TIGERFAN'S SPORTING DAILY : MONDAY MAY 14, 1947
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
RED SOX LOSE GAME AND PITCHER BOB BOWMAN
Boston starting pitcher Bob Bowman will be sidelined for close to two months after suffering an arm injury in the Red Sox 6-0 loss to the New York Yankees. The 4-hit shutout tossed by 40 year old Jumbo Brown allowed the Yanks to salvage one game from their 3 game set in Beantown.
With the injury to Bowman the Red Sox recalled pitcher Rube Melton from AAA. Melton had been sent down a few days earlier after struggling terribly in the Sox bullpen. With the injury to Bowman, Melton will go in the starting rotation where he spent most of his 6 previous big league seasons.
In other American League action Steve Gromek improved to 5-0 as Cleveland topped Detroit 8-5. Catcher Clyde Kluttz had 4 hits and 3 rbi's to lead the Cleveland attack.
In St Louis Cookie Lavagetto and Frank Mancuso each drove in 3 runs as the Browns blasted Philadelphia 10-2 while in Washington, Red Barrett and a pair of relievers combined to 4-hit Chicago in a 4-3 Senators victory.
12 RUN 7TH LEADS PIRATES PAST GIANTS
Tony Cuccinello drove in 5 runs in one inning and Bob Elliott hit a 3-run homer the same inning as Pittsburgh scored 12 runs and sent 16 men to the plate in the 7th inning of a 16-7 win over the visiting New York Giants. This came after the Giants had scored 6 times in the second inning to take a 6-0 lead.
The other three National League games all ended up in a 7-1 score. Ed Head pitched a complete game as the Cubs won in Cincinnati. Stan Ferens won his first game in nearly a year as the Cards decked the Dodgers and Boston beat Philadelphia 7-1 despite getting only 5 hits.
DODGERS RELEASE FORMER ALLSTAR BONURA
38 year old first baseman Zeke Bonura, who made the National League allstar team last year, has been released by the Brooklyn Dodgers after a dreadful start to the season. The 14 year veteran was hitting just .156 through his first dozen games this season so the Dodgers sent him to AAA Montreal. After going 1-for-14 during his week in AAA Brooklyn management had seen enough and released Bonura.
Bonura had that greatest major league debut of any player in history. In his first pro game, the season opener in 1934 he homered and drove in 7 runs in a 10-9 Chicago win over Washington. His total career with the White Sox lasted just 7 games before he was dealt to Cincinnati for pitcher Roy Meeker. Bonura would hit .282 that season and be named the National League rookie of the year. He would make 2 allstar game appearances in his 9 and a half years in Cincinnati before the Reds dealt him to Brooklyn for SS Pete Coscarart in July of 1943. He made his third allstar team last year but slumped terribly in the second half of the season.
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ZEKE BONURA'S CAREER STATS
Year Teams G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K AVG
1934 CHA CIN 130 486 78 137 41 3 14 76 60 8 .282
1935 CIN,NL 147 521 110 156 31 7 30 114 72 6 .299
1936 CIN 142 498 86 155 43 6 18 89 81 7 .311
1937 CIN 147 540 80 138 48 4 13 79 77 16 .256
1938 CIN 145 496 93 155 43 5 18 88 84 7 .313
1939 CIN,NL 148 531 89 159 36 3 23 71 75 10 .299
1940 CIN 146 519 80 145 32 3 14 61 79 16 .279
1941 CIN 140 466 77 134 45 4 14 89 53 12 .288
1942 CIN 147 518 70 113 29 3 14 71 84 13 .218
1943 CIN BRO 141 511 71 119 29 5 3 52 61 7 .233
1944 BRO 119 421 52 114 36 5 10 78 54 6 .271
1945 BRO 146 550 85 152 41 2 13 91 65 12 .276
1946 BRO,NL 145 543 70 135 16 6 9 78 63 35 .249
1947 BRO 12 45 6 7 0 0 1 7 5 9 .156
---------- ---- ---- ---- ---- --- -- --- --- --- --- ----
Total 1855 6645 1047 1819 470 56 194 1044 913 164 .274
NEWSOME AND ROE WIN PLAYER OF WEEK AWARDS
Philadelphia Athletics shortstop Skeeter Newsome was named the American League player of the week for the first time in his 13 year career. Newsome hit .500 in 20 at bats last week and drove in 6 runs. On the season he is hitting .287 with no homers and 9 rbi's.
