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Tiger Fan · 10-04-2023, 01:44 PM

SEPTEMBER 27, 1948

COUGARS KEEP HOPES ALIVE WITH SAILORS SWEEP

The Chicago Cougars may just have a shot at finally getting the monkey off their back after a big week left them within 2 games of the front-running Philadelphia Sailors in the race for the Continental Association pennant. The CA flag is something that has eluded the Cougars since 1941, despite the fact they have been considered the best team in the loop for much of the past 7 years. The Cougars, entered the week 4.5 games back of the Sailors but won 5 of 6 games last week, including a pair over Philadelphia, to pull within 2 games of the lead.

After Pete Papenfus pitched a gem of a 3-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Cincinnati on Monday, the Cougars prepared for the biggest two games of their season thus far. They passed with flying colours, nipping the Sailors 2-1 behind Duke Bybee's 19th victory of the season on Tuesday and then had a much easier time Wednesday in a 6-1 victory keyed by first inning homers off the bats of Hal Sharp and Walt Pack.

The Sailors then moved on to Cleveland where they split a 4-game set with the Foresters while the Cougars topped Montreal 7-2 Wednesday before splitting a pair over the weekend with the Stars in New York.

The Cougars will need a Philadelphia stumble to end an excruciating pennant drought and it might be too much to ask, but they are in a position where, with a few breaks, they could prevail. Chicago has five games remaining - all at Cougars Park where they lead the Continental Assocation with a 46-26 home record. They begin with 3 against the suddenly hot Brooklyn Kings, who have won 5 in a row, starting tomorrow before finishing off with Saturday and Sunday contests with the New York Stars. The Sailors end with 5 road games beginning with 3 in Toronto starting tomorrow and finishing with Friday and Sunday games in Cleveland. One positive for Sailor fans in their quest for a second straight pennant is that the Sailors 40-32 road record is the best in the Continental.

In the Federal Association the St Louis Pioneers went 4-2 last week, including a pair of wins over Washington to crush the Eagles faint flag hopes. The New York Gothams have won 7 of their last 8 including a 3-game weekend sweep at Gothams Park over the Detroit Dynamos. That keeps New York's hopes alive as they head into a 3 game series with the Pioneers beginning tomorrow trailing St Louis by 3.5 games. Oddsmakers still give the St Louis squad nearly a 92% chance of claiming the crown for the second year in a row but a Gothams sweep of the midweek series could certainly make for an interesting weekend. St Louis will finish up with a pair of weekend games against the Chicago Chiefs while the Gothams entertain slumping Detroit for their final 3 games of the season.

Gothams have set a new team attendance mark with 2,202,010 of the faithful passing through the turnstiles. With the huge 3 game series against St. Louis this week the team will finish with one of the top 5 FABL attendance totals in history.

With the Pioneers coming to town this week for a 3 game set and the Gothams 6-1 week moving them to 3 1/2 games back, there is some hope for a miracle finish. It would likely take a sweep of St. Louis, but manager Jameson has Ed Bowman, Buddy Long and Lefty Allen lined up for the series.

Ed Bowman becomes a 20 game winner for the second time in his career. Bowman, 20-8, won 23 back in his rookie season of 1942.

Walt Messer has reached 40 homers for the first time in his career. He has also set a career high with 110 RBI.

Code:


FABL CLUBS TO DRAW 2 MILLION FANS IN A SINGLE SEASON
(note 1943 includes free tickets to military and war industry workers)
Boston Minutemen   2,498,548    1943
New York Stars     2,365,625    1947
Chicago Cougars    2,215,186    1943
NEW YORK GOTHAMS   2,202,010    1948  *6 games remaining
Cincinnati Cannons 2,139,469    1943
New York Stars     2,137,105    1948  home schedule complete
New York Gothams   2,124,783    1943
Chicago Cougars    2,058,766    1941
Chicago Cougars    2,053,833    1947
CHICAGO COUGARS    1,976,453    1948  *5 games remaining

BIG SERIES AWAITS

]Looks like quite a series between the Pioneers and Gothams if you like pitching. St Louis appears set to go with Hackney (21-10, 3.55) on Tuesday and it sounds like the Gothams will counter with Ed Bowman (20-8,3.22) in matchup of 20-game winners. The next two days should feature pretty good pitching with it looking like Danny Hern (12-8, 3.80) and Hiram Steinberg (16-16, 3.25) take the hill for St Louis while the Gothams are expected to counter with Buddy Long (17-12, 3.65) and Lefty Allen (12-14, 3.75).

Things are actually set up pretty well for the Gothams, all things considered. Yes, 3.5 back with 5/6 left isn’t ideal. But the Gothams are 11-8 against the Pioneers this year (though they started out 6-3 through May), and they have owned Hal Hackney, who is 2-3 with a 6.96 era in 6 starts against New York this season including getting shelled for 8 runs, all earned, in 6 and a third three weeks ago during a 9-6 loss at home.

The Gothams also have the second-best home record this year (behind the Pioneers). However, they’ll have to go up against the Pioneers’ league-leading 40-32 road record (tied with Washington).

The Gothams are also set to toss two lefties (Allen, Long) against the Pioneers, who have the best record in the FA against lefties (17-10; second overall behind Cincinnati’s 21-12 mark).

So, the schedule is set up well for New York. But the peripherals do play reasonably well for St. Louis. Regardless, it’ll be a hell of a series.

A sliver of hope in the Windy City? The Cougars, after winning five of their last six, including a two-game sweep over the first place Sailors, cut their deficit from 5 to just 2 games with a week to play, setting up what could be an exciting finish to the season. The Sailors may still like their chances, as both teams have five games remaining in the regular season. The Cougars have the advantage in location, as they'll host the Kings for three and the Stars for two, while the Sailors will be in Toronto and Cleveland for their final two series.

It won't be easy for the Cougars to mount a comeback, as despite allowing the fewest runs (548) in the league and donning a run differential (114) higher then the other five CA teams with a positive run differential (105) combined. To catch the defending pennant winners, the Cougars will need a big week from star Sal Pestilli, who is one homer away from tying the Cougars single season mark set by Tom Taylor (31) in 1934. And with the way the schedule is set up, 2-Time Allen Winner Pete Papenfus will make two starts, looking for his 20th and 21st wins of the season. If he can win at least one, him and Duke Bybee (20-8) would be the only pair to win 20 games each this season. The last time two Cougars won 20 games in a season was 1913, when Isaac Meyer (21-7) and Tom Guaraneri (24-14) achieved the feat on a 85-68 team. That wouldn't be enough to make the postseason (unless the Sailors win all five), and for a reasonable chance of making it Chicago will want to go at least 4-1.

Top prospect Johnny Peters had an excellent debut week, as the former 3rd Overall Pick went 4-for-9 with a double, 3 walks, 4 runs, and his first big league home run. He's done an excellent job replacing the injured Red Bond, and along with veteran Leo Mitchell (5-8, RBI, R, 2 BB), midseason acquisition Luke Berry (4-11, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB), and first basemen Ray Ford (.4-11, HR, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB), the Cougars lineup supported a pitching staff that allowed two or fewer runs in all five of the victories.

Kings Rookie of the Year candidate LF Pat Petty won player of the week honors by hitting .500 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI's in just 16 AB's this week. While Petty has had a fine rookie campaign slashing 283/357/812 with 18 home runs, 93 RBI's and 93 runs scored, I think the award voters were off this week.

King's teammate SP Bob Arman is on a roll. This week he went 2-0 in 18 IP with a 0.00 ERA with just 8 hits given up. In his last 3 outings they have all by complete game shutout wins. Arman's former Cannons teammate Deuce Barrell will win the CA Allen Award this season, there is no doubt about that, but Arman is having a great season and showing why the King's felt the swap of Arman for Long was the right decision (no they were traded together but with the youth the Kings have coming up it was felt Arman was the better long term fit).

Speaking of Buddy Long, here are some thoughts from Brooklyn Assistant General Manager Bert Manning nearly a full season after the move was made. (slightly edited for clarity)

"Well, the trade of Buddy Long to the Gothams was much howled about right after that deal. I still think for the long-term position of the club, it was the right deal. Even if we had kept Long, it would not have made the Kings contenders this year. Management felt that the 47 season was, while not a fluke, one that certainly came a bit too early for the youthful makeup of the team. This year the Kings have somewhat underachieved (RD +10 -5 Pyt rcd) but slight regression was well forecast.

