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Jiggs McGee · 03-20-2023, 11:34 AM

MAY 13, 1946

MINUTEMEN EXTEND FED LEAD WITH BIG WEEKEND IN PHILLY

Round one goes to the Boston Minutemen. The Minutemen are considered the biggest rivals in a Federal Association full of challengers to the Philadelphia Keystones two-year hold on the Fed flag and Boston made a statement with a series victory in the City of Brotherly Love over the weekend. The Minutemen took two of three at Broad Street Park and enter play today with a 2.5 game lead on the second place Keystones.

Pitching has been the big reason for the Boston success in the early going but in Friday's series opener it was the bats that bailed out pitcher Walt Wells. Wells has been pretty solid this season and shut out the Keystones for 5-innings while the Minutemen built up a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th. However, Philadelphia scored 6 times in the next two innings to chase Wells and take a 7-6 lead into the ninth inning until back to back rbi singles from Bud Gustafson and Pete Day allowed the visitors to rally for an 8-7 victory. Philadelphia had a much more successful comeback the next day, torching Ray Dalpman for 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to hand the 29 year old his first loss on the season in a 6-3 Keystones win to even the series. On Sunday, the Boston pitching was back in fine form as Ed Wood made the club's long Monday train trip to Chicago something worth celebrating with a complete game 6-hitter in a 5-2 Boston win, giving the Minutemen 11 victories in their last 14 contests.

***Panic in Chicago? ***

The fragile psyche of Chicago Cougars fans is being tested of late as their heroes are in another swoon, something that has plagued the club in recent years. The Chicago Continentals have dropped 8 of their last 11 games including a pair of lobsided losses to the New York Stars over the weekend. This coming after they started the season like gangbusters, claiming 12 victories in their first 15 outings. As a result the Continental Association is now a log-jam with 5 teams separated by just 2.5 games, headed by the 3-time defending champion Cincinnati Cannons at 16-9. That is much closer than the standings looked entering the weekend as the second place Philadelphia Sailors did the rest of the Continental a favour by halting Cincinnati's winning streak at 8 games and they did so in a big way -sweeping a 3-game set at hostile Tice Memorial from the champs.

Minutemen Round-Up -A 4-2 week for the Boston Minutemen keeps them ahead of the pack in the Federal Association by a slim two and a half game margin over Philadelphia and four games clear of the Gothams. One of the loses this week was at the hands of Philadelphia where Bobby B smacked Ray Dalpman around for a pair of long balls and four RBI's. It was the first loss for Dalpman on the season dropping his record to 5-1. The other loss of the week came at the hands of the Chiefs who beat the Minutemen 1-0 with a 9th inning RBI from Bob Martin. Tough luck loser Duke Hendricks only surrendered four hits in that one. On the good side of the ledger Boston was able to beat up on Buddy Long of St. Louis who has a head scratching 1-5, 4.69 ERA on the season. Long was a 21 game winner a year ago.

Dean Astle held the Chiefs to three hits in a complete game victory to split their series with Chicago. Walt Wells benefitted from a lot of offense and Jiggs Jackson, the backup catcher in Boston, hit his first FABL homer in an 8-7 win against Philly. Finally, in the last game of the week Ed Wood outlasted Philly's Pepper Tuttle to pick up his fifth victory of the season in a 5-2 series clinching win. This week the Minutemen will continue the road trip that started with the Philadelphia series with stops in Chicago, St. louis and New York for a Sunday double dip.
*** Time For a .400 Hitter? ***

Three players are over the .400 plateau in the middle of May. They would be Johnny McDowell from Pittsburgh hitting .410, Joe Owens from Pittsburgh hitting .400 and Hal Sharp from the Cougars hitting .405. While the odds may be against anyone staying over .400 for the entirety of the season, did you know that in every decade since the 1880's there has been at least one hitter that finished the season above .400. Mel Carroll was the only player to do it in the 1930's when he hit .408 in 1937. We are now halfway through the decade and the 40's have yet to produce a .400 hitter. Can this in part be blamed on the War? Maybe, while a lot of talented individuals lost years of service, plenty were still playing and hitting against some mediocre pitching, so maybe it is more of a shock that nobody hit .400 during the War years. Either way we may be witnessing the end to a pretty marvelous streak. I hope someone can keep it going.
*** Yanks Confident Despite Challenge from CFC ***

The defending American Football Association champion Boston Americans are confident they will field another strong squad when training camp opens up in late July. Yanks head coach Bunky O'Neill knows he and his charges will have their work cut out for them this season -no AFA champion has successfully defended its title since the Pittsburgh Paladins won in both 1934 and 1935- and admits the uncertainty of what, if any, players they might lose to the new Continental Football Conference adds another wrinkle into the task.

"From what I have heard all of the key regulars plan on returning," explained O'Neill the other day, "but camp is still a little ways away and things can change."

On the topic of Del Thomas, O'Neill expressed full confidence that his quarterback and two-time championship game MVP would be back. The 32 year old is arguably coming off the best season of an outstanding career.
*** Higgins In High Demand ***

A recent report from OSA's basketball department calls St Patrick's Prep 17 year old Don Higgins one of the top collegiate basketball recruits in the nation. The 6'2" junior guard -he will be a senior in September- is a three sport star for the Shamrocks and if you think the name sounds familiar it is with good reason. His big brother is former Boston Minutemen hurler Dick 'Pistol' Higgins, who was recently waived and signed with the Chicago Chiefs. Baby brother Don -known as 'Pop Gun' in family circles- is a decent high school pitcher as well as quarterback of the Shamrocks grid squad but it is on the hardwood that he really shines. Defending national champion CCLA as well as big-time schools Liberty College and Carolina Poly are all anxious to get the youth's signature on an enrollment sheet but so far Higgins -who is ranked #9 in the nation among 1946-47 high school seniors- has given no indication where he will attend college.

