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Jiggs McGee · 10-14-2022, 04:16 PM

APRIL 24, 1944

PLAY BALL! 1944 SEASON IS UNDERWAY

Baseball is back and so too it appears are the Pittsburgh Miners. Many, although Dan Barrell of the OSA was one notable exception, pegged the Miners as a middle of the table club at best this season but judging by the first week the Pittsburgh Nine may be tough to handle. Now it is only seven games but starting the season with six straight victories before finally dropping the second game of yesterday's twin bill vs Boston while averaging close to 7 runs a contest will certainly cause many to take notice.

It was newcomer Moxie Pidgeon, acquired from Cincinnati the day before the season started, that led the way, batting .370 with 2 homers and looking comfortable in his new spot as the Miners first baseman. Pidgeon had plenty of company in the list of those off to a solid start in Pittsburgh with outfielders Like Berry (.480,2,7) and Whit Williams (.310,1,9) also near the top. The fact that Pittsburgh's fast start came at the expense of Washington and Boston - a pair of teams expected to among the better squads in the Fed this season- makes it all the more impressive. The test for Pittsburgh will get harder in the week ahead with trips to Philadelphia and rematch with the Minutemen in Boston. Those two clubs each received plenty of support as the teams to beat in the Fed this season. While the Minutemen struggled through a 2-5 opening week -thanks in no small part to 3 losses in 4 outings vs Pittsburgh- the Keystones had a 4-2 start as they faced the same two opponents in Pittsburgh and Washington that the Miners started with.

The first week in the Continental Association saw little separation as each of the 8 teams sit within a game of each other. Toronto, at 3-2 claims the top spot thanks to some outstanding pitching while 2-3 Philadelphia is the only other team not to finish the opening week at .500.

MOSS HITS 3 HOMERS VS STARS

The opening week of the season saw something that has only happened 21 times previously in FABL history - a player hit 3 homeruns in a single game. Cliff Moss of the Chicago Cougars turned the trick Wednesday in an 11-2 romp over the New York Stars. For Moss, who also accomplished the feat in 1938 while playing for the Chicago Chiefs, it makes him just the second player ever to hit three homers in two different FABL games. He joins Tom Taylor, who was actually a teammate of Moss on the '38 Chiefs and on the Chicago bench for Cliff's 3-homers off Boston's Art Keeter that day, as the only two to accomplish it. Taylor enjoyed his two big bat days just 4 days apart in August on 1928.

As for last week Moss, who was named the Continental Association player of the week for his efforts, hit his first homer Wednesday as a solo shot in the 4th inning off Stars starter Johnny Cook to put the Cougars up 2-0 at the time. In the seventh he hit a 2-run shot off of reliever Ben Watkins to make the score 10-1 and then added a solo shot off Watkins with one out in the bottom of the ninth to complete the Chicago scoring. The first of those three homeruns was the 250th of Moss' career and he finished the day in 14th all-time with 252 homeruns. His Cougars teammate (and also former teammate with the Chiefs for his last 3 HR game) Hank Barnett would homer a couple of days later to pull even with Moss at 252 for his career.

IS PANNETON TOO GOOD FOR COLLEGE BALL?

Aberdeen College Righthander Ranked Higher Than Most FABL Hurlers By OSA

We have seen a number of position players make the jump straight from the college ranks to the big leagues without making a pit stop in the minors but it is almost unheard of for a pitcher to take such a path. Eli Panneton appears to be no ordinary pitcher. The 22 year old from Winnipeg, Canada did not play high school ball or even college ball prior to this year. Instead he has pitched in various semi-pro loops in his home country until catching the attention of Jud Colflesh, the head baseball coach at Aberdeen University in South Dakota and a former draft pick of the Montreal Saints.

Colflesh convinced Panneton to come to his school last September and was instrumental in getting big league scouts out to see him workout before the FABL draft began in January. All came away very impressed but none more so than the New York Stars, who selected the righthander 4th overall despite the fact he has yet to play any high level amateur ball. Panneton and his Aberdeen College Wolves teammates have just embarked on their season and OSA is now so excited with the 22 year old that they list him third among all pitchers not in the military right now. That's not prospects. That's established big league arms. Panneton ranks only behind Ed Bowman and the injured Deuce Barrell (along with Cougars war contributions Pete Papenfus and Donnie Jones) in the scouting services list of the best pitchers in the world.

It is hard not to imagine a scenario where Panneton does not make his big league debut immediately after inking a contract with the Stars. That will have to be after June 22nd as FABL clubs are prohibited from signing their draftees until after the full draft is completed on that date. No amateur pitcher has ever graced a top twenty player list, something that has been maintained by the league for decades. It will be very interesting to see what kind of numbers Panneton puts up at a lower level school like Aberdeen College, and even more intriguing is just what will he do when he finally makes it to New York?

