Is he or isn't he? Only the "Shadow" knows....
Written By Hollywood
Is Cornelius "Shadow" Robinson a future hall of famer? At 35 years of age, it is time to start asking these questions. Look at the numbers, Almost 400 HR's, and if he plays another season or 2 he very well could be the leagues all-time HR leader. He currently sits 5th. He has collected nearly 1000 RBI's and over 1000 R's. He also has well over 300 SB's and 700 BB's. He won the Rookie of the Year in 1932. He has been to 3 all-star games, gotten a gold glove at SS, and won 2 World Championship rings all with the Hollywood Stars. It seems like, given all these stats he should be a shoo-in. A couple things cause the voters to ponder though. "Shadow" carries a lifetime .237 batting average currently and has compiled over 1700 K's in his 12 year career thus far. Does this hold him back? Should this keep him out of the hallowed halls? Time will tell, but for a guy who once hit 72 HR's in a season at AAA, it has been an interesting ride.
Will The Stars Shine In 'Ol St Louie?
Written By StLouis
With opening day staring us in the face, two words describe this franchise: Teddy Ballgame. The cupboard isn't exactly bare after the Splendid Splinter, but this team is aging and doing so quickly. After June 1st, contenders will be knocking down the door to trade for veterans like (but not limited to) CF Speed Whatley, LF Rocky Stone, C Blackie Mancuso and SS "Old Aches and Pains" Luke Appling and that door will be opened and answered without hesitation. Until then, the Stars will trot out a very old, but hard working lineup that will try to compete in the very tough Foster League West Division. Here is a brief preview form one rookies' perspective:
Catcher - 36 year-old Gus Mancuso is a lifetime .307 hitter, albeit mostly against LHP's. He is a steady influence behind the plate, but getting more grey hair each day. He doesn't have a lot of power, but he is well liked around the clubhouse, which is important to this team. His backup is Sidee Caithamer. Sidee has a decent arm, but not much stick. He also seems to get hurt any time someone yells too much. Young Ken Silvestri is waiting in the wings for his opportunity to call future Stars games.
1B - Art "The Great" Shires has no competition here. He is in the last year of his contract and Stars fan abroad hope that he plays that way and lives up to his nickname. He has been a steady performer over the years in the UBL and is coming off a .336 season. If he is hurt, there will be trouble. Johnny Hopp is made to be a backup only, so keep your fingers crossed if you pull for St Louis. Hopp has a decent glove, but offers nothing on the offensive end.
2B - Another veteran, Frenchy Bordagary wins the job in spring training and will have to lose it to ride the pines. He has put up pretty good numbers in only 513 career AB's (.292 BA/75 RBI/77 Runs Scored/26 SB's). Doc Marshall and Cookie Lavagetto will provide support off the bench when needed.
3B - Cecil Travis will probably keep super prospect Whitey Kuroswski in the minors for at least a couple of more years. In his first full season playing the hot corner every day, Travis batted .333 and drove in 82 runs. He is a big part of future plans in STL. Lavagetto will moonlight as his backup.
SS - Luke Appling will begin the season as the starter, but may soon be bumped in favor of young Pee Wee Reese. Reese has a great eye at the plate and a consistent glove and good speed. He seems to be an ideal 2nd batter in the lineup.
OF - This is the only position where the Stars have at least some depth. After Williams in RF, Stone, Whatley and Taffy Wright will share time in CF and LF. Stone is a solid gap hitter that mashes righties, but at his age would prefer to take days off against lefties. Whatley is an on-base machine (career .373 OBP) and will most likely lead off in any game he is able to play. Wright is a lot like Stone (better against RHP) and may get an opportunity to play somewhere in the infield is things start slowly. Bordagaray will also lend a little support as a backup.
Starting Pitching - The rotation is anchored by 40 year-old Al Grabowski (a bad sign). Tex Hughson, John Wright and Jimmy Hill will follow and all expect to give up their fair share of runs. The hope in STL will be to outslug the opponent in as many games as possible.
Bullpen - Veterans Jim Tennant and Irv Stein provide the only stablility in relief. There isn't much behind them, but youngsters Hel Manders, Art Kenney, Joe Haynes and William Hudson will be given a baptism by fire. At least not much is expected of these guys, so anything good that comes from them is a bonus.
OUTLOOK: A .500 season will be considered a success and a playoff appearance will be deemed a miracle...
Atlanta closing in on 100 wins
Written By Atlanta
As the season draws close to its end, the Atlanta Black Crackers find themselves closing in on 100 wins. When asked about the success of the team, manager Chris Steele said, "I really had no idea we would do this well."
