APRIL 28, 1947
PIONEERS FEAST ON GOTHAMS PITCHING
The St Louis Pioneers have benefited from the New York Gothams early struggles on the mound, scoring 37 runs in winning 5 in a row from the New Yorkers over the first two weeks of the season. The result has the Pioneers surprisingly becoming the first FABL club to hit the 10-win plateau this season. There have been a number of pleasant surprises for the Pioneers in the early gone with perhaps none more so than the resurgence of Denny Hern. The 30-year-old lefthander was exiled to AAA Charleston after early struggles a year ago in St. Louis, but he has been dominant this time around, winning all four of his starts to lead all FABL pitchers in victories. Young outfielder Larry Gregory (.251,3,13) and Brooklyn cast-off Gary Carmichael (.378,0,7) are providing much of the Pioneers offense with 19-year-old outfielder Ray Bates (.387,0,5) -who at this time last year was playing high school ball in Texas- is off to a strong start in his big league debut.
*** Gothams Lose Monier For Month ***
The news at Gothams Stadium has been anything but good. The 5-8 Gothams suffered their second major loss of an infielder in as many weeks with news that veteran third baseman Mule Monier will miss six weeks with a neck issue. Monier joins rookie shortstop Tom Jeffries, who is not expected back until June, on a Gothams injured list that also includes 36 year old righthander Harry Carter. There is some good news in that Carter, a two-time all-star who went 10-14 a year ago before suffering a long-term arm injury in August, should be ready to return next week.
Beyond the impending return of Carter there is little good news on the pitching front for the Gothams. It is only two weeks into the season and the big bats on the offense have been doing the job but the starting pitching is a mess right now and the Gothams bullpen has not been much better. That is sure to turn up the heat on their always combustible front office and one has to wonder how long the club -favoured by many to be the class of the Federal Association- will wait before changes begin. The season is just two weeks old but the Gothams have already suffered through two losing streaks of 4-games including a currently active skid that saw them drop a pair at home to St Louis before losing two on the weekend in Detroit.
***Pomales Struggling On Mound ***
The Brooklyn Kings may well be rethinking the experiment of putting Juan Pomales back on the mound. The 32-year-old pitcher/outfield was used almost exclusively in the outfield by the Toronto Wolves but the Kings -who acquired Pomales during spring camp- envisioned him helping to solve their lack of mound depth. At the plate he has been terrifc, hitting .370 with a .443 on-base percentage in the lead-off role but his mound work seems to reinforce why the Wolves had Pomales focus strictly on the outfield. Pomales has been battered pretty good in each of his 3 starts -losing all three with a 7.50 era. Despite those numbers, Kings skipper Tom Barrell says he still has confidence in Pomales' arm. But John Brinker of the New York Daily Mirror sums it up with his take that "As a pitcher, Pomales looks like a great outfielder."
*** Here We Go Again ***
Fans in Chicago have little to be excited about. It is a mild surprise that the Chicago Chiefs are the first 10-game loser in FABL but it is a much bigger worry for Cougars fans, who have plenty of bad memories from terrible starts, loads of bad luck and a sprinkling of unbelievable collapses from years gone by. Now, after adding even more to what has to be the deepest collection of talent in the Continental Association the Cougars find themselves last in the CA after a 5-8 start. It is a small sample and very, very early but being swept at home by their main rivals the New York Stars in a 3-game set has to set off the alarm bells with much of the Cougars Park faithful. This team is just too good to not get going soon, but the collar of underachievement over much of the past decade is a heavy albatross around the Cougars necks.
THE BEST OF THE WEEK
TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN
Wolves Struggle in Week Two -The Toronto Wolves had a lackluster second week of the campaign going 2-4. Four of the 6 games were of the kind that expectations are Wolves fans should get used to, low scoring. Bad new is the team was on the wrong side of 3 of 4, only win was a 3-2 victory over Philly before getting crushed 13-6 by the Sailors the next day. The Wolves bat awakened on Thursday with a shutout of the Foresters 10-0 then start losing the close ones 3-2 to Cleveland closing a 7-game home stand, followed by 4-2 and 2-1 losses in their first visit to the new Tice Stadium.
On the bright side the team was only charged with 3 errors in 6 games. Unfortunately one was by Frank Frady, his third already in '47 in 59 chances, worrisome for someone who has been told to concentrate on defense first early in the season. Frady will continue to work with John Coburn to tighten up his fielding. It also seems be affecting his bat as evidenced by .216/.293/.270 in 41 PA. Call is saying it is too early to jump to any conclusions but slow starts from Hank Giordano and Tom Fredericks have fans longing for Juan Pomales, who is lighting it up at the plate in Brooklyn.