Two other Boston high schoolers, both centers, made the OSA top 100 recruiting list. Cory Dodge, who is 6'11" and from South Boston High is number 65 on the scouts top 100 list while Ren Collins of Copley High School charts in at #72. Collins has indicated he is leaning towards staying in the area and attending St Patrick's University after his senior year of high school.

HAWKS AND KNIGHTS LEAD THE WAY IN WEST

Thomas X.Bigsby could not have planned it much better. If the founder of the new major league on the west coast could have scripted how he wanted things to play out in the loops inaugural season he most certainly would have wished for his Los Angeles Knights and the San Francisco Hawks - the Great Western League's two biggest markets- to be fighting for the pennant. It is still very early in the season but so far Bigsby's hopes are becoming a reality as the Hawks lead the way, enjoying a slim half-game margin on the Los Angeles club that Bigsby himself owns.

The Hawks are riding the hot bats of Bob Land, who leads the loop with a .406 batting average and the big stick of John Herrick. The 37 year old slugger has 5 homers already this season and has long been thought of as a power bat but never really ever got much of an opportunity in the big league big east. He did hit 7 homers in 148 at bats for Toronto in 1938 and had a 40 homer season in AA one year but the knock has always been he did not get on base enough. The Knights have been getting plenty of offense but the big story in Los Angeles so far is the starting rotation with Red Nokes (3-2, 1.94), King Price (4-1, 1.24) and Bob Cummings (4-1, 1.54) all looking dominant.

Once again, the Keystones had an above-.500 week but again fell behind in the standings. Philadelphia went 4-3, but dropped a half-game to trail white-hot Boston by 2.5 games. Bobby Barrell has been off to a tough start, but broke out for 4 home runs for the week. Despite an un-Barrell-like .226 average, his power numbers might be waking up (5 HR, 21 RBI). The offense has not slipped thanks to Billy Woytek (.333/.409/.569, 4 HR, 2 RBI, 25 R, 1.8 WAR in 26 games), Hank Koblenz (.342/.388/.644, 5 HR, 17 RBI in only 73 AB), and the surprising Frank Davis (.391/.434/.478, 2 HR, 14 RBI). The pitching had a tough week, allowing 34 runs in 7 games. It is way too soon to speculate, but a couple of young pitchers at AAA Louisville are starting to push for a promotion. Sid Moulton (4-0, 1.20 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) is off to a hot start and Joe Quade (1-1, 2.66 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) is pitching well in his first taste of action in over four years and first starts above A-ball.
The New York Gothams are getting some power production from their big bats with Walt Messer, Red Johnson and Pete Casstevens all hitting 4 homeruns through the first 4 weeks of play. However, the Gothams are just 6th in the Fed in runs scored and need to get men on base for the big boppers. 8 of the 13 homers hit by the big 4 of Messer, Johnson, Sal Pestilli and Casstevens have been solo shots and 4 of the other five came with just one man on base. The lone 3 run shot was back on April 22 by Casstevens in a 9-3 drubbing of Chicago and came in the 9th inning with the Gothams already up 6-3.
Addie Allman of the Philadelphia Sailors hit for the cycle in a 10-9 loss to Montreal last week. The 29 year old second year big leaguer went 4-for-5 including his first homer of the season. Allman, a 1935 7th rounder, is batting .267 on the year.
23 year old Bob Montgomery is making the most of his opportunity at SS for the Dynamos. Thrust into the starting role after Stan Kleminski was dispatched to Newark to try and solve his defensive woes, Montgomery hit .474 with 7 rbi's last week but more importantly played error free defense, with a 5,21 range rating and an efficiency of 1.136. Meanwhile, Kleminski, after making 13 errors in 15 games in Detroit, made one last week in Newark and continues to struggle in the field.
Not a great outing but Jim Lonardo notched win #295. The 41 year old Dynamos hurler allowed 7 earned runs for the second straight start but the offense helped him out in an 8-7 win over Pittsburgh. 5 more to go to become the 13th member of the 300-victory club. He is bidding to join Rabbit Day as the only 300 game winners to notch their milestone victory in the era of human GMs. George Johnson pitched in 1926 for Washington but had reached 300 in the final season of the pre-play.
The number of unearned runs are beginning to concern the Wolves, who are committing far too many errors. Manager Call has scheduled extra fielding workouts.
How is this for a contrast? Cougars pitcher Billy Riley against the Saints: 18 IP, 7 H, 7 K. Billy Riley against the Stars and Wolves: 15.1 IP, 17 H, 12 ER, 6 BB, 5 K.
Red Nokes is off to a great start for the GWL's Los Angeles Knights. The 28 year old pitcher, who threw a no-hitter while with San Franacisco last season, tossed a pair of complete game shutouts this season to run his record to 3-2 and lower his era to 1.94. Originally an 18th round pick of the old Baltimore Cannons in 1937, Nokes only had a very small taste of FABL action, going 2-3 with a 4.06 era for the 1943 Cannons, but seems to have found a home in the GWL with the Knights.

LAST ROUND GIVES MELANSON LAST LAUGH IN TITLE DEFENSE

In the lead-up to the rematch between Middleweight champion Frank Melanson and challenger Todd Gill, there was one easy theme to spot: unfinished business. Both fighters acknowledged they had their golden opportunities to win the original bout outright, by knockout or decision. For Melanson, he countered too late in too many rounds and by the penultimate round, he was weary. For Gill, he could not make hay despite being ahead on points midway through the fight. Gill did not cause any lasting damage on Melanson with the punches he did land and the result was a majority draw. Heading into Saturday's rematch both corners had their best scouting reports. They knew what worked and what did not, which made this fight a fascinating one to watch.

