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Jiggs McGee · 03-22-2023, 12:17 PM

MAY 27, 1946

WESTERN LOOP WINS BATTLE FOR SEALS

Another Sign an East-West Showdown is Looming?

The Great Western League scored a major victory over FABL this week in its battle to be considered on equal footing with the eastern ball loop. The Portland Green Sox won a bidding war with at least one FABL club for the services of free agent outfielder Lew Seals. It is groundbreaking as the acquisition of Seals may just be the first time a GWL club has outbid any of the FABL magnates for the services of a ballplayer. Up until this point all of the players that the Pacific league had signed were FABL cast-offs.

Seals was a castoff to a degree as he was on a deal with the Pittsburgh Miners that gave him the option to declare free agency should he not be promoted to the big leagues within 30 days of the start of the season. That did not happen, despite Miners insistence they were on the verge of calling up the 32 year old outfielder, so Seals elected to leave the Miners organization.

Now a free agent, the Detroit Dynamos -and perhaps other FABL clubs- made overtures to Seals for his services but he instead accepted a sizeable offer from the Portland Green Sox to join the western rebels. Dynamos Assistan General Manager Harris Dixon said his club believed it had a deal with Seals but was informed otherwise.

"We made what we felt was a solid offer and Lew would have joined the Dynamos immediately and been given every opportunity to claim a starting role in our outfield," explained Dixon. "However, for some crazy reason he took a little bit more money than we offered and decided to play in that glorified minor league out west. We wish him well, but are quite surprised at the short-sightedness of his decision to join a fledgling league over a chance to play in the Federal Association."

The offer was more than solid in the eyes of western teams as Portland made Seals the highest paid player in the rookie big-league, inking him to a deal that is worth $18,000 for the season. It tops by $1,000 what the Oakland Grays are giving Larry Colaianni but the move is ground-breaking for many other reasons.

The willingness of a GWL club to compete head on with, and beat a FABL club out in a bid to sign a player is historic. Not since the days of the Players League and old Border Association in the 1880s has there been a challenge to the baseball hierarchy. This Portland move, likely with the blessing and perhaps even encouragement from GWL President Thomas X. Bigsby, signifies the next step in the Great Western League's evolution. It is no secret the newcomers desire to be considered in every way as equals of the eastern ballclubs and this may well just be another small step towards an all-out bidding war for talent that many feel is sure to erupt between the old guard and Bigbsy's rebels.

Seals had no comment on the matter other than to say the Portland offer was the best one he had, so he jumped at the opportunity, adding that in no way did he want to become a poster-boy for any battle between the west and east leagues. "I'm just a ballplayer, trying to make a living," stated the outfielder as he boarded a train from St. Paul to Portland on Friday evening. "There is no politics or any other reason to my decision other than this was the best opportunity for me and my family. I spent some time in Spokane during my rookie pro season. I look forward to seeing more of the west coast."

LOGJAM ATOP CONTINENTAL

If you had said there would a three way tie for top spot in the Continental Association as the month of May came to close few would have been surprised. However, the fact that the Chicago Cougars are not one of the three co-leaders would be a shock to most. The Cougars are certainly right in the mix, trailing the trio of Cincinnati, Toronto and the Philadelphia Sailors by just 2.5 games but after a 12-3 start coupled with the loaded roster the Cougars possess in the first post-war season, seeing Chicago sitting in fourth place -even at this still relatively early juncture of the campaign- has to be considered a big surprise.

The Cougars do have the best run differential in the Continental Association, have surrendered the fewest runs against, have the deepest starting rotation and lead the loop in batting average and homeruns so it should be just a matter of time before things balance out for the Chicago nine. The duo of Pete Papenfus (6-1, 2.19) and Donnie Jones (6-2, 2.52) have been outstanding on the slab and the veteran bats of Leo Mitchell (.268,7,23), Hank Barnett (.281,7,18) and 39 year old Dick Walker (.315,7,22), who is on pace for a career best in long balls, provide plenty of offense. Yet somehow with all of that pitching and firepower the Cougars have gone just 10-16 this month.
*** Boston Making a Pennant Pitch in Fed ***

It is no secret why the Boston Minutemen have the best record in baseball. The Federal Association leaders have allowed just 90 runs this season -an average of only 2.25 surrendered per game- while no other club has surrendered less than 130. The trio of Ray Dalpman (7-2, 2.01), Ed Wood (7-1, 1.96) and Dean Astle (5-1, 1.26) have combined for 11 trips to the All-Star Game and between them Wood and Astle have over 400 FABL victories, but all three are now pitching the best ball of their careers.

Despite the hot start the Minutemen better keep looking over their shoulder as the New York Gothams -with 8 wins in their last 11 games- may finally be getting the offensive production most expected from their powerful lineup. Red Johnson (.302,10,20) is on a tear, with 7 homers in May including 4 last week. The Gothams are 4 back with the Philadelphia Keystones and offensively challenged but pitching rich Detroit Dynamos tied for third.

SUCCESSFUL EAGLES DEBUT FOR BUCKEYE SMITH

The Washington Eagles slab staff received a real shot in the arm last week with the highly anticipated debut of Buckeye Smith. It feels like the wait has been forever for the arrival of the 23 year old Ohio born righthander. He seemed like a steal when, after the Eagles selected Smith in the 6th round of the 1941 FABL draft, Smith appeared in the OSA top 100 prospects just a year later. That was right about the time the marines came calling and Buckeye became a part of the war effort, missing each of the past four seasons. Despite that the Eagles, and the OSA, kept close tabs on Buckeye -getting plenty of accounts of stellar performances in service games over the years and when he returned in the fall OSA placed him in the top 30 prospects. A solid spring saw the scouting service bump Smith up into the top twenty and after 4 very good outings in Kansas City, the Eagles summed him to the big leagues last week.

