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Tiger Fan · 02-06-2024, 02:35 PM

DECEMBER 26, 1949

BOBBY B AND GRID WILDCATS ARE DECADE'S BEST

Keystones Slugger Barrell and Chicago Wildcats: Athlete and Team of the Decade

To usher in the start of the 1950s and recognize the first full decade of weekly editions of This Week in Figment Sports (established in 1936) we decided to select the most successful player and team of the 1940s. There was much internal debate but in the end the winners, in our opinion, are Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones as the top player of the 1940s and the AFA's Chicago Wildcats as the best team.

We bounced back and forth on our selection of Barrell but in the end The Georgia Jolter was our pick, narrowly edging out The Cajun Crusher, heavyweight boxer Hector Sawyer. Others were briefly considered, most notably basketball's Ivory Mitchell, who was a first team all-star 9 times in the past decade and 7 times was named the playoff MVP in either the American Basketball Conference or, after that league's demise, the Federal Basketball League. Other candidates included Tommy Hart of the Boston Bees, who helped lead his club to 5 Challenge Cup wins and scored over 500 points in the decade to lead all NAHC players. Consideration was also given to Kansas City Cowboys quarterback Pat Chappell. Chappell got a late start in the decade, not turning pro until 1946 but he was a two-time Continental Football Conference player of the year in leading the Cowboys to the first two CFC titles and reaching the championship game in the third season. Being a basketball All-American selection and a very successful football and baseball star at St Magnus prior to turning pro also aided Graham's cause.

Each of those were impressive but the choice really came down to Barrell or Sawyer. Sawyer spent nearly the entire decade as world heavyweight champ, knocking out German strongman Jochen Schrotter in the 15th and final round of their title fight on January 15, 1940, and never looking back. There was a nearly five year hiatus because of the war where boxing, aside from military exhibitions nearly completely shut down, but Sawyer made up for lost time with 14 successful title defenses including his latest, a 13th round TKO of Lewis Jones in October. The champ is now 62-3-1 for his career and has never lost in his 13 title defenses. In fact, he has never really been in danger of losing while taking on all comers in the heavyweight division. Now 35 years old, Sawyer does not seem ready to retire just yet and may be set on breaking 1920's welterweight George Grainger's record of 16 title defenses without a loss.

Sawyer supporters can make an impressive case, but Bobby Barrell rewrote the FABL record book with what is considered the greatest on the field sports story of the decade - his pursuit and breaking of Max Morris' single season homerun record in 1947. Barrell hit 64, beating by 4 the standard established by Mighty Mo fourteen years earlier. That was just the peak of Barrell's impressive decade. He won the Triple Crown twice, led the Federal Association in homeruns five times and with 367 homers this decade he joined Morris as the only players to hit more than 600 round-trippers in their career. Barrell also won 4 Whitney Awards this decade and helped the Philadelphia Keystones win two pennants and the 1945 World Championship Series.

It is a tough call and always difficult to compare athletes in sports that are so different from one another but for our money the most accomplished athlete of the 1940s is Bobby Barrell.
*** In Age of Parity, Wildcats Stand Out ***

When trying to identify the team of the decade it is interesting to see how few really stood out from the pack and our choice of the one football team that did stand out was only made because they won another title last week. Up until the Chicago Wildcats beat the Philadelphia Frigates just over a week ago, we were debating the merits of a pair of hockey teams. Hockey in the 1940's had two of dominant clubs in the Boston Bees and Toronto Dukes as each won 5 Challenge Cups in the past ten years. The Bees never finished lower than in second place any season during the decade and boasted a star studded offense led by what in its prime was the most dangerous trio in the sport in the line of Tommy Hart, Wilbur Chandler and Waldemar Rupp with Joe Morey replacing Rupp late in the decade. Boston also had the best team defense in the league, a factor that contributed to three different Bees goaltenders in Tom Brockers, Pierre Melancon and Oscar James all winning at least one Juneau Trophy as the loop's top netminder. The Boston Bees were TWIFB's choice for the team of the decade until Ricky McCallister and the Chicago Wildcats pulled off some magic, scoring 14 points in the final two minutes to beat the Philadelphia Frigates and win their 4th American Football Association Championship in the past ten years.

Before their recent heroics the Wildcats did get some attention from us but the feeling was the Boston Bees, and Toronto, were just a little bit ahead. The Wildcats were winners of the AFA title in 1941,1943 and 1948 and participants in the title game on three other occasions including their comeback win Philadelphia Frigates a little over a week ago. The Wildcats are led by legendary coach Carl Boon and in their prime had an outstanding quarterback in Gus Brown. Age is catching up to Brown, but former St Blane Christian Trophy winner Ricky McCallister has filled in seamlessly and the Wildcats had a 79-31 regular season record this decade to go along with a 4-2 mark in AFA Championship games. They did have back-to-back 5-5 seasons in 1944 and 1945 but the Wildcats never lost more games than they won in any season this decade and now they will begin the 1950s as back-to-back defending American Football Conference champions.

There were some other teams we considered but none were from the college ranks despite some strong Rome State and St Blane teams as no collegiate football team won more than two national titles. On the diamond parity seemed to be the word of the decade with no team really standing out. The Cincinnati Cannons come closest in our books from the baseball teams as the Cannons, transplanted from Baltimore after an awful final decade in that city, immediately became contenders once they moved to the Queen City. Led by a talented core of homegrown young stars like Deuce Barrell, Jim Hensley and Fred Galloway, and augmented through the years with veteran additions such as Moxie Pidgeon, Al Wheeler, Adam Mullins, Tom Barrell, Tom Bird, Gail Gifford and even the great Rabbit Day the Cannons were immediate contenders in the Continental Association. They finished just 4 games out in 1940 after six straight last place finishes and were a first division club for 8 straight years including 3 consecutive pennants beginning in 1943 and World Championship Series titles the first two of those years. In 1947 with an aging roster, they made another strong run but fell just one game short of the Philadelphia Sailors.

Basketball did give us the Brooklyn Red Caps and 6 playoff titles as the Red Caps won 5 times in the last 9 years of the now defunct American Basketball Conference as well as being crowned champs of the Federal Basketball League last spring but because for much of the decade the sport was not truly recognized as a big-time major league, we will omit the Red Caps from consideration. An argument might be made for the Rainier College cagers as the Majestics won 3 National Tournament titles over the past decade but in the end, they fell short on our list as do the St Blane and Rome State football teams despite their on-field success.

The Continental Football Conference's Kansas City Cowboys have been dominant with 3 titles and a finals appearance in the four years of the league, but they are also excluded from consideration because the league did not form until 1946. Which left us with the Chicago Wildcats, winners of 4 AFA titles in the 1940's as our team of the decade.

GRID WIDLCATS NO STRANGERS TO DRAMATIC FINISHES

The fact that it came down to the final play of the game for the Chicago Wildcats to prevail over the Philadelphia Frigates in the American Football Association championship game should come as no surprise if the Wildcats recent history of title matchups is taken in to account. The Wildcats played in the title game six times this decade and three of those games had the winning score registered in the final two minutes of the game.

Just over a week ago it was a pair of Ricky McCallister touchdown passes including the game winning strike to Tom Gipson with no time left on the clock that provided the margin of victory in a 28-27 victory over the Philadelphia Frigates. The Wildcats 1948 win over the Stars and their loss to the Stars two years earlier were both lobsided scores, but the 1944 Wildcats win over the Boston Americans had a dramatic comeback for a 21-20 victory.

In the '44 title game Gus Brown completed three passes for 64 yards in the final minute to lift the Wildcats to a one point win a year after the Americans staged a dramatic comeback of their own. That would be in the 1943 game when Eric Balfour kicked a 35-yard field goal with 1:56 left in regulation to give the Americans a 24-21 victory. Balfour's boot came just a few minutes after Boston's Jim Faircloth recovered a Chicago fumble and returned it for a touchdown to tie the game at 21.

Those two games pale in comparison to the 1941 title game. It was a defensive struggle between the Wildcats and the New York Stars that remained scoreless until Gus Brown scrambled for a 7-yard touchdown late in the third period. A Chicago fumble set up the tying score for the Stars early in the fourth quarter and it looked like we might see the first overtime game in AFA history. That was not to be as Brown drove the Wildcats 55 yards in the final two minutes to set up Eddie Andrews game winning 12-yard field goal as the clock expired to give the Wildcats a 10-7 victory.

HALEY UNSUNG HERO OF WILDCATS CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY

Quarterback Ricky McCallister may have been selected as the Most Valuable Player of the recent American Football Association championship game, but it is hard to imagine the Chicago Wildcats would have completed their dramatic 28-27 victory without the exploits of veteran end Milt Haley.

The 34-year-old Haley is part of a slowly vanishing breed: a two-way player who made an impact on both sides of the ball in the title game. His dramatic 49-yard catch and run with less than a minute remaining left the Wildcats on the Frigates 6 yard line and was instrumental in the game winning touchdown. Haley also caught two touchdown passes on the afternoon including an 8-yarder with just under 2 minutes remaining to draw the Wildcats within 6 points. He also added 5 tackles on defense.

