OCTOBER 15, 1945
FABL GLOVE AWARDS HANDED OUT
The Chicago Sportswriters Guild has once again named a team of 'Premium Fielders' for the 1945 season. A special formula devised by the nephew of Chicago Herald-Tribune sports editor and founder of a proposed new football league Percy Sutherland, who is a Whitney College mathematics professor, is used to determine the best fielder at each of the nine positions.
The Toronto Wolves, Boston Minutemen and Chicago Chiefs led the way in each placing two members on the team, which has been selected for the fourth time but was not awarded a year ago. The Wolves outfield duo of Chink Stickels and Juan Pomales are each first time selections as is Chiefs pitcher Frank Sears, but he is joined by Chicago teammate Ron Rattigan who along with St Louis third sacker Tommy Wilson are the only players named to the team each of the four seasons it was presented. Outfielder Pete Day of the Boston Minutemen makes his second appearance on the team while catcher Bill Van Ness is a first time winner.
BARRELL BACK IN BROOKLYN
Keystones Hire Schmidt's Replacement
The Brooklyn Kings have a new manager. Just days after retiring as a player Tom Barrell has been hired to replace Powell Slocum as the manager in Brooklyn. Barrell pitched for Brooklyn from 1932 thru 1940 where he won three straight Allan Allen Awards in 1934, '35 and '36. Barrell struggled with leg injuries which ultimately cooled the sizzle on his fastball and he ended up relegated to the bullpen in Pittsburgh. He enjoyed a renaissance of sorts with Cincinnati, where he pitched the last two seasons of his career and showed he still had some life in his arm, finishing the 1945 season with a very respectable 16-5 record and 3.26 ERA before his old leg injuries prevented him from pitching in what would have been his fifth World Championship Series.
"I've been blessed," Barrell told reporters. "Blessed to have played the game I love since childhood, blessed to make a good living doing it, and blessed to have done it in my hometown of Brooklyn, New York. Now," he added with a grin, "I am back home and look to restore the Kings' luster and help them reassume their spot atop the Continental Association and the FABL."
***Keystones Find New Skipper ***
The World Champion Philadelphia Keystones quickly moved to fill their managerial opening, inking veteran skipper Jack Everhart to fill the role vacated by the retirement of Otto Schmidt. Everhart has been working as a scout in recent years, last managing in 1938 when he was 35-52 in part of a season for a dreadful Washington Eagles club. Prior to that he spent a season at the helm of the Philadelphia Sailors and a number of years as the Sailors Assitstant General Manager. Some observers were surprised that long-time Keystones catcher and current bench coach Carl Ames did not earn the promotion to the manager's seat. It does appear that Ames will remain with the organization in his present role of bench coach.
*** Real Reason Schmidt Left Keystones ****
Philadelphia Inquisitor sports editor Johnny Bologna had wondered in a recent column "what is it about this rash of Keystone manager retirements, year after year. Otto Schimdt did the job that John Heydon couldn't quite accomplish -win the WCS. The story for Schmidt's retirement is accomplishing his final managerial magic trick in only one year. I wonder if his previous experience with the Stars came into play here. He won in his first season (1939) and could not win another one, despite a pennant in his last season (1942). All in all it was quite a record for Schmidt in five seasons: 2 titles (1939, '45), 3 pennants (1939, '42, '45), a 2nd place finish and a 4th place finish. His teams finished above .500 all 5 seasons and retired with a .557 winning percentage (720-572)."
However, John Brinker of the New York Mirror reports that "It turns out that there's more to Otto Schmidt leaving baseball than just a desire to retire from the rigors of big league management. Schmidt was born in the city of Bad Schwalbach in Germany, located west of the city of Frankfurt. And he left behind family - an older sister who did not emigrate to the United States when their parents and young Otto did back in 1893. Irma Köhler (nee Schmidt) is 80 years old, and a widow. Both of her sons as well as three grandsons were killed in the war. Her husband died back in 1938. And she lives in Cottbus, a city that is located about 75 miles south of Berlin, a location now firmly in the Soviet Occupation zone. Otto, concerned about his older sister, has gone back to Germany; his goal is to bring Irma back to the United States. Failing that, he wishes to at least move her into the American zone near their family's original home in Bad Schwalbach."
