San Francisco Chronicle

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Seals to be Incorporated into Federal League

For the second time the Federal League will attempt to overtake Major League Baseball and this time they're looking to beat the Bigs to a punch. As the Majors talk of mergers with and relocation to the west, the Feds will get the first West Coast team.

The Major Leagues have made their manifest destiny clear and one way or another, minor league baseball is going to be dead in San Francisco. Had the merger gone through, the Seals along with the rest of the Pacific Coast League would have become a part of the Majors. Had it not, the Giants or the Dodgers would have migrated here and driven the Seals out of town.

Rather than taking their chances, the Seals negotiated a deal today with the Federal League, keeping their franchise alive and effectively killing the push by MLB to take over San Francisco.


Taking over the team is Brooklyn Dodgers owner Scott Jeffries, who will retain ownership of both franchises. The team will remain in Seals Stadium, which will be renovated to accomodate 35,000 fans, nearly doubling its capacity.

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O'Doul to Return as Seals Manager
Averill, Dempsey Named Hitting, Pitching Coaches

SAN FRANCISCO - On the same day he purchased the San Francisco Seals, new owner and general manager Scott Jeffries has appointed his team's first coaching staff under the umbrella of the reborn Federal League.

Taking the helm of the club is easily the most popular player in Seals history, Lefty O'Doul. Born and raised in San Francisco, the 58-year-old began his professional career with the Seals as a pitcher in 1919 before heading to the Yankees. He pitched there on and off until 1923 until a dead arm ended his Major League pitching career. He returned to San Francisco in an attempt at revival but soon converted to an outfielder.

The New York Giants picked him up in 1928 and '29 he put up one of the greatest offensive performances in history, batting .398 with 32 homeruns and a National League record 254 hits that still stands to this day. He jumped from team to team until finally retiring in 1934 and once again returning to San Francisco to manage the Seals.

O'Doul has spent the last three seasons managing in San Diego and was thought to be heading to Oakland until the Seals joined the Federal League. He is credited with bringing baseball to Japan starting in the 1920's and also groomed the great Joe DiMaggio before sending him to New York.


Averill played outfield for the Seals from 1926-1928 and hit .300 in every season. In '28 he batted .354 with 36 homeruns, then joined the Cleveland Indians. On Opening Day of 1929 he became the first player in history to homer in his first Major League at bat. On September 17, 1930, he homered four times in a doubleheader, the first player to ever accomplish that. These feats would be a harbinger of his Hall of Fame career, which lasted until 1941.


Cornelius "Con" Dempsey was a Seals pitcher from 1948-1951, leading the PCL in ERA and strikeouts in his rookie season. He made an unsuccessful attempt to play for the Pirates in '51. Like O'Doul he is a San Francisco native and is a graduate of the University of San Francisco.

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Seals Must Win Without Wynn

5/3/1955

SAN FRANCISCO - When the Seals drafted Early Wynn in the 7th round, they knew he was a short-term solution. They never could have expected, though, that they would get less than a full game's worth of innings from him.

Now the two-time All-Star must hang it up at the age of 35 after tearing his rotator cuff in just his second game, a condition for which there is no known remedy.

"This is obviously a huge blow to our chances this season," commented a downtrodden yet tranquil Scott Gaylord Jeffries III, general manager of the Seals and owner of Gaylord Pharmaceuticals. "In sympathy for his condition, our company has announced that they will provide Early with a lifetime supply of pain killers. I'd probably be a lot more panicked about the situation if I hadn't taken some as well."


The injury opens the door for 20-year-old Don Kaiser to enter the rotation. He went 4-1 with a 5.14 ERA in AAA after being drafted by the Seals in the 13th round.

[thebishop]

San Jose Gazette
Seals Owner Called A Slacker By League Head
"Yup, that's what I called him," Tsocanos tells press

In an odd move today, the Commissioner of the newly founded Federal League has decided to call San Francisco Seals owner Scott Jeffries a 'slacker' and that his team thread is 'what we call lacking'.

"We're not looking for Shakespeare here," Tsocanos said while downing a hot pastrami sandwich at the Carnegie Deli in downtown Manhattan today. "Heck, even something like 'Seals are awesome, we go long time' would be sweet. He's in his office several times a week, I know, even though his secretary, Mr. Huff, says he's not in at the moment. I've got pictures of him heading in and out of his office from a private investigator, I see all! Now let me finish my sandwich boys, this pastrami ain't getting any deader."

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SEALS OWNER FIRES BACK
"That #1 Pick Is Mine!"

Immediately responding to allegations of his bumhood, Seals owner Scott Gaylord Jeffries III fired off a profanity-riddled diatribe against league commissioner and Newark Bears owner Chris Tsocanos.

"He's just mad because he knows that #1 pick is mine," said Jeffries. "Newark isn't even in last place. I don't know where they get off thinking they're better than us. And why should pay attention to any character accusation this guy makes? Look, he's Greek and we all know what Greeks do. This guy has young ballplayers on his team. I traded one of my youngsters over there. God knows what he's doing with him. But do I say anything? No, I let him do whatever he feels like around his clubhouse."

The actual press conference lasted several hours though these sentences are all that were fit for print. Jeffries then absconded with 18-year-old Red Swanson and a set of hotel keys.


Since the injury to Early Wynn, the Seals have seemingly given up hope for this season. Jeffries has instead turned his attention to his pharmaceutical company, testing experimental medications on himself rather than paying test subjects while the Seals struggle to turn a profit.

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JEFFRIES EATS BREAKFAST

6/14/1955

PORTLAND - In a shocking development today, Seals owner Scott Jeffries reportedly ate breakfast.

"It appeared to be some sort of grain-based hot cereal," said wheelchair-bound neighbor L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies (no relation). "I couldn't tell if it was 5- or 7-grain because this camera only has a 3x zoom lens. But he definitely cooked it on the stove and then poured milk on it before eating."

It is believed that Jeffries, a reputed vegan, was using soy milk, though authorities have not ruled out lactose-free milk.