[Jiggs McGee]

APRL 27, 1942

WONDER WHEEL REACHES TWO MILESTONES

Al Wheeler added to an already impressive resume with a busy week that saw the 34 year old Brooklyn Kings slugger reach a pair of historic milestones. The first one came on Tuesday afternoon in Chicago when Wheeler launched his 400th career homerun, with the milestone marker coming in dramatic fashion: a 2-run shot off of Joe Brown in the 8th inning to tie a game the Kings would ultimately win in extra innings over the Chicago Cougars by a 6-5 score. The homer, allowed Wheeler to join Max Morris and Rankin Kellogg -both Hall of Famers - as the only players to hit 400 round-trippers in their career. No one else in FABL history has even 300 to his credit.

Later in the week Wheeler joined another club, although this one not quite as exclusive. Wheeler delivered his 2,500th career hit, making him just the 27th player to reach that level. It is probably quite fitting that #2500 was a homerun, a first inning 3-run shot off of Montreal's Bill Ross. Wheeler would get two more hits in the game as the Kings won by an 8-6 count.

Perhaps no other player represents the modern era of FABL than Wheeler, who was the very first draft pick when human General Manager's took over in December of 1925. The Detroit Dynamos made the then 18 year old out of Decatur (IL) High School the top selection in a deep draft class that also featured Bud Jameson, Bill Ashbaugh, Doug Lightbody and Jack Cleaves.

"That was quite a class," remembered St Louis scouting director Rube Carter who was in a similar capacity with Brooklyn at the time. "We had the second pick and, like most of the league, desperately wanted Wheeler but knew there was no way Detroit would pass him up at #1. Don't think anyone considered him to be the next Max Morris but we just knew he would be a great hitter one day."

That day came quickly for Wheeler, who was a regular in the Detroit outfield two years later at the age of 20 and helped them win a WCS the following season. His first of 5 Whitney Awards would come in 1930 and in 1932 he led his Association in homers for the first time, something he has done 4 more times since. Wheeler's greatest season might well have been one that started out as one of his worst. Batting just .250 through 26 games with a struggling Detroit team the Dynamos started a massive rebuild with a deal that sent Wheeler and Frank Vance to Brooklyn. Wheeler would tear up the Continental Association the rest of the way and win the first triple crown in CA history (.362,34,130) despite playing in just 128 games with the Kings. He would win 3 straight Whitney Awards, to go with the pair he previously won in Detroit, and helped the Kings win three consecutive CA pennants and the 1937 World Championship Series.

His numbers have tailed off, at least by Wheeler's previous standard, the past three seasons but if he stays healthy it is not hard to image the possibility of 3000 hits, 500 homeruns and perhaps even 2,000 RBI's (he has 1,529 so far) in Al Wheeler's future - a trifecta that only the legendary Max Morris has ever achieved.

GOTHAMS HIT BUMP BEFORE ROAD TEST

It will be interesting to see how the New York Gothams react to their recent 4 game losing streak. The Gothams, a regular guest of the second division for much of the past decade, were flying high atop the Federal Association with an 8-2 start to the season but then dropped 4 straight at home - two each to the Chiefs and Pioneers. It will be a good test to see if the Gothams are finally ready to return to the upper echelon of the Federal Association but they will have their work cut out for them trying to stop the slide. They finish off with St Louis at Gothams Stadium today but then head out on the road with the first three stops being Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The Keystones had also been off to a strong start but they received a dose or reality over the weekend in the form of a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Minutemen in Boston. Philadelphia does have a nice long homestand coming up unlike the team they are tied with for top spot in the Fed. The Chicago Chiefs start a long road swing that takes them to Washington, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston and St Louis.

The Continental Association remains a jumble of 5 teams all within a half game at the top. Even Cleveland, pegged my most to be the worst team in the loop, is 6-6 and playing inspired baseball. Only the Cincinnati Cannons and Montreal Saints have had a dismal start to the year.

