong, the future Montreal Saint who had a dominant freshman campaign in 1924 for Chicago Poly or Renfroe's teammate Doug Lightbody at Mississippi A&M, who led the college ranks with 19 homers that season as a sophomore but it mattered not as it was obvious that the French team, even with an American Manager in long-time St Blane Fighting Saints bench boss Ray Harvey overseeing things, was no match for the American contingent. One might even make an argument that the best baseball player in the 1924 Olympics did not even play the sport that year as decathlete Dan Barrell would eventually enjoy the beginnings of a solid career with the Brooklyn Kings despite giving up baseball temporarily while at Chicago Poly to focus on football, track and his studies.

Jiggs McGee · 03-08-2021, 11:40 PM

TEN THINGS I THINK : JIGGS MCGEE

1- Let's start this edition with some recognition for Philadelphia Keystones first baseman Rankin Kellogg, who recently hit his 400th career homerun. Not bad for a guy who couldn't start on his high school team. Kellogg was penciled into the starting lineup only 39 times over 4 seasons at Memphis High., appearing in 87 games total and hitting .338 with 11 homers in 195 at bats. Despite the small sample he was still taken first overall by the Keystones in 1922. There are no fielding stats for that era of the high school feeder league but piecing together the roster it looks like the starting first basemen ahead of him his first two seasons with the Pharoahs was George James. James played for Memphis from 1917-20 and started every game in his junior and senior seasons. In 115 career games he hit .329 with 18 homers but went undrafted in 1920 and never played beyond high school. It is tougher to figure out who got the nod ahead of him in his junior and senior seasons but one can be pretty sure that player did not go far in the sport.

2- Kellogg will end up with slightly over 400 homers at the conclusion of his age 32 season. At the same point in his career the legendary Max Morris, who is done for the season after an injury and is now 40 years old with 691 career dingers, had hit 394 homers. Judging by that one might surmise Kellogg has a great chance to pass Morris one day. However, it is important to remember Morris has enjoyed 4 seasons with at least 40 homers after turning 33 including 50 in 1929 and 48 the following season.

3- How about Brooklyn's Al Wheeler, who is just 27 and likely the next guy to surpass the 400 dinger plateau. Wheeler is finishing up his age 27 season and has 232 homers at the moment. After his age 27 year Morris had hit just 185 and Kellogg had swatted 208. However, Morris hit 60 as a 28 year old and 57 as a 30 year old in addition to his 4 seasons of 40-plus after age 32. My guess is Wheeler. with a park in Brooklyn that is much more suited to his lefthanded swing then Detroit's was, might have a slightly better chance than Kellogg of catching Morris but he will need some big years over the next half dozen seasons. My bet is Kellogg and Wheeler may each surpass the 600 mark before they are done but approaching 700 and Morris territory is in a completely different, and very exclusive neighborhood.

4- Is there a better run minor league organization than that of the Philadelphia Sailors? According to OSA the Sailors are the number 3 ranked system for prospects but hard to not place them number one in my books when you look at which each of their minor league affiliates have accomplished in recent years. The Sailors 5 affiliates have combined for 9 league titles in the last four years and if the minor league season ended today each of their 5 farm clubs would win a pennant this year. AAA San Francisco and AA Providence are both still in tight battles for their respective league crowns with 2 weeks remaining in the season. The AAA Hawks have a three game lead on both Portland and Seattle while the AA Providence Sailors margin is just a game and a half ahead of Boston's AA entry in Worcester.

The three lower levels have been completely dominated by Philadelphia's farm clubs. In the Class A Heartland League the Peoria Pastimers have already clinched their first pennant since 1930 while Class C Gulfport has done the same to win their second Gulf States League title in three years. The crown jewel of the Sailors system has long been Class B Miami as they have clinched their 7th league title in the 11 year history of the Southeastern League. With 12 games remaining Miami had a 24 and a half game lead on second place Savannah and at 93-35, have already tied the league record for victories which was originally set by Chattanooga in 1928 and equaled by the Sailors club last season.

5- It is rare we get two great races in the big leagues but this season we actually have three. The Federal Association remains a battle between New York and St Louis with the defending pennant winning Gothams presently enjoying a 2 game lead while in the Continental things are even tighter as the Cleveland Foresters beat Brooklyn 2-1 in 11 innings yesterday to take a half game lead on the Kings. Those two clubs are establishing a pretty good rivalry as just a single game separated them last year when the Foresters eventually went on to win their first World Championship in franchise history.

The third race is also in the Continental where the Baltimore Cannons right now have a 2 and a half game lead on both Chicago and Toronto with the New York Stars just 3 off the pace in what can be dubbed the "Barrell Cup." The last place team in the CA will get the first pick in the December draft and it seems to be clear that Rufus Barrell II will be the guy after going 23-0 with a 0.60 era in his last two seasons at Macon High School in Georgia.

6- There are some league observers feeling moving the first pick might be the better move in the long run for the Cannons should they win the Barrell Cup. Baltimore's top three prospects are all highly touted pitchers and they could likely land quite a haul by dealing the first pick as there would be no shortage of suitors. An ideal situation for the Cannons, who could use offensive help, is to trade down either with Detroit, who will pick second, or the CA club that finishes seventh. This would allow them to select second or third as any trade would certainly include getting a first rounder back. This would allow Baltimore to select first baseman Red Johnson or third sacker Mack Sutton, with both being positions of need and each player is considered to have the potential to become a star player.

7- He won't go first overall as whoever picks first will take Barrell but I really like Red Johnson. The slugger from Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon has hit 21 homers in 41 college games and was a High School All-American as a Junior, followed by earning honorable mention status this year. Barrell has the makings of being a generational talent but so does Johnson, who has drawn some comparisons to Max Morris. We have seen injury derail the path of many talented young arms over the years and for a rebuilding team like Baltimore Johnson looks like a safe bet, and when you add in the haul dropping down in the draft would bring it may be more beneficial to the club in the long run.

8- A sore elbow has done nothing to slow down Freddie Jones as the St Louis Pioneers all-star second baseman continues his pursuit of a .400 batting average. Jones went 14-for-27 last week and since he hurt his elbow on August 21st he has been hitting .429 (27-for-63), raising his season average to .395. The last player to hit .400 in a season was also a Pioneer, as Max Morris hit .418 in 1925 while playing for St Louis. What is even more impressive about Jones' feat is he is on pace to set a new FABL record for on base percentage. With 18 games remaining Jones, who leads both leagues with 135 walks, has a .519 OBP. The old mark has stood set 1899 when former Toronto and current Baltimore manager Ossie Julious had a .513 OBP.

Jones' walk total, while not a record, is astounding. He is on pace for 153, which would still be 12 shy of Alvin Turner's 1892 record, but no other player since the turn of the century has walked more than 129 times in a single season.

9- Julious has enjoyed quite a life in baseball. First he was one of the sports early stars winning 4 World Championship Series with the New York Gothams before moving on to Toronto where he won another title as manager of the Wolves in 1911. He was fired in Toronto following the 1928 season but quickly caught on as the Baltimore skipper. Julious has managed the most games in FABL history and is just 22 victories shy of tying George Theobald for the most wins all-time by a manager.

10- Finally for today I will leave you with this. If there is one kid I most want to see succeed out of this draft class it has to be Eddie Ziehl. Ziehl's dad Ed is one of the greatest players in FABL history and the current manager of the New York Gothams, the team he starred for. As a player he is third all-time with 3,496 career hits and won 7 Federal Association batting titles. Nicknamed the Lion for the amount of heart he put into the game every minute he was on the field, he was also one of the most popular players in league history. His son Eddie, a third baseman from Mt. St. Michael Academy in New York, had a decent season as a high school senior and is projected as a fifth round pick. Whoever drafts Eddie may have competition for his services as his heart appears set on attending Long Island Maritime College but it would nice to see another Ziehl in the batters box, perhaps even at the Bigsby Oval playing for his old man one day.

Jiggs McGee · 03-12-2021, 02:31 PM

FLASHBACK TO THE FEEDER LEAGUE DAYS

1931-32 HARTFORD HIGH SCHOOL PITCHING STAFF

Lefty Allen, who has spent quite some time as the number 1 prospect in the game, recently made his debut for the Pittsburgh Miners. The 21 year old, who was selected 4th overall in 1932 out of Hartford High School, was a September call-up who made three starts including a very successful debut in a 9-3 victory over the Detroit Dynamos on September 12th. He would pitch well in his next two outings, both against Washington, but was tagged with the loss each time. Still his 1-2 record and 3.60 era bodes well for the prize prospect earning a full-time spot in the Pittsburgh rotation next season.

Seeing Allen make his pro debut got me thinking about what arguably might be the best quartet of pitchers ever to suit up in a single high school team's rotation. Allen pitched for Hartford High from 1930-32 and was joined his final two seasons with the Blue Sox by John Edwards and Al Miller, both of whom would be selected in the top 4 picks in 1933. In addition the Blue Sox also had Pepper Tuttle, who was a fourth round pick in 1933. So the 1931-32 Hartford High School rotation looked like this:

Code:


   NAME          YEARS  CAREER HS STATS      DRAFTED
Lefty Allen	1930-32   10-3   1.89	  1932 4th overall Pittsburgh
John Edwards	1931-33   12-10  3.62     1933 3rd overall Baltimore
Al Miller	1931-33   13-8   2.98     1933 4th overall Chicago Chiefs
Pepper Tuttle   1931-33    3-4   4.58     1933 Round 4     Brooklyn

So three pitchers chosen in the top four picks of their draft and a fourth rounder were teammates for two years on a high school squad. With talent like that you would think the Blue Sox were a dominant high school program in those days but in truth they somehow failed to make the playoffs in any of the years that at least one of them pitched in Hartford. The 1930 squad with just Allen went 19-21 and that record was matched the following season with all four of them in the rotation. In 1932, their second year all together, the Blue Sox were just 20-20 and even in 1933 when Edwards and Miller were on their way to be selected in the top four and Allen was a rookie pro in the Miners organization, Hartford High still failed to make the playoffs although they did finally finish over .500.

A look at the current OSA top prospects list and all four of those names appear with three of them in the top ten. Allen remains the number one ranked prospect according to OSA while Miller, who also made his big league debut September for the Chicago Chiefs, is ranked #5 and Edwards, who split the season between Baltimore's A and AA affiliates, is ranked the 9th best prospect in the game according to OSA. Even a Tuttle, who was a fourth round pick, is considered a decent prospect as the 20 year old, who split the season between Class C and B in the Brooklyn Kings system, comes in at #117 on the current prospect rankings.

Years from now, assuming that Allen, Edwards and Miller all pan out (and possibly Tuttle becomes a serviceable big league pitcher as well) we will likely look back on the 1931-32 Hartford team as the greatest collection of pitchers ever assembled by one high school club.

Jiggs McGee · 03-18-2021, 10:21 PM

JIGGS MCGEE THOUGHTS ON DAY 1 OF 1935 DRAFT

While the start of the 1935 draft was fairly predictable in terms of who was selected there was still plenty of excitement with a flurry of draft day trades. Despite many rumours of big offers coming in to Baltimore for the number one pick a trade never materialized and the Cannons selected the most highly touted prospect in years when they grabbed Georgia High School lefthander Rufus "Deuce" Barrell first overall. The nephew of the five Barrell brothers already in the big leagues becomes the third member of the family to be selected first overall, joining pitcher Tom (1929) and shortstop Harry (1931). Rufus was 23-0 with an almost unbelievable 384 strikeouts vs just 10 walks in 239 innings of ball for Macon High School the past two seasons.

The dealing actually got started shortly after the first pick was announced as Toronto sent 26 year old pitcher Bill Anderson (15-18, 4.83) to Washington for outfielder Larry Vestal (.292,8,63), who is also 26. Drafted as a center fielder it is clear Vestal is below average at that position but might look pretty good in a corner outfield spot for the Wolves. The Eagles had been actively scanning the trade wire for pitching help and Anderson, a 1927 first rounder out of Elmira High School, should be a solid middle of the rotation piece in the nation's capital.

Detroit, as expected grabbed Portland, Oregon high school first baseman Red Johnson second overall. Johnson has been compared to Max Morris in this column previously and I feel is a perfect fit for the Dynamos' Thompson Field with it's short leftfield porch. I feel so strongly about Johnson I think he has a great chance to hit 500 homers if he spends his career as a Dynamo. While that pick was not a surprise, seeing Detroit move up to grab another high schooler with plenty of power potential was a bit of one. The Dynamos sent their first and second round picks acquired from Brooklyn in the blockbuster Al Wheeler/Frank Vance deal to the Chicago Cougars in exchange for the fifth pick which was used on Milwaukee High School third baseman Hard Boiled Henry Koblenz. Hank is almost a copy of Johnson, a righthanded hitting corner infielder with power who could prosper in Thompson Field. All in all, not a bad day for the Dynamos.

Prior to the Koblenz selection the Toronto Wolves tabbed George Garrison, a righthanded pitcher from Carthage(IL) High School who had been rising up the mock draft of late. Many feel Garrison has front of the rotation potential. It was a mild surprise as that left slugging third baseman Mack Sutton, from Arkadelphia High School in Arkansas, available for Washington at pick four. Unfortunately, I expect the Eagles were counting on Garrison being there for them so they fielded several offers for the spot and with a rising young star in Mel Carroll already manning the hot corner, decided to move the pick to Boston getting a very good pitching prospect in 24 year old Roy Price and a second round pick in return.

Boston immediately selected Sutton, dubbed the Arkansas Artilleryman, fourth and after the Dynamos nabbed Koblenz, the Minutemen were back on the clock with their own pick which they used on Ohio high school catcher Bill Van Ness, who was very highly thought of by just about every scouting director in the league.

Next up was the New York Stars at seven and they may have reached a bit in looking for a pitcher. Right hander Bill Keith from St Benedict High School in Chicago was their choice. Keith, like Koblenz is a Milwaukee native giving the midwestern city two of the top 7 selections, which is quite something since Milwaukee has only produced two other first round picks in the history of the draft. They are Joe Richards, a former Boston catcher taken 16th overall in 1915 and Joe Chattman, a former second baseman taken 12th overall by the Baltimore Cannons in 1917. Keith does have some impressive high school stats and OSA feels he could potentially anchor a rotation some day so despite being pegged as a mid-second round pick in the mock draft he may not be as big a reach as the mock suggests.

After the long run on high schoolers we finally saw our first college player come off the board at 8 when the Chicago Cougars, who had traded up a couple of spots in a deal with their cross-town rival Chiefs, went with Smithfield College shortstop Hal Wood. That opened the floodgates a bit for older talent as Montreal and the Chicago Chiefs each followed with a college infielder. The Saints, with a new GM making his first selection for Montreal - but not first in the league as he did run Washington for a spell close to a decade ago - chose shortstop Biff Henson from Lane State and the Chiefs, who were said to be eying Billy Dalton all along, got the Perry College third baseman they had coveted with 10th pick.

What appears to be the final pick of the evening went back to the high school ranks and back to the mound as the Philadelphia Sailors took Puerto Rico native Luis Tapia, an 18 year old lefthander out of Madison High School in Brooklyn. This pick really seems to be a reach for a pitcher as OSA had Tapia earmarked for the fourth round but at the same time he looks like a solid groundball pitcher who potentially could be a middle of the rotation piece one day. In addition the Sailors have a pretty good track record of finding quality arms.

Code:


	1935 DRAFT PICKS
PICK TM   NAME		 POS        SCHOOL     		   	  HOMETOWN 	    MOCK RANK
1- BAL   Rufus Barrell   P    Macon (GA) High School	         Egypt, GA		3
2- DET   Red Johnson     1B   Central Catholic HS Portland(OR)   Portland, OR		1
3- TOR   George Garrison P    Carthage (IL) High School		 Piggott, AR		10
4- BOS   Mack Sutton     3B   Arkadelphia (AR) High School	 Murfreesboro, AR	2
5- DET   Hank Koblenz    3B   Milwaukee (WI) High School	 Milwaukee, WI		5
6- BOS   Bill Van Ness   C    Suffolk (VA) High School	         Dayton, OH		4
7- NYS   Bill Keith      P    St Benedict HS, Chicago (IL)	 Milwaukee, WI		23
8- CHC   Hal Wood        SS   Smithfield College		 Houston, TX		8
9- MON   Biff Henson     SS   Lane State University		 Seattle, WA		11
10-CHF   Billy Dalton    3B   Perry State College		 St Louis, MO		9
11-PHS   Luis Tapia      P    Madison HS, Brooklyn (NY)		 San Juan, PR		58

In addition to the multiple trades involving first round draft picks there were several other deals made with the St Louis Pioneers being the most active. Desperate for pitching to fill the back end of their rotation in a bid to knock off two time Federal Association champion New York Gothams, the Pioneers added a pair of highly touted AAA arms in Mel Leonard and George DeForest. Leonard is a 23 year old who was originally taken in the second round by the Gothams. The 23 year old split last season between AA and AAA, going 14-14 with a 4.65 era. He was acquired from the Chicago Cougars for 19 year old George K Brooks, who was a 7th round pick of St Louis a year ago and went 17-18 at Class B this past season. Next up the Pioneers dealt their second round selection in this draft to Brooklyn for 26 year old George DeForest, who was a very impressive 18-6, 4.20 for AAA Rochester last season. DeForest could never quite crack the Kings pitching staff but is expected to be given every opportunity to earn a spot in the Pioneers rotation next spring.

So by all accounts a busy start to the draft with 11 picks down and 6 trades made already. Plenty of excitement throughout the league as there always is at this time of year.

Jiggs McGee · 03-27-2021, 07:16 PM

The 1936 season will be the 45th in the history of the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues but the history of the sport, and that of some of it's 16 teams, can be traced much further back. 1876 was the year professional baseball had it's birth courtesy of league founder William Whitney so this is actually the 61st season of pro ball. There has been recent talk in some circles for a shrine of some sort to be designed in order to honour the many greats of the game and odds are a "Hall of Fame" of sorts will likely be established sometime in the near future. But until then old Jiggs thought he would satisfy the needs of the hungry baseball historian by taking a look at the greatest player in the history of each of the 16 franchises. A "Face of the Franchise" if you will.

BALTIMORE CANNONS

The Cannons history can be traced back to just before the creation of FABL as they spent two seasons in the old Peerless League before the formation of FABL in 1892. The Cannons have not had much success of late but they have won 4 pennants and three World Championship Series with the last of each coming in 1914. The Face of the Cannons was a key piece of all four pennant winners and is the all-time hits leader with 4,144 including the first 3,951 of his career that came with Baltimore. Despite leaving Baltimore for Brooklyn in 1924 at the age of 37 and remaining in the Kings organization as a manager and later hitting coach, there is little doubt that The Ragland Ripper is the greatest player in Baltimore history. Perhaps some consideration could be given to Mike Marner, who won 309 games and 4 pennants alongside Slocum as a Cannon from 1907 to 1916.

BOSTON MINUTEMEN

The Minutemen, like the Cannons, got their birth in the Peerless League in 1890 but were called the Brahmins in their early days. Also like Baltimore there have been some lean times the past couple of decades as the Minutemen have not won a pennant since 1915. They were a dynasty a decade earlier, winning 5 straight pennants and a pair of World Championship Series. In all, Boston has 8 Federal Association Pennants and 4 World Championship Series wins.

Picking a Face of the Franchise in Boston is a much more difficult chore than the no-brainer of Slocum in Baltimore. One might consider Woody Trease, who was 178-92 as a Minutemen and played on the 5 straight pennant winning clubs before moving to Detroit but he was in Boston for only 6 and a half seasons. Another viable candidate could be manager George Theobald, who remains - at least at the moment- the winningest manager in FABL history and guided the Minutemen to all of their pennants and Series titles. But like Trease, Theobald left for Detroit, joining the Dynamos in 1919 and has been a part of that organization ever since. Bill McMurtrie or John Cook are a pair of offensive stars from the early part of this century that could also be considered. Cook's jersey along with Jim Dixon, a star pitcher in the 1890s, are both retired but the nod as Face of the Minutemen will go to the only other Boston player who's jersey has been retired. George Johnson won 311 FABL games between 1907 and 1926 including 258 in a Boston uniform. It is not a clear cut choice but Johnson's eight 20-plus win seasons earn him the nod.

BROOKLYN KINGS

The Kings, along with the Chicago Chiefs, Montreal Saints, Philadelphia Sailors and St Louis Pioneers, are the only FABL teams never to retire a players number. In Brooklyn's case it is due a large part to the fact that they really don't have a dominant franchise player. The Kings got their start in the old Border Association in 1884 and won a pair of pennants just before that loop folded with the creation of FABL in 1892. Since then Brooklyn has won just 3 Continental Association pennants and is the only one of the 16 teams yet to win a World Championship Series.

So who best epitomizes the Kings organization? The hits leader is Ira Williams with 2,022 as a King but while he was a solid player he is certainly not the face of a franchise. How about catcher Paul Tattersall, one of the first great homerun hitters in FABL? Tattersall hit 201 dingers in 14 years as a King but was dealt away at the age of 32. He has since returned to the organization as a minor league hitting coach. Danny Goff (124-116) and Phil Miller (160-166) each pitched on some bad Kings teams and combined to lead Brooklyn to a pennant in 1912 but both were traded away in their prime and went on to have success elsewhere. Speaking of cast aside in their prime the Kings all-time wins leader is Ferdinand Hawkins with 191 but he is best known now for the curse that some say is what has denied the Kings a World Championship all of these years.

That leaves Doug Lightbody. Lightbody is still just 32 years old and as long as he remains a King he should become the franchise's all-time leader in quite a few offensive categories as well as surpass the 2000 hit mark. He has won a pair of batting titles and his lifetime .358 batting average is the third highest of all-time at this point. He also was the first King to win a Whitney Award when he led the team to it's most recent pennant in 1927. Not to knock Lightbody as he is, when healthy, an exceptional player but it unfortunately does not speak well of a franchise when a current player who should still be in the prime of his career is the All-Time Face of the Franchise after over 50 years.

CHICAGO CHIEFS

The original team founded by William Whitney in 1876 is without a doubt one of the most storied in FABL history. Despite that legacy, the Chiefs have never retired a players jersey. The club has won a lot of games and their .515 franchise winning percentage is 5th best all-time but despite that they have just two Federal Association pennants (1917 & 1928) to their name and just a single World Championship Series victory (1917).

Much like Brooklyn it is tough to pick a standout in the organization. If we go with an executive than clearly Whitney is the face of the franchise but let's stick with someone who wore the uniform. Denny Wren won 218 games as a Chief between 1915-26 before being dispatched to the Philadelphia Sailors. His 24-11 1917 season was a key reason the Chiefs won the title that year but I am going to go with another player who carried them to a pennant. Joe Masters enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in FABL history in 1928 when he narrowly missed the triple crown because teammate Jim Hampton also had a career year and hit .397. Masters was an easy choice to be the first and so far only Chief to win a Whitney Award after his .388,56,195 season in 1928. His 195 rbi's that season smashed a 33 year old record by 21 and remains the highest total ever recorded in a single season. He is also the only player not named Max Morris to enjoy a 50-homer season. That season for the ages cemented Masters position in Chiefs history and despite a trade to the Chicago Cougars in 1934 he remains the Chiefs all-time leader in each of the triple crown categories so Masters is the Face of the Chiefs.

CHICAGO COUGARS

Chicago's other team got it's start in the Border Association as primarily an effort to unnerve Chiefs owner William Whitney but they went on to be the more successful Chicago FABL team, at least in terms of titles. The Cougars have won 9 pennants and 5 World Championship Series including the 1931 title and a pennant two years later.

The choice for the Face of the Cougars is an easy one despite there being a number of quality candidates. John Dibblee spent his entire 26 year FABL career with the club, winning 3 World Championships and the very first Continental Association Whitney Award in 1911. His 3,913 career hits are second only to Powell Slocum and he is also second all-time in games played, runs, total bases, triples and top five in rbi's and doubles. Others worth considering included Jack Long, who was 253-188 as a Cougar between 1902-12 and Double Al, Al Allen, who won 206 of his record 514 games in Chicago before moving on to Toronto and later Cleveland to finish his career.

