|
Welcome to the Show
Boston Globe, September 1, 1937
SOX EXPAND ROSTER TODAY
Several Top Prospects Will Make Big League Debuts
BOSTON--September first is a meaningful day for hundreds of baseball players who ply their trade in the minor leagues. On that date each year, major league teams are allowed to expand their rosters from 25 to 40 players, giving many farmhands the opportunity to try their luck at the big league level.
The Boston Red Sox today announced the names of fifteen players who will be added to the major league roster for the season's final month, a month that finds their club in the midst of a race for the American League pennant. Several of these players will be making their first appearance in the major leagues, and several will be counted upon to provide the Sox with a boost as they battle the Detroit Tigers for first place.
Japanese prospect Fumio Fujimura will probably see nearly regular duty at third base. Fujimura, 21, hit an even .300 at Minneapolis this year, with 15 home runs and 73 RBI. He is also a slick fielder with a powerful throwing arm.
John Kroner, a 28-year-old veteran of several minor league campaigns who hit .338 in limited duty for the Sox in 1936, might also see action in a Sox infield that manager Bill Carrigan has had to reconstruct after the season-ending injury to Martin Dihigo. Kroner can play second or third, and also hit over .300 with the Minneapolis club.
Among the host of hurlers the Sox will add to their staff, two names stick out. Archie McKain broke camp with the big club back in April and saw limited duty until Danny MacFayden recovered from an elbow injury. Splitting time between Little Rock and Minneapolis, McKain, 26, compiled a 3.58 ERA in 44 innings of work.
The Red Sox' prized pitching prospect, Mike O'Farrell, will receive his first opportunity to match his stuff against big league hitters. O'Farrell, the Notre Dame All-American who signed with the Red Sox in June, was promoted from Little Rock to Minneapolis in late July and posted a 5-3 record for the Millers. O'Farrell was hit fairly hard by American Association batters, but struck out nearly three times as many men (30) as he walked (11).
Both O'Farrell and McKain are expected to work from the Red Sox bullpen, and Carrigan will not hesitate to give either one of them the ball...
|