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Old 05-19-2015, 10:50 PM   #1
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Fictional History of Baseball

If you had to pick a day that I first really discovered the game it would have to be October 12, 1938. Baseball historians will tell you that was the date of arguably the most exciting World Series game ever played but for me as young kid at the time it was merely the beginning of a life long love affair with the sport.

1938 was a great year in baseball history even before the series. Heading into the final weekend of the season both league's had two teams tied for first place.

In the American League you had the 2 of the greatest sluggers in the game in Red Sox outfielder Frank Thomas and Yankee outfielder Elgie Vargas leading their teams in an epic pennant battle that would culminate with the Yankees sweeping the Red Sox in the final weekend to win the pennant by 3 games.

The margin in the National League would be even tighter as the Giants doubled the Phillies 8-4 on Friday while the Cubs dropped a game back after losing 2-1 to St Louis. The margin would remain as a 1-game lead for the Giants after both teams lost on the Saturday. On Sunday the Cubs blasted the Cardinals 11-7 but had to settle for second place as the Giants routed the Phillies 7-2 to clinch the pennant by a single game.

The great home run race of 1937 between the Yankees Vargas and Thomas of the Red Sox suddenly had a third participant. You may recall in 1937 Vargas hit a record 60 homeruns breaking Thomas' 1934 mark of 59 while Thomas was forced to settle for 57 round trippers. In 1938 Charlie Mongan, a 23 year old third baseman joined the battle.

Mongan, who hit 46 in 1937 - his first full season in the majors - would end up tying Vargas' record by hitting 2 on the final day of the season to give him 60 on the year. Mongan, who began his career with the Senators, was traded to Cleveland mid-season and helped the Tribe to a third place finish - their best showing in a decade.

The Indians are the only team to never win a pennant and join the NL's Boston Braves as the only clubs yet to win a World Championship.

Code:

	1938 FINAL STANDINGS
AMERICAN	 W   L		NATIONAL	 W   L
NYY		91  63		NYG		85  69
Boston		88  66		Cubs		84  70
Cleveland	80  74		StL Cards	82  72
Chi Sox		80  74  	Phillies	78  76
Phi A's		74  80		Bos Braves	74  80
Washington	71  83		Cincinnati	73  81
St L Browns	69  85		Brooklyn	72  82
Detroit		63  91   	Pittsburgh	68  86
The Yankees and Giants met for the first time in the 1938 series. It was the National League club's second straight league pennant while the Yankees finished first in the American League for the first time since 1924, which is also the year of their only World Series victory. The Giants won the inagural World Series in 1901 and then again in 1929.

GAME 1: The Yankees sent the American League's best pitcher to the mound in the series opener and while Jay Moore (26-6, 2.63) did not have his best stuff he did go the distance in a 5-3 victory. Elgie Vargas paced the Yankee attack with a pair of rbi's. Aurelio 'Ace' Ventura (16-10, 3.58) took the loss for the Giants.

GAME 2: Vargas homered and drove in 3 runs while second baseman Martin Robbins had 4 hits and 4 rbi's as the Yankees took game 2 at home 11-7. Included in Robbins' 4 hits were a homerun, something the 24 year old only managed once during the regular season.

GAME 3: The Series shifted to the Polo Grounds and the Giants responded with a 3-2 victory. 37 year old veteran Frank Russo (14-14, 3.81) went the distance allowing just 6 Yankee hits for the victory. One of those hits was a solo homer from Vargas.

GAME 4: A 6-run second inning allowed the Yankees to coast to a 9-5 victory and take a commanding 3 games to one lead in the series. Moore got his second victory of the series

GAME 5: The Giants comeback begins with an 11-5 victory over the Yankees at the Bronx. Outfielder Celerino Ochoa homered twice in the game to pace the Giants offense while second baseman Billy Bolling had 4 hits and drove in 4 runs.

GAME 6: Ochoa had 3 hits and 4 rbi's while outfielder Jack Gomez had 4 hits including a pair of solo homers as the Giants evened the series with an 8-2 victory. Frank Russo went the distance for his second win of the series.

GAME 7: The Giants finished off their rally from being down 3 games to one with an unbelievable comeback but the Yankees did not go down without a fight. Jay Moore and Ace Ventura met for the third time in the series and both pitchers kept the game scoreless through 4 innings. In the bottom of the 5th the Yankees got to Ventura as they scored 4 times thanks in large part to a Giants error to go up 4-0.

In the 7th inning the Giants strung together 5 singles to plate 3 runs and cut the deficit to 4-3. The game would be tied with one swing of the bat in the top of the 9th as young Giants third baseman Dennis Hobbs led off with a homerun that chased Yankee starter Moore. The Giants would score two more times to take a 6-4 lead thanks to a big triple off the bat of 36 year old outfielder John Monroe.

The Yankees were not ready to let their cross-town rivals begin celebrating yet. Trailing 6-4 with just 3 outs left the Yankees responded quickly. After Eddie Willes drew a lead-off walk from Giants starter Ventura, Yankee pinch-hitter Smith King hit a double to move Willes to third. A sacrifice fly scored Willes and then Jimmy Fink hit a two-out single to plate King with the tying run and send the game into extra innings.

The Giants would then score 2 more runs in the top of the tenth as Ted Linton and George Saunders each doubled to lead the rally. The Giants gave the ball to reliever John Petersen - the former Texas Tech star - to try and preserve the victory. It was an adventure but Petersen got the job down but only after allowing 2 singles to start the inning. He followed that up with 2 strikeouts but walked the bases full with 2 outs. Martin Robbins hit a single to score one run but that is as close as the Yankees would get - falling 8-7 after Petersen struck out Charlie Stafford with the bases loaded to end the game and give the Giants the Championship.

Code:

GAME 7 BOXSCORE   NY GIANTS AT NY YANKEES  OCTOBER 12, 1938

GIANTS		       AB  R  H  RBI BB K  LOB  AVG HR RBI
J. Gomez LF 		4  0  2   2   0 0   0  .467  3 7 
   b-C. Sublett PH 	1  0  0   0   0 0   1  .000  0 0 
   c-F. Stolz CF 	1  0  0   0   0 0   1  .000  0 0 
C. Ochoa CF, LF 	5  1  2   2   0 0   1  .438  2 9 
J. Monroe RF 		5  0  1   1   0 0   3  .281  1 6 
J. Wagoner SS 		5  0  0   0   0 1   2  .290  1 3 
H. Warner C 		4  1  2   0   0 0   0  .464  1 5 
   d-H. Mott C 		1  0  0   0   0 0   0  .000  0 0 
B. Bolling 2B 		3  0  0   0   1 2   2  .120  1 6 
   e-T. Linton PH 	1  1  1   0   0 0   0 1.000  0 0 
   g-J. Roberts 3B 	0  0  0   0   0 0   0  .000  0 0 
D. Hobbs 3B, 2B 	5  1  1   1   0 0   4  .222  2 4 
M. Hall 1B 		2  1  1   0   1 0   0  .200  1 2 
   a-G. Saunders PH, 1B 2  2  2   1   0 0   0  .667  0 2 
A. Ventura P 		3  1  1   0   0 1   4  .143  0 0 
   f-J. Muser PH 	1  0  1   1   0 0   0 1.000  0 1 
   J. Petersen P 	0  0  0   0   0 0   0  .333  0 0 
Totals		       43  8 14   8   2  4 18

a - G. Saunders pinch hit for M. Hall in the 9th 
b - C. Sublett pinch hit for J. Gomez in the 9th 
c - F. Stolz substituted for C. Sublett in the 9th 
d - H. Mott substituted for H. Warner in the 9th 
e - T. Linton pinch hit for B. Bolling in the 10th 
f - J. Muser pinch hit for A. Ventura in the 10th 
g - J. Roberts substituted for T. Linton in the 10th 

BATTING
Doubles:  G. Saunders (1, 10th Inning off J. Reed, 1 on, 2 outs) T. Linton (1, 10th Inning off 
J. Reed, 0 on, 1 out) 
Triples:  J. Monroe (1, 9th Inning off J. Reed, 1 on, 2 outs) 
Home Runs:  D. Hobbs (2, 9th Inning off J. Moore, 0 on, 0 outs) 
Total Bases:  A. Ventura , D. Hobbs 4 , C. Ochoa 2 , J. Gomez 2 , M. Hall , H. Warner 2 , 
J. Monroe 3 , G. Saunders 3 , T. Linton 2 , J. Muser 
2-out RBI:  , C. Ochoa 2 , J. Gomez , J. Monroe , G. Saunders , J. Muser 
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs:  A. Ventura , J. Wagoner , J. Monroe 
Sac Bunt:  A. Ventura 
Team LOB:  8 

FIELDING
Errors:  A. Ventura , D. Hobbs  
  

YANKEES		       AB  R  H  RBI BB K  LOB  AVG HR RBI
M. Robbins 2B 		5  0  1   2   0 1   3  .355  1 7 
C. Stafford 3B, SS 	6  0  0   0   0 1   6  .281  0 4 
J. Hanson CF 		3  0  1   2   0 0   0  .400  0 6 
   a-J. Fink CF 	2  0  1   1   0 0   0  .250  0 1 
E. Vargas RF 		4  0  0   0   1 2   2  .259  2 9 
J. McBeth 1B 		5  1  1   0   0 0   1  .276  0 2 
D. Gonzales SS 		3  1  2   0   1 0   0  .240  1 2 
   J. Reed P 		0  0  0   0   0 0   0  .000  0 0 
   e-O. Bardales PH 	1  0  1   0   0 0   0  .667  0 0 
J. Martin C 		5  1  2   1   0 1   6  .185  1 3 
E. Willes LF 		3  2  0   0   2 1   5  .250  0 4 
J. Moore P 		3  1  0   0   0 2   0  .000  0 0 
   b-B. Cohen SS 	0  0  0   0   0 0   0  .000  0 0 
   c-S. King PH 	1  1  1   0   0 0   0  .333  0 0 
   d-T. Dahl 3B 	0  0  0   0   1 0   0  .000  0 0 
Totals      	       41  7 10   6   5 8  23

a - J. Fink substituted for J. Hanson in the 8th 
b - B. Cohen substituted for J. Moore in the 9th 
c - S. King pinch hit for B. Cohen in the 9th 
d - T. Dahl substituted for S. King in the 10th 
e - O. Bardales pinch hit for J. Reed in the 10th 