As both fighters breeched the ropes and stepped onto the canvas, they had the knowing looks of combatants who knew the result would be tilted in their favor, so sure of what was to come. Melanson, unbeaten at 29-0-2, had success at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia before. This is where he cliched the belt and became an unlikely champion in a victory over Archie Rees almost a year ago. The Pittsburgh native had rooting sections all over the stadium. Gill entered the fight at 20-1-5 and five years older than Melanson, though you would not know it to look at him. The last match was in New York, a little closer to Gill’s home turf of Hartford, Connecticut, but his fans showed up to root him on.

Melanson is not particularly fleet afoot, but he is showing himself to be an effective executioner when he wants to be. This is not a knock on his prowess, mind you, just a comment about his willingness to go in for the kill. For every time you think he has the momentum to end a fight, he changes his strategy, seemingly on the fly. But, when he bulls forward, he is a force worthy of his nickname, “The Tank”.

The fight almost went the distance, but this did not have as much drama as the first one. Melanson had the fight well in hand for most of the night, doing some damage by opening a cut on Gill’s face with a hook in the second round and another cut above Gill’s left eye with a cross in the fifth round. Melanson scored brief knockdowns in the tenth and thirteenth rounds. But, too often, Melanson let Gill catch his breath and regroup. Too often, Melanson strayed from scoring on punches that could have done more damage and shots that could have exploited vulnerable targets. Honestly, this fight could have been over with a few rounds to spare if Melanson had late-night plans.

Mike Ornest, refereeing his first title fight, provided some comic relief in the third and fifth round, prematurely waiving the fighters to their corners before the time elapsed to end the round, leaving both combatants, their corner men, and the crowd perplexed.

The fourth round was Gill’s first good round, especially early in the stanza, as he woke up and started taking the fight to Melanson. Gill was valiantly attempting to work his way into the fight after Melanson built a lead in the early rounds, but Melanson turned the tide on an uppercut to Gill’s jaw that displayed the champ’s strategic aims. As much as Melanson wanted to work the body, he knew that to win, he had to aim higher. Gill showed up again in Round 5 with a sharp combination of hard punches to Melanson seconds into the round, but the memory of Gill’s offensive was erased on Melanson’s cross to Gill’s left eye, which shook up the challenger and drew blood from just above the eye. The cut would play a role the rest of the way.

In one of the few moments Melanson tried to capitalize on a reeling opponent, Melanson dominated the sixth round, landing some good shots, including another one to the jaw. Gill stayed on his feet, which must have dispirited Melanson, who seemed to take the round off in the seventh, tying up Gill and venturing away from what worked to that point in the match. Melanson wanted to work inside instead of trying to capitalize on the left jaw and left eye of Gill. Melanson inexplicably tried to go southpaw late in the round, opening the door for Gill to take that round and the next one.

The first knockdown of the fight occurred in Round 10 with seconds left, as Melanson took ownership of the round with a shot to the head of Gill, later landing a vicious hook to Gill's head, and shortly dropping the challenger for a 2-count. Melanson reopened the cut above Gill’s left eye with a nice jab, causing Referee Ornest to pause the fight to get Gill some medical attention. Yet, even after the knockdown, Melanson did not go in for the kill, as he was content to work the body, despite the crowd urging him to take advantage.

In Round 13, Melanson scored his second knockdown, but Gill only gets a 3-count before rising back up. Gill who looked like he didn't know where the next punch was going to come from as he dropped. His eyes were glazed, and his legs were wobbly upon resuming the bout. This time, Melanson sensed blood in the water - a hook, an uppercut, a right hand – all scoring and leaving a mark on Gill. No bobbing and weaving, just straight punches aiming right for Gill's head. Gill's right eye was swollen, to go with a sore left jaw and bloody left eyebrow. It was a wonder how Gill answered the bell in the fourteenth, but Melanson did not make him pay enough in what could have been described as a round off.

Unlike their first bout, where Melanson was also worn out in the 14th round, he was ahead in this fight, and everyone knew it. But Melanson also knew this was the last round and wanted to end it on his terms. After a couple of introductory punches to the midsection, Melanson aimed high and landed a combination that reopened the cut above Gill's eye again. Referee Ornest called for the doctor and after close inspection, decided to stop the fight.

Melanson punched more and landed more, though it was disappointing not to see him push his uppercut more. He was content to work the body when he should have been trying to end the fight with shots to the head, trying to capitalize on visible damage to Gill's eyes and jaw.

Melanson was clearly better on this night, as his unbeaten streak has reached 32 fights (30-0-2). At 34, Gill may not get back to the squared circle for another chance at the title. It would be a shame with only two losses to his ledger. The Tank awaits his next opponent, as the once-unlikely champion is settling nicely into his role as the king of the middleweights.

MELANSON RETAINS MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE

Philadelphia (UPI)-It took 30 rounds over two fights but Frank Melanson successfully held on to his World Middleweight Title by winning the rematch with contender Todd Gill. Saturday's fight -a follow up to the majority draw the two waged last October- was stopped in the 15th round despite vehement objections from Gill and his corner. After consulting with the ringside physician, referee Mike Ornest -who has a history of erring on the side of caution with his stoppage decisions- called the bout off 55 seconds into the 15th and final round. It was ruled that the cut just under Gill's left eyebrow that originally opened in the second round, was bleeding so prfusely into his eye that the challenger had no way to protect himself from blows coming from that side.

