OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal

Jiggs McGee · 03-23-2023, 11:50 AM

JUNE 3, 1946

HUGE BLOW FOR BOSTON: DALPMAN DONE FOR YEAR

The Boston Minutemen learned the worst news imaginable today as they found out 29 year old pitcher Ray Dalpman's season is over after the righthander blew out his shoulder in a loss to the Chicago Chiefs yesterday. Dalpman, who threw a no-hitter in April, was 7-3 with a 2.55 era and a big reason why the Minutemen have the best record in the Federal Association.

Boston's pitching has been its strong suit this season with Ed Wood (7-2, 2.18) and Dean Astle (5-2, 1.50) off to strong starts but the odds of a Boston flag win this season are much longer today than they were prior to Dalpman's injury. Perhaps John Edwards, who has been terrific out of the Boston pen, or one of the other relievers can step up and attempt to fill the gaping hole that now exists in the Minutemen rotation but the more likely scenario if Boston wants to remain in the pennant hunt is they need to pursue a deal as the deadline approaches at the end of July to find a veteran arm who can fill the void. In the meantime the short-term solution is likely to recall 27 year old Tom Martin from AAA Columbus to fill the hole in the pen with Edwards likely shifting to the rotation. Martin pitched well in relief for Boston a year ago, going 9-7 with 11 saves and a 2.56 era.

To make a rough week even worse for the New Englanders, the Minutemen started the week with 4 straight losses before rebounding over the weekend and taking 2 of three from visiting Chicago. That allowed the New York Gothams, who went 5-2 over the past seven days, to move within a game of the front-runners. The Philadelphia Keystones limped out of Boston last week after suffering a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Minutemen, but they rebounded nicely in a busy week, claiming 7 victories in 9 outings and are now just 2 games back.

*** Cannons Blast Wolves; Alone atop Continental ****

The Cincinnati Cannons swept a 3-game series from the Toronto Wolves and with 8 wins in their last 10 games have opened up a 3.5 game lead on the Canadian nine atop the Continental Association. Deuce Barrell, who has allowed just 2 earned runs in his last three starts -all complete game victories- and is 8-0 with a 1.97 era is once more leading the way for Cincinnati. Off-season free agent signing Les Bradshaw (6-3, 2.84), cut loose by the Eagles after serving in the Army last year, has been a key pickup on the mound while the big bats continue to carry the Cannons powerful offense. Al Wheeler (.289,7,27) is one of those big bats and the Wonder Wheel smacked two more homeruns last week to bring him within 4 of joining only the great Max Morris in the 500 homerun club.

Meanwhile the Chicago Cougars continue to struggle with a 3-5 week against second division sides Brooklyn, Montreal and Cleveland. The Cougars, favoured by many to be the team to beat in the Continental, now sit in 6th place with a 24-24 record.

Perhaps the Montreal Saints are a sleeper team in the Continental Association? After a slow season start in April, the team put a 18-14 record in May and are now a game over the break even mark and one solid week out of perhaps moving up to second place.

There is plenty to like down at Parc Catier. The pitching rotation is fully loaded now with the return of Wally Reif. The 26 year old was pronounced healthy enough to return to the starting rotation after a stomach muscle strain shelved him for the past four weeks. Reif will be a welcome addition to the mound staff, but the starters, aside from Bill Ross at least, have fared pretty well in Reif's absence.

The rising star in the rotation is rookie prospect Bert Cupid which is now showing a 6-1 record, 2.68 ERA and 18/45 BB/K ratio. The club has won each of Cupid's last 8 starts, with the last three being two very good performances against Toronto and a win over the Chicago Cougars.

When healthy the Montreal rotation is in good hands with the quintet of Doyle-Weakley-Cupid-Reif-DeYoung. The weak link so far had been Bill Ross (2-7, 4.71), despite the 33 year old going 27-19 for the Saints over the past two seasons.

The news is good at the plate as well. The struggling offense of April has found some batting vibes in May and that goes a long ways towards explaining the positive record of the past month. There are still certainly some holes to shore up, in particular the first base dilemma. On the season as a whole, Red Bond's .220 batting average looks troubling, but the veteran has been doing better recently but his numbers are still a far cry from his outstanding 1940 campaign when he smacked 30 homers and batted .340. The Saints would be thrilled if Bond could simply duplicate last year's .254,16,81 stat line.

The right field position is the other place in the starting nine that still is a carrousel. After giving chances to Otis Parker (now in AAA), Heinie Billings, Weaver (now in AAA), Gordon McCarley and Ernie McCoy, it sounds like the last two are taking the lead. Before season started, all eyes were on prospect Otis Parker to patrol the right field, but he was struggling very badly at the plate and been sent down in AAA. Lately, the playing rotation been been between McCarley and McCoy only. McCoy, 2nd pick overall in 1942 and a war veteran, is finally getting the chance to proove was he was selected so high out of Bluegrass State. Saints Manager Homer Moore confirms that McCoy will be getting more playing time to see how he can succeed at the FABL baseball level. Missing three years serving in the Army certainly slowed McCoy's development but the 25 year old was impressive in a short stint at AAA Minneapolis to begin the year and is slashing .297/.350/.405 after two weeks with the big club.

