FEBRUARY 11, 1952
HALL OF FAME BALLOT REVEALED
The ballot candidates eligible for induction into FABL's Hall of Fame in Boone County,IL., has been announced and the list includes three players appearing for the first time. The newcomers are Hank Barnett, George Dawson and Bob Martin and the full list is quite short with only four holdovers from last year.
Of the newcomers, Bob Martin is given the best chance of induction. The third baseman played his entire 22 year FABL career with the Chicago Chiefs and was a member of three World Championship Series winning teams. A three-time all-star, the Cincinnati native led the Federal Association in hits four times on his way to accumulating 3,314 of them: a total that places his ninth all-time in that category. His only major individual award came in 1932 when his .351 batting average paced the Federal Association. His son Bill spent some time with the Chiefs in 1949, Bob's final season, and together they joined a very exclusive list of fathers and sons to play in the same big league game.
Like Martin, Hank Barnett was best known as a third baseman and he was Martin's teammate for several seasons in Chicago including on the World Championship Series winning 1938 Chiefs club. Barnett, who spent some time at second base as well, played for four different FABL clubs in Montreal, both Chicago teams and the Brooklyn Kings while suiting up for 2,536 games. He won a Whitney Award during the war, claiming top player in the Federal Association in 1942 with the Chiefs but was dealt to the Cougars that fall. A seven-time all-star game selection, the native of Chelsea, MA., finished with 2,671 career hits including 309 homeruns. He presently sits 8th all-time in homers and 10th in rbi's with 1,482.
The final newcomer to the Hall of Fame ballot is smooth fielding shortstop George Dawson. A second round selection of Cleveland in the 1929 draft, the Hammond, IN., native made his big league debut with the Foresters four years later. He helped the Foresters win a pair of pennants and the 1935 World Championship Series and appeared in three all-star games. That number would have likely been much higher had Dawson spent his prime in the Federal Association as the Continental Association was loaded with high quality shortstops, most notably Harry Barrell, during Dawson's tenure in Cleveland. With the Foresters on a downturn he was dispatched to Detroit as a 30-year-old in 1941 and later had stops in Washington and with the Chicago Cougars. He did hit .288 and played 146 games for the Eagles surprise pennant winning squad of 1946 but Dawson was a shadow of his former self once he left Cleveland. In all, Dawson played 1,772 big league games and recorded 1,980 hits but was best known, especially early in his career, for his tremendous defensive ability.
The holdovers from last year's ballot are outfielder Moxie Pidgeon, pitcher Charlie Stedman, first baseman Dick Walker and pitcher Ed Wood.
- Camaguey defeated Matanzas 7-6 to win the Cuban Winter League title. It marked the first championship for the Coyotes in the six years the winter league has existed. They were supplied players by the Kansas City Kings and St Louis Pioneers.
- The Kings were also busy last week signing three players to contract extensions led by newly acquired first baseman Bill Barnett, who will make $75,000. Outfielder Fred Miller and pitcher Walt Staton also inked extensions last week.
BARRELL TASKED WITH REVIVING CHICAGO POLY PROGRAM
It did not take Dan Barrell long to find new employment. Ousted just a few weeks ago as President of FABL due to what many are calling a personal vendetta on the part of Toronto Wolves magnate Bernie Millard, Barrell has returned to the school he once starred for in three sports, being named the new Athletic Director of Chicago Poly.
Barrell comes with a wealth of experience having contributed to the growth and expansion of OSA, sports foremost scouting service, prior to accepting the FABL job as Sam Belton's successor as President two years ago. Before that Barrell was a football and track star at Chicago Poly and competed in the decathlon in the 1924 Paris Olympics. A devastating leg injury while with the Panthers ended Barrell's hopes for a pro grid career but through sheer determination he fashioned a serviceable professional baseball living and was even selected to play in an all-star game as well as joining three of his brothers as key players on the Brooklyn Kings 1937 World Championship Series winning club.
Returning Chicago Poly to sporting prominence may well be Barrell's most difficult task yet. The Panthers program was once among the nation's elite. In the early days of collegiate athletics Chicago Poly had a number of football players selected as All-Americans, won the AIAA basketball national championship in 1917 and again in 1926 and made several appearances in the Collegiate baseball world championship series.
In the 1930s the program fell on hard times, bad enough to the point where they were forced to drop out of the Great Lakes Alliance and play as an independent because they simply were not strong enough to compete at an elite level. The have not been at the division one level in football since before the war. The Chicago Poly basketball team last qualified for the AIAA tournament in 1940, won just 6 games all of last season and are just 7-16 playing as a low level independent this year. On the diamond the program has not finished in the top twenty since the AIAA revamped the sport in 1933 and only a handful of Chicago Poly players have been drafted by FABL clubs since then and none have ever made it to the major leagues.
