*Editor's note - A minor timeline issue as I posted what was material to use for a possible game 5 of the WCS last night but forgot I could have held it to use today as I neglected to remember we run a 1-day sim immediately after the conclusion of the WCS. So here is another special edition of TWIFB.
OCTOBER 12, 1948
COUGARS ACQUIRE CHUBBY HALL
Outfielder Returns to Club That Drafted Him
Perhaps it is a sign that this might be a busy off-season with news just a day after the World Championship Series was completed that a trade was made. No surprise that one of the team's involved was the usually busy Chicago Cougars as the club continues to search for that final ingredient that can lead them to the promised land of a long-anticipated pennant. The latest player to carry the burden of those hopes will be veteran outfielder Chubby Hall, who will be quite happy to pack his bags and leave New York for the Windy City.
Hall had been looking for a trade as, after some solid seasons as an everyday outfielder during the war, he was the odd man out the past couple of years and started just 25 games during the 1948 campaign. A .268 career hitter in 880 big league games, all with the Stars, Hall actually got his professional start with the Cougars, who selected the New York City native in the third round of the 1935 FABL draft. He spent parts of 4 seasons in the Cougars system before being moved to Washington in a 1939 deal that brought Johnnie Jones to Chicago. He never made it to the big leagues with the Eagles as a year later he was dispatched to the Stars.
Once a top 15 OSA prospect, Hall has not yet lived up to that billing, but he may get a chance with the Cougars although with Leo Mitchell, Sal Pestilli and Hal Sharp, their outfield is nearly as crowded as the one that Hall just departed.
In return the Stars acquire minor league righthander Dick Garcia from the Cougars. The 23-year-old is not considered much of a prospect by OSA, which ranks him 456 on the current prospect pipeline but the 23-year-old was a third round pick out of a Chicago-area high school. In 33 starts between AAA and AA last season, Garcia went 14-16 with a 4.95 era.
TWO LINKS TO BIGGEST DEAL IN WOLVES RECENT HISTORY RETIRE
This might foretell of Fred McCormick's end coming in the next season or two as two players who were involved in the famous trade that moved the legendary first baseman from St Louis to Toronto both announced their retirement today. That would be catcher Clarence Howerton, who accompanied McCormick on the trip from the Pioneers to Wolves and pitcher Jack Smith, who was one of five players who went the other way.
Howerton, 39, is a veteran of 1,728 career FABL games, which is the fourth highest all-time amongst catchers, trailing only T.R. Goins, Mike Taylor and Carl Ames. A 14th round drat pick of St Louis in 1927 and made his big league debut with the Federal Association club at the age of 22 in 1932. After six seasons as a backup with the Pioneers, Howerton was sent to the Wolves in part of the famous trade that also moved Fred McCormick to Canada. An all-star in 1940, Howerton helped the Wolves win the World Championship Series that year, batting .368 in the 5-game win over Pittsburgh which would be his only foray into the post-season.
Also announcing his retire this week was Jake Smith. A Houston native, the 39-year-old posted a career 103-101 record during a career that had stops in Toronto, St Louis and most recently with the Cincinnati Cannons. Smith was 28 years old in the off-season prior to the 1938 campaign, when he was packaged along with fellow pitchers Buddy Long, Russ Peeples and Otis Cook along with outfielder Les Hendrix in the deal that moved them all west. Smith won a career best 20-games his first season in St Louis but would win just 19 total over the next 3 seasons before he was traded to Cincinnati. With the Cannons he would play on 3 straight pennant winners and win a pair of WCS rings but went just 1-3 with a 5.31 era pitching out of the bullpen last season.
NAHC SEASON PREVIEW
Another NAHC season is set to begin and once again that means it is time for TWIFB to make its fearless forecast for the outcome of the upcoming campaign. A year ago the Chicago Packers were the favoured team but we failed to factor in the impact new head coach Jack Barrell would have in Toronto as the long-time player and coach guided the Dukes from a last place finish the previous season to a Challenge Cup parade down Younge Street.
The Dukes finished just 3rd in the regular season but in an upset filled playoff the New York Shamrocks knocked off first place Chicago while the Dukes got past second place Boston before topping the Greenshirts to win the title. We here at TWIFB still feel the Packers are the team to beat and a look at the chart below -which ranks the top players in the league according to OSA- seems to be back up the theory that the Packers have the deepest group of talent.
Here is how we see the 1948-49 season unfolding.
1- CHICAGO PACKERS: Tommy Burns is the best player in the league and centers arguably the top line with his brother Wes and Marty Mahoney on the wings. They were the most productive trio in the league a year ago and the scary thing is the Packers have more depth upfront that any other club in the league. That talent pool of Chicago forwards only got deeper with the addition of gifted young winger Max Ducharme, who had 40 points in 59 games last season for Montreal but was cast aside by the Vals in a major off-season purge.
The Packers defensive depth is not quite as plentiful but Jesse Santuro at age 22 is rapidly evolving into one of the best rearguards in the game and Norm Hanson is a terrific goaltender. The Packers were the best regular season team a year ago and should be the same again this time around, but what the club is still chasing is its first ever Challenge Cup win. Perhaps this is the year.
2- TORONTO DUKES: We underestimated the impact of Coach Jack Barrell a year ago and a return to form by veteran goaltender Gordie Broadway. While the Toronto blueline does worry us we feel Broadway can more than make up for any weakness and with the strength Toronto has in the middle in Quinton Pollack and Bobbie Sauer the Dukes will sneak into second place this time around.
