JULY 2, 1945
MINERS RECEIVE A SHOT IN THE ARM
The Pittsburgh Miners just got a shot in the arm -the left arm that is as their ace has returned from military service. Sgt. Robert C. Allen, known to Miners fans as Lefty, received his honorable discharge from the Army on Friday and is back and available to take the mound for Pittsburgh.
The 31 year old last pitched two seasons ago and struggled through a 12-10, 3.67 campaign -his lowest win total and highest era of an 8 year pro career. Allen is a two-time winner of the top pitcher award that is named after another ace moundsman by the same last name, and was named to the Federal Association all-star team 5 times in his career. His lifetime mark of 158-97 had fans talking earlier in his career of a strong chance at reaching the historic 300 win mark. The time away from the game might have dampened those discussions by Allen's return should be a huge boost to a Miners team that presently sits just 4.5 games behind the front-running Philadelphia Keystones in the Federal Association pennant race.
*** Pair of Prize Pitching Prospects Return ***
Joining Allen in ending their time in the service are a pair of highly touted young pitchers in 22 year old Richie Hughes and 21 year old Jack Wheeler. Hughes was Cleveland's first round pick -14th overall- in 1940 but spent just one full season in the minors before the Army came calling. An All-American as a junior in high school Hughes finished up 1941 in Class B but has been reportedly working hard on his game while playing for a number of military ballclubs and may just be ready for the big leagues. OSA presntly lists the Chicago native 8th on its prospect pipeline.
Wheeler is a top fifty prospect and the top pitcher in the Chicago Chiefs system. He was not selected until the 5th round in 1942 despite an outstanding high school career that saw him go 24-6 for Ventura(CA) High. Wheeler finished up 1942 in Class C, posting a 4-6 record with a 3.59 era and was elevated to Class B the next season as an 18 year old. He struggled at that level in 1943, going 7-13 with a 5.95 era and joined the Coast Guard at the conclusion of the season. There is a good chance the Chiefs may elevate the 21 year old to AA or perhaps even the top rung of the minors now that he is back in the organization.
CANNONS TAKE TURN AT TOP OF CONTINENTAL
It is the Cincinnati Cannons turn to take a spin at the top of the Continental Association pennant race this week. The Cannons took two of three from third place Chicago last week including another big effort from veteran Tom Barrell, who improved to 9-1 and likely cemented his spot on the CA all-star team with a 5-2 win over the Cougars. The lone Cougars win in the series was a surprisingly lobsided 7-0 victory over Deuce Barrell in the two-time Allen Award winner's worst outing of the season. Deuce did rebound with a shuout win over Montreal yesterday, against whom the Cannons also took two of three.
Toronto had a rough week in the Big Apple, losing four straight including 3 in a row to the suddenly hot New York Stars, before rebounding with a doubleheader sweep of Brooklyn yesterday. The Wolves are a game and a half back of the Cannons heading into a big weekend series in Chicago with the Cougars, who are 2.5 games off the lead.
In the Federal Association the Philadelphia Keystones still lead the way but 5 teams are within 5.5 games of the front-runners including the St Louis Pioneers, who continue to gain ground and took two of three from the Keystones last week. Only the Gothams and Chiefs seem out of contention at this stage and for the Gothams the news continues to be bad as they just learned they will be without outfielder Dan Rogers (.274,3,24) for the next month and a half after the 27 year old suffered an elbow injury.
TWIFB ANNUAL MID-SEASON ALL-STAR SELECTIONS
With the 13th annual FABL All-Star Game just a week away it is time for TWIFB to make its selections of who we feel should be the starting line-up for both the Federal and Continental Associations. The Feds lead the all-time series 7 victories to five including a 1-0 victory at Washington's Columbia Stadium a year ago. This year's game returns to Chicago where Cougars Park will play host to the game 13 years after the very first all-star extravaganza was contested at Whitney Park in the Windy City.
