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Tiger Fan · 09-28-2023, 12:55 PM

We had a week's sabbatical while our commissioner had some real world work to take care of but Figment is back today and ready for the stretch run of the 1948 pennant races.

AUGUST 30, 1948

EAGLES FLYING HIGH

The week started on a down note for the Washington Eagles, but they certainly turned things around quickly with wins in each of their last 5 games to help the DC crew leapfrog the New York Gothams and move into second place in the Federal Association, just 2.5 games back of the defending champion St. Louis Pioneers.

The Eagles and Pioneers began the week with a 3-game set at Columbia Park and it did not start well for the home nine. The visitors from the west, led by a complete game from Danny Hern, shot down the Eagles 7-1 in Tuesday opener but the next two days the story was the Washington pitching, not that of the rest of the 3-H club. Wednesday it was 37-year-old Jack Elder who led the way, spinning a 4-hit gem as the Eagles -on the strength of homers from Rats McGonigle and Jim Sibert- handed Hal Hackney just his 7th loss of the season in a 4-0 Washington win. Thursday afternoon turned out to be the perfect day for 28-year-old Jose Waggoner to record the first big league victory of his career. Freshly recalled from Kansas City, Waggoner outdueled Hiram Steinberg in a 1-0 Washington victory, allowing just 5 hits to make his first big league complete game a 5-hit shutout.

The Eagles finished their big week with back to back wins over the New York Gothams before outlasting Detroit 2-1 in a 14-inning marathon yesterday on day that, despite the win, actually saw them lose ground to the Pioneers who swept a pair from the Boston Minutemen.

WAY TOO EARLY 1950 MOCK DRAFT

As we do each year at this time, TWIFB turns its gaze well into the future and takes a look at a mock first round for the draft that is still nearly 18 months away. Using OSA's assessment of the draft class as a base, here is a "Way Too Early Mock Draft" for the 1950 class.

The way it shapes up presently the 1950 class looks to be a banner year for centerfielders with three of them holding down the top four spots in this mock draft including #1 overall. That would Fred Lainhart, a Michigan-born high schooler who was an All-American as a freshman and owns a .582 batting average after two seasons of high school play.

Code:


#  NAME          POS AGE  SCHOOL               OSA comment 
 1 Fred Lainhart CF  15 Pandora (OH) HS       light of his star could be blinding
 2 Tom Drill     LHP 19 Empire State          potential top of rotation starter
 3 Bucky Moore   CF  15 Dunbar HS, Baltimore  light of his star could be blinding
 4 Paul Bailey   CF  15 Wixom (MI)HS          may be in coversation about best players in game
 5 Eddie Webb    RHP 15 Reidsville(GA) HS     front of rotation potential
 6 Andy Robinson 2B  15 Fredericksburg(VA)HS  could make multiple trips to All-Star game
 7 Joe Bullock   RF  16 Hannibal(MO) HS       highest ceiling imaginable
 8 Roy Nash      3B  15 Medway (MA) HS        could make multiple trips to All-Star game
 9 Leon Wallace  CF  17 Austin(TX) HS         make an impact on a top tier team
10 John Sledge   RHP 15 Clinton (IL)HS        potential number 2 starter
11 Parson Allen  3B  16 Chase City (VA) HS    elite big league 3B
12 Bob Gray      3B  16 Northeast HS, Philly  elite big league 3B
13 Skinny Bennett C  19 Eastern Oklahoma      considerable ceiling 1st division starter
14 Earl Howe     CF  16 Card.Hayes HS, Bronx  high ceiling projects well on field and at plate
15 Bill Harbin   CF  19 Brunswick College     impact big league CF
16 Dan Hill      RF  16 Williamsport(MD) HS   all tools to develop into elite RF

Code:

