DECEMBER 3, 1945
BIGSBY IN BID FOR GREAT WESTERN CLUB?
It's the hot stove season and that means the diamond rumor mill is chugging along at high speed. The latest, coming all the way from Los Angeles, California is that New York-born Thomas X. Bigsby (yes, of *those* Bigsbys) has made a bid to purchase a Great Western League ballclub.
Which club? Well, that's where things are murky. Three GWL clubs are currently affiliated with the big boys back East. Those three are Los Angeles (Stars), Oakland (Pioneers) and San Francisco (Sailors). Bigsby is purportedly interested in a "Los Angeles-area" club. So that would eliminate all but two GWL units - the aforementioned LA Stars and their crosstown rivals, the independent Hollywood Heroes.
A retired Colonel in the United States Army and veteran of the late war, Tom Bigsby himself refused to address the rumors, but was spotted in Los Angeles having lunch with none other than the owners of the Lone Star Association's Dallas and Houston ballclubs (Paul Burnett and John Mark, respectively). The latter pair served with Bigsby in Europe and are rumored to be considering launching a direct competitor to FABL itself - something that has not been seen since the "base ball wars" ended in 1891. Could the trio be joining forces?
New York Stars owner Albert Mielke declined to comment beyond saying "We have a contract with the Los Angeles club. I expect them to honor that contract regardless of who owns the club."
FABL President Sam Benton was even more blunt, saying, "The Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco clubs have ironclad contracts with the Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues and when I say ironclad, I mean just that."
DETROIT-GOTHAMS PIPELINE BACK AT WORK
Dynamos Make Deals With Both New York Nines This Week
The Detroit Dynamos and New York Gothams made another trade this past week. A small deal sending outfielder Hub Parks, who is returning after 3 years in the Navy from New York to Detroit in exchange for the Dynamos 8th round draft pick. Yes, you read it correctly- the Gothams added a draft pick. I sure hope there is some sort of travel discount arranged by the two clubs with the rail route from the Big Apple to the Motor City. A glance at the rosters of each of the two clubs shows just how much cross-over their is. A total of 14 players currently on the secondary roster of the two clubs was acquired directly from the other team and that is not counting all the draft picks that have transferred from the Gothams to Detroit in recent years:
DETROIT DYNAMOS who were former Gothams- Leon Drake, Don Hersey, Wally Hunter, Jim Lonardo, Fred Ratcliffe, Rick York and now Hub Parks.
NEW YORK GOTHAMS who were former Dynamos- Pete Casstevens, Harry Frenette, Red Johnson, Gil London, Marcus Mangum, Sal Pestilli, Dan Rogers.
The Dynamos also sent a 5th round draft pick to the other New York team, acquiring 23 year old minor league outfielder George Fitzgerald from the Stars. An 8th round pick in 1941 out of a Texas High School, Fitzgerald last played in 1942 at the Class B level before joining the Army Air Corps. OSA places him 184th on it's current prospect rankings.
DYNAMOS RESPOND TO MCGEE'S COMMENTS ON LONDON DEAL
From Detroit management in response to comments made by Jiggs McGee and unnamed rival General Managers regarding the Gil London trade to the New York Gothams.
I’ll set the record straight from the Detroit perspective. I can guarantee that Gil London would not have been left exposed to the Rule 5 draft. He also would have made the Opening Day roster in Detroit. The Dynamos though are moving towards a very young infield this season. 2B Del Johnson came up in late August to a solid start to his career. 19 year old SS Stan Kleminski will get every opportunity to win the starting job in spring and be the long time double play combo with Johnson for years to come. If Stan wasn’t quite ready Gil would have been there to hold the spot, but we also have SS Hank Grant.
So why the deal? While London had a fantastic season in 1944 and had his career best year with the bat. He will never be a great hitter. The fact he had that hitting season playing 2B instead of SS also made the Dynamos wonder if playing the high pressure SS position distracted him at the plate thus leading to the better season while playing 2B. London is a good defensive SS but was never able to be the guy at SS in Detroit because he struggled so much with the bat. The Dynamos grabbed a veteran several years ago off the scrap heap in Cleveland (George Dawson) and revived his career before they turned him into a top round draft pick.