They are not qute there yet, but the Saints club is approaching the point where it could be considered a serious contender for the Continental crown, a bauble the Montreal organization has not worn upon its head since 1921. Management again cautions the process must not be rushed. As the Saints General Manager said a few years ago when the club was in contention early and pressure was on him to make short term trades, "Montreal management will still stick to the plan, it will pay eventually!"

The future may looks bright in Montreal with 11 players currently ranked in the top 110 prospect list according to OSA. That includes a lot of assets with pitching skills. Remember the minor league system list of pitchers includes: Ted Coffin (OSA #7), Gordie Irwin (OSA #58) and Pete Ford (OSA #75). All of whom it is hoped are helping the actual big league rotation in a near future.

PLENTY TO BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FOR STARS

As the season approaches the one-third complete mark the New York Stars still have a couple of weak spots, but overall they are doing well. The outfield is really coming into its own. Lead by Bill Barrett (.252/.436/.919), the trio has been incredible, mashing 18 homers so far. 22 year old Bob Riggins is looking like a seasoned vet, hitting .279/.380/.822. 22 year old Rookie Jack Welch has exploded onto the field slashing .296/.439/.917. Which leaves Chubby Hall (.281/.370/.760) the odd man out even though hes splitting time in LF with Welch while he settles in.

We can't overlook the job Bill Barnett has done in his rookie season as he is no slouch either. Barrett looks like a vet out at 1B hitting .283/.385/.813 with 4 homers. However, we dont talk about his "fielding" prowess. That gives us a solid core of 4 fantastic hitters batting 2, 3, 4 and 5. But we're falling short with Joe Angevine this season at the plate. The shortstop is hitting in the #1 hole and is struggling to reach base. And when he does, his speed seems to have left him in his 30 year old season getting caught stealing 9 times with a -4.4 BsR.

The biggest heart break so far has been Chick MacKnight. He started the season the #2 ranked catcher in the league. Since then hes fallen off the chart. The team eye doctor has examined him but cannot deduce the reason for his abysmal .077/.221/.328 line so far. He was splitting time with Joe Rainbow at catcher, but has since been relegated to the bench with the mother of all cold streaks. Management is deliberating sending him to AAA.

The question probably on Jiggs McGee's mind: Was the Rabbit Mudd deal worth it? At first it looked to be a no doubter with Rabbit coming out swinging. Then the 3 week day-to-day injury. It didn't slow him down at first, and he was still doing far better than poor ol' Hancock Jr., but now a second slightly more severe injury has sidelined him for the next week giving Mel a chance to show his stuff again. And Mel responded by playing better than he had been. But 2B is still an extremely weak sport in NY with plenty of head scratching and doubts lingering in the air.

The Stars other sad highlight is the collapse of Bill Grove at 3B. Was he just a solid AAAA player during the war years? Grove is just 23 so he still has some more seasoning to do and in the mean time Mike Roberson has stepped up big time crushing it with a .357/.427/.955 line. He was questionable to make the team, luckily the Stars elected to keep him around.

On the mound, the only real bright spot has been rule 5 pick George Scruggs. Management knew they had a gem sifting through all the possible players out there, but even the Stars did not realize just how bright he would shine. 19.2 IP 5.5 K/9 0.46 ERA, 3-0 with 2 saves.

CANNONS SEARCHING FOR PEN HELP: BUT IS IT NEEDED?

The Cincinnati Cannons have made it no secret they are looking for a solid arm to act as the stopper in their bullpen. However, the best solution might well be to use one of the arms they already have instead of giving away a young asset for a need that just might not exist. In addition, I am not even sure if the Cannons actually need the best bullpen in the league. Sure, its a nice addition and never something you would turn down but they have some workhorses in the rotation.

Deuce Barrell has completed 117 games, nearly 60% of his starts he is still on the mound when the final out is recorded. Butch Smith has completed nearly half his starts while Les Bradshaw and Red Hampton are both over 40%. This season alone the Cannons starters have completed 26 of their 48 starts including 8 from Barrell in his 10 games. The Cannons have only needed 49 innings of relief pitching so far this season and in years past much of the heavy lifting in the pen was handled by the starters anyway as Ad Doria had employed a 6-man rotation with pretty good success.

Doria has ran with the typical 5-man staff this season with Art Edwards, Jake Smith and Chris Clarke all faring pretty well when called upon in relief. Even Vic Carroll, the 1939 first overall pick who is back after a year in the Army, has not looked bad in limited work. His 7.71 era the product of a couple of rough innings in a pair of lobsided losses with nothing on the line.

Edwards, Jake Smith and Clarke all give the added benefit of being able to start games in a pinch and each has had some success in that regard. There are also a few options in AAA, most notably Jim Anderson who looked good in his return to the Cannons late last season after nearly two years in the Army. The benefit to Anderson is he -like Edwards and Clarke- force a lot of ground balls and with the vacuum like glove of Jim Hensley at shortstop that plays perfectly into the Cannons strengths.
*** Second Base Only Potential Worry ***

If there was an area in need of upgrade -and with the Cannons there is not a lot that the team could improve upon- it might be second base where Charley McCullough has had a slow start both at the plate and in the field since his return from 4 years in the Navy. McCullough, who's brother was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor and enlisted immediately, has been away from the game for a long time, missing his prime years and now returns as a much different person than the 25 year old all-star he was a half decade ago.