[b] HONOURABLE MENTION
 NAME           POS AGE   SCHOOL
George Blake    P   20    St Francis(OH) College
Oscar Edwards   P   15    Crestview HS, Ashland, Oh
Hank Walker     P   16    Vctoria (TX) HS
Bob Longstretch C   19    Opelika State
Enos Bailey     2B  15    Andover (NY) HS
Jack Gardner    2B  15    Clay Center (KS) HS
Carl Matthews   3B  19    Santa Ana College
Cleo Evans      CF  15    Phelps (NY) HS
Ralph Capriotti LF  15    Muncie (IN) HS
Charlie Ham     RF  16    Gordo (AL) HS

GRAYS CLOSE IN ON SECOND STRAIGHT GWL CROWN

The Oakland Grays may have seen their latest winning streak snapped by San Diego yesterday but with wins in each of their 9 previous outings the defending Bigsby Cup champions are rapidly closing in on their second straight Great Western League regular season crown. The Grays, at 80-46 on the year, stretched their lead on the second place Houston Bulls to an even dozen games and have gone 57-24 since June 1.

There is a battle waging for the second berth in the Bigsby Cup, with the Bulls hanging on to a 1.5 game lead on San Francisco. It is quite a turnaround for both clubs as the duo finished with the two worst records in the GWL a year ago, although the Hawks did claim the inaugural Bigsby Cup title in 1946.

No homers for Bobby Barrell for Philadelphia this week, but a 4-2 week barely keeps the Keystones within shouting distance, 5 games back of Fed leader St Louis.
Some worry in New York after the Gothams drop two each to Pittsburgh and Washington last week and are now 4.5 back and in third place in the Fed. The Stars lead on the Sailors in the Continental is just two games. It was only a 3-3 week for Bill Barrett and company but included in the showing was two wins in 3 games at Sailors Memorial Stadium. The third place Chicago Cougars also went just 3-3 last week including dropping two of three in Cleveland.
Marc T. McNeil of the Montreal Star reports the Saints are happy with a positive 4-3 week. the team is slowing going up in power rankings and the objective to get over the .500 record is possible. The Saints are currently 63-65 as we prepare for the September stretch and the team is 2 games below the mental level of showing a green line in historical record graph. For now only red lines as the club has not reached the breakeven point at season's end since 1930. Can the 1948 roster turn the boat around? it will be a sign in the right direction for the Montreal Saints.
Tough close to August for the Brooklyn Kings who are in the midst of a 1-14 stretch that has put a real damper on their season and dropped them to 7th place in the Continental Association. Just a lack of timely hitting with six losses during that stretch by a single run.
With Edwin Hackberry still injured and Sid Williams struggling the Detroit Dynamos have called up Si Crocker from Newark. The veteran minor leaguer had 20 homers in 65 games for the Aces this season. Now 29, the 1936 fourth round pick of Boston never really got much of a chance in the big leagues, appearing in just 74 FABL games including 55 for the 1946 Foresters -for whom he hit 8 homers. The Dynamos decided to reward him for his hard work and leadership with a month in the big leagues in hopes he can have an Al Horton-like resurgence. Speaking of Horton, the 39-year-old rule 5 pickup is batting .372 on the year and appears fully recovered from a back injury that cost him all of July. Horton went 10-for-25 last week
The Great Western League Grays are likely trying to figure out a way to lure pitching coach Danny Goff Sr. from the Keystones to Oakland. His boys are a combined 25-11 for the GWL leading Grays. The strong showing this year is somewhat expected from Jack Goff, but not from Danny Jr., who never had any real success on the mound aside from one season of AA ball and was only on the Grays roster because they could use him as a spare outfielder as well as an emergency pitcher to help cover any injuries. All Dannny Goff Jr. has done is go 13-6 with a 2.94 era in 20 starts for Tom Bird's club after the 30-year-old began the season with just two major league wins to his resume. Together the Goff family has now combined for 321 big league victories: Danny Sr, 252-248 primarily with Brooklyn and the Gothams, of course leads the way while Jack is now 54-42 with Brooklyn and Oakland. Danny Jr.'s big season has him at 15-8 as a big league hurler with the Grays, Cougars and Detroit.
Charlie Barrell is settling in nicely on the campus of Noble Jones College. The three-sport star, who would have been a certain first-round selection in the most recent FABL draft had he not told teams there was no chance he will sign, is set to get his collegiate sporting career off to a start September 25 when the Colonels football team entertains Western Tennessee. Barrell is also expected to play for the Colonels basketball and baseball teams this school year. Barrell will not be eligible for the FABL draft again until 1951.