Unlike the October fight where two of the judges scored the bout dead even and a third gave Gill a narrow 2-point decision, the champion from Pittsburgh was ahead on all 3 cards was in no danger of losing had the bout gone the distance, making the protests from Gill's corner over the decision to halt the fight all but meaningless. With the victory, Melanson boosts his career mark to 30-0-2 and increases speculation that his next title defense will be against unbeaten and untied European champion Edouard Desmarais. The 29 year old Frenchman ran his record to a perfect 36-0 with an unanimous decision over former World Champion Archie Rees -the fighter who lost his title to Melanson- in England last December. However Gill, now 20-2-5, and his handlers were demanding another shot at Melanson, claiming there was no way the bout should have been stopped but conveniently ignoring the fact that the challenger was well behind on the scorecards anyway.

Code:


              MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE HISTORY
YEARS       FIGHTER             HOMETOWN       Title Defenses
1909-1910  Abe Campbell		  Detroit, MI	     1
1910-1911  Battling Billy Baker Philadelphia, PA     2
1911-1912  Ken Brekke		  Duluth, MN	     3
1912-1913  Abe Campbell         Detroit, MI	     2
1913       Ken Brekee           Duluth, MN           1
1913-1914  Bob Brinkman		  London, England      2
1914	   Abe Campbell	      Detroit, MI	       1
1914-1916  Mike Burtenshaw      Jersey City, NJ      4
1916-1918  Dave Byler           San Francisco, Ca    3
1918       Bob Brinkman		  London, England      1
1919-1920  Tony Rump            Toledo, OH           2
1920-1929  Ray Pizzuto          New York, NY        15
1929-1933  Elden Breeden	  Wichita, KA	     7
1933-1940  Jorge Cuellar	  Spain		     8
1940                     vacant
1941-1945  Archie Rees        Tadcaster, England     3
1945-pres  Frank Melanson	Pittsburgh, PA         2

PERRY STOPS JACKSON

Rudy Perry got back on the victory track last week, just seven months after he was trounced by new welterweight champ Dennis O'Keefe for just the second loss of the 29 year old's career. Perry's victim was John Jackson, the rugged former Army Sergeant from South Bend, Indiana. who was chopped up very thoroughly by the veteran from Philadelphia. The bout was slated for 10 rounds, but Jackson was counted out midway through the fourth round despite the fact he caught Perry by surprise early and sent him to the canvas just a minute into the encounter. The shock of that seemed to snap Perry to attention and he dominated from that point on.

Perry improves to 21-2-1 with the victory and may be back on the track that appeared to have him headed for a title shot before seeing stars just two rounds into his showdown with O'Keefe last October - a bout that ensured the winner would get a title shot. O'Keefe made the most of that opportunity and claimed the title with another knockout -this one in the 13th round- against Carl Taylor in March. Perry was ranked the #5 challenger in the end of April TWIFB boxing contenders list.

NORTH CAROLINA TECH TOPS RECRUITING BATTLE

On the strength of landing the top high school basketball player in the nation, the North Carolina Tech Techsters have secured the top freshman recruiting class for the upcoming collegiate cage season. Mike Carter, a high-scoring shooting specialist out of Dunbar High School in Washington DC, is considered the best player in the country and he committed to the Techsters after heavily considering Liberty College and Carolina Poly. Joining Carter in making the trip from DC to Raleigh will be center Muzz Hodson, a rival of Carter's from DC's Anacosta High School and considered a top twenty-five recruit. The Techsters rounded out their stellar class with in-state star Percy Hyatt, a guard out of High Point, NC who was named the top high school player in the state this past season.

The defending national champion City College of Los Angeles Wolves only had room for two incoming freshman but it was a poor class for the California powerhouse. The Coyotes class was ranked 56th out of the 212 major college programs with Carl Allen, a forward out of San Bernardino (CA) High School and ranked 37th in his class their only top 100 recruit.

[code TOP TWENTY RECRUITING CLASSES
RK SCHOOL TOP PLAYER
1 North Carolina Tech Techsters #1 F Mike Carter Washington, DC
2 Western Iowa Canaries #7 C Slim Barner Houston, TX
3 Lane State Emeralds #2 F Carl Casswell Los Angeles, CA
4 Garden State Redbirds #8 F John Rosenberger New York, NY
5 Detroit City College Knights #16 F Charlie Orlando Knightstown, IN
6 St Blane Fighting Saints #5 F Brian Threadgill Bronx, NY
7 Liberty College Bells #4 C Edgar Stillwell Detroit, MI
8 Annapolis Maritime Navigators #13 F Billy Ambrose Flint, MI
9 Carolina Poly Cardinals #23 F James Halle Martinsville, VA
10 Central Ohio Aviators #28 F Abe Langlois Chicago, IL
11 Noble Jones College Colonels #9 C Mike Miller Athens, GA
12 Miami State Gulls #22 F Tom Yamada Arcadia, FL
13 Bluegrass State Mustangs #41 C Tom Nalley Chicago,IL
14 Perry State Commodores #60 F Valentine Peele Nashville, TN
15 Brunswick Knights #18 C Darrell Rademacher Jackson, MS
16 Whitney College Engineers #11 G Don Rosenfield Chicago, IL
17 Dickson Maroons #15 F Ted Entinger Cleveland, OH
18 Indiana A&M Reapers #10 G J.C. Mitchell Benton, AR
19 Texas Gulf Coast Hurricanes #66 G Alvin Martin Houna, LA
20 Rainier College Majestics #14 C Carl Perry Redding, CA
[/code]

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 5/12/1946

A minor breakthrough in the coal strike as union leader John Lewis has ordered his mine workers back on the job, but only for 15 days in order to mine emergency fuel to keep the Nation's most essential services operating.
The British Government announced it has proposed a complete withdrawal of all British land, sea and air forces from Egypt at a rate to be decided in negotiations with Egyptian leaders.
Former Prime Minister Winston Churchill appealed to the Western Democracies to work through the United Nations setup for an understanding with Russia, without which he said the world faced a fatal period of "misery, slaughter and abasement."