As was forecast the Wolves are not going to win games with homeruns, having hit only 4 in 12 games. The team will be station to station trying to take, when possible, the extra base. Chick Stickles has already been gunned down thrice on steal attempts Call has now removed his carte blanche on steals. Stickles will be given the sign from the dugout instead of being on his own going forward as the team cannot afford to run themselves into outs.
Joe Hancock responded well in his two starts after a rough season opener for him. Bob Walls has given the team fine efforts in his two outings but Jerry York is having some trouble with trying to be too fine resulting in free passes. Again Call is cautioning not read anything into these early numbers, give everyone time to settle in to the season. With the minor league season starting the focus for the scouting department will turn to top prospects in the system particularly Sam C Allen with Giordano and Frederick early season woes at the plate.
CANNONS OPEN NEW BALLPARK
The Cincinnati Cannons opened the brand-new ballpark along the banks of the Ohio River, just in time for the start of the 1947 Federally Aligned Baseball Leagues season.
"I hope the cabbies don't get confused," quipped second baseman Charley McCullough, referring to the fact that the new ballpark shares its name - Tice Memorial Stadium - with its predecessor. Speaking of the old ballyard on Reading Road, it is slated for demolition with team owner John Tice himself pushing the plunger.
"We look forward to redeveloping that property into a warehouse for Tice & Chiles," said the club owner.
The new ballpark is designed for multi-sport use and will also be the home of the American Football Association's Cincinnati Tigers. The playing area is nearly circular and the dimensions of the baseball diamond itself read as 330 down the lines, 358 to straightaway left and right, 390 to the gaps and 410 to dead centerfield.
"It's got nice curves, I guess," said centerfielder Fred Galloway, another light quip from a very loose Cannons ballclub.
"Hey, it's Opening Day: everyone's in first place today," noted pitcher Deuce Barrell.
COHEN OFF TO HOT START IN OAKLAND
Frankie Cohen of the Oakland Grays is hitting .556. No that is not a typo. The 36 year old first baseman has already enjoyed a pair of 4-hit games and has had at least one hit in each of his club's 13 games giving the former Chicago Chief 30 hits in 54 at bats to start the season. There is certainly no way that Cohen, who hit a robust .348 for the Grays last season, will keep up this frantic pace but he and the Grays, who sit second in the Great Western League with an 8-5 record, will enjoy it while they can.
The Indianapolis native has certainly found a home in California, joining the Oaks prior to the coast's loop making its debut as a big league prior to last season after being uncerimoniously released by the Chiefs on Christmas Eve 1945. Cohen last played in Chicago in 1939 and, although he never played in the post-season, does own a pair of World Championship Series rings from his days in the Windy City. He spent 1940 and 1941 in AAA playing for Fort Wayne and might have been content to stay close to home and toil in the Century League after his four year stint in the Army came to a conclusion, but the Chiefs had different ideas and the Cohen has certainly made the most of his west coast opportunity.
- Archie Irwin of the Chicago Daily News summed up the Cougars slow start perfectly, nothing the "Cougars are already in midseason form, dropping their first four one-run games before finally beating the Saints 2-1 to end the second week of the season. A 5-8 start to the season was not expected for the Windy City Kitties, who are sitting in last place and three games behind the first place Cannons. They will also be without team RBI leader Carlos Montes who will miss approximately three weeks with a rotator cuff strain."
- If they only could just play Brooklyn. The Cougars are 4-1 against the Kings and 1-7 against everyone else.
- Cougars hurler Johnnie Jones allowed 3 homers in 7 innings during a no-decision against the Stars. He allowed all of 5 homers in 225.1 innings last season
- Mack Sutton is off to a quick start and a big reason why the New York Stars are tied with Cincinnati for top spot in the Continental Association. The 30 year old third baseman leads the CA with 6 homers and 22 rbi's.
- A Keystones update from Joey Mahoney of the Philadelphia Inquisitor: "A near-perfect 6-0 week for the Keystones. Roger Cleaves had a second solid week with another homer and 8 RBI to tie Bobby Barrell for the team lead at 10. Barrell only appeared in three games this week due to an abdominal strain, but homered in each of the three games to form a homer streak of four straight games. Lloyd Stevens strained his hamstring running the bases in his start this week and will need a couple of weeks to recover. An IL stint is likely, but there are pitchers at AAA Louisville waiting for the opportunity. Sid Moulton will likely get the ball in Stevens's spot in the rotation for the next turn."
- Harry Barrell is off to a sizzling start in Boston and was named the top performer in the Fed last week. Barrell is batting .444 after two weeks and providing his usual outstanding defense at shortstop. Boston is just 5-9 with the biggest problem spot being the mound, especially Ed Wood (0-2, 9.77) and Duke Hendricks (0-2, 6.65).