CLEVELAND FORESTERS

The Foresters joined the ranks of professional baseball in 1890, entering in the Border Association two seasons before FABL was created. There was not a lot of success early although they did win their first pennant in 1901 and followed that up with two more in 1917 and 1920. The 1917 team had a budding superstar in 22 year old Max Morris, just converted from a two-way player to a full-time outfielder and starting to show glimpses of the incredible slugger he would become. The 1920 Series was one in which Morris also starred, but it was for the rival St Louis Pioneers, who acquired him following the 1919 campaign and for whom he would go on to hit 474 homers. Morris, of course made a dramatic return to Cleveland in 1932 and would win his 8th Whitney Award the following season before helping Cleveland win it's first ever World Championship Series in 1934. Based on that one might make an argument that Morris could be the face of the Foresters, despite spending a decade in St Louis and a year and a half with the Gothams before the Youngstown native returned to his home state.

So if not Morris, then who? Mose Smith won 210 games over 14 seasons with Cleveland but also lost 215. Jim Cathey and Bob Lawrence each had a successful decade pitching for the club with Cathey in the 1900's and Lawrence in the twenties. Perhaps ironically, but the face of the franchise at this time has to be another player, who like Morris, left for St Louis. Jack Arabian was a 3-time Continental Association batting champ and one of a very select group of players to hit over .400 in a season (Morris, by the way was another member of that group). Arabian played 2517 games as a Forester between 1896 and 1909 before moving on to the Pioneers for his final 3 full seasons. His 2,011 games played and 2,812 hits are the most of anyone in a Cleveland uniform and, counting his time in St Louis, he is 6th all-time with 3,391 career hits. Morris, who I still very seriously considered as the face of the franchise (which would make him the only player to be the face of two different franchises) is presently fourth with 3,466 career hits.

DETROIT DYNAMOS

Like Baltimore and Boston, the Detroit Dynamos were born in the Peerless League two years before the creation of FABL in 1892. With two straight last place finishes in the Federal Association times are certainly tough right now in Detroit but the Dynamos have a rich history, winning 7 pennants and 5 World Championships and were a dominant club for decade starting in 1908 when they claimed 6 pennants and 4 World Titles over a 12 year period.

A few years from now we might have been talking about Al Wheeler as the greatest Dynamo ever but the 28 year old was dispatched to Brooklyn last year as the Dynamos began a complete rebuild. Part of that rebuild saw long-time catcher Dick York retire as a player and step into a teaching role where he will begin as manager of Class A Terre Haute next season. York, who is one of the best catchers of all-time, spent 17 years with Detroit and deserves mention when discussing the face of the franchise. However, that honour will instead be bestowed on Jim Godlen. Like York, Golden spent his entire big league career as a Dynamo, but it was one that was tragically cut short at the age of 31 due to injury. Golden did manage to win 269 career games between 1909 and 1920 along with 4 World Championship Series and a pair of Whitney Awards. He likely would have had a handful of Allen Awards as well had the top pitcher trophy been around then. Golden's #12 is the only jersey the Dynamos have ever retired but I suspect York's #27 won't be far behind.

MONTREAL SAINTS

One of the Border Association's flagship Canadian teams (along with long-time rival Toronto) the Saints have been around since 1882, there has been very little to cheer about over the years in Montreal. The Saints .467 franchise winning percentage is the lowest of any of the 16 FABL teams but they did have some glory years between 1915 and 1921, winning 4 Continental Association pennants and bookended that period with a pair of World Championship Series titles, which accounts for all of the hardware the organization owns.

It comes as little surprise then that the face of the Saints had the zenith of his career during that run. Joe Ward debuted with the Saints as a 19 year old in 1908 and aside from 12 games with the Chicago Cougars in 1925 would be a Saint for life. He played in 2,534 big league games and all but one of his 3,127 hits came as a Saint. Ward's 574 triples are a FABL best and he won a pair of Whitney Awards to go with his two World Championship Series rings. Ward is still active in the game, working as the hitting coach for the Chicago Chiefs after spending 7 seasons as the Saints manager.

NEW YORK GOTHAMS

Quite possibly the easiest choice is Ed Ziehl as the Face of the Gothams. He has managed the club since 1928, leading them to four pennants and a World Championship Series this past October. Prior to that he played 3,025 games over 24 seasons, amassing 3,496 hits and 4 Whitney Awards.

As for the team, which goes back to 1883, they were an early FABL power win 3 World Championship Series in the first 5 years of the league but endured a pennant drought that did not end until 1926 when they won their first Federal Association Pennant in 30 years. Ziehl was around for that one and would continue as a player thru the 1929 season while also taking over managerial duties beginning with the 1928 campaign. While he did not get back to another series as a player, Ziehl the manager would guide the Gothams to 4 more pennants and on that most recent attempt the Gothams finally got their World Championship, as they beat Cleveland last year for their fourth World Tittle in franchise history. There have been plenty of other very good players in New York - the Gothams lead FABL with 8 retired numbers - but when you think of the Gothams no name comes to mind quicker than Ed Ziehl.

NEW YORK STARS

One of the inaugural group of Border Association teams the Stars have been around since 1882. There certainly have been some lean stretches but the Stars had two different glory periods: 1902-06 when they won 4 pennants and 3 World Championship Series in a five year stretch and 1924-26 when they won three straight World Championship Series titles - a feat duplicated by no other club. The Stars are the oldest New York team, forming 1 year before the Gothams joined the Century Association.

Like Ed Ziehl with the rival Gothams, the Stars have a clearly superstar to be the face of their franchise. John Waggoner spent 16 of his 18 FABL seasons with the Stars, although fans of the club do not like to acknowledge it Waggoner ended his career at the Bigsby Oval with the rival Gothams. As a Star he played in 2,240 games and notched 3,035 hits while playing a key role on the 3 championship teams shortly after the the turn of the century. Outfielder Bill Craigen, who was a key piece of the title teams with Waggoner also deserves some consideration and before his career is over 36 year old Pete Layton will also garner some support as he is sure to surpass the 2,000 hit plateau and also owns 3 World Championship rings. Alvin Hensley, who won 220 games and 3 World Championship Series along with Waggoner is the only player besides Waggoner to have his number retired by the club. All are very memorable Stars, but only Waggoner is the Face of the Franchise.

PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES

The Keystones are one of the charter members of professional baseball, tracing their routes back to 1876 as the Philadelphia Centennials. They were an early force, winning 3 titles prior to the birth of FABL and finishing first in the Federal Association in FABL's inaugural 1892 campaign, but there was no championship series that season. After that there were some hard times, including 14 last place finishes in a 22 year stretch starting in 1903. As a result the Keystones did not play in their first World Championship Series until 1927. They won that one and added another in 1933.

Picking the face of the franchise gives us our biggest debate between old-timers and the young fans who support the Keystones. On one hand we have Zebulon Banks, the greatest hitter of the 19th century and leader of the Keystones Century League powerhouse. Banks is the franchise leader in hits (and fifth all-time) with 3,307 in a Philadelphia uniform. He played all but the final one of his 23 year career with the organization and no one has played more than Banks' 2,397 games with the club.
However, it is hard to argue with younger fans, most of whom never saw Banks play, when they say the greatest Keystone has to be Rankin Kellogg. Still just 32 years old and with 11 seasons under his belt, all Kellogg has done is register 2,280 hits and a franchise record (plus second all-time) 407 homeruns. He has won the Triple Crown three times, along with 2 Whitney Awards and a pair of World Championship Series titles. Before his career his over there is a very good chance my opinion will change but at the moment the face of the Keystones franchise remains Zebulon Banks.

PHILADELPHIA SAILORS

The Sailors were Philadelphia's second team, joining the Border Association in 1889, three years before FABL was created. They enjoyed success early, winning three Continental Association pennants in the first six years of the league and the 1897 World Championship Series. Then baseball hit a bleak period in the City of Brotherly Love as the Sailors, much like the Keystones, endured a couple of very lean decades before finally putting things together late in the 1920s. It started with a second place finish in 1924- their highest showing since 1898 - and after another second place finish, and just a game out two years later, the Sailors won the first of three straight pennants in 1928. They would claim World Championship Titles in the first and last of the three appearances.

Known recently for their terrific pitching the Sailors do not possess a hurler worthy of the moniker "Face of the Franchise." Rube Smith, who won 189 games between 1915-28 would like be the closest. Actually picking one player who stands out for this time is a bit of a chore. Maybe Bill Brady, a turn of the century catcher who leads the franchise in games played (2302),hits (2,592) and several other categories while hitting .413 in his 3 World Championship Series appearances might be the one but I am more likely to leaning to one of the stars of the 1928-30 team.

Right now I am giving the distinction to David Merchant, a 1920 first overall draft pick out of Chicago Poly, who has spent the past 14 season with the Sailors, winning a pair of titles and 2 Whitney Awards. Merchant is still active, however he is showing signs of rapidly slowing down at age 36 so I think it may just be a matter of time before Jack Cleaves, a first round pick who was part of arguably the greatest top of the draft class in FABL history in 1925, takes the baton. Cleaves has spent the past 9 seasons with the Sailors and if he stays healthy he will likely surpass Merchant as the ultimate Sailor. However, his health is certainly not guaranteed with significant injuries costing him 40-50 games each of the past two seasons.

PITSBURGH MINERS

There has not been a lot to celebrate as a Miners fan this century, with just two pennants (1907 & 1924) since 1901. It was not always like that though as the Miners were a Federal Association powerhouse to close out the 1800's, winning 4 straight pennants culminating in their only World Championship Series title in 1901. Since the 1924 pennant the Miners have finished no higher than fourth and never within 10 games of the leader.

The Face of the Franchise comes from those glory days and it is pitcher Ike Bell, who along with teammate Aaron Wright were the co-aces of the 1901 championship club and are the only two players to have their jersey numbers retired by the Miners. However, both left Pittsburgh at a relatively young age. Bell was a very impressive 202-99 before falling off the face of the planet in 1906. He won all 202 of his games as a Miner before turning 27 years old but would never pitch in the big leagues again after an 0-4 start to the 1906 season. No injury was ever noted, Bell just inexplicably suddenly stopped being an effective pitcher and after 7 straight seasons of at least 27 wins his days as a Miner were over. He did spend another decade in the minor leagues but with very little success.

Wright, also left the Miners in 1907, at the age of 30 but he was traded to Toronto following 7 seasons and 184-112 record in Pittsburgh. It is a fairly sparse group to choose from as the Face of the Franchise with Chick Hamm being the only position player worthy of consideration. Hamm was more a beneficiary of his longevity that outstanding talent as he spent 16 years with the team and leads the Miners with 2,161 career hits.

ST LOUIS PIONEERS

While the Pioneers lineage can be traced back to the initial season of 1876, the club is only recognized as playing since 1882 when they rejoined the Border Association. They were founding members of the Century League, along with the Chicago Chiefs and Philadelphia Keystones in 1876 but the club, then known as the St Louis Brewers, but they left the league to play an amateur barnstorming circuit before rejoining organized baseball in 1882 with the Border Association. The Pioneers won 4 titles prior to the birth of FABL n 1982 but have won only one since. That came in 1920 when Max Morris, freshly arrived from a trade with Cleveland, helped the Pioneers to a Championship win over his former club. Morris would lead the Pioneers to another pennant the following season but despite Morris' elevation into the greatest power hitter in history, the Pioneers failed to win another pennant. There were lean times in the late 1920's leading to Morris being traded to the New York Gothams (and later back to Cleveland) but it wasn't until two years ago that the Pioneers, with young superstars Freddie Jones and Frank McCormick leading the way, that the Pioneers returned to contender status.

Fifteen years from know there is a possibility we will be talking about Freddie Jones as the greatest Pioneer of all-time but it will need an incredible career from the now 26 year old Jones to overtake Max Morris' legacy. 474 homeruns and 2,001 hits as a Pioneer in just 11 seasons. 5 of his 8 Whitney Awards came as a Pioneer and 5 times he hit at least 50 homers in a season. In my mind Morris is always a Cleveland Forester but that fact is he has played nearly 400 more games in St Louis than for Cleveland. You can talk about Jimmy Clinch, Willie Wynder, Roger Landry and even someday perhaps Freddie Jones, but it is hard to see any of them replacing Morris as the Face of the Pioneers.

TORONTO WOLVES

The Wolves got their start in organized baseball along with fellow Canadian entry Montreal in 1882. They won a FABL World Championship Series in 1898 and a second one in 1911 but aside from finishing a game out of first place in a thrilling 1927 Continental Association pennant race the Wolves have seldom been relevant since that second title.

The Wolves legacy is that two of the greatest pitchers in FABL history - and numbers 1 and 2 all-time in career wins - both spent substantial time in Toronto. Al Allen, who also received some consideration as Face of the Chicago Cougars, won 251 of his record 514 FABL victories as a member of the Wolves despite spending just 9 and a half seasons with Toronto. He also won 206 in six and a half seasons with the Cougars and finished his career wth 57 victories in 3 years for Cleveland. However, Allen loses out as Face of the Wolves to Charlie Sis. It is likely the only time Sis, who is second to Allen all-time with 395 career wins, finished ahead of Double Al. Sis started his career in St Louis, going 74-50 for the Pioneers as a 19-21 year old before leaving the game. He returned with Toronto as a 25 year old in 1909 and would post a 321-198 record over 13 seasons while leading Toronto to two pennants and the 1911 World Championship.

WASHINGTON EAGLES

Born as the Baltimore Bannermen in 1880, the club moved to Washington five years later. Their first FABL pennant came in 1897 and they would win 3 more Federal Association pennants in the 1910s and three in the twenties along with one World Championship in each of those two decades. They have been a second division club since 1928 but there are signs pointing towards a resurgence of baseball in the nation's capital.

I came very close to calling catcher T.R. Goins the face of the franchise despite the fact Goins played just 10 and a half seasons as an Eagle before being shipped to Cleveland two and a half years ago at the age of 32. Goins won a Whitney Award and a World Championship as an Eagle and is the franchises all time leader in homers and rbi's while boasting a .346 career batting average. His 1,863 hits as an Eagle are more than any other player with the exception of turn of the century stars Ira Phillips and George Melvin.

Another season or two as an Eagle and it would have been Goins and not pitcher Bill West who gets the nod. The fact the Goins has been such a leader in Cleveland also takes away from our memory of him as the face of the Washington club. West, however, was a life long Eagle, pitching 14 seasons in the league beginning in 1904 and posting a 291-215 career record. That mark is even more impressive considering he went 8-26 is his final season in the league at age 36 after trying to return from an elbow injury that cost him nearly all of the previous season. West was 3-3 in three years of post-season play but was a perfect 2-0 with a 2.12 era in the 1913 championship winning season.

Code:


	FACE OF THE FRANCHISE
BALTIMORE		POWELL SLOCUM
BOSTON			GEORGE JOHNSON
BROOKLYN		DOUG LIGHTBODY
CHIEFS			JOE MASTERS
COUGARS			JOHN DIBBLEE
CLEVELAND		JACK ARABIAN
DETROIT			JIM GOLDEN
MONTREAL		JOE WARD
NY GOTHAMS		ED ZIEHL
NY STARS		JOHN WAGGONER
KEYSTONES		ZEBULON BANKS
SAILORS			DAVID MERCHANT
PITTSBURGH		IKE BELL
ST LOUIS		MAX MORRIS
TORONTO			CHARLIE SIS
WASHINGTON		BILL WEST

Sizeman21 · 03-29-2021, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiggs McGee

The 1936 season will be the 45th in the history of the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues but the history of the sport, and that of some of it's 16 teams, can be traced much further back. 1876 was the year professional baseball had it's birth courtesy of league founder William Whitney so this is actually the 61st season of pro ball. There has been recent talk in some circles for a shrine of some sort to be designed in order to honour the many greats of the game and odds are a "Hall of Fame" of sorts will likely be established sometime in the near future. But until then old Jiggs thought he would satisfy the needs of the hungry baseball historian by taking a look at the greatest player in the history of each of the 16 franchises. A "Face of the Franchise" if you will.

BALTIMORE CANNONS

The Cannons history can be traced back to just before the creation of FABL as they spent two seasons in the old Peerless League before the formation of FABL in 1892. The Cannons have not had much success of late but they have won 4 pennants and three World Championship Series with the last of each coming in 1914. The Face of the Cannons was a key piece of all four pennant winners and is the all-time hits leader with 4,144 including the first 3,951 of his career that came with Baltimore. Despite leaving Baltimore for Brooklyn in 1924 at the age of 37 and remaining in the Kings organization as a manager and later hitting coach, there is little doubt that The Ragland Ripper is the greatest player in Baltimore history. Perhaps some consideration could be given to Mike Marner, who won 309 games and 4 pennants alongside Slocum as a Cannon from 1907 to 1916.

BOSTON MINUTEMEN

The Minutemen, like the Cannons, got their birth in the Peerless League in 1890 but were called the Brahmins in their early days. Also like Baltimore there have been some lean times the past couple of decades as the Minutemen have not won a pennant since 1915. They were a dynasty a decade earlier, winning 5 straight pennants and a pair of World Championship Series. In all, Boston has 8 Federal Association Pennants and 4 World Championship Series wins.

Picking a Face of the Franchise in Boston is a much more difficult chore than the no-brainer of Slocum in Baltimore. One might consider Woody Trease, who was 178-92 as a Minutemen and played on the 5 straight pennant winning clubs before moving to Detroit but he was in Boston for only 6 and a half seasons. Another viable candidate could be manager George Theobald, who remains - at least at the moment- the winningest manager in FABL history and guided the Minutemen to all of their pennants and Series titles. But like Trease, Theobald left for Detroit, joining the Dynamos in 1919 and has been a part of that organization ever since. Bill McMurtrie or John Cook are a pair of offensive stars from the early part of this century that could also be considered. Cook's jersey along with Jim Dixon, a star pitcher in the 1890s, are both retired but the nod as Face of the Minutemen will go to the only other Boston player who's jersey has been retired. George Johnson won 311 FABL games between 1907 and 1926 including 258 in a Boston uniform. It is not a clear cut choice but Johnson's eight 20-plus win seasons earn him the nod.

BROOKLYN KINGS

The Kings, along with the Chicago Chiefs, Montreal Saints, Philadelphia Sailors and St Louis Pioneers, are the only FABL teams never to retire a players number. In Brooklyn's case it is due a large part to the fact that they really don't have a dominant franchise player. The Kings got their start in the old Border Association in 1884 and won a pair of pennants just before that loop folded with the creation of FABL in 1892. Since then Brooklyn has won just 3 Continental Association pennants and is the only one of the 16 teams yet to win a World Championship Series.

So who best epitomizes the Kings organization? The hits leader is Ira Williams with 2,022 as a King but while he was a solid player he is certainly not the face of a franchise. How about catcher Paul Tattersall, one of the first great homerun hitters in FABL? Tattersall hit 201 dingers in 14 years as a King but was dealt away at the age of 32. He has since returned to the organization as a minor league hitting coach. Danny Goff (124-116) and Phil Miller (160-166) each pitched on some bad Kings teams and combined to lead Brooklyn to a pennant in 1912 but both were traded away in their prime and went on to have success elsewhere. Speaking of cast aside in their prime the Kings all-time wins leader is Ferdinand Hawkins with 191 but he is best known now for the curse that some say is what has denied the Kings a World Championship all of these years.

That leaves Doug Lightbody. Lightbody is still just 32 years old and as long as he remains a King he should become the franchise's all-time leader in quite a few offensive categories as well as surpass the 2000 hit mark. He has won a pair of batting titles and his lifetime .358 batting average is the third highest of all-time at this point. He also was the first King to win a Whitney Award when he led the team to it's most recent pennant in 1927. Not to knock Lightbody as he is, when healthy, an exceptional player but it unfortunately does not speak well of a franchise when a current player who should still be in the prime of his career is the All-Time Face of the Franchise after over 50 years.

CHICAGO CHIEFS

The original team founded by William Whitney in 1876 is without a doubt one of the most storied in FABL history. Despite that legacy, the Chiefs have never retired a players jersey. The club has won a lot of games and their .515 franchise winning percentage is 5th best all-time but despite that they have just two Federal Association pennants (1917 & 1928) to their name and just a single World Championship Series victory (1917).

Much like Brooklyn it is tough to pick a standout in the organization. If we go with an executive than clearly Whitney is the face of the franchise but let's stick with someone who wore the uniform. Denny Wren won 218 games as a Chief between 1915-26 before being dispatched to the Philadelphia Sailors. His 24-11 1917 season was a key reason the Chiefs won the title that year but I am going to go with another player who carried them to a pennant. Joe Masters enjoyed one of the greatest seasons in FABL history in 1928 when he narrowly missed the triple crown because teammate Jim Hampton also had a career year and hit .397. Masters was an easy choice to be the first and so far only Chief to win a Whitney Award after his .388,56,195 season in 1928. His 195 rbi's that season smashed a 33 year old record by 21 and remains the highest total ever recorded in a single season. He is also the only player not named Max Morris to enjoy a 50-homer season. That season for the ages cemented Masters position in Chiefs history and despite a trade to the Chicago Cougars in 1934 he remains the Chiefs all-time leader in each of the triple crown categories so Masters is the Face of the Chiefs.

CHICAGO COUGARS

Chicago's other team got it's start in the Border Association as primarily an effort to unnerve Chiefs owner William Whitney but they went on to be the more successful Chicago FABL team, at least in terms of titles. The Cougars have won 9 pennants and 5 World Championship Series including the 1931 title and a pennant two years later.

The choice for the Face of the Cougars is an easy one despite there being a number of quality candidates. John Dibblee spent his entire 26 year FABL career with the club, winning 3 World Championships and the very first Continental Association Whitney Award in 1911. His 3,913 career hits are second only to Powell Slocum and he is also second all-time in games played, runs, total bases, triples and top five in rbi's and doubles. Others worth considering included Jack Long, who was 253-188 as a Cougar between 1902-12 and Double Al, Al Allen, who won 206 of his record 514 games in Chicago before moving on to Toronto and later Cleveland to finish his career.

CLEVELAND FORESTERS

The Foresters joined the ranks of professional baseball in 1890, entering in the Border Association two seasons before FABL was created. There was not a lot of success early although they did win their first pennant in 1901 and followed that up with two more in 1917 and 1920. The 1917 team had a budding superstar in 22 year old Max Morris, just converted from a two-way player to a full-time outfielder and starting to show glimpses of the incredible slugger he would become. The 1920 Series was one in which Morris also starred, but it was for the rival St Louis Pioneers, who acquired him following the 1919 campaign and for whom he would go on to hit 474 homers. Morris, of course made a dramatic return to Cleveland in 1932 and would win his 8th Whitney Award the following season before helping Cleveland win it's first ever World Championship Series in 1934. Based on that one might make an argument that Morris could be the face of the Foresters, despite spending a decade in St Louis and a year and a half with the Gothams before the Youngstown native returned to his home state.

So if not Morris, then who? Mose Smith won 210 games over 14 seasons with Cleveland but also lost 215. Jim Cathey and Bob Lawrence each had a successful decade pitching for the club with Cathey in the 1900's and Lawrence in the twenties. Perhaps ironically, but the face of the franchise at this time has to be another player, who like Morris, left for St Louis. Jack Arabian was a 3-time Continental Association batting champ and one of a very select group of players to hit over .400 in a season (Morris, by the way was another member of that group). Arabian played 2517 games as a Forester between 1896 and 1909 before moving on to the Pioneers for his final 3 full seasons. His 2,011 games played and 2,812 hits are the most of anyone in a Cleveland uniform and, counting his time in St Louis, he is 6th all-time with 3,391 career hits. Morris, who I still very seriously considered as the face of the franchise (which would make him the only player to be the face of two different franchises) is presently fourth with 3,466 career hits.

