APRIL 12, 1948
TWIFB CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION PREVIEW
COUGARS LONG OVERDUE TO WIN CONTINENTAL CROWN
Amidst the crackling anticipation of spring, baseball fans find their gaze firmly fixed on the horizon, where dreams, prophecies, and forecasts collide. Today, as we delve into the world of the Continental Association, This Week in Figment Baseball once again dares to peek into the crystal ball, projecting the ebbs and flows of a new season. Beware, for such predictions have often sparked debates, debates that rage on well into the fall evenings when champions are crowned.
Let's rewind the tape. Seven times in eight years, we've stamped the Chicago Cougars with the label of favorites. Such praise was validated only once in 1941, while the rest became a tapestry of near-misses. Yet, this year, we roll the dice once more. The Cougars boast a cavalcade of talents: the Jones brothers, Duke Bybee, and Pete Papenfus, united under a potent pitching banner. Add in shortstop Skipper Schneider who combines with Walt Pack, Red Bond, Leo Mitchell and Sal Pestilli and a formidable offense emerges. Such strength must surely conquer any jinx, any unseen force that has defied the Windy City's ambitions. Could it be this is the year when fortune finally tilts their way?
TWIFB CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION PREDICTIONS
1- CHICAGO COUGARS: The Cougars' luck has to change. We may just keep picking them until it finally does as they are simply that good. Judging by their spring showing they may run away with things. A red-hot Sal Pestilli (6-13, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 BB) and Leo Mitchell (8-16, 2B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 BB) powered a 7-0 week and a 26-7 spring record overall with three games to play. The strength of the squad has been the pitching, as as the six starters have combined to go 18-1 with a 2.00 ERA in 148.2 innings pitched. The only member of that group with an ERA above 2.50 is Harry Parker (3.15), who is expected to start the season in the bullpen. There really seems to be no way the Cougars should not claim the Continental flag, but we have certainly said that before.
2- NEW YORK STARS:Judging by talent alone the Cougars should walk away with the pennant but predicting second through seventh looks like it could be a major challenge and one might have just as much success in pulling team names randomly out of a hat. Bill Barrett will miss the first week or two but as long as he is healthy the Stars are our pick for second place. The pitching staff showed some cracks last season but outside of Chicago we are not sure there is a better top four than Eli Panneton, Chuck Cole, Vern Hubbard and Richie Hughes. Mack Sutton and Freddie Jones provide veteran offense to supplement Barrett and we think this might be the year Bob Riggins breaks out.
3- PHILADELPHIA SAILORS: The Philadelphia Sailors are the defending champs and TWIFB always seems to underestimate them. They certainly have some talent but we worry about their pitching staff, although that is an area they always seem to find a surprise gem or two.
4- BROOKLYN KINGS: We love the addition of Bob Arman from Cincinnati to a young Brooklyn team that has some up and coming talent. We likely would have pegged the Kings for second place had they not dealt Buddy Long to the Gothams over the winter. Harry Carter is having a decent spring and so is Rusty Petrick but add Long to a group that includes Leo Hayden and the Kings pitching might have carried them a long ways. Arman is a huge addition so the Kings should stay in the first division and the future looks bright.
5- CINCINNATI CANNONS: Much has already been said about the decision to deal Bob Arman to a rival for young prospects a season after the Cannons came within a game of their fourth pennant in five years. There is some other mound talent, like Charlie Griffith and Les Bradshaw but a 1-2 of Deuce Barrell and Arman was hard to top. The Cannons need a bounce back year from Chuck Adams but it says here that for the first time since the move to the Queen City the Cannons fall out of the first division.
6- MONTREAL SAINTS: Is this finally year the Saints pitching staff -one that always seemed to have such promise and be on the verge of breaking through- does so? Pat Weakley and Bert Cupid both cracked the top twenty pitcher list from OSA and if they, along with the Wallys (Reif and Doyle) come through Montreal might finally have its first winning season since 1930. Gordie Irwin is another good young arm to watch and we really look forward to seeing what shortstop Gordie Perkins can do as he approaches what should be his prime years. Maurice Carter is having a strong spring and might solve the Saints hole at first base.