Undrafted after a stellar career as a two-sport athlete at Bayou State, Haley nearly ended up trying his hand at professional baseball instead of football. That would be in the spring of 1940 when the Houston Bulls of the then independent Lone Star Association had offered the Little Rock, AR. native a contract to play for them that summer. He would have received $300 a month but just before reporting Haley received a call from Chicago Wildcats legendary coach Carl Boon, who offered him $300 a game to play for the Wildcats.

He joined the Wildcats for the 1940 season and was on the field for their championship game win over the New York Stars in 1941. That would be his last football game for three years as Haley joined the Army Air Corps and flew 30 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. After the war he returned to the Wildcats and has been with the club ever since.

HARRIMAN NAMED TOP GRID PERFORMER

The record setting season of Monte Harriman left little doubt as to who would be named the player in the American Football Association for 1949. Monte Harriman, an undrafted second year end out of Sunnyvale, rewrote the receiving record book during a stellar campaign with the Washington Wasps. Harriman smashed Stan Vaught's old single season mark for catches with 101 and touchdown grabs with 23 while also surpassing for Wasps end Johnny Douglas receiving yardage mark by nearly 200 yards as Harriman became the first player to top 1,400 yards receiving. Just for good measure, his 138 points was also a new AFA scoring record, erasing the legendary Vaught's name from yet another mark.

Harriman's quarterback, vetern Bob Krohn, was also named to the all-star team after Krohn smashed Del Thomas' two year old single season touchdown mark with 33 scoring throws. Below is the complete list of 1949 American Football Association All-Stars.

No team has done more this off-season to try and change the string of struggles than the Chicago Cougars and their latest deal adds another veteran in outfielder John Moss. The Cougars had earlier added what they hope is the answer to their shoddy record in 1-run games with a deal to bring in veteran relief pitcher David Molina from the Philadelphia Sailors and now they have added what may well be the best defensive outfielder in the game today in former Brooklyn Kings centerfielder John Moss. This deal follows up two separate deals that moved veterans Carlos Montes and Walt Pack to the Chicago Chiefs for prospects.

The Moss deal see three young Cougars prospects heading to Brooklyn. The trio is highlighted by 24-year-old lefthander Ron Berry, who 12-3 with a 2.62 era at AAA Milwaukee last season. A 1944 7th round choice, Berry is 3-1 in 4 Cuban League starts this winter. Joining Berry in heading to Brooklyn are 22-year-old southpaw Dutch Yoak, a 1945 second round selection who had a strong 13-2 showing at Lincoln after an early season promotion to Class A, along with 24-year-old AAA second baseman Tom Brownleaf who was originally drafted in the 8th round in 1943. The Cougars will also receive 19-year-old shortstop Jack Moore, who spent last season with the Class B Tampa Cigar Kings after being selected in the 8th round of the 1948 draft.

JIGGS McGEE's TAKE While it was no secret that the Kings wanted to move on from Moss, dealing him to the Chicago Cougars is a bit of a head scratcher. The Cougars have been and quite likely will be a contender for the Continental crown for quite some time and adding one of the best outfield gloves in the game (and a pretty good bat) in Moss will only make the stronger...and harder for a club like Brooklyn to surpass.

Yes, there is a glut of outfield talent in the borough, but Johnny Reb is coming off a season in which he led the CA in doubles and topped all centerfielders in range and zone rating. Berry has the making of a pretty good starter, probably not an ace but certainly a good number two guy and the Kings rotation looks deep with the young lefthander expected to join Bob Arman, Leo Hayden and Joe Potts so it is not a bad deal for Brooklyn. I just hate the idea of making your main rival - and yes, I know the Cougars have won nothing in recent years, but they are still clearly the best team in the CA- better without forcing them to give up a key piece. Berry was expendable because, as good as he may turn out to be, the Cougars are loaded on the mound. Now, with Moss joining Sal Pestilli and Leo Mitchell as the likely outfield trio they are even more imposing.

So far in the off-season from a disappointing 1949 season, the Brooklyn Kings have been fairly quiet. They picked up a couple of players in the Rule 5 draft but other than that it had been relatively quiet from the Kings office. Down at the Winter Meetings King's GM DD Martin said "We had some interesting discussions and while we have not made any moves yet, we are involved in several very active discussions". Well the "active discussions" have finally produced some fruit. The Kings traded All-Star CF John Moss to the rival Chicago Cougars in a 5-player deal. Now Moss is a 2-time All-Star and is pretty much the consensus pick as the top defensive centerfielder in the FABL. Why would the Kings part with him? Simple, they haven't been able to put together what they feel is a pitching staff that can get them into contention. Did this deal, produce what the Kings have been searching for?

The centerpiece of the deal is for 24-year-old SP Ron Berry (LHSP). Berry is the Cougars #3 prospect and #34 overall as rated by the OSA. He was 12-3 with a 2.62 ERA with the AAA Milwaukee Blues. Being young, left handed and a quality starting pitcher is exactly what the King's have been looking for. The scouts also like Berry with the King's John Spears chiming in that the former 7th round choice in the 1944 draft projects to be a #2 type starting pitcher. "He projects to have a repertoire that include a swing and miss slider, a swing and miss changeup, a quality curveball and an average fastball. Everyone raves about his big time stuff."

So why did the Cougars deal him if he is so highly thought of? Well, the Cougars have arguably the best rotation in baseball and especially the Continental Association. There just wasn't room for him and they have another even more highly thought of prospect than Berry. But the Cougars who on paper year in and year out have the best team in the CA, simply have not put it all together and won many pennants. So Moss fills a role that they hope will solidify a great pitching staff and pretty good offense, with the best defensive CF around. The Kings also sent the Cougars 19-year-old 2B/SS Jack Moore from their Class B club.

The Kings also received infielder Tom Brownleaf who will like be a utility infielder for them next season and could be asked to be a starting middle infielder if needed. Brownleaf hit .317 with AAA Milwaukee last season. The Kings also added another lefthanded pitching prospect in Dutch Yoak who was 13-2 with a 2.55 ERA in Class A ball. Yoak was a 2nd round pick in the 1945 draft that has not lived up to the expectations that could along with being drafted that high. But the King's think maybe he has a chance to put things together and they will work with him. Spears notes "His stuff is good and should continue to play as he develops."

One question will be who will start in CF for the Kings next spring. One obvious answer is highly thought of prospect Charlie Rogers who at age 20 has had a rapid rise through the organization. He has struggled a bit in Cuba this winter with the bat but he is the reason the King's felt that they could deal Moss. Rogers is more of a lead-off type hitter with great speed and while he is not considered as good as Moss defensively, he is still very good on defense. Another option if Rogers isn't deemed ready would be moving All-Star and 2-time Whitney Award winner RF Ralph Johnson to CF. Johnson came up as a CF, but is better suited to play a corner. But he could cover CF if Rogers needed more time.

The King's tend to make deals in bunches and whether or not any other will be as big as this is hard to say. But the odds are we are not done seeing deals from Brooklyn as we head into the run up to Spring Training. But first the club has the Draft Lottery and the first 10 rounds of the 1950 draft next month. But don't be surprised if another trade or two is discussed and finalized.

COUGARS HOPING WINTER MOVES END TITLE DROUGHT

The Chicago Cougars have already announced that they are throwing in all the chips for the 1950 season. After another year of finishing runner-up, the Cougars made a statement by adding pen ace David Molina in a five player deal with the Philadelphia Sailors.

They then doubled down by trading for John Moss.

The 28-year-old former King is considered to be the best defensive outfielder in all of FABL, and was the only qualified center fielder this season to post at least a 13.0 zone rating or a 1.030 efficiency. He's also the only qualified player in the past three seasons to have at least a 20 zone rating or a 1.045 efficiency. And he's done it all three seasons.

Not only is "Johnny Reb" a skilled gloveman, the 28-year-old can hold his own at the plate. He led the Continental Association in plate appearances (705) and doubles (39) while hitting .271 with 11 homers and 74 RBIs. A disciplined hitter, he drew 98 walks to just 53 strikeouts, and produced a 117 WRC+. This was his third season as the Kings everyday center fielder, and he's owned a .258/.363/.376 (103 OPS+) batting line in 500 FABL games. He's been worth nearly twenty (19.1) wins above replacement while gathering 114 doubles, 236 RBIs, 281 runs, and 293 walks. The 1947 All-Star will be a welcomed addition to the Cougars lineup, and his defensive prowess should benefit flyball pitchers Duke Bybee (14-12, 3.99, 96) and Pete Papenfus (13-12, 150), and third year starter George Oddo (8-7, 3.97, 105) has had some flyball issues early on.

The biggest part of this deal might be that Sal Pestilli will play his first FABL game at a position that isn't center fielder. Other then pinch hit opportunities, Pestilli has only played in the center outfield, and even 33 he had a 12.5 zone rating and 1.029 efficiency. But he'll be 34 on Opening Day, and it's only a matter of time before he'd have to move to a corner. That will be right, which vastly improves the Cougars defense. With the top two center fielders now in center and right, Leo Mitchell will be protected in left, allowing many more flyballs to find the glove and not the grass. Cougars Park is one of the smallest CA stadiums, and with Moss and Pestilli shagging fly balls, it may be hard to do anything other then homer when you deal with the Windy City Kitties.

