[Big Six]

January 1, 1936

Happy New Year, everyone. Here's the annual list of the best players and prospects in major league baseball:

PLAYER                 TEAM  AGE  POS   LY   AVG  HR  RBI
 1  Josh Gibson         POR   23   C    17  .330  32  121      
 2  Buck Leonard        NYY   28   1B    1  .344  40  123
 3  Lou Gehrig          PIT   32   1B    2  .327  43  129
 4  Earl Averill        STL   33   CF    7  .384  24  111
 5  Charlie Gehringer   WAS   32   2B    9  .342   7   92
 6  Harlond Clift       DET   23   3B   NR  .308  21   86
 7  Jimmie Foxx         KC    28   1B    5  .310  34   96
 8  Chuck Klein         POR   31   RF    3  .353  31  121
 9  Al Simmons          NYY   33   CF    4  .370  14   73
10  Arky Vaughan        CWS   23   SS   10  .356  11  108
11  Johnny Mize         DET   22   1B   NR  .315  21   73
12  Stan Campbell       CHC   25   2B   NR  .368   9   69
13  Joe DiMaggio        SAC   21   CF   NR  .318  13   62
14  Willie Wells        WAS   27   SS   16  .343  16   92
15  Mule Suttles        WAS   34   LF   13  .347  33  147
16  Jim Bottomley       WAS   35   1B    8  .340  21  130
17  Joe Medwick         BKN   24   LF   NR  .361  23  126
18  Buzz Boyle          BOS   27   LF   11  .317   9   78
19  Wally Berger        STL   30   LF   12  .312  34  134
20  Cool Papa Bell      SD    32   CF    6  .314   4   71

• This list shuffled itself quite a bit over the past year.
  
• Gibson shot to the top spot, probably because he provides first-class production while playing a key defensive position.
  
• Injuries knocked Klein and Simmons down a few notches. Now that they're thirtysomethings, can they bounce all the way back?
  
• Gibson, Clift, Mize, Vaughan, DiMaggio, and Medwick represent a new wave of great young talent that should delight fans for years to come.
  
• Cool Papa took a big dive in the rankings, despite stealing 91 bases to lead both leagues. That's a career high in thefts for the San Diego speedster.
  
• Among the missing were such stars as Mel Ott of the Dodgers (.304-40-130), NL batting champion Jo-Jo Moore of the Braves (.377-15-83), Moore's teammate Hank Greenberg (.349-29-117, 42 doubles, 14 triples), and the A's Buzz Arlett (.305-22-128).
  
• Stan Campbell is a fictional player whose talent took a spike and propelled him clear to the Show. The Cubs seemed to benefit greatly from this phenomenon, as you'll see as you look at the list of the game's best mound artists:

PITCHER                TEAM  AGE   LW  W-L    ERA    K
 1  Tommy Bridges       PHI   29    1  13-13  3.55  211
 2  Carl Hubbell        HOL   32    4  16-13  3.82  114
 3  Quincy Dorst        CHC   36   NR  12-7   3.02  108
 4  Satchel Paige       BOS   29    1  21-9   2.25  221
 5  Whit Wyatt          SF    28    7  15-8   2.58  103
 6  Dizzy Dean          WAS   25   16  17-13  3.82  225
 7  Ed Brandt           BOS   30   10  11-15  3.90  148
 8  Johnny Allen        SEA   31   NR  17-12  3.35  169
 9  Bill Swift          NYY   27    6  18-14  2.95   87
10  Ray Brown           CWS   27    5  19-9   2.92  179
11  Stephen Jennings    CHC   24   NR  15-7   3.37  108
12  Gene Schott         KC    22   NR  14-15  3.70   92
13  Mike Crawford       BAL   39    9  18-16  2.90  126
14  Brian Whaley        NYY   27   NR  20-8   2.54  133
15  Dutch Leonard       SD    26   NR  11-15  3.10   64
16  Fred Barnes         SAC   27   NR  12-11  3.45  125
17  Paul Baker          POR   27   13  22-10  2.98  140
18  Ralph Birkofer      NYG   27   NR  10-17  3.34  132
19  Gabriel de Klerk    CWS   27   19  18-10  4.39   87
20  Ricardo Morales     SEA   29   12  17-11  3.71  107

• Satchel Paige had one of the two best seasons of his career, and lost three spots on the list. I can't figure out how that happened.
  
• Quincy Dorst materialized out of nowhere on May 17, 1935, when he signed with the Cubs. The only major leaguer to hail from the lovely Dutch city of Dronten, Dorst made his debut at age 36 and rocked the American League for the remainder of the season.
  
• Dorst, his teammate Jennings, Crawford, Baker, de Klerk, and Morales are all fictional players.
  
• Crawford enters the 1936 season with 274 career victories, most all-time. Eugene Wise, who retired at the end of the '35 season, is second, with 256.
  
• I'm pulling for Iron Mike to reach 300. If he doesn't make it, there's nobody out there with a chance to do so anytime soon. Paige, who has 167 career victories at age 29, looks like he has the best chance to win 300. Everyone else on the leaderboard is either retired or has a long way to go, with not much time to get there.

PROSPECT               TEAM  AGE  POS
 1  Joe DiMaggio        SAC   21   CF
 2  Johnny Mize         DET   22   1B
 3  Ty Lewis            CHW   21   2B
 4  Jesus Lopez         SAC   24   SS
 5  Chris McPhee        POR   24   CF
 6  Hal Trosky          CHC   23   1B
 7  Buddy Lewis         SD    19   3B
 8  Bob Feller          NYG   17   P
 9  Willard Brown       CHC   20   LF
10  Jeff Heath          BOS   20   RF

• DiMaggio and Mize went straight to the Show after the last draft, which would often disqualify them from this list. Any list of the game's best prospects without them, however, would look like a joke.
  
• Ty Lewis and Lopez are freshly generated fictional guys who will make their professional debuts in 1936. Lewis looks like he'll hit for a high average and draw lots of walks, and he has great speed. He's an absolutely terrible fielder, however. I think Jesus seems to be even more promising; he does everything Ty does, but better, and he can field.
  
• It appears that McPhee spent the entire '35 season with the Beavers and got into exactly one game. He has no minor league statistics for 1935. He pinch-hit twice during the postseason. Nevertheless, he developed his skills. I guess hanging around a pennant-winning team paid off for Chris.
  
• Trosky dominated AAA ball with Nashville (.336-23-121, 1.004 OPS) and went 8-18 for the Cubs last September. If I ran the Cubs, I'd trade Gus Suhr (.285-9-82) and give Hal the first base job.
  
• Buddy Lewis hit .314 in 118 AB with San Diego at age 18. The Padres appear ready to see what he can do on a full-time basis in 1936. His ability to play several positions makes him a very useful player.
  
• Feller threw 99 innings for Shreveport (AA), allowing 65 hits, strikinng out 86 men, and pitching to a 1.45 ERA. Apparently, however, the Sports couldn't catch the ball if it was handed to them. Bob allowed so many unearned runs that he managed to lose five of his eleven starts. The Giants will probably promote him to Jersey City (AAA) while he tries to develop some control.
  
• Brown, yet another of a large group of good young Cubs, hit .267 with seven homers at three minor league levels in 1935. He projects as a five-tool talent and a clubhouse leader.