With the first week in the books the Minutemen finished 2-5 looking anything like the contenders they are looking to be. Dean Astle looked well enough pitching in the opener against the Keystones but was the victim of three Boston fielding errors. Two of those errors were courtesy of Clifton Smith which led to three unearned Keystone runs. Those three runs were more than enough for Red Ross as he stymied the Boston bats for a complete game shutout. In game two of the series it was Philadelphia’s turn to kick the ball around but they had the offense to overcome their defensive miscues and beat the Minutemen 5-4 in 12 innings. Ed Wood worked for 10.2 innings in this one but couldn’t secure the win. Backup catcher Walt Potter delivered the go-ahead hit for the Keystones off of Tom Martin. In the final game of the series, and the second game of the day, Walt Wells pitched around five walks and five hits to keep the Philadelphia offense to three unearned runs. A three run bottom of the sixth from none other than Boston starter WALT WELLS was the difference in the game. With that win the Minutemen caught a train to Pittsburgh for four games in three days against the Miners.

In game one Duke Hendricks could not get out of the first inning bombed him for 7 runs. Although only two of those runs were earned thanks in large part to Clifton Smith's third error of the season, it was not a good showing for Hendricks who was coming off a bad spring to begin with. Butch Campbell provided 6.1 innings of solid relief and the offense did score five runs on ten hits but they could never overcome the seven spot the Miners scored in the second. In game two another error for Smith at SS leading to another unearned run that would play huge in a 4-2 loss. Although it is early in the season Billy Boshart must be thinking about a move at SS. The red hot Pittsburgh offense handed it to Dean Astle in game three of the series getting him for 5 earned runs and handing him his second loss in as many starts on the season. Bill Moore hit his first home run in the game for Boston in this one, but they were never really in it from the start. In the second game of the double header Ed Wood saved Boston from complete embarrassment with a 8.1 inning 2 earned run performance. The offense was able to cobble together five runs on eight hits to hand the Miners their only loss of the season.

Ol’ Doc knows that it is really dangerous to make any grand assumptions a week into the season. However, in this case it may be warranted. Clifton Smith looks completely lost defensively. His four errors accounted for a number of unearned runs at a key infield position. Offensively, Smith has started the season a paltry 2-24 with seven strikeouts. Ol’ Doc just can’t see Billy Boshart not making a change here. Especially when you have a defensive wizard playing 2B instead of his natural position. Ol’ Doc could definitely see a scenario where Lew moves back to SS, Smith moves to splinter control on the bench and Henry Warren gets a shot at second. As for the week ahead, starting on Tuesday it will be three against Washington on the road before the club heads home to hopefully enact some revenge on the Miners for four in three days.

EDITOR'S NOTE - We get a double helping of Doc Shaw today as the below article was a late arriving season preview from the Boston scribe.

Boston, fresh off a Federal Association crown, will be looking to see if they can repeat as association champions. If the Minutemen could hold off the rest of the tough FA competition it would mark their third championship in the last four seasons. However, skipper Billy Boshart is fully expecting a tough climb to the top and is definitely not banking on past success. For Boston fans, the roster will largely be the same group that they have come to love, but there are a few new additions sprinkled in.

Pitchers:
The Minutemen have made the decision to break camp with nine pitchers on their roster. This may have to do with the amount of doubleheaders the team will play over the course of the season. Still, it is difficult to see how all nine arms will get adequate work. Pitching Coach Marty Scroggins also shared that Butch Campbell pitched so well this spring that he essentially forced the clubs hand. Campbell and Tom Martin both have options left so a change down the road is entirely possible.
Rotation:
Dean Astle
Ed Wood
Walt Wells
Duke Hendricks
Paul Richardson
34 year old left hander Dean Astle will anchor the Boston rotation this season. If Astle can stay healthy he would really put Ed Wood into some favorable matchups throughout the season. Marty Scroggins views both Astle and Wood as top of the rotation arms and considers them both staff aces.
Walt Wells is the consummate innings eater that performs at a high level. The Minutemen credit Wells for a lot of the team's success since he came over in a trade with the Sailors in 1941. Even at 36 years of age Wells has shown no sign of slowing down. If Boston is going to make a run at the FA title, Wells will be key.
Hendricks and Richardson will round out the Boston rotation. Last season Hendricks posted a 18-6 record which any club will take from a 4th starter. Richardson was acquired from the Sailors last season and didn’t have quite the same success as he did in Philadelphia but Boston feels that they can get something out of him at the back of the rotation. If not Boston has other options in the pen that may be able to slide into that 5th spot.
Bullpen:
Butch Campbell
Clarence Linden
Dick Higgins
Tom Martin
The big surprise here is Tom Martin in the stopper role going into the season. With five different offerings Boston would love to have Martin in the rotation but after a lackluster Spring are going to start him in the bullpen. OSA and Head Scout Johnny Robards love Martin as an above average starter (possibly #2) but at 25 years of age the performance has not matched the hype. With options left, Martin could see some time in AAA Columbus if he stumbles in the first month of the season.
Can anyone believe that this is Dick Higgins 10th year with the club? Injuries have robbed the former 2nd overall pick of the illustrious career everyone in Boston had envisioned. Even still, Higgins serves as the reliable bullpen piece and spot starter. Those players hold a lot of value in the league.
Butch Cambell and Clarence Linden will also make the club out of camp. Cambell has options while Linden does not. Linden had a rougher spring and could find himself as an expendable piece if things get too bad.

