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Jiggs McGee · 03-15-2023, 11:38 AM

APRIL 22, 1946

BARRETT ANNOUNCES BASEBALL'S RETURN WITH A BANG

Baseball is back and with a bang. Bill Barrett blasted 4 homeruns in his first week in the big leagues since 1942 to highlight the return of all the great stars who missed time during the war. Everywhere you looked, familiar faces that had not been seen in a while were making their return with great success. Woody Stone and Marion Boismenu were helping the Philadelphia Sailors get off to a 6-1 start. Vern Hubbard had a pair of solid outings to join Barrett as two big reasons the New York Stars were 5-1. Adam Mullins was back behind the plate in Cincinnati and helping the Cannons take four of five from Cleveland and Toronto. The Chicago Cougars were also 4-1 and looked like a completely new team with the return of Hank Barnett, Leo Mitchell and half their pitching staff.

The story was much the same in the Federal Association where Buddy Schneider and Ray Dalpman made successful returns to Boston, helping the Minutemen share the loop lead with Philadelphia at 4-2. The Keystones offense always had the great Bobby Barrell but it suddenly looks much more imposing with the return of Hank Koblenz and a full season of Billy Woytek. Al Miller and Gus Goulding are back, giving the Chiefs a suddenly very strong top half of the rotation. George Cleaves, Luke Berry and Pablo Reyes all return and drastically change the Pittsburgh Miners look. Sal Pestilli and Walt Messer are back in the Big Apple. Everywhere you look there are names that fans longed for over the past year or two, or even three, and they are all back, bringing with them promises of a great season ahead.

CARROL LOGS 2000TH BIG LEAGUE HIT

Washington Eagles third baseman Mel Carrol joined FABL's 2,000 hit club last week. The 34 year old singled in the Eagles 8-2 loss in Philadelphia on Friday to become the 81st player in league history to reach the 2000 plateau. Carrol, who was the last hitter to bat .400 in a season when he hit .409 in 1937, is one of a number of players heading for milestones this season. Here is a list compiled by Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News.
FABL MILESTONE WATCH
3,000 Hits
Bob Martin (CHI): 109 away
Bobby Barrell (PHI): 144 away
2,500 Hits
Chick Donnelly (BOS): 127 away
2,000 Hits
Freddie Jones (CHI): 13 away
Harry Barrell (BOS): 24 away
Ron Rattigan (CHI): 110 away

500 Homers
Al Wheeler (CIN): 10 away
450 Homers
Bobby Barrell (PHI): 21 away
200 Homers
Sal Pestilli (NYG): 11 away

1,500 Runs
Bob Martin (CHI): 71 away
1,000 Runs
Vic Crawford (MON): 12 away
Leon Drake (DET): 14 away
Mahlon Strong (NYG): 39 away

400 Steals
Dick Walker (CHC): 7 away
200 Steals
Pablo Reyes (PIT): 3 away

300 Wins
Jim Lonardo (DET): 6 away
200 Wins
Doc Newell (PHS): 7 away
Sam Sheppard (CHI): 8 away

600 Games
Jim Lonardo (DET): 21 away
500 Games
Frank Phillips (CLE): 15 away

MUDD TRADED AGAIN

The on-again, off-again deal to send Rabbit Mudd from the Chicago Cougars to the New York Stars has now been completed after the two clubs worked out the financial dealings necessary to send the 37 year old infielder to the Big Apple. The always cash-tight Stars could not come up with the $26,000 needed to cover Mudd's contract for the current season until the Cougars, who will receive minor league outfielder Art Goins -son of former two-time Whitney Award winning catcher T.R. Goins- in return, agreed to cover most of Mudd's salary.

JIGGS McGEE's TAKE- The Stars decision here is as clear as Mudd. When a club is willing to cover most, if not all, of a players salary for him to play on a different team -one that might well be a direct challenger to their pennant aspirations- it tells you just how little they value that asset. Mudd has always been a good defender, but well below average hitter and the Stars already had one of those in Mel Hancock Jr., at half the price and 5 years younger than Mudd. They also had three inexpensive options for a second baseman staring them in the face on the waiver wire in Charlie Ross, Tony White and Red Moore that would not have cost them the services of a former second round draft pick who put up some really strong numbers as a 21 year old in Class A a year ago.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Wolves Stumble Out of the Gate -Toronto's 1946 campaign got off to a very slow start, the team is winless during the first week of the season. Manager Bob Call seems to be unconcerned at the moment saying "Obviously an 0-5 start is not ideal, but the team will be fine. It is early, baseball is a long season."

