APRIL 16, 1945
PIONEERS HANG ON TO WIN SPRING DERBY
The St Louis Pioneers stumbled down the stretch but still managed to finish with the best record in baseball's third spring in the southeast. Travel restrictions once more kept the clubs out of their familiar Florida haunts, but it did not stop the Pioneers from getting off to a 13-3 start in preseason play. The spring finished for St Louis much closer to what many are predicting to see out of the Pioneers this season as they dropped five of their final eight games but their 16-8 spring mark was tops in either association -one game up on the New York Stars.
The games will count starting tomorrow with the traditional opener in the Nation's Capital as the Washington Eagles host the Philadelphia Keystones a day before the rest of the league gets in on the action. The game itself is certain to be far from the usual festive affair of the typical lid-lifter as Washington, and the nation, continue to process the tragic news of President Roosevelt's death last Thursday. Roosevelt had not been expected to throw the ceremonial opening pitch- something he has done so often in the past- as war duties were expected to keep him otherwise occupied. President Truman will also not be on hand, as he will be making his first address in his new role to Congress tomorrow. In lieu of a ceremonial opening pitch, baseball plans a minute of silent prayer to reflect upon the former President.
DYNAMOS PROSPECT CALLED BY SELECTIVE SERVICE
18 year old pitcher Roy Schaub, who was selected first overall in the 1944 FABL draft, has had his name called again. This time it was by Selective Service as the young righthander was notified this week by the draft board in Camden, NJ, that he is to report to the Army. Schaub, who was a two-time winner of the Adwell Award as the top high school ballplayer in the nation, went 5-3 with a 3.08 era in 11 starts at Class C Biloxi after signing with Detroit in July.
Schaub was one of four first round picks the Dynamos had in last year's draft and becomes the third of them -joining outfielder Edwin Hackberry and shortstop Stan Kleminski- in being tabbed by Selective Service. Hackberry joined the Army in Novemebr while Kleminski is in the Navy. That just leaves Carl Potter, who had a strong camp with the Detroit Dynamos, remaining among the foursome. Potter suffered his first loss in spring action last week and is likely ticketed for AAA despite the fact many outside the organization feel the 18 year old should be given an opportunity in Detroit.
TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN
Spring Training Summary -Toronto finishes the exhibition season with a 13-11 record after dropping 3 of their last 4 including to in extra innings. Manager Call calls it a successful spring saying that "everyone got their work in, more importantly their were no injuries. The trainers off-season exercise regime may already be paying dividends, now on the train to begin games that count."
Brett's summary of the spring is that the pitching, as expected, performed very well even given at times there seemed to be control issues. Hopefully the number of free passes issued will drop as the season starts. Walks have a bad habit of coming back to haunt pitchers.
Of more concern was the lack of hitting during the spring. Three projected starters, two outfielders, hit under under .201 in tune-up games, only 6 balls cleared the fences in fair territory in 24 games. This coupled with a 50% success rate in base stealing does not bode well for run scoring in 1945. Call has been seen, overheard discussing strategy solutions if the bats, base running continue to remain non-existent in the regular season. The pitching will probably be near the top of the CA but runs are also needed to win games.
WAR IS HELL: CLASS C SHORTENS SEASON
The manpower crunch that exists in a nation where the majority of able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 are in the military has been causing headaches for baseball execs since the U.S. entered the war in December of 1941. Now, it finally has caused a shift in the schedule of the national pastime, albeit at the game's lowest professional rung.
Today the Class C Gulf States and Upper Mississippi Valley circuits announced that they would be playing a shortened 84-game season this year with the first pitch being thrown on June 25 and the season wrapping the same day as the big boys of FABL finish their own slate: September 30th. The reason behind the change was said to be a simple shortage of pitching. While some organizations, such as the Chicago Cougars, have retained enough arms, most others have not.
The plan is to use the influx of talent from the amateur draft in early June to pad the rosters of the Class C clubs, allowing the season to proceed. There does remain concern among baseball executives that though it appears the Third Reich is on the ropes and unlikely to last much longer, the war against Imperial Japan seems to be far from over and the bloody campaign in the Pacific leads one to believe that even more manpower will be needed when the time comes to invade the Japanese homeland.
- Baseball's traditional opener in Washington today will greatly miss one of it's staunchest supporters. Prior to the war President Roosevelt was something of a mascot for the Washington Eagles and regular visitor to both the old Capitol Grounds and fancy new Columbia Stadium, not just on Opening Day as he would usually take in an additional game or two during the season throughout much of the 1930s. Meanwhile it appears that President Truman will not throw out the first ball for the Eagles game with the Philadelphia Keystones today. Instead the new President is scheduled to make his first public address as Chief Executve to a joint session of Congress. A week ago, Mr. Truman had said he might substitute for President Roosevelt in opening game ceremonies, but as President himself he'll have to ass it up. The game will be dedicated to the late President with spectators standing for a minute of silent prayer.
- The Detroit Dynamos and New York Stars made a minor trade. Out of minor league options, the Dynamos had no room for Roberson so they peddled the 30 year old reserve corner infielder to the Stars for a pair of prospects. Roberson hit just .236 in 100 games for the Dynamos last season after seeing some big league action over the previous 4 years with St Louis. In return, Detroit nets 23 year old outfielder Bud 'Crayon' Miller who should add some color to the AAA roster at Newark, as well as shortstop Bob Holmes, a 19 year old who was a 17th round pick last June and hit .205 at Class C Alexandria last season.
- Bobby Barrell certainly seems ready to follow up his triple crown winning season with another big year. The 34 year old blasted 5 homeruns during spring play, tying him with Cleveland's Lou Balk and Hal Reynolds of Brooklyn for tops in that category. Barrell was also second behind only Balk with 14 spring rbi's.
