NOVEMBER 29, 1943
SELECTIVE SERVICE STRIKES AGAIN
Once again FABL magnates were dealt a devastating blow as the latest batch of big league players left to join the war effort. This time they number 68 players in all, including a trio of presently unsigned free agents in pitchers Roy Heiland and Jack Allen along with infielder Oscar King. That brings the total number of current players who have played at least 1 career big league game that are now in the military to 352. Including minor leaguers there are now 1,098 pro ball players in service.
The latest exodus hit several teams very hard. The St Louis Pioneers lost the right side of their infield with both 26 year old first baseman Dutch Breunig (.315,4,80) and second sacker Artie D'Alessandro,27, (.264,5,68) getting the call. It has been a tough off-season for all, but especially the Pioneers who had such an exciting second half of the season and were looking to build on that with a run at their first pennant since 1921. In addition to the duo mentioned above the Pioneers also lost two-time all-star catcher Heinie Zimmer to the Navy a couple of weeks ago.
Montreal will be without 24 year old Wally Reif as the rookie has joined the Air Corps. Reif went 9-10 with a 4.14 era in his big league debut last season.
This is likely the end for Frank Crawford, as the 35-year-old southpaw was drafted into the Army. The veteran was in line for potential starts with the Chicago Cougars following the enlistments of Joe Brown and Johnnie Jones, but Crawford will now join them overseas. The former 10th Overall Pick appeared in 304 FABL games for the Keystones, Dynamos, and Cougars, going 142-104 with a 3.87 ERA (112 ERA+) and 1,072 strikeouts in 2,216.1 innings pitched.
It is likely also the end of Del Lyons as the 38 year old relief specialist joined the Navy. The four-time all-star had 25 saves last season -tops in the Continental Association- and has been Brooklyn's relief specialist for well over a decade. He set the single season FABL save record with 29 in 1938 and his career total of 182 is the most all-time.
Here is the latest round of players to get the call for Military Service.
BOSTON- Dutch Day P, Joe Sargent P, Jay Buckingham OF
BROOKLYN- Del Lyons P, Roger Upton C, Vince D'Alessandro 2B, Lee Shapiro 3B-OF,
CHIEFS- Charlie Bingham P, Ducky Jordan 2B, Ossie Grogan OF, Dode Foster OF
COUGARS- John Little P, Frank Crawford P, Steve Mountain C
CINCINNATI- Jim Anderson P, Jesse Bowen P, Earl Sanders C, Len Werner OF
CLEVELAND- Elmer Bradbury P, Frank Petrillo P, Jack Thornhill P, Jim Zimmerman P, Ken Vance C, Vic James OF
DETROIT- Norm Brown P, Mule Earl P
MONTREAL- Wally Reif P, Tony Hendricks OF, Bert Thomas OF, Milt Bennett OF
NY STARS- George Hampton P, Bill Keith P, Austin Moore 2B, Dave Haight OF
NY GOTHAMS- Sandy Giles P, Steve Groves P, John Hartz P, Gussie Harris C, Charlie Moore 1B, Leonardo Magana OF
KEYSTONES- Don Fluharty P, Charlie Gump C, John Nuriddin 2B, Don Cooper OF
SAILORS- Tom Cipolla P, Scotty Thomas P, Dave Doolittle C, Hal Carter Inf, Bob Smith 2B
PITTSBURGH- Jocko Goodrum 1B, Pinky Pierce OF, Leo Clark OF, Dudley Rose OF
ST LOUIS- Dutch Breunig 1B, Artie D'Alessandro SS, Walter McClure OF
TORONTO- Lou Jayson P, Jack Smtih P, Mike Rollinson 2B, Whitey Acton OF
WASHINGTON- Jim Federov P, Dick Gibbs P, Mack Brubaker P, Henry Crawley OF
CANNONS HOPE CATCHING ISSUE IS SOLVED
The biggest challenge the Cincinnati Cannons faced for 1944 was to figure out who is going to take over behind the plate after All-Star catcher Adam Mullins left for the Navy at the beginning of the month. With Mullins out of the picture the prospects were scary as skipper Ad Doria had the choice between backup Ed Sala, who hit .191 last season, or minor league veterans like Tommy Morris, Hughie Fletcher or A.J. Warren. None of those options sat too well with the Cannons brass so the club made a move to bring Buster Farrar back to the Queen City. The 32 year old spent parts of 3 seasons with the Cannons organization before he was lost to the New York Stars in the rule five draft two years ago. He was the backup in New York, where he slashed .270/.358/.429 in 65 games last season and with the Stars having some depth behind the plate but holes practically everywhere else in the line-up a deal was worked out that was beneficial to both teams.
