McCall – In a league known for its staggering offensive statistics, pitchers can often be overlooked, especially those that work out of the bullpen.  What Dick Drago did for the Westport Fleas in the I-70 Classic simply cannot be ignored, however.  Buck O’Neil leaned heavily on the new closer and Drago delivered.  Five straight times.  Drago closed out all five of the Fleas’ victories, including two clutch performances on Wednesday night facing elimination in front of a delirious McCall crowd.   In his five appearances, Drago only allowed 2 runs in 9.2 innings.

Of course, the Fleas had other heroes too.  Ted Williams and Mel Ott finally provided some power, Max Bishop continued his steady production, and lifetime Flea Joe Cronin came up with key hits from the bottom of the lineup.  At the end of the night, though, the Fleas knew who they had to thank for their first championship.  In the Fleas locker room deep in the bowels of new McCall Memorial, even Buck O’Neil seemed at a loss for words, “Dick was big.  Dick was really big”.  That pretty much sums it up for the Fleas.

By Joe Gordon, ASB Network

McCall – He stands victorious, with a “KCBL Champions” t-shirt in one hand and a cigar hanging from his half open mouth while smiling teammates spray champagne around a plastic covered locker room in Boggstown. Not overly boastful, not overly self-absorbed… just proud. He has been a key cog in the Championship run for three Boilers teams and is now hoping to recreate this scene for the upstart Westport Fleas as they battle the McCall Mudhens in McCall on Wednesday night.

Max Bishop is not just another “on-base guy”, he has become THE “on-base guy”, the ultimate rabbit. He has collected more walks than any player since he entered the league in January of 2008 and has been a constant at the top of any lineup that he has been a part of. He holds the record for most walks in a (12 game) season with 30 during the 09 KCBL and collected another 24 during the HBL 2008.

Since he entered the league there has been no one better at getting on base. He has put himself above the other career second basemen with his consistency and distinguished himself as one of the best table setters in the game… In short he is the definition of a TRUE winner.

“He has been incredible,” said Owls Lifetime player and team captain Ryne Sandberg. “Having a player like that at the top of the lineup that is so consistent, that you know what you are going to get night in and night out is so important to a team… He is a quiet team leader.”

In five I-70 Classic games, his 31 plate appearances have yielded 7 singles, 4 doubles, 10 walks, 6 RBI and 11 runs compiling a .523 batting average with a staggering .677 On-Base-Percentage.

Standing out at a position that boasts names such as Hornsby, Stanky, Carew, Gehringer, Robinson and Morgan is not easy, but Bishop has become the best rabbit at a position known for it’s rabbits. It’s easy to see why the Fleas followed the template of so many Boilers Championship teams and placed Bishop at the top of the lineup.

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Wikipedia
Max Frederick Bishop (September 5, 1899 – February 24, 1962) was a second baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1924 through 1935 for the Philadelphia Athletics (1924-1933) and Boston Red Sox (1934-1935). Bishop batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania.

In a 12-season career, Bishop was a .271 hitter with 41 home runs and 379 RBI in 1338 games played.

Bishop was the leadoff hitter for the last three American League pennant-winning Philadelphia Athletics teams of Connie Mack. Nicknamed “Tilly” or “Camera Eye” for his notable ability to judge pitches, Bishop was adept at working counts and drawing walks, as evidenced by his .423 career on base percentage, in front of Athletics sluggers Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane and Jimmie Foxx. Seven times he collected 100 walks, leading the AL with 128 in 1929; twice walked eight times in a doubleheader, to set a major league record; twice draw five walks in a single game, to become the only major leaguer to do this twice and recorded a 2.55 walk-to-strikeout ratio (1153-to-452), as his walk percentage of .204 is only surpassed by Ted Williams’s .207. He also scored 100 or more runs during four consecutive seasons (1928-1931), with a career-high 117 in 1930. Rated as one of the best fielders in the game, Bishop led AL second basemen four times in fielding percentage and played 18 World Series games without committing an error. When Bishop scored 117 runs in 1930, he became the only man in major league history to score at least 70 runs while collecting more runs than hits.

When Mack dismantled the Athletics in 1933, he sent Bishop, Lefty Grove and Rube Walberg to the Boston Red Sox for two players and $150.000. After two years in Boston, Bishop ended his playing career in 1936 with the Baltimore Orioles of the International League and then scouted for the Detroit Tigers in 1937. After that, he served as baseball head coach at the U.S. Naval Academy between 1938 and 1962. During his 25 years as Navy coach he posted a 306-143 record, including an academy seasonal record of 24 victories and two defeats in 1961.
Bishop died in his home of Waynesboro at age 62.