BATTING
Doubles:  S. King (1, 9th Inning off A. Ventura, 1 on, 0 outs) 
Triples:  J. Martin (1, 5th Inning off A. Ventura, 1 on, 0 outs) 
Total Bases:  D. Gonzales 2 , J. Hanson , M. Robbins , J. Martin 4 , J. McBeth ,
 J. Fink , S. King 2 , O. Bardales 
2-out RBI:  J. Hanson , M. Robbins , J. Fink 
Runners left in scoring position, 2 outs:  E. Willes , J. Martin , C. Stafford , E. Vargas 
Sac Fly:  M. Robbins 
Team LOB:  10 

BASERUNNING
SB:  J. Hanson (1) 

FIELDING
Errors:  J. Hanson  

PITCHING
GIANTS 		     IP  H  R  ER  BB  K  HR  PI PS ERA
A. Ventura W (1-2)  9.0  7  6   3   4  5   0 128 77 6.75 
J. Petersen SV (1)  1.0  3  1   1   1  3   0  27 17 4.32 

PITCHING
Game Score:  A. Ventura 56 
Batters Faced:  A. Ventura 40, J. Petersen 7 
Ground Outs - Fly Outs:  A. Ventura 11-12, J. Petersen 0-0 
Pitches - Strikes:  A. Ventura 128-77, J. Petersen 27-17 
 
PITCHING
YANKEES 		IP  H  R  ER  BB  K  HR  PI PS ERA
J. Moore               8.0  8  4   4   2  4   1 135 83 3.86 
J. Reed L (0-1)        2.0  6  4   4   0  0   0  37 25 7.71 

PITCHING
Game Score:  J. Moore 52 
Batters Faced:  J. Moore 34, J. Reed 12 
Ground Outs - Fly Outs:  J. Moore 9-11, J. Reed 3-3 
Pitches - Strikes:  J. Moore 135-83, J. Reed 37-25 
 
 
 
GAME NOTES  
Player of the Game:  Celerino Ochoa 
Ballpark:  Yankee Stadium I 
Weather:  Rain (49 degrees), wind blowing right to left at 13 mph 
Start Time:  7:05 pm EST 
Time:  3:11 
Attendance:  64331
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Old 05-19-2015, 10:52 PM   #2
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I have a lot a less free time then I used to but I miss writing my dynasty reports so I thought I would try one based on my fictional league that I started about 2 years ago and simmed for about 30 seasons before putting it and OOTP on the shelf for a while. I just recently started playing OOTP14 again (and I will upgrade to 16 shortly) but simming out this long forgotten league has really got me back into it.

Over the past month I have simmed out 8 seasons to progress to 1938. I tend to sim in commish mode a month at a time and then pour over the activity in all of my leagues. I was going to continue along that path until the late 1950's before perhaps taking over a team but the 1938 season - with it's 3 young power hitters and exciting 7 game world series has spurred me on to write about my league.

Not sure how much time I have - as this is not like the early days of OOTP before I had kids (I am taking OOTP2, 3 and 4 by the way) when I devoted a ton of time to historical dynasty writing. I feel the historical side of things has been done many, many times and by far better writers than myself. But I really miss doing a dynasty report so I dusted off this old fictional league, downloaded a ton of great logos and jerseys and am ready to follow it. I find my immersion level in any league is greatly enhanced when I do a dynasty on the league so while this dynasty is primarily for myself I do hope others find some interest in it. Reader involvement was always the greatest reward I felt from my old HOB dynasty reports as I loved taking requests about certain players as it allowed me to discover so much about the league history while searching for career info on the requested players.

I like the idea of real teams as it allows me and hopefully others to immediately identify with my league so I am using the real major league setup only with entirely fictional players. I have added in 5 levels of minors as well as a feeder system consisting of 36 college teams along with several regional based high school level baseball academy leagues.

Attached is a brief history of pennant and World Series winners
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Old 05-19-2015, 10:53 PM   #3
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1901-1938 World Series results

For a little backstory here is the year by year pennant and World Series winners.
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Old 05-19-2015, 10:55 PM   #4
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The NCAA League

FEBRUARY 23, 1939


It is almost time for spring training 1939. The New York Giants are defending World Series champions after a thrilling come from behind victory over the Yankees. Harvard beat the University of Minnesota in the maximum 5 games to win the College World Series.

Since I wanted the college and high school teams to play 120 game schedules and have players available for the June draft their leagues start in mid to late January and run through until early June. I ignore the obvious weather issues for the northern based teams.

The college season is in full swing. The 36 teams are divided into two leagues with 3 divisions each. The East features the ACC, SEC and Ivy League while the Big 6, Southwest and Pac 6 represent the west. Players come from all over the country and occassionally there is a foreign player or two in the league.

Here are the standings at the 1/3 mark of the season. I put the number of national titles won by each team in brackets

Code:

		NCAA STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939
EAST						WEST
Atlantic Coast Division				BIG SIX DIVISION
Clemson		26  14	2	Wisconsin	25 15     5
Maryland	22  18			Michigan St.	24 16
North Carolina	21  19	1	Ohio State	22 18	  2
Virginia	19  21			Michigan	19 21
NC State	18  22			Minnesota       18 22	  3	
Georgia Tech	13  27	1	Notre Dame	10 30     1

SOUTHEAST DIVISION				SOUTHWEST DIVISION
Alabama		26  14	 2	Arkansas	26 14     1
Georgia		24  16			Texas		24 16     1
Tennessee	22  18			Texas Tech	23 17
LSU		19  21	 1		Oklahoma	23 17	  3
Mississippi	17  23			Nebraska	19 21
Kentucky	15  25				Arizona State	19 21

IVY DIVISION					PACIFIC SIX DIVISION
Harvard		25  15	2	UCLA		25  15	    3
Yale		20  20	1		Washington St	20  20
Dartmouth	19  21			USC		17  23	    2
Columbia	19  21			        Stanford	16  24      1
Brown		19  21	1	Oregon State	16  24      1
Princeton	16  24	3		California	14  26      1
There are a number of future stars playing in the college ranks to keep an eye on. One of the brightest is Mississippi pitcher George Odom. The 22 year old senior is struggling a bit this year at 6-3 with 2.55 era after being named the NCAA EAST top pitcher as a junior when he went 19-8 with a 1.56 era. The Gladewater, Texas native is expected to be a first round selection in the June MLB draft.

Another potential first round pick is Nebraska senior third baseman Bug Harrison. An all-star each of his previous 3 seasons, the Washington DC native is hitting .308 with 8 homers and 25 rbi's through 37 games this season with the Cornhuskers.

UCLA is off to a great start this season and a big reason why is because of the play of sophomore batterymates Wellington French and Truman Hughart. French was taken 14th overall by the Chicago Cubs in 1937 draft after winning back to back pitcher of the year awards in the Mid-Atlantic Academy League with the Milford Sandpipers. After failing to sign with the Cubs he enrolled at UCLA. He was 22-2 with a 1.73 era in his final season with Milford but struggled as a freshman at the university level going 8-14 with a 3.14 era. This year he has adjusted and is off to a great start going 7-2 with a 1.99 in 9 starts for the Bruins. Hughart, a 20 year old catcher from Wapakoneta, Ohio played just 23 games as a rookie behind Mark Casey, who is now in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Hughart earned the starting job at UCLA this year and is off to a great start (.357,6,24) through 35 games and is credited for doing a fantastic job handling the Bruins pitching staff. Both will not be eligible for the major league draft until 1941.

Virgina centerfielder Tacks O'Dea is another player to watch. After being a 3 time all-star in the highly competitive Western Academy League with the Los Angeles Chargers, O'Dea refused to sign with the Boston Braves after the mlb team selected him 10th overall in the 1937 draft. After hitting .330 playing part time as a freshman, O'Dea leads the Cavaliers with a .331 batting average through the first 40 games of the season.

The top freshman to watch is Wisconsin pitcher Bill Andrews. A 19 year old lefthander from Oakland, he was heavily recruited by the Western Academy Leagues as a youth but stayed in regular high school before enrolling with the Badgers. He is off to a 6-2 start with a 2.06 era and already has folks around Madison thinking before his college career is done he will help the Badgers add to their record total of 5 NCAA championships.

Last edited by Tiger Fan; 05-19-2015 at 11:07 PM.
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Old 05-19-2015, 10:59 PM   #5
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The Academy Leagues

My universe has 5 different high school level or as I prefer to call them "Baseball Academy" level leagues. The 3 biggest leagues are the Florida Academy League, The Northeast Academy League and the Western Academy League. Each of those leagues have 2 subleagues of 8 teams each and like the college league play a 120 game schedule from late January until early June finishing with a best of 5 championship series between each subleague winner. There is no national academy championship at this stage of the universe. There are also 2 six-team leagues: The Midwest League and the MidAtlantic League.

I have modified some of the team names recently to take advantage of the great logos, uniforms and caps created by this community.

Here is a brief look at each of the 5 leagues. I have added the current standings so you can get an idea of the team names as players progress through the league and when I reference the academy career of big leaguer.

