The Chicago White Sox defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4 games to 1 to capture their 2nd World Championship. The teams success can be attributed to some risky trades made during the 1937 season.
The Sox acquired 1B Jimmie Foxx and Adam Comorosky just before the trade deadline in 1937 for SP Daffy Dean and the Sox 1st, 2nd and 3rd round draft picks. Foxx was struggling with the Giants hitting only .230 and the Sox needed a power bat in the middle of their lineup. In 1938 “Double XX” proved he was worth the gamble as he hit .273 with 35 Hr’s and 140 Runs batted in. He also hit .340 in the post season with 3 homers and 14 RBi’s in 12 games. His walk off 2-run homer in the 9th inning of game one of the World Series gave the Sox a 2-1 victory. Comorosky plattoned in LF most of the year playing against lefties hitting . 278. He also came up big in the World Series as he came up the 7th inning of game 5. With the Sox trailing 4-0, Adam hit an Ed Brandt fastball for a game tying grand slam home run, the Sox went on to win 5-4. One more deadline trade in 1937 that didn’t seem like a big one had OF Moose Solters going to the Cubs for a 2nd round pick. That 2nd round pick turned out to be SP Joe Dobson. Joe made his 1st Major League start for the Sox on August 2nd of 1938 and pitched well enough to make the rotation for the playoffs. And pitch he did, as Joe pitched a complete game 3 hitter, beating the Reds in game 2 of the World Series 5-1.
As you can see the Sox had 2 trades that really made a difference to winning the title in 1938, but one player stood out in 1938 as the true hero. Ted Lyons entered his 16th season with the Sox in 38, appearing in 552 games with a record of 266-212. But at 37 years old he put together the best season of his long career. Not only did he have a 26-9 record during they regular season, but he went 4-0, with an ERA of just 1.00 with 4 complete game performances. The Sox had many heroes in 1938 hopefully they will continue to bring Championships to “sweet home Chicago.”
After a dismal 1937 campaign that saw them muster only 55 wins, the Philadelphia Phillies looked to begin their rebuilding process with the first pick in the 1937 amateur draft. Their selection? Seventeen-year-old outfielder Stan Musial from Donora, PA. Scouts report that Musial is a wizard with the bat, and with development can be amongst the best hitters in the league. But at age 17, can Musial help the Phillies now? All eyes will be on Philadelphia as the rest of the league watch to see how the Phillies handle the young phenom.
It’s playoff time again, as the four division winners battle to see which team will lay claim to the title “World Series Champions.”
In the American League, the defending champion Boston Red Sox held off the New York Yankees to win the East division, earning them the right to face the upstart Cleveland Indians, led by Charlie ‘The Mechanical Man’ Gehringer.
Over in the senior circuit, the Brooklyn Dodgers, after dominating the National League East, are looking for their fifth trip to the World Series since 1930, despite managing only one World Series crown in that time.
The Dodgers will have to fend off NL West division champs, the Chicago Cubs, who are looking to reclaim the glory of their 1935 championship season.
The Philadelphia Athletics made LF Charlie “King Kong” Keller the number one pick in the recent 1936 amateur draft.
Coming off a 109-loss season, the A’s are hoping that Keller’s powerful left-handed bat can propel them to a better win total in ‘37. At just 20 years of age, Keller should be patrolling the left field grass in Shibe Park for years to come.
The baseball legends today welcomed to their exclusive club two new members — Rogers Hornsby and Harry Heilmann.
Over his career Hornsby batted .336 and collected 3359 hits, 306 home runs and 1680 RBIs. He played in 2685 games and retired from baseball at age 39.
Heilmann played in 3048 games, batted .326 with 234 home runs, 3621 base hits, 1966 RBIs and 1799 runs scored — stats great enough to be acclaimed a baseball immortal.
The commissioner’s office has released the offseason schedule leading up to the 1936 season:
Mo 3/24/08 —- Sim To Amateur Draft
Tu 3/25/08 —- Amateur Draft Rd 1
We 3/26/08 —- Amateur Draft Rd 2-3
Th 3/27/08 —- Amateur Draft Rd 4+
Fr 3/28/08 —- Sim to FA Day 10
Sa 3/29/08 —- Free Agency Days 11-15
Su 3/30/08 —- Free Agency Days 16-20
Mo 3/31/08 —- Free Agency Days 21-25
Tu 4/01/08 —- Free Agency Days 26-30
We 4/02/08 —- Free Agency Days 31-40
Th 4/03/08 —- Free Agency Days 41-50
Fr 4/04/08 —- Free Agency Days 50+
Sa 4/05/08 —- Sim to Spring Training
Su 4/06/08 —- Spring Training wk 1-2
Mo 4/07/08 —- Spring Training wk 3-4
Tu 4/08/08 —- Opening Day 1936
In a year meant to be a rebuilding one, Chicago won the big prize winning game 7 of the 1934 World Series versus the NY Giants by a score of 7-6.
With the Sox down 6-2 heading into the bottom of the 7th . With one out pitcher Paul Dean singled to drive in Johnny Hodapp. After a Les Mallon double put runners at 2nd and 3rd, Moose Solters hit a deep sac fly to right to score Dean. Shanty Hogan then grounded to short for what should have been the 3rd out but was booted and allowed Mallon to score to make it a 6-5 game. Goose Goslin then doubled to left to score Hogan and tie the game.
Paul Dean pitched through the 9th in a gutsy performance allowing 17 hits and gave way to Roy Henshaw who had a shaky 10th but got Jimmie Foxx to groundout with a runner in scoring position. Goslin led off the bottom of the 10th with a single and Wes Schulmerich walked. After the next 2 batters were retired up stepped Jerry Adair. Adair grounded a single between third and short and Goslin came home with the winning run and a World Championship for the White Sox.
Les Mallon was selected the series MVP as he hit safely in all 7 games of the series hitting .367. Starting pitcher Ted Lyons in his 12th season with the Sox was 4-0 in the playoffs, 2 wins against Boston and NY and summed it all but saying “nothing feels better than a World Championship.”
The Philadelphia Phillies selected third baseman Roy Dandridge with the first pick in the 1933 amateur draft. The franchise earned the pick courtesy of a 58-96 campaign that saw them finish a full 42 games back in the NL East.
Dandridge should bring hope to an offense that finished last in the National League with a team .244 batting average. A solid contact hitter that rarely strikes out, the third baseman is also relatively fleet of foot, which should add even more speed to a lineup that led the league with 133 stolen bases in 1933.
The 20-year old Dandridge should give starter Johnny Vergez a run for his money come this spring.
Two new owners have joined the league ahead of the upcoming 1934 season.
Please welcome YankeeGM, the eponymous owner of the New York Yankees, and TimCubs, the new owner of the NL’s Chicago Cubs.
The commissioners wishes both owners long and successful tenures in the OBL.