Youth is going to be severed in Detroit who also has Win Hamby coming back from his military duty. Hamby I’ll likely audition at 3B with Grant to see if either are capable of playing the hot corner. Some might ask about Constantine Peters and he will be in the lineup somewhere with his versatility but again Detroit is looking young on the dirt. The OF is another story but we could see top prospect Hackberry in CF a lot this spring.
GM Martin wanted to regain a 3rd pick and getting the 3.3 pick was very desirable as Detroit shifts it’s attention to the amateur draft and to a lesser extent the Rule 5. But he did state that once he gets in contact with several players returning, his 40 man roster will become much fuller.
I suppose by now you've seen Jiggs McGee's article in the Sporting Journal concerning the Gothams acquisition of Gil London.
Jiggs sure does like to expound on just about everything. And honestly, he's not too far off course with his opinions concerning this deal. Sure the Gothams could have waited. Maybe someone similar would have come along. Maybe not. But then Jiggs got into suggesting other options out there, as he is wont to do. So I posed these questions to Asst GM Frank Escoe.
Red: Frank, can I ask why now for the London deal?
Escoe: Why not? A player we liked was available so we got him.
Red: Why not wait until Rule 5, or spring training cuts?
Escoe: We wanted to have our big league club set. And right now we do, at least with the lineup. We wanted to be sure we had someone in place so that Mule (Monier) can concentrate fully on getting comfortable at third.
Red: Jiggs suggested there were cheaper players available now.
Escoe: Ha! I saw his article. I'll give Jiggs credit, he's always got a suggestion. But Jack Bush? Now I'm sure Jack is a fine person, but that's an insult to Gil London. Gil is a two time all star, including last season. At 31 he's still younger than Bush, has better range and in our opinion a better glove. Gil's bat has improved in recent years. Bush is barely hitting his weight for his career. I believe he's below .200. No, London gives us a decent bat in the 8 spot and a consistent glove to help our pitchers.
Red: So you're satisfied with the lineup?
Escoe: I think we matchup well with any of the FA squads.
Red: Thanks Frank, let's talk pitching another time.
Escoe: Sure thing. Maybe we should ask Jiggs first.
THE VALUE OF A HIGH THIRD ROUND PICK
By Jiggs McGee
There has been some blowback out of New York regarding my comments on the Gothams spending a high third round pick to acquire Gil London from Detroit. First let me reiterate as I said in my analysis of the trade that London is a definite upgrade on Monier with the glove. My concern is about the price as I feel a third round pick (especially so high in the third) was too much to give up -but that is my way of valuing picks and I understand not everyone else shares the same belief- and the big thing is that I am pretty certain there will be other shortstops with a decent glove available at zero cost between now and Opening Day.
I guess my question to the Gothams is would you rather have Gil London or some yet to be named player that might be a slightly weaker defensively (but still a big upgrade on Monier) but could be acquired without any cost plus retaining your third round draft pick? That pick is in a slot that over the past five years has yielded a player OSA calls a future Allen Award winner? Clearly a no brainer there and before you say who is going to get a future Allen Award winning prospect in round 3. Well within the past 5 years we have one drafted with the exact same pick as the Gothams just dealt to Detroit. In fact there were also 2 pretty solid prospects taken in the last five years with that pick as well, and four of those selections came during the rather restrictive era when the third had to be used on a player from the club's home region.
Here are the details to back up my case:
Let's take a look at the round 3, pick 3 selections over the past five years. The Gothams pick dealt to Detroit will be pick 3 of the 3rd so 35th overall. Below is a look at the players selected with pick 35 in the past 5 years.
1945- George Brown 1B Cleveland -prospect rank #116: 19 year old hit .327 in first taste of pro ball. OSA calls him a future second division starter, so a serviceable big league regular. It remains to be seen if Brown will be that and is chances in Cleveland are tough because the Foresters have two other highly touted 1B prospects in Ivey Henley and Lorenzo Samuels but he could also become a solid trade piece to package in a deal. Hard to estimate but in my mind Brown is the type of player with some value, primarily as a trade chip prospect combined with others that could be moved to fill a need.