Code:

		FLORIDA ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939

Atlantic League		 W  L   GB 		Gulf League		 W  L  GB
Daytona Beach Cubs	21  9    -		Sarasota Stone Crabs	19 10   -
Palm Beach Cardinals	21 10   0.5		Bradenton Mauraders	19 10   -
Jacksonville Whales	19  9   1.0		Tallahassee Rebels	17 13  2.5
Ft Lauderdale Lobsters  14 15   6.5		Port Charlotte Anglers	16 13  3.0
Miami Beach Pelicans	13 16   7.5		Pensacola Bees		15 16  5.0
Key West Conchs		12 17   8.5		Panama City Flamingos	12 19  8.0
Orlando Sun Sox		12 19   9.5		St Petersburg Redbirds	10 18  8.5
Jupiter Hammerheads	 6 23  14.5		Lakeland Pilots		10 19  9.0
The Florida Academy League draws players from across the southeastern United States and an occassional player or two from Carribean countries. One such foreign player made a big impact in the most recent World Series as Celerino Ochoa, a native of Cuba, went 14 for 32 with 2 homeruns and 9 rbi's to help the New York Giants beat the Yankees in a 7 game World Series. The 33 year old Ochoa got his start in baseball with the Bradenton Mauraders before being selected by the Giants in the second round of the 1925 draft.

The two most dominant teams in the Florida Academy League are the Pensacola Bees and the Jacksonville Whales. The Bees have won 11 Gulf League titles in the 38 years of the league along with 7 Florida Series titles. The Whales have won 10 pennants in the Atlantic League including the last 2 in a row and have 4 Florida Series titles to their credit.


The Northeast League has developed more pro players than any of the 5 Academy Leagues. It is comprised of players born in the northeastern United States with the occassional Canadian also entering the league. The 2 leagues are called the Cape Cod League and the Metro NY League.

Here are the current standings for this season to give you a full list of teams in the league.

Code:

		NORTHEAST ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939

CAPE COD LEAGUE		 W  L   GB 		METRO NY League		 W  L  GB
Cotuit Kettlers		19 10    -		Brooklyn Bees		18 11   -
Bourne Braves		18 13   2.0		Staten Island Ports	16 13   2.0
Falmouth Commodores	16 13	3.0		Long Island Ducks	16 13   2.0
Chatham Anglers		17 14   3.0		Bronx Bombers		17 14   2.0
Brewster Whitecaps	13 16   6.0		Queens Monarchs		15 13   2.5
Yarmouth Red Sox	13 17   6.5		Manhattan Pigeons	14 16   4.5
Harwich Mariners	12 17   7.0		Coney Island Tigers	12 19   7.0
Hyannis Harbor Hawks	10 18   8.5		Yonkers Bears		10 19   8.0
The league has been quite balanced over its previous 38 years with every team winning at least one pennant and only Brooklyn and Coney Island failing to win a Northeast Series title. The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League led the way with 6 Northeast Championships (and 9 pennants). Long Island tops the Metro League with 9 pennants and is one 4 teams to win 4 Northeast Series Championships - joined by Brewster, Cotuit and Manhattan.


The Western Academy League is the last of the 3 16-team groupings. Players come from the southwest and pacific United States as well as a few from Mexico. The Los Angeles Chargers were the first dynasty as they won 6 pennants and 4 Western Series in the league's first 6 years of existance from 1901-06. Since then it has been mainly hard times for the Chargers squad but their 6 Western Series titles and 10 Pacific League pennants still top the loop. Two Desert League teams in the Utah Stars and Central Texas Comets are tied for second with 5 Western Series titles each.

Code:

		WESTERN ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939

PACIFIC LEAGUE		 W  L   GB 		DESERT LEAGUE		 W  L  GB
Hawaii Islanders	22  6    -		Austin Marshalls	16 12    -
Dakota Loggers		20 10  3.0		Salt Lake Gulls		15 14   1.5
Northern Cal Stars	16 13  6.5		North Texas Cubs	15 14   1.5
San Francisco Miners	14 15  8.5		New Mexico Aztecs	15 14   1.5
Oregon Timbers		13 16  9.5		Oklahoma Oilers		15 15   2.0
Arizona Desert Dogs	12 17 10.5		West Texas Spiders	15 16   2.5
California Seals	11 20 12.5		Central Texas Comets	14 15   2.5
Los Angeles Chargers	10 21 13.5		Utah Stars		13 18   4.5
The player to watch in the Pacific League is 18 year old Hawaii Islanders outfielder Sam Fuller. A winner of back to back Pacific League MVP's, the 6'3" native of San Marcos, California is expected to be a sure fire first round back in the major league draft. He is hitting .415 with 11 homers and 39 rbi's in 28 games and plays at a very hitter friendly park which means he has an outside chance of surpassing Charlie Mongan's (now with Cleveland Indians) mark of 107 career homeruns. Fuller presently sits at 70.

Sam Herrera has all the makings of being a future major league superstar and is the player to keep an eye on in the Desert League. Just 16 years old and, like Fuller a native of San Marcos, California, the righthander has taken the Desert loop by storm going 6-0 with a 2.21 era in his first 7 starts and is a big reason why the Austin Marshalls are in first place.


The other two Academy Leagues consist of just 6 teams each and while they both still play 120 game seasons, neither has a post-season. The Midwest Academy League consists of players from the midwestern United States as well as Ontario, Canada while the MidAtlantic League features players from the atlantic area states.

Here are the current standings in each league

Code:

MIDWEST ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939

			 W  L   GB 
St Louis Arches		11  6    -
Fort Wayne Tincaps	10  7   1.0
Ohio Redcoats		 9  8   2.0
Pennsylvania Nationals	 8  9   3.0
Michigan Lakers		 8  9   3.0
Chicagoland Bombers	 5 12   6.0


MID-ATLANTIC ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939

			   W  L   GB 
Carolina Kings		  11  6    -
Virigina Beach Colonials  10  7   1.0
Washington DC Chiefs	   9  8   2.0
Philadelphia Quakers	   7 10   4.0
Milford Sandpipers	   7 10   4.0
District Capitals	   7 10   4.0
The Pennsylvania Nationals have won 6 of the last 9 Midwest Academy titles and 14 overall. Fort Wayne, on the strength of 2 championships in the past 3 years is now second with 8 league crowns.

The Carolina Kings have dominated the Mid-Atlantic Academy loop winning 12 league titles. The Quakers, with 7, are next followed by the 6 won by Virigina Beach.
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Old 05-19-2015, 11:09 PM   #6
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March 1, 1939

MARCH 1, 1939

Spring training is just around the corner and as we go through it I will take a look at each of the major league organizations in much more detail. My main focus will be on the major leagues but I will also touch on things I notice from the college and high school ranks as well as the minor leagues.

Topping todays items is the news that Hawaii Islanders outfielder Sam Fuller was named the player of the month in the Pacific League of the Western Academy loop. Fuller, an 18 year old highly touted draft prospect, hit .425 with 6 homers and 25 rbi's in February and is batting .397 with 12 dingers so far this season. At 27-7, the Islanders have opened a 7 game lead on the Dakota Loggers atop the Pacific League. The Southwest League remains up for grabs as all 8 teams are presently seperated by just 4.5 games including 5 teams with a game and a half of the from running Austin Marshalls.


As for the major leagues lets begin with a quick look at last year's standings.
Code:

AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS 1938
Team			W  L  Pct    GB  R  RA
New York Yankees 	91 63 .591   -  848 705 
Boston Red Sox 		88 66 .571   3  829 719 
Chicago White Sox 	80 74 .519  11  751 686 
Cleveland Indians 	80 74 .519  11  744 713 
Philadelphia Athletics 	74 80 .481  17  794 782 
Washington Senators 	71 83 .461  20  677 837 
St Louis Browns 	69 85 .448  22  775 904 
Detroit Tigers 		63 91 .409  28  756 828 


NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS 1938
Team			 W  L  Pct    GB   R  RA
New York Giants 	85 69 .552    -   825 726 
Chicago Cubs 		84 70 .545    1   782 706 
St. Louis Cardinals 	82 72 .532    3   685 667 
Philadelphia Phillies 	78 76 .506    7   687 667 
Boston Braves 		74 80 .481   11   696 692 
Cincinnati Reds 	73 81 .474   12   629 687 
Brooklyn Dodgers 	72 82 .468   13   685 791 
Pittsburgh Pirates 	68 86 .442   17   638 691 

WORLD SERIES
New York Giants defeat New York Yankees 4 games to 3.
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Old 05-19-2015, 11:11 PM   #7
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March 2, 1939

MARCH 2, 1939


FLORIDA ACADEMY LEAGUE
Jacksonville second baseman Eddie Kobylarczyk had 5 hits yesterday to help his Jacksonville Sharks devour the Miami Beach Pelicans 17-6. The 19 year old from Cold Springs, Kentucky is third in Atlantic League batting this season with a .346 average. The Whales remain in third place in the Atlantic, 3.5 games back of league leading Palm Beach. In the Gulf League Sarasota and Bradenton are tied for the lead with 22-13 records.
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Old 05-19-2015, 11:12 PM   #8
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March 15, 1939

MARCH 15, 1939


WEST STARS WIN NCAA ALL-STAR GAME
Michigan State catcher Cowboy Ward hit a 3-run homer in the 6th inning to help the Western Stars to a 6-3 victory over the East in the NCAA all-star contest. Wellington French of the UCLA Bruins was the winning pitcher while Maryland's Martin Haskins was tagged with the loss.