The expectation is it will only take some time for McCullough to regain his fielding prowess and in the meantime glove-whiz Charlie Rivera can easily fill in as a late innings defensive substitute. The Cannons might be wise to give McCullough at least another month to regain his land-legs and only if he is still struggling as the deadline approaches at the end of July should they perhaps take a look and see what other solution might be out there.

The team is playing outstanding baseball, and has for the better part of the past three and a half years. Perhaps the best move the new Cannons brass can do right now is simply to stand pat and let the talented group continue to do what it has done best the past few seasons -win big ballgames.

Gothams Notes

The Gothams have moved to within 1 game of FA leading Boston. Team offensive is led by Roosevelt Brewer who is third in average at .351 and Red Johnson, tied for the HR lead with 13.
Red Johnson is enjoying the postwar lineup protection. Johnson took batter of the month honors for May with one of the better slugging displays the team has seen in ages. Johnson hit .331 with 10 homers, 18 RBI and 24 runs scored.
Down at AA Reading RF Hal Mayer did his best Red Johnson impression, winning batter of the month for May. Mayer paced the EA with .337, 5 homers, 23 RBI and 18 runs.
Tom Richardson has been optioned to AAA Toledo to make room for additional middle infield help due to the injury to Gil London. Last season's regular SS Jim Dickinson is expected to get most of the starts. With London struggling mightily at the plate this season (.186-1-10) Dickinson has a shot to reclaim the starting role.
The only other concern in the lineup is 3B where Mule Monier is hitting just .214 with no homers. As long as the team continues to win Bud Jameson can be patient. However, one wonders how long the team can carry that production along with Monier's barely adequate defense. While no defensive wiz himself Fred Pecora is hitting .306

The big news this week is obviously the loss of Ray Dalpman in Boston. Minutemen manager Bill Boshart feels that if any club can withstand the loss of its number one starter it is the Minutemen. Boshart states "I'm not sure if we really need to make a deal. If the right player comes along we will absolutely look at it. At this point though, I'm not desperate to ask our GM to blow a high pick on a vet that is mostly smoke and mirrors."
We here at Caught on the Fly see the Minutemen likely having no choice but to make a deal for a veteran starter if they want any hope of sticking with the mighty Gothams and the two-time defending champion Keystones. The Minutemen pitchers are good, but without Dalpman they will have a tough time winning the pennant. The draft is just 3 weeks away so it certainly makes sense to wait and move some of next year's selections once the trade window for dealing picks opens up again. Their top prospect is a 21 year old righthander named Alf Keeter, who is pitching well despite a 1-5 record at Class B Arlington but he is clearly not ready to join the big club. Perhaps Keeter, who was acquired from Detroit a year ago in the Mack Sutton deal, gets moved again instead of a draft pick.
Stop me if you have heard this one before. Hard-luck Chicago Cougars fans certainly have in recent years. Four more one run losses this week as the Cougars drop to 24-24 and 6th place in a crowded CA, despite a +48 run differential. They are now 3-12 in one run games. Looking like another wasted season in Chicago and once again one where they finish well below their Pythagorean record - a mark they trail by 6 at the moment.
Sooner or later the breaks have to go the Cougars way. They have had an awful run of luck the past few seasons but this team is just too good not to be in the mix come September. Maybe the Cougars finally have a second half comeback instead of being the team to swoon after a hot first half.
Getting swept by the Cannons was not part of the plan for the Toronto Wolves. Wolves manager Bob Call said he felt pretty good the way the rotation set up for the series, wrong! Pitching is still erratic for the Wolves, but that is not the only problem. When the leadoff man (Charlie Artuso) is leading the team in HR and RBI's the bats in the middle of the order may not be putting out at the expected rate.
There was discussion last week about San Diego short stop Poserina and his -6 ZR. The Conquistadores reacted by moving Dick Richardson in to man shortstop and moving Poserina to the outfield. The result was very good as San Diego managed a 5-2 week including a 4-game sweep of the 2nd place Oakland Grays and even 1 win against the mighty Knights of L.A. That win was courtesy of a 1-hit, 7 K, 2 BB performance from Luis Sandoval, who is clearly emerging as the ace of the staff. Sandoval last played with the Chicago Chiefs in 1944.
Speaking of the Chiefs, perhaps they need to follow the Conquistadors lead and make a change at shortstop where Elmer Hutchins now has a -6.4 ZR in 131.2 innings.
Jim Lonardo threw a complete game 4-hitter in a 9-1 win over Pittsburgh yesterday, improving the 41 year old Detroit hurlers record on the year to 3-4 but more importantly giving Lonardo his 296 career FABL pitching win.
There has been much talk of Al Wheeler's pursuit to join Max Morris as the only players to hit 500 FABL homeruns but Wheeler is also working on joining Morris in another exclusive club: 2,000 career RBIs. Wheeler is 4 shy of the 500 homer mark and after driving in 9 runs last week for the Cincinnati Cannons, he now sits at 1,919 rbis. Only Morris, with 2,324 stands above the Wonder Wheel in that category.
With Joe York hitting a robust .385 (although in limited playing time) and neither of the first basemen doing much the Detroit Dynamos are going to experiment with Mack Sutton moving to first base and York getting a chance to play third for the week, meaning both of Dick's boys will be in the starting lineup for just the third time. The first that both Rick and Joe were in the starting lineup was April 23 against St Louis and the second last Monday vs the Gothams.
Mixed results in Brooklyn after the struggling Kings signed a pair of veteran free agents Roger Perry and Merritt Thomas to try and shore up their pitching rotation. Harry Stewart and Mel Haynes went to AAA to make room but one may be back pretty quickly after Perry was beaten up pretty badly in losing both of his starts. He allowed 15 earned runs in just 7 and two-thirds innings over the two games. Thomas fared much better: after taking the loss in a 6-0 defeat to the Stars he pitched 7 strong innings yesterday to get an 8-3 win over Cincinnati.
Attendance is up all across FABL in the early going this season. 15 of the 16 clubs are averaging a higher attendance so far this year than they did last year led by the Chicago Cougars who are averaging 16,125 for their 24 home contests so far this season. The lone exception is the St Louis Pioneers and even the Pioneers are only down a few fans per game, averaging 7,964 this season after finishing with an average attendance of 7,972 a year ago. The Pioneers are last in average attendance in FABL this season and one of just x teams averaging less than 10,000 per game. The others are Brooklyn, Cleveland, Montreal, the Philadelphia Sailors and Washington.
There has been a lot of talk about great attendance in the Great Western League but only the Los Angeles Knights (7,424) are over the 7,000 mark. However, the stadium sizes and as a result overhead costs are generally much smaller in the coast loop.