03-20-2023, 11:34 AM	#662
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	May 13, 1946 MAY 13, 1946 MINUTEMEN EXTEND FED LEAD WITH BIG WEEKEND IN PHILLY Round one goes to the Boston Minutemen. The Minutemen are considered the biggest rivals in a Federal Association full of challengers to the Philadelphia Keystones two-year hold on the Fed flag and Boston made a statement with a series victory in the City of Brotherly Love over the weekend. The Minutemen took two of three at Broad Street Park and enter play today with a 2.5 game lead on the second place Keystones. Pitching has been the big reason for the Boston success in the early going but in Friday's series opener it was the bats that bailed out pitcher Walt Wells. Wells has been pretty solid this season and shut out the Keystones for 5-innings while the Minutemen built up a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the 7th. However, Philadelphia scored 6 times in the next two innings to chase Wells and take a 7-6 lead into the ninth inning until back to back rbi singles from Bud Gustafson and Pete Day allowed the visitors to rally for an 8-7 victory. Philadelphia had a much more successful comeback the next day, torching Ray Dalpman for 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to hand the 29 year old his first loss on the season in a 6-3 Keystones win to even the series. On Sunday, the Boston pitching was back in fine form as Ed Wood made the club's long Monday train trip to Chicago something worth celebrating with a complete game 6-hitter in a 5-2 Boston win, giving the Minutemen 11 victories in their last 14 contests. *Panic in Chicago? * The fragile psyche of Chicago Cougars fans is being tested of late as their heroes are in another swoon, something that has plagued the club in recent years. The Chicago Continentals have dropped 8 of their last 11 games including a pair of lobsided losses to the New York Stars over the weekend. This coming after they started the season like gangbusters, claiming 12 victories in their first 15 outings. As a result the Continental Association is now a log-jam with 5 teams separated by just 2.5 games, headed by the 3-time defending champion Cincinnati Cannons at 16-9. That is much closer than the standings looked entering the weekend as the second place Philadelphia Sailors did the rest of the Continental a favour by halting Cincinnati's winning streak at 8 games and they did so in a big way -sweeping a 3-game set at hostile Tice Memorial from the champs. Minutemen Round-Up -A 4-2 week for the Boston Minutemen keeps them ahead of the pack in the Federal Association by a slim two and a half game margin over Philadelphia and four games clear of the Gothams. One of the loses this week was at the hands of Philadelphia where Bobby B smacked Ray Dalpman around for a pair of long balls and four RBI's. It was the first loss for Dalpman on the season dropping his record to 5-1. The other loss of the week came at the hands of the Chiefs who beat the Minutemen 1-0 with a 9th inning RBI from Bob Martin. Tough luck loser Duke Hendricks only surrendered four hits in that one. On the good side of the ledger Boston was able to beat up on Buddy Long of St. Louis who has a head scratching 1-5, 4.69 ERA on the season. Long was a 21 game winner a year ago. Dean Astle held the Chiefs to three hits in a complete game victory to split their series with Chicago. Walt Wells benefitted from a lot of offense and Jiggs Jackson, the backup catcher in Boston, hit his first FABL homer in an 8-7 win against Philly. Finally, in the last game of the week Ed Wood outlasted Philly's Pepper Tuttle to pick up his fifth victory of the season in a 5-2 series clinching win. This week the Minutemen will continue the road trip that started with the Philadelphia series with stops in Chicago, St. louis and New York for a Sunday double dip. * Time For a .400 Hitter? * Three players are over the .400 plateau in the middle of May. They would be Johnny McDowell from Pittsburgh hitting .410, Joe Owens from Pittsburgh hitting .400 and Hal Sharp from the Cougars hitting .405. While the odds may be against anyone staying over .400 for the entirety of the season, did you know that in every decade since the 1880's there has been at least one hitter that finished the season above .400. Mel Carroll was the only player to do it in the 1930's when he hit .408 in 1937. We are now halfway through the decade and the 40's have yet to produce a .400 hitter. Can this in part be blamed on the War? Maybe, while a lot of talented individuals lost years of service, plenty were still playing and hitting against some mediocre pitching, so maybe it is more of a shock that nobody hit .400 during the War years. Either way we may be witnessing the end to a pretty marvelous streak. I hope someone can keep it going. * Yanks Confident Despite Challenge from CFC * The defending American Football Association champion Boston Americans are confident they will field another strong squad when training camp opens up in late July. Yanks head coach Bunky O'Neill knows he and his charges will have their work cut out for them this season -no AFA champion has successfully defended its title since the Pittsburgh Paladins won in both 1934 and 1935- and admits the uncertainty of what, if any, players they might lose to the new Continental Football Conference adds another wrinkle into the task. "From what I have heard all of the key regulars plan on returning," explained O'Neill the other day, "but camp is still a little ways away and things can change." On the topic of Del Thomas, O'Neill expressed full confidence that his quarterback and two-time championship game MVP would be back. The 32 year old is arguably coming off the best season of an outstanding career. * Higgins In High Demand * A recent report from OSA's basketball department calls St Patrick's Prep 17 year old Don Higgins one of the top collegiate basketball recruits in the nation. The 6'2" junior guard -he will be a senior in September- is a three sport star for the Shamrocks and if you think the name sounds familiar it is with good reason. His big brother is former Boston Minutemen hurler Dick 'Pistol' Higgins, who was recently waived and signed with the Chicago Chiefs. Baby brother Don -known as 'Pop Gun' in family circles- is a decent high school pitcher as well