1944- Jack Entringer P Detroit - Pitched pretty well at Class C as an 18 year old in 1944 with a couple of starts in B. Did get hurt so might be a worry down the road but missed all of '45 in the Air Corps. OSA does not like him and I felt he was a reach at pick 35 at the time (My Scouting Director had Entringer 25th among only pitchers on his draft board. Lets call him a bust. However, this was when the regional round rule was in place for the third round and Detroit had to select a player from Michigan or one of it's neighbouring states.
1943- Wally Boyer CF Brooklyn- prospect rank #203: Went right about were mock draft projected him (38th) and was #26 among hitters on my SD list. A couple years later looks like a potential big league leadoff man: great baserunner, good strike zone recognition but may not be more than average contact hitter according to OSA although my SD says "he hits with his hands, stays inside the ball and works it up the middle." Stats look a little above average as a defensive CF at Class B as a 20 year old last season with a .281/.344/.370 slash line. Not sure where he will end up but Boyer has a lot of things many of us look for in a CF. Good trade chip at the very least.
1942- Ed Montague 2B Montreal - 25 year old made his big league debut last season. Adequate defense with a league average hitting stroke according to my SD, who says he should contribute at the big league level, but more as a supplement than a star. Hit .301 in limit exposure at AAA last season but spent a ton of time sitting on the bench in Montreal. - Jury is out but lets call him a career AAA guy on a good team.
1941- Charlie Waddell P Keystones - prospect rank #11: And here is why third round picks are worth far more than a 31 year old Gil London in my opinion. Future Allen Award winner according to OSA. My SD is not quite as sold but still feels Waddell will be a pitcher with the potential to anchor a rotation. He has missed two years while in the Navy but is still just 23 years old and you have to think at the very least -as long as he stays healthy- Waddell will be a decent big league pitcher.
SUMMARY
Over the last 5 drafts the slot the Gothams gave up for Gil London have produced:
- *One potential superstar in the 11th ranked prospect overall, a pitcher with a huge upside
* Two solid prospects/trade chips in a 20 year old prospect who has the ceiling of being a decent centerfielder with plus speed and defense and a a 19 year old 1B who had a solid rookie pro season and has to be considered at worst a decent trade chip to include in a package when trying to fill a need.
*Two of limited to no value in a 25 year old 2B likely no more than a back-up at best or perhaps just a career AAA player and a 20 year old pitcher who might have been a reach to take at 35th overall and appears to have little future.
I don't know about you but if I am confident in my scouting staff I want to take those odds and own the pick. Maybe you don't get a Charlie Waddell but to me a Wally Boyer or a George Brown are assets worth having especially when it is a near certainty you would have been able to find a decent defensive shortstop at some point because of all the waiver moves that will happen this year.
- All this talk of Thomas Bigsby poking around the Great Western loop is certainly drawing some concern among Sam Belton and the FABL magnates. Clearly they feel Bigsby has bigger aspirations than just running a minor league affiliate of a FABL team. And with news a couple of his old war buddies who now own Lone Star teams and are miffed that FABL turned them down for Texas expansion just happen to be in California at the same time has to be far more than coincidence, doesn't it? Just feels like somethings brewing and the rumours of a rebel league planning to take on FABL are running rampant.
- This week's Trivia Question: Bob Martin of the Chicago Chiefs and Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones each has a good shot of surpassing the 3,000 hit plateau next season. Martin needs 115 hits while Barrell is 151 shy. Our question today is can you name the only time two players recorded their 3,000th career hit in the same season?
WILD FINISH GIVES YANKS EAST CROWN
Boston to Face Detroit in Title Game
Del Thomas threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jim Walsh on 4th and goal with 13 seconds remaining in the game to lift Boston to a 24-21 win over Washington and clinch the American Football Association Eastern Division title. It was the culmination of a wild fourth quarter that had 43,000 fans at Minutemen Stadium on the edge of their seats as emotions ran the full range from despondent to ecstatic. Led by Thomas, who would pass for 207 yards on the day, the Americans led 10-7 at the half in a game in which the winner would move on to the AFA title game but Washington took the lead in the third quarter on a 10 yard touchdown run from Ed Alexander. That go-ahead score came after Thomas had made his only big mistake of the day-throwing an interception deep in Washington territory when it seemed the Americans were assured of extending their lead.