Long might have helped them creep closer to .500 but it was not a 15 game difference. Young pitcher Jake Roberts spent most of the year in AAA with so-so results he will be a part of the mix next season. While Hal Friedlander has spectacularly flopped this year (.365 BABIP might have something to do with some bad luck) his control has significantly improved. And in return for Long the King's were able to grab 2nd round pick CF Enos Bell (#73 prospect overall).

So would I do the deal again? Well maybe with last years rules in place as the now 34-year-old Long has been solid this year and arguably the best of the veterans pitchers the Gothams picked up last off season, there are some numbers that are sliding a bit. With the current rules regarding trades probably not, which (in general not just about me and my trading habits) is likely the goal of the rule change."

COAST PLAYOFF RACE GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE

While the Oakland Grays had clinched first place nearly two weeks ago the unique playoff format employed by the Great Western League has assured fans of some suspense right down to the wire. With two games remaining in the schedule the Houston Bulls and San Francisco Hawks are tied for second place in the battle to join the defending Bigby Cup champions from Oakland in the league title series. Houston, which pulled even with the Hawks after a pair of wins over the weekend while the San Francisco nine lost twice, finished the season up at home with games tonight and tomorrow evening against the Los Angeles Knights. The Hawks, who stayed alive with a pair of wins over their Bay area rivals early last week, entertain Portland today and tomorrow to round out their season. The Grays will host the opening two games of the third annual Bigsby Cup next weekend.

Hal Hackney became just the 4th different pitcher to surpass the 200 strikeout mark in a single season since the dawn of the modern era in 1926. Hackney has 203 k's with at least one start remaining. Lefty Allen, who has reached 200 4 times in his career, leads with 230 in 1937. Pete Papenfus of the Cougars in 1941 and Rabbit Day, for Baltimore in 1930 are the only other modern era pitchers to fan at least 200.
With 43 homers and 130 rbi's entering play this week, Bill Barrett of the New York Stars looks to be the favourite to win the Continental Association Whitney Award. If successful it would be Barrett's 4th Whtiney win despite the fact he is just 28 years old and missed 3 full seasons serving in the Marines during the war.
Time is running out for Barrett in his chance of Tom Taylor's CA homerun record. Barrett has not hit a longball since September 10 and remains at 43, one shy of Taylor's 1928 CA standard. The Stars have 4 games in remaining in two parks that could not be much different. The first two are at cavernous Parc Cartier in Montreal before Barrett and the Stars finish up at homer-friendly Cougars Park over the weekend.
The Fed Whitney is a much tougher call but it says here that Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones should be the winner, but he will face stiff competition from St Louis outfielder Larry Gregory, Rats McGonigle of the Washington Eagles and a pair of Gothams sluggers in Red Johnson and Walt Messer. Barrell already owns 5 Whitney Awards including one he received last year after breaking Max Morris' single-season homerun record.
After leading the Federal Association in batting average nearly all season, a rough September that included a 1-for-10 showing at the plate last week has dropped Pittsburgh Miners outfielder Joe Owens to second in the Fed race behind Al Tucker of St Louis. Less than a percentage point separates the two and Tucker has a much bigger focus with the Pioneers trying to hold off New York to clinch their second consecutive Fed flag, but the 35-year-old Pioneers outfielder has had an outstanding final month of the season, batting .417 in September. It would be the first batting crown for either Owens or Tucker. Ed Reyes of the Philadelphia Sailors, who is hitting .343, is all but assured of his 4th straight Continental hitting crown.
Brett Bing notes that the Wolves will secure a better than .500 season, but wonders if that is this enough to secure Bob Call's return next season? The season was better than expected but there is plenty of work to do in off-season as the roster has to transition to the next generation. Unfortunately, injuries have derailed 1948 for a few top prospects, others counted on for the future have has less satisfactory seasons. Expect a major shakeup in the system before Opening Day 1949.
It looks like the Montreal Saints will finish under .500 for the 18th year in a row. The Saints had high hopes after pushing their record to 72-73 with a win over Toronto last Sunday, but a 1-4 week means they need to win each of their final 4 games of the season to reach the break even mark for the first time since an 86-68 campaign in 1930.
Bob Arman continues to make last winter's deal between Brooklyn and Cincinnati look just awful for the Cannons. The 27-year-old righthander ran his record to 17-11 (same as he finished for Cincinnati last year) with a 2.34 era that is second in all of FABL behind only former teammate Deuce Barrell.
Jake Shadoan, who won a Continental Association batting title in 1933 and was a key piece of Brooklyn's 3-consecutive pennant winners has announced he will retire. The 40-year-old who is finishing out his career with Seattle of the Great Western League, had 1599 hits in 1360 FABL games with Brooklyn and Detroit. He was a two-time second team All-American selection at Liberty College.
Congratulations to the following organizations for winning minor league titles this season.
Boston Minutemen: B Southeastern League winner Arlington and C Gulf States League winner Hattiesburg
Brooklyn Kings: AAA Union League winner Jersey City
Chicago Cougars: AA Dixie League winner Mobile
Cincinnati Cannons: AAA Century League winner Indianapolis
Cleveland Foresters: C Upper Mississippi Valley Association winner Ottumwa
New York Stars: A Middle Atlantic League winner Scranton and Class B COW League winner Salem
Philadelphia Sailors: AA Eastern Association winner Providence
Pittsburgh Miners: A Heartland League winner Gary
And in the Great Western League the winning organizations for the minors were
Dallas Centurions: Class A Trans Border Association winner Tucson
Oakland Grays: Class AAA Lone Star Association winner Waco
Seattle Thunderbirds: Class AA Western Baseball League winner Pueblo
The Vesutan Bees finished 3.5 games ahead of the Kobe Bulls to win their first Japanese League title, ending the Tokyo Rams two year reign as league champions.

ST BLANE TOPS WHITNEY COLLEGE EASILY IN GRID OPENER

Despite a shaky start the Fighting Saints of St Blane rolled to a 35-3 victory at Latrobe, PA. in a classic football opener that had a crowd of 59,343 hysterical from start to finish at St Blane Stadium. The Saints, guided by newly minted starting quarterback Dane Sutherland, had some troubles early with a pair of first quarter turnovers that allowed the Engineers to hold a 3-0 lead at the end of the opening period.

The game turned quickly on one play as jitterbug back Joe Fulgham had a bolt-out-of-the-blue 70-yard touchdown return of a punt early in the second frame to get the Fighting Saints on the scoreboard. From that point on the St Blane nerves settled with Sutherland throwing a pair of touchdown passes and Fulgham, who also stars as a centerfielder on the Saints baseball team, running for 121 yards from scrimmage on the day.

It was the highly of a very busy week of top notch matchups that also included an impressive win by Rome State as the Centurions doubled Penn Catholic 34-17. The gold-helmeted legions made an impressive debut, grinding out four touchdowns against the stubborn resistance of a good Penn Catholic team that lad little trouble with Darnell State a week ago.

Elsewhere, national title contender Detroit City College met little resistance in Lansing as the Knights trounced in-state rival St Igantius by a 33-10 score for their 18th consecutive victory. The Knights last loss came nearly two years ago at the hands of Rome State.

The Great Lakes Alliance and West Coast Athletic Association split early season bragging rights after a pair of games on the coast. The positive for the Midwesterners came from California where St Magnus dumped CC Los Angeles 24-10 but further north in was the coast loop celebrating a hard fought 9-7 victory for Rainier College over Minnesota Tech.

Other games of note saw Northern California post a very impressive 30-7 win over the Navigators of Annapolis Maritime while Coastal California looked dominant in 27-7 win over Lane State. The Mammoths of Redwood improved to 2-0 on the season with a 17-7 win over Portland Tech. North Carolina Tech scored late to nip Travis College 17-13 while in the south Cumberland, Noble Jones College, Georgia Baptist and Alabama Baptist all won their opening games as expected.

