[Tiger Fan]

1959 IN FIGMENT SPORTS
DECADE BELONGED TO DYNAMOS
DETROIT BASEBALL TEAM AND ICE STAR QUINTON POLLACK NAMED BEST OF FIFTIES

In the 1940s the Chicago Wildcats, with 4 AFA titles and 7 appearances in the title game were named the Team of the Decade by TWIFS while Bobby Barrell won the Athlete of the Decade. As we close out the 1950's This Week in Figment Sports picks its next Team and Athlete of the Decade.

Picking the team of the decade this time around is a no-brainer. Some in Toronto, where the hockey Dukes won three Challenge Cups and reached the finals on two other occasions in the 1950's might take exception, just as a few will trumpet the cause for the Washington Statesmen and their four Federal Basketball League titles to deserve consideration. Same for New York Stars football supporters after their club made the playoffs six times and won a pair of American Football Association titles or fans of Carolina Poly basketball after the Cardinals won three AIAA cage crowns in the past decade might argue but the clear team of the 1950s was FABL's Detroit Dynamos. The Dynamos were practically unstoppable for much of the decade, winning six Federal Association pennants and 4 World Championship Series in a seven year span. This after losing a one-game playoff to the St Louis Pioneers the season before their winning ways began. The Dynamos run can only really be compared to the turn of the century Boston Minutemen, who won five consecutive Federal Association flags beginning in 1902.

The race for Athlete of the Decade was much tighter and almost a toss-up between Toronto Dukes captain Quinton Pollack and Cleveland Foresters ace pitcher Adrian Czerwinski. In the end, TWIFS went with Pollack, who led the Dukes to three Challenge Cups in the 1950s while winning 6 McDaniels Trophy's as MVP, four Yeadon Trophy's as Most Gentlemanly Player, led the league in scoring five times and made the first or second all-star team 9 of the 10 years. In the decade Pollack recorded the three highest single season point totals ever seen including a record 99 in 1952-53, one of three times he topped the 90 point mark, something no other player has ever accomplished. He also tied the goal scoring record with 47 in 52-53 and came within one of it four years later and owns the assist record for a season as well as the second and third highest totals for helpers ever recorded.

Czerwinski was very good as well. The man known as The Mad Professor won four Allen Awards in the decade (1950,51,52 & 59), had six 20-win seasons, went 9-1 in WCS action during the decade and helped the Foresters win 5 pennants and 3 WCS titles in the 1950s.

Others who briefly received consideration included basketball star Luther Gordon who started the decade with back to back Barrette Awards as college basketball player of the year and then won 4 MVP awards, 6 scoring titles, 1 playoff MVP and 1 Federal Basketball League title with the Chicago Panthers. Like Pollack in hockey, Gordon was a first or second team All-League selection 9 times in the past 10 years. The only viable candidate from the team of the decade is likely pitcher Jim Norris who won 3 Federal Association Allen Awards, went 127-71 since his debut in 1952 and was a part of all 6 Detroit pennant winners and 4 WCS teams although his post season record paled in comparison to Czerwinski.

.406 FOR WILLIAMS AND A RISING DYNASTY IN BOSTON

The big story in 1959 was the dramatic chase for a .400 season by Kansas City Kings outfielder Hank Williams. Just 26-years-old, the 1951 first round pick gave us a sneak peak of what was to come when he hit .387 in 1958 to win his first Continental Association batting crown and was also rewarded with the Whitney Award as top player in the loop. Williams went a step further in 1959, claiming his second consecutive batting crown and Whitney Award but also became the first player in 22 years to finish the season with a batting average above .400.

The Liberal, KS., native ended up hitting .406 but only after a dramatic final two weeks of the season. His Kansas City Kings lost seven of their final ten games and had to settle for second place behind the Cleveland Foresters but it was through no fault of their star outfielder. Williams' batting average had been hovering just over .400 for most of the season but it dipped to .398 on September 14 and perhaps the pressure of trying to become the first .400 hitter since Washington's Mel Carrol in 1937 was taking its toll. However, Williams went 3-for-4 in a win over Cleveland on the 15th to get back to .400 and finished 21-for-41 (.512) down the stretch to ensure he would reach the magic number.

The Kings came up short in their bid for a return to the pennant as it was once against the Foresters turn to represent the Continental Association. Either Cleveland or Kansas City has won the last 7 CA titles. It was the Federal Association that finally had new blood with it looking very much like the Detroit Dynamos dynasty -one that saw them win six pennants and four WCS titles in the past seven years- was finally over. The Boston Minutemen, who had last hoisted the Fed flag way back in 1943, finished on top of the Fed this season and look like a team that could challenge for multiple titles. They have two terrific young pitchers in Dick Wilson and Don Griffin and a pair of elite hitters in Rick Masters and Jack Denis who helped the Minutemen end an eighteen year WCS drought by dispatching Cleveland quite easily in five games.

Boston was not the only team to return to glory this year. The grid Chicago Wildcats were the TWIFS Team of the Decade in the 1940s when they won four American Football Association titles and participated in seven championship games but the Wildcats had their struggles this decade. They finally snapped a ten year title drought by claiming their record 8th AFA crown following a narrow victory over the New York Stars in the December championship game.

On the ice, it took a year longer than expected but the Toronto Dukes benefitted from the tandem of Quinton Pollack and Tommy Burns to lead the offense as Toronto won its record 11th Challenge Cup. Pollack and Burns -the two highest scorers in NAHC history- did not quite live up to past glory but both were sound. The story in Toronto instead focused on a 27-year-old rookie goaltender by the name of Mike Connelly who seemed to come out of nowhere to lead the Dukes to a perfect 8-0 playoff record. The hardwood also saw a familiar champion as the Washington Statesmen became the first team to win four Federal Basketball League titles.

The college ranks gave us a mix of new and old. Georgia Baptist won its first national collegiate football title since 1919 while on the diamond it was Chicago Poly claiming its first Collegiate World Series crown in school history. College basketball presented us with a much more familiar champion as the Carolina Poly Cardinals became the first school to win the AIAA tournament six teams. For the Cardinals it was their third title in the past five years.

Here are the champions and award winners from each of the major team sports.

A new year always brings excitement, but with the 50s on the close and the Detroit Dynamos moving away from three pieces of their core, it seemed like almost every team in the Fed felt they could finish the decade off with a pennant. Only the New York Gothams interrupted Detroit's six pennant run, but the Boston Minutemen, St Louis Pioneers and Chicago Chiefs had their eyes set on taking the crown. Very little happened prior to Opening Day, so when the preseason predictions rolled in OSA still had the Dynamos as the expected winner, though the Chiefs, Minutemen and Gothams were all predicted to finish with more then 85 wins. In the Conti, two of the three teams that profited from the Detroit sell-off were predicted one and two, but with a 99-win Cleveland Foresters team way ahead of the Kansas City Kings (and Cincinnati Cannons), which would set up a repeat of the 1953 and 1957 World Championship Series, the only two losses in the impressive run by Detroit.

Cleveland and Kansas City got off to excellent starts, both sitting atop the CA at 13-5, but no team got off to a better start then the New York Gothams. Winning 14 of their 16 contests in the opening month, everything was going right in the Big Apple, and their talented outfield was at the center of everything. Former Whitney winner Earl Howe hit an outstanding .391/.452/.719 (199 OPS+) with 6 homers, 18 RBIs, and 20 runs. Rex Pilcher (.302, 5, 17), Bill Barrett (.308, 2, 11), and Johnny Taylor (.410, 2, 8) all hit well, with Taylor playing some first base to keep his bat in the lineup. Aside from Ed Bowman (2-1, 4.65, 17), who is sure to pick things up quickly, their rotation did an excellent job keeping runs off the board. Eddie Martin (1-0, 2.45, 15), Jorge Arellano (3-1, 2.08, 23), and Lou Walker (3-0, 2.70, 13) were superb, and the 1956 Champions were ready to make a run at another crown.

The Gothams good fortune didn't last for long, as after dropping the second half a double header to the defending champs they stumbled into a bigger double header after dropping three of their next four. A third of four Sunday double headers, New York was in Boston, who managed to tie the struggling Gothams. They're on a good run, 6-3 on the homestand, and at 22-12 they were even with the 20-10 visitors. It was a good matchup for the guests, as the red-hot Dick Wilson was ready to take on the rusty Ed Bowman. It didn't take long for the bats in the Minutemen lineup to provide their young pitcher a bunch of runs. They played two in the first, one in the second, and two more in the third, allowing the converted reliever to take a 5-1 lead in the third. Wilson is a new-aged type pitcher, not always taking his team deep into games, but when you carve through a talented lineup a good offense can make it easier to win games. Wilson rewarded his team with 3 hits, a run, 2 walks, and a strikeout in 6 innings, and they gave him 8 runs in return.

In a tight game, Wilson could have pushed for a seventh inning, but with the lead it was the perfect time to pass the baton to mop up reliever. Today that meant John Grimes, not the kind of guy you'd want in a close game two, but he was able to scatter a pair of hits with two strikeouts in three scoreless innings. The win gave Boston the lead in the Fed, and they had the good fortune of missing another one of the Gothams top arms. Again, the Minutemen lineup got on the board quickly, with doubles from Jack Denis (3-5, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B) and Marshall Thomas (1-2, R, 2 RBI, 2 BB) making it 3-0 early. The runs kept coming, starting with Ed Wise's two-run homer in the third, and two more runs in the 5th and 6th. The sixth was more fun, where Leon Wallace (4-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B) and Joe Kleman (1-5, R, RBI) went back-to-back of the newly inserted Ray Paulson. When Minutemen starter Foster Sherman (7 IP, 9 H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K) left the game in the 7th, he had a seemingly insurmountable 9-1 lead, and when the crowd roared you could see the dejection in everyone in the Gotham's dugout. The Gothams gave little resistance in the final two frames, setting up the potential for a sweep the following night.

With the lights out at Minutemen Stadium, Don Griffin got Sam Ivey, allowing the Gothams to miss Martin, Arellano, and Walker. Upset after getting beat bad the day before, Ed Holmes started the game with a triple, and he quickly scored on a Joe DeMott single. But with the crowd at his back, Doc Griffin settled down, striking out Rex Pilcher on a nasty 3-2 pitch before blowing past Hank Estill and Earl Howe to stop the Gotham rally right in it's tracks. Leaving the mound fired up, his lineup tied the game right back up in the first, using the opening frame in all three games to get off to a quick start. The pitcher's traded zeros in the second and third, but Boston took the 2-1 lead in the fourth.

Everything fell apart in the fifth, when Marshall Thomas came to bat with two outs and George Rutter on second with Rick Masters at first. Rutter doubled with one out and Masters was intentionally walked, and Ivey got the lefty Thomas into a 1-2 count. The next pitch is where the inning should have ended, but the outstanding defensive shortstop Harry Clay threw the ball into the stands, extending the inning and lead. Compounding the issues, he boots the next one to him, allowing a second run to score in the inning. Rattled, Pat Todd was able to single home a run, and third year manager Bert Carlton made the move to the pen. It took just one pitch to end the inning, but the damage was done and New York was again facing a large deficit.

Griffin put another zero on in the sixth, and RBI singles from Rick Masters and Jack Denis gave the Minutemen a pair of insurance runs. Up 7-1, John Grimes again got the call, but he did not provide the same effective relief. Doubles to Joe DeMott and Hank Estill made it 7-2, with Estill's coming with two outs. Intentionally or not, he threw four of five balls to put the dangerous Earl Howe on at first, bringing up the less dangerous Johnny Taylor. He got a head 2-1 and singled, cutting Boston's lead to three and getting into scoring position on the throw. Lew Mercer singled to make it 7-5, prompting Bob Hollister's entrance into the game. He fell behind pinch hitter Art Becker, and got lucky when a hard grounder was speared by Ed Wise at short, going to second for the easy out to stop the scoring. Boston put some runners on in the 8th and 9th, but the 24-year-old Hollister was perfect, stringing together back-to-back 1-2-3 innings, capping off a dominant home sweep. Opening up a three game lead, Boston was starting to look unstoppable, and they won 11 of their next 13 games to finish May 21-9 for the month and 36-14 on the season.

With a 7.5 game lead, the Fed looked to be already settled, but baseball fans were treated to a tight race in the Conti. Kansas City (32-17), Cleveland (31-18, 1 GB), and Montreal (30-21, 3 GB) were bunched together at the top, and all played excellent baseball in the season's first full month. Montreal's play stood out, winning 22 of 32. Star outfielder Harry Swain took home Player of the Month, slashing .423/.517/.642 (201 OPS+) with 10 doubles, 5 homers, 23 walks, 23 RBIs, and 28 runs. An impressive all-around performance, he got a lot of help from Ralph Hanson (.368, 23, 8) and Garland Phelps (.298, 4, 22). They swept the awards, as Phil Murry was a perfect 8-0 in his 8 starts. He pitched to a stellar 2.07 ERA (206 ERA+) and 0.99 WHIP with 15 walks and 39 strikeouts. That's about as good as a pitcher can do, and he really fueled this impressive run. This got this within three games, and with the first half of June at home they could really cement themselves in the Continental pennant race.

Kansas City and Cleveland are directly in Montreal's way, and those two teams were expected to duke it out. Reigning Whitney winner Hank Williams (.379, 7, 29), Ken Newman (.327, 4, 24, 2), and Charlie Rogers (.325, 1, 14, 2) led the offense as usual, but the impressive part was the seven homers from Bryan Jeffress (.291, 7, 14). When everyone is producing, they're tough to beat, and aside from big offseason acquisition Jack Miller (3-1, 5.52, 24), their starters were delivering. Tony Britten (3-2, 3.41, 15), Eddie Webb (4-1, 3.52, 18), and Beau McClellan (3-2, 3.53, 37) all made quality starts in May. Cleveland was actually without Rufus Barrell, who tore his triceps three starts into his season. Frank Young (3-0, 3.32, 19) looked to fill the void with an undefeated month, but Jake Pearson (2-4, 3.33, 32) and Adrian Czerwinski (3-4, 3.76, 40) didn't have the same luck record wise. They were scoring runs when needed, and did a good job winning games early on.

KC and Cleveland got hot to start the month, and despite having Cleveland take three of four in Montreal, the Saints were doing their best to keep up. Those three teams kept moving between the top three spots as the month went on, with the rest of the Conti more then ten games back come July. Boston had a nice 6.5 game lead, but the Chiefs cut that to 3.5 at the break after taking three of four from the Minutemen in Boston. Capped off by Joe Cipolla's (9 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 7 K) complete game win to split the double header, the Rod Shearer led team was right on the tail of the slugging duo of Jack Denis and Rick Masters, while in the Conti the Kings, Foresters, and Saints were all within three of the Continental lead.

ALL-STAR GAME

The 27th annual FABL all-star game was held in Montreal's new ballpark, dubbed Stade Montreal, on July 7. The Continental Association entered the contest riding a 4-game winning streak and had led the series 15-11 coming into the game. The Continental stars struck first with back-to-back doubles by Hank Williams of Kansas City and Cincinnati outfielder Dallas Berry off of Federal Association starting pitcher Don Griffin to take a 1-0 lead.

It stayed that way until the fourth when a CA error put runners on first and second for Detroit infielder Dick Tucker. Tucker delivered an rbi single off of the Kings Gordon McDonald to tie the game. An inning later the Federal Association would take a 2-1 lead as Joe Reed of Detroit tripled and scored on a ground out by Boston's Jack Denis but the Continental stars quickly tied it after Ken Newman was hit by a Bill Howard pitch and scored on a double off the bat of Cleveland's Tom Carr.

Jerry Smith of the St Louis Pioneers would deliver the game winning rbi in the form of a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the sixth and Lloyd Coulter of the Philadelphia Keystones would round out the scoring with a solo blast of his own an inning later to make the final 4-2 for the Federal Association.

JULY DEALS HELP BOSTON TAKE CHARGE IN FED

Harry Barrell's club may have saw their comfortable slip away, dropping five of their last six before the break, but the Boston Minutemen came back rested and refreshed. Boston took three of four from the Eagles in Washington, before coming home to sweep the Pittsburgh Miners and take two of three from the Philadelphia Keystones. This stretched the lead back out to six and a half, but again the Minutemen couldn't pull away. They lost each of their next three series, watching their lead shrink to just three games in no time. In an attempt to create some separation, they made a huge move with the seventh place Miners. Upgrading their outfield defense, the Minutemen acquired soon-to-be 27-year-old outfielder Bill Tutwiler, who was in his fourth season in the Pittsburgh outfield. An All-Star in 1957, Tutwiler hit an excellent .338/.445/.519 (146 OPS+) with 30 doubles, 6 triples, 7 homers, 58 RBIs, 65 runs, and 71 walks.

An All-Star snub, he continued to be one of the top hitters in the Fed, owning a .324/.448/.508 (157 OPS+) career batting line in 407 FABL games. Yet to play more then the 116 games he played in as a rookie, injuries cost him significant time in the last two seasons, but the former 4th ranked prospect has been able to stay in the lineup all year. A right fielder in Pittsburgh, he'll move into center for Boston as they don't really have a good defender out there. They can rotate between four quality corner bats for left, first, and right, keeping everyone rested in a long pennant race.