Here are the standings at the midway point of the 120 game saeason.
Code:

		NCAA STANDINGS March 15, 1939
EAST						WEST
Atlantic Coast Division				BIG SIX DIVISION
Clemson		37  20				Michigan St.	35 22
Maryland	32  25				Ohio State	32 25	   
North Carolina	28  29				Wisconsin	31 26       
Virginia	25  32				Michigan	29 28
NC State	25  32				Minnesota       26 31	   	
Georgia Tech	20  37				Notre Dame	19 38     

SOUTHEAST DIVISION				SOUTHWEST DIVISION
Georgia		36  21				Texas Tech	35 22
Alabama		33  24	  			Arkansas	33 24     	
Tennessee	28  29				Oklahoma	32 25	   
LSU		24  33	  			Texas		31 26     
Kentucky	24  33				Nebraska	29 28
Mississippi	22  35				Arizona State	29 28				

IVY DIVISION					PACIFIC SIX DIVISION
Harvard		39  18	 			Washington St	34  23
Yale		31  26	 			UCLA		31  26	     
Dartmouth	28  29				Oregon State	25  32       
Columbia	28  29				USC		21  36	     
Brown		28  29	 			California	21  36      
Princeton	25  32	 			Stanford	20  37
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Old 05-19-2015, 11:15 PM   #9
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I'll definitely follow this, thank you very much for posting!

And as you can see from my forum avatar, I'm a Tiger Fan myself! Best of luck to you on your dynasty!
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Old 05-19-2015, 11:17 PM   #10
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March 18, 1939

MARCH 18, 1939

SPRING TRAINING BEGINS
The 16 major league baseball teams opened spring training today. A quick poll of beat writers shows that the New York Yankees and New York Giants are both favoured to repeat as league champions. The A's, Indians and White Sox are expected to be the contenders in a tight American League while many experts feel the Giants will walk away with the pennant in the National circuit. The Cubs would be considered the front-runner for second place, just ahead of the Boston Braves. Of course, that is all on paper. It remains to be seen what will play out on the diamond.


MILESTONE WATCH
JACKSON TAKES AIM AT 3000 HITS
Veteran Cincinnati third baseman Charlie Jackson will look to become just the third player in major league history to record 3000 career hits. The 37 year old San Francisco native is 74 hits shy of 3000 entering the season. Last year in 134 games he batted .271 with 134 hits for the Reds. A veteran of 2203 career games, all with Cincinnati, Jackson was drafted from the Oklahoma Oilers of the Western Academy League first overall in 1921. He was named MVP of the Desert League all 4 of his seasons with the Oilers and has won three gold gloves in the major leagues. He was also instrumental in the Reds 1930 World Series championship, batting .324 in the 7 game series against the Chicago White Sox.

The only other players to record over 3000 hits are George Weaver and Charlie White. Weaver retired following the 1925 campaign with 3940 hits. He played 24 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. White is 42 years old and returning for one more season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He has 3248 hits in a career that started in 1917 and has been spent entirely with the Dodgers.

Code:

ALL-TIME HITS LEADERS
George Weaver		3940	1902-25   	Phillies
Charlie White*		3248 	1917-present	Dodgers
Charlie Jackson*	2926	1922-present	Reds
Chile de Leon		2863	1911-30		Pirates
Chris Allsup		2832	1915-33		Det, Bos, Bkn, Cin, Wash
John Monroe*		2776	1923-present	Giants
Henry Palmer		2682	1907-27		Wash, StL, BSN, ChN
Gus Parker		2645	1903-25		Wash, Cle, Cin, Phi, ChN

*active player
THOMAS EYES 300TH CAREER HOMERUN
When it comes to the longball, a pair of 28 year olds have rewritten the record book. Red Sox outfielder Frank Thomas is the career leader with 297 roundtrippers with Yankee outfielder Elgie Vargas sitting in second place with 248. The only other player to top the 200 mark is veteran Boston Brave Mike Estep, who has 220 homeruns to his credit but is closing in on his 36th birthday.

After hitting 18 as a rookie in 1933, Thomas followed that up with seasons of 59,54,55,57 and 50 homeruns. A native of Round Rock, Texas, Thomas starred for the Utah Stars academy league club before being drafted 5th overall by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1930. The A's dealt him to the Red Sox for veteran outfielder Celerino Ochoa (who now plays for the NY Giants) before Thomas had advanced past short-A ball. Thomas' career took of in Boston and he won the triple crown twice, batting .414 in 1937 while also claiming 5 straight league American League MVP awards.

Vargas is a New York City native who played his youth ball with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League. A second round pick of the Pirates in 1930, Vargas was dealt to the Yankees the following season in exchange for pitcher Houston Avalos. He made his major league debut late in the 1932 season and in 1933 edged Thomas for the American League rookie of the year award. Vargas' breakout season was 1937 when he hit a record 60 homeruns and followed that up with 54 last season.

The 60 homerun total was equaled last year by Charlie Mongan, who split the season between Washington and Cleveland. The 24 year Mongan hails from Queen Creek, Arizona and played Academy ball for the Austin Marshalls before being drafted 5th overall by the Washington Senators in 1934. Mongan made his major league debut in 1936 and had 22 homers in 56 games but batted just .246. He had 46 homeruns the following season before swatting 60 last year. The Senators deal will be questioned for years to come as they received 5 mid-level prospects in return for Mongan. It was a cost cutting move for the perennially rebuilding Senators - a team that has not enjoyed a winning season since 1928.

Stat of note: Excluding Mongan the Senators hit 58 homers last year. Mongan hit 60 by himself although the first 34 were in a Washington uniform.


Going forward I think this will be one of the greatest stories to follow in my league as we see how the career's of Thomas, Vargas and Mongan compare.
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Old 05-20-2015, 11:58 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by jaysdailydose View Post
I'll definitely follow this, thank you very much for posting!

And as you can see from my forum avatar, I'm a Tiger Fan myself! Best of luck to you on your dynasty!
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Old 05-20-2015, 06:07 PM   #12
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March 18, 1939

MARCH 18, 1939
TOP TEN PLAYERS IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES
Here is a quick bio of the league's 10 best position players:

1- FRANK THOMAS: RF BOSTON RED SOX: Thomas has been talked about in earlier posts. He can do everything. He has won the triple crown twice (only one other player Art Kenneth in 1909 has claimed the triple crown). He was American League MVP each of the past 5 years and won 4 straight gold gloves in right field from 1934-37. Just 28 years old, he is already the career homerun leader with 297. Last year he hit .377 with 50 homers and 150 rbi's and none of those marks were career highs for Thomas. He hit .414 in 1937 and had a career best 59 homers and 177 rbi's in 1934. He won a World Series with the Red Sox in 1937.

2- ELGIE VARGAS: RF NEW YORK YANKEES: Like Thomas, Vargas is just 28 years old but has already hit over 200 career homeruns. He beat out Thomas for American League rookie of the year in 1933 but has been overshadowed by his Boston counterpart since although Vargas did break Thomas' record by hitting 60 homeruns in 1937. Last year he batted .373 with 54 homers and 154 rbi's to help the Yankees win their first pennant since 1924.

3- CHARLIE MONGAN: 3B CLEVELAND INDIANS: Just 24 years old Mongan has already played 320 major league games and hit 128 career homeruns, including 60 last season in a year split between Washington and Cleveland. Senators fans are already calling the deal that moved him to Cleveland for 5 prospects the worst trade the franchise ever made (something I will look at in the future). Last year in 138 games he had 143 rbi's and batted .314 to go with his 60 roundtrippers. He won back to back gold gloves at third base each of the past two seasons.

4- JOHN HANSON: CF NEW YORK YANKEES: Hanson is another great young player who has just recently started to make his mark on the baseball world. After winning 3 straight league MVP awards with the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida Academy league the native of Bayonet Point, Florida was drafted first overall by the Yankees in the 1934 MLB draft. He made his major league debut in 1937, appearing in 133 games while batting .237. He stepped up his game and had an outstanding sophomore season last year, hitting .326 and tying for the league lead with 29 stolen bases.

5- LES KENNEDY : CF BOSTON RED SOX: The American League's outstanding collection of tremendous young batting talent continues with Kennedy, a 24 year old from Austin, Texas who compliments Frank Thomas nicely in the Red Sox outfield. Kennedy started in the outfield for the Western Academy League's Dakota Loggers for 4 seasons before being drafted 15th overall by the Red Sox in 1934. He earned a big league callup in September of 1936 and took the league by storm hitting .381 in 42 at bats to help the Red Sox clinch a pennant. He was left off the postseason roster that year but spent all of 1937 with the Red Sox, hitting .332 with 20 homers and 89 rbi's. He helped Boston win the 1937 World Series by going 9-for-26 with a homer in 6 games. A strong defensive player with above average speed, Kennedy won a gold glove in 1937 to go with his World Series ring. Last yeaar he hit .374 to narrowly lose the batting title to his teammate Thomas.

6- DAN KMIECIK: RF BOSTON BRAVES- Finally a National Leaguer and a veteran makes the list. The 31 year old Clifton, New Jersey native started playing academy ball back in 1922 with the District Capitals of the Mid-Atlantic League. The Chicago Cubs selected Kmiecik 3rd overall in 1926 but he opted to attend the University of Wisconsin instead where he was a 3 time NCAA MVP. The Braves selected him first overall in 1929 and he has been in their organization ever since, winning National League MVP honours in 1932 and 1934. He has played 1254 major league games so far in his 10 year career and is a lifetime .336 hitter.

7- ABEL KNIGHT: 2B ST LOUIS BROWNS - The 29 year old is a huge fan favourite in St Louis. He was drafted out of the San Francisco Miners academy program by the Pittsburgh Pirates 4th overall in 1929 and won the National League rookie of the year award in 1931. The Bucs traded him to the Browns that off-season and he has been a steady top of the order hitter in St Louis ever since. He has never finished a season in his 9 years with an average below .300 and while his speed has dropped a little bit he is still capable of stealing a base when needed.