as quarterback of the Shamrocks grid squad but it is on the hardwood that he really shines. Defending national champion CCLA as well as big-time schools Liberty College and Carolina Poly are all anxious to get the youth's signature on an enrollment sheet but so far Higgins -who is ranked #9 in the nation among 1946-47 high school seniors- has given no indication where he will attend college. Two other Boston high schoolers, both centers, made the OSA top 100 recruiting list. Cory Dodge, who is 6'11" and from South Boston High is number 65 on the scouts top 100 list while Ren Collins of Copley High School charts in at #72. Collins has indicated he is leaning towards staying in the area and attending St Patrick's University after his senior year of high school. HAWKS AND KNIGHTS LEAD THE WAY IN WEST Thomas X.Bigsby could not have planned it much better. If the founder of the new major league on the west coast could have scripted how he wanted things to play out in the loops inaugural season he most certainly would have wished for his Los Angeles Knights and the San Francisco Hawks - the Great Western League's two biggest markets- to be fighting for the pennant. It is still very early in the season but so far Bigsby's hopes are becoming a reality as the Hawks lead the way, enjoying a slim half-game margin on the Los Angeles club that Bigsby himself owns. The Hawks are riding the hot bats of Bob Land, who leads the loop with a .406 batting average and the big stick of John Herrick. The 37 year old slugger has 5 homers already this season and has long been thought of as a power bat but never really ever got much of an opportunity in the big league big east. He did hit 7 homers in 148 at bats for Toronto in 1938 and had a 40 homer season in AA one year but the knock has always been he did not get on base enough. The Knights have been getting plenty of offense but the big story in Los Angeles so far is the starting rotation with Red Nokes (3-2, 1.94), King Price (4-1, 1.24) and Bob Cummings (4-1, 1.54) all looking dominant. Once again, the Keystones had an above-.500 week but again fell behind in the standings. Philadelphia went 4-3, but dropped a half-game to trail white-hot Boston by 2.5 games. Bobby Barrell has been off to a tough start, but broke out for 4 home runs for the week. Despite an un-Barrell-like .226 average, his power numbers might be waking up (5 HR, 21 RBI). The offense has not slipped thanks to Billy Woytek (.333/.409/.569, 4 HR, 2 RBI, 25 R, 1.8 WAR in 26 games), Hank Koblenz (.342/.388/.644, 5 HR, 17 RBI in only 73 AB), and the surprising Frank Davis (.391/.434/.478, 2 HR, 14 RBI). The pitching had a tough week, allowing 34 runs in 7 games. It is way too soon to speculate, but a couple of young pitchers at AAA Louisville are starting to push for a promotion. Sid Moulton (4-0, 1.20 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) is off to a hot start and Joe Quade (1-1, 2.66 ERA, 1.31 WHIP) is pitching well in his first taste of action in over four years and first starts above A-ball. The New York Gothams are getting some power production from their big bats with Walt Messer, Red Johnson and Pete Casstevens all hitting 4 homeruns through the first 4 weeks of play. However, the Gothams are just 6th in the Fed in runs scored and need to get men on base for the big boppers. 8 of the 13 homers hit by the big 4 of Messer, Johnson, Sal Pestilli and Casstevens have been solo shots and 4 of the other five came with just one man on base. The lone 3 run shot was back on April 22 by Casstevens in a 9-3 drubbing of Chicago and came in the 9th inning with the Gothams already up 6-3. Addie Allman of the Philadelphia Sailors hit for the cycle in a 10-9 loss to Montreal last week. The 29 year old second year big leaguer went 4-for-5 including his first homer of the season. Allman, a 1935 7th rounder, is batting .267 on the year. 23 year old Bob Montgomery is making the most of his opportunity at SS for the Dynamos. Thrust into the starting role after Stan Kleminski was dispatched to Newark to try and solve his defensive woes, Montgomery hit .474 with 7 rbi's last week but more importantly played error free defense, with a 5,21 range rating and an efficiency of 1.136. Meanwhile, Kleminski, after making 13 errors in 15 games in Detroit, made one last week in Newark and continues to struggle in the field. Not a great outing but Jim Lonardo notched win #295. The 41 year old Dynamos hurler allowed 7 earned runs for the second straight start but the offense helped him out in an 8-7 win over Pittsburgh. 5 more to go to become the 13th member of the 300-victory club. He is bidding to join Rabbit Day as the only 300 game winners to notch their milestone victory in the era of human GMs. George Johnson pitched in 1926 for Washington but had reached 300 in the final season of the pre-play. The number of unearned runs are beginning to concern the Wolves, who are committing far too many errors. Manager Call has scheduled extra fielding workouts. How is this for a contrast? Cougars pitcher Billy Riley against the Saints: 18 IP, 7 H, 7 K. Billy Riley against the Stars and Wolves: 15.1 IP, 17 H, 12 ER, 6 BB, 5 K. Red Nokes is off to a great start for the GWL's Los Angeles Knights. The 28 year old pitcher, who threw a no-hitter while with San Franacisco last season, tossed a pair of complete game shutouts this season to run his record to 3-2 and lower his era to 1.94. Originally an 18th round pick of the old Baltimore Cannons in 1937, Nokes only had a very small taste of FABL action, going 2-3 with a 4.06 era for the 1943 Cannons, but seems to have found a home in the GWL with the Knights. LAST ROUND GIVES MELANSON LAST LAUGH IN TITLE DEFENSE In the lead-up to the rematch between Middleweight champion Frank Melanson and challenger Todd Gill, there was one easy theme to spot: unfinished business. Both fighters acknowledged they had their golden opportunities to win the original bout outright, by knockout or decision. For Melanson, he countered too late in too many rounds and by the penultimate round, he was weary. For Gill, he could not make hay despite being ahead on points midway through the fight. Gill did not cause any lasting damage on Melanson with the punches he did land and the result was a majority draw. Heading into Saturday's rematch both corners had their best