JULY 26, 1948
CAN PIONEERS AND SAILORS REPEAT?
The last time FABL had a rematch in the World Championship Series was back in 1935 when the Cleveland Foresters and New York Gothams met for the second consecutive year. Prior to that you need to go all the way back to 1914 for a second straight battle between the Washington Eagles and the old Baltimore Clippers. So, it is clear the St Louis Pioneers and Philadelphia Sailors are fighting an uphill battle and odds are very much against both repeating as flag winners, but each club is very much in contention as the calendar is about to flip to August.
The Pioneers had a bit of a slow start but have gone 22-15 since June 20 and 8-4 since the all-star break. That showing, combined with a mini-slump that has seen the New York Gothams drop 10 of their last 16 games, suddenly has the surprise champs of a year ago within 2.5 games of the Fed front-runners. The Gothams are healthy again, but this year that almost seems like a bad thing as they seem to be winning more with one or more of their key offensive contributors on the sidelines. The Pioneers have a big injury of their own to deal with as reigning Allen Award winner Danny Hern is not expected back in the rotation until late next month but in the meantime Dick Long (9-6, 3.70) has filled in nicely alongside Hal Hackney (14-5, 3.19) and Hiram Steinberg (8-9, 3.31) at the top of the St Louis rotation. The deadline is fast approaching and the Pioneers chances would like be much better with another big bat but they are very much in the race at the moment.
It is easy to overlook the Philadelphia Sailors in the Continental Association as they lack the big superstar bats of Bill Barrett and the New York Stars and the pitching staff is nowhere near as flashy as that of the Chicago Cougars but there the Sailors are- once more in the thick of the Continental race nestled nicely in between the Stars and Cougars in second place. The Sailors are not dominant in any one facet of the game - they just seem to do everything well. The pitching has been very strong led by Win Lewis (9-7, 3.20) and Charlie Gordon (8-2, 3.67) despite the fact that Slick Wesolowski has missed the entire season. The offense lacks power but has plenty of speed and somehow game-in and game-out gets the job done. It might be a big ask for manager Ernie Sprinkle and his club to once more outlast both the Stars and Cougars but the Sailors are very much in the mix and well on their way to a sixth straight season with at least 80 wins.
TOP PICK MILLER YET TO SIGN
With the recent news that pitcher Dave Smith has reached a deal with the Cincinnati Cannons that leaves only Tom Miller as an unsigned first rounder. Miller, the two-time Christian Trophy winning shortstop out of Coastal State, was the first overall selection but so far he and the Washington Eagles have not yet agreed to terms on a deal. Miller is confident they will work something out but if nothing is on paper by August 20 he says he will return to Coastal State which would give Miller the opportunity to try and be the first three-time winner of the trophy presented to the top collegiate ballplayer. It would also mean he would re-enter the draft next January.
Here is an update on each team's top draft pick.
BOSTON- High school shortstop Joe Kleman was surprsingly still available for the Minutemen at pick 11 and hs is off to a decent start to his pro career at class C, slashing .269/.348/.436 in 19 games for the Hattiesburg Top Hats. Kleman remains at #5 overall on the OSA prospect list.
BROOKLYN- Minnesota high schooler Jimmy Isgro was selected 12th overall by the Kings. The young righthander has struggled in adjusting to Class C, going 0-4 with a 9.64 era in 4 starts for Marshalltown. He slots in at #61 on the current OSA list.
CHIEFS- Without a first round pick the Chiefs did have the top selection in the second round which they used on high school pitcher Walt Cooper. It took a record-setting signing bonus to keep him from attending Central Kentucky and Cooper has made three starts for Waterloo, and while the overall results have been mixed (1-2, 6.75), he has averaged 1 strikeout per inning pitched. OSA ranks him #132 on the prospect list.
COUGARS- Like there cross-town rivals, the Chicago Cougars ere without a first round pick so their top selection was 18-year-old third baseman Amos Peterson with the 26th overall selection. Peterson is slow to adjust to Class C, slashing .167/.306/.267 in 13 games but he did hit his first professional homerun last week. OSA lists Peterson at #139 on the prospect pipeline.
CINCINNATI- Dave Smith finally signed with the Cannons a little over a week ago but the 17-year-old Brooklyn native has yet to be assigned to a minor league club. OSA puts Smith at #162 on the prospect list.