WEEKEND RESULTS
EAST
St. Blane 35 Whitney College 3
Rome State 34 Penn Catholic 17
Commonwealth Catholic 21 Cowpens State 9
St. Patrick's 17 St. Matthew's College 0
George Fox 16 Ellery 0
Henry Hudson 34 Garden State 17
Brunswick 48 Bigsby College 0
Empire State 20 NW New York State 20
Brooklyn State 38 Eastern Virginia 24
Conwell College 34 Lebanon College (PA) 7
Eastern State 48 Ohio Poly 20
Trescott College 21 Boston State 14

SOUTH
Mississippi A&M 50 Western Florida 17
Cumberland 7 Northern Mississippi 0
Noble Jones College 17 Western Tennessee 14
Georgia Baptist 31 Bluegrass State 27
Alabama Baptist 26 Baton Rouge State 20
Mississippi Tech 23 Opelika State 20
North Carolina Tech 17 Travis College 13
Maryland State 17 Petersburg 6
Charleston Tech 7 Carolina Poly 3
Columbia Military Academy 23 Edgemoor 6
Coastal State 41 Charleston (IL) 0
Bulein 14 Lexington State 7
Chesapeake State 14 Potomac College 7
Alexandria 23 Salisbury Christian 14
Huntington State 43 Orrville 6
Central Carolina 7 Richmond State 7

MIDWEST
Detroit City College 33 St. Ignatius 10
St. Magnus 24 CC Los Angeles 10
Central Ohio 6 Daniel Boone College 6
Lincoln 19 Eastern Kansas 3
Wisconsin State 23 Indiana A&M 17
Western Iowa 24 Wisconsin Catholic 0
College of Omaha 20 Iowa A&M 10
Northern Minnesota 38 Maumee State 9
Mile High State 20 Lawrence State 6
Colorado Poly 46 El Paso Methodist 3
Lambert College 26 Laclede 0
Central Kentucky 23 St. Francis (OH) 0
Miners College 29 Strub College 19

SOUTHWEST
Arkansas A&T 50 Commerce State 7
Lubbock State 27 Payne State 0
Texas Gulf Coast 37 Pittsburgh State 0
Amarillo Methodist 16 Eastern Oklahoma 14
College of Waco 20 Darnell State 10
Texas Panhandle 44 Ferguson 6
Abilene Baptist 38 Queen City 13
Red River State 41 Huntsville State 0
Canyon A&M 10 Abilene Methodist 3

FAR WEST
Northern California 30 Annapolis Maritime 7
Coastal California 27 Lane State 7
Redwood 17 Portland Tech 7
Rainier College 9 Minnesota Tech 7
Utah A&M 30 Gates University 7
Kit Carson University 45 Minns College 7
California Missionary 10 Valley State 7
Tempe College 58 Gunnison State 14
Boulder State 14 South Valley State 7
San Francisco Tech 20 Golden Gate University 13
Sunnyvale 21 Oklahoma City State 3
Provo Tech 35 Idaho A&M 0
Custer College 24 Cache Valley 14
Wyoming A&I 52 Mountainview State 3

DEFENDING CHAMPS START SEASON WITH WIN

Cleveland -The reigning American Football Association champion Cleveland Finches picked up exactly where they left off as the Finches, who won their final four games last season including the title tilt with Washington, opened their 1948 campaign with a 31-24 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Frigates. Jody Moten, who spent the past three seasons as a reserve, took the reins at quarterback for the Finches and enjoyed a strong starting debut. Moten passed for 168 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the way for the Finches. Cleveland's defense did a solid job bottling up Greg LePage as the Frigates All-Pro back, who ran for an AFA record 1,259 yards a year ago, was limited to just 60 yards on the ground at Forester Field.

AMERICANS TOP ST LOUIS 24-17 AS TURNOVERS DOOM RAMBLERS

Boston -Here in the hub, where the normally baseball minded populace has turned its attention to the grid after the Minutemen's rocky September continued with 6 losses in their previous 7 games, had plenty to rejoice yesterday afternoon at Minutemen Stadium where 40,420 turned out to see the Americans defeat the St Louis Ramblers 24-17.

It was the official AFA opener for reigning league MVP Del Thomas and his Yanks who were looking to rebound from a dreadful 4-8 season a year ago. Thomas had a strong afternoon, throwing for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns to pace the Boston attack and Mike Fulmer's 73 yards on the ground helped force the Ramblers defense to stay honest and not focus solely on stopping Thomas' cannon of an arm.

After a sloppy start to the game which saw each side turn the ball over twice, the locals got on the scoreboard first when Thomas found David Gilbert for a 12 yard scoring toss late in the opening period. Another St Louis turnover -their third of the quarter- allowed the Americans to increase their lead to 10-0 thanks to an Eric Balfour 18-yard field goal. The second period continued much the same for the bumbling St Louis eleven, which fumbled the ball just two plays later and that set up another Thomas to Gilbert touchdown strike.

The Ramblers showed a little more poise in the second half and took advantage of a Thomas miscue when the Yanks leader coughed up the ball on his own 22-yard line midway through the third period. St Louis took advantage with a touchdown to cut the Boston lead to 17-10 at that point and there were some tense moments for Minutemen Stadium faithful when Thomas was intercepted late in the third quarter to set up the tying score for the Ramblers with 6:53 remaining in the game.

Turnovers were the Ramblers undoing on this day and with less than 4 minutes remaining a Larry Gilliam fumble, the sixth time Boston was gifted the ball, set up some late heroics from Thomas and Fulmer. Fulmer ran twice for a total of 17 yards on the drive while Thomas connected for a pair of passes including a 20-yard touchdown to Steve Kelly that would prove to be the game winner in a 24-17 Americans victory.

WILDCATS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MAROONS MISTAKES

Detroit -There is no better rivalry in professional football than that of the Chicago Wildcats and Detroit Maroons but on this day the visitors from the Windy City made the Motor City crew look like amateurs. Chicago pounded Detroit on the ground, wearing out the Maroons line and used their own ball hawking skills on defense to score two touchdowns directly and set up a third.

Gus Brown may eventually lose his starting quarterback job to highly touted rookie Dusty Sinclair -the Travis College star the Wildcats selected third in the draft- but on this day, despite throwing 4 first half interceptions, Brown easily accomplished enough to lead Chicago to victory, claiming a 28-7 win.

It has been an awful couple of weeks for the Maroons and their owner Rollie Barrell, who buried his father -scouting great Rufus Barrell- just a few days before the Maroons season opener. Detroit lost that game in Cincinnati due to a missed 9-yard field goal and the Maroons looked even worse this time out as they fell to 0-2 with the loss at Thompson Field.

The troubles began with 4 minutes remaining in the opening period when Jim Arends of the Wildcats intercepted a Rich Coleman pass deep in Detroit territory. It took just one play for Brown to connect with Chicago end Tom Gipson for the opening score of the game and 20 seconds later it was 14-0 when Colemen threw another errant ball - this one into the waiting arms of Wildcat Louie Dunlap who galloped 29-yards untouched for Chicago's first defensive score of the afternoon.

Gus Brown then proceeded to throw interceptions on 4 of the next five Chicago possessions but Detroit came away with nothing to show for it and trailed 14-0 at the break. The Maroons did get on the board early in the third quarter when Detroit, aided by 3 Chicago penalties, drove 72-yards for a scoring drive that culminated with a 5-yard scoring pass from Coleman to Milton Blanchard.

That would be as close as the Maroons would get as Chicago added two more touchdowns, including another interception return for a score in the final minute to complete the 28-7 dominating victory. In all Rich Coleman was intercepted 6 times and fumbled once while the Chicago ground game used a balanced attack to run for 248 yards and a wide advantage in time of possession.

WASPS OVERPOWER PALADINS 35-7

Washington DC -Sporting a new quarterback to start the season the Washington Wasps looked every bit the club that won the East Division crown a year ago with a convincing 35-7 victory at home over the Pittsburgh Paladins in their season opener. Bob Krohn was an All-Pro just two years ago but Rich McKowen was the better quarterback in training camp and earned the nod in the opener. McKowen delivered with a 15-for-20 passing day that saw him throw for 181 yards and 4 scores without being intercepted.

With Rick Petty rushing for 74 yards while Charlie Cofield and Bob Rochman combined for an additional 75 on the ground the Wasps just had too many options with which to sting the Paladins. Pittsburgh held strong for a quarter and the game was tied at 7 after the opening period before McKowen took over with three touchdown passes in the second frame.

