On June 14th, 1908, a crowd of about 3,000 spectators witnessed a comeback victory for the Chicago Doves over Great Lakes Division rival Detroit at The Old Grounds. The famous baseball stadium, at less than half-capacity, was missing an unmistakable energy. An energy that was once familiar to The Old Grounds and the city of Detroit as a whole, an energy that inevitably accompanies a winning baseball club. On the field, not much was happening for the Giants – they were towards the end of a stretch of 26 games where they mustered just 6 wins. However, behind the scenes, a lot was happening in an effort to put an end to what has been a woefully unsuccessful start to the century.
New Man in Charge
The first step was hiring a new General Manager. In the coming weeks, the club would introduce Erik Swartzwelder as the organization’s latest GM, “We needed a new direction, a fresh set of eyes, so to speak” said Detroit owner Marcus Finch, “we wish our previous GM the best of luck in his future endeavors, but we believe Erik gives us the best chance to take this club where we want it to be.” Swartzwelder, who is a newcomer to the city of Detroit, gave very little apart from the expected clichés and one-liners of a GM who takes over midway through a season. However, he did mention his desire to embrace the city’s “history and winning baseball tradition” as a part of the club’s new direction.
Months later, the 1908 season ended for the Giants who finished 57-63. Remarkably, this was just one game out of a playoff position in the Great Lakes Division. However slim the division margin was, the margin between the Detroit Giants and the best teams in the league is enormous. Even the new GM Erik Swartzwelder, whose words are few, acknowledged the need for “changes to be made.” But change isn’t quite enough, there needs to be improvement as well. For Swartzwelder, this began with the personnel responsible for what takes place on the field. The Detroit Giants will have a new manager, hitting coach, and pitching coach for the 1909 season. A relatively inexperience group, led by Manager Frank Brown, will have the opportunity to help start the turnaround this franchise and these fans have needed for years. When asked what qualified his new staff to help lead the ball club, Swartzwelder mentioned their “shared vision” for returning Detroit back to Championship baseball.
Free Agent Dillamore Joins the Giants
These personnel moves were not in the Detroit headlines for long, as Swartzwelder moved quickly to make a significant improvement to the on-field product as well. Selmer Dillamore, who was one of the most prized players available in free agency, signed a contract to join the Detroit Giants organization. Dillamore represents a significant willingness for ownership to spend and for this new GM to aggressively seek out players who he believes will make his team better. It’s hard to say where Dillamore will play, reports suggest he can play more than one position at a high level. When asked if Dillamore’s versatility and playing style represents the type of player the Giants will target in the future, Swartzwelder plainly said, “Selmer is a hard worker and he plays hard, those types of players are sought by every team in the league so we’re lucky to have him.” When asked more directly which brand of baseball and which playing style we could expect Detroit to play next year, Swartzwlder chuckled and said “winning baseball,” with a wry smile.
News and Notes
#1 was retired in honor of Detroit Giants legend Billy “Two-Shoes” Coats. Coats was a career .309 hitter and amassed 35.1 Wins Above Replacement in his 14 seasons, all of which were spent in Detroit. He was a member of the 1897 and 1899 Detroit Giants Championship teams. While his on-field production has been replaceable for a few years, his presence and leadership in the clubhouse can not be replaced. Coats announced his retirement on August 23rd and plans to retire his number were announced less than a month later. When asked how he plans to spend his retirement, the always humble Coats said, “I reckon I’ll go to work for my dad and do a little fishin’.” Coats joins John Banwell and Gregory Guercio as the only Detroit Giants to have their numbers retired and is the first position player to receive that honor.
It was a relatively light year for Giants players in terms of end-of-season awards. 1B Marion Pynchon won a Grande Snagger and George Anderson won a Golden Bat representing the LF position.