7- TORONTO WOLVES: We did say at the outset that you could put 2nd thru 7th in a hat so while we do not see the Wolves challenging for the pennant, they could end a two-year run of sub-.500 finishes. It just feels like the Wolves are right about where the Pittsburgh Miners were a couple of years ago and things could get worse before they get better in Toronto.
8- CLEVELAND FORESTERS: The decision to deal Hiram Steinberg and Richie Hughes made sense as the Foresters have a lot of young arms and prior to the deals had very little in the way of position player prospects. They have some good young talent in the system, but it feels like this year will be a bit of a step back as they follow up a 6th place finish in '47 with a return to the CA basement. Foresters fans have been patient, spending the entire decade deep in the second division but it is going to take a few more years before things might start to improve on the shores of Lake Erie.
This paper may render our predictions, yet remember, the diamond's truth remains. With each crack of the bat and every hurl from the mound, a narrative unfolds, and fate takes its course. Fans, buckle up, for the baseball ride of 1948 is upon us. Hope, dream, and may the season surprise us all. Next week we will look at our forecast for the Federal Association.
GRAYS LEAD WAY AS GWL SEASON SET TO START
The third major league season of the Great Western League gets underway Wednesday with all 8 clubs in action including the defending Bigsby Cup champion Oakland Grays who will visit Seattle. The Grays, who nosed out Dallas in the title series a year ago, finished with the best spring record at 22-14, two games up on both the Centurions and the Portland Green Sox.
- A couple of minor deals were made as teams jockey to get their rosters set for opening day. The Brooklyn Kings added to their pitching depth with the aquisition of veteran righthander Jackie James from the Montreal Saints. The 27-year-old, who went 18-28 over parts of four seasons in Montreal, was out of options and likely to be exposed on waivers. The Saints get 22-year-old outfielder Paul Cantin in return. The 1943 4th round pick hit .282 between A and AA a year ago but did not crack the OSA top 500 prospect list.
- Boston and the Philadelphia Sailors swapped prospects with the Minutemen adding outfielder Don Richmond in exchange from third baseman Charlie Russell. Richmond, a 1942 4th round selection of the Sailors spent most of last season in AA but made his big league debut in going 2-for-9 in an 8 game trial with the Sailors. Russell is a 21-year-old 8th rounder from the 1945 who struggled in Class C last year but OSA feels he could develop into a second division starter.
- Message sent this week to Kings Management - “Hello my name is Peanuts Louden and I want to go to Brooklyn!” Outfielder Peanuts Louden goes 9-15 with 2 HR’s and 5 RBI’s this week. Will it earn him the 24th man spot?
- With the trade for James, Percy Pringle Sr. of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle updates us on the latest from Kings camp. "Brooklyn is still working its roster but with the addition of P Jackie James that means the clock is striking midnight likely on Vic Carroll. Carroll has pitched well this spring but most of those innings came when the umpires were experimenting with the strike zone. There are 29 in camp but 4 pitchers are slotted to go down (Ellis, Thorpe, Fitzgerald, and Smith). That leaves 2 spots on the 24 man roster. Peanuts was been given a bench job so it looks like 3 veterans will be fighting for a spot. A trio of 33 year olds as 2B Gil London (who Barrell and Scout John Spears still like), OF Alex Juris and IF Jim Jenkins. 3B/IF James Beard and 1B Ron Rattigan (who is nursing a minor injury) will both make the team. SS/2B Chuck Lewis will head to AAA Jersey City where he will play SS and work out at 2B equally. The Kings are still very high on his potential and want the kid to play every day.