GOTHAMS FORCED TO SETTLE FOR TIE, BOTH COAST CLUBS WIN IN CFC OPENERS

Despite baseball's flag chases heading into the home stretch the Continental Football Conference, entering its third campaign, got off to an early start with three weekend games including a surprising result out of the Big Apple where the defending Eastern Division champions needed a late rally just to salvage a tie with Brooklyn.

The New York Gothams, who lost to Kansas City in the league championship game each of the past two seasons, spotted the Football Kings a 17-0 lead before finally coming to life with 10 points in the final stanza. The Gothams fiesty all-star back Ken Hale had a rough day on the ground, gaining just 12 yards but that included a 1-yard plunge with 14 minutes remaining in the contest to cut the Kings lead to 3 points. That gap would be closed when, with just 10 ticks left on the clock, Jerry Wade - who had missed on a 31-yard field goal attempt in the first half, was perfect under pressure and snaked a 27-yarder through the uprights in the closing seconds to allow the Gothams to leave Kings County with a 17-17 draw.

The other Friday night game took place at Whitney Field in Chicago as the visiting Los Angeles Lobos grounded the hometown Comets 33-24 behind a big game from Lobos quarterback Jackie Wendt. The veteran signal caller ran for a team high 70 yards and a score while passing for 2 touchdowns and 239 yards in the victory. Wendt was also a key force on the other side of the ball with 8 tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries.

Sunday's lone contest saw the San Francisco Wings blast the Buffalo Bulls 49-7 behind the strength of a smart aerial game and tremendous ground power. Led by quarterback Sam Metcalf, whose field generalship and accurate passing were combined in a brilliant display, the Wings swampted the Easterners with 3 touchdowns in the opening half before adding three more majors in the third quarter. The two-pronged rushing force of Rich Garner and Sam Gerst combined for 5 rushing touchdowns while Ernest Key, despite failing to reach the endzone, added a game-best 94 yards to a Wings offense that pounded out 522 net yards, including 340 on the ground, while nearly doubling the Bulls output of 265 yards for the day. It will go down as not one of Mark Monday's better days as the Buffalo quarterback completed just 7 of 24 pass attempts and was intercepted 3 times on the afternoon.

All 8 clubs will be in action next weekend including the two-time defending league champion Kansas City Cowboys, who will entertain Los Angeles in their season-opener Friday evening.

MAC ERICKSON SET FOR FIRST TITLE DEFENSE

The Sailor from St. Paul is set to step into the ring for the first time as World Welterweight Champion when Mac Erickson defends his freshly won welter crown against John Gregory. Many had talked of this day for Erickson ever since he was a fresh-faced 23-year-old squaring off with 20-year-old Danny Rutledge back in 1944 in England on the undercard of an Archie Rees title fight in what was being billed as the Allied Amateur Welterweight Title fight.

Erickson fought well on that day but, in the end, came up just short when he was knocked out in the 12th round by Rutledge. Four months later and freshly discharged from the Navy, Erickson would turn pro and has not lost since including a unanimous decision over Harold Stephens in April to win the world title and run his mark to 17-0.

Gregory, a 30-year-old California native with a 19-4-1 mark as a professional, will be a stern test for the now 27-year-old champion but with losses against Dennis O'Keefe and Baby-Face Bishop over the past two years he is certainly beatable. The two will clash at Chicago's Lakeside Arena on Saturday evening.
***Stephens Stock Slides ***

Harold Stephens, fresh off being exposed by Erickson in the title loss, came up on the short end of things again last week when he was outpointed for the second bout in a row. This time it was Ben "Baby Face" Bishop who scored a unanimous decision in a 10-rounder in Baltimore. The loss likely spells the end of the line for any hopes Stephens (21-5-2) might have had of getting a chance to reclaim the belt.

