JUNE 16, 1947
SPECIAL COLLEGIATE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES EDITION
FIELD SET FOR AIAA DIAMOND TOURNEY
It comes as little surprise that the two powerhouse schools from Kentucky once again lead the way as the field is unveiled for the 1947 AIAA baseball tournament. Bluegrass State and Grange College are each ranked #1 and #2 for the second year in a row. Both have something to prove this time around as they were each eliminated from the tournament in their opening game a year ago. Making things even more interesting for Bluegrass State is the Mustangs will once again face the Georgia Baptist Gators in the opening round, a year after the Gators upset them 7-4 in the tournament opener in Cleveland.
This year's event will be split between Kings County Stadium in Brooklyn and Dyckman Stadium in New York and is set to get underway with the opening round games on Wednesday. Here is the complete bracket:
Led by All-American third baseman Frankie Williams, Lane State won the tournament a year ago as the Emeralds, despite being the #5 seed in the 16-team field, went all the way with wins in each of the single-elimination opening 3 rounds before sweeping the best of three final from Mississippi A&M in two games. Williams, now a sophomore and an All-American for the second year in a row, and his Emeralds are back in the tournament again this year, as are the runner-up Generals. Grange College had won the two previous national championship prior to the Lane State title a year ago.
Here are some of the top players to watch for on the top six seeded teams the tournament.
#1 BLUEGRASS STATE MUSTANGS: The Blue Mustangs always seem to have loads of talent and this year is no exception. Jim Urquhart (.323,3,49) was a second team All-American selection and combines with junior outfielder Otis O'Keefe (.312,8,40 -3rd rd Montreal) and sophomore third baseman Hank Estrill (.293,13,52) to lead the offense. They may lack a true ace on the mound but junior George Carter (9-5, 2.99 -9th rd Cougars) leads a deep collection of pitchers.
#2 GRANGE COLLEGE MUSTANGS: Senior pitcher Ralphie Spires went 10-4 this season and has twice been drafted but refused to sign with the Toronto Wolves. This time it was the St Louis Pioneers taking their shot at the 21-year-old, drafting Spires in the fourth round. Spires is one of the very few -and perhaps the only player to be a 4-year regular in high school as well as college. Grange College also has a pair of outstanding freshman outfielders in first team All-American selections Don Berry (.336,13,59) and Bill Morrison (.308,11,45).
#3 MARYLAND STATE BENGALS: An original feeder league school with 4 national titles in baseball, the Bengals strength this season comes from a trio of freshman in outfielder Cy Lewis (.277,13,46) and infielders Andy Green (.304,11,57) and Bill Bloom (.295,9,38). Tom Parker, an outfielder yet to hear his name called in the FABL draft, is the only key junior on this youthful club. Green was named a first team All-American this year while Lewis made the second team.
#4 OPELIKA STATE WILDCATS: Freshman pitcher Bill Kline (9-3, 2.70) had an outstanding season to lead the Wildcats.
#5 CAROLINA POLY CARDINALS: Another school with a terrific freshman pitcher in Johnny Young (11-4, 2.45), who has been named a first team All-American and likely will be a finalist for the Christian Trophy. The Cardinals also boast a middle infield dubbed AC/DC as it is patrolled by the Cunningham twins. Second baseman Dick (.283,5,46) and shortstop Archie (.280,1,34) are winding down their sophomore seasons.
#6 EASTERN STATE MONITORS: The tournament will be the last chance for the three juniors on the Monitors to impress the pro scouts as pitchers Al East and Red McConnell along with second baseman Sam Mazzotta were overlooked in the January phase of the FABL draft.
FARMER HEADS ALL-AMERICAN LIST
Only a very select few are named first team All-Americans three different times in their collegiate baseball career. The list has some impressive names such as Vic Crawford, Sal Pestilli and Bob Riggins. Now you can add Al Farmer's name to the list as the second baseman from Amarillo Methodist heads the list of All-Americans and earns the nod as the second baseman on the first team for the third consecutive season. It is extremly unlikely Farmer will be back for his senior season with the Grizzlies as he was selected 9th overall in the FABL draft by the Philadelphia Sailors in January and is expected to sign with the FABL club and begin his pro career.
