OCTOBER 29, 1945
TEXAS TWOSOME TURNED DOWN IN EXPANSION BID
There are reports that FABL had been approached about expanding with two new teams based in Texas but were turned down by FABL President Sam Belton. The two biggest markets in the Lone Star Association -Dallas and Houston- are said to have contacted FABL about making the jump to the big leagues, likely for the 1946 campaign. The owners, Paul Burnett in Dallas and Houston's John Mark, felt the timing was perfect for expansion with all of the players returning from the war creating a great surplus of talent.
The duo would presumably have joined either the Federal or Continental Association, bringing one of those two loops up to ten teams while the other remained at eight. However, the idea was quickly shot down by the league office, citing unofficially the uncertain financial picture of the league and travel concerns as two stumbling blocks although there was speculation the league is eyeing California, and not Texas for any possible future expansion plans.
FABL President Sam Belton refused to give any confirmation he had been approached by the two Lone Star Association club owners and made no comment on expansion beyond stating that FABL is very happy with it's current 16 team structure.
MANY BIG LEAGUERS LOOKING FOR WORK AS WAR RETURNEES RECLAIM JOBS
Karl Wallace, George Rotondi, Larry Colaianni, Steve Summers and Don Miller. Those are just a few of the ballplayers who spent last season in the big leagues but now are in danger of finding themselves out of the game entirely. Hundreds of players -mostly minor leaguers but 28 players who appeared in at least one FABL game last season- have been released since the conclusion of the World Championship Series and many more will follow. The reason: With the end of the war nearly every player who left the sport for the service has returned and all are looking to reclaim the jobs they held before the war. For the top players that is certainly happening but there are also hundreds of minor leaguers who will not have a job to return to.
Certainly the biggest name on the list has to be the 36 year old Colaianni. The third baseman was among the Federal Association leaders when he hit .325 last season but with Mel Carrol returning from the Navy the Eagles had no room for the two-time all-star. Washington also gave outfielder Don Miller his walking papers despite the fact the 31 year old started 123 games in the Eagles outfield last season and hit .274. Former rookie of year Jesse Alvardo's impending return made Miller expendable and the Eagles also saved money by letting glove first shortstop Jack Bush go.
The New York Stars were in the same situation with shortstop Steve Summers. Summers hit .263 a year ago but the 32 year old had some misadventures in the infield and was clearly just a stopgap until Joe Angevine returned from the Navy, which he is slated to do in the next month. Pitcher Johnny Cook was another casualty in New York, joining Karl Wallace, who won 11 games last season for the Philadelphia Sailors, longtime Cincinnati reliever Larry Brown and Bob Cummings from the Chicago Chiefs on the unemployment line.
*** Rebel League a Possibility ***
Many estimate there will be well over 1,000 professional ballplayers out of work next summer when the dust settles and all those who aided in the war effort have returned. That has fueled speculation of another minor league or perhaps multiple leagues being formed. Some have even go as far as suggest there is a growing movement south of the border in Mexico to open a full fledged professional league -perhaps with an idea of one day expanding to the United States and taking FABL head on. The rumour has become so rampant that the phrase "better brush up on your Spanish" or words to that effect have been bandied about by many a fringe big leaguer.
No details have been released yet and no potential league organizers or team owners have revealed anything to the general public but multiple sources are indicating there will be at least one more baseball league active when play resumes in the spring. All it takes is a quick glance at the list of free agent baseball players and it is easy to see that there will be more than enough players looking for work and likely many eager for the opportunity.
- The Eagles cut ties with Jack Bush, releasing the 32 year old shortstop last week. Bush seemed doomed from the start in Washington when in the spring before his big league debut Lemonhead McGuire -the Eagles manager at the time- threw a heap of pressure on the the 24 year old by annointing Bush as a future Hall of Famer despite the fact he was about a .240 hitter in the minors and had never stepped on a big league ballfield. Needless to say it did not go well. Bush was a terrific gloveman, and still is, but barely hit his weight in parts of six seasons in the nations capital, batting just .197.
- This week's Trivia Question: Powell Slocum announced his retirement from the game after 41 years as a player or manager. The Hall of Famer is the all-time leader in career hits and career batting average, having hit at a .375 clip over his 21 seasons in the majors. Slocum's .435 average in 1913 is the highest single season total ever recorded. Slocum batted at least .400 seven times in his career. Only 6 other players this century have hit .400 in a season and only one has done it more than once. The easy level question is name the player with multiple .400 seasons since 1900 and the expert level question is who are the other five to do it once?
PAIR OF UPSETS HIGHLIGHT PRO GRID ACTION
The Chicago Wildcats have only visited Cincinnati twice but they clearly do not enjoy the trip as the second year Tigers knocked off the Wildcats at Tice Memorial Stadium for the second consecutive season. The 28-14 Tigers victory was one of two upsets in Sunday grid play as the Washington Wasps were surprised at home, falling 24-16 to a Pittsburgh Paladins eleven that snapped a 4-game skid with it's first victory.