Meanwhile Danny Rutledge, the young gun who handed Erickson a loss when both were amateurs, was in action last week in Atlantic City and improved his perfect record to 15-0 with a second round knockout of John Jackson. The 24-year-old Rutledge appears to be on a collision course for a rematch with Erickson at some point in the near future.

Keeping the theme of a busy week in the welterweight division, Dale Roy -the pride of Binghamton, NY, had an impressive outing with a first round TKO win over Wayne Dunn in Philadelphia. That runs Roy's record to 31-6 and marks his third straight knock out victory since falling by a KO to Erickson nearly a year ago.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

Sept 4- Lakeside Arena, Chicago: World Welterweight Champion Mac Erickson (17-0) defends his title against John Gregory (19-4-1)
Sept 10- Bigsby Garden, New York: HW Mark Fountain (23-5-1) vs Tommy Cline (13-1)
Sept 18- St Louis: former WW champ Mark Westlake (24-3-1) vs Ira Mitchell (20-2)
Sept 24- National Auditorium, Washington DC: WW Rudy Perry (26-4-1) vs Billy Boyd (26-9-2)
Oct 1- Montreal, Quebec: World Middleweight champion Edouard Desmarais (42-1) defends his title against Canadian Adrian Petrie (17-1-1)
Oct 22- London, Eng: World Heavyweight champion Hector Sawyer (58-3-1) defends his title against Grant Knowles (31-4-1)

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 8/29/1948

The House Committee on Un-American Activities will make public its preliminary findings on the Hiss-Chambers controversy next week. Former Communist party member Whitaker Chambers accuses Alger Hiss of spying for Russia while acting as a US state department official.
The United States has endorsed a French proposal that would lead toward formation of a West European political union.
For the second straight day, belligerent Communist-led demostrators forced their way into Berlin City Hall, breaking up a meeting of the anti-Communist City Council and tried to install their own hand-picked group as a replacement council.
An American military document charges the Russians were behind the attack on the Berlin City Council as way to justify bringing their troops in under the guise of intervening to prevent widespread rioting.
A lengthy heat wave sent temperatures soaring through the northeast and midwest this week.