DETROIT DYNAMOS

Like Baltimore and Boston, the Detroit Dynamos were born in the Peerless League two years before the creation of FABL in 1892. With two straight last place finishes in the Federal Association times are certainly tough right now in Detroit but the Dynamos have a rich history, winning 7 pennants and 5 World Championships and were a dominant club for decade starting in 1908 when they claimed 6 pennants and 4 World Titles over a 12 year period.

A few years from now we might have been talking about Al Wheeler as the greatest Dynamo ever but the 28 year old was dispatched to Brooklyn last year as the Dynamos began a complete rebuild. Part of that rebuild saw long-time catcher Dick York retire as a player and step into a teaching role where he will begin as manager of Class A Terre Haute next season. York, who is one of the best catchers of all-time, spent 17 years with Detroit and deserves mention when discussing the face of the franchise. However, that honour will instead be bestowed on Jim Godlen. Like York, Golden spent his entire big league career as a Dynamo, but it was one that was tragically cut short at the age of 31 due to injury. Golden did manage to win 269 career games between 1909 and 1920 along with 4 World Championship Series and a pair of Whitney Awards. He likely would have had a handful of Allen Awards as well had the top pitcher trophy been around then. Golden's #12 is the only jersey the Dynamos have ever retired but I suspect York's #27 won't be far behind.

MONTREAL SAINTS

One of the Border Association's flagship Canadian teams (along with long-time rival Toronto) the Saints have been around since 1882, there has been very little to cheer about over the years in Montreal. The Saints .467 franchise winning percentage is the lowest of any of the 16 FABL teams but they did have some glory years between 1915 and 1921, winning 4 Continental Association pennants and bookended that period with a pair of World Championship Series titles, which accounts for all of the hardware the organization owns.

It comes as little surprise then that the face of the Saints had the zenith of his career during that run. Joe Ward debuted with the Saints as a 19 year old in 1908 and aside from 12 games with the Chicago Cougars in 1925 would be a Saint for life. He played in 2,534 big league games and all but one of his 3,127 hits came as a Saint. Ward's 574 triples are a FABL best and he won a pair of Whitney Awards to go with his two World Championship Series rings. Ward is still active in the game, working as the hitting coach for the Chicago Chiefs after spending 7 seasons as the Saints manager.

NEW YORK GOTHAMS

Quite possibly the easiest choice is Ed Ziehl as the Face of the Gothams. He has managed the club since 1928, leading them to four pennants and a World Championship Series this past October. Prior to that he played 3,025 games over 24 seasons, amassing 3,496 hits and 4 Whitney Awards.

As for the team, which goes back to 1883, they were an early FABL power win 3 World Championship Series in the first 5 years of the league but endured a pennant drought that did not end until 1926 when they won their first Federal Association Pennant in 30 years. Ziehl was around for that one and would continue as a player thru the 1929 season while also taking over managerial duties beginning with the 1928 campaign. While he did not get back to another series as a player, Ziehl the manager would guide the Gothams to 4 more pennants and on that most recent attempt the Gothams finally got their World Championship, as they beat Cleveland last year for their fourth World Tittle in franchise history. There have been plenty of other very good players in New York - the Gothams lead FABL with 8 retired numbers - but when you think of the Gothams no name comes to mind quicker than Ed Ziehl.

NEW YORK STARS

One of the inaugural group of Border Association teams the Stars have been around since 1882. There certainly have been some lean stretches but the Stars had two different glory periods: 1902-06 when they won 4 pennants and 3 World Championship Series in a five year stretch and 1924-26 when they won three straight World Championship Series titles - a feat duplicated by no other club. The Stars are the oldest New York team, forming 1 year before the Gothams joined the Century Association.

Like Ed Ziehl with the rival Gothams, the Stars have a clearly superstar to be the face of their franchise. John Waggoner spent 16 of his 18 FABL seasons with the Stars, although fans of the club do not like to acknowledge it Waggoner ended his career at the Bigsby Oval with the rival Gothams. As a Star he played in 2,240 games and notched 3,035 hits while playing a key role on the 3 championship teams shortly after the the turn of the century. Outfielder Bill Craigen, who was a key piece of the title teams with Waggoner also deserves some consideration and before his career is over 36 year old Pete Layton will also garner some support as he is sure to surpass the 2,000 hit plateau and also owns 3 World Championship rings. Alvin Hensley, who won 220 games and 3 World Championship Series along with Waggoner is the only player besides Waggoner to have his number retired by the club. All are very memorable Stars, but only Waggoner is the Face of the Franchise.

PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES

The Keystones are one of the charter members of professional baseball, tracing their routes back to 1876 as the Philadelphia Centennials. They were an early force, winning 3 titles prior to the birth of FABL and finishing first in the Federal Association in FABL's inaugural 1892 campaign, but there was no championship series that season. After that there were some hard times, including 14 last place finishes in a 22 year stretch starting in 1903. As a result the Keystones did not play in their first World Championship Series until 1927. They won that one and added another in 1933.

Picking the face of the franchise gives us our biggest debate between old-timers and the young fans who support the Keystones. On one hand we have Zebulon Banks, the greatest hitter of the 19th century and leader of the Keystones Century League powerhouse. Banks is the franchise leader in hits (and fifth all-time) with 3,307 in a Philadelphia uniform. He played all but the final one of his 23 year career with the organization and no one has played more than Banks' 2,397 games with the club.
However, it is hard to argue with younger fans, most of whom never saw Banks play, when they say the greatest Keystone has to be Rankin Kellogg. Still just 32 years old and with 11 seasons under his belt, all Kellogg has done is register 2,280 hits and a franchise record (plus second all-time) 407 homeruns. He has won the Triple Crown three times, along with 2 Whitney Awards and a pair of World Championship Series titles. Before his career his over there is a very good chance my opinion will change but at the moment the face of the Keystones franchise remains Zebulon Banks.

PHILADELPHIA SAILORS

The Sailors were Philadelphia's second team, joining the Border Association in 1889, three years before FABL was created. They enjoyed success early, winning three Continental Association pennants in the first six years of the league and the 1897 World Championship Series. Then baseball hit a bleak period in the City of Brotherly Love as the Sailors, much like the Keystones, endured a couple of very lean decades before finally putting things together late in the 1920s. It started with a second place finish in 1924- their highest showing since 1898 - and after another second place finish, and just a game out two years later, the Sailors won the first of three straight pennants in 1928. They would claim World Championship Titles in the first and last of the three appearances.

Known recently for their terrific pitching the Sailors do not possess a hurler worthy of the moniker "Face of the Franchise." Rube Smith, who won 189 games between 1915-28 would like be the closest. Actually picking one player who stands out for this time is a bit of a chore. Maybe Bill Brady, a turn of the century catcher who leads the franchise in games played (2302),hits (2,592) and several other categories while hitting .413 in his 3 World Championship Series appearances might be the one but I am more likely to leaning to one of the stars of the 1928-30 team.

Right now I am giving the distinction to David Merchant, a 1920 first overall draft pick out of Chicago Poly, who has spent the past 14 season with the Sailors, winning a pair of titles and 2 Whitney Awards. Merchant is still active, however he is showing signs of rapidly slowing down at age 36 so I think it may just be a matter of time before Jack Cleaves, a first round pick who was part of arguably the greatest top of the draft class in FABL history in 1925, takes the baton. Cleaves has spent the past 9 seasons with the Sailors and if he stays healthy he will likely surpass Merchant as the ultimate Sailor. However, his health is certainly not guaranteed with significant injuries costing him 40-50 games each of the past two seasons.

PITSBURGH MINERS

There has not been a lot to celebrate as a Miners fan this century, with just two pennants (1907 & 1924) since 1901. It was not always like that though as the Miners were a Federal Association powerhouse to close out the 1800's, winning 4 straight pennants culminating in their only World Championship Series title in 1901. Since the 1924 pennant the Miners have finished no higher than fourth and never within 10 games of the leader.

The Face of the Franchise comes from those glory days and it is pitcher Ike Bell, who along with teammate Aaron Wright were the co-aces of the 1901 championship club and are the only two players to have their jersey numbers retired by the Miners. However, both left Pittsburgh at a relatively young age. Bell was a very impressive 202-99 before falling off the face of the planet in 1906. He won all 202 of his games as a Miner before turning 27 years old but would never pitch in the big leagues again after an 0-4 start to the 1906 season. No injury was ever noted, Bell just inexplicably suddenly stopped being an effective pitcher and after 7 straight seasons of at least 27 wins his days as a Miner were over. He did spend another decade in the minor leagues but with very little success.

Wright, also left the Miners in 1907, at the age of 30 but he was traded to Toronto following 7 seasons and 184-112 record in Pittsburgh. It is a fairly sparse group to choose from as the Face of the Franchise with Chick Hamm being the only position player worthy of consideration. Hamm was more a beneficiary of his longevity that outstanding talent as he spent 16 years with the team and leads the Miners with 2,161 career hits.

ST LOUIS PIONEERS

While the Pioneers lineage can be traced back to the initial season of 1876, the club is only recognized as playing since 1882 when they rejoined the Border Association. They were founding members of the Century League, along with the Chicago Chiefs and Philadelphia Keystones in 1876 but the club, then known as the St Louis Brewers, but they left the league to play an amateur barnstorming circuit before rejoining organized baseball in 1882 with the Border Association. The Pioneers won 4 titles prior to the birth of FABL n 1982 but have won only one since. That came in 1920 when Max Morris, freshly arrived from a trade with Cleveland, helped the Pioneers to a Championship win over his former club. Morris would lead the Pioneers to another pennant the following season but despite Morris' elevation into the greatest power hitter in history, the Pioneers failed to win another pennant. There were lean times in the late 1920's leading to Morris being traded to the New York Gothams (and later back to Cleveland) but it wasn't until two years ago that the Pioneers, with young superstars Freddie Jones and Frank McCormick leading the way, that the Pioneers returned to contender status.

Fifteen years from know there is a possibility we will be talking about Freddie Jones as the greatest Pioneer of all-time but it will need an incredible career from the now 26 year old Jones to overtake Max Morris' legacy. 474 homeruns and 2,001 hits as a Pioneer in just 11 seasons. 5 of his 8 Whitney Awards came as a Pioneer and 5 times he hit at least 50 homers in a season. In my mind Morris is always a Cleveland Forester but that fact is he has played nearly 400 more games in St Louis than for Cleveland. You can talk about Jimmy Clinch, Willie Wynder, Roger Landry and even someday perhaps Freddie Jones, but it is hard to see any of them replacing Morris as the Face of the Pioneers.

TORONTO WOLVES

The Wolves got their start in organized baseball along with fellow Canadian entry Montreal in 1882. They won a FABL World Championship Series in 1898 and a second one in 1911 but aside from finishing a game out of first place in a thrilling 1927 Continental Association pennant race the Wolves have seldom been relevant since that second title.

The Wolves legacy is that two of the greatest pitchers in FABL history - and numbers 1 and 2 all-time in career wins - both spent substantial time in Toronto. Al Allen, who also received some consideration as Face of the Chicago Cougars, won 251 of his record 514 FABL victories as a member of the Wolves despite spending just 9 and a half seasons with Toronto. He also won 206 in six and a half seasons with the Cougars and finished his career wth 57 victories in 3 years for Cleveland. However, Allen loses out as Face of the Wolves to Charlie Sis. It is likely the only time Sis, who is second to Allen all-time with 395 career wins, finished ahead of Double Al. Sis started his career in St Louis, going 74-50 for the Pioneers as a 19-21 year old before leaving the game. He returned with Toronto as a 25 year old in 1909 and would post a 321-198 record over 13 seasons while leading Toronto to two pennants and the 1911 World Championship.

WASHINGTON EAGLES

Born as the Baltimore Bannermen in 1880, the club moved to Washington five years later. Their first FABL pennant came in 1897 and they would win 3 more Federal Association pennants in the 1910s and three in the twenties along with one World Championship in each of those two decades. They have been a second division club since 1928 but there are signs pointing towards a resurgence of baseball in the nation's capital.

I came very close to calling catcher T.R. Goins the face of the franchise despite the fact Goins played just 10 and a half seasons as an Eagle before being shipped to Cleveland two and a half years ago at the age of 32. Goins won a Whitney Award and a World Championship as an Eagle and is the franchises all time leader in homers and rbi's while boasting a .346 career batting average. His 1,863 hits as an Eagle are more than any other player with the exception of turn of the century stars Ira Phillips and George Melvin.

Another season or two as an Eagle and it would have been Goins and not pitcher Bill West who gets the nod. The fact the Goins has been such a leader in Cleveland also takes away from our memory of him as the face of the Washington club. West, however, was a life long Eagle, pitching 14 seasons in the league beginning in 1904 and posting a 291-215 career record. That mark is even more impressive considering he went 8-26 is his final season in the league at age 36 after trying to return from an elbow injury that cost him nearly all of the previous season. West was 3-3 in three years of post-season play but was a perfect 2-0 with a 2.12 era in the 1913 championship winning season.

Code:


	FACE OF THE FRANCHISE
BALTIMORE		POWELL SLOCUM
BOSTON			GEORGE JOHNSON
BROOKLYN		DOUG LIGHTBODY
CHIEFS			JOE MASTERS
COUGARS			JOHN DIBBLEE
CLEVELAND		JACK ARABIAN
DETROIT			JIM GOLDEN
MONTREAL		JOE WARD
NY GOTHAMS		ED ZIEHL
NY STARS		JOHN WAGGONER
KEYSTONES		ZEBULON BANKS
SAILORS			DAVID MERCHANT
PITTSBURGH		IKE BELL
ST LOUIS		MAX MORRIS
TORONTO			CHARLIE SIS
WASHINGTON		BILL WEST

I loved this post, makes me want to re read this whole thread and all of the FABL dynasties on the site, you guys are totally committed to your teams! It's awesome. I'm jealous

Tiger Fan · 03-29-2021, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sizeman21

I loved this post, makes me want to re read this whole thread and all of the FABL dynasties on the site, you guys are totally committed to your teams! It's awesome. I'm jealous

I think I am fine in saying there is a retro FABL online league starting soon. Most of the same teams and GMs, same great non-team owning commissioner and the early stars like many of those listed above. This one will go back to 1886 to start and will have a lot of unique rules for the era and plenty of great storylines. There might be an opening or two as well. PM me or the commissioner Legendsport if you want some more information on joining it. It will be using OOTP22.

Jiggs McGee · 04-09-2021, 11:07 PM

May 11, 1936

EARLY MOCK TOP TEN OF THE 1936 FABL DRAFT

It is time for Jiggs McGee's annual early look at the upcoming FABL draft class. The final draft class list including their 1936 stats will be announced about a month from now but early indications are this will be a fairly weak draft class. Using the Figment Sporting Journal's secret player assessment checklist there are just 17 players that are rated as four star quality, which symbolizes first or second round talent potential. Last year, by comparison we had 30 players fit that category.

That being said there is still certainly some high end talent available and with 74 more slots to fill, who knows what else we might get. This class may lack a pitcher with quite the pedigree of last season's number one pick, Rufus Barrell II, but it comes close with Johnnie Jones. Jones is one of a number of very good pitchers who might contend for the number one slot on draft day but there are a pair of well publicized hitters also available. However, with the Detroit Dynamos all but assured the number one selection, and having selected a pair of elite hitters early in the draft last year, the expectation is Detroit will make Jones the number one choice which means this will be the fifth consecutive year a pitcher has gone first overall. Before we look at the top ten prospects for the 1926 draft here is the complete history of first overall selections.

Code:

   FIRST OVERALL DRAFT PICKS
YEAR  TEAM POS  NAME			SCHOOL
1935  BAL   P  Rufus Barrell II  	Macon (GA) HS
1934  WSH   P  Bobo White		St Blane College
1933  TOR   P  Joe Hancock		Henry Hudson Univ
1932  NYG   P  Curly Jones		Henry Hudson Univ
1931  CLE  SS  Harry Barrelll		Atlanta HS
1930  STL   C  Jack Flint		Lubbock State
1929  CHC   P  Tom Barrell		Georgia Baptist
1928  BKN   P  Tommy Wilcox		Liberty College
1927  MON  OF  Cliff Moss		Pierpont Univ
1926  CLE  OF  Karl Stevens		Rainier College
1925  DET  OF  Al Wheeler		Decatur (IL) HS
1924  PHK   P  Walker Moore		Mobile (AL) HS
1923  PHK  OF  Lee Smith		Garden State Univ.
1922  PHK  1B  Rankin Kellogg		Memphis (TN) HS
1921  PHK  2B  Howie Shifflett          Houston (TX) HS
1920  PHS  OF  David Merchant		Chicago Poly Univ.
1919  WSH   C  T.R. Goins		Cincinnati (OH) HS
1918  BKN   P  Dick Dover		Dickson Univ.
1917  PHS  3B  Elmer Lambert		George Fox Univ.
1916  STL  SS  Roger Landry		Detroit (MI) HS
1915  PHS   P  Dan Waldman		Nashville (TN) HS
1914  CHC  OF  Jim Shelton		St. Patrick's Univ.
1913  CLE OF/P Max Morris		Cleveland (OH) HS
1912  PHK  2B  Eddie Andrews		Nashville (TN) HS
1911  PHS  SS  Mark Robinson		Berkeley (CA) HS

Things could change dramatically when the rest of the class is revealed but as of today here are who The Figment Sporting Journal sees as the top ten players available in the 1936 FABL draft

#1 - WALT MESSER 1B: 17 years old McKinley Tech in Washington DC

It will be hard to pass on the two-time first team High School All-American who was also the Adwell Award winner in 1934 as National High school player of the year but do not expect the Detroit Dynamos to draft the first baseman if they do indeed own the first pick of the draft. Detroit already has their first baseman of the future in Red Johnson, last year's second overall pick who was just promoted to Class B Chattanooga after destroying Class C pitching for the first 10 games of the season.

Messer has been earning plenty of attention since his Adwell winning sophomore season in which he hit .613 - the highest average in high school history. He hit .604 as a junior last season and his 25 career high School homers in his first two seasons are 4 more than Red Johnson hit in his prep days. OSA feels Messer "could make multiple trips to the All-Star Game" and he has plus-plus power and contact ability.

#2 - JOHNNIE JONES LHP: 17 years old St. Paul High School, St Paul, Minnesota

Not related to St Louis Pioneers Whitney Award winning second baseman Freddie Jones, but Johnnie is the older of a pair of brothers from Albert Lea, Minnesota that have incredible potential. His nickname "The Patron Saint of Groundballs" tells much of what you need to know about Jones. He was an honourable mention as an All-American last season following an 11-1, 1.44 campaign that saw him fan 132 batters in 124 innings while surrendering just 31 walks. He has four pitches led by his sinker and forkball and possesses pinpoint command. As good as Jones is projected to be, some scouts feel his younger brother Donnie (1938 draft eligible) might be even better after a 10-3 freshman campaign last season. If Detroit picks first it will be very hard for them to pass on selecting Jones.

#3 - SAL PESTILLI CF: 21 years old Narragansett University, from Westerly Rhode Island

Last year we had to wait until the Chicago Cougars selected shortstop Hal Wood out of Smithfield College for the first college player to be selected. It should not take that long this season for Pestilli or one of a group of college pitchers to hear their names announced. Considered the best of three outfield playing brothers who's family immigrated to Rhode Island from Sicily when they were children. Sal's older brother Alf was a fourth round pick of Toronto in 1934 but recently traded to Brooklyn while younger brother Tony is presently in his junior season at Westerly High School and will be in the 1937 draft class.

Sal was the Frank Christian Trophy winner as National College Player of the Year as a freshman and, while he lost out on the award to Central Ohio's Al Jones last season, he was named as a first team All-American for the second consecutive season. He led the AIAA in all three triple crown categories as a freshman and was drawing comparison's to former Commonwealth Catholic and current Montreal Saints outfielder Vic Crawford. His numbers dipped a fair bit as a sophomore, particularly in the power department so a big 1936 campaign will be a must for Pestilli to remain a top draft prospect.

#4 - BUNNY EDWARDS RHP: 20 years old Red River State, from Kansas City, Missouri

There are several pitchers that slot in just below Johnnie Jones and Edwards looks like a very safe pick. His numbers are pretty consistent over a pair of seasons with the Rowdies and he was a second team All-American selection last season. He is a real worm-killer with an outstanding curve ball heading his three pitch repertoire. OSA feels he has great stuff and great command and has a chance to be an ace. In addition he was considered a real team leader at Red River State.

#5 - BILLY WOYTEK 2B: 17 years old Loyola High School, Los Angeles, CA.

If previous drafts are any indication there will be a run on pitchers at the top of the draft but it would serve a team well to consider going against the grain and looking at Woytek. Not only does he possess immense talent but the nickname "Blue Collar" says a lot about Woytek as his high school coach raves about his outstanding work ethic. OSA projects Woytek to be an incredible contact hitter who "has the talent to develop into a franchise cornerstone as a second baseman."

#6 - JIM MORRISON LHP: 20 years old Indiana A&M, from Woodbury, Minnesota

Most be something in the lake water in Minnesota with both Jones and Morrison as likely top ten picks. Only 2 pitchers from Minnesota have ever been drafted in the first two rounds of the draft. They were Mel Strom, a 1916 first round pick who was 189-189 over 14 years with Detroit, and Charlie Johnson, who is still active in the Cleveland system and is 25-25 for his FABL career. Strom was taken 15th overall in his draft year and Johnson was the 16th pick of the first round in 1921. The only Minnesota born player to be taken in the top six is Don Summers, a third baseman selected third overall in 1924. So the Doors are open for Jim Morrison (see what I did there) and Jones to make history as the first pair of Minnesota born players to go in the first round in the same year.

In order to do so Morrison will need a strong 1936 season. He was 8-3, 2.78 for Indiana A&M as a freshman but dipped to 5-5, 4.15 a year ago. Control is a bit of a red flag but OSA says if he can sort out his control issues he "projects as a front of the rotation starter."

#7 - LOU ROBERTSON RHP: 21 years old Oklahoma City State, from New Castle, Pennsylvania

Let's stay with the theme of pitchers and the good news this season is there are a number of college arms, which traditionally are perhaps a little more reliable to develop than high school pitchers, available. Robertson had a solid freshman campaign but was even better last year as a sophomore, posting a 10-3 record with a 2.95 era in 17 starts for the Wranglers. While his stuff is just considered ordinary, OSA feels his pinpoint command gives Robertson "front of the rotation potential."

#8 - CLIFF SMITH C: 17 years old Goliad High School, Goliad, Texas

The last couple of drafts have given us some great catching prospects with Smith the latest to join a group that included 6th overall pick Bill Van Ness last year and a pair of 1934 first rounders in Adam Mullins (6th) and Woody Stone (8th). It wasn't always that way and in fact catchers seem to be very under represented over the history of the FABL draft, especially in the 1920's. Here is the complete list of catchers taken in the top ten in FABL draft history.

Code:


YEAR  PICK  TM   NAME		SCHOOL
1912   7   NYG  Ned O'Neill	Wilkes-Barre HS
1915   4   CHI  Jim Black	George Fox Univ.
1916   6   TOR  Rick Riddle     Birmingham (AL) HS
1916   9   NYG  Jack Rosenthal  Baltimore HS
1917   8   DET  Dick York	Georgia Baptist
1919   1   WSH  T.R. Goins      Cincinnati HS
1919   6   BKN  Mickey Dowell   Philadelphia HS
1921  10   PHS  Alex Diaz	Lynn HS
1922   6   STL  Les Dunbar	Los Angeles HS
1926   3   CHC  Fred Barrel     Georgia Baptist
1930   1   STL  Jack Flint	Lubbock State
1930  10   CHC  James Demastus  Nashville HS
1931   4   PIT  George Cleaves  Elmira HS
1934   6   MON  Adam Mullins    Eastern Oklahoma Univ.
1934   8   PHS  Woody Stone     Dunlap (TN) HS
1935   6   BOS  Bill Van Ness   Suffolk (VA) HS

So you can see while there was a real lull on catchers being selected early throughout the 1920's there has been a resurgence of late. Only time will tell if Mullins, Stone, Van Ness and possibly Cliff Smith can ever be mentioned in the same breath as Dick York, T.R. Goins, Fred Barrell and George Cleaves.