Four interceptions thrown by the usually reliable Gus Brown including one that Tigers back Barry Abbott returned 19 yards for a third quarter touchdown to tie the game at 14 was the difference in Cincinnati. In the nation's capital it was a pair of scoring runs by Syl Tyma that helped the Paladins claim their first victory, one that came despite 2 more touchdown catches and 188 yards receiving from Johnny Douglas of the Wasps.
There was no upset in Detroit as the Maroons improved to 5-0 by thumping Cleveland 45-6. Stan Vaught had another big game for the winners, making 8 catches for 189 yards including three touchdown receptions. Greg LePage ran for 204 yards to pace the Philadelphia Frigates to a 42-0 whitewashing of the winless St Louis Ramblers while at the Bigsby Oval the visiting Boston Americans pitched their second straight shutout in a 16-0 win over New York. Del Thomas led the way for the Yanks with 128 yards passing while also making 5 tackles and picking off a pair of passes on defense.
Code:
AMERICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
EAST DIVISION W L T PCT
Boston 4 0 0 1.000
Philadelphia 3 1 0 .750
Washington 3 2 0 .600
New York 1 3 0 .250
Pittsburgh 1 4 0 .200
WEST DIVISION W L T PCT
Detroit 5 0 0 1.000
Chicago 3 2 0 .600
Cincinnati 3 2 0 .600
Cleveland 1 5 0 .167
St Louis 0 5 0 .000
SUNDAY'S RESULT
Boston 16 New York 0
Philadelphia 42 St Louis 0
Pittsburgh 24 Washington 16
Cincinnati 28 Chicago 14
Detroit 45 Cleveland 6
UPCOMING GAMES
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 4
St Louis at New York
Philadelphia at Washington
Detroit at Chicago
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh
Cleveland at Boston
Code:
AFA LEADERS
SCORING PTS
Vaught, Det 69
Douglas, Was 48
Lautzenheiser, Chi 36
Tyma, Pit 30
Vanatta, Chi 27
PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT
Brown, Chi 78-135 1067 13 5
Colvin, Cle 66-172 902 4 16
Krohn, Was 54-100 872 6 9
D Thomas, Bos 74-120 796 6 3
Anderson, Pit 36-91 520 4 8
RUSHING YDS TD
B.Young, Bos 431 1
LePage, Phi 377 3
Lautzenheiser, Chi 274 1
Norton, Was 243 2
Renton, Det 235 1
RECEIVING CAT YDS TD
Vaught, Det 35 629 8
Douglas, Was 30 682 8
Nicholson, Cle 30 487 3
J Gilmore, Chi 26 277 3
Lautzenheiser, Chi 22 389 5
Molloy, Bos 21 277 1
INERCEPTIONS #
Clark, Bos 6
Rochman, Was 5
Smith, Was 5
R Johnson, Pit 4
Richards, Was 4
Lautzenheiser, Chi 4
D Thomas, Bos 4
ROME STATE CONTINUES TO SET THE PACE
After a perfect season that culminated in a National Championship a year ago the Rome State Centurions are well on their way to duplicating that feat. Rome State improved to 5-0 with a 58-17 plastering of Carolina Poly Saturday and the cadets sit atop the first edition of our 1945 collegiate grid rankings. It seems that no other school can compete with the mighty Rome State running game after they flattened a valiant but overmatched Cardinals team before 42,000 at the Bigsby Oval on Saturday. On the Centurions first play from scrimmage speedy back Gus Thompson broke smack through the Cardinals line and bulldozed his way 54 yards to a touchdown, and from that point on it was only a question of how tall a score the Rome State invincibles wanted to run up.
Annapolis Maritime barely escaped with a victory against Carolina Poly a couple of weeks ago, nipping the Cardinals by a single point, yet the Navigators hold down the number two spot in our rankings. A point made just to illustrate how much of a gap their appears to be between the Centurions and everyone else in AIAA grid play. The Navigators are also 5-0, and were quite impressive in a 43-23 win over Pierpont on the weekend but face a big test when they will travel to Cleveland for a neutral site game against St Blane, which is ranked third after the Fighting Saints waltzed thru the Western Iowa line for 545 rushing yards in a 53-0 walloping.
Alabama Baptist had little trouble improving to 5-0 and claiming the fourth spot in the polls with a 34-10 win over Noble Jones College. Those four appear to be the class of the sport, at least thus far, with another dozen teams that likely could make a valid claim why they belong amongst the final six additions to TWIFB's top ten.
