OCTOBER 11, 1948PIONEERS SWEEP TO WCS TITLE
The St Louis Pioneers overpowered the Philadelphia Sailors in game four after dominating them with pitching in the opening three games to complete a World Championship Series sweep. In an era when the WCS seems to be full of six and seven game battles the Pioneers delivered the first sweep since 1939 when the New York Stars rolled over the Pittsburgh Miners. The Pioneers also became the first Federal Association club to win back-to-back WCS titles since the 1918-19 Detroit Dynamos and while we may be getting ahead of ourselves, the Pioneers are now in position to have a chance to become the first Federal Association club to win 3 straight WCS. Only the 1924-26 New York Stars earned 3 straight rings. Even 3 straight pennants is a fairly rare accomplishment especially in the Fed. Since the Stars three straight WCS wins the 1928-30 Sailors, 1936-38 Brooklyn Kings and 1943-45 Cincinnati Cannons have all won 3 consecutitve Continental Association flags but the last time a Federal Association club won 3 pennants in a row was way back in 1906 when the Boston Minutemen claimed the last of their record 5-consecutive flags.
TOP MANAGER IN THE FED? YOU MIGHT BE SURPRISED
I admit I rarely do anything conventional, and this might be a break from tradition, but I am going to stick with my decision for who I feel was the Manager of the Year in the Federal Association this season.
While most fans will be looking at the skippers in St. Louis as the primary "Manager of the year" in the FA, I am going in a completely different direction. Not to say the job that Pioneer Manager Hugh Luckey has done isn't good, on contrary its been very good the last 2 seasons. After 5 middling years at the helm of the Pioneers he has transformed the team and culture. But I am going in a different direction for my FA Manager of the Year.
For me the choice came down to two gentlemen and many might say I have got it wrong. But for me, when you have a 67-year FABL "rookie" manager who takes over by far (on paper) the worst team in baseball and guides them to a 43-38 2nd half showing and avoids last place and baseball history as the worst team ever. That deserves some recognition. My vote for Manager of the Year in the FA is Bob Beelman. Now some might say who in the heck is Bob Beelman? Rookie manager, age 67 of the Pittsburgh Miners. A team that was universally thought to be perhaps the worst team in FABL history at the start of the year (by some). And the Miners looked like they were on their way to chase that mark going 21-60, yes you read that right....21-53. They were on pace to lose 111 games, and potentially break (or come damn close) the record of futility. But something happened on the road to infamy. The Miners improved greatly and it was led by some good young ballplayers and a veteran OF now 1B Joe Owens who won the FA batting title with a 359 average. Yes Bob Beelman is the man that lead this turnaround. At 67 no one is for sure how long he will want to continue to manage, but he has laid the groundwork of a foundation in position players that could be part of the next great Pittsburgh dynasty.
Honorable mention goes to the Boston Minutemen's skipper Tom Steffen. The Minutemen were on top of the FA during the first half of the year and yes they were predicted to be just above Pittsburgh in the standing (by 15-20 games in some predictions). The Minutemen were looking surprisingly good, but fell upon the dog days of summer and faded down the stretch but still managed to finish a surprising 78-76 and above 500. Yes some will say Steffen might deserve the award more, but the Beelman story is just too good and the Miners were felt by the majority to be oh so bad. Congrats Bob on a job well done!
A WORD OR TWO IN SUPPORT OF HUGH LUCKEY AS BEST BENCH BOSS IN FED
Recently, national sports correspondent Freddie Farhat display some of that all too often seen east coast bias with a column proclaiming Pittsburgh Miners manager Bob Beelman the top skipper in the Federal Association. Now, there is no question the rookie bench boss did a fine job in the second half of the season helping his charges escape the cellar and I also freely admit picking a defending champion as the top manager is pretty tough.
That being said here are some reason why, if there was an award for top manager, I'd go with Pioneers Manager HughLuckey:
- navigating the Hern injury and managing the rotation
- figuring out how to deal with several players having their worst offensive seasons
- Usage of the unsungs: Jackie Washington, Zip Sullivan, Gary Carmichael, Tucker Ness
- Putting a rookie LF (Jim McBride) in CF and leaving him there, despite the consistency issues
The Pioneers were a slow-to-cook team this year. There were a lot of decisions that could have blown up big time. I figured we were done when Hern went down, but Luckey rallied the team and delivered a second straight title.
- Word out of Detroit is that the Dynamos have agreed to let Fred Barrell out of his contract as their Scouting Director when the draft is completed in January. It is no secret Barrell has long been interested in becoming a field manager and it sounds like an agreement has been reached for Barrell to assume the reins of a Continental Association team next season. If true, it means Fred will be squaring off against his brother Tom Barrell, who is the skipper with the Kings in Brooklyn.
LANCERS UPSET ST BLANE
First Loss For Fighting Saints Since 1945
In perhaps the most shocking upset in years the St Ignatius Lancers shocked mighty St Blane 23-10 in a result that appears almost certain to end the Fighting Saints two-year hold on the national championship. A crowd of 58,126 at St Blane Stadium in Latrobe were silenced by a pair of first half touchdowns, both coming as the result of turnovers, from the 2-1 Lancers. St Ignatius did its Michigan rivals from Detroit City College a huge favour as the Knights will take over top spot in the collegiate polls after they opened their Great Lakes Alliance slate Saturday with a 43-3 drubbing of Whitney College.
To further illustrate the quality difference between Detroit City College and St Blane at the moment, the Knights can count among thier three victories a 33-10 win over St Ignatius in Lansing in late September. St Blane, which drops to 2-1, did have an equally lobsided result against the Knights Saturday opponent, as the Fighting Saints pounded the Engineers 35-3 in their season opener.
Lincoln College was impressive in a 14-14 tie in Springfield, IL. against Rome State. The Centurions, continuing to use a "two-platoon" football squad and it paid off as they were the fresher side down the stretch in wearing out the Presidents defensive line with a 72-yard fourth quarter drive -all on the ground- to notch the tying touchdown.
The news was not all bad for the service academies as Annapolis Maritime ended its two game losing streak to start the season by opsetting Carolina Poly 13-7. The Navgators had started the season with back to back losses to Northern California and Brunswick. Meanwhile North Carolina Tech moved up the rankings and into the 3rd spot after the Techsters downed Cowpens State 30-14.
Alabama Baptist is number two after the Panthers improved to 3-0 with a 21-0 shutout of Strub College. St Blane drops from first to fourth with their loss while Georgia Baptist is now ranked 5th and also 3-0 after the Gators had little trouble in a 36-0 pounding of Lexington State. Mississippi A&M is now 3-0 overall and 3-0 in Deep South section play after the Generals held off a gritty effort from Bluegrass State in a 20-14 victory.
Round out the top ten are Rome State, which slipped from 2nd to 7th with the tie against Lincoln, followed by St Magnus, Texas Gulf Coast and Liberty College.
WEEKEND RESULTS
EAST
Pierpont 21 Sadler 6
Henry Hudson 26 George Fox 16
Brunswick 29 Dickson 21
St. Patrick's 21 Grafton 20
Liberty College 22 St. Pancras 0
Manhattan Tech 7 Bigsby College 6
Pittsburgh State 20 Huntington State 10
Garden State 30 Conwell College 14
Commonwealth Catholic 24 Salamanca State 0
Empire State 31 Boston State 14
Ellery 17 Narragansett 6
Adirondack State 24 Brooklyn State 17
SOUTH
Annapolis Maritime 13 Carolina Poly 7
North Carolina Tech 30 Cowpens State 14
Mississippi A&M 20 Bluegrass State 14
Alabama Baptist 21 Strub College 0
Charleston Tech 14 Central Carolina 0
Maryland State 30 Chesapeake State 0
Richmond State 17 Alexandria 0
Noble Jones College 31 Central Kentucky 27
Georgia Baptist 36 Lexington State 0
Bayou State 27 Darnell State 13
Baton Rouge State 29 Columbia Military Academy 0
Cumberland 52 Western Tennessee 0
Western Florida 41 Opelika State 12
Northern Mississippi 19 Coastal State 0
Eastern State 27 Potomac College 9
Miami State 17 Penn Catholic 14
Petersburg 17 Bulein 3
Edgemoor 10 Mobile Maritime 7
MIDWEST
St. Ignatius 23 St. Blane 10
Lincoln 14 Rome State 14
Detroit City College 43 Whitney College 3
Central Ohio 31 Western Iowa 0
St. Magnus 34 Minnesota Tech 14
Wisconsin Catholic 17 Laclede 9
Lawrence State 27 Iowa A&M 6
Blue Mountain College 20 Eastern Kansas 17
Northern Minnesota 31 San Francisco Tech 13
Lambert College 30 Topeka State 3
SOUTHWEST
Lubbock State 27 Arkansas A&T 14
Oklahoma City State 51 Travis College 10
Amarillo Methodist 25 Indiana A&M 3
College of Waco 29 Payne State 7
Texas Panhandle 30 Canyon A&M 13
Texas Gulf Coast 27 Daniel Boone College 21
South Valley State 73 El Paso Methodist 3
Abilene Baptist 48 Valley State 21
FAR WEST
Rainier College 17 CC Los Angeles 0
Coastal California 16 Red River State 3
Portland Tech 20 Idaho A&M 14
Spokane State 37 Custer College 21
Northern California 34 Wisconsin State 9
Redwood 21 Sunnyvale 7
Lane State 47 Stratton 3
Boulder State 31 College of Omaha 20
Mile High State 21 Colorado Poly 13
Kit Carson University 62 McKinney State 6
Provo Tech 35 Utah A&M 19
Cache Valley 27 Tempe College 24
Wyoming A&I 30 Snake River State 9
LOBOS OVERCOME SLOW START TO BEAT WINLESS COMETS
It was a first quarter Jackie Wendt would love to forget but in the end Los Angeles Lobos quarterback more than redeemed himself as he led the Lobos to a 26-14 victory over the winless Chicago Comets before nearly 25,000 fans at Knights Stadium. The start was stuff of nightmares for the Lobos back, who threw three first quarter interceptions and fumbled away the ball on a fourth possession as the Comets built an early 14-0 lead on a pair of Mike Blake touchdown runs.
The troubles began on the second play from scrimmage when Wendt was picked off by Ron Foster a play after he started the game with a thrilling scramble that saw him romp for 56 yards. After Comets scored quickly Wendt was intercepted on the Lobos next possession. Chicago failed to capitalize that time -their drive stalled out on a 4th and goal but just 3 plays later Wendt was again intercepted although the Lobos defense held once more. To change things up, instead of throwing an interception on the next series Wendt instead fumbled the ball setting up the Comets second score.
The second quarter gave the Lobos a chance to reset and after getting a field goal early in the frame they took advantage of a Chicago turnover giving them great field position, which led to an 8 yard scoring run for Wendt to cut the Chicago lead to 14-10. Before the break Wendt steered the Lobos 81 yards with a scoring drive that culminated in an 8 yard pass to Don Zuccaro to give the Lobos a 17-14 lead. It was extended to 19-14 just before the half when the Lobos added a safety.
Wendt added one more touchdown pass in a relatively quiet second half to complete the scoring and with 158 yards rushing and 139 yards passing his awful start could easily be forgiven. The victory evens Los Angeles record at 3-3 while the hapless Comets fall to 0-7 on the season.
In CFC action yesterday the San Francisco Wings thumped the New Orleans Crescents 49-0 in a game that saw Wings quarterback Sam Metcalf throw for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Crescents played without rookie quarterbak Vince Gallegos for the second consecutive game. Kansas City remains perfect as the Cowboys improved to 6-0 with a 21-7 victory at home over the Brooklyn Football Kings. Erie Orr had 8 catches for 99 yards while Mason Matthews ran for 104 yards to lead the Cowboys attack. Another wild finish in Buffalo as the Bulls and visiting New York Gothams combined for 23 fourth quarter points. New York pulled out the 27-23 victory thanks to a 23-yard scoring pass from Ken Hale to Steve Robinson in the final minute.
ABF INSISTS ON PETRIE GRANTING DESMARAIS A REMATCH
October 10, 1948 NEW YORK - The American Boxing Federation, the watchful sentinel of pugilistic honor, did not proclaim foul play in the October 1 World Middleweight Title bout that saw Montreal's own Adrian Petrie triumph over Edouard Desmarais. Nevertheless, they've thrown down the gauntlet, decreeing that Desmarais be granted the choice to enter the ring as Petrie's first challenger in the defense of his newfound championship. The ABF, with its gaze fixed firmly on fairness, also asserted its prerogative in selecting the venue for this potential rematch, strongly suggesting New York's Bigsby Garden.
In a succinct announcement that fielded no follow-up queries, the ABF head declared that although there was no explicit conspiracy to manipulate the outcome in favor of Petrie, the two contest judges now face disciplinary repercussions. These judges will need to meet stringent standards and prove their mettle before the ABF considers entrusting them with overseeing another ABF-sanctioned bout. The ABF traditionally oversees title clashes, while routine bouts often fall under the purview of local boxing commissions. Consequently, these judges might still officiate in non-title contests within their jurisdictions.
The decision was met with open arms by Petrie's camp, who hailed the fight's excitement as ample grounds for an immediate rematch. They eagerly anticipate witnessing their pugilist take on Desmarais once more. However, Desmarais' manager did not conceal his discontent with the verdict. He expressed that his fighter would weigh his options carefully, emphasizing that Desmarais has a standing contract to confront Frank Melanson and eagerly awaits a third confrontation with the former Pittsburgh champ. The boxing world holds its breath, as the ring beckons with the promise of retribution and honor. Bigsby Garden will likely see a highly anticipated middleweight struggle on January 8. The question is who will it involve from Petrie, Desmarais and Melanson?
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- 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) may be postponed
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 10/10/1948
- The "neutral" members of the Security Council are working to avert a clash of the giants of the United Nations over Berlin. Argentina's representative spent an hour speaking with the Russian delegate and said afterwards he was "very happy" over the talk. Dr. Herbert Evatt of Australia, the Assembly president, has appealed to the US, Russia, Britain and France to agree to a three-month truce that would involve lifting the Soviet blockade while the four Foreign Ministers met.
- Winston Churchill warned that WWIII may burst on humanity at any time because of the Berlin crisis and urged the United States not to give up the secret of the atom bomb, noting only the American possession of atom bombs is stopping a Communist juggernaut from engulfing all Western Europe.
- President Truman admitted he considered sending Chief Justice Vinson on an extraordinary mission to tell Soviet leaders about American people's attitude on"the atomic problem" but abandoned the idea when Secretary of State Marshall advised against it prior to heading to France for the UN Security Council summit on Berlin.
- Truman warned voters against being "bamboozled into another depression" as he opened a New York stumping tour on Governor Dewey's home grounds at Albany.
- Speaking in New York City, Dewey called for Federal aid to the States for housing on "a realistic, practical, basis" whenever such aid is needed "to get action."
- The General Electric Corporation was convicted of conspiring between 1927 and 1940 to monopolize trade in hard metal compositions and products in this country and abroad.
- The Moscow News says Russia's 1948 grain crop probably will hit an all-time high.