Despite not playing for his high school team until his junior season, OSA feels Smith, who was born in Cleveland but grew up in Texas, has "above-average defensive capabilities" and "projects to be a .350 hitter." Smith does not appear to have great power so a comparison to T.R. Goins is out, but the way OSA speaks of Smith he sounds a lot like the second coming of Dick York. The question is will a team in the top ten resist the urge to select a pitcher and go instead with what just might be a franchise catcher.

#9 - HANK BECKMAN RHP: 20 years old Whitney College, from Tonawanda, New York

Two years ago only All-American Phil Gregg, a 1934 4th round pick of Washington, won more college baseball games than Beckman's 11-3 season as a freshman at Whitney College. Last year was a slightly different story as he made five less starts (undisclosed injury perhaps) and struggled to a 6-5 record. He throws 5 pitches, but none are considered outstanding but he is able to throw each of them consistently for strikes. He might be a slightly higher risk than the pitchers listed above him but OSA feels "if everything comes together Beckman has the talent to pitch at the top of the rotation."

#10 - JOE ZELL SS - 21 years old Ferguson College, from New York City

Shortstops are always in demand at the top of the draft and Zell looks to be the best of the bunch this year. He plays his college ball at Ferguson College in Greenville, NC but despite being Great competition level it is a school that has never had player drafted (granted we have only had two years of non-feeder league drafts). That will change this year as Zell is a lock to go in the first couple of rounds and teammates Ray Smith and Jake Creel may also get selected. Interesting is that there were no Ferguson players in the 1934,35,37 or 38 draft classes.

As for Zell, he won't hit for power but looks to do everything else. OSA feels with his plus contact ability and patience at the plate combined with his athleticism gives him "the potential to be an impact big leaguer as a shortstop."

SUMMARY

One thing that is interesting about this class compared to last season is college players figure to play a much more prominent role in the first round. A year ago 11 of the first round picks, including the first 7, were all high school players. This draft seems more likely it will resemble the 1934 class, where 10 of the 16 first rounders including 4 pitchers, were college players. Six of what The Figment Sporting Journal feels are the top 10 players available are college stars, as are nine of the 17 players we gave a four star grade to. One trend that likely will continue, is pitchers will go off the board quickly in the first round. That has been a trend of late with seven of them selected in the first 16 picks a year ago but don't expect it to top 1933 when a whooping 12 of the 16 first rounders were pitchers.

DD Martin · 04-10-2021, 05:02 AM

After watching this season unfold and the complete lack of offense the Dynamo's have shown, we might have to take Messer and either try and convert Red Johnson or Messer to a corner OF spot. But right now Jones is the slight leader in the clubhouse with a long way to go before the draft.

Ol' Possum · 04-10-2021, 04:29 PM

Now listen here y'all. Better not sleep on that Sal Pestilli fella. He's so good it makes me wanna slap my mama!

Trust Ol' Possum on this one, son. Why think about movin' Messer or Big Red when you can draft a ready-made fly catcher? The onliest thing wrong with that boy is his last name ain't Barrell!

DD Martin · 04-10-2021, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ol' Possum

Now listen here y'all. Better not sleep on that Sal Pestilli fella. He's so good it makes me wanna slap my mama!

Trust Ol' Possum on this one, son. Why think about movin' Messer or Big Red when you can draft a ready-made fly catcher? The onliest thing wrong with that boy is his last name ain't Barrell!

But Mr. Possum sir, he isn't even the top CF according to my scout (admittedly he needs help). He comes up #4 on my list behind CF Al Jennings. Could you be confusing him with his kid brother?

Jiggs McGee · 04-11-2021, 01:14 PM

Each year just before the FABL draft I have been doing annual recaps where I look back at the draft class from 10 years prior but last fall I neglected the 1925 crop so here it is. 1925 is a special draft in Figment baseball, not only for the immense quality of talent the first round produced but also due to the fact that was the moment the league became active as an online league and human GM's assumed the reigns. So looking back a decade (well 11 seasons) later, how did we do with the first draft pick each of us made?

A LOOK BACK AT THE 1925 FABL DRAFT

As it turned out the top of the 1925 draft produced five players that have already surpassed the 1,000 games played plateau but, like every draft there were some busts as well.

1- AL WHEELER: DETROIT DYNAMOS
It seemed nearly all surveyed were in agreement that the 18 year old outfielder from Decatur (IL) HS should be the number one pick and 11 years later few would dispute the choice. It took him longer to reach the majors then the other top prospects, but he was the only high schooler among their ranks, but when he did Wheeler took FABL by storm. Debuting in 1928 at the age of 20, Wheeler hit .306 with 18 homers and went only up from there. 3 Whitney Awards, a 1929 World Championship with Detroit, a triple crown last season after his trade to Brooklyn and at age 28 Wheeler has already hit 244 homers and 1,586 hits.

2- EDDIE QUINN: TORONTO WOLVES

While Quinn has developed into a decent pitcher lately, at the time his selection was deemed a reach, and even more so when you consider Toronto parted with 2 decent FABL ready arms and a couple of draft picks to move up four slots in the draft to select him when, as it turned out he almost assuredly would have still been available when the Wolves were originally slotted to pick at #6. Quinn eventually made his FABL debut in 1930 at the age of 23 and after struggling initially he has been pretty good the past couple of seasons. That was with Cleveland, as both Quinn and the GM that selected him in Toronto were long gone from the league by the time Quinn helped the Foresters win back to back Continental Association pennants and a World Championship Series in 1934.

3- BUD JAMESON: NEW YORK GOTHAMS
After a standout college career at St. Patrick's, Jameson was in the major leagues by the middle of 1926. He has been a fixture in the Gothams lineup ever since although injuries have certainly taking their toll costing him much of the 1931 season and 5 weeks two years later. Despite the injuries Jameson is a .334 career hitter with 1,534 hits to date in 1,193 career games.

4- BILL ASHBAUGH: CHICAGO COUGARS
Like Jameson in New York, Ashbaugh had been a fixture in the Cougars lineup for nearly a decade but has lost his starting second base job, at least temporarily this season with the emergence of a hotshot rookie named Ray Ford. There should still be life in Ashbaugh's bat but it has slowed in recent years. The former Rainier College star does have 1,365 career big league hits and a .310 lifetime batting average.

5- EDDIE WILSON: PITTSBURGH MINERS
The first bust of the draft but no one knows what happened to Eddie Wilson. His time at Grafton came before the AIAA All-American teams were being named but his work in leading the Scholars to the national finals was outstanding, a .374 batting average with a .464 OBP so he seemed like a sound pick at the time. Wilson put up a couple of decent seasons in the minors but as a corner outfielder, a role in great supply over the years, he never got much of a chance in Pittsburgh. Wilson appeared in just 32 games for the Miners over 3 seasons before being released prior to the 1933 season. He has spent the last 3+ years in the Lone Star Association and is one of the best players in that loop but Wilson never achieved the success reached by many of his draft class peers.

6- DOUG LIGHTBODY: BROOKLYN KINGS
The Kings had their sights set on the outfielder from Mississippi A&M right from the get go but traded down from #2 to 6th because the Wolves offer for the second pick was too overwhelming to ignore. As fate would have it Lightbody was still available at 6 and went right from the college campus to the big leagues without playing a minor league game. He was contending for the Continental Association batting title and helping the Kings be in a pennant race that would ultimately fall short because in no small part to a season ending injury Lightbody suffered on July 4th that year. High batting averages and injuries would be the story of Lightbody's career but despite missing almost 2 seasons worth of games through the years Lightbody has collected 1,658 career hits - most among his draft class at this point in time - and a .357 lifetime batting average that included a pair of CA batting titles and a Whitney Award in 1927.

7- CHICK DYER: BOSTON MINUTEMEN
The 31 year old outfielder from Pierpont College was recently released by the Minutemen after a career that saw him play 575 games for the club and post a .308 lifetime batting average. He had 3 solid season with the Minutemen highlighted by a .331,11,104 1930 campaign but the glut of corner outfielders in the league has left him jobless and the fact he can't even seem to catch on with an indy team does not bode well for Dyer's future in the sport.

8- EARLE CHARLTON: BALTIMORE CANNONS
There has been a long history in FABL of GM's reaching to select pitchers higher than perhaps they should have but with what the entire league felt was a shortage of arms at the time it is hard to find great fault in the Cannons selection. He was 12-11 with a 3.21 era at Lincoln College when Baltimore selected him and he did debut as the 70th ranked prospect in the sport. He had a decent start to his career in AA and showed some promise in AAA but could never make the jump successfully to the big leagues despite Baltimore giving Charlton a taste of the CA over 6 different seasons. Montreal claimed him on waivers in 1932 and he pitched what likely was the final 2 of his 46 career FABL appearances for the Saints. His final record in FABL was 8-16 before Montreal parted ways with him and Charlton signed with independent Sacramento of the Great Western League in 1932. He has settled in quite nicely with the Governors but a return to FABL appears very unlikely.

9- BRAD CRAWFORD: ST LOUIS PIONEERS
Crawford was another corner outfielder who didn't make it. In his case he never got the opportunity as after a decade in the Pioneers organization he was released and signed with independent Seattle having never played a FABL game. He put up some solid numbers in 4 seasons with Elmira (NY) HS but with Max Morris and Art Charles as the Pioneers corner outfielders at the time there really never was an opportunity early for Crawford. As power became more important, Crawford's lack of it sealed his fate and he stalled at AAA before his release a few months ago.

10- JACK CLEAVES: PHILADELPHIA SAILORS
Obviously there are a few FABL clubs wishing they took a chance on Cleaves as the second baseman out of Louisville (KY) HS has put together a very solid big league career and helped the Sailors win a pair of World Championship Series. He has not yet reached his 29th birthday but already has 1,404 hits under his belt in 1,204 career games with the Sailors. Cleaves younger brother George would be a first round pick 6 years later and is also enjoying a solid career and their grandfather George Theobald is the winningest manager in FABL history and spent over a decade in the major leagues as a player.

11- ART MYERS: PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES
Like Quinn, Art Myers was a high school pitcher so it took him a few years to develop but after a few seasons split between Philadelphia and AAA Louisville, Myers became a full-time member of the Keystones rotation in 1933. Last year at the age of 29 he enjoyed his best season to date, going 18-10 with a 3.14 era and while he is off to a slow start this season, just like most of the Keystones team, Myers looks like a dependable mid-rotation piece. His FABL record to date is 55-40 in 137 appearances, 109 as a starter.

12- GEORGE X JOHNSON: MONTREAL SAINTS
The third baseman out of Knoxville HS is now playing indy ball in San Diego after not making much of an impression in Montreal. He played just 49 big league games and hit .227, getting his release following a 1934 season spent almost entirely on the bench with the Saints.

13- FRED NADER: CHICAGO CHIEFS
Just like Johnson, Nader was a high school third baseman that, at least so far has failed to pan out. After six seasons in the Chiefs system that saw him play just 20 games at the AAA level, Nader was selected by the Philadelphia Sailors in the 1932 Rule V draft. He appeared in just 24 games for the Sailors that season, hitting .267 before being sent down to AAA San Francisco in 1933. He has been with the Sailors AAA affiliate ever since and while he is still in a big league organization, the chances of the now 28 year old ever contributing at the FABL level appear slim.

14- ALEX THOMPSON: CLEVELAND FORESTERS
Another high school player that did not accomplish much, at least so far in his career. Just turned 29, Thompson played 27 games for Cleveland in 1932 and hit .350 before being part of the mega deal that brought Max Morris home to Cleveland. Since then he has been a bench player for the New York Gothams, and has appeared in 186 games with a .315 career batting average. He has been stuck behind the #3 pick in this draft as Bud Jameson's backup before recently being demoted to AAA. A decent contact hitter, Thompson lacks the power needed to be an everyday first baseman in the big leagues.

15- LEO GORSKI: WASHINGTON EAGLES
Gorski is a very interesting pick. He he helped lead Omaha (NE) HS to a National Championship in 1918 but went undrafted in the 1921 rookie draft. From there he played a couple of seasons in the Great Western League with indy teams before enrolling at Sadler University in 1924. He had a decent year for the Bluecoats in his only season of college ball and apparently the Cleveland Foresters saw enough to draft the 23 year old shortstop with their 10th round pick. He failed to sign with Cleveland and spent the entire 1925 season playing semi-pro ball but for some reason the Eagles felt he was a first round talent and they drafted him 15th overall. So finally after being drafted 3 times, Gorski joined a FABL organization for the 1926 season. He progressed very slowly through the Eagles system but did have a solid season in AA as a 27 year old. By the end of 1933 Gorski had still only played a handful of games at the AAA level so the Eagles released the now 31 year old. He is still kicking around professional baseball, playing for San Antonio of the Lone Star Association but his selection as a first rounder in 1925 still remains a head scratcher.

16- LOU MARTINO: NEW YORK STARS
As it turns out Martino, at least at this state, is the most successful of the pitchers taken in the first round of the 1925 draft. He is 72-49 after breaking into the Stars rotation in 1929 and remains a key piece of the club. Like Quinn and Myers, Martino was a high school pitcher so he has yet to turn 30 years of age.

SUMMARY
When we talk about the great talent of the 1925 draft it is clear what people are referring to is the five hitters (Wheeler, Jameson, Ashbaugh, Lightbody and Cleaves) but also a large number of solid major leaguers who were selected later in the draft such as Bob Martin, Speed Davis, Abel Man, Moxie Pidgeon (a 12th round pick) and Hank Jones (15th round) but also pitchers like William Jones (3rd round), Walter Murphy (5th round), Joe Dosainvil (6th round) and possibly best of all Jim Lonardo, who was not picked until the 10th round.

I will look back at the 1926 draft as we move closer to preparing for the 1936 edition.

Jiggs McGee · 04-16-2021, 10:51 PM

1936 COLLEGE ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS REVEALED

Narragansett outfielder Sal Pestilli highlights the 1936 AIAA All-American team as selected by The Figment Sporting Journal. Pestilli, who is expected to be a top ten selection in the December draft and may receive consideration as the first overall pick, capped a terrific three year career at the tiny Rhode Island school that saw him be named a first team All-American each season. Pestilli is also the overwhelming favourite to become just the second college player to win a pair of Frank Christian Trophy's as the AIAA's best player. That winner of that award will be announced in a few days. At the moment, only former Lubbock State and current Detroit Dynamos infielder Bill Moore is the only player to be named the College Player of the Year twice.

Pestilli won the triple crown as a freshman and capped that season with the Christian Award. Last year he finished second in batting behind fellow outfielder Alex Lacombe, who joins him on this year's first team All-American squad. This season Pestilli hit .378 with 13 homers, good for tops in the AIAA in both of those categories while also contributing 54 rbi's, which was tied for 6th most. Pestilli's 3 year rbi total of 171 is the highest ever for a non-feeder player and ranks fifth all-time behind Moore, Vic Crawford, Pablo Reyes and Dave Henry so he is in some pretty exclusive company. Pestilli also ranks 7th all-time in career college hits with 260 and his .380 career batting average at Narragansett is the highest ever record, topping the previous mark of .354 established by Don Felice, who played for Northern Mississippi from 1930-1933.

Lacombe, who hit .347 as a sophomore outfielder at Cuyahoga University and pitcher Bunny Edwards, who was 7-1 with an AIAA best 2.10 era at Red River State, are the only other players making a repeat appearance on the All-American team. Each was a second team selection a year ago. This season's second team did have three players who were first teamers a year ago in Topeka State catcher Charlie Gagnon, Redwood University first baseman Jim Hammond and outfielder Joe Zielinski from Cesar Rodney University. Zieinski is a junior and will be draft eligible as will Edwards but the other three were all sophomores this season.

Bluegrass State was the only team to have two players recognized as freshman outfielder Don Hersey was named to the first time while junior shortstop Johnny Fleming earned the nod as a member of the second team. Fleming is listed as a potential second round pick by OSA and is drawing some comparison's to former Bluegrass State shortstop Tip Harrison. Harrison was a second round pick of Brooklyn in 1934 and is currently playing AAA for Newark in the Detroit organization. Harrison slashed .301/.382/.459 in his draft year when he was named a first team All-American. Fleming, who is praised by OSA for his defensive work at shortstop, slashed .305/.365/.474 this season for the Mustangs

Here are the 1936 AIAA All-Americans

Code:


	1936 FIRST TEAM
C	Paul Wilkerson SO Oklahoma City State
1B	Hans Wright    JR Charleston (IL)
2B	Jim Hackbart   JR Chesapeake State
SS	Sipe Ellison   FR Eastern State
3B	Denny Andrews  JR Maryland State
OF	Sal Pestilli   JR Narragansett
OF	Don Hersey      FR Bluegrass State
OF	Alex Lacombe   SO Cuyahoga University
P	Bunny Edwards  JR Red River State
	
	
	1936 SECOND TEAM
C	Charlie Gagnon SO  Topeka State
1B	Jim Hammond    SO Redwood University
2B	Gypsy Jones    JR North Carolina Tech
SS	Johnny Fleming JR Bluegrass State
3B	Spud Bent      SO Maryland State
OF	Joe Murdock    JR Lawrence State
OF	Joe Zielinski  JR Cesar Rodney
OF	Al Jennings     JR Gates University
P	Bill Willman   SO Strub College

PESTILLI FAMILY MAKING IT'S MARK

Three sons of Italian immigrants, all enjoying a tremendous scholastic careers as outfielders while growing up in a city near the ocean. Yes, it is Rhode Island and the east coast instead of San Francisco and two are plying their trade in college outfields instead of the Pacific Coast League but when you think of FABL's Pestilli boys you can't help but draw comparison's to the real life DiMaggio clan.

The oldest is Alf, who was born in Sicily in 1912 shortly before his family embark across the Atlantic and settled in Westerly, Rhode Island. Sal had a solid junior season at Narragansett, a mid-level college based in Rhode Island, before being selected by the Toronto Wolves in the fourth round of the 1934 FABL draft. He enjoyed a very strong rookie pro season in the Wolves organization, hitting .373 with 43 homers in 118 games for Class C Tuscaloosa, leading the Gulf States League in both homers and rbi's while finishing third in batting average. Over the winter he was dealt to the Brooklyn Kings and after hitting .319 with 3 homers in 17 games at the Class A level, Pestilli was promoted to AA Knoxville where the 24 year old is batting .302 with 4 homers and 27 rbi's in 31 games.

Youngest brother Tony just completed his junior season at Westerly High School, by hitting .431 with 30 rbi's in 23 games. He is a .451 career hitter in 72 high school contests and FABL scouting service OSA feels the 17 year old has the raw defensive skills to develop into an elite center fielder. He will not be eligible to be drafted until after the 1937 season.

So if Alf and Tony represent Vince and Dom DiMaggio, that leaves Sal with the potential to be one of the greatest players of all-time. In three years at Narragansett University the 20 year old has done just that. Sal won the AIAA triple crown as a freshman (.409,16,66) and was named the winner of college baseball's Frank Christian Trophy as National Player of the Year. He dipped to .353,3,51 as a sophomore but still finished with the second best batting average in the AIAA and made his second straight appearance on the FSJ first team All-American squad. His draft year saw him lead the league in average and homers once again (.378,13,54) and OSA has him listed #1 in the early mock drafts. Pestilli is also a finalist along with pitchers Bunny Edwards of Red River State and Carl Roe of Valley State for the 1936 Christian Trophy and he will leave the college game with the highest career batting average in the 27 year history of the AIAA. It remains to be seen if he will be drafted first overall as there is a glut of talented outfielders but it seems like a safe bet that whoever drafts Pestilli will get a player with a very bright future in the game.

Jiggs McGee · 04-18-2021, 03:50 PM

MESSER WINS SECOND ADWELL AWARD AS NATION'S TOP HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER

For the second time in three years first baseman Walt Messer has been named the top high school player in the nation. Messer, who won the Adwell Award two years ago as a sophomore but finished second to pitcher Rufus Barrell II a year ago, was named the winner after a 1936 season that saw him hit .586 with a high school best 13 homers and 49 rbi's for Washington DC's McKinley Tech. Messer finishes his high school career with a .601 batting average, the highest career total ever recorded going back to 1910 and the beginnings of the old feeder league system. This season marks the third straight year that Messer was named to The Figment Sporting Journal's High School All-American team. He is projected to be selected second overall behind only college outfielder Sal Pestilli in the first OSA Mock Draft leading up to the December 5th selection date for FABL.

Messer's stiffest competition for his second Adwell Award was a sophomore pitcher by the name of Donnie Jones. Jones, from Minneapolis High School in Minnesota was a perfect 12-0 with a 0.43 era and a 0.37 FIP this season. His 215 strikeouts broke Rufus Barrell's 1 year old record of 199 and his 0.43 era was second best all-time (including feeders) trailing only Rufus Barrell's 0.38 a year ago. Jones is one of only 3 High School pitchers to win 12 games in a season. Ivan Rusman of Avon (NY) HS also did it this season, going 12-1. Jones K/9 of 15.4 was third highest this season and he was second in K/BB ratio. Jones was also named to the high School All-American team but perhaps surprisingly his older brother Johnnie did not get the nod. Johnnie was a senior at St. Paul High School this season, posting a 9-2 record with a 1.54 era. OSA has him as the top pitcher available in the December draft and placed him 15th on their initial mock draft.

The Adwell Award is named after former FABL pitcher Red Adwell, who was the winningest high school pitcher in history until being surpassed last season by Rufus Barrell's career 35-6 record. Here are the winners of the Adwell Award.

Code:

 	ADWELL AWARD WINNERS
1934  Walt Messer	1B  SO  McKinley Tech (Washington DC)
1935  Rufus Barrell II  P   SR  Macon (GA) High School
1936  Walt Messer	1B  SR  McKinley Tech (Washington DC)

The FSJ's High School All-American lists have also been around for 3 years and Messer is the only player named to the team each of the three seasons, although Wally Doyle and Si Crocker both made honourable mention this season after being named to the team each of the previous two years. Here are the 1936 Figment Sporting Journal's High School All-Americans.

Code:


	1936 HIGH SCOOL ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS	
	1936 NAME/CLASS	SCHOOL
C	Pete Casstevens – JR (2)Syracuse (NY) HS
C	Cal Morgan – FR		Alexandria (IN) HS
1b-3b	Walt Messer - SR  (3)	McKinley Tech (Washington DC)
1b-3b	Wally Fuller – FR	Collegiate HS (New York City)
1b-3b	Tom McCarty – SR	Avon (NY) HS
2b-SS	Herb Carey – SO (2)	West Point (VA)
2b-SS	Ted Brown – SR (2)	Henry Snyder (Jersey City NJ)
2b-SS	Roosevelt Brewer – JR	Washington HS (Chicago, IL)
OF	Luke Berry – SR		Cressona (PA) HS
OF	Bob Coon – SR		Montgomery City (MO) HS
OF	Mike Towsley – SO	Honey Brook (PA) HS
OF	Roy Harris – JR	Fairfax HS (Los Angeles, CA)
OF	Ellison Sterner – SR	Kiser HS (Dayton, OH)
P	Donnie Jones – SO	Minneapolis (MN) HS
P	Al Duster – JR		Council Bluffs (IA) HS
P	Cliff Atkinson – JR	Beaver (PA) HS
P	Ed Funkhouser – JR	St Albans HS Washington DC
P	Pete Papenfus – SR (2)	West Plains (MO) HS
	
	HONOURABLE MENTION	
P	Wally Doyle (SR)	Waco (TX) HS
P	David Molina (JR)	Florissant (MO) HS
P	Ivan Rusman (SR)	Avon (NY) HS
C	Rick York (SO)		Terre Haute (IN) HS
INF	Pascal Lafreniere (SO)	Rabouin HS (New Orleans LA)
INF	Billy Woytek (SR)	Loyola (Los Angeles CA)
INF	Heinie Roth (SR)	Bowling Green (OH) HS
OF	Si Crocker (SR)		East (Buffalo, NY)
OF	Happy Ellison -(SO)	Sycamore (Cincinnati, OH)

Donnie Jones is not the only player with a tie to either a current draft prospect or past FABL star on the list. Junior catcher Pete Casstevens from Syracuse High School is the son of former Montreal and Pittsburgh outfielder Clint Casstevens. Another catcher, Rick York, who received honourable mention status, is the son of former Detroit Dynamo legend Dick York. The younger York, is a sophomore at Terre Haute (IN) High School where he is a teammate of his brother, shortstop Joe York. Joe, draft eligible in 1937, is considered a marginal pro prospect at this stage but Rick, who will not be eligible until the 1938 draft, is considered to be a potential FABL starter down the road.