In return for Farrar, the Cannons sent a pair of veteran players off their AAA roster along with 2 draft picks to the Big Apple. The players are 39 year old pitcher Lyman Weigel and 35 year old first baseman John Herrick. Both will likely get the opportunity to return to the majors with the Stars next season, something that would have been unlikely had they remained in Cincinnati. Weigel has ties to the New York General Manager as he pitched for him when both were in Cleveland. He is 88-80 for his major league career highlighted by a 15-8 campaign for the Foresters in 1936. The Cannons signed Weigel as a minor league free agent two years ago after Cleveland cut him loose and he had a solid season (12-7, 3.07) for Indianapolis a year ago. Herrick, who has played 312 career FABL games, was also a free agent pickup and he hit 40 homers last year -most in professional baseball- while shuffling between 4 teams at 3 levels. The Cannons also send their 6th and 7th round draft picks to New York meaning the Stars have as many of Cincinnati's picks in the human GM portion of the draft as the Cannons do. The Stars already added Cincinnati's 2nd and 4th round selections in summer deal that moved Chris Clarke to the Cannons.
It is a good move for all involved. Cincinnati stood a good chance of losing both Weigel and Herrick in the upcoming Rule Five draft. The two players now get a chance to return to the major leagues in New York while the Cannons have hopefully addressed their biggest weakness right now with the acquisition of Farrar.
- There has been some chatter but very little in the way of action by FABL clubs on the trade front, until the Cincinnati-New York deal broke. We certainly had a flurry of moves in the summer at the deadline but the winter meetings so far have been very quiet: similar to what was seen the past two off-seasons as the clubs continue to worry about the military draft taking away key pieces....something that has certainly made trading feel a little too risky for many right now.
- One good thing for baseball: Buried in all the headlines of star players leaving for the war effort is the fact that little has been said from the War Manpower or Transportation bosses about the possibility baseball might not be allowed to continue. That, of course, was all the talk a year ago but the game survived -even thrived with record attendance thanks in no small part to free passes for servicemen and essential workers. This year there has been no talk at all about shutting the sport down so baseball will most certainly continue although business will be far from normal. So many of the stars are gone, but there are fresh bodies to take their place. Sure many of them are of AA or lower quality but fans won't care, as long as the newcomers are clad in the hometown flannels and give an honest effort they will have plenty of support.
- Line of the week: The mass exodus of big league talent caused Percy Sutherland to wonder "If AA pitchers are throwing to AA hitters, is it still a FABL game? A question for the ages."
RECORD BREAKING SEASON FOR THOMAS
There is little doubt that the best player in the American Football Association right now is Del Thomas. The Boston Americans quarterback continued his record-breaking season with a 199 yard passing day to help Boston double Brooklyn 28-14 in their season finale. The win improves the Americans AFA-best mark to 9-1 on the season and they will look to win a second straight AFA title game against the Chicago Wildcats on December 19th. For Thomas, the big passing day allowed him to become the first player in AFA history to throw for over 2,000 yards in a season. His 2,045 aerial yards easily smash the previous single-season mark of 1,886 established by Dewey Burnett with Detroit a year ago. Thomas also threw 4 touchdown passes in the game, giving him 25 on the season, which is also a new AFA single-season mark breaking the previous total of 21 that Burnett had accomplished twice. But that is not all as Thomas set a league record on the defensive side of the ball as well. His interception in the win over the Kings, gave him 13 on the season which is also a new AFA single-season mark -one that had stood up since Pittsburgh's Harvey Bowman had 12 picks in 1934.
Thomas has led the Americans to a pair of AFA titles, both wins coming over Chicago, and he was named the championship game Most Valuable Player a year ago. If Boston can beat Chicago again next month it will allow Thomas to become the first quarterback to lead his team to 3 AFA championships in the modern era.