TOP TEN RANKINGS
1- Rome State (5-0)
2- Annapolis Maritime (5-0)
3- St Blane (5-0)
4- Alabama Baptist (5-0)
5- Travis College (6-0)
6- Henry Hudson (5-0)
7- Detroit City College (4-1)
8- Central Ohio (4-0-1)
9- Maryland State (5-0)
10-Cumberland (4-1)
COLLEGE SCOREBOARD
MIDWEST
Detroit City College 17 Lincoln 7
St. Magnus 17 Whitney College 17
St. Blane 53 Western Iowa 0
Central Ohio 13 Minnesota Tech 7
Indiana A&M 26 Payne State 14
Lawrence State 21 Topeka State 6
St. Ignatius 27 Wisconsin Catholic 24
Daniel Boone College 26 College of Omaha 13
Northern Minnesota 27 Lambert College 7
Great Lakes Navy 31 Bliss College 0
Laclede 37 Olathe Navy 17
Camp Mackall 38 Charleston (IL) 17
EAST
George Fox 23 Brunswick 7
Pittsburgh State 17 Conwell College 7
Henry Hudson 24 Ellery 10
Grafton 13 St. Pancras 9
Annapolis Maritime 43 Pierpont 23
Manhattan Tech 24 Bigsby College 20
Sadler 31 Garden State 3
Dickson 20 Coast Guard 0
St. Patrick's 30 Empire State 7
Coastal State 20 Columbia Military Academy 13
Merchant Marine 27 Commonwealth Catholic 7
Frankford State 24 Eastern Virginia 7
SOUTH
Alabama Baptist 34 Noble Jones College 10
Arkansas A&T 24 Mississippi A&M 14
Rome State 58 Carolina Poly 17
Western Florida 24 Marquis College 0
Georgia Baptist 29 Opelika State 19
Cumberland 37 Penn Catholic 0
Bayou State 35 Bluegrass State 0
Richmond State 24 Charleston Tech 13
Chesapeake State 21 Eastern State 14
Miami State 45 Ohio Poly 0
Maryland State 20 Huntington State 9
Queen City 10 Central Kentucky 7
Salisbury Christian 38 Petersburg 14
SOUTHWEST
Travis College 20 Red River State 7
Darnell State 20 Lubbock State 3
College of Waco 7 Canyon A&M 3
Texas Gulf Coast 15 Baton Rouge State 13
Oklahoma City State 55 Eastern Kansas 2
Eastern Oklahoma 30 Amarillo Methodist 6
FAR WEST
CC Los Angeles 17 Portland Tech 10
Rainier College 10 Coastal California 6
Spokane State 34 Idaho A&M 17
Provo Tech 24 Colorado Poly 13
Northern California 13 Kit Carson University 0
Cache Valley 23 Mile High State 14
CARL TAYLOR HANDS WESTLAKE FIRST LOSS SINCE '37
Taylor to Face O'Keefe for Welterweight Crown
Fans of the sweet science could not have asked for a much better display than the one put on at Lake Side Auditorium by welterweight hopefuls Carl Taylor and Mark Westlake on Friday evening. The duo, with the the prize at stake for the winner being a title shot against Dennis O'Keefe, gave it all they had for 12 hard-fought rounds before it went to the scorecards to determine the victor. Few could argue when referee Wayne Kelly lifted the rigth arm of 28 year old Baltimore native Carl Taylor in victory after the result was read.
Taylor was ahead on all three cards and this reporter had the rounds scored 7-5 in the winner's favour. Taylor was by far the busier fighter, but Westlake did a terrific job much of the fight dodging the blows and connected with some big shots of his own. It seemed clear to all in attendance that were they to fight again the results could easily have gone in the other direction. This was the second meeting between the two and shows just how far Taylor has progressed since being knocked out in the second round by Westlake back in 1940 when both were very early in their careers.
Next up for Taylor, who sports a 19-2-2 record as a professional, will be a fight March or April to finally crown a champion in the welterweight division -something it has not had since Jimmy Simpson hung up his gloves in 1939. Taylor's opponent will be The Jacksonville Jackhammer, a Florida brawler by the name of Dennis O'Keefe who improved to 19-1 with 11 knockouts by turning the lights out on Rudy Perry in the second round of their bout a couple of weeks ago.
Westlake, the Biloxi, Ms. born battler with a 19-2-1 mark, may just await the winner especially if Taylor prevails as it would make quite a spectacle for his first title-defense.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 10/28/1945
- President Truman told the nation in an historic Navy Day address that the United States, while retaining possession of the atomic bomb "as a sacred trust," intends to maintain it's armed might to preserve world peace as the only sure method of making this country's own freedom secure.
- Truman also has called for Congress to prescribe universal military training for one year of the nation's young men between 18 and 20 years old, calling it necessary to protect the peace and prevent-in an era of atomic warfare-"the destruction of this great nation."
- The Communists and Gen. Charles De Gaule shared victory in France's first general election in nine years. First semi-official returns gave Communist candidates 142 national assembly seats, 2 more than De Gaule's second place Socialist-Catholic popular Republican Party and nine over the third place Socialists.
- The death toll is pegged between 2000-5000 according to 11 Americans returning from revolt ravaged Venezuela.
- An official source says that an agreement has been reached between President Truman and British Prime Minister Attlee on the Arab-Jewish controversy in Palestine and details probably will be announced next week.
TRIVIA ANSWER: .400 hitters since 1900. Max Morris is the only one other than Powell Slocum to hit at least .400 in more than one season. Mighty Mo did it in 1921 (.412) and 1925 (.418) with St Louis. The other five to have a .400 season this century are Jack Arabian (1901), Thomas Watkins (1902), George Cary (1903), John Dibblee (1911) and Mel Carrol (1937). All but Carrol, who is still active in Washington, and Cary are in the Hall of Fame.