PESTILLI NAMED CHRISTIAN TROPHY WINNER

For the second time in three years Narragansett outfielder Sal Pestilli has been named winner of the Frank Christian Trophy, presented annually to the top college baseball player. Pestilli led the AIAA in batting average (.378) by a sizeable margin and homeruns with 13 in 48 games. He had 54 rbi's which is tied for 6th among all college players in any of the three draft classes. He also led the AIAA in OBP, SLG%,OPS, wOBA and his 3.7 WAR was far and away the highest among any hitter. Second place was a tie at 2.2 war. Pestilli leaves quite a legacy in the college game: a triple crown and a Christian award as a freshman in 1934, led the AIAA in homers 2 of his three seasons, led in batting average twice and was second the year he did not win the batting crown. His lifetime .380 college batting average is the greatest of all-time including feeders. He is 7th all-time in college career hits and 5th in rbi's trailing only Bill Moore, Vic Crawford, Pablo Reyes and Dave Henry. Not sure how fair it is to compare feeders with game generated classes but that is some great company for Pestilli.

Pestilli won the award over fellow finalists Bunny Edwards and Carl Roe. Edwards, a junior righthander from Red River State, went 7-1 with a AIAA best 2.10 era in 15 appearances (12 starts). He pitched just 81 innings but his 10.5 K/9 was second best in the AIAA this season. His 1.87 FIP is the lowest recorded in the three years of draft classes for college players and the second year in a row he led the league in that category. What makes Edwards' season so special is how far his 1.87 FIP was ahead of #2 on the list- Eastern State's Jim Douglass who was at 2.48. Roe is also a junior pitcher, who went 12-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 105 strikeouts for Valley State. His 12 victories this season ties an AIAA record originally set by Bob Cummings in the feeder era and equaled by Phil Gregg in 1936. Those are the only college pitchers in history to win 12 games in a season. His 27 career wins is 9th most all-time- Tom Barrell is #1 with 34 and Pug Bryan second with 32.

The win makes Pestilli just the second player to win the Christian Trophy twice as he joins former Lubbock State first baseman Bill Moore, who won back to back Christian's in 1931 and 1932. Moore just recently made his FABL debut with the Detroit Dynamos and is hitting .347 with 3 homers and 22 rbi's in 37 FABL games. There is a chance that Pestilli and Moore may one day be teammates as the Narragansett outfielder tops the initial mock draft and the Dynamos are expected to own the first selection.

Code:


	FRANK CHRISTIAN AWARD WINNERS 			
YEAR	NAME		POS	CLASS	TEAM
1927	Sam Orr		2B	FR	Henry Hudson
1928	Tommy Wilcox	P 	JR	Liberty College
1929	Vic Crawford	OF	JR	Commonwealth Catholic
1930	Freddie Jones	2B	SO	Central Ohio
1931	Bill Moore	1B	SO	Lubbock State
1932	Bill Moore	1B	JR	Lubbock State
1933	Joe Hancock	P	JR	Henry Hudson
1934	Sal Pestilli	OF	FR	Narrangansett
1935	Al Jones	P	JR	Central Ohio
1936	Sal Pestilli	OF	JR	Narrangansett

02-18-2021, 04:40 AM	#121
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	June 10, 1935: The Adwell Award is created HIGH SCHOOL AWARD TO BE NAMED AFTER BIRMINGHAM LEGEND ADWELL The Figment Sporting Journal's National High School Player of the Year Trophy now officially has a name after it was announced it will be known as the Adwell Award. The award, first presented a year ago following the 1934 school season, will be named after Red Adwell. Adwell was the winningest pitcher in high school history under the old feeder league system, pitching for Birmingham High School from 1910 thru 1913 before going on to spend a decade in FABL with the Pittsburgh Miners, Chicago Chiefs and Philadelphia Keystones. "Red Adwell was one of the greatest high school players of all-time and displayed both the skill and character that is the embodiment of what this award stands for," explained Figment Sporting Journal publisher Charles C. Clay in a media release. Adwell led Birmingham High to a National High School title as a sophomore in 1911 and his 30 career regular season wins are the most ever recorded by pitcher. That record set during the feeder league era will likely be surpassed at some point in the future with the new high school rules but no other high school pitcher won more than 26 career games in the feeder environment, although Rufus Barrell II recently completed his high school career with 29* wins. However, only Barrell's first season was during the feeder league system. Adwell, who also spent two seasons in the minor leagues pitching in Birmingham, was a charter member of that city's Sports Hall of Fame established in 1931. Following his school days Adwell was selected 8th overall by the Pittsburgh Miners in the 1913 FABL draft. Turning down numerous college offers, Adwell turned pro and would make his major league debut at the age of 25 with the Miners. Traded to the Chicago Chiefs midway through his rookie FABL season, the best days of Adwell's decade long big league career came in Chicago highlighted by a 21 win season in 1924. Ironically his best season in the Windy City would also be his last as Adwell was dealt to the Philadelphia Keystones just prior to opening day 1925 and he would finish out his career with the Keystones including a 15-12 1927 campaign that saw his club win the World Championship Series, although Adwell did not pitch in the Series. Demoted to the minors in 1930 at the age 35, Adwell would retire at the end of that season. He finished with a lifetime FABL record of 134-128 and has recently embarked on the second phase of his baseball career joining the Keystones organization in a coaching capacity as the pitching instructor for their Class C affiliate Beaumont Buffaloes. The 1935 winner of the Adwell Award will be announced later this week. The inaugural winner last season was sophomore first baseman Walt Messer of McKinley Tech in Washington DC. - Note- 1932 feeder league stats are lost to history for many players. It is quite likely Barrell won games that season which would have allowed him to surpass Adwell, although the vast majority of Barrell's wins came after the feeder system was disbanded. BARRELL, MESSER HIGHLIGHT 1935 PREP ALL-AMERICAN TEAM* Seven repeat selections including 1934 National High School Player of the Year Walt Messer headline the 1935 Figment Sporting Journal High School All-American Team. Messer, who just completed his junior season at Washington DC's McKinley Tech, failed to win the high school triple crown as he did a year ago but he did lead the nation once again in batting, hitting at a .604 clip with 10 homers and 39 rbi's in 21 games. Messer is joined on the team by Rufus Barrell II, a lefthander from Macon, Georgia who has compiled a 29-3 record over 3 seasons of high school ball including 11-0 this year - his second straight season without a loss. Barrell is tabbed as a potential first overall selection in the December FABL draft. Other players making their second straight appearance on this the second annual High School All-American list include Suffolk, Virginia catcher Bill Van Ness (.516,3,28), infielders Chuck Adams (.571,12,50) of Memphis High School and Jim Lightbody(.517,1,28) from Alexandria, Louisiana, outfielder Si Crocker (.456,10,36) from East High School in Buffalo, New York and pitcher Wally Doyle (11-0, 0.98), a junior out of Waco, Texas. Here is the complete list of the 1935 All-American team. Attached Images __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-18-2021, 10:16 AM	#122
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,712	FABL Bio of the Day: The Golden Brothers FABL BIO OF THE DAY THE GOLDEN ARMS OF MANDEVILLE, LOUISIANA Tiny Mandeville, Louisiana was best known as being a resort hangout for the New Orleans middle class since it's creation in the mid 1800s. While today Mandeville boasts a population of over 12,000 in 1900 there were barely 1,000 residents but two of them would go on to become pretty good FABL pitchers. Jim (1909-20) and Rip (1913-22) Golden combined for 417 FABL victories, 5 World Championship rings and 2 Whitney Awards of the course of their careers. Each began playing semi-pro ball for local teams in nearby Hammond, Louisiana before being discovered by FABL scouts. The call came for Jim first, despite the fact he was 4 years younger than Rip, as the Detroit Dynamos signed him after witnessing him pitching for Hammond against a New Orleans club in 1908. He would go directly from the semi-pro circuit to the big leagues and did so with a bang. Rip, meanwhile, had been nursing a broken leg suffered that spring while working on the steamships that ferryed back and forth across Lake Pontchartrain between New Orleans and Mandeville, so he did not catch the attention of Detroit scouts. In fact it would not be until 1912 when Rip was finally signed by the Chicago Chiefs as a 26 year old and his big league debut would come the following season. In Rip's final year with Hammond ballclub he showed some of the skills that would later lead him to becoming a pitching coach as he mentored a then 16 year old Johnny Taylor before Taylor went on to pitch for St Blane University and spend 5 years in the big leagues himself. By 1913 when Rip was preparing for his big league debut in Chicago, younger brother Jim was already a FABL veteran. Jim took the Federal Association by storm in 1909 when as a mere 20 year old he would win 23 games and then add two more victories in the World Championship Series to lead Detroit past Toronto for it's first of 5 FABL titles for the franchise. Jim was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1909 series and would play a key role for 4 more pennant winning Detroit squads, finishied with an 8-3 career postseason record to go with a 1.97 era and 4 World Championship rings. He would follow up his rookie season with two more twenty win campaigns including a league best 29-13 in 1911 but he was just getting started. 1913, the year Rip debuted in Chicago, Jim was named the Whitney Award winner as Most Valuable Player of the Federal Association after posting a league best 31 victories. Jim would win a second Whitney Award in 1916, when he went 35-9 and led Detroit to the first of three World Championships in a four year span. Only Mike Marner, with 36 for Baltimore in 1908, won more games in a single season since the turn of the century than Jim Golden's total that year. Jim Golden remains to this day the all-time leader in career World Championship games won and only Woody Trease has pitched in more than the 100 World Championship Series innings that Golden has tossed. Code: WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES WON 1 Jim Golden 8 1909-19 Detroit 2 Woody Trease 7 1902-11 Boston/Detroit 2 Charlie Wilson 7 1893-1901 Gothams/Sailors/Cleveland 4 Morris Harris 6 1893-1902 Gothams/Cougars/Stars 5 Bill Ross# 5 1922-33 Cougars/Keystones 6 Allan Allen 4 1895-1904 Cougars/Toronto 6 John Bigness 4 1899-1906 Cougars/Boston 6 Mike Marner 4 1907-14 Baltimore 6 Bill McDaniel 4 1902-05 Boston 6 Joe Myres 4 1919-21 Montreal 6 Dick Richards# 4 1924-32 Stars 6 Luke Smith 4 1924-25 Stars # still active As mentioned Jim led Detroit to 3 World Championships in a 4 year span starting in 1916. The one season the Dynamos did not win, 1917, the title went to the Chicago Chiefs, who had finished second to Detroit the previous season. Pitching for the Chiefs in that period was, of course, Jim's big brother Rip. In 1917 Rip was the number four starter for the Chiefs but he did win 13 games that year. Rip had an equally impressive debut as his brother - although he was 27 at the time - going 25-15 with a league leading 2.03 era in 1913. It would prove to be the best season of his career as he never again won twenty but did post a 148-158 record over 10 seasons with the Chiefs and Pittsburgh before retiring as a player at the age of 38 after spending a year in the minor leagues. Jim, on the other hand, was a legend in Detroit, where he won 269 games and spent his entire career, one that had a tragic early end when at the age of 31 in 1920 he suffered a back injury that he would not return from. Both brothers remain active in the game after their playing days. Jim Golden has been the assistant General Manager of the Brooklyn Kings for the past seven years while Rip briefly managed an independent team in the Great West League before joining the St Louis Pioneers organization as a pitching coach for their AAA affiliate in Hartford. It is believed the pair are the most successful pitching brother act in FABL and perhaps surpassed as a baseball family only by the legendary Barrell's, although Jim has witnessed first hand the rise of another pair of ball playing brothers from a small town in Louisiana as outfielders Doug and Frank Lightbody may one day surpass the Golden's as the premier baseball family of Louisiana. Attached Images __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles

02-19-2021, 09:29 PM	#123
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	June 24, 1935 BARRELL WINS ADWELL AWARD When you are a part of baseball's first family it is not very often that you are able to accomplish something that no other Barrell had achieved previously however Rufus "Deuce" Barrell II has claimed a distinction none of his famous uncles can lay claim to by winning the Adwell Award as the nation's top high school baseball player. Now the fact that the award has only been around for two years is obviously a factor although even then there are doubts that either Bobby or Harry Barrell would have laid claim to one. Both were dominant ballplayers in high school and have developed into FABL stars but only young Rufus can be called an Adwell Award winner. Rufus capped a terrific career at Macon High School in Georgia with an 11-0 season that saw him fan a record 199 batters in just 117 innings breaking the mark established last year by Pete Papenfus of 189. Barrell also established a new mark for ERA in a season with a 0.38. This followed a 12-0 junior season in which Barrell posted an 0.81 era and fanned 185. Barrell's career mark including his sophomore season under the feeder leagues is 35-6 with a record 553 strikeouts. His career strikeout total obliterated the old feeder league mark of 387 set by John White, who pitched for Wilkes-Barre High School from 1913-16 before going on spend 7 years in FABL with the Philadelphia Sailors and Brooklyn Kings. Next up for Rufus is the December draft where he currently is projected to be selected 4th according to the OSA mock draft but most experts assume he will be the likely first overall pick, which is nothing new for the Barrell clan as both Harry, who played at Atlanta High School, and Tom, drafted out of Georgia Baptist University, each were selected first overall. Code: [b] BARRELL DRAFT PICK HISTORY 1923 16th round Dan Barrell OF Washington DC HS['b] 1926 3rd overall Fred Barrell C Georgia Baptist 1928 6th overall Bobby Barrell RF Atlanta HS 1929 1st overall Tom Barrell P Georgia Baptist 1931 1st overall Harry Barrell SS Atlanta HS 1935 ? Rufus Barrell II P Macon HS Code: ADWELL AWARD WINNERS 1934 Walt Messer 1B McKinley Tech Washington DC 1935 Rufus Barrell II LHP Macon High School Macon, Georgia Note - Rufus' missing 1932 High School stats as a freshman under the old feeder league system were uncovered recently so his career totals mentioned above are updated. Attached Images __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-19-2021, 10:22 PM	#124
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1935 AIAA All-American Selections JUNE 18, 1935 COLLEGE ALL-AMERICAN TEAM REVEALED Pitcher Al Jones of Central Ohio highlights the 1935 Figment Sporting Journal College Baseball All-American team selections. Jones becomes the second member of his family to be named to the All-American team as his older brother Freddie, who also played at Central Ohio and is now a star second baseman for the St Louis Pioneers, was selected twice: in 1929 and 1930. The 21 year old Jones was 9-3 with a 2.93 era and an AIAA leading 141 strikeouts in 16 starts for the Aviators. Jones is also favoured to win the first annual Frank Christian Trophy, to be awarded to the player judged to be the best in college baseball. While previously unnamed, the college player of the year has been awarded annually since 1927 and Freddie Jones was the winner in 1930 so little brother Al is looking to follow in his footsteps in that area as well. The only player to repeat as a member of the All-American team was outfielder Sal Pestilli, a sophomore from Narragansett College. The Rhode Island native won the college triple crown a year ago while hitting over .400 and was named the National Player of the Year. His numbers dipped this season but he still hit .353, second only to Alex Lacomb of Cuyahoga University, and Pestilli did enough to warrant a return to the All-American team. The draft eligible first team All-Americans include a pair of Topeka State Braves in catcher Charlie Gagnon and second baseman Mickey Fulton. The duo were the only teammates to be selected. Other draft eligible juniors named to the first team are Hal Wood, a shortstop from Smithfield College, Ohio Poly third baseman Mike Roberson, Northern California outfielder Ollie Williams and Central Ohio's Jones. The OSA mock draft tabs Smithfield College's Wood as the top college player eligible and they slot him in as 6th pick in their initial mock draft. Wood, a 21 year old from Houston is hailed for his outstanding defense and projected to be a solid major league shortstop. Code: 1935 FIGMENT SPORTING JOURNAL'S COLLEGE ALL-AMERICAN TEAM FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS POS NAME CL SCHOOL HOMETOWN C Charlie Gagnon FR Topeka State Milwaukee, WI 1B Jim Hammond FR Redwood Univ Salt Lake City, UT 2B Mickey Fulton JR Topeka State Wichita Falls, TX SS Hal Wood JR Smithfield College Houston, TX 3B Mike Roberson JR Ohio Poly Bridgeport, CT OF Joe Zielinski SO Ceasr Rodney Buffalo, NY OF Sal Pestilli SO Narragansett Westerly, RI OF Ollie Williams JR Northern Cal Georgetown, TX P Al Jones JR Central Ohio Nashville, TN SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS POS NAME CL SCHOOL HOMETOWN C Bob Higginbottom JR Opelika St Memphis, TN 1B Max Smith SO Texas Panhandle Dallas, TX 2B Austin Moore JR Garden State Soledad, CA SS John Bonner FR Maryland St Pampa, TX 3B Billy Dalton JR Perry State St Louis, MO OF Luis Herrero SO Coll of Binghamton New Rochelle, NY OF Alex Lacombe FR Cuyahoga Univ. Cleveland, OH OF Charlie Nathan FR South Valley State Brownwood, TX P Bunny Edwards SO Red River State New Castle, PA __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-19-2021, 10:53 PM	#125
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	AIAA 1935 Frank Christian Trophy Winner THE FRANK CHRISTIAN TROPHY The Figment Sporting Journal has selected a player deemed to be the best in college baseball every year since 1927. That award will now have a name after it was announced recently that the Frank Christian Trophy has been created and will be presented annually to college baseball's top player beginning with the 1935 season. Christian was a legendary coach at Lubbock State who guided the Hawks from 1910 when the AIAA baseball originally began until his retirement following the 1933 season. He led the Hawks to a pair of National Titles in 1922 and 1928 and his team qualified for the AIAA playoffs on 4 other occasions. His lifetime managerial record of 620-582 places him second only to Hal Quinn in college wins and games managed. Among the many players he developed for the next level is Bill Moore, who was recently named the greatest player in the first 25 years of AIAA baseball and was the only two-time winner of the College Player of the Year award. Coaching ran in the Christian family as Frank's brother John Christian was a long-time football and basketball coach, first at Noble Jones in Atlanta and later for Red River State. CENTRAL OHIO'S JONES WINS INITIAL CHRISTIAN TROPHY As was widely expected Central Ohio University pitcher Al Jones was named the first recipient of the Frank Christian Trophy as college baseball's top player for 1935. The 21 year old Nashville, Tennessee native is following in his older brothers footsteps as Freddie Jones was a standout second baseman for the Aviators before joining the St Louis Pioneers. Freddie was the first Central Ohio player to be named the College Baseball Player of the Year, having won the award in 1930. While expected to be selected in the December draft, it is very unlikely the younger Jones will be a first round pick like his brother. OSA scouts see him as a back end of the rotation type pitcher once he matures, but do rave about his dominant curve ball and his ability to get strikeouts. That was on full display this season as Jones led the AIAA in K's by a wide margin, fanning 141 batters in 110 innings of work while posting a 9-3 record. Here is the complete list of college player of the year winners. Code: *FRANK CHRISTIAN TROPHY WINNERS YEAR NAME POS CLASS SCHOOL** 1927 Sam Orr 2B FR Henry Hudson 1928 Tommy Wilcox P JR Liberty College 1929 Vic Crawford OF JR Commonwealth Catholic 1930 Freddie Jones 2B SO Central Ohio 1931 Bill Moore 1B SO Lubbock State 1932 Bill Moore 1B JR Lubbock State 1933 Joe Hancock P JR Henry Hudson 1934 Sal Pestilli OF FR Narrangansett 1935 Al Jones P JR Central Ohio * Award was not dubbed the Frank Christian Trophy until 1935 Attached Images __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

02-22-2021, 07:25 PM	#126
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	July 1, 1935 JULY 1, 1935 TEN THINGS I THINK: DRAFT POOL EDITION By Jiggs McGee I am back with another edition of "Ten Things I Think" and today's focus will be on this December's draft. So with no more delay let's get right into with a fearless prediction. 1- If Rabbit Day does not get there first then Rufus Barrell II will be FABL's next 300 game winner. Remember you read that here. Even if the 31 year old Day does get the 144 more victories he needs before his playing days are done I still expect Deuce Barrell to be a 300 game winner as long as he stays healthy. I would also not be surprised if by the time his playing days are over Barrell will be baseball's all-time strike out king. I think the kid is major league ready now at age 18. How else can you explain a high school pitcher with 199 strikeouts and just 4 walks in his draft year. The mock draft has Rufus currently slotted 4th but I can not see any way Rufus is not selected first overall and he may be what I believe would be the first high school pitcher to go straight to the majors without at least a season in the minors. 2- According to OSA this is the year of the first baseman with four of them presently projected to go in the opening round including first overall Red Johnson. Johnson, who hails from Portland, Oregon, hit 21 homers the past two seasons for Central Catholic High School in his hometown and is said to have elite raw power. OSA calls him a future all-star and he may be a great consolation prize after Barrell for the Detroit Dynamos, who's Thompson Park seems perfectly designed for the righthanded Johnson. The Dynamos are likely thinking pitcher - perhaps George Garrison - with the second overall pick which they are sure to have as the basement dweller of the Federal Association but Johnson might be the perfect replacement for Al Wheeler. 3- There must be something about small Rhode Island colleges. Hal Wood, from Smithfield College in Smithfield, Rhode Island, is the best of the college crop of draft eligible players. Last year we had Alf Pestilli from Narragansett selected in the fourth round and next year each school has a potential first round pick in Smithfield second baseman Yank Buxton and Narragansett's Sal Pestilli, who was the National College Player of the Year as a freshman and an All-American last year as a sophomore. He is the younger brother of Alf. 4- Who will be the first teammates selected in the draft this time around? Last year it was obvious that St Blane University pitching mates Bobo White and Gus Goulding would go high and they did with White going first overall to Washington and Goulding taken next by Baltimore. The year before it was a pair of Hartford High School pitchers who both celebrated early with John Edwards being selected 3rd overall by Baltimore and Al Miller going fourth to the Chicago Chiefs. In 1932 we had Curly Jones going first to the New York Gothams and his Henry Hudson University teammate George Gilliard being taken 5th by Washington. 1931 gave us a pair of Central Ohio Aviators with second baseman Freddie Jones being taken second by St Louis and Boston grabbing pitcher Jim Taylor 10th. Central Ohio actually went one better that year with 3 players taken in the first round as Detroit selected P Joe Stevens 12th overall. There are no sure bets like White/Goudling last year or Jones/Gilliard a couple of years prior but if I was to make an educated guess I would say it will be a pair of Central Ohio Aviators celebrating first once again as pitchers Al Jones and Bill Seabolt should likely both go by the end of the second round. 5- Speaking of Al Jones he is the younger brother of St Louis Pioneers star second baseman Freddie Jones. Al, a pitcher, followed in his brother's footsteps to Central Ohio and like Freddie won a Frank Christian Award as college player of the year. Now he hopes to duplicate Freddie in the draft and go in the first round. 6- The Jones' are not the college brother act as Henry Hudson University has the Gilliard's. Ed is draft eligible this year after the outfielder hit .271 with 7 homers for the Explorers last season. George also went to Hudson before being selected 5th overall by Washington in 1932. He is currently pitching in AA. Another brother of a pro ball player in this year's draft class is Roy Oldham. Roy was born in Nashville just like the Jones boys but he is younger so he likely did not play with Al Jones at any point in his career. Roy is an 18 year old third baseman from Nashville Bible School who OSA feels may have big league potential. The big leagues are something that so far have eluded 30 year old Ray Oldham, who is also a third baseman and played his high school ball at the old Nashville High School of the feeder leagues. Roy spent some time in the Kings and Foresters organization but is presently playing for San Antonio in the independent Lone Star League. 7- Staying with the family connections there are a number of sons of former big leaguers in the draft with the most famous being Ed Ziehl's son Eddie. The elder Ziehl was one of the greatest hitters in FABL history and it appears Eddie may have inherited a bit of that talent. A third baseman, Eddie hit .448 for Mount St Michael Academy High School in New York City this past season. Perhaps playing on his dad's nickname (The Lion), OSA says Eddie could be penciled in for a lions share of the starts at his position once he matures. 8- Other father/son draft duos are Jack Blanton, a high school shortstop who's father Bill played a handful of minor league games in 1907. Gabe Cain Jr, a high school infielder from Houlton, Maine who's father played 41 FABL games for 3 teams in the early 1900s. Cain is projected to be a second round pick. Bayou State outfielder Jimmy Jarvis' dad Adam spent nearly two decades in the minors pitching in over 100 games at AAA but never got the call to the big leagues. Billy Jordan was a former pitcher for Washington and the Chicago Cougars who won 19 big league games. His son Billy Jr. was born in Chicago but grew up in California and has committed to North Carolina Tech if he does not get drafted. An outfielder, he is said to be a reserve player at best. Finally, we have Gainesville(GA) high school 3B Cletus Van Horn who has already committed to Carolina Poly. His dad Clyde spent a year with St. Patrick's University as a backup catcher and had a very small cup of coffee - just 1 game- in the minors. 9- We have some great nicknames in this draft class. Here are just a few: Hard Boiled Henry Koblenz, Jack "The El Dorado Kid" Hale and Bob 'Zip' Zizza but the best has to be Mack Sutton, the Arkansas Artilleryman. Sutton an 18 year old third baseman from Arkadelphia, Arkansas was a High School All-American this season and his said to have elite skills. He is listed second in the OSA Mock Draft. 10- Finally I will take a stab at picking the Mr. Irrelevant in this year's draft - the last of the 400 players selected. I am going to go with a high school second baseman by the name of Gene Ham. Ham, who played his high school ball for Wallkill (NY) HS, had the lowest average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage of any draft eligible high school player this season. OSA says he is well below average across the board. Ham has committed to Brooklyn Catholic University so an education is likely a very good choice for the young man. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