The ABCs lead the league in batting with a team average of .293 so far this season. They also lead in Walks and Runs. The pitching has held up well too, with the team ERA of 4.01 placing them 4th overall while they hold opponents to a .269 batting average, second overall.
Part of the success can be attributed to the offseason acquisition of the Waner brothers. Lloyd is second on the team in RBIs with 104, third in homers with 15, and is among the leaders in batting average with .317. Add to those numbers the .287 with 9 homers and 55 RBIs of brother Paul and the ABCs got a big boost to the outfield.
With not much time remaining in the season, it seems unlikely that anyone will win 20 games, but three of the four starters have 17+ wins.
When asked what the plans for the rest of the season are, Chris said "Hopefully, we will keep winning and bring home the World Series title. These guys have been working hard all year and I look forward to seeing how they step it up for the Series."
Only time will tell...
25 Make The Leap From The Negro Leagues!
Written By Putt
11 pitchers and 14 position players will be looking to make an impact in the Unified Baseball League in 1939. Here are a few names that are joining the league.
Edward Peanuts Davis was a star pitcher-comedian with the Clowns. He had an excellent knuckleball heading his repertoire of both legal and illegal pitches. A noted ladies man he unfortunately died very young due to a social disease.
Everett Marcelle is the son of the great 3B Oliver Marcelle. He was an excellent defensive catcher that never reached the status of his father but lasted 10 years in the League. He learned to play 3B after watching his competition one year....Roy Campanella.
Fred McDaniels is one of the better outfielders joining the UBL. He played most of his career with the Memphis Red Sox, and was always a part of the touring all star teams. He once made an amazing play on a sure home run, jumping in the stands, catching the ball. Play was held up as fans threw money on the field for him. He filled both pockets and after the inning handed the money to team owner B.B. Martin to count. Martin added more bills to the take for him.
3 PCLers join the UBL for 1939!
Written By Putt
We will be graced by 3 pitchers from the PCL for the 1939 season.
Julio Bonetti played just 3 seasons of professional baseball. This was because he was banned in 1941 after being seen passing money to known gamblers. He gets a reprieve with us. He once owned the PCL record of 64 straight innings without walking a batter.
Chet Johnson, Earl Johnson's brother, was known as one of the great clowns of the PCL. He struck out over 2000 and won over 200 games as a career minor leaguer.
Al Olsen spent a dozen years with the San Diego PCL franchise. He grew up with Ted Williams in San Diego, throwing him countless curveballs so he could learn to hit lefthanders.
Schedule Up In Forums!
Written By Putt
You can find the schedule from today until Opening Day 1939 right HERE!! 2 rule changes in effect for the 1939 season are:
1. Only current draft picks can now be traded. We can no longer trade 3 years in advance. This is because it is a pain to transfer the file back and forth from 6.12 to 6.5 and back again to change draft orders with the editor. We will exclusively trade draft picks through the game engine now.
2. For the same reason we are also letting the game engine decide the draft order when there are ties between teams. We used to flip a coin on all ties and change the draft order with the editor.
The rules page will be updated accordingly.
Pleae feel free to use Coranto at your will, it was installed because I became so busy that I barely had time to do any stories any more. The more y'all do, the more interesting things are for everyone. I'll also do a better job keeping stories updated. Thanks for hanging in there this long and best of luck in 1939!!
A quick homage to Willie & Fresco
Written By SanFrancisco
The Seals look to be in trouble heading into the 1939 season. After 5 straight seasons winning the division, 2 Unified Series wins and 1 loss, and a tough end to the division winning streak by a great American Giants team, big important names will not be offered extensions.
Willie Wells SS/3B is the main loss for SF. He was the cog in a once great offense. It is not a coincidence he was with us for 6 years and that's when the winning started. In those 6 years he made 5 All Star teams, won 2 Fleetwood Walker Awards, garnered 5 Slick Fielder Awards, 2 of them at 3B and 3 at SS. Because of his very slight statistical decline Wells was offered a contract dramatically less than the 17.125M per year he's making. After a hearty laugh it was decided best to let him test the Free Agent Market.
Another big loss is Seal franchise cornerstone Fresco Thompson 2B. Fresco was an original Seal from the 1927 draft and has done nothing but hit. 2133 hits, 1089 runs, and 429 SB's later he's done in SF. The up and coming Jake Dunn will likely take the leadoff slot and position in place of the mighty Fresco.
The popularity and clubhouse presence of these 2 superstars will be greatly missed, as well as the devotion given to the Seals, but for both players it seems the right time to part ways.
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Written By Putt
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