Pittsburgh was able to pluck away a pair of top-100 prospects in the deal, adding lefty Leo Sherman (42th) and Harry Simpson (79th) in what could be a really good return for a talented young outfielder. Sherman, who Boston took 9th in 1958, could be close to the Miners rotation, as he's 5-5 with a 4.18 ERA (82 ERA+) and 2.76 FIP (80 FIP-) in 15 starts with Boston's AA affiliate. He struck out 88 in 90.1 innings, flashing excellent stuff. His sinker/curve mix is lethal, as he can get ground balls and swing and misses with a pair of outstanding pitches. As a sidearmer, he may have some issues with righties, but by sprinkling a fastball, change, and slider in he can keep hitters on their toes. To start in the majors he'll need one of the secondary offerings to compliment the current mix. His groundball tendencies will keep him in the park, and a solid defense can erase any guys that get on. Projected to be a middle rotation arm, the only roadblock in his way is control, as he still walks too many guys. He can succeed without it, but if he can locate his secondary offerings better he could be a huge addition to the Miners staffs of the 60s.

Simpson, who will be 20 on the last day of August, was taken 12th in the draft the year before Sherman, but a high schooler he's still years away from playing on the big league team. An intimidating 6'7" slugger, the power potential is immense, and the lefty slashed a nice .291./.377/.460 (111 OPS+) with 20 doubles, 8 triples, 7 homers, 45 RBIs, 48 walks, and 56 runs in 88 games with the Minutemen's Class B affiliate. Right now what prevents Simpson from being a top slugger is that he hits the ball on the ground too much. With his size, he should be able to hit the ball a mile, but instead he has a tendency to swing on top of pitches. The problem is, he has a really nice swing, and with his speed enough of his grounders can find holes. When he gets a hold of balls, however, he can hit them high in the air, but there are still pitches he should punish that he's letting end up with unproductive outs.

Among the other three prospects, 22-year-old outfielder Chuck Draper is really just a throw-in, but the Miners added a pair of intriguing young pitchers in Eddie Scarborough (#126) and Tink Hogan (#170). Hogan is a level higher and a year older and has had a crazy journey since being a 7th Round selection of the Cougars back in 1855. Released by them and four other teams, Hogan stuck with Pittsburgh and pitched well in the '57 and '58 season. Early this year, he was sent to Boston for minor league reliever George Polk and will now return to Pittsburgh after becoming an exciting pitching prospect. Armed with an outstanding change up, he strikes out a ton of hitters, but command may always be an issue. With six pitches and hard stuff that can hit 95, he's able to overwhelm lesser hitters, and as a plus he's comfortable playing all three outfield spots. He's still a project pitcher, but with his raw stuff he has the potential to a big league rotation, whether that be at the bottom or closer to the top.

Scarborough is a more traditional pitching prospect, taken in the 1st the season before Harry Simpson, but he really struggled (5-8, 5.03, 88) in 105.2 innings with the Class A Springfield Rifles. A five pitch pitcher, he can match Hogan on the radar gun, and has similar ground ball tendencies. The command is average at best, but unlike Hogan he doesn't have a go-to pitch that leads his arsenal. If he can attack with his sinker, he'd be a useful groundball pitcher, but he has a tendency to hang his pitches when he's really itching for an out. Every so often it looks like he's found a real out pitch, but so far, a lot of his strikeouts are because he's able to fool batters that are sitting on the wrong pitch. His talent should be enough to earn a starting role, but whether he keeps it is what might be tougher.

That was one of two big moves for Boston, who later picked up former All-Star Eddie Whitney from the Cannons for a pair of low minors prospects. Playing in FABL for the first time since he spent 1951 to 1955 with Boston, Whitney was having a revival at 32, 7-8 with a 3.86 ERA (112 ERA+), 1.32 WHIP, 55 walks, and 85 strikeouts. His 19 starts were almost half the amount he entered the season with (27), though he did have plenty of starts in AAA. A five pitch pitcher, he's not the worst option for a start, and when he's going to be filling in the five spot that's the perfect spot for him. He can get skipped plenty for Don Griffin, Dick Wilson, and Foster Sherman, but provide dependable innings when called upon. The cost was light too, parting with just Hank McDowell (#213) and Doc Martz, neither of who Boston is likely to miss. McDowell is a former 4th Rounder who can light up the radar gun, and his deep five pitch arsenal can get swings and misses. He's got decent control, but he's had big issues with the longball, and it could keep him from making it to the Cannons rotation. Martz is an even longer shot, a former 17th Round Pick, but it's still a decent return for a guy that teams passed on for years.

Despite several teams in both associations being in reach of the respective pennants, none of the other would be contenders were as active as Boston. That's not to say no one made upgrades, as the Chiefs hoped that they could fix whatever was wrong with George Reynolds this year in San Francisco. A stable force in the rotation for six seasons, Reynolds, had a career high 4.70 ERA (91 ERA+) in 157 innings pitched. 19 homers has been the cause, as he led the Conti in homers last year (37) and hasn't allowed fewer then 23 since becoming a regular rotation member. Still, with 93 strikeouts to 63 walks, there's plenty to like, and changing associations and entering a pennant race could be helpful. A career 123-98 pitcher, Reynolds also picked up 21 saves, though he hasn't had any of those since his 19-save season in 1952. A veteran of 325 games (252 starts), Reynolds owns a 3.70 ERA (108 ERA+) and 1.29 WHIP with 797 walks and 1,201 strikeouts. A 2-Time All-Star, he's just 31, and Chiefs pitchers tend to age like a fine wine. He may be a few seasons away from his new peak, but he gives them a quality five who could spend a long time in the their rotation.

What makes this trade most interesting, however, is the involvement of two prospects, as the Sailors are parting with young righty Joe Lancaster (98th) as well to pry away 20-year-old righty Bill Moody (52nd) from the Chiefs. Taken in the 2nd Round of the 1957 draft, Moody got all the way up to 19th on the prospect rankings before bouncing out of the top-50 at the All-Star break. In the midst of a rough season for the Class A Cedar Rapids Chiefs, Moody was just 2-8 with a 5.23 ERA (79 ERA+), but he was playing against batters far older then he was. A fireballing righty, Moody has a deep four pitch mix, he just doesn't command the pitches well. They're good enough to trick a few FABL hitters too, but far too often he'll walk or hit a player, and then of course he's had some issues keeping the ball in the park. Still, the talent is immense, and he's got frontline potential ready to be awakened.

The Sailors organization must be confident in harnessing Moody's command, as Lancaster is a 6'4" righty who mixes six different pitches. A funky looking sidearmer, he's a hard thrower too, with his cut and fastball hitting 97 at their best. Projected as a reliever only, his overall value is somewhat limited, but for the Chiefs it's a nice pickup that upgrades their pitching depth in the near future. They don't have a reliable stopper now, and Lancaster has shown he can handle the late innings. If he can learn how to pitch multiple innings, the Chiefs could transition him to the rotation, but for now they seem committed to continuing his development out of the bullpen. Sticking with the theme of pen improvement, they added Paul Magee from (3-3, 5, 4.42, 21) from the Sailors and Walt Staton (5-9, 4.63, 57) from the Dynamos. He pitched strictly out of the rotation this year, but has plenty of pen experience in the past, and since he turns 33 in a few days, the Chiefs may be excited for his aged 37 to 42 years where he regains his form as a two-time All-Star selection.

The most surprising move of deadline season may have been the one involving the Gothams and Saints, as Montreal made a huge boost to their rotation with former All-Star Eddie Martin. Emerging as a quality arm back in 1955, Martin is in the middle of his fourth consecutive season as a full-time rotation member, going 4-8 with a 3.88 ERA (111 ERA+). New York may have been scared away by what would be a career high 1.63 WHIP, and his 67-to-55 walk-to-strikeout ratio was concerning. Still, this is a guy who lost just 26 games in his four previous seasons, and owns a career 3.47 ERA (122 ERA+) and 1.42 WHIP in over 1,000 FABL innings. By no means an ace, he's a solid arm for a contender and as a sub .500 team the Gothams were focused on the future. They did nab a quality prospect too, top-100 prospect Red Blanchard who they sent straight to the major league pen. A former 4th Rounder of the Sailors, he's a talented 23-year-old lefty who has a nice four pitch arsenal. The change is the best offering, and right now it's about as good as any you'll see. Even better, he doesn't have any real weaknesses, and will continue to improve with more experience. As a sidewinding groundballer, he's far different from Martin, and New York was able to pitch up a new backup first basemen in Frank Landrum (.287, 7, 1) to sweeten the deal. It was their only deal of note, but knowing the franchise's past they could be embarking on a major sell-off in the offseason.

FABL STRETCH RUN

In early August the Minutemen and Chiefs kept pace with each other in the Fed while Cleveland and KC stayed within three games atop the Conti, but the Saints were ice cold. After a sweep at the hands of the Cougars, they fell to five out, and the Cougars snuck to a game and a half behind Montreal for third. They continued to drop games, but initially didn't fall too far since Cleveland couldn't string wins together either. KC was inconsistent, winning a bunch of games early in the month to pull ahead, but they dropped six of their last seven games on the month to cede first right back to the Foresters. When August ended, they had a game and a half lead over the Kings, 5 above the Cougars and 5.5 above the Saints.

Meanwhile, the Minutemen couldn't lose, winning 10 of their last 14 in August to pull ahead with an 8.5 game lead. New outfielder Bill Tutwiler got off to a nice start, hitting .296/.397/.491 (129 OPS+) with 9 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, 10 RBIs, 18 walks, and 24 runs. Just a supplemental piece of the scoring, Rick Masters (.353, 7, 19) and Rule-5 pick Ed Wise (.308, 6, 22) did most of the heavy lifting, and new 4th outfielder/first basemen Leon Wallace (.294, 4, 11) made the most of his limited play. Tutwiler's addition made up for a rare poor month from Jack Denis (.233, 3, 12), as Tutwiler was able to keep the Boston lineup on track and get on for the deep lineup. The pitching was decent, led in the rotation by a perfect month from Dick Wilson (4-0, 2.54, 10), and 31 strikeouts from Don Griffin (2-1, 3.79, 31) was pretty cool too, but it was the back two in the pen that kept winning games for the 1941 champs. Gary Pike (2-0, 2, 0.51, 9) and Bob Hollister (3-1, 4, 2.30, 7) were as good as it gets, and they had a chance to win their first pennant since 1943.

With the pennant in sight, Boston took it up a notch in September, winning 7 of their first 8 and 12 of their 15. After that 15 game stretch, the lead was 14 on the second place Pioneers, as no one really gave the Minutemen any trouble in the final month. Even after losing two of three against the Pioneers to close out the season, Boston finished an impressive 96-58, stomping the competition and taking the crown by 14 games. They did everything right, scoring the most runs and allowing the fewest, featuring a pair of 30-homer hitters and 20-game winners.

If you had to guess which Minutemen were which, I'd be confident in most fans getting 75% of the players right. Obviously, Rick Masters was one of the 30-home run hitters, he's surpassed that mark since his breakout season at 24, as Masters hit a strong .301/.388/.529 (136 OPS+) with 28 doubles, 34 homers, 97 runs, 108 RBIs, and 85 walks. With a 140 WRC+ and 5.2 WAR, he's now put together five consecutive seasons with a WRC+ above 135 and a WAR above 5, and a postseason berth is exactly what players as talented as Masters deserve.

Then on the mound, it would seem obvious that Don Griffin and Dick Wilson were the 20-game winners, though you could be forgiven for going with the innings eater Foster Sherman (13-8, 3.72, 145). Griffin may be the ace, but Wilson put together the Allen-worthy season, going an outstanding 22-6 with a 2.51 ERA (171 ERA+), 1.25 WHIP, 83 walks, and 116 strikeouts. He won two thirds of the triple crown, leading in wins and ERA, but the small innings total (208) may have done him in on the award as he couldn't come close to the eventual winners strikeout total. Spoiler: he didn't even get halfway there. But that doesn't take away from the dominance the 23-year-old flexed, and the hard thrower was rewarded with his 2nd All-Star appearance and starts in games 2 and, if needed, 6 of the WCS.

Griffin, who led the Fed in ERA last year, was selected to his third All-Star game, finishing 20-7 with a 3.09 ERA (139 ERA+), 1.11 WHIP, 34 walks, and 199 strikeouts. One of the many starters to lead with 36 starts, Wilson more impressively led in WHIP, K/BB (5.9), FIP- (51), and WAR (10.7), and made a serious case for the award himself. 23 on the off-day after game-5 in the WCS, the best versions of these two young pitchers may still be in the future, and the entire Fed is going to be stuck dealing with this devastating 1-2 punch for years to come.

So what does that leave? The other 30-home run hitter?

Well, if you guessed 7th hitter Ed Wise, then you might want to test your luck at the casinos!

Originally taken 7th by Boston in the 1950 draft, Wise was a top-100 prospect who spent a year and a half with the Minutemen before being sent to Chicago in a deal for Johnny Duncan. Duncan, who was 28 at the time, was a solid third year pitcher on the Chiefs with 326 innings under his belt. Functioning as a starter and reliever, he was 14-20 with a 3.87 ERA (104 ERA+), 1.49 WHIP, 167 walks, and 131 strikeouts. Still with the Minutemen, he's made 193 appearances, all but six of which were starts, an almost exactly average 60-66 with a 4.31 ERA (99 ERA+), 1.49 WHIP, 561 walks, and 595 strikeouts. 1959 has been his worst, if not second worst, season yet, going 5-9 with a 5.49 ERA (78 ERA+) and 1,71 WHIP, walking 73 with just 59 strikeouts in 141 innings pitched.

Wise, however, went to establish himself in the Chiefs system, but he never really got to much hitting in the minors. He got a small cup of coffee in 1956 and 1957, but he got DFA'd during the '58 season and was left unclaimed on waivers. With the offseason more defined, Boston realized they could use an extra piece on the bench, and they took a gamble on their former prospect who hit .224/.383/.458 (144 OPS+) with 22 homers, 51 RBIs, and 99 walks in 104 AAA games. Expected to back up Marshall Thomas (.290, 6, 48), Joe Kleman (.320, 12, 51, 3), and Pat Todd (.310, 2, 70, 5), a big injury to Kleman and a ton of small ones to Thomas allowed Wise to receive playing time. He hit .283/.353/.617 (147 OPS+) in April and .287/.441/.562 (159 OPS+) in May, securing playing time the rest of the way even if everyone was healthy. By season's end, Wise managed to play 144 games and hit 30 home runs, slashing .248/.372/.473 (118 OPS+) with 16 doubles, 81 runs, 90 RBIs, and 96 walks. Having depth available like Wise allowed the Minutemen to survive anything thrown at them, and with how easy they came away with the pennant they have to be the favorite going in the WCS.

Despite finishing so far behind, the St. Louis Pioneers had both the Whitney winner and Allen winner, as while Boston had a more balanced approach, St. Louis was simply stars and studs. Winning the Allen for the second consecutive season, Billy Hasson struck out a career and Fed high 254 hitters, going 19-11 with a 2.95 ERA (146 ERA+) and 1.26 WHIP in a Fed high 289.2 innings pitched. His 254 strikeouts were the fourth most in a single season in Pioneer history, one more then Frenchy Mack's total from last year and three more from the 251 he set down this year. As the reliable #2, Mack was 16-12 with a 3.46 ERA (124 ERA+) and 1.21 WHIP, giving St. Louis a superb 1-2 punch that can rival the one in Boston. Both guys are young too, with Hasson 25 and Mack 22, allowing them to be a force in the 60s if the talented aces can stay healthy. Their Whitney winner was Jerry Smith, one of the only bright spots in a poor lineup. The recently turned 31-year-old was also selected to his 7th All-Star game, hitting an astronomical .329/.430/.667 (179 OPS+) with 35 doubles, 11 triples, 45 homers, 123 RBIs, 127 runs, 96 walks, and 11 steals. Smith led the Fed in runs, homers, RBIs, slugging, OPS (1.097), WRC+ (180), wOBA (.453), and WAR (9.3), completing one of the best All-Around seasons in Pioneer history. He needed a lot more help, getting some from Larry Gregory (.314, 6, 63, 7), but he was the only other Pioneer with an OPS above .775. Still a few pieces away, they are on the cusp of contention, and could be one of the top thorns in Boston's side next year.

Even after a retool, Detroit still finished with 80 wins and a 3rd place finish, but it's a considerable let down considering how good they were for so long. The offense struggled, ranked 7th in runs scored, as Dick Tucker (.280, 18, 70) took a huge step back, and their best hitter Bill Morrison (.323, 18, 71, 5) missed a month with injury. Joe Reed (.303, 28, 106) and Dick Estes (.276, 22, 91) were solid, but they could not replace Edwin Hackberry in the lineup. Charlie Phillips (.270, 8, 45, 23) was okay at the plate and great on the bases, but his defense in center was poor, and the pitcher's didn't get the support they were used to. That could have contributed to them finishing in the bottom half for runs allowed, with uncharacteristic seasons from Jim Norris (20-12, 4.03, 157), Paul Anderson (13-16, 4.53, 100), and offseason acquisition John Jackson (8-13, 5.04, 100). On the bright side, Jack Halbur was great, 17-12 with a 3.27 ERA (130 ERA+), 1.35 WHIP, and 159 strikeouts, putting together his fourth consecutive above average season in Detroit's rotation. They got good innings from Larry Beebe (9-8, 3.36, 88) too, but this season it was clear that this was not the Dynamos team we have all gotten used to.