SCHROTTER DQ WILL NOT CHANGE TITLE SHOT PLANS

Chester Conley Says the Sawyer-Schrotter Rematch is a Go

Despite the fact that former heavyweight champion Jochen Schrotter was disqualified for repeated low blows in a bout in England on Saturday, the 40 year old German is still coming to America and will face current champion Hector Sawyer in August. That is the confirmation given from Sawyer's manager and well known boxing promoter Chester 'Fish' Conley.

"We are aware of the London result," explained Conley to well known boxing columnist Johnny Bologna. "It is not the ideal outcome but what I am hearing is that perhaps the referee overstepped in his earnest to penalize Schrotter. The German was well ahead on all cards and the time of the stoppage and we are confident he will make a worthy opponent for Hector. And this is a bout fans have wanted to see for half a decade."

The fight is slated to be contested outdoors at the famed Bigsby Oval in New York and is expected to be contested in front of one of the largest fight crowds in recent memory. Schrotter was the World Champion from 1935 until Sawyer knocked him out in the 15th and final round of their title fight in January of 1940. That fight was fought with much controversy as Germany was already well engaged in WWII and many felt Schrotter should have been forced to leave the country. After the fight he did return to Germany and was a part of the Nazi army -although he says unwillingly so- but did not see any combat action.

Schrotter is now 40 years old and aside from Saturday's bout with Madden, had not fought professionally since the loss to Sawyer. His career record sits at 48-4 with 45 of the victories coming by knockout or TKO, but many question whether he will mount any sort of challenge for the 31 year old Sawyer even though some feel the champ has lost a bit during his layoff during the war. Sawyer knocked out Leo Carmichael in February in his most recent title defense, running his record to 53-3-1.

RING RESULTS

COOPER WINS IN HAWAII

Former Coast Guard Heavyweight Champion Cannon Cooper completed a very successful 'working vacation' with an unanimous decision over Battling Bill McFadden in Hawaii over the weekend. The 25 year old Rockford, Il. native had little trouble with McFadden, easily outpoiting his opponent in the lobsided win. Cooper is now 19-2-1 as a pro and seems to be back on the right track after suffering back to back losses -the only defeats of his career- to Clancy Little and Glenn Hairston last fall and winter.

John Edmonds, who had been the #3 contender in the middleweight division, saw his stock drop after the 27 year old Muncie, In. fighter was knocked on in the 10th and final round of his bout with Dave Sizemore on Thursday evening in Washington DC. The loss was just the second of Edmonds career, dropping his record to 20-2. Sizemore, a 26 year who hails from Springfield, Ma., improves to 14-8.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/02/1946

The mine strike came to an end after a contract was struck, but other problems lie ahead causing the Government to issue stern warnings that it was the maritime and farm equipment labor disputes settled -and quickly.
At least 13 persons drowned and millions of dollars of damage after the Susquehanna River flooded parts of Pennsylvania and New York.
28 Germans responsible for the deaths of 300,000 inmates at the Dachau concentration camp were hanged.
The House Appropriations Committee approved a $92 million fund to start returning to this country the bodies of her war dead.
Pope Pius XII said in a world broadcast that the path to "true peace" seems farther away now than at the end of hostilities a year ago, and that "the first resolute steps toward the attainment of true peace has not yet been taken."