3- BOSTON BEES: The Bees have been the most successful club this decade with 5 Challenge Cup titles since 1940. In fact, only Boston or Toronto has lifted the Challenge Cup since Detroit's surprising upset of the Dukes in 1939. The Bees have outstanding depth in net and on the blueline to go along with a pair of great forwards in Wilbur Chandler and Tommy Hart. Injuries can hurt any team, but Boston seems to have endured more than their share of serious ones recently and the injury bug already bit the Bees in the preseason with news Joe Morey will miss at least the first month of the season. Boston still has talent and with good health and some breaks could well have home ice advantage for the semi-finals, but we feel a more likely scenario is a third place finish this time around.
4- DETROIT MOTORS: The Motors and New York Shamrocks will likely battle down to the wire for the final playoff spot, but we feel the addition of goaltender Millard Touhey and the continued development of youngsters Spencer Larocque and Nick Tardif will give the Motors a slight edge. The biggest difference maker though will be the move to bring ice veteran Badger Rigney in to replace Mark Moore as head coach. Call it the Barrell effect, but we think Rigney will demand an improvement in the Motors, who finished dead last a year ago and have missed the playoffs three of the past four years.
5- NEW YORK SHAMROCKS: Hard to place any team with veterans Orval Cabbell and Bert McCalley outside of the playoffs but the feeling here is the Greenshirts simply lack the depth. Any minor stumble by Detroit will open the door but the league clearly has a division between the top three and the bottom three clubs.
6- MONTREAL VALIANTS: Last Christmas the Valiants were battling Chicago for first place and made a major deal to bring in a pair of talented defensemen in Shel Herron and Bryant Williams. Inexplicably, for the second year in a row the Vals had a second-half collapse and missed the playoffs. There is some talent with blueline depth that is surpassed only by Boston and a pair of very good pivot men in Clarence Skinner and the all-too-often injured Ian Doyle. The worry is in net where it looks like the Valiants, barring a major deal, will be forced to go with former Detroit backup Brad Carter as their top option between the pipes after releasing Millard Touhey over the summer. Carter may surprise, he has shown flashes in Detroit, but such a big question mark at the most vital position in the sport leaves us no choice but to expect the Vals to finish in the NAHC cellar.
PRESEASON WRAP UP
Code:
NAHC PRESEASON STANDINS
TEAM GP W L T PTS
Detroit 7 6 1 0 12
Chicago 7 4 3 0 8
Montreal 7 4 3 0 8
Toronto 7 3 4 0 6
Boston 7 2 5 0 4
New York 7 2 5 0 4
PRESEASON RESULTS
TUESDAY OCTOBER 5
Montreal 2 Toronto 1 : Brad Carter 27 saves
Chicago 5 Boston 3 : Tommy Burns 1 G, 2A
Detroit 5 New York 3 : Vincent Arsenault 3A
THURSDAY OCTOBER 7
Montreal 4 New York 1: Ian Doyle 2G
Detroit 4 Chicago 3: Hank Walsh 1G, 2A
Toronto 3 Boston 0 : Gordie Broadway 24 sv shutout
FRIDAY OCTOBER 8
Boston 4 Montreal 1: Craig Simpson 2G
New York 3 Toronto 2: Joe Martin 1G,1A, Etienne Tremblay 32 sv
Detroit 5 Chicago 1 : Millard Touhey 39 sv.
end of preseason schedule
REGULAR SEASON GAMES THIS WEEK
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 13
Detroit at Chicago
THURSDAY OCTOBER 14
Montreal at New York
SATURDAY OCTOBER 16
Montreal at Chicago
Toronto at Boston
SUNDAY OCTOMBER 17
Detroit at New York
EXPANDED CAGE LOOP SET TO BEGIN NEW ERA
In a whirlwind transformation within the realm of professional basketball, a revamped and enlarged Federal Basketball League is poised to kick off its third season with a staggering sixteen teams. The flurry of changes over the summer has left basketball enthusiasts brimming with anticipation but also grappling with a sea of unknowns as the league's squads embark on their preseason preparations.
Initiated by Rollie Barrell, the forward-thinking owner of the Detroit Mustangs and the American Football Association's Detroit Maroons, the Federal Basketball League embarked on a summer crusade to entice four teams from the well-rooted American Basketball Conference. The outcome exceeded even the most audacious expectations, as the ABC dissolved, and its eight clubs chose to unite with the Federal circuit. This historic merger effectively doubled the young league's strength, setting the stage for a landmark third season.
Exhibition games are set to tip off a week from today, whetting the appetite of basketball aficionados with a tantalizing lineup of seven matches. The hardwood promises to be electrifying, with the expanded league igniting fresh rivalries and elevating the competitive stakes. The historic 1948-48 Federal League's campaign begins with plenty of uncertainty, as many wonder how the holdover FBL clubs will compare with the refugees from the ABC.
Here is a best guess on the final order of finish and our picks for the All-League and All-Rookie teams.
The Week That Was
Current events from 10/12/1948
- The United States warned Russia that the Americans rearmament program is being speeded to "stay the heavy hand of Russia's constant drive for world power." That is what US delegate Warren Austin said in his speech to the United Nations political committee.
- Sources suggest Russia is planning an "Eastern Union" to counterbalance the five-nation Western European Union.
- Stop the GOP before it wrecks the New Deal. That was the message from President Truman as he swung through industrial Ohio into the rich Indiana and Illinois farmlands on his campaign tour for re-election when Americans go to the polls November 2.
- Gov Warren of California, Republican vice-presidential candidate on the ticket with New York Gov. Dewey was campaigning in the Wyoming where he charged the Truman administration with paying lip service to the West and making the Western States a "political football" for the "political perpetuation" of the Democratic party. Warren pointed out that Dewey has pledged "the West will have the representation it needs and deserves" in his government.