The headline of the package is young southpaw Ron Berry, who is currently pitching for the Santa Clara Stallions of the Cuban Winter League. Currently ranked as the 36th best prospect and six ranked among pitchers, Berry went 12-3 with the AAA Milwaukee Blues, working to a 2.62 ERA (155 ERA+) and 1.20 WHIP with 55 walks and 116 strikeouts in 158 innings pitched. In the winter, he had a nice 2-hit, 9-strikeout shutout of the Havana Sharks, but was recently hit hard in a three homer loss to the Holguin Hawks. Berry is currently 3-2 with a save in 5 starts and a relief outing, and he owns a 4.66 ERA (94 ERA+) and 1.29 WHIP with 19 walks and 32 strikeouts. Most teams would balk at parting with a potential ace like Berry, but the Cougars are deep with top pitching both in Chicago and on the farm.

Coming along with Berry is former 2nd Rounder Dutch Yoak and and soon-to-be 25-year-old infielder Tom Brownleaf. Yoak, 22, is best known for his pitching in high school, where he went 35-0 in his last three seasons at La Porte. He spent 17 of his 23 starts this year in Class A Lincoln and went 13-2 with a 2.55 ERA (154 ERA+), 1.04 WHIP, and 41 strikeouts. Brownleaf split his time between AA and AAA, posting WRC+ of 147 and 143 while making starts at second, third, and short. He was added to the 40 to avoid a selection in the Rule-5 draft, and will compete for a bench role in Brooklyn. The Cougars got a prospect back as well, adding 19-year-old infielder Jack Moore, a 19-year-old middle infielder who hit .326/.379/.474 (111 OPS+) in 69 games for the Class B Tampa Cigar Kings.

THINGS LOOKING UP IN MONTREAL?

The Montreal Valiants have had their struggles this season highlighted by a 7-game winless skid in which they had their struggles both with scoring goals and keeping pucks out of their net. However, things might be on the upswing as the Vals have claimed 9 points in their last seven games on 3 wins, 3 ties and just a single loss. Montreal fans are hoping this might forecast a complete reversal of past fortunes for the club.

Two years ago, the Valiants had a strong start to the season and were challenging for top spot in the NAHC until a terrible swoon starting in mid-December sent the team reeling and they finished in 5th. A year ago, they never seemed to get untracked and once more finished in 5th place, missing the playoffs for the third year in a row.

The key to any sort of a playoff push in Montreal lands squarely at the feet of Tom Brockers. The veteran goaltender was acquired from Boston a year ago at quite the cost, with the hopes that it would add stability in the Montreal net. Brockers struggled his first season with the Vals and has had mixed results this year but three consecutive solid outings in a pair of ties with New York and a 1-0 win over Detroit -which has the most prolific offense in the league this season- bodes well for the near future.

The Valiants are 11 points back of the co-leaders in Detroit and Toronto but are just 4 points out of a playoff spot as the Chicago Packers, who currently reside in fourth, have hit a bit of a slump of their own. If the Valiants are going to get into the postseason and end their three year playoff drought it will almost assuredly require a big second half of the season from Tom Brockers.

Brockers broke into the NAHC as a 23-year-old with the Boston Bees in the fall of 1938. The Calgary native enjoyed immediate success, posting a 31-12-0 mark and a league best 1.86 goals against average. Those numbers were good enough to help Boston finish the regular season in first place and earn Brockers both the Juneau Trophy as top goaltender and the McDaniels Trophy as NAHC rookie of the year. The magic did not continue in the playoffs as Boston was swept by second place Detroit in the opening round.

Two years later Brockers and the Bees would win the Challenge Cup, starting a three year run with Brockers being named top goaltender each season and the Bees winning three titles. In 1945, with Pierre Melanson pushing for playing time in the Boston net, Brockers was moved to the Brooklyn Eagles. The Eagles had won only 6 games in the two previous seasons combined and continued to struggle with Brockers in net. They did improve in Brockers final season with the club, but poor attendance caused the team to fold following the 1946-47 season and Brockers returned to Boston after the Bees selected him in the dispersal draft. A year later with Melanson and a youngster by the name of Oscar James in the mix, the Bees felt Brockers was expendable and dealt the now 33-year-old to Montreal in exchange for veteran defenseman Bryant Williams and Brockers is now in his first full season with the Valiants.

DAILY NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 21

Chicago 2 at Boston 2: After a scoreless opening period at Denny Arena the two clubs traded goals in both the second and third frames. Chicago opened the scoring on a Jarrett McGlynn power play tally just 41 seconds into the second frame but Garrett Kauffeldt, also with the man advantage, equalized things for Boston. Mike Van Tol put Chicago ahead early in the third, but Wilbur Chandler tied it with his 11th of the season.

Detroit 6 at Toronto 4:The top two clubs in the NAHC had a high scoring battle at Dominion Gardens. A 3-0 lead after twenty minutes proved key for the visitors in claiming the 6-3 win. Marsh Spencer led the way for Detroit with 3 points, a total equaled by both Lou Galbraith and Bobbie Sauer of the Dukes.

New York 2 at Montreal 2: Grifin Dufrense with his first NAHC goal and Samuel Coates staked New York to an early 2-0 lead but the Valiants battled back to earn the tie on goals from Robert Stevens and Isaac Finnson.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 24

Montreal 3 at New York 3: A rematch of Wednesday's meeting but the result is the same as the Valiants and Shamrocks skate to a 3-3 draw. Geoff Hartnell, Simon Savard and Orval Cabbell scored for the Shamrocks while the Montreal marksmen were Ian Doyle, Pat Coulter and John McDonald.

Toronto 4 at Boston 2: A 3-goal outburst in the third period lifted the Dukes to a 4-2 victory over the Bees despite being outshot 36-20 in the game. Lou Galbraith scored twice to pace the Toronto attack including the game winner. Luke Brisebois and Herb Burdette, with an empty netter, were the other Toronto goal scorers while Mark Dyck and Garrett Kauffeldt were the only Bees to solve Toronto netminder Gordie Broadway.

SUNDAY DECEMBER 25

Boston 5 at Chicago 2: A busy Christmas day saw all six teams in action with the Boston Bees riding a fast start in which they exploded for 3 goals in less than 4 minutes in the opening period and went on to beat Chicago 5-2, leaving the Packers winless in their last 4 outings. Maxime Rheault scored twice and added an assist for the Bees while Jacob Gron had a goal and two helpers. Chicago was forced to give backup goaltender Michael Cleghorn a rare start after Norm Hanson was forced to miss the contest with an eye infection.

Detroit 0 at Montreal 1: Goals were hard to come by on this evening as Tom Brockers and Millard Touhey kept the game scoreless for over 57 minutes. A late powerplay goal by Arlen Doherty proved the difference in the 1-0 Valiants triumph. The Detroit loss ends the Motors three-game winning streak while the Vals are now unbeaten in 4.

New York 3 at Toronto 2: With Detroit losing in Montreal, the Toronto Dukes had a chance to take over sole possession of first place in the NAHC but the Shamrocks had other plans. Third period goals from Trevor Hooton and Geoff Hartnell lifted the visitors to a 3-2 victory after the Dukes had led 2-0 until midway through the second stanza.

UPCOMING GAMES
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 28
Detroit at Boston
New York at Chicago
Toronto at Montreal

SATURDAY DECEMBER 31
Montreal at Chicago
New York at Boston
Toronto at Detroit

SUNDAY JANUARY 1
Boston at New York
Chicago at Montreal
Detroit at Toronto

DUKES STUMBLE OVER CHRISTMAS

If the Toronto Dukes were expecting a sack full of wins from Santa Claus under the tree they were disappointed after going 1-2 during the week.

The week began with an anticipated matchup against the Detroit Motors in a battle for top spot in the NAHC. A holiday crowd of almost 15,000 filled Dominion Gardens on Wednesday for the game. Hopes turned to horrors as the visiting Motors were dominant from the opening faceoff. In a first period where the puck never seemed to leave the Toronto end, the Motors jumped to a 3-0 lead on goals by Ben Witt, Francis McKenzie and Nick Tardif outshooting the Dukes 17-3 and silencing the large crowd.

The rout continued when before the middle period was a minute old Lou Barber made 4-0. Credit to the Dukes who seemed to wake from their slumber after the chorus of boos from the crowd. Toronto started to stage a comeback when J.C. Martel scored at 3:16 on a goal in which Captain Bobby Sauer picked up his 15th helper of the campaign. That spark allowed the team to close the gap to 4-3 before the second intermission on two goals by Lou Galbraith in the last 5 minutes of the frame. Many in the crowd were now anticipating the Dukes coming back again to salvage at least a point but they had their hopes were crushed just past the halfway mark of the third when Hank Walsh beat Broadway followed quickly Marsh Spencer just two minutes later putting the game away for Detroit. Barrell lifted Broadway after giving up 6 on 31 shots. Quinton Pollack, playing despite a leg injury, made it 6-4 with a goal on the power play as a dejected crowd filed out of the Gardens.