The Wolves began with a three-game set against the Sailors at Dominion Stadium. On a cool, damp, windy Tuesday afternoon last year's Allen Award winner George Garrison took the hill against the Sailors Win Lewis. Garrison never seemed to get untracked, the Sailors got to Garrison for 5 runs in 7 innings. The big inning was the 5th when Philadelphia struck for 4 runs including two doubles, along with a homerun aided by a rare Artuso error to erase a 3-1 deficit.

Joe Hancock returned to the mound after two years away in the war effort on a cool, windy Wednesday afternoon. Sailors fifth inning was again the difference as they got to 1943 20-game winner Hancock for 4 runs although the Wolves rallied for 3 in their half of the 5th Philadelphia cruised to a relatively easy 7-3 victory. Another cool, windy greeted the teams on Thursday afternoon. Bob Walls. Slick Wesolowski were locked in a pitcher's duel through seven when Call, as is his usual early season move to limit starter's load, went to Lou Jayson in the eighth with the score knotted at 1. Jayson, who was also making his first FABL appearance in 2 years, gave a 2 run shot to catcher Woody Stone in the 8th giving the Sailors a series sweep with a 3-1 victory.

Into Cincinnati for a short 2-game weekend series against the Cannons. In their home opener on Saturday over 20,000 were treated to an entertaining, low scoring game. Jim Morrison was fine through 6 but started to tire in the seventh, and again Call went to the 'pen only to get burnt when Jim Laurita walked in the eventual winning run after a fielding miscue by Pomales in 2-1 win by the Cannons.

Sunday's game can only be termed as pitching disaster for the Toronto staff. Garrison's second start to the season was poor giving up 5 runs on 13 hits not getting out of the fifth. Even so the Wolves were in a position to win leading 7-5 going into the Cincinnati eighth. Roscoe Zeiler, who came in for Garrison, gave up two run homers to Chuck Adams in eight then a walk off job by Fred Galloway in the ninth. Questions are being asked why Call did not bring Wirtz or Jayson to lock down the victory instead of sending Zeiler out for his 4th inning of work.

BIG START FOR GWL BIG MARKETS

Thomas X. Bigsby has to be happy with the start for his new big league loop in the west. Not just because he is the owner of the Los Angeles Knights, who have jumped out to an early lead in the Great Western League, but also because early attendance figures are exceeding expectations with the Knights and San Francisco -the loops two marquee locations- each drawing very well. The Hawks are averaging close to 8,000 fans per game during the opening week and the Knights are near the 7,000 mark.

It is no secret that in order for the GWL to survive it will need to prosper in Los Angeles and San Francisco and having those two teams atop the standings -even just a week in to the western experiment- is good news for not just Bigsby, but the entire GWL. The Knights went 5-2 thanks in no small part to the pitching of newcomers King Price, Bob Cummings and Karl Wallace but also the bat of long-time Knight Bill Michael, a former New York Stars farmhand who elected to stay in California rather than remain in the Stars system.

San Francisco is 4-2 and has the highest per game attendance in the 8-team league, and the Hawks are playing some entertaining baseball with an offense that is loaded with ex-big leaguers led by John Wood, Steve Summers and Orlin Yates.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL COMES TO THE CITY OF ANGELS

Thomas X. Bigsby's audacious gamble is off to a ringing start. After months of planning, rumors and conjecture the season is under way. After a week of play Bigsby's LA Knights find themselves in first place with a 5-2 record. Attendance was relatively good for the first two series, averaging over 6700 per game, an increase over last season of AAA ball. The pitching has been very good and the lineup is solid. Catcher John Kennedy shook off a tough spring to join 2B Bill Michael and 3B Dan Hallam leading the attack. I asked Manager Ed Ziehl about the team and his apparent enthusiasm for his new job.

"After a lifetime in one organization, it has been refreshing to try something new. If King Price, Karl Wallace and Bob Cummings keep throwing as they have been, it will make my job much easier. There are a few familiar faces here and of course I've worked most of my life for the Bigbsy family. Oh, and you can't complain about this early season weather."