An awful 9-19 ruined the Chiefs season, and with a sub .500 September they failed to reach 80 games for the first time in three seasons. The big news this season was the retiring of Al Miller, who still appeared to have what it takes to be a FABL pitcher. 44 at the time of retirement, Miller had a respectable 4.00 ERA (107 ERA+) and 1.37 WHIP with a nice 3.63 FIP (85 FIP-), 53 walks, and 86 strikeouts in 207 innings. With his retirement, Miller finishes his career with eleven consecutive 200+ inning seasons while carrying an above average ERA+ in nine of those eleven years. Miller will retire with 327 wins, good for 6th All-Time, and no pitcher has won more then 327 games with the same team, barely surpassing the 321 wins that Charlie Sis had as a Wolf. Appearing in 753 games and throwing 5,418.2 innings pitched, Miller was worth an elite 109.9 wins above replacement with a 3.49 ERA (116 ERA+), 1.30 WHIP, 1,685 walks, and 2,344 strikeouts. That 109.9 WAR is good for 7th All-Time, though Rufus Barrell (107.08) might pass him this year, and his name is all over Chicago's team record book. Along with wins, strikeouts, WAR, games, and innings, which he leads in, he leads in shutouts (51) and starts (701) and ranks 2nd in complete games 287).

1960 will be the first season since 1935 where Miller doesn't make at least one appearance in a Chief uniform, and they'll have plenty of work to re-establish as a contender, but they should have no issues in scoring runs. Rod Shearer (.286, 31, 116, 9) continues to be one of the most feared hitters in baseball, and Rule-5 pick Dave Price (.313, 14, 84, 7) had a huge breakout season with 61 extra base hits to capture the Kellogg award. Ed Bloom (.315, 12, 62, 19), Doc Zimmerman (.296, 9, 80, 8), and Mickey Tucker (.286, 21, 87) provided tough at bats. The pitching should continue to be solid too, with good seasons from Vern Osborne (16-12, 3.75, 150) and Dick Champ (17-7, 3.37, 130), while Joe Cipolla (15-11, 4.35, 186) continues to strike out a ton of hitters. They might have been closer to last then first this year, but with a better finish to the season they would have had a chance to finish 2nd with room to spare.

The rest of the association finished below .500, with the Gothams in 5th with a matching 76-78 record from last year. Another disappointing season from the team that was the only one to interrupt the Dynamos run, they still had a lot of production from their sluggers. Rex Pilcher had his best year as a Gotham, slugging 32 homers and hitting .303/.402/.529 (140 OPS+) with 22 doubles, 93 runs, 97 RBIs, and 90 runs. He outperformed Bill Barrett (.319, 19, 74), Hank Estill (.279, 25, 107), and Earl Howe (.277, 32, 97, 8), but that trio was still extremely effective. Ed Holmes (.277, 7, 45, 16), Johnny Taylor (.249, 17, 60), and Lew Mercer (.256, 13, 65, 7) were tough outs too, they just couldn't keep enough runs off the board. Trading Martin at the deadline contributed to that, but Ed Bowman (11-18, 4.54, 115) having an ERA+ of 94 with a FIP- of 83 might have been the difference, but the Gotham's defense was solid so any poor run luck couldn't be attributed to that. Jorge Arellano (15-10, 3.99, 146) was just okay again, struggling to regain the form of the guy who was 21-8 with a 3.13 ERA (132 ERA+), 1.12 WHIP, and Fed high 202 strikeouts in 1957, and most of the innings they got from the rest of the pack were sub-standard. On the bright side, Bill Howard was elite in June, July, and August, finishing 15-7 with 2 saves, a 2.99 ERA (143 ERA+), 1.31 WHIP, and 104 strikeouts in 25 starts and 10 relief outings. The 28-year-old only had 3 FABL starts coming into the season, but if the Gothams want to compete next year, they'll need more from the former Miners 12th Rounder.

Philly wasted another season of Buddy Miller's prime, as the now 29-year-old outfielder hit an outstanding .327/.389/.563 (149 OPS+) with 32 doubles, 31 homers, 100 runs, and 117 RBIs. Take him out of the lineup, and it's barely Century League quality, as even with the 3-Time Whitney winner they finished in a tie for the fewest runs scored in the association. Aside from the Coulter's, Lloyd (.268, 33, 93) and Al (.281, 13, 53), the lineup was very weak, and even Al was more average then good. The staff allowed 800 runs, good for second most in the Fed, but they might have found themselves a new ace. Despite turning 20 in July, Joe Kienle emerged as a top-of-the-rotation arm, going 15-10 with a 3.66 ERA (115 ERA+), 1.22 WHIP, and 137 strikeouts in his 34 starts. Their 2nd Rounder in 1957, he already has two full FABL seasons under his belt, overpowering guys with a 95-97 fastball and making guys look silly with his sweeping left handed slider. With him, William Davis (15-15, 4.15, 151) and Jim Cooper (8-11, 4.04, 65) they have the start of a solid rotation, but this Keystone team still has plenty to do before becoming a legitimate contender.

The same can be said for Washington (67-87) and Pittsburgh (66-88), who finished a game apart at the bottom of the standings. The Eagles paired a decent lineup with the worst staff, as only a some-what resurgent John Stallings (11-10, 3.91, 114) wasn't allowing 4+ runs a start. Sometimes that was enough for the new-look offense, that has a nice core of players 27 and younger. The elder, Brad Keylon (.337, 10, 60), turns 28 in November, while Jim Baccari (.287, 22, 83), Jack Thompson (.316, 10, 67), and rookies Joe Holland (.308, 19, 92) and Al Marino (.305, 4, 44) will all be 25 or younger come Opening Day. Pittsburgh is an older team, so they may be further away from contention, with midseason callup Mike Whisman (.277, 7, 48) the only regular in the lineup to finish the year younger then 29. The rotation is old and not very good, with just Ed Power (3-7, 3.90, 81) and Roy Schaub (7-9, 3.92, 79) putting up solid numbers, though Power made just 18 starts and Schaub was moved to the pen in September. Trading Bill Tutwiler away was a big subtraction, and next on the list could be Paul Williams (.301, 19, 75), Irv Clifford (.281, 2, 58, 27), Bill Harbin (.240, 11, 83, 9), or Bill Newhall (.297, 12, 87, 6). Pittsburgh is my guess for top seller in the offseason, but most teams want good, young pitching, and they don't have anyone that comes close to meeting that description.

*** Foresters Prevail in Tight CA Race ***

Thankfully for baseball fans, the Continental had a pennant race to keep non-Minutemen fans interested in the end of the season. Early in September, it looked like a two-man race, as the Foresters and Kings started the month hot, but both ran into some troubles towards the middle. Cleveland lost 6 of 9 while KC dropped 6 of 8 from the 11th to the 19th, allowing the Cougars to hang around as we approached the final week. Still 4.5 out, they would need a miracle, but the top two clubs were still within two games of each other.

Cleveland had the tougher path to travel, seven games on the road, but with a game and a half lead they could afford a minor misstep. Kansas City started on the road too, one more in LA before three in Montreal, and they then finished their season at Prairie Park with a nice three-game series with the eventual last place Stars. They beat the Stars on the 20th, but Montreal's pitching staff proved to be too much for the Kings' offense. Winning by scores of 4-2, 2-0, and 5-4, the Kings season slipped away, while Cleveland rolled with victories against the Sailors and Wolves. That final win in Toronto proved to be the difference maker, as Cleveland piled on 10 runs and 15 hits of rookie Jimmy Pepper, who was making his first FABL start after 15 outings as a reliever. Extending their lead to four, it became impossible for the Kings to catch them, and Cleveland would have a chance to capture their 4th championship of the 1950s.

Winning his 5th Allen award at 34, Adrian Czerwinski once again put his team on his back, leading the Conti in wins (22), ERA (2.82), innings (300.1), and WHIP (1.06), while his 207 strikeouts were second in the CA. With an excellent 155 ERA+ and 8.7 WAR to go with a 3.18 FIP (72 FIP-) and 3.0 K/BB, it's easy to see why he came home with the award. His co-ace Rufus Barrell (5-2, 4.13, 40), injured much of the season, wasn't great in his 11 starts, but offseason pickup Jake Pearson (15-14, 3.81, 149) helped solidify their rotation, and Frank Young (17-6, 3.72, 147) was excellent in a career high 30 starts. That trio was enough, as with an excellent lineup, they were able to support the front three in their rotation well.

Led by Sherry Doyal (.324, 35, 111, 18), who was elite at the plate again, but most interestingly matched his previous career total of 18 steals with 18 steals at 31. He made 676 trips to the plate, his 10th consecutive season with more then 625, and his 157 WRC+ was above 140 also for the 10th time. A mainstay in the lineup, the 9-Time All-Star anchored an excellent group that featured top hitters like Tom Carr (.270, 14, 79, 7), Hal Kennedy (.289, 29, 92), Otis O'Keefe (.272, 14, 67), and John Low (.302, 11, 72). Stan Kleminski (.288, 4, 77, 10) was his normally reliable self, and this talented Foresters club should give plenty of trouble to Boston.

Kansas City couldn't hold on for their fourth pennant in six seasons, but it was a memorable year none-the-less. That's because repeat Whitney winner Hank Williams did something we never thought we'd see again: hit over .400 in a season. Appearing in 153 of the Kings' 154 games, the 26-year-old star hit an astronomical .406/.490/.694 (204 OPS+) with 60 doubles, 34 homers, 118 RBIs, 128 runs, and an excellent 94-to-48 walk-to-strikeout ratio. Along with all three triple slash categories, and of course, OPS (1.184), Williams let the CA in runs, hits (231), doubles, WRC+ (214), wOBA (.504), and WAR (10.4), putting together one of the best seasons in FABL history. Not only did he hit for the 18th highest average in a full season, he's the first to pass .400 since Mel Carrol in 1937 (.408) and his 1.184 OPS was the 6th highest in a season. He's now the Kings single season record holder for average, OBP (broke his record from last year), slugging, OPS (his too), total bases (395), and doubles while ranking top-5 in WAR (3rd), hits (4th), and homers (t-4th). It's a shame a historic season like that ended in September, but the Kings couldn't keep runs off the board.

Finishing 5th in runs allowed, the generally solid Kansas City rotation struggled, most notably offseason pickup Jack Miller. The 5-Time All-Star was an even 12-12 with an elevated 4.89 ERA (88 ERA+) and 1.56 WHIP, both easily career worsts. He walked 100 hitters in 213.1 innings, leading to a career high 10.4 BB%, but he at least struck out 139 batters. He wasn't the only guy with issues, as Tony Britten (11-12, 4.94, 97) had larger struggles, last year's ERA leader Eddie Webb (15-6, 1, 4.48, 76) got demoted to the pen, and last season's injury kept Mike Thorpe (2-3, 5.07, 29) to just nine brutal starts. Beau McClellan (17-13, 3.55, 179) was the only guy to pitch to his talent level, but he alone was not enough to survive the season. The offense tried, as along with Williams, Bryan Jeffress (.296, 25, 66, 7), Ken Newman (.292, 29, 127, 6), and Dutch Miller (.282, 16, 103) had productive years at the plate. Still, Charlie Rogers (.286, 11, 71, 16) had his first below average offensive season as a big leaguer, joining his friends in the rotation with down years, and in a tight pennant race they didn't do enough right. The window is still wide open, and the Kings may focus on adding a pitcher and hitter to complete their talented roster.

It was surprising enough that the Cougars won 81 games last year, but finishing 82-72 and in 3rd place was a nice mental win for the club. As crazy as it sounds, the once near-top-of-the-standings Cougars haven't finished in the top three since 1949, as the always decent, never great club stretched their 70+ win streak to 23 seasons. A young team on the rise, they also featured a pitching staff that would rival the forties crew of Papenfus, Bybee, and the Jones Brothers. Leading the CA with just 618 runs allowed, the Cougs discovered a new ace in Hank Walker. Going from AAA starter to passing Pug White (18-12, 3.12, 138) in the rotation, Walker earned himself an All-Star bid and finished 11-9 with a 2.99 ERA (142 ERA+), 1.31 WHIP, and 92 strikeouts in 25 starts. Most impressively, the groundballer led the CA with a 0.3 HR/9, something that is completely unheard of at Cougars Park. In 316.2 FABL innings he's allowed just 15 home runs, as he does amazing job keeping the ball on the ground. Acquired with catcher Stan Czerwinski (.279, 20, 75) and others for Doc Zimmerman back in 1956, Walker doesn't have many friends in the clubhouse, but they'll have to tolerate him if he keeps pitching like this.

Though to be fair, almost everyone on the Cougars staff pitched well, as Arch Wilson (7-10, 25, 2.96, 70) again led the Continental in saves. Grant Davis (15-7, 3.75, 103) continued to provide a stable force at the back of the rotation, while John Mitchell (11-13, 4.17, 174) and Ollie Norris (7-12, 4.07, 130) pitched a bit better then their records would show. The pen got solid contributions from Dixie Gaines (6-2, 1, 3.76, 44), Bobby Crooks (2-3, 2, 2.87, 20), and Mike Peter (0-2, 2.60, 25), but as always they had their troubles (21-26) in one run games. The offense often couldn't get it done, but they got big seasons from their young stars Jerry McMillan (.311, 19, 90, 21) and Jack Gibson (.309, 38, 107). Soon to join them might be 23-year-old rookie Jim Barton, who hit .359/.429/.558 (158 OPS+) with 12 homers and 42 RBIs in the last three months of the season. They don't have the talent of the two teams ahead of them, but for the first time in a few years the other Chicago team is looking to be a threat.

Montreal was a threat early in the season, but they went 29-39 after the break and finished almost ten games out of first place at 80-74. Deadline pickup Eddie Martin (6-5, 3.57, 39; 10-13, 3.77, 94) did do well, and they'll bring a solid rotation into 1960. Jim Montgomery (18-12, 3.84, 173), Phil Murry (17-11, 3.96, 127), and Andy Logue (11-5, 3.61, 86) did well behind him, and the Saints lineup quietly scored the most runs in baseball. They don't have a Sherry Doyal or Ken Newman, but they have the talented first-time All-Star Harry Swain (.318, 20, 96), who was completely snubbed in 1957. Just 26, Swain has hit .313/.414/.494 (151 OPS+) in 2,301 career plate appearances, logging 80 doubles, 85 homers, 326 RBIs, 348 runs, and 309 walks. He had his best supporting cast this year too, with good years from John Fast (.266, 11, 59), Jim Johnston (.282, 16, 58), Art Robbins (.271, 23, 106), Garland Phelps (.302, 12, 76), Ralph Hanson (.317, 6, 97, 28), and Bill Elkins (.277, 6, 72). Only the now 35-year-old vet Joe Austin (.236, 4, 63, 20) failed to produce a WRC+ above 100, and he was still an asset on the bases and in the field. The key now is for them to put everything together, and keeping playing at a top level for more then half a season.

Like their Federal counterpart, the Conti was split equally with above and below .500 teams, with the Cannons even matching the Gothams 76-78 record. Better then their record would suggest, they scored 711 runs and allowed just 673, again getting a monster season from Dallas Berry (.316, 35, 111, 14). Johnny Elliot (.268, 14, 49) didn't do him much help, even losing his job to Charlie Ham (.309, 18, 48), ending what at one point was a great 1-2-3 with Berry and Fred Lainhart (.306, 8, 68, 30). Al Farmer (.290, 18, 86, 8) and Art McKinney (.252, 22, 81) were solid, but they need to add pop to the lineup if they want to compete next season. The pitching held up well without Jake Pearson, as Doc Clay (15-12, 3.22, 119) stepped up to top the rotation, so you have to imagine they'll be in the hunt again next season. After impressing in the pen, they graduated 22nd ranked prospect Jim York (13-10, 1, 3.01, 95) to the rotation and he at times flashed #1 starter potential. The Cannons did move away from a few starters at the deadline, so they could shop for an arm in the offseason, but Hal Miller (16-12, 1, 4.08, 139) is a capable three and Paul Williams (4-2, 19, 3.14, 56) has emerged as a reliable back of the pen arm, leaving them with a path forward towards contention.

Toronto continues to find themselves just below .500, extending their streak of losing seasons to 11 years with a 74-80 finish. The pitching was solid, but not because of Whitey Stewart (6-15, 4.90, 118), who despite a 3.72 FIP (85 FIP-) lost a lot of games and gave up a ton of runs. Thankfully, the 21-year-old George Hoxworth (16-10, 3.06, 218) was back to pitching like an ace, and he led the CA in strikeouts for the third consecutive season. With Stewart struggling, 27-year-old Hank Lacey (31-11, 3.70, 144) stepped up, and 19-year-old Arnie Smith was in the running for the Kellogg. "Pretty Boy" Smith was taken 4th last season, and despite not pitching above A ball he cracked the Wolves Opening Day rotation. Graduating as the #7 prospect, Smith went 13-15 with a 4.01 ERA (109 ERA+), 3.74 FIP (84 FIP-), and 1.35 WHIP. The young righty walked 82 and struck out 180 in 240.1 innings pitched, and the seven pitch righty looks to be the Joe Hancock to George Hoxworth. A hard thrower with truly elite stuff.