The remainder of the third quarter and early in the fourth saw the fans growing increasingly impatient as the Yanks offense could not get a sustained drive going but it was the Boston defense that came up with the big play. John Marcantonio scooped up a fumble from Washington rookie quarterback Bob Krohn and rumbled 30 yards into the end zone to put Boston back in front by a 17-14 count with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Krohn has had a terrific rookie campaign and quickly set out to atone for his error. Following the post-score kick-off Krohn engineered a 72 yard drive that lasted over 7 minutes, culminating in a 5 yard touchdown pass to Johnny Douglas, who is quickly establishing himself as star end of a calibre only previously seen in Detroit with the great Stan Vaught. The 5-yard touchdown and Krohn's extra point put the Waps up 21-17 and just over 3 minutes away from what would be their first ever appearance in the AFA title game.
But Del Thomas is one of the best players in the game for a reason. He started on his own 14 yard line with 2:56 on the clock and the season on the line. The drive looked stalled on a 4th and 2 on the Americans 22 yard line but Thomas surprised the Washington defense -which was expecting a run- with a 14 yard pass to Jim Walsh to keep the playoff hopes alive. Next was a quick 14 yarder to Tom Molloy, who had a game high 7 receptions, followed by a huge 36 yard pass to Molloy. With 55 seconds left Thomas connected with Tom Bowens for 13 yards that put the ball on the Washington 1-yard line with a first and goal. Three straight incompletions set up a 4th down for the final play of the game. All 42,000 fans had their hearts in their mouths as Thomas dropped back again to pass. This time he found Walsh who cradled the ball and set off a jubilant celebration everywhere in the stadium except for the obviously shocked Washington bench.
***Maroons Win West ***
There was far less drama in the Western Division although entering the day the Chicago Wildcats did have a shot at dethroning the Detroit Maroons. Chicago needed a win in Cleveland and a Detroit loss in Cincinnati but neither happened as the Wildcats, forced to play without injured star quarterback Gus Brown, were beaten 21-7 by the Finches while the Maroons dumped the Cincinnati Tigers 28-17.
Elsewhere the Pittsburgh Paladins had a 74 yard fumble return and a 31 yard interception return in the final six and a half minutes of the ballgame to rally past the hometown St Louis Ramblers 21-7. The win is the 4th in the last 5 games for the Paladins, who started the season with 4 straight losses. The other game last week saw the nightmare season for the defending champion Philadelphia Frigates continue as the Frigates dropped to 3-6 on the year with a 17-14 loss in New York to the Stars. Philadelphia still has one game remaining, at home to Pittsburgh next Sunday, to try and halt their 5 game losing skid that followed a 3-1 start to the season.
*** First Title Meeting ***
The 1945 championship game will mark the first time that Boston and Detroit have played with the title on the line despite the fact that one of them has been in 5 of the previous 6 championship contests. The Americans won in 1939 and 1942 but came up short in the 1943 game with all three against Chicago. Detroit lost to Brooklyn in 1940 and to Philadelphia last year. The Maroons are 1-3 in title games since the format began in 1933 with their only win coming against Pittsburgh in 1936. Boston is 2-1 in championship contests.
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AMERICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
EAST DIVISION W L T PCT
Boston 8 1 0 .889
Washington 7 3 0 .700
New York 6 3 0 .667
Pittsburgh 4 5 0 .444
Philadelphia 3 6 0 .333
WEST DIVISION W L T PCT
Detroit 7 3 0 .700
Chicago 5 5 0 .500
Cincinnati 4 6 0 .400
St Louis 2 8 0 .200
Cleveland 2 8 0 .200
SUNDAY RESULT
New York 17 Philaelphia 14
Pittsburgh 21 St Louis 7
Cleveland 21 Chicago 7
Detroit 28 Cincinnati 17
Boston 24 Washington 21
UPCOMING GAMES
SUNDAY DECEMBER 9
New York at Boston
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia
end of regular season
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AFA LEADERS
SCORING PTS
Vaught, Det 108
Douglas, Was 72
Lennon, NYS 51
Lautzenheiser, Chi 48
LePage, Phi 48
Littlejohn, Bos 48
PASSING COMP-ATT YDS TD INT
Brown, Chi 137-253 1907 17 14
Krohn, Was 116-200 1738 12 12
D Thomas, Bos 126-206 1405 13 4
Colvin, Cle 102-256 1252 9 19
Anderson, Pit 78-182 1073 9 15
RUSHING YDS TD
B.Young, Bos 767 3
LePage, Phi 744 6
Lautzenheiser, Chi 484 3
Rochman, Was 436 5
Reid, Was 420 7
RECEIVING CAT YDS TD
Vaught, Det 62 1116 12
Douglas, Was 58 1221 12
Molloy, Bos 43 642 5
Nicholson, Cle 41 596 5
Lautzenheiser, Chi 40 655 5
INERCEPTIONS #
Smith, Was 7
Lautzenheiser, Chi 7
Christensen, Cin 6
Clark, Bos 6
AFA MILESTONES REACHED THIS SEASON
- Johnny Douglas of the Washington Wasps set a new single season receiving yardage record with 1,221. That is 3 yards more than the 1,218 Stan Vaught had with Detroit in 1942. Vaught had 1,116 receiving yards this year making those the only 3 times a receiver has gone over the thousand yard plateau.