Smith made his debut in Chicago last Monday. The Eagles pulled out a 6-4 victory in extra innings and while Smith was not around for the decision, he had a strong outing. Buckeye threw 7 scoreless innings before the wheels fell off a bit in the 8th inning when he loaded the bases. He would have escaped unscathed but a Henry Bush error led to a 4-run Chiefs outburst to tie the game. None of the runs were earned and Smith's 6 hits and 5 walks over 8 innings was not a bad debut at all.

But it got even better yesterday when Smith made his debut at Columbia Stadium. Pittsburgh was in town and Buckeye was bang-on, going the distance while scattering 6 hits and walking just 1 in a 6-1 Washington win. Dan Barrell -the head of the league scouting service- was at the ballpark for that game and he had high praise for the rookie afterwards. Jiggs McGee of TWIFB was also in town and noted that Smith is probably the best young arm to pitch in Washington since Del Burns went 17-10 as a 24-year old in 1940. And McGee noted that he can't remember a homegrown Washington pitcher that OSA gave such high praise to "unless you count Bobo White, but we all no how that turned out."

For those who are new to the Washington baseball scene or have been living under a rock, White was the first overall selection of the 1934 draft by the Eagles out of St Blane where he was an All-American. He spent a few years in the OSA top 50 prospect list and went 12-14 in 1937 as a 23 year old making his big league debut. Arm troubles derailed his career and he won just 32 more FABL games. White tried to catch on in the Great West League but was recently released by Dallas and his career appears over at age 32.

GOTHAMS EXPOSE DALPMAN

The mighty Gothams offense did a number on Ray Dalpman this week, handing him his second loss of the season in a 5-2 New York win as they swept the Minutemen right out of New York. Red Johnson scored the first blow for the Gothams with a first inning solo blast followed by the oft-injured Mahlon Strong adding a two run blast after a Sal Pestilli single. The three run first was enough for 35 year old Harry Carter to pick up his third win of the season.

Ed Wood was able to right the slide in Detroit by outdueling Carl Potter in a 3-1 win that improved his record to 7-1 on the season. Detroit though, would even the series the next day by beating up on Duke Hendricks in a 6-2 victory that saw Rip Curry go deep for the Dynamos. The seesaw week would come to an end with a three game set against Philadelphia at home. Minuteman Stadium must have been the remedy that the club needed as they took all three games of the series outscoring the Keystones by a score of 19-2. The only negative in the series came in game two on Sunday where Walt Wells strained his back two batters into the game. Even still, Johnny Harry came in and delivered 7.1 innings of two hit ball in injury relief.

The injury to Wells is not considered a long term situation and he should be good in about a week. The Minutemen may elect to skip his next start as a precautionary measure. Boston will finish out the month of May with a home dates against both Pittsburgh and Washington before welcoming in the Chiefs to kick off the month of June. Currently, the Minutemen hold a four game lead in the FA over the Gothams, and are up six on both Philadelphia and Detroit.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

After a horrid start the Toronto Wolves have climbed into the 3-way tie atop the CA. One hot pitcher, Bert Cupid in Montreal and 3 big flys by Si Crocker in Cleveland handed the Wolves their only two losses of the week, 1-0 and 4-3. There was another loss, and a costly one as outfielder Juan Pomales (.281/.349/.395) will be sidelined for 2 weeks. That is going to hurt the team both at the bat along with in the field. There was talk to calling up the top hitting prospect John Fast to replace Mike Rollinson who has had a dreadful return from the service, slashing .197/.258/.213 in 69 PA plus 4 errors, until Fast suffered a severe hip strain sidelining him until the middle of July.

Management is now scrambling to put put together lineups that are solid both offensively, along with in the field. Word from inside the Wolves offices is that manager Bob Call will have two new players on the 24-man roster as the team finishes the current 3 week road trip. Frank Frady, who has hit everywhere, will join as a utility infielder with Rollinson being optioned to Buffalo. In a somewhat surprising move Curt Brooks was summoned from Chattanooga to serve as fourth outfielder possibly in a platoon role with Gus Hull in LF for the duration of Pomales absence on the DL.

Call says that it will give Brooks and Frady a chance to see FABL pitching for at least a few weeks. With regards to Rollinson Call said "We will need Mike's proven big league bat, he just needs time to sharpen his stroke, quit pressing at the plate which is also affecting his work in the field. Some time in AAA should be just what he needs, he was not going to get enough playing time at this level. Look at the standings, there are 5 teams within 4 games of the lead in the CA. I expected it to stay that way all summer, it is going to be exciting for the fans along with being stressful for players and the coaching staff. Everyone has to be at the top of their game everyday, no days off."

On the mound, Jimmy Gibbs (4-0 1.34) has been the pitching highlight although there is concern about both George Garrison, Lou Jayson slow return to their top form

DYNAMOS HANGING AROUND IN FED RACE

The Detroit Dynamos seem to have sorted out their problems in the field and now the club is once again doing what it so often seems to do best - just hang around. Detroit has not won a Federal Association flag since Al Wheeler was a second year pro in 1929, but they have -even in the lean years- more often than not found a way to be in the thick of the race. Last year was a great example when the club finished just 4 games back of the Philadelphia Keystones despite really having no business being in the pennant race. Although you would think after all of those close calls - 1931-33, 1938-41 and each of the past two seasons they would eventually get lucky and win one.