For the second week in a row the National League's top performer was a Pittsburgh Pirate. This time the player of the week honour goes to pitcher Preacher Roe who was 2-0 with a 1.06 era last week. On the season Roe is a perfect 5-0. Last week the award went to Roe's teammate Bob Elliott.
Code:
AMERICAN W L PCT GB
CLEVELAND 19 6 .760 x
NEW YORK 17 11 .607 3.5
ST LOUIS 16 12 .571 4.5
WASHINGTON 13 13 .500 6.5
DETROIT 12 14 .462 7.5
CHICAGO 10 16 .385 9.5
BOSTON 9 16 .360 10.0
PHILADELPHIA 9 17 .346 10.5
NATIONAL W L PCT GB
PITTSBURGH 20 7 .741 x
ST LOUIS 17 11 .607 3.5
CHICAGO 14 11 .560 5.0
CINCINNATI 14 13 .519 6.0
PHILADELPHIA 12 12 .500 6.5
BOSTON 10 14 .417 8.5
BROOKLYN 8 17 .320 11.0
NEW YORK 7 17 .292 11.5
YESTERDAY'S RESULTS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Washington 4 Chicago 3
New York 6 Boston 0
St Louis 10 Philadelphia 2
Cleveland 8 Detroit 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Boston 7 Philadelphia 1
St Louis 7 Brooklyn 1
Chicago 7 Cincinnati 1
Pittsburgh 16 New York 7
TODAY'S GAMES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Philadelphia (R Scarborough 2-3, 3.91) at Washington (M Candini 3-2, 3.22)
Detroit (V Trucks 1-4, 3.91) at Boston (T Hughson 1-3, 5.02)
Chicago (E Lopat 2-4, 4.99) at St Louis (A McKain 4-1, 3.64)
New York (M Lanier 2-3, 2.38) at Cleveland (J Babich 3-2, 2.26)
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia (M Macon 1-0, 1.86) at Boston (W Spahn 3-3, 3.96)
St Louis (E White 3-2, 4.11) at Brooklyn (R Barney 2-1, 4.14)
Chicago (P Erickson 2-3, 3.94) at Cincinnati (H Feldman 1-2, 5.83)
New York (K Chase 2-3, 6.22) at Pittsburgh (J Tobin 4-1, 4.41)
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AMERICAN LEAGUE LEADERS NATIONAL LEAGUE LEADERS
BATTING BATTING
D Wakefield Det .370 B Elliott Pit .398
J Heath Cle .356 G Scharein StL .378
W Judnich SLB .352 G Rosen Bkn .362
HOME RUNS HOME RUNS
F Crosetti NYY 7 H Clift Chn 9
T Hafey Cha 6 W Cooper StL 7
D Walker NYY 5 E Torgeson Bsn 6
RBI'S RBI'S
D Litwhiler Cha 27 B Elliott Pit 31
B Young Bos 23 A Vaughan Pit 26
D Walker NYY 23 R Kiner Pit 24
WINS WINS
B Lohrman Cle 6-0 P Roe Pit 6-0
S Gromek Cle 5-0 C Schanz Phi 5-2
D Dean NYY 5-1 V Olsen Chn 5-2
ERA ERA
B Lohrman Cle 1.04 A Zabala NYG 1.44
E Johnson Bos 1.16 V Olsen Chn 2.03
T Bonham NYY 1.93 P Roe Pit 2.18
STRIKEOUTS STRIKEOUTS
F Hutchinson Det 31 A Jurisch StL 36
J Haynes Wsh 31 R Barney Bkn 34
S Gromek Cle 31 W Spahn Bsn 34
PGA TOUR - PHOENIX OPEN
LOCKE COMES OUT OF NOWHERE TO WIN PHOENIX OPEN
South African Bobby Locke made up 7 strokes on the final day to win the Phoenix Open. Locke shot a 7 under par 64 to finish one stroke ahead of Ben Hogan and amateur Scott xTibbetts.