CLEVELAND- The Foresters had a pair of first rounders which they used on high school third baseman Stump Patterson (2nd overall) and second baseman Jim Urquhart (15th) from Bluegrass State. They are presently teammates at Class C Ottumwa where Urquhart is slashing .412/.444/.824 and likely bound soon for Class B while Patterson is faring quite well considering his age with a .321/.381/.415 slash line. OSA is high on both with Urquhart at #20 and Patterson #30 on the current prospect list.
DETROIT- Detroit native Dino Sharp was selected 3rd overall by the Dynamos and the 18-year-old immediately cracked the OSA top five prospect list. He is ranked 4th at the moment and while struggling through 20 games of Class C (.186/.304/.339) he has hit 3 homeruns and has hits in each of his last four games.
MONTREAL- The Saints selected 4th and went with high school second baseman Pete Ireton. Just two weeks into his pro career, things are going a little slow at the plate for Ireton (.196/.245/.217) but his work in the field has been terrific. OSA lists him at #29 on the prospect pipeline.
NY STARS- High schooler Gene Curtis was the first pitcher selected, going to the Stars with pick #6. Like many youngsters, his first test of Class C has not gone well with an 0-3 record and an 11.32 era in 10 innings, primarily in relief. He is #80 on the OSA prospect list.
NY GOTHAMS- 21-year-old Hank Estill, a third baseman out of Bluegrass State, was the Gothams top pick at 7th overall. He stepped right into AA but is taking some time to get adjusted with a slash line of .196/.236/.235. OSA ranks him at #24 overall and second behind only Kings farmhand Ken Newman among third basemen.
KEYSTONES- The Keystones selected high school centerfielder Buddy Miller with the 6th choice. The club decided to test the Florida teen by assigning him to Class A Allentown right off the bat and the results have been good with Miller shashing .317/.364/.390 through his first dozen games as a pro. OSA loves him and lists Miller at #8 on its prospect chart.
SAILORS- The Continental Association champs had to wait until the 16th and final pick of the opening round and they opted for high school second baseman Curt Brooks, who was a teammate of Minutemen selection Joe Kleman (11th pick). The Princeton, IL. high schooler has 19 games at Class C Gulfport on his resume and an impressive .300/.380/.343 slash line. He is #71 on the prospect pipeline at the moment.
PITTSBURGH- Thanks to the trades that sent away George Cleaves and Lefty Allen the Pittsburgh Miners owned three first round picks. The lottery balls did not treat the club great as they ended up with picks 9, 13 and 14. Roy Snedden, a high school third baseman, was their choice at 9 and Sneddon is now in Class B after tearing up the C level in a quick one week trial. His numbers after the promotion to Spokane (.310/.356/.429) are also quite good and OSA slots him in at #48 on its scouting list. The other two first rounders are both former high school centerfielders in Ralph Hughes and Glen Holbrook. Hughes is ranked #37 on the scouting list while Holbrook is listed as the #47 prospect. Hughes has played a dozen games at Class C Jackson and is slashing .341/.431/.591 while Holbrook's numbers (.315/.405/.370) are only slightly less impressive.
ST LOUIS- The Pioneers dealt their first rounder to Cleveland in the deal that brought Hiram Steinberg to St Louis and helped secure a WCS title so there top pick was not until 31st overall. That would be Red Hinton, an All-American centerfielder out of Redwood University who was assigned recently to Class A Hartford where he is slashing .261/.419/.435 for the Colonials. OSA lists him at #123 on its prospect pipeline.
TORONTO- The Wolves used the 8th overall selection on California born high school outfielder Bill Irvin. The 18-year-old recently was assigned to Class C Tuscaloosa of the Gulf States League and is slashing .217/.280/.435 with his first professional hit being a homerun. OSA puts Irvin presently at #25 on its prospect pipeline.
WASHINGTON- College shortstop Tom Miller (1st overall) is the only remaining unsigned first round selection. The Eagles have also failed to reach an agreement so far with second round selection Dutch Reeves.
- A sad what might be the end to the illustrious career of Bob Martin after the 41-year-old blew out his knee in a game last week. Hard to see Martin coming back at his age from a 12-13 month recovery period. If it is the end the long-time Chief leaves with some impressive numbers including 3,255 career hits, 8th most all-time.
- Pete Papenfus is on a tear for the Chicago Cougars. After a 4-5 start, Peter the Heater has gone 7-2 including a 4-hit shutout of Cincinnati last week.