I wouldn't count on the pennant drought to end this season but the Dynamos have turned things around, going 16-8 in their past 24 games after a dreadful 5-14 start. The offense is still no where near championship calibre but the pitching has been surprisingly good and the defense is much improved since the insertion of 23 year old Bob Montgomery at shortstop.

The plan was to go with 19 year old Stan Kleminski at the key defensive position on the diamond, but it had to be abandoned quickly when Kleminski, while he showed he could handle big league pitching, proved to be far from ready as a defender. Don't worry about the kid. He will be back after some seasoning in Newark but the jury is out on whether he will have to shift to a less-crucial position in the field.

Montgomery has been outstanding and his arrival from Newark coincides exactly with the start of Detroit's solid play. He should be getting a lot of dinners paid for by the pitching staff as he is providing defense normally only reserved for the Continental Association and all it's great shortstops. Montgomery is also hitting .301 and along with Rip Curry (.329,3,12) -who stepped into the starting lineup at about the same time- the duo have helped take some of the offensive pressure off of Mack Sutton.
*** Slab Staff Key to Dynamos Success ***

It is the pitching that has really propelled the Dynamos over the .500 mark. Only the Boston Minutemen, with 90, and the Chicago Cougars, at 130, have allowed less than the 131 runs the Dynamos have surrendered so far this season. Imagine what the Detroit number might have been with a full two months of Montgomery at shortstop and not the dozen errors committed by Kleminski in his 10 games at the position.

Dixie Lee (5-3, 2.23), Art White (3-4, 2.66), Jimmy Long (3-1, 1.07) and Carl Potter (3-4, 3.10) have all been very good but the big news is the performance of 24 year old rookie Wally Hunter (5-1, 2.40). Big Game Wally missed two years serving in the Air Force but he is quickly showing why he was an essential add for the Dynamos in the deal that sent Sal Pestilli to the New York Gothams. Veteran reliever Frank Gordon, who missed 4 years due to the war, has been outstanding out of the pen since his return -saving 7 games and posting a 0.57 era. If they moundsmen can keep it up the Dynamos may just spend another August and September in the first division, perhaps even once more surprising most observers with a pennant push.
*** Lonardo Running Out of Chances? ***

Red Wedge of the New York World Telegram brought up a key point in his column earlier this week. The long-time Gothams scribe worried that if the Dynamos stay in contention it might prevent Jim Lonardo from reaching the 300 win mark. The 41 year old -who spent most of his career in New York- is currently 5 victories shy of the magic 300 mark but one has to wonder how many more chances Detroit will give him to start the way the rest of their pitchers are going. Lonardo has just one win in his last 5 decisions but can't be blamed for his effort yesterday in St. Louis. He went the distance and pitched well enough to win but the Detroit offense could not get the job done in a 2-1 loss to the Pioneers. Only 12 pitchers in FABL history have won 300 or more games.
*** A Quick Drive Around the Motor City Sports Scene ***

Still no word from the grid Maroons on the status of Stan Vaught for next season. The greatest end football has ever seen changed his mind on retirement a year ago, coming back to win the AFA MVP award and lead the Maroons to the championship game. Unlike after the 1944 title game when he said he was retiring but later had a change of heart, Vaught made no announcement either way regarding his status following the December loss to Boston. The Maroons will open camp on the campus of Detroit City College in two months and no one in the organization has any idea if Vaught will be among those who attend.

Speaking of DCC, the Knights cage squad is looking forward to a strong season in follow up to their second place finish in the Great Lakes Alliance a year ago. The Detroit City College recruiting class was among the best in the nation led by Charlie Orlando - a forward from Indiana. It would have been the number one recruiting class had center Edgar Stillwell of Cooley High School elected to remain in the city and play for the Knights instead of taking his talents to Philadelphia's Liberty College. Stillwell was considered the 4th best recruit available in the nation a year ago.

GRAYS ARE RED-HOT

The Oakland Grays have won 14 of their last 18 games and charged past their Bay Area rivals from San Francisco and into second place in the Great Western League. Offense is the name of the game in Oakland with ex-FABL infielders Larry Colaianni (.331,2,26) and Hank Grant (.218,1,15) leading the way. The Los Angeles Knights, despite dropping two of three in Oakland last week, continue to lead the way with a 1.5 game gap on the second place Grays. The big story for the Bigsby gang has been the pitching of Bob Cummings (5-1, 1.39) and King Price (5-1, 1.75).

At the south end of the standings sit the struggling San Diego Conquistadors. The San Diego head man was lured west from the Brooklyn Kings over the winter and he was candid recently with his assessment of the club as reported in the San Diego papers. According to Daily Transcript Sports Editor Clayton Lowery the Conquistadors GM acknowledges the "pitching and defensive troubles in San Diego. 7th and more often 8th in too many categories. Particularly frustrating is a case like Gordon Martin: Martin posted a sub 3.40 ERA in the past two seasons and so far in ’46 has a repulsive 6.56 ERA. I’ve got some arms doing well down in El Paso and they just may have to get a chance to return to the Bigs."

McGRAW THROWS FIRST BIG LEAGUE GWL NO-HITTER

The first no-hitter of the Great Western League as a major loop happened last week with Houston's Bill McGraw made history with a 2-0 shutout in Portland last Monday. The loop has been around, but as a minor league, since 1904 so it is the 16th no-hitter in GWL history but the first since it declared itself a major league over the winter. It was the second major league no-hitter thrown this season as Boston's Ray Dalpman turned the trick against Pittsburgh in April.