scouting reports. They knew what worked and what did not, which made this fight a fascinating one to watch. As both fighters breeched the ropes and stepped onto the canvas, they had the knowing looks of combatants who knew the result would be tilted in their favor, so sure of what was to come. Melanson, unbeaten at 29-0-2, had success at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia before. This is where he cliched the belt and became an unlikely champion in a victory over Archie Rees almost a year ago. The Pittsburgh native had rooting sections all over the stadium. Gill entered the fight at 20-1-5 and five years older than Melanson, though you would not know it to look at him. The last match was in New York, a little closer to Gill’s home turf of Hartford, Connecticut, but his fans showed up to root him on. Melanson is not particularly fleet afoot, but he is showing himself to be an effective executioner when he wants to be. This is not a knock on his prowess, mind you, just a comment about his willingness to go in for the kill. For every time you think he has the momentum to end a fight, he changes his strategy, seemingly on the fly. But, when he bulls forward, he is a force worthy of his nickname, “The Tank”. The fight almost went the distance, but this did not have as much drama as the first one. Melanson had the fight well in hand for most of the night, doing some damage by opening a cut on Gill’s face with a hook in the second round and another cut above Gill’s left eye with a cross in the fifth round. Melanson scored brief knockdowns in the tenth and thirteenth rounds. But, too often, Melanson let Gill catch his breath and regroup. Too often, Melanson strayed from scoring on punches that could have done more damage and shots that could have exploited vulnerable targets. Honestly, this fight could have been over with a few rounds to spare if Melanson had late-night plans. Mike Ornest, refereeing his first title fight, provided some comic relief in the third and fifth round, prematurely waiving the fighters to their corners before the time elapsed to end the round, leaving both combatants, their corner men, and the crowd perplexed. The fourth round was Gill’s first good round, especially early in the stanza, as he woke up and started taking the fight to Melanson. Gill was valiantly attempting to work his way into the fight after Melanson built a lead in the early rounds, but Melanson turned the tide on an uppercut to Gill’s jaw that displayed the champ’s strategic aims. As much as Melanson wanted to work the body, he knew that to win, he had to aim higher. Gill showed up again in Round 5 with a sharp combination of hard punches to Melanson seconds into the round, but the memory of Gill’s offensive was erased on Melanson’s cross to Gill’s left eye, which shook up the challenger and drew blood from just above the eye. The cut would play a role the rest of the way. In one of the few moments Melanson tried to capitalize on a reeling opponent, Melanson dominated the sixth round, landing some good shots, including another one to the jaw. Gill stayed on his feet, which must have dispirited Melanson, who seemed to take the round off in the seventh, tying up Gill and venturing away from what worked to that point in the match. Melanson wanted to work inside instead of trying to capitalize on the left jaw and left eye of Gill. Melanson inexplicably tried to go southpaw late in the round, opening the door for Gill to take that round and the next one. The first knockdown of the fight occurred in Round 10 with seconds left, as Melanson took ownership of the round with a shot to the head of Gill, later landing a vicious hook to Gill's head, and shortly dropping the challenger for a 2-count. Melanson reopened the cut above Gill’s left eye with a nice jab, causing Referee Ornest to pause the fight to get Gill some medical attention. Yet, even after the knockdown, Melanson did not go in for the kill, as he was content to work the body, despite the crowd urging him to take advantage. In Round 13, Melanson scored his second knockdown, but Gill only gets a 3-count before rising back up. Gill who looked like he didn't know where the next punch was going to come from as he dropped. His eyes were glazed, and his legs were wobbly upon resuming the bout. This time, Melanson sensed blood in the water - a hook, an uppercut, a right hand – all scoring and leaving a mark on Gill. No bobbing and weaving, just straight punches aiming right for Gill's head. Gill's right eye was swollen, to go with a sore left jaw and bloody left eyebrow. It was a wonder how Gill answered the bell in the fourteenth, but Melanson did not make him pay enough in what could have been described as a round off. Unlike their first bout, where Melanson was also worn out in the 14th round, he was ahead in this fight, and everyone knew it. But Melanson also knew this was the last round and wanted to end it on his terms. After a couple of introductory punches to the midsection, Melanson aimed high and landed a combination that reopened the cut above Gill's eye again. Referee Ornest called for the doctor and after close inspection, decided to stop the fight. Melanson punched more and landed more, though it was disappointing not to see him push his uppercut more. He was content to work the body when he should have been trying to end the fight with shots to the head, trying to capitalize on visible damage to Gill's eyes and jaw. Melanson was clearly better on this night, as his unbeaten streak has reached 32 fights (30-0-2). At 34, Gill may not get back to the squared circle for another chance at the title. It would be a shame with only two losses to his ledger. The Tank awaits his next opponent, as the once-unlikely champion is settling nicely into his role as the king of the middleweights. MELANSON RETAINS MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE Philadelphia (UPI)-It took 30 rounds over two fights but Frank Melanson successfully held on to his World Middleweight Title by winning the rematch with contender Todd Gill. Saturday's fight -a follow up to the majority draw the two waged last October- was stopped in the 15th round despite vehement objections from Gill and his corner. After consulting with the ringside physician, referee Mike Ornest -who has a history of erring on the side of