- The spring batting champ is an unlikely one as 37 year old George Bond -who returned to the big leagues with Detroit last season after 6 years in the minors- hit .467 in 50 spring plate appearances.
- The Cincinnati Cannons are thrilled to finish the spring without any injuries. And even more excited to see that Deuce Barrell pitched 11 innings of spring ball and did not allow a single run while fanning 5 and walking just one. Most importanly, Deuce says he is feeling no pain at all in his elbow, which caused him to miss all of last season.
FLOWERS NAMED AIAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Senior forward Terry Flowers of the National Champion Carolina Poly Cardinals was selected as the top player in Collegiate Basketball for the past season. The native of tiny Retsof, New York - located about midway between Buffalo and Syracuse- was a three year starter for the Cardinals and was named an All-American for the second year in a row. Flowers, who averaged 11.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, was also selected as the top player in the South Atlantic Conference for the second year in a row.
Joing Flowers as first team All-Americans were:
Code:
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
C JR Win Dupre Liberty College 10.2 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.4 SPG, 2.6 BPG
PF SR Terry Flowers Carolina Poly 11.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 0.3 SPG, 2.9 BPG
SF SR Jack Simons Ohio Poly 10.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SG SR Tony Williams Rainier College 10.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG SR Eusebio Constant Coastal State 9.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
C SR Sterling Kennedy Annapolis Maritime 11.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG
PF SR William Gulley Conwell College 13.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SF JR Mark Sasko St. Pancras 10.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG
SG JR Hunter Enright Frankford State 9.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG JR David Bobo Garden State 12.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG
MELANSON TO FACE REES
Frank Melanson will get a chance at the World Middleweight title in July according to his camp. That is the word as the 27 year old Melanson's camp has confirmed the top ranked challenger in the middleweight division and reigning American champ will meet Englishman Archie Rees in Philadelphia on June 9. The bout, which will be held outdoors at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Stadium, will see the Pittsburgh native put his unbeaten record of 28-0-1 on the line against Rees, who improved to 35-4-1 with a first round knockout of Tommy Erwin in New York last month.
Melanson, recently elevated to the status of number one contender in the middleweight division, most recently scored a 4th round knockout of Andrew Harmon in mid-February. Rees will be by far the biggest challenge of his career and the first top-flight opponent for Melanson since knocking out Brooks O'Connor in 1940. One of the few fighters who did not get drafted or join the war effort, Melanson has toiled in a Pittsburgh munitions factory the past 4 years but has still found time to fight in 7 bouts since America joined the war effort. Most of his recent opponents have not had a high pedigree and as a result, despite his obvious talent and home state advantage, he is expected to enter the bout with Rees as a decided underdog.
Rees, while still technically a part of the British armed forces, has been in America since the beginning of March and has made two successful defenses of the title he first claimed in September of 1941 with a second round knockout of American Nathan Sears in Chicago. The first defense was a widely anticipated duel last September with former champ Jorge Cuellar in which The Tadcaster Thunderbolt won with a 13th round technical knockout in what was the first World Title Fight of the war era. He followed that up with a very brief effort in a 1st round knockout of Tommy Erwin on March 21.
MARTIN TAKES DECISION
Harris Martin scored a unanimous 10-round decision over David Daly in the latest leg of his southern tour. The 34 year old, who outspoken manager Al Weiss recently proclaimed would be willing to face Hector Sawyer will all proceeds going to the Red Cross, improved to 44-12-5 with the victory over Daly (20-14-3) in Memphis last night.
Ken Haley, another veteran heavyweight, also claimed a unanimous decision win over the weekend. This one was in St Louis where the 38 year old native of Kalamazoo, Mi., improved to 31-10 with a win over local pugilist Larry Ford. On the same card Dan Miller -the Oakland, Ca. heavyweight, also needed to go to the scorecards to earn a win over Allen Daniel. It was the first fight for the 28 year old since being discharged from the Navy two months ago. Haley is 17-7-1 lifetime as a professional, but impressed many with his work in a number of military tournaments the past couple of years.
Back from serving in the Pacific, Malcolm Hensley scored a majority decision in New York over veteran middleweight Irving Weaver. Hensley , who won in his pro ring return in February with a fight in Honolulu, returned to the east coast a month ago and was back to training in his hometown in the famous MacIntosh Gym -ran by former heavyweight turned trainer extraordiare Steven MacIntosh. The 30 year old Hensley is now 6-2 but never took boxing seriously until joining the Navy 3 years ago and has been one of the most feared middleweights in the Pacific theater in recent years. He was also a fearless marine before being seriously wounded in March 1942 at the Battle of Bataan. He would not see combat duty after that but remained in the marines and recovered sufficiently to begin competiting in military boxing tournaments by the summer of 1943.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/15/1945
- 500,000 mourners lined the funeral route as the casket containing the body of President Roosevelt was transported through Washington DC on his final trip to the White House. The President died on April 12 of a cerebral brain hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga. while sitting for a portrait. He was 63.
- President Truman says there will be no change to the war plans and that Roosevelt's principles will be used to guide his regime.
- President Truman, intensively preparing to take FDR's place in the Big Three, is leaving the American responsibility for the San Francisco World Security Conference with this country's delegation.
- The American 1st and 3rd Armies close in on Berlin, as does the Red Army from the east. While taking Berlin appears to be a task either the Yanks or Russians can do anytime they see fit, General Eisenhower's overall strategy is slightly different. Taking Berlin is seen as important but the principle aim now is that of breaking up the German armies into as many small pockets of resistance as possible.