The Toronto lineup needs a lot of work, ,no team scored less runs then the Wolves, but it now has the 1959 Kellogg Winner Sid Cullen (.285, 21, 70) in it. Taken 3rd in the 1955 draft, Cullen ranked as high as 17th on the prospect rankings, as along with elite power he's an outstanding defender. The then 22-year-old had an excellent 12.3 zone rating and 1.067 efficiency in centerfield, and will now be a lock to make his first Opening Day lineup in 1960. Aside from Dixie Williams (.285, 22, 72), Tom Reed (.313, 28, 82, 7), and maybe John Wells (.269, 15, 48, 7), there isn't much to worry about. Without a big trade, it's likely another finish towards the bottom, but there is a chance top-15 prospect Phil Colantuono (0-0, 11.57, 2) completes a lethal trio atop a championship quality rotation. And since at 23 he's the oldest, the bats have plenty of time to come join them.

Edwin Hackberry (.297, 16, 82, 16) never quite looked right in a Sailors jersey, and San Francisco's new star didn't help spark the rest of the team like the front office may have hoped. Bill Guthrie (.289, 24, 93) still hit a ton of home runs and the 22-year-old Carlos Jaramillo (.298, 10, 50, 14) is the most exciting shortstop in all of baseball, but the lineup struggled to score runs. Ray Rogan (.259, 9, 46), Dick Hunt (.251, 22, 97), and Herbert Crawford Jr. (.252, 9, 54) all had down seasons, so in hindsight it's really no surprise they finished so low in the standings. Ace Bud Henderson (12-15, 4.05, 136) suffered the same fate, as while he was still effective he just wasn't as good as he was in his first three seasons. Him and veteran southpaw Duke Bybee (4-10, 3.88, 94) both saw their season end in September with major injuries, casting a doubt on both of their effectiveness for 1960. It'd be tough to expect much from the 37-year-old Bybee, but if he was healthy he could have fetched a prospect in an offseason trade. As it stands, he's second behind Bud, with some ordering of fellow 37-year-old Joe Quade (7-11, 4.21, 74), 1959 Rule-5 pick and top 100 prospect Larry Kenz (9-7, 2, 4.81, 49), and Dan Atwater (12-12, 5.33, 80), who had the worst season of his ten year career, behind him. Atwater is 37 too, and if little changes this is going to be one of the worst staffs in the new decade.

Their geographical rival will give them a run for their money, as the continually bad Los Angeles Stars seemed to have been cursed for leaving New York. At 60-94, they were ten back of the next closest team, and show no signs of improving in the near future. They did get a full season of Charlie Barrell (.316, 18, 86), but it was his worst season at the plate. Defensively, he was excellent, so his 6.3 WAR was second only to his breakout rookie season in 1953. 30 next July, time is running out to build around the guy they traded two stars for, and so far their best supporting piece is last year's first rounder Ralph Barrell (.305, 19, 72). Charlie's cousin came up for just 85 games, outperforming many of the guys who started the season in LA. Parson Allen (.325, 15, 77) was one of the only guys who at least kept pace, and with the worst pitching staff there wasn't much chance of them even sniffing .500. They probably didn't care, more interested in the number one draft pick, as they were willing to trot out 38-year-old Pete Ford (4-19, 7.49, 74) for 31 starts. 22-year-old Floyd Warner (12-14, 4.65, 191) gave a good effort, but the longball was his kryptonite. He allowed an association high 34 homers in 251.2 innings pitched, and until he can keep the ball in the part he'll be prevented from taking the next step. A low pressure environment could help him succeed, and aside from him and graduated 15th prospect Dewey Allcock (11-13, 3.89, 102), they didn't get many good starts. Those two could anchor the Stars rotations of the 60s, with 20-year-old stopper Cal Johnston (13-9, 11, 4.40, 63) a potential third. He should be an option for starts in 1960, as the hard throwing groundballer has great stuff and improving command. Good seasons are still a few years in the future, but at least the Stars have a chance of developing a new Eli Panneton and Vern Hubbard.

1959 World Championship Series

Until they took the field for game one of the 1959 World Championship Series the Boston Minutemen and Cleveland Foresters had never met. Boston had not played in the WCS in 16 years and had not won one since 1941. In all the Minutemen entered the series with 10 pennants and 5 WCS titles but the majority (7 pennants and 4 WCS wins) had come in the first two decades of FABL. While Boston was a powerhouse in the early years of the Federal Association, the Cleveland Foresters won just three pennants prior to 1934 and had not claimed a single WCS title until their thrilling seven game win over the New York Gothams in the '34 Fall Classic. Unlike the Minutemen, who struggled for the most part in recent years, the Foresters have been a Continental Association powerhouse with the 1959 flag representing their sixth over the past eleven seasons. Cleveland also won three more WCS titles during that span to give them four as a franchise.

That is all ancient history and does not matter at all to either club this time around but what does matter is the fact that the Minutemen had a dominant season and not only have terrific hitters like Rick Masters (.301,34,108) and Jack Denis (.309,21,90) in their prime put also a pair of the best young arms in the sport in 23-year-olds Dick Wilson (22-6, 2.51) and Don Griffin (20-7, 3.09). Cleveland has plenty of stars as well with Adrian Czerwinski (22-10, 2.82) anchoring the rotation to go along with the bats of Sherry Doyal (.324,35,111), Paul Williams (.301, 19,75) and newly acquired second baseman Stan Kleminski (.288,4,77).

The Foresters also had a huge edge in postseason experience with nearly every player on their roster had previous WCS experience while Boston had one player who had played in a WCS game prior to this series. That would be backup outfielder George Rutter who had appeared in 5 games for the then Philadelphia Sailors in 1951. Adrian Czerwinski and Deuce Barrell entered the series with a combined 25 games started in WCS play. The entire Boston staff was appearing in the WCS for the first time.

GAME ONE: BOSTON 4 CLEVELAND 0

The series opened in Boston and as it would turn out all that previous WCS experience meant nothing. Don Griffin was a week shy of his 23rd birthday and he pitched like a seasoned vet in his first exposure to WCS baseball. The 20-game winner was sensational, scattering five hits over eight innings while allowing just two Cleveland runners to advance as far as second base. 42-year-old Deuce Barrell was nearly as effective on the mound for the Foresters and he and Griffin were locked in a classic pitchers duel that was scoreless through six and a half innings.

That changed suddenly in the bottom of the seventh when Boston lead-off man Bill Tutwiler ripped a triple off of Barrell. Deuce retired Pat Todd on an infield grounder and, after Rick Masters was issued an intentional walk, Deuce fanned Jack Denis for the second out. Boston second baseman Ed Wise broke the scoreless tie with a 2-strike single to plate Tutwiler and before the cheering at Minutemen Park had a chance to die down, Joe Kleman drilled Barrell's next offering over the rightfield wall for a 3-run homer and gave Boston a 4-0 lead.

The game would end by that 4-0 score as Gary Pike took over for Griffin in the ninth inning and while he did allow a 2-out single to John Low, Pike fanned both Hal Kennedy and Jerry Hubbs in the frame to preserve the shutout victory.

GAME TWO: BOSTON 2 CLEVELAND 1

Another pitchers duel as Allen Award winner Adrian Czerwinski faced off against Boston's second young twenty game winner Dick Wilson. The Foresters struck first, plating a run in the second inning when Mike Whisman smacked a 2-out double and scored on a single from Czerwinski, who aided his own cause with his bat. Further illustrating difference in WCS experience level Czerwinski entered the series with 9 career post-season hits- which was the same number that the entire Boston Minutemen playoff roster entered the series with.

Boston had a chance to tie the game in the third inning with runners on first and second and just one out but Czerwinski worked his way out of the potential mess with a pair of groundball outs. The Mad Professor was not as fortunate in the sixth inning when Rick Masters hit doubles on consecutive pitches to tie the game at one. Czerwinski then hit Don Richmond with a full count pitch to put two runners on base but a Joe Kleman fly ball and a strikeout of Sam Walker kept the score knotted at 1.

Wilson gave way for pinch-hitter Richmond in the sixth but first Chet Baker for an inning and then Bob Hollister kept the Foresters from adding the go-ahead run. Boston bats had little success against Czerwinski and after nine innings the game remained tied at one. In the top of the 10th Cleveland had runners on first and second with no one out but Hollister got a doubleplay ball and a pop out to escape the predicament. Lynn Horn took over for Czerwinski on the mound for Cleveland in the bottom of the 10th and he started nicely with a quick strikeout of lead-off man George Rutter but then, just as they did for their first run, the Minutemen delivered back-to-back doubles to win the game. Bill Tutwiler hit the first one and then raced home on Pat Todd's game winning two bagger.

GAME THREE: BOSTON 4 CLEVELAND 3

Outpitched by the young Minutemen in each of the opening two games the Foresters returned home for game three and hoped for more success against Foster Sherman. Boston's game three starter went 13-8 this season and the 32-year-old was in his fourth season with the Minutemen after beginning his big league career with the Foresters in 1956.

17 game winner Frank Young took the hill for the hosts and he immediately landed in hot water allowing a Boston run on a lead-off single by Bill Tutwiler, a stolen base and then a single off the bat of Pat Todd. Cleveland had a chance to tie the game in the third when Tom Carr hit a one-out triple and Sherman issued back to back walks to Stan Kleminski and Sherry Doyal to load the bases. The opportunity was wasted when Hal Kennedy grounded into an inning ending doubleplay.

Cleveland did breakthrough in the fourth when Sherman had control problems and issued back to back free passes. Mike Whiseman doubled in one run and Frank Young put Cleveland ahead 2-1 with a sacrifice fly.

Boston tied it up in the sixth inning with a sacrifice fly of their own but Cleveland responded a half inning later as two more Sherman walks led to an rbi single off the bat of Tom Carr and the Foresters were ahead 3-2. Like Cleveland a half inning before, the Minutemen responded in the top of the seventh inning and once more it was back to back doubles that led to Boston runs. Sam Walker hit the first one with Ed Wise on first base and then Don Richmond delivered a 2-run pinch-hit double to make the score 4-3 Minutemen.

Bob Hollister pitched the final three innings to close out his second victory in as many games and Boston, with the 4-3 victory in game three, was within one win of winning the series.

GAME FOUR: CLEVELAND 6 BOSTON 3

The World Championship Series had not seen a sweep since St Louis took four in a row from the Philadelphia Sailors in 1948 and the Foresters showed quickly they were not willing to exit quietly. Cleveland scored four times on five hits in the bottom of the first inning with the big blow being a two-run double off the bat of John Low. Cleveland chased Boston starter Eddie Whitney when Otis O'Keefe drove in another run in the second inning to make the score 5-0.

The Boston bullpen would settle things down but by then it was too late as Cleveland starter Jake Pearson, with an assist from Lynn Horn for the final out, held the Boston bats in check enough to claim a 6-3 victory and keep the series alive.

GAME FIVE: BOSTON 8 CLEVELAND 3

Don Griffin and Deuce Barrell had hooked up in a pretty interesting series opener but this one was a day the veteran Cleveland hurler would love to forget. Bill Tutwiler greeted Barrell with a double on the first pitch of the game and one pitch later, after a Pat Todd single, the Minutemen were up 1-0. They would score four times off Barrell in the opening inning on six hits and add another run in the second to send Deuce to the showers.

By the third inning the Boston lead was up to 6-0 and that was more than enough for Griffin, who went seven and two thirds before turning the ball over to Chet Baker to close out the series with an 8-3 Boston victory.

Boston third baseman Pat Tood, who hit .409 in the series and drove in 5 runs and delivered two doubles and a triple, was named the Most Valuable Player of the series. The 32-year-old has found a home in Boston after previous stops in Toronto and Washington.

OFFSEASON RECAP
FORESTERS STOCK UP WHILE DYNAMOS SELL-OFF CONTINUES

FABL teams got their shopping done early this offseason, as from the 7th to the 15th of October, ten deals involving major league players were completed. The Cannons and Pioneers made a strange trade, as Cincinnati acquired 88th ranked prospect John Walker from St. Louis for the 85th ranked prospect Danny Daniels, as well as veteran reliever Joe Campbell (0-0, 1, 4.15, 2) who threw 4.1 innings in his first FABL action since 1953. If your first thought was a salary dump, that would have been a good guess, but for some reason the Cannons also decided to pay all of Campbell's contract. Walker and Daniels are both pitchers, but perhaps the Cannons wanted the younger, further away from the majors righty then a crafty seven pitch lefty who they just recently acquired from the Chiefs at the deadline. The 21-year-old pitched well, 6-3 with a 2.88 ERA (120 ERA+), 1.27 WHIP, and 67 strikeouts in 11 post-trade starts with the AA Erie Cannons. The upside might be limited, he's never going to be a top pitcher, but he's a clubhouse leader who could offer a stabilizing force at the back of the rotation. Walker has good stuff and keeps the ball on the ground like Daniels, but he's lazy and doesn't make good decision. He carries more risk as a 1958 high school 2nd rounder, and he's seen his prospect rank drop from the initial 40th he got on his first list. Head Scout Bob Simmons and GM Henry Myles may see something in Walker the scouting community doesn't, but it was quickly forgotten with the flurry of moves that followed.

Myles' Cannons made the next move too, picking up veteran righty Wally Hunter (3-2, 6, 6.92, 31) and minor league outfielder Eli Bowen from the Washington Eales in exchange for the 128th ranked prospect Owen Lantz. An intimidating 6'4" righty, the now 19-year-old Lantz was the Cannons 4th Round pick in 1958, and he excelled in both Class B (5-1, 2.66, 41) and C (6-2, 4.04, 56) in his first full season as a professional. An extremely raw prospect, he did walk way too many batters, with 111 in a combined 126.1 innings pitched. He has a really nice cutter and a nasty curve, but his command doesn't improve his mistakes will get punished. That could be part of why the Cannons were willing to part with him, though Wally Hunter is 38 and coming off his worst season since a brief cameo in 1943 (2-2, 5.67, 11) with the Stars. They showed interest in making additional acquisitions, with a focus on rotation help and infield help.

What came next was even more shocking, as despite having an outfield of Otis O'Keefe (.272, 14, 67), Tom Carr (.270, 14, 79, 7), and Sherry Doyal (.324, 35, 111), the Cleveland Foresters went out and added to that group. Perhaps it's because it only cost Jim Urquhart (.154, 1, 3, 2), who started just 2 of his 62 appearances, but Cleveland crowded the mix with 27-year-old Armando Estrada in a deal with Philadelphia. A former 2nd Round Pick and top-25 prospect, Estrada is in his fourth season, but it took three seasons for him to become a starter. He hit an average .296/.335/.427 (100 OPS+), adding 25 doubles, 4 triples, 13 homers, 67 runs, and 78 RBIs in year two, and he plays excellent defense in right field. He's passable in center too, and since his bat is limited by his tendency to strikeout, plus defense is a must. He's an awkward fit in Cleveland, but the Foresters are hungry for a title, and the addition of Estrada allows their season to survive a major injury or slump in the outfield.

October 10th was all about the Dynamos, as the retool continued with trades of a starting pitcher and center fielder. Somewhat surprisingly, they traded one of their only useful starters this year to one of their direct competitors. Without Al Miller the Chiefs needed to add someone new to the mix, and they made a major strike. Going to the Chiefs is Jack Halbur, who turns 31 next March. The 2-Time All-Star went 17-12 with a 3.27 ERA (130 ERA+), 1.35 WHIP, and 159 strikeouts, giving Detroit 35 impressive starts. That was a career high for the former 2nd Rounder, though he's past 30 in each of his last three seasons. Initially a stopper, only 146 of Halbur's 312 appearances have been starts, but no matter what role he's been in he's had success on the mound. Through 1,368.1 innings he's 90-56 with 66 saves, working to a 3.43 ERA (122 ERA+) and 1.30 WHIP. The 4-Time Champion has 660 strikeouts to 478 walks, and his command allows him to pitch deep in games. He'll fit comfortably between Vern Osborne (16-12, 3.75, 150) and Dick Champ (17-7, 3.37, 130) in a capable front three.

Detroit got some solid talent back, with the top-50 outfield prospect Cecil Gregg the headliner. Just 20, Gregg was taken by the Chiefs 7th in 1957, he projects to be an everyday player due to his outstanding offensive potential. The left swinger is a strong prospect who can makes consistent contact, and with his strength he's got 25+ home run potential. He's had no issues hitting homers in the minors, with 40 last season in AA. That dropped to 20 this year in a few more games, but he did hit 3 more in 15 AAA games. Despite his age, he could quite quickly crack the Dynamo lineup, and they've shown no issues calling up young players in the past. Ranked 2nd in the Dynamo system, he's got a leg up on most of the guys he'll be competing with. Detroit also got to add a projectable 18-year-old lefty in Preston Roberts, who stands at 6'4" and was taken in the 3rd Round by the Chiefs in the '59 draft. Roberts was a respectable 3-4 with a 5.97 ERA (91 ERA+), but he walked 81 batters in 69.1 innings. The control needs a lot of work, but he's got promising stuff. With a bump past 90 or some improvement in his secondary stuff, he could earn himself a spot start or mop up role.