Barrell's appointment is expected to bring a renewed commitment to sports at the historic institution with planning said to be already underway to compete at the highest level - Division One- in football next season.
NAHC RESULTS FROM LAST WEEK
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5 Chicago 2 at 2 Boston : Marty Mahoney's 16th goal of the season, midway through the third period, allowed the Chicago Packers to salvage a point at Denny Arena with a 2-2 draw against Boston. Max Ducharme staked the visitors to an early lead before Alex Gagnon, with his first of the season, and Tommy Hart replied for the Bees.
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7
New York 7 at 2 Chicago : Geoff Hartnell took charge in a showdown between the top two teams in the NAHC this season. The New York Shamrocks winger scored a natural hat trick -three straight goals- in a six minute span of the opening period as the Greenshirts jumped out to a 5-0 first period lead and never looked back on their way to a 7-2 triumph.
Montreal 3 at 2 Detroit : Arlen Dohery had two assists as Montreal beat Detroit 3-2 to hand the Motors their fourth loss in five games.
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9
New York 2 at 5 Boston : The Bees continued their hot play of late, distancing themselves further from fourth place Toronto with a 5-2 win on home ice over New York. Defenseman Conn Cundiff scored once and had two helpers for the Bees.
Montreal 4 at 3 Toronto :Montreal moved to within three points of Detroit for fifth place after edging Toronto 4-3. Adam Sandford scored twice for the Vals who won for the second straight game. The Dukes are winless in February and have won just once since January 18.
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 10
Detroit 1 at 3 Boston : Detroit's fading playoff hopes were dealt another blow as Mark Dyck scored twice to lead the Boston Bees to a 3-1 victory. Boston is now securely in third place, five points ahead of Toronto and 10 up on the fifth place Motors.
Montreal 1 at 4 Chicago :Chicago remains two points ahead of the Shamrocks atop the NAHC standings after both of those clubs won by 4-1 scores. The Packers rode Norm Hanson's 32-save effort along with a pair of Max Lavigne goals to victory.
Toronto 1 at 4 New York : Jocko Gregg scored once and added an assist to lead New York past Toronto 4-1 but the big story was Shamrocks goaltender Etienne Tremblay. The 29-year-old, who has spent more time than he would like on the bench as Alex Sorrell's backup, was stellar on this night with 37 saves to steal a game that Toronto clearly outplayed his New York mates.
UPCOMING GAMES
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 13
Boston at New York
Detroit at Toronto
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14
Detroit at Chicago
Toronto at Montreal
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16
New York at Montreal
Chicago at Toronto
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 17
Boston at Chicago
Montreal at New York
DUKES REMAIN WINLESS IN FEBRUARY
After an unsatisfactory January, Toronto's hockey team continues to disappoint their followers in the new month. The Dukes have a record of 0-3-1 since January ended and now sit in the final playoff spot trialing Boston by 5 points. Looking behind them the Motors are only 5 points behind Toronto. Coach Barrell's dream of have home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs seems to be out the window. This group will have to up their game now just to make the postseason.
The week began with the Dukes hosting their Canadian rivals, basement dwelling Montreal in front a win hungry crowd of 14,550. In a penalty filled game Montreal opened the scoring when Adam Sandford beat Scott Renes knocking home a rebound at 5:03. Doug Zimmerman, a pleasant surprise on offense this season, tied the game with his 18th less than 90 seconds later as the teams retreated to the dressing rooms tied after 20 minutes of play. Montreal came out of the break flying seeking to bury the Dukes' Sandford notched his second of the night only 18 seconds after the puck drop to start the period. Isaac Finnson and Ray Sclisizzi scored in quick succession to make it 4-1 before the second period was seven minutes old. Montreal then settled into a game in which the main objective was to support Tom Brockers in their goal. The Vals tightly checked the Dukes, if a Toronto shooter got free, goaltender Brockers was there to make the save until, with less than 5 minutes left in the game, Ken Jamieson gave the crowd some hope with a goal. Toronto continue to press down by 2, and they were able to close the gap to 1 with 36 seconds left on Les Carlson's goal with Renes off for an extra attacker but Montreal hung on for a 4-3 win.