09-28-2023, 12:55 PM	#793
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,823	August 30, 1948 We had a week's sabbatical while our commissioner had some real world work to take care of but Figment is back today and ready for the stretch run of the 1948 pennant races. AUGUST 30, 1948 EAGLES FLYING HIGH The week started on a down note for the Washington Eagles, but they certainly turned things around quickly with wins in each of their last 5 games to help the DC crew leapfrog the New York Gothams and move into second place in the Federal Association, just 2.5 games back of the defending champion St. Louis Pioneers. The Eagles and Pioneers began the week with a 3-game set at Columbia Park and it did not start well for the home nine. The visitors from the west, led by a complete game from Danny Hern, shot down the Eagles 7-1 in Tuesday opener but the next two days the story was the Washington pitching, not that of the rest of the 3-H club. Wednesday it was 37-year-old Jack Elder who led the way, spinning a 4-hit gem as the Eagles -on the strength of homers from Rats McGonigle and Jim Sibert- handed Hal Hackney just his 7th loss of the season in a 4-0 Washington win. Thursday afternoon turned out to be the perfect day for 28-year-old Jose Waggoner to record the first big league victory of his career. Freshly recalled from Kansas City, Waggoner outdueled Hiram Steinberg in a 1-0 Washington victory, allowing just 5 hits to make his first big league complete game a 5-hit shutout. The Eagles finished their big week with back to back wins over the New York Gothams before outlasting Detroit 2-1 in a 14-inning marathon yesterday on day that, despite the win, actually saw them lose ground to the Pioneers who swept a pair from the Boston Minutemen. WAY TOO EARLY 1950 MOCK DRAFT As we do each year at this time, TWIFB turns its gaze well into the future and takes a look at a mock first round for the draft that is still nearly 18 months away. Using OSA's assessment of the draft class as a base, here is a "Way Too Early Mock Draft" for the 1950 class. The way it shapes up presently the 1950 class looks to be a banner year for centerfielders with three of them holding down the top four spots in this mock draft including #1 overall. That would Fred Lainhart, a Michigan-born high schooler who was an All-American as a freshman and owns a .582 batting average after two seasons of high school play. Code: # NAME POS AGE SCHOOL OSA comment 1 Fred Lainhart CF 15 Pandora (OH) HS light of his star could be blinding 2 Tom Drill LHP 19 Empire State potential top of rotation starter 3 Bucky Moore CF 15 Dunbar HS, Baltimore light of his star could be blinding 4 Paul Bailey CF 15 Wixom (MI)HS may be in coversation about best players in game 5 Eddie Webb RHP 15 Reidsville(GA) HS front of rotation potential 6 Andy Robinson 2B 15 Fredericksburg(VA)HS could make multiple trips to All-Star game 7 Joe Bullock RF 16 Hannibal(MO) HS highest ceiling imaginable 8 Roy Nash 3B 15 Medway (MA) HS could make multiple trips to All-Star game 9 Leon Wallace CF 17 Austin(TX) HS make an impact on a top tier team 10 John Sledge RHP 15 Clinton (IL)HS potential number 2 starter 11 Parson Allen 3B 16 Chase City (VA) HS elite big league 3B 12 Bob Gray 3B 16 Northeast HS, Philly elite big league 3B 13 Skinny Bennett C 19 Eastern Oklahoma considerable ceiling 1st division starter 14 Earl Howe CF 16 Card.Hayes HS, Bronx high ceiling projects well on field and at plate 15 Bill Harbin CF 19 Brunswick College impact big league CF 16 Dan Hill RF 16 Williamsport(MD) HS all tools to develop into elite RF Code: [b] HONOURABLE MENTION NAME POS AGE SCHOOL George Blake P 20 St Francis(OH) College Oscar Edwards P 15 Crestview HS, Ashland, Oh Hank Walker P 16 Vctoria (TX) HS Bob Longstretch C 19 Opelika State Enos Bailey 2B 15 Andover (NY) HS Jack Gardner 2B 15 Clay Center (KS) HS Carl Matthews 3B 19 Santa Ana College Cleo Evans CF 15 Phelps (NY) HS Ralph Capriotti LF 15 Muncie (IN) HS Charlie Ham RF 16 Gordo (AL) HS GRAYS CLOSE IN ON SECOND STRAIGHT GWL CROWN The Oakland Grays may have seen their latest winning streak snapped by San Diego yesterday but with wins in each of their 9 previous outings the defending Bigsby Cup champions are rapidly closing in on their second straight Great Western League regular season crown. The Grays, at 80-46 on the year, stretched their lead on the second place Houston Bulls to an even dozen games and have gone 57-24 since June 1. There is a battle waging for the second berth in the Bigsby Cup, with the Bulls hanging on to a 1.5 game lead on San Francisco. It is quite a turnaround for both clubs as the duo finished with the two worst records in the GWL a year ago, although the Hawks did claim the inaugural Bigsby Cup title in 1946. No homers for Bobby Barrell for Philadelphia this week, but a 4-2 week barely keeps the Keystones within shouting distance, 5 games back of Fed leader St Louis. Some worry in New York after the Gothams drop two each to Pittsburgh and Washington