Denny Arena was hosted to spirited game between the host Boston Bees and Dukes on Christmas Eve. In a penalty filled first Galbraith put the Dukes up with the man advantage assisted by Les Carlson and Bobbie Sauer. The teams settled down a little in the second to play some fast skating, hard hitting hockey with less stick work. Boston's Mark Dyck brought the crowd to its feet when tied the game at 1 on a pretty setup by Robert Walker. The game remained deadlocked until Luke Brisebois made it 2-1 with his 2nd of the year at 7:36. The home side stormed back to tie when Garrett Kauffeldt knocked the disc past Broadway at 10:26. Lou Galbraith turned out to be the hero for the Dukes with his second goal of the game, his 4th of the week, at 15:26. With Pierre Melancon on the bench for extra attacker Herb Burdette scored an empty netter to make the final 4-2.

After a quick turnaround the team returned home to face the visitors from New York on Christmas day. A surprisingly less than capacity crowd bolstered by upwards of 30 Barrells in town for the holidays hosted by Jack and Fred witnessed another high-spirited affair. The home side opened the scoring when Herb Burdette scored from Sauer, again, and Les Carlson at 13:37. The teams retreated to their dressing rooms with the Dukes up 1. Toronto doubled the lead when Frank Featherstone was sent in alone on Alex Sorrell on a feed from Charlie Brown with Jim Macek in the box. Shamrocks clawed their back into the chippy affair when Alexandre Lapalme was left alone in front of Russell on passes from Joe Martin and Trevor Hooton. The Dukes fell into the age-old trap of trying to protect a one goal lead in the third. Hooten tied the game at 2:07 went an innocent shot seemed to deflect off a Toronto defender to find its way past Russell. The Dukes could not seem to generate any sustained pressure for the remainder of the game. Another shot from distance by Geoff Hartnell eluded Russell while Martel was off, this proved to be the winner as the Shamrocks celebrated Christmas in Canada with a win 3-2.

Coach Barrell: "Disappointing week, when are we going to learn we have to play our game against Detroit not play their style? The crowd was right to boo us, and it seemed to bring a little life into the team. We played our game after going down 4, then for some reason let the Motors dictate the again in third. Playing one period out of three is not going work in this league. You can tell that there is no love lost between us and Boston. That was nasty affair in which we managed to escape with the two points. Christmas Day, we gave the game away to the Shamrocks by going into a shell rather than keeping the pace up. I know quite a few players had family, relatives in for the holidays, many of them at the two games. I am sure they are all disappointed in their play in the two losses. Pollack played the Detroit game basically on one leg. I had no choice but to sit him out on the weekend. Hopefully he can go either Wednesday in Montreal or in Detroit Saturday. The good thing is we are still tied with Detroit though they two in hand. Hit the halfway point next week, this week proved we still have a lot of things to work on going forward."

Finally some good news for the woeful St Louis Steamers. No, they did not win a game as the expansion Steamers are now 0-21 after losing 74-59 to Buffalo on Friday evening. The good news is that first overall draft pick Cyril Worley was back in the lineup for St Louis. The former St Blane star forward missed 17 games with a hernia and is still not quite at 100% but he did play 20 minutes Friday evening. Worley scored just 2 points but did have 6 rebounds in the game. He played just 3 games, including a 14-point effort against Philadelphia the game before he went down with his injury.
The Brooklyn Red Caps may be starting to come around. The defending FBL champs and most dominating team in the old ABC had a shaky start to the campaign at 5-9 but since then they have reeled off 6 straight wins and are starting to climb back up to their familiar haunt near the top of the standings. It is important to note that their only win against a contending team was the first of that streak against Buffalo, when the Red Caps held Larry Yim to just 13 points. Three of the other five wins were over Hartford with Toronto and Syracuse being the other Brooklyn victims.
Philadelphia still leads the East Division at 14-4 but only by percentage points over Washington. The Phantoms lost at home to Baltimore on Christmas Eve and have lost twice to the Barons in their last four games. Baltimore likely wishes every game could be against the Phantoms right now as the Barons are in a bit of a slump with just 3 wins in their last 8 outings. Washington missed a chance to take over first place after the Statesmen, who led nearly the entire game, fell 83-82 at home to Harford thanks to a pair of free throws from Lionel Rice in the final stages of their Christmas Eve meeting.
The Phantoms and Statesmen are basically matching records at the top of the East Division with each going 8-2 in their last 10. The Phantoms are due some home games, going 6-1 at home, but 11 of 18 have been played away from Philadelphia.
Looking at teams that were at least relevant who have fallen off, what about the Boston Centurions? They still score, sitting third in scoring at 90.6 per game, but their defense is atrocious. Boston allows 93.2 points per game, which is the worst in the league by a country mile.
Detroit continues to set the pace in the West Division as the Mustangs had back to back wins in Baltimore and at hope to Chicago late last week. Ward Messer had 22 points and 27 rebounds in a 93-75 victory over the Barons Thursday night and 24 hours later it was Jack Kurtz taking charge with 31 points in the Mustangs 98-74 laugher over the Panthers.

WEEKEND RESULTS INVOLVING RANKED TEAMS
FRIDAY DECEMBER 23
at #4 Coastal California 58, Lubbock State 51
at #12 Chesapeake State 64, Central Maryland 39
#13 Wichita Baptist 54, at Amarillo Methodist 51
#14 Central Ohio 57, at Strub College 30
at #19 Pierpont 68, El Paso Methodist 64
at #22 Troy State (NY) 45, Plover College 30
at #23 Bulein 64, Rome State 56

SATURDAY DECEMBER 24
#2 Noble Jones College 50, at American Atlantic 37
at #5 Indiana A&M 47, Bliss College 26
#7 Whitney College 73, at Wisconsin Catholic 51
#25 Kansas Agricultural 59, at #8 Lane State 56
at #17 Western State 59, Berwick 54
#24 St. Blane 51, at Capital (MS) University 50

SUNDAY DECEMBER 25
at #3 Annapolis Maritime 56, Alexandria 38
at #12 Chesapeake State 58, Bethlehem College 42
at #13 Wichita Baptist 60, Pueblo State 47
#14 Central Ohio 67, at NW Pennsylvania 50
#18 Miami State 53, at Mile High State 45
#22 Troy State (NY) 70, at Rome State 54
#23 Bulein 53, at Custer College 51

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

Dec 28- Union City, NJ - MW contender Tommy Campbell (22-3-1) vs Rip Rogers (20-3)
Dec 29- Memphis, TN - Former HW challenger Roy Crawford (30-4) vs Cannon Cooper (28-4-1)
Dec 30- Syracuse, NY- MW Davis Owens (20-0) vs Jim Ward (21-3)
Dec 31- Brooklyn, NY - HW Scott "The Chef" Baker (20-4-3) vs Barry Scott (18-5)
Feb 18- Keystone Arena, Philadelphia- World Heavyweight champ Hector Sawyer (62-3-1) defends his title against Englishman Ben Budgeford (21-1)

Here is the full Classic Field
SUNDAY JANUARY 1, 1950
Tempe College (8-1) vs St Ignatius (9-1) Desert Classic in El Paso, Tx.

MONDAY JANUARY 2, 1950
Northern California (9-1) vs Wisconsin State (7-1-1) East-West Classic- Santa Ana, Ca.
Oklahoma City State (10-0) vs Bayou State (8-2) Lone Star Classic - Austin, Tx.
Maryland State (7-2) vs Central Kentucky (8-2-1) Sunshine Classic- Miami, Fl.
Red River State (8-2) vs Carolina Poly (6-1-2) Cajun Classic- New Orleans, La.
Baton Rogue State (8-2) vs Central Ohio (7-2) Bayside Classic - Tampa, Fl.
Redwood (9-1) vs Lexington State (7-2) Pacific Coast Classic- San Diego, Ca.
Travis College (9-1) vs Minnesota Tech (7-2) Oilman Classic- Houston, Tx.
Cumberland (6-2-2) vs Iowa A&M (6-2-1) Ozark Classic- Fayetteville, Ar.
Texas Panhandle (8-2) vs St. Matthew's College (3-6) Southwestern Classic - San Antonio, Tx.
Coastal California (5-4) vs Kamehameha College Hawaii Football Classic - Honolulu, Hi.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/25/1949

A British military court sentenced former Field Marshal Erich Von Manstein to 18 years in prison for atrocities against Poles and Russians committed by German troops during the war. He was the last of Hitler's generals to be tried by the Allies.
The president of the United Nations Assembly has proposed a temporary armistice in the production and use of atomic weapons. He stressed his plan is only an interim measure in hopes of halting an arms race between the United States and Russia for atomic supremacy.
General MacArthur called for independent investigation of the fate of 376,000 missing Japanese war prisoners captured by the Russians after the Soviets walked out of the Allied Council for Japan meetings. This was followed by a renewed Russian charge that the United States was assisting the revival of Japanese fascism.
Russia also claimed that the Japanese waged bacteriological warfare in China in 1940 with airborne fleas, and that the Japanese next step was to direct the germ assault against the Soviet Union.
Official election returns in Bulgaria showed 99 percent of votes cast for the Communist-dominated Fatherland Front, which was the only option available on the ballots.
Unknown plotters laid a huge dynamite bomb at the international headquarters of the United Auto Workers but it failed to go off and was removed by police.