03-23-2023, 11:50 AM	#665
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	June 3, 1946 JUNE 3, 1946 HUGE BLOW FOR BOSTON: DALPMAN DONE FOR YEAR The Boston Minutemen learned the worst news imaginable today as they found out 29 year old pitcher Ray Dalpman's season is over after the righthander blew out his shoulder in a loss to the Chicago Chiefs yesterday. Dalpman, who threw a no-hitter in April, was 7-3 with a 2.55 era and a big reason why the Minutemen have the best record in the Federal Association. Boston's pitching has been its strong suit this season with Ed Wood (7-2, 2.18) and Dean Astle (5-2, 1.50) off to strong starts but the odds of a Boston flag win this season are much longer today than they were prior to Dalpman's injury. Perhaps John Edwards, who has been terrific out of the Boston pen, or one of the other relievers can step up and attempt to fill the gaping hole that now exists in the Minutemen rotation but the more likely scenario if Boston wants to remain in the pennant hunt is they need to pursue a deal as the deadline approaches at the end of July to find a veteran arm who can fill the void. In the meantime the short-term solution is likely to recall 27 year old Tom Martin from AAA Columbus to fill the hole in the pen with Edwards likely shifting to the rotation. Martin pitched well in relief for Boston a year ago, going 9-7 with 11 saves and a 2.56 era. To make a rough week even worse for the New Englanders, the Minutemen started the week with 4 straight losses before rebounding over the weekend and taking 2 of three from visiting Chicago. That allowed the New York Gothams, who went 5-2 over the past seven days, to move within a game of the front-runners. The Philadelphia Keystones limped out of Boston last week after suffering a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Minutemen, but they rebounded nicely in a busy week, claiming 7 victories in 9 outings and are now just 2 games back. * Cannons Blast Wolves; Alone atop Continental The Cincinnati Cannons swept a 3-game series from the Toronto Wolves and with 8 wins in their last 10 games have opened up a 3.5 game lead on the Canadian nine atop the Continental Association. Deuce Barrell, who has allowed just 2 earned runs in his last three starts -all complete game victories- and is 8-0 with a 1.97 era is once more leading the way for Cincinnati. Off-season free agent signing Les Bradshaw (6-3, 2.84), cut loose by the Eagles after serving in the Army last year, has been a key pickup on the mound while the big bats continue to carry the Cannons powerful offense. Al Wheeler (.289,7,27) is one of those big bats and the Wonder Wheel smacked two more homeruns last week to bring him within 4 of joining only the great Max Morris in the 500 homerun club. Meanwhile the Chicago Cougars continue to struggle with a 3-5 week against second division sides Brooklyn, Montreal and Cleveland. The Cougars, favoured by many to be the team to beat in the Continental, now sit in 6th place with a 24-24 record. Perhaps the Montreal Saints are a sleeper team in the Continental Association? After a slow season start in April, the team put a 18-14 record in May and are now a game over the break even mark and one solid week out of perhaps moving up to second place. There is plenty to like down at Parc Catier. The pitching rotation is fully loaded now with the return of Wally Reif. The 26 year old was pronounced healthy enough to return to the starting rotation after a stomach muscle strain shelved him for the past four weeks. Reif will be a welcome addition to the mound staff, but the starters, aside from Bill Ross at least, have fared pretty well in Reif's absence. The rising star in the rotation is rookie prospect Bert Cupid which is now showing a 6-1 record, 2.68 ERA and 18/45 BB/K ratio. The club has won each of Cupid's last 8 starts, with the last three being two very good performances against Toronto and a win over the Chicago Cougars. When healthy the Montreal rotation is in good hands with the quintet of Doyle-Weakley-Cupid-Reif-DeYoung. The weak link so far had been Bill Ross (2-7, 4.71), despite the 33 year old going 27-19 for the Saints over the past two seasons. The news is good at the plate as well. The struggling offense of April has found some batting vibes in May and that goes a long ways towards explaining the positive record of the past month. There are still certainly some holes to shore up, in particular the first base dilemma. On the season as a whole, Red Bond's .220 batting average looks troubling, but the veteran has been doing better recently but his numbers are still a far cry from his outstanding 1940 campaign when he smacked 30 homers and batted .340. The Saints would be thrilled if Bond could simply duplicate last year's .254,16,81 stat line. The right field position is the other place in the starting nine that still is a carrousel. After giving chances to Otis Parker (now in AAA), Heinie Billings, Weaver (now in AAA), Gordon McCarley and Ernie McCoy, it sounds like the last two are taking the lead. Before season started, all eyes were on prospect Otis Parker to patrol the right field, but he was struggling very badly at the plate and been sent down in AAA. Lately, the playing rotation been been between McCarley and McCoy only. McCoy, 2nd pick overall in 1942 and a war veteran, is finally getting the chance to proove was he was selected so high out of Bluegrass State. Saints Manager Homer Moore confirms that McCoy will be getting more playing time to see how he can succeed at the FABL baseball level. Missing three years serving in the Army certainly slowed McCoy's development but the 25 year old was impressive in a short stint at AAA Minneapolis to begin the year and is slashing .297/.350/.405 after two weeks with the big club. They are not qute there yet, but the Saints club is approaching the point where it could be