- Douglas and Vaught each had 12 touchdown catches this season tying them with Bill Youngberg (1935 Chicago) for third all-time. Vaught holds the #1 and #2 slots with 17 scoring grabs in 1942 and 14 in 1941.
- Vaught scored 108 points this year on 12 touchdown catches and 36 extra points. That marks just the third time a player has scored at least 100 with, you guessed it, Vaught also holding the top two totals. He had 134 points in 1942 and 111 in 1941.
- Detroit's Larry Murphy equalled a record with 3 interception returns for scores this season. Murphy's third came with 21 seconds remaining in Sunday's 28-17 win over Cincinnati and ties him with Ernie Nixon (1941 Boston) and Gus Brown (1943 Chicago).
- Brown was hurt and missed Sunday's game costing the Chicago quarterback a chance at the single season passing yardage record. Brown's 1,907 yards this season is good for second all-time behind Boston's Del Thomas, who threw for 2,045 yards in 1943.
ROME STATE HOLDS OFF ANNAPOLIS MARITIME
For the second year in succession, Rome State reigns as the national football champion. Before President Truman, members of his cabinet, many of the highest ranking Army and Navy officers and over 40,000 other half-frozen spectators, the Centurions vaunted offense narrowly defeated Annapolis Maritime 31-27 to run their winning streak to 18 games.
With a crushing first period offensive, Rome State took a 21-0 lead, but thereafter the army cadets, heralded as perhaps the greatest in Rome State history, was forced to fight doggedly against an Annapolis Maritime eleven that refused to quite until the final whistle. The Navigators, who had an up and down season with two previous losses, were at their best on this afternoon but were victimized chiefly by fullback Chet Donelson and halfback Gus Thompson, all-American stars of 1944 and likely to repeat again this season, who accounted for all 4 of Rome State's touchdowns. Thrice did Donelson, the 205-pound line-cracker from McColl, S.C., cross the Annapolis Maritime goal -once after intercepting a pass- while Thompson, the speedy Los Angeles, Calif., boy scored early on a 48 yard jaunt. The Rome State line was all that it had been rated and the combination was too much for the Navigators to overcome, although they came far closer to matching the Centurions than expected by bettors, who gave Rome State a 27-point margin.
Unbeaten Alabama Baptist gave an amazing demonstration of speed, power and passing to run up an overwhelming 41-0 homecoming day victory over a highly regarded Northern Mississippi eleven. The win ended an ubeaten season for the 9-0 Chargers, who learned immediately after the game they were Santa Ana bound for the East-West Classic. Willie Hubbard's running and passing were once again the difference maker as the sophomore from Hoover, Al., had one of his best days, completing 13 of 19 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns, and getting 96 yards rushing on 11 tries.
Three other major schools completed their seasons with unblemished records. Travis College ran its mark to 10-0 with Southwestern Alliance title clinching 21-7 win over Darnell State while independent Miami State also improved to 10-0 with a 28-10 win over Opelika State. Eastern Oklahoma finished up its season a week ago to come in at 8-0.
