All things Figment - from the pages of The Figment Sporting Journal - Page 31

Jiggs McGee · 12-30-2022, 11:30 AM

APRIL 16, 1945

PIONEERS HANG ON TO WIN SPRING DERBY

The St Louis Pioneers stumbled down the stretch but still managed to finish with the best record in baseball's third spring in the southeast. Travel restrictions once more kept the clubs out of their familiar Florida haunts, but it did not stop the Pioneers from getting off to a 13-3 start in preseason play. The spring finished for St Louis much closer to what many are predicting to see out of the Pioneers this season as they dropped five of their final eight games but their 16-8 spring mark was tops in either association -one game up on the New York Stars.

The games will count starting tomorrow with the traditional opener in the Nation's Capital as the Washington Eagles host the Philadelphia Keystones a day before the rest of the league gets in on the action. The game itself is certain to be far from the usual festive affair of the typical lid-lifter as Washington, and the nation, continue to process the tragic news of President Roosevelt's death last Thursday. Roosevelt had not been expected to throw the ceremonial opening pitch- something he has done so often in the past- as war duties were expected to keep him otherwise occupied. President Truman will also not be on hand, as he will be making his first address in his new role to Congress tomorrow. In lieu of a ceremonial opening pitch, baseball plans a minute of silent prayer to reflect upon the former President.

DYNAMOS PROSPECT CALLED BY SELECTIVE SERVICE

18 year old pitcher Roy Schaub, who was selected first overall in the 1944 FABL draft, has had his name called again. This time it was by Selective Service as the young righthander was notified this week by the draft board in Camden, NJ, that he is to report to the Army. Schaub, who was a two-time winner of the Adwell Award as the top high school ballplayer in the nation, went 5-3 with a 3.08 era in 11 starts at Class C Biloxi after signing with Detroit in July.

Schaub was one of four first round picks the Dynamos had in last year's draft and becomes the third of them -joining outfielder Edwin Hackberry and shortstop Stan Kleminski- in being tabbed by Selective Service. Hackberry joined the Army in Novemebr while Kleminski is in the Navy. That just leaves Carl Potter, who had a strong camp with the Detroit Dynamos, remaining among the foursome. Potter suffered his first loss in spring action last week and is likely ticketed for AAA despite the fact many outside the organization feel the 18 year old should be given an opportunity in Detroit.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Spring Training Summary -Toronto finishes the exhibition season with a 13-11 record after dropping 3 of their last 4 including to in extra innings. Manager Call calls it a successful spring saying that "everyone got their work in, more importantly their were no injuries. The trainers off-season exercise regime may already be paying dividends, now on the train to begin games that count."

Brett's summary of the spring is that the pitching, as expected, performed very well even given at times there seemed to be control issues. Hopefully the number of free passes issued will drop as the season starts. Walks have a bad habit of coming back to haunt pitchers.

Of more concern was the lack of hitting during the spring. Three projected starters, two outfielders, hit under under .201 in tune-up games, only 6 balls cleared the fences in fair territory in 24 games. This coupled with a 50% success rate in base stealing does not bode well for run scoring in 1945. Call has been seen, overheard discussing strategy solutions if the bats, base running continue to remain non-existent in the regular season. The pitching will probably be near the top of the CA but runs are also needed to win games.

WAR IS HELL: CLASS C SHORTENS SEASON

The manpower crunch that exists in a nation where the majority of able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 are in the military has been causing headaches for baseball execs since the U.S. entered the war in December of 1941. Now, it finally has caused a shift in the schedule of the national pastime, albeit at the game's lowest professional rung.

Today the Class C Gulf States and Upper Mississippi Valley circuits announced that they would be playing a shortened 84-game season this year with the first pitch being thrown on June 25 and the season wrapping the same day as the big boys of FABL finish their own slate: September 30th. The reason behind the change was said to be a simple shortage of pitching. While some organizations, such as the Chicago Cougars, have retained enough arms, most others have not.

The plan is to use the influx of talent from the amateur draft in early June to pad the rosters of the Class C clubs, allowing the season to proceed. There does remain concern among baseball executives that though it appears the Third Reich is on the ropes and unlikely to last much longer, the war against Imperial Japan seems to be far from over and the bloody campaign in the Pacific leads one to believe that even more manpower will be needed when the time comes to invade the Japanese homeland.

Baseball's traditional opener in Washington today will greatly miss one of it's staunchest supporters. Prior to the war President Roosevelt was something of a mascot for the Washington Eagles and regular visitor to both the old Capitol Grounds and fancy new Columbia Stadium, not just on Opening Day as he would usually take in an additional game or two during the season throughout much of the 1930s. Meanwhile it appears that President Truman will not throw out the first ball for the Eagles game with the Philadelphia Keystones today. Instead the new President is scheduled to make his first public address as Chief Executve to a joint session of Congress. A week ago, Mr. Truman had said he might substitute for President Roosevelt in opening game ceremonies, but as President himself he'll have to ass it up. The game will be dedicated to the late President with spectators standing for a minute of silent prayer.
The Detroit Dynamos and New York Stars made a minor trade. Out of minor league options, the Dynamos had no room for Roberson so they peddled the 30 year old reserve corner infielder to the Stars for a pair of prospects. Roberson hit just .236 in 100 games for the Dynamos last season after seeing some big league action over the previous 4 years with St Louis. In return, Detroit nets 23 year old outfielder Bud 'Crayon' Miller who should add some color to the AAA roster at Newark, as well as shortstop Bob Holmes, a 19 year old who was a 17th round pick last June and hit .205 at Class C Alexandria last season.
Bobby Barrell certainly seems ready to follow up his triple crown winning season with another big year. The 34 year old blasted 5 homeruns during spring play, tying him with Cleveland's Lou Balk and Hal Reynolds of Brooklyn for tops in that category. Barrell was also second behind only Balk with 14 spring rbi's.
The spring batting champ is an unlikely one as 37 year old George Bond -who returned to the big leagues with Detroit last season after 6 years in the minors- hit .467 in 50 spring plate appearances.
The Cincinnati Cannons are thrilled to finish the spring without any injuries. And even more excited to see that Deuce Barrell pitched 11 innings of spring ball and did not allow a single run while fanning 5 and walking just one. Most importanly, Deuce says he is feeling no pain at all in his elbow, which caused him to miss all of last season.

FLOWERS NAMED AIAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Senior forward Terry Flowers of the National Champion Carolina Poly Cardinals was selected as the top player in Collegiate Basketball for the past season. The native of tiny Retsof, New York - located about midway between Buffalo and Syracuse- was a three year starter for the Cardinals and was named an All-American for the second year in a row. Flowers, who averaged 11.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, was also selected as the top player in the South Atlantic Conference for the second year in a row.

Joing Flowers as first team All-Americans were:

Code:


FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
C  JR Win Dupre         Liberty College  10.2 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.4 SPG, 2.6 BPG
PF SR Terry Flowers     Carolina Poly    11.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 0.3 SPG, 2.9 BPG
SF SR Jack Simons       Ohio Poly        10.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SG SR Tony Williams     Rainier College  10.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG
PG SR Eusebio Constant  Coastal State     9.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG

SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
C  SR Sterling Kennedy  Annapolis Maritime 11.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG
PF SR William Gulley    Conwell College    13.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.3 BPG
SF JR Mark Sasko        St. Pancras        10.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG
SG JR Hunter Enright    Frankford State     9.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG
PG JR David Bobo        Garden State       12.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG

MELANSON TO FACE REES

Frank Melanson will get a chance at the World Middleweight title in July according to his camp. That is the word as the 27 year old Melanson's camp has confirmed the top ranked challenger in the middleweight division and reigning American champ will meet Englishman Archie Rees in Philadelphia on June 9. The bout, which will be held outdoors at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Stadium, will see the Pittsburgh native put his unbeaten record of 28-0-1 on the line against Rees, who improved to 35-4-1 with a first round knockout of Tommy Erwin in New York last month.

Melanson, recently elevated to the status of number one contender in the middleweight division, most recently scored a 4th round knockout of Andrew Harmon in mid-February. Rees will be by far the biggest challenge of his career and the first top-flight opponent for Melanson since knocking out Brooks O'Connor in 1940. One of the few fighters who did not get drafted or join the war effort, Melanson has toiled in a Pittsburgh munitions factory the past 4 years but has still found time to fight in 7 bouts since America joined the war effort. Most of his recent opponents have not had a high pedigree and as a result, despite his obvious talent and home state advantage, he is expected to enter the bout with Rees as a decided underdog.

Rees, while still technically a part of the British armed forces, has been in America since the beginning of March and has made two successful defenses of the title he first claimed in September of 1941 with a second round knockout of American Nathan Sears in Chicago. The first defense was a widely anticipated duel last September with former champ Jorge Cuellar in which The Tadcaster Thunderbolt won with a 13th round technical knockout in what was the first World Title Fight of the war era. He followed that up with a very brief effort in a 1st round knockout of Tommy Erwin on March 21.

MARTIN TAKES DECISION

Harris Martin scored a unanimous 10-round decision over David Daly in the latest leg of his southern tour. The 34 year old, who outspoken manager Al Weiss recently proclaimed would be willing to face Hector Sawyer will all proceeds going to the Red Cross, improved to 44-12-5 with the victory over Daly (20-14-3) in Memphis last night.

Ken Haley, another veteran heavyweight, also claimed a unanimous decision win over the weekend. This one was in St Louis where the 38 year old native of Kalamazoo, Mi., improved to 31-10 with a win over local pugilist Larry Ford. On the same card Dan Miller -the Oakland, Ca. heavyweight, also needed to go to the scorecards to earn a win over Allen Daniel. It was the first fight for the 28 year old since being discharged from the Navy two months ago. Haley is 17-7-1 lifetime as a professional, but impressed many with his work in a number of military tournaments the past couple of years.

Back from serving in the Pacific, Malcolm Hensley scored a majority decision in New York over veteran middleweight Irving Weaver. Hensley , who won in his pro ring return in February with a fight in Honolulu, returned to the east coast a month ago and was back to training in his hometown in the famous MacIntosh Gym -ran by former heavyweight turned trainer extraordiare Steven MacIntosh. The 30 year old Hensley is now 6-2 but never took boxing seriously until joining the Navy 3 years ago and has been one of the most feared middleweights in the Pacific theater in recent years. He was also a fearless marine before being seriously wounded in March 1942 at the Battle of Bataan. He would not see combat duty after that but remained in the marines and recovered sufficiently to begin competiting in military boxing tournaments by the summer of 1943.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/15/1945

500,000 mourners lined the funeral route as the casket containing the body of President Roosevelt was transported through Washington DC on his final trip to the White House. The President died on April 12 of a cerebral brain hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga. while sitting for a portrait. He was 63.
President Truman says there will be no change to the war plans and that Roosevelt's principles will be used to guide his regime.
President Truman, intensively preparing to take FDR's place in the Big Three, is leaving the American responsibility for the San Francisco World Security Conference with this country's delegation.
The American 1st and 3rd Armies close in on Berlin, as does the Red Army from the east. While taking Berlin appears to be a task either the Yanks or Russians can do anytime they see fit, General Eisenhower's overall strategy is slightly different. Taking Berlin is seen as important but the principle aim now is that of breaking up the German armies into as many small pockets of resistance as possible.

Jiggs McGee · 01-02-2023, 01:16 PM

APRIL 16, 1945: SPECIAL OPENING DAY EDITION

BASEBALL SET FOR FOURTH WAR CAMPAIGN

Eagles Host Keystones Today in Traditional Lid Lifter

Baseball's fourth wartime campaign gets under way in Washington today in the President's Own Game. But Franklin Delano Roosevelt will be there only in spirit. The man who loved baseball and did so much for it in these troublous days has left the strife of war and sport forever.

This season could quite easily become the weirdest ever in the history of organized baseball. But there will be fun for all. There'll be only a smear of big-league tone to the play. In fact, dizzy baseball will be the rule, even more than we saw the previous season as the war has robbed us of over 400 players who previously competed in the big leagues. Yet, from all major-league points comes word that interest in the sports fourth wartime season is unusually high. Across the league are reports of sizeable increases in the sale of season ducats.

The only answer is -the people want baseball, whatever its quality. War-frayed millions want to get out to the ball park, root for the home team and heap insults on the umpire.

Where the play is concerned the fans must be tolerant. They'll find the game has fallen further below big-league standard than it did last year. They'll see in action players who in prewar years wouldn't have been given much consideration by class AA minor clubs, let alone the FABL teams. They'll even see entire clubs that might find it difficult to make headway in the Dixie League in ordinary times.

But the underage, the overage and the 4-F players on the fields will be in there trying, and thats about all the crowds will ask. It'll be pleasing entertainment, and with the cost of living as it is today the fans will get their money's worth. But while they are enjoying themselves they must not forget to give thanks to our victorious forces on land and sea, our forces battling to keep our American way of life undisturbed.

To them we owe our baseball this year.

PUNDITS VARIED IN OPINIONS ON ANNIVERSARY RESULTS

As baseball prepares to embark on the journey that is its 20th season of the so-called 'Modern' or 'Human-GM' era about the only thing that appears certain is uncertainty. For a change that uncertainty does not revolve around concerns for the season's survival, as a number of recent rulings and our success in Europe seem to guarantee another uninterrupted wartime campaign. That is not to say there are not players missing -there are actually 404 of them with previous big league experience presently involved in the war effort, more than any other year- but the game will press on as it has done each of the previous three seasons.

The uncertainty revolves around the expected outcome, as being Opening Day, scribes from all of the nation's top daily papers put typewriter to paper and burn a Monday morning column with what they feel passes off as expert evaluation -making their predictions for the order of finish in the two best baseball associations in the world for the upcoming season. Some like Archie Irwin -the well-respected Chicago Daily News columnist- will go as far as daring to call the outcome of the World Championship Series 7 months in advance. Irwin, by the way, sees the Pittsburgh Miners breaking a 44 year drought and topping the Cicninnati Cannons in the '45 Fall Classic. Fast Freddie Farhat also bravely made a WCS prediction. The longtime Detroit World Sports editor agrees with Irwin that the Miners will reach the Series, but he thinks they will once more come up short in October and fall to the Chicago Cougars. Most writers will be content to simply call the pennant winners with a select few going above and beyond and listing the order of finish from 1-thru-8 in both the Continental and Federal Associations.

Most, much like the Chiefs Sam Orr haplessly swinging and missing at another curveball, will flail wildly in their efforts and miss the mark as the scribes tend to do with these prognostications every April. But usually at this stage of the game, many are on the same page. That is not so much the case in recent years with the uncertainty of the war playing such a major role in the outcome.

There are plenty of varied opinions in the Federal Association with depending upon who you ask the Philadelphia Keystones targeted for a repeat trip to the WCS, or a last place finish. Pittsburgh is another team that some feel can win it all but others doom the Miners to the second division. The Gothams and Boston appear to be the two in the Fed that most consistently appear to be first division regulars in the minds of the scribes.

It is much the same in the Continental as some feel the Cincinnati Cannons -with their grey-haired lineup- will win a third straight pennant equaling the Brooklyn Kings of nearly a decade ago. Others like the Chicago Cougars to rebound after a dismal second half a year ago and one brave soul calls for the Philadelphia Sailors to prevail in the loop for the first time since 1930. Toronto seems to be the most popular choice to battle the Cannons and Cougars but none of our so-called experts like the Wolves for finishing at the top of the pack.

What does it all mean? When you consider that none of the seven so-called experts who attempted to successfully call the Fed winner a year ago hit the mark and correctly tabbed the Philadelphi Keystones and only two of the 7 were accurate enough to name Cincinnati as the CA winner, today's prediction likely are worth little more than the fishwrap they are printed on. But it sure is fun to debate the merits of our favourites isn't it? Baseball is back and right now, for the only time all season, everyone is tied for first place. We will know soon enough just how accurate these brave few sportswriters were in subjecting themselves to ridicule by going on record with predictions for a decidedly unpredictable sport.

BRINKER SEES GOTHAMS-COUGARS SERIES

While prognistications are always to be taken with more than a few grains of salt, the war continues to wreak even more havoc with the sport, making it even more difficult to pin down the winners & losers. For who knows how the battlefield results will effect those on the ballfields of America? Well... regardless of the difficulties the task before us is to make bold predictions, so let's get down to it.

The Federal Association. I always start with the Fed. Why? Call me old fashioned but I still link the Fed to its roots in old man Whitney's Century loop (yes, I am that old) and give it the nod over those "upstarts" in the Continental. Let's start with the defending champions of the circuit, the Philadelphia Keystones. Can they catch lightning in the bottle again this year? Short answer is yes, of course, but the longer, more nuanced answer is that it's somewhat unlikely. What is likely is that Bobby Barrell will have another outstanding individual season taking advantage of watered down wartime pitching. But speaking of pitching, Philly doesn't have enough of it to win again (though I do l-o-v-e Jim Whiteley - he's going to have a great season, you heard it here first). Having gotten that out of the way, who is the favorite? With every roster looking like swiss cheese, this is the most difficult set of predictions I've ever had to do.

1. New York Gothams: Probably the most complete team in the loop. Red Johnson, Ed Bowman & Harry Carter are the keys.
2. Boston Minutemen: Good pitching & Pete Day, but some question marks in the lineup. If they get production throughout, they're the faves. But that's a big if.
3. Philadelphia Keystones: If Pepper was still around, they'd be the favorites. Without him they still have a shot, but it'll be a fight.
4. Pittsburgh Miners: It all revolves around Mahlon Strong who might be the best hitter still around who isn't named Bobby Barrell.
5. Detroit Dynamos: The Fed's true wildcard. If Potter & Brown are as good as I think they are and Frank Vance has enough gas left in the tank, they could challenge for the pennant.
6. Chicago Chiefs: The lineup's still dangerous but pitching is the issue in the Windy City. There's just not enough of it there with all the team's best working for Uncle Sam.
7. Washington Eagles: This team's an enigma. They'll miss Mel Carrol but Stofer, Miller and the pitching make them dangerous.
8. St. Louis Pioneers: Not enough batting help available for Tucker & Sharp. A healthy Danny Hern is the 'x' factor in the Gateway City.

The Continental Association is the loop of the haves and have-nots as in "have a chance" and "haven't a chance" regarding the annual capture the flag routine. The defending two-time champ Cannons remain the club to beat. But there are a trio of teams who have a shot at spiking the big guns along the Ohio River led by the big cats of Chicago and the howling pack from north of the border. That other team in the Big Apple is in the mix too. So how's it gonna shake out? Here's a guess:

1. Chicago Cougars: Expect a bounce back from their disappointing collapse a year ago. Despite a slew of talented players in the military, the Cougars remain FABL's deepest team.
2. Cincinnati Cannons: Yes, Deuce Barroll's back and the lineup still boasts Adams, Wheeler & Bird. So what's not to like? Nothing really, other than the difficulty of winning three straight pennants.
3. Toronto Wolves: Pack & Garrison are top-notch but the Wolves don't quite have the firepower of the Cannons & Cougars and that makes their route to the top of the hill a steeper climb.
4. New York Stars: Eli Panneton is legit and Lee & Cornett are solid behind him. The lineup is the weak link, but it's far from terrible and that gives the Stars a legitimate chance of sneaking away with the pennant.
5. Brooklyn Kings: OSA doesn't like Brooklyn, but I see them as the "best of the rest" with that status largely dependent upon the pitching. OF Orie Martinez is a star in the making.
6. Philadelphia Sailors: Never count out the Sailors. They seem to annually do more with less than any other team. Doc Newell's getting old and the lineup lacks a true difference-maker.
7. Montreal Saints: Could easily finish 4th or 5th - like the Kings, they're tough to predict. They have a workman-like lineup but the pitching is thin.
8. Cleveland Foresters: The lineup, led by young Jim Adams Jr, is surprisingly good... but the pitching is not.

OSA CALLS FOR REMATCH OF '43 WITH A CANNONS-MINUTEMEN SERIES

Age is just a number and when referring to the geriatric Cincinnati Cannons OSA says that number is 103. That is the number of victories that Dan Barrell and his staff at the league scouting department forecast for the Cannons in the upcoming season. OSA feels age will not be an issue for Cincinnati - which is quite possibly fielding a team that is the oldest in FABL history. Not a problem on the mound where the scouting service sees 37 year old's Sam Sheppard and Tom Barrell combining to win 46 games nor in the outfield where it predicts big numbers for the trio of Al Wheeler, Gail Gifford and Sam Brown.

OSA sees the Chicago Cougars -led by their three armed mound monster of Billy Riley, Harry Parker and Art White- finishing second with the New York Stars and Toronto Wolves deadlocked in third place.

In the Federal Association the scouting bureau is calling for big seasons from Billy Dalton, Pete Day and Bill Moore to carry the Boston offense to the top of the pile. Pittsburgh is picked second and then the battle for third will be a tough one with four teams -Washington, Detroit, the Gothams and Chiefs- all finishing within 4 game of each other in rounding out the first division. OSA sees the defending champion Philadelphia Keystones dropping to 7th despite another big season for Bobby Barrell.

Here is the projected 1945 standings and top players according to OSA:

When one looks at OSA's call for '45 it certainly is interesting to see the top hitters and pitcher predictions. Looking at those numbers my interpretation is the OSA feels that Bobby Barrell will come back to the pack but will still have enough to win the FA Whitney. Hard to argue that one. The FA Allen looks like Boston’s Ed Wood is the top choice. He will be hard pressed to get 39 starts in this era of all the doubleheaders but his numbers look the best based on the OSA.

In the CA, the Whitney looks like a crapshoot between multiple hitters. One could argue Toronto’s 1B Walt Pack or a pair of Cincinnati OF’s in Brown or Gifford. The batting race looks interesting between Brown and Sailors Ed Reyes. On the CA Allen front the OSA likes Cincinnati’s Sam Sheppard. If he comes close to those numbers, Fast Freddy will eat his hat.
As for rookie of the year, looks like Detroit 18 year old Potter is the OSA top pick.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Mail & Empire Predicts FABL in 1945 -Brett will now perform an annual rite of spring with his predictions of the way teams will finish the 1945 season. This year is more difficult than past years with possibility of players returning to the league from at least the European Theatre of the war. The fall of Berlin seems to be only days away. If that happens do the players return or are they moved in a massive effort to end the fighting in the Pacific. Brett will make his list based on the current rosters of all 16 teams.

Continental Association
1. Chicago Cougars- Although hit hard hard by enlistments this strong team is on a mission to avenge the collapse of 1944.
2. Toronto Wolves- War also came calling in a big way. Led by pitching, will the Wolves get enough from their bats to challenge Chicago?
3. Philadelphia Sailors- A team that made strides forward in 1944, expect more of the same in 1945.
4. Cincinnati Cannons- Brett thinks this is the year age catches up to the Cannons although their wily GM will make all moves he deems necessary to capture a third straight pennant.
5. New York Stars- A team that could surprise everyone, Brett's dark horse in the CA.
6. Montreal Saints- A young team whose time is coming just not in 1945.
7. Brooklyn Kings- A team still trying to find their way at the top levels of the FABL.
8. Cleveland Foresters- Rebuilding, restocking will continue in 1945.

Federal Association
1. New York Gothams- Pitching, pitching, pitching along with Red Johnson's bat make the Gothams clear early favourites.
2. Boston Minutemen- Expect Boston to rebound from a disappointing 1944.
3. St. Louis Pioneers- Solid team both on the mound, at the plate. Do they have enough to challenge in FA?
4. Detroit Dynamos- A team with a wealth a young upcoming talent. This season may be one of putting pieces together in the FA. Pitching is area of concern.
5. Pittsburgh Miners- Can the Miners recapture past glory of a few seasons ago?
6. Chicago Chiefs- Never a team to be overlooked.
7. Washington Eagles- Like the Stars the Eagles could surprise everyone in the FA.
8. Philadelphia Keystones- Keystones could finish anywhere from third to eighth depending on a number of situations.

There are a number of things that will change over 1945. Which teams go through extended hot streaks or slumps? Do injuries derail hopes of a team? Which players rise to new levels? Do some aging veterans finally run out of gas at the end of the careers? Does a young player carry his team to new heights? Does the war end in time for teams to get the a key player(s) back in time to make a late pennant charge in either league? One thing is for certain, 1945 will produce unexpected results in either a positive or negative direction for a number of teams.
***Ready For Season Opener ***

The Wolves Pullman coach has pulled into Union Terminal in Cincinnati on the eve of the beginning of the 1945 schedule for a short two-game series. Bob Call is optimistic about the team's chances stating that the Wolves will be strong on the mound, in the field, with the hitters needing only to produce enough runs to give the pitching staff a lead to work with over the next six months. Call likes starting with the Cannons to see what some people are calling the best have for 1945. Call thinks the CA will a hard fought race all season long with 3 or 4 teams able to win the pennant.

Owner Bernie Millard is said to be pleased with the increase in season's tickets along with attendance estimates at Dominion Field. Insiders tell Brett that Millard has told the front office staff that anything less than a trip to the World Series will be considered a failure in his eyes.

Toronto is said to have set their minor league rosters to start the season. Chattanooga will start the campaign with only 20 players saying it is time for these players to show whether or not they have a future with the Wolves. Expect multiple moves between Davenport, Chattanooga during the season more so if players return from the service.

At the end of the 1944 season the Minutemen found themselves in fifth position with a 76-78 record. It was their worst finish since the 1940 season (also fifth place) and their first season finishing under .500 since 1938 (72-82). Not only did the Minutemen finish in the second division they also have the worst minor league system ranking in the FABL. This has less to do with poor drafting and more to do with Boston trading away top prospects and first round picks to secure talent that helped the club win two pennants and one championship in three seasons.

Now with that talent aging, and the few prospects the club do own rights to serving in either the European or Pacific theaters, the Minutemen find themselves at an identity crossroad. The club still has loads of talent and could very well find themselves deep into a pennant race which may allow them to continue to trade away top picks for players that can provide immediate dividends. This past recipe for success may not be the way to go in today’s FABL though.

Ever since the anti-tanking draft measures were introduced last season, it may be a wiser course of action for Boston to retain their top pick. With the potential win/loss improvement from the season before it would improve Boston’s chances of grabbing a top pick while still finishing at the top of the standings. BNN predicts that the Minutemen will finish with 91 wins and top the FA as they are currently constructed. If that turned out to be accurate the Minutemen would be looking at a 15 game improvement from a season ago.

Of course BNN predictions are often the kiss of death as there is no way to factor in all the unseen variables that crop up over the course of a season. Still, experts feel the Minutemen will be competitive and the club definitely agrees with those assessments. It may have been why Boston's front office remained quiet all offseason as they made not a single move to bolster the lineup.

With opening day tomorrow, the Minutemen will trot out one of the more experienced rosters in the league with 15 of the 24 players over 30 years of age. Will that experience be enough? Or will we see the effects of age in both the production and health department? We will get to see it all unfold tomorrow as the club opens up the season in Philadelphia for a three game series against the Keystones. Either way, the long, cold, dreary winter is now officially over and the boys of summer are ready to take center stage for what the city of Boston hopes is another magical season.

IS AGE JUST A NUMBER? CANNONS HOPE IT IS AND THE NUMBER IS 3

The Cincinnati Cannons host the Toronto Wolves in the Continental Association opener at Tice Memorial tomorrow afternoon, faced with an opportunity only seven other teams in the 54 year history of FABL have ever had. We are speaking of teams that have won back to back World Championship Series and the list is very select with only the 1897 New York Gothams, 1901 Chicago Cougars, 1905 Boston Minutemen, 1907 New York Stars, 1909 Baltimore Clippers, 1920 Detroit Dynamos and 1926 New York Stars joining the current edition of the Cannons as clubs looking for a third consecutive World Championship Series. Everyone in Cincinnati knows by now that only the '26 Stars accomplished the goal but the Cannons have the oppportunity to join them this October.

This is clearly the place to insert the obvious joke that most of the current crop of Cannons were likely already in the big leagues to witness the Stars 1926 win first-hand. That is not quite true, but with an average age of 33 and 10 of the 24 players that will start the season tomorrow being at least 35 years of age, it is not that far off.

There is no question the current edition of the Cannons is the oldest in the league this season, and likely one of the oldest FABL teams ever fielded. At 27 Johnny Potter and Deuce Barrell are the youngest two on the club that includes 39 year old Jim Crawford and five 37-year old's in Tom Barrell, Tom Bird, Jack Cleaves, Sam Sheppard and Al Wheeler. There was hope from some in the organization that local boy Ted Stacy -the 22 year old shortstop out of Hillcrest High- would make the club but the Cannons opted to go with 34 year old free agent pickup Harry Woodruff -who toiled for the Gothams last season- as the backup to Jim Hensley. There is no question that Stacy, who was a 1941 regional round pick, has the glove to play in the big leagues, but he hit just .209 at Indianapolis last season and looked overmatched in going 3-for-21 during spring action.
*** Tigers Looking Forward to Strong Sophomore Campaign ***

Cincinnati's other big league team says ticket sales are going well and Tigers grid coach Jack Conn says the club is out to prove their 4-6 record in their debut was no fluke. "Our defense was pretty solid last season, all things considered," explained Conn. "We need to improve our offense, especially the running game, but hopefully that is something we can address in the draft."

The squad recently held a dinner at the Cincinnati Touchdown Club and presented Jack Christensen with the team MVP award for the 1944 campaign. Christensen was a surprise this season, leading the club with 6 interceptions while rushing for a team best 357 yards.
*** Could Basketball Be Next For the Queen City ***

There is a lot of talk about the possibility of a big-time pro basketball loop getting underway next season and if it happens, Cannons owner John Tice says he would be interested in joining the fray. To be clear Tice did add that he has heard nothing about plans for Cincinnati to be entered in a play for pay cage league, but also admitted he has been pretty focused on the Cannons and has not explored the possibility at all.

What caught our attention is news from Cincinnati native and former Detroit City College All-American John Banks. The former guard is now in management at one of the big automobile factories in Detroit while moonlighting in a semi-pro league, but in a recent visit home to the Queen City he mentioned that he had been approached about playing in proposed new cage loop called the United States Basketball League once the war was over. The 27 year old said he is very interested and added the group appeared quite serious.

ARMY, NAVY LEAD PROSPECT PARADE

OSA unveiled it's latest top ten prospect rankings and it comes as little surprise that the Army and Navy lead the way with 3 each. In all, 8 of the 10 ten at the top of the OSA chart are presently carrying guns instead of bats and balls led by 23 year old St Louis Pioneers pitching prospect Hal Hackney.

Hackney, a 1940 3rd round pick who has been in the Navy since 1941, tops the latest OSA list which includes 6 pitchers. The Detroit Dynamos lead the list with 3 players including one of just two top ten prospects who are not serving their country. 18 year old lefthander Carl Potter slots in at number 5 according to OSA and more importantly at number 4 on the Dynamos pitching rotation as he attempts to become the first 18 year old pitcher to win a game in the modern era. There is still a possibility that Potter, despite a terrific spring, starts the season in Newark as the Dynamos still need to cut 5 more players from their spring roster in order to get down to the FABL limit of 24.

The only other player to crack the top ten who will be playing pro ball to start the season is 18 year old catcher Dan Atwood. The New York Stars second round pick in 1944, Atwood split his pro debut last year between A and AA.

Look for a great change in baseball when the war is ended. It might even come next year, with V-E day apparently near. There will be such a general overhauling the fans hardly will recognize their clubs. Some high in baseball say as much as 50 percent of those now on the field will be back in the minors or out of the game entirely when the regulars return from the war.
Or in the case of the Cannons, perhaps the next stop is an old age home. The Cincinnati Cannons have finalized their 24-man roster and it certainly is experienced. 18 of the 24 players are at least 30 years with no one under the age of 27. 10 of the 24 players heading north, including 6 pitchers, are at least 35 years of age and 10 of them have at least a decade of big league service under their belts already led by Jack Cleaves, who prepares for his 19th FABL campaign. Average age of the Cannons roster is 33 and that is after they waived 38 year old reliever Fred Hall as their final cut.
There is excitement in Montreal as Saints fans look to the arrival of young shortstop Gordie Perkins. Saints brass revealed the 22 year old 1941 3rd overall selection will start the season in FABL following a great spring training. Jake Hughes will be moved to 3B and Mack Burns will cover 2B for the season opener. Rookie OF Hank Eason, who had a strong showing in a brief trial last September, also made the team. The son of former Saints star outfielder Hal Eason will share the leftfield job with veteran Hank Dunn, at least to start the season.
Some are wondering what the Pittsburgh Miners are up to. The Miners waived 5 veterans over the weekend but that drops their active roster down to 21 players. Are they planning a cost-cutting move by running with a short roster or do they have their eyes on a number of players presently sitting on the waiver wire? They have already submitted a claim for Cleveland relief pitcher Red Butler.

The Day That Was
Current events from 4/16/1945

President Truman's declaration to Congress and the world that he intends to press for speedy victory in the war, and for lasting peace, won the instant plaudits of Congress. It was Truman's first address to Congress after succeeding Roosevelt as President.
Roosevelt went to his final resting place as the 31st President of the United States was buried in Hyde Park Garden after the funeral train that left Washington Saturday arrived in New York.
General Patton's American 3rd Army is within 7 miles of the Czech border and has captured Hof, effectively splitting the German defenses in two.
General Mark W. Clark announced that the "spring offensive in the Mediterranean theater has begun," with the American 5th and British 8th armies engaged in operations along the entire Italian battlefront.
A German news agency has confirmed that the Russians had captured the Seelow Heights, 23 miles east of Berlin and linked up their bridgeheads southwest and northwest of Kuestrin. A Soviet broadcast stated that the attack on Berlin has started.
The two month stalemate over reorganization of the Polish government has been broken after Premier Stalin's agreement to a regime which will be truly representative of the Polish people.
400 Superfortresses returned to raid Tokyo, a city still burning from Saturday's fire raid, which burned out more than 10 square miles. Reconnaissance photos show that 27 1/2 square miles have been devastated in and around the Japanese capital since March 10.

Jiggs McGee · 01-03-2023, 12:34 PM

APRIL 23, 1945

QUICK START FOR CANNONS BUT INJURIES ALREADY A CONCERN

Veteran Club Loses 2 Pitchers Including Deuce Barrell

There was no question the Cincinnati Cannons have loads of talent. Age was the big worry as a potential obstacle in the Cannons quest for a third straight World Championship Series win and judging by the first week of the season those concerns were well founded. The Cannons took five of six games from Toronto and Philadelphia to start the season but in the first week alone they had three of their star players go down with injury.

The most troubling is news that Deuce Barrell will miss the next two or three weeks with a tender left elbow. That is the same joint that cost the two-time Allen Award winner all of last season. Deuce had an very strong spring, pitching 11 scoreless innings and said the elbow felt great but he lasted just 6 pitches in the season opener against Toronto before he needed to be pulled from the game, putting an early damper on a festive pre-game ceremony that included raising a second consecutive WCS baner. Dan Adams came on in relief and did a decent enough job for the Cannons to prevail in the lid-lifter by a 4-3 count.

Three days later Sam Sheppard joined Barrell on the sidelines as the newly acquired 37 year old -another former Allen Award winner- was forced out of his start Friday after 7 scoreless innings of 3 hit ball due to back tightness. After the game Sheppard, who owns a career mark of 180-147, insisted it was nothing serious and he felt just fine but the Cannons will hold him out of his next start or two just to be sure.

It was not just pitchers as the injury bug appears to be an equal opportunity employer in Cincinnati with 37 year old second baseman Jack Cleaves also being bitten. Cleaves went 4-for-7 in the two games against Toronto but was held out of most of the Philadelphia series after suffering a mild ankle sprain.
*** Hot Start For Kings ****

The Brooklyn Kings were the other Continental Association club to get off to a quick start, beginning the season with a 6-game winning streak before dropping a pair of 1-0 games in yesterday's twin bill against the New York Stars. Veteran outfielder Vernon Ruch had the hot bat for Brooklyn to begin the seasons, hitting .355 and driving in 7 runs.

The Federal Association saw the Washington Eagles get off to the quickest start, with 5 wins in their first 7 as they opened against the two Pennsylvania clubs. The Washington starting pitching lived up to it's early billing with a strong start while Detoit, despite a rough big league debut for 18 year old Carl Potter, went 4-2 to claim second place after the opening week. Potter, who turns 19 on Friday, lasted just 3 innings in a 13-8 loss to the New York Gothams in his big league debut. A day later the Dynamos other 1944 draft pick making his pitching debut fared much better as 22 year old Pete Brown went the distance in a 5-2 win over the Gothams.

SAINTS LOSE DEYOUNG FOR DE-YEAR

The Montreal Saints, already reeling with the winter loss of Bill Ross and Bert Cupid to the war effort, will need to carry on without another pitcher as 32 year old lefthander Jake DeYoung was hurt in a 10-9 loss to Brooklyn on Thursday. The diagnosis could not be much worse as team doctors say DeYoung will miss the rest of the year. DeYoung suffered a sprained ankle during the off-season a couple of years ago but beyond that he has never missed anything more than a couple of days with minor aches and pains. He has been a dependable back of the rotation innings-eater for nearly a decade, posting a 103-133 career mark since joining the club as a 22-year old in 1935.

MILESTONE WATCH

Here are some achievements within reach this season.

Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones needs 9 homeruns to reach the 400 plateau. The 34 year old inched closer with two long balls in the opening week.

Leon Drake of the New York Gothams is 5 away from 200 and his teammate Red Johnson needs 14 to get to the 200 mark. Only 23 players have ever hit 200 big league homeruns.

Al Wheeler of Cincinnati had 8 hits last week to give him 2,909 for his 18 year career. There are only 11 players with 3,000 or more hits. It is highly unlikley to happen this year but Wheeler homered twice last week and is now 37 homers shy of joining the legendary Max Morris as the only players with 500 round-trippers.

Jack Cleaves of Cincinnati needs 5 more hits to reach the 2,000 plateau. Montreal's Vic Crawford is 61 shy of 2,000 and Cleaves' Cannons teammate Sam Brown needs 91. Three others are within sight of the 2,000 hit mark as well. They are Boston's Pete Day (1,894), Freddie Jones of the Chiefs (1,876) and Cougars catcher Mike Taylor (1,875). Taylor is also just 9 shy of 1,000 career runs batted in.

On the pitching side of the ledger, the next win for Boston's Ed Wood will be the 200th of his career. The 36 year old did not get a decision in his lone opening week start and sits at 199-145 for his career. 40 year old Jim Lonardo of the New York Gothams is 19 victories shy of becoming just the 13th 300-game winner in FABL history.

Mixed results for three top-100 prospects who made their big league debuts this week. Plenty to cheer about in Montreal where 22 year old shorstop Gordie Perkins (OSA #15) hit .296 (8-for-27) with a pair of doubles in his first week in the big leagues. The Polish Hammer Dick Blaszak made his Chicago Chiefs debut less than 5 months after being shot in the Pacific. The 23 year old did single in his first game but went just 2-for-12 in the 4 game he played in and is still looking for his first big league extra-base hit. It was the first taste of pro ball since 1942 for the #16 ranked prospect. The final debut of top prospect came Friday in New York when Dynamos 18 year old pitching sensation Carl Potter (OSA #7) made his first big league start in a bid to become the youngest pitcher to win a big league game in the modern era. It was not to be on this night as the Gothams roughed the lefthander up for 8 runs -but only 4 earned- over 3 innings in what would end up being a 13-8 New York win.
Looks like Eli Panneton is off to another hot start. The 23 year old fourth overall pick in 1944, who went straight from Aberdeen College to the New York Stars rotation last July, had a couple of very strong outings to begin his sophomore campaign. He took the loss in Chicago allowing 3 earned runs in a 4-3 defeat but followed that up with a 1-0 complete game shutout of Brooklyn as part of a twin-bill yesterday. It was the third shutout for Panneton in 18 career big league starts.
A big start for Al Wheeler as the veteran outfielder hit .381 with 2 homers to start the season for Cincinnati. Wheeler is chasing 3,000 career hits (at 2,909 presently) and is hoping to join Max Morris as the only players with 500 career homeruns. The 37 year old Wonder Wheel now sits at 463.
The Chicago Cougars lost an awful lot of offense to the war over the winter but CLiff Moss is doing his best to make up for it. The 38 year old outfielder hit 3 homers in the opening week -including a pair of Stars ace Eli Panneton in the season opener.
Another veteran hitter also had a strong week as Montreal's Vic Crawford earned top performer in the CA honours after the 37 year old batted .407 with 2 homers and 10 rbi's. In the the player of the week was 30 year old Cuno Myer. The Detroit first baseman went 13-for-23 (.565) in 6 games last week helping Detroit to a 4-2 start.
A slow 2-4 start for the Boston Minutemen as a veteran Ed Wood and 23 year old rookie Andy Howell struggled in their first starts of the year. Last year's accusations Billy Dalton and Alf Pestilli each provided a homer this week as the offense was not the reason for the sour week.
The Toronto Wolves stumble coming out of the gate in 1945 dropping 3 straight, two by one run in Cincinnati then the pitching implodes blowing a 7-2 lead going into the 8th losing 10-8 in the home opener to Cleveland. The mediocre week was saved by sweeping the Sunday twin bill from the Foresters. The defense has performed well with only one fielding miscue through five games and the OF has gunned down 5 baserunners in the early season. Word should get around the league that trying to take an extra base on the Wolves is at your own peril.

KRISTICH COOL AS NEW PRO GRID LEAGUE SEEKS "SERIES'

The possibility of two major professional football leagues, working in a manner similar to baseball's Continental and Federal Associations, was envisioned this week as the Continental Football Conference moved toward conclusion of its final organization meeting. The Continental group, it's post-war plans already past the blueprint stage, has asked the American Football Association for an audience, with a view towards paving the way towards collaboration, or an understanding, on schedules and player drafts.

The new organization received somewhat of a cold shoulder from President Jack Kristich of the 25 year old American Football Association. But it was hopeful that before its meeting adjourned intra-league details, including a possible post-season "world championship series" between circuit champions, would be worked out satisfactorily.

Representatives of seven franchise holders in the Continental Football Conference were present for the meeting, at which final details of a constitution and by-laws are to be worked out. In addition, the league will consider from several additional applications to round out it's list of franchises. CFC President Ben Montgomery is planning an attempt to meet with Kristich, his AFA counterpart. Yesterday, Kristich declined to discuss the prospects with newsmen but in a formal statement he said:

"All I know of the new leagues is what I read in the newspapers. There is nothing for the American Football Association to talk about as far as new leagues are concerned until some one gets a football and plays a game."

It generally is understood that the postwar boom in sports will be on the amazing side. But it will be an entirely different matter from the sports boom after World War I. It will appeal to a far greater number of actual players but I doubt very much that it will even approach the so-called golden age that followed the first World War -those years that brought us Max Morris, Urban Dane, Jack Barrell, the rise of the American Football Association and the North American Hockey Confederation and so many great stars of the 1920s in almost every line of sport. Max Morris had been a star pitcher before, but it was not until after the war that he unwrapped his big mace and began hitting homeruns.

I can't see any such stars in sight for some time to come. For this has been a longer and far more punishing war was far as our athletes are concerned. It has arrested the playing careers of so many of our young stars, such as Pete Papenfus, Bill Barrett, Hector Sawyer and so many other who were still short of their prime when called into service.

Here and there among the younger servicemen we'll have a certain number of stars who may come close to the old-time mark -boxers, ball players and football players. But any one who expects to see a Max Morris like numbers in baseball, a college grid star dominate the game like Ubran Dane did or a legendary multi-sport star like Jack Barrell who excelled both on the ice and the grid, likely will be disappointed.
***Average Skill Figures to Be Boosted ***

It could happen, of course, since almost anything can happen in sport. But it isn't a good bet. The odds are against it. There will be too many of our greatest stars of 1941, around Pearl Harbor days, who will be over the hill physcally before they have a chance to return to competitive sport. Players like Sal Pestilli or Fred McCormick. They still will be good, many of them, but too many of them will have lost their best years.

The sports boom that will follow this war will be another type. While it may not give the spectators such big names as we have mentioned, so many outstanding stars, it will accomplish something much more important. It will lift the general average of play and skill far higher than it ever was before.

The first World War contributed nothing to the headline mastery of the golden age. The sports stars of that era had practically no connection with the war in anyway. But it will be different after this war. The Army and Navy now have from 12,000,000 to 14,000,000 men in the service. And the Army and Navy have outlined one of the biggest programs for sport ever known, along the line of coaching, training and competitive play.
*** We're Too Much of a Spectator Nation ***

I know something about the tremendous scope of this program that will take in thousands of coaches and trainers and other skill operations who will be called on to worth with and help train and develop the many millions now scattered all over the world map.

The big swing in the direction of sport is a vital necessity. The Army and Navy know this. When the war in Europe is ended there will be millions who can't be rushed home or on to Asia and the Pacific at a day's notice. They will need a vast sporting program to keep them interested in life while waiting for boats and planes to bring them back or carry them to other theaters of action.

The big weakness of sport in the United States is that we have been too much of a spectator Nation -and not enough of a playing Nation. This applies to our youngsters and to older men. When 25,000 out of every 100,000 18-year olds are rejected by the draft something obviously is wrong.

The Army and Navy now plan to give all these millions a chance to play with greater skill the games they like, even if few of them ever become champions. There can be only one champion at a time after all. But there can be a vast improvement in our average skill.

The golden age of sport after the last will come back. But it won't return with any rush. It will need more time and it will be a far better thing for the country and for sport, provided always that it is handled properly, which I hope it will be.

NEW YORK RING SOLONS MAY BAN TOWNSLEY

The New York Boxing Commission was faced with the problem of Frankie Townsley and indications are the local body plans to act decisively in parallel with the Massachusetts Commission, which is considering a lifetime ban for the 28 year old middleweight. Townsley was suspended yesterday by the New England group for "not trying" in a bout in Boston in late February with Richard McKinney. Townsley's manager Jack Walker and his pilot, Eddie Laken, were absolved of any blame in the affair but Walker has since parted ways with his fighter.

It is a local ban but Townsley has applied to the New York body for permission to stage a fight next month. The New York commission is considering the request from Paddy McCoy -who has taken over from Walker as Townsley's manager.

"Townsley has fought satisfactorily many times," noted McCoy, "including quite often in New York state. The Boston commission is going on hearsay only and my fighter maintains he did nothing wrong."

Townsley lost an unanimous decision to McKinney on February 15th despite being heavily favoured to win the fight. There were reports of large wagers placed late on McKinney to win by a decision which got the ball rolling on the investigation. Townsley is a Baltimore native with a 14-5 career record that includes 10 wins by knockout.

EDMONDS AND PRICE WIN EASY TUNE-UPS

A pair of top-ten fighters were in action last week and each had little trouble coming away with a victory. John Edmonds improved to 18-1 and is considered the 4th best middleweight active right now after the Muncie, In. born 26 year old claimed a fourth round knock out of Warren Gray in a Tuesday night bout in Camden, NJ.

Meanwhile, 27 year old Tampa born heavyweight Matt Price is now 27-4-3 after scoring an unanimous decision over Tom Brooks in Houston last Monday. Price was listed the 9th ranked challenger in the heavyweight division last month. On the same night rising welterweight River Thomas knocked out his opponent Jimmy Rogers in the 2nd round of their 10-round bout in Cleveland. Thomas is a New Jersey native who boasts an 11-2 record with 10 of those victories coming via knockout.

OWENS WINS PRO DEBUT

23 year old Davis Owens, who was a highly touted amateur fighter out of Cleveland before joining the army, won his professional debut. It was a bout in St Louis against fellow soldier Kenny McDonald and was a 5th round knockout. Owens, who was stationed in Italy but returned home a few months ago, expects to continue on as a pro fighter once the war is over.

The youngster Owens, who got his first boxing experience fighting for 'corner rights' to sell newspapers in Cleveland, carried the scrap to McDonald right from the opening gong. The Philadelphia native held Owens off during the early rounds but could not stand up under Owens two-fisted attacked to the head in the fifth.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/22/1945

Russian troops are now fghting inside of Berlin and the Red Army has cut the Germans main rail exit from the city to the south.
American troops have fought their way into Czechoslovakia and are also closing in on Berlin to meet up with the Russians.
To the south, Allied troops of the US 5th and British 8th Armies have taken Bologna, the key to all north Italy.
Prime Minister Churchill said today that Allied armies in Europe were nearing the end of "a long journey" and says that while they will pause for a moment to celebrate V-E day, the work is not done as the Allies "have the Japanese to finish."
American troops. supported by an incessant artillery barrage, are battering forward yard by yard in southern Okinawa Island against stronf resistance and fortifications superior to those the marines encounterd on bloody Iwo Jima.
Former US Secretary of State Cordell Hull "the father of the United Nations," told that Allies tonight that the San Francisco World Security Conference will be "an acid test of whether mankind has suffered enough and learned enough."

Jiggs McGee · 01-04-2023, 12:34 PM

APRIL 30, 1945

EAGLES FLYING HIGH

Spring training results are meaningless. We all know that but the Washington Eagles are exhibit A in proving the point. The Eagles stumbled through a 7-17 spring showing, including losing their final six tune-up games but once the switch was flipped on for the 1945 season the Stockdales have been nearly unstoppable with 10 wins in their first 13 games. Two of Washington's three losses were by a single run and both came in extra innings.

Federal Association opponents knew that John Lawrence's club had plenty of pitching and the Washington starters -with the possible exception of front-man Del Burns (2-1, 5.30) have been outstanding- but most felt there would be a huge hole in the Eagles offense after Mel Carrol and Jesse Alvardo left to join the war effort. That has not been the case as the Eagles, led by Fed player of the week Sig Stofer (.388,2,14) top their loop in runs scored and made it look easy over the weekend with 23 runs in 3 games in Philadelphia.

Speaking of the Keystones, they are one of 3 Fed teams that are off to a much slower start than was expected. Bobby Barrell (.318,3,9) is still hitting -although not yet at his triple crown pace of a year ago- but the rest of the Keystones offense has struggled and their pitching is having its troubles as well. Pittsburgh is another team, like their Pennsylvania neighbors struggling to a 4-7 start, but in the Miners case it is clearly injuries that can shoulder a good share of the blame. Veteran outfielder Wally Flowers is the latest to go down, and his hamstring troubles will cause him to miss at least the next month. Flowers is the fourth Pittsburgh outfielder battling an injury, joining Mahlon Strong, Willie Vega and Whit Williams, with second baseman Les Tucker is also hurt.

There is no injury bug to blame for the Gothams early season funk. Picked by many as the team to beat in the Federal Association, New York has looked awful in the early going with Ed Bowman mercifully snapping a 7-game losing skid yesterday with his first win of the season. Pitching was supposed to be the Gothams strength this season and war-returnee Harry Carter (1-1, 3.24) along with ace Ed Bowman (1-3, 2.45) have done a decent job but there has to be some worry for new skipper Bud Jameson that age might be catching up with Jim Lonardo (0-1, 6.63) and reality with 33 year old Jim Baggett (0-1, 10.24) who is out to prove he is not just a one-year wonder. Four-time Allen Award winner Jim Lonardo's slow start is especially concerning when you consider that he is 40 years old and the fact that he struggled in the spring as well. His three starts in the regular season have been well below his standards and Jameson might just be rethinking his plan to go with just a 4-man rotation.

Gothams management summed it up this way: "The pitchers have not been spectacular, then hitting has been more miss than hit and the defense has been nothing special. That's how you got 4-8. I think some things will level out, but it looks like more of a placeholder year untill the big boys get back. Seems I've spent most of my FABL days waiting on Brewer, Monier and Messer."
*** Start Fit For a King ***

The Brooklyn Kings are the surprise team in the Continental Association, a loop in which the standings -at least aside from second place Cincinnati- look to be inverted after two weeks. The Kings pitching has been nothing to write home about in the early going, but there offense has been positively regal. Veterans Vernon Ruch (.302,3,14) and Jake Shadoan (.300,2,11) along with second year catcher George Jones (.353,0,4) are three big reasons the Kings lead the big leagues in runs scored.

Cincinnati is hot on their heels as the Cannons offense is blasting home runs at the rate of one a game thanks to a huge start from Denny Andrews (.453,5,12) and a return to his form of the mid-1930s from veteran outfielder Al Wheeler (.348,4,16) but age perhaps appears to be catching up with the Cincinnati arms. Jim Crawford is the latest Cannons hurler to go down, joining Deuce Barrell, Jake Smith and Sam Sheppard. None of the injuries appear to be especially troublesome although Cannons manager Ad Liska is holding his breath over Barrell's tender elbow, but all are the nagging type that could either be merely those little things that crop up as the club heads north after having the veteran arms take it easy in spring, or a more serious sign of age catching up with a staff dominated by veteran arms.

Frustration is growing in Chicago as the Cougars second half slump from a year ago seems to have shown little interest in leaving the Windy City. Aside from the New York Gothams, the Cougars 4-8 start has to be considered the most disappointing to start the season. One could simply chalk it up to just working the early season kinks out but losing six straight games to the Montreal Saints does little to restore confidence to a club that had little of it left by the end of last season.

BELTON WORRIED ARMY 'TARGETING' 4-F BALLPLAYERS

FABL President Sam Belton is ready to fight for the right of 4-Fs to play baseball. "Just because a man's able to play two hours of a certain sport is no indication that he is fit for military services," the long-time baseball boss said in an interview.

"I believe a 4-F is a 4-F regarless of what his profession might be. Merely because a man is a baseball player and a 4-F doesn't mean his draft board should reclassify him and put him into service."

Belton sais he had heard of cases where just such things had happened. "I have informed the President of the United States, my friend Harry Truman, that there have been these instances of discrimination against ball players by selective service officials and have asked that they should be investigated."

The FABL head declined to give any specific examples but noted that a number of players declared 4-F in recent years have informed club owners that they have subject to increased pressure from their local draft boards even after recent medical examinations had reaffirmed their 4-F status. FABL executives feel that ballplayers are being intentionally targeted strictly due to their occupation.

CLEAVES REACHES 2500 PLATEAU

The 2,500 hit club has just added it's 31st member as Jack Cleaves joined that illustrious group yesterday in the opener of a doubleheader. The 37 year old Cincinnati Cannons second baseman singled on the first pitch he saw from Philadelphia Sailors righthander John Thomas Johnson in the second inning of what would end up a 4-1 loss for Cleaves and his teammates. Cleaves would add 4 more hits in the nightcap as the Cannons evened the score with a 6-2 victory.

It was fitting that Philadelphia was the opponent for Cleaves milestone knock. The three-time all-star began his big league career in 1920 at the tender age of 20 and spent 11 seasons with the Sailors -helping them to 3 pennants and a pair of World Championship Series wins. A famous trade prior to the 1938 season paired Cleaves up with his brother George in Pittsburgh and together they helped the Miners win a pennant that year. He was moved to Cincinnati prior to the trade deadline in 1943 and added two more WCS rings in his season and a half with the Cannons. Within the next month Cleaves is expected to crack the top twenty all-time in career FABL games played.

CLEAVES JUST ONE OF MANY MILESTONES WITHIN REACH THIS SEASON

Jack Cleaves became the latest to join baseball's 2,500 hit club with a single off the Sailors John Thomas Johnson in the opener of yesterday's twin bill. The hit did help take the sting off the latest pitching injury suffered by the Cannons as Jim Crawford had to leave after tossing 4 and a third shutout innings. The injury, called by club trainer George Gorham just a mild abdominal strain, is expected to only cause Crawford to miss one start but that was what was thought of Sam Sheppard when he suffered a muscle strain in the opening week and now there is worry he might miss more time. And don't get me started on Deuce Barrell's elbow....

Anyway, this column was supposed to be about the coming milestones for the veteran Cannons. Cleaves is also just 10 games away from tying Charlie Nabb for 20th all-time in career FABL games and by the time the season ends he might well pass Bill Craigen and Dave Trowbridge, who are tied for 14th. Al Wheeler is right there as well as the Wonder Wheel's next game will be the 2,577th of his great career and tie him with Calvin Kidd for the fifth most ever played in FABL.

Wheeler is also just 83 hits shy of the 3,000 mark and within 29 of catching Rankin Kellogg for second all-time in rbi's behind only Hall of Famer Max Morris. The big one for Wheeler is the homerun total. He hit two more this week to give him 4 in 13 games. Now, odds are long that Wheeler will maintain a pace that has him on track for 47 longballs this season but at 465 for his career, perhaps 500 is within his grasp before the end of September. Wheeler needs 10 more to tie Kellogg with 475. Morris and his 711 career homeruns will be all that is ahead of him after he surpasses Kellogg.

Sam Brown is also closing in on his 2,000 career hit so there will be plenty of reasons to celebrate Cannons achievements in the coming months.
*** Sailors Youngster Part of History But a Name To Watch ***

John Thomas Johnson is a 24 year old pitcher with the Philadelphia Sailors that many fans of the sport had never really heard of until news that he was the victim of Jack Cleaves 2,500th hit at Tice Memorial Stadium yesterday. It was the first time Cleaves ever faced the youngster and like the rest of his teammates, the veteran came away very impressed.

"That kid has quite a future," exclaimed Cleaves while talking about his milestone single. "I got him the first time but he adjusted well and his sinker is something else."

Johnson did face the Cannons a couple of times last season when he made his big league debut after being selected in the second round, 27th overall out of a St Louis high school by the Sailors in 1937. The Sunday start against the Cannons was just the 4th of his big league career and one has to think he will get many more.

Cannons Scouting Director Bill Bordwell expects Johnson to get many more big league starts throughout his career. "He keeps the ball down, doesn't give up homeruns and I think he can easily be a #2 or 3 starter in this league, even after everyone gets back from the war."
*** Great Time For Fight Fans ***

After nearly 4 years with no title fights, boxing is picking up steam in a big way. We will likely get two title tilts to follow in the coming months. Middleweight champ Archie Rees is continuing his American tour with a battle in Philadelphia on June 9 against Frank Melanson and all signs are pointing to Hector Sawyer taking to the ring against Pete Sanderson sometime this summer. Sawyer was in the crowd last week in his hometown of New Orleans to watch Sanderson improve to 28-6-2 and the smart money is on Sawyer defending his crown next against the former Marine.

Talented young welterweight Danny Rutledge is 2-0 after a win at Reds Arena in Portland, Oregon last week. The 20 year old Louisville native might just be the next big thing in his division. Rutledge is best known for being on the undercard of the big Allied showcase last fall when Rees defended his title before soldiers and sailors in England. The Army private knocked out Seaman Mac Erickson in the 12th round of a wild bout that many feel is a preview of a future welterweight title clash. Rutledge was allowed to fight despite still being in the army and preparing to ship out to the Pacific. He did say he does not expect to be allowed to fight again by Uncle Sam until after the war is over.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN -The Toronto Wolves, at 4-5, are having trouble in April. They are giving up far too many runs. The bullpen is struggling which is not ideal for Manager Bob Call's plan of conserving starting pitching arms early in year. Toronto could be in much worse shape considering than their 4 wins have all come in Sunday doubleheaders. Fans expected a much better start given that 7 of the first nine games were with the Cleveland Foresters who are not supposed to be much of a factor in the CA this year.

On the positive side of the ledger, Charlie Artuso is off to a red hot start with the rest of starters are at least holding their own through April. The Wolves problem, surprisingly, is not in the batter's box but on the mound, which was expected to carry the team in the early season. The faithful hope that the ship will right itself as the calendar turns to May.

Now that the season has begun in AAA, AA, A with B starting next week the clock is ticking for many minor league players. After the fall of Berlin a formal end to the fighting in Europe is only matter of days or hours away, the scout staff is evaluating all players in the system with anticipation of returnees from the war. Word around the offices is that evaluations are being done in a critical, some say ruthless manner.
*** New Grid Team On the Way? ***

Some in the know south of the border say the new Continental Football Conference has its sights set on Hogtown to make their loop truly a continental one. Nothing is official and both Wolves owner Bernie Millard and David Welcombe, ice magnate of the Dukes, say it is news to them but Chicago newsman Percy Sutherland -who is a key organizer of the new play-for-pay grid consortium was quoted recently saying the league wanted a true Continental feel to it.

"We have the east and west covered with New York and the two California clubs," Sutherland explained, "and we are still finalizing a location or two in the south." As he walked away from reporters Sutherland quickly added "guess that just leaves Canada."
*** No Competition Planned for NAHC ***

While new sporting endeavors are all the rage south of the border, do not expect another top flight professional shinny league to pop up anytime soon. The North American Hockey Confederation is expected to continue to hold its monopoly on the ice as there has been absolutely zero talk of a rival pro hockey league springing up. The same can't be said for the other major sports. Most concrete are the plans for football as the Continental loop is looking more and more like it will start operations this fall, instead of in the autumn of 1946 as originally planned. There is also the growing likelihood a pro basketball circuit will start -also perhaps as early as October and while talk has died down of late there are still some on the west coast that want to see the Great Western League break off from it's affiliation with FABL and declare itself a rival league.

It's no wonder too, with all of the young men hopefully returning home in the near future and eager to provide both the playing force and fans needed for more pro sports.

Just barely but he did it. A day before his 19th birthday Carl Potter of Detroit became the first pitcher in the modern era to notch a big league victory as an 18 year old. Potter went the distance stopping St Louis 4-1 on Thursday.
Boston took three out of four from Pittsburgh to put them closer to the .500 mark to begin the season. Alf Pestilli wrenched his back in a 11-6 loss to Washington on the 25th and now will be day to day for at least two weeks. The injury will send Alf to the IL as a precautionary measure and Joe Watson will see the majority of time in left in his absence. Billy Dalton and Art Spencer have been leading the charge offensively for the Minutemen while the pitching seems to be the victimized by sub-par defensive play early bloating ERA's. As April draws to a close Boston is already four games back from association leader Washington, who they will welcome into Boston for a two game series to start May.
Montreal record showing at 7-6 is kind of a surprise, but when you look deeper you see that 6 of the 7 wins came against the struggling Chicago Cougars. Meaning when playing against other team the Saints record is pretty awful. Montreal claimed 2 pitchers on waivers to help replace Jake DeYoung, who is out for the year. Dick Tillman and Ben Watkins are the newcomers. Both will get a chance to show their pitching skills in the coming weeks. On the other side Jackie Norfolk was lost to Cleveland on waiver. Bill Greene has a great week with 4 HRs. Prospect SS Perkins still continue to shine in the roster.
Andy Boyer has been having a rough go of it for the New York Stars. 3 blown saves in the past 2 weeks by the 30 year old righthander has cost his club 3 close games. The Stars rotation hasn't been horrible, but they haven't been great outside of a few good games here and there. Overall the pitching is mediocre at best. Which is terrible considering the AAAA talent pitchers are going against in most cases.
Fred Hall is back in Cincinnati. Caught in a numbers game the 38 year old was waived prior to opening day but after going unclaimed the Cannons added him to their big league roster after a wave of nagging injuries overcame their staff. Jake Smith, Jim Crawford and Sam Sheppard are all day to day but none are serious enough to warrant a stint on the injured list. Fortunately the Cannons have 3 off-days this week but also a doubeheader Sunday so they will try and struggle through with just 7 healthy arms.
The Chicago Chiefs made a couple of roster moves after the opening week, most noticably a decision to demote Dick Blaszak to AAA. The Polish Hammer, who may still be feeling the effects of the bullet he took in the shoulder six months ago in the Pacific, let his bat doing the talking to show why he feels he should still be in Chicago. The 22 year old went 5-for-13 with the Warriors and hit his first professional homerun in nearly 3 years. With Blazak and fellow 22 year old outfield prospect Billy Brown both in Fort Wayne, Century League fans are in for a real treat -at least until the duo move up to Whitney Park.

SANDERSON TAKES DECISION OVER ROWE

Heavyweight contender Pete Sanderson looked very impressive in winning his 12th straight bout and running his record to 28-6-2 with an unanimous decision over Ben Rowe in New Orleans on Wednesday. Sanderson is now 2-0 since being discharged from the marines and is rumoured to be the next opponent for World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer. Sawyer was in attendance at the fight, held in The Cajan Crusher's hometown and his handlers were seen confering with Sanderson's manager immediately after the bout.

Just over a month after seeing his perfect record come to an end with a tough loss to Steve Landry, 25 year old Ira Mitchell was back in the ring with a vengance. The Chicago-born welterweight improved to 11-1 with a 6th round knockout of Gary Chenault. When questioned about why he was back in the ring just 32 days after losing, Mitchell explained he would have fought the next day if he could have found an opponent "just to get the taste of defeat out of my mouth."

Another talented fighter to watch for in the welterweight division is Danny Rutledge as the 20 year old Louisville, Ky. fighter improved to 2-0 with a 5th round knock of Jerry Jacobs.

PRO CAGE LOOP GAINS TRACTION

The recent success of basketball's semi-professional championships has sparked renewed interest in a big time pro cage loop. The Chicago Panthers emerged as the champs of the semi-pro tournament, beating the St Louis Pilots in the championship game before a packed house at Thompson Arena in Detroit over the weekend. Those two were joined by the Providence Eastons, the New York Tigers, Akron Aces and Pittsburgh Pointers as the representatives from the six big semi-pro circuits that competed in the week-long championships.

With the game rising in popularity at the collegiate level as well as on the semi-pro circuit, combined with all of the interest in new play for pay sports when our men return from overseas, it seems to be just a matter of time before a big-time basketball circuit takes hold. There has not been a fully professional cage league in nearly two decades. The last attempt, pioneered by pro football bigwigs including Jack Kristich and Rollie Barrell, was the Federal Basketball League. It had 9 teams at it's peak stretching from Brooklyn to St Louis but seemed almost doomed from the beginning when the most famous barnstorming club of the time -the New York Luckies- bailed on the league just before it was set to tip-off and the famous Bigsby Garden refused to allow the loop to play there. The FBL lasted until 1930 before shutting down with the Great Crash of 1929 driving the final nail in the coffin. It was called at the time a 'suspension' of operations with an inclination to restart once the league restructured but that never occurred.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 4/29/1945

A pair of wild rumours to finish the week. The first suggests that Heinrich Himmler has put Adolf Hitler to death in order to give cynical evidence to the Allies of his "good faith" in offering to surrender Germany unconditionally to the western Allies, leaving Russia out. The second is a report circulated by the Associated Press that Germany had surrendered. However, President Truman personally denied the report, confirming he had checked with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and learned the report was without foundation.
A third rumour that also proved to be untrue was that Adolf Hitler and German Propaganda Minister Paul Joseph Goebbels were shot 3 days ago. The Saturday morning report was later changed to stating that Hitler will kill himself or be killed in Berlin within a few hours or days and the war will end.
Russian forces have overrun Berlin's airport and captured most of the city, trapping as many as 500,000 German troops in the surrounded capital.
A United Nations peace planning meeting began late last week in San Francisco with the goal of making the postwar world safe for peace-loving peoples being the same at which the world shot at in 1918 -but missed.
Amidst a food shortage, the American government has tightened rationing of meat, with all meat except for mutton under strict rationing until at least the next ration period begins on June 2.

Jiggs McGee · 01-05-2023, 07:51 PM

MAY 7, 1945

MINUTEMEN SOUND THE CHARGE IN FED

After a slow start to the season, the Boston Minutemen are rising towards the top of a tight Federal Association. The New Englanders reeled off 8 wins in their last nine games after a very slow 3-7 start to the season. The Boston offense has been rolling, with Wednesday's 21-6 thumping of the Washington Eagles serving as exhibit 'A' but the efforts on the mound from Duke Hendricks (3-1, 1.31) and Dean Astle (3-1, 3.98) have also helped.

It was a bad week all around for Washington. Certainly allowing 21 runs against in that game in Boston did little for the Eagles psyche, but they also followed up back to back losses to the Minutemen by dropping 3 of 4 at home to Pittsburgh. Detroit and Chicago split a four-game weekend series at Whitney Park and perhaps surprisingly the duo find themselves sitting atop the Federal Association standings with streaking Boston and slumping Washington hot on their heels.

The Toronto Wolves and Chicago Cougars woke up in a big way this week but the surprising Brooklyn Kings actually lead the big leagues in wins. Brooklyn does have the benefit of having played more games than any other team at this stage but 13-9 is far better than most expected the Kings to start. The Wolves have won 7 of their last 8 to take over the Continental Association lead with a 3-game weekend sweep of a beat up Cincinnati pitching staff playing a big role. The wildest game of the week, aside from the football score at Minutemen Stadium, had to be Toronto's 11-10 win over Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. The Wolves hit 4 triples in the fourth inning and then scored 3 times in the bottom of the 8th to pull out the victory.

When the Chicago Cougars started the season 4-8 many were wondering if the terrible second half from last season was going to be extended into the '45 campaign. It turns out Montreal might have been the issue as the Cougars were 0-6 against the Saints in that stretch. No more Saints and no more problems for Chicago as the Cougars reeled off 6 straight wins over Brooklyn and the New York Stars to move within a game of first place. The test comes this week, Chicago is set to welcome Toronto to town for a 3 game series beginning Wednesday.

MINUTEMEN BATS RIDING HIGH

Andy Howell picked up his first professional win on May 2nd in a game against Washington. Howell wasn't exceptionally great on the Minutemen mound as he gave up seven walks in 7.1 innings. Thankfully, the 23 year old righthander went up against a Washington pitching staff that could not make an out as the Minutemen scored 6 runs in consecutive innings and were only kept off the scoreboard once in a 21-6 win.

The only blemish on the week came in a 4-0 shutout against Philadelphia where Red Ross scattered 8 hits in the complete game victory. The Minutemen would rebound and take the next three games to finish the week 5-1 and vault themselves into third place behind Detroit and Chicago who are tied at the top, one half game up on the Minutemen.

The story continues to be the offense as Billy Dalton and Chick Donnelly have had fine starts to the season. Joe Watson has been exceptional in his return to the everyday lineup because of the Alf Pestilli injury and Bill Van Ness is hitting .339 to start the young season. Some in Boston have all but given up on the former sixth overall pick (1935) being the offensive force he was scouted to be.

