[Tiger Fan]

MAY 7, 1962

EXPANSION TEAMS ASSIST DYNAMOS, KINGS IN QUEST FOR FIRST PLACE

They say the secret to being a good team is beating the bad ones, and right now it's pretty clear the expansion teams are going to be bad this season. In the Fed, the Detroit Dynamos took advantage of the Los Angeles Suns and the Minneapolis Millers as both came to visit Thompson Field for the first time. The hosts were not too kind to their visitors, sweeping the Suns out of town before sending the Millers below .500 by taking two of three. The 5-1 week allowed the Dynamos to put two games between them and the Pioneers. The pitching was outstanding, getting brilliant complete game wins from Howie French (9 IP, 8 H, ER, 5 K), John Jackson (9 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K), and Jim Norris (9 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K). Larry Beebe gave the Dynamos 8 shutout (2 H, 2 BB, 5 K) against the Suns, though he was responsible for the only loss. It wasn't all his fault, as 7 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, and 4 strikeouts can be good enough to win, but somehow the struggling Bill Parkhurst (1-2, 6.45, 13) twirled a 1-hit shutout where only backup catcher Ed Holt (.286) was able to put the ball in play and reach safely.

Now 15-4, the Dynamos will have to head to St. Louis for a big three game series, as a sweep would allow their hosts to reclaim first. Howie French (3-0, 1.71, 14) will open up the series against the struggling top prospect Danny Daniels (1-2, 7.16, 10), and unlike the potential young star, the highly paid #5 has been the team's most effective pitcher. He's won all three starts, but it's not like the other guys are struggling. John Jackson (3-1, 2.81, 20) and Paul Anderson (3-0, 2.51, 14) have been dominant, while Jim Norris (3-1, 3.94, 12) has been good when he's not allowing home runs. St. Louis will have the pitching advantage in the other two games, as Frenchy Mack (4-0, 2.10, 37) and Billy Hasson (4-0, 1.03, 24) are the two best pitchers in baseball. If Detroit wants to stay in first, the opener is a must win, and they'll need Ray Waggoner (.357, 4, 16), Cecil Gregg (.303, 3, 19), and Joe Reed (.306, 2, 7, 4) at their best. They may also hope that Danny Taylor (.400, 2, 3) and Dick Tucker (.389, 2, 12) keep up their strong starts, as the two vets are crushing it early on. For Taylor, it's a huge turn events, as he was not only taken in the expansion draft, but then later waived. Detroit took the risk, and in his first week with the team he was 4-for-10 with a walk and three homers. This has certainly earned him more at bats, and he has a chance to make a difference in this early big series.

On the flip side, the Kings took two of three from both the Dallas Wranglers and New York Imperials. The wins with the Wranglers came in Kansas City, while they knocked off the Imps in the Big Apple. Their wins weren't as commanding as the Dynamos, but Elmer Sullivan (7.2 IP, 5 H, BB, 8 K) and Del Lamb (1.1 IP, H, BB) combined for a 3-0 shutout against Dallas and then Pat Davis' (.342, 12, 6) 2-run single helped the Kings hold off the Imps 7-6 in 12. Wins like this are big regardless of the opposition, and they've been exceptional at scoring and preventing runs. Ranked 2nd in both, KC has a solid group, led by superstar Hank Williams (.371, 7, 16), who's one of the many sluggers tied for 2nd in FABL with 7 homers. Offseason acquisition Al Farmer (.325, 5, 16) has been revitalized leading off such a talented lineup, but they have been dealing with an ailment to one of their top players in Ken Newman (.311, 2, 17, 3). The 33-year-old and 10-Time All-Star sprained his elbow in the spring and has been trying to play through it, and it may be limiting his power. It's something to watch as the season goes on, but they could take it to a higher level with a healthy Newman.

CUP CHAMPS LEAD NAHC FIRST TEAM ALL-STARS

Three members of the back-to-back Challenge Cup champion Detroit Motors headline the list of first team all-stars, announced last week by the NAHC. 21-year-old winger Hobie Barrell along with the defenseman tandem of Anthony Beauchemin and Jock Doctorow were the Motors who comprised half of the first team. They were joined by a pair of Toronto Dukes in center Quinton Pollack and goaltender Justin MacPhee with Chicago right winger Ken York rounding out the top team.

Barrell, who finished second to Pollack in regular season scoring and is a finalist along with the veteran Toronto pivot for the McDaniels Trophy as NAHC most valuable player, makes his debut as a post-season all-star as does 26-year-old blueliner Docotorow and the Packers winger York, a 25-year-old who tallied 51 points in 68 games this season. Beauchemin was named to the second team a year ago before graduating to the top squad this time around. MacPhee was a first team all-star and rookie of the year two seasons ago but spent last season in the minors before returning to all-star form for Toronto this season. The 39-year-old Pollack has been selected to the first team nine times in his career and was a second team choice on four other occasions.

Montreal goaltender Nathan Bannister and 20-year-old defenseman Mark Moggy make the second team for the second year in a row. The other four spots went to Chicago Packers with defenseman Phil Stukas, who was a first eam all-star twice in his career, being joined by forwards Ray Weller, JP Morisette and rookie Matt McGrath. Only Weller, who was a second team selection each of the previous two seasons, had been previously named to a post-season all-star team out of the Chicago forward trio.