- Gothams slugger Red Johnson became the 16th player in FABL history to reach the 250 homerun milestone. Johnson took the Chiefs Gus Goulding deep for the milestone moon shot in the first inning of Monday's 6-5 win at Gothams Stadium. Johnson would add two more longballs the following day giving him 4 on the young season.
- Veteran Cannons veteran Red Hampton earned his 150th career victory with a 2-1 complete game victory over the Toronto Wolves last week. The 40-year-old spent his first decade and a half in the big leagues with the Chicago Chiefs before joining the Cannons in 1945.
- Bobby Boone is making the most of his chance to play every day. Stuck behind a lot of talent in the Gothams outfield, the 27-year-old was selected by the Philadelphia Sailors in the rule five draft and all he has done in two weeks of everyday play is get more hits than he had all of last year with the Gothams. Boone has 20 hits in 14 games and is among the CA leaders with his .370 batting average.
HICKEY CONTINUES TO TWIST IN WIND
The worst kept secret in hockey is the plans the Toronto Dukes have of naming former Dukes star and ex-Detroit coach Jack Barrell as their new head coach. It seemed a done deal late in the season when Barrell left a championship quality team out west in the Tacoma Lions to take over a struggling Cleveland Eries club in the Hockey Assocation of America. It made sense only when it was quickly realized the Eries are the farm club of the Toronto Dukes and the feeling was that Barrell would replace Norb Hickey behind the Dukes bench after Hickey guided the Toronto side to a historically bad season.
That was in mid-February and here we are well over a month and a half since the Dukes dismal season ended and Norb Hickey remains the Dukes coach, on paper at least. His contract, due to expire June 30th has not been exteneded and there is absolutely no indication from Toronto owner David Welcombe that an extension will happen. Quite the opposite in fact as Welcombe and his management team have promised big changes after the club slid from the best record in the regular season a year ago to one of its worst campaign's ever recorded.
This season aside, Hickey has a pretty impressive track record in his seven seasons behind the bench at Dominion Arena. His coaching record with the Dukes sits at 183-97-56 and he guided the club to back to back Challenge Cup titles. However, being swept by fourth place Montreal in the semi-finals last season after posting a league best 70 points created some issues for Hickey and the terrible 13-26-9 season this year appears to have sealed his fate. The only question remains is not "if" Hickey will be let go, but rather "when" he will be replaced by Barrell.
NAHC TEAM RECAPS: BROOKLYN EAGLES
Despite the fact that the Brooklyn Eagles missed the playoffs for the 9th consecutive season there was plenty of optimism around Prescott Arena as the Eagles 15 wins this season is nearly double what the won the three previous years combined. Following a dreadful 2-41-5 campaign a year ago, very little was expected of the Eagles when the puck dropped last November. In fact, rumours of the club folding at the end of this season were more common than Brooklyn wins over the past decade. Six months later, attendance remains a concern and there is still the fear that owner Edward Faberge may yet decide he has lost enough money on the club and fold up shop, but on the ice there was plenty to cheer about, even if there were not a lot of fans in the building to make noise.
The Eagles improved by 29 points -by far the biggest growth shhown by any team in the league- and threatened to sneak into the final playoff spot until a March swoon left them six points short of the New York Shamrocks. The turnaround can be attributed directly to the role played by 4 newcomers, including three from the west coast. 24 year old center Quinton Pollack was the top scorer in the Great Western Hockey League a year ago and he followed that up with an outstanding freshman campaign in the NAHL, tying for the league lead with 30 goals and has to be considered the favourite to win the McLeod Trophy, presented annually to the loop's top rookie.
Pollack, who starred for Tacoma a year ago, was joined by a pair of players from the Vancouver franchise in 26 year old Sam Coates and 22 year old Hank Walsh. Add in 23 year old Ian Doyle, who was unfortunately injured halfway through the season, and the Eagles finally had some offense. The blueline was also bolstered with addition of first round draft pick Robert Sharpley, who did not look out of place despite his tender age of 20, and third year rearguard Alexandre Viens, who spent the previous two seasons with Detroit. With some support finally in front of him, 31 year old Tom Brockers looked like he did in his prime with Boston when he was winning Cups and Juneau Awards for the Bees. Brockers earned a nomination for the Juneau -awarded to the top netminder- as he looks to add to the four he claimed while with the Bees.
There is still a lot of work needed to add depth, in particular secondary scoring, but the Eagles are finally flying in the right direction.