considered a serious contender for the Continental crown, a bauble the Montreal organization has not worn upon its head since 1921. Management again cautions the process must not be rushed. As the Saints General Manager said a few years ago when the club was in contention early and pressure was on him to make short term trades, "Montreal management will still stick to the plan, it will pay eventually!" The future may looks bright in Montreal with 11 players currently ranked in the top 110 prospect list according to OSA. That includes a lot of assets with pitching skills. Remember the minor league system list of pitchers includes: Ted Coffin (OSA #7), Gordie Irwin (OSA #58) and Pete Ford (OSA #75). All of whom it is hoped are helping the actual big league rotation in a near future. PLENTY TO BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FOR STARS As the season approaches the one-third complete mark the New York Stars still have a couple of weak spots, but overall they are doing well. The outfield is really coming into its own. Lead by Bill Barrett (.252/.436/.919), the trio has been incredible, mashing 18 homers so far. 22 year old Bob Riggins is looking like a seasoned vet, hitting .279/.380/.822. 22 year old Rookie Jack Welch has exploded onto the field slashing .296/.439/.917. Which leaves Chubby Hall (.281/.370/.760) the odd man out even though hes splitting time in LF with Welch while he settles in. We can't overlook the job Bill Barnett has done in his rookie season as he is no slouch either. Barrett looks like a vet out at 1B hitting .283/.385/.813 with 4 homers. However, we dont talk about his "fielding" prowess. That gives us a solid core of 4 fantastic hitters batting 2, 3, 4 and 5. But we're falling short with Joe Angevine this season at the plate. The shortstop is hitting in the #1 hole and is struggling to reach base. And when he does, his speed seems to have left him in his 30 year old season getting caught stealing 9 times with a -4.4 BsR. The biggest heart break so far has been Chick MacKnight. He started the season the #2 ranked catcher in the league. Since then hes fallen off the chart. The team eye doctor has examined him but cannot deduce the reason for his abysmal .077/.221/.328 line so far. He was splitting time with Joe Rainbow at catcher, but has since been relegated to the bench with the mother of all cold streaks. Management is deliberating sending him to AAA. The question probably on Jiggs McGee's mind: Was the Rabbit Mudd deal worth it? At first it looked to be a no doubter with Rabbit coming out swinging. Then the 3 week day-to-day injury. It didn't slow him down at first, and he was still doing far better than poor ol' Hancock Jr., but now a second slightly more severe injury has sidelined him for the next week giving Mel a chance to show his stuff again. And Mel responded by playing better than he had been. But 2B is still an extremely weak sport in NY with plenty of head scratching and doubts lingering in the air. The Stars other sad highlight is the collapse of Bill Grove at 3B. Was he just a solid AAAA player during the war years? Grove is just 23 so he still has some more seasoning to do and in the mean time Mike Roberson has stepped up big time crushing it with a .357/.427/.955 line. He was questionable to make the team, luckily the Stars elected to keep him around. On the mound, the only real bright spot has been rule 5 pick George Scruggs. Management knew they had a gem sifting through all the possible players out there, but even the Stars did not realize just how bright he would shine. 19.2 IP 5.5 K/9 0.46 ERA, 3-0 with 2 saves. CANNONS SEARCHING FOR PEN HELP: BUT IS IT NEEDED? The Cincinnati Cannons have made it no secret they are looking for a solid arm to act as the stopper in their bullpen. However, the best solution might well be to use one of the arms they already have instead of giving away a young asset for a need that just might not exist. In addition, I am not even sure if the Cannons actually need the best bullpen in the league. Sure, its a nice addition and never something you would turn down but they have some workhorses in the rotation. Deuce Barrell has completed 117 games, nearly 60% of his starts he is still on the mound when the final out is recorded. Butch Smith has completed nearly half his starts while Les Bradshaw and Red Hampton are both over 40%. This season alone the Cannons starters have completed 26 of their 48 starts including 8 from Barrell in his 10 games. The Cannons have only needed 49 innings of relief pitching so far this season and in years past much of the heavy lifting in the pen was handled by the starters anyway as Ad Doria had employed a 6-man rotation with pretty good success. Doria has ran with the typical 5-man staff this season with Art Edwards, Jake Smith and Chris Clarke all faring pretty well when called upon in relief. Even Vic Carroll, the 1939 first overall pick who is back after a year in the Army, has not looked bad in limited work. His 7.71 era the product of a couple of rough innings in a pair of lobsided losses with nothing on the line. Edwards, Jake Smith and Clarke all give the added benefit of being able to start games in a pinch and each has had some success in that regard. There are also a few options in AAA, most notably Jim Anderson who looked good in his return to the Cannons late last season after nearly two years in the Army. The benefit to Anderson is he -like Edwards and Clarke- force a lot of ground balls and with the vacuum like glove of Jim Hensley at shortstop that plays perfectly into the Cannons strengths. * Second Base Only Potential Worry * If there was an area in need of upgrade -and with the Cannons there is not a lot that the team could improve upon- it might be second base where Charley McCullough has had a slow start both at the plate and in the field since his return from 4 years in the