03-07-2021, 10:19 PM	#127
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,712	FABL Bio of the Day FABL BIO OF THE DAY It's been a while since I have posted a FABL player biography so I thought I would make up for it by looking at 9 people in today's write-up. The recent Ballad of the Brothers Barrell episode is tracking the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris so I figured this would be a good time to catch up on the 9 players who started for the American squad in their 4 inning exhibition (a 5-0 victory) with a team of French players. The nine starters for the victorious American side that day were not professional's at the time of course, but rather were college ballplayers. The lineup, which was selected by legendary college coach Frank Christian, was certainly not a college all-star team but did have some players who would enjoy decent pro careers. Here are the players who took the field for the American team that day in Paris. Code: 1924 US OLYMPIC BASEBALL CLUB POS NAME HOMETOWN SCHOOL P Jim Morales Durham, NC Brunswick C Frank Haab Grand Forks, ND Wisconsin State 1B Dick Horner Wonder Lake, IL St. Matthew's College 2B Whitey Robinson Milwaukee, WI Northern Mississippi SS Don Ward Marcellus, NY Bayou State 3B Neal Mesker Minneapolis, MN Northern Mississippi LF Jim Renfroe Shawnee, KS Mississippi A&M CF Al Brewer Vancouver, BC Brunswick RF Les Woodward Scottsdale, AZ Lubbock State Christian has been talked about before on these pages. He was a legendary college coach at Lubbock State after whom the College Player of the Year Trophy is now named. Christian's brother John was also a long-time coach, in both football and baseball, at Noble Jones College and later for Red River State. The team Christian assembled had a decidedly southern twang to it as 5 of the players came from schools in the Deep South including Les Woodward, an outfielder on Christian's Lubbock State Hawks. Because it was an exhibition sport nationality did not matter much as the team actually included a Canadian born player and a pitcher who was from Cuba but grew up in Durham, North Carolina. It is also interesting to note how injuries played a role in diminishing the major league career's of several of the team members. The most successful of the group would have to be Jim Renfroe so let's start with a look at his career: JIM RENFROE It's too bad Jim Renfroe had so many health issues during his career, otherwise he quite possibly would be in the discussion for All-Star candidates every year. He was the star of the US team in 1924, homering in the game and appeared destined to enjoy an outstanding big league career. Renfroe was from Mississippi A&M and a big part of the reason, along with the Lightbody boys, Bud Rogers and Clarence Hall among others that the Generals earned the nickname Outfield U. Originally taken 10th overall in 1923 by Montreal I guess the signs of what was to come were evident very quickly when he suffered an off field shoulder injury a week after the draft that sidelined him for a month. He refused to sign with the Saints and went back to A&M for another year and, as it turned out, an opportunity to compete in the Olympics before being taken 2nd overall by the Brooklyn Kings in the 1924 draft. In July of 1927 while still working his way up through the minors as Brooklyn was in a pennant race they would ultimately win, the Kings sent him to Pittsburgh with another top prospect in Jim Pool in exchange for veteran reliever Leon Thompson and a minor league third baseman John Wilder plus a 4th round draft pick that would turn out to be Loren Morgan -another Mississippi A&M outfielder, but he never made the big leagues. Thompson and Wilder did their job to help Brooklyn win it's pennant. Thompson pitched in 12 games for the Kings, going 1-1 with a 3.83 era, while Wilder had the best stretch of his fairly uneventful career, batting .336 with 6 homers down the stretch. Thompson would win 12 games the following season as a starter but the Brooklyn native would accomplish little else and is now playing in the Lone Star League while Wilder lasted just one more season with the Kings before being moved on to Baltimore in a deal that would land the Kings top prospects Johnny Jacob (who like Renfroe has seen a promising career derailed by injuries) and Ron Rattigan, who would be a big piece in the later deal that brought Milt Fritz to Brooklyn and ultimately seems to have finally solved the Kings third base issues with the subsequent departure of Fritz to Montreal for John Langille. As for Renfroe, if there is a body part that can get injured he has probably had it hurt. Knees, groin, thumb, quads, hip, calf, ankle, finger, blurred vision and back stiffness highlight as ailments Renfroe has dealt with but the big one was a knee injury in 1931 that cost him a full year and likely robbed him of what little mobility he had left. He was a gifted defensive outfielder in his early days and even after the injuries piled up was still pretty good. The 121 games he played in 1928 at the age of 25 was the high water mark for his career, one which saw him play in just 624 big league games over 8 seasons, but in 1928 he hit .276 and led the Federal Association in triples with 17 despite missing over a month of the season. One can't help but think his career could have been so much more had he been blessed with good health. Renfroe is still active and presently playing AAA ball in the Cleveland Foresters system but clearly his best days are well behind him. DON WARD Of the 1924 Olympians it is Don Ward who has played the most big league games. The now 32 year old shortstop is presently back with the Cleveland Foresters, the club that originally drafted him out of Bayou State, and is a veteran of 814 FABL games and counting. Ward is batting .348 so far this season and is a lifetime .307 hitter. He spent four years as the everyday shortstop at Bayou State and helped the Cougars reach the finals of the College World Series as a senior before Cleveland selected him 5th overall in the 1924 FABL draft, 3 slots after Renfroe went to Brooklyn. Like Renfroe it was the second time Ward was drafted as the Chicago Cougars selected him 16th overall in 1923 but he elected not to sign and returned to Bayou State to complete his education. Ward would make his big league debut three years after being selected by Cleveland, hitting .301 with 9 homers in 141 games for the 1927 Foresters while playing outstanding defense at short. Shifted to third base for 1928 due to another rising young shortstop in the Foresters system at the time by the name of Russ Combs, Ward got off to a great start with a .361 average thru the first 17 games in '28 and it looked like he was on the cusp of stardom until, like Renfroe, injury hit. For Ward it was a broken kneecap and it ended his 1928 season. He would return in 1929 and play the full year with Cleveland but his average dipped to .277. At that point the Foresters decided they liked another former college first round pick in Jake Moore more than Ward and they dispatched the former Olympian to the New York Gothams in exchange for a 6th round draft pick that would turn out to be career minor league catcher Dick Miller. Ward rebounded quickly in his new surroundings, hitting .317 in 1930 and .322 the following season while providing well above average defense for the Gothams. However, he struggled a bit at the plate in 1932 and by 1933 was relegated to a backup role with Johnny McDowall taking over the regular third base duties at Dyckman Stadium. Prior to the 1934 season the Gothams sent him to independent Portland of the Great Western League for a promising young pitcher by the name of Sergio Gonzales, who would eventually join Ward back in Cleveland a year later. Ward made the most of his year in exile in the minors - the first time he had been out of the big leagues since 1926 - and after hitting .304 for the Green Sox his contract was purchased by the Foresters last winter, bringing him back to where his pro career began. LES WOODWARD Woodward was the only one of Frank Christian's players on the Lubbock State Hawks to join his coach in Paris for the 1924 Games. Like Ward and Renfroe he has played in over 600 FABL games so far in his career but unlike them he has been relatively injury free during that time with just one injury lasting over a week. Woodward was a freshman on Lubbock State's 1922 National Championship team and hit .317 with 23 homers in 117 career college games before being selected in the second round of the 1924 draft by the Chicago Chiefs. Woodward has been a Chief ever since although currently, at age 31, he is playing for their AAA farm team in Fort Wayne. He had been a starter in the Chicago outfield on and off during his career and has spent sometime on the big league roster every year since 1928 but has played just 16 games for the Chiefs this season. He owns a lifetime .312 average with 43 homers in 646 games with Chicago. FRANK HAAB Catcher Frank Haab was the only other member of the '24 Paris team to play any meaningful time in the major leagues. Like Renfore and Ward, he was a college senior in 1924 and elected to return to Wisconsin State and have a chance to play in the Olympics instead of signing with the Chicago Cougars, who had drafted him in the second round in 1923. It was likely tough for a Wisconsin State player to turn down the opportunity to join a Chicago team but Haab's patience paid off as he was selected 18th overall by the New York Stars a year later. Haab would never suit up for the Stars though as he was traded twice while still a minor leaguer and eventually made his big league debut with the Montreal Saints in 1927. The Saints had long been searching for a solid catcher - a search that raged on until likely finally being solved in 1935 with the trade for top prospect Tom Bird and the drafting of college sensation Adam Mullins - and in 1927 the hope was Haab would be the answer especially after he hit .319 in 65 games as a 25 year old. That would prove to be the high water mark of Haab's career as he spent several seasons as a backup in Montreal but hit just .269 and seemed to get worse at the plate every year. Montreal dealt him to Pittsburgh along with a 2nd round pick in exchange for another catcher by the name of Curt Sequillante during spring training last year and Haab hi .221 in 30 games as the Miners backup in 1934. He was waived over the winter and the New York Stars signed him and placed him with AAA Los Angeles but he was recently released after hitting .235 in 36 games for the AAA Knights. Now a free agent it appears this might be the end of the line for the 33 year old. JIM MORALES The only other member of the 1924 Olympic team to play at least one major league game was the pitcher. Jim Morales was just a freshman in 1924 and coming off what would prove to be the best year of his career following a 10-1, 2.87 season that saw him lead his Brunswick College club to a College World Series title. After his four shutout innings in France, Morales would return to Brunswick for two more seasons but won just 9 games combined before being selected by Washington in the second round of the 1926 draft. He spent 5 seasons in the minors before his break came in 1931 when the Cleveland Foresters selected him in the Rule V draft. Morales had a 1.17 era in 4 relief appearances for Cleveland to start the season before the "24 Olympic Jinx" hit and he blew out his elbow in May and was sidelined over a year. Cleveland released him after yet another series injury in 1932 and he went back to Washington, playing his other 2 FABL games in 1933 - going 1-1 with a 5.17 era in 2 starts. He has split time between AAA and AA since then and is still just 30 years old so perhaps he will get another chance someday soon with the Eagles. Morales posted some pretty good numbers in college and looked like a pretty solid prospect but it appears an injury at the wrong time robbed him of his chance to be a solid big leaguer. But he always has Paris to look back upon now. DICK HORNER I am really starting to think there just might be some sort of injury jinx associated with the 1924 Paris team. We have already discussed Jim Renfroe's chronic injuries, Don Ward and Jim Morales hit with them at seemingly the worst time possible and now I present for you the case of Dick Horner. Now I am not saying Horner was going to be a solid major league player but it appears the now 32 year old might have missed his opportunity to get some FABL playing time because of blowing out his knee in AAA on opening day 1932. Let's back up first to where his career starts. He spent 4 seasons of high school ball playing a key role for Waco (TX) and led the team to the playoffs in the old Feeder League system as a sophomore while finishing among the nation leaders in homers as a junior with 14 in 39 games. The Brooklyn Kings selected Horner in the fourth round of the 1921 FABL draft but he elected to attend St. Matthew's College instead. Horner focused on his studies initially and did not play ball until his junior season. He hit .343 with 8 homers that year and obviously caught the attention of Olympic Coach Frank Christian but also of the St Louis Pioneers, who selected him in the second round. The Pioneers already had the game's greatest slugger in Max Morris patrolling their outfield and probably thought Horner could be a great piece to hit either in front of or behind Morris. But for some reason Horner was overlooked in his early days in the Pioneers system, appearing in just 14 Class A games as a rookie pro in 1925 and starting just 59 between Class B and A the following year. He showed some offensive flashes such as hitting.374 in 68 games at B in 1926 and .331 in 1928 when he finally got a chance to play every day in Class A. But by then he was 25 years old and the Pioneers had other shiny young prospects to focus their attention on so Horner was cut loose just before opening day 1930. He quickly caught on with independent AAA Richmond and after hitting .328 in limited action he was moved to another AAA Indy club or the 1931 season. It was with Syracuse at age 28 that Horner finally got another chance to play regularly, hitting .304 with 18 homers in 122 games. He returned to Syracuse for the 1932 season and might have caught the attention of FABL scouts had he not suffered a season ending injury on opening day that year. Once healthy, Horner picked up right where he left of before the injury with a strong start to the 1933 season until once again his body gave out and he missed the final two months of the season. He had one last hurrah this year with a Class A Indy league team but was recently released and it appears his career is over. So it might be a stretch to say the injury cost Horner a shot at the big leagues but it might have played a factor as perhaps he would have had his contract purchased by a FABL club if his 1931 season had been as successful as his '32 campaign was before the second injury. Although most of the anger, if there is any that Horner might feel about never getting to the big leagues should be directed at the Pioneers organization for never giving him a real shot to develop in the minors early in his pro career. AL BREWER Since it was just an exhibition sport it appears no one had any worries about Canadian Al Brewer suiting up for the US Team in the 1924 Paris Games. A teammate and the best friend of Brunswick pitcher Jim Morales, it seems easy to believe Brewer was only on the US team at Morales' insistence and Brewer's pedestrian college stats certainly appear to confirm that. He was a sophomore at Brunswick that season and hit just .210 but he would improve the following season, batting .270 before missing the end of his draft year season with a fractured thumb. Brewer did apparently show the Philadelphia Keystones enough that they decided to select him in the third round of the 1925 FABL draft despite a college career slash line of just .227/.323/.298. That Brewer has remained in the Keystones system ever since is probably a testament to his outstanding work ethic and old fashioned values and he has spent the past two seasons in AAA but at age thirty his opportunity to make an appearance in a big league game seems to have passed him by. He too suffered a serious injury with a broken elbow coming in 1933 when he was in the midst of an outstanding start to the season at AA New Orleans, but no one would ever make the case that injury is why Brewer did not, at least as of yet, making the big leagues. WHITEY ROBINSON Second baseman Whitey Robinson never played a game for a major league affiliate but has enjoyed a 10 year and counting career with three different independent teams in the Great Western League. He began his baseball journey as a teen spending four season with Pittsburgh High School in the old feeder league system before being selected by the hometown Pittsburgh Miners in the 6th round of the 1922 draft. They failed to agree on a contract suitable enough to keep Robinson from going to college so he enrolled at Northern Mississippi, where after sitting out the 1923 season as a freshman he played alongside his Olympic teammate Neal Mesker. Brooklyn selected Robinson in the 8th round of the 1924 draft but released him after spring training and he would sit out all of the 1925 and most of the 1926 season before catching on in the Great Western League, where he has spent most of the past decade as a reserve middle infielder. NEAL MESKER Like his college teammate Whitey Robinson, Neal Mesker was pretty healthy for his entire career but also like Robinson, he was just not that good of a ballplayer - at least when discussing FABL quality talent. Mesker and Robinson were teammates on a very bad Northern Mississippi team in 1924 but he displayed enough that the Baltimore Cannon selected him in the fourth round of the draft. Mesker would spend 10 seasons in the Cannons organization peaking with 14 games at AAA in 1927. He spent the vast majority of his time at AA Erie for whom he hit .268 and is the AA Cannons all-time franchise leader in games played with 566 as well as topping the club in several other career offensive categories. He retired at the conclusion of the 1934 season. SUMMARY So as you can see few of the 1924 Olympians really ended up accomplishing much in pro baseball although injuries certainly played a role in part of that for several of them. Perhaps it was a difficult assignment convincing some players to give up their entire summer as there were certainly a number of top players available that did not join Christian on the trek to Paris. I think of names like Woody Armstrong, the future Montreal Saint who had a dominant freshman campaign in 1924 for Chicago Poly or Renfroe's teammate Doug Lightbody at Mississippi A&M, who led the college ranks with 19 homers that season as a sophomore but it mattered not as it was obvious that the French team, even with an American Manager in long-time St Blane Fighting Saints bench boss Ray Harvey overseeing things, was no match for the American contingent. One might even make an argument that the best baseball player in the 1924 Olympics did not even play the sport that year as decathlete Dan Barrell would eventually enjoy the beginnings of a solid career with the Brooklyn Kings despite giving up baseball temporarily while at Chicago Poly to focus on football, track and his studies. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 03-08-2021 at 01:40 AM.

03-08-2021, 11:40 PM	#128
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	September 9, 1935 TEN THINGS I THINK : JIGGS MCGEE 1- Let's start this edition with some recognition for Philadelphia Keystones first baseman Rankin Kellogg, who recently hit his 400th career homerun. Not bad for a guy who couldn't start on his high school team. Kellogg was penciled into the starting lineup only 39 times over 4 seasons at Memphis High., appearing in 87 games total and hitting .338 with 11 homers in 195 at bats. Despite the small sample he was still taken first overall by the Keystones in 1922. There are no fielding stats for that era of the high school feeder league but piecing together the roster it looks like the starting first basemen ahead of him his first two seasons with the Pharoahs was George James. James played for Memphis from 1917-20 and started every game in his junior and senior seasons. In 115 career games he hit .329 with 18 homers but went undrafted in 1920 and never played beyond high school. It is tougher to figure out who got the nod ahead of him in his junior and senior seasons but one can be pretty sure that player did not go far in the sport. 2- Kellogg will end up with slightly over 400 homers at the conclusion of his age 32 season. At the same point in his career the legendary Max Morris, who is done for the season after an injury and is now 40 years old with 691 career dingers, had hit 394 homers. Judging by that one might surmise Kellogg has a great chance to pass Morris one day. However, it is important to remember Morris has enjoyed 4 seasons with at least 40 homers after turning 33 including 50 in 1929 and 48 the following season. 3- How about Brooklyn's Al Wheeler, who is just 27 and likely the next guy to surpass the 400 dinger plateau. Wheeler is finishing up his age 27 season and has 232 homers at the moment. After his age 27 year Morris had hit just 185 and Kellogg had swatted 208. However, Morris hit 60 as a 28 year old and 57 as a 30 year old in addition to his 4 seasons of 40-plus after age 32. My guess is Wheeler. with a park in Brooklyn that is much more suited to his lefthanded swing then Detroit's was, might have a slightly better chance than Kellogg of catching Morris but he will need some big years over the next half dozen seasons. My bet is Kellogg and Wheeler may each surpass the 600 mark before they are done but approaching 700 and Morris territory is in a completely different, and very exclusive neighborhood. 4- Is there a better run minor league organization than that of the Philadelphia Sailors? According to OSA the Sailors are the number 3 ranked system for prospects but hard to not place them number one in my books when you look at which each of their minor league affiliates have accomplished in recent years. The Sailors 5 affiliates have combined for 9 league titles in the last four years and if the minor league season ended today each of their 5 farm clubs would win a pennant this year. AAA San Francisco and AA Providence are both still in tight battles for their respective league crowns with 2 weeks remaining in the season. The AAA Hawks have a three game lead on both Portland and Seattle while the AA Providence Sailors margin is just a game and a half ahead of Boston's AA entry in Worcester. The three lower levels have been completely dominated by Philadelphia's farm clubs. In the Class A Heartland League the Peoria Pastimers have already clinched their first pennant since 1930 while Class C Gulfport has done the same to win their second Gulf States League title in three years. The crown jewel of the Sailors system has long been Class B Miami as they have clinched their 7th league title in the 11 year history of the Southeastern League. With 12 games remaining Miami had a 24 and a half game lead on second place Savannah and at 93-35, have already tied the league record for victories which was originally set by Chattanooga in 1928 and equaled by the Sailors club last season. 5- It is rare we get two great races in the big leagues but this season we actually have three. The Federal Association remains a battle between New York and St Louis with the defending pennant winning Gothams presently enjoying a 2 game lead while in the Continental things are even tighter as the Cleveland Foresters beat Brooklyn 2-1 in 11 innings yesterday to take a half game lead on the Kings. Those two clubs are establishing a pretty good rivalry as just a single game separated them last year when the Foresters eventually went on to win their first World Championship in franchise history. The third race is also in the Continental where the Baltimore Cannons right now have a 2 and a half game lead on both Chicago and Toronto with the New York Stars just 3 off the pace in what can be dubbed the "Barrell Cup." The last place team in the CA will get the first pick in the December draft and it seems to be clear that Rufus Barrell II will be the guy after going 23-0 with a 0.60 era in his last two seasons at Macon High School in Georgia. 6- There are some league observers feeling moving the first pick might be the better move in the long run for the Cannons should they win the Barrell Cup. Baltimore's top three prospects are all highly touted pitchers and they could likely land quite a haul by dealing the first pick as there would be no shortage of suitors. An ideal situation for the Cannons, who could use offensive help, is to trade down either with Detroit, who will pick second, or the CA club that finishes seventh. This would allow them to select second or third as any trade would certainly include getting a first rounder back. This would allow Baltimore to select first baseman Red Johnson or third sacker Mack Sutton, with both being positions of need and each player is considered to have the potential to become a star player. 7- He won't go first overall as whoever picks first will take Barrell but I really like Red Johnson. The slugger from Central Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon has hit 21 homers in 41 college games and was a High School All-American as a Junior, followed by earning honorable mention status this year. Barrell has the makings of being a generational talent but so does Johnson, who has drawn some comparisons to Max Morris. We have seen injury derail the path of many talented young arms over the years and for a rebuilding team like Baltimore Johnson looks like a safe bet, and when you add in the haul dropping down in the draft would bring it may be more beneficial to the club in the long run. 8- A sore elbow has done nothing to slow down Freddie Jones as the St Louis Pioneers all-star second baseman continues his pursuit of a .400 batting average. Jones went 14-for-27 last week and since he hurt his elbow on August 21st he has been hitting .429 (27-for-63), raising his season average to .395. The last player to hit .400 in a season was also a Pioneer, as Max Morris hit .418 in 1925 while playing for St Louis. What is even more impressive about Jones' feat is he is on pace to set a new FABL record for on base percentage. With 18 games remaining Jones, who leads both leagues with 135 walks, has a .519 OBP. The old mark has stood set 1899 when former Toronto and current Baltimore manager Ossie Julious had a .513 OBP. Jones' walk total, while not a record, is astounding. He is on pace for 153, which would still be 12 shy of Alvin Turner's 1892 record, but no other player since the turn of the century has walked more than 129 times in a single season. 9- Julious has enjoyed quite a life in baseball. First he was one of the sports early stars winning 4 World Championship Series with the New York Gothams before moving on to Toronto where he won another title as manager of the Wolves in 1911. He was fired in Toronto following the 1928 season but quickly caught on as the Baltimore skipper. Julious has managed the most games in FABL history and is just 22 victories shy of tying George Theobald for the most wins all-time by a manager. 10- Finally for today I will leave you with this. If there is one kid I most want to see succeed out of this draft class it has to be Eddie Ziehl. Ziehl's dad Ed is one of the greatest players in FABL history and the current manager of the New York Gothams, the team he starred for. As a player he is third all-time with 3,496 career hits and won 7 Federal Association batting titles. Nicknamed the Lion for the amount of heart he put into the game every minute he was on the field, he was also one of the most popular players in league history. His son Eddie, a third baseman from Mt. St. Michael Academy in New York, had a decent season as a high school senior and is projected as a fifth round pick. Whoever drafts Eddie may have competition for his services as his heart appears set on attending Long Island Maritime College but it would nice to see another Ziehl in the batters box, perhaps even at the Bigsby Oval playing for his old man one day. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 03-09-2021 at 11:58 AM.