Today marks the end of an era in Detroit. Dynamo great Frank Vance has hung up his glove and spikes and retired. Many had hoped that Vance, even at age 43, would come back for one more year in the sun, but he feels now is the right time to retire. Said Vance "I was considering retirement several years ago after Sal was drafted and then Red was traded. But I felt that with all the change and with the war going on, I wanted to stay. Stay and play the game and put out the best effort I could, even with father time creeping up on me. The fans of Detroit deserve a winner and I will be rooting for the Dynamo's with everything I have." When I asked Vance if he would consider coaching he simply stated "Someday yes I would love to come back to the game I love and it would be especially sweet if it were here in Detroit. For right now I am going to enjoy the off-season and spend time with my family. My son is playing in Jr. High and I want to be able to see as many games of his this year as I can before he goes onto high school ball. But I have been invited to spring training as a special hitting instructor for the organization and I will work hard to assist the Dynamo's in any way I can. This organization means a lot to me!"
I asked Vance why he wouldn't want to try and get the 30 hits he needed to get to the 3000 for a career and he quipped "Because I didn't want to become the all-time Dynamo strikeout king". Vance is 2nd amongst Dynamo's with 796 strikeouts trailing all time leader Danny James with 827.
Vance is Detroit's all time leader in many statistical categories and among the leaders in many others. His career was remarkable and there is a movement by long time fans to see Vance's Dynamo # retired. Hopefully they decide to do that this year. He was #8 for most of his career in Detroit. Maybe someday the Hall of Fame will call Vance's name. I think he should be in. To my friend Frank Vance, thanks for the memories and here's to seeing you down the road back in Detroit very soon.
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WHERE FRANK VANCE RANKS ALL-TIME AMONG DYNAMOS
Career batting average .317 (4th)
Career On-base percentage .383 (7th)
Career Slugging percentage .478 (5th)
Career On-base + slugging .861 (5th)
Career AB's & PA's 6902 7748 (1st)
Career Games 1730 (1st)
Career Runs 1195 (1st)
Career Hits 2190 (1st)
Career Total Bases 3301 (1st)
Career Singles 1575 (1st)
Career Doubles 335 (1st)
Career Triples 64 (10th
Interesting times in New York. After an unexpected championship and some less than exciting years during the war, the Gothams wait for their players to return from military service. Then again so do all the other teams. This should make for a most interesting offseason and 1946 regular season. Who will thrive with this excess of talent? That's in the future. For now teams are waing through stacks of scouting reports, including any info they've gathered on the condition of players in the military, to pare down their organizations. They must determine which older players still have a place and where to slot men who were 18-19 when they left, but are now. much more mature.
For the Gothams, this means deciding whether pitchers like JIm Baggett and Cy Sullivan were placeholders or can be future contributors. With younger pitchers returning and maturing that seems unlikely. Many starting spots will be filled by established veterans like Messer, Brewer, Monier and the recently acquired Sal Pestilli. Pestilli is an interesting case. The Gothams took a chance, giving up even more draft capital to reunite Pestilli with Red Johnson. However there are some that say he may be a diminished player at age 30. Other scouting organizations say there should be no worries.
Another question for team management is, what to do with Ed Ziehl? The former manager and lifelong Gotham left the team to work for the war effort when his son and Gothams reserve Eddie Ziehl was drafted. By all accounts the elder Ziehl put in long hours helping to sell war bonds and talk to enlisted men as they were shipping out. Now with the war over and his son expected to return, though unlikely to find a spot on the Gothams roster, some have asked whether Ziehl would return to the team? Bud Jameson has led the squad the past season to an uninspiring finish. Does he deserve a shot with a full roster? My inquiries indicate that Jameson will continue as manager with Ed Ziehl taking an advisory position with the team, perhaps moving into an Assistant GM position at some point.
So much player movement. More to come as players return. It will be an interesting season.
- It seemed almost immediately after Tom Barrell announced his retirement, word came from Brooklyn that the former Kings legend would have his #45 jersey retired by the club. Barrell, who won 3 consecutive Allen Awards and led the Kings to three straight pennants, will be the first jersey ever retired by Daniel Prescott's club. As it turns out Barrell will still need that jersey. Not as a player, but as the next manager of the Kings as it was announced just this morning that Barell will replace Powell Slocum as Kings manager.
- Speaking of Slocum you have to think he is a front-runner for one of the remaining vacant jobs. A return to Pittsburgh -with a Miners team Slocum briefly managed in between stints in Brooklyn- might be the best fit.