TWIFB ALL-STAR BALLOT
FEDERAL ASSOCIATION
Catcher: Choosing the Federal Association starting catcher used to be a very difficult task with George Cleaves, Heinie Zimmer and Tom Bird all usually being more than qualified. Nowadays, it is not quite the star-studded position it once was, with Cleaves and Zimmer serving their country and Bird in Cincinnati, but there is still some pretty good options available. Joe Henry in Detroit, Pete Casstevens with the Gothams, Washington's Paul Wilkerson and even Chiefs 29 year old rookie Jim Foley have had their moments this season but we will give the nod to Boston's
Bill Van Ness, who may finally be at age 28 living up to the high expectations the Minutemen had for him when they selected Van Ness 6th overall in 1935. At the time of this writing Van Ness was tied for the Fed lead in on-base percentage and 5th in batting average.
First Base: Cuno Myer may be making fans in Detroit forget about Red Johnson, although few outside of the Motor City likely even recognize the 31 year olds name. He and Johnson have each had very good seasons and Washington's Sig Stofer is his usual dependable self but all come up just short on our ballot as we will take
Hal Sharp, who is having a monster year in in St Louis and is second in batting average and tied for top spot in Fed on-base percentage at this writing.
Second Base: None of the second base nominees really stood out and we are very tempted to make it 3 straight players making what would be their all-star debuts for our list but John Busby has spent most of his time at the hot corner instead of second base for the Keystones this season. That helps us justity rewarding 35 year old
Freddie Jones of the Chicago Chiefs with what would be his sixth, and likely final trip to the all-star game.
Third Base: It is really a toss-up between a pair of veteran third baseman who are contact-first guys. We really could go either way but our choice is Washington's
Larry Colaianni over Johnny McDowell of Pittsburgh.
Shortstop: Not sure if we want his glove but Detroit's
Hank Grant is making the most of his opportunity to play everyday after coming over from the Montreal Saints last year. Chiefs 28 year old Frank Davis also came to the Fed from Montreal and he was an all-star with the Saints in 1940. The thinking here is Davis should make his first Fed team as Grant's backup this time around.
Left Field: Why even list anyone else on the ballot. Circle
Bobby Barrell's name and move on.
Center Field: We are not sure if there is a bigger surprise this season than what
Cal Page is doing in St Louis now that Gail Gifford has moved on. Chuck Hood probably deserves some consideration for another fine season with Philadelphia and the same for the dependable Chick Donnelly in Boston.
Right Field: Another St Louis Pioneer gets the nod here with
Al Tucker as the clear choice. Don Miller is doing a nice job in Washington as is Sid Williams in Detroit but Tucker is our starter.
Pitcher: There are some solid choices for the Fed starting pitcher.
Harry Carter is leading the majors in ERA at the time of this writing and one has to really wonder just how much worse shape the struggling New York Gothams would have been in had he not been discharged in time for this season. We will take Carter as our starter but could have easily given the ball to any one of Boston's Dean Astle, Lou Ellertson of Washington, Jimmy Long of Detroit or the Keystones Red Ross. We normally do not vote for relievers but with George M Brooks on the ballot despite making 11 starts this season we will be sure to included him in the reliever section of our ballot.
CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
Catcher: 37 year old Cincinnati catcher
Tom Bird is not putting up the incredible numbers he did in recent seasons in the Federal Association with the Chicago Chiefs but he still gets our vote and would, if selected, join Bobby Barrell as the only 10-time all-stars. Harry Mead of the Cougars and Bill Watson of the Sailors deserve back-up consideration as does George Jones of Brooklyn.
First Base: Talk about a tough choice. One could easily make a case for probably 7 first basemen including a trio of old-timers in Montreal's Vic Crawford, Jake Shadoan of Brooklyn and the Cougars Dick Walker. Chuck Adams is having a fine year in Cincinnati as is Ed Reyes for the Sailors but our vote goes to Toronto's
Walt Pack even though he just was shifted to the hot corner with the return of Fred McCormick from the Army.