STARS SHINE IN CINCINNATI

Cincinnati -Archie Rawlings threw for 237 yards and 2 touchdowns while rushing for 49 yards to lead the New York Football Stars to an impressive 35-7 road victory over the Cincinnati Tigers. The loss evened the Tigers record at 1-1 after they dumped Detroit in the lone game on the AFA schedule a week ago, but they failed to take advantage of any opportunities the Stars gave them.

Rawlings certainly looked right at home in his pro debut, going from being undrafted out of Mississippi A&M to the starting job with the Stars following a terrific training camp. The youngster engineered an 89-yard scoring drive on his first taste of pro action and it included an alert decision to tuck the ball and run after seeing no one open. The scramble gained 29 yards and was followed immediately by a 28-yard pass to Dan Cole that set up a first and goal one play before Scooter Beaumont plunged over the line for the opening touchdown of the game. Baumont would add a second rushing touchdown early in the third quarter but certainly the big story for Stars fans will be to see if Rawlings can keep it up as the club -Eastern Division champions two years ago- looks to bounce back from a last place 2-10 finish in 1947.

COWBOYS AND CRESCENTS REMAIN PERFECT IN CFC PLAY

There will be plenty of attention focused on Crescent City Stadium in New Orleans a week from tomorrow when the Kansas City Cowboys arrive in New Orleans for a showdown between the league's two unbeaten teams. Outside of San Francisco, the Eastern Division leading Crescents, led by a homegrown rookie quarterback in former Bayou State star Vince Gallegos, look like the loop's best hope to dethrone the mighty Cowboys, who have gone 29-3 since the league's inception including wins in each of the two league championship games.

The Cowboys perhaps took it easy this week on the winless Chicago Comets, a team they embarrassed 70-7 in the Windy City a week ago. The rematch was a much more manageable 24-7 loss for the Chicago eleven, which only managed to avoid a goose-egg by scoring a touchdown in the closing minutes. Mason Matthews, the Cowboys burly fullback, opened the scoring with a 5-yard run early in the second frame, part of his game high 101 yards rushing on the day. For a change Pat Chappell did not throw a touchdown pass but the Cowboys quarterback did complete 12 of 27 throws for 214 yards -very pedestrian numbers by his lofty standards. The victory improves the Cowboys record to 4-0 in advance of their rare midweek showdown in New Orleans - designed to gain the league some newspaper publicity by coming the day before baseball's World Championship Series is set to get underway.

The Crescents, who stumbled through a league worst 3-11 campaign a year ago, are off to a perfect 4-0 start this time around after Gallegos threw 3 touchdown passes to lead New Orleans to a 36-21 win over the visiting Brooklyn Kings. The Crescents efforts, keyed by 23 unanswered points in the first half after the Kings had taken a quick 7-0 lead, spoiled a terrific day from Brooklyn rookie Bill Howlin. The former All-American halfback from Detroit City College ran for 106 yards while also passing for 137. Unfortunately for Howlin and the Kings, his undoing was a pair of second half interceptions, each of which led to New Orleans field goals to help the Crescents seal the victory.

The Los Angeles Lobos snapped a 3-game losing streak with an impressive 45-3 victory over the struggling New York Gothams. Lobos signal caller Jackie Wendt had a huge day for the hosts, throwing for 402 yards and a pair of touchdowns while rushing for 2 more scores as part of his 87 yards on the ground. As if that wasn't enough, Wendt also added an interception while on defense. The Gothams, Eastern Division champs each of the past two seasons, fall to 1-3-1 and with a pair of losses to division rival New Orleans already seem highly unlikely to reach the title game for a third straight year, even at this early juncture.

The final game of the weekend took place in Buffalo where the visiting San Francisco Wings improved to 4-1 following a 40-27 victory over the Bulls. Sam Metcalf threw four touchdowns, including 3 in the first half as the Wings opened a 27-6 lead at the break, to lead the visitors attack.

NAHC TRAINING CAMPS UNDERWAY

The six North American Hockey Confederation clubs began training camp last week and preseason games will start Wednesday as the defending champion Toronto Dukes and the rest of the NAHC prepare for the October 13th regular season opener. The Dukes, despite finishing 3rd in the standings a year ago, knocked off the second place Boston Bees in the semi-finals before downing the New York Shamrocks -who had surprised first place Chicago in the opening round- to win their 7th Challenge Cup in team history. The 7 Cups for the Dukes ties them with Boston for the most one by a single team and continues a stretch of dominance dating back to 1940 where only the Bees and Dukes have won the playoff title.

The Bees made a depth move last week, signing veteran minor league free agent center Ray Gustafson to add some depth to their organization. The 29-year-old has spent his entire pro career in the Hockey Association of American, including last season when he tallied 7 goals and 27 points for the Cleveland Eries. Gustafson has been part of a pair of HAA championship teams but was let go by the Eries organization last week in order to give him a NAHC opportunity with Boston.

PRESEASON SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29
Montreal at Detroit
Boston at Chicago
New York at Toronto

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 30
Chicago at New York
Detroit at Boston
Toronto at Montreal

SATURDAY OCTOBER 2
Montreal at Chicago
Boston at Detroit
New York at Toronto

SUNDAY OCTOBER 3
Detroit at Boston
Toronto at New York
Chicago at Montreal

Here is TWIFB's latest quarterly ranking of the top fighters in each of the 3 weight classes.

DESMARAIS HAS REMATCH SET WITH MELANSON

They may be putting the cart before the horse but the camps of both Edouard Desmarais and Frank Melanson have confirmed the two fighters will stage a third meeting in the new year at Bigsby Garden. The expectation is that will be Desmarais second defense of the world middleweight title that he earned with a 5th round TKO of Melanson in July but there is a little matter of Desmarais next fight to be completed before that date.

The Frenchman, with a career record of 41-1 who suffered his only loss to Melanson two years ago before winning the rematch, is slated to fight Canadian champion Adrian Petrie in Montreal on Friday evening. The outcome is said to be a fait accompli with the 32-year-old Frenchman an overwhelming favourite to stop his 25-year-old opponent. Petrie, a Montreal native who earned the nickname "Machine Gun" as much for his role in the war as part of the Montreal Regiment of the Canadian 1st Army as for his ring prowess, enters the bout with a 17-1-1 record and it will be his first fight at the famed Montreal Arena in nearly two years.

The 32-year-old Melanson, who has twice held the middleweight belt, has not fought since the July loss to Desmarias and is not expected to return to the ring before their January 8th rematch. Melanson is 33-2-2 and held the title from June of 1945 until July 1947 when he lost to John Edmonds. Melanson regained the belt with a win over Edmonds in a rematch last December but was stopped by Desmarais in his second meeting with the European champ.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

Oct 1- Montreal, Quebec: World Middleweight champion Edouard Desmarais (42-1) defends his title against Canadian Adrian Petrie (17-1-1)
Oct 15- Denny Arena, Boston: HW contender Roy Crawford (27-3) vs Todd MacKinney (26-10-1)
Oct 17- Washington DC: Former MW champ John Edmonds (25-3) vs Eric Deal (9-8-1)
Oct 22- London, Eng: World Heavyweight champion Hector Sawyer (58-3-1) defends his title against Grant Knowles (31-4-1)
Oct 29 - Los Angeles: MW Nick Harris (23-5-1) vs Ron Davis (7-3-2)
Jan 8 - Bigsby Garden: MW Frank Melanson (33-2-2) vs Edouard Desmarais (42-2)

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 9/26/1948

A posthumous report by the murdered Count Folke Bernadotte declares the UN must step in to end the Palestine war if the Arabs and Jews fail to make peace. The UN mediator was killed in Jerusalem last week.
US Secretary of State Marshall and his British and French counterparts are meeting in Paris as part of a UN conference with a goal of diffusing the tense situation in Berlin and the cold war between East and West. During his address Marshall warned the Russians not to take American patience as a sign of weakness.
A 2-hour general strike in France of both Communist and non-Communist unions saw 7 million walk off the job, protesting low wages and high living costs.
Hot on the campaign trail, both President Truman and Governor Dewey spent the week crisscrossing the west by train. Dewey calling for a new administration as the only way to achieve "national unity in these troubled times" while Truman focused his speeches on the prevention of another war and plans for curbing inflation.
The House Committee on Un-American Activities is said to have enough evidence to warrant espionage indictments against two American scientists who worked on the atomic bomb.
Winds estimated at 140 miles an hour lashed Key West as Florida's worst hurricane in three decades roared its way through the southern part of the state. Damage was pegged at $25 million and blamed for 3 deaths.

