FEBRUARY 19, 1945
ARE CANNONS HEADED FOR THIRD STRAIGHT CROWN - OR THE RETIREMENT HOME?
The Cincinnati Cannons appear to be the odds-on favourite to win a third straight Continental Association pennant, matching a feat their current General Manager accomplished a little less than a decade ago with the Brooklyn Kings. The biggest challenge the veteran-laded Cannons might have is avoiding the injury bug. Cincinnati is expected to field by far the oldest roster next season and perhaps one of the oldest in FABL history. The Cannons suffered some more losses courtesy of Selective Service but each of the big four teams in the Continental were hit very hard.
Rabbit Day might have retired at the age of 40 but the Cannons continued to add veterans with the recent acquisition of 36 year old pitcher Sam Sheppard and 33 year old centerfielder Gail Gifford. Gifford will step into the hole created when the army came calling for Bob Griffith and Sheppard will help ease the loss of pitchers Chris Clarke and Vic Carroll to the war effort. The pitching staff has suffered so the Cannons success will rest very heavily on the right elbow of Deuce Barrell. The two-time Allen Award winner missed all of last season due to that wonky wing and if he cannot return to something close to his pre-injury form the dream of a third straight WCS title -something only accomplished by the 1924-26 New York Stars- may crumble early. Of course we thought that last year and the Cannons responded with some big trades and an even bigger second half of the season. The team is old but has to be the club everyone will be chasing in the CA this season.
The Toronto Wolves were the first organization to lose a superstar to the war effort when Fred McCormick left very early in the 1941 season. That seems like so long ago and many players have left since with Toronto contributing its share and probably more. This winter it was pitchers Bernie Johnson and Jimmy Gibbs along with second baseman Hal Wood that will be missed the most but just when Toronto was figuring this might be a lost season came word that 27 year old George Garrison - a 22 game winner when he last pitched in 1942- was back. That news boosted the spirits on the shores of Lake Ontario and has the Wolves thinking this might be the year they finally get the best of the Cannons.
So much was written about the Chicago Cougars record setting pace to start the season a year ago, followed by one of the worst collapses in FABL history. The team is different this year but that is not necessarily a good thing. For a change Selective Service left the Cougars pitching staff intact but they hit Chicago hard with the loss of three of the best players in the CA in 7-time all-star Hank Barnett, 5-time all-star Leo Mitchell and the often injured but immensely talented Billy Hunter. That is a lot of offense to give up but perhaps this year the Cougars get some positive karma to make up for the awful stretch they endured a year ago.
The Philadelphia Sailors have been a good, but not quite great team, for well over a decade and certainly have some talent. They tend to get solid, consistent pitching and will need it this year after the Canadian armed forces came calling for their outstanding first baseman Marion Boismenu. There will be a lot of pressure on Ed Reyes to step in and fill the giant hole created by Boismenu's departure.
Unlike the Federal Association race, which seems wide open to six or perhaps seven teams, the Continental has a clear division of talent. Cincinnati, Toronto and Chicago look to be the class of the loop, with Montreal, Brooklyn and Cleveland battling to stay out of the basement. That leaves the Sailors and Stars to fight it out for fourth and fifth although that could change for New York if the Stars sensational young pitcher Eli Panneton can have a big year. The hurler was amazing coming right out of college to the big leagues in July but he clearly tired down the stretch. The Stars biggest challenge will be replacing the bat of Gary Carmichael (navy) at third base.
Brooklyn lost their best pitcher in Jim Kenny and a solid infielder in Tom Landowski along with 3 other players to the war effort. Montreal was also hit hard with veteran pitcher Bill Ross, young hurler Bert Cupid and starting third baseman Spud Bent all leaving for the war. It will likely once more be a tough season for the the Kings and Saints. That leaves Cleveland where fans continue to patiently wait for the Foresters to rebuild following the heavy cost of prospects paid to win their first (and only) World Championship Series in 1934. It is now 5 years and counting of 7th or 8th place finishes from Cleveland and there is little indication 1945 will bring anything different. There is talent in the organization, but aside from shortstop Jim Adams Jr., most of it is fighting the axis powers instead of Continental Association foes with 22 year old infielder Glenn White the latest to depart.
Who started that story that Col. J. Monroe Johnson, head of the Office of Defense Transportation, demanded that the two FABL associations combine and do away with intersectional series? That yarn came out of Washington last week and got the Continental and Federal Associations into an uproar. New York papers led of their Sunday sports sections with that story. Club owners were interviewed, the whole baseball world went into a panic.