The Houston Bulls have been around since they joined the Century League in 1884 before moving to the Lone Star Association in 1929. Despite that stories history the Bulls have only had one no-hitter thrown in their existence prior to McGraw's gem. That one came in 1930 when they were in the Lone Star loop and was thrown by Phil Milot, who spent a decade with the club.

FABL magnates are clearly starting to worry about the rebel league from the west. Signing Lew Seals to a GWL record setting contract has, on the surface, no real impact on FABL. But it likely further boldens the western club owners -who are drawing decent crowds and making money- giving them the confidence to go after higher profile FABL players. Nothing will happen during the season as the Bigsby boys appear to be willing to recognize all existing FABL contracts but the big question will come in the off-season. Nearly every FABL ballplayer is signed on a year-by-year basis but organized baseball gives the team exclusive rights to resign their own players each year. The question is Will the western loop recognize and abide by that policy or will they start trying to lure some FABL regulars -particularly those with western ties- to their loop with big offers during the off-season? GWL boss Thomas X. Bigsby has declined to make any sort of comment on the matter but in this case silence may not be a good thing as the obvious comment would be the GWL recognizes baseball's reserve clause agreement. Interesting times may lie ahead.
Freddie Jones joined the 2,000 hit club with a pair of hits in the Chiefs 2-0 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday. Jones has accomplished plenty in his career - a college Christian Trophy, a pair of Federal Association batting titles, 5 all-star selections and the 1935 Whitney Award but imagine what the 36 year old could have accomplished had he not been so injury prone.
Big week for the Gothams big bats. Red Johnson hit 4 homeruns while Mahlon Strong claimed player of the week honours after this performance: 19 AB, 8 H, .421 Avg., 4 HR, 8 RBI, 1.658 OPS. And Sal Pestilli had a 6-for-6 day with 5 singles and a homerun against the Chicago Chiefs.
Pestilli's 6-hit game was the first of the year for FABL. Johnny McDowell of Pittsburgh had the only one last season. Interesting the Fed had one in 1943 and 1944 as well (Aart MacDonald and Sid Williams -both with Detroit) but the last 6-hit game in the CA happened before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ben Richardson went 6-for-6 for Montreal in a game with Cleveland in June 1941.
Roosevelt Brewer had 5 hits in the same game Pestilli had 6 as the Gothams blasted Chiefs pitching for 20 hits including 3 homeruns - all of which were solo shots.
The first really bad week of the year for the Keystones. The Keys went 1-6, including a three-game sweep in Boston. Philadelphia is now 9-13 on the road. The slow start for Bobby Barrell has developed into a panic in some parts, with a .184 average through 40 games and his peripheral numbers are just as bad (.270 OBP, .297 SLG, 63 OPS+, 76 wRC+, -0.4 WAR). He has hit .152 in May and that includes his four-homer outburst early in the month.
Nice to see Hiram Steinberg finally get a win after losing his first 5 decisions with Cleveland this season. The 1941 first overall pick who rewrote the high school record books tossed a 5-hit complete game shutout to beat the Chicago Cougars 2-0 last Tuesday.
Not only did we get a no-hitter in the GWL last week, but there was also one in the minors. Philadelphia Sailors farmhand George K Brooks turned the trick in a 4-0 win for the Providence Sailors over Erie.

SCHROTTER WANTS ANOTHER SHOT AT SAWYER

Former world champion Jochen Schrotter is coming out of retirement and wants a rematch with Hector Sawyer. That is the word from Sawyer's manager Chester Conley, who says he has been approached by a team said to representing the now 40 year old German, who held the world crown from 1935 until losing by a 15th round knockout to Sawyer in January, 1940. Schrotter, to the best of anyone's knowledge, has not fought professionally since that bout although he was said to have been featured in a number of exhibitions under the direction of the Nazis during the war. He also served for the German army and at one point was rumoured to have been fatally wounded in Greece but it would turn out he did not actually see any active combat duty.

The announcement comes as a surprise and the champ himself was caught off guard when reporters volleyed questions at him. Sawyer looked dumbfounded when informed of Conley's announcement, but quickly recovered and mentioned "Chester had been working on my next bout, but had not informed me of who that might be against."

However, Conley has confirmed that Schrotter is set to return to the ring this weekend and will fight in London, England against veteran British heavyweight Andrew Madden. Conley explains that following that bout, Schrotter is expected to cross the Atlantic and begin training in New York for a late summer date with Sawyer.

A Sawyer-Schrotter bout is likely to be a huge financial winfall for the champ, and Conley, and would also seem like the type of bout that should be an easy victory for Sawyer, who is 53-3-1 after his TKO victory over Leo Carmichael in February. Schrotter sports a professional mark of 48-3-0.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 5/26/1946

The Government, its rail system crippled, drove with desperate urgency at week's end for settlement of the coast-to-coast train strike before it brings hunger to cities and wrecks the nation's industrial life. 48 hours later, the trains were running again as the strike was settled just moments before President Truman had called on a joint session of Congress to outlaw strikes against the Government.
Coal Miners in three states including many in coal rich Pennsylvania threatened to block operation of coal mines after Government seizure of them this week.
Truman signed an emergency housing bill calling for the construction of nearly 3 million low-cost homes for veterans by the end of next year.
The late President Roosevelt accused Japan of war intentions a month before the Peal Harbor attack and told Japanese diplomats bluntly he did not believe their denials, it was revealed before Congress' Pearl Harbor investigating committee.
Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Security Council says his government does not show conclusively that all Soviet troops had evacuated Iran, noting his government "has no authority in Azerbaijan Province"- the area to which it sent a commission to determine whether the Red Army had left.