02-06-2024, 02:35 PM	#873
Tiger Fan Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Ontario Canada Posts: 9,862	December 26, 1949 DECEMBER 26, 1949 BOBBY B AND GRID WILDCATS ARE DECADE'S BEST Keystones Slugger Barrell and Chicago Wildcats: Athlete and Team of the Decade To usher in the start of the 1950s and recognize the first full decade of weekly editions of This Week in Figment Sports (established in 1936) we decided to select the most successful player and team of the 1940s. There was much internal debate but in the end the winners, in our opinion, are Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones as the top player of the 1940s and the AFA's Chicago Wildcats as the best team. We bounced back and forth on our selection of Barrell but in the end The Georgia Jolter was our pick, narrowly edging out The Cajun Crusher, heavyweight boxer Hector Sawyer. Others were briefly considered, most notably basketball's Ivory Mitchell, who was a first team all-star 9 times in the past decade and 7 times was named the playoff MVP in either the American Basketball Conference or, after that league's demise, the Federal Basketball League. Other candidates included Tommy Hart of the Boston Bees, who helped lead his club to 5 Challenge Cup wins and scored over 500 points in the decade to lead all NAHC players. Consideration was also given to Kansas City Cowboys quarterback Pat Chappell. Chappell got a late start in the decade, not turning pro until 1946 but he was a two-time Continental Football Conference player of the year in leading the Cowboys to the first two CFC titles and reaching the championship game in the third season. Being a basketball All-American selection and a very successful football and baseball star at St Magnus prior to turning pro also aided Graham's cause. Each of those were impressive but the choice really came down to Barrell or Sawyer. Sawyer spent nearly the entire decade as world heavyweight champ, knocking out German strongman Jochen Schrotter in the 15th and final round of their title fight on January 15, 1940, and never looking back. There was a nearly five year hiatus because of the war where boxing, aside from military exhibitions nearly completely shut down, but Sawyer made up for lost time with 14 successful title defenses including his latest, a 13th round TKO of Lewis Jones in October. The champ is now 62-3-1 for his career and has never lost in his 13 title defenses. In fact, he has never really been in danger of losing while taking on all comers in the heavyweight division. Now 35 years old, Sawyer does not seem ready to retire just yet and may be set on breaking 1920's welterweight George Grainger's record of 16 title defenses without a loss. Sawyer supporters can make an impressive case, but Bobby Barrell rewrote the FABL record book with what is considered the greatest on the field sports story of the decade - his pursuit and breaking of Max Morris' single season homerun record in 1947. Barrell hit 64, beating by 4 the standard established by Mighty Mo fourteen years earlier. That was just the peak of Barrell's impressive decade. He won the Triple Crown twice, led the Federal Association in homeruns five times and with 367 homers this decade he joined Morris as the only players to hit more than 600 round-trippers in their career. Barrell also won 4 Whitney Awards this decade and helped the Philadelphia Keystones win two pennants and the 1945 World Championship Series. It is a tough call and always difficult to compare athletes in sports that are so different from one another but for our money the most accomplished athlete of the 1940s is Bobby Barrell. * In Age of Parity, Wildcats Stand Out * When trying to identify the team of the decade it is interesting to see how few really stood out from the pack and our choice of the one football team that did stand out was only made because they won another title last week. Up until the Chicago Wildcats beat the Philadelphia Frigates just over a week ago, we were debating the merits of a pair of hockey teams. Hockey in the 1940's had two of dominant clubs in the Boston Bees and Toronto Dukes as each won 5 Challenge Cups in the past ten years. The Bees never finished lower than in second place any season during the decade and boasted a star studded offense led by what in its prime was the most dangerous trio in the sport in the line of Tommy Hart, Wilbur Chandler and Waldemar Rupp with Joe Morey replacing Rupp late in the decade. Boston also had the best team defense in the league, a factor that contributed to three different Bees goaltenders in Tom Brockers, Pierre Melancon and Oscar James all winning at least one Juneau Trophy as the loop's top netminder. The Boston Bees were TWIFB's choice for the team of the decade until Ricky McCallister and the Chicago Wildcats pulled off some magic, scoring 14 points in the final two minutes to beat the Philadelphia Frigates and win their 4th American Football Association Championship in the past ten years. Before their recent heroics the Wildcats did get some attention from us but the feeling was the Boston Bees, and Toronto, were just a little bit ahead. The Wildcats were winners of the AFA title in 1941,1943 and 1948 and participants in the title game on three other occasions including their comeback win Philadelphia Frigates a little over a week ago. The Wildcats are led by legendary coach Carl Boon and in their prime had an outstanding quarterback in Gus Brown. Age is catching up to Brown, but former St Blane Christian Trophy winner Ricky McCallister has filled in seamlessly and the Wildcats had a 79-31 regular season record this decade to go along with a 4-2 mark in AFA Championship games. They did have back-to-back 5-5 seasons in 1944 and 1945 but the Wildcats never lost more games than they won in any season this decade and now they will begin the 1950s as back-to-back defending American Football Conference champions. There were some other teams we considered but none were from the college ranks despite some strong Rome State and St Blane teams as no collegiate football team won more than two national titles. On the diamond parity seemed to be the word of the decade with no team really standing out. The Cincinnati Cannons come closest in our books from the baseball teams as the Cannons, transplanted from Baltimore after an awful final decade in that city, immediately became contenders once they moved to the Queen City. Led by a talented core of homegrown young stars like Deuce Barrell, Jim Hensley and Fred Galloway, and augmented through the years with veteran additions such as Moxie Pidgeon, Al Wheeler, Adam Mullins, Tom Barrell, Tom Bird, Gail Gifford and even the great Rabbit Day the Cannons were immediate contenders in the Continental Association. They finished just 4 games out in 1940 after six straight last place finishes and were a first division club for 8 straight years including 3 consecutive pennants beginning in 1943 and World Championship Series titles the first two of those years. In 1947 with an aging roster, they made another strong run but fell just one game short of the Philadelphia Sailors. Basketball did give us the Brooklyn Red Caps and 6 playoff titles as the Red Caps won 5 times in the last 9 years of the now defunct American Basketball Conference as well as being crowned champs of the Federal Basketball League last spring but because for much of the decade the sport was not truly recognized as a big-time major league, we will omit the Red Caps from consideration. An argument might be made for the Rainier College cagers as the Majestics won 3 National Tournament titles over the past decade but in the end, they fell short on our list as do the St Blane and Rome State football teams despite their on-field success. The Continental Football Conference's Kansas City Cowboys have been dominant with 3 titles and a finals appearance in the four years of the league, but they are also excluded from consideration because the league did not form until 1946. Which left us with the Chicago Wildcats, winners of 4 AFA titles in the 1940's as our team of the decade. GRID WIDLCATS NO STRANGERS TO DRAMATIC FINISHES The fact that it came down to the final play of the game for the Chicago Wildcats to prevail over the Philadelphia Frigates in the American Football Association championship game should come as no surprise if the Wildcats recent history of title matchups is taken in to account. The Wildcats played in the title game six times this decade and three of those games had the winning score registered in the final two minutes of the game. Just over a week ago it was a pair of Ricky McCallister touchdown passes including the game winning strike to Tom Gipson with no time left on the clock that provided the margin of victory in a 28-27 victory over the Philadelphia Frigates. The Wildcats 1948 win over the Stars and their loss to the Stars two years earlier were both lobsided scores, but the 1944 Wildcats win over the Boston Americans had a dramatic comeback for a 21-20 victory. In the '44 title game Gus Brown completed three passes for 64 yards in the final minute to lift the Wildcats to a one point win a year after the Americans staged a dramatic comeback of their own. That would be in the 1943 game when Eric Balfour kicked a 35-yard field goal with 1:56 left in regulation to give the Americans a 24-21 victory. Balfour's boot came just a few minutes after Boston's Jim Faircloth recovered a Chicago fumble and returned it for a touchdown to tie the game at 21. Those two games pale in comparison to the 1941 title game. It was a defensive struggle between the Wildcats and the New York Stars that remained scoreless until Gus Brown scrambled for a 7-yard touchdown late in the third period. A Chicago fumble set up the tying score for the Stars early in the fourth quarter and it looked like we might see the first overtime game in AFA history. That was not to be as Brown drove the Wildcats 55 yards in the final two minutes to set up Eddie Andrews game winning 12-yard field goal as the clock expired to give the Wildcats a 10-7 victory. HALEY UNSUNG HERO OF WILDCATS CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY Quarterback Ricky McCallister may have been selected as the Most