FEBRUARY 26, 1962
HANCOCK WELCOMED TO BOONE COUNTY
The baseball Hall of Fame added one new member to its ranks recently with news that former Toronto and Detroit pitcher Joe Hancock will be the lone member of the 1962 Hall of Fame class. The Massachusetts native, one of just a handful of hurlers to win an Allen Award in each association, was named on 92% of the ballots in his first year of eligibility. Walt Messer, the long-time New York Gothams slugger was second in the balloting but finished well short of the 80% required for induction, being named on just over 65% of the ballots.
Hancock made his big league debut with the Toronto Wolves at the age of 23 in 1936 and would lead the Wolves to a World Championship Series victory in 1940. He was dealt to Detroit at the trade deadline in 1951 with the expectation that the now 38 year old would wrap up his career in a pennant quest with the Dynamos. He stuck around for six seasons in Detroit and was a part of four pennant winning clubs and 3 more WCS champions. Hancock was waived early in the 1957 season at the age of 44 and immediately retired. An eight-time all-star, he finished with a career record of 294-210 to go along with a 5-1 mark in WCS play. Hancock won his first Allen Award with the Wolves in 1949 and would follow it up with a second one 13 years later following a dominant 22-9 season with a 1.77 era for the 1952 World Champion Dynamos.
PACKERS EXTEND NAHC LEADIt has been a decade since the Chicago Packers finished with the best regular season record in the North American Hockey Confederation but with a month to play in the regular season the current edition of the Packers look well positioned to finish in first place. Chicago is enjoying a 7 point lead on the second place Toronto Dukes with 10 games remaining on their schedule (the Dukes have 12 to play) and the Packers could go a long way towards wrapping up top spot with a win at Dominion Gardens over the Dukes on Wednesday.
The Packers have been red-hot of late with five wins and a tie in their last seven games and are 11-3-3 in their last 17 outings. Much of that success can be credited to the emergence of goaltender Andrew Bomberry. The 24-year-old second year netminder has been very good of late with possibly his best effort of the season coming in a 5-2 win in Detroit last week, a game in which he made 49 saves as the Packers completed a sweep of back to back games against the spiraling Motors.
*** Pollack Collects 500th Goal ***
Toronto has also played well of late and the Dukes continue to be lead by another dominant season out of Quinton Pollack. The 39-year-old center already has 73 points in 58 games this season and is on a pace to finish with 88 points. If he gets to anything over 85 it will be at least the fourth highest point total in NAHC history. The top three, including a record 99 points in 1952-53, all belong to Pollack.
The veteran center became just the second player in NAHC history to reach the 500 career goal plateau. Pollack scored 5 times last week to pass Detroit's Hobie Barrell for the goal lead and now sits at 30 on the season and exactly 500 for his career. The milestone marker came in the Motor City last night and was the game winner, a second period powerplay tally in a 2-1 Toronto victory. Pollack trails only former Chicago and Toronto star Tommy Burns, who lit the lamp 564 times in his career. Pollack also is second in points with 70 so far this season giving him 1,1,65 for his career. Burns leads the way with 1,215 career points.
As Detroit and Boston continue to struggle, the Montreal Valiants have overtaken the Bees for fourth place and have their sights set on Detroit, which is just three points ahead of the Vals. Detroit has lost its last five games and the Bees are just 3-14-7 in their last twenty four games. Injuries have played a role in the struggles for both teams as the Motors have been forced to play for stretches without each of their three top scorers with Alex Monette (13-17-30) being the hardest hit with the 29-year-old being sidelined for 21 of Detroit's 58 games.
- The Toronto Falcons (41-12) are running away with the Western Division and Toronto has the best record in the league by 5-1/2 games over the best team in the East, the Boston Centurions (36-18). How have the Falcons done it? The Falcons lead the league in scoring, as they average 86.8 points, and they have done so with the league’s finest shooting percentage in the league at 42.0%. The Falcons have the best home record, carrying a 25-2 mark at Dominion Gardens. Toronto is also the only team in the circuit with a pair of 20-point scorers in C Fred Lillard and SG Bill Spangler. Lillard is second at 21.3 points per game, while Spangler is right behind Lillard in third place, averaging 20.8 points.