Second Base: A number of choices at second base including veterans Brooks Meeks of Cleveland but if we are going old let's do it right and take 38 year old
Jack Cleaves of Cincinnati, who is enjoying his best season at the plate in a decade. Mel Hancock Jr. of the New York Stars, Toronto's Wayne Henderson and Chick Wilhelm of the Sailors also deserve mention.
Third Base: It's almost a toss-up between two guys who both lost the starting job in Cincinnati when the Cannons added Billy Dalton. Dalton is gone to Boston now so Denny Andrews reclaimed the starting job with the Cannons and is having a very good season. We will take him as out back-up but the starting job goes to
Frank Covarrubias of the Sailors by the narrowest of margins.
Shortstop: The CA has long been home to some great shortstops, a group that just blows away the competition from the Fed. The scary thing is the talent pool is getting deeper with rookie Gordie Perkins off to an incredible start in Montreal. Perkins is a gloveman that may one day be on par with the big three of Skipper Schneider from the Cougars, Cincinnati's Jim Hensley and our choice as starter this year in
Charlie Artuso of Toronto. Were any of the four in the Fed they would be the starter for that loop without a doubt.
Left Filed: With all due respect to the season Howie Smith is having for the New York Stars the choice here is obvious in Cincinnati veteran
Al Wheeler, who is hitting like the Wheeler of a decade ago suddenly once more. He has also rekindled hopes of seeing another member to join Max Morris in the 500 homerun club and charging hard for his 3,000 career hit. Perhaps surprisingly considering his career numbers, this would only be the fifth all-star selection for Wheeler.
Center Field:
Bill Greene has likely done enough in just June to warrant selection. The Montreal outfielder has hit 8 homers and drove in 25 runs this month to claim the starting job in our minds. Cincinnati's Gail Gifford and Don Lee of the Cougars are battling for the backup spot.
Right Field:He is hurt and will miss the game but that won't stop us from voting for
Cliff Moss of the Chicago Cougars after his explosive start to the season. Moss did cool off a bit lately and a sprained ankle suffered in late June will prevent him from participating in the game. In his place we would take Chubby Hall of the Stars with Cincinnati's Sam Brown and Montreal's Art McMahon in the running as well.
Pitcher: Call us sentimental, and there are a number of good choices but we at TWIFB like nothing better than a player with a great story and we have 3 of them who will fill the pitcher slots on our ballot. We are giving the ball to
Tom Barrell, who's career was deemed nearly over in Pittsburgh just two seasons ago. Brought in by the Cannons as a bullpen filler, Barrell caught fire when inserted in the Cannons rotation and has gone 21-6 with a 2.61 era in 30 starts including the WCS last seeason since joining the Cannons. He is 9-1 this year after winning just 15 games over 3 seasons with Pittsburgh.
George Garrison is 8-4 as of this writing and a huge reason for the Toronto Wolves success. His comeback is from not just missing two years due to the war, but also from tragedy where his brother was killed overseas and his father died while he was serving. Finally we have Deuce Barrell who is looking back in his Allen Award contender form with a 7-3 record and the best era in the CA after missing all of the previous year following a devastating elbow injury.
There were certainly others worthy of consideration like the trio of 9 game winners in young Eli Panneton of the Stars, Art White of the Cougars and Doc Newell of the Philadelphia Sailors. All making the case why we should be allowed to vote for 5 starters instead of being forced to place a pair of relievers on our ballots although, at 8-1 with 4 saves we are giving Cookie Myers a vote instead of leaving both reliever slots blank again this year.