While the defense has still been an issue the pitching has also been a really bright spot early as well as Duke Hendricks and Dean Astle have provided a solid one/two punch at the top of the rotation. Boston will have the next two days off as they travel to Detroit to start a 13 game road trip that will have them crisscrossing the country going from Detroit to New York and then back to St. Louis, before finishing in Chicago.
***200 FOR WOOD ***

Ed Wood had a couple of tough outings to start the season but has fared much better in his last two starts, winning them both including a 5-3 complete game victory over Washington on Tuesday for the 200th victory of his long career. The 36 year old joined the Minutemen as a 24 year old in 1933 after starting his career in Cleveland. He was part of the deal that sent local favourite Dan Fowler to the Foresters but over the years the high energy lefthander has certainly captured the hears of Boston fans. A 4-time all-star he holds the rare distinction of being a two-time World Championship Series MVP, claiming the bauble in 1941 when the Minutemen beat the Chicago Cougars and again two years later when they fell in 7 games to Cincinnati.

The 1943 Federal Association Whitney Award winner is the career postseason leader in ERA with a sparkling 0.27 mark from his 4 starts, and he is a perfect 4-0 in Series play. Only Hall of Famer Charlie Sis can approach Wood's Series mark as Sis is the only other pitcher with a postseason era under 1.27. Wood is the 52nd pitcher in FABL history to win 200 games.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

The Toronto Wolves have awakened as the calendar turns to May: going 5-1 for the week including their third straight Sunday twin bill sweep. The bullpen performance is the worst in the CA, and it is rumoured that Manager Bob Call and has pitching coach Art Nichols are rethinking their pitching strategy which may lead to the starts going deeper into games. Scouts are believed to be headed to Buffalo, Chattanooga to check for bullpen help from the Nickels or Reliables.

In a wild 11-10 win against the Cannons on a cool rainy, windy Saturday at Dominion Stadium the Wolves legged out 5 triples in the game including 4 in the fourth inning, at least two due to damp outfield grass conditions. Brett believes, but cannot prove, that this is a record in the FABL for both triples in a game and an inning.

Charlie Artuso continues his torrid start, .400/.486/.600. The team is remarkably leading the CA by percentage points, although trail Brooklyn by 1/2 game, Wolves have played 9 less games than the second place Kings. The team heads out on a 12-day 13 game road trip with stops in Chicago, Montreal, then 7 days in New York to play the Stars and Kings.

HARD TO FIND A MORE IMPORTANT MAY GAME

Baseball teams play 154 contests so it is very difficult to call any random game in the month of May crucial to a season, but this Wednesday in New York is anything but just some random game for the Cincinnati Cannons. It is not hyperbole to say that perhaps their season hinges on the game. Not so much on the score but instead upon the left elbow of Deuce Barrell.

Deuce missed all of last season with the bad wing, ending his string of two straight Allen Awards. He looked to be his old self in spring camp and pronounced himself fully healthy and ready to go. Then Opening Day came and Deuce lasted a grand total of 6 pitchers before he walked off the mound rubbing that same elbow. He hasn't pitched since but continues to insist it is nothing to worry about. We will find out Wednesday when Deuce is slated to take the hill at Dyckman Stadium.
*** Sheppard Still Sidelined ***

Deuce's return could not come at a better time. The Cannons bats are booming and a good thing too, because the pitching staff has been beat up and is banged up. Butch Smith, who took over for Deuce as the Cannons ace and the Continental Association Allen Award winner last season, is 0-4 and has been very inconsistent. Deuce's uncle, veteran Tom Barrell -who looked so good down the stretch a year ago- has struggled out of the pen but at least he has been healthy. The same can't be said for Sam Sheppard, Jim Crawford or Jake Smith -each of whom missed a few games, just enough to leave the Cannons scrambling for pitchers but not long enough to warrant a trip to the injured list.

That might have been a mistake in Sheppard's case. He hasn't pitched since facing one batter April 26, as first back tighteness and later an oblique strain have left him less than 100%. The back is still stiff and Sheppard -and the Cannons brass- keep hoping tomorrow will be the day he is pronounced fully fit for duty, but so far that day has not arrived. In hindsight, Sheppard probably should have gone on the injured list but now the hope is he will be ready to pitch this weekend in Brooklyn as the Cannons set out on a 14-game road swing with stops against the Stars and Kings as well as visits to Montreal and Chicago.

Congratulations to Boston's Ed Wood for his 200th career victory. Wood is fifth among active pitchers in victories and at 36, likely still has a few seasons left. We are witnessing possibly the final season of a few great arms as 40 year old Jim Lonardo (282 wins), 44 year old Dick Lyons (235) and 41 year old Joe Shaffner (217) are nearing the end of the line. The other pitcher ahead of Wood is Pittsburgh's Karl Johnson - who has 209 wins and at 37 is showing no signs of slowing down.
Ed Reyes is certainly making the most of his opportunity. He has been in the big leagues pretty steadily since 1935 but the 32 year old bounced around with four different teams -including two different stints with the Chiefs- and was never an everyday player. That changed this season when the Sailors lost Marion Boismenu to the war effort, handing the first base job to Reyes. All he has done is bat .456 -tops in both associations through the first three weeks of the season.
No Saints, no problem! The Chicago Cougars run off six wins in a row this week to move within one of first place. Agaiant Montreal, they are 0-6, but Chicago is 10-3 against the Kings and Stars.
The Cougars have no shortage of young pitching talent -or at least they won't once the war is over and the big names return- but you have to add 22 year old George Oddo to the list. An 8th round pick in 1941, the 6'4" righthander had a strong season at AA Mobile a year ago and has carried on the fine performance this season, going 3-0 with a 2.08 era to start the season in AAA Milwaukee. OSA says he has the potential to easily front a team's rotation.
At the risk of making this week's update all about the Cougars, we do need to recognize Cliff Moss. There was some brief talk over the winter that a cash crunch might have forced Chicago to part with the 38 year corner outfielder but it is a good thing they didn't. Moss is doing is best to make up for Hank Barnett and Leo Mitchell -who both left to join the war effort over the winter. Moss has averaged 12 homers a season over the past 4 seasons with the Cougars but already has 7 in just 19 games this year. He is batting .324 and lead both loops in homers and rbi's (23).

SHELTON SLAUGHTERS BASCOMBE, VIEWS TRUMAN AS A FIGHTER

"This is the one," said Millard Shelton, holding up his right hand. "There's the mitt that shook the hand of a President of the United States."

The young Memphis biffer was sitting on a dressing room table in Washington Arena last night discussing the time he briefly met Mr. Truman a little over a year ago after Truman was making a visit to an army hospital in St Louis while Shelton was recovering from a training accident.

Shelton was still amped up as he spoke just moments after a 2nd round knock out of Dave Bascombe improved his record to 10-3. "What struck me about the man," Shelton said in reference to the President, "is that he looks like a fighter. Not like in the ring, you know, but the sort of quiet fellow who doesn't sound off much but who won't take any guff from anybody.

"I thought they were kidding me at first when they introduced him as a Senator and a possible Presidential candidate," Shelton said. "He's just an average looking sort of man, about my height, but when you talk with him, even for a moment, you know you're talking with some one who has plenty on the ball.

"Plenty of times I've made the mistake of underrating a guy I'm fighting and I've taken a beating. Truman is the sort of man people could underrate. But I feel awful sorry for any one who figures he's a soft touch and gets into a scrap with him. They will never hear the count."
*** Pulveriszes Bascombe ***
The talk turned to the night's activities and Shelton admitted he barely broke a sweat in the victory. "I am finally feeling back to normal," he said. "That accident really set me back and I am lucky to be alive, let alone back in the ring."

Shelton suffered two broken legs when the military truck he was travelling in 15 months ago hit a patch of ice and veered off the road and into a tree. Bascombe must have thought he was in a similar accident Tuesday night. The two fighters felt each other out in the opening round but in round two Bascombe walked into one of Shelton's celebrated 'sucker punches' - the same weapon that allowed him to knock out 7 other opponents prior to the 28 year old's induction in the Army in 1942.

The Memphis native had an easy night, but Shelton claims the bout made a good warm-up for his continued return to the ring and hopes of climbing the ranks in the middleweight division. He had a tough outing in his return to the ring after a three year absence, losing a split decision to Jeff Pritchard in February, but says he felt much better this time out.

"I just had no timing and felt stiff in Atlantic City," Shelton admitted. "I was off my feet, completely, for 8 months so it has taken quite some time to feel in fighting shape. I think I am there now and all I need is an opportunity to prove I can be a top fighter.
MAY WINS RING RETURN

On the same card as Shelton-Bascombe fight, 26 year old welterweight Willis May won in his return to the ring after a 4 year absence. The Alabama born fighter, who spent the past four years in the Navy, claimed a 10th round TKO win against a very solid effort from Jeremy Lewis. May, is now 11-1-2 while Lewis, a 27 year old New Yorker, falls to 12-7 as a professional.

One other bout of note last week occurred in Philadelphia where Pat Pollock (Reading, Pa) improved to 14-4-3 with 8th round TKO of Denny Palmer (Hagerstown, MD) dropping Palmer's record to 11-3.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 5/06/1945

Last Monday German forces in Denmark quit and a day later President Truman announced the "unconditional surrender" of all German forces in Italy. Truman revealed the news by noting that "the collapse of military tyranny in Italy, howver, is no victory in Italy alone, but part of the general triumph we are expectantly awaiting on the whole continent of Europe."
That expected victory in Europe has come as late breaking news this morning indicates Germany is set to surrender unconditionally tomorrow.
Russian troops have stormed Berlin's chancellery and have rounded up some 120,000 German forces they had surrounded in the southeast portion of the city. According to the Nazis, Adolf Hitler died while defending the command post at the Chancellery. Hitler is reported dead by other sources as well but the stories differ. The Nazis claim Adolf died a hero's death in battle while Gen. Eisenhower said there is some evidence that Hitler had died of a brain hemorrhage while in hiding.
A search is underway for Hitler's remains. Much of Germany believes Hitler actually died a year ago, killed by a bomb and they think Heinrich Himmler and a small group of his henchmen seized control of Germany at that time and kept them in the war.
By the weekend 1 million Nazi troops in Holland and northwest Germany had surrendered and Czechoslovak sources say a patriot revolt has broken out in territory in that country still held by the Nazis.
As superfortresses continue daily bombings of Japan, Washington reveals plans to put a force of 6 million men in the field against Japan as resources free up in Europe.

Jiggs McGee · 01-06-2023, 01:13 PM

MAY 14, 1945

YOUNG ARMS KEY TO DYNAMOS QUICK START

Led by a pair of rookie pitchers the Detroit Dynamos continue to lead the way in the Federal Association. 19 year old Carl Potter and 22 year old Pete Brown were playing high school and college ball respectively at this time last season, but the duo has been a big reason why the Dynamos are off to a hot start, combining to go 6-1 in their 8 starts to begin the season. The '44 FABL draft is looking pretty solid for arms when you consider that three pitchers from that class -the Detroit duo and New York Stars young ace Eli Panneton- have already made their big league debuts and each is enjoying outstanding success.

Perhaps not this quickly but success was pretty much expected for Potter, who was a High School All-American last season along with fellow Detroit first round picks Roy Schaub, Stan Kleminski and Edwin Hackberry. The other three are all off serving their country but Potter took advantage of roster openings created by the war and earlier this season became the first 18 year old pitcher to win a FABL game in the modern era. His debut in New York on April 20 was a little shaky as he was torched for 8 runs -only 4 were earned- in 3 innings of work but the rookie jitters disappeared the following week when on April 26 -one day before his 19th birthday- Potter tossed a complete game 4-1 win over St Louis. Two more complete game victories followed including an 8-3 win over Boston last week and Potter is now 3-0 with a 2.10 era.

It is perhaps even more surprising that Brown is in Detroit so quickly. After pitching at smaller school Eaton College, Brown was selected in the 4th round by the Dynamos last June. The Milwaukee native had a quick start in his pro debut, going 5-0 at AA Akron and spent the second half of last season in AAA despite being fresh out of college. An impressive camp combined with some openings on the slab created by pitchers leaving for the war gave Brown an opportunity that he has jumped at. He held the Gothams to just 4-hits in going the distance in his big league debut, a 5-2 win, and aside from a rough outing in Chicago earlier this month, Brown has looked like a veteran big leaguer not a kid just 12 months removed from the college campus. He is 3-1 with a 2.73 era. Add in another fine start to the season from 27 year old Jimmy Long (5-1, 2.83) and Detroit's quick start might be one they can keep rolling all summer and remain in contention for their first pennant since 1929.
***Moss Gathering Offensive Numbers ***

The Montreal Saints and Brooklyn Kings each within a half game of first place certainly qualifies as a big story in the Continental Association but on an individual basis the top story in the CA has to be the start that veteran outfielder Cliff Moss is enjoying for the Chicago Cougars. The 38 year old already has a very strong resume and is a 3-time all-star but he just might be in the midst of the best season of his career. Moss has started all 25 games for the Cougars this season and is batting .363 with a FABL leading 9 homers and 28 rbi's - numbers that sound very much like Bobby Barrell's triple crown winning season for the Keystones a year ago and has Moss on a pace for career highs by a wide margin in both homers and rbi's. You have to expect his pace will slow as the season progresses, but right now Moss has been an immense help in allowing the Cougars to withstand the loss of veteran all-stars Hank Barnett and Leo Mitchell to the war effort.

PAIR RETURN FROM AIR CORPS

Some positive news for baseball's manpower situation as just days after victory was declared in Europe the Army Air Corps announced the discharge of a pair of big leaguers. Cincinnati Cannons pitcher Glenn Payne and Philadelphia Sailors infielder Bruce Lucas are the first of what the sport hopes will be many ballplayers being allowed to resume their pro careers over the summer.

The 31 year old Payne, a San Jose, Ca., native, last pitched in 1942. He split that season between Cincinnati and AAA Indianapolis, compiling a 1-7 record with a 5.33 era at the big league level. For his career -which began with the New York Stats before moving to the Cannons in 1939- Payne is 42-55 with 3.78 era. He is set to arrive in Indianapolis today and will resume his pro career with the Hoosiers.

Lucas, 29, is one of the rare ballplayers born in Alaska. He was originally a 16th round pick of the Pittsburgh Miners in 1933 and made his big league debut with that team six years later before being claimed by the Sailors in the rule five draft prior to the 1942 season. He spent all of '42 with the Sailors, but played sporadically, hitting .282 in 48 games before getting the call to join the Air Corps.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

The Wolves begin a 14 game road trip with uneven results. Toronto starts with a 2-4 record, winning the first game of each series with a win before dropping the last 2 of each series in Chicago and Montreal. For the first time this season they did not sweep the double header on the Sabbath, instead the Saints won both Sunday games. George Garrison has his first bad outing of the year in the nightcap after Tommy Anderson failed to back up his first start of '45 with a second solid outing. Anderson was lit up for 9 runs failing to get out of the fifth inning. Saints scored 11 in the game marking the third time the opposition has scored double digit runs this season.

Manager Bob Call was seen huddled with pitching coach Art Nichols on the overnight train trip into New York. Call was heard to say "It seems like the hitters know what is coming." Has the staff, and catcher Clarence Howerton become so predictable or are pitchers tipping their next offering to the plate?

The offense remains about the middle of the pack in the CA which was expected and the defense has been steady thus far in '45. A staff ERA of 4.08 is not a recipe for success in Toronto especially since the schedule will begin to get tougher after Memorial Day in the USA. The CA standings are very tight one month into the season, only a game and a half separates first from sixth. With a record of 11-10 the season is far from a disaster, one extended winning streak coupled with a solid week of pitching will calm both the team and the fans.

Montreal Saints fans are whispering again but are careful to not say it too loudly for fear of jinxing the club's best start in years.....Can the Saints play above the .500 mark this season? That is something that did not happen over the last decade in Montreal and only twice in the past twenty years. It is mid-May and the Saints are showing in the unexpected position of second place in the Continental Association after a 5-1 week.

The two recent waiver pickups on the mound, Ben Watkins and Dick Tillman, have had mixed results but neither looks capable so far of delivering the type of performance that will keep you in the starting squad. Let's see what will happen next start for Watkins, if not someone in AAA will have to come to the rescue... or hopefully a returnee from the war.

With the long term injury to veteran southpaw Jake DeYoung, the Saints fans are "praying for the miracle" of the unexpected return from the service of SP Wally Doyle or SP Bert Cupid sooner rather than later. It's not just DeYoung who is sidelined either. Second sacker Mack Burns is out for two weeks, but he had been struggling and lost playing time to Ted Brown. Brown -the 26 year old second year player- has looked very impressive at the plate, batting .339 so far. The other injury concern is rookie shortstop Gordie Perkins. His back is acting up and the 22 year old 1941 3rd overall draft pick will likely need a week off to recover. It is not expected to be serious but this is the third minor ailment for Perkins already this season, and this coming after a broken kneecap cost him his big league debut last September.

The Saints are considering calling someone up from AAA but team management is also exploring the possibility of filling in for Perkins by using centerfielder Bill Greene at second base on a temporary basis and have Ted Brown moving to shortstop for the next week.

TOUGH WEEK FOR MINUTEMEN

A rough 2-4 week drops the Minutemen to 4th place in the standings, 2.5 games back of league leader Detroit. 33 year old 1B Bill Moore is having a rough start to the season batting just under his weight at .198. Moore does have 2 home runs but that may not be enough justification to keep a defensive liability in the lineup. The club plans to stick by Moore for the present, but he will drop in the lineup out of the two slot where he has made a home for the last few seasons.

Jim Mason who was acquired last season for a prospect is currently hitting .441 in Columbus and may be an option. In Moore's place in the two slot will be Billy Dalton who has been the clubs top hitter this year. This week the road trip continues with stops in St. Louis and Chicago.

*** Boxing Needs National Body ***

Does anyone else find it ridiculous and mildly repulsive that Frankie Townsley can throw a fight here in Boston and just head down to Washington for his next bout with no repercussions at all. The Massachusetts Boxing Commission has banned him after they found that Townsley did not give what they are terming "a full effort" in a February loss to professional punching bag Richard McKinney. He tried to fight in New York but that state sided with the local regents so Townsley ended up in D.C., which apparently has far less stringent standards, where he knocked out Nathan Ratzlaff earlier this week.

One can argue the Baltimore-born fight deserves a second chance, and that perhaps it was bad direction from his former manager Jack Walker that really should be to blame. Yet the fighter took it on the chin and Walker got off scot-free but really without some sort of universal agreement between the state and regional boards -or the American Boxing Federation taking full control of all fight licensing- punishment in the fight business has no teeth whatsoever. At least Townsley was smart enough to ditch Walker and is now working with veteran promoter Paddy McCoy.

McCoy still maintains Townsley was innocent in the whole mess, but that is not the point. The point is there will always be questions about the legitimacy of boxing outcomes until the repercussions for underhanded activity can have some real punch to them.
*** Shamrocks Name New Cage Coach ***

St Patrick's University has gone back to Texas to find it's next college basketball coach. And who can blame the Shamrocks after the success Vada Goldstein had over his decade at the helm following a successful stint at Travis College. Goldstein announced his retirement last month after a career that saw him finish with a 487-400 record, good for 17th all-time in AIAA cage history.

In his place next season will be Charles Lindahl. Originally from the Philadelphia area, the 57 year old was a long-time assistant at Alabama Baptist before getting the head job at Texas Gulf Coast 4 years ago. Joining a school that had not reached the AIAA tournament in the previous 5 years, Lindahl led the Hurricanes to 5-straight AIAA tournament appearances including a trip to the quarterfinals two years ago. His club won the Southwest Alliance title all five years, so he will be coming to St Patrick's with big expectations. The Shamrocks are a regular participant in the tournament, and have reached the semi-finals twice but have never won a National Championship.

Cannons fans have to be breathing a little easier after a successful return to the mound for Deuce Barrell. The 2-time Allen Award winner missed all of last season with a bad elbow and then lasted only 6 pitchers on Opening Day before leaving with elbow concerns once more. He returned to the mound after a 3-week absence on Wednesday and pitching 9 innings of pain-free ball in New York. No decision for Deuce, who allowed 1 run on just 2 hits before the Stars won it 2-1 in extra innings, but it was a big victory in the minds of Cannons management who need their ace if they are going to have any chance of a third straight WCS win.
After twirling a six hit shutout against the Foresters, Rusty Petrick of the Chicago Cougars has now allowed just a single earned run in 30 innings pitched. His 0.30 ERA paces all pitchers by a significant margin.
Frank Sears of the Chicago Chiefs has a 0.71 ERA in 3 May starts, but with a 1-2 record to show for it.
The Miners and Gothams are the only two Fed clubs allowing fewer than 4 runs/game. Unfortunately for their fans, they are also the two clubs who are scoring fewer than 4 runs/game. 36% of Pittsburgh wins this season have been by shutout (4 of 11).
Well the pitching has been as advertised for the Gothams. The offense though…Fewest runs allowed in FABL. And that translates into last place with a 10-14 record.

PRO SPORTS HEADED BACK TO NORMALCY AS 4-F DRAFT GOES

Professional sports, baseball and football particularly, began the long ascent back to prewar normalcy this week as the War Department ended induction of 4-F athletes. The future seems brighter than at any time since Pearl Harbor with the few remaining stars -legitimately disqualified for military service, free to continue their sports careers, and prospects good for the early discharge of those athletes with long service records.

There was only one fly in the ointment. In explaining its action the War Department said cases of men already inducted under Selective Service Memorandum 77-D will be reviewed individually, and those found not rendering useful service because of physical condition will be discharged. Some observers believed the phrase "useful service" might keep in uniform some men physically incapable of manual labor who could hold down a desk job or handle tasks of a lighter nature.
*** Future Appears Rosy ***

But as a whole sports viewed the future through rose-colored glasses. Grid and ball teams no longer had to fear the loss of any more players to the war effort and might well see some start to filter back to the stadiums in time for the grid season, if not even a few early additions for the ballclubs.

No official announcement has come from Continental Football Conference head Lt Commander Ben Montgomery but this news, combined with victory in Europe, may also clear the way for the CFC to move its planned start up to this September as opposed to 1946 which had been the expected kick-off date for the new grid loop.

The war department was spurred to action on the 4-F athletes following a protest by Representative Melvin Price, Democrat of Illinois, of discrimination against pro athletes and the repeated questioning from baseball czar Sam Belton.

SAWYER TO FACE SANDERSON JUNE 23

World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer has confirmed he will make a title defense at New York's Gothams Stadium on June 23. The Saturday night fight will see Sawyer square off with Pete Sanderson and will be the second title fight to take place next month. Middleweight champ Archie Rees is slated to face Frank Melanson in Philadelphia on June 9.

Sawyer, who will turn 31 two weeks after the bout, has been champion since January of 1940 when he knocked out German heavyweight Jochen Schrotter to win the belt. Due to World War II, in which Sawyer served in the army but was recently discharged, he has made just two title defenses with the most recent one being a 5th round knock out of Willie Meyer in Boston last February. The New Orleans native, nicknamed 'The Cajan Crusher', sports a career record of 50-3-1 that includes 45 victories by knockout. Sawyer will be a heavy favourite over the former Marine Sanderson, a 35 year old native of Scranton, Pa. who owns a 29-6-2 record.

TOWNSLEY WINS IN WASHINGTON

He may be prohibited from fighting in New York and Boston following allegations of "not trying" in a recent loss to Richard McKinney, but the Washington DC boxing commission had no issues allowing a Frankie Townsley fight last week. The embattled 27 year old Baltimore battler's effort on Monday looked to be entirely on the up-and-up as Townsley carried the much of the bout against Nathan Ratzlaff, finally disposing of the gritty Philadelphian with a knock out in the 10th and final round. The win runs Townsley record as a middleweight to 15-5 while Ratzlaff is evened out at 13-13-3.

Townsley refused to discuss the bans in the northeast after the bout but did say his new manager Paddy McCoy plans to appeal. McCoy, while chomping on his unlit cigar in the dingy dressing room after the bout, expressed confidence the whole situation would blow over, adding that 'the truth will come out and I am confidant Frankie will be absolved of any wrong-doing."

Townsley and his long-time trainer Eddie Laken remain together, but McCoy is a recent addition to the mix. The outspoken New Yorker is a long-time veteran of the fight game and has managed many solid combatants over the years.

WALT LEE SURPRISES JENNINGS

Fighting on his birthday proved to be just the present for Walt Lee. The 26 year old native of Olive Branch, Ms., scored a surprise 3rd round knockout victory over Mike Jennings in a welterweight title in Scranton on Friday. Jennings, a 28 year old from Flint, Mi., had a great start to the bout, easily winning the first round and opening a pretty good gash under Lee's left eye, but perhaps he was a victim of over-confidence in the second round. He came out like he finished the first - in full control, but Lee surprised Jennings with a righthand to the temple and followed it with a quick combination that had the Michigan native back-pedaling for the second half of the round.

The third was all Lee as the youngster landed some big blows early and then caught Jennings with a hard cross that dazed him. A quick flurry of blows sent Jennings to the canvas and ended his night. Lee is now 14-4-1 and may be a fighter to watch closely going forward in the welterweight division while Jennings falls to 23-7.

VETERAN COOPER WINS RING RETURN

Roy Cooper was back in the ring, fighting as a professional for the first time since 1941. Despite the fact he is 37 years old, Cooper says he plans to keep getting into the ring as long as possible. He looked strong in Oakland Thursay night, scoring an unanimous decision over Ben Compton to run his record to 39-11-4. Cooper, an Illinois-born heavyweight, has spent much of the war in Portland, Oregon working with Cincinnati Cannons pitcher Bill Sohl helping whip young Navy recruits into fighting shape. The Navy okayed him making the trip down the coast to fight Colorado native Compton and word is he will be discharged from Navy duties next month.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 5/13/1945

A day after victory was achieved in Europe, the transport of Allied troops to the Pacific was already underway and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz disclosed that the joint chief of staff now working plans for an invasion of Japan.
At the end of the week Marines of the 6th Division stormed the outskirts of Naha, ruined capital of Okinawa.
A jubilant Russia announced the signing of the final articles of Germany's unconditional surrender and proclaimed May 9 its own victory Day.
A garrison of 30,000 Nazi -who had occupied the Channel Islands since 1940- officially surrendered to British forces Thursday. It was the only British territory occupied by the Germans during the war.
Radio Prague said a day after the surrender that German planes were bombing the Czech capital and two other liberated Czechoslovak cities in open defiance of Germany's unconditional surrender.
The commander of Henrich Himmler's SS guard surrendered in Austria Friday, but Himmler evaded capture. Reports on Sunday indicate Himmler, who was the number one surviving Nazi terroritst, had been apprehended
Actors Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall confirmed they will be married May 22.
A prominent New York gambler was convicted for his role in the plot involving 4 Jersey City Tech basketball players 'throwing' a game in January. He will be sentenced to one year in prison.

Jiggs McGee · 01-09-2023, 02:15 PM

MAY 21, 1945

SPORTS FACING LAPSE UNLESS JAPS FOLD SOON, ODT WARNS

Sports will 'be lucky' to play out regular schedules this summer and fall, unless Japan quickly folds up, relieving the burden on transportation, says ODT Director J. Monroe Johnson. It already has been demonstrated in redeployment following Germany's defeat, Johnson said today, that the "impact on sports like everything else will be terrific."

Going over the sports situation in an interview, Johnson commented that:
There is a good chance that the World Championship Series may need to be contested entirely in one city and we are considering a tentative recommendation to cancel the FABL all-star game, set for July 10 at Cougars Park in Chicago.

The major horse racing events will be allowed to continue but aside from that virtually all horse travel for track to track will cease.

All college football games must be played on the 'home' field of one of the competing teams. That includes the Rome State-Annapolis Maritime game, played at Baltimore last season as a War Loan feature. The college all-star game in Chicago and similar contests will be out and there is a good chance the New Year's classic games will also need to be scuttled.

"And even if Japan quits by next September, it will be about six months before we recover enough to help anybody," Johnson said. "The only hope is for the Japanese to see the light in the next six weeks or so."

Johnson's remarks struck the sports world like a bucket of ice water.

With the lifting of the ban on horse racing, rescission of the War Department's regulations on 4-F professional athletes and easing other Government restrictions, athletic leaders had felt more optimistic about the future than at almost any other time during the war.

"Everything not dedicated strictly to the war will have to get out of the way and we haven't got time to argue," Johnson emphasized. "No one would be happier that if we could cut all wartime travel restrictions," he added, "but the brutal, inescapable fact is that due to greater transportation demands ahead we must be prepared for further curtailment."

The Pacific coast will be "a particularly acute area" in this country's redeployment of armed forces and some football games out there including the East-West Classic "may be out," Johnson said.

IMPACT OF REDEPOLYMENT ON CLUBS UNKNOWN

Military redeployment with the end of the war in Europe finds baseball confused today - with clubs not knowing whether to make preparations for the return of some of its stars-in-service or adopt a wait and see policy. Buoyed up by the announcement that approximately 1,300,000 men would be discharged during the next 12 months, baseball officials reasonably believed that some players would be among them.

However, it was learned that only a few players have sufficient points to be eligible for discharge and even those might be kept in service for the war against Japan. One of the longest serving ballplayers is Fred McCormick, whom the Toronto Wolves had expected back in their infield before the close of the season, already has been assigned to the recreational program in Europe and many others have been appointed to various Navy and Army ballclubs to help entertain the millions of troops waiting for transport from the European continent. So far there has been no word from military officials either way on when, or if, any ballplayers will be allowed to return to the big leagues.

BARRELL'S BAT CARRIES KEYSTONES ON 9-GAME STREAK

Not that he has ever really cooled off but Whitney Award winning outfielder Bobby Barrell hit a higher gear the past week and a half, batting .530 over a recent 12-game stretch that included a 9-game winning streak for his Philadelphia Keystones. Barrell, who was named Federal Association player of the week for the 23rd time in his career, boosted his season average to .364 with a Fed best 8 homers while also driving in 30 and may be well on his way to becoming the first player to win the triple crown in consecutive seasons since Max Morris did it in 1921-22.

As for the Keystones, well they sit just a game behind first place Detroit after making up 5 games on the leaders during their 9 game winning streak that began with a doubleheader sweep in the Motor City last Sunday and included 4 straight wins in Chicago followed by 3 in St Louis before dropping the back end of a twin bill to the last place Pioneers yesterday afternoon.

Like the Keystones, the road was kind to Toronto and Cincinnati last week as each club got hot and now hold down the top two spots in a Continental Association race that is beginning to separate itself out. Seven wins in their last 8 games has the Wolves up by a game and a half on Cincinnati as the Cannons had to settle for 6 wins in their 8 road contests last week. The Chicago Cougars dropped 3 of 4 to the visiting Cannons on the weekend but are still just 2 games back.

The strong starts Montreal and Brooklyn enjoyed appear to have given way to the grim reality of what was expected this season from the two clubs -a likely spot in the second division. The Kings got off to a strong 10-5 start in April but had dropped 10 of their last 12 before sweeping the Sunday doubleheader in Cleveland. The Saints had won 6 straight over Chicago in the opening week and a half of the season but are 11-17 against everyone else and their pitching staff is struggling.

Here come the Keystones. Now over .500 for the season at 18-14, and just 1 game behind Detroit.

George M Brooks had a bad start to Spring Training and new manager Otto Schmidt relegated him to the bullpen. Gene White essentially won his rotation spot, but after the first couple of weeks, Schmidt wisely put Brooks back in the rotation, where he has gone 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA in his last four starts, all Keystones victories.

Brooks (2.23 season ERA) is the class of the pitching staff to this point, but all five starters have contributed to a FA-best ERA of 2.94 over the first fifth of the season, including a 3.13 ERA by the starters. Another encouraging sign for Philadelphia is their road record and the amount of home games to come. The Keystones are 14-9 away from Broad Street and have only played nine home games. The bad news there is their 4-5 record at home. They will get some home cooking over the next two weeks, kicking off a 15-game homestand with a four-game set on Wednesday against the Chiefs.
*** Melanson is a Fighter To Root For ***

It has been an awful long time since our city hosted a World Title Fight so it is no surprise that tickets for the Archie Rees- Frank Melanson scuffle on June 9 are selling briskly. Sailors Park will be the site and the most surprising thing about the bout may well be that you will likely see an awful lot of Philadelphians pulling for a Pittsburgh guy. That would never wash at Broad Street Park of course, but the folks that frequent Soldiers & Sailors Stadium never encounter those loudmouth Miners fans so they can be forgiven for hitching their wagon to Frank Melanson.

Despite being from Pittsburgh, Melanson really is the kind of guy our city can get behind. He will be a bigtime underdog against The Tadcaster Thunderbolt so he will need all the fan support he can get. Melanson, who turned 28 a couple of weeks ago, never imagined he would be in this position. He has been fighting for nearly a decade, and with some good success but he has spent more time on the factory floor than in the gym -even as his stock as a middleweight began to rise. Melanson has never lost a fight, and his only blemish in 29 pro bouts is draw with Irving Weather in a 6-round bout when he was still a teenager, but he rarely fought anyone of quality. There were a few exceptions of course, such as in 1940 when he won a decision over Detroiter Brooks O'Connor but he drew little attention until he soundly defeated Vic Woodley in 1943.

His career was expected to pick up at that point but the war took away his fighting time. He is color-blind so Melanson was 4-F so he did not go overseas, but he started working in a Pittsburgh factory and fought just once in nearly two years. Then came a 4th round knockout of Andy Hammon in a fight in the Steel City in February which drew some notice. Meanwhile Archie Rees knocked out Tommy Erwin at the Bigsby Garden in March and his handlers were looking for another big payday or two before he headed back across the Atlantic. There were talks with O'Connor's camp and also John Edmonds but it appeared Rees opponent would be Todd Gill - the Hartford pugilist with a 19-1-4 record, a big right hand and an ego that is even bigger. They haggled over money to the point that Rees' camp gave up. Melanson's name was mentioned as well as his unbeaten record and a day later the contract was signed.

Most expect this will just be another easy payday for Rees -just as the Erwin fight in March was- and Gill will likely be next on the agenda before Rees returns to England. Everyone that is except Melanson, who managed to get 3 weeks off work in order to focus solely on the biggest moment of his career. "I'm aiming to win this thing," was one of the few sentences the soft-spoken middleweight uttered during our sit down. So far, no one has proven him wrong before, but the stage is just a little bigger this time and the stakes an awful lot higher.

WOLVES AFTER THE WAR

With all the jubilation, relief sweeping the world after the fall of the Nazi Regime in Europe let's turn our gaze forward and take a look at possibilities for your Wolves if or when players start to return to the team from this global nightmare. Canada has suffered through the war shortages, rationing, extended work hours, fear of the fate of family members since September 1939. Finally there is a ray of light, bringing hope, as the world approaches the end of this long dark tunnel known as World War II. There has already been a small trickle of players returning to baseball from the various branches of the services hopefully this trickle will soon turn into a flood of ball players returning to Canadian or USA based teams in the hope of resuming an interrupted career.

For this exercise we will take a look at Toronto only at the FABL level by position. To go beyond that would be a futile exercise, an attempt to fit all of the current 95 serving players under contract to the Wolves back into the organization would be akin to pounding square pegs into round holes over and over and over again, an exercise in futility. This is a job for the front office staff, some of whom are rewarded handsomely by Owner Millard, but is still a herculean task. You can be sure that this task has been on-going for years, but one can also surmise that the Wolves level of planning has stepped up since last June's D-Day landings with constant revisions being made to the plan. Minor league staff was told over the winter that the season would start with shorter rosters to give players somewhat of a last chance to prove their worth in the organization.

I have made it a point of focusing on what they have when talking the Toronto Wolves pennant prospects, but let's change things up and focus our gaze on a look the 'what ifs' instead of the 'what is' we have concentrated on over the past number of years at Toronto's Major League possible roster:

Catcher: Can Packy Peck reclaim his role as Howerton's tool caddy as he was in 1941 before enlisting in the US Army after the Pearl Harbour attack? With Howerton, 35, starting to age or is the team better off continuing to groom Walter Loera, 26, as the heir apparent behind the plate?

First Base: This is the one all of Toronto, if not all of baseball, is waiting for, the return of Fred McCormick who left baseball just over 4 years ago, 12 May 41, before the USA had officially joined the hostilities. At 35 can this two-time Whitney Award winner return to somewhere even close to his before the war, almost certain first ballot HOF, play or has the war robbed him of his prime playing days? There is no doubt Wolves will give Fred every chance to carry on where he left off in 1941. This move would mean that Walter Pack would move across the diamond to play the hot corner after McCormick has had a chance to work himself back into shape with a stint at Buffalo. When players start to return expect many to start with a short stint in the high minors.

Second Base: This would interesting situation in Toronto, they have two players of proven major league caliber, Hal Wood, Mike Rollinson attached to the military. Both of these players are proven to be at or near .300 hitters. Can either or both be left off the big league roster? What does this mean for Wayne Henderson, 31, who finally got his chance in the big leagues in which he has proved himself even with the obvious decline in over talent in the FABL?

Third Base: As mentioned McCormick's return would probably move Pack to third. Having Ockie Holliday as depth gives a stronger, deeper team.

Shortstop: Charlie Artuso has a hammer lock on this position for the immediately future. Looking further ahead management would be keeping a close eye on John Fast, #6 overall prospect, to monitor, try to quicken his development as the short stop of the future.

When all players start returning the numbers game begins, for everyone added at the top level someone has to leave the roster. Probable players leaving Toronto would be Al Jensen, who helped the team during the war, Frank Huddleston, who, if rumours are true has refused demotion a couple of times over the years, even when the sweetener of coaching job after his retirement was added to the package. Where does this leave Joe Bell who has no options left for an assignment to the minors?

Leftfield: Juan Pomales would be a fan favourite to continue as an everyone starter. With that said what does the team do with "Mr. Versatile" Tom Frederick? Frederick can cover any of the outfield positions along with first or second. Surely there has to be a spot on the big league roster for this two-time all-star.

Centerfield: Chink Stickels, 33, may see more off-days in center with the return of Frederick.

Rightfield: Does Hank Giordano return immediately to right field from the US Army displacing Gus Hull? Hank took over the job in the second half of '42 before his country called, an interesting although another good problem for the Wolves.
Ed Marshall would probably be the odd-man out with the return of players.

Starting Pitchers: How would the fans like to come to Dominion Field knowing that Call would sending one of George Garrison, Joe Hancock, Bernie Johnson, Jim Laurita, or Jim Morrison to the hill to begin the game? This rotation would definitely strike fear into the hearts of the opposition CA hitters although it comes with some downside. Who has to leave the organization? Brett could see Chick Wirtz going to the 'pen which would be welcome this season. What becomes of Bob Walls?

Bullpen: If Wirtz becomes a reliever, shutdown artist Lou Jayson returns to the fold it leaves the quartet of Billy Crosby, Cookie Meyer, Roscoe Zeller, Phil English fighting for one or two roster spots.

I am sure this will spark much debate among the faithful. This is a cautionary tale but one must remember that even if the Toronto roster looks like a powerhouse, on paper, 15 other FABL teams will see the same types of club upgrades with the end of the fighting in the Pacific. There will always be winners and losers in these situations, the major question would be which teams are the biggest winners or losers? The only sure thing is that the overall quality, at all levels, of baseball will be markedly improved for the fans.

I can also foresee the days with a lot of player movement either via the trade route or waive wire acquisitions. The end of fighting will bring about a whole new, better, ballgame.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH BUTCH SMITH?

Cannons fans are asking that question in ever-increasing numbers as Smith continued his awful start to the campaign with perhaps the worst outing of his career last week when he was torched for 7 runs -6 earned- and 11 hits and did not survive the third inning of a 7-5 loss to Montreal. The 33 year old went 19-10 with a 2.19 era in winning the Allen Award as the top pitcher in the Continental Association and the way he stepped up to replace an injured Deuce Barrell as the staff ace may have contributed more to the Cannons second straight World Championship Series win than any other player.

After a dream 1944 season, 1945 has been a nightmare for the 33 year old former third round pick out of Sadler College. He has never had a worse stretch in his 8 year big league career than the 0-5, 5.01 start to this seson. This after winning at least 17 games four of the previous 5 seasons.

What has gone wrong is painfully obvious, and Cannons brass remain hopeful the laws of average will take over and things will balance out for righthander. Smith is walking a few more batters than last season, but is well below his career average in that category. He is actually fanning more this year than he did in any of this three previous seasons. He has allowed only 2 homeruns and is not on a pace noticeably higher than previous seasons. The difference is base hits. Balls that did not get through last year are finding holes this time around. A year ago opposition batters hit just .237 against him on balls batted in to play. That was the lowest total among pitching qualifiers in the CA and even better than his solid .261 career number in that mark. But this year through his first 50 innings it has ballooned to .337, a full 100 points higher.

Jack Cleaves is now spending most of the time at second base with Tony White in the Army. Cleaves is not an elite defender by any stretch of the imagination at this stage of his career, and certainly not of the caliber that White was playing half the games at second base last season but surely that can't be the issue. None of the other Cannons pitchers have noticed major increases in opposition hits. The problem, at least at this stage of the season, is Smith's alone.

One of those fancy 'modern' stats dreamed up by Percy Sutherland's nephew at Whitney College is called Fielding Independent Pitching, or FIP. Without boring you on the details it is a calculation to determine how a pitcher should perform with an average defense behind him. Here is where the ray of hope shines through for Ad Doria and the Cannons coaching staff. According to that number Smith's era should be 3.24, not quite as good as the 3.00 in that category his Allen Award winning campaign yielded, but good enough for the Cannons brass to likely try and weather the storm a little longer and keep Smith in the rotation.
*** Un-Barrell-able For Opponents ***

Speaking of the rotation, do you think Ad Doria has finally realized that Tom Barrell does not like pitching out of the pen. As a Cannon starter, the veteran righthander is 15-5 with a 2.65 era. Out of the pen his era is 5.28. Doria confirms that Tom will stay in the rotation for the long haul. Speaking of Barrell, his nephew Deuce tossed a 3-hit shutout in his second start of the season, blanking Chicago 1-0 in a terrific pitching duel with Rusty Petrick that lowered Barrell's era to under 1.00.
*** Tigers Having Trouble Rounding Out Squad ***

Cincinnati Tigers head coach Jack Conn insists its nothing to worry about but does admit the club is not seeing many signed contracts returned from players in anticipation of the 1945 American Football Association season. "It's a league-wide concern, from what I hear," admits the veteran coach as he looks forward towards the expansion Tigers second season. "Not just us, but everyone seems to say the same thing. But I am confident we will have a full roster come camp in August."

No key contributors have opted out as of yet, but several fringe players from last year's club that posted an impressive 4-6 mark in its debut have stated they are not returning to play football in 1945. "A couple of guys landed some pretty decent jobs and feel that is better for them in the long term," admitted Conn before adding "and to be honest I can't blame that all for doing what they feel is best for their families."

Add in the impact of the war and Selective Service, which claimed a couple of more players last December, along with competition for talent from two proposed new rival leagues and it is easy to see why filling the training camp roster might be a little more difficult for all AFA clubs this season.

Conn has towed the league line in saying the Continental Football Conference has not had an impact but privately admits that is the reason many players remain unsigned. Those in the know say the CFC clubs have deep pockets and are not afraid to throw some pretty big contracts in an effort to lure players to jump leagues.
*** Cardinals Flying South To Texas ***

The Queen City basketball squad has confirmed it will not play in a pre-season tournament when the AIAA hits the hardwood in November. The Monarchs, who went to California last year for the West Coast Classic, revealed that they did not get an invitation to any of the early cage tournaments. Ohio Poly -fresh off that outstanding run to the national title game in April- has been invited and will participate in one of the early tournaments for the first time in 3 years. The Cardinals are heading to Houston where they will take part in the Heart of Texas pre-season showdown.

It might be a rebuilding year for the Toledo school as three starters - leading scorer Jack Simons as well as point guard Dan Austin and forward Everett Rambo- are lost to graduation, which means 72 year old coach Hawk Pizzo will have his work cut out for him. Pizzo is hoping for big things from towering center Scottie Franks and junior forward Billy Archer, a Cincinnati native who played sparingly his first two seasons but according to Pizzo "shows great promise."

FABL officials say that the shortage of balls and bats at the youth level has become so acute that it endangers the future of baseball. They plan to appeal to the Government for assistance because, in the words of Philadelphia Keystones owner Edward Meachum "this scarcity of playing equipment is being felt by the kids, cutting right at the very roots of the game." High School and sandlot coaches in various parts of the country have written to the majors for help. Many are down to a few battered leftover balls and patched up bats.
Plenty of plaudtis coming in for Ben Turner after the long-time Cleveland Foresters pitcher announced this would be his final season. A pair of his former GM's spoke highly of him with the current Stars boss fondly remember Turner's career best 22 win season to help lead Cleveland to a second straight pennant in 1935 and the current Detroit GM talking about how he tried to acquire Turner after he left the Foresters for the Motor City. Selected by the Cougars in the 9th round of the 1926 FABL draft, Turner was traded twice as a minor leaguer but spent his entire big league career with the Foresters. At press time he is 3 wins shy of 150 for his career with a 147-155 record.
When looking back at the two Foresters pennants in the mid-30s', many talk about key offensive pickups that netted Max Morris, T.R. Goins and Charlie Barry but a 1931 trade with the Gothams proved to be very crucial to the Foresters run. That was a deal that saw them send Joe Perret to the Big Apple in exchange for 3 prospects including a pair of pitchers by the names of Ben Turner and Dean Astle. Turner would go 30-11 over those two pennant seasons while Astle went 33-19. Both were minor league prospects at the time of the trade. The trade did not hurt New York too badly either, as the Gothams were Cleveland's opponent both years and Perret, while traded to Brooklyn before the '35 campaign, did play a big role on the '34 Gothams.
Add 39 year old Gene Stevens to the list of veterans planning on retiring at the end of the season, when it is anticipated most of the players off to war will return. Stevens has spent the past six season in Pittsburgh after beginning his big league career with 8 years pitching for the New York Stars. He is 108-97 for his career including 1-2 for the Miners this season.
he Chicago Cougars have announced that current 24th ranked prospect George Oddo will have his contract purchased, and will be set to debut against the Cannons on May 27th. The 22-year-old righty was superb in six starts for AAA Milwaukee, allowing two or fewer runs in each start. Oddo is a prefect 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA (279 ERA+), 0.83 WHIP, 15 walks, and 26 strikeouts in 44.1 innings pitched. Cougar Manager Clyde Meyer hopes the former 8th Rounder is ready to stick, and he'll likely hold the five spot throughout the rest of the season.
From Brett Bing in Toronto: The Wolves enjoyed their visit into the Big Apple going 7-1 against the Kings, Stars. Call and Nichols lean on Juan Pomales to hopefully right the ship in the 'pen,. Pomales shows his value as a two-way performer as he picks up two wins, saves another without giving up a run in 9 2/3 innings. Walt Pack earns POTW honours with a .484/.529/.774 slash line in NYC. With the war travel rules still in effect the schedule has the Wolves at home for their next 25 games they do not leave Toronto until mid-June. What follows is a 24 game road trip that lasts until the All-Star Game.
Marc McNeil of The Montreal Star notes an interesting fact this season on the Saints... SP Karl Weiss is showing a 5-0 record in 7 starts. Filling in for DeYoung or feeling the pressure of players coming back from the war soon? He needs to play on the edge to keep the spot in the rotation. Because when Doyle, Cupid, Reif coming back it will leave little space for a spot in starting 5. Also, waiver pick SP Ben Watkins is holding the fort for DeYoung showing 2-0 record with 17 IP in 2 starts. He was lucky with good run support in both games, but good enough to get the win. the 35 years old veteran will get another start next week.
Stars hurler Dixie Lee has proven the war hasnt slowed him down one bit. Currently on a hot streak to start the season 5-0 in 7 games. So far all 5 wins have been complete games including a 10 inning 2-1 win over Cincinnati.
The Chicago Chiefs ran into a buzz saw into Philadelphia last week. Since dropping both ends of a doubleheader to the Minutemen on May 6th, the Keystones are 11-3. The good news for Chiefs fans is The Polish Hammer is back! After a month in Fort Wayne where he hit .337/.394/.533, Dick Blaszak is on his way back to Chicago.
A better week for the New York Gothams, who take 3 of 4 from Pittsburgh before splitting a 4-game series with Washington. Rookie manager Bud Jameson is hoping the Gothams could just string two good weeks together. If so, they might move into the top half of the FA. There is some optimism in the organization as they have some young pitchers doing well in the minors. Not so much on the offensive side, except 1B which is kind of pointless for them with Red Johnson expected to stick around for a while.

COLLISION BETWEEN COLLEGE AND PRO FOOTBALL SERIOUS

A storm is brewing as a battle between college and pro football may soon batter the grid sport. At the eye of this event is the men expected to soon return from war duty. Many will still have college eligibility left, leaving as freshman and sophomores to join the military. They will return much older than the average student but will still have plenty of eligibility to suit up for old Rah Rah Tech. The issue is with the Continental Football Conference now ready to join the American Football Association at the play for pay table, these top-flight former Army and Navy will have choices to make.

The college coaches who lost them to the war effort as underclassmen, hoped to have these men available again - perhaps as early as this fall. But with the pros also in the mix the college bosses are seeing where many a promising gridder no longer will leave his footprints on the campus grass. Instead the lure of a decent paycheck might be too much to turn down.

The college ranks believe these men should be graduated before moving over to the pro ranks. The pros take the angle that any number of these servicement are not going back to college but will be out to make all the money they can get. The pro argument is that if one club doesn't hustle to sign these stars, some other club from their own or a rival league will.
*** Many Don't Plan to Return to College ***

We put this problem up to Col. Eskie Clark, well known for his deep interest in college sport, now one of the leaders in promoting war athletics for several million servicemen in Europe and the South Pacific.

"It's a difficult situation," Col. Clark said. "We all know that any number of good football players, now in the Army and Navy, will want to play pro football when released from war duty and make all the money they can. Many have married. A good number have other financial obligations. Many have no idea of returning to college. But I think this choice should be left to the individual player. He shouldn't be approached by pro scouts when he has one, two or even three college years left. He shouldn't be over-proselyted. But if he decides that he isn't going back to college, then the pro management with whom he might be connected should take up the matter with his college athletic director and work the problem out."

"No one can blame any of these returning or discharged fighting men from making their own choice. They all are entitled to handle their own future. Many who now are only in the very early 20s in reality are much older than the average person of 25. But I don't believe in the pros raiding with big offers. That easily might affect their judgement. I'm for the servicemen making their own choice without pressure."

A quiet week in the ring with only two fights of note. On Tuesday night in Brooklyn, 27 year old welterweight Dale Roy claimed a technical knockout win over Jeff Wolf. Roy, a Binghampton, NY native who was declared 4-F by the military and has been working in the Brooklyn shipyards throughout the war, has been pretty active the past few years and improved his mark to 19-5 with 14 wins coming by stoppage. For the 28 year old Wolf it was his return to the ring after a 4-year absence during which time the New York native was in the Coast Guard. Many felt Wolf had a bright future before the war but he looked very rusty in the bout with Roy, one that he was favoured in. Wolf is now 10-2 for his professional career.

The other bout was the headline event in a rather pedestrian card at the small stage in Bigsby Garden this week with journeyman heavyweight Len Black destroying Willie Snook with a first round knockout. Black, a 35 year old native of Florida is 18-17-3 while Snook falls to 23-12. It marked the second time in just over 2 months that the Owensboro, Ky. 30 year old was the victim of an early knockout.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 5/20/1945

Japanese resistance on Okinawa finally showed the first signs of cracking yesterday as US 10th Army Marines and soldiers threw their full weight against strong enemy defenses along the five-mile line in the bloody struggle that has taken over 48,000 and Japanese lives and 8,310 Americans. Okinawa remains a crucial objective due to it's strategic proximity to China, Formosa and the Japan home islands.
The rift over Poland appears wider after Russian Premier Stalin outlined his demands of what his government wants in any reorganization of the Polish Government. Stalin expressed believe the Polish question could be solved "by agreement among the Allies," but only on the fulfillment of certain conditions that Russia would not waver on.
The Anglo-American dispute with Yugoslavia over its occupation of parts of Italy and Austria grew more serious when the United State flat out rejected the Yugoslav proposal for a settlement, declaring it would not work. This just a few hours after the Allied Commander in chief in the Mediterranean theater, charged that Marshall Tito was attempting to establish Yugoslav claims in Italy by the use of force. Both the United States and Britain have held that the border dispute must be fixed at the peace table.
Strict secrecy surrounding another surrendered Nazi submarine which arrived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire this week. Heavy baggage, mysterious passengers and the escort of five navy technicians lent support that it was headed for Japan when overtaken by the navy. Speculation abounds that it carries Nazi war secrets for the Japanese. There were two Japanese passangers aboard the U-boat but they had committed hari-kari, according to the Germans, after the decision to surrender was made.
Positive news as the United States, Britain and Russia are close to an agreement on how to occupy Germany.

Jiggs McGee · 01-10-2023, 01:17 PM

MAY 28, 1945

McCORMICK, GALLOWAY RETURNING FROM WAR

All of baseball -well aside from Continental Association fans in Chicago perhaps- is celebrating the news that a pair of star players are returning to the sport. The pennant race in the Continental Association is about to get more interesting with the news the Toronto Wolves first baseman Fred McCormick and centerfielder Fred Galloway of the Cincinnati Cannons are set to return to baseball on June 1st.

Captain McCormick, the big first baseman of the Toronto Wolves last played a big league game in 1941 and will receive his honorable discharge from the Army Air Corps allowing him to rejoin his club, which is currently sitting in a first-place tie with the Cougars. On the same day, the Coast Guard will release Petty Officer Third Class Galloway. Galloway has served on the Great Lakes since 1943 and his return should provide a boost to the Cannons, who are in third place but just 1.5 games behind the Wolves & Cougars.

With the victory in Europe, it is expected more FABL players (as well as minor leaguers) will be returning to baseball this summer though some will undoubtedly be retained until the war against Japan is successfully concluded.

Two minor leaguers- pitcher Sid Moulton of the Philadelphia Keystones organization and Chicago Chiefs outfield prospect Dave Krieger will also be discharged and free to return to the sport on June 1. The 21 year old Moulton was a first round pick in 1941 and last pitched in Class C back in 1941. OSA considers Moulton to be a top 50 prospect. The 22 year old Kreiger was selected in the fourth round of the 1940 draft by the Chiefs and played two seasons of class C ball before joining the Army Air Corps. Kreiger is ranked 90th among prospects by the league scouting service.

400 FOR BARRELL

Another milestone for Bobby Barrell as The Georgia Jolter became just the 4th player in FABL history to reach the 400 homerun plateau. The 34 year old hit both 399 and 400 in the same game -the second of yesterday's twin-bill at Broad Street against the St Louis Pioneers- after he hit his 398th earlier in the day. Number 399 came off St Louis starter Jasper Moore to lead off the second inning and open the scoring in the game, which would end 4-1 in the Keystones favour. Barrell grounded out in the third inning but in his second attempt at 400 blasted a Moore offering down the rightfield line to join the exclusive club.

Only Max Morris, Al Wheeler and Barrell's former teammate and mentor Rankin Kellogg have hit 400 or more homeruns. Is 500 out of the question, a something only Morris has reached although Wheeler -with 471- is closing in on?

"Don't tell me when I get close to the next milestone," joked Barrell to reporters when asked that question. "Just tell me after I reach it. It will be easier that way."

On the season Barrell, who won the Federal Association Whitney Award for a third time last year and claimed the triple crown, is batting a robust .400 with 11 homers and 37 rbi's.

IT'S CROWDED AT THE TOP

As the month of May winds down both associations look like there will be plenty of competition all season long and on this day each has a tie at the top spot. In the Federal Association the Philadelphia Keystones made up 6 games in two weeks and after winning 13 of their last 16 games now find themselves tied with the Detroit Dynamos for first place with identical 22-16 records. The Boston Minutemen remain in the mix, just a game back while Pittsburgh -with 5 wins in their last 6 games- are back to .500 on the year and tied with the Washington Eagles for fourth place.

A big 5-1 showing against their two chief rivals has the Chicago Cougars back into what amounts to a first place tie with the Toronto Wolves. The Cougars are 23-16 after taking three of four from the Wolves and then sweeping a doubleheader in Cincinnati yesterday afternoon. Happy to be rid of Chicago, Toronto continued it's doubleheader dominance this season with a sweep of the struggling New York Stars yesterday. The Wolves have swept 5 of the 6 twinbills they have played this season and are now 21-14, good for a percentage point lead on the Cougars atop the CA with 4 games in hand on their midwestern foe. Cincinnati is a game and a half back. The week started well enough for the Cannons, who claimed 3 wins in their 4 games against the visitng Stars but then dropped a pair to Chicago yesterday. Included in those losses was another brutal outing from Butch Smith, dropping last year's Allen Award winners record to 0-7 with a 5.27 era.

Replay in Berlin for Armies of Occupation, One Hint About Guarded Plans
As yet, FABL is not too greatly alarmed over the possibility of seeing the World Championship Series cancelled by request of the Office of Defense Transportation. Of course, everyboy interested in baseball also is keenly interested in the announcement from Col. J. Monroe Johnson, head of ODT, that transportation problems jeopardize all professional sports plans, which includes the diamond classic. But there is a general feeling that, the way the war is going, there is no sense in worrying in May about what may happen, or not happen, in October.

Rather is baseball interested, at this time, in the new order from the War Department stopping the drafting of 4-F's in the big leagues, and ending the discriminations aimed at professional athletes of sorts. The thoughts of perhaps getting some of their big stars back before the end of the season is also front and center on the minds of the FABL bigwigs.

Col. Johnson's statement last week that the World Championship Series may need to be contested entirely in one city due to travel concerns does not jibe very accurately with a recent request from the Navy Department to Samuel Belton, President of FABL, that the World Championship Series teams be kept intact, and in readiness for a trip to Europe in October.

Possibly the World Championship Series will be played in the big Olympic Stadium in Berlin. Who knows? These are strange times. However, chances are that the classic will come off, as advertised, and in this country. But it is sounding like there is at least a decent chance the Series will then be replayed, in an unofficial capacity only, abroad.

A week after suggesting FABL's all-star game, an annual rite of summer since 1933, may have to be postponed due to travel concerns, ODT Director J. Monroe Johnson did an about-face and declared the mid-summer classic could proceed as planned. The game is schedule for July 10 at Cougars Park in Chicago. Johnson, cited a number or recent restrictions to sports due to the immense travel needs of moving military personnel and equipment from Europe and the United States to the Pacific Theater including what he suggested was a "strong possibility" baseball's all-star game would be one of the casualties.

After speaking with FABL President Sam Belton and Washington Eagles owner, retired Admiral William Stockdale, Johnson said he was satisified that the travel demands required for baseball to move players and staff to and from Chicago for the event would be well within acceptable limits.

Johnson did take the occasion of the meeting to remind FABL executives of the "critical" transportation situation, and reaffirmed a desire for the two leagues to curtail travel as much as possible.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Toronto begins their long homestand by losing 3 of 4 to the Cougars including a heart breaking 14 inning loss, 4-3, Friday night. The Wolves bounced back beating Chicago 7-6 on Saturday then swept a twin bill from the Stars on Sunday. Toronto is now 10-2 on Sundays. Although the pitching, Walls, Laurita in particular, is still causing consternation for both Call, Nichols that has taken the back burner to news received at the week's end.

McCormick Returns screamed the headlines. After just over 4 years since departing Captain Fred McCormick has received his honourable discharge form the US Air Force. Brett is being hailed as a seer or clairvoyant after his recently published article on the post war Wolves. Brett has had discussions with the Wolves staff, he can give the fans this update, with all the travel logistics Fred will first report to Buffalo to give him some time to taking batting practice, fielding reps, just adjust to the routine. He will be in the Nickels lineup Friday -Sunday before returning to Toronto for the Tuesday game against the Cannons. Although a big crowd is expected there will be no special ceremony for McCormick, Brett has learned that McCormick told the Wolves he was just doing his job he deserves no more ceremony or credit than anyone who served in anyway to support the war effort.

CANNONS OPTIMISITC ABOUT POST-WAR FUTURE

A week ago one of the Toronto daily's took at look at what the Wolves will look like next season if they were to get all of their regulars back from the war. Now there is no guarantee that will happen, but recent developments -not just in Europe and the Pacific- but also here at home have made a return to normalcy for baseball in 1946 a very real possibility. So let's follow Brett Bing's lead in Toronto and project what the Cincinnati Cannons of '46 could look like -assuming all is settled in the Pacific and all the ballplaying soldiers and sailors are back on big league diamonds.

In a perfect world, here are your 1946 Cincinnati Cannons:

Catcher: An embarassment of riches with 32 year old 7-time all-star Adam Mullins back in the fold and joining what would be a 38 year old 9-time all-star in Tom Bird on the roster. That leaves little room for another all-star catcher in John Wicklund, who would be 36. Current back-up Ed Sala is out of minor league options and likely will be gone.

First Base: Chuck Adams will be 29 years old and there is no reason to not expect he will still be playing a major role. The question is will it be at first base or in leftfield as Tom Bird will likely need to get some reps at first in order to keep his bat in the lineup.

Second Base: The Cannons will be loaded at second base as Charley McCullough, who was an all-star at the age of 25 in 1941 before enlisting in the Navy after his brother was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, will be back and the likely starter. Charlie Rivera did a nice job as McCullough's replacement in '42 and '43 before he also left for the Navy. Then you also have Charlie Ross as well as veteran Jack Cleaves. Cleaves will be 38 and the Cannons may have a tough time finding a spot for him as McCullough and Rivera appear to be locks for two of the 6-7 infield spots open on the roster.

Shortstop: No change here as Jim Hensley will be 29 years old and is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. Youngster Clifton Smith will have the inside track on the back up slot although Rivera could also fill in if needed. In the system they have 22 year old hometown boy Ted Stacy, who may make his Cannons debut sometime this season and an 18 year old wizard with the glove named Jim Hall who went to the Navy shortly after being selected in the FABL draft last June.

Third Base: Denny Andrews finally established himself as a top level hitter last season and is off to an even better start this time around. He will be 30 years old so the search will be on for a youngster to play the position in the future. The absence of that young player may be enough to allow Jack Cleaves to stay on the roster as he has the ability to play three infield positions and could serve as Andrews' caddy.

Outfield: A real log-jam in the outfield assuming a then-38 year old Al Wheeler will still contribute. If so Wheeler will be in left just as he is this season and Sam Brown will have to fend off Mike T. Taylor to hold on to the rightfield job. If Wheeler stumbles than Chuck Adams moves from first base to replace him and free up a lineup spot for Tom Bird.

Centerfield will go back to Fred Galloway next week as he has just been given his honourable discharge by the Coast Guard. Galloway will be pressed by veteran Gail Gifford for playing time. It seems a certainty that Mel Alvarez and Johnny Potter -who are on this year's squad- will be playing elsewhere next season.

PROJECTED 1946 BATTING ORDER AND AGE NEXT SEASON
1- Fred Galloway (30) CF
2- Denny Andrews (30) 3B
3- Chuck Adams (29) or Tom Bird (38) 1B
4- Adam Mullins (33) C
5- Al Wheeler (38) LF
6- Sam Brown (35) or Mike T Taylor (27) RF
7- Charley McCullough (30) 2B
8- Jim Hensley (29) SS

Pitching
The Cannons starting rotation should be outstanding with Deuce Barrell and Butch Smith again at the top of it but the depth will be much improved as you will see Chris Clarke, Vic Carroll, Bill Sohl and highly touted prospect Bob Arman all likely locks to make the staff and Charlie Griffith, who had a solid rookie season in 1942 before leaving for the war in the mix as well. Then you have a bunch of veterans who may or may not still be around. Names like Sam Sheppard, Tom Barrell, Jim Crawford, Larry Brown, Jake Smith and Dan Adams. That is 13 pitchers already and we have not talked about Glenn Payne -who recently came back from the Army Air Corps- or another youngster who should some promise but has been in the Navy for the past 3 years in 22 year old Troy Crockett.

PROJECTED 1946 STARTING ROTATION (with 1946 age)
1- Deuce Barrell (28)
2- Butch Smith (34)
3- Bob Arman (25)
4- Bill Sohl (27)
5- Vic Carroll (27)
6- Chris Clarke (33)

Obviously this would be a much stronger team than the current edition of the Cannons, but the same can be said for each of the other 15 FABL teams. The Cannons appear to have no holes and if the returnees live up to their pre-war billing it is easy to see Cincinnati remaining very much in the thick of the Continental Association pennant chase.

Bobby Barrell hit home run #400 on Sunday at home against St. Louis. It was his second of the game and third in two games, as he had a big weekend to take home FA Player of the Week honors for the second straight week. Barrell's homers on Sunday were high fly balls that carried despite a wind that was blowing in from center field. His first of the game cleared the right field fence, while #400 snuck out to left field, only traveling 339 feet, but placed perfectly down the line. Both homers were off of RHP Jasper Moore.

Speaking of 400, Barrell's average sits exactly at .400, which is good for second in the Fed behind Al Tucker of St. Louis. Barrell leads the FA in home runs (11), RBI (37), extra-base hits (24), and most of the analytical categories - OPS (1.176), wOBA (.529), bWAR (2.4), OPS+ (232), and wRC+ (236).

*** Frigates Well on Track for Grid Start ***

The AFA champion Philadelphia Frigates -that still has a ring to it, doesn't it- say they are well on pace in preparation for their August start to training camp. Unlike several other teams, the Frigates say they are not having difficulty getting players signed and are eager to try and duplicate their title performance of 1944. The Frigates went 8-1-1 during the regular season before easily downing Detroit 30-14 in the December title game at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial to bring the first-ever professional grid title to this city

*** Don't Expect a Big Rome State-Annapolis Maritime Game ***

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial has hosted some big games in the rivalry between Rome State and Annapolis Maritime and, after a stop in Baltimore last season, many expected the big military academy game would return to Philadelphia this time around. That will not happen now, as part of the ODT crackdown on travel stipulates that no college football club may play a neutral site game this season.

TIME FOR CHANGE IN NEW YORK

With the continuing up and down, or down and up pattern of the Gothams season I asked first year manager Bud Jameson if he planned any changes in an attempt to kickstart a winning streak to push the club into the upper tier of the league. Here are his comments in reply...

"It has been a bit frustrating. It seems when we do hit, the pitching or defense lets us down. Other days we get great pitching and struggle to score. The offense has been the biggest problem, but that is mostly going to be a matter of patience. I expect a couple of the guys, like Leon Drake and Red Johnson, to get hot and there's always the chance we get a boost from players coming home from the military. We have a lot of big bats still in military uniforms.

As for the pitching, with the doubleheaders picking up, and not wanting to overload Lonardo, I'm going to use Alex Laramie for spot starts. I have no complaints about Ed Bowman. He's been a victim of bad luck in a few starts. Harry Carter continues to show his time away had no ill effects on his abilities. Cy (Sullivan) has been a pleasant surprise and may push some of the others. I think Pete Casstevens has been just what I expected behind the plate and his bat has started to pick up.

In the infield we've struggled to get much offense up the middle. It may be time to give Billy Clark a shot from AAA. I see he's really stinging the ball at Toledo. Dan Hallam has really taken the job and run with it at 3B and may still have a spot when the guys come home.

All in all we're just a few under .500. I expect we'll be competing closer to the top before too long."
There you have it. Manager Jameson is staying optimistic about his squad's chances. We'll see how it plays out over the next few months.

Despite six road games against the Wolves and the Cannons, the Cougars rolled off five wins to reclaim a share of the division lead. The offense woke up too, scoring 5 or more runs in all but one contest during the week.

After slumping last week, Cliff Moss went right back to mashing, going 17-for-29 and taking home CA Player of the Week. Moss is now hitting .378 /.428/.662 with a 202 WRC+ in 39 games.

Top prospect George Oddo held his own against a potent Cannons lineup, as a 4-run 6th was the only blemish in his debut. He finished with 7 solid innings, allowing 8 hits, 4 runs, and 2 walks, with 2 strikeouts while earning the victory in game one of a double header sweep

*** Wildcats Anticipate Boon's Return ***

Nothing confirmed but seeing several big name ballplayers returning home has given the Chicago Wildcats some hope that Carl Boon may be deemed unnecessary to the war effort and be able to resume his place at the head of the Chicago Wildcats coaching staff. It has been nearly 3 years since Lt. Commander Boon left to rejoin the Navy, an outfit he was a part of in the first World War as well. Assistants Marv Englert and Bill Youngberg filled in admirably in sharing the role, even guiding the Wildcats to an AFA title two seasons ago but they suffered through a tough 5-5 season a year ago.

The Wildcats will have competition for the Chicago football fan and it is looking more and more like that competition will begin in September. We have long known that Percy Sutherland's new pro loop would set up shop here in the Windy City but the start date for the Continental Football Conference had been anticipated as being in 1946. With victory in Europe achieved and millions of soldiers returning home, the smart money is on a kick-off this fall for Percy's new pay-for-play grid league.
*** Field Set For AIAA Preseason Cage Showcase ***

The annual November tournament to get the collegiate cage slate underway known as the Preseason AIAA Chicago Showcase has an impressive field this season. Headlining the group of 4 will be Rainier College. The Majestics are back to make up for a disappointing showing in the event last season when they fell to Golden Gate in the opening game. Rainier College also saw its two year reign as AIAA tournament champion end last March when they were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the annual title tournament.