• Mule Monier is off to a great start, leading the FA with a .424 Avg and 2nd in OPS with 1.104
• Ed Bowman's debut did not go as the youngster no doubt dreamed it would be. In Chicago the tall righty gave up 6 runs on 5 hits in 4.2 innings. His second game was no better as St. Louis had 7 runs on 8 hits and 5 BB. Bowman did manage to complete 7.1 innings in his second outing. It was apparent that he tired in the 8th and perhaps manager Ziehl should have been satisfied with his 2 runs over 7 innings.
• Should Bunny Edwards be moved to the pen? There is some concern that Edwards seems to be able to manage only 5-6 innings per start.
• Roosevelt Brewer continues his struggles at the plate, posting .196/.276/.196

The umpires are having one heck of a time enforcing the new Continental Association rule of keeping coaches within the strict confines of the first and third base boxes during play...against Montreal at Kings County a little over a week ago the three umpires were so busy watching the position of the feet belonging to the base coaches that they had a hard time following the play.

One ludicrous incident occurred when ump Beans Watson caught Brooklyn first base coach John Heverly several feet behind the first base box as the Saints Jake DeYoung unleashed a 2-2 pitch. Watson shouted time and Saints yelled because Brooklyn batter Tim Hopkins struck out on the pitch but automatically received another chance...Luckily for Watson's peace of mind Hopkins was retired anyway, so the play did not affect the game.

Later Heverly, warned by the irate umpire to stay in the box, refused to leave it long enough to retrieve a foul ball that lay no more than two feet from his feet and the game was delayed some 30 seconds while Watson called a bat boy to get the thing out of the way. From this seat the rule looks silly and seems bound to lead to trouble. Umpires have their own troubles calling important plays right without being asked to police the diamond for silly technical violations.

• No team has scored more runs so far this season than the Chicago Chiefs. The players you would expect to be are the ones leading the way: Hank Barnett (.275,4,11), Tom Bird (.318,4,12),Bill May (.353,1,12) and Ron Rattigan (.327,3,9).
• It might come as a surprise but the more productive Pestilli brother so far this year has been the eldest. Alf is hitting .265 with 2 homers and 9 rbi's in the Chiefs outfield while 4-time all-star Sal is (.229,2,5) struggling like most of his teammates in Detroit. A third Pestilli brother, Tony, made his big league debut this season with the Keystones and picked up his first big league hit a week ago in Pittsburgh. Tony is hitting .222 in 18 at bats so far. The fourth Pestilli boy, Joe, is still playing a little ball, but his full-time job is now as a member of the Army Air Corps.
• A 6-2 week for Boston gets them back to level footing. However DTD injuries to infielders Art Spencer, Buddy Schneider and Lew McClendon could make this next week interesting.
• There was some concern that the Boston Minutemen might not be able to make it home from Washington in time for Friday's game against the Philadelphia Keystones. They were supposed to leave DC in Pullman sleepers at 11pm following their post game dinner after a contest with the Eagles but that morning their road secretary was informed that the railroad might not be able to supply the necessary equipment. The quick acting secretary switched them to day coaches and arrange a 6pm departure right after the game concluded. The Minutemen missed out on a fancy restaurant meal and settled for sandwiches on the train but it was either that or the possibility of sitting up from 11pm until 7 in the morning if the sleepers were not available. Still, it was a weary bunch that arrived in Boston well after 1 am and had to face the Keystones the next afternoon but that, the boys feel, is merely one in a long serious of transportation troubles they are in for this year.
• The FABL clubs will, most assuredly reach their destination, but what of the low level minor league outfits, who travel exclusively by bus, if the drastic threatened rationing of gasoline is invoked against them. The answer is simple: If they can't get priorities they're finished for the duration.
• The Wolves pitching seems to returned to their 1940 level from the early returns. Toronto is holding the opposition to a .237/.286/.309 slash line with 3 shutouts. Joe Hancock won his first game of year, a 11-2 CG surprise drubbing of the Cannons on a cool, cloudy day in Cincinnati. Toronto's run differential is a league leading +24 through 13 games which is a good sign because the offense is being led by unexpected sources in the early season.
• Brutal week for Cincinnati as the Cannons go 1-6 and are surely feeling the absence of McCullough and Taylor but the problems run much deeper than just that. Butch Smith (0-3, 8.55) has been awful after back to back all-star seasons. Moxie Pidgeon is homerless and batting .179. McCullough’s replacement at second Charlie Rivera is even worse, batting .178 and we are dead last in runs scored.
• Jim Lighbody is hitting .472 through 10 games this season for Camp Wheeler. A private in the Special Services Branch, Lightbody has hit safely 17 times in 36 trips to bat for the Camp Wheeler nine. He is also leading the team in runs scored with 15. The 25 year old, who is the cousin of current big leaguers Doug and Frank Lightbody, hit .335 in 108 games for the Brooklyn Kings last season.
• The government of Canada is close to passing a conscription bill that could spell the end of pro hockey for the duration of the war as it would prevent Canadian men meeting draft requirements -between ages 21 and 30 and unmarried- from leaving the country. The question for FABL then becomes is how might that affect the 44 Canadian born players currently playing pro baseball including 8 big leaguers.
• At least one Congressman is calling out the military on it's alleged practice of giving 'soft berths" and unearned high ranks to famous figures in the sports world when they enter the armed forces. Representative Donald O'Toole (Dem)of Brooklyn says he is sick of hearing from constituents asking "How come Joe Palooka of the Pittsburgh Miners can get a chief petty officer's rating?" To the response it is good for morale, O'Toole shot back, "Who's morale?" and answered his own questioning by saying "The morale of these professional athletes, who are determined that they shall serve without the dirt, grime and discomfort of other men who have given themselves unselfishly."
• The latest player to get the call from Selective Services is Pete Pepp. The 23 year old was in his second season with Oklahoma City of the Independent Western Baseball League. Pepp, who hit .304 a year ago, played his amateur ball at Salisbury College and was a 16th round pick of the Detroit Dynamos in 1940. He hit .293 at Class C Biloxi in his one season in the Dynamos organization.