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PAST ALL STAR GAME RESULTS
YEAR LOCATION RESULT WINNING PITCHER MVP
1933 Whitney Park Federal 8 Continental 5 Ben Curtin STL Pete Asher Pit
1934 Riverside Stadium Federal 11 Continental 7 Chick Stout Pit Tom Taylor Cougars
1935 Broad Street Park Federal 5 Continental 2 Art Myers Keystones Freddie Jones StL
1936 Pioneer Field Continental 6 Federal 4 Tom Barrell BKN Dick Walker Sailors
1937 Dominion Field Federal 4 Continental 2 (19) Don Attaway Keystones Don Attaway Keystones
1938 Bigsby Oval Continental 5 Federal 4 (13) Bob Cummings BKN Fred McCormick TOR
1939 Forester Stadium Continental 6 Federal 3 Art White BKN Fred McCormick TOR
1940 Thompson Field Federal 7 Continental 4 Red Hampton Chiefs Billy Woytek Keystones
1941 Kings County Continental 8 Federal 4 Pete Papenfus Cougars Fred Galloway Cincinnati
1942 Fitzpatrick Park Federal 7 Continental 4 Ed Wood BOS Hank Barnett Chiefs
1943 Parc Cartier Continetal 7 Federal 3 Dick Lyons, Cougars Gail Gifford, StL
1944 Columbia Stadium Federal 1 Continetal 0 Ed Bowman, Gothams Don Miller, Wash
GRANGE COLLEGE WINS SECOND STRAIGHT COLLEGIATE BALL CROWN
Riggins and Rowell Too Much For Bluegrass State
The offensive exploits of outfielders Bob Riggins and Zack Rowell for the Grange College Mustangs proved more than Bluegrass State could handle, as Grange College prevailed 7-2 Monday at Whitney Field in Chicago, giving Grange College not only the bragging rights for Louisville - the Kentucky city the two school share- but also all of collegiate baseball as the win cemented a second straight AIAA championship and third overall for Grange College.
Riggins, who was Christian Trophy winner each of the past two years and was selected first overall by the New York Stars in the FABL draft, had a big series and delivered 3 more hits in the title game, which was pushed back a day after rain left the field unplayable yesterday, but it was Rowell -the often overlooked member of a Grange College outfield that also includes talented sophomore Barton 'Hoot' Ellis- that was the star of the series. Rowell had himself a week, going 12-for-18 in the 4 games this week including a 3-hit, 3 rbi showing on Monday. It could not have come a better time for the 21 year old from Canby, Oregon who was overlooked in the January human-GM portion of the FABL draft. Rowell hit a rather pedistrian .262 during the season but played in just 40 games due to some nagging injuries.
The FABL draft was completed this week with rounds 9 thru 25 being conducted and Rowell was selected in the 17th round by the Cincinnati Cannons. It was also fitting he had a chance to excel in the collegiate championships at Whitney Park, home of the Chicago Chiefs. The Chiefs had originally drafted Rowell out of high school three years ago, selecting him in the 24th round but he decided not to sign and went to Grange College instead. The move clearly paid off for Rowell as he is now a two-time Collegiate Champion.
Bluegrass State had a strong season, and would have finished with the best AIAA winning percentage for a season since the College of San Diego Friars went 44-6 in 1926 but there record 56-8 was surpassed this season by Grange College, which won an AIAA record 59 games this season before adding 4 more over the past week as collegiate ball conducted it's first World Championship Series since the feeder system was abandoned in 1933.
COLLEGIATE WORLD SERIES RESULTS
OPENING ROUND
#1 Grange College 5 #16 Garden State 3
#2 Bluegrass State 2 #15 Oklahoma City State 1
#3 Eastern State 8 #14 Chesapeake State 4
#4 Georgia Baptist 10 #13 Northern Mississippi 6
#12 Liberty College 3 #5 Cumberland 1
#6 Opelika State 4 #11 Daniel Boone College 2
#7 Coastal State 6 #10 Mississippi A&M 4 (11 innings)
#8 Whitney College 2 #9 American Atlantic 0
QUARTERFINAL
#1 Grange College 10 #8 Whitney College 0
#2 Bluegrass State 7 #7 Coastal State 5
#6 Opelika State 2 #3 Eastern State 1
#12 Liberty College 3 #4 Georgia Baptist 2
SEMI-FINAL
#1 Grange College 5 #12 Liberty College 1
#2 Bluegrass State 2 #6 Opelika State 0 (11 innings)
FINAL
Grange College 7 Bluegrass State 2
RIGGINS REPEATS AS CHRISTIAN WINNER
After leading his Grange College Mustangs to their second straight national title on Monday afternoon, Bob Riggins learned he won his second straight Frank Christian Trophy as the AIAA's top baseball player. The Grange College junior, who was selected first overall by the New York Stars in the FABL draft, becomes just the third two-time winner in the 19 year history of the award joining Bill Moore of Lubbock State -who won in 1931 and 1932- and Narragansett outfielder Sal Pestilli -the winner in 1934 and 1936.