Only one other junior -catcher Jess Garman of Arkansas A&T- made the first team on a squad dominated by freshman and sophomores. Garman was a second round selection of the Montreal Saints. The second team All-America squad did have five juniors including first round FABL selections Irv Clifford (#2 Pittsburgh) and Tony Britten (#11 Cincinnati). The other three were outfielders Jeep Erickson and Bill Mikelson who were selected with subsequent picks in the fourth round by Pittsburgh (Erickson) and Cincinnati (Mikelson). Catcher Clyde Scott, from tiny Bergen College, was the fifth junior and he was not selected in the first 10 rounds of the FABL draft but is eligible for the second phase in a couple of weeks.
TOP PERFORMERS THIS WEEK
- Brett Bing reports that the Toronto Wolves continue to be their own worst enemy. Team struggles to get to .500 then immediately starts to fall back, McCormick is having a great season at 37, would be a shame to waste his efforts. The big news is that first overall draft pick Les Ledbetter finished his high school career 45-0, 0.57 ERA, 460IP, 76 BB, 875 K, 0.69 WHIP. Soon to report to the Toronto system, may make a couple of starts in Tuscaloosa to get his feet wet.
- Percy Sutherland notes that the Chicago Chiefs are thrilled with Billy Brown's week: .389/.400/1.056 with 4 home runs. He's hit 7 home runs in 25 games since his call-up, giving the Chiefs a power bat to pair with Hopkins. That's a 42 home run pace for Brown. Hopefully we are looking at a young player who has figured it out.
- Detroit pitcher Dixie Lee hit his first big league homer last week at the age of 34.
- Mahlon Strong became the 17th player to reach the 250 homer mark. The Gothams slugger also has exactly 1200 RBI's. He's also 4 hits from 2000, hitting .333 as a 38 year old.
- Jim Lonardo's next start will tie him with Rabbit Day for 5th all time. This week Lonardo moved into 10th place all time for innings pitched.
- The Jones brothers have been red hot as the Cougars look to climb the standings, as both are in the midst of impressive scoreless streaks. Donnie has put together back-to-back shutouts and gone 22.2 innings without allowing a run. He's also riding a five game win streak and is tied for the CA lead with 9 victories. His 2..36 ERA (166 ERA+) is behind just Foresters' rookie Davey Morris (2.29) while his 62 strikeouts are even more then co-ace Pete Papenfus. Johnnie came a hit away from a no-hitter, and hasn't allowed a run in an even larger sample, as 24.1 innings have come and gone since he's given up a run. Johnnie's 2.95 ERA (133 ERA+) is second on the team and he's 5-2 in his 11 starts.
- Johnny Bologna tells us that Red Ross's Keystone career is over, as he was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Chiefs. The three-time All-Star and 1944 Allen Award winner was himself claimed off waivers by Philadelphia in 1940 and has to be one of the most successful waiver claims in team history. In 273 appearances (118 starts), Ross was 86-57 with 25 saves with a 3.02 ERA (114 ERA+). His 1944 season was his signature campaign: 23-8 with a 2.57 ERA for the Fed-winning Keystones. Ross, a 1945 WCS Champion, was 2-2 with a 3.25 ERA in five postseason starts spanning 1944 and 1945. Ross brought home the title for the Keystones in Game 6, as he pitched into the ninth inning (8.1 IP, 10 H, 2 ER (3 R), 4 BB, 5 K) in a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Cannons. The Keystones organization, top to bottom, all sent their well-wishes to Ross on the next chapter of his career in the Windy City.
- Bologna also points out it was a week where the Chiefs just abused the Keystones on the field. Former Keystones draft pick, Dino Robinson, keyed a go-ahead six-run fifth off ace Lloyd Stevens with a two-run single. The Chiefs took that opener of the three-game set in Chicago, 8-7, and went on to sweep the three game set. The rematch is scheduled for this Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Philadelphia.
- The Chiefs are a perfect 9-0 against the Keystones this season. Overall, the Chicago Feds are 12-5 to begin June, which is barely keeping pace with the Pioneers 11-4 start to the month.
- Staying with the Chiefs, Sutherland observes that since his two poor starts in mid May, Al Miller has been lights out. He's given up 3 runs (2 earned) in 25 July innings, fashioning a 3-0, 0.72 record. His ERA+ of 155 would be the best since his rookie season (167). And at age 34, Gus Goulding is in the midst of the best season of his career.
- scouting notes: Cougar first rounder Jerry Smith had a monster senior season, slashing .523/.589/1.205 with 16 doubles, 4 triples, 12 homers, 35 RBIs and 34 steals. He led all high school eligible draftees in slugging, ISO (.682), and OPS (1.793) while tied with 4th Overall Pick John Morrison for homers.