03-12-2021, 02:31 PM	#129
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	October 1935 FLASHBACK TO THE FEEDER LEAGUE DAYS 1931-32 HARTFORD HIGH SCHOOL PITCHING STAFF Lefty Allen, who has spent quite some time as the number 1 prospect in the game, recently made his debut for the Pittsburgh Miners. The 21 year old, who was selected 4th overall in 1932 out of Hartford High School, was a September call-up who made three starts including a very successful debut in a 9-3 victory over the Detroit Dynamos on September 12th. He would pitch well in his next two outings, both against Washington, but was tagged with the loss each time. Still his 1-2 record and 3.60 era bodes well for the prize prospect earning a full-time spot in the Pittsburgh rotation next season. Seeing Allen make his pro debut got me thinking about what arguably might be the best quartet of pitchers ever to suit up in a single high school team's rotation. Allen pitched for Hartford High from 1930-32 and was joined his final two seasons with the Blue Sox by John Edwards and Al Miller, both of whom would be selected in the top 4 picks in 1933. In addition the Blue Sox also had Pepper Tuttle, who was a fourth round pick in 1933. So the 1931-32 Hartford High School rotation looked like this: Code: NAME YEARS CAREER HS STATS DRAFTED Lefty Allen 1930-32 10-3 1.89 1932 4th overall Pittsburgh John Edwards 1931-33 12-10 3.62 1933 3rd overall Baltimore Al Miller 1931-33 13-8 2.98 1933 4th overall Chicago Chiefs Pepper Tuttle 1931-33 3-4 4.58 1933 Round 4 Brooklyn So three pitchers chosen in the top four picks of their draft and a fourth rounder were teammates for two years on a high school squad. With talent like that you would think the Blue Sox were a dominant high school program in those days but in truth they somehow failed to make the playoffs in any of the years that at least one of them pitched in Hartford. The 1930 squad with just Allen went 19-21 and that record was matched the following season with all four of them in the rotation. In 1932, their second year all together, the Blue Sox were just 20-20 and even in 1933 when Edwards and Miller were on their way to be selected in the top four and Allen was a rookie pro in the Miners organization, Hartford High still failed to make the playoffs although they did finally finish over .500. A look at the current OSA top prospects list and all four of those names appear with three of them in the top ten. Allen remains the number one ranked prospect according to OSA while Miller, who also made his big league debut September for the Chicago Chiefs, is ranked #5 and Edwards, who split the season between Baltimore's A and AA affiliates, is ranked the 9th best prospect in the game according to OSA. Even a Tuttle, who was a fourth round pick, is considered a decent prospect as the 20 year old, who split the season between Class C and B in the Brooklyn Kings system, comes in at #117 on the current prospect rankings. Years from now, assuming that Allen, Edwards and Miller all pan out (and possibly Tuttle becomes a serviceable big league pitcher as well) we will likely look back on the 1931-32 Hartford team as the greatest collection of pitchers ever assembled by one high school club. Attached Images __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

03-18-2021, 10:21 PM	#130
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1935 Draft is underway JIGGS MCGEE THOUGHTS ON DAY 1 OF 1935 DRAFT While the start of the 1935 draft was fairly predictable in terms of who was selected there was still plenty of excitement with a flurry of draft day trades. Despite many rumours of big offers coming in to Baltimore for the number one pick a trade never materialized and the Cannons selected the most highly touted prospect in years when they grabbed Georgia High School lefthander Rufus "Deuce" Barrell first overall. The nephew of the five Barrell brothers already in the big leagues becomes the third member of the family to be selected first overall, joining pitcher Tom (1929) and shortstop Harry (1931). Rufus was 23-0 with an almost unbelievable 384 strikeouts vs just 10 walks in 239 innings of ball for Macon High School the past two seasons. The dealing actually got started shortly after the first pick was announced as Toronto sent 26 year old pitcher Bill Anderson (15-18, 4.83) to Washington for outfielder Larry Vestal (.292,8,63), who is also 26. Drafted as a center fielder it is clear Vestal is below average at that position but might look pretty good in a corner outfield spot for the Wolves. The Eagles had been actively scanning the trade wire for pitching help and Anderson, a 1927 first rounder out of Elmira High School, should be a solid middle of the rotation piece in the nation's capital. Detroit, as expected grabbed Portland, Oregon high school first baseman Red Johnson second overall. Johnson has been compared to Max Morris in this column previously and I feel is a perfect fit for the Dynamos' Thompson Field with it's short leftfield porch. I feel so strongly about Johnson I think he has a great chance to hit 500 homers if he spends his career as a Dynamo. While that pick was not a surprise, seeing Detroit move up to grab another high schooler with plenty of power potential was a bit of one. The Dynamos sent their first and second round picks acquired from Brooklyn in the blockbuster Al Wheeler/Frank Vance deal to the Chicago Cougars in exchange for the fifth pick which was used on Milwaukee High School third baseman Hard Boiled Henry Koblenz. Hank is almost a copy of Johnson, a righthanded hitting corner infielder with power who could prosper in Thompson Field. All in all, not a bad day for the Dynamos. Prior to the Koblenz selection the Toronto Wolves tabbed George Garrison, a righthanded pitcher from Carthage(IL) High School who had been rising up the mock draft of late. Many feel Garrison has front of the rotation potential. It was a mild surprise as that left slugging third baseman Mack Sutton, from Arkadelphia High School in Arkansas, available for Washington at pick four. Unfortunately, I expect the Eagles were counting on Garrison being there for them so they fielded several offers for the spot and with a rising young star in Mel Carroll already manning the hot corner, decided to move the pick to Boston getting a very good pitching prospect in 24 year old Roy Price and a second round pick in return. Boston immediately selected Sutton, dubbed the Arkansas Artilleryman, fourth and after the Dynamos nabbed Koblenz, the Minutemen were back on the clock with their own pick which they used on Ohio high school catcher Bill Van Ness, who was very highly thought of by just about every scouting director in the league. Next up was the New York Stars at seven and they may have reached a bit in looking for a pitcher. Right hander Bill Keith from St Benedict High School in Chicago was their choice. Keith, like Koblenz is a Milwaukee native giving the midwestern city two of the top 7 selections, which is quite something since Milwaukee has only produced two other first round picks in the history of the draft. They are Joe Richards, a former Boston catcher taken 16th overall in 1915 and Joe Chattman, a former second baseman taken 12th overall by the Baltimore Cannons in 1917. Keith does have some impressive high school stats and OSA feels he could potentially anchor a rotation some day so despite being pegged as a mid-second round pick in the mock draft he may not be as big a reach as the mock suggests. After the long run on high schoolers we finally saw our first college player come off the board at 8 when the Chicago Cougars, who had traded up a couple of spots in a deal with their cross-town rival Chiefs, went with Smithfield College shortstop Hal Wood. That opened the floodgates a bit for older talent as Montreal and the Chicago Chiefs each followed with a college infielder. The Saints, with a new GM making his first selection for Montreal - but not first in the league as he did run Washington for a spell close to a decade ago - chose shortstop Biff Henson from Lane State and the Chiefs, who were said to be eying Billy Dalton all along, got the Perry College third baseman they had coveted with 10th pick. What appears to be the final pick of the evening went back to the high school ranks and back to the mound as the Philadelphia Sailors took Puerto Rico native Luis Tapia, an 18 year old lefthander out of Madison High School in Brooklyn. This pick really seems to be a reach for a pitcher as OSA had Tapia earmarked for the fourth round but at the same time he looks like a solid groundball pitcher who potentially could be a middle of the rotation piece one day. In addition the Sailors have a pretty good track record of finding quality arms. Code: 1935 DRAFT PICKS PICK TM NAME POS SCHOOL HOMETOWN MOCK RANK 1- BAL Rufus Barrell P Macon (GA) High School Egypt, GA 3 2- DET Red Johnson 1B Central Catholic HS Portland(OR) Portland, OR 1 3- TOR George Garrison P Carthage (IL) High School Piggott, AR 10 4- BOS Mack Sutton 3B Arkadelphia (AR) High School Murfreesboro, AR 2 5- DET Hank Koblenz 3B Milwaukee (WI) High School Milwaukee, WI 5 6- BOS Bill Van Ness C Suffolk (VA) High School Dayton, OH 4 7- NYS Bill Keith P St Benedict HS, Chicago (IL) Milwaukee, WI 23 8- CHC Hal Wood SS Smithfield College Houston, TX 8 9- MON Biff Henson SS Lane State University Seattle, WA 11 10-CHF Billy Dalton 3B Perry State College St Louis, MO 9 11-PHS Luis Tapia P Madison HS, Brooklyn (NY) San Juan, PR 58 In addition to the multiple trades involving first round draft picks there were several other deals made with the St Louis Pioneers being the most active. Desperate for pitching to fill the back end of their rotation in a bid to knock off two time Federal Association champion New York Gothams, the Pioneers added a pair of highly touted AAA arms in Mel Leonard and George DeForest. Leonard is a 23 year old who was originally taken in the second round by the Gothams. The 23 year old split last season between AA and AAA, going 14-14 with a 4.65 era. He was acquired from the Chicago Cougars for 19 year old George K Brooks, who was a 7th round pick of St Louis a year ago and went 17-18 at Class B this past season. Next up the Pioneers dealt their second round selection in this draft to Brooklyn for 26 year old George DeForest, who was a very impressive 18-6, 4.20 for AAA Rochester last season. DeForest could never quite crack the Kings pitching staff but is expected to be given every opportunity to earn a spot in the Pioneers rotation next spring. So by all accounts a busy start to the draft with 11 picks down and 6 trades made already. Plenty of excitement throughout the league as there always is at this time of year. Attached Images __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 03-19-2021 at 08:16 AM.

04-09-2021, 11:07 PM	#134
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1936 FABL Amateur Draft Coverage May 11, 1936 EARLY MOCK TOP TEN OF THE 1936 FABL DRAFT It is time for Jiggs McGee's annual early look at the upcoming FABL draft class. The final draft class list including their 1936 stats will be announced about a month from now but early indications are this will be a fairly weak draft class. Using the Figment Sporting Journal's secret player assessment checklist there are just 17 players that are rated as four star quality, which symbolizes first or second round talent potential. Last year, by comparison we had 30 players fit that category. That being said there is still certainly some high end talent available and with 74 more slots to fill, who knows what else we might get. This class may lack a pitcher with quite the pedigree of last season's number one pick, Rufus Barrell II, but it comes close with Johnnie Jones. Jones is one of a number of very good pitchers who might contend for the number one slot on draft day but there are a pair of well publicized hitters also available. However, with the Detroit Dynamos all but assured the number one selection, and having selected a pair of elite hitters early in the draft last year, the expectation is Detroit will make Jones the number one choice which means this will be the fifth consecutive year a pitcher has gone first overall. Before we look at the top ten prospects for the 1926 draft here is the complete history of first overall selections. Code: FIRST OVERALL DRAFT PICKS YEAR TEAM POS NAME SCHOOL 1935 BAL P Rufus Barrell II Macon (GA) HS 1934 WSH P Bobo White St Blane College 1933 TOR P Joe Hancock Henry Hudson Univ 1932 NYG P Curly Jones Henry Hudson Univ 1931 CLE SS Harry Barrelll Atlanta HS 1930 STL C Jack Flint Lubbock State 1929 CHC P Tom Barrell Georgia Baptist 1928 BKN P Tommy Wilcox Liberty College 1927 MON OF Cliff Moss Pierpont Univ 1926 CLE OF Karl Stevens Rainier College 1925 DET OF Al Wheeler Decatur (IL) HS 1924 PHK P Walker Moore Mobile (AL) HS 1923 PHK OF Lee Smith Garden State Univ. 1922 PHK 1B Rankin Kellogg Memphis (TN) HS 1921 PHK 2B Howie Shifflett Houston (TX) HS 1920 PHS OF David Merchant Chicago Poly Univ. 1919 WSH C T.R. Goins Cincinnati (OH) HS 1918 BKN P Dick Dover Dickson Univ. 1917 PHS 3B Elmer Lambert George Fox Univ. 1916 STL SS Roger Landry Detroit (MI) HS 1915 PHS P Dan Waldman Nashville (TN) HS 1914 CHC OF Jim Shelton St. Patrick's Univ. 1913 CLE OF/P Max Morris Cleveland (OH) HS 1912 PHK 2B Eddie Andrews Nashville (TN) HS 1911 PHS SS Mark Robinson Berkeley (CA) HS Things could change dramatically when the rest of the class is revealed but as of today here are who The Figment Sporting Journal sees as the top ten players available in the 1936 FABL draft #1 - WALT MESSER 1B: 17 years old McKinley Tech in Washington DC It will be hard to pass on the two-time first team High School All-American who was also the Adwell Award winner in 1934 as National High school player of the year but do not expect the Detroit Dynamos to draft the first baseman if they do indeed own the first pick of the draft. Detroit already has their first baseman of the future in Red Johnson, last year's second overall pick who was just promoted to Class B Chattanooga after destroying Class C pitching for the first 10 games of the season. Messer has been earning plenty of attention since his Adwell winning sophomore season in which he hit .613 - the highest average in high school history. He hit .604 as a junior last season and his 25 career high School homers in his first two seasons are 4 more than Red Johnson hit in his prep days. OSA feels Messer "could make multiple trips to the All-Star Game" and he has plus-plus power and contact ability. #2 - JOHNNIE JONES LHP: 17 years old St. Paul High School, St Paul, Minnesota Not related to St Louis Pioneers Whitney Award winning second baseman Freddie Jones, but Johnnie is the older of a pair of brothers from Albert Lea, Minnesota that have incredible potential. His nickname "The Patron Saint of Groundballs" tells much of what you need to know about Jones. He was an honourable mention as an All-American last season following an 11-1, 1.44 campaign that saw him fan 132 batters in 124 innings while surrendering just 31 walks. He has four pitches led by his sinker and forkball and possesses pinpoint command. As good as Jones is projected to be, some scouts feel his younger brother Donnie (1938 draft eligible) might be even better after a 10-3 freshman campaign last season. If Detroit picks first it will be very hard for them to pass on selecting Jones. #3 - SAL PESTILLI CF: 21 years old Narragansett University, from Westerly Rhode Island Last year we had to wait until the Chicago Cougars selected shortstop Hal Wood out of Smithfield College for the first college player to be selected. It should not take that long this season for Pestilli or one of a group of college pitchers to hear their names announced. Considered the best of three outfield playing brothers who's family immigrated to Rhode Island from Sicily when they were children. Sal's older brother Alf was a fourth round pick of Toronto in 1934 but recently traded to Brooklyn while younger brother Tony is presently in his junior season at Westerly High School and will be in the 1937 draft class. Sal was the Frank Christian Trophy winner as National College Player of the Year as a freshman and, while he lost out on the award to Central Ohio's Al Jones last season, he was named as a first team All-American for the second consecutive season. He led the AIAA in all three triple crown categories as a freshman and was drawing comparison's to former Commonwealth Catholic and current Montreal Saints outfielder Vic Crawford. His numbers dipped a fair bit as a sophomore, particularly in the power department so a big 1936 campaign will be a must for Pestilli to remain a top draft prospect. #4 - BUNNY EDWARDS RHP: 20 years old Red River State, from Kansas City, Missouri There are several pitchers that slot in just below Johnnie Jones and Edwards looks like a very safe pick. His numbers are pretty consistent over a pair of seasons with the Rowdies and he was a second team All-American selection last season. He is a real worm-killer with an outstanding curve ball heading his three pitch repertoire. OSA feels he has great stuff and great command and has a chance to be an ace. In addition he was considered a real team leader at Red River State. #5 - BILLY WOYTEK 2B: 17 years old Loyola High School, Los Angeles, CA. If previous drafts are any indication there will be a run on pitchers at the top of the draft but it would serve a team well to consider going against the grain and looking at Woytek. Not only does he possess immense talent but the nickname "Blue Collar" says a lot about Woytek as his high school coach raves about his outstanding work ethic. OSA projects Woytek to be an incredible contact hitter who "has the talent to develop into a franchise cornerstone as a second baseman." #6 - JIM MORRISON LHP: 20 years old Indiana A&M, from Woodbury, Minnesota Most be something in the lake water in Minnesota with both Jones and Morrison as likely top ten picks. Only 2 pitchers from Minnesota have ever been drafted in the first two rounds of the draft. They were Mel Strom, a 1916 first round pick who was 189-189 over 14 years with Detroit, and Charlie Johnson, who is still active in the Cleveland system and is 25-25 for his FABL career. Strom was taken 15th overall in his draft year and Johnson was the 16th pick of the first round in 1921. The only Minnesota born player to be taken in the top six is Don Summers, a third baseman selected third overall in 1924. So the Doors are open for Jim Morrison (see what I did there) and Jones to make history as the first pair of Minnesota born players to go in the first round in the same year. In order to do so Morrison will need a strong 1936 season. He was 8-3, 2.78 for Indiana A&M as a freshman but dipped to 5-5, 4.15 a year ago. Control is a bit of a red flag but OSA says if he can sort out his control issues he "projects as a front of the rotation starter." #7 - LOU ROBERTSON RHP: 21 years old Oklahoma City State, from New Castle, Pennsylvania Let's stay with the theme of pitchers and the good news this season is there are a number of college arms, which traditionally are perhaps a little more reliable to develop than high school pitchers, available. Robertson had a solid freshman campaign but was even better last year as a sophomore, posting a 10-3 record with a 2.95 era in 17 starts for the Wranglers. While his stuff is just considered ordinary, OSA feels his pinpoint command gives Robertson "front of the rotation potential." #8 - CLIFF SMITH C: 17 years old Goliad High School, Goliad, Texas The last couple of drafts have given us some great catching prospects with Smith the latest to join a group that included 6th overall pick Bill Van Ness last year and a pair of 1934 first rounders in Adam Mullins (6th) and Woody Stone (8th). It wasn't always that way and in fact catchers seem to be very under represented over the history of the FABL draft, especially in the 1920's. Here is the complete list of catchers taken in the top ten in FABL draft history. Code: YEAR PICK TM NAME SCHOOL 1912 7 NYG Ned O'Neill Wilkes-Barre HS 1915 4 CHI Jim Black George Fox Univ. 1916 6 TOR Rick Riddle Birmingham (AL) HS 1916 9 NYG Jack Rosenthal Baltimore HS 1917 8 DET Dick York Georgia Baptist 1919 1 WSH T.R. Goins Cincinnati HS 1919 6 BKN Mickey Dowell Philadelphia HS 1921 10 PHS Alex Diaz Lynn HS 1922 6 STL Les Dunbar Los Angeles HS 1926 3 CHC Fred Barrel Georgia Baptist 1930 1 STL Jack Flint Lubbock State 1930 10 CHC James Demastus Nashville HS 1931 4 PIT George Cleaves Elmira HS 1934 6 MON Adam Mullins Eastern Oklahoma Univ. 1934 8 PHS Woody Stone Dunlap (TN) HS 1935 6 BOS Bill Van Ness Suffolk (VA) HS So you can see while there was a real lull on catchers being selected early throughout the 1920's there has been a resurgence of late. Only time will tell if Mullins, Stone, Van Ness and possibly Cliff Smith can ever be mentioned in the same breath as Dick York, T.R. Goins, Fred Barrell and George Cleaves. Despite not playing for his high school team until his junior season, OSA feels Smith, who was born in Cleveland but grew up in Texas, has "above-average defensive capabilities" and "projects to be a .350 hitter." Smith does not appear to have great power so a comparison to T.R. Goins is out, but the way OSA speaks of Smith he sounds a lot like the second coming of Dick York. The question is will a team in the top ten resist the urge to select a pitcher and go instead with what just might be a franchise catcher. #9 - HANK BECKMAN RHP: 20 years old Whitney College, from Tonawanda, New York Two years ago only All-American Phil Gregg, a 1934 4th round pick of Washington, won more college baseball games than Beckman's 11-3 season as a freshman at Whitney College. Last year was a slightly different story as he made five less starts (undisclosed injury perhaps) and struggled to a 6-5 record. He throws 5 pitches, but none are considered outstanding but he is able to throw each of them consistently for strikes. He might be a slightly higher risk than the pitchers listed above him but OSA feels "if everything comes together Beckman has the talent to pitch at the top of the rotation." #10 - JOE ZELL SS - 21 years old Ferguson College, from New York City Shortstops are always in demand at the top of the draft and Zell looks to be the best of the bunch this year. He plays his college ball at Ferguson College in Greenville, NC but despite being Great competition level it is a school that has never had player drafted (granted we have only had two years of non-feeder league drafts). That will change this year as Zell is a lock to go in the first couple of rounds and teammates Ray Smith and Jake Creel may also get selected. Interesting is that there were no Ferguson players in the 1934,35,37 or 38 draft classes. As for Zell, he won't hit for power but looks to do everything else. OSA feels with his plus contact ability and patience at the plate combined with his athleticism gives him "the potential to be an impact big leaguer as a shortstop." SUMMARY One thing that is interesting about this class compared to last season is college players figure to play a much more prominent role in the first round. A year ago 11 of the first round picks, including the first 7, were all high school players. This draft seems more likely it will resemble the 1934 class, where 10 of the 16 first rounders including 4 pitchers, were college players. Six of what The Figment Sporting Journal feels are the top 10 players available are college stars, as are nine of the 17 players we gave a four star grade to. One trend that likely will continue, is pitchers will go off the board quickly in the first round. That has been a trend of late with seven of them selected in the first 16 picks a year ago but don't expect it to top 1933 when a whooping 12 of the 16 first rounders were pitchers. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

04-10-2021, 05:02 AM	#135
DD Martin All Star Reserve Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Seattle area Posts: 867	After watching this season unfold and the complete lack of offense the Dynamo's have shown, we might have to take Messer and either try and convert Red Johnson or Messer to a corner OF spot. But right now Jones is the slight leader in the clubhouse with a long way to go before the draft.