last week and are now 4.5 back and in third place in the Fed. The Stars lead on the Sailors in the Continental is just two games. It was only a 3-3 week for Bill Barrett and company but included in the showing was two wins in 3 games at Sailors Memorial Stadium. The third place Chicago Cougars also went just 3-3 last week including dropping two of three in Cleveland. Marc T. McNeil of the Montreal Star reports the Saints are happy with a positive 4-3 week. the team is slowing going up in power rankings and the objective to get over the .500 record is possible. The Saints are currently 63-65 as we prepare for the September stretch and the team is 2 games below the mental level of showing a green line in historical record graph. For now only red lines as the club has not reached the breakeven point at season's end since 1930. Can the 1948 roster turn the boat around? it will be a sign in the right direction for the Montreal Saints. Tough close to August for the Brooklyn Kings who are in the midst of a 1-14 stretch that has put a real damper on their season and dropped them to 7th place in the Continental Association. Just a lack of timely hitting with six losses during that stretch by a single run. With Edwin Hackberry still injured and Sid Williams struggling the Detroit Dynamos have called up Si Crocker from Newark. The veteran minor leaguer had 20 homers in 65 games for the Aces this season. Now 29, the 1936 fourth round pick of Boston never really got much of a chance in the big leagues, appearing in just 74 FABL games including 55 for the 1946 Foresters -for whom he hit 8 homers. The Dynamos decided to reward him for his hard work and leadership with a month in the big leagues in hopes he can have an Al Horton-like resurgence. Speaking of Horton, the 39-year-old rule 5 pickup is batting .372 on the year and appears fully recovered from a back injury that cost him all of July. Horton went 10-for-25 last week The Great Western League Grays are likely trying to figure out a way to lure pitching coach Danny Goff Sr. from the Keystones to Oakland. His boys are a combined 25-11 for the GWL leading Grays. The strong showing this year is somewhat expected from Jack Goff, but not from Danny Jr., who never had any real success on the mound aside from one season of AA ball and was only on the Grays roster because they could use him as a spare outfielder as well as an emergency pitcher to help cover any injuries. All Dannny Goff Jr. has done is go 13-6 with a 2.94 era in 20 starts for Tom Bird's club after the 30-year-old began the season with just two major league wins to his resume. Together the Goff family has now combined for 321 big league victories: Danny Sr, 252-248 primarily with Brooklyn and the Gothams, of course leads the way while Jack is now 54-42 with Brooklyn and Oakland. Danny Jr.'s big season has him at 15-8 as a big league hurler with the Grays, Cougars and Detroit. Charlie Barrell is settling in nicely on the campus of Noble Jones College. The three-sport star, who would have been a certain first-round selection in the most recent FABL draft had he not told teams there was no chance he will sign, is set to get his collegiate sporting career off to a start September 25 when the Colonels football team entertains Western Tennessee. Barrell is also expected to play for the Colonels basketball and baseball teams this school year. Barrell will not be eligible for the FABL draft again until 1951. GOTHAMS FORCED TO SETTLE FOR TIE, BOTH COAST CLUBS WIN IN CFC OPENERS Despite baseball's flag chases heading into the home stretch the Continental Football Conference, entering its third campaign, got off to an early start with three weekend games including a surprising result out of the Big Apple where the defending Eastern Division champions needed a late rally just to salvage a tie with Brooklyn. The New York Gothams, who lost to Kansas City in the league championship game each of the past two seasons, spotted the Football Kings a 17-0 lead before finally coming to life with 10 points in the final stanza. The Gothams fiesty all-star back Ken Hale had a rough day on the ground, gaining just 12 yards but that included a 1-yard plunge with 14 minutes remaining in the contest to cut the Kings lead to 3 points. That gap would be closed when, with just 10 ticks left on the clock, Jerry Wade - who had missed on a 31-yard field goal attempt in the first half, was perfect under pressure and snaked a 27-yarder through the uprights in the closing seconds to allow the Gothams to leave Kings County with a 17-17 draw. The other Friday night game took place at Whitney Field in Chicago as the visiting Los Angeles Lobos grounded the hometown Comets 33-24 behind a big game from Lobos quarterback Jackie Wendt. The veteran signal caller ran for a team high 70 yards and a score while passing for 2 touchdowns and 239 yards in the victory. Wendt was also a key force on the other side of the ball with 8 tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries. Sunday's