- Joe York was optioned to Newark this morning leaving the Detroit Dynamos with 28 in camp so they have 4 more cuts to make. One is almost assuredly veteran catcher Clyde Farr, who has had a rough spring and will lose his job as Rick York's understudy to Cuban League star Jackie Harper. The other cuts will come from the moundsemen where 3 players -all out of options- stand to be waived or released outright. The expectation is they will be Jesse Bowen, Pete Brown and Jim Bob Jones.
- John Stallings has now made 3 spring starts for the Chicago Chiefs: 16 IP, 11 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 13 K. Is he poised to take the next step?
- The Gothams are down to 24. They will ahve their 3 new pitchers start the remaining spring games. It's time to look like major league pitchers as Buddy Long (0-4, 6.04), Lefty Allen (0-3, 6.45) and Joe Brown (1-0, 6.55) have struggled to say the least in spring action.
- Toronto made numerous moves today and is down to 24 on the major league roster. Still sorting out all the pieces in the minors and Management expects constant movement in the system for the first couple of months. Season ticket numbers exceed 10K for what is believed to be the first time, Bernie Millard thanks the fans issuing this statement "We appreciate the solid fan support. It is now time for the players and staff to justify the support of the good people of Toronto. The objective is provide an entertaining form of baseball every night."
SHAMROCKS LEAD CUP FINAL 2 GAMES TO ONE
New York Closes in on First Cup Since 1932
The Toronto Dukes drew first blood with a 2-1 victory over New York in the opening game of their best-of-seven Challenge Cup Final series, but the Shamrocks followed up with a pair of wins to take a two games to one series lead in advance of tomorrow's game four at Bigsby Garden. The Shamrocks are closing in on what they hope will be their first Challenge Cup win in 16 years as they won the last of their three titles in 1931-32. The Dukes have hoisted the Cup six times -only Boston has won more- with the most recent being three years ago.
The two clubs, both surprise winners after knocking off first place Chicago and second place Boston in the semi-finals, continued their Cup chase last Wednesday evening in Toronto. It took just 15 seconds for Lee Carlson to open the scoring when he beat Shamrocks netminder Etienne Tremblay before many of the 15,483 in attendance at Dominion Gardens had even settled into their seats. Late in the first period Adam Greenham, who missed most of the regular season with an injury, evened the score for the New Yorkers. The only other goal would come early in the second period when Phillipe Dubois point shot found its way past Tremblay. New York would outshoot the Dukes 14-3 in the final twenty minutes and 40-26 overall but Terry Russell, who continues to guard the Toronto cage in the absence of Gordie Broadway, was outstanding and helped the Dukes hang on for the 2-1 victory.
Russell did not enjoy the same success two nights later as the Shamrocks scored three times in the first period and won by a 6-3 score to even the series. Six different New York players, including former Duke Laurel Albers accounted for the scoring with rookie Jim Macek contributing 3 assists.
The series shifted to New York for game three last night and it was all Shamrocks. Orval Cabbell and Adam Greenham -with his third of the series- scored in the first period to stake the Shamrocks to an early 2-0 lead. Joe Martin and Laurel Albers notched second period markers to double that lead and Jocko Gregg and Jim Macek completed the 6-0 rout with third period tallys. Etienee Tremblay stopped all 26 shots he faced in the New York net for his second shutout of the playoffs while Terry Russell was beaten six times for the second game in a row. The series continues tomorrow with game four in New York and the big question in Toronto is will Gordie Broadway be significantly recovered from the virus he is battling to get his first playoff start?
Jim Macek, a 20-year-old selected third overall by the Shamrocks last July is the surprise scoring leader this playoff. The Toronto-born youngster has points in each of the last 4 games including 6 points in the 3 games against Toronto. He had 8 goals and 29 points in 45 regular season games and has added 10 points in 8 playoff contests.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
ROCHESTER WINS HAA TITLE
The Rochester Robins won a hard-fought series with the Pittsburgh Rovers to claim the Hockey Association of America playoff title 3 games to one. Each of the final three games of the series were decided by a single goal with the Robins clinching the Cup with a 5-4 victory on home ice in game four. Rochester, which is not affiliated with an NAHC club, finished with the top record in the East Division at 63 points while the Rovers, who are the farm team of the Chicago Packers, led the West and the entire HAA with 70 points in 48 games. 28-year-old Tom Mansfield, a career minor league who has had stops in Syracuse, Buffalo and Cleveland before joining the Robins in 1946, led all playoff scorers with 6 points in the four games.