It was a close race this time around as both Riggins and sophomore pitcher John Stallings of Piedmont University each collected 5 first place votes but Riggins was named the second choice on the other six ballots while Stallings had 3 seconds and a pair of third place finishes, while also being left off one ballot entirely. The result was Riggins claimed 27 points with Stallings finishing 4 points back.
The Adwell Award, presented to the top high school player in the nation, was also handed out last week with Beaver, Pa. shortstop Ralph Hanson being the winner. Hanson, who set an AIAA single season batting average record by hitting .615 this season, was selected second overall in the January FABL draft by the Stars so he has joined Riggins in the Stars minor league organization. The two were together last week as professional teammates at Class C Alexandria.
Hanson becomes the first infielder to win the Adwell since Walt Messer won his second of two in 1936. It was Messer who had held the single season batting average until Hanson's outstanding campaign. Hanson also makes it three straight Adwell Awards for the state of Pennsylvanians as pitcher Roy Schaub, who played his high school ball in Philadelphia, was the winner each of the previous two seasons.
The Dynamos started the season 15-9 in the first 4 weeks. Since that time the season of mediocrity has commenced with a 23-24 record. Every week has been .500 except one where we went 4-5.
Last week the Dynamos shut down rookie SP Carl Potter for a week. After a 5-0 1.10 May, June saw him slump to a 1-4 record with a 5.97 ERA. Manager Dick York stated “The kid looked tired after his last outing so I made the decision to give him a little rest. He will come back with a couple of starts this week and might get in 3 before the All-Star game. Major League innings are a lot different than high school, with all the travel and pressure.”
SP Jim Bob Jones came up from AAA this week to take Potter’s spot in the rotation for a game. JB scattered 10 hits with no walks in a complete game 3-2 win over the Washington Eagles.
The Dynamos finally did DFA OF Elmer Nolde (37). GM DD Martin was quoted as saying “Elmer still has life in his bat. I’m sure he can help out a team that’s fighting for a pennant down the stretch. We wish him the best.” LF George Bond will take over the job as the full time LF starting this week. He had been sharing time with Henry Jones but the whispers are Jones (40) has lost some “snap” in his bat speed and could be the next Dynamo veteran to retire.
TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN
Wolves Road Woes Continue -Toronto traveled into New York City to continue their road swing with the hopes on getting back onto the winning side of the ledger. Unfortunately that was not the case as the Wolves started the visit with 5 straight losses which brought June to an end with a 14-14 record. The Stars swept a 3 game series with scores of 4-3, 7-4, 2-1. Particularly galling was the first loss when the bullpen surrender a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth. Bill Crosby gave up 3 hits, walked 3 handing the game to the Stars on a plate for his 4th blown save of the season. The 'pen now has 10 blown saves on the year, a far cry from the way the relievers came in to lock down the opposition in 1944.
The team could not clear out of Dyckman Stadium fast enough after the 2-1 loss on Friday. The problem was things did not get any better at Kings County Park II on Saturday when they again only scored scored a single run in listless 3-1 loss to the Kings. This was the first loss of 1945 to Brooklyn which seemed to lead to Manager Call losing his temper. The clubhouse was closed to reporters after the game for about 30 minutes in which, given the volume, was a tirade calling out the work ethic, desire of same players.
Neither players nor staff would not discuss the specifics of the tongue lashing but many players said it was deserved, speaking under the condition of anonymity a high profile player told Brett "We deserved that, we were starting to believe the hype around the team, the CA is an awfully tough group, any team can win on any given day. To have Bob lose his temper, call out individuals takes something as he is as level headed as any FABL skipper."