Locke birdied four holes on the back nine and that had to sit around to wait for Saturday's co-leaders Doug Ford and Bob Hamilton to finish. Hamilton self destructed on the front nine, shooting 4 over but when he birdied 12 and 13 he was witing 2 strokes off Locke. However, he could manage just even par the rest of the way. Ford, who led each of the previous 3 days was 4 over after the first three holes Sunday and could never recover. Ben Hogan also had a shot at the victory but a double bogey on the par-4 15th doomed him to second.
The biggest surprise of the tournament was the play of 21 year old Scott xTibbetts. The amateur, who just graduated from Pepperdine a month ago, was the co-leader with a 66 on Thursday. He was a combined 3 over par in Friday and Saturday's rounds before finishing strong with another 66 on Sunday. Tibbetts birdied both 17 and 18 to move up to the tie for second place. The performance will likely guarantee his spot in all of the non-major events the rest of the season and he has to be considered a favourite for the US Amateur.
It is Locke's first title of the season. A scratch golfer as a teenager, Locke choose to enter the mining industry in his native South Africa rather than turn professional. However, when his employer sent him to Britian on business in 1936, Locke entered the British Open. He won the Amateur Medal and turned professional two years later.
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PHOENIX OPEN FINAL RESULTS
NAME RD 1 RD 2 RD 3 RD 4 Total PRIZE $
LOCKE 72 68 72 64 276 -8 1500
HOGAN 72 63 72 70 277 -7 800
x-Tibbetts-a 66 72 73 66 277 -7 amat
HAMILTON 68 68 69 73 278 -6 750
NELSON 67 73 67 71 278 -6 750
SNEAD 71 73 65 69 278 -6 750
FORD 66 68 71 74 279 -5 687
KING 69 69 70 71 279 -5 687
BRADSHAW 72 71 69 68 280 -4 638
WORSHAM 71 69 67 73 280 -4 638
BOROS 73 67 70 71 281 -3 563
DUTRA 70 71 71 69 281 -3 563
FLECK 72 72 68 69 281 -3 563
WEETMAN 74 65 69 73 281 -3 563
FAULKNER 71 69 73 69 282 -2 500
BURTON 70 72 73 68 283 -1 450
RUNYON 70 70 70 73 283 -1 450
STRANAHAN 73 68 69 73 283 -1 450
FERRIER 71 73 68 72 284 E 400
BYRD 70 71 71 73 285 1 313
HAEFNER 72 68 70 75 285 1 313
KEISER 74 70 72 69 285 1 313
LITTLE 72 71 71 71 285 1 313
MANGRUM 72 72 73 68 285 1 313
SMITH 69 74 73 69 285 1 313
DALY 73 71 72 70 286 2 225
OLIVER 69 75 69 74 287 3 200
xWhite-a 77 67 67 76 287 3 amat
HARRISON 71 72 69 76 288 4 150
LAFFOON 73 66 74 75 288 4 150
METZ 70 73 75 70 288 4 150
VON NIDA 72 72 71 74 289 5 125
BRUEN 70 74 71 75 290 6 100
DEMARET 70 73 72 75 290 6 100
WALL 69 74 73 74 290 6 100
CERDA 66 73 77 75 291 7 75
FURGOL 73 70 77 72 292 8 50
TOP 10 MONEY WINNERS (thru 5 events)
NAME PRIZE$ WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 CUTS made
HOGAN 5075 1 3 4 5
HEBERT 4200 2 2 3 4
SNEAD 4125 0 3 4 5
NELSON 3387 0 3 3 5
REES 3063 1 2 3 3
LOCKE 2913 1 1 2 3
DEMARET 2513 0 1 3 4
MIDDLECOFF 2475 0 0 3 3
BURTON 2315 0 1 1 4
STRANAHAN 2301 0 0 1 4
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OFFSEASON NOTES
NBA DRAFT PRIMER - MISSOURI'S MIKE PANKEMAN
Missouri has only had one player selected in the NBA draft since the league was formed in 1932. Center Albert Grove was the first Tiger to be drafted, going in the second round to Indianapolis in 1933. Now another center, by the name of Mike Pankeman may double the number of former Missouri hoopsters to get drafted.