10-04-2023, 01:44 PM	#797
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,770	September 27, 1948 SEPTEMBER 27, 1948 COUGARS KEEP HOPES ALIVE WITH SAILORS SWEEP The Chicago Cougars may just have a shot at finally getting the monkey off their back after a big week left them within 2 games of the front-running Philadelphia Sailors in the race for the Continental Association pennant. The CA flag is something that has eluded the Cougars since 1941, despite the fact they have been considered the best team in the loop for much of the past 7 years. The Cougars, entered the week 4.5 games back of the Sailors but won 5 of 6 games last week, including a pair over Philadelphia, to pull within 2 games of the lead. After Pete Papenfus pitched a gem of a 3-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Cincinnati on Monday, the Cougars prepared for the biggest two games of their season thus far. They passed with flying colours, nipping the Sailors 2-1 behind Duke Bybee's 19th victory of the season on Tuesday and then had a much easier time Wednesday in a 6-1 victory keyed by first inning homers off the bats of Hal Sharp and Walt Pack. The Sailors then moved on to Cleveland where they split a 4-game set with the Foresters while the Cougars topped Montreal 7-2 Wednesday before splitting a pair over the weekend with the Stars in New York. The Cougars will need a Philadelphia stumble to end an excruciating pennant drought and it might be too much to ask, but they are in a position where, with a few breaks, they could prevail. Chicago has five games remaining - all at Cougars Park where they lead the Continental Assocation with a 46-26 home record. They begin with 3 against the suddenly hot Brooklyn Kings, who have won 5 in a row, starting tomorrow before finishing off with Saturday and Sunday contests with the New York Stars. The Sailors end with 5 road games beginning with 3 in Toronto starting tomorrow and finishing with Friday and Sunday games in Cleveland. One positive for Sailor fans in their quest for a second straight pennant is that the Sailors 40-32 road record is the best in the Continental. In the Federal Association the St Louis Pioneers went 4-2 last week, including a pair of wins over Washington to crush the Eagles faint flag hopes. The New York Gothams have won 7 of their last 8 including a 3-game weekend sweep at Gothams Park over the Detroit Dynamos. That keeps New York's hopes alive as they head into a 3 game series with the Pioneers beginning tomorrow trailing St Louis by 3.5 games. Oddsmakers still give the St Louis squad nearly a 92% chance of claiming the crown for the second year in a row but a Gothams sweep of the midweek series could certainly make for an interesting weekend. St Louis will finish up with a pair of weekend games against the Chicago Chiefs while the Gothams entertain slumping Detroit for their final 3 games of the season. Gothams have set a new team attendance mark with 2,202,010 of the faithful passing through the turnstiles. With the huge 3 game series against St. Louis this week the team will finish with one of the top 5 FABL attendance totals in history. With the Pioneers coming to town this week for a 3 game set and the Gothams 6-1 week moving them to 3 1/2 games back, there is some hope for a miracle finish. It would likely take a sweep of St. Louis, but manager Jameson has Ed Bowman, Buddy Long and Lefty Allen lined up for the series. Ed Bowman becomes a 20 game winner for the second time in his career. Bowman, 20-8, won 23 back in his rookie season of 1942. Walt Messer has reached 40 homers for the first time in his career. He has also set a career high with 110 RBI. Code: FABL CLUBS TO DRAW 2 MILLION FANS IN A SINGLE SEASON (note 1943 includes free tickets to military and war industry workers) Boston Minutemen 2,498,548 1943 New York Stars 2,365,625 1947 Chicago Cougars 2,215,186 1943 NEW YORK GOTHAMS 2,202,010 1948 6 games remaining Cincinnati Cannons 2,139,469 1943 New York Stars 2,137,105 1948 home schedule complete New York Gothams 2,124,783 1943 Chicago Cougars 2,058,766 1941 Chicago Cougars 2,053,833 1947 CHICAGO COUGARS 1,976,453 1948 5 games remaining BIG SERIES AWAITS ]Looks like quite a series between the Pioneers and Gothams if you like pitching. St Louis appears set to go with Hackney (21-10, 3.55) on Tuesday and it sounds like the Gothams will counter with Ed Bowman (20-8,3.22) in matchup of 20-game winners. The next two days should feature pretty good pitching with it looking like Danny Hern (12-8, 3.80) and Hiram Steinberg (16-16, 3.25) take the hill for St Louis while the Gothams are expected to counter with Buddy Long (17-12, 3.65) and Lefty Allen (12-14, 3.75). Things are actually set up pretty well for the Gothams, all things considered. Yes, 3.5 back with 5/6 left isn’t ideal. But the Gothams are 11-8 against the Pioneers this year (though they started out 6-3 through May), and they have owned Hal Hackney, who is 2-3 with a 6.96 era in 6 starts against New York this season including getting shelled for 8 runs, all earned, in 6 and a third three weeks ago during a 9-6 loss at home. The Gothams also have the second-best home record this year (behind the Pioneers). However, they’ll have to go up against the Pioneers’ league-leading 40-32 road record (tied with Washington). The Gothams are also set to toss two lefties (Allen, Long) against the Pioneers, who have the best record in the FA against lefties (17-10; second overall behind Cincinnati’s 21-12 mark). So, the schedule is set up well for New York. But the peripherals do play reasonably well for St. Louis. Regardless, it’ll be a hell of a series. A sliver of hope in the Windy City? The Cougars, after winning five of their last six, including a two-game sweep over the first place Sailors, cut their deficit from 5 to just 2 games with a week to play, setting up what could be an exciting finish to the season. The Sailors may still like their chances, as both teams have five games remaining in the regular season. The Cougars have the advantage in location, as they'll host the Kings for three and the Stars for two, while the Sailors will be in Toronto and Cleveland for their final two series. It won't be easy for the Cougars to mount a comeback, as despite allowing the fewest runs (548) in the league and donning a run differential (114) higher then the other five CA teams with a positive run differential (105) combined. To catch the defending pennant winners, the Cougars will need a big week from star Sal Pestilli, who is one homer away from tying the Cougars single season mark set by Tom Taylor (31) in 1934. And with the way the schedule is set up, 2-Time Allen Winner Pete Papenfus will make two starts, looking for his 20th and 21st wins of the season. If he can win at least one, him and Duke Bybee (20-8) would be the only pair to win 20 games each this season. The last time two Cougars won 20 games in a season was 1913, when Isaac Meyer (21-7) and Tom Guaraneri (24-14) achieved the feat on a 85-68 team. That wouldn't be enough to make the postseason (unless the Sailors win all five), and for a reasonable chance of making it Chicago will want to go at least 4-1. Top prospect Johnny Peters had an excellent debut week, as the former 3rd Overall Pick went 4-for-9 with a double, 3 walks, 4 runs, and his first big league home run. He's done an excellent job replacing the injured Red Bond, and along with veteran Leo Mitchell (5-8, RBI, R, 2 BB), midseason acquisition Luke Berry (4-11, 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB), and first basemen Ray Ford (.4-11, HR, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB), the Cougars lineup supported a pitching staff that allowed two or fewer runs in all five of the victories. Kings Rookie of the Year candidate LF Pat Petty won player of the week honors by hitting .500 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI's in just 16 AB's this week. While Petty has had a fine rookie campaign slashing 283/357/812 with 18 home runs, 93 RBI's and 93 runs scored, I think the award voters were off this week. King's teammate SP Bob Arman is on a roll. This week he went 2-0 in 18 IP with a 0.00 ERA with just 8 hits given up. In his last 3 outings they have all by complete game shutout wins. Arman's former Cannons teammate Deuce Barrell will win the CA Allen Award this season, there is no doubt about that, but Arman is having a great season and showing why the King's felt the swap of Arman for Long was the right decision (no they were traded together but with the youth the Kings have coming up it was felt Arman was the better long term fit). Speaking of Buddy Long, here are some thoughts from Brooklyn Assistant General Manager Bert Manning nearly a full season after the move was made. (slightly edited for clarity) "Well, the trade of Buddy Long to the Gothams was much howled about right after that deal. I still think for the long-term position of the club, it was the right deal. Even if we had kept Long, it would not have made the Kings contenders this year. Management felt that the 47 season was, while not a fluke, one that certainly came a