The closed door summit seems to have had the desired effect on the Wolves. The team rebounded with another doubleheader sweep, their sixth this season, over the Kings 2-1, 5-3. Cookie Meyers was impressive in his first start of the season tossing a CG 5 hitter in the 2-1 victory. George Garrison picked up his 8th victory in the 5-3 nightcap thanks in no small part to a pinch hit double by McCormick sparking a 4 run eighth. Crosby locked down the victory with 2 scoreless innings picking save number 3 of the season.
The team now heads into Montreal, Chicago to complete the trip with 8 games in 7 days including an off day, two doubleheaders in second place a game and a half behind the Cannons. Saints are showing signs of life with two players winning Player of the Month for June. Cougars are only one game out of second hot on the Wolves trail.
- The New York Stars have to be thrilled with recent developments improving what had been a dismal start to the season. First the Stars have gone 10-3 over the past two weeks. Plus they received news that OSA has ranked their two draft picks taken at the top of the first round in January 1st and 4th on the prospect pipeline. Ralph Hanson, who was selected second in a pick acquired from the New York Gothams heads the list while first overall selection Bob Riggins comes in at #4. Those two have vaulted the New York Stars to the top of the minor league systems rankings, with Detroit and Brooklyn rounding out the top three.
- It was a pretty good draft at the top if you go by OSA's thoughts. Not only do you have Hanson and Riggins debutingat first and fourth but other just drafted players to crack the top twenty prospect list include Brooklyn outfielder Ralph Johnson (pick 5 is OSA's 5th ranked prospect), Detroit's Del Johnson (picked 6th is #9 on OSA's list), Ike Perry of Washington (pick 4 slots in at 10) and Johnny Peters (pick 3 is 18th on OSA chart).
- The Polish Hammer hit his first big league home run last week. Dick Blaszak's blast came off of Duke Hendricks in the 7th inning of the Chicago Chiefs 8-3 loss to Boston on Wednesday. The 23 year old 1940 first overall draft pick is hitting .256 with 16 rbi's through his first 42 big league games. The other youngster in the Chiefs outfield, Billy Brown, has quickly moved into 2nd on the team with 3 long balls in his short time with the big club. And they are making it a youthful trio with news that 22-year-old Dave Krieger has also been recalled from Fort Wayne to take over in center for the very young Chiefs outfield.
- Cross-town with the Cougars Chick Browning and Bill Rich did their best Cliff Moss impressions, combining to go 8-for-19 with 4 homers and 13 RBIs while filling in at right field.
COIN GHOST RATTLES AGAIN IN COLLEGE CLOSET
Should college athletes be paid? Well, let's put it this way: Would you give a helping hand to a good athlete who had something on the scholastic ball?
As has happened in the past, the old ghost is rattling around again with a push for the student athletes to at least get expense and walking around money. Should those who play major college sports be paid? Horace McKenchnie of Bayou State, who is also is a vice president in charge of research in the American Collegiate Sports Publicity Association, unlocked the closet door recently when he put that question to some 130 schools. It was couched in nobler language, but that's what it boiled down to.
All of us know that most prewar colleges were like kids with strawberry-smeared faces swearing they hadn't been near the jam pot when this irksome matter came up. Pay football players? Sir, that calls for epithets at 20 paces and not even split infinitives barred. Some winked at it, some took advantage of loopholes, others raised the bars and consequently just about dropped out of the picture, and others found their high purpose defeated by well-heeled alumni who wanted winning football teams and had the wherewith to by them.
The Deep South Conference, of which Bayou State is a member, has been most open and above board in the matter and frankly pays all the expenses of scholarship football players. We may not be exactly correct but we understand this includes room, board, tuition, books and approximately $50 a month for incidentals. That isn't too much for a good player who might command $300 or $400 a week in pro football. What was that, pro football? Ah, could that be the villain in the piece?
