[Tiger Fan]

WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, JOE DIMAGGIO
Cincinnati Reds fans have been wondering that ever since Dimaggio was acquired in a blockbuster trade with the New York Yankees in 1940. Jolt'in Joe spent 4 and half years in New York and appeared to be destined for stardom until he missed 6 weeks of the 1939 season with a serious stomach muscle tear. Dimaggio never fully recovered from that injury and, while he has been a solid player and a 3-time allstar for the Reds, his batting average has steadily declined. This season, at the age of 31, he is hitting just .201 with 9 homers at the break. He has shown flashes of brilliance, such as a pair of 3 homer games a couple of years back and he won the NL MVP award in 1944 but he has never lived up to the great expectations we had for him. His career in Cincinnati seems to have stalled his development although I am sure the injury is the main factor. Sounds a lot like Ken Griffey Jr huh?



SENS AND PIRATES CLING TO LEAD AT THE BREAK
As we hit the symbolic halfway point of the season both the National and American Leagues have whittled the potential contenders down to 5 teams. The Washington Senators won just 3 of 7 games last week and saw Boston move to within 2 games of top spot. The Red Sox cooled a little from their torrid pace of late June but still managed to win 4 of 7 games. Ted Williams took over the batting lead from Washington's Buddy Lewis. Williams, who was named AL player of the week hit .500 with 3 homers and 10 rbi's last week. Williams is also the league leader in homers with 14 but his 44 rbi's are still 10 back of Lewis and Williams' teammate Babe Young.

Cleveland can pretty much kiss any chance of getting into the race good bye. The Indians lost ace Bill Lohrman (9-6, 2.80) for at least a month with a back injury. Lohrman won 21 games a year ago.

On Tuesday, St. Louis(A)'s Tom Baker overmatched the opposing hitters all day long. Chicago (A) had no chance, collecting just 2 hits against the right-hander. 'I felt early that I was on top of my game. Fortunately I was able to keep that feeling the entire game.' Baker (12-5) fanned 6 and walked 1, throwing 101 pitches. The hitting star for St. Louis(A) was third baseman Bob Dillinger, he got 3 hits in 4 AB, and driving in 2 runs. St. Louis(A) scored 6 runs on 11 hits.

Two days later Browns rightfielder Bruce Campbell hit a milestone, getting his 2000th career hit. With no outs in the 6th inning, Bruce drilled a double, causing a standing ovation from the crowd. In 13 years of big league action so far, Bruce has compiled a batting average of .290, along with 266 homeruns and 1144 RBI.

While the allstar game is forefront in most people's minds you can forgive Pittsburgh and Brooklyn players for looking beyond the game. The Pirates and Dodgers square off in a 4 game first place showdown starting Thursday in Pittsburgh.

Following that series Brooklyn has a 2-game set with the third place Cardinals so it is an important week for the Dodgers, who went 5-2 against Chicago and Boston last week. Pete Reiser of the Dodgers was named National League player of the week after hitting .571 with 8 rbi's. Reiser received some more good news this week when he learned he made the first all-star team of his 7 year career. The Dodgers did get some bad news when they learned that 25 year old rookie pitcher Hank Behrman is gone for 6 weeks after hurting his back on July 4th against the Cubs. Behrman, who was 6-6 with a 5.19 era, has been replaced in the rotation by another rookie - 29 year old Joe Hatten. Hatten looked good in his debut as a starter. He went the distance pitching a 6-hitter in a 5-3 win over the Braves. Hatten, who has made 9 relief appearances has an era of 1.56.






1946 NFL PREVIEW - Part 1 of 4
With training camps opening over the next couple of weeks it is time to take a look ahead at the 1946 NFL season. Over the next 4 weeks we will give you everything you need to know to prepare for the season opener in September. Each week we will take a look at two divisions. This week we start with the North Division from both the AFC and NFC. Before we get started here is a brief look at the history of the league.