The center fielder traded this time by Detroit doesn't bring the same fanfare as Hackberry, as new Forester Charlie Phillips was the second of two surprising outfield additions for the Continental champ. Phillips is an interesting choice, as he debuted with 3 games at 28 in 1955, and 1959 was his first season where he appeared in more then 50 games or took more then 200 plate appearances. It went alright, as the former 12th Rounder hit .270/.358/.374 (91 OPS+) with 22 doubles, 23 steals, and 80 runs scored. For each of his 75 walks, he had a strikeout, but his center field defense (-20.9 zone rating, .919 efficiency) left a lot to be desired. Another awkward fit, Phillips has entered a situation with less available playing time, and he cost them a pair of useful prospects.

The key for Detroit in the deal is 19-year-old lefty Dave Irwin, who Cleveland took 4th last year. Pitching most of the year at 18, he did well in Class C and held his own in Class B, getting a lot of whiffs with his change up. Standing 6'5", his pitches look even faster then the 90-92 they register at, and any boost in velocity could do his stuff wonders. He's far from a finished product, but he alone would be a nice pickup for someone like Phillips. Joining him is the versatile Heinie Pearce, who's played games at catcher, third, and all three outfield spots. A 12th Rounder like Phillips, he came from the draft before Irwin, and has spent each of the past three seasons bouncing between the Foresters' bottom two affiliates. A useful utility man, he has to improve his swing, as he relies too much on his discipline during at bats. He could function as a useful bench piece, and being a switch hitter only adds t o that value.

Two days later in major move, the Kansas City Kings acquired FABL's most successful 25th Round Pick Bill Guthrie (.289, 24, 93) in a six player trade with the San Francisco Sailors. Named to his third All-Star game in 1959, Guthrie has hit 174 home runs since his debut in 1953, accounting for 70% of the 249 home runs hit by players selected in the 25th Round. Obviously, there aren't many other players in that group, making it that much more impressive that the 30-year-old first basemen has hit .281/.366/.527 (145 OPS+) in 823 FABL games. After hitting a league high 43 homers in 1955, Guthrie has hit 24 or more homers in the following four seasons, and makes an already dangerous Kings lineup even better. Sure, he may strike out a lot, but his power is massive, and he'll get to bat with Bryan Jeffress (.296, 25, 66), Charlie Rogers (.286, 11, 71, 16), Hank Williams (.406, 34, 118), and Ken Newman (.292, 29, 127) batting ahead of him. That's an opportunity for a ton of RBIs, and he chance to compete with Newman for the league lead.

Kansas City also adds a young lefty in the deal, Curly Anderson, who ranks just inside the game's top 100 prospect list. A 2nd Rounder in 1957, Anderson made 26 of his 30 starts in Class A, where he was 11-8 with a 3.52 ERA (113 ERA+), 1.42 WHIP, and 106 strikeouts. A six pitch pitcher, Curly generates a ton of ground balls, flexing a wicked 92-94 mph sinker when guys get on base. His slider is lethal to lefties, but he has yet to develop an out pitch for righties. At 20 he has plenty of time to develop that, but for now he may not end up developing as anything much more then a spot starter.

For San Francisco, they were able to move a veteran on the wrong side of 30 for a deep four prospect package, headlined by a pair of top 100 prospects in the middle of the list. The higher ranked was #50 Otis Haldeman, who despite being three years older then Ernie Carter (#53), was taken in a draft after Carter. The 15th overall pick in the 1959 draft, Haldeman stole a ton of bases at Commonwealth Catholic, and then swiped 12 more between Class C Marshalltown and Class B Tampa. An athletic outfielder, he's an above average contact hitter with intriguing raw power, flashing some of the tools needed to develop into a reliable hitter. The defense is a work in-progress, but with his speed he should have at least average range in the outfield. And like him Ernie Carter was a first round pick, 12th last season, but he of course was selected out of high school instead. 19 this November, he hit a useful .273/.376/.405 (96 OPS+) with 31 doubles, 7 triples, 7 homers, 9 steals, and 51 RBIs. He spent his first full pro season in Class B Tampa, making 591 rips to the plate. He has a smooth and rhythmic swing, also expected to hit for a high average, but what makes him so exciting is the defense. He looked great at second, where he spent most of his time, and he's got the ability to play anywhere but catcher and pitcher. Worst case, he's a top notch utility infielder, but somewhere inside him is the guy that hit .371/.482/.641 (167 OPS+) in 62 Class C games as a 17-year-old.

Finishing up the return was righty Leo McDonald and outfielder Ralph Butler, with McDonald ranked just outside the top 200 prospects. A 20-year-old from Pennsylvania, McDonald was acquired two days earlier from the Cannons for minor league lefty Bill Chapman. A former 3rd Round pick of the Cannons, his stay in the Kings organization has to be one of the shortest. A seven pitch pitcher, McDonald spent all season with the Class B Charleston Seagulls, going 7-7 with a 3.07 ERA (146 ERA+), 1.40 WHIP, and 95 strikeouts. He's got a big fastball that can hit 95, and it really gets good life from his sidearmed motion. Butler, 24, was already on the Kings 40, and despite not playing above A ball has just one option left. He's not expected to factor into their plans this season, but he could earn a callup if he's able to keep his 40-man roster spot.

It was the Wolves turn on the 14th, though they did make a trade the following day too, sending former Rule-5 Pick Ed Hester (.240, 2, 24, 4) to the Chiefs and Larry Curtis (.283, 28, 75) to, you guessed it, the Foresters. Yes... Cleveland acquired another outfielder...

In return the Wolves got a pitcher and hitter, acquiring pitcher Sam Morgan (145th) from the Chiefs and outfielder Chick Reed (133th) from the Foresters. "Handsome Sam" Morgan was the Chiefs 5th Round Pick in 1956, and he impressed for the AA Oklahoma City Chiefs. 20 for most of the season, Morgan was 14-10 with a 3.04 ERA (122 ERA+), 2.85 FIP (76 FIP-), and 1.13 WHIP. He made 30 starts, throwing 230.2 innings with 64 walks and 170 strikeouts. A hardworking righty, he's gradually increased his velocity, hitting 95 in year four. He's got a nifty slider and good change up, and with a 6.7 BB% he's trying to silence any concerns about his command. As good as the top of Toronto's rotation is, they still have plenty of open spots, and the Buffalo native should have a chance to earn a start. For Chick Reed, the audition starts in the spring, as the 24-year-old outfielder went 0-for-3 in his cup of coffee with Cleveland this season. Taken 13th in 1953, he was once ranked among the top 50 prospects, but has gotten stuck behind all the options on his former team. Tom Reed (.313, 28, 82, 7) and Sid Cullen (.285, 21, 70) have locks on two of the outfield spots, but the third is completely up for grabs.

There were a few minor trades on the 15th, completing the quick flurry, but towards the end of the month the Foresters made their big strike. Upgrading from trading for outfielders to trading for former outfielders, Cleveland made a major strike, acquiring 6-Time All-Star Paul Williams from the Miners in a seven player deal. Williams, recently 33, is a year removed from a Whitney worthy season where he hit .326/.433/.632 (181 OPS+) with 44 doubles, 40 homers, 138 RBIs, 111 runs, and 103 walks. Williams led the Fed in runs, homers, doubles, RBIs, slugging, OPS (1.066), WRC+ (174), and wOBA (.454), but only ended up third in Whitney voting. A veteran of 12 seasons, Williams debuted for Pittsburgh in 1948, but didn't crack the 450 PA mark until 1951. But since then, he's been one of the most feared hitters in baseball, logging 325 doubles, 240 homers, 911 runs, 1,013 RBIs, and 1,062 walks to go with a .303/.421/.513 (153 OPS+) batting line. Since 1950, Williams has recorded at least a 127 WRC+ in each season, including five seasons with a WRC+ above 150. The rich got richer here, as it's going to be impossible for almost inning pitching staff to keep a lineup of Williams, Sherry Doyal (.324, 35, 111, 18), Tom Carr (.270, 14, 79, 7), Stan Kleminski (.288, 4, 77, 10), Hal Kennedy (.289, 29, 92), Otis O'Keefe (.272, 14, 67), and John Low (.302, 11, 72).

Cleveland parted with five young players to get the deal done, also picking up 140th ranked prospect Howie Taylor. A former top-100 prospect, the 1956 4th Rounder is fast and a defensive asset, but more of a fill in prospect then a game changer. It's a nice bonus considering how many prospects the Foresters have sent out of their system, and in his 62 games with Class B this season, he hit a strong .329/.360/.478 (127 OPS+) with 13 doubles, 7 homers, and 32 RBIs.

Making the deal worth it for Pittsburgh is top-50 prospect Pat Simon, who Cleveland took with the last pick in the first round of the 1957 draft. A tall, 6'4" lefty, Simon has a deep seven pitch mix, and has all the tools to be a reliable #2 in a FABL rotation. In 1959, he spent most of his time in A ball, but his 7 starts in AA were significantly better. Going 5-1, he worked to a 2.00 ERA (171 ERA+), 1.16 WHIP, 25 walks, and 40 strikeouts in 45 innings. Known for his curve, the headliner of his arsenal, he mixes his pitches well, and does a good job locating his offerings. The walks are high now, but he's expected to correct that with more experience, and he's excelled at limiting the longball so far. With such an exciting build, it's clear to see why a team in need of pitching was interested in him, even if it meant parting with a franchise icon.

Another useful piece is the soon-to-be 22-year-old Mike Whisman, who after an early June callup to Cleveland, functioning as the eventual pennant winners starting center fielder. Taken 12th in 1956, it was a quick rise up the ladder for Whisman, who went on to hit .277/.335/.427 (93 OPS+) with 27 doubles, 2 triples, 7 homers, and 48 RBIs. After trading Bill Tutwiler at the deadline, center field was open again in Pittsburgh, and they'll hope the young switch hitter can fill the spot for years to come. An advanced hitter for his age, his swing generates a ton of bat-speed, and when he reads a pitch well he can really square it up. He won't hit many home runs, but he has good speed and could produce a lot of doubles. That speed would play well with the defense too, and while still a developing piece, he could end up a reliable everyday player.

The rest of the return involved a trio of prospects in Hank Cook (105th), Sam Peterson (165th), and Norm Smith (218th). Cook, like Whisman, debuted for the Foresters, but his experience comprised of just one four inning relief outing. The 23-year-old allowed 2 hits and 5 walks with 4 runs and 3 strikeouts. The former 2nd Rounder only started in the minors, including 23 starts in AA and 4 in AAA this season, going 14-7 with 90 strikeouts in 175.1 innings pitched. A soft-tossing righty, his stuff is still a work in progress, and his command escapes him at times. Still, he could fill the back of a rotation, even as soon as next season, and it gives a weak Miners staff another option to give them useful innings.

Peterson and Smith both play the infield, with Peterson an 18-year-old middle infielder and Smith a 23-year-old first basemen. Peterson, who was taken 2nd in the '59 draft, is the more exciting prospect, and he hit an impressive .322/.457/.477 (115 OPS+) with 15 doubles, 5 triples, 4 homers, 4 steals, 30 RBIs, and a stellar 58-to-28 walk-to-strikeout ratio. A talented hitter, he also plays solid defense at second and short, but it's the bat that really excites. He has a strong contact tool, leading to high averages and low strikeout rates, as he has a knack for putting the ball in play. He's not fast, but he runs the bases well, and he's got the strength to hit a few home runs. Very far from the majors, Peterson won't be in Pittsburgh any time soon, but he has a huge future and could develop into a reliable bat on a contending team. Smith, on the other hand, is a higher floor, lower ceiling prospect, who's entire value comes from his power. The lefty slugger hit 28 homers between Class B and A, but he strikes out more then once a game. His all-or-nothing approach can lead to lengthy streaks, but if he can learn how to put the ball in play more often, he could quickly make the Miners forget about their long-time spark plug. But of course, it's more likely he never goes past AAA, and spends most days waiting for a pinch hit opportunity.

Capping off the big trade season was what now feels like a rare buy for the Cannons, who after shipping away many pieces brought in old friend Jimmy Block. Traded to the Dynamos at the '58 deadline, he went to the Gothams in the '59 offseason, and will now return to the organization that drafted him in the 3rd Round of the 1945 draft. Block debuted in '52 and spent his first two seasons rotating between the pen and rotation, but since his 35 start '54 season he's only pitched out of the rotation. Now 32, he actually spent most of the season as a free agent, as the Dynamos cut him in April and he didn't sign until August. His 9 starts must have went well enough for Cincy to part with two prospects, as the durable righty went 3-4 with a 4.22 ERA (102 ERA+), 1.59 WHIP, and 37 strikeouts. Ironically, he has 9 starts with both the Dynamos and Gothams, and will now look to improve his 61-93 record as a Cannon. In 1,370.2 innings with his new/old organization, Block has a below average 4.26 ERA (93 ERA+) and 1.49 WHIP, walking 779 hitters with just 689 strikeouts. That may not look good, but Block had his best season in 1957, where he was 18-13 with a 3.15 ERA (121 ERA+), 1.29 WHIP, and 141 strikeouts. Before that season, he only produced below average results, while after he's been above average. The Cannons will hope that trend continues, as he's ready to be the #3 behind their original Block replacement, Doc Clay (15-12, 3.22, 119), and breakout rookie swingman Jim York (13-10, 1, 3.01, 95).

Of the two prospects parted with, Martin Perry will be missed more, as the 123rd ranked prospect was taken 4th by the Cannons in 1955, and ranked #5 on the 1956 Opening Day prospect list. Since then, however, he's gone from future star to big bat off the bench, and he has just 7 games above A ball. Those did go quite well, as he hit .280/.357/.480 (138 OPS+) for the Erie Cannons, with a productive .227/.380/.370 (120 OPS+) line in 128 games that saw a ton of walks (108), strikeouts (132), and home runs (12). The tall Canadian righty has a good eye and 20+ home run potential, but he'll be lucky to hit even .230 in a full FABL season. His defense isn't great, even if he can play first and all three outfield spots, and the Gothams will hope that they can tap into that untapped power potential. The outfield is full with Pilcher, Barrett, and Howe, but Barrett turned 40 in November and only has so many good seasons left. Power plays well at Gotham Stadium, and they added him to the 40 to protect him from the Rule-5 draft. New York also picked up 23-year-old first basemen Mel Everett in the deal. While he is a former 5th Rounder, he's no more then a throw in, as he didn't make a single start until his fifth pro season, and he got into just 55 games this year split between Class A and B.

There were a few other deals sprinkled in the offseason, including a really strange deal with New York and Cincy I won't dive too deep into (read: nonsensical deal that largely favors the Cannons), but after the reigning CA champs made their big acquisition of Paul Williams, things got quiet. As good as the Minutemen are, getting Williams makes the Foresters the best team in baseball, and unless you're being overly picky, it's tough to find a weakness on this squad. They have stars, they have depth, and they have everything in between, and on paper, they have a great chance to open the 60s just like they started the 50s: With another World Championship.

• It turned out to be quite a year for Harry Barrell. Not only did the former star shortstop win his first World Championship Series as a manager, but in January Barrell received news that he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Boone County, IL. Barrell was in his first year of eligibility and appeared on 95.3% of the ballots, well over the 80% required for induction. Barrell becomes the fourth member of his family to be enshrined, joining his late father Rufus Barrell (Class of 1948) and brothers Tom (1951) and Bobby (1957). Harry Barrell was the only inductee this year with 11-time all-star catcher Adam Mullins falling just short once again.
• Harry Barrell also received more good news in late October when he was named the Federal Association manager of the year. Jim Whitehead, Cleveland's second year manager who had previously guided the Toronto Wolves, was named the top skipper in the Continental Association.
• Foresters ace Adrian Czerwinski won his 5th Allen Award, tying him with teammate Deuce Barrell for the most Allen Award wins. The Fed Allen went to St Louis Pioneers 25-year-old Billy Hasson for the second consecutive season. The Whitney Award winners were Jerry Smith of St Louis and, for the second year in a row, Kansas City's Hank Williams. Finally the Kellogg Awards for top rookie in each association were presented to a pair of outfielders in Sid Cullen of Toronto and Dave Price of the Chicago Chiefs. Here are the voting results for each of the player awards.
  
  
• Al Miller called it quits after 23 seasons with the Chicago Chiefs. A two-time Allen Award winner and an all-star selection on 11 occasions, Miller ends his career with a 327-256 record. His win total is 6th best all time and six more than his Hall of Fame teammate from two Chiefs title teams Rabbit Day's 321 wins.
• Ed Bowman of the New York Gothams earned his 300th career victory in a 9-3 win over St Louis on July 23. It was otherwise a difficult year for the 39-year-old Gothams ace, who suffered through an 11-18 season with a career worst 4.54 era. Bowman, who appears poised to return to the Gothams next year, finished the year with 304 victories for his career, putting him 15th all-time.
• Other milestones achieved this year included Cleveland second baseman Stan Kleminski, Pittsburgh infielder Irv Clifford and St Louis outfielder Larry Gregory each recording his 2,000th career hit, Edwin Hackberry of San Francisco and Rod Shearer of the Chicago Chiefs each passed the 300 homerun plateau.
• The lone no-hitter this season was tossed by 22-year-old Cincinnati rookie Jim York, just 14 months after York won the Christian Award as the top collegiate baseball player his junior season at Chesapeake State. York's no-hitter came August 11 in a 3-0 shutout of Kansas City.