How about the week that Hal Hackney had in St Louis. Two starts, no earned runs (one unearned), 18 innings, 20 strikeouts, 4 walks and a Fed player of the week nod. Not bad for the 24 year old second year pro.
Tough break for the New York Gothams who have already suffered a key injury. Surprisingly it is not Mahlon Strong but instead Mule Monier, who did not last a full game at third base before suffering an elbow injury that will sideline the 30 year old for a month.
Gothams fans had a chance to see what they hope becomes a common occurance when Walt Messer and Red Johnson each homered in a 6-5 win over St Louis on Wednesday.
Speaking of homers, it is great to see Cincinnati's Al Wheeler have a hot start after that bad September and even worse October, batting .400 with the 490th homerun of his career.
Long-time Keystones, Detroit and Cleveland reliever Don Attaway pitched in his 500th career game last week. Despite pitching in all of those games, Attaway has never made a big league start. He has a ways to go to become the pitcher who has thrown in the most FABL games while never making a start. That would be Stan Waters, who appeared in 894 games between 1914 and 1927 without ever starting one. Only the legendary Allan Allen has pitched in more games than Waters, but Double Al started 891 of his 914 appearances.
Is there panic in Toronto yet? Word is the Wolves owner Bernie Millard, who bashed the western clubs so loudly, may consider scheduling an exhibition game with one or two of them just so his boys can get a win. Toronto is off to an 0-5 start.
Chicago Chiefs veteran righthander Gus Goulding, who has not pitched since 1943, was having a rough Spring overall, but he gave up no runs in 5 innings in his final Spring start and then threw a shutout against Detroit in his regular season debut.
Chiefs veteran Sam Sheppard, acquired from Cincinnati over the winter made his Chicago debut in St. Louis on Saturday, marking the 38 year old's first appearance against the club that traded him to the Continental Association. It was a success with Sheppard going the distance in a 6-3 Chiefs win.
Good start for the Keystones, going 4-2 to share first place with Boston. You can't put too much (any?) stock in Spring stats. The latest example is Frank Davis, who was 6-for-42 (.143) in exhibition play had a fantastic first week: 8-for-23 (.348) with a double and 5 RBI.
Good and bad news in Pittsburgh's opening week. Luke Berry hit .500 in his return from overseas while Johnny McDowall had a big week as well, but shortstop Bob Lopez started the season in an 0-for-23 slump.
Donnie Jones and Joe Brown were brilliant in their return stateside to the Chicago Cougars. Both allowed six hits and a single run in a complete game victory. Brown struck out just one, but Jones set down 7 Kings with just one walk. A big return for Hank Barnett as well, who was 7-for-18 with a double, triple, homer, 4 walks, and 3 RBIs. Gout tried to slow down Leo Mitchell, who was 4-for-9 with a homer before missing the rest of the week.
In all it was a great first week for the Cougars who allowed just 8 runs in 5 games, with 3 of them coming in the lone loss. Billy Riley picked off right where he left off with a 4-hit, 5-strikout shutout agaisnt the Saints
A nice start for the New York Stars going 5-1 with some close wins and one tough loss. Reliever George Scruggs is proving his worth so far. Young Bob Riggins is showing flashes of the player he can be, so long as he stays healthy this season and Bill Barrett is killing it like the Stars so desperately need. New York Herald Tribune cribe Artie Mortimer says he is convinced the Stars can make a run at the Continental Association pennant this season.
Across town it was a tough opening week in Brooklyn with rookie manager Tom Barrell still in search of his first regular season win after the Kings went 0-6 against Chicago and New York.
In the western loop, Houston manager Jerry Wilcher is happy with the Bulls 3-4 start. "If Oakland is as good as people were thinking in the pre-season, then this first week of Houstan ball has been decent," explains the Bulls bench boss. "We won the Dallas series and made most of the Oakland games close, at the very least."
Tough break for Portland as long-time Green Sox hurler Duke Brown blew out his shoulder, likely spelling the end of his career. The 39 year old spent some time in FABL with the Gothams and Detroit a decade ago, but had been a fixture in the Porland rotation since 1937. He was 4th in club history with 112 victories for the Green Sox.

COLLEGIATE ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS NAMED

Win Dupre, who helped lead Liberty College to within a game of the national title and a season best 32-2 record, was named a first team All-American selection as the collegiate cage awards were handed out. The National Player of the Year was junior center Long Werth of Miami State while the top coach award went to Bobby Forsythe of Mobile Maritime. The 63 year old Forysthe led the Middies to a 29-3 record and to the quarter-finals in the National Tournament before falling in overtime to Noble Jones College.