8- JOHN MONROE: RF NEW YORK GIANTS - The 36 year old is still showing no signs of slowing down after hitting .337 with 13 homers and 78 rbi's last season before adding 9 more hits and 6 rbi's in the 7 game World Series win over the Yankees. A veteran of 5 postseason series and 30 games where his career average is .313, Monroe owns a pair of World Series rings to go along with MVP awards in 1926 and 1929 as well as a gold glove earned in 1932.

Monroe has played 1966 major league games and owns a lifetime average of .365 with 190 career homeruns. He hit a major league record .448 in 1930 although he was limited to just 103 games that season due to an injury. He presently sits 6th all-time with 2776 career hits. A graduate of the Yonkers Bears academy team in the Metro New York League, the native of Livingston, New Jersey was selected 2nd overall by the Giants in 1922.

9- John Wagoner: SS NEW YORK GIANTS - The 25 year old Brooklyn native played his academy ball with the District Capitals before being drafted 2nd overall by the Giants in 1933. The only player taken ahead of him in that draft was another shortstop: Oscar Weidner who is ranked the 13th best player in the game and plays shortstop for the New York Yankees. A tremendously gifted defensive shortstop, Wagoner won back to back gold gloves the past two season while also leading the National League in batting average both years. He was named NL MVP in 1937 and was a member of the Giants back to back pennant winning teams that also claimed the World Championship in 1938. He is entering his 4th major league season.

10- BILLY BOLLING : 2B NEW YORK GIANTS - The 27 year old Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania native is entering his 6th full season with the Giants. Durability is the big question as aside from 1936 when he played 139 games, Bolling has missed over a month each season with an injury. He was limited to 118 games last season but batted .317 in helping the Giants to a World Series title. Bolling was named MVP of the Metro NY Academy League in 1930 and was picked 7th overall by the Detroit Tigers in the 1931 draft despite missing 5 weeks of his draft year with an injury. The Tigers dealt him to the Giants while he was playing rookie league ball in 1932 and he made his major league debut late in the 1933 season. He played 106 games with the Giants in 1934, hitting .305 with 13 homers and 75 rbi's to win the National League rookie of the year award.
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Old 05-21-2015, 03:38 PM   #13
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March 18, 1939

MARCH 18, 1939
TOP 10 PITCHERS IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES


1-SAMMY GORDEN: ST LOUIS CARDINALS- 29 year old righthander Sammy Gorden is considered to be the premier pitcher in the major leagues despite struggling last season with an 11-13 record to go with a 3.75 era. Entering his 6th year with the Cardinals, Gorden has a career record of 65-57 with a 3.38 era. He is also 3-0 in postseason play and owns a pair of World Series rings from the Cardinals back to back wins in 1936 and 1937. Born in Tempe, Arizona he was a late bloomer and did not attend an Academy League but instead played college ball at Yale. A 3-time NCAA all-star at Yale, he was taken by the Browns 8th overall in the 1931 draft but failed to sign with the team. He sat out the entire year and then was taken fourth overall by the Cardinals the following year. He is nicknamed 'Blockhead' but is actually one of the smartest players in the game.

2- JAY MOORE: NEW YORK YANKEES- The 28 year old righthander from Pembroke Pines, Florida had a breakout year in 1938, going 26-6 with a 2.63 era and was named the American League Pitcher of the year. He went 2-0 in 3 World Series starts as the Yankees lost in 7 games to the New York Giants. He played academy ball with the Lakeland Pilots and was name Florida Academy Gulf League pitcher of the year 3 seasons in a row. The Yankees selected Moore with the 15th pick of the 1930 draft and he made his major league debut midway through the 1934 season. In 5 major league seasons he is 77-57 with a 3.66 era.

3- ANDY CAMPBELL: BOSTON RED SOX - The 31 year old fomer college star at Notre Dame was selected by the Red Sox with the 9th pick of the 1930 draft. He joined the Boston rotation the following season and has a career record of 140-89. He won the American League top pitcher award in 1936 when he went 24-8 and is coming off an 18-11 season a year ago.

4- AURELIO VENTURA: NEW YORK GIANTS- Nicknamed Ace, the 27 year old Grand Rapids native played 4 seasons at Arizona State before being drafted by Pittsburgh in the second round of the 1935 draft. The Pirates used him almost exclusively in the bullpen and he earned 16 saves over parts of two seasons before he was dealt to the Giants. The Giants immediately converted him to a starter and he went 5-7 down the stretch of the 1936 season before have a breakout year in 1937, going 23-5 with a 3.38 era to claim the National League's top pitcher award. Last season he was 16-10 before going 1-2 in the World Series - but his victory came in Game 7 as the Giants overcame a 3 games to 1 deficit to win the Series.

5- KITTY MARTIN: PITTSBURGH PIRATES- Pittsburgh is the third major league stop for the 35 year old Nashville native. After playing his college ball at Georgia, Martin was drafted 12th overall by the New York Yankees in 1926. He made the majors the following season and stayed with the Yankees until he was dealt to Detroit prior to the 1932 season. He helped the Tigers win the World Series in 1933 and an American League pennant 2 years later despite being plagued by back problems in 1935 and 1936. With his back worsening, Detroit released him midway through the 1936 season but the Pirates signed him in August of that year. He went 7-2 down the stretch that season for Pittsburgh and his injuries seemed to be behind him. He had a terrible 1937 campaign (4-11, 5.69)that was once again cut short by injury but rebounded nicely last year going 15-11 with a 3.92 era for a bad Pirates team. Lifetime, Martin is 149-123 with a 4.24 career era.

6- JOHN GRAHAM: CHICAGO WHITE SOX- Taken 17th overall from the Palm Beach Cardinals of the Florida Academy League in 1930, the Miami native toiled in the minors until finally getting a call-up to the White Sox midway through the 1934 season. He went 6-1 with 2 saves and a 1.77 era out of the bullpen that year but found himself back at AAA Louisville to start the 1935 season. The White Sox recalled him for good midway through 1935 and put him in the rotation - a position he has not left. He was 11-14 last year with a 3.11 era and is 53-35 in 118 career appearances with the White Sox.

7- BEN HULL: NEW YORK GIANTS- The 11 year veteran is now 35 and hoping to prove that his injuries and struggles on the mound last year were just a fluke and not a sign that age has caught up with him. Hull won 60 games over the 3 seasons prior to last season but he was 6-7 with a 4.08 era in just 15 starts in 1938. A shoulder injury cost him 3 months of the season but he did return to make two starts in the World Series, going 1-1 with a 7.71 era. Originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, Hull pitched for Port Charlotte in the Florida Academy Leagues before being drafted 11th overall by the Boston Red Sox in 1923. The Sox dealt him to the Giants organization the following season. He was named NL pitcher of the year in 1931 after a 22-10 3.02 era season and his career record is 159-121.

8- JIM GABLE: BOSTON RED SOX- The 28 year old from La Mirada, California comes from the San Francisco Miners academy program. After 4 seasons with the Miners he was drafted in the second round by the St Louis Browns but opted to attend the University of Michigan instead. After 3 seasons at Michigan the Red Sox selected him in the second round of the 1933 draft. He made the big leagues in 1936, going 12-6 with 3 saves while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen. He missed most of the 1937 season after undergoing shoulder surgery but went 8-7 with 6 saves last year while starting 31 out of 37 games. I am not sure why the game has him ranked in the top 10 but I am playing with ratings off so we will see.

9- JOHN WHITE: ST LOUIS BROWNS-
The 34 year old is now a 10 year veteran of the major leagues and has three 20-win seasons to his credit. Lifetime he is 144-113 but is coming off an injury plagued 1938 season in which he went 5-9 with a 6.24 era. From North Babylon, New York, White was a two-time Cape Cod League pither of the year with the Cotuit Kettlers before being drafted 6th overall by the Browns in 1924.

10- FRANK RUSSO: NEW YORK GIANTS- At 38 years of age the McGregor, Florida native is the elder statesman of this group. He is 217-157 lifetime in a 15 year career that began in Cincinnati but also stopped in St Louis with the Browns before joining the Giants in 1937. Last year he was 14-14 with a 3.81 era and then went 2-0 in the postseason to help the Giants win the World Series. He also won a world series with the Reds in 1930. His best season was 1929 when he went 25-13 for the Reds and was named the National League's top pitcher. Russo played academy ball for the Miami Beach Pelicans of the Florida Atlantic League before being selected 12th overall by Cleveland in 1920. The Indians dealt him to the Reds the following season.
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Old 05-22-2015, 04:18 AM   #14
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March 19, 1939

March 19, 1939
SPRING TRAINING BEGINS WITH A STOP IN BROOKLYN

The Dodgers enter 1939 with hopes to finally end a six season streak of finishing either 7th or 8th in the National League. Last year the Dodgers ended up with a 72-82 record which left them 7th, 13 games behind the pennant winning Giants. Certainly an improvement from the 58 wins the year before, but still a long ways from contending.

Thanks to some high draft picks the Dodgers have built a good collection of young hitters, but Brooklyn's problem has been and remains with it's lack of pitching depth. A quick look at the league prospect report shows some promising seasons may be ahead for the Dodgers.
.