*** AMERICANS COMEBACK TO WIN ****
Boston spotted the Kings a 14-0 first half lead before Thomas and his mates heated up after the break with 4 touchdowns -all coming on Thomas passes- in the second half. Johnny Littlejohn had two of the scoring catches to give him an AFA best 11 touchdown grabs on the year. It has been a breakout season for Littlejohn, who did not expect to be back with the Americans until after the war ended. He was a 1941 11th round pick of the club out of Golden Gate University and had 17 catches as a rookie while also handling some of the placekicking duties. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor he enlisted in the Army and, despite being color-blind, passed his initial physical. During training it was discovered and he was discharged, returning to the Americans for this season where he, along with veteran end Craig Martins, give Del Thomas possibly the best receiving duo in the AFA. (Although folks in Detroit might say it is Stan Vaught and anyone else the Maroons line-up as the other end.)
Elsewhere, Chicago finished out it's regular season with a 28-7 win over the Cleveland Finches behind a 3-touchdown passing day from Gus Brown. The only other game on Sunday saw the New York Football Stars play the combined Philadelphia-St Louis outfit to a 7-7 draw at Sailors Memorial Park in Philadelphia.
Code:
AFA STANDINGS
EASTERN W L T PCT
Boston 9 1 0 .900
Phil-StL 3 3 2 .500
New York 3 4 2 .429
Brooklyn 1 7 0 .125
WESTERN W L T PCT
Chicago 7 3 0 .700
Detroit 5 4 1 .556
Pittsburgh 4 5 0 .444
Cleveland 2 7 1 .222
AFA SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
Sunday November 28
New York 7 Phil-StL 7
Chicago 28 Cleveland 7
Boston 28 Brooklyn 14
Sunday December 5
Phil-StL at Brooklyn
Pittsburgh at New York
Code:
AFA LEADERS
SCORING PTS
Vaught, Det 87
Littlejohn, Bos 78
Martins, Bos 54
McElheny, NY 48
PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT
D Thomas, Bos 171-305 2045 25 16
G Brown, Chi 104-198 1403 20 16
Orlosky, Det 68-163 926 7 15
Sevier, Cle 77-168 911 3 34
RUSHING YDS TD
Orlosky, Det 776 5
D Davis, PhS 685 3
McElheny, NY 674 8
Milatz, NY 622 1
Schroeder, Chi 698 1
RECEIVING CAT TD
Vaught, Det 50 8
Martins, Bos 47 7
Littlejohn, Bos 44 11
Sutcliffe, Cle 32 0
Schroeder, Chi 27 2
INERCEPTIONS #
D Thomas, Bos 13
Coleman, Det 10
Vaught, Det 8
G Brown, Chi 8
Scharfenb'rgr Det 8
CLASSIC GAMES SET AS COLLEGE SEASON COMES TO AN END
The matchups are set for the New Year's Day Classic games as the college football season comes to an end. Well, technically there is still one more game left as March Field will play College of San Diego on December 11 but that contest will have no bearing on the New Years games.
The big one is the East-West Classic and the winner will likely be declared National Champion as the 8-0 Wisconsin Catholic Cavaliers head west to play in their very first New Year's game where they will meet the Northern California Miners. The Miners finished out their season with a 9-1 record following a 13-10 win over Del Monte Pre-Flight on Saturday. Northern Cal was a perfect 4-0 in the 3-team West Coast Athletic Association after being Coastal California and winless CC Los Angeles twice each. Northern Cal, which last played in the East-West Classic in 1922, will likely be a slight favourite.
A 21-0 shutout win Southwestern Alliance rival Travis College (6-3) earned Darnell State (8-1) a trip to Miami and a berth in the Sunshine Classic against North Carolina Tech. The Techsters also finished 8-1 on the season, including a 21-3 win over Eastern State Saturday. As for Travis College, the Bucks will also play on New Years with Great Lakes Alliance champion Minnesota Tech (9-0) providing the opposition. It will be the Lakers second appearance in the Desert Classic in 3 years as they pounded Canyon A&M 51-23 in the 1941 game.