Code:


   FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
C Long Werth	 JR  Miami State
F Win Dupre      SR  Liberty College
F Perry Freitag  SR  Chicago Poly
G Mark Sasko     SR  St Pancras
G David Bobo     SR  Garden State

 SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
C Chris Farr     SR  Frankford State
F Ira Bomar      SR  Brooklyn State
F Colby Niles    SR  Garden State
G Jim Thompson   SR  St Martin's College
G Randall Betts  SR  Spokane Sate

  THIRD TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
C Jules Force    SR  Elyria
F Henry Powell   JR  Western Florida
F Ken Pellegrini SR  Great Plains State
G Ziggy Rickard  SO  Central Ohio
G Joe Hampton    SR  Western Iowa

GIBBS IMPROVES TO 16-0

Former Marine George Gibbs ran his professional record to a perfect 16-0 with a second round knockout of Billy Boyd in Sacramento, Ca., on Saturday night. 'Mr Sandman', as the Pueblo, Colorado born battler is known, is now 16-0 and counts 15 of those victories by stoppage.

The 28 year old started his pro career a decade ago and was 12-0 in 1941 before enlisting in the marines immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He saw combat action in the Phillipines and returned to the ring last September after being discharged following the Japanese surrender. Gibbs is now considered one of the top contenders in the welterweight division.

UPCOMING TITLE FIGHTS

May 11: 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 4/21/1946

The Deputy Price Adminstrator told the US Sentate he forcasts price boosts of 50 percent in the next 10 months unless "we get proper legislation without crippling amendments."
The UN Security Council adjourned without taking a final vote on Russia's proposal for dropping the Soviet-Iranian case. Also, left up the air is consideration of Poland's charges that Franco Spain is endangering world peace and harboring German scientists doing research on new weapons.
US authorities say that they have arrested 20 German and Japanese agents in China. They were part of a group led by Lt. Col. Ludwig Ehrhardt, who was Hitler's head of all German military and intelligence in Asia.
Chinese Communist forces have captured the city of Changchun and continue to drive nationalist troops backwards.