Code:

TOP MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEMS   	PTS	PROSPECTS RANKED IN TOP 20 (or top in organization if none)
1st Brooklyn Dodgers 		285 	2B B. Schmidt (3rd) , 1B S. Vacha (5th) , P M. Swalley (6th) , P F. McIntyre (13th) , P H. LaFoe (18th)  
2nd Cincinnati Reds 		182 	2B P. Lang (10th) , RF A. Busby (11th)   
3rd Washington Senators 	180 	P J. Haught (4th)  
4th Detroit Tigers 		161 	P F. Baugh (8th) , P B. Allen (12th) , P O. Vargas (17th)  
5th Philadelphia Athletics 	152 	P T. Priest (2nd) , C P. Collins (16th)  
6th Philadelphia Phillies 	139 	2B R. Casado (1st) , P A. Black (7th)   
7th St Louis Browns 		107 	P B. Wyman (19th)  
8th Pittsburgh Pirates 		 99 	P C. Sweet (9th)  
9th New York Giants 		 92 	P J. Tanner (15th)   
10th Cleveland Indians 		 63 				P C. Jennings (30th)   
11th Boston Braves 		 56 	P S. Salvi (14th)  
12th Boston Red Sox 		 54 	P M. Frias (20th)  
13th Chicago Cubs 		 38 				2B H. Ersoy (40th)  
14th New York Yankees 		 34 				P D. Passmore (39th)   
15th Chicago White Sox 		 22 				P M. Johns (71st)  
16th St. Louis Cardinals 	 16 				P E. Marshall (61st)
The Brooklyn Dodgers won their only World Series title in 1910 and have won just 2 National League pennants (the second one came in 1924). They enjoyed some winning seasons in the 1920's but have not been over .500 since 1931 when they finished second to the Giants with an 87-67 record.

Here is how the last 8 years treated the Dodgers:
Code:

YEAR	W  L   PCT   FINISH  GBL
1931   87 67  .565     2nd    3
1932   76 78  .494     5th   17
1933   65 89  .422     7th   29
1934   72 82  .468     7th   14.5
1935   58 96  .377     7th   33
1936   60 94  .390     7th   37
1937   58 96  .377     8th   41
1938   72 82  .468     7th   13
Today's spring training opener emphasized where the Dodgers problems lie. They have some good young hitters like 28 year old first baseman Henry Mahrt and 26 year old shortstop Linus Hoffman, who drilled back to back doubles in the first inning as Brooklyn opened an early 3-0 lead on the Cubs but the Dodgers pitching was awful and the team was shellacked 11-4.

OTHER SCORES
Browns 3 Indians 1
A's 4 Tigers 3
Yankees 2 Senators 0
White Sox 10 Red Sox 4
Giants 6 Phillies 1
Braves 8 Cardinals 1
Pirates 3 Reds 2

HIGHLIGHTS
Yankees pitcher Jay Moore pitched 3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over Washington. Giants catcher Henry Warner went 3 for 4 with a homer and 3 rbi's vs the Phillies. Pat Looney, a 28 year old career minor leaguer trying to crack the White Sox roster, hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the 8th to snap a 4-4 tie and help the White Sox past the Boston Red Sox 10-4.


AROUND THE GAME
In the Florida Academy's Atlantic League 16 year old shortstop Alex Soto increased his hitting streak to 26 games by going 4 for 5 in a 7-5 victory over Palm Beach. The Florida youth record is 42 games set by Jesse Sands of Ft. Lauderdale in 1905. The major league record for consecutive games with at least 1 hit is 46 set by Antonio Perez of the Boston Braves in 1918.

The NCAA all-star break did nothing to slow down the red-hot Michigan State Spartans. The Spartans completed a 3-game sweep of Arizona State with a 5-3 victory yesterday. Michigan State has won 9 of it's last 10 games to open a 4 game lead on Ohio State in the Big 6 standings. The 2 clubs begin a key 3-game series with each other at Columbus next weekend.

Meanwhile, Washington State lost for the first time in 10 games, falling 9-1 at home to Arkansas. The Cougars still enjoy a 3-game lead on UCLA atop the Pac6 Division.

The young guns lead the way in the batting race as there are presently 3 players hitting over .400 in the NCAA league and they include 2 freshman and a sophomore. Freshman California OF Andy Sieczka leads the way, batting .414 while second year Michigan State catcher Cowboy Ward is hitting .411. Yale newcomer Jimmy Falbo is batting .406.
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Old 05-22-2015, 03:35 PM   #15
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Monday march 20, 1939

MONDAY MARCH 20, 1939

Code:

NCAA WEEKLY TOP 10 RANKINGS (last week in brackets)
1- Harvard 			(1)
2- Clemson			(2)
3- Washington State		(4)
4- Michigan State		(5)
5- Maryland			(7)
6- Texas Tech			(6)
7- Georgia			(3)
8- Alabama			(nr)
9- Brown			(nr)
10- Oklahoma			(nr)

dropping out of top 10 were Yale, Ohio St and Arkansas

NCAA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
So far in his young career, John Hinson has kept a low profile, but after his performance at the plate last week, he attracted the notice of the rest of the NCAA West in a big way as he was named the Player of the Week today for his efforts.

The 21-year-old UCLA Bruins left fielder hit at a torrid .615 clip as he collected 8 hits in 13 at-bats, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs and 6 runs scored. On the season, Hinson is batting .311 with 9 home runs and 30 RBIs.

In the East Princeton third baseman Henry Meckes was named the player of the week. The 21-year-old haunted opposing pitchers hitting .588 (10-17) with 1 home run and 4 RBIs last week. In his season totals Meckes has 4 home runs and a .282 batting average.


NCAA RECORD BOOK
Who holds the single season record in the NCAA for batting AVG?


Code:
Guy Betz 	 Georgia	.4763, 1930

Juan Feliciano	 Oklahoma	.4719, 1902

George Gross	 Arizona State	.4521, 1929

Dan Kmiecik	 Wisconsin	.4511, 1929

Marion Frenchman California	.4494, 1930
GUY BETZ: Second baseman Betz hit at an NCAA record pace of .476 in the 1930 season. The Los Angeles native is presently playing for the Detroit Tigers. He played for the Northern California Stars of the Western Academy League, making 3 all-star game appearances and being named the league MVP and top defensive second baseman in his final season. He was drafted first overall by the Boston Braves in 1927 but opted to attend the University of Georgia instead of joining the Braves organization. He was a NCAA East all-star all 3 seasons with Georgia and won the league MVP award in his final season, breaking Juan Feliciano's 28 year old batting average record in the process.

The Detroit Tigers took him second overall in the 1930 draft one pick after Marion Frenchman went first overall to the Cardinals. Betz played just 1 game in the minors before being promoted to the Tigers for the end of the 1930 campaign. He hit .278 in 40 games that year and has been a starter ever since, batting .321 in 1045 major league games over 8 seasons. He has yet to win a batting title in the big leagues but has won 6 gold gloves along with a World Series ring in 1933. At 31 years of age he should still have some solid seasons ahead of him.

JUAN FELICIANO: Many call the former Oklahoma Sooner the greatest college hitter of all-time. He played from 1901-04 in the NCAA and batted over .400 each of those seasons with his sophomore campaign (.472) being the best. The native of Manhattan won two College West MVP awards and led the Sooners to back-to-back National titles in 1903-04 before being drafted 10th overall by the Chicago White Sox in the 1904 draft. He would play 1608 major league games with the White Sox, Browns and Indians and won 2 American League batting titles. He retired following the 1919 seasons with 1746 career hits. He joined the Browns in 1906 in time for the second of their 4 straight pennants and helped the win a pair of World Series titles, hitting .390 in 15 postseason games.



GEORGE GROSS: Gross and Dan Kmiecik dueled in the tightest batting average race in NCAA history. In the end Gross won by .001 with a .452 average. A native of Silver Springs, Maryland, Gross began his career with the Long Island Ducks of the Metro NY Academy League. He won a pair of MNYL MVP awards and led the Ducks to a Northeast Academy Series title in 1926. On the same day he was selected 6th overall by the Chicago White Sox in the 1926 draft but he failed to sign with the White Sox and enrolled at Arizona State instead. Following an outstanding college career the Boston Red Sox drafted Gross with the third pick of the 1929 draft.

Gross made his major league debut late in the 1929 season and has been the Red Sox second baseman ever since. In 1930 he led the American League with a .392 batting average and was named league MVP. Now 32 years of age, Gross has played 1054 big league games and has 1362 hits in his career. He was on the Red Sox World Series winning 1937 squad but last season a broken ankle limited him to just 83 games.

DAN KMIECIK: Has been profiled already in the list of top 10 major leaguers.

MARION FRENCHMAN: Played academy ball for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod league where he led the league in hitting one year and finished second on two other occasions. He also won a Cape Cod League MVP award and led the Harbor Hawks to the Northeast Academy Series title in 1925. The Cleveland Indians drafted the Wakefield, Massachusetts native second overall in 1927 but he opted to join the University of California instead. Injuries slowed Frenchman in all 3 seasons with the Bears but he did manage a career NCAA batting average of .405 and was named the NCAA West MVP in 1930. The St Louis Cardinals drafted him first overall in 1930 and he hit .398 as a call-up late that season.

He played 846 career games with the Cardinals, won a pair of World Series rings and a gold glove at 2B in 1932 when he also finished second in the National League with a .358 batting average. Ankle and wrist problems limited his playing time the last two seasons and his average dipped to .287 in 103 games last year. The Cardinals dealt the 31 year old in the off-season to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for 28 year old infielder John Palmer. Frenchman is expected to be the White Sox every day second baseman, replacing veteran Shorty Holt who retired over the off-season.



MAJOR LEAGUE NOTES
Giants catcher Henry Warner had a second straight 3 hit day leading his club to a 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs in Grapefruit League action. Meanwhile, Yankees centerfielder John Hanson hit a mammoth 2-run dinger to give New York a 3-1 victory over Boston.