03-22-2023, 12:17 PM	#664
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	May 27, 1946 MAY 27, 1946 WESTERN LOOP WINS BATTLE FOR SEALS Another Sign an East-West Showdown is Looming? The Great Western League scored a major victory over FABL this week in its battle to be considered on equal footing with the eastern ball loop. The Portland Green Sox won a bidding war with at least one FABL club for the services of free agent outfielder Lew Seals. It is groundbreaking as the acquisition of Seals may just be the first time a GWL club has outbid any of the FABL magnates for the services of a ballplayer. Up until this point all of the players that the Pacific league had signed were FABL cast-offs. Seals was a castoff to a degree as he was on a deal with the Pittsburgh Miners that gave him the option to declare free agency should he not be promoted to the big leagues within 30 days of the start of the season. That did not happen, despite Miners insistence they were on the verge of calling up the 32 year old outfielder, so Seals elected to leave the Miners organization. Now a free agent, the Detroit Dynamos -and perhaps other FABL clubs- made overtures to Seals for his services but he instead accepted a sizeable offer from the Portland Green Sox to join the western rebels. Dynamos Assistan General Manager Harris Dixon said his club believed it had a deal with Seals but was informed otherwise. "We made what we felt was a solid offer and Lew would have joined the Dynamos immediately and been given every opportunity to claim a starting role in our outfield," explained Dixon. "However, for some crazy reason he took a little bit more money than we offered and decided to play in that glorified minor league out west. We wish him well, but are quite surprised at the short-sightedness of his decision to join a fledgling league over a chance to play in the Federal Association." The offer was more than solid in the eyes of western teams as Portland made Seals the highest paid player in the rookie big-league, inking him to a deal that is worth $18,000 for the season. It tops by $1,000 what the Oakland Grays are giving Larry Colaianni but the move is ground-breaking for many other reasons. The willingness of a GWL club to compete head on with, and beat a FABL club out in a bid to sign a player is historic. Not since the days of the Players League and old Border Association in the 1880s has there been a challenge to the baseball hierarchy. This Portland move, likely with the blessing and perhaps even encouragement from GWL President Thomas X. Bigsby, signifies the next step in the Great Western League's evolution. It is no secret the newcomers desire to be considered in every way as equals of the eastern ballclubs and this may well just be another small step towards an all-out bidding war for talent that many feel is sure to erupt between the old guard and Bigbsy's rebels. Seals had no comment on the matter other than to say the Portland offer was the best one he had, so he jumped at the opportunity, adding that in no way did he want to become a poster-boy for any battle between the west and east leagues. "I'm just a ballplayer, trying to make a living," stated the outfielder as he boarded a train from St. Paul to Portland on Friday evening. "There is no politics or any other reason to my decision other than this was the best opportunity for me and my family. I spent some time in Spokane during my rookie pro season. I look forward to seeing more of the west coast." LOGJAM ATOP CONTINENTAL If you had said there would a three way tie for top spot in the Continental Association as the month of May came to close few would have been surprised. However, the fact that the Chicago Cougars are not one of the three co-leaders would be a shock to most. The Cougars are certainly right in the mix, trailing the trio of Cincinnati, Toronto and the Philadelphia Sailors by just 2.5 games but after a 12-3 start coupled with the loaded roster the Cougars possess in the first post-war season, seeing Chicago sitting in fourth place -even at this still relatively early juncture of the campaign- has to be considered a big surprise. The Cougars do have the best run differential in the Continental Association, have surrendered the fewest runs against, have the deepest starting rotation and lead the loop in batting average and homeruns so it should be just a matter of time before things balance out for the Chicago nine. The duo of Pete Papenfus (6-1, 2.19) and Donnie Jones (6-2, 2.52) have been outstanding on the slab and the veteran bats of Leo Mitchell (.268,7,23), Hank Barnett (.281,7,18) and 39 year old Dick Walker (.315,7,22), who is on pace for a career best in long balls, provide plenty of offense. Yet somehow with all of that pitching and firepower the Cougars have gone just 10-16 this month. * Boston Making a Pennant Pitch in Fed * It is no secret why the Boston Minutemen have the best record in baseball. The Federal Association leaders have allowed just 90 runs this season -an average of only 2.25 surrendered per game- while no other club has surrendered less than 130. The trio of Ray Dalpman (7-2, 2.01), Ed Wood (7-1, 1.96) and Dean Astle (5-1, 1.26) have combined for 11 trips to the All-Star Game and between them Wood and Astle have over 400 FABL victories, but all three are now pitching the best ball of their careers. Despite the hot start the Minutemen better keep looking over their shoulder as the New York Gothams -with 8 wins in their last 11 games- may finally be getting the offensive production most expected from their powerful lineup. Red Johnson (.302,10,20) is on a tear, with 7 homers in May including 4 last week. The Gothams are 4 back with the Philadelphia Keystones and offensively challenged but pitching rich Detroit Dynamos tied for third. SUCCESSFUL EAGLES DEBUT FOR BUCKEYE SMITH The Washington Eagles slab staff received a real shot in the arm last week with the highly anticipated debut of Buckeye Smith. It feels like the wait has been forever for the arrival of the 23 year old Ohio born righthander. He seemed like a steal when, after the Eagles selected Smith in the 6th round of the 1941 FABL draft, Smith appeared in the OSA top 100 prospects just a year later. That was right about the time the marines came calling and Buckeye became a part of the war effort, missing each of the past four seasons. Despite that the Eagles, and the OSA, kept close tabs on Buckeye -getting plenty of accounts of stellar performances in service games