• Both division winners are one game away from a date in the FBL Finals. Toronto and Boston have each played five games in their divisional final matchups with both top seeds trying to close their series out in a Game Six scheduled for Tuesday night. If either series must go to a seventh game, they will be played on Thursday.
• Fred Lillard is the leading scorer in these playoffs, but the Toronto center has had a hard time controlling the Mustangs Gary Moore. Lillard is the playoff leader in points (22.0) and rebounds (12.6), all while playing the most minutes among qualifiers (42.4) in his five games. Toronto took Game One behind 30 points and 17 rebounds from Lillard to set the tone. The Mustangs earned a split in Toronto to start the series where Lillard was bested by his opposite number, Moore. Lillard’s 25 points and 12 boards helped keep it close, but Detroit won down the stretch and came from behind in the fourth quarter to win, 87-85, with Moore pacing Detroit with 22 points and 18 rebounds. Game Three belonged to guard Bill Spangler and his 26 points in Toronto’s 70-62 win. Lillard was only 4-for-19 from the field, but points were at a premium in the game. Lillard and Moore had another great clash in Game Four – a Mustangs win to even the series – with Lillard leading all scorers with 30 points and Moore winning Player of the Game honors with 23 points. Toronto took a 3-2 lead in the series thanks to forward Bryce Kirk, who set a new personal playoff best with 23 points in a 96-66 romp to put the Falcons one win away from advancing.
• Boston had a chance to win the series against New York in five games but stumbled at Denny Arena in overtime to give the Knights a reprieve. New York won Game Five, 80-78, despite matching 20-point efforts from star forward Howie Farrell and playoff performer Lenny Olsen. The 31-year-old Olsen has playoff averages that surpass his modest regular season performances. In nine games this postseason, Olsen has averaged 8.1 points and 3.7 assists, a season removed from 9.0 points per game in six playoff games. His best scoring season in the regular season was 7.4 points per game in 1959-60. In his 11-year pro career, he has averaged only 4.3 points a game. But there was Olsen, setting a career-high with 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting in the win.
• Boston allowed the Knights to come in and split the first two games of the series, but the Centurions wrestled home court right back in Game Three with their defense lighting the way. George Stevens stands six feet, ten inches tall and his six blocks made a huge difference in the 73-70 win for Boston to go up in the series, two games to one. Wally Moorehead picked up three blocks and the teammates are one-two among all players in the playoffs in blocked shots. For the game, Boston had the edge in blocked shots, 11-1. Game Four provided the same stifling defense but added an offensive element that gave the Boston fans that came down from New England scream with delight. The team shot 48% from the floor and had another 11 blocks, holding New York to 32% shooting. Bert LaBrecque, who has taken a back seat in this series, led Boston with 18 points. LaBrecque (13.6 ppg) is the third-leading scorer on the Cents in the postseason after Stevens (15.6) and Moorehead (15.2) after pacing Boston with 17.3 points per contest during the regular season.

RECENT KEY RESULTS

• Matt Leach, a successful welterweight out of New York City, scored a one-sided unanimous decision over Stan Thomas in a mid-week bout in Massachusetts. The 28-year-old ran his record to 31-6-2 with the victory. Thomas is 21-19-3.
• 32-year-old welterweight Ernie Black, who lost a title bid against Lonnie Griffin last year, came up short last week in Sacramento, CA., when he was knocked out in the 6th round of a scheduled 10-rounder against Peter Kjolbye, a run of the mill Dane who spent much of his pro career fighting in North America. Black, who hails from Toledo, sees his pro record dip to 40-9-1.
• Heavyweight Ed Drake rebounded from a loss to contender Norm Robinson, with a unanimous decision win over Dave Adams in Pittsburgh. Drake, who is 29 and hails from Peoria, IL., has squared off against many of the big heavyweights of the past decade including Brad Harris, Joey Tierney, Tommy Cline and Max Bradley but always came up short, is now 41-12-3.

UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS

• May 10- San Francisco: Middleweight champion Lyman King (39-0) makes his first title defense against Steve Bradshaw (30-8-2). King, a 24-year-old Oakland, CA. native claimed a 5th round TKO victory over now-former champ George Quisenberry at New York's Bigsby Garden in January. King has never lost a fight and only went to the judges cards twice in his last 9 outings. Bradshaw, 25, originally hails from Pittsburgh, PA. and is coming off an impressive victory over Bill Sanderson but has lost in recent years to some top names such as George Hatchell, Davis Owens and Hugo Canio.
• June 1- New York City: Dan McMullan will make his first defense of the welterweight title he won from Lonnie Griffin with a first round TKO in April. McMullan, a 24-year-old Columbia, South Carolina native, will face Englishman Lenny Shafto at Bigsby Garden June 1. It will be Shafto's North American debut. His record in Europe is 45-7-1.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 5/06/1962

• The Navy said it considered its first test firing of a Polaris nuclear missile with its warhead a complete success. The test conducted in the Pacific saw the warhead fired from a submerged submarine, hit its target close to 1,400 miles away.
• It was also announced that five of the Polaris submarines have been assigned to NATO, and that more are coming to patrol the Atlantic Ocean.
• The United States announced it expects more Soviet nuclear tests to be conducted in the near future.
• Chancellor Konrad Adenauer arrived in Berlin and warned against any steps in current United States-Soviet contacts that could lead to recognition of Communist East Germany. "Nobody in the world believes in the sovereignty of the East Zone" the West German leader told a news conference.
• After heavy fighting Pro-Communist forces captured Nam Tha, a Loas provincial capital 20 miles from Red China's border that the Royal Laotian government had vowed to defend to death.
• A revolt to overthrow the government in Venezuela was crushed in Caracas.
• The Federal Trade Commission has been given jurisdiction to handle complaints against deceptive advertising in the multi-million dollar mail order insurance business. It had previously fallen into a grey area between state and federal regulation.