- Chicago Cougars skipper Clyde Meyer's new projected Opening Day lineup has six (1B Ford, 2B Car, 3B Barnett, LF Mitchell, CF Montes, RF Hunter) new faces with four (Jones, Papenfus, Brown, Jones) new members in the rotation. The new lineup members make up the 1-6 spots against lefties and 1-5, 7 against righties, and the top three members of the rotation.
- The Toronto Wolves appear to have settled their 40-man for the most part, 38 with one open spot before Rule 5. Rule 5 list down to 71, going to be an interest few months in the FABL.
- Today's trivia question:Who is the first overall draft pick with the most career FABL wins? Impossible level bonus question. Who is the lowest drafted pitcher to ever win a FABL game? Answer at the bottom of this issue.
MAROONS REMAIN PERFECT WITH WIN OVER RAMBLERS
The Detroit Maroons ran their record to 3-0 with a 16-0 victory over the winless St Louis Ramblers at Thompson Field yesterday. As usual it was end Stan Vaught leading the way for the Detroit eleven, as the veteran hauled in 7 catches for 101 yards while also adding a fourth quarter interception to help preserve the shutout for the Maroons.
The Detroit defense was the difference in the game, as Frank Yurik's crew held the woeful Ramblers attack to just 135 net yards on the day and forced three turnovers. The closest St Louis came to scoring was on their opening drive but Bob Holt was unsuccessful on a 36 yard field goal attempt. The Detroit offense was far from dominating but the ever dependable Vaught made some big catches including a 15 yard grab in the closing minute of the first half that set up a 1 yard scoring run from Joe Shores. Shores would score both Detroit majors, each on a 1 yard plunge with the only score of the second half coming when St Louis quarterback Fran Jackson was tackled in his own endzone for a safety with just seconds remaining in the game.
Boston and Philadelphia are also undefeated, as the Eastern Division co-leaders each improved to 2-0. The Americans beat Washington -which was 2-0 entering the game- thanks to Del Thomas throwing for 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also forcing two Wasps fumbles. The Boston win came despite another big game from the Wasps passing duo of rookie quarterback Bob Krohn and receiver Johnny Douglas. Krohn threw 12 completions for 154 yards with Douglas, who had 8 catches for 103 yards and 2 scores, being his primary target. In Cincinnati, the visitors from Philadelphia followed up the city's World Championship Series win over the Cannons by winning again at Tice Stadium. This time it was the grid Frigates -defending AFA champs- who prevailed 7-3 in a defensive struggle. The Tigers took a 3-0 lead but the Frigates, who would also miss two field goals on the afternoon, put together a 13 play, 67 yard drive in the second quarter that culminated in a 3 yard run from Greg LePage for the games only touchdown. Cincinnati missed a glorious opportunity to start the second half when, with a first and goal on the Frigates 2 yard line, Gus Knox had a pass picked off by Bob Allen to keep the Frigates lead intact.
Chicago scored 10 points in the fourth quarter including an 8 yard pass from Gus Brown to Mark Lautzenheiser with 3:05 remaining in the game to lift the Wildcats past the Cleveland Finches 24-21. Lautzenheiser had a dominant game: rushing for 95 yards, making 4 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown while also chipping in defense with 6 tackles and an interception.
The other game also ended 24-21 with the New York Football Stars holding off the winless Pittsburgh Paladins 24-21. The Paladins had an opportunity to tie the game but Ron Johnson's 36-yard field goal attempt with 22 seconds left in the contest was no good. Pittsburgh could not get out of it's own way as the Paladins committed 7 turnovers including giving up the ball on each of their first five possessions, leading to 3 New York first quarter touchdowns.
The big game next week to watch will be the Philadelphia Frigates trip to Minutemen Stadium to face the Boston Americans as a pair of 2-0 teams stage the first of their two meetings this season. The Frigates have wins over the two Ohio teams, blanking Cleveland 30-0 at home before yesterday's 7-3 win in Cincinnati. Boston was on the road for both of its wins as they won 31-14 in Pittsburgh to open their season last week before edging Washington 24-21 yesterday.