over the years and when he returned in the fall OSA placed him in the top 30 prospects. A solid spring saw the scouting service bump Smith up into the top twenty and after 4 very good outings in Kansas City, the Eagles summed him to the big leagues last week. Smith made his debut in Chicago last Monday. The Eagles pulled out a 6-4 victory in extra innings and while Smith was not around for the decision, he had a strong outing. Buckeye threw 7 scoreless innings before the wheels fell off a bit in the 8th inning when he loaded the bases. He would have escaped unscathed but a Henry Bush error led to a 4-run Chiefs outburst to tie the game. None of the runs were earned and Smith's 6 hits and 5 walks over 8 innings was not a bad debut at all. But it got even better yesterday when Smith made his debut at Columbia Stadium. Pittsburgh was in town and Buckeye was bang-on, going the distance while scattering 6 hits and walking just 1 in a 6-1 Washington win. Dan Barrell -the head of the league scouting service- was at the ballpark for that game and he had high praise for the rookie afterwards. Jiggs McGee of TWIFB was also in town and noted that Smith is probably the best young arm to pitch in Washington since Del Burns went 17-10 as a 24-year old in 1940. And McGee noted that he can't remember a homegrown Washington pitcher that OSA gave such high praise to "unless you count Bobo White, but we all no how that turned out." For those who are new to the Washington baseball scene or have been living under a rock, White was the first overall selection of the 1934 draft by the Eagles out of St Blane where he was an All-American. He spent a few years in the OSA top 50 prospect list and went 12-14 in 1937 as a 23 year old making his big league debut. Arm troubles derailed his career and he won just 32 more FABL games. White tried to catch on in the Great West League but was recently released by Dallas and his career appears over at age 32. GOTHAMS EXPOSE DALPMAN The mighty Gothams offense did a number on Ray Dalpman this week, handing him his second loss of the season in a 5-2 New York win as they swept the Minutemen right out of New York. Red Johnson scored the first blow for the Gothams with a first inning solo blast followed by the oft-injured Mahlon Strong adding a two run blast after a Sal Pestilli single. The three run first was enough for 35 year old Harry Carter to pick up his third win of the season. Ed Wood was able to right the slide in Detroit by outdueling Carl Potter in a 3-1 win that improved his record to 7-1 on the season. Detroit though, would even the series the next day by beating up on Duke Hendricks in a 6-2 victory that saw Rip Curry go deep for the Dynamos. The seesaw week would come to an end with a three game set against Philadelphia at home. Minuteman Stadium must have been the remedy that the club needed as they took all three games of the series outscoring the Keystones by a score of 19-2. The only negative in the series came in game two on Sunday where Walt Wells strained his back two batters into the game. Even still, Johnny Harry came in and delivered 7.1 innings of two hit ball in injury relief. The injury to Wells is not considered a long term situation and he should be good in about a week. The Minutemen may elect to skip his next start as a precautionary measure. Boston will finish out the month of May with a home dates against both Pittsburgh and Washington before welcoming in the Chiefs to kick off the month of June. Currently, the Minutemen hold a four game lead in the FA over the Gothams, and are up six on both Philadelphia and Detroit. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN After a horrid start the Toronto Wolves have climbed into the 3-way tie atop the CA. One hot pitcher, Bert Cupid in Montreal and 3 big flys by Si Crocker in Cleveland handed the Wolves their only two losses of the week, 1-0 and 4-3. There was another loss, and a costly one as outfielder Juan Pomales (.281/.349/.395) will be sidelined for 2 weeks. That is going to hurt the team both at the bat along with in the field. There was talk to calling up the top hitting prospect John Fast to replace Mike Rollinson who has had a dreadful return from the service, slashing .197/.258/.213 in 69 PA plus 4 errors, until Fast suffered a severe hip strain sidelining him until the middle of July. Management is now scrambling to put put together lineups that are solid both offensively, along with in the field. Word from inside the Wolves offices is that manager Bob Call will have two new players on the 24-man roster as the team finishes the current 3 week road trip. Frank Frady, who has hit everywhere, will join as a utility infielder with Rollinson being optioned to Buffalo. In a somewhat surprising move Curt Brooks was summoned from Chattanooga to serve as fourth outfielder possibly in a platoon role with Gus Hull in LF for the duration of Pomales absence on the DL. Call says that it will give Brooks and Frady a chance to see FABL pitching for at least a few weeks. With regards to Rollinson Call said "We will need Mike's proven big league bat, he just needs time to sharpen his stroke, quit pressing at the plate which is also affecting his work in the field. Some time in AAA should be just what he needs, he was not going to get enough playing time at this level. Look at the standings, there are 5 teams within 4 games of the lead in the CA. I expected it to stay that way all summer, it is going to be exciting for the fans along with being stressful for players and the coaching staff. Everyone has to be at the top of their game everyday, no days off." On the mound, Jimmy Gibbs (4-0 1.34) has been the pitching highlight although there is concern about both George Garrison, Lou Jayson slow return to their top form DYNAMOS HANGING AROUND IN FED RACE The Detroit Dynamos seem to have sorted out their problems in the field and now the club is once again doing what it so often seems to do best - just hang around. Detroit has not won a Federal Association flag since Al Wheeler was a second year pro in 1929, but they have -even in the lean years- more often than not found a way to be in the thick of the race. Last year was a great example when the club finished just 4 games back of the Philadelphia Keystones despite really having no business being in the pennant race. Although you would think after all of those close calls - 1931-33, 1938-41 and each of the past two seasons they would eventually get lucky and win one. I wouldn't count on