- Meanwhile, the race for second place in the West is heating up, as the Detroit Mustangs (26-30) are trying to catch the defending champions, the St. Louis Rockets (26-27), for second place and home court advantage in the first round. Both teams are even in wins, but Detroit has played three more games. However, Detroit is making its case, going 3-1 over the past two weeks against the Rockets. Detroit roared back with a 28-10 run in the fourth quarter to win the opening game of the fortnight against St. Louis, winning 93-82. St. Louis ripped open a tie game with a fourth-quarter runaway, 88-77, in their next matchup. This past week, Detroit turned a three-point halftime deficit into a ten-point win, 87-77 but fell to St. Louis on a tough 32% shooting night, 75-59. League-leading scorer Bill Melton averaged 27.0 in the first three games of these recent matches – all losses – but only scored 14 in the only win for St. Louis last Wednesday. The race has tightened to a game-and-a-half between both teams, and there are nine games remaining in their regular-season series, including a home-and-home to close the regular season schedule in mid-April.
- As the season is now two-thirds complete, the fight in the Eastern Division is not about second place versus third place. Second-place Philadelphia (31-21) still has designs on the top spot, as the Phantoms trail the Centurions by four games. However, Philadelphia leads New York (25-29) by seven games and the Knights are comfortably in front of last-place Washington (14-38). This will be a fight for the division title. So far, Boston has gotten the better of Philadelphia, winning 12 of 18, including a narrow 78-76 victory on Friday night. Mel Turcotte was uncharacteristically held to nine points on 2-for-11 shooting while Bert LaBrecque won star of the game honors with 20 points to lead all scorers, keying Boston’s fourth-quarter comeback. Boston trailed by seven points entering the final quarter. The two teams face each other six more times before the playoffs begin.
BIG RECRUITING WIN FOR BENGALSMaryland State may have come up short against Charleston Tech Saturday afternoon, falling 48-35 to the South Atlantic Conference leading Admirals but despite the loss on the court there was plenty of good news for Bengals basketball fans last week. The Bengals, who are 22-4 on the year and ranked second in the latest AIAA Top 25, seem well positioned to earn a number one seed in the annual tournament and look to follow up their national title of two years ago with a second crown.
That is not the big news of the week for the Bengals. Instead, the excitement surrounds the current recruiting class for Maryland State which seems assured of being ranked number one in the nation. The Bengals secured a commitment from Jack Bicknell, a center out of Philadelphia's Frankford High School, who is considered the top high school senior in the nation. Bicknell joins national number two John Brantner, a Hickory, NC, born forward who committed a couple of weeks ago. It is a big coup for the Bengals to land the two best recruits in the country after struggling on the recruiting front last year. As if the haul was not big enough this time around, the Bengals also landed New York City point guard Randy Highfill, who is ranked 5th at his position and 40th overall by the OSA. The Bengals rounded out their class with another top 100 prospect in Fort Royal, Va, native Chet Maitland, a 6'5" forward ranked 81st overall.
BERT PARKS TO DEFEND TITLE IN BOSTON RING DEBUT
BOSTON — The heavyweight division’s most improbable champion, Bert Parks, is set to make his first title defense next week at Denny Arena. Parks, a relative unknown until his shocking upset of George Galleshaw last year, will face off against Houston Harry Pratt in a bout that promises plenty of action, if not prestige.
Parks, who hails from Los Angeles, claimed the crown in dramatic fashion. Against all odds, he landed a stunning right hand in the sixth round that sent the previously dominant Galleshaw reeling. Though Galleshaw managed to stay on his feet, the punch altered the course of the fight. In the following round, Parks delivered another crushing blow, sending the reigning champ to the canvas for the full count. Parks, then 25, celebrated with unrestrained joy, the unlikely victor and new heavyweight champion of the world.