Joining the Majestics in the showcase will be Annapolis Maritime, Alabama Baptist and Academia Alliance power Dickson. Each of the four schools won at least twenty games last season. There is not much local representation on any of the 4 teams but Rainier College will have Tommy Abbott, a 6'11" freshman center who starred for Shell Lake High School in Wisconsin last season and is considered one of the top incoming freshmen in the nation.

It was hardly a dominating performance but still a successful big league debut for George Oddo with the Chicago Coguars. The 22 year old former 8th round pick got the win in a 7-5 decision over the Cincinnati Cannons on Sunday, allowing 4 runs including a pair of homers, on 8 hits over 7 innings.
With news that Fred Galloway is being discharged from the Coast Guard this week and will return to the Cannons, does that bode well for players like Lew Seals, Constantine Peters and John Edwards? All are in the Coast Guard and with the U-boat threat gone following the defeat of Germany there is far less urgency needed in patroling our waters. You may just see a number of other long-serving Coast Guard ballplayers back in the near future.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick look at home some of the newcomers to the league are faring this year.
BOSTON- 23 year old Andy Howell has a 3-1 record with a 4.30 era in 6 starts for the Minutemen. He was taken 11th overall out of a Brooklyn high school in 1940. The Minutemen also have 23 year old catcher Les Hanson (.154,0,1) and 29 year old outfielder Lee Lindsay (.125,0,0) on a big league roster for the first time in their careers.

BROOKLYN- 5 Brooklyn Kings have made their big league debuts this season. The one who has made the most noise is 27 year old outfielder Ben Brazel. The 1939 5th rounder is hitting a robust .420 through his first 20 big league games. One of the oldest rookies we have seen in quite some time is 35 year old Lenny Bellucci. He is a feeder league guy from Liberty College that has bounced around the minors for a decade but is getting his chance with war-depleted rosters. He picked up his first big league save a little over a week ago and is 1-0 with a 3.64 era in 8 relief appearances. 23 year old Pinch Lenhart also made his big league debut in the Kings pen this season. Lenhart is 0-4 with 5 saves and a 2.28 era in 21 appearances as the Kings closer. They also have 1939 first rounder Whitey Dorsch on the big league roster. Dorsch is playing everyday at 3B and hitting .250. Finally we have 31 year old infielder Bill Phelps get his first taste of the big leagues due to the war. Phelps has been around since 1935, when he was selected in the 7th round, and is playing regularly at second base while batting .261

CHIEFS- The Polish Hammer is back in Chicago. Dick Blaszak is still adjusting to big league life with the Chicago Chiefs but did hit a pair of doubles against Boston yesterday for his first two-hit game as a big leaguer. We are still waiting for his first big league homerun but in 9 games Blaszak is hitting .240 and notched his first major league rbi yesterday. The Chiefs are also easing 25 year old pitcher Art Courtney into big league action. Acquired in the 1939 trade that sent Jim Lonardo to the Cougars, who selected him in the 9th round back in 1938, Courtney is 1-1 with a save and a 3.52 era in 8 relief appearances. Long-time minor league catcher Jim Foley has won the starting job behind the plate and is doing his best to make Chiefs fans forget Tom Bird. Foley is hitting .347 with 11 rbi's in 27 games.

COUGARS- It was already mentioned quite a bit in these pages but highly touted prospect George Oddo got a win over Cincinnati in his big league debut yesterday.

CINCINNATI- The Cannons do not have any rookies on their roster at the moment but 29 year old Jesse Woods made his big league mound debut earlier in the season when the Cannons were nursing some injuries. He went 1-1 in 3 relief appearances but had an inconvenient 7.11 era.

CLEVELAND- 25 year old outfielder Tom Erby and 22 year old first baseman Walter Hendrickson have each seen very limited action as Foresters this year. Erby is batting .143 while Hendrickson is hitting .231

DETROIT- Another fine outing for Carl Potter as the 19 year old Detroit Dynamos phenom ran his record to 5-0 and lowered his era to 1.43 with a 13-4 win in Washington last week. Potter pitching 8 innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 runs, but both were unearned. Meanwhile Pete Brown is 3-4 with a 3.25 era. Brown was a 4th round pick last June.

MONTREAL- 22 year old Gordie Perkins is looking like a seasoned veteran, hitting .336 with 15 rbi's and playing some very good defense at shortstop for the Saints. Much less heralded is 28 year old Moe Rowland, a 1938 6th round pick who made his big league debut with a start in Cleveland. The righthander went 8 and 2/3 innings scattering 8 hits in a 9-3 win over the Foresters.

NY STARS- He is back in AAA Los Angeles now but 25 year old catcher Victor Sands played in 4 games for the Stars this season, going hitless in 10 at bats.

NY GOTHAMS- 23 year old catcher Josh Porter, who was acquired from the Stars over the winter, is hitting .162 in 11 games as Pete Casstevens backup. First baseman Jerry Wilson is 25 and hitting .400 in 20 at bats but he better learn a new position if he wants to play regularly. Right now he sits behind Red Johnson.

KEYSTONES- 22 year old John Grimes is doing a nice job replacing Pepper Tuttle in the Keystones rotation. The 1940 7th round pick lost his first 3 big league starts but has since evened his record at 3-3 and lowered his era to a very respectable 2.72

SAILORS- A pair of 28 year olds are making their big league debuts with the Sailors. Outfielder Addie Allman is hitting .457 in 45 at bats while first baseman Pete Frisbie was promoted last week and his first big league at bat was a pinch-hit double to help key a 3-run rally and lift the Sailors to a win over Brooklyn.

PITTSBURGH- The Miners have had four players make their big league debuts so far. 26 year old Johnny Bunce was acquired from the Cougars organization over the winter and is starting regularly at shortstop but struggling at the plate with a .178 average. 23 year old second baseman Bob Childres is hitting .200 thru his first 28 big league games. Childers was a 4th round selection in 1940. Another 1940 selection, 3rd rounder Bob Warner, is seeing action in the outfield and the 23 year old his batting .272. Vern Wilson, a 25 year old outfielder acquired from Cincinnati in the Jack Cleaves deal a couple years back, is back in AAA but did collect his first big league hit in 6 at bats.

ST LOUIS- 27 year old Johnny Kretzschmar is another veteran minor league pitching getting a shot with many of the big names off to war. The 1936 8th round pick has made 4 relief appearances for St Louis with a 5.79 era. 27 year old infielder Paul Nall has been called up from Oakland a couple of times this season and is 1-for-9 as a major leaguer.

TORONTO- 28 year old Cookie Myers is 4-1 with 2 saves and a 2.33 era out of the Toronto bullpen in his first kick at the big league can. He was a 13th round draft pick back in 1934. 28 year old outfielder Red Barrett is hitting .150 in 40 at bats while 25 year old infielder Bud House has seen action in 5 games, batting .143.

WASHINGTON-Outfielder Maurice Carter, who came over from Cincinnati in the Sam Brown deal two years ago, made the club as a backup at age 22. He is struggling at the plate so far, batting just .148 in 27 at bats. Infielder Clarence Clarke looks even more overmatched as the 28 year old 10th rounder from the 1935 draft is batting .053 in 14 games. He did get his first -and so far only- big league hit April 25th off of veteran Boston hurler Ed Wood. Finally, the Eagles are using 29 year old Jim Farrow out of the pen. No decisions yet for the 1937 11th round draft pick but he has a 2.25 era in 9 relief appearances, although all were very short as he totals just 4 innings of big league work so far.

BENTLEY TRYING TO SOLVE NEW YORK-BROOKLYN PROBLEM

The big guy with the broad shoulders put down his pencil, swept a sheaf of papers to one side of his desk and slumped back in his chair with a weary sigh.

"I've got a schedule worked out," the Washington Wasps owner said, with a wry look, "but I'm not satisified with it. It's got to be better."

Homer Bentley has worked harder on that schedule than you have on your income tax, trying to iron out difference between New York and Brooklyn that easily could widen into a serious rift. He's been at it since the last league meeting and his labours have produced not one but four schedules to offer the brethren at their next conference, and still he isn't satisified.

The whole issue stems around where the football Kings can play their games now that Brooklyn's baseball team has kicked them out of Kings County Park. The obvious choice is either Dyckman Stadium or Gothams Field but that doesn't sit well with the New York Football Stars, who don't want the Kings playing in New York the same weekend they have a home contest. There still remains a player issue in Brooklyn so Bentley's efforts might all be for naught anyway if the Kings decide to fold up shop.

In a sense Bentley has been carrying the ball for AFA President Jack Kristich in the Brooklyn-New York problem. It would be no skin off his nose if the league collapsed, because Percy Sutherland would very quickly welcome the Wasps into his new Continental loop. But Bentley has worked like a Trojan t keep the American Association on the upgrade and it's no exaggeration to say he is evolving into a very influencial pro football magnate.

THE CANNON WAS FIRING AS COOPER CLAIMS ANOTHER VICTIM

Fight fans at Chicago's Lake Side Arena better get used to early nights when Cannon Cooper headlines the card. The 24 year old heavyweight ran his record to 17-0-1 with a first round knockout of Danny Turner Friday night. It was the native of Rockford, IL., best showing since he returned to the pro ring in January after a 3 year stint in the Coast Guard.

This one lasted just over two minutes as Cooper, looking to atone for having to settle for a majority draw in March against Bobby Nelson, went straight to work at the opening bell. Turner, who has been around long enough to know better, made the mistake of thinking he could trade punches with Cooper and very quickly realized he was mistaken. By then it was too late as Cooper landed a hard hook to the head after Turner left himself open, and that sent the veteran Cedar Rapids, Ia. native sprawling to the canvas. Turner tried in vain to gain his footing at the count of 4, but stumbled and was back on his knees, remaining that way as referee Chucky Weeks reached 10.

The American Boxing Federation now considers Cooper to be the top challenger in the heavyweight division and it seems just a matter of time before he gets a shot at Hector Sawyer's title. Perhaps as early as late this year as Sawyer is set to face Pete Sanderson next month in New York and Cooper has expressed a desire to meet the winner of that bout.

Lee Cooper made his pro debut in 1939 as an 18 year old and by 1940 was starting to appear in preliminary bouts on cards in the big venues in cities like Chicago, Detroit and New York. A series of early knockouts with his powerful lefthand earned the southpaw the nickname 'Cannon' and he was 15-0 when he enlisted in the Coast Guard immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

He fought regularly in military exhibitions but said it was hard to remain sharp. Released from the Coast Guard in early January, Cooper immediately returned to the ring and knocked out Carson Barnes to get his career back on track. Next up was his toughest opponent to date, in Birmingham Bobby Nelson. Cooper's rustiness from 3 years away from the ring was exploited by the technically sound veteran Nelson in the March 30th fight. Nelson lacked the punching power but did enough to avoid a damaging blow and managed to earn a draw, giving Cannon the first blemish on his record.

Cooper immediately returned to the gym and last week very much looked like the fighter most predicted he would become prior to the war. He feels he is ready to face Sawyer but in reality many ring experts feel he would likely benefit from another solid test or two before taking on the champ.

WHITE TOPS FORD IN BATTLE OF VETS

It felt like old-timers day in San Jose last Tuesday as 37 year old heavyweight Michael White scored a 10-round decision over Jesse Ford. White, the veteran fighter from Minnesota, improves to 27-10-1 but looked far worse for wear after the bout than his 35 year old opponent. He admits he likely only has a couple of fights left in him before he hangs up the gloves for good.

UPCOMING TITLE FIGHTS
WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE: June 9 at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia
Artie Rees (Tadcaster, England) vs Frank Melanson 15 rounds

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE: June 23 at Gothams Stadium, New York City.
Hector Sawyer (New Orleans, La.) vs Pete Sanderson

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 5/27/1945

British Prime Minister Churchill resigned this week, and an interim government has been formed until a general election can be held in July. The resignation was considered a formality to clear the way for a general election - Britain's first in 10 years.
Tokyo is described by enemy radio reports as a city laid in ruins by B-29 fire-bomb raids Thursday and Saturday but the 21st Bomber Command, while optimistic, reserved judgement until it had the photographs to prove it.
Extremely heavy rains restricted 10th Army action all along the Southern Okinawa front on the weekend. Admiral Chester W. Nimitiz also issued a report that 166 Japanese planes were downed in the enemy's suicidal attack on American shipping and airfields Thursday night and Friday.
The Navy honoured 96 heroes aboard the bomb-scarred, fire ravaged aircraft carrier Franklin in what was the greatest mass decoration in the nation's naval history. "Big Ben" was badly damaged and feared lost by a Japanese attack in March with the loss of over 800 crew members after a lone Japanese plane managed to get through it's defense and dropped a bomb that ignited the ammunitions on board, setting off a mass chain of explosions and fire.
The US has halted the drafting of men aged 30 or older.
President Truman visited San Francisco this week to address the final plenary session of the United Nations Security Conference.
The Truman administration won its first major battle in Congress Saturday when the House passed the new Reciprocal Trade Agreement Bill, authorizing lower tariffs to promote foreign commerce in the postwar era. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Jiggs McGee · 01-11-2023, 01:07 PM

JUNE 4, 1945

EAGLES OWNER STOCKDALE IS DEAD

William Stockdale, Former Admiral and Washington Owner, was 81

Admiral William C. Stockdale, decorated veteran of two wars and the owner of the Washington Eagles baseball club, is dead at 81. He was just days away from his 82nd birthday.

Stockdale was born in Alexandria, Virginia on June 18, 1863. His father James Stockdale was a Major in the Confederate Army and away with Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia when William was born. After the Civil War, the Stockdales moved to Atlanta, Georgia and this was where William spent his youth before being accepted into the prestigious Annapolis Maritime Academy where he played baseball before being commissioned into the U.S. Navy in 1885. While in the Navy, Stockdale served aboard the cruiser USS Olympia as a lieutenant under the command of Commodore George Dewey and participated in the Battle of Manila Bay during the war with Spain in 1898.

By the time of the First World War, Stockdale had been in the Navy for over 30 years and risen to the rank of Captain. During the war he commanded the cruiser USS Charleston which was part of the first convoy carrying the American Expeditionary Force to France. After the war Stockdale was given command of the battleship USS Arizona in 1921. He helmed the now-famous vessel for two years before being promoted to Rear Admiral and ultimately retiring in 1928 as a three-star Vice Admiral.

Stockdale's father held a patent on several pieces of farm machinery developed while his son was in the Navy. Upon his retirement from the military, William Stockdale was a multi-millionaire with a lot of time on his hands. As a life-long baseball fan, he purchased the Washington Eagles of the Federal Association from the estate of Thomas Brennan on August 3, 1929. The sale included the clubs then-ballpark, the decrepit Capitol Grounds. It took Stockdale nearly a decade of wrangling and cajoling before he was able to obtain enough land in the city of Washington to build Columbia Stadium which opened for the 1939 season.

Stockdale was a friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, having known FDR since the future President's days as an Assistant Secretary of the Navy under Woodrow Wilson's administration. This relationship gave Stockdale a lot of power within the FABL ownership community and it is rumored that he advised FDR on the special status the sport of baseball has been given during the war.

Stockdale's son, Calvin W. Stockdale, will inherit the club's ownership. However, the younger Stockdale followed his father into the Navy and is currently the captain of the cruiser USS Baltimore, part of the Fifth Fleet currently involved in the Battle of Okinawa. Club sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have indicated that the younger Stockdale has wired his father's friend, longtime baseball man Rufus Barrell and asked him to act as Club President until the cessation of hostilities. This rumor has not been confirmed at this time as attempts to contact Mr. Barrell have been unsuccessful.

CANNONS VETS TURN BACK THE CLOCK

Over the past four years many have longed for simpler times, before the war changed the world. For a number of veteran Cincinnati Cannons it feels like perhaps they were granted the wish as the Cannons oldsters are playing like it is 1935 instead of 1945.

Sam Sheppard and Tom Barrell were the Allen Award winners in '35. Today the duo are a combined 12-1 with an era of just over 3.00 for the pair of 37 year olds. Al Wheeler won the third of his 5 Whitney Awards a decade ago and a glance at the morning paper shows The Wonder Wheel is leading the Continental Association in all 3 triple crown categories - the triple crown was something Wheeler accomplished, you guessed it, in 1935.

The Cannons had some hiccups early as their ancient pitching staff was nicked up with some minor injuries but they have won 21 of their last 28 games including 9 straight to take over top spot -at least for the moment- in a tightly contested Continental Association. There is always the fear of injury with a roster as old as the Cannons, but lately the veteran arms and bats are all playing like they are at the peak of their careers. The Cannons also received good news on two fronts last week. The first is the return of outfielder Fred Galloway after his time in the Coast Guard and the second is reigning Allen Award winner Butch Smith finally notched his first win of the season after starting the year 0-7.

The Toronto Wolves also have a big reinforcement coming as Fred McCormick is set to debut Tuesday when the Cannons and Wolves open a 3-game series at Toronto's Dominion Stadium. The Wolves are just a half game back of the Cannons and have been nearly as hot of late with 17 wins in their last 23 contests. And don't count out the Chicago Cougars, with wins in 10 of their last 15 and presently 2.5 games off the pace. The Continental Association race promises to be a wild one as those three continue to separate themselves from the rest of the CA.
***Keystones Get a Jolt***

The Philadelphia Keystones have increased their lead to 3 games atop the Federal Association standings. The Stones have gone on a 21-4 tear that took them from a last place tie, 6 games back, on May 12th to the top of the Fed in 3 weeks. Terrific pitching -something that going into the season was a concern with Pepper Tuttle's departure- has been a big factor as vets Red Ross (7-3, 1.91) and George M Brooks (6-0, 2.20) have been terrific but the straw that stirs the Keystones drink in recent years has been Bobby Barrell (.400,14,48) and The Georgia Jolter is showing every indication that he has a strong desire to win another Whitney Award and Triple Crown. Barrell has been named the Fed's top performer each of the last 3 weeks, something he also accomplished a year ago.

The Washington Eagles are the other hot team in the Fed right now, and with 9 wins in their last 11 games have surpassed slumping Detroit -with losses in 8 of their last 12- for second place. The death of Eagles owner William Stockdale over the weekend may impact the club as many players were close to Stockdale, who remained very involved in the day to day activities of the club right up until his passing.

With the 2 double headers last week the Dynamos added a 10th pitcher and inserted Fred Radcliffe into the rotation. Ratcliffe responded with back to back shutouts. 18 IP 9 H 0 runs. Manager Dick York has decided that perhaps he will give at least 1 more start to the veteran who has a 1.86 ERA in 29 IP.

Rookie starting pitcher Carl Potter took his first loss of the season on June 2nd just a few days after winning the Rookie of the Month Award for May. In the loss to Philadelphia, the Keystones scored all 5 of their runs in the 4th inning. Potter gave up a couple of singles to lead off the inning, then an error by 3B Frank Vance opened the flood gates. The Keystones scored 5 runs (only 1 earned) on 6 hits. Manager Dick York stated that while the error hurt, his young rookie SP has to learn to pitch with some adversity. “He will hopefully chalk it up as a lesson learned and move forward.” Potter settled down and finished the game without anymore damage. Potter is now 6-1 on the season with a 1.51 ERA after going 5-0 in May.

A lot can be said for Keystones OF Bobby Barrell and his bat 400 14-48 but take a look at the starting pitching. The Keystones starters are #1 (by ERA) in the FA with a sparkling 2.77 ERA (Detroit is #2 with a 2.89). The Keystones bullpen is also #1 in the FA (we won’t mention the Dynamo’s pen).

1B Cuno Myer must have heard the talk about him not hitting 5 home runs all season as he swatted his 3rd before the 1/3 pole in the season. On the season Myer is hitting 331/416/924 with 31 RBI’s and 31 runs scored and should get consideration to make the all-star game.

*** O'Connor Wins by DQ ***

Middleweight Brooks O'Connor picked up another win in his third fight since being discharged from the Army. Not necessarily the way you want to win a fight as the 28 year old Detroiter earned the victory after his opponent, Bob Hinkle, was disqualified for a number of infractions that included a pair of low-blows, a head butt and using his shoulder to do a bit of extra damage to O'Connor's chin when they were clinching. The fight was fairly even through the 7 plus rounds before referee Cappy Morton said he had seen enough from Hinkle.

O'Connor, who improves to 18-3-2, is still dreaming of a title fight which is something he appeared well on his way to realizing until he lost a decision to Frank Melanson in 1940 that zapped his momentum. Melanson is now preparing for his own title shot against Archie Rees on Saturday. The American Boxing Federation does consider O'Connor one of the top contenders in his weight class but there are a lot of good young middleweights on the rise that will have a much bigger impact when the war concludes.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

The Toronto Wolves had a successful week: bookend losses sandwiched a 7 game winning streak as June begins in the FABL. Even a 7-2 week was not enough to propel the Wolves into the CA lead, Cincinnati has won 9 straight, they now lead the CA by one half game. The Wolves will get to see the Cannons in action firsthand as the two are set to square off in a 3-game series at Dominion Stadium beginning tomorrow.

The much maligned Wolves bullpen contributed nicely last week as a reliever was the winning pitcher in 4 of the 7 victories. Cookie Meyers, who was selected CA Rookie of the Month, was the winning pitcher of record in 2 games bringing his season record to 6-1, 1.97. Meyers has been a revelation, and there is talk of moving him into the rotation as the swingman or to replace one of the regular starters who carry an ERA north of 5. The Wolves bullpen has now won over half of the team's games: 15 of 28.
The buzz around Dominion Stadium was centered around two questions:
1- "How is McCormick doing in Buffalo, how many hits does he have?"
2- "Why isn't he in Toronto?"

Fred is now on his way across Lake Ontario for his much anticipated Tuesday debut. In 7 AB for the Nickels he failed to register a hit, he reached base twice, once via a walk the other when he was hit by a pitch which drove the crowd into a frenzy until he dusted himself off then jogged to first.

GOTHAM NOTES

With no doubleheaders this week Bud Jameson plans to go with just his 4 most effective starters. Cy Sullivan, 1-4 despite a 2.56 ERA will move into the rotation with Jim Baggett (6.64) relegated to the pen.
In an effort to add more offense to the lineup, 23 year old Billy Clark will make his debut. Drafted in the 7th round out of high school in 1939, the 2B has worked his way through the system mastering each level before moving up. Clark's minor league career show him hitting .329/.403/.497. He was hitting .340 with 8 D and triple and 2 homers at AAA Toledo at the time of his call-up.
Military returnee Harry Carter was named FA pitcher of the month for May. Carter had a 7.2 record with a 1.78 ERA for the month.

Sad news to hear of the passing of Eagles owner William Stockdale. All of FABL owes him a debt of gratitude for the terrific effort he put in with his Government connections in Washington to help keep baseball running during the war.
Bobby Barrell is on another one of those fantastic runs. He won his third straight Federal Association player of the week award and is hitting .400 and on pace to pretty much duplicate his triple crown totals in homers and rbis from last season when he belted 46 longballs and drove in 152. A year ago, in July and August, Barrell claimed 3 straight player of the week awards and four in a five week span.
I wonder if the Cincinnati Cannons are reaching out to the Chiefs about Freddie Jones. Jones was the 1935 Fed Whitney Award winner and the only one of the 4 big trophy recipients from '35 that is not tearing it up in Cincinnati right now. Tom Barrell and Sam Sheppard -the Allen winners that year- are a combined 12-1 while CA Whitney winner Al Wheeler is trying to duplicate his triple crown season of '35.
No bad inning this time for Chicago Cougars rookie hurler George Oddo, who tossed a 4-hit shutout in Philly for his second big league start. The promotion to the big leagues had him amped up, as the 22-year-old's fastball is up a mile to 90-92
23 year old rookie Bob Warner has taken advantage of his opportunity early on this season with the Pittsburgh Miners. The outfielder, a 1940 3rd round selection, is slashing .283/.404/.386 in his first 178 PA’s.

ONE PROPOSED GRID LOOP FALLS AS DANE QUITS

The competition the American Football Association will face in the battle for pro grid players and fans has been cut in half with news the proposed United States Football Association will not happen. Urban Dane, the All-American great from Lincoln College and key figure of the short-lived Football Association of America in the late 1920s, had signed on last fall as the President of the USFA. However, the Great Dane announced earlier in the week he was no longer involved in the circuit and word came Saturday that the league was no more.

In truth, it never was as the USFA did not get far past the dream stage with Roland Payne -the Pittsburgh businessman behind the proposed loop- making many flashy announcements such as the addition of a team from Honolulu, but never provided any substance to go along with the big news. The league was said to have teams committed to a 1945 start from Akron, Baltimre, Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington in addition to the Hawaiian entry but no owners were ever officially announced for most of them.

With the USBA out of the picture the only remaining competitor for the AFA is the Percy Sutherland created Continental Football Conference. Headed by Lt. Commander Ben Montgomery, a key piece of the famous St Blane backfield of the early 1920s and more recently head football coach at Brooklyn State, that loop is showing much more promise of actually getting off the ground and continues to eye a fall start.
*** Grid Stars Agree to Let Brooklyn Kings Use Dyckman Stadium ***

The Brooklyn Football Kings of the American Football Association have won the right to play their home games in New York's Dyckman Stadium, but that does not mean the path is clear to keep the team on the field. AFA commissioner Jack Kristich has confirmed an agreement has been made with the New York Stars football club allowing the Kings to play in New York City, which is considered Stars territory. The Stars play out of the Bigsby Oval.

This solves one of the AFA's most vexing problems, a situation that was much of the league's own doing as a decision to refuse to grant a New York based AFA expansion club to Daniel Prescott a year ago is said to be the underlying reason that Prescott has refused to allow the grid Kings to play in his Kings County Ballpark. The official line from the baseball Kings is the stadium field was too badly torn up by the grid Kings last September and the club could not ensure the playability of the field should the grid eleven be allowed to play there will the baseball season was still underway.

Prescott had attempted to land an expansion team for New York in 1944 to play out of either Dyckman Stadium or Gothams Stadium but the bid was overturned under the auspices that they did not want an AFA owner to be a majority owner of a team in another sport but the real reason was suspected to be that the Stars had vehemently opposed the idea of another New York team to compete with the Stars and Kings. In the end the league expanded to Cincinnati and Prescott actually owns a small piece of Tigers.
*** Brooklyn Not Out of Woods Yet ***

The agreement on a stadium is one major hurdle but that does not mean the Brooklyn Kings football club is in the clear for the 1945 campaign. There are reports the team has some financial issues and an even bigger problem: worries that they may not be able to sign enough quality talent at a time where a rival league is driving contract prices up.

Krisitch would not comment on the possibility that the Kings franchise may not be around, nor on the chances that the St Louis Ramblers will finally be ready to field a solo team after spending the previous two years parterned up with first Philadelphia and more recently Cleveland. All Kristich would confirm is the American Football Association "is eagerly anticipating it's 26th season in 1945."

GLA ADOPTS RIGID CODE AGAINST COIN AID FOR ATHLETES

Legislation outlawing any sort of recruiting or proselytizing of athletes and giving the Great Lakes Alliance vastly broadened powers in enforcement of such rule has been put in place by the GLA section. The new legislation, passed after nearly six months of discussion by faculty representatives and athletic directors, was designed to halt all forms of proselytizing and provides penalties ranging up to expulsion of a school from the circuit when charges of violation serious enough to warrant such action are proved.

The rulings, changing the conference code which had been in effect the last four years, in effect prevents both athletic officials and alumni from offering renumeration of any type to high school sports stars.
*** Can Provide Necessary Jobs ***

Violations, under the new code, include paying of tuition or expenses of athletes, providing of jobs not deemed necessary by a school, or payment of salaries for unnecessary service. It also prevents representatives or employees of the athletic department, or any generals or field secretaries of the alumni associations from approaching athletes "with the purpose to persuade them to attend any university for the purpose of engaging in athletics."

The schools still will be allowed to provide jobs for athletes to give them an opportunity to pay expenses, but the jobs must be necessary for the upkeep of the school. Further, coaches can discuss advantages of their schools with prospective athletes, provided they do not make trips to the athlete's home nor pay his expenses to visit the institution for such purpose.

MELANSON SET FOR BIGGEST FIGHT OF CAREER

Frank Melanson has never lost in the ring as a professional and he does not expect to start doing so now. The 27 year old Pittsburgh battler is 28-0-1 and still juggling training time around his work in a munitions factory but will face the toughest challenge of his career when he takes on Archie Rees for the World Middleweight Title Saturday at Sailors Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia.

"I feel like everything has led up to this moment," explained Melanson "and I am ready."

Despite that unbridled optimism on the part of the challenger, he will be a clear underdog in the minds of most fight experts. While Melanson was recently elevated to the status of the number one contender in the middleweight division, Archie Rees will pose by far the biggest challenge of his career and the first top-flight opponent for Melanson since knocking out Brooks O'Connor in 1940. Turned down by the Army in 1941 after he was declared 4-F, Melanson has toiled in a Pittsburgh munitions factory the past 4 years but has still found time to fight in 7 bouts since America joined the war effort. Most of his recent opponents have not had a high pedigree and as a result, despite his obvious talent and home state advantage, there is worry Melanson won't be near the level of Rees.

The champ, on the other hand is a battle-tested 35-4-1. Literally battle-tested as while technically still a member of the British Armed Forces, he has been given a leave to fight in the United States. The champ faced a tough test last September and emerged with a 13th round knockout of Spanish great Jorge Cuellar before knocking out Tommy Erwin in New York in the opening round of their March bout. It will be the third title defense for the 32 year old native of Tadcaster, England since he won the title in the fall of 1941 with a knock out of Nathan Sears in Chicago.

It will also be the first of two title fights this month as heavyweight champ Hector Sawyer is set to face Peter Sanderson at Gothams Stadium in New York on June 23.

YOUNG BOXERS TO WATCH

TWIFB has identified five up and coming young fighters as ones to watch going forward. The quintet are all very early in their fight careers, three of whom who have had those careers interrupted by the war, but if they can continue to develop each may well be a title contender sometime down the road.

BILL BOGGS- The Brooklyn born Boggs turned 20 in April and made his pro boxing debut on his birthday. A middleweight with great punching power, Boggs earned a fifth round knock win in his debut and next will face Howard Goodwin, another young fighter at the start of his career, in New York City on June 23.

TOMMY CLINE- Like Boggs, Cline is just 20 years old. The Clarksville, Tn. born heavyweight has won each of his first two bouts by knockout and will be looking to make it three straight when he fights another newcomer in Barry Peoples in Cleveland on June 12. Many are predicting the former Ohio amateur boxing champ will fight for the world heavyweight title one day.

MAC ERICKSON- Gained some prominence for a terrific fight in September on the undercard of the Archie Rees world championship middleweight bout. Erickson's fight was billed as the Allied Welterweight championships and was a ferocious battle between Erickson, who was in the Navy, and Army Private Danny Rutledge. Rutledge won with a 12th round knockout but both gained a huge amount of respct. A St Paul, Minnesota native, the 24 year old returned home in November and made his pro debut in January. He has won each of his 3 fights so far, all by knockout, and is set to face another newcomer in Ed Ashley in New York City on June 23rd on the same card that will see Bill Boggs appear in his second pro fight.

DAVIS OWENS- Owens, a middleweight who turns 24 later this month, was a highly touted amateur fighter out of Cleveland before the war. He enlisted in the army and fought in a number of military tournaments and war bond exhibitions. He made his pro debut in April with a 5th round knock out of fellow former soldier Kenny McDonald in St Louis. His second pro fight will be at the end of this month.

DANNY RUTLEDGE- Finally we have the 21 year old Louisville native who won that big Allied forces showdown with Mac Erickson last September. That bout was still considered an amateur fight so Rutledge's pro debut came in February with a second round knock out of Will Wright in Cleveland. He is still in the Army but was allowed to fight professionaly a second time -this one in April in Portland, Oregon and he knocked out local fighter Jerry Jacobs in the fifth round. Last report has Rutledge somewhere in the Pacific and he is not expected to fight again until after the war is over.

THOMPSON'S POWER TOO MUCH FOR HODGE

The Texas bronco buster, Marvin Thompson, a fan favorite it seems wherever he tussles, delighted the crowds in his Los Angeles debut with a 2nd round knockout of Paul Hodge. Thompson always seems to put on a show, although wins are less certain for the 28 year old Beaumont, Tx. native who now sports a 17-7-2 career record. It was his second fight and second consecutive knock out victory since being discharged from the marines after earning a purple heart when he was wounded in the Pacific a little over a year ago.

Birmingham Bobby Nelson was back in the ring, two months after his draw with Cannon Cooper. The veteran heavyweight did not look sharp but did enough to take a decision over Pat Bryan in New Bedford, Ma., Thursday evening. The 35 year old ran his record to 27-8-4 with the win.

Hard punching Malcolm Harrington, the 19 year old Philadelphia heavyweight, improved his record to 4-0 with a 4th round knockout of Owen Smith. All 4 of Harrington's pro wins have come via knockout with only one lasting more than 4 rounds.

LAST WEEK'S OTHER MAJOR FIGHT RESULTS
Atlanta, Monday: Carter Moore, Lancaster, PA (17-8) split decision win over Todd O'Keefe, Miami, FL (13-7) welterweight
Seattle, Monday: Scott Sorenson, Portsmouth, VA (16-5-2) unanimous decision over Phil Young, Tacoma,WA (12-3-1) welterweight
New York, Tuesday: Brooks O'Connor, Detroit, Mi (18-3-2) won by DQ over Bob Hinkle, Denver, CO (11-3-2) middleweight
Toledo, Wednesday: Chris Young, St Louis, Mo (25-11-4) unanimous decision over Abel Kessler, Independence, MO. (14-7-2) heavyweight
Portland, Wednesday: John Gray, Salem, OR (16-5-1) 10th round knockout of Mike Horvath, Philadelphia, PA (8-4) middleweight

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/04/1945

The chairman of the United Nations war crimes commission, has indicted 2,657 war criminals on charges brought by various Allied governments, not including the Russians, and that their trials would begin soon.
In a June 1 address to the nation, President Truman called for a renewed national effort in the war against Japan, adding that the American force to be used there would be more than double the size of the present army in the Pacific.
After more heavy raids on Tokyo's airfields and the city itself to start the week, more than 450 Superfortressess turned their attention to Yokohama, Japan's fifth largest city, and carried out a 3,200-toon daylight fire raid targeting shipyards and naval installations.
In the wake of the repeated air raids and American success in Okinawa, the Japanese have removed Admiral Soemu Toyoda as commande-in-chief of their naval forces.
Japanese defenses on Okinawa appear to be crumbling after marines of the 6th division captured most of Naha and cleared the north shore harbor.
The Chinese front has flamed into action as Yank-trained Chinese troops are threatening to sever Japan's corridor at Peking and Chienkin- which have been Jap held for many years. Loss of those key cities would give the Japanese a major military and supply problem.
Diplomatic sources say that President Truman may be called up to mediate the explosive dispute between France and the Syrian and Lebanese Republics after bloody skirmishing broke out with a large number of casualties suffered by both sides. As the week came to a close the British army had been summoned to Syria to end the fighting.

Jiggs McGee · 01-12-2023, 01:26 PM

JUNE 11, 1945

Bobby Barrell has had a stupendous first couple of months of the 1945 season. Many would question how sustainable his performance has been. But, no one questions how sustainable it is for the Georgia Jolter. While baseball fans around the country keep an eye on his current exploits, others also train their other eye on his lifetime totals as he continues to rocket up the leaderboard on several dearly kept lists.

Barrell hit his 400th home run on May 27th and he has hit five in the two weeks since he reached the plateau. Al Wheeler is heading towards the ultra-exclusive 500 Home Run Club, which currently only counts Max Morris as a member, but Wheeler has had a three-year head start on Barrell. Barrell is 68 big flies shy of Wonder Wheel. The all-time leaderboard for home runs reads: Max Morris 711, Rankin Kellogg 475, Al Wheeler 473, Bobby Barrell 405. As Wheeler prepares to overtake Kellogg, it reminds me both of the bittersweet career of Kellogg, which undoubtedly would have provided Morris some company in that 500 Club, if not for his abrupt retirement from Steinert Disease, and the beautiful partnership with Barrell.

Kellogg showed Barrell the ropes and saw a lot of himself in him. The relentless work ethic. The drive to be great. The no-nonsense winning attitude all of the greats seem to exude. Barrell was a willing pupil, but Kellogg, at times thought to be quite an imposing figure, was a willing teacher. Keystone greatness was passed on, from one legend to a potential star in the making. When Kellogg had to leave the game, Barrell was more than ready to take the torch and lead the franchise.
While it is too early for Barrell to search for the next torch-bearer, my mind harkens back to stories I heard from my old man about a similar partnership, one between earlier pillars of the Keystones franchise: Zebulon Banks and Fred Roby.

The mists of time may have shrouded Roby's career, but the Veteran's Committee righted an earlier slight and named Roby to the Hall of Fame this past winter. Roby played the bulk of his career in Philadelphia, starting in 1888 when Zebulon Banks was at the top of his game, enjoying one of his best years that season, hitting .363 with 207 hits and 110 runs scored. Roby was entering a team that had a couple of good players, but Jefferson Edgerton was pinning his hopes on the Rhode Island Ripper to take this club to new heights. With the help of fellow Keystones Elmer Sanders and Claude Jones, the team became one to watch. Banks saw some of himself in Roby, both the positive of his determination and spunk, as well as the negative of his stubbornness and impulsiveness.

Roby started coming into his own as a 22-year-old the next season and after a year in which he captured 212 base hits en route to a .348 average, Roby fled to the Peerless League while the rest of the Keystones pulled the team towards the top of the Federal Association with a 77-63 record in 1890 and a second-place finish at 81-60 in 1891, finishing a single game behind Washington. As the story goes, after the 1891 season, Banks and Roby's paths crossed in town. Banks explained how close the Keystones came to the title. Roby had been following the Keystones and his Philadelphia Maroons suffered a similar fate, losing the championship by a skinny game. Banks appealed to the young buck joining the Keystones a few years before and it made an impact. Roby may have "taken the money" when he jumped a couple of years before, but he saw himself as a critical piece to a championship club.

In 1892, Roby rejoined the Keystones and kicked off one of the best three-year runs in the history of the franchise. Roby hit .360 with 110 runs scored and 102 runs batted in on his way to lead the team to an amazing 94-38 record (.712 winning percentage), 14 games better than the Gothams. The title was the fourth and final one for a 36-year-old Banks, who had his protege back in the fold. Banks and Roby played another four-plus seasons together and Roby continued as a Keystone until 1900, before a third stint with the club from 1902-03. His 2,280 hits as a Keystone ranks fourth in team history.

Barrell continues to be the through line from those early days and today. Bobby passed Banks for second place in team history in RBI when Barrell plated his 1,585th run last season. Only Kellogg's team record of 1,841 RBI is ahead of Barrell's current total of 1,661. Barrell eclipsed Roby's career hit total in May and now is north of 2,700 hits (2,727 as of June 4th). Barrell is on pace for his 7th 200-hit campaign this year and may challenge Roby's 249 hits in 1894 and the team record, Claude Jones's 251 safe hits in 1897.

Zeb and Fred. The Killer and the Jolter. Partnerships are forged on the playing field and off it as well. It is the story of the Philadelphia Keystones. And, it endures.

LITTLE TO SEPARATE CONTINENTAL RIVALS

Even in spring camp it was no secret that the Continental Association would likely be a 3-team knock 'em down and drag 'em out slugfest between the two-time defending champion Cincinnati Cannons, the Chicago Cougars and the Toronto Wolves. The New York Stars kept up with the big boys of the CA for a couple of seasons but since 1940 those three clubs have accounted for 4 out the 5 pennants and 12 out of the 15 finishes in the top three. This year the trio is already pulling away from the pack and, while Toronto has the lead at the moment, there appears little to separate the three clubs. All three have won 7 of their last 10 ballgames. They are 1-2-3 in fewest runs allowed in the loop, 1-2-3 in run differential and each has a number of players enjoying banner starts to their season.

The Wolves offense is already rolling thanks to Charlie Artuso (.327,4,21), Chink Stickels (.276,2,32) and Walt Pack (.301,10,38). Now opposing pitchers also have to contend with Fred McCormick, who delighted the Dominion Stadium crowd with a homerun in his first game back last week after spending 4 years in the Army. And don't forget another recent returnee from the war in George Garrsion (7-3, 2.45), who hasn't missed a beat on the mound.

Cincinnati is getting loads of offense from veterans Jack Cleaves (.364,2,19), Gail Gifford (.331,6,26) and Chuck Adams (.305,7,36) while 37 year old Al Wheeler (.349,12,45) has suddenly rediscovered the stroke that made him one of the most feared hitters in the game when he was in his prime. On the mound Deuce Barrell (5-1, 1.82) is back and appears as healthy as ever while minor league vet Dan Adams (6-3, 2.35) has been a surprise and old-timers Tom Barrell (6-1, 3.32) and Sam Sheppard (6-0, 3.12) are pitching like it is 1935, and not 1945.

He has slowed down a bit the past couple of weeks but 38 year old Cliff Moss (.330,10,42) has almost singlehandedly carried the Chicago Cougars offense, which had a grenade thrown into it after the loss of Hank Barnett and Leo Mitchell to the war effort over the winter. Billy Riley (7-2, 2.90) is proving every bit the steal most thought he was when he came over from the New York Stars last summer and reliever Ben Curtin (7sv, 0.90) has been terrific but the best news out of the Windy City might be the start to his pro career for 22 year old George Oddo (3-0, 2.25) who adds to just an incredible group of pitchers the Cougars organization will possess once Pete Papenfus and the Jones brothers return from the war.
*** Keystones Threatening to Run Away With Fed ***

Unlike the Continental, which looks to be a season long battle, the Philadelphia Keystones may be poised to run away with the Federal Association flag and claim the banner for a second straight year. Thanks to the incredible Bobby Barrell (.394,16,54) the Keystones lead the Fed in runs scored but the surprise is the pitching staff which has allowed just 177 runs - lowest in either loop and 40 less than another other Fed team. Many had feared the Keystones might struggle on the mound after Pepper Tuttle left for the Army, but Red Ross (8-3, 1.86), George M Brooks (6-1, 2.08), John Grimes (6-3, 2.38), Jim Whitely (5-3, 2.63) and Jonah Brown (4-5, 3.39) have all stepped up on the slab.

The Keystones have gone 31-12 since May 1 - a .721 clip that surely won't continue the rest of the season- and now lead both Detroit and Washington by 5 and a half games. There has been an 11 and a half game turnaround for the Keystones and Detroit since Philadelphia suffered a 14-11 loss in a wild game at Thompson Field on May 12. After that game Detroit was 15-7 and at the top of the CA. The Keystones were 9-13 and tied with the Gothams for last place. Since then Philadelphia is 26-6 while the Dynamos have posted a 14-17 record.

MILESTONE WEEK FOR WALKER AND CRAWFORD

Thursday and Friday were milestone days in FABL as a pair of veteran sluggers reached some pretty high standards. On Thursday it was Vic Crawford taking center stage as the long-time Montreal Saints first baseman joined the 2,000 hit club with a pair of hits in a 3-1 loss to the Chicago Cougars. The 37 year old Crawford, who has spent his entire big league career with Montreal and is second only to Hall of Famer Joe Ward on the Saints career hit list, doubled in the first inning off Billy Riley for hit 1,999 and joined the 2,000 club his next trip to the plate with an rbi single in third -also off Riley.

Dick Walker went hitless in that game or fans at Parc Carier could have witnesses both a 2,000th hit from Crawford and career hit number 2,500 for the 38 year old Walker. Instead the big hit came the next day at Cougars Park and Walker did it in style, smacking a 3rd inning homerun off of Eddie Bloom for the milestone marker, but it was not enough as the Cougars fell 6-2 to the visiting New York Stars on that day. Walker, who spent the first 13 and a half seasons of his career with the Philadelphia Sailors, winning a pair of World Championship Series titles, joined the Cougars just over 4 years ago. He becomes just the 32nd player to notch 2500 career hits. Not a bad accomplishment for a player who was selected 187th in his draft class.

It wasn't enough for a win, so for Dick Walker, even though he finally reached his impending milestone, he wasn't too happy. "Dick doesn't pay attention to individual statistics," Cougar manager Clyde Meyer explained after the game. "The only thing he cares about is winning."

Winning is something Dick Walker does well, as he's won a pair of championships with the Philadelphia Sailors and has never won fewer then 76 games in a season. That lone season (1932) was the only time Walker ever finished the year with a sub .500 team, as his Sailors and Cougars squads are always in the thick of a pennant race. For hit #2,500, Walker hit his 171th home run, a solo shot over veteran righty Eddie Bloom to cut the Stars lead to four. Walker finished the game 1-for-2 with a steal and pair of walks to go with his 4th homer on the season, as the Cougars fell 6-2.

It's hard to find a hitter more consistent then Walker, who's been a star pretty much since his 22nd birthday. He debuted way back in 1928 as a 21-year-old, but hit just .248/.296/.370 (84 OPS+) in 128 games. Despite the below average line, there was a lot for the Sailors to be excited about, as he hit 24 doubles and 15 triples with 32 walks, 7 steals, and 54 RBIs. He raised his average way up to .300 as a sophomore, and from then on out has been an average or better hitter (in terms of both OPS+ and WRC+) in each subsequent season. More impressively, however, has been Walker's ability to stay healthy, as he has yet to miss a single game in his entire FABL career. He's appeared in 2,467 games, mostly with the Sailors, and owns a very impressive .275/.380/.428 (123 OPS+) triple slash while worth over 70 WAR.

A 4-Time All Star, the aptly named Walker has drawn 1,572 free passes, double his 705 strikeouts. His 141 walks last season were tied with Hall of Famer Ossie Julious for the 7th most in a season, and he's recorded the third most walks all time, trailing just the legendary Max Morris (1,772) and Ed Ziehl (1,639). Walker has led the league in walks eight times in 17 seasons, and has surpassed the 100 mark seven times. A speedy base runner as well, he's swiped 377 bags while leading the league five times including a personal best 33 in 1938. Walker is also an extra base machine, with 398 doubles and 244 triples, and he's put together 11 seasons with double digit homers, doubles, and triples, including a remarkable 37-26-13 season as a 23-year-old in 1930. He's been worth 5+ WAR six different times, and despite not being considered a prototypical slugging first basemen, he's been one of this era's all time greats. Even at 38, Walker is hitting a respectable .248/.357/.355 (103 OPS+) with 9 doubles, a triple, 4 homers, 16 RBIs, and 11 steals with a stellar 37-to-18 walk-to-strikeout ratio atop the Cougars lineup.

While clearly an All Timer for the Sailors, as he ranks top 5 All-Time in OBP (4th, .382), slugging (4th, .443), OPS (3rd, .825), WAR (4th, 55.0), runs (1st, 1,314), hits (3rd, 1,995), total bases (2nd, 3,146), doubles (4th, 325), triples (1st, 209), homers (1st, 136), RBIs (2nd, 959), steals (3rd, 298), and walks (1,189), there is a case that can be made for Walker being enshrined in the Hall. He doesn't have the flashy success of a Powell Slocum or John Dibblee, but as the Hall continues to let more players in, it's hard to say he's not equally worth to say a Jimmy Massey or Bill Craigen. Walker still has a few more seasons left in the tank, but with the impending return of Ray Ford, he's not likely to see 150+ games if he stays a Cougar to finish off his career.

EX-CANNON TOSSES NO-HITTER IN COAST LOOP

Red Nokes, who spent some time with the Cincinnati Cannons in 1943, has thrown the first no-hitter of the 1945 campaign. It happened on Friday in the Great Western League when the 27 year old righthander, now with the San Francisco Hawks, blanked the San Diego Conquistodors 1-0 in a pitching duel with Maury Weaver. Nokes, who was a rule five selection of the Cannons in 1943 but returned to the Philadelphia Sailors that June after posting a 2-3 record with Cincinnati, remains in the Sailors system. He is just 2-5 with a 4.52 era this season but was nearly perfect on this night, allowing no hits while walking just 2 San Diego batters.

No-hitters are rare in the coast league. Nokes' gem is the first since Bennie Conover thossed one while also with San Francisco back in 1939. In all there have been just 15 no-hitters in the 41 year history of the GWL.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Wolves Welcome McCormick Back Return to First in CA

The Toronto Wolves, coming off a 5-2 week, have reclaimed the lead in the CA. Most weeks that would be big news, but this week the big news occurred in the first game of the week against Cincinnati. Of course it was the return of Fred McCormick for his first plate appearance in the FABL in 1485 days. Fred stepped to the plate for the first time in the bottom of the second inning with the Wolves down 2-0 after some questionable fielding plays in the top of the inning. The standing ovation was so thunderous and prolonged the home plate umpire stopped the game for a period to allow the fans to express their joy, many commented that this was loudest, longest outpouring of emotion ever heard in Toronto. The crowd was so involved in the moment that the seats in the press box were actually shaking.

McCormick doffed his cap a few times with a sheepish grin on his face, and when the crowd finally settled back into their seats he stepped into the batters box to face right hander Dan Adams. First offering was a ball, low and outside, Fred fouled the second pitch straight back then took took another a strike followed by a ball evening the count at 2-2. McCormick then asked for time, stepped out of the box, and after gathering himself he stepped back into the batter's box awaiting Adams' fifth offering to the plate. The pitch was a fastball that appeared to catch a little too much of the plate. McCormick's short compact swing lined the offering into the right field seats for a HOME RUN! You cannot make this story up!
The din that followed probably could have been heard in Buffalo, Oshawa ,maybe Barrie, and it eclipsed the loudest ovation heard only 10 minutes ago.
After the game McCormick said "I was just trying to get a hit after the welcome back, when I saw the ball clear the fence I didn't know what to think. More importantly it got us on the board in a game we were down 2-0."

The Wolves are 15-7 in their current home stand which ends early this week. The team then is on the road for 24 - not returning home until after the All-Star game. The club now has a 20-8 record at home which is most home victories in the FABL. Surprisingly Toronto leads the league in runs scored, 276. Fred's return, with a first week slash line of .267/.476/.533 in 21 PA, should help the team even more in the runs department. The pitching staff, which was supposed to lead, is showing signs of gaining some traction although fans think Meyers should be starting games. Call says he has considered the move though he sees more value leaving Cookie in the bullpen at this time.

MAKE NO MISTAKE CANNONS FANS, IT'S A LONG ROAD AHEAD

It's not going to be easy. That is for sure. Of course everyone knew going in to the season the Cincinnati Cannons would really have their work cut out for them if they want to win another World Championship Series title. Three in a row has been the focus ever since the Cannons claimed their second crown back in October. Those 1924-26 New York Stars know the Cannons are coming, but the Chicago Cougars and Toronto Wolves have pennant designs of their own.

Nine straight wins to finish May and begin June may have given the illusion that the third pennant is the Cannons destiny - a foregone conclusion we just need to watch and wait for it to play out. Well, reality came knocking loudly on our door this week as the Cannons went to Toronto and dropped two of three ballgames - giving up top spot in the CA in the process.

The games were tight - each decided by a single run- and the Cannons are just a game out of first place so clearly no reason to panic. But the Wolves have to worry Cincy skipper Ad Doria and his charges. Fred McCormick is back from the war and showed he is always a threat at the plate with a homer of Dan Adams in the series opener. Adams pitched a decent enough ball game, and the 30 year old has been a pleasant surprise this season, but he is no George Garrison and Garrison is another war vet back in the Toronto fold. Garrison missed two seasons while serving and looks like he is on a mission to make up for lost time. After beating the Cannons 4-3 in the series opener he was back at it again yesterday and shutout Philadelphia 4-0 to run his record to 7-3 on the campaign.

The Cannons have plenty of fight of course, and responded the next day when Jake Smith, of all people, tossed 7 plus strong innings before turning the ball over to Larry Brown, who has been up and down this season. Brown was 'up' on this day and closed out a hard-fought 2-1 victory Wednesday. Thursday the Cannons went to veteran Tom Barrell and it was Tom's second bad start of the season -with both coming against Toronto- in a 6-5 loss.
*** McCormick Return Special ***

It was a thrill just being in the press box in Toronto Tuesday when Fred McCormick made his return to FABL after 4 years in the Army. The incredible ovation he received before his first at bat sent tingles down the spine, but that was nothing compared to the emotion a few pitches later when The Reticient Reaper deposited the ball in the right field bleachers. It felt like the building was going to collapse under the wave of sound and emotion that seemed to carry McCormick around the bases during his home run trot. Even the Cannons players had to appreciate that moment.
*** Grid Tigers in Market For a Team? ***

One of the stranger rumours making the rounds in New York these days surrounding the future of the Brooklyn grid Kings has the club being sold off as parts. It appears the AFA wants the club to stay in the New York area, but if they don't some say AFA magnates would prefer the team fold than bolster their ranks to eleven squads, which is where they now stand with word the St Louis Ramblers are back. It is tough to make a schedule in an 11 team league and the Kings appear unlikely to survive the season, if they can even find enough players to start it.

So the scuttlebutt is Kings owner Dudley Townsend is going to sell the players he does have under contract, and probably the collection of footballs and equipment, and who knows maybe even the whistle from around the neck of coach Kurt Hauptstag, to the highest bidder. The Cincinnati Tigers are having some issues signing players and club owner Edward Chiles has plenty of soap money kicking around so it might just be a perfect fit. The rumours we are hearing though, has the Kings players being sold to St Louis to help get the Ramblers back on their feet after two years of partnering up with other AFA squads due to player shortages.

Should we prepare for another fire sale at Gothams Stadium? (Nearly) everything must go is the cry once more with the Gothams sitting in what has become an all-too familiar spot - staring up at everyone else from the Fed cellar. Management made it known that all but Ed Bowman, Harry Carter, Pete Casstevens and Red Johnson are available. Does that mean that they might consider moving some of those away at war like Walt Messer in an effort to salvage what is looking like another wasted season? Moving some of the war guys might be the only choice if the Gothams do want to shake things up. Beyond those said to be exempt from the trade block there is not much left of interest. In fact New York's telegram to the league announcing everyone but the big four was available prompted one rival Fed GM to scoff "those are the only Gothams anyone might want."
Speaking of the Fed cellar. Even the Pioneers don't want to hang around down there with the Gothams. St Louis just reeled off six straight wins and Al Tucker (.399,4,38) is back on track after an off-week. And just in time for a trip to the Big Apple.
FABL has its annual all-star game with the current edition slated for Chicago's Cougars Park on July 10 but there just might be a better collection of baseball talent assembled on Hawaii's Oahu Island June 24. That will be the day a 'dream game' bringing together major league stars now in the Army and Navy. The Army paper Stars and Stripes says it hopes it might be the forerunner of a series between the winner and the victor in October's World Championship Series.
Speaking of the FABL all-star game, there is a good chance the Continental side might look more like a lineup for an old-timers game. Look at the list of players who are at least 37 years old and stand a good chance of suiting up for Ad Doria and CA coaching staff: Jack Cleaves (.364,2,19),Vic Crawford (.342,2,40), Cliff Moss (.330,10,42), Jake Shadoan (.303,2,28) and Al Wheeler (.349,12,45) along with pitchers Tom Barrell (6-1, 3.32), Doc Newell (7-6, 4.10) and Sam Sheppard (6-0, 3.12) all stand a chance of claiming a trip to Cougars Park July 10.
Congrats to Dick Walker for his 2,500th career hit last Friday. Many of those in the 2,500 hit club played before the FABL draft began in 1911 but Walker is one of just 3 players in the group that were selected after the 7th round. That list contains 1920 11th round choice Jim Hampton and a pair of 12th rounders in Walker, who went 187th overall to Toronto in 1924, and Moxie Pidgeon, who was taken 190th by Cleveland in the very first human GM draft of 1925. It is not surprising that the 2,500 hit club includes 4 players who were drafted first overall. Can you name them? Answer at the bottom of Caught on the Fly.
How about some overtime pay? The Saints and Cougars played a 21 inning game this week where neither team scored for 11 consecutive innings. Finally, Don Lee scored Skipper Schneider on a sac-fly to give Chicago a 4-3 lead. 44-year-old Dick Lyons picked up the win, as the bottom of the 21st was his 6th scoreless inning of relief. Saints reliever Billy Stall nearly through a complete game shutout in relief, with 8.1 scoreless innings and just 3 hits and 2 walks. Cougar 3B Ken Mayhugh couldn't wait for the game to end, as all ten balls he put in play found the glove of a Saint.
Pittsburgh's Mahlon Strong suffred another injury setback. Is it just me but has Stong not either been on the injured list or day-to-day for his entire career? Red Wedge of The New York World Telegram quipped Strong is the only guy who might have been safer in a foxhole than on the ballfield.
At 1-9 in June and sinking fast, there is no reason not to turn to the next generation of Chicago Chiefs. 22-year-old Billy Brown is being called up from Fort Wayne to join fellow rookie Dick Blaszak in the Chiefs outfield. The 23 year Blaszak is still searching for his first big league homer. He is hitting .247 in 24 games for the Chiefs. Brown, who had a brief stint in Chicago last year but hit just .171, is batting .300 in Fort Wayne this season.
With the move towards Brown and Blaszak, the Chiefs are shopping veteran Jim Watson. The 38 year old has played sparingly this season but is a veteran of 1,643 FABL games and boasts a .305 career batting average.
Gordie Perkins (.321,0,16) is certainly proving he has the ability to play in the big leagues but the rookie has had some problems staying healthy and may start drawing comparisons to the talented but often-injured Billy Hunter of the Cougars. This time it is a thumb injury that is expected to sideline Perkins for a week. Nothing too serious this year but Perkins has already made four trips to the trainers office this season and that is after the broken kneecap last August that cost him a chance to make his big league debut late last season.
The Saints had a strong start to the season that included 6 straight April wins over the Chicago Cougars but Montreal's star is fading as the season progress after a tough strech playing the Cannons, the Wolves and the Cougars for 10 games. The record of 1-9 when playing that strech has placed the Saints in 5th place and under the famous hope of the 500 mark. Perkins injury won't help and Art McMahon, who is another one who spends a lot of time on the injured list, could be sidelined for a month with a muscle strain. McMahon was patrolling the right field this season in Montreal, so that will open playing time for Bernie Green, who is making the most of his big league opportunity with so many players still overseas. Bernie is hitting .339 on the season and is not to be confused with centerfielder Bill Greene. So maybe not the whole park, but the outfield grass promises to be Greener in Parc Cartier for at least a little while.
Is teenage pitching phenom Carl Potter starting to wear down? The 19 year old got off to a 6-0 start with a 1.51 era to begin his big league career with the Detroit Dynamos but is 0-2 with a 4.61 era after a pair of tough June outings.
Trivia answer. The four first overall picks with at least 2,500 career hits are Max Morris, T.R. Goins,Rankin Kellogg and Al Wheeler.

MELANSON WINS MIDDLEWEIGHT CROWN

Philadelphia(AP Wire Story)-Frank Melanson is the new Middleweight champion of the world after the 27 year old claimed a unanimous decision victory over Archie Rees Saturday in Philadelphia. A nearly sold out ballpark witnessed a classic 15-round battle between the two fighters, one that went back and forth in the early rounds before the challenger started to take control in the later stages. Melanson fought a near perfect fight to win in what was considered to be a huge upset over the veteran English pugilist.

The turning point came in the 10th round when Rees looked like he was running out of gas following a constant pounding of body shots in the middle of the round and a big blow that cut the champs right eye, clearly hindering Rees vision the rest of the way. Melanson built on the pressure he applied in the 10th and completely dominated the closing rounds. The fight, which appeared to be even up to the start of the 10th, or perhaps even showing Rees slightly ahead, turned and Melanson was a clear winner of four of the final six rounds and likely tied the other two. In the end two of the three judges scored it 146-140 for Melanson with the third giving the challenger a win but only by a 144-142 count.

Melanson is now 29-0-1 for his career and says he would be willing to grant Rees a rematch should the 33 year old Englishman desire it. Rees, who drops to 35-5-1, was gracious in defeat -losing a title he has held since October of 1941- admitting that Melanson was the better fighter on this night. He would not comment on his future plans although his manager suggested the next move would likely be to return to England rather than stay in America. He added a return to the United States to look for a rematch with Melanson, or even a meeting between the two in Europe, may be in the future.
*** Back to the Factory Next Week ***

Melanson will only have a short time to celebrate his new found fame as he is due back on the factory floor of the munitions plant he works at in his native Pittsburgh a week from today. "They were nice enough to give me the past couple of weeks off to fully focus on training for tonight," explained the new champ. "But until the war is over I have to play my part and get back to work. I am sure the guys will have quite a party planned on my return," he added with a smile. As he walked away he continued to question if it was indeed reality, muttering time and again "I can't believe this, I just can't believe this" We are sure Archie Rees feels the exact way.

This reporter is a big fan of the sweet science, so a title fight in Philadelphia is right up my alley and not one I would want to miss. I had hope that Frank Melanson, the Pittsburgh-born middleweight would hold his own against the Tadcaster Thunderbolt, World Middleweight Champion Archie Rees. There was also curiosity on how Melanson would fare, carrying a gaudy 28-0-1 record, but the lack of quality in his opponents could mask some weaknesses that Rees would undoubtedly exploit.

There was anticipation in the crowd and a lot of local fight fans -- and local fighters -- were spotted. Over there, the Baker brothers of Philadelphia, Clifford and Scott, the latter carrying an 11-0-2 record, but "The Chef" is potentially heating up for his first fight in four years. Up in the cheap seats, there was Rick Watson, a 36-year-old time-tested brawler from Trenton. A little closer to ringside, a popular local promoter was flanked by fellow Trentonians River Thomas and Harvey Winter. Thomas is a welterweight and at 11-2, is rising up the ranks with two wins in 1945. 19-year-old heavyweight hopeful Harvey Winter is early in his journey, but likely very impressionable on what the assembled throng at Sailors Memorial Stadium would witness.

Rees, fresh off an easy tune-up in a one-round knockout of Tommy Erwin, looked ready to go, while Melanson stood a little taller when they met in the center of the ring with referee Jack Garner. Rees effectively threw the first punch early in the opening round, but Melanson varied his punches to connect on a couple of good ones late in the round. Entering Round 3, Rees tried to take control, but I think this is the round Rees really knew he was going to be in for a long night. Rees connected on a couple of big uppercuts, but Melanson did not look worse for wear as the bout wore on. Melanson had Rees pinned in the corner after working the body and connecting on a flurry of hard punches.

While Melanson had the edge in a lot of the early rounds, Rees took the fight to Melanson in the middle third of the bout. There was a definite change after Rees had some landmark blows to Melanson's jaw and forehead in the sixth, knocking him off balance. But, it was the tenth round that was the harbinger and a hint of how the night would end.

There was a back-and-forth where Melanson was getting the better of Rees midway through the round, culminating in staggering the champ in dominating the last half of the round. The most visible damage done by either fighter all night happened in the 11th round. Very late in the round, Melanson fired off a couple of body blows and caught Rees high, just below his right eye. The final three rounds is where Melanson found another gear and Rees was seriously hampered by the after-effects of the shot to his right eye, which quickly started to swell. Rees was losing some vigor with his punches and missed his target with regularity in the 15th round, while Melanson was reliably continuing to score with his jabs and hooks. When the final bell rang, Melanson put his sizable mitts over his nose and mouth in apparent anxiety to wait for the judges cards.

The vociferous crowd was seemingly split down the middle, but the Melanson contingent grew louder as the bout continued. In the final rounds, there was an honest appreciation and outpouring of encouragement to both fighters. You could feel the unbridled optimism of the future, an exhale after the Allied victory in Europe. To be in the crowd on Saturday was to be at the Roman Colosseum enthralled by the gladiators or at Las Ventas in Madrid watching the great Manolete.

The judges all had Melanson in front on points over Rees, crowning Frank "The Tank" Melanson as the new World Middleweight Champion. Melanson jumped in the air once the decision was rendered and tears streamed down his face. From an unlikely underdog to the new middleweight belt-holder, that is a lot to take in. Melanson's record ticked up to a more convincing 29-0-1. Rees falls to 35-5-1, but he is not going to retreat to the shadows. The crowd was yelling for a rematch and both fighters seemed to acknowledge those calls.

Rees did not expect such a formidable opponent, as he was surely looking for a payday before returning to Britain. There needs to be a rematch, maybe in Britain after the war, to eliminate any doubt of a one-night anomaly. The best part of the night was the inspiration given to the young and future prize-fighters in attendance. Melanson set the bar high for the Bakers, the Thomases, and the Winters, and countless others with a dream.

RAMBLERS ARE BACK

The St Louis Ramblers will return to the American Football Association this September. AFA President Jack Kristich confirmed the news this week, noting the return of the AFA to St Louis is eagerly anticipated following a two-year absence. The club was forced to merge with other AFA clubs the past two years due to an inability to secure enough players due to the impact that World War II has had on the sport. In 1943 the Ramblers partnered with the Philadelphia Frigates and last year, after the Frigates decided they could staff a team on their own, the players the Ramblers did have under contract were loaned to the Cleveland Finiches.

The last time St Louis fielded a team was in 1942 when the club went 4-7 and finished third behind Chicago and Detroit in the AFA Westen Division. It was also the rookie season for Bob Holt, the All-American back out of Eastern State selected first overall that April, ran for 1,037 yards to establish a new single season ground mark for a schedule of 12 games or less. Holt, like the Ramblers, has not played each of the past two seasons and his return from the war in time for the start of the season remains unknown.

The Ramblers announcement does put the league in a difficult situation regarding it's playing schedule. The league now sits at 11 clubs, with an odd-number being far less than ideal. It is not known if it will stay that way come September, as despite working out a deal with the New York Football Stars to play at Dyckman Stadium in New York City, there are concerns the Brooklyn Kings may not have sufficient resources to fund a team. The Kings have stuggled, both on the field with a 3-17 record the past two seasons, and at the box office of late.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/10/1945

The Big Four powers (US, Britain, France and Russia) formally stripped Germany of the whole of her Nazi conqests and set up an ironclad military rule of the defeated nation. The Reich was reduced to its 1937 boundaries.
Adolf Hitler's body has been found and identified with fair certainty according to a high Russian military source. The body, smoke-blackened and charred, was one of four discovered in the ruins of the great underground fortress beneath the new Reichs Chancellery after the fall of Berlin. After careful examination of teeth and other characteristics, the Russians singled out one body which they believe almost certainly is that of the Nazi Fuehrer.
The Russian Army newspaper, Red Star, charges that a hostile foreign press, including prominent American papers, was trying to prepare public opinion for war between the Western powers and the Soviet Union. It cites ani-Soviet editorial opinions as trying to cause strife.
5 million or more Japanese have been left homeless by American air raids on five of the enemy's largest cities, radio Tokyo acknowledged this week.
Tokyo radio also reports of a new landing of American troops on southern Okinawa, presumably behind the last Japanese defense line as the heavy hand-to-hand combat for control of the island surpasses its 70th day. They also admit that defeat on the island is within sight.
Japanese Premier Suzuki demanded dictator powers from the Parliament to face "the gravest crisis since the forming of our empire."
A revitalized Chinese air force, armed with American planes and including some American personnel, is blasting at targets throughout Japanese-occupied China.
D-Day plus 1 year has found thousands of GIs invading the U.S. as dozens of transport ships carrying American soldiers return home to ports along the east coast.

Jiggs McGee · 01-13-2023, 04:23 PM

JUNE 18, 1945

FIELD SET FOR NEW COLLEGIATE BALL PLAYOFF

The 16-team field is set as the AIAA returns to a playoff format to determine it's collegiate baseball champion for the first time since the end of the feeder leagues in 1933. The event, a single-elimination tournament, will begin today with 16 schools participating in the opening round. The 8 winners will meet Wednesday for the quarters with the semi-finals being contested Friday leading up to Sunday's championship game. This year's event will be held entirely at Whitney Stadium in Chicago.

The two Lousivile, Ky. schools in the Grange College and Bluegrass State are the favoutites with Eastern State and Georgia Baptist also given a solid chance of claiming the crown. Grange College, led by 3 time All-American and FABL first overall draft pick Bob Riggins, finished this season with the best winning percentage ever posted in collegiate ball . The Mustangs are the defending National Champions and boast a total of 14 players that are on the FABL scouts radar including three that were drafted in January. They were Riggins along with pitchers Otis Porter (7th overall Toronto) and Leon Zalewski (8th round Washington).

Here are the Opening Round matchups and starting pitchers (if known)
#1 Grange College (Otis Porter 7-3) vs #16 Garden State (TBA)
#2 Bluegrass State (Harry Bell 9-3) vs #15 Oklahoma City State (Pete Butler 9-5)
#3 Eastern State (Al East 7-5) vs #14 Chesapeake State (Eddie Fritz 5-8)
#4 Georgia Baptist (Jim N Smith 8-5) vs #13 Northern Mississippi (John Brillinger 7-7)
#5 Cumberland (Frank Kelly 4-6) vs #12 Liberty College (TBA)
#6 Opelika State (TBA) vs #11 Daniel Boone College (Jerry Fordham 6-5)
#7 Coastal State (Buzz Simpson 6-4) vs #10 Mississippi A&M (Frankie Fink 8-5)
#8 Whitney College (Adrian Czerwinski 12-3) vs #9 American Atlantic (Paul Baker 8-6)

RIGGINS, PETERS HEAD ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Outfielders Bob Riggins and Johnny Peters each made their third straight appearance on the AIAA annual All-America first team. The duo have more in common as they were both first round selections in the January FABL rookie draft. Riggins went first overall to the New York Stars and has Grange College targeting it's second consecutive National Championship while Peters, from Liberty College, was selected third overall by the Chicago Cougars.

Riggins, who was selected first overall by the New York Stars, finished second in the nation with a .342 batting average this season while hitting 9 homers and driving in 47 runs for the Mustangs. He was the Christian Trophy winner last season as a sophomore and with his nomination this season looks to Sal Pestilli and Bill Moore as the only two-time Christian Trophy winners.