the pennant drought to end this season but the Dynamos have turned things around, going 16-8 in their past 24 games after a dreadful 5-14 start. The offense is still no where near championship calibre but the pitching has been surprisingly good and the defense is much improved since the insertion of 23 year old Bob Montgomery at shortstop. The plan was to go with 19 year old Stan Kleminski at the key defensive position on the diamond, but it had to be abandoned quickly when Kleminski, while he showed he could handle big league pitching, proved to be far from ready as a defender. Don't worry about the kid. He will be back after some seasoning in Newark but the jury is out on whether he will have to shift to a less-crucial position in the field. Montgomery has been outstanding and his arrival from Newark coincides exactly with the start of Detroit's solid play. He should be getting a lot of dinners paid for by the pitching staff as he is providing defense normally only reserved for the Continental Association and all it's great shortstops. Montgomery is also hitting .301 and along with Rip Curry (.329,3,12) -who stepped into the starting lineup at about the same time- the duo have helped take some of the offensive pressure off of Mack Sutton. * Slab Staff Key to Dynamos Success * It is the pitching that has really propelled the Dynamos over the .500 mark. Only the Boston Minutemen, with 90, and the Chicago Cougars, at 130, have allowed less than the 131 runs the Dynamos have surrendered so far this season. Imagine what the Detroit number might have been with a full two months of Montgomery at shortstop and not the dozen errors committed by Kleminski in his 10 games at the position. Dixie Lee (5-3, 2.23), Art White (3-4, 2.66), Jimmy Long (3-1, 1.07) and Carl Potter (3-4, 3.10) have all been very good but the big news is the performance of 24 year old rookie Wally Hunter (5-1, 2.40). Big Game Wally missed two years serving in the Air Force but he is quickly showing why he was an essential add for the Dynamos in the deal that sent Sal Pestilli to the New York Gothams. Veteran reliever Frank Gordon, who missed 4 years due to the war, has been outstanding out of the pen since his return -saving 7 games and posting a 0.57 era. If they moundsmen can keep it up the Dynamos may just spend another August and September in the first division, perhaps even once more surprising most observers with a pennant push. * Lonardo Running Out of Chances? * Red Wedge of the New York World Telegram brought up a key point in his column earlier this week. The long-time Gothams scribe worried that if the Dynamos stay in contention it might prevent Jim Lonardo from reaching the 300 win mark. The 41 year old -who spent most of his career in New York- is currently 5 victories shy of the magic 300 mark but one has to wonder how many more chances Detroit will give him to start the way the rest of their pitchers are going. Lonardo has just one win in his last 5 decisions but can't be blamed for his effort yesterday in St. Louis. He went the distance and pitched well enough to win but the Detroit offense could not get the job done in a 2-1 loss to the Pioneers. Only 12 pitchers in FABL history have won 300 or more games. * A Quick Drive Around the Motor City Sports Scene * Still no word from the grid Maroons on the status of Stan Vaught for next season. The greatest end football has ever seen changed his mind on retirement a year ago, coming back to win the AFA MVP award and lead the Maroons to the championship game. Unlike after the 1944 title game when he said he was retiring but later had a change of heart, Vaught made no announcement either way regarding his status following the December loss to Boston. The Maroons will open camp on the campus of Detroit City College in two months and no one in the organization has any idea if Vaught will be among those who attend. Speaking of DCC, the Knights cage squad is looking forward to a strong season in follow up to their second place finish in the Great Lakes Alliance a year ago. The Detroit City College recruiting class was among the best in the nation led by Charlie Orlando - a forward from Indiana. It would have been the number one recruiting class had center Edgar Stillwell of Cooley High School elected to remain in the city and play for the Knights instead of taking his talents to Philadelphia's Liberty College. Stillwell was considered the 4th best recruit available in the nation a year ago. GRAYS ARE RED-HOT The Oakland Grays have won 14 of their last 18 games and charged past their Bay Area rivals from San Francisco and into second place in the Great Western League. Offense is the name of the game in Oakland with ex-FABL infielders Larry Colaianni (.331,2,26) and Hank Grant (.218,1,15) leading the way. The Los Angeles Knights, despite dropping two of three in Oakland last week, continue to lead the way with a 1.5 game gap on the second place Grays. The big story for the Bigsby gang has been the pitching of Bob Cummings (5-1, 1.39) and King Price (5-1, 1.75). At the south end of the standings sit the struggling San Diego Conquistadors. The San Diego head man was lured west from the Brooklyn Kings over the winter and he was candid recently with his assessment of the club as reported in the San Diego papers. According to Daily Transcript Sports Editor Clayton Lowery the Conquistadors GM acknowledges the "pitching and defensive troubles in San Diego. 7th and more often 8th in too many categories. Particularly frustrating is a case like Gordon Martin: Martin posted a sub 3.40 ERA in the past two seasons and so far in ’46 has a repulsive 6.56 ERA. I’ve got some arms doing well down in El Paso and they just may have to get a chance to return to the Bigs." McGRAW THROWS FIRST BIG LEAGUE GWL NO-HITTER The first no-hitter of the Great Western League as a major loop happened last week with Houston's Bill McGraw made history with a 2-0 shutout in Portland last Monday. The loop has been around, but as a minor league, since 1904 so it is the 16th no-hitter in GWL history but the first since it declared itself a major league over the winter. It was the second major league no-hitter thrown this season as Boston's Ray Dalpman turned the trick against Pittsburgh in April. The Houston Bulls have been around since they joined the Century League in 1884 before moving to the Lone Star Association in 1929. Despite that stories history the Bulls have only had one no-hitter thrown in their existence prior to McGraw's