Catchers:
Bill Van Ness
Bob Artesan
Has there been a player where the organization has been more patient with than Van Ness? Going into his 7th season with the big club Bill is coming off his best season as an overall player. That being said, there is still lots of room for growth. Right now Van Ness is rated as the 8th best catcher in the league which may be saying more about the quality of the position in the league as opposed to how far Van Ness has come. With the loss of Jack Flint to the war effort Van ness will be pushed this season to provide more offensively.

Infielders:
1B Bill Moore
1B Willie Jones
1B Bob Donoghue
2B Henry Warren
3B Art Spencer
SS Lew McClendon
SS Clifton Smith
SS Bill Gustafson
Listing the primary positions of the infielders is not really painting an accurate picture here. Donoghue will see some time in left field, McClendon will play second base and Clifton Smith will take over at SS. The corners will be manned by Bill Moore at 1B and Art Spencer across the diamond at 3rd.
The middle infield was the story of the spring. Lew McClendon is an exceptional defensive SS but was gracious enough to move to second when the club acquired Harry Barrell to help the club take the pennant. With Barrell off to war the hole at second reared its ugly head once again. Manager Billy Boshart shared that the club tried to solve the problem through rule V but that didn’t pan out. So the next option, aside from making a trade, was to solve the issue in house. Clifton Smith, the club's second round pick from 1939, was tabbed for the job. Smith is only 22 years old but younger players have been able to contribute so the club spent the spring trying to convert the defensively talented SS to 2B. In the end though it was McClendon that approached the club and offered to move back to 2B to let Smith play his more natural position of SS. Boshart says that “Lew is just a stand up guy, and we are lucky to have such a selfless player”. The move may be short lived however as Smith didn’t show much offensively this spring leaving the club thinking if all they did was put a band-aid on a stab wound.

Outfielders:
LF Bob Corvin
LF Joe Watson
RF Bob Bolton
RF Pete Day
CF Chick Donnelly
The starters will be Watson in left, Donnelly in center and Day in right. The outfield group is considered to be another strong point of the club. 1943 Whitney Award winner Pete Day will begin his 11th season in the Boston outfield and will be the club’s primary leadoff batter. Currently Day is sitting at 1696 hits in a Boston uniform. Another solid season would vault Day past Fred Huffman for 4th on the all-time hit list for the Minutemen. Day is the straw that stirs the drink at the top of the lineup. Next to Day in CF will be Chick Donnelly. Chick is also entering his 11th season in the Boston outfield and has quietly put together an amazing career making a case for best hitter to ever wear a Boston Minutemen uniform. At 32 years of age Donnelly is 13 hits shy of 2000 for his career, and 384 hits short of Bill McMurtie (2371) for the organizations all-time hit record. While Donnelly won’t catch McMurtie this season it seems inevitable that he will eclipse that mark. With a good showing through his mid 30’s is it out of the question for Chick to hit 3,000 for his career? The 3000+ hit club only has 11 members in it with Frank Vance, Al Wheeler and possibly Bob Martin with outside chances to join it from the active player pool. Rounding out the outfield will be Joe Watson in left field who the club is counting on for another plus season offensively.

First Week:
Once the gloves come off to start the season on April 18th the Minutemen will face a major test at home against Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a popular pick to take the Fed this year and they will bring a very solid team to Minuteman Stadium for three games in two days. Next the Minutemen will travel to Pittsburgh who are looking to have a bounce back year and prove they are still a force in the Association.

Cliff Moss hit his 250th career homerun as part of his 3 round-tripper game against the Stars on Wednesday. Only 15 players have hit that many all-time.
There are some big boppers approaching milestones this season. Al Wheeler of the Chicago Chiefs hit 2 homers last week and is now just 8 shy of joining Max Morris and Rankin Kellogg as the only players to hit 450 career FABL homeruns. Bobby Barrell did not homer in the opening week for the Keystones but is just 7 shy of 350 and Moxie Pidgeon, who seems to have found new life in Pittsburgh after the trade from Cincinnati, homered twice in his first week as a Miner and now has 292 for his career.
Boston's Chick Donnelly and Cliff Moss of the Cougars are both closing in on 2,000 career hits. Donnelly needs 5 more while Moss is 8 shy. Henry Jones, waived by the Stars, needs 16 hits to reach 2,000. Meanwhile Bobby Barrell is just 54 away from 2,500 and Cincinnati's Jack Cleaves needs 71 to reach that standard.
Quite a big league debut for Pat Williams with the Keystones. The 25 year old - a 1936 15th round draft selection who spent most of last season in AA- certainly stated his case for the 5th starter spot in Philadelphia well with a complete game 3-hit shutout of Washington in his first taste of FABL action.

