Introducing Bob O'Farrel

I found Brett Kiser's blog researching the defensive prowess of my light hitting shortstop, Candy Nelson. Kiser wrote a book I haven't read, Ghosts of Baseball’s Past, which "details the careers of Hall of Fame eligible players who are not enshrined. "

His blog dives into the careers of many players we draft in ATB. Recently, he posted on the Black Diamonds backstop, Bob O'Farell:

His best season for power came in 1923 when he paced Major League catchers in homeruns and RBI. Showing exceptional durability, Bob was one of two Major League catchers–Muddy Ruel being the other–to notch at least 140 hits. Bob caught 131 games for the Cubs that year, tossed out 48% of base stealers and hit a nifty .319 but the Cubs had some kid named Gabby Hartnett showing the stuff and the presence of the future Hall of Famer made O’Farrell expendable.

Cubs skipper, Reindeer Bill Killefer, chose to keep both Bob and Gabby on the roster in 1924 but he asked the young prodigy to don the mask more...

Tough break! Read the whole post, here.