WILDCATS END DECADE LONG TITLE DROUGHT

The most successful team of the 1940s waited the entire decade but finally claimed their first American Football Association title since 1949. The Chicago Wildcats, named in 1949 by This Week in Figment Sports as its team of the decade after they won four AFA titles and appeared in the championship game three other times in the 1940s, ended a decade long tittle drought by winning the 1959 American Football Association title. That brings the Wildcats total grid crowns to a record 8, three more than the New York Stars who were the team Chicago defeated in this year's championship game.

Led by arguably the league's top defense which placed five starters on the West roster for the year end All-Pro Classic including Defensive Player of the Year Kent McGinnis, the Wildcats finished with a league best 10-2 record to claim top spot in the West Division, a full 3 games ahead of second place San Francisco. Seventh year halfback George Hornback ran for a career best 1,206 yards and 14 touchdowns to pace an offense that relied on a rookie quarterback selected in the seventh round of the draft. That would be Miller Bogert out of Bluegrass State, who threw 11 touchdown passes while being intercepted just once all season.

One of the Wildcats losses came in the season opener in San Francisco, and it was the Wings, who finished 7-5 on the season, that claimed the second playoff berth in the West. Scott Belt, who led the AFA in rushing yardage with 1,492, was named the league's Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career. Like the Wildcats, the Wings relied on a rookie quarterback out of the Deep South Conference to lead them and second round pick Morton Gouge, from Mississippi A&M, had a strong season and led the AFA with 2,419 passing yards. It was on defense that the Wings had some issues with the opposition scoring at least 30 points in four of San Francisco's five losses.

Continuing the trend of rookie quarterbacks was the Los Angeles Tigers, who finished tied with St Louis for third place in the West Division at 6-6. Garton Bird was a local product, refining his skills under the tutelage of former Detroit head coach Tom Bowens at CC Los Angeles and he went on to make the All-Pro Classic as a rookie. What the Tigers lacked was a dominant rushing game, something the Ramblers had in abundance with Offensive Player of the Year Jim Kellogg leading the way for St. Louis. The Ramblers offense needed a quarterback as after just one season in St Louis they had seen enough of the talented but moody Sam Burson and cut the former Detroit Maroons signal caller. No other team took a chance on Burson and the Ramblers also went with a rookie signal caller, giving the starting job to fourth overall pick Jim Driver who had enjoyed an impressive collegiate career with Liberty College that included a perfect 11-0 season his junior year. Driver had his ups and downs as a rookie pro but the future does hold some promise for a Ramblers team that has made the playoffs two of the past five years but has never won a post-season game.

The Detroit Maroons finished first in the West at 8-4 a year ago but reversed their record with a disappointing 4-8 campaign this time around. A 2-6 start cost the General Manager his job and put head coach Sam Wiggins on thin ice with club owner Rollie Barrell reportedly incensed Wiggins opted to bench second year quarterback Sled Hicks after his strong rookie campaign and give the starting job to another youngster in Tom Griffin. Under Griffin the offense, that was number one in passing yardage a year ago, struggled and even halfback Art Heal's 6th season gaining more than 1,000 yards rushing could not turn things around. All that saved Detroit from last place was the fact that the Kansas City Cowboys still looked lost. The Cowboys, once the class of football, suffered through another 2-10 season and are 16-56 since the start of the 1954 season. The year actually started with a lot of promise for once for Kansas City with back to back wins over St Louis and Pittsburgh but they then proceeded to end the season on a 10-game losing streak.

The New York Stars were once again the class of the East Division, finishing with a 9-3 record to make the playoffs for the sixth time in the past eight years. Running back Bryan Mire (1,271 yards) continues to be the heart of the offense but the Stars real strength is a defense that allowed the fewest points (14.7 per game) and surrendered the least amount of yardage both on the ground and through the air.

Washington needed a week twelve 33-26 win over Philadelphia to allow the Wasps to finish 7-5 and nose out the 6-6 Frigates for the second playoff spot in the East Division. Injuries limited veteran Washington quarterback Tommy Norwood to just 9 games but the Wasps real strength on offense was the rushing duo of Rodger Donohoe ( 934 yds) and Jerry Walsh (810 yds). As usual, the Frigates offense revolved around quarterback Pete Capizzi, who threw for 2,125 yards and a league high 18 touchdowns but their undoing was a defense that was worst in the league against the run and not much better stopping the pass.

The Pittsburgh Paladins made a spirited push to make the playoffs for the first time since 1952 but their five game winning streak to end the season could not overcome a dreadful 1-6 start to the campaign. Boston also had a terrible start with the fifth place Americans losing five of their first six games and ending the season with a 5-7 record while Cleveland stumbled through a 4-8 season in which they lost second year quarterback Bren Wechsler with a season ending injury in week 8.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION PLAYOFFS

Carl Boon's Chicago Wildcats are the winningest team in AFA history but they had not won a championship game since 1949. That changed as the Wildcats claimed the franchises 8th title.

Chicago, which finished with the top regular season record, got off to a terrible start in the West Final when visiting San Francisco jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead. The Wildcats trailed 21-10 at the break and 28-20 entering the final 15 minutes before erupting for three fourth quarter scores including a pair of Don Hack touchdown passes to claim a 42-28 victory over the Wings. End Denny Haywood had a huge game with 5 catches for 107 yards including a pair of touchdown receptions.

The East Final had two time defending AFA champion Washington heading to the Big Apple to face a battle-tested New York Stars club that has gone 5-3 in playoff play over the past eight seasons. The Stars built a 20-3 lead but Washington made it close with a pair of Stan Burson to Jim Edmonds touchdown passes in the final four minutes, but New York held on for the 20-17 victory.

The title game was a defensive struggle with neither club mounting any sort of a drive in the opening 17 minutes of the game. The first break came for the Chicago Wildcats when a kick by Stars punter Hunky Tennant was blocked by Wildcats defender Frankie Bracey but three plays later Chicago quarterback Miller Bogert fumbled and the Stars were given their best field position of the game. A pair of Chicago penalties further shortened the field and Stars back Bryan Mire took care of the rest, running for an 11-yard touchdown to give New York a 7-0 lead. The two teams would trade field goals before the half making the score 10-3 for the Stars at the break after Chicago's Paul Chestnut missed a 12-yard chip shot field goal as time ran out that would have cut the New York lead to 4 points.

After a scoreless third quarter Chestnut was successful on a 30-yard field goal attempt four minutes into the fourth period to cut the Chicago deficit to 10-6 and after a New York fumble Chestnut made a 26-yard three pointer with 4:26 remaining to make it a 1-point game. Three plays later New York quarterback Charlie Coons fumbled when he was sacked by Ken Golder and the Wildcats had the ball on the Stars 13-yard line. It took just one play for Chicago to finally find the endzone as Bogert hooked up with end Jim O'Hearn on a 13-yard pass play to make the score 15-10 for the Wildcats and it remained that way when their attempt for a 2-point conversion failed.

New York turned the ball over on downs inside the two minute mark and the Wildcats Chestnut booted what would prove to be a very important 26-yard field goal to make the score 18-10 as New York's Coons connected with Conrad Macon on a 69-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game. Trailing 18-16 the Stars could force overtime with a successful 2-point conversion, but they were stopped short, and the Wildcats were the 1959 AFA champions.

GATORS MAKE GEORGIA KING OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL ONCE AGAIN

For the third year in a row the college football national champions hailed from Georgia, but this time it was not Noble Jones College, who saw their winning streak snapped at 31 games and failed to win a third consecutive grid crown. Instead, it was their in-state rivals from Georgia Baptist that ended up as the number one team in the nation after the Gators went 10-1 including a regular season concluding 21-13 victory over the Colonels followed by a 26-16 win over Lubbock State in the Oilman Classic on New Years Day after the Hawks had entered the game ranked number one and a perfect 10-0.

The Gators, who had not won a national football title since 1919, were coming off back to back 7-3 seasons and were realistically hoping for a top twenty finish. The prognosis did not get much better when Georgia Baptist came up short in their season opener -playing against the other major school from the state. That would the military academy of Rome State which won back to back titles during the war but had seen its ups and downs since them. The Centurions took advantage of three Gators turnovers and held off Georgia Baptist 31-28 in the opener. Rome State would go on to have a solid 9-2 season that included a third consecutive victory over Annapolis Maritime and the Centurions would finish 11th in the final rankings following a narrow 20-19 loss to Amarillo Methodist in the Bayside Classic.

For Georgia Baptist it was a slow start, but the Gators would not lose again. Their season ending 21-13 win at home over Noble Jones College ended any hopes the Colonels had for a third straight national title and gave the Gators their first Deep South Conference crown in four years. It was the Baptist ground game that propelled them to the win over the Colonels, and with Ipswich Trophy winning tackle Don Lair opening huge holes, the backfield trio of Cal Seebacher, Roger Harris and Nelson Cruikshank combined for 233 rushing yards and all three touchdowns in the win over Noble Jones.

Noble Jones College had entered the season as the favourite to win an unprecedented third straight national title and Colonels looked unstoppable in winning their first seven games by a combined score of 270-63 and extending a winning streak that stretched back to 1956 to 31 games. Everything came crashing down in mid-November when Western Florida caught the Colonels looking ahead to their final two games against Central Kentucky and the Gators. The Wolves had just come off a loss to Cumberland that evened their record at 3-3 and were huge underdogs but somehow tamed a Noble Jones College offense that had averaged well over 400 yards per game up to that point. The Wolves shut down both the Colonels aerial game led by Garrett Snyder and a rushing attack that featured former Christian Trophy winning back Jeff Zwiefel. Zwiefel, a junior, was in the midst of a third straight season rushing for over 1,300 yards and had gained 531 in the previous two games combined. On this night he was held to 68 yards and the entire Colonels offensive output amounted to just 171 yards in a 22-7 streak-snapping loss.

Noble Jones did bounce back the following week with a 24-3 win over Central Kentucky and still had a chance at both the Deep South Conference crown and the national title until the loss to the Gators. The loss cost Noble Jones College a classic invite as well, as the 8-2 Colonels finished 14th in the final rankings and missed playing on New Years Day for just the second time since 1952.

Entering their showdown with Georgia Baptist in the Oilman Classic -the annual meeting between champions of the Deep South Conference and Southwestern Alliance- Lubbock State was a perfect 10-0 and looking for its first national title since 1916 when it shared the crown with Liberty College. The Hawks were regulars in the top twenty in recent years but with a dominating defense and a star freshman by the name of Rich Gingerich, who ran for 1,446 yards, in the backfield it seemed this might be their year. It took exactly one play to prove that may not be the case as Georgia Baptist's first play from scrimmage in the Oilman Classic was a 75 yard Jim Henson to Carden Skelly touchdown pass and the Gators never trailed in the contest. The 26-16 victory left the 10-1 Gators at the top of the polls and the Hawks, now also 10-1, were forced to settle for second.

There were three other 10-1 schools in Daniel Boone College, Eastern Oklahoma and Detroit City College but none could mount a realistic case to prove why they, and not the Gators, should be number one. The Frontiersmen perhaps had the best case as they handed the Eastern Oklahoma Pioneers their only loss on the season, with Daniel Boone College winning 26-23 in a thrilling Sunshine Classic that required overtime. However, the Frontiersmen competed in a fairly weak Plains Athletic Association and did not face any elite schools in the non-section portion of their schedule either.

Detroit City College, the 1955 national champion, did finish with a victory but barely as they Knights edged Southern Border Conference champion Canyon A&M 31-28 in the Desert Classic but the DCC case for number one can be thrown out quickly with the mere mention they did not even win their conference. The Knights lone loss came to Great Lakes Alliance rival Minnesota Tech and the Lakers were a perfect 7-0 in section play. That earned Minnesota Tech a trip to the East-West Classic but they finished their season just as they started it: with a loss to a West Coast Athletic Association team. It was Coastal California in the opening weekend of the season for the Lakers, who dropped a 31-20 decision, and their second trip west for a New Years date also ended in disappointment with a 24-14 loss to Northern California. For the Miners, who finished 9-2 and fifth in the national poll, it was a third consecutive season they kicked off the new year with a victory in Santa Ana. Northern California is becoming a dynasty on the Pacific coast with six appearances in the East-West Classic over the past nine years. It was also the second time in three years the Miners beat Minnesota Tech.

RECORD 6th AIAA CAGE CROWN FOR CARDINALS

The Carolina Poly Cardinals became the first school to win six AIAA collegiate basketball titles after they prevailed in the 1958-59 tournament, winning it all for the third time in the past five years. The Cardinals won their first national basketball tournament title in the spring of 1921 and followed that up with championships in 1930, 1945 and then back to back wins in the spring of 1955 and 1956.

This year's Cardinals team finished the regular season with a 25-4 record and shared the South Atlantic Conference title with Maryland State, as both were 11-3 in section play. The leader of the Cardinals was All-American forward Calvin Brown, a senior who was named the South Atlantic Conference player of the year and also played a key role as a starter on the 1956 title team when he was a freshman. Now a senior, the Richmond, VA., native led the team in scoring (13.6 ppg) and shared the rebounds lead at 7.4 per game with junior center Dan Holland.

As the top seed in the South Region the Cardinals were not challenged much during their run to Bigsby Garden and the national semi-finals. Academia Alliance champion Dickson, led by a talented senior guard named Jim Meredith, posed little challenge in the opening round as the Cardinals, led by Brown's 17 points, built an 11 point lead at the break and cruised to a 70-61 victory over the 8th seeded Maroons.

Round two presented a Whitney College team (20-11) that was having a down year by the Engineers high standards and the Cardinals broke open a tight game with a strong run early in the second half to go on to a 70-60 victory. Brown once more set the pace with a 22 point outing while sophomore guard Peter Nielsen added 14 points for the winners.

The regional final saw the one and two seeds meeting, but it quickly became a lobsided affair as the Cardinals outscored the Noble Jones College Colonels by 17 points in the first half and eased their foot off the gas in the second half to complete a 61-55 victory. Nielsen had the hot hand, making 10 of 17 attempts from the field and scoring 23 points.

The tournament stayed pretty well according to script as three of the four teams to qualify for the semi-finals were number one seeds with Western Iowa and Redwood joining the Cardinals. The lone exception came from the West Region where top seed and West Coast Athletic Association champions Lane State was surprised 41-39 in the regional semi-final by fourth seeded Central Ohio. The Aviators, whose only previous trip to the national semi-finals came a dozen years ago, beat sixth seed Provo Tech 44-41 in the west final after the Lions had knocked off #2 Indiana A&M in the other regional semi-final.

Central Ohio's luck ran out against Carolina Poly in the semi-final as the Cardinals, led by Calvin Brown's 17 points, came out on top by a 51-43 score. The other semi went right down to the wire with Jerry Blake sinking a shot from the left corner in the closing seconds to lift the Western Iowa Canaries to a 56-54 triumph over Redwood.

The All-bird final saw the Canaries hang with the Cardinals for nearly thirty minutes before Carolina Poly finally started to pull away. The Cardinals went on a 12-3 run and led by 13 points with just over 3 minutes remaining in the game. Western Iowa mounted a late charge but fell well short with the Cardinals claiming a 58-51 victory. Brown was once more the big scorer for Carolina Poly, notching a game high 16 points while junior center Dan Hollard, who will be counted on to lead the title defense next year, had 10 points and 9 rebounds in the victory.

DOMINANT SEASON NETS CHICAGO POLY FIRST AIAA WCS TITLE

The Chicago Poly Catamounts seemingly came out of nowhere to win the first collegiate baseball title in school history. The Catamounts were one of the original feeder era teams tracing their baseball roots all the way back to 1910 but had only advanced as far as the semi-finals of the collegiate world championship series once prior to this year. That was in 1952 when they were knocked out by eventual champion Daniel Boone College.

Chicago Poly lacked star quality but did have a hard working team well versed in fundamentals as Catamounts Athletic Director Dan Barrell, a former FABL world championship series winner with the old Brooklyn Kings, ensured his team played the game the right way. The won a school record 40 games during the regular season to claim one of the at large berths in the 16-team field and then thumped Southwestern Alliance champion Lubbock State 11-0 in the opening round and followed that up with an 8-3 triumph over heavily favoured North Carolina Tech, which was the class of the South Atlantic Conference.

Next up was West Coast Athletic Association title holder Rainier College and the Catamounts won that game as well, with senior third baseman Michael Smith hitting a 2-run homer in the first inning and pitchers Johnny Scoot and Justin Miner combining on a 2-hitter in a 3-1 victory over the Majestics.

The best of three finals had Chicago Poly face another team make its first appearance in the finals. That would be Tempe College, which scored in the bottom of the 8th inning to defeat El Paso Methodist 1-0 in the other semi-final. Matt Adams, who would be named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, had three hits and drove in three runs in the series opener to pace the Catamounts to a 5-1 victory. Tempe College bounced back with a 4-2 win in the second game before a wild third game that saw the Catamounts score twice in the top of the ninth to go ahead 10-4 but then need both of those insurance runs as the Titans scored five times in the bottom of the ninth before falling just short, losing 10-9.

DUKES DOMINATE NAHC FOES

The Toronto Dukes came up with the record setting season most expected out of the franchise a year ago when Tommy Bruns joined Quinton Pollack to form one of the deadliest pairs up the middle the league has ever seen. Toronto led the NAHC with 225 goals but neither of the veteran centers led the loop in scoring. That distinction went to 26-year-old Detroit Motors star Alex Monette, who topped the league with 44 goals and 82 points. The Toronto did accumulate plenty of points with Pollack (27-45-72) finished second and Burns (23-41-64) fourth in the scoring parade, but it was Toronto's work in the defensive zone which was key to a record 97 points and an 11 point bulge on second place Boston.