PRO GRID LOOP HOPEFUL BUT KRISTICH SAYS IT'S UP TO GOVERNMENT

Whether professional football continues is "up to the Government." league President Jack Kristich said as club owners of the American Football Association opened their four-day meeting. "The league's objective is getting the war over with as quickly as possible," he said. "Therefore, it is up the Government. Whenever they want us to quit we are ready. But," he continued, "I feel we are making a definite contribution to the wartime athletic program by keeping the league in operation. The game is an incentive to our American kids, who gain a fighting spirit that serves them well in war or peace."

The AFA head went on record against the replenishing of war-shruken club rosters with boys of subdraft age. "I think boys of 16 or 17 should definitely be in college first," he said. "We must consider the boy himself and his development."

Kristich pointed out that football, being a contact sport, makes it necessary to be extremely careful in choosing youngsters. "However, it may be necessary to use some of the younger players due to the manpower shortage," he said. "We are exploiting may sources for material."

*** Baltimore Wants Team ***

The AFA plans to operate with 10 teams again in 1944, back to it's pre-war number and two more than were active a year ago. The expansion Cincinnati Monarchs are set to join the Washington Wasps -who return after a one year absence- as the newcomers. The Philadelphia Frigates are also back after a year spent as combined team with the St Louis Ramblers. The Ramblers will not compete solo in 1944 either, formalizing a partnership with the Cleveland Finches for the upcoming season. That team will be based out of Cleveland and the plan is for it to be strictly known as the Finiches, unlike a year ago when the Philadelphia- St Louis combined entry earned the nickname Friglers.

The selection of Cincinnati, announced earlier this winter, was made over Baltimore as the tenth team in no small part because the league felt the Ohio city would fit in much better with an opening in the Western Division. For Baltimore it is another bitter loss to the Queen City as the the old Baltimore Cannons FABL franchise was sold and moved to Cincinnati prior to the 1940 season.

The Baltimore group is so committed to having a team in the AFA this fall that, even after being informed their bid was not accepted at this time, they sent AFA President Jack Kristich a certified check for $25,000 with a letter stating the club will be ready to operate in the fall if the league approves it at it's Philadelphia meetings this week. In the letter to Kristich, the would-be Baltimore owners stated that "if granted a franchise, we are prepared to turn over to you an additional $25,000 immediately, and to operate this year."

It seems highly unlikely the bid will be accepted as it would be quite a puzzle for the AFA to put together an operating schedule for an 11-team loop and there is said to be zero chance the league considers operating as a 12-team loop in 1944.

NORTHEAST IS NO LONGER

One of the original conferences of college basketball has fallen apart with news that the Northeast Conference is disbanding. While the official word is that the war effort and a focus on reduced travel is the reason, it has been no secret that a pair of Boston schools in Commonwealth Catholic and St. Patrick's have threatened to exit the loop for a few years now. There had been a group of 4 schools, with St Pancras and St Matthew's College joining the Boston duo as those that wanted out but, surprisingly, it was Brooklyn State and Garden State that initiated the destruction of the section.

The Bears and Redbirds had been powers of the conference -with 4 AIAA titles between them since 1932- and along with mighty Liberty College -winners of 3 national titles since 1936- had distanced themselves quality-wise from the rest of the group. That created a lot of animosity with the other four, who each enjoyed great success in the past but had all threatened to leave the conference multiple times in recent years. While never publically stated it was clear that the feeling with those four was that if they were independents -or in a conference without Brooklyn State, Garden State and Liberty- they would stand a much better chance of making the National Tournament and the dollars that came with it.

For Brooklyn State and Garden State to be the ones to leave it seemed to give the other four what they desired but immediatley following the news of their departure both St Matthew's College - a Washington DC school- and tiny St Martin's College out of Hartford- each cited the war and travel issues as reason they too were dropping out. That left only five schools: Commonwealth Catholic,Frankford State, Liberty College, St Pancras and St Patrick's and the decision was made to, at least temporarily, scuttle the conference and have all play as independents. That is nothing new for the schools as none are members of a conference for football, although they do often schedule each other as independents.

All but Garden State had been original members in the Northeast Conference since 1913 with the Redbirds joining the flock two years later. The NEC leaves a rich history that includes 7 National Tournament Championship winning teams and 5 times an NEC athlete was named AIAA Basketball Player of the Year.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/23/1944

Heavy Allied air raids, numbering as many as 3,000 planes a night, continue to lash Germany.
Nazi troops are on alert from Norway to Spain -ordered by Berlin to be at the ready for an impending Allied invasion.
Russian forces have ripped into the inner defenses of Sevastopol and are reported battling on the same lines where the Soviet garrison made it's main stand in the 250-day siege of 1941-42.
Finland has rejected Russia's second peace offer, and armistice negotiations were considered broken off.
Allied forces strike at the Netherlands Indies for the first time since the fall of the Islands in March of 1942.
A draft ban on men over 26 has been lifted as Selective Service is once more instructing local draft boards to induct men over 26 who are not engaged in war-supporting activities.