03-15-2023, 11:38 AM	#659
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	April 22, 1946 Baseball is Back APRIL 22, 1946 BARRETT ANNOUNCES BASEBALL'S RETURN WITH A BANG Baseball is back and with a bang. Bill Barrett blasted 4 homeruns in his first week in the big leagues since 1942 to highlight the return of all the great stars who missed time during the war. Everywhere you looked, familiar faces that had not been seen in a while were making their return with great success. Woody Stone and Marion Boismenu were helping the Philadelphia Sailors get off to a 6-1 start. Vern Hubbard had a pair of solid outings to join Barrett as two big reasons the New York Stars were 5-1. Adam Mullins was back behind the plate in Cincinnati and helping the Cannons take four of five from Cleveland and Toronto. The Chicago Cougars were also 4-1 and looked like a completely new team with the return of Hank Barnett, Leo Mitchell and half their pitching staff. The story was much the same in the Federal Association where Buddy Schneider and Ray Dalpman made successful returns to Boston, helping the Minutemen share the loop lead with Philadelphia at 4-2. The Keystones offense always had the great Bobby Barrell but it suddenly looks much more imposing with the return of Hank Koblenz and a full season of Billy Woytek. Al Miller and Gus Goulding are back, giving the Chiefs a suddenly very strong top half of the rotation. George Cleaves, Luke Berry and Pablo Reyes all return and drastically change the Pittsburgh Miners look. Sal Pestilli and Walt Messer are back in the Big Apple. Everywhere you look there are names that fans longed for over the past year or two, or even three, and they are all back, bringing with them promises of a great season ahead. CARROL LOGS 2000TH BIG LEAGUE HIT Washington Eagles third baseman Mel Carrol joined FABL's 2,000 hit club last week. The 34 year old singled in the Eagles 8-2 loss in Philadelphia on Friday to become the 81st player in league history to reach the 2000 plateau. Carrol, who was the last hitter to bat .400 in a season when he hit .409 in 1937, is one of a number of players heading for milestones this season. Here is a list compiled by Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News. FABL MILESTONE WATCH 3,000 Hits Bob Martin (CHI): 109 away Bobby Barrell (PHI): 144 away 2,500 Hits Chick Donnelly (BOS): 127 away 2,000 Hits Freddie Jones (CHI): 13 away Harry Barrell (BOS): 24 away Ron Rattigan (CHI): 110 away 500 Homers Al Wheeler (CIN): 10 away 450 Homers Bobby Barrell (PHI): 21 away 200 Homers Sal Pestilli (NYG): 11 away 1,500 Runs Bob Martin (CHI): 71 away 1,000 Runs Vic Crawford (MON): 12 away Leon Drake (DET): 14 away Mahlon Strong (NYG): 39 away 400 Steals Dick Walker (CHC): 7 away 200 Steals Pablo Reyes (PIT): 3 away 300 Wins Jim Lonardo (DET): 6 away 200 Wins Doc Newell (PHS): 7 away Sam Sheppard (CHI): 8 away 600 Games Jim Lonardo (DET): 21 away 500 Games Frank Phillips (CLE): 15 away MUDD TRADED AGAIN The on-again, off-again deal to send Rabbit Mudd from the Chicago Cougars to the New York Stars has now been completed after the two clubs worked out the financial dealings necessary to send the 37 year old infielder to the Big Apple. The always cash-tight Stars could not come up with the $26,000 needed to cover Mudd's contract for the current season until the Cougars, who will receive minor league outfielder Art Goins -son of former two-time Whitney Award winning catcher T.R. Goins- in return, agreed to cover most of Mudd's salary. JIGGS McGEE's TAKE- The Stars decision here is as clear as Mudd. When a club is willing to cover most, if not all, of a players salary for him to play on a different team -one that might well be a direct challenger to their pennant aspirations- it tells you just how little they value that asset. Mudd has always been a good defender, but well below average hitter and the Stars already had one of those in Mel Hancock Jr., at half the price and 5 years younger than Mudd. They also had three inexpensive options for a second baseman staring them in the face on the waiver wire in Charlie Ross, Tony White and Red Moore that would not have cost them the services of a former second round draft pick who put up some really strong numbers as a 21 year old in Class A a year ago. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Wolves Stumble Out of the Gate -Toronto's 1946 campaign got off to a very slow start, the team is winless during the first week of the season. Manager Bob Call seems to be unconcerned at the moment saying "Obviously an 0-5 start is not ideal, but the team will be fine. It is early, baseball is a long season." The Wolves began with a three-game set against the Sailors at Dominion Stadium. On a cool, damp, windy Tuesday afternoon last year's Allen Award winner George Garrison took the hill against the Sailors Win Lewis. Garrison never seemed to get untracked, the Sailors got to Garrison for 5 runs in 7 innings. The big inning was the 5th when Philadelphia struck for 4 runs including two doubles, along with a homerun aided by a rare Artuso error to erase a 3-1 deficit. Joe Hancock returned to the mound after two years away in the war effort on a cool, windy Wednesday afternoon. Sailors fifth inning was again the difference as they got to 1943 20-game winner Hancock for 4 runs although the Wolves rallied for 3 in their half of the 5th Philadelphia cruised to a relatively easy 7-3 victory. Another cool, windy greeted the teams on Thursday afternoon. Bob