The Dukes defense has been very good in recent years, and this was no exception as Tim Brooks and Bobby Fuhrman each were named to the first All-Star Team and Brooks won the inaugural Dewar Trophy, handed out to the player judged to be the top rearguard in the league. The big surprise was in net where the Dukes demoted long-time starter Scott Renes and gave the job to a 27-year-old rookie by the name of Mike Connelly. The British Columbia native was a third round pick of the Dukes way back in 1951 but had spent the past half dozen seasons with Cleveland of the Hockey Association of America. Promoted to the big club and given the starting job with just 1 NAHC game under his belt, Connelly played in 53 games, posting a 33-11-8 record with 8 shutouts and was named the winner of the McLeod Trophy as the NAHC's top rookie, an award no Dukes player had won since Laurel Albers in 1941.

While Toronto placed just its top two defensemen on the first all-star team, four more Dukes made the second team. They included goaltender Connelly, Quinton Pollack who also won his record 7th McDaniels Trophy as league MVP despite serious objection from Alex Monette supporters in Detroit, along with wingers Ken Jamieson and Charles Brochu. Jamieson, 28, tied his career high with 52 points including 25 goals while the 25-year-old Brochu enjoyed a breakout season with 40 points. In all 7 Dukes players reached the forty point plateau including defenseman Fuhrman (10-34-44) and rising star Tim Amesbury (21-23-44), a 24-year-old who was the Dukes first round draft pick in 1954.

The Dukes, after losing in the semi-finals each of the past two years, seemed on a mission right from the opening day of the season. Toronto won its first six games and did not allow a goal until their fifth game as Connelly record four straight shutouts to begin the campaign. The Dukes were unstoppable, losing back to back games just twice all season and finishing with a 43-16-11 record. No NAHC club had ever won as many as 40 games in a season prior to Toronto's dominance this campaign.

Boston finished with an impressive 86 points and the Bees, with their goaltender duo of Oscar James and Pierre Melancon still sharing the net, actually allowed 6 fewer goals than the Dukes did all season. A pair of Boston defenders in Mickey Bedard and Ben Voyechek were named second team all-stars but Boston did not quite have the offense to keep up with the Dukes. Jimmy Rucks (23-41-64) led the way for the Bees in that department with Luc Fournier (17-32-49) having a career best season at age 28.

Monette (44-38-82) was the star of the show for third place Detroit as the 26-year-old winger hit new heights by winning his first scoring title. Monette's 44 goals were three shy of the NAHC single season record held jointly by Pollack, Burns and 1930s Boston star Bert Cordier. Detroit goaltender Henri Chasse (27-28-15, 2.77) played all 70 games for the Motors but perhaps he should have had some days off as his performance was well off from previous years and perhaps, at 35, he is starting to show signs of age. If Chasse is near the end it could lead to tough times for the club that won two Challenge Cups in the past four years as the season ended with Chasse being the only goaltender under contract to the organization.

Montreal finished four and made the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The main reason was goaltender Nathan Bannister (24-27-11, 2.69), who may not have the best stats but once more was named a first team All-Star. Jocko Gregg (14-26-40), who was MVP a year ago, saw his production slide but he still led the club in scoring. Offense was at a premium for the Valiants, with their leading goal scoring finishing with just 15 goals and he did not even finish the season in Montreal. That would be Wayne Lucien (15-16-31), who was waived in early March and signed by the New York Shamrocks.

New York and the Chicago Packers again missed the playoffs. The Shamrocks have now gone five years without a postseason game and there is very little to be excited about in the Big Apple. It has just been two seasons without April hockey in the Windy City, a number that corresponds to how long ago they dispatched Tommy Burns to Toronto. Unlike in New York there are some bright spots in Chicago as 26-year-old Guy Bernier (7-16-23) and 24-year-old Mike Homfray (7-12-19) are showing promise as are forwards Ken York (11-8-19), 22, and 25-year-old Conn Maguire (17-25-42), who led the team in points.

DUKES CONTINUE REGULAR SEASON DOMINANCE IN PERFECT PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE

The first place Toronto Dukes finished a whooping 34 points ahead of their opening round opponents as the Montreal Valiants won just 25 games this season to finish fourth. The other series also had a large discrepancy as second place Boston, with 86 points, ended up 17 points ahead of the defending Challenge Cup champion Detroit Motors.

The Dukes would go on to make history and become the first team in recent memory to post a perfect 8-0 playoff record. Montreal scored first in two of the four games and kept the scores respectable, but it was clear the Valiants were no match for a team led by Quinton Pollack and Tommy Burns that also was home to the biggest story of the season in the emergence of career minor league goaltender Mike Connelly as the second-coming of Gordie Broadway in his prime.

Unlike the regular season when Connelly started the campaign with 4 straight shutouts, he struggled a bit in the playoff opener but the Toronto offense picked him up in a 6-3 victory. Defenseman Mitch Moran scored twice while veteran forwards Tommy Burns and Lou Galbraith each had a goal and an assist in the opening win.

Game two was Connelly at his best and turned out to be a marathon. It was tied 1-1 after regulation with Burns and Montreal's John Beaudoin trading second period goals. As good as Connelly was, Montreal's Nathan Bannister was even better and the game dragged on through three complete overtime periods and was still tied at 1. Finally in the fourth overtime, with Toronto's 80th shot on goal and after 128:06 the Dukes Tim Amesbury ended the game with the winner. The third game also ended 2-1 in Toronto's favour, but this one was decided in regulation as Bobby Fuhrman and Pollack each scored second period goals for the Dukes with Jamie Koebel's third period marker being the only one of 23 Montreal shots to eluded Connelly. Toronto completed the sweep with a 4-1 victory in game four thanks to third period goals off the sticks of Charlie Brown, Galbraith and Doug Zimmerman.

Boston won the opener of the other semi-final by a 5-2 score as Jimmy Rucks and Luc Fourier each had three point evenings. Detroit earned a split in Beantown when Henri Chasse, who had 5 shutouts in the playoffs last season, stopped all 46 Bees shots in a 2-0 Detroit victory. Dixon Butler and Alex Guindon each scored in the first period for Detroit.

The Motors took the next two games on home ice to go up 3 games to one in the series. The game three final was 5-2 with five different Motors lighting the lamp while game four finished 4-1 with Chasse making 36 saves in another stellar outing for the veteran netminder.

Boston stayed alive with a 4-1 victory on home ice in game five as Rucks had a goal and an assist to pace the Bees, who outshot Detroit 37-23 but the series ended two nights later at Thompson Palladium when first period goals from Nick Tardif and Alex Monette helped the hosts wrap up the series with a 3-1 victory.

*** Challenge Cup Finals ***

Detroit had enjoyed success against Toronto in recent years, knocking off the Dukes twice in the finals and three times overall in the previous five seasons but 1958-59 proved to be very different. The first three games were all decided by just a single goal, including one in overtime, but all three went Toronto's way including the opener in which rookie Toronto defenseman Owen Green scored twice including the game winner with less than two minutes remaining in regulation to lift the Dukes to a 4-3 victory.

Game two saw Toronto score twice in the second period as Lou Galbraith and Ken Jamieson each beat Detroit netminder Henri Chasse. Meanwhile Toronto rookie Mike Connelly stopped all 15 Motors shots in the opening forty minutes. Detroit did finally find the back of the net, scoring twice in just over a two minute span early in the third period but Toronto would get the victory as Jimmy Cooper's first career playoff goal was an overtime game winner and gave the Dukes a 3-2 victory.

The series shifted to Detroit and the teams traded goals until Mitch Moran got the game winner for Toronto on a setup from Quinton Pollack with just over three minutes remaining in the third period. Game four was over early as the Dukes took a 3-0 lead on first period goals from Spencer Quinn, Sam Archibald and Bobby Fuhrman. Quinton Pollack added a power play goal in the middle frame to make it 4-0 and the 27-year-old rookie Connelly took care of the rest, stopping all 19 Detroit shots as the Dukes completed their second straight playoff sweep with a 4-0 victory. Moments later the Dukes hoisted the Challenge Cup for the record 11th time in franchise history and third time this decade.

HOCKEY NOTES

• Toronto's 2-1 quadruple overtime 2-1 win over Montreal in game two of the semi-finals is believed to be the longest game in modern NAHC history. It lasted 128 minutes and 6 seconds before Tim Amesbury got the winner on Toronto's 80th shot of the contest.
• Benny Barrell, 21 year old nephew of Dukes coach Jack Barrell and son of former FABL catcher Fred Barrell, made his NAHC debut. Barrell suited up for 41 games for the Detroit Motors this season, scoring three times and adding six helpers. He did not get a regular season goal against his uncle's team but Benny's first exhibition game saw him score against the Dukes.
• His younger brother Hobie Barrell had 90 points for the Halifax Mariners of the CAHA and is the favourite to be selected first overall in the 1960 NAHC draft.
• Kingston beat Sherbrooke in seven games to win its first CAHA title. In the pro ranks it was the Syracuse Lancers winning the HAA title and the Portland Ports emerging with the GWHL crown for the second time in three years.

1958-59 Season in Review

As the 1950s draw to a close, when you think about a “team of the decade”, there are several factors. First and foremost, championships are king. The Washington Statesmen won three titles entering this season: 1949-50, 1950-51, and 1955-56. The Statesmen also won the Eastern Division playoff in 1951-52 before bowing in the league Finals.

Next is regular season dominance, seen in division titles and won-lost record. No team has been better than Washington in the regular season, entering this year with a .593 winning percentage in nine seasons since 1949-50. Washington has won the Eastern Division in six of the last nine years, but last season was as bad as it has gotten for Washington: a third-place finish and a first-round playoff exit.

The Statesmen were 374-256 over the decade and their 39-33 record was good enough to win their seventh division title of the 1950s, but the won-lost record this year actually brought down their winning percentage for the decade from .593 to .588 (413-289).

Finally, a “team of the decade” needs to have the recognizable players associated with the wins, the division titles, and the championships. While Washington has not had the superstar of a Luther Gordon, a Ziggy Rickard, or a Mel Turcotte. Ernie Fischer has been the player that has seen almost all of it over the years. He was the last pick in the first round of the 1950 FBL Draft when there were 11 teams. Fischer was an every game starter almost right away and after 597 games (585 starts), Fischer has averaged 15.2 points and 10.8 rebounds a game. This year, the 31-year-old was sixth in the league with a 16.2-point scoring average.

The difference between Fischer and the other superstars are the surrounding cast, between Ivan Sisco and Willie Wright early in the decade to Hank Adkins (15.9 ppg) and Jack English (14.7 ppg) this season. The coaching also made a difference, as head coach Daniel Carter has helmed the Statesmen since the 1941-42 season. In 18 years, Carter is now 635-353 (.643) with 13 division titles and five championships.

This year, Carter won his 10th Coach of the Year honor and sixth since joining the FBL. Carter guided his troops to that fifth championship, a title that was not as easy as he had hoped.

The battle in the Eastern Division was a close race all season. Washington held off Philadelphia (37-35) and New York (37-35) by two games. Washington and New York were in a two-horse race most of the way, but a late push by Philadelphia moved the Phantoms into the conversation. Washington finished the season only winning 14 of 31 games, but it was enough as New York also sagged to a 14-18 finish over that same span. Philadelphia won 11 of its last 16 games to jump into a tie with New York and the Knights won the season series, 11 games to 10. The deciding game was on April 11th, when Philadelphia won at home, 88-79, behind 20 points for T.J. Grimm, but it was a team effort. All five starters scored in double figures for Philadelphia, with Mel Turcotte adding 18 points and Darren Fuhrman chipping in with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

The big news in the Western Division was the Rockets franchise relocating from Rochester to St. Louis. It was a move that was years in the making, with the small market of Rochester not able to handle the demands of big-league basketball. The move was likely staved off for a few years because of the unbridled success of the team and the passion of the fans, but that passion did not translate to the gate and the arena was much too small to house a team in such a league that has growth plans. Owner Jason Watson bought the team in 1955, and it was then that fans became resigned to the fact that the Rockets’ days in Rochester were numbered.

As the Federal Basketball League turns to the next decade, the loop will likely also turn to vast swaths of unserved basketball fans that would jump at the chance to have their own team. St. Louis is just the first of those cities. Of course, St. Louis had a team before, the ill-fated Steamers whose seams fell apart before they were fully sewn together. The Steamers lasted one season before folding.

The Rockets team kept on winning, engaging in a thrilling race with the Detroit Mustangs and the Rockets won the division with a 50-22 record, one game ahead of Detroit (49-23). The Rockets ripped off an 11-game winning streak to stand at 21-9 with a 4-1/2-game lead on Detroit after play on January 15th. The Mustangs won that night, beginning a 10-game winning streak and 22 wins in their next 24 games to jump into the lead by a game-and-a-half over the Rockets.

It was neck and neck over the final month and while the Mustangs and Rockets split two late-season home-and-home series, St. Louis was just a bit better than Detroit elsewhere and won the division by a skinny game. The rest of the division was so far back, it was nearly invisible. Chicago (23-49) finished 27 games back, but still made the playoffs by finishing third, three games ahead of Toronto (20-52). Many basketball fans outside of Chicago were upset that a Boston Centurions team that was only six games off the pace in the Eastern Division and finished ten games better than Chicago at 33-39 did not get a playoff berth because of the divisional playoff format.

Detroit easily beat Chicago in four games to advance for the series everyone wanted to see between the Mustangs and Rockets. The Mustangs were ready for this battle from the outset, taking Game One in St. Louis, 89-73. Ziggy Rickard, who finished third in league scoring at 20.3 per game, led all scorers with 28 points. After St. Louis got on the board in Game Two, 76-64, Detroit took control of the series. At the Thompson Palladium, Detroit stunned St. Louis with a fourth-quarter comeback, winning 79-78 to win Game 3 and took the final games of the series in anti-climactic fashion, winning the best-of-seven in five games.

Meanwhile, the Washington Statesmen waited in the Eastern Division playoff while Philadelphia and New York duked it out and it was a battle. The Phantoms went up 2-0 and New York tied the series with each team winning its home games, setting up a winner-moves-on fifth game. Philadelphia came out hot and led 33-15 after one period, and while the Phantoms stumbled in the fourth quarter and only managed to score nine points, the Phantoms still hung on to win, 83-75.

Philadelphia took its game to Washington and behind Mel Turcotte, the Phantoms were formidable. Turcotte scored 28 points as Philadelphia stole Game One in Washington, 80-72. Turcotte still scored 27 points in Game Two, but Washington’s supporting cast made the difference in its 96-82 win, as Hank Adkins poured in 25 points, Ernie Fischer had 24 points and point guard Ed Jordan had 22 points with 11 assists. Turcotte had his best game of the series in Game Three when he scored 30 points and held his opposite number, Fischer, to only nine points in a 102-77 thrashing of the Statesmen.

Washington took back home-court advantage winning on the Phantoms floor in Game Four, 79-67 and asserted themselves to control the series after thumping Philadelphia in Our Nation’s Capital in Game Five, 114-95, after Fischer and Turcotte engaged in a spirited scoring battle. Turcotte won that battle, 30-28, but Fischer won the game. Philadelphia would not go quietly, pulling away in the fourth quarter of a 88-66 victory in Game Six to stave off elimination.

Washington had the fuel to come out firing in Game Seven at home. The opening period saw the Statesmen run right through the Phantoms, opening a 20-point lead in the first stanza. The resulting carnage was a 93-59 Washington win that showed the Statesmen had enough to challenge for the league title.

The Evening Star was starting to trumpet the Statemen as the “team of the decade”, even before the ball was tipped to start the FBL Finals. There was still work to do and the Mustangs had All-League First Teamers Rickard and guard Frank Black. The most heralded Statesmen where named to the Third Team: Fischer and forward Jim Stofer.

Detroit had the better record and opened at home, but Washington stole that advantage right away, winning Game One, 101-89. Ernie Fischer scored his playoff-high of 33 points and blocked five shots and he willed the Statesmen to win in the fourth quarter. Washington was losing by five points heading into the last period and the Statesmen outscored the Mustangs, 29-12. Fischer did his Jekyll-and-Hyde impression in Game Two, only scoring four points as Detroit rolled, 99-64. Rickard led the way with 22 points, but Ed Corwin scored 21 and Ed Kosanovich added 20 points to give the Mustangs three players with 20 points each, while no one on Washington reached 15 points.

Game Three was where Jim Stofer made his mark on the series, leading Washington with 20 points on offense, while he added 16 rebounds and three steals on defense in the Statesmen’s 74-66 win in their homecoming. Detroit was consistent from the field in Game Four, shooting 42% from the field and scoring 20, 22, 20, and 20 points each quarter in the 82-64 win. Washington struggled, missing two-thirds of its shots.

Game Five was tough to watch, as both teams combined to turn the ball over 51 times in what did not resemble championship basketball but could be chalked up to exhaustion. Detroit tried to come from behind, which made for an entertaining final few minutes, but the scoring was paltry in Washington’s 65-64 win to take a 3-2 lead in the series.