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AMERICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
EAST DIVISION W L T PCT
Philadelphia 2 0 0 1.000
Boston 2 0 0 1.000
Washington 2 1 0 .667
New York 1 1 0 .500
Pittsburgh 0 3 0 .000
WEST DIVISION W L T PCT
Detroit 3 0 0 1.000
Chicago 2 1 0 .667
Cincinnati 1 2 0 .333
Cleveland 1 3 0 .250
St Louis 0 3 0 .000
SUNDAY'S RESULT
Philadelphia 7 Cincinnati 3
Detroit 16 St Louis 0
Boston 24 Washington 21
Chicago 24 Cleveland 21
New York 24 Pittsburgh 21
UPCOMING GAMES
SUNDAY OCTOBER 21
Philadelphia at Boston
Washington at New York
Pittsburgh at Detroit
St Louis at Chicago
Cleveland at Cincinnati
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AFA LEADERS
SCORING PTS
Lautzenheiser, Chi 30
Douglas, Was 30
Vaught, Det 28
Vanatta, Chi 20
Littlejohn, Bos 19
PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT
Colvin, Cle 45-109 677 4 8
Brown, Chi 42-77 657 8 1
Kohn, Was 41-80 653 5 8
D Thomas, Bos 46-79 535 5 2
Coleman, Det 26-63 390 4 4
RUSHING YDS TD
Lautzenheiser, Chi 237 1
Norton, Was 187 2
B.Young, Bos 174 0
Thompson, Cle 150 2
Renton, Det 149 1
RECEIVING CAT YDS TD
Nicholson, Cle 24 415 3
Vaught, Det 18 249 3
Molloy, Bos 17 241 1
Lautzenheiser, Chi 16 321 4
Douglas, Was 15 329 5
INERCEPTIONS #
Smith, Was 4
Lautzenheiser, Chi 3
Sauder, Chi 3
Clark, Bos 3
A crowd of 52,000 that flocked to the Bigsby Oval Saturday hoping- or fearing- that Rome State, the nation's number one team a year ago, would wallop the tar out of a young but hard working Detroit City College eleven. They got the result they hoped for-or feared- as the Centurions waltzed to a 41-14 triumph. Fortified with a human tank in the person of fullback Chet Donelson, and a jeep-sized zipping halfback in Gus Thompson, two lads who snared all but 10 of Rome State's 380 yards gained on the ground, it made for a long day for the Detroit City College lineman.
Annapolis Maritime is also, like Rome State, unbeaten at 3-0, after blanking Liberty College 27-0. The Navigators were short-staffed, missing their top two rushing threats but they cashed in on the breaks, taking advantage of 7 turnovers committed by the now 2-1 Bells.
45,000 jammed Tyrone Stadium to witness the St Blane Fighting Saints run their season mark to 3-0 with a 44-3 pasting of Grafton, marking the first mid-western appearance in several years for the Academia Alliance school. Other notable results came from the west coast were CC Los Angeles surprised Northern California 10-0 and Rainier College nipped Spokane State 7-6
COLLEGE SCOREBOARD
MIDWEST
Rome State 41 Detroit City College 14
Indiana A&M 59 College of Omaha 0
Central Ohio 3 Wisconsin State 0
Iowa A&M 13 Daniel Boone College 10
Whitney College 14 Western Iowa 7
Wisconsin Catholic 43 Eastern Kansas 0
St. Ignatius 16 Pittsburgh State 10
Minnesota Tech 72 Fort Warren 6
Fort Bragg 26 Charleston (IL) 9
Lawrence State 48 Wichita Baptist 16
Lambert College 53 Brookings State 9
Topeka State 33 Marles 3
EAST
Annapolis Maritime 27 Liberty College 0
St. Blane 44 Grafton 3
Henry Hudson 27 George Fox 10
St. Patrick's 28 Penn Catholic 0
Commonwealth Catholic 24 Bigsby College 14
Pierpont 37 North Carolina Tech 6
St. Pancras 6 Huntington State 3
Empire State 34 Eastern Virginia 0
Conwell College 38 Frankford State 6
Dickson 36 Irondequoit 0
Troy State (NY) 13 Coast Guard 0
SOUTH
Alabama Baptist 51 Columbia Military Academy 10
Noble Jones College 17 Central Kentucky 0
Georgia Baptist 44 Alabama A&T 7
Cowpens State 27 Carolina Poly 27
Cumberland 38 Western Tennessee 6
Western Florida 40 Bluegrass State 3
Alexandria 21 Charleston Tech 17
Richmond State 14 Chesapeake State 3
Maryland State 45 Merchant Marine 20
Mississippi A&M 24 Ruston Tech 0
Northern Mississippi 30 Northern Minnesota 3
Miami State 37 Laclede 3
Coastal State 30 Pensacola NAS 0
SOUTHWEST
Eastern Oklahoma 17 Texas Gulf Coast 9
Red River State 27 Baton Rouge State 0
Bayou State 28 Darnell State 14
Travis College 21 Oklahoma City State 17
College of Waco 3 Payne State 3
Lubbock State 23 Arkansas A&T 3
Canyon A&M 17 Amarillo Field 7
FAR WEST
CC Los Angeles 10 Northern California 0
Coastal California 30 San Diego Navy 13
Rainier College 7 Spokane State 6
Golden Gate University 27 College of San Diego 3
Lane State 16 Portland Tech 7
Mile High State 24 Provo Tech 17
Boulder State 20 Colorado Poly 7
Farragut Navy 21 Idaho A&M 17
Mountainview State 20 South Valley State 20
Cache Valley 37 Custer College 13
O'KEEFE PROVES 'RING KILLER' IN STOPPING PERRY IN 2ND
Dennis O'Keefe emerged in the role of a killer in the ring in his first big test against a top flight opponent. The timing was perfect for the the man known as the Jacksonville Jackhammer as just, 4 days after celebrating his 29th birthday, the Florida welterweight knocked out Ray Perry in a key bout that paves the way for O'Keefe to fight for the ABF title in the coming months.