At this writing the college athletic situation is as unsettled as last year's taxes and each passing month adds to the confusion. Most colleges want to resume their sports programs immediately, but some can't because the military draft still is getting most of their prospective enrollees and the the older boys still are away at war. The thin line of students going to class embraces a precious few bonafide athletes.
Thus it seems schools will have to lean heavily on war veterans for help when peace finally returns. But here is where they run into several kinds of complications involving economics as well as eligibility rules. Will an athlete be permitted to transer to another school after receiving his honorable discharge from service? For exampe a player enrolled in a Deep South school who played football in the Great Lakes Alliance as a Navy V-12 trainee? So far the AIAA has not given an indication either way.
But a bigger obstacle will be that of earning a living. Most of the kids who marched away several years ago will return as battle-seasoned, worldly veterans, who'll scorn the lollypop handouts formerly given in the way of assistance. Thousands will be married men, some with families and if they want to complete their education they'll have to find a way to support their dependents as well as themselves. Here is where pro football comes into the pictue. If colleges insist in strict amateurism, as interpreted by themselves, more than a few players are going to take the $300 or $400 a week they can earn in the pro game and get their education in easy doses.
You have not just the American Football Association but also the upstart Continental Football Conference, fighting for a foothold in the pro game, is going after any and all talent and the devil take the hindmost. We find it difficult to believe the colleges will allow this raiding of players with eligibility remaining to go unchallenged and it is our personal view that these questionnaires are aimed at dredging up enough sentiment to fix a national policy agreement to all schools. This worries some of the smaller schools, who perhaps lack the funds to compete with the big boys of the AIAA if the door to the vault swings open. Their nervousness seemed to be reflected last week when Ohio Poly cage coach Hawk Pizzo tried to get congressional aid in combatting professionalism in collegiate sports and keep the boys in line. That's a large order, but it's indicative of the thinking among some colleges -perhaps among most.
Any candidates for czar? Personally, we think we've found an easier way to earn a living.
There was no title fight and nothing definite in that regard on the upcoming slate but it was still was a busy week in the boxing world as a few of the top contenders and some up and comers were in action over the past seven days. Leading the charges was one of the better middleweights and perhaps the next opponent for the new champ in that division Frank Melanson.
The pugilist we speak of is John Edmonds, a 27 year old from Muncie, In., who is ranked as the top American born contender at the momemnt. Edmonds ran his record to 19-1 with a 5th round TKO of Vic Woodley on Thursday night. It was a pretty big fight as the 28 year old Woodley (19-7) is no slouch and had won his last four bouts. It might be a good indicator of the challenge Edmonds could pose for Melanson should they meet, as Melanson needed the full 12 rounds to score an unanimous decision win over Woodley 2 years ago. Neither fight was exceptionally close but Edmonds certanly handled the New Yorker Woodley in a much easier fashion than the new champ did.
Todd Gill, another of the middleweight contenders, was also in action. The 33 year old Hartford native took out his frustrations of not getting a shot at Rees with an unanimous decision over little know Steve Adams in a bout at Fall River, Ma. on Monday. Gill had appeared to be the one all set to face Rees instead of Melanson, but haggling over his share of the gate cost the outspoken Gill his opportunity.
Boston born heavyweight Roy Crawford improved to 19-2 with an unanimous decision over journeyman Bee-Bee Baldwin. 37 year old Ken Haley appears to be reaching the end of the line as the Kalamazoo, Mi., heavyweight looked old and slow in dopping a split decision to lightly regarded Windsor, Ont. youngster Pat Ings in a Tuesday night fight in Detroit.
As for the up and comers, Joe Moore -the 25 year old middleweight out of the Pacific Northwest who is back in action after a stint in Euorpe with the Army, ran his record to 11-1 with an 8th round knockout of Canadian Kevin Rawlings (7-2). On Tuesday young middleweight Davis Owens scored an 8 round unanimous decision victory over Porter Harvey for his second career win in as many outings.