Valuable Player of the recent American Football Association championship game, but it is hard to imagine the Chicago Wildcats would have completed their dramatic 28-27 victory without the exploits of veteran end Milt Haley. The 34-year-old Haley is part of a slowly vanishing breed: a two-way player who made an impact on both sides of the ball in the title game. His dramatic 49-yard catch and run with less than a minute remaining left the Wildcats on the Frigates 6 yard line and was instrumental in the game winning touchdown. Haley also caught two touchdown passes on the afternoon including an 8-yarder with just under 2 minutes remaining to draw the Wildcats within 6 points. He also added 5 tackles on defense. Undrafted after a stellar career as a two-sport athlete at Bayou State, Haley nearly ended up trying his hand at professional baseball instead of football. That would be in the spring of 1940 when the Houston Bulls of the then independent Lone Star Association had offered the Little Rock, AR. native a contract to play for them that summer. He would have received $300 a month but just before reporting Haley received a call from Chicago Wildcats legendary coach Carl Boon, who offered him $300 a game to play for the Wildcats. He joined the Wildcats for the 1940 season and was on the field for their championship game win over the New York Stars in 1941. That would be his last football game for three years as Haley joined the Army Air Corps and flew 30 combat missions, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal. After the war he returned to the Wildcats and has been with the club ever since. HARRIMAN NAMED TOP GRID PERFORMER The record setting season of Monte Harriman left little doubt as to who would be named the player in the American Football Association for 1949. Monte Harriman, an undrafted second year end out of Sunnyvale, rewrote the receiving record book during a stellar campaign with the Washington Wasps. Harriman smashed Stan Vaught's old single season mark for catches with 101 and touchdown grabs with 23 while also surpassing for Wasps end Johnny Douglas receiving yardage mark by nearly 200 yards as Harriman became the first player to top 1,400 yards receiving. Just for good measure, his 138 points was also a new AFA scoring record, erasing the legendary Vaught's name from yet another mark. Harriman's quarterback, vetern Bob Krohn, was also named to the all-star team after Krohn smashed Del Thomas' two year old single season touchdown mark with 33 scoring throws. Below is the complete list of 1949 American Football Association All-Stars. No team has done more this off-season to try and change the string of struggles than the Chicago Cougars and their latest deal adds another veteran in outfielder John Moss. The Cougars had earlier added what they hope is the answer to their shoddy record in 1-run games with a deal to bring in veteran relief pitcher David Molina from the Philadelphia Sailors and now they have added what may well be the best defensive outfielder in the game today in former Brooklyn Kings centerfielder John Moss. This deal follows up two separate deals that moved veterans Carlos Montes and Walt Pack to the Chicago Chiefs for prospects. The Moss deal see three young Cougars prospects heading to Brooklyn. The trio is highlighted by 24-year-old lefthander Ron Berry, who 12-3 with a 2.62 era at AAA Milwaukee last season. A 1944 7th round choice, Berry is 3-1 in 4 Cuban League starts this winter. Joining Berry in heading to Brooklyn are 22-year-old southpaw Dutch Yoak, a 1945 second round selection who had a strong 13-2 showing at Lincoln after an early season promotion to Class A, along with 24-year-old AAA second baseman Tom Brownleaf who was originally drafted in the 8th round in 1943. The Cougars will also receive 19-year-old shortstop Jack Moore, who spent last season with the Class B Tampa Cigar Kings after being selected in the 8th round of the 1948 draft. JIGGS McGEE's TAKE While it was no secret that the Kings wanted to move on from Moss, dealing him to the Chicago Cougars is a bit of a head scratcher. The Cougars have been and quite likely will be a contender for the Continental crown for quite some time and adding one of the best outfield gloves in the game (and a pretty good bat) in Moss will only make the stronger...and harder for a club like Brooklyn to surpass. Yes, there is a glut of outfield talent in the borough, but Johnny Reb is coming off a season in which he led the CA in doubles and topped all centerfielders in range and zone rating. Berry has the making of a pretty good starter, probably not an ace but certainly a good number two guy and the Kings rotation looks deep with the young lefthander expected to join Bob Arman, Leo Hayden and Joe Potts so it is not a bad deal for Brooklyn. I just hate the idea of making your main rival - and yes, I know the Cougars have won nothing in recent years, but they are still clearly the best team in the CA- better without forcing them to give up a key piece. Berry was expendable because, as good as he may turn out to be, the Cougars are loaded on the mound. Now, with Moss joining Sal Pestilli and Leo Mitchell as the likely outfield trio they are even more imposing. So far in the off-season from a disappointing 1949 season, the Brooklyn Kings have been fairly quiet. They picked up a couple of players in the Rule 5 draft but other than that it had been relatively quiet from the Kings office. Down at the Winter Meetings King's GM DD Martin said "We had some interesting discussions and while we have not made any moves yet, we are involved in several very active discussions". Well the "active discussions" have finally produced some fruit. The Kings traded All-Star CF John Moss to the rival Chicago Cougars in a 5-player deal. Now Moss is a 2-time All-Star and is pretty much the consensus pick as the top defensive centerfielder in the FABL. Why would the Kings part with him? Simple, they haven't been able to put together what they feel is a pitching staff that can get them into contention. Did this deal, produce what the Kings have been searching for? The centerpiece of the deal is for 24-year-old SP Ron Berry (LHSP). Berry is the Cougars #3 prospect and #34 overall as rated by the OSA. He was 12-3 with a 2.62 ERA with the AAA Milwaukee Blues. Being young, left handed and a quality starting pitcher is exactly what the King's have been looking for. The scouts also like Berry with the King's John Spears chiming in that the former 7th round choice in the 1944 draft projects to be a #2 type starting pitcher. "He projects to have a repertoire that include a swing and miss slider, a swing and miss changeup, a quality curveball and an average fastball. Everyone raves about his big time stuff." So why did the Cougars deal him if he is so highly thought of? Well, the Cougars have arguably the best rotation in baseball and especially the Continental Association. There just wasn't room for him and they have another even more highly thought of prospect than Berry. But the Cougars who on paper year in and year out have the best team in the CA, simply have not put it all together and won many pennants. So Moss fills a role that they hope will solidify a great pitching staff and pretty good offense, with the best defensive CF around. The Kings also sent the Cougars 19-year-old 2B/SS Jack Moore from their Class B club. The Kings also received infielder Tom Brownleaf who will like be a utility infielder for them next season and could be asked to be a starting middle infielder if needed. Brownleaf hit .317 with AAA Milwaukee last season. The Kings also added another lefthanded pitching prospect in Dutch Yoak who was 13-2 with a 2.55 ERA in Class A ball. Yoak was a 2nd round pick in the 1945 draft that has not lived up to the expectations that could along with being drafted that high. But the King's think maybe he has a chance to put things together and they will work with him. Spears notes "His stuff is good and should continue to play as he develops." One question will be who will start in CF for the Kings next spring. One obvious answer is highly thought of prospect Charlie Rogers who at age 20 has had a rapid rise through the organization. He has struggled a bit in Cuba this winter with the bat but he is the reason the King's felt that they could deal Moss. Rogers is more of a lead-off type hitter with great speed and while he is not considered as good as Moss defensively, he is still very good on defense. Another option if Rogers isn't deemed ready would be moving All-Star and 2-time Whitney Award winner RF Ralph Johnson to CF. Johnson came up as a CF, but is better suited to play a corner. But he could cover CF if Rogers needed more time. The King's tend to make deals in bunches and whether or not any other will be as big as this is hard to say. But the odds are we are not done seeing deals from Brooklyn as we head into the run up to Spring Training. But first the club has the Draft Lottery and the first 10 rounds of the 1950 draft next month. But don't be surprised if another trade or two is discussed and finalized. COUGARS HOPING WINTER MOVES END TITLE DROUGHT The Chicago Cougars have already announced that they are throwing in all the chips for the 1950 season. After another year of finishing runner-up, the Cougars made a statement by adding pen ace David Molina in a five player deal with the Philadelphia Sailors. They then doubled down by trading for John Moss. The 28-year-old former King is considered to be the best defensive outfielder in all of FABL, and was the only qualified center fielder this season to post at least a 13.0 zone rating or a 1.030 efficiency. He's also the only qualified player in the past three seasons to have at least a 20 zone rating or a 1.045 efficiency. And he's done it all three seasons. Not only is "Johnny Reb" a skilled gloveman, the 28-year-old can hold his own at the plate. He led the Continental Association in plate appearances (705) and doubles (39) while hitting .271 with 11 homers and 74 RBIs. A disciplined hitter, he drew 98 walks to just 53 strikeouts, and produced a 117 WRC+. This was his third season as the Kings everyday center fielder, and he's owned a .258/.363/.376 (103 OPS+) batting line