10-14-2022, 04:16 PM	#541
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	April 24, 1944: Season is Underway APRIL 24, 1944 PLAY BALL! 1944 SEASON IS UNDERWAY Baseball is back and so too it appears are the Pittsburgh Miners. Many, although Dan Barrell of the OSA was one notable exception, pegged the Miners as a middle of the table club at best this season but judging by the first week the Pittsburgh Nine may be tough to handle. Now it is only seven games but starting the season with six straight victories before finally dropping the second game of yesterday's twin bill vs Boston while averaging close to 7 runs a contest will certainly cause many to take notice. It was newcomer Moxie Pidgeon, acquired from Cincinnati the day before the season started, that led the way, batting .370 with 2 homers and looking comfortable in his new spot as the Miners first baseman. Pidgeon had plenty of company in the list of those off to a solid start in Pittsburgh with outfielders Like Berry (.480,2,7) and Whit Williams (.310,1,9) also near the top. The fact that Pittsburgh's fast start came at the expense of Washington and Boston - a pair of teams expected to among the better squads in the Fed this season- makes it all the more impressive. The test for Pittsburgh will get harder in the week ahead with trips to Philadelphia and rematch with the Minutemen in Boston. Those two clubs each received plenty of support as the teams to beat in the Fed this season. While the Minutemen struggled through a 2-5 opening week -thanks in no small part to 3 losses in 4 outings vs Pittsburgh- the Keystones had a 4-2 start as they faced the same two opponents in Pittsburgh and Washington that the Miners started with. The first week in the Continental Association saw little separation as each of the 8 teams sit within a game of each other. Toronto, at 3-2 claims the top spot thanks to some outstanding pitching while 2-3 Philadelphia is the only other team not to finish the opening week at .500. MOSS HITS 3 HOMERS VS STARS The opening week of the season saw something that has only happened 21 times previously in FABL history - a player hit 3 homeruns in a single game. Cliff Moss of the Chicago Cougars turned the trick Wednesday in an 11-2 romp over the New York Stars. For Moss, who also accomplished the feat in 1938 while playing for the Chicago Chiefs, it makes him just the second player ever to hit three homers in two different FABL games. He joins Tom Taylor, who was actually a teammate of Moss on the '38 Chiefs and on the Chicago bench for Cliff's 3-homers off Boston's Art Keeter that day, as the only two to accomplish it. Taylor enjoyed his two big bat days just 4 days apart in August on 1928. As for last week Moss, who was named the Continental Association player of the week for his efforts, hit his first homer Wednesday as a solo shot in the 4th inning off Stars starter Johnny Cook to put the Cougars up 2-0 at the time. In the seventh he hit a 2-run shot off of reliever Ben Watkins to make the score 10-1 and then added a solo shot off Watkins with one out in the bottom of the ninth to complete the Chicago scoring. The first of those three homeruns was the 250th of Moss' career and he finished the day in 14th all-time with 252 homeruns. His Cougars teammate (and also former teammate with the Chiefs for his last 3 HR game) Hank Barnett would homer a couple of days later to pull even with Moss at 252 for his career. IS PANNETON TOO GOOD FOR COLLEGE BALL? Aberdeen College Righthander Ranked Higher Than Most FABL Hurlers By OSA We have seen a number of position players make the jump straight from the college ranks to the big leagues without making a pit stop in the minors but it is almost unheard of for a pitcher to take such a path. Eli Panneton appears to be no ordinary pitcher. The 22 year old from Winnipeg, Canada did not play high school ball or even college ball prior to this year. Instead he has pitched in various semi-pro loops in his home country until catching the attention of Jud Colflesh, the head baseball coach at Aberdeen University in South Dakota and a former draft pick of the Montreal Saints. Colflesh convinced Panneton to come to his school last September and was instrumental in getting big league scouts out to see him workout before the FABL draft began in January. All came away very impressed but none more so than the New York Stars, who selected the righthander 4th overall despite the fact he has yet to play any high level amateur ball. Panneton and his Aberdeen College Wolves teammates have just embarked on their season and OSA is now so excited with the 22 year old that they list him third among all pitchers not in the military right now. That's not prospects. That's established big league arms. Panneton ranks only behind Ed Bowman and the injured Deuce Barrell (along with Cougars war contributions Pete Papenfus and Donnie Jones) in the scouting services list of the best pitchers in the world. It is hard not to imagine a scenario where Panneton does not make his big league debut immediately after inking a contract with the Stars. That will have to be after June 22nd as FABL clubs are prohibited from signing their draftees until after the full draft is completed on that date. No amateur pitcher has ever graced a top twenty player list, something that has been maintained by the league for decades. It will be very interesting to see what kind of numbers Panneton puts up at a lower level school like Aberdeen College, and even more intriguing is just what will he do when he finally makes it to New York? With the first week in the books the Minutemen finished 2-5 looking anything like the contenders they are looking to be. Dean Astle looked well enough pitching in the opener against the Keystones but was the victim of three Boston fielding errors. Two of those errors were courtesy of Clifton Smith which led to three unearned Keystone runs. Those three