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TOP TEN RANKINGS
LW RESULT
1- Rome State (9-0) 1 W 31-27 Annapolis Maritime (6-3)
2- Alabama Baptist (9-0) 2 W 41-0 Northern Mississippi (7-2)
3- Detroit City College (9-1) 3 idle
4- Travis College (10-0) 5 W 21-7 Darnell State (6-4)
5- Annapolis Maritime (6-3) 6 L 31-27 Rome State (9-0)
6- Eastern Oklahoma (8-0) 7 idle
7- Cumberland (8-1) 8 W 27-0 Bluegrass State (2-7)
8- Miami State (10-0) 9 W 28-10 Opelika State (5-4-1)
9- St Blane (8-2) 4 L 26-17 Great Lakes Navy (5-4-1)
10-Indiana A&M (8-1-1) 10 idle
CLASSIC MATCHUP SET
The big game on New Year's will feature second ranked Alabama Baptist putting it's perfect 9-0 record on the line against Golden Gate University in California's East-West Classic. It will mark the Chargers fourth trip west for New Year's. They are 3-1 in Santa Ana with their most recent result being a 37-17 win over Redwood in 1935. It will be the first appearance for Golden Gate as the Grizzlies earned the berth despite not being a member of the West Coast Athletic Association on the strength of their wins during the season over both Coastal California and CC Los Angeles. Alabama Baptist is expected to be a heavy favourite but any result -not matter how lobsided it might be- is not expected to be enough to vault the Chargers past Rome State and into number one in the final rankings.
Here is the complete list of the seven Classic games including two new entries in the Oilman Classic from Houston, and Tampa's Bayside Classic.
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CLASSIC LOCATION TEAMS
East-West Santa Ana,Ca Alabama Baptist 9-0 Golden Gate University 6-1
Lone Star Austin, Tx Detroit City Coll. 9-1 Travis College 10-0
Sunshine Miami, Fl Miami State 10-0 St Blane 8-2
Cajun New Orleans,La Eastern State 7-2 Eastern Oklahoma 8-0
Desert El Paso, Tx South Valley State 6-0-1 Central Ohio 7-1-1
Oilman Houston, Tx Payne State 7-2-1 Noble Jones College 8-2
Bayside Tampa, Fl Maryland State 7-2 St Patrick's 6-1-2
COLLEGE SCOREBOARD
RANKED SCHOOLS
Rome State 31 Annapolis Maritime 27
Alabama Baptist 41 Northern Mississippi 0
Travis College 21 Darnell State 7
Miami State 28 Opelika State 10
Cumberland 27 Bluegrass State 0
Great Lakes Navy 26 St. Blane 17
OTHERS
Coastal California 9 CC Los Angeles 9
Noble Jones College 26 Georgia Baptist 7
Bayou State 34 Baton Rouge State 7
Portland Tech 6 Lane State 3
Western Tennessee 28 Mississippi A&M 20
Edgemoor 41 Charleston (IL) 7
Lubbock State 22 Red River State 7
Northern California 24 Golden Gate University Pre-Flight 0
Columbia Military Academy 13 Maryland State 12
North Carolina Tech 21 Eastern State 21
Amarillo Methodist 10 Texas Gulf Coast 10
Payne State 55 Hondo Field 0
Coastal State 31 Cowpens State 6
Dickson 14 George Fox 9
San Clemente 27 Lambert College 24
TWIFB DARKHOUSE PICK MOBILE MARITIME OFF TO STRONG START
The Mobile Maritime Middies were a college basketball team to watch according the last month's collegiate cage preview and in the early going the South Atlantic Conference school has certainly lived up to that billing. Although it is very early and certainly a lot of change will come over the next few months, the Middies presently are ranked #1 in the nation and confidence is high the Alabama school may be on its way to its best season since reaching the National Semifinals in 1933-34.
Danny Garcia, a junior forward out of Tallulah, La., has led the way in the early going including a career best 19 point effort in a 71-33 blow out win over Strub College in Pittsburgh last week. Garcia leads the team in scoring with 13.7 ppg but is closely followed by senior center Rich Brawner, who is also among the AIAA rebound leaders in the early going.