Joining Riggins on the ballot for the college player of the year award are pitchers John Stallings of Piedmont University and Adrian Czerwinski from Whitney College along with Topeka State outfielder Ralph Johnson and Riggins' Grange College teammate Jim Stone, a sophomore first baseman.

Code:


	AIAA ALL- AMERICAN SELECTIONS
	1945 FIRST TEAM
C	Dino Robinson     Jr Georgia Baptist
1B	Jim Stone         So Grange College
2B	Al Farmer         Fr Amarillo Methodist
SS	Irv Clifford      Fr Charleston Tech
3B	Bob Miller        Jr Queen City
OF	Ralph Johnson     Jr Topeka State
OF	Bob Riggins (3)   Jr Grange College
OF	Johnny Peters (3) Jr Liberty College 
P	John Stallings    So Piedmont University
	
	1945 SECOND TEAM
C	Dan Smith         Fr Garden State
1B	Nate Power        Jr Daniel Boone College
2B	Del Johnson       Jr West Goshen State
SS	Paul Watson       Fr Opelika State
3B	Al Spears         Jr Cumberland
OF	Dick Helfand      So Bluegrass State
OF	Archie Kelly      So Garden State
OF	Billy Forbes      So Miami State
P	Adrian Czerwinski So Whitney College

As for Riggins and Peters, being named first team All-American three years in a row is quite an accomplishment. This is the first time two players have accomplished it in the same season and since the inception of the All-America teams in 1927 only five other players have been named three times. They are Vic Crawford (Commonwealth Catholic 1927-29), Bill Moore (Lubbock State 1930-32), Sal Pestilli (Narragansett 1934-36), Jack Wilson (North Carolina Tech 1940-42) and Bucky Sheffer (1941-43)

ANOTHER YEAR LOST- A LOOK TO THE FUTURE

After a bit of backpedaling in the Gothams front office, we've come to understand that there is no desire to move the top players now in the military. So now with 1945 looking a lot like 1944 the best we can do is look to what the team could field next season if somehow things can be resolved in the Pacific. And yes this may be getting ahead of ourselves as it looks to be a long hard fight to get the Japanese to capitulate. Nothing short of a miracle sems likely to end the war before the 1946 season. Anyway, all we have in Queens is hope. Here are my thoughts on your 1946 Gothams:

Rotation -From the current group only Ed Bowman and Harry Carter seem safe. WIth Jim Lonardo's struggles it is entirely possible that he will hang up his spikes, falling short of 300 wins. Returning will be Bunny Edwards and a plethora of pitching prospects fighting over a spot or two. Leading the list is current #31 prospect Wally Hunter. A former first round pick of the Stars out of Branford, CT, Hunter was cruising through the Stars system when called by Uncle Sam. Now 23 he's seen as someone who could anchor a rotation. Others to look at; Jerry Decker, Hal Friedlander, Jimmy Maness, Charlie Hoffman, Marcus Mangum.

Catcher -Pete Casstevens. If anyone has answered a manager's vote of confidence it's Casstevens. New manager Bud Jameson declared Pete his full time catcher this spring and let him run with it. Casstevens has rewarded him with a .301/.345/.431 hitting performance while continuing his strong defensive showing of past seasons.

1st Base -Red Johnson. The Gothams have some other young 1B who are hitting but no one will replace Red. There is even talk that young Jerry Wilson, hitting .400 in only 25 AB will get a look in the outfield. Gothams management can only dream of what Johnson can do for them when surrounded by other top players.

2nd Base -Oh to have Roosevelt Brewer back in the lineup. Since his call up by the government the team has rotated a handful of players through the position with no one grabbing the opportunity. Of late 23 year old Billy Clark has shown promise in his brief debut. Clark wil get some time at 3B this season if he contnues to hit.

3rd Base -Since the trade of Billy Dalton the team has tried a handful of 3rd sackers, even trying a different Bill Dalton. For now Don Hallam and Fred Pecora are handling the position. Still there will be open auditions with Clark, and young Jack Wilson who was tearing up AAA before the military called among the front runners. And who knows, Bill (not Billy) Dalton may return.

Shortstop -As with second base, the teams longingly awaits the return of Mule Monier. Although if sure handed Jim Dickinson can lock down the position this season there is talk of Monier being tried at 3rd.

Leftfield -Everyone filling in at this position knows they are just keeping it warm. When Walk Messer returns he'll be in LF and batting 3rd. That much is certain.

Centerfield - Bunny Hufford seems to have locked up this position, supplying offense and handling the defensive chores. He may be challenged by top prospects Flipper Robinson or John Beaver.

Rigthfield -Leon Drake has the position for now, but just about every outfield prospect in the organization is gunning for him. Drake, at 36, seems to be slowing down, so all the leftfielders pushed aside by Messer, the losers of the CF battle and everyone from Billy Moody to Bill Payne will be looking at that spot. May the best man win.

It looks like a much improved squad, of course, but we must remember that each team will have stars returning. Still it's a reminder of how much more exciting major league baseball will be.

Detroit needs some positive news in the wake of the recent slide of the Dynamo's and boy do we have a doozy of a rumour for you this week. Sources close to the Detroit Maroons indicate that Stan Vaught may be have second thoughts about his decision to retire following the AFA championship game last December. Word is Maroons magnate Rollie Barrell spent some time in Kansas recently with the legendary end and came away with a strong impression that Vaught feels he might have been hasty in announcing he was leaving the game.

*** Another Rookie Debut for the Dynamo's ***

The Dynamo's did call up SS Bob Montgomery (22) from AAA Newark and he made his FABL debut two weeks ago. Montgomery had been getting strong consideration in spring training early on, but in the last week of camp he folded up like a Kmart outdoor chair and was sent to Newark. While in Newark he hit .348 and earned the promotion June 5th. Its a big jump for a young kid but Bill Ball hasn't exactly been tearing it up (as usual) nor was his defense all that great so the Dynamo's -with 2 kids on the pitching staff- gave the call to Montgomery. His results in his opening week with Detroit were not good, going just 2-for-22, but Montgomery had a much better second week and the club plans to let him play since the veteran options are not long for this world or playing well anyway. Hank Grant looks to make his move to 2B a permanent one as he is clearly a better defensive 2B than he is a SS.

Elmer Nolde's time in Detroit is coming to an end. The veteran has hit well this year in the opportunities he has been given, but the club said they are going to bring up a younger player. In 84 AB's Nolde is hitting 286/374/417 with 2 HR and 18 RBI's but is expected to be DFA'd in the next few days. The Dynamo's are making it known if anyone wants a veteran bat that can still hit (especially against RHP), they will accept a 9th round pick for him. The odds are OF Don Hersey will get called up or it could be CF Eddie Kincaid. The 27 year old Hersey has had a couple of trials in Detroit while Kincaid, 26, made his big league debut last season with 5 games for Detroit. With that promotion OF Bud Miller, a 23 year old acquired from the New York Stars in the off-season, will move up to AAA Newark after hitting 325 at AA Akron.
*** Cage Knights Name New Coach ***

It will be up to Sammy Watson to try and turn around a Detroit City College basketball program that went from a National Title contender to the bottom of the Great Lakes Alliance almost overnight. Amazing really when you think the Knights might have won it all just a couple of years ago if All-Americans Roman Sollars and Andy Bennett were around for the tournament. Sollars got the call from the Navy and left in late February while Bennett suffered a season ending injury a week later and the Knights title hopes were crushed.

Two years they had a good team as well, losing out to eventual National Champ Rainier College in the quarter-finals but long-time coach Dick Keegan had 3-straight bad recruiting classes and the team paid the price last year with an 11-18 season -the worst in Detroit City College history dating back to 1909. Keegan retired at 62 a month ago and now Sammy Watson, who guided Charleston Tech to a 21-11 season and a berth in the quarter-finals of the tournament last year, takes over. Four starters return from last year's squad including local boy Harland Pinkard, a forward out of Denby Tech, who led the squad in scoring last year.

Parades are all right, but General Dwight D. Eisenhower rather would see a baseball game upon his arrival in New York from overseass on Tuesday. The War Department revealed the other day that in a message to Gen. George C. Marshall, chief of staff, General 'Ike' wrote: "I have no general suggestions to make regarding the entire trip, bu secretly I hope that New York has a ball game that day. I really would like to see the big leagues play again." Well, Ike is in luck as both the Stars and Gothams are home Tuesday with the Stars facing the Chicago Cougars while the Gothams entertain Detroit. It is probable that Eisenhower will attend one of the two games.
Word is starting to circulate in baseball circles about the youngest son of the late Joe Barrell, Charlie "The Heartbreak Kid" Barrell who inherited his boxer/football star father's strength and his movie star mother's looks and is tearing it up as a freshman infielder at baseball prep powerhouse Capital Academy in D.C., where the soon-to-be 15 y/o youngster went to live with his uncle, OSA President (and former FABL player) Dan Barrell. Uncle Dan is not the only scout (nor is grandpa Rufus) to be excited about the potential of this latest member of the clan to embark on his own baseball journey. Relax, FABL General Managers. You have a long wait as young Charlie will not be draft eligible until 1948.
Tough break for the Boston Minutemen, who will have to make do without third baseman Billy Dalton (.311,5,29) for about a month after the 31 year old was injured last week.
The St Louis Pioneers are suddenly hot, with 12 wins in their last 15 games.
Two more homeruns for Cincinnati's Al Wheeler last week, giving the 37 year old 14 on the season and 475 for his career. Bobby Barrell is the overall leader this season with 19 including 3 more this week for the Keystones 34 year old superstar, who now sits at 408 for his career.
New York Stars 22 year old prospect Bill Grove came out of the gate swinging and has put up .353/.389/.471 in 17 AB. His fielding is on point as well so the Stars are giving him a chance to see if he can claim the 3B job for the rest of the season.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

TWIFB takes a look at how the college/high school season went for each FABL club's first draft selection in January.
BOSTON- Tom Cooprider C, Millersburgh HS, Millersburg, Pa. - Without a first round pick, Boston's top selection was 28th overall. He had a small uptick in his slash numbers this season compared to his high school debut as a sophomore. Batted .451 with 3 homers and 34 rbi's in 27 games. We will also note where OSA has each draft pick slotted on it's mock draft. Cooprider was the only position player listed in this report who did not make the scouting service mock draft.

BROOKLYN- Ralph Johnson CF, Topeka State. 5th overall. The 21 year old Omaha, Ne. native had a big season in his first and only year of college ball. He hit .329 with 15 homers and 55 rbi's and was named a first team All-America selectiona as well as a finalist for the Christian Trophy, which will be presented after the College World Championship Series. Johnson was not included in the mock due to a clerical error by the league that had mistakenly identified him as not eligible until 1946.

CHIEFS- Dick Mills LHP, South Boston (MA) High School. 10th overall. Based on his three year stats at South Boston High, Mills seemed like a reach as a first rounder. He started just 7 of his 15 appearances as a senior, posting a 4-0 recod with a 1.43 era. In 45 high school appearances, including 21 starts, over three years at the school he was 12-1 with a 1.33 era. OSA did not place Mills on it's 5-round mock draft list.

COUGARS- Johnny Peters CF, Liberty College, 3rd overall His batting average was down slightly from last season but stats (.307,10,35) were still strong enough to earn Peters a third straight berth on the First Team All-American roster. In the OSA mock draft, Peters is listed #2 behind only outfielder Paul Williams.

CINCINNATI- Al Browner, 3B, Wharton (TX) High School. The Cannons finished the 1944 season with 2 first round selections but traded both to St Louis so Browner was their top selection at the tail end of round two, 31st overall. His 1945 batting average was slightly worse than his two previous seasons at Wharton but otherwise he was pretty consistent over his prep career. Batted .449,4,25 this season. OSA saw Browner going right about where he was selected as the final pick in the second round.

CLEVELAND- Bert Haines RHP, North Tonawanda (NY) High school. 9th overall. Haines went 8-2 with a 1.38 era in his only season of high school ball and had a tremendous pitching duel but lost 2-0 to Gothams third rounder Ted Beavan in the Western New York section championship game. OSA is never big on pitchers in it's mock draft but the service did not include Haines in it's five round list, making him the the second first round pitcher selection to be omitted entirely by Dan Barrell's service.

DETROIT- Del Johnson 2B, West Goshen State, 6th overall. A second straight appearance as Second Team All-American for Johnson, who led all AIAA second baseman with a .320 batting average this season. OSA shows Johnson #9 on it's initial mock draft.

MONTREAL- Hank Smith 1B, Tallmadge State, 11th overall. Was a second team All-American in 1944 but missed selection this year because of the competition at first base. Despite that Smith still led the AIAA in batting average this season by hitting at a .345 clip. Showed some power too with 13 homers. OSA feels Smith is the 10th best prospect on it's mock.

NY STARS- The Stars had picks 1 and 2 in the draft so let's look at how they each fared this season. First overall was Bob Riggins, the 1944 Christian Trophy winner, 3-time first team All-American from Grange College had another strong season hitting .342 (second in the AIAA) with 9 homers and 46 rbi's.

Second overall the Stars picked up Beaver (PA) High School shortstop Ralph Hanson had himself a year in his only season of high school ball. Hanson established a new record for a single season high school batting average by hitting .615 to top the old mark of .613 set by Walt Messer in 1934. His .669 on-base-percentage is the fifth highest in the post-feeder era and surpassed only by Bill Barrett, Red Johnson, Luke Berry and Hal Renard. It is clear the Stars added two immense talents to their collection. OSA likes Hanson as #3 on it's mock with Riggins sliding to 7th.

NY GOTHAMS- Due to several trades the Gothams did not pick until the third round, 36th overall. There they selected Ted Beaven, a RHP out of East High School in Buffalo, NY. Not a bad season for a third round selection as Beaven went 10-0 with a career best 0.72 era. In 3 seasons of high school ball he was 29-1 with a 1.01 era and a 13.7 K/9. OSA feels Beaven is right about where he was actually selected, ranking him 38th on it's mock.

KEYSTONES- Nate Power 1B, Daniel Boone College, 16th overall. First team All-American in 1944 and followed that up with a second team selection this year with a .332,13,69 season. Led the AIAA in rbi's this year. OSA likes Power as the top first baseman in the draft and 8th overall on it's mock.

SAILORS- Gordon McDonald RHP, Liberty (SC) High School, 13th overall. You can't ask for much more from McDonald in his only season of high school ball. He went 11-0 with a 0.87 era while fanning 169 and walking just 18. OSA has McDonald at #20 on it's mock draft but that makes him the top pitcher in the eyes of the scouting service.

PITTSBURGH- Paul Williams OF, Clayton High School in St Louis, 8th overall. Williams (.459,9,35) showed a little more power in this his third season of high school ball but scouts can't help but feel they expected just a little more from him this year. The good news is OSA put Williams number one on their current mock draft.

ST LOUIS- The Pioneers had three first round picks selection Artie Smith, a catcher out of South Valley State 12th ovrall, CF Barry Lowry from Tarpon Springs (FL) High School 14th, and with the 15th pick they drafted Bowman (SC) High School third baseman Dan Finch. Smith (.266,1,32) had a down year compared to his previous two seasons of college ball. Lowery (.491,2,36) was making his high school debut as a senior and Finch (.430,7,32) posted numbers just down slightly from his previous two years of high school ball. OSA had Finch the highest of the three on it's mock draft, slotting him in at pick 18. Lowery was 27th on the scouting service list while Artie Smith was projected as a 5th round selection.

TORONTO- Otis Porter RHP from 1944 national champion Grange College 7th overall. Porter was not quite as impressive this season as he was last year when he was nominated for the Christian Trophy. However, OSA was not impressed with Porter- tabbing him as a third round selection.

WASHINGTON- Ike Perry C, Navasota(TX) High School 4th overall. 2 time High School All-American may get consideration for a third selection when the honourees are revealed next week. Played a career low 20 games, batting .494 with 4 homers and 26 rbi's this season. OSA ranked him #5 on it's mock draft.

OSA UNVEILS IT'S MOCK DRAFT

The league scouting service unveiled it's list of who it feels are the top players available in the current draft. Here are the 16 best accoridng to OSA and where they were actually drafted:

Code:

[/b]
OSA POS  PLAYER		ACTUAL DRAFT SLOT[/b]
 1  LF  Paul Williams	#8 Pittsburgh
 2  CF  Johnny Peters 	#3 Chicago Cougars
 3  SS  Ralph Hanson	#2 NY Stars
 4  CF  Carl Clark	#18 Chicago Cougars
 5  C   Ike Perry	#4 Washington
 6  RF  Fred Miller	#37 Brooklyn
 7  CF  Bob Riggins	#1 NY Stars
 8  1B  Nate Power	#16 Keystones
 9  2B  Del Johnson   	#6 Detroit
10  1B  Hank Smith	#11 Montreal
11  2B  Mike Cochran	#27 Montreal
12  3B  Bob Miller	#25 Cleveland
13  1B  Ivey Henley	#67 Cleveland
14  RF  Joe Scott	#41 Sailors
15  C   Larry McClure	#17 NY Stars
16  SS  Harry Finney	#23 Toronto

GRID KINGS FOLDING ACCORDING TO REPORTS

The Brooklyn Football Kings are on the verge of folding according to AFA insiders. The reason given is simple: a lack of money. We are told that the club simply does not have the financial means to survive in the competitive player market brought on by the addition of a prospective new pro league.

There was a stadium crisis for the grid Kings as well when they were kicked out of Kings County Ballpark by Brooklyn baseball owner Daniel Prescott, but that appeared to be solved a couple of weeks ago when AFA President Jack Kristich, with help from Washington Wasps owner Homer Bentley, brokered a deal with New York Football Stars boss Erasmus Scott to allow the Kings to play in New York City at Dyckman Stadium, despite New York being considered "Stars territory."

The grid Kings have not been very good the past couple of seasons, not since veteran coach John Brainard enlisted in the Navy and was replaced by Kurt Hauptstag in 1942. In three seasons under Hauptstag's guidance the Kings are 8-23 including a dismal 1-9 showing last year.

Brooklyn did have some success under Brainard, winning the AFA championship game in 1938 and 1940, but for much of its existence the Kings franchise has struggled. The club has been in Brooklyn since 1930 when financier Dudley Townsend bought the Dayton club and moved it to the borough. While the current feud with Prescott is a factor in the grid club's rumoured demise it is perhaps ironic that a decade and a half ago it was believed that Townsend's assistance enabled Prescott retain control of the baseball Kings after the root beer magnate ran into some financial trouble in the wake of the Stock Market crash.
*** Solves a Sticky Scheduling Dilemma ***

The one positive for the AFA if the Kings franchise is indeed shuttered would be it relieves a potential logistic nightmare in trying to compose a schedule for an 11 team league. The St Louis Ramblers confirmed last week they are returning for the 1945 season after two years sharing a franchise due to player shortages. The Ramblers bring the league up to eleven teams but if Brooklyn is on the way out, the schedule will be much easier to compose. Expect that Pittsburgh Paladins to likely shift over to the Eastern Division if the Kings are deposed.

SAWYER CONFIDENT HE WILL NOT SUFFER REES' FATE

Don't expect another big upset in Saturday's title fight. That is the word from Hector Sawyer as he prepares to defend his World Heavyweight title against Pete Sanderson at Gothams Stadium. A crowd of over 50,000 is expected as Sawyer's makes his first appearance in the Big Apple since beating Mark Dyer in 1940 in what was his first title defense after knocking out German strongman Jochen Schroetter earlier that year to win the crown.

A week ago long-time middleweight titleholder Archie Rees saw his reign end when he was upset by Pittsburgh factory worker Frank Melanson but Sawyer says there will be no such story for ex-Marine Pete Sanderson when the pair tangle in New York Saturday evening.

It will be Sawyer's second title defense since leaving the Army and his career mark is 50-3-1 following that win - a 5th round knockout of Willie Meyer in Boston in February. Sawyer, who will turn 31 next month, feels he is in the best shape of his career and any rust he might have had following his 4 year stint in the military, disappeared with his February victory. The New Orleans native, known as 'The Cajun Crusher', has won 45 of his 50 victories by knockout and most expect Sanderson to be added to that number, with many feeling the fight will be lucky to last 4 rounds.

Sanderson, a 34-year old originally from Scranton, Pa., is 29-6-2 and will be making his third appearance since being discharged from the marines. His choice as a title opponent is seen by a large number of boxing insiders as a guarantee of at least one more big payday for Sawyer and his handlers. Some are speculating that the champ has slowed during his time in the army and a good fighter will quickly expose those assumptions. However, Sanderson is not seen as good enough or a smart enough fighter to avoid the powerful right hand of Sawyer -something those same experts still call 'devastating.'

DUNN WINS IN HAWAII

Hard punching Richie Dunn, the Oregon born heavyweight, scored a unanimous decision over Maurice Washington of Los Angeles in bout fought in Honolulu over the weekend. Dunn, did look to be tiring in the later rounds of the 10 round fracas but did hang on to win on points, improving the 30 year old's record to 24-9-2. Neither fighter hit the canvas at any time during the fast bout. Dunn had a decided edge in the first two rounds and caught Washington with several stiff rights and lefts, but his pace slowed greatly as the bout progressed.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/17/1945

B-29 Superfortresses continue daily raids on various key targets in major Japanese cities.
Allied headquarters announced that Australian forces have invaded Borneo and seized control of a strategic air base on the northwest coast.
The US 10th Army, smashing southward in a final big push, stormed the final Japanese defenses and hammered an estimated 10,000 enemy troops back towards the sea in what may be the final battle of Okinawa.
Reports indicate Japan has moved to draft boys as young as 15 and girls age 17 for combat service in the event of an American invasion of the Japanese home islands.
Former Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, last of the Nazi hierarchy not accounted for, was captured in a Hamburg boarding house where he had lived unrecognized for more than six weeks.
In a stop in London before proceeding to New York, Britain paid tribute to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, with large crowds cheering wildly and the city honouring him.
Prime Minister W.L. McKenzie King's wartime government retained power in an Federal election in Canada, but his Liberal party failed to win a clear-cut majority in Parliament.
President Truman is reporting 'good progress' toward Big Three unity as a result of talks by his special diplomatic emissaries in London and Moscow.
16 exiled Polish leaders arrested by the Red Army face possible death sentences after being charged with sabotage and terrorism of the Red Army. The announcement said the crimes were committed in Poland in January, some point after the Red Army broke the German line and smashed into eastern Germany.

Jiggs McGee · 01-16-2023, 12:52 PM

JUNE 25, 1945

COLLEGE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES FINAL POSTPONED TO TODAY

BATTLE OF LOUISVILLE DELAYED ONE DAY BY RAIN

Fans will have to wait one more day before learning who the winner will be in the first Collegiate World Championship Series Tournament since 1933 as the weather did not co-operate on Sunday. An early morning storm left Chicago's Whitney Field unplayable so defending national champion Grange College and their Louisville, Ky. rival Bluegrass State will have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to determine a winner.

The two schools finished 1-2 with the best record in the AIAA this season so it comes as little surprise that they are paired up in the winner-take-all championship game but that is not to say there were not a few upsets along the was as a 16-team field gathered in the Windy City last Monday to narrow it down to the two remaining clubs.
OPENING ROUND

Monday's opening round saw Otis Porter allow just 1-run over 7 innings while All-American first baseman Jim Stone hit a monstrous 3-run homer to pace the Grange College Mustangs to a 5-3 win over Garden State in the tournament opener. Third seed Eastern State doubled up #14 Chesapeake State 8-4 behind a 3-hit, 4 rbi performance from outfielder Joe Scott, a third round pick of the Philadelphia Sailors. The other two games on Monday had Georgia Baptist outslug Northern Mississippi 10-6 while in the night cap Harry Bell and the Bluegrass State nine topped Oklahoma City State 3-1 in what was an outstanding pitching duel between Bell and Pete Butler of the Wranglers.

The remaining four opening round games went Tuesday and were started off with our first upset as #12 seed Liberty College upended #5 Cumberland 3-1 behind a big game at the plate from All-American Johnny Peters. Peters, who the Chicago Cougars selected third overall in January, had 3 hits including a 2-run double in the top of the 8th inning that snapped the tie and propelled the Bells to victory. The second game of the day needed extra innings and the hero was Coastal State freshman third baseman Roy Rutter, who delivered a walk-off 2-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Eagles to a 6-4 win over Mississippi A&M. Next up was Opelika State and the 6th seeded Wildcats doubled Danniel Boone College 4-2. The biggest crowd of the day was for the nightcap and the vast majority of fans went home happy as Adrian Czerwinski -the 12 game winner and ace of the Whitney College staff- blanked American Atlantic 2-0 on a complete game three-hitter.

QUARTER-FINALS

The quarter-finals were played Wednesday and began with an upset as 12th seed Liberty, after beating #5 Cumberland in the opening round, rode the bat of Johnny Peters to victory once more. This time it was a 3-2 upset of Georgia Baptist with Peters and fellow outfielder Cliff Treen hitting back to back rbi doubles in the 7th inning to complete a comeback victory for the Bells. In the second game Opelika State outfielder Dee Choate picked the perfect time for the biggest hit of his collegiate career. The junior -a 6th round pick of Toronto in January- snapped a 1-1 tie with a double to plate talented freshman Paul Watson with 2-out in the top of the ninth inning, giving the Wildcats a 2-1 win and keep their quest for a first national title since 1929 still alive, at least for the moment.

Freshman pitcher George Carter had a rough start on the mound for Bluegrass State against Coastal State, allowing 5 runs, all earned in just 4 innings of work. However, the Mustangs bats with shortstop Harry Finney and outfielder Dick Helfand leading the way, were up to the task and Bluegrass State rallied for a 7-5 victory. That left the other Louisville school, also called the Mustangs, in Grange College which was forced to play local favourite Whitney College. Without Adrian Czerwinski on the mound this time, the Engineers had little chance and were blasted 10-0 in the most lob-sided game of the event. Sophomore Ralphie Spires tossed 7 scoreless innings to keep the Whitney College bats in check while Mustangs hitters pounded out 17 hits including 4 from undrafted junior Zack Rowell and 3 each from Riggins and Stone.

SEMI-FINALS

After an off-day Thursday it was on to the semi-finals Friday and Grange College kept up the offensive display with a 5-1 win to end Liberty College's upset-minded run. Rowell, in a last ditched effort perhaps to impress FABL scouts before the final 17 rounds of the draft are conducted next week, had a 3 hit game to give him 7 in the last two contests and a .643 average for the series. Toronto Wolves first round selection Otis Porter, who also was the winner on Monday, earned his second victory of the series.

The other semi-final turned into a pitchers duel between Bluegrass State and Opelika State. Harry Bell -the freshman from Cleveland who went 9-3 during the season- was outstanding and allowed just 3 hits before giving way to the bullpen with the game still scoreless in the 8th inning. Opelika State went through four different pitchers and seemed to always be in trouble but somehow escaped each time. Kenny Johnson, who is not on OSA scouts radar at all but does a pretty solid job as a guard on the Wildcats basketball team, was the final of the four pitchers and he tossed a 1-2-3 ninth and then survived the 10th despite the fact the Mustangs had runners on the corners with one out but failed to push a run across. Johnson and the Opelika State luck would run out in the 11th inning and it did so very quickly. Bluegrass State sophomore infielder Chuck Collins led off with a single to bring Dick Helfand to the plate. The sophomore outfielder bashed 14 homeruns during the season and added his first in the CWCS with a shot down the leftfield line that cleared the fence with just inches to spare, sending Bluegrass State to the title game with a 2-0 victory.

Scoreboard
OPENING ROUND
#1 Grange College 5 #16 Garden State 3
#2 Bluegrass State 2 #15 Oklahoma City State 1
#3 Eastern State 8 #14 Chesapeake State 4
#4 Georgia Baptist 10 #13 Northern Mississippi 6
#12 Liberty College 3 #5 Cumberland 1
#6 Opelika State 4 #11 Daniel Boone College 2
#7 Coastal State 6 #10 Mississippi A&M 4 (11 innings)
#8 Whitney College 2 #9 American Atlantic 0

QUARTERFINALS
#1 Grange College 10 #8 Whitney College 0
#2 Bluegrass State 7 #7 Coastal State 5
#6 Opelika State 2 #3 Eastern State 1
#12 Liberty College 3 #4 Georgia Baptist 2

SEMI-FINALS
#1 Grange College 5 #12 Liberty College 1
#2 Bluegrass State 2 #6 Opelika State 0 (11 innings)

FINAL
#1 Grange College (Ralphie Spires 7-3, 2.81) vs #2 Bluegrass State (Dick McGowan 9-5, 3.66)

CHRISTIAN TROPHY FINALISTS REVEALED

The five finalists for the Frank Christian Trophy, presented annually to the top college baseball player in the nation and not to be confused with the football version of the trophy which is also called the Christian Trophy but named after Frank's brother John. Both were long-time AIAA coaches in the state of Texas.

The winner will be announced tonight at a ceremony in Chicago at the conclusion of the Collegiate World Championship Series, which had it's title game rained out yesterday and rescheduled for this afternoon.

The finalists:
ADRIAN CZERWINSKI- Sophomore pitcher Whitney College (12-3, 2.90, 99K) - Tied a record set by 5 pitchers before him with 12 victories in a season. The side-armer is not your typical college power pitcher but seems to get the job done. Only a 6.5 K/9 but had the fifth lowest era among starting pitchers.

RALPH JOHNSON - Junior OF Topeka State (.329/.424/.620) -A newcomer to the college game as a junior, Johnson led the nation with a 3.0 batter war while batting .329 with 15 homers and 55 rbi's. Was second in the nation in homeruns and runs scored, fourth in rbi's, third in slugging percentage and fourth in wOBA. Was selected 5th overall by Brooklyn. Through a clerical error that has been corrected is listed as a sophomore and part of the 1946 draft class.

BOB RIGGINS - Junior OF Grange College (.342/.468/.594)- A 3-time first team All-American selection who won the Christian Trophy a year ago when he led Grange College to a National Title. The centerfielders .342 batting average was key to Grange College's record breaking run this season that sees them as the favourite to win the Collegiate World Championship Series this week in Chicago. Riggins led the nation in on-base percentage this season, tied for first in wOBA and was second in OPS and batter WAR. Was selected first overall in January by the New York Stars.

JOHN STALLINGS - Sophomore pitcher Piedmont University (9-1, 0.99, 154 K's)- His 0.99 era is the lowest in post-feeder history and the 4th lowest all time when you include the feeder era. Stallings also fanned 154 batters this season, sixth most all-time among college hurlers and only Bob Arman's 156 for Bluegrass State in 1941 is higher among non-feeder era arms. That number is even more impressive when you factor in that Stallings pitched just 91 innings this season so his 15.2 K/9 was dominant for the post-feeder era. Number two on that list was Bob Arman's 1941 campaign when he had an 11.9. Stallings K/BB ratio was also the best of the post-feeder era by a good margin. He was 7.7 to better the previous mark set by Tallmadge State's Junius Davis at 5.4 in 1941. The one thing against Stallings candidacy for the Christian. He played at Piedmont which is only good competition, compared to the great competition each of the other nominees faced.

JIM STONE - Sophomore 1B Grange College (.342/.420/.663): In his debut season of college ball the 20 year old led the nation with 19 homers, was second with 61 rbi's and third in batting average at .342. He was also second in ops and slugging percentage, third in wOBA and 4th in batter WAR. There were a number of very good first baseman but he was the first team All-American selection and a big reason, along with Bob Riggins, that Grange College is seeded #1 in the Collegiate World Championship Series.

HIGH SCHOOL RANKS REVEAL ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS AND FINALISTS FOR THE ADWELL AWARD

A record breaking season from Beaver (PA) High School shortstop Ralph Hanson highlights an outstanding crop of 1945 High School All-Americans. Hanson, who was selected second overall by the New York Stars in January and will join the organization next week when his high school senior season is complete, hit .615 to narrowly eclipse Walt Messer's .613 set in 1934. Hanson is also considered the favourite to win the Adwell Award, named after former high school star and big league pitcher Red Adwell and presented annually to the player judged to be the top high schooler in the nation.

Here are the finalists for the Adwell Award as well as the 1945 High School All-American Selections

RALPH HANSON SR SS- Beaver (PA) HS. (.615/.669/1.000): Only season of high school ball for the second overall selection by the New York Stars in the January draft but what a year it was. He established a new all-time (including feeders) single season high school batting average by hitting .615, to best the previous mark of .613 established by Walt Messer 11 years ago. He also led the high school ranks with a 4.1 batter war. Since the feeders ended in 1933 only two hitters have had a higher war: Messer did it twice in 1934 & 1936 with Chuck Adams 4.2 in 1935 being the only other season. Even 4.0 is rarely attained as the only other high school players to reach it were Red Johnson and Jesse Alvardo, so some pretty good company for Hanson.

LES LEDBETTER SO LHP - Fowlerville (MI) HS (12-0, 0.60, 209 K): Tied for first in wins, had the lowest ERA of any high school pitcher with at least 50 innings of work and led nation with 209 strikeouts and in K/BB with a 13.9 ratio. His 9.1 pitcher war was best in the loop and his 0.39 FIP was second lowest this season. In two seasons Ledbetter is now 23-0 with 398 strikeouts which does have him on pace to finish his high school career with more wins and K's than any other pitcher not named Hiram Steinberg.

JERRY SMITH SO CF- Jackson HS, Queens NY (.523/.581/1.116): The 15 year old was born in Hartford but is playing his high school ball in New York. In his debut as a sophomore he smacked 10 homers and 11 doubles in 21 games to lead the nation in slugging percentage.

DANNY TAYLOR JR OF - Overland (MO) HS (.510/.589/1.049): Another player getting his first taste of high school ball, Taylor was born in New Jersey but moved to Missouri as a youth. He was third in the nation in WAR, OPS, wOBA and slugging percentage with his 12 homeruns being second most in high school ball this season.

DUTCH YOAK SR LHP - LaPorte(TX) HS (12-0, 0.70, 205 K): A second round choice of the Chicago Cougars in January, Yoak finished off an outstanding 4 year high school career that saw him post a 43-2 mark -second in wins only to the 47-0 record fashioned by Hiram Steinberg when he was a New York City high schooler. Yoak is also second all-time behind only the Cleveland Foresters prospect in strikeouts with 729 for his career. His senior year saw him tie (with 5 others) for first in wins, finish third in strikeouts, fifth in ERA and third in K/BB and pitcher WAR. Yoak, along with fellow Texan Ike Perry -a catcher from Navasota and a first round pick of the Washington Eagles- were each named to the All-American team for the third time in their high school careers.

COUGARS LOSE FIVE OF LAST 6 - AND MOSS FOR A MONTH

It has been nothing but bad news of late for baseball fans in Chicago. You have Whitney College getting blown out in the Collegiate World Championship Series quarterfinals, the Chicago Chiefs sinking to the cellar of the Federal Association and now terrible news for the Continental Cougars, who not only dropped 5 of 6 games during the week before rebounding with a 3-1 win over Brooklyn yesterday but also received word they will be forced to play without Cliff Moss for the next month due to a sprained ankle suffered early in the week.

It is a huge blow for a Cougars offense that had already taken two direct hits from Selective Service over the winter with Hank Barnett and Leo Mitchell both heading off to join the war effort. The 39 year old Moss filled in admirably as a replacement for the missing duo and -for two months anyway- looked like the player he was a decade ago and seemed a sure bet to represent the Cougars when they host next month's all-star game. Moss had struggled a bit the last couple of weeks but was the biggest reason the Cougars offense was as solid as it has been this season despite the loss of it's two biggest producers from a year ago.

Chicago presently sits 3 games back of the first place Toronto Wolves with the Cincinnati Cannons wedged in between the two. The Cougars have a key series coming up this week when the Cannons invade Cougars Park for a three game set beginning on Wednesday. Until then, they have a pair of off days to try and decide who can pick up the offensive slack in Moss' place for the next month.
*** The Greene Machine ***

The Cougars get one piece of good news: they won't see Montreal again until the end of August. The Saints have dominated Chicago this season, winning 9 of 12 games including an 11-2 blasting in a quick one game set in Chicago Monday. Montreal has won 12 of it's past 16 overall with outfielder Bill Greene doing much of the heavy lifting of late. The 28 year old was named the top performer in the Continental Association for the second week in a row and has 8 homeruns already this month. On the year Greene is batting .298 with 14 homers and 54 rbi's and is a big reason why the Saints are 3 games above .500 and looking to climb in to the CA pennant picture. The Philadelphia Sailors have also been hot of late as they threaten to join the Saints in making it a 5-team race.

The Philadelphia Keystones have slowed down of late and Bobby Barrell went 6 games without adding to his FABL best total of 19 round-trippers but none of the other contenders in the Federal Association took advantage and closed the gap of a pedestrian 3-3 week for the Philadelphia nine.

The hottest team in all of baseball now is, believe it or not, the St Louis Pioneers. Winners of 16 of their last 18 games as the Pioneers feasted on the cellar dwelling Chiefs (5-0) and Gothams (6-1) during that stretch which allowed the Pioneers to climb within a game of the break-even point and while still in 6th place, St Louis is now just 7.5 games behind Philadelphia and only 4 out of second place in the Fed.

TEXTILE MAGNATE PURCHASES COUGARS

For the second time this month FABL is welcoming a new owner to the fold, although this time it is under slightly better circumstances. The Chicago Cougars have changed hands as 50-year-old Illinois businessman Mackenzie "Mack" Dalmer has been approved by the FABL Board of Governors as the new owner of the team. Dalmer's purchase came as Ben Hunter, the club's longtime owner, announced his retirement last month. Hunter, 82, is in failing health and is currently living in Phoenix, Arizona where the desert air is better for his lungs.

Dalmer's purchase includes the new ballpark, considered among the best in all of baseball. The businessman, whose fortune was made in textiles, promised no changes to the day-to-day operations of the club. "I'm not particularly knowledgeable about baseball," Dalmer said, adding, "I will let the baseball folks hired by Mr. Hunter continue to do their jobs without my butting in."

The Cougars ownership change follows one in the Federal Association. Earlier this month the death of Washington Eagles owner William Stockdale at the age of 81, saw the ownership of the club be passed down to his son Captain Calvin W. Stockdale. Captain Stockdale is presently preoccupied as commander of the USS Baltimore, part of the Fifth Fleet that just successfully completed it's victory in the Battle of Okinawa, so longtime baseball man Rufus Barrell is acting as the interim club President until final victory is achieved over the Japanese.

McCORMICK COMEBACK WILL BE CLOSELY WATCHED

Fred McCormick has, at least so far, proved 4 years in the Army has done little to dampen his ability to hit a baseball. He had the incredible debut with a homerun in his first at bat back with the Toronto Wolves after that long absence and the adrenaline has continued to pump with McCormick batting .328 with a pair of longballs through his first three weeks back in the league.

But will it continue once the initial hype of being back in the game is over and the steady grind of needing to be ready to play every day once more takes over? McCormick is 35 years old and has been out of baseball action a long time. Before heading off to basic training he had spent 11 long seasons in the majors. You can bet Fred is being followed with greater interest than the performance of any other player in baseball, not only by every fan, but also by every veteran service athlete who hopes to return to some form of sport. Hank Barnett, Bernie Johnson and Robert Curry a three that still in the service and sure to be watching closely. Same for many of the veteran boxers and grid stars as they hope McCormick's trials this summer will give them some part of an answer as to what four years of athletic inaction will do.

"I feel good, aside from a few blisters on the hands from swinging a bat so much" says Fred when we caught up to him the other day. "I think I have two, maybe three more really good seasons left in my system. I'm in good shape physically, although my legs are sure feeling it after the last couple of weeks. I do think it is good to get back this year. Another year and maybe it would have been too late."

Many believe McCormick's return might just be enough to swing the pennant Toronto's way this season, but McCormick is not worried about the added pressure. "The guys I was with had the real pressure," he points out. "This is just plain fun and I am going to enjoy it for as long as I can."

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Wolves Begin A Long Road Trip: Trainbound for Cleveland, June 18- Toronto split their first 4 of 24 straight on the road after taking 2 of 3 from Cleveland to finish up the home stand at Dominion Stadium. Surprisingly this is not the longest trip of the 1945 campaign. In August the team leaves after a home game on the 1st not to return until the last day of the month after 25 games in their greys. Players were seen in local department stores purchasing new or additional pieces of luggage which will be well used during this season. Players do not seem to mind the extended trips saying that their train coach is comfortable, they are only traveling usually one night a week or in the case of a Stars, Kings trip they will be in New York for a week. One player said "We have it relatively easy, look to the Toronto Dukes hockey team...play at home Saturday night, shower, then down to Union Station to catch a train overnight to another city to play a game Sunday afternoon then back on the train to usually return home. That is tough."

The current trip began with an 18 inning marathon in Philadelphia. The Wolves finally scored 2 in the top of the 18th to win 9-7 after both teams had scored 2 in the 16th, game time was 5 hour 38 minutes with an announced attendance of 6781 of which Brett thinks there were 67 left at the end of the game, almost 2 o'clock in the morning. The bullpen got a work out pitching 12 total innings after Meyers coughed up a 3 run lead in the bottom of the ninth. Pitching remains a concern with the season almost 40% complete, SP combined ERA of 3.81 is probably close to a run over where Call, Nichols expect it to be at this point. Bullpen is starting to turn the corner although fans keep hope for returnees from Europe specifically by the names of Jayson, Gibbs, Johnson, McRae, Carter to give more options throughout the staff. Pitching talk on the trip from Philly into Ohio centered on Tommy Johnson, unconfirmed rumours are that his start on Sunday will be a defining one, lack of success could mean a trip back to AAA where the Nickels have been getting very fine efforts from their 'pen. This move(s) would see Cookie Meyers inserted as swingman.

If Call is perplexed, worried with the pitching thus far in'45 he has to be pleasantly surprised with the Wolves offensive output. Toronto ranks in the top half of the CA in almost all hitting statistics. These rankings should only be on an upward trend with 'The Reticent Reaper' returning to the lineup. McCormick through 14 games has a line of .342/.528/.605 in 53 PA. Call thinks that Fred's bat will be in the lineup everyday going forward after a few off days to build his stamina after missing 4 years. The injury bug finally caught up to the training staff, Juan Pomales suffered a significant ankle injury on June 11th, he is only available in a PHing role until the team gets into Cincinnati at week's end.

Overall the Wolves have played an excellent brand of ball into June. A record of 37-21 provides a lead of a game and a half over the Cannons with the Cougars biting at the heels of Cincy. Toronto can credit their lead to close game performance, 8-2 in games going to extra innings, 15-9 overall in games decided by one-run.

WOLVES MINOR LEAGUE SYSTEM

Here is a quick look at the Toronto system after 6 or so weeks into their seasons highlighting players who are progressing towards the FABL along with disappointments in the system. This is an ongoing task for Scouting Director Art Willis and his staff. This summer is further complicated by the unknown of if or when players contracted to Toronto will return from the conflict in Europe. Will the players stationed in Europe be discharged or will they join the island hopping in the Pacific to subdue the Japanese Empire?

Buffalo Nickels: 27-24 3rd place Union League
Team is winning games in spite of itself ranking in the bottom half of the league in virtually every hitting, pitching category.
Highlights: The bullpen of Bill Ferrell, Bill Collins, Bob Collier, the B Squad, has saved the team many times. So much so that Toronto fans are screaming for at least one of the them to added to the big league roster. It becomes a numbers game as the Wolves 'pen has no one with options left so calling someone up would mean quite possibly exposing someone to waivers. Offensively Bud House has found his stroke since being sent down, Charles Nunnery, 32, is having a good season along with his mentoring qualities on the young players.
Disappointments: Ray Bell, 4-5 4.66, who almost made the Wolves out of spring training was hoped to show dominance in AAA so he would be the first injury call-up. So far he has regressed in the minors.

Chattanooga Reliables: 17-34 dead last Dixie League
This team is off to miserable start. Both pitching, hitting are far below league norms. Many players were put in AA in a "make or break" scenario. Most are failing, new Hitting Coach Larry Vestal has not been able to pass on his approach to guide hitters, yet.
Highlights: The pitching staff statistically looks fine but are getting absolutely no run support. If the starters manage to get a lead then turn the game over to the 'pen a hand grenade generally goes off resulting in a loss. Randy Hendrix, C, is the only one in lineup who seems to know what a bat is for at the plate.
Disappointments: Any hitter other Hendrix

Davenport Dusters: 25-26 5th in Heartland League
Opposite of Chattanooga, team can hit but with the exception of one SP cannot pitch.
Highlights: Bobby Mills, 20, 7-0 2.61 who is causing much debate. Is he too young to go to AA? Do we want to expose him to the Chattanooga mine field? Offensive another C, Cal Morgan is begging to be promoted along 1B Mickey Martin.
Disappoint: The entire pitching staff

Vancouver Mounties: 26-14 1st in C-O-W
Toronto has had success at B that has not translated in as players move up the chain. Mounties again are again the class of the C-O-W.
Highlights: Jim Rosen, 24, is pitching well but his age is against him. Expect him to be in Davenport soon. Mounties have a number of hitters that may move up to A when a players in Davenport are forced to take the next step into AA.
Disappointments: Art Stone may return to Tuscaloosa when C-ball begins.

WOLVES UNEVEN IN OHIO

Cincinnati June 24th -A week long visit into the Buckeye State resulted in mixed results for the Toronto nine. After an off-day Monday the Foresters shutdown the Wolves on 3 hits to win 5-4 with all the visitors runs being scored in one inning. After another day off Cleveland won 4-2 on 5 hits, dropping both in Cleveland was an unexpected result. Was the team looking ahead to Cincinnati or was it more of missing Pomales' bat while recovering from a sprained ankle? The team has been relying almost exclusively on Pomales, Stickle, Hull to patrol the OF thus far in '45. Hull has struggled all season posting a .206/.281/.280 line although he has 29 RBI. Is it time to look for a RHB for the outfield to give Call more options?

Toronto went into Tice Memorial Stadium for a weekend series in which they came away with a split allowing them to maintain a lead in the CA by the narrowest of margins, one-half game. After winning the Friday opener 5-4 they were shut down by Deuce Barrell, 5-0 as Barrell scattered 6 hits in a CG where he threw only 101 offerings to the plate. Pomales returned to the lineup, he had 2 or 6 base knocks against Barrell. Wolves split the Sunday doubleheader before boarding the train for New York to spend a week playing the Stars, Kings in the Empire State. It was announced that the train will make a detour into Buffalo to let Tommy Anderson off, where he hopes to regain his form, picking up lefty Bill Ferrell to add to the bullpen. Cookie Meyers will make his first start of the year probably in Brooklyn.

SHEPPARD USES ALL-STAR SNUB AS MOTIVATION

A younger Sam Sheppard might have busted up the locker room or at least taken his frustration out on the dugout wall with a few bats, but this is a more mature version of Sheppard we are seeing in Cincinnati. Still, it has to be disappointing to be 7-1 and learn that the Continental Association thought so little of you that you are not even included on the list of 24 pitchers to be considered for next months all-star game in Chicago.

The often combative Sheppard took the news in stride, and said it will give him added incentive to show the league just how wrong they were. Three Cannons did make the ballot as starting pitcher candidates with Deuce Barrell (6-2, 2.12) and his uncle Tom Barrell (8-1, 2.78) both expected to make the team while Butch Smith (2-9, 4.53)-whose nightmare of a season continued with a loss to Toronto last week- most certainly will not.

Sheppard has been to the all-star game 3 times before so he knows what he is missing and says the rest will probably do his 37 year old arm some good. He has matured since those early days and one has to wonder if the omission this time around is payback for some of the things Sheppard did and said in the past including once famously arriving late for the all-star game and publicly questioning the value of playing it when he was not getting paid extra to do so. That was in the mid-thirties when he won 70 games over three seasons and could do and say pretty much anything he wanted. Sheppard did win 21 in a resurgence two years ago but was an awful 6-17 last season in his final year with the St Louis Pioneers. He already has one more win than he did all of last season as Sheppard, like so many other veterans, has found a drinking fountain of youth somewhere in the catacombs of Tice Stadium, and is enjoying a resurgence for the second time, whether those that manufacture the CA all-star ballot know it or not.
*** Sawyer Needs a Drink ***

Speaking of the mystical fountain of youth at Tice Memorial, perhaps Hector Sawyer needs to take a swig. While Sawyer had no trouble with Frank Sanderson Saturday at Gothams Stadium, many in attendance say the champ is no where close to the fighter he was before the war. In the pre-war days he would have destroyed a chump like Sanderson in the opening round was the sentiment echoed by many. It will be interesting to see when he faces a real top-flight opponent, although it is beginning to look like his managers want to hold off on that for as long as possible in order to get a couple more big paychecks sent their way.
*** Tigers Still Struggling to Fill Camp Roster ***

Word is Coach Jack Conn and the Cincinnati Tigers are making little progress in trying to round out their training camp roster for the 1945 season. There is still plenty of time left as they don't convene on the campus of Grange College until early August but competition for playing talent is fierce with the new Continental Football Conference added to a messy mix that already included Selective Service chasing some new enlistees and colleges bidding for discharged soldiers with eligibility to return. No need to panic yet although some naysayers are warning the Tigers may be forced to close up shop for a year two like the St Louis Ramblers did the previous two seasons. Conn reassures us it won't come to that, and while he would give no details the veteran ballcoach says the club has a 'creative idea' to solve the player problem in the works.

Hector Sawyer did more hitting in one night at Gothams Stadium than the hometown ballclub does in a week. While the Gothams were in St Louis getting beat up for the weekend Sawyer successfully defended his world heavyweight title at Gothams Stadium over the weekend, entertaining 50,176 fight fans, giving big ballpark it's largest crowd ever and just surpassing the previous mark of 49,851 established in game four of the 1942 WCS.
Memo to Continental Association batters. Pete Papenfus, former strikeout king of the circuit, still is slipping the third strike past batters at a better than average pace. The former Chicago Cougars pitcher, now managing and pitching for the Great Lakes Naval team, has whiffed an even 100 batters in 67 innings. Included in those totals was 10 k's in a perfect game Papenfus recently tossed before 10,000 sailors in Detroit watching his club take on a team of all-stars from local auto plants.
Marc McNeil of the Montreal Star says the city is looking forward to seeing Bill Greene play in his first all-star game. "After getting the player of the week honors with 5HRs in the week, CF Bill Greene need a 3 days rest. Better than a injury, because Greene been the masterpiece of the Saints season. He is right now second behind Barrell in HRs and third in RBI in the FABL. Greene, drafted third overall in 1939 and been in Montreal since September 1940, is finally showing all his skills this season at the age of 28. Sounds like he will get the ticket to participate to the All-Star game in next July. If the case, it will be the first time, Greene participate to the mid-season FABL event."
While there is not a lot to cheer about with the Chicago Chiefs, the struggling club had some positive news this week with a big performance from Dick Blaszak. The Polish Hammer is still looking for his first FABL homerun but he had a 4-for-5 game with 2 doubles in a 6-4 win over Detroit to end a 6 game skid for the club. With the 23 year old Blaszak and 22 year old Billy Brown, who is off to a hot start, Chief fans may be talking about their BB-Guns Blaszak and Brown in the outfield for years to come.
Plenty of quality baseball for the Windy City. First Whitney Park hosts the return of the Collegiate World Championship Series this past week concluding with today's finals. And now we are just over a week away from the return of the FABL All-Star game to Chicago. Whitney Park hosted the very first mid-summer classic in 1933 and now 12 years later it is back in Chicago with Cougars Park set to do the honours of hosting on July 10.
Speaking of college ball, today's championship game is one last chance for Bluegrass State and Grange College players to impress FABL scouts in advance of tomorrow's final stage of the draft. Five players from the two sides are already spoken for with Bob Riggins (1st overall-Stars), Otis Porter (7th overall Toronto) and Leon Zalewski (8th round Washington) of Grange College and Bluegrass State's Harry Finney (rd 2 Toronto) and Harry Strickland (round 6 Keystones) already spoken for but each school has three players expected to be selected in the second half of the draft. They include outfielder Zack Rowell -who is having a big series for Grange College- and pitchers Hal Taylor and Harry Wear while Bluegrass State has catcher Cal Callejas, infielder Bobby Sherrod and outfielder Ted Melvin on the scouts radar.

Hector Sawyer retained his World Heavyweight Championship in a 9th-round TKO of challenger Pete Sanderson on Saturday night before a record crowd of 50,176 at Gothams Stadium. In fact, for a challenger, Sanderson did not offer much of a challenge at all. Sawyer was never threatened and Sanderson barely laid a glove on the Cajun Crusher. The bout did last over eight rounds, but it was mainly an exercise of watching Sawyer spar and land blows at will. Sawyer is thinking of bigger future fights, but he did entertain the decidedly partisan crowd by roughing Sanderson up, but good.

New Yorkers have seen Sawyer defend his title before, back in December 1940 in a 5th round knockout of Mark Dyer, but that was before his stint in the Service. Sawyer stayed fit and trim in the Army, but his professional record has largely been absent since 1941. His record of 51-3-1 after this victory tells part of the story and his 46 knockouts tell the rest of it. He punishes his opponents and they get familiar with the canvas.

About the only thing Sanderson managed to do was stay upright, but referee Cotton Edwards had seen enough in the ninth round after a cut, which was opened up in the second round, was swollen and continued to bleed throughout the match. It was the second stoppage for the incessant bleeding, as the eighth round was delayed while the ringside physician inspected Sanderson, eventually deciding to allow the rout of a bout to continue.

The scuttlebutt is Sanderson's defeat of Ben Rowe in April in New Orleans was a showcase for this fight, as Sawyer's manager handpicked him for this bout as an easy mark to pad Sawyer's record and build his stamina and confidence. Sawyer's manager deserves a raise as the night could not have been planned better. Sawyer emerged from the fight with nary a scratch.

As the clock ticked, and the crowd roared with every Sawyer punch, it really did not matter what the judges scorecards read, though for the record two judges gave Sawyer each round and the third judge only scored one round for the challenger. But, you could tell quick that this fight was not going the distance. As with any fight, however, all it takes is one and Sanderson fans hoped for that one wayward drive to make its way through Sawyer's defenses. It didn't.

Sanderson fell to 29-7-2 with the loss and the open question of how well Sanderson could compete with a champion, albeit rusty, was solidly answered. The Scranton, Pa. native, discharged from the Marine Corps last year, can regale his buddies with stories of how he took on the Cajun Crusher and lived to tell the tale. As those fish stories evolve over time, he might be well served to change the ending.

RECORD CROWD SEES SAWYER USE CHALLENGER AS PUNCHING BAG

(AP)- The largest crowd in Gothams Stadium history was on hand to witness the return of a Heavyweight Title Fight to New York City after a more than four year absence. The fight proved to be as one-sided as some had predicted as Hector Sawyer retained his crown with a 9th round technical knock-out of challenger Pete Sanderson. The victory improves Sawyer's career mark to 51-3-1 and is the second successful title defense for the 30 year old New Orleans native since he was discharged from the Army last year. 46 of the Cajun Crusher's wins have come by knockout.

Sanderson deserves credit for a game effort, one that delighted the 50,176 fans of the sweet science who were on hand to witness it. The 35 year old ex-marine did little to show he had any chance of winning but earned the admiration of the throng for his ability to remain on his feet and withstand the punishment delivered by Sawyer for 9 rounds. The Scranton native is now 29-7-2 as a professional fighter.

The fight looked in many ways like nothing more than 9 rounds of sparring for Sawyer, who you just had the sense was about to put Sanderson away far earlier than he did. The champ set the tone in the opening minute with a stiff uppercut that quickly showed the challenger he would be in for a long night, if he was able to stay on his feet. In the second round Sawyer opened a cut on Sanderson's right eyebrow but spent most of the 3 minutes working the body of Sanderson.

Round three might have been the most lobsided of a clearly one-sided fight as Sanderson barely laid a glove on the champ while Sawyer continued to rock the challenger with body shots and narrowly missed on a short uppercut to the chin that would have done serious damage had it connected. The only positive for Sanderson in that round was his corner did get the bleeding above his right eye stopped.

Sawyer's corner was encouraging the champ to be even more active and he was just that as the bell sounded for the fourth round, unleashing a flury of punches aimed primarily at the body for the opening two minutes. The few times Sanderson tried to counter, Sawyer was quick enough- despite some detractors saying he had lost a step- to easily sidestep the blows. With 45 seconds remaining in the round the crowd went wild after a violent uppercut from Sawyer but he seemed to get a little too amped up and had to get warned by referee Cotton Edwards for hitting after the official had stepped in to separate them from a clinch.

Rounds five, six and seven were much the same with Sanderson just trying to hang on while Sawyer continued to work the body and slip in the occasional big swing intended to end the bout. It did not happen, at least not yet, as Sanderson deserves credit for remaining upright despite absorbing a savage beating.

The Scranton challenger had his brief moment to shine in round 8 when he stung Sawyer, who was not expecting a big shot from the challenger at this stage. Sanderson controlled the fight for the ensuing minute until Sawyer regained his wits and reopened the cut over Sanderson's right eye with a left hook that found it's mark. The blood was flowing so badly that referee Edwards briefly stopped the bout for the ring doctor to check Sanderson's facial wound out. He was given the go-ahead to continue but the rest of the round was all Sawyer, although it was the only one any of the judges might have even come close to considering even.

Round nine would last just one minute as Sawyer quickly reopened the wound Sanderson's corner had worked so hard on closing just moments before and another jab had the gash flowing even more than before. Sanderson clearly could no longer see out of his right eye and the ringside physician was once again asked to take a look. This time it would not be allowed to continue with Sawyer being declared winner by TKO at 1:07 of the ninth round.

Sawyer's handlers did not say what was next for the champ, but indications are he plans to make another title defense perhaps as early as September. Much like his return to the ring in February when Sawyer took care of Willie Meyer in Boston with a 5th round knockout, the champ adsorbed very little damage and looked like he could be ready to fight again in a matter of weeks. The lure of another big payday -like this evening with a record-breaking crowd at the 6 year old Gothams Stadium- is enough to push those that depend on Sawyer for their income into encouraging the champ to get back at it as soon as possible.
*** Three Young Fighters Get Chance To Show Their Stuff ***

Sawyer considers himself a mentor to many young boxers and displayed that during his time in the army, helping guide more than one young soldier in preparation for a post-war fight career. As a result it is no surprise that three of the four preliminary bouts on the Sawyer fight card showcased some up and coming young fighters. The first of the preliminary bouts featured promising Atlanta born middleweight by the name of Tommy Campbell. The 26-year old improved to 10-0 with the 9th stoppage of his career, this one a 3rd round knockout of Jerry Miller in a bout slated for 10.

Campbell, who Sawyer took under his wing and trained with while both were in the Army, made his pro debut at the age of 18 in 1937 and counts wins over Nathan Sears -who had a title shot three years later against Arthur Rees- and John Johnston with both entering their tussles with Campbell unbeaten. Campbell is still in the Army, but has some connections that pulled a few strings to give him a chance to fight before what was by far the biggest crowd he has ever performed in front of. The fans came away very impressed and by the end of the bout it was clear he was quickly a crowd-favourite and with Sawyer's guidance might just be fighting for a title himself in the not to distant future.

The second young middleweight was also given a very large spotlight by being on the undercard. Brooklyn native Bill Boggs, recently profiled in TWIFB as one of the young fighter to watch made short work of Howard Goodwin with a first round knockout in a bout that lasted just 88 seconds. The 20 year old is now 2-0 with his debut in April also ending with his opponent on the canvas.

Finally in the bout just before the champ was set to take the ring, it was welterweight Mac Erickson making his fourth appearance as a professional. The 24 year old Erickson is no stranger to the wild crowds of a title fight as he was on the undercard in England last September when Archie Rees faced Jorge Cuellar before allied soldiers and sailors. Erickson lost that fight, while still considered an amateur, to Danny Rutledge, but the St Paul, Mn. native was the victor on this day. Erickson scored a TKO win over Ed Ashley to run his record to 4-0, with all four wins coming by knockout.

Other fight action this week.
Dayton, Ohio welterweight Steve Landry continues to chase paydays as the 36 year old won by a 5th round knockout of youngster Rick Edgar in St Louis on Wednesday. Landry, who now sports a 32-13-2 record, made noise in Cincinnati in March when he handed rising young Chicago figher Ira Mitchell his first career loss in 11 bouts.

Wayne Dunn -the 29 year old Hartford born welterweight- scored an unanimous decision over Dave Sullivan on Wednesday to run his record to 24-6. On the same card middleweight Rick Watson (24-8-2) claimed a 6th round TKO win over Norm Hall.

Thursday evening in Washington DC saw welterweight Kevin Jackson improve to 15-4 with the 8th knockout of his career. The 26 year old DC born fighter took care of Baltimore's Andy Goodwin (3-5) in his second fight since joining the Army in 1943.

FLIERS START GRID TOIL WITH OUTLOOK BRIGHT

The job of shaping a football team capable of another perfect season begins this week for the Central Ohio Aviators. The Aviators were unbeaten and untied last year, 9-0 including a 24-17 New Years Day win over Coastal California on the coast in the East-West Classic. It was the first trip to Santa Ana for Central Ohio since 1921 but even that strong showing was not quite good enough for a national title as Rome State, also 9-0, was the choice of the pollsters.

A number of regulars return from last year but not their big three All-Americans, including Christian Trophy winning quarterback Jimmy Rhodes have graduated. The coaching staff did express satisfaction with the number of players expected for Tuesday's camp opening practice but admits it will have it's work cut out for it to replace Rhodes as well as fellow All-Americans Henry Woodson, a guard, and end Joe Steffen.

URGES CONGRESS TO HELP CURB ATHLETE GRABBING

Colleges will have to handle the problem of controlling sports subsidization themselves and not look to Congress for help, in the opinion of Representative Max Morris of Ohio. Morris revealed he had received a letter from Ohio Poly basketball coach Hawk Pizzo seeking congressional aid in the matter.

Pizzo's letter said colleges feared "creeping professionalsim" and proposed the appointment of a czar to handle the situation. He further inquired if congressional funds could be made available for a stury of the situation but Morris said such a survey would have to be made by colleges through the AIAA.

Pizzo said he thought high school graduates should find the same deal at every institution, rather than the high bidding which now exists. Under Pizzo's plan, he would assess each college to pay the salary of a 'czar' to control all college sports.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 6/24/1945

The Japanese abandoned their last lines of defense on Okinawa as Admiral Chester W. Nimitz announced complete conquest of the island was completed.
Lt General Simon Buckner Jr. was killed in the final days of the Okinawa conquest, the victim of a Japanese shell while he was on the front lines.
Thousands massed at the New York's LaGuardia Field to greet the plane bringing General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower home from Europe. A 17-gun salute, second only to the 21-gun volley accorded Heads of State, boomed out over the field as Eisenhower, whose might armies chased the Nazis back to utter defeat in Germany, stepped off the plane.
Sensational charges by a Senator from Virginia that German industrialists have prepared detailed plans to rearm Germany and finance Nazi party underground activities. That charge, based on secret documents uncovered, was leveled by Senator Harvey Kilgore.
President Truman left Tuesday on a non-stop flight from Washington to the Pacific Coast - marking the first time a President ever had made an airplane tip in this country. After arriving in San Francisco, Truman said he plans to submit the completed United Nations charter to the Senate on July 2 in hopes of quick approval.

Jiggs McGee · 01-17-2023, 01:03 PM

JULY 2, 1945

MINERS RECEIVE A SHOT IN THE ARM

The Pittsburgh Miners just got a shot in the arm -the left arm that is as their ace has returned from military service. Sgt. Robert C. Allen, known to Miners fans as Lefty, received his honorable discharge from the Army on Friday and is back and available to take the mound for Pittsburgh.

The 31 year old last pitched two seasons ago and struggled through a 12-10, 3.67 campaign -his lowest win total and highest era of an 8 year pro career. Allen is a two-time winner of the top pitcher award that is named after another ace moundsman by the same last name, and was named to the Federal Association all-star team 5 times in his career. His lifetime mark of 158-97 had fans talking earlier in his career of a strong chance at reaching the historic 300 win mark. The time away from the game might have dampened those discussions by Allen's return should be a huge boost to a Miners team that presently sits just 4.5 games behind the front-running Philadelphia Keystones in the Federal Association pennant race.
*** Pair of Prize Pitching Prospects Return ***

Joining Allen in ending their time in the service are a pair of highly touted young pitchers in 22 year old Richie Hughes and 21 year old Jack Wheeler. Hughes was Cleveland's first round pick -14th overall- in 1940 but spent just one full season in the minors before the Army came calling. An All-American as a junior in high school Hughes finished up 1941 in Class B but has been reportedly working hard on his game while playing for a number of military ballclubs and may just be ready for the big leagues. OSA presntly lists the Chicago native 8th on its prospect pipeline.

Wheeler is a top fifty prospect and the top pitcher in the Chicago Chiefs system. He was not selected until the 5th round in 1942 despite an outstanding high school career that saw him go 24-6 for Ventura(CA) High. Wheeler finished up 1942 in Class C, posting a 4-6 record with a 3.59 era and was elevated to Class B the next season as an 18 year old. He struggled at that level in 1943, going 7-13 with a 5.95 era and joined the Coast Guard at the conclusion of the season. There is a good chance the Chiefs may elevate the 21 year old to AA or perhaps even the top rung of the minors now that he is back in the organization.

CANNONS TAKE TURN AT TOP OF CONTINENTAL

It is the Cincinnati Cannons turn to take a spin at the top of the Continental Association pennant race this week. The Cannons took two of three from third place Chicago last week including another big effort from veteran Tom Barrell, who improved to 9-1 and likely cemented his spot on the CA all-star team with a 5-2 win over the Cougars. The lone Cougars win in the series was a surprisingly lobsided 7-0 victory over Deuce Barrell in the two-time Allen Award winner's worst outing of the season. Deuce did rebound with a shuout win over Montreal yesterday, against whom the Cannons also took two of three.

Toronto had a rough week in the Big Apple, losing four straight including 3 in a row to the suddenly hot New York Stars, before rebounding with a doubleheader sweep of Brooklyn yesterday. The Wolves are a game and a half back of the Cannons heading into a big weekend series in Chicago with the Cougars, who are 2.5 games off the lead.

In the Federal Association the Philadelphia Keystones still lead the way but 5 teams are within 5.5 games of the front-runners including the St Louis Pioneers, who continue to gain ground and took two of three from the Keystones last week. Only the Gothams and Chiefs seem out of contention at this stage and for the Gothams the news continues to be bad as they just learned they will be without outfielder Dan Rogers (.274,3,24) for the next month and a half after the 27 year old suffered an elbow injury.

TWIFB ANNUAL MID-SEASON ALL-STAR SELECTIONS

With the 13th annual FABL All-Star Game just a week away it is time for TWIFB to make its selections of who we feel should be the starting line-up for both the Federal and Continental Associations. The Feds lead the all-time series 7 victories to five including a 1-0 victory at Washington's Columbia Stadium a year ago. This year's game returns to Chicago where Cougars Park will play host to the game 13 years after the very first all-star extravaganza was contested at Whitney Park in the Windy City.

TWIFB ALL-STAR BALLOT

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION

Catcher: Choosing the Federal Association starting catcher used to be a very difficult task with George Cleaves, Heinie Zimmer and Tom Bird all usually being more than qualified. Nowadays, it is not quite the star-studded position it once was, with Cleaves and Zimmer serving their country and Bird in Cincinnati, but there is still some pretty good options available. Joe Henry in Detroit, Pete Casstevens with the Gothams, Washington's Paul Wilkerson and even Chiefs 29 year old rookie Jim Foley have had their moments this season but we will give the nod to Boston's Bill Van Ness, who may finally be at age 28 living up to the high expectations the Minutemen had for him when they selected Van Ness 6th overall in 1935. At the time of this writing Van Ness was tied for the Fed lead in on-base percentage and 5th in batting average.

First Base: Cuno Myer may be making fans in Detroit forget about Red Johnson, although few outside of the Motor City likely even recognize the 31 year olds name. He and Johnson have each had very good seasons and Washington's Sig Stofer is his usual dependable self but all come up just short on our ballot as we will take Hal Sharp, who is having a monster year in in St Louis and is second in batting average and tied for top spot in Fed on-base percentage at this writing.

Second Base: None of the second base nominees really stood out and we are very tempted to make it 3 straight players making what would be their all-star debuts for our list but John Busby has spent most of his time at the hot corner instead of second base for the Keystones this season. That helps us justity rewarding 35 year old Freddie Jones of the Chicago Chiefs with what would be his sixth, and likely final trip to the all-star game.

Third Base: It is really a toss-up between a pair of veteran third baseman who are contact-first guys. We really could go either way but our choice is Washington's Larry Colaianni over Johnny McDowell of Pittsburgh.

Shortstop: Not sure if we want his glove but Detroit's Hank Grant is making the most of his opportunity to play everyday after coming over from the Montreal Saints last year. Chiefs 28 year old Frank Davis also came to the Fed from Montreal and he was an all-star with the Saints in 1940. The thinking here is Davis should make his first Fed team as Grant's backup this time around.

Left Field: Why even list anyone else on the ballot. Circle Bobby Barrell's name and move on.

Center Field: We are not sure if there is a bigger surprise this season than what Cal Page is doing in St Louis now that Gail Gifford has moved on. Chuck Hood probably deserves some consideration for another fine season with Philadelphia and the same for the dependable Chick Donnelly in Boston.

Right Field: Another St Louis Pioneer gets the nod here with Al Tucker as the clear choice. Don Miller is doing a nice job in Washington as is Sid Williams in Detroit but Tucker is our starter.

Pitcher: There are some solid choices for the Fed starting pitcher. Harry Carter is leading the majors in ERA at the time of this writing and one has to really wonder just how much worse shape the struggling New York Gothams would have been in had he not been discharged in time for this season. We will take Carter as our starter but could have easily given the ball to any one of Boston's Dean Astle, Lou Ellertson of Washington, Jimmy Long of Detroit or the Keystones Red Ross. We normally do not vote for relievers but with George M Brooks on the ballot despite making 11 starts this season we will be sure to included him in the reliever section of our ballot.

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION

Catcher: 37 year old Cincinnati catcher Tom Bird is not putting up the incredible numbers he did in recent seasons in the Federal Association with the Chicago Chiefs but he still gets our vote and would, if selected, join Bobby Barrell as the only 10-time all-stars. Harry Mead of the Cougars and Bill Watson of the Sailors deserve back-up consideration as does George Jones of Brooklyn.

First Base: Talk about a tough choice. One could easily make a case for probably 7 first basemen including a trio of old-timers in Montreal's Vic Crawford, Jake Shadoan of Brooklyn and the Cougars Dick Walker. Chuck Adams is having a fine year in Cincinnati as is Ed Reyes for the Sailors but our vote goes to Toronto's Walt Pack even though he just was shifted to the hot corner with the return of Fred McCormick from the Army.

Second Base: A number of choices at second base including veterans Brooks Meeks of Cleveland but if we are going old let's do it right and take 38 year old Jack Cleaves of Cincinnati, who is enjoying his best season at the plate in a decade. Mel Hancock Jr. of the New York Stars, Toronto's Wayne Henderson and Chick Wilhelm of the Sailors also deserve mention.

Third Base: It's almost a toss-up between two guys who both lost the starting job in Cincinnati when the Cannons added Billy Dalton. Dalton is gone to Boston now so Denny Andrews reclaimed the starting job with the Cannons and is having a very good season. We will take him as out back-up but the starting job goes to Frank Covarrubias of the Sailors by the narrowest of margins.

Shortstop: The CA has long been home to some great shortstops, a group that just blows away the competition from the Fed. The scary thing is the talent pool is getting deeper with rookie Gordie Perkins off to an incredible start in Montreal. Perkins is a gloveman that may one day be on par with the big three of Skipper Schneider from the Cougars, Cincinnati's Jim Hensley and our choice as starter this year in Charlie Artuso of Toronto. Were any of the four in the Fed they would be the starter for that loop without a doubt.

Left Filed: With all due respect to the season Howie Smith is having for the New York Stars the choice here is obvious in Cincinnati veteran Al Wheeler, who is hitting like the Wheeler of a decade ago suddenly once more. He has also rekindled hopes of seeing another member to join Max Morris in the 500 homerun club and charging hard for his 3,000 career hit. Perhaps surprisingly considering his career numbers, this would only be the fifth all-star selection for Wheeler.

Center Field: Bill Greene has likely done enough in just June to warrant selection. The Montreal outfielder has hit 8 homers and drove in 25 runs this month to claim the starting job in our minds. Cincinnati's Gail Gifford and Don Lee of the Cougars are battling for the backup spot.

Right Field:He is hurt and will miss the game but that won't stop us from voting for Cliff Moss of the Chicago Cougars after his explosive start to the season. Moss did cool off a bit lately and a sprained ankle suffered in late June will prevent him from participating in the game. In his place we would take Chubby Hall of the Stars with Cincinnati's Sam Brown and Montreal's Art McMahon in the running as well.

Pitcher: Call us sentimental, and there are a number of good choices but we at TWIFB like nothing better than a player with a great story and we have 3 of them who will fill the pitcher slots on our ballot. We are giving the ball to Tom Barrell, who's career was deemed nearly over in Pittsburgh just two seasons ago. Brought in by the Cannons as a bullpen filler, Barrell caught fire when inserted in the Cannons rotation and has gone 21-6 with a 2.61 era in 30 starts including the WCS last seeason since joining the Cannons. He is 9-1 this year after winning just 15 games over 3 seasons with Pittsburgh.

George Garrison is 8-4 as of this writing and a huge reason for the Toronto Wolves success. His comeback is from not just missing two years due to the war, but also from tragedy where his brother was killed overseas and his father died while he was serving. Finally we have Deuce Barrell who is looking back in his Allen Award contender form with a 7-3 record and the best era in the CA after missing all of the previous year following a devastating elbow injury.

There were certainly others worthy of consideration like the trio of 9 game winners in young Eli Panneton of the Stars, Art White of the Cougars and Doc Newell of the Philadelphia Sailors. All making the case why we should be allowed to vote for 5 starters instead of being forced to place a pair of relievers on our ballots although, at 8-1 with 4 saves we are giving Cookie Myers a vote instead of leaving both reliever slots blank again this year.

Code:

		PAST ALL STAR GAME RESULTS
YEAR  LOCATION		 RESULT     			WINNING PITCHER   	  MVP
1933  Whitney Park       Federal 8 Continental 5	Ben Curtin STL         Pete Asher Pit
1934  Riverside Stadium  Federal 11 Continental 7	Chick Stout Pit	       Tom Taylor Cougars
1935  Broad Street Park  Federal 5  Continental 2	Art Myers Keystones    Freddie Jones StL
1936  Pioneer Field	 Continental 6 Federal 4	Tom Barrell BKN        Dick Walker Sailors
1937  Dominion Field     Federal 4 Continental 2 (19)	Don Attaway Keystones  Don Attaway Keystones
1938  Bigsby Oval	 Continental 5 Federal 4 (13)   Bob Cummings BKN       Fred McCormick TOR
1939  Forester Stadium   Continental 6 Federal 3        Art White BKN	       Fred McCormick TOR
1940  Thompson Field	 Federal 7 Continental 4  	Red Hampton Chiefs     Billy Woytek Keystones
1941  Kings County       Continental 8 Federal 4        Pete Papenfus Cougars  Fred Galloway Cincinnati
1942  Fitzpatrick Park   Federal 7 Continental 4        Ed Wood BOS            Hank Barnett Chiefs
1943  Parc Cartier	 Continetal 7 Federal 3         Dick Lyons, Cougars    Gail Gifford, StL
1944  Columbia Stadium   Federal 1 Continetal 0         Ed Bowman, Gothams     Don Miller, Wash

GRANGE COLLEGE WINS SECOND STRAIGHT COLLEGIATE BALL CROWN

Riggins and Rowell Too Much For Bluegrass State

The offensive exploits of outfielders Bob Riggins and Zack Rowell for the Grange College Mustangs proved more than Bluegrass State could handle, as Grange College prevailed 7-2 Monday at Whitney Field in Chicago, giving Grange College not only the bragging rights for Louisville - the Kentucky city the two school share- but also all of collegiate baseball as the win cemented a second straight AIAA championship and third overall for Grange College.

Riggins, who was Christian Trophy winner each of the past two years and was selected first overall by the New York Stars in the FABL draft, had a big series and delivered 3 more hits in the title game, which was pushed back a day after rain left the field unplayable yesterday, but it was Rowell -the often overlooked member of a Grange College outfield that also includes talented sophomore Barton 'Hoot' Ellis- that was the star of the series. Rowell had himself a week, going 12-for-18 in the 4 games this week including a 3-hit, 3 rbi showing on Monday. It could not have come a better time for the 21 year old from Canby, Oregon who was overlooked in the January human-GM portion of the FABL draft. Rowell hit a rather pedistrian .262 during the season but played in just 40 games due to some nagging injuries.

The FABL draft was completed this week with rounds 9 thru 25 being conducted and Rowell was selected in the 17th round by the Cincinnati Cannons. It was also fitting he had a chance to excel in the collegiate championships at Whitney Park, home of the Chicago Chiefs. The Chiefs had originally drafted Rowell out of high school three years ago, selecting him in the 24th round but he decided not to sign and went to Grange College instead. The move clearly paid off for Rowell as he is now a two-time Collegiate Champion.

Bluegrass State had a strong season, and would have finished with the best AIAA winning percentage for a season since the College of San Diego Friars went 44-6 in 1926 but there record 56-8 was surpassed this season by Grange College, which won an AIAA record 59 games this season before adding 4 more over the past week as collegiate ball conducted it's first World Championship Series since the feeder system was abandoned in 1933.

COLLEGIATE WORLD SERIES RESULTS
OPENING ROUND
#1 Grange College 5 #16 Garden State 3
#2 Bluegrass State 2 #15 Oklahoma City State 1
#3 Eastern State 8 #14 Chesapeake State 4
#4 Georgia Baptist 10 #13 Northern Mississippi 6
#12 Liberty College 3 #5 Cumberland 1
#6 Opelika State 4 #11 Daniel Boone College 2
#7 Coastal State 6 #10 Mississippi A&M 4 (11 innings)
#8 Whitney College 2 #9 American Atlantic 0
QUARTERFINAL
#1 Grange College 10 #8 Whitney College 0
#2 Bluegrass State 7 #7 Coastal State 5
#6 Opelika State 2 #3 Eastern State 1
#12 Liberty College 3 #4 Georgia Baptist 2
SEMI-FINAL
#1 Grange College 5 #12 Liberty College 1
#2 Bluegrass State 2 #6 Opelika State 0 (11 innings)
FINAL
Grange College 7 Bluegrass State 2

RIGGINS REPEATS AS CHRISTIAN WINNER

After leading his Grange College Mustangs to their second straight national title on Monday afternoon, Bob Riggins learned he won his second straight Frank Christian Trophy as the AIAA's top baseball player. The Grange College junior, who was selected first overall by the New York Stars in the FABL draft, becomes just the third two-time winner in the 19 year history of the award joining Bill Moore of Lubbock State -who won in 1931 and 1932- and Narragansett outfielder Sal Pestilli -the winner in 1934 and 1936.

It was a close race this time around as both Riggins and sophomore pitcher John Stallings of Piedmont University each collected 5 first place votes but Riggins was named the second choice on the other six ballots while Stallings had 3 seconds and a pair of third place finishes, while also being left off one ballot entirely. The result was Riggins claimed 27 points with Stallings finishing 4 points back.

The Adwell Award, presented to the top high school player in the nation, was also handed out last week with Beaver, Pa. shortstop Ralph Hanson being the winner. Hanson, who set an AIAA single season batting average record by hitting .615 this season, was selected second overall in the January FABL draft by the Stars so he has joined Riggins in the Stars minor league organization. The two were together last week as professional teammates at Class C Alexandria.

Hanson becomes the first infielder to win the Adwell since Walt Messer won his second of two in 1936. It was Messer who had held the single season batting average until Hanson's outstanding campaign. Hanson also makes it three straight Adwell Awards for the state of Pennsylvanians as pitcher Roy Schaub, who played his high school ball in Philadelphia, was the winner each of the previous two seasons.

The Dynamos started the season 15-9 in the first 4 weeks. Since that time the season of mediocrity has commenced with a 23-24 record. Every week has been .500 except one where we went 4-5.

Last week the Dynamos shut down rookie SP Carl Potter for a week. After a 5-0 1.10 May, June saw him slump to a 1-4 record with a 5.97 ERA. Manager Dick York stated “The kid looked tired after his last outing so I made the decision to give him a little rest. He will come back with a couple of starts this week and might get in 3 before the All-Star game. Major League innings are a lot different than high school, with all the travel and pressure.”

SP Jim Bob Jones came up from AAA this week to take Potter’s spot in the rotation for a game. JB scattered 10 hits with no walks in a complete game 3-2 win over the Washington Eagles.

The Dynamos finally did DFA OF Elmer Nolde (37). GM DD Martin was quoted as saying “Elmer still has life in his bat. I’m sure he can help out a team that’s fighting for a pennant down the stretch. We wish him the best.” LF George Bond will take over the job as the full time LF starting this week. He had been sharing time with Henry Jones but the whispers are Jones (40) has lost some “snap” in his bat speed and could be the next Dynamo veteran to retire.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Wolves Road Woes Continue -Toronto traveled into New York City to continue their road swing with the hopes on getting back onto the winning side of the ledger. Unfortunately that was not the case as the Wolves started the visit with 5 straight losses which brought June to an end with a 14-14 record. The Stars swept a 3 game series with scores of 4-3, 7-4, 2-1. Particularly galling was the first loss when the bullpen surrender a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth. Bill Crosby gave up 3 hits, walked 3 handing the game to the Stars on a plate for his 4th blown save of the season. The 'pen now has 10 blown saves on the year, a far cry from the way the relievers came in to lock down the opposition in 1944.

The team could not clear out of Dyckman Stadium fast enough after the 2-1 loss on Friday. The problem was things did not get any better at Kings County Park II on Saturday when they again only scored scored a single run in listless 3-1 loss to the Kings. This was the first loss of 1945 to Brooklyn which seemed to lead to Manager Call losing his temper. The clubhouse was closed to reporters after the game for about 30 minutes in which, given the volume, was a tirade calling out the work ethic, desire of same players.

Neither players nor staff would not discuss the specifics of the tongue lashing but many players said it was deserved, speaking under the condition of anonymity a high profile player told Brett "We deserved that, we were starting to believe the hype around the team, the CA is an awfully tough group, any team can win on any given day. To have Bob lose his temper, call out individuals takes something as he is as level headed as any FABL skipper."

The closed door summit seems to have had the desired effect on the Wolves. The team rebounded with another doubleheader sweep, their sixth this season, over the Kings 2-1, 5-3. Cookie Meyers was impressive in his first start of the season tossing a CG 5 hitter in the 2-1 victory. George Garrison picked up his 8th victory in the 5-3 nightcap thanks in no small part to a pinch hit double by McCormick sparking a 4 run eighth. Crosby locked down the victory with 2 scoreless innings picking save number 3 of the season.

The team now heads into Montreal, Chicago to complete the trip with 8 games in 7 days including an off day, two doubleheaders in second place a game and a half behind the Cannons. Saints are showing signs of life with two players winning Player of the Month for June. Cougars are only one game out of second hot on the Wolves trail.

The New York Stars have to be thrilled with recent developments improving what had been a dismal start to the season. First the Stars have gone 10-3 over the past two weeks. Plus they received news that OSA has ranked their two draft picks taken at the top of the first round in January 1st and 4th on the prospect pipeline. Ralph Hanson, who was selected second in a pick acquired from the New York Gothams heads the list while first overall selection Bob Riggins comes in at #4. Those two have vaulted the New York Stars to the top of the minor league systems rankings, with Detroit and Brooklyn rounding out the top three.
It was a pretty good draft at the top if you go by OSA's thoughts. Not only do you have Hanson and Riggins debutingat first and fourth but other just drafted players to crack the top twenty prospect list include Brooklyn outfielder Ralph Johnson (pick 5 is OSA's 5th ranked prospect), Detroit's Del Johnson (picked 6th is #9 on OSA's list), Ike Perry of Washington (pick 4 slots in at 10) and Johnny Peters (pick 3 is 18th on OSA chart).
The Polish Hammer hit his first big league home run last week. Dick Blaszak's blast came off of Duke Hendricks in the 7th inning of the Chicago Chiefs 8-3 loss to Boston on Wednesday. The 23 year old 1940 first overall draft pick is hitting .256 with 16 rbi's through his first 42 big league games. The other youngster in the Chiefs outfield, Billy Brown, has quickly moved into 2nd on the team with 3 long balls in his short time with the big club. And they are making it a youthful trio with news that 22-year-old Dave Krieger has also been recalled from Fort Wayne to take over in center for the very young Chiefs outfield.
Cross-town with the Cougars Chick Browning and Bill Rich did their best Cliff Moss impressions, combining to go 8-for-19 with 4 homers and 13 RBIs while filling in at right field.

COIN GHOST RATTLES AGAIN IN COLLEGE CLOSET

Should college athletes be paid? Well, let's put it this way: Would you give a helping hand to a good athlete who had something on the scholastic ball?

As has happened in the past, the old ghost is rattling around again with a push for the student athletes to at least get expense and walking around money. Should those who play major college sports be paid? Horace McKenchnie of Bayou State, who is also is a vice president in charge of research in the American Collegiate Sports Publicity Association, unlocked the closet door recently when he put that question to some 130 schools. It was couched in nobler language, but that's what it boiled down to.

All of us know that most prewar colleges were like kids with strawberry-smeared faces swearing they hadn't been near the jam pot when this irksome matter came up. Pay football players? Sir, that calls for epithets at 20 paces and not even split infinitives barred. Some winked at it, some took advantage of loopholes, others raised the bars and consequently just about dropped out of the picture, and others found their high purpose defeated by well-heeled alumni who wanted winning football teams and had the wherewith to by them.

The Deep South Conference, of which Bayou State is a member, has been most open and above board in the matter and frankly pays all the expenses of scholarship football players. We may not be exactly correct but we understand this includes room, board, tuition, books and approximately $50 a month for incidentals. That isn't too much for a good player who might command $300 or $400 a week in pro football. What was that, pro football? Ah, could that be the villain in the piece?

At this writing the college athletic situation is as unsettled as last year's taxes and each passing month adds to the confusion. Most colleges want to resume their sports programs immediately, but some can't because the military draft still is getting most of their prospective enrollees and the the older boys still are away at war. The thin line of students going to class embraces a precious few bonafide athletes.

Thus it seems schools will have to lean heavily on war veterans for help when peace finally returns. But here is where they run into several kinds of complications involving economics as well as eligibility rules. Will an athlete be permitted to transer to another school after receiving his honorable discharge from service? For exampe a player enrolled in a Deep South school who played football in the Great Lakes Alliance as a Navy V-12 trainee? So far the AIAA has not given an indication either way.

But a bigger obstacle will be that of earning a living. Most of the kids who marched away several years ago will return as battle-seasoned, worldly veterans, who'll scorn the lollypop handouts formerly given in the way of assistance. Thousands will be married men, some with families and if they want to complete their education they'll have to find a way to support their dependents as well as themselves. Here is where pro football comes into the pictue. If colleges insist in strict amateurism, as interpreted by themselves, more than a few players are going to take the $300 or $400 a week they can earn in the pro game and get their education in easy doses.

You have not just the American Football Association but also the upstart Continental Football Conference, fighting for a foothold in the pro game, is going after any and all talent and the devil take the hindmost. We find it difficult to believe the colleges will allow this raiding of players with eligibility remaining to go unchallenged and it is our personal view that these questionnaires are aimed at dredging up enough sentiment to fix a national policy agreement to all schools. This worries some of the smaller schools, who perhaps lack the funds to compete with the big boys of the AIAA if the door to the vault swings open. Their nervousness seemed to be reflected last week when Ohio Poly cage coach Hawk Pizzo tried to get congressional aid in combatting professionalism in collegiate sports and keep the boys in line. That's a large order, but it's indicative of the thinking among some colleges -perhaps among most.

Any candidates for czar? Personally, we think we've found an easier way to earn a living.

There was no title fight and nothing definite in that regard on the upcoming slate but it was still was a busy week in the boxing world as a few of the top contenders and some up and comers were in action over the past seven days. Leading the charges was one of the better middleweights and perhaps the next opponent for the new champ in that division Frank Melanson.

The pugilist we speak of is John Edmonds, a 27 year old from Muncie, In., who is ranked as the top American born contender at the momemnt. Edmonds ran his record to 19-1 with a 5th round TKO of Vic Woodley on Thursday night. It was a pretty big fight as the 28 year old Woodley (19-7) is no slouch and had won his last four bouts. It might be a good indicator of the challenge Edmonds could pose for Melanson should they meet, as Melanson needed the full 12 rounds to score an unanimous decision win over Woodley 2 years ago. Neither fight was exceptionally close but Edmonds certanly handled the New Yorker Woodley in a much easier fashion than the new champ did.

Todd Gill, another of the middleweight contenders, was also in action. The 33 year old Hartford native took out his frustrations of not getting a shot at Rees with an unanimous decision over little know Steve Adams in a bout at Fall River, Ma. on Monday. Gill had appeared to be the one all set to face Rees instead of Melanson, but haggling over his share of the gate cost the outspoken Gill his opportunity.

Boston born heavyweight Roy Crawford improved to 19-2 with an unanimous decision over journeyman Bee-Bee Baldwin. 37 year old Ken Haley appears to be reaching the end of the line as the Kalamazoo, Mi., heavyweight looked old and slow in dopping a split decision to lightly regarded Windsor, Ont. youngster Pat Ings in a Tuesday night fight in Detroit.

As for the up and comers, Joe Moore -the 25 year old middleweight out of the Pacific Northwest who is back in action after a stint in Euorpe with the Army, ran his record to 11-1 with an 8th round knockout of Canadian Kevin Rawlings (7-2). On Tuesday young middleweight Davis Owens scored an 8 round unanimous decision victory over Porter Harvey for his second career win in as many outings.

UPDATED RANKINGS IN EACH WEIGHT CLASS

To help TWIFB readers stay up to date with the top boxers here is the latest list according to the American Boxing Federation of the top contenders in each division. The ABF stipulates a fighter must have at least 15 professional bouts to be included. Note that this list is not the only fighters a champion is restricted to facing in a title defense.

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION- Champ Hector Sawyer 51-3-1 (46)
30 years old (turns 31 on July 11) New Orleans, La

Code:


		TOP HEAVYWEIGHT CONTENDERS (min 15 bouts)
#  NAME		REC	 AGE	HOMETOWN     LAST FIGHT
1 Cannon Cooper  18-0-1   25  Rockford, Il  May 25 KO Dan Turner
2 Chris Gilbert  23-10-3  32  Joplin, Mo    Mar 15 UD Doug Martin
3 Matt Price     27-4-4   28  Tampa, Fl	    Jun 28 draw Eugene Morse	
4 Chis Sullvan   15-2-3   28  Chicago, Il   Apr 2  UD Brad Kelley
5 Mark Fountain  18-2-1   27  New York, NY  Mar 21 Loss Leo Carmichael
6 Dan Miller	 17-7-1   28  Oakland, Ca   Apr 15 UD Allen Daniel

MIDDLWEIGHT DIVISION- Champ Frank Melanson 29-0-1 (4)
28 years old from Pittsburgh, Pa.

Code:


		TOP MIDDLEWEIGHT CONTENDERS (min 15 bouts)
#  NAME		      REC   AGE	HOMETOWN       LAST FIGHT
1 Edouard Desmarais  29-0-1  29 Paris, France   1940
2 John Edmonds       19-1    27 Muncie, In     Apr 23 KO Warren Gray
3 Archie Rees        35-5-1  32 Tadcaster, Eng Jun 9 L Frank Melanson
4 Brooks O'Connor    18-3-2  28 Detroit, Mi    May 29 DQwin Bob Hinkle
5 Todd Gill          20-1-4  33 Hartford, Ct   Jun 25 UD Steve Adams
6 Nathan Sears       17-2    30 Gary, In       1941   L Archie Rees

WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION- Champ Vacant

Code:


		TOP WELTERWEIGHT CONTENDERS (min 15 bouts)
#  NAME		      REC   AGE	HOMETOWN       LAST FIGHT
1  Mark Westlake     19-1-1  27 Biloxi, Ms     Feb 25  TKO Carter Moore
2  Rudy Perry        19-1-1  29 Philadelphia   1940  UD Artie Neal
3  Wayne Dunn	     24-6    29 Hartford, Ct   June 20 UD Dave Sullivan
4  John Gregory      13-1-1  26 Vista, Ca      1941  UD Pete Andrews
4  Dennis O'Keefe    17-1    28 Jacksonvile    1941  UD Brad Stephens

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 7/01/1945

Representatives of 50 nations approved a plan for a peaceful future in the charter of a new world organization adopted by the United Nations Conference in San Francisco. Next up is to set up a commission to plan for the first meeting of the new peacekeeping organization.
Japanese casualties in the Okinawa campaign soared past the 110,000 mark and Tokyo finally admitted loss of the island.
The final battle of Northern Luzon is underway with bitter fighting after the 11th Airborne Division dropped parachute troops and -for the first time in the Pacific- glider-borne units at edge of Cagayan Valley.
Australian troops completed their conquest of northwest Borneo's rich oilfields
War Mobilization Director Fred Vinson disclosed that the Government is rushing reconversion plans based upon "an early defeat of Japan as well as a late one." He says all war agencies "are getting ready to beet the problems which an early VJ-Day will bring."
The Army is set to reduce the number of points required for discharge from 85 to between 78 and 80 within the next couple of weeks. The points system is being used to release 1.3 million men from the Army's ranks.
A chilling report from Foreign Economic Administrator Leo Crowley, who says that Germany's war-making potential is still a threat and warned that if the Germans had held out six month longer they may have been able to hit New York City with V-bombs launched from U-boats in the Atlantic and a little afterward they could have sent jet-propelled planes against Washington.

Jiggs McGee · 01-18-2023, 01:52 PM

JULY 9, 1945

ROSTERS SET FOR TUESDAY STARS GAME

The squads have been named for the 13th edition of baseball's mid-summer classic. The All-Star game returns to its roots as the contest will be held in Chicago for the first time since the inaugural game in 1933. That game was held in Whitney Park but this time around it will be contested in Cougars Park, the fancy newish Chicago Cougars stadium that was not even built the last time the stars of the sport gathered in the Windy City for an association vs association showdown.

The Federal Association won that first game -held July 6, 1933- by an 8-5 score and it featured 2-hit performances by a 27 year old Philadelphia Sailors infielder named Jack Cleaves and a third year Philadelphia Keystones outfielder from a famous ballplaying family by the name of Bobby Barrell. Thirteen years later both of those names, along with Al Wheeler -who went 0 for 2 in that first stars game- will head to Chicago once more for the latest version of the star-studded spectacle, although Cleaves will not play due to a minor back issue.

The Continental Assoiciation will be missing two starters from it's lineup as Chicago Cougars outfielder Cliff Moss will join Cleaves on the sidelines. The Federal Stars lead the series 7 wins to 5 including a 1-0 victory at Washington's Columbia Stadium last year.

Among the 1945 All-Stars are 2 war veterans as George Garrison of the Toronto Wolves and the New York Stars Dixie Lee are each named to the squad after being discharged over the winter. The Cincinnati Cannons lead the way with 7 players selected to the all-star game including Tom Bird, who along with Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones, were selected for a record 10th game each.

Code:

MOST ALL-STAR SELECTIONS
10* Tom Bird        Chiefs
10* Bobby Barrell   Keystones
9   Frank Vance     Detroit
8   John Lawson     Military Service Cougars
7   Adam Mullins    Military Service -Cincinnati 
7   George Cleaves  Military Service- Pittsburgh
7   Fred McCormick  Toronto
7   Harry Barrell   Military Service- Boston
7   Hank Barnett    Military Service- Cougars
7   Ron Rattigan    Chiefs
6*  Dean Astle      Boston
6*  Pete Day        Boston
6   Pablo Reyes     Military Service -Pittsburgh
6   Moxie Pidgeon   Pittsburgh
 * selected for 1945 ASG

ALL-STAR SELECTIONS BY TEAM (#of All-Star games)
CINCINNATI- 7 Tom Bird (10), Al Wheeler (5), Tom Barrell (4), Deuce Barrell (4), Jack Cleaves (4), Gail Gifford (4), Denny Andrews (1)
BOSTON- 5 Dean Astle (6), Pete Day (6), Chick Donnelly (5) Duke Hendricks (1), Bill Van Ness (1)
COUGARS- 5 Skipper Schneider (5), Cliff Moss (4), Ben Curtin (3), Don Lee (1), Rusty Petrick (1)
MONTREAL- 4 Jake Hughes (4), Bill Greene (1), Gordie Perkins (1), Pat Weakley (1)
KEYSTONES-4 Bobby Barrell (10), George M Brooks (2), Tim Walters (2), John Busby (1)
ST LOUIS- 4 Al Tucker (4), Larry Gregory (1), Cal Page (1),Hal Sharp (1)
TORONTO-4 Charlie Artuso (3), George Garrison (2), Walt Pack (2), Cookie Myers (1)
WASHINGTON- 4 Lou Ellertson (3), Dan Everett (2), Sig Stofer (2), Larry Colaianna (2)
DETROIT-3 Joe Henry (2), Hank Grant (1),Jimmy Long (1)
NY STARS- 3 Dixie Lee (1), Eli Panneton (1), Howie Smith (1)
NY GOTHAMS- 2 Ed Bowman (3), Harry Carter (1)
PITTSBURGH- 2 Johnny McDowell (3), Bill Anderson (1)
SAILORS- 2 Bill Watson (2), Win Lewis (1)
BROOKLYN- 1 Vernon Ruch (2)
CHIEFS- 1 Bob Martin (3)
CLEVELAND- 1 Brooks Meeks (1),

A WEEK OF STREAKS

Hot and cold is the story this week in both the Federal and Continental Associations and as the teams hit the All-Star break the Detroit Dynamos and Toronto Wolves are each at the top of the mountain staring down. They do not need to look far as both the Philadelphia Keystones and Cincinnati Cannons sit just a half game out in their respective associations. In the Fed, there are two other teams within 2 games of the front-running Motor City nine.

Both of the leaders come into the break on a tear with each riding a 6-game winning streak. The Wolves have won 9 of their last 10 after dropping 6 of their previous 7 and use that strong showing to once more overtake Cincinnati for the Continental lead -a race that has gone back and forth and shows no signs of changing that trend over the final two and a half months of the season. Toronto's 4-game sweep of the third place Chicago Cougars going into the break put a real damper on the All-Star celebrations for the host club and leaves the Cougars 5 games back of the Wolves.

The Philadelphia Keystones were the hot team in the Fed with a 27-10 record from the start of May stretching into mid-June but are 9-17 since the middle of June including finishing off last week with 6 straight losses. Detroit had the early lead before the Keystones took over, but the Dynamos -with 6 straight and 9 wins in their last 12 games- are back on top. The team to watch in the second half may just be the surprising St Louis Pioneers who now, despite a 15-29 start to the season, are just 1 game back and are 27-5 since June 5. The Washington Eagles have, for the most part, avoided any extreme streaks -either good or bad- and remain in the mix in no small part due to the pitching of all-stars Lou Ellertson (12-4, 1.85) and Dan Everett (8-5, 1.85).

Further down in the Fed standings you also have a pair of streaking teams going in opposite directions as the New York Gothams reeled off 10 straight victories while the Boston Minutemen lost 10 in a row.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Wolves End Trip on High Note -Toronto finished their 24 games straight away from Dominion Stadium in fine fashion taking 7 of 8 from Montreal and Chicago. This allowed the team to finish the trip, which started poorly, with a 13-11 record reclaiming a slender lead in the CA. The starting pitchers have seemed to turn a corner with tossing two complete games over the week, while the opposition only tallied 14 runs in the 8 games. Manager Call remarked that the staff is coming along, getting closer to his pre-season expectations but need the 3 day break for the All-Star Game to recharge batteries. When asked about leading the CA at the halfway point Call quipped "Better than looking up at the leader, this race is a long, long way from over. We just have to keep playing solid ball, worrying about our game not others."

The only loss during the week could just have easily been a victory. In the first game of a July 4th doubleheader the Saints claimed the game, 2-1, when in the bottom of the 12th when Gus Hull's errant throw from right field allowed the winning run to cross the plate. Wirtz tossed a masterful complete game in the night cap to make the long train trip into Chicago more enjoyable than brooding over a tough loss. Toronto sweeping the Cougars at Cougars Field was indeed a surprise as the Wolves entered the series with a 2-5 record while playing Chicago in 1945. Toronto now has a winning season record against 6 of 7 opponents, Cleveland has held the Wolves to a 6-6 mark.

Toronto returned home without Garrison, Meyer, Pack, Artuso who remained in Chicago for the mid-season classic. Wolves will now be home for the next 22 games not leaving until after a game against Cleveland on August 1st. We are hearing that the team is seeking a right handed bat for the outfield to at least spell Gus Hull. Hull's .194/.278/.262 is not getting the job done thus far in '45. Call continues to experiment with lineups in an attempt maximize Fred McCormick's bat. McCormick is doing McCormick things since his return for the war, ..308/.463/.529 17 RBI in 134 PA.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES?

As we hit the all-star break and celebrate the invitation of 7 Cannons to the big game in Chicago, one can't help but wonder if this Cincinnati club has blown a great opportunity and should be comfortably in front at the top of the Continental Association instead of looking up at the Toronto Wolves. It's only a half game back and oh so much better than the 9.5 games behind the Chicago Cougars that the Cannons found themselves at this time last year but you can't help but think there should have been more from their first half of the season this time around.

The Cannons lead all of FABL, not just the CA, in most runs scored, fewest surrendered, batting average, homeruns, starting pitcher era and defensive efficiency. They have scored 410 runs - 39 more than the Wolves. They have surrendered 277 runs which is 34 fewer than the Wolves. The Cannons run differential at the midway point is +133. The Wolves are the only team in either association within 99 runs of that mark and Toronto is 73 behind, a pace of nearly a run a game.

By all accounts Toronto is outperforming it's expected record this season and the Cannons are underachieving- and doing so more than any other club in baseball. That is cause for concern in my books. Cincinnati has the oldest team in the league but fortunately -aside from some early issues with the pitching staff- the club has been pretty healthy. But can they keep it up? Old bodies tend to wear down quicker than young players and Jack Cleaves will miss the all-star game because his chronically bad back is acting up. "Nothing serious," says Cleaves with a wave of the hand but when your 38 year old all-star who is hitting .355 and has been plagued by back problems much of his career says his back is bothering him you tend to take it seriously.

Will age catch up with the Cannons? Tom Barrell and Sam Sheppard are a combined 18-4 but each is 37 years old. Al Wheeler is also 37 and presently on a pace to come close to matching his age in homeruns this season. Tom Bird is another member of the 37 year old crew. You have to bet that Ad Doria -who as bench boss of the defending CA champs is also off to Chicago to manage the Continental stars for the second year in a row- is going to spend much of the break trying to figure out how the team can be more consistent on offense.

When you outscore Brooklyn 36-13 in a 4 game series but only leave Kings County with 2 wins there has to be some concern. And that is becoming a trend. In recent series the Cannons outscored Toronto 17-11 but settled for a split and outscored the Sailors 6-1 in a short two game set but also managed to only come away with one victory. Missed opportunities. Something you can not do with any sort of consistency when you are chasing history looking to match the 1924-26 New York Stars while the pack of animals in the CA - most notably of the Wolves and Cougars species- have you in the their sights. Strap in Cincinnati. The second half could be a wild and bumpy ride as the Cannons gun for 3 WCS wins in a row.

Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World says that the next 2 weeks are going to decide a lot for what Detroit tries to do. The Dynamos are somehow 9 games over 500 despite a slightly negative run differential. If they can maintain this then Detroit management has indicated it will seriously look at dumping their top 2 draft picks for next year and a prospect (and likely a salary dump to make it work) for some bats. The pitching has been steady enough but the offense is a struggle. Positions of need would be OF, 3B and 2B. GM Martin says he will be creative but not crazy in prospects dealing (ie Hackenberry, Kleminski, Johnson and Schaub aren’t going anywhere), but notes the team does have 12 of the top 100 prospects. The Dynamos need some offense if they are going to make a serious run according to Farhat.
Excitement in Montreal and St Louis as each are thrilled to have 4 players selected to the All-Star Game. The entire St Louis outfield made the Fed squad along with first base Hal Sharp. Rookie sensation Gordie Perkins highlights the Saints selections along with young pitcher Pat Weakley.
Three All-Star starters were unanimous choices. Bobby Barrell of the Keystones of course, along with St Louis outfielder Cal Page and Cincinnati second sacker Jack Cleaves.
Some had questioned whether Tom Bird should be starting the all-star game, citing the Sailors Bill Watson as a better option but Percy Suthrland -a long-time Bird-watcher in Chicago points out the following stats for the pair:
Bird: .389 OBP, .402 SLG, 137 wRC+
Watson: .355 OBP, .359 SLG, 113 wRC+
Across the board, Bird is having the better season, say the noted Chicago columnist.
The Boston Minutemen have lost 10 straight and now sit in 7th place in the Federal Association, 8 games back. There is some good news as the club has learned that Mack Sutton has been given his discharge after missing 3 and a half seasons while in the Army Air Force and will return shortly after the all-star break. Sutton has a .248 career batting average with 62 homeruns in 410 big league games.
Veteran infielder Bill Moore wants out of Boston. The 33 year old is having an awful season, batting just .210 for the Minutemen. He is not the only veteran wanting a change of scenery. Moxie Pidgeon says he is tired of being a back-up in Pittsburgh and the 38 year old wants a trade.
Bad luck for Bob Riggins of the New York Stars. Called up to make his major league debut just two weeks after winning his second straight Christian Trophy and AIAA championship with Grange College, the first overall draft pick hurt his arm and may miss some time over the next month. Riggins did get into 5 games and hit .273 including a 2-for-4 showing in his big league debut, an 8-3 win over the Sailors. His first hit was an rbi single off of veteran righthander Doc Newell.
Hard to complain when you are a half game out of first but every year it seems the Cincinnati under perform on the pyth. record. The Cannons are -5 so far this season with an actual record of 48-31 vs an expected record of 53-26. That, coupled with Toronto's +3 and the Cannons should be enjoying a 7.5 game lead right now. A split of 4 games in Brooklyn illustrates the Cannons lack of ability to get hits at the right time. They outscored the Kings 32-13 in the 4-games but settle for going 2-2.
George Thomas with Pittsburgh after being claimed on waivers: 7 innings, 12 hits, 10 walks, and 9 runs. Percy Sutherland can only plead: Please retire George, for your own dignity.
Fast tracking in the Chiefs organization: 6th round pick Johnny Anderson hit .407/.452/.556 in his first 6 games at class A. The organization just moved him up to class AAA Fort Wayne and had manager Frank Krick set the lineups. The veridct- Johnny is now batting third for the Warriors.
Last week delivered our second minor league no-hitter of the season. This one was tossed by Vic William of the Class B Fresno Falcons. The 1942 7th round draft pick of the New York Gothams threw the first no-hitter in Fresno history and first in the COW League in nearly three years. FABL has not had a no-hitter this season and just one -by George M Brooks of the Keystones last June- since 1942.
Speaking of the COW League, congratulations to Art Goins on being named that loop's top performer last week. The son of legendary catcher T.R. Goins is a 21 year old centerfielder for Salem in the New York Stars system. A second round pick back in 1941, Goins is hitting .271 with 5 homers this season, his first full year in Class B.

EUROPEAN BOXING IS ON THE UPSWING

We are starting to hear that boxing is returning to normal in Europe. While no major fights have taken place yet there are a number of mid-level fighters returning to action include Harley Bellars. The veteran English scored an unanimous decision over Frenchman Jean-Claude LeGrand in London Saturday evening to run his record to 19-16-1. What was especially interesting from that bout was the Edouard Desmarais -the great middleweight who worked as part of the French resistance in the later stages of the war- was ringside and hinted he would be preparing for a comeback.

Desmarais was 34-0 and considered a future titleholder until the war changed his plans. Contact with the 29 year old had been lost and for a stretch he was feared dead until a chance meeting in Paris with a former opponent of Desmarais after the Allies had ended the Nazi occupation revealed the French middleweight was still alive. Desmarais says there is no timetable for his return, simply saying he was starting to work himself back into fighting shape.

Meanwhile, postwar history was made as the first Polish-born boxer fought in England since before the hostilities began. It was a TWIFB reader favourite as well as Pietrek "Soda" Popinski made his post-war debut in London against Owen Styles. Popinski, who fled Poland during the tumultous period the Russians were running the Nazi's out of Warsaw, ended up in Finland for a brief period of time before arriving in Scotland early in the spring. He had won his first 8 bouts in his native country but last fought in 1939 so the rust clearly showed in absorbing an unanimous decision loss to the 30 year old British fighter.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 7/08/1945

Four more Japanese tinder box cities were blasted into flaming cauldrons in an early week pre-dawn raid by a record fleet of almost 600 B-29 Superfortresses. The air attacks would continue all week.
President Truman presents the United Nations charter to Senate asking for it's swift approval.
Australian forces captured 2 air bases as they continue to push forward on Borneo.
General Carl A. Spaatz, who commanded the US Air Forces in the strategic warfar which destroyed German resources from the air, will direct the strategic air attack on Japan.
Strikes continue to be an issue, both in the newspaper industy where many papers in the northeast are affected and in Akron, where President Truman has ordered the navy to seize the Goodyear Tire and Rubber plants, scene of a persistant 19 day strike. Truman acted after the union refused to abide by repeated War Labor Board orders for the nearly 17,000 strikers to return to work.
The Civil Aeronautics Board authorized 3 airlines-Pan American Airways, American Export Airways and Transcontinetl & Western Air, to fly transatlantic routes to Europe.
An alleged 'legal' Wall Street scheme to deprive the US Treasury of $500 million in taxes each year is being investigated by Congress. It is described as a simple, but sounds anything but to the layman, forming a tax-free but 'fake' public ownership by the formation of 'non-profit' corporations and then issuing bonds against the revenue on the property.

Jiggs McGee · 01-19-2023, 01:27 PM

JULY 16, 1945

DONNELLY GRAND SLAM LIFTS FED TO ALL STAR WIN

Chick Donnelly became an All-Star Game hero with one swing of the bat. The 33 year old Boston Minutemen outfielder hit a grand slam with two-out and two-strikes on him in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the Federal Association stars to an 8-4 win in the 13th annual all-star game, played before a sold out crowd of 44,450 at Chicago's Cougars Park. The victory gives the Federal Association an 8 games to 5 lead in the series.

It marked the third time the contest has needed extra innings with the Fed stars winning 4-2 in a 19 inning marathon in 1937 and the Continental side gaining revenge with a 5-4 13 inning victory the following season. It also marked the second time the game was played in Chicago, with the Federal Association winning the first one as well. That was in 1933 in the inaugural Mid-Summer Classic, played at Whitney Park and won 8-5 by the Federal stars.

With war vets George Garrison and Harry Carter taking the hill for their respective sides the game remained scoreless until the 5th inning. The visiting Feds got on the board first when, with Eli Panneton of the New York Stars pitching, Cal Page of St Louis hit a one-out single and then scored on a 2-run homer off the bat of Boston catcher Bill Van Ness. The Continental stars quickly countered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the fith as Jimmy Long of Detroit, clearly flustered with some all-star game nerves, walked the bases loaded but the only run was scored on a ground out from Denny Andrews of the Cincinnati Cannons. Cannons slugger Al Wheeler, missed a glorious opportunity with 2 out and 2 on but his towering fly ball to centerfield was no where near deep enough and easily hauled in by Page to end the inning.

The score remained 2-1 until the top of the 8th inning when the Federal Association increased it's lead with two more runs. Bob Martin of the Chicago Chiefs started the inning with a single and Bobby Barrell -playing in his 10th All-Star Game- delivered a big 2-run single off Cougars releiver Ben Curtin to make it 4-1.

The Continental Association tied the game up with a rally in the bottom of the 8th. With George M Brooks on the mound for the Fed, Brooklyn's Vernon Ruch worked him for a lead-off walk and moved to second on a 1-out single from Walt Pack of the Toronto Wolves. With two-out Jake Hughes laced a single to plate Ruch and move Pack to third base and then Skipper Schneider of the Cougars, to the delight of his hometown crowd, tied the game up with a two out double.

Neither side threatened in the ninth but in the 10th with another war veteran in Dixie Lee on the hill, the Fed loaded the bases to set the stage for Donnelly's heroics. Tim Walters of the Keystones came on to close out the victory, and despite allowing a walk and hitting a batter, he did just that to preserve the 8-4 Federal Association win.

For that mighty swing of the bat Donnelly was named the game's most valuable player with Bill Anderson of the Pittsburgh Miners being credited with the victory while Dixie Lee was saddled with the loss.

3000 FOR WHEELER

Al Wheeler became the 12th player in FABL history to reach the 3,000 hit plateau with a pair of singles in the opening game of a doubleheader with Montreal yesterday. The 37 year old Cincinnati Cannons outfielder is enjoying a career resurgence this season and is also closing in on 500 career homeruns. Wheeler sits 22 shy of that mark and joining Max Morris as the only players to reach 500. He has 17 homeruns this season and is batting .318 - lofty numbers for the Wonder Wheel when you consider one year ago tomorrow the Chicago Chiefs thought his career was over and unloaded the then struggling outfielder for the price of a 7th round draft pick. In 151 games with the Cannons since the deal, Wheeler is batting .291 with 28 homers and 101 rbi's. Speaking of RBI's, Wheeler is fast closing in on another milestone. He recently passed Rankin Kellogg for number two on the rbi list and has 1,862 for his career. Only the legendary Hall of Famer Morris -with 2,324- has more but Wheeler has stated he would like to reach 2,000 before his career is done.

The first overall draft pick in the very first draft of the human GM era in 1925, Wheeler has accomplished nearly everything one can in his outstanding career. Five Whitney Awards, 5 all-star game appearances, 3 World Championship Series rings, 5 times he led his association homers, 6 times in rbis and once in batting average when he won the Continental Association triple crown in 1935 despite spending the first month of the season in the Federal Association.

Wheeler is clearly a Hall of Famer one day when he retires. But for now he says he has a lot more to accomplish before that day comes.

LATE-BREAKING NEWS: DYNAMOS ADD BIG GUNS

The Detroit Dynamos have clearly announced they expect to be in the pennant race for the duration after making two moves this morning to shore up their pop-gun offense. The big trade sees the Detroit club acquire 'The Arkansas Artilleryman' Mack Sutton from the Boston Minutemen to address their need for power at the hot corner. A second deal was made public a short time later that saw the Detroit club add a dependable outfield bat in 31 year old Howie Smith, who was hitting .316 on the season for the New York Stars.

Sutton has plenty of power but has spent the last 3 and a half seasons in the United States Army Air Corps, just getting his discharge late last week. He is not expected to join Detroit in time for their games this week -including a pair in Boston- as the 28 year old third baseman is presently in his hometown of Murfreesboro, AR., visiting family but will join the Dynamos likely the beginning of next week. His best season of four in Boston was the 1940 campaign in which Sutton hit .268 with 26 homeruns.

To acquire Sutton the Dynamos parted with their first round pick in January as well as minor leaguers Hal Renard and Alf Keeter. Renard is a 22 year old first round pick from the 1941 draft that is presently in the Army after being tabbed by Selective Service last November. He spent 1944 in AA, batting .291 with a homerun and 77 rbi's in 138 games with Akron. The 1B/OF is projected to be a second-division starter by OSA, which presently ranks him at #79 on it's prospect list. Keeter, a 20 year old 6'3" righthander who was selected 4th overall by Detroit in the 1943 draft is also in the Army presently. He had a solid 1944 season split between Class A and B and projects as a mid-rotation starter who is presently ranked at #61 on the OSA prospect list.

The deal with the Stars sees Detroit also net New York's fourth round pick along with Smith in exchange for minor league pitcher Paul Grell. Grell is 26 years old and has been in the Army Air Corps since 1941. He had a single appearance with the Dynamos as a 22 year old in '41 but spent most of the season pitching quite well at AAA Newark. It has obviously been a long layoff for him but OSA still sees Grell as a mid-rotation starter and presently ranks him 78th on the prospect list.

The timing of Smith's arrival is perfect, and the deal was made very much because the Dynamos just learned they will be without Sid Williams for at least a month and a half. Smith was a rule 5 pick of the Stars from Washington prior to the 1939 season and has developed into a starter as more and more players left for the war. He hit .305 a year ago and continued his fine play this season, batting .316 with 6 homers and 62 rbi's for the Stars. New York used him in the middle of it's batting order but don't be surprised if he becomes the lead-off man in Detroit.

JIGGS McGEE'S TAKE: A couple nice moves that help all involved. The Stars are likely not going to get back into contention this year and when Bill Barrett and the rest return from the war there will be little room for Smith in the outfield so they add a pitcher with the potential to contribute going forward. Same for Boston. With Billy Dalton in town and Bill Moore at first base there really isn't a position for Sutton to play so they add a first round draft pick - getting back the asset they surrendered last year to acquire Dalton as well as a pair of top 100 prospects to help them try and get things sorted out with a club that has struggled the past year and a half after winning two pennants in the previous three years.

These were moves Detroit had to make and perhaps they are not done dealing yet. The Dynamos were a very bad team a decade ago and then teased their fans with 4 straight pennant runs only to come up just short each time. They feel apart in 1942 and finished 7th in back to back seasons before showing some signs of life again last season. Now, they are in first place - by a narrow margin, but first nonetheless- and with the deepest collection of prospects in the league they needed to open the barn doors and dispatch a few in order to prove to their fan base they were serious about a pennant. In an article from last Monday (that is now dated in light of today's moves) Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World called upon the Dynamos to do something. The club has answered and made a move without sacrificing any of their premier prospects.

The question is will it be enough? Sutton has been very inconsistent in Boston but perhaps he is focused and motivated for a big debut in Detroit. Smith will be a serviceable replacement for the injured Williams. Will that be enough to win their first pennant since 1929? Of that I am not sure but I can tell you I would feel a whole lot more comfortable about it if the Dynamos added one more big piece. Perhaps a power hitting veteran bat like Lou Balk from Cleveland, Vic Crawford of Montreal or, if the Cougars decide to make a move, maybe all-star Cliff Moss. Another dependable veteran arm would not hurt either. Ed Baker of Montreal, the Chiefs Red Hampton or Doc Newell of the Philadelphia Sailors all might be available and at a reasonable cost. Whether they are done dealing or not, the Dynamos have shown their fanbase they are willing to take a shot at a pennant, as long as it doesn't impact their future to any great degrees, just as Freddie Farhat suggested in his column.

DYNAMOS INCREASE LEAD WITH SERIES WIN IN PHILLY

The Detroit Dynamos came out of the all-star break the way they went in...winning. Detroit, leaders in the Federal Association, had a big showdown in Philadelphia with the second place Keystones immediately after the all-star break and the Dynamos were up to the task by winning two games in the 3 game set. The opener was a rout with Detroit hitters spotting Jimmy Long a 6-run lead in the second inning and the Dynamos ace did the rest, pitching 6 strong innings just two-days after appearing in the all-star game, to win his 12th of the season by a 7-1 score. Philadelphia evened the series with a 2-1 win the next day thanks to a pinch-hit walkoff double in the 10th inning from Bobby McHenry after the Dynamos had tied the game in the top of the ninth but on Saturday the Dynamos plated 5-runs in the 8th inning to claim a 6-5 victory. Now parted, they each split their Sunday twin bill and the Detroit lead sits at a game and a half with every team in the Federal Association within 10 games of the lead.

The Continental Association lead flipped back to Cincinnati as the Cannons pulled a game ahead of the Toronto Wolves after they won 4 of 5 games from Brooklyn and Montreal to finish off the week. Toronto had the same two opponents but the Wolves had to settle for 3 victories in their 5 games. The Chicago Cougars also went 4-1 and are now within 4.5 games of the lead.

1946 DRAFT PREVIEW - PART 1: COLLEGE PLAYERS

FABL General Managers are probably still needing time to fully assess their crop of 1945 draftees that joined their organizations late last month but the 16 big league Scouting Directors and their staffs are already hard at work trying to find the gems of the 1946 crop of rookies. One change this year is we are told there will be no more late additions to the crop of draft eligible players so that means the 400 players that are presently registered for the draft will be the ones available come early January when the club with the first seed -which will be in the Federal Association this year- is on the clock.

To get started our annual five part draft special here is a look at the top collegiate players for January. A year ago when we did a mock draft of the top prospects for 1946 it was dominated by high school players. In fact only one college athlete - Piedmont University pitcher John Stallings- cracked our mock first round. Stallings had a huge year and was a finalist for the Christian Trophy when it was presented last month so he did nothing to hurt his stock entering his draft year. The only other college player we touched on in the mock was Coastal State outfielder Jim McCbride, who was an honourable mention.

So very few college players made an impression a year ago. Let's see how the top ten college prospects stack up now.

1- JOHN STALLINGS LHP - Piedmont University: If you want a college pitcher you better make sure you get Stallings because according to OSA no other collegiate hurler is even close to first round material. Stallings was a second team All-American as a freshman when he went 11-1 but he was even better as a sophomore, earning first team All-America status and being named a finalist for the Christian Trophy after a 9-1, 0.99 season that saw him post the lowest era in the college ranks since Stan Merendino in 1928. Stallings also fanned 154, just two shy of Bob Arman's post-feeder record. OSA loves his command and calls Stallings a pitcher with the potentail to be an impact starter.

2- JIM McBRIDE RF - Coastal State: There are 3 pretty solid outfield candidates and we will give McBride a slight age because he posted some pretty good numbers as a sophomore against top competition. OSA feels he can develop into an elite right fielder. He has some power as McBride hit 11 homers each of his two college seasons and raised each of his slash line numbers as a sophomore.

3- BOB SCHLEUSNER CF - Miami State: OSA believes the Dallas native has the potential to be a cornerstone player but we would like to see a big season from him as a junior. Schlesuner hit .274 each of his previous two seasons and is projected to be a defensive marvel.

4- ED WHITNEY LF - Brandywine(PA): A pair of impressive seasons has the Philadelphia native averaging .337/.430/.547 in his two years of college ball. OSA sees him as a potential .310 hitter and a sure-handed corner outfielder with all the tools to develop into an elite player. The only knock that keeps him below McBribe and Schleusner for us is he is playing against only fair competition.

5- CLIFF DILLEY 1B- Eastern State: Just 1 year of college ball for Dilley but he showed some power with 8 homers while batting .310. He won't set records, according to the scouting service, but will be a dependable .310 hitter with above average defensive value at first base

6- TOMMY GRIFFIN 3B- Mississippi A&M: A superior fielding third baseman, Griffin has average power and the tools to make an impact in the big leagues. Very consistent his two seasons so far as he has a .300/.363/.474 slash line with 20 homers in 105 career college games.

7- BILLY FORBES CF - Miami State: A Louisville, KY native with a high ceiling who projects well on the field and at the plate. Forbes is a natural center fielder but with fellow Miami State sophomore Bob Schleusner also in the mix, he spent most of his time on the corner. Shows some decent power with 20 homers in two seasons and a .563 slugging percentage to go with a .315 career college batting average.

8- JIM STONE 1B- Grange College: First team All-American and a nominee for the Christian Trophy, he helped the Mustangs win the AIAA title this year, his first in college ball. Led the AIAA with 19 homers while hitting a robust .342. OSA says he can be penciled in for a lion's share of starts. We are at TWIFB think he is an even better prospect than the scouting service gives him credit as being.

9- FRED CARTER 1B- Rainier College: It seems like a banner crop of first baseman and Carter is much like Stone, has some power and should make consistent contact to be a solid hitter. OSA sees the Portland, Oregon native as an above-average, everyday big leaguer. Idolizes fellow Portland native Red Johnson and has very much the same build but don't expect Red's immense power from Carter.

10- ERNIE ROCKEY CF- Texas Panhandle: slashed .307/.375/.490 in his first year of college ball against great competition. OSA feels he will be an excellent defender, has a good eye and is a hitter with a good combination of bat speed and barrel control so he should hit for average.

Code:


HONOURABLE MENTION
 NAME          POS  SCHOOL
Barton Ellis    RF Grange College
Ruppert Abbott	CF Opelika State
Reid McLaughlin SS Bluegrass State
Bernie Helm     3B College of Waco
Babe Brooks	2B St Ignatius
Joe Devaney	3B Central Illinois
Irv Cohen	C  Charleston Tech

Next edition we will look at the top high school position players eligible for the 1946 draft.

Detroit-July 10, 1945--The Detroit Dynamo's and their front office are in an interesting dilemma. How can a team that is in first by albeit by just ½ game at the All-Star Game break be in a dilemma you ask? Well let’s break it down a bit.

The Dynamo’s are 44-35 for a 557 winning % thanks to a 6 game win streak. Four of those wins are over the suddenly slumping Boston Minutemen who have lost 10 straight games. They are in 1st place, but the Federal Association is hotly contested between 4 teams all within 2 games of each other. The defending champion Philadelphia Keystones are just ½ game back in 2nd place, followed by the surprising St. Louis Pioneers just a game back in 3rd. The Washington Eagles are in 4th place just 2 games out of the lead. Looking at the Pioneers, just 1 month ago (June 9th) the Pioneers were 20-31 and firmly in the bottom two of the Federal Association. Since then they have gone on a tear winning 23 of 28 games. Are they for real? Who knows with this crazy season. All that is for sure is this race is likely going down to the wire and it could all depend on who comes back from the war now that victory over Germany has been achieved? And what about the war in the Pacific….

Instead of worrying about if the Pioneers or anyone else is for real, let’s take a look at the Dynamo’s. Again at 44-35 they look like a solid squad, but there are some definite holes on the team. Can the pitching which is 3rd in the FA in ERA (2nd in starters ERA) hold up with 2 rookies who’s combined ages total 41? 19-year-old Carl Potter had a rough June but after a week off looked much sharper in his last outing, a win over the suddenly impotent Boston squad. The Dynamo’s have been buoyed by the recent call up of SP Jim Bob Jones who is 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA in his short time up. Can he keep it rolling or will the league catch up to him? And the bullpen has been a challenge most of the season to be kind. Getting rid of Hooks Camp was a solid step. The acquisition of Luis Eireos has been positive in the clubhouse and he’s looked solid in 15.2 IP very low profile innings (0.57 ERA).

While the Dynamo’s are 9 games above 500, they have been outscored by 3 runs so far this season scoring just 318 runs (last in the FA) and giving up 321 (3rd in the FA). They are 14-9 in 1-run games which has helped them significantly. They have a winning record in every month of the season so far except for an 11-15 June mark.

So if you are the Dynamo’s GM DD Martin what do you do? Do you go all in on this “hopefully” last war time season and try and win a pennant for the first time since 1929? Or do you just let it roll with the squad you have and hope it is enough while continuing to build for the future when everyone is back? There is no telling the impact of war and being away from big league baseball, and age will have on the returning players or the impact it might have had on the minor league prospects that have lost valuable playing time.

It’s a tough call to make and my opinion is that he should not trade a lot of prospect capital, especially those at the top of the list for what I consider to likely be ½ rental players. That said I do think the Dynamo’s should try and be aggressive to try and win this thing this season. Who knows when they will be in position to win it again. So DD Martin on behalf of the pennant starved baseball fans of Detroit, GET SOMETHING DONE! Just don’t trade Hackenberry, Kleminski, Del Johnson, Roy Schaub or Dick Estes in the process.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Toronto Begins Second Half -Wolves started the second half of the FABL schedule on the home stand that continues into August. Over 10,000 Dominion Stadium fans were treated to home win for the first time in 29 days when George Garrison notched his 10th win in a CG 7-4 win over the visitors from Montreal. Garrison's effort came on the heels of some controversy at the All-Star game. Local scribes reported an animated discussion in the dugout between Al Doria and Call when Garrison was sent out to pitch the 3rd inning in the summer classic. Call said he ask Doria why Garrison was going back out when Deuce Barrell was ready to go for the third. Call thought of delaying Garrison's start by a day then said "It just proves what a horse George is, tossing a complete game on 126 pitches after throwing 35 two days earlier in the All-Star Game." When ask expounded further on the dugout conversation with Doria the reply was a terse "No Comment."

The Thursday victory was only victory in the 3 game set with the Saints. Montreal won a extra inning, fitting as Toronto, Montreal lead the FABL with each having played 12 extended games thus far, 6-4 in 13. Bob Walls could not hold onto a 4-1 lead going into the 8th which is far from the first time Toronto has surrender a lead late in games. On Saturday the Wolves bats where silenced by 3-0 by Ben Watkins.

The Wolves then played, again swept, a Sunday doubleheader against the Kings. Toronto has played 3 twin bills in July, they have won all 6 games, 4 from Brooklyn, 2 from Chicago. Front office is trying to put together some sort of promotion for the next two Sunday doubleheaders against Chicago, Philadelphia centering around an enjoyable to spend an afternoon with the family. Wolves faithful were outraged when the Player of The Week in the CA was awarded to Cincinnati's Chuck Adams over Juan Pomales who put up a .632/.650/.789 week. Manager Call has told reporters that they may see starters rested more often as the dog days begin for the FABL. It has been not a too closely guarded secret that the Wolves skipper has not been resting his starters as often as he would like to in 1945.

Cincinnati manager Ad Doria, who was in charge of the Continental Association for the all-star game, had asked Toronto Wolves star first baseman Fred McCormick to remain in Chicago, where the Wolves completed a series just before the break, and act as honourary coach plus deliver the lineup card to home plate at the start of the game but McCormick declined, saying if he did not earn a spot he did not deserve to be part of the all-star game. McCormick, who has appeared in 7 all-star games, just recently rejoined the Wolves after 4 years in the Army.
Doria might have lost as All-Star manager for the second year in a row but he still had plenty to celebrate as over the break he agreed to a 2-year contract extension with the Cincinnati Cannons that will more than double his current salary of $8,900 per season. The 48 year old former big league catcher won his 400th game as a manager yesterday. He is 400-300 over his 5 years with the Cannons and guided them to back to back World Championship Series wins.
No way to explain it. It's just baseball but after winning just 6 games in June, the Chicago Chiefs have opened July with a 10-5 record.
Just a minor stumble or are the St Louis Pioneers crashing back to reality. Baseball's hottest team the past month lost 4 of 5 games after the break. This after they were 27-5 going into the All-Star game.
Nothing like turning up the pressure on the GM. The Dynamos win 2 out of 3 in Phily to push their lead to 1 1/2 games but lose RF Sid Williams for likely 7 weeks with a strained groin. With no real help in returning players from the war effort yet, the Dynamos will likely be forced to make some deals.
For the second week in a row we have a minor league no-hitter. This one was in the Eastern Association as Frank Singleton of the Dayton Dukes no-hit Erie in a 3-0 win Tuesday. Singleton, a 27 year old 6th round pick of the St Louis Pioneers back in 1936, is 4-8 with a 2.62 era this season. It was Dayton's first no-hitter since Pat Coon had one in 1918. Coon had spent 3 seasons with the Pioneers in the mid-teens

GRID KINGS SOLD TO CINCINNATI

The worst keep secret in the American Football Association was officially confirmed this week with news that the Brooklyn Kings grid team is no longer. The contracts of Kings players as well as much of the equipment owned by the franchise has been sold to Cincinnati allowing the AFA to relieve three potentially big headaches in one move.

The sale helps thaw out the frosty feelings between New York Football Stars owner Erasmus Scott and the league. Scott had finally consented and allowed the Kings to play out of New York's Dyckman Stadium despite his previous insistence that the Kings -homeless after being denied permission to play at Kings County Stadium- not play in New York. It also puts an end to worries that the second year Cincinnati Tigers team would have difficulty signing enough competent players to compete and finally it keeps the league at 10 teams, making creating a schedule a much less arduous task. The return of the St Louis Ramblers after two years of teaming up with other clubs due to a player shortage had, at least temporarily, bloated the loop to eleven teams.

TAYLOR POINTS FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN

Carl Taylor, a ring ruffian from Baltimore, used his sockology on clever Bobby Schultz in Detroit Friday evening to run his ring record to 18-2-2. It was a tight fracas, with Taylor pointing a majority decision to give him five straight wins and victories in 10 of his last eleven bouts dating back to 1942. The 27 year old Schultz, who is sometimes considered too smart for his own good -something very few ringsters are accused of- and this was one of those occasions. The 28 year old Pittsburgh native appeared to have a couple of opportunities when, had he acted quickly, he likely could have had Taylor out for the count. Instead, as he has often done, Schultz played it safe and once more got a little too punctilious for his own good -pausing to think things out instead of going in for the kill. It backfired as Taylor had time to regroup and ended up claiming a narrow victory in the 12 round bout after the fate of the two combatants went to the scorecards.

One other fight of note last week so veteran New York middleweight Jack Rainey improve to 22-3 with a split decision victory over Doug Smith in Baltimore. It was the second meeting between the two and Smith, and the 35 year old Smith has been around the block a few times. He is 22-7-3 but his losses are primarily to quality opponents including Brooks O'Connor in 1937 a new middleweight champ Frank Melanson two years ago.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 7/14/1945

Nearly 1,800 American Army and Navy planes, backed up by the greatest naval armada afloat, were smashing at Tokyo and a broad stretch of the Japanese coast early in the week. Attacks of varying levels continued on Japanese targets all week.
President Truman was greeted by the British in the English Channel as his ship continued towards Antwerp on his journey to Potsdam, Germany, where he and his staff will be part of a Big Three meeting with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Russian Premier Josef Stalin. The conference will be held in the former palace of Kaiser Wilhelm, Germany's World War I leader.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard a succession of witnesses against approving the United Nations Charter as debate continues.
The new Italian Government of Premier Ferruccio Parri declared war on Japan effective at midnight Monday.

Jiggs McGee · 01-20-2023, 12:13 PM

JULY 23, 1945

DYNAMOS STRUGGLE WAITING ON REINFORCEMENTS

The newcomers can not arrive soon enough for the suddenly struggling Detroit Dynamos. Detroit made several moves over the week to bring in a complete new outfield plus a third baseman. The newcomers -outfielders Lou Balk, Leon Drake and Howie Smith along with third baseman Mack Sutton- have all arrived and will suit up for the Dynamos tomorrow in Washington. Their arrival could not come soon enough as Detroit has dropped 8 of their last 11, and fallen from first to third in the ultra-competitive Federal Association. The losing skid coincided with the loss of veteran outfielder Sid Williams, who is out until early September with a groin strain.

Since announcing the deals the Dynamos have dropped 3 of 4 in Pittsburgh and 3 straight in the nation's capital, allowing the Washington Eagles to overtake them for second place. The Philadelphia Keystones, led by a two-homer, 8-rbi week from Bobby Barrell, went 5-3 last week and are back in first with the Eagles one game back and the Dynamos 2 off the pace.
*** Trade Deadline Approaches ***

Baseball's trade deadline is just over a week away and so far the Dynamos have been the only team in contention to make any moves. In addition to the top three, the Fed has St Louis and Pittsburgh very much in the mix and it remains to be seen if any of them will follow Detroit's lead and try and make a move to help separate themselves from the pack. Or will each club just carry on with what it has -hoping it either might be enough or they get a deadline pickup in the form of a late-season addition of a player released by Army or Navy.

The Continental continues to be a back and forth battle between Toronto and Cincinnati with the Chicago Cougars still hovering nearby. Toronto is up a half game at the moment on the Cannons with the Cougars 5 off the pace. There is talk that all three teams have been involved in trade discussions but at the moment none of the three have pulled the trigger on a big deal. Chicago might just be standing pat waiting to see what happens on the war front, as there have been some unsubstantiated rumours that Pete Papenfus may return to the Windy City before the season ends.

We asked Jiggs McGee to take a look at what he felt each of the contenders would be targeting if they decided to make a deal to improve their pennant chances.

KEYSTONES: The pitching has been very good this season, much better than expected in fact, with solid contributions from George M Brooks and Jim Whitely as well as a pleasant surprise in rookie John Grimes. At the start of the season I would have suggested the Keystones need another veteran arm but as we hit the dealine their biggest need is another bat to compliment Bobby Barrell. The Keystones need to score a few more runs and while Detroit took away many of the offensive candidates with their deals last week, there may still be options out there. Centerfield and shortstop are probably the two target spots for them to look at. Charlie Enslow is a young player I like but he is struggling at the plate and Jake Creel is not the type of player a pennant-winner usually has at shortstop. Two potential candidates to acquire for the infield would be Cleveland's Brooks Meeks or Frank Davis of the Chiefs. Not a lot of centerfield options out there but perhaps the go across town and see if the Sailors might part with Addie Allman without asking for too much in return. And hey, if they are talking to the Sailors, might as well ask about Ed Reyes. Odds are Marion Boismenu is back to claim first base next season and Reyes would look good batting in front of Bobby Barrell.

WASHINGTON: Lou Ellertson has been amazing this season as has Dan Everett but to win the pennant the Eagles desperately need another quality starting pitcher. Like the Keystones a shorstop should be on their wish list as well but pitching should be the number one priority. They trade with the Gothams frequently so perhaps they go back to New York and ask about Jim Lonardo, although I am not sure Lonardo has much left to give, nor do I believe the Gothams are all that keen on seeing him finish his career anywhere but with New York. Perhaps the other New York team and Dixie Lee could be an option.

DETROIT: I expect the Dynamos are done dealing especially after the tough week they had no doubt gave them some doubts about the decision to stock up. Still, if it is in for a penny, in for a pound, the Dynamos might be wise to open up that prospect cupboard once more and try to acquire a quality veteran arm.

ST LOUIS: The Pioneers might just be pleasantly surprised to be in the group of buyers and not sellers so I suspect they have few plans to do much of anything. The offense has been surprisingly good and the pitching not bad either, although like nearly everyone else in an ideal world they would add a #3-4 starter.

PITTSBURGH: The Miners might have made their only mid-season addition with the return of Lefty Allen after a year and a half aiding in the war effort. I would be surprised if they make any substantial move before the deadline. At a game over .500 I could see them falling out of the race, especially if Mahlon Strong gets hurt again. There is lots of talent due to return at the end of the war and the Miners might have been in a better position if they were a few more games out and in a position where they could add assets by dealing some of Karl Johnson, Johnny McDowell or even Strong.

TORONTO: The Wolves have a solid ballclub and not a lot of room for improvement. To upgrade anywhere on what they already possess might cost Toronto more than the team would be willing to spend. If there is a weak link it might be in the outfield where Gus Hall is having a very poor season. A player like Brooklyn's Vernon Ruch might be a good cost-effective solution. Another possibility is looking to improve at second base where there are not a lot of options likely available but perhaps Freddie Jones from the Chiefs.

CINCINNATI: Tice Memorial is FABL's only seniors retirement community and the Cannons have very few holes that need patching. If there was a position they might look at adding to it would be pitching, as an early season injury rash still has them worried about what could happen if a couple of arms break down in the stretch run. Minimum age to come to Cincinnati in trade is likely 35 which leaves a few pitching candidates available for discussion, especially considering the Cannons have not been afraid to deal draft picks or prospects, although you have to think that top prospect Bob Arman is not going anywhere.

COUGARS: Chicago is in a tough spot. They have to be fairly comfortable with their pitching but the offense could use some help. They are 5 games back so they need to balance the cost of a trade with the chances of catching both Toronto and Cincinnati and there is a big unknown in that regard in the form of Cliff Moss. Due to come back in the next few days from a sprained ankle that cost him a month, Moss was dominant in the opening month of the season but fell off a cliff shortly before his injury. If the Moss of April/May returns and Chicago gives him some help they could easily be in contention and possibly have the talent to win it all. If the Moss that returns is the one that hit .207 in June, it might not be worth dipping into their deep collection of young talent for a 2-month rental. If they decide they are in the race I see perhaps Frank Covarrubias of the Sailors or the Chiefs Bob Martin as possible additions, although Covarrubias would likely be quite costly. Brooklyn's Ruch is another potential target.

1946 DRAFT PREVIEW: PART 2 -HIGH SCHOOL POSITION PLAYERS

A year ago half of our way too early 1946 mock draft was comprised of high school position players headed by Andy Conklin and Bill Wise. Both remain on our top ten as we inch closer to the draft, but have been overtaken by some like Sherry Doyal and Yank Taylor who were on the list last year and some like impressive Ohio-born catcher Lew Mercer, who are late additions. Here are the ten players (with some honourable mentions) that OSA sees as the top high school position players available for selection in January.

1- SHERRY DOYAL CF - Landry HS, New Orleans, La: Doyal seems like a center fielder who can do it all and OSA goes as far as stating he is already being compared to some of the greats of the game. It does seem a little early for that but he appears to have a tremendous combination of skills: above average power potential when he grows into his 6'1" frame, great stroke and a terrific eye. There is no comment either way on his defense at this stage so one has to assume it is at least adequate to play in the middle of a big league outfield. In 3 years of high school ball, Doyal -who was an All-American as a freshman but not the past two years- has slashed .491/.588/.893

2- LEW MERCER C - Marietta (OH) HS: There is a pretty solid crop of high school catchers in this draft class and one of the late additions may just be the best one. Mercer played just the one season of high school ball and his slash numbers are certainly not overwhelming at .438/.533/.775 but OSA scouts just love him. They predict the possibility of offensive numbers perhaps approaching Tom Bird and are calling for multiple trips to the All-Star game if he filfills his potential.

3- YANK TAYLOR RF: Pullman HS, Chicago: The son of two-time Whitney Award winner Tom Taylor has inherited his father's power. Nicknamed 'Tom Thumper' for just that reason, his given name is Tom and he has Canadian citienship through his father despite being born in Providence, RI. Taylor has belted 32 homeruns in 69 high school games with a .493/.553/.980 slash line. He was an honourable mention this year after making the All-American team as a sophomore. OSA says he projects to be an elite hitter who can make an impact on a top team.

4- ANDY CONKLIN CF - Watervilet (NY) HS: Conklin was number one overall on the mock draft we did for this group last August. OSA has certainly not soured on him in that time - far from it as the scouting service calls the 17 year old an outfielder with highest ceiling imaginable. Some teams may still grade him ahead of the players listed above him but we feel he slots in here because his offensive production, while consistent over three years of high school ball, is not overwhelming at .429/.532/.645.

5- DANNY NOONAN C - Sts. John & Paul HS, Ashtabula, OH: Another high school catcher from Ohio that OSA compares very favourably to Lew Mercer. Noonan has played two years of high school ball, slashing .444/.546/.667 so a little higher batting average and on-base percentage than Mercer but with less power at this point although the scouting service is confident that the power will come. Like Mercer, multiple all-star games may be in Noonan's future and if not, well I guess the world needs ditch diggers too.

6- BILL NEWHALL CF - Hollis (OK) HS: Centerfielders and catchers seem to be the story of this draft, at least from the high school ranks with all but corner outfielder Yank Taylor out of our top 8 playing one of those two positions. Newhall has two years of high school ball under his belt and the highest average and on-base percentage out of the centerfielders on our list with a career slash line of .534/.618/.816. Nicknamed The Hollis Hotshot, the 17 year old may spend a lot of time at the All-Star game should he reach his potential. Appears to be an ideal candidate for a lead-off role when he matures.

7- FRANK REECE CF - Villisca (IA) HS: Slashed .487/.561/.979 over two years of high school ball in Iowa and is another one the scouting service can see playing in multiple All-Star games. Outstanding contact potential, top of the scale speed and a plus-plus eye ceiling. Another perfect lead-off man.

8- CARROLL FURNISH C - Princeton (WV) HS: Quite a corridor of catching talent stretching from the shores of Lake Erie in northern Ohio where you have Danny Noonan, and then head nearly due south to Marietta on the West Viriginia border to watch Lew Mercer. From there it is less than 200 miles further south to Princeton, WV where you can see the third dominant high school catcher in our group. Carroll Furnish has two years of high school experience under his belt with a slash line of .456/.505/.642 and the same forecast as the other two catchers calling for multiple all-star games in his future. In a lot of ways this draft from a catcher point of view reminds us very much of the 1934 class. That one had Adam Mullins, Woody Stone and Gussie Harris at the top of it. If it is a duplicate the challenge for General Managers and Scouting Directors is to determine who out of Mercer, Noonan and Furnish is Mullins and Stone and who is Gussie.

9- BRETT MAYES 2B - Elgin HS, Marion,OH: While Bill Wise, who we slot just below Mayes, was the All-American and posted better slash numbers than the .495/.609/.762 accumulated by Mayes in his 3 seasons of high school ball, OSA sees huge things in the future for the Zanesville, Oh. born infielder. It may be hyperbole but the scouting service states that someday Mayes may be included in conversations about the best players in the game.

10- BILL WISE 2B - Ramsen (IA) HS: "Slick Willie" as Wise is known was an All-American selection this year. He possesses outstanding contact ability and an above average eye. Wise led the High School ranks in hitting as a freshman and his .558 average this season was fourth highest. Slashed .556/.615/.849 for his three seasons of high school ball.

Code:


HONOURABLE MENTION
 NAME           POS  SCHOOL
Tommy Allenby   RF  New Market (AL) HS
Otis Ballard    2B  Willamstwon (NJ) HS
Milt Bennett    C   Olympia (WA) HS
Larry Jackson   2B  Washington HS, San Francisco
Ron Thacker     RF  Hatboro (PA) HS
Ralph Thibeau   2B  Garden Grove (CA) HS
Sparky Williams CF  Jackson (MI) HS

Next time we will take a look at the top high school arms.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Changes Afoot In Toronto?- The Wolves have a 4-4 week that somehow allows them to regain the lead in the CA by a half game over Cincinnati. The week was a tale of two teams. Wins were by scores of 10-0, 6-1, 3-1, 5-4 which shows how pitching must lead the way in a drive for a playoff berth. The flip side of the coin was the 4 losses, Wolves were destroyed 11-1, 8-1, 7-0 with other loss being a 7-4 extra innings to Brooklyn. The infield defense or lack thereof continues to trouble the bench staff. Wayne Henderson continues the Wolves tradition of good hitting, questionable fielding at 2B. His 16 errors this season is not acceptable, Call often laments the extra outs the Wolves give other teams.

Brett senses there are changes coming before the trade deadline. Wolves have been very quiet generally in the trade market, the GM is a conservative type who prefers to build from within the organization rather than chasing a short term boost via trade. The difference this year that the entire landscape of the FABL will change in 1946. With the war in the Pacific gradually moving towards what now seems an inevitable end, surrender of Japan, all FABL teams will have a wealth of talent hopefully exchanging khakis for baseball uniforms before next spring. Many teams, if not all, will have more talented players than they roster room for in their organization.

Brett knows there were meetings during the All-Star break which Brett thought were about the minor league system. When Owner Bernie Millard showed up at the offices on Tuesday Brett began to think there was more to these meetings than met the eye. Millard is generally never involved with the minors unless it is an inquiry about a high priced blue chip prospect. Millard is more involved in the team economics, with attendance up over 2000/game this year with more expected in 1946, was the staff asking for a green light to go after some high priced help to secure a CA Title in 1945?

Brett has developed many contacts over the years of covering your Wolves but the silence lately among his contacts is deafening, everyone from the office to the clubhouse is very tight lipped of late. There are no rumours or whispered "off the record" comments. Brett has never seen this before which leads him to believe there is a possibility of a big move in Toronto before the end of July trade deadline. Has Millard given permission to the staff to find, add the piece or pieces they believe they need to unseat the aging Cannons, along with holding off the Cougars? You can sense the GM in Cincinnati is preparing to make moves in the trade market.

Since Brett does not seem to be able to break the silence he will speculate on Wolves moves, he will concentrate on the FA because he does not expect the GM to trade within the CA. When Brett looks at the needs to push the team over the top one position immediately come to mind, a right hand hitting outfielder to at least platoon with Gus Hull in RF. Hull has lately showed signs snapping out of a season long slump, .202/.296/.268 is not getting the job done. Early in the season it was hoped that Hank Giordano would be released from his military duties, that hope will not materialize in time to make a difference this season. The move that Dynamos made for Gothams Leon Drake may have made sense for Toronto. Would the acquisition of the Miners Willy Vega be enough to give the required boost? Ask fans about any star right hand hitting FA OF they will have deal for you. The only thing that has been slipped out of the office is that a call was made to the Boston office. Brett speculates that the discussion on the call was Chick Donnelly, that would be a block buster but are the Wolves willing to pay the high cost?

Another avenue for the Wolves may be the addition of an older SP. Wolves have a great deal of front line pitching currently in the service Hancock, Gibbs, Johnson to mentioned just the Major League proven players. Does it make sense to deal one of these for a Harry Carter, Danny Hearn , or Doug Astle? Toronto also has two top 15 prospects Jerry York, John Fast who may be of interest to teams in FA plus a surprising wealth in the C department.

Be sure the Wolves will looking over the next week if Millard has given the approval.

FIGHTING SAINTS HAVE HUGE TURNOUT

One hundred and ten candidates have reported to the St Blane coaching staff as the Fighting Saints begin five weeks of summer football practice. The sessions will end August 18 and the squad will reassemble September 4 for fall drills. Eight lettermen from the 1944 squad are among those on hand and the turnout is welcome news that collegiate football is close to returning to normal. In recent years the Saints had some real scares as to whether they would even have enough at tryouts to field a club. They managed to survive and fielded a team throughout the war, but many other schools were not as fortunate.

St Blane got off to a terrific start last season -something they had not done in previous campaigns- with 5 straight victories but back to back losses to the two service academies including a very one-sided defeat at the hands of Rome State, forced the Fighting Saints to have to settle for a 7-3 record on the year.
*** Football of Near Prewar Caliber Is Seen ***

Several weeks ago Pittsburgh State football coach Patsy O'Callaghan, predicted football teams would be stronger this year than since 1942. We thought it was significant although there has been no chorus of huzzahs, or whatever vocal sound football supporters give out with, when the great coach spoke his piece. It could be that they cautiously are refraining from showing too much elation for fear ODT will cancel all red points or the armed forces suddenly will find themselves in need of additional manpower.

Football is definitely over the hump. Material couldn't be any worse than last year, and returned servicemen will add to the quality and quantity. St Blane is not the only school reporting tremendous turnouts for camp this year. Former Detroit Maroons star quarterback Dewey Burnett, now head man at Whitney College, says he is very impressed with the quality of talent from the near 100 hopefuls that took the field for the Engineers camp. Elsewhere in the Great Lakes loop, Central Ohio is also raving about it's turnout. The same news is coming from all parts of the country, particularly the south and the west coast.

Football is on the way back and will be bigger than ever in 1946, but 1945 will also be a good year.

It was a fairly quiet week in the ring with none of the major fighters in action. The biggest bout would be Damon Christian's 11th round TKO of Russell Hines on Thursday in New Orleans. The 33 year old Christian improves to 25-13-4 as a heavyweight but is nearing the end of the line in a career that saw him get started professionally in the sport fairly late at the age of 25.

Young middleweight Rip Rogers is now 2-0 after a fifth round knockout of debutant Brian Stickland in a bout slated for 8 rounds in St Louis on Saturday. There are a lot of very good young middleweights working their way up the division and Rogers - a 22 year old from Chicago probably slots in to the very bottom of that group.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 7/22/1945

The United States has warned the Japanese that their only salvation lay in immediate and unconditional surrender, but Government monitors meanwhile picked up a Japanese broadcast predicting that President Truman, who is currently meeting with Churchill and Stalin in Potsdam, would modify the demand for unconditional surrender in response to more conservative elements in the United States.
Another week of steady pounding of major Japanese cities has Tokyo admitting that Japan's once proud fleet and air power were unable "to grapple" with Allied might beyond the confines of the homeland that the final battle must be fought there. However, the President of Japan's Board of Technology claims that a new secret weapon would insure victory in the showdown invasion battle.
In the Potsdam conference, the issue of European political and economic reconstruction was the dominant topic but the Big Three also wished to discuss specific military questions affecting the Far Eastern War. The conference was delayed a couple of days as Stalin was a late arrival. President Truman toured the Berlin ruins in that time and met with his military commanders.

Jiggs McGee · 01-21-2023, 02:06 PM

JULY 30, 1945 - TRADE DEADLINE SPECIAL BULLETIN

ANOTHER DEAL FOR DETROIT

The Detroit Dynamos continue to be the busiest team in baseball after making yet another trade this week. Detroit, which had already acquired 4 players a week ago, made a deal with the Chicago Cougars to bring in veteran pitcher Art White on the eve of the trade deadline. White, a 33 year old lefthander who is 11-9 with a 3.08 era on the season, grew up just outside of Detroit and remembers cheering on the Dynamos as a teenager in 1929. Now he will have the opporunity to help lead Detroit back to the World Championship Series for the first time since that 1929 title.

White, with a career record of 146-113 over a dozen big league seasons with Brooklyn and the Cougars, will be counted on by Detroit manager Dick York to add a steady veteran presence to a rotation that is dominated by youth and includes a pair of raw rookies in 19 year old Carl Potter (8-7, 2.71) and 22 year old Pete Brown (7-8, 4.01). White joins outfielders Leon Drake, Lou Balk and Howie Smith along with third baseman Mack Sutton as recent additions to the club. Only Sutton, at 28, is under the age of thirty.

To bring White into the organization, Detroit parted with 3 prospects ranked outside the top 100 by OSA, along with veteran infielder Rabbit Mudd and their fourth round pick. Two of the prospects -22 year old pitcher Gene Madison and 20 year old second baseman Bob Schmelz are presently involved in the war effort while the third - 18 year old shortstop Bill Perrin- had just begun his pro career in Class C after being selected in the 5th round by the Dynamos in the 1945 draft. Perrin was born in Ohio but grew up in Detroit and played his high school ball in the city. The 36 year old Mudd was a backup infielder with Detroit after spending the previous two season in the Army Air Corps.

JIGGS McGEE'S TAKE: White gives Detroit the extra arm it clearly needs if the Dynamos are to be in the running for the pennant as September winds down. White is a 4-time all-star and a dependable back half of the rotation pitcher, seemingly a good fit for a Detroit club that was intent on not dealing any of its core prospects. In that regard they succeeded as all the top prospects remain in Detroit control, but they still surrendered some good young talent and I have to worry if White will be enough of a difference maker in Detroit. The lefthander may find the going a little tougher in Thompson Field than he did at the pitcher-friendly Cougars Park and not having Skipper Schneider to gobble up groundballs behind him won't help either. White has had some good seasons in the past but he is on pace for a career high BB/9 and homers allowed while also having his highest FIP since 1936. He may still pan out and might have been the best Detroit could get at the price they were willing to pay but there do appear to be a few red flags.

The prospects the Cougars added were not in the top 100 but that is not to say they lack potential. Detroit gave up a lot in this trade. Righthander Mean Gene Madison, 22, was originally a second round pick of the St Louis Pioneers in 1941 and had a very strong season at AA Akron in 1944 before the Navy came calling last November. There likely won't be a spot for him in the deep Cougars post-war rotation but he may fit in their bullpen some day or could be an attractive trade piece down the road. Bob Schmelz was a first round pick, 11th overall in 1942, but only had 31 pro games under his belt before the second baseman was called by the Army in January of 1943, so the verdict on him is still out. Bill Perrin is an 18 year old Detroit high school star who was selected in the fifth round last January by his hometown team and is a player I really like and I have a feeling he might end up being the best player out of the three.

Some might think this move means the Cougars are throwing in the towel on this season but they may just be clearing a spot for 23 year old Mike Thorpe, who is 12-1 at AAA Milwaukee and has more upside than the #257 prospect that OSA considers him to be. Or, they have received confirmation that Pete Papenfus is on his way back from the Navy despite the fact that nothing whatsoever has been officially stated on the topic. Pitching is not in short supply in Chicago and moving White helps clear out things a little for next season when most, if not all of the players at war, are anticipated to be back.

A little over a week ago I wrote that now was the time for GM Martin to make some moves to push this team over the hump. I asked him to do it without mortgaging too much of the future. Since then the Dynamos have made 4 trades last week, bringing in 4 bats to try and bolster the worst run scoring offense in the Federal Association. A new outfield of Smith, Drake and Balk along with “the Arkansas Artilleryman” 3B Mack Sutton. Yes the Dynamos have traded some draft picks including their first round pick, but the top prospects have not been dealt.

Now yesterday another deal was announced and no it was not another position player. This time the deal is for a veteran starting pitcher. The Dynamo’s announce a deal trading 3 prospects, 2B Rabbit Mudd and their 4th round pick to the Chicago Cougars for 33-year-old Art White. The lefty White is 11-9 on the season with a 3.09 ERA. He will join a rotation that has been a Jimmy Long, a couple of rookies and then a mix of veteran hurlers. He will likely slot in behind Long and ahead of rookie Carl Potter in the top 3 slots.

The Dynamos have done a lot to try and secure the Federal pennant here in 1945. Is it enough? Is it too much? Are they done? Rumors are flying that the Dynamos at trying to secure another arm. Sources confirm talks with the Chiefs, Miners and Stars. Will they pull off another deal or two? Will they shock the baseball world with another deal?

In talking with GM Martin he reminded me that while the club is all in for the race here in 1945, they are trying to find a balance for the future. I’m trying to figure out what he is talking about with balance for the future in all the moves that seem to be for the now.

Jiggs McGee · 01-23-2023, 12:53 PM

JULY 30, 1945

TRADE DEADLINE DAY

Dynamos Only Team to Make Major Moves So Far

Baseball's annual July 31 trade deadline is upon us as FABL clubs are running out of time to decide if they are contenders and if so, just what else do they need to turn those pennant dreams into reality. The Detroit Dynamos debuted four of their newcomers last week with a fifth -the recently acquired Art White- enroute from Chicago to join the club. With Leon Drake, Lou Balk, Howie Smith and Mack Sutton in the lineup the results were mixed as they Dynamos split their four games last week. Drake went 3-for-10 with 4 rbis and Smith went 3-for-11 but Sutton hit just .200, although he did homer in his first game back after nearly 4 years in the Air Corps, while Balk hit .125.

It is a small sample of course and the focus for the Dynamos is on catching the Philadelphia Keystones for top spot in the Federal Association. And in that regard the Detroit club may not be done dealing yet. The defending Fed champs lead both Detroit and Washington by 3.5 games. Philadelphia took 3 of 4 games last week from Pittsburgh, knocking the Miners to 7 games back and likely ending any consideration the Pittsburgh nine might have had of being buyers at the deadline.

There have been no major moves in the Continental Association although the third place Chicago Cougars did make two trades including the deal that sent Art White to Detroit for prospects. The Cougars also added veteran outfielder Ray Struble from the Philadelphia Sailors but, while Stuble is a decent depth outfielder, the move is not of the type that would alter a pennant race. As for the race, the Cougars remain 5 games off the pace now set by the Cincinnati Cannons with the Toronto Wolves 1 game back of Cincinnati. The Cannons and Wolves continue to play leapfrog for the top spot with Cincinnati, on the strength of 4 wins in 5 games last week back to the front after the Wolves went just 3-3 on the week.

The big question in the CA is will any of the big three make a major move to try and distance themselves from the pack? The Cougars -with the trading of Art White- are likely not the team that will make a big slash in the next 48 hours. Cincinnati is always looking to upgrade but the question is where as there is likely little available that could supplant any of their deep batting order so perhaps another starting pitcher for depth might be the only directior the Cannons would go. There has been some talk of a big move coming out of Toronto but at the time of this writing the only move the Wolves made was to add minor league outfielder Ed Hamor from the Oakland Grays of the St Louis Pioneers organization. Gray was hitting .302 in AAA and did bat .328 in a brief trial with the Pioneers last season so perhaps the Wolves are hoping he can continue that hot streak and perhaps force the struggling Gus Hull (.208) to the bench.

GOTHAMS MAY BE CLOSE TO BIG DEAL

Sources in New York indicate the Gothams are near to closing a significant deal. There are no other details available at this time but some are thinking it might involve Detroit and reuniting Sal Pestilli with his old pal Red Johnson. Pestilli is in the Army Air Corps at the moment but the 29 year old 5-time all-star and 1938 Whitney Award winner might just be the big outfield bat the Gothams covet for next season.

DYNAMOS STILL SHOPPING

Despite having added five new players in the past week and half the Detroit Dynamos are reportedly not done dealing in an effort to secure their first pennant since 1929. Rumours out of the Motor City have Detroit brass working the phones furiously as tomorrow's trade deadline approaches. One more starting pitcher is said to be what Dick York's club is looking for and there were even some stories circulating the Dynamos might consider parting with one of their 'untouchable' top prospects in the right deal.

One such rumour which appears not to be happening involved another deal with Boston as the Dynamos were trying to follow up last week's acquisition of Mack Sutton with a trade for 35 year old lefthander Dean Astle. Boston has had a lot of calls about Astle but it appears the Minutemen are going to hold on to him in hopes he would play a key role next season when the club feels it will be better positioned to contend as most, if not all, of the players at war return.

Detroit is said to be dangling 1944 first overall pick Roy Schaub, who is presently in the Army, or Del Johnson, a second baseman who was selected 6th overall this year, in an effort to add that elusive arm they seek. Among the possible candidates are thought to be Karl Johnson of Pittsburgh, The New York Stars Dixie Lee or Doc Newell of the Sailors.

1946 DRAFT PREVIEW: PART 3 - HIGH SCHOOL PITCHERS

Last year when we did our early look at the top candidates for the 1946 draft there were 6 high school pitchers that made our mock first round led by Tony Peckham. A year later Peckham still fits comfortably on the list of top high school pitchers, as do most of the others but our number one is a newcomer to the high school ranks with just one season under his belt. As a group there are 6 high school arms that OSA could see anchoring a big league rotation one day, but after that perhaps a bigger drop-off than usual.

Here are our Top Ten High School Pitchers eligible for the 1946 draft.

1: LARRY BEEBE RHP - Mamaroneck(NY) HS: OSA says the 17 year old has an excellent 4-pitch reprtoire, which should allow him to become a great starting pitcher. He has just one year of high school experience, going 9-2 with a 1.06 era while fanning 14.3 per 9 innings and walking just 2.1. He did not allow a homerun in 119 innings of work.

2: SAM FRANKLIN LHP - Benton Harbor (MI) HS: Primarily uses a side-arm deliver that keeps hitters off balance and induces a lot of ground balls. OSA sees Franklin as a potential to be top of rotation arm. He was an honouable mention All-American last season which was the best of his 3 year high school career, going 11-0 with a 0.98 era and fanning 177 in 110 innings of work.

3: TONY PECKHAM RHP - Lincoln HS, San Francisco, CA.: Last year's mock draft had Peckham as the number one pitcher, third overall and ahead of even college sensation John Stallings. If all comes together, OSA feels the youngster has the potential to be a top of the rotation arm. He went 10-0 with a 1.28 era and 152 strikeouts in 98 innings in what was his third season of high school ball.

4: BOB ALLEN RHP - Sonora (CA)HS: Often compared to fellow Californian Peckham, OSA sees the same top of the rotation potential for both pitchers. Allen is on the smallish side at 5'9" so perhaps durability may come in to question and there are concerns his secondary pitchers do not match his solid slider. But that might just be nitpicking from repeated views over 2 seasons. His numbers were close both years, but across the board he was slightly better as a sophomore than he was as a junior.

5: JACK COOPER RHP - Pelham Manor (NY) HS: Has the makings of being an excellent leader and willing to do what it takes to make himself a better pitcher are two things the scouts really like about Cooper. OSA says he has good raw stuff but is inexperienced, making a reference to the fact he has not pitched a lot of innings over his three seasons of high school ball and has spent more time than you would like out of a potential first round pick working out of a high school bullpen. OSA feels he will end up near the top of a big league rotation but our worry is he might be a little higher risk than the average high school arm -which is already risky enough.

6: CLINT ROGERS LHP - Brunswick (GA) HS: Seems to us like a lefthanded version of Jackie Cooper - a pitcher OSA feels will be a top of the rotation arm despite the fact he has pitched out of the pen so much in high school. He is a real worm killer but also vey raw at this stage. One positive he has great velocity already, peaking at 90 mph.

7: FRED WASHINGTON RHP - Linton (IN) HS: There is a lot to like about Washington. He had a very good sophomore season in his high school debut and was outstanding last year, posting a 0.73 FIP while going 11-0 with a 14.6 k/9 and just 1.8 BB/9. Nicknamed Boom Boom by his high school coach Gabriel Kaplan, OSA slots him just below the elite arms in this class, calling him a middle of the rotation arm with plenty of movement on his pitches.

8: TONY BONELLI RHP - Columbus (GA) HS: Another pitcher the scouting service feels can develop into a solid middle of the rotation option. He has 5 pitches with solid stuff across the board and should boast very good strikeout, walk and homerun totals as he matures according to OSA. He is 16-1 with a 1.45 era and 240 strikeouts in 180 innings of work over two high school seasons.

9: FRANK HADDER LHP - Rutherford (TN) HS: He has three pitches including a very good sinker but there are concerns his change-up is well below-average so perhaps there is question as to whether he has enough of a repertoire to be a starter instead of confined to the bullpen. OSA is not worried, projecting Hadder to being a middle of the rotation talent. Hadder has just one season of high school ball, going 9-1 with a 2.31 era and a 10.8 K/9 with a 3.3 BB/9

10: CHUCK BRIGGS RHP - Holbrook (MA) HS: Good size at 6'3" but the velocity has not picked up yet as he peaks at the 84-86 range right now. A 3 year starter at Holbrook High, Briggs needs to learn to throw more strikes, but if he does OSA sees him as a mid-rotation arm down the road.

Code:


HONOURABLE MENTION
 NAME             SCHOOL
Bill Kline	Annapolis (MD) HS
Lee Loeffler	Paw Paw (MI) HS
Harley Morgan   West (TX) HS
Dick Rutledge	Green Cove Springs (FL) HS
Heinie Strub	Eagle Rock HS, Los Angeles, CA.
Bill Sweet	Catholic Central HS, Steubenville, OH

Let's add one more as a pitcher to watch closely. Cyrus Goodman of Clarendon, AR., was #16 on our list last year for the mock first round and in his 3 years so far has been an All-American once and an honourable mention the other two times. His career pitching record is nothing short of outstanding at 35-0 with a 1.02 era and 574 strikeouts in 362 innings of work. OSA has downgraded him despite another strong season and calls him a spot starter at best. Goodman seems like just the arm someone might take a chance on late in the first round or early in the second.

Next week we will release our Full Mock First Round for the 1946 draft.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

A .500 Week, Injuries Drop Toronto to Second -The Toronto Wolves had an up and down week finishing at 3-3. The week began with a 5-3 loss to the Cougars in which the Chicago squad knocked the pitching around for 14 hits including 5 doubles...the score was flattering to Toronto. To add to the bad news Joe Bell was lost until the beginning of September with a foot issue. Bell was a late innings defensive sub at second for Henderson in addition to be used to rest Henderson or at third. His .278/.362/.422 line will be missed along with steady defense at second.

The logical callup from Buffalo would have been Bud House to add a bat that could play second, unfortunately House is also out until the middle of August so management recalled Tommy Anderson to give some depth in the 'pen. After a good performance at the big league level last September Anderson has had a rough time in both Toronto and Buffalo in 1945. Problems at both levels has been far too many free passes to the opposition. Manager Call and Pitching Coach Nichols hope by using Anderson in specific relief situations he will enjoy a little more success and regain his confidecne.

Toronto rebounded at mid week taking the first 3 of a five game set from the Sailors. Garrison notched his 13th victory of the season with a 5-4 win on Thursday, Cookie Myers ran his record to 12-1 with a come from behind 4-2 victory on Friday followed by a masterful 8-1 victory by Walls on Saturday. Walls is now 8-1 with a 3.88 ERA. He has been receiving the most run support of any starter.

The Wolves must of felt pretty good going into Sunday's double header where the team has been a terror. Not this Sunday as the Sailors swept, 7-5 and 4-2 in 10. Cleveland visits for 3 before the Wolves vacate Dominion Stadium for most of August. Foresters have played Toronto to a standstill this season going 6-6 against the Wolves.

A late trade has been announced between Toronto and St. Louis. Ed Hamor will be joining the Wolves a right handed hitting outfielder probably as a platoon with Gus Hull. Wolves sent prospect 1B Ed Abbott to the Pioneers.

CANNONS UNDECIDED ON DEAL

The trade deadline is upon us and the Cincinnati Cannons may just sit idly by and watch this time around. Certainly an unusual case for a Cannons club that has made some big July moves the past couple of years but this time around there does not seem to be a lot available that could improve the club.

Certainly not from the position player point of view where the Cannons are stacked. If they are going to make a move it will be for another veteran pitcher to add depth in case of an injury. The club has some targets in mind but it would be a tough decision as adding someone means they will need to cut one of their existing pitchers - likely Fred Hall or George DeForest - but the entire group has performed very well this season. Even Butch Smith, the reigning Allan Award winner who had a terrible start, seems to have found a home as the key man out of the Cincinnati bullpen.

Gotham Notes- Here we go again? Or building for the future? Gothams fans were angry if letters to the editor can be believed. Leon Drake was a popular player and now he's gone for another raffle ticket. Although sometimes frustrating to management with his up and down seasons, Drake has provided what little power there was behind Red Johnson during these war years. In return the team received minor league OF, currently in the military, George Bundy. Bundy is a former 4th round pick of the Dynamos.

On a positive note Drake's replacement in RF hit the ground running. Former Gothams 3rd round selection Bill Payne made the jump to the big club after a handful of games at AAA Toledo. He continued his torrid hitting going 12-23 (.522) with 2 doubles, a homer and 7 RBI in his first week of big league play. Payne had hit .364 and .385 in stops at AA and AAA this season.

What's next for the Gothams? I asked manager Bud Jameson about more moves. His reply was that the team will be looking to add to the major league team expecting more of the military players to be returning. "This isn't a rebuild. We want to be positioned to contend when our guys are back home."

Ed Baker won his 200th game last week and did so in fine fashion by spinning a 3-0 shutout over the New York Stars. The 40 year old, who spent 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Keystones before being dealt to Montreal prior to the 1940 campaign, is 200-183 including a 10-7 mark with a 4.21 era this season.
Sam Brown of the Cincinnati Cannons notched his 2000th career hit a week ago. The milestone marker for the 34 year old outfielder and 3-time all-star game last Sunday when we went 4-for-6 in a game against the New York Stars. A career .315 hitter over 1,595 games with Washington and the Cannons, Brown is batting .316 this season.
A 4-0 week for Boston including 3 straight over the Washington Eagles has Minutemen fans thinking perhaps their still is a chance. It will be a long haul as, at 46-52, the Minutemen are 9 games back with a lot of teams in front of them.
Montreal's Vic Crawford is showing he still has plenty left in the tank at age 37. Crawford enjoyed a 5-hit game -just the second of his career- a little over a week ago and then yesterday he hit 3 homeruns in a game for the first time in his career, leading the Saints to an 8-2 victory. On the year Crawford is hitting .326 with 10 homers and 75 rbi's, numbers on pace to match his glory seasons of the mid-1930s.
Three homerun games are still a pretty rare occurance with Crawford's being just the 25th time that has been accomplished and just the third this decade (joining Hank Koblenz in 1942 and Cliff Moss last year). Only Moss, Lou Kelly and Tom Taylor have had two games in their careers with 3 homeruns.

PETRIE'S RING FUTURE DIMMED BY LOSS TO HENDRICKS

Adrian Petrie, considered the best young boxer to come out of Canada in well over a decade, saw his hopes to be considered among the best in the middleweight division dealt a serious setback after suffering a split decision loss to JC Hendricks in Detroit over the weekend. The two talented youngsters both had high hopes and growing reputations entering the fight, which was held at the Thompson Arena on Saturday.

Petrie, a Montreal native who was recently discharged from the Royal Montreal Regiment of the Canadian 1st Army, was 7-0 as a professional entering the bout. He was so highly thought of despite his relatively young age of 23 that Petrie was included on the big military card in Liverpool last September. Hendricks was no slouch either. Also 23, the Detroit native entered the bout with a 6-1 record with his lone loss coming to Thomas Erwin before the war when Hendricks was just starting out.

It was an entertaining fight and both battled hard but, despite some protests from Petrie's corner afterwards, there appeared to be no hometown bias in awarding the decision to Hendricks.

*** A WEEK OF UPSETS ***

Petrie was not the only highly touted fighter to taste defeat in a bout many expected victory. Willis May, the Alabama native who was making his second appearance after four years in the Navy, suffered a technical knockout loss to lightly regardard Andy Branch on Friday. The 26 year old May, who entered the fight with an 11-1-2 record, really was just the victim of bad luck as he suffered what is suspected to be a broken hand from connecting with Branch's head regularly and was forced to stop in the fifth round, taking the loss.

The other upset loss was also a result of a stoppage as Bobby Bernard, the 26 year old Shreveport middleweight who was 12-2 entering his fight last Wednesday with Ray Pope, lost by a TKO in the 8th round after Pope opened a huge cut above Bernard's left eye. Pope, a 27-year old who hails from Tulsa, Ok., improves to 18-9-1 with the victory.

BRIT HEAVY TOPS BAKER

English heavyweight Leo Carmichael improved to 2-0 on his American tour with a unanimous decision over Clifford Baker in Washington DC Saturday evening. The 37 year old Londoner came across the Atlantic in the spring and fought on the undercard of former middleweight champ Artie Rees successful title defense over Tommy Erwin in March. Carmichael, who knocked out Mark Fountain in the spring, ran his carer mark to 30-4-1 with an unanimous decision over Philadelphia native Baker on Saturday. The 10-round bout was fairly even for the first six rounds but Carmichael, after a big showing in round seven, easily took the decision with a strong finish. Baker,35, who is the older brother of rising young heavyweight Scott 'The Chef' Baker, drops to 26-7-2 with the loss.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 7/29/1945

Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his Conservative party went down to landslide defeat at the hads of the British electorate which voted into Parliament a sweeping Labor party majority.
Japan rejected the American-British-Chinese surrender ultimatum despite a clear warning that she now faces "prompt and utter destruction" by the mighty Allied land, sea and air forces assembled in the Pacific.
More than 1,000 American planes pounced on a concentration of Japanese warships at the Kure Naval Base and left it in a mess of burning wreckage. Heavy raids were also carried out all week on various Japanese cities.
Talks in Potsdam between the big three are set to resume today after a brief break for the British election. New Prime Minister Clement Attlee will replace the defeated Winston Churchill in meetings with President Truman and Premier Stalin. There is rumours that Russia will join the allies in the war against Japan but no announcement is expected until the conference is concluded.
Former French Premier Paul Reynaud has accused Marshal Henri Phillipe Petain of being in league with the Nazis as long ago as 1934, soon after Hitler rose to power.
The death toll in New York City's most spectacular air crash was set at 13 persons at least after a B-25 Army bomber smacked in the 79th floor of the fog-shrouded Empire State building.
Federal Price chief Chester Bowles says that 150 million copies of War Ration Book Five-which he hopes will be the OPA's last -will be distributed in December. At the same time 23 million motorists will get new gasoline books, the third edition since gas rationing began.

Jiggs McGee · 01-24-2023, 10:45 AM

AUGUST 6, 1945

TRADE DEADLINE FRENZY

FABL has had some wild trade deadlines in past seasons but one might be hard pressed to find another deadline to match the excitement of the back and forth dueling between the Detroit Dynamos and Philadelphia Keystones that took place as the clock struck midnight on deadline moves this season.

It all started with the Detroit Dynamos making 4 deals in the span of hours for the week beginning July 23rd. That brought Detroit a new third baseman in Mack Sutton and an entirely new outfield comprised of Lou Balk, Leon Drake and Howie Smith. As it turned out that was just the starting point with veteran pitcher Art White being added, followed by Dixie Lee -another veteran arm. Those moves seemed to spur Philadelphia into action as the Keystones announced a pair of deals that reshaped the left side of their infield with the acuisition of shortstop Frank Davis from the Chiefs and third sacker Frank Covarrubias from the Sailors. About that time the Continental Association's Cincinnati Cannons -who had been uncharacteristically quiet this time around- also made a move with the Chicago Chiefs to bring in another veteran pitcher in Red Hampton. Tornto, dueling with the Cannons for the Continental crown, made a move of their own but it was hardly earthshattering by bringing in veteran outfielder Ed Hamor to challenge the slumping Gus Hall for the starting job in rightfield. The Chicago Cougars also threw their hat into the ring with a depth outfielder addition of their own- acquiring Ray Struble from the Sailors.

All of that trade gluttony it would turn out was merely the appetizer for what would be the main course. It has been no secret that the Dynamos had been shopping former Whitney Award winning outfielder Sal Pestilli -even though Sal is currently spending his third ball season in the Army Air Corps- and the rumours finally became truth with news that Pestilli was being moved to the New York Gothams where he will reunite with the other half of what was supposed to be the leaders of the next Detroit championship team in Red Johnson. Pestilli moves to New York in exchange for 40 year old pitcher Jim Lonardo -who has his sights set on 300 career wins- as well as highly touted prospect Wally Hunter (also in the air corps at the moment) and the Gothams first and second round selections in the January draft.
*** Minor Controversy Over Late Attempt at Trade ***

Detroit also thought they had added an item for dessert with the late news that Vic Crawford was joining the Dynamos in a deal with Montreal. Unfortunately there was an issue getting the details of the trade by telegraph to the league office in time and, following league rules, the potential trade was nulified.

In all, even without the Crawford trade, Detroit added 7 big league regulars, turning over roughly 30% of it's major league roster in a matter of less than two weeks. Will it pay off? Did they improve enough to catch the Philadelphia Keystones who were also spurred into action, likely by Detroit's big announcements? Only time well tell.

Here is a breakdown of what each team did over the last week and a half as Jiggs McGee tries to identify some of the winners and losers.

FEDERAL ASSOCIATION

BOSTON MINUTEMEN

Added - minor league P Alf Keeter (OSA#62, Army),minor league OF/1B Hal Renard (OSA #79, Army), Detroit's first round pick.
Lost - 3B Mack Sutton.
The best thing the Boston Minutemen might have done was stand pat. They dealt Sutton a week prior to the deadline because he really did not have a position to return to when news broke the Air Corps was discharging him. Boston had acquired Billy Dalton to solve their third base needs so Sutton was expendable and moved to Detroit for a first round pick and a pair of top 80 prospects. What the Minutemen did not do, was a major sell-off. There was plenty of interest in 35 year old Dean Astle -interest from nearly every contender and a number of good offers discussed. The same for 5-time all-star centerfielder Chick Donnelly, who was especially coveted by Toronto. Boston thinks this is just an off-year and they can contend next season but to do so they will most definitely need Astle and Donnelly rather than a bunch of picks or young prospects.

VERDICT- As mentioned above. Not dealing veterans and going into full rebuild mode was likely the best thing the Minutemen could have done. Sutton was expendable and gives them back the first round pick to replace the one they surrendered last year to bring Billy Dalton over from Cincinnati.

CHICAGO CHIEFS

Added - minor league P Ernie Espanoza (Navy), minor league C Dino Robinson (OSA #145, Class A), Cincinnati's 3rd round pick.
Lost - SS Frank Davis (.274,0,44), P Red Hampton (8-9, 3.40).

The Chiefs are very much in rebuild mode after these moves, but that was already a given. Elmer Hutchins will finally get a chance to play everyday at shortstop with Davis traded but the Chiefs know there will be some bumpy roads with him in the infield. Hutchins hits well, but his glove will make fans long for Davis. In 1943 at Fort Wayne, Hutchins played 109 games at short, turned 49 double plays, and committed 43 errors. Long-term the Chiefs will need to find a shortstop although they may think the answer could eventually be their 1945 3rd rounder Herb Keller, who is a solid defender at Class C but just 18 years old.

The two deals are clearly about the future as Ernie Espanoza was a top ten prospect for a stretch but has been in the navy and has not pitched since 1941. He is 26 and the expectation in Chicago is Espanoza can be a mid-rotation starter or better beginning next season. Robinson is a 21 year old selected out of Georgia Baptist this year by the Keystones and is off to a great start in his first month of pro ball. It is early but the two-time All-American looks like a steal of a draft pick for an 8th rounder. With the rebuild in full swing Hampton, who will turn 39 next month, was an easy decision to move to Cincinnati for a third round pick.

VERDICT: It's rebuild time so the focus is on adding assets. I do worry about the lack of shortstop defense the rest of the season but that is something that will be easily solved -perhaps even at no cost through the rule five draft- over the winter when it is hoped most of those at war will be back.

DETROIT DYNAMOS

Added- P Jim Lonardo (5-5, 3.96), P Dixie Lee (10-10, 3.29), 3B Mack Sutton (just returned from air corps), OF Leon Drake (.254,3,36), OF Lou Balk (.282,8,40), OF Howie Smith (.318,8,70), P Wally Hunter (air corps) Gothams 1st and 2nd round picks, Stars 4th round pick
Lost - OF Sal Pestilli (air corps), 2B Rabbit Mudd (.259,0,4), minor league P Roy Schaub (OSA #38, Army), minor league P Alf Keeter (OSA #62, Army),minor league P Paul Grell (OSA #76, air corps), minor league OF/1B Hal Renard (OSA #79, Army), minor league OF George Bundy (OSA #166, Army), minor league P Tommy Miller (OSA #169, Army), minor league 2B Bob Schmelz (OSA #181, Army), minor league C Bill Perrin (OSA #188 Class C), minor league P Gene Madison (OSA #305, Navy), Detroit's 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th round picks.

Detroit's General Manager made the following statement to reporters as the Pestilli trade was announced:
"The Detroit Dynamos want to explain this deal that is going to be announced. It is no secret that I have been talking about trading Big Sal. From the "rumors" of a rift in the ownership suite with the star to the hard feelings of being blamed for the lack of titles before he was sent off to the military. Some pundits have said Sal was overrated and didn't live up to all the hype after the first few seasons. Now there are also our the troubling scouting reports by both my scout, OSA scouts and other teams scouts. While those in the know say "He will be fine", the reports were troubling not only to Detroit brass but other teams that talked about Sal.

"This trade was more for the future and less about the present. It was not done just to bring in Lonardo as the "key" to winning the title. Sure (Detroit World columnist Freddie) Farhat will spin that bringing in a proven winner like Lonardo is a good deal but at 41 his best days are behind him. This is an effort to help him get to 300 (wins) as I will start him pretty much every 5th game. The deal was trying to find that balance that I have mentioned before. We gave up a lot to go "all in" for this and the key was the picks and pitcher Wally Hunter who appears to have good upside and is close to the big leagues. I had plans to have Potter, Schaub and Hunter be the top 3 SP's in Detroit down the road when I made this deal. But I felt we had to find a great SP and I was not going to break up the 3 top prospects up the middle in Hackenberry, Johnson and Kleminski.

"So that is just a little of the reason why. I love drafting and trying to build with young players. The war (and personal life) interrupted that fun with the current group. Now it time to try again but maybe sneak 1 pennant out of this before moving forward with a new crop."

VERDICT: All I can say is Wow! You have to give the Dynamos brass credit for making some bold moves to try and go all-in and win the pennant this year. I am convinced the fan base will be incensed if this doesn't pan out. Sending Red Johnson to the Gothams was bad enough but adding Sal Pestilli might well cause a revolt. Of course, a pennant would appease the Motor City masses very quickly. I just worry the additions might not be enough to claim that pennant. The Keystones are good...very good. Not that there was much else out there the Dynamos could have added anyway, unless they broke out the very top prospects. They did do that to a degree with Roy Schaub and -while I worry for Detroiters he will do great things with the other New York team- getting Wally Hunter from the Gothams in the Pestilli deal greatly helps balance the scales on the mound. If Detroit finally gets the pennant that has eluded them since 1929, their management team will be seen as genius. If not, it is not going to be pretty at Thompson Field next year the first time the Gothams, with Red and Sal, come to town.

We should make note of the deal that almost was. The one with the confirmation issue would have seen the Dynamos add veteran first baseman Vic Crawford (.316,10,77) from Montreal but at a very hefty price of impressive rookie pitcher Pete Brown (8-8, 3.80), top 100 prospect Steve Dunagan plus a pair of draft picks - Detroit's second rounder and the fourth round selection they had acquired from the New York Stars. No doubt Crawford would have helped in Detroit's pennant push but that looks like a very high price to pay.

NEW YORK GOTHAMS

Added - Sal Pestilli (air corps), minor league OF George Bundy (OSA #166, Army)
Lost - OF Leon Drake (.254,3,36), P Jim Lonardo (5-5, 3.96), minor league P Wally Hunter (OSA #42 air corps), their first and second round draft picks

Here is what New York World Telegram sports writer Red Wedge had in his column after the deal following a conversation with Gothams Assistant GM Frank Escoe after news broke of the Pestilli deal:
Red: Late news is that the team has traded 2 draft picks, a highly regarded pitching prospect and longtime Gotham Jim Lonardo for Sal Petilli. Can you confirm this?
AGM Frank Escoe: Yes, we've just completed the deal. First, let me say that we have some regrets dealing Jim again. But this may help him reach the 300 win total as Detroit is going all out for this season.
Red: That's all well and good. The fans will miss Lonardo and you'll be patching the rotation the rest of this season, but I see the smile on your face. Sal Pestilli?
Escoe: It's not much of a secret that I've been interested in adding Sal's bat to our lineup for some time now. I think we've piled up quite a long distance phone bill to Detroit.
Red: Brewer-Monier-Messer-Johnson-Pestilli and Casstevens. That's quite a lineup.
Escoe: Something like that. I'll leave the order to Bud, but it is exciting. I think the fans will forgive the move of Lonardo.
Red: The FA is going to be quite competitive when the war ends.
Escoe: And we intend to be in the mix. We have a number of veteran and young pitchers coming back. Now that we'll have the current team intact we will need to start looking to the future. Still there was no way I wasn't going to take a shot when I finally get Messer and the guys back.
Red: Good luck on the rest of the season. We'll all be hoping to get the boys home soon.

VERDICT: The Gothams do not like to draft. That is no secret so everyone in the league knew their early round picks would be available and for a while now it has felt like Sal Pestilli would end up alongside Red Johnson at Gothams Stadium. Hunter seems to have a very good upside so I am a little surprised he joined the picks in the trade but the Gothams are confident they have the pitching to withstand the loss. It was likely hard to trade Lonardo (again) but he does have a better shot at getting to 300 wins (he is at 286 as of this writing) with the Dynamos. There is some worry that age, and three years out of pro ball, might catch up to Pestilli but the thought of Sal and Red combining for 50-75 homers a season is likely too much to pass up.

Part of me wondered if the Gothams -who were 19-9 in July as of the 30th, might have instead decided to use those picks to acquire a player who could help them win now, but dropping two of the three to the Chiefs over the final weekend of July left them 9 games back and likely figuring there are too many teams they would need to pass to challenge this season.

PHILADELPHIA KEYSTONES

Added - 3B Frank Covarrubias (.309,5,43), SS Frank Davis (.274,0,44)
Lost - minor league OF Billy Black (OSA #75,army), minor league P Ernie Espanoza (Navy), minor league C Dino Robinson (OSA #145, Class A) first round pick.

Just when you thought the Detroit Dynamos were preparing for a huge charge to claim the Federal Association flag, the Keystones quickly answered with two deals that seemed to perfectly solve their needs. In Covarrubias and Davis they quickly make a nice upgrade on the left side of their infield and address shortstop -which was their biggest need.

VERDICT- It felt like the pennant might be slipping away as Detroit announced deal after deal but then out of nowhere they Keystones sprung into action with two quick trade annoucements. They gave up a lot of young talent but may have secured their second straight pennant with the moves. The Keystones do not trade a lot, prefering to grow the organization thru the draft but Davis is a fine addition at shortstop, and a nice upgrade on Henry Schmidt, Johnny Worsley or Jake Creel. Davis has a great glove and won't hurt them at the plate either. I expect the acquisition of Covarrubias will send Ron Hansen across the dimaond from third to first base and Leo Costello to the bench. Covarrubias is a very good defensive third baseman and found his hitting stroke the past two seasons with the Sailors. He will be a perfect player to slide into the #2 or #3 spot in the batting order as a table setter for the big bat of Bobby Barrell. Detroit got a lot better the last week and a half, but the Keystones answered. It could be quite a stretch run in the Fed.

PITTSBURGH MINERS

Nothing out of the Miners this year and perhaps that makes sense as the club is really stuck in no man's land. They are 7 games out in fifth place so perhaps a hot streak gets them right back into contention. Hard to be a seller in that predicament and even tougher to decide to be a buyer especially when watching Detroit load up. There were some rumours the Miners were approached about a couple of players -with veteran pitcher Karl Johnson (6-8, 3.49) being the most commonly mentioned- but the Miners obviously did not like what was being offered for the 37 year old.

ST LOUIS PIONEERS

Added- minor league 1B Elmer Abbott (OSA #434, Class C)
Lost - AAA OF Ed Hamor

Like Pittsburgh, the Pioneers are stuck in the middle. 5 games back of Philadelphia in fourth place and seeing the Dynamos load up likely put an end to any thoughts St Louis had of sending any of their youngsters elsewhere for a veteran return. They made one small move on the day, acquiring an 18 year old just drafted in the 10th round infielder for a 26 year old minor league outfielder with limited big league experience.

VERDICT: Few gave the Pioneers much of a chance this year and a 16-32 start only seemed to reinforce that it would be a long season. But the Pioneers have played at a .674 clip since June 4 and are very much in the race. There must have been some temptation to make a move, particularily for an upgrade at second base where young Jim Koch is struggling. Someone like Bob Martin from the Chicago Chiefs might have been a nice addition, but I see the merit of sticking with Koch and letting him learn the ropes alongside fellow 23 year old Homer Mills at shortstop. There was also likely a fear of tinkering with what is clearly working right now so standing pat is very hard to question. Still, it has been since 1921 when St Louis last appeared in a World Championship Series.

WASHINGTON EAGLES

Baseball fans in DC must be in shock as they read their morning paper with news of all the big moves made by Detroit and the Philadelphia Keystones. The Eagles, are tied with the Dynamos for second place - just 3.5 games back of Philaldelphia- but it must be a real gut punch to fans and even the players on the team to not see any attempt to keep pace at the deadline. There were lots of veteran arms being moved, and others talked about who did not end up going anywhere. Ed Baker of Montreal, the Sailors Doc Newell and several others would have made Eagles fans feel a lot more comfortable with their rotation than watching Del Burns or Tommy Shafer struggle every fifth day. A centerfielder who could hit over his weight would be a big upgrade on Bill Morris and 22 year old Roy Carroll has shown he is not yet ready to be an everyday outfielder in a pennant race so upgrades there would have helped and they need not be big name players in their prime. Just a servicable vet age 35 plus could have helped and would not have broken the bank.

VERDICT:In doing nothing the Eagles are the team that lost the most this deadline. The club has not be relevant in nearly 20 years and are in a spot where they could contend. Lou Ellertson is enjoying the greatest season of his career. Dan Everett, Paul Wilkerson, Larry Colaianni and Sig Stofer have all been very good. If they had just a little more help, who knows, maybe they could have surprised the Keystones and Dynamos. I am not saying the Eagles won't win the pennant...it's baseball and anything can happen after all. But I am saying the front-office did absolutely nothing to support manager John Lawrence and the ballclub in a rare season when the Eagles are still relevant after the all-star break.

CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION

BROOKLYN KINGS

The 7th place Kings were silent during all the trade discussions. At least one Continental Association rival made an offer to the Kings but did not get a response back. This seemed like a missed opportunity for Brooklyn, as they could have likely brought in some good young assets for a player like Vernon Ruch, who at 34 is having a career year. 31 year old 3B Frank Lemieux, who is rotting on the bench, or bullpen piece Hal Lucas might have also garnered a late draft pick or mid-level prospect in return.

VERDICT: Not as severe a miscue by inaction as what the Eagles committed, but still it does the long term health of the franchise no favours. A good deal for both might have seen the Kings send Vernon Ruch to Washington, maybe even with centerfielder Ben Brazal for something like a second round draft pick. Brazel certainly and Ruch quite possibly will both lose their jobs next season when the likes of Rats McGonigle and Joe Herman plus prospect Joe Rutherford return. A missed opporunity to add to the system depth for Brooklyn.

CHICAGO COUGARS

Added - OF Ray Struble (.225,8,57), 2B Rabbit Mudd (.259,0,4), minor league P Gene Madison (OSA #305, Navy), minor league 2B Bob Schmelz (OSA #181, Army), minor league C Bill Perrin (OSA #188 Class C), Detroit 4th round pick.
LOST- P Art White (11-9, 3.08), minor league OF Ed Neal (OSA NR Class C)

While it feels like the Cougars are giving up on this season with the decision to move White as we have discussed in the special trade issue a week ago that is not quite the case. They have a lot of pitching and AAA phenom Mike Thorpe (12-1, 276) deserves a shot in Chicago before all the big arms return from the war. They also add Struble and Mudd to give them some depth in their lineup.

VERDICT: Not much to say here. The Cougars have a lot of talent coming back when the war ends and adding veterans now for a short-term run, especially when it seems catching both Cincinnati and Toronto is a tall task, just means they will have more players to expose in the rule five draft over the winer.

CINCINNATI CANNONS

Added - P Red Hampton (8-9, 3.40)
Lost - Third round draft pick

The Cannons it seems just cannot go through a trade deadline without doing something. Word is they were focused on trying to get Boston to part with Dean Astle and were offering their first round pick. When that fell through they looked at other options with the thinking being, while they don't need a pitcher right now, it would be good to have some extra depth at the position due to the age of their arms. Hampton, at nearly 39, fits right in to the veteran clubhouse and could be slotted anywhere from the bullpen to the number two starter depending upon how he, and others, perform down the stretch.

VERDICT- A low cost move to add some insurance for the stretch run.

CLEVELAND FORESTERS

Added - minor league P Tommy Miller (OSA #169, Army), Detroit's 3rd and 6th round picks
Lost- OF Lou Balk (2.82,8,40)

The Foresters did not have a lot that they could have moved so they added a nice return for Balk. The 20 year old Miller looked very good at Class C last year but struggled in a brief test at the B level and is in the army this summer. A 1943 8th round draft pick, OSA sees him as being on the bubble for a big league job.

VERDICT: I am not sure there was a lot of demand for Balk so the Foresters got what they could for the 33 year old, who was one of their few remaining tradeable veteran assets.

MONTREAL SAINTS

Added- None as a proposed trade that would have brought in pitcher Pete Brown (8-8, 3.80), minor league OF Steve Dunagan (OSA#85, Navy), Detroit's 2nd round pick and NY Stars 4th round pick via Detroit from the Dynamos in exchange for franchise legend Vic Crawford (.326,10,75) was denied when the paperwork confirming the deal did not reach the league office.

Here is what was written during the brief time we thought the deal was a go.

Originally I was going to talk about the fact that the Saints did not make any moves despite their being interest in 37 year old Vic Crawford. I no sooner wrote that "it is hard to imagine Crawford with anything other than the fleur-de-lis on his chest," when word came that Crawford was part of the Detroit invasion, acquired by the Dynamos for a treasure-chest of young talent that was headlined by rookie pitcher Pete Brown and also included a top 100 outfield prospect in Steve Dunagan plus a pair of draft picks. There was also reportedly some interest in pitcher Karl Weiss (12-3, 3.11) from at least one team but the Saints decided to hang on to the 31 year old who is enjoying a career year. 40 year old pitcher Ed Baker (10-7, 4.21) was being shopped but there were no takers.

VERDICT:Crawford has been the face of the franchise for 15 years and will be missed but the Saints picked up plenty in return. Brown is a 22 year old righthander who made the Dynamos out of spring training despite having only half a season of pro ball under his belt. A fourth round pick, he pitched well in Detroit but had some ups and downs. OSA calls him a mid-rotation arm but we feel that might be a little ambitious, although he should easily fit into a big league pitching staff. Dunagan, a 24 year old centerfielder, is another prospect we really like and when he gets out of the Navy should do well in the Saints outfield and will cover a lot of ground if moved to a corner spot because Bill Greene has a hammerlock on centerfield. That draft picks only add to the value for Montreal, which it appears caught a Detroit club on a buying frenzy at just the right time.

NEW YORK STARS

Added - minor league P Roy Schaub (OSA #38, Army), minor league P Paul Grell (OSA #76, air corps)
Lost - P Dixie Lee (10-10, 3.29), OF Howie Smith (.318,8,70), 4th round pick

If I was exited about the Stars future before their trade moves, that feeling has only grown, and in a big way. Roy Schaub is a two-time Adwell Award winner as the top high school player in the nation and, while OSA may have soured on him slightly, we at TWIFB still feel he can be an outstanding pitcher one day. Grell, who had his big league debut with Detroit in '41 just before the air corps came calling, has the upside potential of a solid mid-rotation starter. So imagine a rotation 2 or 3 years from now with those two following Eli Panneton pitching in front of a lineup that features not only two-time Whitney Award winner Bill Barrett but also top ten prospects Ralph Hanson, Bob Riggins and Bill Barnett. The Stars might well be a dominant team for a decade.

VERDICT: The Stars are not going anywhere this season so Smith and Lee were both expendable. There is plenty of talent coming back when the war is over and the addition of Schaub and Grell, a pair of top 100 arms, only adds to the pile of prospects.

PHILADELPHIA SAILORS

Added - minor league OF Billy Black (OSA #75, army), Keystones 1st round pick
Lost - 3B Frank Covarrubias (.309,5,43)

With Jim Beard and Marion Boismenu likely to return from the war next season the Sailors will have a logjam of corner infielders. Covarrubias was a low cost pickup prior to the 1944 season that suddenly found himself after years of failing to live up to expectations. He finished third in the CA Whitney voting a year ago and while there is a bit of a drop-off he was still enjoying a decent season this year. The Sailors are 11 games out at this writing so next year is the focus now and with Covarrubias expendable they maximized their return with a top 100 prospect and a first round draft pick.

There was also a lot of talk that Doc Newell (13-9, 3.59) was going to be moved and at one point near confirmation of a deal involving the 37 year old but it clearly fell through. Cincinnati had him on their radar before settling on the Chiefs Red Hampton and Detroit was also believed interested but the Dynamos clearly decided on other mound options.

VERDICT:A nice deal for both teams. Covarrubias was expendable next season and Black -who did struggle as an 18 year old in 1943, is still highly thought of by OSA. He should be back from the Army next season and might need a couple more years of seasoning but is a nice prospect. Extra first round draft picks, even if the Keystones win the pennant and it is 15th overall, are always nice addions.

TORONTO WOLVES

Added - OF Ed Hamor
Lost- minor league 1B Elmer Abbott (OSA #434, Class C)

The Wolves have traditionally been very cautious on the trade front and this year was no exception. They were reportedly interested in a few bigger moves with Boston outfielder Chick Donnelly and possibly pitcher Dean Astle as targets but in the end they decided to just make one small move for a minor league outfielder from St Louis named Ed Hamor who will get a chance to replace the strugglig Gus Hull in right field.

VERDICT: It is not a big surprise the Wolves did not make a big trade as, much like the Keystones, they prefer to build through the draft. With neither of their two main Continental Association rivals adding in a big way it is probably the prudent plan for the Toronto nine. However, a big corner-outfield bat might have been just the thing to separate the Wolves from Cincinnati and Chicago over the final two months of the season.

DEAD HEAT IN CA, FED RACE TIGHTENS

The trade deadline is behind us, rosters are set and the dog days of August lie ahead in what has the makings of a pair of great pennant races. Cincinnati and Toronto are in a virtual tie atop the Continental Association but the Cannons, gunning for a third straight crown, suffered a key loss during the week when outfielder Sam Brown blew out his knee and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Cincinnati does have a replacement in war returnee Fred Galloway but Brown, who was third in the CA batting race, will certainly be missed. Not to be ignored are the Chicago Cougars, who sit 5 games off the pace but have 8 games coming up, all at home, with the co-leaders starting on Sunday.

In the Fed, the new-look Detroit Dynamos -who are still waiting on a couple of their deadline acquisitions to arrive- gained a pair of games on front-running Philadelphia and now trail the Keystones by just a game and a half. Washington, despite standing pat at the deadline, remains in the mix as well, is still just 3.5 games back with St Louis and Pittsburgh, at 5 and 6 games behind respectively, must also be watched closely. Even the New York Gothams and Boston Minutemen can not be counted entirely out as each is 8 games off the pace.

1946 DRAFT PREVIEW - PART 4: MOCK FIRST ROUND

Here are the top 16 draft eligible players for the 1946 draft based on TWIFB's analysis of the OSA scouting reports and the players statistical performance in college or high school. It is not a full mock draft as at this stage we have no idea what the selection order will be, but this is a ranking of the top 16 players in order, based upon how we feel OSA assesses them at this moment. Included in the list is the reprint of the brief bio on each player from the 3 previous draft preview articles.

1- JOHN STALLINGS LHP - Piedmont University: If you want a college pitcher you better make sure you get Stallings because according to OSA no other collegiate hurler is even close to first round material. Stallings was a second team All-American as a freshman when he went 11-1 but he was even better as a sophomore, earning first team All-America status and being named a finalist for the Christian Trophy after a 9-1, 0.99 season that saw him post the lowest era in the college ranks since Stan Merendino in 1928. Stallings also fanned 154, just two shy of Bob Arman's post-feeder record. OSA loves his command and calls Stallings a pitcher with the potentail to be an impact starter.

2- SHERRY DOYAL CF - Landry HS, New Orleans, La: Doyal seems like a center fielder who can do it all and OSA goes as far as stating he is already being compared to some of the greats of the game. It does seem a little early for that but he appears to have a tremendous combination of skills: above average power potential when he grows into his 6'1" frame, great stroke and a terrific eye. There is no comment either way on his defense at this stage so one has to assume it is at least adequate to play in the middle of a big league outfield. In 3 years of high school ball, Doyal -who was an All-American as a freshman but not the past two years- has slashed .491/.588/.893

3- LEW MERCER C - Marietta (OH) HS: There is a pretty solid crop of high school catchers in this draft class and one of the late additions may just be the best one. Mercer played just the one season of high school ball and his slash numbers are certainly not overwhelming at .438/.533/.775 but OSA scouts just love him. They predict the possibility of offensive numbers perhaps approaching Tom Bird and are calling for multiple trips to the All-Star game if he filfills his potential.

4- YANK TAYLOR RF: Pullman HS, Chicago: The son of two-time Whitney Award winner Tom Taylor has inherited his father's power. Nicknamed 'Tom Thumper' for just that reason, his given name is Tom and he has Canadian citienship through his father despite being born in Providence, RI. Taylor has belted 32 homeruns in 69 high school games with a .493/.553/.980 slash line. He was an honourable mention this year after making the All-American team as a sophomore. OSA says he projects to be an elite hitter who can make an impact on a top team.

5: LARRY BEEBE RHP - Mamaroneck(NY) HS: OSA says the 17 year old has an excellent 4-pitch reprtoire, which should allow him to become a great starting pitcher. He has just one year of high school experience, going 9-2 with a 1.06 era while fanning 14.3 per 9 innings and walking just 2.1. He did not allow a homerun in 119 innings of work.

6- ANDY CONKLIN CF - Watervilet (NY) HS: Conklin was number one overall on the mock draft we did for this group last August. OSA has certainly not soured on him in that time - far from it as the scouting service calls the 17 year old an outfielder with highest ceiling imaginable. Some teams may still grade him ahead of the players listed above him but we feel he slots in here because his offensive production, while consistent over three years of high school ball, is not overwhelming at .429/.532/.645.

7: SAM FRANKLIN LHP - Benton Harbor (MI) HS: Primarily uses a side-arm deliver that keeps hitters off balance and induces a lot of ground balls. OSA sees Franklin as a potential to be top of rotation arm. He was an honouable mention All-American last season which was the best of his 3 year high school career, going 11-0 with a 0.98 era and fanning 177 in 110 innings of work.

8- DANNY NOONAN C - Sts. John & Paul HS, Ashtabula, OH: Another high school catcher from Ohio that OSA compares very favourably to Lew Mercer. Noonan has played two years of high school ball, slashing .444/.546/.667 so a little higher batting average and on-base percentage than Mercer but with less power at this point although the scouting service is confident that the power will come. Like Mercer, multiple all-star games may be in Noonan's future and if not, well I guess the world needs ditch diggers too.

9: TONY PECKHAM RHP - Lincoln HS, San Francisco, CA.: Last year's mock draft had Peckham as the number one pitcher, third overall and ahead of even college sensation John Stallings. If all comes together, OSA feels the youngster has the potential to be a top of the rotation arm. He went 10-0 with a 1.28 era and 152 strikeouts in 98 innings in what was his third season of high school ball.

10- ANDY CONKLIN CF - Watervilet (NY) HS: Conklin was number one overall on the mock draft we did for this group last August. OSA has certainly not soured on him in that time - far from it as the scouting service calls the 17 year old an outfielder with highest ceiling imaginable. Some teams may still grade him ahead of the players listed above him but we feel he slots in here because his offensive production, while consistent over three years of high school ball, is not overwhelming at .429/.532/.645.

11- DANNY NOONAN C - Sts. John & Paul HS, Ashtabula, OH: Another high school catcher from Ohio that OSA compares very favourably to Lew Mercer. Noonan has played two years of high school ball, slashing .444/.546/.667 so a little higher batting average and on-base percentage than Mercer but with less power at this point although the scouting service is confident that the power will come. Like Mercer, multiple all-star games may be in Noonan's future and if not, well I guess the world needs ditch diggers too.

12- BILL NEWHALL CF - Hollis (OK) HS: Centerfielders and catchers seem to be the story of this draft, at least from the high school ranks with all but corner outfielder Yank Taylor out of our top 8 playing one of those two positions. Newhall has two years of high school ball under his belt and the highest average and on-base percentage out of the centerfielders on our list with a career slash line of .534/.618/.816. Nicknamed The Hollis Hotshot, the 17 year old may spend a lot of time at the All-Star game should he reach his potential. Appears to be an ideal candidate for a lead-off role when he matures.

13- FRANK REECE CF - Villisca (IA) HS: Slashed .487/.561/.979 over two years of high school ball in Iowa and is another one the scouting service can see playing in multiple All-Star games. Outstanding contact potential, top of the scale speed and a plus-plus eye ceiling. Another perfect lead-off man.

14- JIM McBRIDE RF - Coastal State: There are 3 pretty solid outfield candidates and we will give McBride a slight age because he posted some pretty good numbers as a sophomore against top competition. OSA feels he can develop into an elite right fielder. He has some power as McBride hit 11 homers each of his two college seasons and raised each of his slash line numbers as a sophomore.

15- CARROLL FURNISH C - Princeton (WV) HS: Quite a corridor of catching talent stretching from the shores of Lake Erie in northern Ohio where you have Danny Noonan, and then head nearly due south to Marietta on the West Viriginia border to watch Lew Mercer. From there it is less than 200 miles further south to Princeton, WV where you can see the third dominant high school catcher in our group. Carroll Furnish has two years of high school experience under his belt with a slash line of .456/.505/.642 and the same forecast as the other two catchers calling for multiple all-star games in his future. In a lot of ways this draft from a catcher point of view reminds us very much of the 1934 class. That one had Adam Mullins, Woody Stone and Gussie Harris at the top of it. If it is a duplicate the challenge for General Managers and Scouting Directors is to determine who out of Mercer, Noonan and Furnish is Mullins and Stone and who is Gussie.

16- BOB SCHLEUSNER CF - Miami State: OSA believes the Dallas native has the potential to be a cornerstone player but we would like to see a big season from him as a junior. Schleusner hit .274 each of his previous two seasons and is projected to be a defensive marvel.

Next week we will take a very early look at the players that are at the top of the scouts lists right now for the 1947 draft with our Way-Too Early Mock Draft of the class a year and a half out.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Trade Deadline Passes, Wolves, Cannons Tied Atop the CA -As trade deadline passes with the Wolves not making the earth shattering deal some fans were hoping for the Wolves finished a 12-10 homestand. The team now vacates Dominion Stadium until the last day of August. The Wolves did not make a big deal before heading out the road although the rumour mill was full of deals. They were believed to be close on a big name or names with the Minutemen until talks reached an impasse, one insider said under the condition of anonymity "We had the owners permission to pursue what we felt were necessary deals to win the CA this year. We were prepared to go a little crazy but the Boston demands reached the level of insanity. The Wolves were not prepared to go that road." If Brett reads the situation correctly Boston wanted highly-touted Jerry York included in any trade, that was a bridge too far for management.

The Wolves closed out a July at home taking 2 of 3 from Cleveland. After a come back win on Monday by the Foresters the Wolves turned the tables taking both the Tuesday, Wednesday games in walk off fashion. The Wednesday game was in 10 innings, it was the Wolves 15th game to pass 9 this season, a league leading total. Billy Crosby, 6-2, got credit for both the late wins against the Foresters who continue to be a thorn in the side of the Toronto nine.