Georgia Baptist (5-4) had a rough season with a roster hard hit by graduation and the war but the Gators did finish a perfect 3-0 in the slimmed down Deep South Conference including getting a small measure of revenge on Noble Jones College for that devastating loss a year ago. The Gators won 36-14 over Noble Jones and that earned them a spot in the Cajun Classic in New Orleans. They will square off with Amarillo Methodist, which finished 6-2 including a 17-3 victory over Texas Gulf Coast on the weekend. The final New Year's game is the Lone Star Classic from Austin which will see 6-2 Eastern State square off against 5-1-1 Prove Tech.
There was some difficult filling the Lone Star Classic as a number of teams, including unbeatens George Fox, Pittsburgh State and Penn Catholic along with 7-2-1 St Blane all electing not to play a postseason game.
One other notable score from the final weekend saw Annapolis Maritime crush Rome State 31-3 in the annual battle of the service academies. It was not a great season for either as the Navigators went 6-3 while the Centurions were a very disappointing 1-8 on the year. This marked the third straight season Annapolis Maritime claimed the bragging rights from their yearly Thanksgiving weekend matchup.
WEEKEND RESULTS
Lawrence State 20 Fort Riley 0
Alexandria 55 Maryland State 13
North Carolina Pre-Flight 19 Charleston Tech 7
Pierpont 21 Brunswick 0
Golden Gate University 7 Provo Tech 3
Columbia Military Academy 10 Cowpens State 6
Darnell State 21 Travis College 0
Arkansas A&T 24 Payne State 10
Ellery 30 Empire State 7
Northern California 13 Del Monte Pre-Flight 10
Georgia Baptist 36 Noble Jones College 14
St. Blane 13 Great Lakes Navy 0
Minnesota Tech 26 Iowa Pre-Flight 0
Annapolis Maritime 31 Rome State 3
North Carolina Tech 21 Eastern State 3
Oklahoma City State 15 College of Omaha 7
Mile High State 13 Eastern Oklahoma 10
Coastal California 13 CC Los Angeles 0
Amarillo Methodist 17 Texas Gulf Coast 3
Red River State 14 Killeen State 13
March Field 13 San Diego Navy 6
SERVICE ACADEMIES OFF TO FAST START
Unlike on the grid where both have struggled this season, the two military academy schools are both off to a quick start on the hardwood. Annapolis Maritime is 6-0 and ranked 8th in the latest AIAA rankings while Rome State is 5-0 and holds down the 14th slot on the top 25 list. Being among the best teams in the sport is nothing new for the naval academy as Annapolis Maritime has been a fixture in the post-season championship tournament and even reached the semi-finals twice a little over a decade ago. Last season the Navigators were 25-7, and have won at least twenty contests every year since 1925-26. Things have not been so rosy down in Georgia where Rome State has not made the National Tournament since the spring of 1935 and the Centurions rarely reach the 20-win plateau in a season, although they did go 21-8 a year ago.
The voters shifted their allegiance among western clubs just slightly this week as Coastal California nosed ahead of Rainier College for the top spot in the polls. The 3-0 Dolphins did not play in a preseason tournament but scored impressive victories over San Francisco Tech, Gates University and Bronx Tech -all on the road- to earn the favour of the voters. The Dolphins are averaging 55 points a night with 3 players in double-figures led by junior forward Morgan Melcher's 16.3 ppg. The Majestics are the defending National Champions and improved to 5-0 with wins over Gates University and Mahoning Valley State this week.