The Florida born welterweight exhibited all of the ferocious fighting prowess of a tiger Saturday night in Baltimore as he quickly battered Perry into unconsciousness for a second round knockout of the Philadelphia native. The victory means O'Keefe's next fight will be against the winner of the October 26 duel between Mark Westlake and Carl Taylor with the World Title at stake. The welterweight division has been without a champion since 1939 when Jimmy 'Kid' Simpson retired at a not so childlike age of 37. Due to the war, no fight for the title has been fought since but a recent announcement set up the two 'playoff' bouts including the O'Keefe-Perry battle to set up a title fight.
Perry, who suffered just the second loss of his professional career and now sits with a 20-2-1 record, had a nice start and convincingly won the opening round. However, early in the second round O'Keefe caught Perry with a solid hook to the ribs that clearly hurt and left Perry trying to protect that spot. That left him exposed up top and O'Keefe landed a solid combination that staggered Perry before a final blow to the chin had the Philadelphian out before he hit the canvas. There was only slight movement from the downed fighter before referee Johnny Galloway reached a count of 10.
CONLEY, CARMICHAEL IRON ON DIFFERENCES
As expected the World Heavyweight Fight slated for February 9 in Detroit will go as planned. The bout, to feature champ Hector Sawyer against veteran Englishman Leo Carmichael had hit a snag when there was some disagreement over the sharing of television money but fight promotor and long-time Sawyer manager Chester Conley has confirmed he has a signed contract in his hands and Sawyer will indeed face Carmichael February.
UPCOMING KEY FIGHTS
OCT 19- Bigsby Garden, New York. Frank Melanson defends his World Middleweight Title against Todd Gill.
OCT 26- Lake Side Arena, Chicago. Mark Westlake vs Carl Taylor. Winner to meet Dennis O'Keefe for welterweight title.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 10/14/1945
- The Government warned the nation it was headed for the worst winter of hardships since the depression unless there was an early end to the soft coal strike.
- Fifty Superfortresses began to shuttle food and medicine in Okinawa, isolated and ravaged by the worst typhoons in 20 years.
- The new Japanese cabinet abolished all restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly while also completing the dissolution of home naval and airfleet headquarters in compliance with American directives.
- Col. Jaun D. Peron, fallen Argentina strong man, was arrested by Federal police who told him he better surrender so that it would not appear he was encouraging resistance to the government change in the South American country. The arrest was confirmed by Evita Duarte, radio actress and protege of Colonel Peron.
- Late word out of Luxembourg says that General George S. Patton, Commander of the US 15th Army, was injured in an automobile accident. No immediate word on how serious the injuries might be or details on the cause.
TRIVIA ANSWER: Tom Barrel, selected by the Chicago Cougars in 1929 is the leader in career pitching wins by a first overall draft pick. Barrell is presently 179-111 for his career. Toronto's Joe Hancock (139) and Barrell's nephew Deuce Barrell of Cincinnati (108) are second and third among first overall picks. The bonus question of the lowest drafted player to ever be credited with a win in a FABL game is Washington's Kid Campbell, who was selected 390th overall in 1932. It took him a while but won his first game in 1944, and went 12-8 this season.