bit too early for the youthful makeup of the team. This year the Kings have somewhat underachieved (RD +10 -5 Pyt rcd) but slight regression was well forecast. Long might have helped them creep closer to .500 but it was not a 15 game difference. Young pitcher Jake Roberts spent most of the year in AAA with so-so results he will be a part of the mix next season. While Hal Friedlander has spectacularly flopped this year (.365 BABIP might have something to do with some bad luck) his control has significantly improved. And in return for Long the King's were able to grab 2nd round pick CF Enos Bell (#73 prospect overall). So would I do the deal again? Well maybe with last years rules in place as the now 34-year-old Long has been solid this year and arguably the best of the veterans pitchers the Gothams picked up last off season, there are some numbers that are sliding a bit. With the current rules regarding trades probably not, which (in general not just about me and my trading habits) is likely the goal of the rule change." COAST PLAYOFF RACE GOING DOWN TO THE WIRE While the Oakland Grays had clinched first place nearly two weeks ago the unique playoff format employed by the Great Western League has assured fans of some suspense right down to the wire. With two games remaining in the schedule the Houston Bulls and San Francisco Hawks are tied for second place in the battle to join the defending Bigby Cup champions from Oakland in the league title series. Houston, which pulled even with the Hawks after a pair of wins over the weekend while the San Francisco nine lost twice, finished the season up at home with games tonight and tomorrow evening against the Los Angeles Knights. The Hawks, who stayed alive with a pair of wins over their Bay area rivals early last week, entertain Portland today and tomorrow to round out their season. The Grays will host the opening two games of the third annual Bigsby Cup next weekend. Hal Hackney became just the 4th different pitcher to surpass the 200 strikeout mark in a single season since the dawn of the modern era in 1926. Hackney has 203 k's with at least one start remaining. Lefty Allen, who has reached 200 4 times in his career, leads with 230 in 1937. Pete Papenfus of the Cougars in 1941 and Rabbit Day, for Baltimore in 1930 are the only other modern era pitchers to fan at least 200. With 43 homers and 130 rbi's entering play this week, Bill Barrett of the New York Stars looks to be the favourite to win the Continental Association Whitney Award. If successful it would be Barrett's 4th Whtiney win despite the fact he is just 28 years old and missed 3 full seasons serving in the Marines during the war. Time is running out for Barrett in his chance of Tom Taylor's CA homerun record. Barrett has not hit a longball since September 10 and remains at 43, one shy of Taylor's 1928 CA standard. The Stars have 4 games in remaining in two parks that could not be much different. The first two are at cavernous Parc Cartier in Montreal before Barrett and the Stars finish up at homer-friendly Cougars Park over the weekend. The Fed Whitney is a much tougher call but it says here that Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones should be the winner, but he will face stiff competition from St Louis outfielder Larry Gregory, Rats McGonigle of the Washington Eagles and a pair of Gothams sluggers in Red Johnson and Walt Messer. Barrell already owns 5 Whitney Awards including one he received last year after breaking Max Morris' single-season homerun record. After leading the Federal Association in batting average nearly all season, a rough September that included a 1-for-10 showing at the plate last week has dropped Pittsburgh Miners outfielder Joe Owens to second in the Fed race behind Al Tucker of St Louis. Less than a percentage point separates the two and Tucker has a much bigger focus with the Pioneers trying to hold off New York to clinch their second consecutive Fed flag, but the 35-year-old Pioneers outfielder has had an outstanding final month of the season, batting .417 in September. It would be the first batting crown for either Owens or Tucker. Ed Reyes of the Philadelphia Sailors, who is hitting .343, is all but assured of his 4th straight Continental hitting crown. Brett Bing notes that the Wolves will secure a better than .500 season, but wonders if that is this enough to secure Bob Call's return next season? The season was better than expected but there is plenty of work to do in off-season as the roster has to transition to the next generation. Unfortunately, injuries have derailed 1948 for a few top prospects, others counted on for the future have has less satisfactory seasons. Expect a major shakeup in the system before Opening Day 1949. It looks like the Montreal Saints will finish under .500 for the 18th year in a row. The Saints had high hopes after pushing their record to 72-73 with a win over Toronto last Sunday, but a 1-4 week means they need to win each of their final 4 games of the season to reach the break even mark for the first time since an 86-68 campaign in 1930. Bob Arman continues to make last winter's deal between Brooklyn and Cincinnati look just awful for the Cannons. The 27-year-old righthander ran his record to 17-11 (same as he finished for Cincinnati last year) with a 2.34 era that is second in all of FABL behind only former teammate Deuce Barrell. Jake Shadoan, who won a Continental Association batting title in 1933 and was a key piece of Brooklyn's 3-consecutive pennant winners has announced he will retire. The 40-year-old who is finishing out his career with Seattle of the Great Western League, had 1599 hits in 1360 FABL games with Brooklyn and Detroit. He was a two-time second team All-American selection at Liberty College. Congratulations to the following organizations for winning minor league titles this season. Boston Minutemen: B Southeastern League winner Arlington and C Gulf States League winner Hattiesburg Brooklyn Kings: AAA Union League winner Jersey City Chicago Cougars: AA Dixie League winner Mobile Cincinnati Cannons: AAA Century League winner Indianapolis Cleveland Foresters: C Upper Mississippi Valley Association winner Ottumwa New York Stars: A Middle Atlantic League winner Scranton and Class B COW League winner Salem Philadelphia Sailors: AA Eastern Association winner Providence Pittsburgh Miners: A Heartland League winner Gary And in the Great Western League the winning organizations for the minors were Dallas Centurions: Class A Trans Border Association winner Tucson Oakland Grays: Class AAA Lone Star Association winner Waco Seattle Thunderbirds: Class AA Western Baseball League winner Pueblo The Vesutan Bees finished 3.5 games ahead of the Kobe Bulls to win their first Japanese League title, ending the Tokyo Rams two year reign as league champions. ST BLANE TOPS WHITNEY COLLEGE EASILY IN GRID OPENER Despite a shaky start the Fighting Saints of St Blane rolled to a 35-3 victory at Latrobe, PA. in a classic football opener that had a crowd of 59,343 hysterical from start to finish at St Blane Stadium. The Saints, guided by newly minted starting quarterback Dane Sutherland, had some troubles early with a pair of first quarter turnovers that allowed the Engineers to hold a 3-0 lead at the end of the opening period. The game turned quickly on one play as jitterbug back Joe Fulgham had a bolt-out-of-the-blue 70-yard touchdown return of a punt early in the second frame to get the Fighting Saints on the scoreboard. From that point on the St Blane nerves settled with Sutherland throwing a pair of touchdown passes and Fulgham, who also stars as a centerfielder on the Saints baseball team, running for 121 yards from scrimmage on the day. It was the highly of a very busy week of top notch matchups that also included an impressive win by Rome State as the Centurions doubled Penn Catholic 34-17. The gold-helmeted legions made an impressive debut, grinding out four touchdowns against the stubborn resistance of a good Penn Catholic team that lad little trouble with Darnell State a week ago. Elsewhere, national title contender Detroit City College met little resistance in Lansing as the Knights trounced in-state rival St Igantius by a 33-10 score for their 18th consecutive victory. The Knights last loss came nearly two years ago at the hands of Rome State. The Great Lakes Alliance and West Coast Athletic Association split early season bragging rights after a pair of games on the coast. The positive for the Midwesterners came from California where St Magnus dumped CC Los Angeles 24-10 but further north in was the coast loop celebrating a hard fought 9-7 victory for Rainier College over Minnesota Tech. Other games of note saw Northern California post a very impressive 30-7 win over the Navigators of Annapolis Maritime while Coastal California looked dominant in 27-7 win over Lane State. The Mammoths of Redwood improved to 2-0 on the season with a 17-7 win over Portland Tech. North Carolina Tech scored late to nip Travis College 17-13 while in the south Cumberland, Noble Jones College, Georgia Baptist and Alabama Baptist all won their opening games as expected. WEEKEND RESULTS EAST St. Blane 35 Whitney College 3 Rome State 34 Penn Catholic 17 Commonwealth Catholic 21 Cowpens State 9 St. Patrick's 17 St. Matthew's College 0 George Fox 16 Ellery 0 Henry Hudson 34 Garden State 17 Brunswick 48 Bigsby College 0 Empire State 20 NW New York State 20 Brooklyn State 38 Eastern Virginia 24 Conwell College 34 Lebanon College (PA) 7 Eastern State 48 Ohio Poly 20 Trescott College 21 Boston State 14 SOUTH Mississippi A&M 50 Western Florida 17 Cumberland 7 Northern Mississippi 0 Noble Jones College 17 Western Tennessee 14 Georgia Baptist 31 Bluegrass State 27 Alabama Baptist 26 Baton Rouge State 20 Mississippi Tech 23 Opelika State 20 North Carolina Tech 17 Travis College 13 Maryland State 17 Petersburg 6 Charleston Tech 7 Carolina Poly 3 Columbia Military Academy 23 Edgemoor 6 Coastal State 41 Charleston (IL) 0 Bulein 14 Lexington State 7 Chesapeake State 14 Potomac College 7 Alexandria 23 Salisbury Christian 14 Huntington State 43 Orrville 6 Central Carolina 7 Richmond State 7 MIDWEST Detroit City College 33 St. Ignatius 10 St. Magnus 24 CC Los Angeles 10 Central Ohio 6 Daniel Boone College 6 Lincoln 19 Eastern Kansas 3 Wisconsin State 23 Indiana A&M 17 Western Iowa 24 Wisconsin Catholic 0 College of Omaha 20 Iowa A&M 10 Northern Minnesota 38 Maumee State 9 Mile High State 20 Lawrence State 6 Colorado Poly 46 El Paso Methodist 3 Lambert College 26 Laclede 0 Central Kentucky 23 St. Francis (OH) 0 Miners College 29 Strub College 19 SOUTHWEST Arkansas A&T 50 Commerce State 7 Lubbock State 27 Payne State 0 Texas Gulf Coast 37 Pittsburgh State 0 Amarillo Methodist 16 Eastern Oklahoma 14 College of Waco 20 Darnell State 10 Texas Panhandle 44 Ferguson 6 Abilene Baptist 38 Queen City 13 Red River State 41 Huntsville State 0 Canyon A&M 10 Abilene Methodist 3 FAR WEST Northern California 30 Annapolis Maritime 7 Coastal California 27 Lane State 7 Redwood 17 Portland Tech 7 Rainier College 9 Minnesota Tech 7 Utah A&M 30 Gates University 7 Kit Carson University 45 Minns College 7 California Missionary 10 Valley State 7 Tempe College 58 Gunnison State 14 Boulder State 14 South Valley State 7 San Francisco Tech 20 Golden Gate University 13 Sunnyvale 21 Oklahoma City State 3 Provo Tech 35 Idaho A&M 0 Custer College 24 Cache Valley 14 Wyoming A&I 52 Mountainview State 3 DEFENDING CHAMPS START SEASON WITH WIN Cleveland -The reigning American Football Association champion Cleveland Finches picked up exactly where they left off as the Finches, who won their final four games last season including the title tilt with Washington, opened their 1948 campaign with a 31-24 victory over the visiting Philadelphia Frigates. Jody Moten, who spent the past three seasons as a reserve, took the reins at quarterback for the Finches and enjoyed a strong starting debut. Moten passed for 168 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the way for the Finches. Cleveland's defense did a solid job bottling up Greg LePage as the Frigates All-Pro back, who ran for an AFA record 1,259 yards a year ago, was limited to just 60 yards on the ground at Forester Field. AMERICANS TOP ST LOUIS 24-17 AS TURNOVERS DOOM RAMBLERS Boston -Here in the hub, where the normally baseball minded populace has turned its attention to the grid after the Minutemen's rocky September continued with 6 losses in their previous 7 games, had plenty to rejoice yesterday afternoon at Minutemen Stadium where 40,420 turned out to see the Americans defeat the St Louis Ramblers 24-17. It was the official AFA opener for reigning league MVP Del Thomas and his Yanks who were looking to rebound from a dreadful 4-8 season a year ago. Thomas had a strong afternoon, throwing for 235 yards and 3 touchdowns to pace the Boston attack and Mike Fulmer's 73 yards on the ground helped force the Ramblers defense to stay honest and not focus solely on stopping Thomas' cannon of an arm. After a sloppy start to the game which saw each side turn the ball over twice, the locals got on the scoreboard first when Thomas found David Gilbert for a 12 yard scoring toss late in the opening period. Another St Louis turnover -their third of the quarter- allowed the Americans to increase their lead to 10-0 thanks to an Eric Balfour 18-yard field goal. The second period continued much the same for the bumbling St Louis eleven, which fumbled the ball just two plays later and that set up another Thomas to Gilbert touchdown strike. The Ramblers showed a little more poise in the second half and took advantage of a Thomas miscue when the Yanks leader coughed up the ball on his own 22-yard line midway through the third period. St Louis took advantage with a touchdown to cut the Boston lead to 17-10 at that point and there were some tense moments for Minutemen Stadium faithful when Thomas was intercepted late in the third quarter to set up the tying score for the Ramblers with 6:53 remaining in the game. Turnovers were the Ramblers undoing on this day and with less than 4 minutes remaining a Larry Gilliam fumble, the sixth time Boston was gifted the ball, set up some late heroics from Thomas and Fulmer. Fulmer ran twice for a total of 17 yards on the drive while Thomas connected for a pair of passes including a 20-yard touchdown to Steve Kelly that would prove to be the game winner in a 24-17 Americans victory. WILDCATS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MAROONS MISTAKES Detroit -There is no better rivalry in professional football than that of the Chicago Wildcats and Detroit Maroons but on this day the visitors from the Windy City made the Motor City crew look like amateurs. Chicago pounded Detroit on the ground, wearing out the Maroons line and used their own ball hawking skills on defense to score two touchdowns directly and set up a third. Gus Brown may eventually lose his starting quarterback job to highly touted rookie Dusty Sinclair -the Travis College star the Wildcats selected third in the draft- but on this day, despite throwing 4 first half interceptions, Brown easily accomplished enough to lead Chicago to victory, claiming a 28-7 win. It has been an awful couple of weeks for the Maroons and their owner Rollie Barrell, who buried his father -scouting great Rufus Barrell- just a few days before the Maroons season opener. Detroit lost that game in Cincinnati due to a missed 9-yard field goal and the Maroons looked even worse this time out as they fell to 0-2 with the loss at Thompson Field. The troubles began with 4 minutes remaining in the opening period when Jim Arends of the Wildcats intercepted a Rich Coleman pass deep in Detroit territory. It took just one play for Brown to connect with Chicago end Tom Gipson for the opening score of the game and 20 seconds later it was 14-0 when Colemen threw another errant ball - this one into the waiting arms of Wildcat Louie Dunlap who galloped 29-yards untouched for Chicago's first defensive score of the afternoon. Gus Brown then proceeded to throw interceptions on 4 of the next five Chicago possessions but Detroit came away with nothing to show for it and trailed 14-0 at the break. The Maroons did get on the board early in the third quarter when Detroit, aided by 3 Chicago penalties, drove 72-yards for a scoring drive that culminated with a 5-yard scoring pass from Coleman to Milton Blanchard. That would be as close as the Maroons would get as Chicago added two more touchdowns, including another interception return for a score in the final minute to complete the 28-7 dominating victory. In all Rich Coleman was intercepted 6 times and fumbled once while the Chicago ground game used a balanced attack to run for 248 yards and a wide advantage in time of possession. WASPS OVERPOWER PALADINS 35-7 Washington DC -Sporting a new quarterback to start the season the Washington Wasps looked every bit the club that won the East Division crown a year ago with a convincing 35-7 victory at home over the Pittsburgh Paladins in their season opener. Bob Krohn was an All-Pro just two years ago but Rich McKowen was the better quarterback in training camp and earned the nod in the opener. McKowen delivered with a 15-for-20 passing day that saw him throw for 181 yards and 4 scores without being intercepted. With Rick Petty rushing for 74 yards while Charlie Cofield and Bob Rochman combined for an additional 75 on the ground the Wasps just had too many options with which to sting the Paladins. Pittsburgh held strong for a quarter and the game was tied at 7 after the opening period before McKowen took over with three touchdown passes in the second frame. STARS SHINE IN CINCINNATI Cincinnati -Archie Rawlings threw for 237 yards and 2 touchdowns while rushing for 49 yards to lead the New York Football Stars to an impressive 35-7 road victory over the Cincinnati Tigers. The loss evened the Tigers record at 1-1 after they dumped Detroit in the lone game on the AFA schedule a week ago, but they failed to take advantage of any opportunities the Stars gave them. Rawlings certainly looked right at home in his pro debut, going from being undrafted out of Mississippi A&M to the starting job with the Stars