A geographical realigment of the 16 FABL clubs was supposed to have been suggested as follows:
EAST- Boston, Brooklyn, Montreal, New York Gothams, New York Stars, Philadelphia Keystones, Phiadelphia Sailors and Washington.
WEST - Chicago Chiefs, Chicago Cougars, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Toronto and St Louis.
Col. Johnson disavowed the yarn and wondered where it had started. He was especially interested in the origin of a paragraph which he had written in a letter to the New York writers, in expressing his regret over inability to attend their February 4 dinner. In this letter, Col. Johnson said he was a fan, and hinted that perhaps the two leagues might clup a few miles off their travel requirements.
"I never heard about a story combining the two associations until I was called up by a sports writer," said Col. Johnson. "I never discussed any such plan with anybody. I cannot make it too emphatic I know nothing about, and do not intend to ask for, any such scheme."
BASEBALL DUE ROUGH TIME, BUT GAME WILL CONTINUE
The main question from the public at large that one receives today amounts to this --"what chance is there for baseball? When will racing come back? Here is the answer from a well-known official who is at least fairly close to the Washington picture:
"I'm afraid baseball still is facing rough seas though no one in authority at Washington is going to order baseball stopped. I know many now regret the bluntness with which they ended horse racing. But I believe you'll find out that if more of the 4-F's will either be returned to service or placed in war industries then baseball will have a hard time making any headway. I believe baseball will go on, but the quality of play will continue to suffer and travel restrictions will be much harder this summer as well. Baseball will survive the storm but that storm will make the going much rougher than perhaps many connected with the game think.
"I believe we will have racing in some modified method this spring or early summer. For example, around New York there probably will be only 100 days of racing at one track in place of more than 180 days in 1944. There may be only four or five racing days a week instead of six. Also, there will be a big change in shipping horses from one track to another. There may be an exception in the case of big stake events, but at best only a limited number of cars will be allowed. There will be very little travelling back and forth from track to track."
*** Civilian Football Facing Trouble ***
Just how civilian college and pro football will come through is another query item. But where baseball faces a training session only a month away, and racing has some two months leeway, football has an open span of six or seven months. This at least gives the grid sport a breathing spell at present.
If the expected manpower act goes through, even with certain modifications, civilian football teams will be hit hard. Pro football might get by with players working in defense plants through the week and playing footabll on Sunday. But under the proposed war and labor drafts such teams as Central Ohio, Noble Jones College, Coastal California and others would have had little chance last fall.
In pro football it now is apparant that a bitter battle will be fought among the American Football Association, the Continential Football Conference and the United States League. There will be the matter of signing up college stars. They will be asking plenty in the scramble for talent.
"We can all see what is coming," said Cincinnati Tigers coach Jack Conn. "For example we had a pretty fair player on our squad last year. And he was only fair. He was not part of any drawing card. In talking over terms for the year ahead, he asked to have his 1944 salary doubled, plus a $2,000 bonus for signing.
*** Pro Gridders Likely to Be in Big Money***
You can see what will happen when college football is resumed at full blast. Outstanding stars will be looking to the highest bidder. And they will be looking pretty high. This means that no league is going to make any money or come close to breaking even until the rival leagues or the proposed rival leagues can get together. And how they even get together? From the new leagues there probably will be one survivor. Under those conditions it would be simple enough to work out the same plan now followed by the two big leagues in baseball. But that day is quite distant. It will be a good break for the college star -for a while at least. But every one will have to take a hard financial beating first.
The leagues will also face a problem of where to play in September if FABL continues to hold to it's stance of no games in a ballpark while a team yet to play there is still in the flag race. There is a lot more up in the air in football than just the war manpower problem.
- veteran outfielder Dan Fowler has inked a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Cannons. The 36 year old, who spent some time with both the Cougars and the Chiefs last season, is a veteran of 1,765 FABL games primarily with the Cleveland Foresters. The Cannons had been looking to sign him to a big league deal with the plan for him to replace Bob Griffith -who is in the army now- as the starting centerfielder but when Fowler dragged his feet in talks the Cannons pulled the trigger on a deal to bring Gail Gifford in from St Louis. Fowler will be a non-roster invite to Cannons spring camp but likely will spend the season at AAA Indianapolis.
- Boston farmhand Claude Christian is the latest to be called by Selective Service. The 23 year old shortstop spent last season with AA Worcester, hitting .245 over the course of 130 games. Christian was a 17th round pick in the 1943 draft out of Cowpens State.