UPDATED RANKINGS IN EACH WEIGHT CLASS
To help TWIFB readers stay up to date with the top boxers here is the latest list according to the American Boxing Federation of the top contenders in each division. The ABF stipulates a fighter must have at least 15 professional bouts to be included. Note that this list is not the only fighters a champion is restricted to facing in a title defense.
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION- Champ Hector Sawyer 51-3-1 (46)
30 years old (turns 31 on July 11) New Orleans, La
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TOP HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDERS (min 15 bouts)
# NAME REC AGE HOMETOWN LAST FIGHT
1 Cannon Cooper 18-0-1 25 Rockford, Il May 25 KO Dan Turner
2 Chris Gilbert 23-10-3 32 Joplin, Mo Mar 15 UD Doug Martin
3 Matt Price 27-4-4 28 Tampa, Fl Jun 28 draw Eugene Morse
4 Chis Sullvan 15-2-3 28 Chicago, Il Apr 2 UD Brad Kelley
5 Mark Fountain 18-2-1 27 New York, NY Mar 21 Loss Leo Carmichael
6 Dan Miller 17-7-1 28 Oakland, Ca Apr 15 UD Allen Daniel
MIDDLWEIGHT DIVISION- Champ Frank Melanson 29-0-1 (4)
28 years old from Pittsburgh, Pa.
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TOP MIDDLEWEIGHT CONTENDERS (min 15 bouts)
# NAME REC AGE HOMETOWN LAST FIGHT
1 Edouard Desmarais 29-0-1 29 Paris, France 1940
2 John Edmonds 19-1 27 Muncie, In Apr 23 KO Warren Gray
3 Archie Rees 35-5-1 32 Tadcaster, Eng Jun 9 L Frank Melanson
4 Brooks O'Connor 18-3-2 28 Detroit, Mi May 29 DQwin Bob Hinkle
5 Todd Gill 20-1-4 33 Hartford, Ct Jun 25 UD Steve Adams
6 Nathan Sears 17-2 30 Gary, In 1941 L Archie Rees
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION- Champ Vacant
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TOP WELTERWEIGHT CONTENDERS (min 15 bouts)
# NAME REC AGE HOMETOWN LAST FIGHT
1 Mark Westlake 19-1-1 27 Biloxi, Ms Feb 25 TKO Carter Moore
2 Rudy Perry 19-1-1 29 Philadelphia 1940 UD Artie Neal
3 Wayne Dunn 24-6 29 Hartford, Ct June 20 UD Dave Sullivan
4 John Gregory 13-1-1 26 Vista, Ca 1941 UD Pete Andrews
4 Dennis O'Keefe 17-1 28 Jacksonvile 1941 UD Brad Stephens
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 7/01/1945
- Representatives of 50 nations approved a plan for a peaceful future in the charter of a new world organization adopted by the United Nations Conference in San Francisco. Next up is to set up a commission to plan for the first meeting of the new peacekeeping organization.
- Japanese casualties in the Okinawa campaign soared past the 110,000 mark and Tokyo finally admitted loss of the island.
- The final battle of Northern Luzon is underway with bitter fighting after the 11th Airborne Division dropped parachute troops and -for the first time in the Pacific- glider-borne units at edge of Cagayan Valley.
- Australian troops completed their conquest of northwest Borneo's rich oilfields
- War Mobilization Director Fred Vinson disclosed that the Government is rushing reconversion plans based upon "an early defeat of Japan as well as a late one." He says all war agencies "are getting ready to beet the problems which an early VJ-Day will bring."
- The Army is set to reduce the number of points required for discharge from 85 to between 78 and 80 within the next couple of weeks. The points system is being used to release 1.3 million men from the Army's ranks.
- A chilling report from Foreign Economic Administrator Leo Crowley, who says that Germany's war-making potential is still a threat and warned that if the Germans had held out six month longer they may have been able to hit New York City with V-bombs launched from U-boats in the Atlantic and a little afterward they could have sent jet-propelled planes against Washington.