Navy. McCullough, who's brother was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor and enlisted immediately, has been away from the game for a long time, missing his prime years and now returns as a much different person than the 25 year old all-star he was a half decade ago. The expectation is it will only take some time for McCullough to regain his fielding prowess and in the meantime glove-whiz Charlie Rivera can easily fill in as a late innings defensive substitute. The Cannons might be wise to give McCullough at least another month to regain his land-legs and only if he is still struggling as the deadline approaches at the end of July should they perhaps take a look and see what other solution might be out there. The team is playing outstanding baseball, and has for the better part of the past three and a half years. Perhaps the best move the new Cannons brass can do right now is simply to stand pat and let the talented group continue to do what it has done best the past few seasons -win big ballgames. Gothams Notes The Gothams have moved to within 1 game of FA leading Boston. Team offensive is led by Roosevelt Brewer who is third in average at .351 and Red Johnson, tied for the HR lead with 13. Red Johnson is enjoying the postwar lineup protection. Johnson took batter of the month honors for May with one of the better slugging displays the team has seen in ages. Johnson hit .331 with 10 homers, 18 RBI and 24 runs scored. Down at AA Reading RF Hal Mayer did his best Red Johnson impression, winning batter of the month for May. Mayer paced the EA with .337, 5 homers, 23 RBI and 18 runs. Tom Richardson has been optioned to AAA Toledo to make room for additional middle infield help due to the injury to Gil London. Last season's regular SS Jim Dickinson is expected to get most of the starts. With London struggling mightily at the plate this season (.186-1-10) Dickinson has a shot to reclaim the starting role. The only other concern in the lineup is 3B where Mule Monier is hitting just .214 with no homers. As long as the team continues to win Bud Jameson can be patient. However, one wonders how long the team can carry that production along with Monier's barely adequate defense. While no defensive wiz himself Fred Pecora is hitting .306 The big news this week is obviously the loss of Ray Dalpman in Boston. Minutemen manager Bill Boshart feels that if any club can withstand the loss of its number one starter it is the Minutemen. Boshart states "I'm not sure if we really need to make a deal. If the right player comes along we will absolutely look at it. At this point though, I'm not desperate to ask our GM to blow a high pick on a vet that is mostly smoke and mirrors." We here at Caught on the Fly see the Minutemen likely having no choice but to make a deal for a veteran starter if they want any hope of sticking with the mighty Gothams and the two-time defending champion Keystones. The Minutemen pitchers are good, but without Dalpman they will have a tough time winning the pennant. The draft is just 3 weeks away so it certainly makes sense to wait and move some of next year's selections once the trade window for dealing picks opens up again. Their top prospect is a 21 year old righthander named Alf Keeter, who is pitching well despite a 1-5 record at Class B Arlington but he is clearly not ready to join the big club. Perhaps Keeter, who was acquired from Detroit a year ago in the Mack Sutton deal, gets moved again instead of a draft pick. Stop me if you have heard this one before. Hard-luck Chicago Cougars fans certainly have in recent years. Four more one run losses this week as the Cougars drop to 24-24 and 6th place in a crowded CA, despite a +48 run differential. They are now 3-12 in one run games. Looking like another wasted season in Chicago and once again one where they finish well below their Pythagorean record - a mark they trail by 6 at the moment. Sooner or later the breaks have to go the Cougars way. They have had an awful run of luck the past few seasons but this team is just too good not to be in the mix come September. Maybe the Cougars finally have a second half comeback instead of being the team to swoon after a hot first half. Getting swept by the Cannons was not part of the plan for the Toronto Wolves. Wolves manager Bob Call said he felt pretty good the way the rotation set up for the series, wrong! Pitching is still erratic for the Wolves, but that is not the only problem. When the leadoff man (Charlie Artuso) is leading the team in HR and RBI's the bats in the middle of the order may not be putting out at the expected rate. There was discussion last week about San Diego short stop Poserina and his -6 ZR. The Conquistadores reacted by moving Dick Richardson in to man shortstop and moving Poserina to the outfield. The result was very good as San Diego managed a 5-2 week including a 4-game sweep of the 2nd place Oakland Grays and even 1 win against the mighty Knights of L.A. That win was courtesy of a 1-hit, 7 K, 2 BB performance from Luis Sandoval, who is clearly emerging as the ace of the staff. Sandoval last played with the Chicago Chiefs in 1944. Speaking of the Chiefs, perhaps they need to follow the Conquistadors lead and make a change at shortstop where Elmer Hutchins now has a -6.4 ZR in 131.2 innings. Jim Lonardo threw a complete game 4-hitter in a 9-1 win over Pittsburgh yesterday, improving the 41 year old Detroit hurlers record on the year to 3-4 but more importantly giving Lonardo his 296 career FABL pitching win. There has been much talk of Al Wheeler's pursuit to join Max Morris as the only players to hit 500 FABL homeruns but Wheeler is also working on joining Morris in another exclusive club: 2,000 career RBIs. Wheeler is 4 shy of the 500 homer mark and after driving in 9 runs last week for the Cincinnati Cannons, he now sits at 1,919 rbis. Only Morris, with 2,324 stands