Walls. Slick Wesolowski were locked in a pitcher's duel through seven when Call, as is his usual early season move to limit starter's load, went to Lou Jayson in the eighth with the score knotted at 1. Jayson, who was also making his first FABL appearance in 2 years, gave a 2 run shot to catcher Woody Stone in the 8th giving the Sailors a series sweep with a 3-1 victory. Into Cincinnati for a short 2-game weekend series against the Cannons. In their home opener on Saturday over 20,000 were treated to an entertaining, low scoring game. Jim Morrison was fine through 6 but started to tire in the seventh, and again Call went to the 'pen only to get burnt when Jim Laurita walked in the eventual winning run after a fielding miscue by Pomales in 2-1 win by the Cannons. Sunday's game can only be termed as pitching disaster for the Toronto staff. Garrison's second start to the season was poor giving up 5 runs on 13 hits not getting out of the fifth. Even so the Wolves were in a position to win leading 7-5 going into the Cincinnati eighth. Roscoe Zeiler, who came in for Garrison, gave up two run homers to Chuck Adams in eight then a walk off job by Fred Galloway in the ninth. Questions are being asked why Call did not bring Wirtz or Jayson to lock down the victory instead of sending Zeiler out for his 4th inning of work. BIG START FOR GWL BIG MARKETS Thomas X. Bigsby has to be happy with the start for his new big league loop in the west. Not just because he is the owner of the Los Angeles Knights, who have jumped out to an early lead in the Great Western League, but also because early attendance figures are exceeding expectations with the Knights and San Francisco -the loops two marquee locations- each drawing very well. The Hawks are averaging close to 8,000 fans per game during the opening week and the Knights are near the 7,000 mark. It is no secret that in order for the GWL to survive it will need to prosper in Los Angeles and San Francisco and having those two teams atop the standings -even just a week in to the western experiment- is good news for not just Bigsby, but the entire GWL. The Knights went 5-2 thanks in no small part to the pitching of newcomers King Price, Bob Cummings and Karl Wallace but also the bat of long-time Knight Bill Michael, a former New York Stars farmhand who elected to stay in California rather than remain in the Stars system. San Francisco is 4-2 and has the highest per game attendance in the 8-team league, and the Hawks are playing some entertaining baseball with an offense that is loaded with ex-big leaguers led by John Wood, Steve Summers and Orlin Yates. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL COMES TO THE CITY OF ANGELS Thomas X. Bigsby's audacious gamble is off to a ringing start. After months of planning, rumors and conjecture the season is under way. After a week of play Bigsby's LA Knights find themselves in first place with a 5-2 record. Attendance was relatively good for the first two series, averaging over 6700 per game, an increase over last season of AAA ball. The pitching has been very good and the lineup is solid. Catcher John Kennedy shook off a tough spring to join 2B Bill Michael and 3B Dan Hallam leading the attack. I asked Manager Ed Ziehl about the team and his apparent enthusiasm for his new job. "After a lifetime in one organization, it has been refreshing to try something new. If King Price, Karl Wallace and Bob Cummings keep throwing as they have been, it will make my job much easier. There are a few familiar faces here and of course I've worked most of my life for the Bigbsy family. Oh, and you can't complain about this early season weather." How about the week that Hal Hackney had in St Louis. Two starts, no earned runs (one unearned), 18 innings, 20 strikeouts, 4 walks and a Fed player of the week nod. Not bad for the 24 year old second year pro. Tough break for the New York Gothams who have already suffered a key injury. Surprisingly it is not Mahlon Strong but instead Mule Monier, who did not last a full game at third base before suffering an elbow injury that will sideline the 30 year old for a month. Gothams fans had a chance to see what they hope becomes a common occurance when Walt Messer and Red Johnson each homered in a 6-5 win over St Louis on Wednesday. Speaking of homers, it is great to see Cincinnati's Al Wheeler have a hot start after that bad September and even worse October, batting .400 with the 490th homerun of his career. Long-time Keystones, Detroit and Cleveland reliever Don Attaway pitched in his 500th career game last week. Despite pitching in all of those games, Attaway has never made a big league start. He has a ways to go to become the pitcher who has thrown in the most FABL games while never making a start. That would be Stan Waters, who appeared in 894 games between 1914 and 1927 without ever starting one. Only the legendary Allan Allen has pitched in more games than Waters, but Double Al started 891 of his 914 appearances. Is there panic in Toronto yet? Word is the Wolves owner Bernie Millard, who bashed the western clubs so loudly, may consider scheduling an exhibition game with one or two of them just so his boys can get a win. Toronto is off to an 0-5 start. Chicago Chiefs veteran righthander Gus Goulding, who has not pitched since 1943, was having a rough Spring overall, but he gave up no runs in 5 innings in his final Spring start and then threw a shutout against Detroit in his regular season debut. Chiefs veteran Sam Sheppard, acquired