ANOTHER KNOCK OUT FOR BISHOP
Talented welterweight Ben Bishop -who spent nearly a year in the army before they discovered he was color bling and declared 4-F- improved his record to 20-2-1 with the 12th knockout of his career. The latest victim of the 26 year old Atlanta native was New Yorker Steve Browning, who was thought of as a pretty solid fighter despite his age (36) until he ran into the buzzsaw that is Bishop. Browning didn't survive the first round and lost for just the third time in 19 bouts as Bishop floored him just 2 minutes into the fight with a tremendous hook to the liver that ended up breaking a couple of Browning's ribs.
Bishop is one of a growing list of promising fighters in the welterweight division. The weight class remains without a champion and there has been talk of a 4-fighter playoff of sorts to determine who claims the long-vacant crown but with the number of fighters likely deserving of an opportunity there has been talk of expanding the group to 8 fighters and draw lots to see who meets with the winners advancing. It is likely that nothing will be decided until after the war is settled but among those deserving of consideration are the following:
Code:
WELTERWEIGHT CONTENDERS
NAME AGE REC HOMETOWN
Ben Bishop 26 22-2-1 Atlanta, GA
George Gibbs 27 13-0 Pueblo, CO
John Gregory 26 13-1-1 Vista, CA
Mitchell McFadden 30 21-3-1 Detroit, MI
Dennis O'Keefe 28 17-1 Jacksonville, FL
Rudy Perry 34 19-1-1 Philadelphia, PA
Carl Taylor 28 15-2-2 Baltimore, MD
Mark Westlake 33 18-1-1 Biloxi, MS
SAWYER SET TO DEFEND TITLE
World Heavyweight champion Hector Sawyer will defend his crown Saturday night in Boston against journeyman Willie Meyer. Sawyer, who has spent the last three years in the Army, will fight for the title for the first time since late 1940 and will be looking for his 50th victory as a professional. The 30 year old enters the bout with a 49-3-1 record. Meyer, a 35 year old Minnesota native with a 32-7-1 record, is given little to no chance of winning the bout, which is set up primarily as a tune-up for the champ before he looks to face a serious contender in the summer.
CAROLINA POLY, NORTH CAROLINA TECH AMONG TEAMS STRUGGLING FOR TOP HONORS
The St Patrick's Shamrocks continue to occupy the number one spot in the Nation's college basketball rankings but the Boston school has fallen 3 times in it's last six outings including an upset 38-36 loss to Commonwealth Catholic on Thursday. The Shamrocks are not the only team to drop some key games recently as each of the other schools in title contention - Carolina Poly, Annapolis Maritime, Rainier College and Liberty - have all tasted defeat in recent games.
Carolina Poly, which has won it's last 4 games after a tough conference loss to Lexington State, is back up to second in the polls after Annapolis Maritime had it's 16 game winning streak snapped Thursday night by Chicago Poly. The one school that has avoided defeat of late is North Carolina Tech with the Techsters a perfect 8-0 in South Atlantic Conference play after starting section play with a win over rival Carolina Poly.
JERSEY CITY TECH PLAYERS SUSPENDED FOR REMAINDER OF SEASON
The four Jersey City Tech players accused of accepting $1,000 to throw a game have been suspended by the AIAA for the remainder of the season and face a lifetime ban from college athletics. The four- Al Harbison, Ulysses Bucci, Don Sparkman and Eric Bode- have not made any public statement but have met with AIAA officials and been called before a jury in New York City. The game in question is said to have been a January 20th contest against Manhattan Tech, one in which Jersey City Tech would lose 50-47 despite being heavily favoured.
