Unexpectedly, the Philadelphia Brewers have a successful season. The offense is back and among the best in the Eastern League. The team is second with just a half-game behind the Brooklyn Whales. One face of the resurgence is Leo McKenzie. The 40-year-old captain enjoys his best season since his severe injury in 1906. Philadelphia, maybe even the nation, is happy that a living legend is giving everything he got in the last few seasons of his career. But while everyone is talking about McKenzie, one player’s efforts are left unnoticed.
Brown vs. Featherstone
Milan Featherstone joined the Philadelphia organization in 1904 when the Brewers drafted him in round two. It was a surprising signing because the Brewers drafted hitting talent Basil Brown a year before in round one. Both players developed well, but in 1907, the club picked one to be the future first baseman. When Stephen Millington struggled during the season, Philadelphia sent Lemuel Vodden and Basil Brown to the Athletics for Reinhold Rogers. The Brewers demoted Millington to the reserves, and Rogers pitched his first games for the In the same year, mostly coming from the dugout, Featherstone was 24-for-66.
Basil Brown, on the other hand, is still in Cleveland’s AAA team. His numbers are decent, but the Athletic’s first baseman, Ansel Hawley, is a much better batter. It will be difficult for Brown to move up unless Price Warne retires or the club had enough of Hawley’s disruptive nature.
McKenzie returned to the outfield the following season, and the youngster had his shot as a regular. He had a rocky first year (.244/.296), and many thought bringing McKenzie back to a position where he could concentrate on hitting would be wiser. Similar thoughts came up in 1909 when Featherstone played nearly all games and hit his first home run. Still, a .258 batting average wasn’t enough for some.
Internally, the Brewers had no doubts that Featherstone was the right player. The reward came in 1910. His numbers increased sharply. Although he had 18 fewer plate appearances, Featherstone increased his hit count from 123 to 129, catapulted three balls out of the park, brought in 51 runs, and walked 34 times. Among Philadelphia’s batters, Featherstone became the second-best behind Ray Faulkner.
Breaking Records
The current season started with a poor Spring Training. Only one hit in twenty at-bats was a dissatisfying performance, and the name of the next prospect, Graham Thirkettle, was in the run. This season, Featherstone stepped up his game once again. After 61 games, he brought in as many runs as in the entire 1910 season and currently leads the league by 9 RBI. His batting average is the fourth-highest in the LBL and second-highest in the Eastern League.
Optimistic projections by the OSA see Featherstone at 96 RBI at the end of the season. This would set a new season record and dethrone Rusty Hall, who brought in 95 runs in 1898. It must be said, though, that this achievement happened during the 98-game era. Still, Milan Featherstone will most likely break the 120-game record of 65 RBI set up by Lionel Lyon in 1906 – the man who retired after 1907 and made room for one of the most talented hitters of our time.