from Cincinnati over the winter made his Chicago debut in St. Louis on Saturday, marking the 38 year old's first appearance against the club that traded him to the Continental Association. It was a success with Sheppard going the distance in a 6-3 Chiefs win. Good start for the Keystones, going 4-2 to share first place with Boston. You can't put too much (any?) stock in Spring stats. The latest example is Frank Davis, who was 6-for-42 (.143) in exhibition play had a fantastic first week: 8-for-23 (.348) with a double and 5 RBI. Good and bad news in Pittsburgh's opening week. Luke Berry hit .500 in his return from overseas while Johnny McDowall had a big week as well, but shortstop Bob Lopez started the season in an 0-for-23 slump. Donnie Jones and Joe Brown were brilliant in their return stateside to the Chicago Cougars. Both allowed six hits and a single run in a complete game victory. Brown struck out just one, but Jones set down 7 Kings with just one walk. A big return for Hank Barnett as well, who was 7-for-18 with a double, triple, homer, 4 walks, and 3 RBIs. Gout tried to slow down Leo Mitchell, who was 4-for-9 with a homer before missing the rest of the week. In all it was a great first week for the Cougars who allowed just 8 runs in 5 games, with 3 of them coming in the lone loss. Billy Riley picked off right where he left off with a 4-hit, 5-strikout shutout agaisnt the Saints A nice start for the New York Stars going 5-1 with some close wins and one tough loss. Reliever George Scruggs is proving his worth so far. Young Bob Riggins is showing flashes of the player he can be, so long as he stays healthy this season and Bill Barrett is killing it like the Stars so desperately need. New York Herald Tribune cribe Artie Mortimer says he is convinced the Stars can make a run at the Continental Association pennant this season. Across town it was a tough opening week in Brooklyn with rookie manager Tom Barrell still in search of his first regular season win after the Kings went 0-6 against Chicago and New York. In the western loop, Houston manager Jerry Wilcher is happy with the Bulls 3-4 start. "If Oakland is as good as people were thinking in the pre-season, then this first week of Houstan ball has been decent," explains the Bulls bench boss. "We won the Dallas series and made most of the Oakland games close, at the very least." Tough break for Portland as long-time Green Sox hurler Duke Brown blew out his shoulder, likely spelling the end of his career. The 39 year old spent some time in FABL with the Gothams and Detroit a decade ago, but had been a fixture in the Porland rotation since 1937. He was 4th in club history with 112 victories for the Green Sox. COLLEGIATE ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS NAMED Win Dupre, who helped lead Liberty College to within a game of the national title and a season best 32-2 record, was named a first team All-American selection as the collegiate cage awards were handed out. The National Player of the Year was junior center Long Werth of Miami State while the top coach award went to Bobby Forsythe of Mobile Maritime. The 63 year old Forysthe led the Middies to a 29-3 record and to the quarter-finals in the National Tournament before falling in overtime to Noble Jones College. Code: FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS C Long Werth JR Miami State F Win Dupre SR Liberty College F Perry Freitag SR Chicago Poly G Mark Sasko SR St Pancras G David Bobo SR Garden State SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS C Chris Farr SR Frankford State F Ira Bomar SR Brooklyn State F Colby Niles SR Garden State G Jim Thompson SR St Martin's College G Randall Betts SR Spokane Sate THIRD TEAM ALL-AMERICANS C Jules Force SR Elyria F Henry Powell JR Western Florida F Ken Pellegrini SR Great Plains State G Ziggy Rickard SO Central Ohio G Joe Hampton SR Western Iowa GIBBS IMPROVES TO 16-0 Former Marine George Gibbs ran his professional record to a perfect 16-0 with a second round knockout of Billy Boyd in Sacramento, Ca., on Saturday night. 'Mr Sandman', as the Pueblo, Colorado born battler is known, is now 16-0 and counts 15 of those victories by stoppage. The 28 year old started his pro career a decade ago and was 12-0 in 1941 before enlisting in the marines immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He saw combat action in the Phillipines and returned to the ring last September after being discharged following the Japanese surrender. Gibbs is now considered one of the top contenders in the welterweight division. UPCOMING TITLE FIGHTS May 11: 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 4/21/1946 The Deputy Price Adminstrator told the US Sentate he forcasts price boosts of 50 percent in the next 10 months unless "we get proper legislation without crippling amendments." The UN Security Council adjourned without taking a final vote on Russia's proposal for dropping the Soviet-Iranian case. Also, left up the air is consideration of Poland's charges that Franco Spain is endangering world peace and harboring German scientists doing research on new weapons. US authorities say that they have arrested 20 German and Japanese agents in China. They were part of a group led by Lt. Col. Ludwig Ehrhardt, who was Hitler's head of all German military and intelligence in Asia. Chinese Communist forces have captured the city of Changchun and continue to drive nationalist troops backwards. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports