EC's Southern Association

[Eugene Church]

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
Monday, June 16, 1947

VOLS EDGE PELS IN 12TH ON BYAM'S HIT
Nashville, the top team in the Southern Association, blew a 4-1 lead in the late innings, but still managed to edge seventh place New Orleans 6-5 in 12 innings... CF Hal Jeffcoat (.357) doubled and scored the game-winner on 1B George Byam's (.313) RBI single... regular starter Pete Mallory (13-5/3.67) was called in from the bullpen by skipper Larry Gilbert and he gained his 13th win of the season, tying Atlanta's Forest Thompson for the most victories in the league... Mallory was in hot water a lot, but he blanked the Pels the final three and one-third innings... Nashville came through with 18 hits and four double plays to whip the Pelicans, who slammed 14 hits... Jeffcoat went 5-6 and Byam was 4-6... New Orleans LF Red Lavigne (.324) led them with four hits.

ABRAMS' HR LEADS BEARS OVER LOOKOUTS
On the road in Chattanooga, the second place Mobile Bears knocked off the Lookouts 6-3 and captured their 3rd straight victory in the four-game series... CF Cal Abrams (.347) drilled a two-run smash in the three-run ninth to put away sixth place Chattanooga... LF Shotgun Shuba (.296) also belted a home run, his 18th of the season... and 1B Jack Maupin (.242) had a pair of RBIs... Frank Laga (7-4/3.41) went all the way and logged the win, tagged for 10 hits, but only three runs... reliever Alex Zukowski (0-6/4.25) suffered his 6th loss of the year.

BARONS BABBITT BLANKS TRAVS
Newcomer Gene Babbitt got a shot at a start for third place Birmingham (43-35) and made the most of it, tossing a 7-0 shutout over the eighth place Little Rock Travelers (16-63)... the Travs only got seven hits off Babbitt (2-0/2.00), who struck out three and walked three in his best effort this year... poor Carl Lindquist (2-15) registered his 15th loss of the season... the Barons pelted him for 11 hits with SS Mel Hoderlein (.290) and 2B Joe Rullo (.216) getting three hits each... Hoderlein and RF Zeb Eaton (.318) had two RBIs apiece.

MEMPHIS CLIPS CRACKERS FOR 4TH IN A ROW
Memphis clipped Atlanta 3-2 behind the fine pitching of newly-acquired Chuck Eisenmann (1-1/4.64) in his first start for manager Doc Prothro... Eisenmann stopped the Crackers on one earned run, scattered eight hits, fanned four and walked two, aided by three double plays... the Chicks (42-38) have won all four games in the series and moved into fourth place in the Southern Association standings, a half game in front of Atlanta (40-37).. Shelby Kinney (5-9/4.37) caught the tough loss, yielding only two earned runs on seven hits with seven Ks and four bases on balls... both hurlers went the distance... Memphis got RBIs from 2B Bert Hodges (.285), CF Paul Armstrong (.315) and LF George Bradley (.207)... and the Crax got RBIs from SS Ben Steiner (.276) and RF Babe Ellis (.293).

[Eugene Church]

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
Monday, June 16, 1947

[Eugene Church]

*

[Eugene Church]

THE NASHVILLE BANNER
Tuesday, June 17, 1947

PELS STOP VOLS' STREAK AT 5
The top team in the Southern Association was trying to win its 6th straight game and sweep a 5-game series with seventh place New Orleans, but Nashville couldn't pull it off... the Pelicans ran up an 8-3 lead at Sulphur Dell and held off the Vols, finally winning 8-6... Al Flair, Al Kozar and Pete Layden were the Pelican pacesetters... Flair (.278) hammered his 10th homer and drove in two runs... Kozar (.334) drove in two runs and scored two... and Layden (.209) rapped three hits... George Diehl (11-5/3.14) claimed the win in a lackluster effort... the Vols got to him for six runs in seven and one-third innings... reliever Jim Shea held the Vols without a score over the last one and two-third frames... Nashville outhit New Orleans 10-9... the Vols (50-29) saw their SA lead dip to just 3 games over second place Mobile (47-32).

MOBILE SWEEPS SERIES BEHIND HALL
Visiting Mobile swept the four-game series with Chattanooga at Joe Engel Stadium, dumping the Lookouts 6-1 behind the sharp pitching of John Hall (10-5/2.83), who breezed to his 10th win this season, only allowing seven hits... it was Hall's 6th successive victory... 1B Chuck Connors (.270) led the Bears at the plate with a 3-run homer, his 13th of the year... that was the big hit of the five-run 4th that doomed pitcher Lou Knerr (1-2/3.25) to defeat... Knerr settled down and blanked the Bears the rest of the way, giving up only five hits in all, while walking three and striking out five batters... Mobile (47-32) narrowed Nashville's (50-29) lead to 3 games... the Bears are on a 4-game winning skein... sixth place Chattanooga (39-40) has lost its last 4 and slipped below the .500 mark.

CANTRELL CLOUTS TOO MUCH FOR BARONS
Last place Little Rock (17-63) snapped third place Birmingham's (43-36) win streak at 4 with a hair-raising 10-9 triumph, just barely holding off the Barons' last-ditch 9th-inning rally... thanks to two homers and four RBIs from RF Ben Cantrell (.318), the Travelers took the final game of the series and prevented a sweep... CF Jack Bradsher (.324) also went deep for Little Rock with a two-run shot... 2B Bob Mavis (.295) and C Ken Sears (.318) also batted in a pair of runs in the win... Birmingham got home runs from RF Zeb Eaton (.317) and LF Joe Collins (.350) and SS Dick Atkins (.285) drove in four runs with three hits... the Barons had a 15-13 advantage in hits.

CRAX WIN FINALE, END LOSS STREAK AT 4
On the road in Atlanta, Memphis was seeking to sweep a 5-game series, but couldn't pull it off... the hometown Crackers walloped 20 hits in a 14-6 romp over the Chicks to salvage the finale and stop their losing streak at 4... a six-run fifth put Atlanta (41-37) over-the-top and back into fourth place in the SA, leap-frogging ahead of fifth place Memphis (42-39)... leading the hit parade were C Red Mathis (.353) and 3B Charlie Glock (.335) with four hits each... light-hitting LF Tony Ordenana (.227) sparked the Crax with three RBIs... five others got two runs batted in each... though he wasn't around at the end, Forest Thompson (14-4/2.16) notched his 14th victory, tops in the Southern Association... Thompson didn't give up an earned run, but was tagged for five runs and six hits in five and two-thirds innings... he also walked 8 batters and fanned five in a poor outing for him, but he left with an 11-5 lead.

[Eugene Church]

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
Tuesday, June 17, 1947

[Eugene Church]

*

[Eugene Church]

THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS
Wednesday, June 18, 1947

BARONS HOLD OFF VOLS
In the first game of a 4-game set at Sulphur Dell in Nashville, the first place Vols went down to defeat 7-5 at the hands of the third place Birmingham Barons... according to winning hurler Alex Ronay, it wasn't very pretty but it was a win... going the distance Ronay (10-6/3.91) was touched for 10 hits, but he was tough with men in scoring position... the loser was Leo Twardy (9-6/4.89), who stuck out 12 Barons in just six innings, but was peppered for seven runs and nine hits... he also walked four batters... RF Zeb Eaton (.322) was the big man for the Barons with three hits and three RBIs as Birmingham had 11 hits to 10 for Nashville... the Barons (44-36) are 6 games behind the front-running Vols (50-30).

CRAX ELLIS HR STOPS BEARS
Fourth place Atlanta was down 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th to second place Mobile and seemingly headed for a hard-luck loss at the hands of hurler Roy Whitaker, but RF Babe Ellis (.293) came to the rescue with a two-run homer and beat the Bears 3-2, giving Sid West (5-5/4.22) the victory... it was the 19th homer for Ellis, now just 3 behind the SA-leader Gil Coan of Chattanooga, who has 22... Ellis is third in RBIs with 75... Coan is also tops with 86... West fanned six Bears, walked only one and gave up 10 hits, but Mobile could only tap him for two runs... this stopped the Bears' win streak at 4... Whitaker (5-6/4.36) tossed a fine game except for Ellis' homer... he held the Crackers to just five hits, struck out five and walked two... both hurlers pitched complete games... this was game one of a 5-game series... Atlanta (42-37) now trail the Southern Association leader Nashville (50-30) by 7.5 games... Mobile (47-33) is just 3 games back in the race.

MAUNEY WINS 1-0 DUEL WITH TOENES
It was genuine pitcher's duel between two of the best moundsmen in the Southern Association... there were 17 zeros on the scoreboard when the dust cleared on the diamond... Dick Mauney of Memphis won a 1-0 duel with Chattanooga's Hal Toenes in the first game of a 4-game series at Joe Engel Stadium... Mauney (7-4/2.96) limited the Lookouts to five hits, whiffed five and walked four... thanks to an RBI single by SS Freddie Hancock (.287) in the third frame, Mauney logged the win... Toenes (12-6/2.08) was terrific, too, allowing only one run on six hits, while fanning four and walking five... he was helped out tremendously by four double plays... this was the Lookouts 5th consecutive defeat... they slumped to two games under .500 with a 39-41 mark... Memphis upped its record to 43-39... Chattanooga is sixth in the SA standings, 11 GB, while the Chickasaws are in the fifth spot, 8 GB.

7th place New Orleans (39-42) and 8th place Little Rock (17-63) took the night off.

[Eugene Church]

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
Wednesday, June 18, 1947

[Eugene Church]

*

[Eugene Church]

THE MOBILE PRESS-REGISTER
Thursday, June 19, 1947

MOBILE STAVES OFF ATLANTA IN 9TH
There were only two games in the Southern Association with four teams taking the day off... at Ponce de Leon Park, it was fight to the finish between Mobile and Atlanta... the Bears won 7-6, but the Crackers made it close in the last of the 9th... Mobile piled up 17 hits with LF George Shuba (.307), C Cliff Dapper (.296) and 1B Chuck Connors (.275) collecting three hits apiece... none of the pitchers was particularly good... Paul Minner (4-3/3.36) was the winner, tossing six innings and giving up four runs... two were earned... Atlanta starter Byron Cook (3-8/5.40) took the loss... the Bears battered him for six runs and 14 hits in six-plus innings... the score was 6-4 when he left the game... second place Mobile upped it mark to a splendid 48-33 and climbed to within two and a half games of the SA-leading Nashville Vols (50-30)... despite the defeat Atlanta is still clinging to fourth in the standings at 42-38... they are 8 games out.

TRAVS TROUNCED PELS
On a rainy afternoon in Little Rock, everything went the cellar-dwelling Travelers' way in a 10-0 shutout... seventh place New Orleans (39-43) managed only five hits off two Travelers hurlers, Wes Livengood and Milo Johnson... they combined to shut out the Pels... a long rain delay forced manager Bill Dickey to go to his bullpen to finish the game... Livengood (0-1/3.18) stopped the Pelicans on two hits for the first four and two-third innings, then Johnson held them to three hits the rest of the way... Johnson (2-9/5.99/23 G) collected the win, only his 2nd of the season... the Pebbles cracked 16 hits and were led by 2B Bob Mavis (.301) with 3-4 and three runs scored... and SS George Morgan (.255) and LF Bill Sinton (.232) added two hits and two RBIs apiece to the Travelers attack... Little Rock (18-63) played well defensively with three double plays.

[Eugene Church]

*

[Eugene Church]

THE NASHVILLE BANNER
Friday, June 20, 1947

VOLS VAULT PAST BARONS LATE
It took key hits from Buster Boguskie and George Byam for the Nashville Vols to vault past Birmingham 7-6 in the late innings... Boguskie's (.211) two-run clout tied the score 6-6 in the 6th and Byam (.317) won it in the 8th, when he tripled in Hal Jeffcoat (.361), who had doubled... in relief Ben Wade (9-7/5.86) got credit for the win, holding the Barons scoreless over the last two innings... Nashville had the edge over Birmingham in hits 14 to 11... Birmingham first sacker Robert Reid (.263) had a terrific day in defeat with three hits... he homered twice, #15 and #16, and batted in four runs... Nashville (51-30) maintained their 2 and a half game lead over second place Mobile (49-33)... the Barons had won the first two games of the series at Sulphur Dell... they are 44-37 and trail the Vols by 7 games in the Southern Association standings.

BEARS BOLES OVER CRACKERS
The torrid Mobile Bears continued to get standout mound performances... this time it was Roy Boles (9-7/5.53), who sacked Atlanta 4-1, hurling a complete game, scattering eight hits, striking out four batters and walking only one... it was his 6th straight victory... Mobile was held to six hits... lefty George Mistos (3-5/4.05) only allowed four hits in eight innings... the Crackers committed three miscues and only one of the four runs were earned... Mistos fanned four and walked none in the loss... CF Cal Abrams (.345/6 HR) homered and drove in two runs for the winning Bears... Mobile is 49-33, second in the SA and 2 and a half games back of first place Nashville... despite the defeat Atlanta (42-39) held on to the fourth spot in the league... the Crackers are 9 games out of first.

'NOOGA RALLIES, NIPS CHICKS
Chattanooga did it the hard way... the Lookouts had to rally from five runs down to put an end to their 5-game losing string... they pulled out the win 6-5 over Memphis in the last of the 9th on LF Al Kvasnak's (.251) game-winning hit... Chattanooga reliever Alex Zukowski (1-6/4.06) finally dented the win column this season after dropping his first six decisions... Zukowski was flawless and retired all six batters he faced in his two innings... the sixth place Lookouts (40-41) lashed out 13 hits, while the fifth place Chicks (43-40) got 8.

PELS COME BACK AND BEAT TRAVELERS
On a rainy Thursday afternoon in Little Rock, the umbrellas were out in full force as seventh place New Orleans came back and beat the eighth place Travelers 4-3... Little Rock (18-64) was rolling along with a 2-0 lead after seven innings, but couldn't hold off the Pelicans (40-43), who captured the game with a four-run eighth, highlighted by CF George Stumpf's (.278) base-clearing three-run double... it was his third two-bagger in the game... with the help of reliever Jim Shea (2-3/4.84/21 G), Tom Sunkel (9-6/3.50) was the winner... he worked seven frames, permitted four hits and two runs... in the 8th Little Rock reliever Milo Johnson (2-10/6.15) caved in and was tagged with the loss.

[Eugene Church]

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
Friday, June 20, 1947

[Eugene Church]

*

[Eugene Church]

THE NASHVILLE BANNER
Saturday, June 21, 1947

MATHENY, BARONS TAKE OPENER
Birmingham bombed Southern Association leader Nashville 11-2 in game one of a doubleheader on the Vols' home diamond at Sulphur Dell... the Barons blasted three roundtrippers... one each by 1B Robert Reid (.270), LF Joe Collins (.347) and CF Bud Matheny (.356)... Birmingham outhit Nashville 11-5 with the victory going to John Orphal (4-3/2.73)... he wasn't around at the end... Orphal and outfielder Joe Stringfellow (.190) mixed it up and got thrown out of the game for fighting in the 6th frame... the Barons were way ahead 10-2 when young Ben Satterfield (3-2/3.23) came in from the bullpen and clamped down on the Vols... he held them hitless for the final three and one-third frames... Birmingham's best bats were Matheny with three hits and five RBIs and Reid with three hits and four runs batted in... it was homer #17 for Reid... C Rube Walker (.367) led Nashville with a two-run belt, his 12th of the year.

CRAX KINNEY KO'S BEARS IN GAME 1
In game one of the doubleheader Friday afternoon at Ponce de Leon Park in Atlanta, the Crackers put three big ones on the scoreboard in the last of the 8th and KO'ed the second place Mobile Bears 4-3... clutch-hitting 3B Charlie Glock (.334) sunk the Bears with three RBIs, plating the winning scores with a two-run base hit ... Glock is one of the main RBI men in the Southern Association with 67... manager Kiki Cuyler got a solid start from Shelby Kinney (6-9/4.08), who stopped Mobile without an earned run... Kinney permitted seven hits, walked two batters and whiffed six... it was his first win in six weeks... Kinney had lost his last six decisions... Mobile's Pat McGlothin (8-7/2.75) did nicely until he faltered in the 8th... Atlanta got to him for nine hits... he struck out four and walked just one batter, while going the route.

CHICKS CLIP 'NOOGA IN FIRST GAME
For eight innings in the opener of an afternoon twinbill, Memphis could do diddly squat with Chattanooga starter Bill Kennedy, who was rolling right along with a two-hitter and a 1-0 lead. but then the roof fell in at Joe Engel Stadium... the Chicks clobbered him for four runs in the top of the 9th and came away with a narrow 4-3 triumph... leading Memphis at the plate were 3B Johnny Mauer (.238) with a two-run double and LF George Bradley (.207), who belted in two more with a single... southpaw Ken Polivka (2-0/2.79) went the distance, spread out 11 hits and stranded 11 Lookout runners on base... Kennedy was sharp through seven innings, but lost it... he also tossed a complete game, gave up only five hits, fanned eight batters and walked two.

PELS TRIM TRAVELERS IN 1ST GAME
New Orleans rallied to trim the Little Rock Travelers 7-5 in the first of two yesterday afternoon at Travelers Field... Pelican 1B Al Flair (.282) homered and drove in two runs, SS Mel Rue (.239) doubled in two more and RF Tom Wright (.264) also collected two RBIs in the game... it was the 11th of the season for Flair... with the help of reliever Jim Shea, Pete Modica notched the win... Modica (7-6/3.93) was hit hard for 13 hits in his seven and one-third innings, but still escaped with the victory... Shea (2-3/4.72)/22 G) blanked Little Rock the last inning and two-thirds... New Orleans also completed three twin killings... the Travelers were sparked by CF Jack Bradsher (.323) with three hits and three RBIs, including a roundtripper... New Orleans got some bad news... their leading hitter Red Lavigne got promoted to Louisville in the American Association... the 23-year-old right fielder was hitting .323 with 5 homers and 55 RBIs... this is a huge loss for manager Fred Walters.

[Eugene Church]

THE NASHVILLE BANNER
Saturday, June 21, 1947

NASHVILLE WINS SPLIT IN NIGHTCAP
The number one team in the Southern Association, the Nashville Vols, fell behind 4-0 in the top of the first, but the Birmingham Barons couldn't finish them off... the Vols blanked the Barons the rest of the game and rallied in the last of the 9th for two runs to pull out a 5-4 victory and a split in the doubleheader... C Shag Easterwood (.375) doubled in the tying run and SS Hal Quick (.298) provided the game-winning hit... after a bad opening frame, the Nashville pitchers sparkled with the win going to Ben Wade (10-7/5.78), who shut out Birmingham the final two frames... loser Gene Babbitt (2-1/2.80) couldn't protect a 4-3 lead in the 9th... the first place Vols (52-31) remained 2.5 games in front of the second place Mobile Bears (50-34), while Birmingham is 45-38 and 7 games off the pace in third place.

LAGA GETS BEARS A SPLIT
After losing a tough one in the opener of the doubleheader in Atlanta, the Mobile Bears got back on track with a 3-1 victory behind Frank Laga, who pretty much silenced the Cracker bats, allowing six hits with six Ks and three walks... the clubs split the twinbill... Laga got the best of the top pitcher in the Southern Association, Forest Thompson... it was only his 5th loss this season... Thompson (14-5/2.03) didn't give up a single earned run, fanned five and issued just one base on balls... he had won his last four decisions... Thompson just made one mistake and Mobile 3B Bill Hart made him pay with a three-run homer in the second inning... the Bears (50-34) are in the second spot in the SA standings, just 2.5 games back of the top team, Nashville (52-31)... the Crackers (43-40) are deadlocked with the Memphis Chicks (44-41) for fourth place, 9 games back of the leader.