Toronto began the 4 week trip on the road with 4 games in 3 days in Philadelphia. Wolves managed to take 3 of 4 from the Sailors. The only loss was in George Garrison's worst outing of the year, did not get out of the second inning having already allowed 8 runs across the plate. If anything can be encouraging in a 9-4 loss it was Tommy Anderson's relief effort, over 5 innings allowing only 1 run. The Wolves rebounded from the drubbing with a 10-2 victory in the nightcap feature a Wolves record tying 5 hits by Chink Stickels.

Trade acquisition Ed Hamor joined the team in Philly. He is or was to be a platoon with Gus Hull in right, apparently Hull is not ready to sit against lefty pitching as he was named CA Player of The Week with an impressive .348/.464/.828 3 HR 10 RBI week.

CANNONS ANXIOUS FOR ARMAN'S ARRIVAL
With victory in the Pacific seemingly closer every day the Cincinnati Cannons can be excused if they pause for a moment during this pennant race and look ahead to next season when, hopefully, most of the ballplaying soldiers and sailors have returned. For Cincinnati that means an incredible wealth of pitching depth with the additions of veteran Chris Clarke along with Bill Sohl and Vic Carroll -who were both still considered prospects when they joined the war effort. Add in Bob Arman, a 24 year old pitcher who came over from Boston in the Billy Dalton trade and the Cannons have a lot of depth on a mound staff that will include four former first overall selections in Deuce Barrell, Arman, Carroll and Tom Barrell -assuming he doesn't retire- along with Bill Sohl who was a second overall pick in 1940 when the Cannons owned both the first and second selection.

So for those that worry the Cannons will be in deep trouble as their veteran core ages out, be warned there is still plenty of talent left in Cincinnati. OSA may rank the Cannons farm system near the bottom of the league, only counting Arman (25th) and recently drafted 18 year old third baseman Al Browner (88th) among the top 100 prospects but Cannons Scouting Director Bill Bordwell is confident the organization has some solid youngsters in the system.

Ignoring the obivous name of 24 year old Bob Arman, who will be in Cincinnati the day he returns from the Army, here is a look at the top prospects in the Cannons sytem. This is straight from the mouth of Cannons Scouting Director Bill Bordwell and differs from the OSA rankings. Arman is number one on the OSA list among Cannons prospects and 25th overall. Here are 6 who have impressed the organization this season:

1- CHARLIE ELLER P(OSA 6-187 overall)- OSA lists the 20 year old who was selected in the third round of the 1943 draft as just the 6th best Cannons prospect but he has shot up the club's list with a solid season in A-ball, going 7-9 with a 3.12 era - numbers good enough to earn him a recent promotion to AA. A local kid, who grew up just outside Cincinnati in Cheviot and went to St Xavier High School in town, Scouting Director Bill Bordwell loves his potential and feels he could be a middle of the rotation arm one day.

2- CHET BOWER C (OSA 3-103)- Selected in the 4th round last January out of Macon State, Bower has had a nice start to his pro career in class A and the organization sees him as a backup to Adam Mullins perhaps as early as 1947. Bordwell feels he can be an above average defenseive catcher, who could hit .290 and draw a lot of walks.

3- AL BROWNER 3B (OSA 2-88)- The Cannons second round pick in January, Browner was quickly promoted from Class C to B after a hot start following his signing in June. The 18 year old hasn't shown a lot of power yet, but Bordwell feels it will come although he hints Browner may be best suited for a lead-off rule.

4- MAX CONRAD CF (OSA 4-112)- Another of the 1945 draft picks, Conrad was a 4th round selection who made his pro debut at Class C where the 18 year old looked dominant, slashing .355/.410/.605 to earn a quick promotion to Class B Charleston. Blessed with great speed, Bordwell sees Conrad as a very good everyday centerfielder.

5- DAN SCURLOCK C (OSA 9-222)- Bordwell says he is actually surprised that OSA does not think more of Scurlock. The 21 year old was a 12th round pick in 1942 who is having a breakout season at Class B this year. Bordwell feels he can develop the tools to be a starting catcher and OSA, despite ranking him 222nd on it's prospect list, agrees noting that Scurlock "projects to be an above average big league catcher."

[b]6- CHARLIE MEADS (OSA 17-323)- 22 year old Los Angeles native was a 14th round pick in 1941 and is being tested at AAA this season. He is 9-7 with a 3.86 era for Indianapolis and if he can cut down on his walks might just end up in Cincinnati in the near future. Bordwell sees Meads as a possible rotation piece, but cautions that won't happen unless his control improves.
*** Brown Injury a Concern ***

It is tough to lose a key contributor for two months as the Cannons will now have to do without the services of outfielder Sam Brown for likely the rest of the regular season. Brown was having another one of his typical fine seasons, sitting third in the Continental Association batting race with a .320 average at the time his knee decided to give out. The good news, I suppose, is outfield was a position of depth for the club and Fred Galloway should step seamlessly into the starting lineup on a regular basis to fill the void. The Cannons had spent most of the past month and a half, since Galloway returned from the Coast Guard rotating three outfielders -CA batting leader Gail Gifford was third- through two outfield slots alongside Al Wheeler so it just means the 29 year old Galloway, who is a 5-time all-star, will start playing everyday in center and Gifford will shift from the middle to fill Brown's normal slot in right field.
*** Tigers Prepare For Camp ***

The grid Tigers are preparing for their second training camp at the campus of Grange College. Head Coach Jack Conn hopes to see the team build on an impressive 4-6 season in the Cincinnati elevens AFA debut but admits he is not quite sure what the final make-up of the roster will be. There is a lot of uncertainty in just how many of the former Brooklyn players will be in Louisville when camp opens at the end of the week. The Tigers purchased the folding Brooklyn Kings football team with the plan to round out Cincinnati's roster with the few players the Kings had under contract. It has been tough sledding finding enough quality players for the upcoming season.

Johnny McDowell continues to impress in Pittsburgh. The 37 year old infielder is up to .376 and 5.4 WAR leading the Fed in both.
Chiefs fans are mad at losing vets Red Hampton and Frank Davis in deadline deals. Good news for the future is that catcher Dino Robinson -the 2-time All-American from Georgia Baptist drafted in the 8th round by the Keystones- will make his debut in the Chiefs organization at AA Memphis. Robinson came as part of the package from Philadelphia for Davis and has looked very good at the plate in his first month of pro ball.
Another homer this week for Al Wheeler of the Cincinnati Cannons, and after hitting 7 in July he is now at 484. I suppose getting to 500 over the final two months is possible, but more likely we will have to wait until next season for the milestone blast. He is also at 1,872 rbi's so reaching 2,000 late next season is a possibility.
It's been a long road but Al Horton finally made it to Cincinnati. The injury to Sam Brown, combined with the 36 year old tearing up AAA with a .354 batting average has earned Horton a trip to the home of the Cannons. Horton hit .314 for Baltimore in 1934 -his only season as an everyday FABL player- and went back and forth between Baltimore and the minors until the club moved to Cincinnati for the 1940 season. At that point Moxie Pidgeon and a couple others arrived so Horton was relegated to the minors. Cincinnati lost him to Montreal in the rule 5 draft for 1944 but he was returned after hitting .238 in 11 games for the Saints. He won't play much but he should pinch-hit and perhaps get a rare start in left field down the stretch.
I like seeing these 'forgotten' guys enjoy nice careers in the coast league. Clarence Crain caught my attention back in the 1932 draft when he went 9-0 for Liberty College in his lone season of AIAA ball. Boston ended up getting him in the 4th round. Crane tossed a perfect game in the minors as a rookie and after an 18-13 season in AA in '36, the Cougars selected him in the rule 5. He went 5-2 over a season and a bit with Chicago but after being back in AAA he was released in 1939. Sacramento signed him and he has been with the Governors ever since with some good years and some not quite so good. He is 10-5, 3.45 with a 115 ERA+ this season and was recently named GWL player of the month, which is how he came back on my radar. Now 34, I hope he gets a few more years in Sacramento even after the war guys come back. It is interesting to see these names that jog your memory show up on the Indy teams.

PRO GRID LOOP ASKS MORE TIME TO EFFECT SAVING IN TRAVEL

The American Football Association has asked for additional time to make further travel savings in its 1945 schedule, the ODT said today. At the same time, the ODT disclosed that it has disapproved the National Amateur baseball tournament slated for Ohio in September.

Professional football's request for more time in which to effect a greater travel savings was made in a telegram from Jack Kristich, president of the loop, to Col. Monroe Johnson, ODT head. The ODT said that Kristich will be given a reasonable length of time in which to complete his study, but indicated that a report will be expected by next week. Whether the AFA schedule length should be reduced or cancelled altogether is one of the principal questions before the ODT, and a decision will probably be made shortly after Krisitch's report is received. It is considered highly unlikely the season would be cancelled but observers felt it could be reduced as low as perhaps just 6 or 8 games per team. They also expect the ODT to call for the cancellation of most, if not all, preseason games.

The ODT cancelled the youth ball championships because it would involve the need for 286,440 rail passenger miles in order to stage the event. The ODT pointed out that 20 teams composed of 20 players each are entered in the tournament and that they would use transportation capacity which well could be utilized by the redeployment program.

SAWYER ANNOUNCES NEXT TITLE DEFENSE

World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer will be back in the ring to defend his title in September and he will fight in his hometown of New Orleans for the first time since 1939 when he takes on Chris Sullivan at Crescent City Field on September 15th. Sawyer, who recently celebrated his 31st birthday, improved to 51-3-1 with a TKO of Pete Sanderson in New York on June 23. The bout with Sullivan, to be held outdoors at the stadium used by baseball's minor league New Orleans Showboats ballclub, will hold slightly over 17,000 for the fight - a far cry from the 54,000 who say Sawyer stop Sanderson at Gothams Stadium.

"I wanted an opportunity to fight in front of my family and many friends in New Orleans," explained Sawyer. "That was more important to me then the big payday at this point."

Sawyer should be heavily favoured over the 28 year old Sullivan, a Chicago native with a 16-2-3 career mark who recently scored an unanimous decision over Coy Parks in his second fight since being discharged from the Army.

LITTLE SHOCKS CANNON COOPER

In possibly the biggest upset of the year, Cannon Cooper lost by technical knockout to Clancy Little on Friday evening in a bout that was filled with controversy. The scheduled 10 rounder in Pittsburgh was stopped by the ring doctor in the 9th with Cooper comfortably ahead on the scorecard but bleeding profusely from a cut above his eye. Cooper's corner was incensed and his trainer attempted to go after the ring doctor who made a hasty retreat, amidst a chorus of jeers and flying objects from the crowd, to safety somewhere in the bowels of the arena. As much as an hour later, several of Cooper's handlers were still trying to get their hands on either the doctor or referee Gus Ritter.

The controversy began in the third round when the cut was first opened. Cooper's camp claimed it was the result of a head butt from Little but the referee say it differently, noting the incidental head contact was very slight and came just after a powerful uppercut caught the previously unbeaten pugilist.

Cooper's camp was already in a foul mode after news broke a day earlier that Hector Sawyer had decided to make his next title defense against Chris Sullivan instead of Cannon, who had been rated as the top contender...at least prior to the Pittsburgh result. Cooper, who was leading 79-73 on three judges cards and 78-74 on the third at the time of the stoppage, suffers his first career defeat and his record now sits at 17-1-1. Much of the sparkle has disappeared from the 24 year old Cooper's previously rising star, who was 15-0 when he joined the Coast Guard in 1942 but is just 2-1-1 in four bouts since his discharge including a draw with Bobby Nelson in March.

No one appeared more shocked with the outcome than Clancy Little, a 34 year old journeyman in the sport who hails from Erie, Pa. and now sports a 27-13-3 career mark.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 8/05/1945

The week in Tokyo began with upwards of 1,500 allied planes blasting and burning a 300-mile stretch of central Japan from the capital to the great Osaka-Kobe industrial area. The week contined with blitz after blitz on Japan.
As the week ended it was leaflets with "evacuate or die" warnings to 12 Japanese cities that were dropped by fleets of Superfortresses in advance of the next full scale bombing attack.
The Big Three conference came to an end as President Truman embarked on his return trip home from Berlin. The nature of what was discussed cannot be made public at this time, but the President is reported highly satisified with the progress of his discussions with Prime Minister Attlee and Premier Stalin.
In action believed lined to talks in Potsdam, General Douglas MacArthur has assumed command of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands which is seem as the beginning stages of the planned invasion on the main Japanese islands. It is believe the decision reached in the German Conference was to push the Pacific war to a speedy conclusion.
The Empire State building, the world's highest, was open for business again this week. It's outside damage from the B-25 crash which killed 13 persons just over a week ago, was partly shrouded by canvas. An army investigation of the crash is underway.

Jiggs McGee · 01-25-2023, 01:44 PM

AUGUST 13, 1945

DISCHARGE NEWS DROPS A BOMB ON CONTINENTAL RACE

Papenfus, Bybee Head Long List of Returnees

The news of the atomic bomb being dropped in Japan appears to bring the world to within days of the end of the war in the Pacific. However, the war in the Continental Association may just be heating up with news that well over a dozen highly touted baseball players have been discharged from their respective branches of the military and will be returning to big league ball diamonds over the next week or two. Headlining that list is 1941 Allen Award winner Pete Papenfus of the Chicago Cougars. Papenfus is expected back next Monday, not in time for the Cougars big week against the Toronto Wolves and Cincinnati Cannons, but certainly in time to perhaps be the difference-maker in the CA pennant race.

The news just keeps getting better for the Cougars, who presently sit third in the CA trailing Cincinnati by 5 games and Toronto by 3, as joining Papenfus will be highly touted 23 year old lefthander Duke Bybee. Papenfus is a proven winner, and was the best pitcher in the game when he left for the Navy following the 1941 season. His impact on the stretch run seems to be a certainty but some speculate that Bybee - an 18 year old prospect when he left for the Marines but now a 23 year old that some observers feel might now be one of the best arms in the game- could have nearly as large a bearing on the outcome of the Continental race.
*** Fed Race Also Impacted ***

There are likely to be more players returning for the stretch run in the coming weeks but the news of the late August returnees was not restricted to just the Chicago Cougars. The Philadelphia Keystones, who just slipped to second in the Federal Association flag fight, will get pitcher Connie Upchurch back from the Army Air Corps while the St Louis Pioneers are celebrating the upcoming return of veteran shortstop Luke Micheals and one of the best prospects in the sport in young pitcher Hal Hackney.

Upchurch saw limited duty with the Keystones before joining the Air Corps prior to last season. He is not anticipated to play a major role in the Keystones stretch drive but may slot in to the back of their rotation. Michaels saw limited action in St Louis back in 1941 before he joined the Navy immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He might be the answer the Pioneers could use for an improvement in their middle infield but would likely need to quickly adapt to second base as 23 year old Homer Mills seems to have the shortstop position spoken for. The newcomer who might have the biggest impact on the Fed race is 23 year old righthander Hal Hackney. Long considered one of the best pitching prospects in the game, Hackney has been in the Navy since New Years Eve 1941. He is now 23 and has not pitched outside of military exhibitions since 1941 but if he is as good as touted, there is a chance his impact could as great as that of Papenfus and Bybee back in Chicago.
***Steinberg Debut Long-Awaited ***

Cleveland Foresters fans have been long anticipating the day that Hiram Steinberg makes his big league debut. The 22 year old who practically rewrote the high school record book was selected first overall in the 1941 FABL draft but was drafted again -this time by Selective Service- in January of 1943 and has been in the Navy ever since. With little to lose this season -another rough campaign for the Clevelanders- it is anticpated that Steinberg will join Cleveland's other great young arm who lost time due to the war, Richie Hughes, in the big leagues shortly.

Here is the complete list of players that have been told they will be discharged over the next two weeks.
MAJOR LEAGUERS
Pete Papenfus CHC P US Navy 8/20
Jim Anderson CIN P US Army 8/20
Pete Wood MON OF US Army 8/20
Harry Frenette NYG P Canadian Army 8/20
Connie Upchurch PHI P USAAF 8/20
Luke Micheals STL SS US Navy 8/25
Paul Brophy WAS C US Marine Corps 8/20

TOP PROSPECTS
Bob Crowley BRK P US Army 8/27
Joe Rutherford BRK LF US Navy 8/27
Solly Skidmore CHI C US Coast Guard 8/27
Duke Bybee CHC P US Marine Corps 8/27
Hiram Steinberg CLE P US Navy 8/27
Charlie Ashmore DET P US Army 8/27
Otis Parker MON RF US Army 8/27
Mark Smith PHS C US Army 8/27
Hal Hackney STL P US Navy 8/20
John Fast TOR SS USAAF 8/27

DYNAMITE WEEK FOR DYNAMOS

Sweep Keystones to Take Fed Lead

The new look Detroit Dynamos pitching staff certainly made it's mark felt on the Federal Association pennant race this week. The Dynamos outpitched the Philadelphia Keystones in 4 tight games and have taken a 2.5 game lead on Philadelphia atop the Federal Association. The three newest Motor City starting pitchers -Dixie Lee, Jim Lonardo and Art White- each had outstanding outings to key the series sweep.

After Jimmy Long threw a 2-hitter in a 3-1 series opening victory for his 15th win as a Dynamo this season, the newcomers went to work. First it was Dixie Lee making his Detroit debut one to remember with a 7-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory. Next up it was veteran Jim Lonardo with career victory 287 and his first for Detroit in a 2-1 win that saw his former Gothams teammate Leon Drake smack his 3rd homer in 16 games with the Dynamos to provide the game winner as Lonardo went the distance, scattering 7 hits. In the series finale it was Art White, who with a 3-0 record for Detroit is now a veteran of the Dynamos staff, with a 2-0 4-hit shutout to complete the sweep. Detroit then finished the week with a Sunday twinbill split with Boston while the Keystones limped off to New York and did the same against the Gothams. The Keystones are just 3-9 since the calander turned to August while Detroit is 9-3 over the same stretch.

Third place Washington, led by the tremendous season of pitcher Lou Ellertson, who won his FABL leading 16th game last week, and Jim Jenkins (.353,1,29), presently on a 31-game hitting streak, continues to hang around as the Eagles won 4 of 6 games last week and remain 3 out of first place.
*** Double Barrell Attack in Cincinnati ***

The Cincinnati Cannons moved two games ahead of the Toronto Wolves atop the Continental Association standings as Deuce Barrell (14-4, 2.17) and his uncle Tom Barrell (14-3, 3.04) continue to rack up victories. The veteran Cannons are perhaps showing signs of wearing down as for the second week in a row Cincinnati suffered a key long-term injury. First it was Sam Brown tearing up his knee which likely ended his season and now second baseman Jack Cleaves -who was third in hitting in the CA- broke his thumb and is expected to miss 5 weeks. The Wolves split a Sunday doubleheader in Chicago to get an early start on a big week for the top three teams in the Continental. Toronto spends the next two days in the Windy City facing the third place Cougars -who are 5 games back- before the Cannons invade Chicago to finish out the week with 4 of their own against the Cougars.

1946 DRAFT PREVIEW PART FIVE: A LOOK AHEAD TO THE 1947 DRAFT CLASS

As we do with every draft preview, TWIFB also attempts to gaze into it's crystal ball two years down the road and try and project -with a big assistance from OSA- the top candidates for the draft that is still a year and a half away. At first look this collection of soon to be High School Juniors and College Sophomores looks like a pretty deep collection of talent. In consulting with OSA, we identified nearly 80 players worthy of being considered future solid FABL everyday players or pitchers capable of attaining middle of the rotation status.

It is a long ways away before this group will even get a taste of pro ball, never mind actually making it to the pinnacle of the sport, but here are 16 names to keep an eye on in our annual "WAY TO EARLY MOCK DRAFT"

Code:

		      1947 WAY TOO EARLY MOCK FIRST ROUND DRAFT
RK  NAME	    POS AGE  SCHOOL	         HOMETOWN          OSA ASSESSMENT
 1 Les Ledbetter*   LHP 16  Fowlerville(MI) HS    Fowlerville, MI.  makings of future ace
 2 Henry Norman     CF  16  Cleveland HS, Queens  New York, NY      franchise cornerstone at CF
 3 Rod Hansen       RF  16  Muskingum HS          Zanesville, OH    multiple trips to ASG
 4 Charlie Rogers   CF  16  Lockport HS	          Lockport, IL      multiple trips to ASG
 5 Bill Duckworth   1B  16  Santa Barbara HS      Los Angeles, CA   multiple trips to ASG  
 6 Jim Heitzman     RHP 16  Morgan City (LA) HS   Franklin, LA      talent to pitch at top of rotation
 7 Jim Richard      C   16  Oglethorpe HS         Oglethorpe, GA    multiple trips to ASG
 8 Dudley Sapp*     1B  16  Union City HS         Union City, NJ    cornerstone player as 1B  
 9 Frenchy Sontag*  RF  16  Moorestown HS         Moorestown, NJ    elite big league RF  
10 Ray Paulson      LHP 16  Baltimore ForestPark  Pittston, PA      potential to be a future #2
11 Scotty Alexander LHP 16 Boston Newman HS       Boston, MA        #2 starter on most teams
12 Ed Thompson      C   16  Dover(NJ) HS          Woodbridge, NJ    lights of his star could be blinding
13 Bill Van Gorder  C   16  Columbus (WI) HS      Columbus, WI      multiple trips to ASG
14 Ernie Campbell   CF  19  Tallmadge State       Rockford, IL      elite CF on a contending team
15 Al Farmer*       2B  19  Amarillo Methodist    Philadelphia, PA  elite 2B on a contending team
16 Grant Cunningham RHP 16  Russellville (AR) HS  Russellville, AR  pontential to be a future #2

		HONOURABLE MENTION 
  NAME		    POS AGE   SCHOOL		   HOMETOWN	     OSA ASSESSMENT
King Allen          2B  19   Coastal California    Marietta, GA     impact big leaguer
Bob Amadon*         1B  16   Gulfport (MS) HS      Hattiesburgh, MS elite big leaugue 1B  
Skinny Bennett      C   16  Nebraska City(NE) HS   Harlan, IA       elite big league C
Bill Cady           2B  16  Wilmington(NC) HS      Wilmington, NC   elite 2B
Irv Clifford*       SS  19  Charleston Tech        Covington, KY    can make an impact on top team  
Jess Garman         C   19  Arkansas A&T           New York, NY     elite starting C
Dave Gilbert        CF  16  Staten Island Academy  Brooklyn, NY     elite CF on a contending team
Alex Milillo        RHP 16  Alma (WI) HS           Alma, WI         near the top of any FABL rotation
John Morrison*      1B  16  Bronx Clifton HS       Lansdale, PA     elite 1B on a contending team  
Elmer Saunders      C   16  Baltimore Milford HS   Washington, DC   elite starting C
Paul Watson*        SS  19  Opelika State          Memphis, TN      impact big leaguer   
* All-American Selection or Honourable Mention at some point in HS or College career

PIONEERS, SAINTS LEAD DRAFT SWEEPSTAKES

The first two rounds of the January FABL rookie draft will once again use the lottery system to determine the order of selection. Teams will continue to alternate by association with the Federal Association clubs getting the odd selections including first overall this year. The two pennant winners will automatically select 15th (Fed) and 16th (Continental) but the remaining 14 slots are up for grabs. The weighted lottery sees the 2 clubs with the highest improvement in victories over last season getting 3 entries each in the draft order lottery, the next 2 in each association getting two entries and the 3 clubs in each loop with the least improvement -or biggest drop-off- will each receive one entry. Two draws are conducted, one for each association to determine the draft order for the opening two rounds. The remaining 23 rounds are based on the order of finish in the standings from worst to first but still alternating by association. Here are the current standings including projected 1945 victories based on current winning percentage.

The St Louis Pioneers and Boston Minutemen (by virtue of acquiring Detroit's first rounder in trade) have the best odds at the moment for the number one selection but with Detroit leading the Fed at present it would be Washington and not Boston getting the three entries should everything stay the way it is at the moment.

TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN

Wolves go 3-3 to Fall Behind Cincinnati -On a trip that began in Montreal then continued into Chicago the Wolves go .500 in a week they could have been 5-1 or just as easily 1-5. The week started with Bob Walls, 8-2, ducking line drives over the mound area as the Saints bats knocked him around for 6 runs on 14 hits as Walls could not get out of the 6th inning. The Wolves had a big 4th inning batting around scoring 5 runs. Walls could not hold the 5-4 lead in a a game in which the Saints prevailed 7-5. The Wolves surrendered a 2-1 lead in the eighth of the Thursday game then the Saints rallied to close out the 4-2 win in the 11th. Toronto managed to split the series with a pair of one run victories, 5-4 on Friday in 10 then 3-2 on Saturday. Saturday was a bounce back victory for George Garrison, 14-6, after the taking a shellacking his last start in Philadelphia. Toronto now has been involved in 41 games decided a single run. Their 27-14 record in these games is the biggest reason they are staying right on the heels of Cincinnati. Reverse that record and the Wolves would be looking to 1946.

After an overnight train trip into Chicago the team seemed to be sleep-walking in the first game of two against the Cougars on Sunday. Cookie Myers, 13-2, like Garrison the week before, got hit hard early giving up 6 runs to the Cougars before Call marched out to mercifully get Myers in the third. Anderson again came in to pitch effectively for almost 5 innings but it was too little, too late as the Wolves only managed 5 base runners in the entire game. Wolves bats awoke from their first game slumber pounding out 15 hits, 3 each by Artuso, Stickels, Hull in a Walls CG 6-3 victory in the nightcap.

The road trip continues with 2 more in Chicago then its on to the Big Apple for 6 games in 5 days where Tommy Anderson is expected to start one game on Sunday. Gus Hull's hot streak continues his .391/.462/.609 week could have easily earned him second straight POTW award.

Detroit fans are thrilled with a 5-1 week including a surprising 4 game sweep of the Keystones. Pitching ruled the week in Detroit as the offense only scraped together 19 runs (3.16 rpg). Great debut for Dixie Lee as he pitches a 7-hit shutout 1-0 over John “Smiley” Grimes. Jim Lonardo picks up win #287 going the distance in a 7-hit 2-1 win over Boston. Art White pitched a 4-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Phily to go to 3-0 with a sub 1.00 ERA in 3 starts since the trade from Chicago.
Detroit's Jimmy Long, who got the other win over the Keystones, is now 15-6 2.40 ERA and might have been the Freddie Farhat's favorite for the FA Allen But with Washington’s Lou Ellerton pitching out of his mind and a dream season
16-4 1.66, everyone else is battling for second place in Allen balloting at this stage.
A nice on-going story in Washington where Eagles second baseman Jim Jenkins extended his hitting streak to 31 games with 4 hits in yesterday's doubeleheader in St Louis. It is the longest streak since Ron Rattigan of the Chicago Chiefs had a 34 gamer in 1941 and only 27 streaks in history, pre-dating FABL back to the inception of the sport, have been longer. Jenkins (.353,1,29) has been a story this season -just his second as a starter- and by far the best year of the 30 year old's career. Dating back to the feeder leagues, Jenkins was a 1932 5th round pick of the Gothams but was waived in 1942 and claimed by the Eagles.
A rough week for the Keystones. Newcomers Frank Covarrubias (3-for-25, 2 RBI) and Frank Davis (1-for-16, RBI) had slow starts. The Keystones are in the middle of a 23-game road trip that will not see the two Franks make their home debut until August 24th against Washington.
Pete Day of the Boston Minutemen is the latest member of the 2,000 hit club. The 34 year old outfieldr is a 6-time All-Star and 1943 Whitney Award winner who has spent his entire big league career with the Minutemen.
Boston has a big road trip that will take them through Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis over the next week and a half. At 7.5 games out this may be more about climbing ground to get back into the first division and improve the number of ping pong balls we get for the draft lottery.
A first for Cincinnati. With the loss of Jack Cleaves for the next month, the Cincinnati Cannons have called up one of the old regional round picks for his big league debut. 22 year old shortstop Ted Stacy, a home-grown boy who played his high school ball in the city, was a 1941 third round pick and is now a Cannon. A glove-first middle infielder, Stacy was hitting .250 while providing stellar defense at AAA Indianapolis. His debut will make Stacy the first Cincinnati-born player ever to play in the big leagues for a Cincinnati team. That includes the Cannons and the Monarchs and Hustlers from the pre-FABL days of the 1880s and early 90s.
The Chicago Cougars win 5 out of 6 games last week including a split with Toronto but gain no ground on the Cincinnati Cannons. Cougars have a big week ahead with 2 more against the Wolves before welcoming the Cannons to Cougars Park for a 4-game set.
One of the few Cougars not happy about the return of Peter the Heater is Mike Thorpe, who now knows his days in the rotation are numbered. Thorpe had a nightmare debut against the Kings, allowing 10 hits and 8 runs in 4.2 innings, but he bounced back against the Foresters. He came one out away from a complete game win, allowing 8 hits, 2 runs, and 3 walks in the Cougars 5-2 win hosting the Foresters. Thorpe helped his cause a bit too, launching a solo shot off George Rotondi in the 4th. It's his second hit home run of the season, with one coming in Milwaukee in AAA, but on the mound he's allergic to homers. In 362 innings mixed between college, AA, AAA, and the FABL, Thorpe has hit (2) more homers then he's allowed (0).

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Jiggs McGee takes a look around FABL with a quick comment or two on how the first round draft picks are faring as they approach the two month mark of their pro careers.

BOSTON- Boston traded their first rounder away so their top pick was 28th overall. 18 year old catcher Tom Cooprider is off to a nice start in Class C, batting .326 with a pair of longballs in 36 games with Hattiesburg.

BROOKLYN- The 5th selection of the draft was 21 year old Ralph Johnson out of Topeka State. He is playing for Class C Marshalltown but is probably well overdue for a promotion, slashing .345/.529/.487 for the Marshalltown Maples.

CHIEFS- Dick Mills, a Boston born 18 year old lefthander was taken 10th overall and is 2-3 with a 4.00 era after 8 starts with Class C Waterloo of the Upper Mississippi Valley Association.

COUGARS- 3rd overall selection Johnny Peters, an All-American outfielder from Liberty College, is doing a nice job at class A, slashing .275/.397/.408 through 36 games.

CINCINNATI- The Cannons at one point had a pair of first rounders but dealt both to St Louis making second round selection Al Browner, #31 overall, their top pick. The 18 year old third baseman was very good at Class C and recently was promoted to Charleston of the Class B Southeastern League where he found the going a little bit tougher. Browner is hitting .245 in 18 games with the Seagulls.

CLEVELAND- The Foresters like selecting high school pitchers with their top pick and 1945 9th overall selection Bert Haines is no expcetion. Haines is 2-4 with a 3.64 era after 9 appearances with Class C Ottumwa.

DETROIT- A pick after Brooklyn took Ralph Johnson, the Dynamos went with West Goshen State second sacker Del Johnson at 6th overall. Many suggest Johnson should be in the big leagues now but afer a week in Class C to introcude himself to the pro game, the 22 year old has been at AAA Newark, where he is slashing .297/.346/.458 after 28 games.

MONTREAL- The 11th selection was Tallmadge State outfielder Hank Smth who has split time between Class C and B the past month and a half. He is with Mobile of the Southeastern (B) League at the moment, slashing .283/.345/.343

NY STARS- #1 overall pick Bob Riggins followed up his second straight Christian Trophy with a quick promotion to New York and is batting .326 in 15 games with the Stars after being slowed by a muscle strain that limied his playing time. Second overall selection 18 yar old SS Ralph Hanson is listed as the top prospect in the game by OSA and looked like it in Class C, batting .262, but has struggled in since his promotion to the B Level.

NY GOTHAMS- The Gothams do not appear to believe in high draft picks, preferring to deal them so their top pick was not until the 3rd round at 36th overall. It looks like a good one as high school pitcher Ted Beaven went 5-0 with a 0.24 era at Class C where he is once again at after struggling a bit in two starts at the B level.

KEYSTONES- 21 year old first baseman Nate Power dominated Class A in the early going and has been moved up to AA New Orleans. The 16th overall pick is slashing .299/.325/.377 for the Showboats thru 19 games.

SAILORS- High School pitcher Gordon McDonald was taken 13th overall and is 1-2 with a 3.72 era after 6 starts in Class C.

PITTSBURGH- High School outfielder Paul Williams was the Miners first selection at 8th overall. He was very good in two weeks at Class C so was moved up to Spokane of the Class B COW League. It has been a bit more of a struggle in 24 games with the Lumberjacks, as Williams is hitting just .241

ST LOUIS- The Pioneers had 3 picks late in the first round. College catcher Artie Smith was taken 12th and has spent most of his time in AA Dayton, and has not looked out of place slashing .302/.362/.419. High School outfielder Barry Lowry (pick 14) and third baseman Dan Finch (pick 15) are both in Class C. Lowry is hitting .229 with a homer in 37 games while Finch is batting .200 with a homerun in 36 games but playing very good defense at the hot corner.

TORONTO- Highly touted Grange College pitcher Otis Porter was the Wolves selection with pick 7. He has spent some time at 3 different levels, with his latest stop being Class A Davenport. Porter was dominant in 3 starts at B but has struggled so far against the higher competition, going 1-2 with a 7.77 era in 4 starts with the Dusters.

WASHINGTON-18 year old catcher Ike Perry was taken 4th overall and is off to a hot start at Class C Pensacola, batting .342 in 18 games.

PRO GRIDMEN MAP GAME PLANS AS ODT SAYS NO, WELL MAYBE

American Football Association teams will play their 13 pre-season contests and the complete regular season, it was indicated today, despite a round of double talk in which ODT director J. Monroe Johnson formally "disapproved" of the warm up tilts, but promised to "re-examine the question" prior to the scheduled dates, and AFA President Jack Kristich said it was his understanding the games had not been called off.

Kristich said teams would proceed with their training plans on the assumption the games would be played, and at least one club official indicated his team would play its games "if we have to walk to them."

The transportation situation in the coming weeks will guide Johnson in his final decision he indicated. Japan's sudden capitulation would solve the problem, but league officials are unanimous in their belief they can travel without hampering movement of troops or war materials. Johnson's office early this week approved only the playing of regularly scheduled games, but Kristich argued that the preseason games were part of the league's regular program and that the circuit was dependent on them for revenue to tide it over the season. Without these games, he declared, pro football would fine it extremely difficult to operate.

'DURATION' RINGMEN TO BE EASY FOR SERVICE VETS, SAYS BAKER

Scott 'The Chef' Baker, hard-hitting young heavyweight who returned to Philadelphia in early June after more than three years in the marines, thinks that boxers coming out of the service will find many a soft touch in the ranks of the duration and 4-F battlers. Baker, a quiet heavyweight who does most of his talking with his mitts, interrupted training for his fight at the Philadelphia Arena Tuesday against Eric Hall to voice his ideas.

"Look at these fellows," Baker said pointing to boxers working out in the gym. "You can't blame them for not being in the Army. That wasn't their fault. But they had a hot chance to make good when the big guns were away and they muffed it. They don't keep in shape and they refuse to learn anything.

"I have trouble getting sparring partners I can open up on," continued Baker, who point in 3 years as a line sergeant in the infantry. "Not that I'm any world better, but some of these other boys getting out of the service are, and boy, what they will do to these fellos will be something!"

"There are going to be some big changes made in every division," Baker said. "And some of these boys who never were anything but preliminary fighters anyway are going to find they will have to fight to stay in the running. I don't think they got a chance."

Baker, who returned home in June to finish recovering from a broken arm suffered in France, says he is ready to go and will be making his first appearance in the right since 1941. He fought a bit in the Army but only in the early days and, prior to getting the okay from doctors to begin sparring again early last month, Baker said he had not stepped in a ring in over two years. The 25 year old is 12-0-2 while his opponent - who boxed throughout the war years and while working in the shipping yards of Brooklyn- is a 29 year old New Yorker with a 15-3 record.

FOUNTAIN SUCCESSFUL IN RING RETURN

Mark Fountain was back in action last week as the New York heavyweight made his return to the ring for the first time since being knocked out by Brit Leo Carmichael at Bigsby Garden in March. Fountain was plagued by headaches and did not train for a couple of months after the loss, heading out west to rest and recuperate before starting to train again last month. The 27 year old, who spent 3 years serving in the Army, improved to 19-2-1 with a fairly easy decision in his 10-rounder with Emmett Seals - a Californian who is 11-7-2 for his career- in Los Angeles.

Following the bout Fountain said he felt great and had hopes of getting back into the ring quickly, with a goal of becoming one of the top heavyweights in the nation - a career path he was certainly on before the war.

OTHER FIGHTS OF NOTE THIS WEEK

Rudy Perry (20-1-1), 29 year old Philadelphia welterweight wins by first round TKO over Colby Holland (2-3) in his first fight since before the war.

Jeff Wolf, who spent time in the Coast Guard before losing his ring return to Dale Roy in May, was back in action and the 29 year old welterweight improved to 11-2 with a majority decision over Bubba Powell in Holyoke, Mass. on Thursday. Speaking of Roy, the 28 year old welterweight was also active last week, running his record to 20-5 with a 9th round TKO win over Ben Walters.

The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 8/12/1945

The dead is too numerous to count according to Tokyo radio as it reports that most of Hiroshima has been destroyed completely by a single American atomic bomb. Washington is told casualties may reach 100,000.
After Japan refuses to surrender a second atomic bomb is dropped later in the week, destroying Nagasaki.
Red Army troops number 1 million men or more crashed into Manchuria as Russia declares war on Japan.
On Friday, Tokyo radio reports that Japan was ready to accept the terms of the Allied Potsdam surrender ultimatum, which provide the Japanese an opportunity to end the Pacific war and ultimately regain sovereignty over their four main homeland islands.
Moscow radio as Japan's ambassador to Russia has confirmed Japan's willingness to accept the Potdam declaraion.
No official word of surrender has reached Washington as President Truman summoned the Cabinet to consider the peace offer broadcast. Indications were that several days might be required for direct contact and surrender arrangements if the United States and her allies decide to accept the conditional Japanese peace offer broadcast by Tokyo radio.
Truman also assured the world the secret of the atomic bomb will remain under lock and key until control methods are found to protect mankind "from the danger of total destruction." "The atomic bomb is too dangerous to be loose in a lawless world," Truman said in a radio address Thursday evening.

12-30-2022, 11:30 AM	#601
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	April 16, 1945 - spring training concludes APRIL 16, 1945 PIONEERS HANG ON TO WIN SPRING DERBY The St Louis Pioneers stumbled down the stretch but still managed to finish with the best record in baseball's third spring in the southeast. Travel restrictions once more kept the clubs out of their familiar Florida haunts, but it did not stop the Pioneers from getting off to a 13-3 start in preseason play. The spring finished for St Louis much closer to what many are predicting to see out of the Pioneers this season as they dropped five of their final eight games but their 16-8 spring mark was tops in either association -one game up on the New York Stars. The games will count starting tomorrow with the traditional opener in the Nation's Capital as the Washington Eagles host the Philadelphia Keystones a day before the rest of the league gets in on the action. The game itself is certain to be far from the usual festive affair of the typical lid-lifter as Washington, and the nation, continue to process the tragic news of President Roosevelt's death last Thursday. Roosevelt had not been expected to throw the ceremonial opening pitch- something he has done so often in the past- as war duties were expected to keep him otherwise occupied. President Truman will also not be on hand, as he will be making his first address in his new role to Congress tomorrow. In lieu of a ceremonial opening pitch, baseball plans a minute of silent prayer to reflect upon the former President. DYNAMOS PROSPECT CALLED BY SELECTIVE SERVICE 18 year old pitcher Roy Schaub, who was selected first overall in the 1944 FABL draft, has had his name called again. This time it was by Selective Service as the young righthander was notified this week by the draft board in Camden, NJ, that he is to report to the Army. Schaub, who was a two-time winner of the Adwell Award as the top high school ballplayer in the nation, went 5-3 with a 3.08 era in 11 starts at Class C Biloxi after signing with Detroit in July. Schaub was one of four first round picks the Dynamos had in last year's draft and becomes the third of them -joining outfielder Edwin Hackberry and shortstop Stan Kleminski- in being tabbed by Selective Service. Hackberry joined the Army in Novemebr while Kleminski is in the Navy. That just leaves Carl Potter, who had a strong camp with the Detroit Dynamos, remaining among the foursome. Potter suffered his first loss in spring action last week and is likely ticketed for AAA despite the fact many outside the organization feel the 18 year old should be given an opportunity in Detroit. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Spring Training Summary -Toronto finishes the exhibition season with a 13-11 record after dropping 3 of their last 4 including to in extra innings. Manager Call calls it a successful spring saying that "everyone got their work in, more importantly their were no injuries. The trainers off-season exercise regime may already be paying dividends, now on the train to begin games that count." Brett's summary of the spring is that the pitching, as expected, performed very well even given at times there seemed to be control issues. Hopefully the number of free passes issued will drop as the season starts. Walks have a bad habit of coming back to haunt pitchers. Of more concern was the lack of hitting during the spring. Three projected starters, two outfielders, hit under under .201 in tune-up games, only 6 balls cleared the fences in fair territory in 24 games. This coupled with a 50% success rate in base stealing does not bode well for run scoring in 1945. Call has been seen, overheard discussing strategy solutions if the bats, base running continue to remain non-existent in the regular season. The pitching will probably be near the top of the CA but runs are also needed to win games. WAR IS HELL: CLASS C SHORTENS SEASON The manpower crunch that exists in a nation where the majority of able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 are in the military has been causing headaches for baseball execs since the U.S. entered the war in December of 1941. Now, it finally has caused a shift in the schedule of the national pastime, albeit at the game's lowest professional rung. Today the Class C Gulf States and Upper Mississippi Valley circuits announced that they would be playing a shortened 84-game season this year with the first pitch being thrown on June 25 and the season wrapping the same day as the big boys of FABL finish their own slate: September 30th. The reason behind the change was said to be a simple shortage of pitching. While some organizations, such as the Chicago Cougars, have retained enough arms, most others have not. The plan is to use the influx of talent from the amateur draft in early June to pad the rosters of the Class C clubs, allowing the season to proceed. There does remain concern among baseball executives that though it appears the Third Reich is on the ropes and unlikely to last much longer, the war against Imperial Japan seems to be far from over and the bloody campaign in the Pacific leads one to believe that even more manpower will be needed when the time comes to invade the Japanese homeland. Baseball's traditional opener in Washington today will greatly miss one of it's staunchest supporters. Prior to the war President Roosevelt was something of a mascot for the Washington Eagles and regular visitor to both the old Capitol Grounds and fancy new Columbia Stadium, not just on Opening Day as he would usually take in an additional game or two during the season throughout much of the 1930s. Meanwhile it appears that President Truman will not throw out the first ball for the Eagles game with the Philadelphia Keystones today. Instead the new President is scheduled to make his first public address as Chief Executve to a joint session of Congress. A week ago, Mr. Truman had said he might substitute for President Roosevelt in opening game ceremonies, but as President himself he'll have to ass it up. The game will be dedicated to the late President with spectators standing for a minute of silent prayer. The Detroit Dynamos and New York Stars made a minor trade. Out of minor league options, the Dynamos had no room for Roberson so they peddled the 30 year old reserve corner infielder to the Stars for a pair of prospects. Roberson hit just .236 in 100 games for the Dynamos last season after seeing some big league action over the previous 4 years with St Louis. In return, Detroit nets 23 year old outfielder Bud 'Crayon' Miller who should add some color to the AAA roster at Newark, as well as shortstop Bob Holmes, a 19 year old who was a 17th round pick last June and hit .205 at Class C Alexandria last season. Bobby Barrell certainly seems ready to follow up his triple crown winning season with another big year. The 34 year old blasted 5 homeruns during spring play, tying him with Cleveland's Lou Balk and Hal Reynolds of Brooklyn for tops in that category. Barrell was also second behind only Balk with 14 spring rbi's. The spring batting champ is an unlikely one as 37 year old George Bond -who returned to the big leagues with Detroit last season after 6 years in the minors- hit .467 in 50 spring plate appearances. The Cincinnati Cannons are thrilled to finish the spring without any injuries. And even more excited to see that Deuce Barrell pitched 11 innings of spring ball and did not allow a single run while fanning 5 and walking just one. Most importanly, Deuce says he is feeling no pain at all in his elbow, which caused him to miss all of last season. FLOWERS NAMED AIAA PLAYER OF THE YEAR Senior forward Terry Flowers of the National Champion Carolina Poly Cardinals was selected as the top player in Collegiate Basketball for the past season. The native of tiny Retsof, New York - located about midway between Buffalo and Syracuse- was a three year starter for the Cardinals and was named an All-American for the second year in a row. Flowers, who averaged 11.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, was also selected as the top player in the South Atlantic Conference for the second year in a row. Joing Flowers as first team All-Americans were: Code: FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS C JR Win Dupre Liberty College 10.2 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.4 SPG, 2.6 BPG PF SR Terry Flowers Carolina Poly 11.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, 0.3 SPG, 2.9 BPG SF SR Jack Simons Ohio Poly 10.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.3 BPG SG SR Tony Williams Rainier College 10.1 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.2 BPG PG SR Eusebio Constant Coastal State 9.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.6 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS C SR Sterling Kennedy Annapolis Maritime 11.7 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG PF SR William Gulley Conwell College 13.4 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.3 BPG SF JR Mark Sasko St. Pancras 10.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, 0.4 BPG SG JR Hunter Enright Frankford State 9.9 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 5.3 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.1 BPG PG JR David Bobo Garden State 12.7 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.1 BPG MELANSON TO FACE REES Frank Melanson will get a chance at the World Middleweight title in July according to his camp. That is the word as the 27 year old Melanson's camp has confirmed the top ranked challenger in the middleweight division and reigning American champ will meet Englishman Archie Rees in Philadelphia on June 9. The bout, which will be held outdoors at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Stadium, will see the Pittsburgh native put his unbeaten record of 28-0-1 on the line against Rees, who improved to 35-4-1 with a first round knockout of Tommy Erwin in New York last month. Melanson, recently elevated to the status of number one contender in the middleweight division, most recently scored a 4th round knockout of Andrew Harmon in mid-February. Rees will be by far the biggest challenge of his career and the first top-flight opponent for Melanson since knocking out Brooks O'Connor in 1940. One of the few fighters who did not get drafted or join the war effort, Melanson has toiled in a Pittsburgh munitions factory the past 4 years but has still found time to fight in 7 bouts since America joined the war effort. Most of his recent opponents have not had a high pedigree and as a result, despite his obvious talent and home state advantage, he is expected to enter the bout with Rees as a decided underdog. Rees, while still technically a part of the British armed forces, has been in America since the beginning of March and has made two successful defenses of the title he first claimed in September of 1941 with a second round knockout of American Nathan Sears in Chicago. The first defense was a widely anticipated duel last September with former champ Jorge Cuellar in which The Tadcaster Thunderbolt won with a 13th round technical knockout in what was the first World Title Fight of the war era. He followed that up with a very brief effort in a 1st round knockout of Tommy Erwin on March 21. MARTIN TAKES DECISION Harris Martin scored a unanimous 10-round decision over David Daly in the latest leg of his southern tour. The 34 year old, who outspoken manager Al Weiss recently proclaimed would be willing to face Hector Sawyer will all proceeds going to the Red Cross, improved to 44-12-5 with the victory over Daly (20-14-3) in Memphis last night. Ken Haley, another veteran heavyweight, also claimed a unanimous decision win over the weekend. This one was in St Louis where the 38 year old native of Kalamazoo, Mi., improved to 31-10 with a win over local pugilist Larry Ford. On the same card Dan Miller -the Oakland, Ca. heavyweight, also needed to go to the scorecards to earn a win over Allen Daniel. It was the first fight for the 28 year old since being discharged from the Navy two months ago. Haley is 17-7-1 lifetime as a professional, but impressed many with his work in a number of military tournaments the past couple of years. Back from serving in the Pacific, Malcolm Hensley scored a majority decision in New York over veteran middleweight Irving Weaver. Hensley , who won in his pro ring return in February with a fight in Honolulu, returned to the east coast a month ago and was back to training in his hometown in the famous MacIntosh Gym -ran by former heavyweight turned trainer extraordiare Steven MacIntosh. The 30 year old Hensley is now 6-2 but never took boxing seriously until joining the Navy 3 years ago and has been one of the most feared middleweights in the Pacific theater in recent years. He was also a fearless marine before being seriously wounded in March 1942 at the Battle of Bataan. He would not see combat duty after that but remained in the marines and recovered sufficiently to begin competiting in military boxing tournaments by the summer of 1943. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 4/15/1945 500,000 mourners lined the funeral route as the casket containing the body of President Roosevelt was transported through Washington DC on his final trip to the White House. The President died on April 12 of a cerebral brain hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Ga. while sitting for a portrait. He was 63. President Truman says there will be no change to the war plans and that Roosevelt's principles will be used to guide his regime. President Truman, intensively preparing to take FDR's place in the Big Three, is leaving the American responsibility for the San Francisco World Security Conference with this country's delegation. The American 1st and 3rd Armies close in on Berlin, as does the Red Army from the east. While taking Berlin appears to be a task either the Yanks or Russians can do anytime they see fit, General Eisenhower's overall strategy is slightly different. Taking Berlin is seen as important but the principle aim now is that of breaking up the German armies into as many small pockets of resistance as possible. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

01-02-2023, 01:16 PM	#602
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	April 16, 1945 : Season Preview and Prediction Issue APRIL 16, 1945: SPECIAL OPENING DAY EDITION BASEBALL SET FOR FOURTH WAR CAMPAIGN Eagles Host Keystones Today in Traditional Lid Lifter Baseball's fourth wartime campaign gets under way in Washington today in the President's Own Game. But Franklin Delano Roosevelt will be there only in spirit. The man who loved baseball and did so much for it in these troublous days has left the strife of war and sport forever. This season could quite easily become the weirdest ever in the history of organized baseball. But there will be fun for all. There'll be only a smear of big-league tone to the play. In fact, dizzy baseball will be the rule, even more than we saw the previous season as the war has robbed us of over 400 players who previously competed in the big leagues. Yet, from all major-league points comes word that interest in the sports fourth wartime season is unusually high. Across the league are reports of sizeable increases in the sale of season ducats. The only answer is -the people want baseball, whatever its quality. War-frayed millions want to get out to the ball park, root for the home team and heap insults on the umpire. Where the play is concerned the fans must be tolerant. They'll find the game has fallen further below big-league standard than it did last year. They'll see in action players who in prewar years wouldn't have been given much consideration by class AA minor clubs, let alone the FABL teams. They'll even see entire clubs that might find it difficult to make headway in the Dixie League in ordinary times. But the underage, the overage and the 4-F players on the fields will be in there trying, and thats about all the crowds will ask. It'll be pleasing entertainment, and with the cost of living as it is today the fans will get their money's worth. But while they are enjoying themselves they must not forget to give thanks to our victorious forces on land and sea, our forces battling to keep our American way of life undisturbed. To them we owe our baseball this year. PUNDITS VARIED IN OPINIONS ON ANNIVERSARY RESULTS As baseball prepares to embark on the journey that is its 20th season of the so-called 'Modern' or 'Human-GM' era about the only thing that appears certain is uncertainty. For a change that uncertainty does not revolve around concerns for the season's survival, as a number of recent rulings and our success in Europe seem to guarantee another uninterrupted wartime campaign. That is not to say there are not players missing -there are actually 404 of them with previous big league experience presently involved in the war effort, more than any other year- but the game will press on as it has done each of the previous three seasons. The uncertainty revolves around the expected outcome, as being Opening Day, scribes from all of the nation's top daily papers put typewriter to paper and burn a Monday morning column with what they feel passes off as expert evaluation -making their predictions for the order of finish in the two best baseball associations in the world for the upcoming season. Some like Archie Irwin -the well-respected Chicago Daily News columnist- will go as far as daring to call the outcome of the World Championship Series 7 months in advance. Irwin, by the way, sees the Pittsburgh Miners breaking a 44 year drought and topping the Cicninnati Cannons in the '45 Fall Classic. Fast Freddie Farhat also bravely made a WCS prediction. The longtime Detroit World Sports editor agrees with Irwin that the Miners will reach the Series, but he thinks they will once more come up short in October and fall to the Chicago Cougars. Most writers will be content to simply call the pennant winners with a select few going above and beyond and listing the order of finish from 1-thru-8 in both the Continental and Federal Associations. Most, much like the Chiefs Sam Orr haplessly swinging and missing at another curveball, will flail wildly in their efforts and miss the mark as the scribes tend to do with these prognostications every April. But usually at this stage of the game, many are on the same page. That is not so much the case in recent years with the uncertainty of the war playing such a major role in the outcome. There are plenty of varied opinions in the Federal Association with depending upon who you ask the Philadelphia Keystones targeted for a repeat trip to the WCS, or a last place finish. Pittsburgh is another team that some feel can win it all but others doom the Miners to the second division. The Gothams and Boston appear to be the two in the Fed that most consistently appear to be first division regulars in the minds of the scribes. It is much the same in the Continental as some feel the Cincinnati Cannons -with their grey-haired lineup- will win a third straight pennant equaling the Brooklyn Kings of nearly a decade ago. Others like the Chicago Cougars to rebound after a dismal second half a year ago and one brave soul calls for the Philadelphia Sailors to prevail in the loop for the first time since 1930. Toronto seems to be the most popular choice to battle the Cannons and Cougars but none of our so-called experts like the Wolves for finishing at the top of the pack. What does it all mean? When you consider that none of the seven so-called experts who attempted to successfully call the Fed winner a year ago hit the mark and correctly tabbed the Philadelphi Keystones and only two of the 7 were accurate enough to name Cincinnati as the CA winner, today's prediction likely are worth little more than the fishwrap they are printed on. But it sure is fun to debate the merits of our favourites isn't it? Baseball is back and right now, for the only time all season, everyone is tied for first place. We will know soon enough just how accurate these brave few sportswriters were in subjecting themselves to ridicule by going on record with predictions for a decidedly unpredictable sport. BRINKER SEES GOTHAMS-COUGARS SERIES While prognistications are always to be taken with more than a few grains of salt, the war continues to wreak even more havoc with the sport, making it even more difficult to pin down the winners & losers. For who knows how the battlefield results will effect those on the ballfields of America? Well... regardless of the difficulties the task before us is to make bold predictions, so let's get down to it. The Federal Association. I always start with the Fed. Why? Call me old fashioned but I still link the Fed to its roots in old man Whitney's Century loop (yes, I am that old) and give it the nod over those "upstarts" in the Continental. Let's start with the defending champions of the circuit, the Philadelphia Keystones. Can they catch lightning in the bottle again this year? Short answer is yes, of course, but the longer, more nuanced answer is that it's somewhat unlikely. What is likely is that Bobby Barrell will have another outstanding individual season taking advantage of watered down wartime pitching. But speaking of pitching, Philly doesn't have enough of it to win again (though I do l-o-v-e Jim Whiteley - he's going to have a great season, you heard it here first). Having gotten that out of the way, who is the favorite? With every roster looking like swiss cheese, this is the most difficult set of predictions I've ever had to do. 1. New York Gothams: Probably the most complete team in the loop. Red Johnson, Ed Bowman & Harry Carter are the keys. 2. Boston Minutemen: Good pitching & Pete Day, but some question marks in the lineup. If they get production throughout, they're the faves. But that's a big if. 3. Philadelphia Keystones: If Pepper was still around, they'd be the favorites. Without him they still have a shot, but it'll be a fight. 4. Pittsburgh Miners: It all revolves around Mahlon Strong who might be the best hitter still around who isn't named Bobby Barrell. 5. Detroit Dynamos: The Fed's true wildcard. If Potter & Brown are as good as I think they are and Frank Vance has enough gas left in the tank, they could challenge for the pennant. 6. Chicago Chiefs: The lineup's still dangerous but pitching is the issue in the Windy City. There's just not enough of it there with all the team's best working for Uncle Sam. 7. Washington Eagles: This team's an enigma. They'll miss Mel Carrol but Stofer, Miller and the pitching make them dangerous. 8. St. Louis Pioneers: Not enough batting help available for Tucker & Sharp. A healthy Danny Hern is the 'x' factor in the Gateway City. The Continental Association is the loop of the haves and have-nots as in "have a chance" and "haven't a chance" regarding the annual capture the flag routine. The defending two-time champ Cannons remain the club to beat. But there are a trio of teams who have a shot at spiking the big guns along the Ohio River led by the big cats of Chicago and the howling pack from north of the border. That other team in the Big Apple is in the mix too. So how's it gonna shake out? Here's a guess: 1. Chicago Cougars: Expect a bounce back from their disappointing collapse a year ago. Despite a slew of talented players in the military, the Cougars remain FABL's deepest team. 2. Cincinnati Cannons: Yes, Deuce Barroll's back and the lineup still boasts Adams, Wheeler & Bird. So what's not to like? Nothing really, other than the difficulty of winning three straight pennants. 3. Toronto Wolves: Pack & Garrison are top-notch but the Wolves don't quite have the firepower of the Cannons & Cougars and that makes their route to the top of the hill a steeper climb. 4. New York Stars: Eli Panneton is legit and Lee & Cornett are solid behind him. The lineup is the weak link, but it's far from terrible and that gives the Stars a legitimate chance of sneaking away with the pennant. 5. Brooklyn Kings: OSA doesn't like Brooklyn, but I see them as the "best of the rest" with that status largely dependent upon the pitching. OF Orie Martinez is a star in the making. 6. Philadelphia Sailors: Never count out the Sailors. They seem to annually do more with less than any other team. Doc Newell's getting old and the lineup lacks a true difference-maker. 7. Montreal Saints: Could easily finish 4th or 5th - like the Kings, they're tough to predict. They have a workman-like lineup but the pitching is thin. 8. Cleveland Foresters: The lineup, led by young Jim Adams Jr, is surprisingly good... but the pitching is not. OSA CALLS FOR REMATCH OF '43 WITH A CANNONS-MINUTEMEN SERIES Age is just a number and when referring to the geriatric Cincinnati Cannons OSA says that number is 103. That is the number of victories that Dan Barrell and his staff at the league scouting department forecast for the Cannons in the upcoming season. OSA feels age will not be an issue for Cincinnati - which is quite possibly fielding a team that is the oldest in FABL history. Not a problem on the mound where the scouting service sees 37 year old's Sam Sheppard and Tom Barrell combining to win 46 games nor in the outfield where it predicts big numbers for the trio of Al Wheeler, Gail Gifford and Sam Brown. OSA sees the Chicago Cougars -led by their three armed mound monster of Billy Riley, Harry Parker and Art White- finishing second with the New York Stars and Toronto Wolves deadlocked in third place. In the Federal Association the scouting bureau is calling for big seasons from Billy Dalton, Pete Day and Bill Moore to carry the Boston offense to the top of the pile. Pittsburgh is picked second and then the battle for third will be a tough one with four teams -Washington, Detroit, the Gothams and Chiefs- all finishing within 4 game of each other in rounding out the first division. OSA sees the defending champion Philadelphia Keystones dropping to 7th despite another big season for Bobby Barrell. Here is the projected 1945 standings and top players according to OSA: When one looks at OSA's call for '45 it certainly is interesting to see the top hitters and pitcher predictions. Looking at those numbers my interpretation is the OSA feels that Bobby Barrell will come back to the pack but will still have enough to win the FA Whitney. Hard to argue that one. The FA Allen looks like Boston’s Ed Wood is the top choice. He will be hard pressed to get 39 starts in this era of all the doubleheaders but his numbers look the best based on the OSA. In the CA, the Whitney looks like a crapshoot between multiple hitters. One could argue Toronto’s 1B Walt Pack or a pair of Cincinnati OF’s in Brown or Gifford. The batting race looks interesting between Brown and Sailors Ed Reyes. On the CA Allen front the OSA likes Cincinnati’s Sam Sheppard. If he comes close to those numbers, Fast Freddy will eat his hat. As for rookie of the year, looks like Detroit 18 year old Potter is the OSA top pick. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Mail & Empire Predicts FABL in 1945 -Brett will now perform an annual rite of spring with his predictions of the way teams will finish the 1945 season. This year is more difficult than past years with possibility of players returning to the league from at least the European Theatre of the war. The fall of Berlin seems to be only days away. If that happens do the players return or are they moved in a massive effort to end the fighting in the Pacific. Brett will make his list based on the current rosters of all 16 teams. Continental Association 1. Chicago Cougars- Although hit hard hard by enlistments this strong team is on a mission to avenge the collapse of 1944. 2. Toronto Wolves- War also came calling in a big way. Led by pitching, will the Wolves get enough from their bats to challenge Chicago? 3. Philadelphia Sailors- A team that made strides forward in 1944, expect more of the same in 1945. 4. Cincinnati Cannons- Brett thinks this is the year age catches up to the Cannons although their wily GM will make all moves he deems necessary to capture a third straight pennant. 5. New York Stars- A team that could surprise everyone, Brett's dark horse in the CA. 6. Montreal Saints- A young team whose time is coming just not in 1945. 7. Brooklyn Kings- A team still trying to find their way at the top levels of the FABL. 8. Cleveland Foresters- Rebuilding, restocking will continue in 1945. Federal Association 1. New York Gothams- Pitching, pitching, pitching along with Red Johnson's bat make the Gothams clear early favourites. 2. Boston Minutemen- Expect Boston to rebound from a disappointing 1944. 3. St. Louis Pioneers- Solid team both on the mound, at the plate. Do they have enough to challenge in FA? 4. Detroit Dynamos- A team with a wealth a young upcoming talent. This season may be one of putting pieces together in the FA. Pitching is area of concern. 5. Pittsburgh Miners- Can the Miners recapture past glory of a few seasons ago? 6. Chicago Chiefs- Never a team to be overlooked. 7. Washington Eagles- Like the Stars the Eagles could surprise everyone in the FA. 8. Philadelphia Keystones- Keystones could finish anywhere from third to eighth depending on a number of situations. There are a number of things that will change over 1945. Which teams go through extended hot streaks or slumps? Do injuries derail hopes of a team? Which players rise to new levels? Do some aging veterans finally run out of gas at the end of the careers? Does a young player carry his team to new heights? Does the war end in time for teams to get the a key player(s) back in time to make a late pennant charge in either league? One thing is for certain, 1945 will produce unexpected results in either a positive or negative direction for a number of teams. *Ready For Season Opener * The Wolves Pullman coach has pulled into Union Terminal in Cincinnati on the eve of the beginning of the 1945 schedule for a short two-game series. Bob Call is optimistic about the team's chances stating that the Wolves will be strong on the mound, in the field, with the hitters needing only to produce enough runs to give the pitching staff a lead to work with over the next six months. Call likes starting with the Cannons to see what some people are calling the best have for 1945. Call thinks the CA will a hard fought race all season long with 3 or 4 teams able to win the pennant. Owner Bernie Millard is said to be pleased with the increase in season's tickets along with attendance estimates at Dominion Field. Insiders tell Brett that Millard has told the front office staff that anything less than a trip to the World Series will be considered a failure in his eyes. Toronto is said to have set their minor league rosters to start the season. Chattanooga will start the campaign with only 20 players saying it is time for these players to show whether or not they have a future with the Wolves. Expect multiple moves between Davenport, Chattanooga during the season more so if players return from the service. At the end of the 1944 season the Minutemen found themselves in fifth position with a 76-78 record. It was their worst finish since the 1940 season (also fifth place) and their first season finishing under .500 since 1938 (72-82). Not only did the Minutemen finish in the second division they also have the worst minor league system ranking in the FABL. This has less to do with poor drafting and more to do with Boston trading away top prospects and first round picks to secure talent that helped the club win two pennants and one championship in three seasons. Now with that talent aging, and the few prospects the club do own rights to serving in either the European or Pacific theaters, the Minutemen find themselves at an identity crossroad. The club still has loads of talent and could very well find themselves deep into a pennant race which may allow them to continue to trade away top picks for players that can provide immediate dividends. This past recipe for success may not be the way to go in today’s FABL though. Ever since the anti-tanking draft measures were introduced last season, it may be a wiser course of action for Boston to retain their top pick. With the potential win/loss improvement from the season before it would improve Boston’s chances of grabbing a top pick while still finishing at the top of the standings. BNN predicts that the Minutemen will finish with 91 wins and top the FA as they are currently constructed. If that turned out to be accurate the Minutemen would be looking at a 15 game improvement from a season ago. Of course BNN predictions are often the kiss of death as there is no way to factor in all the unseen variables that crop up over the course of a season. Still, experts feel the Minutemen will be competitive and the club definitely agrees with those assessments. It may have been why Boston's front office remained quiet all offseason as they made not a single move to bolster the lineup. With opening day tomorrow, the Minutemen will trot out one of the more experienced rosters in the league with 15 of the 24 players over 30 years of age. Will that experience be enough? Or will we see the effects of age in both the production and health department? We will get to see it all unfold tomorrow as the club opens up the season in Philadelphia for a three game series against the Keystones. Either way, the long, cold, dreary winter is now officially over and the boys of summer are ready to take center stage for what the city of Boston hopes is another magical season. IS AGE JUST A NUMBER? CANNONS HOPE IT IS AND THE NUMBER IS 3 The Cincinnati Cannons host the Toronto Wolves in the Continental Association opener at Tice Memorial tomorrow afternoon, faced with an opportunity only seven other teams in the 54 year history of FABL have ever had. We are speaking of teams that have won back to back World Championship Series and the list is very select with only the 1897 New York Gothams, 1901 Chicago Cougars, 1905 Boston Minutemen, 1907 New York Stars, 1909 Baltimore Clippers, 1920 Detroit Dynamos and 1926 New York Stars joining the current edition of the Cannons as clubs looking for a third consecutive World Championship Series. Everyone in Cincinnati knows by now that only the '26 Stars accomplished the goal but the Cannons have the oppportunity to join them this October. This is clearly the place to insert the obvious joke that most of the current crop of Cannons were likely already in the big leagues to witness the Stars 1926 win first-hand. That is not quite true, but with an average age of 33 and 10 of the 24 players that will start the season tomorrow being at least 35 years of age, it is not that far off. There is no question the current edition of the Cannons is the oldest in the league this season, and likely one of the oldest FABL teams ever fielded. At 27 Johnny Potter and Deuce Barrell are the youngest two on the club that includes 39 year old Jim Crawford and five 37-year old's in Tom Barrell, Tom Bird, Jack Cleaves, Sam Sheppard and Al Wheeler. There was hope from some in the organization that local boy Ted Stacy -the 22 year old shortstop out of Hillcrest High- would make the club but the Cannons opted to go with 34 year old free agent pickup Harry Woodruff -who toiled for the Gothams last season- as the backup to Jim Hensley. There is no question that Stacy, who was a 1941 regional round pick, has the glove to play in the big leagues, but he hit just .209 at Indianapolis last season and looked overmatched in going 3-for-21 during spring action. * Tigers Looking Forward to Strong Sophomore Campaign * Cincinnati's other big league team says ticket sales are going well and Tigers grid coach Jack Conn says the club is out to prove their 4-6 record in their debut was no fluke. "Our defense was pretty solid last season, all things considered," explained Conn. "We need to improve our offense, especially the running game, but hopefully that is something we can address in the draft." The squad recently held a dinner at the Cincinnati Touchdown Club and presented Jack Christensen with the team MVP award for the 1944 campaign. Christensen was a surprise this season, leading the club with 6 interceptions while rushing for a team best 357 yards. * Could Basketball Be Next For the Queen City * There is a lot of talk about the possibility of a big-time pro basketball loop getting underway next season and if it happens, Cannons owner John Tice says he would be interested in joining the fray. To be clear Tice did add that he has heard nothing about plans for Cincinnati to be entered in a play for pay cage league, but also admitted he has been pretty focused on the Cannons and has not explored the possibility at all. What caught our attention is news from Cincinnati native and former Detroit City College All-American John Banks. The former guard is now in management at one of the big automobile factories in Detroit while moonlighting in a semi-pro league, but in a recent visit home to the Queen City he mentioned that he had been approached about playing in proposed new cage loop called the United States Basketball League once the war was over. The 27 year old said he is very interested and added the group appeared quite serious. ARMY, NAVY LEAD PROSPECT PARADE OSA unveiled it's latest top ten prospect rankings and it comes as little surprise that the Army and Navy lead the way with 3 each. In all, 8 of the 10 ten at the top of the OSA chart are presently carrying guns instead of bats and balls led by 23 year old St Louis Pioneers pitching prospect Hal Hackney. Hackney, a 1940 3rd round pick who has been in the Navy since 1941, tops the latest OSA list which includes 6 pitchers. The Detroit Dynamos lead the list with 3 players including one of just two top ten prospects who are not serving their country. 18 year old lefthander Carl Potter slots in at number 5 according to OSA and more importantly at number 4 on the Dynamos pitching rotation as he attempts to become the first 18 year old pitcher to win a game in the modern era. There is still a possibility that Potter, despite a terrific spring, starts the season in Newark as the Dynamos still need to cut 5 more players from their spring roster in order to get down to the FABL limit of 24. The only other player to crack the top ten who will be playing pro ball to start the season is 18 year old catcher Dan Atwood. The New York Stars second round pick in 1944, Atwood split his pro debut last year between A and AA. Look for a great change in baseball when the war is ended. It might even come next year, with V-E day apparently near. There will be such a general overhauling the fans hardly will recognize their clubs. Some high in baseball say as much as 50 percent of those now on the field will be back in the minors or out of the game entirely when the regulars return from the war. Or in the case of the Cannons, perhaps the next stop is an old age home. The Cincinnati Cannons have finalized their 24-man roster and it certainly is experienced. 18 of the 24 players are at least 30 years with no one under the age of 27. 10 of the 24 players heading north, including 6 pitchers, are at least 35 years of age and 10 of them have at least a decade of big league service under their belts already led by Jack Cleaves, who prepares for his 19th FABL campaign. Average age of the Cannons roster is 33 and that is after they waived 38 year old reliever Fred Hall as their final cut. There is excitement in Montreal as Saints fans look to the arrival of young shortstop Gordie Perkins. Saints brass revealed the 22 year old 1941 3rd overall selection will start the season in FABL following a great spring training. Jake Hughes will be moved to 3B and Mack Burns will cover 2B for the season opener. Rookie OF Hank Eason, who had a strong showing in a brief trial last September, also made the team. The son of former Saints star outfielder Hal Eason will share the leftfield job with veteran Hank Dunn, at least to start the season. Some are wondering what the Pittsburgh Miners are up to. The Miners waived 5 veterans over the weekend but that drops their active roster down to 21 players. Are they planning a cost-cutting move by running with a short roster or do they have their eyes on a number of players presently sitting on the waiver wire? They have already submitted a claim for Cleveland relief pitcher Red Butler. The Day That Was Current events from 4/16/1945 President Truman's declaration to Congress and the world that he intends to press for speedy victory in the war, and for lasting peace, won the instant plaudits of Congress. It was Truman's first address to Congress after succeeding Roosevelt as President. Roosevelt went to his final resting place as the 31st President of the United States was buried in Hyde Park Garden after the funeral train that left Washington Saturday arrived in New York. General Patton's American 3rd Army is within 7 miles of the Czech border and has captured Hof, effectively splitting the German defenses in two. General Mark W. Clark announced that the "spring offensive in the Mediterranean theater has begun," with the American 5th and British 8th armies engaged in operations along the entire Italian battlefront. A German news agency has confirmed that the Russians had captured the Seelow Heights, 23 miles east of Berlin and linked up their bridgeheads southwest and northwest of Kuestrin. A Soviet broadcast stated that the attack on Berlin has started. The two month stalemate over reorganization of the Polish government has been broken after Premier Stalin's agreement to a regime which will be truly representative of the Polish people. 400 Superfortresses returned to raid Tokyo, a city still burning from Saturday's fire raid, which burned out more than 10 square miles. Reconnaissance photos show that 27 1/2 square miles have been devastated in and around the Japanese capital since March 10. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