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COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL RANKINGS
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
1. Mobile Maritime (68) 3-0 1793 1 South Atlantic Conference
2. Rainier College (2) 5-0 1687 2 West Coast Athletic Association
3. Western Iowa (2) 4-0 1681 4 Great Lakes Alliance
4. Miami State 4-0 1518 7 Independent
5. North Carolina Tech 3-0 1480 5 South Atlantic Conference
6. Liberty College 5-1 1432 8 Independent
7. CC Los Angeles 3-0 1373 6 West Coast Athletic Association
8. Coastal State 3-0 1352 10 South Atlantic Conference
9. Noble Jones College 3-0 1226 15 Deep South Conference
10. Rome State 2-0 1119 14 Independent
11. Coastal California 5-0 913 18 West Coast Athletic Association
12. Texas Gulf Coast 3-0 889 16 Southwestern Alliance
13. Brooklyn State 4-1 845 20 Liberty Conference
14. Whitney College 2-0 723 NR Great Lakes Alliance
15. Brookland 5-0 655 NR Independent
16. Detroit City College 2-1 640 3 Great Lakes Alliance
17. Lane State 1-1 552 21 West Coast Athletic Association
18. Freemont State 4-0 528 NR Midwestern Association
19. Jersey City Tech 3-0 470 NR Liberty Conference
20. Redwood 2-0 386 NR West Coast Athletic Association
21. Central Ohio 3-1 297 NR Great Lakes Alliance
22. Garden State 2-1 283 9 Liberty Conference
23. Georgia Baptist 2-0 280 NR Deep South Conference
24. Spokane State 2-0 267 NR West Coast Athletic Association
25. Rose Point (PA) 3-0 184 NR Keystone Alliance
Others Receiving Votes:
East Missouri Seminary 2-0 176 Independent
Bayou State 1-1 131 Deep South Conference
Chesapeake State 2-1 112 South Atlantic Conference
Cowpens State 1-0 99 South Atlantic Conference
Fond du Lac 2-0 97 Central Athletic Alliance
Bluegrass State 1-0 92 Deep South Conference
Meade 1-0 58 Keystone Alliance
Three Rivers State 1-0 46 Keystone Alliance
Mississippi A&M 2-1 16 Deep South Conference
RESULTS INVOLVING RANKED TEAMS
MONDAY NOVEMBER 26
#3 Western Iowa 51 Plover College 27
#4 Miami State 48 Chespeake State 27
#15 Brookland 48 Penn Catholic 46
#19 Jersey City Tech 45 Kansas Agricultural 29
Bardney 48 #22 Garden State 46
#25 Rose Point (PA) 39 Eastern Virigina 25
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 27
#8 Coastal State 42 Boston State 31
#24 Spokane State 44 California Catholic 35
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 28
#1 Mobile Maritime 71 Strub College 33
#6 Liberty College 46 Allentown State 44
#14 Whitney College 45 Grant (IN) 36
#15 Brookland 38 Western State 35
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29
#2 Rainier College 48 Bliss College 33
#9 Noble Jones College 54 Huntington State 32
#10 Rome State 50 Laclede 34
#19 Jersey City Tech 44 Ogdensburg 27
#22 Garden State 44 Ohio Poly 41
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 30
#4 Miami State 54 Boston State 26
Hartford Wesleyan 46 #16 Detroit City College 44
#18 Freemont State 37 College of Waco 28
#21 Central Ohio 53 Central Kentucky 42
#25 Rose Point (PA) 53 Mississippi Tech 45
SATURDAY DECEMBER 1
#1 Mobile Maritime 43 American Atlantic 35
#11 Coastal California 54 Brandywine 39
#14 Whitney College 56 Bayou State 51
SUNDAY DECEMBER 2
#3 Western Iowa 57 Oklahoma Bible College 48
#5 North Carolina Tech 38 Ohio Poly 37
#8 Coastal State 47 Mississippi Tech 27
#9 Noble Jones College 33 Lincoln 29
#13 Brooklyn State 58 St Pancras 46
#15 Brookland 48 Charleston Tech 45
#18 Freemont State 42 Wyoming A&I 35
#20 Redwood 61 Golden Gate 45
#21 Central Ohio 45 Cumberland 34
NO CHANGE IN MONTHLY RING RANKINGS
November was a quiet month as none of the top ranked boxers in any of the weight divisions saw action last month. Other than Scott 'The Chef' Baker celebrating his 26th birthday and turning a year older, there were no changes at all within the top six in each division. That will change next month, at least in the middleweight division as former World Champion Archie Rees is set to face a man once considered one of the greatest middleweights of all-time when he squares off against Jean Desmarais in London, England this weekend with the European Title on the line.