The next night in Bigsby Gardens Toronto seemed to find their legs after a shaky first period. New York controlled the opening frame outshooting their opponent 10-4 to take a 1-0 lead into intermission on a goal by Jocko Gregg on a snap shot that beat Broadway to the top corner. Barrell is said have come unglued between periods in an attempt to inspire his charges. The rant did not seem to work as Orval Cabell put the Shamrocks up by 2 less than 3 minutes into the second. From that point on Toronto controlled the possession of the puck outshooting New York 34-15 over the final two periods. Shots are one thing, goals are another. Etienne Tremblay, as has been the case all year long, robbed the Dukes time and again with spectacular saves. Of those 34 shots only one by Quinton Pollack found its way behind Tremblay. With limited chances the Shamrocks made the most of what they had in putting two more behind Broadway to make the final 4-1. Barrell was visibly upset leaving the bench as the Shamrocks congratulated their netminder after the final siren.
Coach Barrell- "I have no more excuses for this team. We have three of the top four point getters in the league but are in fourth place with 3 more losses than wins. We have given up the second most goals against in the league although overall I cannot fault either keeper. Trying to outscore your defensive misgivings will not work this season in the NAHC the other 5 teams are far too sound defensively. We have to improve in all three areas of the game defensively, offensively, special teams especially marking your man. Far too many times we give up goals on a rebound when someone loses their check. We give the players a system they have follow the system. Too many guys are improvising to try to get to the attack before we have clear puck possession, that has to stop. We are too talent a team to play this way, we have a few guys almost ready to return to lineup that may help. It now is in the player's laps they have to preform on the ice. I will be putting my best performers on the ice on a game by game basis. An off night will find you spending more time on the bench."
- The All-Star Game was a close affair, with the Western Division All-Stars coming all the way back from a 21-point deficit early in the third quarter, furiously coming back to defeat the Eastern All-Stars, 105-102. Toronto's Jumbo Hinman led all scorers with 21 points, while Rochester's Billy Bob McCright came off the bench to score 18 points in 26 minutes and pulled down 19 rebounds for the winners. Washington's Ivan Sisco and Danny Hendon of the Phantoms paced the East with 16 points, while Hendon added 13 boards. The East led early with their starters providing a nine-point lead after one quarter and a ten-point lead at the half, 54-44. When the subs entered the game, the West took over, outscoring the East in a run-and-gun third-quarter where the West shaved off most of the lead in a 35-28 quarter. Trailing by three, the West finished the big comeback and made the shots down the stretch to walk away with the three-point victory.
- Detroit is back in front in the Western Division, as the Mustangs are currently riding a three-game winning streak. Detroit broke a streak of 11 games where the Mustangs alternated wins and losses, exiting the spin cycle with wins over Chicago and Cleveland at home. Jack Kurtz led the way with 30 points in the 87-77 win over the Panthers, while Ward Messer not only hauled in 24 rebounds, but he kept Luther Gordon to 5-for-16 shooting and 18 points. Detroit suffocated Cleveland, 91-61, keeping Cleveland to 26.6% shooting and only yielding one player in double figures, which was David Bobo, who came off the bench with 14 points in 20 minutes after the game was largely decided. Ward Messer has averaged 18.4 points in the five games since his return from an ankle injury with Detroit going 4-1 in those games.
- Cleveland's Ziggy Rickard, the league's leading scorer at 26.6 points per game, will miss the next 4-5 week with a stress fracture in his foot. The injury came during an impressive 97-74 win against slumping Rochester and if the Crushers' first game is any indication, which was the 91-61 loss to Detroit, it will be a long month until he returns. Cleveland currently sits 4-1/2 games behind Detroit in the West and the Crushers are firmly in the third and final playoff spot in the West, but the Toronto Falcons and Chicago Panthers have a window of hope. The Falcons are seven games behind Cleveland and Chicago is 7-1/2 games in arrears of third place.
TOUGH WEEKEND FOR GREAT LAKES ALLIANCE POWERS
The tough competition from top to bottom in the Great Lakes Alliance lends itself well to upsets and last weekend provided a pair of them as both Whitney College and Western Iowa, two of the top three teams in the country, each went down to defeat at the hands of section rivals.
The Engineers, preseason number one and the top team in the nation entering play last week, were humiliated on the road in Terre Haute Thursday evening as Indiana A&M crushed the Engineers by 30 points. Sophomore Sherman Burkhalter had 17 as the Reapers built a 41-20 lead at the break and cruised to a 69-39 triumph. It was just the second loss all season and the first in section play for a Whitney College team stacked with senior talent. The loss also dipped the Engineers to second in the rankings, behind defending National Champion Coastal California.