runs were more than enough for Red Ross as he stymied the Boston bats for a complete game shutout. In game two of the series it was Philadelphia’s turn to kick the ball around but they had the offense to overcome their defensive miscues and beat the Minutemen 5-4 in 12 innings. Ed Wood worked for 10.2 innings in this one but couldn’t secure the win. Backup catcher Walt Potter delivered the go-ahead hit for the Keystones off of Tom Martin. In the final game of the series, and the second game of the day, Walt Wells pitched around five walks and five hits to keep the Philadelphia offense to three unearned runs. A three run bottom of the sixth from none other than Boston starter WALT WELLS was the difference in the game. With that win the Minutemen caught a train to Pittsburgh for four games in three days against the Miners. In game one Duke Hendricks could not get out of the first inning bombed him for 7 runs. Although only two of those runs were earned thanks in large part to Clifton Smith's third error of the season, it was not a good showing for Hendricks who was coming off a bad spring to begin with. Butch Campbell provided 6.1 innings of solid relief and the offense did score five runs on ten hits but they could never overcome the seven spot the Miners scored in the second. In game two another error for Smith at SS leading to another unearned run that would play huge in a 4-2 loss. Although it is early in the season Billy Boshart must be thinking about a move at SS. The red hot Pittsburgh offense handed it to Dean Astle in game three of the series getting him for 5 earned runs and handing him his second loss in as many starts on the season. Bill Moore hit his first home run in the game for Boston in this one, but they were never really in it from the start. In the second game of the double header Ed Wood saved Boston from complete embarrassment with a 8.1 inning 2 earned run performance. The offense was able to cobble together five runs on eight hits to hand the Miners their only loss of the season. Ol’ Doc knows that it is really dangerous to make any grand assumptions a week into the season. However, in this case it may be warranted. Clifton Smith looks completely lost defensively. His four errors accounted for a number of unearned runs at a key infield position. Offensively, Smith has started the season a paltry 2-24 with seven strikeouts. Ol’ Doc just can’t see Billy Boshart not making a change here. Especially when you have a defensive wizard playing 2B instead of his natural position. Ol’ Doc could definitely see a scenario where Lew moves back to SS, Smith moves to splinter control on the bench and Henry Warren gets a shot at second. As for the week ahead, starting on Tuesday it will be three against Washington on the road before the club heads home to hopefully enact some revenge on the Miners for four in three days. EDITOR'S NOTE - We get a double helping of Doc Shaw today as the below article was a late arriving season preview from the Boston scribe. Boston, fresh off a Federal Association crown, will be looking to see if they can repeat as association champions. If the Minutemen could hold off the rest of the tough FA competition it would mark their third championship in the last four seasons. However, skipper Billy Boshart is fully expecting a tough climb to the top and is definitely not banking on past success. For Boston fans, the roster will largely be the same group that they have come to love, but there are a few new additions sprinkled in. Pitchers: The Minutemen have made the decision to break camp with nine pitchers on their roster. This may have to do with the amount of doubleheaders the team will play over the course of the season. Still, it is difficult to see how all nine arms will get adequate work. Pitching Coach Marty Scroggins also shared that Butch Campbell pitched so well this spring that he essentially forced the clubs hand. Campbell and Tom Martin both have options left so a change down the road is entirely possible. Rotation: Dean Astle Ed Wood Walt Wells Duke Hendricks Paul Richardson 34 year old left hander Dean Astle will anchor the Boston rotation this season. If Astle can stay healthy he would really put Ed Wood into some favorable matchups throughout the season. Marty Scroggins views both Astle and Wood as top of the rotation arms and considers them both staff aces. Walt Wells is the consummate innings eater that performs at a high level. The Minutemen credit Wells for a lot of the team's success since he came over in a trade with the Sailors in 1941. Even at 36 years of age Wells has shown no sign of slowing down. If Boston is going to make a run at the FA title, Wells will be key. Hendricks and Richardson will round out the Boston rotation. Last season Hendricks posted a 18-6 record which any club will take from a 4th starter. Richardson was acquired from the Sailors last season and didn’t have quite the same success as he did in Philadelphia but Boston feels that they can get something out of him at the back of the rotation. If not Boston has other options in the pen that may be able to slide into that 5th spot. Bullpen: Butch Campbell Clarence Linden Dick Higgins Tom Martin The big surprise here is Tom Martin in the stopper role going into the season. With five different offerings Boston would love to have Martin in the rotation but after a lackluster Spring are going to start him in the bullpen. OSA and Head Scout Johnny Robards love Martin as an above average starter (possibly #2) but at 25 years of age the performance has not matched the hype. With options left, Martin could see some time in AAA Columbus if he stumbles in the first month of the season. Can anyone believe that this is Dick Higgins 10th year with the club? Injuries have robbed the former 2nd overall pick of the illustrious career everyone in Boston had envisioned. Even still, Higgins serves as the reliable bullpen piece and spot