Beginning of a Slide
1939 – Beginning of a Slide
Boston Bees finish 63-88, 7th in the NL
The Braves started a series of really bad seasons this year – they wouldn’t finish better than 6th until 1946. They made some changes, including bringing in star Al Simmons in from the Senators in the offseason, but he was aging and wouldn’t add much to the team. Simmons had been a big part of the Philadelphia Athletics run in the late 20s, winning two World Series with them, and then racking up three straight All-Star seasons with the White Sox. He would later be named to the Hall of Fame but was not much for the Bees this year. They also added a colorful character, outfielder “Ugly” Johnny Dickshot – self proclaimed as the ugliest man in baseball, but he moved on to the Giants before the season started.
All-Stars
Lou Fette, P
Nice detail of the pitcher’s gloves of the era
Lou came into baseball with Boston and had three good seasons as a starter right off – winning 20 games in 1937, leading the NL in shutouts twice in those three years, and then winning an All-Star nod in 1939. After his All-Star year he never really pitched well again, perhaps getting hurt – he pitched a bit in the majors in 1940 and 1945 but that was it.
Next up at the plate for the Bees… Al Simmons!
The OOTP Bees finished 70-81 and 6th in the National League. As has been happening often in this dynasty, a bunch of players were named tot he NL All-Star team but not Lou Fette. This year pitchers Danny MacFayden and Lou Posedel, reliever Johnny Lanning, second baseman Rabbit Warstler, aging star Al Simmons, and outfielder Max West were all on the team. They had as many All-Stars as the Cardinals who won 100 games this year! The Yankees beat the Cardinals in 5 to win the Series – in real life they swept the Reds.
OOTP 13 Braves All-Stars 