Pankeman has two things going against him. First this is a pretty deep draft for centers led by Kentucky's Jack *Rocker and Ray *Ellefson of Iowa. Other centers to watch include Holy Cross pivot Bob *Hubbard, Gary Taylor from Seton Hall, Arnie *Risen of Ohio State and Anthony Anderson of Western Kentucky. Pankeman likely fits a notch below each of those meaning if he does get selected it will likely be in the second round.
The second thing going against Pankeman is his size. At 6'6" he is just too small to play center in the NBA. He may have more of a future at forward in the NBA.
As for how the other Missouri alum fared in the NBA. Grove had an 11 year career but was a bench player for 8 of those seasons.
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MIKE PANKEMAN'S CAREER STATS AT MISSOURI
YEAR GP MPG PPG RPG APG TO SPG BPG FG% FT% 3P%
43-44 30 28.7 4.9 8.1 0.3 1.4 1.0 0.6 .296 .796 .000
44-45 37 10.6 2.0 2.5 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 .325 .636 .000
45-46 31 27.1 8.4 7.9 1.1 0.3 1.4 1.7 .474 .738 .000
46-47 33 29.5 8.9 8.7 0.8 0.8 1.8 2.2 .465 .752 .000
--- ---- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---- ---- ----
career 131 23.4 5.9 6.6 0.6 0.6 1.1 1.1 .416 .749 .000
COLLEGE BASKETBALL OFFSEASON NOTES
WOLVERINES STILL REBUILDING
Unlike the University of Michigan football team, the Wolverine hoopsters have had very little success to enjoy. From 1933-40 Michigan made 5 appearances in the NCAA tournament but last season extended their streak of missing the NCAA's to 7 years. With three starters back including Big 10 freshman of the year PF Don *Rehfeldt this may be the year Michigan ends that streak. However, they will have their work cut out for them. After a pair of 18-13 seasons Michigan slumped to 9-19 a year ago.
Leading scorer SG Al *Cervi and center Malcom *McMullan, who led the team in rebounds are the other two returning starters. *Rehfeldt may shift to the small forward spot allowing sophomore Daryll Brough to play PF. The big question mark is shooting guard where there is no replacement for the now graduated Max Heim. The choice likely comes down to freshamn Zila Gordon or Cervi moves to the point and another freshman by the name of Michael Scott steps in as the SG.