caution with his stoppage decisions- called the bout off 55 seconds into the 15th and final round. It was ruled that the cut just under Gill's left eyebrow that originally opened in the second round, was bleeding so prfusely into his eye that the challenger had no way to protect himself from blows coming from that side. Unlike the October fight where two of the judges scored the bout dead even and a third gave Gill a narrow 2-point decision, the champion from Pittsburgh was ahead on all 3 cards was in no danger of losing had the bout gone the distance, making the protests from Gill's corner over the decision to halt the fight all but meaningless. With the victory, Melanson boosts his career mark to 30-0-2 and increases speculation that his next title defense will be against unbeaten and untied European champion Edouard Desmarais. The 29 year old Frenchman ran his record to a perfect 36-0 with an unanimous decision over former World Champion Archie Rees -the fighter who lost his title to Melanson- in England last December. However Gill, now 20-2-5, and his handlers were demanding another shot at Melanson, claiming there was no way the bout should have been stopped but conveniently ignoring the fact that the challenger was well behind on the scorecards anyway. Code: MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE HISTORY YEARS FIGHTER HOMETOWN Title Defenses 1909-1910 Abe Campbell Detroit, MI 1 1910-1911 Battling Billy Baker Philadelphia, PA 2 1911-1912 Ken Brekke Duluth, MN 3 1912-1913 Abe Campbell Detroit, MI 2 1913 Ken Brekee Duluth, MN 1 1913-1914 Bob Brinkman London, England 2 1914 Abe Campbell Detroit, MI 1 1914-1916 Mike Burtenshaw Jersey City, NJ 4 1916-1918 Dave Byler San Francisco, Ca 3 1918 Bob Brinkman London, England 1 1919-1920 Tony Rump Toledo, OH 2 1920-1929 Ray Pizzuto New York, NY 15 1929-1933 Elden Breeden Wichita, KA 7 1933-1940 Jorge Cuellar Spain 8 1940 vacant 1941-1945 Archie Rees Tadcaster, England 3 1945-pres Frank Melanson Pittsburgh, PA 2 PERRY STOPS JACKSON Rudy Perry got back on the victory track last week, just seven months after he was trounced by new welterweight champ Dennis O'Keefe for just the second loss of the 29 year old's career. Perry's victim was John Jackson, the rugged former Army Sergeant from South Bend, Indiana. who was chopped up very thoroughly by the veteran from Philadelphia. The bout was slated for 10 rounds, but Jackson was counted out midway through the fourth round despite the fact he caught Perry by surprise early and sent him to the canvas just a minute into the encounter. The shock of that seemed to snap Perry to attention and he dominated from that point on. Perry improves to 21-2-1 with the victory and may be back on the track that appeared to have him headed for a title shot before seeing stars just two rounds into his showdown with O'Keefe last October - a bout that ensured the winner would get a title shot. O'Keefe made the most of that opportunity and claimed the title with another knockout -this one in the 13th round- against Carl Taylor in March. Perry was ranked the #5 challenger in the end of April TWIFB boxing contenders list. NORTH CAROLINA TECH TOPS RECRUITING BATTLE On the strength of landing the top high school basketball player in the nation, the North Carolina Tech Techsters have secured the top freshman recruiting class for the upcoming collegiate cage season. Mike Carter, a high-scoring shooting specialist out of Dunbar High School in Washington DC, is considered the best player in the country and he committed to the Techsters after heavily considering Liberty College and Carolina Poly. Joining Carter in making the trip from DC to Raleigh will be center Muzz Hodson, a rival of Carter's from DC's Anacosta High School and considered a top twenty-five recruit. The Techsters rounded out their stellar class with in-state star Percy Hyatt, a guard out of High Point, NC who was named the top high school player in the state this past season. The defending national champion City College of Los Angeles Wolves only had room for two incoming freshman but it was a poor class for the California powerhouse. The Coyotes class was ranked 56th out of the 212 major college programs with Carl Allen, a forward out of San Bernardino (CA) High School and ranked 37th in his class their only top 100 recruit. [code TOP TWENTY RECRUITING CLASSES RK SCHOOL TOP PLAYER 1 North Carolina Tech Techsters #1 F Mike Carter Washington, DC 2 Western Iowa Canaries #7 C Slim Barner Houston, TX 3 Lane State Emeralds #2 F Carl Casswell Los Angeles, CA 4 Garden State Redbirds #8 F John Rosenberger New York, NY 5 Detroit City College Knights #16 F Charlie Orlando Knightstown, IN 6 St Blane Fighting Saints #5 F Brian Threadgill Bronx, NY 7 Liberty College Bells #4 C Edgar Stillwell Detroit, MI 8 Annapolis Maritime Navigators #13 F Billy Ambrose Flint, MI 9 Carolina Poly Cardinals #23 F James Halle Martinsville, VA 10 Central Ohio Aviators #28 F Abe Langlois Chicago, IL 11 Noble Jones College Colonels #9 C Mike Miller Athens, GA 12 Miami State Gulls #22 F Tom Yamada Arcadia, FL 13 Bluegrass State Mustangs #41 C Tom Nalley Chicago,IL 14 Perry State Commodores #60 F Valentine Peele Nashville, TN 15 Brunswick Knights #18 C Darrell Rademacher Jackson, MS 16 Whitney College Engineers #11 G Don Rosenfield Chicago, IL 17 Dickson Maroons #15 F Ted Entinger Cleveland, OH 18 Indiana A&M Reapers #10 G J.C. Mitchell Benton, AR 19 Texas Gulf Coast Hurricanes #66 G Alvin Martin Houna, LA 20 Rainier College Majestics #14 C Carl Perry Redding, CA [/code] The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 5/12/1946 A minor breakthrough in the coal strike as union leader John Lewis has ordered his mine workers back on the job, but only for 15 days in order to mine emergency fuel to keep the Nation's most essential services operating. The British Government announced it has proposed a complete withdrawal of all British land, sea and air forces from Egypt at a rate to be decided in negotiations with Egyptian leaders. Former Prime Minister Winston Churchill appealed to the Western Democracies to work through the United Nations setup for an understanding with Russia, without which he said the world faced a fatal period of "misery, slaughter and abasement." __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 03-20-2023 at 11:57 AM.