lone contest saw the San Francisco Wings blast the Buffalo Bulls 49-7 behind the strength of a smart aerial game and tremendous ground power. Led by quarterback Sam Metcalf, whose field generalship and accurate passing were combined in a brilliant display, the Wings swampted the Easterners with 3 touchdowns in the opening half before adding three more majors in the third quarter. The two-pronged rushing force of Rich Garner and Sam Gerst combined for 5 rushing touchdowns while Ernest Key, despite failing to reach the endzone, added a game-best 94 yards to a Wings offense that pounded out 522 net yards, including 340 on the ground, while nearly doubling the Bulls output of 265 yards for the day. It will go down as not one of Mark Monday's better days as the Buffalo quarterback completed just 7 of 24 pass attempts and was intercepted 3 times on the afternoon. All 8 clubs will be in action next weekend including the two-time defending league champion Kansas City Cowboys, who will entertain Los Angeles in their season-opener Friday evening. MAC ERICKSON SET FOR FIRST TITLE DEFENSE The Sailor from St. Paul is set to step into the ring for the first time as World Welterweight Champion when Mac Erickson defends his freshly won welter crown against John Gregory. Many had talked of this day for Erickson ever since he was a fresh-faced 23-year-old squaring off with 20-year-old Danny Rutledge back in 1944 in England on the undercard of an Archie Rees title fight in what was being billed as the Allied Amateur Welterweight Title fight. Erickson fought well on that day but, in the end, came up just short when he was knocked out in the 12th round by Rutledge. Four months later and freshly discharged from the Navy, Erickson would turn pro and has not lost since including a unanimous decision over Harold Stephens in April to win the world title and run his mark to 17-0. Gregory, a 30-year-old California native with a 19-4-1 mark as a professional, will be a stern test for the now 27-year-old champion but with losses against Dennis O'Keefe and Baby-Face Bishop over the past two years he is certainly beatable. The two will clash at Chicago's Lakeside Arena on Saturday evening. *Stephens Stock Slides * Harold Stephens, fresh off being exposed by Erickson in the title loss, came up on the short end of things again last week when he was outpointed for the second bout in a row. This time it was Ben "Baby Face" Bishop who scored a unanimous decision in a 10-rounder in Baltimore. The loss likely spells the end of the line for any hopes Stephens (21-5-2) might have had of getting a chance to reclaim the belt. Meanwhile Danny Rutledge, the young gun who handed Erickson a loss when both were amateurs, was in action last week in Atlantic City and improved his perfect record to 15-0 with a second round knockout of John Jackson. The 24-year-old Rutledge appears to be on a collision course for a rematch with Erickson at some point in the near future. Keeping the theme of a busy week in the welterweight division, Dale Roy -the pride of Binghamton, NY, had an impressive outing with a first round TKO win over Wayne Dunn in Philadelphia. That runs Roy's record to 31-6 and marks his third straight knock out victory since falling by a KO to Erickson nearly a year ago. UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS Sept 4- Lakeside Arena, Chicago: World Welterweight Champion Mac Erickson (17-0) defends his title against John Gregory (19-4-1) Sept 10- Bigsby Garden, New York: HW Mark Fountain (23-5-1) vs Tommy Cline (13-1) Sept 18- St Louis: former WW champ Mark Westlake (24-3-1) vs Ira Mitchell (20-2) Sept 24- National Auditorium, Washington DC: WW Rudy Perry (26-4-1) vs Billy Boyd (26-9-2) Oct 1- Montreal, Quebec: World Middleweight champion Edouard Desmarais (42-1) defends his title against Canadian Adrian Petrie (17-1-1) Oct 22- London, Eng: World Heavyweight champion Hector Sawyer (58-3-1) defends his title against Grant Knowles (31-4-1) The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 8/29/1948 The House Committee on Un-American Activities will make public its preliminary findings on the Hiss-Chambers controversy next week. Former Communist party member Whitaker Chambers accuses Alger Hiss of spying for Russia while acting as a US state department official. The United States has endorsed a French proposal that would lead toward formation of a West European political union. For the second straight day, belligerent Communist-led demostrators forced their way into Berlin City Hall, breaking up a meeting of the anti-Communist City Council and tried to install their own hand-picked group as a replacement council. An American military document charges the Russians were behind the attack on the Berlin City Council as way to justify bringing their troops in under the guise of intervening to prevent widespread rioting. A lengthy heat wave sent temperatures soaring through the northeast and midwest this week. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles