[Tiger Fan]

FEBRUARY 14, 1949

HALL OF FAME VOTING UNDERWAY

18 Names on 1949 Ballot

The list of candidates eligible for the selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1949 has been released. A total of 18 names, including 4 first-time nominees, appear on the ballot. Unlike last year when Rabbit Day was clearly an unanimous selection, there is no newcomer to the ballot this year who will approach that status and quite possibly none of the new additions will earn the necessary 75% to be enshrined.

The 1949 first timers on the ballot are pitchers Dean Astle and Doc Newell as well as catcher Tom Bird and outfielder Cliff Moss. Astle was a 6-time all-star who won a pair of WCS titles during a career that saw him post a record of 187-145 with Cleveland and Boston. Newell, who won 199 FABL games primarily with the Philadelphia Sailors and finished his career in the Great Western League, is best known for being the only pitcher in FABL history to throw three no-hitters. Bird, who has the best chance of the newcomers garnering the necessary votes, was a ten-time all-star who played for four different teams and is widely considered one of the best catchers of his era while Moss split his career between Montreal and the two Chicago clubs.

A year ago seven men were added to the Boone County baseball museum including three modern-era players in Day, Dave Trowbridge and Frank Vance. Jack Cleaves and Charlie Stedman came closest to election without making it a year ago as each appeared on 46% of the ballots. Both are eligible again this year along with seven others who received at least one vote a year ago in Tom Barrell, Bud Jameson, Moxie Pidgeon, Dick Lyons, Joe Masters, Charlie Berry and Doug Lightbody.

Here are the players on the current ballot.

HALL OF FAME CLASSES BY YEAR
1937: Allan Allen, Max Morris, Charlie Sis, Powell Slocum, John Waggoner
1938: John Dibblee, Mike Marner, Woody Trease, Ed Ziehl, George Theobald (as a manager) and William Whitney (executive)
1939: Zebulon Banks, Rankin Kellogg, Calvin Kidd, Joe Ward and Ossie Julious (as a manager)
1940: George Johnson and Edward Wakeham
1941: Jack Arabian and Charlie Wilson
1942: Thomas Watkins and Jefferson Edgerton (executive)
1944: Bill Craigen, Jim Golden, Jim Jones, Jimmy Massey, Fred Roby and Bill Temple.
1947: Charlie Firestone, T.R. Goins, John Lawson, Pete Layton, George Melvin
1948: Rabbit Day, Dave Trowbridge, Frank Vance, Freeman Rogers, Bill West , Rufus Barrell (executive), Jacques Cartier (executive)

SAINTS DEAL PIERCE TO DETROIT

The Montreal Saints have shipped very outfielder Pinky Pierce to the Detroit Dynamos in exchange for a pair of minor league prospects. The 35-year-old Pierce returns to the Federal Association after spending just one season with the Continental Association Saints. In return, Montreal will receive 20-year-old lefthander Willam Benns and 18-year-old outfielder Andy Bonner.

The trading of Pierce seems to be a clear indication the Saints expect to give young Otis O'Keefe a full-time job in their outfield. Listed as #33 on the OSA prospect pipeline, the 24-year-old is coming off an outstanding showing in the Cuban Winter League after dominating pitchers at both the AA and AAA level last season.

For the Dynamos it is their second deal in less than a month aimed at improving their corner outfielders, positions that provided very little offensive spark a year ago with Sid Williams (2.44,5,33) struggles along with underwhelming performances from Dick Blaszak (.251,5,29) and Tony Mullis (.283,1,22). The first move was to acquire 24-year-old minor league slugger Bill Parker from St Louis. Pierce, who broke in with the Pittsburgh Miners in 1937 after being a second-round selection out of high school in the old feeder system in 1931, was dealt to Montreal a year ago in exchange for a pair of minor league pitchers. The Ohio native played 118 games for the Saints in 1948, batting .264 with 19 homers and 66 rbi's. It is expected Pierce will play every day in right field while Blaszak and Parker will platoon in left. Center remains a position of strength for the Dynamos with 22-year-old Edwin Hackberry already considered one of the best in the game.

The prospects sent to Montreal were both ranked in the 150-200 range by OSA. Bonner was Detroit's third round pick a year ago and the 18-year-old displayed solid power with 12 homers in 55 games at Class C following the completion of his high school season. Benns is a 20-year-old pitcher that was ranked as high as 60th on the OSA list a year ago but the 1947 second round pick struggled mightily at the Class B level last season, posting a 5-16 record with an 8.45 era causing his stock to plummet with the league scouting service.

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION LISTS 199 GAMES UNDER LIGHTS FOR 1949 CAMPAIGN

Schedule Sets New All-Time High For Loop

With doubtless more than a casual eye cast in the direction of night baseball's lush returns at the box office, a total of 199 nocturnal engagements will be played in the Federal Association this year. Last summer the Federal clubs staged 188 games under lights, and those contests consistently drew a higher percentage of patrons than mid-week day games captured.

As already announced, the campaign will open with another of baseball's now customary "stagger starts," the Eagles stage a solo inaugural in Washington on April 18, with the Miners as guests and President Truman certain to throw out the first ball. The Continental Association will also stage a single contest that day with the remainder of both circuits set to swing into action on April 19.

Inasmuch as the Federal loop's 154-game schedule, which comes to a close on Oct. 2, calls for a grand aggregate of 616 games, the 199 night game grand total means that virtually one-third of the campaign will be fought after sunset next summer. This, too, despite the fact that three clubs, ignoring the opportunity provided them by a new ruling passed in Chicago last December, are still sticking to the old fourteen-game limit for home night booking.

Those three are the Minutemen, Gothams and Keystones. The Keystones, however, will be forced to play 21 after-dark encounters on the road as a result of the new ruling which automatically allows a club to book at least four nocturnal engagements with each rival regardless of how the visiting club may feel about it. Bobby Barrell is a huge drawing card in opposing stadiums, just as he is at Philadelphia's Broad Street Park, and as a result night contests for the Keystones were in great demand. The Washington Eagles lead the list of night bookings with 40 games, or more than half of their home schedule to be played under the lights at Columbia Stadium. The two-time defending World Champion St Louis Pioneers are next with 36 evening home games.

CROCS CLAIM CUBAN CROWN

The Cienfuegos Crocodiles are the Cuban Winter League champion after claiming a 9-4 victory on the road over the Holguin Hawks in the winner take all one game playoff last Monday. Jess Garman, a 22-year-old prospect ranked in the top 60 by OSA, led the way for the winners with 3 hits, 3 runs scored and a pair of rbi's while his Montreal Saints batterymate Jack Behrns went the distance on the mound for the victory. The Crocodiles were comprised of players from the Saints and Chicago Chiefs organizations while Holquin, which posted the best regular season record in the 8-team loop, had its talent supplied by the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Sailors.

Cliff Dilley of the Hawks was named the Most Valuable Player in the league after the 23-year-old first baseman led the loop with a .441 batting average while also topping the league in rbi's with 41. Dilley, a first baseman in the Philadelphia Sailors system, was a second-round choice out of Eastern State in 1946 and hit .320 with 28 homers in 116 games at AAA last season. OSA presently ranks him 69th on their prospect pipeline and feels he is ready for the Sailors this season. Dilley becomes the second Sailors prospect to win the winter league MVP after Billy Forbes, who was a starting outfielder for the Sailors big league club last season, won in 1946. The winner last year was New York Stars minor league pitcher Foster Smith.

While some writers have been suggesting that former Chicago Chiefs star Tom Bird is not quite Hall of Fame calibre, it is this writer's opinion that Bird really feels like the only name on this years ballot worthy of a place in Boone County. I have three other names on the ballot I submitted, but not sure if they're even worth it. One -Cougars star Dick Lyons- is personal, but I'm finding a hard time with a fifth. I'm not sure I see the case for a Moxie Pidgeon, Jim Hampton, Doug Lightbody, Joe Masters, Tom Barrell, etc. I'm half tempted to have a small ballot, but it seems that five is heavily suggested.

Some have suggested the lack of leaderboard appearances, or grey and black ink, should preclude the great catcher from joining the ranks of the Hall of Fame. However, I feel like using the inks to discredit Bird is disingenuous. The catching position is physically taxing and the other players in the league are getting upwards of hundreds of extra plate appearances each season.

It's tough to rank high in oddly specific (more on this later) categories that are generally counting stats. Bird only surpassed 145 games twice, 146 and 147, he recorded 600 PAs just three times. This year alone, 20 players had 670 or more PAs. One catcher got 600 (Pete Casstevens, 611) and him and Adam Mullins were the only two guys to appear in 140 games. So, it's not hard to see why Bird doesn't have much ink and has the least games played. He also wasn't a regular until he was 28, the fact that there's counting stats he has better of then some eligible players is telling.

Now the issue with the ink itself. The categories for hitters are homers, RBIs, average, runs, hits, slugging, doubles, walks, steals, games, at bats, and triples. That's nine counting stats and just two rate stats. Notice what's missing? Remember what Bird's best at? Getting on base. You get "ink" for taking the most at bats, but nothing for leading the league in OBP. So Les Cunha (3) has more black ink then Bird (2), just because Cunha has played 154 games in each of the last three seasons for the Sailors. Bird gets no credit for leading the league in OBP. Or OPS. Or WRC+. Or wOBA. You know, stats that are more valuable than at bats...

Considering Tom Bird had a career .416 OBP, it's not hard to believe he'd rank in the top 10 for OBP in most of the seasons he played. Along with the league best .457 in 1938, he was at .458 the year before and was above .400 on seven separate occasions. Since becoming a regular in 1936, he six seasons with a WRC+ above 150 and two over 160. From 1936 to his retirement in 1945, he had just one season with a WRC+ below 125 -- the 117 at 35 in 1943 his lowest in a season with more than 450 trips to the plate. That 117 is also what Pete Casstevens, the Chiefs current catcher produced this year, which ranked fourth among qualified catchers this year. Seven of Bird's eleven offensive season would have led the league in 1948.

I don't see a case against Bird, as he was the best hitting catcher of his time. He's a 10-Time All Star despite his career overlapping with George Cleaves and has the highest career OBP (.4156) as a catcher. It still ranks 13th overall and will likely go to 12 unless Freddie Jones (.4158) retires quickly. From this class I don't see anyone worth voting for more than him. Sure, if Jim Lonardo and Al Wheeler were on the ballot this year, they'd be the class of the class, but there are plenty of players in the hall less deserving than Tom Bird.

• FABL controls the Hall of Fame and clearly ignores the Great Western League as Doc Newell -the former Sailors star who threw a record three no-hitters- is on the ballot this year despite spending the past two seasons winning back-to-back GWL Bigsby Cup titles with the Oakland Grays. You can likely blame Bernie Millard's constant campaigning against the coast loop for this one.
• We are surprised Millard has been strangely quiet on the Hall case for Tom Bird. There is much debate on Bird's candidacy this year but the fact that he is the GWL manager of a coast outfit might hurt his case a little in some circles. Ed Ziehl, who manages GWL President Thomas Bigsby's club in Los Angeles, is in the Hall but he was elected well before the GWL decided to declare itself a major league.
• If Bird and Hampton make the hall, Leland Kuenster of the Chicago Herald-Examiner points out that those late 30s Chiefs teams were loaded with Hall of Famers: Bird, Hampton, Layton, Martin, Day, Lonardo.
• Jim Lonardo and slugger Al Wheeler headline next year's ballot and both should be locks for a quick entry to the Boone County baseball shrine.
• Not all are singing the virtues of Tom Bird this week. Doc Shaw, the veteran Boston Globe columnist for one. Shaw pens "I'm having a tougher time justifying Bird as an automatic lock. He played in the least amount of games as anyone else on the list and his black and gray ink is not as impressive as other candidates. I'm not saying he won't make the final list but he certainly isn't a lock for me."
• Jiggs McGee, editor of this periodical, agrees noting "I don't think Bird is a first ballot kind of player. I am old school so counting numbers mean the world to me and while I can give some leeway since he was a catcher, I feel that first-ballot induction is reserved for the true best of the best. Rabbit Day a year ago for example. I am certain I will vote for Bird in the future, but he is not on my ballot this year.
• McGee is campaigning hard for Tom Barrell, noting that Barrell is one of just 4 pitchers to win at least 3 Allan Awards, and the only one to win his in three consecutive seasons.
• John Brinker of the New York Daily Mirror believes Barrell might have to wait for the veteran's committee to induct him one day. Brinker had some thoughts on Bird as well: "Only 1 "real" catcher is in - Goins (Banks played a little catcher earlier on and Theobald was a catcher, but he's in as a manager). Goins obviously deserves it. No other catcher is likely to put up Goins-like numbers, but Bird compares pretty well. Bird's OPS+ was 145, Goins was 141. Goins obviously crushes every other catcher in counting stats but he is also, imo, one of the 10 best non-pitchers in FABL history -now there's a topic for discussion. I personally think Bird is a HOF-worthy player.
• Final word on Bird goes to former Chicago Herald-Examiner sports editor Percy Sutherland who used to cover the Chiefs and would have seen Bird play more than perhaps any other observer. "When I'm considering hitters for the HOF, I'm looking both at their overall place as a hitter (irrespective of position) as well as their place amongst their positional peers. There is no argument that Bird is one of the top-hitting catchers of all-time. He's a clear Hall-of-Famer. In fact, he is such a good hitter, that had he been a first baseman instead, we may be discussing him as one of the better overall hitters of all-time.

BEES GET A+ FOR BIG WEEK

With four wins over the last eight days the Boston Bees continue to hold off the Toronto Dukes for top spot in the North American Hockey Confederation. The Bees, who blanked the Dukes 4-0 in Toronto to begin the streak, followed up with three more road wins starting with a 6-4 victory in Chicago followed by weekend wins in New York and Detroit. The surging Boston squad has won nine of its last 11 games and are 11-3-2 since since a January fifth tie on home ice against Toronto.

The Bees will now try to increase their lead on the defending Challenge Cup champions from Toronto, who have struggled the past month, playing just .500 hockey over their last 14 games. Boston hopes a stint on home ice will allow them to extend their lead on the Dukes. The Bees play each of their next 5 games at Denny Arena including a meeting with Toronto next Saturday and will not head out on the road again until a March 2 trip to Detroit.

BURNS SCORING TOUCH IS BACK

The Chicago Packers have settled down of late as a 3-2-1 start to February lacks the drama of their terrific late December-early January run but also is without the heartache that accompanied just an awful start to the campaign. One player who has not settled down is two-time reigning McDaniels Trophy winner Tommy Burns. The Chicago scoring star has 5 goals and 4 assists in his last four outings including back to back two goal games which has vaulted the 29-year-old to the top of the NAHC goal scoring list despite the fact he missed 11 contests with a shoulder injury.

Burns led the NAHC in points each of the last two seasons and a third straight scoring crown, which seemed out of the question just two months ago, is suddenly within reach as Burns now sits 4th in the league with 46 points, 8 behind leader Quinton Pollack of the Toronto Dukes. Chicago has 13 games remaining this season.

  NAHC STANDINGS
          GP  W  L  T  GF  GA  PTS
Boston    46 27 15  4 144 119  58
Toronto   47 25 16  6 154 124  56
Chicago   47 21 22  4 142 150  46
Detroit   48 18 24  6 150 146  42
New York  46 16 22  8 114 131  40
Montreal  46 16 24  6 114 148  38

SCORING LEADERS GP  G  A  PTS
Pollack, Tor    47 23 31  54
Galbraith, Tor  47 26 24  50
Hart, Bos       45 21 26  47
T Burns, Chi    36 28 18  46
Chandler, Bos   41 20 24  44
Sauer, Tor      47 20 23  43
Vanderbilt, Det 46 24 17  41
Cabbell, NY     43 24 16  40
Carlson, Tor    44 11 29  40
Witt, Det       45 14 24  38
Rocheleau, Det  43  6 31  37
Skinner, Mon    46 17 19  36
Tardif, Det     38 16 20  36

GOALIE LEADERS   GP  W  L  T ShO GAA
Broadway, Tor    42 21 14  6  3  2.57
James, Bos       39 21 14  4  5  2.63
Chasse, Det      19  8  9  0  1  2.82
Tremblay, NY     42 13 21  8  2  2.82
Brockers, Mon    33 11 18  3  2  2.92
Hanson, Chi      32 13 17  2  2  3.05
Touhey, Det      29  9 15  4  3  3.20

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 9

Boston 6 at 4 Chicago: Four unanswered third period goals lifted the Boston Bees to their fourth win in five games with a 6-4 win over the Packers at Lakeside Auditorium. Chicago led 4-2 after forty minutes but goals by Tommy Hart, Wilbur Chandler, Mickey Bedard and Conn Cundiff in a span of less than 7 minutes midway through the third period changed the outcome.

Detroit 3 at 0 New York: It might be a little early to talk crucial games with playoff implications, but the Detroit Motors slipped past the Shamrocks and into the fourth and final postseason berth with a 3-0 victory at Bigsby Garden. Millard Touhey made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season while Detroit scored once each period to hand New York it's fourth consecutive loss.

Toronto 4 at 2 Montreal: Quinton pollack and Lou Galbraith each had a goal and an assist to lead the Toronto Dukes to a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Valiants. Charlie Brown and Les Carlson also scored for the Dukes, who led 2-0 after two periods. Paulie Mosca and Glen Whitley were the Montreal marksmen.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 10

New York 4 at 4 Chicago: The slumping New York Shamrocks have just one win in their last ten games, but they did snap a 4-game losing streak by skating to a 4-4 tie with the Chicago Packers. Tommy Burns scored twice for the home side to give him 26 goals on the season.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 12

Boston 4 at 1 New York: Joe Martin gave New York an early 1-0 lead but his was the only one of 30 shots the Shamrocks fired on Oscar James to find the back of the night as the Bees scored twice in each of the final two periods to win for the third straight game. Alex Gagnon and Craig Simpson each had a goal and an assist for the winners.

Toronto 2 at 3 Detroit: The Motors are on a 4-game unbeaten streak after pulling out a 3-2 victory over the visiting Toronto Dukes. The loss, coupled with Boston's win in New York, leaves the Dukes 2 points back of the Bees in the fight for top spot in the NAHC.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 13

Boston 3 at 1 Detroit: Boston stretched its latest winning streak to 4 games with a 3-1 road victory in Detroit. Wilbur Chandler, Ray Gustafson and Connor Mikaelsen were the Bees goal scorers with Vincent Arsenault replying with the lone Motors marker.

Chicago 5 at 1 Montreal: Tommy Burns scored twice and added an assist while Jerry Finch had 3 helpers in leading the Chicago Packers to a 5-1 victory over struggling Montreal. Despite missing a month of the season with a shoulder injury, Burns has taken over the NAHC goal scoring lead with 28. The Vals have just one win in their last 12 games.

New York 1 at 3 Toronto: The Shamrocks are now winless in 7 February games after falling 3-1 at Domion Gardens. After a scoreless first period the visitors took the lead 13 minutes into the second frame when Samuel Coates solved Dukes goaltender Gordie Broadway. In a goal that took the wind out of the Greenshirts, Les Carlson tied the contest with just 2 seconds remaining in the middle frame and third period goals from Quinton Pollack and Mike Navarro ensured the Dukes a victory and kept them within 2 points of front-running Boston.

UPCOMING GAMES
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 16
Chicago at Boston
New York at Detroit

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 17
Montreal at Toronto

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 19
Montreal at New York
Toronto at Boston

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 20
Chicago at Toronto
New York at Montreal

AROUND THE LEAGUE

• The New York Shamrocks recent struggles can pin much of the blame on injuries as leading scorer Orval Cabbell and team captain and defensive stalwart Bert McCalley have been banged up along with rearguard Ryan Kennedy.
• Nick Tardif is banged up but still playing at least somewhat regularly for Detroit. Tardif suffered a fractured shoulder last month that is expected to take 4 months to fully heal. The Motors had him on the injured list for a bit but at Tardif's insistence reinstated him on the active roster when a bunch of others suffered minor dings. Motors Coach Badger Rigney is just inserting Tardif in the lineup occasionally, trying to protect him as much as possible but the Motors need the young scorer in the lineup. Tardif has 34 points in 36 games but just 3 points in the 6 games he has played since getting hurt.
• Speaking of injuries, NAHC teams might want to shy away from Justin Limerick at the draft. The highly touted 18-year-old draft prospect suffered a fractured jaw while playing for the junior league Saint John Saints last week and will miss a month and a half. That is his third injury already this season as he missed two months with a disc issue in his neck and 5 days with a bruised chest. Limerick has played just 16 games this season but does have 18 points.

Toronto again wins 2 of 3 to remain 2 points behind the Boston Bees, who also have a game in hand. Wednesday night the team travelled east to meet their Canadian foes in the Montreal Arena. The game featured slick passing and fast skating in a quick-paced, highly entertaining game. After a scoreless first the Dukes flipped the table on what has been happening to them far too often in recent games. They scored both in the first minute, when Charlie Brown scored, and the last minute, courtesy of Leo Carlson, to take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission. Toronto tested Tom Brockers 20 times through two periods while Terry Russell, making his first start of 1949, successfully turned away 14 in the first 40 minutes. Quinton Pollack put the team up three goals at 2:16 of the final period before the Vals finally broke Russell's shutout bid with under 7 minutes remain when Paulie Mosca knocked in a rebound off of Ian Doyle's shot. With Glen Whitley in the sin bin for the Vals, Lou Galbraith, with his 25th, made it 4-1 assisted by Bobbie Sauer and Brown. Whitley tallied on the power play with 98 seconds remaining to make the final 4-2 Toronto.

Saturday night the Dukes travelled to Thompson Palladium to renew acquaintances with the Motors. In a surprisingly calm affair between two teams with an expressed distaste for each other the squads left their boxing gloves in the dressing room, stuck to hockey in front of 10,235, many who came expecting fisticuffs. In a clean but hard-hitting affair the Dukes appeared to dominated in every category with the exception of the most important one, the scoreboard. Detroit opened the scoring at 11:41 at the end of a Frank Featherstone penalty for holding with Nick Tardif being left alone in the slot in front of Gordie Broadway. Tardif made no mistake but the Detroit lead lasted just 45 seconds before Pollack tied the game, tucking the puck behind Millard Touhey after a setup from Galbraith left the Detroit netminder with no chance on the play.

The Motors made the most of their limited opportunities in the second period by scoring twice with goals coming from Francis McKenzie and Anthony Jacques, while short handed, with both goals coming while Gordie Broadway down and out on goal mouth scrambles. Detroit was up 3-1 after two despite being outshot 24-15. Toronto managed to narrow the gap to one with Galbraith denting the twine assisted by Brown and Carlson at 6:16. The Dukes continued to press especially on a power play after the goal but Touhey was equal to all challenges securing a critical two point for the home squad. Motors blocked a total of 14 shot during the game in support of Touhey's 35 saves.

Back home Sunday night to face the injury-riddled Shamrocks at Dominion Gardens. It was evident from the opening puck drop the game strategy for the Greenshirts was defend, defend, defend, then dump and chase. After a scoreless first with the Dukes frustrated at every turn, Samuel Coates gave New York the lead when his wrister eluded a screened Broadway. Carlson knotted the score with 2 seconds left in the period when he intercepted a poor clearing attempt by Deck Horton then rifled it past a surprised Etienne Tremblay.

The late goal gave Dukes life into the third period. Pollack gave the home team a lead they would not relinquish less than 3 minutes into the final frame beating Tremblay on cross-crease pass from Mike Navarro. It was a period which Toronto peppered the Shamrocks net with 14 shots, almost as many as New York had for the entire game -16. Navarro rounded out the scoring after he intercepted another clearing attempt and then deked Tremblay for the final goal in 3-1 Dukes win.

Coach Barrell "Good week, Montreal was the kind of game fans love to watch. Up and down with lots of crisp passing, hard hitting. Nice to see Terry Russell shake off the cobwebs to play a solid game. He has been working hard in practice, he gives me a solid option down the stretch of the schedule.

I was surprised at how clean the game was in Detroit, I will tell you the Motors really have our number lately whatever is the style of play. Giving up the shortie in last minute of two, which is inexcusable. proved to be too much to battle back from in the third. Full credit to Detroit.

Facing a depleted New York roster my instructions were to raise the pace of play at every chance, that proved to be the key although the Shamrocks defended well for the entire game. Time to prepare for 3 more games next week, only 10 games left after next week, the season just flies by, time to tightening up a little more in our zone."

When ask about his brother Fred, the Wolves new manager he said "Fred and I will sit down with Brett once he gets his bearings in Toronto. He is busy with all manners of baseball, family business at present."

• The 6-game winning streak for the Red Caps and Washington able to stop its slide at 2 with 2 wins.
• The Boston Centurions continue their hot play since the coaching change that installed Trenton Griswold behind the bench in mid-January. Wins over Buffalo, Baltimore and New York extended the Boston winning streak to 7 games and they are 10-2 since the coaching change.
• Break up the Mustangs! They're only a game behind the sliding Chicago Panthers. Six straight wins for the Mustangs and Ward Messer is back on top of the league scoring parade.
• The Panthers have lost 7 of their last 10 games, ever since guard Joe Hampton went down with an injury. Hampton is expected to need at least two more weeks to recover from a separated shoulder. The news was not all bad for the Hampton family recently as Joe's dad Jim, who starred for the Chicago Chiefs, learned he is on the Hall of Fame ballot and is hoping for good news next week in the form of acceptance into the baseball Hall of Fame in Boone County, Il.
• Larry Yim is back for the Brawlers, but is it already too late? They have lost two of three since his return and the team is 12-24 on the season. When promising rookie Gerald Cheek went down on December 19th, Buffalo was 8-8. Buffalo lost four of five before Yim followed suit on January 2nd. The bottom dropped out with Buffalo losing 10 of 12 without both Yim and Cheek. Cheek is still a few days from returning, but it might be too late to get back to relevance.

FBL STANDINGS
EAST           W  L   PCT   GB
Washington    28  9  .757    -
Brooklyn      29 10  .744    -
Philadelphia  23 15  .605   5.5
Rochester     20 17  .541   8.0
Baltimore     18 18  .500   9.5
Boston        18 22  .450  11.5
Hartford      16 21  .432  12.0
New York      12 26  .316  16.5
Syracuse       6 30  .167  21.5 

WEST         W  L   PCT   GB
Chicago     25 14  .641    -
Detroit     23 14  .622   1.0
Cleveland   23 15  .605   1.5
Cincinnati  22 17  .564   3.0
Pittsburgh  15 23  .395   9.5
Buffalo     12 24  .333  11.5
Toronto     11 26  .297  13.0

WESTERN IOWA'S LUDWICK TOP PRO PROSPECT

Federal Basketball League scouts are increasing their focus on the top collegiate seniors as the season begins to wind down and it is looking like the Syracuse Titans, formerly based in Toronto, will once again own the number one selection in the draft. That is assuming the Titans, who are a dreadful 6-30 on the year, are still around as there are rumours the club will not survive to see a second season in western New York.

A year ago, the Titans had the top choice and they bypassed Ward Messer, the former Liberty College standout and AIAA National Player of the Year who is presently leading the entire FBL in scoring for Detroit, in order to select forward Darren Fuhrman out of Texas Gulf Coast. Fuhrman continues to have a high ceiling, but he has had his struggles adjusting to the pro game as a rookie, averaging less than 9 points per game.

Assuming the Titans are around to draft and compete next season, the likely top selection is either big forward Willy Ludwick or Major Belk, a point guard out of Carolina Poly. Fuhrman's teammate last season at Texas Guld Coast, Vincent Passingham may be another option with dominating center David Aponte from Frankford State drawing plenty of attention as well. Aponte has not been as strong on the boards as one would like to see from a player his size, but it is hard not to like his scoring ability with the New York City native ranking among the nation's leaders with an 18.0 ppg average.

The names above represent four of the top five players on the OSA's latest rankings of collegiate seniors for the FBL draft. The name not listed above was St Blane forward Cy Worley, who plays the same position as Fuhrman so you expect the talent starved Titans would look at either a big man or a playmaker like Belk.

OSA's TOP TWENTY DRAFT PROSPECTS AMONG COLLEGE SENIORS

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS INVOLVING TOP 10 TEAMS
MONDAY FEBRUARY 7
#4 Carolina Poly 64 (James Halle 24) George Fox 38
#5 Frankford State 67 (David Aponte 24) Bay State 35

WEDNESDY FEBRUARY 9
#3 Liberty College 76 (Luther Gordon 30) Topeka State 40
#5 Frankford State 74 (David Aponte 20) Potomac College 51
#6 Mississippi A&M 55 (Greg Randle 16) Opelika State 53
#8 Coastal California 52 (Barnes and Lincoln 12 each) Redwood 43

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 10
#1 St Blane 73 (Brian Threadgill 18) George Fox 49
#2 Western Iowa 58 (Charlie Maynard 13) Whitney College 51
#9 North Carolina Tech 67 (Chris Hermann 19) Mobile Maritime 39

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 11
#3 Liberty College 60 (Scott Basile 23) Plover College 51
#7 Lane State 56 (Carl Casswell 18) Spokane State 49
#10 Rainier College 54 (Thomas Abbott 17) Northern California 33

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 12
#2 Western Iowa 46 (Willy Ludwick 16) Indiana A&M 34
#4 Carolina Poly 64 (Bill Florence 17) Central Carolina 51
#5 Frankford State 52 (David Aponte 12) Western Montana 44
#6 Mississippi A&M 56 (Billy Bob Leveau 56) Western Florida 49
#9 North Carolina Tech 55 (Mike Carter 14) Petersburg 51

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 13
#1 St Blane 56 (Cy Worley 15) Eastern State 40
#3 Liberty College 62 (Luther Gordon 23) Michigan Lutheran 57
#7 Lane State 74 (Sherman Porter 23) Portland Tech 64
#8 Coastal California 66 (Chris Martines 28) Idaho A&M 40
#10 Rainier College 51 (Thomas Abbott 15) CC Los Angeles 43

BUBBLE WATCH

A loss yesterday to Rainier College dropped CC Los Angeles to 5-5 in section play and reduced the Coyotes chances slightly of qualifying for this year's AIAA tournament. CCLA reached the championship game last year before coming up short against West Coast Athletic Association rival Redwood and the Coyotes won it all just 3 years ago. The deep competition in the WCAA makes for some tense first couple of weeks of March but as it stands right now the expectation is the Coyotes will be one of five coast clubs to make the event. Coastal State, Lane State and Rainier College are all ranked nationally in the top ten and seem to have their positions well in hand with CC Los Angeles and defending champion Redwood in, at least for the moment.

The other conference that quite often sends five and even six teams to the event is the Great Lakes Alliance, but this looks like a down year for the GLA, at least as far as tournament representation goes. Only Western Iowa, which is ranked second in the nation with a 20-1 record including 7-1 in section play, along with Indiana A&M and Central Ohio would be considered safe at the moment. Here is the latest bubble watch.

Full AIAA standings can be found here

SAWYER SET FOR TITLE DEFENSE IN PARIS

World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer will be aiming for his 60th victory as a professional boxer when he enters the ring in Paris, France Saturday evening for his latest title defense. The 34-year-old New Orleans native is 59-3-1 and has held the world title since January of 1940, although he did take a five-year break from defending the belt while helping defend his country as a member of the Army during the war.

Sawyer appeared briefly in France late in the war on a tour to keep morale of troops high and has spent the past two months in the country after his last title defense was made in England in October. Not much is known about Sawyer's opponent beyond the fact that his name is Alain Noel and he is the current French champion with a 44-11-2 record. Noel is 30-years-old and not expect to provide any more of a challenge to the champ than Grant Knowles did in London shortly before Halloween.

This is expected to be Sawyer's final fight in Europe as it is believed that his manager, Chester Conley, is working on a deal to see Sawyer face Roy Crawford in the summer, likely at Gothams Stadium.

DESMARIAS REMATCH WITH PETRIE CONFIRMED

Philadelphia, PA - Fight fans, mark your calendars! The highly-anticipated rematch between Adrian Petrie and Edouard Desmarais for the World Middleweight title is officially confirmed for June 4. The tension has been simmering since their controversial clash in October, where Petrie seized the title in a split decision. The bout's verdict raised eyebrows and led to an investigation by the American Boxing Federation.

While the ABF found no wrongdoing, it did advise Petrie to grant Desmarais the opportunity for a rematch. Two French-Canadian judges faced disciplinary action due to their scoring in the contentious bout.

However, Desmarais, a man of his word, had a prior commitment to face Frank Melanson, whom he bested in a bout last month. The former champ chose to honor his agreement with Melanson, which, in turn, led to a title defense for Petrie against a different opponent, Danny Morse, last month. During this match, Desmarais's supporters reportedly heckled Petrie, labeling him a false champion.

In the heat of the moment, still in the ring after his victory over Morse, Petrie gestured towards Desmarais and proclaimed, "Vous êtes le prochain!" which translates to "You're next!" This challenge has now been confirmed, with the rematch scheduled to take place at Philadelphia's Broad Street Park, home to the Federal Association Philadelphia Keystones.

The venue satisfies another recommendation made by the ABF, which was to ensure a neutral site for the rematch somewhere in the United States rather than a second meeting hosted in Petrie's home country of Canada. Desmarais, who had plans to return to France after the Melanson fight, was evidently enticed enough by the prospect of a rematch with Petrie to change his course.

The upcoming bout promises not only the clash of fists but also the fervor of fans eager to witness the resolution of the middleweight title dispute. Stay tuned for what is sure to be an unforgettable showdown on June 4.

ANOTHER WIN FOR RUTLEDGE

Danny Rutledge moved one step closer to a shot at the welterweight title and fellow unbeaten and reigning champ Mac Erickson. Rutledge, the lightning quick Louisville, Kentucky 24-year-old scored a unanimous decision over Ira Mitchell in what was the toughest test yet of his young pro career. Rutledge is now 17-0 and said after the win over Mitchell at Boston's Denny Arena Saturday that he was hopeful the next time he steps in the ring it will be for the world title. Mac Erickson is the unbeaten champion as a professional, but did lose to Rutledge during the war in England in what was considered an amateur bout and proclaimed as for the Allied Welterweight Championship.

In another key bout John Edmonds, who briefly held the world middleweight title, outpointed Heath Nichols in a 10-rounder at Bigsby Garden on Friday evening. Edmonds had hoped that would earn him a shot at current belt holder Adrian Petrie but he will have to wait at least until Petrie and Edouard Desmarais stage their rematch in June.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• Feb 19- Paris, France: World HW champ Hector Sawyer (59-3-1) vs Alain Noel (44-11-2)
• Feb 21- Bigsby Garden, New York: former WW champ Mark Westlake (25-3-1) vs Jack Watkins (24-10)
• Feb 26- Philadelphia: John Baker (21-5-1) vs Richard Pounds (15-4)
• Mar 12- Bigsby Garden: former WW champ Harold Stephens (21-5-3) vs River Thomas (18-8)
• Mar 18- Detroit: World WW champ Mac Erickson (18-0) vs Rudy Perry (27-4)
• Mar 26- St Louis: MW Joe Morre (20-4-1) vs Millard Shelton (24-4)
• Mar 26- Bigsby Garden, New York: HW Scott Baker (19-3-3) vs Lewis Jones (19-1)
• Jun 4- Broad Street Park, Philadelphia: World Middleweight Champ Adrian Petrie (19-1-1) vs Edouard Desmarais (43-2)

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 2/13/1949

• A commission designed to streamline the government has given Congress a plan that would telescope 65 agencies into a tight group about a third of that size under firm control of the President.
• Senator Taft, co-author of the Taft-Hartley Act, indicated that the scope of labor legislation should be defined more clearly so that people in business will know whether it affects them.
• US Secretary of State Acheson is participating personally in North Atlantic Pact discussion for the first time as he met with envoys from Canada, Great Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to carry forward negotiations for a treaty binding those counties with the United States into a defensive alliance.
• Norway's foreign minister is now hearing the Americans side of the issue after listening to Russia's argument as to whether that country should back Russia or the American plan for guaranteeing Norway protection against aggression.
• In a clear waring for the present and future, the Army revealed the detailed story of a Russian spy ring whose amazing espionage in japan and the Far East profoundly affected the course of WWII.
• Pope Pius XII warned that "a conspiracy has been formed against the Lord" in certain countries, in response to the arrest, trial and sentencing of a Cardinal in Hungary.