04-10-2021, 04:29 PM	#136
Ol' Possum Bat Boy Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 2	Now listen here y'all. Better not sleep on that Sal Pestilli fella. He's so good it makes me wanna slap my mama! Trust Ol' Possum on this one, son. Why think about movin' Messer or Big Red when you can draft a ready-made fly catcher? The onliest thing wrong with that boy is his last name ain't Barrell! __________________ Scout, Sage & Blabbermouth of the Figment Universe

04-11-2021, 01:14 PM	#138
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	A look back at the 1925 Draft Each year just before the FABL draft I have been doing annual recaps where I look back at the draft class from 10 years prior but last fall I neglected the 1925 crop so here it is. 1925 is a special draft in Figment baseball, not only for the immense quality of talent the first round produced but also due to the fact that was the moment the league became active as an online league and human GM's assumed the reigns. So looking back a decade (well 11 seasons) later, how did we do with the first draft pick each of us made? A LOOK BACK AT THE 1925 FABL DRAFT As it turned out the top of the 1925 draft produced five players that have already surpassed the 1,000 games played plateau but, like every draft there were some busts as well. 1- AL WHEELER: DETROIT DYNAMOS It seemed nearly all surveyed were in agreement that the 18 year old outfielder from Decatur (IL) HS should be the number one pick and 11 years later few would dispute the choice. It took him longer to reach the majors then the other top prospects, but he was the only high schooler among their ranks, but when he did Wheeler took FABL by storm. Debuting in 1928 at the age of 20, Wheeler hit .306 with 18 homers and went only up from there. 3 Whitney Awards, a 1929 World Championship with Detroit, a triple crown last season after his trade to Brooklyn and at age 28 Wheeler has already hit 244 homers and 1,586 hits. 2- EDDIE QUINN: TORONTO WOLVES While Quinn has developed into a decent pitcher lately, at the time his selection was deemed a reach, and even more so when you consider Toronto parted with 2 decent FABL ready arms and a couple of draft picks to move up four slots in the draft to select him when, as it turned out he almost assuredly would have still been available when the Wolves were originally slotted to pick at #6. Quinn eventually made his FABL debut in 1930 at the age of 23 and after struggling initially he has been pretty good the past couple of seasons. That was with Cleveland, as both Quinn and the GM that selected him in Toronto were long gone from the league by the time Quinn helped the Foresters win back to back Continental Association pennants and a World Championship Series in 1934. 3- BUD JAMESON: NEW YORK GOTHAMS After a standout college career at St. Patrick's, Jameson was in the major leagues by the middle of 1926. He has been a fixture in the Gothams lineup ever since although injuries have certainly taking their toll costing him much of the 1931 season and 5 weeks two years later. Despite the injuries Jameson is a .334 career hitter with 1,534 hits to date in 1,193 career games. 4- BILL ASHBAUGH: CHICAGO COUGARS Like Jameson in New York, Ashbaugh had been a fixture in the Cougars lineup for nearly a decade but has lost his starting second base job, at least temporarily this season with the emergence of a hotshot rookie named Ray Ford. There should still be life in Ashbaugh's bat but it has slowed in recent years. The former Rainier College star does have 1,365 career big league hits and a .310 lifetime batting average. 5- EDDIE WILSON: PITTSBURGH MINERS The first bust of the draft but no one knows what happened to Eddie Wilson. His time at Grafton came before the AIAA All-American teams were being named but his work in leading the Scholars to the national finals was outstanding, a .374 batting average with a .464 OBP so he seemed like a sound pick at the time. Wilson put up a couple of decent seasons in the minors but as a corner outfielder, a role in great supply over the years, he never got much of a chance in Pittsburgh. Wilson appeared in just 32 games for the Miners over 3 seasons before being released prior to the 1933 season. He has spent the last 3+ years in the Lone Star Association and is one of the best players in that loop but Wilson never achieved the success reached by many of his draft class peers. 6- DOUG LIGHTBODY: BROOKLYN KINGS The Kings had their sights set on the outfielder from Mississippi A&M right from the get go but traded down from #2 to 6th because the Wolves offer for the second pick was too overwhelming to ignore. As fate would have it Lightbody was still available at 6 and went right from the college campus to the big leagues without playing a minor league game. He was contending for the Continental Association batting title and helping the Kings be in a pennant race that would ultimately fall short because in no small part to a season ending injury Lightbody suffered on July 4th that year. High batting averages and injuries would be the story of Lightbody's career but despite missing almost 2 seasons worth of games through the years Lightbody has collected 1,658 career hits - most among his draft class at this point in time - and a .357 lifetime batting average that included a pair of CA batting titles and a Whitney Award in 1927. 7- CHICK DYER: BOSTON MINUTEMEN The 31 year old outfielder from Pierpont College was recently released by the Minutemen after a career that saw him play 575 games for the club and post a .308 lifetime batting average. He had 3 solid season with the Minutemen highlighted by a .331,11,104 1930 campaign but the glut of corner outfielders in the league has left him jobless and the fact he can't even seem to catch on with an indy team does not bode well for Dyer's future in the sport. 8- EARLE CHARLTON: BALTIMORE CANNONS There has been a long history in FABL of GM's reaching to select pitchers higher than perhaps they should have but with what the entire league felt was a shortage of arms at the time it is hard to find great fault in the Cannons selection. He was 12-11 with a 3.21 era at Lincoln College when Baltimore selected him and he did debut as the 70th ranked prospect in the sport. He had a decent start to his career in AA and showed some promise in AAA but could never make the jump successfully to the big leagues despite Baltimore giving Charlton a taste of the CA over 6 different seasons. Montreal claimed him on waivers in 1932 and he pitched what likely was the final 2 of his 46 career FABL appearances for the Saints. His final record in FABL was 8-16 before Montreal parted ways with him and Charlton signed with independent Sacramento of the Great Western League in 1932. He has settled in quite nicely with the Governors but a return to FABL appears very unlikely. 9- BRAD CRAWFORD: ST LOUIS PIONEERS Crawford was another corner outfielder who didn't make it. In his case he never got the opportunity as after a decade in the Pioneers organization he was released and signed with independent Seattle having never played a FABL game. He put up some solid numbers in 4 seasons with Elmira (NY) HS but with Max Morris and Art Charles as the Pioneers corner outfielders at the time there really never was an opportunity early for Crawford. As power became more important, Crawford's lack of it sealed his fate and he stalled at AAA before his release a few months ago. 10- JACK CLEAVES: PHILADELPHIA SAILORS Obviously there are a few FABL clubs wishing they took a chance on Cleaves as the second baseman out of Louisville (KY) HS has put together a very solid big league career and helped the Sailors win a pair of World Championship Series. He has not yet reached his 29th birthday but already has 1,404 hits under his belt in 1,204 career games with the Sailors. Cleaves younger brother George would be a first round pick 6 years later and is also enjoying a solid career and their grandfather George Theobald is the winningest manager in FABL history and spent over a decade in the major leagues as a player. 11- ART MYERS: PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES Like Quinn, Art Myers was a high school pitcher so it took him a few years to develop but after a few seasons split between Philadelphia and AAA Louisville, Myers became a full-time member of the Keystones rotation in 1933. Last year at the age of 29 he enjoyed his best season to date, going 18-10 with a 3.14 era and while he is off to a slow start this season, just like most of the Keystones team, Myers looks like a dependable mid-rotation piece. His FABL record to date is 55-40 in 137 appearances, 109 as a starter. 12- GEORGE X JOHNSON: MONTREAL SAINTS The third baseman out of Knoxville HS is now playing indy ball in San Diego after not making much of an impression in Montreal. He played just 49 big league games and hit .227, getting his release following a 1934 season spent almost entirely on the bench with the Saints. 13- FRED NADER: CHICAGO CHIEFS Just like Johnson, Nader was a high school third baseman that, at least so far has failed to pan out. After six seasons in the Chiefs system that saw him play just 20 games at the AAA level, Nader was selected by the Philadelphia Sailors in the 1932 Rule V draft. He appeared in just 24 games for the Sailors that season, hitting .267 before being sent down to AAA San Francisco in 1933. He has been with the Sailors AAA affiliate ever since and while he is still in a big league organization, the chances of the now 28 year old ever contributing at the FABL level appear slim. 14- ALEX THOMPSON: CLEVELAND FORESTERS Another high school player that did not accomplish much, at least so far in his career. Just turned 29, Thompson played 27 games for Cleveland in 1932 and hit .350 before being part of the mega deal that brought Max Morris home to Cleveland. Since then he has been a bench player for the New York Gothams, and has appeared in 186 games with a .315 career batting average. He has been stuck behind the #3 pick in this draft as Bud Jameson's backup before recently being demoted to AAA. A decent contact hitter, Thompson lacks the power needed to be an everyday first baseman in the big leagues. 15- LEO GORSKI: WASHINGTON EAGLES Gorski is a very interesting pick. He he helped lead Omaha (NE) HS to a National Championship in 1918 but went undrafted in the 1921 rookie draft. From there he played a couple of seasons in the Great Western League with indy teams before enrolling at Sadler University in 1924. He had a decent year for the Bluecoats in his only season of college ball and apparently the Cleveland Foresters saw enough to draft the 23 year old shortstop with their 10th round pick. He failed to sign with Cleveland and spent the entire 1925 season playing semi-pro ball but for some reason the Eagles felt he was a first round talent and they drafted him 15th overall. So finally after being drafted 3 times, Gorski joined a FABL organization for the 1926 season. He progressed very slowly through the Eagles system but did have a solid season in AA as a 27 year old. By the end of 1933 Gorski had still only played a handful of games at the AAA level so the Eagles released the now 31 year old. He is still kicking around professional baseball, playing for San Antonio of the Lone Star Association but his selection as a first rounder in 1925 still remains a head scratcher. 16- LOU MARTINO: NEW YORK STARS As it turns out Martino, at least at this state, is the most successful of the pitchers taken in the first round of the 1925 draft. He is 72-49 after breaking into the Stars rotation in 1929 and remains a key piece of the club. Like Quinn and Myers, Martino was a high school pitcher so he has yet to turn 30 years of age. SUMMARY When we talk about the great talent of the 1925 draft it is clear what people are referring to is the five hitters (Wheeler, Jameson, Ashbaugh, Lightbody and Cleaves) but also a large number of solid major leaguers who were selected later in the draft such as Bob Martin, Speed Davis, Abel Man, Moxie Pidgeon (a 12th round pick) and Hank Jones (15th round) but also pitchers like William Jones (3rd round), Walter Murphy (5th round), Joe Dosainvil (6th round) and possibly best of all Jim Lonardo, who was not picked until the 10th round. I will look back at the 1926 draft as we move closer to preparing for the 1936 edition. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

04-16-2021, 10:51 PM	#139
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1936 FABL Amateur Draft Coverage 1936 COLLEGE ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS REVEALED Narragansett outfielder Sal Pestilli highlights the 1936 AIAA All-American team as selected by The Figment Sporting Journal. Pestilli, who is expected to be a top ten selection in the December draft and may receive consideration as the first overall pick, capped a terrific three year career at the tiny Rhode Island school that saw him be named a first team All-American each season. Pestilli is also the overwhelming favourite to become just the second college player to win a pair of Frank Christian Trophy's as the AIAA's best player. That winner of that award will be announced in a few days. At the moment, only former Lubbock State and current Detroit Dynamos infielder Bill Moore is the only player to be named the College Player of the Year twice. Pestilli won the triple crown as a freshman and capped that season with the Christian Award. Last year he finished second in batting behind fellow outfielder Alex Lacombe, who joins him on this year's first team All-American squad. This season Pestilli hit .378 with 13 homers, good for tops in the AIAA in both of those categories while also contributing 54 rbi's, which was tied for 6th most. Pestilli's 3 year rbi total of 171 is the highest ever for a non-feeder player and ranks fifth all-time behind Moore, Vic Crawford, Pablo Reyes and Dave Henry so he is in some pretty exclusive company. Pestilli also ranks 7th all-time in career college hits with 260 and his .380 career batting average at Narragansett is the highest ever record, topping the previous mark of .354 established by Don Felice, who played for Northern Mississippi from 1930-1933. Lacombe, who hit .347 as a sophomore outfielder at Cuyahoga University and pitcher Bunny Edwards, who was 7-1 with an AIAA best 2.10 era at Red River State, are the only other players making a repeat appearance on the All-American team. Each was a second team selection a year ago. This season's second team did have three players who were first teamers a year ago in Topeka State catcher Charlie Gagnon, Redwood University first baseman Jim Hammond and outfielder Joe Zielinski from Cesar Rodney University. Zieinski is a junior and will be draft eligible as will Edwards but the other three were all sophomores this season. Bluegrass State was the only team to have two players recognized as freshman outfielder Don Hersey was named to the first time while junior shortstop Johnny Fleming earned the nod as a member of the second team. Fleming is listed as a potential second round pick by OSA and is drawing some comparison's to former Bluegrass State shortstop Tip Harrison. Harrison was a second round pick of Brooklyn in 1934 and is currently playing AAA for Newark in the Detroit organization. Harrison slashed .301/.382/.459 in his draft year when he was named a first team All-American. Fleming, who is praised by OSA for his defensive work at shortstop, slashed .305/.365/.474 this season for the Mustangs Here are the 1936 AIAA All-Americans Code: 1936 FIRST TEAM C Paul Wilkerson SO Oklahoma City State 1B Hans Wright JR Charleston (IL) 2B Jim Hackbart JR Chesapeake State SS Sipe Ellison FR Eastern State 3B Denny Andrews JR Maryland State OF Sal Pestilli JR Narragansett OF Don Hersey FR Bluegrass State OF Alex Lacombe SO Cuyahoga University P Bunny Edwards JR Red River State 1936 SECOND TEAM C Charlie Gagnon SO Topeka State 1B Jim Hammond SO Redwood University 2B Gypsy Jones JR North Carolina Tech SS Johnny Fleming JR Bluegrass State 3B Spud Bent SO Maryland State OF Joe Murdock JR Lawrence State OF Joe Zielinski JR Cesar Rodney OF Al Jennings JR Gates University P Bill Willman SO Strub College PESTILLI FAMILY MAKING IT'S MARK Three sons of Italian immigrants, all enjoying a tremendous scholastic careers as outfielders while growing up in a city near the ocean. Yes, it is Rhode Island and the east coast instead of San Francisco and two are plying their trade in college outfields instead of the Pacific Coast League but when you think of FABL's Pestilli boys you can't help but draw comparison's to the real life DiMaggio clan. The oldest is Alf, who was born in Sicily in 1912 shortly before his family embark across the Atlantic and settled in Westerly, Rhode Island. Sal had a solid junior season at Narragansett, a mid-level college based in Rhode Island, before being selected by the Toronto Wolves in the fourth round of the 1934 FABL draft. He enjoyed a very strong rookie pro season in the Wolves organization, hitting .373 with 43 homers in 118 games for Class C Tuscaloosa, leading the Gulf States League in both homers and rbi's while finishing third in batting average. Over the winter he was dealt to the Brooklyn Kings and after hitting .319 with 3 homers in 17 games at the Class A level, Pestilli was promoted to AA Knoxville where the 24 year old is batting .302 with 4 homers and 27 rbi's in 31 games. Youngest brother Tony just completed his junior season at Westerly High School, by hitting .431 with 30 rbi's in 23 games. He is a .451 career hitter in 72 high school contests and FABL scouting service OSA feels the 17 year old has the raw defensive skills to develop into an elite center fielder. He will not be eligible to be drafted until after the 1937 season. So if Alf and Tony represent Vince and Dom DiMaggio, that leaves Sal with the potential to be one of the greatest players of all-time. In three years at Narragansett University the 20 year old has done just that. Sal won the AIAA triple crown as a freshman (.409,16,66) and was named the winner of college baseball's Frank Christian Trophy as National Player of the Year. He dipped to .353,3,51 as a sophomore but still finished with the second best batting average in the AIAA and made his second straight appearance on the FSJ first team All-American squad. His draft year saw him lead the league in average and homers once again (.378,13,54) and OSA has him listed #1 in the early mock drafts. Pestilli is also a finalist along with pitchers Bunny Edwards of Red River State and Carl Roe of Valley State for the 1936 Christian Trophy and he will leave the college game with the highest career batting average in the 27 year history of the AIAA. It remains to be seen if he will be drafted first overall as there is a glut of talented outfielders but it seems like a safe bet that whoever drafts Pestilli will get a player with a very bright future in the game. Attached Images __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 05-27-2021 at 10:44 PM.

04-18-2021, 03:50 PM	#140
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	1936 FABL Amateur Draft Coverage MESSER WINS SECOND ADWELL AWARD AS NATION'S TOP HIGH SCHOOL PLAYER For the second time in three years first baseman Walt Messer has been named the top high school player in the nation. Messer, who won the Adwell Award two years ago as a sophomore but finished second to pitcher Rufus Barrell II a year ago, was named the winner after a 1936 season that saw him hit .586 with a high school best 13 homers and 49 rbi's for Washington DC's McKinley Tech. Messer finishes his high school career with a .601 batting average, the highest career total ever recorded going back to 1910 and the beginnings of the old feeder league system. This season marks the third straight year that Messer was named to The Figment Sporting Journal's High School All-American team. He is projected to be selected second overall behind only college outfielder Sal Pestilli in the first OSA Mock Draft leading up to the December 5th selection date for FABL. Messer's stiffest competition for his second Adwell Award was a sophomore pitcher by the name of Donnie Jones. Jones, from Minneapolis High School in Minnesota was a perfect 12-0 with a 0.43 era and a 0.37 FIP this season. His 215 strikeouts broke Rufus Barrell's 1 year old record of 199 and his 0.43 era was second best all-time (including feeders) trailing only Rufus Barrell's 0.38 a year ago. Jones is one of only 3 High School pitchers to win 12 games in a season. Ivan Rusman of Avon (NY) HS also did it this season, going 12-1. Jones K/9 of 15.4 was third highest this season and he was second in K/BB ratio. Jones was also named to the high School All-American team but perhaps surprisingly his older brother Johnnie did not get the nod. Johnnie was a senior at St. Paul High School this season, posting a 9-2 record with a 1.54 era. OSA has him as the top pitcher available in the December draft and placed him 15th on their initial mock draft. The Adwell Award is named after former FABL pitcher Red Adwell, who was the winningest high school pitcher in history until being surpassed last season by Rufus Barrell's career 35-6 record. Here are the winners of the Adwell Award. Code: ADWELL AWARD WINNERS 1934 Walt Messer 1B SO McKinley Tech (Washington DC) 1935 Rufus Barrell II P SR Macon (GA) High School 1936 Walt Messer 1B SR McKinley Tech (Washington DC) The FSJ's High School All-American lists have also been around for 3 years and Messer is the only player named to the team each of the three seasons, although Wally Doyle and Si Crocker both made honourable mention this season after being named to the team each of the previous two years. Here are the 1936 Figment Sporting Journal's High School All-Americans. Code: 1936 HIGH SCOOL ALL-AMERICAN SELECTIONS 1936 NAME/CLASS SCHOOL C Pete Casstevens – JR (2)Syracuse (NY) HS C Cal Morgan – FR Alexandria (IN) HS 1b-3b Walt Messer - SR (3) McKinley Tech (Washington DC) 1b-3b Wally Fuller – FR Collegiate HS (New York City) 1b-3b Tom McCarty – SR Avon (NY) HS 2b-SS Herb Carey – SO (2) West Point (VA) 2b-SS Ted Brown – SR (2) Henry Snyder (Jersey City NJ) 2b-SS Roosevelt Brewer – JR Washington HS (Chicago, IL) OF Luke Berry – SR Cressona (PA) HS OF Bob Coon – SR Montgomery City (MO) HS OF Mike Towsley – SO Honey Brook (PA) HS OF Roy Harris – JR Fairfax HS (Los Angeles, CA) OF Ellison Sterner – SR Kiser HS (Dayton, OH) P Donnie Jones – SO Minneapolis (MN) HS P Al Duster – JR Council Bluffs (IA) HS P Cliff Atkinson – JR Beaver (PA) HS P Ed Funkhouser – JR St Albans HS Washington DC P Pete Papenfus – SR (2) West Plains (MO) HS HONOURABLE MENTION P Wally Doyle (SR) Waco (TX) HS P David Molina (JR) Florissant (MO) HS P Ivan Rusman (SR) Avon (NY) HS C Rick York (SO) Terre Haute (IN) HS INF Pascal Lafreniere (SO) Rabouin HS (New Orleans LA) INF Billy Woytek (SR) Loyola (Los Angeles CA) INF Heinie Roth (SR) Bowling Green (OH) HS OF Si Crocker (SR) East (Buffalo, NY) OF Happy Ellison -(SO) Sycamore (Cincinnati, OH) Donnie Jones is not the only player with a tie to either a current draft prospect or past FABL star on the list. Junior catcher Pete Casstevens from Syracuse High School is the son of former Montreal and Pittsburgh outfielder Clint Casstevens. Another catcher, Rick York, who received honourable mention status, is the son of former Detroit Dynamo legend Dick York. The younger York, is a sophomore at Terre Haute (IN) High School where he is a teammate of his brother, shortstop Joe York. Joe, draft eligible in 1937, is considered a marginal pro prospect at this stage but Rick, who will not be eligible until the 1938 draft, is considered to be a potential FABL starter down the road. PESTILLI NAMED CHRISTIAN TROPHY WINNER For the second time in three years Narragansett outfielder Sal Pestilli has been named winner of the Frank Christian Trophy, presented annually to the top college baseball player. Pestilli led the AIAA in batting average (.378) by a sizeable margin and homeruns with 13 in 48 games. He had 54 rbi's which is tied for 6th among all college players in any of the three draft classes. He also led the AIAA in OBP, SLG%,OPS, wOBA and his 3.7 WAR was far and away the highest among any hitter. Second place was a tie at 2.2 war. Pestilli leaves quite a legacy in the college game: a triple crown and a Christian award as a freshman in 1934, led the AIAA in homers 2 of his three seasons, led in batting average twice and was second the year he did not win the batting crown. His lifetime .380 college batting average is the greatest of all-time including feeders. He is 7th all-time in college career hits and 5th in rbi's trailing only Bill Moore, Vic Crawford, Pablo Reyes and Dave Henry. Not sure how fair it is to compare feeders with game generated classes but that is some great company for Pestilli. Pestilli won the award over fellow finalists Bunny Edwards and Carl Roe. Edwards, a junior righthander from Red River State, went 7-1 with a AIAA best 2.10 era in 15 appearances (12 starts). He pitched just 81 innings but his 10.5 K/9 was second best in the AIAA this season. His 1.87 FIP is the lowest recorded in the three years of draft classes for college players and the second year in a row he led the league in that category. What makes Edwards' season so special is how far his 1.87 FIP was ahead of #2 on the list- Eastern State's Jim Douglass who was at 2.48. Roe is also a junior pitcher, who went 12-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 105 strikeouts for Valley State. His 12 victories this season ties an AIAA record originally set by Bob Cummings in the feeder era and equaled by Phil Gregg in 1936. Those are the only college pitchers in history to win 12 games in a season. His 27 career wins is 9th most all-time- Tom Barrell is #1 with 34 and Pug Bryan second with 32. The win makes Pestilli just the second player to win the Christian Trophy twice as he joins former Lubbock State first baseman Bill Moore, who won back to back Christian's in 1931 and 1932. Moore just recently made his FABL debut with the Detroit Dynamos and is hitting .347 with 3 homers and 22 rbi's in 37 FABL games. There is a chance that Pestilli and Moore may one day be teammates as the Narragansett outfielder tops the initial mock draft and the Dynamos are expected to own the first selection. Code: FRANK CHRISTIAN AWARD WINNERS YEAR NAME POS CLASS TEAM 1927 Sam Orr 2B FR Henry Hudson 1928 Tommy Wilcox P JR Liberty College 1929 Vic Crawford OF JR Commonwealth Catholic 1930 Freddie Jones 2B SO Central Ohio 1931 Bill Moore 1B SO Lubbock State 1932 Bill Moore 1B JR Lubbock State 1933 Joe Hancock P JR Henry Hudson 1934 Sal Pestilli OF FR Narrangansett 1935 Al Jones P JR Central Ohio 1936 Sal Pestilli OF JR Narrangansett __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports