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Tiger Fan · 08-31-2023, 02:11 PM

MAY 31, 1948

HOW SOON IS TOO SOON TO PROMOTE TOP PROSPECTS?

In this early stage of the season most FABL clubs are focused on what are very tight pennant races but the Pittsburgh Miners and Cleveland Foresters have already surmised this is not their year to contend. The Foresters are 15-26 and already 7.5 games back in a Continental Association that you can throw a net over the other 7 clubs -all within 2 games of each other- while the Miners are even worse than predicted after dealing stars Lefty Allen and George Cleaves to the Gothams in order to focus on a complete rebuild. The Pittsburgh nine is just 11-30 and already 14 games out of first place.

With the focus squarely on the future the big question for each of those two clubs is how soon do they start to give some of that future a shot at the big leagues? How soon is too soon to start promoting potential future stars to let them learn on the job while patroling major league diamonds? Will it help or hinder that development if perhaps they come up too soon? That was the question a number of General Manager's and newspaper types weighed in with thoughts on over the past week after the Miners announced the promotion of top prospect Irv Clifford and the Foresters pondered some promotions of their own.

Boston Scouting Director Johnny Robards and Detroit Assistant General Manager Harris Dixon both felt it made sense to challenge players, particularly those who are showing they can handle the level they are presently at. "We fast-tracked a lot of 19-year-olds over the last couple of years," explained Dixon. "Stan Kleminski, Edwin Hackberry and Carl Potter are three who were in Detroit as teenagers. When the club is not quite a contender I see no downside to challenging the kids."

Robards adds that the Minutemen put a big emphasis on how a player handles the level he is at. "I'm really trying to let the stats tell the story for me. Scouting reports get you drafted but stats are going to take precedence after that." Robards points out that the Boston organization is in the process right now of moving players either up or out to make room for the next crop of draftees which will join in late June and early July.

Chicago Chiefs Hall of Famer and AGM Jim Golden notes that "with no free agency, there is no incentive to leave younger players in the minors (no arbitration clock). Particularly with a last place club. Let the kids play!"

John Brinker, reknowned scribe for the New York Daily Mirror makes another big point in the value of getting highly talented youngsters to the big leagues as quickly as possible. "Something to factor in - the draft lottery is based on improvement. The most improved teams (in terms of wins, and excepting the pennant winners) get extra "balls" in the lottery. This was done so that there is always an incentive to try to win, even if that means improving from 60 wins to 65 wins. So it's always to your benefit to look for victories."

As for Clifford and his first week as a big league ballplayer, well the results were mixed. He excelled at the plate, batting .300 (6-for-20) with his first major league extra base hit but the normally sure-handed shortstop committed more errors in 6 big league games (6) than the five he had in 31 games this season at AAA St. Paul. That does seem to be a common theme with young shortstops as a couple of years back Detroit was forced to demote Kleminski because of his glove despite a solid showing at the plate and the Gothams are having to accept miscues from young Cecil LaBonte, but that is easy to do when you are leading the Fed in batting as the 23-year-old is presently.

Tom Barrell, the former star pitcher and current Brooklyn Kings manager probably summed it up best. "Playing shortstop in this league as a young player "is a big jump. Patience is the key word as there will be growing pains." And right now is time that a club like Pittsburgh or Cleveland can afford to accept those growing pains with the eye towards it paying off in the future.

COUGARS TAKE TURN AT TOP OF CONTINENTAL

It's not late September and it is hardly a comfortable lead but the Chicago Cougars will take any time they can get at the top of the Continental Association standings after last season's dreadful 7th place finish. The Cougars story is well know - so often favoured and considered the deepest roster in the CA but always falling just short- but an 8-2 run that included taking two of three from both Brooklyn and Cincinnati- is a positive sign for a club that needs all the confidence it can get. There is only 2 games separating first place from seventh in the CA and the Cougars are actually sharing top spot with the Montreal Saints so a runaway pennant, so parity is the key word for the Continental clash this season it appears.

The Federal Association has a little separation with the Philadelphia Keystones holding off the hard-charging New York Gothams by a game and a half at the moment. The Keystones were on a 14-2 run until they hit a speedbump last week and dropped 4 in a row before ending the slide with a 7-0 shutout of Pittsburgh in the back end of yesterday's twin bill. The skid started with a loss to the Gothams but the Keystones still salvaged a split of the short two-game set by taking the opener. New York dropped two of three over the weekend in St Louis to slow their push slightly and there is more injury concern in Queens after it was learned that George Cleaves will join Red Johnson and Mahlon Strong on the sidelines. Cleaves, who was hitting .353, will miss a month and be sorely missed but the Gothams fortunes turned with a winning run after Johnson and Strong went down so perhaps they can also withstand the loss of the future Hall of Fame catcher.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

McCormick Reaches Milestone, Wolves Struggle to Score --The Toronto Wolves continue their long road trip with 8 games in 7 days this week. The trend of the bats going cold for extended periods continues as May gets ready to turn to June. On Monday the team did salvage one win in the Big Apple against four losses by prevailing 6-4 over the Stars in 10 innings led by veteran catcher Clarence Howerton. Remarkably Howerton, not known for his foot speed, legged out his 5th triple of the season. The Wolves made the most of their hits cashing in 6 times on only 9 hits. After the maiden voyage on their new DC3 into Montreal the bats go arctic cold, Saints Wally Doyle and Pat Weakley shutout the Wolves in back to back games. Doyle wins 6-0 tossing a 4 hitter, Weakley follows up with 3 hitter in a 2-0 victory. Again Toronto manages to win just a single game in a series when the bats finally respond to their wakeup call rapping out 10 hits in a 3-1 win Thursday afternoon on another solid outing by George Garrison. A milestone was reached in that game which will be chronicled later in this article.

A short flight into Philly Thursday night where again the hitting goes into the doldrums at Sailors Memorial. On Friday the Sailors have 15 hits to the Wolves 4 in a 7-1 victory. More concerning in this game was Joe Hancock's line. Hancock only went 3 2/3 giving up 6 runs on 6 hits including 3 doubles along with a number of other hard hit balls that found Toronto gloves. Saturday the Wolves waste a fine effort by Jimmy Gibbs who works into 8 giving only a solitary run before handing the ball over to the recently hot Cookie Myers. Myers gives up a long ball to Les Cunha, his first of '48, as the Sailors walk it off 3-1. Toronto has 12 hits but is unable to push runs across stranding 12 on the base paths prompting Call to mutter "Hits do not mean a damn without runs." Another double bill on Sunday, meaning the Wolves will play 11 games in 8 days, with another 2 on Monday in Cleveland making 13 games in 9 starts well with 3-1 win. Jerry York, 3-5, turns in a good performance before turning it over to Jayson to get final out racking up his 7th save of the year. In the night cap Al Duster evens his record at 3-3 scattering 4 hits in the third whitewashing of the Wolves this week in 6-0 complete game victory. After scoring 6 Monday in NY the Wolves only tally 8 runs in the other 7 games of the week. The record on the trip is now 6-9 with two left, in what feel like are "must win" games against the Foresters on Monday. Amazingly the Wolves are still only 2 games out in the CA as teams seemed to taking turns beating each other up.

After relaying all the bad news of the prior week for the Wolves it is time to recognize a player who passed a major milestone in Montreal on Thursday, Fred McCormick. His double in the top of the first off Bert Cupid was hit number 2500 for his career joining only 35 others in FABL's 72 year history. McCormick, who began his career with in the Gothams system as an 11th round pick in 1927 before being traded to St. Louis, along with 4 others for the legend Max Morris, in 1930. In 7 years with the Pioneers. starting all but 46 games, missing 40 in 1933 with a sprained ankle, over that span, McCormick's line was .352/.432/.548 106 HR 751 RBI in 1036 games.

During the spring of 1938 Wolves engineered a deal for McCormick and Howerton by sending four pitchers in Otis Cook, Jake Smith, Buddy Long and Russ Peeples along with outfielder Les Hendrix to the Gateway City. Many fans say this was the deal that allowed the Wolves to capture the 1940 championship. With the Wolves McCormick's stats are .326/.428/.535 117 HR 539 RBI in 908 games including the .399 227 hit season of 1939. It must be remembered that Fred was one of the first into the service for WWII missing for all intents and purposes 4 seasons from 1941-44. Most insiders believe that that Fred would have easily passed into the 3000 hit club without the loss of those 4 seasons. With 4 months left in the season Brett thinks that he should more past such iconic names as Layton, Cook, Hampton, Barnett, McMurtrie, Pidgeon, Cleaves, Brady, possibly Goins before then end of 1948 into the top 30 all-time in hit.

Notes from another successful week for the Gothams but not all the news is good.

Cecil LaBonte has taken over the lead in the FA batting race. The second year SS is not hitting .361 for the season.
Teammate George Cleaves has moved into third place at .353, although Cleaves will be missing the next month with a hip strain.
23 year old Ray Miller, a 4th round pick in 1942, will be called up to take Cleaves roster spot. Miller was hitting .313 with 3 homers and 15 RBI at AAA Toledo. The righty hitting Miller is expected to share time with lefty Josh Porter.
The weather is getting warmer and Walt Messer is heating up. Messer hit .300 with 4 homers this past week.
How are the Gothams surviving, even thriving with Red Johnson and Mahlon Strong on the IL? Look no further than the 3 men filling their sports in the order. Bunny Hufford,, Flipper Robinson and Noah Anderson all have an OPS above .800

The All-Star Ballots are out, and Leland Kuenster of the Chicago Herald-Examiner is particularly interested in the voting for Federal Association catcher where George Cleaves and his younger brother Roger are neck and neck. Kuenster gives the edge to the Keystones youngster at the moment and with the Gothams star now sidelined a month it looks like Roger will get the nod.
From Doc Shaw of the Boston Globe: "Am I imagining things here? It felt like there were far fewer double headers last season. This year it feels like we are in the middle of the war again with the amount we have?"
Percy Pringle Sr. of The Brooklyn Eagle wonders how the trade deadline activity will be this year. "Incredible parity (or is it mediocrity) this season so far. 7 teams in the CA are within 2 games of each other. The FA isn’t much different as the top 6 clubs are 500 or better and just 4.5 games separate them. As the calendar turns to June I suspect things will separate a bit more but if they don’t you won’t have many sellers in the July trade deadline market. I suspect with the No draft pick trading that deals would be harder to do this deadline and that will be even more the case with so many teams with a chance."
Note- FABL has altered league rules to prohibt the trading of draft picks as well players selected in the current draft until after the conclusion of the World Championship Series each year.
The Foresters may have the worst record in the CA, but Cleveland management has plenty to look forward to. Cleveland Scouting Director Fred Davis points out that there is some real promise in the young pitching corps in AAA Rochester. Kirby Brewer, a 1945 10th round pick is 7-1 with a 2.85 era thru 9 AAA starts while former Whitney College star Adrian Czerwinski, a 1946 second rounder, is 6-2, 3.63.
Word from Dyckman Stadium is the Stars are considering this might be the end of the line for shortstop Joe Angevine. The 32-year-old is not hitting well at all, but his glove is still good. But his future replacement Paul Watson killed it in AA and after being moved up to AAA is still crushing it. Could it be time for a changing of the guards? OSA disagrees as it considers Angevine, despite his paltry .191 batting average this season, to be one of the top twenty position players in the league.
John Stallings has 8 starts--a quarter of the way to 32. Outside of a stinker of game in Detroit a couple of weeks ago, he's been pitching like you would expect a top-of-the-rotation guy to pitch. And he has struck out more batters than he has walked, cutting his walk rate nearly in half (6.2 BB/9 in 1947 to 3.8 BB/9).
Another minor league no-hitter. This time it was from Oliver Allen, a 28-year-old journeyman, who turned the trick for Class A Peoria of the Heartland League against Cedar Rapids last week. He is with the Sailors organization after being a 1944 waiver claim from Brooklyn. Allen has some big league experience with both of those organizations primarily during the war years, going 4-4 with 7 saves over parts of 4 seasons.

YIM NAMED TOP PLAYER IN FED CAGE LOOP

The Federal Basketball League completed its sophomore season last week with the Baltimore Barons winning the league playoff title. The loop has announced it's most valuable player for the 1947-48 campaign as Larry Yim of the Buffalo Brawlers. The 25-year-old center led the league with an average of 19.6 rebounds per game while his 20.5 points per game were second in the loop behind only Irvin Mudd of the Philadelphia Phantoms. Yim jumped to the Brawlers this season after spending the previous two years with the Rochester Rockets of the American Basketball Conference. Prior to that the Texas born 6'10" Yim starred for the CC Los Angeles Coyotes and was a second team All-American selection his junior year.

Joining Yim on the FBL All-Pro team this year are a pair of Philadelphia Phantoms in forward Danny Hendon and guard Jerry Hubbard as well as Detroit forward Jack Kurtz and guard Joe Hampton of the Chicago Wildcats. The 26-year-old Hendon, a former college star at Coastal California, is in his first year in the FBL after spending the previous three seasons with the Richmond Clippers of the ABC. Hubbard, a 27 year old who was a former teammate of Hendon's at Coastal California, spent the previous three seasons with the Washington Statesmen and was the MVP of their playoff winning run last spring before jumping to the Phantoms.

Hampton, son of former pro baseball player Jim Hampton and a former All-American at Western Iowa, made his pro debut a year ago with the Hartford Patriots of the ABC and was named the top newcomer in the established loop last season before deciding to return to his hometown of Chicago and pay for the Panthers. Hampton averaged nearly 13 points per game and was second behind only fellow All-Pro Hubbard with 9.4 assists per game.

Kurtz is the only one from the group of All-Pro's who has played in the FBL in both of its seasons, joining the Detroit Mustangs a year ago after playing just 3 games for the Washington Statesmen in 1945-46. A native of Louisiana, the 26-year-old is a local hero in Detroit, having starred at Detroit City College during his college days.

CUNNING CRAWFORD PUTS BRAKES ON CLINE'S ASCENT

HARTFORD - A fistic lesson was dealt under the bright lights of the ring as veteran pugilist Roy Crawford, 29, taught the ambitious young Tommy Cline, 23, a thing or two about the sweet science. Crawford, the wily Bostonian, displayed his ring wisdom, leaving the unbeaten Tennessean with his first professional loss. The raucous crowd witnessed a display of grit and experience prevailing over youthful exuberance in this heavyweight clash.

Cline, the rising star with an unblemished record, stormed into the squared circle, his eyes firmly set on the ultimate prize – a shot at Hector "The Cajun Crusher" Sawyer's coveted crown. Little did he know that his path to glory would be delayed, as Crawford meticulously demonstrated the art of boxing mastery, making every punch count and rendering Cline's wild swings a futile effort.

In this pugilistic showdown, Crawford's seasoned fists, forged by 30 battles in the ring, danced to a calculated rhythm. He achieved his 27th victory by adhering to the virtues of patience, precision, and power. Cline's youthful aggression quickly transformed into fatigue as he found more air than flesh with his swings. Crawford's own long wait for a title shot resonated with the crowd, knowing that the elusive opportunity had persistently evaded the gritty contender under the guidance of promoter Chester Conley.

Murmurs from the boxing circles reminisce on Crawford's missed chances, particularly after his victorious bout against Scott "The Chef" Baker, another young prodigy. Fate seemed to favor other contenders like Mark Fountain, leaving Crawford in the shadows. A stumble against Lewis Jones temporarily dimmed his prospects, yet Crawford managed an impressive rebound, tallying four consecutive triumphs. The names of experienced foes like Glenn Hairston and Nick Brooks now decorate his résumé.

Alas, boxing fortunes are as fickle as Lady Luck herself. Just as Crawford's star resurged, the current heavyweight kingpin, Hector Sawyer, devised a transatlantic campaign, rendering the Boston brawler's dream of facing him a distant hope. Sawyer's impending bout with Steve Case marks the prologue to his European venture, a move that will keep him away from American soil for an extensive period, as confirmed by Conley.

For Crawford, standing tall with a 27-3 record, the satisfaction of obstructing Tommy Cline's ascension must suffice. The young gun from Clarksville, Tennessee, had previously bulldozed through 13 challengers, including veterans Glenn Hairston and Pete Sanderson. The boxing fraternity had earmarked Cline as a star in the making, his ticket to a bout with the Cajun Crusher nearly punched. Yet, Crawford's ring clinic has altered this course, unveiling the significance of patience and tactical acumen, virtues that can only forge a better fighter out of Cline in the years to come.

While the future shines uncertainly for Roy Crawford, the triumph at Hartford's Constitution Hall Saturday stands as a testament to his enduring skill. As the pugilistic world speculates on Crawford's next move, one fact remains - on this night, the veteran fighter taught the young and undefeated Tommy Cline that the path to glory is often paved with sweat, strategy, and the taste of defeat.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

Jun 4 - London, Eng: rising WW Danny Julian (19-0) vs Dennis Whitwell (5-8)
Jun 12 - Gothams Stadium: World HW champ Hector Sawyer (57-3-1) defends his title against Steve Case (19-1-2)
Jun 18- Los Angeles, CA: HW Dan Miller (36-9-1) vs Allen Bailey (36-6-2)
Jun 21- Detroit, MI: MW contender John Edmonds (24-3) vs Willie Binion (19-6-1)
Jun 24- Houston, TX: rising MW Tommy Campbell (20-0-1) vs Joe Moore (19-4)
Jun 27 -Atlanta, GA: WW Dale Roy (29-6) vs Harry Larkin (16-1)
Jun 28- Detroit, MI: WW Carl Taylor (22-6-2) vs Brian Pierce (9-0)
Jun 30- Baltimore, MD MW contenders Nick Harris (23-4-1) vs Brooks O'Connor (27-4-2)
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 5/30/1948

Arabs reject a UN call for a cease-fire in Palestine until the state of Israel is dissolved.
The United States joined Russia in a demand for forceful UN measures to stop the war in Palestine.
President Truman is expected to make major speeches on foreign policy, conservation and displaced persons on his cross-country train trip in June.
Truman touched off a Republican cry of "politics" with his message calling on Congress to raise social security benefits and let 20 million more people share in them.
General Motors has averted a strike by agreeing to an 11 cent an hour wage increase with auto workers. The settlement also led by the end of the week to an agreement ending the nearly three-week old Chrysler walkout.

08-31-2023, 02:11 PM	#780
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,815	May 31, 1948 MAY 31, 1948 HOW SOON IS TOO SOON TO PROMOTE TOP PROSPECTS? In this early stage of the season most FABL clubs are focused on what are very tight pennant races but the Pittsburgh Miners and Cleveland Foresters have already surmised this is not their year to contend. The Foresters are 15-26 and already 7.5 games back in a Continental Association that you can throw a net over the other 7 clubs -all within 2 games of each other- while the Miners are even worse than predicted after dealing stars Lefty Allen and George Cleaves to the Gothams in order to focus on a complete rebuild. The Pittsburgh nine is just 11-30 and already 14 games out of first place. With the focus squarely on the future the big question for each of those two clubs is how soon do they start to give some of that future a shot at the big leagues? How soon is too soon to start promoting potential future stars to let them learn on the job while patroling major league diamonds? Will it help or hinder that development if perhaps they come up too soon? That was the question a number of General Manager's and newspaper types weighed in with thoughts on over the past week after the Miners announced the promotion of top prospect Irv Clifford and the Foresters pondered some promotions of their own. Boston Scouting Director Johnny Robards and Detroit Assistant General Manager Harris Dixon both felt it made sense to challenge players, particularly those who are showing they can handle the level they are presently at. "We fast-tracked a lot of 19-year-olds over the last couple of years," explained Dixon. "Stan Kleminski, Edwin Hackberry and Carl Potter are three who were in Detroit as teenagers. When the club is not quite a contender I see no downside to challenging the kids." Robards adds that the Minutemen put a big emphasis on how a player handles the level he is at. "I'm really trying to let the stats tell the story for me. Scouting reports get you drafted but stats are going to take precedence after that." Robards points out that the Boston organization is in the process right now of moving players either up or out to make room for the next crop of draftees which will join in late June and early July. Chicago Chiefs Hall of Famer and AGM Jim Golden notes that "with no free agency, there is no incentive to leave younger players in the minors (no arbitration clock). Particularly with a last place club. Let the kids play!" John Brinker, reknowned scribe for the New York Daily Mirror makes another big point in the value of getting highly talented youngsters to the big leagues as quickly as possible. "Something to factor in - the draft lottery is based on improvement. The most improved teams (in terms of wins, and excepting the pennant winners) get extra "balls" in the lottery. This was done so that there is always an incentive to try to win, even if that means improving from 60 wins to 65 wins. So it's always to your benefit to look for victories." As for Clifford and his first week as a big league ballplayer, well the results were mixed. He excelled at the plate, batting .300 (6-for-20) with his first major league extra base hit but the normally sure-handed shortstop committed more errors in 6 big league games (6) than the five he had in 31 games this season at AAA St. Paul. That does seem to be a common theme with young shortstops as a couple of years back Detroit was forced to demote Kleminski because of his glove despite a solid showing at the plate and the Gothams are having to accept miscues from young Cecil LaBonte, but that is easy to do when you are leading the Fed in batting as the 23-year-old is presently. Tom Barrell, the former star pitcher and current Brooklyn Kings manager probably summed it up best. "Playing shortstop in this league as a young player "is a big jump. Patience is the key word as there will be growing pains." And right now is time that a club like Pittsburgh or Cleveland can afford to accept those growing pains with the eye towards it paying off in the future. COUGARS TAKE TURN AT TOP OF CONTINENTAL It's not late September and it is hardly a comfortable lead but the Chicago Cougars will take any time they can get at the top of the Continental Association standings after last season's dreadful 7th place finish. The Cougars story is well know - so often favoured and considered the deepest roster in the CA but always falling just short- but an 8-2 run that included taking two of three from both Brooklyn and Cincinnati- is a positive sign for a club that needs all the confidence it can get. There is only 2 games separating first place from seventh in the CA and the Cougars are actually sharing top spot with the Montreal Saints so a runaway pennant, so parity is the key word for the Continental clash this season it appears. The Federal Association has a little separation with the Philadelphia Keystones holding off the hard-charging New York Gothams by a game and a half at the moment. The Keystones were on a 14-2 run until they hit a speedbump last week and dropped 4 in a row before ending the slide with a 7-0 shutout of Pittsburgh in the back end of yesterday's twin bill. The skid started with a loss to the Gothams but the Keystones still salvaged a split of the short two-game set by taking the opener. New York dropped two of three over the weekend in St Louis to slow their push slightly and there is more injury concern in Queens after it was learned that George Cleaves will join Red Johnson and Mahlon Strong on the sidelines. Cleaves, who was hitting .353, will miss a month and be sorely missed but the Gothams fortunes turned with a winning run after Johnson and Strong went down so perhaps they can also withstand the loss of the future Hall of Fame catcher. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN McCormick Reaches Milestone, Wolves Struggle to Score --The Toronto Wolves continue their long road trip with 8 games in 7 days this week. The trend of the bats going cold for extended periods continues as May gets ready to turn to June. On Monday the team did salvage one win in the Big Apple against four losses by prevailing 6-4 over the Stars in 10 innings led by veteran catcher Clarence Howerton. Remarkably Howerton, not known for his foot speed, legged out his 5th triple of the season. The Wolves made the most of their hits cashing in 6 times on only 9 hits. After the maiden voyage on their new DC3 into Montreal the bats go arctic cold, Saints Wally Doyle and Pat Weakley shutout the Wolves in back to back games. Doyle wins 6-0 tossing a 4 hitter, Weakley follows up with 3 hitter in a 2-0 victory. Again Toronto manages to win just a single game in a series when the bats finally respond to their wakeup call rapping out 10 hits in a 3-1 win Thursday afternoon on another solid outing by George Garrison. A milestone was reached in that game which will be chronicled later in this article. A short flight into Philly Thursday night where again the hitting goes into the doldrums at Sailors Memorial. On Friday the Sailors have 15 hits to the Wolves 4 in a 7-1 victory. More concerning in this game was Joe Hancock's line. Hancock only went 3 2/3 giving up 6 runs on 6 hits including 3 doubles along with a number of other hard hit balls that found Toronto gloves. Saturday the Wolves waste a fine effort by Jimmy Gibbs who works into 8 giving only a solitary run before handing the ball over to the recently hot Cookie Myers. Myers gives up a long ball to Les Cunha, his first of '48, as the Sailors walk it off 3-1. Toronto has 12 hits but is unable to push runs across stranding 12 on the base paths prompting Call to mutter "Hits do not mean a damn without runs." Another double bill on Sunday, meaning the Wolves will play 11 games in 8 days, with another 2 on Monday in Cleveland making 13 games in 9 starts well with 3-1 win. Jerry York, 3-5, turns in a good performance before turning it over to Jayson to get final out racking up his 7th save of the year. In the night cap Al Duster evens his record at 3-3 scattering 4 hits in the third whitewashing of the Wolves this week in 6-0 complete game victory. After scoring 6 Monday in NY the Wolves only tally 8 runs in the other 7 games of the week. The record on the trip is now 6-9 with two left, in what feel like are "must win" games against the Foresters on Monday. Amazingly the Wolves are still only 2 games out in the CA as teams seemed to taking turns beating each other up. After relaying all the bad news of the prior week for the Wolves it is time to recognize a player who passed a major milestone in Montreal on Thursday, Fred McCormick. His double in the top of the first off Bert Cupid was hit number 2500 for his career joining only 35 others in FABL's 72 year history. McCormick, who began his career with in the Gothams system as an 11th round pick in 1927 before being traded to St. Louis, along with 4 others for the legend Max Morris, in 1930. In 7 years with the Pioneers. starting all but 46 games, missing 40 in 1933 with a sprained ankle, over that span, McCormick's line was .352/.432/.548 106 HR 751 RBI in 1036 games. During the spring of 1938 Wolves engineered a deal for McCormick and Howerton by sending four pitchers in Otis Cook, Jake Smith, Buddy Long and Russ Peeples along with outfielder Les Hendrix to the Gateway City. Many fans say this was the deal that allowed the Wolves to capture the 1940 championship. With the Wolves McCormick's stats are .326/.428/.535 117 HR 539 RBI in 908 games including the .399 227 hit season of 1939. It must be remembered that Fred was one of the first into the service for WWII missing for all intents and purposes 4 seasons from 1941-44. Most insiders believe that that Fred would have easily passed into the 3000 hit club without the loss of those 4 seasons. With 4 months left in the season Brett thinks that he should more past such iconic names as Layton, Cook, Hampton, Barnett, McMurtrie, Pidgeon, Cleaves, Brady, possibly Goins before then end of 1948 into the top 30 all-time in hit. Notes from another successful week for the Gothams but not all the news is good. Cecil LaBonte has taken over the lead in the FA batting race. The second year SS is not hitting .361 for the season. Teammate George Cleaves has moved into third place at .353, although Cleaves will be missing the next month with a hip strain. 23 year old Ray Miller, a 4th round pick in 1942, will be called up to take Cleaves roster spot. Miller was hitting .313 with 3 homers and 15 RBI at AAA Toledo. The righty hitting Miller is expected to share time with lefty Josh Porter. The weather is getting warmer and Walt Messer is heating up. Messer hit .300 with 4 homers this past week. How are the Gothams surviving, even thriving with Red Johnson and Mahlon Strong on the IL? Look no further than the 3 men filling their sports in the order. Bunny Hufford,, Flipper Robinson and Noah Anderson all have an OPS above .800 The All-Star Ballots are out, and Leland Kuenster of the Chicago Herald-Examiner is particularly interested in the voting for Federal Association catcher where George Cleaves and his younger brother Roger are neck and neck. Kuenster gives the edge to the Keystones youngster at the moment and with the Gothams star now sidelined a month it looks like Roger will get the nod. From Doc Shaw of the Boston Globe: "Am I imagining things here? It felt like there were far fewer double headers last season. This year it feels like we are in the middle of the war again with the amount we have?" Percy Pringle Sr. of The Brooklyn Eagle wonders how the trade deadline activity will be this year. "Incredible parity (or is it mediocrity) this season so far. 7 teams in the CA are within 2 games of each other. The FA isn’t much different as the top 6 clubs are 500 or better and just 4.5 games separate them. As the calendar turns to June I suspect things will separate a bit more but if they don’t you won’t have many sellers in the July trade deadline market. I suspect with the No draft pick trading that deals would be harder to do this deadline and that will be even more the case with so many teams with a chance." Note- FABL has altered league rules to prohibt the trading of draft picks as well players selected in the current draft until after the conclusion of the World Championship Series each year. The Foresters may have the worst record in the CA, but Cleveland management has plenty to look forward to. Cleveland Scouting Director Fred Davis points out that there is some real promise in the young pitching corps in AAA Rochester. Kirby Brewer, a 1945 10th round pick is 7-1 with a 2.85 era thru 9 AAA starts while former Whitney College star Adrian Czerwinski, a 1946 second rounder, is 6-2, 3.63. Word from Dyckman Stadium is the Stars are considering this might be the end of the line for shortstop Joe Angevine. The 32-year-old is not hitting well at all, but his glove is still good. But his future replacement Paul Watson killed it in AA and after being moved up to AAA is still crushing it. Could it be time for a changing of the guards? OSA disagrees as it considers Angevine, despite his paltry .191 batting average this season, to be one of the top twenty position players in the league. John Stallings has 8 starts--a quarter of the way to 32. Outside of a stinker of game in Detroit a couple of weeks ago, he's been pitching like you would expect a top-of-the-rotation guy to pitch. And he has struck out more batters than he has walked, cutting his walk rate nearly in half (6.2 BB/9 in 1947 to 3.8 BB/9). Another minor league no-hitter. This time it was from Oliver Allen, a 28-year-old journeyman, who turned the trick for Class A Peoria of the Heartland League against Cedar Rapids last week. He is with the Sailors organization after being a 1944 waiver claim from Brooklyn. Allen has some big league experience with both of those organizations primarily during the war years, going 4-4 with 7 saves over parts of 4 seasons. YIM NAMED TOP PLAYER IN FED CAGE LOOP The Federal Basketball League completed its sophomore season last week with the Baltimore Barons winning the league playoff title. The loop has announced it's most valuable player for the 1947-48 campaign as Larry Yim of the Buffalo Brawlers. The 25-year-old center led the league with an average of 19.6 rebounds per game while his 20.5 points per game were second in the loop behind only Irvin Mudd of the Philadelphia Phantoms. Yim jumped to the Brawlers this season after spending the previous two years with the Rochester Rockets of the American Basketball Conference. Prior to that the Texas born 6'10" Yim starred for the CC Los Angeles Coyotes and was a second team All-American selection his junior year. Joining Yim on the FBL All-Pro team this year are a pair of Philadelphia Phantoms in forward Danny Hendon and guard Jerry Hubbard as well as Detroit forward Jack Kurtz and guard Joe Hampton of the Chicago Wildcats. The 26-year-old Hendon, a former college star at Coastal California, is in his first year in the FBL after spending the previous three seasons with the Richmond Clippers of the ABC. Hubbard, a 27 year old who was a former teammate of Hendon's at Coastal California, spent the previous three seasons with the Washington Statesmen and was the MVP of their playoff winning run last spring before jumping to the Phantoms. Hampton, son of former pro baseball player Jim Hampton and a former All-American at Western Iowa, made his pro debut a year ago with the Hartford Patriots of the ABC and was named the top newcomer in the established loop last season before deciding to return to his hometown of Chicago and pay for the Panthers. Hampton averaged nearly 13 