gem. That one came in 1930 when they were in the Lone Star loop and was thrown by Phil Milot, who spent a decade with the club. FABL magnates are clearly starting to worry about the rebel league from the west. Signing Lew Seals to a GWL record setting contract has, on the surface, no real impact on FABL. But it likely further boldens the western club owners -who are drawing decent crowds and making money- giving them the confidence to go after higher profile FABL players. Nothing will happen during the season as the Bigsby boys appear to be willing to recognize all existing FABL contracts but the big question will come in the off-season. Nearly every FABL ballplayer is signed on a year-by-year basis but organized baseball gives the team exclusive rights to resign their own players each year. The question is Will the western loop recognize and abide by that policy or will they start trying to lure some FABL regulars -particularly those with western ties- to their loop with big offers during the off-season? GWL boss Thomas X. Bigsby has declined to make any sort of comment on the matter but in this case silence may not be a good thing as the obvious comment would be the GWL recognizes baseball's reserve clause agreement. Interesting times may lie ahead. Freddie Jones joined the 2,000 hit club with a pair of hits in the Chiefs 2-0 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday. Jones has accomplished plenty in his career - a college Christian Trophy, a pair of Federal Association batting titles, 5 all-star selections and the 1935 Whitney Award but imagine what the 36 year old could have accomplished had he not been so injury prone. Big week for the Gothams big bats. Red Johnson hit 4 homeruns while Mahlon Strong claimed player of the week honours after this performance: 19 AB, 8 H, .421 Avg., 4 HR, 8 RBI, 1.658 OPS. And Sal Pestilli had a 6-for-6 day with 5 singles and a homerun against the Chicago Chiefs. Pestilli's 6-hit game was the first of the year for FABL. Johnny McDowell of Pittsburgh had the only one last season. Interesting the Fed had one in 1943 and 1944 as well (Aart MacDonald and Sid Williams -both with Detroit) but the last 6-hit game in the CA happened before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ben Richardson went 6-for-6 for Montreal in a game with Cleveland in June 1941. Roosevelt Brewer had 5 hits in the same game Pestilli had 6 as the Gothams blasted Chiefs pitching for 20 hits including 3 homeruns - all of which were solo shots. The first really bad week of the year for the Keystones. The Keys went 1-6, including a three-game sweep in Boston. Philadelphia is now 9-13 on the road. The slow start for Bobby Barrell has developed into a panic in some parts, with a .184 average through 40 games and his peripheral numbers are just as bad (.270 OBP, .297 SLG, 63 OPS+, 76 wRC+, -0.4 WAR). He has hit .152 in May and that includes his four-homer outburst early in the month. Nice to see Hiram Steinberg finally get a win after losing his first 5 decisions with Cleveland this season. The 1941 first overall pick who rewrote the high school record books tossed a 5-hit complete game shutout to beat the Chicago Cougars 2-0 last Tuesday. Not only did we get a no-hitter in the GWL last week, but there was also one in the minors. Philadelphia Sailors farmhand George K Brooks turned the trick in a 4-0 win for the Providence Sailors over Erie. SCHROTTER WANTS ANOTHER SHOT AT SAWYER Former world champion Jochen Schrotter is coming out of retirement and wants a rematch with Hector Sawyer. That is the word from Sawyer's manager Chester Conley, who says he has been approached by a team said to representing the now 40 year old German, who held the world crown from 1935 until losing by a 15th round knockout to Sawyer in January, 1940. Schrotter, to the best of anyone's knowledge, has not fought professionally since that bout although he was said to have been featured in a number of exhibitions under the direction of the Nazis during the war. He also served for the German army and at one point was rumoured to have been fatally wounded in Greece but it would turn out he did not actually see any active combat duty. The announcement comes as a surprise and the champ himself was caught off guard when reporters volleyed questions at him. Sawyer looked dumbfounded when informed of Conley's announcement, but quickly recovered and mentioned "Chester had been working on my next bout, but had not informed me of who that might be against." However, Conley has confirmed that Schrotter is set to return to the ring this weekend and will fight in London, England against veteran British heavyweight Andrew Madden. Conley explains that following that bout, Schrotter is expected to cross the Atlantic and begin training in New York for a late summer date with Sawyer. A Sawyer-Schrotter bout is likely to be a huge financial winfall for the champ, and Conley, and would also seem like the type of bout that should be an easy victory for Sawyer, who is 53-3-1 after his TKO victory over Leo Carmichael in February. Schrotter sports a professional mark of 48-3-0. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 5/26/1946 The Government, its rail system crippled, drove with desperate urgency at week's end for settlement of the coast-to-coast train strike before it brings hunger to cities and wrecks the nation's industrial life. 48 hours later, the trains were running again as the strike was settled just moments before President Truman had called on a joint session of Congress to outlaw strikes against the Government. Coal Miners in three states including many in coal rich Pennsylvania threatened to block operation of coal mines after Government seizure of them this week. Truman signed an emergency housing bill calling for the construction of nearly 3 million low-cost homes for veterans by the end of next year. The late President Roosevelt accused Japan of war intentions a month before the Peal Harbor attack and told Japanese diplomats bluntly he did not believe their denials, it was revealed before Congress' Pearl Harbor investigating committee. Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations Security Council says his government does not show conclusively that all Soviet troops had evacuated Iran, noting his government "has no authority in Azerbaijan Province"- the area to which it sent a commission to determine whether the Red Army had left. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 03-22-2023 at 02:14 PM.