in 500 FABL games. He's been worth nearly twenty (19.1) wins above replacement while gathering 114 doubles, 236 RBIs, 281 runs, and 293 walks. The 1947 All-Star will be a welcomed addition to the Cougars lineup, and his defensive prowess should benefit flyball pitchers Duke Bybee (14-12, 3.99, 96) and Pete Papenfus (13-12, 150), and third year starter George Oddo (8-7, 3.97, 105) has had some flyball issues early on. The biggest part of this deal might be that Sal Pestilli will play his first FABL game at a position that isn't center fielder. Other then pinch hit opportunities, Pestilli has only played in the center outfield, and even 33 he had a 12.5 zone rating and 1.029 efficiency. But he'll be 34 on Opening Day, and it's only a matter of time before he'd have to move to a corner. That will be right, which vastly improves the Cougars defense. With the top two center fielders now in center and right, Leo Mitchell will be protected in left, allowing many more flyballs to find the glove and not the grass. Cougars Park is one of the smallest CA stadiums, and with Moss and Pestilli shagging fly balls, it may be hard to do anything other then homer when you deal with the Windy City Kitties. The headline of the package is young southpaw Ron Berry, who is currently pitching for the Santa Clara Stallions of the Cuban Winter League. Currently ranked as the 36th best prospect and six ranked among pitchers, Berry went 12-3 with the AAA Milwaukee Blues, working to a 2.62 ERA (155 ERA+) and 1.20 WHIP with 55 walks and 116 strikeouts in 158 innings pitched. In the winter, he had a nice 2-hit, 9-strikeout shutout of the Havana Sharks, but was recently hit hard in a three homer loss to the Holguin Hawks. Berry is currently 3-2 with a save in 5 starts and a relief outing, and he owns a 4.66 ERA (94 ERA+) and 1.29 WHIP with 19 walks and 32 strikeouts. Most teams would balk at parting with a potential ace like Berry, but the Cougars are deep with top pitching both in Chicago and on the farm. Coming along with Berry is former 2nd Rounder Dutch Yoak and and soon-to-be 25-year-old infielder Tom Brownleaf. Yoak, 22, is best known for his pitching in high school, where he went 35-0 in his last three seasons at La Porte. He spent 17 of his 23 starts this year in Class A Lincoln and went 13-2 with a 2.55 ERA (154 ERA+), 1.04 WHIP, and 41 strikeouts. Brownleaf split his time between AA and AAA, posting WRC+ of 147 and 143 while making starts at second, third, and short. He was added to the 40 to avoid a selection in the Rule-5 draft, and will compete for a bench role in Brooklyn. The Cougars got a prospect back as well, adding 19-year-old infielder Jack Moore, a 19-year-old middle infielder who hit .326/.379/.474 (111 OPS+) in 69 games for the Class B Tampa Cigar Kings. THINGS LOOKING UP IN MONTREAL? The Montreal Valiants have had their struggles this season highlighted by a 7-game winless skid in which they had their struggles both with scoring goals and keeping pucks out of their net. However, things might be on the upswing as the Vals have claimed 9 points in their last seven games on 3 wins, 3 ties and just a single loss. Montreal fans are hoping this might forecast a complete reversal of past fortunes for the club. Two years ago, the Valiants had a strong start to the season and were challenging for top spot in the NAHC until a terrible swoon starting in mid-December sent the team reeling and they finished in 5th. A year ago, they never seemed to get untracked and once more finished in 5th place, missing the playoffs for the third year in a row. The key to any sort of a playoff push in Montreal lands squarely at the feet of Tom Brockers. The veteran goaltender was acquired from Boston a year ago at quite the cost, with the hopes that it would add stability in the Montreal net. Brockers struggled his first season with the Vals and has had mixed results this year but three consecutive solid outings in a pair of ties with New York and a 1-0 win over Detroit -which has the most prolific offense in the league this season- bodes well for the near future. The Valiants are 11 points back of the co-leaders in Detroit and Toronto but are just 4 points out of a playoff spot as the Chicago Packers, who currently reside in fourth, have hit a bit of a slump of their own. If the Valiants are going to get into the postseason and end their three year playoff drought it will almost assuredly require a big second half of the season from Tom Brockers. Brockers broke into the NAHC as a 23-year-old with the Boston Bees in the fall of 1938. The Calgary native enjoyed immediate success, posting a 31-12-0 mark and a league best 1.86 goals against average. Those numbers were good enough to help Boston finish the regular season in first place and earn Brockers both the Juneau Trophy as top goaltender and the McDaniels Trophy as NAHC rookie of the year. The magic did not continue in the playoffs as Boston was swept by second place Detroit in the opening round. Two years later Brockers and the Bees would win the Challenge Cup, starting a three year run with Brockers being named top goaltender each season and the Bees winning three titles. In 1945, with Pierre Melanson pushing for playing time in the Boston net, Brockers was moved to the Brooklyn Eagles. The Eagles had won only 6 games in the two previous seasons combined and continued to struggle with Brockers in net. They did improve in Brockers final season with the club, but poor attendance caused the team to fold following the 1946-47 season and Brockers returned to Boston after the Bees selected him in the dispersal draft. A year later with Melanson and a youngster by the name of Oscar James in the mix, the Bees felt Brockers was expendable and dealt the now 33-year-old to Montreal in exchange for veteran defenseman Bryant Williams and Brockers is now in his first full season with the Valiants. DAILY NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 21 Chicago 2 at Boston 2: After a scoreless opening period at Denny Arena the two clubs traded goals in both the second and third frames. Chicago opened the scoring on a Jarrett McGlynn power play tally just 41 seconds into the second frame but Garrett Kauffeldt, also with the man advantage, equalized things for Boston. Mike Van Tol put Chicago ahead early in the third, but Wilbur Chandler tied it with his 11th of the season. Detroit 6 at Toronto 4:The top two clubs in the NAHC had a high scoring battle at Dominion Gardens. A 3-0 lead after twenty minutes proved key for the visitors in claiming the 6-3 win. Marsh Spencer led the way for Detroit with 3 points, a total equaled by both Lou Galbraith and Bobbie Sauer of the Dukes. New York 2 at Montreal 2: Grifin Dufrense with his first NAHC goal and Samuel Coates staked New York to an early 2-0 lead but the Valiants battled back to earn the tie on goals from Robert Stevens and Isaac Finnson. SATURDAY DECEMBER 24 Montreal 3 at New York 3: A rematch of Wednesday's meeting but the result is the same as the Valiants and Shamrocks skate to a 3-3 draw. Geoff Hartnell, Simon Savard and Orval Cabbell scored for the Shamrocks while the Montreal marksmen were Ian Doyle, Pat Coulter and John McDonald. Toronto 4 at Boston 2: A 3-goal outburst in the third period lifted the Dukes to a 4-2 victory over the Bees despite being outshot 36-20 in the game. Lou Galbraith scored twice to pace the Toronto attack including the game winner. Luke Brisebois and Herb Burdette, with an empty netter, were the other Toronto goal scorers while Mark Dyck and Garrett Kauffeldt were the only Bees to solve Toronto netminder Gordie Broadway. SUNDAY DECEMBER 25 Boston 5 at Chicago 2: A busy Christmas day saw all six teams in action with the Boston Bees riding a fast start in which they exploded for 3 goals in less than 4 minutes in the opening period and went on to beat Chicago 5-2, leaving the Packers winless in their last 4 outings. Maxime Rheault scored twice and added an assist for the Bees while Jacob Gron had a goal and two helpers. Chicago was forced to give backup goaltender Michael Cleghorn a rare start after Norm Hanson was forced to miss the contest with an eye infection. Detroit 0 at Montreal 1: Goals were hard to come by on this evening as Tom Brockers and Millard Touhey kept the game scoreless for over 57 minutes. A late powerplay goal by Arlen Doherty proved the difference in the 1-0 Valiants triumph. The Detroit loss ends the Motors three-game winning streak while the Vals are now unbeaten in 4. New York 3 at Toronto 2: With Detroit losing in Montreal, the Toronto Dukes had a chance to take over sole possession of first place in the NAHC but the Shamrocks had other plans. Third period goals from Trevor Hooton and Geoff Hartnell lifted the visitors to a 3-2 victory after the Dukes had led 2-0 until midway through the second stanza. UPCOMING GAMES WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 28 Detroit at Boston New York at Chicago Toronto at Montreal SATURDAY DECEMBER 31 Montreal at Chicago New York at Boston Toronto at Detroit SUNDAY JANUARY 1 Boston at New York Chicago at Montreal Detroit at Toronto DUKES STUMBLE OVER CHRISTMAS If the Toronto Dukes were expecting a sack full of wins from Santa Claus under the tree they were disappointed after going 1-2 during the week. The week began with an anticipated matchup against the Detroit Motors in a battle for top spot in the NAHC. A holiday crowd of almost 15,000 filled Dominion Gardens on Wednesday for the game. Hopes turned to horrors as the visiting Motors were dominant from the opening faceoff. In a first period where the puck never seemed to leave the Toronto end, the Motors jumped to a 3-0 lead on goals by Ben Witt, Francis McKenzie and Nick Tardif outshooting the Dukes 17-3 and silencing the large crowd. The rout continued when before the middle period was a minute old Lou Barber made 4-0. Credit to the Dukes who seemed to wake from their slumber after the chorus of boos from the crowd. Toronto started to stage a comeback when J.C. Martel scored at 3:16 on a goal in which Captain Bobby Sauer picked up his 15th helper of the campaign. That spark allowed the team to close the gap to 4-3 before the second intermission on two goals by Lou Galbraith in the last 5 