Detroit tried to stay alive with one more game at home in Game Six. Detroit had a good first half, pumping in 52 points to lead by seven at the half, but Washington had the staying power. Fischer rebounded with 30 points to bookend the series in grand fashion and earn Playoff MVP honors. Adkins added 20 points and added to his healthy playoff scoring average of 19.0 points per game, and Washington erased the deficit in the third period before streaking to the title in the fourth quarter.

Washington won its fourth title of the decade. Coach Daniel Carter had his fifth ring. The players have changed, but the winning has not. The Statesmen are the 1950’s Basketball Team of the Decade.

ELLIS REMAINS CLASS OF WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION

Take away questionable scoring decision and we may now be looking at Eugene Ellis as one of the greats in the welterweight division. The 28-year-old pugilist from Seattle has been involved in each of the last 11 fights with the American Boxing Federation welterweight title on the line. Only the great Jimmy 'Kid' Simpson, who dominated the 1930s and 1920s star George Grainger have enjoyed a longer stretch.

Ellis added to his reputation with three more successful title defenses in 1959 and none of three needed to go to the scorecards. In March in Newark, Ellis knocked out French champion Valentin Moreau in the 9th round of their scheduled 15 rounder and he followed that up with a dominant showing in Chicago in July when he floored Patrick Graham five times with the last knockdown ending the proceedings in the 7th round. Ellis completed the hat trick of knock out wins with a 7th round TKO victory over Michael McDowell in Atlanta at the beginning of November.

Ellis has been the big name in the lightest division since claiming the title with a TKO win over former champ Lonnie Griffin in October of 1956. He would make six successful title defenses over the ensuing couple of years but briefly lost the title when Griffin edged him out in a controversial split decision. The duo immediately planned a rubber math and that one was all Ellis as, while he did have to go the distance, he dominated the fight to eliminate any concern of judges not seeing things his way. Ellis is now 39-4-1 for his career and the 28-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down.

Canadian George Quisenberry is once more the middleweight champ. The Toronto native held the title briefly a year ago when he outpointed former champ Yohan Revel but lost to George Hatchell in his second defense. Hatchell, who is without a doubt one of the most controversial figures in boxing, lost the title to Mark McCoy in the spring. It was McCoy's third stint as the champ and also the third time McCoy had defeated Hatchell with the belt on the line but this one went to the scorecards, unlike the previous two in which Hatchell was twice disqualified.

McCoy, who is 30-years-old and has seen some tough fights along the way to a 46-9-1 record, lost to Quisenberry in his first title defense. The 24-year-old Canadian is one of the rising stars in the fight game.

Speaking of stars we said good bye to a top flight heavyweight fighter in 1959 and a second one is likely not that far behind him. Tommy Cline, the Tennessee Tornado who was a top contender throughout the past decade but only very briefly held the title, announced his retirement after losing to Ezra Frishman in October. Cline was 45-11-1 for his career and is probably best remember for his three title fights with Joey Tierney. Cline lost the first two but prevailed in their final meeting when he knocked Tierney out at Bigsby Garden in early 1958.

Tierney, the Motor City legend who had a long run as champion after Hector Sawyer retired, is expected to retire in the next couple of months. He says he would like to step into the ring one or two more times but the 32-year-old with a 45-9-2 mark who twice held the world heavyweight title says the end is very near. He looked very good last February when he faced former champ Steve Leivers at Thompson Palladium and handed the Brit just his second career loss and followed that up with a win over an aging Max Bradley, but Tierney showed his age and the wear and tear he has absorbed over the years with a terrible outing in a fight with George Gallashaw in New Orleans in November, one in which the main focus of the evening was on honouring the great Hector Sawyer for his induction in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

The decade of the 1950s in boxing was a transient decade for the sport. The dawn of the 1950s saw an all-time champion in Hector Sawyer still plying his trade at the highest level. After his retirement in 1951, the championships in all three weight classes seemed to bounce around between a few of the top-tier fighters in each class.

In the heavyweight division, Joey Tierney had two different stints with the title, as well as the reigning Boxer of the Year, Brad Harris. Tommy Cline was in the running for the vacant belt in 1952 and managed to win the title six years later.

Harris opened the year with a couple of successful defenses of his heavyweight title but ran into trouble in late September in an all-Ohio Heavyweight Championship. Harris, from Akron, faced off against Cincinnati’s Dave Courtney, who is two years younger and has nine fewer fights to his name. The fight got off to a spirited start, as Courtney was called for a low blow, while Harris was hitting with an open glove, and that was all in the first 100 seconds of the fight. There was a knockdown in the first round, too, as Courtney dropped the champion with an overhand right to show that he meant business.

In the fourth round, Courtney scored another knockdown. This one was early in the round and came by way of a crushing cross. Although Harris stood up at a three-count, he did not look one hundred percent. Courtney sensed his moment, and he aggressively began to offer more punches. Harris did not have the ability to swat, block, or sidestep any punches from Courtney, who started connecting with regularity. Referee Vic Green had seen enough seconds before the end of the fourth round and called the fight for Courtney, a technical knockout that ended the fight and made Dave Courtney the newest heavyweight champion.

The middleweight division has had more individual champions than any other weight class with eight different champions, but the belt has been passed around to only four middleweights in the last five years.
Mark McCoy won the belt three times: in 1951, 1957, and this year. George Hatchell, who started this year with the title in his hands, lost to McCoy in May for his third reign as champion. Hatchell has held the belt twice, once for five successful title defenses in 1955 through 1957 and won the belt back from George Quisenberry last year. Quisenberry received another title shot after defeating Yohan Revel in Montreal and losing his first title defense in Toronto against Hatchell.

For the 24-year-old Quisenberry, that loss against Hatchell was his only loss heading into his September bout with McCoy in St. Louis. McCoy was six years Quisenberry’s senior and Quisenberry dominated the bout, visibly marking McCoy in the first round, as McCoy’s right eye started to swell. Quisenberry knocked McCoy down four times, the final time resulting in a knockout after a lethal uppercut.

Quisenberry defended his belt successfully with a December decision over Harry Kimbro, who had a good record of 33-3 coming into the fight. Quisenberry was rarely challenged, earning a knockdown of Kimbro 1:48 into the bout among his three knockdowns throughout the fight. Kimbro did have one uppercut that connected with Quisenberry just right and he crumpled to the canvas, but Quisenberry was up relatively quickly. Quisenberry victimized Kimbro with quality of punches and quantity of punches, as he landed about twice as many as the challenger.

The only fighter who did not relinquish his belt all year is Eugene Ellis. He also won the Bologna Boxer of the Year for the second time, the first such pugilist ever to claim that honor. Ellis fought three times in 1959 and earned three knockouts. Two of them were standard knockouts and one was a technical knockout. The lengths of Ellis’s fights were shorter and shorter as the year wore on. First was a ninth-round knockout of Valentin Moreau, when the challenger walked into a well-placed hook from Ellis and headed straight to the canvas. The fight was held at Newark Gardens in the city that is the home of Lonnie Griffin, who did not bother to show up to add his commentary to the proceedings.

Ellis took on Patrick Graham in Chicago and Ellis dropped Graham just 45 seconds into the fight. In all, Ellis dropped Graham four times, including twice in the seventh and final round in this bout. Ellis was effective in his use of the uppercut throughout the match, but it was his winning hook that was responsible for three of the four knockdowns, including the last one that ended the fight. Ellis finished the year against a fighter not ranked among the top five in the weight class: Michael McDowell. McDowell had ten previous losses in his 41 professional bouts. The first five rounds were close, but Ellis showed his championship pedigree in the sixth round, culminating his barrage with a cross to the midsection that showed referee Paul Field that continuing the fight would endanger McDowell.

The next decade holds the promise of a new era and time will tell if the current champions will be remembered with their faces chiseled on the side of a mountain or pebbles that barely make a ripple in the sport of boxing.

FROM THE LOCAL PAPERS

Tales From The Manor: Dukes Dominant During 1958-59 Return Challenge Cup To Toronto -After acquiring Tommy Burns in the summer of 1957 Toronto fans believed that another NAHC championship was secure for the Dukes. That edition of the Toronto hockey team never seemed to come together as a unit finishing in 3rd place before being dumped from the playoffs in the first round.

It seems that the Dukes after a summer to ponder what went wrong applied the lessons learned in the 1958-59 season improving by 10 wins. The team had a 43-16-11 record good for an NAHC record 97 points - 11 more than Boston who finished in second place. The team led in the goals with 225 with four 20 goal scorers in Quinton Pollack, 27, Ken Jamieson, 25, Tommy Burns, 23 and Tim Amesbury with 21. Pollack finished second in the scoring race a full 10 points behind the leader Detroit's Alex Monette who posted a season with 44-38-82. Pollack missed 11 games due to a number injuries but still led the league in helpers with 45. Burns at 39 was second in assists with 41 tying for 3rd in the scoring race with 64 points. Burns suited up for all 70 regular season games, along with all the playoff games.

The biggest story of the season was in goal for the Dukes. After Scott Renes eye injury towards the end of the '57-58 season he looked a little unsure of himself in training camp where he donned a mask to protect his face during practices. He was eventually sent to Cleveland for the year in an attempt to regain his confidence and form between the pipes. This opened the door for Mike Connelly, 27, who was picked in the third round of the 1951 draft to make the Dukes' goaltending tandem after 4 seasons in Cleveland.

Connelly seized the opportunity with a hot start when Coach Barrell played a hunch to start him the season opener on October 11th against Chicago. Connelly responded with 3-0 shutout. The story was just beginning, with Mike in net the Dukes reeled off 3 more shutouts, before he finally gave up a goal in the team's 4-1 win in Detroit. Another win followed, 3-2 at home over the Motors before Connally finally was on the losing side of a game, a 5-2 loss in New York. Connelly then started two more games winning both before Charlie Dell got a start in net in which he blanked the New York Shamrocks 3-0. Connelly's started in the NAHC was 7-1-0 with 1.50 GAA. Connelly held the starters job all season long leading the league in goaltender wins with 33 with 11 losses, 8 ties in 53 games with 2.21 GAA stopping 91.8% of 1428 shots he faced in 3174 minutes.

The team rode that hot start to easily outdistance the other five teams in the 70-game regular season. The Dukes never went more than two games with getting at least one point. Only three times did the team lose two in a row from October to March.

On the road to the Challenge Cup Toronto's first hurdle was the Montreal Valiants who finished fourth with a record of 25-32-13 63 points edging out the Shamrocks for the final playoff spot by one point after Montreal beat New York 5-2 at Bigsby Gardens on the final day of the regular schedule. Toronto dispatched the Vals in 4 straight. After winning the opener easily by a 6-3 score, Montreal put up a fight in the second game. In a game that the 14,235 on hand thought would be another easy win for the Dukes instead turned into a long night. Each team scored in the second, Burns opened the scoring from Spencer Quinn only to have John Beaudoin tie the game at 13:43 of the period. At the time no one knew but that would be the last goal for 94:23 when Tim Amesbury scored at 8:06 of the fourth OT period in the wee hours of April Fools Day. In goal Nate Bannister turned away 78 of 80 shots while Connelly made 55 stops in 128:07 in goal. After that marathon Toronto went into the Montreal Arena winning 4-1 then 2-1 after Montreal came up short in a third period rally.

Toronto went on to face the defending Cup champions, their archrivals, Detroit Motors in the final beginning at home on April 14th. Detroit had defeated Boston, who was the only other team to finish over .500 in the regular season, in 6 games. Detroit had a record of 27-28-15 were led by Monette, 26, along with veteran goaltender Henri Chasse in their title defense.

Toronto won the first game 4-3 on a goal by Owen Green with 1:45 remaining in the third after Detroit had rallied to tie the game at 3 with 2 quick goals in the third. The second game went to OT after the Dukes squandered a 3-0 lead in the third. Jimmy Cooper put the Dukes up 2 games with a goal in dying minutes of the first overtime by deflecting a Burns pass past Chasse at 16:54. Going into the Palladium on April 20th the Dukes put a stranglehold on the series with another late goal by Mitch Moran with 3:05 left in the third after Vincent Arsenault had tied game at 3 for Detroit only 52 seconds earlier. That loss seemed to demoralize the Motors and Toronto ended the season three nights later, the way the had began the campaign, with 4-0 win in which Connelly only had to make 19 stops. The party then began for the team in Detroit along with their fans in Toronto.

Coach Barrell- "That was a satisfying year after the disappointment of '57-58. The biggest surprise of the year had to be Connelly. We knew Mike was solid in net be no idea he was this good. We now have a good problem with 3 NAHC ready keepers in Connelly, Dell, Renes. Renes started to get his game back together late in the Cleveland season after that horrific eye injury in March of 1958. I was happy with balance we found in scoring with Jamieson, Amesbury and Spencer Quinn taking steps forward. With Tommy, going on 40, Quinton who will be 37 over the summer we have to have others contribute to the offense. That will be the job in camp, rebalance the team scoring with less load on Burns, Pollack."

Tales From The Den: More Of The Same From The Wolves 74-80 Sixth Place - The Toronto Wolves continued their losing ways by finishing sixth in the Continental Association. With a record of 74-80 the team now has 11 straight losing seasons and it has now been 20 years since the Wolves last pennant. The best record the team has in the Fifties were back to back seasons of 76-78 in 1955 and 1956.

During the past season the Wolves did get better pitching, ranking around middle of the CA pack in most pitching stats. The defense went from awful to just dreadful with big holes at shortstop along with right field. Inexplicably, John Wells started the majority of games at short nearly a decade after he had shown he could not play the position at an FABL level. He is far less a defensive liability at either second or first. Right Field was trouble all season with every ball hit to right turning into an adventure that more often than not ended in a poor outcome. Sid Cullen, 23, stabilized the defense in centerfield, which was a sore spot in 1958. As the pitching progressed, the fielding got a little better but the bats took a year off. With the exception of a little power, Wolves were second in HR, fourth in XBH, Toronto was generally seventh or eighth in all other hitting statistics.

The team started with a record of 18-30 through May then had one of only two winning months for the year in June, 15-13. The only other winning month was a surprising 19-10 record in August. Another poor start pretty well insured a second division finish, which made the Wolves 10 for 10 bottom 3 finishes for the Fifties.

Tom Reed again led the hitters at .313/.373/.556 28 HR 134 OPS+ garnering his third straight ASG appearance. Other than rookie CF Sid Cullen and catcher Dixie Williams the Wolves lineup was of little fear for opposing pitchers. On the mound George Hoxworth again led the CA in both strikeouts and walks with 16-10 3.06 record. Whitey Stewart took a major step back with a 6-15 4.90 record. Arnie Smith, the fourth overall selection in '58, made the team out of camp. He performed admirably as a rookie at 19 with 13-15 4.01 in just over 240 innings of work.

Heading into the new decade Wolves fans, who continue to show up in surprisingly high numbers, seem to have at least a few more seasons on the outside looking up at the leaders. The fans deserve better but the future does not seem to be very bright at the moment. The only saving grace is that the pitching staff is the second youngest in the FABL at an average of 26 2/3 years old, about a year older than the Keystones.

LEAN YEARS ON HORIZON FOR DYNAMOS

Remember fondly that the Detroit Dynamos were the team of the decade in the 1950s, as hard times may be upon us as we step into a new decade. The past nine seasons have been like a dream as Detroit, which had not won a pennant since 1929, ended the drought in 1952 and reeled off an amusement park like collection of six flags and four World Championship Series victories.

The Dynamos had not finished worse than second in the Federal Association since 1950 but all of that changed last year when, in a cost cutting measure, the team dealt away stars Edwin Hackberrry, Stan Kleminski and Jack Miller. The result was an 80-74 season, their lowest win total since 1950, and a third place finish.

Instead of retooling by adding another veteran arm before the season began to ensure they remained competitive, the Dynamos further dismantled the dynasty as soon as the 1959 season concluded with the decision to deal 30-year-old Jack Halbur, who had been the most productive pitcher in 1959, to the Chicago Chiefs.

There is still some elite talent in the organization, led by the doubleplay duo of Dick Tucker and Joe Reed but there are a lot more holes -both in the lineup and the rotation- than we have seen at Thompson Field since the 1940s. Boston looks like the new dynasty in the Fed while Chicago should be improved with the addition of Halbur and St Louis is also a talented ballclub. Detroit has finished in the second division just three times since 1944 and never in back to back seasons but last season's 80 win total -the lowest of the decade- may be a sign of hard times ahead for the organization that dominated the 1950s.

The Year That Was
Current events from 1959

• Jan 3 - Alaska is admitted as the 49th U.S. State.
• Jan 7- The US recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro
• Feb 3- A plane carrying musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper crashes in Iowa killing all three.
• Mar 18- President Eisenhower signs a bill allowing for Hawaiian statehood.
• Apr 9- NASA selects the Mercury Seven, military pilots to become the first US astronauts.
• June 23- Convicted Manhattan Project spy Klaus Fuchs is released after nine years in a British prison.
• July 8- The first two American soldiers are killed in action in Vietnam.
• Aug 21- Hawaii is admitted as the 50th U.S. State.
• Sep 15- Soviet Premier Khrushchev and his wife arrive in the United States at the invitation of President Eisenhower.
  [*[Dec 1- The Antarctic Treaty is signed by 12 countries including the US and Soviet Union. It set aside the continent as a scientific preserve and bans military activity there. It becomes the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War.