CURTIS HUMBLED CHICKS, DIVIDES PAIR
Chattanooga captured the nightcap of the doubleheader as Vern Curtis humbled Memphis 3-0 on five hits. while striking out seven batters and walking two... Curtis improved to 9-5 with a 3.55 ERA... Chuck Eisenmann (1-2/3.95) was the losing pitcher, but he only surrendered one earned run in six innings... the Lookouts (41-42) are tied with New Orleans (42-43) for the sixth spot in the SA standings, while Memphis (44-41) shares fourth place with Atlanta (43-40).

STUMPF HELPS PELS SWEEP PEBS
New Orleans center fielder George Stumpf had a grand day with two home runs and four ribbies in the second game of the twinbill... the Pels swept Little Rock, winning game two 6-3 behind Walter Cress (2-1/4.75), who checked the Travelers on three runs and eight hits... going the route Cress struck out nine Travelers and walked four... Stumpf (.285) led the Pelican 14-hit attack with four hits... he also socked two doubles... it was the third win in a row for New Orleans (42-43) and Little Rock's third straight defeat... the Pels edged upward into a tie with Chattanooga (41-42) for sixth place in the Southern Association... both clubs trail Nashville by 11 games.

[Eugene Church]

THE SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS AND LEADERBOARDS
Saturday, June 21, 1947

[Eugene Church]

*

[Eugene Church]

THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE

PELS SNATCH 4TH IN A ROW
At home at Pelican Stadium, New Orleans got clutch hitting from Al Kozar and a solid outing from George Diehl to rally past Nashville 5-3 and post the Pels' fourth win in a row... Kozar (.348) delivered the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth... in a complete-game performance Diehl upped his record to 12-5 with a 3.01 ERA, stopping the best-hitting club in the Southern Association to just five hits and one earned run, striking out four and walking three batters... Diehl has won his last five games... top performers for the Pelicans were CF George Stumpf (.291) and 2B Al Kozar (.348) with three hits apiece... Stumpf and RF Tom Wright (.266) each had solo homers... Stumpf drove in three of the New Orleans' scores... Leo Twardy (9-7/4.93) caught the loss for Nashville... he also hurled the entire game... the Pels got to him for nine hits and five runs... New Orleans won despite committing four errors... the Pelicans evened the season mark to 43-43 and slipped past Chattanooga (41-42) into sixth place in the SA, 10 games back of first place Nashville (52-32).

TRAVS TOP BARONS IN 12
Losses have come often this season for Bill Dickey's Little Rock Travelers... fate smiled on them last night as they snapped a three-game losing streak by topping Birmingham 6-5 in a seesaw 12-inning clash at Rickwood Field... the Travelers notched the victory when CF Walt Chipple (.313) doubled in the 12th and rode home on pinchhitter Ted Clawitter's (.256) RBI single, which gave the loss to Jack Teagan (6-7/4.48) and the win to Carl Lindquist (3-15/4.56)... the Travelers outhit the Barons 14 to 8... Clawitter had three hits and two RBIs for Little Rock... LF Joe Collins (.340) homered for third place Birmingham... the Barons (45-39) are 7 games behind the Southern Association leader Nashville (52-32)... Little Rock is still deep in the cellar with a pathetic 19-66 record.

MEMPHIS OVERPOWERS ATLANTA
Everything was clicking for Memphis last night at their homefield Russwood Park... the Chicks crashed a pair of homers, cracked 15 hits and got a strong outing from Homer Spraggins (5-10/5.32), who went the distance in a 14-2 romp over Atlanta... Memphis overpowered the Crackers with two 7-run innings... Spraggins gave up only six hits, putting an end to his 4-game losing string... Memphis RF George Bradley (.216) slugged a grand slam and drove in five runs and C Vince Plumbo (227) walloped a three-run homer... the Chickasaws (45-41) moved a game in front of the Crackers (43-41) in the battle for fourth place in the Southern Association standings... they trail the top team Nashville (52-32) by 8 games.

The second place Mobile Bears (50-34) got rained out at home against the seventh place Chattanooga Lookouts (41-42) and gained a half game on first place Nashville Vols (52-32)... the Bears and Lookouts will play a twinbill today to make up the rainout... Mobile is only two games out of the top spot in the Southern Association.

[Eugene Church]

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION STANDINGS
Sunday, June 22, 1947