minutes of the frame. Many in the crowd were now anticipating the Dukes coming back again to salvage at least a point but they had their hopes were crushed just past the halfway mark of the third when Hank Walsh beat Broadway followed quickly Marsh Spencer just two minutes later putting the game away for Detroit. Barrell lifted Broadway after giving up 6 on 31 shots. Quinton Pollack, playing despite a leg injury, made it 6-4 with a goal on the power play as a dejected crowd filed out of the Gardens. Denny Arena was hosted to spirited game between the host Boston Bees and Dukes on Christmas Eve. In a penalty filled first Galbraith put the Dukes up with the man advantage assisted by Les Carlson and Bobbie Sauer. The teams settled down a little in the second to play some fast skating, hard hitting hockey with less stick work. Boston's Mark Dyck brought the crowd to its feet when tied the game at 1 on a pretty setup by Robert Walker. The game remained deadlocked until Luke Brisebois made it 2-1 with his 2nd of the year at 7:36. The home side stormed back to tie when Garrett Kauffeldt knocked the disc past Broadway at 10:26. Lou Galbraith turned out to be the hero for the Dukes with his second goal of the game, his 4th of the week, at 15:26. With Pierre Melancon on the bench for extra attacker Herb Burdette scored an empty netter to make the final 4-2. After a quick turnaround the team returned home to face the visitors from New York on Christmas day. A surprisingly less than capacity crowd bolstered by upwards of 30 Barrells in town for the holidays hosted by Jack and Fred witnessed another high-spirited affair. The home side opened the scoring when Herb Burdette scored from Sauer, again, and Les Carlson at 13:37. The teams retreated to their dressing rooms with the Dukes up 1. Toronto doubled the lead when Frank Featherstone was sent in alone on Alex Sorrell on a feed from Charlie Brown with Jim Macek in the box. Shamrocks clawed their back into the chippy affair when Alexandre Lapalme was left alone in front of Russell on passes from Joe Martin and Trevor Hooton. The Dukes fell into the age-old trap of trying to protect a one goal lead in the third. Hooten tied the game at 2:07 went an innocent shot seemed to deflect off a Toronto defender to find its way past Russell. The Dukes could not seem to generate any sustained pressure for the remainder of the game. Another shot from distance by Geoff Hartnell eluded Russell while Martel was off, this proved to be the winner as the Shamrocks celebrated Christmas in Canada with a win 3-2. Coach Barrell: "Disappointing week, when are we going to learn we have to play our game against Detroit not play their style? The crowd was right to boo us, and it seemed to bring a little life into the team. We played our game after going down 4, then for some reason let the Motors dictate the again in third. Playing one period out of three is not going work in this league. You can tell that there is no love lost between us and Boston. That was nasty affair in which we managed to escape with the two points. Christmas Day, we gave the game away to the Shamrocks by going into a shell rather than keeping the pace up. I know quite a few players had family, relatives in for the holidays, many of them at the two games. I am sure they are all disappointed in their play in the two losses. Pollack played the Detroit game basically on one leg. I had no choice but to sit him out on the weekend. Hopefully he can go either Wednesday in Montreal or in Detroit Saturday. The good thing is we are still tied with Detroit though they two in hand. Hit the halfway point next week, this week proved we still have a lot of things to work on going forward." Finally some good news for the woeful St Louis Steamers. No, they did not win a game as the expansion Steamers are now 0-21 after losing 74-59 to Buffalo on Friday evening. The good news is that first overall draft pick Cyril Worley was back in the lineup for St Louis. The former St Blane star forward missed 17 games with a hernia and is still not quite at 100% but he did play 20 minutes Friday evening. Worley scored just 2 points but did have 6 rebounds in the game. He played just 3 games, including a 14-point effort against Philadelphia the game before he went down with his injury. The Brooklyn Red Caps may be starting to come around. The defending FBL champs and most dominating team in the old ABC had a shaky start to the campaign at 5-9 but since then they have reeled off 6 straight wins and are starting to climb back up to their familiar haunt near the top of the standings. It is important to note that their only win against a contending team was the first of that streak against Buffalo, when the Red Caps held Larry Yim to just 13 points. Three of the other five wins were over Hartford with Toronto and Syracuse being the other Brooklyn victims. Philadelphia still leads the East Division at 14-4 but only by percentage points over Washington. The Phantoms lost at home to Baltimore on Christmas Eve and have lost twice to the Barons in their last four games. Baltimore likely wishes every game could be against the Phantoms right now as the Barons are in a bit of a slump with just 3 wins in their last 8 outings. Washington missed a chance to take over first place after the Statesmen, who led nearly the entire game, fell 83-82 at home to Harford thanks to a pair of free throws from Lionel Rice in the final stages of their Christmas Eve meeting. The Phantoms and Statesmen are basically matching records at the top of the East Division with each going 8-2 in their last 10. The Phantoms are due some home games, going 6-1 at home, but 11 of 18 have been played away from Philadelphia. Looking at teams that were at least relevant who have fallen off, what about the Boston Centurions? They still score, sitting third in scoring at 90.6 per game, but their defense is atrocious. Boston allows 93.2 points per game, which is the worst in the league by a country mile. Detroit continues to set the pace in the West Division as the Mustangs had back to back wins in Baltimore and at hope to Chicago late last week. Ward Messer had 22 points and 27 rebounds in a 93-75 victory over the Barons Thursday night and 24 hours later it was Jack Kurtz taking charge with 31 points in the Mustangs 98-74 laugher over the Panthers. WEEKEND RESULTS INVOLVING RANKED TEAMS FRIDAY DECEMBER 23 at #4 Coastal California 58, Lubbock State 51 at #12 Chesapeake State 64, Central Maryland 39 #13 Wichita Baptist 54, at Amarillo Methodist 51 #14 Central Ohio 57, at Strub College 30 at #19 Pierpont 68, El Paso Methodist 64 at #22 Troy State (NY) 45, Plover College 30 at #23 Bulein 64, Rome State 56 SATURDAY DECEMBER 24 #2 Noble Jones College 50, at American Atlantic 37 at #5 Indiana A&M 47, Bliss College 26 #7 Whitney College 73, at Wisconsin Catholic 51 #25 Kansas Agricultural 59, at #8 Lane State 56 at #17 Western State 59, Berwick 54 #24 St. Blane 51, at Capital (MS) University 50 SUNDAY DECEMBER 25 at #3 Annapolis Maritime 56, Alexandria 38 at #12 Chesapeake State 58, Bethlehem College 42 at #13 Wichita Baptist 60, Pueblo State 47 #14 Central Ohio 67, at NW Pennsylvania 50 #18 Miami State 53, at Mile High State 45 #22 Troy State (NY) 70, at Rome State 54 #23 Bulein 53, at Custer College 51 UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS Dec 28- Union City, NJ - MW contender Tommy Campbell (22-3-1) vs Rip Rogers (20-3) Dec 29- Memphis, TN - Former HW challenger Roy Crawford (30-4) vs Cannon Cooper (28-4-1) Dec 30- Syracuse, NY- MW Davis Owens (20-0) vs Jim Ward (21-3) Dec 31- Brooklyn, NY - HW Scott "The Chef" Baker (20-4-3) vs Barry Scott (18-5) Feb 18- Keystone Arena, Philadelphia- World Heavyweight champ Hector Sawyer (62-3-1) defends his title against Englishman Ben Budgeford (21-1) Here is the full Classic Field SUNDAY JANUARY 1, 1950 Tempe College (8-1) vs St Ignatius (9-1) Desert Classic in El Paso, Tx. MONDAY JANUARY 2, 1950 Northern California (9-1) vs Wisconsin State (7-1-1) East-West Classic- Santa Ana, Ca. Oklahoma City State (10-0) vs Bayou State (8-2) Lone Star Classic - Austin, Tx. Maryland State (7-2) vs Central Kentucky (8-2-1) Sunshine Classic- Miami, Fl. Red River State (8-2) vs Carolina Poly (6-1-2) Cajun Classic- New Orleans, La. Baton Rogue State (8-2) vs Central Ohio (7-2) Bayside Classic - Tampa, Fl. Redwood (9-1) vs Lexington State (7-2) Pacific Coast Classic- San Diego, Ca. Travis College (9-1) vs Minnesota Tech (7-2) Oilman Classic- Houston, Tx. Cumberland (6-2-2) vs Iowa A&M (6-2-1) Ozark Classic- Fayetteville, Ar. Texas Panhandle (8-2) vs St. Matthew's College (3-6) Southwestern Classic - San Antonio, Tx. Coastal California (5-4) vs Kamehameha College Hawaii Football Classic - Honolulu, Hi. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 12/25/1949 A British military court sentenced former Field Marshal Erich Von Manstein to 18 years in prison for atrocities against Poles and Russians committed by German troops during the war. He was the last of Hitler's generals to be tried by the Allies. The president of the United Nations Assembly has proposed a temporary armistice in the production and use of atomic weapons. He stressed his plan is only an interim measure in hopes of halting an arms race between the United States and Russia for atomic supremacy. General MacArthur called for independent investigation of the fate of 376,000 missing Japanese war prisoners captured by the Russians after the Soviets walked out of the Allied Council for Japan meetings. This was followed by a renewed Russian charge that the United States was assisting the revival of Japanese fascism. Russia also claimed that the Japanese waged bacteriological warfare in China in 1940 with airborne fleas, and that the Japanese next step was to direct the germ assault against the Soviet Union. Official election returns in Bulgaria showed 99 percent of votes cast for the Communist-dominated Fatherland Front, which was the only option available on the ballots. Unknown plotters laid a huge dynamite bomb at the international headquarters of the United Auto Workers but it failed to go off and was removed by police. __________________ Cliff Markle HOB1 greatest pitcher 360-160, 9 Welch Awards, 11 WS titles