In the Great Western Hockey League the Seattle Emeralds upset first place Tacoma in the finals to end the Lions three-year hold on the Yeadon Cup.
DUKES TRAIL 2-1 IN LEAGUE FINAL
Toronto has dug themselves a hole in the series with the NY Shamrocks by dropping 2 of the first 3 games. Things started well for the team at Dominion Gardens on Wednesday night before a crowd of 15,483. The crowd has barely settled into their seats when Les Carlson lit the lamp 15 seconds into the game from Quinton Pollock and Hubert Burdette. New York rallied to tie the game with less than 3 minutes remaining the first on a marker by Adam Greenham assisted by Jim Macek and Ryan Kennedy. The second period was a wide open affair with a total of 31 shots on goal, 18 by the Shamrocks, but even with that amount of offense the score remained knotted at 1 going into the third. Netminders Etienee Tremblay and Terry Russell made a number of acrobatic saves during the period. Early in the third Philippe Dubois put the Dukes up on passes from Bobbie Sauer with Alex Lavalliere also drawing an assist. It was one of only three times Tremblay was tested in the period. The last 18 and a half minutes the Dukes withstood a furious onslaught from the Shamrocks. The puck seemed to never leave the Dukes end but Terry Russell again shut the door securing the 2-1 win.
The Friday night game in Toronto had the Dukes chasing from the start, before the game was 12 minutes old New York had put 3 behind Russell. Toronto rallied in the second with Zimmerman and Hofford beating Tremblay to narrow the margin to 3-2 at the end of two. Bert McCalley put the Shamrocks up 4-2 8 minutes into the third then Pollack scored a shorthanded marker to again pull the home side within one with 11 minutes remaining in regulation but Orval Cabell put the game away at 16:25 from Laforme and Macek. Greenham's empty netter made the final 6-3 New York and evened the series.
Having lost home ice advantage the Dukes travelled into NYC for a Sunday afternoon encounter in front of 12,950 hostile fans in Bigsby Gardens. Orval Cabbell, who has been a thorn in the Dukes side all season, opened the scoring from Sam Coates and Ryan Kennedy just past the 7 minute mark. Things went from bad to worse less than 2 minutes later when Greenham converted from Macek and Laforme. Any hopes of a comeback were quickly dashed when Joe Martin tallied just past the 2 minute mark of the second from ex-Duke Laurel Albers and Sharpley. The Dukes mounted sporadic periods of offense throughout the game but were never able to solve Tremblay. The Shamrocks were finishing every check, shrinking the ice on the Dukes at every opportunity. Every broken up rush or turnover by Toronto seemed to yield a good scoring chance for New York as the Shamrocks put 3 more past Russell who is starting to show signs of fatigue for a 6-0 victory.
Coach Barrell's comments after the game were "We have dug ourselves a deep hole, now it is time to dig ourselves out of it. I told the players after the first game, which we were fortunate to win, that we cannot play a run and gun game. It did not seem to sink in, maybe now the guys will realize we have to get back to what got us here." Toronto fan's spirits were boosted somewhat when news was released that Gordie Broadway has finally recovered from his extended bout of influenza after missing all 6 post season games. The question is, will Barrell go to him in Game 4 after not having played for 2 weeks? Russell has been the major reason the Dukes are in the final, is it time for a change?