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1946-47 MICHIGAN STATS (9-19)
CLASS NAME Pos GP MPG PPG RPG APG TOPG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT%
SO Al *Cervi SG 28 31.3 14.0 2.3 3.1 1.5 1.3 0.2 .422 .309 .707
SR Max Heim PG 28 30.0 11.7 0.8 6.1 5.1 1.6 0.0 .423 .268 .723
SR Xavier Brittian SG 28 31.3 11.4 7.8 0.6 1.1 1.1 0.5 .346 .315 .798
SO Malcolm *McMullan C 28 31.5 9.6 10.7 1.2 0.8 0.1 3.3 .429 .000 .822
FR Don *Rehfeldt PF 24 27.5 8.0 8.9 0.3 1.3 1.0 1.5 .451 .500 .657
FR Daryll Brough PF 28 14.2 3.6 2.8 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.2 .417 .714 .587
FR Mack*Suprunowicz PF 28 13.5 3.5 5.0 0.1 0.9 0.3 0.1 .337 .000 .714
SR Rob Guidry PG 28 11.7 3.1 2.4 1.0 1.0 0.2 0.1 .211 .190 .690
JR Malachi Freeman SF 28 11.2 1.6 2.5 0.4 0.5 0.0 0.0 .281 .500 .571
JR Samuel Elsner SF 13 3.3 1.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .077 .000 .762
FR Misk Russell PF 5 3.2 1.2 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 .400 .000 .500
SR Jerry Banks PG 9 2.9 0.9 0.1 0.8 0.1 0.0 0.0 .333 .000 .750
SR Kenny Duggan PG 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 .000 .000 .000
1947-48 MICHIGAN ROSTER
# Name Pos Ht Wt Year High School (Hometown)
3 Daryll Brough PF 6-9 230 So Rossville HS (Indianapolis,IN
4 Nicholas Armstrong SF 6-5 187 Fr Randolph Clay HS (Cuthbert,GA)
14 Don *Rehfeldt PF 6-6 176 So Rogers HS (Detroit,MI)
17 Mack *Suprunowicz PF 6-5 214 So Plainfield High School (Plainfield,IN)
19 Michael xScott SG 6-1 161 Fr Northern High School (Pontiac,MI)
24 Malcolm *McMullan C 7-0 273 Jr C. R. Prairie (Norway,IA)
27 Misk Russell PF 6-9 203 So Southfield High School (Detroit,MI)
29 Kristopher HennesseyPF 6-8 246 Fr Switzerland County HS (Vevay,IN)
48 Zila Gordon PG 5-9 144 Fr Deer Park HS (Cincinnati,OH)
54 Al *Cervi SG 6-4 176 Jr Battle Creek Central (Battle Creek, MI)
40 Samuel Elsner SF 6-7 199 Sr Terre Haute North Vigo HS (Terre Haute,IN)
43 Malachi Freeman SF 6-5 193 Sr Joliet High School (Joliet,IL)
49 Deondrae Xiong C 6-11 224 Fr King City HS (King City,MO)
HORSE RACING
JET PILOT LOOKS TO CLAIM SECOND LEG OF TRIPLE CROWN
As expected Kentucky Derby winner Jet Pilot has been confirmed to participate in Saturday's running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Track near Baltimore. It looks like the entire field from the Derby will compete including favourite Phalanx, who will likely be the favourite again this weekend.
BOXING NEWS
MINI-TOURNAMENT SET TO DETERMINE NEW EUROPEAN BANTAMWEIGHT KING
As expected Spain's Luis Romero has stepped down as the European Bantamweight Champion after he won the world title by stopping Fernando Gagnon last week. To declare a new European champ, the four top rated contenders will stage a playoff. The 4 contenders are Benny Goldberg of Poland, Guido Ferracin of Italy, British champion Gus Foran and Johnny King of Britian.
The semi-final will be contested in Munich, Germany on May 26 with the final being set for the first or second week of July likely in Paris. By random draw it has been decided that Golberg will face King while Foran will meet Ferracin in the semi-final.
Goldberg is just coming off of a victory over Gus Foran in a non-title fight. Originally from Warsaw but now based in Detroit, Goldberg is 2-0 in post war action.
King is 35-6 and has previously fought all 3 of the other semi-finalists. He lost to Foran in the postwar British title fight and lost to Goldberg by majority decision in January. Two months ago King won a unanimous decision over Ferracin.
As mentioned above, Liverpool native Foran beat King but lost to Goldberg. He is 24-6.
Ferracin, from Rovigo Italy, had a European title shot against Romero but lost by 9th round KO. He also lost to King on a decision in January to fall to 27-6-2.
The undercard will also be used to try and rekindle some post war interest in German boxers. Two highly touted 20 year old will each fight. Heavyweight Jurgen xHucke, nicknamed Young Max presumably because of a style compared to Max Schmeling, will taken on Italian Gino Buonvino. Lightheavyweight Rudel xDietrich will fight a Spanish punching bag by the name of Paco Bueno. Neither are quality opponents for the two Germans. Bueno is 8-21-5 in his career while Buonvino 5-19-2.