- Toronto columnist Brett Bing reports that the Wolves, after a 9-2 stretch, are letting thoughts of a pennant, or at least a chase, enter their minds. Being 7 1/2 out after 94 games with 4 teams to climb means they need a hot 9 weeks. Hal Wood is leading the FABL in BA at .355 and the pitching staff is holding their own recently but the question in fans minds is "Has Call relied on the SP too much, will they run out of gas?" Les Ledbetter was recently promoted to A in Davenport despite less than glowing results in Vancouver 3-5 5.76, 1.71 WHIP, 90 IP is having more trouble in A ball. First start was tough 2 1/3 9 ER on 7H, 5 BB, second start was a little better so management has decided to leave him at A to let the chips fall where they may.
- The Detroit Dynamos have decided not to offer contracts to 10 of their draft picks including shortstop Rocky Stone, their 9th rounder who was impossible sign and plans on attending Wisconsin State.
- Who says he doesn't have the power hitting ability of his father. 18 year old Steve Wheeler, son of recently retired future Hall of Famer Al Wheeler, is slashing .432/.526/.753 with 2 homers and 16 doubles in 20 games at Class C Biloxi.
- Kings prized 19-year-old third base prospect Ken Newman has been in 24 games at AAA Jersey City since being called up from AA Knoxville. He continues to hit at every level after hitting .362 at AA he is hitting .358/.392/.887 in 105 PA's. Kings brass feels Newman sure looks like he will be ready to take over to start next season. The Kings are also high on catcher Dan Rogers, thinking the 22-year-old is looking like he will be a solid big leaguer next year as well. He's hitting a respectable .288/.331/.749 with 10 homers and 48 RBI's in 82 games with AAA. There will be competition next season as incumbent starting C Frank Reichardt has hit a sophomore slump this year hitting just .248/.320/.637
- At the big league level Brooklyn may be struggling to stay above the breakeven mark but it is not because of Bob Arman. He has become an ace with a 10-8 record and an outstanding 2.42 era to go with a CA leading 96 strikeouts.
- Over in Japan there is plenty of talk about Reijiro Fujii. The Yokohama Kingfishers outfielder entered the season as a .180 career hitter through nearly 300 games in their national league. The 28-year-old has had a breakout season this time around, batting .347 and just recently had a 25 game hitting streak -two shy of the record in the loop which is in its 11th season. To be fair, offense is up across the league which had seemingly been permanently stuck in a "deadball" era until this season.
MOTORS FIRE MOORE AS COACHING CHANGE MADE
The Detroit Motors have hired veteran hockey man Badger Rigney to take over behind the bench for the struggling franchise. The 50-year-old Rigney, who last coached the Brooklyn Eagles four years ago, will replace Mark Moore who was dismissed last week. The club also announced that long-time forward Doug Yeadon, has decided to retire as a player and will join Rigney on the bench as his assistant.
For Rigney it is a return home of sorts as the final season of his 15-year playing career was with the Detroit club when they were known as the Olympians. Rigney made his playing debut with Boston as a 23-year-old defenseman and also had stops in Hamilton, with the New York Shamrocks and Quebec before finishing his career in the Motor City after the Champlains relocated from Quebec City. He was a hard-nosed, talented defenseman known for his tenacious play -hence the nickname as his real name is Richard Rigney.
After his retirement as a player, Rigney left the sport for four years and, always cunning with his investments, managed to make enough money to purchase the Eagles franchise from Bill Yeadon when Yeadon ran into financial difficulty. Rigney installed himself as owner-coach until deciding to sell the club in 1944. Now, and very much at Yeadon's urging -Bill is the Motors head scout- Rigney returns to the sport.
Assistant Coach Doug Yeadon began his playing career for his father with the then-New York Eagles but was sold to Detroit in 1937. He played 583 career NAHC games and scored 154 goals including a career best 21 in 1941-42 for the Motors before annoucing his retirement and plans to move behind the bench last week. Highly respected by his teammates, it seems a natural transition into the coaching ranks for the 35-year-old.
Shown the door by Detroit is Mark Moore, who also his ties to the Eagles as his first NAHC job was as an assistant coach in Brooklyn before heading to the Great Western Hockey League where he coached Tacoma for one season. When Motors owner John Connolly Jr. fired long-time coach Jack Barrell, it was Moore who was brought in to replace the former star player. Moore narrowly missed the playoffs his first season in Detroit but guided the club to a 3rd place finish a year later. His third season, just completed, had a terrible start and led to rumours he might be fired mid-season. The club made a playoff push, which saved his job for the short term, but the Motors finished in last place. Connolly had been debating his options for some time until finally making the decision to replace Moore last week. In three season with Detroit, Moore was 67-65-24 but led his club to just one playoff series. Replacing a legend like Jack Barrell with a struggling team really put Moore in a spot where it was nearly impossible for him to succeed.