REDWOOD WINS NATIONAL CAGE CROWN
The Redwood Mammoths are collegiate basketball national champions for the first time in school history after being their West Coast Athletic Association rivals CC Los Angeles 62-47 in the title game Monday evening at New York's Bigsby Garden. Junior forward Punch Perez led the way for the Mammoths balanced attack with 12 points while fellow junior Timmy Adams and senior Michael Beckley each added 10. The Mammoths took control of the game early, building a quick 9-2 lead and never let up, leading by 7 points at the half before going on to dominate the second half and secure the first national title in any major sport for the Stanford, Ca., school.
To say it was surprise result would be an understatement for a school that had made the AIAA tournament field of 32 teams just 5 times in 34 years and entering this season had never won a tournament game. The Mammoths were a top ten team during the regular season for the first time in school history after posting a 29-5 record overall including a 12-2 finish in WCAA play, leading them to their first conference title.
Forced to travel east for the regional round as a third seed the Mammoths opened the tournament with a 55-47 victory over the University of New Jersey before downing Academia Alliance champ Brunswick 56-50 in the second round with backup center Stephen Woodard, a sophomore who has never started a game, scoring a career high 16 points. Next up was the regional final and they held likely national player of the year Ward Messer to 11 points in his final collegiate game after the Mammoths edged Liberty College 56-54 to earn a trip to New York for the semi-finals.
The semi-final was another thrilling contest with the game going down to the wire before Redwood, led by 15 points from Punch Perez and 14 from Timmy Adams, pulled out a 58-56 win to advance to the championship game against a CC Los Angeles squad that was looking for its record 5th National Title.
AIAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME HISTORY
BARONS STAY ALIVE IN HUNT FOR TOP SPOT IN EAST
David Hawley's basket with 6 seconds remaining in regulation time lifted the Baltimore Barons to a 79-78 victory at home over Philadelphia Thursday evening and kept the Barons slim hopes of catching the Phantoms for first place in the Federal Basketball League's East Division alive. Baltimore has five games remaining on its schedule including another meeting with the Phantoms at the Chesapeake Arena tonight and trails the Phantoms, who have four games remaining, by 3.5 games. It is quite a turnaround for a Philadelphia squad that finished last in the East a year ago and missed the playoffs. Both Baltimore and Philadelphia have clinched post-season berths in this the second year of the FBL's existence, with the third place Buffalo Brawlers also assured of playoff action.
In the West the defending league champion Chicago Panthers are the only team assured a playoff berth. Cincinnati, Detroit and Cleveland are separated by just 2 games as the three squads battle it out for the final two playoff positions. Cleveland is on the outside looking in at the moment but the Crushers have won 4 straight including wins over both Cincinnati and Detroit last week.
Code:
FEDERAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE STANDINGS
EAST W L PCT GB
Philadelphia 30 14 .682 -
Baltimore 26 17 .605 3.5
Buffalo 20 24 .455 10.0
Toronto 10 33 .233 19.5
WEST W L PCT GB
Chicago 31 14 .689 -
Cincinnati 21 24 .467 10.0
Detroit 19 24 .442 11.0
Cleveland 19 26 .422 12.0
SCORING LEADERS PPG
Irvin Mudd, PHI 21.5
Larry Yim, BUF 20.3
Richard Campbell, CHI 20.0
Jamel Porter, TOR 19.4
David Reed, DET 18.3
Jack Kurtz, DET 17.8
Danny Hendon, PHI 16.7
Jack Hirst, BAL 16.2
George Kelley, CLE 15.9
Nestor Patterson, BAL 15.7
STATESMEN SET PRO BASKETBALL WINS RECORD
Three more victories last week extended Washington's winning streak to 9 straight games and improved the Statesmen record to 43-11, setting a new single-season record for wins and smashing the mark they set a year ago with 41 wins. The Statesmen won't match their winning percentage of a year ago as the schedule has been extended and the club was an amazing 41-3 before going on to win its seocnd American Basketball Conference title last season.
All four teams in each of the ABC's two division's qualify for the playoffs so there is not as much ugency as teams in the FBL face but the Boston Centurions are a team that appears to be fading fast. The Cents have lost 4 straight -including 3 to the New York Knights who have overtaken them for second place in the East Division- and are 5-11 since the beginning of March.
Code:
AMERICAN BASKETBALL CONFERENCE STANDINGS
EAST W L PCT GB
Brooklyn 34 21 .618 -
New York 29 26 .527 5.0
Boston 26 28 .481 7.5
Hartford 22 34 .393 12.5
WEST W L PCT GB
Washington 43 11 .796 -
Richmond 26 29 .473 17.5
Rochester 20 34 .370 23.0
Pittsburgh 18 35 .340 24.5
SCORING LEADERS PPG
James Phillips, HAR 19.6
Ivory Mitchell, BKN 19.2
Morgan Melcher, BOS 18.9
Stewart Hurlburt, RIC 18.9
John Rodrigez, HAR 18.6
Norm Yates, RIC 18.5
Ivan Sicsco, WAS 18.2
Charles Hooper, WAS 18.1
Augie Schleicher, PIT 17.4
Terry Flowers, ROC 17.2
EDMONDS HAS SHORT NIGHT IN RING RETURN
Former World Middleweight champion John Edmonds, who handed Frank Melanson his first professional loss last July before losing the rematch to the Pittsburgh born champion in December, returned to the ring for what turned out to be merely the briefest of appearances. The 29-year-old needed just 2 and a half minutes to knock out John Moore last Monday evening in Waterbury, Ct.
Edmonds dominated right from the opening bell of the bout that was slated for 10 rounds. He caught Moore with a vicious cross just 14 seconds in to the bout and just continued to pound away at the 28-year-old New York born fighter. With Moore seemingly out on his feet in the closing seconds of the round, referee Vic Green stepped in and called a halt to the proceedings.
Edmonds, who hopes to get another shot at Frank Melanson after the champ aces European title holder Edouard Desmarais in July, improves to 24-3 with the victory while Moore, a relative unknown on the national scene, dips to 13-14-1.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Apr 24- Denny Arena, Boston: World WW champ Harold Stephens (21-3-2) defends his title against Mac Erickson (16-0)
- Apr 24- Denny Arena, undercard: HW Cannon Cooper (23-3-1) vs Roy Madison (10-5-2)
- Apr 28- San Francisco: WW Ira Mitchell (19-2) vs Joe Simpson (7-5-1)
- Apr 29- Philadelphia Keystone Arena: HW Scott Baker (16-3-2) vs Chris Sullivan (19-6-4)
- Apr 29- Atlantic City: WW Rudy Perry (25-4-1) vs Greg Wall (4-4-1)
- June 12 - Gothams Stadium: World HW champ Hector Sawyer (57-3-1) defends his title against Steve Case (19-1-2)
- Jul 10 - Sailors Memorial: World MW champ Frank Melanson (33-1-2) defends his title against Edouard Desmarais (40-1)
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/11/1948
- Britain ordered fighter escorts for all planes coming into Berlin until it receives assurances that Soviet planes "will not again endanger British flights" after a Russian plane and an airliner collided over the German city.
- 20 were killed including 7 policemen as Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city, has been terrorized by looting mobs that set more than 100 buildings ablaze.
- A revolt in Columbia forced the hasty removal of US personnel in the American Embassy in riot-wrecked Bogota and left more than 100 dead. Meanwhile the government in Paraguay has reported scotched an attempted Communist coup.
- Finland and Russia signed a friendship treaty that will see the Finns retain their political independence and no new bases given on Finnish soil to the Soviets.
- Coal union boss John Lewis decided to fight a court injunction that ordered an end to the 26-day soft coal strike by United Mine Workers, dragging the strike on another week and forcing the Government to cut all coal-burning train service in half to cope with the shortage.
- Former Minnesota Gov. Harold Stassen slowed New York Gov. Thomas Dewey's run towards the Republican presidential nomination after Stassen won the Wisconsin primary. General MacArthur's campaign was also dealt a serious blow with the loss in Wisconsin.