01-03-2023, 12:34 PM	#603
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	April 23, 1945: The season is underway APRIL 23, 1945 QUICK START FOR CANNONS BUT INJURIES ALREADY A CONCERN Veteran Club Loses 2 Pitchers Including Deuce Barrell There was no question the Cincinnati Cannons have loads of talent. Age was the big worry as a potential obstacle in the Cannons quest for a third straight World Championship Series win and judging by the first week of the season those concerns were well founded. The Cannons took five of six games from Toronto and Philadelphia to start the season but in the first week alone they had three of their star players go down with injury. The most troubling is news that Deuce Barrell will miss the next two or three weeks with a tender left elbow. That is the same joint that cost the two-time Allen Award winner all of last season. Deuce had an very strong spring, pitching 11 scoreless innings and said the elbow felt great but he lasted just 6 pitches in the season opener against Toronto before he needed to be pulled from the game, putting an early damper on a festive pre-game ceremony that included raising a second consecutive WCS baner. Dan Adams came on in relief and did a decent enough job for the Cannons to prevail in the lid-lifter by a 4-3 count. Three days later Sam Sheppard joined Barrell on the sidelines as the newly acquired 37 year old -another former Allen Award winner- was forced out of his start Friday after 7 scoreless innings of 3 hit ball due to back tightness. After the game Sheppard, who owns a career mark of 180-147, insisted it was nothing serious and he felt just fine but the Cannons will hold him out of his next start or two just to be sure. It was not just pitchers as the injury bug appears to be an equal opportunity employer in Cincinnati with 37 year old second baseman Jack Cleaves also being bitten. Cleaves went 4-for-7 in the two games against Toronto but was held out of most of the Philadelphia series after suffering a mild ankle sprain. * Hot Start For Kings The Brooklyn Kings were the other Continental Association club to get off to a quick start, beginning the season with a 6-game winning streak before dropping a pair of 1-0 games in yesterday's twin bill against the New York Stars. Veteran outfielder Vernon Ruch had the hot bat for Brooklyn to begin the seasons, hitting .355 and driving in 7 runs. The Federal Association saw the Washington Eagles get off to the quickest start, with 5 wins in their first 7 as they opened against the two Pennsylvania clubs. The Washington starting pitching lived up to it's early billing with a strong start while Detoit, despite a rough big league debut for 18 year old Carl Potter, went 4-2 to claim second place after the opening week. Potter, who turns 19 on Friday, lasted just 3 innings in a 13-8 loss to the New York Gothams in his big league debut. A day later the Dynamos other 1944 draft pick making his pitching debut fared much better as 22 year old Pete Brown went the distance in a 5-2 win over the Gothams. SAINTS LOSE DEYOUNG FOR DE-YEAR The Montreal Saints, already reeling with the winter loss of Bill Ross and Bert Cupid to the war effort, will need to carry on without another pitcher as 32 year old lefthander Jake DeYoung was hurt in a 10-9 loss to Brooklyn on Thursday. The diagnosis could not be much worse as team doctors say DeYoung will miss the rest of the year. DeYoung suffered a sprained ankle during the off-season a couple of years ago but beyond that he has never missed anything more than a couple of days with minor aches and pains. He has been a dependable back of the rotation innings-eater for nearly a decade, posting a 103-133 career mark since joining the club as a 22-year old in 1935. MILESTONE WATCH Here are some achievements within reach this season. Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones needs 9 homeruns to reach the 400 plateau. The 34 year old inched closer with two long balls in the opening week. Leon Drake of the New York Gothams is 5 away from 200 and his teammate Red Johnson needs 14 to get to the 200 mark. Only 23 players have ever hit 200 big league homeruns. Al Wheeler of Cincinnati had 8 hits last week to give him 2,909 for his 18 year career. There are only 11 players with 3,000 or more hits. It is highly unlikley to happen this year but Wheeler homered twice last week and is now 37 homers shy of joining the legendary Max Morris as the only players with 500 round-trippers. Jack Cleaves of Cincinnati needs 5 more hits to reach the 2,000 plateau. Montreal's Vic Crawford is 61 shy of 2,000 and Cleaves' Cannons teammate Sam Brown needs 91. Three others are within sight of the 2,000 hit mark as well. They are Boston's Pete Day (1,894), Freddie Jones of the Chiefs (1,876) and Cougars catcher Mike Taylor (1,875). Taylor is also just 9 shy of 1,000 career runs batted in. On the pitching side of the ledger, the next win for Boston's Ed Wood will be the 200th of his career. The 36 year old did not get a decision in his lone opening week start and sits at 199-145 for his career. 40 year old Jim Lonardo of the New York Gothams is 19 victories shy of becoming just the 13th 300-game winner in FABL history. Mixed results for three top-100 prospects who made their big league debuts this week. Plenty to cheer about in Montreal where 22 year old shorstop Gordie Perkins (OSA #15) hit .296 (8-for-27) with a pair of doubles in his first week in the big leagues. The Polish Hammer Dick Blaszak made his Chicago Chiefs debut less than 5 months after being shot in the Pacific. The 23 year old did single in his first game but went just 2-for-12 in the 4 game he played in and is still looking for his first big league extra-base hit. It was the first taste of pro ball since 1942 for the #16 ranked prospect. The final debut of top prospect came Friday in New York when Dynamos 18 year old pitching sensation Carl Potter (OSA #7) made his first big league start in a bid to become the youngest pitcher to win a big league game in the modern era. It was not to be on this night as the Gothams roughed the lefthander up for 8 runs -but only 4 earned- over 3 innings in what would end up being a 13-8 New York win. Looks like Eli Panneton is off to another hot start. The 23 year old fourth overall pick in 1944, who went straight from Aberdeen College to the New York Stars rotation last July, had a couple of very strong outings to begin his sophomore campaign. He took the loss in Chicago allowing 3 earned runs in a 4-3 defeat but followed that up with a 1-0 complete game shutout of Brooklyn as part of a twin-bill yesterday. It was the third shutout for Panneton in 18 career big league starts. A big start for Al Wheeler as the veteran outfielder hit .381 with 2 homers to start the season for Cincinnati. Wheeler is chasing 3,000 career hits (at 2,909 presently) and is hoping to join Max Morris as the only players with 500 career homeruns. The 37 year old Wonder Wheel now sits at 463. The Chicago Cougars lost an awful lot of offense to the war over the winter but CLiff Moss is doing his best to make up for it. The 38 year old outfielder hit 3 homers in the opening week -including a pair of Stars ace Eli Panneton in the season opener. Another veteran hitter also had a strong week as Montreal's Vic Crawford earned top performer in the CA honours after the 37 year old batted .407 with 2 homers and 10 rbi's. In the the player of the week was 30 year old Cuno Myer. The Detroit first baseman went 13-for-23 (.565) in 6 games last week helping Detroit to a 4-2 start. A slow 2-4 start for the Boston Minutemen as a veteran Ed Wood and 23 year old rookie Andy Howell struggled in their first starts of the year. Last year's accusations Billy Dalton and Alf Pestilli each provided a homer this week as the offense was not the reason for the sour week. The Toronto Wolves stumble coming out of the gate in 1945 dropping 3 straight, two by one run in Cincinnati then the pitching implodes blowing a 7-2 lead going into the 8th losing 10-8 in the home opener to Cleveland. The mediocre week was saved by sweeping the Sunday twin bill from the Foresters. The defense has performed well with only one fielding miscue through five games and the OF has gunned down 5 baserunners in the early season. Word should get around the league that trying to take an extra base on the Wolves is at your own peril. KRISTICH COOL AS NEW PRO GRID LEAGUE SEEKS "SERIES' The possibility of two major professional football leagues, working in a manner similar to baseball's Continental and Federal Associations, was envisioned this week as the Continental Football Conference moved toward conclusion of its final organization meeting. The Continental group, it's post-war plans already past the blueprint stage, has asked the American Football Association for an audience, with a view towards paving the way towards collaboration, or an understanding, on schedules and player drafts. The new organization received somewhat of a cold shoulder from President Jack Kristich of the 25 year old American Football Association. But it was hopeful that before its meeting adjourned intra-league details, including a possible post-season "world championship series" between circuit champions, would be worked out satisfactorily. Representatives of seven franchise holders in the Continental Football Conference were present for the meeting, at which final details of a constitution and by-laws are to be worked out. In addition, the league will consider from several additional applications to round out it's list of franchises. CFC President Ben Montgomery is planning an attempt to meet with Kristich, his AFA counterpart. Yesterday, Kristich declined to discuss the prospects with newsmen but in a formal statement he said: "All I know of the new leagues is what I read in the newspapers. There is nothing for the American Football Association to talk about as far as new leagues are concerned until some one gets a football and plays a game." It generally is understood that the postwar boom in sports will be on the amazing side. But it will be an entirely different matter from the sports boom after World War I. It will appeal to a far greater number of actual players but I doubt very much that it will even approach the so-called golden age that followed the first World War -those years that brought us Max Morris, Urban Dane, Jack Barrell, the rise of the American Football Association and the North American Hockey Confederation and so many great stars of the 1920s in almost every line of sport. Max Morris had been a star pitcher before, but it was not until after the war that he unwrapped his big mace and began hitting homeruns. I can't see any such stars in sight for some time to come. For this has been a longer and far more punishing war was far as our athletes are concerned. It has arrested the playing careers of so many of our young stars, such as Pete Papenfus, Bill Barrett, Hector Sawyer and so many other who were still short of their prime when called into service. Here and there among the younger servicemen we'll have a certain number of stars who may come close to the old-time mark -boxers, ball players and football players. But any one who expects to see a Max Morris like numbers in baseball, a college grid star dominate the game like Ubran Dane did or a legendary multi-sport star like Jack Barrell who excelled both on the ice and the grid, likely will be disappointed. Average Skill Figures to Be Boosted It could happen, of course, since almost anything can happen in sport. But it isn't a good bet. The odds are against it. There will be too many of our greatest stars of 1941, around Pearl Harbor days, who will be over the hill physcally before they have a chance to return to competitive sport. Players like Sal Pestilli or Fred McCormick. They still will be good, many of them, but too many of them will have lost their best years. The sports boom that will follow this war will be another type. While it may not give the spectators such big names as we have mentioned, so many outstanding stars, it will accomplish something much more important. It will lift the general average of play and skill far higher than it ever was before. The first World War contributed nothing to the headline mastery of the golden age. The sports stars of that era had practically no connection with the war in anyway. But it will be different after this war. The Army and Navy now have from 12,000,000 to 14,000,000 men in the service. And the Army and Navy have outlined one of the biggest programs for sport ever known, along the line of coaching, training and competitive play. * We're Too Much of a Spectator Nation * I know something about the tremendous scope of this program that will take in thousands of coaches and trainers and other skill operations who will be called on to worth with and help train and develop the many millions now scattered all over the world map. The big swing in the direction of sport is a vital necessity. The Army and Navy know this. When the war in Europe is ended there will be millions who can't be rushed home or on to Asia and the Pacific at a day's notice. They will need a vast sporting program to keep them interested in life while waiting for boats and planes to bring them back or carry them to other theaters of action. The big weakness of sport in the United States is that we have been too much of a spectator Nation -and not enough of a playing Nation. This applies to our youngsters and to older men. When 25,000 out of every 100,000 18-year olds are rejected by the draft something obviously is wrong. The Army and Navy now plan to give all these millions a chance to play with greater skill the games they like, even if few of them ever become champions. There can be only one champion at a time after all. But there can be a vast improvement in our average skill. The golden age of sport after the last will come back. But it won't return with any rush. It will need more time and it will be a far better thing for the country and for sport, provided always that it is handled properly, which I hope it will be. NEW YORK RING SOLONS MAY BAN TOWNSLEY The New York Boxing Commission was faced with the problem of Frankie Townsley and indications are the local body plans to act decisively in parallel with the Massachusetts Commission, which is considering a lifetime ban for the 28 year old middleweight. Townsley was suspended yesterday by the New England group for "not trying" in a bout in Boston in late February with Richard McKinney. Townsley's manager Jack Walker and his pilot, Eddie Laken, were absolved of any blame in the affair but Walker has since parted ways with his fighter. It is a local ban but Townsley has applied to the New York body for permission to stage a fight next month. The New York commission is considering the request from Paddy McCoy -who has taken over from Walker as Townsley's manager. "Townsley has fought satisfactorily many times," noted McCoy, "including quite often in New York state. The Boston commission is going on hearsay only and my fighter maintains he did nothing wrong." Townsley lost an unanimous decision to McKinney on February 15th despite being heavily favoured to win the fight. There were reports of large wagers placed late on McKinney to win by a decision which got the ball rolling on the investigation. Townsley is a Baltimore native with a 14-5 career record that includes 10 wins by knockout. EDMONDS AND PRICE WIN EASY TUNE-UPS A pair of top-ten fighters were in action last week and each had little trouble coming away with a victory. John Edmonds improved to 18-1 and is considered the 4th best middleweight active right now after the Muncie, In. born 26 year old claimed a fourth round knock out of Warren Gray in a Tuesday night bout in Camden, NJ. Meanwhile, 27 year old Tampa born heavyweight Matt Price is now 27-4-3 after scoring an unanimous decision over Tom Brooks in Houston last Monday. Price was listed the 9th ranked challenger in the heavyweight division last month. On the same night rising welterweight River Thomas knocked out his opponent Jimmy Rogers in the 2nd round of their 10-round bout in Cleveland. Thomas is a New Jersey native who boasts an 11-2 record with 10 of those victories coming via knockout. OWENS WINS PRO DEBUT 23 year old Davis Owens, who was a highly touted amateur fighter out of Cleveland before joining the army, won his professional debut. It was a bout in St Louis against fellow soldier Kenny McDonald and was a 5th round knockout. Owens, who was stationed in Italy but returned home a few months ago, expects to continue on as a pro fighter once the war is over. The youngster Owens, who got his first boxing experience fighting for 'corner rights' to sell newspapers in Cleveland, carried the scrap to McDonald right from the opening gong. The Philadelphia native held Owens off during the early rounds but could not stand up under Owens two-fisted attacked to the head in the fifth. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 4/22/1945 Russian troops are now fghting inside of Berlin and the Red Army has cut the Germans main rail exit from the city to the south. American troops have fought their way into Czechoslovakia and are also closing in on Berlin to meet up with the Russians. To the south, Allied troops of the US 5th and British 8th Armies have taken Bologna, the key to all north Italy. Prime Minister Churchill said today that Allied armies in Europe were nearing the end of "a long journey" and says that while they will pause for a moment to celebrate V-E day, the work is not done as the Allies "have the Japanese to finish." American troops. supported by an incessant artillery barrage, are battering forward yard by yard in southern Okinawa Island against stronf resistance and fortifications superior to those the marines encounterd on bloody Iwo Jima. Former US Secretary of State Cordell Hull "the father of the United Nations," told that Allies tonight that the San Francisco World Security Conference will be "an acid test of whether mankind has suffered enough and learned enough." __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal** The Scripture of Sports

01-04-2023, 12:34 PM	#604
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	April 30, 1945 APRIL 30, 1945 EAGLES FLYING HIGH Spring training results are meaningless. We all know that but the Washington Eagles are exhibit A in proving the point. The Eagles stumbled through a 7-17 spring showing, including losing their final six tune-up games but once the switch was flipped on for the 1945 season the Stockdales have been nearly unstoppable with 10 wins in their first 13 games. Two of Washington's three losses were by a single run and both came in extra innings. Federal Association opponents knew that John Lawrence's club had plenty of pitching and the Washington starters -with the possible exception of front-man Del Burns (2-1, 5.30) have been outstanding- but most felt there would be a huge hole in the Eagles offense after Mel Carrol and Jesse Alvardo left to join the war effort. That has not been the case as the Eagles, led by Fed player of the week Sig Stofer (.388,2,14) top their loop in runs scored and made it look easy over the weekend with 23 runs in 3 games in Philadelphia. Speaking of the Keystones, they are one of 3 Fed teams that are off to a much slower start than was expected. Bobby Barrell (.318,3,9) is still hitting -although not yet at his triple crown pace of a year ago- but the rest of the Keystones offense has struggled and their pitching is having its troubles as well. Pittsburgh is another team, like their Pennsylvania neighbors struggling to a 4-7 start, but in the Miners case it is clearly injuries that can shoulder a good share of the blame. Veteran outfielder Wally Flowers is the latest to go down, and his hamstring troubles will cause him to miss at least the next month. Flowers is the fourth Pittsburgh outfielder battling an injury, joining Mahlon Strong, Willie Vega and Whit Williams, with second baseman Les Tucker is also hurt. There is no injury bug to blame for the Gothams early season funk. Picked by many as the team to beat in the Federal Association, New York has looked awful in the early going with Ed Bowman mercifully snapping a 7-game losing skid yesterday with his first win of the season. Pitching was supposed to be the Gothams strength this season and war-returnee Harry Carter (1-1, 3.24) along with ace Ed Bowman (1-3, 2.45) have done a decent job but there has to be some worry for new skipper Bud Jameson that age might be catching up with Jim Lonardo (0-1, 6.63) and reality with 33 year old Jim Baggett (0-1, 10.24) who is out to prove he is not just a one-year wonder. Four-time Allen Award winner Jim Lonardo's slow start is especially concerning when you consider that he is 40 years old and the fact that he struggled in the spring as well. His three starts in the regular season have been well below his standards and Jameson might just be rethinking his plan to go with just a 4-man rotation. Gothams management summed it up this way: "The pitchers have not been spectacular, then hitting has been more miss than hit and the defense has been nothing special. That's how you got 4-8. I think some things will level out, but it looks like more of a placeholder year untill the big boys get back. Seems I've spent most of my FABL days waiting on Brewer, Monier and Messer." * Start Fit For a King * The Brooklyn Kings are the surprise team in the Continental Association, a loop in which the standings -at least aside from second place Cincinnati- look to be inverted after two weeks. The Kings pitching has been nothing to write home about in the early going, but there offense has been positively regal. Veterans Vernon Ruch (.302,3,14) and Jake Shadoan (.300,2,11) along with second year catcher George Jones (.353,0,4) are three big reasons the Kings lead the big leagues in runs scored. Cincinnati is hot on their heels as the Cannons offense is blasting home runs at the rate of one a game thanks to a huge start from Denny Andrews (.453,5,12) and a return to his form of the mid-1930s from veteran outfielder Al Wheeler (.348,4,16) but age perhaps appears to be catching up with the Cincinnati arms. Jim Crawford is the latest Cannons hurler to go down, joining Deuce Barrell, Jake Smith and Sam Sheppard. None of the injuries appear to be especially troublesome although Cannons manager Ad Liska is holding his breath over Barrell's tender elbow, but all are the nagging type that could either be merely those little things that crop up as the club heads north after having the veteran arms take it easy in spring, or a more serious sign of age catching up with a staff dominated by veteran arms. Frustration is growing in Chicago as the Cougars second half slump from a year ago seems to have shown little interest in leaving the Windy City. Aside from the New York Gothams, the Cougars 4-8 start has to be considered the most disappointing to start the season. One could simply chalk it up to just working the early season kinks out but losing six straight games to the Montreal Saints does little to restore confidence to a club that had little of it left by the end of last season. BELTON WORRIED ARMY 'TARGETING' 4-F BALLPLAYERS FABL President Sam Belton is ready to fight for the right of 4-Fs to play baseball. "Just because a man's able to play two hours of a certain sport is no indication that he is fit for military services," the long-time baseball boss said in an interview. "I believe a 4-F is a 4-F regarless of what his profession might be. Merely because a man is a baseball player and a 4-F doesn't mean his draft board should reclassify him and put him into service." Belton sais he had heard of cases where just such things had happened. "I have informed the President of the United States, my friend Harry Truman, that there have been these instances of discrimination against ball players by selective service officials and have asked that they should be investigated." The FABL head declined to give any specific examples but noted that a number of players declared 4-F in recent years have informed club owners that they have subject to increased pressure from their local draft boards even after recent medical examinations had reaffirmed their 4-F status. FABL executives feel that ballplayers are being intentionally targeted strictly due to their occupation. CLEAVES REACHES 2500 PLATEAU The 2,500 hit club has just added it's 31st member as Jack Cleaves joined that illustrious group yesterday in the opener of a doubleheader. The 37 year old Cincinnati Cannons second baseman singled on the first pitch he saw from Philadelphia Sailors righthander John Thomas Johnson in the second inning of what would end up a 4-1 loss for Cleaves and his teammates. Cleaves would add 4 more hits in the nightcap as the Cannons evened the score with a 6-2 victory. It was fitting that Philadelphia was the opponent for Cleaves milestone knock. The three-time all-star began his big league career in 1920 at the tender age of 20 and spent 11 seasons with the Sailors -helping them to 3 pennants and a pair of World Championship Series wins. A famous trade prior to the 1938 season paired Cleaves up with his brother George in Pittsburgh and together they helped the Miners win a pennant that year. He was moved to Cincinnati prior to the trade deadline in 1943 and added two more WCS rings in his season and a half with the Cannons. Within the next month Cleaves is expected to crack the top twenty all-time in career FABL games played. CLEAVES JUST ONE OF MANY MILESTONES WITHIN REACH THIS SEASON Jack Cleaves became the latest to join baseball's 2,500 hit club with a single off the Sailors John Thomas Johnson in the opener of yesterday's twin bill. The hit did help take the sting off the latest pitching injury suffered by the Cannons as Jim Crawford had to leave after tossing 4 and a third shutout innings. The injury, called by club trainer George Gorham just a mild abdominal strain, is expected to only cause Crawford to miss one start but that was what was thought of Sam Sheppard when he suffered a muscle strain in the opening week and now there is worry he might miss more time. And don't get me started on Deuce Barrell's elbow.... Anyway, this column was supposed to be about the coming milestones for the veteran Cannons. Cleaves is also just 10 games away from tying Charlie Nabb for 20th all-time in career FABL games and by the time the season ends he might well pass Bill Craigen and Dave Trowbridge, who are tied for 14th. Al Wheeler is right there as well as the Wonder Wheel's next game will be the 2,577th of his great career and tie him with Calvin Kidd for the fifth most ever played in FABL. Wheeler is also just 83 hits shy of the 3,000 mark and within 29 of catching Rankin Kellogg for second all-time in rbi's behind only Hall of Famer Max Morris. The big one for Wheeler is the homerun total. He hit two more this week to give him 4 in 13 games. Now, odds are long that Wheeler will maintain a pace that has him on track for 47 longballs this season but at 465 for his career, perhaps 500 is within his grasp before the end of September. Wheeler needs 10 more to tie Kellogg with 475. Morris and his 711 career homeruns will be all that is ahead of him after he surpasses Kellogg. Sam Brown is also closing in on his 2,000 career hit so there will be plenty of reasons to celebrate Cannons achievements in the coming months. * Sailors Youngster Part of History But a Name To Watch * John Thomas Johnson is a 24 year old pitcher with the Philadelphia Sailors that many fans of the sport had never really heard of until news that he was the victim of Jack Cleaves 2,500th hit at Tice Memorial Stadium yesterday. It was the first time Cleaves ever faced the youngster and like the rest of his teammates, the veteran came away very impressed. "That kid has quite a future," exclaimed Cleaves while talking about his milestone single. "I got him the first time but he adjusted well and his sinker is something else." Johnson did face the Cannons a couple of times last season when he made his big league debut after being selected in the second round, 27th overall out of a St Louis high school by the Sailors in 1937. The Sunday start against the Cannons was just the 4th of his big league career and one has to think he will get many more. Cannons Scouting Director Bill Bordwell expects Johnson to get many more big league starts throughout his career. "He keeps the ball down, doesn't give up homeruns and I think he can easily be a #2 or 3 starter in this league, even after everyone gets back from the war." * Great Time For Fight Fans * After nearly 4 years with no title fights, boxing is picking up steam in a big way. We will likely get two title tilts to follow in the coming months. Middleweight champ Archie Rees is continuing his American tour with a battle in Philadelphia on June 9 against Frank Melanson and all signs are pointing to Hector Sawyer taking to the ring against Pete Sanderson sometime this summer. Sawyer was in the crowd last week in his hometown of New Orleans to watch Sanderson improve to 28-6-2 and the smart money is on Sawyer defending his crown next against the former Marine. Talented young welterweight Danny Rutledge is 2-0 after a win at Reds Arena in Portland, Oregon last week. The 20 year old Louisville native might just be the next big thing in his division. Rutledge is best known for being on the undercard of the big Allied showcase last fall when Rees defended his title before soldiers and sailors in England. The Army private knocked out Seaman Mac Erickson in the 12th round of a wild bout that many feel is a preview of a future welterweight title clash. Rutledge was allowed to fight despite still being in the army and preparing to ship out to the Pacific. He did say he does not expect to be allowed to fight again by Uncle Sam until after the war is over. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN -The Toronto Wolves, at 4-5, are having trouble in April. They are giving up far too many runs. The bullpen is struggling which is not ideal for Manager Bob Call's plan of conserving starting pitching arms early in year. Toronto could be in much worse shape considering than their 4 wins have all come in Sunday doubleheaders. Fans expected a much better start given that 7 of the first nine games were with the Cleveland Foresters who are not supposed to be much of a factor in the CA this year. On the positive side of the ledger, Charlie Artuso is off to a red hot start with the rest of starters are at least holding their own through April. The Wolves problem, surprisingly, is not in the batter's box but on the mound, which was expected to carry the team in the early season. The faithful hope that the ship will right itself as the calendar turns to May. Now that the season has begun in AAA, AA, A with B starting next week the clock is ticking for many minor league players. After the fall of Berlin a formal end to the fighting in Europe is only matter of days or hours away, the scout staff is evaluating all players in the system with anticipation of returnees from the war. Word around the offices is that evaluations are being done in a critical, some say ruthless manner. * New Grid Team On the Way? * Some in the know south of the border say the new Continental Football Conference has its sights set on Hogtown to make their loop truly a continental one. Nothing is official and both Wolves owner Bernie Millard and David Welcombe, ice magnate of the Dukes, say it is news to them but Chicago newsman Percy Sutherland -who is a key organizer of the new play-for-pay grid consortium was quoted recently saying the league wanted a true Continental feel to it. "We have the east and west covered with New York and the two California clubs," Sutherland explained, "and we are still finalizing a location or two in the south." As he walked away from reporters Sutherland quickly added "guess that just leaves Canada." * No Competition Planned for NAHC * While new sporting endeavors are all the rage south of the border, do not expect another top flight professional shinny league to pop up anytime soon. The North American Hockey Confederation is expected to continue to hold its monopoly on the ice as there has been absolutely zero talk of a rival pro hockey league springing up. The same can't be said for the other major sports. Most concrete are the plans for football as the Continental loop is looking more and more like it will start operations this fall, instead of in the autumn of 1946 as originally planned. There is also the growing likelihood a pro basketball circuit will start -also perhaps as early as October and while talk has died down of late there are still some on the west coast that want to see the Great Western League break off from it's affiliation with FABL and declare itself a rival league. It's no wonder too, with all of the young men hopefully returning home in the near future and eager to provide both the playing force and fans needed for more pro sports. Just barely but he did it. A day before his 19th birthday Carl Potter of Detroit became the first pitcher in the modern era to notch a big league victory as an 18 year old. Potter went the distance stopping St Louis 4-1 on Thursday. Boston took three out of four from Pittsburgh to put them closer to the .500 mark to begin the season. Alf Pestilli wrenched his back in a 11-6 loss to Washington on the 25th and now will be day to day for at least two weeks. The injury will send Alf to the IL as a precautionary measure and Joe Watson will see the majority of time in left in his absence. Billy Dalton and Art Spencer have been leading the charge offensively for the Minutemen while the pitching seems to be the victimized by sub-par defensive play early bloating ERA's. As April draws to a close Boston is already four games back from association leader Washington, who they will welcome into Boston for a two game series to start May. Montreal record showing at 7-6 is kind of a surprise, but when you look deeper you see that 6 of the 7 wins came against the struggling Chicago Cougars. Meaning when playing against other team the Saints record is pretty awful. Montreal claimed 2 pitchers on waivers to help replace Jake DeYoung, who is out for the year. Dick Tillman and Ben Watkins are the newcomers. Both will get a chance to show their pitching skills in the coming weeks. On the other side Jackie Norfolk was lost to Cleveland on waiver. Bill Greene has a great week with 4 HRs. Prospect SS Perkins still continue to shine in the roster. Andy Boyer has been having a rough go of it for the New York Stars. 3 blown saves in the past 2 weeks by the 30 year old righthander has cost his club 3 close games. The Stars rotation hasn't been horrible, but they haven't been great outside of a few good games here and there. Overall the pitching is mediocre at best. Which is terrible considering the AAAA talent pitchers are going against in most cases. Fred Hall is back in Cincinnati. Caught in a numbers game the 38 year old was waived prior to opening day but after going unclaimed the Cannons added him to their big league roster after a wave of nagging injuries overcame their staff. Jake Smith, Jim Crawford and Sam Sheppard are all day to day but none are serious enough to warrant a stint on the injured list. Fortunately the Cannons have 3 off-days this week but also a doubeheader Sunday so they will try and struggle through with just 7 healthy arms. The Chicago Chiefs made a couple of roster moves after the opening week, most noticably a decision to demote Dick Blaszak to AAA. The Polish Hammer, who may still be feeling the effects of the bullet he took in the shoulder six months ago in the Pacific, let his bat doing the talking to show why he feels he should still be in Chicago. The 22 year old went 5-for-13 with the Warriors and hit his first professional homerun in nearly 3 years. With Blazak and fellow 22 year old outfield prospect Billy Brown both in Fort Wayne, Century League fans are in for a real treat -at least until the duo move up to Whitney Park. SANDERSON TAKES DECISION OVER ROWE Heavyweight contender Pete Sanderson looked very impressive in winning his 12th straight bout and running his record to 28-6-2 with an unanimous decision over Ben Rowe in New Orleans on Wednesday. Sanderson is now 2-0 since being discharged from the marines and is rumoured to be the next opponent for World Heavyweight Champion Hector Sawyer. Sawyer was in attendance at the fight, held in The Cajan Crusher's hometown and his handlers were seen confering with Sanderson's manager immediately after the bout. Just over a month after seeing his perfect record come to an end with a tough loss to Steve Landry, 25 year old Ira Mitchell was back in the ring with a vengance. The Chicago-born welterweight improved to 11-1 with a 6th round knockout of Gary Chenault. When questioned about why he was back in the ring just 32 days after losing, Mitchell explained he would have fought the next day if he could have found an opponent "just to get the taste of defeat out of my mouth." Another talented fighter to watch for in the welterweight division is Danny Rutledge as the 20 year old Louisville, Ky. fighter improved to 2-0 with a 5th round knock of Jerry Jacobs. PRO CAGE LOOP GAINS TRACTION The recent success of basketball's semi-professional championships has sparked renewed interest in a big time pro cage loop. The Chicago Panthers emerged as the champs of the semi-pro tournament, beating the St Louis Pilots in the championship game before a packed house at Thompson Arena in Detroit over the weekend. Those two were joined by the Providence Eastons, the New York Tigers, Akron Aces and Pittsburgh Pointers as the representatives from the six big semi-pro circuits that competed in the week-long championships. With the game rising in popularity at the collegiate level as well as on the semi-pro circuit, combined with all of the interest in new play for pay sports when our men return from overseas, it seems to be just a matter of time before a big-time basketball circuit takes hold. There has not been a fully professional cage league in nearly two decades. The last attempt, pioneered by pro football bigwigs including Jack Kristich and Rollie Barrell, was the Federal Basketball League. It had 9 teams at it's peak stretching from Brooklyn to St Louis but seemed almost doomed from the beginning when the most famous barnstorming club of the time -the New York Luckies- bailed on the league just before it was set to tip-off and the famous Bigsby Garden refused to allow the loop to play there. The FBL lasted until 1930 before shutting down with the Great Crash of 1929 driving the final nail in the coffin. It was called at the time a 'suspension' of operations with an inclination to restart once the league restructured but that never occurred. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 4/29/1945 A pair of wild rumours to finish the week. The first suggests that Heinrich Himmler has put Adolf Hitler to death in order to give cynical evidence to the Allies of his "good faith" in offering to surrender Germany unconditionally to the western Allies, leaving Russia out. The second is a report circulated by the Associated Press that Germany had surrendered. However, President Truman personally denied the report, confirming he had checked with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and learned the report was without foundation. A third rumour that also proved to be untrue was that Adolf Hitler and German Propaganda Minister Paul Joseph Goebbels were shot 3 days ago. The Saturday morning report was later changed to stating that Hitler will kill himself or be killed in Berlin within a few hours or days and the war will end. Russian forces have overrun Berlin's airport and captured most of the city, trapping as many as 500,000 German troops in the surrounded capital. A United Nations peace planning meeting began late last week in San Francisco with the goal of making the postwar world safe for peace-loving peoples being the same at which the world shot at in 1918 -but missed. Amidst a food shortage, the American government has tightened rationing of meat, with all meat except for mutton under strict rationing until at least the next ration period begins on June 2. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 02-19-2023 at 11:57 AM.

01-05-2023, 07:51 PM	#605
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	May 7, 1945 MAY 7, 1945 MINUTEMEN SOUND THE CHARGE IN FED After a slow start to the season, the Boston Minutemen are rising towards the top of a tight Federal Association. The New Englanders reeled off 8 wins in their last nine games after a very slow 3-7 start to the season. The Boston offense has been rolling, with Wednesday's 21-6 thumping of the Washington Eagles serving as exhibit 'A' but the efforts on the mound from Duke Hendricks (3-1, 1.31) and Dean Astle (3-1, 3.98) have also helped. It was a bad week all around for Washington. Certainly allowing 21 runs against in that game in Boston did little for the Eagles psyche, but they also followed up back to back losses to the Minutemen by dropping 3 of 4 at home to Pittsburgh. Detroit and Chicago split a four-game weekend series at Whitney Park and perhaps surprisingly the duo find themselves sitting atop the Federal Association standings with streaking Boston and slumping Washington hot on their heels. The Toronto Wolves and Chicago Cougars woke up in a big way this week but the surprising Brooklyn Kings actually lead the big leagues in wins. Brooklyn does have the benefit of having played more games than any other team at this stage but 13-9 is far better than most expected the Kings to start. The Wolves have won 7 of their last 8 to take over the Continental Association lead with a 3-game weekend sweep of a beat up Cincinnati pitching staff playing a big role. The wildest game of the week, aside from the football score at Minutemen Stadium, had to be Toronto's 11-10 win over Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. The Wolves hit 4 triples in the fourth inning and then scored 3 times in the bottom of the 8th to pull out the victory. When the Chicago Cougars started the season 4-8 many were wondering if the terrible second half from last season was going to be extended into the '45 campaign. It turns out Montreal might have been the issue as the Cougars were 0-6 against the Saints in that stretch. No more Saints and no more problems for Chicago as the Cougars reeled off 6 straight wins over Brooklyn and the New York Stars to move within a game of first place. The test comes this week, Chicago is set to welcome Toronto to town for a 3 game series beginning Wednesday. MINUTEMEN BATS RIDING HIGH Andy Howell picked up his first professional win on May 2nd in a game against Washington. Howell wasn't exceptionally great on the Minutemen mound as he gave up seven walks in 7.1 innings. Thankfully, the 23 year old righthander went up against a Washington pitching staff that could not make an out as the Minutemen scored 6 runs in consecutive innings and were only kept off the scoreboard once in a 21-6 win. The only blemish on the week came in a 4-0 shutout against Philadelphia where Red Ross scattered 8 hits in the complete game victory. The Minutemen would rebound and take the next three games to finish the week 5-1 and vault themselves into third place behind Detroit and Chicago who are tied at the top, one half game up on the Minutemen. The story continues to be the offense as Billy Dalton and Chick Donnelly have had fine starts to the season. Joe Watson has been exceptional in his return to the everyday lineup because of the Alf Pestilli injury and Bill Van Ness is hitting .339 to start the young season. Some in Boston have all but given up on the former sixth overall pick (1935) being the offensive force he was scouted to be. While the defense has still been an issue the pitching has also been a really bright spot early as well as Duke Hendricks and Dean Astle have provided a solid one/two punch at the top of the rotation. Boston will have the next two days off as they travel to Detroit to start a 13 game road trip that will have them crisscrossing the country going from Detroit to New York and then back to St. Louis, before finishing in Chicago. *200 FOR WOOD * Ed Wood had a couple of tough outings to start the season but has fared much better in his last two starts, winning them both including a 5-3 complete game victory over Washington on Tuesday for the 200th victory of his long career. The 36 year old joined the Minutemen as a 24 year old in 1933 after starting his career in Cleveland. He was part of the deal that sent local favourite Dan Fowler to the Foresters but over the years the high energy lefthander has certainly captured the hears of Boston fans. A 4-time all-star he holds the rare distinction of being a two-time World Championship Series MVP, claiming the bauble in 1941 when the Minutemen beat the Chicago Cougars and again two years later when they fell in 7 games to Cincinnati. The 1943 Federal Association Whitney Award winner is the career postseason leader in ERA with a sparkling 0.27 mark from his 4 starts, and he is a perfect 4-0 in Series play. Only Hall of Famer Charlie Sis can approach Wood's Series mark as Sis is the only other pitcher with a postseason era under 1.27. Wood is the 52nd pitcher in FABL history to win 200 games. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN The Toronto Wolves have awakened as the calendar turns to May: going 5-1 for the week including their third straight Sunday twin bill sweep. The bullpen performance is the worst in the CA, and it is rumoured that Manager Bob Call and has pitching coach Art Nichols are rethinking their pitching strategy which may lead to the starts going deeper into games. Scouts are believed to be headed to Buffalo, Chattanooga to check for bullpen help from the Nickels or Reliables. In a wild 11-10 win against the Cannons on a cool rainy, windy Saturday at Dominion Stadium the Wolves legged out 5 triples in the game including 4 in the fourth inning, at least two due to damp outfield grass conditions. Brett believes, but cannot prove, that this is a record in the FABL for both triples in a game and an inning. Charlie Artuso continues his torrid start, .400/.486/.600. The team is remarkably leading the CA by percentage points, although trail Brooklyn by 1/2 game, Wolves have played 9 less games than the second place Kings. The team heads out on a 12-day 13 game road trip with stops in Chicago, Montreal, then 7 days in New York to play the Stars and Kings. HARD TO FIND A MORE IMPORTANT MAY GAME Baseball teams play 154 contests so it is very difficult to call any random game in the month of May crucial to a season, but this Wednesday in New York is anything but just some random game for the Cincinnati Cannons. It is not hyperbole to say that perhaps their season hinges on the game. Not so much on the score but instead upon the left elbow of Deuce Barrell. Deuce missed all of last season with the bad wing, ending his string of two straight Allen Awards. He looked to be his old self in spring camp and pronounced himself fully healthy and ready to go. Then Opening Day came and Deuce lasted a grand total of 6 pitchers before he walked off the mound rubbing that same elbow. He hasn't pitched since but continues to insist it is nothing to worry about. We will find out Wednesday when Deuce is slated to take the hill at Dyckman Stadium. * Sheppard Still Sidelined * Deuce's return could not come at a better time. The Cannons bats are booming and a good thing too, because the pitching staff has been beat up and is banged up. Butch Smith, who took over for Deuce as the Cannons ace and the Continental Association Allen Award winner last season, is 0-4 and has been very inconsistent. Deuce's uncle, veteran Tom Barrell -who looked so good down the stretch a year ago- has struggled out of the pen but at least he has been healthy. The same can't be said for Sam Sheppard, Jim Crawford or Jake Smith -each of whom missed a few games, just enough to leave the Cannons scrambling for pitchers but not long enough to warrant a trip to the injured list. That might have been a mistake in Sheppard's case. He hasn't pitched since facing one batter April 26, as first back tighteness and later an oblique strain have left him less than 100%. The back is still stiff and Sheppard -and the Cannons brass- keep hoping tomorrow will be the day he is pronounced fully fit for duty, but so far that day has not arrived. In hindsight, Sheppard probably should have gone on the injured list but now the hope is he will be ready to pitch this weekend in Brooklyn as the Cannons set out on a 14-game road swing with stops against the Stars and Kings as well as visits to Montreal and Chicago. Congratulations to Boston's Ed Wood for his 200th career victory. Wood is fifth among active pitchers in victories and at 36, likely still has a few seasons left. We are witnessing possibly the final season of a few great arms as 40 year old Jim Lonardo (282 wins), 44 year old Dick Lyons (235) and 41 year old Joe Shaffner (217) are nearing the end of the line. The other pitcher ahead of Wood is Pittsburgh's Karl Johnson - who has 209 wins and at 37 is showing no signs of slowing down. Ed Reyes is certainly making the most of his opportunity. He has been in the big leagues pretty steadily since 1935 but the 32 year old bounced around with four different teams -including two different stints with the Chiefs- and was never an everyday player. That changed this season when the Sailors lost Marion Boismenu to the war effort, handing the first base job to Reyes. All he has done is bat .456 -tops in both associations through the first three weeks of the season. No Saints, no problem! The Chicago Cougars run off six wins in a row this week to move within one of first place. Agaiant Montreal, they are 0-6, but Chicago is 10-3 against the Kings and Stars. The Cougars have no shortage of young pitching talent -or at least they won't once the war is over and the big names return- but you have to add 22 year old George Oddo to the list. An 8th round pick in 1941, the 6'4" righthander had a strong season at AA Mobile a year ago and has carried on the fine performance this season, going 3-0 with a 2.08 era to start the season in AAA Milwaukee. OSA says he has the potential to easily front a team's rotation. At the risk of making this week's update all about the Cougars, we do need to recognize Cliff Moss. There was some brief talk over the winter that a cash crunch might have forced Chicago to part with the 38 year corner outfielder but it is a good thing they didn't. Moss is doing is best to make up for Hank Barnett and Leo Mitchell -who both left to join the war effort over the winter. Moss has averaged 12 homers a season over the past 4 seasons with the Cougars but already has 7 in just 19 games this year. He is batting .324 and lead both loops in homers and rbi's (23). SHELTON SLAUGHTERS BASCOMBE, VIEWS TRUMAN AS A FIGHTER "This is the one," said Millard Shelton, holding up his right hand. "There's the mitt that shook the hand of a President of the United States." The young Memphis biffer was sitting on a dressing room table in Washington Arena last night discussing the time he briefly met Mr. Truman a little over a year ago after Truman was making a visit to an army hospital in St Louis while Shelton was recovering from a training accident. Shelton was still amped up as he spoke just moments after a 2nd round knock out of Dave Bascombe improved his record to 10-3. "What struck me about the man," Shelton said in reference to the President, "is that he looks like a fighter. Not like in the ring, you know, but the sort of quiet fellow who doesn't sound off much but who won't take any guff from anybody. "I thought they were kidding me at first when they introduced him as a Senator and a possible Presidential candidate," Shelton said. "He's just an average looking sort of man, about my height, but when you talk with him, even for a moment, you know you're talking with some one who has plenty on the ball. "Plenty of times I've made the mistake of underrating a guy I'm fighting and I've taken a beating. Truman is the sort of man people could underrate. But I feel awful sorry for any one who figures he's a soft touch and gets into a scrap with him. They will never hear the count." * Pulveriszes Bascombe * The talk turned to the night's activities and Shelton admitted he barely broke a sweat in the victory. "I am finally feeling back to normal," he said. "That accident really set me back and I am lucky to be alive, let alone back in the ring." Shelton suffered two broken legs when the military truck he was travelling in 15 months ago hit a patch of ice and veered off the road and into a tree. Bascombe must have thought he was in a similar accident Tuesday night. The two fighters felt each other out in the opening round but in round two Bascombe walked into one of Shelton's celebrated 'sucker punches' - the same weapon that allowed him to knock out 7 other opponents prior to the 28 year old's induction in the Army in 1942. The Memphis native had an easy night, but Shelton claims the bout made a good warm-up for his continued return to the ring and hopes of climbing the ranks in the middleweight division. He had a tough outing in his return to the ring after a three year absence, losing a split decision to Jeff Pritchard in February, but says he felt much better this time out. "I just had no timing and felt stiff in Atlantic City," Shelton admitted. "I was off my feet, completely, for 8 months so it has taken quite some time to feel in fighting shape. I think I am there now and all I need is an opportunity to prove I can be a top fighter. MAY WINS RING RETURN On the same card as Shelton-Bascombe fight, 26 year old welterweight Willis May won in his return to the ring after a 4 year absence. The Alabama born fighter, who spent the past four years in the Navy, claimed a 10th round TKO win against a very solid effort from Jeremy Lewis. May, is now 11-1-2 while Lewis, a 27 year old New Yorker, falls to 12-7 as a professional. One other bout of note last week occurred in Philadelphia where Pat Pollock (Reading, Pa) improved to 14-4-3 with 8th round TKO of Denny Palmer (Hagerstown, MD) dropping Palmer's record to 11-3. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 5/06/1945 Last Monday German forces in Denmark quit and a day later President Truman announced the "unconditional surrender" of all German forces in Italy. Truman revealed the news by noting that "the collapse of military tyranny in Italy, howver, is no victory in Italy alone, but part of the general triumph we are expectantly awaiting on the whole continent of Europe." That expected victory in Europe has come as late breaking news this morning indicates Germany is set to surrender unconditionally tomorrow. Russian troops have stormed Berlin's chancellery and have rounded up some 120,000 German forces they had surrounded in the southeast portion of the city. According to the Nazis, Adolf Hitler died while defending the command post at the Chancellery. Hitler is reported dead by other sources as well but the stories differ. The Nazis claim Adolf died a hero's death in battle while Gen. Eisenhower said there is some evidence that Hitler had died of a brain hemorrhage while in hiding. A search is underway for Hitler's remains. Much of Germany believes Hitler actually died a year ago, killed by a bomb and they think Heinrich Himmler and a small group of his henchmen seized control of Germany at that time and kept them in the war. By the weekend 1 million Nazi troops in Holland and northwest Germany had surrendered and Czechoslovak sources say a patriot revolt has broken out in territory in that country still held by the Nazis. As superfortresses continue daily bombings of Japan, Washington reveals plans to put a force of 6 million men in the field against Japan as resources free up in Europe. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

01-18-2023, 01:52 PM	#614
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	July 9, 1945: All-Star Rosters revealed JULY 9, 1945 ROSTERS SET FOR TUESDAY STARS GAME The squads have been named for the 13th edition of baseball's mid-summer classic. The All-Star game returns to its roots as the contest will be held in Chicago for the first time since the inaugural game in 1933. That game was held in Whitney Park but this time around it will be contested in Cougars Park, the fancy newish Chicago Cougars stadium that was not even built the last time the stars of the sport gathered in the Windy City for an association vs association showdown. The Federal Association won that first game -held July 6, 1933- by an 8-5 score and it featured 2-hit performances by a 27 year old Philadelphia Sailors infielder named Jack Cleaves and a third year Philadelphia Keystones outfielder from a famous ballplaying family by the name of Bobby Barrell. Thirteen years later both of those names, along with Al Wheeler -who went 0 for 2 in that first stars game- will head to Chicago once more for the latest version of the star-studded spectacle, although Cleaves will not play due to a minor back issue. The Continental Assoiciation will be missing two starters from it's lineup as Chicago Cougars outfielder Cliff Moss will join Cleaves on the sidelines. The Federal Stars lead the series 7 wins to 5 including a 1-0 victory at Washington's Columbia Stadium last year. Among the 1945 All-Stars are 2 war veterans as George Garrison of the Toronto Wolves and the New York Stars Dixie Lee are each named to the squad after being discharged over the winter. The Cincinnati Cannons lead the way with 7 players selected to the all-star game including Tom Bird, who along with Bobby Barrell of the Philadelphia Keystones, were selected for a record 10th game each. Code: MOST ALL-STAR SELECTIONS 10* Tom Bird Chiefs 10* Bobby Barrell Keystones 9 Frank Vance Detroit 8 John Lawson Military Service Cougars 7 Adam Mullins Military Service -Cincinnati 7 George Cleaves Military Service- Pittsburgh 7 Fred McCormick Toronto 7 Harry Barrell Military Service- Boston 7 Hank Barnett Military Service- Cougars 7 Ron Rattigan Chiefs 6* Dean Astle Boston 6* Pete Day Boston 6 Pablo Reyes Military Service -Pittsburgh 6 Moxie Pidgeon Pittsburgh * selected for 1945 ASG ALL-STAR SELECTIONS BY TEAM (#of All-Star games) CINCINNATI- 7 Tom Bird (10), Al Wheeler (5), Tom Barrell (4), Deuce Barrell (4), Jack Cleaves (4), Gail Gifford (4), Denny Andrews (1) BOSTON- 5 Dean Astle (6), Pete Day (6), Chick Donnelly (5) Duke Hendricks (1), Bill Van Ness (1) COUGARS- 5 Skipper Schneider (5), Cliff Moss (4), Ben Curtin (3), Don Lee (1), Rusty Petrick (1) MONTREAL- 4 Jake Hughes (4), Bill Greene (1), Gordie Perkins (1), Pat Weakley (1) KEYSTONES-4 Bobby Barrell (10), George M Brooks (2), Tim Walters (2), John Busby (1) ST LOUIS- 4 Al Tucker (4), Larry Gregory (1), Cal Page (1),Hal Sharp (1) TORONTO-4 Charlie Artuso (3), George Garrison (2), Walt Pack (2), Cookie Myers (1) WASHINGTON- 4 Lou Ellertson (3), Dan Everett (2), Sig Stofer (2), Larry Colaianna (2) DETROIT-3 Joe Henry (2), Hank Grant (1),Jimmy Long (1) NY STARS- 3 Dixie Lee (1), Eli Panneton (1), Howie Smith (1) NY GOTHAMS- 2 Ed Bowman (3), Harry Carter (1) PITTSBURGH- 2 Johnny McDowell (3), Bill Anderson (1) SAILORS- 2 Bill Watson (2), Win Lewis (1) BROOKLYN- 1 Vernon Ruch (2) CHIEFS- 1 Bob Martin (3) CLEVELAND- 1 Brooks Meeks (1), A WEEK OF STREAKS Hot and cold is the story this week in both the Federal and Continental Associations and as the teams hit the All-Star break the Detroit Dynamos and Toronto Wolves are each at the top of the mountain staring down. They do not need to look far as both the Philadelphia Keystones and Cincinnati Cannons sit just a half game out in their respective associations. In the Fed, there are two other teams within 2 games of the front-running Motor City nine. Both of the leaders come into the break on a tear with each riding a 6-game winning streak. The Wolves have won 9 of their last 10 after dropping 6 of their previous 7 and use that strong showing to once more overtake Cincinnati for the Continental lead -a race that has gone back and forth and shows no signs of changing that trend over the final two and a half months of the season. Toronto's 4-game sweep of the third place Chicago Cougars going into the break put a real damper on the All-Star celebrations for the host club and leaves the Cougars 5 games back of the Wolves. The Philadelphia Keystones were the hot team in the Fed with a 27-10 record from the start of May stretching into mid-June but are 9-17 since the middle of June including finishing off last week with 6 straight losses. Detroit had the early lead before the Keystones took over, but the Dynamos -with 6 straight and 9 wins in their last 12 games- are back on top. The team to watch in the second half may just be the surprising St Louis Pioneers who now, despite a 15-29 start to the season, are just 1 game back and are 27-5 since June 5. The Washington Eagles have, for the most part, avoided any extreme streaks -either good or bad- and remain in the mix in no small part due to the pitching of all-stars Lou Ellertson (12-4, 1.85) and Dan Everett (8-5, 1.85). Further down in the Fed standings you also have a pair of streaking teams going in opposite directions as the New York Gothams reeled off 10 straight victories while the Boston Minutemen lost 10 in a row. TALES FROM THE WOLVES DEN Wolves End Trip on High Note -Toronto finished their 24 games straight away from Dominion Stadium in fine fashion taking 7 of 8 from Montreal and Chicago. This allowed the team to finish the trip, which started poorly, with a 13-11 record reclaiming a slender lead in the CA. The starting pitchers have seemed to turn a corner with tossing two complete games over the week, while the opposition only tallied 14 runs in the 8 games. Manager Call remarked that the staff is coming along, getting closer to his pre-season expectations but need the 3 day break for the All-Star Game to recharge batteries. When asked about leading the CA at the halfway point Call quipped "Better than looking up at the leader, this race is a long, long way from over. We just have to keep playing solid ball, worrying about our game not others." The only loss during the week could just have easily been a victory. In the first game of a July 4th doubleheader the Saints claimed the game, 2-1, when in the bottom of the 12th when Gus Hull's errant throw from right field allowed the winning run to cross the plate. Wirtz tossed a masterful complete game in the night cap to make the long train trip into Chicago more enjoyable than brooding over a tough loss. Toronto sweeping the Cougars at Cougars Field was indeed a surprise as the Wolves entered the series with a 2-5 record while playing Chicago in 1945. Toronto now has a winning season record against 6 of 7 opponents, Cleveland has held the Wolves to a 6-6 mark. Toronto returned home without Garrison, Meyer, Pack, Artuso who remained in Chicago for the mid-season classic. Wolves will now be home for the next 22 games not leaving until after a game against Cleveland on August 1st. We are hearing that the team is seeking a right handed bat for the outfield to at least spell Gus Hull. Hull's .194/.278/.262 is not getting the job done thus far in '45. Call continues to experiment with lineups in an attempt maximize Fred McCormick's bat. McCormick is doing McCormick things since his return for the war, ..308/.463/.529 17 RBI in 134 PA. MISSED OPPORTUNITIES? As we hit the all-star break and celebrate the invitation of 7 Cannons to the big game in Chicago, one can't help but wonder if this Cincinnati club has blown a great opportunity and should be comfortably in front at the top of the Continental Association instead of looking up at the Toronto Wolves. It's only a half game back and oh so much better than the 9.5 games behind the Chicago Cougars that the Cannons found themselves at this time last year but you can't help but think there should have been more from their first half of the season this time around. The Cannons lead all of FABL, not just the CA, in most runs scored, fewest surrendered, batting average, homeruns, starting pitcher era and defensive efficiency. They have scored 410 runs - 39 more than the Wolves. They have surrendered 277 runs which is 34 fewer than the Wolves. The Cannons run differential at the midway point is +133. The Wolves are the only team in either association within 99 runs of that mark and Toronto is 73 behind, a pace of nearly a run a game. By all accounts Toronto is outperforming it's expected record this season and the Cannons are underachieving- and doing so more than any other club in baseball. That is cause for concern in my books. Cincinnati has the oldest team in the league but fortunately -aside from some early issues with the pitching staff- the club has been pretty healthy. But can they keep it up? Old bodies tend to wear down quicker than young players and Jack Cleaves will miss the all-star game because his chronically bad back is acting up. "Nothing serious," says Cleaves with a wave of the hand but when your 38 year old all-star who is hitting .355 and has been plagued by back problems much of his career says his back is bothering him you tend to take it seriously. Will age catch up with the Cannons? Tom Barrell and Sam Sheppard are a combined 18-4 but each is 37 years old. Al Wheeler is also 37 and presently on a pace to come close to matching his age in homeruns this season. Tom Bird is another member of the 37 year old crew. You have to bet that Ad Doria -who as bench boss of the defending CA champs is also off to Chicago to manage the Continental stars for the second year in a row- is going to spend much of the break trying to figure out how the team can be more consistent on offense. When you outscore Brooklyn 36-13 in a 4 game series but only leave Kings County with 2 wins there has to be some concern. And that is becoming a trend. In recent series the Cannons outscored Toronto 17-11 but settled for a split and outscored the Sailors 6-1 in a short two game set but also managed to only come away with one victory. Missed opportunities. Something you can not do with any sort of consistency when you are chasing history looking to match the 1924-26 New York Stars while the pack of animals in the CA - most notably of the Wolves and Cougars species- have you in the their sights. Strap in Cincinnati. The second half could be a wild and bumpy ride as the Cannons gun for 3 WCS wins in a row. Freddie Farhat of the Detroit World says that the next 2 weeks are going to decide a lot for what Detroit tries to do. The Dynamos are somehow 9 games over 500 despite a slightly negative run differential. If they can maintain this then Detroit management has indicated it will seriously look at dumping their top 2 draft picks for next year and a prospect (and likely a salary dump to make it work) for some bats. The pitching has been steady enough but the offense is a struggle. Positions of need would be OF, 3B and 2B. GM Martin says he will be creative but not crazy in prospects dealing (ie Hackenberry, Kleminski, Johnson and Schaub aren’t going anywhere), but notes the team does have 12 of the top 100 prospects. The Dynamos need some offense if they are going to make a serious run according to Farhat. Excitement in Montreal and St Louis as each are thrilled to have 4 players selected to the All-Star Game. The entire St Louis outfield made the Fed squad along with first base Hal Sharp. Rookie sensation Gordie Perkins highlights the Saints selections along with young pitcher Pat Weakley. Three All-Star starters were unanimous choices. Bobby Barrell of the Keystones of course, along with St Louis outfielder Cal Page and Cincinnati second sacker Jack Cleaves. Some had questioned whether Tom Bird should be starting the all-star game, citing the Sailors Bill Watson as a better option but Percy Suthrland -a long-time Bird-watcher in Chicago points out the following stats for the pair: Bird: .389 OBP, .402 SLG, 137 wRC+ Watson: .355 OBP, .359 SLG, 113 wRC+ Across the board, Bird is having the better season, say the noted Chicago columnist. The Boston Minutemen have lost 10 straight and now sit in 7th place in the Federal Association, 8 games back. There is some good news as the club has learned that Mack Sutton has been given his discharge after missing 3 and a half seasons while in the Army Air Force and will return shortly after the all-star break. Sutton has a .248 career batting average with 62 homeruns in 410 big league games. Veteran infielder Bill Moore wants out of Boston. The 33 year old is having an awful season, batting just .210 for the Minutemen. He is not the only veteran wanting a change of scenery. Moxie Pidgeon says he is tired of being a back-up in Pittsburgh and the 38 year old wants a trade. Bad luck for Bob Riggins of the New York Stars. Called up to make his major league debut just two weeks after winning his second straight Christian Trophy and AIAA championship with Grange College, the first overall draft pick hurt his arm and may miss some time over the next month. Riggins did get into 5 games and hit .273 including a 2-for-4 showing in his big league debut, an 8-3 win over the Sailors. His first hit was an rbi single off of veteran righthander Doc Newell. Hard to complain when you are a half game out of first but every year it seems the Cincinnati under perform on the pyth. record. The Cannons are -5 so far this season with an actual record of 48-31 vs an expected record of 53-26. That, coupled with Toronto's +3 and the Cannons should be enjoying a 7.5 game lead right now. A split of 4 games in Brooklyn illustrates the Cannons lack of ability to get hits at the right time. They outscored the Kings 32-13 in the 4-games but settle for going 2-2. George Thomas with Pittsburgh after being claimed on waivers: 7 innings, 12 hits, 10 walks, and 9 runs. Percy Sutherland can only plead: Please retire George, for your own dignity. Fast tracking in the Chiefs organization: 6th round pick Johnny Anderson hit .407/.452/.556 in his first 6 games at class A. The organization just moved him up to class AAA Fort Wayne and had manager Frank Krick set the lineups. The veridct- Johnny is now batting third for the Warriors. Last week delivered our second minor league no-hitter of the season. This one was tossed by Vic William of the Class B Fresno Falcons. The 1942 7th round draft pick of the New York Gothams threw the first no-hitter in Fresno history and first in the COW League in nearly three years. FABL has not had a no-hitter this season and just one -by George M Brooks of the Keystones last June- since 1942. Speaking of the COW League, congratulations to Art Goins on being named that loop's top performer last week. The son of legendary catcher T.R. Goins is a 21 year old centerfielder for Salem in the New York Stars system. A second round pick back in 1941, Goins is hitting .271 with 5 homers this season, his first full year in Class B. EUROPEAN BOXING IS ON THE UPSWING We are starting to hear that boxing is returning to normal in Europe. While no major fights have taken place yet there are a number of mid-level fighters returning to action include Harley Bellars. The veteran English scored an unanimous decision over Frenchman Jean-Claude LeGrand in London Saturday evening to run his record to 19-16-1. What was especially interesting from that bout was the Edouard Desmarais -the great middleweight who worked as part of the French resistance in the later stages of the war- was ringside and hinted he would be preparing for a comeback. Desmarais was 34-0 and considered a future titleholder until the war changed his plans. Contact with the 29 year old had been lost and for a stretch he was feared dead until a chance meeting in Paris with a former opponent of Desmarais after the Allies had ended the Nazi occupation revealed the French middleweight was still alive. Desmarais says there is no timetable for his return, simply saying he was starting to work himself back into fighting shape. Meanwhile, postwar history was made as the first Polish-born boxer fought in England since before the hostilities began. It was a TWIFB reader favourite as well as Pietrek "Soda" Popinski made his post-war debut in London against Owen Styles. Popinski, who fled Poland during the tumultous period the Russians were running the Nazi's out of Warsaw, ended up in Finland for a brief period of time before arriving in Scotland early in the spring. He had won his first 8 bouts in his native country but last fought in 1939 so the rust clearly showed in absorbing an unanimous decision loss to the 30 year old British fighter. The Week That Was Current events from the week ending 7/08/1945 Four more Japanese tinder box cities were blasted into flaming cauldrons in an early week pre-dawn raid by a record fleet of almost 600 B-29 Superfortresses. The air attacks would continue all week. President Truman presents the United Nations charter to Senate asking for it's swift approval. Australian forces captured 2 air bases as they continue to push forward on Borneo. General Carl A. Spaatz, who commanded the US Air Forces in the strategic warfar which destroyed German resources from the air, will direct the strategic air attack on Japan. Strikes continue to be an issue, both in the newspaper industy where many papers in the northeast are affected and in Akron, where President Truman has ordered the navy to seize the Goodyear Tire and Rubber plants, scene of a persistant 19 day strike. Truman acted after the union refused to abide by repeated War Labor Board orders for the nearly 17,000 strikers to return to work. The Civil Aeronautics Board authorized 3 airlines-Pan American Airways, American Export Airways and Transcontinetl & Western Air, to fly transatlantic routes to Europe. An alleged 'legal' Wall Street scheme to deprive the US Treasury of $500 million in taxes each year is being investigated by Congress. It is described as a simple, but sounds anything but to the layman, forming a tax-free but 'fake' public ownership by the formation of 'non-profit' corporations and then issuing bonds against the revenue on the property. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports

01-21-2023, 02:06 PM	#617
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	July 30, 1945 - Special Trade Deadline Report JULY 30, 1945 - TRADE DEADLINE SPECIAL BULLETIN ANOTHER DEAL FOR DETROIT The Detroit Dynamos continue to be the busiest team in baseball after making yet another trade this week. Detroit, which had already acquired 4 players a week ago, made a deal with the Chicago Cougars to bring in veteran pitcher Art White on the eve of the trade deadline. White, a 33 year old lefthander who is 11-9 with a 3.08 era on the season, grew up just outside of Detroit and remembers cheering on the Dynamos as a teenager in 1929. Now he will have the opporunity to help lead Detroit back to the World Championship Series for the first time since that 1929 title. White, with a career record of 146-113 over a dozen big league seasons with Brooklyn and the Cougars, will be counted on by Detroit manager Dick York to add a steady veteran presence to a rotation that is dominated by youth and includes a pair of raw rookies in 19 year old Carl Potter (8-7, 2.71) and 22 year old Pete Brown (7-8, 4.01). White joins outfielders Leon Drake, Lou Balk and Howie Smith along with third baseman Mack Sutton as recent additions to the club. Only Sutton, at 28, is under the age of thirty. To bring White into the organization, Detroit parted with 3 prospects ranked outside the top 100 by OSA, along with veteran infielder Rabbit Mudd and their fourth round pick. Two of the prospects -22 year old pitcher Gene Madison and 20 year old second baseman Bob Schmelz are presently involved in the war effort while the third - 18 year old shortstop Bill Perrin- had just begun his pro career in Class C after being selected in the 5th round by the Dynamos in the 1945 draft. Perrin was born in Ohio but grew up in Detroit and played his high school ball in the city. The 36 year old Mudd was a backup infielder with Detroit after spending the previous two season in the Army Air Corps. JIGGS McGEE'S TAKE: White gives Detroit the extra arm it clearly needs if the Dynamos are to be in the running for the pennant as September winds down. White is a 4-time all-star and a dependable back half of the rotation pitcher, seemingly a good fit for a Detroit club that was intent on not dealing any of its core prospects. In that regard they succeeded as all the top prospects remain in Detroit control, but they still surrendered some good young talent and I have to worry if White will be enough of a difference maker in Detroit. The lefthander may find the going a little tougher in Thompson Field than he did at the pitcher-friendly Cougars Park and not having Skipper Schneider to gobble up groundballs behind him won't help either. White has had some good seasons in the past but he is on pace for a career high BB/9 and homers allowed while also having his highest FIP since 1936. He may still pan out and might have been the best Detroit could get at the price they were willing to pay but there do appear to be a few red flags. The prospects the Cougars added were not in the top 100 but that is not to say they lack potential. Detroit gave up a lot in this trade. Righthander Mean Gene Madison, 22, was originally a second round pick of the St Louis Pioneers in 1941 and had a very strong season at AA Akron in 1944 before the Navy came calling last November. There likely won't be a spot for him in the deep Cougars post-war rotation but he may fit in their bullpen some day or could be an attractive trade piece down the road. Bob Schmelz was a first round pick, 11th overall in 1942, but only had 31 pro games under his belt before the second baseman was called by the Army in January of 1943, so the verdict on him is still out. Bill Perrin is an 18 year old Detroit high school star who was selected in the fifth round last January by his hometown team and is a player I really like and I have a feeling he might end up being the best player out of the three. Some might think this move means the Cougars are throwing in the towel on this season but they may just be clearing a spot for 23 year old Mike Thorpe, who is 12-1 at AAA Milwaukee and has more upside than the #257 prospect that OSA considers him to be. Or, they have received confirmation that Pete Papenfus is on his way back from the Navy despite the fact that nothing whatsoever has been officially stated on the topic. Pitching is not in short supply in Chicago and moving White helps clear out things a little for next season when most, if not all of the players at war, are anticipated to be back. A little over a week ago I wrote that now was the time for GM Martin to make some moves to push this team over the hump. I asked him to do it without mortgaging too much of the future. Since then the Dynamos have made 4 trades last week, bringing in 4 bats to try and bolster the worst run scoring offense in the Federal Association. A new outfield of Smith, Drake and Balk along with “the Arkansas Artilleryman” 3B Mack Sutton. Yes the Dynamos have traded some draft picks including their first round pick, but the top prospects have not been dealt. Now yesterday another deal was announced and no it was not another position player. This time the deal is for a veteran starting pitcher. The Dynamo’s announce a deal trading 3 prospects, 2B Rabbit Mudd and their 4th round pick to the Chicago Cougars for 33-year-old Art White. The lefty White is 11-9 on the season with a 3.09 ERA. He will join a rotation that has been a Jimmy Long, a couple of rookies and then a mix of veteran hurlers. He will likely slot in behind Long and ahead of rookie Carl Potter in the top 3 slots. The Dynamos have done a lot to try and secure the Federal pennant here in 1945. Is it enough? Is it too much? Are they done? Rumors are flying that the Dynamos at trying to secure another arm. Sources confirm talks with the Chiefs, Miners and Stars. Will they pull off another deal or two? Will they shock the baseball world with another deal? In talking with GM Martin he reminded me that while the club is all in for the race here in 1945, they are trying to find a balance for the future. I’m trying to figure out what he is talking about with balance for the future in all the moves that seem to be for the now. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 01-21-2023 at 02:19 PM.