Code:
COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL RANKINGS
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
1. St. Patrick's (52) 24-5 1775 1 Indy Northeast
2. Carolina Poly (19) 20-3 1730 3 South Atlantic Conference
3. Annapolis Maritime 25-3 1631 2 Indy South
4. North Carolina Tech 20-4 1619 4 South Atlantic Conference
5. Rainier College 21-3 1488 5 West Coast Athletic Association
6. Liberty College 25-4 1426 6 Indy East
7. Western Iowa (1) 20-3 1417 7 Great Lakes Alliance
8. Ohio Poly 23-5 1294 8 Indy Midwest
9. St. Martin's College 24-6 1206 12 Indy Northeast
10. Garden State 18-6 1146 10 Liberty Conference
11. CC Los Angeles 18-6 1085 9 West Coast Athletic Association
12. Texas Gulf Coast 17-7 858 19 Southwestern Alliance
13. Mobile Maritime 16-7 791 11 South Atlantic Conference
14. Conwell College 21-7 762 21 Indy East
15. Chesapeake State 16-7 739 15 South Atlantic Conference
16. Noble Jones College 17-6 683 16 Deep South Conference
17. Wichita Baptist 20-6 570 25 Midwestern Association
18. St. Pancras 21-7 539 14 Indy East
19. St. Blane 18-9 533 13 Indy East
20. Mississippi A&M 16-8 512 17 Deep South Conference
21. Miami State 20-7 430 23 Indy South
22. Western Florida 16-7 286 22 Deep South Conference
23. Plover College 19-7 279 NR Indy Midwest
24. Middlesex 21-7 216 18 Indy Northeast
25. Lane State 15-9 100 NR West Coast Athletic Association
Others Receiving Votes:
Brooklyn State 15-9 81 Liberty Conference
Coastal California 16-9 72 West Coast Athletic Association
Oklahoma City State 17-6 52 Plains Athletic Association
Dickson 17-8 29 Academia Alliance
Great Plains State 20-10 24 Indy Midwest
Eastern State 19-9 21 Indy South
Charleston Tech 16-7 6 South Atlantic Conference
RESULTS INVOLVING RANKED TEAMS
MONDAY FEBRUARY 12
#3 Annapolis Maritime 50 #19 St Blane 38
#6 Liberty College 40 Chicago Poly 37
#8 Ohio Poly 57 Talmadge State 47
#14 Conwell College 51 St Matthew's College 45
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 13
#9 St Martin's College 42 #18 St Pancras 32
#21 Miami State 37 North Carolina Atlantic 35
#23 Plover College 43 Topeka State 42
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 14
#16 Noble Jones College 52 #22 Western Florida 43
#20 Mississippi A&M 46 Alabama Baptist 34
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 15
#2 Carolina Poly 53 Richmond State 29
Chicago Poly 41 #3 Annapolis Maritime 39
#4 North Carolina Tech 51 Columbia Military Academy 43
#7 Western Iowa 55 Whitney College 28
#9 St Martin's College 34 #24 Middlesex 31
#10 Garden State 64 Bigsby College 39
Bulein 47 #13 Mobile Maritime 44
#15 Chesapeake State 46 Coastal State 37
#17 Wichita Baptist 49 Laclede 34
#18 St Pancras 55 Narragansett 54
#23 Plover College 47 Poweshiek 36
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16
Portland Tech 39 #5 Rainier College 37
Coastal California 54 #11 CC Los Angeles 30
#12 Texas Gulf Coast 55 Travis College 43
#25 Lane State 49 Spokane State 24
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 17
#2 Carolina Poly 57 Charleston Tech 34
Frankford State 64 #6 Liberty College 59
#4 North Carolina Tech 43 Richmond State 39
#7 Western Iowa 45 Central Ohio 40
#8 Ohio Poly 53 Great Plains State 40
#9 St Martin's College 54 Bardney 41
#12 Texas Gulf Coast 38 Darnell State 34
Maryland State 41 #13 Mobile Maritime 39
#14 Conwell College 61 Brookland 52
Lexington State 53 #15 Chesapeake State 43
Bluegrass State 63 #16 Noble Jones College 53
#17 Wichita Baptist 47 Eastern Oklahoma 40
Penobscot State 49 #18 St Pancras 36
Chicago Poly 29 #19 St Blane 25
Northern Mississippi 42 #20 Mississippi A&M 36
#22 Western Florida 48 Central Kentucky 36
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18
#5 Rainier College 42 Northern California 38
Portland Tech 37 #11 CC Los Angeles 32
#25 Lane State 54 Idaho A&M 28
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 2/18/1945
- The framework was set for a historic conference April 25 as the Roosevelt-Stalin-Churchill conference report got an enthusiastic cheer from Congress on its proposal that the United State, Russia and Great Britain be bound in postwar unity as a 'sacred obligation' to the peoples of the world.
- British and Canadian troops beat down strong German counterattacks on a 12-mile front within three miles of the Westwall anchor town of Goch.
- Russian forces have captured Budapest and with the aid of 3,650 Allied planes Red troops are driving on Dresden.
- Undersecretary of War Robert Patterson says in the opinion of military leaders "the end of the fighting in Europe is not yet in sight," and a great deal of "hard fighting" remains for US forces.
- Nichols Field and the US Navy's wrecked anchorage at Cavite are back in American hands as General Douglas MacArthur proclaimed triumphantly that the end of the battle for Manila is in sight.
- 1,300 plans from a huge naval armada only 300 miles off the Japanese coast smashed at the Tokyo area for nine hours in the heaviest raid ever made on the enemy capital. A day later American troops stormed ashore on Iwo Jima Island, only 750 miles south of Tokyo.