Other scores include:
Cardinals 5 Phillies 2
Braves 6 Pirates 4
Reds 7 Dodgers 3
Senators 2 Browns 1
White Sox 5 Tigers 2
Athletics 6 Indians 3


FLORIDA ACADEMY LEAGUE NOTE
Alex Soto's hitting streak came to an end at 26 games. The 16 year old Daytona Beach Cubs third baseman went hitless in 4 at bats in a 3-2 loss to Palm Beach.
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Old 05-22-2015, 06:00 PM   #16
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March 23, 1939

I have been trying to decide on the best way to streamline these reports and add some structure to my dynasty. I had thought of a couple of ideas. One was to take over the helm of a college team and it just so happened that LSU fired their manager today and have not immediately named a replacement. I was close to pulling the trigger and taking over their program until I read a post in this thread from board member BMD.



Quote:
The first front office job I take is as special assistant to the GM in charge of the amateur draft. I will stay in commissioner mode only and for 2 or three years I will only draft for my team. After that, I take the GM job and turn off commissioner mode. Doing it this way, takes a while to set up the league, but I have a fictional league that has a lengthy history - that includes me! When I take over as GM I am very familiar with the organization having watched it for a couple years plus the minors already have some of "my guys." I find this a great way to be immersed in a fictional league from the start of my GM career.
I think that is a great idea as it will allow me to focus heavily on the top prospects that will be joining the league while at the same time following a team closely without having to worry about running the entire organization.

Now to pick a team.

I decided right away I think I want an American League team so I can closely follow the big 3 power hitters in Elgie Vargas (NYY), Frank Thomas (BOS) and Charlie Mongan (CLE). I also wanted to take a team that has not enjoyed much success, especially recently.

My first instinct was to join Detroit's organization. First off, I am a Tiger fan and while the team has had some semi-recent success winning the World Series in 1933, a pennant in 1935 and finishing second in 1934 and 1936, the Tigers do look to be on a downward slide with a 6th place finish in 1937 and dead last this past season. The Tigers minor-league system is in good shape though, as they are ranked 4th best and have 3 good young arms at AA Mobile.

So I have to rule out Detroit. I am also ruling out the Yankees and Red Sox for being too good right now and eliminated the Senators for having a lot of minor league depth and the White Sox for being too good recently as they won 6 pennants in a 7 year span from 1928-34 and have not been out of the first division since 1925.

That leaves the Browns, Indians and A's to chose from.

St Louis Browns - won 4 pennants and 3 World Series titles from 1905-08 but have done nothing since. Finished 7th last year with 69-85 record. They did have a good run though from 1927-37 finishing never lower than 5th. Their minor league system is ranked 7th but lacks a real great prospect.

Cleveland- minor league system is a bit of a mess with limited top end talent. The Indians are the only team to never win a pennant. In the past 16 years they finished 2nd once (but 29 games back), third once and 4th once. Each of the other 13 years were in the second division. They were 80-74 a year ago good for third place which means I won't get a high draft pick- adding to the challenge. I like the idea of trying to get them to their first World Series. The only thing I don't like is I think the team is set to become a dynasty thanks to the bat of 24 year old Charlie Mongan.

Philadelphia A's - Minor league system is ranked 5th on the strength of pitcher Tom Priest (ranked #2 prospect) and catcher Paul Collins (ranked 16th). Both are former Academy League stars and Priest is at AA Houston right now while Collins played for short-A Dubuque. The A's won a couple of pennants in the early 1920's and had 3 straight second place finishes from 1924-26 but since then have spent most of their time in 6th or 7th place. Finished 8th 2 years ago and 5th last year.

That is my decision I am left to make tonight.

While I decide I simmed ahead one day and saw the Giants get some terrible news.

MARCH 24, 1939
GIANTS DEALT HUGE BLOW

Veteran New York Giants outfielder John Monroe will miss most of the season after tearing up his knee. The injury occurred in yesterday's 6-1 preseason victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The 36 year old Monroe, who is ranked as the 8th best position player in the game, was a key piece in the Giants World Series victory over the New York Yankees in October, hitting .281 with a homerun and 6 rbi's in the 7 game series. Monroe, who has spent his entire 16 year major league career with the Giants, hit .337 with 13 homers and 78 rbi's in 112 games last year. He missed a month last season with an ankle injury. Doctors say he might have a chance to return this year but it is expected to be mid- September before he does.

The Giants hope George Reed can replace Monroe in the outfield. Reed is a 32 year old who was acquired from Detroit last season, ironically enough to fill in for Monroe when he suffered his ankle injury. Unfortunately Reed last just 3 games with the Giants before breaking his foot which put an end to his season. The former Yale star has played 1001 major league games since his debut with Detroit in 1930. All but 3 were with the Tigers and he is a career .263 hitter. George Saunders, a 27 year old former first round pick, who has been a backup outfielder with the Giants the past 2 seasons will also likely get a shot at Monroe's spot in right field.
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Old 05-23-2015, 12:38 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by Tiger Fan View Post
I have a lot a less free time then I used to but I miss writing my dynasty reports so I thought I would try one based on my fictional league that I started about 2 years ago and simmed for about 30 seasons before putting it and OOTP on the shelf for a while. I just recently started playing OOTP14 again (and I will upgrade to 16 shortly) but simming out this long forgotten league has really got me back into it.

Over the past month I have simmed out 8 seasons to progress to 1938. I tend to sim in commish mode a month at a time and then pour over the activity in all of my leagues. I was going to continue along that path until the late 1950's before perhaps taking over a team but the 1938 season - with it's 3 young power hitters and exciting 7 game world series has spurred me on to write about my league.

Not sure how much time I have - as this is not like the early days of OOTP before I had kids (I am taking OOTP2, 3 and 4 by the way) when I devoted a ton of time to historical dynasty writing. I feel the historical side of things has been done many, many times and by far better writers than myself. But I really miss doing a dynasty report so I dusted off this old fictional league, downloaded a ton of great logos and jerseys and am ready to follow it. I find my immersion level in any league is greatly enhanced when I do a dynasty on the league so while this dynasty is primarily for myself I do hope others find some interest in it. Reader involvement was always the greatest reward I felt from my old HOB dynasty reports as I loved taking requests about certain players as it allowed me to discover so much about the league history while searching for career info on the requested players.

I like the idea of real teams as it allows me and hopefully others to immediately identify with my league so I am using the real major league setup only with entirely fictional players. I have added in 5 levels of minors as well as a feeder system consisting of 36 college teams along with several regional based high school level baseball academy leagues.

Attached is a brief history of pennant and World Series winners
Tiger Fan, If there was an OOTPB Dynasty Hall of Fame, you would be inducted on the first ballot... I really enjoyed your dynasty where you covered all the major sports of the day by recreating them in computer games.

Was it you that put together a massive collection of photos for the Major League going back to the early days of baseball? I used them for my All-Time All-Star Association of long ago and they really added something special to my league.

It's great to have you back.

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Old 05-23-2015, 01:32 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by Eugene Church View Post
Tiger Fan, If there was an OOTPB Dynasty Hall of Fame, you would be inducted on the first ballot... I really enjoyed your dynasty where you covered all the major sports of the day by recreating them in computer games.

Was it you that put together a massive collection of photos for the Major League going back to the early days of baseball? I used them for my All-Time All-Star Association of long ago and they really added something special to my league.

It's great to have you back.
Thank you. Yes, I think I probably put together the first historical photopack back in the days of OOTP2 and 3.
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Old 05-23-2015, 02:43 PM   #19
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March 24, 1939

MARCH 24, 1939
I am thrilled to accept the position of Director of Amateur Scouting for the.....PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS. It is my hope to play a role in the A's winning their first American League pennant since 1922.

First thing will be to take a quick look at the Athletics depth chart to identify any areas of weakness I should focus on in the draft.

To give us a quick overview here is the Athletics positional strength report:
Code:


Position Top player   Team ranking 	Top prospect Organizational ranking Overall ranking
C 	 Marty Carey 	   14th 	Paul Collins 		6th 		9th 
1B 	 Joe Wiederholt    15th 	Lawrence Visser 	14th 		14th 
2B 	 Hick Perks 	   16th 	Tom Snyder 		13th 		16th 
3B 	 Wild Bill Gillen  15th 	Isidro Munoz 		13th 		15th 
SS 	 Vince Craft 	    3rd 	Leech Fritze 		8th 		3rd 
LF 	 Deivi Alvarez      5th 	Arlie Anderson 		5th 		6th 
CF 	 Francisco Martinez 13th 	Jim Arnold 		1st 		5th 
RF 	 Bill Wodke 	    4th 	Jake Dillon 		15th		5th 
SP 	 Bill Coon 	   11th 	Tom Priest 		5th 		9th 
Relief 	 Robert Colvin 	    6th 	Ellis Stringer 		14th 		11th

It is clear the A's need a lot of help in a lot of areas but I am looking forward to the challenge.

Let's take a quick look at the main people I will be working with.

GENERAL MANAGER: Dave Steinberg is the Athletics general manager and the man who gave me the job to work with him. He never played the game but has followed it closely for his 61 years, the last 6 of which he has been a major league GM. He was the A's GM in 1933 when the team finished 7th but then moved to the same role with the Chicago White Sox the following year. In his first year in the Windy City the White Sox won the American League pennant. The following season they finished 2nd and in 1936 they ended up in 4th place. He was let go after the 1936 season but was signed immediately by the Washington Senators for the 1937 campaign. After a 5th place finish in the American League he left the Senators to return to the Athletics front office last year. The A's finished 74-80 with Steinberg as their GM last year.