Rees, who held the world middleweight belt for nearly 4 years before losing to Frank Melanson in Philadelphia last June, is making his first appearance since that defeat. He is 35-5-1 for his career and will be facing Desmarais for the first time, although had the war not intervened they would have met for the title several years ago. The 29 year old Desmarais is a perfect 35-0 after making his first appearance in the ring since before the war against fellow Frenchman Jean Raymond in September.
There were rumours during the war that Desmarais had been killed by the Nazis and contact was lost with him for over two years but he was found by Allied troops while he was working for the French Resistance shortly after the allies had liberated Paris. Both fighters have confirmed that the winner of their bout expects a title shot with Melanson, or Todd Gill if the challenger defeats him in May.
*** Fountain to Face Price ***
A pair of highly ranked heavyweights will meet in New York on December 15. Top contender Mark Fountain, who is 19-2-1 will square off in his hometown against Florida contender Matt Price (27-4-4). Fountain is presently listed as the number one contender for Hector Sawyer's title while Price slots in as number 4 on the TWIFB monthly rankings.
Books O'Connor -the #4 middleweight contender- will be in action on December 20 when he heads down to Miami for what should really just be a tune-up bout with Bob Hinkle. Finally a trio of welterweights from our top six are in action this month as Wayne Dunn faces Mitchell McFadden (22-2-1) in St Louis in December 18, Baby Face Bishop tussles with Harold Stephens (14-3-2) in Pittsburgh on December 20 and George Gibbs puts his perfect 14-0 record on the line in Washington DC on December 30 against Jeff Wolf (11-1).
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Dec 8 Archie Rees (35-5-1, #5 MW contender) vs Jean Desmarais (35-0, #1 MW contender) for the European Middleweight Title in London, England.
- Dec 15 Mark Fountain (19-2-1 #1 HW contender) vs Matt Price (27-4-4, #4 HW contender) Heavyweight contenders in New York at Bigsby Garden
- Dec 18 Wayne Dunn (25-6, #4 WW contender) vs Mitchell McFadden (22-2-1) welterweight in St Louis
- Dec 20 Brooks O'Connor (19-3-2, #4 MW contender) vs Bob Hinkle (11-4) middleweight in Miami
- Dec 20 Ben Baby Face Bishop (21-2-1, #5 MW contender) vs Harold Stephens (14-3-2) middleweight in Pittsburgh
- Dec 30 George Gibbs vs Jeff Wolf in Washington DC. Gibbs (14-0) and Wolf (11-1) are top welterweights
- Feb 8 Hector Sawyer (52-3-1) defends his World Heavyweight title against Leo Carmichael (30-4-1, #2 HW contender) in Detroit
- Mar 9 Dennis O'Keefe (19-1) vs Carl Taylor (19-2-2) for vacant World Welterweight Titte in New York at Bigsby Garden
- TBA (in May) Frank Melanson (29-0-2) defends his World Middleweight Title in a rematch with Todd Gill (20-1-5, #2 contender) at Sailors Memorial Philadelphia
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/02/1945
- The Auto worker strike continues as the union accues General Motors of violating the National Labor Relations Act by refusing to reopen negotiations on the union demand for a 30 percent wage hike.
- General Joseph McNarney, newly designated commander of American forces in Europe predicts that Allied occupation of Germany would continue for at least 10 years.
- A 30-minute Jewish strike was called throughout Palestine after nine men were killed in a raid by 10,000 British airborne troops. The forces were searching for Jewish extremists who had attacked two British coast guard stations.
TRIVIA ANSWER - With Bob Martin and Bobby Barrell possibly both reaching the 3,000 hit mark this season the last time two players reached the 3,000 plateau in the same year was in 1923 and the duo actually each joined the 3000-club within a week of each other. On August 26, 1923 John Dibblee, who would end up second behind only Powell Slocum with 3,913 hits for his career, reached 3,000. Four days later Joe Ward joined him with hit #3,000 in a career that saw the long-time Montreal Saints infielder finish with 3,127 career hits. Both Dibblee, who spent his entire career with the Chicago Cougars, and Ward are in the Hall of Fame.