Ramblings from 1948

Late Edition – Spring

Pundits return their preseason projection ballots with the following results in regard to the projected finish for the season before us.

In the American League it seems to be a nearly forgone conclusion that the Asbury Park Titans will be alone atop the standings come October. When you look at their roster you quickly understand the scouts reasoning on this one. It all begins with the offensive threat of Stan the Man who will be ably assisted by infielders Boudreau, Gordon, and Majeski. The plate will most likely be well set every time Stan comes to hit. This offense will match well with a pitching staff that features Bob Feller, Spec Shea and Preacher Roe (who still denies that he does anything to the ball). The final result will likely be the same…….we project somewhere between 95 and 100 wins for this club.

The race for second in the AL will likely be a two-horse affair. The votes for the photo finish go to the New Bedford Ahabs as they nudge by a nose the Wabash Six. New Bedford’s roster features the Splendid Splinter, Ted Williams, along with Johnny Hopp and infielders, Marion and Doerr for defense prowess. Likely the key difference that will keep them in second rather than at the top is their rotation that will feature Joe Dobson, Dick Fowler and Ellis Kinder. It is just a notch or two below the Titans. Meanwhile the Ahabs will be feeling pressure from the boys of Wabash. Ferris Fain will be swinging a “relaxed” bat and assisted quite well by Pee Wee Reese, Eddie Yost, and Tommy Henrich. The Six will likely not get many runs from the home run, but more from doubles and singles well placed. Rex Barney, Al Gettel, Mickey Haefner, and Sid Hudson will be featured on the mound with a good closer, Russ Christopher ready to bring them home with a win. Both of these clubs are projected to have around 85 wins.

Leading the rush to finish above .500, will be the fourth place Lafayette River Cats who are expected to be around 75 to 80 wins. Enos Slaughter, Wally Westlake and Andy Pafko will lead the offensive charge for the Cats with a mound crew of Johnny Vander Meer, Bob Lemon, and Bill Voiselle. Maybe just a player or two short of being ready to make a firm push for the top.

Next in the race to the finish will most likely be the Massilon Tigers. The Tigers certainly stand head and shoulders above the trailing two teams (to be included later). It is felt that the Tigers could reach the level of 70 wins, but more likely to come in around 65. You will find on their roster as key men: Vern Stephens, Emil Verban, Al Zarilla and Eddie Waitkus. A frequent note in the scouting report was their weaker fielding. They will bring some quality arms to the mound such as Raschi, Ostermueller, Bickford and Trucks.

Bottom feeders, Mound City Saints and Newark Bears, are most likely to have a two-team contest to see who can avoid last place in the AL. This writer prefers the Saints (who he ineptly manages) to prevail. This is a team with a lot of old bones that are brittle and some up and coming youngsters. Mickey Vernon, Dixie Walker, Hoot Evers and Carl Furillo will provide most of the offense, but everyone is talking about their rookie catcher, Campanella, as being a great find for the Saints. He will handle a veteran staff that features Joe Coleman, Mel Parnell, Harry Brecheen, and Schoolboy Rowe. They are likely to be frequently short of runs and will be coming in at around 55 wins. The Bears will be only 5 or so wins at the most behind the Saints. Gil Hodges, Jim Hegan, Ken Keltner, and Tommy Holmes are expected to provide the offense. The rotation looks like it will be featuring Ned Garver, Russ Meyer, and Red Munger. Big weakness noted for the Bears is their bullpen.

The National League will find also a couple of teams providing a firm foundation in the basement as they battle to finish sixth rather than seventh. We are talking about the East Kenosha Lakers and the Riverside Robbers. When the dust settles our prognosticators indicate that the Lakers will be a couple of wins better than the Robbers, but that both will be somewhere around 50 wins. East Kenosha (is that anywhere near West Kenosha?) finds their offense resting primarily on the bats of Rizzuto, Torgeson, and Wertz with Warren Spahn, Fred Sanford, and Howie Fox heading up their starting staff. When one looks at the roster of the Robbers, you find their offensive stars likely to be Dick Sisler, Harry Walker, and the Whitey Kurowski and Billy Cox platoon. Murry Dickson, Phil Marchildon and Early Wynn will be their key moundmen.

The next step up in the NL will also likely feature a two-team battle for the fourth place finish. This battle will find the Joliet Jakes gaining a slight edge on the Las Vegas Wranglers (these fellas are not sure which uniform to wear as they team has gone thru several name changes going into this season….sort of a nervous Don Knotts type of owner they tell me). Ultimately there is expected a one or two game margin as they both finish around 60 wins. The Jakes feature Yogi Berra, Dom DiMaggio and Eddie Stanky with pitchers Eddie Lopat, Howie Pollet, Ray Poat, and Dizzy Trout. The magic word in Joliet in ’48 may be “dizzy”. Now in Vegas, their big bopper, Ted Kluszewski, will strike fear in many a hurler this season. He will be surrounded by the likes of Del Ennis, Bobby Thomson, and Red Schoendienst. Some scouts felt that the Wranglers will falter some due to their likely focus on the big hit. Their arms feature Whip Blackwell, Ralph Branca, Allie Reynolds, and Carl Scheib.

The third place projection for the NL finds the Vaughn Street Shipwreckers angling to reach a win total of somewhere around slightly above .500. Newcomer Larry Doby will join with Eddie Joost, Eddie Robinson, and Willard Marshall to take care run production while Al Brazle, Lou Brissie, Joe Hatten, and Dutch Leonard will take care of the mound duty.

Pushing the boys at the top will be the second place finishers, the Schenectady Patriots. Cannot wait to see that city name across the front of their road uniforms. They will be a proud team as they run up 85 to 90 wins. Featured in their media guide are Johnny Pesky, Jackie Robinson, Sam Chapman, and Birdie Tebbetts as their key position players with Johnny Sain, Larry Jansen, and Cliff Fanin on the rotation headline. This team appears to have a good mixture of vets and young players.

And then there are the Sin City Mobsters, who are picked as a unanimous fixture in first place. They should be able to put 95 or a few more wins on their plate. A real key to their season is likely to be the closing work of Joe Page, as he backs up the starting staff of Gene Bearden, Fred Hutchinson, and Hal Newhouser. They are are counting on Al Dark, Johnny Mize, Hank Sauer, and Gene Hermanski to be team leaders at the plate.

So in the words of our commish, let’s roll the dice and see where they land!