DEEP SOUTH REVERSES DECISION ON FRESHMAN

New Orleans- Following a meeting of school presidents the Deep South Conference has reversed it's decision to permit freshman to participate in varsity football and basketball contests. The ruling comes after the AIAA had formally approved the notion in an effort to combat the loss of players to the war effort, and after Deep South Football coaches had endorsed the idea.

In a release signed by the Presidents of each of it's 13 member schools, the Deep South Conference felt it was "unfair to play freshman extensively while they still are adjusting themselves to college life." The letter did point out that freshman may still compete on 'B' or sub-varsity teams that are allowed to play up to three games, and noted those squads are encouraged to schedule one or more of their authorized three contests against service teams instead of playing junior colleges as has been the custom. The sport of baseball is unaffected by the decision as freshman have been permitted to play that sport since it's inception in 1910, with it's spring schedule being explained as the primary reason for the difference due to the fact that, unlike football or basketball, freshmen have several months over the fall and winter to allow them to adjust to the rigors of college academics before needing to worry about adding athletics to their workload.

The vast majority of other conferences in the AIAA will permit freshmen to play for their varsity football and basketball teams next season, with many of the loops suggesting had they not been allowed to dress the newcomers many schools quite likely would not have had sufficient numbers to field a team in football.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/26/1942

• Plans are being finalized in Australia for a major offensive with the aim of "knocking out Japan by a concentration of Allied strength."
• Dive bombers are being used to attack Fort Mills on Corregidor marking the first time the Japanese have attempted that ploy to take over the tiny but crucial Philippine Island.
• British commandoes smashed German troops in an invasion stab into the Boulogne sector of the French coast.
• Pierre Laval, new chief of the Vichy Government met today with Adolph Hitler's personal envoy on a new course of "loyal collaboration" as German reprisals against anti-Nazi outbreaks were spreading across France.
• The long-awaited Spring thaw is turning the Russian battlefront into a sea of mud and uncovering thousands of German dead according to Russian reports.
• British sources say Hitler is purging leaders of the German armament industry because of their failure to increase production sufficiently to offset rising American war production.
• The latest estimate is the U.S. war costs will rise to $70 billion for the 1942-43 fiscal year. Previous estimates pegged the figure at $56 billion.
• Local Draft Boards have been instructed to prepare for eventual induction of men who now are deferred for dependency and who are employed in non-essential activities, Selective Service Headquarters announced this week.
• Sugar rationing is being implemented in the United States effective May 5. And the Office of Price Administration said it is working on a card system for individual gasoline rationing on the eastern seaboard.