VALS CUT TIES WITH TOUHEY
After two straight seasons of missing the playoffs, the Montreal Valiants have decided major changes are needed. The club elected not to resign five regulars from last season's club including veteran goaltender Millard Touhey. Touhey, who took a lot of heat a year ago for reporting to camp out of shape and has been wildly inconsistent at times, was given his walking papers along with defenseman Leo Bernard and forwards Max Ducharme, Nick Haines and Doug Lynch. Between them the three forwards combined for 39 goals and 116 points last season, but it is the decision to drop Touhey that comes as the biggest surprise.
The move leaves the Vals in desperate need for goaltending help as they currently only have 23-year-old Peter Beliveau, a 1944 6th round pick of the Detroit Motors who played his first two NAHC games for the Valiants last season, under contract. It appears a new certainty the Valiants will need to trade for a goaltender as the only free agent of note at the position is Ronnie Flanagan - a 31-year-old journeymen who spent most of the past three seasons as the New York Shamrocks backup netminder.
A Valiants spokesmen commented off-the-record in stating the entire organization is getting a little sick of Touhey, which clearly prompted the decision to make a change. The 32-year-old has been Montreal's number one netminder for the past five seasons and led the club to the Challenge Cup finals three years ago after upsetting first place Toronto in the opening round. There were high expectations two seasons ago but the Vals stumbled, in no small part due to the fact that their goaltender did not come to camp in game shape. Touhey had a strong start last year but, after challenging for first place through Christmas, the Valiants feel apart in the second half of the season and Touhey finished with a 22-26-2 record with a 3.18 goals against average. Overall, in five seasons with Montreal he was 63-45-16 with a 2.65 GAA.
The big question now is where will Touhey land? There are not a lot of teams in need of a goaltender. Perhaps league champion Toronto looks at him as a back-up to Gordie Broadway although his salary demands may preclude that from happening. The alternative is Detroit, but that depends upon how comfortable the Motors are with Henri Chasse. The 25-year-old was very good two years ago in leading Detroit to the playoffs but he had a down season this past year.
Leo Bernard is a 28-year-old defenseman who has been a fixture on the Vals blueline all decade. He is probably not a top pairing defender but could probably fit in on the second or third line with a number of teams so he should draw some interest from the Vals NAHC rivals. A year ago Bernard suited up for 49 games and had 16 points including 5 goals.
The three forwards will likely land somewhere although it is quite possible it will be in the Hockey Association of America for at least two of them. Max Ducharme, a versatile player who can handle all three forward positions, will likely be in high demand after the 24-year-old had a career high 40 points in 59 games last season. Nick Haines is 26-years-old and dealing with a serious back injury that will force him to miss the first half of the season so he may not get a look from NAHC clubs. The center/right winger had 33 points in 49 games a year ago. Doug Lynch was the long-time captain of the Vals but was cut loose despite notching 39 points in 54 games. The 35-year-old may end up with the minors as his only option.
They are interesting decisions by Montreal's management, which is clearly gambling that shocking moves like those light a fire under a club that has had prolonged losing streaks each of the past two seasons and underachieved as a result. The move with Touhey -with no replacement in sight- seems to be an especially risky decision.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
NOTABLE FREE AGENTS
A number of veteran players are left looking for work after their previous organization opted not to resign them. Here is a team-by-team look at the changes.
BOSTON BEES: The big news is that 33-year-old winger Waldermar Rupp was not offered a new deal. The long-time assistant captain was showing his age last season with a career worst 22 points in 46 games but he did add a pair of goals and an assist in two playoff games which helped Rupp remain the modern-era (post 1940) playoff scoring leader with 60 points. He had been a part of 5 Challenge Cup winning Bees clubs.
Boston also dropped 25-year-old center Daniel Fortin and 29-year-old winger Leroy Hester, each of whom split the season between the big club and Springfield.
CHICAGO PACKERS: The Packers cut ties with a pair of defensemen in Ted Stevens and Ian Groening as well as veteran winger Marsh Mansfield. Stevens, 25 and a three-year veteran on the Chicago blueline, was injured much of last season but had worn out his welcome due to frequent conflicts with teammates. Groening, also 25 and in his third season with the Packers, was limited to just 8 games this past season due to injuries. The 33-year-old Mansfield had some strong seasons early in his career with the Shamrocks and scored 34 points for Chicago two years ago but found himself in the press box much of this past season and had only 9 points in 27 games.