But questions remain about Parks’ legitimacy as a champion. His career record, 29-8-2, hardly reads like that of a world-beater, and critics have been quick to point out that his resume is light on marquee opponents. Now on the cusp of his 26th birthday, Parks will need to prove that his victory over Galleshaw was no fluke.
His challenger, Harry Pratt, brings a 28-4 record to the fight. The Texan burst onto the professional scene with 20 victories in his first 21 bouts, and for a time, seemed destined for greatness. However, a trio of defeats — including a loss to then-undefeated Norm Robinson — derailed his meteoric rise. Since that rough patch, Pratt has rebounded with eight consecutive wins, including an impressive showing against former champ Dave Courtney. Yet, skeptics question whether Pratt, like Parks, is truly deserving of a title opportunity.
While neither fighter boasts the credentials of a traditional heavyweight champion, both enter the ring with something to prove. Parks hopes to silence his critics and cement his status as a legitimate titleholder, while Pratt seeks to fulfill the promise of his early career and capture the ultimate prize in boxing.
The stage is set for what promises to be an intense clash of wills on March 3 at Denny Arena. Both men are hungry for validation, and if nothing else, their desperation to prove themselves should make for a compelling night of boxing.
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS
- Mar 3 in Boston: new heavyweight champion Bert Parks will make his first title defense since upsetting George Galleshaw to win the World Title. Parks will face Houston Harry Pratt, 27, in a bout at Denny Arena. Parks shocked the boxing establishment with a 7th round KO of Galleshaw in Chicago in their December bout. The Los Angeles native is 28-8 and ruined what was expected to be a fairly easy evening for Galleshaw. Pratt, a 26-year-old Texan, owns a 28-4 record but, other than a win over Dave Courtney, has not beaten any big name opponents.
- Apr 12 in Las Vegas: Longtime welterweight champion Lonnie Griffin defends his crown against Dan McMullan. The 30-year-old Griffn (40-5-1) has held the title on four different occasions and his bout against McMullan will be his third defense this time around. McMullan (22-1) is a 23-year-old rising star from South Carolina and is getting his first shot at the welterweight title.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 2/25/1962
- Astronaut John Glenn roared into space in a Mercury capsule last Tuesday and orbited the earth three teams before safely splashing down in the North Atlantic just shy of five hours later. More than 250,000 would line the streets of Washington DC today in a parade to honour Glenn
- Soviet Premier Khrushchev proposed that the United States and Russia pool their resources to explore outer space. The proposal was part of his message to President Kennedy congratulating American on Glenn's orbital flight.
- Kennedy's refusal to start the Geneva disarmament talks at summit level next month caused Khrushchev to state that must mean the United States "is not ready to negotiate agreement." The President has stated he prefers to have the talks begin at the Foreign Minister level and has suggested a readiness to go to summit later, if some progress is made at a lower level. As the week closed, Kennedy reiterated his position that talks must be opened with foreign ministers, not by heads of government as Khrushchev continues to propose.
- Kennedy's Urban Affairs bill was defeated in the House but is expected to become a lively issue in the congressional elections next fall.
- Red China has warned the United States to get out of Viet Nam, claiming American military aid support of South Viet Name "seriously affects" the security of Red China and Communist North Viet Nam and threatens "the peace of Asia." China also stated that the United States "is already in an 'undeclared' war in South Viet Nam."
- Washington's unofficial but unequivocal answer to Peiping's sharpened warnings against US military intervention in Viet Nam was: "We'll stop if you stop." This amid increased calls for China to pull its military support of North Viet Nam.
- The French government poured 20,000 troops into jittery Algiers following a terrorist bloodbath that left 20 Moslems and at least 11 Europeans dead in the populous European quarter of Bab-el Oued. Authorities blame the bloody attack on a Secret Army plan to dash peace hopes in a racial war.