Code:
AIAA COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
1. Coastal California (59) 3-0 1784 2 West Coast Athletic Association
2. Rainier College (7) 5-0 1726 1 West Coast Athletic Association
3. North Carolina Tech (4) 3-0 1654 3 South Atlantic Conference
4. Western Iowa (2) 4-0 1600 4 Great Lakes Alliance
5. St. Ignatius 2-0 1509 5 Great Lakes Alliance
6. Western Florida 3-0 1393 7 Deep South Conference
7. Minnesota Tech 6-0 1380 8 Great Lakes Alliance
8. Annapolis Maritime 6-0 1277 11 Independent
9. Ohio Poly 4-0 1217 12 Independent
10. Whitney College 1-0 1151 9 Great Lakes Alliance
11. Frankford State 3-0 1106 10 Northeast Conference
12. Northern California 3-0 920 16 West Coast Athletic Association
13. Detroit City College 5-1 808 6 Great Lakes Alliance
14. Rome State 5-0 753 18 Independent
15. Brookland 5-0 596 NR Independent
16. Lincoln 3-0 588 NR Great Lakes Alliance
17. Dickson 3-0 577 19 Academia Alliance
18. Sadler 2-0 508 23 Academia Alliance
19. Perry State College 3-0 442 NR Midwestern Association
20. Red River State 3-0 425 24 Southwestern Alliance
21. Brooklyn State 2-1 361 22 Northeast Conference
22. St. Pancras 3-0 315 NR Northeast Conference
23. Piedmont University 3-0 264 NR Independent
24. Pierpont 2-0 206 NR Academia Alliance
25. Mobile Maritime 2-1 175 NR South Atlantic Conference
RESULTS INVOLVING RANKED TEAMS
MONDAY NOV 22
#2 Rainier College 52 Mahoning Valley State 38
#8 Annapolis Maritime 58 University of New Jersey 31
#14 Rome State 64 Brandywine 58
#15 Brookland 58 Bethlehem College 33
#16 Lincoln 41 Bliss College 36
#25 Mobile Maritime 57 Penn Catholic 52
TUESDAY NOV 23
#21 Brooklyn State 53 Central Carolina 35
#23 Piedmont University 53 Miami State 46
WEDNESDAY NOV 24
#1 Coastal California 57 Gates University 49
#8 Annapolis Maritime 47 Brunswick 36
#9 Ohio Poly 44 Western State 37
#12 Northern California 54 Tinker 46
#17 Dickston 44 Ogdensburg 37
THURSDAY NOV 25
#6 Western Florida 66 Columbia Military Academy 50
#11 Frankford State 57 Eastern State 36
#19 Perry State College 49 Queen City 41
#22 St Pancras 53 Ellery 42
#24 Pierpont 53 St Matthew's College 48
#25 Mobile Maritime 52 Centerville 43
FRIDAY NOV 26
#4 Western Iowa 52 East Missouri Seminary 32
#9 Ohio Poly 46 Cumberland 41
#12 Northern California 50 Wichita Baptist 37
#13 Detroit City College 54 Central Carolina 38
#14 Rome State 41 Cuyahoga University 31
#15 Brookland 45 West Corners(NY) 27
#20 Red River State 51 Quaker College(CA) 43
SATURDAY NOV 27
#1 Coastal California 54 Bronx Tech 45
#7 Minnesota Tech 66 Lambert College 58
#19 Perry State College 49 Eastern Kansas 46
#22 St Pancras 39 Adirondack State 31
SUNDAY NOV 28
#8 Annapolis Maritime 58 Eastern State 34
#9 Ohio Poly 46 St Magnus 37
#15 Brookland 50 Glover(GA) 38
#16 Lincoln 45 Springfield State 38
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 11/28/1943
- Berlin is aflame following a record raid, one that includes reports from neutral sources that said there was a strong possibility that the buildings which house the Nazi Government had been hit. By week's end, nightly bombing attacks on Berlin are said to have leveled a third of the blazing capital.
- An all-out counter attack by German forces numbering over 100,000 along with hundreds of tanks has driven the Soviets back towards Kiev. The Russian retreat was short-lived as by the end of the weak the Nazi offensive had been repulsed and the Russian advance restarted.
- The Archbishop of Milan charged the Germans with sacking churches on the outskirts of the Italian city, calling them "Godless hordes of bandits who intend to overthrow all dogma and all morale."
- Hand to hand combat between American and Japanese troops on narrow, sandy beachheads over two Japanese outposts in the Gilbert Islands, about 2,400 miles southwest of Honolulu.
- General Patton will not be relieved of his command for striking a wounded soldier and calling him "yellow-bellied" in a Sicilian hospital tent because he was considered "necessary and valuable" to Allied operations in Sicily but his conduct was criticized "mercilessly" by his commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
- President Roosevelt has asked Congress for 'immediate; consideration of a 3-point federally-financed program to tide over service men and women in the "difficult period of adjustment" after the war.