(Editor's note: I began this league in 1941 to build up some game generated history so for our purposes it is deemed the league was formed that season. All real life NFL history will not be recognized in this sports world. Although the game will be mainly populated by fictional players certain real life players will show up. Each time they are mentioned there will be a * prior to their last name so you know they are real players I added to the game. Some of the real players will perform better than they did in real life and others will perform much poorer. Also, some real life college stars who did not play pro ball will nevertheless be included in this history.)

Here are the year by year league champions:

1941 Detroit 20-14 over Tennessee
1942 Philadelphia 24-13 over New York Jets
1943 Carolina 27-13 over Oakland
1944 Cincinnati 19-13 over Arizona in overtime
1945 Baltimore 45-14 over Chicago

Year by Year Offensive MVP
1941 Thomas Blades RB Atlanta
1942 Keith Musso RB Jacksonville
1943 Tony *Canadeo RB Green Bay
1944 Mario Glenn RB New England
1945 Johnny Cushing RB Oakland


Year by Year Defensive MVP
1941Justin Sanders DT Jacksonville
1942 Charles Smith DE Philadelphia
1943 Julian Hughes DT Buffalo
1944 Lamar Jackson DT Carolina
1945 Julian Hughes DT Buffalo

Year by Year Offensive ROY
1941 Harley Mitchell RB Philadelphia
1942 Terry Stephens QB New England
1943 Todd Berger RB New Orleans
1944 Tony Marsalis QB Arizona
1945 Antowain Anderson RB Atlanta


Year by Year Defensive ROY
1941 Andre Bostic LB Detroit
1942 Ed Philcox DE Dallas
1943 Damon Stamer DE St Louis
1944 Ade Coulter DE Tennessee
1945 Ruben Taylor DE Minnesota

Year by Year Coach of the Year
1941 Steve Jamieson San Francisco
1942 Bill McRae Tampa Bay
1943 Bill McRae Tampa Bay
1944 Tony Fenerty Carolina
1945 Bill Costa Minnesota


AFC NORTH PREVIEW
All 4 teams in this division finished at or above .500 a year ago. The defending league champion Baltimore Ravens have to once again be considered the favourite but Cincinnati and Cleveland could also contend for the division title.

BALTIMORE RAVENS - The Ravens will go as far as their defense will take them. Ranked 2nd in the league a year ago mainly due to the play of DE J.D. Cumby and LB Miller Rentzel. 6th year QB John Foster was named the MVP of the title game and the ex-Oklahoma star could be ready for a breakout season.

CINCINNATI BENGALS - CB Mac Wiley led the NFL with 13 interceptions a year ago and along with Johndale Rogers forms the best cornerback duo in the game. First round draft DT Speedy Garrity will add to an already strong defense. 4th year running back Bill *Dudley topped the 1000 yard rushing mark for the first time in his career. Wideouts Bob *Shaw and Bob Edwards combined for nearly 160 receptions. Veteran QB Bud Rutledge is a two-time first team allstar.

CLEVELAND BROWNS - The run-n-gun Browns are all offense. However they have a big hole to fill as league receiving leader Bryan Givens has decided to retire after making 110 catches a year ago. Zach Kriczek had 99 receptions a year ago and will now be the go-to guy. Free agent Jack Abraham was brought in from Kansas City to try and replace Givens. Givens was joined on the conference first team allstar list by QB Bob Slaughter and FB Tony Ellis. Kriczek and tackle Jim Moulds made the second team. Upgrading the defense is a priority if the Browns are to be taken seriously and they used their first two picks to upgrade a porous secondary.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS - It could be a long year for the Steelers. Not because they are that bad but rather because the rest of the division is so good. A pair of Notre Dame grads in RB Elmer *Angsman and WR Bud Neal were added thru the draft in an effort to improve the league's most anemic attack. QB Juqua Shirk had a terrible season and word is Tom Friede will take over under center. Friede spent all of last season holding the clipboard but he has started 10 games in his 5 year career.


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