After that loss the Engineers took out their frustrations on Minnesota Tech Saturday afternoon as Solly Morris, the potential first overall selection in the Federal Basketball League draft this summer, had 30 points in a 64-22 flooding of the Lakers. Indiana A&M won on the road at St. Magnus Saturday and the Reapers are tied with the Engineers for the section lead at 5-1. The other GLA upset on Saturday say Western Iowa slip up for the second time in six section contests. Larry Grice had 13 points off the bench to propel St. Ignatius to a 49-47 win over the Canaries, who are now ranked third in the latest AIAA poll. Coastal California, with road wins over Lane State and Idaho A&M over the weekend, improves to 20-1 on the season and the Dolphins take over the number one spot in the rankings.
WEEKLY RESULTS FOR RANKED TEAMS
MONDAY FEBRUARY 4
at #4 Liberty College 65, Grant (IN) 48
at #11 Annapolis Maritime 56, Brandywine 49
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5
at #17 Perry State College 70, Wisconsin Catholic 61
at #21 Frankford State 70, Conwell College 67
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 6
#10 Noble Jones College 58, at Bluegrass State 51
#18 Opelika State 46, at Georgia Baptist 42
at #19 Great Plains State 53, North Central (NE) 43
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7
at #7 Indiana A&M 69, #2 Whitney College 39
#3 Western Iowa 69, at Minnesota Tech 42
at #4 Liberty College 72, Topeka State 49
#6 Carolina Poly 55, at Petersburg 36
#15 Detroit City College 67, at #13 Central Ohio 45
#16 North Carolina Tech 50, at Bulein 49
at #21 Frankford State 59, Harrisburg State 45
at #22 St. Ignatius 71, #25 Lincoln 62
at #23 Lexington State 62, #20 Mobile Maritime 54
#24 Brooklyn Catholic 59, at Bronx Tech 41
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 8
#1 Coastal California 46, at #12 Lane State 43
at #8 CC Los Angeles 53, Portland Tech 33
Northern California 67, at #9 Redwood 61
Strub College 64, at #11 Annapolis Maritime 54
at #14 Lubbock State 57, Travis College 46
at #19 Great Plains State 49, Eastern Oklahoma 35
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9
at #2 Whitney College 64, Minnesota Tech 22
at #22 St. Ignatius 49, #3 Western Iowa 47
at #4 Liberty College 50, College of Cairo 47
at #6 Carolina Poly 58, Maryland State 51
#7 Indiana A&M 59, at St. Magnus 46
at #10 Noble Jones College 72, Georgia Baptist 52
at #13 Central Ohio 73, #25 Lincoln 65
at #14 Lubbock State 64, Darnell State 51
Wisconsin State 58, at #15 Detroit City College 55
#16 North Carolina Tech 59, at Coastal State 38
at Cumberland 66, #18 Opelika State 47
at #20 Mobile Maritime 57, Richmond State 48
at #23 Lexington State 56, Huntington State 47
#24 Brooklyn Catholic 51, at Jersey City Tech 39
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 10
#1 Coastal California 50, at Idaho A&M 38
#5 Rainier College 48, at #12 Lane State 34
at #8 CC Los Angeles 58, #9 Redwood 48
at #19 Great Plains State 48, Needham 41
- Brad Harris, who probably feels wronged that he was not included in the group of four fighters selected to challenge for the vacant heavyweight title, took out his frustrations on Steve Clark in Minneapolis Saturday evening. The 24-year-old Akron, OH., native, who had a title shot against Hector Sawyer close to a year and a half ago, knocked out Clark- a Canadian who clearly was overmatched on this night- in the 7th round of their fight.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- February 16- National Auditorium, Washington DC- welterweight contender Ben Burns (21-1) meets Danny Julian (31-4-2)
- February 22- Lakeside Auditorium Chicago: World Welterweight champion Danny Rutledge (25-1-1) defends his title against Dale Roy (40-9-1)
- February 28- Bigsby Gardens, New York: heavyweight contenders Evan Rivers (19-3-3) and John Jones (20-3-1) face each other.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 2/10/1952
- King George VI died at age 56, ending a 15-year reign. His 25 year old daughter Elizabeth immediately became England's sixth Queen.
- President Truman changed his mind and will participate in the New Hampshire primary.
- A Senate subcommittee report charges that Communist propaganda is flooding this country either in violation of the law or because of a "loophole" agreement by the Justice Department allowing circulation of such material without labeling.
- The United States announced it is reinforcing its air strength in Korea but did not provide any specifics.
- The sixth General Assembly of the United Nations adjourned after a final overwhelming vote approving the Western plan to postpone discussion of Korean political issues until an armistice is signed.
- The US is considering closing all American embassies in Russian Satellite countries.
- The head of the United States Steel Corp. told a wage panel that his company could meet wage demands and hold prices, but if it did so it would result in less income for the company and as a result a 60 percent reduction in income tax paid to the Government.
- The World Bank has announced the renewal of negotiations with Iran in an effort to revive oil operations.