following a terrific training camp. The youngster engineered an 89-yard scoring drive on his first taste of pro action and it included an alert decision to tuck the ball and run after seeing no one open. The scramble gained 29 yards and was followed immediately by a 28-yard pass to Dan Cole that set up a first and goal one play before Scooter Beaumont plunged over the line for the opening touchdown of the game. Baumont would add a second rushing touchdown early in the third quarter but certainly the big story for Stars fans will be to see if Rawlings can keep it up as the club -Eastern Division champions two years ago- looks to bounce back from a last place 2-10 finish in 1947. COWBOYS AND CRESCENTS REMAIN PERFECT IN CFC PLAY There will be plenty of attention focused on Crescent City Stadium in New Orleans a week from tomorrow when the Kansas City Cowboys arrive in New Orleans for a showdown between the league's two unbeaten teams. Outside of San Francisco, the Eastern Division leading Crescents, led by a homegrown rookie quarterback in former Bayou State star Vince Gallegos, look like the loop's best hope to dethrone the mighty Cowboys, who have gone 29-3 since the league's inception including wins in each of the two league championship games. The Cowboys perhaps took it easy this week on the winless Chicago Comets, a team they embarrassed 70-7 in the Windy City a week ago. The rematch was a much more manageable 24-7 loss for the Chicago eleven, which only managed to avoid a goose-egg by scoring a touchdown in the closing minutes. Mason Matthews, the Cowboys burly fullback, opened the scoring with a 5-yard run early in the second frame, part of his game high 101 yards rushing on the day. For a change Pat Chappell did not throw a touchdown pass but the Cowboys quarterback did complete 12 of 27 throws for 214 yards -very pedestrian numbers by his lofty standards. The victory improves the Cowboys record to 4-0 in advance of their rare midweek showdown in New Orleans - designed to gain the league some newspaper publicity by coming the day before baseball's World Championship Series is set to get underway. The Crescents, who stumbled through a league worst 3-11 campaign a year ago, are off to a perfect 4-0 start this time around after Gallegos threw 3 touchdown passes to lead New Orleans to a 36-21 win over the visiting Brooklyn Kings. The Crescents efforts, keyed by 23 unanswered points in the first half after the Kings had taken a quick 7-0 lead, spoiled a terrific day from Brooklyn rookie Bill Howlin. The former All-American halfback from Detroit City College ran for 106 yards while also passing for 137. Unfortunately for Howlin and the Kings, his undoing was a pair of second half interceptions, each of which led to New Orleans field goals to help the Crescents seal the victory. The Los Angeles Lobos snapped a 3-game losing streak with an impressive 45-3 victory over the struggling New York Gothams. Lobos signal caller Jackie Wendt had a huge day for the hosts, throwing for 402 yards and a pair of touchdowns while rushing for 2 more scores as part of his 87 yards on the ground. As if that wasn't enough, Wendt also added an interception while on defense. The Gothams, Eastern Division champs each of the past two seasons, fall to 1-3-1 and with a pair of losses to division rival New Orleans already seem highly unlikely to reach the title game for a third straight year, even at this early juncture. The final game of the weekend took place in Buffalo where the visiting San Francisco Wings improved to 4-1 following a 40-27 victory over the Bulls. Sam Metcalf threw four touchdowns, including 3 in the first half as the Wings opened a 27-6 lead at the break, to lead the visitors attack. NAHC TRAINING CAMPS UNDERWAY The six North American Hockey Confederation clubs began training camp last week and preseason games will start Wednesday as the defending champion Toronto Dukes and the rest of the NAHC prepare for the October 13th regular season opener. The Dukes, despite finishing 3rd in the standings a year ago, knocked off the second place Boston Bees in the semi-finals before downing the New York Shamrocks -who had surprised first place Chicago in the opening round- to win their 7th Challenge Cup in team history. The 7 Cups for the Dukes ties them with Boston for the most one by a single team and continues a stretch of dominance dating back to 1940 where only the Bees and Dukes have won the playoff title. The Bees made a depth move last week, signing veteran minor league free agent center Ray Gustafson to add some depth to their organization. The 29-year-old has spent his entire pro career in the Hockey Association of American, including last season when he tallied 7 goals and 27 points for the Cleveland Eries. Gustafson has been part of a pair of HAA championship teams but was let go by the Eries organization last week in order to give him a NAHC opportunity with Boston. PRESEASON SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 29 Montreal at Detroit Boston at Chicago New York at Toronto THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 30 Chicago at New York Detroit at Boston Toronto at Montreal SATURDAY OCTOBER 2 Montreal at Chicago Boston at Detroit New York at Toronto SUNDAY OCTOBER 3 Detroit at Boston Toronto at New York Chicago at Montreal Here is TWIFB's latest quarterly ranking of the top fighters in each of the 3 weight classes. DESMARAIS HAS REMATCH SET WITH MELANSON They may be putting the cart before the horse but the camps of both Edouard Desmarais and Frank Melanson have confirmed the two fighters will stage a third meeting in the new year at Bigsby Garden. The expectation is that will be Desmarais second defense of the world middleweight title that he earned with a 5th round TKO of Melanson in July but there is a little matter of Desmarais next fight to be completed before that date. The Frenchman, with a career record of 41-1 who suffered his only loss to Melanson two years ago before winning the rematch, is slated to fight Canadian champion Adrian Petrie in Montreal on Friday evening. The outcome is said to be a fait accompli with the 32-year-old Frenchman an overwhelming favourite to stop his 25-year-old opponent. Petrie, a Montreal native who earned the nickname "Machine Gun" as much for his role in the war as part of the Montreal Regiment of the Canadian 1st Army as for his ring prowess, enters the bout with a 17-1-1 record and it will be his first fight at the famed Montreal Arena in nearly two years. The 32-year-old Melanson, who has twice held the middleweight belt, has not fought since the July loss to Desmarias and is not expected to return to the ring before their January 8th rematch. Melanson is 33-2-2 and held the title from June of 1945 until July 1947 when he lost to John Edmonds. Melanson regained the belt with a win over Edmonds in a rematch last December but was stopped by Desmarais in his second meeting with the European champ. UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS Oct 1- Montreal, Quebec: World Middleweight champion Edouard Desmarais (42-1) defends his title against Canadian Adrian Petrie (17-1-1) Oct 15- Denny Arena, Boston: HW contender Roy Crawford (27-3) vs Todd MacKinney (26-10-1) Oct 17- Washington DC: Former MW champ John Edmonds (25-3) vs Eric Deal (9-8-1) Oct 22- London, Eng: World Heavyweight champion Hector Sawyer (58-3-1) defends his title against Grant Knowles (31-4-1) Oct 29 - Los Angeles: MW Nick Harris (23-5-1) vs Ron Davis (7-3-2) Jan 8 - Bigsby Garden: MW Frank Melanson (33-2-2) vs Edouard Desmarais (42-2) The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 9/26/1948 A posthumous report by the murdered Count Folke Bernadotte declares the UN must step in to end the Palestine war if the Arabs and Jews fail to make peace. The UN mediator was killed in Jerusalem last week. US Secretary of State Marshall and his British and French counterparts are meeting in Paris as part of a UN conference with a goal of diffusing the tense situation in Berlin and the cold war between East and West. During his address Marshall warned the Russians not to take American patience as a sign of weakness. A 2-hour general strike in France of both Communist and non-Communist unions saw 7 million walk off the job, protesting low wages and high living costs. Hot on the campaign trail, both President Truman and Governor Dewey spent the week crisscrossing the west by train. Dewey calling for a new administration as the only way to achieve "national unity in these troubled times" while Truman focused his speeches on the prevention of another war and plans for curbing inflation. The House Committee on Un-American Activities is said to have enough evidence to warrant espionage indictments against two American scientists who worked on the atomic bomb. Winds estimated at 140 miles an hour lashed Key West as Florida's worst hurricane in three decades roared its way through the southern part of the state. Damage was pegged at $25 million and blamed for 3 deaths. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles Last edited by Tiger Fan; 10-04-2023 at 01:57 PM.