points per game and was second behind only fellow All-Pro Hubbard with 9.4 assists per game. Kurtz is the only one from the group of All-Pro's who has played in the FBL in both of its seasons, joining the Detroit Mustangs a year ago after playing just 3 games for the Washington Statesmen in 1945-46. A native of Louisiana, the 26-year-old is a local hero in Detroit, having starred at Detroit City College during his college days. CUNNING CRAWFORD PUTS BRAKES ON CLINE'S ASCENT HARTFORD - A fistic lesson was dealt under the bright lights of the ring as veteran pugilist Roy Crawford, 29, taught the ambitious young Tommy Cline, 23, a thing or two about the sweet science. Crawford, the wily Bostonian, displayed his ring wisdom, leaving the unbeaten Tennessean with his first professional loss. The raucous crowd witnessed a display of grit and experience prevailing over youthful exuberance in this heavyweight clash. Cline, the rising star with an unblemished record, stormed into the squared circle, his eyes firmly set on the ultimate prize – a shot at Hector "The Cajun Crusher" Sawyer's coveted crown. Little did he know that his path to glory would be delayed, as Crawford meticulously demonstrated the art of boxing mastery, making every punch count and rendering Cline's wild swings a futile effort. In this pugilistic showdown, Crawford's seasoned fists, forged by 30 battles in the ring, danced to a calculated rhythm. He achieved his 27th victory by adhering to the virtues of patience, precision, and power. Cline's youthful aggression quickly transformed into fatigue as he found more air than flesh with his swings. Crawford's own long wait for a title shot resonated with the crowd, knowing that the elusive opportunity had persistently evaded the gritty contender under the guidance of promoter Chester Conley. Murmurs from the boxing circles reminisce on Crawford's missed chances, particularly after his victorious bout against Scott "The Chef" Baker, another young prodigy. Fate seemed to favor other contenders like Mark Fountain, leaving Crawford in the shadows. A stumble against Lewis Jones temporarily dimmed his prospects, yet Crawford managed an impressive rebound, tallying four consecutive triumphs. The names of experienced foes like Glenn Hairston and Nick Brooks now decorate his résumé. Alas, boxing fortunes are as fickle as Lady Luck herself. Just as Crawford's star resurged, the current heavyweight kingpin, Hector Sawyer, devised a transatlantic campaign, rendering the Boston brawler's dream of facing him a distant hope. Sawyer's impending bout with Steve Case marks the prologue to his European venture, a move that will keep him away from American soil for an extensive period, as confirmed by Conley. For Crawford, standing tall with a 27-3 record, the satisfaction of obstructing Tommy Cline's ascension must suffice. The young gun from Clarksville, Tennessee, had previously bulldozed through 13 challengers, including veterans Glenn Hairston and Pete Sanderson. The boxing fraternity had earmarked Cline as a star in the making, his ticket to a bout with the Cajun Crusher nearly punched. Yet, Crawford's ring clinic has altered this course, unveiling the significance of patience and tactical acumen, virtues that can only forge a better fighter out of Cline in the years to come. While the future shines uncertainly for Roy Crawford, the triumph at Hartford's Constitution Hall Saturday stands as a testament to his enduring skill. As the pugilistic world speculates on Crawford's next move, one fact remains - on this night, the veteran fighter taught the young and undefeated Tommy Cline that the path to glory is often paved with sweat, strategy, and the taste of defeat. UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS Jun 4 - London, Eng: rising WW Danny Julian (19-0) vs Dennis Whitwell (5-8) Jun 12 - Gothams Stadium: World HW champ Hector Sawyer (57-3-1) defends his title against Steve Case (19-1-2) Jun 18- Los Angeles, CA: HW Dan Miller (36-9-1) vs Allen Bailey (36-6-2) Jun 21- Detroit, MI: MW contender John Edmonds (24-3) vs Willie Binion (19-6-1) Jun 24- Houston, TX: rising MW Tommy Campbell (20-0-1) vs Joe Moore (19-4) Jun 27 -Atlanta, GA: WW Dale Roy (29-6) vs Harry Larkin (16-1) Jun 28- Detroit, MI: WW Carl Taylor (22-6-2) vs Brian Pierce (9-0) Jun 30- Baltimore, MD MW contenders Nick Harris (23-4-1) vs Brooks O'Connor (27-4-2) 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 5/30/1948 Arabs reject a UN call for a cease-fire in Palestine until the state of Israel is dissolved. The United States joined Russia in a demand for forceful UN measures to stop the war in Palestine. President Truman is expected to make major speeches on foreign policy, conservation and displaced persons on his cross-country train trip in June. Truman touched off a Republican cry of "politics" with his message calling on Congress to raise social security benefits and let 20 million more people share in them. General Motors has averted a strike by agreeing to an 11 cent an hour wage increase with auto workers. The settlement also led by the end of the week to an agreement ending the nearly three-week old Chrysler walkout. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 08-31-2023 at 02:12 PM.