starter. Those players hold a lot of value in the league. Butch Cambell and Clarence Linden will also make the club out of camp. Cambell has options while Linden does not. Linden had a rougher spring and could find himself as an expendable piece if things get too bad. Catchers: Bill Van Ness Bob Artesan Has there been a player where the organization has been more patient with than Van Ness? Going into his 7th season with the big club Bill is coming off his best season as an overall player. That being said, there is still lots of room for growth. Right now Van Ness is rated as the 8th best catcher in the league which may be saying more about the quality of the position in the league as opposed to how far Van Ness has come. With the loss of Jack Flint to the war effort Van ness will be pushed this season to provide more offensively. Infielders: 1B Bill Moore 1B Willie Jones 1B Bob Donoghue 2B Henry Warren 3B Art Spencer SS Lew McClendon SS Clifton Smith SS Bill Gustafson Listing the primary positions of the infielders is not really painting an accurate picture here. Donoghue will see some time in left field, McClendon will play second base and Clifton Smith will take over at SS. The corners will be manned by Bill Moore at 1B and Art Spencer across the diamond at 3rd. The middle infield was the story of the spring. Lew McClendon is an exceptional defensive SS but was gracious enough to move to second when the club acquired Harry Barrell to help the club take the pennant. With Barrell off to war the hole at second reared its ugly head once again. Manager Billy Boshart shared that the club tried to solve the problem through rule V but that didn’t pan out. So the next option, aside from making a trade, was to solve the issue in house. Clifton Smith, the club's second round pick from 1939, was tabbed for the job. Smith is only 22 years old but younger players have been able to contribute so the club spent the spring trying to convert the defensively talented SS to 2B. In the end though it was McClendon that approached the club and offered to move back to 2B to let Smith play his more natural position of SS. Boshart says that “Lew is just a stand up guy, and we are lucky to have such a selfless player”. The move may be short lived however as Smith didn’t show much offensively this spring leaving the club thinking if all they did was put a band-aid on a stab wound. Outfielders: LF Bob Corvin LF Joe Watson RF Bob Bolton RF Pete Day CF Chick Donnelly The starters will be Watson in left, Donnelly in center and Day in right. The outfield group is considered to be another strong point of the club. 1943 Whitney Award winner Pete Day will begin his 11th season in the Boston outfield and will be the club’s primary leadoff batter. Currently Day is sitting at 1696 hits in a Boston uniform. Another solid season would vault Day past Fred Huffman for 4th on the all-time hit list for the Minutemen. Day is the straw that stirs the drink at the top of the lineup. Next to Day in CF will be Chick Donnelly. Chick is also entering his 11th season in the Boston outfield and has quietly put together an amazing career making a case for best hitter to ever wear a Boston Minutemen uniform. At 32 years of age Donnelly is 13 hits shy of 2000 for his career, and 384 hits short of Bill McMurtie (2371) for the organizations all-time hit record. While Donnelly won’t catch McMurtie this season it seems inevitable that he will eclipse that mark. With a good showing through his mid 30’s is it out of the question for Chick to hit 3,000 for his career? The 3000+ hit club only has 11 members in it with Frank Vance, Al Wheeler and possibly Bob Martin with outside chances to join it from the active player pool. Rounding out the outfield will be Joe Watson in left field who the club is counting on for another plus season offensively. First Week: Once the gloves come off to start the season on April 18th the Minutemen will face a major test at home against Philadelphia. Philadelphia is a popular pick to take the Fed this year and they will bring a very solid team to Minuteman Stadium for three games in two days. Next the Minutemen will travel to Pittsburgh who are looking to have a bounce back year and prove they are still a force in the Association. Cliff Moss hit his 250th career homerun as part of his 3 round-tripper game against the Stars on Wednesday. Only 15 players have hit that many all-time. There are some big boppers approaching milestones this season. Al Wheeler of the Chicago Chiefs hit 2 homers last week and is now just 8 shy of joining Max Morris and Rankin Kellogg as the only players to hit 450 career FABL homeruns. Bobby Barrell did not homer in the opening week for the Keystones but is just 7 shy of 350 and Moxie Pidgeon, who seems to have found new life in Pittsburgh after the trade from Cincinnati, homered twice in his first week as a Miner and now has 292 for his career. Boston's Chick Donnelly and Cliff Moss of the Cougars are both closing in on 2,000 career hits. Donnelly needs 5 more while Moss is 8 shy. Henry Jones, waived by the Stars, needs 16 hits to reach 2,000. Meanwhile Bobby Barrell is just 54 away from 2,500 and Cincinnati's Jack Cleaves needs 71 to reach that standard. Quite a big league debut for Pat Williams with the Keystones. The 25 year old - a 1936 15th round draft selection who spent most of last season in AA- certainly stated his case for the 5th starter spot in Philadelphia well with a complete game 3-hit shutout of Washington in his first taste of FABL action. PRO GRID LOOP HOPEFUL BUT KRISTICH SAYS IT'S UP TO GOVERNMENT Whether professional football continues is "up to the Government." league President Jack Kristich said as club owners of the American Football Association opened their four-day meeting. "The league's objective is getting the war over with as quickly as possible," he said. "Therefore, it is up the Government. Whenever they want