DETROIT MOTORS: The only player move of note was the decision by long-time assistant captain Doug Yeadon to retire after more than a decade in the league. The 36-year-old will not go far as it was announced recently that Yeadon will be an assistant coach with the Motors this season, following in the footsteps of his father Bill, the long-time coach and current Head Scout of the Detroit club.
MONTREAL VALIANTS:It has been well documented that the Vals made a decision to do a complete overhaul of their organization with many changes highlighted by the decision not to resign veteran goaltender Millard Touhey or his backup Sam Desjardins. Others not resigned include veteran rearguard Leo Bernard and a number of forwards rangine from 24-year-old Max Ducharme to 35-year-old Doug Lynch. In addition, 33-year-old center Tony Narand, who played just 20 games last season due to an injury, decided to retire.
NEW YORK SHAMROCKS: Very little will change on the Shamrocks roster with only veteran goaltender Ronnie Flanagan, who played in just 1 game for the Shamrocks last season, being let go from their main roster.
TORONTO DUKES: The Dukes gave a trio of veterans their walking papers but only one saw an action with the Cup winners last season. That would be 22-year-old defenseman Rob Painchaud, who had 12 points in 33 games during the season before being demoted to Cleveland. Two long-time fixtures on the wing are also gone in Syl Beam and Mahlon Klein but neither played a game for the Dukes last season. Beam missed the entire year with a preseason eye injury while Klein was dispatched to Cleveland after a long career with Toronto that saw him as a key piece of a pair of Challenge Cup winners earlier in the decade.
O'KEEFE A SURPRISE LOSER ON HIS HOME TURF
Former World Welterweight Champion Dennis O'Keefe was surprised by a relative unknown fighter by the name of Robert Schultz Friday evening in his hometown of Jacksonville, Fl. The 31-year-old, referred to as "The Jacksonville Jackhammer" as he rose to the top of the welterweight division a little over two years ago but since beating Carl Taylor to win the title and run his record to 20-1 with 14 knockouts, O'Keefe has dropped 3 of his last 5 decisions including the surprising loss by decision to Schultz last week. The Pittsburgh born Schultz, 28, runs his record to 23-8 with the victory after throroughly dominating the 10-round bout.
It also looks like the end of the line for Todd Gill after the middleweight was outpointed by Jack Rainey last week at Bigsby Garden. Gill came agonizingly close to a world title when he famously fought then champion Frank Melanson to a draw in their title fight in October of 1945 before losing the rematch in Philadelphia six months later. Now 36 years old, Gill has looked slow in recent losses to Joe Starr and now Rainey, who had little trouble holding Gill off last week. Now 24-5-6, Gill is insistent he will return to the ring but is unlikely to have any success against opponents of average quality or better.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Jul 30- Brooklyn: MW Danny Morse (34-8-1) vs Jim Gilmore (29-8-2)
- Aug 7- Bigsby Garden, New York: rising HW Harvey Winter (18-1) vs Cannon Cooper (23-4-1)
- Aug 13- Los Angeles: MW Joe Starr (20-5) vs Nathan Sears (21-9-1)
- Aug 28- Baltimore: former WW champ Harold Stephens (21-4-2) vs Ben "Baby Face" Bishop (28-5-1)
- Aug 28- Philadelphia: WW Wayne Dunn (31-9) vs Dale Roy (30-6)
- Sept 4- Lakeside Arena, Chicago: World welterweight Champion Mac Erickson (17-0) defends his title against John Gregory (19-4-1)
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 7/25/1948
- Top Army and diplomatic chiefs spent much of the week in the White House after being summoned by President Truman to discuss options to handle the Russian blockade of Berlin.
- Cabinet ministers of the five nations belonging to the Western European union meet in the Netherlands to discuss common interests but the Berlin blockade is expected to be the main subject.
- Truman will hand Congress an administration bill to deal with the rapidly rising cost of living when the special session gets underway this week. It is expected to be a stormy session dominated by discussion on price controls and civil rights.
- The President issued a proclamation calling for the draft registration to start on August 30.
- The last barrier to a Ford Motor Co. strike was cleared as the Auto Workers Union approved a walkout, but did not specify a date. The announcement impacts 116,000 employees at 46 plants across the country. The strike was averted late in the week with an agreement calling for a 13-cents-an-hour wage increase.
- A brief truce in Palestine ended quickly with reports that Syrian and Iraqi forces are engaged in a widespread offenive operation in Northern Palestine.