PACKERS LEAD WAY ON NAHC ALL-STAR LIST
The Chicago Packers may have come up just short in their bid for a first-ever Challenge Cup for the franchise but that did not stop the Packers from claiming three of the six slots on the inaugural NAHC all-star team as named by TWIFB. The Packers, who finished second in the league three points back of Boston, pushed the defending champion Bees to six games before eventually falling short in the Challenge Cup finals. Tommy Burns, who led the NAHC in scoring and seems a likely bet to win his second straight McDaniels Trophy as the NAHC's most valuable player, heads the list of three Packers on the all-league team. Joining Burns is his right winger Marty Mahoney, who finished 4th in league scoring with 48 points, and shutdown defenseman Jerry Finch, who had 25 points and was a pillar on the Packers blueline.
The champion Boston Bees placed two members on team in left winder Tommy Hart, who tied with Burns for the goal scoring lead with 30 while finishing second to the Packers pivot in points, as well as goaltender Pierre Melancon. Rounding out the team is 31-year-old Detroit defenseman Shel Herron, who led all rearguards in points with 30 as well as average game rating.
O'CONNOR OVERCOMES SLUGGISH START FOR SPLIT DECISION WIN
Brooks O'Connor had to pump the throttle with the getup of a Texas Sandman in the Atlantic City ring last night to sneak under the wire and salvage a split decision victory over Darwin Thomas after 10 rounds of off and on heated action. Thomas, a clear underdog despite an impressive 9-1-3 record entering the duel, piled up a sizeable lead in the first half of the bout, but O'Connor, who appeared asleep at the switch in the early heats, came on strong as Darwin faded and when the split decision in the Detroit natives favour was announced, it met with the approval of the 5000 fans on hand for the glovefest.
Referee Abe Curtin tabbed O'Connor the winner by two points. Judge Marsh Walker pegged O'Connor by a single point while Judge Ken Rudd felt Thomas was the winner by one point. After a fairly even opening three minutes, Thomas zoomed in front with solid work in rounds two through five and twice rocked O'Connor with righthand sucker punches to the jaw. Pawing out with a weak left jab, O'Connor was an eary prey to Thomas' rights and at close quarters but the bout shifted dramatically in the 6th round when O'Connor suddenly came to life.
The 30-year-old O'Connor, who always seems to find a position in the TWIFB's quarterly rankings of the top middleweights but has yet to be given a title shot, ran his record to 24-4-2 with the victory, although most observers felt it should have been a much easier time for him against the 27-year old from Buffalo than it turned out to be.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Jun 28 - Los Angeles: rising welterweight Mac Erickson (13-0) vs Nate MacGilvray (17-7-3)
- Jun 29- Brooklyn, NY: rising middleweight Jim Ward (14-1) vs Marvin Harris (20-7-2)
- Jun 30 - Baltimore, MD: middleweight contender Todd Gill (21-3-6) vs Owen Sheppard (14-4)
- Jul 4 -Fitzpatrick Park, Pittsburgh: Frank Melanson (32-0-2) defends his world middleweight title against John Edmonds (22-2).
- Aug 2 - Cougars Park, Chicago: Hector Sawyer (55-3-1) defends his world heavyweight title against Irish Pat Harber (31-7-1)
- Aug 16- Denny Arena, Boston: Harold Stephens (19-3-2) defends his world welterweight title against Carl Taylor (22-3-2).
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/15/1947
- Protesting the new labor legislation passed by Congress, 10,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania have voted to quit work, shutting down 14 mines.
- Noting he has thousands of letters on the tax and labor bills to study, President Truman announced he will withhold action on the bills until after he returns from a week-long goodwill trip to Canada.
- While in Canada, Truman told Canadian Parliament that the United States promises to aid any nation in Europe standing firm against coercion. Truman also sent an official protest to the Russians regarding Hungary.
- Austrian Parliament rejected a demand by the Communist party leader that a committee be appointed to investigate Austrian Foreign Minister Karl Gruber and his "negotiations" with American authorities.
- In Bulgaria, the communist dominated government expelled 23 legislators of the chief opposition party, claiming they resigned. But all 23, in a final statement to Parliament, contended that "we do not resign."
- Mongolian troops, supported by Soviet warplanes, invaded the Sinkiang province of China and are fighting Chinese defense troops on the western edge of the Gobi desert.