us to quit we are ready. But," he continued, "I feel we are making a definite contribution to the wartime athletic program by keeping the league in operation. The game is an incentive to our American kids, who gain a fighting spirit that serves them well in war or peace." The AFA head went on record against the replenishing of war-shruken club rosters with boys of subdraft age. "I think boys of 16 or 17 should definitely be in college first," he said. "We must consider the boy himself and his development." Kristich pointed out that football, being a contact sport, makes it necessary to be extremely careful in choosing youngsters. "However, it may be necessary to use some of the younger players due to the manpower shortage," he said. "We are exploiting may sources for material." * Baltimore Wants Team * The AFA plans to operate with 10 teams again in 1944, back to it's pre-war number and two more than were active a year ago. The expansion Cincinnati Monarchs are set to join the Washington Wasps -who return after a one year absence- as the newcomers. The Philadelphia Frigates are also back after a year spent as combined team with the St Louis Ramblers. The Ramblers will not compete solo in 1944 either, formalizing a partnership with the Cleveland Finches for the upcoming season. That team will be based out of Cleveland and the plan is for it to be strictly known as the Finiches, unlike a year ago when the Philadelphia- St Louis combined entry earned the nickname Friglers. The selection of Cincinnati, announced earlier this winter, was made over Baltimore as the tenth team in no small part because the league felt the Ohio city would fit in much better with an opening in the Western Division. For Baltimore it is another bitter loss to the Queen City as the the old Baltimore Cannons FABL franchise was sold and moved to Cincinnati prior to the 1940 season. The Baltimore group is so committed to having a team in the AFA this fall that, even after being informed their bid was not accepted at this time, they sent AFA President Jack Kristich a certified check for $25,000 with a letter stating the club will be ready to operate in the fall if the league approves it at it's Philadelphia meetings this week. In the letter to Kristich, the would-be Baltimore owners stated that "if granted a franchise, we are prepared to turn over to you an additional $25,000 immediately, and to operate this year." It seems highly unlikely the bid will be accepted as it would be quite a puzzle for the AFA to put together an operating schedule for an 11-team loop and there is said to be zero chance the league considers operating as a 12-team loop in 1944. NORTHEAST IS NO LONGER One of the original conferences of college basketball has fallen apart with news that the Northeast Conference is disbanding. While the official word is that the war effort and a focus on reduced travel is the reason, it has been no secret that a pair of Boston schools in Commonwealth Catholic and St. Patrick's have threatened to exit the loop for a few years now. There had been a group of 4 schools, with St Pancras and St Matthew's College joining the Boston duo as those that wanted out but, surprisingly, it was Brooklyn State and Garden State that initiated the destruction of the section. The Bears and Redbirds had been powers of the conference -with 4 AIAA titles between them since 1932- and along with mighty Liberty College -winners of 3 national titles since 1936- had distanced themselves quality-wise from the rest of the group. That created a lot of animosity with the other four, who each enjoyed great success in the past but had all threatened to leave the conference multiple times in recent years. While never publically stated it was clear that the feeling with those four was that if they were independents -or in a conference without Brooklyn State, Garden State and Liberty- they would stand a much better chance of making the National Tournament and the dollars that came with it. For Brooklyn State and Garden State to be the ones to leave it seemed to give the other four what they desired but immediatley following the news of their departure both St Matthew's College - a Washington DC school- and tiny St Martin's College out of Hartford- each cited the war and travel issues as reason they too were dropping out. That left only five schools: Commonwealth Catholic,Frankford State, Liberty College, St Pancras and St Patrick's and the decision was made to, at least temporarily, scuttle the conference and have all play as independents. That is nothing new for the schools as none are members of a conference for football, although they do often schedule each other as independents. All but Garden State had been original members in the Northeast Conference since 1913 with the Redbirds joining the flock two years later. The NEC leaves a rich history that includes 7 National Tournament Championship winning teams and 5 times an NEC athlete was named AIAA Basketball Player of the Year. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 4/23/1944 Heavy Allied air raids, numbering as many as 3,000 planes a night, continue to lash Germany. Nazi troops are on alert from Norway to Spain -ordered by Berlin to be at the ready for an impending Allied invasion. Russian forces have ripped into the inner defenses of Sevastopol and are reported battling on the same lines where the Soviet garrison made it's main stand in the 250-day siege of 1941-42. Finland has rejected Russia's second peace offer, and armistice negotiations were considered broken off. Allied forces strike at the Netherlands Indies for the first time since the fall of the Islands in March of 1942. A draft ban on men over 26 has been lifted as Selective Service is once more instructing local draft boards to induct men over 26 who are not engaged in war-supporting activities. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 10-14-2022 at 05:11 PM.