above the Wonder Wheel in that category. With Joe York hitting a robust .385 (although in limited playing time) and neither of the first basemen doing much the Detroit Dynamos are going to experiment with Mack Sutton moving to first base and York getting a chance to play third for the week, meaning both of Dick's boys will be in the starting lineup for just the third time. The first that both Rick and Joe were in the starting lineup was April 23 against St Louis and the second last Monday vs the Gothams. Mixed results in Brooklyn after the struggling Kings signed a pair of veteran free agents Roger Perry and Merritt Thomas to try and shore up their pitching rotation. Harry Stewart and Mel Haynes went to AAA to make room but one may be back pretty quickly after Perry was beaten up pretty badly in losing both of his starts. He allowed 15 earned runs in just 7 and two-thirds innings over the two games. Thomas fared much better: after taking the loss in a 6-0 defeat to the Stars he pitched 7 strong innings yesterday to get an 8-3 win over Cincinnati. Attendance is up all across FABL in the early going this season. 15 of the 16 clubs are averaging a higher attendance so far this year than they did last year led by the Chicago Cougars who are averaging 16,125 for their 24 home contests so far this season. The lone exception is the St Louis Pioneers and even the Pioneers are only down a few fans per game, averaging 7,964 this season after finishing with an average attendance of 7,972 a year ago. The Pioneers are last in average attendance in FABL this season and one of just x teams averaging less than 10,000 per game. The others are Brooklyn, Cleveland, Montreal, the Philadelphia Sailors and Washington. There has been a lot of talk about great attendance in the Great Western League but only the Los Angeles Knights (7,424) are over the 7,000 mark. However, the stadium sizes and as a result overhead costs are generally much smaller in the coast loop. SCHROTTER DQ WILL NOT CHANGE TITLE SHOT PLANS Chester Conley Says the Sawyer-Schrotter Rematch is a Go Despite the fact that former heavyweight champion Jochen Schrotter was disqualified for repeated low blows in a bout in England on Saturday, the 40 year old German is still coming to America and will face current champion Hector Sawyer in August. That is the confirmation given from Sawyer's manager and well known boxing promoter Chester 'Fish' Conley. "We are aware of the London result," explained Conley to well known boxing columnist Johnny Bologna. "It is not the ideal outcome but what I am hearing is that perhaps the referee overstepped in his earnest to penalize Schrotter. The German was well ahead on all cards and the time of the stoppage and we are confident he will make a worthy opponent for Hector. And this is a bout fans have wanted to see for half a decade." The fight is slated to be contested outdoors at the famed Bigsby Oval in New York and is expected to be contested in front of one of the largest fight crowds in recent memory. Schrotter was the World Champion from 1935 until Sawyer knocked him out in the 15th and final round of their title fight in January of 1940. That fight was fought with much controversy as Germany was already well engaged in WWII and many felt Schrotter should have been forced to leave the country. After the fight he did return to Germany and was a part of the Nazi army -although he says unwillingly so- but did not see any combat action. Schrotter is now 40 years old and aside from Saturday's bout with Madden, had not fought professionally since the loss to Sawyer. His career record sits at 48-4 with 45 of the victories coming by knockout or TKO, but many question whether he will mount any sort of challenge for the 31 year old Sawyer even though some feel the champ has lost a bit during his layoff during the war. Sawyer knocked out Leo Carmichael in February in his most recent title defense, running his record to 53-3-1. RING RESULTS COOPER WINS IN HAWAII Former Coast Guard Heavyweight Champion Cannon Cooper completed a very successful 'working vacation' with an unanimous decision over Battling Bill McFadden in Hawaii over the weekend. The 25 year old Rockford, Il. native had little trouble with McFadden, easily outpoiting his opponent in the lobsided win. Cooper is now 19-2-1 as a pro and seems to be back on the right track after suffering back to back losses -the only defeats of his career- to Clancy Little and Glenn Hairston last fall and winter. John Edmonds, who had been the #3 contender in the middleweight division, saw his stock drop after the 27 year old Muncie, In. fighter was knocked on in the 10th and final round of his bout with Dave Sizemore on Thursday evening in Washington DC. The loss was just the second of Edmonds career, dropping his record to 20-2. Sizemore, a 26 year who hails from Springfield, Ma., improves to 14-8. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 6/02/1946 The mine strike came to an end after a contract was struck, but other problems lie ahead causing the Government to issue stern warnings that it was the maritime and farm equipment labor disputes settled -and quickly. At least 13 persons drowned and millions of dollars of damage after the Susquehanna River flooded parts of Pennsylvania and New York. 28 Germans responsible for the deaths of 300,000 inmates at the Dachau concentration camp were hanged. The House Appropriations Committee approved a $92 million fund to start returning to this country the bodies of her war dead. Pope Pius XII said in a world broadcast that the path to "true peace" seems farther away now than at the end of hostilities a year ago, and that "the first resolute steps toward the attainment of true peace has not yet been taken." __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal** The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 03-23-2023 at 01:06 PM.