MONTHLY RECORD
NOV: 3-5-2 8 points
DEC: 5-6-1 11 points
JAN: 2-4-3 7 points
FEB: 4-5-1 9 points
MAR: 1-5-1 3 points
OVERAL 15-25-8 38 points
YOUNG PHENOM CLINE TRIUMPHS IN A BATTLE OF GENERATIONS
The fistic world witnessed a momentous occasion at the illustrious Bigsby Garden in New York City on Saturday evening as 22-year-old heavyweight sensation, Tommy "The Clarksville Comet" Cline, conquered his toughest opponent to date: the seasoned ring warrior Pete Sanderson. The Garden, a revered temple of pugilism, played host to this clash of generations, and the crowd was treated to a scintillating display that showcased the immense talent possessed by the young Tennessee native.
With an unblemished record of 10-0, with 9 wins coming by way of thunderous knockouts, Cline's journey had been impressive thus far. However, his encounter with Sanderson, a man boasting 32 victories and having once vied for the heavyweight championship against the renowned Hector Sawyer, posed a significant challenge. This bout not only represented the sternest test of Cline's burgeoning career but also marked only his second venture beyond the confines of a 6-round contest.
Cline's performance, though not flawless, exuded the poise and maturity of a seasoned fighter. The young prodigy adopted an aggressive approach, swinging wildly with the hope of connecting, and while his accuracy often faltered, it proved effective against his wily adversary. A whirlwind of energy, Cline unleashed an astonishing barrage, averaging well over 100 punches per round, yet landed a mere 13% of them. Nonetheless, Sanderson, recognizing the power emanating from Cline's right hand, wisely kept his distance, frustrating the raucous crowd that yearned for an all-out slugfest.
Savvy and experienced, Sanderson weathered the storm, hoping to exhaust his youthful counterpart with his relentless flurries. However, to his dismay, Cline's stamina seemed boundless, only intensifying as the bout progressed into the later rounds. Commanding victories in the 9th and 10th rounds, Cline left the judges with an easy decision. Two of the arbiters scored the contest 96-94 in favor of Cline, while the third saw a slightly wider margin of victory at 97-93.
While Cline's ascent to championship caliber is not yet complete, it is undeniably swift, leaving little doubt that he will soon be contending for the world title. Sanderson, now marked with a welt under his right eye as a testament to his encounter with the young dynamo, echoed the sentiments of those in attendance. "That kid is destined for greatness. He must simply learn to harness his energy and seize the right moments to unleash it," Sanderson remarked, encapsulating the shared sentiment of the mesmerized spectators.
The future looks bright for Tommy Cline, and his meteoric rise through the ranks serves as a testament to his exceptional talent. As he continues to refine his skills and mature as a fighter, the boxing world eagerly awaits the moment when this prodigious young star graces the world stage, ready to etch his name in the annals of pugilistic lore.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Tonight - London, Eng: Former world middleweight champ Jorge Cuellar (42-2-2) first fight in nearly 7 years against British middleweight Glen Root (13-16).
- April 29- Bigsby Garden: a month and a half after losing to Frank Melanson in the middleweight title fight, Nick Harris (19-3-1) returns to the ring in New York to face Steve Adams (5-6-1)
- April 29 - Paris France: Edouard Desmarais (36-1) vs Jean Raymond (11-8-1)
- May 16- Philadelphia: welterweight contender Rudy Perry (23-3-1) vs Keith Bowman (7-6-1)
- May 23 - Portland, Or: welterweight contender Mark Westlake (20-3-1) vs Stuart White (26-9-2)
- May 23 - San Fransciso: welterweight contender Ira Mitchell (16-1) vs George Gibbs (16-3)
- May 24- Jacksonville, FL: heavyweight contender Mark Fountain (21-3-1) vs Sylvester Vaughn (20-6-2)
- Aug 2 - Cougars Park, Chicago: Hector Sawyer (55-3-1) defends his world heavyweight title against Irish Pat Harber (31-7-1)
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/27/1947
- President Truman warned today that "excessive wholesale prices" are undermining the prosperity of the nation and warned that prices must be brought down if a recession is to be averted.
- Leaders of the 340,000 telephone strikers cut their wage demands in half in a compromise bid for a settlement in the 19-day national strike. In San Francisco, fists flew and dozens of arrests were made as striking phone workers massed near one of the main downtown exchanges.
- The Foreign Ministers Conference concluded in Moscow with little progress being made on the key issues in Germany and Austria after 45 days of talks. Truman met with Secretary of State Marshall for an update immediately upon his return.
- Princess Elizabeth, on her 21st birthday this week, solemnly dedicated her life to the service of the British commonwealth and called on its youth to lift the heavy burden of empire from the shoulders of its elders.