MANAGER: John Mathews took his first major league managerial job with Pittsburgh in 1932. After going 81-73 his rookie season he led the Pirates to back to back pennants including a World Series title in 1934. He was let go after 5 seasons in Pittsburgh and joined the Athletics for the 1937 campaign. The A's were 56-98 in his first year but improved to 70-84 last year. Lifetime as a manager, Mathews is 568-511. Now 64 years old, Mathews had an 11 year career as a catcher but played mostly in the minor leagues. He did appear in 100 major league games over 3 seasons with the White Sox, hitting .204.

At AAA San Diego the manager is veteran baseball man Elizardo Vazquez. His involvement in the game dates back to the start of the American League in 1901 when he pitched for the Washington Senators. He spent 7 seasons in the big leagues with the Sens, Detroit and the Boston Red Sox, finishing with an 84-102 career record. Now 63 years old, Vazquez has been the Padres manager since 1927. He was also a pitching coach with the AAA Portland Beavers for 4 seasons and spent 4 years as manager of the Detroit Tigers' rookie league team.

Mel Hernandez is the manager at AA Toronto. He was a hitting coach for the short-season A level Dubuque Packers for 15 years before the Athletics' organization promoted him to the helm of the Maple Leafs in 1936. A second baseman, Hernandez played youth academy ball for the Washington DC Chiefs of the Mid-Atlantic League before attending LSU. The Detroit Tigers drafted him in the second round of the 1904 selection draft and he spent 14 years in the Detroit system, including 206 games over parts of 6 seasons in the majors.

Alex Carlos is entering his first season as the manager at Class A Houston of the Texas League. After 4 years at Oregon State, Carlos was not drafted but did sign as a free agent with the Detroit organization. He played 8 signs in the minors with the Tigers and later the Reds but never progressed past Class A. A strong defensive catcher, Carlos did win a gold glove with Cedar Rapids (short A) in 1911. He was a coach with the Reds rookie league team from 1924-32 before the Red Sox hired him to manage their rookie league squad beginning in 1933. He got the call to Houston 2 months ago.

49 year old John Sterkel is the manager of the Dubuque Packers short-A team. He played for the Los Angeles Chargers academy league team from 1906-09 and then spent 3 years at Texas Tech. Never drafted he did have a tryouts with a couple of major league teams but was not offered a minor league contract so he retired as a player in 1914. He coached for various youth league teams before getting a job as the hitting coach for the Boston Braves AAA farm club in Milwaukee in 1928. After 3 seasons he was released but caught on as a hitting coach for the Cedar Rapids Reds where he spent another 3 seasons. After a year away from the game the Cardinals hired him as their rookie league manager and a year later the A's gave him the Dubuque job - at which he now begins his 4th season.

56 year old Joe Craig is the skipper for the A's rookie league team in Florida. He has spent the better part of 4 decades in the game without ever setting foot on a major league diamond. A third baseman, he played academy ball for the St. Petersburg Redbirds before being drafted in the 18th round by the Cincinnati Reds in 1902. He spent 15 years in the minors with 5 different organizations but the closest he got to the majors was 3 games at AAA Columbus in 1911. He has been the manager of the A's rookie league squad since 1922 and has a lifetime managerial record of 582-575.
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Old 05-23-2015, 08:29 PM   #20
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March 28, 1939

MARCH 28, 1939

TOP 10 DRAFT PROSPECTS

Major League Baseball officials have today announced a preliminary ranking of the top 10 players eligible for the 1939 first-year player draft. Teams now have a chance to scout the draft pool for 75 days before the draft is held.




Here are top 10

1- Charlie Cochran - 22 year-old shortstop out of Texas Tech. The all-star shortstop is hitting .280 with 14 homers and 56 rbi's in 65 games for the Raiders. He possess tremendous speed and is probably the best defensive shortstop available.

2-Parke Ketner - 18 year old outfielder from St Louis Arches of the Midwest Academy League. Plays in one of the weakest of the academy leagues but is a career .339 hitter. Outstanding hitter projects to have plus power and has decent speed. Very weak defensively.

3- Jack Warren-18 year-old starting pitcher from the Jacksonville Whales of the Florida Academy Leagues. The 6'5" righthander was named Florida Atlantic League pitcher of the year in 1937. This season he is 10-3 with a 2.09 era

4- Dave Kemmerer 22 year-old starting pitcher from the University of Alabama. Missed all of last season with arm injury after going 15-5 with 1.79 era and 153/30 K/BB as a sophomore. Rebounded nicely this year as he is 10-5, 1.93 with 108k's and just 24 walks in 154 innings.


5- Chick O'Brien 19 year-old center fielder from Carolina Kings of the Mideast Academy League. Draft status suffered a huge blow last week when he tore ligaments in his ankle and is done for the rest of the Academy season. Was hitting .338 in 44 games. Projects to be prototypical leadoff man with great speed and tremendous patience at the plate. Averaged nearly a walk a game in his 4 years with the Kings.

6-George Odom
, 22 year-old starting pitcher out of the University of Mississippi. Was the NCAA East League pitcher of the year last season when he went 19-8 with a 1.56 era in 36 starts. Fanned 204 batters while walking only 27. Record just 7-5 so far this year but he still has 101 k's and just 27 walks through 142 innings.

7- John Finley, 19 year old starting pitcher from Hawaii Islanders of the Western Academy's Pacific League. Off to an amazing 11-0 start with a 1.81 era through 12 starts. Came out of nowhere this season as he was not on the scouts radar until his torrid winter for the Islanders. He might end up being the top pitcher from this class but other scouts say he could just as easily be a huge bust.


8. John Wood 19 year-old starting pitcher from Panama City Flamingos of the Florida Academy's Gulf League. Was 19-4 a year ago with a 1.92 era and 176k's to win the loop's top pitcher award. He is 7-4, 2.92 so far this season with 70 k's and 21 walks in 92 innings.


9. Sam Fuller 19 year-old left fielder from the Hawaii Islanders of the Western Academy's Pacific League. One word describes Fuller - Power. He has already hit 26 homers and is batting .385 through 57 games this season. He is playing in a hitter friendly park but his numbers would still be impressive with any other team.


10. George Craig 19 year-old second baseman from the Tallahassee Rebels of the Florida Academy's Gulf League. Has won 3 straight league MVP awards but is struggling at the plate this season. Outstanding defensive second baseman, Craig has little power but will put the ball in play.

MY QUICK THOUGHTS ON DRAFT
The Athletics will pick 9th in the first round and 8th in all following rounds. I would love to get Sam Fuller at #9 as we could use his bat and being righthanded he should hit a lot of longballs as our stadium layout really favours righthanded sluggers. Nebraska third baseman Bug Harrison is another player I like but it would be hard to pass up a stud pitcher like Mississippi's George Odom if he was available. Fuller is the only Academy League player I like with our first pick right now. I would prefer a 22 year old as we need so much help right away and most of the academy guys are 4 years away from the majors.
Code:

GRAPEFRUIT LEAGUE STANDINGS (MAR 28)

AMERICAN		NATIONAL
Yankees	     8  2	Braves 		7  3
White Sox    7  3   	Giants	  	7  3
Indians      6  4       Reds		6  4
Browns       5  5       Cardinals	6  4
Athletics    5  5	Pirates         5  5
Red Sox	     4  6	Phillies	4  6
Senators     4  6	Cubs            3  7
Tigers	     1  9	Dodgers		2  8
MLB NOTES- Red Sox slugger Frank Thomas is heating up. After starting the spring going 3-for-18 he has 6 hits in his last 8 at bats including his first two homers of the spring.....Jim Boelke is making a bid to earn a spot in the Cardinals rotation. He is 2-0 with 1 earned run and 3 hits against in 8 innings this spring. The 28 year old pitched out of the bullpen last season after splitting the previous 2 years between the Cardinals and AA Little Rock....Bernando Cervantes is making a case to be the Phillies closer. The 26 year old was 2-1 with 2 saves in 9 appearances last year after being promoted from AAA Hollywood. He has pitched 15 innings already this spring and aside from one bad outing when he surrendered 5 hits and 2 earned runs to the Cardinals over 2 innings, he has been terrific, fanning 10 and allowing just 3 hits.

ATHLETIC'S STRAPS
- Philadelphia snapped a 5 game losing streak with 3 consecutive wins, beating Detroit 7-5, Cleveland 5-1 and Washington 9-5. Third baseman Wild Bill Gillen leads the A's with 9 hits and a .391 batting average through 10 games.
6 pitchers are battling for 5 spots in the rotation. 32 year old Emmett Pisano, who was 9-11 a year ago, is off to the best start allowing just 1 earned run in 8 innings of work. Bill Coon, a 28 year old who missed all but 1 start last year recovering from elbow surgery, is struggling early. He allowed 11 hits and 8 runs in 8 innings over 2 starts. 34 year old George Dill, who was 16-40 over the past 2 years with the A's, was also lit up in both of his appearances.



NCAA
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Notre Dame junior first baseman Santo Campos was named the NCAA West player of the week. Campos rocked opposing pitchers for a .393 average (11-28) with 3 homers and 8 rbi's. On the season he has 9 homeruns and a .325 batting average. In the East the award went to Tennessee third baseman Newt Maxwell, who hit .462 (12-26) with 3 homers and 12 rbi's helping the Vols win 7 straight games which allows them to creep back into the SEC division race. Maxwell, who is eligble for the June draft, is hitting .301 with 9 homeruns on the season.


Code:

NCAA WEEKLY TOP 10 RANKINGS (last week in brackets)
1- Harvard 			(1)
2- Clemson			(2)
3- Michigan State		(4)
4- Texas Tech			(6)
5- Washington State		(3)
6- Maryland			(5)
7- UCLA				(nr)
8- Georgia			(7)
9- North Carolina		(nr)
10- Tennessee			(nr)

dropping out of top 10 were Alabama, Brown and Oklahoma
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